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With the fight over Benzheen ended, an aerial incident with the Joes' Skystriker has the team send a stealth mission into the emirate's capital. A discovery there leads to a most interesting conclusion to the war.


Detailed summary

Ace and Dog Fight crash-land their Skystriker on the deck of the USS Flagg during a recon mission over supposedly friendly territory. This leads their leader, Hawk, to believe that Cobra Commander and the Emir have made a deal.

Hawk decides to send in Ghost Rider, who he briefs along with his back seat man, Slipstream. They take off from the Flagg on a secret mission to investigate the potential deal between Cobra Commander and the Emir.

The Emir and Cobra Commander are having another meeting, where the Emir expresses his anger at the Skystriker being shot at. Cobra Commander threatens him physically and reminds him of their deal. A Televiper comes in and reports that a Condor witnessed the Skystriker crash landing and another aircraft took off shortly after that, heading towards the gulf.

This prompts Wild Weasel to pursue the stealth plane, but he is unable to use his targeting systems and resorts to using his gatling gun. The stealth plane leads him to Rampart and Backblast, who shoot down Wild Weasel's Rattler.

Cobra Commander responds by filling the air with planes and alerting his ASP emplacements and Adders. He also cuts off all power to the city. The stealth pilot sees the city go dark and the sky filled with antiaircraft fire.

Ghost Rider takes the stealth low, riding the interstate, and eventually finds his target. He pushes the button on the joystick, causing a Firebat to launch out of a Terrordrome.

After the successful mission, Hawk congratulates Dog Fight (who is actually Slipstream) and the stealth pilot, whom he still refers to as Captain Jeffries because he can't remember his codename.

The two go to check on their plane and discuss how the Sioux used sticks to "count coup" on their enemies. They look at the mangled wreckage of the stealth on the flight deck.

Appearances

Featured Characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

G.I. Joe Cobra Civilians Benzheenis
  • Trucker
  • Emir of Benzheen (10)
  • Goatherder (15)


Featured Vehicles & Equipment

G.I. Joe Cobra Civilian
  • Semi truck



Memorable quotes

  • None yet.

Other Notes

Errors

  • When Wild Weasel calls in, he identifies himself as "Wild Weasel Six-Two-Niner," suggesting that he's part of a whole group, not an individual.
  • Throughout the second half of the story, Slip-Stream is identified as Dogfight.[1]
  • On the Comic Pack reprint, the cover misspells the title of this story as "Counting Coop."

Items of note

  • First appearance: Rampart, Aero-Viper, Hurricane, Adder
  • This was one of several selected issues for the Generation 3 Comic Pack line in 2008. The pack included Ace and Wild Weasel action figures as well as a reprint of this issue featuring a new cover by Greg Horn.
  • The Hurricanes seem to be piloted by Aero-Vipers, so Vapor doesn't appear in this issue.
  • Hawk's watch is engraved. It reads "To Clayton, ♥ Always, Roxy." The only "Roxy" we've met in the series thus far is the teenage girl who found her way into the Pit,[2] so it's probably not her. It would be revealed in the Devil's Due comics that Hawk once had a fiancee,[3] but her name was Carolee
  • A can of Yo Jo Cola appears.

Dossiers

  • The dossier in this issue features Dusty.

Real-world references

  • The title of the story is a reference to a Native American form of achieving victory from an enemy wherein a warrior rushes through much of the field of battle and simply touches the enemy with a coup stick and then escapes with his life intact. See the counting coup entry in Wikipedia.
  • Artist John Statema signed his name on page 18 - it can be seen on the protractor.

Footnotes and References

  1. The "No-Prize" solution would be that Ghostrider, annoyed at Slipstream's inability to remember his name, purposely began calling him the wrong thing. It first happens after Slipstream calls him "Stealthy."
  2. G.I. Joe #99
  3. G.I. Joe #33





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