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

By the way, did anyone else notice that the panel of Light Lass walking arm-in-arm with Element Lad (page 4) contains a caption that reads, "Presently, as the Legionnaires mingle among the gay throngs . . ."?

Ironic, considering the eventual revelations and speculations about these two.

Nah, that's just teenage boys all around.



Oh, the Code found nothing wrong with brainwashing children into thinking girls were inferior to boys--that was the standard cultural assumption of the time. You just couldn't show girls being sexy along with vampires, werewolves, or sympathetic criminals.

Can't blame Mr. Hamilton for this one, Cobes--the Archive shows the credit (blame?) for this story is Siegel's.

Yeah, it was kind of bad in a way but also kinda fun! As noted above, it's nice to see the "weak" female Legionnaires take out their male peers so effectively. And the scenes with some of the males just prior to seering betrayal are pretty priceless: Thom's "MMM-MMM Boy!! How SWEET it is!!" thought as he embraces Tinya...Superboy's hilarious "ungallant" rationalization...Lyle's being pretty damn forward...Jan enjoying what apparently is his first kiss---all pretty fun and make them seem less cardboard cut-outs of each other, personality-wise.

Thom's disposal was especially hilarious, though you have to wonder why Tinya didn't just let him be killed by the deadly spoors, rather than starving in a deep pit. I guess evil Tinya was too sadistic to do him in nice and quick, eh?

For me, the big disappointment is the resolution. I'd have much rather have seen the girls break Azura's control themselves or had them been revealed to be playing along from the beginning to expose Azura. Basically, an unearned and unsatisfying deus ex machina, rather than a heroic flourish at the end.

Also..."Femnaz"? Really?!?! I guess it's lucky for the male Legionnaires that those Nazi Females were into ill-advisably shooting destructive 'prayer-rockets'at their moon in honor of their Moon-Goddess!

Still, a fun ride for me until that ending. The scene of the girls boogeying in triumph was especially memorable. I think I'll shoot off a rocket at the moon to commemorate the experi--OOOPS!

You can make a case that Tinya and perhaps all the girls were resisting the brainwashing, and that's why they didn't have any insta-deaths, like a simple shot in the head.

OH! and "Femnaz"? I guess Rush Limbaugh read comics back then.

Superboy #117

So a few things jump out at me right away about this issue. It's got one of the coolest covers of the entire Silver Age! Just an all around awesome cover for Superboy and the Legion--I love seeing the Legion right in the midst of Clark Kent's life, complete with Lana and Pete.

It's also interesting that the month the Legion dominates Superboy's cover, Superboy dominates the Adventure Comics cover (with a reprint no less).

Also, this is one of those stories I learned about well after I had been knee deep in Legion fandom for some time. So it felt a bit like I had uncovered a "secret issue". In fact, I actually bought this issue twice! The first time with a huge group of other comics and the second a few week later when I couldn't remember if I had bought it yet.

This was really the classic Legion alternate universe story until LSH #300. By now alternative universe stories were the hot commodity at DC, thanks to the Flash of 2 Worlds. Not that Superboy hasn't had his fair share of them since his earliest days--they're basically a staple of 50's comics.

The story is pretty strait forward and not anything worth writing home to mom about, but its charming and tells a nice little adventure. The 8 page format fits it well.

Er, Brainy, I thought we discussed not telling Lyle to go invisible so oil loudly?

Jan turning the bullets rubber is the best application of his powers thus far.

Brainy adds up all the figures in a math text and the teachers brother just happened to write it? I call shenanigans.

Once Ultra Boy steps up to cause havoc the pacing of the story becomes lightning quick. I didn't mind that at all.

I've read so many parallel worlds stories over the last 20 years that I have to admit the concept has become boring for me. Seeing it done "short and sweet" style is refreshing. All in all, a nice little story with a fantastic cover.

And Lardy, thanks for pointing out Hamilton didnt write "Revolt". It seems obvious in hindsight since its such a classic Siegel type story.

See, the impression I've been given of Hamilton throughout these Rereading threads is that he was, frankly, a bit sexist in his treatment of the female Legionnaires, most notably in his marginalising Imra when she was the current leader (a status which came about under a different writer), with her authority usurped by alpha-male Sun Boy, and culminating in the infamous "too dangerous for a girl".

(And if that's unfair, it's your posts to blame :p)

The plot of "Revolt of the Girl Legionnaires" reminds me a lot of the future story of Thora of Taltar - but I feel that one was better written.

Well, compared to basically all of his contemporaries, he's like an ultra-radical!

And I strongly suspect that outside of the story she's first elected leader, neither Hamilton nor Mort really thought of Imra as the leader until her second election. Either they forgot or just considered her first election for that issue only.

Superboy # 117

I agree with the "nothing to write home about" summary. This story is basically throwaway fluff, but, unlike the Jimmy Olsen stories, it lacks much charm to recommend it.

What I find more interesting than the story itself are the implications of the Legionnaires dropping in to visit Smallville and Clark's class. No one in Smallville thinks to ask what the future holds for the country, the planet, or themselves. Instead, the teacher wants to know what the most unusual element of the future is and to take a virtual tour of alien cities. (Mechago is cool, though.)

The five Legionnaires who appear could be interchangeable with any other members. Aside from foiling a bank robbery, they don't do much. If Invisible Kid and Element Lad were visiting my classroom, I'd ask them to demonstrate their powers. They could even lecture on the scientific principles of invisibility or the periodic table, not answer questions that virtually any other Legionnaire could answer.

Once Ultra Boy decides to expose Clark's secret, things fall into place a little too neatly. The "Smallvile" clue was planted early, but, otherwise, Clark's identity is saved by a series of convenient happenstances: a lightning flash, the Superboy of this world returning home, a hairpin on the floor, Clark possessing an alien medal on which he scribbles a message, the Superboy of this world receiving and believing the message and then having time to retrieve an anti-gravity paralysis disc . . . all of which happens in the few seconds between Ultra Boy announcing his intentions and following through. Yes, Superboy has super-speed, but, in this story his greatest ability appears to be stopping time.

Paladin described Adv. 326 as an unearned victory for the girl Legionnaires; this ending feels equally unearned for similar reasons. Everything is explained after the fact, including the Legionnaires' failure to salute the Legion flag. When writers plant clues in stories, it's considered fair play to give the reader an equal chance of spotting those clues. But since the requirement to salute the Legion flag has never been a factor in previous stories or mentioned beforehand in this one, it's cheating to reveal this is what tipped Superboy off. This revelation creates a distance between the reader and the main character when we really want to be inside the character's head all along.

Yeah, this story could have been left out of the Archives and not have been missed. I'd have much rather the Lois Lane story you guys reviewed had been swapped in instead.

I think this one would've been better if we'd seen more background as to what was so bad about these Legionnaires or what was different about this 30th century. Plus, I guess it comes down to our Superboy helping out an alternate version of himself. Turns out, our Superboy's secret was never in any danger.

*Ho-Hum* At least next issue we get to meet that interesting one-off character, Brin Londo.

On the plus side, it's always great to see Curt Swan art.

Lots of potential for speculation here. Perhaps the Ultra Boy of this world never truly reformed and was not readmitted following this Legion's equivalent of the events depicted in 316.

Perhaps Brainiac 5 lost his sanity this early on.

Element Lad could have been suffering from PTSD, which resulted in some conduct-unbecoming behavior.

Not sure what would have caused Invisible Kid and Chameleon Boy to be expelled; perhaps the former sold his invisibility serum on the black market, and the latter, lacking guidance from a father figure, gave in to xenophobic hatred directed at his race.

Lots of ways in which these Legionnaires' stories could have turned out differently if they had made different choices.

^ Cham and Lyle (and Vi, hidden?) we're infiltrating them as a ruse?! Now that would have been great--especially if it was the same alternate Cham from a few stories back.

So this was an alternate Legion of an alternate Superboy's timeline?

Perhaps called the Legion of Super-Dicks?


Jerks that is, not the porn kind. Though I guess I also kind of like the idea of Ultra Dick, Cosmic Dick, Colossal Dick, even Lightning Dick. (You all can name other Dicks at your leisure.)

Not the greatest story, it's repeating the same old idea of imposters. HWW makes a good point that the Smallvile residents are pretty uncurious about their own future.

Swan does make the alternate Legionnaires look a a bit surly at times, although I doubt I would have noticed this as a child.

Both this issue and the previous one in the Archives mentioned something about the smiles being off (of the revolting girl Legionnaires in the former and the evil alternate Legionnaires in the latter), I noticed.

Another thing to note - often, when the ending is revealed the protagonist has figured out all the clues. However, when those clues are first presented, rarely does the protagonist think or react in a way that would show us that said clue was significant. That's why some Silver Age stories are ultimately unsatisfying as detective stories.

Doris Lessing wrote about spending time with the counter-culture of the 60s (she was older than they were) and remarking rather acidly that, despite all their liberal views, the women still did all the housework in the communes. It took a while to translate the ideals into practicality (for both sexes), so Hamilton could have espoused belief in equality, but not have envisioned it as actually happening. Women were equal, but you still opened doors for them. Maybe just having females active in the LSH was a big step.

Excellent point.

There mere fact that the LSH had more than one female member was a huge step. Every other super-hero team at the time had just one token female: Wonder Woman, The Invisible Girl, Marvel Girl, Wonder Girl, Elasti-Girl, The Wasp. The JSA had both the Golden Age Wonder Woman and Black Canary, but this group was not seen on a regular basis.

In my conversation with Ex yesterday, we talked about how the LSH has always represented an open, inclusive community. Even in the 1960s, when most of the members were white, they were still from other planets, and "token minorities" such as Brainy and Cham were treated as any other member of the team. Though this was a far cry from what we think of as inclusivity now, the seeds of inclusion and equality were planted.

One must bear in mind that all of the Legion's early creators were from a generation in which these ideals were very new and went against the grain of what what they were taught to believe was right or normal. Even creators who came of age in the 1960s were reared by parents, schools, and communities immersed in the older ideals. Commercial considerations also played a role. Comics, like TV shows, cater to established beliefs and preferences more than they try to challenge them. That's why Star Trek, for all of its liberal and progressive ideals, still featured women officers walking around in mini-skirts and saying, "Captain, I'm frightened."

But the LSH did make great strides, even in the early '60s, first by having so many female members and then by occasionally showing them to be powerful and resourceful. That achievement needs to be acknowledged.

And Golden Age Wonder Woman could only be the secretary!

Even Silver Age WW had to "prove" herself to the League through a series of tests.

"The Lone Wolf Legionnaire" introduces the culmination of Hamilton's outsiders in Brin Londo, who was so memorable, fans would keep asking about him ad nausem. The other "culmination of Hamilton's loners" is Beast Boy and its noteworthy how this story contrasts with that one in terms of a happier ending and a tragic one.

Lone Wolf (its cool to call him that) has a mystique about him in the Silver Age because he shows up so early and doesn't join until the end; yet he goes on to be a long term major stalwart member for decades. He's got a very dashing look with odd colors, which makes him stand out.

After several Siegel stories, Hammy is back and I personally notice an immediate bump up in quality. As always it includes several random bits.

We see for one panel only False Pretenses Lad! It this Jan Jor?!! If I were to ever write the LSH, I would answer this! And rope in all the random Jor related theories Eryk and I have been spitting.

Supes and Mon sent off early again! That should stop happening some time soon, iirc?

Brainy and Ayla are one of my favorite pair-ups, mainly because of their awesome reboot friendship. Reboot plays up that notion well in our 21CL ongoing project.

Timberwolf is often compared to Wolverine these last few decades but its noteworthy how similar he is to Marvel's other major superstar, who was skyrocketing to superstardom in 1965: Spider-Man. A loner, with acrobat type powers, a bug / animal theme...there's enough there to make a connection. Of course Brin is clearly a Hamilton character with a classic Forte look.

Brin gives Ayla a love interest--the second to last Legion lass currently in need of one. And it fits the classic tried and true "believe in them when no one else will" motif (which occasionally is altered into the "suspect them more than anyone else").

"The Youth Who Wasn't Human" is a memorable title to me because of one night on LW when Eryk, Lash & pals created a series of threads based on hilarious puns on the title. Ah, great night. Good memories.

Part 2 has a cool montage of three Legion teams working concurrently on the same case: very well done! It has a very modern cop show feel. (Jo & Garth, Brainy / Dirk / Ayla, and Imra & Cham).

Karth Arn is introduced and I can't help but feel "what a great villain, I wish he reappeared". And Eryk started a thread about just that a few years ago! Much like Nardo, he's a fantastic one-off LSH villain worthy of a return.

Things come together fast, and knowing ahead of time we won't be getting much of an action packed finale, it was cool to see Brainy do some quick deductive work.

All in all, I thought this was a superior story. Focused, complex, but not overly so. Not the best story, but certainly ranking higher than most so far.

Adv. 327

"The Lone Wolf Legionnaire" is a good story that was kept from being great by a rushed ending and yet another villain who gives up too quickly. In fact, Karth Arn resembles all those suspects on "Law & Order": once he’s identified as the culprit, he can't wait to confess everything and explain how he did it all.

Up to that point, it was indeed a superior story. We're introduced to Lone Wolf and made to care about him in two ways. First, we sympathize with the fact that he's not human but wants to be. Second, we admire him for risking his life to save the Legionnaires from the blue whatsis that's drawing their ship in. This is a classic way of making the audience care about a character: show the hero putting his life at risk for others, particularly when those others intend to capture him.

The Light Lass love interest echoes Shrinking Violet's interest in Duplicate Boy three issues back, and nothing new is really provided here. Alya plays the lovelorn female who can’t believe this boy she’s just met is truly bad, and, as it turns out, she’s right. If only real life worked this way.

However, it’s good to see so many Legionnaires participate in this adventure. Hamilton effectively moves them in and out of the story. (Once again, however, Mon-El and Superboy are sent away so they can’t resolve the mystery too quickly—a ploy that’s already getting old. One wonders why they’re even in this story.) I am a little disappointed that neither Lightning Lad nor Sun Boy (who returns to moderate prominence in this story) get to use their powers, but I admire the fact that Brainiac 5 finally uses his super-brain to do something super by solving the mystery. It feels like a nice change of pace to see him, Ayla, and Jo come to the fore.

(Notice, by the way, that Ayla’s emblem changes at last to a feather.)

And although Brin Londo comes across as a sympathetic character, I confess it’s really Karth Arn I’m rooting for. He was created to be nothing more than a slave; he risked his life to retrieve the rare element Zuunium and watched all of his android brothers die in the process. Then he got to stand idly by and watch again as Dr. Londo passed on the gifts of Zuunium to his son, who did nothing to earn such a reward. This story echoes both the Prodigal Son and the fall of Lucifer: Karth Arn is not only jealous of Brin, his flesh and blood “brother,” but becomes dissatisfied with his role as servant and wants more recognition. (Dr. Londo, it seems, built his androids a little too well. He could also have passed for a Nazi scientist in terms of how he uses the androids for labor and cares nothing about their sacrifice.) Yes, Karth plays a dirty trick on Brin, but, if viewed in terms of his own survival, his choices make sense.

Another admirable trait about this story is the way it’s told. When Karth, posing as Brin, relates his story in flashback, he’s shown from behind or from a distance to create a sense of mystery over his identity. (In black and white, this story telling device is particularly effective.) This is a nice, subtle touch that shows how writers and artists can play straight with readers without telling them everything.

The ending, by the way, leaves Brin's status as a Legionnaire uncertain. Ayla says there's nothing stopping him from joining the Legion now, and his only response is that he no longer wants to be called Lone Wolf. Fans would have been justifiably confused and disappointed when he didn't appear in subsequent stories. In these pre-Karate Kid days, Brin is the most action-oriented hero we've yet seen. Watching him swing from ropes and perform other acrobatic feats is a lot more exciting than watching most of the Legionnaires point their fingers and shoot rays.

I decided a few weeks ago that I wouldn’t try to rate or grade these stories, but, if I did, I’d give this one an A minus. It’s one of the strongest efforts so far.

Funny how the title is "Lone Wolf Legionnaire", but he didn't join the Legion right away.

Also interesting is that he's the first Legionnaire after Brainiac 5, Shrinking Violet and Mon-El to not have a Boy/Girl/Lad/Lass/Kid name.

I'm still baffled as to why an android would want to work in a circus, though. Do androids get bored?

The art's pretty good, I like how Ayla and Brin both look absolutely miserable at times. Even without her tears, you'd know Ayla was sad.