 Hello everybody hooded Cobra Commander 788 here and it's time for another GI Joe comic book review and this is the big one. We have finally made it to issue number 21, the silent issue. This is the most famous GI Joe comic book in the entire Marvel Comics run. This story is told entirely with artwork and no dialogue. It was very innovative for the time and it's a comic book that should be studied and appreciated by comic book fans, not just by GI Joe fans. I am going to skip the recap of issue number 20 because it was a self-contained story. It has no bearing on what happens in issue number 21. In fact it has no bearing on anything. You can skip issue number 20 and you will not miss anything. In issue number 19 we saw the end of a long running story arc and the death of several important characters. Those characters were made specifically for the comic book they did not have action figures. That's the only reason they could be killed off. Their deaths were important though because it did demonstrate that people could die in a GI Joe comic book. We are not dealing with superheroes here, we are dealing with people who are vulnerable and mortal. I mentioned in my review of issue number 19 that that issue was the end of an era. In the first 20 issues of the GI Joe comic book the stories were good and the characters were good but it could sometimes be a bit simplistic and superficial. Well, that era is over. Starting with issue number 21 the series will become more sophisticated, the characters will become more layered and the stories will become more intricate. Larry Hama, the writer of the GI Joe comic book, does a panel about this issue at conventions and once he goes through it page by page and talks about the creative process for this issue. I was able to see that panel about three years ago at JoeCon and if you have a chance I encourage you to go to that panel and listen to Larry Hama talk about the silent issue. I don't want to repeat too much of what Larry says in his panels because I want to encourage you to attend those panels yourself and listen to what Larry has to say but I will still cover some of that ground because he provides some important context for this issue. The cover is gorgeous it shows Snake Eyes repelling down a wall with a rope, he is firing his Uzi while bullets strike all around him. Snake Eyes seems more geared up than usual, he has a wide belt with a ton of pockets and explosives and grenades, he has a pistol belt and a knife on his leg, he is loaded for bear. The only light source seems to be from the muzzle flash on his Uzi so Snake Eyes is bathed in orange and yellow. There's a caption on the cover that says the most unusual G.I. Joe story ever and that is definitely true. We open up to the first page and it is a splash page. We have a title Silent Interlude and that is literally what this issue is. We have a creative team of Larry Hama story and breakdowns, Steve Lealoha finishes and George Rousseau's coloring. There is no letterer credited but there is some lettering in this issue in fact this very credits caption is lettered. The name of the anchor Steve Lealoha should be familiar to G.I. Joe fans because it was used for a G.I. Joe character, 1983 torpedoes name was Edward Lealoha. The printed publishing date on this issue is March 1984, it is significant that this issue was from 1984 because it is going to introduce one of the most important characters from that year. In the background of this splash page we have a castle in the mountains and this is an unusual looking castle. It is obviously a cobra castle because it has cobras all over it. This castle has become known as the silent castle and the design of the castle is very deliberate. It has multiple layers and each level looks different. It has a couple of radar dishes on each side and each radar dish is also different. The reason the castle is designed this way is so that it can provide specific visual clues that will allow you to tell where each character is within the castle without having a lot of detail in the background. One thing Larry has talked about is the short amount of time they had to produce this issue so they had to streamline the process and one way to do that was to create an environment where you could tell where the characters were without having to draw too much. The silent castle has become a legend in its own right. This is not the last time we would see the silent castle. It will return much later in the comic book series. In the foreground of the splash page we see a cobra claw powered glider that was a new vehicle for 1984. We can't quite see the pilot but it does look like the pilot is carrying a bundle. A bundle with feet. On page two we have a tall panel and we can see the pilot. It is a ninja in white. Although he is not named in this issue we know this is Storm Shadow. In the next panel we are inside the castle and Storm Shadow has flown the cobra claw in through one of the tall vertical windows. On the inside wall that window is framed with a giant cobra head. Inside the window there is a raised platform and atop that platform is cobra commander. He is flanked by two cobras. It looks like cobra commander has won gold at the cobra Olympics. Storm Shadow lands the glider still carrying the bundle. A couple cobra troopers carry the glider away while another one hands Storm Shadow a sword. Storm Shadow draws the sword and slashes down through the bundle which cuts the covering and the ropes to reveal it is Scarlet. Scarlet here has a bandage on her right cheek and there's no real explanation for that. This reminds us that these characters exist and things happen to them even when we are not watching. So we don't know why she has the bandage, she just has it. That's fine with me. Not everything has to be explained and these small details add a bit of texture to the story. Cobra commander is surprised at the value of the prisoner and ordered her to be taken away. She is escorted down some stairs by a couple cobra troopers and Storm Shadow where a cobra trooper is lifting the lid on what looks like a manhole. We've been in the castle for a couple pages now and we are still getting oriented but notice how the interior of the castle is drawn with a minimal number of lines. Cobra commander's platform is drawn with about five lines in one panel and three lines in a couple other panels but it does orient you and lets you know exactly where you are in relation to things. The artwork is extremely efficient. In the last panel of the third page we are outside the castle again. We can see the top of the castle with the cobra statues and silhouetted against the moon is an airplane. On the next page we see the airplane is a C-130 transport plane. Switching to the back of the plane we can see the ramp is down and Snake Eyes has a parachute and he is ready to jump. These next panels show the power of sequential storytelling. As Snake Eyes drops away from the plane it becomes a silhouette again shrinking into the background. As Snake Eyes falls toward us and the C-130 moves farther away the Uzi on the strap and the ring on the parachute give the illusion of movement. Switching angles again for the final panel of the page we see the top of the castle in the corner of the panel as Snake Eyes glides toward it. There are no words to tell you what is happening here and the artwork is even kind of sparse but it tells you everything you need to know. There's actually a lot of information given on this page. We don't know how Scarlet was captured and we don't know how Snake Eyes found out where she was but we do know Snake Eyes' relationship with Scarlet and we know nothing would stop him from reaching her. On the next page we see Scarlet in Storm Shadow or in an Oobliet. It looks like they are on a raised around platform. Looks like it is surrounded by water. We are now seeing the manhole from the underside. Scarlet is shackled to the platform. Storm Shadow reaches out and touches her face. I'm not sure what his intention was. Maybe he was going to rip off that bandage but Scarlet bites his thumb. Scarlet has a swollen eye. It looks like she's put up a fight. She's making it clear she will not be a compliant prisoner. She will resist. Storm Shadow starts to draw his sword but then thinks the better of it and leaves Scarlet in that hole. In the last panel it goes dark and Scarlet is a silhouette. Larry Hama has said there's a coloring error on this panel. The hole is not supposed to be colored yellow. It's supposed to be covered up at this point. On the next page we have an establishing shot of the outside of the castle. We have one of the radar arrays and we know where we are in relation to the rest of the castle because we can see the battlements and these very specific windows which don't appear anywhere else on the castle. Inside the castle we have Destro at a radar screen with a computer monitor and next to the window with the crossbeams there is a chess set. We have a little bit of text information from the computer screen where it analyzes what the radar has picked up but it tells us there is a very low probability of a successful airborne insertion. Destro ponders this behind his metal mask and we can see a little bit of the chess set next to the window in the background. These small visual clues help tell us where we are. Remember there isn't a lot of detail in the background so the detail that is there has to convey a lot of information. On the next page Snake Eyes has deployed his parachute. He sets down on the cobra head sculpture on the very top of the castle and then begins to repel down. On the next page Scarlett retrieves a hairpin from her hair and uses it to pick the lock on her shackles. Now a woman using a hairpin as a lockpick is a bit of a cliche but it does again demonstrate that Scarlett will not be a compliant prisoner. She will not simply wait for rescue. She will use every opportunity to escape. Outside Snake Eyes repels down the castle wall and reaches a level of the castle with columns. Again the design of the castle is important. This is the only part of the castle with columns so if you refer to the larger picture of the castle on the first page you can tell exactly where we are. There is a single cobra trooper guarding the level of the castle with the battlements and we see Snake Eyes drop in behind him. In the meantime Destro gazes at the chess set and we see the chess pieces are G.I. Joe and Cobra characters. This would be an awesome custom chess set. Somebody needs to make that. Next to the chess set we see some pieces that are fallen. These are characters that are dead or at least presumed to be dead. We see Quinn, Scarface and General Flag all of whom died in issue number 19. Destro gives special attention to the piece for the Baroness. At this point Destro believes the Baroness is dead. We know the Baroness is still alive but Destro has not learned that yet. There is a continuity curiosity here. The Baroness is wearing the uniform that the action figure had. But in the comic book that uniform for the Baroness has not been introduced yet. In fact it will not be introduced for a couple more issues. So there's no reason for this chess piece to have that uniform on the Baroness. It's a minor detail that does not detract from the emotion of this scene. Destro is grieving over his lost love. We cut back to the dungeon and the cover over the oobliet and we see Storm Shadow's feet. Again there's minimal artwork here but because these locations were established earlier we know exactly where we are within the castle. Storm Shadow lifts the cover only to suddenly have a chain wrapped around his neck and he is pulled down by Scarlet. This is one thing I like about Scarlet and a few of the other GI Joe characters who are not intimidated by ninjas. Scarlet in particular has been involved with martial arts pretty much her whole life. She is an experienced fighter and she will not hesitate to go up against a guy in pajamas. Scarlet escapes from the oobliet. Storm Shadow tries to grab her ankle but he gets his face smashed with the manhole cover. Outside the castle we see Snake Eyes has knocked out the cobra guard with the night vision goggles but he is confronted by two armed cobra troopers. This panel, while simple, provides a lot of information. We see the result of Snake Eyes' attack on the guard from the shape of the walls and the columns we know where we are within the castle. On the battlements we see Snake Eyes' Uzi and the rope. These are all important elements that will come back later. After that we have four wide and short panels that capture brief moments in time in quick succession. We see the cobra troopers draw their AK-47s. We see Snake Eyes draw his knife and then Snake Eyes throws his knife at one of the troopers and then Karate chops the other. This page is a lesson in comic book pacing. The large first panel slows down the action a bit and provides a lot of information in it. The numerous smaller panels with distinct snapshots of the action quicken the pace and make the action much more rapid. The quick action continues on the next page with four tall thin panels where Snake Eyes grabs for his Uzi but one of the cobra troopers reaches him and grabs him by the neck. Snake Eyes then quickly throws him over the wall. Another wide but small panel shows Destro in front of that computer monitor turn toward the window to see that trooper falling. The page finishes with a larger panel which slows the action down a bit and implies a greater passage of time. In that longer passage of time Destro has rallied a squad of cobra troopers and is leading them up the steps toward the battlements. Perspective comic book artists take note. These last two pages are a clinic in comic book pacing. At the top of the stairs, the cobra guard with the night vision goggles points Destro in the direction of the intruder. Destro and the other cobra troopers run in that direction and around the corner. That cobra guard removes his helmet and behind him we can see a rope tied around one of the battlements. Remember we saw that rope on the previous page. The shot zooms out and we see that cobra guard is suspended by the rope on the outside of the wall and he's in his underwear because that cobra's uniform was taken by Snake Eyes. The next page is back in the dungeon with a close-up of the manhole cover over the open hole to the oobliette but no storm shadow he has crawled out. Storm Shadow is now in a room in the castle that we have not seen before. It's a dark room with some pipes on the ceiling and it looks like some silhouetted people hanging upside down. Storm Shadow flashes a secret ninja finger weave. This is a real ninja practice called Kujikiri. Three red ninjas hanging from the ceiling return the ninja hand sign. They are hanging from the ceiling like bats. They are bat ninjas. The three red ninjas drop to the floor and draw their weapons. One has a sword. The second one has a pair of scy and the third one has a flail weapon on a chain and a sickle. These ninjas don't have names and this is a silent issue so we wouldn't be told what their names are anyway so I will refer to them as Leonardo, Raphael and Lenin. In another part of the castle Scarlet with a chain is hiding behind a wall observing two cobra troopers carrying the claw glider. They must have had to carry this glider really far because the pacing of this comic implies they took this glider from Storm Shadow like half an hour ago. Maybe they just walk really slow. Scarlet wraps the chain around both their necks and smacks their heads together. She straps on the claw powered glider and takes off. We presume she is flying toward an open window but we don't see that. Snake Eyes has made it to the dungeon where he inspects the empty obliette. He was really expecting to find someone there unbeknownst to Snake Eyes but be known to us Leonardo is hanging above him with his sword drawn. Leonardo swings at Snake Eyes with the sword but Snake Eyes ducks and then clobbers him with the manhole cover. Leonardo drops to the ground and Snake Eyes smashes him again. So far that manhole cover has been the most effective weapon in this issue. On the next page we re-establish ourselves as being in the dungeon at the bottom of the stairs. Snake Eyes looks up to the top of the stairs and sees Raphael with his sigh. Raphael does some fancy moves with his ninja weapons. Snake Eyes just chucks a grenade at him and blows him up. After the blast from the grenade the doorway is now chipped and damaged and there are little pieces which may be bits of ninja on the stairs. Snake Eyes climbs to the top of the stairs but there's another doorway. Again using the shape of the door to establish the location. Inside the doorway Lenin and Storm Shadow are waiting with their weapons drawn. They're trying to take Snake Eyes by surprise but Snake Eyes is too fast for them. He catches the flail and wraps the chain around Lenin's head. At the same time Storm Shadow lunges with the sword. Again these panels are short and wide so the pace of the action is picking up. Snake Eyes swings Lenin in the path of Storm Shadow's sword and uses the red ninja as a human shield. Snake Eyes leaps above Storm Shadow and with both feet stomps him on the head. There are a couple important things happening in this panel that would be easy to miss. The right sleeve on Snake Eyes' uniform has been cut and the arm wrapping on Storm Shadow's right arm is unraveling. Storm Shadow is stunned so Snake Eyes beats it through the door. On the outside of the castle Snake Eyes finds himself on the top of a tall wall and he sees Scarlet on the Cobra Claw. If you look at the position of the radar dishes and the anti-aircraft gun you can tell we are now on the back side of the castle. Here the timing seems a little odd and some of the events we have seen must have been happening simultaneously. We saw Scarlet escape on the Cobra Claw four pages ago and it's unlikely she would have just been flying around the castle. She didn't know Snake Eyes was there to rescue her so she wouldn't have been flying around looking for him. But now she does see him and she seems quite happy to see him but Storm Shadow lurks in the background. Scarlet sees Storm Shadow with his sword drawn and swoops down to land. As Storm Shadow prepares to throw his sword at Snake Eyes, Scarlet lands between them just as the sword leaves Storm Shadow's hand. Storm Shadow is a little stunned by this. He didn't intend to kill Cobra Commander's valuable prisoner. Storm Shadow may be the only blue-eyed Japanese man alive. So Scarlet is ready to sacrifice herself and take the sword for Snake Eyes but Snake Eyes reaches over her grabs the sword and flings it over his head. Some readers have criticized Scarlet's self-sacrifice here wondering why she didn't just land the glider facing Snake Eyes so the sword would just hit the back of the glider rather than flying at her face. And I guess that's a point but in an emergency situation like this there is no time to plan. The only thing she was thinking was there was a sword headed towards Snake Eyes and she was going to stop it. Scarlet and Snake Eyes take off in the Cobra Claw escaping into the night. Instead of Snake Eyes rescuing Scarlet, Scarlet rescued him. As they fly away we see the tear on Snake Eyes' right sleeve and under his sleeve we see a tattoo on his arm. A distinctive tattoo with red broken and solid lines. The final panel is Storm Shadow. His arm wrapping has unraveled and we see the same tattoo on his right forearm. There is so much to unpack here it's hard to know exactly where to begin. First how did this issue come about? Larry has said they were up against a deadline. They had to produce this issue in about three weeks so they had to use every method they could to streamline the process. One way to make the process quicker was to skip the lettering. If they didn't have to send it to a letterer that would save them a week. Another way to make it quicker was for Larry Hama to both write and draw the issue himself. And he did both at the same time essentially creating the story as he was doing the pencils. Most GI Joe fans know Larry Hama as a writer but he started out as an artist and he is a quite competent penciler. Larry has said he wrote this issue page by page never knowing what was going to happen next and making it up as he went. And while I don't doubt that there was obviously some thought that went into it particularly in the design of the castle. Another way the process was streamlined was by creating an environment for the story that could be established with very few lines. The artwork was minimalist and quick but very effective. The reason this issue is valuable to all comic fans is because it is a master class in comic book storytelling. This is how you do sequential art. Comic book artwork is about more than just drawing pretty pictures. You have to tell a story with the artwork and when it's done well the reader should be able to follow that story even without the words. There is no part of this issue where you don't know who the characters are, where they are and what is happening. Each panel flows into the next. It is subtle, it is brilliant and my understanding is it wasn't especially well received by readers at the time. Some readers thought it was a mistake. They thought they forgot to put in the dialogue. Which is absurd if you know anything about the comic book creative process at that time. That's not something that could really happen. Some readers thought it was too quick. Without words to read they just flipped through the pages and it was over. The appreciation for this issue has grown over time. As the readers have matured and better understood what was presented to them. This issue had many implications on the GI Joe storyline. And not the least of which was the introduction of Storm Shadow. A character that had a huge impact on the whole series. We establish more of Scarlett's character. We know she is a fighter. We know she is not just going to wait to be rescued. She will take every opportunity to escape as any Joe would. We learn more about her relationship with Snake Eyes. We learn he is willing to go on a high-risk solo mission to rescue her. We get a moment with Destro as he looks over the literal and proverbial chess match between Cobra and GI Joe. We even get a window into his tortured soul as he mourns the Baroness. We see the Red Ninjas for the first time. That's another element that will come back in the future. The Silent Castle itself becomes so popular it has to make a comeback too. The gimmick of the Silent Issue became a hallmark of the GI Joe series. And there were several others all of which involved Snake Eyes. Snake Eyes of course is a character that does not speak. He is a silent character. So of course he gets the silent issues. Then there is the last page where we see Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow both have the same distinctive tattoo, implying they are linked together somehow. But at this point we don't know how. And I could tell you about that link now but I will save that for future reviews. I can tell you that this distinctive tattoo symbol they have is a hexagram from the Yi Qing, specifically hexagram number 63, which is a water and flame symbol, meaning already forwarding or something that is already completed. This is not the first time Larry Hama has used an Yi Qing hexagram in his work. Going back to Larry Hama's first comic book artwork, back in Marvel premiere featuring Iron Fist number 16, he used an Yi Qing hexagram on the character of Lei Keng. So these symbols are not just a hallmark of G.I. Joe but of Larry Hama himself. That concludes my review. I hope I have covered enough. There is so much to this issue. It's probably impossible to cover everything in one video. I encourage everyone to get this issue, to read this issue slowly, to look at each panel and each page and notice everything in it. And if you have the chance and you're at a convention, definitely go to one of Larry Hama's panels about this issue. It is very enlightening and will add a whole new dimension to Silent Interlude. That was my review of G.I. Joe issue number 21. This is a landmark issue in the series. The series is different after issue number 21. It will become more mature and more sophisticated. And we're about to look at my favorite era of the series. Thanks for watching. I'm trying to do these comic book reviews once a month. And I have G.I. Joe toy reviews every week. So please subscribe to the channel so you don't miss them. I am on social media on Facebook and Twitter. And I have a website, hcc788.com. Thanks to my patrons for making these videos possible. If you like the channel and you'd like to support the channel in that way, please check out my Patreon. I have more videos coming up for you soon. I'll see you then. Until then, remember only G.I. Joe is G.I. Joe.