Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Reading the Legion: Archives #3

Just thought I'd go ahead and post this, so it would be ready for tomorrow!

See previous threads on Archives #2 and Archives #1.

For the next few weeks we'll be reading the stories from Archives #3, with a discussion of new stories every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Archives #3 covers Adventure #318, Jimmy Olsen #76, Adventure #319-326, Superboy #117, and Adventure #37-328.

I'll begin by saying it contains some of my favorite Legion stories! Hope you can join us in reading them!

Up first is a contender for my all time favorite Legion story!

This archive ends with the very first Legion story I ever read. Looking forward to reviewing it and so many others.

A little jumping the gun!

"The Mutiny of the Legionnaires", in Adventure #318, is my favorite Silver Age Legion story; and its a contender for my favorite Legion story ever. When I first came to truly appreciate it a few years ago, I was blown away by all its strengths. I've reread it many times.

I once suggested it was better than the whole of Legion Lost (the first mini). I stand by that. There are no wasted scenes here, and it's the is the quintessential Legion story. It features a small group of Legionnaires against incredible odds and each one gets a chance to shine. They use ingenuity and courage, and show what it means to earn your place among the Legion ranks.

This story thrives on its pacing and tension building in addition to the characterization. It's epic and in a way very Hitchcockian in its use of montage. Being a full length story, without Superboy, enhances this. Each page has the plot advancing little by little, with hurdles overcome by the characters.

This is a fitting story to start Archives #3, since the second Archive spent so much time firming up the roster / housekeeping. With this being the essential Legion story, and the next one being the essential / climatic Subs story, the series is now hitting a more grandiose pace for the mythos.

The one possible flaw of the story, of course, is Sun Boy himself, and "space fatigue". This unfortunately does not make Dirk look good. Not only does TMK use this later, but my theory is this is what basically derails Dirk's run as the "starring lead" which he's undoubtedly held since almost the beginning (along with Imra). Hereafter, his starring role is no longer obvious and glaring. He's become more of a favorite of mine over the years so that's unfortunate. However, thinking about this a few years ago, I actually asked my brother in law, who served overseas for five years in Afghanistan and then Iraq, about space fatigue. He saw combat and never talks about it. He does like comics though, and discussions like this one. He told me not to dismiss space fatigue so easily. He said you'd be surprised--and scared--at how often something like that happens to soldiers. They crack up a little...all the time. And then they usually are able to "find their way back from it". So what at first feels like one of the goofier elements of the Silver Age is really one of the more realistic, and psychologically difficult to stomach, aspects of the Legion. It would be interesting to read an ongoing follow up to Dirk's struggle after this, with today's writers using today's psychological knowledge. One must assume Dirk struggled with this throughout the rest of the Silver Age. That would make him more compelling and sympathetic.

Anyway, as I said, this is my favorite. Here are some thoughts on some of the more specific details:

Love the line-up being used here, as it showcases a few Legionnaires we haven't really seen much of, like Tenz, Luornu, Ayla and Star Boy (now two in a row). This issue, and the third archive mark a change in that the same few feature players.

The complexity if the Space Ark and the different robots underscore the grandiose nature of Hamilton's space opera.

Xenn explodes just as they're leaving! Looks like Sun Boy pushing them so hard paid off!

Garth immediately thinks of Cos leading the mutiny--which fits so nicely to Cos' longtime later portrayals. In that one panel we get: insight into Cos' leadership personality, teamwork and camaraderie, and Tenz using his powers.

In fact as the issue goes on, you get the sense of Cos being the de facto leader and Garth slipping easily into the #2 role. If you follow the TMK logic, this would probably be the key moment where Cos and Garth / Proty become best friends, rather than the prior Sun Boy / "real dead Garth".

Of all the 2 part stories so far, this one has the best cliffhanger by far.

Part 2 is when the story hits its high mark. Hamilton excels in his portrayal of man versus nature, and the terror--and triumph--of survival.

Cosmic Boy seems to be saving them both figuratively and then literally by force of will alone.

Ayla's powers are a bit too perfect for this scenario but then again, its a classic space travel problem. Lu shows she's not just a pretty face. And Hamilton continues to use Garth's powers in different ways.

Angry insects protecting their food! Long dead "ancient space travelers"! Hamilton is firing on all cylinders!

Not to mention Tenzil using his powers for a different purpose at long last, and Thom ensuring they survive in a way that does not violate their principles!

The salute to the new monument of petrified astronauts is one of my favorite moments ever in LSH history.

Toonar...which is mentioned many times by TMK, including their own baseball team.

A huge cosmic dust space tornado--brilliant!

Cos, who is really the lead of this story, changes from wanting vengeance on Dirk to showing compassion for him on the last page. A very nice moment.

It's telling that Sun Boy's space fatigue is brought on by a biological issue--which kind of let's him off the hook more.

Amendment "5". We know the "no powers by outside sources" rule is another...did we ever get to see the other three when the full constitution was printed on the letters pages during Levitz' run?

Again: I love this story. Phenomenal, and I can't wait to read it yet again.

I halfway expected you to post early when I put up this thread!

Re: the Legion Constitution, I believe the earliest full version of it is actually in the Adventure Era lettercol, but I don't think there was any effort to make it correspond to previous in-text references to sections, amendments, etc.

I just reread Adv. 318 and found it a pretty dense read at what was only an 18-pager! You sure got lots of bang for your buck (well 12 cents, anyway) for this one and the Silver Age in general. (BTW, owners of the original issue--what was the "Hall of Fame" Superboy Classic referenced on the cover?)

I find as I reread most of these Silver Age stories that I remember few, if any, major plot points from them, so many are essentially "new" to me in that I don't know how they ended as i read them. (There are many exceptions, particularly stories that I deem more 'significant', in my mind at least.) This is the case in "Mutiny" as I couldn't recall what the explanation for Sun Boy's behavior would turn out to be. In hindsight, it's all there in those first few pages. But as I read it tonight, I vacillated between it being the imposter/mind control solution or Dirk being ill as was suggested and eventually confirmed.

In thinking about the solution, this actually seems a surprisingly realistic explanation for a Silver Age plot. Essentially, "space fatigue" reads as another way of describing stress from over-exertion or even PTSD. There's no red kryptonite or some funky other made-up contagion at work here; it was something that could happen to all of us, albeit maybe not quite that extreme in most cases.

On the other hand, the resolution is on the abrupt side and a bit of a let-down considering the build-up. But the point of this story was to show our Legionnaires' ingenuity in the face of adversity, and it succeeds rather well in that mission. It's especially novel to see a Legion story where there's no actual villain. In this respect it's similar to the immediate prior story that intoduced Dream Girl.

I like how Hamilton tries to use somewhat plausible science throughout this story to explain how the Legionnaires do things to get out of tough spots. Garth fusing rocks, etc. And his use of space-[this] and space-[that] is so prevalent, but charming! I can see why this is emulated so much around these parts!

However, I didn't find Hamilton's explanation for the space-pioneers statue-growth plausible at all. It wouldn't happen that fast, if at all, and if it did, fast or slow, all of that fine detail would be lost. They'd be unrecognizable.

Nice, worthwhile read and also notable for having a rare semi-spotlight for our pal Tenz!

Interesting how Cobie compellingly argues this was the quintessential Silver Age LSH tale. I can't say I ever gave it a second thought when I'd read it before, but I can see it now a little more.

For me my fondest memories of the Silver Age Legion have always been the big moments: the first appearance, the death and resurrection of Lightning Lad, the iconic Subs stories, the first appearances of various Legionnaires and villains,Ferro Lad, etc.

I'd say my favorite, personally most iconic Silver Age Legion adventures have probably been Fatal Five/Death of Ferro Lad and the School of Super Villains stories. We'll see if this personal perception is challenged as I try harder to keep up with this project moving forward.

This story was a great mix of overarching storyline, and individual adventures on various worlds. This type of story never really gets old.

Lardy, starting the prior issue, the Superboy back-ups became reprints, of various 1950's pre-Silver Age Superboy stories, usually printed based on a page count that fit rather than any rhyme or reason (or chronological order). This was due to the great "editorial shake up of 1964" which saw the sci-fi titles given over to Jack Schiff (where they would thereafter gradual burn out), the Batman titles go over to Julius Schwartz (who made a sharp turn in pace with "New Look" Batman) and a variety of other changes. While Uncle Mort wasn't really affected, one thing it did cause was his gaining World's Finest in addition to the rest of his series. Subsequently he felt a bit overworked, and one way to limit that was to stop new Superboy back-ups and use reprints.

Of course, they couldn't tell the fans that. So thus, they marketed these stories as "Hall of Fame Classics", though there isn't much to suggest why they stand out. I admit I haven't read them so far, other than a quick skim.

Btw, its here that Worlds Finest really becomes immersed in the Superman mythos that had been established in the last few years. It basically becomes another part of the Superman family of books, and features Kandor, the Phantom Zone, more Jimmy, etc. And yes, that includes the Legion, starting with the Composite Superman in a few months. Mort, being a huge lover of mythos building, obviously was working hard to find Batman-related characters and concepts to include too, though there certainly weren't as many yet. But we see an increase of Clayface (the major new Bat-villain pre-New Look), Batmite (perfect to paid with Mxy), and a few others. Even though at this time, Julie was basically down playing Bat-Mite, Ace, Batwoman, etc.

That was the frankly bizarre Krypton-Mouse story

Basically a small boy has pets that he loves and keeps him happy. Unfortunately his parents (who are terrible people) decide he is spending too much time with them and give him two days to regime them all.

Deciding that nobody would be willing to take his mouse he sets it free and it runs into (what seems to be) the mad scientists house next door. He is, obviously, doing Kryptonite experiments at the time and it gains super powers.

This leads to the mouse performing all sorts of super feats that get credited to Superboy which he, of course, knows nothing about.

Eventually they meet due to Superboy rescuing a stricken cheese ship and tossing the cheese to safety which are found by the mouse and consumed.

Coincidentally his powers expire at the same time the boys two day time limit is up. Fortunately though he had crushed a piece of coal into a giant diamond whilst he had his powers so the boy was allowed to keep all the animals as his parents decide that would be enough to pay for college.

Nothing I have written above covers just how crazy this story is though.

Interestingly, the lettercol contains a letter asking about the membership of the Legion of Super-Pets. In addition to Krypto, Streaky, Comet, and Beppo, the editor lists Proty II as a member, plus mentions a Super-Bird who is "coming soon", and asks if people would like to see Krypto-Mouse as a member!

An odd aside to vol.3 is it includes the only Legion tale to feature an entirely male cast, though Saturn Girl gets in the opening splash panel. Know which one?

Just from looking at the Table of Contents, I would guess the Dev-Em story.

Adv. 318

I'm torn between Cobie's proclamation that this is his favorite Silver Age story ever and Palardy's comment that it just isn't very memorable. "The Mutiny of the Super-Heroes" is certainly one of the best written stories so far, but that's largely because Hamilton once again borrows the plot from a popular film. This time, he dips into "Mutiny on the Bounty" with Sun Boy in the Captain Bligh role and Cosmic Boy as Fletcher Christian.

The first part of the story sets up the conflict nicely by foreshadowing that Sun Boy has been on too many missions already. But then Hamilton has to force the Legionnaires into the roles he wants them to play. Why is Sun Boy appointed captain of this mission? Why not appoint the more experienced leader, Cosmic Boy? Why do the Legionnaires fall in line like sailors, agreeing to call Sun Boy "sir" and putting up with his tyrannical behavior? Why, for that matter, does Sun Boy insist that he personally lead this mission?

Why? Because the plot demands it.

In short, the first half of this story reads like some other story that just happens to feature the Legion instead of a "Legion story." All good stories spring from the characters and their choices rather than the needs of the plot.

Part 2, however, more successfully becomes a Legion story. Here five Legionnaires are marooned in a life boat and must use their wits and powers to survive. Cosmic Boy brilliantly uses his magnetism to pull the lifeboat behind an asteroid. (Why Light Lass has to make the ship super-light weight in space is unclear, though.) Light Lass uses her powers to help the Legionnaires move around on a world with heavy gravity. Matter-Eater Lad eats through rock to find food for his teammates.

It's somewhat convenient that each of the Legionnaires has some power that aids them on whatever world they land on (except Triplicate Girl, who, other than helping capture Sun Boy, has little to do). But this approach is better than having the Legionnaires do walk-ons and not using their powers at all. Hamilton put a lot of thought into this story, and the Legionnaires have to put a lot of thought into how they're going to get out of this predicament. (Though the space roc rescue strains the bounds of credibility. The Legionnaires are lucky the roc doesn't simply dash them against a mountain.)

While the ending may seem a bit too neatly resolved, it works in the context of the story. To have the Legionnaires fight Sun Boy for control of the ship would have prolonged the story (a trap most modern writers would have readily embraced). It is more surprising when the Legionnaires return to the ship, ready for anything, and find Sun Boy sitting there, catatonic. In an instant, he goes from villain to victim and wins back our sympathy.

The biggest flaw that keeps this story from being a memorable classic to me, however, is that the ending lacks significant consequence. The Legionnaires change their constitution? Big deal--this change will never be referenced again. Sun Boy recovers and looks contrite, but the ramifications of this story won't be felt until TMK.

A good story should always have something of consequence happen. A character has changed because of the obstacles she has overcome. A mystery is solved and all is made clear. The world has changed because of the actions of our heroes. The bad guy goes to jail.

None of that happens here. Sure, the Xennians get a new home world, but they're not the focus of the story. They're just a means to the end--but the end, in this case, leaves me with a "So what?"

I do think this story is a positive one for kids to read. It shows that they can persevere against overwhelming odds if they have a goal and use their wits. (Bringing Sun Boy to justice is the goal that keeps the Legionnaires alive.) It shows how the actions of others aren't so easy to explain, and that sometimes you have to forgive those who wrong you. And it shows the value of rest--something our culture, which values a thing called "working vacations," needs to relearn.

This story confirmed my memory that Light Lass continues to wear the lightning bolts on her costume for a while after her powers are changed. I wonder why? I mean, I suppose you could say it's realistic for someone to not immediately get their costume modified, but it seems just kinda lazy to me. I know they ultimately use the same costume but with feathers instead of bolts. But for the purpose of informing readers, it seems like a mistake, albeit not a world-shattering one. All the more so because Hamilton obviously went through the effort to change Ayla's powers, so she would be more distinct from her brother.

I suppose Mort and John simply hadn't designed Ayla's new emblem yet. Before she wore the feather, she wore a cloud--but it confused readers. I suspect that coming up with the just the right new "light weight" logo might have taken awhile.

I actually think choosing Sun Boy as the tyrannical leader was exactly the right decision. Don't forget that we just read about 10 stories in which Sun Boy clearly acts in a leadership role. A case could be made that he was even the LSH Leader at the time.

The traditional leadership role for Cos didn't really come until later in LSH lore. He acted as a leader early on but it had been awhile.

Thus, Sun Boy was a very fresh leadership figure in the readers eyes. And Cos, as the old leader, plays the perfect part as the one to take up on his stead when they mutiny. The only real other contender for the Sun Boy role right now would be Saturn Girl.

I actually think this story is better than the Clark Gable Mutiny on the Bounty film.

And yeah, total agreement on ongoing ramifications for Sun Boy being followed up on (I mentioned this to in my post). This could have really been a great ongoing issue for him.

As for focusing on the major sea changes of LSH history, like deaths, resurrections, etc, I've started to real scrutinize those stories more. It's very easy to make a timeline or list of stories, and then use weddings, deaths, new members, etc, as asterisk to point out when a major change occurs. Those stories, whether good or bad, can be an "easy outing" to gather interest. And in fact, the long held nostalgia fans have for them have led to an industry where every story needs an arbitrary major change. So I like to focus on the stories that are also just as good, though don't hold a place in the annals of history because no life changing event happened.

That is not to say those changes weren't a necessary and welcome part of he series. Characters growing, changing and maturing are needed for any series to remain viable, interesting and healthy. And I appreciate--and for the most part really like--the LSH stories where this happened. But because their very nature gives them a leg up on other stories, I think they deserve even greater scrutiny.

HWW's point about every story featuring some chance is well taken, and I totally agree. All great stories need to be about something. I think here its two fold: (1) Dirk's change though unfortunately we never get the follow up; and (2) more importantly, the legionnaires change. Namely, they go from taking orders without question, to mutinying, to surviving on their own, to proving that even if they are expelled from the official roster, they still are the Legion, official or not, as that resides not in the leader but the camaraderie. So I think its that change in mindset that exists here.

The Brando version would be the one that was the direct inspiration, though really the plot of this story has only the most tenuous connection with any of the Bounty movies.

I agree completely about Sun Boy being the perfect choice for the leader. The only thing I might change is substituting Lightning Lad as the leader of the mutineers, playing on his friendship with Sun Boy.

This is a good point. However, we have to "read into" the story that those are the changes which took place since nowhere does Hamilton tell us that's what happened.

As for changes such as weddings, deaths, and funerals, there is a difference between "big" changes such as those and the type of change necessary to make a story worthwhile. Episodic comic book stories are a lot like episodic TV series. Most TV series at the time these stories were published did not feature major changes so the episodes could be broadcast in any order. But a random sampling of Star Trek episodes, for example, can show how any given episode still shows that something has changed for someone:

In "The Man-Trap," McCoy does not want to believe that his former love has been replaced by a salt-eating vampire. He is forced to recognize the truth to save Kirk's life.

In "The Galileo Seven," Spock learns that in order to lead effectively, he must respect the humanity of the people he leads.

In "The City on the Edge of Forever," Kirk must decide between two possible outcomes, one of which will restore history at the cost of the life of the woman he loves.

In "Arena," Kirk refuses to kill the Gorn in order to save the Enterprise, learning that his value system of right and wrong is more important than survival.

Most of these changes (or lessons, perhaps) did not carry over from episode to episode--and they didn't have to. If the viewer or reader gets to the end of the story and realizes, "Ah, that's what I'm supposed to take away from this," the writer has done her job.

At the end of 316, Dirk says, "With this new rule, what happened to me can never happen to any other member." That's the closest we come to an indication that either he or anyone else has changed. That's fine, although it seems to absolve Dirk of all responsibility for his actions. In other words, nothing's changed.

By the way, I agree that Sun Boy works well in this role. I just wish there were a more logical reason given for why he was chosen to lead the mission.

I just found these threads and love the idea of rereading these early stories together. I'll be working my way through the first two archives but wanted to keep up with everyone as well. Really enjoying the discussion.

Having first heard of this story from reading TMK it was great to see how it really happened. It really is a well-plotted tale and not only showing how the Legion's powers work together but more importantly how the team works together as colleagues.

It seemed to me that Sun Boy's obsession with doing the job right was what put him in the leadership role. On page 2 he leads the discussion with the Xennians while Cos just listens (supportively I guess), pushes to rush home to gets things started, summons (sounds pretty demanding already) officials from the Science Council to meet and gathers the legionnaires for the meeting. If I were on the Science Council it would seem to me that Sun Boy was the guy with the initiative and motivation and skill behind making the rescue happen so it seems only natural that they would appoint him leader. I've seen that happen in the business world plenty of times.

Welcome onboard, stile86!

Feel free to post your thoughts in the older threads as well.

Welcome, stile86.



A plausible explanation.

Am I wrong for wanting these details to come out in the story, though?

One of the coolest aspects of Legion fandom is that fans come up with explanations such as this to fill in the blanks of the text--I've done this myself many times. Being older and arguably more crotchety wiser now, I'm pickier. I want to the writer to do his own work.

Welcome stile86! And great point about the one taking initiative assuming the role of leader and others acquiescing--something I also see often.

HWW, it kind of doesn't need to be said but I enjoy your critiques! Even if we end up on different sides of the conversation. I suspect a lot of these criticisms will be applied to Shooter, Levitz, etc as those stories have a whole new slew of storytelling quirks / issues that were common to various eras.