Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Reading the Legion: Archives Volume 21

LSH #7 A Choice of Dooms by Paul Levitz, art by Steve Lightle & Mike DeCarlo, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by John Costanza



The five Legionnaires in limbo land on a planet which is covered with factory machinery. Cham flies off to investigate the surroundings. The others suddenly realize that they on a giant conveyer belt leading into a massive furnace; Jo flies them away to safety.

On Earth, Proteans are protesting, demanding civil rights and citizenship.

At Legion HQ, Ayla demands membership although her power now duplicates that of her brother. She's surprised to hear that Garth and Imra had a baby. Rokk muses to himself that this fits in with his plans; when Wildfire asks him what those are, Rokk says he wants to share some ideas. Blok muses that they may lose a Legionnaire and is interrupted by Computo. Brin works out in the gym, is distracted, then tells Blok about having a detective track down Ayla.

On the factory planet, Cham returns; Jo explains that he surveyed the area but Cham notes that he missed the Control Center. Jan quietly congratulates Cham. They head to the Control Center, wondering what is being built that is causing so much destruction to the planet. Tinya investigates the Center and sees that someone is building a Sun-Eater.

On Earth, Marte Allon prepares to move, with help from Gim. Chief Zendak calls to report that he's requested Legion help to round up the remains of the LSV. Gim rushes off and Marte wonders what will happen to the Legion when she's no longer President.

Cham and Vi explore, following electrical circuitry, to find robot workers with sophisticated equipment. They are attacked but escape.

At Legion HQ, Legionnaires prepare to leave to hunt down the LSV. Lar says that his head has cleared after the Talok incident. Ayla runs into Brin and gives him the brush-off.

On Winath, two SP brothers examine a dead private investigator sitting before a monitor. They learn that not only was he an Earthling with a visitor's visa tied in with some Legion business, he was also a descendant of Batman.

The limbo Legionnaires, except for Tinya, enter the main command building and observe someone at a console, speaking in a language they can't translate. Through a doorway enters a Controller, who addresses the being as Armorer, mentally zaps him and commands him to follow. They leave through a star gate. The Legionnaires see different portals; one has an image of Earth above it. Tinya suddenly arrives with news of the Sun-Eater and Jan decides that they must give up returning home to destroy the machinery building the Sun-Eater.

Comments:
The Limbo Legionnaires are heavy with Espionage Squad members - a good thing, since they accomplish some detective work. There's some fisticuffs with big robots, but the story on the factory planet moves forward with stealth.

Jo's trying to be the problem-solver man of action - they probably wouldn't get to the planet without him (unless Cham changed into a variety of creatures to move the capsule to the surface) and he does survey the surroundings. That he was somewhat boastful about taking care of the survey business, while missing a critical area, clearly annoyed Jan. Cham pointed out Jo's omission; Jan, as leader, should have suggested that Jo take more care in the future rather than whisper behind his back to Cham.

Tinya has quite a record for discovering big things. The Sun-eater is a good surprise for readers. The last time the Legion dealt with a Sun-eater, nobody was willing to help them except the Fatal Five, who were more or less forced to participate, and the thing was destroyed only with the sacrifice of Ferro Lad. Tinya - and the others - have good reason to be alarmed.

There are a lot of stories promised in the interludes: Protean rights, dead Bat-descendant, Marte's worries about the Legion, Rokk's mystery plan, the LSV, Ayla's return and her ex-relationship with Brin.

The most solid of these is Ayla's story. Her fiery return, demanding to be admitted as a member, is evidence of her renewed commitment to the group, and her happy shock at learning of Garth and Imra's newborn son is quite a charming scene. I did find it peculiar that she didn't know, or figure that the baby would have been born by now, but perhaps she was staying at some secluded farming retreat on Winath that was cut off from all communication. Nevertheless, in the time she took between defeating Mekt and returning to Earth, she must have given her brother's future offspring some thought. She'd clearly thought about his membership in the Legion and how his power might preclude her.

She treats Brin coldly, harshly - but clearly states her position. It probably wouldn't have mattered if she knew he sent a detective to look for her - she's made up her mind and it's over. Ayla's moving on with her life.

Rokk has plans, which involve consulting with Wildfire. That suggests recruiting new Legionnaires from the Academy, which has been on the slate for a while.

The dead detective is most likely the one Brin hired to find Ayla, although it's not outright stated. I sort of rolled my eyes when he was revealed to be a descendant of Batman, but we've got Laurel Kent and Oli-3 Queen; it's the sort of thing that happens in 30th century stories. If your 20th century ancestor was a big deal hero, I guess you pay attention to your lineage. The twin SPs examining the scene look like they're based on somebody from real life, but I don't know who.

Lar and Shady refer to their mission to Talok VIII in Tales; he was last seen taking off to explore space alone. It's not clear how much time has elapsed but it must have been a rather short exploration.

Shvaughn Erin sees the Legionnaires off as they go after the LSV. In Tales, she's out in Dark Circle territory with Dev-Em; her part in that mission is either over, or this is one detail not coordinated between the two books. It's not a big deal, but keeping her with Dev-Em would have afforded an opportunity to develop another SP character as temporary Legion liasion. I wonder if they were considering ending her relationship with Jan at this point.

Element Lad's bad habit of making snide comments displays itself again. I was struck by Jan's whisper to Cham - "good thing SOMEBODY remembers that it's not what your powers are, but how you use them."I agree with you, FC. He should have told Jo directly, I prefer Cosmic Boy's habit of telling one outright.

LoSH v3 7

Having spotted a planet as they make their way through interdimensional space, the lost Legionnaires make a landing. Cham goes off to scout. The others escape from the conveyor of radioactive rock they’ve landed in that’s heading towards a giant furnace. The whole world is being consumed in a manufacturing plant.

Jo takes a proactive role as a confident jock in the absence of an El, much to the admiring glances from Tinya. He’s not quite as subtle with his powers though. He seems to have vibrated out of the containment sphere using superspeed. We see his penetra vision, but learn that radiation still affects him, even through his invulnerability.

Element Lad senses the elemental composition of things around him, which seems like a rarely used extension of his power. He scans the atmosphere, but not the ground, so he missed the radiation. He looks unconscious in the final panel from the radiation in the area. Perhaps the giant furnace was activated when they landed on it. Otherwise, it seems a bit odd that they didn’t notice it. They have left their containment bubble behind however, which could have been the point of the scene, along with the world’s introduction.

As Proty’s campaign for citizen’s rights, Ayla makes an overly aggressive demand about re-joining. She gets a dig in at Dreamy about the time Nura changed her powers. But no one has any issue with Ayla returning, making her outburst look a little foolish and pointless. Ayla also learns that she’s an aunt. I guess she hadn’t met anyone between her arrival and the meeting. Ayla’s more demanding personality is worth noting ahead of Vi’s return.

Rokk’s slide into becoming The Trapper continues as he’s caught talking about master plans to himself by Drake I got the feeling that Rokk was going to bring Wildfire into his confidence right after the meeting, but there’s no more on it this issue. This could be an important subplot for Drake, as he’s been shown in a few of the Academy stories, so we’ll see how this works out.

Blok links the meeting scene and talking to Brin in the gym. We see Brin;s bestial expression, and powers, as he beats the equipment. He’s received the results from the detective he sent to track Ayla. It’s a set up scene for Brin’s own subplot in a few issues; his meeting with Ayla later in the issue and also for a plot that would appear in the annual.

The detective he hired has been killed, and it’s revealed that he was a descendant of Batman. That’s quite precise considering all the knowledge that’s been lost over the centuries. “Dear BatEditor, Should you be thinking of having a Batman-of-the-Future story, please don’t as we have dedded him. Yours Keef ‘n Paul”

Back in limbo world, Jo’s confidence gets a knock when Cham discovers a control center his powers swept past. His overconfidence being undone was similar to Lar’s over in tales. But Jo was a little more brash about his capabilities than Lar was. Jo makes a defensive comment as cover. It’s notable that he defers to Tinya, when the espionage squad members go to investigate. It doesn’t take Tinya long to discover that some of the energy converted from the break up of the planet is being used to create a suneater.


Marte Allon gets an update on the capture of some remaining LSV members, as she talks about resigning form Earth president. Touching her life jewel she gives an ominous warning of difficult times to come.

Back on Limbo Land, Vi and Cham do some more investigating. We learn that Vi no longer likes enclosed spaces following her senstank experience. Following an attack by robots, Vi thinks there’s something wrong with the whole place, while Cham is determined to use its technology to get them home. They will need to, having allowed their bubble to be destroyed in the opening scene.

At Legion HQ, Ayla takes the front foot once again, declaring herself to be on a mission team. She meets Brin who wants to know why she left so abruptly. I guess he can’t remember so many issues ago. Ayla wanted Brin to be part of her new life and he didn’t put her ahead of the Legion. Since Ayla has returned to the Legion, Brin thinks they both now share the same goals and that everything should return to the way it was. He doesn’t realise what Ayla has gone through to reach her decision. I wonder if this treatment of Brin ever struck me as being harsh. Polar Boy would have struggled to give a colder shoulder. But to choose another route would have been to slip back to the lovelorn Ayla of old.The Ayla/Brin conversation here links nicely to the death of the detective on Winath. He was part of that subplot, but the death now starts another.

Lar and Tasmia remind us of their recent trip to Talok VIII. It’s a single panel and does well to show the two books are integrated.

Back on limbo land, the team enter the control tower. They find someone at the controls (proving Jo’s earlier penetra-scan to be incomplete), but he’s just a minion of a Controller. After an exchange, The Controller leaves through a portal. The Legionnaires discover that each portal connects to a different planet. One of which is Earth. They decide to go home, just as Tinya returns to tell them about the Sun Eater. Jan makes a ponderous statement about completely demolishing the planet, even if it means they can never return home.

There are thirteen pages of the main plot, and I just don’t think that there’s enough momentum in it to really carry the book. I get the feeling that on reading the next part, I’ll think it could all have been condensed into a single issue story. By the numbers it seems to work. The threat escalates from lost world and controlled robots to Suneaters and Controllers. The reappearance of Sun eaters and background on how they can be created by Controllers is certainly a Legion sized threat. The heroes are given a choice to return home or destroy a threat that might cause harm later. But I think it gets off to too slow a start. The Legion spend three pages getting off a conveyor belt just so that their transport is destroyed. Battles with ACME robots later also don’t add much.

There are some character reminders. Cham is methodical and shows off his investigative skills; Vi doesn’t like being enclosed; Jo is an action first-think slightly later character; It’s something that Tinya is aware of, but she loves him for other things. She discovers the Sun Eater, as Jan’s leadership is quiet. He praises Cham, but not doesn’t dent Jo’s wounded pride. Either that, or he’s siding with Cham. Elsewhere the Ayla/ Brin subplot reaches another turning point, as Ayla makes sure she’s integrated back onto the team and its operations. A few more character moments and less conveyor belt/robot fighting/ sub plotting might have given us more of an insight into Jan or Vi or Tinya.

There’s lots of little things going on in the subplots. Ayla’s reintegration to the team and her talk with Brin being the main one. It’s probably a stronger plot thread than the main one. Marte Allon’s ominous feeling and Cos’s plans for the future are throw- aways here. With Levitz’s view that he’d rather leave the rest of the DCU alone, the death of Batman’s descendant is a quite a turnaround. I’m not terribly interested in the JLA descendants in a Legion book, so perhaps the impact of this one was lost on me. I’m watching this one with the hindsight of DC editorial issues with character use both pre and post Crisis.

This is one that doesn’t really stand out, although there’s nothing terribly wrong with any of it.

De Carlo’s inks give Lightle’s pencils a different look Lightle doesn’t seem to experiment too much. But there are a few treats. There’s a nice vertical/horizontal establishing shot on page 2; out of panel gym bars and Vi on 7 and 14. Zendak’s LSV panel gets a technological border and Ayla’s ascension to the Legion cruiser takes place literally between panels on 17. That one is a very nice idea.

Comments




I didn’t see a panel where Jan was annoyed, but…

Jan tells Jo to bring the bubble down slowly. “Go for a gentle touchdown”
Jo retorts with “save your leadership…that’s common sense”

It is a bit of an obvious instruction, and Jo pretty much tells him that.
Jan compliments Cham (for being suspicious) and then Vi (for focusing on survival)
Tinya is looking admiringly down at Jo (who is flying them all) and says “and getting home”

At Jo’s landing it’s Jan who shouts “Hey!” although Jo does apologise.
It’s Tinya who supports Jo with “Good enough for me”


Only Jo and Tinya don’t get compliments, but they support each other as a couple. So, there’s a divide in the group.

Jan does then compliment Jo with a “good work” and Jo in full her pose accepts it.

That seems to set Cham off. “If you’ll excuse me,” he says as he goes scouting. “You wait here. It’s abrupt enough for Tinya to call after him. Perhaps having his heroic pose interrupted, or perhaps just picking up on Cham’s tone, Jo puts him down. “Oh let him go and “…but he likes to feel useful, humour him.”

There’s no love lost between Jo and Cham there

Later, Jo is surveying the area, attached to Tinya. Element Lad is clearing the air for Vi. Cham returns and goes straight into goading mode. “Oh, there you are… what did [b]you find out…”

Hero-jock Jo tells him pretty much what the planet is for. But he missed the control tower. Cham is only too pleased to tell him. Now Cham could have entered the scene and told them immediately about the control tower. But that’s isn’t how Cham operates. He deliberately sets Jo up.

Jo put in his place, Cham gets a whispered compliment and they’re off. The compliment is made clearer by Jan’s “that control tower sounds like our best bet.” That prompts a defensive comment form Jo. Cham offers a further explanation, to ensure he has an answer to anything Jo could come up with.

Jo’s still huffing when Jan splits the team. It’s Tinya’s lead he follows, not Jan’s.

Jo may have issues with leaders. He was huffy with Nura too. But he could just be a bit thin skinned, and it’s something that Cham is taking advantage of.

The Espionage squad splits again when they leave Jo and Jan. Vi and Cham work well together. No sniping, always focused. Tinya, more connected to the main team, goes it alone.

Jo disagrees with Jan later on about leaving Tinya behind, and wants to confront the minion. It’s Jan who shows some caution (that conveniently turns out to be right moments later). He’s also the one to make the final decision for the group.

I have noticed that Jan often decides on the shoulder of others who have reached the same conclusions. Cham had suspicions and Vi had survival instincts that the group acted on. Cham found the control tower. Tinya was the one who said that they couldn’t leave. That could be seen as either inexperience or as letting those with the correct skills guide the group.

So:-

Jan knows when he thinks he has to make leadership comments, to keep his team ticking along. He isn’t as direct or as strong-willed as Nura, but does let the group reach its own conclusions. That can lead to ego jostling beneath him.
Jo has an ego that likes to be pandered to, and he doesn’t take instruction terribly well. He’s completely committed to Tinya.

Tinya is the only one who doesn’t need anything from the others. She’s as comfortable with the team’s mainstays as she is with the espionage squad. She has Jo and loves him even if he isn’t the brightest. Or possibly partly because he’s not the brightest. She acts on her own initiative as much as Cham does, and has a habit of getting to the Big Reveal.

Cham would be suspicious of a My Little Super Pony get together. He looks for things to justify that. He’s also not above derailing group harmony if he can show off his own detective skill or puncture someone’s ego.

Vi doesn’t like enclosed spaces. I wondering if her getting clear air from Jan wasn’t also related to the gunk around her in her sens-tank. She’s focused on the group’s priorities and works to achieve these. Her decisions tend to absolutes. There’s something rotten with the world rather than just something being amiss.



Yes, she does. I like to think that she’s a very good investigator and that we’re not just missing out on all the dead end corridors she phases into first.

The Sun Eater and the Controllers should have been a Big Thing here. But I just didn’t get that feeling. Possibly due to all the jumping back and forth of…





The poor woman was kept in a cocoon so that Levitz could do all that for dramatic effect. Possibly being in that cocoon gives her another link to Vi.



I wonder if there was any back lash form fans sympathising with Brin’s treatment?



Having seen Grev over in Tales, and Lar’s idea to try again to convince Shady to travel with him, I wonder if there was a feeling that he could be a member?

From this set of rereads, I still think there was a really good opportunity to bring in members at the start of #318. Rokk is drip feeding his secret plans over months. But it’s convenient that the main team haven’t seen any real action since the LSV gated Orando away. The remainder of that story focused on the Legionnaires stuck on Orando. The next story was a Lightning Lass spotlight and this and next will again focus on the Legionnaires on Orando. With a team already stretched, they should be aware of what another major threat could bring.




Yay! Nice to know it wasn’t just me. Bats descendant reminded me more of Jonah Hex than Bruce Wayne though, No surprise that Giffen went on the do Hex. I wondered about the twins too.



Good spot on Erin. There was me complimenting having the Shady/Lar continuity tip of the hat. Considering what happens later, a lot of people would have liked an early end to that relationship.

Jan has made a few snide comments in the past year - mostly against Nura as leader. I think I'm biased against him at this point, so may have been reading more into his mood than is indicated. It may be for the readers' benefit, but he hardly needs to reassure Cham that his power is useful at this point. This group is somposed of well-experienced Legionnaires. It was different when Tinya reassured Jacques about the importance of the less-muscular powers; he was the new kid. And you'd think Jo and Cham would be better friends/more appreciative of one another, since Cham saved his bacon when Jo was accused of murder - but maybe everybody's on edge here.

You make a good point about the divisions in the group and the ego jostling, the sniping back and forth. I believe Nura would have put an end to this; Jan lets it slide, doesn't want to deal with it or doesn't see the need to crack down on his team here. It's a different management style. Jo does appear to have a problem with leaders, but isn't really up to the task himself. You've delinieated a lot of personality development in this story.



Agreed. Must have been a slow conveyor belt to take three pages. The robots were filler for me, but may have appealed to the action/battle readers. Perhaps if there was less time spent on belts and robots, there would have been more sub-plots disrupting the flow of the main story - or the story would have had to go past the big decision to forego returning home. We'll see if there are a bunch of scenes which could have been cut from #8.



There should have been, among fans of Brin! I'd have to check the letters, though.

I was looking for a panel where he looked visibly annoyed. Oh, he snarks a lot. I'd like to see someone do it while he's leader as he was happy to do it as deputy (The "I snarked the Dream Girl, but I didn't snark the Element Lad" single should be out for this Klordny). On the plus side, I've a better grasp of the different leadership styles Nura and Jan have.



ACME robots are only really added when the writer realises it's been too many pages in an action based comic without a fight scene or when the page count doesn't add up and needs some padding. (AD: ACME Robots are delivered directly to your Omniprinter and their tharok circuits means quick self assembly! (and some minor death-dealing))

Baxter # 7

Once again, I enjoyed reading the reviews of the issue more than the actual issue. Thoth's breakdown of the characters' personalities and interactions was particularly insightful; these traits are present in the actual story, but they don't come out quite as strongly as in the summary. To me, it looked more like typical Legion bantering--the kind we've seen in countless issues of countless super-team titles. The personalities just don't come off that strongly to me as some did in previous stories. Maybe Giffen's departure reveals that he had quite a lot to do with developing the characters.

It doesn't help that none of the five featured Legionnaires were among my favorites. Here Levitz misses an opportunity for me to really admire and care for them, as he did with Cham back in 301 and Jacques in the Dream Demon plotline. Those stories showed us different sides to the characters and gave us traits to admire (Cham's self-knowledge and determination to get his powers back; Jacques' loyalty to a man he'd never met but to whom he felt he owed so much). Here the Legionnaires go through the motions, and I felt there was no one to root for.

Jo, for example, goes nuts and flies the others away at the merest mention of radiation--leaving behind their space bubble and only apparent means off the planet. Cham one-ups Jo, and Jan secretly compliments him for doing so. The girls are more subdued, though Tinya stares admiringly at Jo. Vi doesn't get much of a chance to express herself (other than the tight spaces comment), though she does shine in battle.

One of the cardinal rules of story-telling for me is that I must be given a reason to care about at least one character, and it doesn't matter if I've cared about the character before. Every story is a new experience. "A Choice of Dooms" failed on that rule.

Another cardinal rule of mine is that every scene, character, and setting must demonstrate sufficient reason for being there, and there can be no wasted scenes or "bloating." The wasted scene of the ACME robots has already been mentioned, and it takes our heroes too long to get where they need to go: to the portal room where they spy the Controller and his lackey. I, too, feel the story could have been much shorter if not for the numerous subplots that had to be updated. Most of these subplots are good, but they highlight how little substance can be found in the main story.

While this is not a cardinal rule, another thing that bugs is the entire Controller/Sun-Eater angle. I think this might be the point where Levitz really started to hammer home the connections to past stories to a point where they ceased to be enhance the present stories or fill out our understanding of the characters. Instead the connections to the past become the central focus of the book. In my view, we don't need another Sun-Eater/Controller story (especially right on the heals of an LSV tale); that story has been done. I'd rather see some new adventures with new villains.

(And it seems rather odd that, in the vast cosmos and infinite dimensions, the Legionnaires just happen to stumble upon a world where a Sun-Eater is being produced! Small universe.)

So the main story--despite the magnitude of its stakes and the fateful decision Jan makes at the end--gets off to a slow start for me. How about those subplots?

It's great to have Ayla back, though she comes off as childish for picking a fight with Nura (who once again impresses me with her calm control and refusal to be baited). Her reaction to learning about the baby sure took the wind out of her solar sails! Since Ayla left the Legion before the pregnancy was announced, she may never have even known a baby was on the way.

I'm on the fence about her encounter with Brin. When I first read this story, and even on re-read, I felt sorry for Brin. He's clearly hurt by her rejection, and it was hard to see her cut him down in the hangar. However, Brin had it coming. He never tried to see things from her perspective. Instead he hired a private detective to track her down and acts mystified as to why she left him in the first place. He practically demands an answer from her. No wonder she wants to keep their relationship strictly professional.

A few other things happen, including Marte Allon moving out of the presidential suite. In hindsight, I regret her leaving office as she provided a sympathetic foil for the Legion--someone who was in the Legion's corner but constrained by the politics and duties of her office. Being Gim's mother provided an additional source of tension and story possibilities. I can't remember much about her successor, President Desai.

The private detective hired by Brin meets an unfortunate end--nothing wrong with a murder mystery subplot. But was it necessary to throw in that he was a descendant of Batman? This is another one of those convenient connections that just seems too much.

I've come to enjoy the fact that modern dramas such as those on Netflix run nine or ten episodes and then take a break. This format alleviates the need to come up with something every week and keep the story going. I feel like Baxter # 7 is one of those "keep the story going" issues. It keeps the Legion moving but, like a treadmill, there isn't much to see.

You touch on a number of things I found flat about the story HWW. In a title that's devoted a substantial amount of time to the heroes stuck on Orando, in this story, as well as since they were stuck there, I'd expect to have a strong idea of how they felt about their lives and each other. Perhaps there's a balance to be struck between '60 Avengers at each other's throats and characterisation that's subtle to the point of leaving a character vacuum to a lot of readers. There's a few things that can be teased out of this story, but not enough to make me think that there was an awful lot more going on.



I think it was just the Controllers/ Sun Eaters turn. Not to mention that the Controllers would be part of the plans for Crisis, so perhaps Levitz wanted to get in there first.

Mordru didn’t wake up in the Annual his story appeared in. Starfinger was beaten in a couple of panels by Garth when he reappeared. A lot of the LSV turned out to be fodder, despite that oath form the first issue. Levitz has often been quoted as admitting not being the best creator of villains. Perhaps the Omen/Prophet feedback didn’t help there. Like Omen/Prophet, there’s a better story in the bones of this one, than we got when it was fleshed out,




Next planet over from Mr Controller…

Mr Controller 2: Darn it Gladys! I can’t focus on my work with all that racket next door! Bloody Legionnaires!
Gladys Controller: I’ve a good mind to call the … well, not the Guardians… but to call over there and give them a piece of my mind!
Mr Controller 2: Wait, it’s stopped. Now I can finish this Singularity Bomb in peace…



Like falling across the Controller planet, what are the chances that a Legionnaire’s parent would become president by computer selection? Slender, without a Computo subplot, I should think.



In an alternate world, the main team would get on with an adventure of their own, possibly brining in the Academy students. Later we’d learn what happened to the lost Legionnaires in a concise one issue story. One that will have repercussion in as they return to Earth.

As I've grown older, I've really come to appreciate the value of self-reflection--in life as well as in fiction. When characters don't reflect, it calls attention to the convention that they have to keep moving to keep readers interested. But as a reader (then and now), I lose interest if there's not something of personal significance happening.



I do give Levitz credit for finding some new and interesting things to do with the villains--especially in how Starfinger and Mordru were so easily defeated. As with any super-hero series, one expects to see recurring appearances by the rogues gallery. But the Sun-Eater was a one-time nemesis from long ago (albeit one which resulted in the death of a Legionnaire). Who's next? Morlock? Some stories should not have sequels.



I recently learned that the star of one of the most iconic music videos of the early '80s was the daughter of Nigeria's first president. Such connections are possible.

Re: the over-extended ACME robot fight, this comment by Harry Broertjes on the merits of the early Adventure stories is apropos:

"The Marvel influence had yet to hit DC and the Legion.... which meant that back then there was little in the way of agonized introspection and option-weighing, and that fight scenes weren't lovingly rendered across eight or ten pages." -from Archives volume 3

There are probably readers who enjoy the long fight scenes (and giant robots). Obviously not us.



Funny you should mention Morlock, given the return of Dev-Em in Tales.... and has anyone noticed how much Morlock looks like he could have been Chuck Taine's father?

Brin Londo using super acrobatics against a highly adaptable robot to prove his humanity could be a scene of beauty. The Legion clearing the lower level minions of uninspired Planet Videogame a bit less so,



Lost Tales of the Legion: Long had the outcasts, the disenfranchised and the lost dwelt below our cities. They build downwards, seeking a new, better life. For centuries they forged their society, beneath the shifting tides of our own. Beneath our hatred and beneath our wars. Until Supergirl tunnelled through their world during her Legion initiation, causing untold damage. In the turmoil of rebuilding they discovered the toxic dumps (v4) of mankind that threatened the destruction of both man... and Morlock. Would the builders of a subterranean utopia be able to save mankind from itself?

Yes! I noticed this when I read my first Legion story (Adv. 328), which features a bust of Morlock.

"Coming up . . . Taine family secrets on Legion Insider!"

Tales #320 The Magpie Complex by Paul Levitz & Mindy Newell, art by Dan Jurgens & Karl Kesel, Colors by Carl Gaford, Letters by Adam Kubert



Oli-3 Queen is giving a tour around Legion HQ. A yellow-skinned humanoid with multi-faceted eyes, named Magpie, has his own reasons for being there - he has plans to tour the HQ himself, for some shady purpose. He's pleased when he sees Dawnstar and a one-man cruiser leave; with his super-sight, he sees Gim and Dirk on the roof and hopes they'll also depart.

The two Legionnaires share their hopes that Dawnstar will be able to find the lost Legionnaires now that Brainy has boosted her tracking ability. They then discuss plans for the evening and Gigi Cusimano.

By 2 AM, Magpie finds the area deserted and enters the HQ with a dematerializer. Since this mimicks Tinya's power, the security system allows him in. He's been supplied with security codes and also has a scanner which imitates Chief Zendak's identity. Magpie wonders who has ordered this heist, although the Monitor hired him.

He passes through a hall with statues of dead Legionnaires, another one with villains. What he sought was not in the trophy room. As he enters a room with statues of inactive Legionnaires, he sees Brin approach a statue of Ayla, then sit down and mope beside it. Although Magpie considers Brin to be one of the less intelligent Legionnaires, he's relieved that he has escaped detection. Consulting a floor plan, he finds his way to the multi-lab and retrieves his target, a multi-chip. Suddenly, he's interrupted by Thom and Nura; she foresaw his intrusion. As Nura attacks, Thom increases the mass of the dematerializer so that it sinks into the floor. However, Magpie has a panic button, hits it and disappears. He's left the micro-chip behind. Nura is puzzled, since the lab should have been teleportation-proof and Magpie got through all their defenses; Thom wonders if Brainy has messed up Dawnstar as well.

Magpie is glad to be done with the Monitor, who he considers creepy. The Monitor and Lyla discuss the failed heist; the Monitor contacts Universo to report failure, but Universo says he no longer needs the timechip, since he's put other plans into motion.

The next morning, Brin encounters Computo and asks why it failed to defend the HQ. Computo offers an explanation of a burned-out unit, claims it has been solved, then leaves; Brin discovers that he can't open the door and wonders what Computo was up to.

Comments:
The story is very simple: Magpie gives us a tour of the HQ, while trying to steal something, supplying us with a variety of interesting tidbits. Additionally, players are put in position for upcoming stories.

Magpie describes himself as the greatest thief, apparently displacing my beloved Ben Pares as primo heist-master in the Legionverse. He has the advantage of super-eyes but otherwise relies on gadgets which were given to him by his employer, the Monitor. He should have had to use his own gadgets to qualify as super-thief, but it's implied that even he couldn't break into the HQ otherwise.

Thom, Nura and Brin may have a different opinion; all voice distrust of the security systems in place.

It's only at the end that we learn the object to be stolen is a timechip and Universo was the client. Although some suspense is created by wondering what Magpie is after and why, I don't think it would have altered the story had we been given this information at the start. The story is essentially a tour of the HQ and, even at the end, we don't know what Universo wanted with a timechip - or how the Monitor got involved as middleman.

We do have forebodings: Universo has some plan in place, Computo is acting suspiciously, Dawnstar may be in some trouble with her boosted power, is there a Gim-Gigi-Dirk triangle? The Monitor's role in all this is still unclear.

The big feature of this issue is the detailed sketch of the Legion HQ with descriptions of different areas. It's great fun for geeky readers, although it whets the appetite for still more detail. The complete blueprints with photos of each area would be a start... Of note, there's a lobby with a reception desk (is Computo the receptionist, or a civilian?). Gim has kept a room there, although he lives outside; Garth and Imra share quarters, but no other couples do (Comics Code?). Would Yera have been allowed in as a Legion wife, are quarters only for members or is there enough tension regarding her deception that she's still not welcome there? Chuck and Lu don't have a place, but Superboy and Supergirl do... and there are plenty of spares for new members. There's an interrogation room (!) and an office for "visiting SP officers", which implies that they (not just Shvaughn) drop in on occasion to file reports or something.

I thought statues went out with the Adventure era. Tribute to the dead, okay - but villains and inactive members? They haven't gotten around to taking down Ayla's statue (maybe Brin could move it into his quarters). Val Armorr isn't there; could Ayla have brought news of his death or was she not aware he had died? In any event, the statues panels were wasted on me.

More reminders that Brin is a dope (because he wasn't before?) and lovesick over Ayla. It should provide Magpie with a tasty bit of gossip for other villains, since the thief seemed oddly taken with Brin's behaviour.

Thom and Nura appear to be on good - or even cuddly - terms at this point. I liked how Nura took the physically aggressive role with Magpie and Thom waited; he could just as easily handled the whole thing himself. They make a good team, in that respect, and their dialogue is relaxed. However, I was surprised that Thom couldn't turn off his power; it's something I hadn't thought of before.

TotLoSH 320

The background on the cover offers plenty of detail, while it’s uniform colouring highlights the characters and the logo. Having Nura, Thom and Magpie on different levels really helps the perspective of the shot too. the title placement, also aids that angle of perspective. It’s a lovely cover. Of course, it was some time before I’d see an Eisner cover. Spoiled rotten by that, I’d quibble that the title could have been incorporated into a futuristic billboard more than it was.

The captions narrate the story through the well-trained eyes of our villain, The Magpie. An Ollie-3 tourist bus introduces us to him as he reconnoitres the Legion HQ. It could be argued that he should have already known the plans beforehand. But in the world of Levitz plotting, the scene is there for other reasons too. The HQ is shown on the splash because the story is also about its layout. Ollie-3 is shown because it’s a set up for the Laurel Kent subplot. As the villain pays off the kid, we see Dawny and Brainy depart, leading us into next issue.

The interchange between the passengers raises the value of the story. The kid’s attitude grows from blunt politeness through frustration to rudeness. But he’s well brought up enough to realise what him mom would think about getting money from a stranger. The villain is not a cackling madman. He’s just focused. Money talks in his world and that’s how he resolves this. That it worries the kid must really get to him. This approach would be lifted for Roxxas in v4 when a kid returns a holo-vid. Of course, the kid has other things to worry about. That’s Granny Goodness V sitting beside him and when she says “Little boy, please be quiet,” you’re in trouble.

Watching Dawny and Brainy depart from another angle (Jurgens even shows us Ollie’s tour bus at the bottom) are Dirk and Gim, also setting us up for their scene, continuing their subplot, and also acting as a lead in for the back up story.

It’s three introductory pages, and yet they really highlight the craft and layering that Levitz brings to the Legion books.

Dirk and Gim discuss their plans for the night. Gim only assumes Dirk might be seeing Gi Gi. Dirk doesn’t confirm anything. Of course, later we’d find out that Gim doesn’t mention her name by accident. It’s a good exchange, complete with friendly baiting, between two men who have known each other a long time, and who have different values. One’s only recently married (that gets me out of saying “happily” in case there’s v4 repercussions) and the other very much on the singles scene.

Dirk is worth watching closely in this issue. He’s keen to go off duty and get ready for a night on the town. But that hasn’t got in the way of his genuine concern for his colleagues. It’s Dirk who’s worrying over the monitor screen about the missing.

Of course, Levitz is also layering here too. Gim and Dirk don’t specifically mention why Brainy and Dawny are leaving in the opening panel. It’s a good lesson in avoiding exposition, as both men should know why they are on the roof waving. It’s through Dirk’s hopes in the final panel that the reader learns what’s going on. Dirk’s mention of it being a “big galaxy” is also a reinforcement of the shortage of Legionnaires subplot. That also pays off in the Magpie’s captions of infiltrating when the group is low on numbers later on. The night on the town also helps put the readers mind into thinking that it’s the end of a day, leading into Magpie making his move in the next scene. Writing craft at work again.

The Magpie makes his move at 2am, using advanced gadgetry to circumvent the Legion’s security systems. The villain, anticipating the reader, wonders how his supplier knew all the codes. Jurgens, having shown Magpie in a coat on the tour bus, switches visuals for the villain by showing that his mission outfit is designed to be as form fitting, and light weight as possible. The Magpie may be the first male villain to have a man bag, giving him metropolitan credentials. There’s a balance between a silent scene of the infiltration and having too much internal dialogue, and Mindy Newell strays too much to the latter. The captions used earlier could have provided us with the balance, and told us about Magpie’s time on Galtos, his hatred of Zendak, and his self-proclaimed status as best thief in the galaxy (this would be mentioned in v4 again, with Ben Pares and Spider Girl). But hey, she’s doing the dialogue and it would have been brave to return the pages with very little of it. We’ll see how she gets on in her own plots shortly.

The Magpie’s backer is given away needlessly in the thought bubbles. That reveal is coming later in the issue. It could be argued that, since it’s a direct link to a scene in #319, that the backer had already been revealed. But I think it could have been kept quiet within the story itself. (Shoemaker (not the artist in #320) drew really great bracelets for Shady in #319 – Look Back For Link Lad.)
The issue reminds me of a take on the Adult Legion story where Superman is taken on his tour of the building. Magpie goes through reception and, the hall of heroes to the trophy room.
Magpie’s dematerialisation device mimics Phantom Girl. The idea is that the building is attuned to her powers. But Tinya set up the HQ (well, previous ones so why not this one) to prevent other phantoms from attacking it. It’s not just her phasing that the HQ is attuned to.

Oddly, the villain wishes to have a statue among the great Legion villains. All of whom were defeated more than once.

The villains’ plans go awry when the device he’s after isn’t in its case. Doe anyone recognise what else is in the case, and where it came from?

He’s interrupted further by the arrival of a lovelorn Timberwolf. Sculptor Lad had created statues of inactive Legionnaires to go with the fallen and the villains. Ayla is just back as Lightning Lass, and Brin is getting in some last-minute moping in front of the woman he thinks of her as; Light Lass. I’m not sure how the cross-book time is working here, but I think this is after he got told off. If only he had communicated to her while they were still a couple.

Having to come up with plan B, The Magpie looks for a floor plan. Like the tour bus, the best thief in the galaxy presumably would know all this. But it’s just a tease to give the reader a double page splash of the Legion Headquarters layout. Magpie could have just called me, as Li’l thoth must have devoured this splash page. Mind you, this reread gave me a faint echo of when I read the ad for Spanner’s Galaxy for the first time too.

The schematic is a lovely companion to the single page exterior splash in #311 (-Look It Up Lad at your service!). It’s also acted as source material for any number of RPGs.

It’s given away by the captions, but to those that know the symbols off by heart it’s immediately obvious that Brainy is kept well apart due to his experiments. There’s something else about it I’ll come back to.

Newell give Magpie the lovely line of “Boy, this place is complicated” but he does get to Brainy’s multi-lab. He even gets to hold his prize; a micro-chip (strong parallels with the v7 story by Levitz on the theft of the Tharok chip). As we get ready for the Magpie’s escape, he’s interrupted by Nura and Thom.

It’ reminds me of the opening scene in the Baxter book. Nura just happened to be within earshot of Micro Lad’s attack. Coincidence? Here, it’s definitely an active premonition that brings them both down to find the villain. “When have I ever been wrong, Thom?” could have brought a “maybe he’s a carboard cut out of a villain, Nura” as a response, but Thom knows better. Thom does wonder how the villain knew where to look. The pair share some comfortable, couple dialogue. They seem confident and in control of the situation. It’s just an excuse to get in a Mandated by the Comic Gods fighting scene but, by chatting, they’ve not actually been doing their job and the Magpie opens fire.

As per recent battles, including that opening Baxter scene, Nura shows just how capable she is in combat. Magpie has been shown to be very agile, but he’s no match for her. By Thom not just pinning the guy to the ground, the Magpie gets to teleport away. We get a nice Nura-in-combat scene, showing the readers just what an effective character she is overall (although she obsesses about nails). But the Legion have had their spangly new HQ breached, by a villain they should have captured but now can’t trace for reasons unknown. Thom doesn’t seem to be able to cancel his power once activated, and there’s a tease regarding what effect Brainy’s experiments have had on Dawny.

The following page offers the reader an explanation. Jurgens draws a lovely satellite for the Monitor. It sits undetected above Earth’s polymer shield. Another clue, above the gadgets, on his advanced The Monitor’s Plot Pushing Handwavium technology is. The caption tells us that the Monitor also took back the Magpie’s gadgets, and we see Lyla holding the bag. There’s some good synergy/ attention to detail between Jurgens and Newell that can add a lot to the book. I’m not sure that was the dematerialisation device that Thom nailed to the floor, but the villain did have any number of them.

The real treat for the reader is that The Monitor was acting as an intermediary to Universo. The villains’ goal was to retrieve a time chip. Although the plan failed, Universo tells the Monitor that he has new plans to deal with the Legion. It’s ominous stuff. We spoke about the return of both Controllers and Sun Eaters as a mixed blessing in the last Baxter issue. Universo falls into the same bracket. This is a very early Tales Tease for a subplot that would have a very long life in the Baxter book. Likewise, that Controller subplot would also make a later return in Baxter. Yes, Universo is an old foe. But a new foe wouldn’t have given me the same reaction on this page.

This whole main story is essentially a Crisis crossover, before Crisis launched. There was an editorial mandate that the Monitor make tow appearances in each book before the Crisis. Not a lot was known about the Monitor at this stage. As Wolfman’s plot changed, so di the Monitor’s goals, and this worked out to be a real blessing. What had been revealed, and what had been suggested to writers and editors, was that The Monitor could be used as a plot hook for a story where he sells his services as an intermediary to villains. Being a good DC trooper, as you’d hope for in his position, Levitz has used The Monitor in exactly that way. In addition to functioning as the Monitor’s appearance, Levitz has also threaded it with several Legion subplots including:-

Laurel Kent/ JLA descendants; Brainy/ Dawnstar; Brainy’s experiments on Dawny (and by extension Jacques to come); Missing Legionnaires; Size of the team/new recruits; Gim/Dirk/Gi Gi; Ghost of Ferro Lad; Brin/Ayla; Thom/Nura (the key word is “spat”) and, of course, the return of Universo.

Although it might have been relief considering plotting for two books, Levitz might well have had fun taking Wolman’s suggestion as a plot spine and then building all that extra information in. Because of all the layering going on here, this issue is one of a number of Levitz issues that has a certain extra depth to it, beyond the basic main plot. I was going to say plot density, but “dense” is what The Magpie calls Brin. That, the Ghost of Ferro Lad, and “freak” to describe Brainy gives the reader a hint that the Legionnaires are often discussed by the criminals they catch.

Speaking of Brin, the final page shows a post mope Brin angry at Computo for not stopping Magpie. Computo conveniently was put out of action. That’s the problem when you tighten comic HQ security. You have to have a way of getting past it every time. Fortunately having Els and Daxamites around, gives Legion writers plenty of practice at this sort of thing. Here, it was presumably down to Magpie’s devices. It could have been The Monitor, although he didn’t intervene at any other point. There’s also the very real chance (and the way I read it first at this reread) that Computo has reverted to villainous type again.

One downside to this being inspired by Crisis meetings is that the team don’t investigate what happened far more thoroughly. Where did the Magpie come from? How did he get that equipment and what does that mean for security? Magpie has been in prison before. Can the Legion look for him again? Is the reason they don’t do this because Brainy and Dawny aren’t here? Will Brainy not be worried about Computo being taken out of action? Especially considering what’s in the Computo majordomo and that last page?

Lost Tales of the Legion: Six months of issues having the Legion investigate the Magpie incident, other Monitor villain-backing plots, and finding themselves involved in a Universo’s scheme as well as a direct lead into the Crisis, as befits the era with Time Beacons and Brainiac 5.

The issue reminds me of Val and Jeckie being attacked by Pharoxx on their honeymoon. When the LSV did attack, Legionnaires couldn’t say that they didn’t know it was coming. When Universo comes, they should only look to their lack of investigating the Magpie Complex.

Second Story (use the grav lift for access)

This one leads off from the first story in a few ways, so I’m adding it early this week (and I’ve got spare time for a change - yay!)

The latest Metropolis club, the Lone Star Café, is a bit desperate looking. Perhaps Superboy being recruited really has had a lasting retro effect on 30th century society. Now we have creepy, and dull, singles joints. Extra icky points for showing Charles Xavier picking up Kitty Pryde (surname Storm here) at the bar, in front of a jilted Colossus. How old was Pryde in the X-Books? Ewwww.

In the opening story, both Dirk and Gim tell us that they have plans for the evening. Gim asks if Dirk is seeing Gi Gi, and Dirk assumes that “hen pecked” (and that could be literal with Yera) Gim has to get home. Dirk has been shown as being easily made to be jealous, and he still asks Gim about how close he and Gi Gi were.

As pointed out above, there was already a lot going on in this scene in how it connected plots such as Brainy/ Dawny; JLA descendants; the missing Legionnaires and new recruits. The Gi Gi/ Sun Boy/ Gim triangle had also being going on, overlapping the Gim/ Year/ Vi plot. That last batch gets a pay off here.

As he boasts about his heroism to a not unattractive girl at the bar, Dirk spits Gim and Gi Gi in a booth. There’s some close chatting and a hug between them. But it just throws Dirk for a loop., completely distracting him from his date. Dirk though he and Gi Gi had “an understanding”. In other words, Dirk thought he could play the field and didn’t think for a moment Gi Gi wasn’t completely beholden to him and his hero status, or had ideas of her own.

The above sums up Dirk. He is heroic. He possibly really did save his colleagues. But it’s something he uses. He loves being a hero and he loves what he thinks of as being the life of a hero and the social perks it provides. There was a scene where he flew Gi Gi from her apartment. Every bit the hero, going into action, wooing the girl along the way and with the Legion to pick up the bills.
Add to that, his reaction here. He can’t believe that someone he’s playing around with would find anyone else. Surely, he will always be able to be the hero again when he chooses to get them back?
Now lift and drop what we’ve learned about Dirk in this scene into the start of v4 and you can see where it all went wrong for him. He is a hero, but there’s only so long people are going to wait and, in the end, it might be too late to come back.

I think there’s also a bit of Dirk that can’t believe someone would prefer Gim to him. He’s very quick to directly confront people in this subplot. That tells me that he thinks he should be the centre of attention. Gim is smiling an open with his friend, as he gets on with his early morning gym work. He’s completely honest about his relationship with Gi Gi. He always has been. They are old friends. Possibly very close ones, but that’s in the past as Gim’s married.

Dirk isn’t having any of this. His brow furrows at Gim’s happy brush off. The next panel gives us Dirk’s thoughts. It’s a dark panel as he stalks off to confront Gi Gi “Well, if he won’t play straight with me, I know someone who will! … At least she’d better, if she knows what’s good for her!”

I like to think a little better of people, let alone Dirk, than what is shown in this story. But there of plenty of people just like this about, all waiting for any number of scenarios to push their buttons. As such, it also connects directly to v4 in the issue where we see a lot of Dirk’s past, his relationships with his parents and, more pertinent here, how he treats his partners.

Gim’s “what’s he so mad about anyway?” is an odd thought as we’ll see. Dirk does confront Gi Gi. Bear in mind his anger from the last scene. For Gi Gi, he’s changed back into his romantic, flame powered hero role (could it be argued it’s a guise and not a role in this scenario?). Gi Gi plays up to being smitten with him, both in front of Dvron and on the way to the park.

And this is another dark moment for Dirk. He uses the fact that Gim is his colleague to try and break up that relationship up. It is nothing to do with Gim, or his marriage of course. This is all about Dirk. This is Dirk’s plan to control events. It’s seeming selflessness goes along nicely with the heroic flight down to Gi Gi, use of powers and demand to talk (not ask mind, demand.) we just saw.

Like Gim, Gi Gi is bright and breezy about the whole thing. She thought she and Dirk would fool around when Dirk arrived (on duty officer?) But when he wants to talk in the park and set up a later date, she brushes him off. Dirk mumbles something about having been busy with the Legion as an excuse for not returning calls. As Gi Gi goes off to a party with Dvron, Dirk is the one left thinking on a bench. Gi Gi is open and honest about her past with Gim, just as Gim was. Being up front is something that Dirk really struggles with in conversations with both.

The last page reveals this has all been a setup. Yera was the blonde at the bar on a date with Dirk, just so Dirk would see Gi Gi and Gim together. It’s a lesson to Dirk about the way he treats others. When Dirk arrived to meet her, Gi Gi was interested in a kiss and then fooling around. But if Dirk wasn’t available when Gi Gi wanted him, then there was someone else (Dvron) she was meeting up with later anyway, after a previous evening with Gim. If Dirk wanted to talk instead about a serious relationship issue, well that’s too bad, and he’s literally benched.

The trouble is that Gi Gi had to plan something that comes naturally to Dirk. While there’s an opening left for her relationship with Dirk, you get the feeling that he hasn’t learned a thing. His thought bubble of “Dvron? Nuts!” says that he’s wondering how he lost out to Dvron. Just as he did to Gim. It hasn’t crossed his mind what he’s really doing wrong. He might not be able to come up with that answer. Sadly, with all the v4 links, we know that he doesn’t learn the big lessons here. Honestly, Gi Gi is better off out of it.

Despite all of the relationship messages in this story, and I’ve just touched on some of them, it’s all told in a light hearted manner that’s to the credit of Levitz, Newell and Jurgens. It can be read just as easily with the summary of “Dirk gets his comeuppance” without having the other levels dumped on you.

Interestingly, in the run up to the Baxter books the creative teams discussed the scope of Baxter as being able to provide more mature stories. Could they deal with certain levels of sex or violence or message?

But Levitz was already writing plenty of mature stories, such as this one. Ironically, as groups of super villains run around the opening Baxter book, it’s the Tales book that’s providing the comics for grown ups.

The grown up nature of the relationships shown here connects back to the first story, and it’s view of the HQ. In the schematic, only Imra and Garth are sharing quarters. But in the Talok story, Shady refers to Lar as her lover. Tinya and Jo are clearly intimate, well before that Reflecto story. Nura gets Thom out of bed to confront Magpie, and I don’t think she had to go up a level and down a corridor to do it. Yet, the chaste HQ diagram shows them all in separate quarters. It’s like the discussion on the tone of the Baxter book. There are codes in place, but the depth and maturity in the stories is already there without having to be explicit.

Chuck is also shown as having quarters. I like to think that’s because he’s Legion morale officer and liaison with the Academy or even a printing error. But I keep thinking about some marital issues with Lu shown in v4

I’ve covered the Crisis impact on this issue, but behind the scenes we also see the departure of Terry Shoemaker as penciller. According to his interview in the Legion Companion, Shoemaker had found out that some of the faces on his first issue had been reworked to make them a bit more expressive. This was probably as much to make the transition from Giffen smoother as anything else.
Shoemaker says that he made a late might call to Karen Berger and quit. As personal as something like that must feel, it’s been done often enough all through comics history, including some top artists. But how many new artists starting out would know that? Kirby, Toth and Sekowsky to name three have had heads occasionally tweaked to fit in with DC editorial. Ironically , the style they were tweaked to was often Curt Swan, who Shoemaker cites as an influence and is one you can see in his work.

Shoemaker comes across as a huge Legion fan in the interview. But even if he hated the assignment, which he didn’t, his art really helped me become interested in the Legion. The quality of his work stand out after all these years in these rereads.

I thought above that the use of The Magpie as a Monitor villain was used as a convenient Crisis tie in on both a creative and editorial level (Levitz showing how much buy in he had to other creative teams). But I’m also thinking that the decision to have the Magpie story based on the Legion HQ was helped by having a time saving two page splash of the Legion HQ prepared previously (was it prepared by Giffen?)

Elsewhere Li’l thoth got DC Comics Present 78 (It has the Forgotten Heroes and Villains – so my first look at the Immortal Man, Animal Man and the Enchantress); Justice League 235 (Steel spotlight);; Wonder Woman 323 (Etta Candy as Wondy on the cover); Flash 342 (flash gets a new face); Superman 404 (you can say how good Moore’s whatever happened to the man of tomorrow was. I’ll disagree and also point out it was being done for years already. Like here. ) Action 564 (Supes doesn’t know he’s Supes!); All- Star Squadron 43 (Liberty Belle against the enemy!); America vs the JSA 2; World’s Finest 312 (against the Network!)

I was still having to get whatever was left at the newsstand, but that’s quite a haul.

Of Legion Interest:-

Superman: The Secret Years – This takes place between Clark’s time as Superboy and his appearance as Superman. I guess it was canon for the time. It’s an odd one for me. I got it with the others, but the local newsagents weren’t known for miniseries and the like. I also had no Superboy reference whatsoever. Out of the pile, this one was read least. Well, that and Wondy probably. There’s no mention of the Legion I could see, and a quick read shows me I was probably a bit too young for the story.

The Best of Blue Ribbon Digest 57 was all about the Legion:-
The Legion of Super Outlaws (Adv 324), Lex Luthor Meets the Legion of Super Heroes (Adv325), Revolt of the Girl Legionnaires (Adv 326), The Lone Wolf Legionnaire (327); The Lad Who wrecked the Legion (Adv 328); The Bizarro Legion (Adv 329). There’s also the Origins and Powers of the Legion of Super Heroes (Adv 316)

Giffen was off doing The Immortal Dr Fate, whose costume appeared in the GDS. The mini might have included Nabu, who got into v4.

The Supergirl Movie Special came out. We’ve spoken about the fate of Supergirl and the wait for the movie figures to come in and seal her fate. I don’t even have the humour to connect Supergirl and seal with an Aquaman crossover event joke.

Of LW note, Terry Long gave up chasing college girls in the Titans wedding special. My newsagent wouldn’t have stocked it. But was that college remembering tears in the eyes of the woman behind the counter? Had she had a fling with Mr Long?

320: "The Magpie Complex"

I think I would like this story better if it weren't so obviously a Crisis tie-in and an excuse to show the blueprints of the new HQ.

Back up a bit. In late 1984, it was an exciting time to be a Legion/DC fan. Crisis loomed on the horizon, and the various tie-ins promised great things. The Monitor's role in this story was exciting and full of promise. Superman: The Secret Years #1 had just been published, which was intended to guide our ace Kryptionian into adulthood (and presumably transition him into some new kind of relationship with the Legion). Unfortunately, neither of those promises amounted to much so far as the Legion was concerned. The Legion isn't really affected by Crisis (other than the death of the long-forgotten Kid Psycho and the death of Supergirl, who was always a peripheral character). Superman: The Secret Years # 1 doesn't even mention the Legion (thanks, thoth, for confirming this).

As for the blueprint . . . chalk it up to growing older, I suppose, or being jaded as a fan, but I couldn't get excited about this. To be sure, I loved the diagram of the Legion's citadel headquarters published in one of the tabloids and the cutaway of the cruiser in 219. But these blueprints are bland. Further, I don't care where the Legionnaires' personal quarters are. This information really doesn't impact any story. And the blueprint loses the charm that the earlier diagrams had; they featured panels from the actual comics and images of the Legionnaires doing stuff. This is just . . . there. But, for all the fans who loved it, more power to you.

So, for me, "The Magpie Complex" must be judged on its own merits. The idea is sound: we get to see a criminal's-eye view of Legion headquarters as he infiltrates it to steal something. I just wish there had been more meat to the story. Magpie isn't that interesting a character: a second-rate Ben Pares without the sense of threat the latter posed. (Pares wanted to steal the Miracle Machine and openly boasted about doing so.) Magpie talks a good game about being "the best thief in the United Planets," but he's thrown for a loop when the object he expects to find isn't where he expects to find it, and he's unprepared to deal with two Legionnaires. (Since he manages to escape, he makes Thom and Nura look even worse.)

The Legionnaires are of secondary importance to this story since it is told from Magpie's point of view. It's kind of interesting to view them as Magpie sees them: Brin swooning over a statue, Nura being a proactive fighter but worrying over a nail, and Thom hanging back until the situation requires him to act. If the Legionnaires don't come off looking good in this story, maybe it's because that's how they appear to the villain.

Subplots, subplots . . . Oli-3 Queen is there to remind us of the JLA descendants (I had forgotten that the murder of Batman's descendant actually leads somewhere), and Universo is revealed to be the Monitor's employer--a revelation that will not go anywhere for quite some time yet. It's interesting to note how far in advance Levitz planned things (if he planned them ), but it does take a long time for some of the ideas to pay off, and, in the meantime, tension is lost.

Dan Jurgens' art is competent but a letdown after Shoemaker. Jurgens would eventually develop into a first-rate draftsman--I fondly remember some of his Valiant work. Here he seems to be finding his way.

I assume it's because none of the other couples are married. Couples living together was still a radical concept at the time, at least in middle America.



I assume (though I have no evidence) that there would be nothing wrong with Yera staying overnight or even an extended stay; her name obviously isn't on the blueprint since she's not a Legionnaire. But that brings me to . . .



Chuck apparently does have a room. if I remember the icons correctly, his quarters are next to Superboy's. However the diagram does not match up with the caption boxes. Chuck's quarters are described as "vacant." The caption on Page 9 omits Cham, even though his icon is shown between Jo's and Mon's.



Good point. The statues are very retro and unnecessary at this point, except, perhaps, for the statues of deceased Legionnaires. Perhaps the Legion or Brande had a contract with a statue maker and had to continue to find work for this artist until the contract ran out.



Good question. Do any of the Legionnaires know he died--or what became of Orando? Only the currently missing Legionnaires would seem to possess this knowledge.

Ah, so that was Darkseid's real curse.





Good points. There is a lot of storytelling craft on display in this issue.



Mindy: But, Paul, there's no reason for a thought balloon here. The art conveys what the reader needs to know.
Paul: Gee, you're right. I guess that means we don't have to pay you the full rate for those pages.
Mindy: On second thought, a little extra clarity doesn't hurt.



Judging by who is "honored," Magpie would need to be defeated at least twice more to earn his statue. When you're a villain, any ego gratification will do.



It looks like Brainy's force field belt and a ray gun of some sort (the one Thom used to kill Kenz Nuhor, perhaps?). No idea what the other objects are.

320: "Triangle?"

I had completely forgotten this story; re-reading it was like reading it anew.

What a delight it was! We all know Gim would never cheat on Yera--this is a Code-approved book, after all; infidelity may be suspected or alluded to, but it would never be actually shown or acknowledged. So, something more must be going on other than what Dirk sees--and something is.

This story does not put Dirk in the best of light (heh); in fact, he's a real cad--a clueless boob who thinks it's all about him and who expects to have an "arrangement" with women that allows him to play the field while they dutifully wait for his call (which likely never comes). Gim recognizes these traits, and now that a friend of his is involved with Dirk, he's got an excuse to act. Further, he has a talented shape-changing wife who's willing to participate in teaching Dirk a lesson (which Dirk nevertheless fails to grasp--though maybe it gives him something to reflect on).

The story presents a mature and honest look at both Dirk and Gigi. Her comment about being "on green while the light was flashing red" rang true. There were signs that Dirk was not going to give her what she wanted, though she may initially have been blind to them.

(Dan Jurgens draws a lovely Gigi, by the way. I couldn't help thinking he modeled her after Suzi Quatro.)

It's sad to look back on this story in the context of 5YL. Dirk had a real opportunity to learn something here, to grow in a new way, and to appreciate Gigi as a woman and not a plaything. He blew it.

True, and it's refreshing to see a bad guy who's rational.



This is one aspect I really enjoy about the Legion at this time. There's a lot going on, in different areas, and Levitz keeps track of all the threads, going forward and back.



LSH was always such a trend-setting book! Internal dialogue, comic book villains do tend to be chatty. Maybe Magpie was chattering to himself because he was nervous.



Universo was a good surprise and, knowing his history, did pack an extra punch. We never found out what his original plan was with the time chip, but the mind races to many possibilities.



I was also attracted by the possibility of villainous gossip. Too bad we never had a Villains Picnic Reunion issue in which they swapped stories and tips about the Legionnaires.



It would have been easy to slip in a panel or two in future issues referring to Magpie, even if just to suggest that they have no leads on him. And certainly everyone should be keeping a log of Computo's "errors".



Oh, I'm sure he was just recruiting her for a mission, or offering her a scholarship.



Quite sad, when you think about how he ended up in v.4. Here, he's just a bit of a jerk with women who gets his comeuppance. Indeed, it doesn't change him; it's more for Gigi's benefit. She tells him she has a date with Dvron, rather than confront him directly about how he's treated her. Perhaps she knows it would be no use to have a serious conversation, so she might as well get a laugh out of ending the relationship.



Good heavens! Dirk, Xavier and Terry Long hitting on women in one month? L'il Thoth must have been overwhelmed by the possibilities!



I'd pretty much forgotten it as well. Odd, since it's quite a good story. Geoff Johns and Gary Franks missed an opportunity when Brainy had Yera turn into a brunette and kiss Dirk to revive him - supposedly Dirk preferred brunettes - she could have resumed the blonde's appearance and give him an extra jolt. If he even remembered a particular woman....



At least she had the sense to bring it to an end, on her terms. One wonders how many broken hearts Dirk left behind (seeding the ground for future villainesses).



Never read the Secret Years series and often wondered about the gap between Smallville and Metropolis/Superman. It is disappointing that some link wasn't maintained with the Legion, with occasional appearances by Kal.

Comments 1



It is only The Magpie who calls himself this however. I’m sure Pares and, later, Spider Girl have other ideas.



I took it to be access to time technology so he could further what he glimpsed in the Green Lantern retcon issue also done by Levitz. Actually, that’s one heck of a plot seed way back then.



I’m glad you thought so too. But I don’t think anything happened from that.



Delivery Kid: Hi! I’ve used my power to enure this package is dilvered to Leigon reception in record time.

Computo: We have no record of such an order. You must be a villain and the sentence is death1 >ZAAAP!<

I’d have liked to have seen the others interact with Yera, or even the prospect of her moving there briefly after her marriage to Gim.

Chuck is there, but I can only think of bad reasons why. So, I hope that’s just an error.

The interrogation room is just a portal for Imra to come through and a Superboy mind wiping machine for later.


Sculptor Lad pops in to make sure the HQ is fully statue compliant. I think you’re right about the status of some of them. They’re there not only for tradition, but because Levitz is giving us a set up to a Ghost of Ferro Lad spotlight years in the future.



Like the Titans spotlight issue where they all have a picnic, you could do a Lost Tales of the Legion mini with the villains all at a bar or in SP therapy groups or on Takron Galtos, exchanging stories about the heroes, but form their perspectives.



From Magpie’s words and from issues like the Annual, I think there’s supposed to be an edge as the couple trade lines.

They were ever so handy for RPGs. Actually, this is just the sort of thing that was in the Mayfair RPG for the DC Universe.



Definitely that Lost Tales villain group therapy mini series



If you take that GLC issue (295- Look It Up Lad!) this one (320) and Universo’s plan being revealed, that’s quite an arc. I seem to remember some more Universo hints to come first though.


And


I thought the closest thing was Brainy’s belt too. I hadn’t thought about that being the gun. I thought all the items would be connected, but it could well have just been an Easter egg collection.

Connector Kid tells me that they are all connected. In 295 Universo, and others, had problems dealing with the energy fired upon them form the dawn of creation. Brainy’s forcefield belt is to protect Universo from this effect. The time chip is to get to the dawn of creation, while the gun is to kill the god of DCU and take his place. Little does Universo know that Julie Lad is the god of the DCU and that he has no chance of winning. I guess there’s another Lost Tales of the Legion in Universo actually getting his paws on the chip.



Credit to all concerned, it makes for a very powerful and poignant character arc.



One for Bits!



I think GiGi was leaving open the possibility of them getting back together. I don’t think she was trying to get a laugh at his expense. Just teach him what it was like, and hope he learned enough from it to perhaps build something from. But it didn’t work.



We all used to think it was just applicants that Dirk loved shouting “Rejected!” at. Now we know it was partners too.



For me Superboy is a cameo in the Talok story and then a later cameo or two as I worked my way through back issue buying. I had to discover his connections to the tam as I went, rather than reading it first-hand. So, I never really had a feeling for any missing years or for the timeline of him as a character. You can sense the importance of Clark’s decisions in some older issues (someone telling him that they know he didn’t rejoin, his mind wiping issues etc.), and I guess that’s what this mini was trying to show. But it was a bit lost on me at the time.

Speaking of RPGs earlier, this issue continues to promote the DCU game and it also had a big advert for Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths. I’ve mentioned that a lot of the plot was still being nailed down, including the role of the Monitor. But you can see that they hadn’t quite decided on the title either.

Ah. I was never into RPG's. A friend tried in vain to interest me in D&D, but all the hit points, charisma point, ad nauseum made the game much too complicated for me. I loved the first Mayfair Legion Sourcebook for the timeline and concise descriptions of each character. I never used it to play a game.



Good to know. I'm never quite aware of the behind-the-scenes events that affect quality. A raspberry to Shoemaker for quitting like he did--very unprofessional.



Good catch! The level of detail Levitz infused in the stories is quite astonishing. It's not something I would have noticed at the time. I wonder if anyone did.

LSH #8 To Destroy a World by Paul Levitz, art by Steve Lightle & Larry Mahlstedt, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by John Costanza



The Legionnaires contemplate the Sun Eater and discuss what to do. As they agree it must be destroyed, Jo flies off to take action, attracting the attention of more robots. The team defeats them and return to discussing what to do.

At Legion HQ, Rokk is working on his plan when Lydda walks in. She invites him to go home with her; he agrees to, once the missing Legionnaires are found. He tells her he's considering leaving active duty, which might be good to give a needed shake-up to the team and proceeds to pack a bag.

In space, Shvaughn, with some special equimpment, assists Tasmia and Jacques to capture Sun Emperor. On a planet below, Wildfire, Gigi, Blok, Lar, Mysa and Ayla round up some more LSV members. Wildfire and Shvaughn share a moment over Takron-Galtos and missing Legionnaires.

On the Limbo planet, sensors alert the Armorer to the intruders as the Legionnaires work together to dismantle the Sun-Eater factory. Another robot attacks, capturing the three men and transporting them to the Armorer. Tinya and Vi follow; Vi shrinks to enter the controls and determines she can blow up the factory by crossing some wires. Tinya interrupts, saying she has a solution.

At the Legion Academy, some students are enjoying the waterfront. As Laurel dives into the water, she is shot. Pol pulls her out of the water; she's in pain and bleeding, despite her invulnerability.

On the Limbo planet, the Armorer reads Jo's mind to learn about them. He's surprised that they could have defeated a Controller in the past. Jan revives and turns some machinery to mercury, asking why the controllers want to build such a weapon. The Armorer dismisses and blasts Jan, but is attacked by Jo. The Controller enters and distracts the Armorer, who is knocked out by Jo; the Controller was actually Cham. Jan follows Tinya's suggestion to change the elemental structure of the building; she pushes the Armorer through the portal to the Controllers' world then joins the others exiting the portal to Earth. Jo, as he leaves, hurls a rock transformed into fissionable material, blowing up the entire planet.

Comments:

More robots! And the Armorer has some god-like powers with which to fight back on his own. When he asks "Another one?" as Jo approaches, it suggests that humans all look alike to him, since he had already spent some time reading Jo's mind through physical contact.

Vi and Tinya take the lead after the boys are captured; Tinya sees it as an opportunity for self-initiated action. She's also the one who comes up with the ultimate plan to end the Sun-Eater threat using all three guys' powers, rather than her own and Violet's. She's the one who pushed the Armorer through a portal before the planet was obliterated; one assumes this was pre-arranged although it looks as if the others were going to leave him there.

Jo continues to act without thinking first, but the team does come together as a team to accomplish the destruction of the factory planet. We see how Tinya manages him, although "helpfully directs his attention" might be a more benevolent description, telling him to pay attenion, what they must do. He, however, directs her in battle: she's the strategist, he's the action man. She calls him Jo, not Ultra Boy, and he calls her Tinya, which I like; the code names are so formal. I'm not enthused with the dumb jock attribute for any Legionnaire (now we have two, Brin and Jo), although Jo is perhaps more impulsive than dense. He does get the last shot in, throwing the rock to ignite the explosion, as well as knocking out the Armorer.

As Jan revives after being captured, he demonstrates how easily he can destroy at least part of the factory by turning it to mercury. His power must have a fairly limited physical range, or he could have destroyed the whole place. Nevertheless, it's his power which creates the set-up to blow the place to pieces. We've seen Jan knock out Daxamites by increasing the lead content in the atmosphere, or change something into inertron. It's a bit of a deus ex machina power, so limiting its physical scope makes sense. His personality often strikes me as too cautious, holding back; he could have ended battles quickly in many cases. However, with a power like that, quite apart from the story considerations, one would do well to exercise caution. It's a trait that would have been strongly conditioned for young Trommites, and it makes sense that such caution would affect his personality.

So the Sun-Eater factory is destroyed; we have no idea what the Controller was up to. Maybe it just looked like a Sun-Eater, but was an energy source. It's an isolated adventure in an isolated space, with no impact on the Legionnaires' universe, IIRC. At this point, however, readers may wonder if there will be Controller payback for what the Legion has done. After all, the Armorer has lived to tell the tale to his masters.

The round-up of LSV remnants had a twist compared to the usual: SP officers Gigi and Shvaughn had specialized suits which give them special powers to fight alongside Legionnaires. Otherwise, we had a good, but not outstanding, display of Legion superpowers at work. (And I was alerted to the source of the "Scrofulus" mentions here at LW - although a search only turned up a mention by thoth, I thought there was an entire thread devoted to the term.)

Rokk thinks the Legion is getting stale and that his departure will shake things up. His withdrawal from active status has been developing for a few issues now, so it's not a great surprise to readers when he announces his consideration - not clear intention - to Lydda. News item: his clothes are magnetic, too. Laurel gets shot, which gives Pol an opportunity to act calm, competent and level-headed - i.e. be a good candidate to take his departing brother's place. These two sub-plots I found less interesting due to a personal lack of enthusiasm for Cosmic Boy (just go, already!) and this batch of Academy students, although both interludes promise big changes ahead for the Legion.

LoSH v3 8

The splash page gives us a quick summary of the previous issue’s cliff-hanger to catch the readers’ attention. I wonder how long it would take a sun eater to eat a galaxy. How fast do they travel? Could the Controller po it in and out of limbo as required? It looks as though a Galaxy Eater is what you’d want, and that’s what they did in the Legionesque EGOs comic.

The team have decided to destroy the sun-eater, and Levitz gives them all a line or two to keep them part of the process. Jo has a pot shot at Cham. He’s also the one to have to have something explained to him, and the first to leap into immediate action. Tinya doesn’t get a lot o say, so Lightle gets a lot of credit for showing her relationship to Jo visually. Jo acts on TInya’s statement. Her look is part determination and part signal to Jo.

Of course, when he does it lots of ACME robots appear. If it were Superboy or Lar, it would have been fine. But Jo’s leap in first approach is emphasised this way. Like the dialogue, each of the team gets to take out a few of the robots. It’s essentially filler so that Tinya can reach the conclusion that the whole planet has to go. Note that it was Tinya’s discovery of the Sun Eater that prevented the team departing for Earth last issue. She’s quiet, but her words and expressions have a lot of impact. As Jo continues to push Jan for a plan, she’s the one to keep him in step too.

The immediate threat could be a lot better, but the Sun Eater discovery- realisation that the whole planet must be destroyed – chance that they might have to sacrifice themselves to achieve this is solid plotting (although I’d have thought Cham or VI could have come up with a remote detonator to take care of the last point).

There’s a two-page interlude on Rokk’s decision to perhaps not return to active duty. While it seems that he might be quitting the team, Levitz leaves enough clues that something else is going on. I hadn’t realised until this reread just what a drawn-out subplot this one had been, and there a few more issues of it to go. I can’t argue it’s a big change to the team. The team also take the constitution extremely seriously. But the missing Legionnaires should have already provided action, and it you can see Levitz’s plot diagram a little too much. This of course, will not stop me squealing with delight when the membership issue comes around. But it could have had to have come earlier, with a seriously understaffed Legion holding of a number of threats.

In a Lost Tales of the Legion I’m wondering if the Lost Legion team could have been kept away to combine both of their stories together, while the main team has to reform without them.

Here, Cos gives a few hints to the reader and brings Lydda into his confidence off panel. I’m not convinced by his “they need something to shake them up—to change things around here” as a decent reason for what he has planned. Considering the length of planning, it’s surely more to do with the life choices of the founders, while enabling a retention of their knowledge within the team?

On Braal, deliveries, such as clothes, are done magnetically. The economic recession there started off by overinvestment in delivery companies, only to find out that locals did it all themselves.

Elsewhere, the LSV members in Zimyr’s bubble have returned and are captured easily by the Legion and some SPs in robotic combat armour (was this seen again?). Sun Emperor remembers their oath, but is taken down quickly, having completely failed to hear or see two mechanical suits creep up on him and put a power dampener on him. Shady’s shadow field seems to absorb Sun Emperor’s blasts.

When the tide turned against the LSV in the opening arc, they really folded quickly. I’d have preferred them to have been an ongoing threat, offering problems relating to their oath. By being beaten so easily, they reduce their threat for future encounters. But considering Starfinger and Mordru under Levitz, perhaps this is an intentional result, ahead of new/revised threats to come.

The good news is that Esper Lass was part of this group of villains. So, with her captured Mysa can use spells of similarity on the technology to enter limbo, or Brainy might have more luck with the tech, or Imra can pluck the information easily from Esper Lass’s mind in a contest-of-wills subplot. Whichever way it happens, it means that the Lost Legionnaires will be found. Except, Esper Lass is noticeably missing form those captured, and this subplot doesn’t get off the starting block. Lightning Lass says that only Micro Lad is missing before she captures him, so where is Esper Lass? Has she mentally slipped away, removing all traces of herself form the encounter? If, so that’s one villain that’s worth seeing again.

Like Jo’s supervision not being a solution on the Controllers world, Lar doesn’t have much luck finding Chameleon Chief, until Mysa steps in. We’re reminded of the differences between Light Lass and Lightning Lass, while Blok looks at his former Super Assassin (pending- once they kill someone) with a thoughtful look. There’s that reminder of his dark past in there, if only now to show that he wonders how he could have been close to people like that (although even then he was a reluctant member). Shvaughn reminds us of how much some of the Lost Legionnaires are missed.

Back on Controller World (kids go free- after all, it’s a one-way trip!) the Legionnaires have been detected. The Controller’s minion reacts by opening hanger doors unleashing… an ACME robot! Another one. Although this one is a little bigger and tougher! It interrupts Element Lad showing us that whenever something involving the periodic table comes up, he’s your guy. Jo is doing the heavy lifting and is first to confront the robot. Reinforcing the look-before-you-leap trend, he’s the first to fall to it. Cham and Jan also fall to it. Considering that the world is there to build sun eaters, it’s surprising that the robot’s weapons are set to stun. Does the Minion have his own plans?

Jo being unconscious allows Tinya to work on her own. She’s happy when these chances arise, but it’s Violet who is even more proactive. Comic Book Cliché insists that all power plants can be detonated by crossing a couple f wires, that must be no more than a comic book panel apart. Having told us what a mammoth task it is to stop this world, and all of its weapon building factories, it turns out that shutting down the one sun eater and then the control tower they visited will do it. Rather than rescue her colleagues, Vi seems about to blow up the building, herself and them along with it. Seemingly imbued with Imra’s telepathy and Dawny’s tracking ability, Tinya finds and interrupts Vi.

Tinya has come up with another solution, that will enable them to destroy the world and get them off the planet first. Like last issue, she arrives to the others with a revelation (well, Vis’s with her too). In the meantime, the Minion (called the Armorer) has discovered that the Legion have previously beaten a renegade Controller. For no apparent reason other than Plot dictate, the Armorer possesses mental blasts, super strength and invulnerability. This provides us with another fight scene, as he holds of Jo and defeats Jan. As Armorer raises the stakes, informing the Legion that he will annihilate them, he’s interrupted by the return of a Controller.

Ever his master’s servant, the Armorer bows, only to be punched out by Jo. The Controller was a disguised Cham. Except that we’d just seen Cham lying in front of Tinya. So how did he get behind the Armorer? A missing Cham or a visual cue would have been nice. Jo had been shown using a super punch earlier with no effect, so it’s a bit convenient that it works even with the Armourer’s guard down. Following this logic, Karate Kid must have terrified every villain in the galaxy. It’s a decent enough switch, but let down by the visuals a bit.

And why does the Big ACME robot do nothing? It’s almost as if it is entirely Plot powered.

We don’t hear Phantom Girl tell the others her plan. Element Lad tells us that they are acting upon it. I can see why, as space is to be conserved (perhaps another ACME robot will turn up). It also further Tinya’s quiet but effective personality. But it would have been nice for her to get the limelight. The plan turns out to be having Jo release energy by throwing some fissionable material converted by Jan. It’s a combination of powers that gets them off-world.

We will see the Controller’s reaction at a later date. But where does the Earth portal come out? Can other Controllers use it? Is there a way for the Legion to access other worlds through the portal on Earth? What will be the fate of the Armorer? What was with Vi looking as though she was going to blow herself up?

Lots of questions, and the answers are… sorry... you’ll have to wait until I’ve got rid of this robot horde…

In a last sublot, the invulnerable Laurel Kent is shot by an unknown assailant. It’s one heck of a shot, and I half expected someone like Bounty to be behind it. Some super-sniper anyway. Lightle overdoes it as by the time Comet Queen gets back, Laurel will have bled to death considering how much she is bleeding. Pol looks a little steroid enhanced too. He reminds me of Karate Kid, which isn’t a good omen. Kent being a descendant of Superman, continues the JLA descendants subplot. It’s also another peek at Comet Queen, Magnetic Kid and Laurel ahead of the membership issues ahead.

There are 15 pages relating to the main plot this issue. About half of them have an appearance by a ACME robot. Having discovered the Suneater, the Legion team destroy that building and then trick the Armorer and destroy the control tower, and then the planet. There’s just not enough meat on the plot to make this any more than an okay (and a bit of a dull main) story.

The best visuals are between Jo and Tinya. Other than that, it’s all just a generic factory world and not much stands out, or is allowed to by the story. I even took a second look at the cover thinking I had a double of last issue.

There’s a few more personality bits: Jan quiet “good work” leadership while others have the plans; Cham’s delight at being sneaky; Jo’s headstrong attitude; Tinya’s quiet power and guidance of Jo and Vi’s determination leading to her possibly making some very unwise decisions.

Years, later when I heard about the DnA Legion Lost, I thought about these issues (and the follow up), and my interest plummeted.