Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Reading the Legion: Archives #4

Definitely some wasted potential with Kid Psycho. I think, perhaps, if he had been created by Hamilton or Siegel or the story properly featured in Adventure Comics that KP might not have been so overlooked. Otherwise, he definitely should have been summoned for any number of dire emergencies to come. This could have eventually lead to a heartbreaking death scene within the Legion context. In Crisis he was little more than cannon fodder.

I think if we'd seen him more we could have maybe gotten better idea of what it means to lose a year of his life every time he uses his power. In this story alone, he would have lost several years, then. To me, this would manifest itself as KP appearing a year older each time. Maybe a year wouldn't be noticeable, but several years lost in one story should definitely cause an observable change in his appearance. And he definitely should have appeared markedly older over time that the Legionnaires might have remarked on. Again, this is another visual cue like Huey mentions above, otherwise it seems pretty abstract. I mean, who knows? KP's race could live to be 500 years old, right?

Another possibility occurs to me that might be more reading between the lines. What if the Legionnaires were just trying to make KP feel good and no intention of ever calling him in? This is thoroughly plausible and is perhaps even supported by Superboy's parting thoughts as he returns to the 20th century. I mean, the LSH obviously doesn't want to be responsible for KP killing himself. So why not just make him feel great, right? I doubt it was Binder's intention, but I kind of got that vibe when KP was given the "Secret Weapon No. 1" title. granted, it was hard not to flash-forward and remember his future disuse at that moment, I suppose.

Ironic, then, that ultimately KP wasn't killed by the use of his powers. While it was a heroic moment, I still feel it was disappointing that, if he had to die, that the premise of his origin story wasn't fulfilled.

Yeah, I thought of that, as well. I suppose that it was really the only way to explain the inconsistencies in the end.

Kid Psycho. Great story! Even better taken in the entire context. I probably read this in a reprint or found an old book when I was a kid but I remember all the emotions.

I couldn't find my copy of the Kid Psycho story, but I have to say he was really set up to be a hero. The fact that his use of power hadn't kille dhim yet was explained by his people aving naturally longer lifespans than the galactic average, I think. It really is too bad that nothing was done with it; I can just imagine scenes with several Legionnaires debating over whether they need to call Kid Psycho in for a particular threat. Is it justifiable? Do they have another choice? How does it stack up against the Legion code - to knowingly ask Kid Psycho to put his life at risk?

Actually I do think that was Binder's intention, and may indeed have been the moral of the story itself. In a way it makes me think of the Make-a-wish Foundation, which was created in the early 1980s.

Lardy, you're absolutely right: given the premise set at his introduction, KP really should have died through use of his powers. You don't set something up like that and not follow through.

I don't follow? If someone finds out something they do will kill them, they usually try and cut back. This is different? I think I'm missing the point.

Anyhow, as it worked out, he was there for any deus ex machina, kind of like a living miracle machine. I don't recall that he was ever used that way though, until Crisis. His use in Crisis was a high point for me.

I think it's a Chekov's gun thing. If you show off the gun and sort of 'foreshadow' it, but then it never actually plays a part in the story, it feels like a waste of time, narratively.

Kid Psycho living with the knowledge that any heroic use of his power will lead to his death is somewhat shortchanged by that never actually being the case.

All hat, no cat, and in Kid Psycho's case, even more disheartening because he spent a lifetime afraid to / discouraged from use his power to help people, and it totally didn't matter, since he died young anyway, making him kind of the ultimate failed hero.

I follow now. We just disagree.

I think a better use of Kid Psycho would have been to call him in during the worst crises (with lots of debate and angst on the Legion's part, and much ado being made of Kid Psycho's heroism) and NOT kill him off from overuse of powers yet. Keep us readers guessing - oh no, will the next crisis be the one that does him in?

From a narrative point of view, introducing Kid Psycho and having him die of old age in bed would have worked. There could still have been a lot of angst in terms of, "Oh Kid Psycho, if you hadn't helped out with the Great Metropolis Fire in 2025 you would have lived another 4 years!" type of thing.

I do agree though, that him dying in Crisis without even using his powers at all was a waste.

Crisis had some odd decisions, when it came to death.

The Crime Syndicate of Earth 3 was shown going down fighting with their world, too arrogant to admit defeat, and yet, even then, I thought it was weird that *they* were the one's who fought to the last, while Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters, the entire Marvel/Shazam family, some Earth 2 / JSA figures, and some 'Earth-Charlston' figures like Captain Atom and the Peacemaker all ended up on the new Earth, while the worlds they were supposed to be the heroes of all died in their countless billions.

Ultimately, the billions of people on Earth 3 aren't any less dead than the billions of people on Earth's 2, X, C and S (or whatever), but it felt a bit off to me that the 'heroes' of those worlds kind of skated free while all the people they should have been protecting got blasted to pieces by shadows or obliterated by walls of antimatter. (I kind of felt the same way about the end of the Reboot. Gosh, too bad about those countless hojillions of people who got blown up with that entire universe! Good thing most of the Legionnaires survived!? I'm sure they feel *awesome* about how everyone on Cargg, Winath, Titan, Braal, Talokk VIII, etc. are all dead.)

Other deaths felt like big deals (Supergirl's, for instance) while the Flash's death felt like a fake-out (he was running, and then there was a flash, and some clothing left behind) and for the next year or so I was waiting for Barry to just show up, missing some of his costume. I never imagined it would be twenty-some years later! Supergirl, whose death was pretty darn crystal clear, came back at least twice (and explicitly Kara, at least once), before Barry did!

By the time DC tacitly admitted (through Booster Gold) that the multiverse was not only 'back,' but had always 'still existed,' it felt to me like the only real lasting effect of Crisis on Infinite Earths is that some sacrificial lambs like Kid Psycho, Tula/Aquagirl and Kole remain dead, while others, like Psimon and Prince Gavyn/Starman inexplicably kept re-appearing.

The above is exactly why I prefer to read COIE as a stand-alone story. While rereading it, I just willfully ignore everything that came after so as not to lessen my enjoyment.

I remember reading an interview where Marv Wolfman admitted that Kole was created just so the Titans could have another death in Crisis, and so he could tell other creators that he gave up one of his own creations too. I always wished it had been that wimpy winged dork Azrael instead of Kole who'd died - we have so many winged heroes already, but very few crystal-powered ones. And Kole was infinitely more likable.

There's a pretty good discussion on COIE over on the Re=Reads thread btw.

re: Gnill Opral, last son of Hajor.

He is just too incredibly powerful. He is able to project force-shields and force-fields which can withstand the combined might of Superboy, Mon-El, and Ultra Boy. He can punch thousand-year holes in time with his mind. His telekinetic powers are likely at the same level as his force-field abilities, and his telepathic powers and super-intellect probably on par with the fully-evolved Evolvo Lad. As his powers are defined in this tale, he could cage Validus, or transport him through time and space to a secure location. He could defeat the remainder of the Fatal Five just as easily. This is a character who could take on Mordru single-handed, possibly even the Time Trapper. But he has- literally- a fatal weakness.
Could not 31st-century science and medicine ‘cure’ Kid Psycho or mitigate that weakness? From a literary standpoint, as a recurring character, he is too powerful for a hero.

He would have to be recast as a villain.

As a villain, one strategy to defeat him would be relentless attacks that forced him to use his power and use up his lifespan. Since this would be equivalent to murder, the Legion would have to find some other approach. Quite a challenge!

The character was wasted. His story could have taken many different approaches besides simple eradication in CoIE.

He could have had a Dorian Gray sort of effect; instead of just slicing off the years, he could have aged a year every time he used his power, thereby becoming an old man by the time he was 21.

There's something inherently tragic about Kid Psycho. Now that he knows the truth about his condition, he stops being a hero and only waits to get called on for extreme emergencies. He's cautious and everyone else is very reluctant to reduce his lifespan. As a result, he dies of old age, his potential wasted, like someone dying with millions of dollars that they could have used to help people.

Regardless, it's even worse that he died in Crisis without getting a chance to explore the possibilities.

Adventure #339

This story stands out for a few reasons but the most important is this is the final John Forte Legion story. The stalwart Legion artist since #300, he certainly made his mark on the franchise and helped build it into the juggernaut it had become. He remains my favorite Silver Age Legion artist and this reread reaffirmed that. It's especially sad, because very soon after he completed this story, he passed away. Yet, one of the great aspects of art is immortality. Though John Forte died 15 years before I was even born, and 35 years before I even learned his name, here I am now, a true admirer of his work.

The story itself is a sequel to the Heroes of Lallor story and to me is better than the first. In fact, this is one of the best Silver Age Legion stories, and conveys a powerful message. It is the quintessential Hamilton story, focusing on the outsider. And this time, unlike Lone Wolf or the Subs, there is no happy ending.

The opening premise of the planet Vorn is solid. It's a classic adventure / Jules Verne type concept.

I'm enjoying Lyle and Cham's working as partners. Their idea for Cham to pretend he's Lyle while Lyle is invisible is simple yet brilliant.

The charge of all the animals at once is especially effective.

Once Superboy goes to Lallor, the story really starts to take off. Beast Boy's story is tragic and easy to feel empathy for. "He had become brooding, anti-social, bitter towards all humans..." Who hasn't felt that way before? Who hasn't been an outsider at some point? Hamilton knows how to convey these things in just a few panels and brief words.

In part 2, the opening salvo between the LSH and Beast Boy is well done, with several segments to the action: tracking him; several Legionnaires caught; a rescue; a battle; chasing Beast Boy. Whew! The action has certainly improved as the 60's have marched on.

There's some strong irony in the scene following Beast Boy no longer helping the animals that the trappers are suddenly able to capture a great many of them. Was BB so wrong after all?

BB's escape is clever, leading to the Superboy v Mon-El sequence which is one of the more brilliant illusion sequences I've seen.

And then the conclusion is just genius. Beast Boy no sooner thinks "how I hate the humans", that he finds himself tired, hungry and chased...just in time for a young girl to give him aid. This moment restores his faith in humanity, and not a second too soon, as the Maw, an animal who had released, comes to kill the girl--and he chooses to defend her and do something heroic again. And in that action he dies and perhaps redeems himself. Fantastic.

All in all, a real high note to end the 4th Archive, which proved to be VERY strong.

Some interesting points. As a villain, how could Legion deal with him, knowing whatever they might do might lead him to "suicide?" A tricky problem. Anyhow, with all those skills, the one most likely to be able to find a cure, would be himself.

As is, I think it worked out for the best, storywise. Using my earlier comparison, except for that price to pay, he was a living, breathing miracle machine. And we know what they did with that and what trouble it did cause. Like the miracle machine, having him always in the background WAS the story, at least to this reader. I remember often posters and letters to the editors stating how the miracle machine could have pulled the Legion out of one particular problem or another. That's how I thought of KP.

As far as Crisis, I guess I always presumed he was using his powers, while flying people to safety and everything ever other heroic person was doing. That's exactly how I remember the story and until I was forced to go back and read it again, I would tell anyone saying otherwise that they were off their rocker.

With comics and their limited space, I guess it almost always comes down to what details are filled in by each individual reader.

Adventure #339 should be forced reading for every comic book company CEO/Director/editor that thinks the way to sell a product is 10 splash pages of people standing around or heroes repeating the same old pose, while not actually doing anything or 15 pages of fists flying in the same old way, with irregular and heavily bordered panels, which all looked good in Batwoman but has now become a poorly copied meme all designed to turn $4 into a 5 minute never to be read again page turner.

You can make MORE money with stories like ADV #339.

Adv. 339

Cobie did an excellent job of summarizing and reviewing the story, and I agree with his assessment for the most part.

What makes "The Hunters of the Super-Beasts" stand out is that it feels like a mature Legion story. It explores themes of alienation and heroes being shunned by the public they protect (one wonders if Mort had been keeping tabs on X-Men), as well as the ethical considerations of hunters trapping animals (though only Beast Boy raises this concern; the Legionnaires don't seem too bothered by it). We even have a sympathetic villain, one we've seen before as a hero.

The plot is well paced and full of twists and turns. That said, it could have used some tightening. For example, the episode with the volcano beast being endangered adds nothing to the overall tale. Presumably, it was added to insert some action into the shipboard sequence, which otherwise slows the story down. But the volcano beast and meteor could have been deleted without damaging the story.

The shipboard sequence, however, affords us the luxury of seeing more wonderful Forte animal creations. Stories like this (and 309) gave him him and Hamilton the chance to explore the wildlife of the future. I imagine kids would have loved this story just for the flasher beast, the maw, and the other creatures.

The ending is probably one of the best in the entire Adventure run. After impersonating various fantastic animals, Beast Boy tries to get away by impersonating a garden-variety puppy. More, he's injured and hungry. How far the mighty have fallen!

Ironically, it's this vulnerable condition that enables him to see that humans aren't so bad after all and to die a hero, a choice not given to his thematic predecessor, Jungle King.

Though the story is good, a few things keep it from achieving classic status, in my opinion. I've already mentioned that the plot needs tightening. Another flaw is the depiction of Brainy, who demonstrates very little of his 12th level intelligence. Why, for example, does he not have his force field belt on when he gets captured by the Dralgo? (Doesn't he keep it on by default?) At least Brainy sees through the illusion of Superboy and Mon-El fighting, but it shouldn't have taken a Brainiac to do that.

And while Superboy's presence is easily justified via the cover depiction of him and Mon-El getting into a good, old-fashioned donnybrook, this story, more than any since 320, supports the accusation that he hogs the glory. Once again, he spares the Legionnaires from endangering themselves because [cue Chevy Chase voice] "I'm invulnerable, and you're not." In the panel in which Saturn Girl talks to the hunter, Superboy seems to horn his way into the camera shot with one of those "I'm the classic hero, and don't you forget it" expressions. At least Saturn Girl gives him an order--to get him out of her face, I presume.

Why, though, is Saturn Girl calling the shots? Brainy's the leader now.

Despite its flaws, "Hunters" exhibits considerable strengths, including pairing Legionnaires we haven't seen work together before. Lightning Lad and Phantom Girl make a good team (and their scene reminds me of a later one, in Superboy # 201). Colossal Boy and Star Boy tackle a beast together, and Invisible Kid and Chameleon Boy twice show how their powers complement each other.

Another strength is that the villain not only earns our sympathy but demonstrates rare intelligence, as far as Silver Age Legion villains go. Beast Boy leads the animals to revolt, and then cleverly eludes capture by impersonating an animal and hiding aboard the hunters' ship. Kudos to Hamilton for not telling us which animal BB was disguised as until it was necessary to do so. Keeping the Legionnaires guessing kept the reader guessing, too.

Beast Boy also demonstrates his formidability by transforming into a Korbal lightning beast (a nice tie-in with Lightning Lad's origin, but not a gratuitous one, as the lightning beast gives BB the power to escape) and freeing the other animals to cover his escape. He shows a ruthless streak by endangering the lives of civilians, which makes him wholly believable as a villain who gives the Legionnaires a run for their money.

So, more kudos to Ed for not pulling punches, to John for giving this story, his last, his all, and to Mort for trusting the intelligence of his growing-up readership.

So, Beast Boy left Lallor months ago yet the other heroes didn't bother to go look for him? Tsk tsk. Whattabunch of friends!

At the very least, Beast Boy wasn't so angsty that he forgot that the other Heroes of Lallor are his friends. Boy, those Lallorian civilians sure are petty.

I wonder... couldn't Beast Boy have escaped even while the Legionnaires were under his hypnotic illusion? Seems like he wasted a lot of time while Superboy and Mon-El were fighting.

I wish we'd been able to see the aftermath of Beast Boy's death. Was there a memorial for him on Lallor? How did the Lallorians react to his deeds?

Now you've gone and made me feel sorry for Kid Psycho.

At the very least, you've made me wish we could have seen more of the character. Perhaps he could show up at Legion HQ, asking when he's going to receive that call that never comes. Perhaps he's been following the news (as everyone does) and demands to know why the Legion didn't call him to fight Darkseid, Mordru, etc. Perhaps he even sues the Legion for breach of contract or making false promises.

I'm getting a little ahead of myself here, but the promise of being a hero he exhibits in Superboy # 125 is never followed up on. Some have suggested that the Legion simply made him a reservist to make him feel better--and the story can easily be read that way. But even if his power had killed him, it would arguably have been a better fate than wasting away his potential, as you suggest.

Another (more hopeful) possibility is that KP realized that being a hero was only one of his many talents and possibilities. As the last survivor of Hajor, perhaps he decided a better course of action would be to repopulate his race or to educate others so Hajorian culture would not be lost.

We'll see a memorial to him on Shanghalla in Adv. 341.

Ultimately, KP *could* have had a much larger arc. Perhaps he "wastes away" for years, as its been said, and suffers the worst fate of all. This makes him bitter and angry. Finally, he decides to intervene even without the Legion's blessing and becomes more of a nuisance than a help. Ultimately, after some tension between he and the Legion, he does prove himself in a big battle(s) and saves the day...but takes off far too many years of life for the Legion to feel comfortable. Following all this, his next arc would be to find another reason to go on living other than being a hero--and in addition to repopulating his race, the larger part of that is falling in love. Perhaps he even gets married and has children? And it's then, when he's found a better life for himself than simply being a hero, that the Legion finds itself so up against the wall that they call in every reservist...and after struggling with whether to join, he ultimately does...and ultimately dies.

There really could have a series of story arcs for him over a period of decades that could have been incredibly grandiose!

One thing we do see in the very next story arc is Beasty Boy's memorial on Shanghalla, which is a nice bit of continuity! But we never do see the Lallorians react to his end.

I'm more interested in how his death affected people on his homeworld. Did they even care? Did they even feel bad? Definitely there would have been a memorial; the Legion wouldn't let him die like that without honoring him.

Well, there's no indication that the memorial on Shanghalla was created by the Legion. It's more likely that the Lallorians created it, since there are memorials to other heroes we've never heard of before. Someone must have a good monument for heroes business going.

By the way, looking at the image of Shanghalla (Page 4 of 341) reminds me of how odd Triplicate Girl's memorial is. Most the memorials surrounding hers contain images of the fallen heroes as they died, and all feature summaries of their careers and deaths. Triplicate Girl's memorial features only an image of her face (with eyes apparently closed) and signatures of all the Legionnaires who had not been captured by Computo.

Of course, the Legionnaires were in hiding when they hastily constructed this "rocket urn". Perhaps they later designed a more suitable memorial, or perhaps they left it as is, a grim testament to the circumstances under which it was made.