Beached Whale
	Short Summary The Joes repair their hovercraft and continue the search for Cobra agents. Meanwhile, Cobra Commander unveils the new Crimson Guard troop division at a Cobra rally.
	Notes of Interest The return of Billy, Cobra Commander's son. First appearance of the Crimson Guard.
	Major Players The Joes: Duke, Roadblock, Deep-Six, Cutter, Wild Bill, Trip-Wire Cobra: Cobra Commander, Destro, Firefly, Wild Weasel
Creative Team Script: Larry Hama, Pencils: Frank Springer, Inks: Andy Mushynsky, Lettering: Rick Parker, Colors: George Roussos, Editor: Denny O'Neil, Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter
Long Summary The WHALE is at a dock in Ehrlinger's Cove on the gulf coast of Florida. There the Joes plan to do some repair work on it. The citizens on the docks try to make fun of the army men and their broken boat. Roadblock carries an armor-plated panel to the end of the dock, with three young pranksters hanging on the end of it! In the Everglades, Firefly and Destro plan to return to Cobra headquarters and get revenge on Cobra Commander, who abandoned them there last issue. In Springfield, Cobra Commander has returned to a cheering crowd and parade, the people not knowing of his failure in Florida. One person, the boy Billy, plans to have his revenge on Cobra Commander for what he did to his father and the boy himself. At a giant rally that night, Cobra Commander reveals the Crimson Guardsman. They are highly trained soldiers that are young, intelligent and seemingly good citizens. They will have normal looking families and acquire jobs in business and politics, but the whole time working undercover for Cobra! Back in Florida, Destro and Firefly have made their way to Ehrinlger's Cove. They plan to steal the WHALE from the Joes, who have just about finished repairing it. They jump on the hovercraft from behind, surprising Cutter who tries to knock out Destro with a hard left-handed punch. He breaks his hand on Destro's polished beryllium steel facemask, and is easily defeated. Firefly mans a machine gun turret and opens fire on the Joes at the end of the dock. They use the armored panel that Roadblock was working on for cover. Destro mans the controls and drives the WHALE away. Luckily, Wild Bill was just arriving with repair supplies on the Dragonfly. He drops the supplies and Duke jumps into the cockpit and starts chasing after the WHALE. Cutter and Roadblock hop into a fishing boat and head out for the Joe freighter, G.I. Jane. In the chase, the Laurel and Hardy-like policemen from last issue are walking down the interstate, and get knocked off by the WHALE. Cutter arrives at the Jane, and drives it towards the docks at high speed. He then activates the hydrofoils on the Jane and shoots across the docks and over land, passing right over the two policemen, who pretend that they saw nothing. Destro shoots the Dragonfly with his wrist rockets. Wild Bill manages to land it on the G.I. Jane. Destro and Firefly then secretly escape from the WHALE by floating away in a couple of emptied depth charges. The WHALE is brought on board the Jane, but carrying a bomb that the Cobras left behind. Trip-Wire jumps onto it, since he sees nowhere to put the bomb, and no time to defuse it. Roadblock grabs it from the Joe and hurls it through a ventilation shaft where it flies out overboard and explodes. The Joes have totally lost Destro and Firefly, who continue their escape in a stolen fishing boat. They plan to head to Springfield. By Jeff Edburg
Number 29, November 1984