Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Reading the Legion: Archives #6

Adv. 355 – “The War of the Legions”

Re-reading this story now, it seems almost unnecessary. 354 wrapped up the Adult Legion story and would have been complete if Douglas Nolan were truly evil. Instead, we learn he was controlled by the LSV, so we’ve got to wrap up this plot twist.

The result is a perfunctory story, entertaining in its own way and somewhat competently told, though it relies on more convenience and comic book tropes.

The splash page is eerily reminiscent of 350—didn’t we just have two mysterious masked characters join the Legion?

The story begins well enough with the LSV plotting their revenge by kidnapping a Legionnaire. They take Brainiac 5 by surprise—though I don’t know which bothers me more, that the LSV were stupid enough to broadcast their intentions by using a ship that bears their logo or that computer-mind Brainy is even more stupid in failing to recognize the logo. What’s he been smoking in that pipe, anyway?

The LSV lure each of the Legionniares into a one-on-one duel, and, predictably enough, the Legionnaires win and procure pieces of paper that reveal Brainy’s location. Of course, the Legionnaires know they’re walking into a trap, but, stalwart heroes that they are, they proceed anyway. At least Shooter writes some dramatic fight scenes and works in a bit of science (Cos using the paramagnetic properties of oxygen and nitrogen to render Echo unconscious; Polar Man cooling down the magma below him so it cracks the surface).

The defeated LSV members turn out to be “solid, lifelike images.” When the real LSV ambushes the Legion at the former’s undersea headquarters, only the timely arrival of the two masked characters from the splash page saves the Legion. After defeating the villains, the rescuers reveal themselves to be descendants of Luthor and Mxyzptlk. They are not only dead ringers for their evil ancestors but disguised themselves in the hope that the Legion would admit them, no questions asked. Apparently, Sir Prize and Miss Terioius set a precedent.

The story ends on the obligatory happy note with Luthor and Mxy being unanimously voted into the Legion. Shooter grasps at our heart strings by making the pair fear the Legion will not accept them, but this is an obvious attempt at emotional manipulation.

So, this two-part Adult Legion story has been an entertaining diversion, but it would have worked just as well as a single-issue story. Aside from two new and intriguing LSV members—Echo and Beauty Blaze—“The War of the Legions” has little to recommend it.

Grade: 72.3 (C-)

Hmmm...maybe the Adult Legionnaires aren't quite as stodgy as I thought.

Showcase Presents credits Shooter with the layouts on all of the stories he wrote through 368.

Adv #355: The Six-Legged Legionnaire!

The second story in Adv #355 is a throwback to earlier Legion stories, and with good reason as its written by Otto Binder! The Legion creator at last returns to his creation but alas, it's just this once with a whimsical one-off, and it's one of the last stories of his career.

Insect Queen was never my favorite but since Jimmy and Pete were honorary members, I'm glad Lana gets to be one too (even if it is as IQ). Here, she's definitely at her best: spunky, courageous and genuinely looking to help. This is the Lana I like.

This is also the first time we see Dream Girl as a Legionnaire, and Chuck as Bouncing Boy in a long time. It's fun to see the late Silver Age roster at work!

The story, as mentioned, is a bit by the numbers with the typical cyclical nature of 1950's Superman titles: hero attempts something once and either succeeds or fails; repeat; then the opposite happens. But while
it has some, it doesn't have a ton of that typical Binder charm that made many stories fun and light-hearted.

Oggar-Kon has to be one of the most obscure of all Legion villains. He's ill-defined but I'm still surprised we never saw him again.

All in all, not a bad story but not overly compelling or exciting. Yet, it never pretends to be anything it isn't, and in that, it's a strait-forward, charming tale.

Adv. 355 – “The Six-Legged Legionnaire”

Coming in the midst of Shooter’s run, this story is a quaint throwback to more innocent times (ironically, just a year or two ago in Silver Age Legion terms). But it’s also a better constructed story than most of Shooter’s offerings, even if it does rely on bland dialogue and unconvincing characterization.

The bland dialogue comes in the form of Lana frequently uttering stock exclamations such as “Heavens!” “Thank goodness!” and “Oh what a thrill!” Considering that this story was probably set in 1952, Binder may have been going for period authenticity, but such phrases are simply annoying and seem out of character for Lana.

As for the unconvincing characterization, writer Otto Binder needed a good reason for Superboy to bring Lana Lang into the future, so he contrives one by having her about to expose his secret identity and then deciding not to. Lana’s “better nature” wins out, we are told, but this contradicts most other depictions of her (particularly her first outing as Insect Queen), in which she’s portrayed as a selfish, conniving girl whose only goal in life is to uncover Superboy’s secret.

However, selfish and conniving characters usually don’t make good heroines, so Binder gives her a conscience and, to remind us this is still the old Lana, frequently has her take matters into her own hands—and it’s a good thing, too, for every choice she makes leads to positive outcomes. Unwilling to accept being ditched by Superboy while he attends a closed Legion meeting, she switches to Insect Queen and explores Metropolis; while doing so, she puts out a fire on a rocket ship and saves its passengers, one of whom happens to be Dream Girl.

Buoyed by Dream Girl’s appraisal of her heroism, Insect Queen applies for Legion membership and is rejected—her power comes from a device, after all. Again proving she won’t take no for an answer, Lana calls in her favor with Dream Girl and learns the Legionnaires who have just left on an antarctic mission may be in danger. She tells Superboy, who flies to the rescue with Lana in tow. (Why Supes didn’t leave her behind is not addressed; however, he never could say no to her.)

Superboy and Lana assist Colossal Boy, Shrinking Violet, and Chameleon Boy as they go up against Oggar-Kon, a villain bent on melting Ice City at the South Pole. The action sequences are logical and display each Legionnaire’s abilities to good effect. Lana proves her worth by saving Gim and Vi. (Oggar-Kon, however, should really shut up. Like many Silver Age foes, he stops the story to tell us his origin—an cliched and unnecessary exposition.)

Binder cleverly inserts an element of danger by having Dream Girl predict that tragedy would ensue if Lana turns into Moth Maid. Proving how heroic she can be, Lana uses this identity anyway to save Superboy from a kryptonite trap. (Though one wonders why, since she made a point of comparing the sphinx moth to a humingbird, she didn’t simply transform into a humingbird and use its wings to blow the green k dust off of Superboy.) The tragedy comes to pass as Lana loses her bio-ring and appears doomed to be stuck as a moth girl forever.

But, in another clever twist, the ring is not lost—just misplaced. (And, interestingly enough, Light Lass demonstrates a feature of her power I don’t think she’s used before or since: she can zero in on a particular object, even an unseen one, and made it super-light weight so it can be found.) Lana returns to human form and, for her efforts, is made a Legion Reservist.

“The Six-Legged Legionnaire” is a satisfying if inconsequential story. It ultimately doesn’t matter if Lana joins, since we’ll see her assist the Legion as Insect Queen only twice more, if memory serves (Adv. 370 and Superboy 205). However, it is a well told by-the-books tale in which Lana is portrayed as a doer whose actions drive the plot. More, the story seeks to impart two valuable lessons on the audience: resist temptation and you will be rewarded, and don’t give up in the face of rejection.

Grade: 84.2 (B)

I wrote my review before I read yours. It's funny how we picked up on the same qualities of the story.

Lana can't turn into a bird form. Only insects, arachnids, etc.

Ah, that would explain it.

I'm enjoying your notes, Cobie and HWW!

I just noticed that, while the residents of Ice City wear "heated plastic parkas", none of the Legionnaires do, and neither does the villain. Superboy says he'll get one for Lana, and we see her wearing it in two panels, but once she turns into an insect form it disappears for the rest of the story.

I'm sure it was easier to draw the Legionnaires in regular uniforms than to draw them in either transparent or uniform-themed body suits. But it would have taken the art side of the story up a notch if they'd done that and done it well. As it is, you forget they're in a frigid climate. The ice might as well be concrete.

Vocabulary lesson: I wondered why Invisible Kid called the dismissed applicants "rejectees" instead of "rejects." Looked it up; both words are correct. It reminded me of "mentee" (one who is being mentored) which I think is a goofy word. Turns out the first known use of "mentee" was in 1965 (according to Merriam-Webster). First known use of "rejectee" was in 1941.

Not that I'm an expert on all things Lana, but I always did have the impression that her desired exposure of Superboy was just so she could get his attention. I think it was all a game to her, but she never thought about the consequences of exposing his identity. I'm reminded of a story where her father threatens to spank her (!!! good grief, she's already a teenager) because she didn't think that exposing Superboy's identity could put him and his loved ones in danger. Lana's reaction then was, "Oh my gosh, I'd never thought of that!"

Always cool to see we're catching the same things! I think what we've both seen a few times now is that the shorter 8-page stories that focus on Jimmy Olsen, Insect Queen, etc., often don't offer all that much, but they never try to be more than they are. Meaning, they're usually short and to the point, and carry enough charm to make reading them worthwhile. It's a bit of a lost art in comic books: being able to tell an 8-page story in a way that leaves the reader fulfilled, even when you really didn't give them all that much.

Adventure #356

My first thought at seeing the cover of #356 is "groan! Not another super babies story!" I have to say though, there's some interesting stuff inside.

"Parents Day" is a great concept, and hits at the all too often ignored concept of heroes' parents in the superhero genre. The Legionnaire's parents are one of the most recurring things asked about in the letter column since it was instituted.

Here, the creative team does a great job at showing a total dichotomy, which creates immediate tragedy. We see several proud parents in the parade, followed by others being interviewed at a special banquet, with nice touches like Derek Morgna being his industrial self and Lyle's mother being humorous. And then we cut to the 5 orphans eating sandwiches on monitor duty! It's bad enough they have no parents, but they have to stay behind while the others have the time of their lives. And the first thing mentioned is that some have it even worse, such as Element Lad, who doesn't even have other members of his race!

In two pages, there's already more to like than the last super-babies story. And before the eventual baby-fying, we also get a rare chance (by now at least) to see Superboy and Mon-El working together.

From there, a few things make this one stick out. First, I love the Roman type look of the planet Zinth. Which is totally opposite for the rather progressive feel of the orphanage we get right away, which is reminiscent of Superboy's first adventures in the 30th Century in its whimsy.

Even better, and what really makes the story stand out, is Brainy still is Brainy! He's that smart, that his mind doesn't revert like the others. Love it--and it makes this story work in every way.

In the final pages, the story gets heavy--REAL HEAVY. A planet where all the children have died, who concoct a crazy plan in their grief...yet Brainy cures the planet of what was causing the plague and Nura foresees children for the lonely adults in the future. That's powerful stuff and it comes out of nowhere! As a parent with little kids, I was totally sucked into it and have to say it had quite an effect on me.

The story is only about 11 pages or so...and that makes it work in a big way. Any longer and I'd start to lose interest. But as a short story, it's charming, clever and a lot of fun. The characters stand out and there's a lot of nods to prior Legion lore.

The back-up is a reprint of the first Star Boy story, which from what I understand was a hard to find issue by then. In a few months, Superboy #147 would reprint a whole bunch of earlier tales as well. So in 1967, we see a plethora of the earliest stories being reprinted, which only enhances the fan experience for readers. DC would go bonkers with reprints in the 70's (as would Marvel) and we can see beginnings of that here.

Bonus Lettercol Review: the fans react to the death of Ferro Lad! Shock! Anger! Grief! Man, they felt strongly about it. Among those with letters printed is young Mark Evanier who will go on to be a great comic book writer; he had tons of letters printed in DC comics in the mid and late 60's. His method of always being printed? He sent his letters on legal yellow paper, so it would stand out. It worked again and again.

Adv. 356

And so we have the third Adventure story in which Legionnaires are reduced to infants. “The Five Legion Orphans” is simultaneously the best of the three and the worst.

The first “infantizing” of Legionnaires occurred back in Adv. 317 and was instigated by Dream Girl (who is also featured in 356), who thought she was saving the Legionnaires’ lives. This story has a certain charm in that Dream Girl also instigates a certain sexual tension between the boy and girl Legionnaires.

In the second story, in 338, the Legionnaires were reduced to infants by the Time Trapper and his henchwoman, Glorith. Though this story was full of miscues and couldn’t make up its mind whether to be funny or serious, it had its amsuing moments.

This brings us to 356.

It’s Parents Day in Metropolis, and the Legionnaires celebrate in style by appearing in a parade alongside their parents. This scene reminds us that the Legionnaires are not only heroes but celebrities. Onlookers in the crowd know exactly who they are and the details of their personal lives, such as Star Boy’s birth in a space observatory. Reporters gather around and badger their parents to say they are proud of their heroic offspring. Yes, it’s good to be a Legionnaire.

Well, not for everyone. The five Legionnaires who happen to have no parents—Superboy, Mon-El, Dream Girl, Brainiac 5, and Element Lad—are stuck on duty. As they commiserate, an emergency comes in from the planet Zinth, which needs them to retrieve a power crystal stolen by thieves and dumped in a pond. It turns out to be a trap, and the Legionnaires find themselves aging backwards to infancy.

So far, the setup is pretty good. It presents us with an opportunity to learn that being a Legionnaire is not all glamorous and to explore some of their personal tragedies. There’s also a chance to show how unfair it is that the five members who happen to be orphans must remain on duty while the rest celebrate. Talk about pouring salt in wounds!

Even the idea of the Legionnaires walking into a trap could be the basis of a good story. Look how Mon-El and Superboy carelessly ignore Dream Girl’s warning that they should not dive into the pond. As the newest Legionnaire, Dreamy has a chance to show how powerful her visions can be and to teach the others to respect her power.

But none of these possibilities materialize. Instead, the infant Legionnaires are picked up by a “patrol ship,” whose occupants fail to recognize them (or their costumes, at any rate), in spite of the fact that a nurse at the orphanage where they are taken knows Krypton exploded long ago and how Trom was wiped out. Yet no one questions why these five orphans are wearing Legion costumes or even whether they actually are orphans.

In any case, the five Legion babies are soon adopted by citizens of the planet Baskh and taken to their new home—conveniently, their parents all live in the same neighborhood. However, “Baby Brainiac” retains his 12th level intellect and soon figures out what’s going on. His new dad, also conveniently, is a chemist, so Brainy concocts a serum that restores the Legionnaires to their true ages. He also figures out (somehow) that his new dad was behind the whole scheme, from the theft of the power crystal to the de-aging of Brainy and his teammates.

The story ends way too quickly. There are no complications or conflict. Once Brainy asks his “dad” what’s going on, his dad, like any cardboard super-villain, spills the beans. It turns out that the Baskhians are not evil; they are just barren. They concocted this scheme to kidnap the Legionnaires so they could have children again.

The stupidity of this plot is outmatched only by the stupidity of its assumptions. When people kidnap children in real life just because they want children, we call such people criminals. Yet the Legionnaires refuse to press charges, saying “you meant well!” Really? The theft of the power crystal, which brought a world to a standstill and perhaps endangered lives, is a sign of the Baskhians’ good intentions? Reducing the Legionnaires to infants could qualify as assault. And, did I mention kidnapping?

On top of that, while most of the Legionnaires contribute something interesting to the story, Dream Girl gets the shaft. One gets the feeling she’s the token girl and was included because little had been established of her background. Yet nothing is really done with her. She makes a couple of prophecies that don’t amount to much and a third prophecy at the end which assures the Baskhians they will soon have their own children again. But didn’t Brainy just say the child death plague was over? (And isn’t it convenient—that word again—that it is?)

“The Five Legion Orphans” is one of the most disturbing stories we’ve reviewed. It takes complex social issues such as orphanhood, child death, and barrenness, and reduces them to fodder for an ill-thought out plot that doesn’t even tell a complete story. It just ends. That this travesty came from E. Nelson Bridwell, who wrote 350-351 (arguably one of the best Legion stories so far) is disappointing and perplexing.

Grade: 61.1 percent (D-)

It's interesting that Cobie and HWW disagree about the quality of this story. While rereading it, I found myself feeling both charm (like Cobie) and alarm (like HWW).

Other than the Insect Queen story from the previous issue, this was my first teenage Legionnaire story back in the day. I especially liked seeing the Legionnaires with their families, and learning that some of them were orphans. I liked the Legion Doll too, because it was my first hint of the look and powers of Bouncing Boy and Colossal Boy (although I don't know the doll's purpose in the story other than to show a few more Legionnaires).

On Cosmic Boy's parade float there is someone we could assume is his younger brother. Would this be Pol's first (unnamed) appearance?

In the orphanage, Baby Brainiac tells the nurse he's of the planet Yod, not Colu. According to Wikipedia, a later letter column noted that "Yod" is the Coluan name for their homeworld. (Yod is the Hebrew word for Iodine.) However, this is the only time "Yod" has appeared.

The picture of the Mission Monitor Board on p. 10 inspired me, at age 11, to draw my own version and hang it on my bedroom wall. The pictures were, of course, in alphabetical order, and moveable to allow for new Legionnaires.

I'm sure Pol appeared a few times before this, though I can't remember when.

This story has a lot of positive qualities, which is why I found it so disappointing. The potential is there for it to go in several directions. Unfortunately, the direction chosen just falls flat. I get the feeling that this story was an emergency fill in--perhaps Shooter blew a deadline--hence the short page count and the reprint.

But it's great that a "minor" detail such as the Mission Monitor Board inspired you to create your own, LT. I remember being inspired to create my own Legionnaires and even a knock-off team of teen super-heroes. The Legion's universe as a whole had that wonderful effect of inspiring readers' imaginations.

Re Pol: I believe this panel from Adv. 335 is his only prior appearance. He'll reappear and get a name in the next issue, Adv. 357.

Re Brainy: He didn't cure Zinth of the child death plague. He merely discovered it was over when he realized the radiation that caused it had turned to lead.

Re the Legion costumes: It could be that the Legionnaires are so famous that children wear their costumes to play hero in, even as they do today by dressing up as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc.

Adv. 356's letter column. Notice Ayla FINALLY gets her emblem updated, nearly 40 issues after her power was changed. Too bad the colors are still goofed up.

That's a good supposition, Jim. It's a pity Bridwell didn't think of it or put a line in to that effect. I hate it when writers leave it to the readers to do their jobs for them.

Dave Cockrum touched on this in Superboy 200 by showing 2 boys in the background, one wearing a Superman shirt and one with a Capt. Marvel one.

Two reasons why I still think this was a failing in "The Five Legion Orphans":

1. What another creator did years later has no bearing on the merits of a particular story.

2. The boys were minor characters, Easter Eggs if you will, who did not affect the development of the story. The Legionnaires in 356 were major characters. Anything which involves them or happens to them needs to be adequately explained.

Another solution to the babies in Legion clothing would have been to have the SPs say that the criminal who stole the crystal kidnapped the kids and dressed them in those costumes as a taunt to the Legion.

In any event, we probably questioned these things less back then; maybe the writers weren't even in the habit of having to think logically about their plots.

This was the first Legion story I remember reading, so perhaps I'm somewhat forgiving of its faults, which HWW listed. It is strange that kidnapping would be so easily dismissed, even back then, and shrugged off by the CCA.

That the parents were somewhat unhinged is shown (to me) by the woman who wanted to adopt the water-breathing child. How was that going to work? There are a lot of orphange stories in the Supergirl Showcase vol. 1 and it seems that people just waltzed in and chose a kid like they'd pick out a sweater in a store, and return the kid if it didn't work out. Orphanages and silver age comic books equals some weird stuff!

What did fascinate me at the time was the clothing and head gear of the Bashkians and the orphanage nurses, the non-human children, the Legionnaire toy that Dream Girl played with and how Brainy was so smart, even as the others regressed to toddlers. It just all seemed so exotic and full of possibilities.

1. I wasn't implying that it did.

2. I think you're over thinking a minor point. What they were wearing is insignificant compared to the fact they were entrapped, regressed in age, effectively had their adult minds wiped, and carted off to be "adopted".

3. I think your criticisms of this story are unnecessarily harsh. There were lots of little gems in this story. The dynamite Swan artwork, the Parents Day parade and banquet, getting a look at Legionnaires' families, the wind up Legion doll, the orphanage, Dream Girl on her first mission as a Legionnaire. Establishing DG and Brainy as orphans, etc. etc. I wonder if the 2 previous admittedly poorly done baby stories are prejudicing you against this one.

Then I'm not sure why you brought up the Cockrum story. It read to me like you were offering a rebuttal.



I respectfully disagree. The Legionnaires are widely recognized celebrities, as the opening scene reminds us. The Zinthians are aware of Krypton and Trom (which, by the way, means they must know Element Lad is the sole survivor; yet they don't question the appearance of Trommite toddler in their midst? The nurse says the boy must have been born just before Trom was attacked, but no one thinks to question the existence of a *second* survivor?). These are important gaffes.



Fair enough. My criticisms are what they are and reflect my level of enjoyment in a story. I always try to give a balanced review and, in this case, pointed out some of the highlights you mentioned above. But I gotta call it as I sees it.



I confess I wondered the same thing, too. Three Legionnaires-turn-into-baby stories in less than 40 issues is a bit much. However, I had high hopes for this one since it was written by Bridwell. It's probably impossible to separate our previous re-reading experiences from our assessments of these stories, but I do the best I can.

I was just offering an example of kids dressing up like super heroes in the 30th century. I was not trying to imply that the later story had any bearing on this one.

Ah, I see. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

I don't wish to belabor the point, but our exchange does illustrate the problem I perceived in the story. When writers leave out crucial information, they leave it to the reader to fill in the blanks.

Looking back over the exchange, there is nothing in your post that is a direct rebuttal; however, coming right after my post about what Bridwell left out of the story, it looked as if it was intended to say, "There's a precedent after the fact because other creators have depicted kids in the 30th century wearing super-hero shirts."

It's incumbent upon writers to make their messages as clear as possible. We're all guilty of occasionally failing to do this, and writing is an imperfect, messy form of communication to begin with. Anything writers can do to eliminate guesswork on the part of the reader is helpful.

(And, yes, I've spent the week grading freshman comp papers. Why do you ask?)