G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #56

The Joes set about transporting the Terror Drome with explosives!

Detailed summary

Jungle Moves
In Sierra Gordo, Snake-Eyes has been captured using stun grenades.^[1] The Baroness and Dr. Mindbender take him back to the Terror Drome, where Tomax and Xamot report that the counter-revolutionaries and G.I. Joe are regrouping and the Terror Drome is not designed to be defended from ground attack. The Baroness orders the troops to dig in a perimeter and prepare, while Mindbender quietly orders the Brain-Wave Scanner to be dismantled and placed aboard the Firebat and an evacuation prepared. Off the coast the U.S.S. Flagg receives the Tomahawk as it brings in the wounded Stalker. He tells Scarlett that Snake-Eyes stayed behind when if they had left the wounded Stalker as he ordered, Snake-Eyes would be back. Scarlett responds that Snake-Eyes would never leave him wounded and then agrees to Hawk's suggestion of a rescue mission.

At the Georgia Institute of Technology, Grunt - or "Bob" as he is now known in civilian life - is still in the military routine, going for a dawn run where he meets Lola, who served as a helicopter mechanic for four years to pay for school. She easily spots Grunt is ex-military and the two hit it off immediately.

Back in Sierra Gordo Cobra is losing ground and the Baroness orders the evacuation of Snake-Eyes. Tomax and Xamot tell Mindbender the sapper team is staying behind to prevent the Terror Drome falling into enemy hands and allowing the Joes to find the real reason for selling the bases, a reason that would damage their new public image.^[2] The helicopter and Firebat both take off. On Cobra Island, Serpentor doubts the twins' ability and so leads a fleet to Sierra Gordo to destroy all incriminating evidence. He contacts the evacuating helicopter and orders it to head to New York City and land at the new Cobra Consulate Building, where they must extract all useful information from Snake-Eyes and dispose of him. At the Terror Drome, the twins and the sapper team rush out, having placed the explosives. They wait for the Joes to enter and then click the trigger - but the charges fail to go off. Inside, Tripwire has cut the wires in time.

Later all the charges have been transferred to the seams of the prefabricated sections. Scarlett studies a map and points out various ways to move out, including a narrow gauge railway that used to serve tin mines or a river. Tripwire has now finished and detonates the charges, causing the Terror Drome to neatly fall apart. Nearby, Xamot suggests alerting Serpentor but Tomax points out it will be difficult to transport the Drome out so there's no point in bothering Serpentor. The Joes use further charges to push the sections to the edge of the hill where they slide down to the railway line. Then they put together a makeshift crane and load the sections onto the train wagon. The twins now realize they must inform Serpentor. Roadblock fixes the engine's wheels and the train heads off as Serpentor arrives and picks up the twins. The fleet pursues the train along the railway and destroys it at a bridge, but they don't see that the train driver wasn't Flint, but rather a dummy in his shirt and beret. Back at the Terror Drome site, the Joes slide the last section down to the river and Lift-Ticket arrives with inflatable barges to get the sections down the river without Cobra knowing about them.

At Kennedy Airport, Destro boards a plane for London. During the flight he tells a stewardess he's catching an onward connection to Glasgow to deal with some family business.

Appearances

Featured Characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Featured Vehicles & Equipment

Memorable quotes

"I think I gave up my shirt and beret for a good cause, eh, Scarlett?"
"I think you'll jump at any chance to show off your muscles!"

--Flint and Scarlett celebrate the destruction of their decoy.

Other Notes

Errors

• Serpentor's armor is red.
• On Scarlett's map, the ground is blue and the river is green.
• Grunt tells Lola he's never met a helicopter mechanic that looked like her (i.e. was an attractive female). Technically true, but Cover Girl is a heavy mechanic who knows how to work on tanks, which should be enough for this encounter not to be as much of a shock as it's portrayed as being.

Items of note

• First Appearances: Lola, Lifeline
• Snake-Eyes' story is continued in G.I. Joe Yearbook #3.
• Dr. Mindbender makes it clear the Terror Dromes have a secret purpose.
• Lift-Ticket is mentioned three times, but never actually appears.
• Ditto for the Tele-Viper in the Baroness' helicopter, who is mentioned twice and even gets a line of dialogue, but is never in any panels.
• In the United Kingdom the story was reprinted in Transformers #195, #196, #197 & #198.

Real-world references

• No references.

Footnotes and References