Once the Legion had found a permanent home in SUPERBOY, it really took off. Bates was a master at plotting and could get the most out of a 13-page story or less, even if he was sometimes cavalier toward continuity. Cockrum's art couldn't have been better: He borrowed liberally from Star Trek's science fiction milieu (and even payed homage by including a cameo of Mr. Spock in one story). His Legionnaires were dynamic and sexy, his costumes unique and striking. The Legion's world was inviting and awe-inspiring. It was the kind of future I wanted to live in: technologically sophisticated yet somehow magical.
Every issue was full of discovery, including meeting new Legionnaires. Princess Projectra and Karate Kid came along in SUPERBOY # 198, Dream Girl in # 199, and Shadow Lass in # 200. Chemical King's appearance in # 201 completed my introduction to the existing Legionnaires, which made a good demarcation point as any; in the following issue, the Legion would gain its first new member since I had been reading them: Wildfire.
Issue # 198 was one of the few full-length, Legion stories of that time. "The Fatal Five Who Twisted Time" introduced me to not only two Legionnaires but also to the Legion's deadliest enemies, The Fatal Five. It was an action-packed story, taking place both in the present and the future. Superboy – despite being the star of the book – is absent from more than half of the story, as the Legion search for him after he has been injured and abducted by the Five. This book – despite its title – belonged to the Legion, now. Fittingly, their name became part of the logo – which now read "Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes."
Issue # 199 was back to the two-story format. The lead story, "The Gun That Mastered Men," continued the plot line from # 197 – the first time I'd ever seen a continued story that didn't continue in the next issue. Tyr, the villain who had brainwashed Timber Wolf, was captured, but his automated gun-hand escaped and, in # 199, tried to rescue its owner. This was probably my least favorite story of the Cockrum era; it features only five Legionnaires, apart from Superboy, and none of them (Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Dream Girl, Star Boy and Princess Projectra) were among my favorites. Why, even Mon-El doesn't put in an appearance! What I remembered most about the story for many years was Dream Girl's gleaming, metallic costume, which left an indelible impression on my prepubescent mind.
The backup story in # 199 was also not one of my favorites at the time. "The Impossible Target" featured just one Legionnaire – Bouncing Boy. With his ability to inflate himself to resemble a giant beach ball, there was no way that this character was going to be a favorite of a ten-year-old boy who identified with Mon-El and Lightning Lad! But, in later years, I came to appreciate BB as a unique character and this story as his best showcase. In it, BB is hunted down by a villain called – what else? – The Hunter, who seeks to kill the Legionnaires one at a time, starting with the "weakest." But BB manages to outwit The Hunter and defeat him in a manner as ingenious as it was funny: Stranded in an anti-gravity chamber where he can't bounce, BB sneezes, sending himself ricocheting off the walls until he lands on top of The Hunter. The message is clear: No talent (or super-power) is wasted, no matter how silly it may first appear. As The Hunter discovers, there's no such thing as a "weakest" Legionnaire.
Unfortunately, someone at DC (Bates? Boltinoff?) must have felt otherwise, for that story was BB's swan song as a Legionnaire for many years. The next issue was SUPERBOY's "gala" 200th issue, and the entire Legion celebrated in style: by attending the wedding of two of their own – Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel.
The full-length story, "The Legionnaire Bride of Starfinger," begins with BB having somehow lost his bouncing power again. Forced to resign from the Legion, he proposes to his girlfriend, Duo Damsel. Ironically, she discovers that she, too, has lost her power – she can't get her "twin" self to materialize. No matter, she agrees to marry Chuck (BB), and their wedding is held on Mars with most of the Legion and assorted guests in attendance. Then the villain, Starfinger, shows up, carrying DD's lost "twin." He forces the Legionnaires to turn over the other DD to him, or both will die. Of course, the Legion manages to save the day and reunite the two DD's.
These days, what fans remember most about SUPERBOY # 200, apart from the wedding itself, is Cockrum's fantastic, full-page spread of the ceremony, featuring dozens of characters culled from the Legion's past. Still being new to the Legion, I had no idea who most of these characters were. The scene whetted my appetite for more – but it would be two or three years before I would learn all their names.
As for the story itself, I remember being mildly disappointed. For one thing, the Legionnaires were supposedly still teenagers, yet two of them were getting married. Also, the title is misleading: It implies that Duo Damsel, a hero, is doing something scandalous by marrying the villain, but nothing like that occurs in the story. As if that weren't bad enough, the two wedded Legionnaires leave the Legion. I had only just discovered this super-hero "family" one year before – I didn't like the idea of two of them leaving for good.
But my biggest complaint was the fact that, despite almost the entire Legion being present, along with numerous guests who must also have been heroes, only four pursue Starfinger. Only four Legionnaires go into action after one of their own has just been abducted: Brainiac 5, Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy and, of course, Superboy. While I appreciate Bates' decision not to crowd the story with characters – it even makes sense that the Legionnaires didn't want to trip over themselves and their guests while searching for the villain – it was a letdown that so many characters were introduced without having anything to do. If any Legion story cried out for epic treatment, this was it, but, alas, it was all resolved too quickly.
I longed for a story that would feature the entire team in action. Instead, Bates normally rotated the Legionnaires in smaller teams that revolved around Superboy. Well, it was still his book, technically. But the artificiality of this arrangement was already starting to get noticed by me.
As if to make up for that, # 201's lead story, "The Betrayer from Beyond," features several Legionnaires, though, ironically, none see any action. Instead, the focus is on the mysterious blob of energy that wanders around their headquarters, complaining that nobody sees him (or it).
Eventually, we learn that the blob is ERG-1, a one-time Legion applicant who supposedly died in action and was accorded posthumous honors. The Legion so admires ERG-1's sacrifice that they use footage of it while indoctrinating other applicants in this story.
One of those applicants, Molecule Master, turns out to be an android that is slowly poisoning the Legionnaires with gas. Only ERG-1 learns this, but, in his disembodied state, he is powerless to act. Well, not quite. He regains his costume (kept by the Legion in a shrine), then singlehandedly challenges Molecule Master to a duel and defeats him in one of the most exciting action sequences I'd yet seen in a Legion story. In the next issue ERG would be rewarded for his efforts by being made a full Legionnaire under his new name, Wildfire.
The backup story in # 201, "The Silent Death," features Dream Girl and Karate Kid. It's an unremarkable story in which Dream Girl prophesies the death of a Legionnaire, but doesn't know which one. Bates keeps us in suspense as Dream Girl and Karate Kid try to figure out who their doomed comrade is supposed to be. But the story also shows the flaws in her power: She can predict the future, and her dreams, we are later told, always come true – except that they don't (no one dies in this story). Also, her dreams are beyond her ability to control insofar as they come unbidden and incomplete.
For me, the story is noteworthy only because it briefly features Lightning Lad, my second favorite Legionnaire, in action for the first time since LSH # 2.
[ April 09, 2004, 10:26 PM: Message edited by: He Who Wanders ]
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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At the moment, I've written up to # 211. Don't know if I'll continue with the Shooter/Grell issues -- they were kind of anticlimactic after "The Ultimate Revenge" -- or skip right to the Levitz era.
In any case, I'll keep posting them as long as people are interested.
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I posted this elsewhere, but it is certainly more appropriate here.
I think my first Legion story was S/LSH #201. This was where ERG-1 saves the Legion from the Molecular Master. I loved it immediately. I remember making several erroneous assumptions, too. In one panel, the "podium" says Invisible Kid, but there was no one there. I thought he was just invisible. (Since I didn't know what IK looked like, I didn't realize he had exited earlier.) I also remember thinking since there was a Brainiac 5, the Legion must also contain Brainiacs 1 through 4.
Still, this is the issue that turned me on to the Legion. It featured the first appearance of Porcupine Pete and Infectious Lass. (Love those Legionnaire try-outs!) I still love re-reading this one.
Strangely, I also remember thinking Superboy was one lucky guy to fall on Phantom Girl like that.
From: Cincinnati | Registered: Jul 2003
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