Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Reading the Legion Archives: Volume 29

I agree that the strength of the need for adrenaline did come a bit out of left field. The scene that came to my mind was a few issues earlier when Bounty had Circe in her sights but then after Circe killed a Dominator (for what they were doing to "her" SPs) Bounty decided not to kill her saying "this changes things". If the drive for combat and dangerous thrills was as powerful as displayed in this issue I can't see her stopping and leaving Circe alive. I mean who would know?

As for Bounty/Dawnstar, when she was being treated by Brainy after the Roxxas attack when he noticed the sacr tissue you mentioned Brainy thinks "Yeah, you'll make it alright ... but what's your game - what are you up to?" implying that he is seeing more than we are. Presumably he knew she was Dawnstar from that moment, having previously examined and treated her. This version of Brainy does get caught up in whatever he is investigating at the moment and "forget" to mention things to others but there are a lot of issues in between. I'd have to go back and look for instances her tracking ability is hinted at but the first one that jumps to mind is the previous issue when she instantly knows that the burning figure is Dirk. I suppose her finding and getting the drop on Circe is another.

There was a character called Bounty in Superboy and the LoSH #234 who tried to collect the reward for capturing/killing the Composite Legionnaire. His portrayal there is reasonably consistent with Bounty's character. Further in Who's Who in the Legion it was revealed that his name was Jaeger Tallspirit and his father was Redwind from Starhaven, a cousin of Dawnstar, so I imagine TMK had this in mind when they created the v4 Bounty character. It seems like the "Bounty entitiy" idea was there from the beginning but I agree the execution in this story could have been better.

Ok I had a quick look over v4 using the DC wiki for appearances of Bounty/Dawnstar. Here's what "possible Tracking" instances I found.

#6 On the way to Trom on a broken down ship Bounty "tracks" and shoots a space-rat/vermin of some kind. In the same issue Jan apparently manages to sneak up in them but maybe she found it more exciting that way.

#10 Bounty and Devlin are wandering around the Lightning-Ring plantation on Winath and Devlin is admiring the statues but wondering why they are of Legionnaires he has hardly heard of. Bounty says perhaps it's because they're all dead, showing her knowledge of the Legion (she also showed knowledge while they were on Trom). In mid conversation she suddenly breaks off with a "Wha-" and the "Prey" she says with a grin and takes off, telling Devlin to tell the others "he's here" which Devlin realises must mean Roxxas. Shortly, while Roxxas is arguing with Mekt about who gets the first chance to kill some legionnaires he suddenly spots Bounty above him and fires a weapon at her. She falls but very accurately throws some knives at him before collapsing. Roxxas goes on to say to Mekt "You'll get your turn, Mekt. This one's mine! She thought a little change in hair color, a new wardrobe would fool me! But ohhhh, no! She's one of them, all right. We can tell!" A few pages later Jo is talking to Jan and says "Youknow, Jan, that Bounty character is an odd one. There's something about her. She isn't quite right ... but in a way, doesn't she remind you of --" but is interrupted as Jan realises Roxxas is here. While Imra is thought-scanning to find Roxxas one of the thoughts she picks up is someone else saying/thinking "Is it my imagination or does Bounty remind you of someone?"

#18 Bounty is back on Earth and listening (with some sort of tech) outside Circe's window so perhaps she tracked her down? No idea how hard she might be to find.

#20 This is the issue where Bounty has Circe in her sights (still tracking her?) but decides not to shoot when Circe kills a Dominator.

#29 Circe and Bounty are arguing over what to do next but when Circe offers to help Bounty get right in to Pinnacle Command she is excited, reflecting her enjoyment of the hunt perhaps? This continues in #30 and #32 where they sneak through tunnels to get to HQ, encountering Spider-girl on the way who Bounty starts off by shooting at. This gets complicated when other legionnaires attack the HQ turning much of it to rubble.

#34 Circe, Bounty and Pakka make it to the main computer room where Circe hatches a plan. Bounty's response is to open fire and brutally kill all the Dominators. Even Circe thinks it was unnecessary and too much.

#35 As the younger legionnaires encounter the burning older Dirk Circe and Bounty emerge from the ruins and Bounty immediately recognises Dirk, even before Circe does, presumably thanks to her tracking power.

And that brings us up to date. It appears from the above that the reveal of Bounty as Dawnstar was always the intention but the development of that plot, like so many others such as Green energy Celeste was shoved to the side for the Terra Mosaic storyline and the battle for Earth. Issue 10 was the one with most of the clues plus Brainy's comments in #11. Since we are now up to #36 that has been a long wait - and we say Bendis is slow!

That's quite a few clues, but I never suspected Bounty was Dawnstar until it was revealed in this issue. Apart from the tracking and Roxxas' comment (quite a big clue! but he was crazy), she looked different enough and certainly behaved differently enough to be a new character.

Legion of Super-Heroes #37 "Star Boy Returns in a League of His Own" by Tom & Mary Bierbaum, art by June Brigman & John Dell III, Letters John Workman, Colours Tom McCraw, Assistant Editor Eddie Berganza, Editor Michael Eury

Thom Kallor , coach of the Naltor Dreamers, greets fans and puts down a belligerant man accusing him of fixing games for Starfinger. High Seer Nura shows up with sexy male advisers and a security detail. She offers Thom a job ("*ahem*"); he refuses, saying she got bored with him.

Pre-game, Thom deals with an injured pitcher and another pitcher plagued with self-doubts from yesterday's game. Thom watches the game video and appears to see something suspicious. Wife and team owner Yvyya accuses Thom of carrying on with Nura; when he denies this, she says he's boring and leaves. A diskless Dominator approaches him with a message that Starfinger wants Naltor to win.

The game proceeds. The Dreamers win when their gorilla batter hits one out of the park, despite his handicapping belt. The Toonari team's coach questions this; the umpire claims the belts are foolproof but Thom agrees that something is wrong and the play should be repeated, much to the anger of fans. The gorilla hits a pop-fly but the Toonari fielders miss it and the Dreamers win the Galactic Championship. After the locker room celebrations are over, Thom sits alone. Nura arrives to celebrate, but he says he'll just be celebrating with his wife since being a role model is important to him.

While the game was going on, a masked assailant blasts Imra in her nursery; her fate is unknown. On Earth, adult Brainiac 5 arrives on Earth to investigate something hush-hush underground. Earthlings are both celebrating and seeking reprisals after the Dominators fled. The SW6 Legion send Valor in a time bubble back to 2978 to see if it's safe for them to return. A lightning bolt hits the bubble as it departs.

On Talus, Kono celebrates getting 2000 credits off a bet with Kent, Jo, Rond and Rokk for the Dreamers' win.

Comments: The calm before the storm, a sports drama featuring Thom and Nura. By the end, Thom remains a hero, but still boring, an admirable straight arrow who seems to be happy with his post-Legion life.

I'd like to know how he met his wife Yvyya and if she's a native of Naltor or just someone who owns the team. It must be a bit weird to manage/coach your wife's team on a planet run by your ex-girlfriend.

I really don't like this portrayal of High Seer Nura. She's sybaritic, hedonistic, doesn't seem at all serious. She's nothing like Beren - not that she has to be, but there's none of the old capable, cool and collected Nura from her Legion leadership days. Maybe she's unhappy in the job and has devoted herself to pleasure.

The game itself is baseball, with women and handicap belts to even out the strengths of different races. However, it appears to be only the batters who wear the belts, not the pitchers or fielders.

It's an enjoyable story, a slice of life, as is the interlude with Kono and the guys betting on the game. Three new plots are launched: something mysterious under the Earth, someone violent attacking Imra and somewhere happening to Valor. The editor's announcements from a few issues prior give a clue that Valor's winding up in the 20th century.

A few nice touches: Nura's security guards are apparently Carggite, the disgraced and diskless Dominator working for Starfinger and the first appearance of Starfinger himself, looking like a classic crime lord. I like the cover, it's humourous, Anne of Green Gables vs the ape. She looks kinda like jailbait, though; in the story, the pitcher looks young, but not sexy.

The issue of the SW6 Legion wanting to return to 2978 is curious. Why that date? This is a Legion without Bouncing Boy, Star Boy and Dream Girl, in their pre-Cockrum uniforms so before 2978. According to this timeline, that's the date when Glorith created the SW6 Legion, but I'm not sure how the team knows that (did Glorith tell Valor?) and if they want to go back to their own time, or go back and prevent the creation of the clones.

v4 Issue 36

This would be the issue that made me want to give up the title. The scratchy Pearson art with gratuitous wounding on a zero-interest background set the tone.

The issue starts off with a scene that would rank worse when later issues are taken into account. Jacques is installed in the Presidential Palace. He continues his subplot that concerns moaning about the burden of leadership, while bever being seen to actually apply any or get his hands dirty. This issue Staq tells him about communication problems. Jacques' inspiring action point is to make it a top priority. I get the distinct feeling that if Staq had told him about malfunctioning synth-e-vends, then that would be a top priority too. Actual leadership is done by Troy, who give Lyle a bleak appraisal of the lost SW6ers.

It's good to see Jacques develop into some kind of role. But from what we see in this volume, I think he's more of a diplomat than a leader. The Subs were already excellent combatants under Brek & Lydda. The others come to the fore in this issue. I think that the reason they're so effective here is that their training was built upon by a real planetary champion. One Troy Stewart. Drura seems to spend a lot of this volume in bed while talking to Jacques. She's the character I'd have liked to have seen preventing plagues sweeping across a ravaged Earth. She's the more useful of the couple. Jacques will offload his new responsibilities as quickly as possible, leaving a lot of people who are telling him what a great leader he is in these issues, looking a bit silly later on. I guess it could be argued that he really didn't want the job all along. But the darkness of what's happened to everyone on Earth should be enough to get him to press on with his responsibilities.

Coordinating relief efforts, comms and technological stop gaps would be just Brainy's thing. Even better, now there's two of them. Instead we get a scene revolving around which of the groups are the clones. It's an important subplot. But it could be developed while the team were actually doing something, for all the movement here.

Inactivity continues to be rife. Lar and Laurel tour the skies. Rather than help with any of the billion things that need done, using their strength and superspeed, they instead reflect on their place in the world. There's a hint of a time travel plot. I vaguely recall the younger Lar being involved in something like that, so this scene might go down as a set up for that. Again, they could have been helping rather than talking.

But there is action in the issue! Unfortunately, it involves various interactions with the identi-kit nut job characters.

Sade was last seen wishing the war would keep going so she could kill some Dominators. Bounty has previously been shown perfectly at ease on sleepy Winath. Back then (#10) the cast were wondering if she was connected to Dawnstar. She was first Legionnaire to track and engage Roxxas on the plantation. No one thought to ask, despite all the appearances she's made, who she was. This issue offers us a bloodthirst Bounty, eager for confrontation. Bounty and Sade engage in a combat that has lots of bullet holes and blood loss, but laughably no fatalities. I don't know if it was Pearson's art that was far more explicitly violent compared to the script. Whatever the reason, this was the scene, that made me lose another load of interest in the title.

The running gun battle takes place right in the midst of a SW6 Legion that shouts a lot, but does absolutely nothing. They clearly take after their older counterparts. The reveal behind Bounty, as shown here, is that it's a not very inventive rip-off of Malice from the X-Men.

Brainy, taking time off from not helping anyone, chats to Rokk who is also taking a break from not doing anything in another room. The two remark about the Dawnstar similarities they'd picked up on, but that TMK were too muddled to resolve two years before. The whole volume is filled with possessions such as Eltro/Lar and Garth/Proty. Characters not being who people thought was covered by Kid Quantum & Brin. Perhaps Dawny was one too many. She's one character who suffered a great deal, while offering absolutely nothing to the book. She could easily have been left to one side for future writers to pick up.

Young Dirk's feeling that he could easily follow the same path as his older counterpart are well realised. If anything, it's everyone else's insistence that he couldn't turn out that way that feels off. The story of Dirk was one of increments. One where his decisions, based on his past, led him down a route to the point where there was no going back. He's not a standard comic book villain. He's someone who chose to ally himself with the wrong side, well beyond the time when his morals should have led in the other direction. Just like a lot of people in this world. Cos is the one looking to comfort Alt+Dirk in this issue. Cos who happily slaps women, who used his powers on criminals after their arrest and who would go on to become The Time Trapper. Any of these characters could take a route, leading them into conflict with the others. We see Jan's departure here, to follow his spiritual path. He's about as close to the Post-Boot depiction that became the Progenitor than he ever was in this boot.

Circe ends up putting Dirk out of his misery. Before killing herself, she says that she never wanted him to suffer and imagines a fairy tale ending for them both. It doesn't read as the same character that was only too happy to threaten Dirk's career at the start of the volume. We got one hint about how she felt when she commented that Dirk never took her to a particular restaurant. We got a hint that she was genuinely concerned with the fate of her men, even as she colluded with the Dominators. How she reconciled all of this was unfortunately left on the cutting room floor. The Dirk & Circle story ends fittingly as it began the volume. It remains a powerful arc, even with all of the interruptions and changes.

The end of this arc also shows us Lar wandering in space, and I wonder what his return from the grave actually gave the volume. Devlin and Alt+Vi share words of hope. As with the rest of the cast, they do it from a safe vantage point from the trauma being suffered down in the ruins. Devlin, like Jacques, is being positioned as a person of inspiration. But it's not something I've seen. Like Circe, I feel a lot of his best scenes never made the book. As such, he remains the comedy character from early issues.

Again, there's a lot going on in the issue and, apart from the Sade/Bounty fight, it stands up as an okay issue that continues the slow wind down to close the Terra Mosaic and the two years prior to that.

v4 Issue 37

It's a fill in issue, that enabled TB to have a story close to his baseball liking heart. I don't get past the first scene without a question. If the guy who punched Thom and gave him the plot mcguffin, knew about the betting patterns, why did he bet that way? Because if he had bet on the knowledge he had, then he wouldn't have punched Thom and we wouldn't have a story. It's not the most convincing start.

But it's a decent enough story that works well to develop Thom at this point in his life, and an issue that provides a number of new subplots.

Someone familiar with Imra kidnaps her. Brainy arrives on Earth, but it's to go into an underground bunker and not to help with the relief effort. Alt+Lar goes back in time to see what happened at the time SW6 were created. For a team that time travels a lot, this makes a lot of sense.

Thom seems to become comfortable for a lot of the people in his life. Nura can still influence him, his wife can and does. His physio does as does the pitcher. Even the player who calls him traitor wouldn't dare do so if he feared real retribution. Thom's comfortable. But that doesn't mean that he's compromised any of his principles. In the huge pressure of a galactic final, he stands up to everyone to ensure the final shot is replayed. It might have been a more interesting story had the Dreamers lost. Where would that have taken Thom. But he's not one of the main cast, and TB gets a happy ending where Thom gains a bit more respect for his principles, and what he'd do to uphold them. He manages to rebuff the very-vampish Nura.

There's guest appearances from the Omega Men's Felicity (more time travel/) and the Ambassador who Cham looked to have a fling with years ago.

While the main Legion team aren't the focus of the fill in story, it's yet another occasion where they're shown to be sitting around, while there's work to be done elsewhere. One silver lining is having them sit while Kono lords her winnings over them. There's lots of indefinable cast members and fluid action in this one. June Brigman does a good job, although I'm not sure the regular inker/ colouring team quite bring out her best.

The power of the nine panel grid is shown as Thom deliberates the possibility that the match has been fixed. I was probably a bit indifferent to this issue. I'd felt that so many of the issues were practically fill ins, when it came to plot progression, that another issue doing the same wasn't hugely interesting. Clearly, for me, that weight impacts a lot of single issues that have nothing intrinsically wrong with them as one offs.

#36 comments

I had thought Jacques had been a more effective politician than portrayed here. I've never thought he was much of a leader of the Subs. This reread has shown me that both follow a similar path. Lots of people *telling* him what a good leader he is, and him not showing a sign of it.


I figured that the people of Earth wanted him tried for colluding with the Dominators. But then, Circe is walking around without a problem, and no wanted status for Dirk is ever hinted. As Sade was Pearson's creation, I wonder if Bounty's change of personality was a combination of giving her panel space *and* in closing off the long hanging Dawny plot. We never even saw where the Bounty entity went. Claremont was all over the place, but at least we got to see where Malice went at least once.

There's still a chance that Alt+Dirk will start wondering what did *others* do to turn Dirk into this creature. I think there's a hint of that in this issue. He may end up going down a similar path as a result. It's who he is, and older Dirk isn't a cackling mega villain or anything. Alt+Dirk may also bcome a little frightened of his powers. He might be able to survive almost anything. But would he want to?

As soon as one of them loses their powers, it'll be the walk of shame.

I took it to be a fantasy of how she saw their life together. Based on earlier issues, she should have been dressed up as one of the female Legionnaires and pushing Dirk into the alleys of Metropolis. I wasn't convinced by her portrayal here. As sad as the end was, I could have done with seeing more of Circe and her relationships before this.

Legion comics teach you about teamwork, loyalty, perseverance, the ability to make the most of what you have...and stalking.

I hadn't thought of it like that. Good point.


#37 Comments


I wasn't that keen on it either. Perhaps some jealousy on T&M's part for the Legionnaire who could turn the heads of *their* favourites? Still, I think a lot of it is still a front, much like her vampy flirting in the old days. She's still the High Seer, so she's playing politics on levels and timelines everyone else has no idea about.


Good spot! That does seem to defeat the purpose.


When I first saw it, I though it was a poorly coloured Kono. TMK veered between Kono as a 14 year old and one involved in piracy, taking nude snapshots and gambling.



According to the RPG, December 2977 was when Nemesis Kid was found to be a traitor and the Khunds repelled (#347). March 2978 was when Nura and Thom are readmitted (#351). TMK wanted a Ferro Lad, so it had to be before #353
It also says that the SW6 memories fade after the group's encounter with Universo. That was #349. Valor found clues to the dates on the Dark Circle computers, as they erased, didn't he?

I think there might be a good Lost Tales of the Legion where it's partly Universo who is responsible for the SW6 batch. He's been seen with the Circle after all in v4 and fighting against the Dominators, possibly for access to the SW6 chambers. #349 was all about Time Travel, and this could have been Universo's revenge after having been foiled by Rond. Rond could also play a part in this story, having been spared from death back in the early issues.

RPG goes on to say that at least one Brainy thinks the date is related being shortly before the Legion donated cells to their cell bank. It's also ahead of a Dark Circle invasion plan mentioned in Sept 2978 for Oct 2978. They would have new Unkillables: A Doppleganger Legion, which they would replace the real Leigon with.

Rather than type out comments on LSH # 37 here, I'll simply link to my article about it on Royals Review.

A fairly lighthearted fun filler issue. The "boring" boy scout heroes don't get enough love. Let's hear it for them!

I too was disappointed in Nura's appearance and behaviour. I suppose not everyone can maintain the "hero" personality, but I am glad that she is more attractively portrayed in both character and appearance in her few appearances in issues to come.

Chaim makes a good point that the few small decisions Thom makes during the game are never ones that make it more likely for them to win, but I think the few other comments he makes to the team show that he is working hard for them and that they respect him. I doubt they could have made it to the finals if he was a poor coach/manager.

I would have liked to learn more about the new Starfinger. Most of the rest we get is hints in text pages relating to the mysterious container Spider-Girl snatched. That unfortunately seems typical of TMK v4. We get lots of snapshots of life in the UP but detail fails to appear as other storylines take over.

Well on to the Big Bang (one of them anyway).

stile86:


I agree with that. He's clearly a "player's manager", which essentially means that his foremost skill is motivating the people rather than the tactics of the game. Both are important in real-life sports, and clearly Thom can't have been that bad if they made it to the championship. But sometimes a manager needs to be strong for the sake of the team. As I referenced in my article, the Thom-Wechsler exchange and its results eerily foreshadowed that of Terry Collins and Matt Harvey of the Mets in Game 5 of the 2015 World Series. Unlike for Thom, the Mets did not have an additional rabbit in their baseball caps, and lost the World Series to the Royals (hooray!). Also, it was irresponsible of Thom to let Wechsler push herself like that, because he was risking permanent damage to her arm. (Although given 30th-century UP medicine, maybe no damage is truly permanent? It seemed like the team doctor implied permanent damage. Maybe medical replacement parts aren't allowed in batball, so it would have killed her career even if her body could be repaired?)

Agreed. the strong implication by the doctor's comment was that permanent damage of some sort was likely possibility, so Thom keeping her on was a poor decision even excluding the result of the following pitch.

True, and diplomat may be an effective role to play in a ravaged Earth trying to rebuild. If the series had continued with no Zero Hour, Jacques could have become the new Anton Relnic.


Good classification. There are more possessions and deceptions ahead.


Well, what else are you going to say, when a friend is moping about how bad his life is going to turn out, except there, there, it doesn't have to be that way. However, since most of the SW6 haven't met their older counterparts, they might well have been wondering how their alt lives turned out. They've seen the history, met Tenzil and Lar, but there should be some internal questioning among all of them. That would have been a good issue. Lyle, Andrew and Tinya are dead, Lu's married Chuck, Vi and Ayla are a couple, Rokk's been through a traumatic war and lost his powers... holy crap, let me stay 18 forever - or go back in time and change it all.


This made me think of Dirk in the same way, not that he's comfortable, but that he's easily influenced. Not sure how many examples of that might exist pre-5YL, but both adult and teen seem quick to agree with what someone in power is telling them - father, Circe, Cos.


Did some checking and in the letters of #29, it's confirmed that the breakoff point was Adventure #249, the first part of the Universo story. (Chaim is mentioned among others who did some serious sleuthing about the date.) This supports the idea that Universo might well have had a role to play in the SW6 clones.


That was a very detailed review of the issue and its place in Legion history! I appreciated the perspective of someone who knows more about baseball than I do. Interesting comparison to the poster For Your Eyes Only. I also found it odd that a criminal would threaten a manager to win rather than throw the game but as you point out it was perhaps to silence Thom from commenting on anything fishy.


Too true. The Spider Girl text story is fascinating, at least if you like heist stories, and Starfinger is more of a traditional mobster than a supervillain, which adds some variety to the bad guy roster.

Legion of Super-Heroes #38 "The End" by Keith Giffen, Tom & Mary Bierbaum, art by Jason Pearson & Karl Story, Colours Tom McCraw, Assistant Editor Eddie Berganza, Editors K.C. Carlson & Michael Eury

This issue is comprised of Devlin O'Ryan's report on the destruction of Earth. Each page consists of a text and one image.

As Earth began rebuilding, disaster struck Tokyo with the collapse of a gigantic sinkhole. The two Brainiac 5's were summoned to investigate. They revealed that underground chambers were filled with waste in the 24th century, including the unstable substance proton jelly. When explosives were detonated in the chambers used by the Dominators, a chain reaction ensued which was destroying the Earth to its core.

Under the direction of President Foccart, plans were made to evacuate as many people as possible and to activate an old technology to raise domes over 102 districts and send these domes into space. They would then link up to form a network of domed cities, New Earth. 95 of the cities succeeded in escaping the planet and connecting to the grid. New Earth then moved into the Bgtzl Buffer Zone to avoid destruction, losing Seoul in the process, when what was left of the planet, and the two billion who remained behind, exploded.

Devlin wrote further about the regrets of not dealing with environmental problems and the profound sorrow that Earth as we knew it was gone.

Comments;
38 is a bad number for the Legion. Baxter #38 was the death of Superboy, #38 was the final issue of The Legion series and in this #38, Keith Giffen destroys Earth. (In the Threeboot/Shooter #38, Lightning Lad starts to crack up, but that's about it; the other series never made it to 38 issues.)

It's a very unusual issue, for the time and even by today's standards, half text, half image - and a major event. For a series that's had a few shockers, this is a big one, irreversible and will only be topped by the destruction of everything in Zero Hour.

Earth goes out with a bang, not a whimper. It had a lot of emotional punch at the time; now, not so much. The novelty is certainly gone on a reread but there's also the idea that we are actually preparing Plan B for when the Earth is no longer habitable (or habitable by the standards of the top tier). We've already lost a lot of what Devlin was mourning.

It's comic books, so we set aside any doubts about the physics and engineering of this event. Also impossible to convey in a comic (or possibly any medium) is the magnitude of loss. You have to figure survivors would be pretty messed up psychologically after this. However, I give the story credit for showing that not everyone made it and the escape wasn't an entirely smooth operation.

Jacques Foccart does have to make hard decisions, dictatorial ones. He doesn't really have an opportunity to self-doubt or waffle. Tough deal for a guy who didn't want to be President and, once in office, probably figured it would be a brighter future. No wonder he quit as soon as he could; he was a hero for sticking it out.

Both Legions are active, although separately. Both Valors are out of the picture, but the project is so overwhelming that even Valor, had he been recalled, wouldn't have been able to add much to the operation.

Death of the Endless makes several appearances, her image growing as the disaster develops.

It's been said that this was Giffen's temper tantrum for the way the book was handled by the corporate overlords. He's joked about it himself. Whatever the motivation, it was a daring move. Would it have read better as a two-issue story with 9 panels and dialogue rather than an illustrated text piece? Maybe not, there's a lot to fit in to this one issue.

As I wrote in a letter that got mentioned in the letter column, this was basically a heavy-handed environmental lecture. I'm not against comics with a message, but I expected better delivery from my TMK LSH, this was like a throwback to the Denny O'Neil Green Lantern-Green Arrow era of preachiness.

Points about the issue that I like:

Innovative storytelling format
Named Earth cities are from all over the world and not primarily America
Jason Pearson's artwork is better than it has been in quite a few issues

v4 Issue 38

Looking at the cover now, I would think it was the final issue in the series. It wasn't that long since the end of v3 and not every title was an Action or Adventure, with hundreds of issues. The silhouettes of blood on the last cover of v3 was as grim as the destroyed world on this issue's cover. I can't remember if that's what I thought at the time. That I can't, probably shows that I wasn't that devastated by the thought. The ending of the Terra Mosaic that had limped along for so long would be just the place to close out the volume.

I do recall a little internal groan at a storybook issue. It's my hardwired comic reader reaction, rather than a criticism of the format. I felt the same back when Rokk was facing off against Mordru.

I'm also sure that I didn't have any advance notice of what would happen in the issue. Not only that, I didn't see it coming in the story itself. It does build from the discovery of the chambers, the questions about what else was down there when we saw the L* symbol, and through to Brainy descending beneath Metropolis. But those little setups aren't on the same scale as blowing up the planet where nearly all DC comics are based.

Devlin O'Ryan has been at the forefront in recent issues, in describing the fate of the revolution on Earth. He's formed bonds with both sets of Legionnaires. Had he been shown as competent on panel in the early issues, I might have had more time for him. Instead, he's become a bit of a panel hogger. Nothing encapsulates that more than having him as the narrator of the end of the planet itself. It's another issue where the Legion are peripheral in their own book. That's the way I've come to see the issues in this reread, regardless of the deftness of the story. Once again, we're told how good and strong a leader Jacques is, and don't see it directly. Oh, for Drura to have realised that Earth's crust was essentially infected and cured it.

In this particular read through, I'm convinced that he's never been to Connacht in his life. I think it's just some flavour to connect with his readership.

Quite a few of the last years' worth of stories have been fine within their own pages. There are issues when it's part of a wider story arc though. This issue shows us a powerful end to a world, and the bravery and nobility shown by its inhabitants at the end. In the wider story, we have the sudden appearance of dozens of city-sized mcguffins, ready to take the inhabitants of cities (sorry rural folks) to the stars. Not one mention of these in all the issues, where power-spheres and underground chambers were blowing them all up. No mention of any of that damage causing problems here.

The story gets points for using the saving of the Eyeth system as inspiration for the save here. That system was mentioned way back in #1. I think a reader pointed out a discrepancy way back then, but it's a nice nod to the earlier part of the volume.

Another possibility could have used all the references to the Legion's genetic material throughout the volume. The Brainys create a Legion of Element Lads. All destined to die within 48 hours, but able to transmute the danger within the Earth's crust. Coleen Doran could have drawn a poignant last days of Jan Arrahs.

The environmental issue seems overly forced. Devlin hits the reader about the head with humanity being responsible for its own demise. To be fair, I think this bludgeoning has a lot to do with the quick change of events, rather than a preferred build up. It could have been even less subtle in the hands of other dialoguers.

Behind the scenes, Keith Giffen took advantage of a change in editorial to blow up the Earth. It's a last act of someone who should have quit way back after the first year of the book, considering the ridiculous number of problems in that time alone. There may have been very good intentions in continuing, and there were certainly some very good story moments, but it only got worse overall from there. To have his last act be one of a tantrum is a sad end to something that had a lot of promise. There's also the feeling that the grind of reading all the issues to free the Earth was a bit pointless. We could have blown up the Earth in a four-parter by the end of #17 and saved ourselves the bother.

It's one of a seemingly huge number of editorial blunders by DC to have allowed the book into print. That's not to say I think the book should have been stopped. But there was no one manning the Mission Monitor Board at DC, to consider where the story fitted into the future of the book, or the ramifications on stories the company would set in its own future timelines. It sailed through to printing as if it was travelling through its own untouchable buffer zone portal. Where the book, and its huge cast, would go from this story, or even how this story fitted into the wider goals of the book, were missed from an editorial perspective. This volume of the Legion is a showcase in how not to run a franchise or an editorial department.

He probably thought there was still a Karate Kid alive there.

Well, Myg was there, although he slipped through Giffen's death trap. Sort of, as we'll see in #40.


That was a good addition. They also included a variety of cities destroyed when the moon fragments hit.


That did come off as a bit phony, tug at the heartstrings addition.


One thing that gets me, writing the credits for each issue, is how many people are involved, creators and editors. Too many cooks.

The environmental sledgehammer I thought was hedged somewhat by blaming the Dominators for triggering it all. The proton jelly might have lasted another 200 years or more, but those rotten Dominators had to come and disrupt everything. The writers might have tied in the massive destruction caused by the powersphere explosions, which would have made it less of an environmental message.

I think these things are towards the opposite of topped. That quick hit "Look Ma! I blew up the planet!" done so often, its become a cliche used by the lazy/out of touch writers. I'm sure when Levitz blew up Titan, he thought it was a big moment. Instead of a desperate bid for reader attention. "Gish! Levitz just destroyed somewhere we've barely seen for 50 years, and some background cast who we've never seen and have no connection with! I'll keep reading for sure!"

I do wonder what the reaction was when DC actually got round to noticing. It probably had more impact then, before "irreversible" meant waiting half an hour for the next reboot. Nearly all of these are the result of failures. Zero Hour because no one could seemingly say "Just ignore what we said about Hawkman being Year 1" the latest reboots where the relaunches have been of such poor quality. Even Crisis which was pruning DC to make it like Marvel ahead of selling the company.


To be fair to Giffen, he didn't blow it up in a panel and have The Heckler and Ambush Bug fly off cackling in Space Cabby's taxi. There is a bit of depth here. Unfortunately, it's got never before seen plot props like Proton Jelly and flying domed cities involved. It's also dulled because we've already had so much devastation in the volume. These foreshocks (probably Giffen mini sulks) have blown up the moon and most of the cities on the planet already. I guess the Domed cities had their hidden control rooms in the suburbs. Still easily accessible after centuries. We can add that little device that replicates the moon's orbital effects up there with the Proton Jelly.

Much like Superboy was impressed at the growth of Smallville in the first Legion story, Connacht grew to be a giant storehouse of Irish tourist stereotypes by the 28th Century. Run by the Devlin and Cassidy families, it earned itself a giant space dome and will be seen in upcoming issues.

Yes, it was one of those were you really didn't know what was coming next, and the structure of the loss was done really well. On later rereads I often wonder that all the Legionnaires survived.

My issue is that we don't actually see him making any of these decisions. We see him look despondent about the loss. But I reckon it's Troy plenty of the hard work, with Jacques working at a political level. Who better than Troy to figure out how cities transport themselves to new environments?

Knowing how breezily he jumped ship casts a shadow back in time to these issues.

in the old days, either Valor would just have transported a planet from another galaxy into Earth's orbit and shifted everyone there. It wasn't that long ago, he was brining bits of white dwarf stars back to Earth at short notice.
Or for Brainy to have figured out how Darkseid switched worlds back in the GDS and replicated the feat, bringing us a New Earth. Or it would have been the perfect time to introduce Mxyztptk V...

Legion of Super-Heroes #39 "Beginnings" by Keith Giffen, Tom & Mary Bierbaum, art by Stuart Immonen & Ron Boyd, Colours Tom McCraw, Letters John Workman, Assists Eddie Berganza, Editors K.C. Carlson & Michael Eury

In a refugee transport, Jan Arrah addresses a memorial group. Rokk, Celeste, Laurel and Brainy remember the tragedy; Vi and Ayla comfort one another.

The SW6 team enters New Earth and find dead people who tried to remain in the cities as they blasted off the planet. Tenzil jokes, angering Dirk; they're calmed down by Andrew and Jann.

On Gallan, Leland McCauley gloats over his collection of sentients frozen in stasis, disgusting his father. The collection now includes Cham, R.J., the Proteans and the Soul of Antares. The Emerald Eye hovers in the background. Dad McCauley gets a message for help out on the Omnicom, which reaches SW6 Jan. He, Ayla and Rokk respond. Jan disables the security and stasis mechanism, freeing Cham. McCauley arrives, accusing them of trespassing and puts his lawyers to work. Cham and R.J. sign a settlement, the Proteans and their Soul depart. R.J. heads back to Brande Industries to rebuild planet Earth.

The adult Legion and the refugee transport approach Earth. Rokk sees floating dead heads in space, calls Lydda and Pol and feels better.

Comments:
Here's the emotional punch of the previous issue's events, for me. Rokk and Celeste's haunted memories of the people lost feels very human, personal, relatable, as does the discussion between Vi and Ayla. Laurel's superhero regrets and Brainy's thoughts of what else he might have tried also have some feeling to them, but are more the regrets of superheroes.

The SW6 kids are making quite a thing of helping each other with emotional issues. The Legion of Junior Therapists, perhaps.

The wrap-up of the Soul of Antares story was quick and we never even got to see the Proteans wave goodbye. The story had some holes; Leland accused the Legionnaires of trespassing, but he's got super-unclean hands with kidnapping. We don't see how the Legionnaires handled the matter, just R.J. and Cham eating crow, apparently without their own legal representation, despite being very rich and powerful in their own right. It seems to me that McCauley didn't have a legal leg to stand on, but he seems to come out the winner.

The artwork on this section was a bit jarring. The kids look a whole lot older and the Cham/R.J. lawyer scenes are unusual, but strange. Maybe they're meant to be in that style for a reason? The lawyers did look funny.

Nevertheless, I like Leland McCauley IV as a bad guy; that he's the one with the Eye is intriguing. He's smarter than many villains and crazy enough to frighten his father. I'd welcome Universo's thoughts on the guy: an equal or just another dupe?

R.J.'s off to rebuild Earth, a plot line that was never pursued, but in keeping with the character's optimism. The issue ends on an optimistic note as well, with Rokk talking to Lydda and baby Pol, the promise of life going on for another generation. Well, at least until Zero Hour, but we're not there yet.

Keith Giffen has experimented with different styles many times, but the one he starts using in this issue is the absolute worst.

Correction to your post: the fat, old father is Leland McCauley III. The young, slim, villainous son is Leland McCauley IV.

Agreed.

Corrected McCauley - thanks! I get them mixed up. (Did we ever figure out which one was the red-head McCauley kid who was kidnapped way back when? Maybe it was Leland IV who was traumatised and got into a hobby of kidnapping.)

Pretty sure that was Leland IV. I don't think he was traumatized, I think he was just a spoiled rich kid whose upbringing gave him the sense that nothing mattered in life other than amassing riches and power.

v4 Issue 39

The issue is less about beginnings than reminiscences following "The End" that suggested that the Dominator plot had come to an end. It's a strong issue, with powerful exchanges between the cast combined with new artist Stuart Immonen's top class art. Keeping the flashbacks consistent through the issue strengthens its theme. While seeing some sequences could have added some strength to recent issues, they really would have undermined Devlin's point of view in the last issue had the focus shifted.

Since we are still in the last arc, I can't help but notice Rokk has found another seat to grow his stubble on. I'm sure it's been tough coordinating the Legion through the missions on Earth, possibly liaising with the UP and SW6 too. But it's hard to say since, like Foccart's tough choices, we never saw any of it.

Rokk's scene touches on his PTSD seen earlier in the volume and foreshadows the Mordru plot later in the run. Connection Kid tells me that in a run of Lost Legion comics, Rokk has developed some temporal slippage following all his journeys into the past. This will lead him down the path into being the Trapper, rather than just being stuck in a library. This fulfils his terrible Adventure comics fate. Rokk continues to see images of the dead, even in his sleep towards the end of the issue. As with #1, he has Lydda and now Pol to help him cope with the loss.

Celeste's Gren Lantern abilities have barely been touched on. Which is a shame, as previous Lanterns have been able to lift gigantic structures through the power of their will. Celeste can only watch the line of people she knows can't be saved. I do wonder why, other than Legion connections, Celeste got to be the one ushering people onto escaping ships.

Perhaps this could have been the story where SW6 Karate Kid sacrifices himself for a child, pushing the kid onto one of SW6 Jan's many giant intertron bubble, that will survive the destruction. A better fate than getting zapped in Weisinger Plaza.

Celeste isn't the only female character to have her power levels reduced. Even as she's saving people, we're reminded yet again that Laurel Gand's power levels are going to be reduced if she pushes herself too much. Laurel couldn't save everyone and she's haunted by it. It may also have crossed her mind that, had Rokk not distracted her with some chat from his chair, she would have got the three arks away.

Laurel does come to an understanding with the emotional, protective Querl in this issue. He feels that his intellect failed him , and reruns unsuccessful scenarios in his mind.

The impact of losing so many people in Earth's destruction haunts all of the cast. We also get to see that not every character's background reacts to it in the same way. There are glimpses of this in Jan's speech and also in Ayla's outlook on death. It acts as a counterpoint to Vi's misery at the loss and her own loss of purpose, resulting in a powerful scene that bonds both of them together. We get a closer look at their relationship. It shows that the assertive, strong Vi isn't that far removed from the woman who got trapped in that sens-tank years before. It also tells us how far Ayla has come over the years too. Credit to TMK for showing us that the characters have a number of layers to them.

As traumatised as the cast are, I don't recall if it's developed further in ongoing character changes.

The book moves to the SW6 team. They're operating on New Earth to establish the link ahead of their new series. Alt+Dirk might have seen a future he'd look to avoid in seeing his older self's fall. But he still lashes out at the loss of so many people. You can see the hints of the Space Mutiny Dirk in there. It did take an insensitive comment from Alt+Tenzil to bring it out, but it's in there. With other character hints we see that Jan speaks about souls, Tenzil is oblivious to his comments and Andrew acts as a mediator, looking to win the next battle.

The SW6 team would have the action in this issue, as they receive a message from Leland McCauley III. It reads "I am trapped in a Heathers movie reference. Help Me. PS. I'm worried that polishing these statues is morally wrong."

A small team go in, and rescue Cham, just as they encounter McClauley. The villain is resorts to the threat of lawsuits in order for a compromise to be reached. He's an extension of the guy we saw send an assassin after Brande in v3. The Legion don't recognise the traces of the Emerald Eye in the story. Actually, it seems that it's technology that's keeping the prisoners, so that's a little confusing, since the emerald stasis field can also be seen. Prisoners include a couple of Wanderers. They are in their original costumes, and I had wondered if it was just the costumes in the museum (Giffen shadowing at work covers their faces). But the others are all alive. Since the guys in these costumes are dead, I wonder if there's a Lost Tale of the Legion in there. We also get one of the Taurus gang and Dev-Em in the collection. I wonder if they negotiated for their release too.

RJ Brande depart looking to build a new Earth, and Cham has a sense of optimism for the future. With Rokk saying hi to his son, the cast starting their healing process and a look around New Earth, there's hopefulness in among the horror of the issue.

The SW6 sequences, where they also mention that Alt+Lar hasn't returned, showcase the changing art of Keith Giffen as he leaves the book and moves over to Image and elsewhere. We see the last of the nine-panel grid, the repeat panels and the emotive (when done well) shadowing. It seems like another fairly large jump, art wise, like the transition to the Omen & Prophet story. But the last sequence still has a nine panel grid, repeat panels and unusual shadowing. So it's more of a transition.

There are lots of positives in the issue, offset only a little by the book still tied to the Dominator plot. The older team do little in their own book, but Laurel by Immonen makes up a lot for this.

The scope of dealing with a destroyed home world is a good one, and the reactions of the cast to it are thoughtful and consistent. The little framing devices during Jan's speech are well done and offer yet another approach to doing an issue as we've seen throughout the volume, as recently as the previous issue. None of the scenes overstays it's welcome. The characterisation continues to be excellent: Querl/ Laurel, Alt+Dirk, Rokk and my favourite being Vi and Ayla. I can't think of another book that has such a good grasp of the emotional lives of its cast.

Therapist Nolan: Hello Rokk. Please, take a seat.
Rokk: I've just brought the one I've been sitting on for 39 issues, if that's okay.


I can take or leave Brande and this plotline, so hopefully others enjoyed it more. I think Super Brat Leland used legal threats back in v3 and this is in keeping with that. Back then, the Legion returned an assassin, while knocking out defence systems. McCauley threatened them with criminal damage and trespass.


A bit of me wonders if this was Giffen showing the readers that his style had moved away from the book again. That he was happily going on to embrace that, while leaving a lot of bad moments and unfulfilled potential behind him. Hopefully, it wasn't him saying "See my new style? See what you're missiing?!" as I haven't heard a Legion fan liking it.