Wonder Woman #1 – “The Princess and the Power” – Greg Potter/George Perez/Bruce Patterson
This is the brand-new Wonder Woman series, rebooting the character after she was retconned out of existence by the Crisis. This series has a pretty good reputation (and leans heavily into Greek myth, which I like), so I’m looking forward to reading it for thee first time. The story starts in the days of cavemen, when a male kills a female out of anger and her spirit goes … elsewhere. The story shifts to Mount Olympus,
home of the Greek gods, where they’re arguing over the fate of mankind. Ares wants to subjugate humans and compel their worship, but Artemis, Athena, Apollo, and Hermes think hat might wipe out humans’ faith in the gods, which would lead to their downfall. Artemis proposes creating a new race of female warriors who would serve as an example to humanity by using love and compassion to live in harmony. Naturally, Ares doesn’t like that and Zeus refuses to take sides and vanishes. Ares leaves too (hinting that he might have designs on Zeus’s throne), so the other gods decide to go ahead with their plans without Zeus’s blessing (or knowledge). They go to Hades’ realm to 
meet with Hestia, Demeter, and Aphrodite. They venture deep into the underworld, to a maelstrom of souls belonging to women who have been killed by men over the millennia and are waiting to be reborn. They infuse the spirits with life and create the race of Amazons, although there’s one spirit that remains behind in the cavern. The goddesses bless the Amazons with gifts of the spirit and appoint Hippolyte (who’s a brunette in this incarnation) and her sister Antiope to rule them, giving them special girdles as marks of leadership. Naturally, Ares doesn’t like that, so he spreads rumours and tarnishes the Amazons’ reputation, making them outcasts to be feared by mortals. He also manipulates Hercules into attacking the Amazons while
trying to retrieve Hippolyte’s girdle (as one of his famed Twelve Labours). Hercules is a real asshole here, pretending to accept Hippolyte’s friendship before drugging and raping her, and stealing the girdle. It’s said that King Eurystheus has driven Hercules mad (which isn’t part of the original myth), but I’m not sure if that’s meant to excuse his behaviour or not. Hippolyte is filled with a lust for revenge, but Athena appears and tells her to rededicate her life to peace and love and she’ and her sister Amazons will be freed. Hippolyte agrees, but when she frees the Amazons they go nuts, slaughtering men like sheep, led by Antiope. Hippolyte and Antiope agree to disagree on the Amazon 
philosophy and they part ways, each taking some of the Amazons with them. The goddesses are disappointed that the Amazons lost their way and tell Hippolyte that her faction will be exiled to an island that no one else can find (Themiscyra) where they’ll be left alone to develop into the peaceful society they were meant to be. As penance, they’ll have to guard an underground portal to keep some great evil from the world. Over the next 3000 years, the Amazons transform Themiscyra and develop into a great society, but they eventually lose he ability to speak directly to the gods … except for their Oracle, Menalippe. In modern times, Hippolyte becomes restless and asks Menalippe what’s wrong with her. The Oracle says that Hippolyte’s original
body was pregnant when she was killed and her restlessness is because she’s ready to have the child she’s been denied for so long. Hippolyte goes to the shore and fashions a baby out of clay, which is infused with the remaining spirit from the underworld cavern. The gods give the baby (named Diana) spiritual gifts and she grows up to be the best warrior among the Amazons (and the most beautiful). When Diana is around twenty, Menalippe has a vision of Ares threatening the entire world with some new weapon. Hippolyte decides to send someone to Man’s World to figure out the threat and stop it if possible. She calls a tournament to decide who the Amazon champion will be, but 
forbids Diana to enter, no wanting to risk her daughter. Diana gets a little help from Athena and enters the contest in disguise, outdoing all the other Amazons and becoming champion. After being awarded the special silver bracelets, she reveals her identity. Hippolyte is upset, but can’t go against the will of Athena. Diana has one final test to pass, deflecting bullets from a pistol the Amazons somehow acquired. She plays “bullets and bracelets” for the first time and passes the test, much to Hippolyte’s relief. Hippolyte declares Diana the champion of the Amazons and gives her a new outfit in preparation for her sojourn to the outside world.
Firestorm #56 – “Firestorm No More” – John Ostrander/Joe Brozowski/Steve Mitchell
Last issue, a nutcase named Sawyer was swayed by the anti-hero rhetoric of G. Gordon Godfrey (who’s really working for Darkseid trying to discredit superheroes) and led a book burning at Vandemeer University. Ronnie Raymond wanted to change to Firestorm and stop him, but the president has outlawed superheroes so Professor Stein refused to agree to the merger. Ronnie forced the merger but Stein was fighting to break it and that screwed up Firestorm’s concentration so much that he ended up in the bonfire. As Firestorm
struggles to get his bearings, Hawk (of Hawk and Dove) shows up and starts pounding Sawyer’s followers, spouting off about commies and pinkos as usual. That gives Firestorm time to recover and put out the flames, but Hawk is forced to retreat when more anti-hero students show up. Firestorm takes off too and Stein finally manages to break the connection, splitting back into their two selves. Stein is so pissed off at what Ronnie did, he threatens to kill him if he ever tries to form Firestorm again. Hawk raids the ROTC building for guns and runs into the local cadets, who are just as “law and order” as 
he is. Hawk’s glad to have the help, but shows how whacked he is when he compares the situation to Red Dawn. Ronnie talks to his stepmom Felicity, who tells him his forced joining with Stein was a violation and he needs to apologize. (She likens it to rape, which I think is a bit of a stretch, but Ronnie definitely wasn’t worried about consent.) We see Stein in his office, loading a gun. I think a lot of this has to do with Stein finding out he has an inoperable brain tumor; that would explain his despair and why he’s acting so weird. Sawyer talks to Godfrey, who urges him to go after the main city library and burn all
their hero-related books. Hawk taps the phone, so he knows where Sawyer and his friends will strike next. Ronnie goes to see Stein and apologizes, noticing Stein is slurring his words and wondering if he’s drunk. When they hear about the stand-off at the library between Sawyer’s group and Hawk (plus the ROTC guys), they realize they have to intervene to keep people from being killed. Stein says he’ll shut himself off while they’re merged, so Ronnie will basically be alone. They merge into Firestorm and reach the library just as all hell is about to break loose. He transmutes the bullets into flowers and the guns 
into pies, which sets off a huge pie fight, ending with everyone laughing their asses off and Sawyer being arrested. Hawk takes off, but he’s mad that Firestorm made him look stupid. Later, Ronnie and Stein end up laughing over the pie thing too and Stein says he can forgive Ronnie for the forced merger, but still can’t trust him all the way. They make plans to work out an alert system and figure out who should initiate the merger (Ronnie’s fine with letting Stein do it most of the time), and they agree they should probably hang out more and actually get to know each other.
Vigilante #38 – “The Face of Vengeance” – Paul Kupperberg/Tod Smith/Rick Magyar
Last issue, Valentina Vostok arranged for Vigilante and Lieutenant Stein (the only back-up Vigilante would trust) to board a submarine docked at the harbour. Jhamed, the terrorist leader from the plane hijacking is on the sub, as is Peacemaker, the government enforcer who hears the voices of the people he’s killed. Peacemaker wants to kill Jhamed and Vigilante wants to kill Peacemaker for gunning down Dave Winston (the previous Vigilante). After a tense stand-off, Stein reminds everyone that the sub is crawling with terrorists and suggests they
work together if they want to get out alive. Meanwhile, Jhamed is hiding in the bowels of the sub, but he’s not as dedicated to the cause as his comrades and finds himself wanting to live instead of becoming a martyr. Vostok has her men securing the deck and wants to wait until they get inside to go after the terrorists, but Vigilante and Peacemaker have other ideas. They go on the offensive, wasting a bunch of terrorists, followed by Stein and Vostok. Outside, a reporter named Leslie Crawford and her cameraman sneak onto the docks hoping for an exclusive. Inside, Vigilante and Peacemaker keep killing terrorists 
and Vigilante’s actually starting to enjoy it. Jhamed hears them getting closer and kills a couple of his comrades so he can escape. At Bellevue Hospital, Dr. Knopf comes to visit his patient, Marcia King, who’s been comatose since she saw Adrian Chase become Vigilante again a couple issues back. On the sub, Vigilante and Peacemaker smash through the last resistance and realize Jhamed is gone, so they decide to go after him. Jhamed has made it to the docks, but Leslie and her cameraman spot him and follow as he slips past the cops and heads for a safehouse. Vigilante and Peacemaker catch up with him and argue over who gets to kill him. Vigilante kills Jhamed and Peacemaker freaks out and attacks him. They start fighting, unaware that the brawl is
going out on live TV. Peacemaker ends up unmasking Vigilante, but that doesn’t stop him from fighting. The fight does end when Vostok’s men show up trying to waste both of them. The two vigilantes take off, promising each other a rematch. Meanwhile, some racist assholes in a local bar have been watching everything and are “inspired” to loot a gun store and go on a rampage against foreigners. As things wind down, Chase realizes his civilian identity is gone for good, but isn’t all that worried about it, figuring he can give his career as Vigilante all his attention now.
Warlord #114 – “When a Legend Dies” – Michael Fleisher/Ron Randall
This one starts with Travis Morgan leading some peasants in an uprising against a tyrant. But Morgan hangs back right before the attack and the peasants run straight into an ambush and are all cut down or captured. The warlord pays Morgan off and he leaves. If you’re thinking this can’t be the real Morgan, you’re right; it’s DeSaad, acting under orders from Darkseid. Apparently, Darkseid’s campaign to discredit heroes isn’t limited to the outside world. The real Travis Morgan (along with Shakira and Mariah) is still way on the shore of the Greenfire Sea, in the citadel of Hagar-Zinn, the wizard Morgan hopes can stop the
aging curse on his daughter Jennifer. But Hagar-Zinn is missing and there are signs of a fight. Morgan finds a scroll and figures it’s a clue from the wizard, allowing them to find him. When they inscribe a magic circle and cast the incantation on the scroll, they’re pulled into a netherworld. Hagar-Zinn is there, dangling over a pit of eldritch mist that will kill anyone who falls in, allowing their souls to be consumed by demons who will then be free to invade Skartaris. Back near Shamballah, the aging plague has begun to 
spread out from where it first affected Jennifer, and Tara rides out to see its effect on a wandering dinosaur. In the netherworld, Morgan and company start wasting the main demon’s minions and flee on winged lizards. Hagar-Zinn tells them they have to make it to the portal if they want to return to Skartaris. A continent away, DeSaad is attacked by a Vashek assassin who mistakes him for the real Morgan. The assassin wants Morgan dead because he killed her beloved during the war against Cykroth. DeSaad figures he can use her against the real Morgan. In the outside world, CIA agent Redmond tortures Andrews until he tells him about Morgan and how to find Skartaris. In the
netherworld, Morgan and friends find the portal, but Hagar-Zinn says they have to seal it behind them to keep the demon’s forces from following them through. Morgan is ready to act as rear guard, but Hagar-Zinn forces him and the others through the portal before transforming himself into pure magical energy to close the portal forever. Morgan, Shakira, and Mariah make it back but they’re not too thrilled, since Hagar-Zinn was their last hope for curing Jennifer.