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

I've always wondered whether fan reaction affected Comet Queen's chances for membership.

I don't remember her being thought of too fondly.

A peek ahead at the lettercol for #329, that covers this issue, has only the one mention and that's a question on why she's not in Who's Who. The answer is that she'll appear under the Legion Academy setting.

Psst! I don't want to spoil things, but it's not looking good for Karate Kid in that issue!

Peeking back, no one got a mention for the Academy appearances for the lettercol covering #304 either.

Tales #324 Dark Discoveries/The Secret of the Dark Circle by Paul Levitz & Mindy Newell, art by Dan Jurgens & Karl Kesel, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by Bob Lappan



Jo, Mysa, Lar and Gigi survey the destruction of a U.P. fleetbase/refueling station and blame the Dark Circle. Gigi claims there was only one attacker and it was Dev-Em. Lar and Jo aren't certain; Lar thinks it could have been a Daxamite, whether disgruntled or under the control of Darkseid or the Circle. Then Gigi gets an alert that an orbital station is under attack; the three Legionnaires investigate.

The attacker is masked and wearing a Dark Circle symbol. While Mysa casts spells to save lives, Jo and Lar chase the attacker, who distracts them by further endangering lives.

The attacker escapes into Dark Circle space, pursued by the Legionnaires. They hear Dev-em's voice tell them that they're trespassing; there are four other masked Circle devotees with him. The three fight the five, not knowing which one is Dev-em, and subdue them - only to find that they all have the face of Dev-em. As a Dark Circle ship approaches with the real Dev-em held hostage, the Legionnaires realize the others are clones and that Dev-em has been poisoned with kryptonite.

Dawnstar sighs over Jhodan and confides in Laurel Kent.

The Persuader arrives on Takron-Galtos and is told that things have changed now that the SP have given the Warden free rein.

Comments:

I didn't get Gigi's quick condemnation of Dev-em. Last I recall, she was thinking he had possibilities. Perhaps she's got a Dirk Morgna hangover and is suffering from witnessing the destruction caused by the masked man. The Legionnaires are more cautious; their discussion implies that Dev-em has been a trusted associate. Lar's suggestion of a rogue Daxamite provides a good connection to the trouble suffered by his people under Darkseid and in the period of reconstruction.
We knew something was up with Dev-em and the Circle, but might have suspected brainwashing before cloning.

It's a bit of a retread to have Mysa missing a needed spell yet able to subdue three of the five masked men regardless. Still, it's pleasing to see Mysa holding her own - and then some - alongside the Legion's two heavy hitters.

However, I find it peculiar that this atrocity is being handled by three Legionnaires, not a full force of Starfleet or SP officers. Possibly they're the first on the site but there's no mention that others are on their way. It's as if two detectives and a psychic were sent after the attack on Pearl Harbour.

Two sub-plots: Dawnstar opens up to Laurel Kent, which possibly serves to suggest that Laurel may soon be joining the ranks. The Persuader story is more interesting, since it indicates that there's a new get-tough-on-criminals approach in the U.P. (something to do with dreams is implied). Earthgov President Desai's promise of big changes may be the reason. It may also be a more pervasive attitude: Mysa isn't averse to making one of the masked men suffer the agonies of those he destroyed and Lar promises that the guilty party may not survive to see the court system.


Second Story: The Missing Planet Puzzle by Paul Levitz & Mindy Newell, art by Ernie Colon & Gary Martin, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by Bob Lappan

Jacques goes to the Ivory Coast to see an old friend who asked for help. Emil runs a holo-mapping company, Global Products, and has serious trouble mapping the planet Orsde. Each attempt fails, causing destruction to the equipment. Emil suspects poltergeists; Jacques is skeptical. He returns to Legion HQ to enlist Violet. He returns to Global Products, starts the program and turns invisible. Two small figures start running out of the computer. Jacques confronts them and captures them with a vacuum; they try to escape by shrinking and growing, but a special polymer holds them in place. Jacques tells Emil that they are Imskian terrorists who were sabotaging the mapping of Orsde, their sister planet, so that their secret bases would not be discovered. Violet had confirmed Jacques' suspicions and suggested the vacuum cleaner.

Comments:

Again, in this story, I seem to be missing something. Is Jacques able to make the computer running the map program invisible? One of the Imskians says it's disappearing and that's why they run. Although Jacques uses his invisibility, it's his detective skills that once again solve the problem.

The story serves to remind us that Africa is an ecologically healthy and balanced place. At the time this was written, there wasn't much (if any) African sci fi available and I don't believe we were aware of the
wholesale extraction of mineral and forest resources which is in progress today and portends a less happy future for the environment. However, there were no shortage of wars, famines and assorted troubles at this time, so it's an interesting and positive approach to present Africa as Earth's nature preserve.

We see the new Violet - angry, blunt and working on her combat skills - and are reminded that there's a Legion election soon.

One of Emil's employees is a Durlan - one of the rare ones off-planet who isn't a criminal.

The Imskian terrorists - who look like just a couple of goofy guys (and the fat one's the dope, of course) - are a reminder of continuing unrest in that sector and that all is not well in the United Planets.

But a vacuum cleaner? Well, the Roomba hadn't been invented yet; I guess it's as good a device as any and it does impart a light touch to a story with the darker underpinnings of political revolt.

TotLoSH 324

Despite the destruction, and implied carnage, there’s a slower pace to the opening scene than you would normally get. It’s a two-parter and, with the plot points paced out, there’s a few panels left to fill. The opening scene gets a robust five pages.

Cusimano has called the Legion for help after an attack on Amadus, a world close to the Dark Circle’s domain. The benefits of having space in this scene is in the character reactions. Newell’s dialogue is particularly good in conveying the changing emotions of the cast.

Jo thinks that the Dark Circle is responsible. They are, but not in the grouped attack he thinks. Cusimano has survivors guilt, but clearly could have done nothing. Mysa’s seemingly wise words of consolation are met with bitter anger and Mysa falters (excellent dialogue here).

Gi Gi’s anger then moves from herself to the culprit. Mon-El is the one to watch. Gi Gi tells us that she was a liaison with the ICC as Mon El scans the area as he would any other Legion mission. But as Gi Gi hints it was one person the shadows appear on Mon-El’s face. It’s reminiscent of the scene in the GDS where Ol-Vir had gone rogue.

In the Talok story, we saw ore on Shady and Lar’s relationship. Here, it’s Jo and Lar. You get the feeling that all three of Mon-El’s regular companions know that there are some dark, introspective areas in his mind.

He’s seen a millennia of seeing the darkest humanity had to offer. The GDS saw Darkseid pluck the potential of Daxam from his mind and turn its inhabitants into mindless killers. He’s seen Ol-Vir not change back. And now, he fears that the potential of an evil daxamite/kryptonian has surfaced once again. More, since Lady Memory drove him temporarily insane, he can only look on the destruction and fear that its something he could be capable of too.

Jo questions Gi Gi’s charge. In another good bit of dialogue, Lar criticises GIgI for letting her feelings cloud her judgement, as he does exactly the same thing having drawn his own conclusions. Jo then flies after Mon-El looking to ease his dark mood. He doesn’t let up, making sure to offer alternatives (almost pleadingly) to ease his friends mind. His choice of the word “insane” (bolded) is unfortunate, but at least allows Lar to express his feelings. Jo also lets the reader know (something Brin does a fair bit of) that there’s more going on that meets the eye.

I thought Mon-El would immediately go searching for the answer since Mysa confirms that there’s nobody left alive. Instead Jo and Lar find some extremely pliable comic-book debris to wrap up some of the destroyed buildings. Only then does Cusimano tell them that there’s been another attack. Had Mon-El gone out searching immediately, could that have been prevented?

The scene also stands out for putting Mysa (still floating – well done Jurgens) firmly in the Legion powerhouse category. Dawnstar told the readers of Mysa’s power back when she single handedly defeated a Khund in battle. Like Wildfire, she’s also got a different powerset to the Daxamite/Kryptonians in the team. That’s the gradual evolution of the cast from the invulnerability of the Silver Age to the more flawed characters here.

Another thing to note on GIGi’s reactions is that she knows that the ICC, and through their liaison the Science Police, were the ones infiltrating the Dark Circle resulting in the devastation.

As the three depart, we get a very nice summary of their characters. Jo is the upbeat one, happiest going into action and not having to think too hard, particularly at the implications here. Lar is resolute and grim, carrying the emotional weight. Mysa thinks in absolutes of truth, following her matter of fact initial comment to Cusimano. But there’s plenty of grey areas out there, and that’s where she’ll struggle later on. Behind them, Cusimano can’t shake her impressions of Dev-Em.

In orbit, the identity of our mystery attacker is drawn out a little more as his handlers have been thoughtful enough to provide a lead-lined outfit. I wonder if that was what they always did to prevent people finding out who they were. Mon-El and Jo are both more keen on finding out who they’re dealing with, than dealing with the threat. Mysa even points this out. Neither Lar or Jo have been bothered before about finding things out as they go. So, these few panels, that are there to give Mysa a role don’t really ring true. Even with the set up of Mon-El being preoccupied over the ramifications of a rogue Daxamite. She could have done the same thing while we got into immediate Action between Circle Lad, Ultra Boy and Mon-El.

As the story continues you can see why Levitz plotted it this way. Mysa proves to be particularly effective later on. So having her perform the same spell here, would have killed the mystery. Likewise, it’s Lar who saves on e of the crew thrown by their foe, so that Jo can go in first and get knocked out. Mon El is then distracted by his opponent who puts the lives of a crew at risk. Mon’s not that preoccupied with his foe this time to save them first. Which is how he should have been throughout this scene. Another down-side to this one is that we hear Circle Lad’s thoughts. We learn that he’s the last of his people, which is a bit of a big hint. We learn that he feels superior enough that lesser beings don’t deserve to live while his race are gone. Which is fine, but it should have come out through dialogue as the story progressed.

Having spent five pages on the opening scene, we get tow encounters with Circle Lad in quick succession. There are lots of pluses.

Ultra Boy’s powers are handled very well throughout. He couldn’t hear Cusimano’s alert earlier while Lar could; We’re told again about his one-at-a-time power; He can’t use penetra-vision until he’s used superspeed; he gets knocked out before he can switch to invulnerability; and he’s a punching bag while in invulnerability because he can’t use strength. You can see why writers get a lot more mileage from him plot-wise, while Mon-El has to get distracted/ diverted to get him out of the way.

The image of the three Legionnaires streaking through space in a Giffenesque page is a favourite, and it’s one that would be used in other books.

The components that reveal their opponent are all there. The powers; the distorted attitude; Mon-El recognising his voice; the one attacking the UP becoming five foes back in Dark Circle territory. But there are edges to it that could have been removed for a smoother story and improved pacing.

Would it have been better had Cusimano not quite have known what destroyed the planet?

Levitz has gone well out of his way to define Mysa’s powers. In the same way as the reader is told about Jo’s power limitation, we’re told that Mysa has Mysa has to prepare certain spells. This time out she has come prepared “to battle and save lives” giving us a glimpse of her capabilities. Those powers do seem to have a tendency to duplicate the powers of other Legionnaires. Jo mentions the tracking powers Mysa has previously used, encroaching on Dawny’s territory. Here, we have a force cube that duplicates Brainy; invisibility that copies Jacques; Mind Control that Imra would be reluctant to use too much and sensory control that was, and would be later on, the domain of Jeckie.

Mysa and Wildfire in his original costume could pretty much stand in for the entire team. It would have been interesting to see Mysa use similar terminology that she has used before as she used her spells here. There’s the suspicion that they are plot, rather than character, driven.

One Dev-Em is a chilling enemy. He has a history that’s not touched on here. Five of them is an army of Supermen as dangerous as an army of Darkseid’s mindless Daxamites. They even jokingly team up when fighting Jo. Mysa takes down three of them. The first is revealed to be Dev-Em… but so are the other four. In a handy cliffhanger a Dark Circle craft appears containing the real Dev-Em in a Kryptonite laced chamber. Their foes had been clones. Despite their brain washing, at least one of them remembered Mon-El. This is a very solid link to the old story of Brainy bringing back Lyle and Andrew clones all the way through to the personalities of the SW6 batch in v4.

Mysa’s personality here has direct links not only to v4, and Mordru’s exploitation of her, but to the later issues of the Baxter run too. Her beliefs and priorities here match her reaction to the way The Infinite Man was handled.

The appearance of the Circle will bring things to a direct confrontation next issue. Besides we’ve already invaded Dark Circle territory with Querl, Kara and Dirk. SO hiding Dev-Em on their world wouldn’t be new or shocking.

Mentioning Kara reminds me that Dev-Em states that “now, only I am left” It’s a reminder that Kal and Kara are visitors from an earlier era. We haven’t really had a close look at how Dev-Em has reacted to being the last Krytponian. Considering the publishing date, it’s hard not to think of Crisis too. We’ve seen Kara depart. Over in Baxter, Superboy is in what I think is his final story with the team. In a letter column, Levitz states that he doesn’t know all the dtails of what’s going to happen in the story. In his company position though, he’ll know the overall goals of the series. One of these is to simplify the mythos of each character. Dev-Em is a Kryptonian who may also be about ot have his last appearance.

Another character who falls into this category is Laurel Kent. In a subplot she visits her former academy roommate Dawnstar. Again, with Crisis here, that symbol on her cape stands out like an S-shaped target.

I had forgotten that there was a follow up scene to Dawny’s adventures on Kol. Not only do we get a lovely continuation of the friendship the two have form ages ago, we learn a lot about Dawny’s character progression too. She had thought her life was to be with Wildfire, and that this was love. Then, having experienced something deeper emotionally and I think physically as “shared destiny” in “having a shared destiny” is coded, she’s conflicted. To Newell and Levitz’s credit, she’s not merely lovelorn. There’s a deeper cultural meaning behind a lot of her problems. With the complication of the belief systems on Kol, it makes this a much more complex scenario than most comic books.

Spare a thought for Wildfire too. Already physically isolated, Dawny was one of the few ways he could feel like a person. Dawny isn’t just his companion, she’s his work partner too. Now she “can’t bear to look at him.” We’ve already been told that she’s been keeping her distance. A look at Drake would have been a very good follow up to this one. But I don’t think it can last the end of the next issue (if it’s even in there) as the end of the original Tales is almost here.

Anotehr subplot I can’t recall going anywhere is The Persuader’s return to Takron Galtos. The Warden is straight out of a course on maniacal supervillainry, complete with laughter. He’s also combined it with the look of a 1930’s movie vampire. If Manga Khan has a descendant, it’s this guy.

As I would have loved to have seen more of the Dawny/Drake plot, the possible absence of the Warden’s plot doesn’t bother me much. I think Takron Galtos is due for some destruction in Crisis too.

Li’l thoth in the Land of Elsenwhen

The Big Legion highlight this month is in the back up of Action 568. Superman picks up Jimmy Olsen to take photos of him capturing a crook about to arrive from the 30th century with some stolen technology. The capture is made and Superman flies off into the future. But the crook leaves a piece of technology behind, and Jimmy finds it. After his date for the night goes off with an old flame, Jimmy is left looking at the device. When it leads him to find his perfect mate, he thinks he’s discovered a love finder. He gets it to work for Lois and Clark too.

Clark falls for a librarian who also turns out to be Nova Woman. Even in love and dreaming of a career with his device, Jimmy still spots someone who’s been trailing him for most of the story. It turns out that it’s a guest appearance by Shvaughn Erin. The device actualises subconscious thoughts. With their dream dates fading away in front of them, the trio are found working overtime to get over their broken hearts.

So now we know where Shvaughn went after being relieved by Cusimano in #323. It’s lovely Silver Age fun, drawn by Bender and written by Craig Boldman, who did work for Archie. It’s also lettered by Ben Oda. It may have been one of his latest works as an obituary to him appears in the same issue.

In JLA 239, Vixen confronts the Ox, the culmination of her origin subplot. Vixen is a much stronger character than she would have been in launched as intended as the Implosion hit DC. Patton’s pencils are excellent. There’s a folk tale about Anansi at the start of the issue which was quite a departure from most books. There’s even more passing of the torch between Supes, Wondy and Barry to the new guys. Mainly based on what seemed to be a made up clause in the constitution.

I mentioned that the retirement of Garth, Imra and Rokk was unusual in comics. But Barry talks about their time being past for the League, leaving it to those with more fire and commitment to it than they currently could give.

As three founding Leaguers move on, so does Hawkman as he learns the scope of the Shadow War he faces. His home planet has designs on his adopted one, and he believes Hawkwoman has been murdered by them.

Conflicted characters are a theme continued in the Tales of the Titans #54. The Terminator’s trial concludes and it doesn’t go the way you’d expect. The heroes don’t all act in the way you’d expect either, as this story carries plenty of raw emotions from the Judas Contract.

Adrian Chase is the judge in the Titans story, and he concludes a dark two-parter in Vigilante #18. As I mentioned before, this was the sort of story I thought the Vigilante would have, only to find the opening issues a bit of a disappointment. This is a lot better.

Chase will have a trial of conscience after this story. The Flash, on the other hand, just has a tiral that’s nearing the final 350 issue, and Crisis.

Superman doesn’t need a Crisis. On the cover of Supes 408 he’s the only survivor of a nuclear war. It’s reminiscent of some of the old doom laden JLA covers, and obviously an inspiration for Kingdom Come. Inside there is a nuclear war, if only a dream. It haunts Supes through the issue as he wonders about his responsibilities about perhaps ending the cold war arms race. It’s fairly understated in the way that a lot of pre-crisis Supes stories can be and, in the way that recent writers feel the need to extract a ten-issue story from.

Alan Davis joins Batman and the Outsiders to continue finding the truth about Halo. They’re on the shattered JLA satellite this issue. Aparo left requiring what looked like a fill in issue interrupting the Halo story last issue.

Davis, of course, had that superb run on Captain Britain with Alan Moore. Moore writes the back up story in the Omega Men this month in addition to Swamp Thing.

The Shawn McManus art to the main feature in Omega Men #27 really gave them a distinctive look, taking them away from the more classic sci-fi look they had previously. Todd Macfarlane was also adding his own style to Infinity Inc#15 having been confirmed as new penciller after his guest spot last month. That followed the death of Don Newton who was to be the regular penciller.
On the first panel of Macfarlane’s first issue is a film poster of Supergirl, but with an Earth-2 super-symbol on the costume. The inspirations ran both ways.

In Earth-2s past, Liberty Belle gets superpowers as Ropy Thomas continues to add a little friction between some of the members of the All-Star Squadron #46

Another person getting inspiration from Superman’s original costume and cover is Ambush Bug in his first issue.

I didn’t get many of these at the time of publication. Pretty much just the Justice League this month.

Tales 324: “The Secret of the Dark Circle”

It’s great to see another Mon-El spotlight, especially so soon after the Talok adventure. It’s also great that he’s more in control here. Mon is understandably upset at the prospect of a Daxamite being responsible for the destruction on Amadus, and he goes after the assailant full of anger. Yet he pulls away and does the right thing when an innocent ship is threatened. He did have a couple of lapses in judgment, first by cleaning up the wreckage instead of searching for the villain and then in searching for the villain instead of making sure other innocents were safe. But I chalk this up to him gathering his thoughts and sorting out his emotions. When clear and present danger exists, Mon-El does the right thing. I like this depiction of him.

It's also interesting to get a glimpse of his friendship with Ultra Boy without either of their significant others present. Jo, who is always so impetuous, plays the reasoner here, the wise friend who tries to help his troubled teammate. I like this side of Jo, too.

The White Witch provides contrast. She’s not part of their clique and is still rather new and awkward as a Legionnaire. Her dialogue with Gigi betrays a still emerging social confidence. But when the action starts, Mysa knows what to do and holds her own—impressively defeating three Dev-Em clones.

This story works as a showcase of these three Legionnaires, offering a side to each we are not used to seeing. It also provides a fresh context for them to relate to each other. These pluses almost make up for a plot that reminds me too much of the Star Trek episode, “Arena” (in which the Gorns destroy a Federation outpost) and which follows the convention that our heroes must win despite unbelievable odds. One Dev-Em clone is enough to destroy the civilization on an entire planet (or at least a huge chunk of it), yet our three Legionnaires—two of whom have significant weaknesses (Jo can use only one power at a time; Mysa can use only the spells she’s prepared)—take out FIVE Dev-Em clones. It’s good to be a super-hero. You always win, no matter the odds.

The incredibility of the plot slows me down on re-read, though it’s a very well-told story if one accepts this convention. Skimming through it, I noticed that most pages have five or six panels on each page, and lot happens in those panels. Characters act, react, and something propels us into the next page. There is plenty of emotional drama as well as action. A lot happens, and it has enormous implications for our heroes and their society.

However, much of this is undercut (to me, at least) by Dev-Em. He truly is a minor character in Legion history. When he appeared in Adventure 320, he was portrayed as the bully Superboy feared. Removed from this context, he’s just another incredibly powerful character running around the Legion’s universe. The “knave of Krypton” image he originally had is long forgotten. I’m not sure how to relate to him as a character—or how the Legion relates to him. Clearly, they know who he is, but there’s no sense of him having any kind of relationship with the team beyond that recognition. I suppose Levitz felt it necessary to deal with this last survivor of Krypton (kudos to the writer for acknowledging this in an oblique way) being a spy in the 30th century, but it feels to me like this is just the sort of “fanwank” Fanfie has always protested: a way of accounting for every minor character just for the sake of it.

A better approach (to me, again) would have been to spend a considerable amount of time re-establishing Dev as a character in the Legion’s universe. The few glimpses we’ve seen of him have not been enough. I don’t get the sense that the Legionnaires care about him. If they don’t care, I don’t care.

Maybe we’re not meant to care. Maybe we’re just supposed to be horrified at the Dark Circle technology which creates Krypton-powered clones. But, again, if three Legionnaires can take out five clones, the rest of the team has nothing to worry about.

So, I like a lot of things about this story, but the overall stakes don’t impress me much.

In terms of subplots, I loved the Laurel/Dawnstar scene. Laurel is portrayed as a true friend who will not allow her bestie to mope around. If only we all had such a friend. If only Laurel could have continued as a character post-Crisis.

The Persuader scene is good for what it is, but I don’t recall if it leads anywhere. Shame.

So, Tales winds down with a story that tries to be more important than it really is. We do, however, get some good character showcases and wonderful Newell dialogue (she really did have an ear for how people talk and relate to each other).

Tales 324 Backup: “The Missing Planet Puzzle”

In order to properly understand and evaluate this story, I think it’s necessary to contextualize Jacques as a character. At this point (1985), he was still one of only two Legionnaires “of color” on the team (the other being Dawnstar). The died-in-the-wool humanist in me screams that race shouldn’t matter, but it does. Characters of color have faced a mountainous climb in comics—coming from no representation at all to token minorities to stereotypes to—the rarest gem of all—fully realized characters with unique personalities, strengths, and faults. Dawnstar completed that transition over the last few issues. Now it’s Jacques’ turn.

So it’s with no small amount of pleasure to see him featured on the cover of 324 with a promise of his first solo mission. The splash page of the story introduces us to his friend, Emil, who appears to be older and balding—offering variety among depictions of dark-skinned characters. And we have more wonderful Ernie Colon art, which gives the story a charming Silver Age atmosphere. The tale hits the ground running.

However, it quickly unfolds into a standard mystery plot: When something causes Emil’s holo-mapping equipment to explode, Jacques helps his friend. At first stymied, he seeks advice from fellow Legionnaire Shrinking Violet and then returns to capture the culprits—two tiny Imskians, who sought to keep the maps from discovering their secret bases on another world.

There’s nothing wrong with a standard plot. In fact, a bare-bones structure could be used to illuminate our central character, shed light on his personality and powers, and help him grow. Jacques does delight in solving the case all by himself—and that’s great, but the story omits key steps to show how he got there. I’m not sure what tipped him off to Imskians being involved. For expediency of the plot, we rush from the first explosion he encounters to his visit with Shrinking Violet. Couldn’t something else have caused the explosions—say magic, a Daxamite, a Bgztlian . . . or even a Durlan (there’s even one present)?

Only at the very end do we learn that the planet with the secret bases is a “sister planet” of Imsk—a detail which would have tipped the reader off immediately. That’s why we don’t learn about it. However, a good mystery story plays fair with the reader. This one doesn’t.

Jacques’ first solo story is well intentioned, but it doesn’t go far enough in telling us anything new about him as a character. We’re given some details of Global Products and its role in the Ivory Coast, Jacques’ homeland, but this is an infodump. I felt I’d learned more about Jacques from his interaction with his two sisters a while back.

While the Colon art is good throughout, it veers into silliness in places. Jacques carrying Emil under his arm in two panels presents an odd image, especially since Emil talks the whole time. The two saboteurs are stereotyped baddies, one of whom happens to be overweight and dimwitted.

Dialogue presents another challenge. It’s difficult to write characters with foreign accents. In college, I wrote an article (never published) about the use of accents in comics, and I came to admire writers who really have it down—who can convey unique speech patterns in a natural way. Newell doesn’t have it down in this story. The French words area are distractions, especially since Jacques and Emil would not be talking to other in both French and English. This clunky convention assists the reader; however, Newell found a much better way to show characters speaking in different languages during the Dawnstar story.

Whereas Dawnstar’s story represented a coming of age for her, Jacques story seems child-like in its execution and conclusion. Whereas Dawny emerged as a fully realized character, Jacques still has that mountain to climb.

And here's how the latest two issues fared in my Top 27 of March 12, 1985:

1. Tales of the New Teen Titans # 54 -- DC
2. New Teen Titans # 9 -- DC
3. Star Trek # 15 -- DC
4. Blue Devil # 13 -- DC
5. Crisis on Infinite Earths # 3 -- DC
6. All-Star Squadron # 46 -- DC
7. Infinity Inc. # 15 -- DC
8. Dreadstar # 18 -- Marvel/Epic
9. Dreadstar & Company # 1 -- Marvel/Epic
10. New Defenders # 144 -- Marvel

11. Fury of Firestorm # 36 -- DC
12. Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes # 324 -- DC
13. Fantastic Four # 279 -- Marvel
14. Iron Man # 195 -- Marvel
15. Green Lantern # 189 -- DC
16. Captain America # 306 -- Marvel
17. Shadow War of Hawkman # 2 -- DC
18. Badger # 6 -- First
19. Amazing Spider-Man # 265 -- Marvel
20. Nexus # 10 -- First

21. Sun-Devils # 10 -- DC
22. Marvel Tales # 176 -- Marvel
23. Legion of Super-Heroes # 11 -- DC
24. Avengers # 256 -- Marvel
25. Gargoyle # 2 -- Marvel
26. Justice League of America # 239 -- DC
27. Flash # 346 -- DC

. . . so Tales ranked much higher this time while the Baxter title still languished near the bottom.

Thoth's post above prompted me to re-read Tales/Titans 54. It still holds up extremely well. I enjoyed watching the Titans interact with the New York legal system and not look out of place. The dialogue is wonderful, especially in the Titans' scene with Lilith. There are a lot of wordy balloons but it all feels like natural dialogue. Marv Wolfman was also a master of character complexity, especially in how Gar behaves. He is very smart but still a 15-year-old kid caught up in his own emotions over Tara's death. The Titans' discussion over how they responded to Lilith's apparent danger from "the man with wings" also reveals a lot about each of them and how they interact. Brilliant stuff.

LSH #12 The More Things Change by Paul Levitz, art by Steve Lightle & Mike Machlan, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by John Costanza



A team of Legionnaires, with Superboy, fight a large number of pirates who have been harassing a space sector. One of the pirate ships flees, pursued by Wildfire and Superboy, but suddenly disappears. Dawnstar can not track it and wonders aloud if her power has been damaged by Brainy's treatments.

At Legion HQ, Brin uses a computailor for a new uniform before setting out to fulfill Val's legacy. He suggests Blok might also get a new look, then goes to vote before leaving.

Outside, the three founders salute the Legion flag before going in to vote for Leader. They're joined by Jan and Shvaughn. Imra worries about Brainy running because of the stress. Once inside, Nura says Jan has a chance since she isn't running, then proceeds to kiss baby Graym on the cheek and Jan on the lips.

In space, Dawnstar complains to Brainy about her powers; he tells her she's fine but not the right Legionnaire to find the pirates and that he's called in someone else. She is reassured when she does track the missing ship several hours later. As the Legionnaires attack, Tinya - Brainy's secret weapon - enters the ship and proceeds to the control center. The ship disappears; Wildfire is annoyed that Tinya is lost with it, but Dirk supports Brainy's theory. Indeed, the ship reappears, with Tinya hauling the Bgtzlian captain. A device had augmented his power to turn the ship intangible.

At Legion HQ, the three founders finish voting; they tell Jan they voted for him, then resign. He's shocked, but they proceed to tell him how the Legion must change.

Comments:

This is an uncomplicated story, with a brief little mystery. It's also a hinge between the Legion's past and future. Superboy joins a mission; Dawnstar worries about her powers, Imra worries about Brainy's stability under stress and there are pirates, an old Legion standby, including one Resource Raider.

The founders saluting their flag really does shout old school - have these three always done that, or is this just a nostalgic gesture? I'm reminded of that nice scene in 5YL when the SW6 Legion emerges from underground and stops en masse to salute their flag, much to the consternation of Devlin O'Ryan..

Brin has a new confidence; he's about to embark on a quest and doesn't need Ayla to help him dress.

Brainy is his usual clever self, a bit arrogant but the only one to solve the problem. Opinion is split among Legionnaires on how much to trust him, however: Dawnstar immediately blames him when her tracking fails to find the ship, Imra worries about him, Dirk and Jan are confident in him.

Wildfire is still very protective of Dawnstar, although she doesn't interact directly with him.

Dawnstar refers to Kol's planet as "the exile planet", indicating that there's a story that never made it to publication.

Just as Dawnstar's powers were augmented, so were the Bgtzlian pirate captain's. It's a nice parallel, but opens the door to a slippery slope: why isn't the galaxy full of super-powered criminals with augmented abilities?

The mystery of the disappearing ship raises several other questions: can Dawnstar not track intangible Tinya? What about invisible Jacques?

The scenes of the team fighting the pirates are very dynamic.

I figured it was because the ship fully crossed the dimensional barrier between Earth and Bgtzl so it was outside the range of Dawny's powers...I may be misremembering it but I think there was a scene in the last Legion series as well that implied Dawnstar was a bit awkward around Phantom Girl because when Tinya phases, it confuses Dawny's tracking power. I don't think Jacques would be a problem though, he's still physically in the same space even if you can't see him

Also again I dunno if I am remembering it wrong or not, but in that story the Bgtzlr guy who used his power on the ship looked like Phantom Lad, yeah? I don't think anyone's ever actually said it was him, but I wonder if it was an easter egg?

LSH 12

“Uncomplicated” is certainly the word for this story. It almost reeks of nostalgia, with Superboy returning just to hang out with his friends (because doing so allows him to cut loose more than super-heroing in the 20th century). The story is built on a simple mystery with a simple solution—one that is so obvious, it makes you wonder why there weren’t more Legion stories with criminals from Legionnaire home worlds. We’ve seen Daxamites and Imskians turning to the dark side (pun intended); now it’s a Bgztlian’s turn. The 30th century could be a very interesting and dangerous place if more people decided to use their native talents for bad.

The space pirates story turns out to be of secondary importance to the changes the Legion goes through. The three Founders finally announce their resignations from active membership, and the latest leadership election dominates the second half of the book. It’s almost a letdown that Jan gets re-elected. After the big build-up, one would expect another dark horse (Timber Wolf?!) to emerge as Dream Girl did a couple of years ago. But Jan gets the nod again. He deserves it, of course, and his leadership will provide continuity as the team takes on several new members at once. Still, it seems like a letdown.

This is one area where reality differs from fiction—and I’ve come to better appreciate this difference in the decades since this issue was published. In the real world, we want our heroes, friends, and organizations to be stable. In fiction, too much stability is boring. I think this is one of the reasons why the last few issues of the Baxter series have been lackluster: Levitz forgot to tell stories—or he told them in such a way that they lack drama.

I’m not saying the Fatal Five have to come crashing in to disrupt every election, or that somebody has to angsty lose his or her powers. But there should be a greater sense of danger, at least as a subplot. In hindsight, we get some danger over the long haul—with Universo working behind the scenes and Crisis about to engulf everyone—but these arcs move at such a snail’s pace for the Legion that Levitz should be dubbed Molasses Lad. As we discussed previously, having a payoff in every chapter of a serialized story keeps readers enthralled. There should at least be some forward momentum or sense of urgency.

Instead, the entire second “story” (which is really just the second half of the first story) drags on interminably, showing us how different people anticipate the results of the Legion’s election. We already know the Legionnaires are stars across the UP and that they make the news every time they burp. Most of these scenes add little to my understanding or appreciation of the characters or their universe—although it was fun to watch Shvaughn being teased mercilessly by her SP colleagues. Also, Ganglios (the future Tellus) is matter-of-factly dropped into a Legion Academy scene. We haven’t seen him before, correct? His appearance comes across as an intrusion. We’re expected to believe that this character has been interacting with Pol, Jed, Laurel and CQ for some time?

Where the writing excels is in the character moments—Brin adopting a new costume without Ayla’s input and looking forward to his mission to fulfill Karate Kid’s will; Dawny at first blaming Brainy for her apparent loss of power; Graym being not too impressed with Nura’s kiss (what a discerning infant!); and the Founders saluting the flag. But a story is more than just “moments.” Those moments should add up to something.

LSH 12 is by no means a bad issue, but it needs a lot of tight editing. Someone should have said to Levitz, “I know you love the Legion, and the fans love the Legion, but what about the hundreds of thousands of comic book fans who aren’t that into the Legion? How do we draw them in and keep them interested?” Of course, Karen Berger probably wanted to keep her job.

That's perfect! - and it could have been confirmed with one sentence from Tinya.



Jan certainly seemed more surprised than the readers! A dark horse could have shaken things up - we were pleasantly surprised with how competent Nura turned out to be as leader. As you point out, however, Jan provides continuity for a time when the Legion will undergo changes.



Good point. I wouldn't want my life to be one tenth as exciting as that of the Legionnaires.



Tellus first appeared in #9, hovering over Laurel along with the other students - but wasn't named.

The UP analysts discussing the election provided a nice collection of aliens (including someone from the Asterix planet?) but it was sort of a wasted scene since we didn't see any of these races again, except for the Gil D'ishpan (who I didn't think were part of the U.P. - but maybe he's a visiting scholar).



Over time, I think the moments do add to our sense of the individuals and their world but could have been put into the context of a more dramatic story. Nice snapshots, but I agree recent issues have been lackluster.

Thanks for the catch (figuratively and literally ). Something else else fishy is going on at the Academy.



The various aliens reminded me of Nexus, whose world was also populated with bizarre and silly looking aliens. I wonder if Levitz and Lightle were reading this series.



Some of these "slow movements" are quite successful, such as Jan coming into his own as leader and the gradual disintegration of Nura and Thom's relationship. But I've really come to appreciate how episodes of a TV series can build a slow arc over time yet still create a fully realized story in increments of half an hour or one hour. This seems to be what Levitz is shooting for but not quite hitting.

LoSh v3 12

Considering two excellent Lightle covers are coming up, I just don’t seem to be a huge fan of recent ones. The elements (composition not lad) are here; Space Battle, visual Legionnaires in Drake, Dawny and Dirk and a Superboy whooshing (well, in space no one can hear you whoosh) through a ship, while showing off his invulnerability. But Supes looks too baby faced, and he seems to have gone through the hull of that ship with his head. One guy doesn’t have a helmet, and Dirk looks to have killed a couple of others. The Mission monitor symbols are nice, but they don’t add a thing to the cover and their colour detracts from everything else.

The cover links in with the first scene, where the Legion intercept space pirates. I prefer the poses on pages 2-3. Effort is made to tell us that while Superboy is helping out, he never rejoins. Much like previous issues, it’s a done thing as far as DC are concerned. Perhaps Levitz was just enforcing Crisis. Superboy isn’t going to be around for much longer.

Superboy finding 30th century space pirates more of a challenge is a bit odd. There are plenty of 20th century villains more challenging. Perhaps pre-Metropolis was a really dull time for Clark.

One of the pirate ships manages to disappear. Dawny blaming Brainy’s experiments on her powers links in with previous issues. But it’s just another example of her powers being useless when required by the plot. As Superboy goes with his kryptonite, red solar radiation and magic, Dawny has a variety of clever foes that evade her abilities. Only, her other powers are written to stand out, so she becomes a bit of a dead weight to the team.

Back at HQ, where we get a little Giffenesque intro pic, Brin chooses a new costume. It’s a big improvement. The last one was as dull as his personality. Just as important is the line where he says he’ll do fine without Lightning Lass there to help him. It’s a sign he’s moving on too. Blok is left pondering a new look, with the pre-boot Arathamites floating around. It will be a big improvement too.

Elsewhere, the founders salute the Legion flag before going into vote on a new leader. It doesn’t seem os long since Jan took over from Nura. On one hand we’re told it’s for no occasion while a panel later being told that it’s a requirement that can be waived by the leader. I had read it, at first, as it being just something they do, rather than it being a Legion thing. Yet another little wedge to separate their time from the rest of the team as Levitz has been moving to do for a very long time. The flag saluting will be back in a couple of issues.

While flag saluting is what they’re doing we get little continuity nods like stress and Brainy and Shvaugn’s support of Jan’s long tenure in the group. She’s brushed aside by Dreamy at her best, telling us that she’s not standing for leader. The reactions are interesting. Jan is a bit hesitant, which reminds me of some of his time as leader. Erin is infuriated, and I wonder how much of their growing relationship has pushed Jan’s confidence into a leadership role. Garth and Imra are simply more interested in their child. Rokk, the one who ahs been worrying over transitions the most seems happy that he’s leaving the team in capable hands like Nura’s. With her as part of a developing core team, it makes the changes easier.

Back in the main plot, Dawny confronts Brainy about her powers, only to be told that they are working perfectly well, but that she’s not the Legionnaire for the mission. It’s a classic Brainy tease, although any friendship between Dawny and Brainy seems to have gone down a few notches compared to Mindy Newell’s work over on Tales.

What is similar to Newell’s story is seeing a happy Dawnstar forget herself while on a mission. Superboy covers her back, but Drake isn’t far away. He’s also the one who was most upset at the thought of Dawny losing her powers. Both are shown to throw space pirates around physically, which makes a nice change to how their powers are usually portrayed.
The correct Legionnaire arrives in the form of Phantom Girl. She enters the ship before it vanishes, enjoys tracking down the captain who turns out to be form her home world using a phasing mechanism to cause the disappearance.

The others wait for her to reappear. Drake, ever over protective, worries that Tinya has lost. Dirk, who knows Tinya a lot better, tells him to have a little fiath in their colleague. But everyone, but Brainy seems a little tense.

Lightle splits the page in two and then adds four panels showing the same space with the returning ship in the final one. It’s an excellent way of increasing the story beats waiting for the returning ship. Wildfire worry means he’s the most relived when she returns. In a little twist, he now feels obligated to trust Brainy for leader, where he was previously against the Coluan for the experiments with Dawny, not to mention the mission that made her meet Jhodan (although that’s not mentioned here).

Levitz cleverly gave us a science with the founders, Jan and voting for a reason. We now see them after they’ve voted. It’s their final act as active Legionnaires and they resign form active duty. Jan is hesitant once again. But that’s okay. The founders aren’t leaving before they outline a few plans.

“It’s time the Legion started to change…”

It’s been a long time in coming, but then It should be a key moment. The impact of even these changes is seen in the back up story.

The backup has the UP Council analysts, Legion Academy members, media sources and the SPs views on both the election and the membership changes.

There’s a variety of views with one saying “I think they’re only electing a new leader like they do every so often. And if they change who’s an active member, so what—they’ve had dozens of membership changes.”

That’s a functional look at the first story. As readers, we’ll see if there are further changes hinted at, that make more of an impact in future issues. It should be noted that a lot of the work has already been done.

The team that were headlined by Superboy, moved out into their own title and that title was popular enough to launch a Baxter book.

We see the celebrity status of the Legion here very prominently, as Levitz said they were in the RPG.

Both titles have seen the founders and their Kryptonite stars move into the background. Crisis is here, and it’s going to bring changes. Some unanticipated ones will have the biggest impact and controversy.

The back up also continues some subplots and hints at others. President Desai is the one who’s looking for the UP analysis on the Legion. Zendak too, but firmly second in the order.
Laurel Kent is recovery form her bullet wound and we hear that Dvron is still investigating.

At the academy we see Laurel, Jed, Grava, Ganglios and Pol. We’re told that there are 19 active Legionnaires, so there’s a chance a number of these will make the grade. The feeling among them , though, is that it’s Pol who stands the best chance.

Is this the first time we see Tellus?

At the end of the scene, Chuck wants to introduce them to some people. I’d have liked to have found out who. It’s nice that the plot leaves us hanging, but I wonder if it was Drake & Dawny or the founders.

Jan doubts himself, but only so that Imra can remind us of how Jan got into the team. It’s something that’s going to be very relevant in two issues time.
Jan wins the election and goes out to meet fan Flynt Brojj, in another reminder of how much Levitz knows his Legion history.

Finally, Garth and Imra’s kid really does look to have super grip powers. I wonder if there’s a scene where he gets an Invisible Kid action figure. Maybe he’s like his brother.

Comments



Well put.



Oh, well spotted. I did see someone with the same skin tone as Jed.



I don’t remember them doing it, for what my memory cell is worth. I used to think they spent all their spare time building statues.

As for v4 that flag salute in the middle of a battleground was…well, it deservedly didn’t end well. Id’ like to think it was a comment on the pointlessness of tradition in the face of changing conflict, but it was more likely a cheap way of getting rid of some of the cast.



If his new costume had come with laces, he would have been in trouble though.



I like to see divided opinions on the team. Dirk has settled into being confident in a relaxed way. He trusts Brainy and Tinya here, having worked with them for so long.



Another good spot. She’s going to be telling him to find his own panels soon, and then he’ll have to appear in another book if she has to get a restraining order out.



Look-it-up-Lad tells me that the first part of the Dawny story was called “Into Exile” Which may have meant that the story title had a lot more meaning, or it’s now being seen as a convenient title for the world. I think they were all Blue Devil worshippers, exiled from Earth. The Staff of Kol will turn out ot be Blue Devil’s trident and that eventually a Kid Devil II would have joined the Legion, once Briany and Dawny went back. Tomorrow, I may have another view…



In v6/7 they had an augmented Daxamaite. They hinted that his internal systems were burning out by using power at that level. Maybe there’s a risk when everyone else tries it too.


I think it’s because Bgtzl is not within our universe that stumped her power. Or the ship moved to the buffer zone, and that’s sort of outside the universe too. The same way she couldn’t track the Lost Legionnaires in the earlier issues. Actually, sicne it’s essentially the same thing, her powers not working here seems less of a plot fudge.

Jacques might be tough to trace if he’s in the Dream Dimension. But if he’s in ours then she would be able to find him. Besides, even when invisible, Dawny would find him because she’d hear things like “Mon dieu, I am trapped under debris again!” or “Mademoiselle, I have a convenient info dump to share!”

I see Raz has covered this



It seems that it’s just some random guy form her home dimension. I like to think of him as Phantom Lad too.




We get Braalians in a later issue of this volume too. If it happened often, you’d want part of the Legion’s set up to be to counter it.



Brin was 38/1 according to a police officer trying to get inside information to cheat the bookies. Apparently, the SPs get weekly scans, but it must be like confessional where everything they’ve done gets forgiven.



In one of the Titans’ Companions, the editor responsible for Titans Hunt said that every issue of the book had become “a very special issue of…” and that he wanted to inject more immediate drama into things. I think the success of both books meant that there was a little bit more of a hands off approach when the departure of Perez and Giffen should have required a bit more of intervention. Plot-wise, they’ve been fine on paper. Here we get movement with the Desai, Laurel, Founder, Brin quest, membership plots all within a little faux silver age opening short story. But a couple of issues of this would show that it’s needs a bit more direct peril. And that should have come at the end of the opening arc of the book.



I didn’t mind this so much, although the overly cartoony art didn’t really work for me. I’d rather have seen it combined in the main story though, showing how Legionnaires like Gim and Chuck deal with events of this magnitude while living away form HQ.



I didn’t think so either. He’s a Lightle design so he’s not been around for long. They do link him to the special student in the tank from #304, so technically he’s been around for a while.


Thanks Birthday Girl.



Berger has never struck me as being shy to express her views. Until you see the final product, things look fine. The Controller plot had more in it than you’d see in most other books of the period. It just lacked in the execution of the main plot a bit. That it’s become a bit of a trend should have been remedied by now. As you say, it’s an okay issue rather than being a poor one. Or a really good one. But then, the next couple…

The Legion really could have messed with Superboy: "We know who you're going to marry. . . . You're going to die, but you come back. . . . Be sure to major in journalism in college." Kal would never be sure if the Legionnaires were dropping hints or just goofing off. "Gee, I guess I'll major in architecture just to show them."

Superboy has at least a couple of appearances left, including, of course, the four-part crossover which writes him out for good.



Levitz seems to have revived the tradition of having a new election approximately every year of real time. The previous few leaderships (Mon-El, Wildfire, and Lightning Lad) lasted at least a couple of years of publication time. Not having so many elections gave the impression of each "year" of Legion time lasting longer and being more packed with significant events, just as a year in a life of any organization would be. Annual elections give the impression that not much has happened each year (though the events which have happened have been quite huge). It also left me wondering about the time span of certain events, such as how long Jan and the rest were lost.

Being told that elections occur "every so often" is comic bookese for not nailing things down by being too specific. Presumably, this prevented the time line from moving forward too quickly. I remember writing an article for Amazing Heroes (never published) in which I speculated that Legion elections were now held every nine months. This would allow for a reasonable passage of time yet still keep the timeline moving forward. However, it would (in hindsight) also complicate things unnecessarily and is something few writers would want to keep track of. (Although Giffen did keep close track of the passage of time in 5YL.)



Good observation. I like the changes Dawny has gone through in these issues.



Levitz was quite good at setting up scenes like this.



Well put. The Legion had certainly grown up, as had many of its fans. The fact that the Legion was still relevant to us, and vice versa, says something about how resilient, flexible, and positive the series was.



Thanks for sharing the info from the Titans Companion. It's the old corporate philosophy: If it's not broken, don't fix it. But I think the "break" in both Titans and Legion occurred gradually and came in the form of staleness following the departure of a key creator. Giffen did not "love" the Legion as a fan, like Levitz did, and he was not above shaking things up for the hell of it. He was yin to Levitz's yang. Without him, the book has lost much of its sizzle.

Fat Cramer:



His existence (though not his appearance) was indicated in LSH # 304, when there is an academy student communicating with the others by means of a hovering speaker/receiver, about whom it is said that for the time being, he cannot survive outside of his special environment chamber.

Ah, but is that really that Superboy?



The lettercol in this very issue that raised the same question of Jan's tenure seemingly being short, funnily enough. Levitz responded with "We're open to extending terms - maybe we should hold an informal vote on how many issues a leader's term should run. But when you're considering that, please remember that: (a) this year, we've got two issues a month, and (b) it takes many months for after the announcement of an election to work the results into our stories... the results announced in #306 were from an election in #296!" Combine that, and Element Lad had a thirty-one issue term by the time we concluded this election!"

The Election Results are also posted:-

91 - Jan
87 - Querl
71 - Brin (I wonder if Cusimano put money on him being deputy?)
70 - Tasmia
53 - Drake
43 - Blok
42 - Nura and Dirk
41 - Tinya
38 - Rokk and Mysa
36 - Lar
28 - Dawnstar
26 - Jo
25 - Salu
22 - Reep
19 - Imra
17 - Thom
12 - Garth
09 - Jacques
05 - Gim



Well put yourself, sir.




Before v7 Levitz did an interview where he was going to "f*!$" with the cast, and it just read as a ridiculously forced thing for him to say, to try and attract attention to the book. Giffen would do that, and even he would have/ seek plot related reasons for doing it (huffs aside), that would then be firmly guided by editorial (when there was a decent editorial to firmly guide). It reminded me of Wolfman going along with the editors of Titans Hunt and beyond because he was struggling with writer's block. I see the similar tone as a clear sign of writers whose time has come to seek new challenges.

Tales #325 5 to the Infinite Power by Paul Levitz, & Mindy Newell, art by Dan Jurgens & Karl Kesel, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by Bob Lappan



The Legionnaires rescue Dev-em,primarily thanks to Lar's actions, and escape from Dark Circle blasts. The return to the ship orbiting destroyed Amadus just as Gigi hangs up on a reporter for celebrity news, seeking a story on her romance with Dirk. She still believes Dev-em is a traitor. Lar administers medical help, reviving Dev-em, and talks about the connection between Daxam and Krytpon.

At Legion HQ, Gim works out as Dirk teases him about Yera and brushes off the trick Gim, Yera and Gigi played on him. They join Jan, Tinya and Blok on a ship to rendezvous with Gigi and the Legionnaires. Now fully recovered, Dev-em joins the Legionnaires to seek out the Dark Circle, informing them that there are only five oribinal Circle members, but they have been cloned multiple times.

In their Citadel, each of the five Dark Circle members, including Ontiir, boast of their importance to the movement and claim to have thousands of worlds under their clones' control. Although they lost Dev-em, they still have his cells to enable further cloning. The Legionnaires burst through a wall, one of the Circle recognizes Mysa. There's an explosion and the Circle escape. As the Legionnaires are attacked by Dev-em's clones, Jo asks if it's okay to kill a clone and Lar tells him they're still living beings. Mysa prepares a spell, which incorporates the clones with Dev-em.

Gigi speaks with Zendak. She admits she was wrong about Dev-em, but is angered that Zendak sent her to Bismoll with the Subs and has stuck her with monitoring Dev-em's spy work.

While the escaped Dark Circle bicker, Tinya enters their ship, then the rest of Jan's team joins them to capture the five. One of the five (or all of them?) commits suicide amid a flash of green light and vows that no human can contain his power. Zendak reports that all the clones on the dark Circle world have died.

Epilogue 1: Gigi and Dev-em discuss events and he considers joining the Science Police, if it means keeping close to Gigi. She thinks to herself that he has possibilities.

Epilogue 2: Mysa and Blok reflect on the past year and settle down to review holos of various cases. The next morning, Garth and Imra find them asleep before the monitor and tell readers what stories are ahead for Tales of the Legion.

Comments:

Not too shabby for a wrap-up issue, which leaves more mysteries about the Dark Circle. The big reveal is that there are only five originals and the rest are cloned; we also learn that they have thousands of planets under their control. Is that an exaggeration, or is it just a very big galaxy? It would seem to dwarf the reach of the United Planets, the Khundish Empire and the Dominion.

It's not clear if all the five commit suicide (or are killed?), but the green light surrounding the one shown, his claim that the non-human power will live on and his recognition of Mysa suggest magic (possibly Mordru involved) or green energy (GLs or Emerad Eye). With all the clones dead at the same time, it looks like a major power vacuum has just opened up, but I don't recall any Circle activity until 5YL, at which point they've become very strong and are working with Universo. So perhaps we should add Universo into the mix of possible forces, along with the Green Lantern suggestion.

We finally learn that Ontiir was on the side of the Dark Circle - or maybe not, if his clone was capable of independent thought.

Lar really shines here. He's pretty much the one who rescues Dev-em, with assist from Jo and Mysa. He's the one who maintained faith in Dev-em's loyalty, who takes care of the medical treatment and who reminds (or reigns in) Jo about not killing living beings.

Mysa's reabsorption spell is quite spectacular. She was able to whip it up pretty quickly, given that she just found out about the clones. Good solution, but it certainly makes Mysa the go-to solution for any outlandish problem.

Gigi does a very quick turnaround on Dev-em - a rebound romance? He's pretty chauvinistic and super-egotistical, but it appears to appeal to her, although she just had that same personality with Dirk. She complains to Zendak about being dispatched to Bismoll before being put on ICC/Dev-em back-up, referencing the Subs Special, conveniently advertised in this issue.

Although the Legion crashes through a lot of walls when Lar, Jo or Kal are around, Jan makes a nice point that he was able to just change the hull wall of the Circle ship to oxygen. There's still a hole in the hull, though, which either got repaired by the ship's systems or he maintained that air bubble until they returned to the Legion cruiser.

TotLoSH 325

The Legion about to fight a giant Jan Arrah who, as the terrible Omniphagos, has his mouth open and is about to eat a planet, is a suitable dramatic cover for the final new story in Tales.

Inside, we get the concluding part of the Dev-Em story. The splash page picks up right where we left off. Jo points out that Dev looks to be dead, as he’s encased in the poisoning green of Krypttonite. All the other elements are there too (story ones, not to go with Kryptonite) form last issue. Lar and Mysa, are with Jo and we see two of the Dev-Em clones they’ve just finished off. The Dark Circle control the ship where Dev-Em is entombed.

The Circle try to blackmail the Legionnaires not surrendering, but Jo and Lar manage to free him easily and escape. It was far too easy, considering the build up. But they are tow of the most powerful heroes, and Lar was very annoyed. Besides, going along with villainous plots is just what the heroes are supposed to do, so that must have confused the Circle somewhat

Dev is rushed back to the SP ship where we get another hint of the Legion’s celebrity status. Reporters are calling on duty officer Cusimano for gossip on an affair with Sun Boy. Her reaction suggests that this one will continue, and that’s confirmed by Gim and Dirk’s near confrontation in the next scene. It doesn’t look as though Dirk has learned much. The two join Jan, Tinya and Blok as back up to Lar, Jo and Mysa.

No wonder the UP’s economy would later tank, if they fit all of their shuttles with technology to cure poisoned Kryptonians. Dev looked worse than any poisoning that Kal went through. Yet, like the rescue, he recovers very quickly. After setting the equipment up, the team have a chat about Kryptonian/ Daxamite heritage and Mysa traces her ancestry back to Earth.

A very healthy Dev-Em, in a new costume, joins the others as they head back into Dark Circle territory. Dev reveals that the Circle are really five individuals with lots of clones. They had wanted Dev to be the sixth. Unlike the five, he would have been a prisoner. The would have been better trying to entice Ol-Virr into their schemes. That would have made for a climax when the kid realised the Circle weren’t all serving Darkseid. We’re reminded that there’s still five Dev clones out there, and the genetic material to make more. Mysa seems determined to ensure that the cells will be taken care of. It’s a set up panel, showing that bit of writing craft that goes into the structure.

The Jurgens/ Kesel art also continues to be excellent throughout. We switch to a nice double page spread of the five Dark Circle members engaging in some recriminations, while telling us about what they brought to the organisation. There’s a very good set up panel as one of the circle dramatically removed his cowl.

As the Legion arrives (careless of the Circle to sign post their HQ & who needs Dawny when you have Plot Powers?) it allows Mysa to recognise the man. Cloning mixed with sorcery? The Circle detonate a bomb, but it doesn’t seem to hurt anyone. Mysa must have had a handy invulnerability spell active. Jo comments about the code against killing applying to clones. The dialogue is supposed to give the scene a little edge, but it just makes the Legion look as though they’re constantly on the look out for things that they can get away with killing, only to have their fun spoilt by the code.
Mysa gets time to prepare her spell and the Dev-Em clones are reabsorbed into the original. Jo does run some interference for her, but there’s nothing to really suggest that we’re dealing with five super powerful Kryptonite clones here. They took out Jo fairly easily last time, but there’s no panels showing a real conflict here.

The ease continues as the back up team intercept the main Circle craft. They smile and joke their way through easily beating some major Legion foes. The captured Circle boast that they will not be stopped by incarceration on Takron Galtos. They also reveal their plan is still to conquer Earth and that they will use their captured cells to achieve it. Threats made, the one Mysa recognised seems to mentally pull a switch and every Dark Circle clone dies. That includes those who were on the ship.

The SPs think that this has put the Circle’s plans back decades. But the spine of v4 involves the cells that the Legion strangely couldn’t find on the Circle’s ship, or form investigation on their now dead homeworld.

Dev-Em gets a commendation for the Circle’s defeat, and plays down the Legion’s role in events in that immodest way that prevents the heroes from ever really taking to him. There’s a hint that his options are open. Will he stay with the ICC, join the Science Police or… join the Legion?

The Legion let in Atmos and Myg eventually, and Drake’s already in there, so personality isn’t always a criteria for membership.

Cusimano has switched from calling Dev-Em a traitor, and not seemingly being too pleased to help him recover form poisoning to starting a burgeoning romance with him. She and Dirk may be more alike than she thinks. That’s something Mon El pointed out earlier. As Erin departed her part on the mission to turn up in a Superman story, Cusimano replaced her following another spin off; this time to the Legion of Subs Special.

A final epilogue shows Mysa and Blok update the records of the mission, as the curtain falls on the original tales. As they fall asleep watching the archives, two of the departing founders arrive to break the fourth wall. They tell the readers about the Baxter book and that Tales will be reprinting Baxter issues from next month. In a lovely touch, little Graym is shown playing with the subscription form at the bottom.

In the letter column, Margaret-Mary Martin talks about the Brainy-Kara relationship following #320. Levitz’s answer is interesting.

“The relationship fascinates us as much as it does you, Margaret-Mary, so don’t be surprised if we find a way to make it a more regular part of the Legion tales. In fact, there are some developments in the DC Universe that might make that necessary.”

That’s an early Sensor Girl hint, and we’re nearly into the start of those developments in the Baxter book. Unfortunately, whatever Levitz had thought was going to happen for Brainy, Kara and Kal, wasn’t how things would work out.

In summary, I did enjoy the Circle story. I’ve enjoyed all of the last year of Tales, and would have liked to have seen them continue, even if under other creative teams. Schoemaker & Jurgens were excellent Legion artists to follow Giffen, and Newell brought plenty of new insights to the book too.

I wonder if DC ever had discussions about multiple books, to cash in on the success of Titans and Legion, along the same lines as Marvel did around the X-Men, when the New Mutants came around.
The Circle story did get wrapped up a little too conveniently. It’s no bad thing to be left wanting more from a story. But Dev’s poisoning didn’t amount to much. The Circle’s plans folded very quickly, again, including bombs that did little damage and clones that were ineffectual. The Circle have been key protagonists across the last year of Tales stories, and all they’ve managed to do is kill everyone on their own planet. There is the threat of a different Circle Empire emerging. So perhaps, like Mordru, Starfinger, The Trapper etc, this is another evolution of the Legion's threats.

Li’l thoth’s trip to the land of Elsenwhen

The Atari Force return to New Earth in #19. Back when New Earth was an idea that hadn’t reached the Legion. Atari Force had a lot of very good back up stories, and this issue is no exception.
The cries from older JLA readers had been heard, and the original team return in #240. Even if it’s only a flashback story against a dull foe called Dr Anomaly. Sekowsky art though, and a Busiek story.
Regular artist Chick Patton, is helping out on Batman #385 this month, which is a Calendar Man story.

The current team turned up in Hawkman’s Shadow War mini #3. The Hawks are destroying all of their technology to deny it to their enemies. That includes all the Thanagarian gizmos the JLA has used over the years.

As I’ve mentioned in my Justice League Detroit thread, a lot of Leaguers had they’re own series in the pipeline just as Gerry Conway made a point of not including anyone who had a series. A lot of those series were touted as being a lot better than they turned out to be. The Shadow War mini was interesting, but the regular series that followed limped along.
The Red Tornado series, that promised huge changes started this month, and didn’t deliver. Crisis did that.

Likewise, the Martian Manhunter revision of J’Emm was also limping near its conclusion this month in #11.

Tales of the Teen Titans #55 has all of Gar Logan’s pent up anger unleashed against the Terminator. I probably didn’t appreciate it as much at the time, partly form not having read all the issues. But it’s one story where Wolfman could have gone in a standard direction, but chooses to let it take a more natural course with the result of an issue that really stands the test of time.
Eduardo Barreto did a superb cover for #55, and he also did excellent interior work in #19. Just as good as his higher profile predecessors on both titles.

Swan and Schaffenberger continue their classic looks in Superman. But DC’s art is also looking forward with McManus on Omega Men and Alan Davis on Batman & the Outsiders. Todd Macfarlane is the artist on Dr Fate’s origin in All-Star Squadron #47 (Roy Thomas seems to be shifting some gears on that one to change it’s approach). Kevin O’Neill gets to draw the back up in Green Lantern. Not with an Alan Moore story though.

The main story in GL features Green Arrow and Black Canary. Being a back up in detective was enough to keep them out of the JLA. Former Legion artist Pat Broderick was drawing the main story in Detective Comics this month.

Moore is writing “sophisticated suspense” in Swamp Thing before DC feel comfortable using the word “horror” never mind “vertigo”

Bender is another classic artist working in the back up of Action Comics. Aliens looking for a Superman to appear in their movie of the hero come up with some unlikely seeming candidates. There’s a solid message nicely placed under this one, as there is in the main story that I probably didn’t appreciate at the time.

Vigilante #19 has stereotypes throughout, but does have a good father/son relationship twist at the end.

The closing statements are being made in the Flash trial, as the Reverse Flash looks to be back from the dead. Has the whole trial been in error?

The big issue this month is Ambush Bug #2, introducing Quantis, the Koala that walked like a man! Visual gags! Wordplay! Caption gags! Just gags! Continuity gags guest starring Jonni DC! An amazing cliffhanger and a deep love of DC. It hasn’t dated a bit.

I got a DC booklet with some recent buys, and they were advertising Jonni DC in exactly the same role for one of the current books. It’s got its work cut out for it to come anywhere close to this one.
Crisis moved onto #4, with the death of the Monitor, while Who’s Who was on #5

As I got Ambush Bug #2, a limited series issue, li’l thoth must have been up to the city comic shops.

It was a great time to start reading, as I was being introduced to all of DC through Crisis and Who’s Who. I got a little nostalgic feeling from looking at both those covers, indicating that they were ones I picked up before some of the rest of the run. My trips weren’t regular so I’d be picking up a couple of issues at a time for titles I couldn’t get at the news stand.

From the newsstand I’d have got: JLA, Tales of the Titans and Legion, All-Star, Atari Force

From the Big Smoke – Ambush Bug, Crisis and Who’s Who. That seems like a flying visit, so perhaps I picked up some books form previous months as well this time round. I do recall getting a few Who's Who's at the same time. Comic book bliss.

I’ve also picked up Firestorm, Superman and Flash from some time around that period, but none of them stand out.

comments



Thanks for pointing that out. As I was reading it, I remembered that there’s five main worlds on the UP map under their domain 9I think). Certainly not the thousands. But the galaxy is a big place, they are an insidious lot, and perhaps we only get to see a small fraction of what’s out there.



I got the feeling that one killed all the others, with the others and perhaps even the one instigating the self destruct being a clone. Although that one recognised Mysa, there’s no reason why a clone wouldn’t either. The Nolan, Norg and Dev-Em clones were all capable of recognition. I was thinking Mordru, with a link having been made back in the Annual or Mysa’s origin back up issues.
Good spot on the Green Energy. That certainly opens up a lot of story possibilities.



There’s another fairly independent Ontiir coming up.



You’re right. He’s really the leader here. There’s only that slight anger form seeing power levels near his own abused that drives him into action. His scientific background, not just of Kryptonian genetics was another nice touch. It’s the sort of thing I like seeing with Nura too.



It was a lovely visual. It changed Dev-Em’s hair colour for a panel. She also survived a bomb blast moments before, and last issue scanned for life signs, created force cubes, kept a hull together, turned invisible and intangible, entranced someone and altered someone else’s senses. So, she’s a bit too handy really, despite Levitz going to some trouble to keep her reigned in.



Why rely on the in house ads if you can make it a seamless part of your storyline

What a connection there! How many other covers predict future storylines?



Or he's putting on a brave face. Gim doesn't seem to like Dirk very much at this point. Something else else to watch out for in future issues.



Apart from an interest to revive Dev-em, one has to wonder why Levitz didn't use Ol-Virr - or any of the other LSV.



We never find out who he was, do we? I thought he might be one of the sorcerers from Mysa's backstory or the group in Annual #3 (trying to revive Mordru), but no match. The thought just occurs to me that he could be Naltorian, so he was prepared for capture - and revival.



You have to wonder about fan reaction to Dev-em. It must have been neutral to negative, since he was pretty scarce (did he appear at all?) after this. This James Bond wannabe is very different from the members of the Legion Espionage Squad.



Hadn't picked up on that, but the scene does reinforce Mon-El's comment.



Oh, the might-have-beens... but perhaps better to have not seen this one come to pass than to have something horrible happen to one or the other (à la 5YL Laurel Gand) under the mad plotting of Keith Giffen.



Too conveniently sums it up. There may have been pressure to wrap up Tales with three fewer pages used for the Epilogues. At least there's the hint that the Circle isn't entirely gone. However, they have a lot of ground to cover between now and their 5YL expansion, which would be, what - 10 years max?



Comic book bliss indeed! Thanks for the memories.

Tales 325:

The cover provides us with a clear indication that something big (heh) is about to happen. It’s the kind of iconic, flag-waving cover (sans flag) meant to tug our heartstrings as it sends our Legion heroes off to the stars. This is the last newsstand issue to feature an original story, so there’s a wistful sense of goodbye implied in the image. At the same time, the Legionnaires are embarking on a new voyage for bigger and better things (actually, it’s a voyage that’s been ongoing for a year, but whatever).

I do question the choice of Element Lad’s head symbolically dominating the cover. Even as leader, he hasn’t generated the sort of emotional resonance that makes such prominence worthwhile. Superboy would have been a better choice, even though he doesn’t appear in the story. Kal inspired the Legion, after all, and it’s “his” book the team is leaving. The Legion has starred in Kal’s book for an unbroken streak of 129 issues. They really needed to stop by and say farewell to their former host.

The story plays up Dev-Em as if to suggest he will take Superboy’s place on the team. After being rescued by the Legion, Dev quickly recovers from the kryptonite trap in which they found him. He banters with Mon-El over whether Daxam colonized Krypton or vice versa and then joins the team for its assault on the Dark Circle. Along the way, he drops the bombshell that the Dark Circle is really just an army of clones generated from five guys—showing that his covert mission did reveal something unexpected about these long-time Legion enemies. Dev plays well with the Legion, and his full-of-himself dialogue makes a nice contrast to the play-nice Legionnaires.

This is the first story in which I’ve actually liked Dev-Em. We finally get to know him and see him interact with the Legionnaires. There’s a sense of kinship (and not just in the Daxamite/Kryptonian sense) that was missing from his recent appearances. I can also buy him as someone Gigi might be attracted to; he combines the dashing and derring-do qualities of Dirk but seems only superficially narcissistic. Either that, or Gigi is in a rut of being attracted to the same kind of guy.

To his credit, Dev doesn’t hog the story. Other Legionnaires get plenty of panel time. The bottom panel of page 6 is one of my favorite images of Lar; his playful grin suggests he genuinely cares about Dev, like a doctor expressing relief that a patient has survived. Jo takes an assertive role in battle and serves as the communication link between his team and Jan’s. He seems to have a knack for asking the right question at the right time—inquiring whether it is acceptable to kill clones needed to be addressed, just to establish boundaries.

Mysa is more subdued this time, though she once again demonstrates what a powerhouse she is in battle by whipping up a spell to reintegrate Dev with his clones.

Sun Boy, however, shows how nasty his nasty streak can be. We learn that he convinced Zendak to send Gigi to Bismoll as punishment for her attempt to teach Dirk a lesson. She failed miserably. (Why Zendak went along is unclear.) Dirk makes an inappropriate crack about Gim’s wife and lets Gim know that he, too, will be the target of score-settling at the proper time. What a piece of work!

Other Legionnaires serve the needs of the plot, and that’s fine. It really feels like Dev and Gigi’s story. However, we do get a resolution of sorts to the long-running Dark Circle plotline. The idea that this entire society is nothing but clones makes good use of science fiction, and I love it when a long-running mystery about villains is finally solved. However, I could have done without Mysa being recognized by the human Dark Circle leader. Likewise, the ambiguous ending of the leaders and clones dying but possibly rebuilding their empire at a later date served as a typical cliffhanger. But the Legion does win this time, and that’s enough.

Although there are few surprises, this full-length tale offers an appropriate and uplifting conclusion to the Legion’s tenure in what began as Superboy’s title. It offers both a sense of closure and a jumping off point into new adventures with Blok and Mysa cuddling up to provide a smooth transition.

Nevertheless, I could have also done without the final scene of Imra and Garth breaking the fourth wall. It reminded me of Invisible Kid’s speech to readers in the reprint of the Legion’s origin in Secret Origins # 6, telling us to stay tuned for a wedding of two Legionnaires in Superboy # 200. Such blatant advertisement worked when I was nine; now it just feels like the characters are talking down to me. Perhaps that scene reflects the evolving sensibilities and expectations of newsstand readers versus comic shop readers. As one of the latter, I certainly saw myself as more sophisticated than I had been when comics were available exclusively through newsstands.

And here’s how these issues, including the Subs special, landed on my chart of April 9, 1985:

1. Tales of the New Teen Titans # 55 – DC
2. Zot! # 8 – Eclipse
3. Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes # 325 – DC
4. Amazing Spider-Man # 266 –Marvel
5. Iron Man # 196 – Marvel
6. Blue Devil # 14 – DC
7. Dreadstar & Company # 2 – Marvel/Epic
8. Crisis on Infinite Earths # 4 – DC
9. Shadow War of Hawkman # 3 – DC
10. Captain America # 307 – Marvel

11. Power Man & Iron Fist # 118 – Marvel
12. Fantastic Four # 280 – Marvel
13. All-Star Squadron # 47 – DC
14. New Teen Titans # 10 – DC
15. Fury of Firestorm # 37 – DC
16. Magniton Man # 2 – Kitchen Sink
17. Justice League of America # 240 – DC
18. Marvel Tales # 177 – Marvel
19. New Defenders # 145 – Marvel
20. Legion of Super-Heroes # 12 – DC

21. Red Tornado # 1 – DC
22. Green Lantern # 190 – DC
23. Nemesis # 7 – Eagle
24. 2000 A.D. # 3 – Eagle
25. Avengers # 257 – Marvel
26. Flash # 347 – DC
27. Gargoyle # 3 – Marvel
28. Legion of Substitute-Heroes Special # 1 – DC

Heh. This reminds me of the old Jackson Browne song, "Lawyers In Love," repurposed below:

. . . the Dark Circle escaped while we weren't watching them,
As villains will.
Now we've got all their worlds
They didn't even have girls
And I hear Cloneland will be open soon
As vacationland for Legionnaires in love.



With Dev-Em clones and Universo clones, the Dark Circle would have been unbeatable. Of course, they still couldn't get dates.




It's interesting to speculate on if the Ontiir clone was capable of independent thought--and, if so, was it because he had been away from the homeworlds for some time? Are other clones capable of independent thought? This could be dangerous in a society of clones.




Lar acts thoroughly professional and focused throughout. His dialogue to Gigi, "Officer! Please set up the medi-assist system, immediately!" establishes his commanding tone and presence. (I suppose Mysa could have said "Officer!" It's unlikely that Jo did. I rather like the idea of Lar dispensing with familiarity and staying focused on roles and tasks.)




Looks to me like Jan is about to take a bite out of Mysa. "She's magically delicious!"




You never know when you'll come across an injured Kryptonian.




I enjoyed these stories, too. Ironically both Tales/Legion and Tales/Titans were hitting high marks with some of their most memorable stories, even though both series were about to revert to reprints. the Baxter titles, into which DC had sunk so much effort and capital, seemed to be floundering, if their rankings on my charts are any indication.




This could be why 240 ranks so high on my chart. I never really took to JLDetroit. In a letter to DC or Comics Buyer's Guide, I once referred to them as "Aquaman & The Insiders."

Further comments



Dirk makes a veiled threat at the end of their scene too. I think I read that Jan was supposed to wind Gim up too, but I’ve not seen any of that. A replacement for the Drake/Kal relationship might have been interesting.



I’ve been a little surprised at how unceremoniously they were dumped, even as the opening arc concluded. If I’m charitable I look at all the other villains Levitz brought back, adjusted, and moved on from. If I’m not, I’d think it was Giffen’s idea to bring them back and the moment he left, they were on a hiding to nothing.

With Ol-Vir there is also that shadow of Darkseid hanging over him. A writer, happy enough with GDS, but wanting to have some distance form it to create other stories might have been reluctant to go near too familiar territory.




I could swear he turns up somewhere, or that we’ve seen him before. I was thinking about the same issues as you were. I’ll think about that one.



It would have been interesting for there to have been some sort of time storm preventing Kal and Kara helping out in the 30th century. That’s followed by the Dark Circle plot having more of an impact on the UP and Dev-Em becoming a member due a prominent role in thwarting it. Some of the Legion don’t like it too much, and perhaps there’s a little bit of leverage from Desai.

Then things take their course as personalities clash. He could quit, he could be fired, he could just prefer the espionage work, and perhaps look to take a Legionnaire or two with him? All sorts of plot fun there.

But with Crisis coming up, having a prominent Kryptonian wasn’t a good thing. Had Dev-Em somehow filled the gap because of Crisis, then he would look like a stand in, and that wouldn’t go down to well with a lot of readers. Since that’s all wiped away too, it’s just as well that didn’t happen either.



Looking back, I’d have liked to have seen her stay. Giffen was long gone in v4 when Laurel’s time on the team ended. He would have been there for her battle with BION though.




I think this prompts there move into undermining worlds form within, rather than through masses of clone armies.



There’s probably a German word for the feeling of comic book bliss. It’s beyond nostalgia.




Like Comet Queen, and the increased Academy coverage since #304 (arguably since Levtiz took over) I think there is a bit of fun in teasing us with prospective members.



That would have been nice to see play out. Levitz would have had to have made some tough choices about the way he wanted Dev-Em to go, considering his past.



Reading your review makes me wonder if Jo could have been asking due to the treat posed by the clones being Kryptonian on power. But the clones just aren’t anywhere near as effective as they should have been this issue, and they were also beaten last issue. So, I’m still elaning on it being a bit of posturing writing.



This is one big outcome to the story. We’ve seen Mysa take down a Khundian warlord in single combat. But this is against a grouped enemy in a space battle. There was a recent letter splitting the team into various power levels, that Levitz seemed to have some interest in, or rather ideas of his own. I think this story feeds into those ideas where the team moves away form Daxam and Krypton, while retaining powerful capabilities.



Being left alone at the park by GiGi just gave him time to become a little bitter beer.




Yup, I liked the evolution of the Dark Circle. I wasn’t quite as convinced by the off switch they all seemed to have. I might have been more convinced if some of that epilogue space had been used to show us the impact of a galaxy free of the Circle. The troops of the Circle never seemed to look like any of the leaders, so who were they] clones of?




I don’t mind having stories seeding future plots, if it doesn’t obstruct the ending. I’m thinking of this story as something of a Mysa spotlight, moving her into a position of power (ability wise) in the team. Having something of a nemesis/ rogues gallery out there helps to build on her character.



Good point. Considering what the future holds, I should value reading the team win.



I was wondering what the reaction to that scene was. A bit of breaking the fourth wall fun, violating the integrity of the Legionverse, shameless promotion. I wondered why we didn’t just get Blok and Mysa commenting a bit more about it, and as they fell asleep the editorial could have a nice dialogue box selling us the Baxter book.



I’m going to have to find some Zot. Teeds put up a Zot cover recently too.
Tales does very well this month!
I’ve not even heard of Magniton Man

I see some Eagle comics on this list. Do let me know how you found those. The quality of the Eagle books (paper stock etc) was a step up from what we were getting.

What did you think of the Red Tornado mini?



I’d agree with that for both too. When I did get to read the Titans stories in the news stand edition, I can’t say I was blown away. Like the LSV arc, NTT opened very strongly with the Trigon story. On paper, there’s certainly nothing wrong with the follow up, and certainly not the artist. But I was never that taken with them. The Crisis issues seemed particularly muddled. Odd considering who the writer was. Perhaps understandable considering the burn out form that series. Wolfman could have done with a Mindy Newall.



I think I’ve heard someone quoting that. Your fame has lasted!

I got the opening arc, before I got the Annual that launched it. I didn’t mind the concept.

I had read a couple of letters in issues before that looking for more prominence for the B-Listers. Now, they are obviously there to support the changes, but there was a some more even discussion about it further back.

From my few issues, I was already seeing more of Green Arrow, Black Canary and the Hawks. It was Superman that stood out as being a little odd. The addition of Steel and Vixen were welcome enough. But it didn’t get very far out of the starting gate, before there were issues. Just going by the letters they printed. With all the background information now available (see JLD thread) it was really going to struggle.

But as for 240, I was bothered that it got in the way of the Justice League of Detroit story. I didn’t want to have an unknown flashback issue. My dad was getting me back issues for that. It seemed like it was a win for old readers at the expense of the new team. Which, looking back, it was and for any number of reasons.

Comic-Glück, per Google Translate.




This is Jo. Of course it's posturing.

I still think it's a valid question, though. Given that Brainy created Legion clones knowing they would self-destruct after 48 hours, it does open some grey area as to exactly what constitutes a living creature.




Breaking the fourth wall isn't intrinsically bad--Levitz did it with Cosmic Boy in a cute little aside back in 297 or 298. Having fun with the characters isn't bad, either. I recall a New Teen Titans "short" in which the team went up against a stereotypically mad scientist with a ridiculous name. But when the characters basically say, "Buy our next book! It's going to be unlike anything you've ever seen!" they become the company's mouthpiece.




Loved Zot! It became one of my favorite series of the '80s.



It probably should be "Megaton Man." I had created a character called Magniton, and he must have been in my mind.

It's funny the typos you see decades later.



I would have bought them at one of the two comics shops I frequented at the time: Captain Comics in St. Joseph, MO, or Clint's Comics in Kansas City. As I recall, they weren't hard to come by.



I don't remember it. The low ranking suggests I wasn't impressed. I saw an ad for it in the comics we've been discussing, and the art (Infantino, correct?) looked sloppy and cartoonish.




It's great to have made another mark on the comics industry.

And now, since this Archives thread is winding down, I hope everyone will permit me an indulgence. I re-read both JLA 240 and Tales/Titans 55 last night and think they are worth commenting on--if for no other reason than to provide a context for the Legion issues.

JLA 240 is indeed a throwback to the old JLA and even features their long-time artist, Mike Sekowsky (whose blocky figures look even more out of place in 1985, but they do have a quaint nostalgic appeal). The story concerns Dr. Anomaly, a physicist who in 1932 builds a time machine to travel into the future and find a cure for the Great Depression, which he hopes to bring back to his own time. In the "future" of the 1960s and 1970s, he witnesses the assassinations of JFK and MLK, student unrest, the Vietnam War, etc., and concludes, somehow, that gaudy super-heroes are to blame. He captures several members of the JLA and then, strangely, attacks the rest before he is defeated and escapes into the time stream—where he is discovered in 1985 by two STAR Lab scientists.

The story was written by Kurt Busiek, who would go on to explore the philosophical differences between the Marvel and DC U’s to great effect in Avengers Vs. JLA. Busiek’s desire to explore these “larger” issues and how people of good will can come to very different conclusions about how to solve problems is very much evident here. I started out liking and even admiring Dr. Anomaly. When a jobless man breaks into his home with a gun, Dr. A disarms the man and then feeds him and gives him food for his family. It is this incident which prompts Dr. A to build the time machine.

His dismay with the later eras is also understandable. How would one feel if one could travel from the 1980s into the present and see the horror of 9/11 and its aftermath? It would indeed look as if the world has gotten worse. It feels contrived, however, that he blames the decline of society on the JLA (although not far-fetched; I had a relative who attributed the decline of morals in society to the Beatles). From this point on, he becomes a stereotypical baddie—abandoning any pretense of nuance or ambiguity (which makes him the antithesis of Slade Wilson—The Terminator—who sees himself only as a legal mercenary and not the villain Changeling imagines him to be). Busiek tries to shoehorn too many ideas into this story—especially the professional/romantic entanglement of Daphne and Fred, the two STAR scientists. They are the two most interesting characters in the story, but the focus on them prevents Dr. A from developing into a more interesting and well-rounded villain.

Busiek, like many young writers, tried to do and say too much in this story. On one hand, it’s a nostalgia trip into a bygone era of the Justice League. On the other, it’s an attempt to say something deep and meaningful about a man who started out with great intentions but who became corrupted by his very ideals. On the third hand (!), it’s a glimpse into the lives of Fred and Daphne, and the tension between their professional and personal goals.

The lesson here (if there is one) is that a story should try to accomplish just one thing—like a thesis statement in an essay. It’s fine to work in other relevant ideas, but one story goal should dominate (which happens to a brilliant degree in the Titans story).

I’ll be back later to discuss Tales/Titans 55.