---

G.I. JOE: SPECIAL MISSIONS #5 June, 1987 "Showdown!" Written by Larry Hama; Art by Herb Trimpe

The Strato-Viper sets his course for an Air Force Base in Florida. Meanwhile, at that very air base, the base's commanding officer briefs Hawk, Ace and Slip-Stream on their imminent mission. Cobra apparently sends up the Night Raven often, letting it get close enough to take spy photos without actually violating American airspace. The two Joe pilots are supposed to "play chicken" with the Night Raven, making sure the pilot gets the message about not getting too close. And if the confrontation ends with the Joes shooting down the jet, so be it, but the Joes aren't to fire unless they are fired upon first.. Ace and Slip-Stream drive to the airfield where their planes and a group of Tomahawk rescue helicopters wait. The Joes have already met the ground crew who prepped their jets. One of the crewman couldn't visit his son after his tonsillectomy because of a long night of repairs, but Slip-Stream tells him he visited the boy last night. He gives the crewman a gift he bought for his son -- a Transformer. "His name is Jetfire and he turns into a swing-wing fighter!" The crewman is impressed: "What they won't think of next!" The pilots give the crew their thanks and take off.

Just above the eight mile airspace limit, the Strato-Viper prepares the Night Raven's camera to start snapping photos when Ace's Skystriker appears out of nowhere, just below him, blocking his view. He also notices that Slip-Stream's Conquest fighter is just behind him. With the Raven in Slip-Stream's sights, Ace literally flies circles around the jet, trying to provoke the Strato-Viper. When he doesn't react, Ace flips his Skystriker upside down and comes almost canopy to canopy with the Night Raven. He mouths for him to "Eat my dust", then flies in front of the Raven, shaking the Skystriker's tail. That's enough to anger the Strato-Viper. He sets off a flare behind him, blinding Slip-Stream for a moment, and fires a missle at Ace. The missle hits Ace's tail and calls for help as the Skystriker goes down.

The Strato-Viper realizes that Slip-Stream is still flying blind and drops behind him. While Ace ejects from his fighter and parachutes to the water below, Slip-Stream's vision clears up just in time for him to see the Raven preparing to fire. He just barely evades a missle fired at him, but his manuever sends his engines into a stall. As the Conquest spins toward the ocean, Slip-Stream fights to restart his engines and stay in control. The Strato-Viper writes him off and heads for home, refusing a Rattler escort from Cobra Island.

Floating in a raft, Ace radios his coordinates to the rescue team. Back at the base, the rescue teams scramble to the Tomahawks and head out after Ace.

Back over the ocean, Slip-Stream finally gets the back-up systems to kick in and starts his engine. "Gosh, ain't American technology wonderful?" The Night Raven is headed back toward Cobra Island when the Strato-Viper notices that his threat display has gone blank. He blames the Cobra crew's shoddy maintenance, but figures he has nothing more to worry about anyway. As he laughs about how easy it was to beat the Joes, Slip-Stream rises up behind him and fires his machine gun, shooting holes in the Night Raven's tail. The Strato-Viper can't believe that Slip-Stream recovered from his spin and tries frantically to evade him. Slip-Stream explains to no one in particular that he's not attacking the Raven out of spite for shooting down his buddy, he's just got his orders to wait hold his fire until he was fired upon. He fires two sidewinder missles that take out the Raven's engines, and then heads for home.

The Strato-Viper calls for help while he tries to stay in the air. He's far from Cobra Island and the choppers will have to hurry. The rescue teams hear his call and head out to find him, though they don't seem to be in too much of a hurry. Meanwhile, Slip-Stream spots Ace's raft and circles while the Tomahawks make their way to the coordinates. Back in the Night Raven, the Strato-Viper discovers his canopy is jammed and he can't eject. His second call for help is heard by the chopper pilots as they make their way to rescue him. They consider redlining their engines, but decide against it. "What? And risk burning out our bearings?" The Tomahawks pick up Ace. He apologizes to Hawk for losing another Skystriker. Hawk tells him that planes can be replaced easier than good pilots. The rescue crew agrees and they head back to base. Back in the Gulf, the Night Raven hits the water and begins to sink. The Strato-Viper reaches for the cockpit breakout tool, and to his horror discovers it's missing!

In Florida, the crew celebrates Ace's rescue as Slip-Stream throws his Conquest into a "victory roll" against regulations. Slip-Stream does one more fly-by in tribute to the ground crew. "This one's for you, Chief! Us jocks may drive the crates but it's you on the ground who keep 'em flying!"

Commentary: "Showdown" is a quick but entertaining read. The dogfight story is exciting, and might make readers remember another air combat story back in G.I. Joe #34. This time, Ace is taken out of commission fairly early, and we see Slip-Stream doing more. The story seems to imply that the Strato-Viper is one-of-a-kind, but as far as the toys are concerned, there are many. Later in the series, the Star-Viper will be similarly treated as a single character and not a rank-and-file pilot.

The most interesting aspect of the story is the attention given to the jetfighter ground and rescue crews. Those scenes tend to play as a public service announcement to "be nice to your ground crew and they'll be nice to you". The Joes treat the crew like friends and thank them often, while the Strato-Viper seems to hate the crewmen and thinks they are beneath him. The "good crew" works hard to keep the jets maintained and rescue Ace successfully, while the "bad crew" leaves the Night Raven in disrepair and barely seem interested in saving the Strato-Viper -- one evenb makes certain the Strato-Viper gets trapped inside. Though we expect that even if Ace and Slip-Stream mistreated their crew, they'd still do their job properly because they're the good guys. We know that Larry Hama has a soft spot for "the little guy" in the military and this story seems to remind readers of the unsung heroes of the armed forces.

Return to the main page.