Flash #343 – “Revenge and Revelations” – Cary Bates/Carmine Infantino/Frank McLaughlin
Last issue, Flash received a file from a private detective he hired to find out why his lawyer (Cecile Horton) hates his guts. After reading the file, Flash realizes Cecile blames him for her father’s death and is only acting as his defense lawyer out of professional duty (since she took over his case from her law partner after he was injured). In the far future, we see someone (although it’s impossible to tell who) escaping from a maximum security prison by absorbing energy from an ion storm outside. I’m not sure if we’re supposed to think this is Professor Zoom. Somehow still alive; it could very well be Abra Kadabra, since he’s
also from the future. Back in the present, Flash’s trial is adjourned for the day and he heads to police headquarters to talk to Captain Frye. Frye confirms that Cecile’s father was a cop who was killed by Goldface when Flash fought him a couple years ago (in issue 316). At Cecile’s office, her assistant points out that one of the jurors, Nathan Newbury, seems a bit creepy, always staring at them with a weird smile. Cecile is more interested in why Barry Allen’s parents are attending the trial so diligently, and why they seem so invested in Flash’s acquittal. When Cecile leaves her office, Flash grabs her at super-speed and takes her out to the cemetery where her father is buried. Cecile 
gets mad and tells flash he’s just as responsible for her father’s death as Goldface. Turns out that random beat cop that Goldface killed as a way to keep Flash from appearing in public was Cecile’s father and the only thing she has left of his is the gold pocket watch she carries everywhere. Cecile recounts Goldface’s announcement that he’d given Flash a previous warning and the cop’s death was because Flash ignored it. Flash tells Cecile Goldface was lying and he first heard Goldface’s threat the same time everyone else did … after her father was already dead. Cecile assumes he’s lying and Flash takes off. Later that night, Cecile dreams about Flash and Goldface and wakes up wondering if Flash might be telling the truth. She heads out to the
State Prison to ask Goldface what really happened, but he tells her he did warn Flash ahead of time. Cecile’s bad day keeps getting worse as Goldface’s men pick that exact time to break him out of prison with a golden energy beam. When Goldface tries to grab Cecile’s watch, she won’t let it go and gets pulled up into the helicopter with him. But Flash found out from her assistant where Cecile went and he launches himself onto the chopper at super-speed. Goldface tosses Cecile out the door, telling her he lied and Flash really didn’t have any advanced warning that he was going to kill someone. Flash busts into the chopper, pounding Goldface and his men and 
destroying the rotors so the chopper lands in the lake. Flash jumps out of the chopper, catches Cecile in mid-air, and vibrates them to a safe (if rather soggy) landing in the lake. Cecile apologizes for hating Flash for so long and he says he won’t hold it against her … especially if she gets him acquitted of murder. The next day, the prosecutor (Slater) brings in a big mystery witness to testify against Flash. Cecile had no warning about the witness (which I think is against the rules) and for good reason … it turns out to be Kid Flash! We’ll see how much damage he does to Flash’s case next issue.
Green Lantern #186 – “In Brightest Night …” – Len Wein/Dave Gibbons
Last issue, Rich Davis knocked out Hal Jordan and took his place for the test flight of Ferris Aircraft’s new solar jet. The jet performed well, but before he could land, Davis ran into a beam of darkness projected from an artificial satellite in the sky. Both Davis and the jet were instantly transported aboard the satellite, where Davis found out his abductor is Eclipso. As Eclipso imprisons Davis in a black light chamber, the ground crew freaks out about the jet disappearing. John Stewart slips away to change to Green Lantern and Bruce Gordon speculates that Eclipso must be behind the plane’s theft. Hal reminds him that Eclipso was destroyed (in issue 139), but Gordon says Eclipso represents pure evil, which can never really die. The satellite comes in low, sweeping the compound with a black
beam. Hal tries to push Gordon out of its path, but the beam lifts Gordon up toward the satellite. Green Lantern shows up and goes after the satellite, but his beams can’t penetrate its hull. Eclipso fires another black beam at the crowd below, forcing GL to protect them and take them to safety before resuming the fight. GL gets some unexpected help, as Predator leaps up out of nowhere and clamps onto the satellite, busting through the hull with his weapons. On the satellite, Eclipso tells Gordon (his other half) how he drifted in space until using his black diamond to return to the satellite. Eclipso wants to separate himself from Gordon permanently, using the components in the 
solar jet. To keep Eclipso from killing Davis, Gordon agrees to extract the components, but it’s a ruse to let him set off a powerful burst of light, disorienting Eclipso. Davis gets into the jet and takes off as Gordon struggles with Eclipso, knowing Eclipso can’t kill him without ending his own existence. Eclipso tries to stop Davis from leaving, but Predator shows up and they start fighting. Just as Eclipso is about to kill Predator, Green Lantern comes in to save him. Outside, Davis contacts Hal and Carol, who are following the satellite across the desert in a jeep. Hal tells Davis to land the jet in the desert and Davis does it, but the stress is too much for his bad heart and Hal finds him dead in the cockpit. On the satellite, Predator gets pissed off that GL is horning in on his fight, but GL tosses Predator and Gordon off the satellite
(with a green energy parachute) so he can confront Eclipso alone. During the fight, a deflected beam blows up the satellite’s energy regulator, causing the tractor beam to turn into a beam of destructive energy, sweeping across the ground below. Predator jumps off the green parachute and glides away, telling Gordon to give his regards to Carol. Eclipso realizes he needs GL to carry him safely to the ground before the satellite blows up, so he pushes GL out the door and they plummet earthward. GL cushions their fall, but Eclipso starts blasting him with his black energy beam. GL’s ring absorbs most of the black energy and Eclipso is so caught up in killing GL he doesn’t notice the satellite’s destructive beam getting closer. GL tries to warn him, but the 
beam obliterates Eclipso and GL conjures up a gigantic baseball bat with his ring, knocking the satellite into outer space just before it explodes. Back at Ferris, the company’s mysterious backer (Smith) talks shit about Davis until Hal gets mad and tells him Davis was a hero. I think maybe we’re supposed to believe Smith is the Predator, which would’ve been a bit obvious but infinitely better than the Predator’s actual identity. Bruce Gordon wonders again if pure evil like Eclipso can ever be killed. Later, Carol finds a rose in her office and a note from a secret admirer (which looks like it’s signed with a Punisher-style skull … maybe Frank Castle is wooing her).
Warlord #91 – “Reminiscing” – Cary Burkett/Dan Jurgens/Dan Adkins
As the title indicates, this is an issue where the characters remember various incidents in their lives, most of which aren’t all that pleasant. The story starts with Travis Morgan, Tara, Shakira, and Scarheart looking for a quick route to the Valley of the Lion. They’re anticipating needing more room to settle the freed slaves Captain Hawk is supposed to deliver. They find a decent road with a rope bridge across a canyon, but the bridge has been claimed by a big asshole who challenges everyone who comes by … and eats the losers. Morgan kills him while
remembering fighting another bully, back when he was a kid. Beating that bully got the attention of a girl named Rachel, who would eventually become Morgan’s wife. In the Valley of the Lion, Jennifer Morgan is studying the gem she brought back from the cave last issue, when Ashir comes to show her the set-up for the freed slaves. Jennifer remarks that her father will love it since it gives him a chance to play Robin Hood. The reference is lost on Ashir, but Jennifer starts remembering her childhood, when Morgan used to read her all sorts of adventure stories. Jennifer loved the stories, but when her 
mother died in a car crash and her father was sent to Vietnam (where he was supposedly killed), she realized real-life adventures aren’t like in the stories. In Bakwele, some drunk who’s been boasting about knowing the Warlord is tracked down by Vashek assassins, who learn that Morgan is involved with Captain Hawk. Meanwhile, we see the Monitor and Lyla in their satellite, reviewing Morgan’s history and we get another look at his origin story. In the camp, Morgan and company finally arrive and he and Jennifer are very glad to be reunited. Tinder is hanging around and catches sight of Tara wearing Morgan’s watch as an armband. Tara notices his interest and thinks back to
how she met Morgan and all the crap they’ve gone through since then, including losing their son Joshua, to whom she’d given the watch when he was a baby. Of course, Tara doesn’t know that Tinder really is Joshua and that he was wearing the watch not that long ago, which is why he’s so fascinated by it. Tinder does seem to know what the watch implies, as he walks away crying after seeing Tara wearing it.