| Summary: In a suburban school, a teacher explains the history of G.I. Joe's fight against Cobra, though she admits not much is known about them. "G.I. Joe made sure we'll never have to worry about them again". At that very moment, the Joes in the Florida Everglades are rounding up their Cobra prisoners, including Major Bludd. The Joes discuss the capture of Snake-Eyes and Scarlett, but are interrupted by Bludd's laughing. He hits a button on a remote control in his hand, setting off a bright flash of light. Somewhere underground, Zartan's swamp skier, carrying the master of disguise and Zanya, rockets through a tunnel. Zanya is upset that she doesn't know where they're going. Zartan's cell phone beeps. It's Buzzer and Trasher travelling down a sunken road through the swamp in the Thunder Machine. Zartan tells them to meet him at the "old hide-out". Buzzer and Thrasher continue along and find themselves face to face with a strange, futuristic helicopter flown by Wild Bill with Flint onboard. He fires on them, running the Thunder Machine off the road. They continue on to the Dreadnok compound and find all the Joes lying there unconscious. Major Bludd escapes into the swamps. Zartan and Zanya arrive at the Dreadnoks' gas station hideout (where Zanya hasn't been since she was thirteen) and discover two theives inside, counting their money. They try to leave, but Zartan points out that they are witnesses to their whereabouts and Zanya shoots them. Thirty hours later in Trans-Carpathia, the fake Destro stands in the Cobra castle, discussing how the nano-mites will send the U.S. into chaos, causing computer networks to fail and killing a few hundred citizens. Foreign nations will want to take advantage of America and need Cobra's arms to do so, and with the nano-mites help, they will defeat the nations after they have their income. He looks down at a man in a hospital bed, connected to various machines and wearing a silver mask. "You'll be so proud of me, father," the fake Destro says. He then shows Destro a photo of he and a black woman, young Destro's mother, "before you... left her." The elder Destro moves his hand, pointing to a painting of the Baroness. The younger Destro gets angry, shouting, "No! Not her! You can't see her now! She stole you away from us! Don't you see? Don't you?! We could have been a family." The elder Destro crushes the photo in his hands. "Fine then, old man," his son says. "Lie here and rot. I have work to do." Back at Joe headquarters, Mainframe shows Hawk and Duke footage of the unconscious Joes, and they discuss the nano-mite infected Joes that are lying in the base's infirmary. Hawk wants to track down Cobra Commander, certain he's with Destro and that his corporation is probably supporting the "mite" production. Duke asks if they intend to assault the castle in Trans-Carpathia or get back Snake-Eyes and Scarlett. Hawk says that Destro's political pull is too strong in Trans-Carpathia "and half of Europe" and they can't panic the world by revealing that the mites exist. He's already put their task force in motion. To rescue Snake-Eyes and Scarlett, he sends Spirit and Kamakura to find Billy, Cobra Commander's son, last seen in Scotland. Duke mentions that Billy never quite recovered from his last batch of his father's brain-washing and may not want to help. In a Washington, D.C. medical ward, Mainframe explains that the mites are slowly killing the Joes, and Flint figures that Cobra doesn't yet know how to completely control the nano-mites. He introduces two new Joes, a young man named Daemon and a young woman named Firewall. They are to lead the world's best programmers and engineers in finding a way to fight the nano-mites. A day later in Scotland, Spirit and Kamakura have found Billy. He nearly slams the door in their faces until Kamakura reveals his Arashikage tattoo and Billy lets them inside. That night, in a prison compound in Scotland, Scarlett and Snake-Eyes are locked in a cell wearing prison uniforms. She gets her anger at Snake-Eyes off of her chest, telling him that she's stood by him and loved him, despite the hell he went through. Mistress Armada interrupts them, saying there's already enough drama "in this family" and goes into great detail about how Destro left his son's pregnant mother many years before after meeting "a spoiled aristocrat's daughter", and that the current Destro is that son. She adds that Cobra Commander is locked up there as well. The Baroness arrives, scolding Armada for telling them so much, but she says that the Joes will be killed after being presented to "Junior". Down the hallway, Cobra Commander shouts, "I demand to see my lawyer," but is ignored. After the two women leave, Scarlett and Snake-Eyes use hidden plastic explosives and detonator wire to blow up the door to their cell and escape. Scarlett gives Snake-Eyes a quick hug, but pulls back. They both fight their way past some Iron Grenadiers. Back in Washington, the Joes' condition is worsening. A young soldier reports to Hawk that some news reporters want to speak to him, and say they know about their strike on Cobra and will air a tape tomorrow night. Hawk realizes that someone is feeding the Joes' secrets to the media. Mainframe interrupts Hawk and Duke with a transmission from Scarlett and Snake-Eyes, explaining that Cobra Commander has been locked up by Destro. Before Scarlett can say more, the Iron Grenadiers find them and attack. A brief fight follows, and after Scarlett shoots and wounds Armada, more Iron Grenadiers appear. Snake-Eyes overpowers one only to discover it's Billy, along with Spirit and Kamakura. They lead the former prisoners out of the building. Meanwhile, Mainframe briefs the Joes who were not infected that Destro will soon activate the nano-mites via a satellite, which is impossible to distinguish from any other satellite in space. When the mites hit, Cobra's ground forces will move in and the Joes will have to stop them while the programmers try to deal with the satellite. In Trans-Carpathia, young Destro tells his father that the time has come, and that he will be proud of him. He steps into the Cobra control room and shouts, "Activate the Gaijin satelllite!" As the satellite is activated, the infected Cobra Commander sits in his cell, repeating, "It is mine. It is mine. It is mine..." TO BE CONTINUED
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| Review: In the third chapter of the "Reinstated" miniseries, it is becoming obvious that the story is suffering because of the short space of time the four issues allow. There are definitely interesting developments in the storyline, but ultimately very little actually happens. All the character seem to be getting ready for the events of the next issue, leaving much of the issue seeming like a placeholder. There are some action scenes in the prison which work well, and the truth about Destro is finally revealed. The revelation about Destro is that the original Destro is suffering from some disease, barely able to move or speak. His son was the Destro that took over Cobra two issues ago. Apparently, Destro left the young man's pregnant mother behind to run off with the Baroness. Now, it's very possible Destro Jr. doesn't really know all the facts, but it just seems to go against Destro's character to leave behind an illegitimate child. He seems far too responsible for that. Aside from that, it seems strange that the boy would conspire with the Baroness, since he appears to hate her for supposedly destroying his almost-family. The situation is even further explained by Armada when she, in typical cliched-villain style, tells the whole story to the imprisoned Joes. The fact that the Baroness scolds her for giving the Joes all that information does not excuse the rather lazy plot device. The crunch to fit the story into four issues leaves some dialogue-filled scenes somewhat confusing. Hawk and Duke's conversation about not attacking Destro and finding Billy is difficult to follow. Hawk says that he can't send rescuers to Scarlett and Snake-Eyes because the Joes are already in action, but over a day later, we see all the unaffected Joes sitting around a conference table, not yet out in the field. Hawk's reasoning for finding Billy is also hard to understand. If he can't spare any Joes to rescue the prisoners, why can he spare Spirit and Kamakura? Also, Billy's involvement doesn't really seem necessary when Kamakura and Jinx -- stealthy ninjas -- are both on the team. In fact, it would make much more sense to have Jinx convince Billy to help, given their close relationship in the Marvel series. It all seems to be a poor excuse for Billy to return. The difficult mission to track down Billy is never even seen, and couldn't have been too tough, considering the Joes found him in a day. The biggest bright spots in the issue are the fight sequences in the Scottish prison, showcasing the unstoppable pair of Snake-Eyes and Scarlett. We see them possibly reconcile, but there are hints that it may not be completely resolved. And I have to take Scarlett's side here. Snake-Eyes does owe her an explanation. This is the first issue of the new series to include a letter column, and it's nice to see that some negative comments are included. One response gives a very unsatisfactory reason for the Crimson Guard turning on the Commander in issue #1. Their betrayal made me speculate that "Destro" was actually Cobra Commander. Writer Josh Blaylock uses the example of Fred VII's betrayal to illustrate the CG's are not necessarily loyal to Cobra Commander. That doesn't really explain anything, especially since the scene in issue #1 was supposed to be a shock to the reader. Anyone who's read the reviews of the last two issues here know that I've been pretty easy on the series so far. Unfortunately, issue #3 seems much too rushed, even though most scenes do little to advance the plot. Only the Destro revelation and the all-too-brief infection of the Joes carry the storyline into the next issue. The "cramped" story causes characterization to suffer as well. Although -- continuing to be lenient -- the series may improve itself once it's freed of its four-issue restraints.
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G.I. JOE v2 #3
Comic Series & Reviews