Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes A Look Back: L.E.G.I.O.N. #1-55

L.E.G.I.O.N. # 35 '92 - "Aftershocks"

Main Cast: Vril Dox, Phase, Strata, Garv, Lady Quark, Garryn Bek, Captain Comet, Telepath, Ig'nea, Bertron Diib, Darius, Amon Hakk, Zena Moonstruk, Borb Borbb, Davroth Catto, Lydea Mallor, Stealth

Credits: Alan Grant, writer and co-plotter - Barry Kitson, penciler, inker, and co-plotter - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - Lovern Kindzierski, colorist

Plot: Dox goes off with Ig'nea; Phase and Garryn struggle to keep L.E.G.I.O.N. running; Lady Quark resigns; the recruits decide to form their own team; Strata, Garv, Captain Comet, Telepath, and Stealth have a similar idea, but their ship is shot down and they crash-land on a planetoid where a team of super-powered killers is waiting to ambush them.

Thoughts: Another slow and boring issue. This story arc has already lasted five issues with no end in sight. What happened to the book that could tell tight, exciting stories in three or four issues?

Stealth, I look forward to reading these every morning now. Keep it up!

Your reviews are great, Stealth. Looking forward to more!

L.E.G.I.O.N. '92 # 36 - "In the Name of L.O.V.E."

Main Cast: Vril Dox, Phase, Strata, Garv, Lady Quark, Lobo, Captain Comet, Garryn Bek, Marij'n, Telepath, Ig'nea, Stealth

First L.E.G.I.O.N. Appearances Of: Ronzin Daark, Yatini, Wreeth, Dogtag, Kondor, Zyn

Credits: Alan Grant, writer and co-plotter - Barry Kitson, penciler and co-plotter - Art Nichols, inker - John Workman, letterer - Lovern Kindzierski, colorist

Plot: As Dox and Ig'nea head to meet her father, he declares that he feels happy for the first time in his life and disbanding L.E.G.I.O.N. was the right thing to do.

On the uncharted planetoid, the shipwrecked team has a tremendous battle against G'odd's hired killers, which ends with Captain Comet taking on their leader Ronzin Daark, at the exact moment Daark's powering up for the final blow.

On Cairn, Phase and Garryn arrest a group of fake lawyers sent by G'odd to shut down L.E.G.I.O.N., and Phase convinces Lady Quark to return to the team.

Lobo digs himself out of the pit and starts tracking down The Ice Man.

And Dox finally meets Ig'nea's father, none other than...Max G'odd.

Thoughts: Other than the rough inking, this issue is a big step back in the right direction. The hired killers, from the Starlin-esque Ronzin Daark to Wreeth with the "sssss" speech pattern, have vivid looks and personalities. And, happily, this would not be their only appearance. I can't say any more without spoiling future issues.

No big surprise that Ig'nea's the traitor or that G'odd is her father. This issue's letter column shows that people guessed the former as early as # 32.

L.E.G.I.O.N. '92 # 37 - "The G'odd Squad"

Main Cast: Vril Dox, Phase, Strata, Garv, Lady Quark, Lobo, Garryn Bek, Marij'n, Captain Comet, Telepath, Ig'nea, Bertron Diib, Darius, Amon Hakk, Zena Moonstruk, Borb Borbb, Davroth Catto, Lydea Mallor, Stealth

Credits: Alan Grant, writer and co-plotter - Barry Kitson, penciler and co-plotter - Robin Smith, inker - "John Workputer" (John Workman,) letterer - Lovern Kindzierski, colorist

Plot: Unaware that he is talking to the man who masterminded the fall of L.E.G.I.O.N., Dox accepts G'odd's offer to work for him.

On Cairn, G'odd's private army raids L.E.G.I.O.N. headquarters. When Phase and Lady Quark both fall, the non-superpowered Garryn and Marij'n fight them off until their teammates revive.

Lobo continues tracking down the Ice Man while the recruits, in their rented office, sit around waiting for the phone to ring.

On the planetoid, the heroes revive and find the villains unconscious. Captain Comet is not quite certain how he did it, because he used powers he wasn't aware of, but by absorbing the energy released by Ronzin Daark, he has somehow also absorbed the villains' memories, which is how Telepath is able to find out who sent them. Stealth calls Cairn to report that their target is G'odd, just after Lady Quark has forced the same information out of one of G'odd's goons.

Thoughts: The inking is better this time (Robin Smith became the book's semi-regular inker for a while,) but otherwise, this chapter is nothing special. The subplot about the recruits' bad luck isn't funny, just dumb.

Nice reviews Stealth, thanks.

More, more, more

Bxx

You're welcome, Harbinger. And I thank you and everybody else who has been following this thread for the feedback. Once my L-20 issues are used up, I'm planning to start another review thread on the Dr. Gym'll board.

In hindsight, it did have it's moments. As a stand alone, I concur.

L.E.G.I.O.N. '92 # 38 - "Welcome to The Palace of Pleasure"

Main Cast: Vril Dox, Phase, Strata, Garv, Lady Quark, Lobo, Garryn Bek, Marij'n, Captain Comet, Telepath, Bertron Diib, Darius, Amon Hakk, Zena Moonstruk, Davroth Catto, Borb Borbb, Lydea Mallor, Stealth

Credits: Alan Grant, writer and co-plotter - Barry Kitson, co-plotter - Lee Moder, penciler - Brad Vancata, inker - Janice Chiang, letterer - Lovern Kindzierski, colorist

Plot: Lobo finds Ice Man at The Palace of Pleasure, a sort of outer space Las Vegas. They wreck the place as they fight each other.

On G'odd's planet, Dox's blinders finally come off when Ig'nea gets angry at her gardner for accidentally spraying her. It turns out she's not only a pyrokinetic, she can also reach into people's minds and make them do things they would never admit they want to do. In Dox's case, fall in love with her. In the gardner's case, slash his own throat with one of his tools.

As Dox disarms one of the guards and fights alone, one L.E.G.I.O.N. team gets through security by arriving in the ship stolen from G'odd's hired killers. A battle breaks out, and the other L.E.G.I.O.N. team is about to jump in.

Thoughts: Giving Kitson extra time to work on this story arc's long overdue conclusion next issue, we have a terrible team of guest artists, using every 90s cliche. But even without the bad art, this issue would be something of a low point. Mostly, Lobo and Ice Man beat each other up, Ice Man turns into some kind of weird energy thing, and then dissapears. No explanation, no resolution. There's also more silliness with the recruits sitting around. The only good scene is the darkly funny one where Ig'nea shows her true colors.

L.E.G.I.O.N. '92 # 39 - "Payback Time"

Main Cast: Vril Dox, Phase, Strata, Garv, Lady Quark, Lobo, Garryn Bek, Marij'n, Captain Comet, Telepath, Bertron Diib, Darius, Amon Hakk, Zena Moonstruk, Davroth Catto, Borb Borbb, Lydea Mallor, Stealth

Credits: Alan Grant, writer and co-plotter - Barry Kitson, penciler, co-inker, and co-plotter - Robin Smith, co-inker - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - Lovern Kindzierski, colorist

Plot: The team members put aside their personal conflicts to work together in defeating G'odd's private army. Dox corners G'odd and ties him up. While Dox is momentarily away, G'odd is eaten alive by his pet dragon, Rebel. Ig'nea and Dox confront each other, but she escapes. Dox puts L.E.G.I.O.N. back together, and the luckless recruits accept the offer to return. Lobo lands on Cairn and asks Phase if anything happened while he was away.

Thoughts: Well...it's finally over. And Kitson does an impressive two-page spread battle scene. And there's a funny moment when, just before Dox corners him, G'odd is taking a cow's carcass out of the meat locker and saying to Rebel, "All right, but I can't spare you any LIVE food. Every man is needed for the fight." Otherwise, it's an underwhelming ending to an underwhelming story that went on too long.

This is Alan Grant's last issue as the book's full-time writer, but thankfully, he'd return a year later with a couple of stand-alone guest scripts which have the spark of his better work. Starting next issue, Barry Kitson went from co-plotter to writer. I don't remember a lot about # 40-47, just that they felt awkward to me, and then suddenly, the book got really good again with # 48. The next few days will reveal what I think now.

In the meantime, here's Alan Grant's witty and poignant farewell, printed in # 39's letter column as a mock letter to L-20's editor, B.A.D. Dan Raspler:

"Dear B.A.D. Dan,

Please - don't hurt me! I'll confess! I was the traitor! It was me who betrayed L.E.G.I.O.N.!

But it wasn't my idea, see. A high-ranking robot - my doctor in fact - was behind the whole shtick. 'Give up caffeine,' he told me, 'Shun tannin and saturated fats. Just say "NO" to tobacco. Increase exercise. Decrease stress.'

Okay. Obedient as Pavlov's dog Rex, I did it. But the machines say it's not enough! They MADE me quit working so hard! I tried to tell 'em - 'It's only 24 pages a month, man!' and 'But I've been with the title since issue # 1!'

No bueno, Dan. They didn't want to know. No tears in THEIR eyes when Lyrissa Mallor died. THEY never laughed when Vril Dox's toilet blew up. THEY never wondered...what happened to the Durlan?

Only one bright spot, really. The doc said to make sure Barry Kitson replaced me as writer. I did, and he has, so at least I'm looking forward to being a new reader.

B.E.S.T. wishes, all.
Alan Grant"

That Ignea just escaping thing still bothers me. I thought somewhere along the way they would explain it, but nope, she just shows back up no reason.

Did she actually escape, or did Dox just let her go?

I never really understood what happened...

That's what I'm saying. A total "huh?" to me. Dox "supposedly" had her figured out. Was the implication meant to be that he was REALLY in love with her? Affection for blonds does run in the family.

I don't think he was really in love with her. The best I can guess is that she was more powerful than he thought. When they confronted each other, he was confident that she couldn't use her power on him again. Instead, she went into his mind and found a part of him that wanted to let her escape.

Maybe they showed it off-panel because there was so much going on in that issue that they didn't have room to show it, even with 24 pages. Or maybe they couldn't come up with a way of showing it that would have looked convincing.

L.E.G.I.O.N. '92 # 40 - "Costs"

Main Cast: Vril Dox, Phase, Strata, Garv, Lady Quark, Garryn Bek, Marij'n, Captain Comet, Telepath, Zena Moonstruk, Borb Borbb, Amon Hakk, Stealth

Credits: Barry Kitson, writer and penciler - Robin Smith, inker - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - Lovern Kindzierski, colorist

Plot: Strata leads a team investigating the drug-related murder of a young woman on the depressed planet Enballin, whose mineral resources have been strip-mined by the planet Kyaltec. The guilty party turns out to be one of the Kyaltecs, who is turned over to L.E.G.I.O.N. for being an embarassment and for being bad for business...and because Dox was secretly negotiating with the Kyaltecs all along.

Meanwhile, Lady Quark and Garv are off on a secret mission when their life-signals suddenly vanish from L.E.G.I.O.N. scanners.

Thoughts: Beautifully drawn, but dreary, dull, and predictable. The only good scene is a rare display of vulnerability from Lady Quark when she hallucinates her late husband, Lord Volt.

L.E.G.I.O.N. '92 # 41 - "Caring"

Main Cast: Vril Dox, Phase, Strata, Garv, Lady Quark, Lobo, Garryn Bek, Marij'n, Captain Comet, Telepath, Stealth

Credits: Barry Kitson, writer and penciler - Robin Smith, inker - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - Lovern Kindzierski, colorist

Plot: A mysterious spacecraft that Lady Quark and Garv have been sent to investigate is surrounded by a null-field that jams all life signals. Even Dox's most sophisticated machines can't detect anything. Stealth secretly knows exactly what this spacecraft is, and asks Phase to cover for her as she sneaks away, with Strata and Captain Comet in tow. Unfortunately, Dox does detect their ship just before it goes into the null-field.

LQ and Garv discover that the spacecraft is a living organism which assumes they're hostile. Stealth and the others arrive just time to rescue them and calm down the organism, which turns out to be a giant living nursery safeguarding hundreds of babies, including Stealth's son.

Thoughts: This issue is much better than the last one. There's a real sense of wonder here, and a lack of L-20's usual cynicism, which could have been disastrous but instead works as a change of pace. It's the sort of thing that Steven Spielberg used to be able to get away with...a long, long time ago, like not since "E.T."

I remember this issue as being one of the best in a long time. The "nanny" ship was a very cool, very unique concept.

I, too, like the change of tone in this issue. It was nice how Kitson showed that Stealth was a loving, caring mother, especialy considering the bizzare/disturbing nature of her son's conception and birth.

A bit jarring, but well done.

L.E.G.I.O.N. '92 # 42 - "Revolution"

Main Cast: Vril Dox, Phase, Strata, Garv, Lady Quark, Lobo, Bertron Diib, Darius, Amon Hakk, Zena Moonstruk, Davroth Catto, Lydea Mallor, Stealth

Credits: Barry Kitson, writer and penciler - Robin Smith, inker - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - "Digital Chameleon," colorist

Plot: On the planet Arga-Prime, L.E.G.I.O.N. finds itself in the middle of a full-scale uprising, while Arga-Prime's grand council secretly plots against L.E.G.I.O.N.

Thoughts: After the pleasant surprise of the last issue, this is a step back to the glum level of # 40. It's also the first issue where the coloring is credited to "Digital Chameleon," something I've never quite understood, since there must still be people choosing the colors, even if they're doing it on computers. What is clear is that the colors are less vibrant than when they were done by hand.

L.E.G.I.O.N. '92 # 43 - "Something else else in the Air"

Main Cast: Vril Dox, Phase, Strata, Lady Quark, Lobo, Captain Comet, Telepath, Bertron Diib, Darius, Amon Hakk, Zena Moonstruk, Lydea Mallor, Stealth

Credits: Barry Kitson, writer and penciler - Robin Smith and Jimmy Palmiotti, inkers - Dan Nakrosis, letterer - "Digital Chameleon," colorist

Plot: L.E.G.I.O.N. discovers the Grand Council's scheme and joins forces with the revolutionaries, but when they storm the council's main building and the councilmen willingly surrender, they discover they may be too late to stop the council's failsafe plan.

Thoughts: A fast pace and a fair amount of action makes this readable enough, but there's something missing. This story could be taking place in any of DC's early 90s sci-fi/superhero books. That unique L.E.G.I.O.N. quality - that mixture of exhuberant weirdness and dark humor - doesn't look like it's going to return any sooner that # 48.

L.E.G.I.O.N. '92 # 44 - "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall"

Main Cast: Vril Dox, Phase, Strata, Lady Quark, Lobo, Garryn Bek, Marij'n, Captain Comet, Telepath, Bertron Diib, Darius, Amon Hakk, Zena Moonstruk, Borb Borbb, Lydea Mallor, Stealth

Guest Star: Hal Jordan

Credits: Barry Kitson, writer - Rod Ramos, guest penciler - Shepard Hendrix and Matt Banning, guest inkers - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - "Digital Chameleon," colorist

Plot: The Arga-Prime council's failsafe involves unleashing a toxic rain that will kill everyone on the planet's surface. The storm is due to fall within days, and racial tensions are exploding into violence. Dox fails to find an antidote but gets another idea which he's keeping secret. And Hal Jordan has answered Garryn's call and is there to help.

Meanwhile, Captain Comet is in sickbay after having earlier unleashed more powers he never knew he had. Now, even unconscious, he's on the verge of setting off a telekinetic whirlwind.

On the surface of Arga-Prime, Strata and Stealth are still trying to stop the rioting when suddenly the storm arrives early.

Thoughts: At this point, the story is beginning to echo tragic events of the present day; all the more shame that even this is not enough to make it a compelling story.

L.E.G.I.O.N. '92 # 45 - "New Perspectives"

Main Cast: Vril Dox, Phase, Strata, Garv, Lady Quark, Lobo, Garryn Bek, Marij'n, Captain Comet, Telepath, Bertron Diib, Darius, Amon Hakk, Zena Moonstruk, Davroth Catto, Borb Borbb, Lydea Mallor, Stealth

Guest Star: Hal Jordan

Credits: Barry Kitson, writer - Rod Ramos, guest penciler - Matt Banning, Denis Rodier, and Shephard Hendrix, guest inkers - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - "Digital Chameleon," colorist

Plot: The rain falling turns out to be harmless. Dox has discovered that only the planet's oceans are poisoned by the council's virus, so he seeded the clouds in order to cause a rainfall which will delay the toxic storm and give everyone more time for evacuation.

Aboard the L.E.G.I.O.N. ship, a new crisis is unfolding: Captain Comet's recurring headaches and power surges appear to be the result of him being possessed by an evil energy being which now plans to transfer itself from him into Lady Quark and take solid form.

Thoughts: And so the Arga-Prime story keeps plodding along, while the new developments aboard the ship are equally dull and cliche. Add to that the terrible guest art, and this is the kind of issue that makes me question why there are certain extended runs of a book where I choose to keep even the worst issues. The answer is, for the same reasons why I have everything recorded by certain musicians, even the bad stuff - some comics (and musicians) are so special, they just demand a sense of completeness, warts and all.

L.E.G.I.O.N. '92 # 46 - "Transitions"

Main Cast: Vril Dox, Phase, Strata, Garv, Lady Quark, Lobo, Garryn Bek, Marij'n, Captain Comet, Telepath, Bertron Diib, Darius, Amon Hakk, Zena Moonstruk, Davroth Catto, Borb Borbb, Lydea Mallor, Stealth

Guest Star: Hal Jordan

Credits: Barry Kitson, writer and penciler - Robin Smith and Romeo Tanghal, inkers - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - Bernie Mireault, colorist

Plot: Despite an argument between Hal Jordan and Lobo, the evacuation is proceeding fairly smoothly. The Captain Comet problem is a more difficult matter. In the end, the energy creature possessing CC ends up trapped inside a pile of raw protoplasm...or so they think.

Thoughts: The only bright spot here is that Kitson is clearly having a lot of fun drawing Hal Jordan - the beautiful double-page spread of Hal leading the evacuation caravan through outer space should have been a poster.

This is the first issue in a while to credit the coloring to a person instead of "Digital Chameleon," apparently because, due to an editorial oversight, the credits were listed in the letters page instead of the front page.

L.E.G.I.O.N. '92 # 47 - "A Culmination of Patterns"

Main Cast: Vril Dox, Phase, Strata, Garv, Lady Quark, Lobo, Garryn Bek, Marij'n, Captain Comet, Telepath, Bertron Diib, Stealth

Guest Star: Hal Jordan

Credits: Barry Kitson, writer and penciler - Robin Smith, inker - Albert De Guzman, letterer - "Digital Chameleon," colorist

Plot: The energy creature adapts the protoplasm into a sentient body and escapes, leaving Dox, Phase, Captain Comet, Marij'n, and Lady Quark wounded.

Aboard the caravan, a sleeper agent of the deceased council changes his mind about opening a vial containing the virus.

Despite Lobo acting even more stupid than usual and endangering the caravan by picking a fight with Hal Jordan, the caravan successfully reaches Cairn.

Thoughts: And so, with a well-intentioned but preachy lesson about tolerance, the Arga-Prime story arc finally reaches its end.

Having re-read # 32 - # 47 for the first time in quite a while, I have to say that even though most of them were no better than I remembered, there were two pleasant surprises - # 36, with the band of alien mercenaries, and especially # 41, with the living nursery.

But the next issue is where it gets really good again, beginning a great three-parter with the return of an old enemy (I won't say who.)

And the mystery of "Digital Chameleon" is finally explained in this issue's letters page: it was a group of several computer colorists under the supervision of Lovern Kindzierski.

L.E.G.I.O.N. '93 # 48 - "Prices"

Main Cast: Vril Dox, Strata, Garv, Lobo, Garryn Bek, Telepath, Amon Hakk, Stealth

Credits: Barry Kitson, writer - Dan Lawlis, guest penciler - Ande Parks, guest inker - Albert De Guzman, letterer - "Digital Chameleon," colorist

Plot: Stealth and Amon - with Garv, Telepath, Lobo, and a unit of L.E.G.I.O.N. footsoldiers as backup - go undercover in a sleazy nightclub run by two slave traders, Steyr and Peyke.

On Cairn, Dox is defying doctor's orders by coordinating the mission, suggesting there's more than meets the eye.

A buyer wearing a cloak and mask shows interest in Stealth. Telepath is unable to read the buyer's mind (hmmm...who have we seen before who can block Telepath's powers?) and when it looks like Amon screws up the operation by asking for too much money, the buyer surprisingly accepts, and Stealth goes along.

Once the buyer leaves, the backup forces raid the club. Garv stuns Peyke unconscious, and when Steyr threatens to kill a footsoldier, Lobo sneaks up from behind and chops off his head ("Nobody servin' brew as bad as this bastich walks out alive.")

Aboard the buyer's ship, Stealth is horrified that there are slave children on board. She comforts one crying boy by telling her fanciful tales of her own son and where he is.

When the ship lands, the buyer tells the robot drones to set Stealth apart. The buyer removes the cloak and mask - it's Ig'nea!!

And everything that Stealth told the slave child will provide Ig'nea with the means for revenge on Dox.

Thoughts: This is Part One of a story arc I call either "The Ig'nea Trilogy" or "The Revenge of Ig'nea." It's second only to "War Against the Khunds" (# 24-27) as my favorite L-20 story.

After re-reading all the weak issues that came before this one, it seems even more amazing how quickly the book turns around in quality, rocketing back up to classic L-20 levels. The breathless pace, the wonderful weirdness (Steyr's ability to sprout razor-sharp tendrils,) and sick humor (see Lobo's remark above) have all returned in full force.

And even though this issue is draw by guest artists, the guest art is acceptable for once. Besides, it gives Kitson extra time to work his magic on Part Two and Part Three.

I remember Dan Lawlis' art. He did 3 issues of DR. STRANGE, each badly inked by a different inker. Then he comes to DC, and his art looks better than it did at Marvel, thanks to an appropriate inker. This was a disturbing trend I noticed happening with more and more pencillers' work.