Following up directly from the first volume, here are the next two volumes with D.C. Jones and Adventure Command International, and concluding the “Cult Trilogy”.
Written by Jim Beard, these are based on G.I. Joe toys, in particular, inspired by the Adventure Team era of the action figures of the 1970s, and thus set in that time. But they have been brought back under a new name, fully owned by Beard.
If you read the first volume (and hopefully the short story collection), you should have been introduced to them, but there is a nice two-page overview of the members in each volume, with headshots of D.C. Jones, Marcus, Red, Sarge, Kent, Greg, Glenn, Dixie, Diego, and a mystery member in volume 2. Each has a unique skill like pilot, sailor, astronaut, techie, etc., similar to all the later G.I. Joe figures during that time. Dixie was a recruit in the last volume and is now a full member. Diego is a new recruit in the second volume, where you’ll also learn who the mystery member is. Volume 3 updates this to show all 10 members.
There is also Mike, a recruit in the first volume who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. He shows up at the end of the main story in the second volume, and we are also introduced to Dr. John Bird in that story. In volume 3, Bird will be The Bullet, basically filling the role of Bullet Man in the Action Team, and Mike will fill the place of Mike Powers, Atomic Man.
I had a G.I. Joe at the time, and also recall some of the later additions to the Adventure Team, though I didn’t get them, or Mattel’s competing toy Big Jim and His PACK. And if you want to learn more about G.I. Joe, Beard had done a book on him: The Joy of Joe: Memories of America’s Movable Fighting Man From Today’s Grown-Up Kids.
The second volume is titled Rescue at the Arctic Outpost, and again has three stories, all set in September of 1974: the title story that is a novella, and two short stories. In the first story, we find most of the team in the Arctic.
Things have been a little strange for ACI since the events of the last volume. D.C. Jones has taken a leave of absence, looking for the cult they dealt with in that story, and Marcus has also disappeared, looking into the strange things he encountered in a story in that volume.
The team is asked by the Soviets to help rescue a man from their base in the far Arctic. They succeed but find some strange happenings. When they get thrown in a cell, the man they thought was a KGB agent is really D.C. They head out for ACI’s Arctic base, where Dr. Bird and their mystery member are. There they find the cult, under the leadership of the son of the man they called The Butcher. He is using the object the cult found off California to create a tropical environment. But all are being attacked by an unknown race of Arctic apes. In the end, they rescue Mike from whatever happened to him, Dr. Bird may be joining them as a new powered associate, and Diego decides to continue training. And there seems to be another group behind things they may need to face at some point.
The volume is rounded out by two short stories. One has Glen flying down to Patrick Air Force Base to look into a strange matter, running afoul of both Soviet spies (and a traitor) and something else. Is this a new foe they will need to deal with? And the second has Marcus return, looking for a young boy that he encountered in the last volume. Will he succeed in rescuing the boy and bringing him back?
Volume 3 has a single novel, titled Assault on Mummy Mountain and is set between March and April 1975. Adventure Command is making its move against the cult, but the cult seems to be making moves against them as well. Red and Glenn are in the Sea Lion sub trying to retrieve an object in the Arctic, but something or someone attacks them. Meanwhile, some force attacks the ACI HQ where D.C. is, taking something Marcus found. The Bullet is attacked off the coast of Chile. And Greg is in Uruguay when he is attacked by a strange woman with a deadly snake. He is able to get out of trouble and brings her back as a prisoner to interrogate.
The team figures out the cult must be headquartered in the Andes, as several members were attacked for accidentally being too close. Setting up, they find two locals who had been kidnapped by strange beings on the other side of the mountain. Then an emissary approaches them. Clearly they are in the right location.
They head for the mountain, but things don’t go as they expected. They finally meet the leader, known only as The Speaker, of the cult, called the “Children of the Serpent”, and learn more about the group’s history and their goal, which they want the Adventure Command to join them. Things heat up, and it may seem that some have switched sides, but you’ll have to read to find out.
At the end, the team defeats the cult, but at the cost of one of their members. And maybe obtain a possible new cool headquarters. Hopefully, readers have figured out who the group was that helped the Adventure Command relocate to South America. I wonder if we’ll get more info on a couple of the people we meet and their connection to certain Command members. We do learn more about some of the team as well.
This doesn’t end the adventures of D.C. Jones and company, as we are promised a further book: The Invaders. I wonder if these will be based on the G.I. Joe foe, The Intruders: Strong Men From Another World, from 1976. And if some of the past stories were hinting toward this. We’ll have to see.
