G.I. Joe: Special Missions was a comic book series published by Marvel Comics beginning in 1986. The series ran for twenty-eight issues and ran concurrently with Marvel's main G.I. Joe title. The series format was introduced in issue #50 of the main title which ran a second story "Best Defense" to give readers a glimpse into the theme and tone of Special Missions. The story was reprinted in a G.I. Joe trade paperback that collects the first four issues of the spin-off.