Legion of Super-Heroes #37 – “A Twist in Time” – Paul Levitz/Greg LaRocque/Mike DeCarlo, Arne Starr
Last issue, the Time Institute suffered an attack that left most of it in a pile of rubble. That, coupled with Cosmic Boy and Night Girl’s report about their sojourn to the late 20th Century (and the changes to the timeline brought about by Crisis), make Brainiac 5 suspect that their old enemy the Time Trapper is planning something big. Brainy directs the repairs to the Institute and fashions a new Time Bubble so the Legionnaires can go forward in time to confront Time Trapper. Polar Boy (the new leader of the Legion) won’t let Brainy take everyone on the
mission, for fear Time Trapper (or someone else) takes advantage of their absence to strike at Earth. Meanwhile, Saturn Girl, Sensor Girl, and Tellus drop Universo off on Labyrinth, the new prison planet. Polar Boy chooses a squad to go back in time (Brainy, Ultra Boy, Mon-El, Cosmic Boy, Night Girl, Blok, Invisible Kid, and Sun Boy) and they head back in the Time Bubble, running into a time-storm. Time Trapper knows exactly what they’re trying to do and decides to throw a wrench into their plans. When their time trip ends, the Legionnaires are shocked to find they haven’t travelled forward in time, but backward … to Superboy’s time. That should be impossible, since the Crisis 
changed Superman’s history so his Superboy career never existed, but they soon realize they’re in Smallville and Superboy is definitely there too. Four of the legionnaires (Cosmic Boy, Night Girl, Mon-El, and Ultra Boy) head into town to look for Clark. They run into Pete Ross, who tells them Superboy saved Smallville from the weird red skies (caused by the Crisis) a few weeks back, but has been lying low ever since. The Legionnaires go to see Ma and Pa Kent, who some of them have met before. Back in the 30th Century, Marella Tao asks for advice about dating a Legionnaire from a couple of experts: Shvaughn Erin and Gigi Cusimano. Wildfire shows Dawnstar his new, more human look. In the past, the Legionnaires run into Clark, who’s surprised to see them. He takes them to the basement and uses some kind of projector to freeze them
in a time stasis. He tells his parents he’s going after the others, but Lana shows up wanting help with her homework and Clark just can’t say no to her. Pete Ross warns the other Legionnaires that their teammates are in trouble and tells them to get out while they can. They take off in the Time Bubble, barely avoiding Superboy’s stasis ray. Superboy vows to track them all down and freeze them in time, saying it’s his only way of saving his parents from some horrible fate. Unfortunately, this is all part of Time Trapper’s plan and it could lead to the Legion destroying the very fabric of time itself. This story was continued in a couple of Superman comics (which I won’t be reviewing) before concluding in the next Legion issue (which I will review, of course).
New Teen Titans #34 – “Non Compos Mento” – Marv Wolfman/Eduardo Barreto/Romeo Tanghal
This one starts with Dick (Nightwing) Grayson having a familiar dream about the Titans. The dream was implanted by Raven, who’s trying to get Dick to stop sulking about Starfire’s arranged marriage on Tamaran and just admit he still loves her and wants to be with her. Dick is too stubborn to give in that easily, but an encounter with a nutty guy named Henry (who’s ready to shoot his girlfriend Mary for cheating ion him) changes Dick’s mind. Henry and Mary still love each other and Dick decides to give
them a second chance, which makes him realize how stupid he’s been with Starfire. Later, the Titans gather at a mall, but Cyborg is missing so Raven goes to find him. He’s hanging out with Sarah Simms, Sarah Charles, and some handicapped kids, showing them that being different doesn’t have to limit what they can do. Raven shows up to get Cyborg and teleports them to Titans’ Tower … right into the middle of a big fight with the Hybrid. The Hybrid have a few new members, but they’re all still being controlled by Steve Dayton, who’s still crazy from the Mento helmet he’s wearing. The Titans know the Hybrid aren’t really evil, so they fight defensively, trying to help them. Raven manages to 
get through to Harpi and goes to work on Prometheus. Pteranodon grabs Nightwing and takes him inside, where he finds Starfire unconscious and Dayton waiting. The Hybrid bring in the rest of the Titans and Dayton threatens to kill them all, but it’s a trick; the Hybrid have been freed from his control and Raven says she can fix his mind too. She points out that Dayton had the power to slaughter the Titans all along, but never used it because part of him is still a good person, despite his madness. Raven uses her empathic powers to enter Dayton’s mind, but needs help from the Titans and the Hybrid to get through his mental blocks. Their combined power shatters the blocks, allowing Dayton to see the spirits of his dead Doom Patrol teammates.
Changeling (his adopted son) helps Dayton focus enough to destroy the damage done by the helmet and cure himself, bringing him back to normal. The Hybrid can’t be cured so easily, but they all owe Dayton for saving them from death, so they promise to stick with him. Nightwing and Starfire talk and he admits he’s been acting like an asshole. She forgives him and it looks like they’re a couple again, despite his hang-ups about her being married.
Suicide Squad #4 – “William Hell’s Overture” – John Ostrander/Luke McDonnell/Bob Lewis
This one starts with five punks robbing a liquor store and shooting the owner. A dude dressed like a Crusader (calling himself William Hell) shows up and pounds the punks, but tells the two white guys to take off after making them promise to go sign up for the Aryan Empire white supremacist group. Hell turns the other three punks (all non-white) over to the cops and tells reporters he’s on a crusade for the common man, trying to protect the people from bad elements in society. Hell is picked up by a driver named Stevens and we see
Hell is actually a racist businessman named Heller. But Stevens turns out to be Black Orchid in disguise and she gets away with William Hell’s secret. Later, Amanda Waller briefs the Suicide Squad on Heller, a prominent (and openly racist) businessman, who’s been masquerading as William Hell to take his race-hate to the streets. We find out Captain Boomerang is a racist (big shock) and that Deadshot actually knew Heller when they were younger, both coming from aristocratic backgrounds. Heller’s family was killed in a race riot and he was raised by his grandfather (who was basically a Nazi). 
Waller says they can’t just kill Heller (since it would make him a martyr) and can’t arrest him; they need to discredit him publicly to blunt the impact of his racist views. Captain Boomerang and Bronze Tiger (in disguise) attack an armoured car to get William Hell’s attention. Hell captures Tiger and lets Boomerang go, but the cops he turns Tiger over to are actually Rick Flag and Nightshade. A couple days later, Heller holds a rally where he spews racist vitriol to a willing crowd. But there are protesters there and the whole atmosphere is like a powder keg ready to blow … the perfect opportunity to discredit Heller. His speech is interrupted when William Hell shows up to an
enthusiastic greeting from the crowd. Heller is shocked (since he’s William Hell) and slips away while “Hell” gives his own speech about how the common people need to work together no matter the colour of their skin because their shared circumstances bind them together tighter than their races can keep them apart. Heller shows up in his William Hell guise, claiming the other Hell is an impostor and Boomerang suggests they have an archery contest to prove who’s the real deal. Boomerang is less enthused when they use him as the target, placing an apple on his head. The non-racist Hell goes 
first and skewers the apple perfectly, while the real Hell misses, much to his surprise. The new Hell unmasks his rival, revealing that he’s Heller and pointing out how he’s trying to discredit William Hell with his own racist agenda. One of Heller’s men shoots William Hell, which pisses everyone in the crowd off, regardless of race. The cops take Heller away before the crowd tears him apart and an ambulance shows up to take William Tell to hospital. Of course, it’s all part of the plan; the new Hell is really Deadshot in disguise and his “assassin” was Flag in disguise, spirited away by Nightshade before anyone could stop him. They rendezvous with the ambulance and we learn that
Chronos used one of his time-bending devices (powered by Enchantress’s magic) to actually stop time long enough for Bronze Tiger (wearing a neutralizer that allowed him freedom of movement) to deflect Heller’s arrow off target. Nightshade is bothered that Deadshot’s speech appealed to the crowd’s sense of self-interest instead of decrying their racism. Flag tells her there’s a difference between patriotism and democracy and that if enlightened self-interest brought the crowd together, maybe the common good will keep them together.