Wonder Woman #2 – “A Fire in the Sky” – Greg Potter/George Perez/Bruce Patterson
This one starts with Colonel Steve Trevor (a war hero who’s managed to piss off some of his superiors because he testified about their warmongering attitudes) is called in to see General Kohler, who’s not a fan. Kohler orders Steve to fly out in a storm to coordinates in the middle of the ocean, taking Captain Slade with him. Steve wonders about the mission, but can’t disobey orders, so he and Slade take off. After they leave, we see Kohler is acting under the influence of Ares. On Themiscyra (or Paradise Island, if you prefer) Diana is waiting to receive a
special weapon that will help her fight Ares. She doesn’t know exactly what her mission is yet, only that it involves stopping Ares from destroying the world and the Amazons along with it. In Olympus, the gods watch Hephaestus forge Diana’s weapon, which turns out to be a golden lasso. Artemis sends the lasso to Diana on Themiscyra and the Amazons are shocked when Hermes appears. Hermes tells Diana he can only take her to the first clue she needs for her mission and they vanish. Steve and Slade run into the perpetual storm around Themiscyra and all their instruments go crazy, but Steve 
manages to bring them through in one piece. Hermes takes Diana to the ruins of the Areopagus, Ares stronghold, where she meets a woman named Harmonia. Harmonia is bitter because she’s the daughter of Aphrodite (which means she has the potential for great beauty) and Ares (which means that beauty is forever denied to her). She gives Diana one half of a talisman she says will help her find Ares. Hermes warns Diana of an attack on Themiscyra and says they have to go back. The attack is Steve and Slade, who turns into a twisted demon and tries to kill Steve, while dropping a nuke on Themiscyra. Diana shows up in time to stop the nuke and follows the plane as it crashes
into the sea. Slade (or whatever he turned into) dissolves and the sea-goddess Themis warns Diana not to touch him. She also tells Diana not to assume Steve is evil just because he was on the plane, so Diana gets him out of the wreck and takes him to the surface. In Washington, General Hillary is pissed off about Steve being shanghaied for a secret mission and demands to see Kohler (along with Etta Candy, who told Hillary about Steve’s absence). But when they enter Kohler’s office, they find the place trashed and only a 
twisted remnant of what was once Kohler remains. On Themiscyra, the guard captain (Phillipus) wants to kill Steve (she hates all men because they’ve traditionally attacked the Amazons), but Hippolyte points out that murdering him would make them like the men they hate. Diana mentions Themis and says the gods must want Steve to live, a supposition that’s confirmed when Athena shows up. Athena tells Diana she has to take Steve home and find the other half of the talisman that will help her defeat Ares. Hermes leads Diana (who’s carrying Steve) through the storms around Themiscyra and Hippolyte wonders if she’ll ever see her daughter again. In Washington, Etta
and Hillary question Steve’s friend Colonel Michaels and they speculate on where Steve could be and whether he was involved in Kohler’s death. We see two gods (Phobos and Deimos, who are Ares children in classical myth) watching them, gloating over how they used Kohler and Slade, and anticipating how they’re going to take care of Diana next. So far I’m liking this new version of Wonder Woman; Perez’s art is great as always and I like the way they lean into the Greek myth, even if it deviates from classical sources at times.
Firestorm #57 – “Due Monday” – Barbara Randall/Jose Delbo/Steve Mitchell
This is obviously a filler story about Ronnie Raymond trying to write a term paper. His dorm neighbour is pounding the stereo and when Ronnie goes over to get him to turn it off, the guy takes off (saying he’s late for something), leaving the stereo on full blast. Ronnie follows him and finds some LARPers outside before running into a cute girl (she looks a bit like Deb Whitman from the old Spider-Man comics) who’s writing something in a notebook. Ronnie tracks his dorm-mate to the Student Hall, where he’s playing a Firestorm-based
video game with a bunch of other students. Before Ronnie can talk to the guy about his music, another girl comes in to warn them about some nut with a gun. The gunman busts in and grabs the girl, but she turns out to be a Phys Ed major and kicks his ass. After the cops haul the guy away, Ronnie goes looking for the music dude again and accidentally ruins some conceptual art. On the roof, another nut with a grudge (Max) has the university president tied up and is threatening to release a toxin into the air that’ll kill a bunch of students. (Max is pissed off that he was expelled for brewing dangerous toxins in Biochem 
class.) Ronnie sees a kid with a gun and initiates the Firestorm transformation, but the guy turns out to be a paintball enthusiast. He and his friends are trying to help Grace—that’s the Deb Whitman gal who Ronnie keeps running into—with her Psych project … or something; to be honest, there’s a lot of crap going on, but not much of it makes sense. Anyway, Max shows up with the president and tells everyone about the virus he released. The students freak, but Firestorm gets Max to come up with a cure and takes everyone way up north
to get rid of the virus in their systems (something about sunlight and an environments free of fluorocarbons). Firestorm splits up to allay Grace’s suspicions about where Ronnie disappeared to and Ronnie tells his neighbour about the loud stereo disturbing his studies. After changing back to Firestorm, he brings everyone back and drops Max off with the cops before heading back to finish his term paper. Unfortunately, the stereo is still pounding and his dorm-mate is nowhere to be seen.
Vigilante #39 – “Mommy Said Never Talk to Strangers” – Paul Kupperberg/Tod Smith/Rick Magyar
This one has to do with child kidnapping and molestation, so read at your own risk. It starts with some scumbag kidnapping a girl named Jenny off the street in front of her house. At Adrian Chase’s hideout, his workout is interrupted by Harry Stein dropping by to chat and bring him the latest newspapers. Stein half-heartedly tries to talk Adrian out of being Vigilante again (since he was unmasked on live TV last issue), but Adrian ignores him and heads out after seeing an item in the paper. The story was about the racist barflies we saw last issue, who were “inspired” by Vigilante and Peacemaker’s fight against terrorists to attack a newsstand run by a Middle
Eastern guy. (Yeah, Islamophobia was a thing in the 80s too.) The head asshole (Mitch) is proud of their work, but he soon forgets about it when his wife shows up to tell him their daughter Jenny was snatched. At police headquarters, the detective assigned to bring Vigilante in (Arthur) is taken off that case and put on the child kidnappings; apparently Jenny isn’t the first kid to be grabbed and the police chief figures the kids are being sold into sexual slavery. Vigilante stakes out a foreign-owned store hoping Mitch and his racist friends will show up. Mitch (and his pal Gary) do cruise by, but they’re looking for 
Jenny. Vigilante beats the shit out of them before he finds out that Mitch’s kid has been taken. Meanwhile, the scumbag who took Jenny meets with his buyers, but when they find out he already messed with her, they call off the deal (since their clients want “pristine merchandise”). The guy swears he can get them another girl by tomorrow and they agree to come back the next morning. He stakes out a school but doesn’t know Vigilante and Mitch are watching the school too. When another guy accidentally knocks over a kid (who starts crying) everyone freaks and assumes he’s the kidnapper, beating the shit
out of him. The distraction allows the real kidnapper to grab another girl and take off, but Vigilante and Mitch see the abduction and chase him. They force the guy’s car off the road and the girl gets away, but Mitch gets his throat cut when he tries to ask about Jenny. Vigilante catches the kidnapper and scares him into admitting he’s selling the kids, but ends up blowing his brains out before he can get any more info. Vigilante takes the guy’s ID and leaves before the cops show up. At the airport, we see Jenny being bought and taken off on a plane.
Warlord #115 – “The Citadel of Fear” – Michael Fleisher/Ron Randall
This one starts with Travis Morgan leading an assault on a trade caravan. Morgan’s soldiers take most of the people prisoner so they can be sent to the Citadel of Fear as slaves. Of course, if you remember last issue, you know this isn’t the real Travis Morgan but Darkseid’s minion DeSaad spreading anti-hero mayhem in Skartaris. The real Morgan is still with Mariah and Shakira, heading back to Shamballah after returning from the nether-dimension last issue. Morgan isn’t happy that Hagar-Zinn (the wizard he hoped could cure his daughter Jennifer’s aging
curse) is dead, but at least Hagar-Zinn’s final spell deposited them close to Shamballah, so it won’t take long to get back there. Morgan wonders how Tara will take the news that he’s in love with Mariah now. Shakira tells him he’s acting like an asshole and takes off. Mariah considers telling Morgan that his sudden “love” for her is because of the necklace she got from the sorceress, but she keeps her mouth shut. The fake Morgan brings his captives back to the Citadel and we see it isn’t DeSaad this time, it’s Y’smalla, the Vashek assassin who tried to kill DeSaad last issue because she mistook him for the real Morgan (who she hates). DeSaad revels in inflicting torture on 
the captives and Y’smalla realizes he’s nuts, but is willing to put up with him if he can help her get revenge on Morgan. Meanwhile, the real Morgan and Mariah wander into a town decimated by the fake Morgan and are quickly captured. The townspeople are so pissed off, they plan to burn Morgan (and Mariah) alive, but one guy seems to recognize Morgan as the real thing and heads for Shamballah. In Shamballah, Tara has started evacuating the city because the aging plague is approaching fast. DeSaad shows up and grabs her, but the guy who recognized Morgan sees he abduction and knows he needs help. He gets back to the village in time to save Morgan and Mariah and they all take off. In the Citadel, DeSaad plans to take Morgan’s form and torture Tara to
death, letting the other captives watch. He’ll then free them so they can tell everyone what a scumbag Morgan is and ruin his reputation as a hero once and for all. When Morgan shows up, DeSaad projects an illusion of Tara getting banged by some studs (and loving it), but Morgan’s wearing a ring that dispels the illusion. He goes after DeSaad who brings the roof down before taking off. Morgan only has time to save either Mariah or Tara and he’s ready to choose Mariah … until she rips her necklace off and throws it in the fire. Morgan saves Tara and Shakira comes in to save Mariah. DeSaad leaves Skartaris with his mission unfulfilled, but he has tarnished Morgan’s reputation a bit, and he’s left some of his tools for Y’smalla to carry on his work.