Cesspool is the code name of Vincent D'Alleva. He was born in
Newton, Massachusetts, and was first released as an action figure in 1991, as part of the Eco-Warriors line. For a time Cesspool was the Chief Executive Officer of a company with holdings in large number of oil refineries, mills and chemical plants. In an effort to placate environmentalists, he takes some on a personal tour of one of his holdings. He suffers an accident, dropping him into chemical sludge. He acquires a scar running down the right side of his face, leaving him blind in that eye. Cesspool comes to believe that environmentalists were the cause of his misfortune. He also wishes to make the world as 'ugly and deformed' as he is. To that end, he offers his services as a businessman to Cobra. In the Marvel Comics
G.I. Joe series, he first appeared in issue #123. Continuing in the next two issues, he and his men fought the G.I. Joe "Eco-Warriors" team, made up of
Clean-Sweep,
Ozone and
Flint. The Joes drive Cesspool off of his "plasmatox" base on an abandoned oil drilling platform, ultimately using a U.S. government lawyer to inform Cesspool that his assets have been seized. Cesspool continued to work for Cobra, ultimately operating alongside Zarana on
Cobra Island. Firefly, with the aid of the Red Ninjas, captures them and holds them prisoner. Cobra Commander however, refuses to pay their ransom, and says Firefly can keep them and the island, as they are all ultimately worthless to him and his newer ventures. As revealed in issue #135, Zarana and her close ally Road Pig spent months as prisoners alongside Cesspool. In the
Devil's Due G.I. Joe series ''America's Elite'', it is revealed Cesspool has settled down into suburbia with the help of a version of the Witness Protection Program.
Scarlett stops by to grill him about suspected Cobra ties to the satellite bombing of Chicago. She finds Cesspool is dying of cancer due to past exposure to toxins. Guarding the sick Cesspool in his home is a younger woman claiming to be his wife and three robotic soldiers in the guise of children. They subdue and capture Scarlett. Sometime later, Cesspool is captured by the Joes and transferred to the Coffin prison. Cobra forces later invade the prison, freeing some while executing others considered to be "loose ends". Cesspool falls under the latter category. Cesspool appeared in the DiC
G.I. Joe animated series voiced by
Terry Klassen. He also appeared as a
boss in 1992's
G.I. Joe: The Atlantis Factor for the Nintendo Entertainment System. In IDW Publishing's
G.I. Joe continuity, he first appears in
Infestation 2: G.I. Joe #1, as a crazed resident of the "Cobra-La" installation for unfit and unstable agents deemed valuable to Cobra R&D. ==Cobra Commander==