Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Rereading the Legion: Archives Volume 15

#246 Will the Last One to Leave Mercury Please Close the Planet by Len Wein & Paul Levitz, art by Joe Staton & Dick Giordano, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by Ben Oda



Five Legionnaires rush to a Mercury-based medical facility for extremely serious illnesses after receiving a message from Karate Kid that he had gone there. They fear the worst, but it turns out that he had taken Iris Jacobs there to be cured of her Diamondeth condition. Val and Iris happily depart, but the other Legionnaires' relief is temporary, as a doctor tells them that staff and patients have been disappearing.

On guard that night for any suspicious activity, Garth and Rokk hear a scream and find a giant robot. Neither lightning nor magnetism affect it, but Rokk smashes it with a chunk of metal wall. Unfortunately, the robot was an explorer-droid for the facility – and another doctor has gone missing. Shady and Sun Boy wish Brainiac 5 was with them to solve the mystery but Cham argues that they can't depend on him for everything.

Since no one can figure out what's going on, the S.P.s decide to close the facility. There is some problem with the climate control. Cham asks Sun Boy to go to the Cruiser and has him apply concentrated heat to a container of pseudoplasm.

Meanwhile, Shady, Rokk and Garth are trying to capture one of the lab animals, an Arcturian Blobeast. Rokk wants to know why he hasn't worked up a sweat when he was soaking the previous night. Cham claims to have the answer, so the team and chief doctor had for the hottest spot on the planet.

Even with thermo-suits, Shady can't take the heat. The ship's hull fails and the team falls to the surface. Only Sun Boy can function in the Valley of Death. Dr. Zebx fears death, but the others have faith in Cham's plan, despite their failing strength. Cham urges Dirk to continue and make contact. Dirk disappears in a flash of light, then emerges from the Valley, standing among his reviving teammates.

He and Cham reveal that the Medivac Lab's scan for life on Mercury had failed to find the native life-form, Thermoids, which were sentient balls of molecules; Sun Boy was able to communicate with them on some wavelength. Thermoids accidently caused the disintegration of the medical personnel as the they passed through their bodies. Medivac left Mercury to relocate on an uninhabited world.


Second Story: A world for the Winning by Len Wein, art by Joe Staton & Murphy Anderson, Colours by Glynis Wein, letters by Todd Klein

Crowds await the arrival of delegates from Corvan IV, seeking membership in the U.P. Element Lad, Colossal Boy and Superboy are on duty for the reception.

Everyone's surprised when the ship alights and Mano and the Persuader descend.

The Legionnaires, presuming that these two kidnapped the real delegates, try to capture the villains but Persuader appeals to Superboy to talk. He explains that the Fatal Five settled on Corvan IV, a primitive planet, which the Five undertook to modernize. The U.P. President decides to send the three Legionnaires to investigate Corvan IV while Mano and Persuader remain as proof of their good intentions.

On Corvan IV, the Legionnaires are welcomed by the populace as well as Tharok, Validus and the Empress. They have a guided tour but are not impressed with the substantial progress and do not believe Corvan IV should gain admission to the U.P.: there has been too much progress, too quickly. This angers Tharok; he and the Empress go on the attack. The Legionnaires are beaten, until Jan encloses the Eye in inertron. This gives Superboy a chance to escape and seek help.


Comments:

Both stories deal with very interesting questions. The first addresses the problem of recognition of life-forms that are alien to our understanding. The second presents the dilemma of bringing technology to primitive societies as well as the presumption of guilt based on past deeds.

I enjoyed both stories but wished these big questions could have been addressed in more depth.

First story: Val & Iris are quite cavalier when met by the worried Legionnaires. On the other hand, why couldn't the team have just called the facility when they got Val's message?

This is a Superboy-free story! It's a mystery and that's where Cham is beginning to shine. He has a good hunch what's going on but the reader remains mystified. Is it understood that, as a shape-shifter, he's more conscious of the wide variety of other life-forms? I liked that two-panel scene in which Shady and Dirk wish for Brainy's presence, but fully support Cham when he starts to solve the mystery. (It's a small point, but I got a kick out of their pajamas, especially Dirk's sun print.)

Sun Boy also turns in a commendable performance. Sure, he can endure the heat and he's acting on directions from Cham, but he doesn't really know what he's walking into, or if he'll survive. That takes some courage.

Unfortunately, for this fan, Shady is mostly window-dressing here.

I would have liked to know why the Lab was put on Mercury. Does the high heat create a sterile environment? It's a bit ironic that a facility dealing with mysterious and dangerous diseases wouldn't have been better at searching for unexpected sentient life, but then we wouldn't have had a story.

Second story: Along with the Legion, I'm figuring that the Fatal Five is up to something villainous. Still, it's a charming idea that they might just want to stop running and settle down somewhere as reformed citizens. Rather naive, if that's the case, unless the Statue of Limitations is extremely short in the 30th century.

Nice touch to show the Legionnaires bored with ceremonial duties, as well as to see how the President dumped the investigation of Corvan IV on them.

We see Corvanites displaced in their work and a couple drunk on the street, but the Five have not made them slaves or, apparently, murdered any. This leads one to suspect that there may be some level of sincerity here. When challenged, Tharok and the Empress show their true colours, but maybe they just have short fuses.

It's an interesting place to end this two-parter. There's not much question that the Five will be left to live on Corvan IV in peace, but the reader must wonder what their true motivations might be.

Superboy & the LSH #246

First story:
Our fictional Archive #15 kicks off with S&LSH #246, which is a bit of a “breather” issue after Earth War, allowing everyone to catch their breath, and unfortunately, start the process of Paul Levitz saying goodbye after his really terrific first run. This means a return to two short stories for the next two issues, unfortunately. And as with so many of the Legion’s half-issue length stories of the 70’s, what we get is a bit of a mixed bag.

The first story is a pretty interesting science-fiction story without any clear antagonist in a very “man versus nature” fashion, and it has a lot of potential. However, a lot of that is a bit wasted by the conclusion being something totally out of left field that we have absolutely no chance of guessing at, since there was never even the semblance of a clue. So while its interesting from a sci-fi perspective, it kind of fails from a story perspective.

That being said, there are a lot of little things to like: I like the trust and friendship shown between Dirk and Cham throughout the issue which is effective. The artwork is really nice, and a lot of that has to be from Dick Giordano lending some gorgeous inks over Joe Staton’s pencils. The cover, by Grell, is also stunning. And while Paul plotted this story, Len Wein adds his talents to the dialogue, which is for the most part really great (despite a few clunky parts). Len has always had a talent for good dialogue and this kind of captures a transition the industry was experiencing in the late 70’s as it moved from Bronze Age sensibilities in clunky, verbose dialogue, to a more natural sounding and modern type of dialogue in the 80’s. If you look at the dialogue page by page here, you can kind of see Len moving in that direction though in places he’s still firmly in the 70’s.

Since it’s a new Archive, its good to point a few other things that are clear indicators that the times are a’changin’. We see a lot of very alien looking characters in the backgrounds and as walk-on supporting players in the cast. This had actually started several issues before and was seen in Earth War. I think the obvious influence here has to be Star Wars, which was released a year earlier and by now had achieved a huge fanbase. Much like Star Trek influenced the creators of the Legion over the last several years, Star Wars had a huge impact on science fiction and space opera from the late 70’s onward, and that something clearly seen in comics: with the Legion’s artistic sensibilities, the Starjammers in X-Men and many other places. It’s a very welcome shift.

It’s also noteworthy that Superboy is nowhere to be found in this lead story. This is a clear indicator that the Legion was popular enough—and at this time was one of the DC’s hottest properties—for DC to try this out. Clearly, this foreshadows his exit at the tail end of this Archive. On the flip side, a few pages are dedicated to wrapping up the loose ends of Karate Kid’s canceled series, which shows that DC and the LSH had moved on from that too by now.

There is a sequence where Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad “goof up” pretty bad too and are embarrassed, which is unlike two of the stalwart, founding members. Having in recent years read a ton of late 70’s / early 80’s comics like Iron Man, Thor, Spider-Man, Avengers, etc., I can say that this is actually a pretty common storytelling trope during this time. It must have been a changing of the times, where the leads were shown to be more fallible and this could be a humanizing exercise to get the readers connected.

It’s also worth noting that right as we begin this Archive, DC was coming through the latter part of its DC Implosion. After attempting an “Explosion” of creativity and new series, things went south quickly and DC came to the brink of disaster with massive layoffs and title cancellations. Looking back historically, one can see this as a turning point, as hereafter, DC would shed a lot of its excess and what was left became tempered and made stronger. DC would now start to grow in leaps and bounds in a really great way, and the early 80’s were a great era for the company. The LSH was one of the flagship series of that movement.

Second story:
The second story, entirely written by Len Wein is okay verging on pretty good. I’m always a little reluctant when we see a “supervillain as diplomat and therefore has diplomatic immunity” story because they are so common and because they should actually be really complex but generally are dumbed down to fit a smaller, action-driven story. I partially like this story mainly because I like the flow of the writing and the artwork is really fantastic. But overall, my criticisms of these types of stories fit this one too, as things are interesting for several pages and then proceed as they usually do very quickly. That being said, it’s not a bad story and at least gives the LSH and Fatal Five another opportunity to be at odds in a different way.

The artwork, said to be by both “Joe Staton and Murphy Anderson”, usually means that the inker, Anderson, has gone far above and beyond and actually shaped most of the issue with his style. And here, it greatly benefits the story.

The Fatal Five remain very nuanced and interesting characters. Of all of the LSH’s villains, they have gotten the best treatment from their introduction to this point.

Something else else that occurs to me, which relates to how story-telling sensibilities in the 80’s and beyond changed, is that if this was written a few years later it would be much more palatable. The reason is that rather than carve up this issue into two separate stories, in later years, the creators would simply combine the two stories and weave them together into something more interesting and appealing. This issue, then, could have featured the main story of Cham & Dirk’s team on Mercury, while all of these Fatal Five scenes would have been interludes and subplots, leading to the full length story next issue. Woven together, they could have included a few additional interludes featuring the rest of the cast. That would have been a much better way to make both stories work better.

246

I appreciate Cramey's review, above, because it focuses on the positive aspects of each story--things I had overlooked or downplayed on re-read.

If any issue screams "FILL IN," this is it. I believe this is Len Wein's first foray into the Legion, and it reads like the work of an unfamiliar writer who is feeling his way around the Legion's universe. There's some good in that: Wein brings in ideas that other writers might not consider and provides a fresh perspective on some characters' interactions. It's not all bad.

In fact, I could forgive both stories' use of science fiction tropes (the first contact situation which goes horribly wrong and a primitive culture being given technology it's not ready for) if they had been handled just a little bit better.

The first story begins well enough with a mystery of disappearing medical personnel and patients. However, there's no clear reason why Cham and Dirk do not tell their colleagues what's going on or why the Legionnaires and the doctor put themselves in danger (and destroy yet another Legion cruiser) when Dirk could just as easily traverse the distance and make first contact on his own. Presumably, the cruiser is needed to get Dirk a certain distance toward the planet, but since we've seen him and other Legionnaires traverse great distances in space without the aid of a ship, it makes some sense that he could travel much of the distance on his own.

It's a novel approach that we don't see the Thermoids, but it also feels like a cop out. The ending falls flat, with Shady's admonition that the doctors should look for all forms of life serving as a trite moral to the story.

The second story is more competent and plays off of a couple of previous Fatal Five appearances--the notion that they just want to settle down on a distant planet and not be hounded by the authorities. The Persuader shows considerable restraint in offering Superboy his hand, and then Tharok and the Empress show the Legionnaires around Corvan IV. I very much enjoyed the notion that these villains could overcome their villainy by serving others.

Of course, it all falls apart when the Legionnaires reject their efforts outright. It would have been better if the Legionnaires had raised their concerns about the Fatal Five interfering in Corvan IV's natural development and then pledged to work with the ex-villains to ease the planet's transition into the UP. As has happened in a few stories before, it is the Legionnaires who look like the bad guys here.

It would have been much more interesting, I think, if the Legionnaires had given the F5 the benefit of a doubt and only later uncovered some sort of nefarious plot on their part. Or perhaps the story could have revealed that the F5, despite their best intentions, truly can't change their stripes. When you've murdered billions of people, as Mano did, it's hard to shift gears and become a humanitarian.

Good catch.



Another good catch. I hadn't thought of Star Wars' influence on the proliferation of alien-looking aliens in comics, but it makes perfect sense.




Also very true, though the scene bothered me because Garth and Rokk jump to conclusions and assume the robot was responsible for the disappearances. Jumping to conclusions is never a good thing to do, especially in battle, and Rokk and Garth should have known better.



True. The best days are ahead of us, but it will take awhile to get there.

Archive 15, you say?

Thanks, Future! Great choice to have Superboy front and centre since this will be his last Archive appearance.

Cobie, I appreciate the historical insight you provide. It really helps to put these stories in context and understand the influences and pressures that were shaping them. They may be little tales, but they're building story by story the massive Legion history that we so love (and others may fear!).




It certainly would be fascinating to see the Fatal Five story rewritten today in this manner!



There's something about this era that sometimes casts the Legionnaires as pretentious, overbearing or entitled. Maybe even over-confident, as you and Cobie point out with the Rokk-Garth misadventure. It's as if there's some conflict between the writers and their characters - or maybe, as the trends were changing, just showing how fallible heroes can be.



Yes, we do have some mud to slog through in the weeks ahead!

#247 Savage Sanctuary by Len Wein, art by Joe Staton & Jack Abel, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by Ben Oda



Superboy races to seek help but fails to get a response to his telepathic ear-plug SOS. Fearing Element Lad and Colossal Boy will be killed, he returns to Corvan IV.

Persuader and Mano receive telepathic word that the Legionnaires betrayed the Five, so they break out of the prison in which they consented to be held.

While the Empress gripes about Tharok's leadership, meteors set into motion by Superboy hit the eye, disabling the Empress with pain and burying Validus. As Superboy lands on Corvan IV, Validus attacks him and a fierce battle erupts between the two. The sound and impact of Validus scares the natives and damages the Five's headquarters, freeing Jan and Gim. Validus finds some kryptonite, the Eye recovers and returns and Tharok joins the battle as Jan and Gim appear to help Superboy – only to face the arrival of Persuader and Mano.

Suddenly, a Corvan native shouts “Enough” and the battle halts. The native presents his people's view, that Tharok's vision of progress for them has unbalanced their society and they just want to be left in peace. Tharok says that they just wanted to repay the Corvanites for allowing the Five to live there. He and the others disappear in a burst of light.

Second story: Celebration by Paul Levitz, art by Joe Staton & David Hunt, colors by Cory Adams. Dedicated to the memory of Mort Weisinger.

It's Election Day for the Legion. Brainy thinks he should be Leader, Wildfire think he should be elected for a second term. Problems develop with the voting and it looks like sabotage. Who's behind this? The Legion investigates and the voting is moved to a cruiser in space to escape the jinx, without success. Surprise! It's Superboy, delivering some payback for the initiation pranks that the founders put him through on this day several years earlier. Second surprise: Lightning Lad is elected Leader, as indicated on the IBM punch card!

Comments:

It's a simple story, overwhelmed by its big ideas, but I still like it for the final scenes. The Corvanite asserts the will of the people, while Tharok seems truly contrite and baffled by their rejection of his gift of technology.

Superboy saves the day with some implausible snooker moves.

Validus speaks in this story and has something looking like eyes. He's much scarier as a mute creature; speech lends him a measure of rational thought, even though his speech level is that of a young child.

The Empress doubts Tharok's leadership. Would she have been the weak link in this effort to settle down peacefully? The others are content to accept Tharok's rule, but the Empress seems destined to butt heads with him.

The election story is a nice little tribute to the Legion's first story, with the oft-used “things are not what they seem to be”. Brainy and Wildfire represent two loose cannons running for leader and it's pleasing that forgotten candidate Garth is the one who wins – although he'll prove to be a bit of a loose cannon himself.

Cham is getting quite the reputation for figuring things out! He's being consistently portrayed as the puzzle solver.

Brainy sure looks a little crazy here and this is the second or third time someone has suggested he take a vacation.

I liked to see the consistency of Shadow Lass supporting him in opposition to Wildfire and am curious to see if her dislike of Wildfire continues throughout the series; it's not something I'd been particularly aware of before.

Superboy and the LSH #247

The second half of Len Wein's Fatal Five story starts the issue and while it isn't bad, and shows some nice sequences of dialogue and action, I can't help but feel that's is overall pretty mediocre. There is a limited amount of characters and the story tries hard to be politically relevant and insightful, but instead feels juvenile, and falls short of that goal. Like many 70's stories, Wein tries to take on difficult political topics but didn't succeed in doing so. One can't help feel that not only are the citizens of Corvan IV being patronized, so are the readers.

It's a shame because the Fatal Five thus hit a benchmark that so many classic DC and Marvel villains hit in the 70's and beyond: they've been used so much that eventually their stories just aren't as great as they used to be. Up until now, most of the F5 stories, even the short ones, were pretty great.

One thing I noticed was Superboy's attack from space on the Empress felt a lot like a drone strike. While effective, it felt eerily unheroic and even unlawful.

The second story scripted by Levitz at long last officially makes Lightning Lad Legion Leader, after the fans had voted him in after he left the team. The story is light-hearted and very much in the vein of Superboy stories of the 1950’s—which is all very sensible since this the 247th anniversary of the Legion (calculated somewhat dubiously I imagine). I actually like this little story, and I liked the light-hearted and fun tone of it, with the stakes low and everything being squarely about the Legion election, with Superboy’s prank coming out of nowhere. It won’t rank in the top 100 greatest LSH stories of all time, but I appreciate the personalities, dialogue and sense of camaraderie Levitz puts into the story.

Lightning Lad’s term as leader is a good way to differentiate this era of the LSH. Book-ended by Levitz’s first run and Earth War and Levitz’s second run and a complete overhaul / modernization of the series, it kind of stands on its own, even though it incorporates several different artists and Superboy’s exit happens midway through.

Good observation. It feels as if the last 15 issues or so have really played this up well for Cham. I was always surprised by just how under-utilized Cham was in the Silver Age stories since I often consider him a "must have" Legionnaire, who should always be on the roster. It seems like this is the era where that really sunk in.



Another good catch. Knowing what is to come, it's also a surprise at how many clues--whether intentional or not--are there to suggest Brainy isn't quite himself.



Shady's dislike of Wildfire is another interesting bit that I never noticed before. I know in Levitz's second run, both Tinya and Shady show some dislike towards Drake, so I think the answer is yes--Levitz shows this consistently. I always wondered why that was, but it must be coming straight from here, in the first run.

Amazingly, I think Paul also shows Jo warming up to Wildfire eventually (after all, they fly together side by side so often). And I think the Tinya / Dawny tension in the second Levitz run also stems from Tinya's dislike over Drake and Dawny defending him.

248:

Despite its flaws and mediocrity (as Cobie aptly put it), I, too, enjoyed "Savage Sanctuary." After all the stories we've lauded in which Superboy is treated as just another Legionnaire, it's actually refreshing to see him take a lead role for a change. I was reminded of why the Legion looks up to him and why he's destined to become the Greatest Hero of All Time. He demonstrates courage and ingenuity by taking on the Fatal Three by himself.

The ending is moralistic, simplistic, and preachy, but it does provide us with another side of the Fatal Five. They truly cared about the Corvanites and wanted to help them along, albeit in a patriarchal sort of way. When the Corvanite tells Tharok that joining the UP was Tharok's dream, not the Corvanites', it hit home. It reminded me of all those parents who push their children to be doctors or lawyers or models because it's the parent's dream, not the children's. To their credit, the F5 see the error of their ways and depart, even though it visibly breaks their hearts to be rejected by the Corvanites.

Cobie also makes a great point about the F5 being used so much that their subsequent stories pale in comparison to their early ones. That's a problem with major villains in every series. Sooner or later, the villain has to win or be in the right, or he or she ceases to be taken seriously.

I, too, was troubled by the drone-like bombardment of asteroids that Superboy inflicted on the planet. What isn't shown is how many Corvanite homes and cities must have been demolished by the rain of space rock, and if there were any casualties. But, hey, he's the Greatest Hero of All Time not only because he's courageous and ingenious; he's also a crack shot at billiards.

"Celebration!" is indeed a nod to the past, with Superboy pranking the Legion for old time's sake. Of course, it's a good thing his prank doesn't barbecue Brainy.

This is fanboy Paul at his most fanboyishness. One panel even contains a bunch of Easter eggs while a caption invites readers to name the stories in which they came from. (If this were Marvel, a No-Prize might have been in the offering.)

The by-the-books story is fairly well done for what it is. It creates a mystery for the Legionnaires to solve. There's also Brainy's odd behavior, a clever bit of foreshadowing. At the time, though, I thought he was just being a jerk and wondered why anyone would vote for him. (Perhaps Shady never got over her initial crush.)

My main problem with the story is that Levitz doesn't play fair with the reader. At no point does he reveal that Garth is the third candidate until the election is over. The victory comes from nowhere. In fact, Garth doesn't really stand out in this story, except to help save Brainy from the fire, so there's no reason to root for him.

But on the Legion's 247th anniversary, the only founder who was not elected leader before finally gets elected. The balance of the universe is restored, and all's fair that ends fair. As a reader at the time, I was thrilled for Garth, and his election redeemed him as one of my favorite characters after he had the audacity to slink off and get married!

I did not realize that not everyone is cut out to be a leader. Today I appreciate how this truth played out later. Sometimes getting what you want isn't a good thing.

. . . and that does it for me for awhile. As I mentioned before, I reviewed the Conway era in this thread back in 2010, so I'll be taking a break from these reviews. I will be checking back in, though, to see how these stories are rated by Cramey, Cobie, and anybody else who participates.

LL the L!

Could this be why we got solo appearances with some of the Five in later stories?



I guess we have to assume he's such a crack shot that the asteroids only hit the villains. In a more complex story, he might have taken out some Corvanite homes, which would have provoked the Corvanites to actively turn against the Legion.



Hmmm... maybe Supeboy is displaying some subconscious annoyance with the green kid?




Sorry to see you go, if only partially, but thanks for the link to your earlier reviews.

I'm sure it had something to do with it. One villain is always easier to use than five, especially when those five are supposed to be the most dangerous villains in the galaxy.

In the DVD commentary on Babylon 5, series creator J. Michael Straczynski discussed the role of Bester, played by Walter Koenig. He knew that in Bester's third appearance, the Psi Cop had to either win or be right; otherwise, he would have ceased to be taken seriously as a threat. The result was the third season episode in which Bester arrives on the station to shut down a smuggling ring of the illegal drug Dust. He was still a despicable character, but he was totally in the right--and this role enabled him to play off the other series regulars, especially Garibaldi, in new ways ("... I'll bust your head like a pinata." "So, you think of me as bright and colorful, and full of candy for small children?")




You're welcome, and thanks!

Even though I haven't been participating, I've still been following the re-read and enjoying the reviews.

I've never read more than a couple issues of the Conway LSH, but that thread that He Who linked to is a lot of fun, so I'm looking forward to the next batch of reviews. Heck, when we get to the first appearance of the League of Super-Assassins, I might even chime in.

One question, He Who:

How come you're leaving before the re-read gets to the Omega 2-parter?

I think it's always a good idea to leave before the sh*t hits the fan.

Seriously, I'll be back for 250-51.

LOL

You won't believe what word I just posted repeatedly in the Anywhere Machine forum.

Spooky.

Glad you'll be back for 250-251.

Yep, I'll believe it.

Tee hee.

HWW, we're really going to miss you in these reviews! Hopefully you can stay somewhat involved, even if only to use pieces of your prior reviews as counterpoints or supporting anecdotes!

And Fanfie, I really hope you chime in when you can!

That goes for everyone: Thoth, EDE, Lardy, etc!

Thanks, Cobie. I'll read the other reviews and chime in when I want to set everybody straight I have something to contribute.

Cobie, I'll certainly put in my two cents about the introduction of the League of Super-Assassins.

And, although it'll be quite a ways down the road, I'll probably also have a few words to contribute about LSH #283, the secret origin of Wildfire, which is also the last issue before Levitz Mark 2 begins.

#248 Beneath the Streets Lurks...DEATH! By Gerry Conway, art by Joe Staton & David Hunt, colors by Gene D'Angelo, letters by Ben Oda



The post-war rebuilding of Earth continues, aided by Legionnaires. One team is in the sewers, investigating an attack on technicians by “sewer water coming alive”. While the Legionnaires scoff, Shadow Lass is grabbed by a tentacle. A nightmarish creatures rises from the water and attacks a team of Science Police. Phantom Girl and Cosmic Boy fight it, but it's Sun Boy's blast of light which sends it back beneath the water. Shadow Lass remains unconscious.

Garth and Imra enjoy a fancy supper together, prepared by Garth using the Auto-chef but are interrupted when Imra receives word of Tasmia's injury. After they leave their quarters, a tentacled creature emerges from the sink drain.

Tasmia is still unconscious and very cold; Dirk feels guilty that he didn't hear her cry for help. Mon-el appears and frantically carries her to Brainiac 5, who is annoyed at the interruption. Brainy performs a series of tests then announces that she'll either live or die within the next 5 hours – and he wants to get back to his work. An enraged Mon-el remains at her side.

R.J. Brande is surprised to learn that he is bankrupt. As he mulls over the implications, he is attacked by a tentacled thing coming out of a sink in his penthouse.

The Legionnaires get an alarm from Brande and rush off to investigate. Dirk remains behind with Brainiac 5 and wonders why Brainy's been acting strangely. Suddenly, the sewer creature erupts from the kitchen, filling the room and ensnaring the two Legionnaires.


Comments:

This story sets up a number of plots, some of which will take several issues to resolve. I appreciate that Conway acknowledges the destruction wrought by Earth War, that things weren't all repaired in a week. In the Legion Companion interview, he said that he tried to write a story that would reference both past and future developments; he's succeeded with that here.

Comic book sewers always have monsters and they always look a bit silly (except maybe Killer Croc). Just slimy tentacles without eyes and teeth would have been enough for me. It isn't stated, but one may suspect it's a monster with a grudge against the Legion, since there aren't tentacles erupting all over Metropolis.

We're given a good measure of character insights: Garth & Imra's dinner scene is quite charming. Hasn't Garth wondered if she reads his mind before this? Could this be a source of future marital strife? Dirk is the joker but takes his responsibilities very seriously and (perhaps wrongly) blames himself for Shady's condition. Mon-el reacts strongly to Tasmia's injuries, almost losing control; we do see the other Legionnaires very concerned about her, but accepting that there's nothing they can do for the time being. Only Brainiac 5 is cold and uncaring and we have further reinforcement that his team mates consider this behaviour unusual.

The diagnosis of "we'll know in five hours if she lives or dies" is abrupt and without any explanation. I don't know if this is just shortcut writing or intended to show how much unquestioning deference the Legionnaires show to Brainy's diagnostic genius.

Of course the Legionnaires would dash off to help R.J. Brande, as they have in the past, but I do wonder if the U.P. accepts that when R.J. calls, the Legion responds. Who takes priority if there's a conflict?

The revelation that R.J. is bankrupt – and his disbelief – is a surprising event which promises to develop into an interesting story.

The cover is dramatic but that scene never occurs in the actual story. Mon-el does grab Brainy in anger, which is sort of interesting from the point of view that they both will be revealed to suffer periods of mental imbalance. One over-reacts, one under-reacts. Mon-el might just as well have slugged Sun Boy, but he only blasts Dirk with a verbal accusation.

Superboy & the LSH #248

S&LSH marks the start of writer Gerry Conway's tenure on the title, though this 2 part story is a bit of a preview before the Starlin follow-up interrupts things and Gerry can really begin with #252. Conway's run gets a bit of a bad wrap among LSH fans and I'm anxious to see if that's deserved. I know a lot of it is somewhat mediocre and lacks a little sizzle, but I also know Conway is a proven entity, and certainly was by 1979. He had already done very good runs on various Marvel and DC series, and he was a best-selling author of paperback science fiction novels at the age of 19--yet another wunderkind on the Legion, though by now in his late 20's / early 30's. He also has the unfortunate timing to be stuck between two awesome and beloved Paul Levitz runs.

Meanwhile Joe Staton is on art still and here is inked by Dick Giordano. And give what we've seen before, I have to believe that Giordano comes through in spades here, because I thought the art was actually pretty enjoyable! Clear, concise, with dynamic action and bright superhero colors, it is "classic superhero" visuals, which I wish modern comics would take a page from.

The story itself is a 2-parter which is very welcome. Even with the antagonist being nowhere near as epic as what we've seen with other 2-parters, I welcome the change. Keeping at bay any knowledge I have about part 2, which we'll review next week, I have to say that I actually liked this issue quite a bit! I liked the pacing of it, which included good mystery building, tension between the Legionnaires, and action book-ending things. It sets up potential for a good second half, and is effective.

I also like how Conway gradually brings in more Legionnaires: the initial 4, then Imra and Garth, then Superboy & Mon, then Brainy. I wouldn't mind more Legionnaires but I'll take this.

I especially like the little things Conway does, which is a continuation of what Levitz started with the LSH and very much a part of Conway's Marvel style. He has Dirk seamlessly calling Tasmia "Shady". Tinya breaks Cos's balls but not in a mean manner--more in a longtime teammate way. He acknowledges Earth and the LSH are still recuperating from Earth War, which foreshadows the Brande plot. And he brings the Brainy subplot to the forefront. All of this insinuates this issue is part of a larger world and readers should feel encouraged to immerse themselves in it.

On the complaint side, I really dislike the way Mon is characterized, which is an even further step in the wrong direction from Bates, and one Levitz would continue somewhat. But I guess I have to accept this is the era of Mon-El not quite being the iconic Mon-El of the Silver Age and TMK forwards.

Also, even though it was part of the larger plot, I did like how the Imra / Garth scene felt like an interlude. We're almost there: sequences that don't directly relate to the main plot of the issue. It's also interesting to see its Conway who comes up with the Garth cooking concept which Levitz continually repeats. The best part, though, was the clear innuendo in Garth's thoughts. A Legion first, though I guess since they're married that was okay in 1979?

I have to say I walked into this issue expecting a yawn fest and ended up really liking it. A good first impression that Conway's issues are better than we usually think they are.

FC, well put on the way the various Legionnaires are written, especially Dirk. "A joker, but also takes responsibility..."--it's a good way to make him a little different than other Legionnaires but remain heroic. It's also a bit of a fine line to walk. Overall, I liked how Conway showed a playfulness among Dirk / Shady / Tinya / Cos. It's fun and light-hearted until it's time to go to work. Which is how you might expect battle hardened veterans to act.

Capital Crimes of the Chemical Conqueror! By Gerry Conway, art by Joe Staton & Jack Abel, colorist Gene D'Angelo, letters Ben Oda



The tentacle creature has grabbed Brainiac 5, who is protected by his forcefield. Sun Boy discovers it is oblivious to heat and light, as he falls prey to its clutches. Although Mon-el hears them cry out, he refuses to leave Tasmia's bedside.

Brainy escapes the creature by expanding his forcefield and crushing it, grumbling that he has to handle everything. Sun Boy is comatose/

The team answering R.J. Brande's call discover that his private quarters look like the sewer they had initially investigated. They quickly conclude that the sludge must have travelled through the plumbing. The creature suddenly emerges, is blasted by Lightning Lad and apparently destroyed. Garth, as leader, decides to investigate the sewers and see if one of the creatures took R.J. there.

Examining Sun Boy, Brainy diagnoses chemical shock and concludes he knows who the enemy is and how to defeat him. He appeals to Mon-el for help, is refused and angrily tells Mon there will be consequences.

In the sewers, Legionnaires fight the tentacle creatures, while Saturn Girl detects thoughts of R.J. Brande, another human and an inhuman. She discovers Mantis Morlo; his chemoid servant strikes her as Brainy appears with a chemical de-synthesizer gun. His blast destroys the chemoid, disables Morlo and cleans the sewers of creatures and accumulated muck. Despite the Legionnaires' thanks, Brainy feels unappreciated and returns to his lab.

Second Story: The Arctoraan Jewel Case by Paul Kupperberg, art by Joe Staton, colors by A. Roy, letters by Todd Klein

Chameleon Boy responds to an S.P. call for help on a case of blackmail. Ambassador Jeryl of Arctoraan joins the meeting, to the obvious pleasure of Cham. She explains that she had been involved with smuggling early in her career and was now being blackmailed. She had intended to pay with a rare gem, but contacted the SPs.

Suddenly, the lights go out; when they come back on, Jeryl has cuddled up to Cham, saying she's unused to darkness. The SP Commander explains they have been suffering blackouts and equipment has been disappearing; the thief - a Tech Officer - was discovered but escaped. It was determined that he was creating a super-spy monitor, the power needs of which might explain the blackouts.

Cham decides to investigate the power cable which runs on the ocean floor and is protected by sensors. He discovers a microwave receptor and the thief/blackmailer's hideout. A poison is released and he has to escape. He explains to the Commander and Jeryl that the hideout can not be attacked and Jeryl should just pay the ransom with the jewel. She teleports the gem in a case to the blackmailer, who detects that it's Cham in disguise. However, he thinks Cham is the jewel, but Cham is really the case – and the Legionnaire manages to capture the blackmailer as he delivers one-liners. Jeryl is grateful and Cham suggests they get together that night.

Comments:

The first story wraps up the tentacled sewer beast adventure. I didn't feel there was much substance to the tracking and capturing of the creature and its creator, Mantis Morlo: more tentacle attacks, then Morlo easily defeated.

The interest came from the character scenes. Mon-el refusing to help his comrades, Lightning Lad's hesitation when confronted with a decision and Brainy's increasingly bad attitude.

The cover gives away the villain, if one remembers Mantis Morlo from the Adventure era. For some reason, there's no title on the cover.

The second story is charming. Chameleon Boy has been getting some favourable coverage recently in stories and his detecting abilities highlighted. Here he's depicted as well-regarded by the SP Commander, an able detective and tactician, and a romantic lead. With the special lettering of the sub-title, it looks as if DC might have been contemplating a spin-off or a regular back-up featuring Cham.

Jeryl behaves like a schoolgirl with a crush, but I guess it could be love at first sight.

That an ambassador would admit to smuggling is interesting, as is the implication that many highly-ranked people were hiding secrets worth blackmailing. We don't learn if Jeryl suffers any reprimand or demotion for her early activities.

The double-meaning of the title only becomes apparent at the end, with a bit of a surprise ending.

The villain is a very clever technician and able to construct serious defences. With inside knowledge of SP tech and facilities, it's a shame we didn't see Giy Delor again. (Or did we?)