IDW - First Strike: MASK

Written by: Aubrey Sitterson

Art by: Ilias Kyriazis

Colours by: Mark Roberts

Letters by: Gilberto Lazcano

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

The King Cobra mech runs rampage over New York, forcing the Joes to concentrate on attacking it, rather than helping Quick Kick inside the Museum, stopping Firefly from stealing some artefacts for Cobra. The Joes manage to work together to break through the mech's armour  and destroy it's power core, causing it to fall apart.

The Joes are congratulated by the cops, and VENOM are arrested, but are sure that Cobra Commander will free them.

Quick Kick is able to smash through all the Red Shadow Ninjas and goes head-to-head with Firefly, even managing to avoid a point-blank shot from a gun. However before he can finish Firefly, he is smacked by an iron ball thrown by a male Storm Shadow! He has Firefly finish the mission, but leaves Quick Kick alive, so he can fight him fairly in the future...

Later, the Joes are congratulating themselves on saving the day, but with Shipwreck still feeling bad for Quick Kick being in the infirmary and them losing the artefacts. He is soon brought out of his funk when Gung-Ho brings him a disgusting green veggie-burger with a veggie-bun...what a nice boyfriend!

At the Cobra HQ, Crystal Ball is happy with the artefacts. Cobra Commander, the former Baroness, speaks with Cesspool, who reports that their shell companies have increased carbon emissions, leading to "melting" which is part of their next plan, whilst Destro (who is somehow on Earth, see below!) asks what will happen with VENOM, but the Commander is uninterested in freeing them, and plans to leave them in jail until they are needed again, besides, she has new minions to deal with...Croc Master and Raptor...

Back at the Lemuria Base, Rock 'n Roll is asleep and is given another strange dream...this time of an army chanting to their leader...Golobulus....

Plot

Characters

GI Joe

Shipwreck

Polly Parrot

Quick Kick Put in Infirmary by Male Storm Shadow

Gung-Ho

Salvo

Doc

Spitfire

Rock 'n Roll

Skywarp - Fighter Jet

Dial Tone

Tunnel Rat

Spirit

Cover Girl

Lifeline

Snake Eyes (Mentioned)

Cobra/VENOM

Cobra Commander/Baroness

Firefly

Male Storm Shadow

Bruno Sheppard/Thunderflame Arrested by Cops

Sly Rax/Stiletto Arrested by Cops

Vanessa Warfield/Ice Queen Arrested by Cops

Crystal Ball

Croc Master

Raptor

Cesspool

Destro

Other Cobra Businessmen

King Cobra Mech Destroyed by Joes

Red Shadow Ninjas

Golobulus (Dream Only)

Golobukus' Army (Dream Only)

Other Human

New York Cops

Notes

• So...you know how this comic is under the "MASK" line? Well...none of the MASK characters appear, with just three members of VENOM making a couple of short appearances....they may as well have just named this "First Strike: GI Joe #2"
• Vanessa Warfield seems to be acting a bit out of character in this issue. Isn't her whole "thing" being cold and an "Ice Queen"...hence her codename....here she is screaming like a banshee at Bruno Sheppard.
• Wow Quick Kick is being kind of a dick in this issue isn't he? He keeps just bragging about beating Snake Eyes in a sparring match, so much for a good teammate and honourable warrior!
• Oh wow! There's now a male Storm Shadow again! It's unclear if he's the original guy or another successor (like the female one currently on Cybertron) but this is gunna get confusing, especially if both of them end up in one issue together!
• Whilst unidentified here, the Cobra artefacts that Cobra steals for Crystal Ball appears to be for a ritual sacrifice, being a bowl and a dagger...maybe these things will be used to summon Golobulus? Probably not now of course...since the comic is getting canned...
• WHAT IS DESTRO DOING HERE?!?! He is very expressly on Cybertron for the First Strike event, and even got captured and held on Cybertron afterwards. Can't you guys even keep your own characters in line here?!
• Golobulus, seen in shadows at the end of the issue originated in the 80's GI Joe Movie, where he was a behind the scenes leader for Cobra of sorts.
• Anyway, I'll start this point by saying sorry for doing this so late, but as I'm sure you're fed up of hearing now, I had to deal with a bad comic supplier, but I am done with them now, and all my future buys will be straight off Ebay or whatever. Secondly as I'm sure everyone already knows, this comic leads into the upcoming "Scarlett's Strike Force" series, which has already been cancelled due to reportedly low sales. Though it has been said that it is also due to some controversial tweets from Aubrey Sitterson (the writer) about people mourning 9/11 the wrong way or something. As such, the comic will conclude after 3 issues and will end on a cliffhanger...nice job there!
• After I get the second volume of the GI Joe trades, I'll do a special blog that goes through the series, and what I feel went wrong with it, and why a big product like GI Joe is being out-lived by relatively minor titles like Rom and Micronauts!