Green Arrow #20 – “The Trial of Green Arrow Part 2” – Mike Grell/Ed Hannigan/Dick Giordano, Frank McLaughlin
Last issue, Oliver (Green Arrow) Queen shot a kid who was aiming a paint gun at a cop, thinking it was a real gun. The kid lived and Green Arrow was cleared (since the cop also tried to shoot the kid and missed), but the judge gave him shit for being a reckless vigilante and Green Arrow’s guilt drove him to drink heavily. This issue starts with Egan (the veteran cop who almost shot the kid) wondering why he missed his shot, but glad he did since the kid wasn’t
really a threat. Other cops are wary of Egan, thinking he might be a liability, but his rookie partner (Stankowski) trusts him. Meanwhile, Oliver wakes up at a campsite near Mount Rainier with his old pal Hal (Green Lantern) Jordan. Hal wants to help Oliver get past his guilt, but Oliver prefers to wallow in it, when he’s not drowning his sorrows in booze. Oliver is questioning whether he fights crime for the right reasons, or whether he maybe just does it for the thrill. Hal reminds him that he’s human like everyone else and bound to make mistakes. Hal gets a little harsh, which brings on some good old-fashioned male 
bonding … by which I mean they proceed to beat the shit out of each other. Naturally, it works. Back in Seattle, Egan and Stankowski respond to a gang fight and chase a kid who runs off. Egan confronts him, but this kid isn’t carrying a paint gun and when Egan hesitates, the kid shoots him. Stankowski shoots the kid in turn and Egan is rushed to hospital. Green Arrow goes to visit and tells Egan that he’s realized the world needs people like him as long as there’s a difference between law and justice. Egan dies and Green Arrow heads home to thank Dinah for calling Hal.
Young All-Stars #27 – “Meanwhile” – Roy and Dann Thomas/David Simons/Bob Downs
This issue is basically Fury documenting the recent whereabouts and adventures of almost every member of the All-Star Squadron. She starts with her own Young All-Star teammates and their international counterparts: Flying Fox went north to check on his people; Dyna-Mite headed to south America to join his parents; Iron Munro is searching for his father, Hugo Danner; Tigress disappeared after being resurrected by Gudra and turning into an asshole; Neptune Perkins and Tsunami are still on the run after attacking some MPs last issue; and
Fireball, Kuei, and Phantasmo are all headed back to their respective homelands to fight the Axis. Fury then records the adventures of numerous other All-Stars, some in more detail than others. She starts with Squire helping Shining Knight and the other Seven Soldiers of Victory fight the Skull. Zatara and Sargon take down some local thugs, while Manhunter deals with some U-Boats. Hourman takes out some crooks using a giant bell as a weapon, while Johnny Quick helps save an animated movie about himself after a fire. Green Lantern, Air Wave, Mr. Terrific, and Wildcat deal with more mundane threats, while 
Tarantula fights the Fly. Guardian, Whip, Flash, Amazing Man, and Robotman also pound various bad guys in their own ways. Later, Tarantula, Firebrand, Johnny Quick, and Liberty Belle go to a secret military base to see off Mr. America, who’s been given intensive training (and the new name of Americommando) to operate behind enemy lines in Europe. (Mr. America’s sidekick the Fatman offers to join the All-Stars, but they’re not too enthused about that idea.) We get a brief mention of the Freedom Fighters, Plastic Man, and the Blackhawks before moving on to the core of the Squadron, the Justice Society. The JSA have found a way to deliver a lot of food to civilians and resistance fighters in Europe (by carrying it in the form of concentrated
food pills) and they draw lots to see who’ll go where. Sandman and Sandy draw Greece and Fury wants to go with them, until she’s reminded about the Axis spell that turns any magic-based hero evil as soon as they enter Europe. Fury is pissed off about not being able to help her people directly and Phantasmo gives her the old “They also serve who only stand and wait” speech. On the letters page, there’s a rundown of all the original sources for the stories referenced in this issue.
Suicide Squad #31 – “Acts of Contrition” – John Ostrander, Kim Yale/John K. Snyder III
This is another downtime issue (referred to as Personal Files), this time with Father Craemer as the main character. Craemer is trying to help the members of the team using his own faith as a guide, even though most of them aren’t necessarily religious. Craemer starts out preparing to hold a service, but gets called away to sit in on an interrogation of a captured thug. The guy says he works for a criminal organization called the Loa, but Amanda Waller doesn’t believe him since the Loa was something she made up to trick Captain Boomerang into revealing his masquerade as Mirror Master. But the thug says the Loa is a
real organization and sent Waller a dream to make her think they were fake. She still doesn’t believe it … until the guy spontaneously combusts. Sarge Steel tells them to find out everything they can about the Loa and Craemer notes that Waller doesn’t really give a damn about the dead thug because she’s still pissed off about having to take orders from Steel. Craemer counsels Mitch (the mechanic, who recently came out) on how to deal with his son, who’s having a hard time getting used to his father being gay. Craemer tries to push Major Victory into getting past his anger at the Squad (to 
whom he’s been assigned) over the fact that they killed off the rest of the Force of July. Victory can’t let his anger go and starts a brawl with Dr. Light and Duchess in the cafeteria. The fight breaks up when Jewellee comes in, having been hit by the mysterious pie-thrower who’s lurking around headquarters. That makes everyone laugh their asses off, including her husband Punch. When Captain Boomerang tries to commiserate with her (having been one of the first to get pied), Punch gets jealous and goes after Boomerang. That fight is broken up when Dr. Light shows up with pie on his face, but the others soon realize he did it himself to try to fit in. In the confusion, Craemer finds a list dropped by Duchess with all the Squad members’ names on it, each with “yes”, “no”, or “possible” written next to it.
Craemer talks with Count Vertigo, who’s been diagnosed manic-depressive, so he swings between Mania (his supervillain exploits) and depression when he seriously considers suicide (which explains why he doesn’t mind being part of the Squad). Later, Mary White (the Squad doctor and Amanda Waller’s older sister) confides in Craemer that she’s worried about Waller. Mary tells him Waller used to be a good person (although stubborn and full of pride), but after seeing half her family killed, she turned hard just to get through it. Now Mary worries that Waller’s toughness and anger will fester into hate and end up destroying her. Craemer goes to see Waller, running into Dr. Light on 
the way, who got pied for real (but is still pissed off because he knows no one will believe he didn’t do it himself). Craemer tells Waller that she needs to ease up a bit and points out that she’s always surrounded herself with people she knew could keep her in check, curb her natural tendency to go overboard, like Mary, Lagrieve, Nightshade, Rick Flag. But most of them are gone now, so maybe Waller needs to learn how to put the brakes on herself. Craemer assumed Waller would dismiss his idea outright, but she actually seems to take it seriously, making him think that he may really be making a difference in his job after all.