#yojoeday eases the pain.
#yojoeday eases the pain.
Special Missions 21
This issue is pretty much a giant set up for the punch-line on the last page. A bunch Joe nobodies (except Tunnel Rat) are hunting down Cobra in the sewers of New York. Larry Hama gets to show off some NYC trivia with the gimmick of one of the Joes using a tourist guidebook to provide useful information for the team. It seems Cobra is installing nerve gas bombs in the sewers and the fuses are too tricky to disable. The Joes chase the Cobras through the sewers until they meet a group of homeless people living in the still-posh underground home of a turn-of-the-century aristocrat, a-la Lex Luthor in the Superman movie.
The homeless people are led by Sgt. Gamble, a WWII vet who despises surface-dwellers for abandoning veterans like him. One of the barely-a-character Joes lets us know how Hama feels about whining like that. Tunnel Rat appeals to him as a fellow grunt, and Sgt. Gamble agrees to help the Joes.
After an encounter with an albino sewer gator (awesome) the team finds the Cobras in the basement of the World Trade Center(!). During the fight, the Cobras set off their gas bombs, which are actually just stink-bombs. While the Joes retreat, Sgt. Gamble jumps on a grenade, but it’s a dud. But the poor old vet dies of a heart attack. The Joes reflect on the valor of all soldiers for their teammates.
The nerve gas ploy turns out to have just been a distraction from Cobra’s true objective: tapping into the trunk phone line under the WTC to run a huge telemarketing scam.
Bad Guys: Cobra.
Running Dog Insult: Nope.
Cool Toy(s): Nerve gas detection kit.
Badass Non-Joe: Sgt. Gamble, homeless veteran and kook.
Rating: 3 Yo Joes. Saved by Hama’s outlook on what a solider should expect from the public and government, and the Cobra telemarketing scheme at the end.
Special Missions 21
This issue is pretty much a giant set up for the punch-line on the last page. A bunch Joe nobodies (except Tunnel Rat) are hunting down Cobra in the sewers of New York. Larry Hama gets to show off some NYC trivia with the gimmick of one of the Joes using a tourist guidebook to provide useful information for the team. It seems Cobra is installing nerve gas bombs in the sewers and the fuses are too tricky to disable. The Joes chase the Cobras through the sewers until they meet a group of homeless people living in the still-posh underground home of a turn-of-the-century aristocrat, a-la Lex Luthor in the Superman movie.
The homeless people are led by Sgt. Gamble, a WWII vet who despises surface-dwellers for abandoning veterans like him. One of the barely-a-character Joes lets us know how Hama feels about whining like that. Tunnel Rat appeals to him as a fellow grunt, and Sgt. Gamble agrees to help the Joes.
After an encounter with an albino sewer gator (awesome) the team finds the Cobras in the basement of the World Trade Center(!). During the fight, the Cobras set off their gas bombs, which are actually just stink-bombs. While the Joes retreat, Sgt. Gamble jumps on a grenade, but it’s a dud. But the poor old vet dies of a heart attack. The Joes reflect on the valor of all soldiers for their teammates.
The nerve gas ploy turns out to have just been a distraction from Cobra’s true objective: tapping into the trunk phone line under the WTC to run a huge telemarketing scam.
Bad Guys: Cobra.
Running Dog Insult: Nope.
Cool Toy(s): Nerve gas detection kit.
Badass Non-Joe: Sgt. Gamble, homeless veteran and kook.
Rating: 3 Yo Joes. Saved by Hama’s outlook on what a solider should expect from the public and government, and the Cobra telemarketing scheme at the end.
Needs more ski missile.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't everything?
ReplyDeleteWhy would they think a perfectly white thing down in the sewer would be a log?
ReplyDeleteWhat's with the anti-veteran hate-on?
Hama definitely wasn't anti-vet, being one himself. He just didn't think vets should ever expect anything special just for being vets.
ReplyDeleteLet me find a link that explains it better.
Snake Eyes' letter in the final issue of the main series explains Hama's view on soldiering.
ReplyDeletehttp://gijoe.wikia.com/wiki/A_Letter_from_Snake-Eyes.
...he tells Sean "if you are going to be a soldier, don't expect to be appreciated." He talks of an ungrateful nation, of pitiful pensions, the worst that humanity has to offer - "nastiness to the Nth degree, vileness, meanness, total despicable cruelty and unspeakable inhumanity" - and the best it offers - "selfless bravery, compassion, honor, and dignity in the face of sure death." He rhetorically asks "do I have any regrets about having been a soldier? Not a one." He writes of serving with those he could rely on utterly, of those who laid down their lives for him and how he would have done the same - what other jobs see this. "But, then - this 'bearing of arms in the defense of the constitution of the United States of America' is not really a profession, per se... it is a trust."
"you got your parade and medal" was the government tagline for all of the Viet Nam vets they discarded after forcing conscription. It's an argument against taking care of those you forced to do your dirty work.
ReplyDeleteIt's a very anti-veteran mindset.