G.I. JOE #45
In Search of Candy

Cover Date: March, 1986
Script: Larry Hama
Pencils: Rod Whigham
Inks: Andy Mushynsky
Lettering: Joe Rosen
Colors: George Roussos
Editor: Denny O'Neil
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

Summary:  "High above Cobra Island," a G.I. Joe Skystriker piloted by Ace is on a spying mission. Ripcord is in the "back seat" running the surveillance equipment. The computers can't identify the circular structure on the island. Meanwhile, Ripcord is in a very bad mood, mostly thanks to the disappearance of Candy, his girlfriend. She hasn't been heard from since she and Buzzer escaped from custody. No one yet knows that Candy was kidnapped by Buzzer and killed shortly afterward. Her father, the Crimson Guardsmen named Prof. Appel doesn't know either. Down in a the circular structure -- a Cobra Terror-Drome -- Appel notices the Skystriker violating Cobra Island's airspace and wants to shoot it down. Zartan tells him to wait until a threat is proven. "What if that 'Skystriker' turned out to be a civilian airliner? How long would our tenuous sovereignty last after that?"

At the U.S. Army Medical Center in Washington DC, General Austin is recovering from a heart attack. Hawk is at his hospital bed, discussing the situation on Cobra Island. Looking at Hawk and the comm-gear he's brought along, Austin complains, "Seems like I can't get any peace around here even after I have a heart attack!" Hawk briefs him and they conclude they can't do much with the long range surveillance data they have. Austin wishes he had a man on the island, but Hawk reminds him that under the circumstances of Cobra Isalnd's sovereignty, sending in any operation would be unthinkable. An irritated Austin replies, "I'm quite aware of our position, thank you..."

Meanwhile, in the PX canteen at Fort Wadsworth, Flint introduces Snake-Eyes and Spirit to two new Joes -- Alpine and Quick Kick. The new Joes notice that Spirit and Snake-Eyes obviously aren't known for their concern for the uniform code or their friendly nature. At the next table, two Chaplain's Assistants are discussing a strange telegram that was delivered to the base. "The message starts off with three "U"s in morse code and reads: The killer of the Hard Master is --" Before he finishes, Snake-Eyes grabs the telegram out of his hand. He looks at it with shock and runs out of the room.

Night, over Cobra Island... The Skystriker continues its spy mission. Ripcord tells Ace to check his personal air supply because cabin pressure is dropping. Ace is is confused because cabin pressure is normal. "Just wanted to make sure you had air," Ripcord says and pulls the ejection lever, launching himself out of the Skystriker. Ace quickly sends a priority message to Hawk, telling him what's happened. "Ripcord has taken matters into his own hands!" Back in Washington, Hawk tells General Austin Ripcord's situation and why he's parachuting onto the island. Austin is suspicious, noting that Hawk knew all about Ripcord's problems and that there are a lot of other Joes more qualified for the spy mission. "You deliberately sent Ripcord, counting on him to jump out over the island. Hawk doesn't deny it, but points out that now that Ripcord's broken security they'll have to send a rescue mission to the island, "and who knows what kind of nifty photographs and maps they'll bring back with them?" Austin smiles and says, "I'm impressed, Hawk...you're almost as nasty as I am!"

Out in the Gulf, as Ripcords plummets towards Cobra Island, Professor Appel tells Zartan that the plane that was circling just corrected a massive wobble like something was ejected. This time, Zartan agrees.

At Storm Shadow's lair in New York, the ninja is meditating, but is startled by someone approaching. The trap door springs open and Storm Shadow crosses swords with an intruder who turns out to be Snake-Eyes. Storm Shadow's surprised that Snake-Eyes found him. Snake-Eyes just hands him the letter. Storm Shadow notices morse code "U"s on top of one another equal the clan's hexagram. "It's a message from the Soft Master...naming the murderer of the Hard Master!"

Back on Cobra Island, Ripcord lands, buries his parachute in the stand and trudges off onto the island, his rifle ready. Back at the Terror-Drome, Cobra Commander believes Appel's fears are unfounded, and mentions that there's been no sign of Appel's daughter, Candy. As they speak, Zartan picks up some sort of long case and climbs out of the Terror-Drome and out onto the island.

In New York, Storm Shadow and Snake-Eyes take off in two Cobra CLAWs, Storm Shadow goes over the details of the Hard Master's murder, saying that the answers were in front of them all the time.

On Cobra Island, Ripcord jumps a wandering Cobra soldier, and puts a knife to his throat. He demands to know where Professor Appel is. Hidden a short distance away, Zartan overhears, surprise to find someone with a debt to settle with Appel. "I had thought it was going to be a ninja or two with a private debt to settle with me!" Still, he pulls out a compound bow and arrow and mounts a scope on it, taking aim at Ripcord. "Now let's see if I'm still as good with this thing as I used to be..."

Back in New York, Storm Shadow and Snake-Eyes reach a warehouse that actually houses the Baroness' personal Rattler attack jet. "Just the thing to fly us to Cobra Island!"

At McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, Flint, Alpine, Quick Kick and Spirit board a C-130 transport plane. Wild Bill asks Flint what happened to Snake-Eyes. He tells him something came up. Wild Bill says it just doesn't seem right to do a night insertion without "ol' Snakes." Alpine and Quick Kick certain that they can handle the mission with or without Snake-Eyes.

Back on Cobra Island, Zartan fires his compound bow, but the arrow kills the Cobra soldier and goes right through Ripcord's arm. Ripcord gets under cover behind some old timbers and attempts to bandage his arm while cursing whoever designed field dressing packages that can't be opened with one hand. Zartan waits for his target to show himself, commenting that it's too bad he got rid of his sound amplification equipment after that "special assignment..then I could hear where he is and shoot through the obstacles." Ripcord realizes that whoever's shooting at him must have a starlight scope (an image intensifier).

In Washington, General Austin is using the comm-gear in his hospital room for a difficult three-way call to the Joint Chiefs, the Secretary of Defense and the Commander-in-Chief. He tells them that due to his cardiac condition his is retiring, effective immeadiately. They all agree to implement the "Alpha" plan. Hawk is confused: "Sir. What is 'Alpha' plan?" Austin smiles as he reaches for something in a nearby drawer. "It's something I've had in mind ever since we started this team." He hands him a small box. Hawk is surprised by the two star pins in the box. "Congratulations, Hawk! You've just promoted to Brigadier General. And you're now commander-in-chief of the G.I. Joe team!"

Somewhere in the air between New York and the Gulf of Mexico, Storm Shadow and Snake-Eyes are flying the Rattler to Cobra Island. Storm Shadow notes that they had assumed the Hard Master's assassin had to be a ninja since he shot through a wall and the Hard Master. He never though those things couldv'e been acomplished through technology. "And who was capable of changing his appearance to that of a ninja and walk right onto our grounds unnoticed? Zartan!" Zartan's only defense was secrecy, but now that Storm Shadow knows the truth, "Nothing will stop me from taking my revenge! Nothing!"

Back on Cobra Island, Ripcord and Zartan start firing back and forth with Zartan's bow and Ripcord's rifle. Zartan gets a bullet through his leg and an arrow grazes Ripcord's forehead. Ripcord's next shot breaks the compund bow and hits Zartan's shoulder. The master of disguise pulls out a machine pistol as it begins to rain. As Ripcord watches Zartan with his scope, he starts to fade away. "This guy can blend into the background like a chameleon," Ripcord says to himself. "Gotta outhink him!" As the "invisible" Zartan reaches Ripcord's position, he finds the Joe is gone. But just as he fades back into view, Ripcord emerges from the mud -- "Two can play the camouflage game!" -- and throws Zartan to the ground. As morning arrives on the island, Storm Shadow's and Snake-Eyes' Rattler approaches. Professor Appel tells the Commander that the flight is unscheduled, but that the pilot knows the codes and procedures. The Commander figures it's just a scheduling error, but allows the plane to land in a security area, just to be safe. Storm Shadow tells Snake-Eyes that to succeed they must be "swift and ruthless!" Meanwhile, the Joes' rescue team flys low over the Gulf. Flint, Spirit, Quick Kick and Alpine are dropped out of the cargo bay in a motorized rubber raft and head towards "the great and terrible" Cobra Island. "I just hope Ripcord is still in one piece."

Back on the island, Ripcord rises from the mud. He says he has the perfect opportunity. "I can take over this one's identity and infiltrate his headquarters! They'll never know that I'm one of them!" To be continued...

Commentary: Though the scene at the end of this issue didn't fool everyone, it's not revealed until the start of the next issue that "Ripcord" is really Zartan in disguise. Larry Hama's vague wording of the final speech is obviously meant to either confuse us or totally make us believe it's Ripcord. The rest of the issue is more surprising.

This is one of my personal favorite issues of the series. It's full of unexpected turns in the current storyline. Contrary to the previous issue, this one has everything to do with the bigger plotline of the series. Three major surprises occur here: 1) Ripcord bails out over Cobra Island, 2) Hawk is promoted to General and 3) we discover that Zartan is the Hard Master's killer. Some have said that by the end of the comic book, there are just too many people involved in Storm Shadow's past that already appear in the series. Still, this issue is long before the plotline goes too far, and the involvement of Zartan could not have been predicted. Except for the hints just before the revelation in this very issue.

Ripcord's personal mission was unexpected because the Joes tend not to be shown with any personal grudges. Ripcord becomes a much stronger character than before. In the past he seems uncertain of himself, but here he decides to take action and is ready to take no prisoners. We can't know if he would've killed that Cobra soldier, but just the fact that he put a knife to his throat shows his alomst going too far. It seems a real shame to see Ripcord become a character with some depth, while knowing that he will eventually all but disappear from the series. His fight with Zartan is tense and exciting, while still making some sense. It does seem odd, though, that Zartan's archery skills never came up before.

Some of the issues best scenes involve Hawk and General Austin. They both know Hawk is a very capable leader, but they seem to be playing their parts, with Hawk only hinting at his already-made decisions. Hawk also shows his nasty side when he expects Ripcord to take matters into his own hands. This is one of a few times where cares more about getting the job done than following rules. It also shows Hawk can become a ruthless commander, making you wonder if he cares about Ripcord's well-being. These scenes are very smart, and Hawk is totally on top of things until he gets his general's stars. The promotion is a great scene and would have been impossible in the cartoon series, where Hawk didn't even appear until he was already a General. Similar to Ripcord, Austin seems to gain more depth in this issue. Unfortunately, Austin will never appear again, since he has effectively tired. I like to wonder if in the next moment, Austin threw Hawk out of his room and finally got some sleep. The scene also shows that the Joe team is of direct concern to the highest ranking officials involved in the military.

As for some errors and oversights there are a few. One is Cobra Commander's total disregard of any threat. True, it could be attributed to his arrogance over his new sovereignty, but it feels to much like one of those situations where a character acts stupidly just to help the story along. One also has to wonder about Storm Shadow's statement that only Zartan could make himself look like a ninja. With the right clothing, I could look like a ninja.

The main siginificance of this issue to the greater storyline is the revelation of the Hard Master's assassin's identity and Hawk's promotion. Alpine and Quick Kick also make their first appearance. It's also the first time we see Flint commanding his own mission.
First appearances:
  • G.I. Joe team: Alpine, Quick Kick, Snake-Eyes' new uniform
  • Cobra vehicles: Terror-Drome ("Launch base")
Reprinted in:
  • Action Force #44 & 45 (January 2nd & 9th, 1988). A Marvel UK series featuring the UK's version of G.I. Joe reprints this story in two parts, alongside an original story. All references to "G.I. Joe" were changed to "Action Force".
  • G.I. JOE: Volume 5 (2002). A trade paperback collection from Marvel. Includes issues #42-50.
  • Classic G.I. JOE: Volume 5 (November 2009). A trade paperback collection from IDW Publishing. Aside from some slight changes made to the cover, this is a reprint of the earlier Marvel collection. Includes issues #42-50.