Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Reading the Legion: Archives #7

I'm with you, Fanfie. Love the Shadow Lass!

Thanks, LT.

She was awesome from the very start, a ground-breaking character.

You're right, it was the times. I think one reason I remark about things like this is because I read these stories back in those times as a 12-year-old boy, and I never questioned those depictions. Frail females and protective males were depicted as "the real world" in all media, and to an extent people did live by those cultural "standards", or tried to appear to.

I, too, can accept that this story is of the times, but I find those elements more jarring now than I did back then. And I'm glad of that.

This is just one example by which I'm encouraged that a community/society can and does change when people are courageous and persistent in speaking their truth, and when enough others finally hear and understand and begin to change their own behavior to bring dignity and justice where it was lacking.

Sometimes comic books lead the way. Sometimes they follow.

Very well said.

Adventure Comics 366

I think the second half of this story is almost as good as the first half.

First the things I like:

- Shadow Lass kicking ass, especially against the Emerald Empress. Also Shadow Lass having a crush on Brainy (whom I like a lot more than Mon-El) and just generally being awesome.

- Brainy ALMOST listening to his heart.

- Cosmic Boy getting punched in the ribcage by the Persuader. I hope a couple of ribs cracked.

- Karate Kid being a doofus, not once but twice.

- Most of the Swan/Shooter/Klein art. Sarya looks especially lovely on Page 9, panel 2. Brainy and Shady look adorable throughout pages 14 and 15. And the radiation emitting from Mano's hand on page 4, panel 4 looks so cool.

- The whole climactic battle.

Now the things I didn't like so much:

- The cheesy cover and opening splash, with the wrestling ring.

- Swan and Shooter messed up the splash page of Validus attacking Metropolis. It's not terrible, but it's far from great.

- Tharok overestimating his own brilliance. But then, this was the Silver Age, when it was obligatory for villains to have lapses of intelligence.

- Mano pulling his radioactive punch against Karate Kid. Fry the guy, Mano. (Just kidding.)

- The "cavalry" arriving at just the right time. I can't think of a better alternate ending right now, but there must be one.

Overall, the second Legion/Fatal Five battle comes up just short of the iconic first battle. But the story introduces Shadow Lass, and the Legion will never be the same (and will someone please explain to me why the pre-Adventure 350 Legionnaires are supposed to be so much more important than the post-Adventure 350 ones, including Shadow Lass??)

Adventure Comics 366

Gosh, those soldiers packed more of a punch than expected last issue. Naturally, their weapons contained Kryptonite, showing once again that Superboy shouldn't be in this story. Shadow Lass, now "Shady", is also taken out far too easily. Beaten, the Legion win through sheer luck.

Deciding on what to do now they have been freed, Tharok exerts his control over the group. I don't think it was ever the same after this story, with the Persuader and Mano becoming less and less effective with each use as their role as lackeys became cemented. But for, now the bickering continues in that great way only top flight villains can manage. Even when they achieve their first goal, the Persuader is annoyed, not appreciating the deeper levels of Tharok's mind.

Still, they think big and proceed to try to take over the UP. Not only by capturing Metropolis, but because of a certain device held in the city that affects the United Planets. I'm reminded of Infinite Crisis, years later, where a mass of villains attacked Metropolis...just because. There, it was one of the climactic parts of the series. Here's, it's just another plot point popped into a two-parter.

There's a gap in Tharok's planning that results in a confrontation with the Legion. This is when Tharok was every bit as smart, if not more so, than Brainy. So, you know that he will be relentless, and clever in getting what he wants.

There's a genuine fear of Validus shared by everyone in the book. The Legionnaires have fairly serious, focused, personalities in the Adventure issues. It amplifies the threats that they face. So, when the Legion are worried, you know it must be something quite terrible indeed. There will be a prime example of this is upcoming issues.

The Legion clubhouse, symbolising the defeat of the UP/heroism to the might of the five takes a terrible beating. Inside, Shadow Lass is the only one who has fallen over hurt. It's Brainy's turn to carry her this time. Something else else he must have enjoyed as the lighting from Validus' head aren't the only sparks flying around.

All of this electricity must have affected Tharok's chips. Holding the legion over a barrel, he then allows them the option of a fight for the spoils. Perhaps the cover and the splash page were drawn first and Weisinger told Tharok he'd just have to go along with it. If he had any sense he would just have proceeded with his plan.

Shady's bravery in, if not exactly standing with the Legion, so much as falling over while they face great peril gets her membership to the team.

Still, if there was a villain group who had a reason to be convinced of their power, it's these guys. They are deadly and Shooter does well to show their power while keeping the Legion alive. It's a fine line to walk in places. Shooter even shows us additional depth to the villains powers for good measure. There's more to the Persuader than his axe and Tharok ingenuity in taking out Brainy shows the intellectual pecking order there.

This, for me, is where Shady proves her worth to the team. Empress and Shadow Lass have similar long range powers. But where the Empress depends on the Eye, Shadow Lass is more than capable of going in for a firm punch to the jaw. Faced with terrible odds, she then lends her power to assist the others. They all escape in well written ways from the deadly quintet who are only driven off by the arriving UP reinforcements.

It's a very well earned draw for the Legion against the Five and a victory for the UP. But it's also important that the Five have not been diminished by not achieving their aims. They can return just as strong for the next conflict.
As an epilogue, we see the signs that a new HQ is on the way. We also see Shady and Brainy arm in arm. I wonder how that turns out?

A very enjoyable story with an exotic desert locale; a genre shift to espionage; very well choreographed battles and a villainous group still in their prime with multi layered plans of conquest. Lovely Swan art pulls off every part of the plot too.

In regards to Superboy's presence in this story, I felt like this was one of the first (and only?) instances where he was truly portrayed as "a member of the Legion" rather than the star or the Legion's co-star in the story. From beginning to end, Superboy's unusual circumstances as a member are never even mentioned, and he's able to stand out based on his personality alone.

This underscores one of the things I mentioned I liked the most in the story, which is the camaraderie the Legionnaires show throughout. These heroes are warriors with a bond between them, and as that bond extends to Shadow Lass, its even more impressive. Superboy's toned down, yet important role is a big part of that.

And in regards to #300, I couldn't agree more with Fanfie. There was never any need for Levitz to so overtly address this continuity issue. The much better play would have been to let fans speculate about this for years and perhaps drop a hint in here or there without *ever* doing a story about continuity.

Making continuity an important piece of a story is one thing. It's a bit indulgent, but it can work brilliantly. Making continuity be *the* story reason for a story is fan-fiction nonsense 9/10ths of the time.

I read this story Saturday night when I was waiting for a sleeping pill to take effect on me. As I got further into it, I started feeling the effects and kind of labored through it to finish it. So it may be due to the circumstances of my reading it, but I didn't enjoy the story as much as I thought I would. This is not to say that I didn't like it overall, but it's fair to say it didn't meet my expectations.

I don't know......I think a part of it is all of the hoops that were jumped through (or ignored) to make Superboy less of a factor. I mean, during that entire desert sequence, I couldn't help but think that with his super-speed and abilities that he could at least have sped off to get them more supplies or even have transported them, one at a time, off to their destination making some of the hardships they experienced unnecessary. Superboy was so omnipotent back then that much of the struggle seems kind of silly. I think instead of forcing us to believe that Kal couldn't do his thing undetected by Talokian technology or even later introducing Kryptonite or "red sun tech" conveniently, Shooter could simply have had Talok VIII be positioned around a red sun! But this would have not allowed Supes to have and survive his particular trap--I know, I know.

As someone else said, this story would have worked better without Superboy's conclusion. But I suppose it was editorially driven at the time. Still, a cameo at the beginning and at the end with the calvalry's arrival might have filled the quota.

But, once again, I did like the allegory at the beginning in which Talok VIII has inexplicably turned into a rogue, warlike state. Shooter again puts a light touch of real world metaphor into his story without being at all preachy. He shows us once again that he's quite a gifted writer, even at so young an age.

Shady does have a great intro, despite often being the damsel in distress, as has been mentioned. In her first story, we meet not only her but also her home planet, albeit a mesmerized version of it. It's a really memorable, distinctive and noteworthy intro in comparison to previous members. Most previous ones appeared first in a try-out or amongst a group of inductees. Others appeared first as part of a mydtery about their intentions or identity as did Jan, Ayla and Nura off the top of my head. Nura appears as an ally for a specific mission and earns her way onto it, even though doing so seems to be a death sentence--either in the dire circumstances of the mission or in the future, given her statue in the Adult Legion story. In any case it shows the legion storytelling continuing to grow up and apart from specific tried-and-true formulas. Well done!

It's a shame, though, that so much effort seems to be put into obscuring the identities of our villains when the cover of 365 and its splash page clearly announce who they are. I was hoping that perhaps the identity of the 5's collaborator may have been a backdoor surprise, but he's just a mind-controlled Talokian.

Another nice touch is that the story doesn't end with the Fatal Five defeated. Certainly, this is another innovation in the Silver Age formula. It's a bit bothersome that super-intelligent Tharok wouldn't have planned for the calvalry arriving or that they wouldn't have arrived earlier. But it's interesting seeing the Clubhouse visibly extremely damaged, showing more consequences atypical of the time.

So after a throwback to the height of the Silver Age in the previous Super-Pets story, we have one that points directly forward. It's not a perfect story and could have benefited with not having Superboy, but it is certainly a pretty good one.

Thanks, Cobie. Yeah, it really spoiled what was otherwise a very good issue. And it wasn't the only time she donned whiteface. She did it in the first Mordru story (more on that when we get to that story in the next Archive) and in one of Paul Levitz's 1970s stories. It just feels so wrong.

Good point, Lardy. I'm surprised such a gaffe got by the notoriously micro-managing Mort Weisinger.



That's very true. And much later, during the 1980s, Levitz would address Talok VIII's difficulties in recovering from the events in this story. Talok VIII is an unexplored goldmine of stories.

So....we didn't do a story last week?!? Is it because we did a 2-parter the previous week?!?!

(I'm fully prepared to blame Cobie again! )

LOL

I had been planning to chime in tomorrow on Adventure 367 (the last story in this Archive, BTW), but since I don't have a lot to say about it, I can do it right now.

Basically, I think Shooter's portrayal of Karate Kid is at its Mary Sue-ing worst, with Val cleaving the front of a TANK with his BARE HAND! It also introduces the Miracle Machine, one of my least favorite parts of the Legion mythos, because it's just too damn powerful to suspend disbelief -- it's like being asked to believe in a wishing well.

On the plus side, the Swan/Shooter/Klein/Moldoff art is up to the high standards established in the issues immediately preceding this one, especially the first half, which was inked by Klein.

In my opinion, 367 and 368 (the Thora story) are the low points of Shooter's Adventure run, then he gets somewhat back on track with the Mordru story, and then gets really good again with the Colossal Boy/School for Super-Villains story.

Adventure Comics #367

This is another issue I've always loved ever since I first took the time to learn what exactly the preboot LSH was back in 1995 or so. While it has one or two things that aren't my favorite (re: miracle machine), it has a lot to enjoy.

First off, let me talk artwork. I've been saying again and again, like a broken record, that Swan's late 60's art, especially with Klein on inks, is a revelation. Swan has always been good but a little bland to me...and clearly I didn't give enough time to evaluate the man's work. His work in these years has been explosive and dynamic, and that continues here. The splash page where the miracle machine transports the Dark Circle off Earth is (to me) one of most magnificent looking pages in LSH history, and one that has always stands out. Seeing it again, I can't help but stare into it.

I've always liked the Dark Circle immensely. They arrive at a time when cults, foreign spies, terrorist groups and guerrillas were things Americans were concerned about in modern times, and you can see a lot of that in their threatening manner. But what sets them apart from dozens of other DC or Marvel organizations is they take place in the 31st century--and that makes them infinitely cooler with much more possibilities.

There is a throwaway "five worlds" comment, which likely inspired Levitz' clone story 15 or so years later. That was a good story but I never really loved that twist; I like the innate mystery of the DC.

This issue also gives one the iconic LSH headquarters, which I always associate as the historical favorite of LWers Lightning Lad, Omni Craig and others from a thread way back in 2004 or something.

The issue opens with three of my faves: Karate Kid, Sun Boy and Brainy, and I like how Shooter showcases the new HQ with fun, energetic dialogue.

I know Val gets more panel time once again, which may annoy some readers, but these are the issues that made him one of my favorites as a kid! The extended emphasis on him worked like a charm on 14 year old Cobie even if it was 26 years after they were originally published. And for me, his karate MUST allow him to smash a tank--and he needs to do something like that every time he appears, to justify his membership.

One thing I didn't like is how easily Luornu was captured, but I wonder of that was done to foreshadow her self doubt in the Mordru story.

The one part of the story I really dislike--and it's a big one since the whole last quarter of the issue revolves around it--is the miracle machine. The reason to not like it is self evident to me, but in short: in an era when Superboy could almost always already be a duex a machina if needed, this just takes it one step farther without Superboy's weaknesses. Now perhaps if there was one amazing story about the danger of the miracle machine, and a Legionnaire overstepping, it would pay off, but we never got that story. Here, when it is revealed it basically turns the story into a miracle machine story instead of a DC story; in turn we thus have villains with motivations we don't know with a fix they (and we) didn't earn. It derails a good start.

That being said, I still enjoyed it! There isn't much of a story there but it had action, Legionnaires doing cool things and great art.

Lettercol alert: Liz Kane still runs the show in LSH fandom and it makes me feel like she's the LMB's Red Tornado.

PS - the next review is Superboy #147, correct? I just want to be sure we're all on the same page...

This.

I think they came pretty close with Jim Starlin's Omega story, but even that one was only a qualified success.

I don't have Superboy #147, because even though I have Archives #6 and #7 and #10-13, I have the Showcase Presents trades instead of Archives #8 and #9.

I think then maybe we can review Superboy #147 at the end of the week, since it's just a quick 8 or so pages, and therefore move right into the next Adv early next week--this way there isn't a whole week delay for you Fanfie. I'd rather we accommodate any of the active posters in the thread right now, so if anyone else has similar things coming up, let me know!

That being said, if you want to read the issue, there is a free copy online that I can point you towards (PM me).

Thanks, Cobie, but if it's just a short recounting of the Legion's oft-told origin, I think I'll pass. I've got too much on my plate to read as it is.

Very nice of you to offer, though. I appreciate it.

And I think your plan is sound -- there's a LOT I have to say about the Thora story...very little of it good.

Adventure #367
The seed of public dissatisfaction of the Legion are first sown here, when the tax payers find out they are going to be paying for the new Legion HQ.

It was a bad moment for Brainy to walk past with plans for ludicrously dangerous experiments and Karate Kid to transport in blocks of expensive materials to break.
Not only is the headquarters built out of rare components (without Element Lad in sight it should be added) but the Legion have also billed the UP for a devastating arsenal. A dimensional blaster with infinite range that can pierce space and time. Why would you ever need to leave the HQ?

More ludicrous fixtures and fittings follow including a control room that can contact any planet in the universe and ejector seats to propel the team across the city in under a minute.

It's not just the Legion that's getting a technological make over. We are introduced to core tubes that can take people through the planet. I suspect the tunnels have been made from all the times Superboy and Supergirl drilled into the Earth's crust down the years.

The Legion get so many goodies, you'd think that they were actually the villainous overlords of the galaxy. I half expect the Fatal Five to turn up for try outs.
The Fatal Five also happen to have two of the vital UP defence keys. With the Legion scattered seven Dark Circle leaders agree the time is right to attack the UP. As insidious as the Circle are, they are more than just a group of super villains. They provide a counter point to the United Planets. The Circle represent five worlds. We can't see their faces, but their threat may not be alien, but based on human cultural differences.

There's a nice interlude with Karate Kid. Yes, he's Shooter's favourite, but we see something of Japan in this era. We learn about Val's upbringing and that he was brought up as a foundling in the city. We know that Karate Kid is working hard at every opportunity during his time with the Legion. There's a lot more to him than just having super powers. There's a bittersweet moment when his sensei casually mentions Val training another in the future. A future we know didn't come to pass.
Having already introduced us to the toughest material around, Shooter doesn't have to draw our attention to Val breaking a bar of it in two later on in the issue. An simple example of good writing.

Val continues to get a lot of space devoted to him as he tackles the start of the Circle invasion of Tokyo. We see him hold his own for as long as he can before wisely retreating for reinforcements.

But Karate Kid has to face overwhelming odds alone, as Shooter widens the scope of the invasion with sudden menace.

The Circle have attacked all over Earth. We see the Legion fight valiantly, but slowly lose momentum to the invading armies. Superboy gets trapped, is rescued only to fall again.

In the end only Brainiac 5 stands between the Circle and victory. He's almost cornered when the Legion's literal deus ex machina appears. As a suddenly materialising Karate Kid holds off the Circle, Brainy deduces, and who else could, that the power comes from a device Shooter introduced at the start of the issue.

One of the Legion's most iconic images leads into the Circle being swept off of Earth, back to their home worlds. Moments later, the Legion HQ is finished around the team.

We witness the sheer possibility of the Miracle Machine. Where Cosmic Boy immediately thinks of it's uses, Brainy urges caution. He always was more interested in the questions than getting instant solutions.

A Controller appears to add weight to Brainy's warning. "If you thoughtlessly wished you were dead, you would die!" Unfortunately Superboy and Karate Kid thought "Why, it'll be nearly 20 years, at least, before I have to worry about that sort of thing."
The Legion seal up their gift from the Controllers, intending it's use only in the direst of emergencies. But it's there, sitting in the basement not only of the HQ but in everyone's minds. Of all the ridiculous technology introduced in the issue, it had the most impact on Legion history (as cute as Violet's mini arsenal was).

My reaction when I first read this issue was of feeling cheated that the Dark Circle were defeated so easily. By a technological genie in a box. The over the top technology didn't endear the issue to me either. We know that the Legion now have a way of evading any threat when it is great enough. But then, there are a lot of things than can go very wrong as the Controller points out.

To the story's credit, we learn a great deal about Karate Kid. It's not often we get so much space devoted to a single character. He, and all of the Legion show a lot of heroism in facing the Circle armies. Phantom Girl, becoming material in a vain attempt to directly assist her friends; Superboy fighting on without super strength; two of the founders going all out against the enemy hordes and Brainy's calm under pressure. Duo Damsel seemed underpowered. If only she could become an army. If only...

Proof, along with his bad behavior in later Shooter stories, that Cosmic Boy should have been the one to mad instead of Brainy. Cos's version of Omega would probably have been much more phallic-looking.

Omega: I shall crush this world beneath my feet!
Rokk: There you go. It's always about you isn't it? What about me? I'm in the Legion, and when I need to relax, where are you? Off killing poeple. It's not on. I created you for me!
Omega: B..but Rokk!
Rokk: No! It's over! I'm going to have fun with people who only think about my needs, just like I do. >slap<
Omega: Oh, Rokk! How could you? >dissolves into sobbing puddle<

Tasmia: Well done Imra. Getting Rokk to use his powers of Cosmic Selfishness really paid off.
Imra: Right. Let's get him back in the straight jacket.

Cos's Omega = Time Trapper!!

I thought the same exact thing!

LOL

No, Cos himself IS the Time Trapper. Thanks again, Tom McCraw.

So, the LMB hereby summon Paladin to duty!!

Legionnaire, we implore you to post your review!

Thereafter please start the Archive #8 thread, as this ongoing duty has henceforth become your honor...and your burden!