- Title: G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero – Cobra C.L.A.W.s Are Coming to Town
- wiki: link
Wayback Wednesday takes us back to a Christmas episode of G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero which starts with Firefly making use of a Cobra distration and loading a special sack into the Joe’s holiday toy drive which includes a variety of toys (such as a “Trojan rocking horse”) filled with miniaturized Cobra soldiers who emerge inside the Joe’s headquarters only staffed with a skeleton holiday crew managing the base. With the Cobra soldiers enlarged by Firefly, the Joes are quickly overwhelmed falling to Cobra who then plans on attacking the nearby town in the Joe’s own vehicles framing them as terrorists.
The episode gives us several of the show’s staples including Cobra Commander (Christopher Collins), Major Blood (Michael Bell), the Baroness (Morgan Lofting), Destro (Arthur Burghardt), Zartan (Zack Hoffman), Cover Girl (Libby Aubrey), Duke (Michael Bell), Roadblock (Kene Holiday), Tripwire (Rob Paulsen), and Shipwreck (Neil Ross) while also including Junkyard and Mutt (Bill Morey) who gets his own little story about finding the Christmas spirit. We’re also given tons of vehicles and tech including the C.L.A.W.s which give the episode its name, Rattlers, V.A.M.P.s, Skystrikers, Sky Hawks, Dragonflies, F.A.N.G.s, Destro’s molecular reducer, and S.N.A.K.E.s.
As so often happens on the series, Cobra Commander’s overconfidence allows a method of our heroes’ escape. To catch up with Cobra, the Joes will have to use Cobra’s vehicles, offering the unusual situation of heroes and villains swapping their usual modes of transportation for the final battle leading to the Joes shooting up more of their vehicles than Cobra has ever managed. However, the most bizarre sight turns out to be a giant Polly who arrives just in time to get in on the action (to Shipwreck’s dismay). Delightfully odd and wacky, what more could you ask for in a G.I. JOE Christmas?
