G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #3 (Marvel Comics, 1982)

G.I. Joe readers got the first glimpse of their headquarters, The Pit, in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #1. Now it's time to see The Pit in action!

After winning a battle against Cobra, G.I. Joe mops up the mess and disassembles a gigantic Cobra robot for transport back to their secret headquarters, The Pit. They load its disassembled parts into U.S. Mail trucks and covertly drive them to Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island. Upon arrival, the trucks are loaded onto a giant elevator and sent down into the bowels of the massive complex. The Joe team stashes the robot pieces in a laboratory on the bottom floor, while Hawk and Scarlett prepare for a showing at the Chaplain's Assistant's social tea to be held in the motor pool above the complex.

Overnight, the Cobra robot begins to reassemble itself! A timer goes off inside it, which activates its hand to crawl across the floor and uses the control panel to lock all of the Joes in their rooms. Then it rebuilds its body piece by piece.

The first to discover something amiss are Clutch and Steeler, who are locked inside the Canteen. Unable to open the door, Clutch starts to disassemble it, and Steeler, who removes his shirt first to display his Conan-like physique, tries to deadlift it.

In the armory, Flash, Stalker, and Snake-Eyes find themselves locked behind a steel door. Flash sets up his laser rifle to slowly cut through the giant barrier. With air starting to run low, Stalker and Snake-Eyes take a nap to conserve oxygen (totally badass)

Meanwhile, the giant Cobra robot has completely rebuilt itself and starts to run amok through The Pit, shooting laser beams from its hands at the scurrying Joes in its way. Its objective? Reach the surface and alert Cobra Commander to the location of G.I. Joe's secret base!

The Joes light it on fire, but it puts out the flames in their underground swimming pool. Then they try to drop a laser cannon on its head in the elevator shaft, but nothing will stop the rampaging robotic menace except a bucket of silver paint, which blinds it. They fool the robot into walking into the open hydraulic lift pit, where it falls six floors and crashes. Hawk and Scarlett hear the noises during the tea, but have no idea what's going on and make clever remarks about the ruckus to the chaplains.

Unbeknownst to the Joes, the Cobra robot has more tricks up its sleeve (rather, inside its head). The robot's head breaks loose like the thing from The Thing, walks around on robot crab legs, and then hatches a bunch of mini robot bugs that act as transmitters! As the little bug robots make their way to the surface, the Joes stamp, shoot, and smash them, but one makes its way all the way to the top, where it crawls through a vent and prepares to send a signal to Cobra Commander, who is waiting with a fleet of helicopters.

Thankfully, Scarlett sees it as it crawls into their afternoon tea service and stomps on it with her high heels.

A discouraged Cobra Commander retreats to fight another day.