G.I. Joe #74 (August 1988) – “Alliance of Convenience” – Larry Hama/Ron Wagner/Randy Emberlin
This one starts on Cobra Island with the civil war between Serpentor and Cobra Commander (who we know is actually Fred VII in disguise) throwing everything they have at each other. The team of Joes (Lt. Falcon, Spirit, Sneak Peek, Tunnel Rat, Dial-Tone, and Gung Ho) sent to recon the island observes as Baroness’s troops are pushed back by Serpentor’s forces despite their superior numbers. Zartan and the Dreadnoks are supposed to be Cobra Commander’s last line of defense, but Zartan seems to be pushing Cobra Commander into wasting his resources in futile assaults, even ignoring Baroness’s experienced
advice. The Joes move through the swamps to get info on the airfield, but Spirit hangs back because he knows someone is following them. On the USS Flagg aircraft carrier, Hawk is surprised when General Hollingsworth shows up with pretty much every active member of the team. He’s even more surprised to see that Hollingsworth has Dr. Mindbender with him and that the Joes have orders to invade Cobra Island and help Serpentor’s side win the civil war. Hollingsworth says it’s because they’d rather have a constitutional monarchy on the island than a fascist dictatorship, but Hawk realizes Mindbender traded the stolen black box back to the Americans in exchange for their help. Hawk 
orders Falcon’s team to take the control tower at the airfield (currently held by Cobra Commander’s forces) and hold it at all cost. Spirit catches Captain Minh following them and Minh says he can get them to the airfield without being seen. As Hawk leads the assault teams on the airfield, Minh shows the Joes a sewer tunnel that runs under the tower and they use it to get inside. Hawk’s team leads the assault but the follow-up team in the Tomahawk are shot down (although it looks like everyone is pulled out of the wreckage alive). Cutter leads another squad to take out some ASP gun emplacements,
but they only get about half of them before the Killer Whale is blasted (with everyone on it surviving). They manage to take out the rest of the ASPs with satchel charges, clearing the way for some troop transports to land. Meanwhile, Serpentor crashes through Baroness’s lines and heads for the airfield. Cobra Commander shows up with the Dreadnoks in the Thunder Machine and they blast one of the C-130’s, blocking the runway. Buzzer grabs Hawk and drags him onto the Thunder Machine, but Hawk starts beating the shit out of him. Serpentor’s column arrives (with the captured Baroness 
strapped to his hood like a deer) and targets Cobra Commander, but before anything decisive can happen, Destro’s forces show up with overwhelming numbers to completely change the game. This is a great issue with plenty of action and almost all the Joes participating. The battle is realistically done and Larry Hama actually includes a tactical map of the island so we can follow along with all the attacks and counter-attacks without getting too confused. Of course, Destro’s arrival will change things again, but it’ll be interesting to see if he chooses a side or if he’s just there for himself.
G.I. Joe Special Missions #12 (August 1988) – “Air Show” – Larry Hama/Herb Trimpe
This one starts (strangely enough) at an air show in upstate New York, where local pilots fly vintage planes to entertain the crowds. But this air show has some special guests: Ace, Slipstream, and Maverick flying the Joe jets, which really impresses the crowd. The local pilots are impressed too, including a guy named Bert Phriem who flies an old Stearman Kaydet. Turns out Maverick’s mother was a crop-duster pilot so he loves antique planes and ends up taking a ride with
Bert in the Stearman. Unfortunately, that’s just when Firefly leads some Cobras to crash through the fence and knock out Ace and Slipsteam with some gas so he can steal the Joes’ Vector VTOL jet. Firefly strips the electronics from the Skystriker and Conquest before taking off in the Vector, so Ace and Slipstream can’t follow him. When Maverick and Bert find out what happened, they trail the stolen jet (which is flying low and slow to avoid RADAR) in the Stearman. They’re forced to land at a racetrack to refuel, but get back on the trail only to lose the Vector near the Hudson River. They return to the 
airfield and mull things over, realizing that the Vector must’ve landed on a barge they saw on the river. They head back down the river and find the barge near Manhattan. They land the Stearman on the Intrepid aircraft carrier and steal a boat to board the barge. After a short fight with Firefly’s forces, reinforcements show up and the Vector is recovered. As a reward for his help, Maverick lets Bert fly the Vector back upstate to the air show. This is obviously a labour of love for Hama and Trimpe, who are both plane enthusiasts. Judging by all the geographical references they must have been familiar with upstate New York, and I can’t help wondering if some of the names mentioned belong to real people that Hama or Trimpe actually knew.