Legion of Super-Heroes #45 – “Unlucky Streak” – Paul Levitz/Greg LaRocque/Mike DeCarlo, Arne Starr
This is an extra-long anniversary issue, with guest art from Kurt Schaffenberger, Curt Swan, Dave Cockrum, Mike Grell, Keith Giffen, and Dick Giordano. It has a very nostalgic tone, focusing mostly on Lightning Lad (and Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy) and a lot of it is just retellings of classic Legion stories. We got a glimpse of the overall premise last issue, with the three Luck Lords plotting something to do with Garth (Lightning Lad) Ranzz and this story starts with them still scheming. Apparently, there’s some rare convergence of stars that will lead to luck
dominating over science and reason throughout the universe, but Lightning Lad has to die to bring that about. The three Luck lords can affect chance, so they use their powers to free Mekt Ranzz (aka Lightning Lord, Garth’s jealous brother) from prison on Labyrinth. While the Luck lords wait for Mekt to reach his brother, they reflect on their past attempts to kill Garth and we get some new versions of classic stories, starting with Garth’s origin. Basically, he , Mekt, and their sister Ayla (aka Lightning Lass) crash-landed on a planet and 
were attacked by lightning beasts. Instead of killing them, the beasts gave them all lightning powers and they escaped. The Luck Lords then review the time Lightning Lad actually did die saving Earth from an invasion, but was brought back when Proty (disguised as Saturn Girl) sacrificed his own life force to revive Garth. On Earth, the Legion are reviewing Atmos’s membership application; Wildfire says he’s powerful, but doesn’t like his style. Meanwhile, Atmos phases into Dream Girl’s quarters where she’s sleeping (naked, of course). The Luck Lords talk about other big moments in Garth’s life, like when he lost his
arm, got a mechanical one, then regrew his original human arm. They also look at the first big confrontation between Garth and Mekt, where Mekt had Garth at his mercy but couldn’t bring himself to kill his brother. The Luck Lords are hoping that won’t happen this time, as Mekt nears Earth. At Legion headquarters, Saturn Girl is worried about Brainiac 5, who’s been burying himself in work lately, and Sensor Girl is worried about Mon-El, who’s been similarly distant since the Crisis. Shadow Lass tells them Brainy and Mon-El are both 
frustrated and need someone to kill. As the Luck Lords ponder Garth and Imra (Saturn Girl) Ardeen’s wedding and honeymoon, they wonder if that affected their ability to kill Lightning Lad. At Legion HQ, we get some downtime stuff, with Wildfire talking about Quislet’s home dimension, Tellus and Invisible Kid playing 3-D chess, some Legionnaires returning from a mission, Shadow Lass trying to get through to Mon-El, and Shrinking Violet and Lightning Lass making plans to spend time together. As the Luck Lords watch, Mekt shows up on Earth and attacks Garth, using some restraints he found on the ship to capture Imra and Cosmic Boy. He’s programmed the restraints to draw
Garth’s lightning but not his own, so he has free reign to zap Garth, but if Garth tries to zap him, he’ll end up killing his wife and best friend. As Mekt pours electricity into Garth, he powers through the pain and grabs Mekt, giving him a direct charge that knocks him out. The Luck Lords conclude that fate wasn’t on their side (again), despite the cosmic convergence, and proclaim that Lightning Lad’s destiny is in his own hands, not theirs. We end with a cool double-page spread to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Legion.
New Teen Titans #42 – “Child of Blood” – Marv Wolfman/Eduardo Barreto/Romeo Tanghal
This one starts with Gizmo, Trident, and Disruptor (who were all freed from prison by Wildebeest last issue) robbing a jewelry store. Cyborg, Changeling, and Danny Chase show up to stop them and a big fight ensues. When Cyborg and Danny have to stop a rain of broken glass, Disruptor and Trident get away, but Changeling does manage to knock Gizmo out. Nightwing, Starfire, and Wonder Girl are visiting Captain Hall in hospital (where he’s recovering after being shot by Adrian Chase in Vigilante 50).
They get the call from Cyborg, as do Raven and Jericho, who are interrogating a guy who claims to work for Wildebeest. He’s lying, and Raven wants to use her powers to erase the pain of his criminal past, but the cops won’t let her. They all meet up with Cyborg and while Changeling hauls Gizmo to their HQ to be locked up, the others discuss why Wildebeest broke some of their old foes out of prison and why he kidnapped Mother Mayhem (who’s pregnant with Brother Blood’s baby). Naturally, Gizmo breaks out of the holding cell within minutes and calls Wildebeest, who orders him to hack the Titans’ computers. But 
Gizmo is tired of getting his ass kicked all the time, so he tells Wildebeest to go to hell and contemplates turning himself in to STAR Labs, so he can use his genius in a more positive way. Meanwhile, Wildebeest is taunting Mother Mayhem, saying he doesn’t care about her baby it’s just a smokescreen to throw the Titans off his real plan. The Titans catch up to Trident and Disruptor and kick their asses, with Jericho getting inside Disruptor’s mind long enough to let Danny tear his costume off (which the three female Titans seem to appreciate). Back at HQ, they discover Gizmo has escaped and scare Disruptor into talking. They call STAR to let them know what’s happening and see that Gizmo has turned himself in. Gizmo recognizes Mayhem’s doctor as Wildebeest in disguise
and blows his cover, so Wildebeest shoots him and grabs Sarah Charles as a hostage. Raven teleports the Titans to STAR and they attack Wildebeest, who has a bomb rigged to cover his escape. While most of the Titans help save civilians (including Gizmo), Changeling and Danny go after Wildebeest. He shoots Changeling, so Danny has to let him go but manages to get a tracer on him. Wildebeest tells Mayhem that his plan to learn more about the Titans worked and he takes off, leaving her to be rescued. (He does booby-trap the building, but Raven teleports everyone out just before it explodes.) Later at STAR, Mayhem gives birth to Blood’s baby … and it’s a girl, which means Blood’s legacy is (supposedly) finished.
Suicide Squad #12 – “Blood and Snow Part II” – John Ostrander/Luke McDonnell/Bob Lewis
Last issue, the Squad went to Colombia to take down a drug lord named Xavier Cujo. Half of them hit Cujo’s manufacturing plant in the jungle, while the others tried to get close enough to Cujo to kill him. (Vixen wants to do the honours, since his men slaughtered a bunch of her friends last issue.) n the jungle, the team assaults the coke plant, but finds out Cujo has fighter jets protecting the place. Nightshade tells their pilot (Briscoe, who seems to be in love with the assault helicopter
that he’s named Sheba) to drop her, Speedy, and June Moon off, then deal with the jets. Back in Medellin, Captain Boomerang has convinced Cujo he’s an Aussie criminal looking to make a dope connection, and has presented Vixen and Black Orchid (in civilian clothes) as “gifts”. But Cujo checks up on Boomerang, figuring out who he really is. Before his men can waste them, Black orchid and Boomerang start pounding them, leaving Vixen to go after Cujo. In the jungle, Nightshade and June get inside the coke plant and Nightshade pounds the guards. June changes to Enchantress, but refuses to destroy the cocaine. 
Nightshade has the ring that’s attuned to the necklace Enchantress wears, which keeps Enchantress from using her spells against her. But Enchantress attacks Nightshade physically, trying to wrest the ring from her. They fight and Nightshade wins, forcing Enchantress to transmute the drugs into batshit and then turn back into June. In Medellin, Vixen catches Cujo, but she’s conflicted n whether she can actually kill him or not, no matter how pissed off she is. When he stabs her, she instinctively breaks his neck and immediately feels guilty. Black Orchid gets her and Boomerang out of the building and takes them to meet with the others. The jungle team gets
out of the plant and Speedy blows the whole facility to hell. Back at Belle Rêve, they learn that Rick Flag’s latest mission was a disaster, with him the only survivor. Amanda Waller congratulates them on the success of their mission, but Speedy says it’s just a temporary setback and some other drug lord will soon fill the void as long as there’s a demand for the stuff. Waller asks Vixen to join the Squad and she’s feeling so shitty about herself and what she did to Cujo that she accepts.