Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Reading the Legion: Archives #4

Although Ultra Boy's power has drawbacks, it is nice to see him using them so intelligently in this story. It's good, as he certainly has to be more careful than fellow powerhouses Supergirl or Mon-El.

Also nice to see Phantom Girl going out and continuing the search even while trapped in phantom form.

I do wish more had been done with Triplicate Girl's triplicating ability - so she can search in three directions at once, I wish it had been taken a step further by... by.... I'm not really sure how. Some kind of mindlink like how her powers were developed later on, so her three selves could share information?

Superboy #124

I’ve never read the Insect Queen origin story before, so it was fun to check it out. It’s purely a Superboy / Lana Lang story so the fact that it was a brief 8 pages was something I didn’t mind at all. Lana is really enjoyable in this story, much more so than usual, and shows character traits of courage, ingenuity and compassion. I think Exnihil would love this one!

An alien randomly landing in Smallville is exactly the type of thing later writers would retcon into being “an alien tracking Superboy for a mysterious reason”. Thus, this tale could have had a great 1970’s type larger story sequel.

Grasshopper Girl is pretty gross looking! Though Lana in a tennis outfit is pretty darn cute!

And wow—Centipede Lana is even grosser! Bug powers are pretty far out, and pretty damn disgusting! I can see this being just the type of story to disturb Alan Moore, Grant Morrison and others.

I love how despite herself, Lana can’t help it and uses an emergency as a chance to find out if Clark is Superboy. That selfishness ever comes to the surface! Oh, Lana.

The oddest thing about the story is that Lana actually keeps the ring—after dozens of instances where she gained super-powers only to lose them at story’s end. Poor Lana…instead of super-strength or flight or any other power, she gets to keep the insect ones.

All in all, this was a pretty okay story that stands out because of the gross usage of insect related tropes. For that, its kind of cool.

Superboy # 124

Technically, this is not a Legion story—the LSH isn’t even mentioned—but it’s included in the Archives and Showcase Presents because it features Lana Lang’s transformation into Insect Queen, who will eventually become a Legion Reservist and appear in at least three Legion stories as such.

“The Insect Queen of Smallville” is a charming tale that relies on a lot of kid logic to make it work. For example, young kids might take it for granted that an alien just happens to be trapped under a tree and needs rescuing. Young kids might also think that adults would behave the way they do in this story: Bank guards allow a strangely transformed girl to carry their stranded armored car full of money to the bank. Mothers would pick up telepathic messages from their children in school and, on command, read their forgotten homework assignments to them. Neither the teacher nor the other students notice the girl in the back of the class has suddenly sprouted antennae.

If one appreciates the comedic logic in such scenes, the story works nicely until the end. Lana, through an act of kindness (rescuing said alien), is given a ring which grants her the powers of an insect when she needs them. There are limitations to this power, though. Lana cannot use a power merely for her own amusement, and she cannot adopt more than one insect form twice (at least not in this story; later stories appear to ignore these limitations). But, even with these restrictions, Lana accomplishes a lot—foiling a robbery in her own home, helping the armored car, turning in her homework, and even writing a word she misspelled on the board 100 times with multiple caterpiller arms. The story makes imaginative use of insect capabilities and would help teach children the different things insects can do.

From a modern perspective, though, the story contains one outright howler of dialogue and a climax that inexplicably turns Lana from protagonist to villain.

The howler occurs when Lana rescues the alien. He responds by telling Lana to follow him to his spaceship so he can give her something. Now, Lana! Didn’t your mother teach you not to follow strangers—even strange aliens—to their vehicles? Ah, the good old days when kids could trust aliens!

The transformation in Lana’s character comes when she and Clark hear a news report of a building collapsing. Lana, who has until now demonstrated the selflessness it takes to be a hero, suddenly falls back on her desire to expose Superboy’s secret identity. Instead of rushing to save the building herself, she envelops Clark in a cocoon so he can’t save the building either without betraying his secret identity.

In typical fashion, Superboy finds a way to outwit her, and Lana puts aside her Insect Queen costume and ring until she can think up some more insect forms to adopt.

(By the way, notice that the building—a pizza parlor—serves Metropolis. Why its impending collapse made the news in Smallville is not explained.)

The climax of the story ruined it for me. There was an opportunity for Lana to ditch Clark and run to save the building, just as he’s ditched her so many times. Perhaps she could have come to appreciate what it’s like to lead a double life and lie to her friends, as Superboy must. But no, she endangers a building and perhaps the lives of others to prove Clark is Superboy.

Lana is such an obsessive stalker and snoop that one wonders why Clark continues to hang out with her. Maybe he has self-esteem issues.

This story, by the way, was written by Otto Binder, the Legion’s co-creator, who makes a rare contribution to the Legion, though he probably didn’t know it at the time.

Looks like we're in total agreement. It was a nice, charming little story with an ending that totally derailed the whole thing. Too bad--Lana being the hero is something I'd really like to read once in awhile!

I really wish there was a well-done Superboy (Superman when he was a boy) series today that could really give Lana and Pete their due on a recurring basis.

Nice, cute little Silver Age yarn but not a Legion story by any stretch. Yes, she later joins the Legion reserve or whatever, but I betcha, without even looking, said story probably gives you at least a brief recap of how Lana became Insect Queen, whether thru dialogue or flashback. Even if it doesn't, I still fail to see why this had to be included in the Archive.

Honestly, Silver Age Lana and Lois are barely tolerable as characters, given their primary purpose and usage seems to always be to expose Clark as Superboy/man. On that front the post-Crisis versions of those characters are really far superior as three-dimensional personalities. I think both finally got fleshed out more in their last decade or so of that continuity, but they were great from the get-go starting with Byrne's reboot. Lana, particularly, knows Clark's secret early on and proves a great confidante for him.

Luckily, this one was only a half-lengther, so it's not a huge deal. And the story is not completely without charm. The goofy/gross insect powers are entertaining, as is Lana's short-lived foray into heroism.

We'll see how her Legion story works on a re-read when we get to it.....

Although Lana was annoying, she could show courage and ingenuity which made some of her stories interesting. Nevertheless, Insect Queen is one of my least favourite characters in the Legionverse. There is something creepy and disturbing (to me) about a human head on an insect body.

It is curious why this story was included in the Archive.

The notion that having insect powers is creepy may have been part of the appeal of Insect Queen. Like Bouncing Boy, she challenges our ideas of what a hero is supposed to look like or be able to do.

One of the positive qualities of this story is that it shows the many different things insects can do and how they are useful in nature--carrying objects heavier than they are, having multiple arms to perform tasks quickly, etc. (Though ladybug shells being bullet proof is a bit of a stretch.)

Lana could have been a very powerful hero: she has all of Spider-Man's abilities and more.

Quite true - and I tend to forget how appealing creepy and icky stuff is to children.




Like Dial H for Hero, the frequent insect changes could overwhelm the story. I wonder if a series based on Insect Queen might have had some staying power if Lana had assumed one insect form per issue, with fewer stunts and more plot and character development.

Also, it's curious, on reflection, that the Legion didn't have an insect-based hero at some point. Well, there was Spider Girl, but that's pushing the insect analogy a bit much, IMO.

I was never clear on whether or not 'Insect' Queen could only gain insect powers, or could also gain arachnid / arthropod powers (like spider webs or a scorpion stinger or pincers).

Adding other 'bugs' to the list could make her even more powerful and versatile, although if she was limited to only actual insects, that would require her to be a bit more creative (and lead to more of a fun learning experience for the reader, as she shows off abilities we might not otherwise know about, like a clicking beetles sonic snap or acid-squirting or glue-generation or acrid toxic clouds).

Of course, if a writer chose to include made-up 'alien insects,' then her power pretty much becomes 'whatever I feel like pulling out of my butt today,' and that's dull.

Yes, it seems that the alien ring made no distinction between insects and arachnids; perhaps earth classifications are not observed by whoever made it.

Cramey's point about Dial H for Hero is well taken. However, since Lana's power is confined to insects, the range of abilities she can demonstrate is much more defined than Robby Reed's. More, since she seems confined to earth insects (perhaps the only type of insects she's familiar with), her power ties in nicely with what student readers would be studying. (If you can throw an educational value into a super-hero story, all is good.) I like Set's idea of sonic snaps, glue generation, etc. With some research and imagination, writers could have turned Insect Queen into an amazing character.

As for insect-based Legionnaires, there was Gates. (He was a bug; I'm not sure of what variety.) Of course, his power of teleportation had nothing to do with being a bug.

Adv. 337

“The Weddings that Wrecked the Legion” marks two significant developments in Legion history. It’s the first clear indication of romance between Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl and between Ultra Boy and Phantom Girl, apart from the Adult Legion stories. It also marks the transition from Saturn Girl to Brainiac 5 as Legion leader.

While the story itself is not one of the Legion’s most memorable adventures, it integrates these developments into the plot quite nicely. The story flows naturally from the characters and their choices, unlike certain previous stories, and suspense escalates as the spies appear to be one step ahead of the Legion at all times. Then we learn the whole thing is a hoax—but a well played one.

After Saturn Girl has picked up a thought of an alien invasion, Brainiac 5 convenes a meeting to thwart the invasion by executing “Plan R”. He scolds Ultra Boy and Phantom Girl for paying more attention to each other than to the meeting. Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad also have trouble keeping their hands off each other and, when Saturn Girl is nearly kidnapped by the aliens, she and Lightning Lad decide to pack it in as Legionnaires and get married. UB and PG follow suit, and a double wedding is performed featuring traditions from both Saturn and Bgztl (but not Rimbor or Winath, oddly).

To replace the departed newlyweds, the Legionnaires hold tryouts and select three new members—Blackout Boy, Size Lad, and Magnetic Kid, not knowing they are really alien spies. The three infiltrators lure the Legionnaires away from the clubhouse so they can search for Plan R, and, finding a coded document, return with it to their own planet, Murra.

However, the Legionnaires have been following them all along and show up on Murra with the “newlyweds” in tow. They reveal that the whole wedding was a sham to get the aliens to reveal themselves, and Plan R is nothing but gibberish. After learning that the aliens give themselves temporary super-powers through a pill-creating machine, the Legionnaires destroy the machine, chase off the aliens and return to earth, where the two couples express a desire to get hitched for real someday.

This is a very satisfying story with a tight focus and no extraneous bits. Even Proty II and the Substitutes have a role to play.

As an added touch, two subplots from previous issues are developed and expanded upon. In the first, Ultra Boy refers back to 316, when the other Legionnaires thought he was a renegade and only Phantom Girl believed in him as the start of their romance. In the second (perhaps unintentionally), Saturn Girl accuses Brainiac 5 of not being able to understand love because of his “cold, unemotional computer mind”—this appears to be the apex of their rivalry which began back in 309 and was referenced in 319 and 333—and then apologizes when she hurts his feelings.

I can’t tell if the rivalry between these two strong-willed characters was intentional on Hamilton’s part, but it’s fun to pick up on these things while reading the stories in sequence. Of course, Imra and Brainy may have been acting in order to fool the spies, but I like the idea of their exchange being buttressed by a genuine personality conflict.

Brainiac 5 proves he’s going to be a very different leader than Saturn Girl. Whereas she seemed almost not to be the leader in most stories, he’s proactive—and he brooks no foolishness. Of course, his brusque manner is going to lead to serious problems in the long run.

Only a few problems undermined this story for me, and two are art-related. The ape-like appearance of the Murrans plays upon stereotypes—they have big ears, big noses, overbites, and appear hunched over in some panels. Once again, Mort and John do nothing to challenge perceptions that bad people look bad.

Second, Forte and the colorist could have been more imaginative in how they depicted Blackout Boy, Size Lad, and Magnetic Kid. They have different colored skin and the most boring costumes ever. Even without Proty II to sense that they were shielding their thoughts, I would have suspected them of being spies.

The third problem is the lengthy flashback in which Brainy reveals the hoax. This could have been summarized in a panel or two and perhaps even should have come at the end of the story. It’s a standard expectation of mystery stories that the detective will catch the killer and then explain how it was done, not explain first and then catch the killer. Reversing the order removes much of the drama and suspense.

But—speaking of the art—Page 3, Panel 3, may be the first panel in the series to feature no dialogue or narration whatsoever. And it doesn’t need any. It’s good to see the art tell the story for a change.

So while 337 is not one of the Legion’s most memorable tales, it is competent and fun to read. In bringing out the romances and changing the leadership, it also moves the Legion into new directions.

I thought it was fun to see the Legion couples sharing some enthusiastic smooches! Makes me wonder if maybe things didn't go further during their fake "honeymoons"...

Seriously, though, I think that's what's so significant about this story. It brings some Legion romances out from under the umbrella of speculation and into fact. In a way it's the first real sign of character growth and of the Legion growing up a little. These are relationships that will endure for three more decades and lead to some iconic moments, both exhilarating and tragic. So though in many ways, it's a cute, silly story, it's one which is more significant in hindsight.

I thought that Tinya/Jo actually come off a little more passionate and earnest in their love than Imra/Garth. I think it was Jo and Tinya's mutual admission that they wished the marriage was real. Imra, in contrast, mentioned how nice it was to pretend. I guess she's a little too strong-willed to open up completely. Ironic that Tinya and Jo never walked down the aisle in the pre-boot (though the one annual in v4 showed it was supposed to happen before Tinya disappeared).

Otherwise, the story was fairly well told. I, too, would have liked to have seen the villains look more imaginative in both of their guises. I always thought the sticks the Legionnaires held up were really silly, but the explanation of their being a tradition of Bgztl's culture was actually pretty satisfying. And, like the Starfinger story, there was nothing to major to take me out of the story like many others before in the Archives.

So another decent read--and this one, more significant than it gets credit for!

Essentially, another story of deception and infiltration. Fortunately, there's more to it to make it memorable.

K.C. Carlson, in the introduction to this Archive volume, called this "a story of upheaval". There was upheaval in the four Legionnaires leaving, not only the first time anyone quit, but so many at once. Furthermore, they were going through what society considered to be an adult transition, the marriage. Even though it turned out to be fake in the end, there were two solid, serious couples in the Legion now. This is quite an emotional distance from the kissing games in Revolt of the Girl Legionnaires. The couples chosen for the deceptive marriages are naturals; their relationships have been nicely developed throughout earlier stories. Would any others have been so believable?

Brainy plays his part to perfection, no doubt with sincerity as he lambasts the romantic couples. Saturn Girl responds with a slam of his cold computer mind, which nicely sets up Brainy for years of crippled emotion stories. Of course, she apologizes, but truth is spoken in anger. I like to think that those words just burst out of her rather than have them been part of the pre-scripted deception that she and Brainy developed. Imra will be accused of being emotionally cold herself in the future, so I found this to be an interesting little scene.

The Saturn Girl-Brainiac 5 relationship has always been a bit of a hot button. Two mind-based powers, two very serious people, often at odds with one another, but never a hint of romantic attraction. Their relationship operates on a different level from most others in the group.

There's a Legion fan (active in the APAs) who has compiled a count of all appearances of each character; I'd be curious to see a count of how many times Brainy and Saturn Girl have shared a panel, whether on a mission, discussing Legion business or bickering.

We do get some eye-rolling explanations with the machine that produces super-power pills. Too easy!

I liked the scene with strange books from other planets. Inconsequential, but something I'd never thought of before: entirely different forms for recording words.

I kind of love this about them. There's not been, to my mind, a hint of romance between them, and yet they have a very understated sort of relationship going on, which is crazy rare in comic books between a non-gay male character and a non-gay female character.

I remember the 'Trial of Brainy' after the death of Jaxon Rugarth, when Brainy has decided that he's leaving the team regardless of the outcome of the vote, and he gives Imra a hug and she's kind of shocked, because in all those years, she's never seen him do something like that.

Chameleon Boy may have a similar non-romantic friendship with Tinya and / or Violet, as part of their Espionage Squad activities, but I don't recall seeing much made of that.

The Legion could definitely have done with more friendships. The Founders seemed to clique together, and Mon & Shady and Jo & Tinya had their own clique, Brin & Blok, as well as Sun Boy and whomever he was friends with this decade (Thom, then Brek), but, other than couples (Brin & Ayla, Gim & Year, Ayla & Violet, Blok & Mysa, Drake & Dawny, Brainy & Kara, Chuck & Lu, Thom & Dreamy) there haven't been a lot of notable friendships, and barely any cross-gender friendships.

One of many things I liked about Superboy's Legion is that they had time to squeeze in some other friendships or relationships, like tying Cham, Jo and Tinya together, or Garth, Ayla and Jeckie together, or making Brainy & Lyle sort of brothers, and Chuck, Val and Ferro all friends, as well as Gim & Dirk.

Of course Mark Farmer and Alan Davis had two whole issues to work with twenty plus characters and establish characterizations and relationships for most of them, so it's easy to understand why lesser writers can't seem to accomplish half that in two *years* worth of issues...

Adventure #337

When I was a kid and first decided to read through all the Adventure issues my Dad had, this one always stood out as one of my favorites. It not only stood out as one of the more soap opera issues, which is great, but it stands out because of the depiction of Brainiac 5, who is he wasn't already one of my favorites would certainly have become so after this issue. The scenes where Brainy acts so coldly--and at times in a really funny way--and the subsequent reactions, especially Imra, are just great. I often have my own LMB character, Cobalt Kid,
insulted in the same way Imra does Brainy, calling him a "cold, calculating person who could never understand love"--and it's always a callback to this issue.

This issue is also the real start of true romance in the Legion. While we'd seen brief hints and spurts of romance before, I always felt this issue takes those "referenced and forgotten" elements and firmly makes them a recurring, integral part of understanding the franchise. Garth and Imra are of course the premier couple in Legiondom, but this issue also firmly recalls the other great Silver Age Legion romance, Jo & Tinya, which has always been my favorite since I was a wee lad.

Forte, whose style is finely suited to romance comics, works well here.

The cover is also one of Swan's finest. Wedding covers are traditionally very good, and DC particularly had a lot of great Silver Age weddings and fake outs. This is definitely included among those. (My favorite is probably Aquaman & Mera's wedding cover). I love seeing Imra's parents and Ayla shedding a tear for her brother in a rare Silver Age display of sibling affection.

The premise is another strong Weisenger idea that plays on childish fears: when you're pals get girlfriends or boyfriends, will this slowly pull them away from you? Those feelings, no matter how childish, never really go away. As always, Mort & Co. knew how to tap into those primal anxieties.

We've already seen a few stories where we think things are in dire straits, but it ends up being a ruse by the Legionnaires all along. To me, this is the quintessential using that bit.

This issue begins by establishing another turning point: Brainiac 5 has now been elected leader. (I can't recall who is later retroactively made Deputy; Superboy?). He's a fitting follow to Imra given his role thus far. As the first non-founder to be leader, that's a small milestone.

And it begins with the Brainy I know and love! I remember being in Jo's exact position in middle school! Nothing like "being embarrassed" about canoodling when you really want everyone to know about it!

*choke* The romance is in full effect. I need to set up some rare scarlet spiral coral at my house!

Brainy breaks up the necking and ol' "Admiral Awkward" Superboy knows just how to make things even more awkward.

That House Pet from Planet Kavoon looks stuffed. Are we sure Orion the Hunter didn't send that?

One thing I really dislike about the issue is the Subs trying out again and then failing, just to show there were other applicants. Hamilton was probably just trying to keep them in the readers minds but I find that totally unnecessary. At this point, the Subs are in a much different place from when they first started out. They don't need to be Legionnaires. At the end, we learn they're in on the ruse, which makes total sense and puts them in a good light...however, I can see many readers forgetting that little tidbit.

That being said, I can't help but laugh my ass off at the biggest Dick moment thus far as Brainy tells Chlor: "That's fine gardening kid...but you can't fight crooks with daffodils! Next!" Bwahahahahahahahaha

The three spies from Murra are all based on fan suggestions, and IMO, are only so-so. They don't play a huge role in the story...and that's a good thing.

Once we start to learn about the Legion's plan, I see Brainy starts talking like my Dad during the 1960's when he was a greaser. "It'll be a fake wedding, natch." I'm going to start saying natch more.

In the end we get the most romantic thing possible: Lightning Lad calls Saturn Girl by her first name, Imra! We haven't seen that at all yet--that's how you know it's true love! *choke*

Bonus lettercol review: Mort talks junk about Stan Lee!

Bonus Bits of Legionnaire Business Review: Mort reveals the spies were reader suggestions, much like Polar Boy once was. He then prints a bunch, including Color Kid and Blockade Boy! Plus, two readers suggest girls with the "Damsel" moniker, which surely led to Hammy & Mort using that for Lu in a few issues.

The obvious answer is no. Assuming Mort and Ed wanted to build upon what had previously been established, the pool of romantically attached Legionnaires was very small. Shrinking Violet, Light Lass, and Star Boy were smitten with people who were not Legionnaires. Their beloveds would have had to have been "imported" into the story, resulting, no doubt, in another clunky explanation.

The more I think about it, though, the more I find it interesting that Mort and Ed chose to focus on *two* couples in this story. It would have worked just the same if only Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl or only Phantom Girl and Ultra Boy had decided to leave and get hitched. The departure of four Legionnaires, however, heightens the tension of the team being understaffed for the alien invasion.

Saturn Girl's departure also suggests this is the reason why she's no longer the leader in this story.

From a writer's perspective, these were intelligent choices and show a lot of thought went into this story.

Marriage sucks. Romance ruins everything. Love brings down the Legion.

ooo there is some catiness from Jo on page 4 "remember to call me if you spot any lead shielded places that looks suspicious ... my penetra-vision can see through lead."

I think Superboy would probably just rip the lead apart ... or he could call Jo so Jo can show him up, in one of the few situations he can.

Superboy should've made some crack about Jo only using his powers one at a time.

This mysterious Valvalla coral gets a lot of product placement, giant pears and scarlet spiral kissing traditions. say ... how do giant pears grow on a water planet?

... and what looks to be a stuffed house pet from Kavoon as a wedding gift. thanks. thanks a lot.

Cham is crying at the wedding! He is such a softie!



Who's those random middle aged red haired women at the wedding? relatives? or VIP fans!

Those wedding veils are atrocious btw, they look like they were picked up from the 30th century dollar store!

I think Aarl and his friends are just doing these crimes to save up for orthodontic work. I feel bad for them really.

Can't wait until 338!

And I totally missed the Clark has BUTTERFLY WINGS issue!

He never looked better!

2nd part of 337:

they disguise themselves by all being a different color ... maybe one of them should have stayed human color ... seems suspicious to me when a band of rainbow applicants come charging through the door.


I will leave the Size Lad jokes for now.

I love how sassy Brainy is "Stow the nostalgia Mon-EL!" he he

I find myself agreeing with him! Bunch of sappy children on that team!

disk books from Uranus? they totally looks like a colon!

I am surprised Brainy didn't have some zingers for Cosmic Boy and Element Lad when he revived them.


Meanwhile, Saturn Girl almost lost her lunch when brainy suggested she get married ... "GOT MARRIED? YOU'RE KIDDING!" ... her icey face risked some wrinkles with that outburst!

She is a career woman ... no time for dopey Garth to slow her down ... she's got a team to run! I mean she can't leave poor Brainy in the lurch on this team of saps!



Also, we get a glimpse of the inequality robots faced ... they are so oppressed they can only have certain jobs and perform certain functions, weddings NOT being one of them. That capacity is for humans only! sorry robot you must apply elsewhere! There might be a lavatory for you to clean!

I like it when Brainy calls the spies fools. heh heh

Wow. In that panel where lightning Lad runs off the spies ... it sure looks like there were a lot of them .. I can't help but think he is just shooting lightning into a crowd of innocent Murrans ... (Morans?) ...

I bet Element Lad was being sassy when he changed those super pills to Aspirin! "HAH! I'll change those pills to something archaic and useless! Every 5 year old in the 30th century can make their own Aspirin!!! HAHAHAHA"


and ... it ends with more mushiness.

I actually really liked this issue, I liked how Brainy and Imra developed a plan and Supes and Element Lad even came off as capable and smart.

It's funny how stories like this one and the Starfinger one have aged better than expected. Both are stories I didn't care for the first time(s) around!



Are deputies established as canon at this point in Legion history? I don't recall one being mentioned for Saturn Girl in the earlier leadership contest--the one administered by Proty--or did she have a pre-established deputy that carried forward from her prior term?

I assume, btw, that reader elections weren't established yet? When exactly did that start? Post-Adventure era, perhaps? I'm pretty certain that Wildfire's election was reader-determined. Was it done prior to that?

The funny thing about the "humor" (like Brainy's various put-downs, etc.) in this story is, even just re-reading it yesterday, that I took them at face value and not a attempts at humor by Hamilton. I don't know what it was. Maybe just the overall dry style of this era makes me think that any humor is unintentional and just a product of our viewing these things with backwards-looking irony. I'll have to make an effort in the coming re-reads to look for and examine the humor moving forward....

On the Legion leadership elections:

A bit of quick research turned up that the first election readers voted on was the one in which Ultra Boy won (he took office in Adv. 371). The lettercol of Adv. 368 mentions that a reader in a previous issue had suggested the election and provides the results:

--7,810 votes were cast.
--UB won with 1,262.
--Mon-El came in second with 1,160, making him Deputy Leader.
--Every Legionnaire got votes, except Shadow Lass, who hadn't joined yet.

The other vote-getters:
Element Lad--893
Karate Kid--879
Lightning Lad--615
Phantom Girl--525
Chameleon Boy--420
Sun Boy--388
Superboy--316
Matter-Eater Lad--300
Supergirl--267 (ironic, since she first met the Legion in Action # 267)
Duo Damsel--144
Princess Projectra--139
Colossal Boy--111
Brainiac 5--96
Star Boy--84
Bouncing Boy--73
Dream Girl--68
Light Lass, Cosmic Boy, and Saturn Girl--32 ea.
Timber Wolf (who hadn't joined the Legion yet)--23
Shrinking Violet and Invisible Kid--15 ea.

Also of note: Adv. 348, which features the election of Invisible Kid as leader, also mentions Superboy being elected Deputy Leader. I don't know if this is the first mention of a Deputy Leader or not.

Well, I'm thinking you may be right on the humor. Hammy may have intended it to be somewhat over the top, but for me it just reads as hilarious.

Regarding Deputy Leaders, I'm certain the first several are retcons and even a little controversial. Leadership elections did begin shortly though I think? I think the first one is Mon-El, and it's still during the Silver Age.

I see HWW clarified things!