G.I. Joe #39 (September 1985) – “Walk Through the Jungle” – Larry Hama/Rod Whigham/Andy Mushynsky
Last issue, a team of Joes (Stalker, Ripcord, Gung Ho, and Roadblock) went to Sierra Gordo and made contact with another Joe (Recondo) and his friends, the local Tucaro Indians. They’re in the war-torn banana republic to rescue Dr. Adele Burkhart (who longtime fans will remember from issue 1) from a rebel stronghold. The Joes rappel down a sheer cliff to approach the bunker from its blind side, but they can’t go back up the cliff with Burkhart, so they’ll have to get past the formidable defenses. After taking out some guards, Recondo dons
the uniform of a sergeant to get inside the bunker, where he finds Burkhart about to be chemically interrogated by a government doctor. (The Sierra Gordo government thinks Burkhart is a spy for the Americans, even though the CIA is sending money to the rebels.) Recondo takes the guards and the doctor down, but they still need to find a way out without getting blown away. In New York, Storm Shadow has been training Billy (who he rescued from Cobra last issue), not just physically but mentally. In Sierra Gordo, the Joes try to fake their way out of the bunker, but some Russian “advisors” notice something wrong and start shooting. It turns into a firefight, but the 
Joes get Burkhart away from the stronghold safely (although the Tucaros helping them are all killed). In Springfield, Destro and Baroness report to Cobra Commander that Storm Shadow and Billy are still missing, but that Tomax and Xamot managed to rescue the Crimson Guardsman (last issue again) who’s instrumental to Cobra’s plans in the Gulf of Mexico. In Sierra Gordo, the Russian snipers start tracking the Joes, but first they kill the government doctor. The Joes have a raging river to cross, so Recondo goes back to cover their trail while the others set up an impromptu rope bridge. In New York, Billy shows what he’s learned from Storm Shadow by scaring off a gang of punks without resorting to violence. In the jungles of Sierra Gordo, Recondo returns with two sniper rifles, having taken care of the Russians who were following, and they all cross the river. At the Pit, Candy is being interrogated by Duke and Lady Jaye, but swears she had no idea that her
father is a Cobra agent. She also doesn’t know why he has so many survey reports about a certain section of the Gulf of Mexico. In Sierra Gordo, Dr. Burkhart is bothered that her humanitarian mission ended up costing lives instead of saving them and Ripcord tells her she shouldn’t have been screwing around in Sierra Gordo in the first place. Stalker gives Ripcord shit and gives him a speech about why the Joes do what they do. They meet up with Wild Bill and Cover Girl across the border, who tell them they’re making an unscheduled stop in New Orleans. This is a really good issue, with the bunker rescue as the 
highlight. It’s cool to see the tactics the Joes employ and how difficult a rescue like that is, even with expert planning. Larry Hama seems to be building Recondo up as a bad-ass, having him take out the guards and the Russian snipers off-panel. Unfortunately, he won’t be used much in upcoming issues, so it seems a bit pointless. Stalker’s speech about defending people whose political opinions you disagree with is apt and is something I wish more people believed nowadays.
G.I. Joe #40 (October 1985) – “Hydrofoil” – Larry Hama/Rod Whigham/Andy Mushynsky
This one starts in New Orleans, with the Joes bringing in a new transportable air/sea base as a temporary headquarters so they can investigate what Cobra’s up to in the Gulf of Mexico. The base is anchored to an old offshore drilling rig to stabilize it and a number of Joes go on board. (Seriously, it looks like half the team is present: Stalker, Recondo, Gung Ho, Roadblock, Ripcord, Duke, Snake Eyes, Doc, Trip Wire, Torpedo, Snow Job, and Cutter.) A new Joe called Shipwreck is in charge of the base and starts giving orders right away, but he gets a surprise when another new recruit (Barbecue) pops out of a chain locker. We see the Cobras nearby on a submarine and learn that the stuff the Joes found at Candy’s father’s
house was planted there. Cobra Commander wants the Joes in the Gulf, to help him realize his own plans. Back on Staten Island, Buzzer and Candy have been released into government custody, but Buzzer quickly takes out their guards and steals the bus transporting them (with Candy’s unwitting help). In the Gulf, Cobra Commander and the Crimson Guardsman (whose name is Professor Appel) prepare for the final phase of their plan by sending a sonic pulse that kills a bunch of fish. The Joes pinpoint the source and a team takes the Killer Whale hovercraft to investigate, but several Cobra hydrofoils zip past them and attack the portable base. The Whale drops Deep Six in the SHARC and he finds a solid concrete bunker on the ocean floor, which is exactly what 
Cobra wants. Depth charges and missiles don’t even scratch the bunker, so the Pentagon brass starts talking about using a tactical nuke strike to take out the bunker. (They’re worried that if Cobra keeps killing all the fish in the Gulf, it’ll have heavy economic consequences, but a nuke strike sounds just as bad.) The Joes on the portable base need to get creative to deal with the hydrofoils and Doc comes up with a better idea than dropping a nuke in the Gulf. He suggests they drop a shitload of conventional bombs, which will have the same yield as a nuke but without the radiation. Doc’s idea works and the bunker is eliminated, but the explosion aggravates a hidden fault line in the Gulf … which was Cobra’s plan all along. Why? We’ll have to wait until next issue for the answer. I had this issue as a kid, and I always liked the non-stop action of the fight with the hydrofoils. This is the first appearance of the Cobra hydrofoils (known as Morays) and the transportable base, both
of which I had as toys. (I still have the hydrofoil and the Killer Whale toys, but gave away the Transportable Tactical Battle Platform years ago; I wish I’d held onto it now.) We get the first appearance of Shipwreck and Barbecue, and learn a bit more about Professor Appel, who doesn’t seem to care about his daughter being captured by the Joes since she knows nothing that could jeopardize Cobra’s plans. (And we learn that his daughter’s full name is Candy Appel … yeah, okay, whatever.) Candy’s “escape” with Buzzer and the culmination of Cobra’s plans will be major plot threads in upcoming issues.