G.I. Joe #31 (January 1985) – “All Fall Down” – Larry Hama/Rod Whigham/Andy Mushynsky
This one starts with the Joes moving a bunch of vehicles (a Mobat, Vamp, RAM, and Wolverine) out of Fort Wadsworth, which isn’t exactly inconspicuous but doesn’t seem to raise suspicion in the suburban neighbourhood surrounding the base. One guy who might be suspicious is Fred Broca, the Cobra Crimson Guardsman who’s been re-assigned to watch Fort Wadsworth for anything out of the ordinary. But Fred gets a call from Cobra Commander just as the Joe column is moving past and completely misses it (which is basically what happened
last issue too). Cobra Commander tells Fred he’s going to have guests and should cooperate fully with them. Meanwhile, Hawk is in the Joes’ C-130 cargo plane with Ace and Wild Bill for a training flight, which Snake Eyes is using as a way to get back to his cabin in the High Sierras for a little alone time. Snake Eyes parachutes out of the plane, not realizing that Hawk has assigned Airborne and a new Joe (Spirit Iron-Knife) to follow him and make sure he’s safe. Hawk is right to worry, since Zartan has planted a homing device on the C-130 and calls Cobra Commander to give him the frequency, 
trying to make up for screwing up the Commander’s attack on McGuire Air Force Base last issue. Spirit notices the tracking device as he’s about to exit the plane and smashes it, but it was active long enough for Zartan to get a fix on the location of Snake Eyes’s cabin. Destro and Firefly (who are pretending to be loyal to Cobra Commander while waiting to get their revenge on him) come to Fred’s house to tell him they’re going on a Joe hunt in the High Sierras. Airborne and Spirit are keeping an eye on Snake Eyes, but between his ninja senses and his wolf’s sense of smell, they can’t get too close. Destro, Firefly, and Fred arrive and get the location of the cabin from the locals. In Springfield, Major Bludd and Baroness tell Billy (who they
caught rifling the Arbco Brothers files last issue) that they want to help him get revenge on Cobra Commander for destroying his family. They tell Billy he’s going to present the Commander with a bouquet of flowers at a big rally later that week, but at the last second Billy will pull a gun from the bouquet and shoot Cobra Commander. Destro, Fred, and Firefly find Snake Eyes’s cabin and attack, pinning him inside and tossing grenades. Spirit and Airborne get there as fast as they can and engage Firefly and Fred, but Destro goes inside the cabin to finish Snake Eyes off. But the wolf attacks Destro, so Firefly tries to toss a bomb down the chimney. He’s shot by Airborne, who’s shot by Fred, who’s shot by Spirit (none of the wounds are mortal, of 
course), and Destro runs outside just before the explosive blows the cabin to shit. (Don’t worry, the wolf got out too, but it doesn’t look like Snake Eyes did …) This is a great issue with a really good fight at the cabin. It’s nice to see the Cobras using proper tactics and working together instead of just attacking blindly so the good guys can automatically win, like in a lot of these sorts of stories. It’s also nice to see people getting wounded, which is logical with all the bullets flying around (although nobody dies, but I guess this comic is kinda for kids even though the writing seems much more mature). We see Snake Eyes face (shadowed) and it doesn’t look scarred, so I’m assuming he’s wearing one of his rubber masks.
G.I. Joe #32 (February 1985) – “The Mountain” – Larry Hama/Frank Springer/Andy Mushynsky
This one starts minutes after last issue, with Spirit, Airborne, Destro, Firefly, and Fred lying in the snow beside the remains of Snake Eyes’s cabin. Someone else shows up to help, reviving Spirit first since he’s in the best shape. Destro tries to blast the newcomer from behind with his wrist rockets, but the stranger deflects them without even looking. Yeah, it’s the Soft Master and he tells Destro to take his companions (and their weapons) and get lost. Back at the Pit, everyone is getting ready for the grand opening ceremony later that week and Scarlett finds out that Hawk assigned Spirit and Airborne to keep an eye on Snake Eyes during his leave.
In the mountains, Fred wants to go back and engage the Joes immediately, but Destro says that would be stupid after seeing what the Soft Master can do. Soft Master extracts the bullets from Airborne’s leg while explaining why he returned the Cobras’ guns to them. In Springfield, Major Bludd and Baroness have Billy practicing to assassinate Cobra Commander, but it’s not going too smoothly. In the mountains, Soft Master shows Spirit and Airborne a trap door in the remains of the cabin, where he expects to find Snake Eyes (and the wolf, although we saw the wolf—or a wolf—outside the cabin after the explosion last issue) hiding. Outside Springfield, Zartan and the Dreadnoks reunite with Cobra Commander, who asks them to be his 
personal bodyguards. He thinks Storm Shadow is still locked up in Alcatraz and is worried that Storm Shadow might’ve found out something about who really killed the Hard Master. But we see Storm Shadow riding on top of the truck, listening to every word the Commander says. In the mountains, Soft Master and the others have gotten Snake Eyes and the wolf to safety and Spirit goes out to look for food. Nearby, Firefly tells Destro that Fred has gone back to the cabin site to confront the Joes, even though he’s wounded, so Destro says they’d better go after him. In Springfield, Cobra Commander arrives with the Dreadnoks and Zartan (and Storm Shadow makes his presence known), which tells Baroness and Bludd that their assassination plan just got a lot more difficult. In the mountains, Spirit finds Fred’s blood trail and follows it,
unaware that Destro and Firefly are right behind him. The Cobras catch up to him, but all three are forced to climb a tree when a grizzly bear comes after them. At the cabin site, Fred shows up to kill Airborne and Snake Eyes, but Soft Master says he’ll have to kill him first … which Fred doesn’t really have a problem with. In Springfield, Cobra Commander tells Storm Shadow that he knows his “allies” are plotting against him and says if Storm Shadow can keep him alive through the big ceremony coming up, he’ll tell him who really killed the Hard Master. In the mountains, Firefly is ready to frag the bear, but Spirit takes the explosives and loops them around the bear’s neck, trying to lure it away from the tree It doesn’t work and when the bear blows up, the tree falls over 
and slides down the mountain, taking Destro and Firefly off a cliff and into a river. Spirit makes it to the cabin, where he finds Fred has died from his wounds before being able to kill the others. Soft Master explains that Fred’s desire for revenge was the only thing keeping him alive and once he realized how empty that was, he died. Back at the Pit, we get our first look at Ripcord and Lady Jaye, who tell Grunt and Scarlett they’re replacing them. And on Staten Island, Fred Broca returns home, but his kids quickly realize he’s not their real father, just a lookalike sent by Cobra. This is another great issue, which sets up a lot of important stuff, like the Pit opening ceremony and the big Cobra rally in Springfield. It’s hard to keep track of all the backstabbing and double-dealing among the Cobras, and we get our first inkling that some of the older Joes are going to be taking a back seat from now on. The “replacement Fred” will become a very important character, tying into
Snake Eyes’s past. Speaking of which, it’s eventually revealed that Firefly was involved with the Arashikage ninjas (as the Faceless Master), so it’s strange that Soft Master doesn’t recognize him here (or vice versa) … unless Firefly’s disguise skills are so good they even fooled a ninja master. We get our first look at Ripcord and Lady Jaye, as well as a brief glimpse of Recondo and Blowtorch in the Pit. Scarlett and Lady Jaye are immediately catty to each other, just like Scarlett and Cover Girl were; I generally like Larry Hama’s writing, but that’s a trope that needs to be permanently retired. These women are supposed to be professionals, not teenagers auditioning for Mean Girls.