Wednesday Comics: DC, May 1982 (week 3)

My goal: read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at the comics at newsstands around February 18, 1982, the week of my 9th birthday.

Brave & the Bold #186: Mishkin/Cohn and Aparo have Batman and Hawkman looking to recover a stolen Egyptian sarcophagus and starting a manhunt in Gotham City to find the culprit. They find out that the art thief is the Fadeaway Man, who sets up an auction for Gotham underworld--where he offers a fake sarcophagus for sale. The heroes infiltrate the auction, but the villain uses the Cloak of Cagliostro to escape. Back in his hideout, the Fadeway Man is surprised by Horus (really Hawkman) emerging from the sarcophagus. The heroes capture the the villain, but his magical cloak gets away.

Legion of Super-Heroes #287: Giffen arrives on art duties as Chameleon Boy, Timber Wolf and Shrinking Violet infiltrate the Khund's homeworld, only to be challenged to a death-fight because Timber Wolf jostled an irritable Khund. The important stuff this issue is the Mon-El and Shadow Lass backup with art by Broderick, "Prologue to Darkness," where our heroes investigate a planet filled with hidden defenses, an awaken an ancient evil.

Green Lantern #152: Wolfman is joined by two other writers this issue: Mishkin and Cohn. It seems the Guardians are out to teach Jordan, so they've had him cooling his hills for the 5 weeks of his exile. Finally, though, they send him to the planet M'Brai with no explanation as a test. He finds two humanoid species warring with each other. He takes sides against the technologically advanced species, assuming they are invaders. After he's knocked unconscious, he's rescued by yet another group. He learns that all three sides--the primitive folk, the advanced Queln, and the Cormm, are all natives of M'Brai. The presence of these three species is mystery for Jordan, but then he sees a similar scar on a Queln and a Cormm and realizes what is happening.

In the backup by Kupperberg and Infantino, the planet Glirell is a world totally against violence. So when Jeryll, the Green Lantern of that world, hard-pressed by a violent madman, strikes him with a fist constructed of her ring's power, she is ostracized by her people. The cigh council give her one last chance, else she will be banished. Unfortunately, slavers from the planet Drel choose that moment to attack. When she flies off to stop the fighting, but the council reminds her of their decree to do it without violence.

House of Mystery #304: After immobilizing Bennett with a stake through the heart, Mary has her goons put him inside a coffin in the carnival's dark ride. Bennett, clinging to life, uses telepathy to induce a teenage girl into releasing him. He manages to rescue the millionaire's kid Mary's group had kidnapped, but the carnival is set on fire in the process and the shadow of a cross shape inadvertently cast. The remaining vamps are pinned down by the cross and go to their fiery deaths. Bennett sees a single bat escape and knows that it must be Mary.

Newman and Zamora follow that with the story of an old woman with a dog who can predict people's deaths, including in the end, her owner's. The last story, written by the letterer Todd Klein and drawn by Estrada, is the creepiest this title has had in a while. A new family moves into an old house, where their son makes a new friend, the ghost of a boy abandoned there by his parents who died of starvation. The new kid begins wasting away too and dies so that ghost can have a companion. They decide to get another friend: the son of a new family moving in.

Sgt. Rock #364: Easy gets a new addition in Pete Anthony, a brave and experienced soldier, who unfortunately is blinded in a fighter strafing run. Rock has promised to get him to his grandparent's house, where he grew up as a boy before immigrating to America. Luckily, Anthony other senses remember the way, and he's able to lead Easy Company--who only have to take care of the Germans occupying the village. Duursema does the art on a fantasy story about a war between pterodactyl-men and centaurs, that ends with both sides losing. Harris and Randall round out the issue with a major league pitcher ironically unable to make his last throw--a grenade--but getting it to its target anyway.

Superman Family #218: Kupperberg and Mortimer provide the Supergirl story. An aging rich woman summons Hecate to bargain for extended life. Hecate will grant her request only if she can deliver Supergirl's soul but gives the woman the power to do it. Dealing with magic, Supergirl has to use her knowledge of mythology to win the day. Kupperberg is back again with Delbo with the Jimmy Olsen story where Jimmy has no memory of his past 24 hours and finds his signal-watch is in the window of a pawn shop. He can't call Superman for help with the goons that tried to kill him, but luckily Olsen is kind of a badass in these stories and prevails anyway.

O'Flynn and Oksner send Lois to cover the Winter Olympics trials, where she is caught in the crossfire of two hitmen on the slopes. Finally, Mr. and Mrs. Superman go undercover as The Flying Tiger and his moll to figure out who's supplying kryptonite to street-level criminals. This is the last appearance of the Tycoon of Crime who only has had one other appearance in 1944.

Warlord #57: I detailed the main story in this issue here. The backup continues Kupperberg's and Duursema's Arion. Lady Chian and Wyynde fight to save Arion from sacrifice, meanwhile, he has mentally slipped into a realm where he is confronted by three god-like beings. He tries to fight them, but it doesn't go well, as they appear to break free into the real world.