Legion of Super-Heroes #51 – “The Trial of Brainiac Five” – Paul Levitz/Keith Giffen/Mike DeCarlo
As the title says, this issue concerns Brainiac 5’s trial for killing Jaxon Rugarth (aka Infinite Man) last issue by sending him to fight the Time Trapper, knowing they would both be destroyed. Polar Boy is the one who brings the charge, but Saturn Girl argues that Rugarth was already brain-dead, so he had no real life to lose. Cosmic Boy presides over the trial and says the Legionnaires are free to interpret their own laws as they see fit, so Brainy’s guilt or innocence will
come down to a vote. Other Legionnaires watch the trial on monitors and argue the merits of the case, but Phantom Girl has gathered Invisible Kid and Shrinking Violet to talk about the Legion Espionage Squad. In an animal preserve in the Galapagos Islands, a Khund warrior named Garak wreaks havoc and takes out the Science Police who show up to stop him. He’s not ready to handle Lightning Lass and Magnetic Kid, and Lightning Lass drains the power from his force-shield and zaps him. At Legion headquarters, the debate goes on, but Brainiac 5 is taking the whole thing pretty calmly. He’s already calculated 
the probable outcome of the voting and has no remorse about stopping Time Trapper, no matter the cost. He’s more worried about his fellow conspirators, especially Mon-El and Duo Damsel. Mon-El is still angled from Time Trapper’s attack and Brainy tells Shadow Lass he doesn’t know how to stitch an invulnerable body back together, so Shadow Lass decides to take Mon-El to Daxam (his home planet) for help. As for the trial, Brainiac 5 refuses to mount a defense, stating that the facts (and the Legion Constitution) are obvious, but that he believes Jaxon Rugarth would’ve willingly sacrificed himself to take out Time Trapper, if he’d been mentally capable of doing so. That belief is backed up by Rond Vidar, who worked with Rugarth at the Time Institute.
Cosmic Boy calls for a vote and various members cast theirs, with the absentees being counted as abstentions. After casting their votes, the three Espionage Squad members take Dawnstar to look for Chameleon Boy again. The vote goes Brainy’s way and he’s acquitted, which he predicted all along (although his vote-count is slightly off because he didn’t predict Quislet’s voluntary abstention). Brainy visits Duo Damsel (holographically) to apologize for getting her involved, since another of her duplicate selves was killed by Time Trapper. Brainy gives her his force-field belt and resigns from the Legion to return to his native Colu.
New Teen Titans #48 – “Crimes and Punishment” – Marv Wolfman/Eduardo Barreto/Romeo Tanghal
This one starts with two of the People’s Heroes (Hammer and Sickle) arriving in the united States to kill someone … someone they like and used to work with, but have been ordered to kill. They make contact with some sleeper agents, but end up wasting them all because they’ve been selling secrets to the Americans. I think this scene was just a way to show off Hammer and Sickle’s upgraded weapons. At STAR Labs in San Francisco, the Titans are watching Sarah Charles test a guy named Eric Forester. He’s a total stud (and hits on any woman within sight, including Sarah), but he’s also got
some kind of brain power that lets him assimilate and analyze information instantly, like a living computer. Changeling gives Cyborg shit for not letting Sarah know how he feels and Cyborg walks out. Changeling follows, trying to get Cyborg to admit he’s scared of risking his heart in a real relationship. After slapping Changeling around a bit (and apologizing for that), Cyborg admits he is scared. Changeling convinces him to at least consider moving out to San Francisco to be closer to Sarah. Nightwing finds them and he and Changeling have a discussion about relationships and feelings and all that mushy stuff. 
Back at STAR Labs, Forester finishes his tests and puts the moves on Starfire (who shuts him down fast) and Raven (who’s a bit flustered by his attention, but also turns him down). The Titans are surprised when their old friend Red Star shows up (they haven’t seen him since New Teen Titans 18 … that’s the original series), although he isn’t really acting all that friendly to them. Apparently, the Americans and Soviets have arranged a sort of exchange program to study superhuman powers, though Red Star isn’t sure what STAR can reveal about his powers, since they were spawned by his father’s encounter with an alien
spaceship. Before he can be examined, Hammer and Sickle bust in, saying things have changed and they can’t let knowledge of Red Star’s powers be given to the Americans. After a protracted fight (where Hammer and Sickle do a little too well against overwhelming odds), Red Star decides to switch sides, saying he no longer wants to be examined if his orders have been changed. They knock Starfire out and take her as a hostage, which makes Red Star uncomfortable. They leave, but Cyborg sees them taking off with Starfire and hitches a ride, 
since it’s obvious something heavy is going down. Red Star admits he didn’t really want to be examined by the Americans and is glad his orders have changed. What he doesn’t know is that Hammer and Sickle aren’t working for Gorbachev (who gave Red Star his original orders), but for his political rivals, who don’t like the new friendliness between America and the USSR … and who have ordered Hammer and Sickle to kill Red Star and frame the Americans to restart the Cold War.
Suicide Squad #18 – “Manhattan Massacre” – John Ostrander/Luke McDonnell/Bob Lewis
Last issue, the international terrorists known as the Jihad showed up in New York to spread some chaos and the Suicide Squad defied orders to go after them. This issue starts with Colonel Flagg handing out assignments, unaware that their other teammate Nightshade is on her way to join them. Flagg drops Captain Boomerang at the World Trade Center, where he’s immediately confronted by Ifrit, a digitized killer. Ifrit takes the form of Mindboggler and accuses Boomerang of letting her be killed (in issue 2), which freaks him out. Flagg notices
Rustam cutting the cables on the Brooklyn Bridge and goes after him. Their fight ends up destabilizing the Bridge and they both plunge into the water. At Grand Central, Vixen finds dozens of dead bodies and wonders who could’ve caused such carnage. With her dying breath, a woman gasps something about a child and Vixen figures she wants her to save a child, but the woman was trying to warn her that the child (Badb) was actually responsible for their deaths. When Vixen sees Badb and tries to help her, she’s surprised by the ten-year-old terrorist, who uses her mental powers to attack. On Fifth Avenue, 
Shade runs into the undead army of Koschei, who try to add him to their ranks. Duchess finds Manticore in the Lincoln Tunnel and they start beating the shit out of each other, but this version of Manticore is tougher than the original and their fight breaches the Tunnel, letting water spill in. Bronze Tiger finds Ravan at Gracie Mansion trying to kill the Mayor. Bronze Tiger takes him out easily after realizing he relies on an exoskeleton to walk (since his back was broken in their last encounter) and destroying its power source. Deadshot takes Jaculi down with a shot to the knee, killing her when she
vows to come after him again. In the Times Square subway station, Captain Cold finds Agni, whose fire powers don’t make Cold too happy. But he recovers and blasts Agni with his freezing gun. Shade uses his M-vest to create feedback, shorting out Koschei’s control over his dead minions. Duchess smashes the shit out of Manticore, ripping his tail right off (it’s later mentioned that she killed him). Nightshade rescues Vixen from Badb, using her power to manifest darkness to disorient the girl. Meanwhile, Boomerang 
is so freaked out by Ifrit’s accusations, he can’t even fight back. Flag saves his ass, using the control device for Ifrit to shut her down. Flagg found the device in Rustam’s jacket in the river, but Rustam got away. As the others report in, Boomerang thanks Flagg for saving him, but Flagg says he was more interested in getting Ifrit, who could be reprogrammed to serve them, and that he considers Boomerang a dead loss.