Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! The Magic Wars -- Revisited

For those of you just joining us, this the third installment of my analysis and commentary on the latter-day Levitz period. The idea is simple: I describe the plot of a handful of issues or a single storyline, then provide my impressions and observations of them, and finally render a verdict as to whether or not the story is worth reading or re-reading, and whether or not it has improved with age.

These are purely my own insights and ideas, though I welcome all other views of the stories in question, particularly if your views differ from mine. I encourage reasoned arguments that might convince me otherwise.

We conclude with “The Magic Wars,” the final story line of Paul Levitz’s seven-year tenure as Legion writer that began in 1982. “The Magic Wars,” co-plotted and pencilled by Keith Giffen (who is credited with layouts only on the final two installments) and inked by Al Gordon (parts 1 and 2) and Mike DeCarlo (parts 3 and 4), ran in the final four issues of Legion of Super-Heroes, volume 3: # 60-63 (May to August 1989).

And here we go!

I. Plot Summary

Sensor Girl expresses astonishment and doubt toward her election as Legion leader. She believes the Legionnaires have elected her out of sympathy for her causing the death of the Emerald Empress.

Meanwhile, strange things happen around earth. A three-headed hydra menaces the island of Agea. An energy being with a Cheshire cat grin floods a weather control station. Real magic appears at the Museum of the Mystic Arts.

Elsewhere, “in bondage,” a mystery man begins to break the chains that have held him for centuries.

Without Quislet’s power to sustain his humanoid body, Wildfire reverts to energy form and wearing a containment suit.

Sensor Girl learns from Sarvisa, the messenger from Zerox, and his familiar, a green and black bird, that science will fail humanity as magic returns.

People all over earth panic as science fails. Meanwhile, technology begins to break down elsewhere. In deep space, Shadow Lass’s vessel – including Mon-El’s life-support system – loses power. The planets Colu, Lallor, and Xanthu are also affected.

Sensor Girl attempts a seance to commune with deceased Legionnaires, but brief contact with Karate Kid, Invisible Kid I, Ferro Lad, and Chemical King yields only one incomplete bit of useful information: go to Zerox. Jeckie learns that her mystic Orakill sight has been cut off by the Emerald Eye.

At last, the mysterious being, the Archmage, breaks free from his bonds and takes over Zerox, the world that imprisoned him.

While the Science Police evacuates earth, the Legionnaires go to Zerox, where they find their path blocked by a barrier with a giant keyhole. Sensor Girl learns that only someone’s death will open the keyhole. While the Legionnaires debate who should make the ultimate sacrifice, Magnetic Kid takes the initiative (shades of Ferro Lad!) and dies, enabling the Legionnaires to come face to face (or face to mouth) with the Archmage.

The Legionnaires make no headway against the Archmage, even though the long-imprisoned villain fails to recognize their abilities as science-generated. Sensor Girl dispatches the Legionnaires to various worlds to recruit allies, including Brainiac 5, who surmises that they must take the battle to the surface of Zerox. There they find the White Witch and the other surviving sorcerers about to enter a portal where they will abandon their magic powers but survive. They reveal that centuries ago, the sorcerers of Zerox imprisoned most magic on their world, but recent events – including the White Witch’s departure to join the Legion --
“upset the balance” and allowed magic to escape, incarnated as the Archmage. The sorcerers depart, but the White Witch remains and joins the battle against the villain. However, the spirit of the sorcerer’s world appears before the Legionnaires and asks that they let her die. The Legionnaires allow the Archmage to crush the planet, but, in so doing, he destroys himself, as he had been bound to the world for so long.

The Legionnaires survive on an asteroid and, in the words of Sensor Girl, face a future of uncertainty: “worlds in upheaval” ... “civilization is fragile” ... but so long as the Legion exists, “all else can surely be made right.”

II. General Impressions and Observations

A. Evaluation of Plot, Structure, and Style

1. The nine-panel grid. This is the story in which Giffen really pushed this story-telling device upon the Legion, although he had flirted with it in earlier issues. In his interview with Glen Cadigan in The Legion Companion, Giffen claimed that one of the benefits of the nine-panel grid is that it included more story. This may be true, but, as this story shows, the nine-panel grid often works against the story being told. With so many things happening and so many characters to keep track of, this story begs to be “expanded” artistically, to show wide panoramas and group shots (if only to establish instantly which Legionnaires are present). Instead, the nine-panel grid constricts the reader’s view, forcing attention to very small and sometimes unimportant details. It stretches out some scenes for dramatic but unnecessary effect (such as Ultra Boy telling Cosmic Boy that his brother has died on page 14 of # 63. Was it necessary to show the unchanging image of Ultra Boy’s face three times?). It also creates a disjointed effect, as it is frequently difficult to tell where characters are in relation to one another.

2. The nine-panel grid may give Giffen more room to tell a story, but a lot of the scenes and details he includes here don’t amount to much. Brainiac 5 joins the fight for one reason and one reason only: to tell the Legionnaires to go to the surface of Zerox. (You need a 12th level intellect to make that suggestion??) There is, however, a revealing exchange at the end where Mysa tells Brainy that the differences between her magic and his science can never be bridged.

Cameos abound: the Subs, the Heroes of Lallor, Lightning Lad and his sons, Duo Damsel, Bouncing Boy, the Legion Academy students, Star Boy, and Dream Girl and Atmos (where she finally gives him a what-for) – but none of it really matters. In fact, most of these cameos slow the story down. It takes a special skill for a writer to include an army of guest appearances in a final or anniversary issue: each character must have some reason for being there. Levitz had mastered this skill (as proven in the Great Darkness Saga, LSH # 300, and elsewhere), but here he seems to have abandoned all that for an expedient exit. The worst of it is that the last page – our final image of the Legion as we’ve known them – shows almost the entire team in shadow, except for Sensor Girl, Brainy, Blok, Mysa, Tellus, and Wildfire.

3. As with the Time Trapper previously, the Legion faces yet another god-like villain who embodies some abstract concept – magic, this time. As with the Time Trapper, the Archmage’s motives are obscure and uninteresting. He exists just to destroy because, well, that’s what he does. Ho hum. The only thing close to a personality he has is his failure to recognize or understand science. This blind spot could have served as the basis for his defeat, but it was introduced and then dropped.

When the Archmage first appeared in bondage, I remember thinking that his identity was obscured because we’d seen him before. It would have been nice had he turned out to be some long-forgotten villain (Dynamo Boy, perhaps? ). It’s not necessarily bad that he turned out the be a new adversary, but even an enemy introduced this late in a series should be interesting. Alas, the Archmage was not. (A far more interesting villain pops in briefly, when Jeckie realizes that the Emerald Eye has “punished” her for Sarya’s death by removing her Orakill sight. The Eye, we learn, not only has a will of its own but holds a grudge. Too bad this idea wasn’t developed either.)

Another problem with the villain: The Legion doesn’t actually defeat him – he defeats himself. In fact, if the so-called heroes had left well enough alone, the Archmage would have got what he wanted – the destruction of Zerox – and destroyed himself anyway! This is the same problem with the resolution of the Time Trapper story (which relied on the Infinite Man as deus ex machina): The villain is so powerful that the Legionnaires themselves prove superfluous to the outcome.

4. The sprawling storylines of the previous nine issues make it somewhat jarring to read these four issues, which are tightly focused on the main storyline. Character bits are few and subplots nonexistent.. This may be expected since the title was ending, but it makes the stories’ flaws all the more apparent.

B. Themes

1. The overriding theme here is magic versus science. Some fans object to the inclusion of literary themes in comic books. I respect that view, but I stand by my belief that all stories (comics or otherwise) should be “about” something larger or more original than good guys versus bad guys. Here, ironically, is where “The Magic Wars” succeeds: It explores the idea that by the 30th century humanity has become so dependent on science and technology that it is left vulnerable to the onslaught of magic. This portrayal is both compelling and chilling: If a villain such as the Archmage could wreak damage on so many worlds, then 30th century civilization must have been fragile, indeed!

And what about our own 21st century civilization – the world of laptops, cell phones, Internet, and Wiis? We’ve seen the dangers of relying too much on technology when hijackers take over airplanes and fly them into buildings. And yet the science genie is truly out of its bottle: we can’t go back to a world without planes and skyscrapers. We shouldn’t necessarily want to, but “The Magic Wars” warns us – even 18 years after its publication! – that we must be aware of the dangers that go along with all the wonderful benefits of science and technology.

This danger is most clearly expressed in the story by Mysa’s final comments to Brainy: “Given facts, you can convince yourself something is right, whereas I must believe it in my soul.” In other words, what is the role of “simple faith” in a world of “deduction, induction, [and] rational thought”? This question has no obvious answer, but the fact that Levitz and Giffen raised it salvages “The Magic Wars,” in my opinion.

It is interesting that, in the end, science wins out. The sorcerers of Zerox have departed, and the Archmage is vanquished. Magic, we are led to believe, is gone (though it’s unclear how or if the White Witch retains her abilities). Interestingly enough, this issue marks the beginning of the deterioration of earth in the 30th century– and we see the results of that deterioration in “Five Years Later.” Are Levitz and Giffen saying that science is not enough?

2. There is also a minor theme of guilt and punishment as illustrated by Sensor Girl. Bewildered by her election as leader, she thinks she has won because of sympathy. Later, she concludes that the Emerald Eye has robbed her of her mystic sight for killing the Emerald Empress. I think this theme is meant to reflect Jeckie's uncertainty over her role in killing Nemesis Kid. In # 60 (page 3), she thinks, “To have slain Val’s killer in combat was just if any deed of mortal can be.” Yet she seems to be trying just a little too hard to convince herself of this. Even though Jeckie held the right as queen to execute an enemy combatant, her motives seemed guided by revenge. Also, by killing Nemesis Kid she broke the Legion code. Although the Legion doesn’t seem to mind (and why they don’t remains a mystery), I think she knows her actions were inconsistent with her role as a Legionnaire and this is why she can’t accept her election victory as a vote of confidence. (The Legion has never worked the way she accuses them: Voting her leader out of sympathy would be utterly illogical. It’s more likely that they elected her for two reasons: 1) Projectra, as queen, was trained from birth to lead, and 2) they credited her with stopping a long-time enemy whom no other Legionnaire had been able to defeat. Element Lad and Dream Girl, for example, were both elected after playing decisive roles in major cases.)

If one accepts that the Emerald Eye has a will of its own and can hold a grudge, it makes perfect sense that the Eye “punishes” Jeckie for killing Sarya. But the Eye is a villain; revenge is to be expected of its motives.

C. Use of Characters

Because Levitz and Giffen are telling such a “large” story in such a limited space (or, rather, in such a limited fashion), characterization is kept to a minimum. The Legionnaires seem dwarfed not only by the villain but also by the story itself. But, in addition to Sensor Girl, mentioned above, there are a few noteworthy character bits:

1. Timber Wolf, though surprised that anyone would vote for him, adjusts to his role as deputy quicker than Sensor Girl does as leader. He’s eager to get on with his duties and to lead a team in battle. This reflects a maturity in Brin’s character that was a long time in coming. Ayla’s break up with him and refusal to take him back forced him to take himself more seriously, I think. Of all the opportunities missed by the book’s cancellation, I think I regret not being able to watch Brin grow further as a leader most of all. It really makes his transformation into “Furball” in v.4 all the more pointless and silly.

2. Chameleon Boy has taken to wearing a hood as part of his Giffenized new costume, similar to the one the Durlan wore in L.E.G.I.O.N. But why? Cham has never hid his appearance before, why start now? Like the rest of the costume changes, this makes no sense.

3. Magnetic Kid’s death would have had more impact had there been some build-up, but he’s really not present in this story until the middle of # 62, the issue in which he dies. As such, it’s difficult for me to care about him or understand the decision he makes. (Compare the almost identical way in which Ferro Lad dies in the animated series: He sacrifices himself to atone for his previous failure to defeat the Sun-Eater. This is set up very well and gives the viewer ample time to know his character, feel empathy with him, and want him to not die – even though we know he must.) Magnetic Kid’s death is perfunctory, as is Rokk’s display of grief and rushing into battle in # 63.

4. Dream Girl finally gets around to realizing that Atmos is mentally controlling her. This long-building plotline is dismissed very quickly – but, I suppose I’m glad that it was resolved at all. Did Atmos rape her, as some fans have said? He definitely used her – whether for sexual purposes or not is unclear – and, as such, he’s a real cad, but I’m not sure “rapist” qualifies. It might depend on the extent to which he was mentally controlling her; the control must not have been too great, since Nura had been aware for some time that something was amiss in their relationship.

5. Brainiac 5 seems to have learned that being a Legionnaire is important to him. He apologizes to Sensor Girl for his absence and says to blame it on “morality or ego.” All well and good, but how did he come to this conclusion? Perhaps being unable to offer his fellow Coluans anything but food during their power outage taught him the lesson of humility, but the reader is left to guess this.

6. The most disturbing scene in this story, for me, comes from the seance-summoned Invisible Kid I, who tells Jeckie that the afterlife is “too strange – too random,” and then screams for help before he vanishes. Just what are we to make of this?! Can’t even a dead Legionnaire (with a ghostly girlfriend, at that) rest in peace?

III. The Verdict

Fans complain that Levitz should have left the Legion earlier and that he was marking time during his final year as writer until Giffen took over. But “The Magic Wars” suggests that Giffen had already taken over. Almost all of the hallmarks of his “Five Years Later” are in place during this arc: the nine-panel grid, the rapidly deteriorating future, a Legion that is on the verge of collapse, and costumes that resemble science fiction field jackets. While writing the above reviews, I found myself frequently typing “Giffen” instead of “Levitz and Giffen.” Even now, it’s hard to recognize what Paul Levitz contributed to this, his final Legion story line.

As a set-up for “Five Years Later,” “The Magic Wars” works very well. It forecasts what we are to expect from the new series. Whether or not this is good depends on your point of view. Giffen’s vision of the Legion and its universe was so radically different from everything that had gone before that he is either lionized as a creative genius or condemned as an artistic reprobate who never truly understood the Legion. There is some truth to both of these interpretations. Any artist or writer who attempts to do something radical with fan-favorite characters is taking a giant leap of faith. He or she must have complete confidence in the vision that is to be presented; he or she must also understand the heart of the series and how the new vision enhances that heart. There is ample evidence that Giffen understood the heart of the Legion, but miscalculated the best way in which to enhance that heart.

In my own view, I didn’t mind the Legion’s universe getting darker. There had been many similar stories in the past: Levitz’s own Earth War and the Universo story in Adventure # 359-360 had touched on similar themes, but never on the scale attempted by Giffen. In fact, Giffen’s vision suggested that the Legion needed to be taken down a peg or two: They were the greatest champions of their age, and had achieved success very young. But what happens when young people (rock stars, for example) achieve success early in life? It often goes to their heads, they get sloppy, and things around them fall apart. All of this is represented (or can be inferred) in Levitz’s last year of writing the Legion. This could have been used as a springboard to show the Legion truly mature. Had Giffen’s “Five Years Later” been allowed to proceed as he intended, perhaps he would have eventually ended up there. (In the Cadigan interview, he describes the editorial interference and other problems that drove him from the book.)

Instead, what I object to most about “The Magic Wars” is the way in which the story was told: Four issues to tell a story that is much larger in scope; crammed panels that fail to convey the significance of what is going on; character appearances and bits that go nowhere; a one-shot, dull villain who wreaks untold damage upon the Legion’s universe; an anticlimactic conclusion in which the Legionnaires didn’t really have to be present.

All in all, “The Magic Wars” was not the finale to v.3 I was hoping for. Even two decades later, it comes off as a weak finish to Levitz’s seven-year tenure, which many fans – myself included – view one of the Legion’s most cherished eras. If there is any redeeming quality to “The Magic Wars,” it is found in the themes of magic versus science and guilt and punishment, which promised a more adult treatment in the series to come. These ideas alone have left me with much to think about, and that alone suggests that Giffen and/or Levitz were headed in the right direction, even if they never got there.

Nicely done HWW.

Magic vs. Science: Science won.
- Though "magic" and "science" were the words used, I took it all to mean concrete won over abstact, logic over the affective.

Magnetic Kid's death vs. Ferro's.
- Ferro's death was significant. He was of the few that could deliver the bomb but was not the chosen. He truly sacrificed himself for what he saw as the greater good ( or he thought himself least worthy of living, depending upon mood).

Magnetic Kid however was one of TRILLIONS who could have did the deed. I forget exactly how the Legion team got to Zerox, that maybe it had to be one of them, but if not, any near dead could have done the same. Monel might have been the better choice because going to the nearest convalescent home and grabbing a granny would have been bad taste.

A poignent moment was missed here IMO. It seemed more to me a rash decision than a sacrifice. The ultimate victim needed more back-story to pull some emotional interest, more dialogue as legion considered options, something.... I read it and thought, "oh, the pink kid's dead."

I'll read and digest your analysis when I get the chance, HWW, but for now I thought I'd link to my own reactions upon reading the complete story the first time .

Good job HWW. I agree with you on all points EXCEPT one. The nine-panel grid is the god of comic panel grids. Ok, i could've used some wider splash pages here and there also but...it's the king. Nuff said about that.

This was actually IMO a pretty good story but too short, underdeveloped, hurried, and weak. The art was very weak at different spots as well. Still the backbone of the story I thought was pretty good. An issue longer, more quality on the art, a few full page spreads and it might've been a classic.

The best part was the Levitz cover with fairies all around the actual cover featuring Sensor Girl, T-Wolf, and Vi.

Also I still can't figure out who the villain was.

"Nicely done HWW." -- BB

Thanks.

"Magic vs. Science: Science won.
- Though "magic" and "science" were the words used, I took it all to mean concrete won over abstact, logic over the affective."

Interesting interpretation. It's also interesting how "abstract" and "faith" seem synonymous with "magic" in the story.

"- Ferro's death was significant. [...] Magnetic Kid however was one of TRILLIONS who could have did the deed. I forget exactly how the Legion team got to Zerox, that maybe it had to be one of them, but if not, any near dead could have done the same. Monel might have been the better choice because going to the nearest convalescent home and grabbing a granny would have been bad taste."

Excellent point, re: the difference between Ferro Lad and Pol. There is no indication that it had to be a Legionnaire who died. Jeckie uses her power and sees a cryptic message: "As this world jailed me, I imprison it! If you would share its doom, let that wish be dearer to you than life itself."

"A poignent moment was missed here IMO. It seemed more to me a rash decision than a sacrifice. The ultimate victim needed more back-story to pull some emotional interest, more dialogue as legion considered options, something.... I read it and thought, 'oh, the pink kid's dead.'"

Agreed.

Thanks for posting the link, Eryk. It's interesting that your assessment of the story matches mine in several ways: the nine-panel grid, the villain, and the story being too large for its presentation.

You make an interesting point about Ultra Boy. I hadn't noticed him being portrayed as caring toward the civilians.

Thanks for the compliment, Jorge.

I'm not sure if the winky face indicates that you're joking about liking the nine-panel grids. Assuming you were serious, please tell me how they enhanced the story.

I'll concede that the grids worked in Watchmen -- which is probably where Giffen got the idea -- but the purpose and tone of that story was very different than the Legion.

By the way, I agree wholeheartedly about Steve Lightle's cover (not Levitz's) for # 60: by far, the best of the four.

The Archmage was the living embodiment of magic, just as the Time Trapper was the living embodiment of entropy.

Gilbert Hernandez said that he uses the nine-panel grid because it's the most efficient utilization of space on the page: it's the most panels you can have on the page with the most space per panel. He calls this the "beehive principle."

Beto uses this technique much more effectively than Giffen, though. It seems like Giffen only uses the nine-panel grid because it saves him the trouble of having to compose a new layout for every page.

On another matter... apparently some people think that Pol sacrificed himself because he was gay, and he preferred to die rather than face up to his own homosexuality, and that this was also why he didn't respond to Ayla's attempts at seduction.

What do you all think of this theory?

Not much.

I think the nine-panel grid did this story a diservice. Sure a few pages here or there would've been fine but not the whole thing.

With that said I think it worked perfectly in v4. I think it does add more story if done right. It wasn't done right in Magic Wars.

(Steve Lightle covers! doh!)

It's been a while since I read "Magic Wars", but I remember it fondly. I thought Mr. Levitz did an admirable job with his run's conclusion. Obviously, he took great pains to establish a foundation of things that Mr. Giffen wanted to work from in his version, such as removing characters like Magnetic Kid and Mon-El, and Quislet a few issues earlier. BTW, I think Levitz took out Emerald Empress on his own as part of his development of Sensor Girl. He set the stage for the darker universe of Giffen's choosing, as mentioned previously. He also was able to wrap up some dangling plotlines to the appreciation of many readers like myself. Throw in some of Giffen's experimentation with the uniforms and art plotting as well, all this was accomplished, along with a decent story and conclusion.

Thanks for pointing this out, Sir Tim. But it only reinforces my positon that the nine-panel grids didn't work on the Legion. Love & Rockets, which is where I know Hernandez's work, is about as far removed from the Legion as you can get.

I've never heard this theory before and don't find it credible. One would expect that by the 30th century, there would be no reason for Pol to be ashamed of being gay.

Further, this theory reduces complex human interaction to a black and white caricature: He didn't respond to a woman, so he must be gay. Never mind the fact that Ayla was (probably much) older and a senior Legionnaire (in effect, Pol's boss), and was coming on aggressively. Any one of these reasons and more could have led to Pol's reaction.

I don't recall anyone suggesting that Pol was gay...

I think the theory was that Ayla (whose homosexuality has never really been in question) toyed with Pol's emotions, even though she clearly had no real romantic intentions. This contributed to his troubled state of mind during the Magic Wars.

Now, I don't think its so simple as "Pol killed himself because Ayla toyed with him", but it was a factor. His overwhelming desire to prove himself as worthy a legionnaire as his famous brother played a role too...

RE: Pol being gay. I have to take the story at face value. I don't see anything to support this theory. Ayla came on stong. It appears to me that his reaction was simply a reponse to how strong she was coming on. I wouldn't even go as far as to say that Pol wasn't interested in Ayla, and it would be a real stretch to say that he didn't like girls based on what was presented.

I also disagree that Ayla's advances were a factor at all in his decision to sacrafice himself. He wanted to prove himself and save lives. It's really as simple as that to me.

On the nine panel grids: They added to the story for me. I'm a huge fan of that format and thought the panels were very clean and well used in Magic Wars.

My major complaint with the story has nothing to do with the charectarization or presentation of the story. The stroy was executed well. I just didn't care for the major plot. I'm not a big fan of "science" versus "magic" plots. They always strike me as unoriginal and uninspired. I don't much care for the use of magic in the Legion at all, and would prefer to see it move closer to the "hard science" type of science fiction.

Interesting interpretation of Ayla and Pol's motives, kid chaos. The only part I have a question about is your statement that Ayla's homosexuality was never in question. To me, this seemed sort of "tacked on." There was nothing in her back story that suggested to me that she was gay.

In fact, considering her recent Legion history, I thought it rather unconvincing that she and Vi both turned out to be gay. Both were portrayed for years as shy or passive; both experienced life-altering circumstances (Vi = sens-tank; Alya = leaving the Legion and Brin, then getting her lightning powers back); and both changed from being shy to aggressive. Now, BAM! both are lesbians. Does that strike anyone else as stereotypical or a belated attempt to be topical?

I'm curious as to what elements of Alya's back story led you to think she was always gay.

I found the Vi and Ayla relationship to be convincing, and quite frankly one of the most realistic homosexual relationship portrayals in mainstream comics to date. However, I viewed them both as bisexual rather than lesbians, since both had been shown in heterosexual relationships previously.

I understand how you see it as feeling forced, He Who Wanders. The problem is the same we always have with minority characters in the Legion. During the sixties, when most of the core team was introduced, everyone was caucasion and straight. Later attempts to create diversity have meant introducing new characters who aren't as popular or changing key elements of existing members. For example, the current Star Boy and Karate Kid. Opportunities were missed in the reboot and threboot by not introducing a major character as gay early on. Any later attempts to portray an existing member as anything but straight will contradict what WaK has established and will feel forced by some fans.