Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Re-reading the Legion: Archives Volume 19

313:

There comes a point where a series, franchise, or company becomes so successful that the craft of telling a new story becomes overridden by concerns of keeping it a success and expanding its success further. This routinely happens to US television series which last more than, say, four years, and it happened to Marvel Comics, which gained notoriety in the ’60s because it offered a ground-breaking alternative to DC; once Marvel became the Big Shot in the business, the qualities which led to its success diluted and its innovative edge stagnated.

I feel that’s what happened with the Legion. The Levitz/Giffen combo had been so successful that it led to a spin-off: the vaunted “hardcover” edition which would allow the artist and writer to experiment in ways not permitted or practical through newsstand circulation. The new Legion series generated a lot of excitement, but something got left behind. Levitz and Giffen seemed to have forgotten how to tell good stories.

Sure, the Science Police two-parter has its moments, but they become fewer and farther between as we move into part two. The Legionnaires are still reduced to caricatures and comedy relief in what should be a straightforward police story. Poor Blok breaks a statue in President Allon’s home and later offers to help her stand; he has nothing else to contribute to the story. The other Legionnaires pop in when needed and—in recognition that it's still their book—find the solution to the problem. But I think Levitz would have been happier writing a story about his wife. Gigi (Jeanette) comes across as the most interesting character, even though she doesn’t do much except emote—expressing pleasure over Sun Boy’s jealousy and scolding Superboy for bursting through a wall. At least she gets to lead the SP meeting. I half expected her to say, “Let’s be careful out there.”

The story once again teems with unexplored potential. The SP surveillance, mind-probing, and reliance on drones to catch criminals, and the UP conference in which President Allon argues in favor of earth’s expansion rights—these ideas were much more interesting than the straight super-hero/detective story we were given. These “asides” hint at a vaster, more mature world than the vague and unconvincing efforts to find the blackmailer. Fittingly, the blackmailer isn’t given a name or much of an identity, other than being a civilian computer programmer (someone who is such a non-entity that he was overlooked in the investigation of the case until now). This, too, could be used to show how someone so small and “ordinary” can cause big problems (see: Lee Harvey Oswald), but Levitz doesn’t go there. Instead, there is no real point to the villain’s story or payoff in his capture. What should have been a big moment is reduced to Colossal Boy’s childish “I didn’t like how you scared my mom.”

In terms of subplots, Violet gives Duplicate Idiot a “what for”—which was arguably the most satisfying scene in the book. This was the first time I was aware that Duplicate Boy actually knew the “Violet” he encountered back in 298 was an impostor—I thought he meant she wasn’t the woman he thought she was because of her affair with Gim. It's very strange that he wouldn’t have exposed the impostor. “Did you think I voluntarily gave up my identity” indeed.

Elsewhere, Mon-El expresses remorse that Darkseid conquered Daxam after learning of the planet’s existence from invading his mind. Shady wisely points out that Daxam was not a secret and that Darkseid could have discovered it eventually. I like this scene; it adds depth to both Mon and Shady. It was also good to see Daxam become a thriving, regenerating world. Cham longingly contrasted its progress to the isolationist backwater of Durla.

There are a few other nice touches. The White Witch is put to good use in capturing the fleeing smugglers, and I enjoyed Brainy’s “Hardly … but thank you anyway.” He never lets us forget that he is literally the smartest guy in the room.

Another issue has passed with no mention of Lyle Norg—a cliffhanger that has been left hanging far too long. At this point—as much as I loved the Legion and basked in the lingering glow of the early Levitz/Giffen era—I was becoming aware of the limitations of mainstream comics and unsatisfied with the lack of effort to make each story all it could be.

Forgotten, or spread too thin? It does make a case for rotating creative teams, although I often dislike the interruption of style. Perhaps a writer best maintains quality when he has full control over the product and the schedule, which is probably never going to be the case writing for DC or Marvel.



You had described earlier how these stories adopted a Hill Street Blues approach and it was never clearer than on this page. And more Gigi would have been a good thing!



You make a good point that this nameless villain could have illustrated how ordinary people can still cause world-changing events. Gim's comment I took to be looking for a laugh, but it had echoes (or presaged) Bush's comment that he was going after Saddam Hussein because "He was the guy who tried to kill my dad".



I thought Vi was jumping to conclusions here - that Ord should have known it wasn't really her and if he had really loved her, he would have recognized an imposter.



It has been way too long. If the return of Lyle was thrown in at the last moment as a joke by Giffen, or something, the following stories might have already been plotted out and there was no time (or no one wanted to spare the time) to rework them. Still, the Lyle story could have been kept in view with just a few comments here and there to let us know he wasn't forgotten - especially since Mysa and Brainy, the two who might specialize in what happened to Lyle - were active in recent issues.

LoSH 313

A top-notch cover showing our celebrity heroes flying just above a Metropolitan street of the future. Giffen has kept going with the future fashions and the locals look and point up at the Legionnaires as they fly past. There are lots of aliens here too, and it really looks like a bustling city centre of years to come. Giffen’s cleverly drawn it all at an angle so that the reader gets to be one of the crowd looking up. Perhaps that door you went through today, was really going into a time bubble, dear reader. Playing with the fourth wall was also a feature of last issue’s cover too.


Giffen’s also kept going with the holographic visuals. They form street signs and the Legion logo also melds into the scenery.

Very unusually, the logo is on the bottom half of the cover, which is usually a marketing no-no. But it allows more space for the Legion to have the freedom of the top half of the picture. Sun Boy is suing his powers in a visual way, presumably to impress the crowds. Cos looks as though he uses his power in addition to his flight ring to give him a little bit of an edge on the others.

This is one of my favourite Cos costumes, off set by the cover showing a Gim outfit I’m indifferent too. Tinya’s costume can be seen as outdated, but it does have a certain phantom like quality here. It’s just been nice to see her in action recently, so the costume has probably grown on me a bit more than usual. Blok looks a bit steadier than usual. Perhaps he’s wearing extra flight rings. Jan’s costume is a step up too, and he’s seen here on his way to ask a previous Legion leader for some help.

Following the threat to Marte Allon’s life at the end of last issue, we open in her apartment. We learn a little more about her background. This links nicely with her known that something’s not right if the SPs are involving the Legion. That’s when she learns that it could be an inside job. Her reaction at needing to be protected, and general attitude, is suitably abrasive considering the circumstances, and reminds me of her early encounters with the team.

Without a mission monitor board to tell the readers about, Blok is now pretty much clumsy, big guy. As he picks up a broken ornament, he’s a far cry for the brooding, dangerous looking super assassin form his early appearances.

Trying to locate the SP officer behind the attacks, Gim and Jan try to blend in as new recruits. They are pretty useless. While they shouldn’t be as skilled in hands on police work, both have been in law enforcement of a type since their early teens. One was an SP recruit before that if my memory cell recollection of Gim’s upcoming subplot is right. But they either stare slack jawed at SP equipment (coming from the tough world of Brainy’s inventions and endless budgets as they do) or foil up operations. Imagine the embarrassment for Cham who leads the Legion espionage squad. “What must he be telling the others,” the SP officers will be whispering under their breaths.

Fortunately for Jan and Gim, there are other Legionnaires on hand to help out. Mysa goes all Mordru, shrinking the villains down into her hand. Fortunately, she didn’t go all Fabulous Fingers of Felix Faust, or the SPs would have been picking body parts off of the rockcrete. She looked pretty menacing. Dirk is on hand firstly to remind the reader of Mysa’s limits. Secondly, to further his romantic subplot with Gigi. Following the revelation that Cusimano would know Gim with a distorter on, Dirk sees her having a very close chat to her, with suitably interesting body language. Dirk butts straight in, only to be called on it by GiGi. Gim says nothing, presumably enjoying Dirk’s discomfort.

With the officers on this mission looking to be clean (the Legion’s plan is presumably to catch one of them wearing an “I’m The Villain” sign) Jan inspires confidence in his leadership by saying “…I’m running out of ideas…”

Later at the Hill Street precinct, Levitz has Jan and Gim sit through a briefing. We get a teaser ahead to the return of Ontiir. Erin provides us with the clue that the SP officers also undergo a weekly brain scan. So, how could it be a rogue officer. It’s a decent clue, but since Levitz just mentioned Ontiir, how did he evade suspicion all that time?

Tension begins to mount as President Allon approaches the UP building to make a speech. I was expecting an attack to occur in the chamber itself. But it happens in the lift getting there. The Legion does just enough to keep her in one piece. Brainy is initially shown using his force shield, yet they crawl out of the rubble. While it has adds to the tension, it doesn’t really match him using the device. I’m surprised Brainy didn’t use his force field though. As President Allon approaches Back on Earth, there’s an attempt on President Allon’s life.

Zendek gives us a little red herring that it might be an off-world SP. One who evaded the tests. Is this what Ontiir has done? The Legion have eliminated suspects, but have no leads on the actual culprit. Mysa foreshadows the solution in establishing that they’ve been asking the computers the wrong question.

Marte Allon is attacked as she delivers a speech. The culprit is the drone sidekick we saw with the villain last issue, so retrospective points for that scene. But it’s not just Mrs Allon who’s being attacked. All of the delegates are. With Superboy present, the attack is never going to succeed, and Brainy figures out the scope of the plan.

After Mysa’s (who still floats in all her panels) suggestion Jan is the one to figure out that they need to identify anyone working for the SPs that the computer isn’t tracing. Levitz has been mentioning all the scans and tracing throughout the story, so it’s a smooth way of leading into the solution. Using a bit of old school computing, Brainy identifies the individual. Mysa then uses her magic to link that person with their location. While the villain thinks he’s going through a portal to a ship bound for the Dominion, he actually ends up at SPHQ. There, he meets a very unhappy Gim who is upset at what’s been happening to his mother. Levitz is clearly having fun putting his wife in the cast. She gets to tell off Superboy for smashing through a wall. Cusimano Confronts Comics Cliches!

The story seemed a little long for two issues. But if you took all the subplots out, it would have probably fitted nicely into a single one. Following the Omen, the villain was as low key as you could get. But he had a scheme that had a twist, and that took a lot of legwork for the Legion to find a solution. The cast got there step by step, even with the use of Mysa and Brainy to shorten some of the time involved.

I mentioned last issue that Levitz and/or Giffen had been reading 2000AD. We get a mention of a Blocwar in the SP briefing. For those that haven’t read Judge Dredd, it works as a straight Dirty Harry of the future right alongside a deeply satirical look at police, politics and society. The Batman character last issue was a take on a Futsie – a person who simply couldn’t live with life inside Mega City One.

Block Wars had been in the Dredd strip previously. But there was a storyline around this time that escalated the phenomena, of entire massive skyscrapers attacking each other, into a city-wide phenomena. That was only a precursor to Sov-Bloc infiltration of Dredd’s Mega City One and a climatic Apocalypse War. The structure is an excellent example of escalating threat. With the standard cliff-hanger at the end of its several pages a week, it’s a compelling read. Brian Bolland, who had also worked on Dredd, did the covers for the American editions. He, along with Dredd writers John Wagner (Batman/ A History of Violence), Alan Grant (L.E.G.I.O.N. / Batman/ Lobo) and main artist Carlos Ezquerra (Preacher) would end up doing work for DC.

All were seasoned vets, well before this issue was published. Levitz would presumably have been involved at some point with DC’s overtures to British talent at the time.

As Dredd played with concepts of law, order and justice, Levitz is doing the same thing with the Legionverse. So we have Smyt talking about hanging while we see brain scans on criminals. This followed last issue’s monitoring of citizens who they happened to classify criminals. There’s a lot of scary Orwellian technology in the Legion’s world, and I do like the way Levitz treats it as completely normal. It lets the reader notice it, and make up their own mind. Much like Dredd does.


Subplots this issue: -

On Ventura we see Thom and Nura on vacation after the end of her term as leader. Nura collapses, telling Thom that she saw a Legionnaire die. Since I’m a newsstand kid, I didn’t realise just how directly this leads into a very early scene in the first Baxter issue, with the tow of them continuing their holiday. I wonder why Nura didn’t share her prophecy with the rest of the team, provide more details, or try to use her powers through meditation.

While it’s just the writer providing a massive teaser, perhaps Nura thinks some of her colleagues will remember all the other times she predicted a Legionnaire would die, only for it to be Legion robots/ parallel universe duplicates/ Legion sock puppets.


On Lallor, Duplicate Boy performs a heroic public act, only to get punched in the face by Vi. Back in #298 Ord said that “she’s not the Violet I fell in love with, following his fight with Colossal Boy. There, it could have been interpreted that he noticed how much she had changed, if she was now with Gim.

But here, Vi is very much of the opinion that Ord knew it was an impostor, but didn’t bother to tell anyone about it, instead going off in a space huff. Duplicate Boy isn’t portrayed as the smartest of heroes, but this seems to be really dumb by anyone’s standards. Vi crams a gift into his mouth and tells him firmly that their relationship is over. I might have once read this as being a return of gifts Ord had given her before her abduction. Here, it seems that once he knew the real Vi was back, Ord started sending her gifts. This scene certainly establishes that he knew she was back. He comes across as completely self centered. Girlfriend is a Durlan impostor? Never mind her, how does it impact your day? There’s some parallels in the subplot here and the one that will develop for Dirk.

On Daxam, Shady and Lar walk through a lovely, landscaped part of the world. It’s returning to its look before Darkseid arrived. But there’s work to be done as the couple look out at Brin and Jo crushing more rubble. It’s a good scene. It continues the return of Daxam subplot; resolves Lar’s guilt over Darkseid learning about the planet from his mind; sets up a future Lar story with Lar and Shady on Talok “was that all he saw in the dark corners of my mind?” and gives a final nod to Cham’s return to Durla and shows him as introspective. It also shows the Legion in peaceful, constructive work which a few readers had mentioned. There’s a lot in the scene, but it still has plenty of space in it.

As usual, the subplots stand out more in lower key stories. With the Baxter series now imminent, there’s a fair amount of movement in them and I’m impressed at how seamlessly LoSH will transition into v3. There’s was no jump in time, or a clean slate for new stories. It just carried on. I never got the feeling with v3 that I was dropped into a mass of subplots. Yet, there was plenty of them going on, so lots of credit to Levitz.

Giffen only did the layouts for this issue, and its interesting to see the panel structure that remains with far more restrained details. Things like the panel size indicating motion are there, as on page 3 with the jetpacked villains, and on page 12 with the elevator. Vertical establishing shots are also still there as with page 6.

The dropped panels come back in full force, a consistent design feature, leading the reader through the pages. Not having full art duties, provides a more consistent design through the story. Some regular Giffen features like the page within a single background panel, such as page 15 don’t work as well without him doing the full art. But any problems are more than made up for on page 10. Vi wants to be away from Duplicate Boy so badly she flies right out of the panel.

Comments



Yeah, it really went quite a way to flesh out a key supporting organisation.




I think you’re exactly right in why it was Jan who came up with the solution after Mysa’s comment. He had to show some leadership in what’s been disappointing start for him.

I read it as Brainy identifying the precise contractor behind the scheme, and then Mysa linking the computer to his location at the Spaceport to transport him, through the portal, to them at SPHQ (where the computer was)




I think everyone else on that went through the portal would have boarded the Dominion bound craft. But, thanks to Mysa’s spell of similarity our villain went instead to the SPHQ. The comedy factor in the lineup could have made that clearer. I see Captain America is the latest Marvel hero searching for Ben Grimm in the Legionverse. It was the Hulk last issue.



I don’t think you’re making a leap. Brainy says that the villain has left too wide a data trail not to be identified. He just provides a comic book shortcut to identifying him in a few panels. The others would have got there eventually. But the villain would have got away. It was a procedural story, rather than one full of nail biting excitement.

I didn’t think it when I read it, but since I moved all the subplots away from the main story in my review, I must have felt they got in the way too. Good shout on Computo as a possible alternate villain. I always fancied it to have taken over the UP behind the scenes.







Thanks for pointing out the speech. I rather skipped past it. Like a few things in recent issues, I think the anti-expansion sentiment that Marte is advocating against, links in with the turning in of the Up after the post Magic Wars great collapse. One of the reasons for the collapse was over expansion, I think.



More on the non human delegates would have been nice. We saw more aliens on the walkway at the spaceport. Venturan walking currency; a Thangarian. Oh, and Captain America heading off into Dominator territory to prove himself to the Legion after his rejection: Overage, killing (various pre-code WWII foes), duplicate powers (Timberwolf/Karate Kid/ Ultra Boy etc.). Not rejected for reliance on the shield.





We’ve talked about all the background things going on at the time. And one of those was the impact of the success of the newsstand book – new format spin off; less editorial control to allow the creative team more freedom etc.

Like Omen/ Prophet, this one probably looked fine on the planner. It also allows the team to have fun with a story – a HSB sort of thing.

But it would have worked a whole lot better as an Espionage Squad story. Cham and Tinya replace Gim and Jan as more than “tourists” They could mention other Squad members such as Vi leading into her subplot as shown. Jacques could have been brought into the squad, furthering his role in the team (he might not like it) and the Lyle subplot. His departure with Danielle could have been put back to the end of the story. For all his involvement in the actual story, Gim could still have appeared to guard his mom at the conference (GiGi/ Sunboy subplot could have been there) and to confront the villain at the end.



I think you’re right. It really isn’t a Legion story. It’s a SP story, that the Legion are put in for shortcuts and because it’s their logo on the book. But then, offbeat issues can breathe life into a book and we did get a lot on the SP operations.- Positivity Lad.



In Baxter #1- Who will join the Legion? It’s Emoji Lass!




Like the SP operations, its something that more of the wider Legion world was at least hinted at I guess. Considering the links between recent issues and v4, I think Giffen might already have been thinking about that vaster, more mature world.



I did think that the anonymity of the villain came across in the efforts of the team to track him down. Oddly, when we saw his scared megalomania last issue, I had real doubts about that. In the end, he was a combination of both. Small time contractor, but one who executed a mass blackmailing campaign.

If he has no name, what would he be called in a Who’s Who in the Legion Update?!

The Programmer?
The Sub-Contractor (he gets little wings on his ankles)?
Scarface?
Drones to Drones Lad?




That’s the way I had first interpreted it too. But if Vi’s right, and there’s no counter from Ord, then Super Creep is his real power.



This is a good period for Mysa in the team. Her abilities are defined, and she provides visually interesting, left field solutions. Spot on with Brainy, who at the same time has Kara very much on his mind. Smartest man in the room, but not on everything.



Thanks for the comments on Lyle as we go through the issues.

Yeah. As you and thoth both pointed out, a lot of effort was spent on developing this secondary organization, and we get a good sense of how the world of the 30th century vastly differs from ours in terms of how the police operate. It's not at all a comforting look from the vantage point of 2018, but, in 1984, cops were still almost universally regarded as good guys and technology was always a blessing. We've now had several years of seeing the darker side of both.



It did seem odd that they would be so impressed by SP technology. I couldn't figure out what Gim and Jan were staring at on p. 7. This was one of several examples where the story telling didn't clearly convey what was happening.



This was another point where things weren't as clear as they should have been.



And another--though thoth's explanation that Mysa "teleported" the blackmailer to SP headquarters makes sense.



I picked up on the lack of tension, too, but I thought it was because the story couldn't make up its mind whether to be funny or dramatic. Many good stories have elements of both, but the balance was off here.

Another reason why the story lacks tension, I believe, is that, after President Allon and the diplomats are saved, there is no sense of danger. It's just a matter of the Legionnaires figuring out who the blackmailer is and capturing him before he escapes. But the stakes aren't really raised at this point.



I did like Marte's depiction a great deal. Her speech to the councilors came across as a real political speech.

It is a very unusual cover. I wasn't sure I liked it at first, but you pointed out several innovative features, such as the camera angle, the aliens, and the fashions.

Dirk's use of his power to propel himself while flying seemed too Wildfire-esque to me, though showing off fits his personality.

I, too, like these costumes for Jan and Rokk better than their previous outfits. Tinya's costume may seem somewhat dated, but there's an attempt to modernize it with wide, hanging sleeves. I agree that it's great to see her take an active role in recent stories.



This is the first we've learned, as I recall, that she was dean of a university. Previously, she had been described only as a school teacher, I think. With my own academic experiences in the years since this story came out, I can appreciate this revelation more. It's about time more educated people rose to positions of power.



Yep. One does not arise to become the leader of the free world or planet without a healthy ego that chafes at being overprotected. FDR seemed to think he was immortal even when he was dying in the final months of World War II, and JFK rode in an open-air limousine in the middle of a crowded street flanked by tall buildings. Presidents just don't think about these things.



In a world which includesan organization that calls itself the Legion of Super-Villains, it could happen.



One of my recent revelations while doing these re-reads is that Jan doesn't come off a very good leader. Nura was much more competent by comparison.



This was another scene in which I wasn't clear on what was happening. After Brainy activates his force field, Rokk tries to use his power to slow the descent, but he makes a point of telling us the cube isn't metallic, so his power will be only so effective. In fact, it turns out to be detrimental as he only bursts through the roof, leaving the cube with the president and Brainy to continue falling. When the cube crashes, we learn both occupants survived, so the obvious conclusion is that Brainy shut off his force field after the crash--but why would he do so? Or maybe the crash jolted him enough that he lost control of the force field.



I didn't notice it was the same or a similar drone. Good catch. It's great to see Giffen use subtle details such as this; they reward the reader for paying attention.



Thanks for the background information. I was totally unfamiliar with 2000 A.D. at the time and only marginally familiar with it afterwards.



Cramey's interpretation that Vi assumed he knew about the impostor makes some sense, but this isn't clearly conveyed in the story. If Dupe did recognize that Vi was being impersonated, he is worse that stupid and self-centered. He's complicit.



When I wrote that line, I was thinking of the former Enron executives. A documentary was made about them; it was called "Enron: The Smartest Guys In the Room." They, too, were not smart on everything.

The Trial of Ontiir by Paul Levitz & Keith Giffen, art by Terry Shoemaker & Karl Kesel, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by Adam Kubert



Ontiir, on trial, pleads guilty to treason and claims it was all according to orders from the Science Police to infiltrate the Dark Circle. Dirk and Kara are stunned that he refers to them as his friends; Brainy cautions that Ontiir must have some reason for all that he did. Chief Zendak appears via holo, refutes the claim that Ontiir was following orders and says he would hang Ontiir himself. Ontiir criticizes such a system of justice, clicks a device on his helmet and moves to the wall. Something else else crashes into the courtroom. Brainy activates his forcefield to protect people, Kara rescues the jury and Sun Boy tries to stop Ontiir, who escapes in a ship with the help of a Dark Circle figure.

On Earth, Jacques reunites Danielle with sister Francine in Abidjan, one of the areas of Earth "untouched in nuclear wars". He then returns to the Legion, wondering if he will remain a member now that the original Invisible Kid has come back.

On Weber's World, the damage is contained by forcefield. Relnic advises that Ontiir's supposed orders came from an SP Officer who is now captive of the Dark Circle. Kara tells Relnic to inform Jan that the three Legionnaires are going after Ontiir. To the surprise of both Brainy and Dirk, she flies off with them. Dirk says her impulsiveness is cute - and he knows to keep his hands off her. Brainy smiles.

At Metropolis Spaceport, Garth and Imra prepare to board a shuttle to Medicus One. Imra picks up thoughts of a smuggler, Garth breaks open his valise with a subtle lightning bolt and the two laugh as the smuggler is arrested.

Ontiir faces the Dark Circle leaders for the first time in a score of years. Even they are unclear whether he is working for them or for the United Planets. The assembly is surprised to learn that three Legionnaires have entered their space and are fighting off their border patrols. The Dark Circle asks Ontiir if they are coming for him. In space, Dirk suggests they head for the planet and seek Ontiir; Brainy laughs, saying that Kara has made the mission look easy. She responds that she loves being back with the Legion and that he knows how she feels about him.

At Legion HQ, Jacques enters the room in which Lyle Norg sits, watching a holo of his death by Validus. Lyle claims that he does not want to be a Legionnaire, or even alive and tells Jacques to leave.

Comments:
Lyle Norg at last! But what a downer. He seems to be a real person (there are no clues to the contrary) and seriously depressed. Jacques doesn't know what to do with him and it appears neither does anyone else. This is a baffling mystery which would have been both compelling and annoying the first time around - I would have wanted an entire issue devoted to this plot, not one page.

It's been a while since we've seen Ontiir, too, although there was a comment last issue reminding us that his trial was imminent. This story is also a baffling one: was Ontiir really on a deep undercover mission? Even the Dark Circle doesn't seem to know. This does make him interesting - the double or possibly triple agent.

We got Supergirl back, for the trial I assume, but she might just be spending more time around the 30th century - and a certain Coluan. It's clear that Brainy is happy to have her there; this looks like a long-term romance developing. Damn Crisis! Good thing I couldn't see the future. Now it's just a bittersweet might-have-been.

It's good to see Dirk in action as well, after being pretty much sidelined.

Garth and Imra depart with a clear break from the Legion. They don't want to be involved in crime-fighting now, although they don't let a smuggler get away with the goods. One might think, after the previous SP-focused issue, that Metropolis Spaceport needs much better security.

Apart from Lyle's situation, it's a fairly upbeat issue, although both the Dark Circle and Lyle Norg plots portend serious challenges ahead. There's also the reference to nuclear wars having affected most of Earth, with only a few areas in Africa undisturbed. We don't see visual wastelands, but this is a reminder of past devastation and the implication that not everything has fully recovered.

Terry Shoemaker is one of my all-time favourite Legion artists. I just like the way he draws everyone. They all (at least the good guys) look so young, happy and hopeful. Supergirl looks like Olivia Newton-John, but I don't blame Mr. Shoemaker for that.

LoSH 314

Cover:
The cover combines the two stories inside really well; the Mysa spotlight with the trial of Ontiir (and the hint that it leads to some action). There’s also the nice addition of having a Kryptonian on the cover, which never hurts sales.

Mysa seemed to have moved away form crystal ball trappings under Levitz. This is more like the Hag or what would come later with the Black Witch. A couple of years later the cover of Secret Origins #1 would have characters like Doctor Fate and the Spectre show Superman I his origin through the same device.

It’s also an unusual cover in that Mahstedt gets the pencilling duties, albeit with the exceptional Giordano on inking support. The pencilling is a bit more basic than usual, but I do wonder why Mahlstedt didn’t do more of it across his career.

Story One:
Levitz indicated that, while there were to be two books a month, Tales would provide opportunities to see different parts of the Legionverse. I think that this started even as the Baxter planning was ongoing. First, we had the back up stories, allowing Giffen space but providing a look into some family life and a Dawny spotlight. Then, the last two issues showed us the workings of the Science Police, through channels such as police shows and Judge Dredd. This issue, and the next, would give a Levitz take on spy novels as its main thread.

The spy in question is Ontiir, formerly security chief on Weber’s World until caught as a Circle agent working with the Emerald Empress to seize control of the planet. The SP story had a certain light hearted, yet polished pace to it as Levitz moved through the plot points. This story has some similar elements, from the optimism of Supergirl and her romance, to Ontiir himself.

The Circle agent is so nefarious, so calculating that no one really knows which side he is on, if any.

The Tsaurian pleads “guilty as charged” to his offences in the close up splash page. But complicates it with “…and as ordered!” He claims to have infiltrated the Dark Circle on behalf of the SP. The Circle agent claims friendship to the Legion, certainly takes Dirk and Kara by surprise. The difference between Kara’s belief in what she saw differs nicely from Querl’s more logical approach. It’s going to be another enjoyable story, just having the two of them in it. Levitz really did well with their relationship during this period. Kara’s also wearing my favourite version of her costume too.

Like one of the SP officers in the last story, witness Zendak trots out a line about hanging Ontiir if he could. It’s something that doesn’t tie up (apart from the noose) with a society that happily brainwashes criminals instead. Having just revealed a flaw in the SP in the last storyline, Zendak is undoubtedly not a happy person. It’s also another opportunity to have an SP supporting character in the story. Zendak, Gi Gi and Shvaughn were all prominent parts of the cast during this part of the run.
Ontiir doesn’t like the threat of hanging either. What was shaping up to be a trial instead becomes an escape, as a Circle craft crashes through the court walls. Querl uses his forcefield to protect the busy room, while Kara rescues the jury and Dirk blasts Circle guns to prevent any other attacks.

This is a nice example of having them all perform heroic actions, while really keeping them from stopping Ontiir, and the plot, themselves. Querl could have projected his forcefield around the prisoner; Kara could have put the jury down at superspeed and Dirk could have either blasted Ontiir or the ship itself. “Even friends may say…farewell,” is Ontiir’s parting shot to the Legionnaires, keeping his goals ambiguous.

One of the big pluses in this run are the Galactica dialogue boxes. Having established them, Levitz them gets to expand and enjoy them. As the three heroes, the SP commander and Ambassador Relnic look into the crater the ship left behind, the caption box is already tendering for a contract to fill it, complete with the usual UP red tape.

Relnic, freshly returned from the Omen/Prophet storyline, is another of a strong supporting cast the book has. It’s a long time since random UP officials used to give the Legion missions. While the SP commander declares Ontiir guilty, the more canny Relnic wonders. The man who apparently gave Ontiir his orders to infiltrate the Circle is himself a Circle captive.

It raises lots of questions. Perhaps this man was really a Circle agent, who got UP officer Ontiir involved in the first place. Perhaps the two are in it together, or it was Ontiir who got the man captured. It could be any of these and Relnic admits that they may never know. In a way, it’s a shame that Ontiir was revealed. Having such an insidious force within the heart of the UP administration was full of long running potential.

While the recently shown Khunds are direct and warlike, The Circle offer a far more subtle threat, even if they do all go around in balaclavas. There are any number of plots that revolve around them, as future issues will reveal.

The Khunds aren’t the only direct ones. Supergirl isn’t one to let Ontiir get away. It’s a delightful throwback to earlier days, and simply follows having such a powerful, active character on the team.

Post Crisis, superheroes would become more accepting of situations, leading to a stronger contrast between them and the rise of gun wielding anti-heroes, who wouldn’t in as violent a way as possible.

Kara shows that there was an age of comics where a sense of justice, and what’s right would dictate actions. This story would be poignant for a number of reasons. One of which will be how this worldview of Supergirl’s, and the belief in a brighter future where nearly anything was possible, would conflict with the murkier morals of the Dark Circle and UP politics.

We recently had a heroic Sun Boy fly off on a mission with GiGi in his arms. It’s a defining panel of him for me; heroic, confident with a girl never too far away from seeing it.

While there’s a big panel of our smiling, happy thee heroes on page 13, it’s the smaller panel of Kara on page 8 that defines her for me. She’s looking to the stars, representing a wider universe, as she tracks down the villain. She’s completely confident in her worldview of wanting to see justice done, but not naive in that she knows Ontiir presents moral problems.

As Relnic and the SP commander see a flash of the departing Legionnaires, the scene is a bit ruined by Sun Boy’s dialogue. He pinches Kara’s cheek in a way that’s more like the things they’d done ever since they were kids. But his “can’t blame a guy for trying remark” gives the action a different tone. While it could be taken as Dirk admitting that this is what he’s like in a light-hearted way, it just comes across that he’s a bit of a creep who manhandles people if he thinks he can get away with it. There’s an eerily similar exchange between Dirk and Tinya in v7. We recently got to see Tinya and Tasmia’s thought about getting stuck anywhere with Brin. There may be something similar in the minds of Legionnaires regarding Dirk too.

The story opened with the UP trial of Ontiir. The Circle he has returned to are now having their own version, although it’s going the same way. Ontiir has been following their instructions to the letter, even though it means that they have no idea which side he’s really on. The Cold War had people playing every side as double or triple agents, making an intelligence service an oxymoron.

As the Circle debate what to believe, their hand is forced by Kara’s arrival in their territory. It certainly upsets Ontiir’s plans, although there’s every chance he’s just playing the cards he’s dealt as best he can in the circumstances.

The main story closes as the three Legionnaire’s dismantle Dark Circle defences. In a big, almost full-page panel, a happy Kara tells Brainy how much she enjoys being with the Legion, and with him. It’s a page looking ahead to a very bright future. With such a declaration from Kara, a reader would have to assume that a decision had been made to keep her in the 30th century.

It’s also a page designed to spotlight a character, whose future was very much in the air. It’s almost an advertisement to show how well placed the character was in the Legion’s universe, and perhaps this was an option that was discussed at one point, only to be rejected. Future issues would show Levitz trying a different approach to reach the same goal.

LoSH 314 is cover dated August 1984. The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl’s last issue, number 23, would be cover dated September 1984. Behind the scenes, the title had been cancelled as part of the plans for Crisis. As the post-Crisis focus would be on Superman alone, the removal of Supergirl had already been raised. Only the release of the 1984 Supergirl movie had delayed a final decision on Kara. If it was a success, then the character may have to be kept.

The film, released in the UK in July and not until later in the US, wasn’t a hit. Apparently, Brooke Shields was in the running for the title role, and I recall seeing her picture in Meanwhile columns around this time. Not a coincidence, I’m sure.

With the figures coming, in Jeanette Khan informed Dick Giordano that the character could be removed. In turn, that meant that work on Julie Schwartz proposed DC Double Feature book starring Superboy and Supergirl would not proceed.

With plans for the character only waiting for movie figures, the story can also be seen as deliberate foreshadowing of what Kara’s fate was likely to be. One last moment in the 30th century’s starlight.

The main subplot this issue involved Jacques. The first page tells me far more about Africa and it’s 30th century environment than it does about Jacques and what he actually did before he was a Legionnaire. He returns a very young looking Danielle back to the care of another sister. He then departs to determine his place on the team since Lyle’s arrival. Not much movement there, as he’s already expressed those concerns. The next page has Jacques recount recent events as he approaches Lyle’s apartment in the Legion HQ. There’s not much movement her either, only that Jacques wonders how Lyle feels about another man sharing his powers and codename.

He needn’t worry, as Lyle is completely disinterested in being a Legionnaire again, expressing suicidal thoughts as he watches his death at Validus’ hands on repeat. Jacques points out to Lyle that he seems healthy if depressed. But in the end, he just leaves Lyle alone in his bare room. “Pauvre monsieur” indeed. An already deceased character abandoned in an unwanted subplot. In a 30th century full of devices to scan minds and rehabilitate offenders, there doesn’t seem to be a thing for helping those with mental illnesses.

My issue concerning Vi recent trauma holds here. None of Lyle’s friends seem to have visited him. It’s left to his legacy character to pick up the slack. But there’s no characterisation going on. We learn nothing about Jacques life before he was on the team. What impact would losing his role have? What would he return to? We get some of Jacques’ internal, unrevealing, monologue but nothing from Lyle. This would turn out to be a plot related, but it just makes him look all the more discarded here. With Brainy being such a central character elsewhere in the issue, you’d have thought he would at least mention the return of his colleague, if only to tell us he was investigating it. But there’s nothing. The design of the page reinforces Norg’s depression. Small, confining repetitive panels reinforcing the torment he’s trapped in.

Elsewhere, Garth and Imra are on leave from the Legion due to Imra’s pregnancy. In comics, who knows how long this will last, but she does seem to be leaving her job very early on. It’s just another sign of the founders being separated from the main team, although Cos did get more involved in part of the last storyline.

It’s particularly highlighted here as the couple are in a spaceport not dissimilar from the one in their retconned origin, when they saved RJ Brande. There, they were hailed as heroes and the Legion was formed. Years later, and they prefer a much subtler solution, when dealing with a smuggler, so that they can get on with their own lives.


It’s an issue of shifting undercurrents for the team. An old character has returned but isn’t necessarily wanted in an already plotted new format book; another old character is getting what will be her last starring role and two founders continue their path into retirement.

The issue sees the arrival of Terry Shoemaker, working within what appears to be Giffen page and panel instructions. Pages within a larger single panel, borders indicating sound effects, vertical establishing shots and panel shapes indicating movement are all on show. Shoemaker was the successful candidate from the ones who redrew part of the Omen/Prophet story as an interview. You can see why, as he doesn’t put a foot wrong capturing character, technology and action with no problems. The Legionnaires are recognisable as people and not from their outfits, even if Brainy looks as happy as I’ve ever seen him. Ontiir looks suitable devious and the Circle powerful and mysterious.

Ontiir is something of a wise guy, isn't he? He seems to be enjoying all this.



That comment of Zendak's seemed very 19th century, but maybe hanging was a traditional form of punishment on Tsauron.



You must have read the mission post-mortem.



Wishlist: The full Encyclopedia Galactica, all 247 volumes.



The book certainly benefits from a regular cast of secondary characters, especially now that we know there are only a dozen SP officers in Metropolis.



I suppose they could have kept it going. Ontiir "escapes" from the Circle, claims he was kidnapped at the trial, we're all friends and always were....



Good point! "Never mind the maneuvers, just go straight at them" to quote Lord Nelson via the Master and Commander movie.



I took that scene as more of a playful exchange, supposing that Dirk must know Kara and Querl are an item. But maybe there was 30th century #metoo Dirk Morgna subgroup.



There was an article around this time in The Atlantic or The New Yorker that Yuri Andropov was a mole, and possibly even a triple agent. It made one's head spin. I wonder if that rumor influenced this story, or if it's just playing on the whole Cold War double agent theme.



Interesting to speculate that Kara's future was open at this point - and what might have been..



Oh, that movie. I didn't know it was a key factor in her comic book fate. Good look at the backroom decision-making.



All rather confusing, or perturbing, for the reader.



There's that Kathoonian 2-year pregnancy, so maybe Titan/Winath balances it with a 4-month pregnancy. Wouldn't that be nice. (Of course, the best one was reboot Tinya's baby, who just phased out of her body.)



Ah! Nice mirror of the origin story.

Regarding the lack of caring about/interest in Lyle from the other Legionnaires, were any Legionnaires besides Jacques and Drake ever shown to interact with Lyle or acknowledge his presence? I don't remember how the reveal played in issue 310 - who else was on the page, who might have reacted - but knowing where the story eventually goes, perhaps he was an apparition only Jacques and Drake could see, so the other Legionnaires didn't know he existed.

The other Legionnaires knew he existed. Dream Girl was there when he came out of the rift, and she mentions him to Jan during their conversation in the following issue.

I also think that was a missed opportunity, though. At least a scene of some of Lyle's closest friends from his tenure welcoming him...

314:

“The Trial of Ontiir” is one of those stories that should have been better than it was. The basic premise is very good—we’re never quite sure if Ontiir is on the good side. Even on the witness stand, he continues to play psychological games, testifying that he was ordered to infiltrate the Dark Circle, but the SP official who so ordered him is, conveniently, a prisoner of the Dark Circle. It’s a legal/moral quandary—the stuff of good courtroom drama.

Unfortunately, this isn’t a courtroom drama. It’s a super-hero story, so we must have action. Ontiir escapes into Dark Circle territory, and Kara takes it upon herself to whisk Brainy and Dirk after him to see justice done.

This is a story that should have everything going for it—especially the return of Kara—but, for me, it just doesn’t work. I guess it’s because the complex issues surrounding Ontiir’s guilt or lack thereof are undermined by the simplistic and old-fashioned depiction of three Legionnaires flying into battle and taking on an entire army without raising a sweat. This aspect of the story appears childish compared to some of the other stories and themes we’ve been getting.

We also learn nothing new about the Legionnaires. Brainy makes all the logical comments, as usual, and Dirk makes a sleazy pass at Supergirl. In the era of “Me, too,” his stroking her cheek comes across as especially creepy. Of course, she could easily mop an asteroid with him. Brainy’s laughter at Kara’s discomfort also comes across as inappropriate now, but it must have seemed like playful teasing then.

Brainy does an awful lot of smiling and laughing in this story. He seems like a little kid, especially at the bottom of Page 12. There’s nothing wrong with seeing another side of our resident headquarters-exploding genius, but, again, I don’t feel we learn anything new about Brainy here. We already know he’s distracted by Kara; here, he seems to give in to that distraction with abandon. I’d like something more about what Brainy’s feeling, but we seem to be watching the Legionnaires at a distance, as the Dark Circle leaders do.

As for Kara, again there is a lot of wasted potential. She serves the needs of the story by getting us into the action and expresses her feelings for Brainy—and that’s it. It’s sad to realize that this is her last adventure with the Legion before her demise in Crisis. So much more could have been done with her her, yet little was.

As for subplots, the Garth and Imra scene also doesn’t tell us anything new. We already know they’re taking maternity leave. The smuggler is thrown in for good measure. We get a glimpse of Jacques’ home life; I was used to super-heroes having just one sibling, so it threw me (in a pleasant way) that he has two sisters. His concern over whether or not he still has a place in the Legion seems understandable but trite. What if he had decided to challenge Lyle for his right to remain in the Legion instead? (Not that Lyle would have put up a fight, but still.)

As for the Lyle subplot . . . just ugh! The guy comes back from the dead and all he can do is watch videos of himself being murdered. Call Dr. Phil. Call Oprah. Call anyone. We learn nothing new about Lyle. We don’t get to see his old friend, Phantom Girl, check up on him. We don’t get to see Lyle pine for the ghost girl, Myla, with whom he was supposed to spend all eternity. We don’t get any indication of his family, who must have been thrilled to have their son, brother, nephew, cousin, etc., come back. We get nothing. Even Jacques can’t be bothered to stick around and try to shake Lyle out of his funk.

Lyle, like the action aspect of the main plot, seems antiquated in this new era of the Legion. It would have been great if Levitz had run with this idea. Lyle’s been gone for a few years now, and things have changed. Is he at all curious about these changes? Does he feel out of place? Instead, we get self-pity.

At least there’s a backup story to save the day . . . or not.

That's the thing that bothers me most about this arc. None of Lyle's colleagues give a rat's ass about his return. Even if he wasn't close friends with anyone, someone should have checked up on him or expressed surprise/astonishment/elation at his return. I guess much of this might have happened off-panel, but that's not enough. Even if Levitz was thrown a curve ball by Giffen's decision to include Lyle, it was up to the writer to honor the spirit of the characters.

That would have been an interesting take on the story - Jacques saw him via the invisibility and Drake via some energy pattern (which Tinya or Dawnstar might also have been able to tune into).



Involving Tinya, the memory of Myla and Lyle's family would provided further directions this story could have taken and would have made it far more appealing. They could either have him really return to the dead in the end (tragic, but complete and emphsizing the ephemeral nature of existence) or have him remain alive and leave the Legion after this massive life-changing event - just as many people who suffer near-death experiences make radical changes. How he returned to life could be solved with some sort of comic book hocus-pocus, death fakery, alternate dimension explanation. Or he AND Ontiir were in some devious espionage plot which required Lyle to fake his death.

Lets get physical, indeed.

No wonder Lyle was depressed. His role as the headband-wearing Legionnaire was usurped by a much better looking Reservist. That would send me into an emotional tailspin for sure.



I think it's just a typical police officer-type reaction: an emotional response to traitors, who are the lowest of the low.



Nicely put. I hadn't thought of Kara as a character who epitomizes an optimistic belief in justice, but she serves this role well in this story. In hindsight, her death may be symbolic of the break in comics from that view.

#314 Second Story: A Witch Shall be Born by Paul Levitz & Keith Giffen, art by George Tuska and Karl Kesel, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by John Costanza

Blok, recovering from injuries which look like moon craters, prepares to watch Mysa Nal's biographical holo. He seals the Archive Room so as not to be disturbed, especially by Brin.

The story begins with a description of Naltor, its wealth due to Naltorian abilities to see the future and its stability due to its matrilineal society. Mysa explains that she was born to an important family, as her mother was High Seer. Mysa, sadly, was born without powers - the opposite of her sister Nura whose future sight was particularly strong. Her mother told her that Naltor was settled by people from The Sorcerers' World and that, after a few generations, all magic was gone from them but the power to get glimpses of the near future. Mysa's mother died unexpectedly when she was a child, which moves Blok to tears. He's tapped on the shoulder by Tinya, who had simply come through the locked door and she promises to tell no one that he is so sentimental.

On Naltor, following the death of their mother, Nura asks to apprentice with the new High Seer, Beren, and says that she must be strong to take care of her sister. Mysa angrily responds that she doesn't want their help and leaves the planet. Blok pauses, wondering how she could know what she wanted so early in life, and grabs the door handle. As it breaks off in his graps, it turns into a rose and Mysa stands before him. She asks if he'd like her to tell the rest of her story.

Comments:
I really enjoyed this story when I first read it and still appreciate its description of Naltor and insight into Mysa's (and Nura's) childhood. Mysa was different, considered lesser than others and might have been an outcast had her mother not been High Seer. Her independence and spirit appealed to me. We've had backstories for other Legionnaires, but they've been short on details and character development.

Blok is so shy and uncertain of human emotions that he has to sneakily watch the holograph. His crush on Mysa must be an open secret, however. Tinya barges in and just laughs about it. Mysa's well aware of what he's doing; did Tinya tell her or did she have some supernatural awareness? She doesn't get angry or annoyed with Blok, but is understanding and happily continues her story. It's uncertain if she has similar feelings for him, or is just responding as a friend. It's strange to see Mysa smiling light-heartedly in this story; she's more often serious or even grim.

The reference to Blok's injuries and their appearance suggest a question of just how damaged he is, and if he'll make a full recovery.

314: “A Witch Shall Be Born”

We finally get a spotlight on Mysa and details of her back story. In hindsight, it’s amazing how quickly the White Witch became such an integral part of the Legion of this era. She went from an obscure character with only two brief appearances to someone who radiated positivity and innocence, as well as magic. No wonder Blok is fascinated by her. Who wouldn’t be?

In a recurring theme for comics (Blackfire In New Teen Titans, Mekt in the reboot Legion), we learn Mysa is another sibling who was born with what her culture perceives to be a disability—in her case, she lacks the gift of precognition. Older sister Nura protects her, but Mysa develops a sense of independence and leaves Naltor to find her place in the universe. Mysa’s quest somewhat resembles Dawnstar’s grand tour of the galaxy, but, unlike Dawny, Mysa embarks on her quest willingly and against the initial wishes of her mentor, Beren.

Unlike Blackfire and Mekt, Mysa does not turn to bitterness over her disability. Rather, she embraces the opportunity to find her path to fulfillment elsewhere. The history of Naltor and its roots with the sorcerer’s world, Zerox, are worked in beautifully as a story told to Mysa by her mother. This history gives Mysa a sense of connection to something larger than her own world and the limitations it imposes on her. This also provides another contrast with Dawnstar: Whereas Dawny felt obligated to uphold her culture’s traditions, Mysa bravely charts her own course.

When I re-read this story, I was not impressed—but I think my reaction was colored by lingering dissatisfaction with the main story. In writing this review, I’ve come to realize that “A Witch Shall Be Born” works quite well. It rounds out Mysa’s personality and back story, and shows that she still maintains a close, loving relationship with her sister—quite in contrast from the other disabled siblings mentioned above. And, although I think it should have been a done-in-one story, the cliffhanger of Mysa walking in on Blok and offering to finish her story in person provides a nice teaser.

At the time this story came out, its principal value to me was in trying to figure out how old Mysa must have been when she joined the Legion. We learn she was 10 when she left for Zerox, and Nura appears to be two or three years older. So, if Nura was, say, 15 when she first joined the Legion in Adventure 317, Mysa would have been about 12 at the time. Adventure 317 occurred during Year 3 of the Legion, per the Sourcebook chronology. This suggests that Mysa was 15 when she first appeared in Adventure 351 (Year 6) and 21 when she joined the Legion following the Great Darkness (Year 12). No mention was made of the Legion waiving the under-18 requirement, as they later did with Polar Boy.

I put much more thought into this, of course, than Levitz or any comic book writer probably would. And one could always surmise that time passes differently on Naltor and/or Zerox, just as Kathoonian and Bgztlian pregnancies seem to last longer than the usual nine months. But it was fun to work all this out.

Comments



Legion induction:-
Garth: On the subject of…
Dirk: Reject Him! Reject him more if his powers are temperature based!
Garth: Hush Dirk. Now on the subject of inter-dimensional beings who inhabit or take the form of humans with designs to enslave mankind. Do you like them or do you not like them?
Applicant: uh... I don’t like them.
Garth raises eyebrow: Really? How much don’t you like them?
Applicant: A lot!
Garth: >pauses< right. You’re in. Welcome to the Legion Eldritch Horror Lad!

The Legion have had a history of impostors/ possessed people getting on the team. So, I’m sure by now they run tests on applicants. Even one of the SP ones from the last couple of issues would be enough. Since I’m sure that happens, I can sit back safe in the knowledge there’s nothing unusual about Lyle’s return. D’Oh!

Lyle gets a room in the HQ, but not a rededication ceremony? The Legion love that stuff, and they could have brought out all their favourite flags too. Doesn’t make sense.




Sometime in the future all mental illness treatments were rendered redundant by the “Leave ‘em to snap out of it by themselves” approach.

He doesn’t mention Myla. He makes no attempt to get back to her. In the old days, half the Legion would have been forced to resign on trumped up charges by now. That was back when the use of “trump” was more innocent, I suppose.

I still see this as Levitz having plotting in place for the start of Baxter and the Lyle pages being shoehorned in. Possibly in place of something else, considering the space given to it.




Yeah. I got the feeling she was spending lots of time there and lots with Querl, in a lead up to her joining. By “joining” I mean an attempt by Levitz to remove her from mainstream 20th century continuity by keeping her in the Legion.



He’s been getting some solid cameo time in the book. Word Up, Dirk.



Their ticket number at Orwell-4-U is the one after the Legion’s. Maybe the SP are the only ones allowed to have the technology. But then, we’ve seen Yera get scanned and Superboy brainwashed by his friends.



There’s always that sobering thought behind the Legion. The optimistic future we see came about after a number of global conflicts. Some of them after the 21st century. We saw a glimpse of one in Soljer’s War and there was a time traveling trip to prevent another. Then there was the Hex crossover around the time of Legends:-

Jacques: Look at the barren wastelands*! The scorched Earth!
Querl: Clearly there has been a global war. One that isn’t in our historical records.
Jacques: Worse than that! Look at all the shadows!
>collective gasps<
Jacques: Giffen bombs! (They did a feature in Death Machines of the Galaxy last year)
Querl: How will mankind ever rebuild, if they can’t see through Giffen’s heaving inking?!
Rokk: But our past isn’t ours. It’s someone else’s. Those aren’t our heroes! They’re counterfeits!
Querl: Oh dear! Rokk has gone all Trapper
Jacques: Merde!

*Watch for new villain Baron Wastelands over in Bits!








I much prefer being called Mission Post-Mortem Kid to Debrief Lad around Legion World!



After the Magic Wars and the Tharok attack, they went back to selling them door to door. You needed a large shuttle just to lug them all around. Or Blok.




It seemed to have a lot of potential. I think that it might have been truncated due to the Baxter launch. Perhaps there was a feeling that a lot of outstanding plots had to be closed down?




Nelson: Kismet, Hardy
Hardy: Tongues?
Nelson: What?
Hardy: What? Oh, he’s dead.

Kara’s pre-Crisis direct approach would be reversed, ending up in an age where taking action meant sitting around finishing off each other’s snarky sentences: The Bendis Age!




There’s any number of things in comics where the writer may have had good intentions, but it’s always come across as creepy. I like to think it’s unintentional, rather than an insight into their minds. I really hope it’s not that. There will be another one along shortly in the opening Baxter arc.





Thanks for the background.




If it had been a hit, after Superman III was apparently a disappointment, then the bean counters might well have looked to further Supergirl spinoffs to inject life back into things. Considering it didn’t take Byrne long to bring a Supergirl back in anyway, her appearances in Legion could have been adjusted easily enough to still work. DC living up to its name. Dismal Coordination. Then as now.




Yeah, it jumped the genre early on. Which was a shame, as I’d have read a spy themed one, just as I’d just read the SP one. It does make me wonder if there had been other plans for it. Ones that changed with what was happening with Kara behind the scenes. The, the Lyle plot had to be brought in somehow too, taking up some space.



Even as the heroes spring into action, the Circle are even more frustrated with Ontiir. They don’t know if he was villainous either. We’ll see what happens in part two, but so far Ontiir could come out as an utter villain or as a UP hero. I’m reminded of all those deep cover characters. The ones who have to sacrifice their past/ families/ identities to fight the bad guys undercover. Ontiir could easily be one of those, but just better written as he really does seem to be playing off every side.

It would have been interesting to see what Ontiir got out of each relationship. If anything, it was his up front support of the Emerald Empress that made him a little too conspicuous. He could have been a real thorn in everyone’s side had that not been done.







While I’m probably better at catching the writer’s intentions as I got older, these were always a bit odd for me as a reader.



For Brainy, it’s a continuation of his involvement with others. He’s no longer the distant, isolated go-to guy who had a breakdown. He’s in love with Kara, and her continued presence has changed the way he lives and thinks.

He’s frustrated by his lack of focus in the lab, thanks to thinking about Kara. But the solution to the Computo/Danielle issues, comes precisely from one of the things he worked on while he was distracted. Left field thinking that he wasn’t used to.

In his mind, the use of Computo along with the new HQ is probably his way of giving something back to the team. He was stuck in labs for a while, now he’s (slightly reluctantly) being taken on missions by a much more direct Kara. It’s different for him, and he’s enjoying it. In a sense it is a little like rediscovering some childish joy in things.

For Kara, she’s looking for a place to belong. She had been in a JLA adventure recently, and the JLA showed up in her own series. In her final issue, her romantic interest, Dick Malverne returned. Neither really had the impact with her that she clearly has with the Querl and the Legion. She’s genuinely happy here. Having spent some more time than usual in the future, both Querl and Kara have realised that they have a much stronger, more grown up relationship to explore.

Back in the 20th century, Crisis planning, and the changes to the Justice League Detroit meant that she wasn’t considered for that book. As Roy Thomas was being told that he could still use the Golden Age Superman after Crisis, perhaps there was an idea to get to use Supergirl in the future. Mr Schwartz may not have been happy, having had his own book with her cancelled, only to see her prominently somewhere else.

As for Dirk, his actions here are part of his ongoing subplot concerning Gi Gi. His “You can’t blame a guy for trying” quote is going to come back to get him.



I think the differences between their young pre Legion selves and their responses now, provides the character evolution here. Val/Jeckie, Chuck/Lu and Imra/Garth are moving into other parts of their lives, even as we see that their ideals will never leave them.



Did we know what happened to his parents from the main book? It’s actually refreshing that it wasn’t a fight to see who would be the Legion’s Invisible Kid. That would have really freed up Giffen, as it could have been an all blank issue.

Lyle is depressed and Jacques got the job recently through circumstance; being Invisible Kid doesn’t define him.





Devil’s Advocate says: Lyle’s treatment is just like the way Legionnaires forced to resign, back in the Adventure days, were practically ostracised. “Oh Garth, you’ve lost your powers. No more Legion for you. Or access to the HQ, or contact with anyone associated with it.” Perhaps the others are starting with an Adventure attitude before brining Lyle back into the way things changed.







All much better than what we got.






Too lazy for the back up. I shall…combine them! Since it’s a two-parter! – sloth Lad…no wait…thoth Lad…no, actually right first time…

I like your thinking here. If Levitz was on the same page, I wish Brainy's internal transformation had come through better in the story.



In knowing that Gigi was modeled after Levitz's wife, I wonder how much of her relationship with Dirk is modeled after their real relationship. Very little, I hope.



I think it's an interesting idea that their departure by spaceport mirrors their arrival on earth and the start of the Legion, but the dialogue does not suggest that Levitz intended any such parallel. In terms of character evolution/moving on, I think we got just as much mileage in the previous issue, where they tease each other as they prepare to depart. Clearly, their relationship has changed much since Garth noticed the "blonde bombshell" on the transport to earth.




I seem to remember a thought balloon early in the Great Darkness that suggested Jacques' mother is deceased, but I'd have to check.

I agree that a fight between Jacques and Lyle would have been unnecessary and cliched, but Jacques has worked very hard to be part of this team he found himself thrust into. It would be a shame for him to give it all up for no other reason than the return of his predecessor. Jacques has made friends and provided valuable contributions to several missions. Being a Legionnaire may not define him, but it's certainly part of who he is now.

In the old days, the Legion might have held a contest to see who was worthy of remaining. Fortunately, they've grown past that now, just as they've grown past expelling half the team for infractions ( ), so there may have been many options for Jacques to stand up for his place on the team.

However, an all-blank fight issue would have been an improvement over some of Giffen's other experiments.

You're probably right about the Lyle plot having to be shoehorned into a story line that had already been plotted, and the disruption caused by both his return and the launch of the new series. Still, I think Levitz should have given us something more than what we got here. Super-heroes wallowing in self-pity was already a trite and overused device. Captain America did it quite frequently back in the day.

Sometimes, reading between the lines pays off…



… and sometimes …



He’s got past ogling if Imra’s bump is anything to go by.



Does the Morgna family descend from the Longs? How close were Marv and Paul? Were they seen in the same room at the same time, while the Martian Manhunter was accounted for elsewhere?



I do think Jacques needs to find a niche. So far weapons knowledge and planning have possibilities. He’s been assisting in the science lab too. But we don’t have a handle on his work outside the team. Missed opportunity this issue. He has worked at being a Legionnaire and he has pulled his weight. He’s even been doing extra at the academy. Jacques offer to relinquish the Invisible Kid role, was a telling gesture. One that hints that he had a life with plans, before he got there.

They might have grown past contests and expulsions, but when Lyle is revealed as evil Proty III, we’ll learn that they’ve not outgrown the Legion of Super Pets!



I was holding off on some comments on the arc, to see where it went. So far, Lyle is depressed. In a way, the frustrations at his lack of action, interest or interaction reflect the isolation, disconnection and inward trajectory of his mind. There are connections to what we see of him here, and his “death” issue. He was isolated and disconnected from his colleagues there too.

LSH #1 Here a Villain, There a Villain by Paul Levitz & Keith Giffen, Art by Keith Giffen & Larry Mahlstedt, Letters by John Costanza, Colors by Carl Gafford



In an unidentified ancient castle, beneath a lightning storm, Mekt Ranzz vows before the Legion of Super-Villains to kill his brother Garth.

On Ventura, Nura is having bad luck at the gaming table and repeats to Thom that she foresaw the death of a Legionnaire. She is interrupted by screams from above, where a robbery is in progress, conducted by Micro Lad to fund the Imskian revolution. He orders a robot to attack Thom and Nura, but Nura disables the machine, having foreseen its moves.

On Earth, Gim and Yera go apartment-hunting, having been bid farewell by Computo. Yera is concerned about anti-Durlan restrictions.

On Daxam, the team contemplates the restoration of Daxam and the harm done to other planets by Daxamites under Darkseid's control. They are summoned by a drone to assist the SPs dealing with a renegade Daxamite on Takron-Galtos.

On Ventura, Micro Lad has shrunk, but Violet has arrived, finds him and parcels out some revenge with her fists. Micro Lad is suddenly sucked into a vortex, with a voice claiming "vengeance to be done".

On Winath, Ayla converses with fellow farm-worker Sara as they harvest mushrooms. As Ayla leaves the field with her crop, the sky darkens; she is attacked and taken into a similar vortex.

On Takron-Galtos, Lar confronts and attacks Ol-Vir, who is claiming to serves Darkseid.

Back on Earth, Gim and Yera move into their apartment and Gim learns that his mother has resigned the Presidency.

On Winath, a man tells a scanner bot to tell Brin Londo he's found Ayla.

Lar has his hands full with Ol-Vir; Jo has discovered Ron-Karr and super-shrugs off attacking prisoners as Shady deals with other prisoners and Cham tries to capture Ol-Vir. The vortex appears, inviting Ol-Vir to join the new LSV and he escapes into it, along with some others.

Back at the castle, Sun Emperor reports to Mekt that Ol-Vir, Ron-Karr, Chameleon Chief and others have been gathered.


Comments:
This issue moves quickly, with rapid scene changes. It gives one the impression that there's a lot going on and the storylines are smoothly woven between past and present. (The Baxter paper/printing adds to the vibrancy.) Thom & Nura are spending some time together at last, we're reminded that a Legionnaire will die (according to Nura). We get an update on Ayla's recent past and a glimpse of her future problems. There are lingering effects of Darkseid with the restoration of Daxam and the rampage of Ol-Vir, with indication that he's going to continue to be a problem with the LSV. Violet continues her quest for payback. We see more of the robots and drones that were featured in the Science Police story. Gim & Yera get on with their personal life, as does Marte Allon; could her resignation be linked to the threats made against her? And Computo's on the job, seemingly accepted as Legion gofer.

The longest bit of story was the fight against Ol-Vir. It was the least interesting to me, but it did show what a threat a Daxamite could be off-planet - and devoted to a cause. Nevertheless, I would have expected Lar to get the better of Ol-Vir, given his bigger size/muscles and experience - but the kid was needed by a higher calling, the LSV storyline. The other villains got scooped up like a bonus; Ol-Vir was the prize.

The opening-page mandala looks rather ugly, unlike usual mandala designs. It's also rather decrepit. Although it contains Legionnaire symbols, it must be old, possibly adapted by the LSV - or perhaps their evil intentions are incapable of making beautiful things.

LSV Assemble! Mekt is putting the team together and it looks like it's going to be bigger and badder than ever. We don't know where their castle base is yet, but there have been hints that it's on Orando, since the same vortex snapped up Pharoxx several issues ago.

I was rather stumped as to why Micro Lad is already free. He was put in a sens tank; presumably Imsk operates an eye for an eye justice system. It doesn't seem like much of a punishment for kidnapping and possibly treason, but I guess his character was wanted for the story - so, like Ol-Vir, Levitz sprung him from prison.

The cover doesn't really relate to the stories within, but it does suggest the Legion is breaking into new territory with this Baxter publication.

LoSHv3 1

I think I picked up a lot of these early Baxter issues around the same time. While my newsstand issues are read (well cared for, but read) the Baxter ones have lost none of their crispy, pristineness. There’s a lovely weight to the paper stock too.

The cover is a group scene, showing several Legionnaires bursting through a wall. By itself, it’s not particularly inspiring. It’s a combination between earlier and later Giffen Legion styles. Considering the Kirby anger on Colossal Boy’s face, it’s channelling an earlier version of Giffen too.

Looking closer, and the wreckage is designed to break apart to provide a central, blank background, focus on the characters. While, I’m sure GiGi is nearby, about to scold them for not using a door, it highlights that the team are still about Action and Adventure. They’re going into battle here, and it looks as though only powerful villains will have chance.

It’s an excellent selection of characters too. In a sci-fi team of an alien populated galaxy, there’s very few non humans. Giffen makes sure that both Blok and Cham get on the cover. Cham is stretching, rather than transforming. Not because Giffen forgot how the powers mainly work, but because it allows a new reader to still see the alien face. Size changing heroes are instantly visual, so both Gim and Vi are on the cover. Wolverine was popular, so Brin is sporting an earlier look, that he no longer has.

In addition to Vi, Dawny provides some gender balance, an what passes for some ethnic balance DC. Wildfire is the popular bronze age (fairly recent by the launch of this book), antagonistic hero, with a space-age costume and visual powers. Despite Lar’s wonky looking leg, he’s has a look of quiet determination on his face. He using both strength and flight and is as close to a Kryptonian as the Legion will get for a while.

It’s not a favourite cover, but they didn’t change it for the newsstand version.

The opening scene is an ominous one. Mekt Ranzz swears by blood oath, and by the storm he feels in contact with, to kill his brother. His colleagues tell him it will be his death or Garth’s. Each of them has also chosen a target to kill. A excellently rendered mural shows all the Legion icons. You can already visual them being crossed off, or destroyed, as the attacks begin. Their goal is a universe to rule, and the deaths of the Legion are seemingly necessary to fulfil it. Outside, the Lightning flashes from the heaven in appreciation of their plan.

A great opening, despite a clunky opening caption and Mekt’s weirdly shadowed face on page 2. I mention it in detail, as the threat and their plan are things I’ll be coming back to for a few reasons. I used to think that the mural thing was on a wall, but I see Mekt standing in front of it, and it’s on a rooftop floor. A later Lost Tales would show it had been crafted by Lost Legionnaire Sculptor Lad (see rereads passim), kidnapped before the others.

The creative team are comfortable enough in the success of the newsstand book that launched this title, that they don’t feel under any pressure to blast into a wholly new adventure. There’s no jump forward, makeover or retcons needed here.

Actually, the next three scenes introduce our cast by continuing the subplots we saw in the newsstand version. It’s to Levitz’s credit that we don’t need to know anything about the Legion’s past for this to work. We learn about the characters perfectly well, as we go. Each of the subplots has been set up well enough, that we don’t even need a huge amount of information about those either. We’re given the information through the dialogue.

I’m impressed at how seamlessly it all hangs together. People moving from the Tales story to the Baxter issue wouldn’t see much change in the story arcs. Yet all, with the possible exception of the Gim scene, cleanly build into the increasing tension of the threat. It all still continues to build.

There’s no space hogging infodumps. No-one sits back and tells the reader that “Gosh! Threats sure were different in the old days, when…” followed by five pages of another version of RJ Brande’s retconned origin.

Continuing the trend of the newsstand book, the founders aren’t front and centre either. It’s the Lar/Tasmia/Tinya/ Jo quartet (actually where is Tinya?), Dawny & Drake and Thom, Nura and Vi. There’s no Kryptonian in sight. Which is a bit of a blow to those watching the developing Kara/ Querl relationship in the other book.

Nura and Thom would be enjoying their break on Ventura if it wasn’t for Nura’s vision that one of her team mates is going to die. Regular readers already know aobut this premonition. But before you can say” why haven’t you bothered to tell any of the others, the pair are the first to be brought into action. Honestly, if you were going to start a Legion book, would Thom and Nura be your first pick? Brave choice for a confident Mr Levitz that works.

It starts off as a simple heist. One that Nura and Thom deal with effortlessly (although Thom did allow one to shoot at him, to give the reader something visual. This is one of Nura’s most effective combat scenes, showing just what a formidable opponent, she could be. We’ll learn through the issue that the leader of the robbers, is an Imskian. Then, that he’s Micro Lad. A nearby Shrinking Violet confronts him. She defeats him with determined relish, paying him back for the time she had to spend trapped in a sens-tank. Micro Lad has had a small taste of similar treatment, which makes you wonder about the UP’s judicial system, in the same way as all the hanging comments from SPs recently.

This is a determined, not to be messed with Violet. But then, when she was in action back in the Adventure days, she was like that too.

I do wonder how Nura and Thom knew, and had time to, block all the exits immediately after Micro Lad used his powers. Once badly defeated, Micro Lad is transported away. “Vengeance to done” says a voice. Considering his beating, the villains aren’t going for quality recruits, perhaps only those with a grudge. A similar portal was seen saving Pharoxx form a very similar situation in a recent back up.

This plot overlaps nicely with the long running reconstruction of Daxam, following the Great Darkness saga. This overlapping is one of the highlights of the issue. It’s just really well constructed. Each ties into the main plot, widening our knowledge of it as we go as it widens out main cast too. New Baxter readers are getting the benefits of Levitz have honed his approach of placing subplots into natural story breaks.

We’ve seen the Daxam scene before, as there’s lots of similar work to be done. But we learn that it’s nearly finished, although other scars from the GDS remain. It’s interrupted by news of a Daxamite trashing Takron Galtos. We learn a lot about Mon El in this scene. His sense of responsibility isn’t only there through a sense of heroism. It’s forged from centuries of seeing cause and effect in civilisations. There’s a darker practicality to his outlook. Considering how fresh the memories of a super powered race of Daxamite pawns is in the UP, Lar is first to fly off. He takes Tasmia with him, showing how close they are. It could easily have been written as Lar flying off solo, but his character has grown.

As Nura and Thom wait for Vi, we see Gim and Yera leave the Legion HQ. It’s a scene that could really have been left out. It doesn’t really establish the Legion HQ, as the tilt shot doesn’t really show much. But it gives us Computo, and a non-human in Yera. I wonder if new readers thought she was also a member of the team. It’s a big step for Gim though, and gives the feeling that perhaps he won’t be long for the team.

As Lar and Tasmia fly off to Takron Galtos, we get the Vi/ Micro Lad showdown and his escape. We also get to visit Ayla on Winath. Her brother didn’t tell Mekt or Brin where she was. But she just went home. He reasons for wanting to leave the Legion behind are sound ones. It’s just that others aren’t willing to let her alone, and she’s being watched by two parties. She’s attacked and despite using her powers, defeated by Radiation Roy. The shoulders of his costume are distinctive enough for recognition in the shadowy location of their fight. We see the energy funnel take Roy away. So, they aren’t just beginning to recruit villains. They have begun to attack former Legionnaires. Ayla was on the mural. Is she just the first?

The Daxamite kid Ol-Vir, shown in the GDS still worships Darkseid. He has slaughtered SP officers and released prisoners. They are told the attacker was only a kid and Cham recalls his encounter with him when he was also a prisoner on this world. Oddly Lar scans while on the ground, rather than form orbit. He could have tracked the villain quicker. By the time he encounters Ol-Vir, another officer has been sacrificed. Even Jo couldn’t get there in time. It’s something that weighs heavily on him, as he’s attacked by all the other inmates.

Although the action continues without a break, Levitz does choose to continue a couple of subplots. They get in the way a bit. Gim and Yera have found an apartment, and moved in in the very short space of time since we last saw them. Some, or all of this could have been combined or moved. Gim learns that his mother, the President has resigned.

Back on Winath, one of the people watching Ayla reports in. He didn’t see the attack on her. But he’s confirming her location back to Brin. As Birn isn’t identified as Timberwolf elsewhere, there’s a little jump to be made for newer readers. Having a second watcher of Ayla might also confuse that subplot with the villains’ one. For older readers, it puts Brin firmly into creep territory. Probably stalker territory too.

Back on Daxam, Lar fights Ol-Vir. It’s about as angry and threatening as I’ve seen Mon-El. I don’t think the threat suits him. He might be disgusted by Ol-Vir, but he may also not be used to fighting foes on his own power level. Ol-Vir uses strength and speed to blindside him.

Elsewhere, Jo beats back a horde of villains. It’s a good moment for Jo. It’s much less so for Ron-Karr, one of the villains. He’d end up as one of the resistance fighters in v4. He was sort of creeping into being a Sub. But he was happy to watch and encourage a human sacrifice. As Ol-Vir and several other villains are rescued from Takron Galtos through another, larger energy warp, he’s happy to side with the villains and their schemes. For me, that sort of past puts him well out of the range of any Legion team.

The warp appearing just as Ol-Vir looked to Darkseid for rescue will only have reinforced the kid’s belief in the dark god.

In the closing panels it’s confirmed that the villainous recruits are taken to Lightning Lord’s group. The (possibly upgraded) Sun Emperor appears as another member. That’s several villains with direct Legion counterparts, and the plan continues to unfold with the storm. As the warp was taking them away, the Legion is told that it’s to form a new Legion of Super Villains. They should never have recruited Tip Off Kid into their ranks.

While some of the planning for the launch of the Baxter book had an impact on the newsstand one, it does pay off here. The main plot burns slowly (not just because of Sun Emperor) across already strongly established subplots. The treat is definitely a strong one. Their goals are a mix of large universal conquest but also direct and personal. While some plots come to an end; Thom looks unlikely to get a vacation with Nura now, Levitz launches some new ones too. I think they detract somewhat form the focus of the main story a bit. But, they are what future stories will build on. The Brin/Ayla plot and the Gim/Yera/Mrs Allon as Prez plot will play out over time.

There’s a character defining scenes for Nura, Vi and Ayla. Ther’es life progression for Gim. Lar is a quiet spotlight throughout. We learn a lot about how he views his home world and, through Ol-Vir, how much it’s ideals mean to him. Jo has a good moment and Cham does too in quieter ways. He connects Ol-Vir to the kid he encountered previously, and has an analytical approach throughout. Not bad at all with the mix of action scenes throughout. Brin, however, is firmly comic relief.

It’s a much more restrained Giffen on art chores for the opening issue. The continued use of white space between the panels gives it a consistent look. There’s plenty of little panel overlaps to direct the reader; the effects of Vi’s punch go out of the panel on page 11; there’s the overhead shot of a smoking Takron Galtos (it should give up. It’s bad for its health) and Lar with Ol-Vir; and creative use of Lar’s telescopic vision. The leafy shadows of Ayla’s fight was also a treat. While restrained by his standards, there’s still a lot of variation between page layouts and its really solid work.

In the Lettercol, there the suggestion that the Baxter book may have more mature content that would be edited out of the newsstand editions. It shows that the format was still be adjusted to.

LSH v. 3 # 1

I’ve been trying to think of something to say about this issue, and I really don’t have much. Despite the expanded storytelling offered by the new format and the freedom from newsstand constraints in the art, it reads like a typical revenge story. Some liberties are taken—Jo fails to save a security officer (a first!)—but the main action and subplots offer nothing terribly new. If anything, it feels like a decompressed beginning to an epic storyline, but the Great Darkness Saga benefited precisely because it was more compressed. This issue is all buildup.

And the buildup isn’t terribly interesting. The issue begins with Mekt, in full villain mood, anticipating plans and vowing to kill his brother against a backdrop of (what else?) lightning. The fact that this scene is set in a medieval castle went over my head the first I time I read the story—a villain’s got to be somewhere, so why not a castle? I didn’t pick up on the subtle clues planted in previous issues that this is the medieval world that was taken over and that the world is, in fact, Orando. In fact, these clues had been planted so long ago—four or five months previous—and had been interspersed so infrequently with other plotlines that I had forgotten them.

The first Legionnaires who appear in the story are the vacationing Star Boy and Dream Girl. As thoth alluded, they’re hardly the most exciting Legion couple, and here they foil a typical robbery—but the robber turns out to be Micro Lad. I almost wish the story had involved the Imskian liberation army instead of the LSV. Such a story would have emerged from the building political tensions and taken the Legion in a new direction. LSV revenge stories are old.

There are some nice touches, though, such as Nura using her power to anticipate the robot’s moves, and an all-new, all-aggressive Violet being called in to show Mirco Lad what she thinks of his role in her kidnapping and sens-tank experience months ago. But these scenes stop short of providing a cathartic release for Vi and the reader because Micro Lad has to be rescued by a vortex! The LSV aren’t picky on who they recruit.

We get an interlude of Gim and Yera moving out of Legion HQ and searching for an apartment of their own—and an exchange with Computo, whose programming now includes the ability to learn from his interactions with Legionnaires, such as when to time conversations. The scene probably could have been removed, but I like it. It provides a glimpse into the Legion’s new normal before everything is turned upside down.

Then we catch up with Mon-El and the others on Daxam. It’s a nice scene that reminds us of how much damage Lar’s people caused when they were enslaved during the Great Darkness. They are now regarded with suspicion and fear, much like Durlans. This is another plot line that, in hindsight, I wish could have been developed further. In the preboot, it was never addressed why more Daxamites weren’t running around the galaxy, making use of the powers granted to them by yellow suns. Now that Mon’s people have seen that they can indeed be powerful elsewhere, it’s a wonder that only the zealot Ol-Vir decided to take advantage of that opportunity.

Speaking of, Mon and the rest learn that a Daxamite prisoner is running amok on Takron-Galtos, so they hurry to the prison planet. Ol-Vir is becoming my favorite new Legion villain: the snotty kid everyone wants to punch in the face. However, this snotty kid has all of Mon’s powers and a zealous devotion to his dark god. He’s become radicalized, in modern parlance—and this makes him extremely dangerous and unsettling; there is simply no reasoning with someone who is willing to murder for his god. Ol-Vir’s age makes him even more unsettling; when a kid commits murder—as we’ve seen all too often in recent times—it upends all of our expectations of order in the universe.

The fight scene that follows is well done, but Jo stands out, not Mon. First, Jo fails to save the officer, and he is so unused to failure—to someone dying on his watch—that it deeply bothers him. The other prisoners try to take advantage, but Jo is nonplussed. In one of the few humorous bits in the book, he recognizes one of his attackers as Ron-Karr just before shrugging everybody off. Jo then takes charge by checking in to see how the others are doing—why oh why didn’t he exhibit this combination of compassion, confidence, and command when he was running for election?

As for Mon, he makes threats and attacks Ol-Vir, only to be out-maneuvered by the snotty pubescent. Oh, Lar. Maybe Shady and Jo are the brains of the clique.

There are other scenes—Ayla is confronted and captured by Radiation Roy (though the demonstration of his power made me think Sun Emperor was nearby), a private investigator hired by Timber Wolf discovers Ayla’s whereabouts (but not her capture), and Gim learns his mother has resigned as president. All build-up, and some more successful than others. I was surprised Brin had hired a PI. I guess this is his way of showing he still cares, maybe.

But it all leads to another build-up: All the villains—Micro Lad, Ol-Vir, Ron-Karr, and the unseen Chameleon Chief—are transported away by Yoda, er, Zymyr or whatever his name is. If you’re going to have an unseen presence, at least have him speak proper English. Twisting sentences around stopped the flow of the reading for me every time.

So the first Baxter issue has a lot in it, yet it left me wanting more—and not in the usual way of anticipating the next issue. It felt like there was too much appetizer and not enough main course.

LSH v3 #1
(Seems like a good place to jump back in.)

Not a bad issue, some of it more of the usual from Levitz/Giffen and other bits standing out.

The opening scene always struck me as quite grim, with the old setting, the very serious tone, even the use of shading over the others present. I think it works quite well.

The carving does appear old, doesn't it? My first impression on seeing it was some magical ritual from some ancient race that had somehow foretold the Legion's existence. Ah well, as Thoth said Sculptor Lad must just be feeling creative, much better than those dreary (and glitchy thanks to Brainy) Legion monitor boards, although considering the plot no more cheerful than his other work on the statues of deceased heroes. Always fun matching the symbols to the legionnaires, and nice touch having the reservists in the middle. Did anyone spot any continuity gaffs with membership?

That skull on page 2 is a bit weird. I mean it is obviously alien, but look at the perspective with the thickness of the pole down at the base. It must be a couple of metres across making the skull enormous! That's one big beastie.

I never knew Ventura's casinos (at least this one) were built over lava pits. Good to know they have a GAS station there (interlac sign). Not quite sure what the little inset sign is about. It says Protys and Casino, not sure what else. The little walking counters are kind of cute. I wonder if they like huddling together. Isn't Thom's hair a kind of mousey brown? Looks orange in my copy. Maybe he had a do for the occasion. A lot of the other interlac signs seem jumbled to me. Was this before they had said they were using Interlac consistently? The droids are C2 and B4 - are they apart of a set? Poor C@, now he will never get a-head in the world. Umm is Nura's power really this reliable in terms of short term prediction? If so then she is only ever beaten when she is not concentrating. I know they used this approach in the Threeboot but I hadn't remembered it being used here.

I always liked the Gim/Yera couple. It worked for me. Moving out to start their own life makes perfect sense. I'm not quite sure what was so wrong with Computo's timing? Asking if everything is ok as they leave perhaps? I never noticed before the little "C2" on the Computo orb. I guess Brainy is following in the Brainiac 1/2/3/4/5 pattern with his creation.

This issue demonstrates quite forcefully an important fighting fact - never leap at your opponent, always wait for them to leap. Micro Lad leaps at Vi but she is ready for him and decks him. Radiation Roy leaps at Ayla who is surprised but uses a judo type move with a bit help from her weightloss powers to toss him. Mon-El leaps at Ol-Vir in an aggravated rage and at first has the upper hand but Ol-Vir quickly turns the table on him. In two cases it is the legionnaire who is ready and waiting while in the third Mon-El is letting his emotional frustration and fear of racial backlash overpower his judgement. I am not surprised that Ol-Vir gets the upper hand and Jo shows up as the better combatant.

Good points about the kid being radicalised and his "rescue" reinforcing his belief in Darkseid.

It seems the Daily Planet is still around (I think we have seen it on the skyline before) and Gim likes to read it. Apparently the Legionnaires are such big news that the Daily Planet Headlines even report that Gim owes Dirk 10 grams(?).

The ending fits with the opening and works as a bookend to the story. Obviously a setup issue with grim overtones.

Thoth's point about confusion over the two parties searching for Ayla resonates with my memories. After reading several black-and-white reprints in my youth, i restarted collecting and reading Legion with V4. The "anti-jumping on point" worked for me as I was intrigued enough to research the background and buy up all V3 and later v2. My memory says that I did find it confusing but still good enough to make me want to read more.

I thought Ayla's part worked well and even though she was defeated showed the strength that will be emphasised in later issues.

The only irritant to me was the ongoing writer confusion over idenitcal/fraternal twins on Winath. The text blurb emphasises that IDENTICAL twin births are the rule. The Ranzz family are the exception with all the siblings being "singles" genetically. Even Garth and Ayla are only fraternal twins, brother and sister who happened to have the same birthday. I am sure that their being raised together as twins would have provided much of the same sort of acculturation as identical twins born to other families on the same planet, but I wonder if there was always a bit of ongoing stigma attached to the whole family, not just Mekt, which may account for Garth's occasional outbursts. Ayla is, frankly, surprisingly well rounded (that's personality wise, having nothing to do with physical curves so artistically drawn by Giffen).