Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Reading the Legion: Archives Volume 18

I was going to post a compliment, but first I must kneel...kneel before Darkseid. Great stuff Future.

We must all kneel before Future.

Certainly the most dramatic Archive cover to date. The back cover promises all sorts of re-read goodness!

DCCP #43 In Final Battle by Paul Levitz, art by Curt Swan & Dave Hunt, colours Gene D'Angelo, letters J. Costanza



Clark Kent sees a problem and, leaving his baffled co-workers with a story about an endangered parakeet, races off as Superman to confirm that a Sun-Eater is headed for Earth. He is felled by a blast from the Sun-Eater and falls onto the Moon, face to face with Mongul, who shrinks him and encases him in a clear cube. Mongul is in control of the Sun-Eater. Lois and Jimmy observe this through a telescope. Jimmy pulls out a Legion flight ring and takes a chance that they might respond to a signal.

Six Legionnaires are available to answer his call and, after a debate about the dangers of time travel, they head to the past. Meanwhile, Mongul is defeating Justice League heroes and Supergirl.

When the Legion arrives, Superman explains that he is getting weaker as he remains in the cube; Sun Boy's blast bursts the cube, within the protection of Tasmia's shadow and Brainy's forcefield. They attack Mogul and, in so doing, destroy the devices he uses to control the Sun-Eater, which heads to Earth's sun. As Superman confronts Mongul, the Legionnaires fly after the Sun-Eater. They use their combined powers to get close to the Sun-Eater's core, then Wildfire unleashes his full anti-matter energy (after hurling his fellow Legionnaires out of danger, despite their protest).

Superman defeats Mongul, the Legionnaires create a cell to hold him and explain that Wildfire has blown the Sun-Eater to molecules. Superman confirms this, but notes, with sadness, that there is no trace of Wildfire either. The Legionnaires remind him that Wildfire just needs a new containment suit and joke that they can talk about him without him answering back in the meantime.

Jimmy claims that he saved the day by calling the Legion and asks a returning Clark if he saved the parakeet. Clark responds that he did and that those who can't save the world do what they can.

Comments:
A fairly simple, classic Superman story with the usual Lois-Jimmy-Clark set-up and epilogue. Levitz does a good job explaining who both Mongul and the Legion are, for readers unfamiliar with the characters.

I never really liked those stories which bring a 30th century villain into the 20th century, since I felt it diluted the future. So there's a Sun-Eater in the 1980s, then not another one for a thousand years? However, it serves the purpose of giving the Legion a chance to use their particular expertise and knowledge to deal with the danger.

There's plenty of good teamwork and noble intentions here and Wildfire plays the true hero. Sure, he can't be destroyed, but how certain was he that he'd be able to reassemble his energy waves (or whatever) to return home with the Legion? Could uncontained anti-matter energy affect the operation of the time bubble? His explosion of the Sun-Eater might have been portrayed as a more risky venture, with bigger stakes for Wildfire in particular.

Shadow Lass seems particularly attentive to Superman's well-being. It's that old attraction to powerful men thing, I guess - and maybe she's been bored with Mon-el lately.

Clark makes an excuse that he's worried about leaving the gas on and killing his friend's parakeet. The parakeets of the world no doubt approve of being placed on equal footing with the destruction of the Earth; it's actually a good message, all creatures great and small , God (and Superman) know when a sparrow falls. While it's the much-used bumbling Clark Kent trope, Clark's comment about doing what one can is a good line on which to end the story.

Can't really think of much to add to what Cramey said about the story -- it's a solid effort from Levitz.

I do have to say that the art, both front cover and interior, is a sweet treat. Brian Bolland did the cover -- what can be said about his awesomeness that hasn't already been said? And Curt Swan seems to be going that extra mile with his pencils -- it definitely does not feel phoned-in, which, by this point, having been drawing the Super-Books for more than 25 years in a row, he sometimes did. But the real nice surprise is Dave Hunt's inking! He tended to be either nondescript or sloppy, but this job is beautiful, reminds me in spots of Marvel's John Romita Senior! Or, more apropos, of Swan's default inker during the Adventure Legion era, George Klein! Definitely one of the DCP issues most worth seeking out!

World's Finest #284 by Cary Burkett, art by George Tuska, colours Gene D'Angelo, letters Adam Kubert



Superman travels to the 30th century to enlist the help of the teenage Legion to fight the Composite Superman, claiming that they are indirectly responsible. Statuettes of the Legionnaires were given to Superboy as a memento; later, he placed these in the Superman Museum. A lightning bolt struck the statuettes and bathed a caretaker in radiation, giving him Legionnaires' powers along with a hatred of super-heroes. He used Chameleon Boy's powers to become a combination of Superman and Batman, was thought to have been killed but had just resurfaced.

The Legion and Superman return to the 20th century to confront the Composite, Wildfire blasts him but he survives, explaining that he not only has all the Legion's powers but that the powers are cumulative – and he is now calling himself Amalgamax.

A battle ensues, as Batman considers that a better strategy is needed. He hurls a batarang carrying Shrinking Violet at Amalgamax; she activates his belt-buckle alarm to alert him that his powers are about to fade. He disappears, giving the heroes time to come up with a battle plan.

There's a complicated backstory to explain how the alien Xan became Amalgamax and why he hates Superman and Batman. Superman discovers that Xan's father died of the Muranis Plague. Projectra casts an illusion that he has developed the plague and Wildfire mentions that there's a cure for that in the future. Xan surrenders to the Legion in order to get the cure; he is sedated so that Superman could return him to his world's prison. Batman makes a joke about Wildfire's ego.

Comments:

You know how sometimes you hear a story that's about somebody's uncle, then it involves the uncle's cousin's boyfriend's ex-wife and you get the whole extended backstory? That's what this story was like. My eyes glazed over. It was a 1962 story in a 1982 book.

There's a far-fetched explanation of how Amalgamax got every Legionnaire's power, except Wildfire's. It's a set-up that provides considerable challenge to the Legionnaires. However, in the end, it's clever Batman who figures out the right approach, using different Legionnaires to outwit the bad guy and Wildfire's “loud mouth” to seal the deal. It really wasn't a bad story in terms of action and teamwork, but the WTF gaps of logic kept getting in the way of my appreciation.

Wildfire, unfortunately, has once again been saddled with the primary characteristic of being a loud-mouth. Although his recent origin story gave the reader more insight into his personality, he's written as a one-trick pony. Heroic, certainly – but it always comes back to his blowhard attitude. Gas bag in body, gas bag in speech.

It's odd to read another story with an affable Batman, given how long he's been the dark knight. The ending is like the ending of Harvey Birdman cartoons, with everybody standing around, laughing. I guess that was a parody of the Super Friends cartoon (which I never saw). It must have been an '80s thing.

Pretty impressive cover, though. Also of note is letterer Adam Kubert, who would go on to bigger projects.

We seem to have skipped from January 1982 (LSH 283) to October 1982 (WF 284--at least the issue numbers are sequential). No matter. The WF story is hard to place chronologically. It seems to have occurred before Jeckie and KK took a leave of absence (in LSH 284; I've been reading ahead), but after Cos changed his costume in Annual # 1 (between 289 and 290). One might suppose that Jeckie returned temporarily to active duty or Cos was "trying out" the new costume before adopting it permanently, much as Imra did with her new costume back at the end of the Action run. (EDIT: I just noticed that Imra also sports her later costume on the cover. Inside, her costume is hard to see and miscolored.)



This pretty much sums it up. The Legionnaires don't question why Superman instead of Superboy is paying them a visit, and there's no explanation for why Superman didn't visit the Adult Legion instead. Although lip service is paid to the JLA, there really is no logical reason why Superman had to travel a thousand years into the future to recruit allies against the Composite Superman. Most of what the Legion does here could have been performed by members of the JLA, such as The Atom (instead of Shrinking Violet) and Zatanna (instead of Projectra). The lapses in logic and the "Gee, aren't we clever" ending (I'm only passingly familiar with Harvey Birdman) would indeed be more at home in the early '60s.

Stories like this strike me as the superhero equivalent of business as usual. A bad guy needs to be defeated, so they defeat him. It's a lot like a plumber going to work on a clogged drain. There are no major events here, no life-changing revelations, nothing that teaches us anything new about our heroes or their world. They have a job to do and they do it. At the time, I took solace in such "ordinary" stories. I felt as if I were getting a glimpse of these heroes' lives, like riding along with a police officer in a squad car on a day when nothing special happens. In real life, it's always good when such days occur (especially for police officers and others who regularly put themselves in harm's way). For fiction, not so much.



Well said. This pretty much sums up how Wildfire was depicted here and in other stories.

Yeah, that's the order in which I had it and, given the story, we can be glad it's behind us. I hadn't noticed the sequential numbers - it must be destiny!



Great observation, HWW! Green Arrow could have stood in for loudmouth Wildfire.

The "A cold and lonely corner in hell" cover is one of my all time favorites... and the story is excellent as well!

Next review coming this weekend - suffered total computer failure here and am now a prisoner of a new machine with Windows 10 (which is not as bad as I feared).

Any one else inclined to post on LSH 284, please jump in. The quicksand is lovely.

Sorry to hear about your computer problems, Cramey.

Windows 10 tip not everyone knows: right click the start button to get the traditional windows menu.

Thanks for the tip, Brain-Fall-Out Boy.

Cramey, I echo He Who's good wishes and sympathy. Hope the internet is working smoothly again at chez Cramer as soon as cosmically possible.

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #284 (Cover-date: February 1982)

The first hint that this is going to be a less-than-auspicious start to Levitz-Legion Mark 2 is the cover. Pat Broderick is one of my favorite artists of his generation, sort of like Jim Starlin but with prettier people and a looser, more ethereal line. But this issue's front cover, inked by Romeo Tanghal, who IMO hadn't quite yet found his artistic footing, is bland and stodgy and almost wholly nondescript. That description will be borne out by Levitz's script, but there is still some promise of a decent read in the opening 2 pages -- the attention-grabbing splash of Chuck Taine in the Hall of Heroes could have been more fluidly composed, but interior inker Bruce Patterson (who, like Broderick, had just left Marvel for DC) proves much more stylistically simpatico with Broderick's pencils. The first real sign of how well they mesh is in the 2nd and 3rd tiers of Page 2. The expression on Chuck's foregrounded face speaks far more about his combination of sadness and relief at his decision to retire from the Legion than the stilted soliloquy that Levitz gives him. Once Chuck's partner, Luornu Durgo Taine, enters the scene, the dialogue doesn't get any better, but the artistic team does delineate a lovely likeness of Lu.

The team conference scene, on the other hand, is so awful that not even the art can save it. Ironic how Levitz, who, during his Legion Mark 1 run had done more than anyone else to make Wildfire fully-rounded, would portray him in the worst one-dimensional hotheaded way. The escalating argument is tedious, although I do find it amusing that Cosmic Boy (still in his kinky Grell costume) would tell Wildfire not to make an ass out of himself. Pot, kettle, black, Cos.

Mercifully, the comic cuts away at this point to the sight of Medicus One against dark deep space skies with a generous sprinkling of faraway stars. But this peaceful panorama is immediately shattered by an enemy ship breaching the hull of the venerable galactic hospital. Disappointingly, the invading party turn out to be generic-looking reptile-people spouting action-movie-villain cliches. Enter Timber Wolf and Light Lass, who spout equally uninspired banter while TW makes short work of the lizard goons. Once TW exits, we get to see that the artists draw a truly adorable-looking Ayla, and things be even better in the next 2 pages, with lots of outer-space exteriors full of starry goodness, not to mention some nice panels of Wildfire, Dawnstar, and Ultra Boy leading the Legion's charge against the reptilian ruffians and their ship.

Cut to an allegedly comedic sequence of Chuck & Lu saying their farewells to an exposition-spouting Karate Kid and an all-too-playful Dream Girl; at least it gives the artists a chance to show Val with convincingly Eurasian features for a change, and to draw cute expressions on the faces of the other three. Also, this is, to my knowledge, the first hint of Nura having an actual personality, and while Levitz's execution strains too hard for cheap laffs, the porcelain-faced precog is definitely showing potential here.

After another nice-looking outer-space exteriors page, we get a rather dull and wordy one inside Medicus One, punctuated by a close-up of Lightning Lad sporting a haircut that makes me wonder if he's a descendant of Feargal Sharkey, the Undertones' original lead singer. Then the artists give us their prettiest, shiniest galactic vista yet, while Levitz finally deals with what should have been an obvious repercussion which the previous writers were too busy fixating on Reflecto to deal with immediately -- namely, Chameleon Boy finding out (in the year-old "Secrets of the LSH" mini-series) that R.J. Brande is his father. The normally serene Reep Daggle is definitely on edge here, effectively seeding storylines to come in later issues.

Next...more forced comedy, this time involving Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad. The latter, in one panel, looking like he's re-enacting one of the most infamous scenes of "The Exorcist" even though all he's actually doing is spitting out some slop he just cooked. And it only gets worse when Levitz has Ayla react in a deeply insensitive and self-centered way to Brin's ambivalence about the plastic surgery that Ayla had insisted on. We do catch our first glimpse of Dr. Gym'll, but he's spitting out squirm-inducing sophomoric "humor" which I find inappropriate for an all-ages comic book.

And, finally, we meet the one-shot villain of this tale, Organus, and...well...he refers to himself in the Third Person (Strike One) and, at first glance, he looks like a demon-possessed teddy bear (Strike Two.) He doesn't look quite as silly once he's fully visible, but his energy-absorbing tongue is creepy and gross in all the wrong ways (Strike Three!)

From here on, script and art are strictly by-the-numbers, as the Legionnaries mount an attack on Organus, which ends when Levitz falls back on the old Bronze Age Legion trope of "But wait, the villain's powers don't affect that ONE SPECIAL LEGIONNAIRE (in this case, Blok) and even though we know it doesn't make any sense, we're on a deadline here, so cut us some slack."

Not having read any Legion issues between 254 and 284, I can't really say whether this is any better than the average Gerry Conway issue, but I doubt it.

Something else else tells me the next few issues of Levitz Mark 2 are going to require a great deal of patience on us readers' part. Hopefully, by the time the Great Darkness Saga proper begins, things will have improved substantially.

Well, hopefully I’m not too late! Catching up on the non-LSH proper issues…

DC Comics Presents #43

The Superman / LSH team-up in DC Comics Presents is nothing short of awesome, with one great thing after another. So much to love: incredible Boland cover, incredible Swan art, a rare chance to see Superman with the LSH, seeing Superman remember Ferro Lad (just awesome and something I always wanted to see), Jimmy referencing his reserve membership for the first time in years, the LSH showing bravery and intelligence in how they beat the Sun-Eater, Levitz showing his ability to use multiple Legionnaires, Mogul—the best *new* Superman villain of the late Bronze Age, A SUN-EATER!!!, an awesome battle between Superman and Mogul at the end, the LSH defeating the Sun-Eater…whew! It’s fantastic! This is probably the best of the LSH team-ups throughout the entire preboot. And it even leaves open the possibility for a great follow-up story—well done, Paul.

World’s Finest #284
Which leads to WF #284, which simply can’t stand alongside DCP #43. And its hard not to compare them since they open up the “archive”. I remember when I was rummaging through my Dad’s WF collection years ago and found this, and simply couldn’t believe there was a Levtiz / Giffen LSH issue that I didn’t know about! Seeing that cover, I imagined inside was going to be some glorious hidden issue that would leave me stunned. And then I was so disappointed to learn that Giffen wasn’t the artist and Paul wasn’t the writer. And unfortunately there was a lot to dislike as others have pointed out: a Silver Age feel that is out of place in the 80’s, bad artwork, super-ventriloquism, Wildfire and others acting as clichés rather than the multi-layered characters we have now come to expect from LSH stories. The last thing is especially annoying, as by the time we get the scene with Saturn Girl telling Wildfire to shut up, I basically started to breeze through the rest of it.

So there we have it: one fantastic issue and one ‘meh’ one. Onwards to the proper LSH stories!

Great comment about Dave hunt, Fanfie! I totally agree, and feel his inks really made Swan's art look more lush and robust. I also thought of the George Klein similarities as well.

LoSH 284

“The Hall of Heroes: Statues of those who have served with honor – and died with honor. It’s not a place where the Legionnaires like to hang out.”

Unless it’s to have a laugh at the hijinks surrounding Jo’s statue being in there.

The opening words of Levitz v2.0 are a mix of sombre heroics and every day practicality.

Watching the statues, is Chuck Taine, tossing his flight ring in the air, and deciding not to become one of them.

It’s not uncommon for new writers to start clearing out the cast of the people they won’t be using. In a book with the ensemble cast of the Legion, it can provide some easy and early drama whether it’s by quitting, marrying, resigning or death. Not to mention providing a bit of breathing space for the writer to focus on the stories they want to tell.

It’s a good character study of Chuck in a page. He’s the cheerful, happy companion but also someone with a strong sense of the group’s history, the risks involved and how it could affect those he cares about.

Mentioning that the universe is either counting on or after the Legion gives the reader an early indication of the threat levels to come. In the next page, Levitz continues to lay the solid groundwork any decent writer should bring to a title. We get a lot in a page. We’re reintroduced to the HQ and its meeting room. We’re reminded that Lightning Lad is leader and of the Legion as an organisation. When Chuck and Lu do retire, we’re shown some of that traditional administration, when they tell Blok that it’s easier to change to and from reservist than as a full member.

Following on from the opening page, and that clearing out the cast point, Superboy is gone in a single word balloon that also updates us on the Reflecto saga. Levitz is not flinching big decisions, with the group now spending some time apart from their inspiration. It’s also possibly an early move to distance the team from the lives of the DCU’s main characters.

We get some early conflict too, which drives so many super teams. As discussed in the last issue, it’s Wildfire who acts as the team’s thorn, criticising Lightning Lad’s idea to discuss membership. He ends up nearly getting into a physical confrontation with Sun Boy. It’s a bit overly dramatic, and pushes Wildfire a bit too far in the pain in the rear direction. Name calling a fellow member isn’t nice.

It’s interesting that it’s Sun Boy who pulls him up. There’s a little overlap in origins in powers, and this is an early sign that Levitz will look to differentiate Dirk.

On the membership issue, this could be a very early indication that the line-up will get some changes, or at least that there will be more sightings of the Academy. Does anyone think Lamprey, Crystal Kid or Nightwind have shown enough promise to get into the team? We’ve also seen Power Boy, Shadow Kid and Laurel Kent, although they duplicate the powers of existing members.

The Mission Monitor Board serves as a straight forward way to introduce the team to this issue’s mission. Again, it’s a reminder of some of the Legion’s trappings. It also reminds us of Chuck’s comments that the universe depends on the team to deal with threats.

Pat Broderick provides a lovely rendition of Medicus One, a null gravity space hospital and we get the first of the Encyclopaedia Galactica comments from Levitz in this run. These really help to provide a lot of flavour and background to the universe the Legion inhabit.

A group of heavily armed and armoured aliens, who look like they may be Gordonians are attacking the hospital. If they are Gordonians, the race only made their debut a couple of years before, and it links the Legion into the sci fi of its other titles. They are introduced as organ leggers. And they are after the body banks. That picks up on the theme of future technology having a possible darker side. Where do the organs come from exactly? What permissions have been granted?

In trying to capture their prize, they meet two Legionnaires, who were already on site. We learn that Brin has been undergoing some surgery, as Levitz provides us with a subplot right along with the main action. The differing approach of the two is marked. Ayla prefers to control the situation while Brin leaps into action looking to beat all of the pirates. He proceeds to leave a number of them strewn along the corridor to their ship, as we see when Ayla follows him. She makes herself light, to increase her speed which is a good use of her powers, but it would have been nice to see her more directly involved this early on. As mentioned, you can often tell from a writer’s first few issues which characters are going to become key to their interpretation of the group.

Despite their losses, the organleggers seem to be more focused on the profit of what they have managed to get onto their craft. It looks as though they expect losses on all of their raids. They don’t get far as the Legion’s advance team reaches them before they can escape. Dawny and Wildfire are indeed made for space travel, and it’s nice to see a simple and effective link established between them. We get the traditional bit of exposition on how Jo’s powers work.

The three are very confident heroes, and they make short work of the aliens. It’s worth pointing out this approach. Some new writers like to tear apart everything that went before. Conflict makes for a good story after all. But with no idea of where to stop you end up with a hero or group that are broken and have nothing left. While that can make for a good arc, creative changes and conflicts can then result in the writer leaving behind half-finished ideas and badly damaged characters. Quite often what they had in mind was never as good as what had gone before anyway.

There are some super hero teams where I have to think hard to remember if they’ve ever won. The late TMK run comes to mind as having a lot of running away tactical withdrawals.

But writers can challenge certain aspects of a character. In the often underdeveloped world of comic characterisation, there are plenty of aspects to explore, without trashing everything. A conflict built on solid foundations, and not from ruins. Seeing a capable team here, there’s a hint that this is the approach Levitz might take.

Like Ayla, it would have been nice to see more of Dawny’s range of powers, but the enclosed space probably didn’t help on this occasion. Levitz gets points for making sure that the battle doesn’t extend to pages. It’s partly a reinforcement of what Chuck said at the start. Despite their arms, the antagonists are up against the UP’s main heroes. And they act like it. But it’s also a sign that Levitz has a lot of ideas that he wants to put into the book. We’ve already had a lot happening in a few pages, and it will be interesting to see if the pace continues.

The mission monitor board serves a further purpose, in handling communications from other members. It’s more membership changes, as Karate Kid and the unseen Projectra announce a leave of absence. We get a quick reprise of his own series (which was partly written by Levitz) and an idea of what will be in the couple’s immediate future. Considering how reactive so many stories and tenures are, it’s refreshing to see a couple with some solid plans for a change. We’re ten pages in and there are five Legionnaires who we will not be seeing as much of.

We get to see one last (for a while) fun moment with Chuck and Lu, as Dream Girl teases him. It’s a lovely summation of her character as an out in the open flirt who has flustered the boys since her first appearance. There’s more to Nura than that of course, and we see that she is considerate and that she is still haunted by her premonitions. They have often portrayed catastrophe only for it to have been misunderstood. With Chuck already mentioning that the team are short staffed, will Levitz go the same way?

It’s not just about fighting the villains as a Legionnaire. The team repair the damage to Medicus one. It’s an opportunity to get to see Element Lad, Sun Boy, Cosmic Boy and brainy in action. We get a touch of Brainy’s intellect but the scene changes tone when they snipe about Wildfire. Coz considers him to be an “egomaniac” and Brainy and Dirk have their own comments. I was thinking of the snarky remarks made by certain characters much later in the Baxter run. But there’s similar things going on right here at the start of Levitz v2.0.

Along with the (telepathic) plug for the advanced technology the Legion uses, there’s a little aside made by Brainy that perhaps reveals Levitz’s thoughts on the character. Brainy is self-critical as a way of constantly trying to improve. Because he’s involved in so many things, he will therefore try to improve everything. That’s going to be tough on anyone. We also learn that Imra has been using her powers to calm the patients down. It’s good to see the cast not just standing around in the background, but being used.

It’s Sun Boy who deduces that it wasn’t the Medicus one staff who raised the alarm. It brought a smile that he’s sitting next to the team’s resident detective. But Chameleon Boy is focused on the revelation from the Secrets of the Legion miniseries. It’s an early sign of things to come for Cham.

Inside the hospital, Garth pays Brin a visit before more surgery. There’s the feeling that whatever procedure he’s undergoing is more than simple plastic surgery. Ayla had commented on side effects earlier. We also get another hint that the danger hasn’t passed. One of the aliens was shown throwing a device into the organ backs as he was challenged by Brin. Whatever that was, is beginning to activate.

But the pace keeps going, and it’s back to Earth where the burden of leadership subplot is raised by Garth. Back in the Grimbor story, he had quit only to table it until the threat had passed. This scene also picks up on the strength of Garth & Imra’s marriage (she’s only recently moved into their Legion HQ quarters). The reminder of the Legion origin was particularly well done. There’s also the idea that they wouldn’t share information with the others, if it meant violating someone’s privacy. Imra backed Garth back on the hospital. She respects Garth too much to ask more. But it’s worth bearing the much later Conspiracy in mind as another example of people keeping secrets with the best of intentions.

Back on Medicus one, and we see Brin ditch his wolverine clone look. There’s pros and cons to this, partly in hindsight. With Wolverine’s popularity, Brin was only going to be an imitator at this point. There’s also only so far you can realistically go with a loner-in-a-team subplot too (something ignored by Marvel for decades). The downside, and this is in hindsight, is that it was a distinctive look, and Brin’s personality under Levitz would have a different emphasis partly as a result. But it’s another lasting change to be chalked up to the issue. Another subplot launched form the scene is the tension in Brin and Ayla’s relationship. We only get a brief insight into it, before that organlegger’s device breaks loose and Ayla must face … Organus.

Levitz had often said that creating villains wasn’t his strongpoint. The Who’s Who picture for Organus made him look a bit uninspiring too. But could that be doing him a bit of a disservice? His introduction reveals that he is a creature from somewhere…else. Contained within a vessel, but using the organleggers as slaves. Able to absorb and utilise the parts and energies of others. Broderick’s depiction of his mental domination of prey and then his horribly organic attack on Ayla reveal his origins to be firmly in the sci fi/ horror films of the period.

Brin also finds out that Organus can use the superpowers of those he absorbs too. It’s unfortunate that Organus was more effective in using Ayla’s powers so far this issue than Ayla was herself. As the second attack on the facility begins, another alert reaches Legion HQ, where we see the team play D&D (without Star Boy!) There’s another nod to Legion protocol as Element Lad takes mission command. Although Garth and Imra are in the HQ, I quite like that there’s the concept of off-duty being used.

It turns out that seeing the team repair Medicus earlier was the writer showing us their power levels before they return to face the villain (there’s a little nod to Dirk being the team’s best pilot too). Levitz resists having Blok stay behind. It would have been easy to leave him there as an indication that the Dryad’s unspectacular days in the group were numbered.

Medicus is a bit bright and shiny to resemble alien here, but it might have been in someone’s mind, as the group burst in and a body hangs in the foreground, Lambert from Alien style. Although the villain is described as an agile parasite, and we see two Legionnaires cocooned, the Alien references don’t really work out too well. Having one of the characters explain what the villain has just done is never a good thing. The creature’s visuals become more and more like the Who’s Who picture the longer they appear and the potential drains away well before an awkward somersault moment.

Blok is seemingly immune to the creature’s powers and saves the day. In doing so, we get a little edge about his darker past as a member of the League of Super Assassins. It’s his conscious awareness of the Legion code (another bit of Legion heritage dropped into the issue) that prevents Blok from violating it.

Blok was going to face the villain anyway, but is inexplicably more effective when used as a missile by Ayla (she did get to use her powers effectively!). Does Ayla know of the weakness as she had close contact with it? Does Organus wander around thinking “gosh! I hope I don’t run into any non-carbon lifeforms and not recognise them as such.” It’s not explained. In the end, it’s all a bit too convenient that Blok was on the mission after all. Drawing attention to it by having him offer to stay behind actually makes it worse. Jan could have picked him as part of the team without saying anything, or in reference to the need for brute strength since Jo/Lar/Kal weren’t part of the mission team.

With Organus restrained on the prison planet for a sequel that never came (he made at least one cameo later on in one of the many Takron Galtos scenes), it’s back to HQ for a last bit of administrative work. The structure of the Legion; it’s code of conduct; technology and membership have been strongly established this issue. Like the mention of Imra and Garth meeting on the Legion’s first case, there’s the reminder of the Legion’s membership limit established for tax purposes the last time the creative team needed to offload Superboy for a while. It’s the end for Tyroc as a member, honourably discharged and not making an appearance like so much of his time as a member.

Despite the losses, and the mention of membership back at the start of the issue, the team still stands at twenty-three, with a twenty-five legal limit.


Summary
At first glance the issue made me think of it as the mediocre Organus story. A one-shot villain in a standard mission. But what a huge amount of other things were going on around it!

Membership changes with Chuck, Lu, Kal, Val, Jeckie and Troy all stepping back. With them go a couple of long term relationships. This will free up space to focus on the Brin/ Ayla and Drake/Dawny romances.

Lots of subplots are picked up on such as Garth’s leadership burdens, Blok’s dark background and Brin’s changes.

The pacing is already different. We have a lot of little scenes, establishing the role of the team, what it means to the UP and how it functions. They are mostly connected or intertwined such as chuck pointing at a screen just as the mission appears or Brin being on Medicus one when it is attacked. Contrived sure, but it assists in the flow of the scenes.

There’s fun in here too with D&D, Dreamy and Chuck. The villain is not at the centre of the story. He’s one of many missions in the lives of the Legionnaires and that is something I’ve no doubt I’ll be coming back to. Gosh! foreshadowing, just as Dreamy did this issue! Levitz is clearly thinking ahead, which gives the book some momentum again after the recent creative changes.

Thank you, Cobie. And since posting that, I've started to recall some other instances of above-average Hunt inks -- he did a pretty decent job on some of John Byrne's late-70s Marvel Team-Up issues.

Wow, 284 has already generated a lot of interesting and thoughtful commentary from Annfie and thoth.

Levitz II begins with a tale that broadens the Legion's scope to almost biblical proportions. So much happens here, and so many different characters are involved that the tone of the series feels markedly different from what has gone before. I can't help feeling that Levitz was watching "Hill Street Blues," the groundbreaking police drama which premiered only a year before. Like "HSB," Levitz introduces multiple plot lines and hints at future developments. He expands the relationships of the characters and incorporates personal dramas to create a more realistic sense of interaction among the Legionnaires than had been attempted before. He also shows the Legionnaires being heroes and winning against a group of organ bank raiders while acknowledging the very real risk heroes take.

As thoth pointed out, the villain becomes almost incidental to all of this, but Organus does serve a vital function. He poses a challenge for the Legionnaires to defeat, and it is only because of new member Blok (the "special Legionnaire" who conveniently is not affected by the villain's power, as Annfie notes) that he is, in fact, defeated. But the villain only serves to highlight various Legionnaires in action and, more, to show how they are going to interact with each other in this brave new world Levitz is charting.

Several aspects stand out to me. Garth's irritation with his sister for keeping Brin's surgery a secret feels like real sibling contention. Brin's surgery itself is both unexpected and full of unknown promise for the future. I lamented the passing of his distinctive wolf-like appearance, but I understand now why it was done. I hadn't thought of Brin as looking like a Wolverine clone at the time (despite Brin's wolf appearance debuting first), but it makes sense that DC would try to differentiate him from the more popular Marvel character. Still, Brin looks strangely naked as he rushes into battle with his Cockrum-designed costume and new, human face.

I also enjoyed the glimpse of Garth and Imra's domestic life. It's a cliche that Garth can't cook, but it works in the context of the scene: He's obviously trying to avoid answering Imra's question about Brin and Ayla, and Imra picks up on that and lets it be. This feels like a very real relationship.

Not all the interactions are successful. Wildfire and Sun Boy come off as incredibly immature during the administrative meeting. Their behavior may have been intended to remind us that these heroes are still young people and can be prone to juvenile behavior. (Some of the other Legionnaires laughed at Wildfire's comeuppance.) The scene, which also illustrates how little control Garth has over these proceedings, is well-intended, I think, but comes across as too Marvel-like in its execution.

The Blok of this story is almost unrecognizable from the lovable and innocent hunk o' rock he becomes. He comes across as severe and stern, almost sinister. He is more than willing to allow Organus to die and expresses disapproval of the Legion code. But his primary function in this story is to serve as the newbie, the stand-in for the reader. The Legionnaires have to explain things to him, such as reserve status and the membership limit, that more experienced Legionnaires would already know. While some of this information is necessary, it comes across as clunky exposition and makes Blok look as if he hasn't done his homework.

Levitz also struggles to find his way back into Brainiac 5's persona. Since when did Brainy criticize his past inventions? In this story, he comes across as one of the guys, not the aloof intellectual into which he later develops. (It's actually refreshing to see him try to fit in socially with the others; in hindsight, I wish Levitz had developed this aspect of Brainy's persona more.)

The Broderick/Patterson art is ten times better than anything we've seen in quite a while, even the Jimmy Janes run, which I generally liked. Broderick has a distinctive style, but, like Cockrum and Grell, his style does not interfere with the story telling. The space scenes are breathtaking, and the interior scenes of the HQ and the Legionnaires gathered around convey a lot of information without overwhelming the reader. Most of the Legionnaires also sport distinctive facial features. These welcome strengths make up for some of the weaknesses in the art, such as Garth's hair and that really awkward cover.

There are also some problems in the story telling. Levitz doesn't seem to know where to end scenes. I would have liked the revelation that Chuck and Lu are moving on to sink in for a moment before transitioning into the alert. The ending of the story also feels anticlimactic and would not leave me, if I were a new reader, yearning for more.

But these are kinks in the system to be worked out. 284 does what it's meant to do: start the Legion over with a fresh slate and hint at glorious things to come.

LoSH 285



Summary
The Legion investigate the sabotage of space cruisers, including their own, at the Nullport spacedock. They uncover a Khundian plot and, after foiling the sabotage, push back an attack fleet. Realising that NUllport continues to be a target, they move Nullport further into United Planets territory. Elsewhere, Princess Projectra’s father is killed by unknown forces on Orando.

In the issue’s second story, Dream Girl investigates why the Naltorians have lost their precognitive powers. Connecting the loss to the activation of an earthquake-reducing planetary gyroscope, Nura returns her race’s abilities while also continuing to protect the planet form quakes.

Comments
A traditional five-person team arrive on Nullport to collect the Legion’s new cruiser. Levitz has rotated the cast. Mon El uses super speed to run, rather than fly, to save workers as their old ship collapses. He will later use super breath, strength and microscopic vision firmly establishing him as the member taking on Superboy’s duties. Without having to divide that panel time, this could turn out to be a strong period for Lar.

Violet is caught in the wreckage, but this is a convenient way to show her powers and to have her find that the signal that caused the wreck came from the control tower. Like last issue, it’s a small start to an adventure and we’re given a recurring location in Nullport and a new member of the supporting cast in the cigar chomping operator H’Hrnath.

As the team interviews the galactic boatyard’s owner a further two accidents occur. Once again, Vi takes on the proactive investigative role that suits her espionage squad background. Gim and Mon-El handle the heavy lifting of wrecked cruisers. It’s not all plain sailing as Gim finds he has to adjust to the planetoid’s low gravity.

Star Boy and Shadow Lass haven’t had much to do yet. Thom has already mentioned his attachment to Nura and shown a dry wit that the others seemingly have to put up with. He’s acting as team leader on this mission which also gives him some panel time. Shady’s concern over Vi seemed a little out of character for her.

Star Boy reports into Brainy, giving us another chance to establish the HQ and the mission monitor board. It’s interesting that Lightning Lad is off panel, although he’s the leader. Brainy will continue to be a key member of the team, which is a remove away from being written out after his breakdown.

His analytical approach is shown early on. It stands out all the more as its shown in contrast to an arriving Brin Londo’s instinctive reasoning. Londo’s operations from last issue are referenced providing some between issue continuity and he an Light Lass are clearly a couple. There’s a bit of snark form Brainy concering Londo’s intellect. With that in both issues, it could be Levtiz’s shorthand way of establishing personalities through the reactions of their teammates.

The one subplot in this story is to show the feudal ruling of Orado as Val and Jeckie return to look for her father’s consent to marry. King Voxv is reluctant, and is bound to reinforcing the world’s traditions. Not that he gets the chance, as he collapses and we learn of his death at the end of the story.

Back on Nullport, we see that Vi’s skills allow her to shrink to the point where she can follow circuit pathways, allowing her to identify the disriupter that caused the accidetns.

Brin and the Legionnaires on site all seem to suspect the Khunds. Vi’s investigations seem to confirm this. I had been expecting a twist to another culprit, so I get the surprise of it really being the Khunds all along. After the Levitz penned Earth War, they have been rebuilding their power. Warlord Galmark has authorised the use of the disruptor. Once it has failed, he kills the person responsible for its insertion. That person turns out to have been his son. There’s no mercy in the martial logic of the Khunds. With the subterfuge gone, he looks to attack Nullport only to run into the Legion team stationed there. The Warlord can barely believe his ill fortune, and Mon El uses a fastball special to hurl Colossal Boy at their fleet. Gim remarks on it not being the least painful way of getting into the fleet, but at least he wasn’t smeared against their hulls or forcefields. There’s the comic book cliché of anyone big also getting a boost in strength and resistance too, even if not to Daxamite levels.

Star Boy gets to use his powers and we learn that the Khund fleet also consists of drone ships. But that’s not all Thom is there to do. With the Khunds defeated, the Legion team look to move the whole palce further into UP space, and away from Khundian raids. Like Blok, last issue, the team just happens to have people on it that can achieve this. Shady gets to do something by shielding the whole place from view. Although perhaps people will notice that they can’t see anything in the cloaked region. Evne the stars that would normally be seen. Star Boy provides Nullport with its own gravity as Mon El moves it to a safer home.

As a reward, the Equissian H’Hrnath gives them five star wars style Mark 494 cruisers for the price of one. As the team departs, it’s Shady who is again the one who more empathic. While Mon lightly calls H’Hrnath a “bandit,” it’s Shady who points out the soft heart beneath it that reminds her of Legion Founder RJ Brande (in another nice use of dialogue to reinforce team history). Violet is the one who respects privacy of emotions. It must be considered to be one of her key personality traits as it’s something Star Boy feels he can comment upon.

His partner, Dream Girl, takes centre stage in the back up tale. It’s written by Levitz with art by Giffen.

The people of Naltor have lost their precognitive abilities. Dream Girl has returned to assist them, although she too has lost her powers. Nura goes out into the now disaster strewn world with only her flight ring and Legion training.

She comments that others doubted her usefulness as a Legionnaire. While she may have liked Imra, Brainy (both of whom she’d end up with on Universo’s prison planet years later) or Mysa to be there, but they are not. Nura uses her intelligence and training to get on with the job at hand. Dream Girl never gives into self-doubt. Even as she realises that she may have to leave the team if she remains powerless goes unfinished as she tackles robbers.

The story is an update on those spotlight tales where a Legionnaire questions their place in the team and comes out on top. But, unlike a lot of those tales, Nura isn’t shown as simply coming to terms with limitations or that she can contribute in her own way. This story must have undoubtedly led to calls for her to be the next Legion leader.

Even without powers, Nura is shown as a very capable combatant. Although Naltorians have precognitive powers, ashe’s the sister of the White Witch, we’ve known she had a scientific background. She uses that, and her status as the disciple of the High Seer, to solve Naltor’s problem. Better yet, she deduces the solution. It’s not only her science, but how she thinks that saves the day. Singling out what caused the problem takes effort and deduction. Intelligence is one thing, but Dream Girl also looks to expand capabilities. Her use of the flight ring in her battle with the robbers is excellent. In later issues we would see Nura being one of the team’s key scientists and the one who knew how Brainy’s equipment worked.

As we’re early into the Levtiz run, he could easily have looked to move out characters such as Nura, Instead, she will become an important figure in the team, if a little to the writer’s own surprise.

LSH #285 Night Never Falls at Nullport by Paul Levitz, art by Pat Broderick & Bruce Patterson, colors by Gene D’Angelo, letters by Bruce Patterson


Comments:
Although these are both straightforward stories, they seem quite dense. In Nullport, we meet the comedic H’hrnath; I wonder which character (if any) was the inspiration for his personality and speech. His talk reminds me of Foghorn Leghorn, lots of bluster. In a galaxy full of different life forms, Shadow Lass still finds him funny-looking; that seems odd, but maybe she never saw a horse before.

Mon-el is acting like team leader, rational, calm and serious. There’s banter among the Legionnaires, but nobody comes off as childish, petulant or angry. Colossal Boy goofs up, forgetting that the lower gravity will affect him when he increases size, but otherwise the team is thoroughly capable.

The Khunds are familiar bad guys and just how bad is confirmed by the Imperior’s murder of his own son for mission failure.

Nullport itself makes good sense. It looks peculiar, but that’s after seeing how Star Fleet built the Enterprise. We’re more removed from shipyards in our present day, but any civilization that depends on ships would have massive yards throughout the galaxy. We’ve left behind those Adventure-era stories in which Legionnaires are stranded on a planet and build their own ship to escape.

While I found the artwork a bit uneven, especially on the faces, there were some interesting touches, such as Mon-el’s viewing of the circuitry and the backgrounds.

The Projectra interlude gives us some insight into Orando, but it’s main purpose is to set up a major storyline.

I recently read that Levitz had a particular scream that he wrote “Ayyyeee!”. Never noticed that before, but, funny enough, here it’s used twice.

The Dream Girl story adds a lot to her character, revealing her insecurities as well as her determination. It also sets her up as a very bright mind and a skilled fighter, which Levitz will develop further in future issues.

It may strike one as unlikely that a frequency could jam the Naltorans power that easily, but we don’t know how their precog works, so it becomes an acceptable premise. Why couldn’t they foresee this problem with the gyrostabilizer? It’s as if the act of viewing the loss of their powers prevented their viewing – they can’t see losing their powers, because at that point in time, they will have lost their powers. Furthermore, they can’t see beyond this point to learn that their powers return, whether because their vision is time-limited or the event instigated a break in their future sight. Useful information for any would-be conquerers of Naltor.

You're right, the use of multiple powers does make him the new Superboy. And it's a relief to not have Wildfire in the story for once.



Mon-el came off more as team leader to me, but Star Boy did act very professionally. Shady also seemed out of character laughing at H'hrnath.



Questioning their place in the team is a theme that's used fairly often. I wonder how many of the spotlight tales are based on this idea; the solo tale is the perfect vehicle for introspection.



I wondered about that, whether Nura was a favourite of his to begin with or became one over the course of several stories.

Hasn't Dreamy already had one too? Wasn't it part of a back up where Karate Kid was knifed, but was too tough to notice. What's that Look Up Lad? It was Issue 201?! Thanks Look Up Lad!

I want a signal ring to call Look Up Lad for reference emergencies!