Sachi is the lone female member of the team and it's medic. Her design was transplanted on to Horrorshow when the Patrol became the Oktober Guard.


Sachi

Medic

Filename: Kozlovskaya, Galina

Birthplace: Zvenigorod, Russia

Sachi translates from Japanese as fortune or luck. She was given this nickname by her father who had learned it while stationed in the Kuril Islands after world war 2. He frequently said that when they were together things just seemed to go his way. Those who have served with Sachi have come to believe the same, with her skills having pulled many back from the brink of seemingly unsurvivable situations. She personally finds the nickname belittling, but has come to accept it, at least from the other members of the Pravda Patrol. Women are treated equally in the Soviet Military, at least in theory, but the reality is quite different. Sachi has had to work very hard for her accomplishments, and is very grateful that Yuri recognized her ability and has given her the opportunity to serve with the Patrol.

"I'm just saying we'd be foolish to keep women out of this unit. I realize combat roles are against the rules, but hell, the unit itself isn't even supposed to exist, I think we can bend them just a bit. This Pravda Patrol unit the Ivans are running? They've got a female medic, and by all accounts she's more than holding her own. Especially if we're going to be handling our own intelligence, we need them." -Excerpt of memo from General Lawrence Flagg Jr. re: Special Counter-Terrorist Unit Delta

In the late 70s/early 80s there was a magazine sized black and white anthology comic published by Marvel called Bizarre Adventures. In issue #31, sandwiched between a Larry Hama story about a rabbit with Vietnam induced PTSD and tale of pre-teen murder (no, really) was a 5 page story called "Let There Be Life". In it we're introduced to the Pravda Patrol, a Soviet Special Forces unit. Created by Tom DeFalco and Herb Trimpe, and due to the nature of the mag, actually owned by them, the Pravda Patrol only appeared this one time. But they almost became more. The Soviet counterpart to the Joe team wasn't going to be the Oktober Guard, it was to be the Pravda Patrol. Art exists for issue 6 (originally intended to be issue 3) of the Patrol in place of the Guard, but their use was rejected by Hasbro. This is likely because the characters wouldn't have been owned by Hasbro, and it is probably for the best, as the Guard has more visual distinctiveness, but it's one of those weird quirks of comic/toy history that I love. The Pravda Patrol had been on my mental to-do list since I learned about them and while they don't jibe with the "no existing characters" guideline, they fit the Year One theme too well to pass up. Also, with Mr. Trimpe having recently passed away, I like to consider these my small tribute to all the amazing work he did and all the enjoyment he brought me.

Definitely the biggest challenge. I haven't attempted this intensive a sculpt in a long time, and definitely never anything that was supposed to have this level of patterning. It came out better and worse than I hoped, but I'm glad I challenged myself and made the effort to do the design justice.