Yeah, it will be interesting to see when exactly that limitation was first ditched. I'm pretty sure Hamilton references it several times, but Siegel seems to ignore it, for example, when he has baby Jan turn the Time Trapper's ship (or whatever it is) into candy.
I guess we can chalk this up to writer inconsistency, unlike with other power-ups which read as a character becoming more skilled at their powers through practice/time!
Originally Posted by Eryk Davis Ester
The funniest of these may actually be the JFK disguises himself as Clark Kent scene, which is hilarious once you imagine Clark speaking with JFK's Boston accent!
Well, everyone knows Superboy has the power of super-accents too!
Last edited by Invisible Brainiac; 05/04/1309:34 PM.
--This story basically features Chameleon Boy, Bouncing Boy, Cosmic Boy, and Sun Boy, with random cameos from Vi, Superboy, and Supergirl, and Brainiac Five showing up halfway through and not really doing much.
Superboy's not in the story, but I just noticed that Mon-El is mistakenly shown loading the animals on the Legion's ship.
Superboy is in two panels of the coffin scene. We see him thinking "It's appropriate that electric bolts from a perpetual device will crash above Lightning Lad for all eternity!"
I hadn't noticed Mon-El. My theory is that these random appearances are other Antareans! And the Legion is too choked up by the return of Lightning Lad to notice them!
Superboy is in two panels of the coffin scene. We see him thinking "It's appropriate that electric bolts from a perpetual device will crash above Lightning Lad for all eternity!" !
Minor detail: first instance of the roll call on the opening page.
Jungle King tries out for Legion membership, fails to control the dangerous borlat and simmers with resentment over his rejection. To retaliate, he assembles his own legion of fantastic beasts and embarks on a life of crime. Alas, he too pays the price for rejecting (and underestimating) a gas creature who wanted to join his dastardly group.
This story is rich in goofy silver age elements. It opens with the Legionnaires all taking a course in "tenth-order equations of the fourth dimension", whether in a spaceship, standing guard by the side of a mountain or in their clubhouse. Even Brainy is attending the telecast lecture: he's not quite the genius he'll become later in the series, unless he's just there for laughs.
Members' whereabouts are shown on a crazy map of the universe (with Violet looking eternally worried), then it's time for more try-outs. Rainbow Girl doesn't make the team (we don't learn why), then it's up to Jungle King (long hair! Tarzan tiger/borlat suit!), who also fails.
Sun Boy acts like the leader throughout this story. Maybe there was an unreported election?
Hamilton and Forte devote a fair bit of the story to describing the various monster beasts who will be on Jungle King's team. Ridiculous, but charming.
We see Barakian Living Money, which is a larger version of the Venturan Walking Money of later years.
There's Sky City, built on a pedestal far above the smog of the planet. If you can't fix the problem, avoid it, I guess. The residents live dangerously, peering over the fenceless edge of their city's platform.
The backgrounds in space are filled with a variety of colourful planets and moons.
The world of giant flowers is Jungle King's next target (now he's calling himself Monster Master).
Bouncing Boy screws up, fulfilling Sun Boy's assessment that "he's jolly and we like him, but bouncing won't conquer those might monsters!" Of course, Chuck proved him wrong in the end.
The Legionnaires choose lots to determine who will take on the Earthquake Beast - there's no assessment of whose powers are best suited to the task. Selection by chance seems to play a big part in early Legion activities.
I really wonder why Saturn Girl wasn't selected to mentally control the beasts, as she had done in previous stories. This time, however, Brainy declares that it's too risky a mission for a girl. Tut! Saturn Girl isn't just any girl! Nevertheless, she uncharacteristically accepts it without comment. No doubt the untold story has her getting revenge later on Brainy for that idiotic comment.
The gas creature has a wonderful evil leer on his face as he stalks and finally vaporizes Jungle King.
Just as the Legion underestimated Bouncing Boy, so did Jungle King underestimate the gas creature.
Is Jungle King/Monster Master really dead? Could he have been found and contained in a suit like Wildfire?
This is a classic case of a story making me think of Legion World. I never gave Jungle King more than a second thought before, but he eventually started reminding me directly of Lash, Dean, Teeds and the rest of LW.
This is a classic Hamilton tale of rejection--perhaps his most common theme with the Legion--but unlike some others it ends in tragedy, which certainly makes it stand out.
Love the usage of a Roll Call in the opening splash and great to see the Legion use the classic Golden Age trope. I think by now the JLA was already doing something similar.
I see for the first time that Rainbow Girl's planet is not given, but in the prior panel, Imra mentions Xolnar. Some later writer must have either went ahead connecting the two, or simply misremembered.
This issue really gives Forte a chance to have fun designing monsters. Jim already mentioned Forte's tendency to be a little obvious in his designs, but considering the age range of readers, I think its kind of brilliant in its simplicity.
Jungle King's tryouts for his super monsters is definitely on the nose in terms of story subtlety but it works for me. His rejections lay out the irony to come at story's end.
Barakian Living Money!!!
Er, the Omnibeast spaceship mix up was definitely a screw up.
Love Sun Boy leading the charge into battle. He remains one of the most heroic Legionnaires.
The Legion's first defeat! Surely they will be better for it!
I didn't realize this is the long story yet--16 pages! They're getting close to full length now.
"He's jolly and we like him, but super-bouncing wont conquer those mighty monsters!". Poor Chuck and other rotund kids!
I guess no one realized Imra could probably end this thing in like 2 seconds?
Releasing Omnibeast so it goes home and they can follow is a pretty big risk! One of those "so far fetched it has to work"'plans.
The least said about "too risky for a girl" the better. If Imra had stepped in earlier this debacle would have been over days ago and they could all enjoy a big sandwich and a few silver ales.
It all wraps up a little too neatly and there's no need for Hamilton to spoon feed it in the final panel.
All in all, not bad. Certainly full of holes and mistakes but there is definitely a clearer purpose and pacing to the story.
--The cover blurb on this issue, introducing "The Legion of Super-Monsters", is highly reminiscent of the cover blurb a few issues back introducing "The Legion of Substitute-Heroes". It's pretty clear to me that they were trying to replicate the success of the Subs with this story.
--I believe the Super-Monsters are all adaptations of reader-suggested characters, as is Rainbow Girl, and maybe Jungle King himself.
--Jungle King is the first "rejected applicant turns evil" in Legion history, a theme that will occur again and again.
--The Legion are given the lead, two-part story in this issue, which shows how massively successful they are becoming.
--First use of the Roll Call! No doubt to avoid the randomly appearing Legionnaires problem of the past couple of issues.
--Mon-El, Ultra Boy, and Colossal Boy are featured in the Roll Call, although their appearance in the story is limited to brief shots of them as they listen to the famous science professor on the first page!
--Love the Science Professor! So, that planet Gim's on? Do they have a giant tv sticking out of a rock there, or what?
--The second appearance of the Mission Monitor Board!
--You know Dirk is totally planning on seeing Rainbow Girl later!
--Jungle King is given powers by his animal trainer/scientist father! Another Legion trope! (Used previously with Night Girl...)
--Monster World! A planet full of weird, dangerous creatures!
--Classic Silver Age bizarreness in the scene where Jungle-King uses the lures to attract super-monsters!
--The space bank! Barakian Living Money! Altharian liquid money! Another trope originated!
--The Sky City of Korr! Korr would later be reused both 5YL and in the reboot as a hideout for Roxxas and the Scavenger!
--Interesting that the Legionnaires save the city not by the use of their super-powers, but simply by tying a cable to the back of their space ship! Kind of a rare sort of scene in Legion history!
--If I remember correctly from the Chris KL-99 thread, the World of Giant Flowers seems to have been reused from one of those stories!
--This is, I believe, the first reference to the fact that Cham doesn't gain the powers of whatever he disguises himself as! (Though this is applied inconsistently).
--Bouncing Boy goofs up, ruining the trap! Cham gets caught! Bouncing Boy redeems himself!
--Jungle King is defeated by one of the Super-Monsters he rejected! While there's something to be said for the ironic twist, it would've been nice if Bouncing Boy had played a more direct role in defeating him, thus helping to establish why he was really Legion material and Jungle King wasn't.
--The ending feels massively rushed.
--The "drawing lots" scene is completely insane, not only because they eliminate the one member whose powers are most suited to take down the monsters because she's a girl, but Sun Boy suggesting that Chuck should "let one of us go" after Chuck wins the draw is pretty crazy as well. However unsuited Chuck's power may have been, he's got to be at least as qualified as Brainy!
--So, this story is actually pretty successful up until the last two pages, where it feels like Hamilton just ran out of room and had to finish things up in a hurry. In retrospect, the scene of Cham infiltrating the super-monsters probably should have been cut down to give more space for the conclusion.
--Hamilton is a fine form this issue with the crazy sci-fi concepts!
Did Rainbow Girl make any appearances between that issue and Johns's issues?
Not really.
She appears in one panel this issue, though nothing about her powers/origins are revealed.
Adventure #340's "Bits of Legionnaire Business" feature includes a reader suggested character of "Rainbow Girl" who has the power to separate herself into four different forms, each a different color and with a different power. It's not unknown for the reader's suggestion of a character to appear in Bits after they've already made an appearance in the series, it would be for the suggestion to appear that much later than the character, which seems to indicate the reader-suggestion was not the actual source of the character.
The next we see of her is her entry in Who's Who in the LSH in the 80s, where we learn that she has pheromone powers and is from Xolnar, and has since married a sugar daddy.
After that, she is next used by Johns as part of the Legion of Subs, and given a connection to the Green Lantern "emotional spectrum" stuff.
I fully expect when she shows up again in twenty years, she'll have another set of completely different powers!
Is Jungle King/Monster Master really dead? Could he have been found and contained in a suit like Wildfire?
It strikes me that there's plenty of room left open for his return ("I was defeated when the gas creature I rejected turned me into vapor, but fortunately the effect was only temporary!") and I have no doubt that at least the concept of the Legion of Super-Monsters was planned to be re-used.
Did Rainbow Girl make any appearances between that issue and Johns's issues?
Not really.
She appears in one panel this issue, though nothing about her powers/origins are revealed.
Adventure #340's "Bits of Legionnaire Business" feature includes a reader suggested character of "Rainbow Girl" who has the power to separate herself into four different forms, each a different color and with a different power. It's not unknown for the reader's suggestion of a character to appear in Bits after they've already made an appearance in the series, it would be for the suggestion to appear that much later than the character, which seems to indicate the reader-suggestion was not the actual source of the character.
The next we see of her is her entry in Who's Who in the LSH in the 80s, where we learn that she has pheromone powers and is from Xolnar, and has since married a sugar daddy.
After that, she is next used by Johns as part of the Legion of Subs, and given a connection to the Green Lantern "emotional spectrum" stuff.
I fully expect when she shows up again in twenty years, she'll have another set of completely different powers!
And funny enough the planet Xolnar has a bigger part in LSH history during TMK as that is where a major battle takes place between the UP Militia and the Khunds, which results in the deaths of Nightwind and Power Boy.
I'm not 100% sure, but I think Rainbow Girl doesn't appear at all in this story.
As Eryk points out, the 16 page lead feature is a pretty big deal and shows how successful the Legion was becoming. It certainly helps that every single issue introduces at least one new character and several new ideas. You can feel the excitement as you read through the Archives.
I'm curious, and I'm sure its easy enough to check. When the Legion eventually has a "full length novel", is that when Superboy resumes his place as a lead character with the Legion? As a kind of compromise: the Legion gets the whole issue but Superboy has to be included? This way Mort can hedge his bets.
My absolute favorite Legion story--not just for the Silver Age, but for all of their history--is in the next Archive, "The Mutiny of the Legionnaires". That is a full length Legion story with no Superboy or Supergirl, though it's so good that I never realized it until the 2nd or 3rd time I read it.
^ so I checked and its not quite the case, though in a way it is. The Legion's stories hereafter range from 17 to 19 pages, and so they are clearly dominating the comic. Superboy returns pretty soon after this story and perhaps that is the compromise I mentioned.
I notice the Superboy stories during this time, when it was taking a backseat to the Legion, include a series of Superbaby stories (which were always shorter in nature).
Also...and forgive me for posting a bunch of times in a row...Adventure #309 includes a great appearance by Brainiac 5 in the Superboy story! I think this is the first time Brainy pulls the "Legionnaire backwards in time to help out a Super cameo save at the end" bit in a Superboy story rather than a Supergirl one.
And funny enough the planet Xolnar has a bigger part in LSH history during TMK as that is where a major battle takes place between the UP Militia and the Khunds, which results in the deaths of Nightwind and Power Boy.
I'm not 100% sure, but I think Rainbow Girl doesn't appear at all in this story.
Yeah, I can't think of any references at all to Rainbow Girl in the 5YL series, though Xolnar is made a pretty big deal, as the site of the U.P. militia academy and a valuable strategic asset in the war between the U.P. and the Khunds.
I haven't reread this issue yet, but one thing I think is odd is that Jungle King's father is named Dez-Nu, so presumably JK is Dez-Nu Jr. or Watz-Nu or some such, but in Adv. 324, his brother's name is Marden King, which would lead us to think JK's last name was actually King. Also, Marden King Shirley looks old enough to be JK's father, not his brother, considering that JK had to be a teenager to apply for Legion membership. I suppose Dez-Nu could've been short for Dez-Nu King, but it seems unlikely. That would seem to indicate that Marden King should've been Mar-Den King or something. But I digress Lad.
We've seen a lot of Saturn Girl so far, but not much activity from the other girls. It could be an attitude of "exciting and dangerous missions are too risky for girls" or the writers just don't know what to do with female superheroes. It's strange since Supergirl was supposedly very popular.
I don't suppose there was any serious writing about comic books in the early 1960s (apart from Dr. Werthram style criticism), especially by burgeoning feminists, which would give some perspective to this.
Hamilton is on record as saying that he always found Triplicate Girl difficult to use.
Violet is probably the second most used female Legionnaire at this point.
Night Girl is pretty prominent in the Subs appearances, however.
We'll be getting to the Satan Girl story next week, but even in that I believe Supergirl is the only girl who has a really prominent role as doing something other than getting sick.
Yet another Bouncing Boy proves his worth story. He was actually featured pretty prominently in the early days, before they ditched him. They refer to him as being jolly, but do we ever actually see him making a joke? He always seemed very serious to me in his earliest appearances.
Why didn't JK just land in Sky City instead of below it? Seems like it would've been easier to extort them. He must've had to yell REALLY loud to threaten them from way down there. And how did they even see him thru the smog?
I wonder if they have a Sky High School.
Again, Forte's animals are quite laughable. Reflector Beast looks like a hippo with solar panels.
Maybe Colossal Boy was commandeering a drive-in movie screen for his lessons.
I don't see any lefties among the Legionnaires. Hmmph. Right-handed super-oppressors.
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