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

He's always drawn with a big smile on his face when he's inflated. The joy of bouncing, I guess. However, he is portrayed as pretty serious throughout his Legion life, certainly not the joke-cracking guy that Tenzil would become in 5YL.

In comic books, even today, if you're fat you're jolly, stupid and/or evil. There aren't many exceptions. Chuck is pretty much the only character in the Legionverse who's fat and smart and heroic.

Another bit that's fairly common is the character who gets his power from his father's experiments. Night Girl, Jungle King; most recently, Chemical Kid comes to mind. And we think dads who want their kids to be major league sports stars are bad!

Adventure #309

-That bird has a rocket in place of it's butt. A ROCKET.

-Um...does Brainiac 5 really need lessons like the other Legionnaires? I mean, he's the smartest person in the galaxy. Surely he should be in his lab somewhere.

-"I dazed him with radiance." Seriously, I'm using that line on my next date. I DAZED HIM WITH RADIANCE.

-THEY TIED A ROPE AROUND THE CITY TO SAVE IT. Not a tractor beam. Not any kind of crazy technology. A ROPE. I love it.

-How is a big dinosaur-looking thing that makes earthquakes "formidable"? What, they can't trap it or catch it or tranquilize it?

-Oh, now Dyrk is DAZZLING with his radiance! Good lord, the first date material never ends.

-Okay, last issue Imra could sense people from across the galaxy, but in this issue she can't even sense people from a couple miles away. SHODDY POWER YOU HAVE THERE, IMRA.

-Ahhhh, the "too risky a mission for a girl" nonsense, huh? It makes my heart glad to see how much things have changed since this was written.

-THAT GAS CREATURE IS CREEPY. Look at its creepy ass grin!

-Brainy had a time belt!? Hell, that's better than a time bubble! Why doesn't he have that now? It's neat!

These old stories are a hoot. I want my own earthquake monster.

Among the girls, I think it was Phantom Girl who was least used during the early days! Besides the Ultra Boy story where he's thought of as a criminal, I can't really think of any major appearances she's had.

If one ignores several obvious and laughable logic problems, as noted above, "The Legion of Super Monsters" is a fairly competent story, albeit one full of missed opportunities. Why, for example, do we not see Jungle King go on a rant after being rejected? Why are we simply told that he does so? Why are Mon-El, Ultra Boy and Colossal Boy listed in the roll call when they have nothing better to do than go to school? Wouldn't they have been the most interesting Legionnaires to use in battle against something called the "The Legion of Super Monsters"?

I sense that Hamilton wanted to write a straight science fiction story here, perhaps one he had adapted from elsewhere, as he pays little attention to the notion that these guys have super-powers that can be useful in battling villains such as Jungle King. When he does have the Legionnaires use their powers, it's to show how ineffective they are (Sun boy's brilliance being reflected back on the team, Bouncing Boy bouncing too high, etc.).

But at least Hamilton introduces a real super-villain with clear motivation and the capacity to do serious damage.

The theme of rejection and/or misjudging others also carries through the story very well and probably left an indelible impression on young readers. It's good that Chuck is treated much the same as Jungle King by the other Legionnaires, yet he responds in a much more positive and less self-serving fashion. There is good contrast between the "positive" and "negative" ways to handle rejection.

This story is definitely a product of the time in which it was written. The attitudes of the Legionnaires reflect the attitudes of '50s and '60s movies and television shows: The heroic, masculine Sun Boy is portrayed as the leader, Saturn Girl (who is actually the leader) takes a back seat, and the jolly fat guy screws up. But at least Chuck gets to redeem himself at the end, suggesting, I suppose, that there is hope for us all, even if we're not thin, heroic, masculine types.

Jungle King's demise, like Element Lad's origin, also seems very "dark" or at least very honest for the times. Over in Batman, the Joker commits multiple crimes but always survives to bedevil Batman again. Luthor, Brainiac, and all the classic villains always get away with their crimes, inconvenienced only by a few months (at most) in prison. But in the Legion's corner of the universe, bad things happen--even to villains. While JK's demise may have deprived the Legion of a worthy member of its rogues gallery, I applaud Hamilton and Weisinger for not being too terribly interested in building a Legion rogues gallery. Their stories always seemed to be about much more than endless super-hero battles.

"The Legion of Super Monsters," for example, works on a thematic level about misjudging others, even if the execution of the tale leaves a lot to be desired.

Phantom Girl doesn't even appear in the panel, in Adv. 308, in which the girl Legionnaires welcome Lightning Lass into their ranks. I suspect Mort and company simply had too many Legionnaires to keep track of.

The assumption in some of these stories seems to be that any Legionnaire could handle any emergency--unless they were fat or a girl, perhaps.

This reminds me of Superboy # 199, in which Jeckie complains that the Legionnaires who are present--herself, Dreamy, Cham, Star Boy, and Brainy--aren't powerful enough to stop Tyr's gunhand. Brainy rebukes her by reminding her that not every Legionnaire is a powerhouse, but that no Legionnaire gives up. (Brainy's attitude has changed since Adv. 309; perhaps Imra's revenge involved some sort of mental reconditioning.)

It's telling that Sun Boy, Brainy, and Cham all have the confidence to believe they can handle the earthquake beast, whichever of them would have been selected.

In the future, left-handedness will be cured, along with homosexuality, baldness, and girls going on dangerous missions, apparently.

Maybe, but there's also a certain amount of realism in the seemingly random lineup. One wouldn't expect exactly those Legionnaires whose powers are most suited to fight the Legion of Super-Monsters to be the ones on duty when the LSM shows up.

The more I look at it, the drawing lots plan makes absolutely no sense.

So, the idea is that they can't land the ship, for fear the Earthquake Beast would destroy it, so Sun Boy suggests they send in a single member to capture Monster Master.

Okay, even granted that they couldn't park the spaceship a few miles off and fly in, it seems to me that at most this would only require that they leave one member in the ship to fly it while the rest go and take out the Earthquake beast.

Really well said. The effort to put story first over other concerns is definitely worthy of applause.

True, but why list them in the roll call at all?

Doing so misleads the reader into thinking they're going to play an active role in the story.

Also, Lone/Timber Wolf.

PG was also the only girl (besides Supergirl) not shown on the covers of 311 and 313. Even Night Girl beats her out on 313.

Hmm... interesting that PG will eventually be voted the most popular among the girl Legionnaires, despite having been so rarely used!

People love to root for the underdog.

The Doom of the Super-Heroes

It's hard to muster much enthusiasm for this story, despite several interesting elements. I'm just not a fan of Mr. Mxyzptlyk and don't like these "everybody's dead, but not really" stories, with an all too easy ending.

Hamilton was probably ordered to do something with Mr. Mxy.

I do like the way Hamilton opens up stories with the Legionnaires taking care of everyday business before the big mission or problem develops.

The masked man wears a mask that will grace Ferro Lad in a future story.

Mon-el has some odd hair-thing going on. Maybe this was his version of the Superboy curl. Fortunately, it didn't last.

Sun Boy is acting more leader-like than Saturn Girl, once again. Maybe Legion leadership was too dangerous for a girl!

Brainy is starting to act a little more brainy, and is assisted by Saturn Girl.

Various Legionnaires get panel time, but are quickly eliminated from the action.

Brainy knocks out Saturn Girl, starting a great (if sporadic) tradition of Legionnaires hitting one another.

Lightning Lass uses her power aside Sun Boy a couple of times. Saturn Girl is the most prominent female throughout the story, even though she mostly just stands around.

The Mt. Rushmore of Space is sort of funny. I wonder if somebody ever named all the figures.

What was the purpose of the storm outside Legion HQ? Just to set the tone that something ominous was about to happen?

Would kids reading this story have figured the deaths were all a ruse?

Adventure #310

“The Doom of the Super-Heroes” is the first story in which the Legion is pitted against overwhelming odds, with a villain powerful enough to take down the entire team. Mordu is really the ultimate example of this sort of villain for the Legion, and this tale can kind of be seen as a prototype Mordru story (even featuring what is effectively an alternate reality, something that will play a role in future key Mordru stories!).

--Hey, there’s Star Boy in the splash panel!

--The Legion is seriously in need of some support staff, so they don’t have to do their own cleaning of rocket tubes and stuff!

--A mysterious raider with super-magnetic powers, such as only Cosmic Boy has? Er… couldn’t he be another inhabitant of Braal?

--Another character in a lead mask? And now he can duplicate the powers of all the Legionnaires?

--Apparently, in the enlightened 30th century, they aren’t beyond laughing at people (at least crooks) for being really short.

--Quit commenting on him being a midget, and use your penetra-vision, which can see through lead, Ultra Doofus!

--Too late! Ultra Boy is killed by a freezing ray! Er… isn’t that exactly how Lightning Lad was killed? So how come there’s no hope for U-Boy, while every issue you guys are going on and on about finding a way to restore Lightning Lad to life?

--Love the ominous thunderstorm over the Clubhouse panel!

--Er… if the Doll People are really as short as Vi and Cham become, I’m pretty sure the Mask Man wasn’t one of them. He’d be huge on Doll World!

--Violet dead! And now Cham! Imra saved by a punch from Brainiac Five!

--The “Mount Rushmore of Space” is easily this issue’s winner for “Most awesome concept”.

--Crap! There’s too many Legionnaires to write death scenes for each of them! Let’s just kill off Triplicate Girl, Phantom Girl, Element Lad, and… er… whoever else I'm forgetting by having one of spaceships crash!

--The Legion goes from pursuing the Mask Man to fleeing from him, to make their last stand on an uninhabited world.

--They really should’ve gone to Throon if they wanted a really impressive defensive citadel!

--Colossal Boy actually gets the most memorable death scene of the issue, sacrificing himself to save Lightning Lass.

--Cosmic Boy killed as well! And then Brainy and Imra (nice to see her assisting in Brainy’s inventing!)

--Note that Sun Boy and Bouncing Boy aren’t actually killed, but just kind of disappear, leaving only Superboy, Mon-El, Lightning Lass, and Invisible Kid. Wait, scratch Lightning Lass, Invisible Kid, and Mon-El!

--And Superboy figures out the villain’s identity! And then he uses a clever double ruse to trick “Mxyzptlk V” (I’d forgotten that name is actually used for this character!) into returning to his own dimension and reversing all of the effects of his magic, undoing the whole story!

--This story was apparently really popular among the readers, at least judging from the letters printed as a response to it.

--I have mixed feelings about it. It’s another story that feels like it’s way too big for the space allotted, hence the numerous off-panel deaths. It’s far darker than the typical “Mxyzptlk” story, which is a little jarring. And, of course, with the massive death and the treating of characters as canon fodder as commonplace in contemporary stories, this isn't really the kind of thing one turns to the Adventure Era in the hopes of reading about.

Still, it’s historically important as a prototype for later stories, even if those later stories are generally better done/more interesting.

Adventure #310

"Mask Man" continues to trend of "something in the iron mask" battling protagonists that was pervasive in comics for the last decade and a half, while also essentially being Mr. Mxyptlk versus the Legion (with a twist), which had to happen sooner or later. Mxy has never been my favorite enemy for Superman though he can work brilliantly when in the hands of the right writer and when played for laughs.

Here, with Legionnaires actually dying this story definitely isn't being played for laughs. On the one had its deadly serious and on the other it's inherently silly. I think that kind of hurts it a bit.

The opening splash is a great glimpse at almost the full membership of the Legion! Finally: Star Boy!! But, he only appears on the splash and not in story, much like next issue he only appears on the cover and not in story. I wonder if they couldn't remember / find his first appearance? Or realizing he was a duplicate of Mon-El, they were still figuring out what to do with him (and would, in the last story of the Archive).

I love seeing the Legionnaires doing chores and upkeep. A glimpse into their daily routine that shows its hard work and not all glamorous.

The Legion fighting Mask Man is the longest action sequence so far! It's actually a bit refreshing.

A storm brewing over the clubhouse on page 5! We haven't seen that trope yet in the Legion, right?

Wow, Brainy was sure ready to sock Imra when needed! Repressed anger towards strong willed blondes?

That looks like Braino among the Mt Rushmore of Space!

On the opening splash of the second part, Mon-El is moving so fast at super speed that he appears twice!

Colossal Boy's first noble death! And the only one that I like! His saving Ayla surely must be what inspired T&M to have him hit on her in the Legionnaires series.

Moving around a couple of moons to get Mxy to say his name backwards might be extreme but hey, if you succeed, its all reversed anyway, right? And if not, screw it, what's wrong with a little cosmic mass destruction?

Adv. 310:

It's getting really tiring to read all the pointless exposition in these stories. The Legionnaires remind Superboy they can't fly like him so they have to use their anti-grav belts. But just a few panels previous, Saturn Girl and Brainy are shown working on the anti-grav belts! We all know kids are stupid and they can't put two and two together, or run to Mom and ask, "What does this mean?" Right?

The plot of this story builds suspense and moves along at a fast clip largely because Hamilton borrowed it from virtually every murder mystery ever written. Someone is out to get the Legionnaires and, despite their best efforts, they cannot stop their teammates from being killed. Finally, it's just down to Superboy (natch!), who figures out the mystery, saves the day, and all is as it was. The end.

The aspects I like best about this story are that it features more than a handful of Legionnaires (and Sun Boy doesn't hog all the panel time), Superboy's friendship with Mon-El plays a key role, and some of the deaths are at least plausible if not heroic: Vi and Cham ambushed on Doll World, an entire spaceship of Legionnaires crashing into an asteroid, and, of course, Gim's heroic sacrifice. Hamilton gives several Legionnaires quality panel time, which shows, I think, that he's finally growing comfortable with the series and willing to take risks.

But, yes, other aspects of this story are (literally) laughable. Mask Man's vendetta against the Legion begins because a crowd of onlookers make fun of him? I liked Jungle King's rejectee-gone-bad motivation better.

For all the deaths that occur in this story, the Legionnaires don't react in believable ways. In Element Lad's origin, by contrast, Jan had some time to process the demise of his race before joining the Legion and going after Roxxas. His soldier-like behavior makes sense in that story. But no one in the Legion cries out, mourns, and sinks into despair after watching the slaughter of their comrades. (Saturn Girl does have a brief moment of doubt, but it's quickly dispelled, and Lightning Lass sheds tears over Colossal Boy. Note that it's the girls who are emotional.)

It would take Hamilton awhile to get this sort of emotional reaction right. By the time of the demise of Triplicate Girl's third Body (Adv. 341), the Legionnaires are behaving in more realistic ways.

We have to take it on faith that Superboy figures out Mask Man's identity from flimsy evidence. No one else can bring in elements from other dimensions? It has to be magic?

I, too, am not fond of Mxyzptlk, but here I think the big reveal works because it's so unexpected. As Eryk notes, this is a darker version of Mxy--a magical imp who is out to kill instead of merely play pranks. So he fits in with other "dark" elements of the Legion series so far, such as the destruction of Trom and Jungle King's demise. The only real question this story raises for me is why didn't Mxy V return to bedevil the Legion again? Nothing, apparently, would have prevented him from doing so.

(Not that I'd want him to return, mind you.)

Two asides: This is the first story since Adv. 300 in which Superboy has played an important role (excluding the Superboy robot in 302). It's admirable that Weisinger and company spent a considerable amount of time establishing the Legion as an independent series rather than relegating them to sidekicks from the start.

Also, Paul Levitz once wrote that this was the first Legion story he ever read and, to paraphrase, it scared the bejesus out of him. Perhaps that explains the Great Darkness Saga, the Legion Conspiracy, et al.

Hmm... PL does seem quite fond of the tact of pitting the Legion against nigh-omnipotent bad guys that basically mop the floor with them until being defeated by an improbable tactic...

The thing that really cracks me up about this story is that this magical character who, among other magical things, can give himself the powers of the entire Legion, yet he uses wooden stilts and a really ugly lead mask to disguise himself. Hello? You're magical. Change your dang appearance already. At the very least he could've used Chameleon Boy's power, or even Invisible Kid's. He could've even used Colossal Boy's power to be taller.

It was an adult writing this story, right?

If using the stilts, why not lead-line the rest of his costume to prevent Superboy from realizing that he was using them?

Clearly he wanted to be caught in order to have an excuse to go on a rampage.

Adventure #310

I've really been enjoying looking back at these old issues, but I wouldn't want to re-read this one. As tired as I am of seeing characters killed off needlessly in present-day comics, reading this issue just sort of makes me sad. Even though they came back to life, it didn't make 15 pages of people going "oh no, I'm dying" any better. Didn't like it.

I guess for the time it was sort of clever...but eh, this issue wasn't my style.

It occurs to me re-reading the stories from this period how much they've basically milked the death of Lightning Lad, and, in a way, I suspect this story was basically another attempt to do that. If killing one member generated a lot of buzz, then surely killing the whole team will generate even more buzz. And, of course, just as everyone will return to life by the end of this story, so will Lightning Lad soon be back from the dead.

Is there an instance of writers killing off an entire team before the Doom Patrol were executed in their last issue?