The Comic Box #4!
 

Welcome to The Comic Box. This is a discussion thread for the GI Joe comics. We start at Marvel’s #1 and move thru the series every Wednesday. It’s a chance to give your thoughts, opinions and remarks about the comic in question.

GI Joe #4. Operation : Wingfield.

A nutty, hickoid alternative army is off training in the boondocks. Hawk, Grunt and Snake Eyes are sent in to investigate and take care of business. The leader, Vance Wingfield, turns out to be nuttier than a nutcake and he wants to destroy the world so he can rebuild it in his own way. Just like Dr. Doom in the Ultimate Alliance video game!

Interesting tidbit. HEY! This is Vance Wingnut that shows up in the Devils Due series. This is the guy who drops satellites and decimates cities. HOW a satellite can cause so much damage is beyond the average reader. They aren’t like meteors in Armageddon, y’know? DD took an interesting route by bringing this guy back. But let’s face it, the return of Kahn in Star Trek was a FAR more interesting villain than this Wingnut.

Another note. It would seem Grunt was quite the hero in the comic, although he got almost no time in the cartoon. Should he have a spot w/ the 25th Joes or were there way cooler Joes that showed up and booted him back to college?


-image from yojoe.com-

Discuss Away!

I'll have to look at the issue to refresh my memory, but one thing that jumps right out at me immediately is that this issue had Snake-Eyes's report, which gave us some insight into how he might talk. Excluding the time he said Scarlett's name once, I don't believe we ever heard his "voice" again until the final issue, making this kind of a unique experience.

You're correct S-M, this is the first and only (until the end) time we "hear" what Snake Eyes thinks. He keeps a log of sorts while Grunt is in Wingfield's camp. I loved this issue a lot actually. I didn't read this until a couple of years ago, so after incidents like Waco and Ruby Ridge, you can almost see this happening today. I liked seeing the Joes against other foes besides Cobra, too. Always fun and interesting!

I'm amused by thesuper-patriotic cover art has nothing to do with the issue.

Hawk in a beret?

Scarlett looking like red Sonja?

Snake-Eyes looking like Spiderman

Is Stalker shooting Snake-Eyes? :p

The issue is good, though this was the second issue I read and was wondering about the lack of Cobra. Hawk can fly a plane, is this ever mentioned again?

Wingfield's mustache seems a bit eccentric, but he's an oddball. Basically he's less clandestine, less clever Cobra Commander, and as such the government has better tabs on him...though I wonder how he got working soviet tanks, not as easy to transport accross country as a HISS. ANd he had a nuke!

I'd rate this issue 6 out of 10.

As I recall, he flew a plane somewhere around #12 or so to extract some Joes from Sierra Gordo. But aside from those two instances, I don't think it was ever mentioned.

I'm in agreement with Lava Boss, the cover is hysterical due to the fact that it suffers from the same lament as a majority of Superman comics-Simply Cover Art. Don't get me wrong, this ploy works for collectors & artists like me!
The story in this issue is a bit of a reach, what with the whacko and all the rest, but it does play out to a fear that at the time was, for the most part, unknown. I recall after really getting further into the series & learning about Destro & M.A.R.S., this issue popped into my mind as someone that Destro might sell to. We know that Destro is all about the scratch, but I think that it would have had to be someone else who set up the transactions due to Destro actually laughing the Wingnut out the door......but who knows??

As for Hawk & his piloting the plane, it was touched upon in a later issue. But like most things Hawk related, there was not really a whole lot of 'creativeness' involved. But that's just my point of view.......

All in all, this issue was an attempt to solidify G.I. Joe as 'A Real American Hero' and damn if it didn't work...in spades!!!!!!

You guys ever collect Batman/Detective in the late 80s? Those covers almost NEVER had anything to do with what was inside. I don't remember what comic it was when I first discovered that covers don't always have to do with the story inside. I don't think it was GI Joe but probably something of the sort.

Oh God Yes!!! Out of the THOUSANDS of comic books in my collection, there's very few that relate to the story inside!! But like I said, for me, the cover art is more than 50% of the reason I buy. Of course with all the titles I collect, ahhhh well that's for another thread....

Oh, you know what comic NEVER had anything to do with it. Or at least 95%? Spawn. Man, that comic sucked.

Tell me about it!! I honestly tried, but NEVER got into it!!! Even though I met with the artists & creator.......still nothing!

This was another of the early issues that I thought was pretty solid. I haven't read it for a long time so I'm pretty hazy on the details, but like most everyone else the thing I remember clearly from this issue is the notes that Snake Eyes made! :)

Re:
 

Somebody said it earlier that it was neat to see the Joes fighting someone other than Cobra. It wasn't until Special Missions that the Joes were actually shown diversifying bad guys that were not related to Cobra. I liked Issue #4, I think it gave some different aspect to the Joes. I also liked how Devil's Due brought him out of the attic, so to speak.

I notice that everyone likes this issue for the fact that Joes weren't fighting Cobra-- Something that I, too, appreciate. However, just last year, Larry Hama himself gave Wingfield some sort of Cobra connection in G.I. Joe Declassified. He was seen sitting in a room with a bunch of Cobra's allies and financial backers.

...Of course, it's entirely possible (and even probable) that Hama didn't write Wingfield into the script, since he had no lines, and that Devil's Due editorial screwed around with the art to create a connection where one was never intended.

This was a great issue. Snake-Eyes' humorous notepad insight gives a little view into the mind of the mystery man.

On a completely seperate note, did anyone ever consider making a custom Wingfield? My son received the comic 3 pack as a gift, and I remember thinking if someone took Grunt's "cranberry" uniform and swapped on one of Wild Bill's many headsculpts (one of the ones with him as bald, with sunglasses), you might have the start for a decent Wingfield. Someone might need to be artsy for the mustache though....

I'm not messing with my son's. If anyone has done it, or takes my idea and runs with it, please post it and PM me. Just some random thoughts!!

Thanks!