Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Reading the Legion: Archives #1

And also, in continuing to discuss Jerry Siegel (who has written all but the original story so far), its worth noting one of his absolute favorite things to write: sequels. In his Superman, Superboy, Legion, etc stories, he always loved writing follow ups and sequels to earlier stories, therefore being an essential part of Uncle Mort's continuity building experiment that was the Silver Age Superman books.

I always thought it out that a superhero club would want to limit its membership so. One new member a year (in some stories), and in the story Supergirl actually joined it was one male and one female member a year. Yes, it's good not to just let anyone join, but why set a quota? What if there are two equally desrving candidates? I greatly prefer the consider-each-applicant-separately rule of future eras.

I actually thought the same thing! It almost looks like she destroyed Earth!

Reading that story again makes me wish there had been more Supergirl and the LSH stories!

Agreed! There could be if DC wasn't run by a much of morons and sexual deviants.

Superboy #86

Fun fact: I remember being really annoyed that the first Archive completely lacked information on which issue each story came from, so my copy has issue numbers written in pencil by me on the first page of every story!

That crazy Superboy! Not only is he responsible for Lex Luthor going bald, but he actually saved strands on Lex's hair as a trophy! No wonder Lex hates him!

Not sure if this is the first in-story mention of the "L.L." thing, but it's an iconic element! And the first appearance of Legionnaire statuettes! (Given to him "after an adventure on Superboy Planet, which they had built in my honor!"; way to whitewash that crazy story!)

Luthor, meanwhile, discovers how to bring stone to life! Thus confimring my longheld theory that Blok has been a Luthor plant all along!

Everything's quiet in the city, so let's randomly gaze up check out what going on in space! An asteroid with a giant hand growing out it? Seems suspicious.

Living kryptonite men! I love Luthor smashing the statue and cheering on the kryptonite men as they attack Superboy!

I never realized before how randomly pointless the Lana-breaks-into-Luthor's-lab scene is. Four panels to establish the existence of a secret lever that could defeat Luthor's plan, which doesn't even get used in the story! Oh well.

You would think the power outage would have the same effect as pulling the lever, though. Wouldn't Lex's machines stop working, and thus the kryptonite men stop working? Oh well.

Krypto! And more Luthor playing with models to order the rocks around!

Luthor looking at himself in the mirror with glee!

Lightning Lad showing up as a deus ex machina! The first of many such minor Legion appearances. But, of course, Superboy and Krypto would've been saved anyway, so history wasn't changed.

And, the best moment of the entire story: "If a Legion of Super-Heroes will exist centuries from now... then a Legion of Super-Villains probably exists in the future too!" Don't want to miss that story!

Some pretty groovy bits in this story, especially in terms of building themes and establishing mythology!

Another notable feature of this comic is that it also features the first appearance of Pete Ross, which, unfortunately, is not reprinted in the Archive. It was, however, reprinted in Adventure #342. I remember reading it as a kid and thinking it was completely groovy!

Superboy 86


The Cover - I remember reading of all the tricks DC used to use on their covers to try to draw in readers during the Silver Age like gorillas, someone crying, a direct question, and - oddly - the color purple. I say "oddly" but I've got to say that the stark purple background here really does draw me in.

"my super-body" pfft... narcissist.


Page 1 - "Strange, son..." Yeah... keeping strands of Luthor's hair in a glass display case... that is strange, all right.

The LL thing... just an absolute weird convention that I never understood the point of. I wonder when it started being a "thing". There was always "Lois Lane", but Luthor originally just went by his last name. I'll bet that the "Lex" part was added to fit the convention and not the other way around. Just very weird.


Page 2 - The first Legion statues... very cool.

Strange use of the words "alive" and "intelligent" that continue to be used throughout the story. I guess "telekinesis" would have been too complex for the young readers so they just dumbed it down.


Page 3 - Not much to say here... the stone fist is a pretty cool image.


Page 4 - Not quite sure why Lex needs to use those toys... maybe to focus his attention.


Page 5 - OK, confession time... I love Lana Lang. Seriously... when young Ex was just turning into double digits, I vividly remember seeing Mike Grell's drawings of Lana and thinking... hmmm... perhaps these "girl" creatures require further investigation. It's only in my adulthood - looking back at these old stories - where I realize how certifiably bats**t insane she was... way more than Lois ever was. And that makes me love her even more.

I wonder what's going on in here... let me just climb in the window. I wonder what this lever (in the mad boy-scientist's home) does. Hmmm... shall I pull it and find out?

Oh... crazy Lana.

Plus... bobby socks and saddle shoes... swoon.


Page 6 - Does Lex really need that big doll? It's not as though it matches the size of the "Kryptonite Giant" anyway... wouldn't one of the smaller ones done the trick? Whatever.


Page 7 - I hate scenes of dogs in pain. We3... Whatever Happened to The Man of Tomorrow... anytime I see a dog hurt in a comic I get all welled up... this is no exception. The dying tongue... ah, you're killing me here.

Lightning Lad... yeah, the first "Legion Cameo". This would very soon become a regular thing in the Superman family of books, and was a very shrewd way of cross-promotion. Mort knew what he was doing.


Page 8 - Speaking of which... the foreshadowing! "a Legion of Super-Villains probably exists in the future, too." Of all the myriad cameos that the Legion would make in the years going forward, it's interesting that this one is the only one routinely included as part of the "core" Legion stories in collections. I think that single closing line is the reason why.



So... yeah. Fair enough story, basically just a reinforcement of Superboy storytelling paraphernalia - Lex, Lana, Krypto, Kryptonite, the Legion, the "LL" thing. There were a lot of toys to play with in the Silver Age Super-titles, and this story showcases that well.

Never thought of the possible Blok connection to this story. Maybe those asteroids were really chunks of Dryad and did have intelligence which Lex was able to control.

Oh, Lana, you eternal meddler! If you had pulled that lever when Lex was wearing the helmet, it might have fried his brain.

Superboy's creepy souvenir display - Lex Luthor's hair?? And were those prehistoric implements a gift from Kamandi?

I felt bad for poor green Krypto, too, with his little tongue hanging out.

More broken machines: this time, only a fuse.

More Legion voyeurism with the Time Viewer. The writer acknowledges the possibility of messing with the past, but I guess it will be awhile until Superboy and Supergirl are made to forget the details of their visits to the future.

Great foreshadowing of the LSV!

Superboy #86

-I think Lex needs some hobbies. He's literally been trying to kill Superboy/Superman his WHOLE LIFE.

-Um...does anyone else find it vaguely creepy that Superboy kept strands of Lex Luthor's hair? I mean, it's one thing to defeat him repeatedly, it's another to keep his hair like a memento. This must be where the whole Superman/Luthor ship came from.

-*DIES* Lex discovers a way to literally animate objects WITH HIS MIND and his first thought it to kill Superboy. Not make millions of dollars selling the technology, not using it as a force for good, not using it for any purpose that's useful. Lex really REALLY needs some hobbies.

-I bet Superboy takes those Legion dolls out and plays with them every now and again.

-I'm always astounded at the VAST AMOUNT of Kryptonite in these old stories. I was under the impression that the stuff was relatively rare, but in these stories there are bits and pieces of it practically EVERYWHERE.

-KRYPTO COULD THINK? I thought he was just a dog! Well, I want a doggie like THAT.

-Waitaminute. When Superboy yells "Wrong, Luthor!" he seems to be responding to something that Lex was THINKING. DOES SUPERBOY HAVE TELEPATHY?? *GASP*

-Okay, so Superboy would have been saved whether or not Lightning Lad showed up? WTF, why even bother coming to the past then?! What, did they pause the incident on the Time Viewer before they got to that point? See, this is why Brainy needs to keep the time gear away from everybody else. XD

Superboy should always shave his enemies heads upon their defeats and keep their hair as a momento. It worked for the Green River Killer and Piccadilly Axe Murderer!

Fun Fact: I have been thinking I am an alt of EDE's for the past couple weeks.

Agreed. Though in the case of enemies like Brainiac, Superboy may have to take scalps instead.

Superboy Prime is so crush worthy.

I bought my copy a few years back on ebay and the seller was nice enough to include the additional table of contents card that DC had made up and inserted into a later volume (#2 maybe).

If you guys like, I can scan it in and post it full size if you'd want to print it out.

I think I've actually got one of those somewhere, too!

ah hah! It seems I am not an alt!

The L.L. Initials issue to make up a crack head story at the last minute.


I think Lex is still a great scientist even WITH his evil ambitions Ordinary Boy.

It probably takes Ordinary Boy about 45 seconds to patrol SMALLville. Meanwhile Bruce Wayne has just been orphaned in Gotham city.

Oh, Kryptonite Men ... it looks like Super fool is done for.

OK, I now understand Lex Luthor much more now, It is not that he is so evil ... he just can't stand that Ordinary Boy has a frickin horseshoe up his butt! No wonder Lex is so frustrated. Lightning Lad saves him, but the asteroids would have exploded anyway and thrown Ordinary Boy free! Or Lana could have stumbled back and thrown that switch! Or a longer power outage ... (the Smallville grid probably can't handle all of Lex's super inventions.) It's almost as if Lex has been cast as a villain in a Superboy comic book!




Is anything cuter than a dying Krypto with his tongue out on page 53!!!!!! I love you Krypto! As Superboy uses his last energy to comfort his faithful dog.

I don't get why this issue is all about the initials L.L.

Can't wait for the LSV to show up!

awww man ... the cover is not included in my archives.

Luthor is always wrong.

I'm surprised Lightning Lad entered through the door that says "Laboratory keep out". You know how the Legion likes their rules. (re: rejecting poor orphaned Kara ... despite her amazing powers ... and severing the Earth)

btw, I had a peak at the next issue ...



I am traumatized.

^^That's Monday, alt-me! Tomorrow is all about Xynthia!

On this one issue, the Legion was inspired by Batman and Robin!

(Er... that's really funny if you're familiar with that classic panel of Batman telling Robin that "Do not enter" signs don't apply to them!)

These early stories are getting to me. I heard something on the news about the U.S. sending a missile defense shield to Guam, in response to North Korea's threats, and had a vision of Superboy flying with a gigantic clear dome to place over the island.