LSH Annual #4 (1988) "Secrets Within the Star" by Paul Levitz, art by Barry Kitson, inks Bruce Patterson & Romeo Tanghal, letters John Costanza, colors Carl Gafford; Second story "Sunset, Sunrise" by Paul Levitz, art by Garry Leach, letters John Costanza, colors Carl Gafford


The Espionage Squad Team finds Cham. While torturing Gim, Starfinger reveals that he was the thief Gim and Gigi captured on Mars when they were cadets; he discovered the ring which gave him his powers while trying to escape into the desert. The SPs join Jacques to free Gim. Violet realizes that Starfinger has hidden in his ring. Imprisoned in a cube, Starfinger lives in a world of his own within his ring, with Starbright and Starlight.

On a date with Atmos, Nura tells him that he has been refused Legion membership. He decides to go home to Xanthu and she leaves with him. Story partly narrated by a celebrity gossip reporter.

Comments: This is an introspective issue, which is where I find its appeal. It also leaves the Legion further weakened, with the departure of Nura and Gim seriously injured.

The story moves from Legionnaire to Legionnaire, each one delivering an inner monologue about their feelings, hopes, fears about their lives and the Legion. I liked that, because I like the talky stuff. It adds depth to the characters. It does slow down the action a bit, however. Jacques, Violet and Dawnstar are plagued by doubts of various sorts (as usual) yet firm on their duty to their fellow Legionnaires. Given the bickering and disputes of late, this is reassuring.

Cham breaking out of his imprisonment took a lot of panels; the character often goes through multiple panels to do anything as a way to showcase his shape-shifting abilities. Here we learn that the name Reep Daggle was assigned to him by an immigration officer, since Durlans have no identity, and that he takes on the surface quality of life forms and objects he changes to. It still doesn't explain how he can go from a large beast to a dust mote, as he does here.

Gim is portrayed inconsistently in the artwork. In one panel, his leg is torn open; later, it's whole. After he's rescued, he has his pants and boots on, but not his shirt. Considerate of Starfinger to leave at least some of his costume nearby.... it strikes me as sloppy art, since the dictates of modesty could have been easily accomplished with the usual blocking of private parts. It's a minor point, but it detracts from the seriousness of the torture, which was all focused on his leg.

This wraps up the Starfinger arc. The biggest surprise is Starfinger's origin, which, for the reader, came out of nowhere, but gives some retroactive weight to the Gim and Gigi story of #39. It also leaves the door open for Starfinger to return, since villains have a way of escaping from 30th century prisons.

Barry Kitson does the pencils on the main story. His first Legion work? It looks different from his current style.

The Nura-Atmos story is sort of depressing. Nura doesn't look that great (just my opinion), Atmos is a grump and a manipulator. You figure he's working on her mind; she even debates whether or not to pull strings and get Atmos into the Legion. Fortunately for readers, she doesn't - and he's off to Xanthu. Too bad she's going with him.

Cramey, I do believe you're right and this is Barry Kitson's first Legion work. There are lots of nice artistic flourishes to keep this Annual's lead story halfway readable, although the deadline must have been tight considering that two talented, seasoned inkers both do a far less impressive job than they're capable of. Dawnstar also makes a better showing than usual for this Legion Era. Other than the above, I find this a very meh resolution to a meh storyline centered around a meh legacy villain. I cannot help but notice some clear parallels to a far better (and far more concise) Levitz story, the death of the Earth-2 Batman during Levitz's excellent JSA run -- there, too, the villain was an every-thug with a grudge. But in the earlier story there were a lot of interesting themes, such as class warfare; here, it's just a story with no real point to it and no real resolution.

I concur with you on the Nura-Atmos backup story, although the words you've used are far less harsh than the ones my mind reels with. Sometimes, there is something to be said for restraint...especially since I've pretty well said, in previous Re-Reads posts, everything about this appalling subplot that I feel needed to be said.

Yes, it's a pretty standard villain story. "Every-thug" is a good term, he hardly rises to the status of a super-villain. There's a panel in which the first Starfinger is shown killed with a purple star on his face and I thought we were going to go the Starro route, but no connection was ever made. What stands out while re-reading these latest issues is how much world-building there is through Galactica entries and character dialogue - and that's what I most appreciate in this run.

Thinking more about the abysmal development in Nura's story, it strikes me as quite similar to the Tasmia-Earth Man affair, both unlikeable if not represhensible males and relationships to which readers (or most readers) objected. Although Tasmia appeared to have made that choice of her own free will, some fans have suggested that Kirk used Imra's mind control power to seduce her.

I'd never made that connection before between Nura-Atmos and Tasmia-Kirt, but now it is all too clear.

I shudder to think for even a second of the implications that a writer would recycle not just his old ideas, but his *bad* old ideas!

LSH #53 "Hunters and Hunted" by Paul Levitz & Keith Giffen, art by Keith Giffen & Mike DeCarlo, letters John Costanza, colors Carl Gafford
On Braal, Ayla, Pol and Tellus seek and find the Gil'Dishpan Hywyndr, who is disrupting the planet's surface. As he insults them, Ayla goes full-lightning and Hywyndr disappears. Relaxing later at a pool, Ayla fails to seduce Pol, who's focused on the Hywyndr problem. They find and capture Hywyndr, place him on their cruiser and head into space, where the Gil'Dishpan's elemental powers don't work. At Legion HQ, Brin, Jan and Brek install a new medi-lab and wonder where Blok is as Gim watches. Tasmia takes Lar into space to seek further treatment, run into some Khunds and a very weak Lar disables their ship with heat vision. Garak the Glow arrives at Labyrinth, watched from space by the Emerald Eye.

LSH #54 "Strength in Numbers" by Paul Levitz & Keith Giffen, art by Keith Giffen, finishes Mike DeCarlo, letters John Costanza, colors Carl Gafford
At Legion HQ, Brek frets about reduced numbers and new uniforms. Word arrives of a prison break on Labyrinth. Garak the Glow, enhanced with Khundian bio-implants to disrupt Labyrinth's circuitry, releases all the prisoners from their cells. Warden Tsarquin appeals for help from the Legion and the SPs. Jo, Wildfire and Dawnstar along with the guards capture most of them, but Garak frees the Emerald Empress. Other escapees are trapped by Jan, Tinya, Dirk, Vi, Cham and Brin. At the Legion Academy, Lu experiments with the forcefield belt and decides it's too dangerous for her. Projectra and Brek chat about uncertainties. Jeckie becomes aware that the Empress is free.

LSH #55 "Different Paths" by Paul Levitz & Keith Giffen, art by Keith Giffen, Ernie Colon, JoseLuis Garcia-Lopez & Erik Larsen, inks by Al Gordon, letters John Costanza, colors Carl Gafford
Mysa settles in on Sorcerers' World and contemplates her past and future. Brainy does the same on Colu. Atmos and Thom deal with an emergency, then fight each other on Xanthu; Thom takes off in a cruiser. Nura cuddles with Atmos but wonders what she's doing there. Blok suffers self-doubts as his body changes and he is held prisoner by a being called Inquisitor, who wants to learn the secrets of silicon-based life. Brek struggles with the Mission Monitor Board which Computo has redesigned.

Comments:
Lots of fight scenes in #53 and 54, which don't appeal to me personally, but they do show the Legion performing well and looking good. The stand-out for me is the Emerald Empress's escape. She's been one of the most interesting villains in this series, so her return is something to look forward to. It was a bit of a slow build-up, but it paid off and the Empress (or perhaps the Eye was coordinating everything) was consistent in using a male as her puppet.

The Gil'Dishpan on Braal didn't amount to much. It gave Ayla an opportunity to pursue Pol even more aggressively (yuck!) and to display her powers (yum!). However, Hwyndyr's devious plot is unclear: is he a rogue or acting on behalf of all Gil'Dishpan? Why Braal? If he wants to clear the population and reform the planet for his species, aren't there more suitable planets for Gil'Dishpan? In any event, he was fairly easily dispatched, although the Legionnaires seemed to be more upset about his insults than his actions.

The costumes have changed radically. Interesting, but they strike me as clunky today. The early '80s big shoulder pads have made their way to the future, along with a variety of pockets and pouches. The Legionnaires never needed pouches before so it's a mystery what they are putting in them. They blame it all on Computo; we look to Mr. Giffen. Computo has also messed with the Monitor Board - evil Computo, evil Brainy or is Computo running on Windows?

#55 follows up on four departed Legionnaires. Nothing much happens, but I, predictably, liked each character's introspection and the details provided about their worlds. Nura's story is a bummer (Atmos triumphant) but train-wreck interesting. Her story could go two ways (not accepting that she remain Atmos's sex puppet): either Thom rescues her in white knight fashion, or she breaks free herself. The latter option is preferable.
I also expect Blok to work his way out of capture rather than be rescued; just a better story and it would complement the physical changes he's going through. At this point, it looks like Brainy and Mysa will be off the team indefinitely; they're where they are of their own choosing. I find it interesting that the two polar opposites - science and magic - have both withdrawn voluntarily from the team, although nothing much is made of this in the story. There's more concern expressed for the loss of Brainiac 5 than for the Witch. The cover is one of my favourites, possibly a riff off an old Beatles psychedelic poster.

On LSH Baxter 53-55

I find it rather telling that, at this point, the only two of the ongoing plot threads which I find engaging are: Tasmia's search for a way to save the life of her fast-fading lover, Mon-El; and Blok's manipulation at the hands of the Inquisitor as the gentle giant seeks to understand his metamorphosis. The confrontation with the Khund warship brings some energetic action to the former thread, and Levitz and Giffen both do adequate jobs in executing it; in the latter thread, Erik Larsen's guest-pencils have a solid Kirby-esque kick to them which compounds the sympathy I feel for Blok's desperation.

Would that I could say the same about the threads involving Ayla and Pol (I've shared details of my distate in a recent post above this one,) Nura and Atmos and Thom (same,) Drake and Dawny (they give up awfully easily, which makes it feel like a contrivance on the part of the creators,) Chuck and Lu and the students (I think he's been far too forgiving, and she is paying the price for her selfish foolhardiness,) the heavy-handed clowning of new villain Garak of the Glow, and even Mysa, despite nice guest-art from the recently deceased Ernie Colon (whenever Levitz journeys into the mystic, the results are not exactly like the music from Van Morrison in his prime.)

And, yes, part of my displeasure is that most of the art in this bunch of issues is Giffen. By this point, even Mike DeCarlo can seemingly do nothing to prevent Giffen's pencils and layouts from looking ugly (the faces have now begun to resemble the Spitting Image puppets* and they're going to get even worse in issues to come,) lazy (far too many closeups for there to be any kind of flow, and flow has always been something Giffen's art has lacked, in my opinion,) and without subtlety (which is not an unforgivable sin -- Giffen's fellow Kirby worshipper Larsen is no more nuanced in the aforementioned Blok sequence than him, but at least there is energy in Larsen's work, and something resembling conviction!)

On the other hand, the Nura-Atmos-Thom sequence is penciled by the great Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, and while it's far from his best work, there are still a few impressive moments -- but unlike, say, Marv Wolfman's Lilith-is-Thia's-daughter storyline from New Teen Titans Baxter, which JLGL also drew, I can't just check my brain and my morals at the door and enjoy the spectacle.

What I think it really comes down to is that, as Levitz plods through the motions during the final year of his longest Legion run, he seems to have lost the lion's share of his ability to make us *care* about these characters, most of whom were never particularly deep to begin with. By "Marvel-izing" the Legion, he has taken the series through many extreme peaks and valleys, only to culminate in a messy, muddy delta where an interminable shaggy-dog tale (of space) lives or dies by how much the individual reader is engaged with the visual component. And I say that as someone who has always been more Marvel fan than DC fan. It was a worthy experiment, being as it gave us the likes of "The Universo Project," but for the most part it's been a noble failure which has gotten downright *ignoble* as the series stumbles toward its conclusion.






* For those younger than "a certain age," Spitting Image was a topically satirical puppet show from the UK during the 80s. They briefly "crossed over the pond" when Genesis commissioned the creators to lend their talents to the video for "Land of Confusion," heavily rotated on MTV.

On LSH Baxter 56

Hope this is okay with Cramey and the rest of the Re-Readers -- as I have noted in the Archives Re-Read Discussion Thread, I wanted us to focus on this issue by itself instead of as part of the greater Baxter arc, because it has great sentimental value to me. Here is a review I did back in 2014, copied and pasted with some updated addenda in italics:


Legion of Super-Heroes v.3 #56

CREDITS: Paul Levitz, writer - Eduardo Barreto, pencils - Mike DeCarlo and Al Gordon, inks - John Costanza, letters - Carl Gafford, colors - Karen Berger, editor

THE COVER: A magnificently dynamic portrayal of Blok, courtesy of Baxter Era cover artist supreme Steve Lightle.

PAGES 1-3: Blok struggles to break out of a dimension of pure darkness in which he has been trapped by an imp who serves the villainous Inquisitor, who thinks he might find the secret of immortality in Blok.

The late, great Eduardo Barreto was the main reason I bought this issue in the first place, because he was my kind of artist: a solid storyteller with gorgeously clean draftsmanship. The kind of artist who could drawn anything, and make it look hyperrealistic. Such challenging characters as Blok and the Inquistor look fully convincing and almost tactile.

PAGES 4-7: A Legionnaire team of Dawnstar, Wildfire, Ultra Boy, and Element Lad is searching for the recently escaped Emerald Empress. They don't find her, but they find some monstrous constructs she created, and fight them.

Paul Levitz was always good at knowing when to throw in an action sequence to keep readers on their toes. And once again, Barreto is up to the challenge, making it dynamic yet fully comprehensible. And Dawnstar looks gorgeous, despite being in her horrible post-Conspiracy costume designed by Keith Giffen, my personal bete noire among comic book creators.

PAGES 8-10: At Legion headquarters, Lightning Lass flirts with Magnetic Kid and scares him away. Shrinking Violet flirts more subtly with Lightning Lass.

Again, the women look stunning and the storytelling is pristine. I don't like the Ayla/Vi romance, though. It doesn't feel progressive to me, more of a straight man's wanky fantasy. I don't like whatever Levitz thought he was doing with the Ayla/Pol thing, either.

2019: My outlook on the Ayla/Vi romance has matured considerably. One of the few things that I give TMK due credit for is the way they made something substantial and emotionally engaging out of what I still believe started out as simply a cheeky throwaway bit from Levitz.

PAGES 11-14: At last we get to what I consider the real meat of the issue, Shadow Lass's ongoing quest to find someone who can heal Mon-El after his injuries at the hands of the Time Trapper in issue #50. On the planet Verzwei, Tasmia discovers to her shock that the doctor assigned to Mon-El is working for the Inquisitor. After fighting off robot guards, she jumps into the teleportation portal that has swallowed Mon-El.

As beautiful as the other female Legionnaires in this issue look, Tasmia's portrayal by Barreto outshines them all. Mike DeCarlo, an inker who in my opinion gets a bad rap, matches Barreto every step of the way. But Tasmia doesn't just look great, she also kicks robot ass and shows incredible courage and passionate love for Mon-El.

PAGE 15: The Inquisitor and the imp watch Tasmia and Mon-El tumble into the dark prison. The imp thinks Mon-El might hold the answer they're looking for, the Inquisitor isn't so sure.

PAGE 16-17: In Metropolis, Earth President Desai transfers SP Chief Zendak to the outer reaches of the galaxy.

Barreto shows his talent for characterization by making Zendak and Desai look distinctive yet attractive.

PAGE 18-23: The Inquisitor's probes put Mon-El in great pain. Tasmia and Mon-El meet up with Blok, and they combine powers to break down the darkforce walls holding them prisoner.

More well-crafted action from Levitz and Barreto, and Tasmia continuing to be wonderfully brave, noble, and heroic.

PAGES 24-27: When the Legionnaires break through into the Inquisitor's master control center, the villain teleports away, leaving the imp to the heroes' mercies. Being Legionnaires, of course, they're lenient with the imp, who teleports them out of there. Blok returns to Earth while Tasmia's quest continues.

SUMMARY: In the big picture, this was not the high point of the Baxter era. That, in my opinion, would be issues #14 through #45, with The Universo Project (#32-35) as the peak. Levitz had actually wanted to leave after Conspiracy, but Giffen convinced him to stay one more year. Despite a lot of bad stories and art, this was actually a blessing in disguise. Levitz had never quite gotten Tasmia until this issue. Shame that her quest subsequently took a backseat to other, less interesting characters and stories, until its truncated, unsatisfying end during the Magic Wars. And whatever the circumstances that necessitated the assignation of Barreto to draw this particular issue, I am grateful to the Higher Powers for making it so. Otherwise, I may never have become a fan of the Legion, and of Shadow Lass in particular.

2019: One flaw which had eluded me in past reads but which is now inescapable -- why in the name of the Ancestors would Tasmia take Mon-El back to Verzwei? Her in-story reason for doing so doesn't convince me at all. I chalk it up to laziness on the part of both Levitz and Giffen (the latter whom I'd assume was heavily involved in the plotting of all the Post-Conspiracy Baxter issues, credited or uncredited. My educated guess would be that Levitz, with one foot out the door, was taking a backseat, especially since everything in these concluding issues had to be adjusted so that it wouldn't contradict or interfere with anything that Giffen and his collaborators had planned for the upcoming Volume 4 relaunch.) Still and all, I love this issue and it holds up far better than my other sentimental favorite of the Baxter era, issue 45 (the Lightning Lad/Luck Lords anniversary special.) I gave issue 45 seven out of ten Taryns, so I am giving issue 56 a possibly over-generous 9 out of 10 Taryns, for old time's sake:



And here is a link to that review's full thread:

http://legionworld.net/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=820531

On LSH Baxter 57-59

Credits: Paul Levitz, writer - Keith Giffen, penciler/co-plotter - Mark Bright, penciler, flashback sequences in 59 - Al Gordon, inker - Carlos Garzon, inker, flashback sequences in 59 - John Costanza, letterer - Carl Gafford, colorist - Karen Berger, editor

Plot: Freed from prison and completely off the rails, the Emerald Empress goes on a horrifically violent rampage, spanning whole continents, while demanding to be told the secret to immortality. In the midst of the battle, Quislet challenges the Empress only to regret doing so (WTF?) just before she destroys his ship, necessitating his return to Teall. But then it turns out the Empress was manipulating Sensor Girl all along so that SG would blind the Emerald Eye long enough to liberate the Empress from its domination of her, or some such -- whatever, the Empress's wish turns out to be that she wanted to die, which she does. Later, pondering the whole ugly event, Jacques (who was severely burned in the battle) has a crisis of confidence which is alleviated by the ghost of Lyle Norg -- the previous Invisible Kid -- sharing a particularly significant experience of his, involving Lyle and his protégé, Condo Arlik (later Chemical King,) fighting a saboteur at Legion HQ until they are apparently both saved by the ghost of Andrew Nolan (Ferro Lad.) This restores Jacques' confidence. Oh yeah, and Sensor Girl wins the election for the team's new leader, and there's some sort of mystical mumbo jumbo afoot which is going to precipitate the Magic Wars.[/b]

Thoughts: After all these years, I am still none the wiser as to what worth anyone sees in the Empress story! It is ugly on every level -- aesthetically, narratively, coherently, and even, I would argue, purposefully. What is the point of killing Sarya -- a rare comic book super-villainess who was both menacing and sexy -- other than to reaffirm some particularly hateful tropes of popular fiction? Namely, that women are hopelessly vain and shallow, that women can't handle high levels of power without eventually going insane, and that pretenders to royalty must be put in their place. Adding insult to injury, Levitz and Giffen opt for a "tell, don't show" approach in the aftermath. While the flashback sequences have a warm, soothing, old-fashioned charm to them, the estimable guest artists Bright and Garzon doing a creditable homage to the Curt Swan style, they also seem to be there to distract us from what should be weightier issues at hand...such as, accidentally or not, Projectra has taken *another life.* Finally, I can't help but feel that the Empress's combination of disdain, boredom, and desperation is a reflection of the attitudes of Giffen and Levitz -- the former can't wait to take the Legion away from conventional super-heroics, the latter can't wait to just wrap up the series and walk away from the Legion.

I give both issues 57-58 a big, round, ZERO on a Ten Scale.

Issue 59, thanks to the flashback sequences, gets 7 out of 10 Taryns:

Guest...well...not star.... thinks... Guest Light Bulb Review!

Legion v3 #57

The newsstand Tales of the Legion finished with #354, cover dated December 1987 but probably on sale around September 1987. It also marked a hiatus in my Legion reading. I didn’t move across to the Baxter book. I did the same when Tales of the Teen Titans ended.

I just used my pennies to pick up newsstand books, which I would get more of, rather than the Baxter books that I hadn’t bought any of the previous issues of.

I think it was the ad for vol 3 #54 that made me pick up the Baxter book. I may have read something about Giffen returning to the book too.

I’ll pop up a few comments later on those issues, but certainly from #50, when Giffen returned (and I’ve just taken a peek at) and became co-plotter, there’s an extra density to the book. Still plenty of action and super heroics, but a depth to the characters that Levitz is able to bring out with a new/old partner alongside him.

Giffen’s art still looks great here. It’s what the Legion has spoiled me with over the years. Really strong character work *and* attention to detail in the backgrounds. A book that brings its world to life along with the people in it. Giffen’s new costumes are hit and miss with the characters never mind the readers. They have casual wardrobes too.

The redesign of the Empress also remains a favourite. In #57 we get the payoff from her, and The Inquisitor’s recent appearances. Sarya is seeking the secret of immortality. She is suitably ruthless and bloodthirsty. She makes the decision to return to going after her goals without allies. She has grown beyond the likes of the Fatal Five now, having been a member and then a leader of it. She has gone beyond even using agents to find secrets for her. It’s a fateful decision that leads her to expend more and more of herself as she uses the Emerald Eye. Early on here, we already see signs that it’s taking a physical toll.

Elsewhere, we have foreboding from Jeckie that she will meet with the Empress again. Since my Legion break came not long after the Emerald Empress/ Mentalla story picking up the Baxter book when she breaks out of prison must have made the return quite easy for me.

The Legion leader is coordinating the search for the Empress. It’s part of a series of scenes showing Brekk’s struggle with the role. In a nice nod, it’s Cham leading the team that can’t find her. Brekk might show some self-doubt, but he’s picked the head of the Espionage Squad for that mission.

We also get the nod that Dawny isn’t fit to track the Empress which ties in with her scene in this issue with a Wildfire in human form. He’s literally too hot to handle. Dawny, having tried to get close to Drake in this new form, finds that she’s back to deciding to find someone else (return to Kol Dawny!). Poor Drake hasn’t looked this human for years, and it makes no difference. Considering Wildfire could control his energy output, it’s a shame he can’t reduce it enough here. Brainy could always fit him with a Transuit of Lurv for these occasions.

Now, I enjoy this story. In previous reads it’s been a highlight. But in this reread, I’m a little aware that it’s clearly a two-parter. The Empress travels to Earth, continuing her search for the secret of eternal life. While the first scene firmly establishes her search, the rest of the issue has a number of scenes where she appears to be toying with the Legion.

It’s only in the caption boxes that we see she’s gone to Ancient Egypt and Rome. It could have done with more of an escalation in her frustration with Earth. Even showing us that she was looking for something, rather than hovering over cities throughout would have helped.

Finally, she hovers above Metropolis to get rid of the Legion. That move doesn’t tie in with her search. It also doesn’t tie in with her easily defeating the Legionnaires in all the previous scenes. The issue is quite bloodthirsty. Sarya has been shown to have no problem with killing. To maintain credibility, it should really have applied to the Legion here too. She could have killed a few of them along the way, but is instead Plot Pushed into a stand-off. One that is part of a build up to her decision next issue.

Emphasising the two-parter, Jacques gets a long lead into the Empress’s attack. It’s nice to see Danielle, (and tough to imagine her growing so quickly to be a Legionnaire later on). We’re reminded he’s a bit shy and doesn’t like public speaking (flipped in v4). But I’d have liked to have found out more about what he did prior to the Legion. Jacques is brave on a par with his Great Darkness exploits (even doing the follow-the villain bit). With all the Giffen-pouches, he should really be carrying some decent non-lethal weapons about. He does learn that the Empress would have destroyed the Eye if she could.

Speaking of the Great Darkness Saga, Antonio Stefanacci makes an appearance. There’s more foreboding the Sorcerer’s World.

Levitz has continued with the revised founders trio of Tellus, Lightning Lass and Magnetic Kid. Results look to be mixed regarding their success on missions.

In later time, Polar Boy’s powers would expand to show him reducing Tharok to absolute zero. Here, he encases the Empress in ice and is promptly held hostage, further bruising his leaders ego.


Next: Emerald Tizzles vs the Legion of Super Pets!

Welcome back, Thoth.

Oh...the review itself. Right.

I agree to disagree with everything in your post.

And neither one of us is more correct in their opinions than the other.

Nuff said.



Seriously, welcome back!

Legion v3 #58

The Empress had threatened to destroy Metropolis if not left alone. Polar Boy is her prisoner. He concedes that the others should depart. Instead she intends to blow up Metropolis anyway. Only the arrival of Colossal Boy intereferes with her plans. She leaves, not because there’s a chance she’ll be defeated, but because she has failed to find her answers on Earth.

She zooms off into space in a scene that is there to demonstrate her escalating power. But it’s never made clear why she was in Metropolis in the first place. She zooms off without having resolved her trip there.
Is there a Lost Legion scene where she was looking into the long-lived Superman’s origins? A nod to Laurel Kent spending her life there as a long lived Manhunter would have been a nod too. Both Superman and Laurel Kent were probably not what was wanted in the book post-crisis.

Her escalating power levels are made much clearer shortly. The Metropolis scene only acts as a holding scene against the Legion, with the powersphere being a plot device for that to happen.
The payoff to the Wildfire/ Dawny relationship status quo happens in this issue. When life presents her with barriers, Dawny always looks to prove herself against something.
There’s a 2 page domestic scene with Year and Gim. She’s obviously concerned about him and his need to be a Legionnaire, despite his injuries. He cares about her, but has a sense of duty. Considering Gim’s injuries and this scene where Year could be building towards getting him to retire, Gim is in fact one of the last to leave the team in the 5 year gap. Year must have been having kittens (kittens that could become anything, but why change from being a kitten?)

On Trom, The Empress ponders her fate at being partnered with the Eye. Her envy at the dead, is a hint at what’s to come. Her regal bearing/ posturing is also strong throughout, illustrating exactly why she ended up with it. She begins to destroy the grave markers, which really annoys Jan. He enters into combat with her. His line about thieves like her reminds us of Roxxas and of Jan’s past. Jo tries and utterly fails to knock the eye way. It’s visually really good, but I don’t know why it didn’t work. Perhaps the eye is getting stronger as it bonds more with Sarya.

The Legion were held off easily by the Empress all last issue. Here, Jan does some serious damage to her. It forces her to absorb the Emerald Eye into herself. Again, it’s that pretention of grandeur that is her undoing. Even knowing that she has become more and more lost to the Eye’s power, she can’t help but act upon slights to her dignity. Even in a giant form (Leviathan Mk1) her blast fails to kill the Legion.

Dawny is blasted too. She’s wearing her new costume. I’m surprised no one pointed out the burn marks form Wildfire along the way. But then, TMK would have them fail to recognise a lot of things about Dawny Dawny losing a shoe is a sad sign of a villain’s real power after the gosh and wow fireworks are over.

Emerald Energy continues to blast from Sarya as the rest of the team arrive. But it does them no real harm. They get off extremely lightly all through this story, considering the energy being thrown about. Except for Quislet, who had injured her more. She blows up his ship and teleports away. As with Metropolis, we don’t know exactly why she was on Trom. She didn’t take Tizzles for a start.

Perhaps, having now given up on the secrets of immortality, she was there to reflect on her mortality, or lack thereof. It adds a poignancy to an action-packed scene. It certainly shows Sarya going over the edge where she has any semblance of real control over the eye.

With no craft, Quislet is forced to return home. As the very human sized portal to his dimension hovers in the air, Dawny talks Drake out of following rather easily. Polar Boy takes another opportunity to see how events reflect on his leadership. Reduced to 17 (I guess Mysa, Brainy, Mon-El, Shady, Dreamy and now Quislet are recent departures)

Finally, a wounded Sarya appears before Jeckie and asks for a gift. Jeckie has been waiting for her, and this scene is a payoff to their relationship over the years, Levitz shows that Sarya gains her freedom by losing the self-entitlement and grandeur. She sheds her power as a villain and as a queen.

It’s as a person asking for aid that the gift is given. But there’s a twist for Jeckie. She may have renounced her own throne, and claim to know more about the eye than its owner dreamed. But there’s a certain air of power in her dealing with the Empress. Jeckie is humbled too, as she is genuinely shocked as Sarya crumbles before her eyes, free of the Eye’s power at last. Jeckie’s own Sensor Girl persona vanishes as she becomes more human too.

Only at the end is it clear that Sarya spent all those issues looking for the secrets of immortality, not because she wanted it but, because she wanted to be free of it.
I still think this stands as a great story of power, position and greed consuming someone until those things control them. Sarya was a great character to show going through this journey of realisation.
Looking back at the years since, the Emerald Empress was never this good again. I do think it was a great final appearance for the villain, but it removed one of the best from the book.
The Legion, having lost a number of members, have now lost their embodiment of fun. There was a real sense of the paring down of the team going on, with a number of them following their own subplots beyond the scope of the team.

Next: Tizzles: Zombie Master of Trom!

I made sure not to read your posts first.

I *am* looking forward to reading them though. I think we vary quite a bit in this volume. I wasn't a massive Larocque fan (slight understatement, although rereading brings things out), I thought the Universo plot was meh (again rereading brings certain elements of it out), while I liked the conspiracy and the closing final year of issues. While you took a different view, if I recall correctly, on nearly all of that. Which makes the reviews threads so good.

Legion v3 #59

This is a fill-in issue between the Emerald Empress finale and the start of the Magic Wars. Jacques gives provides the reader with framing sequences, a situation update and a connection to the central character in the tale. That’s a lot of work, and no wonder he sits down by the statue of Lyle Norg in the Hall of Heroes (There’s a Superboy statue there, although Levitz probably didn’t write for it to be included Post Crisis).

Giffen takes us away from activity (shown very nicely in that little concourse cameo that he used way back on a Tales cover), to a quieter, emptier part of the HQ, reinforcing the losses and trials that the team has gone through. The update pushes a few subplots forward, without having to spend an issue building them up. There’s an election and Polar Boy’s term in office may be judged by the team’s departures. Jeckie is apparently upset at the death of the Empress and several Legionnaires are scattered elsewhere. Jacques wonders if there is worse to come.

This foreboding feeling leads Jacques into his usual subplot of questioning his place in the team and as a replacement for Lyle. It’s a plot that I thought Jacques had resolved back in the Tales days, after “Lyle’s” return.

It’s good to see Jacques getting panel time in the last couple of issues. I’d have preferred it to cover more new ground with him though. Still, if he wasn’t reflective over Lyle in some fashion, we wouldn’t have such an easy lead in…

The main story is a flashback to Lyle’s time as Leader. He is trying to capture a “ghost” in the clubhouse. A clubhouse with only a statue of Ferro Lad in the Hall of Heroes rather than the much more crowded Giffen version shown in the opening sequence. He’s written the account in a journal and the ghost theme, and his beliefs on it here, tie in nicely with that of his own death. While investigating some bumping noises, Lyle is crushed beneath some weaponry. The crushing fate is also one that will recur for Lyle.

Here, he recovers in time to visit Condo Arlik. Levitz has already established Lyle’s bioengineering credentials as he went through the HQ. He nicely expands on this to show it in action. He’s used his own serum as a base in an effort to cure Condo.

Arlik has a mutant power to alter chemical reactions. We learn here that it’s caused as much harm as good. What’s clear is that it has seriously affected not only Condo’s physical health, but his mental health too. His powers work on his own body. There could be all sorts of emotional and bodily triggers for his powers and he’s had to grow up with a lack of control over them. The impact this has all had on him, may well have provided even more triggers for him to struggle with. “Maybe one day I won’t hurt myself anymore, Invisible Kid” carries the weight of mental health issues, including self-harming, either physically or emotionally. Levitz certainly didn’t lack for emotional power in his closing year on the book.

Levitz knows his Legion history thoroughly, tying in Lyle boosting Condo with the concept of the forming Legion Academy. This story can be seen as sequel of sorts to the previous ghost of Ferro Lad story. Seeing Condo perhaps begin to think of his affliction as a power is a nice moment.

“If there’s ever – ever anything I can do for you” from Condo and “sweet” from Lyle has the two of them in a relationship at some later point in the minds of a number of Legion fans.

Levitz gets craft points for the segue from Lyle telling Condo about listening to Brekk wondering what Jacques is seemingly listening to. An interlude sees Brekk rule out his chances of reelection. In previous rereads, I thought it poor form that he’d try and stuff the membership with people who would vote for him. It’s reads more as a throw away here, but it does define Brekk a bit since he joined the Legion. He’ll stick by the rules, but he’s not opposed to bending them in his own favour when he feels like it. It’s nice to have a Subs moment before we’re back…

… to Lyle and Condo having confronted the very real intruder. Some comics would have Condo emerge as the hero., proving himself against the foe by beating him. Levitz takes a more realistic approach, reminding me of the issue where they considered Academy students joining the team. Condo gets thumped quite a bit. Lyle does too, partly in trying to protect him.

As the villain is about to deal the fatal blow, there’s a crashing noise from elsewhere in the HQ. Distracted, the villain falls to Lyle and Condo. Levitz gets in another continuity nod by tying the crook in with the Taurus Gang.

Condo showed his heroism in other ways. Helping with the equipment that would spring the trap on the villain, and looking to help Lyle on more than one occasion. Being introduced to Lar and Jo and hearing that Lyle thought he helped must have been a big moment in helping turn an affliction into a strength.

Lyle wonders about the crashing noise. Only the statue of Ferro Lad has fallen and it’s made of much lighter material than that which could have caused the noise. Jacques comes to a decision about his place as a Legionnaire. Levitz nicely combines both Lyle and Andrew in his decision (not Condo unfortunately for the – well hattrick is a bad word considering what’s in the Legion’s future).

Elsewhere the emissary from Sorcerer’s world is visited by a companion. One who knows how to push the subplot forward, towards Legion HQ. Next issue is previewed as “Where has all the magic gone?” It’s something that will become an issue, in more ways than one for some, in the issues to come…

Overall, it’s a nice mash up of the Ghost of Ferro Lad with the Magpie story from Tales and the Jacques subplot from around the same time. At the time I bought it, I probably felt a little cheated with a flashback, and an issue without full Giffen art. While I can take or leave flashbacks generally, this one provides some nice depth into Lyle and Condo as well as the period of Lyle’s leadership.

ROTFLMAO



Awww...thanks.



Yeppers. Pretty much all the above, except for my beloved Tasmia Spotlight-slash-Eduardo Barreto-Drawn issue 56.



Precisely! I'll drink to that!

I'm looking forward to reading your comments on that one in particular. I know it was one you liked a lot.

#56 - never one of my favourite issues, but I can appreciate the fine action artwork which Ann has emphasized. (I probably wouldn't even have re-read it but for Ann's glowing comments on the art.) Blok, so naive and trusting, has become a bit more canny now and proves that he's more than just a clobbering machine. Tasmia does indeed shine in this story; that's what stood out for me. Her return to Verzwei after the doctor's betrayal was to me a sign of her desperation, no where else to go. That crooked doctor was a page taken from the Universo Project, in which the bad guy has co-opted a variety of key people, with the omniscience to know who's going to be needed where.

#57 - Thoth points out that the Empress is no longer delegating but drawing on the Eye to accomplish her quest. This explains her big jump in power (and madness), which I found quite a leap from her last appearance. If she was so powerful, why didn't she break out of Labyrinth on her own? I missed the connection that, without servants or co-villains, she's now extracting even more power from the Eye. I also appreciate the density of detail which fills these issues. Complaints about the new uniforms from the Legionnaires is a clever bit to add: that's what an over-reliance on technology/Computo will get you. One can only assume that Legionnaires went along with the new togs in the spirit of don't knock it 'til you try it. The Jacques story disappoints, however: lots of action, but unusually lacking in those world-building details.

#58 - If DC had had a poll to determine whether Polar Boy should be saved or killed at this point, I wonder what the result would have been? The Dawnstar-Wildfire story looks new but is same old. Both the Empress and Eye are bursting with power, like the build-up to an explosion. But who is consuming who? We see that things have finally spun out of control for Sarya.



Agree! I didn't see it as a bad portrayal of women, as Ann did, but as the consequences of power. It not only corrupts, it destroys. The twist at the end - Sarya wanted to know about immortality to end hers - was surprising. Another cautionary tale: long life is a curse if it's lived in slavery, whether to another being/power or to ill health.

This was also a very good story for Projectra. She remained calm through the build-up, monitoring but not taking action until the exact moment. It was only when facing Projectra that Sarya could admit the trap she was in and appeal for mercy. No one else - or few others - could help. The meeting between the two women was not so much a confrontation as a peace talk, with Projectra holding the better hand - or so she thought. Her expression clearly communicates the shock she felt as her gambit failed and Sarya crumbled to dust.

#59 - This must have been only the second time I read this entire issue. I also had an aversion to flashback stories, as well as more Jacques-is-brooding scenes, but this does give a lot more depth to Lyle Norg as a capable, conscientious leader. Quite a contrast from Polar Boy, who does himself no credit in this issue either. There's a couple of tidbits such as Brainy needing a break after using the Miracle Machine (the early seeds of his madness?) and the idea of a Legion Academy which were nicely fit in. The intruder looked a lot like early Iron Man.

We didn't see the results of the voting this time; Jeckie presumably won by a good margin. However, it was disappointing that Brin, voted deputy, was still regarded as a bit of a joke.

Since there had to have been an element of clearing the decks the closer to the end of this volume we get, I had wondered if Brin was a deliberate choice as he could be conveyed as not the most effective of leaders in Jeckie's absence. But from the polls that appeared in the letter cols, he was a clear 2nd.

Jeckie 126
Brin 77
Jan 76
Imra 71
Nura 61
Querl 60

Re: Sarya's fate, I might soften my hard line stance in its disfavor if a *male* Omega-Level Legion villain, i.e. Mordru, were to been seen suffering a similar degree of desperation and humiliation. Are you reading this, Mr. Bendis?

Did Annual # 4 get dropped between this "volume" and the one prior? That contained the conclusion of the Starfinger story.

I just went back and realized that Fat Cramer's comment on LSH # 49 included this:



Annual # 4 is where we found out what that's all about. Was that issue obscure somehow? If none of you have it, I'll dig out my copy and summarize/review it in this thread (though it probably more belonged in the prior one).

Chaim,

Cramey's review of Annual 4, and my comments on it, are the very first two posts in this thread.

So weird...how did I miss that? I think I must have started this thread on page 2 for some odd reason.

The Magic Wars #60 When Magic Shall Return #61 Will Magic or Science Prevail? #62 Why Must Magic Triumph? #63 Where Has All the Magic Gone? by Paul Levitz & Keith Giffen, art by Giffen, Al Gordon (#60-61), Mike DeCarlo ((#62-63), colours Carl Gafford, letters Augusin Mars & John Costanza



Projectra broods over her election as leader; Brin calls her to account. Strangeness begins to happen and spreads on Earth; technological systems begin to fail. Elsewhere, a chained man awakes and struggles against his bonds in a cavern, cursing those who imprisoned him millenia ago. An avian emissary from Sorcerers' World brings a warning to Projectra that science will fail and magic triumph.

Panic and chaos spread as technology fails. Projectra, sorcerer Sarvisa and Imra try to channel powers to restore science, but fail. Sarvisa doesn't understand science; when scientist Dirk is added to the group, they succeed to restore some technology. The man in chains has broken his bonds but now appears as a black grinning figure. In space, Tasmia loses Lar as his life support fails.

Simple tech is still working but chaos is seen on Lallor, Webers' World, Colu and Xanthu. The Legionnaires head to Sorcerers' World for help or answers but find their passage blocked by mystical space spiders. Breaking through, they find Zerox encased in a barrier which they can not penetrate. Projectra perceives there is a lock which can be opened by sacrifice of a life; Tellus broadcasts this information to everyone. As the Legionnaires debate what to do, Pol rushes forward to the lock. Brek valiantly tries to stop him but he enters the lock and is killed. The barrier breaks and the Archmage emerges from Zerox.

The Archmage is baffled by the Legionnaires' powers but fights them off. Brin goes to Earth to tell Rokk about Pol's death; Rokk returns with Brin to Zerox. Brainy, Nura and Thom have also joined the group. Nura had finally broken free of Atmos' mind control. Brainy suggests they should descend to the planet's surface. There they find the Sorcerers leaving through a portal; they believe that the balance of the planet, held in place by gems, had been destroyed and released the Archmage. Only Mysa and her apprentice remain. Mysa fights the Archmage. The Legionnaires hear a voice in their heads, which Blok identifies as the spirit of the world. The spirit of Zerox speaks and asks to be let to die. As Zerox dies, so does the Archmage. The Legion vows to help restore order to the galaxy.

Comments:
As usual, there's a lot of detail packed into these four issues and good continuity with previous stories. This arc reads like an annual, with plenty of guest appearances - Subs, Heroes of Lallor, Relnic, dead Legionnaires, Gym'll, SPs and even the return of Zendak.

Chaos fills the pages, Legionnaires and familiar secondary characters fighting the chaos and trying to save people. Some of the scenes went on too long for my taste, such as the kid playing with the magic wand or Violet unblocking the water pipes. However, the breakdown of society is well illustrated, with clamours for food, riots, injuries and death. The rabble is ready to embrace magic if that will bring them short-term relief.

It's a fascinating and fundamental question, science vs magic (or in real life terms, technology vs the absence of technology), but it's muddy. Some science works, but some doesn't; we're told that it's less advanced tech that hasn't been affected yet. Writer's privilege, to keep the story going - and easy enough to say there's a struggle between science and magic, no final conquest.

Nura sort of redeems herself, but this has been her worst story arc. Having been portrayed as highly intelligent and competent with great leadership skills in earlier issues, it's disappointing to see how the Atmos arc diminished her. A case of kill your darlings, perhaps.

Tasmia's portrayal, however, in only two pages, was excellent: the art was impressive and her anguish clearly felt.

Brek redeems himself, by showing real leadership, heroism and devotion to a friend while trying to save Pol.

Brin does well: he's a no-nonsense guy with a clear view of what needs to be done. He snaps Jeckie out of her sulk and ignores her royal attitude. He should have gone to work on brooding Jacques.

Mysa finds time to be snarky with Brainy, who is calm, rational and doesn't snipe back at her. It takes Blok, with his understanding of the stuff that planets are made of, to alert her that it's the spirit of Zerox speaking. Why she didn't know this herself is odd, but it gives Blok something important to do. The spirit isn't identified as Amethyst, so readers like myself who hadn't read that series didn't get the connection.

Projectra is the key player, as in the Empress story. Nothing is moving forward or getting resolved without her. Who else was better suited to lead the Legion at this time? She understands both science and magic and is the only one able to perceive what the Archmage is throwing at them.

The final page's brave message of hope rings hollow, now that we know how the next five years will go.

On 60-63 and Levitz Mark 2 overall

I have always considered "Magic Wars" a sad waste of a premise with great potential -- the complete breakdown of technology, and its seemingly predestined replacement by magic (which, as an FYI for the laypersons, is directly connected to nature), a scenario which looks even more likely today that it did 3 decades ago. The fans' consensus appears to be that Levitz wasn't consistent in his portrayal of the breakdown and its repercussions (something Cramey notes above in her Re-Reads review,) that Giffen chose the wrong time to start experimenting with the 9-panel grid (robbing the story of visual grandeur), and that the Archmage was an underwhelming, underdeveloped villain, so sketchily characterized as to be almost abstract (a recurring flaw with Levitz-created villains.)

But I think it has to be said that "Magic Wars" has another, colossal elephant-in-the-room flaw which I honestly didn't notice until this (rare for me) re-read: Despite the multitude of characters, old and new, borrowed and blue, nobody has a clearly defined arc!

Consider this: If Pol was meant to die all along, shouldn't Levitz have provided some foreshadowing, some build-up, some reminders to casual readers of who Pol is and what he's all about? Instead, his sacrifice just seems arbitrary to me, as does the sudden importance to the storyline of Mysa, who, like Pol, is just abruptly dragged in.

Which makes me wonder whether Projectra was originally the one meant to sacrifice herself. And, for a change, I'm not saying that because I personally dislike the character! I'm saying it because I think it would have made perfect dramatic sense, and it would bring the Levitz Mark 2 run full circle to Projectra's unexpected coronation after her father's death, back in the 280s of the previous Legion volume! Not to mention provide some closure to the two lives which Projectra took (the first, Nemesis Kid, intentionally, the second, Emerald Empress, unintentionally) and her shaky status quo as both superheroine and planetary regent.

Instead, we get Projectra alternately acting overly bossy and making seriously, outright deadly, tactical errors. Learning curve for a new team leader? Maybe, but Levitz doesn't even make that clear, in my opinion.



I think Levitz is one of many writers who misinterpreted "Kill Your Darlings" as meaning that a character has to face some kind of unpleasant worst-case scenario. My understanding is that it just means that a writer should not hesitate to go the most natural, intuitive route with a character's journey over the course of the story.



Agreed. That was a well-crafted scene, and I only wish the creators had set aside at least one more page for some kind of closure.



Seems too little, too late to me. But, as always, your mileage may vary, as He Who Wanders often says.



Again, your mileage may vary.



True enough, but at least what is to come will be entirely Giffen's vision and not the product of repeated clashes between Levitz's wide-eyed fanboy awe and Giffen's irreverent, mischievous, anything-goes attitude. Because I have come to see the latter discord as the most salient flaw of Levitz's Mark 2 Legion run -- yes, it's a valid argument that Levitz's more pretentious moments demanded to be taken down a peg, but I think it should have not been done in such a heavy-handed, outright mocking way as Giffen did. I believe that the reason "Omen/Prophet" is seen as their weakest collaboration is because that's where the discord rings loudest. I also believe that the discord is consistent throughout the Levitz Mark 2 issues with Giffen, and, quite frankly, it is not to my taste.

In short, with the Re-Read moving on to the Five Years Later era, it's sink or swim time for Giffen. I'd like to be, and hope to be, pleasantly surprised.

I'd never thought of it before, but Projectra dying would have made a lot of sense from a narrative point of view. Wasn't there even a line in the Invisible Kid flashback issue emphasizing the tragic fates that befell the Shooter Four?

Projectra dying would have been a lot more impactful! Pol's motivation wasn't clear; he'd already proved himself as a Legionnaire, unless he was going to forever feel inferior to his brother. It felt more like a suicide than a heroic death. I was thinking Wildfire might have been an alternative, since he had no future with Dawnstar and wasn't happy as energy, but that wouldn't have felt too heroic either. Projectra would have taken the hit as leader, the one to understand what was at stake and as atonement for her part in Sarya's death, which clearly troubled her.

Legion v3 #60

Lightle gets to the heart of the story, and actually offers a different approach to the undertaking. Creatures of the hidden worlds of legend are viewing a strange artefact from another, now lost, world. One that was full of that strange logic called science. In it’s way this cover is a precursor to the snowglobe artefact in v4’s Mordruverse.

But imagine this story with a more coherent look at magic and folklore (say Books of Magic) taking over the galaxy. With the will of the villain being finally defeated because magic could be a science in its own way, and the two may not be incompatible.

Oh, it’s my fav Violet outfit.

Superboy’s death and the Trapper’s revelations cost the Legion it’s dreams. The Conspiracy cost the team its trust. Ethical differences resulted in the departure of Mysa (conveniently took her off the table for the Sarya tale and most of this one), and in his way, Querl.

With this story, the very reality of the Legion is shaken too.

Legion traditions are now burdens to be carried, as Jeckie is a reluctant leader, while Brek pines of what he feels he still has to offer. It’s a team that has lost a lot, not to mention the members who are on extended leave such as Shady and Lar.

It’s Brin’s instinct of knowing what to get started that brings her round, and also tidies up the Armorr will subplot. I like the little alarms segue. Levitz points given.

Brin, Imra, Tellus and Tinya tackle a Hydra. Everyone plays their part, knowing each other’s strengths. Imra helps with crowd control. That gives so extra focus on Tellus to help Birn and contact the creature. Tinya is snarky and goes to rescue the trapped. She’s clearly senior to Tellus and probably feels she’s putting up with Brin. Levitz uses Imra’s powers to inspire Tellus and gets Brin to capture the critter. A nice combination all round. Ever instinctively right, Brin notices that it’s something from out of a book.

The Big Villain is introduced. He’s a prisoner, shackled beneath Sorcerers World. Something else has changed beyond his prison. Something else that allows the bonds to move under his straining just a little. My memory forgets what the external change was. It’s suggested that it’s something form a couple of lifetimes ago. So, it’s unlikely to be the loss of Sarya, unless the eye had been taking her over for a lot longer than we think. She did crumble to dust, I guess. His gradual success in gaining freedom is affecting the galaxy around him.

Page 10 gives us the classic “screw you” panel from Computo as Vi put him in his place.

Wildfire returns to his antimatter blob form. It’s odd that he never learned how to keep his humanoid form. It seems that Quislet was needed to do it for him. He considers himself a monster and Jeckie knows to leave him in peace.

Weather control would become one of the unsustainable things in the 5YG. They were found to be huge liabilities, requiring ever increasing amounts of energy to keep control. There’s a foreshadow, and causal factor, of that here as demons infest one of the satellites, causing widespread weather chaos.

The demons are elemental in nature, and v4 readers won’t fail to notice the similarity they have to Grinn. Like so much of v4, the circumstances behind Grinn weren’t explained, but they did come from this story (as per 2995 Sourcebook probably)

Brekk’s heroism doesn’t quite work leading to a comedy moment a la some Subs stories. Yet, he’s the one looking for a source to the problem. Levitz knows how to balance out his characters. Jan is calm and powerful here. Vi is direct in solving the crisis at hand. There’s a little slip here. Levitz wasn’t sure what Giffen had drawn (it’s not in shadow or anything Paul!) and calls it a specimen bottle. But it’s really a spare transuit.

Back in the Villain’s prison, we’re told that “each time one [chain] moves, the laws of reality are shaken too.” The mythical anti-force reshaping things from its prison realm. Between the direct things for the Legion to fight and the meta-switch between science and magic, this reshaping is hidden in the background.

It’s also a heck of a lot better than watching Superboy punching a Plot Wall.

We get a nod to another of the team’s great adventures: The Great Darkness Saga. As we see from the final page in this issue, where the power fails, there’s *is* a new darkness sweeping the galaxy. We’re reminded that the Museum of Mystic Arts is on the site of Disney World. We’re also now told that there was a war with Daxam at some point. A hint at Invasion?

In the GDS the Servants of Darkness were seeking artefacts of power. One was the Mentachem wand. It makes a reappearance (post crisis reboot version? ) here, where it falls into the wrong hands, causing some trouble until Jacques retrieves it. Energy itself seems changed as magic reasserts itself, resulting in an out of control Dirk and Ayla.

The GDS scene (in #390) also had Doctor Fates’s outfit and helmet. Giffen is a big Doctor Fate fan, and it was revealed that he had lobbied to have a Doctor Fate nod in the Magic Wars. I wonder if it would have been in this scene. Perhaps the emissary form the Sorcerers World was replaced by the ominous foretelling from the Helm of Nabu?

It’s something to think about with the Fate character in Bendis’ v8 Legion.

Gim was injured by the Emerald Empress, Starfinger then the Empress again and now the Mentachem wand. He would be practically the last Legionnaire left later on. That’s due to his tremendous loyalty. But I always thought injury would have forced him to retire earlier, rather than seemingly be a way to prevent his active return.

DC’s Doctor Strange sets everything right at the museum, with powers he didn’t know he possessed, and hadn’t, until the rise of magic.

Some of the dialogue seems a little stilted this issue. There’s a lot of “peculiar” and “odd” and “curious.” No one’s finishing the sentence of another (take note Mr Bendis!), but it’s not quite Levitz’s normal standard.

The names having power speech of the bird was a nice touch of old magic to proceedings. The bird offers the aid *of* Sorcerers World even as Jeckie thinks it is asking for aid *from it* That change of balance around Jeckie is very similar to that of the Empress tale. She seems almost predestined to stay in place until the right moment presents itself. As the message arrives too late to be of much use, I used to wonder if there was supposed to be a little bit more of a ramp up into this story.

The 9 panel grid is interesting in this issue. The script is a little more leisurely than Levitz/ Giffen in their early days, with a couple of extended scenes. It’s also a more relaxed version of the grid and story density of v4.

Bear in mind that Giffen had done a 16 panel grid graphic novel thing. For him, this was *loads* of space to work with.

Giffen always used to add lots of panels to a Levitz story in their earlier collaborations. There are still nods to those designs, as well as hints of what’s to come. It is a 9 panel grid, *except* for the pages with the villain which are 9-6-4. The villain’s pages are threatening to become splash pages… and then what as it breaks into our reality?!

We also still get a splash page, and importantly full pages where the story needs the visual emphasis, such as the cliffhanger here.

In the letter column, Levitz says “ The height of a triumph is sometimes in proportion to the depth of the situation that precedes it.” That was what was supposed to be underpinning v4 and by extension the build up to that in the last year of v3.

Legion v3 #61

As with last issue, the splash page is the opening part of the scene, as Tellus and Jo look down upon a panicked Metropolis.

Unlike Imra last issue, Tellus can’t calm the crowds (nice touch of difference). He also notes the relative simplicity of his own world. This would be one reason it would fall under the sway of the Dark Circle in the 5YG.

Jo is likewise foreshadowing his next chapter. He looks to act against the Science Police, only to be stopped by Chuck. This helps set up Jo’s anti-authoritarian credentials for the years ahead. The two look at a pan figure notes of discord, but there’s no confrontation shown (see Lightle cover from last issue for more of what might have been)

We get an update on the more natural technologies working while more science based ones don’t. Equipment similar to ancient scrying devices still work, while Computo blows a fuse.

Jeckie doesn’t hesitate further. She activates the alarm on her ring. In my head, I thought this act was one when things looked bleak and that the next scenes would summon the reinforcements. Instead, Jeckie does it wisely, and early. The next scene is Vi opening an aquafer. It’s a little throw away where we learn that the Legion are trying to get back basic services, and that Vi thinks Jeckie might not like her much.

We begin an extended sequence at the Museum, where the bulk of the issue is set. The initial team there, still don’t believe that magic has returned at the expense of science. The baying mob at the steps seem to have a better grasp of the situation. They are met with reinforcements. Ayla gets in some snark at Polar Boy’s “subtle touch” and at Jeckie “we could have handled the situation.” Ayla has progressed nicely to be a field leader, but might be picking up a bit much of Vi’s approach along the way.

Jeckie looks to use the magic, restoring science through sorcery. Their first attempt fails, and we get our first glimpse of the Villain this issue, pause in pain at their work. It has lost its human guise and at one point resembles the demons from last issue.

Jeckie tries again, this time using Imra as a telepathic bridge to bring the concepts of science to the minds of the active sorcerers.

Jacques is fundamentally opposed to such ideas. Others like Element Lad and Ayla think she’s crazy. It’s not a united Legion front here. Sun Boy is needed as he’s the team’s most prominent scientist. It’s supposedly in the absence of Brainy. However, Lar and Nura were also noted in the labs during the Levitz era, emphasising how odd it is to see Dirk in this role, despite his credentials.

The attempt has more success, and GiGi makes sure that emergency equipment is charged first in case of another failure. She’s settled into her new role really well.

Jo and Tinya view the devastation. It’s a plot that Giffen would be returning to in v4 and notably at the end of v7. Tinya being hidden behind Jo’s shoulder was an early disliked panel of the Giffen approach. Below them, showing their usual unheralded heroism, the Subs get on with their work.

Jeckie has used her powers to give us the dramatic plot point that their trouble is far from over. Back with the villain, who is carving his way up through his world, and we learn that he’s originally from Earth and he’s not happy that it has evaded him. It’s not explicitly stated, but it seems that Jeckie’s warning and the Villain’s annoyance about Earth indicate that Earth is the only world that hasn’t fallen.

And that means that anything dependent of technology is in trouble. We do get to Webers World and Colu later, but Mon El’s life support fails first. After all the searching for a cure, Lar succumbs to the injuries sustained fighting the Time Trapper. The use of the flatline across the grid and the bridging sound effect is well done. Shady’s grief is raw and sharp. The Legion’s strongest has fallen. Not directly in battle, but during the recovery from it.

It’s about that point I wonder, since there’s no power at all, what exactly is providing the flatline and “breep” noises.

I look forward to rading the other comments to see what impact this scene had on Shady and Lar (particularly if HWW pops back.)

On earth, Tinya points out to Jo that “with Mon-El away and Superboy gone, you’re the strongest Legionnaire.” It’s a position that Tinya feels extra pride in Jo about. Not that she would wish harm for Kal or Lar, but having Jo as the top jock and her as a senior Legionnaire is pretty much where they’d want to be as a couple.

Looking closely the “away” seems to be slightly differently lettered. I wonder if it originally said “dead” before someone realised they wouldn’t know yet.

Jo and Tinya’s closeness and hug, like Jo’s near attack on the Police, is a forerunner to the fate that befalls the couple in the 5 year gap. The scene, like Jo’s comment about it taking years to rebuild, is an early taste of GIffen’s Legion redux. Everything gets harder. Technology can’t be depended on; Kryptonians and Daxamites are gone and the UP infrastructure begins to fail, adding society to the list of lost dreams, hopes etc at the start of last issue’s review.

The group join the others at the museum. Jeckie looks uses her Orakill powers to peer into the Plot ahead. Instead she meets fallen Legionnaires. Are these illusions; projections of her own mind on the magical forces she seeks to control? Or is the afterlife for the Legion a bleak, terrible place? Val, Lyle, Andrew and Condo all appear before the Emerald Eye gets it’s revenge and blocks any other revelations. Giffen breaks with the grid for that. Which seems a little out of place since we get a full page cliffhanger only a couple of pages later.

I initially thought Condo was French but he’s actually starting to say “Zerox” Handily , the Legion decide that they could do with the White Witch’s help. She lives on the Sorcerers World, or Zerox. Funny how things turn out. The Villain has escaped to the surface of that planet. But we see no confrontation between it and the sorcerers.

In the letter column, Levitz looks to Blok’s future. “…we regret that we didn’t have the chance to do more with him. Still, after he gets over his adolescence, who knows what may happen to him next?”

On Mon-El’s future “Mon-El’s story isn’t finished…. But we’re afraid you’ll have to wait until the end of our current storyline for the resolution. What happened to him in #50 involves more than meets the eye…”

I wonder if that letter was added to give readers of Lar’s death in the issue a life line? Having the genesis of this storyline established so early on would have an impact on the v4 team’s chances of dealing with a behind the scenes crisis (Crisis in Infinite Cubicles! )

One of my big problems with the final bunch of Levitz/Giffen issues is that I find them *too* relaxed. Gods know that the Baxter run tended toward pokiness no matter who was penciling, but I find the Post-Conspiracy issues particularly turgid. Except, of course, issue 56, where Eduardo Barreto varies the pacing far more than Giffen does in any of the issues bookending that one. In my opinion.



The very thought of that is the stuff that Annfie's nightmares are made of! Thanks, Thoth. (Only joking, only joking.)



Whenever Giffen would go "the more the merrier" panel-crazy in his early Legion issues, it turned me off. Especially the issues inked by Larry Mahlstedt. Somehow, those issues -- to my eyes, at least -- look over-basic and over-busy at the same time.



I'll have to force myself to have another look at this issue. I don't remember the panels varying that much. But first, I'll have to step out to the chemist for some stomach medicine...

Legion v3 #62

Along with the grid comments over the last two issues, it should be mentioned that we’re also getting other stylistic trends within it. For example, last issue’s splash page showed the backs of our characters and we had Tinya blocked behind Jo’s shoulder.

This issue starts with a dialogue box coming form off page, because Giffen didn’t draw any characters at all. It’s worth tracking these things, particularly as it’s a joint Levitz/ Giffen work. Every design choice Giffen makes has an impact on Levitz’s dialogue. It also says something about the pair’s strength. I wonder if a neophyte artist would have been allowed to try these things (successful or not as per your opinion) by an editor.

Giffen was only a layout artist on this issue. I remember reading that he wished The Magic Wars had gone better. I wonder if it was workload or planning for the next volume or something more personal that got in the way. But I recall he was quite disappointed.

Webers World has survived into part 3 before being fully evacuated. It’s notable that Brin is acting as a team strong man (The absence of Kal and Lar allows panel time for Jo and Brin in this role) and Dirk is the scientist (in the absence of Querl, Nura and Lar). Dirk mentions bad memories. These stem from the Mutiny in Space mission (ADV 318), which was another occasion where he had to evacuate a planet. Webers World has to leave a lot of data, behind showing just how far we’ve come in the days since this was written. Giffen would have to work a bit harder to break down society these days.

Brin is also getting a little more panel time as Deputy Leader (this is a good way of rotating the characters into the spotlight) and he picks up that Relnic is scared. As Relnic is a career diplomat and we’ve seen him face off against the Khunds, I think it’s partly Brin’s instincts that are telling him this. It would have been interesting to see him continue in the deputy role. I think he’d have been a lot better at it than some people (including some of his colleagues) think.

On Lallor, the Heroes are trying to help their people. It’s an indication of the extent of the trouble and that heroes across the galaxy will be doing their bit to help. Ord fails to stop a creature using Superboy’s power and then White Witch’s. Life Lass and Gas girl exchange some snark about it. Ord seems to be affected by what happened with Vi. His team mates put it down to losing her and pining. Personally, I think it’s guilt. He knew something was wrong and he let his jealousy stop him doing anything about it. I think that it’s *this* failure that’s plaguing him.

All roads lead to the Sorcerers World in this linear plot. The bird and handler come from there; Jeckie senses, as the galaxy goes cold, that the Sorcerers World is affected; The handler suggests the Legion go there to get help. Not to mention that it’s a magical threat, and the Legionnaire best suited to help lives there. In this issue, Sensro Girl is now sure the whole team have to go there. Jeckie’s sensory powers can now handily break the forth wall and determine the writer’s intent. Very handy. She even knows that something powerful now dwells there.

Meanwhile, the Villain has freed himself from the heart of that world, has clawed his way to its surface and is now standing there among some flaming debris.

Before the team can get there, they have to get past some literal plot padding, in the shape of some webbing and space spiders. They don’t seem to be particularly magical. They are just there. There’s no suggestion of a web of fate or anything like that. They aren’t even paid up members of the Spider Guild.

It’s three pages where we get to see some Legionnaires use their powers, and I think that’s what it was there to do. As well as fill up some space before the cliffhanger. We get to see Wildfire and Dawny on point, which I always like. Element Lad takes decisive action. He did so last issue, and now this… could he be building towards another decisive action later on?

The Legion question the reality of what they’ve just encountered. It seems like a tag on to fill a few more panels rather than being at the heart of them solving the problem.

Another, even less well defined, problem now faces them. Space Gloop. For centuries space cruisers have been flying the galaxy. All of them with canteens, and all of them dumping cooking fat into the void. Now it has joined together as Gloop! The Monster From The Vat! and… no wait… this is just a little plot padding and an obfuscation to hide that… Sorcerers World is encased in metal!

In the gloop, Dawny and Wildfire nearly get fried from their own team. Even Wildfire points this out, to a not too bothered Jeckie. I can’t say she strikes me a particularly sensitive leader, being led more by what her senses are telling her from beyond. Perhaps this ended up having an impact in morale after the end of this story. She might have the right idea of what needs to be done, and where help is needed, but perhaps not the ability to see people as more than pieces to be moved into positions.

Oddly, ship blaster fire didn’t do much first time, but blows it all away with a bit more effort on a second attempt. Not terribly convincing.

We’ve had two welcome asides while all this has been going on. On Colu, society has crumbled. Magic and science seem to be very binary in this universe. If you’re smart enough to understand science then you’ve little chance of adapting to magic. Querl makes the significant gesture of calling the Legion. Just as Jeckie did last issue, there’s that moment of the team getting back together.

On Earth, Chuck & Lu hold down the fort at the HQ, converted into helping the injured. As with the end of v7, they are a welcome sight towards the end of v3. Certainly, their selfless nature and human qualities shine through with every reread.

Remember: Magic beats Phantoms! Tinya is unable to sneak through the barrier, and is rescued by Jo.

Pol and Ayla have confirmed to the reader that the source of the magic that’s beating science across the galaxy is coming from there. No one has actually determined this. Jeckie has just led them there by the Space Nose.

Jeckie even knows that an important part of the metal planetary shell (like Earth’s Polymer Shield, but twisted – not that this analogy is mentioned) is still to come into view. Not that she tells them this *before* Tinya risks herself. A lock appears. They try blasting it. It doesn’t work, although I need to hear them say it as the art isn’t at all clear.

Jeckie uses her powers to sense the true nature of the lock. Her past is one foot in a feudal society and the other in mysticism. With her expanded powers, she’s the key Legionnaire in this story Having discovered the lock’s secret, her Sensor Girl illusion fades, leaving a tearful Jeckie. the doorbell to Sorcerer’s World doesn’t chime, it leaves a message. If they want to access the world, they’re going to have to make a sacrifice.

At no point does the team reflect on their situation. The Villain has imprisoned itself. We saw that at the Museum of Mystic arts that magicians could now flourish and do tremendous things. We’ve been told in this story that Jeckie’s people came from he Sorcerers world. There are alternate Lost Legion plots here:

1 The UP gather all of the available magic artefacts and resources they have and reshape reality across the UP saving lives. It’s a different place to live, but it functions. This may be a short-term ruse by the humans because…

2 As 1, but the Villain, realising that the humans are coping due to the vast powers presented to them, breaks it’s own prison to attack them… resulting in the end we see next issue.

3. The UP gather all of the available magic artefacts and resources they have and manage to pierce the barrier themselves. They draw the villains wish for magic to succeed to their own ends and break the prison.
4. There’s at least *some* resistance form the people of Sorcerers World. We see precious little of this in this story.

I’m not knocking the old school magic of the blood sacrifice It’s ominous enough. But the story ahs been dragged along a narrow plot corridor to get to this point, with no options given. It comes across as a shallow predetermined death. But who will make the sacrifice?

As the team discuss it and Element Lad volunteers (see Element Lad being decisive earlier on) Magnetic Kid goes for the lock. Yes, that flight ring is powered by will (Green Lanterns aren’t allowed on Earth, because Querl obsessively captures them, and their rings, to use on the Legion flight rings). Yes, Pol is determined and Brek catches him due to an equal sense of responsibility for him.

But there’s faster fliers on the team than those with the flight rings. Right from the start of his tenure, Levitz has put Dawny and Wildfire on point *because* of their speed. Jo’s speed likewise gets him those missions. All three are present and could have stopped Pol. Dawny for one, is shown in the chase.

Pol’s sacrifice is heroic. He talks about the quality of what you do with your life, rather than the length of it. He also tells them to tell Rokk, he finally proved himself. He also asks Brek if he would try and stop his brother form making such a sacrifice. It’s worrying that he felt that he needed to kill himself to move away form someone’s shadow. Perhaps the use of legacy heroes is something the Legion should look at and be a little surer about in future.

It’s a decent chat and still no one else gets to catch up and stop him. Ayla is close behind Brek, possibly because of Ayla testing the boundaries of their relationship in earlier stories.

With Pol turned skeletal and vaporised, the shield around the world (a whole planet) clanks free (fortunately even comic book physics has been replaced by magic) and the grinning giant demon is released.
Pol’s death would be part of the background of Rokk in v4 and he’d later name his son after him.

It’s not a good issue, by any of the creative teams’ usual standards. There’s plenty of padding, a forced death and a nine-panel grid that looks dull when Giffen isn’t taking full control of it.

Legion v3 #63

It’s an ominous, blood red cover to the finale of the series. There’s no triumphant send off, showing a united team. Instead, we see several of them in silhouette and the return of Mysa.

The opening scene shows the Legion confront the giant shadow demon above Sorcerers World. With magic back they can all chat in the vacuum of space.

We learn that the Villain is called the Archmage. He also immediately blabs that he doesn’t want any of them to reach the surface, as it could compromise his freedom.

Gim is injured again. We don’t get to see if there’s any lasting effect from being absorbed into a magical being. In another version, Gim could have become a magical Leviathan. We get some movement of action across a couple of the panels in the 9 panel grid which adds a welcome change.

The Archmage releases magical coils to trap the Legion. The team’s three fastest (but not fast enough to save Pol, of course ) escape. There they meet Jeckie who has also escaped, using some of the magic that has made her central to this story. The Archmage even senses her power now.

Jeckie sends them to fetch lost Legionnaires. Wildfire tried to blast the Archmage and left his suit to do so. For some reason, he didn’t re-enter it, even though it was right beside him. Levitz has to have Jeckie tell us that another containment suit is in the shuttle to get things to join up with later art.

Thom and Dawny collect Nura. We learn that Universo took those with the strongest will to his prison planet, not the smartest. It’s a great belated twist. Nura realises, because Atmos is asleep, that he has powers that dominate will. He’s been keeping her as a dominated slave, despite everything going to ruin around them.

His “oh” when he realises that Nura is free of him, removes the chance that this power of his works inadvertently or without his knowledge. He *knows* what an utter scumbag he is. In a horrible decision after this story, TMK have him on the team in the 5YG. Bleh! Someone may have had a word about that, considering what then happens to him.

Back in the Sorcerers World, The Archmage has switched places with the Leigon. Now, they are trapped within a shell around the world. The espionage Squad (yay!) all escape. Strangely, Tinya doesn’t suffer any issues breaking through this barrier. Hmmm.

Gim now seems to be able to grow to the size of a planet as the art loses any sense of scale in this storyline. The archmage grows further still, and all of the Legion’s technology dies. Notice, that despite proximity to the source of the Magic over science power in the last few issues, their ships all outlasted Mon-El and Shady’s. Another plot Hmmmm.

Dirk gets a nice 7! panel solo where he hurts the Archmage. It can’t abide light (where’s the star that illuminates Sorcerers World?) and Wildfire soon chips in, having returned with Brainiac 5.

Querl directs the team to the surface of the world itself. He surmises that the Archmage has been trying to keep them away from it. Unfortunately, the opening scene had the Archmage trap them in the sky of the world, and closer to its surface than he was. Plot Hmmm.

Another tip off was, of course, the villain *telling* the team all this on the opening page. No wonder Brainy left.

Jo has to break the news about Pol’s death to Rokk as he returns to Earth to collect him. Garth chooses to stay with his kids and we get a last peek at Chuck, Lu and the new Subs team form the annual.

The team fight some Plot-Padding Creatures through the skies above Sorcerers World, before finding Mysa and those left alive going through a portal. They intend to leave their magic behind and leave with their lives. We then get, what sketchy information there is on what’s going on.

It seems that when magic left Earth, it travelled here, where it was kept. It was kept in balance with gemstones (revealing that the world is that of Amethyst. Giffen also tied Doctor Fate into Amethyst during Crisis – see note about him wanting Fate in this story).

As magic left the world, through Mordru and then Mysa the balance was slowly destroyed. What’s kept in balance isn’t really thought through. Mordru, presumably containing “bad” magic left, yet that weakened things allowing “bad Archmage” magic to escape anyway. Perhaps *all* the magic form Earth was bad, and they’ve just tried to contain it.

In one of the opening chapters, the Archmage felt that the shift allowing him freedom had been gradual, over lifetimes. Yet now Mysa’s departure is being blamed for the final shift. That was only a few years prior to this story.

There’s also no mention of the effect Darkseid would have had on magic. He went through the galaxy specifically for magical items, removed Mordru’s power (specifically mentioned here), and laid siege to the Sorcerers World. No mention of the dying teachers at that point upsetting the balance either. Or their actions in removing conquering ambitions of Mordru.

It’s very messy in achieving the thing it seems set up to do – lump planet sized guilt on Mysa ahead of the next volume. It’s pretty forced. Mysa does rally to combat the Archmage, including what seems to be a body throw at one point. It does beg the question what were all the sorcerer’s *doing* on the world when the Archmage was gaining its freedom? No resitance? Did it not work and they were feleing? We never find out.

Rokk arrives to accuse The Archmage of murder. He’s quickly blasted away. Like Gim, we never find out if this has any long term impact on him. It also makes me wonder why Jeckie sent for them. Rokk is swatted, Brainy tells them something that the villain told them on page one and any one of them could have picked up. Nura pops up to tell Mysa that her world doesn’t survive (a little nod to that effect would have been a nice hint a few issues ago, rather than a belated plot point here). Nura’s warning is ignored by her sister.

There’s a moment where a traditional comics joing of hands might be the reason they are all there. Their will used to power Mysa in beating the villain. I’ll give Levitz some points for the bait and switch. As it claws its own world apart, Imra and then Blok are contacted. It’s fitting that its Blok that hears the soul of the world. That’s a lovely touch. It’s what convinces Mysa, and she then hears Amethyst telling them that it’s time to let her world die.

It seems strange that the villain would have chosen this moment to destroy the world. It had plenty of opportunity to destroy it as soon as it was free. Amethyst didn’t pop up then either.

Having destroyed the world, the Archmage realises too late that he was bound to it and has essentially destroyed himself. So, he was free to transform the whole galaxy around him. He was free to leave the world. He hovered in space above it earlier in the story, without feeling weakened. It just seems that he could have done anything, if he left it intact. He does hint that all of magic has been destroyed with him. That’s another thing off the Giffen checklist to prevent a quick super-fix to what he has in store.

Knowing what the premise of the next volume is, you can see that a fair amount of dismantling was done in preparation of it. As a result, you can begin to understand why some readers, who had detected the changes, were worried about the purpose and outcome. As we’ll see, a lot of that can be fairly argued.

The ending is all a bit muddled and the Archmage ends up being a pretty stupid villain, up there with all the mad scientists with giant red self-destruct buttons in their labs. I wonder if he was this dim in Amethyst or wherever he originally appeared. I’m not even convinced he was more than a myth in that series. Giffen, being involved in Amethyst and Doctor Fate, may have plucked it out of background there. If Giffen’s involvement in this closing story was more limited than intended, perhaps that explains some of the messiness of it all.

Jeckie closes the volume with a set up for the next series.

“And I see terrible things out there, waiting----wounds in upheaval, caused by the Archmage’s upset of natural law. Civilization is fragile and much of it has fallen these past days.
But we live and are reunited, and as long as there is a Legion of Super Heroes, all else can surely be made right.”

The last sentence is deliberate, as Giffen knew that the Legion wouldn’t survive the days ahead. It’s also an early hint as to the purpose of v4. That with the re-emergence of the Legion, things will take a turn for the better.

We end with a splash page of the reunited Legion. But like the cover, it’s not a real group shot. Just a few, with some silhouettes behind them. I remember being quite disappointed with that as a finishing page.

I happen to be going through the Justice Society and Justice League versions of “When Magic usurped Science“ It’s far from a new idea, even for DC. But this is one Legion story that really doesn’t get a grip of it’s momentum resulting in an unevenness to the plot, padding that could have been far better utilised and a muddled and unsatisfying ending, that doubles as a prologue for v4.

That still doesn't excuse the ugly 'tache. Sometimes I think Giffen gave male characters facial hair (Star Boy, Bouncing Boy, Duplicate Boy) precisely because it looked unflattering. It's exactly his kind of mischief.

Poor Tex Avery was spinning in his grave. (This Obscure Reference to the Golden Age of Animation (specifically, "King Size Canary") has been brought to you by the state of Texas, where everything's big (Tex, whose real name was Fred, was actually rather heavy-set himself.)








Agreed.



I half expected the Road Runner to show up and stick his tongue out before going "Meep Meep" and running off.

Just where is Mordru when all this is going on? Although I recognized the resemblance of Grinn to these little demons, it didn't occur to me that Mordru might have salvaged some of the Archmage's toys in the developing chaos.


A couple of AA batteries?



Jacques does stand apart quite firmly on some issues, a very quiet resistance or holding his ground despite his meekness. It looked as if Dirk himself found it odd to be in the role of prominent scientist: he's set himself up more as the playboy and grandstander than the scientist he initially was.



Curious! They did know he was very ill and unable to join the action, but "dead" would have been a bit of a blooper.



Dogs smell fear, supposedly, so Brin must be picking it up as well. Agree he could have made a very good deputy - or grown into leader.



Good point. That's her royal self showing through perhaps, the peasants are dispensable and replaceable. I'll back off a bit on my opinion that she's a good leader for this junket.



Valid options, at least for the Legion to have contemplated. The capitulation of the Sorcerers is particularly troubling and unexplained. They would have had a warning that things were amiss, since they sent the messenger to Projectra - but that was like, we're out of here, it's your problem now. They might have appealed to Mordru - better the devil you know.



Another sticking point. It made no sense that the fast ones weren't even close to Brek. Worn out? Distracted? Who knows?



Agreed, it was a mish-mash, all of which undermined the death/sacrifice of Pol.



This is where one of those TMK text pages would come in handy, to better explain what went on with the Sorcerers' World. Of course, the writers would have to sort it out in their own heads first and, as you point out, all we got was some musings that didn't cohere.



Silly Archmage. If he had understood science, he might have understood deductive reasoning.



Can't disagree with the many faults and missed opportunities of this story, but I admit to still liking it for its potential. The muddle does make sense, however, to explain the disintegration of the Legion over the ensuing five years. That wasn't the intention of the creators, I'm sure, but it sort of works for me.



Perfect! That would be a real JLI ending, if Booster and Beetle were also in there trying to catch the Road Runner.



Hah! Now we know what to get Annfie for Christmas.

Now it all makes sense -- the ACME Corporation was one of Booster and Beetle's get-rich-quick schemes! Poor Wile E. Coyote, how was he supposed to know? OTOH, there is that old saying, "Let the buyer beware."



ROTFLMAO

thoth lad:



Lar was incapacitated since the Time Trapper battle, and Nura ran off with Atmos and had not yet returned at that point in the story. I thought I recalled their unavailability, like Querl's, was specifically mentioned when Dirk was tapped as "top scientist".