Comics Reviews: Legion 10, Suicide Squad 44

Legion of Super-Heroes 10 coverLegion of Super-Heroes #10 – (Roxxas Strikes) – Tom and Mary Bierbaum/Keith Giffen/Al Gordon

This one starts with a disguised Roxxas arriving on Winath where the ex-Legionnaires are congregating. Roxxas knows the Legion might re-form and come after him for killing Blok, so he’s decided to strike at them first. He goes along on a tour group to get close to Garth and Imra’s place. (That’s Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl, in case you didn’t know.) Other Legionnaires are arriving and greeting each other, and Ayla (Lightning Lass) Ranzz starts feeling nostalgic for the old days. Celeste Rockfish (the reporter from Metropolis) wants the scoop on Roxxas, butMekt tries to fight Roxxas Chameleon Boy warns her to stay out of danger. Bounty detects Roxxas’s presence and starts tracking him, leaving Devlin O’Ryan in the forest full of giant bees. Roxxas gets into the Ranzz house and runs into Mekt, Garth’s brother. Roxxas recognizes him as Lightning Lord and, not knowing he’s reformed, assumes he’s there to kill the Legionnaires too. Mekt realizes who Roxxas is when he attacks Bounty and tries to help her, telling Roxxas he can reform like Mekt himself did. Roxxas gets pissed off and stomps Mekt, knocking Bounty out with toxic darts. Meanwhile, Shrinking Violet is still nervous about Roxxas shoots Chamseeing Cosmic Boy after she participated in a massacre at Venado Bay during the war between Braal and Imsk. (It sounds like she might have—reluctantly—helped activate a damper that cancelled the Braalians’ magnetic powers … including Cosmic Boy’s.) Element Lad and Ultra Boy realize Roxxas is on Winath and Ultra Boy goes to find him. Roxxas is shooting Chameleon Boy and beating the shit out of Celeste to get her to spill info on the Legion (which she refuses to do). Ultra Boy shows up to pound Roxxas, but apparently gets disintegrated by a grenade of some kind. Roxxas wonders if he’s bitten offUltra Boy attacks Roxxas more than he can chew, and reports start to filter out of Winath about the fight. The Dominators are worried that Roxxas will bring the Legion back together and they might find out that the Dominators have infiltrated Earth’s government. In a couple of epilogues, some kind of green energy surge is heading for Winath but disappears before anyone can figure out what it is, and Tenzil (Matter-Eater Lad) Kem arrives on Earth.

 

Suicide Squad 44 coverSuicide Squad #44 – “Grave Matters” – John Ostrander, David DeVries/Luke McDonnell

This one starts with the Atom (supposedly) being blown up and the JLA attending his funeral. A new Atom (Adam Cray) is going to join the Suicide Squad, but worries about the JLA giving him grief. Amanda Waller assures him things will be smoothed over with Max Lord. Speaking of funerals, George (Captain Boomerang) Harkness has returned to his shanty town home in Australia to attend his mother’s funeral, and Floyd (Deadshot) Lawton is with him. Boomerang introduces Lawton to his brother (Tom) and father (Ian), neither of whom he gets along with too well. An old friend (Mick) stops by and he andyoung George committing crimes Boomerang reminisce about how they first met and started pulling small rip-offs around town. They almost got caught once, but young George used a boomerang to get them out of trouble. But in such a small town, Boomerang’s parents found out what happened and his dad was ready to turn him over to the cops. His mom protested and got slapped down, so Boomerang punched his father out. His mom gave him some money to head to the States, telling him to see Walter W. Wiggins at his toy company for a job. Wiggins (who Boomerang still calls “Uncle Walt”) shows up for the funeral and Boomerang tells Lawton how Wiggins gave him his first costume and used Boomerang's memorieshim to advertise boomerangs for the Wiggins Toy Company. Boomerang ended up becoming a criminal and facing Flash on numerous occasions, but he thanks Wiggins for letting him make something of himself. When Ian sees Wiggins, he freaks and Wiggins tells Boomerang that he had an affair with his mom years ago … and that he’s Boomerang’s biological father. Boomerang realizes why his “father” always hated him and why Wiggins always tried to help him so much, but now he feels torn, like he doesn’t really belong anywhere … except with the Suicide Squad.