Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Reading the Legion: Archives Volume 20

Tales #316 Second Story: The Path Not Taken by Paul Levitz & Mindy Newell, art by George Tuska & Karl Kesel, letters by Ben Oda, colours by Carl Gafford

Mysa continues her story, telling Blok he has done her a favour, as she has experienced some catharsis. When she was turned into the Hag, she didn't know that Mordru was the cause. She was banished from the Sorcerers' World, recruited by Evillo. Chuck bounces through, saying it sounds like a good story, but he has to file exam results for his students. Mysa continues.

The head sorcerer contacted Nura to advise her that Mordru was the evil in their midst and had changed Mysa; before he could give her the magic solution to restore Mysa, Mordru stabbed him to death. However, Nura had received enough information to proceed and Mysa was restored. She declined Nura's offer to join the Legion, preferring to find her own destiny. Blok said he understood and left.

Mysa weighs her Legion ring against a mystic crystal and finds it is evenly balanced. She remembers that she was afraid to return to the Sorcerers' World at first, but eventually did and continued her studies. Her intense devotion caused her skin and hair to whiten and she developed antennae. She developed great mystical power and accepted to remain with the Sorcerers, after she had bid farewell to her sister. However, she was caught up in the battle against Darkseid and decided to go with the Legion instead. Now that her magic has proven equal to the others' powers, she is content to remain a Legionnaire.

Comments:
Part III completes Mysa's backstory, covering the period in which she was introduced to readers as the Hag up until the present. The idea that her whiteness and antennae resulted from the depth of her studies and mastery of magic was a good explanation for her current appearance, and why she differed so greatly from Nura.

The story changed somewhat from the original Devil's Dozen tale. Here, Nura received partial information from the head sorcerer on how to change Mysa back from the Hag; originally, she had learned spells from Mysa herself (who was also described as a Naltorian super-heroine). Nura wasn't shown to be disguised as Miss Terious, as she was in the original. This version makes for a better, more complex story by bringing in the Sorcerers and the treachery of Mordru.

There seems to be a gap in what happened to Mordru in this tale: he wreaked havoc on The Sorcerers' World, then everything was restored and Mordru was gone. Presumably the sorcerers rose up against him and buried him.

I wasn't aware that Mysa still had such doubts about her place in the Legion by now. Interesting that she relied on balancing a mystical stone against her Legion ring, rather than a "logical" assessment or feedback from the rest of the team; she employs a different sort of thinking. At a later date, it will be the Legion that doesn't measure up to her standards and she'll return to the Sorcerers' World. It makes me think of a woman becoming a nun, passing through a training period before she makes the final commitment - then possibly leaving later when disenchanted. The other recent member, Jacques, also expresses concerns about measuring up to the Legion; it's not something I recall from other team members who joined in earlier eras.

Blok, at this point, is wearing only underpants of varying colors as his 'costume'. (This episode's color of choice is red, with blue in flashback.)

He is also in my second-favorite form: gray rather then brown, and collarless and noseless, having broken both of them off in past battles.

He has very human-like feet.

316: "The Path Not Taken" (backup story)

At long last, we get to the conclusion of the Mysa story. It seems like it's taken forever to get here, with this series alternating with the Baxter series and the annual being inserted into the run. Taken on its own merits, the White Witch's origin is a good story that fills in our understanding of this still enigmatic character. But drawing the story out this way works against it, as the payoff is kind of meh.

The payoff is that Mysa decides to join the Legion instead of accepting a position on the Sorcerer's World. But we already know she joined the Legion, so the explanation loses currency and impact. We do get a better understanding of her character--how driven she was to learn all she could about magic, how she wanted to find her own destiny and not live in her sister's shadow, and--having felt she'd accomplished that--she was now ready to join the Legion alongside her sister. The story shows how Mysa matured and grew in confidence, so there is an effective payoff in that sense.

The story wisely does not dwell on Mysa's time as the Hag and membership in the Devil's Dozen. In fact, Levitz and company did a great job of distilling the flashback down to its essential parts: Evillo approaching her and Nura restoring her to normal with magic she's learned from one of the sorcerers. Although this account differs somewhat from the original story in Adventure 351, I choose to interpret it as Mysa's selective memory of the event--focusing on what truly mattered to her.

I do, however, get the sense that her transformation into the Hag was nothing more than a digression--not something she learned from or which led to lasting change in her. Given that she was transformed from a beautiful young girl into an ugly old woman and cast out by the teachers who had taken her in, I would expect there to be some lasting effect on her psyche or some manner in which she grew from the experience. Perhaps there was, but we have to read between the lines. It takes her awhile to return to Sorcerer's World, and, when she does, she immerses herself in her studies--avoiding fellowship with her teachers. Perhaps she felt some lingering resentment towards them for abandoning her; perhaps she understood their beliefs and forgave them. We're not told, but I kind of wish we had been.

Another aspect that sort of has to be inferred is that Mysa grew up on Sorcerer's World without any people her age, apparently, and without any friends. Joining the Legion may have been motivated in part by her recognition that she needed a well-rounded life. Again, we're not told this directly, but I think much can be read into her thought about the Legion: "They have treated me as an equal. Can I desert them when I have found what I have been in search of for so long?"

This is one of the better Legionnaire origin stories, but I feel it would have had more impact if it had been told when the White Witch joined the Legion instead of being given as an prolonged flashback.

What most likely happened was that the Legion defeated Mordru as shown in the flashback in Adv. 369 . . . but this, too, is something that needs to be inferred.



Good point about Mysa using something other than logic as we understand it. This ties in nicely with the sorcerers' willingness to banish her because of what they saw as impurities in her character based on her transformation into the Hag. Nowadays, we might regard such beliefs as superstition. But human beings, even sorcerers, are complex creatures who rely on an assortment of beliefs and intuitions as well as logic in order to make decisions.



I missed out on some issues of 5YL (if that's what you're referring to), so I didn't know the Legion failed to measure up to Mysa's standards. It's an interesting twist--and an apt comparison to a disillusioned nun.

Would the impact have been different if this were a single issue story? The ending struck me as abrupt and low-key after all the action scenes from her past.



Hadn't thought of it in that way; the story would be from her perspective. She didn't know Mordru had killed the head sorcerer and she might have known all along it was Nura under the Miss Terious armor.



Agreed, it would have given us some good insight. We learn later that she's emotionally entangled with Mordru, but I wonder what she thought of him then? Fear? Anger for what he did to her? Or blaming herself for being overconfident?



This is sort of like Superboy's feelings about the Legion: he now has a group of equal peers.

White Witch Back Up 314-316

“I seem to have some time on my hands,” said Blok. “I shall use this time constructively to improve my knowledge of the Legion.” He reached, carefully, to the top of the pile, where the holo of White Witch’s origins sat. Blok had conscientiously returned the holo to its case, despite having watched it twice already that morning.

You’re not fooling anyone with that archivist role Blok! Actually, he goes on to be quite self-conscious about the whole thing, going so far as to lock the door.

Naltor gives us a discriminatory matriarchy. Something else else that’s not played upon too heavily in future stories. It also shows us that the job of High Seer is a draining on. The position may be linked to the world, and perhaps there’s some of the Sorcerers World magic still around.

In other books, those who disrupt the status quo are often hunted outlaws. The UP seems to have embraced Naltorian precognitive abilities in its financial systems.

Quite the gender divide. Their mother dies, but there’s no hint that their father will have any further part in their life. Mind you, Beren is the next High Seer.

Mysa seems really sure of herself, when she rejects Nura in order to leave for the Sorcerer’s World. I think a lot of it is a reaction to her mother’s death as well as some pent up feelings regarding her status on Naltor. I’m sure she’ll have some lonely, fearful times ahead.

With Blok having spent the time to shut himself away, having Tinya come in is a lovely touch. She’s very friendly to Blok too, which is a nice break from her snarky doubles routine with Shady. Here, you can see why she’s the team’s Miss Popular.

While Blok has been smitten with Mysa from his first sight of her, we get hints of her side of things here. Firstly, she has developed a “broader view of men’s potential” which could indicate Blok in a couple of ways. Secondly, her personal invitation to tell her story to Blok at the end of 314, is a clear step forward in their relationship.

But then she’s calling Blok a friend in the start of #315. She does say it in bold which all comic characters can read. The shoulder massage might be another hint.

Levitz has gone to some trouble to show us how Mysa’s powers work. Having her conjure her past in the smoke seems a little removed from that. Another thing that is removed is Mysa from some common courtesy. She’s a right pain to the ship captain. Lost, alone and not fitting in with the world form which she has come, I’m surprised she doesn’t bump into Mekt and form an earlier version of the LSV. Interestingly, it’s not craft that makes Mysa access her powers. It’s force of will.

Still, her magic powers look as though they’ve escaped from a Dungeons and Dragons book throughout this flashback. Seeing more of Mordru as an ACME villain here doesn’t do him any favours. It’s a decent twist by Levitz in showing us how a young Mysa (16) became The Hag, and Mordru supplies some familiarity. The evil in his blood tainted the ritual. But I liked Mordru much more in his first appearance, than the vain, petty version we get here. I’m not sure the continuity completely holds up, but I’ll leave that for the more knowledgeable.

In the third chapter, it’s not clear how the head teacher knew about Mordru’s betrayal. Evillo, pops up with suspiciously convenient timing. If Cosmic King is also on the flight all they’d need is a rich financier and an assassination plot and we’ve got a spin off book!

This chapter feels very rushed. “I was afraid to return to Sorcerers World… but I did” The fall of Evillo’s plans and the Great Darkness Saga are raced through. Mysa suddenly wants to balance her powers against the Legionnaires. It’s not exactly the deepest way to establish he emotional strength. She claims she doesn’t have to prove herself any longer in the flashback, but that’s exactly what she’s still doing. She even has a set of scales to reinforce it.

One interesting thing about Mysa being on the team, is that she’s had years of practice with her powers. She’s been a major player in previous Legion adventures too. While she may still be finding her feet (they’re floating a foot off the ground normally) on applying them for the Legion, there’s been no doubt that the ability is certainly there. It was good to see her strength come through the whole story, and for the character to avoid being seen as an innocent waif fresh form Sorcerer school.

Blok fades out of this third chapter too, as Mysa looks within herself. It would have been nice to have had a little more time with the couple to establish a further connection, before going off with Mysa’s thoughts.

It’s a back up story that has plenty of plus points but fades towards the end. Naltor is given some interesting background. The continuity of Mysa weaves through earlier Legion stories really well. Mysa is also consistent throughout. Levitz’s writing shows her mature and Tuska did a great job in showing her grow up through her various identities.


My eyes rolled in the first part when we were going to get a flashback in a flashback. But it was brief and Levitz & Tuska moved both Mysa and Blok around nicely to avoid Bendisitis. First it’s a holo, then through smoke, then on a walk outside HQ. We get cameos from Tinya and Chuck to also break the story up. Little touches that show a lot of experience in the creative team.

Mysa first shows up in Adventure #350 - 351, first as the Hag, then as Magic Lana. It would be shortly after this story that the mages of the Sorcerer's World would bind Mordru, according to Mysa's backup story.

Eighteen months later, Shadow Lass releases Mordru from his air-tight container in the Legion HQ's "lowest sub-basement".

According to #369, Mordru had somehow in those eighteen months conquered "most of the worlds on the perimeter of the Galaxy". He also "sent his armies" into the United Planets itself, "adding to his collection of worlds, as if selecting baubles from a jeweler's tray."

In addition to commanding huge armies, Mordru fought the Legion himself, in Metropolis, as "a hundred-foot giant smashing all in his path."

In some funky armor.

So, yeah, continuity.

I can't find the reference to the sorcerers binding Mordru after Adv. 351 in the Mysa backup. Am I missing something?

The flashback in Adv. 369 states that Mordru's first encounter with the Legion occurred during Saturn Girl's term as leader. Since Mon-El is shown to be a member at the time, this places the flashback sometime between Adv. 305 and 337 (when Brainy takes over as leader). In the Mayfair Legion Sourcebook, Levitz narrows the event down further to Imra's second term, which began in Adv. 323.

If the reference to the wizards binding Mordru does not contradict this flashback, the continuity seems to hold up pretty well. It means that Mysa's transformation into the Hag occurred prior to or during Year 4 of the Legion (per the sourcebook) and that she was restored during Year 6. It also means Mordru was buried in the Legion's sub-basement from Year 4 to near the end of Year 6 (the end of Invisible Kid's term as leader).

In an earlier post, though, I expressed misgivings about Mordru being portrayed as a dark-haired younger wizard in Mysa's story and as an white-haired older wizard in the Adv. 369 flashback. As FC, I think, suggested, Mordru's evil use of magic may have aged him prematurely. Conquering the galaxy takes a toll on one.

It is in the Tales of the Legion 316 backup where Mysa returns to the Sorcerer's World immediately after her restoration, a Sorcerer's World apparently free of Mordru, ruled by Mysa's elemental teachers.

Perhaps I am mis-reading this. Perhaps he abandoned Zerox and went off and conquered the outer rim of the Galaxy, instead.

It's difficult to fit the details given in the various stories and backstories into a smooth continuity. When Mordru was in Smallville, he exercised control over the timestream, so that could be used to explain the timeline and any contradictions. Thanks Klar for reminding us of the Mordru history from #369!




A minor point, but an unlikely scenario. Recently, we saw Nura and Thom in a Venturan casino; you'd think Naltorians would be banned from gambling establishments.



A nice detail which somewhat redeems Tinya's treatment of Brin.



I wonder if he was ever anything more than a confidant, or even a big friendly dog for her. So far she's sidestepped the possible romance question, but I don't recall if they ever have a talk about being just friends.




Good catch on the contradiction in her thinking. That seems very human!



Innocent waif was used for Glorith II. It wore thin quickly, IMO. A strong, capable and confident witch plays much better as someone parachuted into the Legion, who had to get up to speed immediately to fight Darkseid.

LSH #4 Lest Villainy Triumph by Paul Levitz & Keith Giffen, design by Keith Giffen art by Steve Lightle & Larry Mahlstedt, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by John Costanza



On Orando, in limbo, Mekt considers that the storm is a sign of approval of their enterprise. Other LSV members are not so pleased, wishing they could have had more time to kill Legionnaires. Nemesis Kid asserts his leadership, but Tyr questions why they moved the planet when they only had eight Legionnaires captive. Tyr calls for others to join him, Nemesis Kid replies they attack on his command. Mekt turns from the window, reacting to something. A bolt of lightning shoots over the assembled villains, saying "Enough" and Sun Emperor says they must stand together or die. Nemesis Kid suggests that some may return to hunt Legionnaires before the final passage. Tyr leaves with others.

Above Orando, remaining Legionnaires are baffled by the vanished planet and teammates. Brainy speculates that the powerspheres and shield transported Orando into another dimension, for some unclear purpose.

In the dungeons of Orando, Ayla revives and beats her fists against the wall, expecting to be killed by Mekt. The power-blocking cuffs explode but she remains unharmed. Looking out of her cell, she sees the captured Legionnaires, restrained by machines; Karate Kid has revived. Ayla decides she must call for help from other Legionnaires. Karate Kid thinks the machines are sapping their will power as well as their super-powers and tries to break free. After considerable effort, he succeeds.

The LSV members seeking to kill Legionnaires head back to the old universe, displaying some anger and tension. Ayla has stowed away and hears their plan to fire on the Legionnaires as they re-enter their home dimension. She rips out some circuitry, causing the control panel to explode, and appears before the villains. Somehow, she has regained her lightning powers and blasts the LSV senseless. The only controls she can figure out are to return her to Orando in the limbo space.

On Earth, Rokk speaks with Nura. She is concerned about where the LSV might strike; he reassures her that he has called in the Reserves, the Subs and the Academy students. They are all eager to go.

On Orando, Val has freed all the Legionnaires. Jan pieces together the known facts and suggests that the LSV has taken Orando out of their known universe. They fly off to stop the LSV, but Val leaves the group as he spies Nemesis Kid and chooses to settle an old score. Nemesis Kid says he chose to take over Orando as personal revenge against Val, who he will now kill.

Jan tries to disable the powerspheres, but is stopped by Cosmic King's transmutation powers. Cosmic King is surprised Jan has heard of him, since he was just recently banished from Venus. He is quickly surrounded by other LSV members. Jeckie flies off to find Val, who is suffering under the blows of Nemesis Kid. The other Legionnaires fight the LSV, with failing effect.

With Val unconscious, Jeckie confronts Nemesis Kid; he dismisses her illusion, grabs and hits her but is stopped by a revived Val. Val suffers badly under his enemy's blows; Jeckie pleads with him to take the flight ring from Nemesis Kid and escape. He takes the ring, but refuses to run. Knowing he's dying, he flies into a powersphere, which explodes.

Epilogue: Val is dead, the Legionnaires lie unconscious on the ground and Ayla pilots the LSV vessel back to Orando.

Comments:
Karate Kid is the triumph of the Everyman. Not exactly, since he has super karate skills, but he breaks out of his restraints using will power, supported by muscle. His daring (or desperation?) drives him to release the other Legionnaires, unlike Ayla who feared triggering an alarm. It's a personal battle between Val and Nemesis Kid; even though he's outclassed power-wise, Val is sustained by his own sense of duty and heroism. It's not the first time he's been in this sort of uneven battle, although it's the most deadly.

Why he wasn't burned to ashes in the powersphere explosion is unclear. He's charred, whether by radiation alone or fire, but his body remains conveniently intact and his face restored enough for a real burning by fire funeral.

Jeckie also triumphs through sheer will power, although of the royal variety. Her illusions are ineffectual here; it's her spirit and belief in her lineage that gives her the power to kill. Strangely, she's limited vengeance to only the most personal target, Nemesis Kid. She leaves the rest of the LSV to the Legion, although they all played a part in taking over her planet. And why leave enemies like that alive if you're living according to an ancient battle code?

The other Legionnaires, freed by Val, don't fare well at all against the LSV. One might assume that they've been weakened by their restraints and lack the motivation of the royal couple. It's possible that they had to fail to make Val's (and Jeckie's) efforts all the more admirable.

The other star of the battle, Ayla, is conveniently off-planet. Although benefiting from restored lightning powers and surprise, she wins against numerical odds, easily capturing the LSV members in Zymyr's ship. Her actions are driven by fate more than will; she doesn't have a flight ring to signal other Legionnaires, she can only return Zymyr's ship to Orando, not take it back to her own universe.

The Legionnaires not on Orando are helpless and confused. They don't know what's happened, where Orando and their teammates have gone, even if the LSV might strike Earth.

I did a double take when Cosmic King was surprised that Jan knew of him. Of course, he was in the Adult Legion story; here, he's just starting his galactic career of villainy. It's hard not to think of the LSV as Lightning Lord, Cosmic King and Saturn Queen, which is perhaps why I think Mekt should be in a leadership battle with Nemesis Kid. Mekt's shout of "Enough!" struck me as indicating that he considered himself a leader, if not the leader of the LSV. He might have been so wrapped up in the storm and his destiny that Nemesis Kid just let him be; there never was any confrontation between the two.

Overall, this read as a fairly dense story; the outcome was strongly hinted at by the cover but no less effective. The death of Nemesis Kid might have been an equal event, but it happened with a quick snap, unseen and his body left lying by the funeral pyre like a stray leaf, then consigned to the rubbish. That kept Val's heroic fight front and centre; Nemesis Kid's execution was almost an afterthought to the story, a troublesome rat to be eliminated.

I think that's the most likely scenario. The backup in 316 doesn't say what became of Mordru; it only suggests that he was gone by the time Mysa returned to Sorcerer's World.

In one of my previous posts, I suggested that this story is being told from Mysa's selective memories. She may not have known what became of Mordru or didn't learn until sometime later. His fate is not particularly relevant to her story, so I can understand why it wasn't addressed.

LoSH v3 4

As Lightning Lord and Sun Emperor look out at the storm, there’s dissent in the ranks of the LSV. Tyr reminds us that each of them swore to kill a Legionnaire. It’s a scene that once again shows some depth to the villains as a team. Nemesis Lad and Zymyr are leaders, but Lightning Lord and Sun Emperor are very strong enforcers of the plan. Chameleon Chief, a member of an older LSV, is the one to stand up to Tyr, which is a nice reminder to his status too.

The panel where we see their energies sweep the table, ending the argument, is visually strong. However, it also means they would have incinerated Nemesis Kid or Mist Master & Hunter who were standing at either end of the table in a previous panel.

As the villains are only half way to their goal, a group of them depart to hunt Legionnaires. It looks like the it’s a writer’s device to be used as a way of allowing the Legion to track the villains back to Orando. But it’s nice that Levitz hasn’t forgotten the oath from the first issue.

Elsewhere, Brainiac Five figures how the LSV used the devices they stole, but he’s no further in finding out where they’ve gone. Levitz gives the reader a bit of a plot summary. Legion admin also kicks in as Nura lets us know that she’s in charge as deputy. Dawny can’t find the missing, which must be very frustrating for her (and continues a trend). All make the distinction that Wildfire’s disappearance is something different. Ther’es no reference to the Tales issue in which Wildfire vanished. The close up of Brainy thinking at least gives the heroes some focus. They still look a lot less prepared than their villainous counterparts.

Back on Orando, Lightning Lass awakes from the attack that looked very much as though it had killed her last issue. In her frustration, she hits the cell wall, and her restored Lightning powers destroy it. Seizing the opportunity, she escapes. She sees her captured colleagues in a nearby cell. Deducing that the devices that hold them will be alarmed, she opts not to free them, but to go and get help. Karate Kid is the only one of them who’s conscious. By sheer strength of will, he manages to break free of the device.

Levitz hasn’t rushed Ayla’s changed powers. He’s taken it step by step through the story, building up the switch. Alya looks as shocked (ouch) as anyone that they’re back. But look how her Legion background kicks in as she gets away. No “Oh The Naltorian science must have worn off” in a panel here.

Another difference to the old days, is that then she may well have got the others free. Lightle makes sure to draw them as in a bad way. It’s looks grim. They aren’t all standing in ACME containment tubes, trying to escape. They’re shackled in devices that look as though they are draining the life from them.

But Ayla’s perception of alarms reveals the underlying plotting. Val doesn’t wait for her to get clear before he starts to try and break free. No alarms go off. We see him break free at the second attempt. Again, it hasn’t given Ayla much time, and we never see the LSV react to it. The Legionnaires would all make a very quick recovery once Ayla had gone, meaning that the point was to separate them. But the departing villains, Ayla’s release and Val’s escape do weave together pushing the story forward.

It also tells the reader why Val is different to the others. This would be my first time really seeing him in Legion action, beyond the odd panel or a backup.

In the escaping shuttle, Ayla takes out a whole team of villains both by subterfuge and then direct confrontation. It’s a pretty effective first look at the new Lightning Lass. In a twist, Ayla realises that she can’t navigate the craft home. She can only return to Orando. Was this just a way of giving Ayla a spotlight in the story, or is there more to come?

Odd that the other Super Assassins didn’t go with Titania and Slasher on the trip. Killing it’s what they’re supposed to be about. That’s going to be a hot topic in the LSV canteen.

As acting leader Nura checks in with Cosmic Boy on Earth. I already feel more confident about the groups chances with Nura, rather than Jan, leading things. It’s a good exchange between the two, seasoned Legionnaires. Both come out if it as strong characters who respect each other’s views.

It also continues the Future Legionnaires subplot, as the Subs and Academy students are shown to be eager for action. A little too eager really. Despite the posturing we don’t see either sub group do anything else in the story. But it allows Rokk to note that time has moved on since he first started out. Polar Boy’s costume could still do with work, even seeing Lightle’s version here.

Back on Orando, Element Lad tells Jeckie and Val (and new readers) the LSV plot. It’s a well worked scenes visually, as it shows us the grim medieval courtyard ad moves to show us the power spheres as Jan forms a plan of action.

Val is the only one of them without a flight ring. As the group move towards the powersphere, he asks Cham to drop him down to settle a “personal score” It’s quite a drop, and I’m surprised Val wasn’t injured. The grand plan of the LSV has a very personal core. Nemesis Kid chose Orando to steal, not only because it was out of the ay, but because of it’s connection to Karate Kid and Projectra. There’s a story of personal vengeance here, stretching all the way back to the time when Val, Jeckie and Hart joined the team together. The sneering, confident Nemesis Kid taunts Val. The combat begins as we cut away, reminding me of big action Star Wars movies.

Bove, Jan finds his powers blocked by Cosmic King. There’s a nod to this version of Cosmic King starting out. But I don’t remember Levitz ever getting round to connecting him and Mekt with a Saturn Queen that would lead them into the adult legion stories. Considering the work he put into alternate futures in #300, perhaps that was on purpose.

Val getting dropped for a personal fight was a bit forced. All it would have taken was someone to say that the team would be stronger together.

Considering its Nemesis Kid, it’s tactically daft not to have more than one Legionnaire face him. But I think we get a look into the psyche of Val, and it’s not an overly happy place.

But Val not having a flight ring and putting the menace in mid air was deliberate. Also, Jeckie is actually quicker in finding Val than I recalled. I thought he was left alone for his combat for a while longer. She doesn’t give the LSV a single illusion before departing, which doesn’t exactly help them. They are quickly overcome, with Phantom Girl affected by Cosmic King.

The combat is powerful, bloody and turns very quickly to Hart’s advantage when his powers adapt. He can adapt to trained skills as well as super powers it seems. Karate Kid begins to take a terrible beating. Jeckie intervenes but is beaten as Nemesis Kid adapts to her powers too.

The two Legionnaires never work together to beat a common enemy, and that’s their downfall. Val gets beaten badly again. Jeckie pleads for him to take back his ring and escape. But a supposedly mortally wounded Val has another plan. We’re reminded that he always wanted to die in battle, and he flies into the powersphere, destroying it. There was another opportunity to fight together to defeat Nemesis Kid. But Val opted not to take it.

The final half page gives us a summary of where things stand. Notably, Ayla is coming back to rescue her defeated friends, but it looks very grim.

This issue was memorable for the violent, bloody encounter between Nemesis Kid and Karate Kid. It’s one of those scenes that sets a marker for the darker stories that the creative team were thinking of giving to the Baxter book. It’s also notable in that the hero doesn’t win the fight, but does choose another, final path. One that would disrupt the larger plan the villains had.

It provokes, and provoked, different emotions. Val has many of the standard heroic traits. But he’s also a lone hero in a team. Each of his traits has a darker edge to them, coming from his background. They also come from a certain fatalistic interpretation of honour.

Val is strong willed, but there’s a single-track stubbornness to it, when there are better options. He’s selfless in helping the others escape but is the first to leave them for a personal single combat. He knows it’s Nemesis Kid and knows that how the villain can be beaten. But he still faces him in single combat, putting the others at further risk if he loses. He continues to fight when Jeckie is put in danger. But its his own actions that allowed that to happen. He’s married to her, but they aren’t really together in the end. We’ve seen Val chafe against his retirement on Orando already. His actions here may also be connected to that in some smaller way.

Then there’s what can only be described as Val’s death wish. Val’s actions don’t make a lot of sense. But it’s something he’s driven towards. Giffen gets a lot of stick (fairly) for offing Karate Kid at every opportunity. But Shooter wrote him with the same character traits. This story just sees them played out in a way that facing off against the Fatal Five alone didn’t.

That interpretation of honour and duty is distilled through flawed adolescent “heroic sacrifice.” It’s something that appears in a number of loner heroes. Not far beneath the surface of heroism and selflessness is a desire to be the centre of attention and to show others what they’re missing in one giant heroic act/farewell. It’s no coincidence that Claremont’s Wolverine also latched onto an interpretation of Japanese samurai in the same way that Shooter’s Karate Kid already had. The constant rising from seeming defeat is a forerunner of that final act. With Psycho Claws, his powers allow this to be indulged every month. Karate Kid doesn’t have that option.

So, it’s not a clear-cut tale of a hero sacrificing himself for something greater. It’s not a story that was written in a way that the death came naturally to the plot either. It’s a battle where the outcome was decided very early on, but that got drawn out into a prolonged bloody conclusion.

There’s not a huge amount of plot movement either. By having the LSV stop half way to their goal, this is an issue that happens in a pause. Karate Kid kills himself preventing that final goal from being reached. But it was a plot decision that prevented Levitz from just teleporting the villains to their destination is a single step in the first place.

It has another, smaller Legion vs LSV battle where the heroes were defeated. The finale may show us the cavalry arriving as happened earlier in the story.

The villains look to leave Orando to attack the Legion but are prevented by Ayla. She also can’t get back. In the end, no one goes anywhere.

The Legion come no closer to finding a solution, even if Brainy is at least thinking about it. The Subs and Academy students are prepared. Prepared to stand and cheer, without actually doing anything.

It’s an issue that was really gripping and is still very enjoyable. The last few panels really give the feeling of suspense that was all the way through it. But it doesn’t take much to realise that not a lot happens and to see the pieces being moved into place by the writer. The Giffen/ Lightle art team again provides solid design which is very important is a story contains so many scenes. The backgrounds are fine, but its Lightle’s character work that stands out, adding a great deal to the suspense that Levitz was looking to have.

This is the LSV's problem:

"If you have to look along the shaft of an arrow from the wrong end, if a man has you entirely at his mercy, then hope like hell that man is an evil man. Because the evil like power, power over people, and they want to see you in fear. They want you to know you're going to die. So they'll talk. They'll gloat.

They'll watch you squirm. They'll put off the moment of murder like another man will put off a good cigar.

So hope like hell your captor is an evil man. A good man will kill you with hardly a word.”

― Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms

V3 # 4

By the time this issue rolled around, I had been a Legion fan for nearly 12 years. The Legion formed the cornerstone of my interest in comics and super-heroes, and to a large extent defined what I wanted to see in the real world (young people being appreciated for their special talents and using those talents to better the world). I would have bought anything DC published with “Legion” on it, and, since the Levitz/Giffen era began, I had clung to the notion that the series would only get better and better.

Which is good because if anything could have thrown me out of the series, it would have been the death of Karate Kid.

It’s not that Val Armorr was a favorite character (he wasn’t) or that his death was particularly heartbreaking (it—sadly—wasn’t). It’s that his demise was a wasted death—a cheap shot. It was a way to make the Baxter series darker and grittier but without such traits springing organically from the characters and situation. It’s dark and gritty for the sake of being dark and gritty.

Thoth has already done his usual expert job of analyzing why the set-up doesn’t work—unless we grant Val certain deficiencies in character. Val knew Nemesis Kid had the power to defeat any single opponent—yet he fought him alone anyway. Val’s sacrifice isn’t heroic. It’s stupid. A true warrior doesn’t let his ego or feelings override his decisions. A true warrior does what is necessary to defeat the enemy. Val should have read Sun Tzu.

But what about Val’s desire to die a noble death? He failed. There is nothing noble in his death. When I compare his death to those of Ferro Lad, Invisible Kid, and Chemical King, Val comes up short. His predecessors sacrificed themselves in desperate situations because it was the only thing they could do. Val didn’t have to face Nemesis Kid alone. He chose to do so.

We are also supposed to believe that this battle is a culmination of a rivalry that began when they were introduced back in Adv. 346. However, the rivalry seems forced. Unlike Garth and Mekt—whose long history of brotherly hate is well documented—Val and Hart were strangers who passed briefly if antagonistically in the night. Other than Hart’s role as initial villain in Karate Kid # 1, I can’t think of any significant interactions they’ve had over the years. Yes, it was Hart who framed Val during the Khund invasion (Adv. 346-47), but, if Val still held a grudge, he needed some serious therapy. Villains do that sort of thing, but Val was exonerated and went on to a distinguished career as a Legionnaire. To kill himself in a personal grudge match with Nemesis Kid was a waste.

It wouldn’t be so bad, I suppose, if Levitz had spent some time building Karate Kid up and making us care about him, but, in his few appearances since leaving active duty, Val has been portrayed as something of a jerk. Marrying into royalty, he wanted to modernize his adopted home world—against the wishes of its queen, his wife. Unfortunately, his limited panel time during the LSV War gave us little chance to know him, see a different side of him, or care about him. Levitz relies too much, I think, on our previous associations with the character—the everyman hero who worked hard to develop his power. The story uses these qualities by having Val free himself and the other captive Legionnaires, but it’s too little too late. Every time Val appears in recent issues, he seems to be a different character—someone whose personality (and ethnicity) changes to meet the needs of the plot.

As for Jeckie, she, too, goes up against Nemesis Kid alone. Ironically, her illusion was enough to defeat him back in # 208, but he seems to have gotten over his fear since then. In any event, Jeckie and Val have learned nothing from their Legion training, apparently, since they do not use teamwork to defeat the one villain who can be defeated by teamwork.

Some other stuff happens in # 4, but, as thoth pointed out, it’s basically a holding pattern issue. The whole thing is built around KK’s demise, so nothing else moves forward—except Ayla, who, paradoxically, moves forward and backward in two ways: She escapes from her dungeon (forward) by having her lightning powers reactivated (backward); she defeats some of the LSVers (forward) but can only pilot their ship back to Orando (backward).

I had mixed feelings about Ayla’s power restoration. On one hand, I was all in favor of more powerful female heroes; on the other hand, I didn’t like the idea of characters and storylines going backwards. It was around this time that John Byrne took the FF “back to the basics.” I would rather see stories move forward than backward; the sort of circular logic that things have to go “back” to some imagined past where things were truer annoys me. Ayla Ranzz had moved on from the Legion and sought to establish a life for herself away from the team and from Brin. While her role in this story makes sense from a plot perspective, the hint (true, as it turned out) that she might rejoin the Legion as Lightning Lass seemed like a regression for her character.

The Lightle art is growing on me with this issue; he acquits himself quite well throughout.

In the lettercol, Levitz welcomes Lightle and notes that Giffen is still involved but stepping down as regular penciller because, after three years, he’s getting burned out. Levitz also seems to be running out of fuel. While the LSV War is grand in scope, it’s too forced as the Next Big Storyline. When you resort to killing off a character who’s pretty much retired anyway, it looks like the story is struggling to find significance.

It's an interesting contrast between the two characters. Ayla's concern is justified, but Val never gives triggering an alarm a thought. He's right, as it turns out (apparently), since the Legionnaires' escape doesn't provoke a reaction from the LSV (or maybe it does, subtly).




You gotta leave a good-looking corpse. Or at least a corpse. It's in the Superhero Death Handbook.



One of the things I've enjoyed about the LSV War is how Cosmic King was introduced. It's a nice nod to the old Adult Legion stories and it provides some doubt as to whether that future will actually come to pass.

I'm glad there was no conflict between Lightning Lord and Nemesis Kid. Another aspect of this story that works for me is that the leadership of the LSV isn't what we expect. Mekt is set up to be the leader in the first issue, but that's a red herring. Sun Emperor was the leader in the LSV's last appearance (# 208), but he, too, takes a subordinate role here. It's tempting to think of the LSV as the counterpart of the LSH, with a rotating leadership, but these guys are villains without any code of conduct or rules of order--or are they? Tyr, for one, differs about the LSV's priorities; he prefers to kill Legionnaires instead of conquering another dimension. There is a complexity in the LSV that the story only hints at.



True, but in all fairness Val was actually dying in the Adventure story in which he took on the Fatal Five single-handedly. That's not the case here.

The Val of the Adventure era seemed more nuanced than his depiction here. He painted, he had a former lover of whom Jeckie reminded him. He seemed more admirable.



Well said.



An excellent summation of the pros and cons of the story. It's entertaining despite its obvious flaws.

Makes it easier for his v4 Zombie to return



Next issue spoilers? I don’t think the family of Thora or the other castles that have been crushed will look kindly on the villains being let off. I imagine the court will say that it’s banishment and hope for the best. But it won’t please everyone.



I did like the layered structure to the villains. Certainly, Sun Emperor and Lightning Lord saw themselves as above many of the others there. Nemesis Kid and Zimyr were the tactical leaders, and the likes of Ron Karr provided comic relief. Tyr, in particular, chafed under the direction of anyone. They make for a more interesting group than the heroes in this story.



Levitz lettercols suggest that there had been discussions about the Baxter book taking a darker tone, to the extent that it may have to be edited for a newsstand edition. It definitely looks as though someone’s death was decided upon for some early shock value in the series. It’s not alone in doing that sort of thing, and overall it does succeed in that task. It’s a memorable storyline. Erin’s proposed death at the start of v4 would have been another Legion example, while we did get Blok’s death. Levitz blowing up of Titan is from a related theme in v6.



I think Val has certain character deficiencies put in there by a 14-year-old Shooter. A more mature Levitz and Giffen exploited those flaws to provide a rationale for the death. But that’s not getting away from the supposed need for it at all.

Levitz also gets to improve on the first issue of Karate Kid. This issue has a lot of its roots in that one. KK’s speech in this issue is a variation on his concerns way back then: he was different because he trained every day; the others couldn’t understand because they had powers; Mon El not having to worry about being hurt or killed (funny how that one turned out).



The only explanation I can think of as to why KK faces Nemesis Kid alone here, is that in KK1, Val says that Nemesis Kid can only teleport away if he’s faced with more than one opponent. KK faces him alone there, and it’s only the Legion arriving that allows Nemesis Kid to escape. KK wasn’t going to allow Nemesis Kid the chance to escape this time, hence the solo combat. It doesn’t tie up with him being defeated in #208 though.



On the plotting board, it probably looked as though detonating the powersphere, and thereby preventing the villains achieving their goal, would provide the noble death. Unfortunately, they had him beaten to near death by Nemesis Kid first. It just looked like a final gesture by one already dead, rather than a team saving action.



It was Jeckie who terrified Hart (as you mention) in SBoy 208 and it was a personal challenge from Hart to Karate Kid in KK 1. That would seem to have been enough for Hart to choose Orando to be the planet of choice to pinch. Mind you, the way he was caught back in Adventure must have weighed on his mind. D’Oh!







Ayla’s reasons for leaving were sound and her conversation at the start of this story made it clear that she wasn’t keen on going back. She’s being set up, like Pol, to step into the shoes of a founder.

But what if…
The Alya scene doesn’t end with a radiation Roy fight, just the detective reporting her location to Brin.
The warp taking Tyr and the others away form Medicus one caught Garth as well.
It’s Garth and not Ayla who faces off against Mekt and loses.
As the LSV target former Legionnaires, Brin and others go to Winath where Ayla fights radiation Roy. That team is transported to Ornado.
It’s Garth who dies at the hands of Mekt, while Ayla regains her powers in the same conflict. It’s in memory of her brother that makes Ayla return to the team.


[quote=HWW] True, but in all fairness Val was actually dying in the Adventure story in which he took on the Fatal Five single-handedly. That's not the case here.[ /quote]

True, but my brain cell tells me it was picking that as an example and there were other things form the Adventure days.

Catching up...



Awwww...





I think you've hit the nail on the head -- our opinions of the artists' styles may be on opposite poles, but our perceptions may be more similar than it might have seemed up til now! Substitute "natural" for "plain," and that's exactly what I object to in Giffen's early, pre-weirdness Legion work. In my opinion, Legionnaires should never look "real," they should look idealized, impossibly beautiful. Earlier in the Legion Re-Read, the Annual drawn by Dave Gibbons was reviewed. Now, unlike Giffen, I adore Gibbons...but I also think both of them are completely wrong for the Legion! And FTR, the reason I like Gibbons is because his style is entirely his own, while I stand by my conviction that Giffen is little more than a cunning plagiarist who got lucky.





Thank you ever so much, kind sir.

I had forgotten that Nemesis Kid teleported away in KK #1. There's no mention of him being able to do so in LSH # 4; if there had been, it would at least have provided a sound rationale for KK's actions.

NK was treated inconsistently by writers over the years. In Adv. 372, Duo Damsel defeats him by fighting him with both of her selves (presumably, she had split before he had a chance to adapt to her power; otherwise, there would have been two or more NK's running around). In Superboy 208, Jeckie's illusion frightens him into unconsciousness. Maybe it's women he fears.

Shock value is a delicate thing to manage. The deaths of Ferro Lad, Invisible Kid, and even Chemical King (despite his annoying self-pity) worked because they were integral parts of the story--the characters did what they had to do in order to save others. With Val, such a situation isn't expressed. As you note, his destruction of the fusion powersphere is a last-minute add-on to give his sacrifice some weight.

I didn't follow the 2010 series after the first issue for a number of reasons, one of which was the destruction of Titan. Like KK's death, it came across as gratuitous shock value. Once you start off with a literal huge bang, where do you go from there? (Well, you have Shadow Lass fall in love with Earth Man, apparently. )

I'm okay with Hart holding a grudge against Val and Jeckie. But Val should not have allowed himself to be drawn into that grudge or allowed Hart to set the terms of their battle.

Those are all very interesting variations of Ayla's role in the story, thoth. I must say I'm not dissatisfied with her overall role in the story. Since previous stories had emphasized Mekt's rivalry with Garth, it was refreshing to see Ayla take center stage. The restoration of her lightning powers was not bad thing either--she's utilized quite well in subsequent stories. But the pedant in me regrets the loss of her unique super-light weight power, and that she was not able to use it somehow to free herself and defeat the LSV. Doing so would have reaffirmed the lost Legion theme I mentioned earlier, that no power is useless if exercised with creativity and intelligence.

Baxter LSH #4

This issue almost made me cry. But what I'm not sure of is whether they are tears of joy (at the way my girl Ayla gets her old powers back and comes into her own as the badass she truly is,) or of sadness (at the way that this one-time-personal-favorite-Legion-storyarc now comes across to me as even more disjointed, hysterical, and utterly stupid than "The Omen and the Prophet,") or of rage (at the way that Giffen blatantly undermines Levitz's efforts to give Karate Kid a heroic send-off by drowning the fight sequence in both gratuitous gore AND his unapologetic hatred for the character -- surely I can't be the only one who thinks that Nemesis Kid's taunts are pretty much Giffen speaking through NK?)

At least Lightle (who is on the record as not being a happy camper at having to draw the death of a Legionnaire he really liked) shows himself to be improving by leaps and bounds -- even though the opening squabble between NK and Tyr is waaaay overwritten, Lightle almost makes it work, especially with that awesome panel in the lower-right-hand bottom of Page 2 with Tyr snarling more forcefully than even when his creator, Dave Cockrum, delineated him! I also love Dawnstar and Brainy's facial close-ups on Page 4, and the sheer kinetic power of Val's liberation sequence making up the entirety of Page 7.

I also got a couple of chuckles out of the dialogue -- the banter between Titania and Terrus on Page 8, and Rokk claiming on Page 13 that fear is healthy (uh...yeah, but only in moderation, otherwise it curdles into the loathing and savagery that Rokk has repeatedly shown.)

I'll save all my thoughts about Projectra's vengeful actions for the review of issue 5.

Interesting. I usually prefer just the opposite. I suppose my preference comes from childhood, when I tried to imagine myself and my friends as Legionnaires. Few of us met the physical requirements of idealized heroes. With my broken nose, impossible-to-tame hair, and underdeveloped muscles, I knew I wouldn't look good in any super-hero costume. Still, I believed that heroism comes from the inside, not the outside.

I agree, heroism does come from the inside, but that doesn't mean we can't also project ourselves onto idealized fictional figures without doing it in an unhealthy way.

Not to sound like I'm looking for pity or sympathy, but I had no real friends as a child. That's just the way it was for me. The few kids I thought were my friends all ended up betraying me and ostracizing me from their cliques by the time we reached junior high. So, in hindsight, it seems logical to me that I would gravitate towards impossibly idealized characters, as well as the kind of teamwork and loyalty that could only exist in fictional worlds.

More to the point, I think the Legion should be 99 and 44/100% shiny escapism. Shades of gray are fine, downbeat moments are fine, they prevent the Legion from becoming total fluff, but something like 5YL is just too much (or, as my maternal grandfather would say, "Too muckin' futch!") And, as this Re-Read continues through the Levitz era, I find myself doing, if not quite an 180 degree turn against it, certainly a turn that is still considerable. Finally, to reiterate something I said in this forum recently, almost everything after Superboy & the LSH #203 now seems to me like it's just...pretentious, self-serious, fan-wanky sh...um...offal.

Guess it happens to a lot of people as they get further away from "a certain age."

Thanks for sharing, Annfie. It's always good to know other fans' experiences and why they prefer certain types of stories and art.

Thanks for the kind words, He Who. It's nice to have a place where Legion fans can express themselves in a candid yet civil manner.

Tales #317 Death Trip by Paul Levitz & Keith Giffen, art by Terry Shoemaker & Karl Kesel, Colors by Carl Gaford, Letters by Adam Kubert



Wildfire appears in an unknown landscape, realizes he is back in the realm in which Jacques first found Lyle Norg. He hears someone shout and flies off to find Jacques entangled and fighting some transparent tentacled thing. He claims it was a devil and points to Lyle.

On Earth, Nura reports via monitor to Rokk, Chuck and Lu that Wildfire has also disappeared. Cos is worried and suspects the two Invisible Kids are involved; Chuck and Lu dismiss his concerns. As they leave, Computo appears, angering Lu, who orders him to leave.

In the dream realm, Lyle says Jacques is lying and says he can help Wildfire. Lyle removes the containment suit helmet and Wildfire sees himself human again. Jacques throws a rock at Lyle, who dissolves into a monstrous demon. As the demon mocks them, the two run. Jacques thinks he sees a way back home but it turns out to be a trap.

On a ship in the Takronian asteroid field, Shvaughn waits for someone, who turns out to be Dev-Em. They are assigned to work together on an ICC (Interstellar Counter-Intelligence Corps) mission; Dev-Em acts the charmer.

On a ship concealed by an asteroid, somebody watches Dev-Em, saying he is another Kryptonian survivor in this century. A woman, Lyla, reports on Dev-Em's history with the Legion, addresses the watcher as Monitor and says she would have liked to check out 30th century shopping.

In the dream realm, the demon says he had brought Jacques and Lyle there, and went to Earth as Lyle Norg when the negaton bomb exploded and opened a path. The demon planned to feed off them and bring others to this realm. Wildfire despairs, claiming there is no relationship for him and Dawnstar but Jacques angrily tells him she loves him and he is a Legionnaire. As Jacques slaps him, Wildfire returns to his energy form, his illusion shattered. Knowing the realm responds to thoughts, the two summon up a team of Legionnaires. They engage the demon in battle as Jacques and Wildfire escape through the portal. The demon sees that the summoned Legionnaires were only illusions and threatens revenge. Jacques and Wildfire wind up on Shangalla; Jacques pays his respects to Lyle and feels that they are both now at peace.

Comments:

This resolves the Lyle Norg story. It's disappointing that it was a demon all along, although it would have bordered on absurd to have Lyle proven to have returned to life. (I say "bordered" on absurd, because this is comics and the future, so who knows what could happen?)

The story is rather drawn out, once the demon is revealed. The demon, the great deceiver, is itself easily deceived and defeated once Jacques comes up with the idea to think up some Legionnaires. Villains are usually quite chatty and this one is no exception, but I wondered how it had survived before Jacques got thrown into its dimension and fed it the dream of Lyle Norg. Why didn't it stay on Earth and just feed off the people there?

It provides closure for Jacques, but I take exception to the idea that Lyle is now at peace. Was he not at peace before? If not, how has Jacques' clearing of his conscience helped Lyle in the afterlife?

The return of Lyle may have been thrown into the story mix as a fun challenge to the writer. Resolving it with a demon was an easy way out, since a demon's powers could be anything or do anything. To have the human Lyle Norg truly return from the dead, however, might have been a subject better suited to 30th Century Philosophy Comics. Better to stay out of that quagmire.

I did appreciate Lu's angry reaction to Computo. This may be only the second time she's encountered it, or there may have been other encounters since the initial meeting, but it's clear how upset she is. One has to wonder if she'll blast Brainy as well next time she sees him.

There's some welcome set-up for a future storyline (or two) with the arrival of counter-spy Dev-Em and the observations of a mysterious character called Monitor. Dev-Em's a charmer to rival Dirk Morgna and there's a hint that Shvaughn might be interested. At least Dev-Em appears to think so....