Wonder Woman #20 – “Who Killed Myndi Mayer?” – George Perez/Bob McLeod
This one starts with Wonder Woman kicking among some street gangs, trying to get a line on who killed her publicist, Myndi Mayer. The cops are investigating too and most of the story is narrated (in Chandleresque prose) by the lead detective, Edward Indelicato. Myndi was found in her office shot in the face. She had a bloody letter-opener in her hand, indicating she fought her attacker, and there were traces of cocaine on her desk. The cleaning lady mentions a late visitor to Myndi’s office and the cops soon track down Steve London, a graphic artist who Myndi recently fired.
Steve does have a wound on his arm, but claims he and his assistant (Deni Hayes, who was also fired) were out drinking and he can’t even remember if he saw Myndi that night. Steve tells the cops how Myndi freaked out over the numerous lawsuits against her company, but instead of firing Skeeter LaRue (the sleazy adman who’d recently joined the company and who everyone except Myndi hated), she fired a bunch of the other staff, including Steve and Deni. They went out to drown their sorrows and Steve admits Deni told him something about Myndi and Skeeter that pissed him off, but he 
can’t believe he would’ve killed her. Elsewhere, Wonder Woman questions a shady businessman named Choi about Skeeter’s whereabouts, using her magic lasso to get the truth out of him. The cops find the murder weapon (a shotgun) in a dumpster behind Steve’s place with his fingerprints all over it. And Deni lets the cops know what she told Steve about Myndi that pissed him off so much: Deni found out Skeeter was dealing cocaine to a lot of the company’s clients (and supplying Myndi, who’d always had addiction problems). Deni also found out about the computer chip theft (in issue 15) which was supposed to finance more drug buys, but when she told Myndi,
she threw Deni out of her office and threatened to ruin her career. That’s what got Steve so mad. Wonder Woman shows up at the station wanting to use her lasso on Steve to compel the truth from him, but Steve’s wife talks him out of it and the cops aren’t sure of the legalities anyway. Deni tells Wonder Woman the names of some of Skeeter’s clients (which is what led her to Mr. Choi … the story is told out of sequence) and she tracks Skeeter down in a warehouse and pounds his guards. Later, the cops get a call and head to the warehouse, finding Skeeter dead against the electric fence and Wonder Woman inside. She tells the cops how she used her lasso to get the truth from Skeeter: he 
did Myndi after she uncovered his drug smuggling. He tossed her some cocaine, hoping her addiction would keep her quiet, but Choi was worried so he sent Skeeter back to kill her. She was sitting at her desk and he blew her away, but Steve came in. Skeeter stabbed him in the dark with the letter-opener and they fought. Skeeter placed the opener in Myndi’s hand and the gun in Steve’s and took off. Wonder Woman then recounts how some guards busted in and while she was pounding them, Skeeter freaked out and took off, running right into the electric fence in a blind panic. The cops tell Wonder Woman that Myndi was already dead of a drug and alcohol overdose when Skeeter shot her.
Firestorm #75 – “The Return of Martin Stein” – John Ostrander/Joe Brozowski/Sam De La Rosa
Last issue, Firestorm went to the desert outside Las Vegas to confront a weird guy who was whipping up a sandstorm. The Ronnie Raymond half of Firestorm was shocked to find the guy looked like his old friend Martin Stein. Ronnie’s hesitation let Stein get the jump on Firestorm, burying him in sand. Still torn by Ronnie’s refusal to fight Stein, Firestorm splits into two, with Ronnie reappearing in his parents’ hotel room and Mikhail showing up back home in Moscow. Unfortunately, Ed and Felicity aren’t in their room because they’ve been grabbed by some mobsters who work for Chaz Harsh,
the mob boss Ed helped expose a while back. The gunmen take Ed and Felicity to Harsh’s place outside Vegas, but they find out it’s been levelled. Harsh (who hid in the fallout shelter) tells them the guy in the sandstorm was actually Eddie Slick, the crooked boxing promoter (from issue 52) who looks exactly like Martin Stein. Harsh killed Slick and buried him in the desert, but he’s revived and wants revenge on Harsh. In the confusion, Ed and Felicity get away and Ed sends Felicity to town to get Firestorm while Ed keeps Harsh busy. Ronnie realizes it was Slick not Stein that he fought and contacts Mikhail to 
form Firestorm again. They go after Slick, fusing him into glass with a huge fireball. Meanwhile, Ed jumps Harsh and beats the shit out of him. Ronnie figures his hope of Stein being alive is gone, but Ed says he’s been doing a little investigating (he is a reporter after all) and come up with a theory. Stein’s brain tumour was too big to respond to conventional radiation treatments, but the nuclear blast that made Ronnie and Mikhail into the new Firestorm (in last year’s annual) might have been enough to get rid of the tumour. If Stein lost his memory in the blast, he’d have been declared
indigent and sent to a state-run facility. Ed has found someone who fits Stein’s general description at Dry Lake State Mental Institution, which is why he brought Ronnie to Nevada in the first place. They go to the Institution, where the doctor tells them their mystery guest is quite intelligent and personable and shows signs of recently having had a brain tumour. He also seems to go into catatonic states at random times (presumably when Ronnie and Mikhail are Firestorm). Ronnie goes to see him and is overjoyed to find it is Martin Stein.
Warlord #131 – “Vengeful Legacies” – Michael Fleisher/Jan Duursema
This one starts with Travis Morgan catching up with his old pal Maddox, who he was surprised to run into on the streets of Xur-Chemosh. But their reunion soon turns sour when Maddox drugs Morgan, shackling him and slapping him around. Maddox blames Morgan for getting him thrown in the Russian GULAG (and Maddox was apparently working for the Russians) and now he wants revenge. He’s distracted when some of his people bring in Aoife after finding her by the shore. Maddox is fascinated by the headband Aoife wears and she recognizes him as a scumbag as soon as she lays eyes on him. Maddox takes
the headband from her and has her thrown in prison, slapping Mariah down when she objects. I don’t know what’s up with Mariah; the Mariah I know would’ve cut Maddox’s throat for hitting her. Maybe her stay in the GULAG mellowed her, but she’s definitely lost her edge. Later, Maddox gives her a half-assed apology before heading out to check on Morgan, who’s been buried up to his neck in the ground. Maddox expects Morgan to beg for mercy but he doesn’t, so Maddox has him dug up and returned to the dungeon. Back in Shamballah, Jennifer’s mystical connection to Khanthaiti alerts her that the 
evil sorceress is casting a spell that draws on forces of evil almost beyond reckoning. Elsewhere, Shakira distracts a couple of shepherds with her sexiness before turning into a cat and vanishing. Mariah finally grows a spine and checks out the dungeon, where Maddox has rigged a classic deathtrap for Morgan (the old “candle burning the rope suspending Morgan over boiling oil” trick). Mariah tries to help Morgan, but Maddox knocks her out and chains her so she can watch Morgan die. Maddox leaves to test the headband he took from Aoife, thinking it’ll be the key to unlock the last device on the Atlantean ship he’s been using to impress the locals. But when Maddox tries the headband, he’s confronted by the spirit of Garn Daanuth, ancient Atlantean sorcerer. Daanuth tells Maddox the headband was given
to his descendant and eventually passed down the line to … Aoife. From the dungeon, Aoife makes contact with Daanuth’s spirit and taps into the headband’s power, freeing herself, Morgan, and Mariah. But Daanuth is pissed off that a usurper tried to use the headband and sends an earthquake to level Xur-Chemosh. Morgan kicks Maddox’s ass and gives Aoife the headband just in time for her to stop a tidal wave from completely wrecking the city. Later, Morgan and Aoife set sail, leaving Mariah with Maddox; she believes Maddox really loves her and now that Morgan has destroyed the Atlantean ship and taken all Maddox’s weapons, she figures she can reform him. Good luck with that.