When they first appeared in against the terrorist organization COBRA, and writer Larry Hama created an ingenious cover story: the team’s headquarters was under a motor pool and the Joes would pose as chaplain’s assistants! And in 1982’s G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #3, this cover came close to being blown, thanks to a devious COBRA scheme.
Marvel’s their headquarters by COBRA.
The issue sees the G.I. Joe team having just finished a successful mission by securing a COBRA stronghold. Among the technology confiscated by the Joes is a battle robot, which is dismantled and hauled back to G.I. Joe headquarters. While the Joes' science team analyzes the robot, the team’s leaders, including Duke and Scarlet, must put in an appearance at a chaplain’s assistant gathering held in the motor pool above their headquarters. The team soon learns that COBRA has snuck a “Trojan Horse” in the robot, as each piece is laced with booby traps and fail safes – and now the Joes have tripped them. The team is barely successful in vanquishing the COBRA invaders, but their cover is nonetheless maintained.
G.I. Joe’s mission against COBRA, at least in its early days, necessitated a deep cover – and what better way to accomplish that than by hiding them in plain sight? The G.I. Joe team was the best of the best, but the government needed to keep them off the books, as a matter of safety. If the G.I. Joes had operated more in the public eye, the safety of the team and their loved ones could have been jeopardized. Placing the team’s headquarters under a seemingly innocuous motor pool, and having it host a chaplain assistants' party, was the perfect disguise for the G.I. Joe team. Despite the safety protocols put in place, COBRA was almost successful in piercing through the team’s disguise. If COBRA had been able to take down the G.I. Joe team this early in their game, it could have spelled doom for the world.
At its peak in the mid-1980s, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero was one of Marvel’s top titles, boasting a readership from outside of comics — including women. The comic is credited with introducing the wider field of comics to a generation. During the G.I. Joe team’s early days in Marvel Comics, they had the weirdest cover story – one that COBRA nearly blew.
