G.I. Joe #96 (January 1990) – “The Hexagram Completed” – Larry Hama/M.D. Bright/Randy Emberlin
This one continues directly from last issue, with Snake Eyes making his way up through the Cobra consulate towards the top floor, where Baroness is barricading herself with as much security as she can. Snake Eyes wants her dead not because she kidnapped and tortured him, but because she shot Scarlett in the head. Snake Eyes has blown up the lower floors in the building, which stops the Cobras inside from fleeing and prevents reinforcements from below. It also
prevents Storm Shadow, Stalker, and Wade Collins from backing up Snake Eyes, but Storm Shadow figures a way around the flames … scaling the outside of the building, ninja-style. Since the Tomahawk is busy ferrying Scarlett to a hospital, Stalker and Wade try to scrounge up a chopper elsewhere, while Baroness calls Destro for an airlift out (although she still hasn’t told him exactly what’s going on). Storm Shadow gets inside the building (going through some Cobras trying to escape) and makes his way to the top room where Baroness is hiding out. Stalker and Wade find a chopper at the Pan-Am Building, but the pilot refuses to go anywhere near the burning building, so they call up the Tomahawk again. Storm Shadow gets inside Baroness’s bunker and it turns out Snake Eyes is already there, disguised as a Toxo-Viper. A fight 
breaks out with the Cobras just as the building starts collapsing. The Tomahawk picks up Stalker and Wade and Hawk decides to go rescue Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, reasoning that Scarlett would kill them if she came out of her coma and found out they’d let those two to save her. As the building starts tilting, Baroness slides out and ends up clinging to a broken piece of floor. She almost falls but Snake Eyes grabs her just in time. She’s ready to kill him and die too in order to get vengeance for her brother, but Destro shows up in a chopper and tells her what really happened in Saigon twenty years ago. Destro was there with his father (an arms dealer), who figured out that Snake Eyes hadn’t shot Baron DeCobray because DeCobray always
wore a bulletproof vest and Snake Eyes’s pistol wouldn’t have penetrated it. When Baroness realizes she’s carried a grudge against the wrong person for twenty years (and especially since her brother’s murder was why she became a terrorist in the first place), she lets go of Snake Eyes, preferring to die rather than live with her mistake. Storm Shadow jumps down with a rope and saves her, saying she’ll have to learn to live with herself. Destro grabs Baroness and tries to save Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, but the girder they’re on gives way and they fall. The Tomahawk gets under them and barrel-rolls, letting them fall into the cabin safely. Both sides fly off, with Storm Shadow pondering whether Baroness has learned anything from what happened. This is a pretty good conclusion to this mini-arc, with 
Destro clearing things up and showing his honourable side again. I guess Baroness never told him about her brother, since he would’ve told her what really happened that day. It’s interesting that Baroness chose death rather than living with the guilt of misplaced hatred, but I suppose that means she dos feel guilty, so maybe there’s hope for her yet (although she did urge Destro to fly away and leave Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow to die). I’m not sure if the chopper barrel-roll is possible, but it was a cool way to end things. It kinda reminds of that scene in the Jumanji reboot, where the helicopter turns sideways.
G.I. Joe #97 (February 1990) – “What Goes Around Comes Around” – LarryHama/Geoff Isherwood/Randy Emberlin
This one starts in Montreal, with some Joes (Chuckles, Clutch, and Rock n’Roll) helping a couple of Canadian RCMP officers ferret out a Cobra warehouse. Since they’re only there as “advisors”, the Joes need permission to use their weapons, but when the Cobras start blasting that permission is readily given. Rock n’Roll uses his machine guns to shut down the Cobras, who quickly surrender. They find Terror Drome components marked for delivery to Africa and the Far East, but the name Broca on the crates triggers bad headaches in both Clutch and Rock n’Roll. (Of course, we
know that’s because they were brainwashed by Cobra in Broca Beach, but none of the Joes know that.) At a New York hospital, Snake Eyes is distraught when he learns Scarlett may not come out of her coma, and may be in really bad shape if she does. Snake Eyes goes for a walk and slaps down some punks, getting a little help (and emotional support) from Storm Shadow, Stalker, and Wade Collins. On Cobra Island, Dr. Mindbender and Cobra Commander are demonstrating their weapons for a gaggle of dictators (including Colonel Sharif, El Jefe, and General Liederkranz), but they don’t know they have another audience. Billy, Tyrone, Raptor, Captain Minh, and Blind Master (who’s really Zartan 
in disguise) have snuck onto the island so Raptor could show Billy that the current Cobra Commander is a fake. Billy realizes immediately that he’s right and is shocked to find out this Commander is really Fred VII, who built Billy’s prosthetic leg. “Blind Master” offers to go check things out and gets into the dictator party looking like Mindbender. He gets Fred alone and threatens him and when the real Mindbender gets wise, Raptor intercepts him and suggests they bring back the original Cobra Commander using the same technology that created Serpentor. Outside, the others are found by a Cobra patrol and chased into some tunnels that Minh knows from his time hiding on the island. Unfortunately, they run right into Croc Master and his trained crocodiles. In Broca Beach, we see Baroness packing to leave her old life
behind. Destro offers to go with her and she’s skeptical that he would give up his arms business and his position with Cobra just to be with her … until he removes his mask and gives her a big smooch. This is a pretty good issue that hints at a possible return for the original Cobra Commander and advances the relationship between Destro and Baroness to the next step (and we finally get to see Destro’s face!). Theirs isn’t the only romance that gets some attention, as Flint and Lady Jaye seem to be getting closer (with a little nudge from Snake Eyes).