JLA #241 – “Sea Change” – Gerry Conway/George Tuska/Mike Machlan
This one starts in a tiny town in the Yukon (St. Jude), where a drunken reprobate named Slick Jake MacGregor is cursing the entire population for robbing him. He’s so wasted he wanders out into a blizzard and almost freezes to death, but he’s found by a stranger … a big stranger who can generate heat and has super-strength. (And judging by the glimpses we get of his armbands and boots, this is someone we’re quite familiar with.) At JLA headquarters in Detroit, Vixen tries to convince Aquaman he should go find his estranged wife (Mera) and patch things up with her. Aquaman is hesitant, since Mera’s the one who left him, but he realizes hr leaving has
affected him in ways he hadn’t anticipated, like his revamping of the League and the way he’s been using his telepathy on his teammates … he wonders if his entire being is out of balance without Mera. In the kitchen, some of the others are helping Dale Gunn make chili and Gypsy shows her cynical side when she wonders how Ralph and Sue can be so happy. That makes J’onn wonder about Gypsy’s home life, but as usual she won’t talk about her past. In St. Jude, the big stranger who ran into Jake seems to have taken on his personality—and his anger—and starts tearing up the town. Back in Detroit, Steel and Vibe almost comes to blows over Vibe’s sister Rosita, until 
Steel swallows his pride and asks Vibe’s permission to date her. That’s all Vibe really wanted, so he gives them his blessing. They’re summoned to headquarters, where Vibe debuts his new costume (which makes him look like a blind pimp) and they find out Aquaman has taken off without telling anyone where he went. Vixen has a pretty good idea, but she keeps it to herself just in case she’s wrong. J’onn tells them about the attack on St. Jude and identifies the attacker as Amazo. Amazo was imprisoned in Superman’s Fortress of Solitude but J’onn speculates that he must’ve escaped, wandered south, and run into someone who hated St. Jude and
assimilated their personality. The JLA head for the Yukon, but when they land, they find contradictory clues so J’onn splits the team to follow each trail. J’onn and Dale remain with the plane to coordinate, but they end up being attacked by Amazo (who doesn’t seem to recognize J’onn) and knocked out. Meanwhile, Aquaman has taken Vixen’s advice and is heading out to sea to find Mera, not knowing his teammates are in trouble.
Legion of Super-Heroes #13 – “If You Think Khunds Are Cuddly, You’ll Love the Lythyls” – Paul Levitz/Steve Lightle/Larry Mahlstedt
This one starts with a mob scene outside Legion headquarters, where dozens of hopefuls have shown up wanting to be considered in the Legion’s latest membership drive. Blok is dealing with them when he’s given a holo-message from Timber Wolf. We already know Timber Wolf and Karate Kid’s sensei have headed off-world to fulfill Karate Kid’s last request (which will release the billions of credits in Karate Kid’s will). Timber Wolf knows those credits could be used to help countless people, so he’s willing to honour Karate Kid’s final wish, even though it could prove dangerous. The task leads Timber Wolf and Sensei to Lythyl, a planet where
respect is based solely on physical prowess. Anyone traveling to Lythyl is treated like a slave until they prove themselves as fighters, which Timber Wolf and Sensei do shortly after disembarkation. Back at Legion headquarters, we see some Legionnaires relaxing, including Sun Boy and Star Boy playing three-dimensional Dungeons & Dragons. I’m not sure how much of a D&D fan Paul Levitz really was, as he has Sun Boy say “I’m taking too many hit points”, which makes no sense. Sun Boy ends up getting distracted when Shrinking Violet (who’s been watching the game) starts putting the moves on him. Blok shows Element lad the message from Timber Wolf which explains where he 
is and what he’s doing (without going into detail). Element Lad realizes he can’t interfere without voiding the terms of the will, but he can still help Timber Wolf and Sensei get off Lythyl alive once they’ve completed their mission, so he sends Mon-El, White Witch, and Invisible Kid to Lythyl. On Lythyl, Timber Wolf and Sensei are taken to meet the planet’s Judges (Steggus, Gorax, and Myg), who make them fight a dragon to test their prowess. Back on Earth, we see business mogul and all-around scumbag Leland McCauley receiving reports on various interests. The one that concerns him the most is that his cousin (R.J. Brande) has recently been meeting with Proteans, talking about independence for their system. Leland used to have a Protean as a “pet” and is now worried it might betray his secrets. On Lythyl, Timber Wolf and
Sensei vanquish the dragon (with brains more than brawn) and Myg takes charge of them, showing them round. Myg looks human but was apparently born and raised on Lythyl, and he seems much wiser than his youth would indicate. He offers to fight Sensei and gives him a pretty good run. They stop fighting but Timber Wolf and Sensei cold cock Myg so they can continue their mission. Sensei thinks Myg will do better away from the toxic environment of Lythyl, so he brings Myg’s unconscious body with them. Timber Wolf and Sensei fight there way to the innermost part of the sanctum, looking for the most sacred place on Lythyl … a patch of rock so hard that nothing can grow there. While Sensei holds off the hordes, Timber Wolf accomplishes his mission, as set out in Karate Kid’s will. Timber Wolf activates his emergency signal, hoping 
someone is close enough to hear it. Mon-El’s team have slipped unnoticed into orbit around Lythyl and White Witch uses her magic to get Timber Wolf, Sensei, and the unconscious Myg off the planet. As they head back to Earth, Timber Wolf explains Karate Kid’s last request. Apparently, karate Kid’s father (the Black Dragon) spent time on Lythyl and was turned evil there, so Karate Kid held a grudge against the place. He wanted Timber Wolf to fulfill a legend about Lythyl: the inhabitants pride themselves on being as hard as stone, like the sacred rock they worship, but legend said that if anything ever ground in that unyielding rock, Lythyl would turn soft and crumble … so Timber Wolf risked his life to plant a seed in the unyielding ground.
Tales of the Teen Titans #56 – “Fearsome Five Minus One” – Marv Wolfman/Chuck Patton/Mike DeCarlo
This one starts with Raven in between dimensions, trying to fight Trigon’s evil influence on her soul. Her empathic powers draw her back to Earth, to a place where a little girl (Karen) is suffering. The place is STAR Labs, where Karen is undergoing tests to monitor the progress of whatever debilitating illness she has. Coincidentally, STAR Labs is receiving another “patient”, but this one is highly radioactive so he’s kept comatose in a ed-lined box. Dr. Jenet Klyburn isn’t happy having someone so dangerous in the building, but STAR is the only place equipped to handle him. Unfortunately, someone wants this dangerous dude and a squad of
thugs in haz-mat suits invades the building, trying to grab the radioactive patient. Raven shows up and unleashes her powers against the invaders, but she goes too far and starts hurting innocent people too. She pulls back, realizing Trigon’s influence is getting to her, but before leaving she cures Karen (and a couple of other patients), reasoning that Trigon’s dark power might as well be put to a positive use. Raven vanishes and the intruders get away with the radioactive dude, leaving Klyburn to wonder why Raven is so violent. At the airport, Gar (Changeling) Logan meets Adeline Kane and her son, Joseph (Jericho) Wilson, who are back from Africa after being cleared by Interpol. 
Gar apologizes for suspecting Joe of being a traitor and Joe forgives him, accompanying Gar back to the other Titans. Downtown, Victor (Cyborg) Stone helps Sarah Simms with some handicapped kids and Sarah questions Victor’s decision to get rid of his cyborg parts and go back to being something more “human”. Victor says he’s tired of looking like a freak and wants to give the procedure a try, even though it could be dangerous. Meanwhile, Psimon, Mammoth, Gizmo, and Shimmer (of the Fearsome Five) bust into a prison to free a very special high-security prisoner. Nightwing, Wonder Girl, and Starfire show up to stop them, but the villains give them a good fight and Nightwing is injured. Starfire takes him to safety (which pisses him off) and the villains get away with their prize, a prisoner named Jinx. Wonder Girl and Starfire pursue, although they know they’re outnumbered.
At STAR Labs, Cyborg undergoes the procedure to make him fully human again, but there are complications during the operation. While Dr. Klyburn and her team fight to save him, Victor’s grandparents and Sarah are waiting outside to hear what’s going on. Wonder Girl and Starfire catch up to the Fearsome Five (or Four, I guess) and attack strongly, but Shimmer uses her powers to trap Wonder Girl inside a wall and give Starfire a faceful of poison gas. The villains leave with Jinx, celebrating the deaths of two of heir foes. Of course, we know Wonder Girl and Starfire aren’t really dead, but we’ll have to wait until next issue to find out how they survive.
New Teen Titans #11 – “Love Story Part 2” – Marv Wolfman/Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez/Romeo Tanghal
Last issue, Joe (Jericho) Wilson and Kole went to see Kole’s father and found out he’d been doing experiments on people, trying to create creatures that could survive an apocalypse (which is why he gave Kole her crystal-manipulating powers). Joe is having nightmares about the twisted creatures he saw at Dr. Weathers’ house and Kole tries to comfort him (offering to bang him again, but Joe’s still not into her). Joe’s memories of his own upbringing (with the Terminator as a father, an asshole older brother, and his mom Adeline forcing him to learn how to
fight) have been brought up by seeing how Kole’s father acts toward her. Out on Long Island, Gar Logan confronts his adoptive father (Steve Dayton), giving him shit for not telling him he’s dying. As usual, Dayton (who’s kinda drawn to look like Ted Koppel) is an asshole and Gar leaves. Downtown, Sarah Simms is still trying to contact Victor, hoping to tell him she’s moved on with another guy, but she keeps missing him. After Sarah leaves, Victor drops by and leaves some flowers, but some asshole steals the flowers to give to his own girlfriend, throwing away Victor’s note. Out at Weathers’ lab, he talks to his wife (who’s been mutated into an insectoid woman) about his experiments; it 
sounds like he’s trying to convince himself he’s doing the right thing by mutating people into weird animal forms. Apparently it works, because Weathers ends up being cool with what he’s done and his wife doesn’t seem too bothered by it either. Jericho and Kole find the Titans on the site of their headquarters (which are currently being reconstructed) and tell them what Kole’s father is doing. The Titans agree he has to be stopped and head upstate. When they reach Weathers’ lab, he sends out dozens of mutated creatures which all seem immune to the Titans’ attacks. When Nightwing is taken down, the other Titans surrender and are all put in a vat of chemicals designed to mutate
them. Kole tries to talk some sense into her father, but he’s too far gone to listen. Kole sees what her mother has become and recoils in horror, giving Jericho a chance to possess Kole’s mom. Kole busts the Titans out of the chemical bath and they start fighting the mutates again. This time, Weathers and all the mutates retreat behind a Promethium shield he designed to protect them from the apocalypse and Kole and Jericho are trapped on the wrong side of the shield. Weathers releases a gas designed to change everyone into an actual insect and even though Kole destroys the machine, the gas is already loose. Kole finally gets through to her mother, who tells Weathers they can’t force others to join their cause. He lets Kole and Jericho go and seals the 
Promethium shield again, but Kole destroying the machine caused an overload that threatens to blow he entire house to hell. Weathers is still convinced he’s doing the right thing, so the Titans evacuate just before the house blows up and watch as a horde of insects flies away from the rubble. Cyborg points out that insects could survive a nuclear war, so maybe Weathers was on to something. But Nightwing says that people should try to solve the world’s problems instead of running from them and that it isn’t just living that counts, it’s what you do with your life that matters.