Creators: Larry Hama (writer), Paul Pelletier (pencils), Tony Kordos (inks), Francesco Segala (colorist), Sabrina Del Grosso (flatter), Pat Brosseau (letterer)
Story: The Battle for Springfield continues, and we realize Cobra is leading Serpentor Khan's forces into a trap. Cobra Commander realizes that the Dreadnoks and the Baroness are there and sends his stand-in in the battle armor to get them. Dawn decides to save the police officer that helped kill her family. On Cobra Island, Serpentor Khan decides to lead the next wave against Cobra as the Joe recon team escapes but is gunned down in the ocean (though they survive and float on the unit containing a clone of the original Serpentor). In Springfield, the Crimson Guard in Cobra Commander's battle armor engages the Dreadnoks and is able to seriously wound the Baroness. The Joe Ninja Team is taking heavy fire as well (with the police officer almost killing Dawn but dying by enemy fire) when they meet up with the Dreadnoks and offer to help get the Baroness some medical attention. Cobra Commander is pleased with his plan and launches the next phase while Destro, upon hearing about the Baroness' injury, vows to get personally involved.
Writing: Hama keeps the action intense in this issue. While it mainly focuses on the Battle for Springfield, we get a bit of action on Cobra Island too, and giving us a bit more mystery going on. I liked that Dawn did have a change of heart and, as a "good guy", it's nice to see she doesn't want someone to die horribly (car fire). And, again, it's good to see Cobra Commander having success with his plans; he is a leader of a terrorist organization after all! A few negatives would be the police officer calling the hydraulic spreader the "jaws of life." Just a nit-picky thing from a first responder! But the police officer then, after being saved by Dawn, turning around and taking a chance to try to shoot her in the back.
Art: Art continues to be strong in this issue. We get a lot of good backgrounds, with the battles happening in the dark with fires all over. It really does a good job setting the mood for the issue. We also get to see the F.A.N.G. III, a not-as popular version of the FANG series of helicopters, so that was nice. Then the final page has a nice full-page image of Destro as well.
Overall: While the overall story doesn't move too much in this issue, it reads fast because it's focused on the battle. We have some really cool action scenes (especially the Siegie vs. the Dreadnoks). There is also some set up for what's to come, with Serpentor Khan and Destro starting to converge on Springfield as well.
