G.I. JOE #44
Improvisation on
a Theme

Cover Date: February, 1986
Script: Larry Hama
Pencils: Rod Whigham
Inks: Andy Mushynsky
Lettering: Joe Rosen
Colors: George Roussos
Editor: Denny O'Neil
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

Summary:  "Somewhere in the desert near Las Vegas," Lady Jaye is leading a new group of Joes on a training mission. She's driving the Silver Mirage motorcycle, followed by Crankcase and Bazooka riding in the AWE Striker and Heavy Metal and Airtight in the MBT Mauler tank. Lady Jaye reminds the Joes to keep certain to stay in formation. They wouldn't want to be in each others' lines of fire if something happens. Crankcase realizes that's just a hint more pop-up targets are coming. The JOes then easily destroy the pop-up HISS tanks. The Joes have finished the mission and are no longer provisional members of the team.

On the way back from a round of Yo-Jo Cola (while Airtight puts his newly found "pet" scorpions in the First Aid kit for safe keeping), the Joes are met on the highway by a group of strangely dressed joggers, followed by a van. Suddenly the joggers head straight for the vehicles. The Joes' vehicles crash into the joggers, revealed that they're androids. They're carrying canisters on their back with plant spores inside. The spores grow into mutant vines that cover the Joe vehicles and start bursting, sending sleeping gas everywhere, leaving the Joes unconscious. The van emerges from the clouds of gas, and inside are Destro the Baroness and a bald man in a cape -- Dr. Mindbender (who Destro calls "Dr. Brain-Wave"). The attack was a practical demonstration of Mindbender's creeper-bomb and his not-yet-named Battle Android Troopers (BATs). He wants to convince Destro to manufacture his products and sell them to Cobra. Some time later, in the office of an auto scrapyard, Mindbender explains that his vines can immobilize vehicles without destroying them. Destro is not totally convinced since the first attack caught the Joes unaware. "You can only fool the Joes once and get away with it..."

Out in the auto scrapyard, the Joes awake to find themselves in a maze of wrecked cars. They notice their weapons are all unloaded. The Joes spot a group of Cobra vehicles carrying androids and plant spores. The Joes fight and evade the attackers -- smashing through the car wrecks, causing the Cobra vehicles to collide and luring a HISS tank into a car crushing machine. Airtight decides that the Joes will have to jury-rig filter masks, because they can't dodge the gas pods forever.

The Baroness surveys the damages in a FANG copter as Mindbender decides to use "overkill" to stop the Joes. He sends a group of androids into the maze on a truck totally loaded with creeper-bombs. Out in the maze, the Joes analyze their situation near a mountain of old car batteries and come up with a plan. Meanwhile, Mindbender shows Destro his main experiment -- a huge tanker truck filled with spores that can immobilize a small city. The Joes -- minus Lady Jaye -- are back in their vehicles and now wearing filter masks, jury-rigged by Airtight out of old air filters and surgical tape from their First Aid kits. A net full of car batteries hangs off of the Mauler's main gun. The Cobra androids on motorcycles and on the big truck reach the Joes. They smash into the Joe vehicles. The Joes kill some of the vines with car battery acid, but the truck is carrying to many. Before it reaches the Joes, the truck rises into the air snagged by the crafting magnet in a nearby crane, operated by Lady Jaye.

Sitting in a van next to the tanker truck, Dr. Mindbender tells Destro not to worry. The van is sealed and no gas can seep in. The Joes approach and Airtight throws the First Aid kit full of scorpions through the van's windshield, sending the Cobras running. Heavy Metal swings the Mauler's cannon and stops short, flinging the flaming car batteries at the tanker truck, destroying it and burning the spores. The Baroness arrives in the FANG copter and rescues Destro and Mindbender. Lady Jaye tells the new Joes that Cobra provided their final exam, "And as far as I'm concerned...you all pass with flying colors!"

Commentary: One of the weirdest issues of G.I. Joe, this more than any other signals the addition of the less than realistic aspects of G.I. Joe. Dr. Mindbender and the BATs are the strangest additions to the series since Zartan, and the "mutant plant spores" are even stranger. Despite some of the sillines of this story, there are some good actions scenes, and it's nice to see the Joes resourcefulness in defeating the creeper vines and the BATs. Airtight is the most important character in this issue, since he comes up with most of the plans for winning. He also is the weirdest characters. He collects scorpions, eats peanut-butter and tomato sandwiches. Bazooka and Crankcase even call him a P.N.G. ("Pencil-Necked-Geek"). Unfortunately, as is oftne the case in G.I. Joe, the four new Joes will all but disappear from the series.

For better or for worse, Mindbender and the BATs will return. The doctor's famous arrogance is displayed here, and his character remains more or less the same later on. One confusing aspect of the book is that in the first two times Destro refers to Mindbender, he calls him Dr. "Brain-Wave." A later letter column will explain that as little joke on Destro's part. He does later call him "Brain-Wave," but only one more time. The idea of the mutant vines/creeper-bombs  may have come from similar things seen in one of the G.I. Joe cartoon mini-series, where they were called creeper vines. For all this issue's weirdness, perhaps Larry Hama decided that if he has to introduce a mad scientist and androids, he might as well write a very odd issue, It doesn't even have anything to do with the rest of the series. This issue also seems to be the first mention of "Yo-Jo Cola." Like I said, strange.

This issue is also an obvious indication that new characters are being created too quickly for the comic to keep up with. The new Joes and vehicles are from the 1985 series of toys, while the new Cobras are from 1986. The character appearances are already getting behind.

One actual "logical" problem seems to be the fact that Lady Jaye is training other Joes, when she was introduced a relatively short time ago, in issue #32.

In the end, issue #44 leaves us with a very weird story, which would be much better suited for the cartoon series. The only importance this issue has is the first appearances of some characters and vehicles.
First appearances:
  • G.I. Joe team: Airtight, Bazooka, Crankcase, Heavy Metal
  • Cobra: Dr. Mindbender, B.A.T.s (Battle Android Troopers - referred to as "android-troopers")
  • G.I. Joe Vehicles: AWE Striker jeep, MBT Mauler tank, Silver Mirage motorcycle
Reprinted in:
  • The Transformers (UK) #99-102 (February 7th - 28th, 1987). A Marvel UK series that began reprinting Action Force stories after the end of that series. These issues reprint this story in four parts, alongside original stories. All references to "G.I. Joe" were changed to "Action Force".
  • G.I. JOE: Volume 5 (2002). A trade paperback collection from Marvel. Includes issues #42-50.
  • A version of the issue was released by Hasbro in 2006, packaged with action figures of Lady Jaye and a gas mask-wearing Cobra trooper as seen in this issue. All references to Marvel Comics were removed.
  • Classic G.I. JOE: Volume 5 (November 2009). A trade paperback collection from IDW Publishing. Aside from some slight changes made to the cover, this is a reprint of the earlier Marvel collection. Includes issues #42-50.