Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Reading the Legion: Archives #3

Adv. 323

From one of the best Hamilton stories to one of the most meh. There's nothing really wrong with "The Eight Impossible Missions"--it's a nice off-beat tale that builds upon the idea of the Legion being a club and performing initiation tests, this time to elect a new leader. And it features characters who haven't gotten much time in the spotlight--Phantom Girl, Element Lad, and even Jimmy Olsen and Pete Ross (who are included, no doubt, because their names begin with initials that complete the puzzle). But after having just read a similar story about Proty II's induction into the Super-Pets, I found this to be more of the same. I was psyched to read the next development in the Time Trapper subplot (though I know it won't come for about 15 issues yet) instead.

"The Eight Impossible Missions" has its charm and a few surprises, such as Saturn Girl winning re-election, but having read this story before and knowing the solution to the puzzle, there was little to keep me engaged on this run-through. Saturn Girl's test is the most fun of the lot, and Element Lad's contains an element (hah!) of danger, which shows the lengths the Legionnaires will go to, I suppose, to pass such tests. However, most of the tests were over too quickly and didn't seem to challenge the Legionnaires much. (Jimmy's was obviously no challenge at all, and Ultra Boy's required him only to think about which power to use.)

The Mighty Gazor must be lonely. That's probably why he tells Tinya more than she needs to know. (Was an explanation ever given for the criminal's name? Gazor is not a standard Kryptonian name; it seems like a codename of some sort.) If he'd told her to buzz off instead, she would have failed her test.

By the way, didn't one of the earlier stories (305?) show the other Phantom Zone criminals plotting revenge against the Legion? When did Superman free them?

So, this story is memorable mainly for the flashback to Superboy's induction, which has left Legion fans pulling their hair out ever since. The real answer regarding the order of induction, of course, is that the writer and editor hadn't finalized Legion history yet. (Similarly, they included a flashback of Lightning Lad joining the Legion back in 308 before it was established that he was a co-founder.) However, someone on this board once suggested that the Legion inducted Superboy as an honorary member first and as a full Legionnaire at a later date, and it's the latter anniversary they remembered in this story. Sounds plausible enough.

You know, one of the requirements of becoming a Legionnaire is that one must be of good character. (This has been mentioned in the excerpts of the Legion Constitution which have been published.) The fact that Spider Girl, Radiation Roy, and Ronn-Kar became villains suggests they didn't have very good character to begin with.

One of Eryk's genius long held theories is that there is an untold tale of the Legion versus the Phantom Zone villains that was being hinted at throughout the early Silver Age (roughtly 1962-1964). I think this is a fantastic idea.

I also think then it *must* have happened sometime before this issue. Which actually makes sense since around this time, the Phantom Zone villains stop being as prolific in the regular Superman titles as well.

I'd guess if such a story was to be told, it would probably fit in sometime between "Mutiny" and "Eight Impossible Missions". I guess when it's told, we'll have a better idea of exactly where it fits depending on if Bouncing Boy is in the roster!

Also, based on this story, it stands to reason that whatever the outcome, the Phantom Zone villains do not get sent back to the Phantom Zone. Perhaps Zod finally learns to live peacefully? I sure hope that Kru-El dies though!

The Phantom Zone is clearly inhabited when Mon-El is freed; however it is portrayed as empty in the story which introduces Whizzy!

Supergirl must have visited the Legion at a later time in their history, after the Phantom Zone had been emptied.

Ah, time travel. My head hurts.

Doesn't anyone ELSE think that Element Lad's mission was so much more dangerous than anyone else's?!?! I mean frickin' URANIUM?!?!?!

To make matters worse, Jan transmutes it BEFORE he's figured out the flight belt thing andexposes himself to some deadly radiation before the thing floats away.

I know, I know....there are any number of explanations for this: 1) It's the 31st century--they've got adavanced treatments for rad exposure. 2) Jan could have transmuted the radiation that came his way somehow, 3) Maybe the radiation he was exposed to was somehow minor despite the massive size of the eye-thingy and of course 4) suspension of disbelief, which applies more to the innocence of the Silver Age and before than it does now.

But if you look into this psychologically, you could argue that Proty II is possibly testing Jan's resolve to live, Jan being the last survivor of his world. Any teenager (and, indeed, any person, but maybe especially a teenager) would suffer tremendous survivor's guilt and likely harbour thoughts of suicide under these circumstances. Given the relative ease and lower danger threshold of most or all of the other tests, I wouldn't be surprised if a telepath like Proty might have had something like that in mind. (The scenario is even the one featured on the cover, so you can see the decision was made by editorial that Jan's mission was probably the most grueling in their eyes.)

Yeah, I know none of this likely entered Siegel's mind, but fans have always interpreted the earliest stories to add depth to Legionnaires, so I think it's fair game.

Also of note with Jan is that he's not drawn in a vaguely cherubic manner as he was in at least his first appearance (and possibly for a while afterwards). When i reviewed his first appearance in the second Archive thread, I pointed out that he was drawn with some baby fat in his face and torso. This made him look younger than some of the others, I applauded this as a variance in body image when all the other male Legionnaires (except for Chuck and possibly Tenzil) were mostly interchangable in their body types. (Sadly, this aforementioned observation went completely ignored and unresponded to in the other thread.... )

Here, Jan is most definitely traditionally handsome like the other males, the only exception being his signature cow-lick. I wonder is Forte forgot he drew Jan this way originally or if he may have had some editorial pressure to make Jan look more like the other guys? With Chuck's recent slim-down, it's not out of the question.

It's a shame if that's what happened. Chunky boys in the '60s probably identified with heroes like Chuck and Jan, if even on a subliminal level. Even now, we could use more variance in body types of comic book characters, even if kids don't read comics anymore.

Some other, non-Jan-related, observations of Adv. 323:

So...two Proty-featuring stories in a row, huh? Interesting. I think maybe it wouldn't have happened if we hadn't had two different writers on the issues. Hard to say. Seems like editorial would have hd Siegel save this for another issue. Or maybe Proty was getting really popular with the fans at the time, and they were giving fans what they wanted?

Personally, I think having Proty feature majorly in three of the last four issues kind of dilutes his impact somewhat. Space his appearances out a little, and you don't have that "Proty fatigue", especially when you have a couple dozen main characters we don't get to see do nearly enough.

Hell, Jimmy or Pete could have devised the tests, y'know? No reason to use Proty. We already know he's clever from last issue, right?

Not hatin' on Proty, really. The story was a nice Silver Age diversion, and I must admit, I was as clueless as the rest as to what the solution was supposed to be. (Memories very fuzzy of most of these stories, read long ago.)

Imra, however, put it together. And she most assuredly did NOT cheat with her telepathy! Nuh-UH! Dunno, guys, I wouldn't put it past ol' Ironbutt.... (I mean, BRAINY couldn't figure it out?!?! Come ON! Okay, maybe that was him self-disqualifying from the whole thing after the 3D chess thing, but it's unclear.)

Also, how do you select the friggin' LEADER of a coupla dozen heroes in a contest with only NINE members and two honorary members present. REALLY?!?!?

And Gazor has the most evil face Tinya has ever seen?!? I guess Tinya hasn't seen too many faces, eh? If she ever sees Pixar's Up! and the grumpy old dude in it at a classic holo festival, I guess she'll have nightmares!

Ah, the Silver Age....

And a little postscript that I keep forgetting to mention...

Am I the only one who thought flight rings were already introduced way before now? I had no recollection that flight belts hung in there for so long! I wonder when they'll finally show up?!? (Don't spoil me on this--I'm curious to see for myself!)

But did anyone else misremember the longevity of the flight belt?

Paladin, read your dang messages.

Flight belts might have already been gone by the time the issue came out, but I think in the days of self-contained stories in a single issue, it was probably pretty common to have an issue put aside in case of emergency, or just get delayed, such that the stories were not always printed in the order they were produced.

Normally if an editor noticed "oh we drew flight belts in this one" he'd put in an Editor's Note saying "Obviously this story takes place before Brainiac 5 invented Flight Rings". But maybe the editor didn't notice.

I like how Brainy was so humble here, unlike in later incarnations. Go big brain!

Lardy, a few things:

Great observation on Jan, and Proty possibly testing his resolve to live. It feels very "right", and fits in nicely with the psychological follow up to what's come before. In that sense, this is a big story for Jan.

I also noted your comments on Jan's body type before and how it changes here. If we follow the above logic of this being a turning point for Jan as he matures as a Legionnaire, an accompanying physical change--no matter how slight--is a nice way to further show that.

Lastly, I also either totally forgot or never realized flight belts went this long. Or that they were so continually shown (rather than simply being forgot with no explanation). Reading them all the way through like this with others has helped me pick up on a lot of things I haven't noticed before!

It will be quite awhile before the flight rings are introduced.

Pete or Jimmy could have devised the test, but that would have disqualified them from participating. That's probably why an outsider (Proty) was used.

It occurred to me that this is the third story in a row in which characters have had to undergo tests of some sort. In 321, the Time Trapper puts the Legionnaires through tests so they will spill the beans on the Concentrator (which you don't want to do since concentrated beans are hard to clean up). In 322, Proty goes through initiation tests to join the Super-Pets, and in this ish, Proty puts the Legionnaires through a series of tests to determine their leader. In addition to the overuse of Proty, there's an overuse of tests as a plot device. I suspect someone was running low on ideas . . .

I hadn't noticed that Siegel wrote this story instead of Hamilton. It makes little difference as their approaches to the Legion are complementary (or Mort kept a tight grip on quality control). Perhaps that explains the back-to-back Proty stories: If Hamilton was not available to write this issue, perhaps Mort used a previously prepared fill-in. (Notice there's no mention of Proty joining the Super-Pets.)

Lardy's speculation about Proty's popularity also makes sense. Just as previous stories overused Sun Boy to the point where he became obnoxious, so, too, does Proty seem to be vying the spot of Top Dog (or Top Protean). Even in an ensemble series like the Legion, there are always characters whom both writers and fans pay more attention to than others.

Adventure #324

Hamilton continues his long running theme on focusing on outsiders by introducing another classic set: the Heroes of Lallor. While there are some similarities to the Subs, Hamilton really delves deeper into the the larger detail for their existing to make them more sci-fi and more political. Here, the story is more complete which works nicely. Hamilton is at his best when exploring the themes of outsiders finding their place in society and believing in themselves.

I actually think the second Heroes of Lallor story--the Beast Boy one--is better (and one of the best of the Silver Age) but there's no denying this is a really terrific story with a ton of great stuff going on here. Hamilton is on a roll now.

Meanwhile, Dr. Marden King, seems to be at conflict between writer and artist. Forte depicts him in his late 40's at the youngest while his brother was a teen. There's some obvious explanations but it doesn't sit right with me. When I first learned of this story for some reason I mistakenly believed King became "Jungle King II"; I was so disappointed! Still, he does work well as a manipulator playing the teams against each other.

The fear of accidental atomic explosions was never more terrifying than in 1964; just after the Cuban Missile Crisis; the movie Failsafe in theaters; LBJ running the most ridiculous and hyperbolic Presidential campaign EVER. It was never far from thoughts.

Of the Heroes of Lallor, I've always liked Beast Boy and Gas Girl the best, because of their later stories (Somi in 5YL). Duplicate Boy is a rare LSH character I actually dislike. His power set is over the top and he's basically the strongest young hero we've seen yet.

Page 5 sees Forte mixing up his panel arrangements, going way outside of his comfort zone. I like the experimentation.

Duplicate Boy's reaction to Superboy's request to come and be interrogated is realistic and tragic. So far, a very strong yet subtle depiction of the affects of a police state.

In part 1, I really want to like the Vi / Dupe romance but it doesn't work for me. I'd have much preferred Vi getting a chance to show some bravery and ingenuity, instead of being saved by Duplicate Boy. However, in Part 2 we see Vi start to show the gumption I was hoping for. Her escape is one of the best panels she's had so far!

Man! Seeing Mon, Jo, Jan and Gim come out of a rocket to kick your ass is crazy intimidating! My earlier feelings towards Duplicate Boy are changing--that takes some real guts to hold his ground!

Great to see the Somi learn of the past LSH deeds, including the evacuation in "Mutiny"!

The conclusion with Marden King is well done, with the Lallorians figuring it out on their own and putting a stop to further violence. Coming home to a planet free of their tyrant is a little convenient--I'd love to see a story where they help overthrow the tyrant.

All in all, this is a great story. Tightly paced, a great intro and actual story arc for the Super Outlaws, and Vi gets her first actual lead role and romance. It's amazing there haven't been more stories with the Heroes of Lallor.

Bonus Letters Page assessment:
- Mort reveals (again?) that Star Boy's prior powers in his first appearance were temporary.

- an anonymous self-described "fat reader" laments that with Chuck skinny now he has no one to relate to so he doesn't feel like an outsider. The letter is pretty heart wrenching. Mort points out that lots of fatties have done well for themselves, like former Presidents Taft and Cleveland! Oh Mort.

Adv. 324

As if the Legion's universe wasn't already crowded, now we are introduced to the Heroes of Lallor. But it's okay, because this "rival group" of super-heroes answers several important questions: How are the Legionnaires viewed in distant parts of the galaxy (answer: they're unknown)? Is the Legion the only team of heroes in the galaxy (not any more)? And what would happen if one of the Legionnaires fell in love with a hero from another world? Long distance romances must be hard when "long distance" refers to light years.

Cobie did an excellent job of outlining the story's significance and high points. I agree that this story works well, with Marden King taking advantage of the HoL's longing for a home and their lack of knowledge of the LSH. Cobie also points out that this story echoes Hamilton's favorite theme of outsiders looking for a place be belong, although the first story that popped into my mind was the forthcoming 333, which features two groups of space wanderers seeking to call earth home.

The action springs naturally from the characters and situation. The Lallorians convincingly capture Superboy, Star Boy, Invisible Kid, and Shrinking Violet. Then Star Boy and Invisible Kid distract Duplicate Boy, allowing Vi to escape. This all leads to a brawl between Duplicate Boy and Colossal Boy and Mon-El. "Take him, Mon-El," indeed! There is more fighting in this story than in most of the ones we've read, but it's Silver Age violence, so no one really gets hurt. More importantly, the action serves the story well, building upon previous scenes and pushing us into the next scene.

Cobie's point about Vi being too passive at first is well taken; however, she deserves kudos since the plan to escape was her idea. She also evades the HoL and escapes in a rocket ship to warn the other Legionnaires. In one story, Vi has shown more independence and spirit than any other female Legionnaire so far, even Saturn Girl (who has been too passive even while being leader).

Of course, this story is a product of its time, and Vi too quickly falls in love with Duplicate Boy and begs the other Legionnaires not to hurt him. Their romance is very cliched and rushed. Duplicate Boy, too, behaves like a sap, falling for a pretty face he's just met.

However, the Heroes of Lallor also demonstrate intelligence and initiative by figuring out King's deception.

Notice, though, that Hamilton strains to give Evolvo Lad something useful to do. Evolvo Lad's two contributions--devising a strategy for attacking the super-heroes and figuring out King's motive for hiding information--should not take an advanced intelligence to figure out. Perhaps the remote location of Lallor has left its inhabitants woefully naive and unsophisticated. (Oh, dear. They're the backwoods hicks of the Legion universe.:) )

A few nice touches:
-- Invisible Kid and Star Boy, as well as Vi, do a lot in this story--three underutilized Legionnaires finally get to shine.
-- This is the first story in the Adventure run, IIRC, that does not feature Sun Boy at all (though he does sneak into two flashback images of the Legionnaires doing good deeds).
-- The evacuation of Xenn (318) is referenced, one of the few times we've seen an actual story being depicted when the Legionnaire enumerate their past deeds.
-- The romance between Vi and Duplicate Boy is left open for future development.

A few irks:
-- Would it have killed Forte to draw Beast Boy and Evolvo Lad transforming rather than jumping from "before" to "after" pictures? These scenes are choppy and unsatisfying.
-- What happened to all those Legion clubhouse security devices (such as knockout gas disabling anyone who does not step on the right floor tiles) that are supposed to prevent intruders and to which we were laboriously introduced a few issues back?
-- While the HoL demonstrate nobility by feeling bad about attacking the LSH, volunteering to have their powers stripped forever is overkill. But at least their near-sacrifice allows Superboy to be a Mensch.

Though "The Legion of Super-Outlaws" has its flaws, it is, within the context of the stories we've read so far, one of the best.

You know, I knew something wasn't right about the Evolvo and Beast Boy transformations, put didn't realize it Forte's way of presenting it until your post. Good catch. It definitely feels choppy.

Also good observation on Evolvo Lad not doing much here. He actually doesn't do much in the entire preboot. It isn't until the postboot that Evolvo gets a major role (that really works well in the context of those stories).

I think Evolvo Lad's power was, by definition, limited and ill thought out. Similar to Chemical King's ability to affect chemical reactions, it requires a good deal of scientific know-how and explanation to be used creatively. Within the context of these stories, very few such opportunities presented themselves.

Instead, the writers had to resort to simplistic depictions of Evolvo Lad as an ape, to demonstrate backwards evolution, or as a human with an oversized cranium to demonstrate forward evolution. But the former power was already duplicated, in this story at least, by Beast Boy, and the latter required Evolvo Lad to be far more intelligent than any living human being, even the writer. How do you depict intelligence you do not possess?

Adventure 324

So, I definitely have mixed feelings on this issue. There's a lot to like in the story potential of the Heroes of Lallor, but somehow it seems kind of wasted in this particular tale.

--Lots of weirdness in this Marden King guy, who seems a couple of generations older than his "brother", plus the whole mystery of his last name not matching the "Dez-Nu" name for JK's father.

--I'm pretty sure that a later retcon made it the case that the HoLs powers came from an atomic war. Which would make the whole sequence of their origin make a lot more sense. Why would the Prime Minister exile them rather than try to make them serve him? It would make more sense if they were from a conquered country.

--Even so, one wonders why the HoLs don't try to depose the leader anyway. I suppose we could pretend he already has the families prisoner, and threatens their life if they don't leave planet, but still...

--The HoLs seem really gullible to fall for King's story.

--Speaking of gullible, note that Star Boy is the Legionnaire to receive King's call.

--Superboy's assertion that neither Shrinking Violet, Invisible Kid, nor Star Boy is useful in a fight is so completely bizarre!

--Evolvo Lad's brilliant strategy: throw Superboy into a kryptonite cage? I'm pretty sure plenty of villains have thought of that without an advanced futureman brain!

--Er... then again compared to shouting out "I'll make myself invisible and get in that building!" in front of your opponents, Evolvo Lad's strategic thinking does look pretty advanced!

--Sheesh! How many times does Shrinking Violet shrink to tiny size, only to be attacked by small animals?

--Violet is actually presented as pretty competent in her escape from the clubhouse, however!

--You'd think the HoLs would set off some of those traps we know to exist in the Clubhouse!

--Mlain... another world ruined by war!

--King isn't very smart either, or else he'd realize that a locked door isn't going to keep out Gas Girl!

--The ending is pretty anticlimactic, with Duplicate Boy simply surrendering to the Legionnaire because of his love for Vi, and the others finding out what's behind the locked door.

--Walking in front of the ray to remove their powers does seem a bit extreme!

--And so the Lallorians drove the PM from office while they were gone. Again, wouldn't that have been much easier with HoLs help?

Anyway, what really bugs me about this story is how much of it rests on the characters being really gullible. Also, Duplicate Boy seems already way over-used compared to the rest of the team even in this story.

If there were a whole bunch more stories of the HoLs in the Silver Age, I might be a little more satisfied with this tale, but, as is, it seems like something much more interesting could have been done with them than the rather melodramatic love story of Dupes and Vi.

Re: Evolvo Lad's powers, it's worth noting that his powers seem to be based on an orthogenetic conception of evolution, which was a fairly respectable alternative to Darwinian accounts of evolution in the early 20th century (and features in quite a bit of Golden Age sci fi, such as Hamilton's works), but was quickly falling out of favor by the time this story was published.

And it's certainly possible for Evolvo Lad to have a squiffy pseudo-scientific explanation for his powers, like that his junk DNA includes the information necessary to turn into any other species in his evolutionary tree, by devolving down to a branch, and then re-evolving up a different route to become a reptilian or avian or whatever.

I've noticed that a lot of the action in these Adventure stories springs from characters being gullible. On one hand, it's a convenient story telling device that moves the story along quicker; on the other hand, it disrespects both the characters' and readers' intelligence.

Though that would make him effectively another Beast Boy!

The funny thing is that in some stories it doesn't bother me so much, but in this one it just really rubbed me the wrong way.

I like how King doesn't figure out that Life Lass can animate the chair he's sitting in. Of course, given the nature of her power, anywhere he went would have made him a sitting or standing duck.

One cool thing about the Heroes of Lallor is that they were all reader-created characters.