Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Reading the Legion: Archives Vol. 9

Action #389

It’s a passable little story, where not a huge amount happens. The Android Kilm’s origin is unusual, although segregating injured super villains seems a bit discriminatory.

The switches between trying to capture his body and flashbacks change the pacing to make the story more effective. The mystery is a simple one with a straight forward pay off. There are only three Legionnaires in the story and Chemical King and Shrinking Violet get some good panel time to show off their powers.

And that’s about it for this one. It’s not terribly memorable. There’s possibly a subtext about the futility of vengeance in a world of shifting perceptions and truth. But I may be reading into it more than is actually there.

Elsewhere, Superman takes an interest in sports, if only to punt balls onto the spikes of invading alien ships.

I think you're right about the subtext, thoth. If the story had been longer, perhaps it could have been developed more.

Action #390

A certain sixties espionage programme is blatantly mined for this story. And who better to star in it than the Legion’s espionage squad?

The Legion is to overthrow a leader but also to ensure that the popular rebel leader doesn’t get into power either. The fun of being a spy clearly clouds Cham’s mind to the moral ambiguity of using the Legion to topple governments on the whims of the UP.

Interesting Cham doesn’t take any of the members that would become mainstays in the Espionage Squad. He does go all Black-Ops to paint some Legion cruisers black to camouflage them in space.

Adding to the moral murk is Saturn Girl reading everyone’s mind and using the information to forward the UP’s political goals.

Cham uses the Legionnaire’s real names of Brin and Val to hide the fact that they are superheroes. That’ll be the publicly identifiable Legion, who everyone knows about. Good job Spy-Cham!

This issue has the potential source of Lobo in it: ruthless humanoid mercenaries who replicate like starfish when injured.

Every side in the story is a bit crooked. Both president and rebel leader repress their followers. The rebel leader is in league with the Dark Circle too.

Saturn Girl implants suggestions to get a job with the president’s scientist. He seems creepy enough that he would have leched after her without the mind control. There’s more social commentary about how backwards everything is. Then there’s a little cliff-hanger as Saturn Girl’s identity may have been revealed. Perhaps Cham called up and asked for Imra off panel.

This one stands out by getting the extra room that a two-parter can provide. Without Super-Hog, the Legion can work well within the plot without having to jump through magic kryptonite hoops.

It’s a very plot oriented story, which is quite fitting for a book called Action Comics. Not much beyond names and powers is shown for the Legionnaires. Although Cham may have more woman trouble next issue.

A continuing theme (well, for me) is the shadowy nature of the UP as shown in Adventure.

Since no one actually comes out squeaky clean here, it’s an issue I quite like. Even if it is a bit of a rip off.

Elsewhere, Superman delivers a device to the President that will destroy him should he ever go mad. A cover that would inspire a number of future stories, mainly involving Batman having contingency plans for everything.

Here, the shadowed President turns out to be Lex Luthor and Superman is blown up on the first page. All thanks to a rubbish power supply to the oval office. No, that doesn’t happen. There’s a coyness about showing who is DC’s prez though.

Inside, Clark’s use of powers, super robots, the super-ness of kitchen appliances from Krypton and child endangerment make this a ridiculous super-tale. Lots of madness to be enjoyed.

Good points about the Legion getting involved in politically murky situations. Ah, the Sixties! The US government could do no wrong and heroes did what they were asked to do because the government was always right, right?

There's a certain amount of indoctrination going on in stories like this. Imra's mind control, Cham's impersonations, and even the Legionnaires blasting the poor lifeforms of the planet are not questioned because the ends justify the means, apparently.

Action #391

Uh Oh! Imra meets Marli Zhorg, another telepath from Saturn. That conveniently shuts down Imra’s telepathic powers for the issue. But the issue makes up for Saturn Girl’s thought powers by having every other character info dump last issue’s plot to us through thought balloons.

With the fame of the Legion, you’d have thought Marli would be a bit more up to speed with what her friend had been up to.

The Humanoids attack the rebel camp. Brainy gets a very nice moment as he finishes a secret formula. I’m not sure what difference it made to Element Lad’s attack though.

Having had success against the Humanoids, the rebels want to attack the city. Thanks to the Legion secretively making them victorious, they have become more bloodthirsty and reckless than ever.

The rebels are victorious due to Element Lad’s continuous power use and Brainy’s force field. Inside the city, Imra reveals her true colours (forced due to limited remaining panel space) telling her ex-friend that she’s on the wrong side. Not that there’s a right side here. The Legion compound this by setting up the rebel leader’s fall from grace in front of his own men.

With both sides defeated as planned, the Legion depart. Not in a camouflaged craft as seen last issue, but in a bright shiny red one. So much for the covert jungle lift off.

Behind them is a civilisation that must now choose a way forward, and elections are hinted at. Hinted at by one of the rebel leaders cronies who nominates another crony to take charge until those elections come around (if they ever do). Their new leader’s love interest? The very recent ex- of a galactic space crook.

The victorious forces are never made aware that the Dark Circle had already betrayed them by providing obsolete weapons to fight the Humanoids. They are probably just aware that gunrunners supplied weapons that made them win.

After the usual reprisals, that the Legion don’t stick around to prevent, we’ll have the dodgy rebels (there’s no reason at all why they don’t just follow their former leader’s example), the remnants of the dodgy dictator, and the Dark Circle out there looking to see which side they can influence. At least the UP can just send in the Legion to oust the next leader they don’t agree with.

The worrying thing is that the UP sneak in, destabilise everything and then leave without looking at the repercussions of their actions. Stop me if this sounds painfully familiar from real life

I’m not sure what Proty’s role was in this one. I must have missed something?

I like the unintended moral questions that this story raises. The genre shift works for me and it's good to see that it's not the espionage squad I know that always gets to go on these missions. The two parter gave it more space, but I felt the second part was more rushed.

Elsewhere, the cover shows the true origin of Superboy –Prime.

I thought having the president being in shadow was coy last issue. That’s nothing compared to going out of the way to avoid showing who Superman marries this issue. She even gets a new wig just to confuse readers. I reckon the wig isn’t a fashion fad, but that Superman has married a self-conscious Lex Luthor.

The actual story has a smiley Batman look to hand over the reins to his similarly vigilante son. Meanwhile Superman is super-jealous and a super-idiot to his son. In a tale that must have had young readers having anxiety attacks thinking of their over expectant parents, Superboy can do no right. It just gets worse and worse as the poor lad becomes more and more desperate to please.

There’s a battle of Superboys in here too. Another tick for the Superboy-Prime origin issue.

Incidentally, last issue's Supes story had a moment where Superman's mind could result in the reduction of his powers. Something else else picked up years and years later in Robinson's Golden Age.

Action 391 "The Ordeal of Element Lad"

The best thing about this two-part story is that it is, in fact, over and done in two issues. This is a lost skill these days, with endless subplots and multi-part crossovers. To be able to tell a complete story with various plot points and have it make sense is a rare gift.

The worst thing about this tale is that most of the obstacles set up in the previous issue are resolved very quickly and there is no real tension.

The Legionnaires' plan, for example, relies on the conceit that they are not recognized in spite of the fact that they have public identities and have been lauded as heroes for years. It's a good thing Marli Zhorg does not read the news, or perhaps the news on Lahum is censored by President Peralla.

Marli recognizes Imra from their college days, and they renew their old acquaintance. Imra even allows Marli, a fellow "Saturnian" to monitor her thoughts as she sends a telepathic transmission to Querl, "a friend," telling him of her new job. Brainy and Val realize that with another telepath present, it will be impossible for Imra to inform the Legionnaires of what she learns about the humanoids.

But no matter. Val, it turns out, has been slimed by one of the creatures. Brainy uses this sample to analyze its composition and informs Element Lad, who uses his power to transmute the humanoids into magnetic lodestone, causing them to repel one another. (Jan does this in secret while the rebels think they are repelling the attackers with their useless rifles--hence "the ordeal" as Jan has to strain his power to its limits.)

With the humanoids no longer a threat, Masrin and his rebels storm the capital and depose Peralla (who, in an interesting touch, appears only as a distant figure in this story). The Legionnaires reconnect with Imra just as the latter is being exposed by Marli as a traitor. (This is the second Action story in which a woman gets slugged, but, in an ode to traditional values, it's a female Legionnaire doing the slugging this time.)

A victorious Masrin tries to claim all of the president's treasure for himself, but is persuaded by the Legionnaires to give some of it to the people. Just in time, an exhausted Element Lad (who has to be carried by Brin) transmutes the gold into lead, causing Masrin's followers to suspect the latter of double crossing them and to arrest him.

All very neatly tied up. Even Yroa isn't much of a threat since Cham realizes she isn't really interested in Chavak but prefers another rebel instead.

"The Ordeal of Element Lad" is the best plotted of the Action stories, and a true accomplishment since a lot of ground is covered very quickly without being rushed. In the end, though, the story doesn't amount to much. Jan recovers from his "ordeal" and is even given bonuses by KK and Cham. (One wonders what a Legion bonus looks like. An extra stipend? A day off? A special seat in the meeting room?)

In a typical nod to the times, we are told that the citizens of Lahum will cast aside dictatorship and hold elections. Ah, if only real political problems were resolved so neatly.

(Perhaps there can be a sequel to this story in which the new leader, Nym Belev, is revealed to be a pawn of Mordru.)

On the letter's page, we learn that Mon-El has been elected the next Legion leader by winning nearly four times as many votes as his nearest competitors, Superboy and Element Lad, who tied. Superboy is out of the running since he recently left the Legion; thus, EL begins a tenure of some 13 years as deputy leader before ascending to the top spot himself.

HWW, you covered all my bases.

Yeah, it's a pity that 389 struck out.

I have thoroughly enjoyed doing these Action reviews, and I appreciate the thoughts of everyone who has offered theirs. Even when the stories aren't great, I learn so much from reviewing them and reading others' reactions.

Interest in reviewing has waned again, as it periodically does, so this review will be my last for awhile. If anyone wants to pick up with the Superboy run, I'll be happy to chime in.

Action 392 "The Legionnaires Who Never Were"

Will thoth forgive me for making another obvious joke that Bates' sophomore effort is, well, sophomoric?

This isn't the worst story in the Action run--that honor still belongs to 389 (also by Bates)--but it's a close second. It reads as If Bates took a crash course in reading the Legion's catalog and decided the things that made a good Legion story were 1) the Legionnaires prank each other, 2) the Legionnaires impersonate other characters, and 3) the Legionnaires distrust each other because a futuristic machine tells them to.

All of these outmoded elements appear in this story. As a result, "The Legionnaires Who Never Were" reminds me a lot of Adventure 267, the Legion's second appearance and one of their worst.

This story does earn kudos for spotlighting Princess Projectra and Saturn Girl, and for portraying the former as a competent, clever, and forceful Legionnaire. The days when missions were too tough for a girl appear to be long over.

Returning from a mission in which they've failed to nab a criminal, Jeckie and Imra are treated as if the other Legionnaires don't know them. KK and the rest brand the two girls spies and introduce two newly admitted Legionnaires who happen to be male versions of the girls.

I'm not sure if this development should be read as a reaction to Women's Lib or if there is some deeper significance going on here. But "Saturn Lad" and "Prince Projectur" look silly in their costumes, which were obviously made for girls. ("Saturn Lad" might not have been so bad if his costume were modeled after Imra's classic Silver Age attire. However, Imra chose this tale to introduce her fan-designed bikini costume.)

The girls are arrested and imprisoned. Jeckie figures a way out, though, and confronts Val. She tries to rekindle his memory of their relationship and, when that doesn't work, she forces him into a kiss. If this were a more adult-oriented story, Val might have responded in a more natural way which would have been the tip-off to Jeckie. Instead, her kiss puts him to sleep--literally--with knockout serum as part of her ploy to get the truth.

It is ultimately up to Brainy, disguised as Prince P, to slip up when he thinks Jeckie is threatened.

Once the ruse is blown, the Legionnaires 'fess up that the whole thing was a test to see if Jeckie was going to flip out like their latest fancy gizmo predicted she would. She passes the test, and the gizmo is revealed to be yet another flawed piece of junk.

As a "tack-on," Mon-El is sworn in as the next Legion leader just in time for the team to be dumped from Action and cast into oblivion.

"The Legionnaires Who Never Were" is actually built upon a serious science fiction premise (an episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was built on the same premise with Dr. Crusher being trapped in an alternate reality where people in her life keep disappearing and no one remembers them). With a less juvenile treatment, it could have been an insightful and exciting exploration of identity, self-confidence, and relationships.

Instead, Bates chose to go with a silly and implausible treatment. (Really--Brainy can't see through the illusion of the monster appearing in Legion HQ? Jeckie is fooled by "Saturn Lad's" claim to read Vi's mind?) It's fitting that the Legion's Action run ended here before it degenerated into further inanity. The series needed a rest before evolving into the greatness to come.

Thanks a lot, He Who, for carrying the torch that helped us get to the end of a tough volume to get through.

Onward to Volume 10, and just four more stories to go until Dave Cockrum arrives!

It's worth noting that the end of the Action run marks a turning point for the Legion, as longtime Legion editor Mort Weisinger retires and is replaced by Murray Boltinoff, who had edited the brilliant original Doom Patrol run, which would have seemed to make him a natural for the Legion. Unfortunately, the Boltinoff era of the Legion is memorable in spite of him, not because of him. I believe that if most of the Boltinoff stories had been drawn by lesser artists than Dave Cockrum and Mike Grell, I doubt they'd be so fondly remembered today. Oh, there are some stories I like for reasons that have nothing to do with the gorgeous art, but in my opinion they're the exception rather than the rule.

Which is a long-winded way of saying that, while I will return to the Archives re-read once the Cockrum/Grell era starts, don't expect me to go easy on Cary Bates or the returning Jim Shooter. Or Murray Boltinoff.

I'm really looking forward to reviewing the Bates/Cockrum era, because that was my defining era as a Legion fan. I expect that I probably won't think as highly of these stories as I did then--I was nine/ten when I first read them!--but that's okay. It's part of the process of growing as a writer to go back and look at earlier stories and find new things in them.

Very well said, He Who.

I initially read most of the Bates/Cockrum stories in my early 20s, because I'd recently discovered Cockrum's X-Men (in those pre-everything-collected-in-trades days, that was through the Classic X-Men monthly reprint series) and wanted to see more of his Bronze Age art. At the time I dismissively felt that Bates was no Claremont, but I've come to believe that if Bates had had a better editor than Boltinoff, he might have done something as good as his 80s/early 90s Captain Atom run.

It's true that Bates was no Clarement, but then Claremont was no Bates. Bates could tell a complete story in half an issue, whereas Claremont never knew when to end things.

LOL

Good point well taken.

Action #390-391

This was an interesting two part story. I liked the fact the fact that the Legion Espionage Squad doesn't have to just consist of Shrinking Violet, Invisible Kid and Chameleon Boy. While Cham heads up the team, the inclusion of Saturn Girl, Timber Wolf, Element Lad, Brainac 5 and Karate Kid are refreshing. Nice seeing Proty taking a role too.

I agree with comments above about the Legion's dubious involvement in overthrowing a planetary government on the whims of the UP Council. On the other side, with the revolutionaries tied to the Dark Circle, I was a bit disappointed that the Dark Circle didn't make an appearance. That would have made an interesting plot development in the second half of the story by upping the ante. But alas, we're stuck in the Action back-up era with a shortage of space to tell stories.

Still, the most interesting aspect of the story was the way Element Lad used his powers in a covert way to take down the baddies. Overall, this was an interesting issue amid a rather subpar Action era.

Action #392

The only big development of this issue was the roll out of Saturn Girl's new outfit. While she and other Legionnaires needed new threads, I must admit I was never crazy about Imra's bikini look. To me it turned her into more of a Hooters girl than a formidable looking Legionnaire. Fortunately this costume blunder was corrected by Levitz and Giffen in LSH #288.

The worse part of this issue was having Saturn Lad and Prince Projectur showing up as guys wearing women's costumes. I must admit I groaned when I saw them. It was just too hideous to look at. I was glad to see this issue come to an end.

This was the first Legion comic I bought on the stands. All other Legion stories I'd read before this were hand me downs from neighbor kids. I thought it was pretty gullible for Brainy to buy Jeckie's illusion monster who just appeared to swallow her out of thin air. Isn't he supposed to be super smart? And he knows what her power is right? Also thought it weird that Saturn Lad and Prince Projectur wore such feminine versions of the girls' costumes. Would it have killed them to at least have long pants? And for brainy to wear his baggy bulky costume underneath a skintight costume with bare legs? And why not just have a Caucasian Legionnaire play Prince Projectur? Why go to all the trouble of covering up Brainy's skin? Just a pretty silly story all around. I did enjoy the artwork and the archive computer portraits though.

Action 392

Seeing Saturn Lad and Projectur, I’m reminded of those sites that put male heroes into the heroine costumes, to highlight how female characters are objectified. They were decades behind this issue.

The tale focuses on Jeckie and Imra. They have been tasked with capturing ranged weapon specialist Pozr-Du. Keen music lover will be aware that Pozr (or Poser to his enemies) Du is a boy band joining descendant of the band Husker Du from the 1970s and ‘80s.

Our two heroines nicely illustrate that having a flight ring can make you an easy target. Both are shot from the skies. Waking hours later, they return to HQ only to find that no one knows who they are. Worse, they have lost their powers and have been replaced by male counterparts on the team.

There’s probably a thread to be created in working out how the Legion would have turned out if Projectra and Saturn Girl hadn’t have been in it up to this point. Supergirl’s initiation would have gone differently. Superboy might remember everything from the future etc.

Ever earnest the Legion imprisons the two in a disease inducing Detention Sphere 40 feet in the air. There are rumours that Amnesty Intergalactic still operate on a couple of the fringe worlds, but they aren’t allowed near the UP.

The two wonder if they are dreaming their predicament. Perhaps they are on another Earth. It’s nice just to see a couple of earths rather than the usual Flash faces explaining the multiverse to us.

Jeckie goes on a mission to persuade one Legionnaire that they are the genuine article. She enters Val’s room. Just off panel Projectur hides behind a curtain.

She tries to persuade Val (whose name isn’t supposed to be common knowledge- yet is to the entire galaxy) by sparking some romantic memories. For a change in comics, this means nothing to Val. Jeckie is reduced to using knockout lipstick. The lesson to all readers is to watch your drinks and your lips when out at night. You could be stalked by someone from Orando.

Using a truth disc (yet another item leased to the Legion from the UP Orwellian Dept of Control), Jeckie starts to figure out what’s going on. It’s all an elaborate test.

I laughed when it’s revealed that Brainy found the data on which member was about to crack up. I guess he realised there would be an audit trail and substituted the real finding (him) for Jeckie’s.

Why he’s asking the Archive Computer (store of Blok’s future viewing) rather than the Medi-Computer or Psych-Computer is not explained. Why they didn’t just wait for Nura to faint with a prediction is also unknown.

It’s rumoured that during the 5YG, when Circe dressed up as Legionnaires for Dirk, Dirk dressed up as Saturn Lad for her.
The enduring thought from this story is that of Brainy trying various stockings to hide his green legs for his Projectur identity.

The Legion still have an adult advisor in this issue. He’s there to remind us of Ultra Boy’s origin. Also, to keep the genders from wandering into each other’s rooms and to stop them playing elaborate, mad “tests” on each other. I doubt future parents would send their kids to Legion Summer Camps run by these advisors.

This is a self contained story that regresses away from the “relative” stories in earlier Action issues, even as it sticks to a similarly small cast. It has overly serious dialogue when there’s no tension. Imra positively gloats that she was in on the scheme to deceive her colleague. Lar seemingly couldn’t wait to oust Val as leader to take over himself.

The best thing to come out of the issue was panel time for Jeckie and Imra, something that would be missed in later ensemble issues.

"Mad? Mad Querl? I'll show you mad....>snap< Oh, it looks like the computer was right..."


Elsewhere in the issue: Superman’s wigged, shadowed mother is ignored when Superman returns from his fortress of solitude without his son. Superman broods over what a failure his son was, not least because his was outclassed by Batman’s son. And now his wife keeps going on about something. What has she got to do with anything? Yup, that’s the Super-relationship in this imaginary tale.

I’d like to say it all turns out fine in the end. But, Superman sacrifices his power for his son. A son who, thanks to Superman’s rubbish training, is only going to get thousands killed. He’ll still be worse at everything than Batman junior too.

I never really liked Saturn Girl's bikini outfit either. It lacked the pizzazz and originality of Luornu's, Tinya's, or even Jeckie's Cocrum-designed outfits. I guess it's no surprise that Imra's costume was designed by a fan. Fans often have a great deal of heart but no real training in costume design. Some even worse outfits are coming up in Superboy # 183.

Bates subscribed to the theory of never let logic stand in the way of a good story (re: Superboy 200).

Well, without Imra there would have been no one to read the two would-be assassins' minds to learn they had been sent by Doyle to assassinate Brande, so Doyle would have gotten off scot free and may even have tried to kill Brande again. Without Brande, there was no one to found and bankroll the Legion . . .

Without Imra to add the necessary ingredient to his anti-lead serum, Mon-El may still be trapped in the Phantom Zone.

Without Imra's attempt to singlehandedly face Zaryan the Conqueror--and LL's sacrifice in the same battle--Zaryan may have conquered earth or destroyed the Legion, so Jeckie may never have had a chance to join.



I wondered why Val was sleeping in his costume. Those late-night poker games with Prince P must have worn him out.



Heh. Interesting theory.

Action Comics #392:

I'm re-reading the original copy I bought back in 1970. Between the Superman story and the Legion story there's a reader survey form. The Flash says, "Answer all the questions so we know who you are and what you think is groovy." There's a top prize of a portable color TV set.

There are 25 questions.

Question #5 -- "How interested are you in reading about: (a) Pollution, (b) Black People, (c) Space Flights, (d) National Problems, (e) City Problems, (f) Sports, (g) Hobbies, (h) Romance, (i) Astrology."

Question #9 -- "What two kinds of records do you like most? (a) rock, (b) country music, (c) Bubble gum music, (d) folk, (e) soul."

Question #16 -- "Comics have helped me in: (a) english and spelling, (b) reading, (c) science, (d) history or current events." (...yes, "english")

#5 -- c, h, i

#9 -- All of the above

#16 -- All of the above

Why is Ultra Boy shown solo in the panel that says "the adult advisor swears Mon-El in..."? His sleeve is shown in the following panel, too. But then, Ultra Boy is also shown in the group shot in the same panel.

It's because it isn't Ultra Boy in the single panel or swearing Mon-El in. The Adult advisor there is the latest to fill the role after Marla, who appeared as "the Legion's new senior advisor" way back in Superboy 98



Marla was introduced because it dawned on someone that these teenagers had no supervision and were only moments away from drugs, sex and worse...communism or something.

Anyway, Marla had the same uniform that Ultra Boy did.

Perhaps Ultra Boy's "action costume" was actually one supposed to be used by Legion trainees. But Ultra Boy kept it as his costume.

This was back when Ultra Boy just had penetra-vision and before he got a number of the forgotten Star Boy's powers.