posted
Ye obligatory spoiler space * * * * * * * * * * * *
When the Legion first took over SUPERBOY, it was published eight times a year. But shortly after, the book dropped back to bi-monthly schedule, which meant the wait between issues was excruciating. But it was also a time of anticipation: What was the next issue going to be like? Which Legionnaires would be featured? What villains would they fight? What more could I learn about their back story?
During the long wait, I strove to fill in the blanks with my imagination: I'd envision what characters that had only been mentioned looked like, such as Mordru, whom I saw as looking something like Metamorpho (!). I often had the entire next issue plotted out in my mind; when the issue finally arrived, it was, of course, never what I expected. Sometimes, as with SUPERBOY # 202, it delivered much more than I could have imagined. Other times, as with # 203, it was ... different.
To begin with, # 203 was a regular-sized comic. Unlike certain titles which were boosted to 100-Page Spectaculars permanently, SUPERBOY was given this special treatment only every third issue. The next 100-pager would be # 205, which meant that I would have to wait even longer for rest of the "Lore of the Legion" feature, as well as more reprinted stories. At least # 203 featured a full-length story and brought back another villain, Validus (who had also been featured, along with the rest of the Fatal Five, in # 198). Furthermore, the story focused on Invisible Kid, one of my favorites Legionnaires.
"Massacre by Remote Control" begins with several masked saboteurs invading Legion headquarters, only to be captured by various Legionnaires. One manages to get through, however, and, unopposed, detonates a device in the Legion's trophy room. The device is only an infrared light, however, and the saboteur is revealed to be Element Lad, who was only taking part in a training exercise. But if he had been a real saboteur ...
An enraged Mon-El bursts through the doors of the trophy room, demanding to know where's the Legionnaire who was supposed to be on duty. Suddenly, Invisible Kid appears, having apparently been present though invisible all along, and collapses.
Using a device that accesses the unconscious Legionnaire's memories, Brainiac 5 learns that Invisible Kid has recently discovered that his power to turn invisible also now enables him to visit another dimension – an eerie, mist-enshrouded world where he has fallen in love with a wraith-like girl named Myla. Myla confessed a secret, however, and it was so shocking to Invisible Kid that it causes Brainy's memory-gathering device to explode. When Invisible Kid regains consciousness, he refuses to talk about the matter.
Meanwhile, the Legion learns that one of its deadliest enemies, Validus, is on his way to Legion headquarters. The mindless beast is being summoned by a mysterious signal. Before the source of the signal can be found, he lays waste to several Legionnaires, including Superboy and Mon-El.
Alone in the trophy room, Invisible Kid realizes that the signal is coming from a component of Tharok's computerized brain which the Legion has kept. He smashes the display case and seizes the component just as Validus smashes through the wall of the trophy room and seizes him. As the monster crushes the life out of him, Invisible Kid struggles to crush the brain component with his bare hand. He succeeds, and the bewildered monster flees.
But it is too late for Invisible Kid. As his Legion comrades stand over his lifeless body, Myla appears. She reveals that she is, in fact, a ghost, and it was the shock of this revelation that caused Invisible Kid to collapse earlier. But now that he, too, has died, Myla says they will be together for eternity.
In its own way, "Massacre by Remote Control" is a charming story and one with an upbeat ending: Love, it proclaims, transcends death. This is a very spiritual message: Though Invisible Kid doesn't find God when he dies, he does find eternal love (which, in many religions, is the same thing).
But, of course, all that mattered to me at the time was that one of my favorite Legionnaires had just been killed. I had been reading comics long enough to know that super-heroes weren't supposed to die, at least not permanently. Yet there was a sense of finality in this story. Invisible Kid's spirit didn't languish in purgatory (as happened, in a manner of speaking, to Marvel's Black Knight in the pages of AVENGERS and DEFENDERS). Invisible Kid was at peace and, more, he had found love. Even if the Legion could bring him back to life, how could they destroy his happiness?
"Massacre by Remote Control" typifies a seldom discussed aspect of the DC Universe, which distinguished it from the Marvel Universe in those days: the existence of heaven or some positive afterlife. At about the same time, Marvel published a story that would define its own decidedly different take on heaven and hell in the pages of GHOST RIDER. In about the ninth issue, the Ghost Rider comes face-to-face with Satan, who has come to collect his soul. Things look hopeless until a mysterious, bearded figure appears and, without lifting a hand in battle, orders Satan to leave. Satan obeys, and the mysterious "friend," as he calls himself, vanishes into the crowd before the Ghost Rider can thank him.
It is clear that writer Tony Isabella intended for the "friend" to be Jesus Christ. However, a few issues later, we would learn that the stranger was in fact a demonic servant of Satan's, sent to trick the Ghost Rider into taking the "friend" into his confidence. Two decades later, in his "Tony's Tips" column in COMICS BUYER'S GUIDE, Isabella would reveal that this cynical ending wasn't his idea, but had been forced on him by higher-ups at Marvel. This was the story, Isabella asserted, in which Marvel declared once and for all that there was no heaven in the Marvel Universe; there was only hell.
The DC Universe did have a heaven; at least, it was strongly implied by SUPERBOY # 203. Invisible Kid goes to his just rewards: Eternal life with the woman he loves. Some may consider this ending trite, but is it any more so than saying there is no heaven and that there are no happy endings? "Massacre by Remote Control" is about hope, but it is also about loss. In order for Invisible Kid to find happiness, the Legion has to lose him – and I had to lose a favorite hero. This message was hard for a nearly 11-year-old boy to swallow. But the story resonated with me for many years, particularly after experiencing real loss in my life: Though we don't know what lies for us beyond this life, it is comforting to believe that there is a better reality.
The death of Invisible Kid in SUPERBOY # 203 marked a significant shift in my enjoyment of the Legion. One of my favorite characters was gone -- and so was the artist, Dave Cockrum. This issue was the first one to feature pencils and inks by his replacement, Mike Grell.
Grell initially drew the Legion much like Cockrum did, but gradually developed his own style – more surreal and somehow idealized. Grell's Legionnaires looked like super-thin models with curly, long hair (both the boys and the girls) and wore even skimpier costumes that defied any sense of practicality for heroes. But, although I preferred Cockrum's art, Grell was a superb substitute who would define the Legion's look for next several years.
And, although Cary Bates continued as writer for some time, none of his subsequent stories would have quite as much impact on me as his early issues. Perhaps I was simply old enough now to read comics more objectively. Perhaps I'd learned enough about the Legion that it was no longer fresh. Or perhaps the stories themselves were starting to wear thin; after all, how does a writer top himself after killing a Legionnaire?
[ April 15, 2004, 09:04 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
| IP: Logged |
posted
Matt, SUPERBOY # 203 was cover-dated August 1974.
It's always interesting to hear what issues were people's first or earliest Legion issues. Having started reading the Legion in late 1972 (with LSH # 1, cover-dated February 1973), I think I fall somewhere in the middle of most posters here.
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
| IP: Logged |
I loved the simple costumes worn by the 'infiltrators'... solid black or dark grey with roman numerals on the chest. The 'full' hood wasn't used alot back then... or at least I hadn't seen it... so that head-to-toe costuming was something I liked. I still do... for gangs, anyway.
When it was revealed that the 'bad guys' were actually the good guys testing security, I thought that was a cool twist. I was 10 and on the edge of early puberty. I'm blond and my formerly perfectly straight hair had all of a sudden gotten curly. So, it was instant identification with Element Lad when he pulled off his 'hood'.
I liked the idea of this sprawling team conducting security tests... like fire drills. I think they still should!
The quiet scene between Invisible Kid and Phantom Girl impressed the heck out of me back then. It hinted at history that I longed to learn about. And I thought the art 'trick' of the focused/unfocused pen was the coolest thing in the world.
I was as crushed as Lyle when he was killed, and I looked in vain for his return... it seemed such an inconsequential death for a hero from the future to me.
As for Myla... I was convinced she was some sort of villainess that had lured Lyle to the 'ghost world'! I didn't buy their 'love'... it didn't seem 'real' to me, then. Or now, for that matter.
That scene where Brainy used the 'mento-scanner' to scan Lyle's memory cells, then projecting them onto a screen, made quite an impression on me. It seemed familiar. Was there a STAR TREK episode that contained a similar machine? As far as I remember, the mento-scanner never made another appearance. Would've made Saturn Girl, especially as she was written in that period, somewhat obsolete, I'd guess.
Hmmmm... what else? Validus was scary, in a simple, monster-under-the-bed sort of way. The cover, and Phantom Girl's cover-dialogue "An evil force is commanding something to attack us" made me expect that it was an-in-control Validus masterminding the attack; he appeared with an outstretched 'control position' hand behind a cluster of Legionnaires looking into a glowing box, which I saw as about to attack the Legionnaires.
I had it backwards.
Many Legionnaires who are my favorites to this day appeared in this issue. Element Lad, Sun Boy, Dream Girl, Brainiac 5... Phantom Girl for awhile, based mainly on her role here and in the SOJER issue a few months later, till Levitz made her a bit too catty. Apparition has yet to rekindle my liking for Tinya too much. I liked Invisible Kid well enough-- though his Adventure appearances were a much better depiction of his character, IMO. The rebooted Lyle really made him a now-permanent favorite, extending backwards to my introduction the the Leigon.
So, five of seven favorite Legionnaires appeared in the first Legion story that I read.
posted
I remember an epside of "Lost In Space" where Dr. Smith's memories were tapped by an alien machine. He tried to fool the aliens by creating false memories. It didn't work.
You mentioned a lot of great things about this story that I left out of my article, Todd: The pen trick, the friendship between Tinya and Lyle (which we had never seen before, but should have), the roman numerals on the "saboteurs," etc. There was so much in this issue that it's easy to see why it's still a favorite of yours and mine.
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Mystery Lad: That scene where Brainy used the 'mento-scanner' to scan Lyle's memory cells, then projecting them onto a screen, made quite an impression on me. It seemed familiar. Was there a STAR TREK episode that contained a similar machine? As far as I remember, the mento-scanner never made another appearance.
TN
Mystery Lad, Brainy used the same or a similar device a few issues earlier in #200 to reveal Duo Damsel's suppressed memories when she too was suffering from "hysterical amnesia."
-------------------- Buy my new graphic novel! http://www.dodeka12.com
From: Champaign, IL | Registered: Jul 2003
| IP: Logged |
Hyperpath: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic | Subscribe To Topic
