Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! Gerry Conway's Legion

He can join the frikkin' club.

Exactly. The entire DC line (well what was left after the rash of titles cancelled from the DC implosion) suffered horribly on many levels and quality was down across the board. Also
Gerry Conway became DC's go-to guy and was spread really thin over a bunch of titles. Besides Legion, he was writing JLA, Wonder Woman and some other titles that escape me at the moment.

Another problem was the changing formats forced on by the DC implosion. The Legion title went from being giant-sized to regular sized to then just 18 pages (and sometimes less) very quickly, and stories already in the can or in process had to be reworked for the new format (the Omega storyline for example). I think this led to some pacing problems and treading water in Gerry's early issues.

If you can prove to the clinic officials that you spent twenty-plus years believing that your aunt was actually your mother *, you too will qualify for the year-'round quantity discount on emergency sessions. Even over three-day weekends and on Klordny.

*<span style="font-size: 10px;">Or vice versa</span>

Conway was also writing Weird Western at the time. Firestorm became a back up feature in Flash which Conway continued to write.

Wonder Woman was undergoing major changes. Conway was essentially rebooting the series in a way that allowed Steve Trevor to be returned again while erasing his multiple deaths from Diana's memory.

On the Space Circus thread I theorized that Conway may have been overworked and burned out by the time he got to the Legion. I did a little research on his career today to help us consider that theory in our analysis of his Legion stories. This list is far from complete but it does give us an idea of how busy he was.

Conway started contributing to DC while still in his teens. Around 1970 he got some stories published in House of Secrets, All Star Westerns, and Phantom Stranger.

He received some attention from Roy Thomas who got him some work at Marvel which included being published in Daredevil, Man-Thing, and The Incredible Hulk.

He wrote the Amazing Spiderman from issue #111 (1972) until #149 (1975). He received critical acclaim for the death of Gwen Stacy story line and is credited with helping create the Punisher while working on that title.

He wrote Fantastic Four #133 (1973) through #152 (1974).

While at Marvel he also did some writing for Thor and Iron Man.

In 1976, for DC, he wrote the first few issues of the relaunched All Star Comics which featured the Super Squad and introduced Power Girl. He worked on this series with Thomas, Wally Wood, and, interestingly, Keith Giffen did some of the layouts. It was some of his earliest comics work. I found an interview where he had some very kind words about Conway.

1976 - Conway had become an editor at Marvel and had a brief stint as Editor in Chief. He wrote the DC/Marvel crossover tabloid Superman vs Spiderman.

1977 - He returned to DC writing the relaunch of the New Gods, a few issues of Super Team Family, some Superman and Batman stories, and a couple of issues of S/LSH #232 and #234 prior to becoming the regular writer.

He picked up the following regular assignments at DC:

Firestorm #1 through #5, plus an annaul, plust the back up series in Flash. The first issue was dated March 78.

Weird Western #45 through #70 (April 1978 to August 1980).

Justice League of America #151 (Feb 78) through #255 (October 86). Some major contributions here include bringing Zatanna and Firestorm into the League, introducing Red Tornado's adopted daughter Traya, several JLA/JSA summer team ups, and the introduction of the Detroit League.

Legion of Super-Heroes #248 (Feb 79) through #278 (August 81).

Wonder Woman #259 (Feb 79) through #285 (November 81).

During the late 70s and early 80s he also had occasional stories published in Superman, Action and DC Comics Presents. He was a regular contributer to DC Dollar Comics including steady runs on Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen and a few Supergirl stories in Superman Family. Some Hawkman, Black Canary and Red Tornado stories in World's Finest.

Firestorm reluanched in 1982. He wrote the first 53 issues, leaving the book in 1986.

He returned to Marvel in 1988 and wrote Spiderman for a couple of years before leaving comics for television. In 1990 he became a story editor for The Father Dowling Mysteries.

Thanks for the recap of Conway's career, Jerry.

It's easy to forget how ubiquitous he was, and how many major comics events he wrote. I didn't pay much attention to credits (still don't, for the most part), so I was unaware that he wrote Gwen Stacy's death, created the Punisher, etc.

I have some free time, so I hope Sketchy doesn’t mind if I go ahead and review the next two issues . . .

S/LSH # 258 (“The Mind Attack of the Psycho Warrior”) and LSH v.2 # 259 (“Psycho War”)

Insanity is a recurring theme in Conway’s Legion stories. First, we had Brainy and Tenz going mad, and now we have the Psycho-Warrior—the villain who kicks off the Legion’s own series (“at last,” as the cover of 259 says).

S/LSH # 258 begins where the previous issue left off, with the Legionnaires showing Brande what they’ve already learned: that the mastermind behind his bankruptcy is the president of Earth. Immediately afterwards, the Legion and Brande are attacked by phony science police officers. (Plot hole: Who sent the phony officers? One might assume it was President Kandru, but this is never stated. If so, it means the prez is guilty of far more than embezzlement! Attempted murder, maybe. Assault, definitely.)

The Legionnaires make short work of the phony officers before the real SP arrive, then they confont President Kandru in front of the Earth Planetary Council. Kandru doesn’t deny his crimes; in fact, he’s glad they’re out in open. He freely admits to stealing Brande’s money, apparently so it could be used to help rebuild earth. (Like a true politician, Kandru never explicitly says what he planned to do with the money.) The president is led away, and Brande, shamed by his previous lack of concern for his fellow man, tells Earthgov to keep the money, for which he receives a standing ovation.

The above is my favorite part of the story and, along with the cure of Brainy’s insanity, a high point of Conway’s run. Conway pulls off an ingenious reversal: the president, who committed the crimes, wins our sympathy because he did so out of concern for others while Brande, a good guy, is confronted by his own unintentional evil—indifference toward the suffering of others. Conway blurs the line between good and evil here, and asks us to consider those terms with far more complexity than super-hero comics are wont to do. Perhaps, since the reader identifies with Brande and the Legionnaires, he’s also asking us to consider our own indifference.

The resolution of this plotline, in fact, makes what follows anticlimactic. The Legion is attacked by a nutcase who escapes from the St. Croix mental hospital, and who targets four Legionnaires specifically: Superboy, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, and Sun Boy. Having learned the Legionnaires’ psychological weaknesses, the Psycho-Warrior attacks Dirk, Imra, and Garth, turning them into catatonic vegetables.

The story continues in 259, in which—in another lengthy flashback—the Legionnaires learn who the Pscycho Warrior is and why he hates them so much. Like the League of Super-Assassins before him, PW’s hatred is based on a misplaced anger due to a traumatic event: the death of his lover. It seems very realistic that he targetted those four Legionnaires solely because he saw them visiting Brainiac 5 when the latter was in the psych ward. (It is mentioned that he targetted Dirk specifically because PW’s lover died in a supernova, but this rationale seems almost an afterthought.) This story also took on greater resonance after John Lennon’s murder by a psychologically disturbed young man one year later.

All of this leads up to the main reason for this story: PW attacks Superboy by revealing to him how his foster parents died in the past (which, of course, is still in Superboy’s future). Nevertheless, Superboy is able to push through his anguish and defeat PW. Then, as Superboy returns to his own time, Saturn Girl—with the agreement of the other Legionnaires—implants a mental command in Superboy’s mind so he will never return to the 30th century and have to relive those memories.

Overall, the story holds together very well—if one accepts the shaky premise that brainwashing Superboy was necessary. If Saturn Girl could mentally command him not to return to the future, why couldn’t she command him to forget learning about the Kents’ death in the first place? Saturn Girl also mentions that he might discover other events about his future—but hasn’t that always been a danger? The Legion didn’t worry about him learning about Supergirl or Batman (Adv. # 341), for example, because a previous mental implant (by Supergirl herself) made him forget anything he learned about his own future when he returned to the 20th century. Why be concerned about what he might learn now?

It’s just a convenient excuse to remove Superboy from the title so he can star in his own solo book again (The New Adventures of Superboy) and the Legion can have its own series.

However, what should have been a major event comes off as anti-climactic. Because Superboy doesn’t know this is his last encounter with his friends from the future (and, as it turns out, it isn’t), the ending lacks emotional depth or resolution. Likewise, the Legion doesn’t seem all that teary-eyed about losing him; instead, they give him a quick brush-off, like a kid whose feelings they don’t want to hurt.

On the other hand, the scene where Kal learns of his foster parents’ demise is heart-wrenching and well scripted. It resonates with a fear all of us have and don’t allow ourselves to think about: that we will one day lose our parents and be powerless to prevent it.

So, the end of S/LSH and beginning of LSH v. 2 was a good story that could have been better. Conway may have been overworked at DC, but he knew how to make us think and pull our heart strings, for the most part.

By coincidence, I just read that issue and I have exactly the same objections. Conway addresses the issue of why they needed the hologram room when they had Princess Projectra, but only by hanging a lampshade over it . Conway has someone say that the hologram room was more effective than Jeckie, but there is no explanation of why this is the case. Similarly, there is also no explanation of why the Legionnaires had to take over the amusement park by force, instead of just explaining what they needed it for.

An odd point about #259 is that in this story, the villain attacks several Legionnaires with a weapon that's designed to paralyze their optic nerves. And it works on Wildfire, who has no optic nerves.

Thanks for the link to TV Trope, Sir Tim. I'd never heard the term "lampshade hanging" before. There are a bunch of other terms there that might be useful, as well.

As for the Legionnaires commandeering the park--I can only assume that doing so reduced the chance of anyone interfering with their plan.

It is indeed a shame that they didn't explain their motives to the park manager--they probably assumed that he would refuse since they needed the hologram room for what was essentially a personal matter. Still, it's a shame that they didn't try. The manager may have been a fan of Brainiac 5's who would have gladly made the room available, or perhaps they could have borrowed money to rent the room for an afternoon.

A word about Joe Staton's art.

Staton's competency increases as he goes along. The figures are no longer awkward, as they were in 248-49. In fact, his particular strength is that the camera angles and layouts keep the story moving without sacrificing clarity.

Yet Staton's art still has an annoying cartoonish quality, particularly in the faces. These issues look as if they were drawn for a very young audience and are quite a letdown from the more dynamic styles of Cockrum, Grell, and Sherman. It is perhaps not Staton's fault that his subdued style followed theirs.

I'm getting the impression of Staton as a reliable workhorse, a la Don Heck and Don Perlin, who got assignments because they always turned in their work on time and always did a competent job. They got work whereas more dynamic artists such as Neal Adams couldn't keep pace with the demands of a monthly comic.

I don't think Staton's Legion work will ever by among my favorites, but I do respect his work more after re-reading these issues. Many artists today have no clue how to pace a story or maintain clarity as well as he did.

HWW brings up a great point on the previous page about Conway’s attempt to take the Marvel style of overlapping plotlines and apply to DC’s comics. This was something Levitz and other 1980’s DC writers would take to the next level but in the late 1970’s it’s a much more apparent trend that Conway helped kick off (Len Wein late 1970’s work at DC being another place this is found). Conway had been doing this at Marvel with ASM and Thor for years—taking this concept from the late Marvel Silver Age and then adding even more plotlines and layers. Sometimes he would even go a bit *too* far, where subplots would take 6+ issues to resolve. I think it was something he constantly toyed around with throughout his entire career (the duration and execution of subplots), as any writer should.

The Subs assault on the League of Super-Assassins is one of those things I knew existed but completely forgot about until this thread. Kudos, Dean, for reminding me! I might have to dig that one out of the collection and reread it. Actually this entire thread has whetted my appetite to specifically reread this era. I’ve likely been a bit unfair to it in the past, since I’m usually rushing to get to Levitz’s stuff.

Brainiac 5 is such an essential figure to the Legion—moreso than any other I’d say, even Superboy, Mon-El and the three founders (with perhaps Saturn Girl being the closest). He’s the Legionnaire I would think most people think of when they hear “Legion of Super-Heroes”. Issues #256-257 help further that idea, giving a great Brainy story in the middle of a particular era.

I also like end result of the embezzlement story with Brande’s money. Conway shows science-fiction at its best here: take a highly imaginative setting and use it to showcase a story about real issues of the moment, such as man’s tendency to enjoy the good life and forget about the plight of his fellow men.

Oh, I totally agree. When we look at work from eras that were a bit farther away and can get some more historical context around it, its interesting to understand it in that sense. But I do believe writers have a responsibility to not let personal lives interfere in the quality of their work; though you would think they could let it inform the actual work itself (hopefully in a good way). But I agree, in the same way I believe an artist has no excuse not to meet a deadline. Just like an insurance agent has a duty to make sure the person is actually insured—it’s their job.

Little sidenote
Regarding Gerry Conway’s larger writing career, and since I’m a hardcore Spider-Man fan, I can say with some degree of confidence that Gerry Conway left his mark on Peter Parker in such a way that all subsequent Spider-Man stories bear a certain degree of his imprint. He’s probably the only other writer besides Stan to do this to Spider-Man. He not only wrote Gwen’s death, he wrote all the issues of Peter morning Gwen and the issues in which Peter finally is able to move on past it—and did it in a very convincing, realistic way (about two plus years of stories). He had become so well connected to Spider-Man that apparently they practically begged him to do the second solo Spider-Man comic, Peter Parker: Spectacular Spider-Man.

Oh, some other great characters he created were the Jackal and Firelord. But so many of his best creations at Marvel were the characters that have never reappeared since their debut like Kartag the Keeper.

So this thread inspired me to dig out some of my Legion stuff and read it, and for some reason I thought I had more of Conway's stuff. Turns out I'm missing a lot of issues that you guys are talking about and I have only one issue of the "Space Circus of Death" instead of both.

Therefore, don't have a lot to comment on now (don't want to get too far ahead of the thread) but I have to say that I also enjoyed issues #256 and #257. True there are plot holes (and the classic "we can't tell you why we are doing this" even though there is no conceivable reasons why they can't except it would ruin the tension) but the character moments seem genuine.

Early on all the drama felt ridiculous and over the top, but here it is either dialed back or fits the context of the story better. The look at Brainy's past is nice (how many times has Brainy gone insane and had to look at his past, that happened postboot also right?) and just seeing the Legion's love of each other is nice.

Art still isn't great, but it is serviceable.

Thanks for keeping things moving, HWW, and also to the others who've added comments. This is a fun and interesting project. I've been kind of busy the last couple of days, so I had a little lapse in posting.

I'm getting the impression that Conway and/or the editor have felt the need for making minor scenes have more drama than neccessary. For example, taking over the whole park (Cosmic World) instead of just using the room they needed with permission, and in #258 when they created fake murderous cops for absolutely no reason or explanation. This over-the-top drama in the quiet moments make the typical anti-climaxes even more anti-climactic.

In #258, I will agree that President Kandru's motives were understandable and Brande's reaction was pretty noble. I mean, maybe the UP could have tried ***communicating*** with Brande, but I'm sure the President was not thinking clearly.

As for the Psycho Warrior, man, he sure is powerful and sneaky! We'll have to see what happens next issue.

This part of the story moved right along. Threads were coming together and the dialogue and narration were not over the top. The only real complaint was the fake, murderous cops out of nowhere.

This DID feel like part one of a 2 parter for sure.

#259 opens with the Legion reeling from the Psycho Warrior's sneak attack. Um, somehow they, even Superboy, could not detect that he's just behind a hill next to them.

We learn the origin of PW, he wasn't always a bad guy. He's from a rough planet, full of monsters. He and his girlfriend went off on a space trip (to Earth) and she died in an accident involving a nearby star going supernova. His survival suit is armed with mega powerful weapons.

He began to hate the Legion while he was in the same hospital as Brainiac 5. It is mentioned that Sun Boy's uniform logo really set him off. His instability was mentioned many times.

PW attacks with an Optic Detonator, which should not have worked on Wildfire, but it did. It takes all the Legionnaire present out of commission. Then he and Superboy face off. It was pretty sad when Supes learned about his adoptive parents' deaths. It was sad when he made PW admit that he was blaming himself for his GF's death. Lots of touching, sad moments.

This time, Supes goes back to the 20th, never to return.

I have very few complaints about this story. I suppose just the standard complaint I have - some random baddie comes along and seems like a major threat to the Legion, only to be defeated in a panel or 2. The drama in this issue was appropriate and even well done. The art was okay fine. It would have been nice to see this story illustrated by an artist who excels at portraying real emotions.

Oh, BTW, my copy of this issue was signed by Joe Staton at a con! I remember only meeting him very briefly and didn't have a chance to talk much Legion.

My personal signficance about 259 is that the Legion was the first series I subscibed to, and 259 was the first issue to arrive in my mailbox. As it was also the first issue of the Legion's own series, I thought it was a good omen.

As for the Psycho-Warrior as a "minor baddie," I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, if Superboy was going to leave the Legion, one would think he would do so after a battle with one of their major foes, e.g. the Time Trapper of the Fatal Five. On the other hand, PW works precisely because he runs counter to what we would expect: He's a nobody who had an enormous impact on Superboy and the LSH.

(Digression: This reminds me of Kennedy's assassination. Many people cannot accept that JFK was brought down by a lowlife such as Oswald, hence the multitude of conspiracy theories. Others find it all to real that a nutjob took a shot a president who was riding in an open-air limousine. (Reagan was also attacked under similar circumstances, though he survived.) Psycho-Warrior fits in with this popular theme of the '60s and '70s that the mighty can be brought down by the obscure. Another example: Nixon and Watergate.)

I also think the ending of the conflict works because, as Dean points out, Superboy forces PW to confront his own responsibility in his girlfriend's death. Again, Conway blurs the distinction between good and evil. PW is not evil, just disturbed. Like Kandru, we can feel sorry for and perhaps even empathize with him. To me, this is more meaningful than a protracted super-hero battle.

Conway also forces us to face up to the reality that powerful heroes have weaknesses that can be exploited by unknown or unseen adversaries. This is also true for each of us, as demonstrated these days by computer viruses.

Just one more note before moving on.... the way Staton drew the monsters from PW's world was a shame. They were really cartoony and silly looking. Kinda took away from the intensity of what was going on.

Now we come to the infamous Space Circus story. Honestly, my general recollections are that it seemed like a Scooby Doo mystery - ironic that Staton would go on to illustrate Scooby Doo comics.

#260 we learn that the Bacard Bailey Interstellar Travelling Carnival and Sideshow is actually a Cultural Delegation from the Cygnus Federation. Lead by Aton Gissark, they are trying to show how Cygnus and the UP have a lot in common, despite past antagonisms. However, circus personnel are being murdered and the murders might be politically motivated. The Legion is asked to help.

We learn who the suspects are (some kewl new alien species to add to the list!), we see Legionnaires in disguise as circus performers and we see some kewl new beasts in this story.

The action and characterization are very standard in this and again, it feels like part 1 of a 2 parter.

The art should have been really fun and decorative and maybe a bit zany, but it was Staton's standard fare, with John Calnan's unprofessional looking inks.

In #261, the murders keep happening and the suspects are among the dead, so we're narrowing down the options. Gissark can't stand it anymore and decides to take the circus back home. It was described as a "gypsy caravan to the stars." The Legion offerend to go with them in order to keep trying to solve the murders.

Mon and Star Boy follow one of the suspects outside the ship and are met with an explosion. The rest of the Legionnaires go out to tend to them. The ships start speeding away, preparing to jump into hyperspace, leaving the Legionnaires behind. Brainy has now figured out who the killer is!

The Legionnaires all hold hands with TWolf in the lead. They actually catch up with the ships' energy chain, which Brin grabs. They are then thrust into hyper space. It's all rainbow-y and trippy, so Brainy has Jeckie create an illusion of "familiar reality. It's then that Aton Gissark arrives and confesses that he was trying to start a war between the UP and Cygnus IV because way back when his human ancestors went to that world, the natives never accepted them. He hates them for it. Aton is easily apprehended but then he escapes and is lost in hyper space. The Legion just leaves him.

I guess the problem with this story is that it was a really dull mystery. There was no emotional connection to any of the victims. The Legion as circus performers was only okay - not even especially clever or entertaining.

Again, the ending took 1 page.

The characterization didn't shine. The action seemed like filler. It was just pretty blah.

Ric Estrada did the art for #261 and if I hadn't read that, I would never have known the difference between his work and Staton's.

So I don't have the first part but do have the second. Have to say I don't think this deserves it's rap as worst Legion story ever. sure it's kinda dull and mediocre, but surely there are worse stories.

doesn't seem like a strong mystery, and any time you try to do a detective story in a comic you better have a mystery that is strong for at least 2/3rds of the story (most comic book mystery don't end strongly, but holding the readers' interest for most of the way even if the ending falls flat seems to be pretty successful).

However, I did like the trippy and way out there idea that you can just grab onto a hyper drive chain (or whatever it was). Nice to see Jeckie use her powers (I'm a fan) and loved how the villain died. The idea that Jeckie's illusion was so good that the villain forgot where he was. Of course now I'm wondering what the guy was doing out in hyperspace in the first place, it would be unlikely that they would survive and couldn't he just kill them if they reached their destination?

Oh well.

Like I said, it doesn't seem too memorable, but I don't think it can possibly be the worse Legion story ever.

Now I think we're actually about to get to the good part of Conway's run. I liked the story with the Legion's parents getting kidnapped as well as the Dark Man story (yay BLOK) and I found the death of Ultra Boy to have some great moments. Grimbor's chains around Earth were hokey and pretty stupid, but I enjoyed the story nonetheless.

Re: # 260-61.

I agree with Steph that it's not the worst Legion story.

It's an off-beat tale with the Legionnaires in an unusual situation: pretending to be circus performers to solve a mystery. The plot seems ripped out of "Charlie's Angels" or any number of other prime-time detective shows.

I also agree with Sketchy that we're not emotionally invested in any of the suspects, so, as a murder mystery, it falls flat. To make matters worse, all of the suspects die, leaving us with only Aton Gissark as a character we've met; the murderer has to be him. (Well, it could be someone we haven't met, but that would violate the conventions of the murder mystery genre.)

So, what are the story's saving graces?

1. It is very well paced. I think this is important to mention because many modern comics throw pacing out the window completely with stories that are either read in five minutes or take two years to tell. Conway again tells a complete story in two issues with a setup, a goal, complications, and a resolution. It may not be a memorable story, but it's a textbook example of how to tell a story.

2. It makes effective use of most of the featured Legionnaires, particularly Projectra and Phantom Girl. Tinya, for example, gets to singlehandedly defeat two rampaging circus beasts.

3. After the tumultuous events of the past twenty issues (the Earth War, Brainy's madness, the destruction of Legion HQ, and Superboy's departure), it's nice to see an "ordinary" Legion adventure. This issue gives both the heroes and readers a breather.

Staton's art, as noted by Sketchy, is more of the same, although his faces are getting more expressive. Notice Secretary Pheng on p. 9 of 260, especially. I also like Staton's take on Jeckie in this issue.

Backtracking a bit. Here are my responses to the reviews posted so far.

Issues #248 and #249 – I think you guys nailed it in assessing the sewer/chemo saga. Not a horrible story by any stretch. The characterization is overly dramatic. Conway gets a lot of leeway from me, here, due to the format changes, general editorial disarray at DC, and his honest efforts in setting up the Omega story amid all the chaos.

Issue #252 – Starburst Bandits. This one immediately makes no sense to me. How could the Legion place so much trust in Brainiac 5 after the events of the last two issues? Their reward for his trust is bad psychology. Projectra and Dream Girl used their powers in new and unexplained ways. It felt like a forced attempt to make them valuable to the team. More bad dialogue. Oh, Garth, Darling…. Errr. Son Boy saved the day in an unsatisfying and unrealistic fashion. Bad science.

Issues #253 and #254 – The League of Super-Assassins is perhaps Conway’s best contribution to the Legion. Blok, after all, went on to become a Legionnaire who was loved by many. None of the members was terribly original. However, none of them were really lame either. They made good second string villains and members of the Legion of Super-Villains in future stories.


#255 – The Super Spectacles Swipe – I liked this story. It had a 1950s or 1960s feel. It was kind of sweet and campy. By this point the series was starting to feel kind of boring. This issue changed the pace a little bit.

#257 and #258 – Count me in with those who are dissatisfied with the Legion taking over Cosmic World in such a reckless fashion. Brianiac 5 is cured by bad psychology. This was a very unsatisfying resolution to the events of the Omega story.

I hated the Chuck and Lu back up when it was originally published, mainly due to the Ditko art. I’ve totally changed point of view on that over the years. I now get a big kick out of Ditkos Legion work. Another nice change of pace story. No complaints.

#258 and #259 – Psycho Warrior was a boring villain. I never bought the explanation for Superboy having to leave and not come back. Weren’t these issues addressed back in the Adventure era? What changed? The Dick Gordano cover to #259 showing Superboy fly away with a tear in his eye was powerful. Pity the story didn’t measure up.

So, now we are up to one of the most significant points in Legion history. The team has just kicked Superboy out of his own book. Fans will forever debate whether or not this was a good move. How will the Legion fare without Superboy? Has the team just lost it’s heart, inspiration, and purpose? Hmmm. Why don’t we start addressing those heady issues by going to the Space Circus of Death?!? Dick Grayson goes undercover at the circus from time to time. Not the Legion. And come on, didn't they just hijack an amusement park a few issues ago? Conway has totally run out of inspiration by this point. Why is this one of the worst Legion stories ever? Because it is one of the most boring Legion stories ever. The Legion should never be boring, and, fortunately, rarely has been. It is here, and it’s just a shame because of the timing. Superboy just left. There are 20 plus Legionnaires who now have a chance to shine. Not in this story, though.

Keep the reviews coming guys. You are doing a super job.