posted
Ask a Legion fan to name LSH epics and chances are the first one to be named would be the Great Darkness Saga. For me it would be the LSV War.
As I've mentioned a bit here and there, I first bought Legion out of the cheap box around 1984. Over time I purchased about 2 dozen 70s-80s issues. The first new issue I bought was 320 -- there was nothing else (new) I wanted at the CBS and my favorite Legionnaire (Dream Girl) was on the cover so I decided to try it. The next one I picked up was 324 and I was not impressed by it, so I'm not sure why I bought 326 when it came out. I bought the next three, though, and borrowed the last chapter.
Mind you, I knew little or nothing about the previous incarnations of the Legion of Super-Villains until a good 17 years later. It wasn't until I read the archives that I understood just what an assemblage of Legion foes this was. My recall of my 1985 reaction to the story is a bit foggy, but despite my limited Legion history knowledge at that time I knew to some degree that a lot was going on here. I can't say this this is my favorite story but I've carried the sense that it was BIG.
I'm a-wondering: when did you read it? What did you think? Were you a long-time collector at that point or were you new to the title?
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I first read it many years after its initial publication when I was lucky enough to buy a lot that included the first 20-odd issues of v.3. I was just returning to the LSH after many years of absence (since the Adventure era). I had already read the GDS and some of the issues that lead up to v.3, so I was primed.
The story and characterization floored me. Levitz had not one, but two large casts to juggle this time but he succeeded in making both the heroes and villains come alive as individuals. We saw psychopathic villains (Sun Emperor), silly villains (Ron Karr), villains with a personal agenda (Lightning Lord) and a power-hungry villain (Nemesis Kid) about to meet his ultimate destiny. On the hero side, there was the kidnapped and imprisoned Light Lass, whose life (and powers) was about to change forever, the recently married Karate Kid and Projectra, whose homeworld became the arena of war, new parents Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl choosing real life over the super-hero life, unaware they've just given birth to a monster (cameo appearance by Darkseid), and Cosmic Boy's realization that the events he was witnessing represented a major turning point for the LSH. The serious moments were intertwined with humorous ones, like stalwart Legion leader Element Lad fainting in the maternity ward while Dr. Gym'll rants and raves. This was Levitz at the height of his storytelling powers.
I don't remember all that much about the pivotal battle between Karate Kid and Nemesis Kid, but I do recall that I was moved by Projectra's reaction to her husband's death, even though I never liked KK much as a character. And to this day, I consider Projectra's disposal of Nemesis Kid one of the best written and illustrated moments in LSH history. I still wonder what it was Hart Druiter saw in Jeckie's eyes that filled him with such terror as he died like the dog he was.
A great, thrilling story that had ramifications for years to come as the old guard (the three founders) prepares to make way for the new. Truth be told, I like it even better than the GDS, which was tainted by some silly supernatural elements, imo. The only thing that didn't appeal to me about it was Giffen's artwork, though it *was* dynamic enough I suppose. The Adventure stories aside (they're in a class of their own), I'd have to say that only Legion Lost exceeds the LSV War as my personal favorite LSH epic.
From: Reimagined Trom | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I was disappointed that Giffen was leaving. hate it when art teams change mid-story. no offense, Steve.
I also didn't like that Val was killed, and how. Even with the internal injuries bit , flying up into the powersphere to cripple the systems contradicts the end, where Jeckie uses the drives anyway.
don't get me wrong, it was okay. glad Ayla got her zap back, glad Jeckie got revenge, but otherwise wasn't as blown away as other stories.
From: Vancouver, BC, Canada | Registered: Dec 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
It was one of the first Legion stories I read (in the Tales reprints), back when I was a wee lad, and I remember loving it. Just the raw number of characters, each with such well developed and interesting personalities and powers, was enough to hook me on the Legion. As silly as the plot seems in retrospect, it didn't really bother me as a kid. I remember being particularly intrigued by the fact that one of the Legionnaires was having a child. The sense that things changed over time, as well as the long history and mythology of the group, was one of the things that really attracted me to it.
I found Zymyr particularly fascinating as a villain, for some reason, as well as Mekt. Actually, the interplay among the various LSVers was particularly interesting. There's the amusing "You should change your name" dialogue between Tyr and Roy. There's the creepy Sun Emperor/Thora scene. I remembering wondering why that "Ron Karr" fellow didn't have a code name.
Strangely, none of the Legionnaire featured in that story really emerged as a favorite, with the exception of Jeckie, though I suppose I really liked Ultra Boy when I was a kid. I must have been reading it at the same time as I was reading the new stories in the Baxter format, so that whole period is just kind of intertwined for me.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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I actually never got to read the story in order...which probably sucked a lot of the enjoyment out of it...but I still love the LSV war regardless. I bought issues #4 and #5 together, instantly falling in love with Projectra and loving the ruthlessness of Nemesis Kid. Steve Lightle's art was great. I had been a hearty postboot-only reader until then, where I slowly began collecting the Baxter series and TMK. These two issues were my first of the Baxter era nad led to my overall love of it still to this day.
I eventually collected #1 in the form of its Tales counterpart, with #3 coming about a year later. Another year after that I think I finally got issue #2. By then I wasn't too fascinated with the issue, mainly because I was still young (15 at the time) and didn't find Giffen's art too great (Lightle's art spoiled me with how much cleaner it was). The years in-between collecting the issues also meant I never got to sit down and enjoy the whole tale for quite some time, so by the time I owned all five I had practically forgotten they were a whole arc and had finished my collection just to be a completist. As for the story in #2, I knew the ending already and really didn't pay much attention to it since it didn't seem much was going on, so naturally I didn't have the urge at that short attention span age to go back to it right away.
When I started reading all five issues in proper order, years later, is when I truly fell in love with the arc as a whole. Boy, had I been one stupid, lad! This was great stuff. It helped that my Legion knowledge and collection had filled out so I knew all of what was going on and who was who on both teams. Not to mention by then I had an appreciation for Giffen's work and could sit back and enjoy the tale for what it was worth. I'm surprised it took me so long to read it through, but that's the price you have to pay when there weren't as many shops carrying back-issues where I was living.
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I suppose it was good in that so many of the legionnaires were involved. I always had difficulty accepting the premise, though. All these villains get together to take a planet to another universe so they can rule over it, and on the way they'll take out the folks who are preventing them from doing that in their current universe. So, why don't they just stay? Those villains are so illogical!
Overall, it was certainly good in producing the drama. But I never felt much for Ayla, Mekt, or Karate Kid, so some of that drama was pretty superfluous to me.
From: Portland, Oregon | Registered: Jul 2003
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I remember that this was during DC's "hardcover/softcover" plan. The idea was that the new Legion series was available only at comics shops while the newsstand readers would have to wait a year before the stories were reprinted in the old title ("Tales of the Legion ...")
At the time, I lived in St. Joseph, MO, which had exactly no comics shops. So I had to make monthly treks to Kansas City to pick up the first few issues of LSH v. 3, until Captain Comics, the first St. Joe comics store, opened. I was always worried that I'd miss an issue. I even wrote a letter to DC complaining about the inconvenience of having to travel 60 miles to get my current Legion fix.
As for the story itself ... very little of it was memorable. I think this is when Paul Levitz started to grow stale to me. The story had everything in it a Legion fan should want: villains a plenty, all of the current Legionnaires having something to do ... but it just fell flat. I guess it's because nothing new was introduced in the complex relationships between the LSH and the LSV. I mean, we already knew Mekt was a bad apple. So, he tries to kill his sister and ends up re-energizing her old powers. Big deal.
Then, there was the death of Karate Kid, which I thought was a waste. I mean, he had just married Projectra and was out of the picture. So, whatfor? But it did make a gripping scene. And there was a finality in Projectra's decision to sever all ties with the Legion and UP. (But then she became Sensor Girl, so that sort of negated all that.)
So, all in all, the LSV War didn't fulfill its promise, to me.
[ July 08, 2004, 10:40 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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posted
I am currently rereading this storyline after getting the EYE FOR AN EYE tpb half-off yesterday!
I was afraid, like many of my childhood 80s favorites that it would not age well for me (NEW TEEN TITANS and UNCANNY X-MEN, I >glare< at you).
Happily, I report that upon finishing the first 2 of the 6 issues reprinted therein, I am really REALLY enjoying it and in fact am coming across lots of fun new things to enjoy, like Sara and BREEP!
Unfortunately, it does NOT hold up quite as well in the next few issues.
Overall, yes, it is a good story. But as an aged nun-yer-bizness reader instead of a 15 year old, I can definitely see some weaknesses in the story:
Nemesis Kid's ID is spoiled early in the 3rd issue... by TERRUS. Nkid himself doesn't appear until later on that issue.
Karate Kid effectively commits suicide and it makes NO sense. Why couldn't Jecks have gone with him, that would have totally negated Nemesis Kid's easily-overcome power. The anti-NK mantra: Two not One, gets the Job Done. Val going after him alone was the essence of idiocy. It was pure suicide, nothing more.
The scariest moment for me in the tale is when Dream Girl is ambushed by Silver Slasher from behind. We don't see what happens, and I am left to assume that it must be the Slasher screaming in the final panel, but really Dream Girl's death would have made more sense in that scene.
Star Boy vanishes for like a whole issue and a half.
But I shan't nitpick the tale to death... it does hold up much better for me than the previously mentioned NTT and UXM from the same time-frame.
And there are some choice scannables which I shall display on the LW facebook page tomorrow.
Overall, again, an enjoyable read, especially if you understand and accept the story was written just to kill off Karate Kid.
Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
Yeah, the KK death makes no sense on so many levels. I always wondered how much time the Oradoans had to spend fixing that fusion powersphere Val sacrificed himself to destroy, after they decided they wanted to go ahead and finish taking the planet wherever the LSV was planning on taking it anyway.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by MLLASH: Star Boy vanishes for like a whole issue and a half.
It helps to flip back and forth between this and "Tales" which explains where a lot of the missing Legionnaires were at various stages of the story (Invisible Kid & Wildfire in the Dream Dimension, Cosmic Boy with the Subs, etc). Thom was sent off as part of the team with Timber Wolf and Colossal Boy to help Mon-el and Shady on Talok VIII. Is that what you're thinking of?
From: Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada | Registered: Sep 2004
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