Summary: We open up in Flushing Stadium, home of the New York Mites (Giants) baseball team. The four female Joes are dressed as Mites cheerleaders in one-piece leotards and are can-canning on a float.

I don't usually comment on art glitches, since I'm one of those weird folks that doesn't read comics for the art, but the Joe women all look as if they have the exact same body and skin tone (even Jinx). It's like someone took four female bodies and stuck heads on them.

They are not thrilled with Hawk for sending them on this rather embarrassing and degrading undercover mission.

The announcer welcomes us to the game, telling us that the Mites are playing their cross-town rivals, the New York Dandees (Yankees) and that the newly elected President and his First Lady are in attendance. The President will be throwing out the first ball of the game and afterwards, the mayor will present a trophy to the winning team.

The float carrying the Joe women leaves the field. The women grouse about being the second stringers on this mission. They're serving as undercover operatives, the ace in the hole for the male Joes who are outside the park. They've got a float full of surveillance equipment and themselves.

Hawk and Falcon are in the parking lot, making sure that the others are in position. Hawk tells Falcon that the Joes are officially there to help build good PR between the military and the general public. Unofficially, the Joes will be providing the President with security while he's in New York City.

Falcon mentions to Hawk that the 'girls' are upset about their part of the mission. Hawk says they'll get over it. Falcon does a radio check, making sure that the other Joes are in position. Tunnel Rat, Heavy Metal, Zap and Doc are all in place. Best quote of the page: "You bend 'em, we'll mend 'em," says Doc.

The President tosses out the first ball of the game and we get a really nice few panels of the baseball players in action. The montage panel at the bottom of this page is especially well done.

Elsewhere, Cobra Commander and Raptor are planning on snatching the President in broad daylight. They're going to embarrass the Joes out of existence. "They'll be lucky to find work as school crossing guards," says Cobra Commander.

A Viper tells Cobra Commander that their people are in position.

The game is tied; the female Joes are on the look out for trouble and for hot players (or at least Jaye is, one of the players catches her fancy). Jinx spots a blimp and a falcon (as in the bird) overhead. The blimp is the Goodyear blimp (which seems an odd bit of product placement, since they changed the names of the New York baseball teams and of the players). Outside the park, Heavy Metal tells Zap to keep his mind on the mission, not the ball game. Zap sheepishly admits that he's a Dandees fan and teases Heavy Metal, saying that at least he's got a team to root for. I'm thinking that's a reference to the cap Heavy Metal wears, but I don't recognize the team insignia.

Someone asks Hawk and Falcon if they can tell him the way to Gate C. It's Crystal Ball! He hypnotizes Hawk and Falcon using his shield, then moves off to get the other team leaders.

On the field, Zarana is dressed as a ball girl for the Mites (and looks damned fetching, more so than the Joe girls did in their cheerleading outfits, if you ask me). The falcon drops several canisters containing knock out gas onto the park, setting Cobra's plan into action. Zarana glances to a hot dog salesman in the crowd and nods. This was the signal they were waiting for. As it turns out, the hot dog guy is Firefly, who throws several exploding hot dogs out on to the field, causing further chaos.

The Joe women spot the chaos and don their gas masks. They can't raise the other Joe teams, so it's up to them to do something about what's going on. Scarlett sends Cover Girl to try and rouse the men while she, Jinx and Lady Jaye go after the President.

Cobra Commander gloats about his success while Zarana covers the president and waits for the Cobra blimp to come in for the snatch.

The Cobra blimp edges closer, releasing neutralizing gas. Now, only those who were originally knocked out will remain unconscious. The Joe women have changed into their regular outfits (they took time to do that, why!?) and again, the plan is that Cover Girl is to try and rouse the boys while the others try to save the President. If the other three aren't successful, Cover Girl is to call for help. With that, they break and head off for their respective purposes.

Cobra drops the Goodyear cover off the blimp, revealing it to be bright blue with the traditional red Cobra sigil. They lower the sling to haul the President up. Zarana says that they've pulled it off. Firefly wishes they'd had a chance at the Joes. Zarana says that he may get his wish.

Cover Girl manages to revive the other Joes, thanks to her hypno-therapy training (WTF, over?). Now that the other Joes are awake again, they go after Cobra but realize they can't shoot down the blimp since the President is aboard.

Up on the roof, Scarlett, Lady Jaye and Jinx leap onto the Cobra blimp. Inside, Cobra Commander gloats more about his success. Now he'll discredit the Joes and get new respect from Dr. Mindbender, Destro and the Baroness. Especially the Baroness. Cobra Commander, Raptor and Crystal Ball have a good old fashioned gloaty laugh about things.

The Joe gals bust into the blimp. Jaye takes out a Viper and Crystal Ball, while Scarlett nails Zarana and Jinx stops Cobra Commander from shooting Scarlett. Jaye breaks a javelin over Raptor, arousing the ire of one of his birds. Firefly knocks Jaye out of the blimp and the falcon follows her, trying to go for her eyes.

Below, the crowd watches as the "grim spectacle unfolds below them"(except that folks are looking up). The Joes shout encouragement up to Lady Jaye (though Cover Girl yells for "Scarlett" to use her survival knife). Jaye takes the hint anyway and uses her survival knife to 'back' the falcon into one of the blimp's props, shredding it.

Inside the blimp, Firefly tells a Viper to activate the escape module since the Cobra sub awaits them. Jinx throws a blade, pinning the Viper's hand to the control panel. Zarana grabs Scarlet and tells Firefly to get her legs, they'll throw her over the side. Firefly says that he wants to rearrange her pretty face first.

Jinx kicks Firefly in the back, allowing Scarlett to take out Zarana (and keeping her and Snake-eyes from having to shop at the same mask shop, apparently). Cobra Commander revives, saying "Ohhhhkay, ladies! Hold it right there! I'm back in the game! And you two have just struck out...for good!"

Jaye, still hanging on to the outside of the blimp, yells for Hawk to get her a smoke grenade. Cover Girl grabs a bat and yells for Hardball to toss her a smoke grenade, which she then bats up to Jaye. Jaye snags the grenade ("Darren Blueberry, eat your heart out!" she says) and tosses it into the blimp.

Jinx and Scarlett take advantage of the chaos caused by the smoke to get the president out of the blimp. Jaye snags the rope on the way down, joining the other three. Cobra gives up, their plan thwarted. Cobra Commander promises that the Joes haven't heard the last of Cobra!

The President tells Hawk that they can be proud fo "these four special women" and that they deserve something special. The last panel shows the four Joe women watching the ball game, enjoying a few hotdogs and being very pleased about having gotten a month's leave at double pay and a week in New York City! Jaye wonders if Hawk's got any other degrading missions he can send them on!

Commentary: The Special Missions issues served as a subseries for the main GI Joe comic series, often times showcasing 'second-string' Joes or focusing on stories that took place outside the main Joe storyline. In some ways, the Special Missions books were more realistic, since they often focused on villains other than Cobra.

"Ladies Day" is not one of those issues. "Ladies Day" has the reputation for being the worst Special Missions comic *ever*.

And it deserves that reputation. Wholeheartedly. I come not to praise "Ladies Day" but to bury it. That's right, folks, I've finally found an example of GI Joe that even I can't find enjoyable.

Well, no, that's not entirely true. The story isn't necessarily painful to read, but it just doesn't feel right and some bits are rather wince-worthy. Like a lot of the stories that are on fans' "Worst Ever" lists, it's an idea that had some potential but that just didn't pan out right.

But when the cover is one of the coolest things about the issue, folks there is a problem.

Stuff I didn't like:

First page: Those cheerleading outfits they're wearing are about ugly. They're basically one piece leotards that come up and encircle the throat and that have a big ostrich plume 'tail' on the back. Granted, that's the kind of thing that most cheerleaders would wear but that doesn't make it any less ugly. And they're cheering in high heels. Oi. And they all look alike except for their heads, which is just frickin' creepy.

That and I don't like the idea that the female Joes have been relegated to being the 'second string' for the male Joes, particularly because the way they've been shunted off just seems dumb. I mean, think about it: who's going to see more of the action? A group of 'cheerleaders' who have been shunted off to one corner of the park or, say, someone who is walking the stadium, selling hot dogs or popcorn. Firefly managed to sneak in that way, why not sneak the Joe women in that way too? Or have them sit near the President's box, the better to keep an eye on his surrounds. And I want a reason better than "but that way we don't get to see them in the skimpy cheerleader outfits!"

And while we're on the subject: the idea that the Joes are being used to a) foster better will between the military and the general public and b) serving as protection for the President while he's in New York, is just plain dumb. Firstly, having the Joes on display draws unnecessary attention to them. Chances are, Cobra attacked Flushing Stadium not because they wanted the President but because they knew the Joes were going to be there. In essence, the Joes' presence drew danger to the President. If they'd brought in another unit, then chances are Cobra would have given this particular baseball game a miss.

Not to mention, the purpose of having a secret, special missions team is keeping them SECRET. As in not trotting them out and putting them on display so that the general public can see them. Okay, okay, so it's not specifically stated that the Joes are on display as members of "GI Joe", they could just as easily be there as "Members of the American Military, see, ain't they neat?" but even still, there are other units that could be better used for such a purpose. I mean, we're talking about the equivalent of Delta Force here, not the Blue Angels.

Secondly, the Joes are NOT the folks who should be protecting the President. That's the Secret Service's job. GI Joe is a counter-terrorism group, they should be out there hunting down Cobra cells and generally engaging in the stuff they were trained to do. Yes, yes, I know, we've been given the idea that the Joes can do anything that anyone else can do and do it better than them. But frankly, I hate that idea. The Joes are a counter-terrorism unit, they should be used as a counter-terrorism unit, they should not be infringing on other folks' jurisdictions just for story purposes.

Oddly enough, as sexist as the opening of the issue is, the Joe women fare pretty well in this one. They do manage to save the day; 'course, the only reason they get to save the day is because the men have all been taken out by Crystal Ball (who they apparently didn't recognize, even with the shield. I mean, I know NYC is a little freaky but c'MON!), but at least no one says anything about them being 'mere' girls or anything equally asinine.

See, that's one of the things I really like about GI Joe: the female characters, on both sides, are treated as operatives first and women not at all. Which is as it should be. The female Joes aren't on the team because they're pretty or because the male Joes want someone to rescue. They're there because they can do the same job as the men and do it as well as they do. This is probably also part of the reason that there are only four female Joes, since fewer women enter the military than do men, fewer women would volunteer for the types of service that would lead to special missions work and fewer women would pass the tests necessary to lead someone to eventual service with the Joes. The four Joe women represent the very best that the women of the US military have to offer.

Some nice things about the issue, since I want my RAM chip:

It's nice to see some of the second-string Joes in this one. Zap, Heavy Metal, Hardball, etc. (Though, it's a little too convenient that Hardball just *happened* to be there, especially since he shows up just as Cover Girl needs someone to pitch to her.) And second-string Cobras like Raptor and Crystal Ball (as I recall, this may be Crystal's only appearance in the comics). Yeah, I'm a sucker for the second stringers.

Nice to see the women get an issue focusing on them. Would have been better if it had been a story more worthy of their abilities, but even so.

The baseball scenes were nice and that's about all I can really say about 'em, since I know nothing about baseball beyond the fact that the Cubs always lose. And that "Darren Blueberry" is a too twee for words reference to "Darrel Strawberry". Would probably have been a slightly better story if they'd used real names. Or come up with better fake names.

Overall, read this one because you need to have seen the horror that is "Ladies' Day", if only so you will fully understand what people mean when they say how horrid it is.