Comics Reviews: Suicide Squad 48, Justice League International Special 1

Suicide Squad #48 – “In Control” – John Ostrander, Kim Yale/Geof Isherwood

This one starts with Amanda Waller talking to Simon Lagrieve at the Institute for Meta-Human Studies. Count Vertigo and Vixen are being treated there and Lagrieve discusses Waller’s recent incarceration with her. She admits she crossed the line and figured she deserved some punishment for it … which didn’t stop her from getting out early as soon as Sarge Steel offered a deal. Lagrieve tells her about Cliff Carmichael using Thinker’s helmet to rewire his own brain and says Carmichael is after Oracle. Carmichael wants revenge since Oracle tried to set up a logic bomb to wipe his neural chip. Waller says there’s one way to deal with the mess and asks if they still have the original Thinker helmet. In Gotham, Barbara (Oracle) Gordon is in therapy, talking about how getting shot by Joker has screwed her up, not just physically but emotionally. Barbara is holding back because she can’t tell her therapist that she used to be Batgirl. At the Institute, Waller wants to put on Thinker’s helmet since it holds a record of the cyber-clash between Carmichael and Oracle, but Lagrieve warns her that the helmet tends to trigger sociopathic behaviour … and she’s already predisposed to that. Waller dons the helmet and witnesses the battle between Oracle and Carmichael. When she comes out of it, she knows Carmichael is tracking Oracle through shipments of specialized equipment. The stuff was shipped to dummy addresses, but Carmichael is narrowing things down and intends to waste Oracle when he finds her. Waller is tempted to keep Thinker’s helmet, but ends up smashing it. Elsewhere, a family named Kane is attacked by a zombie who takes their son. His mom calls Washington to find the kid’s godfather … J.E.B. Stuart (of Haunted Tank fame).

Justice League International Special #1 – “The Show Must Go On…and On…and On…and On” – Keith Giffen, Len Wein/Joe Phillips/Bruce Patterson

This is a one-shot that takes place between Justice League 36 (when Mr. Miracle and Oberon are still on Earth) and 37 (where the robotic Mr. Miracle has joined the League). This one starts with Scott (Mr. Miracle) Free getting ready to kick off a world tour sponsoring some kind of “Miracle Cleaner. If that sounds weird, the deal was set up by Funky Flashman, so … yeah. Oberon is going along on the tour (and gets quite the farewell kiss from Fire) and Booster and Beetle plan to attend Scott’s first show at Madison Square Garden to show their support … and make fun of him. Huntress is on monitor duty and notices something huge in orbit. J’onn realizes it’s Manga Khan’s ship and calls in Guy Gardner, as well as grabbing Power Girl and Metamorpho when they pop in for a visit. They don’t have far to go, as Khan’s target is at Madison Square Garden; guess who it is? Yup, Scott, Oberon, and Flashman are beamed aboard Khan’s ship. Scott figures Khan is trying to kidnap him again, but Khan says everything is kosher this time, implying that Flashman knows exactly what’s going on. The Justice League—including the four attending the Garden show—attacks Khan’s ship, pounding his robots into scrap. Meanwhile, Scott finds out that Flashman signed a contract with Khan to supply the “miracle cleaner” stuff, but Scott is expected to go on a galactic tour to promote it. Flashman is freaked out when he learns he has to go on the tour as well (always read the fine print!) and Khan tells Scott he has a way to cover his absence from the League. Yeah, it’s the Mr. Miracle robot, which tells J’onn that he made a deal with Manga Khan for his “miracle cleaner” crap … all 500,000 units of it. J’onn thinks something is a bit off, but accepts it at face value. So Scott, Oberon, and Flashman head out for their galactic tour with Manga Khan, while a robot takes Scott’s place in the League.