Flash #280 – “The Wrong Man” – Cary Bates/Don Heck/Frank Chiaramonte
This story starts not long after last issue, with Flash zipping all over the city looking for Clive Yorkin, the man he believes responsible for the death of his wife. Flash’s friend Melanie is tracking Yorkin too, and having better luck since her psychic abilities point her in the right direction. Flash finds some vigilantes in the park, about to blow away a shadowy figure. Flash saves their target and reveals that it wasn’t Yorkin, just some homeless guy. The vigilantes feel like idiots and head home. The cops are on Yorkin’s trail too and he’s not far away, but when they try to corner him
with a helicopter, the fugitive jumps aboard and uses his weird life-draining power to kill the pilots. The chopper crashes and the cops converge on the scene, but Yorkin vaults the fence and gets away; unknown to him, Melanie is still on his trail. The mayor has called in the governor to discuss the “Yorkin crisis” and rumour has it the National Guard might be called to track him down. At the police station, Barry runs into Chief Paulson, who commends him for his dedication. Barry decides to use his police training to look for Yorkin and finds a bunch of “previously known addresses” in Yorkin’s file. He switches back to Flash to check them all at super-speed. Meanwhile, Melanie has tracked Yorkin’s psychic emanations to an abandoned housing development 42 miles from 
Central City. Apparently, the place was built over a sinkhole, so the project fell through and the houses already built are still there … a great place for a fugitive to hide. Melanie wanders around, looking for Yorkin; she can feel that he’s close, but unfortunately her psychic abilities can’t warn her that Yorkin is hiding and about to pounce. He jumps her and his mind is so full of morbid thoughts that Melanie is overwhelmed. He grabs her and she tries to make mental contact with Flash, but her fear is so strong she can’t concentrate. In a lucky coincidence, Flash shows up, since the housing development was mentioned in Yorkin’s file as a possible hiding place. Melanie’s psychic connection to Flash sends her fear into his mind, which knocks him for a loop. He tries to use a board to whack Yorkin in the head, but that doesn’t work. Melanie tries to run and Flash makes a grab for her, but all three of them fall into a sinkhole. Melanie
really freaks out and her negative emotions are so strong Flash can barely think straight, let alone fight. Yorkin grabs him and Flash sees a vision of Iris, which makes him overcome his doubts and fight harder. Yorkin tries to get out of the sinkhole, but he collapses the wall and the whole thing starts sinking. Flash pulls Melanie out just in time, but Yorkin goes under. Melanie says she locked onto the image of Iris that was already in Flash’s mind and amplified it, feeding it back to him to give him strength. Flash thanks her for helping him avenge his wife, but his celebration may be a bit premature. Later that night, Detective Curtis calls and says he has positive proof that Yorkin didn’t kill Iris! We’ll have to wait until next issue to see what Curtis is talking about.
Noticeable Things:
- Last issue ended with Melanie tracking Yorkin to a burning building and him popping up out of the basement. But this one starts with Yorkin in the park and Melanie well behind him, so I guess some time elapsed in between issues. Also last issue, Melanie was taking cabs to get around, but now she’s on a motorbike (or moped, maybe) with no explanation of where it came from.
- Melanie says she read about the abandoned housing development about ten years ago, but previous issues have established that she’s sixteen … so she was reading newspapers when she was six? She must’ve been a precocious kid.
- I wonder if Flash reported Yorkin’s death to the cops? I assume so, since the whole city was in a panic while he was loose.
Wonder Woman #262 – “The Bushmaster Strikes Twice” – Gerry Conway/Ric Estrada/Jose Delbo
This one starts with Wonder Woman stopping three gang punks from robbing an old couple. But the seniors are scared to even thank her because after she leaves, the punks might decide to retaliate. Wonder Woman pulls a GTA San Andreas and ties them to her invisible jet, then takes them on a wild ride, almost crashing into the Brooklyn Bridge. The punks are so freaked out they promise not to bother the old couple again—or anyone else. Wonder Woman isn’t naïve enough to believe they’ve been scared straight, but she figures they won’t screw with this particular couple again, and maybe they’ll think twice before their next mugging. Wonder Woman heads home and changes to Dana Prince. She wonders why she’s been feeling tired lately and philosophizes about
whether Wonder Woman and Diana Prince are the same person or two separate beings. Before she can resolve that metaphysical conundrum, there’s a knock at the door. Meanwhile on the African veldt, Bushmaster is hunting lions, so be vewy, vewy, quiet. You remember Bushmaster, don’t you? The dude in a high-tech costume who tried to assassinate a UN Ambassador back in issue #255, but was thwarted by Wonder Woman? He’s gotten rid of most of his fancy tech and is using more traditional weapons like spears and nets to hunt the lions. But lions are tougher than most spears or nets, so Bushmaster ends up having to use his last high-tech device, a laser eye-beam. His employer (the Prime Planner) congratulates him on passing the test and say they want him to eliminate Wonder Woman because of her past interference with their plans. In New York, Diana is at her neighbour Lance’s party (that’s who knocked on her door) and 
she meets his roommate, Tod. Tod turns out to be a strapping young stud and Diana is definitely interested. Across town, a flying saucer shows up at the UN Secretariat Building and wraps it in a huge net, trapping all the people inside. Bushmaster emerges from the saucer and announces that unless Wonder Woman shows up within the hour, the net will contract and crush the building and everyone inside. But Diana is otherwise occupied, sucking face with Tod on the roof of their building. Tod must be a lousy kisser, because Diana tells him she’s not ready for a relationship and leaves. On Lance’s TV she sees the standoff at the UN and heads over as Wonder Woman. She and Bushmaster fight and she’s surprised that he’s using “primitive” weapons. She’s even more surprised when she finds out the weapons are hiding some serious tech. Bushmaster’s spear is electrified (which numbs Wonder Woman’s arm) and
his knobkerry projects sonic waves that screw up her motor functions, giving Bushmaster the chance to deck her. She plays possum and punches him out, but the net around the UN Building starts contracting. Wonder Woman hooks on with her invisible jet and revs it up, pulling the net off the building before it does any real damage. And that’s pretty much it for the issue, although a text box promises some Earth-shattering development next issue. I wonder if Gerry had some pacing problems and ran out of room? We’ll find out what the big deal is next ish.
Noticeable Things:
- The gang members jacking the old couple have a certain resemblance to The Warriors from the movie of the same name; they even mention being from Coney Island. I have to assume it’s an intentional reference.
- Bushmaster’s eye laser makes him look like a rip-off of Deathlok … or maybe Centurius.
- When Lance was first introduced, I was pretty sure he was gay, and that he and Tod were more than roommates. I’m wondering if Gerry was told to tone that down and that’s why Tod and Diana are being shoved together. Lance could still be gay of course, but his character seems to have changed; his hair is blond now and he has glasses.
Green Lantern #123 – “Mission of No Return” – Denny O’Neil/Joe Staton/Dick Giordano
Last issue, Green Lantern and Superman found out that fellow GL Guy Gardner didn’t die when he faded out back in issue, he actually wound up in the Phantom Zone. There, Superman’s old enemy General Zod manipulated Guy, amplifying his anger at Green Lantern marrying Guy’s girlfriend, Kari Limbo. (Don’t worry, she called off the wedding when she found out Guy wasn’t dead.) Now Green Lantern is preparing to head back into the Zone to rescue Guy. Superman offers to help, but GL says it’s something he has to do alone. In the Zone, Zod and his cohorts attack right away, using Guy to help them. But GL is used to power ring fighting, so he evades their attack and whips out his secret weapon: no, not his dick … Anti-Kryptonite. It’s a form of Kryptonite that’s only deadly to non-super powered Kryptonians, so Zod and his henchmen are affected immediately. GL grabs Guy and says he’s taking him home to
cure whatever Zod did to his mind. Before he can get out of the Zone with Guy, a yellow beam of energy streaks in and shanghais Guy, dragging him right out of the Zone. Zod and his people beg GL to spare them and he takes the Anti-Kryptonite with him when he leaves. In Superman’s Fortress, GL asks if the Phantom Zone could be accessed from Qward, the anti-matter dimension. When Superman says it’s possible, GL knows who grabbed Guy—his old foe, Sinestro. GL decides to go to Qward to rescue Guy, but has to go charge his ring first. He runs into Green Arrow and mouths off to him, telling him he’s not up to facing Sinestro. Naturally, he’s doing it to keep Arrow safe, but that doesn’t make Arrow any less pissed off. GL also runs into Kari, 
whose psychic powers have told her what he’s planning. She’s touched that he’d risk his life for his romantic rival, knowing Kari still has feelings for Guy. GL heads through a dimensional warp to Qward and waits, knowing Sinestro will be expecting him. Guy pops up, seemingly back to normal, which makes GL suspicious. He detects a yellow beam controlling Guy’s movements and is ready when Guy suddenly attacks. Sinestro appears and they start dueling back and forth. GL has a bit of trouble, since his ring can’t affect anything yellow and Sinestro’s ring uses yellow energy. Sinestro tires of the fight and threatens to crush Guy in a force bubble if GL doesn’t surrender his ring. GL gets an idea and says he wants to make sure Guy is still alive before turning over his ring. Sinestro allows it and GL realizes that even though they’re fighting in space, they’re
surrounded by air. Qward has different physical laws than our dimension, so GL uses his ring to pulverize a bunch of nearby planetoids, then whips up a fan to blow dust in Sinestro’s face. While Sinestro is blinded, GL beats the shit out of him. He’s out to finish Sinestro off when he notices Guy has drifted between some huge rocks and is about to be crushed. GL rescues Guy, but tat gives Sinestro a chance to escape. Guy is in bad shape, so GL lets Sinestro go and brings Guy back to the positive-matter universe. Unfortunately, whatever Zod and Sinestro did to Guy has fucked up his mind … maybe permanently. The doctors say they’ll know more in six months and Kari decides she wants to stay with Guy and take care of him. GL vows to hunt down Sinestro; we’ll see how that goes next issue.