Justice League International #16 – “Bialya, My Bialya” – Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis/Kevin Maguire/Al Gordon
This one starts with Batman and Max Lord discussing Rumaan Harjavti, dictator of Bialya. Harjavti supposedly has some new super-weapon and since he’s known to be friendly with terrorists, everyone is worried about it. The League can’t be seen interfering with a sovereign country, so Max suggests they send in a covert team, using an upcoming international gala that Harjavti’s holding as an excuse. Batman brings Green flame, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, and Oberon in on the
plan; Batman goes “disguised” as Bruce Wayne (who he claims owes him a favour) with Green Flame as his bimbo and Booster and Beetle as his lackeys (with Beetle using the cover name George Bailey). Bruce and his entourage are welcomed by one of Harjavti’s minions, since Bialyans may hate Americans, but they love American money. In outer space, Manga Khan isn’t happy that he accidentally kidnapped Mr. Miracle, but decides to make the best of it, ordering Miracle’s mind probed for information. Khan soon learns that another ship is following the cluster and prepares to go to warp drive (or 
hyperspace … I always get those two confused). The following ship contains J’onn J’onzz, Big Barda, G’nort, and Rocket Red. When the Cluster goes to warp, Barda freaks, knowing they have no way to follow. In Bialya, Batman tries to control Booster and Beetle’s goofiness (and Green Flame’s hormones), telling them he and Flame are heading out on the town to see what the buzz is on the streets. Elsewhere, Harjavti confers with his co-conspirator, the Queen Bee, who helped him “appropriate” his new weapon and who plans to kidnap a bunch of the visiting diplomats (a plan Harjavti is wary of). When Bruce and Flame return to their room, Harjavti’s men are waiting for them, informing them they’ve already taken care of Beetle and Booster. Batman pounds the attackers and tells Flame they need to move fast now
that their cover’s blown. At the palace reception, Harjavti is surprised to see Max Lord show up, not realizing it’s actually Batman (with Green Flame as his hijab-clad escort). Queen Bee and Jack O’Lantern watch Harjavti strut and we learn that she’s just using him and has bigger plans that involve Jack and some of his fellow Global Guardians. Harjavti unveils his secret weapon … Wandjina the Thunderer, who survived the nuclear reactor in issue 3 and is the first of many super-powered beings Harjavti hopes to control. But Wandjina is actually under Queen Bee’s control and kills Harjavti at her command, leaving her to take over Bialya.
Infinity Inc. #53 – “Death When It Must Come” – Roy and Dann Thomas/Michael Bair/Bob Downs
This one starts with Jade reviving after Artemis’s attack last issue, only to find Hank (Brainwave Jr) King is still frozen from Icicle’s power. She manages to make contact with Hank’s mind (he is her boyfriend, so I guess it makes sense they’d have a connection), but there’s someone else in there already … Hank’s father, the original Brainwave. He (or his spirit or whatever it is) kicks Jade’s mind out and she wonders if Brainwave Jr is lost to her forever. At Stellar Studios, Dummy prepares to kill Stripesy and
his young son, Mike. Harlequin has no problem with that, but killing a kid is a bit much for Hazard and she uses her chance-altering dice to make the lights go out. That gives Stripesy and Mike the chance to crawl away and hide, turning on the communicator on the way. That lets the other Infinitors (who are in the Star Racer returning from upstate) listen to what’s happening at the studio and they realize they need to get back as soon as possible. Nuklon, Obsidian, and Wildcat are surprised to find out that Mr. Bones stowed away on the Racer. He gives them his side of the story regarding Skyman’s death and says now 
that Helix has rejected him, he has nowhere to go but wants to help save the Infinitors from Injustice Unlimited. At the studio, Icicle and Harlequin find Stripesy, but Mike gets away. The Dummy brags about killing Jade and Brainwave and gloats that Stripesy will soon be dead too. When Obsidian hears about his sister over the communicator, he leaves the Rocket Racer and heads off to find her. Jade’s fine, but Brainwave is still out of it so Obsidian goes inside his mind and uses his powers to banish the spirit (memory? ghost?) of the original Brainwave, which revives Hank enough to break free of the ice. Nuklon, Wildcat, and
Bones show up at the studio and walk right into a trap. Harlequin messes with Wildcat’s mind, while Icicle freezes Bones and Solomon Grundy pounds Nuklon. Grundy is still obeying Harlequin because her illusion power makes her look like Jade, but before he can carry out her orders to kill Nuklon, the real Jade shows up. Grundy is confused by two Jades, but when Brainwave uses his powers to cancel Harlequin’s illusion, Grundy realizes she was tricking him and freaks. Jade stops him from killing Harlequin, but he pounds the shit out of her. The other Infinitors rally and take down Injustice Unlimited, except for Hazard, who refused to help fight them earlier. Stripesy confirms that she 
helped him and Mike get away and Hazard says she was never really on board with the whole killing thing. The fight started a fire, which burns Stellar Studios to the ground, but the remaining Infinitors vow to stick together and make sure Skyman’s faith in them is justified. Later, Stripesy and Mike scatter Skyman’s ashes over the ashes of Stellar Studios. This is the last issue of Infinity Inc, although some of the members appeared in various places later on. There was supposed to be a Helix comic (it’s mentioned on the letters page), but that never materialized. I always liked Infinity Inc and wish they’d done more with them, but DC seemed to be shying away from legacy heroes back then.
Young All-Stars #15 – “And Deathbolt Makes Three” – Roy and Dann Thomas/Ron Harris/Malcolm Jones III
This one starts with Fury, Tsunami, and Tigress having a race in the All-Stars’ gym. Naturally, Fury wins easily, but Tsunami and Tigress go all out for second place, with Tigress trying to impress Arn Munro, who’s watching with Dyna-Mite and Flying Fox. (The teenaged Dyna-Mite really seems to appreciate the female form.) Tigress almost breaks her neck slipping on a barbell and has to be rescued by Fury, which really pisses her off since she sees Fury as a rival for Munro’s affections. Fury is totally
oblivious to that until Tigress almost starts a fight with her that Tsunami stops by dousing them with water. Before going to dry off, Tigress hints that Munro might like Fury better if she put out. Fury tries to ask Johnny Quick about dating, but that seems a little strange to me since Johnny was a bit of a player before he married Liberty Belle. In the library at headquarters, Munro and Dyna-Mite are studying for their final exams, but Munro is bored out of his mind. The arrival of Fury (who’s also studying for finals) makes Munro stick around. Tigress shows up later with Sandman and Sandy to invite 
everyone to a jitterbug contest. Fury says she has to keep studying and Dyna-Mite suggests Munro stay behind too. Everyone else heads out to the dance, leaving Fury and Munro to study … alone. Meanwhile, Deathbolt shows up looking for revenge for getting his ass kicked last issue. He gives Munro a bit of a shock, but Fury decks him pretty quickly and the two teenagers get back to their studies. Later, Munro suggests they take a break for a little dancing, which leads to a little kissing, which leads to … well, it looks like Fury is about to take Tigress’s advice about going all the way. Luckily for her, they’re interrupted by a call from Dr. Mid-Nite, who tells Munro he has VD, probably from the girl he banged under the pier in issue 5. He doesn’t tell Fury about his diagnosis, just asks
her to leave, which she takes as a rejection. Munro figures she’ll be mad at him the next day, but she’s actually pretty cool about it and they take their finals (along with Dyna-Mite), but Munro gets pissed off and walks out. Flying Fox talks him into returning and all three of them pass their tests. Munro attends the graduation ceremony in his hometown, with his teammates showing up to support him. Fury reveals that Dr. Mid-Nite told her about Munro’s VD (which seems to violate confidentiality, but whatever) and they make up but decide to slow things down a bit.