G.I. Joe #15 (September 1983) – “Red-Eye to Miami” – Larry Hama/Mike Vosburg/Jon D’Agostino
Last issue, Snake Eyes and Dr. Venom escaped from a sunken bunker at the bottom of a river in Sierra Gordo only to run straight into some Cobra troops disguised as local renegades. The Cobras are ready to kill the prisoners until Dr. Venom mentions that he’s a pilot and can get them out of the country. While they’re distracted, Kwinn (who Dr. Venom thought he killed last issue) rises from the river and blows the Cobras away. Kwinn convinces Snake Eyes not to kill Dr. Venom, since he’s the only one who can fly them
out of Sierra Gordo. The airstrip is guarded but the guards seem rather lax, so the trio of escapees take them out easily and commandeer a Lancaster bomber. The soldiers in the control tower realize what’s happening, but aren’t too worried since they know that the starter on one of the Lancaster’s four engines is bad. Dr. Venom figures that out too but thinks he can compensate. Snake Eyes uses the turret gun to blow up a couple of Spitfires on the runway and strafe the control tower. By feathering the prop on the dead engine and building up speed then unfeathering and turning on the fuel manually, 
Venom manages to “jump start” the dead engine and take off just in time. Unfortunately, the landing gear is sheared off by the near miss and they’re pursued by another Spitfire that was hidden in the hangar. The Spitfire pilot is good, so Dr. Venom blinds him and causes him to crash into the ocean. Kwinn is impressed by Venom’s piloting, but still doesn’t trust him … with reason, as we see Venom secretly sending a message to Cobra headquarters. Cobra Commander is happy to hear from Dr. Venom, since he’s bringing the proper catalyst for the toxin Cobra has been developing. The Joes have analyzed the remains of the battle in Springfield and found broken vials of printer’s ink. Over the Gulf of Mexico, Dr. Venom tries to get rid of Snake Eyes and Kwinn by dropping them through the bomb bay, but Kwinn climbs back up and is ready to kill
Venom. This time Snake Eyes talks him out of it and they continue on their way to Miami. At Cobra headquarters, Cobra Commander brings in the mercenary Major Bludd to take care of Destro for him, while Destro tells the Baroness he’s the one who set Cobra Commander up to die in Springfield. He also tells her he loves her and Baroness promises not to betray him. After running afoul of some trigger-happy smugglers, the Lancaster takes damage and loses fuel, so Venom has the other two jettison everything possible to reduce weight. They make it to Miami, crash-landing on the beach where they’re immediately arrested. But Cobra has a lawyer waiting to release Dr. Venom, who can’t 
help rubbing it in as Snake Eyes and Kwinn are dragged off to jail. This issue keeps things moving at a good pace, focusing on the trio of Snake Eyes, Kwinn, and Dr. Venom. There are some cool bits, like the improvised take-off (which I’m not sure would work in real life but Larry Hama sure makes it sound possible) and the way Venom outfoxes the Spitfire pilot. Dr. Venom’s treachery is on full display and I can’t wait for him to get what he deserves. We also get a bit more of the Destro/Baroness soap opera stuff, and the first appearance of Major Bludd, who’ll be a fairly important character in the future.
G.I. Joe #16 (October 1983) – “Night Attack” – Larry Hama/Mike Vosburg/Jon D’Agostino
This one starts with the Joes doing a training run against some robotic HISS tanks. They do pretty well until they’re outnumbered, but a couple of new Joes (Cover Girl and Trip Wire) take out ten tanks quite easily. Scarlett points out that real life is harder than training and Trip Wire shows that he’s clumsy as hell when not working with high explosives. At Cobra headquarters, Cobra Commander invites Destro, Baroness, Dr. Venom, Scar-Face, and Major Bludd to a special dinner. Everyone at the table is thinking treacherous thoughts, so Cobra Commander’s toast about unity seems rather ironic. Hawk tells General
Flagg that the Joes suspect Cobra are going to put their toxin into the ink used to print money, so he wants to deploy the Joes at the Bureau of Printing and Engraving. But Flagg says Cobra has just threatened to blow up the Capitol Building (which the government is keeping quiet, to avoid panic), so they have to send every available soldier there. Hawk thinks the overt threat to the Capitol is a diversion, but Flagg points out that the Capitol could be the real target and the money toxin could be a bluff. He does agree to let the Joes cover the Treasury but won’t give them any extra support. Hawk is right about the Treasury being the real target, but Cobra goes all out on the 
diversion, sending a squadron of planes and paratroopers to assault the Capitol, while he and a small unit (including his dinner party guests) get into the Treasury Building to contaminate the money supply. But the Joes are waiting for them, so Dr. Venom sets an explosive to blow the toxin all over the printing presses and takes off, leaving Scar-Face behind. Scar-Face gets away while the Joes are disarming the bomb, but Cobra Commander uses a couple of HISS tanks to smash through the wall. The attack on the Capitol turns out to be a fake, with remote-controlled model toys instead of real planes and troops. The Cobras take back the toxin (to keep the Joes from analyzing it) and take Gung Ho, Torpedo, and Trip Wire hostage. Cover Girl is outside in the Wolverine tank (disguised as a garbage truck) and
takes out a couple of Cobra tanks as a distraction, allowing the prisoners to escape. The Wolverine is surrounded and Cover Girl freaks out, realizing Scarlett was right about a real firefight being different from training. But she calms down and fights back until the Wolverine is disabled. Luckily, Wild Bill shows up in the Dragonfly to help out. The last two HISS tanks (one with Cobra Commander and Destro and the other with Baroness and Major Bludd) flank the Wolverine, but when Baroness notices Major Bludd aiming at Destro instead of the Joes, she swerves the tank to upset his aim, crashing it into a parked van. Bludd gets out of the wreckage, but leaves Baroness trapped. 
When the tank explodes, Destro is devastated, unable to function properly as Dr. Venom boards the last HISS and takes the driver’s seat, since Destro is out of it. Hawk, Scarlett, and Clutch pursue the Cobras and Hawk jumps onto the tank, engaging Cobra Commander hand-to-hand. Destro comes out of his funk and grapples with Hawk, giving the Commander time to recover. Cobra Commander debates whether to shoot Destro or Hawk, but chooses Hawk, leaving him in the street with three bullets in his back. Elsewhere, we see Scar-Face boarding a bus while swearing revenge on Dr. Venom for leaving him behind. This is another great issue with non-stop action. We get to see the treachery and mistrust in the upper echelons of Cobra, which explains why they haven’t managed to conquer the world yet.
Destro’s reaction to Baroness’s supposed death was good, but we haven’t seen the last of her yet. Cobra Commander’s decision to shoot Hawk instead of Destro was logical and since Destro seems like an honourable guy, he might decide to pay the Commander back by not trying to take his place. We also get to see a couple of new Joes with Cover Girl and Trip Wire. The first interaction between Cover Girl and Scarlett came off a bit bitchy, so I hope that’s not going to be an ongoing thing. They’re the only women on the team, so you’d think they’d support each other, not tear each other down.