G.I. Joe #45 (March 1986) – “In Search of Candy” – Larry Hama/Rod Whigham/Andy Mushynsky
This one starts with Ace and Ripcord doing aerial surveillance of Cobra Island from the Skystriker. Since Cobra Island has been declared a sovereign nation (at least tentatively), the Joes aren’t allowed on the territory, hence the eye in the sky. Professor Appel wants to shoot them down because they’re violating sovereign airspace, but Zartan tells him not to be too hasty. Ripcord is still freaked out about his girlfriend Candy (Professor Appel’s daughter) possibly being mixed up with Cobra, so he ejects over the island
to get some answers. Hawk is at the hospital with General Austin (still recovering from his heart attack), discussing the Joes’ lack of options when it comes to Cobra Island. When they hear about Ripcord’s unauthorized expedition, Hawk points out that they’ll have to send in a covert team to extract him, which will give that team plenty of opportunities to recon the island and see what Cobra’s up to. General Austin realizes Hawk sent Ripcord on purpose, knowing he’d pull something like this and give them an excuse to send in a team. At Fort Wadsworth, Snake Eyes overhears one of the Chaplain’s Assistants talking about a message on the police net that names the Hard Master’s killer. 
Snake Eyes takes the message and heads to New York to show Storm Shadow. On Cobra Island, Cobra Commander refuses to rouse the troops even though Appel tells him the Skystriker probably ejected someone, but Zartan takes a compound bow with a Starlite scope and goes to check it out. Meanwhile, Ripcord has grabbed a guard to ask about Professor Appel, but the guard doesn’t know anything. The Joes are sending in a team led by Flint, which includes Spirit and two new Joes, Alpine and Quick Kick. General Austin tells Hawk he’s retiring and that Hawk has been promoted to Brigadier General and will be the full commander of the Joe team. Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow have “borrowed” a Cobra Rattler from a secret safehouse and are heading for
Cobra Island. They discuss the murder of the Hard Master and we finally find out who it is … Zartan! He used a combination of his stealth and modern technology to mimic what a ninja could do, making Storm Shadow look guilty. On Cobra Island, Zartan and Ripcord are engaged in a death-duel. Both get wounded and after Zartan’s bow is broken, he uses his camouflage trick to disappear and sneak up on Ripcord. But Ripcord turns the tables, hiding in the mud and ambushing the master of disguise. The Joe rescue (or infiltration) team lands on the island, while Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow arrive at the island and are allowed to land, since they’re in a Rattler and Storm Shadow knows all the 
codes. But they know they’ll soon be found out and will have to fight their way to Zartan. Speaking of which, he’s managed to overcome Ripcord and decides to take on his identity so he can get inside Joe headquarters. This is a really good issue, mostly because it finally solves the mystery of the Hard Master’s killer. Of course, now that Zartan has stolen Ripcord’s identity, Storm Shadow’s revenge will be delayed (in fact, it’ll be delayed for a long time), but at least we know who the killer is now. We meet two new Joes (Alpine and Quick Kick), but we’ll have to wait until next issue to see them in action. And Hawk’s promotion makes sense and has been a long time coming.
G.I. Joe #46 (April 1986) – “Who’s Who on Cobra Island” – Larry Hama/Rod Whigham/Andy Mushynsky
This one starts right where last issue left off, with Zartan taking Ripcord’s place, even switching clothes with him and leaving Ripcord behind as “Zartan”, while the fake Ripcord goes to look for his fellow Joes, who have just landed on the island. Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow have landed too and are taking out guards at the control tower. Professor Appel is showing Cobra Commander his new Firebat jet, which has its own launch facility and can be operated remotely, doing high-G turns that
would kill a pilot. Appel is worried about his daughter Candy, who Cobra Commander still hasn’t told him is missing. (Of course, we know what happened to Candy, since we read issue 43.) Appel goes out to patrol the island and finds Ripcord (who he thinks is Zartan) wounded, so he puts the whole island on high alert. The Joe team is taking photos of various Cobra tech when they see Appel taking “Zartan” into the Firebat launch base and realize Ripcord must’ve wounded him, since none of them did. Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes also see Appel taking Ripcord (who they also assume is Zartan) into the 
launch base and prepare to follow. When Appel gets “Zartan” into the medical section, he finds a photo of Candy in his hand and realizes who he really is. Ripcord tells Appel that Candy has been missing since Buzzer took off with her and Appel figures out Cobra Commander has been lying to him. The Joes find “Ripcord” and take out some Cobras before retrieving him, while Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow fight their way into the base and find Cobra Commander. He sells Zartan out immediately, confirming he killed the Hard Master and directing him to the medical section below. Professor Appel knows the ninjas are there to kill Zartan and won’t believe he’s really
Ripcord, so he puts Ripcord in the Firebat and programs it to take him back to the United States so he can look for Candy. Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes bust in and Storm Shadow is ready to die to take out “Zartan”, killing Appel when he tries to intervene. Snake Eyes saves Storm Shadow from being killed in the Firebat back-blast and the jet takes off on its pre-programmed course. The Joes are leaving the island with “Ripcord”, but Spirit is already suspicious since his wounds don’t match the holes in his uniform. This is a good issue, although it would’ve been nice to see Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow 
find the real Zartan. But Zartan’s disguise as Ripcord will let him cause havoc in Joe headquarters, so that’s something to look forward to. It’s cool that Professor Appel really does turn out to care more about his daughter than Cobra; too bad he died without knowing what happened to her … or maybe that’s a blessing. We get hints about some new Cobra equipment (straight from the toy line, as usual) when the Joes are taking photos on the island. Besides the Firebat, we see what looks like a Night Raven jet and a Terror Drome, which will become an ongoing plot point as Cobra sells them to various shady organizations around the world.