Wonder Woman #25 – “The Burning School” – George Perez/Chris Marrinan/Will Blyberg
This is an Invasion crossover that coordinates with JLI 22, repeating a number of scenes from that issue (which is why Giffen and DeMatteis get a special mention in the credits). This one opens with Lieutenant Etta Candy running for her life on a small Pacific island. Etta was assigned to a radio post and detected transmissions from the invading alien vessels. Her superiors weren’t sure whether to believe her or not, but when the aliens came in and started blasting, they figured out it was for real. Now Etta is running from Khunds, trying to protect the info she got about
the aliens, which she’s managed to decode. On Paradise Island, the Amazons feel the effects of the Invasion, even though they’re cut off from Patriarch’s World. The oracle Menalippe feels it the most, warning Diana that someone is trying to break through the divine portal and invade Themiscyra. Diana goes up to check and runs right into some alien ships, one of which makes it through the portal. Diana realizes she’s fighting Thanagarians and takes out a couple more ships, accidentally making them crash into each other and explode. She goes to 
find the other ship, now caught in the maelstrom inside the portal, but when she tries to save them, they attack her and are blown up by lightning. Diana realizes Earth is in trouble and heads out to help. She meets with Steve Trevor, General Hillary, and Black Canary at Julia Kapatelis’s house and they tell her about the invasion, and that Etta is in trouble. Wonder Woman heads to the Pacific to find Etta, meeting the Justice League (which we already saw in that comic). While the JLI delay the Khunds, Wonder Woman will head to the island to find Etta, taking Rocket Red and Guy Gardner with her. (Guy doesn’t really want to help a pacifist like Wonder Woman, but Fire and Ice talk him
into it, hoping Wonder Woman can knock some of the attitude out of him.) They head to the island and run into Khund warships immediately. When Guy blasts one of the ships, Wonder Woman restrains him with her lasso and they argue about war and peace. Rocket Red goes after more Khund ships, but he’s still getting used to his new armour from Apokolips, so he ends up getting shot down. Etta emerges from the jungle and Wonder Woman flies down to get her, but the Khunds fire a blast to eliminate Etta. Guy ends up saving her with a 
force-field and Wonder Woman destroys the attacking ship to save them, although she’s not happy about it. Rocket Red manages to take out some Khund ground troops without killing them and Wonder Woman is glad to be reunited with Etta. We end with another scene from JLI 22, with Diana and J’onn J’onzz lamenting having to kill their foes, and wishing their allies didn’t seem to enjoy it so much.
Firestorm #80 – “The Battle Joined” – Robert Greenberger/Tom Grindberg/Sam De La Rosa
This is another Invasion crossover and it starts with Easy Company (a modern version, not the Sergeant Rock one) fighting Khunds on a Pacific island. They’re doing their best, but the alien tech is too much and they’re in danger of being wiped out. In Moscow, Mikhail returns to teaching at the university, hoping to give his students some ideas for peaceful applications of nuclear physics. In Pittsburgh, Ronnie is still feeling guilty about not being able to help the starving villagers in Ogaden. He’s begun volunteering at a homeless shelter, but figures he can’t commit
to anything more because he’s going back to Vandemeer university soon. He gets a call from a mysterious government dude who knows he’s Firestorm and orders him to get Firehawk and head to the Pacific to help fight the aliens. He wonders who the caller could be, but figures he might as well help fight the invaders and calls Lorraine Reilly. She’s been having problems as Firehawk lately (which she hasn’t told Ronnie), but agrees to help. Meanwhile, Karen Starr is having a meeting at her software company, but leaves things in Felicity’s hands so she can change to Power Girl and go fight the aliens. She 
notices Firestorm’s trail and follows him and Firehawk (who are still arguing over Firestorm’s impulsive kiss a couple issues ago). Power Girl soon realizes this isn’t the same Firestorm she knows from before, but figures any help is welcome. They run into an alien ship and board it, finding Starman (that’s the new version, not the Golden Age guy) aboard, with no memory of what’s going on. They clue him in and he agrees to help fight the aliens. Ronnie and Mikhail are giving Firestorm advice on how to make conversation (and telling him to definitely not try to kiss Power Girl), and when Mikhail sees that aliens have invaded Russia, he wants to go there to fight them. Ronnie convinces him they’re needed more in the Pacific, but
agrees to go to Russia later. We see the Khunds have captured Adam Strange and are trying to interrogate him about Earth’s defenses, but since he spends most of his time on Rann, he can’t really help them (even if he wanted to). Firestorm and company approach the island where Easy is pinned down and prepare to take on the Khunds. It kinda seems like Power Girl is attracted to Firestorm, even though he talks like a robot half the time; maybe Ronnie’s exuberance is what turned her off before. As they get closer to the island, Easy thinks they might be saved … until the Khunds blow the ship out of the sky.
Noticeable Things:
- This story is continued in Starman #5, which I don’t have. Basically, Firestorm and friends bailed out of the ship seconds before it was destroyed, and they pound the Khunds and rescue Adam Strange. That Starman issue also reveals how Starman first fought the Khunds
and ended up on one of their ships with a fucked-up memory. - Grindberg’s art is sure different from Brozowski’s. In general, I like it but some of his people are really off-model … I barely recognized Karen Starr or Felicity Raymond. And Lorraine Reilly is drawn like a teenager, even though she’s supposed to be a few years older than Ronnie.
