Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! Gerry Conway's Legion

Jerry posed the question in the Space Circus thread, "Was Gerry Conway a good writer?"

I'm going to be reviewing my preboot collection soon, for a couple of reasons:

a. to see how Jecky treated her fellow Legionnaires.

b. to remind myself of the Conway run


The Conway era was special to me because it was during my Jr. High years. I hated Jr. High.

Without looking back at reference, I'd say the plots were not bad, but the execution of the stories were weak. Also, the art was pretty bland after such greats as Cockrum and Grell. Joe Staton and Jimmy Janes did respectable work, just.... dull. Also, the spectacular work of Levitz/Giffen follows the Conway era, so it (the Conway era) does sort of fall away in comparison.

Actual analysis coming soon, but please feel free to post your own.....

Is this the same Conway who wrote Last Days of Animal Man?

This is the era of the Legion that I am least familiar with, so I'm looking forward to this discussion.

Conway was indeed a good writer in other contexts--Firestorm, a zillion Marvels--but he was not suited to the Legion. Very few of those stories stand out to me now (though that's a good excuse to re-read them).

First off - Conway inherited the post Earthwar and post Omega disasters; certainly a dark time.

I have to be honest - in retrospect, Joe Staton's art isn't as bad as I thought. It's just that his inkers were like a box of chocolates....

More detail soon.

When I re-read all my Legions from start to finish (at the time) a number of years ago, I found the Conway years the most difficult to get through.

The kind of dull, average stories that could kill a title. Average art, Staton was okay, Jim Sherman was great - the artistic highlight of the era.

It was a real temptation to pick up the story from the art and skip the dialogue entirely.

I just re-read Conway's first Legion offering, S/LSH # 248-49, and I have to agree with Dean's assessment that the plots were not bad but the execution left a lot to be desired.

This two-part story is essentially a rematch with Dr. Mantis Morlo, the Chemical Conqueror--a somewhat obscure villain from Adventure Comics # 362-63. Morlo's identity is kept secret until near the end of # 249, and then he is defeated in all of two pages. There's a reason why some villains remain obscure . . .

But the focus of the story isn't on the villain; it's more on the Legionnaires themselves. Conway tries to inject personalities and drama, but he overdoes it by having everyone overreact to just about everything. It begins with Shadow Lass getting injured while fighting a sewer monstrosity (created by Morlo); Sun Boy is so overrought that he takes needless personal responsibility for Shady's injury; one might think he was secretly in love with her.

Then Mon-El enters the picture. The cover gives away the emotional tenor of the story by having Mon grab Dirk and threaten him for causing Shady's "death." In truth, the scene doesn't happen in the story, although Mon does grab Brainy instead of Dirk. But in the story, Conway describes Mon as "in many ways . . . younger" than Superboy, "less confidant" [sic] and "far closer to his emotions." These traits of Mon's can be borne out by other stories, but there's no excuse for Mon threatening fellow Legionnaires and then refusing to assist them so he can remain at Tasmia's side. Mon comes off as so co-dependent that one might think he and Shady had a John-Yoko relationship.

Brainy is also acting up in this story--he's detached and unconcerned for his fellow Legionnaires--but this foreshadows his going off the deep end in the Omega story to follow.

Conway does include some nice moments of Garth and Imra as newlyweds; Garth tries to impress his new wife with his cullinary skills. Later on, Garth, who has just been elected leader, faces the weight of command in deciding how the team should proceed. These bits keep the story from being a total loss.

Joe Staton's art is serviceable but his figures are often awkward. He is inked by David Hunt in the first part and Jack Abel in the second; Abel is the more suitable inker, but just barely.

Last comment: The second half of the story does not take up the entirety of 249; a backup Chameleon Boy solo story by Paul Kupperberg fills out the issue. It's just as well, since the Morlo story isn't worth a full two issues.

Hey, I've read the first of those issues! I do seem to remember feeling like everyone just seemed to be massively overreacting to everything, but I see that as pretty much characteristic of 70s comics (or at least the 70s Legion). I see it as part of the same trend that has Cosmic Boy acting like a cocky jerk and slapping Ayla around, etc.

Writers of the '70s (and before and after) did use overreacting as a shorthand attempt at characterization, but, for the most part, they did not strain credibility overmuch. This is not the case in Conway's story.

"Conway does include some nice moments of Garth and Imra as newlyweds; Garth tries to impress his new wife with his cullinary skills. Later on, Garth, who has just been elected leader, faces the weight of command in deciding how the team should proceed. These bits keep the story from being a total loss."

And which issues would these be? I could use the info.

The first scene is in 248, the second in 249, Kid.

HWW,
Thanks for getting this started!

In the big picture, the sewer monster caper was really easy for the Legion to handle. Yeah, Shady and Dirk got hurt by the creature, but Brainy's Chemical De-Synthesizer did the trick. Morlo and the Chemoid were absolutely no problem.

They made it seem like Shady would die, but that never came across as a true possibility. False drama? False advertising?

It is clearly the characterization that shines above the simple plot.

The Legionnaires seem to bicker quite a bit as they enter the sewer and engage the monster. Maybe they're fatigued and impatient after Earthwar?

Mon-El automatically blames them when they bring the injured Shadow Lass back to hq. He demands that Brainy treat her. Brainy would rather work on his gadgets. (Both of their crazies are beginning to show!)

We see Garth's first efforts in the kitchen. It's great that he wants to impress his wife. We see that Imra is comfortable reading his mind. She knows that this is his first time cooking even though he said he used to pride himself on being a gourmet cook. Also, Imra verbally responds to one of Garth's thoughts about the food. He reacts with confusion. Note - add Venusian Crab in Butter Sauce, Steamed Martian Tris-Roots and Ganymedian Roseleafs au gratin to the Fooood! thread.

Yes, it is interesting the being the leader seems to trouble Garth, and he looks to Imra, but she lets him make his own decisions. Nice.

Brande's bankruptcy is an interesting sub-plot.

Conway's text is pretty cheesy:

"Imagine a battle fought in shadow, in waters ankle-deep with scum, in a darkness as foul and fetid as a reeking tomb...

Imagine this, and you'll grasp but a tenth of the horror--"

Tinya said it best, "Sounds like a fright holo-picture's plot!"

Your welcome, Sketchy.

I think you're right about the characterization. It was one of Conway's strong suits.

The more I think about the Garth/Imra scenes, the more I like them. In the second scene, Garth turns to Imra for silent advice, but she, recognizing that it's his turn to lead, says nothing.

The fanboy in me almost wants to criticize Conway for having Imra accidentally read Garth's mind in regards to his cooking--surely a telepath of her skill and experience wouldn't "accidentally" read anyone's mind. But the scene is funny and works in the context of the characters as Legion newlyweds.

It's clear that Conway knows his Legion history--he acknowledges both Imra and Cos as past leaders. The bantering in the sewer plays well. And Brainy's detachment continues from the past couple of issues, foreshadowing what is to be revealed in # 250.

Perhaps it's only because this was Conway's first effort at writing the Legion that the story itself amounts to little else than overacting in a third-rate horror movie.

Gerry Conway is a very talented writer and I personally some of the work he’s done in comics were the medium at its finest: particularly Amazing Spider-Man and Thor. I do, however, think his run on the Legion is among his weakest work. Like Jorge, when I reread the entire Legion run a few years back, this was probably the single toughest era for me to get through.

I believe Steve Ditko’s Legion work is in here and there’s a similar comparison. Ditko is what I consider one of the greatest artists in comics history. He has a dynamic to his work that is completely his own, and he’s a trend-setter and universe creator. He’s the medium at its finest, himself. But his Legion work is among what I’d consider some of his weaker work. It seemed a little flat and wasn’t capturing the spirit of what Conway wanted to do.

One major complaint with Conway’s writing has already been mentioned by HWW, namely the massive over-reactions of everyone in every scene. That seems to be something of a Marvel trait taken to its logical extreme, and it doesn’t work here at all. Conway consistently tries to ensure there are sequences in every story where the characters interact, and I think that’s a noble endeavor. The execution of these scenes, however, is hampered by the overreactions and therefore actually don’t read that well. Still, sometimes they worked IIRC. I like Dean’s idea though that they were fatigued after Earth War. That wouldn’t be too far-fetched.

Something else else everyone should consider is that at age 18 Gerry Conway was a successful science-fiction paperback novel writer. And he stayed that way through the entire 70’s—in fact, most of his writing was from these paperbacks. I’ve never read any of these works (I’m curious), but I wonder how they read? So his taking over the Legion is a natural fit from a genre standpoint. In fact, his Thor stories a few years earlier are so science-fiction oriented that they could easily have been Legion stories (and they’re actually pretty good!). Part of me wonders if perhaps Conway thought he was writing to a younger audience with the Legion and that’s why his dialogue suffers a little? That’s purely hearsay but I do wonder.

Conway’s Thor run often had Thor teaming up with the Warrior’s Three, Sif, Hilda (a Valkrye), the Recorder, Tana Nile, Balder, Heimdall, a bunch of new characters he introduced and Hercules. Sometimes all of them at once! So he could handle a story with 6+ heroes at once. Often they were in space: visiting new civilizations, encountering new life-forms, battling enemies, getting caught between two sides of a bad misunderstanding…all kinds of great plots. And the execution on most these stories—while obviously written in the early 1970’s—is actually quite good. You’d think he’d be a Legion natural. Yet, he wasn’t. I suspect it was an adjustment in his approach (re: who he thought he was writing to) or some kind of behind the scenes stuff we don’t know about.

Okay, by #252, the Omega battle is over. The hq is destroyed and Matter Eater Lad and Brainy have gone insane and are committed to the UP Medi Center at St. Croix. The Legion is visiting them, hoping to ease Tenzil's condition.

Brainy suggests that Jeckie create an illusion of calm into Tenzil's mind, then Dream Girl could enter his thoughts. Jeckie mentions how risky this is, and that Dreamy could get lost in his madness.

Okay... what?

I understand the illusion of tranquility, but how did Dreamy enter his mind? How was Tenz able to pull her into his madness? I don't get it.

Luckily, Dreamy breaks away before she loses her sanity, and is only stunned. Also, with Saturn Girl standing right there, why are Jeckie and Dreamy the ones getting into Tenz's head?

Tenz is as sick as ever as is Brainy. He's escorted back to his room.

Jeckie note - after they leave the mental ward, she says, "We have had much luck lately, dear friends! None of it very good..." She seems pretty annnoyed with this state of being.

The infamous Starburst Bandits attack. Staton does and adequate job of choreographing the fight and Conway's illustrative prose is over the top as usual.
"... for once in her rigidly controlled life, Imra Ranzz goes wild!"

"... but then capricious fate takes a hand..."

The bandits actually defeat the Legion - they pop Wildfire's containment suit, they use red solar rays on Superboy, they overpower Sun Boy and Lightning Lad, they konk Jeckie in the head, they don't do anything to Saturn Girl or Dreamy. Then they retreat without the cargo they were after.

Meanwhile, Brande is irritated by UP Revenue Agents.

Meanwhile meanwhile, a whiney Mon-El is sorting through the rubble of the destroyed hq.
"Grim thoughts, Mon-El?" asks Shady.
"... the grimmest..." Sheesh!

So then the team convenes on their Legion cruiser. Superboy announces that the bandits were trying to steal synthetic Neutronium down on Earth. Since they didn't get it, the Legion figures the bandits would go after natural neutronium - which comes from the core of the sun. By extracting the sun's neutronium, the bandits would cause a chain reaction ending in a massive explosion - which would destroy all 9 planets of the Solar System.

This is a really fun sci-fi plot, IMO. Can't wait to see what happens!!

Lightning Lad the leader plows the Legion ship into the Bandits' ship, stopping the extraction process. Then they scoop up all the stunned bandits. Heh, that was easy!

Now, to stop the chain reaction... SUN BOY SINGLE HANDEDLY CURES THE CORE OF THE SUN!!!!! No problem!

Notes - Dreamy is presented as a damsel in distress on the cover and 2 or 3 times in the story. Wildfire admires her "talent" when she slips out of a bandit's grip.

Garth and Imra switch between speaking to each other and telepathic communication.
"...Garth, darling... I love you..."
"And I, you... forever."

At this point, I'm getting the idea that Conway over dramatizes everything. He tries to portray mundane antagonists like these Starburst Bandits or the Sewer Monsters as SO perilous, but then they're all defeated SO easily. It just comes across as ... irritating.

Well put, Cobie. Thanks for the background on Conway and for reminding me that he wrote the Thor stories with Sif, the Recorder, etc. Those are probably my favorite Thor stories ever.

Yes, there probably was some kind of behind-the-scenes chicanery going on that we'll never know about. One of the pratfalls of being a writer for a company like DC or Marvel is that Conway's name is on the first page, so he gets sole credit or blame for the story.

Dean, you've got to keep these reviews coming! You're combining both an enthusiasm for the fun aspects of the story with a frank acknowledgement of some of the over-the-top dialogue and sketchy plot moments.

The Starburst Bandits naturally seem a little corny in retrospect but seeing you lay out their plot like that for me actually makes me kind of like them a little! That is typical of Conway: he always had some pretty groovy sci-fi plots for the antagonists of his stories (and in many cases antagonist is a better word to use than villain for his stories). The problem as we're all noting at length is the execution of these plots via over-dramatization. But the plots themselves show moments of brillance.

HWW--another interesting thing to consider is that Conway was still in his mid/late-20's when he wrote these stories, and had just gone through a traumatic experience of being Marvel EiC for like fifteen minutes before exiting the company entirely (apparently on not so good terms). So he might have been experiencing a personal dilemna that was affecting his writing (namely, a potential blow to his enthusiasm for writing during this time).

Sketch Lad, you've got me thinking about Dream Girl's abilities. Sure Imra's got the mental training, even if she did choose to phone it in that day, but it occurs to me that if anyone should be an expert on the unconscious and subconscious it should be Dreamy. She could be portrayed as advising the group as to how an opponent might think, motives, and patterns more deeply rooted than Saturn Girl.
Please excuse me for being a bit off topic, and I don't know if this has been discussed before, but thank you for getting me thinking.

Possibly, but professional writers should not let their personal lives interfere with their work.

Good question. I can only assume that Conway took Dream Girl's name literally and thought she could influence Tenz's dreams.

Another gaffe I noticed was at the bottom of Page 9, where it looks like one of the Starburst Bandits is kidnapping the unconscious Dirk. Two pages later, Dirk is returning to hq with the rest of the team.

I have little else to say about # 252. The Starburst Bandits could have been interesting, but I thought they looked silly riding flaming horses. As with Morlo above, they are not important as villains.

This story doesn't really have a clear purpose or goal, other than to show the Legionnaires conducting business as usual. The climax comes when Garth decides to risk all of their lives (even Superboy's?) by ramming the bandits' ship. It is an emotional moment, but for what? One panel later, the Legionnaires are in their transuits, mopping up the villains (all of whom also miraculously suvived, it seems; otherwise, Garth would be in violation of the Legion Code). Then Sun Boy becomes a god who singlehandedly stabilizes the sun's core. One wonders what the range of his solar powers is, since he and the others had to be far enough away from the sun to avoid being burned alive.

I've always been a fan of Blok and the League of Super Assassins, so I was really hoping I wouldn't totally hate their intro story (SLSH #s 253&4) upon re-reading ... and I didn't! I think it's a really good story.

BUT...

... there were a LOT of terribly convenient coincidences that happened.

The first one is that the League specifically wants to kill Superboy, Colossal Boy, Timber Wolf, Light Lass, Ultra Boy and Phantom Girl. Well, guess which 6 Legionnaires happen to be the ones left on Earth? Yep, those 6. The others go off to Brande's planetoid to plea for money to rebuild their hq and starship (because the UP said they weren't a high enough priority). That's when the Legion learns that Brande is bankrupt.

Supes' group of 6 decide to blow off some stress by taking a night out on the town. Get this - - Timber Wolf knows exactly where to go - - the groovy New Aquarius Niteclub where you dance in a tank of cooling crystalline and a hologram show where they add a chemical relaxant to the air like in suspended animation chambers! Gim and Supes both comment on how much Brin and Ayla seem to be enjoying it. Yep, that's our Brin - always with the hook up!

Charcter note - Gim is grumpy and lonely for Vi. Also, he says that Jo is normally very depressing to be around, but being with Tinya seems to really be good for him. Was Jo depressing to be around?

Another note - Blok really slugged Ayla bad. I'd imagine this would be hard for her to move beyond. Of course, Superboy somehow tempered his punch, so she never felt the full effect. Also, Ayla's used to getting slapped around (Cos, Mekt, etc....) (sorry!).

Another note - Brin is getting pretty intense. "... the human race... nothing but a bunch of pig-headed...". He wishes to be Lone Wolf again. He brings Ayla to his really cool apartment on the 40th floor. All he has is a lean mat and a light globe. "Comfort makes you weak..." Ayla asks if love makes him weak too. "You know how I feel about you... must I say it?"

The LoSA attack a Science Police ship, killing several officers. This shows that they truly are murderers. Check! Then they go on to rather easily kill all the Legionnaires but Supes. One little clue - Superboy hesitates before totally leaving Colossal Boy alone right before he's killed. What could that mean?

Well, that's an interesting triple-date.

Jo & Tinya, Brin & Ayla and... Kal and Gim? Hmm. Didn't see that one coming.

In the second half of the story, Supes goes to Brainy's hospital room to ask for his help. Lazon attacks and kills Superboy by becoming an emerald green beam of light.

Brainy gets permission from the hospital's board of directors to work on this caper. With a guard and a floating mini computer watching over him, he contacts the Subs! He figures out that none of the murdered Legionnaires are actually dead. Superboy used his x-ray vision to activate the suspended animation chemicals in their bodies to fake their deaths! How convenient!

With Brainy's leadership, the Subs pull off a brilliant sneak attack on the hidden LoSA. Blok poetically forfeits (how convenient!). Then, Brainy siphens energy from Lazon in order to re-animate the Legionnaires.

Brainy didn't seem crazy at all in this story, except maybe when he was watching Lazon "kill" Superboy.

Overall, I really liked the story. The ultra-conveniences I mentioned were a bit much, and by now Conway has tried several times to push buttons by trying to trick us (the readers) into thinking Legionnaires will die - but they don't really. Also, the corny dialogue and text are over the top.

Naturally, Blok and the League will return to the pages, so we have that to look forward to.

Just thought of something... why didn't the League harbor resentment against the Subs? They're the ones who foiled the dastardly plot!

Always liked the League story despite it's flaws. Wasn't Blok originally a human transformed by what happened to the rest of them...I seem to also remember one of the others calling him cousin.