Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Reading the Legion: Archives #2

Yeah. When I was writing my review (sans having the issue handy), I couldn't even recall what Chlor's test was. Still, splitting a mountain is pretty impressive.

The Subs' tests do leave me wondering how long the Legion knew about each situation and why they didn't intervene before. Why, for example, did they wait for a newbie to come along to challenge a tyrant like Sun Woman? Perhaps they have a backload of cases. I wonder what their average response time is.

I seem to recall a couple of scenes where they basically mention a bunch of possible assignments they could take, so it does seem like they've got more cases than they can handle at any one time.

Maybe all these cases were "hot off the wire." Since Sun Woman's people were subjugated, maybe nobody had the nerve or the chance to call for help before.

One thing I will say about reading comics as a kid, it really improved my vocabulary. How many kids would've known what a protege was? Mr. Dictionary to the rescue!

The Legion sure seems to get an awful lot of free labor out of these initiation tests!

^^Another "real world" application.

The Subs: 30th century grad students.

Adventure #316

Following up on our discussion on Ultra Boy two issues back, Adventure #316 firmly establishes the Jo we all know and love once and for all, as the second Archive draws to a close, giving us the official roster of the Legion. Established once for all are a few things: “ultra powers” and their limits; the romance of Jo & Tinya, which I would call “the other great Legion romance” of the Silver Age with Garth & Imra; his rebel without a cause / wrong side of the tracks origin, though that is really subtly played up here with a lot being read between the lines.

Ultra Boy is among my favorite Legionnaires—certainly in my top five if not a contender for actual favorite. His romance with Tinya is my favorite of all the Legion romances. So I’m definitely biased towards liking this story more than usual.

I love the cover for this issue—one of the best yet. Poor Tinya *still* doesn’t make it though!

Lots going on during the first non-splash page! Superboy traveling through time! Tinya being quite a fan of Jo! The Legion training in the proto-Danger Room, soon to be stolen by the X-Men! Element Lad finally returning to the Legion after his initial appearance! Garth finally working through the trauma of his death and resurrection by erecting a statue of Proty!

I said it when it first appeared and it bears repeating: the drawing of the energy beast is among the best panels of the Silver Age.

Er, is it just me or is Tinya exceptionally busty and curvaceous? If I already didn’t have the biggest crush on her…

It’s hard not to sense some mean girl sarcasm in Imra’s “you’re a great admirer of his, aren’t you Phantom Girl? Let’s hope you’re right!”. Her coldness…why do I like it so much?

Olen Jor! There he is! The villain whom Eryk and I know must have quite an untold history!

Sun Boy’s face of total shock is really over the top when he exclaims Rann Vanal = Jo! Even better is Jo’s face which is kind of like a Robert Mitchum “I don’t give a fuck” look. Speaking of which, a few pages later when Tinya pleads his case to Sun Boy, look at Saturn Girl and Bouncing Boy’s faces. Man, if looks could kill!!!

But, before we get there, I have to say I love the Ultra Boy tossing around the Legion panel, and then the Mon-El in pursuit panels. It’s good to have a little action now and again.

As part two begins, you can feel the tension between Imra & Tinya! Meanwhile, Jo is caught up in a mystery that involves the second pyramid type man we’ve seen so far! Through his trademark street smarts, Jo continues to evade the Legion!

Phantom Girl stands by Jo and wins his heart for all eternity!

Jo prepares the betray the Legion…and then unveils his big plan! How clever!

I really like this story, even though Jo’s plot is perhaps a bit too needlessly complicated. If you consider his sense of loneliness earlier to be genuine (and there is no reason it isn’t), it really underscores the sacrifice he makes to bring down the mystery raiders. I think this is a great story for Jo, Tinya and the Legion in general. How can Ultra Boy not be one of your favorites after this?

Adv. 316

The plot of "The Renegade Super-Hero" reads like an old-time Western movie: The hero is falsely accused of a crime, becomes a fugitive, and seeks out the real bad guys while his true love never doubts him and puts herself at risk to help him. I half expected Tinya to take a bullet (or ray blast) for Jo.

At least there's a twist: Ultra Boy pretends to be a bad guy. His pretense is so convincing, however, that I lost all sympathy for him. My sympathy turned to the Legion, who seem to have a real problem on their hands: They have to hunt down one of their teammates who knows all their secrets.

This aspect of the story is played well, as Jo anticipates what the Legion will do next and uses their weaknesses against them. He twice takes advantage of Mon-El's desire to help people and sees through Chameleon Boy's ruse. (One wonders why Cham didn't bring a real ray gun or attempt to use his own shape-changing powers to fight Jo; at least Proty II's involvement is foreshadowed nicely via the memorial ceremony for Proty I.)

Other aspects of the story fall flat, however. The "Ultra Boy saved your life, Sun Boy" flashback is a clunky attempt at pathos--why not simply remind Sun Boy that Ultra Boy (or a robot facsimile) tried to help restore his powers back in # 302? Superboy has to be included since he's on the cover, but he's quickly written out of the story as he was in # 313. (It would have been more fun and challenging, I think, if Ultra Boy had to give both Superboy and Mon the slip.)

Phantom Girl plays the stereotypical love interest, pining for her lover and never doubting him even when he threatens to reveal all the Legion's secrets to the aliens. There's a word for this kind of blind loyalty: fanaticism. It would have been more interesting and believable if Tinya were torn between her love for Jo and her loyalty to the Legion. Perhaps she could have even attempted to stop him. She would have had to make a crucial decision which is lacking in the story.

Then there's the whole premise of Ultra Boy deceiving his fellow Legionnaires to protect them from a greater threat. This trope, also used by Saturn Girl back in 304, will be revisited again and again in Legion stories. For this trope to work, the threat must be so great that the deception is necessary and believable. But these tentacled aliens look like they could easily be blown over by a feather. Ultimately, the pay off isn't worth the effort.

But 316 does profile two Legionnaires who have otherwise been marginalized since the series began. In fact, Jo and Tinya are so obscure at this point that I imagine the original readers truly believed Jo was a criminal. One can imagine that this story could easily have ended with Jo in chains and Tinya disgraced.

So this is by no means a bad story; however, it pales in comparison to a later "Jo on the run" story, Superboy & the Legion # 239.

Odds and ends:

Why doesn't the Legion just admit that they held a secret election and named Dirk leader? He once again calls all the shots. Perhaps the Legion was so embarrassed by Dirk's behavior in the upcoming 318 that they erased his brief leadership from their history.

It certainly was not necessary for both Superboy and Lightning Lad to burn away Jo's insignia, but it makes a stunning visual. (Note, by the way, that this cover is strikingly similar to that of 302, on which Superboy and Ultra Boy use their powers to try to regenerate Sun Boy's power.)

The three-panel sequence of Mon-El and Ultra Boy knocking over the Metropolis Spaceport and Mon-El rescuing it is one of the most dramatic visuals yet--two panels take up the length of the page. More artistic experimentation would have been a plus in these stories.

Although Forte is solely credited, two artists (or two inkers, perhaps) seem to have drawn this story. Page 3 of Part 2 is markedly different from the facing Page 4. I wonder if Forte's health problems prevented him from completing the story.

Infodump alert! Why is it necessary for Jo to interrupt the search for the aliens to tell his origin? Answer: It's not. The Legion could have easily (and more naturally) related this information when they decided to hunt Jo.

Adventure #316

So, I really enjoyed re-reading this issue. Easily the best Legion-centric (as opposed to the Subs-stories or Supergirl-centric Satan Girl story) tale thus far.

--The Legionnaires "practicing" their super-powers scene is a bit silly, but you do get Element Lad and Lightning Lad creating the statue of Proty, which helps to reinforce this trope in Legion continuity. I'm not sure lightning powers would really be that effective for carving statues (Hamilton uses this several times), but it's interesting choice, given Lightning Lad's connection to Proty and Element Lad's not-yet-revealed penchant for creating memorials.

--The giant force tube from the sky is another typically Hamiltonian idea! I'll just assume these "Mystery Raiders" have some tech that protect them from patrolling space fleets as well!

--So, we get the establishment of Ultra Boy's origin and new power set. Awkwardly placed, but important.

--Sun Boy once again seems to be acting as leader in this story.

--I think this is the first reference to crime being unusual in the 30th century.

--I find it interesting the way the story continues to focus on Ultra Boy as the protagonist, even after he is believed to be the villain. The reader is left wondering whether there isn't in fact some merit to what he says, that he may have a criminal past, but he has done good since then. And his attempts to help the "monsters" also show that there's still good in him, if there's any doubt. I also love the line about how being "a hunted outlaw" is "so terribly lonely". It plays wonderfully with the theme of inclusion and being part of something bigger that is important to the Legion mythos.

--Any appearance by the Puppet Planetoid rocks!

--One of those monsters looks suspiciously like a Pyramid-Man of Altair! Those crazy Coluans should know better than to try to replicate Krytponian mind-transfer experiments!

--The idea that Daxamite are "great biophysicists", hinted at before in the Return of Lightning Lad story, is now officially established.

--The World of Fiery Rivers! The World of Crystals! Mirage World! More Hamilton grooviness.

--Phantom Girl's role in this story is less substantial (no pun intended) than I remembered it, but she does show herself as smart, brave, and resourceful. I'm reminded quite a bit of Night Girl effectively betraying the Subs to the Zyzans-in-disguise bit from that story, however, though this one had better results.

--So, the basic idea here is that mystery raiders steal tech (including weapons) from various worlds. Jo wants to avoid a direct confrontation with them, because the weapons they have already stolen might do massive damage in a fight. So he stages this elaborate ruse of pretending to go rogue in order to get himself taken into the confidence of the Mystery Raiders, who covet the secret weapons of the Legion. It's actually a pretty nice plot.

--The "freeze ray" that affect only non-humans is pretty silly, so I'll just assume the Legionnaires have some special protection against that particular ray!

--One problem: So Jo plants the file on himself in the rogues' gallery while he's scanning the aliens and before he rejoins the others. It's not until after he joins the others that Sun Boy suggests the "unusual" step of searching the rogues' gallery. So, er... how did Jo know to plant the record?

--Interesting alternative possible endings abound: It wouldn't have taken much for Ultra Boy to have actually turned out to be a criminal, and then decide to serve out his time at the end, hoping to one day re-earn his Legion membership. (Somewhat similar to the Tom Tanner story...)

--Anyway, this is a really solid story that's definitely important as the next step in establishing Ultra Boy as a major player in the Legion.

I was struck by the recurring themes in this story: the lost civilization planet (this one looking somewhat the worse for wear), the freezing ray, the raiders and the first of several Ultra Boy on the run stories.



It surprises me how much of the later characterization was set in these early stories. Imra and Tinya were never close, the friction between them sometimes came to the surface (was it during the Reflecto storyline that they had that heart-to-heart talk about love?). I always figured it was Jo and Lar's friendship that made Tinya and Tasmia close friends, but maybe even without Tasmia, Tinya would never have been chummy with Imra.



I had to wonder if the Legion subconsciously didn't want to catch him. That might have been too subtle a storyline for that era, but it could have been in Hamilton's mind as he was writing. Or maybe he just wanted to play up Jo's cleverness.



Was the original like this as well? I thought it might just be some Archive fill-in of lost pages.



This was the clunkiest part of the story for me. It just broke the flow of the action.



Alas, all these wild and crazy planets, never seen again.



Oops! I totally missed this lapse. That's a hard one to explain away.



That would have taken him out of the stories for a while, but since he was eventually portrayed as a street criminal/gang member anyways, it could have been pretty interesting!

-

I'm reading these stories in the Showcase Presents collections, which lack color. In black and white, the difference in the art styles is obvious.

Actually, I think those pages are pulled directly from Jo's first story, and reprinted. They're basically identical, and we saw them just use this reprinting technique in the Subs story.

Was that George Papp on the first? Usually it was on Superboy.

I don't have the issue in front of me, but the page I referenced above (Page 3 of Part 2) shows the Legionnaires in their ship while they are pursuing Jo. It's not from Superboy # 98.

Looks like a page that was badly scanned from a printed copy, and not reinked to match the original:


[Click-for-larger, and compare Cosmic Boy's head - especially the ear - in panel 4...]

It looks like they cranked up the contrast on the scan, possibly to burn out the original color cross-hatching and lost a lot of the finer linework in the bargain. Maybe the original black and white inked pages were lost.

^Fascinating scan.

The only other copy of Adv. 316 I have (other than the color-less Showcase Presents) is a reprint in Adventure Comics (digest) # 502 (1983). In it, Page 3 is a lot closer to the scan on the left, although the coloring is different.

It's also hard to tell in the smaller size whether the artwork matches that on Page 4 or not.

Here's the original spread.

Thanks for the scan, Jim. I suspect you and Reboot are right about the scans used in the Archives and Showcase Presents. There doesn't seem to be a noticeable difference in the art of the original two pages.

It's fascinating to learn how comics (and reprints) are put together.

BTW, I'm just now realizing that the scientist and his three subjects have green skin--hence the Coluan comment made earlier.

One advantage of reading the stories in b&w, though, is that it forces me to focus more on the story and less on the art.

I doubt they had many of the original art pages to work with. Possibly the copy they were working with was either badly printed on that page, or the page had been damaged at some point.

Another thought: When was Archive 2 released? I know some of the early Archives were made by literally bleaching the coloured ink out of printed comic pages (a process known as "Theakstonization"). Maybe that page was over-bleached, or the person tasked with tidying it up was careless.

Or, finally, it may just have been badly traced - tracing/redrawing was apparently fairly common in the earlier Marvel Masterworks (their Archive counterparts).

Adventure #317

The last story in the second Archive completes the process of finalizing the early Legion roster by firming up the roles of Light(ning) Lass and Star Boy going forward. As we’ve talked about, this process was a big part of the second Archive, and naturally, the subsequent archives will immediately switch to the process of making subtle changes to it. Here, Ayla goes from Lightning Lass to Light Lass to differentiate herself, though it does have the unfortunate side effect of making her significantly weaker. In fact, her powers are never really given their due until all the way until the threeboot by Mark Waid. Meanwhile, at long last Star Boy is firmly established once and for all, getting a complete overhaul in powers, and a bit more of a personality.

Beyond that, the other major thing is of course this story introduces two major characters. The first, Dream Girl, is really only a shade of her future self, though she certainly stands out enough to merit recurring requests for her return. The second, the Time Trapper, becomes the next major subplot for the near future. Here, he only starts out as a vague type concept—though some might argue he’s never really moved beyond that in 50 years.

Oh yeah. And its also the first Baby Legion story. Which was never my favorite story trope until one Michael Lash made me realize how innately silly it was.

The cover is a classic, with the baby Legionnaires whining and Dream Girl looking all femme fatale. Early Dream Girl appearances make me think of Rhino suggesting “is Nura in her undies?” which adds a new layer to her obvious and intentional sex appeal. She might as well be wearing all satin—thus, the real Satin Girl! Her platinum hair invokes many of the platinum blonde sex symbols of the prior era, but she’s always kind of felt like a cross between Bridgette Bardot and a young Kim Novak to me. The next splash page really hammers the point home about what a sexpot Nura is, with the amusing fringes showing the male Legionnaires with their tongues around their ankles and a furious Lu, Ayla and Imra. While Ayla and Lu is kind of amusing, it doesn’t fit for Imra to be jealous unless they overtly show its about Garth specifically. Otherwise, I don’t see her as the type to play those games.

I’d be interested in a story dedicated to Matter-Eater Lad and Star Boy exploring the devastated world. Great to see them both again!

The Time Trapper is mentioned in what feels like a throwaway concept at first, which also introduces the concept of the Iron Curtain of Time. How ominous! I know science-fiction had some good Cold War allegories, but this one is a bit on the nose!

Kid Heavyfeathers, or Rann Antar for non-LWers, is introduced in a ploy to explain Thom’s “new” powers. Poor Khf!

The boys temporarily lose sanity but good ol’ Imra is there to straighten them out. She quickly rejects Nura, since a good pair of legs and falling asleep ain’t enough to impress the Legion’s #1 femme. Yet, the boys object! Stupid boys!

Nura makes it into the Legion afterall, though Imra quickly changes into a mini-skirt to see if she can retake Garth’s wandering eye. He’s nowhere to be found so one must assume she was successful! Soon enough he heads off on a mission off-panel, likely at the instigating of Imra. Either that or a coloring mistake!

Poor Ayla is Nura’s first victim! Much like Star Boy, she’s too quick to give in to Dream Girl’s meanness. Probably because she wants to do the same things to her that Star Boy wants to do.

Nura’s schemes continue until eventually reducing four Legionnaires to super-tots. I note Jo is screaming for his mother—surely due to long repressed abandonment issues that eventually led to a life on the streets!

Watching Jo bounce Bouncing Tot is pretty cool! I wish I had a bouncing ball friend when I was a kid! Meanwhile Lil’ Garth teases Lil’ Vi mercilessly. Jeez! Young Garth must have emulated Mekt quite a bit!

Eventually the truth comes out, with Star Boy playing the role Tinya did the issue before (re: believing in the accused). I have to say, compared to last issue, this issue doesn’t measure up at all. Dream Girl is not really sympathetic at all, and Thom comes off more as a sucker than a loyal friend or romantic lead. In fact, Thom’s portrayal here likely influenced his subsequent portrayals as one of the more negative / pessimistic / weaker willed Legionnaires.

All in all, this isn’t a bad story, and it does have a pretty straight-forward plot. But a lot of it is material we’re by now well familiar with, and have already seen done better. The one saving grace is the interesting development of the Time Trapper plot which provides quite a lot of promise. Unfortunately that won’t really be realized, though it is ironic that the Time Trapper story begins and ends with two separate “super babies” stories.

Adventure #317

This issue was actually more interesting than I remembered it being. Aside from obvious things like bringing back Star Boy and introducing Dream Girl, it's notable in that the main plot is interwoven with two subplots, one of which will be continued in future issues. In a way, then, it kind of forecasts writing styles that will become more prominent in the future. It suffer somewhat, however, in that the subplots are actually quite a bit more interesting than the main plot.

--More lightning being used to carve statues!

--Er... so about that great untold story of Thom's "detached duty"? Or are we supposed to believe he's been investigating this bombed out world all this time... and took Matter-Eater Lad with him, thus explaining the latter's absence this entire volume?

--The Iron Curtain of Time! Really such a cool concept at the core. Time Travel is so much a part of the Legion mythos at this point that a villain who interferes with time travel is pretty cool.

--Man, having to listen to the constitution before every freaking meeting? That's got to be time-consuming!

--Kid Heavyfeathers! Also, "Kid Plot Device to Reintroduce Star Boy!"

--"Would you like a chair Dream Girl? And by "chair" I mean a couch you pose seductively on?"

--Little known fact: Ron-Karr actually did a brief stint as ad spokesperson for Neptune Nectar. The slogan: Neptune Nectar, the drink that never goes flat!

--Man, I hate it when long-buried eggs suddenly hatch into giant monsters!

--Okay, so I kind of suspect that the original plan was that Dream Girl would play a major role in the Time Trapper saga. For even though she denies that she can see beyond a few days when they ask her to peer behind the curtain, she later reveals that she can actually see "a few weeks" into the future, which suggests she could potentially see beyond the curtain. It wouldn't surprise me if it was Hamilton's original plan to work Nura into the eventually big confrontation with the Time Trapper.

--Dream Girl's tricks for expelling Legionnaires vary in plausibility. While causing Ayla to seemingly lose her powers and de-aging four Legionnaires both seem like plausible excuses for sidelining them, the "making false charges" rule that takes out both Triplicate Girl and Matter-Eater Lad seems kind of lame.

--I really like Tenzil's use in this story. Even though he ends up being as much a dupe of Dream Girl as everyone else, he actually ends up coming off pretty sympathetic.

--The ending seems a bit rushed, but not too bad. Of course, the whole plot would've been over early on if Dream Girl had just let Matter-Eater Lad finish his tour of the defense plans!

Again, I find the Atomic World and the Time Trapper both far more interesting than the Dream Girl trying to prevent the apparent deaths of Legionnaires plot. Unfortunately, the atomic world is never seen again, and the Time Trapper, though it remains an ongoing subplot, eventually fizzles out in a pretty disappointing story (which also showcase Legionnaires turned into children).

Adv. 317

It feels like Hamilton is telling the same story over and over. Once again, a Legionnaire has to hide the truth to protect the other members of the team. Saturn Girl uses punishment as an excuse to ground the Legionnaires in # 304. Ultra Boy pretends to be a criminal to save the Legion in 316. Even the Subs keep the truth from the Legionnaires in all three of their appearances (though their reasons for doing so are slightly more plausible than those given in the other stories.)

Even new Legionnaires Lightning Lass (308) and Element Lad (307) had secrets to keep.

Now we've got newest Legionnaire Dream Girl borrowing a page from Saturn Girl's diary and upping her, not by grounding her fellow Legionnaires but by causing them to be expelled.

Really, it's amazing that any Legionnaire learned to trust any other member of the team!

In addition to this repetitive plot device, "The Menace of Dream Girl" suffers from one-dimensional and stereotypical portrayals of males and females. I suppose the story could be taken as a humorous commentary on how teenaged boys think of nothing but sex and will fall for any cute girl in the room, and how girls automatically become jealous when any other female gets boys' attention. But it's played straight when every boy Legionnaire brings Dream Girl gifts and sees to her comfort. This would be plausible only if DG had Charma-like ability to enslave men's minds.

And, as noted above, Dream Girl isn't sympathetic as a character (unlike Jo, last issue, who seemed to care for people even after he was "exposed" as a criminal). Rather, she comes off as a female Command Kid ( Adv. 328). In fact, this story has essentially the same plot as "The Lad Who Wrecked the Legion" -- but DG is too cute to be possessed by a demon, so she ends up recanting at the end, in a scene which, like the rest of the story, seems wholly unbelievable.

The good parts of the story: Hamilton is starting to feature a variety of Legionnaires, including Star Boy and M-E Lad, and Saturn Girl is finally starting to act like a leader. This story also gives more than one female character (Saturn Girl) something to do, and while Ayla's shift in power might seem a downgrade, being able to lift a now lightweight Legion clubhouse seems pretty darn impressive.

And, as also noted above, the subplots such as the "atom war" and the Time Trapper are more intriguing than the main story.

Adv. 317 is more interesting for what it sets up in terms of future stories than how it stands on its own merits.

Of course, this is Young Proty-Garth. Which means even baby Altairans can be mean.

And extremely boring! Perhaps if they set it to a rap beat . . .



Interestingly, neither Tenz nor Lu get to demonstrate their powers in this story. On the one hand, that's a good thing as there are no clunky scenes to explain what they can do. On the other hand, as a reader I feel cheated when super-powered characters don't act super or demonstrate sufficient reason for being present.

In the first two Legion stories I read, Triplicate Girl appears much as she does here, without actually doing anything. This led my young mind to conclude she was the group's secretary rather than an actual Legionnaire. ("Fill these out in triplicate, girl.")

One one hand (again), it's realistic and believable for members of the team to appear in the story without contributing much. However, using them as random supporting characters seems to lack imagination.

Yay! I remembered to read a story in time for maybe the third or fourth instance in this project!

Re-reading this story, I can't help but chuckle about a tiny aspect of Nura's early look that confused me when I was younger: her barette! Specifically, I thought it was an antenna sticking out of her head that was maybe a physical explanation for her gift. And as I simultaneously read about an older Nura, circa the GDS and later, I wondered what ever happened to it!

I still thought this well into my adulthood and (in)famously brought this up years later on DC's LSH message board during the formative or proto months of the LMB. Needless to say, I embarrassed the hell outta myself when the truth of the 'antenna' was explained to me! I feel to this day that the LMB making one of its induction 'gifts' to new members a 'Nura Nal Barette' (along with a 'walking ring')is an homage/reminder of my embarrassment!

In my defense, though, it's pretty damn prominent! Plus, very few Legionnaires (possibly just Lyle's headband?) were known to have anything in or around their hair as their regular look at the time. I think I also made some connection between the supposed antenna and the floaty eye thingies that her sister Mysa would sport when she joined decades later. (I read Levitz/Giffen circa GDS simultaneously to those digests that reprinted the Adventure run.)

And I SWEAR it doesn't look like the barette is doing much! I don't know much about female hairstyles, but it seems like a barette would be holding the hair flip up higher or something!

Putting all that aside, Dreamy was still a knockout back in her early appearances! She showed more skin than any of the other females at the time and had that foxy platinum hair. I like that her scientific know-how was always in place as was her determination and grit. I'm glad she didn't stay gone, as some prior throwaway characters did, and would return eventually as an important regular.

Unrelated to Dreamy, it's interesting how Hamilton used an atomic war-ravaged world somewhat prominently in the plot. Obviously, this was written during the early Cold War and in the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis, so this was his way of referencing the very real fears that were so prevalent. So much so that it would make it thru the bright and shiny Silver Age of DC here, though in a small way.