G.I. Joe #94 (December 1989) – “Exterminating Circumstances” – Larry Hama/M.D. Bright/Randy Emberlin
This one starts with Snake Eyes at Dr. Hundtkinder’s clinic in Switzerland, undergoing surgery to reconstruct his ravaged face. The surgery is going pretty well, but neither Snake Eyes nor Scarlett know that Hundtkinder has tipped off the Baroness and that she believes Snake Eyes killed her brother years ago in Saigon. While under anesthesia, Snake Eyes has a flashback to the Vietnam War, with himself, Stalker, and Storm Shadow arriving at some covert ops
headquarters in Saigon during the Tet Offensive. They’re ambushed by a couple of VC on a motorbike and Storm Shadow is wounded, so Snake Eyes chases the shooters in a jeep. Meanwhile, Scarlett gets a call from Hawk updating her about Clutch and Rock n’Roll. (Apparently it’s been a month or so since last issue.) They were spared any damage in the van explosion that we saw at the end of last issue (and are both on leave in Hawaii now), but Zarana and Road Pig were pretty banged up, with Zarana comatose for weeks. When she finally woke up, she told the Joes that Baroness had set the bomb in the van and that she’s mixed up with Hundtkinder somehow. Scarlett realizes she 
and Snake Eyes are in danger, but Baroness has already arrived at the clinic with some Cobra troops. Scarlett has managed to sneak a weapon into the clinic and heads for the operating room, while Baroness tells a Toxo-Viper why she wants to kill Snake Eyes so badly: when she was fifteen, she went to Saigon with her brother (the Baron DeCobray) who was there on a humanitarian mission to deliver medical supplies. But the meds weren’t in the warehouse where they were supposed to be, so DeCobray confronted two Vietnamese (who just happen to be the same ones Snake Eyes was chasing) about the missing meds. In the present, Baroness finds Hundtkinder and his staff tied up in the O.R. because Scarlett has already gotten Snake Eyes out. He’s still drugged up and remembering what happened in Saigon. He’d tracked the two VC to the warehouse where he
overheard them arguing with DeCobray. The VC had sold the meds on the black market to buy guns and ammo and shot DeCobray when he objected. Snake Eyes busted in and killed them, but when the young Baroness (whose name is apparently Anastasia DeCobray) came in, she assumed Snake Eyes had shot all three, including her brother. In the present, Baroness wants Snake Eyes alive, so she has her men herd him and Scarlett into a room where they end up surrounded. Scarlett is wounded and Baroness shoots her before preparing to take Snake Eyes back to New York. In Oakland, Billy is on his way to university when Raptor intercepts him, claiming he knows where Billy’s father (the 
real Cobra Commander) is buried and who killed him. This is a pretty goo issue that gives us some more background on Snake Eyes and Baroness. It’s interesting that she had no idea who Snake Eyes was until she saw the photo of his original face that Hundtkinder sent her last issue. I’m not sure why Snake Eyes didn’t just explain things back in Saigon; I’m sure he wasn’t mute back then (although he’s never shown speaking), but maybe Baroness was too crazed with grief to listen. We don’t see the bullet actually hit Scarlett, but Baroness was aiming right at her head, so I guess we’re supposed to assume she’s dead. I’m not convinced, though … she’s too good a character to kill off like that.
G.I. Joe #95 (December 1989) – “No Turning Back” – Larry Hama/M.D. Bright/Randy Emberlin
This one starts at the Cobra consulate in New York, with Baroness preparing to scar Snake Eyes’s new face to pay him back for killing her brother. Baroness has to put off her fun when Destro shows up, since she doesn’t want him to know what she’s doing (as that would raise awkward questions about the explosion that sidelined Zarana). Destro is wondering at all the Joe activity in New York lately and suggests they talk to Zarana about it. We see Scarlet being flown back in a chopper and it turns out I was right … she’s not dead. She is comatose, with possible brain damage, but the bullet hit at an oblique angle, so it didn’t penetrate her skull. In Switzerland,
Chuckles and Roadblock have discovered Hundtkinder’s connection to Baroness and decide to ask him a few questions. In New York, Snake Eyes slows his heartbeat to feign death and escapes his shackles, taking out the torture experts Baroness left to guard him (who are called the Paine brothers and have names like DeSade and Torquemada). During the fight, Snake Eyes gets a face full of hot coals and has to don his old mask again. Baroness gets a report about Snake Eyes’s escape and tries to deal with it quietly while feeding Destro a line of bullshit about Zarana’s capture by the Joes. Destro knows something weird is going on, but leaves after getting a promise from 
Baroness that she’ll get Zarana back. Baroness is so pissed off by this point, she orders everyone in the building to kill Snake Eyes on sight. But Snake Eyes has found an armory and loaded up with explosives, so the Cobras are wary of getting too close. Stalker and Storm Shadow are on scene, trying to gather info surreptitiously. They even have help from their old squad-mate, Wade Collins, who disguises himself as a Crimson Guardsman to get inside the building and look around. (And we get a cameo from J. Jonah Jameson!) Before they can figure out what to do, the building is rocked by several explosions. Storm Shadow figures Snake Eyes is responsible and leads the trio inside, but Snake Eyes has already set more explosives on the upper floors, which causes everyone to evacuate the building. The explosions seal the upper floors off and Snake Eyes heads up to kill Baroness for shooting Scarlett. Out in Colorado, Billy and Raptor are digging up Cobra Commander’s grave
when Blind Master shows up with Tyrone to stop him. (Of course, we know this is actually Zartan trying to atone for killing the real Blind Master.) He tells Billy he shouldn’t desecrate his father’s memory and that revenge is a vicious cycle that never ends. Billy points out that getting revenge on the current (fake) Cobra Commander might not be such a bad thing. This is a pretty good issue, although it mainly seems to be setting things up for the big confrontation next issue. Scarring Snake Eyes’s face again seems redundant; why not just let him keep the reconstructed face instead of going out of the way to put things back to the old status quo? I’m interested to see where the stuff with Billy and Zartan/Blind Master is going, since Zartan already knows the current Cobra Commander is a fake.