Creators: Larry Hama (writer), Chris Mooneyham (artist), Francesco Segala (colourist), Sabrina Del Grosso (flatter), Pat Brosseau (letterer)
Story: Cobra is investigating the remains of the three modified Vipers that Dawn took out last issue while Dawn is back at her parent's house, reporting to Duke. She notices her neighbour, a Crimson Guard approaching but her parents take him out and she flees. Duke now feels that they are in a position where they can act. Elsewhere in the Pit, Mainframe, Airtight and Black Hat are examining the remains of one of the modified Vipers that attacked Snake Eyes and Scarlett. One of the hands is still active and attacks but Stalker arrives and destroys it. Elsewhere in the Pit, Spirit, Lady Jaye and Multo are preparing to take out the three modified Vipers stalking above before they actually discover the entrance and drop a nerve gas grenade down it. After a struggle, the three Joes are able to stop the Vipers. On Cobra Island, Serpentor Khan and Dr. Mindbender discuss their plans and how they have extra chips in the modified Vipers so they can overrule Revanche's control. In Baton Rouge, at a Revanche facility, a Python officer has to take down a blue ninja cyborg before he discovers the new chips. In Scotland, Destro, the Baroness and Zartan are solidifying their alliance though we discover Zartan is a fake, controlled by Serpentor and Mindbender while the real Zartan is being hunted down by a missile.
Writing: Hama is really able to just slowly insert new plot clues and events into his issues without each issue being "a big event". We get that the Joes are ready to do something now, Serpentor Khan and Dr. Mindbender have a few plots moving, Cobra Commander is ready to act and then the Destro/"Zartan" alliance is teeming with intrigue. There are a lot of plots within plots within plots going on here and it's about to all come to a head pretty soon. We are also getting a sense of how dangerous these modified Vipers of Serpentor Khan's can be.
Art: Mooneyham keeps delivering here as well. We get some great fight moments where it takes 2-3 Joes to just hold at bay one modified Viper. The Python Viper versus the blue ninja was cool too as we see some more of what these mutated soldiers are able to do. They just aren't ugly looking cannibals!
Overall: A "calm before the storm" issue, where all the pieces are getting lined up before we get a big finale on this story arc. It was nice to see Duke actually putting forth that the Joe team needs to actually do something now as I feel they've just been sitting on the sidelines watching everything for the past couple of issues.
