Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Reading the Legion: Archives #5

That's a very good point, it would make more sense to find something like that in the Fortress of Solitude. Also why would Batman have a Bizarro duplicator ray?

In the original it's clearly a word balloon.

Gotta hurry up and get ready for work this morning, so just a quick note on #342.

As a 7th-grader in early 1966 the hot topic among me and my friends was hair length on boys. Long hair was cool, crew-cuts were out. So when Star Boy got expelled I figured it was mainly for being so dorky looking.

Just a matter of perspective, I guess.

Adventure #342

The series continues to go from strength to strength as we move from Computo strait to the trial of Star Boy in the awesomely titled "The Legionnaire Who Killed!".

It's difficult to add to what's already been said in my 14 years of online LSH discussions as we've spoken about this story at length before. It centers on some heavy issues, such as killing in the line of duty, and how a member would be tried and expelled.

I, for one, say good riddance to Kenz Nuhor and don't blame Thom at all. I'm in total agreement with Supes / Mon / Jo in that weaker members need to defend themselves (which is an amazing sequence that I'll add more on shortly). If I was a Legionnaire, I'd probably have wracked up dozens of kills by my second year. Probably why I shouldn't have super-shrinking or super-matter-eating abilities.

The other piece of the story is that it's absolutely fascinating to see the administrative and official policy side of an organization like the Legion. Brainy as the prosecutor takes his job a bit too far, perhaps (and of course he would--he's Brainy) but its still interesting as hell to see a prosecution, defense and decision-rendering.

It's quite tragic Thom is expelled and I'm really interested in how readers must have felt. It's absolutely unprecedented in comic book history, and even all these decades later there have been few instances of such a thing. I do love the fact that for a brief time, Thom and Nura served side by side with the Subs, though. It's a rarely mentioned aspect of LSH continuity.

Nura returns this issue and one might say here is where she gets some much needed humanity (though as usual, it's subtle and underplayed). We've seen firsthand someone ask about her in the Lettercols about every three issues or so (just like Lone Wolf).

The issue starts by introducing some oft-used fun concepts on LW: the Shurg, Spaceopoly and the computer that determines who'd have the most fun kissing who. It's great to see the Legion cutting loose and having fun! We also first get introduced to the Mission Monitor Board in the first panel.

Btw, we see Ayla being kissed by Cham! Which is ironic since DC wouldn't even have a black superhero, let alone a black man kissing a white woman (because of fears of new stands in the South, or so the story goes, though I suspect there's more to it than that).

We get to see two more rejects (and the last for quite awhile I believe): Calamity King and Color Kid! The latter will have his big moment in just a few issues. The former was one I totally forgot about for years until a certain groovy poster turned an obscure character into one of the coolest parts of LSH lore!

There's something so wholesome about Thom visiting his parents.

Kenz Nuhor follows Star Boy and murders someone in cold blood! Hell, I'd have acquitted Thom if he tortured Nuhor to death. Eff that--that bastard deserves to die!

The silent, no-dialogue panel where Thom kills Nuhor is brilliant and incredibly effective. HWW mentioned a few pages back that they were starting to experiment with these and this shows why that was a good idea.

Nura and Thom's reunion is grim yet Nura shows her dedication to Thom. And in one panel she wears a cape and looks quite chic!

Though Thom is cleared by the SPs, the LSH have their own rules. Here, we see Brainy take on his overzealous role as prosecutor while Superboy earns my affection for his eagerness to defend Thom. This moment here solidifies why Superboy was such a great Legionnaire. We also see Imra take on the role of judge, in yet another display of her being in a major position for a female in this era.

The pacing of the trial is well done. Brainy puts up a very tough prosecution which we've discussed at length before, and Part 1 of the story ends on a tense note. Part 2 opens with Superboy desperately doing some research, much like a lawyer would be in a legal thriller, and meanwhile Legionnaires and other other allies like the Subs are tuning in as the tension heightens. Superboy mounts a spirited comeback...only for Brainy to crush it. Superboy resorts to more theatrical tactics with Proty's help, and again Brainy beats him back. Ultimately, Brainy has it in the bag.

From there, Hamilton cleverly has Brainy add in a twist: he agrees with Superboy that the Code should indeed be changed--which says quite a bit about flexibility in codes and laws. However, that doesn't change that Star Boy violated the law while it was in place.

Superboy's closing argument is a fantastic bit of dialogue: "Will you expel Star Boy, shatter his career, just because he defended himself against a ruthless murderer? Think...YOU may be in that position yourselves someday!"

From there the voting begins and it's always been the most interesting part of the story. The girls, naturally, all vote to acquit--that is except ol' ironbutt herself going against the grain as usual! Meanwhile, Superboy, Mon-El and Ultra Boy show compassion for vulnerable Legionnaires and also vote to acquit. Yet besides Brainy and Imra, others vote to expel, and it's most of the boys: Dirk, Gim, Jan, Cham, Cos and soon Lyle and Tenz. Bah!

Yet, beyond all of them, one that stands out as unique is that Lightning Lad votes to acquit. That says a lot about this prolific hero. By now, he certainly has more life experience than most the others, and he knows what it means to feel tragedy. Perhaps he knows better than anyone when its time to show compassion and bend the rules. This makes me like Garth more than ever.

There's also Jimmy Olsen voting guilty, when there's no real reason for him to do so. I think he needs a space ass-kicking.

At last the results are in, and he's been expelled. The panel of him leaving is excruciating and painful. Poor Thom. Soon after, he's in a bit of shellshock, not quite being able to process what's happened. I've certainly been there.

But it's not all bad. Dream Girl is waiting and they're together now. And also waiting are the Subs, offering him a new start. If I didn't love them already, I'd do so now.

All in all, another big success of an issue, and another heartbreaker.

Lettercol Review: a reader suggests his creation, Porcupine Pete!

Of note: this issue is the first to feature Direct Currents, DC's new insert listing what other periodicals where on sale that week.

Also: in Superboy this week, Dev Em returns again with the Kryptonite Kid, though I actually don't know much about this story.

Is the Superboy story in the Archive too? I've got the original comic, read it yesterday. The panel where he saves (the world's dumbest detective) Pete Ross, does it really say "farting the bog?" Or were my eyes delusional? I looked at it three times, couldn't believe it. Maybe I'll look at it again today.

The Legion Story

CB covered it pretty well and some of the social opinions I could give I think will be better written by the usual crowd but to refer to my post on the previous issue, these comics were influential in developing kids' opinions and viewpoints. Things like p. 14 bottom panel are disappointing.

Most striking to me of course was our timing. I guess I have a habit of thinking everything is new but I imagine even this topic has been an issue of reflection since people first started fighting and defending.

Of most fun was seeing the start of so many LW traditions. Certainly hoping it draws some more to the thread. EDE, where are you?

Yes, kick Jimmy Olsen, Imra and all those guys in the butt. Just remember: what did YOUR faces look like when Dynamo Boy tossed you out on your butts?

Imra got a little smirky there.

BTW, I've read ahead several issues and in the letters pages, the fans went basically apeshit over Star Boy's expulsion. By around #347 or so, Mort basically says "we realize you fans want to boil us in oil".

Yet another example of Legion fandom pushing their influence into the series!

Ah, another reprint alteration.

Like he didn't get enough by creating Computo.

I didn't like Star Boy for the same reason--the crewcut looked so old fashioned in 1973, when I first read the story.

Have to say, though, that this story made me care about him.

Adv. 342

“The Legionnaire Who Killed” is hands down the best story of the Adventure run so far. It may even be in the best of the Adventure series, and it certainly qualifies as one of the top ten Legion stories of all time.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Hamilton had borrowed the plot from a novel or film, as he did so before (most notably with “The Super-Moby Dick of Space”). This story seems to have been inspired by any number of trial movies (“Inherit the Wind,” for example). But no matter. Hamilton makes it his own. He establishes Star Boy as a hero we care for. He creates a situation without an obvious right or wrong. He builds tension in one of the least action-packed sequences ever—the Legionnaires voting—and ends the story in a manner no reader in 1966 could have expected. Indeed the expulsion of Star Boy still holds up as a shocking and defining moment in Legion history.

Star Boy had gotten little attention in the series until now. After being completely ignored until 317, he pops up occasionally, sometimes makes brilliant contributions to Legion missions, and sometimes exercises questionable judgment. The latter depictions have led to many fans to characterize Thom Kallor as not the brightest bulb in the pack. However, in this story he comes across as Joe Average Super-hero: just a guy who misses the girl he likes, who wants to visit his parents, and who finds himself in a desperate situation. He does what any clear-thinking person would do: he grabs a gun and shoots the bastard who’s trying to shoot him. His decision saves his life and is cleared by the police. But that’s not good enough for the Legion.

Like Cobie, I’ve talked at length about this story over the years. I admire it because it presents a situation in which there is no clear-cut right or wrong. Yes, Thom acted in self defense (which is good), and yes, he violated the Legion’s code (which is not good). This moral dilemma invites the reader to ask, what would you do in this situation? (Cobie has said what he would do. I’d probably let Kenz shoot me just so I wouldn’t be expelled by my buddies. Cobie is the smarter one.)

The story also shows the limitations of rules and, yet, why rules are necessary. It is good for the Legion to have a code against killing—they are not only heroes but super-heroes: they should hold themselves to the highest standards (something today’s super-heroes often fail to do).

Yet codes cannot address every situation. They cannot be black and white, unchanging. This story vividly illustrates this; yet it also shows why expelling Star Boy for violating the code as it was may have been the right thing to do.

If you start making exceptions to the code, where do you draw the line? What if the next Legionnaire only “thought” it was necessary to kill a villain who, otherwise, was harmless? Only the code itself can be changed—but adherence to the code (whatever it is) must be enforced. This is the message of the story. The reader is free, of course, to agree or disagree.

If “The Legionnaire Who Killed” gave the reader nothing more than something to think about, it would have done its job and far exceeded 95 percent of the other Adventure stories so far. But Hamilton goes the extra mile by building tension during the trial and featuring sequences which expand on the milieu of the 30th century without straining credibility or appearing silly. (The slides of various Legionnaires on missions and the Scorpion Beast sequence are well played.) And then the tale ends with our protagonist—our hero— defeated, expelled and disgraced. How daring.

Yet there is a silver lining. The reason why I like this story so much and the reason I find it so challenging is because, in spite of Thom’s expulsion, it ends on a happy note. Thom gets the girl and he gets to join a new club. As Dream Girl says, it’s time to forget the past and look ahead to new adventures.

That may be the hardest thing any of us can do.

After reading the posts on this forum, I wonder if this issue was a commentary on the Comics Code. It was an unevenly enforced code that had influence on the stories and characters writers could use. Of course, I am a modern reader who laughs at Deadpool, so I might be expecting meta moments.

I will forgive Jimmy Olesen's vote for the sake of the Fourth World.

I hadn't thought of the Legion's code as being related to the Comics Code, Emily--interesting observation. If so, Hamilton seems to uphold the Code as it was written though maybe arguing that it should be changed.

Since this was one of Hamilton's last Legion stories, I can't help but wonder if its message about letting go of the past and embracing the future is meant as a goodbye.

I agree 100% with every part of that statement. This ranks among the greatest LSH stories of all time, and is a certain contender for best of the Adventure run.

Great review HWW. As you say, so much is about the pros and cons of codes, laws and regulations, and why they're needed but also why they should also sometimes be changed.

Superb observations and recounts by Cobie and especially HWW. I too feel that this issue of Adventure Comics has a duel distinction of being one of the most historically important Legion stories and one of the most engaging. There's really a lot going for this tale. Crisp art, a fully realized (and contained) story with finalized ramifications, the entire team at the very least name dropped, and the return or introduction of some favorite characters.

We spoke at length before about how our heroes are finally starting to have their personalities come out. Brainiac 5's definitely became cemented in the Computo storyline and I love that Hamilton was consistent with it here. He can be a little off-putting and single-minded, but it's due from working on well-intentioned projects. Though we may view him as pompous and not necessarily the "law," I do like Brainy as the prosecutor because someone of his caliber has a better shot of coming to the "right answer" faster. He ultimately did agree the code needed to be changed, but he also saw the need to uphold the black and white of abiding by laws and rules. What are sanctioned super-heroes without upholding rules?

Saturn Girl as a judge may have been a bit of a rig against Thom as the Legionnaire likely to also have that train of thought, but as the previous leader it's a natural role and her personality would ensure accountability and integrity from all parties. What better judge of proper legal work than a telepath? Of course, foul cries could have come for Imra's own vote ultimately winning ... I'm not about to ever accuse her of such things though, are you?

For readers, the return of Dream Girl is a treat. Here we really get to see the compassion missing from her introduction storyline due to her ruse. I loved her conflict about using her precognitive powers to see the verdict early. We see this theme pop up later on in Dream Girl's tenure, and sadly usually her hesitation to view the future does indeed mean negative results are forthcoming. Intuition is likely unavoidable for a precog of her caliber. Had they been dating longer, Thom may have realized by her hesitation his fate was sealed even though Nura truly didn't glimpse anything.

Being able to see the Legionnaires' votes is a real treat and another reason this tale likely holds everyone's attention. It's fun to rationalize their decisions, isn't it? Thom's "All American" presentation with his family and crush as pointed out earlier likely spoke for why he blended in so much in the past. He was just a good kid doing a good job. That may have impacted the girls' votes for acquittal just as much as his budding romance, honestly. Really, his "romance with Dream Girl" shouldn't have been their biggest sway. Half of them loathed her their first encounter and hadn't seen her since! Ayla especially is fully justified if she wanted to have some resentment. Alas to the story potential. Our Legion ladies also have some of the more passive powersets. I'd like to think, much like the Superpeople, that they can easily fathom a situation where their powers aren't enough to protect them and thus side with Thom.

The other boys bear the brunt of the guilty votes. Most of them have strong personalities and offensive powers so it's easy to see why they couldn't relate. Others are also leaders and scientists and may see, like Brainy, the need to uphold the rules. Element Lad, despite being Star Boy's pal last story, is no surprise as a guilty vote to me. As the sole survivor of a murdered world, I'm sure Jan takes offense on taking a life. Lightning Lad's stand-alone vote for acquittal is fascinating, and was likely a nod to his own past tragedy as others pointed out. I have to wonder if this trial had happened later, would Matter-Eater Lad's vote have changed? He's about to spend his next adventure with a gun frequently pinned on him in the Super-Stalag.

Love this issue. It's always a treat to re-read and analyze.

I suppose that this has been covered elsewhere, but isn't Kenz Nuhor supposed to be from Naltor?

It is interesting to speculate what he forsaw about the consequences of his actions: that he would not go to jail, that he would fail to kill Star Boy, but that he would be expelled from the Legion: all good reasons to follow the choice he chose.

Of course, we can never know what was in Kenz' mind, unless the Legion holds another séance.

Excellent analysis of the voting patterns, Future. I was bothered by the rationale that most of the girls voted for acquittal because of Thom's romance with Dream Girl. Your speculation makes much more sense.

It's interesting that Invisible Kid votes guilty but later (as leader) invites Thom back into the Legion. I wonder what changed his heart.

Yes, Kenz is from Naltor.

His being from Naltor does create some apparent contradictions, however. As you suggest, one wonders why he didn't foresee the outcome of his encounter with Thom, or, if he did, why did he proceed anyway? (One might suppose his power, like Nura's originally, was flawed.)

Another inconsistency is when his brother, Yark Althu, was introduced during the Action run. It was explained that the custom of siblings sharing their last name is not followed on Naltor; yet, when the White Witch's surname was later revealed to be the same as Dream Girl's.

Fans have speculated on these matters over the years, but I don't think there was any official explanation from DC.

Nura's real last name was Schnappin, but she didn't like it and changed to "Nal" to say she was from Naltor. And then her sister changed hers to match when she wanted Legionnaire membership

I was never a fan of the sexist dismissal of the girls just blindly voting for true love. Granted, thinking he's a swell guy isn't much better so I'd like to think their passive powers were more of a factor. Likewise, I feel Jimmy Olsen's random guilty vote is just from ignorance. He had no idea who Star Boy really was with his minimal adventures with them and was probably in the middle of something in his home time. Guy broke the code? Guilty. Lyle I can see voting at the time to uphold the rules but has no problem welcoming him back after the "message was received" and the rules were changed. I always surmised that the addition of "Sir Prize" without knowing his identity was Thom's loophole into keeping membership, since he had already been unanimously (re)instated.

Something else else else I love, as you pointed out HWW, was that Thom wasn't just written out. He and Nura going to the Subs make me think his expulsion was told more for the story potential or a statement like Emily points out. A far better feeling rather than just writing the character out. This and the next few issues really flesh out the Legion's universe with more faces or returning ones. Kind of a shame we never actually see Star Boy and Dream Girl in action with the Subs, short of a group shot in a flashback in the 70s Secrets mini, I believe.

Wait, wait, I know this one.

Schnappin. That was Reboot Nura.

And Reboot Mysa was Mordru's daughter, not Nura's sister.

The v.1 Silver Age White Witch was originally introduced as Nura's sister, Zola Aq.

For some reason, when she re-located to Zerox, the Sorcerer's world, she changed her name to Mysa Nal.

(At least that was the name she was known by when she left the Sorcerer's World to join the Legion.)

In a prior story in which Proty II was featured (that we reviwed in one of the previous Archives threads--was it the one where Proty creates a contest to determine the next leader? ), Proty is specifically said to be able to speak when taking human form. I took issue with it as something I've never seen before or since, but the precedent was made in-continuity prior to this story.

Hm. I think it could be deeper than that. Jimmy is "Superman's Pal" and completely idolizes him. Superman doesn't kill. Jimmy would expect any hero worth his or her salt to live up to Superman's unimpeachable standard. Therefore, the "guilty" vote.

I agree. So why did Superboy bother to use his super-ventriloquism if Proty II could speak for himself? Did he not trust Proty to remember his lines?

Personally I'm sticking with my theory that young Kal-El takes perverse pleasure in freaking people out using his super-ventriloquism. In fact I bet he secretly gave Allan Funt the idea for Candid Camera. And don't even get me started on his involvement with Crank Yankers!