Legion of Super-Heroes #24 – “Suspicion” – Paul Levitz/Greg LaRocque/Larry Mahlstedt
The main story in this issue is about the Legionnaires’ feelings about Sensor Girl and her identity. It opens with a number of them talking about her before realizing her powers might let her listen in on their conversation. (And as we see, that’s exactly what she is doing.) Out near Montauk, Wildfire, Polar Boy, and Colossal Boy are heading to the Legion Academy to investigate the disappearance of a student named Mentalla. (When they’re first discussing it, Wildfire says Sensor Girl disappeared, but I’m assuming that’s a mistake.) On Rimbor, we see that Javors (the guy who was involved with Persuader) has turned up dead. Back at Legion HQ, the Sensor Girl debate goes on, with Brainiac 5 and Chameleon Boy almost getting in a fight over it. (Brainy still
thinks Sensor Girl is Supergirl and might need their help.) Element Lad is tired of all the arguments over Sensor Girl and decides to go straight to the source. In a Metropolis nightclub, Quislet goes out for some fun and runs into Dream Girl, who’s dancing very intimately with some dude who’s not Star Boy. On Starshire, Emerald Empress kills a Khundish minion for failing to locate Validus and tells Persuader they’ll have to form a new Fatal Five, since three of the old members are missing. At Legion HQ, more members are arguing over Sensor Girl and Mon-El is worried that the new cure Brainy devised for his 
lead poisoning might eventually wear off just like the old serum did. In Nullport, an energy-wielding thief named Flare steals the fastest ship in port, but during her getaway she’s contacted by Emerald Empress, who offers her membership in the Fatal Five. At Legion HQ, Element Lad tells Sensor Girl he doesn’t care who she really is and trusts her completely, since Saturn Girl vouched for her. He points out the ongoing debate around her is dividing the team and asks if she might consider revealing who she is to settle things down. Sensor Girl says she can’t reveal her true identity and quits the team, leaving Element
Lad to wonder if he made a big mistake; Emerald Empress offered Sensor Girl a place in the Fatal Five a couple issues ago and Element Lad hopes he hasn’t pushed her into accepting. As Sensor Girl is flying away, Ultra Boy uses his penetra-vision to look through her mask, but he’s shocked to see that her costume is empty … there’s nobody inside it.
New Teen Titans #22 – “Dick’s Story” – Marv Wolfman/Eduardo Barreto/Romeo Tanghal
This issue actually contains three stories (vaguely tied together by a framing device with Jericho and his mom), updating us on what’s going on with the now-separated Titans. The first story deals with Dick (Nightwing) Grayson’s unsuccessful infiltration of the Church of Blood in Zandia. Dick is taken to see Raven, who’s changed a lot since he last saw her. She now wears white and seems to be a believer in Brother Blood, talking like she’s brainwashed. Raven offers to remove
Dick’s pain so he can see the truth, but Raven’s mother Arella warns him not to trust her and he tries to escape. After a quick beat down by the guards, Raven uses her empathic powers in concert with a freaky-looking dude called the Confessor, who sends mechanical probes into Dick’s brain to root out his negative emotions (most of which have to do with Starfire). Raven purges the negative feelings, leaving Dick a fully committed believer in Brother Blood, much to Arella’s horror.
“Sisters” – Marv Wolfman/Rick Leonardi/Romeo Tanghal
This story deals with Starfire and Blackfire on Tamaran. Despite having wrested the throne from her father by force (and trying to blow him up afterwards), Blackfire is actually trying to do what’s best for her people, setting up irrigation projects to stave off famine and rushing medical supplies to areas that need it. She’s even willing to ally with the Omega Men to insure stability on Tamaran. When she finds out her family is still alive, she gets pissed off and blows up an empty city, telling them the next one will be occupied if they don’t surrender right away. 
Starfire leads the resistance fighters loyal to her father (who refuses to accompany them) in an invasion of Tamaran, taking out the communications network first. Blackfire wonders why Starfire is trying to ruin everything she’s done, while Starfire believes her sister is nothing but a bloodthirsty warlord; they each vow to restore Tamaran to the paradise it should, neither one realizing they’re not as different as they believe.
“Friends and Foes” – Marv Wolfman/Tom Mandrake
This story is about Gar (Changeling) Logan and Vic (Cyborg) Stone lamenting the break-up of the Titans. Vic is still recovering from his injuries last issue, so he’s not in the best shape. Unfortunately, Steve (Mento) Dayton decides to commandeer Vic’s body to kill Gar. Dayton is
actually on Mount Rushmore waiting for John Constantine, who did something to Dayton during the Crisis that expanded his mental powers, allowing him to interact with the atomic structures of matter itself. But Dayton’s even crazier than he was before and tries to kill Gar (his adopted son) using Vic’s metal form as his proxy. Vic’s body can’t take what Dayton’s doing to it and starts to break down, so Dayton tries to destroy the new Titans’ Tower by starting their jet inside the hangar. Vic begs Gar to kill him to save his own life, but Gar manages to stop him before he blows up the Tower. Dayton leaves Vic’s body, but promises his new group (the Hybrid) will take care of Gar and all his friends soon.
All-Star Squadron #59 – “Out of the Ashes, Mekanique” – Roy Thomas/Arvell Jones/Vince Colletta, Tony DeZuniga
This issue starts with Aquaman showing up at All-Star Squadron headquarters and almost getting jumped by a couple dozen members. Avoiding the usual “introduction fight”, Aquaman attends his first All-Star meeting. They discuss the still-missing JSA members before contacting Robotman in his lab in Queens. Last issue, Robotman took custody of the strange robot Mekanique—against the better judgement of some All-Stars—to prevent them from deactivating her. Robotman feels that if the All-Stars look at Mekanique as nothing more than a machine, then maybe they see him that way too. Conversely, if they accept him as a sentient
being, they should accept her as well; of course, he’s not allowing for the fact that they know nothing about her and that she attacked several members last issue. When the All-Stars notice that Robotman (with the help of his friend Chuck Grayson) has repaired Mekanique, they decide she should be brought into custody until they know more about her. After taking a vote, they ask Robotman to surrender Mekanique and he refuses. So Green Lantern, Air Wave, Firebrand, and Shining Knight volunteer to go to the lab. They arrive in time to find Robotman pulling some Bride of Frankenstein shit, trying to use an electrical storm to revive Mekanique. After an argument, Air Wave says the machine 
Robotman’s using is probably going to explode, but when GL tries to shut it down, Robotman decks him. A fight starts, with Robotman trying to protect his machine (and Mekanique) and the others trying to shut it off before it blows. The machine does explode, but GL revives in time to shield everyone. Robotman is half-crazed, so Firebrand fuses his feet together, but she gets blasted by a fully-revived Mekanique, who swears to kill anyone who comes near Robotman. There’s another back-up story (by Thomas/Harris/Gustovich) about Spectre landing on an alternate Pluto and forcing two warring races to make peace.
Noticeable Things:
- The whole thing with Aquaman coming to see the All-Stars for the first time is weird. There’s debate among fans on whether there was an Earth-2 Aquaman or not; this seems to indicate there was, but if that’s true, the Crisis should’ve removed him from continuity. Then again, we see the Earth-2 Superman, Batman, Robin, Green Arrow, and Speedy at the meeting and all of them should be retconned away by the Crisis, so maybe Roy’s still trying to figure things out at this point. (Or maybe he just said to hell with it and put in whoever he wanted.)
Infinity Inc. #28 – “Mr. Bones Gonna Rise Again” – Roy and Dann Thomas/Todd McFarlane/Tony DeZuniga
This one starts right after last issue, with the Infinitors trying to figure out what to do with their captive, Mr. Bones. Wildcat is afraid Bones will tell the others about her connection to Carcharo and the rest of Helix, but he hasn’t said anything yet. Pat Dugan shows up to fix the plane that got trashed by the giant sharks a couple issues back. Bones’s hands are shackled, but he manages to get his teeth on Star-Spangled Kid’s arm, threatening to make contact if he’s not released. (If any part of Bones’s skeleton touches someone, they die from cyanide poisoning.) Fury lets him loose and he takes off, with the Infinitors chasing him through the Stellar Studios
backlot. Bones steals Hector Hall’s car, but runs into Jade and Obsidian at the studio gate, causing a big wreck. When Jade is injured, Obsidian uses his power on Bones, showing him his inner being. That, combined with a mental blast from Brainwave Jr., knocks Bones out. The Infinitors wonder where the rest of Helix might be and ask Wildcat, but she wants to be made a full member of the team before answering. That pisses them off a bit and they vote against her (even Nuklon, who still has a thing for her), so she leaves to find Helix on her own. Rick (Hourman) Tyler is hanging out with Beth (Dr. Midnight) Chapel, who’s trying to warn him about the side-effects of Miraclo. When rick checks in with Star-Spangled Kid, he learns that he’s not getting voted in as 
a new member either. After taking Mr. Bones to a specially-prepared cell in the local jailhouse, Infinity Inc. Use a new computer to predict Helix’s next move. Unfortunately for them, Kritter has tapped into their computer, so Helix knows exactly what they’re doing. But Helix has problems of their own, with Penny Dreadful and Carcharo both wanting to lead the team in Bones’s absence. Penny starts a fight and Carcharo looks like he might be in trouble, until Baby Boom (who’s had some kind of punk Madonna makeover) sides with him. In the local prison, someone shows up to bust Mr. Bones out but we don’t see who it is. Whoever it is, even Bones is pretty surprised to see them.
Noticeable Things:
- I have to say, Todd McFarlane’s art is really good here; there are hints
of the stylized approach he’d take later, but none of the weird distortion that would eventually take over, and I kinda like all the framing stuff that he does to fill up space on the pages.
