Wonder Woman #11 – “Fire and Torment” – Len Wein/George Perez/Bruce Patterson
Last issue, Pan convinced Zeus that he should “honour” the Amazons by banging them all, starting with Diana (aka Wonder Woman). When she turned him down, Zeus freaked out and decided to make Diana undergo a multi-part test in the deadly caverns beneath Themiscyra. If she wins through, she’ll prove herself worthy (and keep her fellow Amazons from becoming Zeus’s sex toys). She already passed the first test last issue, but ran straight into the fire-breathing Hydra. She knows cutting its heads off won’t work, so she brings
part of the roof down on the monster’s head, binds it with her lasso, and shoots arrows into its chest. The Hydra dies, but Diana is blasted by flames when she jumps to retrieve her lasso. She ends up unconscious beside the molten lake. In Oklahoma, Steve Trevor and Etta Candy land at an air base and Steve gets bad news … his father has just died. On Paradise Island, Hippolyte is worried about Diana and when she sees a vulture (vultures aren’t native to the Island and this one almost seems to be controlling her mind somehow) staring at her, she freaks out and arms herself to go help her daughter. 
Underground, Diana wakes up and heads farther down, finding two portals in front of her. She picks one and hears the souls of dead Amazons wailing all around her, begging for help. She sees Julia Kapatelis in a huge web, asking her to rescue her, but when she tries, “Julia” turns into the serpent-monster Echidna. Outside, Hippolyte reaches the gate to the caverns, but Phillipus tries to stop her from entering. Hippolyte beats the shit out of her and heads inside and we see Pan has been watching her through the vulture’s eyes. Pan has some scheme concerning Diana going and figures Hippolyte might suspect him, so he realizes he’d better take care of her fast. Underground, Diana pounds Echidna and dives into a pool of light. She finds herself falling
through the sky and sees a plane that reminds her of Steve’s … but this one is different somehow. She ends up in the ocean and dives deep underwater, finding the wreck of a plane on the sea floor. Again she wonders if it might be Steve’s plane, but before she can examine it the water disappears and she finds herself on a completely dry ocean floor. She checks out the plane and sees that it’s smaller than Steve, and older. Before she can speculate too much on that, a bright light draws her attention to someone nearby, someone who speaks perfect English and is wearing a variation of Diana’s own outfit. She claims to be the original Diana/Wonder Woman, but we’ll have to wait until next issue to see if she’s telling the truth.
Firestorm #65 – “Fallout” – John Ostrander/Ross Andru/Roy Richardson
Last issue, Firestorm and Pozhar (a Russian meta-human who could emit radiation from his body) were fighting in the desert when the American military dropped a nuke on them. Firestorm had earlier threatened to detonate a nuclear bomb if all the world’s nuclear powers didn’t voluntarily disarm. He was bluffing, but it made him a target, and the Russians were eager to get rid of Pozhar because they weren’t sure they could control him. Firestorm survived the nuclear blast by
absorbing all of it—the heat, the radiation, the EMP—into himself, but there was no sign of Pozhar anywhere. This issue opens with conventional forces attacking Firestorm, who seems kinda out of it. He acts instinctively to defend himself, fighting off tanks and jets with intangibility, heat beams, and force blasts. (I get the feeling this sequence is meant to showcase the “new” Firestorm’s powers.) Firestorm is still dazed, but is careful not to harm anyone and even ends up saving a pilot after destroying his jet. The general in charge 
gets a call from the President and tells Firestorm the Americans and Russians will enter into peace talks with the aim of total disarmament. Firestorm’s still out of it, but he agrees not to fuck with anyone’s nukes, and when the general tells him to go home, he shoots up into the sky like a rocket and splits into two. One half heads for Russia and it turns out to be Mikhail (aka Pozhar), who goes home to see his family. His wife is glad to see him, but tells him their children were taken away to be tested. Mikhail tells her a little about the attack, but claims not to remember anything after the blast. It’s obvious
he’s lying and is now one half of Firestorm. The other half, Ronnie Raymond, lands at his dad’s place. He tells Ed and Felicity what happened and mentions that neither he nor Mikhail felt like they were in control of Firestorm after the merger. He also says he thinks Professor Stein is dead. We end back in the desert, with the general talking to Zastrow (the slimy Russian spy) about superheroes and why Zastrow doesn’t trust them. The general mentions a former Russian hero named Stalnoivolk, which I assume is setting up a future story.
Vigilante #48 – “Street Crime” – Paul Kupperberg/Steve Erwin/Jack Torrance
This one starts with some scumbag mugging an old woman in an alley. Vigilante (or someone dressed like him) shows up to save the woman, wounding the guy in the shoulder. But then he blows the guy away and takes off just before the cops show up. (The cops and the public think Vigilante is dead after he fell in the harbour in Gotham last issue and never surfaced.) Later, two punks are robbing a homeless man when another Vigilante (this one dressed in an obviously
home-made costume) shows up to pound them. He ends up knifing the thugs to death and instead of being horrified by the excessive violence, the homeless guy is grateful and figures the punks got what was coming to them. On Long Island, Black Thorn visits Adrian Chase’s grave to think about what might have been. Harry Stein shows up and after a brief scuffle, tells her Adrian is alive and wants to see her. In Manhattan, Adrian has gotten a new identity (probably so he can work with the government now that Stein is in charge of the secret agency that Vostok used to head up) and is in a safehouse with 
Harvey Bullock. Stein brings Black Thorn to see him and he and Bullock take off so they can get “reacquainted” … which means they start fucking each other’s brains out. Adrian does want to know more about Black Thorn, but puts his questions on hold until after the sex. In Grand Central Terminal, a bum shows everyone a newspaper story about the “Homeless Avenger” who’s been wasting scumbags who prey on street people. The bum figures the disenfranchised now have someone on their side. Elsewhere, a woman (I’m not sure if she’s meant to be a hooker, but it doesn’t really matter either way) is being
chased by some punks when the Homeless Avenger (aka the Vigilante wannabe) shows up to waste them. The woman is happy to see them get slaughtered, since they had no qualms about gang-raping her. In his apartment, Adrian again asks Black Thorn about herself and she makes up some bullshit story about her father abusing her as a kid. Adrian buys it and she finds his gullibility funny, but I’m wondering what her real story is and why she can’t just reveal it. Black Thorn goes out to look for the Homeless Avenger, telling Adrian to get 
what info he can and meet her later. At police headquarters, Captain Hall tells his boss he saw Vigilante in the alley when the mugger was shot, but his boss is skeptical since everyone (including Batman) says Vigilante is dead. In the subways, a mugger goes after a homeless guy who’s obviously got some mental issues. Homeless Avenger shows up and wastes the mugger, but the homeless guy pulls a gun and shoots his rescuer. When a cop arrives and is ready to blow the crazed victim away, Homeless Avenger shoots the cop (saving the life of the guy who just shot him), and staggers away mumbling about how much he loves all the little people.
Warlord #123 – “Incantation to Eternal Night” – Michael Fleisher/Jan Duursema/Tom Mandrake
This one starts with three beings inside a volcano talking about how they lost their humanity and were trapped in animalistic forms ages ago. But now they’re planning to bring back their demonic master, who seems to be trapped in a huge gem, with a very special spell. In Shamballah, Jennifer and Power Girl are recovering from their injuries as they tell Travis Morgan and Tara about defeating Azmyrkon last issue. The moon suddenly moves to block the sun, which freaks Tara out. Morgan isn’t
bothered by a mere eclipse, but Tara says eclipses are rare in Skartaris and her seers haven’t predicted this one. Obviously, it’s the three weirdos enacting their spell that’s caused the eclipse (especially since the moon doesn’t keep moving after blocking the sun, it just stays there). In the sewers beneath the city, Redmond wakes up amidst a pile of bones and realizes he was slaughtering animals in his “snow-man” form and feasting on them. He’s still pissed off at Morgan and wants to find him, but he transforms into a snow-man again and heads up to cause mayhem in the streets. The people are already 
freaking about the eclipse and having a crazed man-ape pop out and start wasting them doesn’t help. Morgan hears about the attack and goes to check it out, pounding some thugs who are taking advantage of the eclipse to rob people. Redmond (who’s human again … for now) confronts Morgan, accusing him of being a Communist and a traitor. Redmond turns back into a snow-man and tries to rip Morgan apart with his paws. As frantic mobs run through the streets, they blame Tara for bringing the wrath of the gods on them and storm the palace. Inside the volcano, the spell begins to have an effect and something stirs inside the gem. That makes the volcano explode and molten
lava pours down towards Shamballah. Morgan is still fighting the bestial Redmond, who’s too strong for him. They end up dangling over a river of lava, but Redmond won’t stop attacking, so Morgan shoots him and he falls into the lava. Morgan wishes he could’ve found a way to get through to Redmond, but with the lava and the rampaging mobs, he’s more worried about Tara.