Ah, now we're getting somewhere! The art chores have been taken over by the incomparable Ramona Fradon, perfectly complimented by inker Bob Smith.
This issue opens with an unusual image for a Super Friends story:
I like a villain who knows how to specialize. So many of them try to become world conquerors, but this guy does one thing--political assassinations--and he does them well.
Kingslayer is hired by Overlord (who is mocked--to his face--by Kingslayer, a nice touch by Bridwell) to kill one of the Heads of State that will be at the U.N. Conference the next day.
Steve Trevor (remember him?), working for the S.O.S., picks up a tip about the plot, and reports it to Diana Prince. Since they don't know which head of state is the target, the Super Friends must split up to protect each of them:
Kingslayer is hired by Overlord (who is mocked--to his face--by Kingslayer, a nice touch by Bridwell) to kill one of the Heads of State that will be at the U.N. Conference the next day.
Steve Trevor (remember him?), working for the S.O.S., picks up a tip about the plot, and reports it to Diana Prince. Since they don't know which head of state is the target, the Super Friends must split up to protect each of them:
Wonder Woman, assigned to protect Queen Astrid ("ruler of a small European kingdom"), stops a series of missiles fired at the queen's plane, with the help of her magic lasso.
Batman saves the life of Prince Ali of Kaliph, who is also the victim of an assassination attempt. The same things happens to the people assigned protection from Robin and the Wonder Twins.
Meanwhile, Aquaman has a slightly more easy-going assignment, since his charge is his old friend Vulko. But there's still trouble:
Batman saves the life of Prince Ali of Kaliph, who is also the victim of an assassination attempt. The same things happens to the people assigned protection from Robin and the Wonder Twins.
Meanwhile, Aquaman has a slightly more easy-going assignment, since his charge is his old friend Vulko. But there's still trouble:
The bottle, when opened by Prince Mark of Sedonia, explodes, seemingly killing him! Superman has failed...or has he?
It turns out Supes was one step ahead of the would-be assassin, trading outfits with the Prince, so when the explosion happened, it was the Man of Steel who took the brunt of the blast.
Prince Mark, tucked away in the next room, is okay, but the Super Friends decide to announce to the papers that Prince Mark has been killed. Kingslayer is only one for six, but he's happy, since it leaves him free to do his "real assignment, which no one even suspects!"
The Super Friends meet up afterwards, and they are suspicious that whoever is trying to assassinate all these people didn't even bother to stick around to see whether they were successful. Also, who was that anonymous tipster?
That leads them to think the real target has yet to be learned, so they head to the U.N., where they discover a whole series of death traps, rigged to go off as soon as all the dignitaries took their place in the general assembly!
The Super Friends destroy the death traps, so the Kingslayer, accompanied by armed henchmen, is there to make sure his plans go through:
It turns out Supes was one step ahead of the would-be assassin, trading outfits with the Prince, so when the explosion happened, it was the Man of Steel who took the brunt of the blast.
Prince Mark, tucked away in the next room, is okay, but the Super Friends decide to announce to the papers that Prince Mark has been killed. Kingslayer is only one for six, but he's happy, since it leaves him free to do his "real assignment, which no one even suspects!"
The Super Friends meet up afterwards, and they are suspicious that whoever is trying to assassinate all these people didn't even bother to stick around to see whether they were successful. Also, who was that anonymous tipster?
That leads them to think the real target has yet to be learned, so they head to the U.N., where they discover a whole series of death traps, rigged to go off as soon as all the dignitaries took their place in the general assembly!
The Super Friends destroy the death traps, so the Kingslayer, accompanied by armed henchmen, is there to make sure his plans go through:
As far as I know, Kingslayer was never seen again. If Robin had his way, he's probably still down at Gitmo somewhere.
As fine an issue as this is, it also came with a delightful little bonus: a four-page insert which was a mail-in survey from DC Comics, trying to find out more about its readers:
And while the chance to win a free gift is gone, I strongly suggest each one of us print out the survey and mail it to DC anyway (you can download printable versions of the survey by clicking each page). I think they'd like the information, even if it is 32 years late.
(Oh, and by the way, I love this last question:
(Oh, and by the way, I love this last question:
...the answer is #3!)
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