JoeCanuck

The Cobra organization enjoys taking credit for their devious activities; however, even Cobra Commander sometimes needs to accomplish his plans in secrecy and let others do his dirty work. Cobra Commander has deemed it time to strike deep into the heart of the Joe team and eliminate one of its most beloved leaders. To ensure he has the best mercenaries for this job, he has turned this contract into a twisted competition by paying only the team or individual who fulfills the objective –remove the specified Joe leader permanently.

Answering Cobra Commander’s call are two teams and one individual who
will vie for the prize payout. The first team is Major Bludd and his Skull Squad known for their unorthodox tactics in getting the job done. The second team is Overlord and his Coil Troopers who wield deadly force, crushing every adversary while leaving no witnesses behind. And the individual…a mysterious loner from South America. What a wrestling match it will be as these three groups use their unique talents to strike deep into the heart of the Joe team.*

PM condemns Boxing Day shooting

TORONTO (CP) - A Boxing Day shootout that killed an innocent teenaged bystander has left Toronto residents wondering how much worse the city's violence can get after as many as 15 young people shot at each other on a busy street packed with holiday shoppers.

Police, politicians and the people of Toronto reacted with shock and revulsion Tuesday after learning more about the incident that saw a 15-year-old girl become the city's 78th murder victim of the year. She was shot during a shopping trip at around 5:15 p.m. while surrounded by countless other people. The shootings occurred outside a shoe store and across the street from Sam The Record Man and Future Shop stores, two of the biggest Boxing Day attractions on Yonge Street.

Six others were also injured and one person was in critical condition.

Prime Minister Paul Martin said he was horrified and called the shootings an outrage while Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said the girl was a victim of "the insanity of guns." A Toronto detective declared police would respond to a city that had lost its innocence.

But condolences and promises of fighting crime - particularly gun violence - did little to ease the worries of people shocked by the brazenness of the shootout.

The crime scene remained taped off Tuesday morning with dozens of evidence markers littered across the sidewalk and all over the road. Despite the fact that many people were off work Tuesday, few were walking near the normally busy stretch of Yonge Street.

Those who were on hand stood behind the police tape and tried to grasp the reality of what had happened a day earlier.

Both city residents and outsiders reacted.

Thirty-seven-year-old Joseph Gelgec, a tourist from Germany, said he couldn't believe such a violent act of crime occurred just steps outside his hotel. It changed his perception of Canada, he said.

"I'm surprised, I never thought things like that could happen here in Toronto. I'm very scared, it's a strange feeling," he said of the quiet, tense atmosphere surrounding the crime scene.

Twenty-one-year-old Emily Trenbeth said she had mixed emotions as she stumbled into the roadblock, near where she works. She said she wasn't surprised by the shooting since they've become so prevalent in the city but seeing things first hand made her feel something different.

"Everywhere you go you're going to find crime. It's unfortunate that it had to happen on Boxing Day at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, but it happens," she said.

"But this scares me a little bit more because I love Yonge Street and I love walking up and down here. I'll definitely be a little more careful but I will still walk up and down here," she said.

The escalating violence and lack of respect for other people is driving people out of the city, said a long-time Torontonian who was watching police at work at the crime scene.

"It seems every day when you open (a newspaper) or turn on the radio something has happened overnight," said the 56-year-old man who asked that his name not be published. "It's just terrible."

So far police have arrested two people but investigators are still trying to determine if they played any role in the shootings. They have not been charged.

The new information to emerge from police Tuesday was detail about the nature of the incident.

Police say two groups of young people in their late teens to early 20s got in an argument and began shooting. As many as 10 to 15 people were involved in the shootout. A handgun has been seized and police say they believe more than one gun was used.

Two other brazen shootings have taken place this year in the same Dundas Square area, which is popular with tourists but not usually known for violence.

On a Saturday night in late July, a man was fatally shot in a crowd of about 1,000 people despite a heavy police presence.

And on a Sunday afternoon in April, three people - including two bystanders - were wounded after a gunman opened fire on another man on the same stretch of street where Monday's shootings occurred.

Of the 78 murders in Toronto this year, a record 52 were by gunfire. The city set a record for murders in 1991, with 88.

MC Newsletter wrote:    

We now have a name for our quarterly 3 3/4” exclusives: Operation: Flaming M.O.T.H.

Last month we told you that the story is an homage to the cartoon episodes “Satellite Down” and “Revenge of Cobra”. In other words, it will have elements from both stories but we will not follow the direct story line from either episode.

In THIS story, COBRA has knocked the top-secret M.O.T.H. satellite out of orbit. This military satellite was a top-secret laser defense platform that had the potential to disrupt COBRA operations worldwide.

Desiring this technology for themselves, COBRA was able to pull the not yet operational M.O.T.H. out of orbit. In order that no one get their hands on this new technology, the satellite was programmed to break into four primary components that would be spread around the globe should it depart from its orbital plane. Now the race is on. Who will get to the pieces first? Joe? Cobra? Only you will know.

Each of the four figure sets will have a story that takes place in a particular quadrant of the globe. The debut set that is scheduled toward the end of the first quarter is the Jungle Theatre story, which includes the following two figures: Jungle Night Viper and Jungle Frag Viper. Both characters will be new versions of these two favorite vintage figures. They will come in a telescoping box like the convention set, but these boxes will be 6” x 6”. When you put all 4 of the figure sets boxes together, they will make one scene depicting the entire story! I hope you are getting excited about these club exclusives. We will bring you more information next month!