Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Reading the Legion: Archives Volume 21

Aside from the plot connections, I like that selection of characters for the cover as well because you can instantly tell who they are with really limited visual cues - it's a clever selection (the exceptions being the Restorer and Universo for readers who weren't familiar with him but I think that works too...it raises your interest because they're clearly not Legionnaires like everyone else there)

LoSH 22

An interesting composite cover. I’m not sure if I’d have got the Silver Age Universo stories by this point. I don’t think so, and the flashback issue from the Levitz/Giffen era was only picked up as a back issue too, and after a lot of others from around that time.

There’s no mystery on who is behind events in this issue. After little reminders of the science police techno park incident, we’re not only shown Universo, but his persona as vid gupta too. He controls another science police officer in this opening scene to connect it to his earlier actions. It’s careless of him to be caught on the scene and launching point of the issue’s villain.

A direct approach to plot pushing occurs in the next scene too. Cham and Sensor Girl are overseeing the activation of a new force shield around prison planet Labyrinth. Levitz has Sensor Girl act oddly regarding some information that she didn’t know. Cham tells the reader that “it’s almost as though she didn’t know about her own world or time.” That’s a stretch even for someone with Durlan powers. Sensor Girl not catching the news that day would be a far simpler explanation.

We’re given an extension of Brainy’s technology in the wider UP here. It’s not only the Legion who benefits from his skill. The force field could also be used against the next Computo or Omega too.

Labyrinth is Levitz’s updated Takron Galtos. We get a mini tour of it in this issue. It is honeycombed with tunnels, has a forcefield, has an unusual power supply and we see Ayla charge its weapons systems. We also meet its warden, replacing the TG warden who didn’t get a subplot developed only recently. And that’s the fate of Labyrinth. It never really gets enough plot time to establish it as anything better. It has Sleeper Suspense Cells keeping the criminals unconscious, and no doubt violating a number of rights along the way.

Sensor Girl feels the suspicions of her colleagues, and it’s not a good time to run into Salu “Snark Girl” Digby. But her comment here, and Ayla ordering Brin around is actually part of a set up for a later scene. Craft points here.

We return to the first attack of the villain under Universo’s control. He’s wearing a technologically based suit, while going on a rampage against technology. Universo must really have addled his brain. Perhaps this is Levitz’s take on an Iron Man who, renouncing selling weapons, becomes something of a zealot in other ways.

Of note we get some other citizens speaking like Comet Queen and a Clark Kent look a like from LaRocque. Is there a Cult of Kent. Is it really Clark sneaking to the future and not wanting to encounter his now older legion friends?

The villain calls himself the Restorer. I think I missed that when I first read it, and the villain became even more of a throw away character as a result. Levitz makes it a decent first encounter with the Legion. The Restorer has energy syphoning equipment, reminding me of Absorbency Boy. He also has dampening devices. Had we not already known that Universo was the villain I would think it was McCauley whose agent had something similar. The gadgets are a way of facing Wildfire and not being beaten. Sun Boy uses his original powers of brightness rather than melting anything. Magnetic Kid is conveniently last on the scene and then distracted by a collapsing building. Tellus and Brainy are likewise distracted by the casualties. Levitz gets points for ensuring everyone had a reason not to catch the bad guy.

As he’s still on Earth, the Restorer can evade Dawnstar’s powers too, as Levitz is quick to tell us to keep another plot solution away from the team. Thankfully that Clark Kent look-a-like wasn’t Superboy after all. We’d have to have had a Kryptonite reference thrown in for good measure to keep another Legionnaire from capturing him. As it is, Lar isn’t on the mission. The subplot regarding his serum wearing off deepens. We see the pain he’s going through as the time he has between doses lessens, and we see how it’s affecting Tasmia too. This is a very well worked subplot, that’s been growing in intensity for some time.

Rond Vidar is being cared for in hospital. Unfortunately, his doctor is also under the control of Universo. Like Universo himself, I doubt I would have read Rond’s key role in defeating the villain form the Silver Age. Rereading it now, it’s a very nice reminder from Levitz and a natural move from the villain. Even if he did get lucky with Rond’s injuries. The Restorer didn’t look to be targeting him. I remember reading something suggesting that Levitz’s plans for Rond ended up being something quite different. That subplot goes through a key step here.

The guy who’s trying to find a solution to Lar’s issues is also helping with the mission. While test results may take time, I wonder who they both feel about seeing Brainy otherwise occupied or obsessed.

Brainy makes a little criticism of Element Lad’s leadership, but Jan continues to be quiet and firm with him. Levitz reminds us clearly about the link to the controlled SPs and the attack on the techno park. Brainy also handily leads the reader to the villain’s next target. That’s a bit of an easy out for Levitz. Brainy thought of it as logical, therefore it’s fine to make it the plot point with little detective work. To be fair, the Legion are at least posted at every power sphere. The team of Lar, Tasmia and Brek are seen first, allowing for another moment to reflect on Lar’s problem and the thought of a Legion without him.

As the mission team leaves Labyrinth, Vi compliments Ayla on her ability as mission leader. This is a big payoff scene for Levitz. Vi has reassessed everything since she recovered form her time in the sens-tank. Having decided to rejoin the team, Ayla has been proactive and a capable team leader. We see both see how far they’ve come and both are given an opportunity by Levitz to make a further change.

Levitz could have left the scene at “I’ve changed my whole life, Ayla. What about you?” Instead, we get a few more panels as we see Ayla’s reaction to Vi’s words. It’s a conversation that’s arrived suddenly, moving her away form that comfortable team leader position she was in only a few panels before. There’s also emphasis when Vi says that they don’t know each other that well. Ayla has certainly been given something to think about.

The actions of pesky Micro Lad interrupt. Sensor Girl has located him, giving the others another chance to wonder who she is. We get a few options reinforced. It’s nice to see that Gim is simply focused on the mission. Vi captures Micro Lad again, as she’s done frequently since the opening arc of this volume. Since Micro Lad was partly responsible for putting her in the sens-tank, it’s fitting that he’s beaten as Vi looks to regain some closeness to one of her colleagues.

Jo, Dawny and Tellus are the ones to encounter the Restorer. Each plays an active part in the capture with both Jo and Dawny suffering a set back to keep it balanced. The Restorer is even more like Iron Man in this sequence with a number of energy blasts from his armour. The villain seemingly destroys his own mind rather than allow Tellus to successfully probe it. The Legion aren’t happy about the case closing this way, but do think that the Restorer was responsible for controlling the SP officers.

I gave a little sigh when I saw this was this week’s reread. I felt that the Restorer was a forgettable ACME villain, and that there wasn’t much else to the issue. The Restorer remains an ACME villain, but there’s a lot of other good things going on.

The throw away of the Restorer wanting to return Earth to a previous age, could have hinted at time travel, which could have led to a tiny Universo theme. But that’s not really what was delivered. He was a pawn throughout, with just as many toys as it took to give the Legion a few fight scenes. He acted as a fall guy for the SP raids. That gave Universo time to put the rest of his plan in place, as he tells the President towards the end of the issue. As a bonus, Rond has been removed from the board for now. These are more subtle manoeuvres from a villain that you’d see in most books. Not recognising that is probably why I recall the issue for the Restorer alone.

Elsewhere, there’s a big character moment for both Vi and Ayla. The Lar & Tasmia subplot is dark and chilling, even when they weren’t with Brek. We saw Levitz manoeuvre characters away form capturing the villain too soon here. How strong is the siren call to remove some of these powerful characters on a more permanent basis? Things do look bleak for Lar. It didn’t take Crisis to make me think that characters would always be around.

Sensor Girl is the focus of the new members. The mystery of her identity calms down a little from last issue, but is clearly occupying the minds of most of the team. Tellus once again acts as solid support for other members of the team. His powers are compared to Magnetic Kid’s at one point, highlighting just how little Pol has had to do so far. Brek looks as though he’s going to get a chance, but doesn’t. He’s beginning to feel frustrated by it. So, plenty of excellent character moments throughout the issue.

Levitz also gets points for the little setups. Vi and Ayla getting establishing dialogue before their later encounter. Tasmia watching Lar wait for his serum acting continuing into their scenes with Brek, which also connected to the main plot of the issue. Lots of little bits of craft that Levitz adds as the subplots weave together. I think Levitz now moving into using the expanded number of pages also pays off nicely for the Legion generally.

Artwise, we get some classic panels. Wildfire on page 9 looking to punch out the Restorer and Tasmia and Lar on pages 11 and 20 stand out in particular. I like the villains in their cells too. But there’s generally a nice combination this issue and its another chance to give Gafford the credit that I should add into the reviews of most issues.

As an aside, the inside cover is advertising Electric Warrior #1. DC have just “reimagined” this and added some Legion connections to it. Actually, there’s a full page ad for it towards the back of this issue too. “Tomorrow’s Cops…Built To Kill.” No Legion membership for you, Mr. Warrior.

It just occurred to me reading your comment that Sensor Girl is on the villain side, which could have been a red herring for readers.



It never attains the prominence of Takron Galtos. At least sleeper cells are a step up from space guillotines, in terms of sentient rights.



Come to think of it, there may have been another energy siphoner back in the first Levitz run. I vaguely recall somebody with a grudge against the Legion, related to his father's treatment. Will search later.



He sure does keep coming back, or trying to escape. Maybe he wants to be the 30th century Mister Miracle.



The Restorer is pretty unremarkable and probably wouldn't have been anything but an annoying crank without Universo. I've also found that some of these issues are more interesting than I'd remembered for the reasons you cite.



Do you think removing Lar permanently (or for an extended period) was seriously considered? He's really come into his own since Superboy was removed. Interesting to contemplate the possible ramifications of eliminating him. Tasmia might leave as well. Jo would become the big powerhouse character. The Legion might recruit a replacement - maybe Gravity Kid would be called up. And so on....



This lack of action for Brek is curious, now that he's finally been accepted by the Legion. One gets the sense that they let him in just so he'd stop yapping at the door.



The extra pages certainly do provide a lot of story. I like the way the subplots weave together. Nothing happens in isolation. It's more like a family saga.



A strange coincidence in timing! I never read the original.

Comments



Crumbs! He’s worse than the Manhunters!



Good spot, and probably something that wasn’t lost on Levitz.



I’d agree that these were the strongest parts of the issue by far.



Just Levitz getting one of the characters to overreach, I think. There’s no reason for any character to be expected to keep up with every event in the UP.



I hadn’t noticed the pairing, or Sensor Girl’s in particular as I’m not a fan of composites either. Good spot.



Levitz has a really good handle on his cast, and how to put them all through the wringer. But he’s probably more likely to look back to the Hamilton type Legion for tone.

But with Mr Giffen partnering him, there’s that push to show the shining future, but through it rising from darker depths. The Great Darkness Saga; the tone of the Baxter launch when the creative team looked seriously at how much darker they could take the book; the end of the Baxter series including Magic Wars; v4; Giffen’s return in v7.

Since Levitz plots far in advance, some of what we’re seeing here could have been discussed at the outset of v3, when Giffen was helping with the plot ideas. Levitz has been happy enough to remove Lar from the board under Giffen’s influence before. Tasmia leaving and Jo becoming the powerhouse is exactly what happened later on.



From this reread, it’s already clear that he’s has plans to prove himself, and that he’s willing to be economical with the facts if it helps him along. He’s got a very strong sense of self, and that’s demanding some action. It’s no wonder he hangs around with Dirk. Brek is another one I could see people staging a Space Mutiny against.

LSH 22

Levitz’s writing style during this period could be both satisfying and infuriating. The storylines are complex, the characters develop in new and unexpected ways, and tremendous world-building occurs. These are all things craved by long-time Legion fans like me. Yet at the same time, story lines do go on and on and there’s a feeling of been there, done that. Reading the Legion during this period is like hanging out with your old high school or college buddies. You’ve grown, they’ve grown, but you can’t really go on the same adventures you did before.

“Dead End” is typical of this attempt to keep something going that probably should have come to a graceful end. Universo, a relatively minor villain from the Legion’s past, is set up to be a major antagonist who brainwashes a lackey called The Restorer to do his bidding. (Every time I see the villain’s name, I think of ReStore, the home improvement stores operated by Habitat for Humanity—which shows how difficult it is to come up with new and threatening villain names.) Universo brainwashes Science Police officers and impersonates Vid-Gupta, the president’s adviser. Universo reminds me of Lionel Luthor of “Smallville”—a perennial villain who holds all the cards and never misses an opportunity to remind the viewer how smart and in control he is. Universo, like Lionel, is just as ingratiating.

The Restorer turns out to be a fanatic (though whether he would have been this way without Universo’s tampering is unrevealed) who wants to restore earth to a pre-technological stage. The fact that he uses technology to fight technology may be typical of fanatics and their “ends-justify-the-means” mindsets, but it would be nice if the Legionnaires had commented on this (“That man sounds insane” isn’t enough); otherwise, it looks like Levitz pulled a random villain out of thin air without giving much thought to his credibility. In fact, The Restorer turns out to be a paper-thin throwaway character who offers the Legion little challenge. He’s there to further Lionel Universo’s plot.

Because that plot is also thin—in this issue, at least—the rest of the issue feels unsatisfying, even though several subplots are advanced.

Lightning Lass, for instance, finally gets a story line when Violet reminds her that Ayla has grown in every significant way except her personal life. Knowing where this story line leads, I’m not sure it follows that Ayla and Vi become lovers. Ayla was in a committed heterosexual relationship for many years. For that matter, Vi’s statement, “I changed my whole life,” sounds ominous in hindsight; does that mean she changed her sexuality, as well, and if so how does one do so? Is there a Pro-Orientation drug? To be clear, I applaud the series for addressing homosexuality; however, I think the choice of these two available women who have been through so much trauma and emerged as strong, confident, and capable characters may be a sign that the writer(s) did not understand sexual orientation.

Brainy is surprisingly free of his Sensor Girl obsession this time, but his suspicions are now shared by other Legionnaires. Sensor Girl expresses discomfort with the attention she generates; yet she must have known her secrecy would make others suspicious. What her long-range plan might have been is unclear.

Mon-El and Shadow Lass go through the motions of expressing their own private fears over his anti-lead serum wearing off. Mon is so distraught that he ignores Element Lad’s summons to a meeting. In recent reviews, we’ve considered the possibility of Brainy neglecting his duties, but here we have a clear instance of a Legionnaire refusing to respond when called. To be fair, Mon was in such an emotional state that he may not have been able to think clearly during the summons. Still, soldiers, police officers, and other responders know they must put their own personal concerns aside when duty calls. The fact that Mon doesn’t do so shows, I think, that he’s grown too comfortable in his role as a Legionnaire. I’ve seen this happen in real life: people feel free to ignore meetings and even less pleasant duties because they believe there will be no consequences. Mon is the Legion’s mightiest member and, like a king in a Greek tragedy, he’s free to put his job aside while he wallows in self-pity. He does tell us that if he goes into action when the anti-lead serum wears off, he will “be in danger sooner”—but shouldn’t he tell Element Lad this? I don’t much like this depiction of Mon, or that he and Tasmia cannot seem to share their concerns with each other.

One last subplot is introduced. President Desai expresses displeasure that the Legion keeps doing what he feels is the Science Police’s job. How much of this displeasure is caused by Universo’s manipulations is unclear, but it would pose an interesting threat to the Legion if the president feels the Legion is undermining the traditional law enforcement organizations.

“Dead End” is a competent story. The Legionnaires who participate in the action sequences are well utilized. It’s particularly gratifying to see Brainy use his brain to figure out the villain’s next move. However, the story also feels stale and in need of something to shake it up.

The date on my Top 25 survey shows that Legion 22 must have been delayed a considerable amount of time. (The previous issue charted in January.) Slow-moving plot lines seem even slower when issues are not published on time.

Top 25
April 1, 1986

1. New Teen Titans # 20 -- DC
2. Nexus # 21 -- First
3. Dreadstar # 24 -- Marvel/Epic
4. Original Nexus (Graphic Novel # 4) -- First
5. Legion of Super-Heroes # 22 -- DC
6. Star Trek # 27 -- DC
7. Miracleman # 6 -- Eclipse
8. Daredevil # 232 -- Marvel
9. Infinity Inc. # 27 -- DC
10. Secret Origins # 3 -- DC

11. Green Lantern Corps # 201 -- DC
12. Marvel Tales # 188 -- Marvel
13. DC Challenge # 7 -- DC
14. Avengers # 268 -- Marvel
15. Six from Sirius 2 # 4 -- Marvel/Epic
16. Fantastic Four # 290 -- Marvel
17. New DNAgents # 5 -- Eclipse
18. Vision & Scarlet Witch # 9 -- Marvel
19. Blue Devil # 25 -- DC
20. Elementals # 6 -- Comico

21. Elfquest # 10 -- Marvel/Epic
22. Fury of Firestorm # 48 -- DC
23. Captain America # 318 -- Marvel
24. X-Factor # 5 -- Marvel
25. Iron Man # 207 -- Marvel

Indeed. There is a very serious issue introduced here that, unfortunately, is not developed further: How much technology is too much? Does all this technology have a cost to the planet earth (or to us as human beings)? These questions resonate more clearly today than in 1986, when it was still taken for granted that technological advancement was good.



I gathered that SG did not know about the force shield since she has been on Orando (and in another dimension) for some time, during which Brainy was probably working on the shield.

As to why she is disturbed by the shield--perhaps it reminds her of the polymer shield now surrounding Orando.



Good catch about how the characters are related!



I was unclear on where Universo, et al., are. They are on a ship of some kind, but it's not a private ship since a SP officer is there. It must be the president's vessel (hence the mention that "Vid-Gupta" will tell the president that the officer will clean up the mess) or a government vessel transporting Vid-Gupta to see the president.

I did appreciate it that the cliched villain exit (bursting through the ceiling) became part of the story.



The "time" reference was a slip of the Durlan tongue--as we find out later, Cham, too, suspects SG is Supergirl. The reference to "her own world" threw me--unless Cham thinks of earth as Supergirl's world.



It was a nice touch to have Gim be unconcerned about the SG mystery. More craft points.

I like this aspect of Universo as a villain, playing a complicated game as the power behind thrones. As Vid Gupta, I wonder if Universo impersonated the real Vid Gupta or if he's been playing a very long game, becoming Desai's advisor before the election.



I hadn't thought of the possibility that Universo created The Restorer i.e. the guy wouldn't have been fanatic or might not even have held those ideas without Universo's mind control, so he's even more of a pawn. The character becomes throwaway for Universo as well as Levitz.



Different times - not that long ago, but it shows how awareness has grown. Or maybe the writers just didn't understand Winath.



It is irresponsible of him. It ties in with his overwhelming fear of returning to the Zone so I guess one could attribute the behaviour to stress from trauma, or the poisoning is affecting his thinking. Tasmia was aware of the problem, so was Tinya and likely Jo, but they never said anything to Jan? Brainy was certainly well aware of the problem. Yet no one removed Lar from active duty. Perhaps they were afraid they'd lose control of him, as they nearly did, or the entire team was in denial of this serious problem. WWND (What would Nura do)?

There’s a story later on that I’d definitely get that feeling with. I was picking up back issues at this point, so the Levitz updates were the first I got to read and may have more impact as a result. I do think they stand up pretty well for the most part. There are a few forgettable Adventure stories too.

The Sensor Girl story would have been tied up in a single Adventure issue, two at the most. Here, we have to believe that she’s been in the HQ all this time with no one getting any closer to her or her abilities. Even though they all interact on a daily basis.



I certainly think he’s just a villain prop, there to fulfil the plot needs of others and nothing more.



I agree that Vi and Ayla don’t have to become lovers from this scene. But Legion couples have forged romantic links on less in the past, so it’s a definite possibility. They are certainly forming a closer bond. Vi’s question and Ayla’s reaction also hints at both of them looking at their relationship as more than friends.

Vi’s relationship with Duplicate Boy was conveniently long distance for them both. Following her time in the sens-tank, I think Vi reassessed everything in her life. All the compromises, all the times she let others make decisions for her and all the times she didn’t follow her own feelings.

She got to dump Ord easily because he didn’t act on the knowledge that she was being impersonated. She then re-established herself within the team. Then she looked to see what she wanted from her personal life. There’s a hint that she might have taken Dirk for a fling, but it looks as though she was really looking at Ayla as her partner of choice.

Ayla walked away from the Legion because of the damage it caused people. Her relationship with Brin was over, when he didn’t go with her. Having faced the LSV and her brother, Ayla realises the importance of the Legion and has returned as a far more assertive character than the one who left. I think a little bit of that is overcompensation for her previous feelings and decisions. I think Salu has partly just called her on that. Ayla’s return and success has changed her, but perhaps she’s not thought through what the next steps could be.

Romantically, she’s come a long way from the woman who trailed after Lone Wolf and put up with his moods. Brin had finally settled into the team, as Ayla wanted to leave. With her return, Brin probably thought they could get back together. But Ayla is consciously making changes to her place in the group. She’s a heavy hitter in the team now, and she’s become a mission leader. I’m sure she still has feelings for Brin, but Salu offers her what seems to be a relationship on a much more mature level.



When the reveal comes, I don’t think we see any real reason not to have shared the secret with her colleagues. Short of trying to maintain the secret forever, which wasn’t the initial intention (probably due to it being Supergirl)

I think we’ve all picked up on the Brainy obsession going down a gear or two, when the tension might have been built up instead. A little plotting wobble?



I hadn’t looked at the scene this way. Interesting thoughts HWW. You’re right that if he’s on active duty then Jan should know what’s going on. Since Lar is one of the Conspirators later, this approach may also impact Brek as leader later on.



This would have made for an interesting story. I don’t think this volume touches on too many wider themes.



Universo starting and controlling certain groups of agitators, then seemingly rising to power to oppose them and succeeding, would have added a lot of depth to this longer story. We get little breadcrumbs of the techno park attack. But that could have been joined by the rise of an extremist environmental group or one opposed to the UP. It would certainly have given the Restorer some depth.



- Precognitively figure out Sensor Girl identity (inadvertently)
- Respect her privacy but making sure that she’s used to her best advantage on missions. None of the Sensor Girl wandering around just happening to know things.
- Tell Thom, for the tenth time, that she’s not going out dancing.
- Bench Lar
- Let Querl figure it out / provide additional support to him.
- Get nails done
- Check that Querl is working solely on Lar's condition
- Have angry confrontation with Tasmia.
- Put Thom in Lar’s place on missions.
- Get hair done.

Yeah, the Sensor Girl mystery doesn't make any sense if one considers long-term consequences. With Element Lad, the situation was different. It was necessary to protect his identity only until Roxxas and his pirates were captured. There was never a good reason for Projectra's secrecy or a hint of when it might end.



That's an insightful analysis of the changes both Vi and Ayla have been through. I hadn't thought of Vi offering Ayla a more mature relationship, but it fits. Each can understand what the other has been through more that their previous boyfriends could.

Just to play devil's advocate, what if the White Witch had been gay? She didn't fit the image: aggressive, recent traumatic experience, boyish haircut (let's face it: comics, even then, trafficked in stereotypes). She's also unattached and has no previous romantic history that we know of.

One possible way of looking at this is that, in the 30th century, gender isn't as important to relationships as other qualities. This is hinted at in the Jan/Shvaughn/Sean realtionship of 5YL, but it was suggested that Jan's Trommite beliefs left him open to loving the soul of the person more than the body; with other characters, it's not so certain.



All the more reason why Nura should be permanent leader. She knows what to do, does it without equivocating, and still gets her nails and hair done.

The funny / great thing about Nura's leadership is that it seemed to come very easy to her, as if it was a natural talent and that other things, besides running an intergalactic super hero group that dealt with cosmic crises, were more challenging for her.

LSH #23 "Back Home in Hell" by Paul Levitz& Steve Lightle, art by Steve Lightle. Greg Larocque & Mice DeCarlo, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by John Costanza



Lar cries out in agony and various Legionnaires react with alarm and concern. Tasmia finds Lar tearing apart the lab as Brainy looks on, protected by his forcefield. When other Legionnaires arrive, Brainy announces that Lar is dying and must be returned to the Phantom Zone. Lar refuses and flies off, but he's so weakened he can't pass through Earth's polymer shield and Dawnstar retrieves him.

Vi and Ayla enter a dive on Rimbor looking for information on someone named Javors, who could lead them to The Persuader. They aren't welcome, but threaten a confirmation out of the barman that Javors met The Persuader there and said something about five.

As repairs are made to the lab, Lar observes from the Phantom Zone. Brainy manages to get an image of him with which to communicate and promises a solution, but Lar is distressed and wants to die.

At the Time Institute, Rokk and Lydda thank Circadia Senius for use of a time bubble to vacation in the 20th century. As they disappear in the timestream, Jan, Dawnstar and Tasmia rush in, demanding a time bubble to go back to Superboy's time. Circadia Senius explains that time travel is being disrupted by storms, but the Legionnaires say it's necessary to retrieve Superboy to save Lar.

Meanwhile, Tinya and Tellus enter the Phantom Zone to find Lar. They do find him; he is hopeless and wants to be left alone, but Tellus is able to bring him back to Earth's region of the Zone through mind control.

The timestream is behaving oddly, but the Legionnaires make it to Smallville, find Superboy and bring him back to the 30th century. Jan explains that the timestream storms are particularly bad a few years after Superboy's time. They slip out into the 21st century, are observed by Jonah Hex, but are returned to the timestream by Superboy and arrive in the 30th century.

Vi and Ayla report in to HQ, get an update from Pol and wonder what good Superboy can do. Ayla hugs Vi.

In the lab, Brainy extracts blood from Superboy with a kryptonite laser needle, Nura irradiates it with a k-laser and these cells are injected into Lar. This treatment permanently negates the lead poisoning.

Later, Lar and Shady talk on the roof. They see Sensor Girl and Lar says that in the Zone, everything seemed to be a hallucination.

Comments:
Well, that solves Lar's problem. Now nothing can touch him. Or maybe not... but that's quite a few issues down the road. As usual, my brain sputters over the "scientific" solution to the problem, something with kryptonite and blood transfusion - but it works in comicland.

The issue provides welcome insight into the Phantom Zone. All I would have known at this point was from early 1960s Superman comics, a few ghosty, wavy-looking Kryptonian villains shaking fists at Superman. What isn't answered is whether the Legion is the sole operator of the Phantom Zone projector, or the justice system itself uses the Zone for criminals - or perhaps even medical cases are sent to the zone pending treatment, similar to today's practice of inducing a coma for some patients.

Necessity is the mother of invention: Brainy comes up with a cure quickly when it becomes truly urgent. There was that proviso that the treatment might not work - Brainy might well have provided a statistical probability of success - but everything went like clockwork. That he was under great pressure to find a solution was indicated by his open shirt with rolled-up sleeves - hard work in the lab.

Tasmia acts responsibly and remains level-headed, none of the near-hysterics we've seen before when Lar was threatened or in danger. Her memory of the tunnel to the Kent residence is a nice tie-in to the Adventure story in which she, Lu and Lar escaped to Smallville to hide from Mordru.

Vi and Ayla kick ass. Mostly Vi kicks ass, but she's having an influence on Ayla. The Rimbor barflies really do appear to fear the Legionnaires, not just Violet. The Legion doesn't kill, but this suggests that either they can get very rough (which we have seen in the past) and/or their capture success rate is very high. Violet must be getting a reputation at this point. I have the impression that a lot of her power now is her attitude.

I could have done without the Jonah Hex page. It was a tie-in that didn't add anything to the story.

Rokk calls in a favour/exercises his privilege to borrow a time bubble for a 20th century vacation and their own mini-series. Senius doesn't warn about timestream disruptions when Krinn and Jath depart.

Lar appears to have discovered Sensor Girl's identity, but may suspect it was a hallucination. If he were certain, would he still keep the secret to himself? The moral dilemma is resolved when Lar decides to just ignore what he may have seen while in the Zone. (This also raises the question of whether the Phantom Zone could be used by the Espionage Squad to spy on people.) The cover presents what may be a hallucination from his time in the Zone, or is symbolic of his distress.

The issue is particularly interesting for its visuals. The Phantom Zone, the Timestream and the Rimbor bar scene provide a lot to engage the eye.

LSH 23
“Back Home in Hell” resolves the recent subplot of Mon-El’s anti-lead serum wearing off. There is a lot of good in this story, such as the lengths the Legionnaires go to in order to save their comrade (even when he doesn’t want to save himself), the oddly inviting depiction of the Phantom Zone as a realm of surreal wonder, and the brevity of this story line, which, unlike others, doesn’t drag out forever. In fact, the only aspect I don’t like about the story is Mon-El himself.

Mon, as is well-known on these boards, emerged as my favorite Legion character. He embodied the “big brother,” not only to Superboy but also to the rest of the team. He never flaunted his role as the team’s mightiest member; he was restrained, a team player, a leader who served when called, someone who did not let the trauma of his past dominate his life (unlike, say, Element Lad), a loyal son who cared deeply about his homeworld and the damage wrought by Darkseid, and a devoted lover. Mon-El embodied all the traits I wanted in my life—both in myself and in someone close to me. When I was younger, I always felt a sense of calm reassurance when he appeared in a story, even in cameo. In later stories, I enjoyed his increasing prominence and the frequent spotlight issues.

But this spotlight doesn’t portray him in the best of light. In fact, it uncovers hidden weaknesses, which all characters have. I just wish Mon had found a way to rise above his weaknesses and grow as a character even when facing certain death or imprisonment.

Learning that his body is rejecting the anti-lead serum and fearful of returning to the Phantom Zone, Mon-El goes on a rage and attempts to kill himself. He has to be restrained—physically and mentally—by his colleagues, who force him to do what needs to be done to save his life. Mon-El never makes any decisions for himself in this story. He also never considers the effect of his actions on others—not his fellow Legionnaires, not Shadow Lass. What must it have felt like for her to hear the man she loves wants to kill himself?

Some may argue that he was wracked with pain from lead poisoning and the trauma of living in the Phantom Zone, so recently brought out of his subconscious by Lady Memory. Yet ordinary people battle cancer, memories of child abuse, and other horrific conditions. They often go through stages such as denial and anger, which Mon, too, displays, before finding acceptance. Since Mon-El is a hero, he should exhibit all of those traits and more. I’ve said before that I like it when heroes are human, but being human, to me, means also finding one’s better self. Mon should have made a decision at some point to trust his colleagues, to put his fate in their hands, whatever the outcome. That’s what heroes do.

Because he never completes this journey, the ending of the story falls flat to me. Instead of reflecting on this experience, learning something from it, and expressing gratitude to Tasmia, he is distracted by the mystery over Sensor Girl. It’s a tantalizing comment, but one that diverts him (and us) from what should be the point of the story: Mon has grown and changed in some way because of this near brush with death. Except he hasn’t.

On the plus side, it’s great to see Steve Lightle back. His art has truly grown since he started on the Legion. Every page pops with images and layouts that push the reader forward. Faces are distinct and appealing. Both the Phantom Zone and the time stream are portrayed as wondrous realms of magic and mystery.

I’m not sure why the Legionnaires had trouble finding Superboy’s home—they’ve been there many times. This scene is merely an opportunity to remind us that Shadow Lass has been in Superboy’s secret tunnel before, but, as with many of Levitz’s nods to past stories, this one doesn’t feel necessary. As a fan at the time, I loved such references. They stoked the warm edges of my heart, as if the writer is saying to the readers, “We’ve been on this journey together.” But now it’s like being reminded of something from the past at an inopportune time. We learn nothing new about the Legionnaires here—expect maybe that it takes three people with human strength to lift a trap door designed by a Kryptonian.

The bar scene with Violet and Lightning Lass appears to be lifted from any number of cop/detective shows. (It reminds me of Eddie Murphy in 48 Hours: “I’m your worst nightmare, a n----r with a badge.”) However, it advances their budding relationship.

LSH 23 shows both the benefits and drawbacks to having extra story pages. On one hand, an artist of Lightle’s caliber can deliver a feast for the eyes. On the other hand, there is a lot of padding and drawing out in a story that ultimately doesn’t lead us to a satisfying conclusion. The “major” outcome is that Mon will no longer need the anti-lead serum at all, but, since the serum didn’t factor into most stories, this change is a minor consolation for the missing character development.

LSH 23 ranked in the same position as # 22, which shows, I think, that I was glad to get such quality Legion stories although they weren't pushing any boundaries.

Top 25
April 15, 1986

1. New Teen Titans # 21 -- DC
2. Deadman # 4 -- DC
3. Nexus # 22 -- First
4. Squadron Supreme # 11 -- Marvel
5. Legion of Super-Heroes # 23 -- DC
6. DC Challenge # 8 -- DC
7. Vision & Scarlet Witch # 10 -- Marvel
8. Fantastic Four # 291 -- Marvel
9. Star Trek # 28 -- DC
10. Dardevil # 232 -- Marvel

11. Secret Origins # 3 -- DC
12. Miracleman # 6 -- Eclipse
13. Marvel Tales # 188 -- Marvel
14. Avengers # 268 -- Marvel
15. Elfquest # 11 -- Marvel/Epic
16. Fury of Firestorm # 49 -- DC
17. Blue Devil # 25 -- DC
18. West Coast Avengers # 10 -- Marvel
19. Infinity Inc. # 28 -- DC
20. Dreadstar # 24 -- Marvel/Epic

21. Amazing Spider-Man # 278 -- Marvel
22. DC Comics Presents # 95 -- DC
23. Original Nexus (Graphic Novel # 4) -- First
24. Green Lantern Corps # 201 -- DC
25. Captain America # 319 -- Marvel

It's certainly a technobabble solution, but, for me, what really matters is that Mon should have grown and changed in some way due to this experience. I've harped on this quite a lot: that a story should lead somewhere and something should be different afterwards. But, in comicland (as well as much of TV land), real character development doesn't happen. A character's circumstances may change, but the character him- or herself remains the same.



Interesting thought. Given all the other questionable methods of criminal justice (sleeper cells, brainwashing), I would hope the projector isn't used for this purpose. It could be just another one of those truly dangerous weapons, such as the Concentrator and the Miracle Machine, entrusted to the Legion for safekeeping.



What really stood out to me was Brainy' matter-of-fact way of saying that if his cure doesn't work, Mon will get his wish and die. This is Querl at his best: focused on the task at hand and able to distance himself from his and others' emotions.



In re-reading the last few panels, I was struck by Tasmia's dialogue: "--and I'll take care of you," "Everything will be all right" (to which Lar asks, "Promise?"), "Yes, now let's go back inside." She seems more like a mother than a lover. This may explain why she never acted upset at Lar's attempts to kill himself. Maybe she thought of herself as dealing a child's temper tantrum.



Me, too. At the time, DC was promoting a new series which featured Western hero Jonah thrust into the future. Removed from its context, it's a pointless attempt to be cute.



That's one way to get rid of annoying people: Don't inform them of dangers while time traveling. Given the problems with Crisis, et al., I thought it was rather pushy for Rokk to finagle his way into using a time bubble for a vacation. However, LHTP (Legionnaires Have Their Privileges).

Good point that many people go through terrible experiences which they endure with grace and/or find life-changing. It's a tragic flaw in Mon-el if he can't achieve this. People who escape death often do change for the better, become more grateful, helpful to others, happy with life, some have radical positive personality changes. When you're a super-hero who has already devoted your life to helping others, there are other avenues to express change. I would have liked to see where writers might have taken that.

You have pointed out that, in many stories, the characters don't change when they well might have. There are people in real life who don't change regardless of what happens to them, which is a story in itself, but I agree we prefer to see our heroes be positively affected by their experiences. It certainly makes for a better story. And now that I'm thinking about it, who has changed in a Legion story because of their experiences? Violet, Lightning Lass.... umm... ?



I didn't pick up on that tone when reading but now that you've pointed it out.... it is very motherly! And that "Promise?" is just what a little kid would say when you've fed them some line about it all being okay.

I think Star Boy learned something from his expulsion for killing. Even in that story, with things looking so bleak, he found a new home in the Subs and with Dream Girl. (Lesson: Getting expelled isn't the end of the world.) Later, he used this experience to try to talk Element Lad out of killing Roxxas, which shows he had definitely learned from his previous mistake.

LoSH v3 #23

Some catch up comments this week:-

Nightmares from Lar Gand’s fractured mind attack the Legion on a good Lightle cover. Or Lar’s dreams about Chlorophyll Kid are getting out of hand on a good Lightle cover.

I just noticed Superboy’s arm making an appearance beside Dawny. Ah the good old days when he’d be front and centre to boost those sales.

Eight of the nine panels (just a coincidence I’m sure) on the opening page react around a central one containing a screaming MonEl. There’s little snippets of character shown too, as well as an important piece of the Sensor Girl mystery. Tasmia continues to calm her lover; Brainy shows that a look of huge regret as he faces something even he can’t fix; Jo seems to have guess something was going on; We’re shown Tellus’ habitat and are reminded he’s one of those aren’t-human-customs-odd characters; Jan wonders what’s gone wrong now, indicating some insecurity while Jacques gets to showcase his sensitive side empathising with the depth of suffering in the scream. That’s quite a lot of work for the opening page.

The reason for Mon-El’s scream is the failure of his anti-lead serum. It is about to fail and the pain he last experienced 1000 years ago has returned. More than that is the thought that he may have to spend eternity peering out from the Phantom Zone again. It’s the thought of the isolation and watching another set of people he’s grown close to die that prompts his reaction. He could have been stoic about it, but that’s what he has been like in all the recent issues that have hinted that there’s something going on. It’s a rapid decline. He can fly through the HQ walls, but isn’t strong enough to break the polymer shield around Earth.

V4 would tell us that the reaction was also caused by Eltro Gand’s personality cohabiting MonEl’s body. It shared Lar’s memories and certainly couldn’t face the Zone and remain sane. But it’s not needed to make this scene powerful and effective. There’re character moments here too. Dawny is matter of fact, and is the first capable of keeping track of and recapturing Lar. Brin goes to get the serum because he’s fastest, reminding the reader of his powers. Lar stops when Shady pleads with him and her reactions throughout are touching. Brainy stands off protected by his forcefield.

Not telling Jan what was going on looks odd in the debris of a damaged HQ and an AWOL Daxamite.

Shady is the one to suggest the Phantom Zone Projector. She’s been giving this a lot of thought I’m sure.

Since Saturn Girl developed a way for Mon El to temporarily come out of the Zone, (serum XY-4) I wonder why no one thinks to call her in on this. I’d have segued it with the Sensor Girl plot. Superboy said “You fool!” to Imra when she asked him to get Lar out of the zone. Mind you, no one in the Silver Age bothered explaining plans to anyone.

When Mon-El left the Phantom Zone to join the Legion he waved goodbye to three villains who were stuck there? Not the Zod three, but others. What happened to them?

We get glimpses of Mon-El looking back at history. He’s not omnipotent, but has seen world’s die. He seems drawn to the morbid bits, especially if he’s taken to watching Darkseid. He could have spent a thousand years watching the cat people of Vega.


Elsewhere, it’s not fear of being injured by Legionnaires that scares villains. It’s the sure knowledge that they will be caught. That whatever illegal activity they are involved in will get busted apart. Espionage Squad member Vi seems a good fit for this role, with Ayla along for some crowd control power. A good combination of the Squad and regular Legionnaire. On their way back they share a moment, that if it were a heterosexual couple then you’d assume they were together. Ayla seems happy enough although I think Vi just insulted her. Perhaps Ayla is trying to live up to Vi’s tougher image a bit.

Rokk and Lydda begin their trip to the twentieth century. It’s another slow burning plot, linking in with the founders decision to retire. This one would lead into the next DC Event. But it won’t turn out as the creators expected.

I nominate Mecha-Cat for membership. Brekk got past the age thing, and Mecha-Cat can get past the devices thing. Wildfire already did. Since the cat is doing something for Night Girl, it’s clearly not a real cat. It’s a projection of a cat only. That begs the question of who is this cat impersonator and what does it mean for the Legion of Super Pets?!

It’s good to see Tinya getting a key role, and just as much for one of the new guys to take an active part. Tellus thinking of the Zone as an ocean is a lovely touch by Levitz, and shows how others can interpret the place (see Lar’s moping). Another nice touch is that it takes a few Legionnaires to lift the entrance to Superboy’s basement HQ.

When I first read the Legion going back to Superboy’s time, I though the Sun Emperor was going to become a huge villain as they see him on the way. But nothing. I wonder what the giant slab was supposed to be. I have a feeling I either know or just made up something for Bits. Memory cell fail. Very nice time bubble effects in this story.

Superboy is unfortunately only used when needed by the plot these days. It would have been nice to have him as a central character just for old time sake, if he’s going to be part of a story. Not long to worry about that sort of thing though.

“Why didn’t you call?” asks Superboy. “It’s not so simple any more, Superboy,” relies Tasmia. There’s a missing panel where she tells him about DC now thinking Legion statuettes are hokey before we return to the story and her “—and we need you desperately.”

It took me ages to track down that issue of Hex, and it’s a blink and you’ll miss it appearance there.

Good to see Nura used consistently as Brainy’s bioscience pal. Lar would usually have been the third, which would have been another reason to have Imra guest.

I wonder if Levitz called Mindy Newall up about the science. Although it’s not in Adv 305, Lar’s antidote is based on his blood being treated with Kryptonite. But he’s rejecting it, so a solution is to introduce pre-treated blood into his system.

Mon El seems to think that there’s something very odd about Sensor Girl, and puts it down as a hallucination. Since the actual reveal wasn’t that odd, I wonder what he thought he saw. Sensor Girl was put into a background panel this issue, just to remind us that she was about. No cryptic remark about this serum as she did for Lyle Norg’s in an earlier issue.

Considering the later (Giffen) push that resulted in the serious wounding of Lar, I wonder if returning him to premise of being used in a Legion emergency from the Zone would have been a better solution? He would fill the role Superboy seems to have now, and lessen the power levels in the team, allowing others to realistically shine a bit. Plus there would be all sorts of Shady subplots etc.

It was nice seeing Lightle return, although LaRocque gets an assist. Partly this was due to Lightle and Levitz having worked on the plots together. Later, Lightle would make the observation that even after his departure, certain plot threads would make it into the book. It’s worth considering in the light of Stan Lee’s death, and the general issue of creative credit. Levitz worked a marvel style with Giffen and Lightle is rightly given a co plotter credit here.

Overall, it’s an enjoyable spotlight issue on Mon-El. He does seem to go through some trauma when he gets one. No happy Shady/ Lar wedding issue.

Comments



I remember that GIffen/Levitz also got him out of a lot of the GDS by blasting him. Putting him back into the zone on a temporary basis might have been the better option for the character (please note that visiting hours to Daxam General Hospital are 7-8pm. Visitors are reminded to never bring pencils to do the crosswords while on the grounds.)



Saturn Girl said that the Legion had previously buried a projector. She got Superboy to dig it up and it was considered to be a weapon. But Tellus showed that there are other ways of looking at the zone. Tinya too. I wonder if it popped up in other Legion stories. It’s a handy way of getting rid of your foes. “Step right this way Mr Darkseid.” Perhaps too handy, which is why I think it’s Legion with a habit of being destroyed like a Cosmic Treadmill.



With the recent Lar issues put aside, it would have been nice to have a story focusing on Tasmia without Lar.



I think Cham and Vi get up to a number of things that the Legion doesn’t know about. Nothing directly illegal, but they have to know their criminals in a way the others don’t. Tinya knows the ropes too, but I think she’s not connected to it in the way the others are. Jo’s background wasn’t anywhere near as rough as it was later portrayed.



Although my honest reaction at the time I go the other view was “is that it?” I do smile at the shameless Easter egg of it now. It’s better than a needles Event crossover, in that it really is a completely throw away moment. I’m trying to recall if Giffen was drawing Hex by this point.

Hi! I’m Look-it-up Lad! The Legion appeared on the cover blurb of Jonah Hex #10 as a definite tie in. Giffen wasn’t on the credits for the issue. The story contained five Legion related panels, with the same conversation that we see in #23. Three of the panels are of the Legion and bubble in long shot. One of those is what thoth lad recalls. But there are two panels with the team in the foreground. Remember: Look it up, up… and away!



Time researchers are probably queuing out the door to get access to the bubbles. Krinn just waltzes through. Just like the Trapper would do! Odd not to get the warning right enough.



Tinya would seem to be the perfect person for this. Could she use the Zone as a connecting space to re-enter our world where she likes, effectively becoming a teleporter?



I had skipped past it being Rimbor. Interesting to see the home worlds don’t have to have their connected Legionnaires visit. I would have loved an interlac wanted picture asking “Who killed An Ryd? No really, we’re stumped.”



I had been wondering as I was reading it…



I had ironically forgotten to put in a Lady Memory reference. But it certainly would have brought back a lot of thoughts he found emotionally devastating. I thought his closure in that story would have prepared him for this one. I do feel that we saw a lot of that quiet dignity in previous issues, as well as a growing impact on his relationship with Tasmia.

The last time he put his fate in another’s hands on this issue, a cure wasn’t found by him, resulting in a millennium without anything but mental stimulus. It’s a little known fact that Lar attends the Brain-In-A-Jar DCU support group.

With the pain overwhelming him, and the offer of the zone, he chose a quick death. Being Mon-El that means having to fly into a sun, but his condition was weaker than he thought. I do think Levitz had the “dying Lar fails to break the polymer shield” down as a major plot point early in the planning of this one.

Likewise, a lot of the rage scenes are there to give the reader something visual to hook onto. Brainy could have offered some pain relief and we would have had a very different story. That opens up a lot of thoughts about Brainy’s drives here. I did like his matter of fact approach. You can tell TMK researched this story, as he sues a very similar approach when Timberwolf was at death’s door.

TMK clearly looked at this story and had issues with some of the same scenes. They really brought Lar back just to tell us about their issues with it. They took the line that it was Eltro’s personality that was behind a lot of the panels where the calm inner strength of Lar would normally have prevailed. I don’t think they said why, but I imagine the Lady Memory episode played a part in showing the horror directly to Eltro, rather than just being a part of Lar’s mind. Actually, I think there’s a text piece that gives more details.

Hi! It’s at the back of v4 #4 and clearly links the Lady Memory issues to Lar dealing with the failure of his serum and through the later events in v3. – Look It Up Lad!



Levitz seems to have gone with showing Lar just happy to be alive, and Tasmia showing that throughout such times he always has love, support and that there’s always some hope of brighter times. It’s more of a general message than anything that Lar picks up. It seems his learning moment came back in the Tales issues on Talok VIII. He’d learned about dealing with the weight of memories there. This time, I guess it was more about the thought of a return to the zone and his preference for death over that.



I liked his return a lot too and it’s no surprise that his portrayal of Tellus looks so good here.



As that included no character growth for Lar, then it’s a fair point. I looked at it as the culmination of the Lar/ Tasmia hints from previous issues, with the chance that Lar might die as a result. In the end, Brainy’s comment to that effect as part of the transfusion was a little late in the issue. The rage scene could have been replaced with Lar being given some options. With our expanded page count, he could then have decided to end it in a later scene by flying into space/ a sun.

There is the removal of another Silver Age staple as the Baxter books move away from their roots. The outcome of this issue removes the cliched arbitrary inbuilt super hero weakness. The cover might as well have had a “Lead no more!” Lar break a couple of pencils for dramatic, if not accurate effect. I think this was a deliberate behind the scenes thought process for the issue.



Good spot. The TMK text piece came across more of Tasmia as a suffering partner in my quick scan. Of course, the piece itself is intentionally blurred. Tasmia mothering Lar seems to be a more natural outcome based on that last scene. A very interesting dynamic to have on the team. It also ties up with something Levitz said about Tasmia. That she makes sure that Lar would know to provide and receive emotional support from her in a slightly controlling way.

Yes. In hindsight, it's a wonderful clue to find her paying her respects to someone among the statues of deceased Legionnaires. At the time, I didn't think anything of it. I thought she was familiarizing herself with Legion history.



I've never liked the Eltro Gand explanation. It excuses too much. I'd rather accept the portrayal of Mon in this story--as someone who acts in a less than heroic fashion when facing his worst nightmare--than as someone whose actions can be easily explained with the equivalent of a "a demon made me do it."



A number of characters really shine in this story, including Dawny.



Good point about Mon being fixated on the morbid bits. For all the tragedy he witnessed, he must also have seen many instances of human achievement, glory, love, and people helping each other. One of the things I've learned about coping with difficult situations is to focus on something--anything--that is positive or nurturing, such as a pleasant memory. I wonder if Mon could have found solace by focusing on similar events that he witnessed.

Tellus's reaction provides us with another perspective. He sees the Phantom Zone as a great ocean that makes him feel free (even free of his breathing helmet). It truly is a matter of perspective. While Mon's imprisonment was indeed tragic, only he could control his reactions to it. This is something I've picked up from Stoicism.



This is a fair point, and it would have made sense if Mon had brought this up in the story. Since it was the Legion that got him out of the Zone and kept him out for several years, one might expect him to have a little more faith in their methods--or at least for someone to raise this point.



I like your take on this. I still think there was a missed opportunity for something "major" to happen besides Lar no longer needing the serum. You're right that it's another break with Silver Age traditions, but, in the grand scope of things, a very minor one.

LSH #24 "Suspicion" by Paul Levitz, art by Greg LaRocque & Larry Mahlstadt, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by John Costanza



Legionnaires discuss who Sensor Girl might be as she, elsewhere, listens to them.

At the Academy, Gim, Brek and Wildfire question Chuck about the disappearance of Mentalla, who had just joined the training facility after her rejection by the Legion. Various students are practicing, including Myg, who gets a word of advice from Brek to do it the Legion's way.

On Rimbor, the barkeep questioned by Violet has called an SP officer, since Javors' body lies dead in the bar's trash heap.

Brainy is still worried that Sensor Girl is dangerous, that she might be Supergirl changed by the Anti-Monitor. Cham suggests that he has mental problems and Jan breaks up the argument. Jan is fed up with the suspicions and summons Sensor Girl.

Quislet spies Nura on a date with an unknown man.

The Empress receives a Khundish minion who had been charged with finding Validus. He failed; she kills him. She tells Persuader that she wants slaves to worship her as well as a new Fatal Five.

Brek watches Pol and Tellus in the pool and says he would have made it into the Legion sooner if the Academy had been available when he first applied for membership. They also discuss Sensor Girl.

Tasmia and Lar take a break in deep space on a borrowed ship and speak together about his recent experiences; Lar fears that this new serum may also wear off and he'll have no options.

A young woman called Flare steals a cruiser from Nullport as H'hranath frets. The Empress appears and instructs Flare to join her.

Jan speaks with Sensor Girl about the disruption her secrecy is causing the team. She declares it would be best if she left the team. As she bids him farewell, he worries that she may be going to join the Empress.

Second Story: "Togetherness" by Paul Levitz, art by Norm Breyfogle & Mike DeCarlo, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by John Costanza

Brin tries to reconcile with Ayla after a simple mission to clear a bridge. He made it look like Jan sent them to help Shvaughn, but Brin really got Blok, on Mission Monitor Board, to assign the two of them to help with the site. When Brin pleads to talk with her, Ayla erupts in anger, accuses him of abandoning her and says she's tired of being the strong one, then flies off.

Comments:
Sensor Girl dominates the Legionnaires' conversations, but I didn't get the sense that this was causing much disruption - more like gossip in downtime. Still, Jan took the initiative to try and forestall any problems at the first sign of real trouble, a brief argument between Cham and Brainy. Good to see him be proactive. That he feared driving Sensor Girl to join the Empress implies that even he had misgivings about her loyalty.

Cham gets a really deep dig in, suggesting Brainy might have created a sort-of-Supergirl in Sensor Girl, going back to the Supergirl robot story. Hard to live that one down! This is probably the most outspoken and impolitic behaviour I've seen from Cham, which illustrates the rising tensions on the team.

You figure every Legion try-out produces a traitor or a villain, so Mentalla's disappearance puts her to the top of the list, even though I wouldn't connect her to the Empress at this point. She seemed rather too weak to be Fatal Five material. I might have concluded she ran off with Energy Boy.

Brek slips further down in my estimation. He comes across as petulant and sour when he tells Myg that it has to be done the Legion way and blaming the absence of the Academy for his failure to get Legion membership early on is a poor excuse, since others got in without Academy training.

Flare is a welcome addition and not just because I like thieves. She's bold, visually striking, enjoys the challenge of the theft and is not given to hesitation, nor is she easily flustered. The Empress invites, Flare's cool with that. Some nice action scenes at Nullport as Flare kicks and H'hrnath slips.

The Empress is powerful, heartless, egotistical. She seems to enjoy murdering minions who don't live up to her expectations. Here she keeps a trophy of Kamrag's false eye after he was killed by The Eye. She's in a class of her own: riches aren't enough, power isn't enough, she wants to be a goddess ruling over slaves - but the slaves have to perform, and the Khund failed. Persuader is the muscle for a strong female for the second time in a row, an uncomplicated mercenary sort who must have learned by now how to deal with the Empress.

Lar is full of doubts. We don't know about Eltro yet, but I also would prefer to see him a bit of a mess on his own than to have the Eltro excuse. Tasmia both comforts and manages him in a very intimate scene, using her shadows to calm him. It would have been a bit of a risqué scene back in the 80s. The greyness of the Zone, as depicted in the previous issue, is a lot like a shadow itself, so whether she is desensitizing him or just providing the calm that darkness and sex can bring is unclear to me.

Last issue, Rokk borrowed a time bubble; here Lar and Tasmia borrow a ship from H'hrnath - Legion freebies! This borrowed ship scene leads right into the Nullport theft; we might have gotten a comment from H'hrnath along the lines of "if only Mon-el and Shadow Lass had arrived a day later", but there's no such obvious tie-in.

I have to wonder if that's Lester Spiffany on a date with Nura. Quislet apparently spying on different team members is another mystery thrown into the mix.

In the second story, Brin supposedly gets the final farewell, in case he hadn't gotten the message yet. It was a clumsy move on his part and I note that he never says he loves Ayla. Her anger is off the charts - a woman scorned, in her own view of the relationship. She flies off thinking she loves him, but can't be in a relationship with him, which leaves that particular story open.

An issue I actually have!

Not much to add other than the art is exquisite and there's a feel of Levitz being a man with a plan - lots of mysteries to hook us into buying the next issue.

I never really liked Element Lad though this issue gave him a decent personality as he tried to deal with the mysterious newcomer in a mature way. Polar Boy though continues to slide down my mental ranking of the team with his lack of self awareness. The scene with Lar and Tasmia was quite sexy too. And what is Nura doing? I think when I first read this issue it was this page that had me thinking the most.

LoSH v3 24
It’s a striking cover. Sensor Girl’s tension means she could react in any number of ways to her secret being revealed. It’s Element Lad who’s telling her. He is leader but he’s been the least bothered about it, trusting Saturn Girl. There’s also the link that this story is a take on his Adventure era tale. Espionage Cham and obsessed Brainy are shocked on the cover. Brin either looks as though he’s guessed right or is ready for whatever Sensor Girl does next.

After a scene where the Legion discuss their various theories on Sensor Girl (handily added, like Jan and Brainy’s views each issue for new readers) all three cover Legionnaires are involved in a heated scene. For some reason I expect Cham to be a model of calm, collected espionage. But back in earlier ages, he was mainly spotlighted in romantic entanglements. Under Levitz, we’ve seen him storm off and conduct suicide mission with his colleagues in tow. There’s also a bit of him that seems to enjoy winding people up. He deliberately goads Brainy here. He even calls into question his sanity.

The escalating tensions force Jan to contact Sensor Girl and ask her if there’s any way they can help her, with a view to revealing her identity. Another way of looking at this is that Jan capitulates to Cham’s goading and Brainy’s nagging, and isn’t strong enough to deal with either of them. There’s a bit of me wondering if Cham and Brainy staged the confrontation.

There’s a loss of trust between the Legionnaires here. It’s not helped by Sensor Girl monitoring what everyone is saying about her. As soon as Sensor Girl leaves, Jan’s immediate thought is that she might be capable of joining the Fatal Five. So much for what he said about her not pretending to be a Legionnaire.

Tension manage to mount between Magnetic Kid and Tellus too, giving Pol the first hints of a personality. Although even this conversation revolves around them effectively being replacements. Having got so used to him wearing hats (Where’s the Polar Boy/ Jimmy Olsen crossover?) Brekk’s blond hair looks odd to me. I prefer the spiky white hair from later on to this.

A later invasion of privacy is Jo using his Penetra-vision to look beneath Sensor Girl’s mask. It’s revealed that there’s no one in the costume. This pretty much gives the game away that Sensor Girl is the Ghost of Ferro Lad.

Having visited the Legion Academy, Levitz has Brek say that he would never have formed the Subs if it had been around at the time. That’s a bit disrespectful to all of the missions the Subs carried out that saved lots of lives. The Academy students eventually get to capture zoo animals a lot. As mentioned above, the only two Academy students to make it to the team from the latest round were direct replacements for founders.

Brek was visiting the Academy because, Mentalla who was one of the applicants in #14 has gone missing. Since she cleared out her tesseract its not kidnapping. The trust thing kicks in again. Gim thinks that, with some Legion information at her disposal, she could be acting against them. It’s rich from a guy that gave secrets to the LSV (although his folks were held hostage). A little more sympathy from him might have been nice.

We get a glimpse of some of the other students., notably Westerner. But the spotlight student is Myg. He’s chided for hitting Bouncing Boy, who stupidly ran right into his punch. Back in #13 Myg had earned a place at the pinnacle of Lythyl. He had somehow attained a lifetime of skill to do this. Considering the violence on that world, I don’t imagine that all of his opponents were alive at the end of their battles. There’ are a number of mysteries around him. But Levitz has simply made him a kid with some martial arts ability. It’s not even clear why he would be at the Academy, as he’s not shown to have any powers. We’ll be seeing more of Myg in the future.

The Fatal Five are on everyone’s minds since the Empress released the Persuader. The guy Ayla and Salu were trying to track down on Rimbor, Javors, turns up dead. A failed applicant perhaps. A Khund called Kamrag is dispatched by the Empress for failing to find Validus.

A thief who steals a starship called Flare is recruited by the Empress. It’s going to be interesting to see who Levitz adds to the team. Tharok is considered to be dead, and Validus, who was mainly under his control, is now missing. Both Mano and the Persuader are limited in that their abilities would demand a much higher instance of killing their opponents. New members have to be distinct, and powerful enough, but not overly lethal.

Other subplots include a concluding scene on Mon El’s serum subplot. From last issue’s comments it’s interesting that Tasmia accuses Lar of acting like a child. It’s a mature scene considering how chaste the Adventure Legion had to be. It was referred to in passing, rather tastelessly by Levitz in v6 or v7.

After all the times he invited her out dancing, Thom’s not the one holding Nura when Quislet bumps into her. The breakdown of that relationship has been a real slow burner. Will Quislet keep this information to itself?

There’s no direct threat in the main story. But all roads are leading to an encounter with the Fatal Five. The secret of Sensor Girl may also be tied to this, as Jan fears she will join them. There’s a definite feeling of escalating tension in the book, and the LaRocque art is good throughout (Batman can be seen on Rimbor. Obviously the one from the World’s Finest story. ).

As good as Larocque’s version of Brin is, and it’s very good, Norm Breyfogle is a bit of a class act in the back up story this issue. His power effects for Ayla really stand out, and the body language between the two principals is excellent. After Brin confesses to setting up a mission to get some time to talk to Ayla, we get a summary of how she feels about their relationship. It doesn’t reflect too well on Brin, and also puts all those loner-hero characters firmly in their place.

Ayla spent years supporting Brin, but he didn’t go with her when she left the team. That was just when Brin was moving much more towards being part of the Legion (even after the asteroid encounter with Imra) so it was a genuinely tough decision for him. But he chose and it doesn’t mean that things can go back to the way they were now that Ayla has returned.

Ayla mentions that she can’t be the strong, supportive one all the time. Those are just some of the positives that she sees in Salu. There’s a transition in relationships here for Ayla, even if the Salu one is in its early stages. Ayla gave Brin reasons for their split when it happened. She’s more aware of what she wants in her return.

Overall, this is a very solid mid story issue, with things definitely looking as though they’re coming to a head.

I noticed that to some degree with Paul Levitz' last abortive attempt at the wheel, introducing a Green Lantern-adjacent character named Dyogene (after the historical Diogenese, IIRC). for instance.

Unfortunately even his research was a little hit-or-miss, as he introduced Harmonia Li, a millenia-old ethnic Chinese element-controller who controlled the four *Western* elements, instead of the five traditional Chinese elements (earth, fire, metal, water and wood), of which air/wind, her most commonly used power, wasn't even one...

One advantage I find with future tales set outside of the DCU, such as The Hypernaturals, is how they can really embrace out-there futurist and transhuman concepts like 'do digital recordings / downloads-to-clones of people still count as people, legally, and what happens to democracy when they outnumber those still in their first bodies?'

I'm laughing because I did the same thing in my early attempts at fiction: use a character from a different culture without truly understanding the culture he or she came from. I think popular fiction of the '70s and '80s in general perpetuated the idea that America was a great melting pot and was therefore open to inclusion of people from all over. However, this idea did not extend to the cultures, traditions, beliefs, etc., that shaped those people. I've come to appreciate this more after interacting with real people from different parts of the world (or even different parts of the US)--avenues that were not available to me when a lot of these stories were published. Pop culture tends to distill things down to some sort of essence and use what is necessary to advance a particular story line or series. Very often, this amounts to window dressing. ("Look, everyone! We've got a Chinese/black/Muslim/gay character. See how inclusive we are.")

In Levitz's case, I imagine it never occurred to him that the four Western elements were not universal. More's the pity. Here was a real attempt to educate readers as well as entertain them.




I've never read The Hypernaturals, but that sounds fascinating.