Serpentor
	Short Summary The Beginning of the Battle of Springfield. Rip Cord gives the Joe team the location of Cobra Headquarters, which is Springfield, Vermont. Dr. Mindbender and Destro raid the tombs of greatest leaders of all time for their DNA. Dr. Mindbender then uses the Brainwave Scanner to create Serpentor. The Joes engage in a full out attack on the city of Springfield. Serpentor immediately takes command of the Cobra ground forces as Cobra evacuates.
	Notes of Interest First Appearance of Lift Ticket, Slip Stream, Leatherneck. Serpentor is created.
Major Players Strike Team: Leader: Hawk, Lady Jaye, Barbecue, Heavy Metal, Flint, Deep-Six, Airtight, Footloose, Bazooka, Crank-Case, Alpine, Blowtorch and Shipwreck. Security Team: Leader: Duke Steeler, Grunt, Rock 'n' Roll, Flash, Gung-Ho, Tripwire, Short Fuse, Breaker, Mutt & Junkyard, Snow Job, Zap, Doc, Cover Girl and Roadblock. Assault Team: Leader: Stalker Snake-Eyes, Scarlett, Quick Kick, Recondo, Spirit, Torpedo, Beach Head and Leatherneck. Air Support: Airborne, Ace, Wild Bill, Lift-Ticket, Slip Stream. Other Joes: Rip Cord, Storm Shadow Cobra: Baroness, Cobra Commander, Destro, Dr. Mindbender, Firefly, Scrap Iron, Serpentor, Tomax, Xamot Dreadnoks: Buzzer, Ripper, Torch
Creative Team Script: Larry Hama, Pencils: Rod Whigham, Inks: Andy Mushynsky, Letters: Joe Rosen, Colors: George Roussos, Editor: Bob Harras, Editor in Chief: Jim Shooter
Long Summary At the Springfield Museum, Destro & Dr. Mindbender collected 10 of the world's greatest leader's remains. These remains DNA will be scanned by the Brainwave Scanner in order to create the ultimate soldier. The combination of these leaders' DNA, mixed in with Storm Shadow's as well, will be fed into a simulacrum body. Then Dr. Mindbender will add his own modern technology knowledge and allegiance to Cobra into the Scanner mix. The Scanner will then combine them all together to make a great Cobra leader called Serpentor. At a bar in Springfield, Rip Cord dressed as Zartan along with the Dreadnoks are partying it up. Unknown to the Dreadnoks is that Rip Cord has just given up the location of Cobra Headquarters to GI Joe. Firefly and Scrap Iron break in because they intercepted the call to Joe headquarters. Rip Cord's cover is blown and he is captured by Firefly. The Dreadnok and Firefly then drag Rip Cord to the Brainwave Scanner over at the museum to see exactly what he told the Joes. On the scanner monitor, they watch Rip Cord give the coordinates of Springfield to Breaker. Cobra Commander immediately orders Destro to evacuate Springfield. By connecting Rip Cord to the Scanner, unknowingly his GI Joe knowledge is also combined into the Serpentor mix. And Serpentor has now been created. Hawk assembles all of the Joe team, some of the Joes with desk status are temporary upgraded, and many new members are going to get there first taste of fighting Cobra. The plan: the Strike team, lead by Hawk, will secure the airport and then move to neutralize the main headquarters. The Security team, lead by Duke, also helps with taking the airport and then moves to block the roads heading out of town. The Assault team, lead by Stalker, goes in early to cut off the power and communications. Additional, air support will come from Wild Bill and the new helicopter pilot Lift Ticket. The Assault team goes in first and is successful in taking out Springfield's power and then moves on to secure the police station. The other teams are successful in taking the airport, and GI Joe has begun it invasion of Springfield. At the museum, Serpentor has taken command of the Cobra ground forces that are left in Springfield. His mission is to lead a holding action against both the Strike and the Assault teams of GI Joe, allowing Cobra enough time to evacuate the city. The Baroness is handling the evacuation of Springfield with support from Destro. Because Serpentor is an unknown quantity, Firefly is given the assignment of watching him and to kill him, if he acts against Cobra. Summary by Josh Eggebeen
Number 49, July 1986