GI JOE #50To be honest, I didn't think I would be able to stick with this thread, to this point. Place your bets for issue #155.
Flint isn't really gonna be able to do much damage with a shotgun, from that distance. In military circles, it is used for close range fighting, particularly the point man, on a patrol.
Roll Call: Larry Hama-Here!,
Rod Whigham-Y0!,
Andy Mushynsky-Joe!,
Knock off the wisecracks, Mushynsky!Joe Rosen-Present!, George Roussos-Ayup!,
What did I just tell Mushynsky there, Roussos? Bob Harras-Affirmative!,
Jim Shooter-He's at sick call!
What, again?Mission Report: The JOEs have launched their assault on Springfield and Cobra. The pathfinder team has encountered heavy resistance and is retreating, though no one is laying down covering fire and they are running like a bunch of Italian soldiers in Libya!
The proper way to conduct a fighting retreat is for one group to take up defensive positions, laying down heavy, sustained fire, while the other group falls back and takes up new positions, to then provide covering fire for the other group's withdrawal, making the enemy pay for every inch of ground, while leapfrogging to safer or more defendable positions. This is just Arthurian battle tactics, in the face of a superior enemy....
I noticed Scarlett is helpless and slung over Snake Eyes' back, so as to show off her rear echelon!
Serpentor is leading Cobra in a counter-attack, to retake the airport, anticipating Stalker's moves. Spirit radios ahead to warn Hawk that Cobra is threatening their hold on the airport. Hawk has identified the Museum as the operational HQ and plans on assaulting it, but, his security team is spread out and will take time to fall back and defend the airport. he orders the pathfinders to try to hold Cobra until they arrive in force and Hawk can carry out his assault on the museum.
Serpentor is busy doing his Robert Duvall imitation......
Firefly tells him to get his head down; but, he is too busy playing Patton. Troopers go down and he orders in medics, saying they are not animals. He continues to lead his men forward.
Destro oversees the evacuation of families, covering them with HISS tanks. The adults burn files and compromising documents and they even put down family pets, because there will not be room for them. the kids try to stop dad from shooting their Cobra Spaniels (Hiss Puppies? Serpent Shepherds? Snake-Peis?) The families assemble at the high school, while more armor provides security.
Serpentor leads a head-on charge on the JOE's strongpoint. Stalker tells them to pick their targets.
At the airport, the security team shows up, reporting that they have blocked road exits with burning vehicles. They create a defensive perimeter and Hawk orders his strike team to head for the museum.
Inside the museum, Buzzer tells the Dreadnok's that Zartan is a prisoner in the Pit and he knows where it is. They decide to grab Storm Dhadow's katana, from his tank and a zombie hand stops him and takes it back from him, as Storm Shadow rises up out of the tank....
At the high school, Destro throws a pep rally....
The Baroness questions why he hasn't bugged out in a Rattler and he says he chose his side, with Cobra Commander and his honor is greater than any love for her, especially since she has proven to be....shall we say, "Liberal with her affections."
Hell, that gal is looser than a pair of Fat Elvis' pants on Young Elvis!
"A-thank-ya, thank-ya verra much! Yer beautiful; ya realla are!"
Destro moves the families out to the football field in groups.
Serpentor is hit, leading the charge, but he just sticks his knife into a nearby fire and heats the blade to red hot and slaps it onto the wound, cauterizing it. He continues to rile his fanatics into continuing their attack.
What are these guys, the Simbas?
The JOE decide to put some real estate between them and Cobra, before they launch another attack. they find a garbage truck and Snake Eyes hotwires it and they take off, using the lip of the container as cover for a rear defense, provided by Leatherneck and Beachhead.
In the museum, Storm Shadow is.....not-dead, but he also seems to think he is the Eternal Champion.....
He is interrupted by the arrival of Hawk's strike force. They hit the building with artillery, then storm the building. Storm Shadow flees, as do the Dreadnok's. The JOEs find Ripcord and get him to a medic. he warns them that the entire place is rigged to blow and Hawk orders their withdrawal.
At the airport, things are quiet......a little too quiet. (
TM Hollywood Cliches, Inc.) Flash is part of the group conducting a search of the hangars and airport facilities, looking for ambushers or other surprises. he finds explosives rigged on a timed detonator and radios a warning.
At the high school, Cobra Vipers lay the last of the demolition charges. Their officer takes to the air, in a FANG gunship and observes the detonations, as the tunnel between the high school and the airport is demolished. It then flies over the high school football field and we learn what Cobra's real evacuation plan was......
Families board their assigned utility helicopters, which then lift off, with FANGS providing air cover.
At the airport, HISS tanks launch an attack on the perimeter fencing, with spotlights blazing into the eyes of the defenders.....
The JOEs take aim at the lights, when, suddenly, they are turned off and the HISS tanks disappear. The lights come on again and they hear engines roaring and wonder why they are so loud. Stalker halts them from firing. It's the strike team. They said the HISS tanks were in front of them and then they lost them, when they shut off their lights. Then, they hear roaring and see lights and hit it with everything they have got. They discover thant the tanks are unmanned, with controls rigged to move them in a straight line, throttles opened, mufflers removed, to cover the sounds of their withdrawal. The Joes have been snookered!
Shipwreck fires his flare gun and the see that Cobra transport helos are flyin over the runway, headed out. They must have picked up the troops, while the JOEs were firing on the vehicles.
The helicopter fleet heads for Cobra Island. In one chopper, The Baroness congratulates Serpentor on his diversionary strategy and he thanks her for picking him up, along with his men and we see The Baroness suck up to the new boss, while Destro sticks a finger in his mouth.
Hawk debriefs the team at the airport. All they have to show for their work is a destroyed town and some legit cops who claim they didn't know Cobra ran the town. They have no evidence of Cobra's presence or activities and Hawk says he will have to face the music, without cover-up.
Oh, please, this is America; a cover-up of a military debacle is a given!
On Cobra Island, Cobra Commander receives word of Serpentor's brilliant evacuation of Springfield and realizes he is an ambitious threat to his leadership. he also forgets Dr Mindbender's name, again....
Elsewhere, in New Jersey, the Dreadnok's stolen ambulance rolls up to their gas station/garage hideout and run into Zartan's sister, Zarana....
I think she is going to have a bit of trouble drawing that pistol from its holster, with those obstructions!
Analysis: bang up ending to the current storyline and the debut of Serpentor. The JOEs secure defeat, from the jaws of victory, as Cobra was able to divert their attention, while they evacuated Springfield and moved their entire operation to Cobra Island. The JOEs have no intel on Cobra activities and no proof to their presence in Springfield, though, that can't be true. It is unlikely that everything was destroyed below ground, regardless of whether they fully caved in the tunnels and chambers. An excavation would reveal evidence of Cobra. They didn't have time to strip it bare. Also, how the hell did they traverse the distance from Springfield, which was somewhere in New England, to the Gulf of Mexico, without being on constant radar surveillance, not to mention attack from scrambled fighters? Did the entire US Law Enforcement and Armed Forces take a holiday? Out smoking a cigarette? Too busy watching Miami Vice?
It also further begs the question why they didn't have air support to assault an entire city? They should have had squadrons of Skystrikers and Dragonflies preventing even a mosquito from flying through that airspace, let alone an entire fleet of Cobra helicopters from lifting off. I think it is high time to launch an investigation into Hawk's leadership, as this is some serious FUBAR strategy! I'm talkin' Congressional hearings, on CSPAN and a lot of whispering with lawyers, before answering questions.
You know, for someone who is supposed to be a badass, Scarlett sure seems to get rescued...a lot! No one ever has to carry Tripwire off the battlefield!
Lots of toys on display; but Hama keeps it mostly centered on the characters and the fight, while pulling off his magic trick. Nice climax to a pretty decent storyline and set up for the next phase.
Speaking of the next phase.....
Special Missions Preview-
Creative Team: Larry Hama-story, Herb Trimpe-art, P Felix-letters, Bob Sharen-colors, Don Daley & Bob Harras-editors, Jim Shooter-in the Command & Control truck
Synopsis: Off the coast of Oregon, a Soviet Aeroflot jet, en route from San Francisco, has been hijacked and a flight of F-14s are shadowing it.....
The big question is....why?
The group responsible calls itself the Leon Trotsky Brigade of the Fourth International. Trotsky was driven from the Soviet Union by Stalin's forces, after the death of Lenin and was killed in Mexico, under Stalin's orders. this group seeks to exact revenge on Stalin's heirs, so they say. The JOE team examine the bodies of a camera crew that was supposed to cover a US Chess team traveling to Moscow for a match against the Soviets, including a prodigy, Carlisle Anderson. The terrorists killed the crew and took their passports, then used their equipment cases to smuggle disassembled weapons onboard and then seize control, in flight.
Beachhead and Lady J are sent via supersonic transport (wouldn't a military fighter make more sense?) to Anchorage, where they hope to lure the plane to land, for refueling.
On the plane, Carlisle questions the female leader of the group, suggesting that there is no winning scenario for them, except...which she cuts off. We are reminded that one of the terrorists, is a terminal case, with explosives strapped to his body and a dead man's switch in his hand. If he releases the switch, it detonates. If he is killed, it goes off. If he dies of natural causes, it goes off. If he gets an itch and scratches with the wrong hand, it goes off.
In San Francisco's Mission District, the Fourth International are barricaded in their headquarters, surrounded by SFPD SWAT teams, who are waiting on an armored car. Hawk and Stalker arrive and defy the SFPD authority, claiming they have orders from the President (who cannot order the military into a civilian neighborhood, without the consent of the state governor and municipal authorities and this is California and Ronald Reagan is President of the United States. Diane Feinstein ain't havin' it!) Hawk and Stalker storm the building, armed with Tasers.
Meanwhile, in Alaska, a terrorist threatens to shoot a stewardess if anyone tries anything. The negotiation team has talked with the pilot and have confirmed three terrrorists: one forward, one aft and one midships.
In San Francisco, the Fourth International has an old .30 cal water-cooled machine gun. Hawk diverts the attention of the others, while Stalker tases the female gunner....
In Anchorage, the fuel truck rolls up to the plane and starts the refueling process. Flint, Beachhead and Lady J slip out from under the vehicle and into the landing gear wells of the aircraft. Once the refueling is finished, the leader orders the stewardess to be shot. The terrorist holding the weapon objects.....
The terrorists order the pilot to fly over the Aleutians, on a direct course for restricted airspace. The pilot says that the government will scramble MIGs and shoot them down and the terrorist reminds him of their F-14 escorts. meanwhile, the JOEs use hand torches to cut their way into the airframe and the cargo and passenger areas.
The prisoner in San Francisco is a rich trust fund baby who found a cause and won't talk. Hama makes like every Right Wing writer of the 70s and 80s, claiming that criminals have more rights than the victims, then they shove her into a cell, where she finds out that her oppressed sisters of the Proletariat consider her fresh meat.
Beachhead emerges into a crawlspace, under the passenger section, while Lady J finds herself in the luggage compartment. She then gets dressed in a stewardess uniform, hoping that they haven't kept a headcount of the crew....
Hope she packed her combat heels; the boots might be a giveaway!
A child hears something moving under her seat and her mother hushes her up.
outside the plane, a pair of MIG-23s take up station and hail the aircraft, warning them they are approaching restricted airspace and ordering them to divert course.
Carlisle requests permission to pick up his chessboard and pieces, to play out a new stategem and the female terrorist agrees, and he sees beachhead, under the seat, cautioning him to stay silent, as he retrieves a piece.
In San Francisco, the great freedom fighter of the Proletariat talks and gives up the plan. Hawk radios the intel to Lady J. The terrorists plan on taking the plane and crashing it into a chemical weapons depot, in Beringovskiy, releasing the nerve gases and toxins into the atmosphere, killing millions. He gives Lady J the go ahead to take down the terrorists.
Meanwhile, the Soviets see that the plane isn't changing course and order it to be shot down. Thankfully, Soviet bureaucracy buys them some time, as the MIG flight leader waits for authorization to fire.
On the plane, Beachhead is in position, hidden by Carlisle's seat, with Carlisle and his opponent turned to block the terrorist's view and give Beachhead, a path to act. Flint emerges into a bathroom and takes position to jump out the door. he cuts a hole to watch for the terrorist covering the cockpit, who he expects to react when Lady J sets things in motion. She comes up out of the crawlspace, in Aeroflot uniform and the little girl alerts her mommy. Lady J quiets her, then gets out in the aisle, directing passengers to buckle their seatbelts, as they are experiencing mild turbulence. The female terrorist questions the announcement. She doesn't recognize Lady J. meanwhile, the terrorist with the bomb and dead man's switch is getting twitchy, in anticipation.
Beachhead lunges out and grabs the terrorist's Sten submachine gun, and she fires a burst. The terrorist in the cockpit reacts and heads back to the passenger compartment....
She then slams a satchel charge against the door and warns the passengers to be ready for the oxygen masks to drop. She takes cover and blows out the aircraft door and the suicide terrorist is sucked out in the outrush of air. Beachhead has the surviving terrorist subdued, at knifepoint. Flint alerts the captain and he diverts the plane from its course.
The MIGs receive authorization but the leader radios back that the plane has diverted and the MIGs stand down. The plane flies back to San Francisco, where Hawk meets them and discovers that Lady J is still trapped in the bathroom, where she took cover, when she set off the satchel charge.
Thoughts: Excellent debut for the new GI JOE Special Missions companion series. We get a an exciting skyjacking plot and watch the JOEs operate as a small unit, on a mission for which a special operations team, like Delta Force, is trained. The only real hiccup is that tasing the bomber might cause spasming, which would potentially release the dead man switch. Seems like a rather risky plan, as they have to try to blow the hatch before the switch is released ad it has to be placed after tasing him.
The depiction of the Fourth International is pure stereotype, that all American Communists were pampered rich kids who were getting back at mommy and daddy by rebelling and joining the working classes in the struggle against the ruling classes. The reality is that Communist sympathies drew across class lines and tended to come more from the educated middle classes and labor organizers, though the American party lost much support in the wake of Stalin's actions in purging the Red Army, their manipulations in the Spanish Civil War, the Molotov Pact (which split Poland between them, until the Germans broke the treaty with the invasion of Russia) and similar actions. Once war broke out, even labor had abandoned ties with the Comintern, preferring amore Socialist ideology than a Communist. Even before, Socialist influences were stronger than Communist.
It's the Reagan 80s, though, and we have to perpetuate BS stereotypes for political gain, while giving a big tax break to the wealthy and crushing debt to everyone else.
Anyway.....
The basic tactics here, apart from the questionable tasing and hatch blowing, are pretty sound and based somewhat on history. Hostage rescue teams trained in assaulting aircraft, though in a more direct manner, using ladders to scale the aircraft and blow out a hatch, attacking from two or more points, to take out the terrorists quickly; or, infiltrating operators into the aircraft, disguised as groundcrew or medical staff. Generally speaking, most airine hijacking ended in a negotiated release of the hostages, in neutral territory, or in a release when the plane landed in friendly territory, while the hijackers escaped to someplace like Libya.
In 1977, 4 terrorists from the Popular Front for the liberation of Palestine (PFLP, a Palestinian faction that split with the PLO), hijacked Lufthansa Flight 181, en route between Palmade Mallorca and Frankfurt. The plane was forced to divert from course and land in Rome, for refueling. the terrorists were demanding the release of Red Army Faction terrorists from West German prisons and called themselves Command Martyr Halma, named in honor of Brigitte Kuhlmann, who was one of the terrorists who hijacked Air France Flight 139, en route from Athens to Paris. That flight was forced to divert to benghazi, where it refueled and took on more terrorists and then travled to Entebbe, Uganda, where it offloaded the passengers and crew into the old terminal building. The terrorists released all hostages, except Israelis, and the French flight crew, who refised to leave the passengers behind. the Israeli government negotiated, while the Sayeret Matkal (Israeli special forces) prepared a rescue mission. The Israeili units flew in two C-130 Hercules Cargo planes, approached low over Lake Victoria and landed, then disembarked the rescue team on foot and in jeeps and armored cars, to secure the terminal building, destroy Ugandan fighter planes and block reinforcements from Kampala. They succeeded in killing the terrorists, including Germans Wilfred Bose and Brigitte Kuhlmann and brought the hostages safely back to Israel, apart from a few casualties among the passengers and one soldier, Col Jonathan Netanyahu, the ground force commander and brother of Israel's current Prime Minister (an event that informs his hard line stance, in politics).
The Lufthansa flight then jumped around between Cypress, Bahrain, Dubai, Aden and, finally, Mogadishu, in Somalia. The German government ordered its counter-terror group (
Grenzschutzgruppe9 (GSG9), to devise a rescue plan. GSG 9 had cross trained with the British SAS in counter-terror tactics and rescue operations, including airliner rescues. Col Ulrich Wegener, head of GSG 9, flew ahead to conduct a reconnaissance and develop an attack plan, while the assault forces remained on standby. They were then called in and briefed. the plan was to approach the aircraft from a rear blind spot and use black aluminum ladders to enter the plane via escape thatches and wing doors. The Somali military was engaged to provide a diversion, allowing the rescue team to approach the aircraft. They also acted as security to keep others away from the aircraft. They set off explosions ahead of the aircraft, while the GSG 9 team moved into position. One team entered via the rear, while Wegener lead the forward team. They blew open the hatches and employed flash-bang stun grenades to disorient the terrorists (obtained from the SAS) and then shouted, in German, for the passengers and crew to hit the floor and stay there, as they quickly shot and killed the four terrorists. One of the assault force was wounded and three passengers received minor wounds, but no fatalities. They then deployed emergency chutes and removed the passengers from the plane. The operation was carried out in 5 minutes.
The 1970s experienced a rash of airline hijackings and terrorist attacks, with groups ranging from lone individuals to Palestinian splinter groups, Red Army Faction (from various countries, including Germany, Italy and Japan), Moluccan Separatists (hijacking a Dutch train and taking hostages in a school), the Iranian separatist seizure of their embassy in London (with the SAS carrying out a dramatic rescue) and the Iranian seizure of the US Embassy. In 1972, Belgian air service Sabena Flight 571, from Brussels to Tel Aviv was hijacked by members of the Black September group (which had carried out the Munich Massacre) and forced to land at Lod Airport (now ben Gurion Airport), where they demanded the release of 315 convicted terrorists. Sayeret Matkal commandos, including future prime ministers Ehud Barak and benjamin Netanyahu, disguised as groundcroew, stormed the plane and killed the 4 terrorists.
So pretty much ripped from the headlines.
This has the added twist of an attack on the Soviet Union by Trotskyist sympathizers, while using the presence of US military aircraft and passengers to create a hesitation in the Soviet response, until it is too late. You basically have a volatile situation that could trigger World War III, and/or devastate a large part of the Soviet Union, with chemical weapons. Very good plot structure for a tense thriller. This specialized mission also allows tighter focus on other members of the team; in this case, Lady J, Flint and Beachhhead. Lady J has mostly been in the background, after her bitchy debut. She is supposed to be an Intelligence specialist, with wide language skills. It makes sense for her to be there, especially to pose as a stewardess and move about the plane (assuming any of the rest of them were still alive). Only problem is that she is an E-4, despite having a degree from Bryn Mawr and a graduate degree from trinity College. That is the pedigree of an officer. Makes me wonder if Hama didn't want to have any female characters in positions of authority, though there are other officers who are written to be subordinate to NCOs. Flint is Special Forces, though supposedly cross-trained to fly helos and attended Flight Warrant Officer School. Then why is he an E-6 and a Warrant Officer? By rank, he should be commanding this assault, not to mention specialty. Beachhead is also an E-6 and a Ranger, though he is dressed like he is in the SAS or Royal Marines. Ranger and Special Forces training would be background for hostage rescue, though Rangers would normally act as security, for Delta Force operators, as in Mogadishu, when they attempted to snatch warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid, which led to the Battle of Mogadishu cluster-@#$%.
Aside from who should be in charge, the team isn't armed with weapons used by most hostage rescue teams. GSG 9, the SAS, DEVGRU and Delta Force all favor the German Heckler & Koch MP-5 submachine gun for hostage rescue operations.....
Most submachineguns use an open bolt for rapid loading and extraction of ammunition. This has a side effect of reducing accuracy do to "pulling" in one direction, as well as "muzzle climb," causing the barrel to move away from the target. The MP5 fires from a closed bolt system, which reduces this effect and gives the weapon much greater accuracy; hence, its adoption by police and military special units. It can be fitted with an integral noise suppressor (silencer) which reduces the noise from the muzzle, while maintaining accuracy. It is also available in a more compact MP5K model, designed for bodygruards and special operations, where concelment or ease of movement is necessary. The MP-5K has a more compact frame and shorter barrel, and includes a foregrip to help maintain control. These would be the types that would likely be carried by a resscue team that has to climb through the aircraft internals, to enter the passenger compartment. Their compact size would ease maneuvering through confined spaces, while maintaining firepower and the accuracy needed for close quartes combat and minimal loss of life. Flint's shotgun might be used to blow hinges off a door, but it is too dangerous a weapon to use around hostages. Lady J is ared with a Taser, while we don't see Beachhead carrying his weapon, merely grabbing the Sten Mk II from the female terrorist. The other terrorist is armed with an Ingram M10, which is a compact 9 mm submachine gun (the type carried by Snake Plissken, in Escape from New York and endless episodes of Miami Vice, besides Uzis), which would be an ideal type for smuggling aboard an aircraft, in camera equipment cases. The Sten breaks down easily into three sections, which is why it was supplied to resistance units, during WW2. It could be broken down to be carried in a knapsack or valise, then quickly snapped together and armed. The water-cooled .30 cal machine gun, at the Fourth International HQ, is ludicrous and probably used for comic effect, as the female is tased.
I'm not usually a fan of Herb Trimpe's art style, but he does a nice job here, especially with the aircraft. he was a pilot and aviation enthusiast, so it makes sense. He does a good job with the characters and the setting, on the plane. His design of the Aeroflot stewardess uniform is almost correct, though he blows it on the cap emblem, as what he draws looks more like what their cap device was like, in the 60s (worn on garrison cap-style uniform caps), rather than their 1980s emblem.
He's also missing the white blouse, though that could be a color error, as the whole uniform is colored blue. It should be a darker navy blue; but, it's a pretty good effort. The cap is close enough for Soviet Government work.
Despite the stereotypes, Aeroflot was no different than the Western airlines in recruiting attractive young women to be stewardesses and dress them in stylish and attractive uniforms. Heck, these days, they are going for downright sexy!
Western airlines have gone for more functional and businesslike and less overtly "sex object," though they haven't discarded heels for more practical footwear.
This is an excellent debut for the new series and likely to draw in readers for the launch, though you have to wonder if they haven't used up their plot ammo on the first story. Time will tell. I will try to alternate between the two series, as they progress. Expect me to continue to grouse if they continue to F-up the naval portrayals.