New Titans #68 – “New Deal” – Barbara and Karl Kesel/Steve Erwin/Bob Smith
This one starts with the Royal Flush Gang preparing to work for the Joker. The Royal Flushers have kinda gone downhill in the last few years: Queen is an alcoholic, Jack a fading gigolo, King and Ace (who’s human now, not a robot) are pulling small-time robberies to get by, and Ten is making like Fagin, using a gang of street kids as thieves. Joker tells them he can put them into the big time and demonstrates by shooting king to prove he has a meta-gene that keeps him from being
killed. Joker promises to outfit the rest of the Gang with high-tech weapons, although he cuts Jack’s eye out to make room for a laser eye. The Gang figure they’ve got it made, but they don’t realize their new leader isn’t really the Joker … he’s the Gambler. A month later, the Royal Flush Gang (and some of Ten’s urchins) rob a bank, but Troia shows up to confront them. The Gang works pretty well together (with Ten coordinating behind the scenes), but when Troia uses her force field, one of the junior team members gets hit by some darts fired by Queen. The rest of them take off (although Queen is too drunk to pilot one of the flying cards the Gang uses as transport) and Troia prepares to get the 
wounded girl to a hospital. But when she mumbles something about Joker, he (well, Gambler, but nobody knows that) electrocutes her remotely to keep her quiet … which doesn’t sit too well with Ten. The Titans discuss the robbery but have no way to find the Gang’s current hideout. Downtown, we see someone else is looking for the Royal Flush Gang, but in a different way: Danny Chase is ripping off stores to get Ten’s attention. It works and she asks him to join the Gang and work for Joker. Danny loves that idea, since he wants to take them down to impress the Titans into putting him back on their team. Later, the Gang trains with Danny, who (as usual) doesn’t work well with others. Ten isn’t impressed by Danny, but “Joker” orders her to take him on the next heist …
an exclusive uptown club called 21. The Titans get an alert about the Gang holding up the club and show up to confront them. That pisses Danny off, since he wants to bring the Gang (and Joker) in himself so he can look like a big hero. Danny uses his telekinetic powers to help the Gang get away, but Raven sensed his presence and tells the other Titans that one of the Royal Flush Gang is actually a friend of theirs. When the Gang get back to their hideout, Queen shows Ten an old photo of the Titans … including her newest recruit, Danny Chase.
Legion of Super-Heroes #9 – “Laurel’s Story” – Tom and Mary Bierbaum/Keith Giffen, Paris Cullins/Bob Lewis
Most of this story is told in flashback, with Roxxas reviewing a recording about the life of Laurel Gand. Basically, this is establishing the revised history of the Legion, since Laurel is a stand-in for Supergirl (who never existed in post-Crisis continuity). Laurel is a descendant of Lar Gand, a 20th Century Superboy analogue from Daxam who inspired R.J. Brande to found the Legion. Laurel isn’t from Daxam, she’s from A domed asteroid world in the Daxamite system called Ricklef-II. When she was a kid, Khunds attacked
her world and her parents were killed, but she managed to destroy 90% of the Khundish fleet. Among the few Khunds who escaped was Zaryan, who branded Laurel an enemy of the Empire and sent assassins to kill her. For her own safety, Laurel adopted a new identity (and a more nerdish look) and went to Earth to hide out. (Since Earth has a yellow sun instead of a red one like Daxam, Laurel gained super-powers from the solar radiation, although she still has to take a serum to prevent lead poisoning, something all Daxamites are susceptible to.) The fledgling Legion contacted Laurel and offered her membership. She was immediately attracted to fellow recruit Brainiac 5, 
especially after he saved her from lead poisoning. Laurel became the ninth member of the Legion (after Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy, Chameleon Boy, Triad, Phantom Girl, Colossal Boy, and Sun Boy … no Invisible Kid) and her first case was helping to track down Doyle Brande after his assassination attempt on his brother (R.J. Brande). Doyle is collaborating with Khundish spies, trading Brande Corporation secrets in return for getting him safely into hiding. The Legion track Doyle down on Rimbor, with Laurel pounding several Khunds and capturing Doyle herself. In the present, Roxxas finds out that the Earth government are looking for him, which
surprises him since they’d always turned a blind eye to his crimes before. A holo-news report mentions the Legion gathering on Winath, ostensibly for Blok’s funeral, but possibly for more than just a temporary reunion. On Winath, Salu (Shrinking Violet) Digby is terrified about seeing Rokk (Cosmic Boy) Krinn again, since their planets—Imsk and Braal—recently engaged in a bloody war … and Salu apparently helped massacre a shitload of Braalians.
Suicide Squad #43 – “Black Queen’s Mate” – John Ostrander, Kim Yale/Geof Isherwood
Last issue, the Suicide Squad (now restructured as a mercenary unit) went to Vlatava to stop the Russians from crushing revolutionaries, but certain factions in the American government prefer chaos to order in Eastern Europe, so Deadshot was hired to kill Amanda Waller. He busts in on her, but before he can pull the trigger, she offers to top whatever he’s being paid to off her (by one whole dollar!) if he goes back and shoots his current employer. Deadshot admits he was hired by William Heller (aka William Hell, the neo-Nazi asshole from issue 4), who’s the one behind the whole Vlatava mess, and
agrees to go back to Washington and shoot him. In the rebel camp, the revolutionaries have been using Count Vertigo as a figurehead to get public support, pumping him full of drugs to counteract his natural mood swings. But the drugs are driving him over the edge so he’s no longer in touch with reality. Poison Ivy slips into his tent and uses one of her poisonous kisses to take control of him. Naturally, she sees that as an opportunity to run Vlatava using him as a puppet. After being captured last issue, Batman is tied up and unmasked by Zastrow and Blue Trinity, but it turns out to be Captain Boomerang under the mask. I thought Batman went down a little too easily 
last issue. The real Batman is still in Washington and saves Colonel Stoneman from an assassination attempt, supposedly by the KGB. But Batman has traced the leak in Sarge Steel’s office to Stoneman, so he knows the Russian angle is just a front. He also knows Stoneman is the one who brought Stalnoivolk over to kill Varga, so he forces Stoneman to tell him who he’s working for. In Vlatava, Bronze Tiger is still in berzerker mode and goes after Stalnoivolk, taking him down (with a little help from Vixen). Zastrow tries to figure out why Captain Boomerang was used as a decoy Batman, but Waller shows up to have a chat with him. She shows him a note with the name of the person
behind the whole scheme and Zastrow agrees to pull his metahumans out of Vlatava now that Vertigo is no longer leading the revolution. Kaligari, the current dictator of Vlatava who asked for Russian intervention, is listening through microphones in the interrogation room. But he’s so fascinated by the conversation, he doesn’t notice Ravan sneaking up to strangle him. Zastrow agrees to pull his forces out of Vlatava, and Ivy changes her mind about ruling the country when Waller points out what shitty economic shape it’s in. Zastrow also agrees to let Stalnoivolk be extradited to the States for Vargas’s murder, and Boomerang thanks him by decking him. In Washington, Deadshot shows up at Heller’s office to kill him but Batman 
arrives to stop him. Deadshot does shoot Heller, but only to wound him since Waller told him to “shoot” not “kill”. Later, Waller tells Batman and Sarge Steel the name on the paper she gave Zastrow was … Zastrow. He started the whole mess with the intent of letting the Red Shadows take the blame, embarrassing Gorbachev and setting him up to be replaced by an old-school hardliner. Batman points out that guys like Zastrow and Heller are dinosaurs clinging to the past, afraid to face a future without a Cold War. Waller says the new mercenary Suicide Squad will be needed more than ever in that world.