G.I. Joe Special Missions #14 (October 1988) – “In From the Cold” – Larry Hama/Herb Trimpe/Andy Mushynsky
This one starts with some Joes (Chuckles, Iceberg, Snake Eyes, and Scarlett) in a old Dakota plane flying through the Himalayas in the (fictitious) region of Chomo Lungma. They have a CIA case officer named Anderson with them (who you’ll remember from issue 8) and he’s guiding them to a hidden valley. But they take fire from an anti-aircraft battery and lose an engine. They manage to find the hidden valley (which looks a lot like Shangri-La,
although it’s called the Valley of Eternal Mist) and crash land there. Meanwhile, a Chinese Colonel named Peng has been alerted to the plane’s presence and heads into the mountains with some troops. Peng knows about the hidden valley and so does Sergeant Wu, an intelligence officer who was assigned to the anti-aicraft unit in the mountains specifically to look for a CIA agent named Esterhazy who hasn’t been seen in twenty years but has something to do with he hidden valley. Obviously, the Joes are here to find Esterhazy too and despite a monk in the valley telling them Esterhazy no 
longer exists, they soon realize that he’s leading some bandits who have been fighting against the Chinese. Anderson orders Esterhazy to come back to the States with him, but Esterhazy says he quit the CIA twenty years ago and doesn’t have to follow orders. They get a warning that Peng’s men have found the pass leading to the valley and Esterhazy takes his bandits to fight them, accompanied reluctantly by the Joes and Anderson. A firefight ensues and both sides take damage, but Esterhazy leads a charge that scatters the Chinese troops and gives the defenders some relief. Esterhazy tells his men to retreat to the valley, since the Chinese will no doubt retrn with more firepower. He’s right, as Peng and Wu show up later with tanks and roll into the valley to find Esterhazy. The place seems deserted, so Peng orders Wu to interrogate some monks at a monastery and
to burn the place if they refuse to cooperate. At a camp in the mountains, Esterhazy explains why he stayed to help the freedom fighters in Chomo Lungma and accuses Anderson of being sent to kill him, even though Scarlett assures him that’s not true. We’ll have to wait until next issue to see how things work out. This is an interesting story, with Chomo Lungma obviously representing Tibet and the Chinese takeover there. The hidden valley thing is a bit strange (like I said, it sounds too much like Shangri-La), but the overall story is grounded in real-life politics. I’m wondering how the Joes will resolve this without causing an international incident.
G.I. Joe #77 (October 1988) – “Aftershocks” – Larry Hama/Marshall Rogers/Randy Emberlin
This one continues from last issue, with the Cobra civil war officially over. Serpentor is dead and Cobra Commander (who we know is really Fred VII) has won and since the Joes supported Serpentor, they have to leave the island immediately. Zarana and Lady Jaye get into a brawl, but otherwise things go pretty smoothly, although Captain Minh disappears back into the swamp instead of going with the Joes. Hawk is pissed off about all the double-dealing the government was doing that got the Joes into this mess in the first place and wants to head
straight to Washington to complain to General Hollingsworth, so Roadblock agrees to go with him. Meanwhile, Destro and the Baroness are relaxing on Destro’s ship, but Destro decides to stop some distance from the island and wait to see what happens. Baroness tells him about Cobra Commander being a fake. On the island, Dr. Mindbender has Serpentor’s body put into cold storage, but doesn’t tell Cobra Commander about it. They’re interrupted when Captain Minh attacks Cobra Commander and threatens to expose him if he doesn’t 
replace Minh’s boat (which was destroyed when he first brought Fred to the island). In Washington, Hawk, Hollingsworth, and Roadblock go to see the committee that issues their orders and are told they need to take the blame for the Cobra Island debacle to protect government officials from looking bad. When Hawk protests, the three of them are relieved of command and taken into custody. A press conference is convened where General Malthus blames everything on Hawk and Hollingsworth being overworked and making bad decisions. Hawk, Hollingsworth, and Roadblock are sent to a mental facility where Hollingsworth figures they’ll end up dying in a convenient “accident”, so
Roadblock escapes to get help. He’s chased by MPs (who are shooting to kill), but gets away. On Cobra Island, Cobra Commander gives Captain Minh a hydrofoil and Dr. Mindbender reveals that he knows the Commander is an impostor. He agrees to keep his mouth shut, as long as Fred doesn’t ask any questions about Serpentor’s body. Destro and Baroness hear the news aboard their ship and also hear that the entire Joe team has been taken into custody. Destro figures he has a chance to do something big, but he’s bothered by how 
dishonourably the top brass in Washington are behaving towards the Joes. Meanwhile, Roadblock has gone to someone for help, the last person anyone would ever expect to help the Joes … Dr. Adele Burkhart, the peacemonger who hates everything they stand for, even though they’ve rescued her twice. This is a good look at how politics tend to clash with military operations and how the soldiers are usually the ones who end up hip-deep in shit, something Larry Hama seems quite pissed off about (and probably has experience with, since he served in Vietnam).
G.I. Joe #78 (October 1988) – “Payback” – Larry Hama/Rod Whigham/Fred Fredericks
This one starts with Storm Shadow, Jinx, and Billy being detained as soon as they arrive at the airport in Washington. They play along to keep the government agents from shooting around civilians, but when Rock n’ Roll shows up outside they quickly take down their captors and escape. Rock n’Roll is driving a pretty conspicuous car (yellow with red flames), but goes through a car wash to reveal a military paint job underneath, which makes it look like an MP vehicle. At the holding facility in Virginia, General Malthus discusses things with Senator Hegel,
who’s obviously one of the politicians being protected by Malthus’s hatchet job on the Joes. In Washington, Rock n’Roll and the ninjas go to Dr. Burkhart’s place, where they find Roadblock, Grunt, and Grunt’s girlfriend Lola hiding out. Meanwhile, Destro is pissed off about Malthus and Hegel trying to make it look like Hawk and Hollingsworth are power-mad renegades, so he heads to Washington to do something about it. At Burkhart’s place, the Joes make plans to rescue Hawk and Hollingsworth, who Jinx located through Army computers before she came to Washington. Surprisingly, Dr. Burkhart 
wants to go with them, since she’s opposed to injustice in any form, even against people she considers dangerous warmongers. Some more Joes (who weren’t arrested with the majority of the Joes on the USS Flagg) show up to help. (For the record, it’s Cover Girl, Dusty, Bazooka, Zap, Flash, Snow Job, Steeler, Barbecue, and Wetsuit.) In Virginia, Malthus tries to get Hawk and Hollingsworth to sign a bogus confession and when they refuse, he has a bunch of agents brought in disguised as doctors, nurses, and patients. Turns out he leaked the location to Jinx, hoping the Joes would mount a rescue attempt so Hawk and Hollingsworth can get “accidentally” killed in the crossfire. Hegel has even brought a news team to document everything, so the Joes will look even worse when it’s all over. The Joes arrive at the facility and
send the ninjas to take out the control centre, while the rest of them escort Burkhart into the facility. The reporters recognize her and she starts going on about civil rights and cover-ups, which makes the disguised Feds nervous. They start a firefight (which doesn’t stop Burkhart from talking) and the Joes have to fight back. Hawk and Hollingsworth take out their guards but get trapped in a room, with Malthus and Hegel leading more Feds to kill them. Malthus tries to blow them up with a grenade, but just blows a hole in the wall. Destro arrives in a chopper and climbs through the hole, showing the reporters evidence that Malthus was behind the Cobra Island invasion and 
tried to cover it up. This is a good conclusion to the political fallout story, with Destro showing his honourable side by exonerating Hawk and Hollingsworth. When Baroness asks why he’d bother, he says that “Sometimes the soldiers you respect the most are on the wrong side”. It was cool to see the Joes using the power of the press to fight back instead of just charging in with guns blazing, and it’s nice to see that Dr. Burkhart’s desire for justice extends to people she disagrees with.