Wonder Woman #24 – “Combat Zone” – George Perez/Will Blyberg
Last issue, Hermes came to Earth to revive the worship of the Greek gods by humanity. His method of attracting followers was to dole out temporary miracles, ensuring humans would continue their adoration in the hopes of earning more favours. Diana was troubled by Hermes’ methods, but decided to follow him anyway, which pissed Julia off. But Hermes’ overconfidence got him in trouble when he was lured into a trap by a woman who turned out to be Euryale, the Gorgon. She was working
with Phobos to get hold of Hermes’ Caduceus (and his winged helm) so they could use the staff to free Ixion, described as the world’s first mass murderer. Phobos uses the staff to break Ixion’s chains (which were forged by Hermes eons ago) and Ixion rises in the middle of Boston, ready to rain destruction on everyone he sees. Between the giant Ixion’s rampage, Phobos’s fear, and Euryale turning people to stone, things quickly degenerate into chaos. A TV crew gets live footage of the devastation and Vanessa sees it at home, alerting her mom (who recognizes Phobos). Hermes realizes his own 
arrogance has allowed Ixion’s return, but without his staff he’s almost powerless, held in Ixion’s hand like a doll. Hermes does manage to send his consciousness out to contact Diana, who’s swimming at Hermes’ temple in New Hampshire. She heads back to Boston as fast as she can go. On the opposite side of the world, Etta Candy is monitoring strange signals from outer space and manages to decode them, but her triumph doesn’t last long since the messages look like invasion plans. (I assume this is setting up the Invasion crossover that’s coming up.) Wonder Woman pounds Phobos and ties him with her Lasso of Truth, negating his fear powers (since they’re based on lies) and taking him out of the fight. She distracts Ixion until he drops
Hermes and drags the giant to a deserted spot where they can fight without danger to innocents. Euryale can’t undo the Lasso and Hermes takes advantage of her distraction to regain his Caduceus and decapitate her. He threatens to kill Phobos too if he doesn’t tell Hermes how to get rid of Ixion. Wonder Woman’s fight with Ixion is getting intense and he refuses to return to Tartarus, preferring death … which Diana’s not willing to give him. Hermes says he can bind Ixion again and sentence him to eternal torment, but since the gods took Tartarus with them when they went in search of a new site for Olympus, Hermes says Ixion will have to be imprisoned beneath 
Paradise Island. Diana says the Amazons have only recently finished suffering for their own sins, they shouldn’t have to suffer for his. The decision is taken out of their hands when Ixion breaks loose and a squadron of jet fighters comes in to blow him away. Diana goes to see Julia and apologizes for blindly following Hermes, even when she knew his way was wrong. Julia apologizes too and blames her recent bitchiness on menopause, which seems a little strange. Diana admits she gave Hermes shit and it seemed to devastate him and Julia points out that he was probably in love with her, something Diana hadn’t noticed.
Firestorm #79 – “Exile From Eden” – John Ostrander/Joe Brozowski/Sam De La Rosa
Over the last two issues, Firestorm went to Ogaden (in East Africa) hoping to use his powers in a positive way. He ended up turning a section of desert land into a fertile patch of ground, growing a veritable jungle overnight. But the local government and the rebel warlord (Colonel Assagai) both wanted the newly fertile land (or wanted to keep it from their enemies), so they both came in with guns blazing. Assagai’s rebels attacked the village, taking prisoners (including Ed Raymond) and leaving Ronnie and his new friend Jama for dead. The government forces bombed the village and Jama tried to save Ronnie’s life,
but ended up getting drawn into the Firestorm matrix with Ronnie and Mikhail when it formed. Firestorm took out the attacking government planes and went to look for Ed and the other prisoners, who are being used as pack mules for Assagai’s supplies. Sister Agnes urges Ed to escape and let the world know what’s happening. (She figures the American government will support Assagai—no matter what he does—because he’s an anti-communist.) Ed gets away, but gives himself up to keep Agnes from being shot. Before Assagai can kill Ed and Agnes, Firestorm shows up to scare the rebels off with fire. He’s ready to kill Assagai, but Agnes talks him out of it, pointing 
out that changing the land is easy but changing people’s hearts is the harder path. Firestorm agrees to walk that path, but does melt all the rebels’ guns before letting Assagai go. Firestorm splits into three and Jama (who was shot before becoming part of Firestorm) dies in Ronnie’s arms, something Mikhail can feel all the way in Moscow. Ronnie tells Ed and Felicity what happened and says he wants to change his own life and help people as much as he can without being Firestorm. He starts by going into a slum and giving his coat to a homeless guy and the issue ends with what reads like a public service announcement to “Make the Change”.
Warlord #133 – “The Death-Knell of the Universe” – Michael Fleisher/Jan Duursema/Tom Mandrake
Last issue, the evil sorceress Khnathaiti summoned the cosmic worm Anu to destroy the universe. Anu is fated to wipe out the cosmos eons from now, but Khnathaiti’s magic has accelerated the timetable. Travis Morgan and Aoife met a sorcerer named Ishum, who told them about Anu and offered to guide them through myriad dimensions to find a magic horn that can put Anu back to sleep until his appointed time. Unfortunately, the horn is in the possession of Yk’kphat, a capricious god who enjoys
accumulating treasures. As they traverse another dimension, Morgan and company spot a guy about to be devoured by monsters and save his life. He turns out to be a thief called Guernon Darkmoon and Ishum figures he can help them steal the horn from Yk’kphat. This whole thing has a very D&D feel to it, with the party suddenly gaining a thief (who immediately starts bickering with Aoife). In Shamballah, Anu’s passage through the dimensional barriers has allowed monsters to enter Skartaris. Jennifer, Machiste, Shakira, and Masaq (the guard captain) fight off the monsters as best they can, while 
Jennifer worries that Khnathaiti’s spell might herald the end of everything, like her prophecy indicated. Between dimensions, Darkmoon tries to leave when he finds out the entire universe is at stake, but he’s attacked by a crystal dragon and Aoife has to save him. In Yk’kphat’s realm, he plays with the horn while Tara’s soul watches from inside a strand of pearls around the god’s neck. (Tara’s soul was sold to Yk’kphat last issue by a slaver who received her soul from Khnathaiti.) Aoife has a vision of Tara’s soul inside the necklace, but hesitates to tell Morgan because she has the hots for him (and apparently
fails to notice that Darkmoon is now interested in her). In Shamballah, Jennifer summons help from some demons, promising them anything they ask in return for fighting Khnathaiti for her, but they all perish as soon as they touch Anu. In Yk’kphat’s palace, Aoife and Darkmoon head for the treasury, while Morgan and Ishum try to keep Yk’kphat occupied. Yk’kphat summons some monsters to fight them. In the treasury, Aoife’s sword is destroyed by wraiths but she and Darkmoon find the horn. They’re attacked by a giant 
serpent, but Darkmoon sacrifices himself to save Aoife and she takes off with the horn. Aoife finds Morgan and Ishum in the throne room, fighting off Yk’kphat’s demons. She tells Morgan about Tara being trapped in the necklace and Morgan shatters the pearls, freeing not only Tara’s soul, but a number of other renowned warriors. Ishum opens a portal and Aoife stays behind to cover their retreat, giving Morgan the horn. In Shamballah, Ishum tries to sound the horn, but it turns out to be a fake, conjured from Yk’kphat’s form, and it melts in Ishum’s hand. Morgan prepares to lead the
others in a charge against the worm, but Anu begins spewing fire through the dimensions, followed by ice, and then turning people to stone (just as Jennifer’s prophecy said). Before they can figure out what to do, Aoife comes through a portal with the real horn, but Ishum is blasted before he can sound it. Morgan gets the horn and is grabbed by Anu but manages to blow the horn, sending Anu back to its long slumber. Jennifer finds Khnathaiti has been turned to stone, a victim of the very doom she summoned. Aoife tells Morgan that Yk’kphat 
gave her the real horn when he realized she was trying to save the universe, but he wants all the freed warriors back in the necklace. Aoife offers to take Tara’s place, since it’s obvious Morgan still loves her. Jennifer casts a spell to reunite Tara’s soul with her preserved bod and we get a happy ending … and it really is the end, since this is the final issue of Warlord. It kinda wandered away from the original concept and turned into a D&D pastiche, but it was a pretty good series overall, with some cool characters.