posted
Three issue mini-series published January through March, 1981.
Plot: E. Nelson Bridwell
Script: Paul Kupperburg
Art: Jim Janes and Frank Chiaramonte
Covers: Dick Giordano
Secrets of the Legion of Super-Heroes was DC's third mini-series following World of Krypton and The Legends of the Batman . The Legion's editor at the time was Jack C. Harris. Mr. Harris seemed to be the editor of about a third of the books being put out by DC in the early eighties, and the Legion was going through editors as quickly as it was artists. Harris promised that the series would answer all of the questions readers had about the origins of the Legionnaires, their home planets, and civilian identities in one easy to access reference. He admitted this was needed as much by the creative teams as the readers. On top of that, we would get an exciting new story.
That story turned out to be the revelation, in the final issue, that R.J. Brande was the father of Chameleon Boy. Mr. Brande was in a coma and dying of Yorrgian Fever. Because of a rare blood type, only a transfusion from relative could save his life. In a state of delerium, he says that he is the father of a Legionnaire. Marla Latham and a pretty young blond girl named Arlayn break into the Legion headquarters to review their files in hopes of finding the identity of Brande's offspring. I don't recall Arlayn ever appearing before or after, and she doesn't get much dialouge. The origins are presented briefly, usually in less than a page, and at times, only in two or three panels. We do at least get everyone's real name, home planet, and whether their powers are natural for natives of their planet, or the result of some freakish accident or mutation. We have to put up with an awful lot of overly antagonistic dialouge between Marla and Wildfire to get to this information, though.
"Serviceable" is the word that comes to mind to describe Jim Janes artwork, both in the mini and the regular title. When introduced, Harris proclaimed that Janes would hopefully become as associated with the Legion as Cockrum, Grell, and Sherman. Didn't turn out that way, but for my money he was a huge improvement over Joe Staton, who he replaced. I wonder whatever became him?
There are a few entertaining goofs. Tyroc is shown in a group shot on the first page of the first issue. By the time his origin is told in issue #3, the writers remembered that he was trapped in another dimension with the island of Marzal. Karate Kid has to quickly explain that he can be contacted by Dawnstar on rare occasions, and since he just transported back he can't return for weeks. The text page in the first issue makes an attempt to list the Legionnaires in the order they were inducted. Ultra Boy is listed as 12th, right after Superboy. However, the story shows him as 15th, after Star Boy, Shrinking Violet, and Sun Boy. The text page in the first issue promises that the second issue will list the issue where each Legionniare's origin first appeared. Instead, the second issue text page contains information on villians and an apology from Harris because most Legionnires were introduced without origin stories. So much for an easy to use reference!
In spite of the bumps, this is a fun series to read, and it serves as a spring board for years of interesting tales that result from the relationship between Chameleon Boy and his newly found father.
[ October 10, 2007, 10:53 PM: Message edited by: Jerry ]
-------------------- No regrets, Coyote.
From: Missouri | Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
This story was a good pretext for presenting the Legionnaires' background information, with the surprise reveal at the end. I don't recall the storyline too well and don't remember Arlayn at all!
Wasn't Chameleion Boy discounted from the start, along with the other "non-white" Legionnaires, so it was even more of a surprise at the end?
posted
Bridwell deserves (but doen't always get) more credit for his contributions to the Legion. This was one. The Legion origin is another.
-------------------- ...but you don't have a moment where you're sitting there staring at a table full of twenty-five characters with little name signs that say, "Hi, my superpower is confusing you!"
From: Chicago, IL | Registered: Jul 2004
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
quote:Originally posted by doublechinner: Bridwell deserves (but doen't always get) more credit for his contributions to the Legion. This was one. The Legion origin is another.
Hmm... as someone who's not a fan of either the Brande/Cham connection or the Legion origin, I'm not so sure how much credit I'm willing to give him...
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I look back on the Jimmy Janes era affectionately because the Legion was really there for me at a difficult time. I have no problem with the Brande/Cham connection.
There has been some discussion about Arlayn here at LW, where we enjoy making stars out of obscure characters.
posted
I remember Secrets of the LSH mainly as a recap of information I already knew. I had my dandy "Legion Handbook" (Amazing World of DC Comics # 9), which I had memorized by then. Still, the mini-series did a fair job of giving the Legionnaires a reason to recap all of this information. "Serviceable" is a good word for the story.
(I can't recall, though, why it was necessary for Marla and Arlayn to break into Legion HQ. Why not just tell the Legionnaires what's going on and ask for their help? Alas, logic must give way to drama, sometimes.)
I, too, thought that Janes was an improvement over Staton. Janes' artwork was a bit flat and awkward, particularly in character poses, but at least the Legionnaires started to look like people again instead of cartoon characters.
In Glen Cadigan's Legion Companion, Janes says that he left the Legion because he had fallen behind and was burned out. Secrets of the LSH was particularly hard on him, as he had to draw all the origins, first costumes, second costumes, etc. When he left the Legion he also left comics and went into animation.
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
The Legion Companion has some nice pictures of Jimmy Janes' pencils, which seem way better than the finished art. They did not find a good match for him at the inker position during his tenure.
I'm also not a huge fan of the Brande/Cham connection. E. Nelson Bridwell was big on tying up loose ends and connecting everything.
I do not have fond memories of this era of the Legion. This was mostly due to the writing of Gerry Conway, the worst pre-Crisis Legion writer. I was not enjoying the book and kept buying it mostly out of inertia. This mini-series was bittersweet as it made reference to lots of stories from back when the book was actually good. Fortunately, things did get better again.
Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
Though this era of the Legion was really not brilliant due to Conway, the mini-series Sectres was wonderful and I consider it to be one of the best jump-on points for any new reader.
Not only do you learn everything about all the characters, but you also get a very good story with an important, surprising ending. I loved it very much as a child - read it ten, twenty times at least - and consider it as basic Legion canon (Lucifer Seven anyone?).
If the Lightning Saga ever makes it into a regular book, it would be a very swell idea to collect this mini-series as a cheap trade to make the series more accessible to new readers.
From: Bamberg, Germany | Registered: Feb 2007
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posted
I wans't a fan of the Brande-Cham connection - it seemed too much like a convenience for that story laone - but Levitz actually made it work a year or two later.
From: Vancouver, BC, Canada | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
I just got to replace my copies of this mini. Just like I have to with so very much of my older Legion stuff. Divorce is an evil thing.
Registered: Sep 2007
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posted
I remember getting the Secrets mini-series off the stands at the time. This was back when DC was using the new mini-series format as their version of Wiki. I had been reading the Legion since the early 1970's, and I found Secrets to be rather lame compared to what had come before. However that was typical for the entire DC line as this was the post-DC-Implosion / pre-"new DC" low point period.
I remember the art being uneven and a number of editorial goofs like the previously mentioned Tyroc appearance. But somehow in spite of all that, the story had a charm to it and it was cool to see the rich Legion history told all in one story.
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted
I'm going to offer a contrary opinion. I had just started reading LSH when Secrets came out. I had stolen one of my brother's digests, fallen in love with the Legion, and had begun actually reading the series with LSH 269. At that time, stories tended to only focus on a few characters at a time, so I knew very little of the Legion's history. Secrets allowed me to learn that history quickly, and fueled my desire to collect as many back issues as I could. It worked, and I was completely immersed in Legion lore by the time the Reflecto saga occurred (and, despite only being 11, had purchased numerous back issues, including the adult legion). LSH was the first comic I ever collected and is now the only book that I read. But I don't know if that would have happened if I had not been able to learn the origins of the entire team so quickly. There were so many characters and so many powers that it was rather daunting. Secrets really helped.
Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
EDE, what problem do you have with the Legion origin?
From: Cincinnati | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
It's mostly just that the origin is kind of underwhelming. I've never liked the idea that the founders were limited to the three Legionnaires who happened to be featured in their first couple of appearances, and Brande having such a central role in the founding of the team kind of irritates me as well.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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