Hurray! Just salvaged this from archive.org! Thank you, Michael Grabois! This was created by my good friends, Jo and Terri-Anne Sanning of Edmonton, Alberta. Here's their page as of Feb 2010: https://web.archive.org/web/20100201143618/http://www.studiosanning.shawbiz.ca/legion_of_super-heroes/mainpage.htm
Action Comics 386 Crime and Punishment in the 30th century. You serve your time and then your brain is modified to prevent you wanting to reoffend. It’s another example of how science is perceived as a cure for all society’s ills in the Legion and I enjoy the moral dilemmas presented as a reader (if not actually considered in the story).
Once released, there seems to be little stigma attached to ex-convicts. The Legion invite former enemy Uli Algor along for a burger (Galacto Burger)when they meet her after seeing a boxing film (Time Cinema).
Even when challenged, the Legion don’t want to fight her as she’s committed no crimes. So Algor commits a few more to get them interested. She has a belt that turns the powers of the Legion against them. As well as her light based abilities that enabled her to avoid the brain therapy.
There’s lots of super science this issue as we get a peek into the recovery process for each defeated legionnaire.
Algor is determined to defeat the Legion, and challenges the others to combat. The Legion meet her on Talus, the asteroid that would later become the team’s headquarters in the TMK run.
Brainy’s plans to animate the ships there don’t capture Algor who retreats to Midway City, the former home of Hawkman. The city has been preserved as an artefact of an earlier Atomic war. The criminal that was rehabilitated before Algor was called Hawkor, looking more than a little like the Hawk King Vultan from Flash Gordon, so there are a couple of Hawk-themes this issue.
It’s Ultra Boy who approaches Algor and punches her out, without using a power that she would defend against. Ultra Boy cites the boxing film they had seen as inspiration giving us a nice pay off form the start of the story.
Algor had been countering the powers of the Legion when they activated and that leads to her downfall. However, she had also blasted Night Girl’s passive activation of a power and controlled Robot control centres on spaceships. So she didn’t have to wait until she was punched. How was she planning to defeat Karate Kid for example?
The writing change gives us a switch from the personal ‘relevant’ stories of Shooter’s work. It provides us with space to see more of the team at work. Brainy and Vi get nice moments. There’s lots of ominous future science in a society where teens date as they would in our time.
"...not having to believe in a thing to be interested in it and not having to explain a thing to appreciate the wonder of it."
The Superman story is Action 286 is really good. Ancient Superman learns about the fate of his daily Planet colleagues, tries to fit into a future society and helps other elderly Superheroes regain their place in the world. There's more from the Time Trapper (with a hood closer to Batman than the one we're used to) and another Time Bubble appearance.
"...not having to believe in a thing to be interested in it and not having to explain a thing to appreciate the wonder of it."
The Superman story was good, but we learn how pathetic his friends truly are. I can buy Jimmy writing a tell-all book about his friendship with Superman, but Perry whiles away his retirement as curator of the Superman Museum, and--worst of all--Lois marries an actor who plays Superman!
"One Hero Too Many," probably the best known story from the Legion's Action run, marks Superboy's departure from the team. Although his resignation turns out to be temporary, it represents a significant break in the Legion's identity since their first appearance 12 years earlier. The Legion had always been associated with Superboy, and during much of the Adventure run, he was front and center in the team's stories. But here he leaves, not for the sake of one story, but allegedly for good.
There's another reason why his leaving appears to be significant. During the Adult Legion stories, it was established that Superman was no longer an active member of the team but an occasional visitor. This story appears to set in motion the chain of events that would lead to the Adult Legion's existence. If Mort had delayed his retirement by a year or two, perhaps we would have seen the Legion move in that direction. After all, their value as a headlining teen series appeared to have been spent in 1970.
The story itself is very well done. No villains appear, but the Legion is presented with a dilemma: They must drop a member within 24 hours or be forced to pay all the back taxes they have skirted. (Geez! And people complain about churches getting tax-exempt status.) This is a rare and welcome intrusion of real-world politics into the Legion's setting. For once, we get to see how the Legion relates to the UP government and the laws and restrictions that a state-sanctioned super-hero team must abide by.
I enjoy these sorts of stories--such as the Avengers' membership being restricted during the late '70s--because they inject a sobering dose of reality into super-hero fantasy. Hero groups such as the Avengers and the Legion appear to have things handed to them too easily, and the government just seems to go along with whatever they do. I'm not saying it's always good that the government intrudes--it rarely ever is good--but it is real, and it's reasonable that a government would want to monitor the actions of teams it sanctions. But I digress.
We're given no reason why the law now requires private teams of more than 25 members to pay taxes, but it doesn't matter. To preserve the Legion's tax-exempt status, one member must go. With characteristic selflessness, most of the members present tender their resignations until Karate Kid restores order.
KK attempts to determine who should go, but his efforts are constantly thwarted. (In a nice touch of humor, Brainy's machine reveals that Brainy himself should get the boot.) The saboteur of these efforts turns out to be Superboy, who refuses to give a reason for his conduct unbecoming. KK has no choice but to accept his resignation.
Alone with Lu (or at least half of her), Kal admits that with Mon-El around, he feels useless as a Legionnaire. It's not a convincing reason, as Mon has been around for quite some time and has never stopped Superboy from hogging the action. But Superboy departs, Lu cries, and the Legion honors him in typical fashion: by erecting a statue.
It's almost a shame that the resignation didn't "take." It's always hard to say goodbye to groups or clubs one has belonged to, particularly when one graduates from high school. The story would have mirrored the lives of the Legion's target audience if Superboy had indeed said goodbye for good. In this way, DC could have assured its young audience that life does indeed go on even if people must leave your life to do other things (attend college, get jobs, get married, etc.). Those transitions would come to the Legion, but not for another 3-4 years.
A solid story, but one that leaves me feeling underwhelmed. It would have been nice if Superboy had been given a more convincing reason or build-up before departing.
Things of note dept.: --Supergirl stays because, Superboy reasons, Brainy is close to her. Here Kal proves what a dunderhead he is for not noticing Lu's feelings for him.
-- Supergirl is persuaded to stay in part because, if she goes, the Legion of Super-Pets will lose Comet and Streaky. Ironically, this story marks the final appearance of the Super-Pets (who do not even rate a cameo when BB & DD get married).
The Superman story was good, but we learn how pathetic his friends truly are. I can buy Jimmy writing a tell-all book about his friendship with Superman, but Perry whiles away his retirement as curator of the Superman Museum, and--worst of all--Lois marries an actor who plays Superman!
These guys need to get a life!
When Superman isn't present for a calendar year, his Superman robots have standing orders to capture Lois, Jimmy and Perry and replace them with Robot Duplicates.
Those duplicates spend their days revolved around their lost idol. The real Lois, Jimmy and Perry spend the rest of their days in the tribute rooms Superman set up in the fortress of solitude.
"...not having to believe in a thing to be interested in it and not having to explain a thing to appreciate the wonder of it."
Even Kal noticing Lu's feelings for him, I don't think makes him obligated to stay or defeats his reasoning that S-Girl and Brainy's is a mutual attraction and should be considered. He's being gallant in giving that a chance.
The writer on the other hand, I don't give such a pass. Superboy isn't known for being oblivious, it would make more sense to me that he knew Lu's feeling at least to some degree and that he acknowledge them in kindness, even if they're not mutual.
And was the adult story the motivator for writing him out of Legion or were there some internal DC politics at play here?
From what I understand--from a later lettercol reference--Superboy was written out because he was deemed redundant in Action Comics, which focused on Superman.
Interestingly, there's a letter in the same issue (387) by one Randy Oftedahl of Foreston, MN, who suggests Superboy be written out because he's "hardly ever featured in your Legion stories anymore" and "he must grow up sometime." Mort replies that Randy must have been "peaking into our minds" and "taking telepathy lessons from Saturn Girl."
We’re introduced to Warp Transport, which would allow the Legion to view and step into pretty much anywhere they liked. Obviously Professor Sayar, the inventor of the device, is a villain. But before he can get any further panel time a bigger villain disrupts his work. Wayland Bannan, conjuring images of the voracious Wayland-Yutani corporation from Aliens and the absolute chill of Polar Boy. Out villained, the Prof vanishes.
With 26 members the Legion must pay taxes. It may seem like a bit of a daft premise to get rid of a certain member at the end. But, with all the Orwellian technology we’ve seen in the 31st century it’s no surprise to see such laws in place to prevent gatherings. Any group large enough would find themselves financially penalised, helping to quash any subversives. On the other hand, any group that wants to make its voice heard would have contributed more to the society it wanted to shape. Little things like this make this era of the Legion fascinating.
For a team that works so well together, there is no shortage of members keen to leave. Timberwolf is even willing to toss Chemical King for the privilege.
It’s always a disappointment to see Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel put themselves down. It’s harsh to see Karate Kid telling her to shut up though.
After everyone puts in a request to resign, the ballot papers burst into flame. Lots take responsibility, but someone wanted rid of Dream Girl to leave her paper intact. A paper that she didn’t write!
Brainy tries to use the computer to count feats, knowing it would eliminate him. The others deem him too important to the team, an opinion every writer shares with them. Note that Bouncing Boy has a much lower score than the others shown.
In the end it’s Superboy who goes, with a touching farewell scene with Luornu. He’s responsible for the sabotage, making me wonder what reason he could have to want to see Dream Girl resign. It gives, the usual Legion statue carvers some practice though.
The story is a fudge to ensure that Superboy leaves the Legion. There’s not much of a story. In fact, the person who incited the tale, Mr Bannan, doesn’t appear at the end to let the team off the hook. It all takes place in the HQ and involves the members all trying to resign before the others. Their nobleness gets a bit repetitive after a while.
Elsewhere there’s a literally jaw dropping finale to the Superman story. The sheer scope of it is very impressive. The Time Trapper makes a further appearance. There’s a parallel with the ideas in this story to the big Time Trapper/ Infinite Man conflict years later.
"...not having to believe in a thing to be interested in it and not having to explain a thing to appreciate the wonder of it."
I'm fine with Bannan not reappearing at the end. He's not really a villain; he's just the device that sets the story in motion. (There's no reason why a device can't have an attitude.)
I did wonder how Superboy knew that Nura had not put her own name on a paper. At some point, she must have told him, "Gee, Kal, I'm going on a Legion mission in six months, so I guess I'll see you when I get back. No, wait, I guess I won't!"
Personally, I think Kal wanted Nura to take the fall because he feels threatened by sexy women (re: Lana in Superboy 197).
Action 388 is a reprint of Adv. 302, so, moving on . . .
Action 389 "The Mystery Legionnaire"
This is my least favorite story in the Action series, even though it tries hard to impress and has a few things going for it (such as an active role for Vi). The whole story rests on a mystery that isn't much of mystery and, when the Big Reveal happens, it comes off as a letdown. On re-reading the story, I just kept waiting for it to be over.
"The Mystery Legionnaire" centers on Klim, an android created by a group of disabled prison inmates to carry out their crimes. Klim soon runs afoul of Cosmic Boy, Chemical King, and Shrinking Violet, who defeat the android by separating its head from its body. However, the autonomous head escapes and vows revenge on the one Legionnaire it holds responsible for its defeat. The identity of this Legionnaire is the "mystery" upon which the story is built.
It turns out that the mystery Legionnaire doesn't exist. Due to a malfunction in Klim's visual receptors, he had merged the images of Cos and Chem, thinking they were one person.
And that's it. That's the entire mystery. Which makes it not a very good mystery because the outcome of the story is still the same. Nothing would have changed if Klim had targeted Cos or Chem or even Vi.
Stories such as this rely on intellectual challenge--match wits with the detective--but we're not given sufficient clues to piece together what Klim saw and, as a result, the resolution feels like a cheat.
This story also resembles other villain-with-a-revenge-motif tales ("The Fallen Star Boy"; "The Impossible Target" from Superboy 199), but it also falls short in this department. Whereas the villains in the other stories had intensely personal reasons for going after a Legionnaire, we're expected to care for Klim because he loses his artificial body and is defeated while running from a heist. Also, while villains such as Yark Althu and Orion Jr. managed to isolate a single Legionnaire to even the odds, this was never the case here (though Vi does go after Klim by herself); if anything, it felt like the Legionnaires were ganging up on this poor, semi-defenseless head.
But, as I said, there are some good things about the story. Vi, for example, is the one who ultimately defeats Klim not once but twice, proving that she should not be overlooked because she's tiny and female. (However, writer Cary Bates telegraphs this "message" by revealing early on that the Legionnaire Klim is after is male, thus excluding Vi from his revenge scheme.)
Another good aspect is that it features Chemical King. Once again, the writer shows some interest in conveying scientific principles when Chem uses his power to create oxidation and then liquid nitrogen.
The story is also fairly well paced, although it relies too much on flashback and exposition. The narrative jumps back and forth from Klim's point of view to the Legionnaires' for no other reason than to tell the reader details the characters already know--a device that quickly grows tiresome.
Of note: This story marks the first foray into Legion writing for Bates, who would shortly go on to redefine the Legion with Dave Cockrum.
Of special and odd note is the letter's page, in which Ray Fannan from Shoreham, NY, speculates that if Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl had children, the children's powers would be combined into mental lightning like Validus. Hmm . . .
The mystery of who Klim was seeking revenge was rather obvious from the flashback storyline that Cosmic Boy and Chemical King had subdued him. I had not thought of Shrinking Violet having unscrewed the android's head.
The story was rather uneventful, and although Klim is hailed as some great android villain, he was taken down too easily. Action #389. falls flat all around.
Very interesting article on Wikipedia. Klim can stay safe for years if the can is unopened. The cans themselves were useful in an escape attempt from a German POW camp. Maybe these attributes inspired Bates to create an android which was built by prisoners and which bided its time for revenge.
The Legion does "Mission: Impossible" in this one. It's good to have a story that showcases the Legion Espionage Squad (though only Cham from the team's core members appears in this story--no Lyle, Tinya, or Vi), and the two-part structure allows Bridwell to stretch the story out and develop it with effective twists and turns.
Cham is briefed by a UP official on the planet Lahum, which is run by a dictator called President Peralla, who plans to conquer other worlds. Peralla is opposed by Diol Masrin, a rebel leader who is secretly allied with the Dark Circle. In undertaking the mission, Cham must ensure that both Peralla and Masrin fail. Pretty good set up, so far.
In a scene straight out of "M:I", Cham goes through file photos of his fellow Legionnaires to assemble his team. One would think he'd have their powers memorized, but perhaps he's too preoccupied with Janice Warren to think straight. Oh well, it provides us with a quick introduction to Cham's team of five Legionnaires: Brainy, Brin, Jan, Imra, and Val.
They ambush a ship of gunrunners who supply Masrin, and Cham impersonates first the captain of the ship and then his lieutenant, Chavak, in order to gain entry into Masrin's compound. While marching to the compound with some real rebels, Cham and the others encounter humanoids who don't die (good thing for the Legion's code) when blasted; instead the humanoids turn into fragments which reassemble into new humanoids. Interesting idea. I wonder how it will play out in Part Two.
Then Cham encounters the greatest test to his impersonation of Chavak (not to mention his fidelity to Janice): fooling Chavak's girlfriend, Yroa.
Meanwhile, Imra undertakes her part of the mission alone by mentally prompting one of Peralla's cronies to give her a job. All goes well until one of the crony's associates claims to recognize Imra. And that's as good a place as any for a cliffhanger.
"The Tyrant and the Traitor" is a well-told story, but it does not feel like a Legion story. As mentioned above, it would be more at home with Jim Phelps and the Impossible Missions team. Little is learned about our heroes, who do what the plot requires them to do. I miss the characterizations Shooter put into his stories, yet I admire Bridwell's ability to plot and pace a story. If the two of them had worked together, we might have seen something truly memorable.
Previous Thread
