Firestorm #41 – “Storm Warning” – Gerry Conway/Rafael Kayanan/Ian Akin, Brian Garvey
This one starts with Lyla (the Monitor’s assistant) receiving power from him and turning into Harbinger, before being sent out to gather help to fight against the Anti-Monitor (which was happening concurrently in Crisis on Infinite Earths). Meanwhile, Firestorm is in Pittsburgh, getting ready to head for Vandemeer College where Professor Stein will be teaching and Ronnie Raymond will be a student. Lightning hits a building on campus and Firestorm saves the students, making Ronnie’s girlfriend (Doreen Day, who’s also attending Vandemeer) wonder why Firestorm seems to pop up wherever she goes. Harbinger shows up looking for Firestorm, but Ronnie and the Professor have already
split up so Ronnie can register for classes. Harbinger has Psycho Pirate with her and leaves him while she goes to find Firestorm. Once she’s gone, Psycho Pirate decides to take off. Ronnie and Doreen register and run into Cliff Carmichael, who’s still an insufferable dick. Carmichael introduces them to a huge guy named Hugo, who almost crushes Ronnie’s hand (inadvertently). Hugo actually seems like an okay guy, just not too bright. Professor Stein meets his TA (Stu Schwab), a fifteen year-old genius who’s already in grad school. He also meets Wendy Olsen, a brilliant physicist with cerebral palsy 
whose work Stein admires a lot. Stein catches a glimpse of Psycho Pirate outside the window and Psycho Pirate uses his emotion-manipulating powers against Stein, causing unreasoning terror. Psycho Pirate doesn’t want anyone to tell Harbinger where he is … apparently his emotion powers are getting to him, making him feel all the turmoil associated with the Crisis. Ronnie has finished registering when he sees Harbinger coming, so he runs outside, where Harbinger tells him he’s needed as Firestorm. Stein has freaked out, running away from Wendy and Stu (who assume he’s an asshole) and hiding in an equipment room. Ronnie triggers the change to Firestorm, but the terror in Stein’s mind transfers to the amalgamated hero and he freaks, attacking Harbinger out of fear. As Ronnie tries to calm the Professor,
Harbinger wonders why Firestorm has suddenly lost it. Psycho Pirate sees Firestorm and realizes he’s who Harbinger is looking for. He gets pissed off and uses his power to make Firestorm crazy with rage, which sends him after Harbinger again. Harbinger finally figures out Psycho Pirate is responsible for Firestorm’s mood swings and forces him to reverse the effects. She explains that Firestorm is needed in the upcoming Crisis and he agrees to go with her.
Green Lantern #194 – “5” – Steve Englehart/Joe Staton/Bruce Patterson
This one starts with Green Arrow and Black Canary helping people who have been affected by the weird weather caused by Crisis. John (Green Lantern) Stewart and Katma Tui soon show up to help, but none of them knows what the hell is going on. Harbinger shows up, saying she needs John’s help to stop the Crisis. At first, they resist her, but John finally decides that Harbinger isn’t a villain and chooses to go with her. Meanwhile, ex-Green Lantern Hal Jordan is wandering around feeling sorry for himself now that he and Carol Ferris have split up. He runs into Tom Kalmaku and his family and Tom tells him he’s developed a new
engine configuration for the space shuttle and NASA has approved it. Hal comes out of his depression and congratulates Tom on his success. Harbinger brings John to the Monitor’s satellite, where he’s startled to see a bunch of other heroes (and a few villains) hanging out. We don’t get the giant assembly of heroes that Perez drew in Crisis, just a relative handful: John, Earth-1’s Superman, Psycho Pirate, Dr. Polaris, Geo-Force, Cyborg, Obsidian, Solovar, Dawnstar, Blue Beetle, Psimon, and Firebrand (most of whom we’ve seen disappear from their own titles lately). The Anti-Monitor’s shadow demons attack and John helps organize the others to fight them. Back on Earth, Katma uses her ring to inform the Guardians about the Monitor 
wanting John’s help. That worries the Guardians (and that really worries Katma), so they tell her to stay on Earth and keep them informed. Katma tries to contact Dalor, the GL from the neighbouring space sector, but it’s already been wiped out by the anti-matter wave. Katma freaks and takes off. On the satellite, the shadow demons are defeated and the Monitor tells the heroes (and villains) about the anti-matter Crisis that threatens the entire multiverse. All of them agree to do what they can to stop it. On Oa, the Guardians are pondering what to do when the Anti-Monitor attacks, blasting them all. On Earth, Katma feels the feedback from the attack and worries when she can’t contact the Guardians. She finds Hal and tells him what’s happening, but he has no idea what to do. He and Katma finally make peace and agree to be
friends. Katma leaves and Hal decides to go to Abin Sur’s grave to reflect on everything. He’s startled to find Guy Gardner there, digging up the grave to look for Abin Sur’s ring. Guy is kinda out of it and he and Hal end up fighting, even after Hal tells him the ring has been passed on to someone else. A Guardian shows up and tells them they woke Guy from his coma because they knew they’d need help. The Guardian gives Guy a ring and takes him to Oa, leaving Hal pissed off because he thought he should be the one to help, since he has way more experience.
Warlord #99 – “Fire and Sword” – Cary Burkett/Andy Kubert/Pablo Marcos
This one starts with the remains of Travis Morgan’s army trekking through a swamp to stay ahead of Saber-tooth’s army. Morgan and Machiste are the advance scouts and they run into a four-headed monster that Morgan kills. Once they finally make camp, Morgan tells the others he’s done risking their lives, especially since he now knows who’s behind the New Atlanteans … Cykroth, the Wizard-King. Morgan says he’ll handle Cykroth on his own, but Krystovar and Jennifer are ready to help him … whether he wants them to or not. Meanwhile, Graemore has recovered from his wounds enough to put the moves on Tara, but she tells him she’s not in love him him and her heart still belongs to
Morgan. In Cykroth’s citadel, he endows the head of the Vashek Assassins with some of his power, causing the assassin to grow to giant size. After providing a dragon as a mount, Cykroth sends the Vashek to kill Morgan. Meanwhile, Krystovar is going through the old Atlantean scrolls for information that might help Morgan, and Jenifer is using her magic to scry for Cykroth. Morgan is attacked by the dragon-riding Vashek and realizes he might be in trouble. Cykroth senses Jennifer’s magical probe and sends psychic feedback that breaks her spell. Despite the pain, Jennifer is happy because now she’s learned something of Cykroth’s power. Morgan manages to sucker the giant Vashek 
into a trap, separating him from his mount. The Vashek is still a formidable opponent, but Morgan lures him into being blasted by his own dragon. Once the Vashek is turned to ashes, the dragon disappears too. When Morgan returns to camp, Krystovar tells him he’s discovered a secret entrance into New Atlantis, and Jennifer informs him that Cykroth’s power is linked to his New Atlantean worshipers … in a manner of speaking, Cykroth is New Atlantis. That gives Morgan an idea on how to defeat Cykroth and the New Atlanteans … which we’ll see next issue, the double-sized #100. Don’t miss it!