Alternate Covers

Cover #2B

Cover #2C (Retail Incentive, Virgin Cover)

Notes of Interest

Official introduction of Chameleon.

Introduction of Crystal Ball.

Major Continuity Differences

The entire structure & operation style of Cobra.



Everything about Crystal Ball's appearance, style and attitude.

Major Players

GI Joe: Chuckles, Chameloen

Cobra: Xamot & Tomax, Erika Le Tene, Baroness, Crystal Ball

Additional Characters: Max

Creative Team

Writer: Mike Costa & Christos N. Gage Artist: Antonio Fuso
Colors: Levorn Kindzierski
Letters: Robbbie Robbins
Associate Editor: Carlos Guzman
Editor: Andy Schmidt


Cover Credits
Cover A: Artist: Howard Chaykin & Edgar Delgado
Cover Company: IDW

Cover B: Artist: Antonio Fuso
Cover Company: IDW

Cover C (Retail Incentive, Virgin Cover): Artist: Howard Chaykin & Edgar Delgado
Cover Company: IDW

Full Details

Chameleon, a new Joe recruited specifically to find and rescue Chuckles because of her skills at blending in, gives a report of her progress in finding him. In Istanbul, she discovered he bought some fake visas off an old mercenary contact, in Azerbaijan she missed him by two months, but discovered he took the Trans-Siberian railway to Khabarovsk Krai where she discovered him in a prison for making a bad business deal.

As she stands in front of Chuckles in the cell, with sword in hand and two dead guards at her feet, Chuckles thinks she is Jinx. Jinx, a Joe who Chuckles had to execute who was also his lover, is dead. Chameleon introduces herself and tells him she is sent by Hawk to bring him back in, no matter what. She begins to pick the lock.

Chuckles reaches out a grabs her hand stopping her by saying that he is not delusional even though he just mistook her for Jinx. He has been in this prison for three months working on gaining the trust of a former bodyguard of the high command of Cobra. These type of people are usually killed when they escape, but he has survived and will help Chuckles in getting the entire big picture of Cobra. He talks Chameleon into giving him three days to get more of the information he needs. She agrees, cleans up the bodies and leaves with some coordinates with where to meet Chuckles when he escapes by himself.

Erika Le Tene has just finished taking a long shower, as she exits the bathroom in her robe, Xamot is waiting in her room. Xamot calls her out on how miserable she seems. Erika's response by telling him that being in her room isn't professional. But Xamot is there to actually collect her so they along with his brother Tomax can meet with the high command. Xamot approaches her and cresses her leg before leaving the room.

Later as Erika exits her room, the head of cyber-banking and account security is waiting for her, so he can escort her to the meeting. He asks her "if in the event of your termination from duty, would you like your assets transferred to any beneficiaries?" Her response is there is no one, which means the assets will be reabsorbed into the company.

Tomax & Xamot are sitting at a table with a representative of the high command. Crystal Ball, the master of psychological tactics, is there to interview her. Because of her romantic involvement with Chuckles, she is under suspicion and Crystal Ball is there to discover if she helped Chuckles in anyway. After touching her hand, he asks her a couple of questions and quickly determines that she didn't help him, and although she maybe weak she is clear. Crystal Ball releases her to Tomax & Xamot to do with as they wish since she is their employee. As she exits Xamot gives her the ok hand signal with a smile.

Back at the prison, Chuckles along many of the prisoners are escaping, Chuckles releases the guy who he has been trying to get information from. And with a couple of guns they shoot there way out of the prison. Once they get clear. Chuckles sneaks up behind him and breaks his neck. Killing the old bodyguard is part of the plan. He then completely blows up the prison as he meets a contact outside named Max who is waiting in a Jeep. Max, who has been helping Chuckles for a couple of months, he wants asylum and Chuckles tells that he can't help him because everything else he has to do he has to do alone. (Max is the same character from the first series who engineered the BATs and is there at the end when Chuckles leaves after his confrontation with Tomax & Xamot. See Cobra #4)

Chameleon misses Chuckles again as he escaped from the prison, she found the body of the guy he killed and reports that no one will know how he died. And as a just in case type of thing, she goes to the coordinates he gave her. Where she watches a helicopter with the Cobra symbol on the tail rotor flying into a compound.

Summary by Josh Eggebeen