Legion of Super-Heroes #28 – “The Lost Hero” – Paul Levitz/Greg LaRocque/Mike DeCarlo, Arne Starr
This one starts with a handful of Legionnaires (Chameleon Boy, Dawnstar, Star Boy, Invisible Kid, and Timber Wolf) on a mission to Xanthu (Star Boy’s home planet), where they’re helping repair the huge orbit-beacon that guides incoming ships to land on the planet. The beacon was damaged by a meteor strike, so the Legionnaires have to repair it and get it back into its proper orbit. Once they do that, they’re summoned to see the Tribune, the elected leader of Xanthu, who tells them the real reason he asked for their help—and Star Boy’s in particular—is that Atmos (Star Boy’s replacement as Xanthu’s champion) has gone missing and they hope the Legionnaires can find him.
Back at Legion headquarters on Earth, Brainiac 5 examines Dream Girl after her injuries fighting the Fatal Five and she flirts with him, which doesn’t amuse him in the least. Brainy is distracted by worries about his friend, Rond Vidar, who’s still comatose. On Xanthu, the Legionnaires check out Atmos’s place and set off a booby-trap that blows the whole place up. Dawnstar says she’ll try to track him down with her power. At Legion HQ, we get a quick scene of Tellus and Magnetic Kid training, trying to perfect their powers so they can be of more use 
to the team, and Polar Boy giving them some advice. On Xanthu, Dawnstar can sense that Atmos was in Xanthu Port recently, so they send Invisible Kid in to check things out. He finds some smugglers trying to steal an auto-navigation device that they plan to sell to the Khunds. After pounding the thieves, the Legionnaires learn that Atmos was hanging around the port, but disappeared. Meanwhile, the Xanthuan Senate is worried about their champion’s disappearance and the Tribune reassures them he has a plan to deal with it. On Earth, White Witch finds Dream Girl in Star Boy’s quarters, acting all sad
and weepy about something. She tells Witch about the fight she had with Star Boy before he left (over her dancing with some dude at a club) and White Witch says they’ll work things out. Dream Girl doesn’t seem to think that’s likely, possibly because she saw something in one of her prophetic dreams. On Xanthu, the Legionnaires figure out that Atmos left on a transport ship, most likely of his own free will. Dawnstar says she can track him more easily through space than on the planet. She picks up a faint trace, but loses it immediately. On Earth, the Science Police are looking at reports of missing heroes on a dozen 
planets, not just Xanthu, and Chief Zendak tells Shvaughn Erin to let the Legion know about it. On Xanthu, the Legionnaires are hanging out with Star Boy’s family when he’s summoned by the Tribune. The Tribune asks Star Boy to stay on Xanthu and be their champion again and he agrees, resigning his legion membership. His teammates are sunned, but Element Lad knows that Atmos’s disappearance is just the tip of the iceberg. He talks to Dream Girl, who knew all along that her boyfriend wouldn’t be returning … and that he wouldn’t be contacting her to work things out either.
New Teen Titans #25 – “Hell is the Hybrid Part 2” – Marv Wolfman/Eduardo Barreto/Romeo Tanghal
Last issue, the Titans fought Pteradon, a mutated human sent by the crazed Steve (Mento) Dayton. Changeling managed to capture Pteradon, but the Titans’ jet was thrown into the Hudson River. This issue opens with the Titans trying to get out of the wreckage underwater. With a little cooperation, and a lot of help from Aqualad, they get free of the wreck. Aqualad also gets some whales to bring the smashed plane to the surface, along with all of his friends. At Titans’ headquarters, Changeling is talking
to Pteradon, who tells him he and the other Hybrid members didn’t want to be turned into monstrosities, but weren’t given a choice. They also don’t want to attack the Titans, but they can’t fight against Mento and his powers. Speaking of Mento, he’s currently mutating another human into a monster, this time a sumo champion named Taro Raiden. He sends Gorgon and Harpi to get Pteradon back from the Titans. The rest of the Titans show up at their HQ and Pteradon tells them how Mento was crippled after helping the sorcerers fight evil (in a Swamp Thing comic), which also made him even crazier than usual. The 
Titans wonder if it’s possible to help Mento regain his mind without killing him. Harpi and Gorgon show up to free Pteradon and Harpi engages the Titans while Gorgon sneaks inside. Jericho figures it out and jumps Gorgon, who tells him Mento can monitor their every thought, every move, and if the doesn’t like what he sees, he can take over their bodies and force them to kill. Jericho gets knocked around and Gorgon’s power turns Flash to stone, but Changeling comes in and pounds Gorgon and Pteradon, capturing both of them, while Wonder Girl captures Harpi. Gorgon lets them know Flash will revert to human in a few hours and Pteradon decides to cooperate. But when he starts
telling them where to find Mento, his mind is taken over and he’s forced to bust loose. Mento does the same with the others and they attack the Titans. Mento loosens his control a bit and the Hybrid choose to stop fighting and escape, but Aqualad grabs on to Harpi and won’t let go, so she heads back to Mento’s hideout with him clinging to her, hoping Mento won’t just kill Aqualad on sight. Meanwhile, Mento has transformed the sumo into Behemoth, and has conditioned his mind to obey every command without hesitation. Behemoth demonstrates his loyalty by beating the shit out of Gorgon and Pteradon, as punishment for 
their rebellious thoughts. The Titans ask Adeline Kane (Jericho’s mother) for help tracking down Mento and her underworld contacts find him quickly. She sends a couple of men in a helicopter to check it out and Mento orders Harpi to show herself, hoping they’ll report back and lure the Titans to their doom. Harpi doesn’t like it, but has no choice. When the Titans get the report, they’re ready to go after Mento, which they know will be a hard fight … but Wonder Girl has a plan.