And a serious , and surprisingly brutal, role for Roger Moore who got to demonstrate some acting chops he didn't get in his usual roles.

I've seen all three of ffolkes, The Wild Geese, and The Sea Wolves and would agree that ffolkes is the most enjoyable of them. Moore said that ffolkes was a deliberate attempt to play an action hero who was are far removed from Bond as possible while still remaining in the same genre.

Stalker and Beach Head are Rangers. So, I think, is Repeater, although he is a later addition to the team.

driver1980, another group you find interesting is the 1st Alaskan Combat Intelligence Platoon (Provisional), aka Alaskan Scouts,but far more commonly known by their nickname Castner's Cutthroats. They were instrumental in defeating the Japanese during the Aleutian Islands Campaign. The unit was composed of just sixty-five men selected to perform reconnaissance missions in the Aleutian Islands during the war. They were very much a WWII version of Rogers' Rangers.

They were organized by Colonel Lawrence Castner in order to create a unit that was fully functional with only minimal outfitting. Castner chose men skilled at flourishing in the tough conditions of the Alaskan wilderness including the native Aleuts and Inuits, sourdough prospectors, hunters, trappers and fishermen. Appreciating their unique talents, Col. Castner did not enforce standard military procedures on his unit and they were given a great deal of freedom in order to get the job done.

Their exploits make fascinating reading. The last surviving member of the Cutthroats, Earl C. Acuff, died in 2014, aged 94.

Probably because the Aleutian Islands Campaign is such a little known part of WWII, they are not nearly as famous as they should be.

Also worth checking out are another unit that are claimed in the Ranger lineage are the Alamo Scouts. They were formed in 1943, in New Guniea, to act as a recon unit, in the Pacific islands (specifically, within MacArthur's command sector), behind enemy lines. They acted in conjunction with the 6th Ranger Battalion (which was formed in 1942, for service in the Pacific Theater) in carrying out the Cabanatuan Raid. During the fighting to liberate the Philippines, intelligence was received that the Japanese had begun executing prisoners of war and the prison at Cabanatuan was going to be next. An ad hoc force of the 6th Rangers and the Alamo Scouts, along with a Filipino guerrilla force, were put together, under command of anger Lt Col Henry Mucci. They snuck past the Japanese lines and marched to a rendezvous with the Filipino forces, scouted the camp and prepared to assault it. The camp was surrounded by open ground, so the plan was made to attack after dusk, but before moonrise. A suggestion was made to have a plane fly over the camp to draw the Japanese guards attention skyward while the Rangers bellycrawled to the perimeter fence. A P-61 flew over and simulated losing power and flew over the surrounding hills, making it look like they were crashing. The ranger force crawled along the ground during the 20 minutes of the distraction, cut telephone lines into the camp. At 19:40 hours, the raiders let loose with small arms fire, targeting watch towers and pillboxes, destroying them. The padlock was shot off the main gate and the raiders rushed in, Killing Japanese and locating the prisoners and securing them. The prisoners were gathered (some forcibly, as they thought it was a trick, due to extended captivity) and the plan was to march out, but the prisoners were too weak. Wagons were gathered by the Filipino guerrillas to transport the freed Americans back across the lines, to safety. 489 POWs and 33 civilians were liberated in the raid.

The book Ghost Soldiers, by Hampton Sides, details the raid and formed the basis for the film The Great Raid.

A few weeks later, another raid was conducted on the Los Banos Prison Camp, liberating 2147 American and Filipino citizens and POWs, in a similar action.

Sadly, despite the modern weapons and training since then, those stand as the only large scale rescue missions successfully executed by the US Military. During the Vietnam War, a mission was planned and executed to rescue American POWs from the Son Tay prison, but the prisoners had been moved before the assault force landed (in a helicopter assault, led by Col Bull Simons). The military failed to collect intelligence before the raid to verify the presence of the POWs and acted on outdated intel. The unofficial patch for the raiding force was a mushroom, with the initials KITD/FOS stitched above it, which stood for "Kept in the Dark/Fed Only S@#$"

GI JOE Special Missions #1



Hang on folks, it's time for Hell Week!



Creative Team: Larry Hama-writer, Herb Trimpe-art, Phil Felix-letters, Bob Sharen-colors, Don Daley & Bob Harras-editors, Jim Shooter-too tall for BUD/S

Synopsis: Somewhere in the Baltic Sea, a Swedish-flagged trawler is buzzed by a Soviet Mi-24 "Hind" gunship. The crew note no signs of spy-ship electronics, but also note that the trawler has no fish on its decks and believes it is not what it seems. The gunship is piloted by Daina, of the Oktober Guard, while Colonel Brekhov is in the gunner's position. He surveys the ship and crew and identifies Deep Six, comparing his face, through binoculars, to a war book, with identified JOE Team members.



On the trawler, we see Cutter on the bridge, at the helm, while Torpedo surveys the helo and confirms sighting Daina piloting it, confirming it is the Oktober Guard, rather than a Soviet naval patrol. We see Shipwreck in the galley, "mess cranking," while his parrot mocks his cooking. Deep Six and Wet Suit are securing a tarp over their cargo.

Before the team can react to the Oktober Guard flyover, they get a radar contact from the north, which isn't the right direction for Soviet air support. It turns out to be the Baroness, leading a squadron of Cobra FANG helicopters, on an attack run. They fire heat-seeking missiles at the Hind, while Daina conducts evasive maneuvers and Col Brekhov deploys "chaff." They take some cannon fire, but Brekhov downs one of the 3 FANGs. They take more hits, but are able to paint a second helo with a target designator and hit it with missiles. That leaves the Baroness and they head into a chicken run, simultaneously firing missiles.....



Both helos are damaged and they break off. The JOEs use the distraction to launch Deep Six, in the SHARC.

The Hind is able to make a hard landing on their mothership, commanded by Captain Bulgakov, harbor master of Kaliningrad and expert on the waters in the area. he is there as a technical advisor as the Oktober Guard hunt an American submarine, apparently lost somewhere in the Baltic. They want its advanced technology to improve their own, especially whatever sound dampening technology aided them in getting past the Scandanavian sound detection systems.

Meanwhile, the Baroness radios Firefly, who is standing by with a Moray hydrofoil and a squad of Eel divers. Baroness ditches her helo in the water and is picked up by the boat. She tells them of the JOEs and Oktober Guard, confirming their intel of a downed American sub. They set course to intercept, to allow a Cobra salvage ship to get there first.

Deep Six begins video transmission to the tawler, when they are hailed by Capt Bulgakov, on the Udaloy, a Soviet Frigate. Cutter feigns a lack of understanding, replying in Swedish gibberish (Saab, smorgasboard, etc). On the starboard side of the Udaloy, Daina and Horror Show slip into the water, in dive gear and intercept the communication line between the trawler and the SHARC. They splice into the cable and tap the video feed.

At the same time, the Cobra MOray pulls up and Baroness hails both ships and suggest that the Soviet ship combine forces with them, to stop the JOEs, while secretly deploying the Eel divers. Shrage calls Brekhov and Bulgakov into the radar room and shows them the tapped feed, revealing a Los Angeles Class attack submarine, of the US Navy. It appears that most systems have been shut down, to conserve energy and air, while it awaits rescue. The Eels have snuck aboard the Udaloy and are reporting back the discovery to the Baroness. She orders them to disable the Udaloy's guns and other weapon systems and they use satchel charges to destroy the ship's guns. A firefight breaks out on the Udaloy, while Daina slips onto the Moray and disables its controls, with a hand grenade.



The Baroness knocks Daina overboard, but their vessel is out of control. They are on a collision course with the Udaloy.

Horror Show reaches the SHARC, but finds it empty and is ambushed by Deep Six, in his deep water dive suit. On the trawler, Torpedo and Wet Suit get into their gear, while Cutter confirms that "skyhook" is on schedule.

Baroness and Firefly board the Udaloy, before their boat crashes into it and quickly overwhelm the Soviet forces in the bow section. The Morays have control of the superstructure, around the smokestack, catching the Oktober Guard in a crossfire, in the center. Bulgakov rdios Col Brekhov that he must keep Cobra away from the bridge, as he maneuvers the frigate. Daina is able to snag onto the stern of the Udaloy and climb up on deck, where she uncases her Dragunov sniper rifle and quickly and efficiently neutralizes the Eels...permanently.



Torpedo and Wet Suit sneak aboard the vessel and get to the bridge, where Capt Bulgakov acknowledges them. They tell him to put on a harness.

Down on the main deck, the Oktober Guard corner the Baroness and Firefly, ordering their surrender. The Baroness laughs at them, as a Cobra submarine surfaces, captained by Destro. Dostro comes out on deck and tells them to cease fighting, that they have been duped.....



He says there is no submarine and that video feed that the Soviets tapped is a fake transmission, sent by the JOE team. Both the Baroness and Col Brekhov are confused as to why, when we soon find out....



Captain Bulgakov is defecting. He remarks that hsi wife was a party loyalist, granddaughter of a Hero of the October Revolution and daughter of a Red Army soldier, who lost both his legs, at Stalingrad. However, she was a Jew and her heritage prevented her husband from ascending to the rank of admiral and it destroyed her love of the Party and sent her in a downward spiral of depression, dying in the previous January. With her died any loyalty he had to the Soviet Union.

The C-130 maneuvers in and carries out a Skyhook extraction of Bulgakov.....



Wild Bill is piloting the C-130, with Hawk in the co-pilot seat. They secure Bulgakov and fly out of range. On the trawler, the JOEs recover the SHARC and Torpedo & Wet Suit, then kick Horror Show over the side, into the ocean. On the Udaloy, the Baroness reminds Col Brekhov that the ship's guns are disabled and the Cobra sub has a torpedo aimed right at them. Brekhov helps them depart the ship, by kicking Baroness and Firefly into the drink.

Thoughts: As a secret extraction mission goes, this is a pretty good yarn, with an excellent disinformation campaign to lure the Oktober Guard into the Baltic, with Bulgakov as a technical advisor, to carry out his defection, under their noses. They let the false submarine intel fall into Cobra's hands, providing them the diversion to keep the Oktober Guard busy, while they slip aboard and prepare Bulgakov for the Fulton Recovery System, aka Skyhook. The trawler is a dummy operation, to feed false information to the Soviets and Cobra, while also allowing Torpedo and Wet Suit, the resident SEALs, to board the Udaloy, secure Bulgakov and prepare him for the Fulton extraction.

As a nautical mission, it is decent, but it assumes that the Soviet Navy are a bunch of chumps (which, to be fair, their surface navy was not the cream of the Soviet fleet...that was their submarine force) and that they would send out Bulgakov. It's a bit of a stretch. If the Soviets really believed that there was a Los Angeles Class submarine disabled in their waters, they would likely deploy an entire task force, including recovery ship, to try to extract it, not just one frigate.

Don't get me started on the JOE Team naval personnel. At least Torpedo and Wet-Suit are used in their actual combat roles and Deep Six actually has a reason to be involved. Plus, he is not decked out like Gilligan, for a change. Shipwreck is still all kinds of wrong, but the parrot is the main stupidity this time.....well, that and the fact that a chief petty officer is cooking for everyone. His uniform is still criminally wrong, but I am not going to belabor that. I wonder if we will ever see him in his correct uniform, working or dress?

The Oktober Guard are depicted in standard scuba gear and the JOE divers in their action figure gear, even though they would be more likely to be using closed-circuit breathing rigs, which are carried across the chest, not the back. Also, no military diver is going to be operating in a green and white wet suit, like Wet Suit. It would be black neoprene. and their swim goggles are much different than a standard scuba mask.



The idea that a US sub would have to sneak past sound detection is a bit much. The Baltic Sea is international waters and US vessels can navigate those waters freely. Now, submarines do not operate openly, for obvious reasons, though they could come into a foreign port, with proper permission. During the Cold War, the US Navy regularly operated in the Baltic, as well as the North Sea, gathering intel on Soviet ship movements and hunting for Soviet submarines operating in friendly waters, near NATO countries. Larry Hama makes mention of a Soviet submarine having run aground, in Swedish waters. On October 27, 1981, a Soviet Whiskey-Class submarine, number S-363, ran aground on the coast of Sweden, approximately 10 miles from Sweden's larget naval base, at Kariskrona. The sub hit a rock, after navigating through several straits and shoals, while the Swedish Navy was conducting an exercise. The sub was forced to surface, within the 12 mile limit. The Swedes sent out an unarmed naval officer to demand an explanation and the Soviet captain claimed failures in navigational equipment, which the Swedes didnt buy, given the treacherous course to get to the base area. The captain agreed to depart the vessel for further questioning, in exchange for immunity and the Swedes examined navigational equipment and other systems. They also secretly used gamma ray spectroscopy, which confirmed the presence of Uranium-238, used in nuclear weapons, such as torpedoes and the indication was from the torpedo tube area. The Soviet's did not acknowledge the presence of nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, Soviet ships were operating in the area and radar detected two vessels entering the 12 mile limit. Sweden deployed its forces, including strike aircraft, with air-to-surface anti-ship missiles. However, the two vessels turned out to be West German merchant ships, answering the subs distress call. Eventually, the sub was towed to international waters and turned over to the Soviet navy. The incident was sometimes referred to as "Whiskey on the Rocks," due to the sub's NATO classification (all Soviet ships were given an alphabetical classification, using the international radio alphabet, from Alfa to Zulu. Whiskey is the designation for W). The Whiskey-Class submarines were early Cold War design diesel-electric submarines, with no nuclear reactor. Therefore, only nuclear weapons would give the readings the Swedes detected. This was a major point of tension during the 1980s and there were several other incidents, involving submarines, in the Baltic, including collisions.

In 1968, the Soviet Kilo-Class submarine, K-129 was lost, while on a normal patrol, somewhere in the Pacific. After missing two radio checks, ships were deployed in an attempt to locate it. US military forces were alerted by the Soviet naval activity and a check of sonar surveillance and other electronic recordings suggested the location of a submarine, which they believe suffered a hull breach, based on rexordings that were interpreted as an explosion. The Soviets, lacking the sophisticated technology, finally called off their search, assuming the vessel was lost, with all hands. The USS Halibut confirmed the location of the wreck and conducted a survey and a bathysphere may have also carried out a survey. The Kilo-class was a ballistic missile submarine type and the US government saw an opportunity to get their hands on Soviet nuclear missiles, for study. They launched Project Azorian, to secretly recover the submarine. The CIA funded the construction of the Hughes Glomar Explorer, using the cover story that it was to be used to mine manganese, from the ocean floor. During the attempt to salvage the vessel, a claw failed and the section they were trying to raise broke apart and the sail area was lost. It was alleged that they did recover part of the bow section, including nuclear torpedoes, manuals, code books and coding equipment. The New York Times came across part of the story, but it was suppressed by CIA Director William Colby. The LA Times ran a smaller piece, prompting the New York Times to publish their story. The CIA did confirm recovery of a section of the sub, with six dead crewman, whose bodies indicated radioactivity and they were buried at sea. However, the CIA has successfully blocked Freedom of Information lawsuits to look at any of the material recovered in the mission, despite the fall of the Soviet Union and the passage of time (the Glomar operation was in 1974). Hama is using this to tempt the Soviets into a similar exercise.

For the landlubbers out there, the "helm" is the steering portion of a vessel, usually, but not always a wheel, connected via a steering system to the ships rudder. A conning officer gives steering commands to a helmsman, who is tasked with maintaining the ship's course. It is a bit more complicated than steering a car, because of the dynamics of the water, the rudder, and the vessel's hull. A car's wheels grip the road surface and friction allows for tighter steering. Naval vessels have wider turn radiuses, especially larger vessels, as well as greater momentum, due to their mass. The wave motion of the ocean can continually push a vessel off course and the helmsman must make course corrections to offset the "drift." Usually these are minor corrections of the wheel, to maintain a compass heading. The moment you see the compass needle swing off course, you correct by steering in the opposite direction, bringing you back on course. This results in minor movements of the wheel to port and starboard, to keep the ship on course. On modern ships, they have automated steering that uses computer controls to make the corrections and the helmsman monitors that the autopilot is maintaining correct course. When the automated systems are off, the helmsman has direct control of the wheel. on some vessels it is rather large, as you see in movies. On others, it is smaller than a car steering wheel. I did my first midshipman training cruise on an "oiler, " a fuel tanker, the USS Wilamette. It's helm station had a chair, for the helmsman, and automatic steering controls, as well as manual control. At night, we generally operated with automatic controls; but, we usually steered manually, in daytime. I actually manned the helm during my watchstanding, on a regular basis. When we changed course, you turned the wheel according to the steering commands from the Conn, which gives a certain degree of rudder turn and a compass heading for the new course. The helmsman turns the wheel the prescribed amount (say 30 degrees) and continues util the ship reaches its new heading. However, because of the movement of the ocean, at some point you have to counter steer to settle onto the new course; otherwise, you end up oversteering and make a series of corrections to get onto course. It takes some practice to get the hang of it; but I had it down by the end of my bridge watchstanding period (about a third of my cruise). The following year, I took the helm of a submarine, while we went out on an overnight voyage. I was the most experienced helmsman of my group and they were impressed enough with my handling to also give me the dive controls, so I was steering course and maintaining depth. On a submarine, you have a yoke, like on an airplane, making course corrections by turning the wheel port or starboard and depth corrections by pushing in or pulling back on the yoke. It took about 10-15 minutes for me to get the hang of maintaining both, especially since the movement was different than a surface vessel. I got pretty good at it, though they gave me softball course and depth changes.

"Mess cranking" is a naval term for working on the mess decks, where meals are served to the crew. Shipwreck is not actually "mess cranking," as "mess cranks" were crewmen from other departments, who were transfered temporarily to work on the mess decks, to supplement the assigned mess personnel. The Mess Specialists were the actual cooks, who prepared the food, while the "mess cranks" carried out sanitary duties, assisted with prep, serving and cleanup, like washing trays and pots and pans in the scullery. Basically, like buss boys and servers, in a cafeteria. Assigned crewman would serve a 90 day tour, then rotate back to their department, to resume their normal duties and training. Similarly, each department provided personnel for other evolutions, such as refueling at sea, bringing on stores, and other work parties.

Finally, a little information about the US Navy SEALs, who appear in the forms of Torpedo and Wet Suit. The Navy has regular divers, who carry out activities like underwater repairs and surveys, as well as search-and-rescue duties and salvage work. They are more industrial specialists. Then, you have combat swimmers. Originally, this function was carried out by the Underwater Demolition Teams. They were founded in WW2 to perform reconnaissance of proposed amphibious landing sights, including gathering beach samples, surveying approaches, marking areas and noting defenses. They were then tasked with removing beach obstacles, by dismantling them or using explosives to blow them up or clear lanes through them. Their activities were dramatized in the 1951 film, The Frogmen, with Richard Widmark....



However, UDT was not tasked with carrying out larger scale combat missions. That was where Naval Special Warfare entered the picture, in the form of the US Navy SEALs (SEa, Air Land). The SEALs were officially formed in 1962, in answer to an expanded combat role, in a maritime environment. UDT had carried out missions in the Korean War; but, Vietnam resented new challenges, including patrols of the Mekong River and its tributaries, looking for smuggling of weapons and troops, as well as searching for VC infiltration in those areas. The evolved from the established UDT units, and were given more extensive training in weapons handling, infantry tactics, patrolling, airborne operations, seaborne operations and other specialized training. During the Vietnam War, the SEALs gained a reputation as one of the most effective special warfare units in the region and SEAL platoons were greatly feared by the VC and NVA, who called them "The Men with the Green Faces," inspired by their use of face camouflage greasepaint. SEALs operation in small patrols, inserting into an area via swift boats and helicopters, attacking VC cadres in rear areas, conducting recon missions, prisoner snatches and watching troop movements.

Former senator Bob Kerrey, of Nebraska (also later governor of Nebraska) earned the Medal of Honor, in Vietnam, while serving with SEAL Team One. Thomas Norris was a lieutenant, with SEAL Team 2, who was serving with MAC/V-SOG (Military Assistance Command/Vietnam-Studies and Observation Group), in operations run by the CIA. He an Vietnamese combat swimmer Nguyen Van Kiet traveled deep into enemy-controlled territory to extract Air Force Lt Col Iceal Hambleton, an electronic warfare officer, who was being hunted by the North Vietnamese. The rescue was made famous in the book and subsequent movie BAT-21. Hambleton, an avid golfer, was cut off and attempts at air rescue had resulted in the loss of aircraft, from intense ground fire. Hambleton was given coordinates to follow, based on favorite golf course holes, to give him direction and distance to travel, to the next point, due to transmission over open radio net. He was steered towards the eventual rendezvous with the naval contingent, led by Norris (Hambleton, in his book, refers to them as Marines). Norris had orders to wait for the men to come to him, but he ignored the orders and moved upstream to locate Hambleton, who had been on the run for some time, with little food. They traveleld two kilometers upstream to intercept Lt Mark Clark, an OV-10 Bronco pilot who was shot down during one of the air rescue attempts. he was in worse shape and was extracted first, floating down the river, until Norris spotted him, while PAVN patrols searched the area. Norris transported Clark to the forward operating base for extraction, then went back for Hambleton. Norris and two Vietnamese combat swimmers traveled 4 kilomteres up river to try to locate Hambleton, but heavy enemy presence prevented a linkup. The two Vietnamese balked at continuing, to rescue an American, int he presence of the enemy troops and Norris had to convince them to remain, for their own safety. They called off the search after two more hours and returned to the FOB, while Hambleton's position was marked by an OV-10. Norris returned with Van Kiet and succeeded in locating Hambleton, after disguising themselves as fisherman, using a sampan to get him out. They took enemy fire and could not respond, rowing furiously. Forward Air Controllers vectored in air support, holding the PAVN at bay, until Norris could link up with ARVN troops. A third man was never recovered, after he was cut off from Clark and Hambleton. Norris also received the Medal of Honor for his actions. Petty Officer Michael Thornton was the third SEAL Medal of Honor recipient for his actions in an engagement with the enemy, resulting in his saving the life of Norris. Thornton later received a limited duty officer (LDO) commission, in 1982, and retired from the Navy as a lieutenant.

15 Medals of Honor were awarded to Naval personnel, during the Vietnam War, with the SEAls accounting for 1/5 of them. 4 medals were won by corpsmen (Navy combat medics, serving with Marine units), one by a chaplain who came to the aid of a corpsman, 3 pilots (including Admiral Stockdale), a Seabee, and a few riverine sailors.

The SEALs have been involved in nearly every major military operation since Vietnam, including Grenada, Panama, Desert Storm, Iraq & Afghanistan, as well as the 2009 rescue of of the Maersk Alabama captain, Richard Phillips and the killing of Osama Bind Laden.

At the time of publication, very little had been published about the Navy SEAls. There had been a few magazine articles, including a feature on Richard Marcinko, the founder of DEVGRU, aka SEAL Team 6, back in the Vietnam era. There was a tv pilot movie, starring Ron Ely, called The Seal, in 1981, but it gave little explanation of what a Seal was. There had been several books about the UDT frogmen; but, little about how the SEAls differed and they tended to be lumped in with UDT, in print discussions. In 1987, James Reeves wrote a novel, Mekong, allegedly based on the real life of a Navy SEAL, James C Taylor. However, Taylor turned out to be a fraud, who had been a Navy mechanic who was neither a SEAL nor served in Vietnam. While I was a midshipman, I came across an issue of Gung Ho magazine, with a large feature on the SEALs and their history, filled with photos, including stills from Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL School and Hell Week, to training of SEAL teams, to images of Marconko, from the 60s. Later, in 1992, Richard Marcinko and John Weisman published Rogue Warrior, a memoir of Marcinko's career, up and including his conviction of conspiracy to defraud the government, in the purchase of stun grenades, from Ramco Industries. Marcinko claimed he didn't care about the high costs of the grenades, as he wanted the best for his unit, and the investigations into his actions were motivated by reprisals for embarrassing senior commanders while commanding Red Cell, a unit of SEALs who conducted counter-terrorist training missions, with naval personnel, by acting as terrorists. At the time of its release, the Navy sent out public affairs messages which did not refute any claims within the book, but made attacks on Marcinko's character, in an effort to undermine credibility in the book. However, I purchased the book in the Navy Exchange and our Chief Staff Officer borrowed it from me and commented that he believed most of it was likely true, in terms of the Red Cell activities and the enemies it created.

Larr Hama would have likely had little interaction with Navy SEALs, during his tour of Vietnam and, at best, might have heard some stories and whatever turned up in the media, by the time frame of the toy line and comics. It seems all anyone at Hasbro or Marvel knew was that the SEALs were the Navy equivalent of the Green Berets and assumed they were the same, but in wetsuits. Hollywood did little to dispel that notion, as seen in the hilariously BS film, Navy SEALs, with Michael Biehn and Charlie Sheen. Probably the best depiction I have seen, in Hollywood, was the 3rd season episode of Quantum Leap, "The Leap Home Pt 2-Vietnam, where Sam leaps into his brother's SEAL platoon, while deployed in Vietnam, saving him from dying in action (which the series tie-in novel revealed to be the chief motivating factor for Project Quantum Leap). It still has a lot of Hollywood touches; but, the general depiction of how the team operates, right down to Sam carrying the Stoner 63 automatic weapon, were pretty accurate.

So, that's a win for GI JOE Special Missions. Given that they are sticking within military missions, this might help rescue me from the increasing silliness of the main series. So far, no guys in cobra head pieces.

GI JOE #52



Bruce Lee vs Franco Nero...



Or maybe Evan Kim........





Creative Team: Larry Hama-writer, Rod Whigham & Andy Mushynsky-art, Joe Rosen-letters, George Rousos-colors, Bob Harras-editor, Jim Shooter-sitting at the top level of the pagoda

Synopsis: Cobra Commander is throwing a hissy fit, as the helicopter fleet approaches Cobra Island, because he feels Serpentor is a threat to his leadership. He tells Tomax to do something and he replies that he is Xamot, while Tomax (not Xamot) assures him he has it well in hand. He has Crimson Guard snipers positioned throughout the complex, waiting for their shot at Serpentor.

In his helo, Serpentor thinks CC is laying out the Welcome Wagon and Destro and the Baroness tell him that CC is a weasel and will try to kill him. The pilot says they have landing clearance and have been directed to a specific pad, where an escort awaits. Serpentor realizes it is the perfect spot for an ambush, as it is within the line of sight for several spots in the compound, catching him in a crossfire. he tells the pilot to land, at speed and keep it rolling, until he orders him to brake.....



Serpentor leaps out and gives CC a warm embrace, which just happens to keep him in the direct line of fire, making him a human shield. Cobra personnel swarm the area and families and little kids cheer Serpentor and one nauseating little @#$% says he wants to be just like Serpentor, when he grows up.....





Serpentor gives a speech, praising Cobra Commander, to the point of further nausea and Tomax and Xamot realize he has fixed it ao that Cobra Commander can't move against him without setting off a rebellion.

Meanwhile, the JOEs return from the swamps and no one bats an eye at tanks and other combat vehicles going into the motor pool at the Chaplain's Assistants School, or while Chaplain's Assistants would need a motor pool, especially one with a tank or two.

The JOEs are hopping mad, especially after they realize their security has been compromised twice, in such a short time. Some members of the team work off their frustration with close quarters combat drills, as Snake Eyes cuts the heads off practice dummies and Quick Kick smashes them with nunchucks and Stalker with a steel chain. Even Barbecue is using his fire axe.

Storm Shadow suddenly pops in, through the drop ceiling.....



After smacking around a few JOEs (including Quick Kick), he faces off against Scarlett, but he says he just wants to talk to Snake Eyes. She replies that he could have just asked.

Meanwhile, back on Cobra Island, Cobra Commander is whining at Dr Mindbender, blaming him for the mess and he retorts that it was CC's plan. They watch as Serpentor joins the grunts in manual labor, winning their respect and trust. Mindbender and Destro believe that CC is out of his league and their best solution is to let the JOEs run over Serpentor, with a tank.

A Tele-Viper alerts CC that Zartan is inbound, with important news. CC smiles (under his hood) as he can use Zartan to knock off Serpentor and make it look like the JOEs killed him.



Meanwhile, Hawk is picked up at the Pentagon and George Roussos vomits all over the page....



Wild Bill flies him back home, in the Dragonfly. Hawk looks lower than a snake's gonads.

Zartan and the Dreadnoks are inbound, when Cobra Commander radios them and tells them to come in clandestinely, as he wants to see them in secret. This bunch of chuckleheads? Good luck with that!

Storm Shadow talks to Snake Eyes and shows him his wounds and says he died and the whole Mindbender process revived him, but not exactly in a living state. The process stole his soul and filled his head with thoughts of conquerors. he asks Snake Eyes to let him crash at his place, while he recovers his soul. Scarlett is a bit miffed, as that means no hanky-panky, tonight. She takes her frustration out on Barbecue....



Duke goes to prepare the paperwork for Scarlett's court martial, for striking a subordinate.

Meanwhile, on Cobra Island, Flint, Stalker and Lady J crash Cobra Commander's dinner....



...except, it's actually Zartan, his siblings and the Dreadnoks, demonstrating they can pull off faking a JOE attack on Serpentor.

Elsewhere, we see that Serpentor has been raiding Kobra's closet......



We see Zartan and the Dreadnoks outside, silencing a sentry, then scaling the outer walls of the Terror Drome. They crash through, but the Baroness leaps into the path to protect Serpentor. Destro turns up with an armed guard and "captures the JOEs."

Serpentor rubs it into Cobra Commander's face...er, mask, by praising his tactic to blame the JOE team for the attack, then tells him they are going to attack The Pit and CC has to go along or be revealed as a traitor and be ripped apart by the Cobra faithful.

Hawk returns to The Pit and orders everyone to assemble in the Staging Area.





Later, we see Storm Shadow arrive at Snake Eyes' mountain cabin, where he meets his wolf and they make friends, sniffing each other's backside and then sit and watch a sunset.

Thoughts: Okay, now we are turning into the cartoon. Cobra Commander tries to set up an assassination of Serpentor and the Dreadnoks bungle it, though in part thanks to Destro and the Baroness siding with Serpentor. Cobra Commander can't do anything publicly or he is toast. Sucks to be the screechy-voiced guy!

Storm Shadow goes off to try to heal from his experience, after proving yet again that the security team at The Pit should be up on charges for dereliction of duty. KP for everyone!

Now, Hawk tells them they have all been fired and no more soft living, as they will have to live with the Chaplain houseboy weenies. Can't wait to meet Snake Eyes' new roommate!

Feels like Hama is resetting things for the next storyline, which should involve yet another attack on The Pit. Lets hope there are casualties, as we need to thin out the team, a bit. Start with Tripwire; and, while you're at it, put Shipwreck on guard duty at the main gate, without a weapon.

You don't know how hard I am working to suppress my desire to call him Shi*-dreck!


I made up the part about Duke preparing court martial charges; but, it is a court martial offense to strike subordinate under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, just as it is an offense to strike a superior officer. That's why you make sure there are no witnesses! Seriously, I heard a story about the former Chief Staff Officer, at the destroyer squadron, where I worked. A chief who served under him, onboard a destroyer, told me that he held a Captain's Mast (nonjudicial punishment hearing) and the chief was a witness to acts of insubordination by a sailor. the offending sailor was being belligerent and disrespectful. At Captain's Mast, the accused is marched in by the Master At Arms and placed at attention. He may only speak when spoken to, by the captain, though he must be given a chance to state his case and he must have his division officer present. The sailor was not remaining at attention and went so far as to lean on the captain's podium and smart off to him. The captain had enough and ordered everyone out of the room, except the accused. Everyone filed out and closed the door. The chief told me that he heard a loud "smack," followed by a "thump," and then the captain ordered them to return and "..remove this POS from my stateroom!" They carried out the unconscious sailor and no one said a thing.

I don't advocate violence to instill discipline; but, sometimes, a right cross beats the UCMJ!

I have no idea what happened to that one page; but, it looks like the color separations went FUBAR, unless it was just a bad scan of the comic. It looks more like a color separation issue to me, though, as a bad scan tends to look blurry or broken apart, rather than color shifts. We ran into an issue like this at work, a year or so ago, when our oversize printer (which is an ink printer) developed a small hole in the line from the Red tank, causing the ink not to flow through and giving prints major color shifts, into orange, where it should be more red. It took time to narrow down the problem and we got it fixed, but it wasn't too much later that we were upgraded to a newer printer, with more advanced features.