Snake-Eyes: The Origin Part II
	Short Summary Storm Shadow reveals that he did not kill his uncle, the Hard Master, but believes the job was done by someone in Cobra, which he has infiltrated to find the real killer.Snake-Eyes recruitment in GI Joe, his first meeting with Scarlett and the accident that disfigured & rendered him mute are all told. Plus, Scarlett reveals her love for Snake-Eyes.
Notes of Interest Significant Snake-Eyes Background story elements: --Storm Shadow reveals that he did not kill his uncle the Hard Master --Someone in the Cobra organization killed the Hard Master. --Storm Shadow also reveals that he is working as a member of Cobra to discover the true identity of the killer. --Hawk & Stalker recruit Snake-Eyes for the GI Joe team from his cabin in hte High Sierras. --Scarlett's first meeting with Snake-Eyes. --The desert mission where Snake-Eyes is disfigured & rendered mute saving Scarlett's life. --Scarlett's talks about her fellings of love for Snake-Eyes. First appearance of Timber.
Major Players The Joes: Snake-Eyes and Timber, Hawk, Stalker, Scarlett, Mutt and Junkyard, Torpedo, Tripwire Additional Joe appearances: Steeler, Rock 'n Roll, Grunt, Wild Bill, Clutch. Cobra: Destro, Zartan, Baroness, Cobra Commander, Firefly, Wild Weasel, and Storm Shadow. Additional Characters: Soft Master
Creative Team Script: Larry Hama, Pencils: Frank Springer, Inks: Andy Mushynsky, Lettering: Rick Parker, Coloring: George Roussos, Editor: Denny O'Neil, Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter
Long Summary The two storylines from #26, the chase in the Everglades and the story of Snake-Eyes, are continued. When we last left Destro, Baroness, Zartan, and Cobra Commander, Junkyard had led them into a pit of quicksand. They are eventually able to get out and continue the pursuit of Torpedo, Tripwire, and Mutt, who were in turn chasing after their escaped prisoners, Firefly and Wild Weasel. Firefly builds a trap to ensnare his pursuers, only to have Junkyard set it off. The Cobras eventually group back together and continue to chase the Joes, only to find out that they have disappeared into the swamp. That is when Zartan utters his line, "Time to call out the Dreadnoks". As the story of Snake-Eyes' background continues, Hawk reveals that after he told Snake-Eyes about his family's death, he hadn't heard from him for six years. When he and Stalker were putting the GI Joe team together, they decided to track Snake-Eyes down. They found that he had retired to the seclusion of a cabin in the High Sierras and was living with his pet wolf, Timber. They talked him into coming with them and joining the GI Joe team. Scarlett first met Snake-Eyes when the three returned to headquarters. She was putting the new recruits through their paces in hand-to-hand combat drills. When she fought Snake-Eyes, she could tell how good he was, because he let her win. He was so good, he didn't have anything to prove. Scarlett and Snake-Eyes became friends, more than friends in Scarlett's mind. She was slowly falling in love with him. Then months later, the GI Joe team was training on a desert mission. The team was split into two helicopters. The choppers were flying low and kicking up alot of sand. One of the choppers got sand sucked into its intake and the engine stalled. The helicopter lost control and hit the other with its main rotor. This ignited the fuel tank. The resulting explosion hit Snake-Eyes directly in the face and throat. The wounds were so great that his face was permanently scarred and he could no longer speak. Now the story of Snake-Eyes having been told, we are taken back to the present where he is talking to the Soft Master in New York. The Soft Master reveals that he is investigating the death of the Hard Master (#26). He wants to know why the Hard Master denied until his death that the killer was Storm Shadow, despite evidence to the contrary. One bit of evidence is the killing arrow, which came from Storm Shadow's personal supply. As he is telling this to Snake-Eyes, Storm Shadow crashes through the window and takes the arrow from the Soft Master. Thus starts a foot chase of Storm Shadow by Snake-Eyes through the streets of New York. The chase ends in a face-off with knives on top of a subway car speeding along its rails. Storm Shadow, whose back is to the oncoming tunnel, tells Snake-Eyes, that he loves him like a brother, but won't let him stop him (Storm Shadow) from doing what he has to do, he will kill him if necessary. Snake-Eyes dives back, bringing Storm Shadow with him and saving his life. Storm Shadow realizes that Snake-Eyes saved him, so he tells him what his important task is. He reveals that the only reason he is a member of Cobra is because he knows that someone in Cobra was the actual killer of the Hard Master. He has spent years working his way up in Cobra to find out his identity. By Steve Wagnon In the Florida Everglades, the Cobra big wigs, thoroughly angry at Junkyard for leading them into quicksand, manage to pull themselves out. The Joe team is desperate to recapture Firefly and Wild Weasel. The two Cobras, however, have set up a nasty tiger trap to finish off anybody coming up the swamp trail. Junkyard runs by his Joe masters, zipping down that trail, setting off the trap. The Cobra saboteur and pilot run to see what they've caught. At the Pit, Hawk continues with his stories about Snake-Eyes. He recalls the day he and Stalker went up to Snake-Eyes' mountain cabin to recruit him for the G.I. Joe team. They found him out catching rabbits bare handed. Scarlett then starts her tale of how she first met Snake-Eyes. She was fascinated by the master soldier, and wanted to know more about him. A friendship grew. Months later, flying by helicopters to a hostage rescue, she recalls how the Huey she and Snake-Eyes were in had a tail-rotor stall. As the helicopter spun towards the ground, she was snagged to the chopper door. Snake-Eyes went to help her, but the Huey was hit by the rotors of another aircraft. The aviation gas exploded, causing a stream of burning vapor to slam into Snake-Eyes' face. The two Joes survived the crash, but Snake-Eyes' face was ravaged, and his mouth could only open and close in complete silence. Back in Florida, Firefly and Wild Weasel discover that Junkyard had set off their tiger trap, but escaped unscathed. They are then immediately ambushed by the Joe team, who are then immediately ambushed by the team of Cobra leaders. In New York City, Snake-Eyes is still at the restaurant of the Soft-Master. Storm Shadow attacks through the window, escaping the Joe commando's bullet barrage via the cellar passage. Snake-Eyes takes off in a foot chase down the streets of the Big Apple. At the Pit, Scarlett hears the police report of a fight between a masked man with an uzi and a ninja in white. She immediately leaves to go try and help. Storm Shadow, meanwhile, has jumped on top of a passenger train, with Snake-Eyes close behind. The train nears a tunnel, but the white ninja's back is turned to it. Snake-Eyes allows Storm Shadow to leap at him, moving him out of danger from the upcoming tunnel, saving his life. The cobra ninja realizes that his former friend has repaid his life debt to him, and leaves in peace. Before he goes, he tells the Joe commando that he did not kill the Hard-Master. Someone working for Cobra was the murderer. That is why he joined Cobra, so he could learn who the assassin was, and someday avenge his uncle's death. By Jeff Edburg
Number 27, September 1984