[Sean_C]

So I found the Honda Prelude issue. What a tie in. HONDA WORLD ORDER. I mean Cobra.

Cover is fan arty stuff.

Yeah, they buried the deep Pit but kept the helipad hidden in the rock.

Duke recognizes a Fred series CG and caps him. Issue ends after 1 page. I wish! Oh, heck Cobra knows where the Pit is anyway. This is just whatever.

LJ immediately blabs about the pre-existing Pit. Nice. What happened to NEED TO KNOW?

I'd say that's Mindbender, not Wingfield, but that's a retcon for a few reasons.

Mindbender is a rogue "orthodontist", Duke. Get your facts right.

Sea Slug's debut....as a hologram. LOLZ

Acknowledge that Springfield wasn't Springfield, MO. Finally, a real revelation!

At some point Castle Destro was completely rebuilt, but we won't get into that.

Yes, since when does Duke have a sense of humor? I now suspect him of being a robot.

No acknowledgement of the missing 4th Dreadnok that was in the Everglades.

"Well, that wasn't half as a bad as an IG." An Iron Grenadier? One time Hama forgets to explain jargon.

Overall: This issue is a Recaptcha...to prove Duke isn't a Revanche robot.

[J James]

issue 219

Carlos Espinosa and Hawk in Mexico City. Man, Revanche is so much bigger and more successful than Cobra is in a lot of ways. The blond secretary is just like the blond secretary from issue 207 or 208 I just read. Hawk learned how to do running jump kicks from Snake-Eyes.

This clandestine meeting of ex-Cobra agents is great. Really some missing energy from the Cobra High Command. I would have liked to see some of them stick around longer. First appearance of Big Boa. First return of Cesspool.

"Cobra Commander has got something big in the works." People keep saying this but I can almost never really remember what the Commander's devious plot at any given time really is.

The situation with the Blue Ninjas has really evolved into "all of mankind against the invasion of the robot body snatchers." In a way they must be the cumulative final villain of the Joe story, their scope is just too large to be anything other than a force which all good guys and bad guys must unite to defeat.

Here's what I want to see cleared up about the Blue Ninjas before we finally see the last of them. What is their connection to the Arashikage and why at this point in history do they still mark themselves with the I-Ching symbol? Did they invent their original tech and concepts or is it derived from an established other source in the Joe universe? Could their technology be related to the "non-biological" otherworldly tech of the giant eyeball? Why do they cling to a ninja identity at all, how many of them really do, and how many of them don't even aspire to being identified as a ninja?

Scarlett talks about Sean's qualifications and training, but it brings up the question I had when Sean first reappeared outside his old home by Fort Wadsworth: when did any of this happen? It doesn't fit our timeline at all. Scarlett didn't know that Sean had been trained by Snake-Eyes, and there was not enough time between 155 and 206 for all this to go down, unless half a decade at least passed between those issues. Here we get to hear about all the other schools and ninja training in China and it's like: when? I'm very happy to have Sean around but during the whole New-Snake-Eyes storyline I've been viewing him as a significantly lesser combatant and overall insufficient to fill the role, which makes him interesting to me. Scarlett makes him sound like he's already done all this stuff and come so far, and it makes me wonder if she's using the Arashikage Mindset on him to brainwash him into believing all this.


"Snake-Eyes, sworn brother of the Arashikage, Protector of the Seven Secrets, and Guardian of the Silent Oath," seeker of truth. Tommy is kind of converting the idea of Snake-Eyes into a position within the clan to be filled. That is really interesting.

The newsletters include my questions about Storm Shadow's official standing with the Joe team, in which Larry confirms for me that while Tommy may kick it with the Joe team, he's not officially a member of the Joe team. Of course later there is an issue in which Tommy wears green fatigues with some white elements on a mission with Stalker and Zap. My inference from that mission is that it's Tommy's first official Joe mission as a team member in the structure.

[Flints Beret]

The only thing that confuses me about Storm Shadows relationship to the Joes not being official, is in (around 149?) when Billy launches the ICBM from the silent castle. Cover Girl picks it up on the Pitts sensors in a very official room, and asks Storm Shadow for his opinion on what should be a very classified situation.

[Mainframe77]

Place holder

[Mainframe77]

Issue #220 is live to discuss. Yo Joe!

Cobra World Order

[J James]

issue 220

Upon reflection it seems as though the title of this arc refers to Cobra launching a massive attack with a renewed Cobra Command structure, although I don't remember that being the case. During the second modern half of ARAH Cobra Commander is frequently plotting some gigantic strange threat which is never fully explained.

Getting Duke to the Pentagon right away in a hurry would have been a great time to introduce the Sky Raven, although seeing the Skystriker in action again is nice. Return of Claire.

Cobra Commander practicing marksmanship is good Cobra Commander. Could you imagine if he had a few kills from one-to-one gun battles? Zartan has kills, Scrap-Iron has kills, why can't CC?

Ambush, Rampart, Recoil, Bombstrike. That's a good team to put together. Bombstrike's second appearance now I believe. Also seeing Flak-Vipers is cool.

The Joes figured out what spooked Cobra into rash action. The whole back-and-forth of the base-spying is part of the fun.

Hawk finds a ninja nest. Seattle Fred needs a divorce. Although he references a car ride which I think his predecessor went on instead of himself. Ling-Torres Fred continues to have annoying pals who won't stop bothering him at work. Like, how overt can Cobra professionals get, anyway?

Sean beats down an old woman, who is better than him.

Spirit's origin. I thought that Larry taking a little time to explain away why Spirit would dress in such a cheesy caricaturistic manner was a nice touch.

Wow! Destro has a bad-ass personal helicopter. Why don't we see that more often? Hasbro, toy please. Zartan's just slumming it, waiting out the day.

Claire is back. Duke's ignoring everyone else. She's been a prisoner of war for years in the middle east. If I'm not mistaken, it's a ruse and she's a bad guy coming in under subterfuge right now.

Usual cast of Joe fans in the letters page.

[Sean_C]

The Sky Raven already appeared, IIRC, without much fanfare.

Late holiday delayed meaningless comments on 220.

Cover showdown...Stormie and Snake-Eyes in the Ying/Yang...but since Storm Shadow they are pretty close to the same alignment, it doesn't work. The obnoxious COBRA WORLD ORDER distracts from the art. Other cover is another fake toy package, the closest you'll get to actual retro ARAH figures. HAW-HAW!

"They found Claire. She's alive."
"From the Claire Witch Project?"
"Duke's wife. Claire."
"Duke's wife is a witch?"

It's only fair to say that Cobra Commander is a world class expert on misreading a situation.

Rampart is pretty far from a shoreline.

"Dial Tone, open a secure line to Hawk."
"Sure,...Fal...Flin....uh...yes, sir."

Two Canadian security guys killed, finally a Revanche bot that means bizness. Too bad Hawk has hero armor. Hawk just takes off and leaves Canadian lady with a warehouse of boxed cyber ninjas.

I question the point of the Siegies if they have to be constantly threatened to do their jobs.

Granny Demon, Fake-Eyes...why can't Firefly blow up that water tower that moment, instead he's bullying a crappy Fred.

Suddenly we learn Spirit was adopted. Then he get his M.A.S.K. mission alert...I mean, GI JOE.

Wasn't it Zandar who liked to hang out as a filling station yokel?

Duke's wife call him Connie. HAW-HAW!

Overall: Not really feeling the plot too much, there's some side trips and a soap opera reveal of a long lost spouse. Cobra World Order seems less threatening than the WCW's NWO.

[J James]

I promised everyone here I would post my review of the whole "Secret Base and Eyeball Saga" once I got caught up on it after my wedding / honeymoon recently. Apparently wedding planning takes 13 weeks or so. It's kind of a mini-essay so I waited until the end of a weekend before the next issue drops to post this.

I do remember the Sky Raven from the Snake-Eyes funeral as a cameo.

issue 201 to 213

Secret Base and Eyeball Saga

I was away from the boards during these issues due to my wedding preparation and honeymoon, so when I returned I promised to follow-up with an encapsulation of my thoughts of the entire Eyeball Saga in one straight-through read. As with most of the modern second half of ARAH, this is only the second time I have read these issues and my initial memories are not always accurate to the facts I learn during the reread.

The Eyeball Saga begins when secret base is revealed. Hawk creates a three-base solution. I being counting the Eyeball Saga as an eight-parter which begins when Duke has the eyeball revealed to him by Joe in the depths of the secret base, and ends when the robot is destroyed and Snake-Eyes dies. Coincidentally in 201 which was the first issue I read in this sequence, the secret base is revealed and then shortly after the final issue in this sequence the secret base is reburied and written off.

Snake-Eyes and Scarlett go on their final Staten Island ferry ride in issue 201. During the rereading I desperately hoped that this was the last time Larry wrote these two before the death, especially since the next time we see Scarlett on the ferry is with Sean in the rubber mask. Alas, twas not so.

Zoe and Chloe come around in and beat down Roadpig and Zarana. Zoe and Chloe are still around as of 220. Are they Crimson Guards, or do all Crimson Guards just have horribly overwhelming spouses?

Mindbender is lamenting the slow decline of Cobra. Cobra Commander is really rocking the beatnik mufti disguise again during this time and has a great smile moment in 203. This might be Cobra Commander’s lowest point since being buried alive. He has lost all his European countries, most of his suburbs, is continually taunted and defeated by previous employees, is bleeding out money, and has been crushed physically.

Zartan attacks Destro and the Baroness. Then they make up. Destro declares that people continue to leave Cobra Commander alive essentially because he’s less effectual at the head of the Cobra organization than someone who might take over during a power struggle would be, a power struggle which could be global and cause collateral damage. Since this is the only explanation I have received for why Snake-Eyes would keep letting CC go, I’ll accept it. I still like my opinion that Cobra Commander is secretly a CIA asset and has a “no-kill” protection through the military.

There is a Joe mission in Olliestan which sees the end of Adele Burkhard in 205. It’s a very tense mission, and continues to generate increasingly more dire stakes as it progresses. Larry gives Burkhard a heroic death and Alpine’s respect. Adele Burkhard is buried in the same issue that Sean Collins returns and the eyball is introduced. This is like the death of innocence of the original half of the series.

The letters page of 210 claims that these plotlines are “building up to a doozy.” Understatement.

Roadblock is injured in 201 and again in 212. He is the most trusted member of the Joe team. Roadblock names Sean “Throwdown.”

Raymond is introduced, Tyrone’s brother and student of Blind Master (or more likely Zartan as we’ll eventually see later). Raymond is trained up by Budo (his second master) and ready for Granny Demon’s tutelage by the time of his second appearances. Strangely, this fact actually helps me to rationalize Sean being already trained as well.

Blue Ninjas attack the Arashikage. Why are they still attacking the Arashikage? Haven’t they evolved enough to not have a tie to the clan? If anything eventually comes of this storyline I do expect it to tie in to Tommy’s father. The missing Middle Master. Perhaps the Middle Master is alive at the center of the Kansas Blue Ninja facility, or perhaps he is himself the focus of their rage or even existence. BN-002 is introduced, and he’s the strangest leader yet, although later we find out that these are more like “cell leaders.” Part of me wants to see the Middle Master himself be revealed as the original identity of Alpha Prime but that is also sort of morbid and I’d like to actually be able to look up to Tommy’s father.

Pale Peony is allowed to see the secret base before most of the Joes. In the Joes secret base exist the gigantic robots which I believe make possible the option for a dismissal of Transformers from the Joe canon, if Larry wanted to take advantage of that possibility. I’ll explain later.

Sean Collins is introduced once more, 50 issues into the modern second half of ARAH. We will find that he has grown up more than logically plausible during the time elapsed between the original and modern halves of ARAH. When did Snake-Eyes ever train Sean? Certainly Snake-Eyes and Scarlett were separated during this time, and Snake-Eyes has kept it a secret from Scarlett. There can be no other convenient answer.

The eyeball is introduced in the first of eight issues which I call the Eyeball Saga. It’s 206 to 213. The Eyeball Saga introduces first the Blue Ninja silver samurai “921,” whose mental interface will be used to connect the technology-based eyeball to Serpentor. The issue after 921 is introduced, the eyeball is introduced next, then in the subsequent issues Serpentor returns. So all three parts of the system are set up in three back-to-back issues, and by this point Larry has also established that it will be flying up out of the Pit. The eyeball is “non-organic,” and unknown technology of some kind. Three issues into the Eyeball Saga and we already know all of the details which we will need to have to understand the climax of this mess. At some point Larry is able to pivot away from the Hasbro mandate to complete this story, but there’s not a clear indicator of when that was since he finished the Eyeball Saga using all the same parts he introduces at the start including giant robots. As the fairly few actual depictions of the eyeball progress, the size of the object appears to either shrink, or it becomes shrouded in metal, hiding some of its size. After some thought I believe that it’s probably located in the robot all along.

The Armor-Bot is reintroduced as a means of testing the 921 interface. This prepares the readers for the coming “doozy.” Joe and Jane share dialogue which might indicate the Cobra also has it’s own gigantic technological eyeball. Red Laser reinforces this when he states that “we built it the same way you did.” Although that would mean that Red Laser knows about the GiJoe secret base and gigantic eyeball robot. Also, is their robot being piloted by a man using the 921 interface as well? We’ll never know. The Cobra giant robot looks more like a Transformer than the Joe robot. Their scale seems much larger than a regular Transformer to me, although I don’t know much about their different sizes.

Reading this all at once strengthens my view that the separate elements of this storyline can be used to remove actual references to Transformers from the 90s crossover of ARAH. To do so requires that both Joe Colton and Cobra have built gigantic robots in their secret bases which existed at that time (at least the Joes did and maybe the Red Shadows already had as well). It requires that the robots have A.I. (well established in Joe lore at this time). This concept requires that the Joes and Cobra Commander have met and interacted with these robots of their own creation at some point (obviously they have). It finally requires that the robots have their own internal struggle and the ability to launch into space (established here). All it would take is one single “untold tale” from Larry to recontextualize these robots into the robots from the Millville story so that there is a reason CC knows Megatron. The benefit to this change is that these robots would be terrestrial and fabrications of the Joe Colton / Red Shadows era. It also helps somewhat to justify or fix the existence of this entire storyline. It brings them in-line as the big ugly brothers of the robot technology which already exists in the Joe universe. For me this is better and brings all the wacky giant robots “in house” even tying them to the Blue Ninjas and Armorbot. Maybe it doesn’t have that affect for you. I don't want to confuse the straightforward fact that I'd rather not have Transformers at all instead of trying to make them Earth-bound and products of human engineering in my headcannon.

Sean’s first mission as a Joe is his last mission as Throwdown. This consists of: half a day of riding on a vehicle, infiltration dressed as an enemy, changing enemy clothes, escaping, taking over the mission as the leader, and assaulting a giant robot. While in space, there is an electronic voice talking to Sean. Is it a Joe in the Pit talking to Sean? Is it Serpentor, or could he be hallucinating? Will the space voice return and drive Sean mad, turning him to evil? Perhaps it is the eyeball itself talking directly to Sean. Later there is a similar blue narration box but with different font, announcing the landing procedure. The difference in font leads me to believe that there was some script which might have been abandoned. Is Sean inside the eyeball itself when he is in the head of the robot? While the robot is outdoors, the eye appears to be a standard glowing robot eye. When it returns to the dark of the Pit we see for the first time that it is indeed the giant eyeball.

Snake-Eyes goes down. The proximity of the explosion to the Joes leads me to believe that there was no escaping the grenade, that Snake-Eyes did indeed perish at this point. I have read many ideas for ways to bring him back, and I personally would prefer that he stay dead. However if he were to come back I would be okay with it mirroring the storyline of Destro and CC in the abandoned original Pit. Don’t forget that Larry brought back the original Pit during this exact storyline, clearly explained that the collapsed portion hasn’t been rebuilt, and he stationed Snake-Eyes there. So it was on his mind to some degree when he was writing this. Someone also suggested that Snake-Eyes could be faking his death to go underground and wipe out the Blue Ninjas once and for all. I could buy this as a resolution to the Blue Ninjas storyline although I still feel like they’re Storm Shadow’s problem in the end and he needs to resolve whatever their connection to the Arashikage is.

Sean puts on the mask. One page delay between old and new.

Thanks to everyone for your comments about these issues. I went back and read the comments during that time period of preparation for my wedding when I was away from the boards. Gratitude to Sean C. for being the only person many weeks and keeping up the good fight during what might be the lowest point in either half of the ARAH series.

[ozzie92]

I’ve read it all, including your thesis, James, lol. Congrats on your marriage!

[ozzie92]

I’ve read it all, including your thesis, James, lol. Congrats on your marriage!