Creators: Larry Hama (writer), Andrew Krahnke (artist), Francesco Segala (colorist), Sabrin Del Grosso (flatter), Pat Brosseau (letterer)
Story: In the Arabian Sea, a Tomahawk lifts off with Tunnel Rat, Tripwire and Sherlock going on a mission to rescue a 15-year-old activist/daughter of an opposition leader. The leader of the kidnappers is also a "Fred Series" former Crimson Guardsman and operative for Cobra. The team lands and meets up with Mongoose who was inserted the night before. They find the tunnel system where the kidnappers are and go in guns blazing. When they finally rescue the girl, she's upset that they ruined her plan and she goes off after the kidnappers as well; ends up the real daughter is elsewhere and the one they rescued is a special forces operative made to look like her who has a grudge against the Crimson Guardsman. The Joes are able to talk her down from killing him and instead bringing him to trial for his crimes (beyond the kidnapping).
Writing: So this was an "out of left field" story; we've been following the Battle of Springfield for the past issues and this one has nothing to do with it. The nice thing is that the story is self-contained, so it's easy to pick up and read. We get a few characters we haven't seen in a while (like Tripwire!) and references to past Joe places (like Trucial Abysmia). The nice thing about the story is it does break up the on-going story we've been following, giving up a bit more time to get back to it and be invested again. However, it is odd to drop this story in the middle of an on-going plot. I enjoyed it though and it had an interesting twist in it as well.
Art: Andrew Krahnke fills in for Chris Mooneyham in this issue. His style of art fits nicely with the series and if no one told you it was a different artist, you'd be hard pressed to tell it was someone else doing it. Because the bulk of the issue takes place at night and in a bunker, a lot of the colors are faded and the backgrounds have darker tints to them. However, even with that, the colors do stand out and don't get overpowered by the darker setting.
Overall: An interesting tale that shows up the G.I. Joe team has a lot of different missions going on at any given time. It does break up the on-going storyline from the previous issues and hopefully we'll be getting back to those next issue. Andrew Kahnke does a good job with art on this issue (which maybe why this story was published now; Mooneyham might be running behind or have to take a break or something and this gives him a chance to catch up). I'd enjoy seeing Kahnke again on more G.I. Joe issues. Overall, a decent stand-alone issue that many comics struggle to produce nowadays.
