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G.I.Joe: A Real American Hero #4


Review and synopsis by Jerry Reed, codename: Barbecue17
 

“Operation: Wingfield!”

Quote: “Before you arrived, my husband activated a ten minute timer on a nuclear warhead buried under those ammo cases! He was the only one who knew how to deactivate it! It’s impossible…”

“Lady, that word doesn’t exist where we come from. Just show us where that bomb is buried!”

---Shary Wingfield and Hawk

Writer: Larry Hama

Pencils: Herb Trimpe

When the U. S. Government learns that the militant paramilitary group “Strike First” might be funded by Cobra, the G. I. Joe team is sent in to shut them down!

Synopsis:

Vance Wingfield only wants the best from his recruits. He drills them hard. He teaches them what they need to know. He trains them by firing live ammunition at them! From some surveillance footage filmed by the FBI, the G. I. Joe team watches Vance Wingfield wound some of his new recruits, then deny them any treatment except for field dressing and aspirin. Vance Wingfield is the leader of “Strike First,” a fanatical paramilitary organization based in Montana and possibly even funded and supplied by Cobra! This little bit of information makes “Strike First” G. I. Joe’s responsibility.

Hawk briefs the Joe team that two Joes will go in to the Wingfield compound undercover, and one man will stay on the outside for support and observation. Snake-Eyes is chosen to work on the outside, while Hawk and Grunt are chosen to go in disguised as new recruits for the “Strike First” program. Not much later, Hawk and Grunt find themselves back in basic training, this time under the guidance of Commander Wingfield. As Hawk and Grunt are entering the compound, they notice that many of the other recruits have brought their families with them. Wingfield finally greets the new recruits, and assures them that they will be trained in such a way so that they will be able to survive and insure the lives of their families after the total collapse of civilization. This guy is not an optimist. While being issued their uniforms and such, Grunt and Hawk take the time to gather as much visual intelligence on the Wingfield compound as they possibly can.

The next morning at 0600 hours, training begins. Wingfield personally oversees his recruits through a variety of obstacle courses and combat exercises, which prove to be so easy for Hawk and Grunt that they have to pretend to be less skilled than they really are. While the two Joes are training, Snake-Eyes spies on the compound from the outside and finds three F-86 Sabre jet fighters, one of which is undergoing radio repairs, and one B-29 Super-Fortress Heavy Bomber that is capable of nuclear delivery. That night at 2230 hours, Snake-Eyes enters the perimeter to investigate the Bomber, but overhears some guards discussing a private meeting to be held by Wingfield. Grunt and Hawk have also left their quarters to do some spying. They head to the armory while Snake-Eyes sneaks onto the roof of the building where Wingfield’s meeting is being conducted.

In the meeting house Vance Wingfield meets with his top officers and proposes that due to interference from government agencies, “Strike First” must go on the offensive using two nuclear warheads supplied by Cobra! Wingfield plans to send a B-29 to drop a nuclear bomb on Vladivostock, Russia, encouraging the Russians to retaliate against the United States, which will launch World War Three! The duration of the war will be spent in a well -stocked shelter beneath the compound, and after both countries have wiped each other out, “Strike First” will arise and rebuild the world in their image! If this plan fails, Wingfield plans to detonate a second nuclear warhead which has been buried under the camp in a location that only Wingfield’s wife, Shary, and Wingfield’s second in command, Carruthers, knows of. Once the device is set, only Wingfield himself can disarm it.

While Snake-Eyes is spying on Wingfield’s briefing, Grunt and Hawk are doing some spying of their own. They sneak into the armory and discover some Cobra supplied T-60E tanks, state of the art fighting machines manufactured in East Leningrad. While sneaking through the armory, the two Joes unknowingly trigger a silent alarm, causing Wingfield to silently send out his troops. The majority of Wingfield’s men, unarmed, surround the armory. One platoon enters inside to face Grunt and Hawk. After a ten-minute fistfight and one dozen downed troops, Wingfield’s men finally manage to subdue Hawk and Grunt. Wingfield, realizing that the two highly skilled infiltrators must be government agents, orders their execution and sets into motion his doomsday plan, Plan Alpha.” Meanwhile at the base communications shed, Snake-Eyes disables a lone communications officer and sends a Morse coded message to Breaker at the G. I. Joe command center.

At sunrise, two of Wingfield’s troops escort Grunt and Hawk to “the hole,” a small pit where executions are carried out. Fortunately for the two Joes, this execution is stopped by Snake-Eyes, who leaps from an overhanging tree branch and lands on the executors. As the reunited Joe team is comparing notes on the situation at hand, they notice the B-29 Bomber taking off from the airstrip on its way to Russia. After sending Snake-Eyes and Grunt off to the armory to deal with Wingfield, Hawk heads to the airstrip to find a way to chase down the bomber.

While surveying the armory, Grunt and Snake-Eyes notice that the racket of the previous night appears to have died down. While Snake-Eyes remains under cover, Grunt moves cautiously towards the armory. Unfortunately, Grunt doesn’t move carefully enough, for he is forced to take cover behind a large rock to avoid the bullets spewing from Wingfield’s machine gunners. Snake-Eyes takes to the rooftops of the compound and spies into the building that Wingfield is taking refuge in. Inside, Wingfield is preparing to arm the families of his soldiers, including women and children, so that they too can join in the fight. Seeing the innocent lives within the building, Snake-Eyes signals for Grunt to hold fire.

At the airfield, Hawk manages to take off in one of the F-86 Sabre jet fighters. Following after the B-29, piloted by Carruthers, Hawk tries to call for backup but instead learns that the aircraft’s radio is out. Hawk tries to fire a few warning shots at Carruthers’ aircraft to give man a chance to bail out, but Carruthers chooses not to. He chooses to crash into the ocean along with the nuclear weapon carrying B-29. Back at Wingfield’s base, Wingfield reacts to the crashed bomber by arming the nuclear device buried underneath the camp, stating that he and his troops will, “see this through to the end with honor and dignity.”

One of the women calls Wingfield crazy, and attempts to walkout of Wingfield’s camp with her child. Wingfield pulls a gun on the women and her child, keeping them from leaving. “Trust me! In ten minutes everything will be resolved!” Wingfield asks his wife Shary, who is standing nearby, to back him. Slowly, Shary removes her pistol from her holster, deactivates the safety, and proceeds to shoot her husband in the back two times, just as the remaining G. I. Joe team, led by Stalker, bursts through the doors of the building. Hawk is also with the team, and quickly gets the all the information about the nuclear warhead located under the compound that will explode in ten minutes. Shary leads the team to the device, but admits that only her husband knew how to deactivate it properly. With five minutes to spare, Hawk puts Zap to work on disarming the device. A sweating Zap takes that five minutes, and with the assistance of his team, gets the job done.

 

Review:

This has to be said: I enjoy many different comic books that have ongoing story lines. There’s something really cool about an in depth story line that builds and builds to a climax. Often in these books, however, there are issues where little or nothing happens to further the plot. There are even issues where nothing exciting happens altogether. Rarely do you get just a good story that has a beginning and an ending with lots of excitement and thrills in less than 6 issues. And that is why that I’m so thrilled with these early issues of G. I. Joe! You get an awesome action packed story in 1 issue! Twenty-two pages of Larry Hama written goodness manages to cram more action and plot than 4 issues of most modern comics, and I think that is a true testament to the creativity and brilliance that was taking place in these early issues of G. I. Joe.

This issue is one of my favorites of the early issues. I know that I say that a lot, but the early issues manage just the right balance of all the necessities: story, action, humor, and great artwork. This issue takes a departure from the regular Cobra driven story line (which the early issues tend to do quite often) and really sends the Joe team into an extremely hostile and yet realistic environment. I think that might be one of the reasons why this issue is so powerful: we see radical militant groups deciding to take the fate of the world in their own hands quite often in the news. They might not be doing it to the extreme level that we see Vance Wingfield escalate his group to, but it does happen.

Vance Wingfield might be one of the most terrifying villains that the G. I. Joe team has faced. With his large mirrored sunglasses, his twisty handlebar mustache, and his ever present paramilitary garb, he is a fantastic depiction of military madness. This issue features some excellent characterization, beginning from the first few pages when Wingfield trains his troops by firing live ammunition at them! In the series at this point, we really have not even seen Cobra Commander do something that cold blooded. Wingfield is the aggressive Alpha male of his compound, and takes every advantage he can take to hold power over his followers. Look at his two highest officers: his wife, whom he always bosses around, and Carruthers, a man who seem to have little mind of his own. When he does begin to express a disagreement with Wingfield, he quickly gets shut down. Seeing Winfield encourage his followers to bring their wives and children with them in order to exert power over them really drives Vance Wingfield’s desire for complete dominance home!

Mentioned earlier, Shary Wingfield is another character in this issue with great characterization. Throughout the issue, we hear Shary submissively agree with her husband, but the excellent artwork helps to give off the vibe that she does not truly agree with his actions. It really comes as no surprise at the end of the story when Shary chooses to shoot her own husband in an attempt to rescue all the other families that Wingfield has ruined.

The issue features lots of sneaking around and many tense scenarios that will surely make you sweat while reading it! One of the most exciting parts of the book is at the end when Zap is tasked with disarming the nuclear device located under the Wingfield Compound. The commentary by Zap and the excellent close-up panels of the device itself really draw the reader into the scenario! I still sweat every time I read this issue!

All in all, a fantastic issue that is great for a stand alone read and necessary for anyone planning to read the Frontline and America’s Elite runs put out by Image and Devil’s Due Productions.

My rating:

5 Yo-Joe colas/ out of 5

 

Spoilers!!!! Do not read this section if you do not want future plot points spoiled!

First appearances: This issue features the first appearance of the Wingfield Family. Vance Wingfield will appear again in Issue #0 of G. I. Joe: America’s Elite and Shary Wingfield will appear again in issue #14 of G. I. Joe Frontline. The Wingfield’s son Tyler, although not shown in this issue, makes an appearance in Issues #11-#14 of Frontline.

 


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