Legion of Super-Heroes #54 – “Strength in Numbers” – Paul Levitz/Keith Giffen/Mike DeCarlo
This one starts with Polar Boy doubting himself as leader, which he’s been doing a lot lately. He’s worried because a lot of Legionnaires (including most of the heavy hitters) are absent. His fears are justified when he gets a report of a jailbreak on Labyrinth. Apparently the Khundian Garak of the Glow (who we saw imprisoned on Labyrinth last issue) was bioengineered so the energy cells have no effect on him. He simply walks out of his cell and starts destroying things, setting
numerous other prisoners free (although he does seem to have a specific prisoner in mind … someone he loves). At the Legion Academy on Earth, Duo Damsel is testing the limits of the force-field belt Brainiac 5 gave her when he went home to Colu. The belt works pretty well for her, impressing Bouncing Boy, Shvaughn Erin, and the cadets. On Labyrinth, the escaped prisoners try to break into the armoury (led by some members of the Legion of Super-Villains), where the guards hope the Legion reinforcements show up soon. Garak gets closer to the prisoner he’s looking for, but runs into Ultra Boy first, blasting 
the Legionnaire and taking off. Back at Legion headquarters, Polar Boy is still second-guessing himself, but Sensor Girl shows up to reassure him (although she doesn’t volunteer to head for Labyrinth). On Labyrinth, the Legionnaires (including Wildfire, Dawnstar, and Ultra Boy) recapture some of the escapees and Ultra Boy decks Garak. Unfortunately, he’s a little too late, as Garak has already freed his girlfriend, who turns out to be Emerald Empress. I guess we know why the Emerald Eye was lurking in space last issue, and Empress soon makes contact with it. At the Academy, Duo Damsel contemplates her past and how she’s lost two of her duplicate forms, something that’s never happened to one of her kind before (and probably
should’ve killed her outright). She decides to send Brainy’s force-field belt back to him; I’m not sure if that means she’s quitting the Legion, or just scaling back her activities. On Labyrinth, more Legionnaires (Shrinking Violet, Timber Wolf, Element Lad, Phantom Girl, and Chameleon Boy) show up to stop the escapees and put them back where they belong … except Emerald Empress, who’s long gone. On Earth, Sensor Girl feels Emerald Empress’s success (which she expected) and vows the next time they meet will be the last.
New Titans #51 – “Secrets Behind the Cosmos” – Marv Wolfman/George Perez/Bob Mc/Leod
Last issue, an old woman showed up looking for Donna Troy, just in time to help the Titans fight off an attack by some weird extra-dimensional aliens. The old woman turns out to be Phoebe, the Greek Titan, and she says the Titans need Donna’s help to keep them from dying. Phoebe is in bad shape, so the Titans put her on life support and Jericho uses his power to go inside her body to stabilize her long enough to tell her story. Phoebe
tells them how the Greek Titans were born of Chaos and Gaea, how they ruled the world until they were overthrown by Zeus, and how they were exiled into space. They eventually landed on a moon which they called New Chronus, and transformed into a new home. They used their powers to raise the primitive aliens up, giving them knowledge and aid to become civilized. Phoebe admits they may have made a mistake, giving the aliens power and knowledge without also giving guidance. Rhea (whose husband Cronus was killed by Zeus) banged various aliens and gave birth to the demi-gods, who ended up rebelling and wiping 
out most of the civilization. The Titans’ powers were waning and they could no longer have children, so Rhea sent her consciousness across the galaxy to find children on the point of death who could be brought back to New Chronus and raised to take the Titans’ place. Donna was one of those children. She and the others were brought back to New Chronus, where the remaining Titans built a paradise and raised the children, giving them super-powers and teaching them. They were sent back to their home planets with their memories altered (to keep them from feeling superior to their own kind), but after a
certain amount of time, they’d be recalled to New Chronus to take the Titans’ place. But one of the children (Sparta), who was from the ravaged planet the Titans abandoned, remembered everything and went nuts. She conquered the planet and tried to wipe out the Titans, but they were still strong enough to repel her. Sparta sent out assassins to find the children raised by the Titans (the “Seeds”) and kill them. Every Seed that was killed increased Sparta’s power (and her madness). The Titans tried to leave their sanctuary to help the Seeds, 
but Sparta was strong enough to stop them. When only three Seeds remained alive, Phoebe did get out and made it to Earth to warn Donna, arriving just in time to help fight off the alien assassins. Just before dying, Phoebe tells Donna the Travelspheres will open a portal to the other Seeds. Phoebe’s story has unlocked Donna’s memories and she takes Phoebe’s body to the roof to give her soul to the moon. Donna’s teammates offer to go with her to find the other two Seeds, but Nightwing won’t let Danny Chase come, since he seemed to enjoy killing the aliens a bit too much. They split into two teams and use the
Travelspheres to send themselves through space. Donna’s team finds her fellow Seed on a planet with an acidic atmosphere, which kills the alien assassins as soon as they show up. The Seed (Xanthi) joins them in the Travelsphere and after communicating telepathically with Donna, remembers their childhood on New Chronus. Unfortunately, Nightwing’s team isn’t having it so easy, finding themselves facing an array of high-tech weaponry.
Suicide Squad #21 – “Rogues” – John Ostrander/Luke McDonnell/Karl Kesel
This one starts with Amanda Waller showing up at Tolliver’s office in response to his blackmail pressure. Tolliver (who used to work with the Squad) wants Waller to use the Suicide Squad to help his crony Senator Cray get re-elected, but Waller’s been putting it off and now the election is tomorrow. Tolliver says Cray’s opponent will have to be eliminated (suggesting Colonel Flag for the job), but Waller shows Tolliver some dirt she had dug up on his past. We don’t hear exactly what it is, but it’s enough to put him behind bars for twenty years.
Tolliver is pissed off but has no choice but to back down unless he wants his life ruined. He wonders what to tell Cray, but Waller says that’s his problem. Back at Belle Rêve, Nightshade talks to Colonel Flag about his moodiness lately, mentioning how his father basically committed suicide while on a mission. It sounds like Flag has the same idea, wanting to protect the Squad even if it kills him. He tells Nightshade he has a solo mission to take care of and leaves. Before she can follow, she’s confronted by June Moon, who wants Nightshade to give her Enchantress’s power again. Nightshade 
explains that the Succubus who gave June her power is stuck inside Nightshade’s body, so she can’t give the power back. June shoots her (feeling immediate remorse for it) and is shot in turn by a security guard. When Waller gets back, someone throws a pie in her face. She assumes it’s Captain Boomerang, but he gets a pie in the face too, so she figures it’s someone else. The doctor tells Waller that June is undergoing withdrawal; having the Enchantress powers taken from her has screwed her up, even though she wanted rid of them. Nightshade warns Waller about Flag’s solo mission to “save the Squad” and Waller realizes where he’s headed, but it’s too late to stop him.
In Washington, Tolliver is planning to release info on the Suicide Squad, letting Cray take the credit for it. He also plans to kill Cray (to keep him quiet and to make it look like the Squad killed him in retaliation), but Flag shows up and blows Tolliver away. Flag heads out to kill Cray and we see the press release on Tolliver’s desk; I’m not sure if someone will find it and publish it anyway, but it seems negligent of Flag to just leave it lying there. Maybe Waller will get to it before anyone else finds Tolliver’s body.