New Titans #63 – “Into the Darkness” – Marv Wolfman/Tom Grummett/Bob McLeod
This one starts with Deathstroke (aka Terminator) breaking into Gar (Changeling) Logan’s room and holding a knife to his throat. Deathstroke isn’t there to threaten Gar, just to let him know that he has reasons for trying to kill Lanier and his lycanthropic friends (as we saw last issue). Gar tells the rest of the Titans, who are at the hospital where Troia is recovering from a lycanthrope attack. The Titans aren’t inclined to trust the Terminator, but they do want to get the creatures that hurt Troia. Meanwhile, Terminator has tracked Lanier (in
his wererat form), who’s interrogating a punk named McGuffy. Lanier kills McGuffy and we see that he and the other were-creatures (including their leader, some kind of cloaked, wizened vampire) have a serum that can revive their kills as zombie-like slaves. They plan to use it to recruit more followers, so Terminator decides he needs help to stop them. He calls the Titans to show them the lycanthropes hideout and explains how he was hired to smuggle their serum into the country. (He thought it was non-FDA compliant meds.) They see the were-creatures give the serum to a fresh kill and Terminator tells them that once the victim’s blood has been drained and replaced by the serum, there’s no 
saving them … they have to be killed. A werewolf attacks, biting Raven before being blasted by Starfire. That doesn’t stop the creature, so Starfire burns it to a crisp. They take Raven to hospital and call STAR Labs for help, but they have trouble matching Raven’s otherworldly blood. Terry comes to see Donna and is freaked out by her injuries. One of the were-creatures (in human form) replaces a doctor and gives Raven some of the serum. Jericho jumps him and he turns into a werebat, slicing Jericho up and using the serum on him too. The Titans show up, but the werebat gets away by using an innocent bystander as a distraction. Jericho is put on life support and we see that the serum is already starting to affect Raven.
Legion of Super-Heroes #4 – (No Title) – Tom and Mary Bierbaum/Keith Giffen/Al Gordon
This one starts with a quick vignette from Talok VIII, with Shadow Lass still in mourning for Mon-El (although he died five years ago) and being replaced as planetary protector by her cousin. But as we saw last issue, Mon-El may not be quite so dead after all. On Shanghalla (the cemetery asteroid), Mon-El has been resurrected, but it seems like he has multiple voices inside his head. Besides his own there’s the voice of his “father” (Time Trapper) and one of his ancestors (Eltro Gand, who once sacrificed his life to revive Mon-El), all of which gets very confusing at times. But basically Time Trapper left a small piece of his
own essence inside Mon-El just in case the Legion succeeded in destroying him (which they supposedly did). So to revive himself, Time Trapper first had to revive Mon-El, who goes to Talok VIII first to see Shadow Lass and tells her they need to go see Brainiac 5 (which plays right into Time Trapper’s plan). Brainy realizes there are two (or three) brainwave patterns in Mon-El’s mind and tries to purge the one that belongs to Time Trapper. Before he can succeed, Time Trapper pulls Mon-El out of Brainy’s lab and transports him to the Pocker Universe that Time Trapper created previously, forcing Brainy’s lab assistant to attack Brainy and Shady. Time Trapper wants Mon-El’s body 
for himself and tries to eject Mon-El’s soul so he can claim it. Mon-El fights back and they start beating the shit out of each other. In Brainy’s lab, Shadow Lass kills their controlled adversary, which leaves them at a loss as to where to find Mon-El. Meanwhile, Mon-El has realized that if he attacks fast enough, Time Trapper won’t have time to regenerate his form and Mon-El can actually destroy him. But Time Trapper tells him that his existence has been keeping Mordru in check; Mordru was destined to rule the universe for a millennium, so Time Trapper created the Pocket Universe (and Superboy and Mon-El) to inspire the people of the 30th Century … especially R.J. Brande when he created the
Legion. Time Trapper knew the Legion could thwart Mordru, but they ended up being powerful enough to stop him too, so he opposed them. But now if Mon-El destroys him, the original timeline will be restored; the Legion will never have existed (because there was no Pocket Universe) and Mordru will be ruling the cosmos. Despite Time Trapper’s warning, Mon-El destroys him and immediately rewrites the history of the universe. We’ll see the consequences of that next issue.
Suicide Squad #38 – “Caging the Tiger” – John Ostrander, Robert Greenberger/Luke McDonnell/Geoff Isherwood
This one starts with the leaders of the Loa (a voodoo-themed criminal organization based in New Orleans) giving some inside information to a reporter about the Suicide Squad. (Namely, that the Squad is still being run by Amanda Waller and is still working for the government.) The Loa have a new scheme going to distribute a highly addictive cocaine derivative that turns its users into mindless slaves that the Loa an command. (they use the term “zuvembie” which I assume is a nod to Marvel.) In Washington, Ben (Bronze Tiger) Turner has been called before a panel to answer for his
disobedience of orders a couple issues ago when he took the remaining Squad members to Apokolips to rescue their teammates. The panel (consisting of Sarge Steel, King Faraday, Colonel Stoneman, and an agent named Griswold) recap Bronze Tiger’s history and how he came to join the Suicide Squad. Faraday is the only one who thinks Turner is a good operative; the others are worried about his loyalties (since he doesn’t like being ordered to kill) and his stability (since he was once brainwashed by the League of Assassins). They’ve decided to push him to see if he’ll snap, but Faraday doesn’t want 
to be part of it. As he’s leaving, Faraday warns Ben to be careful. (Faraday also points out that the reason the government doesn’t trust Turner or Waller might be because they’re black and established power structures don’t like sharing their power.) At Belle Rêve, the doctor tells Jewellee she’s pregnant and Waller informs Oracle (who she still doesn’t know is Barbara Gordon) about Flo’s death. In Washington, Ben tells the panel why he disobeyed orders and says things basically turned out all right. Sarge Steel starts pushing him, reminding him that he’s killed people in the past (including his mother’s abusive boyfriend), so why should he hesitate now? Ben explains how he embraced rage and violence and turned to martial arts as a way of
keeping that side of him in check. He still feels the thrill of battle but now knows how to control it. Sarge Steel brings out Ben’s old Bronze Tiger mask and asks him to put it on. Ben explains that the Sensei (leader of the League of Assassins) used the mask to channel Ben’s rage, almost giving him a separate personality. When Bronze Tiger was hurting and killing people, Ben could pretend that it was someone else to escape his guilt. When Waller recruited him, she broke him of that and he burned the mask, vowing not to kill anymore (although I think he has killed on Squad missions). Steel insists 
Ben put the replica mask on to see what happens. Steel thinks Ben still enjoys fighting, hurting people, even killing, and if he puts the mask on again, that side of him will emerge. Ben snaps and admits that does still love the violence, tearing the mask apart and running off, followed by Vixen (who came to support him). The panel decides that neither Ben nor Waller can be trusted now and that the Squad should be shut down forever. We’ll see if that happens next issue.