Notes of Interest

6 extra pages, no increase in cover price. Snake-Eyes wears red. Flint leaves the Joe team. Cobra Commander's first appearance in America's Elite. Death of Colonel Calvin The Rock: Central Data Desk letters page contains a reading list of the entire GI Joe series. (see below summary)

Major Players

The Joe Team: Gen. Colton, Duke, Flint, Kamakura, Roadblock, Scarlett, Shipwreck, Stalker, Storm Shadow, Sparks Red Ninja Clan: T'JBang/Sei Tin, Masaaki, Joshua & Snake-Eyes Cobra: Cobra Commander (Garrett Freedlowe), Colonel Calvin Additional Characters: President of the United States

Creative Team

Script: Joe Casey, Pencils: Juan Barramco & Josh Medors, (Corrected in Issue 13 - Juan Barranco) Inks: Vincente Cifuentes & Le Beau Underwood, (Colorists noted in issue 13 - Jason Jensen pgs 1-26 and Greg Narvasa pgs 27-28), Letters: Brian J. Crowley, Military Advisory: Phil Kost, Edited by: Mike O'Sullivan, Cover by: Phil Noto

Full Details

At the Rock, General Colton and Sparks have been trying to regain contact with the missing GI Joe team. The President of the United States warns Colton about how GI Joe is growing less and less popular in Washington DC.

In Outer Mongolia, Snake-Eyes has been mysteriously resurrected from the dead by the Red Ninja Clan. He has become part of the clan and taken on the red coloring. T'JBang is now leading the Clan, he has captured Roadblock, Flint, Shipwreck and Scarlett and ordered Snake-Eyes hunt down the rest of the team.

Snake-Eyes has just finished knocking out Stalker and Kamakura. But before he can finish them off Storm Shadow arrives to confront Snake-Eyes. Storm Shadow is fighting on the Joe's side and for the first time Snake-Eyes fights against his former team. A ninja mystic power has changed Snake-Eyes' soul and Storm Shadow believes that combat will cleanse his soul. A furious battle between the two starts.

T'JBang is still rambling about conquering the world, when Shipwreck points out how he used to be the Joes man on the inside of the Red Ninja Clan. Scarlett reminds him that Snake-Eyes was his master. T'JBang tired of Joes starts walking them to their death.

Storm Shadow and Snake-Eyes fight through many rooms until they reach to roof. At one point Snake-Eyes throws a knife into Storm Shadow's leg.

Stalker and Kamakura recover and begin looking for the rest of the Joe team. They stumble upon an awake and aware body being kept alive on a respirator. Kamakura recognizes him as the defeated and severely injured, by Snake-Eyes, leader of the Red Ninja Clan Sei Tin (see Master & Apprentice II). Kamakura using the Arashikage Ninja Mindset opens up the mind of Sei Tin to discover that secret forbidden aspects of the Mindset have been used. Kamakura describes it like this "We have not been fighting T'JBang. His body yes... But his soul, his mind... Belong to Sei Tin. With all that is T'JBang's spirit is trapped with this worthless crippled husk and the worst of all "There's no known way to reverse the process." T'JBang/Sei Tin closes his eyes and releases tears.

Kamakura and Stalker surprise the Red Ninjas as they are moving the Joe team. Kamakura easily disarms Red Ninja Joshua and immediately begins to tell them the news he has discovered about the essence switch that has happened between T'JBang and Sei Tin. Maasaki and Joshua now aware of the switch turn on T'JBang/Sei Tin and stab him.

Scarlett then takes off looking for Snake-Eyes. She finds him getting close to defeating Storm Shadow, when all of a sudden Storm Shadow grabs Scarlett and holds his sword to her through. Snake-Eyes steps up and stabs Storm Shadow, but it isn't a killing blow, and the combination of battle and his love for Scarlett has released Snake-Eyes from the mystic trance he was in.

Later at a debriefing at The Rock, Shipwreck reverses his skepticism of Storm Shadow who is recovering in The Rock's hospital. Stalker breaks some news to Colton that Flint is officially leaving the team.

In the Amazon Jungle, Duke has been beaten, tortured and ridiculed by a crazed Crimson Guardsman named Calvin. Calvin has a plan to launch nuclear missiles as a way of killing Cobra Commander. The launch process has begun just as Duke is able to destroy his BAT captors. Calvin delays the launch to hunt for Duke. Duke shows up in the control room, using several BAT parts as weapons, defeats the last remaining BAT's and just before Calvin can get to the activate button, Duke kills him. Duke then discovers that target coordinates for the missiles were set for Washington D.C., Cobra Commander's location.

Prologue In Washington DC, several bureaucrats are talking to the President about some questionable numbers in the defense budget. They are concerned about the press discovering these numbers. The President refers them to his Chief of Staff, Garrett Freedlowe. As the nervous bureaucrats open the door to Freedlowe's White House office, there sits Cobra Commander wearing a business suit and his Cobra insignia hooded mask.

Summary by Josh Eggebeen

Reading list from letters page:

The Marvel Era - Marvel #1-155, GI Joe Declassified, Order of Battle, Special Missions, Yearbook, Scarlett: Declassified, Snake-Eyes: Declassified & Trade paperback.

First DDP Era - DDP #1-43, Battlefiles & Trade, Frontline, Master & Apprentice, Master & Apprentice II, Rise of the Red Shadows Trade Paperback

America's Elite - AE #0, #1-up, Data Desk Handbook, Special Missions: Manhattan & Tokyo, Hunt for Cobra Commander

Debatable Within Continuity - Arashikage Showdown and Marvel's GI Joe and the Transformers mini series