Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! LSH # 5 (Five Years Later) -- Revisited

Simply an amazing piece of artwork that probably will never receive its due in the profession.

If ten of the best in the business were given the assignment to make something out of the mess presented by the loss of the Superboy connection, I doubt anyone would have come up with better, told it better, or illustrated it better.

Excellent review, HWW, of an outstanding comic. It really was a densely-written and illustrated piece. I see more with each reading.

I had thought the signs on the ground were just occult magic signs until this thread. Having reread the issue, I saw that Glorith had more Legion insignia on her gloves in her initial scene - Ultra Boy's and somebody else's.

Could Rond have been a monk? His hairstyle seemed to suggest that, along with the robe. It struck me as strange that Mordru would permit Catholicism, but perhaps its rituals could be akin to magic, or had been reworked to suit him.


This was possibly the only issue from that series with no letters, no text pieces at the end and no word from the creators/editors. I hadn't noticed that before, but think it makes a powerful statement. To have followed the story with some real world communication might have lessened the effect.

And does anyone know if the issue of L.E.G.I.O.N. that showed the Durlan/Phase swap was published more or less simultaeously to this one? I can't remember. In any case I can see how those scenes kind of detract from the story if you weren't a reader of both titles. But if you were--WOW!

That L-dot story was from November 1989 (#9) - and LSH #5 was March 1990 (cover date).

You touch on one of the things I admire about Giffen, brigort--that he pushed boundaries. At a time when most comics creators played it safe by regurgitating the same kinds of stories that had worked before and aimed their work for the hypothetical 12- to 13-year-olds, Giffen dared to try something new and aim for an older audience.

You're correct that some of it worked and some of it didn't; such is the nature of experimentation.

I have two thoughts about Giffen's attempts to see what he could get away with, both of which speculate about his character (and which may or may not be well founded). On one hand, it seems immature for him to take out his frustrations with the company on the characters and the fans. On the other hand, it was gutsy of him to stand up to the company in the best way he could: by using the story to rebel against editorial interference.

Giffen was certainly a volatile creator, and that volatility is part of what made him successful, I think.

I agree, Blockade Boy.

Thanks, Cramer.

Good catch!

It might be simplistic to assume that the markings have some direct bearing on the Legion. After all, the key figures in Legion history (per Giffen) were not the Legionnaires themselves, but Brande and the Time Trapper. It could be that the blood signs refer to something else entirely.

Possibly. Being a monk would certainly give him a plausible background in magic, folklore, and religion.

Another insightful observation.

Anyone else reread the comic in question since this thread was started? Anything new pop out at ya? And was your impression of it any different than the previous or first reading?

In Dev’s thread rereading the 5YL stories, HWW posted a link to his excellent review of Legion #5 of the TMK/5YL era. An excellent review for one of the best Legion issues of all time IMO.

I missed this thread the first time around—lots of great insight. I particularly liked this passage:

Whether knowingly or not, if the Creators did this then it works beautifully. Glorith of course would be Legion continuity from #6 forwards and one could make an argument that its Legion continuity ever since. In order to keep reading Legion stories, we were forced to live under a new puppet master.

I haven’t read the issue in a few years (I think about 5 years ago was the last time) but its always a treat to reread it. Here, Giffen, Tom, Mary and Al Gordon basically give a writer’s graduate course on how to convey the danger of a higher power without showing him. Mordru and the dread he causes are felt in every single panel.

This is one of those issues that I think about, when I get irritated at a comics board poster whose response to others' critiques and criticisms of a book is "it's just a comic."

It's literature. We're not 7 and these do not cost 12 cents. It's more than literature. It's real-time performance art, as it responds to message board criticisms and winks to fans with it's plot development, as so many stories now seem to do.