FCBD Funnies

« Transformers vs. G.I. Joe Free Comic Book Day strip »
"FCBD Funnies"
Publisher	IDW Publishing
Published in	Robots in Disguise #0
First published	May 2, 2015
Cover date	May 2015
Written by	Tom Scioli and John Barber
Art by	Tom Scioli
Colors by	Tom Scioli
Letters by	Tom Scioli
Editor	Carlos Guzman
Continuity	Transformers vs. G.I. Joe

Cobra Commander's son seeks vengeance on the man who tried to claim his father's life.

Synopsis

Cobra Commander was not always a snake-themed terrorist mastermind—once, he was a man, with a wife and child whom he left behind. His son, Billy, is raised with knowledge of what his father has become, leading to fights with other children who refuse to believe his father is the famous terrorist. Upon reaching manhood, Billy sets out to find his father, and while contemplating whether Cobra or G.I. Joe is the better lead to chase, he is approached by the Blind Master with the offer of a "third path". Trained in the ninja arts by the old master, Billy infiltrates both the Joe and Cobra ranks and learns from the Serpentress that Snake Eyes wounded his father and left him in a vegetative state before disappearing through the M.A.S.S. Device. Billy seeks more information on the Joe ninja from Jinx, who tells him that Snake Eyes allegedly defected from G.I. Joe to join up with Cobra. Traversing the space between worlds, Billy finds Snake Eyes on Cybertron, and engages him in a swordfight, on motorcycles, atop Scorponok's claws. Snake Eyes emerges the definitive victor, chopping off Billy's right arm and leg, but Megatron recovers the boy and provides him cybernetic replacement limbs.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Notes

Continuity notes

• The Blind Master previously appeared in a flashback, training young men in ninjutsu, in issue #5.
• Snake Eyes wounded Cobra Commander in issue #0, the previous year's Free Comic Book Day offering. The commander was revealed to have survived in issue #5.
• Snake Eyes vanished through the M.A.S.S. Device in issue #4.

G.I. Joe references

• Cobra Commander's son Billy was a notable supporting character in the original Marvel G.I. Joe series. There, he received his ninja training from Storm Shadow, and also lost his left leg and gained a cybernetic replacement.
• Cobra Commander reveals his past by informing the reader: "I was once a man." This infamous quote comes from G.I. Joe: The Movie, in which the commander chants it to himself over and over in an attempt to hold onto his humanity as he is slowly mutated into a snake.

Real-life references

• The above synopsis probably sounds very straightforward, but this whole strip is done in the form of a "Sunday Comics" newspaper page, with each step on Billy's journey represented as a discreet, short, comic strip. Specific famous comic strips parodied include:
  • Dennis the Menace, parodied as "Billy the Brat", in which Billy fights with a friend.
  • The Family Circus, its distinctive single-circular-panel shape giving the parody the title of "Circle of Life", in which Billy is approached by the Blind Master.
  • Spy vs. Spy, parodied as "Ninja vs. Ninja", with Billy and Snake Eyes's white and black outfits filling in nicely for the spies of the original.
  • Additionally, the alliteratively-titled "Jinx the Joe Ninja" might be a reference to Hagar the Horrible.
  • Other strips include "Scioli and Barber's Fun Factoids" (in which Cobra Commander's family is introduced) and "Rogue's Gallery" (in which Billy meets the Serpentress), while the final installment on the page is "Megatron's Activity Corner": a join-the-dots puzzle to fill in Billy's new cybernetic limbs.

Reprints

• Transformers vs. G.I. Joe Volume 2 TPB
• Transformers vs. G.I. Joe Quintessential Collection Hardcover

• 

  Volume 2; cover art by Scioli

• 

  Quintessential Collection; cover art by Scioli