G.I. Joe #17 (November 1983) – “Loose Ends” – Larry Hama/Mike Vosburg/Jon D’Agostino
Last issue, Hawk was shot in the back by Cobra Commander while struggling with Destro and left for dead. Turns out Hawk was wearing Kevlar but the impact of the bullets still did some damage, possibly internal, because Cobra Commander was so close. While Doc works on Hawk, Scarlett fills the others in and Gung Ho trashes the car of an annoying commuter (who has the misfortune to be driving a Shelby Cobra). Hawk is airlifted out and the Joes get in contact with the other team (Zap, Grunt, Short Fuze, Rock n’Roll, and Flash) who went after Cobra Commander and Destro’s HISS tank (driven by Dr. Venom) in the APC.
Cobra Commander is worried Destro will figure out it was him who ordered Major Bludd to kill Destro, which led to Baroness getting blown up trying to save Destro’s life. Destro does come to the obvious conclusion, but Cobra Commander manages to convince him that Major Bludd tried to kill him because he was in love with Baroness too and wanted to get rid of the competition. Ace is in the Skystriker above the city and quickly spots the HISS, letting his teammates know where it is. Meanwhile, Snake Eyes and Kwinn plan their escape from a Miami jail, with the help of a flexible saw Kwinn has hidden in his boot and a stash 
of cash sewn into Snake Eyes’s uniform. Outside Baltimore, Major Bludd hijacks a bus, hoping to get as far away from Destro as possible, but it just happens to be the bus Scar-Face is on. Stalker and Grand Slam (on the RAM motorcycle) spot the runaway bus and give chase. In Miami, Kwinn and Snake Eyes join a back alley craps game to win enough money to get to New York and find Scar-Face, who can lead them to Dr. Venom. Speaking of Venom, he’s called in reinforcements to deal with the Joes in the APC: a couple of jets, three FANG choppers, and a big transport helicopter to pick up the HISS tank. North of Baltimore, Grand Slam jumps onto the bus and busts in, taking down Major Bludd (who’s momentarily distracted when he recognizes Scar-Face among the passengers). Meanwhile, the Cobra FANGs attack the APC and are taken
out by Rock n’Roll, while Ace deals with the two jets. Unfortunately, Ace gets tagged by a missile and can’t follow when the Cobra transport airlifts the HISS to safety. Snake Eyes and Kwinn have won everything in the crap game, including one guy’s car, so now they’re headed to Coney Island to find Scar-Face. Cobra Commander and his allies land in Springfield and Dr. Venom points out that if Major Bludd is still alive, he can contradict Cobra Commander’s story about why he tried to kill Destro. Speaking of Bludd, he’s in Bethesda Naval Hospital after getting pounded by Grand Slam and he tries to escape by taking a nurse hostage. But Hawk is there too and takes control of the situation. Just to complicate 
things, an unidentified female is brought in with burns over 80% of her body and asks to speak to Hawk before passing out. She was wearing a very familiar-looking pair of glasses … . The doctor in charge is one of Cobra’s undercover moles and reports to Cobra Commander that Hawk, Bludd, and Baroness are still alive. Cobra Commander passes the first two facts on to Destro, but says nothing about Baroness. Destro says they can salvage their plan to use Scar-Face as a walking plague bomb by injecting him with the toxin and letting the Joes capture him and take him to their headquarters. When Cobra Commander points out that Scar-Face is gone, Destro says he knows where his favourite hideout is … Coney Island. Snake Eyes and Kwinn are also heading there, and we see Scar-Face arriving as well. Things are about to get very interesting … . This is another action-
filled issue, with a few firefights, some more intrigue, and a little humour to lighten things up. (The crap game and Gung Ho trashing the guy’s Cobra are both pretty funny.) It’s nice to see they didn’t really kill Baroness, although with such extensive burn damage, the doctor says she won’t look the same as she did before. There’s a small continuity mistake here: last issue, Baroness’s glasses were clearly a few feet away from her, but here they say she was wearing them when she arrived at the hospital. I’m curious as to why Baroness wants to see Hawk; I can’t see her betraying Destro, but if she realizes Cobra Commander tried to have Major Bludd kill Destro, her loyalty to the Commander might waver.
G.I. Joe #18 (December 1983) – “Destro Returns” – Larry Hama/Mike Vosburg/Jon D’Agostino
This one starts with everyone—Destro, Snake Eyes and Kwinn, and a contingent of Joes—converging on Coney Island, where Scar-Face is hiding out in a maintenance shed beside the roller coaster. The Joes (Hawk, Scarlett, Stalker, Clutch, Rock n’Roll, and Torpedo) received a post card from Snake Eyes asking them to meet him at Coney Island. (Thanks to a special post script for Scarlett, they know the message is genuine.) The Joes see Destro deplaning onto the roller coaster and Scar-Face notices him too and starts up the coaster to run him over. While Destro uses his wrist rockets to blow
up the coaster, Kwinn and Snake Eyes get to Scar-Face and get him to give up Dr. Venom’s location. Kwinn has nothing against Scar-Face, so once he gets the info, Kwinn gives Scar-Face the keys to their car so he can escape. While Destro and the Joes fight outside, Kwinn gives Snake Eyes the choice of staying to meet his teammates or coming with him to get revenge on Dr. Venom. Naturally, Snake Eyes chooses the latter (although he may just be going along to keep Kwinn from killing Venom in cold blood). A three-way pursuit ensues, with the Joes in the APC chasing Destro (in a stolen ice cream truck), who’s chasing Scar-Face 
in the Cadillac Kwinn gave him. Thanks to Rock n’Roll the Caddy crashes and Destro picks up Scar-Face, blowing the Caddy up to delay the Joes. Destro and Scar-Face head to the airport and hijack a jet, diverting it to Libya. (Apparently, Libya was one of the terrorist-friendly countries receiving money and weapons from Cobra at the time.) Dr. Venom is waiting in Tripoli to inject Scar-Face with the toxin, turning him into a walking biological weapon Scar-Face overhears Venom and Cobra Commander talking about how they’ll kill him if he hasn’t been taken inside Joe headquarters within two weeks, which is when the plague toxin will become live in his body. The Joes arrive in Libya
and head for a Cobra base in Mizda, where Destro’s taking Scar-Face. They use the dust raised by the armoured column to get close and Hawk jumps onto the HISS tank to grab Scar-Face. After a brief skirmish, the Joes are airlifted out seconds before Destro catches up to them. Little do they know, they’re doing exactly what Cobra wants … taking a guy full of plague toxin back to their secret headquarters. This is another good issue, with the villains actually being competent instead of idiots who never get anything right. Obviously they’re not going to kill off the entire Joe team, but it actually looks like Cobra’s plan is working 
for the moment, so that does add to the suspense. (And the teaser for next issue does say a Joe will die, so the stakes are pretty high.) I’m not sure where Snake Eyes and Kwinn went, but I assume they’re headed for Springfield to look for Dr. Venom, not realizing he’s currently in Libya. So Scarlett and Snake Eyes will have to wait for their reunion; I’d love to see what that special post script said …