For the next couple of months, we'll be discussing the stories reprinted in the Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Volume 12.



This archive covers Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes issues 213-223 and also Karate Kid issue 1.

Mike Grell continues his run, adding artistic continuity to writing chores split between Jim Shooter and Cary Bates.

It’s a fairly mixed batch of stories, a number of which have a longer first feature with a shorter back up tale. We have the first appearances of Leland McCauley IV, Grimbor, Charma and Tyroc to look forward to, as well as the return of the Fatal Five and the Time Trapper.

We’ll be reviewing an issue every week, to keep things moving, with the first post for each issue going up on a Tuesday evening GMT.

But feel free to drop in with comments on any of the issues in the archive as we go. The more contributors we have, the more fun it is.

Don’t forget that you can also add in your comments on previous archive re-reads. It’s never too late when you have a time bubble!

Archives #11, Archives #10, Archives #9, Archives #8, Archives #7, Archives #6, Archives #5, Archives #4, Archives #3, Archives #2 and Archives #1)

Superboy 213



The cover shows us a space dragon attacking the shuttle. The splash page shows us Ultra Boy cracking up due to the attack. We only really need a third page to show us Jo relieved at getting over it and a fleeing dragon and we’d have an extra 15 pages for the back up.

This story introduces us to Ben Pares, the greatest burglar in the galaxy. He’s so good that there’s no trace of him in any file. It’s a shame he’s chosen to completely blow that anonymity by openly challenging Legion. His prize is the Miracle Machine, that Deus Ex Machina given to the Legion by the Controllers that conveniently ends stories.

Pares shows twice that he could easily have got into Legion HQ and taken the device. His behaviour is as baffling as Brainy reading every criminal file held in the Legion’s databases. Someone should tell Shooter that just because you have total recall doesn’t mean that you read everything.

Having the Legion sit around making “cosmic shaking decisions” while a plot turns up is never a good start. There’s a dialogue free panel showing them argue over such a decision. There’s definitely one in the issue, as they decide to destroy the Miracle Machine in case it falls into Pares’ hands.

When trying to undo the Controller’s work fails, they choose unsuccessfully to guard it. There’s a nice cameo from the espionage squad trying to infiltrate the room where the machine is held.

The Legion are faced with tracking down Pares. Fortunately, Pares sudden desire for publicity earlier allowed Saturn Girl to read his mind. This allows the plot to move on nicely, with the group tracking Pares to the Space Dragon (or Galactosaur here) of the cover and splash page.

Ultra Boy’s trauma when he was swallowed by a similar beast results in him trying to force the ship back, endangering his teammates. Jo’s fear of being swallowed by giant space creatures would stay with him for years, even being used to subdue him when the team rescued Mysa Nal from Mordru in the TMK run.

Meanwhile, Pares’ sits back and waits for the Legion to become dragon food. But all his planning comes to nothing. Once again, the miracle machine is used as a genie dispensing endless wishes. Superboy flies in to save the day by defeating Pares and saving Ultra Boy.

Jo had overcome his panic to help his colleagues. It’s all done off panel to supposedly increase our belief that the dragon had eaten them. So Jo’s struggle, which is central to the story, doesn’t get quite the spotlight it should have.

We never learn what Pares wants the machine for. He has just the right powers to evade the Legion HQ defences. Since he can just walk in and take the thing, there’s no real planning behind his actions. Therefore, there’s a lack of suspense.

I’m critical of characters who are powerful just because the story demands that they are, with no real cohesion behind them. Pares is definitely an example of this. He would get the occasional mention in years to come. His decision to reveal himself here certainly put him on the Science Police’s radar. He would end up involved in stealing an container that would result in Spider Girl joining the team in the TMK run.

“…we can’t allow it to make us lazy,” says Brainiac 5 of the Miracle Machine. Yet, it’s continually used as a lazy plot solution by Legion writers. It’ certainly made this a mediocre start to the archive. Grell’s art makes it visually interesting to get through to the end.

213/Jaws of Fear

True story: When this issue came out, I somehow missed it. I didn't even realize I had missed an issue until 2-3 months later when I received the Legion Handbook and saw the cover among the montage on the handbook's own cover. I scurried through my back issues before I realized I had skipped from 212 to 214 and never realized I'd missed an issue.

That's how episodic Legion stories were at the time, in sharp contrast to the Marvels.

Comic book shops were then unknown to me, so it would be another three or four years before I would find the elusive 213.

I wish I could say it was worth the wait.

I like both of the premises in the lead story: a brazen thief steals something from under the Legion's nose, and Ultra Boy has to come to grips with his own Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (another idea extrapolated from the times, perhaps). Unfortunately, the execution of both premises is childish, illogical, and unfulfilling.

In addition to the points thoth raised, what bothers me is that several Legionnaires are featured, but most don't do anything of significance. They are interchangeable, firing their powers at the Miracle Machine with no effect and uttering interchangeable lines. Only Brainy and Imra really have anything substantial to do. Even Jo is underplayed until his Big Moment and then, as thoth notes, the resolution is handled off-screen, ruining the suspense and pay-off.

(I hadn't noticed, though, that the Legionnaires who try to break into the Miracle Machine's chamber were the Espionage Squad. Good catch, thoth.)

It would have been nice if the story had ended with Jo learning something about himself or coming to grips with the terror he had kept hidden all these years. Think what a positive message it could have sent to young boys and soldiers everywhere: It's okay to admit you're afraid and that you're not perfect. Instead, we get Brainy's "lazy" speech which comes across as Dad telling the kids, "No, you've got to go out and earn your living rather than me giving you money. But the money is always here, just out of your reach."

A lot of wasted opportunities in this one.

213/Trapped to Live

Please, spare us the character development! Let's have more trick plots where the story rests on something as contrived or convenient as a piece of equipment. Saves the Legionnaires from having to think their way out of jams. Saves the reader from having to think at all.

The strange part about this story is that it's by Shooter, not Bates.

Timber Wolf has been a quiet presence since his dramatic star turn back in 197, so I was looking forward to reading this story, even though I didn't know it existed until three or fours after its publication. But, like the lead story, it just doesn't deliver the goods.

The premise is solid enough. Brin is lured to a barren world by a distress signal sent by one-time Legion enemy Blackmace (yep, it's spelled as one word). The villain overpowers him, takes his flight ring, and tries to take his ship. But Brin convinces the bad guy to take him along for the ride and the Legion cruiser's security device does the rest.

Of course, there's no set-up for the reader (we have no idea what a "security sentinel" does until it actually does something), so there's no way to play along or match wits with the writer. At least the flight ring is used to good effect in defeating Blackmace.

In the end, though, nothing of note really happens here.

The other significant aspect of this story is the art, which is credited to Grell and Bill Draut. I presume Draut inked the story. His lines give the art a sparse and washed out appearance, which provides an interesting contrast to Grell's bold lines on the lead feature. I can't recall if Draut did any more Legion stories, but I like his contribution. It provides a nice change of pace.

The back up seems at first to be a pretty standard throw away story. But as I'm typing this, it's actually starting to look a bit better.

I was going to say that it revolves around action rather than character. But there are a couple of exceptions. I was also going to say that you could have replaced Brin with pretty much anyone, with a few tweaks. But that's not quite so.

Brin's time in the Academy is mentioned. You could argue that it's his familiarity with all things Legion, that makes the story longer than Mace flying off with his shuttle right at the start. Seeing that continuity with the character is a nice touch. Brin Londo: android; animal; graduate; loner; team player. It's a pretty confusing list. I think this story leans more on his earlier stories. He's a stronger character here than he would be portrayed as for, many years later.

Mace also comes off well as a seasoned, super thug. it's a role he would fill in future appearances too, and Shooter does well to remember him and bring him back for just such a requirement here.

The plot is pretty simple. We learn that the Legion ships have auto defences and it's obvious that they're going to play a part in the story. In fact, the whole story seems to revolve around them.

Brin warns the readers of Black Mace's prowess throughout. But Mace stands there as Brin bursts through a security system and uses the edge of it to acrobatically leap across a small shuttle. Mace must have been napping through all that.

Fortunately, the conflict improves by showing that Brin is outclassed by Mace, who uses the confines of the shuttle to his advantage. It's not a standard comic battle, in that the characters are at least aware of their surroundings. That alone gets the tale lots of points. Simple but a step above most pointless super brawls.

Brin's super strength plays a decent part in the story. But his agility, resilience and >gasp for Brin< brains are also required too. He needs all of these to stand up to the villain.

HWW has already noted the good use of the flight ring. It was a technique used years later by Booster Gold in a JLI issue.

So it is a bit of a throw away back up filler. But you can see that there's a bit of thought going on in the background. When that detail also happens to have Grell art, then it gets better still.

That would seem to about sum it up.

I was going to say that virtually any Legionnaire could be used here, as well.

It's convenient that Brin ran afoul of a villain who could match him in terms of physical prowess, as opposed to, say, Quanto or Shagrek, so the story does have that sort of physical action appeal going for it.

You also make a great point about Blackmace using the claustrophobic setting to his advantage.

Superboy & LSH #213

Though a story often overlooked, I thought the lead feature of #213 was terrific from start to finish. Grell's art was on fire with dynamic line work and really explosive layouts. Wildlife, Jo and others looked as good as ever. Meanwhile, Shooter continues to show he is a master as providing a satisfying story with tight pacing and plotting while also filling it with nods to the LSH past and continuity, giving it that extra added pop. In this story he also provides the right amount of tension and drama without going over the top.

Ben Pares is somewhat obscure but totally awesome in this debut appearance. Clever and confident, he's more than capable of pestering the entire LSH even if he isn't trying to destroy the sun or wreck the UP. This makes him an effective and interesting threat. The fact that the Legion "cheated" for the win makes him more appealing.

The sequence with Jo and the space dragon is a good one IMO. It adds some additional peril and tension that was needed and is a great throwback to his origin and past Legion lore.

The Miracle Machine, usually a plot device I hate, is perhaps used best here out of all of its appearances. Shooter uses it judiciously and cleverly.

Meanwhile, the back-up is a fairly straight-forward Timberwolf story that is well paced and beautifully drawn. Usage of Black Mace is a good tie into old continuity and Shooter begins to explore the nature of the LSH flight ring in more detail, which will eventually lead to additional good stories.

All in all, #213 was a surprise winner for me.

Superboy 214



The clunky robots on the cover look about as dated as the kid’s fashion sense. The kid looks a bit more sympathetic on the splash page, seemingly a hostage of an old guy with a gun.

The Legion are on one of those quaint sci fi worlds where the entire surface area has become a giant factory. It’s a sort of industrial nation angst, where people see the growth of factories and wonder where it will stop. It’s the same sort of thing that turned consumerism into endless zombie films. In the Legionverse I imagine there’s no shortage of exploited colony worlds that compete to become factory slave worlds to the richer UP worlds.

The robots have run amok, as they do. But in a nice touch, there’s an all too human hand behind them. From such a sterile world comes a tale of personal loss. It’s another nod to that industrial angst that goes back to the start of the industrial revolution. What will become of a man who has lost his place in the world to machines? Our villain has lost his job, he has lost his pride and dignity when even begging didn’t work. So, he’s used his skills to take over the robotic world.

The kid from the cover turns out to be our first look at Leland McCauley IV. He’s the obnoxious ‘70s version of Lester Spiffany. At the end I was looking for a “you’re stupid” to be shouted from his departing rocket ship. McCauley is spoilt to the point of being oblivious and clearly sees his role in life as one where he gets to order everyone else around.

His attitude provides much of the dramatic tension in the story, as the Legion work to save him from death should the villain find out he’s the son of the man who fired him. The scenes are well constructed, and the kid works as a hostage on more than one level. But in the end, there’s no chance that the “bad guy” will outmanoeuvre the Legionnaires. It might be Spiffany or it might be knowing how he turned out, but I really wasn’t convinced that McCauley had learned his lesson at the end. Sure, it might affect him for a while, but it would soon turn to resentment due to his selfish nature.

Interestingly, Superboy is at odds with two of his colleagues regarding the boy. Superboy feels that the child has to be protected at all costs, while Wildfire and Karate Kid think otherwise. Although the child is not in direct danger having not revealed his identity to the villain, it’s a departure to hear two Legionnaires willing to abandon him. Of course, they probably wonder why Superboy doesn’t just break out and round up the crook in a second, then rescue the child.

Wildfire’s attitude is further embedded when he reacts to Superboy’s hand on him by blasting his colleague. “No one pushes Wildfire” he says in his best plea to join the X-men. “You’re a Legionnaire! Act like One!” retorts Superboy. It’s a sign of moral shift in the team, as they continue to become more distinctive personalities.


I’m reminded of Brainy’s trial years later where Polar Boy’s feelings towards the Legion Constitution were not shared by the founders of the team. I wonder if Wildfire atomically blasting his throat affected McCauley in later life.

The conflict between Superboy and Wildfire continues beyond this I think, and it will be interesting to see their viewpoints clash as we go through the rereads. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the less we see of Superboy, the bigger pain Wildfire gets.

In the end, the Legion restore the world to working order. McCauley doesn’t change and there’s a broken old man left facing jail because he had given his working life to a system that discarded him.

Robotica and Computo must look at stories like this as proof of the Coluan agenda against robotic lifeforms as he leads his team onto the planet to stop robotic control. The smouldering corpse of the one Karate Kid punched his fist through is particularly moving.

Shadow Lass makes a useful appearance as she’s key to infiltrating the planet. It’s a shame that she played no real part beyond that save for being a shoulder to cry on for a tearful McCauley.

Superboy & LSH #214

As I was looking for something to like about #214, it was this: in this issue we start to get the Wildfire that I know and love. From his first sentence to his pushing Superboy and calling his speech corny, this issue starts to set the tone for Wildfire hereafter: brash, rude and uncaring about offending the others. I love it. And so did readers--since he's elected leader after about only 10 missions!

I also enjoy the line-up: it's almost the same as my beloved Shady intro / second Fatal Five story from the silver age but with another favorite, Wildfire, subbing in for Cos.

Those two things being said, the issue isn't exactly all that enjoyable. The plot is okay, but little McCauley is just too annoying and such a snot that I want the unnamed villain to just shoot him in the head. Most people can't stand self-centered rich kids, and I'm part of that. I have a hard time finding empathy for them when they're actually written well. This isn't even that. I'd rather rob them of their inheritances and force them into a life of pain and suffering most of the time, so I really have to be won over. Here, I'm not.

I find Superboy's wink at the end particularly groan worthy too. Bah! Now I want Lex to kryptonite punch him in the face!

(So much aggression here! Sheesh! I grew up in Connecticut though--I know kids like this).

The back-up is actually even worse though. We get Cary Bates giving us yet another story about a female Legionnaire doubting herself and fearing she doesn't belong on the team. Yeesh. We get Brainy at his most manipulative and patronizing, breaking all semblance of trust for his little experiment. We even get Gim hopped up on lotus fruit for thinking Brainy goes off on joyrides. This is one of the more forgettable LSH stories thus far.

The art in both stories is serviceable but feels a little flat and by the numbers. Layouts are dull and the inks are scarce and unexciting.

Overall, #214 is one of the weakest issues in a long while.

Thoth, I agree, I didn't believe McCauley either.

Also, I'm interested too in seeing Superboy and Wildfire continue to be at odds. Covers alone in the near future show them fighting several times.

214/No Price Too High

I have a slightly higher opinion of this story than Cobie does (though, granted, that's not saying much). It's a simple story that achieves its ends in a more-or-less believable fashion. Considering some recent stories, that's quite an achievement. There are significant flaws in the story (What? The Overseer is so out of touch with current event that he doesn't know he can't harm Superboy, Wildifire or Brainiac 5?), but it earns points for the tense emotional drama on two fronts.

First, the kid is certainly annoying--but that's the point. Here the Legionnaires are tasked with doing the right thing by saving the kid's life even though he is spoiled, selfish, and incredibly stupid. One sympathizes with Wildfire and KK for wanting to let the kid have it, but Legionnaires don't operate that way. Superboy doesn't operate that way, and it's refreshing to see him take a stand for what he believes to be right, even though doing so puts him in the minority. (Brainy and Shady are strangely silent as to the kid's fate.)

Second, the conflict between Superboy and Wildfire is also refreshing. It's great to see the Legionnaires have a difference of opinion and even come to blows over it. There hasn't been a serious disagreement that I recall since Matter-Eater Lad blamed Brainy for the creation of Computo back in Adventure 341. Unlike Tenz, Wildfire does not back down and remains defiant to the end. I loved his line that he helped the kid only so Superboy would shut up. A joke, perhaps, but it establishes that Drake isn't going to be a good little Legionnaire, and, yes, it defines his personality for years to come.

I also like the setup of the Legionnaires performing what should be a routine mission for them. Something else else has gone wrong on this automated factory world, and passing ships are threatened. They have to fix it. But this routine mission is jeopardized not by the Fatal Five or some other villain, but by a snotty kid.

If one accepts this premise (and the notion that the overseer knows shit about the Legionnaires), the rest of the story works quite nicely. Superboy appears to be less powerful here than in earlier stories (such as pulling off a ridiculous rescue of Jo and Lana back in 205): he apparently can't fly in to save the kid without risking the latter's life. But even this depowerment is put to refreshing good use.

The action scenes are also well done. After years of middling stories, it's good to see the Legionnaires kick some robot ass.

I also felt sorry for the overseer, who had lost everything due to corporate downsizing (an all too relevant topic). It's pathetic that he was willing to work for free, suggesting this poor soul had no life beyond his job--no family, no hobbies, no interest in current events, apparently: a rigid frame of mind in which nothing was more important to him than being Number One, even Number One among machines.

214/Stay Small--or Die

Yep, this is a bad'un: weak female Legionnaire . . . patronizing Brainy . . .stupid Brainy . . . convenient plot twist.

Yet there were two things I did like about this story. One is the premise of a Legionnaire being afraid to use his or her power. We've mentioned before that more of the Legionnaires should be suffering from PTSD. Violet is actually the most logical Legionnaire to experience this, given how vulnerable her power makes her. It's just a shame that her fear originated in one of the most innocuous of incidents: nearly getting crushed by Sun Boy's boot during a training exercise. After facing numerous villains during her career, Vi should be traumatized by something far worse than this, one would think. (Of course, an even worse trauma--the sens-tank--was still far in her future.)

The second thing I liked is that it is Violet who figures out what's going on--and even a bit of pseudo science is used to figure it out. I don't know if her smaller size would actually cause the air currents to slow down her fall--I seem to recall a famous scientific experiment in which two objects of unequal weight were dropped from the Eiffel Tower yet both hit the ground at the same time. But it's a nice idea. Credit it to Imskian physiology.

The only other thing of note about this story is that, if Bates had been as interested in continuity as Shooter was, he might have used Doll World from Adventure 313 instead of creating a brand new giant-sized world.

You bring up a lot of good points HWW about some of the good things in both stories. I also like when we see he Legionnaires doing routine missions that don't involve Suns exploding or super-villains going ballistic. So you're correct that it's a refreshing change of pace.

As is the action, which I agree is much appreciated. The Legion are finally catching up with the rest of comics about a decade plus late.

Also, a very good point about the Overseer likely having no life outside his work. That is more relevant today than ever and one of the sadder, more common things that happen in life.

On the Violet story, good point on Vi's PTSD thematically connecting it to numerous recent stories. A big portion of the country and the world had PTSD at this time and it's fascinating to see both Shooter and Bates bringing it back again and again, whether they can help it or not. One gets the sense that as numerous Legionnaires left the team during this era, many others had to do some soul searching to see if they were ready to leave too or ready to move on as stronger individuals despite the trauma they had faced during their already lengthy careers.

During one of the alternate timelines in LSH # 300, the former Dream Girl caustically remarks that all of the sane Legionnnaires got married and left the Legion. There may be something to that.

That's one thing about the Legion. Those who are vocal enough to write get to pick, and that helps shape the book and it's personalities.




There was a comfortable feeling with the team. A team with Superboy in it, doesn't always feel that way. Although he was holding back a bit here, it didn't feel quite as glaring as on Talok. Shady could always be utilised a bit more, and Brainy didn't have much to do. But it's a mission team with a lot of strengths, both in skill and personality.



Yup, I did exactly the same. More points for Wildfire personality fans, and I was worrying about the poor villain, so it seemed to be especially inappropriate.

It would have perhaps been interesting to have forced the Legion to make a choice. Plucking out of the air... the robot army works on a power plant that transmits energy that's vitally needed. Lives are at stake and then the snotty kid appears. Having Legionnaires with differing perspectives about personal responsibility would be nice. I suppose Drake and Val are a little like that here.






Good points HWW. Both points show a maturity in the writing. Personalities are not just for show. They are used consistently. Also, conflicts aren't just there to be edgy. They are an extension of those personalities. Better still, they are allowed to escalate. It's not just put in for effect. It's something we're going to see develop.



I think the villains lack of Legion knowledge is quite fitting and in line with his personality. His life his defined by his function. It's central to him. It will probably have become more so as more of his life went past. I can easily see broader interests falling away as things get harder for him. As you say HWW, he really doesn't have anything else, and I can easily see other things in life slipping. A larger work force slowly departs, taking the life of his world with them. He probably doesn't really see it going.

The nature of his position and it's location seem quite insulated from broader life too. So, when combined who cares about a group of teenagers helping out the UP? Our villain has other things to focus his mind on.

I don't think he even really wanted to be number one among the robots. I think he realised that that was all that was left for him to be, and saw the sadness in it too. He just wanted to matter, and to remain a part of the machine that regulated his life. He was as much an automaton as the robots in a lot of ways.

stay small--or die!

I get that old Adventure tingle when Brainy says “If Shrinking Violet doesn’t snap out of it soon, shell have no choice but to quit the Legion!” It’s completed with a lovely stern faced expression and a button press of grim authority. Excellent panel.

The dramatic tension established, it gets itself mixed up with that other standard Legion trope, the lack of self-confidence. Salu’s gym near miss with Dirk, seems to have had quite an extreme effect on her. Considering it’s a situation she’s been in on numerous occasions before as an Imskian.

It’s a backup that doesn’t waste time. The inciting incident is combined well with the set up for Brainy’s plan. That incident has supplied the tension on Salu’s career, and Brainy moves from informing the reader in that scene, straight into executing his solution. There’s a twist in his plan that allows the main character to prove herself in short order (ouch) as a finale. There’s decent amount of craft involved in pulling off what seems like a little back up tale.

But what I’m drawn to are all the little things that have sprung from tales like this one.

The most obvious is “her sanity is hanging by a thin thread.” Think about that and then about Salu’s time in a Senstank years later.

Incidentally, we got to see a size changing hero nearly get trampled on years later in JLI#24 when the Atom is nearly squished in a hero stampede.

Brainy and Imra stand out for a few reasons here. His scientific acumen and her mental abilities are clearly very strong here. Their skills are matched by their personalities. This pair are among the strongest Legionnaires. We would see that again in such places as the Baxter Universo saga, the Conspiracy and the fate of the team without them. Salu has placed herself in their care unquestioningly and even allows them to discuss the results before telling her anything.

Brainy implementing his plan, following his own mind, is one of his essential character traits. “The others may not approve…but there’s no time for debate.” That’s pretty much Querl in a quote. I also note the reappearance of more mind invasive technology in this story too, continuing that disturbing Legion trend. They use it all so casually.

By the book Gim’s indifference to Brainy flying off is also just like him. If the flight has been logged then there’s not an issue there for him.

Lastly, it’s worth mentioning that Salu didn’t simply overcome her fear here. She thought quickly on her feet in a deadly situation, and realised that her powers weren’t working the way that they should. Despite having been dumped in the situation she thought her way out of it. I like to think this story leads nicely into her TMK portrayal of someone who’s tactically very aware on a personal level, and works very hard (also Baxter era) to keep it that way.

Vi using her power to crawl into something’s head is a tactic that would be used in the future a lot. I’d need to look to see if it was something she was already using or if it’s something from the Atom. But Salu would certainly take down one of the Servants of Darkness later on, using the same approach.

So, a fair number of nice Legion related things in a tidy package here.

Great minds thinking alike. They are great aren't they? I mean, not Brain Globes of Rambat or anything like that, but modestly great



I was calling it the Puppet Planetoid as I was reading it. I fear that a schism may emerge between the Modest Brain Globes over which is the correct term to use

I've got the feeling from a number of recent issues that the rule was being run over a few of the team. No Imskian jokes about failing to measure up please!

I surprised Dream Girl and Star Boy made it through, while Lu, Chuck and Tenzil moved away.

In the new Legion of Drake, with Val and Brin getting plenty of panel time, that old proving your worth storyline has a new edge to it.

I think you're right about Puppet Planetoid. There was also a Doll World, but I may have misremembered the issue it was from.

I just checked my handy Legion Handbook, and, from the description, Doll World was probably the place Salu visited (and in which she was killed by Mask Man) back in Adventure 310.

If she remembered that encounter, perhaps her trauma at being nearly crushed by Dirk's boot would make more sense. Alas none of the Legionnaires, save Superboy, remembered that incident after they were restored to life.

Oh, was that the Mask Man story? I'm trying to think if the first time I read that was in the rereads thread. Chilling stuff.

When I typed my post I was actually thinking Doll World and Puppet Planetoid were the same thing.

So did I. Modest Brain Globes think alike, even when they're wrong.

Rah! Rambat!

Superboy 215



The three figures on the ground of the Grell cover bring out just the right levels of defeat and distress. The two central ones have an odd positioning and Sun Boy could have looked a lot more menacing. The splash page, unfortunately, repeats the story idea of the cover. Here though, Sun Boy looks very much in control of his power changes. Reminded of his stress issues in the past, I’m wondering if someone made him team leader and it’s gone to his head again.

A super tough character appearing as a silhouette? Chris Claremont was unavailable to discuss the origins of Sunspot. A character that can absorb energy to make him stronger? Chris Claremont was unavailable to discuss the origins of Sebastian Shaw.

(My hypocrite alarm reminds me that one of my childhood characters was called Eclipse and wasn’t far off this one either. Odd the little memories reading old comics brings up.)

This issue starts with a spotlight on Phantom Girl, and we get to see the Legion shift into her home world Bgztl. I guess we don’t see much of it because it’s home to Tinya’s over protective pain in the @$$ sibling. Not only does she face more danger going for breakfast than he does in his whole life, she’s just taken out a top assassin while on vacation.

Tinya’s brother being a jerk gives us the back story to her now being targeted by the associates of the assassin who are out to silence her. We could have done with a couple of crowd scenes so we could have spitted that someone had snuck on board the Legion cruiser. Instead we’re told about it, with no way of checking. We’re not far along from the Black Mace story that kept telling us how advanced the legion cruiser security was. So a stowaway seems a bit improbable, despite needing it to push the story along quickly.

Although I groaned initially at Bates’ Intra Warp Adapter, as another in a line of future tech that’s not seen again, I quite like the visuals of the shift. How Bgztl survived the Crisis is a mystery as it’s clearly another Earth. Earth-P for Phantom or people with bladder issues. Earth-B for Bgztl or Bloomin’ lucky Levitz is the boss to keep it around.

Grell’s depiction of the Legion Cruiser burning up, and Element Lad’s escape from it, certainly ramps up the tension. Why have his powers run wild? Is he in control? Will he devastate the planet by going nova? I don’t know but Superboy has had time to make plenty of drawings to go through the rest of the plot with us. Clunk.

The finale has a few surprises but is slow off the mark after reading through Superboy’s lecture. In a longer story, I expect that the pacing would have been adjusted to change the rate of the reveal.

Having more than one Phantom certainly improves the ending. It’s as nice a surprise as having Dirk seem to be central only for it to be a Tinya tale. But the reader doesn’t get the chance to buy into the plot twist. The story is resolved quickly, which is at least keeping with the moment of action the characters had available.

While Tinya seems pleased that her brother “saved” her, it really just shows how little he trusts her and her friends to look out for themselves. Having that view win the day, validates it and diminishes the Legion. Even if Tinya suggests otherwise in the story.

We had commented on this being an era where some Legionnaires would move on. I thought Nura and Tom would be two. Here, Imra performs the same function as Nura, but in a more direct, and therefore less panel filling, way. Why wait for a dream to predict a threat, when Imra can telepathically detect it and run in? So, Dream Girl seems a bit superfluous.

Lost in the wars between our time and the Legion’s was health advice regarding asbestos. In other news, Trom opens its new lung disease clinic, run by the planet’s only resident and also a victim of the condition. I guess Jan’s head is also made up of fire resistant substances, which is why he chose not to cover it in the way he did his outfit.

Brainy carrying a side arm was convenient, and necessary for the plot to work. Looking back to the issue before he didn’t have one in either the main or back up stories.

Jan reveals that he’s close friends with Dirk. Their outlooks would seem to be quite different. But at the heart of both is a certain self-centeredness. A certain sense of self-assurance. Dirk’s confidence and ego is usually easy to pick out across the years. But Jan’s path of quieter contemplation is also an act of will. He is confident in that path and I think that it’s those similarities that would give the pair something in common, as well as being able to enjoy the other’s different outlook.

Particularly after Jan has confronted Roxxas (and isn’t contemplating in jail thanks to Condo) and Dirk’s previous victory over Regulus. Both have living reminders of their origins.

A final though about Dirk is the mention that his powers have changed him on a molecular level. From a character who could emit super brightness, he’s become something a lot more powerful. We’d see him unleash a lot more power in years to come, but this issue was perhaps among the first to harness that.

In summary, the issue’s stand out moments are the Legion cruiser shifting dimensions, the moment of story promise when Dirk’s powers (that have changed his molecular structure) went wild and the attempt at a surprise ending. But it’s only a fair story with nothing very memorable about it. It probably stands out more for giving Tinya some room from Jo, only for us to meet the brother who doesn’t give her space either. Perhaps Jo gives Tinya a connection to feelings from her time at home.

215/Final Eclipse

I was thinking that the blacked-out Dirk reminded me of Negative Man from the Doom Patrol.

When I was a kid, I was looking forward to this issue because Dirk, one of my favorite Legionnaires, was featured. But other than looking dangerously awesome in his eclipsed form, he doesn't do anything except unwittingly endanger everyone. Bad Dirk. Bad Cary.

Speaking of Cary Bates, he takes the lead story for the first time since 208. However, as thoth said, it's not a very memorable story. It relies on another patented Bates plot twist, but I agree that this one is a bit more effective in that it rests on not one but two Bgztlians, er, phantoms possessing bodies of Legionnaires.

It's not clear to me why one phantom caused Dirk's power to go haywire while the other had no effect whatsoever on Jan. For that matter, it's not clear why Gmya Wazzo was able to break free from Dirk's body when Tinya was threatened. Phantom adrenaline, I suppose.

Brainy must have borrowed the sidearm Imra used back in Adventure 304--a convenient weapon she, too, had no reason to wear. In fact, that's the real purpose of Imra's visit to the medlab--to retrieve her firearm and admonish Brainy to ask before borrowing.

But it's easy to poke holes in Bates stories (far, far too easy). I'm glad thoth pointed out some of the positives, such as the effect of the Legion cruiser shifting dimensions and the dramatic destruction of said cruiser. I also appreciated how Tinya outwitted the assassin by turning solid just as he fired his phantom rifle. She should have told her overbearing brother to get lost. Maybe she did, as we never (to my knowledge) saw him again.

Superboy & the LSH #215

The first story actually has a lot to like and I enjoyed the clever little plot which allowed a creative team to at last focus on Bygtzl and the concept of the power to go immaterial by entering another plane. Bates is at his most clever here with the bait & switch, and it works perfectly for a half length story.

I also immensely enjoyed the appearance of Gyma Wazzo, who looks incredibly dashing and is a wonderfully sweet and protective older brother to his famous sister. It almost feels like there should be an adventure or detective strip featuring Gyma Wazzo on Bygtzl!

I thought the Legionnaires were used nicely too with each one playing a part designed for them (save perhaps Superboy, who was contractually obligated to appear).

-------

Meanwhile, the back up is the infamous Slap Story, and that one panel kind of sucks all the joy and seriousness out of the story. It's way over the top and ridiculous and makes Cos look terrible (and Ayla too). Comics of the 70's and 80's, however, are littered with heroes slapping women: from the famous Hank Pym story to the never talked about Thor slapping Sif or Peter slapping Mary Jane and a host of others. Thankfully that trope is no longer acceptable to creators.

Dismissing that sequence, there's actually a lot to like here: Cos acting incredibly brave and clever; Jo making a tough, brash leadership decision; Legionnaires jokingly joshing Cos for being useless; the Empress heading off on her own. And best of all, continued use of the flight ring doing more than making the Legionnaires fly.

The stupid panel with the Empress getting knocked down by the door is also a bit dumb however. It goes to show how two blunders can forever derail a story.

Clearly, Tinya and I are far more appreciative of Gyma than the rest of you fine fellows!

215/Hero Who Wouldn't Fight

Like Cobie said, there is a lot this story has to offer which, unfortunately, is overshadowed by the slap (and by the debut of Cos' bustier).

The tension is ramped up when Jo is given an impossible choice: let the Empress escape of allow Cos to die. He makes the only choice a leader can make and, fortunately, it pays off.

Speaking of which, Sarya reveals herself to be a villain who honors her word. I wish this trait had been developed in subsequent stories--perhaps the Legionnaires could have referred back to this story to appeal to her sense of story.

I also admired the introduction of the Braalian no-powers tradition. Religion had not been addressed before in a Legion comic, yet this tradition is described as "sacred." It is such a serious part of Braalian culture that Cos and his family will be dishonored for generations if he does not observe it. When I was a child and raised Catholic, I was taught something similar about observing Lent and not eating meat on Fridays. There's no logic behind such beliefs, but they form an integral part of how certain people are taught to relate to God and/or their culture. (In fact, we see this play out today in the claims of Islamic jihadists, abortion rights activists, and others who take extreme actions in the name of their religion). Shooter does not take a stand on this tradition, but he does use it to show how devout Cos is.

Cos manages to save his friends while keeping his observance intact, but one wonders why the Legion brought a member who couldn't use his powers on a mission in the first place.

As for Sarya's defeat, I don't mind her being taken out of a swinging door. It was rather amusing to see how far the mighty can fall.

Things I didn't like (in addition to the slap and the bustier, which, though some fans like it, looks ridiculous to me):
--Star Trek transporters. Really? This is where homage turns into lazy writing.
--Colossal Boy's new costume: Grell's inferior take on Cockrum's striking design.
--Again, a number of Legionnaires (Garth, Shady, Dirk, and Gim) appear but don't do anything of note.

Cobie: Charter member of the Gmya* Wazzo fan club.


*That's how it's spelled throughout the story save in one panel.

The Phantom Detectives Issue #1

Cast
Gyma (not short for Gymima and he has a manly 'tache to prove it)
Tinya (Dimensionally famous do gooder)

Page 1
Interior of Noirish detective agency. Wispy cigar smoke fades in and out of dimensional space to give it an ethereal quality of Phantom World.

Gyma: I forbid you to take on this case Tinya. It's too dangerous!
Tinya: But Gyma, I've battled Mordru, Computo and the Legion of Super Villains!
Gyma: You mean you helped the likes of Superboy and Mon El. Men who are only a manly 'tache away from being true heroes.
Tinya: ...and Jo.
Gyma: Who? Sounds like the name of some degenerate Rimborian that the family would disown you for even knowing.
Tinya: ...um...and I did not just help out!
Gyma: No the case of the Ghostly Phantom of Phantom World is not something you can be allowed to risk yourself in. I forbid it. And my foot is going down...look...>soft thump as foot goes down<
Tinya: ...but...but Gyma... waaaait a minute...why am I even listening to this? I'm not someone who gets thrown around like a girl in a Cosmic Boy back up story. Why do people even come into this agency? Me Who protects this dimension? Me
Gyma: I'm only doing it because I know what's best for you...
Tinya: Oh stop getting Bates and Shooter to do your dialogue you misogynistic twerp. I quit! And one side of your 'tache is longer than the other.
Gyma: >gasps and throws hands up to cover 'tache.<

Next Month:
Facing hard times, Gyma gets another career in "Up the Wazzo"

213, "Jaws of Fear", is another story, much like 211's Element Lad spotlight, that I commend for utilizing a little of the Legion's backstory to tell a story that is richer than just another standalone. You have both the return of the Miracle Machine and a callback to Jo's origin to connect it with earlier stories.

Of course, the Miracle Machine is one of the few plot devices that has recurred several times since its inception...admittedly to some disdain among our fandom. But it does make perfect sense that malevolent forces would desire to possess it.

It's funny, though. As I don't know exactly when the MM meets its ignominious end, I was a bit apprehensive when the Legionnaires decide they must destroy it. Would Tenzil be brought in to have his moment so soon after being drafted away from the group? But no--false alarm! :whew:

The other, more ingenious device Shooter used was to have Jo panic when faced with a similar monster to the one who engulfed him years earlier and that accidentally imbued him with his ultra energy. It was a very nice moment for him to freak out and endanger his teammates one moment and then see him willing to sacrifice himself for them after overcoming his fear the next.

The story idea itself was pretty nifty. Master thief Benn Paras challenges the Legion by declaring his intent to steal their most dangerous possession. The outcome was slightly disappointing because I'd really like to learn more about how he accomplishes his feats and see how the Legion overcomes him. So while the MM serves as a perfect object to covet and protect, by its nature, it also provides some deus ex machina as it does whenever it appears in a story. (It's kind of amusing that Benn is relaxing with his shoes off when the rug is pulled from beneath him, though! )

Overall, an above average story still that would've been pedestrian without the added element of Jo's fear playing into it. Sometimes, a little humanity can go a long way in a story to make it better.

Bonus point: Did anyone else notice the top panel of the Legionnaires arguing at their conference table resembled Da Vinci's The Last Supper slightly? (I haven't read your comments on this issue yet, so forgiveness if you did! )


"Trapped to Live--Free to Die!" wasn't a bad little backup. There was a nice nod to past stories by featuring a lesser known villain who had only appeared once before. Both stories were written by Shooter, though, so he'd be more likely to remember his own characters.

I don't know if I liked the plot device that the key to circumventing the ship's defense systems was the wearing of a flight ring. That could certainly be exploited by anyone able to somehow steal one from a Legionnaire.

But it's nice that it was Brin's quick thinking and not his brute force that got him out of this. He gets a bad, somewhat deserved rep as a lunkhead, so it's good to see a story where that isn't the case.

Good catch! I'd never noticed this before.

Yes! This needs to be a bits thread stat!!!

You sir, are one brillaint and hilarious sonuvabastich!

No I didn't. I had wondered about the heated nature of their cosmic decision making and why they seemed to be close to the level of argument we'd see in #300 when they dropped the code v killing. Now I know why. Thanks Lardy!

It's the payoff from that line about Sun Boy's powers having changed his molecular structure, I think. That stays in my mind as I was wondering about Dirk being a 30th century version of Firestorm in his Fire Elemental days.

Sun Boy: Super Blushing is not a power the Legion can use! REJECTED!...and kick Polar Boy on the way out would you?

Double Header: Hey! Even we have some standards in the Subs! REJECTED!
Double Header Other Head: DOUBLY REJECTED!

So here I am. A proud supporter of the Legion of Super Pets as Litter Tray Cleaner Kid. And it's all thanks to Cobie unleashing my hidden blushing powers and getting me to follow my dreams. Thanks Cobie. Thanks a bunch.

#215 – The Hero Who Wouldn’t Fight

Ayla: Cosmic Boy…Help Us! We’re being cut to ribbons!
Rokk: I…can’t Light Lass! I must find the rest of my costume before I get arrested for indecency or freeze to death.

Gim’s new costume seems to be a little light on material too. But considering the skimpy female costumes, fair’s fair.

The little splash panel captures the pivotal moment of the story. Will Cosmic Boy choose to follow his beliefs even if it costs him the lives of his friends?

The answer is a heroic no. Rokk will try to save them at the cost of his own life. Well, I say heroic but I’ll come back to that. But inside the story, it’s a heroic choice. Grell captures a combination of resignation and determination in Rokk really well, as he walks to the teleporters.

Rokk’s rescue of his friends is tidy. He uses a combination of stealth, surprise and ingenuity with his flight ring to get his friends free. Jo’s Ultra Invulnerability would have saved him, so Cos jumping in front of the shell may seem a little needless. Jo was certainly using full power a moment later, but perhaps Rokk felt that their powers would still be drained.

The plot needs Rokk to stand alone to overcome a very personal dilemma. Which is probably why he didn’t avail himself of some of the Legion’s armoury of weapons that appears in other stories when the plot needs them. It’s one man and his will. Even the flight ring is an extension of that will.

The Emerald Empress comes across very well, keeping that long standing tradition of strong Fatal Five appearances. She’s very powerful on her own. Her plan fails only through bad luck and she shows that she has honour of her own when a deal is struck. Her goal of more immediate power is what has set her apart from her colleagues. That’s a nice difference of views between herself and Tharok. You can see similar frustrations against the planning Brainy and the more impulsive Legionnaires on the other side in a number of tales.

There’s the clichéd containment cubes. They work only form the inside allowing anyone to break them outside. Or they only drain specific powers or work only against certain energy types etc etc. Who makes these things and why do criminals keep using whoever it is?

Cham’s infiltration is another Espionage Squad reminder. It’s a nice scene giving him his moment of guile before it’s shown just how outclassed he is. I get the feeling Cham gets caught as often as he succeeds in these things.

So there are good points, and it’s a shame the whole things crashes down, the moment that Rokk hits Ayla.

When I started reading it, I was wondering if Ayla was in a hysterical state. It’s something of a cliché to shock a person by slapping them. See Airplane.

But that’s not what happens. Ayla isn’t hysterical at all. She’s bloody angry. In her view nothing should prevent Rokk saving his friends and colleagues. She begs Rokk for help, argues her view and gets hit for doing so. Rokk can’t argue his point. He’s not mature enough to be able to do that. At the first challenge to those views, he sulks. Then he gets angry and then he hits.

What makes it even worse, is that while Rokk walks away with that stoic Grell posture, Ayla blames herself. She feels responsible for Rokk’s actions.

You can transport that attitude from Shooter’s Cosmic Boy here, to his Karate Kid, or his Timberwolf or his Wildfire in other stories. This is what he thinks men should be like. Determined, following a personal code of honour and stoically aloof. Except that they are nothing of the sort. Instead they come across as immature loners with abusive emotional issues who would fail to sustain any kind of meaningful relationship. Children in men’s bodies.

That's quite a heavy analysis of Shooter's portrayal of men, thoth. We tend to be so focused on how he portrays women that we overlook the problem that his men also have issues. I think you're right about his portrayal of the male Legionnaires as arrested emotionally.

It would have been nice if he had depicted at least some healthy and positive relationships, but he minimizes the established Legion couples (Garth and Imra, Nura and Thom, and even Jo and Tinya, who rarely appear together in stories) during his run.

The most positive male character we have is Superboy, who is often presented as a paragon of virtue. He doesn't appear to have any close friendships with the Legionnaires, except Mon-El, who has not played an active role in any of Shooter's stories so far (and, as I recall, remains largely off-panel until well into Levitz's run).

It's highly ironic that these traits of Shooters' Legionnaires work against the camaraderie and young friendships many of us associate with the Legion.

By the way, it must be said that Shooter wasn't alone in his depiction of men as stoic, aloof loners who were tough with women as well as with men. The most popular actors during this time included Clint Eastwood ("Dirty Harry") and Charles Bronson ("Death Wish").

Yeah, it certainly comes across that way. There was a Dirty Harry movie on the other night. I rolled my eyes after a few minutes at his personality. It's just as well that the plot has these guys being right every time. Every villain falls die to their unwavering loner focus. But now imagine that they're as fallible as everyone else. And they have those personalities.

There does seem to be a popular toleration if not down right promotion of such attitudes then. Dirty Harry also reminds me of Westerns generally and there must be loads of similar examples in literature, comics and film.

Which I don't feel is any excuse. You make your own choices. I'm not keen on things like "well, he/she was just reflecting the times" but I'd not like to tar someone, in this case Shooter, with a particular brush either. I prefer to just comment on how the stories come across rather than infer traits onto someone. It's not as though I'm a huge student of his work or life. Even then...



Oddly enough, I was thinking of that relative earnest purity of the Adventure Legion while I was writing the back up review.

While it's good to have a diverse range of personalities to play with, it can be a trap if the writer doesn't have the skill to portray them well enough. Here we have a certain stoic loner trend in the blokes, that isn't very mature. Poor Ayla has got the brunt of it from Brin and Rokk, while others have put up with it elsewhere. But, as you mention, there's no real relationship such as Garth/ Imra or Lu/Chuck to show that the writers have the skill to show us different personalities.

Hang on, I've just realised that Brainy probably set himself up as Jesus in that last supper pic.

In Querl we trust? Wildfire as Judas?

Speaking of the Adventure run, it's interesting to note that Shooter initiated the Lu/Chuck romance. He also had Shady make a play for Brainy before choosing Mon-El, and wrote one of the most poignant scenes, during the Mordru story, of Lu pining for Superboy. There were also scenes of Jo and Tinya and Val and Jeckie expressing their affection for one another. This suggests he did understand the dynamics of relationships, at least on a high school level.

It must also be pointed out that he had much more story room to work with in Adventure and an editor who was probably more receptive (or even insistent) on such character development. Boltinoff, Shooter has said, kept rewriting his stories or cutting pages, necessitating shorthand characterizations, no doubt. I agree that this doesn't excuse anything, but it may offer an alternative explanation as to why Shooter's '70s run turned out the way it did.

Good points HWW. Nice to get a bit more balance in there.

Well, if anyone on the team was going to have a god complex, it would be Querl... although it ended up being Jan. Or Rokk as the Trapper or... >Phhhht< there goes my deflating point

As Morrison mapped the JLA onto a pantheon, I'm surprised no one has mapped some personalities onto the Legion from the painting.

After I posted yesterday, I was making coffee it hit me (in a revelation soert of way rather than a Krinn slap sort of way) that Ayla didn't go back with Rokk! Why the heck not?

She's a trained Legionnaire. She knows the layout of the place, at least as far as the trap, and she's the one who could actually use her powers.

Because it would have interfered with Rokk's loner routine. Bah!

Why not call in Superboy or Mon El? Bah!

Rokk simply shouldn't have been on the mission. Since the Legion doesn't allow people without powers (except Batman) or those with mechanically generated powers (say only a flight ring) then he should have been benched, more thoroughly than being allowed to go, but stay on the cruiser.

I've always wondered if there isn't actually a bit of misguided feminism at the heart of that Rokk/Ayla scene.

She's actually being pretty nasty about his desire to try to preserve his deeply held cultural beliefs and the honor of his family. If it was a guy saying those kinds of things to him, and Rokk socked him for it, I'm not sure anyone would bat an eye. But in the enlightened future where men and women are equal, why should the fact that it is a woman saying it make any difference?

I'd think he was a tool either way, if that's the only reaction that he has when he's challenged on something.

Yes. The story is built on a very shaky premise, and, without that premise, the whole house of cards comes a-tumblin'.

Good points. I mentioned something similar over on the Archives 11 re-read thread. (This going back and forth is making me dizzy, but in a good way. ) It's worth noticing that Ayla is not a peach in this scene. That doesn't justify being slapped, but she knew which buttons to push.



Agreed.

Awww... I hadn't read that post, but you do make basically the same point!

No sweat. Great minds, er, Modest Brain Globes and all that.

Society puts a more negative connotation on a physical reaction, even amongst equals, even of minor effect, than most other reactions but it often is the least damaging. For a comic book, it takes the fewest panels. I would have liked to see Ayla sock him back, they get pulled apart and then the conflict is dealt with. That was a very key missing component of the scene.

Yes, I also feel we're putting our spin on the female-male aspects like we would big vs. small. These are super beings. Whose reaction is sexist, the character's or ours if we react a certain way because he hit a "female?"

As far as the "tool" part, I think it's just as complicated. In THIS place we try to teach the kids that the strong find other ways but then we know the kids have to go home where the neighborhood has another interpretation. HERE, you'd better have a snarky response and be able to back it up if the other can't handle it or you're "weak." You're prey. You are much more likely to get back on good terms after a physical response than a facebook one.

Rokk's failure was in countering words with physical, like with unlike.


In a more corporate world or for that matter, any cliquey kind of place, it's about the politics. A more damaging and cowardly response, my opinion, is somehow respected more than a directly physical or verbal one. BUT, you'd better be prepared for it or you're "prey."

Alternate Page Four...

Panel 3:Over the (Cosmic Boy's) shoulder shot of a tearful Ayla, with clenched angry fists berating an impassive Rokk
Ayla: Your friends are down there >sob< and my brother! He wouldn't stand by while you were threatened, but you're safe here. with your sacred--

Panel 4: Over the Ayla's) shoulder shot of Ayla's face turned towards us as she receives a stinging slap from Cosmic Boy.
Rokk Shouting: Shut Up!

Panel 5: Mid shot from slightly low angle. We see Ayla's back as she looks up to where her mass powers have propelled Cosmic Boy's head through the ceiling. Her hand touches the side of her face that Rokk slapped. Cosmic Boy's legs make no movement indicating unconsciousness.
Ayla: Well, looks like someone's powers are still working today. I won't abandon the Legion!

Panel 6: Low angle shot of an armed Ayla at the teleporter. Rokk can be seen still embedded in the ceiling beyond her. The teleporter has been activated showing sparkly effects on part of Ayla's torso.
Caption: Soon...
Ayla: I've contacted Mon-El and Violet. They'll be here in minutes to help me!

Panel 7: Longshot of Ayla on the planet's rocky surface. She hides behind a head height outcropping, and we see the villains' citadel behind it. We see the same sparkly teleporter pattern on part of her.
Ayla: But first I need to get inside to find out if they're still alive!

Ayla proceeds to use combinations of her flight ring, rifle and mass altering powers to sneak/ shoot and bring the citadel crashing down as she gets to her friends. Her powers destroy the cell controls. Jo and Mon-El stop the Empress killing everyone, and Vi knocks the villain out.

Murray Boltinoff: "Too logical! Twelve-year-olds would never understand this, and you want to threaten young boys' masculinity by showing a girl kayoing the manly hero in his brand new bustier? You're finished at DC. Go work for Marvel or something."

(An hour later, thoth comes back with the same script.)

Murray: "This is brilliant! We'll run it in the next issue."

Ah the good 'ol days!

Note that I did show the manly bustier off by only having Rokk's head through the ceiling.

I had a another one where they talked it through and went to rescue their friends together after calling for back up. Having them act like grown ups, without any fighting, would have alienated the readership too.

Karate Kid 1



Mike Grell’s cover has our eponymous hero leap from a time bubble (containing Legionnaires including Superboy to get crossover readers) to beat up villains in firm martial arts action tradition.

The first page is notable because Val, who is Asian on the cover, is now white; someone has lost one of Nemesis Kid’s words and Val threatens to violate the Legion code against killing at the first available opportunity.

It seems that somehow Nemesis Kid has travelled into the past. From there, he’s challenged Karate Kid. Val has jumped at the challenge, without telling his colleagues. It looks as though his plan was to do it alone. So that Nemesis Kid’s powers couldn’t adapt and let him escape. There’s nothing to let us know why Val couldn’t have shared the plan.

As Nemesis Kid can beat any single foe, the other Legionnaires remind Val that he would probably have been beaten. It’s a reminder he could have done with in a later Levitz tale in the Baxter run.

But Levitz seems to have had firm ideas about Val from the outset. His daily training sets him apart from the other Legionnaires who have been born with theirs or received them in other ways. While it’s nice to have differing outlooks in the team, it doesn’t really explain why he’s knocked out Lightning Lad with a kick to the face by page five, or why Mon El has threatened Val with broken limbs.

So far, it’s an adolescent tale of posturing. It looks as though the creative team are using all of that hot air to force there to be a reason for Val to stay in the 20th century.

As the other Legionnaires petulantly leave him behind, Val’s flight ring becomes suddenly inoperative. Terribly, terribly convenient. Even more so, is that it fails just in time for him to meet the series co-star Iris Jacobs. She’s a teacher who will act as Val’s guide to the stories in a similarly dull way to that of Red Tornado and Kathy Sutton.

He may be a villain, but Nemesis Kid does everything he possibly can to give Levitz an easy job, and to lead Val through the city by golden ring in his nose (represented here by a chronal detector).

He sees a man with a futuristic gun, just walking along with no plan. He makes no further appearance in the issue and is only there to guide Val to Nemesis Kid’s lair.

At the HQ Val encounters a group of martial artists. As they are all at the HQ, they don’t need to lead Val anywhere. So they don’t get any futuristic equipment at all, and exist simply to remind folks that there’s a martial arts link to a Karate Kid.

Val then proceeds to tackle Nemesis Kid again. We see some more of the Legionnaire’s physical abilities such as resistance to pain and finding the weak spots in any structure. But having him scale sheer surfaces (with damaged toes no less) and exhibit super strength seems to push things a little too far. In the end, Nemesis Kid is taken down by a single punch. He’s sent back into the future with a note, telling the Legion that Val intends to stay in the 20th Century to find himself. Hopefully he can find a better creative team while he’s at it. As harsh as it sounds this was a poor opening issue.

The power of the villain fluctuates along with the hero. Karate Kid shows no empathy towards his team mates. They seem like children in their responses to him. Of course, the female Legionnaire defends him. It’s the dream of all male comic writers that women are attracted to introverted, loner personalities. Their heroes are possibly projections of their own childhood fantasies. Another example is Iris Jacobs who seems incredibly dim to trust anyone with the personality issues Val has.

The only interesting thing is that Val seems happier being a hero on his own terms rather than being stifled in the Legion. Throughout the Legion’s history, you’d get glimpses of other missions that the team were off doing instead of being in the main story. It’s hard to believe Val couldn’t have found some enjoyment there.

But then, that wouldn’t get Val on a 20th century bus like the one on page 9. Readers may recognise the bus as being the one that left town with the initial thrust of martial arts movie popularity, well before DC belatedly decided to launch a tie in title.

In summary, this was a let-down of an issue. Sketchily plotted, poorly written with substandard art. The best part was the Grell cover.

And how did Nemesis Kid get there? Why did he need to steal Karate Kid's time bubble at all, if he had one of his own?

KK1

I knew we were in trouble on the first page when we found ourselves smack in the middle of a fight between our titular hero and Nemesis Kid and there were no backgrounds. Apparently, we're supposed to be kept in the dark as to where this story takes place until the next page. It's not a convincing set up, any more so than KK's threat to kill Nemesis Kid.

This issue marks Paul Levitz's debut as a Legion scripter, and I'm ordinarily willing to cut a new writer some slack, especially given Levitz's age. He would have just turned 19 when this story was published. But even 15-year-old Shooter plotted much better stories than this.

The confrontation with the Legion seems like an attempt to inject Marvel-style interpersonal conflict in the team, but it's heavy handed and unconvincing. Val is apparently so angry that Nemesis Kid escaped from Brainy's prison cell that he gets physical with Brainy and kayos Lightning Lad. Mon puts a stop to it but then, demonstrating that he's not a very good leader, lets KK remain behind to do his own thing. Whatever happened to the requirement that all members had to obey the leader? Of course, Mon doesn't even bother giving an order.

And that's not the worst of my problems with the opening scene. Where did those huge holes in the street come from and why are the nearby cars scattered? Were they the result of KK's fight with NK, or were they somehow caused by the vibrations of KK's fist hitting Mon's hand? We're not told either way.

Then, after the Legion leaves, we're introduced to two buffoon cops who believe Val is part of some movie production and only want to detain him because of his costume. What about all the damage he seems to have caused?

And that's just the first few pages. The story doesn't get any better from there.

Everything happens because the plot demands it happen. Val tosses away his damaged flight ring. Why? The plot demands it. (What happened to the signal device in the ring? Did it still work?) Val meets Iris and she guides the funnily dressed stranger to the roof. Why? Because the plot demands it. Val chances to see a man carrying a 30th century blaster. Why? Because the plot demands it.

Even the "change" in Val at the end happens just because it's supposed to happen. He stays in the 20th century to find himself. (We didn't know he was lost.) Apparently, he's so impressed by the 20th century, where people have classrooms, ride the bus, and actually "do" things, that he's decided he wants to hang out for awhile. Yawn. There's no conflict or sense that this change of location is going to be important to Val.

(Later, we will learn that the real reason he stays in the 20th century is to prove to King Voxv he has what it takes to marry Jeckie--a marginally more convincing motive.)

The fight scenes appear to be reasonably well choreographed, so that's a plus if you're looking for Bruce Lee-style action. It's just a shame Val no longer resembles Bruce Lee, even though Grell's redesign of Val's features was considered so important that it was highlighted in the letters page circa 210.

There are a few other pluses, such as Levitz demonstrating his fan knowledge by having the story spring off of NK's capture back in 208 and the long-running feud between him and Val. As thoth pointed out, there is also an effort to distinguish KK from the other Legionnaires by focusing on his discipline and martial arts knowledge, as opposed to having a super-power. When he says Mon can't understand him, and he can't understand Mon, this difference in outlook would make a good basis for inter-group conflict. However, it needs to be established more organically than it is here.

"Don't call me. I'll call you!" But how? No bubble or flight ring.

As we point out the areas where Shooter and Bates' plots could do better, it's worth pointing out that their craft was easily at a higher standard than this.

I was thinking the same thing, thoth. The ol' Modest Brain Globes trick again.

It's also worth noting that the editor is Joe Orlando, not Boltinoff. I know next to nothing about Orlando, but he appears to have been young and new to the business, as well. Boltinoff, for all of his old fashioned ideas and forgetfulness, also had standards of quality and experience which showed in the final product.

Karate Kid #1

Yeah, you guys did a good job summarizing the issue and immense list of things wrong with it. It's a common type of superhero series from the 70's: pretty bad most of the time, achieving mediocrity on occasion. Levitz's first turn as a writer of Legion-related material is bumpy at best and just downright bad in places, such as the convenience of the plot. The dialogue is over the top and it feels as if you're sprinting through the issue because of its action pace, which may or may not have been an attempt to mimic Marvel.

One line was bad enough to make me love it. After Val swings back in to keep fighting hand to hand, Nemesis Kid yells, "My adaptation is shifting to the offense...with nuclear power to shatter your atoms!" WTF? If that's how his powers react to another fist-fight, what does he do against other Legionnaires? When Chuck bounces at him, he unleashes a Sun-Eater?

I actually don't mind his reason for staying in the 20th Century if they toned down the 'people did things' element. If its a matter of feeling like he's not fitting in among his super-powerful Legion peers and wanting to spend some time re-finding himself, that makes sense. But the way in which this notion is executed is just incredibly annoying.

In fact, Val kind of comes across as a punch-first meathead all issue. He isn't anywhere near as likable as his Shooter Adventure days.

This is the first time I read this issue and I had low expectations. Unfortunately they were firmly met.

The way NK'S powers are portrayed in this story has always bugged the heck out of me. Rather than adapting to the weaknesses of his opponent, it really seems as though he can select pretty much any power he wants. Which kind of misses the point of the character.

His power is supposed to adapt to be able to defeat any single foe. Tat's the way I remember it anyway. But here, it seems to take a few seconds for that adaptation to work. That delay also seems to prevent him adapting between powers once a fight is underway.

So, when the nuclear blasts are avoided, he's vulnerable to a kick in the chops. So, he's pretty easy to defeat when you can avoid his first power or you distract him. Not exactly the person who had that creepy arrogance of invulnerability that I recall. Just some super creep that has a swiss army knife of powers, but not the time to move between them.




Rah Rah Rambat!



A very good point. Those disappearing standards, and the backgrounds of those with those standards really impacted the quality of DC for me.

Yeah, but I've always understood his powers as geared towards defeating that specific foe. So, if he's faced with someone who is invulnerable to everything except kryptonite, he'll develop kryptonite blasts, or if it's someone with the strength of ten men, he'll develop the strength of twelve men, or something. He doesn't just develop generic "nuclear blasts" to use against the guy with karate, and then, when those don't work, develops something else.

Nemesis Kid: Eat 2 Megaton Nuclear Blast!
Foe: Gaaaah!
Nemesis Kid: That's the end of Karate Kid.
Editor: No! What have you done? We're only on page 1!
Nemesis Kid: Um.... put in Batman for crossover sales?
Batman: You shall pay for your crimes!
Nemesis Kid: Eat 2 Megaton Nuclear Blast!
Editor: Nooooo!

KK1 was definitely a disappointment in a number of ways. First, in and of itself it was a poor story for all the reasons mentioned above. Second, Val himself, a sentimental favorite of this Legion fan, far from shines in his solo debut.

I can't really say I had super-high expectations here, but I was kinda hoping for something that would spotlight Val in a somewhat memorable or competent way. Even a schlocky martial arts pastiche could have been halfway decent with even a little bit of craft. Even the earliest Iron Fist adventures had a style and sense of fun to them, but this debut shows none of that.

It makes me glad that the original stated quandary at this stage in the Archives about whether or not to reprint the entire KK series didn't go the other way. I have no idea whether Levitz turns in better scripts or if the series improves under Michelinie's pen, but this debut makes me not want to find out. I'd be curious if any of you who have read the entire series could offer some thoughts on that regard.

Estrada's art was unremarkable, but there were some shots and especially some faces that made me think of Walt Simonson's work. I don't know if he was aping (early) Simonson or if some of the similarities are imagined. None of it holds a candle, of course.

So....Iris Jacobs. At first blush she would seem to be intended as a romantic interest, and the lack of any mention of Jeckie in the entire issue certainly makes me wonder. A glance at subsequent plot descriptions shows this oversight would be addressed, but I'm mildlky curious as to how Iris proceeds as a continuing supporting character.

Again disappointing story but, still, I'm kinda glad this issue was included, so I could see a taste of it for myself, even if the taste was a little sour. It's a curiosity and one that is a bit puzzling. I'd certainly like to have known more about the thinking to spin Val off and particularly with this spin. I know there was the recent Kung Fu craze to consider, but a new character like Iron Fist or Shang Chi at Marvel probably would have been a better choice.

I think the only other issue I've read is the Bob Rozakis-written #12, which I remember being *much* better than this one. In fact, that issue makes me really curious about the rest of the series...

I have the complete run of KK, but I'd have to re-read them to offer any specific insights.

What I remember

These are just my memories, probably faulty in places. If time permits in the near future and if there's interest, I'll do a Karate Kid re-read thread.

I, for one, would certainly be interesting in reading your thoughts on the series.

I've got most of the run, and I was going to put up a little "Elsewhere" paragraph to accompany the main Legion review.

Lots of good points on the issue. There was the Legion, but the sci fi angle was crammed in, just long enough to connect Val to the Legion and dump him here.

There was martial arts action. But it was clumsily done, technologically out of step with the rest of the cast and didn't bring out any good things form that genre.

The villain has been seen as a duplicitous traitor, but with a power to be scared of. Not here.

The hero under Shooter has been written along his usual loner hero lines, but with that Jeckie romance adding a positive dimension to it. Not here, where she doesn't get a mention.

In the world containing the Internet, there's all sorts of instant squealing at the thought of any kind of change. Imagine that Shooter/Bates were writing the Legion. Then, on the back of Karate Kid #1, Paul Levitz was announced as the new Legion writer. What would your thoughts have been?*



*this question completely refuses to acknowledge any answer including "well, I've seen the cover of #216 so it wouldn't have been all bad."

Thanks, Lardy.

thoth, go ahead with your elsewhere paragraphs. I may chime in or, if I feel there's more to say, I may start a new thread. In general, I feel it might be distracting if we review two different ongoing series in the same thread, but, again, it depends on how much there is to say about KK.

Your question is very interesting. As I said before, at the time I was 12, so I was not aware of who individual writers were or what they brought to a comic. I also would not learn anything about critically evaluating a story for many years. So, at the time, I was just thrilled to have a second Legion-related comic. KK had never been one of my favorite Legionnaires, and his solo adventures in the 20th century worked against much of what I loved about the team, but there was always hope that more Legionnaires would show up (and they eventually did).

Because I was young (and for many years after), I could not have anticipated what Levitz might bring to the Legion at this early stage in his development. I would have probably continued to buy the comic regardless and would likely have found something to draw me in. The great thing about some of these mid-seventies DC comics, such as Freedom Fighters, Secret Society of Super-Villains, and Karate Kid, was that they played on my adolescent needs for power, adventure, and imagination. They also provided alternatives to the most popular heroes such as Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man. Because I was not a popular kid, I connected with these characters more than I did with the Big Guns (another reason why the Legion stood out to me).

When Levitz did take over with 225 or so, he wasn't much older or experienced as a writer. I recall finding his early issues jarring--more straightforward super-hero than science fiction. But the switch in artists from Grell to Sherman/Abel annoyed me more than the switch in writers.

FWIW, I always assumed we'd do a separate "Re-Reading Karate Kid" thread when the time came.

As someone who has an aversion to trendy things I decided to take a pass on the Karate Kid series when it first came out. I can see from the reviews so far that I didn't miss much by doing so. Although I don't own any of the KK issues, I do, oddly enough, have the Kamandi crossover issue, which is parked between S/LSH 241 and 242 in one of my Legion boxes.

Joe Orlando, btw, got his start as an artist at EC in the early 1950s, and was one of the first artists (as opposed to writers) to become an editor at a major comic book publisher, first with Warren and then with DC. He was co-creator of the Inferior 5 (with Nelson Bridwell), and edited mostly non-superhero books like Anthro, Bat Lash, Weird War Tales and Adventure (in its short post-Supergirl run as an anthology title.

As superheroes took over the entire comics industry, people like Orlando, whose strengths lay in other genres, found themselves shunted aside by the powers that be. Orland eventually went "back" to EC, becoming Associate Publisher of Mad magazine until his retirement in 1996.

Can I can be a little off topic? I don’t have a large enough comic collection to really participate in a Legion archives re-read, but I want to say a word about Karate Kid and Nemesis Kid in season 2 of the Legion cartoon. The handling of these two characters in the show was different, and interesting. Val was given an origin more similar to Myg. He was portrayed as the youngest of the Legionnaires, and his karate was not so magical—but the still impressed the adult! Superman. Hart was older, already a Science Police officer before joining the Legion, and his powers were better defined: they worked more like Neutrax, and only on people with super powers, which means not on Karate Kid. A little bit of time was spent on the relation ship between Karate Kid and Nemesis Kid. They became good friends. Hart was even sort of mentory, although the joined the Legion at about the same time. It is possible that in season 3 Nemesis Kid would have gone all traitory and joined the dark side, but there was not season 3. I quite liked the whole thing.

Like Lardy, I’d also be very curious to read the comments on KK’s series. I’ve never read a single issue, I don’t think.

Looking a little bit at Karate Kid, the series, by the numbers, it gives a good idea of how both it and the S&LSH series lined up with each other and the rest of the DCU in this era. Karate Kid #1 and S&LSH #215 were on sale in December 1975 (at the tail end of the karate craze). Since Karate Kid was bi-monthly like a great deal of DC series but LSH was monthly, the title runs a lot longer than people actually remember: the final issue, KK #14 is on sale in April 1978 which is the same month that S&LSH #241 is on sale, the first part of Earth War.

So for two and a half years Karate Kid has his own title, spanning from S&LSH #215-241, which is a sizable amount of time. KK subsequently has a one-off appearance in Kamandi #58 in May 1978 and then returns to the Legion at the end of Earth War (along with Garth & Imra as well as Chuck & Luornu) in LSH #244 in July 1978. So his series basically ends just before his return, meaning there was no real gap in his appearances.

And as we all know, Earth War, which heightened the rise of S&LSH even further, occurred at a time when DC was undergoing its Implosion. The loss of Karate Kid’s title may or may not have been a part of that, but he probably was better served by being back in the LSH anyway since they were a whole lot safer than just about any other franchise besides Superman.

Sue, very interesting commentary. I've never seen these episodes of the cartoon and now I want to very much! I love the KK / NK dynamic, and this sounds like someone took that and really spent some time developing it into something substantial.

Great commentary on Joe Orlando. Paul Levitz often sings Orlando's praises and talks about what a great editor he was, and I've heard similar things fro mothers like Len Wein.

Yeah, I was really intrigued by the way the cartoon handled NK, flirting with the traitor issue but not actually going there (at least in the broadcast episodes).

I've always thought he was a character that never quite lived up to his potential, with most of his stories amounting to him getting his butt handed to him despite all the claims of how dangerous he supposedly is. I always wished they would have included him among the SW6 team.

A minor correction: The last issue of KK was # 15 (cover dated Aug. 1978), not 14.

Cobie is right that there wasn't a break in his appearances between the cancellation of his own series and his return to the Legion. In fact, his Earth War appearance picks up quite nicely from where his series left off, as I alluded to in my comments.

And, it was indeed bi-monthly. At the time, waiting sixty days between issues, especially of a continued story line, was interminable. But it did make a series seem to last longer than it actually did.

And I agree that KK was better off in the Legion than he was in his own series. In the Legion, his personality was more interesting in contrast to the other Legionnaires, and his mixed Asian-Caucasian appearance made him unique. These aspects, sadly, were downplayed in his solo series, which sought to recast him as a more "mainstream" hero.

Hermit--Thank you for the info on Orlando. It's great that you have Kamandi # 58. Perhaps you can review it when the time comes.

I was thinking that the little paragraph would be fun for curiosity's sake. But it looks as though there's certainly enough interest for a thread, if you'd like to start one.



Yay! Consider yourself booked for that review Hermit
I don't have that one, and haven't looked far enough ahead in my binders to know to look for it on E-Bay.



Thanks a lot for that, Hermit. Personally, I think that the loss of writers with differing writing experiences and broader, richer backgrounds in both life and reading, has played it's part in the huge difference in quality between DC's writing now and then.



I'd love to see more of this in the re-reads, so please don't think for a second it's off topic. Anything that sparks off any opinion or connection to the characters or stories is great to see. I don't know a thing about the Legion cartoons, so seeing a new relationship established between Val and Hart was all new to me and really interesting.

Good luck finding it. As far as I know, Warner has never released LSH season 2 in any form. You might be able to find pirated video somewhere, but Warner is pretty good about scrubbing that too.

Great. I'll launch the thread in the next day or two.

Superboy 216



Strong words on the cover from the man we will soon know as Tyroc. “Slaughtered” doesn’t sound as though he’s going to take to the Legion code against killing. “Despise” is a very strong word to use against anyone. He must really hate the very principles of the Legion. Let’s see…

The splash page shows the Legion, who are flying towards Tyroc, now flying away. They wonder why he hates them, as they were just about to offer him membership in the group.

The plot is a variation on Ice Station Zebra. A satellite, here containing jewels, rather than top secret photographs, has crashed on the island of Marzal. Both the Legion and a group called the Betas are out to get those jewels. But they must face a hostile environment to achieve their goal.

The people of Marzal dislike the Legion. Whenever they’ve had a crisis, they feel that the legion has been elsewhere. Their champion, Tyroc, feels that there’s a reason for this and asks his people to consider it. Tyroc is seemingly as bloodthirsty as the cover suggests as he causes crooks to plummet form the sky. The payoff is that this hero with unknown powers saves them in a unique way a panel later. It was good seeing the Legion react to something new.

Tyroc tells his people not to trust the Legion in a message that he goes to great lengths to tell us is pre-recorded. That’s because he has actually infiltrated the Betas. The crooks are the first to the satellite, only to fall victim to the cosmic radiation it has been saturated by. The Legion come to the rescue, thanks to Tyroc being able to contact Superboy ultrasonically.

Having seen the Legion save both himself and his city, Tyroc realises that his views have been misguided. The Legion offer him membership, and Tyroc accepts.

So, that’s the story. It’s fairly straightforward. Bates dodges a few plot killers. The space faring Legion can’t just collect the satellite from orbit, because 1) it crashed three days ago and 2) they’ve only just learned of its existence. Cosmic Boy’s source in unnamed (and gives him interesting links to criminal networks), but his deathbed voice is loud enough that it presumably alerted the Betas too.

The Legion don’t just whisk around the island to collect the satellite because they know they are not welcome, don’t know where it is exactly and get distracted by falling bridges and pre-recorded programming. Presumably Superboy is more careful about the first point, to rely on Brainy and not his own powers.

Tyroc’s powers seem ill defined and overly powerful. A legionnaire who can teleport could be useful. One with force fields replicates Brainy and one who can hurl ships into orbit mirrors a number of Legionnaires. The sonic cries look a bit odd in the comic, and nowhere near as well executed as Black Canary’s sonic cry for example. But then, Wildfire’s first few panels had him replicate the entire Legion, so Tyroc is actually an improvement, power wise, on that first impression. Another plus is that Tyroc is already a champion of Marzal. Like Shadow Lass he’s arrives in the Legion with lots of experience. Later, we’d see Dawnstar, Invisible Kid, Blok and the White Witch join and their lack of training was noticeable.

His costume is quite outlandish. Mike Grell said he gave him it as part of distancing himself from the character. But in the years where we had Cosmic Boy’s bustier, and Imra’s bikini, it doesn’t stand out as much as it would in other eras.

A final plus note on the comic is that the Betas look quite cool as a streamlined heist outfit.

Of course, the above hasn’t really touched on the themes of the story, and it’s those that completely torpedo it. Everyone of Marzal is black. Everyone on Marzal is black, because it’s a separatist black society. They want nothing to do with the outside world. At the same time, they feel abandoned enough by it to show hatred towards the comic’s heroes and the world outside.

While the venom is at its direct worst on the cover and splash page, seeing Tyroc tell the island’s inhabitants that the Legion could be racist is a low point.

It’s another disastrous attempt at race relations from DC, who would have given us The Black Bomber or the aborted attempt at Joshua in the Teen Titans among other things.

Sadly, I think they felt they had found a solution to continuing to have no black characters in their Legion stories. It’s because all the black people live on an island. So, we acknowledge different races, but we don’t have to see them and we won’t get any letters from distributors from the South (which is an excuse I’ve heard a couple of times). It’s as pathetic as that. There’s the argument that they could have just written Tyroc out at the end of this story. But, as we’ll see, he wasn’t exactly used frequently after this anyway.

Tyroc’s personality is defined as an angry black man. He can’t just be a character who happens to be black, the same way Superboy is white. He can’t have a thought that’s independent of his skin colour. No, everything he does has to be reflected through his being black. Not only that, but reflected through someone who is angry and prejudiced, while seeing that very fault in others. I’ve really no idea why comic writers have this giant blind spot when it comes to this.

The writer picks out the Legion’s special race relations away team for this issue, just so it can assure Tyroc that there’s no racism in the book. Karate Kid, formerly white, now of mixed heritage partly (mostly) due to the popularity of martial arts movies. Brainiac 5, because being green shows the all-embracing nature of DC. Shadow Lass, because blue people will win anyone over who wasn’t convinced by green people. I imagine they deleted the thought bubble where she says “I was supposed to be black, but DC changed it. Just ask Dvron.”

In summary, it’s a straight forward short story that introduces us to a new hero. But the story is completely overshadowed by the way in which the character was introduced. It’s no wonder that so many writers would distance themselves from Tyroc, although it’s an approach I’m not sure works for the best. Rubbish, offensive origin aside, seeing Tyroc established as every bit the hero as anyone else may have been another way to go.

216/The Hero Who Hated the Legion

I have lots of mixed feelings on this one. I agree with everything thoth wrote above, and with the general consensus that the introduction of the first black Legionnaire was misguided at best and racist at worst. But it's hard for me to separate these conclusions--which I arrived at only much later--with my initial feelings of the story.

There's almost a Star Trek sensibility in this story about a future that will be free from prejudice and racial division. In order to drive this point home, Star Trek introduced a number of aliens (such as the Charons) who were racist to point out how much humans would evolve. I felt that this story was intended along the same lines. In order to show future society as free from racism, you have to contrast it with a society that is racist. It's just a shame that Bates and company chose members of a real race--one which was battling real bigotry and discrimination in the 1970s--to be his "unenlightened" people.

I also think Bates was trying to tap into the "relevance" Shooter had introduced in his Legion stories, e.g., the Vietnam War and PTSD. But whereas Shooter had a deft and sensitive touch in addressing such matters, Bates' attempt to extrapolate race relations into the 30th century is clunky and naive. In a way, however, this story does tap into the real fears and anxieties of the times expressed by both whites and blacks. Black separatism was not a new concept--Malcolm X (who had died a mere 10 years before this story was published) championed such a movement, as did Louis Farrakhan. The Black Panther movement appeared threatening to some whites. So, in a way, Bates took this idea and speculated where it might lead--a strategy common to science fiction.

The fault may lie in the fact that no black characters were represented in Legion stories before this, so 216 gives the impression that ALL people of African descent must have moved to Marzal (and some fans on this board have suggested this interpretation). Bates--if DC had let him--could have counteracted this impression by introducing a dark-skinned government minister (we've already seen the president) to send the Legion on its mission instead of relying on Cosmic Boy's report of a deathbed confession. Such a character would have given us a "positive" or "neutral" representation of a person of color to balance the antagonistic positions Tyroc and the Marzallians were required to play.

Another missed cue occurs when Superboy and Karate Kid save a group of Marzallians from the collapsing sidewalk. Their antagonism towards their rescuers furthers the plot, but it would be nice if at least one of them had whispered "Thank you"--just so we don't get the impression that all black people have been brainwashed.

(As an aside, I just listened to a report on NPR about a Syrian refugee who has settled in Germany. He recounted that a German man approached him in a shop and told him to go back to his country and fight. Five minutes later, another man came up to him and said, "Don't listen to him! You're a nice guy." The Syrian was amused in telling this story, which shows how different people react to "strangers" and that not everyone should be stereotyped as behaving the same way.)

It might have been clunky to include such scenes in this short story, but, when one is dealing with sensitive issues such as race, a little extra foresight may be necessary.

One subtle touch which I think works reasonably well, however, is the ambiguous nature of Marzal's separation from the rest of Earth society. We aren't told the reasons for this separation, but the tour guide (page 4) seems to have a different take than Tyroc does (page 7). The tour guide states Marzal "wants nothing to do with the outside world" whereas Tyroc finds fault with the Legion for not helping Marzal through several crises (which suggests Marzal would have been receptive to such aid). Who's telling the truth? Or are these different interpretations of the same events? Given how rhetoric is regularly spun and twisted by politicians and the media, it's easy to see how both the tour guide and Tyroc may think they're right.

As for Tyroc himself, he seems almost an afterthought in this story. Though he plays a significant role, I learn nothing about him, and I don't know why he suddenly changes his mind and sees the error of his way at the end. He is not really a character, just a type--and a very flat one at that.

216/1+1=3

In this backup story, also by Bates, we catch up with the former Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel. While walking through a park, they are accosted by members of a gang who want to settle the score with Chuck for putting them in prison while he was a Legionnaire.

The non-powered Chuck is easily made to look like a fool by the thugs, but Lu comes to his rescue and drives them off. Is Chuck grateful? No, he's upset that his masculinity has been threatened by his wife and he feels symbolically castrated now that he no longer has a power.

Okay, the story doesn't use that language, but it's interesting how it equates having a super-power with masculinity, particularly given Chuck's former ability to, er, inflate himself.

Demonstrating more maturity than her husband, Lu listens to him whine and points out he still has the courage that made him a Legionnaire. Then she conveniently passes out from a drug administered by one of the gang members during their fight. This gives Chuck a chance to redeem himself--though Lu gets another shot at the thugs, as well.

It's a simple story and not a terribly important, but I think it honestly expresses certain dynamics of male-female relationships. Even today, a lot of men believe it is their role to protect women (just ask some of my military students who oppose women in combat for this reason). Chuck, it must also be remembered, has lost his super-power. In the Legion's world, that's tantamount to being a cripple. All of Chuck's friends have powers, as does his wife. It would naturally be a blow to his self-esteem to realize he can no longer hold his own against common thugs.

But Chuck once again uses his wits to win the day, as he did back in 199. Instead of a sneeze this time, he uses rubber balls (heh, another masculine motif) to demonstrate his knowledge of ricochet and trajectory.

The best part about this story, though, is that Chuck and Lu defeat the bad guys together. Lu's role, in fact, makes clever use of her power to deceive others (even her husband) into thinking she is one girl instead of two.

So teamwork at last wins the day in a Legion story, and a marriage is saved!

By the way, I haven't forgotten this, but real life has intervened. I'll try to launch the thread this weekend. (I know everybody's waiting with bated breath--or Bates's breath?)

I may be a week late on this one...not sure when I'll get a chance to even read the issue let alone review it. The build-up to Christmas this year, with my kids ages 4 & 5, has more tension that even the best Hitchcock films. Things are reaching a fever pitch. It's been so much fun.

This also means that I'll probably be in such a good mood when I do read it that I'll end up giving Tyroc every benefit of the doubt.

When I first read this issue, I was very aware of the heavy handedness of it. I get the same feeling from nearly every attempt from the big two at tackling social or racial issues. Like yourself, I’m there to read, and hopefully enjoy, the story. But these comics range from forced and preaching at best to downright racist/patronising and supporting the very thing they’re set up to highlight, at worst.

So, I start the issue looking to enjoy it. But the heavy handed theme is always evident early on, and that makes me question it. So, the story and the context are always closely linked, if not simultaneous.



Personally, I think that this approach from the big 2 can be flawed partly due to the context in which the story takes place. The society that they are desperate to tell us isn’t racist, doesn’t have anywhere close to the multi-ethnic population to make the premise viable. By highlighting racial issues in a single issue, all it does is draw attention to the absence of multiculturalism in all the other issues.

For me, the best way to show that your society is multicultural is, oddly enough, to show that your society is multicultural. People of all shapes, sizes, colours, beliefs as the artist wants to put in. There’s enough aliens in the backgrounds after all. You can pick whoever you like to focus on from there, as there will be good and bad in all groups, as long as there’s no overall bias.

HWW mentions some real examples of separatist movements. Imagine a firmly installed Tyroc, involved in that story somewhere down the road. Perhaps that would have been the chance to have a Star Trek race as a proxy. It shouldn’t have to involve Tyroc directly just because he’s black. But because he’s a Legionnaire, and one who has been around in any number of other stories. Ideally, there would be no need to include him at all, especially in an issue about race.

But [ALERT!: nearly 40 year old spoiler!] we know that Tyroc makes very rare appearances following this story. Now that may well be due to people wanting to distance themselves from the character and his dreadful origin story. But I’ve always felt that it just reinforced the idea that DC had a problem with race. The company that can’t help but hardboot, softboot and retcon, often before Crisis, couldn’t find a way to make more use of Tyroc? Really? It’s something I have difficulty believing. I’ve had trouble with that, ever since I first knew of Tyroc and a little of his background.



He’s certainly the main character, and the hero of his people. He infiltrates the Betas and uses his powers cleverly to alert Superboy. I think he sees the error of his ways by watching the Legion save people from the radioactive satellite. I think he may also have been nearby when they saved people form that falling bridge. That would be interesting, if he chose to stay undercover to help stop the villains. So, I learned that he’s capable, smart, powerful and able to change strongly held opinions that he wasn’t shy about expressing. I prefer that to thinking about the angry, black stereotype that’s also very much in there.

EDIT: Twice I've forgotten to mention. Why do the Beta's have Caucasian masks? It allows Tyroc to infiltrate them, but why would the group have them at all? It can't be disguise because they also have helmets.

Yeah, that's a real problem when writers/companies don't know what they're doing or are doing it for reasons they don't fully understand. I think the notion of DC as a conservative company holds true. They were out of touch even by 1975 standards. Marvel had had black heroes (The Black Panther) and supporting characters (Bill Foster) for years, but generally did not make a big deal of it, except for the misguided stereotype of Luke Cage as a street tough. DC made a big deal out of the first black Legionnaire, but it shouldn't have been that big of an issue in '75.



Yes, and Star Trek had problems with this as well. The crew of the Enterprise was definitely multicultural, but some of the story lines were pro-American to the point of being jingoistic ("The Omega Glory"): to show America as being great, you have to show other cultures as being less great.

In fact, the example of an "unenlightened" society I mentioned, the Charons (from "Let that Be Your Last Battlefield"), very obviously had half black and half white faces, just in case you missed the metaphor.

Of course, TV was still struggling with the notion that it had to dumb down stories for a mass audience. I imagine DC operated under much the same mindset.



Agreed. Star Trek finally got this right with The Next Generation. I think the Legion got it right under Levitz/Giffen.



There were so many ways Tyroc could have been used to great effect. Let's accept the idea that Marzal wants nothing to do with the rest of Earth society. Now they've got a hero who has joined the very organization they hate. What does that do to them? What does it do to him?

One LSH issue somewhere mentioned that Tyroc was trying to drag Marzal into mainstream society. It would have been great to see more of that struggle. Tyroc was caught between two worlds long before the Brigadoon excuse to get rid of him. He had seen potential in the Legion, which had broadened his views and aspirations. It would have been interesting to see him try to bring that potential to his island.




I sort of expect those attributes in any Legion-quality candidate.

To me, though, he remains a cipher: someone we learn little about and who behaves in ways dictated by the plot.



I do, too. I think we get a much better view of Tyroc in his next appearance, 218.



My sense of it was that the Betas did not wear Caucasian masks. Only Tyroc wore one to impersonate the Beta he had captured.

I read the issue of Civil War when they [Spoiler alert for a series that wasn't very good] killed him. It just seemed so...pointless.



That could be an example of someone with a poor origin, that's transcended it. I say "could be" because I've no real idea what they did with him. But he's certainly got a lot more panel time than Tyroc ever did. But you're right in that Cage is another example of a character whose origins can't escape the misguided views of the comics companies.

We could have had a normal superhero, who happens to be black.

"Luke Cage: A doctor who sees the effects of Hydra's criminal takeover on his city, and decides to do something about it."

"Luke Cage: A scientist who extends Richard's dimensional theories, becoming embued with super powers."

"Luke Cage: The mail man who delivers to all those secret hideouts, and whose mystical recorded delivery activates."

But no, we have Blaxploitation Luke Cage gets convicted of a crime and who's a street level brawler for hire, in a world where superheroes stand for unpaid altruism.

It’s not that a hero for hire isn’t an interesting idea. It’s not that the hero for hire couldn’t be black or anything else. It’s that slight disconnect between story and what’s underneath it. The story might have interesting plot points, but it’s ruined by everything around it. Also see Vibe.



Yeah, that must have been a shock when the Federation really came to town and found the locals a little less than friendly.

Other comics examples are Hitting Batman, where the main character validates themselves by punching the Dark Knight.




Both with such large scope that you can really enjoy showing off different cultural ideas. On the other hand, I don’t think advertising has ever got past having to have a quota of certain people for their campaigns. “One (but only one) from this ethnic group, one (and only one) from that, one from that gender, one from...gah! Where’s the white kid?! He’s ill?! Now, what are we supposed to do?! *Must* show all target markets! Must! “I just saw one this morning and it looks as forced as it always has. Tying too hard to show how inclusive you are, is along the same thought lines as DC had.





If we *had* to keep separatist Marzal, a few Levitz scenes of Tyroc introducing the Marzal leaders to the rest of the UP, with lots of people from all sorts of backgrounds would have done the trick. “Look! There’s no need to be separate! These guys over here can’t build safe bridges or archways either!”

But yes, lots and lots of potential, but I’d be even happier to have characters from different ethnic backgrounds, not exist to reflect on them. I note that Dawnstar and Shadow Lass are two characters with cultural subplots. Or if they have to do it, everyone else must too…

Superboy makes another strike against the corporate destruction of Kansas farmland. Commercial leader Lex Luthor V demands action from the UP.

Princess Projectra is ousted from the Legion for her family’s undemocratically run planet. Does she stay with her heritage or embrace what she considers to be “corrupt mob rule”?

Aghast at the corruption of worlds beyond his mother ocean, Tellus has a hard choice to make between returning to his world as it was and embracing the ethos of the Gil’ Dishpan.



The Adventure Comics Candidate Checklist!

I think Dawny, Block and Jacques have a few more wrinkles to their characters, so they don’t necessarily get to tick every box. Not necessarily a bad thing.



But that would mean that the champion of the black separatist island has a machine that makes Caucasian masks. Can you imagine pitching that? If only the Betas didn’t also discriminate, Tyroc could have infiltrated them much more easily.

Yes, and I think this shows more thought was put into their characters than had been done previously.

It's interesting, though, that all three are non-white characters. Non-Caucasians can come with more baggage, it seems.



The Legionnaires and sundry villains had worn masks to impersonate others for years. I get the feeling that there was some toy lying around which quickly created whatever disguises were required, like those temporary tattoo makers.

I reckon it's a unconscious hold over from the time when the Legion were killed by...Mask Man.

Well, I still get chills.

I've read it and have found that pretty much any discussion material is being covered by you two. If you hear some faint clapping and a gasp here and there, know that it's me!

Things we haven't discussed pertaining to 216:

-- Karate Kid's newfound prominence thanks to his solo series.

-- Shadow Lass's prominence as the token female, replacing Light Lass in this role.

-- Speculating on the origin of the Betas. Were there Alphas? Or was Bates doing an anagram for his own name?

-- Brainiac 5's gem gizmo. Will the Star Trek ripoffs ever end?

-- Any further commentary on the backup story.

See? Plenty of jumping-on points.

Modest Brain Globes strike again! I saw Lardy's post and thought:-

- Considering Wildfire moved from his origin of being able to duplicate nearly every Legion power to what we know him for, how would you have modified Tyroc, if at all?

- Was there something wrong with Brainy's scanner, as he went off in the wrong direction?

- Does Rokk's infiltration of the Empresses' citadel, followed up by his knowledge of death bed criminal confessions, mean that he's replacing Cham's leading role in Legion Missions: Impossible/ Espionage squad duties? What did he offer here, that Cham couldn't?

- In the final panel, Tyroc says he'll go to Metropolis to see if he can qualify to become a Legionnaire. Were DC waiting to gauge reaction to the story to see if Tyroc would be a one shot hero, perhaps being seen briefly in the Academy It does mean that the story ends without him actually joining, giving DC a get out?

- Why only faint clapping?

I didn't say my thoughts were as good as HWW's but I'd hate to think we'd covered everything (doubt it) at the expense of hearing other thoughts. My next review will be ("Legion did stuff: discuss")

Aww!

My thoughts on not on par with Cobie's, but I don't have 4- and 5-year-olds to distract me for the holidays. Thus I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about Legion stuff. And Babylon 5.

On a serious note, I'm really enjoying this discussion because each of us brings a different perspective to these stories. So, by all means, everyone, chime in!

>nods< I'm much more interested in hearing from everyone else. I might not have any opinions going into an issue, but once I'm done and posted, it's all the other perspectives I really look forward to.

I can't believe my comments have fallen below the standard of Cobie's 4 and 5 year olds. Must up my game

DC did express some concern about how Tyroc would be received in a later issue's letter column - but were happy to report that most readers liked the character. (I doubt they would have printed any hate mail.)

Did Marzal eventually become fully integrated with the rest of Earth and the U.P. (don't remember)? It would have been interesting to have explored how they survived if they had nothing to do with any other people. They would have to have total self-sufficiency yet it appears they maintained technological parity with the rest of the planet. There must have been some serious brainwashing to keep succeeding generations from reaching out to civilization beyond their island. Maybe Marzal is like North Korea, with suppressed dissidents and underground traffic in foreign culture.

Would this story or concept have been better if it had been a different group of people who isolated themselves? Anti-tech/luddite types, a religious order, people with tinnitus....



And me....

Resident 1: Is that the Legion over Marzal?
Resident 2: What?
Resident 1: What?
Resident 2: Thursday at two, I think.
Resident 1: What?
Resident 2: Bloody Tyroc and his deafening sonic powers...
Resident 1: What?

Announcer: Next month: Tyroc vs Black Canary in a Boom Tube!
Residents: WHAT?!

One power: Super-Ventriloquism

The Private Lives of Bouncing Boy & Duo Damsel: 1+1=3

While it’s always nice to see Chuck and Lu, I didn’t really get into this story. We’re not long into it, when we see that the story is a combination of Tenzil’s unpublished page where he feels outclassed by a woman; the Dream Girl and Karate Kid back up where the Kid is injured by a hidden weapon and Chuck’s usual subplot of overcoming a lack of self-confidence.

Lu tells the deflated Chuck that the juvenile (yet old) thugs caught him off guard, but that’s not the way the art showed it. It’s a little tough to believe that two street toughs could really get the better of either of them. Both have undergone Legion training. Lu is a very effective combatant while Chuck used to train others in the Academy.

While Chuck overcomes his doubts, it’s odd that he didn’t notice the split Lu, or that she didn’t tell him, if only to warn him about another attack being possible.

At least we do see both of them get highlights. We see Lu’s fighting ability, matched with her awareness. For Chuck, it’s that great spatial awareness he has. He’s much more than a morale officer. I wonder what kind of leader he would have made of the main team, and not just the Academy…

Since Shooter introduced him and then really took a shine to him, he's been building towards that solo series. It's a bit of a shame that Shooter wasn't the one writing it really, going by that first issue. It's going to be worth noting the difference in group dynamic in issues to come, with him not being there.



I can't imagine Ayla and Rokk in the same room, without her putting his head through the ceiling. I imagine Brin would like a "chat" with him too.

By the time I started reading the Legion Shady & Lar, as well as Jo & Tinya were very much an item. So, I always enjoy any of them getting some space to develop.



I think The Grells works nicely without an anagram. They sound like a fierce race (or possibly after midnight Gremlins). I'll let you work out Hooters powers by yourselves...

As I alluded to earlier, there's a vague reference in a later story of Tyroc on special assignment to help bring Marzal into mainstream society, but we never see anything of his efforts. The island next appears in 265, I think, only to be shunted off into another dimension altogether.




Great questions and speculation!





If this story were published today, what sort of society might be used? Muslims ... gun advocates/anti-gun advocates ... gay people ... Texans ... the mind boggles.

Superboy already had that power.

"Too bad for you, Tyroc. You're black, but we're discriminating against you based on the no duplication of powers clause."

Yeah, there was much repetition of "themes" in these stories.



Good point about their previous fighting experience.



In the flashback (bottom of page 6), Chuck is clearly looking away when Lu splits. There's no other way he would have noticed since Lu had the foresight not to wear a costume that splits when she does. (Worst. Costume. Ever.)

It's a good question as to why she didn't tell Chuck what was going on. She thinks, "I'll stay back unless he needs another assist!" Perhaps she wanted to give him time to redeem his manhood.



Interesting idea.

There are a couple (or more stories) featuring powerless Chuck Taine relying on his wits - and some of the stories in which he has his bouncing power show him being clever. Did writers come up with this idea or were they told, Give us a filler story with Bouncing Boy?

He likely would have made a good leader; he was well chosen as the guy who kept Legion World running under DnA.

Good point, Thoth, about the recycling of themes; I hadn't picked up on some of those.



There must have been some lingering regret that he wasn't even permitted to try and save Lu at their wedding.

In the TMK run, Marzal comes out of its Brigadoon dimension early.

“Marzal, the inter-dimensional portal-island from which ex-Legionnaire Tyroc hailed, is destroyed by Earthgov forces. Tyroc survives and joins the resistance.”

Other notes tells us that Earthgov used recordings of Tyroc’s own voice, taken from Legion records, to activate Marzal’s return. The destruction was used by Earthgov as propaganda against “Khund conspirators.”

Another way of looking at it, through the lens of the rubbish ideas behind all this, is that an island of black people was wiped out by an army of nearly all non-black people. It wasn’t the Dominators that killed them. It was Earthgov forces of humans, before the Dominators revealed themselves. TMK, in trying to erase the mess, didn’t exactly help too much there.

Really interesting comments on the reasons for Marzal remaining insular for so long. No doubt, this will come up again later in the re-reads.




Yeah, it was that he didn’t hear her or notice the split at all. In a deserted park, where he’s alert after an attack. It really was as you say, just a way of letting the plot give Chuck back some confidence. It looked as though he was sulking after being saved.

Alt+Plot:

Lelith; Lu was feeling faint, Chuck, so we’ve split.
Chuck: You could stay in the background, in case we’re attacked again.
Lelith: Or I could help you carry Lu out more quickly more medical assistance.
Chuck: Now that you mention it, I could use Technology of the Future to call for an ambulance.
>minutes later<

Lelith: Right. That’s Lu being looked after. Let’s go and beat up some thugs to see what thy used on her.
Chuck: >picks up balls from nearby court< They won’t know what hit them.

Superboy also duplicated the powers of Matter-Eater Lad and Timber Wolf, so that rule was applied irregularly.

Yes, I noted the smiley-face.

Was Mrs Kent's cooking really that bad

Superboy can't eat kryptonite.

Yeah, I think that was a poor move.

Looking at the title, it's "The Private Lives of Bouncing Boy & Duo Damsel" I read into that , that they were perhaps looking to make them an irregular feature.

Probably based on the usual extensive DC marketing research. "Gee, our sales went up the month Chuck & Lu were in" / "Gee our sales went down the month Chuck got dropped" / "The kid at the candy store really likes Lu" / "Could we get Chuck in a gorilla suit and put checks across the cover?"



He did manage to transform the Academy into the UP grouping, keeping it alive in exactly the way the Legion couldn't keep their own team going.

It's a flaw when you only recruit from people having powers. What if none of them have any other skills? Only a few top sportsmen make great managers.

Somebody on one of the Legion Facebook pages suggested that Chuck and Lu be given a "Nick and Nora" series of stories. I would have loved to see that approach taken with the back-ups.

Ralph & Sue are the only Nick & Nora for me

Chuck & Lu have their own dynamic.

Fascinating to see our reads on these issues

This was one of my favorite volumes to be issued
To be blunt, the men were just sexier

Now to the issue at hand:
I really wanted the introduction of Marzal to be good. As a kid, I hunted for ANY appearance of Tyroc when I saw him in Who's Who (or some other listing of characters). BUT the race stuff IS so heavy handed and lacks any real meat on the bone. At the time, it felt shallow. Today, it's just embarrassing.

Chuck and Lu: this story had the most erratic logic. While a BB/DD appearance in the Legion has always been enjoyable for me, this one was weird. There were a whole series of Legion stories in this era where the Legionnaires were undone by street-level foes or some similarly underwhelming plot device

What I am still tickled with:

Chuck and Lu - They were a favorite of mine as a kid and continue to delight. I thought this moment was (yet another) attempt at under-utilizing the woman for the sake of the man (sigh), BUT I did enjoy seeing the dimensions of their relationship with (and without) powers

the experimentation in their clothes (successful or not) ... I thought that there was more risk done in playing with the Legion look through this era

the use of Shadow Lass in many of the stories. She was introduced in a big way and then just sporadically used. Looking at her whole career, this is just before she becomes half of Mon-El and... (or a quarter of Mon, Jo, Tinya and ...) - so it's cool to see her around (even if she doesn't have much to do)

Back up stories that continue to focus on underused or inactive members. It gives a chance for fans to see these characters again (and I always liked that about the Legion - the range of characters)

Superboy & the LOSH #216

Well, there's a lot to dislike about Tyroc's first appearance but it's actually no where near as bad as people make it out to be. There's also some good stuff in there too.

The bad comes down to how uncomfortable the reader is made to feel by the incredibly awkward attempt to make a story about race, which falls incredibly flat. For the mid-70's, one would hope for racial topics to be done with more nuance; for a story set 1,000 years later, you'd expect an even more extreme story loaded with metaphor. Instead it's too on the nose and too out of place in the UP we've come to know. All of this is compounded by the ridiculous Codename and costume given to Tyroc, which don't hold up in the slightest decades later.

Still, Tyroc should not have been shunted aside so easily. There's a lot there and a lot to like, and it's a shame it took 30 more years for someone to realize it. A simple change of costume / look, ignoring the Marzal nonsense and even a Codename change would have eliminated the nonsensical elements. What's left is a strong, diverse new Legionnaire with sound based powers.

The "good" is that the story is actually well paced and wonderfully drawn. Tyroc's entrance is quite magnificent, and the opening panels are wonderfully science fiction-y and suspenseful.

Meanwhile, the backup story featuring Chuck and Luornu is highly unnecessary. I found it weak and more of what we've seen a dozen times already since the Legion became co-stars of the series. Shooter and Bates have simply gone to the week one too many times. It's hard to find any enthusiasms for backups at this point in the run...we want full stories!

Catching up on everyone's commentary, I can see there were a lot of great points. HWW and Thoth cover well how race could and should have been dealt with in the LSH, and how quietly inserting diverse human races, as well as aliens, is by far the best way to do this. Levitz / Giffen got this done nicely.

Now if only DC would allow newer, more diverse Legionnaires to stick around instead of whatever they deem to be classic Legionnaires.

I also like the idea of "Nick and Nora" type adventures for Luornu and Chuck. I think the idea of putting them in charge of the Academy was really a stroke of brilliance by Levitz, as a way to keep Riek relevant and active in the franchise.

Lastly, good call by HWW on the growing prominence of Shady during this time. She is certainly a visual highlight of the Legion roster and the creators were smart to use her on covers.

Good points. The story is well paced and introduces Tyroc quite well--qualities that often get overlooked while discussing the "bad" parts.



Well, I question whether any story is "necessary."

You're right that the formula is wearing thin and, in the long run, this story doesn't amount to much. At the time, though, I remember being delighted to see Chuck and Lu again. For some reason, I was expecting them to show up at Legion HQ and interact with their former teammates, so it was disappointing to see them on their own. (It would be like buying a Beatles reunion album that features just George and Ringo--probably pleasant, but not the hoped-for experience). Still, it was nice that they weren't forgotten.

I still like the setup of the story: Now that Chuck is non-powered, he's ripe for the pickings of his enemies (or so they think). I also like the lesson that Chuck's heroism depends more on his smarts than on his power--a lesson I also picked up from his previous solo outing back in 199. Chuck seems to be the Legionnaire who is best suited for showing the principle that brains matter more than physical power.

Now that we're caught up with 216, can we go on to 217, thoth?

You know, since the topic hasn't moved on to 217 yet, I decided to revisit the lead story in 216 in light of all the back-and-forth about it, most of it being negative. I'd read every post but just didn't relate to the level of offensiveness that the story seems to have provoked. So I just read it for the second time in about a week. And you know what? It's really not all that bad and doesn't really play into stereotypes or blaxploitation all that much.

Number one, all that's stated about Marzal is that it's populated by a black race that wants nothing to do with the outside world. Nothing specifically racially motivated as a reason for their isolationism; they just are insular and don't particularly trust the outside world. There are many real-life analogs for comparison, but I suppose that because they are all black, we read a lot into it. Heck, they could be descended from an African tribe and want to maintain their ways.

Number two, Tyroc states that maybe the Legion ignored Marzal during various crises because they were a country populated by black people. That's probably the most "damning" thing in the story. However, there's no indication that this is a firmly held belief among his people. Plus, he quickly recants when he sees the Legion's moral fiber for himself, rather than rationalizing the events to suit his point of view as most hardcore believers in whatever tend to do rather than admit they made a mistake.

Number three, comic stories addressing race tended (and sometimes still do) to be a little heavy-handed in trying to deliver the right message. Various stories of the era, including the GL/GA one, some racially-themed storylines in Amazing Spider-Man and even the infamous 'Lois goes black' story were all rather clumsy or obvious in their handling in hindsight, even if some of these were lauded for addressing the topic. This one is much like its contemporaries in that way. Its message is heavy-handed but well-intentioned.

Number three, Tyroc himself is criticized for his look and design and supposed blaxploitation, but it really isn't ill-fit with the rest of the Legion's increasingly mod seventies looks. And what stuck out to me about him was the Legion's reactions to him. They were awed by his unusual power and instantly wanted him on their team. They don't always have that initial reaction to potential new members, even ones who go on to become stalwarts.

It's a shame that Grell apparently designed Tyroc to show his disapproval of how the character was introduced. I think the design is kind of cool in its own way, especially appropriate for the '70s at least. Okay, the booties were a little too much, but I think it's overall a sexy costume suitable for a now-sexy Legion.

Someone mentioned the name being a bad choice. Why? At first, I misremembered that that was his actual name until I remembered it was actually Troy Stewart. I guess it was actually supposed to be a Marzal heroic title or something. Is it bad because it sounds like Tyrone, a not uncommon African-American name? The only other thing I can think of is the mythical birds called 'rocs'. Were they known for screaming, and would adding 'Ty' tend to make it sound more African? I don't get the problem with the name.

Look, I'm not calling this one of the great Legion stories, but it's not all that bad. It's a little clumsy but, I think, well-intentioned. I haven't read the later Tyroc stories that wrote him (and Marzal) out. I suspect a lot of details were added there to bring out elements that were only implied or read into in this initial story. I don't know this, but I think I heard anecdotally that stuff about the Marzals being descended from slaves may have been added there. If it did, that's disappointing, but this story isn't to blame in and of itself.

I'm as liberal as I suspect many here are, but I see little or nothing to condemn or to use to preach on my pedestal to the masses about this one story. At least we finally got a Legionnaire of an African persuasion. It's a shame that he didn't become more prominent or get developed a lot more before he was written out, but I've seen his use in 5YL and Retroboot as check marks in their respective "good" columns (the latter having very little else in said column, unfortunately).

I feel this is one case where if African-Americans want to condemn Tyroc as a poor reflection of their culture and representation, then I'll support them every step of the way. But sometimes, in our need to show how liberal and enlightened we are, we look to address "wrongs" that--just maybe--are barely a blip (if that) for the advocated people and the dream we all hope to fulfill together.


Sorry, none of this is meant to shake my finger at anyone who feels otherwise, so please don't take it as such. Just another point of view on this story I felt I needed to express as the conversation went on and I examined my reactions to said conversation.

These issues were such a golden age for me but even as a kid I knew these often weren't as good a stories as they COULD be..... Wnen my energy level improves I'll try to participate more.

I recall wee me finding 214 especially bad. However I loved Tyroc from the get go and was thrilled to be there for the I ntro of a new Legionnaire. Loved Lu's look and Star Trek homage costume

Paladin raises a good point that we read a lot into the fact that Marzal is a black population and assume their isolation is race-based.

I think a lot of my criticism or cringing about the Tyroc story is after the fact. The 70s were a different mindset, disco was in full swing so the costume didn't look as outrageous as it does today. (We all wore chains and big collars :rolleyes:.) We weren't that far removed from the Black Panther trials, so the angry black man image was still pretty pervasive.

Was the Legion being targeted at kids or teens at that point? Any social-themed story would be more likely to be heavy-handed than subtle with a younger readership.

So much of what we've seen of 30th century society is so homogenized, it's actually kind of nice to find out that there are places in the Legion's time that maintain their independence and don't conform.

^ All great points in the above posts.

Lardy is especially correct that Tyroc's costume did not seem all that outrageous in the Grell Legion and the era of disco. Lardy also makes an excellent point that nothing is said in the story about *race* being the reason for Marzal's isolation.

As for Tyroc claiming that the Legion didn't help Marzal through crises, someone in a later letter column wondered if Marzal had even asked for assistance. It could be that Tyroc's speech is mere political posturing, espousing views he had grown up believing. We see such slanted rhetoric entirely too often these days.

I never associated the name "Tyroc" with "Tyrone" until someone suggested it on this board a few years ago. Maybe this is another example of people reading offense into something where no offense was intended.

Cramey -- According to Shooter in The Legion Companion, Boltinoff believed the Legion's readership was quite young and insisted that the Legionnaires were all around 15 or so. You raise a good point that stories aimed at young readers tend to be heavy handed in dealing with race.

EDE -- Excellent point that there are (or should be) cultures on 30th century earth which are at odds with mainstream society. As I noted in my post, this aspect might have come through more clearly (and been less about race) if we'd seen dark-skinned characters in previous Legion stories.

A bit of cultural context: I was reading a magazine from 1979 earlier this week. It had an article called "Blacks in Science Fiction film."

It opens with a Richard Pryor quote from 1976, where he's just been to see Logan's run and notices that there's no black people in it. "Well, white folks ain't plannin' on us to be here," he says. '76 was the same year as Tyroc's debut.

As for the article. Well, the fact that you could fit nearly every SF cameo to more substantial role in a single article tells you everything you need to know really.

Superboy 217



From the cover, it’s not surprising that this was an issue I was in no hurry to buy. A giant feudal elf, with an outdated chain-operated video game component that fires like a cannon at the Legion.

I’m too busy trying to avoid Colossal Boy’s costume to really care about the Legion’s two mightiest heroes flying in. As per commentary on last issue, Shady once again replaces Ayla. The splash page does nothing to reinforce the cover or to provide more than a chess link to the story. At least Gim’s costume is blown up. Looking at the villain’s helmet and the chessboard, I wonder if this inspired Gerry Conway to alter the look of Despero.

The story is a pedestrian lift from a Star Trek episode, where Brainy tests his wits against a top Khundish commander. To reduce the excitement even further, Superboy gets to add narration throughout.

Said narrator pretty much tells the reader that it’s going to be a boring start. But Timberwolf uses his super agility only a couple of panels in. It’s to kick over a chess board, but it still counts. Their ship is attacked by the Khunds, as it’s about to drop Brainy off for a chess tournament.

There’s more superheroics as Brainy, Shady, Brin and Gim all use their powers to solve problems. It’s a little worrying that the ship should be a man short and really need to rely on Gim’s abilities to avoid being further damaged. Perhaps that extra crewman would have been Superboy, except that the Kryptonian is usually already out the airlock and looking for the cause of any issues. It’s also handy that it’s Shady who’s on duty in the lightless room. Still, it shows that there’s more to a being a Legionnaire than just powers, as they all know their way around a spacecraft’s systems.

When the Khunds prepare for a second attack, Brainy is only too keen for the combat. Apparently he’s been dreaming of going up against his opponent in battle, which seemed at first to be very blood thirsty for him. But he’s probably not thinking about the potential destruction over the solution to a query, which takes him firmly into a number of his other disasters.

With both opponents keen to show us their wits (it is a code approved comic after all), we then don’t see anything other than the end of the conflict. The Legion are victorious in this plot tease. But that’s only the beginning. Once Brainy has gone, the Khunds attack in force again. This time they manage to force the Legion cruiser to land. A few Legion fans get places named after them this issue, such as Vanvlack IV, which is a nice nod from Shooter.

The Legion hatch a plan and leap out of the cruiser upon seeing a Khund they could use to get information from. It’s a highlight of the story to see them act as adventurously as normal, only for that plan to have been potentially fatal. Shooter doesn’t force his characters to do anything they wouldn’t have done naturally to make the plot work. Seeing Brin and Shady leap out of the cruiser was a memorable panel. In a choice between having Gim or Shady in combat, Shady is the clear choice, and Shooter doesn’t hesitate.

In a nice twist, it’s those natural instincts, in this case to follow Brainy’s plans blindly, that almost get them killed again. The Khunds simply can’t believe that the Legion would not retreat, even when giving them false orders. Having shown us their opponents, you know that Brin, Gim and Shady must have really cut loose in the battle. We get hints of Brin’s animalistic side as he’s injured. That would develop over the years. So too, would Gim’s habit of getting shot during a battle.

Superboy’s arrival to see his teammates anything but celebrating their triumph is another excellent panel. Grell’s art is strong throughout. From a levitating Superboy, through the upholstery on the cruiser’s chairs to the battling Legionnaires and the message in the ship’s explosion. He seemed to really enjoy this one.

Shooter gives us a final payoff by dispatching the villain using a small set up from much earlier in the story.

The story could really have done without Superboy’s narration. It clogged up an already unwieldy opening. The rest of the story struggled to increase the pace. As it’s not a full length story, we only get glimpses of the Legionnaires in combat, which is also a pity as Grell depicted them so well.

^I agree with the all of the above. It's a thoroughly forgettable story and villain.

I've never seen "The Charge of the Light Brigade," but, as the title seems to have been inspired by that film, I wouldn't be surprised if the story was, as well. In any case, the premise certainly seems borrowed from Star Trek's "Balance of Terror," which, as I recall, was also borrowed from somewhere else.

It's nice that the Legionnaires charged the Khunds and so terrified them that the villains couldn't think or shoot straight--but a tad unrealistic. In all likelihood, they should have been more than just stunned.

I did appreciate the Legionnaires' blase reaction to Superboy's arrival. Kal has hogged enough of the spotlight, and it's nice to see how unimpressed his teammates were when he showed up to save the day.

And the Legionnaires don't really defeat Lorca--he defeats himself. A nice ironic twist, but so what? That's my overall reaction to the story: So what?

217/Future Shock for Superboy

It's rare for a backup story to focus on Superboy, and this is the first to do so since 197 (a non-Legion story). Surprisingly, it's a welcome change of pace.

Arriving in the 30th century, Superboy becomes smitten with a girl who calls herself "Elna," but she runs away when Wildfire approaches. Not one to let a mystery linger, Superstalker scours the city for her with his x-ray vision until he comes across Wildfire blasting her. After the obligatory manhandling of Wildfire by Superboy (which plays well off of their previous conflict in 214), Elna reappears, unscathed, and reveals the attack was part of a Legion Academy training exercise. She then tells Superboy she's his descendant, Laurel Kent, but inherited only one of his powers, invulnerability.

She then leaves Superboy with another tantalizing mystery--that she resembles the woman he's destined to marry. Of course, Superboy remembers none of this when he returns to his own time, thanks to the long-established post-hypnotic suggestion.

Even though it is built on a gimmick mystery that DC probably then never had any intention of resolving--e.g., who Superboy will marry--and even though the convenient resolution ensures there will be no long-term consequences for Superboy, I did enjoy this story. For one thing, it's nice to see super-Puritan Superboy act like a typical horny teenager, out to impress a girl. For another, the "Elna" mystery is nicely set up and explained. There's a sweetness and innocence in her interactions with him, even if she's dressed in a way that no teenaged boy (or girl) could ignore. (But, then everyone in Grell's 30th century dressed that way.)

Of course, "Elna" is an anagram for "Lane," to further stoke fan convictions that Kal will marry Lois.

Laurel herself later returns as a much-liked supporting character before the excremental crossover which turned her into a Manhunter android. Personally, I choose to believe the later story never happened and that "Future Shock" presents Laurel as she truly was and was meant to be.

S&LSH #217

The Charge of the Doomed Legionnaires was, in my humble opinion, a terrific story that stands out among the last few. It was exciting and full of sizzle, like a summer action movie, and effectively used all the Legionnaires within.

Grell's art was on fire here with numerous dramatic posed and layouts, which matched the energy of the story. The backgrounds and colors also popped. For the first time, the art felt like "80's" art, in the sense of the changing and maturing styles that would be coming in that decade.

Shooter, meanwhile, provides a masterful script. The Legionnaires are full of personality: Brin kicking over the board, Gim not being overly full of pride and calling for back up, Brainy being Brainy. All of them are capable and confident. Likewise, Lorca appears as a fully realized character and even though he isn't seen all that much, he's an effective presence throughout.

Shooter also loads in things to make a fan happy. Reference to the Khunds history and status as an ongoing threat to the UP. A throwaway line to Pelnath and Kralzk at Jupiter in the Great Solar War which instantly makes me want to know everything about such a thing. References to 30th century Thanagar. These things matter and it's never more apparent when you read a story like this right after the previous one like I did, where so many things were lacking.

This was a terrific story. If there were ongoing subplots from issue to issue like the heyday of the 80's-00's, a full issue could have easily been filled with 3-4 interludes featuring another 10-12 Legionnaires with this central story making up the meat of the issue. That would have put this story right alongside the great ones of the 80's.

----------------

The second story introduced Laurel Kent, who may be the sexiest character yet in franchise history thanks to Grell. There's one problem, this is a dubious introductory story on par with Star Wars in that what appears to be a cute introduction turns out to be a gross "almost incest" moment! That kind of takes the wind right out the sails! In fact, I've never quite warmed to Laurel and I think that's why.

Meanwhile, I do like that the Academy is referenced again for the first time since its introduction, and that Wildfire becomes tied to it hereafter. I also like the Superboy versus Wildfire panels, which is something we'll see more of, even if they're buddy buddy most of this issue.

But yeah. That bait and switch incest thing, even 1,000 years apart, has always soured me on this story and the character.

I can see you guys didn't enjoy the lead story anywhere as much as me! But I think it was a solid tale and surprisingly well done. I stand by the idea that if this was done in more modern times (say 1980 onward) where this was the 'meat' of a full length story that also contained interludes and ongoing subplots filling out the rest of the issue, it would have been pretty great!



I do have to say though that actually, the Legionnaires strategy is a classic war strategy throughout history and the Khunds reaction is exactly the desired effect. To shock and stun the enemy, and then overwhelm them before they can muster their courage is a classic Roman army strategy, and also a key element of a cavalry charge when bearing down on an infantry. This is exactly what happened in the Battle of Gettsyburg on Little Round Top when Chamberlain ordered the most famous bayonet charge in American history. Done out of necessity--his army was out of ammo--he so shocked the opposing flank of the southern army that they were totally overwhelmed and routed.

It's good to see a dissenting opinion.

I'm not a fan of summer blockbusters, which is probably why this story does little for me. Like some blockbusters, it's a lot of action but little substance.



I do agree about Grell's art--for both of these stories.




I think we're going to have to chalk this up to a difference in generational outlooks, as we did with the Kara robot back in 204. I never saw this story then (or now) as being incest related. Laurel is a hot babe, and Superboy didn't know who she was. Even if he had, she's still a hot babe.

Men and women are meant to be sexually attracted to each other (as are some men to other men and some women to other women), and whatever programming of nature is responsible for this makes no allowances for family connections. It's only because our society has determined incest to be wrong (because it dilutes the gene pool) that we seem to have an automatic filter against expressing or even acknowledging sexual attraction to a member of the same family. But even if we acknowledge that attraction, there's a huge difference between doing so and acting on the attraction.

So, I was never creeped out by Luke and Leia's attraction to one another or by Kal's interest in "Elna." I thought the story was both innocent and mature for its time.

You're probably right. If there had been subplots and ongoing stories, there would be much more to focus on than what was presented here.



Another good point, but it's worth noting that in the examples you gave, hundreds or thousands of soldiers were involved. With only three Legionnaires, the effect, I imagine, would not only be muted but it would be difficult to keep up the assault if some of them became casualties.

I think you're right about it being a generational thing. Also, directly related to that, is how the two of us experienced this issue in different ways. You read this issue either off the rack or part of the earliest days of your LSH reading experience. For me, this was probably the last Laurel Kent story I ever read. Meaning, I had already read all of her Levitz era appearances, including the crappy Manhunter one. So I had a preconceived idea about who she was, and to me the stand-out element of her identity was her being Superman’s descendent. Self-reflecting a bit, I’ve clearly come to this story with a major bias.

(And in fact, growing up thinking the Luke / Leia scene was cringe-worthy has probably influenced me and my whole generation to keep an eye out for this type of thing).

I'm closer to liking than disliking The Charge of the Doomed story. We have some good character moments, especially from Timber Wolf, and the team works as a team.

The story would have been better with some prior issue build-up through sub-plots, to show that Lorca was indeed a great military strategist and that Brainy had studied him - or even faced off against him before this.

This is the dialed-down version of Brainiac 5: acknowledging the other Legionnaires' help and not so smart that he's forbidden to play in a chess tournament. (Also, not so smart that he can't figure out a way to override the hijacking of his communication.)

Some of the artwork was wonderful, that scene with the binoculars was very striking. I thought Lorca himself looked silly, especially spreading out a map on a card table, but maybe that was just 1976.

That must have been the first mention of Thanagar in the Legion comic. We're beginning to get a sense of an established fictional galaxy, instead of a series of one-off planets that the Legionnaires visit.

Reading the Elna story was a bit sad; she seemed to be so full of potential here and the Manhunter plot was, for me, just abysmal. It was sort of cute to see Superboy bedazzled by a female.

I didn't get a sense of creepy from this story re: incest. Is a thousand years enough time to dilute the family connection? Luke and Leia were contemporaries, actual brother and sister, and that was suggesting creepy, if it had gone further.

Despite the different conclusions, I don’t really disagree with any of the points Cobie made.

Some of Grell’s panels were definite stand outs, over and above his usual quality in other panels. I agree that the Legionnaire’s were all used. I could argue that I would have liked to have seen Shady take more of a vocal role, but she was certainly effective. Relatively speaking, it was a good issue for everyone involved. How could Brin ever have thought he was an android, if he was rubbish at space chess?

I can’t argue that Shooter had put some craft into the plot. To get an analogy with the miscommunication of the Light Brigade, he had to get Brainy away from the group. So Brainy had his chess tournament. He extends that theme, not only to chess board in the ship, but to the duel of wits between Brainy and Lorca. The name drops of fans and Thanagar were nice touches, and as I noted, the unimpressed Legionnaires was a really nice change. Superboy wasn’t out of place in the action either.

But, despite all that, the opening half doesn’t quite click for me. I wasn’t sure at first if I would have preferred seeing this one built up to over issues Levitz style. But since I think it’s the start that bogs it down, it would have made the finale stand out that much more. Perhaps we would have gotten to see some more of it too.

Had Shooter gone with a different Light Brigade analogy, we would have seen vague instructions from Brainy, misinterpreted by Brin resulting in the death of Gim, who is then blamed by everyone else for the disaster so they can save face.

Future Shock For Superboy

Like Cobie, I read this one well after Laurel had run her course in the Academy. I’m not sure I had read the Millennium issues at that point, as that too was a later buy for me.

My first reaction was that this story explained why Laurel wore the least clothing of nearly anyone. I guess a lot of people were impressed by Grell’s art here. Considering her power, Laurel’s attitude to protective coverings/ clothing makes a fair bit of sense.

Again, like Cobie, I always thought the Superboy/ Laurel attraction was a little creepy. This time round, I was struck by Laurel being the only one of the couple who would carry around the knowledge of that attraction. It adds to that sadness she already had from their first meeting, where she couldn’t tell him who she really was. It’s a more powerful story than their genetic connection.

Perhaps she shouldn’t have been too upset. Superman is destined to marry Jimmy Olsen, and she looks nothing like him.

Alternately, in one of the Legion’s many time travelling capers, Laurel gets trapped in Superman’s time and ends up marrying him there, becoming her own ancestor.

It’s a well-crafted story in the short amount of space it has. As mentioned, seeing the early days of Wildfire and his involvement in the legion Academy is welcome. A change of pace form a super villain is also a nice change. Laurel putting a train full of people at risk to catch Superboy’s eye is presumably also there for space constraints. I wonder how many Academy demerits a rail disaster would get her.

As HWW commented, there’s the link between this issue and the older guessing games of who Super would end up with. Being able to involve that, and build upon it positively, gets Shooter some extra credit. Looking further forward, this story would become part of the gestation of Kent Shakespeare years later. I seem to recall that he was affected by a virus due to his Superman heritage. That part of his origin was presumably punted into the long grass with the Superman edict. Similar attitudes would see the end of links to the likes of Thanagar, from the first story, too.

You know, I'm not sure this is the case. It's been established that Superboy does remember aspects about his future when he returns to the 30th century--otherwise, he would have to be reintoduced to Kara every time, and in LSH 259, the whole purpose of sending him back to his own time permanently was so he wouldn't remember the deaths of his foster parents when he returned to the Legion's time. So, theoretically, he should remember his first encounter with Laurel and his feelings for her.

Of course, we never did get to see them interact again, as far as I recall, so the point is moot.

I was totally led by the story there. That Wildfire is so convincing.

I still think that Superboy is Imra's puppet. She's displayed some very powerful capabilities down the years. Selectively picking through Supes mind and adjusting what he can, and can't, recall would be within that.

Of course, there are the lost tales of the Legion where Superboy has to get his memory jogged every time he enters the Legion clubhouse. It's automatic now, but there was a time when Tenzil was doing it.

Tenzil: Superboy. This is Lara. Lara Luthor. Fight!
Kara: No! I'm not! Tenzil!

Tenzil: Hi Superboy! We have another "Super" member >chuckle<. Meet Supergixyxptlk! Fight!
Kara: Grrrrrr! Tenzil!

Tenzil: This is all an illusion Clark. You're back in your Smallville bed of the '50s wondering what to do about your feelings for Lana. Oh, and how you're a boy in the '50s when you were a man in the '30s.
Kara: Tenzil!

Well, Wildfire was new to the team. Besides, what he says is technically true: Superboy won't remember what Laurel tells him when he returns to his own time--and that's really the important aspect.

Ah, that Tenz! No wonder he was drafted into politics. He's a manipulative bastich!

It's worth mentioning that it was originally Kara, not Imra, who had hypnotized Kal into forgetting what he learns of his future. Kryptonians could be hypnotized only by other Kryptonians back in the day--but this was either retconned or forgotten in the '70s.

Perhaps there were so many mind games going around, none of the Legionnaires could remember who did what.

"What do you mean it was Rokk, Garth, and Imra who founded the Legion? The way I remember, it was all Reep's idea. He's the one with rich daddy, after all."

Ah, but was it Imra's cunning plan to manipulate Kara as well?

I hope that's what happened behind the scenes. Because I've turned into Continuity Fail Fella all of a sudden for what was in the book. "What is this Lee John of which you speak?"




I don't think I ever knew that though. I think there must have been a point where people thought that the "S" stood for "Smart@ss" and they started to dial it down a bit.



So much scope for great Legion stories by going back and untweaking retcons or establishing slight changes from the early Adventure days.




I now can't get Boney M's Daddy Cool out of my head. Just replace the chorus with "I'm happy as a clam. Now I'm with Daddy Cham"

Hey! it was from 1976. Just where we are in our rereads. Coincidink? ... Or Imra?!

Boney M's only hit in the US was "Rivers of Babylon" (1978). Listening to it just now, I don't recognize it and I'm sure there's no Legion connection (though the male vocalist does resemble Tyroc).

Superboy 218



At the end of #216, Tyroc returns to Metropolis to see if he can qualify to become a Legionnaire. This story is set a month later, and we see that, unlike the three rejected applicants we see at the start, he has passed all the tests, and is ready to be sworn in.

But there’s one final test he has to face. Zoraz, the villain that can seemingly turn the powers of the Legion against them.

We get a small recap of #216, including a mention of “his black race” referring to the people of Marzal, and equating real life racial issues with the previous admission of orange and green Legionnaires.

We’re told that Tyroc has been commuting between Marzal, where he’s still a champion, and the Legion HQ. So, there’s potential there for someone who has an active role on Earth while still being a Legionnaire that could be developed. Tyroc arrives by cruiser, but uses his power to nicely teleport to where Brainy is. Again, lots of potential for a Legionnaire who can teleport, as Gates would prove years later. Tyroc’s costume doesn’t look at all out of place beside Colossal Boy’s.

Tyroc admires the Legion for all running into action in unison. I’d have thought he would have been more impressed if the likes of Ayala and Jan had used their powers from a distance, where they’re effective. Perhaps Tyroc has just worked by himself for too long.

Zoraz defeats everyone except Tyroc. Normally this is done just to spotlight how good a new character (and sometimes writer’s pet) is. Here, we actually get the reason that Zoraz has raided the Legion’s cell banks and can use their powers against them. As Tyroc hasn’t got any cells in the bank, he struggles to defeat him.

It’s good to see the continuity of the cell bank being used constructively. We’re reminded that the Legion intends one day to be able to clone Legionnaire replacements (and also John Boy form the Waltons and Cary Bates, going by the titles on the cell bank drawers). Readers will recall having seen their attempts to clone Ferro Lad and Invisible Kid back in #206.

As mentioned in the review for that issue (http://www.legionworld.net/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=871673#Post871673) the cell bank would provide the basis for a major plot in the TMK run, where we’re introduced to the SW6 Legionnaires. When I first read that run, I thought that TMK had used a number of stories over the years, from #206 to their cloning of Dev-Em in #324-325, to show that the Dark Circle accessed various cells. But they could just have easily got the whole thing from reading this issue.

Zoraz doesn’t press his victory but, as Superboy eventually gets round to telling Tyroc, has gone off in the Legion HQ.

At this point, Bates seems to switch the plot really nicely. We see a figure lurking in the vents and assume its Zoraz. In the monitor room, a very relaxed considering a villain’s on the loose) Rokk and Dirk are alarmed at his appearance and attack on (a similarly relaxed) Nura and Thom.

As it turns out, their alarmed reactions are odd, because they know exactly who Zoraz is. It had been Dirk and was now Superboy just providing a final test for Tyroc. As we see Superboy in the Zoraz costume, he looks quite a lot like Superboy Prime would look.

A similar plot, of the superheroes pretending to be a villain, would also be used to test Black Lightning in Justice League of America #173 in 1979. There, Lightning is not at all pleased at the heroes’ actions as DC come up with a way of preventing him being on the team.

It’s only after they reveal all this that the mystery figure from the vents appears in a Zoraz suit. It’s Absorbency Boy, who Bates had shown us leave the HQ as a rejected applicant back at the start. Having the reminder of Superboy Prime, and knowing Absorbency Boy’s future, it’s a page worth a sigh of disappointment.

Absorbency Boy can absorb the residual energy form super heroes, and the suit gives him the powers of Dirk and Kal. Combining both to good effect he takes out Superboy easily.

He then challenges Tyroc to see which one of them would make the better candidate. As if, by beating Tyroc, the others would be likely to take him in. Of course, years later, after he has committed a number of crimes and personally and brutally, attacked the Legion, that’s exactly what happens in one of the Legion’s low points.

Bates, once again, shows a good application of a character’s powers. Back in #216 Tyroc used a supersonic cry to get Superboy’s attention. He uses it again here, deafening Absorbency Boy who is then knocked out efficiently by a single blow.

The final panel shows Tyroc being inducted, at last, into the Legion. Karate Kid is shown to have popped back from the 20th century for the occasion in a continuity snafu.

Overall, it was a decent spotlight issue for Tyroc. We see not only his fighting skills, but his concern for injured colleagues. His powers aren’t pinned down enough. He can teleport, but also cause Zoraz to spin around.

A number of the other heroes fall easily to Zoraz, but they are causing that themselves as part of the test. Shrinking Violet, who’s on patrol with Tyroc when Zaroz attacks a second time, doesn’t appear as often as she should though.

I felt that Bates could have had the second attack be the arrival of Absorbency Boy. It would have matched up with Rokk’s reaction at his appearance and shown him as a real threat by defeating Nura and Thom. But having read the Black Lightning story years before I got this issue, it was good to see DC letting him join.

In the final panel, Cosmic Boy and Shadow Lass are discussing something. A efficient, combative champions a Tyroc/ Shadow Lass partnership has some potential. Tyroc teleporting the pair into a battle, with Shadow Lass' powers disabling their opponents for example.

218:

Brainiac 5 gives a somewhat inaccurate recounting of 216. Tyroc never "agreed to help" the Legion. He acted entirely on his own until he needed their help.

Good catch on the names on the clone boxes, thoth. I've tried to read the names on the two boxes before Cary Bates and John Boy, but they look like "ALLAN LAUP" and "NIIIIII ?" (though the ? could be a 5, I suppose).

This is by far one of the better issues in quite some time, though not without flaws. Very little is made of Tyroc being black (although he uses some unconvincing slang, including the word "freaky" at one point); he comes across as a competent, capable hero who can hold his own against an unknown threat.

It's also nice to see the Legion return to tradition: playing a practical joke on an applicant. This idea, of course, is as old as the Legion itself.

The various Legionnaires are also well utilized in their brief appearances, including Sun Boy's absence from the climactic scene, which leads Tyroc into thinking the Zoraz who appears before them is Sun Boy.

As for the true villain . . . Bates did a great job of introducing us to Absorbency Boy at the beginning of the story and hinting at his resentment--and also of not revealing his name or power until the end, which keeps us in suspense. Reading the story now and knowing how it turns out, I'm impressed with the misdirection Bates worked in by having us think the mysterious figure hiding in the ventilation shafts is "Zoraz" instead of Absorbency Boy.

This story leaves me wishing DC had followed up on Tyroc and integrated (poor choice of word, I know) him into the team as just another Legionnaire who happened to be black. Although his power remains ill defined, it is used well here, and he demonstrates the courage and ingenuity to be a Legionnaire. Figuring out that Absorbency Boy would not be used to super-hearing was brilliant.

Not only does this issue make use of the cloning technology from # 206, but it continues the theme of rejected applicants challenging Legionnaires for membership (# 212). There's nothing wrong with repeating a theme if it can be done in a fresh way, and it's handled well here. Infectious Lass is even included as reminder that some applicants don't like to give up.

I forgot to add in that it was nice to see Drura again. She's there for comic relief, but those powers are under more control. So, one day...

Good point about the testing the applicant theme too. Quite nice to have that Superboy to Tyroc link actually.

Speaking of which, I do think he came across as a pretty effective character here. He has, as you've pointed out before, those minimum characteristic requirements of a Legionnaire. I could see him being a slightly more modern (well, 1970s) version of some of the older Legionnaires.

Most of the other Legionnaires on the lower level are standing at attention. I think Cos was just being a dick and Shady was about to tell him to shh!

I thought Shady might be evaluating Tyroc's potential as a colleague (and really, just that.) But you may be right...

Rokk: When I'm Time Trapper, I'll get you into all the issues.
Shady: Get lost, creep. We do talk to Ayla and Lydda you know.
Rokk: >fake horror< going to tell Mon El on me?
Shady: Mon El steps in to save people from me. Creep.
> fearful silence from Cosmic Creep.

Love it!

The concept that all super powers give off energy which may be absorbed is pretty interesting. New concept? I don't recall that idea from previous issues.

This issue struck me for the surveillance - screens everywhere - just what does Sun Boy do when he's on Monitor Duty?

The cell banks! I'm surprised it took until TMK to get a major story arc out of that.

And may there always be ventilation shafts for people to hide in. You can hardly make a heist movie without a ventilation shaft and it's good to see the tradition enshrined in the Legion comic.



Absospacealutely!

Superboy 219



A combination of “Alone” from #218’s cover and some scattered unconscious figures as per #217’s cover give us this one. It’s Superboy vs the Fatal Five!

The Fatal Five have targeted Imsk. There, they have stolen miniaturised defence circuitry. But they are confronted by Duplicate Boy and the Imskian Legionnaire, Shrinking Violet.

The Persuader’s axe gets a clear shot at Duplicate Boy. He’s dying, but it should really have killed him. The axe is supposed to cut through anything. Having said that, it didn’t injure Mon El years later either on Talok VIII, another Legionnaire home world.

This is just the first of the Fatal Five’s crimes this issue. It’s also the first of a number of little items that have been picked up from previous stories or that will inspire future tales of the Legion.

Seeing Duplicate Boy in a medical chamber reminds me of a similarly invulnerable Mon El encounter with the Fatal Five. There, he lost part of an arm to the Emerald Empress. But the code kept the gore here to a non-existent level. Other parallels with that last Legion arc are Tharok’s attacks through technology, The Persuader enjoying r&r and a life beyond their goals, and Validus digging to the heart of a planet.

Although just one of a fairly large roll call this issue, a major subplot is Gim’s feelings for Salu. This would eventually lead to the Violet imposter storyline. But, although he’s no doubt happy that Duplicate Boy lives at the end, he’s shown with a sadness of a man carrying a busted heart, knowing that he can never tell the girl of his dreams how he feels.

Speaking of the girl of someone’s dreams in relation to Salu, Ayla gets to see Mano’s face beneath that toxic cloud filled helmet of his. But what’s under there? Does he look like someone we know? Superboy? Does he have alien features? A nice little mystery that reminds me of the time Cosmic Boy was prevented from seeing his horrible future.

With every Fatal Five story I begin reading, I always fear that it will be one where their effectiveness is downplayed. They have been written to such a high standard, that there’s always the worry that there’s only one way for them to go.

Thankfully this story, by their creator Jim Shooter, keeps them at that level. It even goes further to show that the Five commit crimes not only for immediate gain, but to enjoy other pursuits. They may bicker and posture. But they know they work well together. This issue shows them setting up some personal spaces to make the group less fractious.

In a nice touch, Brainy gets completely the wrong idea about the Five’s goals. Querl gets them in the end, but not because he anticipated their schemes. Tharok is once again shown to be possibly smarter than Brainy. He’s given goals here, that once thwarted turn the conflict with the Legion into something far more personal.

We’re reminded that Validus is childlike. Further, Garth paternally suggests that the Legion should play with him, now that the giant’s rattle has been broken. That would become a major plot in Garth and Imra’s life later on.

The Empress is shown to be increasingly powerful, from creating Green Lanternesque space craft to teleporting her colleagues. She still has a thing for Superboy, offering a partnership even as she’s rendered unconscious. Her eye was a bit too easily captured by Superboy’s cape this time round.

The Persuader is captured relatively easily by Gim and Salu. It’s Gim’s rage that surprises him and they would be sparring partners for many years to come when the two groups met.

The Five are defeated again. But with Tharok and Validus both escaping (Tharok a little easily considering Jo’s Ultra speed), you know it won’t be long before the others are also free.

I enjoyed this issue. We have a different take on the motivations of villains. It’s fitting that it should be a story containing the Fatal Five, who have shown so often that they are a step above nearly any other villainous team.

Shooter gives himself room to show some of their crimes, include a Gim and Salu subplot; provide plenty of action and to develop the villains, planting seeds for future writers along the way. That’s a very good return.

There’s more cruiser based Star Trek action in this period. In this issue, we get a diagram of a Legion cruiser, as they prepare to shoot the Five’s craft down.

It’s a mixed issue for Shrinking Violet. She makes some smart decisions, but they don’t show her in a very good light. She knows to track Validus back to the Five’s base. But she opts instead to get Duplicate Boy to medical aid.

Later, Violet knows that Tharok could save Duplicate Boy, but faces recriminations from her colleagues for stopping them shooting the Fatal Five in space. She’s tearful and apologetic. But she was probably right, and the team had made a deal with the Emerald Empress previously.

Finally, Violet is brave enough to tackle the Persuader in single combat. But her shrinking skills enable her to use other tactics, and she is saved by Colossal Boy.

219:

I always remember this story fondly from the latter-day Shooter/Bates/Grell period. It's a full-length story, and the stakes are very high. It also humanizes the Fatal Five by showing the personal reasons they have for committing crimes. I actually felt sorry for them at the end. The meddling Legionnaires completely misread their intentions, and, if they'd left well enough alone, the F5 might have been happy fishing and spending time with their android servants, and we may never have heard from them again (or not ...)

For many years, the aspect I liked most about this issue was the cutaway diagram of the Legion cruiser. I was a sucker for such things . . .

Reading the story now, I think it mostly holds up. The ideas are solid, from Duplicate Boy's injury to Violet's grief, from the cat-and-mouse with the Fatal Five to the revelation of their true motives. Shooter has room to develop this story, and he uses it to great effect.

Even so, the story feels rushed and choppy in places. Violet vanishes from the initial conflict with the F5, and, although we soon find out where she went, her disappearance is jarring. A panel with her and Dupe hatching a plan would have solved this.

Also, Silver Age science rears its uninformed head again, as Validus carves out a huge chunk of the planet yet the rest of the planet remains intact, and most of its populace apparently survives. If someone carved out a continent of earth, I don't think the rest of the planet would be so neatly unaffected.

Although many Legionnaires appear, few do anything interesting or of significance. I'm particularly miffed that my man, Mon-El, who is still the leader, defers to Brainiac 5 and serves as nothing more than rattle fodder for Validus. Whazzamatter, Mon? Low on anti-lead serum?

On the other hand, it's great that Ayla gets to kayo Mano (Kayo Mano? Sounds like a song from "The Lion King.") And Vi holds her own against the Persuader, which conveniently makes up for her panic earlier in the story. Yes, Dupe's injury clouded her judgment--which only makes me wonder why the Legion brought her along on this mission in the first place. I suppose her knowledge of the Imskian microcircuitry the F5 stole might have come in handy, but we're not told this.

Another plus is Gim's unrequited love. This was a rare and realistic form of character development for the time.

So, it's a good story, but it reads like a rough draft (as, unfortunately, do many of these stories). With another draft, Shooter might have ironed out the pacing and other issues.

Odd note: The blurb on the letter's page teases us with the debut of Charma and Grimbor, but they do not appear until 221.

Superboy & the LSH #218

You guys did a good job summing up the issue and and my opinions echo your own: this was a surprisingly enjoyable story! It had its flaws, no doubt, and a lot of it is a bit predicable, but Bates flexes his storytelling muscles nicely to provide a good balance of character and plot.

A big part of my enjoyment is it felt damn good to get a full length story. Bates makes good use of it too by layering the story with the fake-out of the paractical joke (an LSH tradition) and then adding the twist of Absorbancy Boy. That multi-tiered approach to the plot felt satisfying!

I also agree Tyroc came across really likable here. We've talked about missed opportunities in the past and Tyroc is one of the biggest ones. This story ignores the weaker parts of his character and let's the man himself shine through--and there's a lot to like!

Grell's art is on point here, and I especially like the Zoraz costume. It's easy to forget Absorbancy Boy goes unremembered for 30 years and ends up being Earth Man. This story shows its certainly not out of character.

SLSH #219

This was an unusual Fatal Five story, with lots of Legion sub-plots and moments to go with it. There's a lot here to mine for future stories.

The Five almost seem like a family here. A dsyfunctional family, but nevertheless working together to achieve their goals. And what ordinary goals they are: to live life in peace, according to their individual dreams. It's a very odd motivation for comic book supervillains.

I loved the Legion cruiser page, too. Jo displays a little hot-head, ready to pull the trigger.

Interesting use of Imra's power to get Duplicate Boy to heal himself.


Gim's devotion to Violet is sad; she uses him as a shoulder to cry on but at no time reciprocates his feelings.



I also found it odd at the beginning that Duplicate Boy was rushing off to ... what? It was as if I missed a panel. Does he just go out cruising for trouble?

The planet thing, too - very distracting. At least, in later years, writers will acknowledge that some major manipulations have to take place to move planetary bodies around, even if the science is still fuzzy.



Until I read Thoth's post, I had missed how big this mystery is and that it has never been pursued in later issues. Fuel for speculation!

Cramey,
Good observation about the F5 working together like a family. The Persuader steals the Imskian microcircuitry, which will benefit Tharok. Validus (under Tharok's control) steals part of a planet so the Persuader can go fishing and so it will serve as a base for the entire group. The F5 demonstrate more teamwork here than the Legionnaires usually do.

Good point about Dupe's mysterious reason for running off. His motive is never explained or returned to in the story; likewise, the revelation of Mano's face remains a dangling and titillating thread. These holes in the story make it less than fully satisfying.

It’s said that the best villains are the one who think they’re the good guys. The Fatal Five know that they are utter meanies. I think they get a reminder of that when there’s more than two of them in the same room. But that doesn’t mean that they are inhuman (even Validus in the end :)) and this definitely shows a side to villains that nearly no other comic bothers with. I’m reminded of their attempt to accelerate a world in a situation they felt would be a win for all concerned.



I always liked the HQ diagrams I think our benchmark is possibly…

Eagle Annuals




I was reading at speed, so it didn’t seem so long for me I thought the continuity tidy up concerning Tharok’s reappearance dragged a bit. It could have been build into the story.

Particularly at the end when his plans to become human are destroyed (well, delayed. He could have just set up shop elsewhere really)



That’s disappointing to know. I’d sulk about it in the rain, but the weather control says it to be dry tonight. Nothing else for it. I’ll just go for a drive through the tunnels Supergirl dug through the Earth



I look at Mon-El a bit more since I read that he was one of your favourites, HWW. But in my time on the rereads, he doesn’t often come out too well in this era. He seems to get crushed by Validus quite a bit in similar poses over the years too.




With her bag I guess even Shooter groaned, judging by Ayla’s on thoughts on it.



Yeah, I could see a lot of the target audience getting attached to Colossal Boy after this one. It’s a continual thread throughout, but never gets in the way of the rest of the plot. So, points to Shooter for that.



Good point. While Brainy and Tharok are considered to be the most intelligent around, it’s Imra who comes up with a practical (if exhausting) solution. Wisdom over Intelligence?



I’m trying to get the image of Duplicate Boy, with his later ‘tache, out cruising out of my head now. I’m scarred!

The panel stopped me too. I think a bit further on Dupe says that it was the sheer power of Validus being there that caused his duplicating powers to pick him up. So, his powers are sort of always active. At least in sensing powers to duplicate.

Edit: I also liked your thoughts on the FF being like a family of sorts, Cramer.

How cool! A magazine with nothing but cutaways.




Yeah, I was going to say there was too much exposition in that scene. It's vital information as it sets up the ending, but it sure drags down the story.



I presume there's a difference between digging a tunnel through the planet and carving away nearly half of it. Just the same, it's good that there aren't real Kryptonians around to muck up the planet's stability. ("We don't need no friggin' tectonic plates! We've got Kara to move continents for us.")



True. As I mentioned in another thread, it's interesting to do these re-reads and come away with a different perspective of certain characters, even if that perspective is less than flattering.

Even so, Mon presented certain challenges for writers. With Superboy around, his powers were superfluous. Together, he and Superboy could mop the floor with just about anyone, so the writers kept trying to find ways to minimize his involvement or even get him out of the story as quickly as possible. He hasn't really played a significant role in any story since wayyyy back in 202, when he solved the Devil Fish mystery. He was present in 203, but once again taken out by Validus, and, in 205, he led the firing squad while brainwashed; except for rare cameos, he's been otherwise absent from stories.

As an aside, the lettercol of 219 also reveals the results of the next leadership election, with Superboy winning but deferring to the runner-up, Wildfire. However, Drake doesn't take office until 225, which means we've got five more issues of Mon as a leader in name only. If he was such an unpopular character with Shooter and Bates, as he seems to have been, one wonders why the transition didn't occur earlier.




Whatever works works.

On Mon-El, it's going to be interesting to see how he develops without Superboy around so much.

The Eagle annuals inspired a generation of engineers.

Some thoughts on Mon-El's future "growth":

Superboy & the LSH #219

Well, the series appears to really be on a roll again, as I enjoyed the heck out of this issue. We get another full length story, and Shooter and Bates use the length to its fullest extent. It had drama & characterization, action, science-fiction elements and best of all the great usage of no less than 9 Legionnaires and 5 incredible villains.

You get the sense that Shooter wanted to go all out with his creation, the Fatal Five. All 5 are used to good effect, especially the Persuader and Validus, and they are very capable and threatening foes. He also gives them both an over the top sci-fi plan which I liked, brought down to Earth with some very empathetic motivations.

Grell's art was also spectacular. By now, he's clearly emerged as a huge superstar, which of course means he'll move on soon. His layouts were terrific and his line work was stellar. The panel where the Persuader sliced into Duplicate Boy was fantastic.

I also like the Vi / Gim / Dupe Boy subplot here, which did a great job adding some humanity and drama to the story. It also smartly gave a duel happy & sad ending, which is very effective. Shooter, always a terrific writer, is able here to use a lot of what Marvel developed in the prior decade: action-focused plotting with a heavy dose of personal tragedy in the ending. And it works.

The full length stories are just such a breath of fresh air. It feels like the series is evolving again and that is welcome. In addition to full length stories, we'll get the new Legion leader in Wildfire, new creators in the form of Levitz and Sherman, and some more changes to the line-up. It feels exciting!

When I think of Fatal Five stories, I usually don't think of this one. But it's actually a pretty great story, keeping the consistency of their appearances being memorable.

A lot of interesting thoughts on Mon-El. Given the writers hesitant usage of him over the decades, one can infer a pretty complex personality. And I think that would certainly be the case after 1,000 years in the Phantom Zone. He'd of course be a little clingy: reveling in being able to connect with a sentient after so much loneliness. (I doubt the Mighty Ganzor was a great conversationalist).

I'd like to think he was confident enough to let others shine. This too, though, is likely a by-product of 1,000 years of being an observer. Perhaps that was a hurdle he had to keep overcoming? He could "take over" and solve everything, but his perspective may be to let the others handle things, since he'd seen so many over the centuries do the same?

I agree that Shooter's Fatal Five stories are very impressive. Additionally, they are very well written but not at the expense of the Legion.

There have been all too many stories where the writer's pet villain/character takes over the story, but it's something that Shooter is able to avoid.

Great comments on Mon-El guys. Some things to think about there. I particularly liked the last bit in HWW's spoiler and ...



Of course, we all know that any deficiencies are down to Eltro. Actually, I think I've been calling Mon-El that in a couple of reviews when he's not come across too well.

Possibly unrelated, but do any of you guys hear a humming noise when you post to this thread? There's definitely...oh it's the Phantom Zone projector...

Uh Cobie... Gazor says that all the other mad scientists think he's a great laugh and he reckons that Phantom Girl really fancies him. Not to worry. I told him that we've had more than enough of him trying to get the earth to move for people, and he's back in the zone.

The one that sticks in my craw is when his anti-lead serum was losing its effectiveness and he had a series of "poor me" tantrums. It really turned me off to the character

Mon-el/Valor's restraint - to let others shine, as Cobie wrote - was well handled in the early TMK stories, especially the Dark Circle arc. When he needed to be the ultimate power hero, as in destroying the Time Trapper (and sacrificing himself), that's what he was. Yet when Jeckie appealed to him to solve her problems with the Dark Circle's influence over Orando, he refused: he would not be the step-in god figure she wanted.

He still displayed self-doubts in these stories, but it seemed to be more an expression of trying to deal with others' high or unrealistic expectations of him.

I didn't like the crazy unstable Mon-el either, so, yeah - blame it all on Eltro.

We ought to start a new catchphrase. When someone acts out of character or loses their temper, we can say they're doing an Eltro.

Doing an Eltro: the 30th century version of demonic possession.

Superboy 220



Superboy delivers a smackdown, complete with Smallville street talk, to anyone disrespecting his new reptilian overlord (not to be confused with Jeckie from the postboot) on both the cover and the repetitive splash page.

But was the minion who Superboy hit trying to warn his ruler about the Legion’s duplicity? Whatever happens, we do know that the reptilian tyrant, Thargg, loses a consonant in this story, before becoming editor of the new 2000AD comic in the UK.

Shooter gives us a dramatic introduction to a world that had once been prosperous, but was now in thrall to another civilisation. The introductory prose stays on the right side of ponderous. Shooter keeps it terse, moving the plot quickly into the arrival of the Legion.

Superheroes, so used to arriving to save the day, are a little surprised when the people they have come to save turn on them. The heroes get an explanation a little easily, having just fought off a mob. Perhaps the mob doesn’t really have the heart to turn on each other, and perhaps they cling to a hope that they can be saved. Still, it provides the Legion with a moral issue. A populace are being enslaved, but the price of their freedom is their destruction from a bomb at their planet’s core. Not everyone is willing to take the risk to gain freedom at such a cost.

Shooter has given the characters enough personality, that they can debate more than one side of an argument. Wildfire and Element Lad suggest leaving, while Phanton Girl, Superboy and Mon El opt to take action. The Wildfire/ Superboy clash of personalities rears its head briefly. Jo is compromised by his affection for Tinya override his common sense. Fortunately, she can become a phantom which no doubt helps keep clingy people off.

When Phantom Girl takes matters into her own hands, Mon El (with a grim expression) takes the fight to the oppressor’s homeworld.

Mon El certainly takes on the leader’s role in this issue. Superboy does get plenty of panel time, but he’s really there only because his name’s on the cover. Superboy gets to slap down one of Thargg’s minions as he delivers the news of Phantom Girl’s plan.

He also gets to return Tinya to the group when they thought she might have perished. With the role of invulnerable powerhouse thus split, Superboy comes across as the smarter, more adventurous hero, while Mon El is the determined, stoic leader type. That’s also how I picture them generally.

At the thought of Tinya’s death, Jo seeks revenge. Thargg must be very resilient to have survived the first blow (He does get that consonant knocked out of him). Jo is only prevented from killing him by Superboy and Mon-El.

This is pretty much as Jo would be portrayed years later. When Roxxas attacked the Legion in the TMK run, Jo was going to kill him, forcing the villain to deploy weapons he was intending to use on any Daxamite opponent. He is fiercely protective of Tinya and the Legion.

Back in the day, all major villains would have large throne rooms from which they ordered the demise of any who crossed their paths. They were always cavernous, empty, sad looking places. In between tirades and edicts, your villain would just sit there being really, really bored.

Technological advances weren’t always adopted easily to such places. Here, for example, the view screen is placed behind the throne. Wall mounted screens were a must for villainous throne rooms. You wouldn’t want your hero to get dragged into the villain’s lair only to find him in a dressing gown and slippers watching a TV placed right in front of his big chair. But Thargg misses the advantages of boredom relief entirely. He places the screen where he can’t see it at all. It cost him his kingdom, and was a lesion to all villainous lair architects across the galaxy.

The ending delivers a moral message about it taking courage to ensure freedom. This is delivered by the person who informed the overlord of the Legion’s actions.

Sure, she learned a lesson. But I can’t see her being popular with any of the others on her planet. When elections come back, I can't see her getting any votes with her "What would our Evil Overlords Want?" platform

Tinya also escapes the tale without anyone mentioning to her that she was a plot point away from blowing up a planet. That old “just rip out all the wires” trick really isn’t something that people should put a lot of faith in. Perhaps waiting for a plan to be discussed next time? Still, nice to see her break out briefly from being the back end of Jo &...

In summary, this was a tightly scripted story, added to by Grell’s excellent art. We saw conflicts across worlds and between characters. There was a message in the action, and it managed not to beat the reader over the head too much. Better still, the Legion had to make a major moral decision. Seeing their reactions in a plot that requires a little more than beating up the villain is always a treat.

Superboy & LSH #220

I found the plot on this one to be a little convenient and by the numbers, with the moral being spoonfed to the readers. But as Thoth points out, the story has the very positive element of the Legionnaires showing some real personality from start to finish, and that makes it enjoyable enough where I can forgive the plot. I also like the unusual beginning (for the LSH at least) of them receiving the opposite of their usual welcome.

Wildfire stands out again, showing that fully formed personality that made me love him right off. Jo and Tinya also get good scenes, particularly Tinya who shines better here than she has at any point thus far in franchise history. She is one of the more capable and confident Legionnaires--comfortable with the extent of her powers--and that shows here. We also get the ongoing hints of a Superboy / Wildfire rivalry with the dialogue; on its own it may not so but we've seen it a few times so far.

Grell's art is spectacular here. His layouts, which are a continuation of what Dave was doing, clearly influenced later Legion artists.

All in all, not a story that I'd place in any top 20, but like all of Shooter's stories at the tail end of his second run, I enjoyed it.

220/Super-Soldiers of the Slave-Makers

This issue holds up better than I remembered it, primarily because of the Legionnaires' differences of opinion and moral dilemma (abandon Murgador to slavery or risk blowing up the planet).

When I think of this story, if I think of it at all, I wince at the cover which shows Superboy defending the reptilian ruler against his fellow Legionnaires, and of the splash page, which shows a similarly enthralled Superboy slapping a smaller reptilian servant. It's a typical bait-and-switch image in which what appears to be happening isn't really happening--or, rather, Superboy's super-dickery is easily explained. But this snake oil tactic of grabbing the reader's attention was wearing exceedingly thin by '76.

And that's a shame because the cover overshadows the story, which has a lot going for it. A planet has been enslaved. Someone alerts the Legion. Our heroes arrive but are greeted by rioting protesters (shades of the Vietnam War!). They learn that if they try to free the planet they may doom it. Good stuff so far.

I appreciate the characterizations of the Legionnaires. My man Mon does indeed act like a leader, calling the shots but keeping silent while the others debate a course of action. (Good leaders listen more than they talk.) Superboy's irritation with Wildfire shows. And Tinya takes matters into her own hands. Still good stuff.

In fact, the biggest problem I have is that the story's length does not do it justice. Plot points have to be truncated or simplified, so Tinya does indeed pull the wires out instead of demonstrating any knowledge of defusing bombs. Also, the story ends too quickly with nothing of note happening. (We knew our heroes would win.) Unlike last issue's Fatal Five story, in which a lot of drama is milked out of Duplicate Boy's survival, and 218, in which Tyroc wins us over by defeating Absorbency Boy, there's little to care about here or get invested in. I'm sorry, but Jo is just a whiny, clingy boyfriend, and this trait of his was used to much better effect in Legion Lost.

The Grell art has its ups and downs. The page with Lightning Lad creating a "thunderclap" is as dramatic as they come; however, there are too many worm's-eye view shots (page 4, panel 5; page 5, panels 1 and 5; page 7, panel 6; page 8, panel 3; and page 11, panel 1), which create a distorted and claustrophobic feel.

Shooter explores ideas; I like that. I just wish a different series format or perhaps a less conservative editor would have allowed those ideas to grow and lead somewhere.

I agree about the length. The story definitely felt constrained and needed a little more breathing room. At this point it feels that writers, fans, even the series itself needs full length stories.

Also of note is that in the back of the issue, DC announced the series will now be monthly--one of the few DC series to do that in the mid 70's. The LSH was definitely hooking in new fans by now.

The frequency of full-length stories will increase along with the monthly status. Perhaps the full-length stories sold more or generated more positive feedback than the other issues.

Dream Girl's Living Nightmare

The key events in this story would have unfolded exactly as they did where the Legion showed up or not. Dream Girl, the only Legionnaire allowed to nap on the bridge, predicts the death of a much loved leader. It’s another of those dreams with lots of details but enough vagueness not to give the ending away.

Brainiac is actually keen not to bother doing anything, as he believes in the finality Nura’s precognition. For a guy who loves investigating the mysteries of universe, it must be tough finding a point to his days.

Chameleon Boy isn’t just going to stand idly by. No, he’s an impersonation to try out. Like many of his other ones, it gets spotted and he’s unable to prevent an assassination attempt.

The switch is that the old leader wasn’t loved enough to have his supporters prevent a takeover. A takeover by a man with no wardrobe of his own. The outfit of the ruthless dictator matches his predecessor’s exactly. You can’t tell me that yellow flares are a presidential uniform. The bad leader’s death fulfils the conditions of Nura’s dream. Cham flies off in a nice panel pleased that there’s a happy ending.

Behind him, the loved leader is probably already rounding up sympathisers of the “ruthless dictator” for execution. I didn’t believe that smile for a second.

It’s a really forgettable story. Nura looks nice in Grell’s art. We get an interesting viewpoint for Brainy. At a push, I could link Cham’s inability to let something go to his revival of the legion years later. But it’s more of an interlude than a a story. Even a back up story.

^In spite of the title, it's really Cham's story--or would be if he actually did anything or learned anything of note. You can't change fate, huh? But the Legionnaires do that on a regular basis.

Yeah, totally forgettable.

Totally agree. The most forgettable story in a few issues. With a premise that I hate (re: you can't change fate). That kind of thinking will keep Nura under-utilized for a few more years.

I hadn't noticed it before, but in both stories, a single legionnaire takes matters into their own hands. It would be an interesting tally to see how many stories used this approach versus the teamwork/follow the leader tales. Cham's tendency (?) to go off on his own would cause serious problems later when he went galavanting off to Khundia. (I don't remember off-hand why he was responsible for the team winding up on that asteroid that led to the Imra-Brin soap opera.) Otherwise, forgettable. We never saw that planet or their beloved leader again.

The first story is one I've enjoyed for a few reasons: the rather overt moral dilemma of die on your feet or live on your knees, yet another mining industry (mining is the dominant industry in the Legionverse) and the character Dinda. It's rare today to see an older woman in a comic book who isn't somebody's peripheral granny, even more so back then. Unfortunately, she's not exactly the freedom fighter type, but her very presence as a leader is notable.

I'm sorry we never saw Murgador, Dinda and Pollar again. It was indeed a very compressed story and the dynamics of an oppressed people recovering their freedom would have been interesting.

Mon-el does come off quite well here, as does Tinya. Tasmia is often criticized for being clingy, but I think Jo outdoes her in the overprotective character business.

The other thing about the back-up story is that Brainy hands Cham his force field belt. This is a terrible story-telling move, long-term, since it opens up the question of why Brainy didn't make force field belts for everybody.

Good point. This was a very forward-looking aspect.

Dinda puts me in the mind of Hillary Clinton. She takes charge and does what she thinks is best for her world, even though her actions may lead to unforeseen consequences. It's great that the Legionnaires did not arrest her for betraying them and that the Murgadorians did not remove her from leadership for informing Thargg. This is another example of the story's subtle complexity and maturity.

You heard it here first folks. A vote for Hilary is a vote for the perpetuation of our enslavement by the reptilian overlords of Thargg!

Don't let Trump hear that!

I'm pretty sure that both Trump and Hillary are already thought to be reptilian shape-shifters, per internet conspiracy theories.

So Bernie could be Pollar?

Bernie may be Pollor-izing.

Superboy 221



On the cover, Superboy looks happy to have found someone to be attracted to who isn't his descendant for a change. Brin looks to be the epitome of comic book angst, as drawn by Grell. Of course, we know that Wonder Woman is the last hope of escape in any bondage related cover. But where’s she in the 30th century?

Grimbor and Charma make their first appearances. Grimbor is powerful enough to take down Timberwolf, who has been shown as being strong, resilient and fast to superhuman levels. Charma effortlessly subdues Superboy. No kryptonite, magic or red solar radiation required. It makes a nice change while establishing Charma as a very real threat.


The story features the Fusion Powersphere. Although being a super-futuristic energy source, it still uses lots of lead to conveniently block Supes’ x-ray vision. The Power spheres always had that edge of danger to them. We have had enough radioactive leaks in this century using a fraction of the power one of those things seems to have. In the TMK run, the power spheres did cause immense damage. We’re told that the Legion have a 24 hour watch. It makes you wonder about all the other things the Legion are tasked with. Things that aren’t exciting enough for stories, but vital for UP security. A bright future it may be, but there’s always that dark security undercurrent.

While wondering about the two missing legionnaires, R J Brande is reading the Computo News. It’s nice to see mad supercomputers redeeming themselves through the publishing industry. Presumably, the profits go through Brainy and back into the community to help the damage his creation caused.

But he doesn’t get to finish his future paper, as Charma makes a delivery of the two Legionnaires along with a ransom, to stop them kidnapping others.

Typing of things that the Legion are called on to do, Brande has a Bat Phone in his desk. The Legion appear to their founder (thanks to the origin issue) immediately. Six of them. One more than Swan mandated mission team! Brande sure has some pull.

The story could easily have just kidnapped a few Legionnaires and had the others track them down. Instead, the villains return the heroes with their eyes on a bigger, easier prize. Likewise, the story could have kept Wolf and Supes in containment while the others looked for a solution before their air ran out. Instead, we see three of them use their powers constructively to solve the problem at hand. Both decisions make for a stronger, more interesting, story.

Those not using their powers, show some of their personality. Shady is observant, matter of fact and principled. Ayla is overly protective of Lotus Fruit Lad Brin. Everyone participates in the scene.

Like he does with the Fatal Five, Shooter gives us interesting, often conflicted villains, without interfering with the pace of the story. Charma’s past is full of systematic abuse that is allowed to continue over years with no hope of rescue or freedom. It doesn’t take her powers to have empathy for her.
Grimbor is basically Charma’s dupe. Her powers work on him just as easily as they do any other man. But he has a past that would often have made him a hero. My favourite assassin Golgo gets a mention! He’s a bit like Mister Miracle, if cursed by a Grell ‘70s costume rather than a Kirby Miracle one.

Grimbor is strong, efficient and very driven in what he does, keeping trophies and awards of his success. Even without Charma, he has a plan to take down any Legionnaire he finds. Morrison’s Prometheus seems to be a pale imitation of some of Grimbor’s character.

The pasts of our two villains resonate through their story. The motif of chains is very appropriate for the two as, in the end, neither Grimbor nor Charma could escape from those pasts.

Charma would have felt free with her ransom money. Sure, she wants to use that status for some payback. But perhaps that might have passed. Her actions are changed when she realises that Grimbor is driven by something greater than her control. Perhaps her power had so shaped the reactions she expected to see in others, that she really didn’t understand anything deeper. She’s will have had precious few real interaction in her lifetime. Her partner’s actions push her to the desperate measure of wanting to kill a Legionnaire. She didn’t realise that Grimbor would have kept her as imprisoned as she was in her upbringing.

Charma would never be free, even if she had succeeded here. In her failure, she imprisoned again. Back into another part of the system that traumatised her childhood.

Grimbor’s drive to be a master craftsman led him to failure here. Or, to be more precise, to be able to show that he was a master craftsman led to his failure. Having captured the legion, he simply couldn’t let that moment pass. He wanted to memorialise it as one of his many trophies. Just as he wanted to do with Charma.

Money meant less to him. Charma’s power meant less. Certainly any real relationship they may have had meant nothing compared to his real obsession. The heroes’ obsession with Charma caused them to fail throughout. Grimbor’s obsession with his vocation led to his.

But it’s not all about the villains. Light Lass and Salu are the ones who come up with plans to take down the crooks. Ayla’s fails because both Brin and Grimbor react to her fight with Charma. That brings them both into the sphere of Charma’s power. Charmas vengeful kick at the fallen Ayla, lets the reader know just how spiteful Charma has become.

It’s Violet who saves the team in a very strong issue for her. She’s practical, uses her powers well and is able to think quickly on her feet. “That you Superboy? It’s all over!”

In summary, it’s a story with fairly pedestrian premise. Shooter doesn’t add twists, but moves the story along a different path early on. It’s the characters that shine through in this one, more than the story, making it well worth reading. Everyone has a role to play. All of those roles are proactive, to varying levels of success for the individuals concerned. Even Superboy gets to play a full part in the story, thanks to Charma’s powers.

It’s a shame there wasn’t a Legion relationship to show the chains around, in the same way as we see with the villains. There’s a strong link between Brin and Ayla throughout. But neither Ayla’s over protectiveness nor Brin’s enraged reaction (he’s just as made as a conditioned Grimbor) to a threat to Ayla is looked at.

221:

Pedestrian premise? Perhaps, but Shooter makes the most of it. I think this is one of the best-written stories we've had in quite some time. After bringing back the Fatal Five a few times and introducing a few one-note villains such as the rejected applicants in 212 and Benn Pares in 213, the creative team apparently was tasked with inventing some new super-villains for the Legion. Shooter delivers in spades. As you noted, Charma and Grimbor have complex personalities, and they are formidable threats. If they had been able to overcome their individual obsessions, they might truly have defeated the Legion.

I like it that Charma simply walks into Brande's office, delivers her demand, and drops off the two Legionnaires encased in high-tech boxes. This shows how confident she is. No need to keep TW and Supes for ransom when she can waltz in anywhere and demand what she wants.

It also feels very real that she would want to kill a Legionnaire to force Grimbor to do her bidding. Charma, sadly, never knew any other kind of life but violence and manipulation. When Grimbor throws off her control, she doesn't know how else to react.

Grimbor is indeed a dupe, but he knows he's a dupe and has plans to take control of the situation. The ending suggests he planned to make Charma his sex-slave, which ties into a rather interesting conception about Shooter.

Those who ascribe misogyny to Shooter will find plenty of evidence in girls getting punched and kicked by other girls, as well as by enthralled male Legionnaires in this story, yet everything here fits the needs of the story. Perhaps this is just more of that '70s equality we've talked about before, e.g., if guys can be knocked around, so can girls. Of course, there is also all of that bondage in the story, as well. But if you've got a chainsmith as a villain, that goes with the territory.

The Legionnaires aren't as well developed in this story, but then it's mainly Charma and Grimbor's story, not theirs. It is the villains who want something, and the Legionnaires (and the villains' obsessions) that get in the way. That's not a failing by any means: It's good to have a story with clear protagonists who can (and do) lose. In an odd sort of way, I actually felt sorry for both Charma and Grimbor.

Of course, there are a few standout Legionnaire scenes, such as Brin and Ayla sharing a kiss before going into battle, and Brin's tender cradling of Ayla after he's been brainwashed into slugging her. And Shrinking Violet wins the day by playing a very dangerous but ultimately successful gambit.

All in all, I was very impressed while re-reading this story.

There aren't many single issue Legion stories that stand out, but this is one of them.

It's hard to forget the tale of Grimbor and Charma. It's a very sad story – and a little creepy. Charma was a maneater extraordinaire; Grimbor, the craftsman, had become able to resist her to some degree although entranced by her. He claimed to love her, but his love for his craft led him to defy her in the end. She only wanted money in exchange for the imprisoned Legionnaires; he wanted to keep them as the ultimate proof of his mastery.

Strangely, R.J. Brande didn't seem to be so overwhelmed by Charma. Was it because she didn't turn on her powers fully with him, or he was sometimes at a distance from her, or she had less effect on old men? It could have been a great hint at a future story if we saw that Chameleon Boy, as neither male nor female in the human sense, wasn't affected by her either. Brande wasn't recognized as a Durlan at this point in Legion history, but if both Cham and R.J. resisted her, readers might have started wondering about R.J.'s origin. Chameleon Boy wasn't in the story, and Charma didn't go after Brande's money directly, so this storyline only happened in my mind.

It was a terrible ending; Grimbor enchained Charma in power-nullifying restraints, so that she would be forced to stay with him and exercise no power over him. She is more sinned against than sinning.

Thoth makes a good point that this is one of the few instances in which kryptonite isn't used to bring down Superboy. Could Charma be considered magical? She'd certainly be described as a witch by the girls.

HWW mentions Charma's confidence. I hadn't thought about that before, but she is sure of herself (which, as HWW also points out, destabilizes her when her control of Grimbor fails). This indicates that she must have had some history/practice with controlling men for her own gain. Perhaps she controlled SP officers so well that they kept no record of her previous crimes.

The use of the halo around Charma's head as always struck me as inspired. Angelic, isn't she? I wonder if females see that halo, or only males?

Maybe females see horns.

Cham is in the story. Grimbor encases him in a plastic bag! And, yes, Charma did have an effect on him.

I also wondered about Brande not being affected by Charma's power. Charma could have simply "asked" Brande for 100 million (or a trillion) dollars, but perhaps she and/or Grimbor thought of it as more a challenge to use extortion.

Missed Cham on the reread! There goes another fine theory...

Brande did fall for Charma's power. He's shouting at her when she, and her henchmen and boxes, go into her office. We see that halo effect and Charma saying "Please don't shout at me, sir" and RJ is suddenly "terribly sorry." It's just that Charma doesn't push her powers to demand the money. Perhaps Grimbor had more of a hand in the plan, making sure he could capture the Legion by just getting Charma to deliver the demands.



But let's go with this instead. It would have been an interesting nod to RJ's origin. But even though Reep was affected, RJ could still have been resistant.

Despite being a Durlan, Reep has always chased after human/ humanoid girls from Princess Elwinda to Janice Warren. Perhaps it's him becoming like the other male Legionnaires. They're all very interested in girls, so Reep is too. Durlans may adapt mentally to roles as well as physically.

Later, when Reep knows his father, he adpats to become more like him to run the company. He wasn't particularly business oriented before that. So, Reep may be more susceptible to Charma's charms due his self conditioning to be a bit more like the other Legionnaires he's adapting to be like. Just a thought.

RJ's past was a bit unknown, and he may not have adapted in the same way as Reep did, beyond being really close to a moustached Dutch guy presumably.



Whatever decisions she made, Charma was never going to be free at the end of this story, and it was sad to see every path end the same way.

I'm thinking her powers are psionic in nature, much along the lines of Saturn Girl. The 30th century doesn't treat them terribly kindly either, having them wear Saturn logos. For those not born on Titan, persecution could be even worse. We got a glimpse of Charma's upbringing. It wasn't at all nice. "Charma's chair" and her headmistress wanting to keep her imprisoned. "Guessing" her power but wanting to keep punishing her. Chilling stuff.



Really glad you mentioned that. It was a lovely touch.

And I thought he was just being polite....

Interesting possibilities regarding Durlan adaptability. Reep's preference for females continued through 5YL and the reboot; perhaps Durlan behaviour would become imprinted over time with consistent practice. Threeboot Reep was much more fluid.

I tried reading one of those books that inspired (?) R.J.'s speech pattern in later versions. Difficult slogging through the dialect, which someone also described as "elderly Greek fisherman". I've forgotten the name of the trader.

There was a scene in the latest run, where Vi gets to see Cham's quarters. There's really nothing there. So, there's an indication that Cham's true character isn't quite what you see when he's being an Legionnaire or Brande's son. Not that he's pretending, but it's just part of what he is.

I think Levitz was trying to make Cham a little bit more alien and remote. There was a line about it taking a fake to spot a fake, when Cham spotted that Validus has been replaced by a construct.



I've met a few contenders to be RJ Brande across Europe. If you spot a news story about a tourist running around a city centre shouting "Durlan Invasion!" then it's probably going to be me.

Superboy 222



The good news is that racial diversity has reached Metropolis. The bad news is that it’s just so that a black person can hurl rocks at Tyroc. Because having a white person do it would look poor, apparently. Having your only black character hauled off in chains on the splash page seems to be fine however.

As the science police tell the Legion that one of their own members could be behind a series of crimes, we’re treated to some nice Grell panels of future plazas.

Welcome to Element Lad’s Guess the Substance! Here’s some dialogue from a Legion comic…

“Rain—falling unexpectedly!”
“No, it isn’t rain … but something else!”
“EEEEEK It’s sticking all over us!”

Now, what substance is Tyroc raining down across the city? We’ll be back after this comic code embargo with the answer!

Tyroc has apparently turned against the Legion when they refuse to move their HQ to Marzal. Considering some of Brainy’s experiments, this is a let off for Marzal. Our new Legionnaire is off on a rampage through the city, while a couple of the others tell the police that they should never have let him join.

Staking out a park, the Legion manage to capture Tyroc. There’s some nice panels for Shady, who is the one to bring Tyroc down.

But the Legion suddenly, with no preceding panels, provide proof that Tyroc is innocent. The culprit was really using some technology to replicate Tyroc’s voice. The recording device seems immune to the reality warping effect of Tyroc’s powers. Later, the person they say is really responsible, flies out of the cell in Durlan fashion.

Shady is shocked to learn that the Legion made up the whole recorded voice thing, just to get Tyroc out of jail. Despite giving her a disguise, a mission plan, and at least some time enjoying a picnic in a park, the Legion tell Shady that there wasn’t time to let her in on what was going on.

Tyroc really was using his powers across the city. But not against the Legion. He was using them to find a bomb placed in the city. His rampage was just an excuse to avoid raising the suspicions of the bomber, one Fenton Pyke.

Since Shadow Lass could easily have been told what was going on, the middle section of the story just doesn’t work. Had Kal, Jo and/or Lar used their vision powers inconspicuously, to find the device, there would have been even less of a story.

The alternative would have been to build the tension up as the SP closed in on Tyroc, with the Legion trying to keep him free while looking as though they wanted to capture him too. But, in a short story some shortcuts need to be made.

The Legion’s statue fetish is evident again. They have statues of their active members in a hall of fame. I take it everyone gets a statue there, as it would be depressing to be one of the Legionnaires left out.

222/This Legionnaire is Condemned

Conceptually, this story isn't much different from at least a dozen other Legion stories in which one of our heroes pretends to go bad for the purpose of rooting out the real villain. And it was nice to give Tyroc something to do since he had not appeared following his induction in 218.

I imagine those two impulses were the genesis of this story: Feature Tyroc and return to the traditional hoax type of story.

Yet perhaps the Legion and/or Bates had moved on from the hoax plot as this one feels like someone's decided to go back to kindergarten and relearn the lessons they learned the first time (don't hit each other on the playground, memorize your ABC's . . .). The series really seems to have moved beyond all this, especially as a result of 219 and 221.

Even as a hoax story, it is more convoluted than necessary. Thoth outlines the reasons why the story doesn't work--Mon or Kal could have found the bomb, Shady has to be kept in the dark (pun not intended), etc. And, in the end, nothing really matters. The mad bomber is caught, but, as with Lorca in 217, we have nothing invested in this character. He's just a device to show how clever the Legion and/or the writer is.

As for Tyroc having something to do, it's great that his power was used as a sonar to find the bomb, but, really, I'd rather learn more about him as a character. He remains a cipher: a Legionnaire who does what the plot requires him to do and little else.

It's also great that the Legion has such autonomy that they can create domestic acts of terror, such as disrupting traffic, causing panic and confusion, and destroying trees. With heroes like these . . .

At least there's some really nice Grell art to look at, especially the page of Tyroc fleeing from Superboy and being blinded by Shady.

Once again, the story ends with the Legionnaires slapping each other on the back and a freeze frame. Go to commercial, and then roll credits. Leslie Nielsen's "Police Squad" was just as silly but much more fun.

His powers are still undefined. Worse, their effects can be replicated by Jeckie. So why have both? In practice, she casts illusions while he warps reality. As you say HWW, he can do whatever the plot requires of him.



Bohb: You know I quite like the Dominion takeover of Earth.
Dirk: I know what you mean. If it wasn't United Planets brainwashing it was Universo or that Saturn Lady.
Bohb: Or Charma.
Dirk: Well, I didn't mind that one so much... but yeah, every other month. Your thoughts were never your own. And don't get me started on all the capes flying around.
Bohb: Yeah, the UP picked up their insurance, but what about ours?
Dirk: Yup, the Dominion got rid of them, and all the other super pests. It's much safer now.
Bohb: That's the Dominion. Tyranny You Can Trust.

- This was a Public Service Broadcast on Behalf of the Dominion Alliance.

Life had been busier than ever so I'm a day late and a dollar short on the Grimbor / Charma story but I wanted to add that I enjoyed it quite a bit too. A lot of things stick out, but most interesting is Shooter plays on two very real fears that both genders typical face: some men fear the idea of a woman manipulating them with her sexuality; some women fear the idea of men wanting to harm them, "imprison them" (from the subtle to the extreme) and even kill them. If the youthful Shooter spent a lot of time like Seigel and others before him bringing childhood anxieties to the forefront of the Silver Age stories, the now somewhat older Shooter was now looking at deeper, more adult anxieties.

Lots of things to like beyond that: Vi's asskicking save; Gim, Ayla and others getting good screen time; RJ playing a role that takes more than on sentence to sum up. And the artwork is to die for: Grell's Charma truly is alluring, and he does a great job making her appear vulnerable when she wants to appear so, and then dangerous between scenes.

...now to keep trying to catch up and stay caught up...

S&LSH #222

I think HWW hit this one on the head: a pretty standard premise for the LSH and DC super teams, but at this point it feels like the series has just moved beyond that. I'd much prefer Tyroc in a more dynamic role than rehashing the same thing we saw every dozen issues from 1958 to the present.

More annoying is the inconsistent usage of his powers which takes me right out of the story.

I do have to echo HWW's comments on the Grell art, particularly the 5th page, which features some dynamic scenes with varying close ups / far away shots and an excellent panel layout. He was on fire at this point.

Also, I like that this issue includes super obscure recurring LSH for Fenton Pike. Years earlier, when I was reading a list of LSH villains I saw his name and saw he was an "extortionist". For some reason, I read it as "contortionist", which would be infinitely cooler. Especially if he called himself "the extortionist who is also a contortionist".

He gave it up you know. Now he's the ex-contortionist extortionist. But to the customers of his drugstore, he will always be the ex-contortionist extortionist tobacconist.

Excellent thoughts on gender fears Cobie. That gives the story a much more mature theme. Indoing so, it just makes the old, standard stories seem all the more dated as you both pointed out.

The art is quite striking, even some of the architecture is unusual (the Science Police HQ, not the usual monolithic structure).

I was happy to see yet another scene in which a Legionnaire uses a plastic-like full head disguise. It's one of the more common forms of deception in Legion stories.

Keeping Shadow Lass out of the loop was a big sticking point for me; it just made no sense at all. Maybe Cobie's contortionist could explain it.



I hadn't really noticed that until you pointed it out. On that one page is probably more black people than all the previous Legion stories, except for the Marzal tale. Maybe Tyroc has groupies who followed him from Marzal.



Tyroc always remains a cipher. He joins the resistance in 5YL and even becomes President of Earth, but he's still pretty much just a face in a panel. Even in Legion Lost, in which his costume and his powers are greatly improved, his character isn't developed much beyond "not a hothead like the Brin and Drake".



The era of no consequences! The Legion was often outlawed, but why were they never sued?

People in the 30th century don't sue; they become super-villains.

You're quite right; the motivation of revenge for wrongs (or perceived wrongs) does tend to take the super-villain route. Earth Man's Justice League and Dr. Regulus immediately come to mind. How different things might have been had they all gone to law school instead. Less violence, but stories filled with text pages of briefs and court orders.

BTW, doesn't it look like the newscaster in #222 is wearing a Sun Boy shirt? Must be a fan.

Brek? Or is it?




Super powered teenagers active in your city? Don't ask Luthor about getting revenge! Talk to us...for Super Insurance you can rely on.



...Interplanetary Insurance Inc.

222/Death of a Legend

Lest we forget, 222 also has a backup story--albeit one which is easy to forget.

The most notable aspect about "Death of a Legend" is that it's the first story since Grell's arrival not feature Grell's art. (213's backup featured Grell inked by Bill Draut.) The art this time is by Mike Nasser and Bob Layton, who provide a different take on the Legion, and not a wholly convincing one. The inks on Superboy on the last page are particularly heavy and amateurish. However, the layouts on some pages are inventive.

En route to the planet Zentor, Superboy, Timber Wolf, and Light Lass watch tapes of the great hero Questar in action and marvel at his exploits. When they arrive on Zentor and meet Questar, however, they learn he is no hero at all, but a writer who wrote thrilling adventures around himself. Even so, Superboy uses one of the Questar's moves to defeat the Every-Ten-Years Monster and shame the populace for deceiving Questar about their intentions just as he deceived them.

This is a rather goofy story that his played somewhat for laughs. The short Zentorian official, Glad Hander (!) reminds me of the Lilliputians in "Gulliver's Travels": small in stature and mind (he doesn't even recognize the name "earth"), judgmental, and wearing a gaudy uniform.

If the Zentorians are Lilliput, then Questar is Gulliver, the giant who is brought low by them. But instead of being made a slave, Questar is shamed into revealing his true cowardice.

It seems cheeky for Shooter to make Questar a writer, as if the message to readers is, "Don't take any of this seriously. It's just a comic book." But even writers can be heroic--when they tackle difficult subject matter and seek to broaden our understanding of it--so Shooter fails to give a good accounting of his profession.

Instead, the story is just an excuse to make the Legionnaires look good, and for Super-Sanctimonious Boy to deliver a lecture about how none of us is perfect.

After Questar's true nature was exposed, one wonders if his next book went to the top of Intergalactic Best Sellers list or was quickly remaindered.

>cough< >cough<

Death of a Legend

Seeing the Legion watch some kind of media provides more context about the galaxy they operate in. There could be a Legion, but the general public is intimidated by conflicts beyond their control. Perhaps in an uncertain world, with conflicts beyond their control, a lot of people would find a diversion in something else, like romance movies.

But, the holo tapes of Questor in action seem to be popular. The man himself certainly is, getting accolades not seen since earlier Superboy stories. I do note that Questor kills his opponent and that the Legion seem fine with this. His tassels on an otherwise standard Superboy type costume are a nice touch.

It’s nice to see the Legion acting with good grace, when they realise that their Legend hasn’t stretched quite everywhere.

I also liked the idea that the local people would manipulate their heroes into acting on their behalf., So we find a conveniently depowered Superman and a less than genuine Questor. It turns out he had good reason to ignore the locals request in dealing with the Zentor monster.

I chuckled at the change in Questor’s personality. “You wish to help me?” he says heroically, as if he’s about to tell them to not be silly, and get to safety. Instead, he pleads for help as the truth comes out, that he’s not a hero at all. He does have powers but is only able to use them when Superboy subdues the creature.

Questor is someone caught up in a world of celebrity, a world if image where everyone is out for themselves. It has a parallel with pretty much any medium you like today. I’m sure there was enough of it around then that Superboy didn’t have to hit quite so hard with his moral. They didn’t seem to go to half strength with his powers. He tells the reader that they have to see past that, and judge someone by the good they actually do.

At least, that's how I like to interpret it. It could just as easily be Shooter reacting to some criticism and addressing the reader far too directly.

So, there are a few nice moments, and a message that is relevant, even if it’s too bluntly done. Some of those panels could have been used giving Brin something to do. He has super strength and agility, and you’d think he could have beaten the creature.

Nasser and Layton made a decent team, and the art was a plus point, considering the rough edges of early Cockrum & Grell work.

Edit: I did enjoy Glad Hander.

All great points. Shooter once again has really good ideas to play with. This story doesn't develop them as well as they could have been, I thought.

It is interesting that the Legionnaires--who live the heroic life--enjoy watching another hero on holo-vids. It doesn't seem so strange, however: My brother, a police officer, enjoyed NYPD Blue and other cop shows.

I, too, noticed that the Legion didn't seem bothered by Questar killing the creature. Maybe they don't hold other heroes up to their standards?

When the fake becomes real - or has to live up to the fantasy created - has been the basis for a few movies - Galaxy Quest comes to mind. I wonder if this was a different sort of story at the time, however; unusual to have a writer as the central (non-Legion) character as well as the double con. Too bad we didn't see Questar in later Legion stories; he did have a power after all and perhaps went on to develop the courage to use it.

"Super-sanctimonious Lad" - love it! He does all too often deliver the lesson with a super-punch. Super-Sanctimonious Lad didn't give Questar a lecture about endangering the public, perhaps because he used Questar's idea to defeat Every 10-Years Monster.

HWW makes a good point that people can enjoy shows about their own profession. Initially, I found the Legionnaires' admiration for Questar a bit too starstruck, given their own success, but maybe they were just enthusiastic - and Ayla has roving eyes. Brin was right without realizing it: Questar was so good, Brin thought he was just a legend.



I wonder if Shooter was delivering some personal message with this story; there have been a few jabs at fans/readers in recent years within the tales.

Every 10-Years Monster could be making an appearance this December 2016, if he didn't die on the asteroid Questar sent him to.

Professional courtesy?

My "notes" for this back-up essentially have two things written down: I enjoy the idea of Questar quite a bit but thought the story wasn't very well executed. I just wasn't convinced by Superboy that Questar was deserving of our empathy, and felt the people had a right to be angry for his being a hoaxer and a coward.

The second is that I enjoyed the Mike Netzer art quite a bit. He was a terrific part of the artistic trend in comics in the late 70's, when the generation influenced by Neal Adams added their own cartoonish twists to the realist approach. (And an aside, remember when he briefly started to post here during his preacher phase? Weird!)

As usual, you all provide some good commentary on what Shooter may have been attempting to do by giving a story on celebrity and how that almost becomes a prison. In today's world it seems every third book, movie, tv show, comic and song is about that topic so it's one I avoid. But in the late 70's perhaps it was somewhat less pervasive.

Superboy has always been iconic among the Legionnaires but in the Silver Age it felt like he was "one of the group", even if he was special. Lately, it's felt like he is truly on a pedestal among the Legion--more than even just a first among equals. This shift in tone by the writers, if it continues, will certainly be one the reasons he eventually is eliminated from the title.

I agree, Cobie. We didn't get to see too much of Questar. So, it does make the reference to being a writer (as HWW picked up on) and that moral message, wrapped round a brick stand out all the more.

Who knows what Questor got up to, in taking advantage of his status? There's no shortage of people in the public eye pleading for our forgiveness for their horrid actions. I can't think of many who willingly wanted any of those actions to stop before they were caught. Questor got a bit of instant redemption, with a big help from Superboy.

Questor would have been the perfect stand in for Dirk Morgna in the TMK run.

Interesting thoughts about putting Supes on a pedestal, Cobie. It would be the perceptions of others that would push him out of the group if that keeps up. Particularly with the grittier Wildfire, Val and Timberwolf.

Finally: Should there be a countdown to the Ten Year Monster on the Time bubble on the homepage?

Superboy 223



It’s a melodramatic, and grown up looking, Legion that runs into the foreground of the splash page. They have half a galaxy to save. It’s half a galaxy that will need to be saved with five fewer Legionnaires (A Swan of Legionnaires) .Those five have been strangely trapped in a cone of force. (This proves to be a much more effective barrier than the cone of ice cream that Dessert Damsel used last month.)

We see the heroes show their unique abilities to try to escape, but without success.

Superboy then uses a trick that effectively ruins the suspense of any death trap he’s ever caught in. He moves through time, taking his colleagues with him. I’ve never been a fan of Supes’ unbreakable, ever expanding cape. It’s something that’s had a lot of use in his Legion adventures, where he has plenty of colleagues to use it on.

On this occasion, escaping through time just takes them to the lair of the person who set the trap in the first place: The Time Trapper. I wonder how long the Trapper would have waited before bringing the heroes to his lair had Superboy not done it for him. Grell shows the Legion’s time travels, and trap, very effectively.

Last seen way back at the end of 1965, The Time Trapper is a powerful foe. He has taken these five heroes, including Karate Kid who is resolutely in the 20th century in his own book, some three days into the future. From there, he shows them that their friends have perished failing to stop the disaster from the splash page.

The disaster, a rift in space, has eerie parallels with the one, in the Abnett/Lanning run many years later, which resulted in half the team going missing.

Having analysed multiple possible futures, the Trapper believes that only in those without these five heroes, will be able to master the universe. Worse, futures with those five in them will result in his death.

It’s essentially the same plot as a standard T O Morrow story in JLA. The villain brings the heroes into the story because of a prediction that he must defeat the heroes or perish.

Grell makes all this information from the Trapper visually interesting by having them react to the knowledge that their friends are dead. As the Trapper is speaking, the heroes compose themselves and attack.

Not that attacking the Trapper does them much good. We are taken through a series of fight scenes, where each of the five take on the Trapper individually. What makes this unusual is that the Trapper is fighting them all simultaneously, while each of the Legionnaires believe they are the only ones being attacked. The Trapper has stopped time and is channelling future potential through an hourglass on his cloak, making him powerful enough to defeat even Superboy. The Trapper keeps doors to red suns open in his head quarters. It’s a bit of a risk if you drunkenly mistake it for the fridge one night.

It’s an interesting idea, but it doesn’t quite work for me. Perhaps it’s the pointless interlude showing us Pulsar Stargrave viewing events and boasting about his power. How Stargrave is able to view events in a frozen time and if he’s viewing them from a galaxy that’s been half blown up in the future isn’t clear. We also meet Holdur and Quicksand (with Grell cheesecake shot).

Despite the premise of the battle, it soon comes down to breaking the villains’ McGuffin (ouch). With the hourglass destroyed the Trapper disappears in a temporal explosion. It could have been left there. But Superboy appears to tell of a further struggle involving the explosion opening the door to the red sun, and the Trapper falling through that. Had Shooter needed to fill even more space, no doubt Sun Boy would have popped up with a further fight scene.

Returned conveniently back to the moment they left, the five proceed on the original mission to the rift. We don’t know yet if they succeed, and Superboy is seen reading the Legion Manual trying to work out the physics behind their adventure.

It’s an issue that has a couple of nice ideas. An anti-matter rift is a dangerous mission. One that they can’t beat like a super villain. Seeing the team fail to stop it certainly pulled some emotional strings. The fight with the Trapper was something different too, even if the solution wasn’t quite as thought provoking.

The Trapper here is far more like the humanoid, super powerful arch villain from previous occasions than the seeming avatar of entropy shown sometimes later on. As such he has a super villain plot with its accompanying artefact of power that he depends on to succeed. He even has a super computer (again mirroring the T O Morrow stories). Of course, if the Trapper was supposed to be Morrow, then all of this is fine…

But overall, it’s not an issue I’m fond of. By the time I read this, I had read the better refined villain of the Conspiracy and the early issues of the TMK run. So this plot didn’t really do much for me. Stargrave just gets in the way during the issue. Having villains with the technology to view battles anywhere is an old cliché as are boastful foes. We get both here, adding nothing to the plot. Perhaps his appearance will have more meaning when we get to the next issue.

223:

I eagerly looked forward to this story when it was published. I was hungry for anything from the Legion's Adventure days, and, although the Time Trapper had been described in the Legion Handbook, there was no picture of him. So I was very curious about this long forgotten early Legion enemy.

In this issue, he lived up to my expectations even if the story as a whole did not. The Trapper was mysterious, deadly, and formidable. He is introduced in typical arch-super-villain mode by having our heroes appear before a banquet he's laid out for them. This shows confidence and a perverse sense of hospitality. This Trapper has nothing to fear from the Legion, and he shows off his confidence every chance he gets.

Furthermore, the scenes of him fighting the Legionnaires one and one yet simultaneously were and are highly effective. They consist of a continuous fight scene with only the Legionnaires replaced at key moments, their confusion as disorienting to them as it was to me.

This story had me wondering why the Trapper had been hiding for so long and wanting to see more of him. Sadly, I was disappointed. He does not appear again until the wedding of Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad tabloid, some thirteen months later. By that time, all of the mystery built up over his appearance here had been forgotten.

Of course, it wasn't much of a mystery to begin with. There's a lot of pseudo-scientific gobbledy-gook over how the Trapper does what he does here, but it's ultimately meaningless and leaves us with only frustrating hints of things that might have come, had he reappeared sooner. In the end, nothing really changes in this story, the Legionnaires learn nothing, and the reader is not enlightened.

In fact, the whole story seems to be a setup to introduce Stargrave and his minions. I actually liked these interludes because they were very Marvel-esque in setting up the next story. And it's about time we got some more new villains, like Charma and Grimbor.

Superboy stretching his cape and traveling through time were simply Legion tropes I had gotten used to by now. (Though I did wonder how Imra felt about being smooshed together with three guys, especially Dirk.) In fact, Superboy is used quite well in this story; even though he once again hogs the spotlight, he does so in more-or-less believable ways. The climactic shot of him trying to save the Trapper while defying the red sun is totally in character for him.

The Grell art is mostly outstanding--especially the Trapper's headquarters and the Twilight Zone-ish metaphors (complete with grandfather clock) of how he's stopping time. However, there are a few rough spots in terms of the arrangement of figures. On the splash page, Thom looks like he's acquired Salu's power, and the shot of the Legionnaires and the Trapper at the top of Page 5 looks like six figures cut-and-pasted together.

I also felt the narrative did not play fair with readers in a couple of places. When Karate Kid says "That's the ... second time you ... piled me up ... Supes!" it had me searching my memory for when the first time was. It could be a reference to their duel back in Adventure 346, but I don't think Superboy used his cape in that fight. It seems to be a very obscure reference.

Also, Saturn Girl tells Superboy to open his photographic memory to her so she can see what's different about the Trapper now. This seems to be a reference to how the Trapper looked back in the Adventure days, but, since he hadn't appeared in more than 11 years, it's unfair to test the reader's own memory that he hadn't worn an hourglass belt before. Also, what made Imra even think that the Trapper would be wearing his own power supply?

So, I like the idea and set-up of the story, but, even with a full issue to play with, Shooter does not turn in a satisfying story.

Superboy and the LSH #223

The Time Trapper returns here and the immediate thought I had is this: the problem with TT stories is that he is a hard character to get right and a hard character to actually use in-story without being a cipher. One may choose to keep him aloof, as Levitz does, which causes it's own problems, or one might think to do what Shooter does, and the result is a story that is somewhat nonsensical. If you're going to use the TT, you have to carefully plot each sequence / interaction with both metaphor and logic.

Yet, despite the clumsiness to the plot, I enjoyed the pacing and immediacy of it all. These sense of fun is there in spades. The ending though is a let down, which underscores how problematic the TT can be.

Stargrave, with Holdur & Quicksand, is introduced and it's a great intro even if they're monitoring TT makes no sense. But I just love that the LSH stories are finally getting foreshadowing and continuing subplots. Finally!

Grell art is awesome as usual, and here it is the uber-sexy Quicksand who stands out. Great costume design mixed with a seductive demeanor.

Thoth, food observation that the Trapper was last seen in 1965. And HWW, love your "off the stands Legion fan" insight! Having read thousands of comics from the late 70's, I have seen again and again a nostalgia among fans and creators for "yesteryear", and one can see why they would have found bringing back the Time Trapper so appealing. Whether that's a good thing or bad thing, considering the stories featuring him thereafter were sometimes very good and sometimes very had, is up for debate.

As Cobie said, he’s a hard villain to really pin down, which is probably why we had a number of variations even before the embodiment of entropy, and even more since writers have went with playing up the avatar side of him. So, he’s an arch villain here, but without anything more to give him a foundation, he disappears again, without there being much point.




I was thinking of Kang viewing everything through a monitor as I typed that, so very Marvel. I picture a huge loop of villains all magically peering in on each other’s master plans, boasting that theirs is better. None realising it’s just a trap the super heroes have played to keep them all busy, and the world safe.




Dirk: That was a really heavy meal.
Clark: Yeah, there’s something odd…

Trapper: Ha ha! You foolish Legionnaires have eaten a meal that will never digest! It’s frozen in time! It will forever make you sluggish in combat! Forever feeling full, yet starving all the while! It is the curse of the Time Trapper…or rather…

Imra: >gasp< It’s Indigestion Lad! - Tenzil Kem’s arch nemesis!
Val: That raises the stakes!
Tenzil: Steaks? That gives me an appetite! And you don’t want to give me an appetite! >chomp<
Trapper: Curse you Kem! …vanishes into his mystical bottle of Tums…




Yeah, that caught me out a little. I thought it was referring to a point earlier in the story where we’d see a difference in the Trapper’s costume, or a different flow of the sand. Not his appearance all those years before.

Like you, I did think it was contrived that Imra would just happen onto the solution.




Good point. It’s always worth being reminded of the things I take for granted such as providing links between issues.

True. I really liked the revelation in the tabloid that he's a renegade Controller. That gave him an sense of great power and mystery (we knew little about the Controllers), but it also meant he had weaknesses and could be defeated. (The Controller in Adv. 357 died of a heart attack.) The "living embodiment of entropy" nonsense not only made him too powerful, but it gave him motivations that were unfathomable. Why does the living embodiment of anything care to bother with teenaged heroes of a particular point in time?




The Legion of Super-Big Brothers?

I was not a critical reader in those days (I was 13!), so I didn't stop to think of the implausibility of it all. These scenes do make Stargrave seem more powerful than the Time Trapper, though--which makes what the creators eventually did with Stargrave a huge letdown.




Ha!

I was thinking along the lines of pomegranate seeds in the myth of Persephone. Once the Legionnaires partook of the feast, they could never leave the Trapper's dimension--except maybe six months of the year for those with small appetites.




I wonder if that was the intent--some change in the Trapper's appearance since he first appeared in this story. It doesn't come across that way, though. It doesn't come across clearly at all.

Thanks.

I'm not sure how much nostalgia played into my feelings at the time. But I was deeply interested in the idea that the Legion had a long history before I discovered them in '72. I had also read enough reprints by then to know that many of those stories were really good. And villains always have a special appeal. Considering that the Trapper was a recurring enemy at a time when the Legion didn't have many recurring enemies (he was the first, I believe), he loomed large in my imagination.

Time Trapper stories can make my head hurt, but what a concept for a villain. It makes me overlook the weaknesses in the plot - as does the artwork. Nevertheless, it is disappointing that there wasn't a hint at the end that the Trapper would return.

I can't read this story without thinking of what a menace the Trapper will be in later stories. At least he's a step above the original cackling babysitter.

The villain hosting a banquet - that idea will appear again with Mordru and Rokk in 5YL. HWW mentioned Persephone. Is this a common theme in literature?

One thing that particularly failed for me was the original mission to mend the space rift. Something else else that serious and you've got four Legionnaires, including two (Shady & Jeckie) whose powers would have been of no conceivable help. Even had the full team been there, what could Saturn Girl, Chameleon Boy and Karate Kid have done?

The high point of the story, however, was the appearance of Pulsar Stargrave, the exotic Quicksand and the dismissable Holdur. You figure Stargrave is Brainiac or something like him, a major villain, and wonder where all this is going.

I don't know how common banquets are in literature, but I often think of them being used in Dracula films and haunted house-type mysteries. They can be a way of making the guests comfortable and lulling them into a false sense of security. They can also be a way to establish the power and presence of the villain. If you are attending a banquet hosted by someone rich and powerful, you are on that person's turf and you are expected to defer to him or her out of respect.

If you've watched Downton Abbey, that series regularly shows the value of formal dinners: They exert an enormous psychological effect on everyone by reminding them who's in charge.

'cause it's Rokk

Or...the TMK run might have given us something. Mordru was destined to rule the universe in it's populated eras. The Trapper, stuck at the end of time wanted more (I think he was lonely and needed a hug). Mordru took over during the 30th century, so the Trapper used that era to stop him, forming the Legion.


I quite liked the enigmatic controller version too. They lost some of that appeal when they became an offshoot of the Guardians. It's a nice continuity connection, but I like to have some things remain open for the imagination.



You have you're classical Greek tales, I'll have my slapstick



It's another nice thing about the rereads threads. Finding out that you're not the only one who got confused.

I always think of all the historical cases of poisoning, betrayal, murder etc. at such gatherings. There's always an air of doom when conflicting sides gather for such events.

There's the banquet scene in Macbeth.

If the Trapper is putting on a banquet, do you think that:-

a) He goes to the trouble of getting in delicacies from across time

Or

b) It's just whatever's left in his cosmi-fridge. Stuff that never goes off because it's stuck in time.

I think the Trapper was a secret chef. Spending all eternity at the end of time gave him plenty of chances to cultivate hobbies.

I've never read Macbeth as I'm not a fan of Shakespeare. (Yes, I know: It's treasonous for an English major to admit that.) But now I'm curious to read or watch that scene.

Unfortunately his first big hobby was in watch repairing. He could never really tell if he'd fixed them because he only existed at the last second of time.

The Ghost of Banquo attends the banquet in Shakespeare's Scottish play. Banquo at the Banquet.

There is also Haman's banquet in Esther, which does not turn out well. For Haman.

For an interesting turn on the idea that one ought not to eat Fairy Food in Faeryland, I recommend The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente, especially if you have kids or grandkids who like to read. Or who you are attempting to entice to read.

Belshazzar is also ill-fated at a banquet.

And, as I recall, Beowulf also prominently features a banquet.

Beowulf does indeed, and this is repesentative of much Norse (and related) stories, sagas and mythology. The banquet hall was a common setting, usually early in the story, to set up the plot, characters and conflict. Loki and others like him often scheme during these scenes and goad the heroes into entering precarious situations.

This trope likely remained part of English literature (perhaps pan-European given their prolific travels and conquests--I don't know). I'm sure there's a banquet in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales though it's been 15 years since I've read them. MacBeth is a good example.

But it began much earlier than the Vikings. There are diner / banquet scenes in the Aeniad, the Golden Ass, the Bible, the Illiad and one that doesn't go so well at the end of the Odyssey (for the guests at least). A banquet is one of the classic settings in stories. Probably Gilgamesh though now I'm really fuzzy on memories.

Banquets were of great social significance, especially in relation to where guests were seated. They also had immense religious importance and implications.

Surely all things the Time Trapper was considering!

Thanks for the literary examples of banquets, Klar, EDE, and Cobie.

I think these examples show that Shooter intentionally used the banquet to draw such literary allusions--he frequently included other such themes in other stories--and that he was trying to establish the Trapper as being a cut above your typical arch super-villain. It's a pity he didn't stick around to explore these ideas.

More on the "villain serves banquet" idea, from the delightfully time-wasting tvtropes.org:

Schmuck Banquet and No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine

Earlier today, I re-read the first story from S&LSH 217, mainly because I've become fascinated lately with the Preboot Khunds, and...wow, this really is a big, bright diamond buried among the dreck that, IMHO, makes up most of Archive 12 (FTR, I do also like the Time Trapper story, but I think that one's a bit of a mess, and more of a qualified success.)

The previous reviews that come closest to matching my take on the story are Cobie's and Cramey's: