TCG – European Joe's

Showdown

Well, it’s time to put out the cards on the table with this post that brings matters to a head or acts as a conclusion or point of decision. The title could also refer to a game for the blind and visually impaired, which in a way does relate to the story. The blindness that is. There are also numerous movies sharing this title, dating back as far as 1942, as well as television shows and episodes, records and songs. But enough about those things, let’s get cracking with the Impel Trading Card #87, featuring the cover for the Special Missions issue #5, Showdown. Spoiler alert, the moral of the story is a teeny tiny bit in your face, like BIG time.

The story kicks off with a Cobra ground crew inspecting a Night Raven. A member of the rescue crew is looking into the cockpit and questioning why a crowbar is included in such a high tech plane. A maintenance officer explains that when the canopy would not open for some reason, the breakout tool can be used to bust the canopy and allow the pilot to escape. At that moment, the Strato-Viper appears and bullies both crews away from his plane. He will be taking off to recon a Florida Air Force Base.

The Joes have spotted the recon flight and are sending Slip-Stream and Ace up to greet him. And annoy him. Their orders are to only fire when fired upon first. On the way to their planes, they meet the ground and rescue crew they hooked up with the night before. The maintenance crew had been repairing the Conquest all night and one of the men couldn’t visit his kid in the hospital because of the overtime he put in. Slip-Stream tells him everything is fine with his kid and gives a toy (Transformer!).

Now, I’m not a huge Transformer connaisseur, but I do know that this fellow is Megatron and he turns into a tank or a gun… Not a fighter plane. I guess Larry and the team weren’t that big of Transformers fans themselves.

I’m not sure what to make of this to be honest. Later on in the story, the Joes encounter the Transformers, so either that is out of continuity or they’ve created toys based on the giant robots that try to destroy them… I think that it’s just a pop-culture reference that needed to be put into the comic by the marketing people over at Hasbro. Seeing the wrong name and transforming ability, Larry didn’t think about it and just added it in to keep them from giving him a hard time about it.

The Joes take to the sky and find the Night Raven. Ace inverts the SkyStriker and taunts the Strato-Viper, who gets pissed off quite quickly.

He fires a missile at Ace’s SkyStriker and pops a flare so that Slip-Stream in the Conquest behind him is blinded. Ace is hit and has to eject. He lands in the water and the rescue crew is scrambling to pick him up asap.

It takes a few moments for Slip-Stream to regain his vision and by this time, the Night Raven is behind him. He shoots out a flare of his own and runs an evasive maneuver, but that stalls his engine. The Strato-Viper sees the Conquest spiraling down and flies away. Slip-Stream remains calm and collected and doesn’t pass out. Just in time, he gets the engine running again.

Meanwhile, the Night Raven is having some electronic issues caused by the Conquest’s flare. The Strato-Viper is getting all worked up about it and is so distracted that he doesn’t notice Slip-Stream coming up from behind. Slip-Stream opens fire and damages the Night Raven enough to send it going down. The Strato-Viper tries to eject, but the canopy doesn’t open, not even with the manual release. He’s able to crash land on the water, but the breakout tool is missing, so he can’t break the canopy open.

The Cobra rescue crews are airborne, but they refuse to fly at full speed. The Strato-Viper’s abusive behavior towards them shoots back like a boomerang. The plane is slowly sinking with him still aboard and locked in.

Slip-Stream flies past Ace to make sure he is fine. The rescue crew soon picks him up. Ace didn’t even have the time to test out his shark repellent spray (another pop-culture reference). When they arrive at the Joe base in Florida, Slip-Stream gives a Top Gun style victory roll to dedicate the victory to the ground crew.

Elsewhere above the ocean, the Cobra rescue crew arrives just as the tailfin of the Night Raven slips below the surface. No sign of the Strato-Viper. Instead of trying to locate him, they just discuss the fact that they really should have given the canopy some maintenance, but that the pilot should have been able to break out. One of the crew casually shows the breakout tool he swiped from the plane before the Strato-Viper took off. They throw it into the ocean and head back for Cobra Island.

Well, I always knew that G.I.Joe was all about good versus bad, but this story lays it on THICK. As Matthew 7:12 teaches the believers, “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.”. The good do good, the bad don’t do much… And not much good, would you believe it. The difference between the Cobra pilot and the Joe duo couldn’t be more clear as well. Where the Strato-Viper abuses his crew, the Joes are friends with their ground and maintenance crew. Naturally, this reflects in the response from the crews when they actually have to go out and rescue their respective pilot. It’s all very simple and sickeningly obvious that it might as well be a Disney movie.

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The card itselfs depicts the cover from the issue as usual. It’s a fiery cover where it would appear the Joes aren’t faring to well against Cobra. Yes, there are actual Cobra in this Special Mission. We haven’t seen them in the flesh since issue #1. The cover art was done by Mike Zeck and John R. Beatty. The book itself had a script by Larry Hama and art by Herb Trimpe. The wonderteam of the Special Missions.

The back of the card shows the Strato-Viper. The figure, yes, just one official release, came on the shelves with the 1986 series and was boxed with the Night Raven. There was a mail-order campaign in 1989 and another one in 1992 where you could get a Strato-Viper without the plane as part of – respectively – the Special Missions Driver mail-away and the Cobra Patrol Unit mail-away.

I actually do have the Night Raven, with a Strato-Viper, though I didn’t as a child. It was one of the first big toys I really wanted as an adult collector. By that time, I still hadn’t read the English comics, but I did know of the Strato-Viper because one of the cartoons (In the Presence of Mine Enemies) was released over here, dubbed in Dutch, on VHS. I must have watched that tape hundreds of times, and I still have it in my collection. In this story, like you don’t know, Slip-Stream is able to shoot down another Night Raven, but his X-30 is destroyed as well. Both pilots land on an island that harbors one of Dr. Mindbender’s labs. It’s a great story, that has a happy end for the good guys, although no-one ever saw that female Strato-Viper ever again… Speaking of the Night Raven though, the plane got a second life as part of the Sky Patrol. That huge beast looks awesome in chrome. I have mine still mint in the bags and in the box, but the old tape has loosened over the years and so I’ve been able to take a look at the shiny parts. The small reconnaissance craft was also given another chance as part of the G.I.Joe Crusader Space Shuttle. Come to think of it, I own that one too. I guess you could say I’m a fan of the Night Raven/Sky Raven/Crusader. In honesty, I always wanted to be a pilot when I was a kid. I was devastated when it turned out I had to wear glasses and that meant I would never have been able to become a fighter pilot. I lived close to the local airport (mostly cargo and some smaller planes back then), and so I always had a fascination for them. It’s only natural that I like collecting them as Joe vehicles. So I still treasure all my planes from both Joe and Cobra. And since we’re not getting some new planes (so far, and with the 6″ line, it’s doubtful any vehicles will be released), I’m looking at other lines to score new planes. I have the True Heroes C-130 and the Beast Bomber, and would you believe it, The Corps has a new plane out now, the Sky Strike.

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A very good looking plane if I do say so myself. The only issue is that I can’t get my hands on it. So if you happen to live in the UK (or Australia, it would appear they have it at the other end of the world too), and would like to help a fellow collector out. Let me know! We can make a deal! Contact me through the contact form, over on Twitter or via mail (bjorn@europeanjoes.com).

That’s it for now, join me back next time when we take on … you’ve guessed it, #88. There a story there, so do come back. Don’t miss out on it, no need to evade. Get it. I’m going now. But seriously, it’s a great story. #hypebuilding

Happy Collecting and YoJoe!

Do you want to build an army?

It’s Morphin’ Time!

Wait! What? No it’s not.

Question. Did Hasbro really spend $522 million on the Power Rangers? They have plenty of power in-house already if you ask me. Like the troops we’re discussing today! It’s a new year and to start it off in style, I’ve got a threat for all of you.

It’s army building time! That sounds better. (Picture a kid (or adult collector) grabbing a bunch of troops and showing them to the camera whilst shouting this phrase.) Got the reference? Good, now, let’s do this!

With an assorted range of Vipers and consorts, no teenagers in flashy pajamas. We’ll be going over the Impel Trading Cards #75 all the way through to #82. That’s right, 8 cards in one post. Talk about value for money! (Well, since I do all of this for free with no income whatsoever I guess every post is excellent value for money, so don’t even think about complaining. Just keep on reading, Soldier!).

We start this rundown of Cobra underlings with #75, the Desert Scorpion. According to the file card, being a Desert Scorpion is a punishment given to under-motivated Vipers who refuse to follow orders. After one year of unblemished service, a Cobra trooper can be reinstated in the Viper Corps. Another disciplinary fiasco and it’s straight into the “Leaky Suit Brigade” (more on those a bit further. Keep on reading).

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What a good way to kick of this Viper-overview. Although the figure is probably not the most popular one with the fans, it is a cool concept that was missing from Cobra’s army and the figure released in 1991, came with it’s own scorpion. Here in Belgium, the figure was released with a different set of accessories and so the card art was altered as well. Apparently the market over here was more important in the past. We got altered figures, an active fan-club and oh, yeah, the European Exclusive Tiger Force! The design of the figure is quite nice. The colors all match great. The fact that the figure came with a bunch of accessories is also noteworthy.

Next up is #76, the Techno-Viper. Released in 1987, the Purple Vipers (Grape Soda anyone?), later inspired the Purple Power Ranger in the 16th (yes, you read that correctly, 16th) series. That may be true, it may be alt-truth. It’s on the internet now, so you better believe it! Next month (February 2019), Nickelodeon will be broadcasting the 26th series (the first one produced by Hasbro Studios). There have been over 900 episodes over all the Power Rangers incarnations. We really need a new G.I. Joe cartoon.

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But enough about that. There have been 3 versions of the Techno-Viper released. The OG grape from 1987, then a repaint in 1994 as part of the Star Brigade (2 color variations – copper vs yellow) and then in 2011 a new sculpt was released in a more subdued purple (from grapes to lavender).

As it happens, I never had this figure as a kid, but it was one of the 4 figures I came across last summer on a local flea market. I must add that they were the only figures I saw all summer on flea markets. The amount of Joes on offer ‘in the wild’ has reduced drastically over the years. Sure, online there are quite some people selling of both vintage and newer Joes, but they think it’s worth more than gold… I haven’t really been expanding my collection last year, all my stuff is still in boxes until we can get around (read: save enough money) to finish the attic, so I refrained from buying new toys (apart from those 4 loose and incomplete figures). I remain buying the comics and as you nay have seen also been buying some books (Ladybird Action Force, Annuals, …). Enough sour grapes right? Let ‘s move on.

And moving on takes us to #77 and presents us the Toxo-Viper. More commonly known as the Leaky Suit Brigade. As stated above, the Toxo-Vipers are on the bottom of the Cobra food chain… probably even below Croc Master’s crocs. I truly believe that nobody in their right minds would ever volunteer to become a Toxo-Viper.

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The whole unit is used to serve as punishment for major offenses and so it’s bad reputation makes sure that the other troops stay in line. Even though they are not loved within Cobra, the figures do have a fanbase. There have been 3 versions of the Toxo-Vipers. The original dates back to 1988. It really has a good color scheme with mainly purple and black, red and blueish accents. The suits may not be the most expensive (again to motivate the troops to work fast), but the design is nice. In 1991, the second version was released as part of the … Eco-Warriors line. If ever there was a perfect fit! The figure however is not that remarkable. It was a new mold, but, the figure is just bland in my opinion. It’s a lot of green and purple and a touch of red. Compared to the original figure, it’s definitely a step backwards. Then in 2014, the 3rd version was released as part of the Convention Exclusive Zombie Initiative box set. Unfortunately, the design builds on the 1991 version and not on the original. So again, lots of green and purple and some red. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad looking figure, but far from the iconic look of the original. As I mentioned before, my collecting days are currently on-hold and I try to limit my purchases to comic books. This said, I would like to add a Toxo-Viper (1988 version of course) to my collection. If I start looking on the interwebs again to expand the collection, this one will be the first to get.

Now, we’re not quite done talking about leaks, albeit not quite as toxic this time. We do get wet again with #78, the Hydro-Viper. I grew up in a small town by the coast. The sea always seemed to be there, yet I don’t feel it’s attraction. I mean, it’s no white sand, blue sea out here. It’s a brown stretch of sand with an other shade of brown or green for the sea. Not that attractive. And in summer, the beach and the town got overrun with tourists, so it was even less fun to be at. I’ve never felt the need to go into the sea. In fact, I don’t think I’ve been in more than 5 times my whole life. I always associated water with danger.

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And dangerous it is with Hydro-Vipers in the ocean. Another figure that got it’s first release in 1988 (Cobra really got big then). And another figure that uses a lot of purple. The figure came with a lot of cool accessories such as a helmet, fins, scuba pack, harpoon and a black devil ray. According to the filecard, the Hydro-Vipers are EELS that have been surgically altered to withstand the effects of deep diving and have webs implanted between their fingers. A lot of Cobra troops seem to be getting these alteration (DNA resequencing, Crispr anyone?). It feels like Hasbro and Larry Hama did everything to make the Cobra troops less human. No one in their right state of mind would join Cobra, they needed people that were altered. That’s it, there’s just this one version of the figure ever made. A shame? Perhaps, but we have more Vipers coming up. Let’s keep on building that army.

Continuing the rundown, we have #79 featuring the Range-Viper. First released in 1990, this figure is marked as a Cobra Wilderness Trooper. The design is a strange one. It appears like the helmet is showing grey matter, yes, brains, on top and the sided, while the face is as blue mask with red eyes. The whole head reminds me of a skeleton. The colors are blue, black and a bit of yellow. Not exactly what you’d use as camouflage, but it looks scary and maybe that was the point?

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There have been 4 more releases, in 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2010. Only the 2006 version shares the same design of the original one, this time the colors more brown and tan and was released as part of the Operation Flaming M.O.T.H. set from the Club. I actually own this one, though I have to say that the original blue version looks fiercer. The other versions all had removable helmets that did give that skeleton vibe. The final version turned the color palette darker, with shades of black and green, giving the figure a more jungle look.

I remember the Range Vipers getting some exposure in the DIC cartoon series. Not a lot of comic book appearance if I recall correctly. These troops look scary as hell and you wouldn’t want to run into them in the dark. Nor in the light.

Now it’s time to take it to the stars with #80 featuring the Astro Viper. So far we’ve covered the land and sea, now we take it to the skies and above. The Astro Vipers are recruited from within the Strato Viper corps… I guess you could say it’s a step up on the ladder… Sorry, very lame pun. Now, we discussed the Strato Vipers way back when we discussed Impel Trading Card #14 featuring the awesome Night Raven, but we’ll talk about them even more when we reach #87. Stay tuned and read on for now.

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There have been 2 releases of the Astro Vipers, one in … you guessed it 1988 and the second version in 1993. The original figure is the one depicted on the card here. Sporting black, red and gold (yellow), the figure does pop up the radar. The second version was a simple repaint, this time in a dark turquoise and part of the Star Brigade line. Strangely enough, this latest version doesn’t include a rocket pack… I guess they had to jump or got pushed in the direction of the battle and just had to wing it. Also noteworthy is that these Vipers aren’t really soldiers, their main task within Cobra is repair and maintenance of the Cobra satellites. Technicians basically, like the Red Shirts in Star Trek (OG). And probably just as expendable too.

Staying high, the T.A.R.G.A.T is on card #81. Technically they are part of Destro’s Iron Grenadiers, but hey, who’s nitpicking? Since they are members of the IG, black, red and gold are the colors we’d expect, but they’re also sporting bright blue with Destro’s logo on their shoulder/chest. I must say it suits the figure.

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The original figure was released in 1989 and got a repaint in 1993 as part of the Star Brigade. Where have we heard that story? In any case, this repaint is … well, bright. Gold with purple accents. And again, the coolest feature of the original figure, the backpack jetpack, is missing. The same mold was used by Funskool to create the 2nd Street Hawk figure, this time in just plain black. The T.A.R.G.A.T.s appear in DIC’s Operation: Dragonfire and that’s it really.

Rounding off this band of not-so-merry men, we have #82, the Night Viper. Ah, ’82. Let’s talk about this number first. 1982 to be more precise. What a year. The Commodore 64 was launched, the second Hama massacre occurred (see what I did there?), the Falkland War begins … and ends, E.T. phoned home, the US Air Force Space Command was founded, the first International Day of Peace is proclaimed (can we get that up to a week, month, year maybe?), MJ released Thriller, Time magazine’s Man of the Year is ‘the computer’, I get thrown into this world and the world receives the Word of Hama, a (comic) book named G.I. Joe that should surpass the Bible in sales (Go to your local House of Worshipping and spend your dollars on new parables of Your True Saviors every week! Please, finish reading this post by your humble prophet first.). General Hawk and his 13 disciples take on the evil snake that would conquer the world if not for their bravery and courage. Let’s get back on track now and take a closer look at the Night Vipers.

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This is hands down my favorite Viper out there (until the Rap-Viper is officially released, that is. More below.). First released in 1989 the figure received 4 more iterations later on (I’m ignoring the hyphen issue). The original figure is iconic if you ask me. The dark green and black, the night vision goggles. Not to complicated, but really good. My only question is, what do they do when it’s light? I guess, it’s always night somewhere, so you could deploy them in the dark all over the world. The second version uses the same mold but with lame colors. It was part of Operation Flaming MOTH and came packed with a Frag Viper, both in shades of light green and brown. Version 3 was a Direct to Consumer Exclusive from the club in 2008. The figure came with 3 guns, a black helmet and web-gear. And more realistic looking night vision goggles. The color scheme was again dark green and black. Version 4 came in 2013 as part of the fourth wave of Retaliation figures. This one a perfect homage to the original version. It came with a flashlight… wouldn’t that render the night vision goggles useless though? Version 5 was released in 2014 as part of the 50th Anniversary and was bundled with Low Light (v8) in the Night Marksmen set. A simple repaint of the 2013 version, this time in red.

Phew, that was quite the rundown, but we covered a lot of ground in this post. As a bonus, here is a custom built Rap-Viper by ozzie92. The club should have done a collab with Wordburglar and the customizer to get this as the final figure they release.

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And just because we can’t get enough of it… and – trust me – this song will stick in your noggin, here’s the official video by Wordburglar again. Enjoy.

Wordburglar “Rap Viper” (Welcome To Cobra Island)

As an added bonus, I’ve changed some of the lyrics on one of the greatest hits of the past years… Or something like that…

Do you want to build an army?

Come on, let’s go and play!

They never ever hit a Joe

Can’t take it any more

It’s like they just can’t take aim.

They used to be all losers

And now they’re just overpaid.

I wish for some Iron Grenadiers.

Do you want to build an army?

It doesn’t have to be with Vipers.

I’ll go away now.

Okay, bye.

Happy Collecting and YoJoe!

P.S. Until next time, we’ll be changing this up a little, you might say it’ll be something special 🙂

P.P.S. If you made it this far, you’ve read over 2400 words (longest blog post so far). Pat yourself on the back trooper and thanks. Really, thank you. I couldn’t have kept this blog alive without the support from the G.I. Joe collector’s community.

Probably the worst code name ever.

OK, times change and all that, but even then, the code name for today’s featured Joe is just not right. I mean #meJoe people. Seriously people, can we make this # trending? Maybe Hasbro will notice it and we can have a bunch of new Joes next year (I’ll even settle for some repaints of Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow at this point). In the meantime, here’s Impel Trading Card #74 featuring Hit & Run.

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Just when you thought that with Snow-Job and Skidmark, you heard all the bad codenames… They gave this poor guy that lost his parents in a car crash with a drunk driver (does that story sound familiar or what?) the codename Hit & Run. Ok, it’s only fair to say that this also applies to his military style, but still, I think it’s a bit harsh.

There have been 5 figures released of Hit & Run, the first way back in 1988 (30 years ago – feeling old are we?). The figure was released as a regular single carded figure, but there was also a Target exclusive version that added a working parachute. The figure is one of the best ones out there. The full camouflage and the set of accessories it came with is just plain awesome. The second version was only released in 2009 as part of the Assault on Cobra Island box set. It featured a removable helmet, even more gear but also a little less cool camouflage paint. In 2013, the next version was released as part of the Convention Exclusive Night Force – Nocturnal Fire box set from the Official G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club. It came with even more gear and one hell of an angry face. If you’d see that face coming from the shadows, you’d probably sh*t & run. Version 4 & 5 were both released in 2016. v4 as part of the FSS 3 and v5 in the 50th anniversary “Vanishing Act” pack. All the previous versions were using green colors, this last version is black and grey and make him look like someone who’s been dead for quite some time.

In the Marvel series, he first appeared in issue #80. He assists other Joes in stopping Cobra forces from claiming a nearby newly formed island. The land mass eventually sinks back into the ocean. He later takes part in an attempt to rescue hostages, which turns out to be a Cobra ruse: the terrorists and hostages were all Cobra agents. In Special Missions #22, he then deals with a legitimate hostage situation, where an isolated farmhouse is taken over by two criminals, but problems arise when the criminals are initially misidentified. The ending of this story is brutal and beautiful at the same time. easily one of the best stories of the run.

I don’t think he appears in one of the cartoons. Let me know if you spotted him somewhere.

Next time (yes, that will also be next year!), I have something special planned. It’s still in the works, but trust me, it will be great.

Happy Collecting and YoJoe! Have a great end of the year and be safe!

The man in the Cactus.

Watch your back!

Watch your flanks!

Watch your front!

Nothing is what it appears to be. Expect the unexpected and be prepared for anything. Today we look for #72, Ambush. Now, where is he?

No that’s not him.

Maybe he’s here.

Nope, not there.

Ah, here he is.

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2 weeks ago, the Joe on Joe podcast reviewed the DIC episode “A is for Android”. The opening sequence featured Ambush, perfectly camouflaged as a cactus on the battlefield. I wonder what does creative types where drinking/smoking when they came up with that. Whatever the case, we do get Ambush in action. Doing what he does best. Hiding. No seriously, the man really is a brave fighter. He just happens to be very good in hiding himself.

There have been 4 figures released of Ambush, the original in 1990 and a 1993 repaint of that in neon for the Dino-Hunters subteam. After an eleven year break, the figure gets renamed as Aaron “Ambush” McMahon. He also grew a beard, sporting some eye shadow even Johnny Depp would think twice about and let a trimmer loose on that garden brush under his nose. Then in 2017, the club released a new figure of him under the FSS 5. They brought back the wild stache and dropped half the beard.

The card art for the original figure does depict a mustache, but the color scheme is much more subdued. Because of that wild ginger look, in my team, he was Scottish, while officially he was from California.

In the comics, he first appeared in issue #111. As part of a recon team he is sent into Benzheen with Recoil and Sneak-Peek (SPOILER ALERT – who get’s killed for the first time). Later on we see Ambush driving the Battle Wagon in Trans-Carpathia when the Joes side with Destro and the Baroness. He then returns in issues #128-129 to rescue Hawk and Lady Jaye in Borovia.

In the cartoons, he is featured a few times. As mentioned before, we see him in “A is for Android” where Cobra has an Android version of Hawk running around without a good sense of humor. But he also appears in the “United we stand” episode where he and Pathfinder need to work together to defeat Cobra. In “Revenge of the Pharaohs” he is teamed up with Captain Grid-Iron. Next we see him aiding General Hawk in “Victory at Volcania”. Quite the career he’s making for himself, from helping a weedwhacker over partnering with a captain to end up as the right hand of the general. He later even gets personal in “I found You … Evy” where he tells the story of the only person who was ever able to find him.

That’s it for now. Join me again next time when we’ll take a look at Ambush’ weed whacking buddy.

Happy Collecting and YoJoe!

Is the typewriter mightier than the missile launcher?

I guess the time of pen and sword are behind us, although I still use a fountain pen for my daily work notes. Still, we keep on using the pen and sword metaphor. This week, we have arrived at Impel Trading Card #66, the man who can type faster than his shadow, Fast Draw.

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I guess this guy is the Joe equivalent for Cobra’s Mr. Bang Bang (well technically, he’s an Iron Grenadier, so Destro’s private army, but he was employed by CC, so I’m counting him as a Cobra). The difference between these 2 rocket men, is that Fast Draw has hand controls for his missiles, where Metal Head (a.k.a. Number One – yes, that’s a Star Trek reference) is shouting like a complete idiot.

Enough about that, the figure (yes, just the one release again, although the club recently announced they are releasing an updated version in the FSS 8.0) was released in 1987. I honestly couldn’t tell you if I have the figure in my collection. I’m guessing I do, but since all of my Joes are still boxed up, there’s no way to be sure… I guess my entire collection is a bit like Schrodinger’s cat at the moment. I have something or I don’t, there’s really no certainty these days 🙂

The first appearance of Fast Draw in the comic books (Marvel run), is in #60 I believe, where he is part of the group of Law & Order, Lt. Falcon & Chuckles, who kidnap General Hawk whilst believing they are actually members of G.I. Joe. A bit of a filler issue, after that, the whole Borovia story starts to unfold, oh and – SPOILER ALERT – CC gets shot (issue #61, amazing cover art).

I don’t think Fast Draw gets any (explicit) action in the cartoons, he may be in the background somewhere, but I don’t recollect him at all.

A bit of a shorter post this time, but there just isn’t a lot I can say about this guy. If he were here, he probably would be able to talk some more about his clerk typing specialities, but I won’t go into that right now.

Next time, we’ll have another man (or is it woman nowadays?) with a lot of firepower on his/her back.

Until then, YoJoe and Happy Collecting!

Oh and Happy Mother’s Day to all our fantastic mothers who bought us our first Joes to play with!