Justice League International Annual #2 – “Hit or Miss” – Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis/Bill Willingham/Joe Rubenstein
This one starts with Rumaan Harjavti (dictator of Bialya) rummaging through Maxwell Lord’s destroyed office for something that might help him strike back against the Justice League. But someone else had the same idea … the Joker. He’s found Max’s Rolodex, hoping there’s a clue to Batman’s identity in it. Harjavti proposes a trade-off: if Joker eliminates the JLI, Harjavti will use all his resources to narrow down the possibilities of Batman’s secret identity. Meanwhile in suburbia, Scott (Mr. Miracle) Free and his wife Big Barda are
getting ready to host a barbecue for the rest of the Justice League. They’re both a little out of their element, since Barda has no clue how to cook and Scott can’t even get the barbecue put together. (Barda does spend the entire issue in a bikini, which is probably gratuitous fan-service … but she does look pretty good.) Green Flame and Icemaiden head out to a modelling agency, hoping to get discovered. We see that Joker is watching all the JLI members closely, having his operatives follow them everywhere. In Paris, Blue Beetle and Booster Gold say 
farewell to Catherine Cobert (and we see Booster’s still embarrassed about her rejecting him earlier) and head back to New York. They discuss their lack of finances and decide to work for a repo agency (inspired by Oberon mentioning that STAR Labs asked the League to retrieve some missing property), figuring their powers will give them an edge. J’onn J’onzz (morphed to look human) and Rocket Red are in Brighton Beach, where Rocket connects with some fellow Russian transplants. J’onn realizes they’re being followed, but decides not to mind-probe their shadow, assuming he’s
probably a reporter. Back in the burbs, Guy Gardner (who’s still in his Pollyanna phase here) offers to help set up the barbecue, but it doesn’t go well. Beetle and Booster convince a repo agency to give them a trial run (the STAR Labs job) and head to the Warehouse District, unaware that Joker’s man is following. Joker goes to Brighton Beach to kill Rocket Red, but changes his mind when he finds Red in a restaurant full of people … apparently, Joker doesn’t want to waste all those people for free. Booster and Beetle find the missing STAR Labs tank in a warehouse, but Booster realizes it was stolen by the 1000. They 
break in to steal it back, giving Joker’s henchman time to plant a bomb in their car. But Beetle accidentally blows the car up with the tanks cannon, screwing up Joker’s murder plot. (Joker blames his henchman for the problems and strangles him.) The noise alerts the 1000, who chase after Booster and Beetle, who take off in the stolen tank. Green Flame and Icemaiden leave the modelling agency (where Icemaiden was hired immediately and Flame was told her look is “dated”) and stop for a hot dog. Joker tries to shoot them, but Flame drops her purse and the shot misses when they both bend to pick it up. Joker takes off (after killing another assistant) and heads for his next
target. J’onn and Rocket Red prepare to head for the barbecue and Joker’s man overhears them, informing his boss about the gathering. In the suburbs, Beetle and Booster show up in the tank with Green Flame and Icemaiden (who they picked up at the Embassy) to enjoy the party. Since they had trouble contacting Batman, they use the JLI signal device to “invite” him. But Joker shows up first, commandeering the tank and threatening to bow everyone away. Before he can, the 1000 show up to reclaim their (stolen) property, which convinces Joker that he must be jinxed. While trying to flee, Joker 
smashes a neighbour’s house and Barda freaks out. She pounds the 1000 and she and J’onn smash the tank (which means no commission for Beetle and Booster). Joker considers using the tank’s self-destruct, but figures it probably wouldn’t work with the day he’s having. Batman shows up, but when he sees the chaos he just turns around and leaves … with Joker running after him, begging to be taken back to Arkham. A couple weeks later, Harjavti reads about Joker’s capture in the papers, but is startled when the Clown Prince shows up in his office.
Noticeable Things:
- This story obviously takes place before Harjavti is killed in issue 16. In fact, it has to happen between issue 14 (since green Flame and Icemaiden are on the team) and issue 15 (where Scott is shanghaied into space).
Suicide Squad Annual #1 – “Ghosts and Shadows” – John Ostrander/Graham Nolan/Timothy Dzon
This story is about the clash between two super-secret organizations: Suicide Squad and Argent. We start with a history lesson about how both teams were formed to fill the void after the JSA disbanded in the early 1950s. Task Force X (as Suicide Squad was known then) was headed by J.E.B. Stuart, of Haunted Tank fame, while Argent was led by a mysterious guy known as Control. When Kennedy was assassinated, Control uncovered evidence that a small, hostile neighbouring country (which I assume means Cuba) was behind it, in retaliation for a rogue CIA agent trying to kill their
president. Control confronted the rogue agent and had him killed, but Argent went underground, erasing all traces of their existence while continuing to operate behind the scenes. But now Argent has decided the new Suicide Squad is more of a threat than an asset and wants to wipe them out. Manhunter (the Mark Shaw version) got Anna-Marie Vere away from argent and she told them about Control’s plans to eliminate them … and since Control is her grandfather, she probably knows what she’s talking about. Waller figures they should hit Argent in a pre-emptive strike and take out Control. She sends 
Nightshade and Nemesis ahead to scout the target, an old college campus that supposedly houses a cult. If you’re thinking this whole thing sounds like a set-up, you’re not alone; Waller and Flag both assume it’s a trap, but Flag figures they can trigger the trap and still achieve their objectives. Flag, Bronze Tiger, Duchess, Vixen, Shade, Captain Boomerang, and Manhunter go in undercover as a survey team and a couple of government officials complaining about quotas (although Boomerang almost screws it up by heading off to hit on some girls). They plant some bugs and get out, regrouping to prepare for their night assault. They make it inside and find a huge
underground complex, but are surprised to find there aren’t many people there. They find some guards and take them out, but they turn out to be Kobra cultists, which means the whole thing was a set-up. Meanwhile, real Argent agents hit Belle Rêve, “rescuing” Anna-Marie and sending a hit team to assassinate Waller as she heads home in her car. The hit looks successful, as Waller is shot down at a roadblock, but it turns out she anticipated the move and sent Nemesis (disguised as her) in her place, and the extra padding he wore for the disguise stopped the bullets. Anna-Marie and her 
Argent pals board a plane for New York, but they don’t know Nightshade has snuck onto the plane too. When Flag hears about the assassination attempt on Waller, he orders the team to pull out. They blast some more Kobra cultists and Flag lands a plane on the football field to extract them, heading for New York right away. When Anna-Marie and the Argent agents reach their hideout, she goes to tell her grandfather what happened. But the Suicide Squad busts in and Nightshade reveals that Control is dead … and has been for at least five years. Turns out Anna-Marie has been giving orders in her grandfather’s name because she’s the only one who understood his vision. The other Argent agents admit that they’re the only ones left, and now that Control is gone … so is Argent. There’s a back-up story about Amanda Waller dealing
with an unexpected visit from her daughter Sereetha, who seems like a bit of a problem child who only gets in touch when she wants something. Sereetha’s having trouble with her husband (a linebacker who treats her like crap), but Waller straightens them out by threatening to move in with them and make their lives a living hell.