Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Reading the Legion Archives: Volume 32

Spoilers for upcoming issues:

Legion of Superheroes #56 "Brainy Unleashed?!" (cover) Dragon's Fury" (story) by Tom McCraw, art by Stuart Immonen & Ron Boyd, Colours Tom McCraw, Letters Bob Pinaha, Editor K.C. Carlson, Assists Mike McAvennie

Ayla (Pulse), Drake (NRG), Brin (Furball), Rokk (Polestar) and Laurel (?) pursue some gang members; Laurel captures the Bronc's leader. Rokk nearly kills some gang members until Laurel stops him.

SPs conduct a search of the Talus HQ and find the Time Beacon still active. They also manage to open Sussa's mysterious canister, which contains human remains and is identified as the property of Molock Hanscom.

On Rimbor, Brainy (5) adjusts his forcefield while Loomis works on the ship. Vi (Virus) calls in with information and tells Brainy to assemble the team. When Trombi wakes up to take a call from the Broncs, she and Mysa (Jewel) escape and return to the base.

SPs interfere with Ranzz plantation shipments. Garth appeals to his U.P. ambassador. Relnic enters with news of an unexpected visit.

The team returns to their base with the captured Broncs leader. Laurel confides her concern about Rokk to Jo. Jo explains himself to the team, saying he needed supplies and had to help his old gang before leaving.

Vi reveals that Trombi is working with Khunds, which surprises the captured Bronc.

Jo disguised as the Broncs' leader arrives at Trombi's office with Vi. Trombi alerts security. SPs close in on the Legionnaires and gangs assembled outside. The Khund orders his enforcer (the same type who attacked Jo at the start of the series) to attack Jo and they tumble out through a window. Vi grabs Trombi and signals Brainy to play holos of Trombi and the Khund on public screens, angering the crowd. They think that the Khunds, with the rogue Legionnaires, are trying to take over Rimbor.

The Legionnaires escape back to their base. Vi pledges that the team will help Jo find Tinya. Brainy tells her there's something she should know about Ayla.

On Naltor, Nura, under SP supervision, relays predictions. She awakens in shock crying "No! Not him! It's impossible!" then passes out.

An end-page in the book presents imagined TV shows based on current DC comics.

Comments:There's a lot packed into this issue and it all ties into the one plot of the Legion being suspected traitors. It's one story, but with a lot of layers.

The Legion is in fine fighting form. I don't have much to say about the fight scenes, except Laurel uses her super-ice breath on two gang members, which had a Silver Age Superman feel. There was a possibility that they were killed, but the fact that she stopped Rokk from killing another opponent implies that she just frosted the guys.

The scenes with the Science Police on Talus presented a number of new named characters, one a Braalian-Daxamite and a science team with a good understanding of time machines, which might have led to something had the series continued. They reported to a Captain Devron, who I suspect might be a misspelled D'vron. They also wrapped up the canister mystery, to the point of opening it and presenting another mystery (whose remains?), although one might suspect the remains are Chad Burrane. (Why couldn't the Legionnaires open it, with Laurel, Rokk and Brainy?) The canister had a "Neusloian seal" with a "Poleric key", new terms which add to the world building. It's as if McCraw is writing for the long-term.

McCraw has packed in a lot of named characters: individual gang members, the SPs, various political people and their staff. Minor touches, but they give a sense of completeness. Details like the canister mystery and bringing Tab (Nura's assistant) back into the story provide continuity with what's gone before as well as moving the story to the next stage.

One aspect that didn't ring true was Jo hiding his motives from his team - seeking Tinya isn't the same as stopping Glorith - but I'll chalk that up to turbulent events messing with his judgment; he claims he felt guilty about leaving them so abruptly then getting pulled in to the gang war.

Also, I lost track of the Khund in Trombi's office: Jo fights the enforcer, Vi grabs Trombi and the Khund ... disappeared? Left in haste? A minor point.

The fictional TV series fooled me at first; I casually read the Legion one and thought it strange that I'd never heard of that series....

Which kind of makes me wonder just how soon editorial REALLY made McCraw privy to plans for rebooting the Legion.

Anyhow, not a bad issue. Certainly never a dull moment. Kudos to McCraw for that.

v4 Issue 56

The Legion chase down some fleeing gang members. It's hard to imagine why pulse got hit really. Her powers, or Wildfire, could have ended the threat in one blast. Although, they are wading around in water, I'm fairly confident the Legion's costumes would be insulated, not to mention they have immunity to them. It's left to Brin, and some off panel wolverine stuff, to finish them off.

In another conflict it's Wave who gets tagged on the shoulder, setting off Rokk. For all his grimness as he attacks the gang who betrayed them, it's not much of a remove from his reaction to the fireballers who killed and injured members of his family.

Back at one of the gang's bases we get a reason why Jo bothered to set all this up. The gang war had wiped out the credit he had to search for Tinya. The pieces link up in a page he might have planned or the editor mentioned putting in to fill in some gaps.

Another Legion team has been finding out who's behind the gang wars. They discover it to be Chairman Tombi, who is also in league with the Khunds. McCraw has split the team up into sub groups and everyone gets something to do. Like most of his issues, there's a nod to earlier parts of the volume, in this case the updated Khunidsh androids and their controller. It's essential a sequel of sorts to issues 2 and 3.

At the Legion's HQ, we see the time beacon. There's some dialogue about moving the Time Institute there, but this is McCraw nicely reminding us that the beacon is there, ahead of upcoming plotlines. I'm still not a fan of multi-powered folks, like our Braalian/ Daxamite SP, officer Connor. Before you know it, the galaxy will be swarming with over-powered role-playing characters.

There's not much of a cliff hanger this issue, as it's Nura having a premonition that basically tells us there's going to be a story the following month. Which would be the least we could expect anyway. The interesting thing about this, is that the SP are there to see if Nura will predict where the Legion are going to be. As they suspect there to be tricks from her, she might not be doing it voluntarily.

But there's a subplot there, that would have been nice to explore. Another ex-Legionnaire to feel some pressure is Garth, whose shipments are being stopped in case of escaping Legionnaires stowing away on them. Considering the importance of Winath as a producer, there must be competing farms so that the UP don't feel the pinch. Interesting to see Mekt's temper is still in there somewhere. It's another little character moment McCraw is good at putting in. The continuing effect of Glorith on Ayla is another one, as is Brainy tinkering with his force belt.

It's another decent issue with top grade art. Some action, some intrigue, some old plots revisited and some new ones hinted at. Vi tells Jo that he could just have asked for help, which underpins the wonkiness of the premise of some of this new direction. But the execution of the plot is well enough done.

I loved this cover when I first saw it. Brainy unleashed! Ha! It does appear inside but turns out to be somewhat under-dramatic since the other half of the team already have things in hand and it was just a matter of lack of communication. Still I once again love the artwork.

This was another fun one. Tom McCraw does another decent job of writing an entertaining issue while continuing other plots and seeding other possible ones. I would have liked to see some go further, like is it possible that the frustration Mekt is feeling leads him to do something a bit underhanded and maybe heading a little back to the other side of the street. I like the reformed Mekt and the sense of family they have built around him but a slippery slope kind of thing where he ends up leaving his family but with regret rather than his earlier villainy could have been interesting to explore.

I'm not sure that comparison is valid. In the earlier case criminals had acted like terrorists solely for money and had ended up killing his mother. Rokk then chose to seek revenge before pulling himself back at the end. Here he reacts instantly and violently to one of his team being injured, certainly something he has experienced many times over the years. Moreover he is now a war-weary veteran who has seen much worse. For him to react so violently so suddenly and determinedly does seem out of character to me, as it is meant to.

We are left with at least two mysteries for neat issue: who is the VIP visitor expected on Weber's World and who has Nura seen that is so surprising associated with New Earth? Oh and why does Vi(rus) want to go to the Darzyl System? Have we heard of it before?

The Darzyl System sounds familiar, but I don't recall seeing it before. We need Mark Waid on speed dial.

It was surprising to see Officer Connor described as Braalian-Daxamite. The SPs used to forbid anyone with super powers, which was why Gim Allon left. Perhaps they changed during the post-Magic wars collapse, or McCraw didn't get the memo. I agree that it would be better to keep them as unpowered sentients, or they're just another superhero team.

Mekt's temper, that could have gone in a number of directions had the series continued. Fierce defender of his family? Unstable employee? Return to full villain?

(Posting early because we're expecting a big storm tomorrow, so maybe no power)



Legion of Superheroes #57 "A Call to Arms!" (cover) "Friends and Foes" (story) by Tom McCraw, Stuart Immonene & Ron Boyd, art by Christopher Taylor & Dave Cooper, Colours Tom McCraw, Letters Bob Pinaha, Editor K.C. Carlson, Assists Mike McAvennie

U.P. Academy cadets practice against robot Legionnaires, under teacher Porcupine Pete. Mara has trouble fighting the robot version of her friend Celeste. Chuck and Lu discuss the Legion's alleged treason with the cadets. They receive an SP alert that Khunds are approaching the Darzyl system (owned by Molock Hanscom/Starfinger). Chuck orders Fire Lad to lead a squad; Lu wants to join them to find out if the Legion has really joined the Khunds.

The fugitive Legion has gone to Darzyl-1 since the files Vi stole on Rimbor revealed a Khundish plan to assassinate Starfinger, who could provide financial support to the U.P. in a war. They find Tenzil and the Heroes of Lallor helping the Khunds and engage in battle. Meanwhile, the Khund Legionnaires, with a new member replacing Bloodclaw, enter Starfinger's office to kill him. Starfinger responds with reptilian guards and Starlight and Starbright.

On Weber's World, preparations are made for the arrival of a ship; Universo argues with Relnic that it shouldn't be allowed. However, a Khund delegation arrives, welcomed by Relnic. Universo communicates with somebody, who says his services are no longer needed.

On Darzyl-1, Firefist murders Starfinger. The fighting between Legion, Lallorians and Khunds continues. The Academy cadets and teachers arrive and join the fray. Ayla's power changes back to Light Lass. The Khund Legionnaires decide to retreat; Veilmist teleports them away but fails to bring Flederweb. The Legionnaires escape back to their ship with Flederweb. Brainy discovers Fleberweb was mind-controlled. Loomis reports that he took the Academy ship's generator while they were fighting. Flederweb, freed of the mental control device, tells them that Firefist is headed to Weber's World to blow it up. There's another ship headed for New Earth, which Rokk wants to pursue, but Vi decides to focus on Weber's World. Ayla discovers that she's become a child. Rokk takes off for New Earth on his own.

On desolate Daxam, Lar fights Dev-em. Suddenly, they're surrounded by people and buildings; then Dev-em becomes his younger self.

Rond Vidar travels through the time stream with Circadia Senius, who's worried about causing a time paradox. They approach a large black blob in the time stream, which Rond says could be the end of everything.

Comments:
Another jam-packed, high action issue. The fight scenes were quite interesting, because there was so much going on with multiple teams of both new and familiar characters. The Subs were there, along with Mara the speedster, Lamprey and a number of interesting new cadets, Chuck and Luornu - but only two Luornus. Her third body had come back, courtesy of TMK, but she either wasn't present or McCraw missed that detail.

The Legionnaires go to protect Starfinger - strange bedfellows - whose death would undermine some eventual U.P./Khund war. I would have liked a more in-depth explanation of this; it was just one line delivered by Violet. If the U.P. depends on a criminal to support its wars, maybe it should rethink things. Nevertheless, if the galaxy was suspicious of them before, this would just add to the confusion. No wonder Lu, who wants to believe they're not traitors, can't make up her mind.

In any event, Starfinger is insufficiently protected for a super-Khund attack and you have to wonder if his guards even knew that the rogue Legionnaires were trying to protect him - or who the S.P. cadets were fighting. The fog of war, which led also to the death of one cadet (Ringtoss?) by friendly fire from fellow cadet Jagged.

An early casualty in the assault on Starfinger was a disc-less Dominator, probably the same one who approached Thom in the batball game issue. (There was also an assistant behind Starfinger, who reminded me of President Wellington's replacement, last seen afflicted with flu courtesy of Drura Sehpt.) These minor details connecting back to the series early issues add depth to this arc.

There was even some interlac thrown in, "Alert Khund Ship!".

Universo is unhappy with how things are going with Khunds and the U.P. talking peace. It's not clear if his powers have weakened or if he's not using them for some reason - were they stronger with the hypnostone, which is now in the possession of Eve Aries? Universo also gets dumped by his mysterious partner, who one suspects might be the big bad who Nura foresaw.

There's a rapid ramp-up of future problems at the end of the issue, with Flederweb's news of a bomb attack on Weber's World - and something going on with New Earth. Everything is destabilizing, Ayla's a child, Mysa's acting even more flirty, Rokk has gone off on his own Earth-bound caper, Dev-Em and Daxam are time-shifting and there's a big bad black blob in the timestream. Can the Time Trapper be far behind?

For the record, here are all the characters in this issue:

The rogue Legionnaires and Loomis, Porcupine Pete, Mara, Jagged, Dragonfly, Lu (2), Chuck, R327, Visi-Lad, Stone Boy, Fire Lad, Color Kid, a white-haired cadet, a tiger-ish cadet, Xera, Lamprey, Garak of the Glow (I think, from the Magic Wars), the Heroes of Lallor, the Khund Legionnaires, Khund Pantok and guards, Anton Relnic, King Jonn, Universo, Tenzil Kem who was really Chameleon Chief, Starfinger, Starlight, Starbright, his assistant, his Dominator and a couple of reptilian guards, Lar, Tasmia, Dev-Em, Cupid, Ringtoss, a Durlan, Rond Vidar, Circadia Senius. Whew!

The more characters, the merrier!

I kind of like the work of guest artist Christopher Taylor -- I wouldn't want that Image-y style in every issue, but in a crowded, action-oriented issue like this one, it feels right to me.

Fun fight! This certainly was full of characters. Lots of characters from the past along with a few new ones (?). Thank for listing them all Cramer. Really shows that it didn't just appear crowded, it was crowded.

Not much else to say. As you said, the Legion being framed advances a bit as we learn how it's being done - Chameleon Chief. With all the shape-changers around, the UP leaders and everyone else sure accepted the "evidence" at face value but I guess that was thanks to Universo's influence. We also see the classic trope of an accused hero or heroes looking more guilty while trying to clear their name by turning up with the actual bad guys, which is not badly done and appropriate even if not original.

We did see that scene several issues back with McCauley and Universo discussing the subliminals in the McCauley-com messages, so maybe this story is how they are following on with that. My own thought is that Universo's secret contact is the Khunds but I could be wrong.

Rushing back to Weber's World that they recently escaped from seems a bit nuts but then Legion heroics trumps common sense every time, as it did here in Darzyl. (Incidentally I looked it up and the only references to Darzyl are in these issues so I am remembering it from ... here!) I think it is also a result of needing to tie up the story to deal with the upcoming Zero Hour/End of an Era.

Ayla's reverting back to Light Lass powers is a fun idea, although it gets a bit shaky if you think about it too much. it's meant to demonstrate her de-aging but she already seems younger than her Light Lass days and more importantly the changes in her powers (both times) was a result of accidents (one with help from Nura) not a genetic thing so getting younger shouldn't have that effect - or maybe it does because of time-shenanigans. I flunked Time Conundrums 101.


My memory is a bit different to yours. This is the adult Luornu who regained her SECOND body thanks to Glorith in issue #42. As we saw in that issue her third body was still killed by Computo and in Annual #1 we saw her second body was splorped by Glorith when the Conspiracy of Four (Glorithverse version) attacked her in retaliation for killing the Daxamites. This made it possible for Glorith to also bring her second body back. The SW6 version in issue #41 ended up with three bodies when thanks to the two Brainy's Duo Damsel discovered that she had her third body back supposedly thanks to Dominator science somehow. So the older Luornu has two bodies and the younger has three.

The other thing in this issue is our first (I think) observed time-skip-thingy with the appearance and disappearance of the people of Daxam and Dev-Em reverting to his pre-Glorith version. I looked at the publishing dates and apart from Rond's taking off in a time bubble a few issues back and the ongoing story in Valor (that we will be reading soon) this is the first of the time-swaps we are shown. Rond having picked up Circadia Senius presumably from the past to help investigate is meant to throw alarm bells at us because we saw Circadia die when the Moon exploded in issue #19 (or at least heard him predict his death due to a fragment crashing within half a mile). This is why Circadia is so concerned that Rond picked him up, but Rond obviously thought the looming crisis (forgive the term) was so serious that needing his time expertise was more important than him being out of his personal time. Things begin accelerating quite quickly from here so hang on.

McCauley's subliminals, I'd completely forgotten about those. It figures those would be playing a part in this.

You're right, it was the SW6 Luornu who was able to materialize her third body. The two adult Luornus seem to be of one mind regarding the Legion (i.e. doubting they're traitors); there's a need for economy of story-telling, but it might have been good to have the one controlled by Glorith to express a different view.

Ayla as Light Lass doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but chalk it up to Glorith's strange powers. Unlike Kent, she seems to have her adult mind.

Yeah, Darzyl really has the sound of Adventure-era kookiness, but I guess it is a McCraw creation.

v4 Issue 57

McCraw expands the cast significantly, possibly trying to get as many people in as possible prior to zero hour. The UP Militia Academy confront the Legion as they try to save Starfinger, and minions, from the Khunds, including 3 that were made Legionnaires and the heroes of Lallor. Although not a massive Taylor fan, the action flows well enough, and there?s no problems in identifying everyone.

With the UP, Khunds, Starfinger, Universo and time travel plots all going on there?s still a lot of space for the Legion to be at the heart of the action. From the Rimborian corruption in recent issues, it shows just how necessary all sides find the criminal element, such as Starfinger. No wonder why Universo does so well, even without powers. This is one of the longest lasting legacies of the economic collapse in the 5YG. That there?s a level of corruption through every group in the galaxy. It?s probably why Earth got a computer to select candidates at one point.

The Legion find out that it?s Chameleon Chief who has been aiding the Khunds, and impersonating them. For some reason they don?t stay around to explain this to Lu. Even if there are bombs on Webers? World to deal with. In the very first scene, some androids morph into facsimiles of the Legion that are so realistic that Mara can?t bring herself to fight them. That was never considered before the team had to go on the run.

Starfinger is killed, just as the Legion arrives. T&M didn?t really get into more than a few background touches with Starfinger. He might have been saved by Mano, had the villain not been part of the Legionnaires Fatal Five.
There are some character progressions; Rokk?s increasing instability Ayla becoming younger, Universo?s alliances changing further. Rokk?s split from the main group is part of something larger, as are Lar & Shady?s fight against a changing Dev-Em and Rond and Circadia?s discovery regarding a darkness in the time stream. Circadia seems to have returned from the destruction of the moon issue.

I don?t think I was that pleased with this one at the time. Probably the loss of Immonen?s art, and its replacement; the army of characters rushing about with not much depth. But actually, it hangs together perfectly well. It?s to McCraw?s credit that he has a number of parallel plots ongoing, even as one in particular will become overwhelmingly important at the end of the volume.

I hadn't ever thought of the reconstructed Glorith Luornu maybe still being influenced by Glorith. That's a great (and creepy) concept. "Hey Chuck can you tell which is the new one?" "This -uh- little lady with the - uh- wandering hands."

Good point about the difference between Ayla and Kent.

Yeah Darzyl does have a nice ring to it.

I hadn't thought of that as a motivation but it makes sense.

Good points about the UP still reeling from the collapse. It is gaining ground but it is still a long way from where it was. The focus on the Legion can make us forget that.

If the series wasn't ending it would have been good to see some resulting effects from Starfinger's death as Vi predicted.

Another element that would have been good to see followed up is Jagged's accidental killing of Ringtoss. In spite of his brief appearance Jagged was an interesting character who could have become multi-dimensional with more time.

Good summation. In spite of the number of characters and plots the writer and artist did a good job with this issue, addressing most of the ongoing plots, keeping the story flowing, and making it an engaging read.

The Legion of Superheroes #58 "Down to the Wire" (cover) "Deadly Encounter" (story) by Tom McCraw, art by Stuart Immonen & Ron Boyd, colors Tom McCraw, letters Bob Pinaha, assists Mike McAvennie, Editor KC Carlson

The Legion approach Weber's World and attack a Khund ship; Loomis, Vi and Ayla stay on the Legion vessel and crash land it on Weber's World. While the Legionnaires battle the Khunds and mind-controlled Heroes of Lallor, Loomis pretends to be a distressed traveller with his daughter Ayla. They're brought on to Weber's World for questioning, with Vi hidden in Ayla's hair. Loomis insists on speaking with Relnic and is able to alert him to the Khund's bomb.

Relnic asks Stone Boy's team to bring Pantok to Relnic; the Subs fight Pantok's guards and Pantok, realizing the bomb plan has been revealed, commits suicide. One guard is brought for questioning by Universo and confesses there is a bomb. Jacques gets the Titan ambassador to confirm Universo's findings; they learn there are multiple bombs.

On the Khund ship, the fight continues. Dawnstar arrives and prevents Duplicate Boy from attacking NRG; they are both surprised to see each other. In the battle, Firefist has killed Veilmist for wanting to join "Master Jo". Brainy finds files revealing multiple bombs. Laurel rushes off to find and eliminate them.

Ayla runs off to alert Vi, who is trying to disable the central red solar bomb, that there are multiple bombs. Vi is uncertain which wire to cut. A massive explosion occurs.

Glorith completes her recovery in The Infinite Library and returns to Baaldur after reading an admonition to seek alliances with old enemies. She is determined to eradicate the Legion if necessary. She goes to Tharn, finds a weakened, imprisoned Mordru and rejuvenates him. He attacks the teachers, takes their power and becomes even younger and stronger.

Comments:
If this issue were a thriller movie, we'd have a Zulu-time countdown on each page as the three groups (Legionnaires fighting on the Khund ship; Loomis, Ayla & Vi; Relnic & company) close in on the multiple-bomb problem. We're left with a big cliffhanger as the explosion occurs, then move onto a bigger cliffhanger when Glorith and new-Mordru join forces. There are fewer characters at play, but more urgent action.

It's good to see Loomis get a more active role in the story; he's mostly just been seen popping his head out of some repair job until these recent issues.

Amid the fighting, there's a good sense of camaraderie: Laurel watching out for Brainy, Celeste greeting Dawnstar (unexpected arrival?), Mysa appealing to Veilmist to join them. Dawnstar and NRG's meeting was an intentionally awkward pause in the fight. This is the second time Dawnstar has bashed someone with a blunt object; it may be her new preferred modus operandi. Track 'em, whack 'em.

There's a new expletive in town: "kriesh", also used in an earlier McCraw issue.

Jacques' role isn't clear: is he there as an ambassador, an official, a friend to the U.P. or a private citizen with connections? Drura is essentially window-dressing.

I'm still unsure of Universo's alliance, but the Khunds look are the most likely: his interrogation only "uncovers" one bomb and they might well give him New Earth if they could take over the other planets. (Glorith/Time Trapper was another possibility I considered, but based on this issue, she has just recently recovered.)

The Infinite Library is a new setting, as far as I know. Pretty cool and disappointing that it hasn't been kept as a Legion (or DC) location.

As a former librarian, I concur.

Another fun, busy, action-filled issue with more great art by Immonnen (yeah, yeah, we all you know you idolise his work stile, move on).

I like the characterisations shown here. Great work by Tom (although I admit I never felt quite comfortable with the Brin/Mysa thing. Perhaps potentially possible with the changes they have both been through but still a bit off-putting.) The Dawny/Drake interaction was great. So realistic considering the baggage they are both carrying and the changes they have both been through (the exact nature of Drake's still to be revealed).

I think Jacques role is also unclear within the in-universe setting. The last definition we had was the UP Council agreeing to allow him freedom to work on defending the Legion re their treason accusation. I think that is still continuing with his long-term relationships with the UP characters coming in to play. Drura has been portrayed as not wanting to be involved on the political side so it makes sense that she is just tagging a long here, but she gets one more chance to do her thing very soon.

The Infinite Library is a great setting, although one of those uber-powerful ideas that make any story using it really tricky to write. It serves a vital purpose in the upcoming issues and perhaps it is good that no-one has tried to use it elsewhere since it could be difficult to stop it overpowering everything else.

I always thought that Glorith wrote those words in the book about seeking alliances with old enemies, but I like your view better that she read and it and was inspired by it. the idea that Glorith and Mordru would ally is a real "oh #$!&" moment given the backstory 5YL has created around the pair. This does not look good for our heroes or anyone in the galaxy for that matter.

Big cliffhangers here. Perhaps I was wrong to suggest breaking the reading volume here (apart from the two annuals) but everything is rapidly speeding up to the coming End and it's hard to find any spot that doesn't break in to the flow.

Brin-Mysa is a bit... odd. But Mysa had a close relationship with Blok, so maybe she's more comfortable with less humanoid males, for some reason.

Hadn't thought that it could have been Glorith writing those words herself. It works both ways. That book could have been her journal, her record of time spent in the library.

Legion of Superheroes Annual #5 "The Long Road Home" by Tom McCraw, art by Stuart Immonen, Jose Marzan, Curt Swan, Ron Boyd, Mark Farmer, dave Cooper, Wade Von Grawbadger, John Lowe, Craig Hamilton, Jeff Moy, Ted McKeever, Robert Campanella, Karl Story and Colleen Doran, colours by Tom McCraw, Letters Bob Pinaha, Assists Mike McAvennie, Editor KC Carlson

This story takes place before issue #58, when the Legionnaires are en route to Weber's World.

Vi tries to comfort Ayla, who is worried about her de-aging. To help her sleep, Vi reads her a bedtime story, The Long Road Home.

In this tale, young Garth teases his sister Ayla in their father's lab on Winath. Garth accidently knocks Ayla into a vessel, which transports her to a strange land, with her Dreamy doll. The vessel lands on and kills the evil Starfinger. He had been menacing the tiny Imskian people and was only held at bay by the White Witch. Ayla wants to go home; the Witch tells her she must journey to find Prince Valor of Gandia. The Witch is too weak to go with her but gives her a magic headband and Starfinger's ring for protection. An Imskian, Violet, chooses to join her. They follow a star path to star gates and jump from land to land.

In the first land, they find mischievous Shadowkins who are turning creatures into shadows. Next, they are joined by 5, who was trapped in a maze, Erg, a metal man and Furball, a lion. They disturb a sea creature, find the Polar King and Sun Baron fighting over a land of ice and fire, enter an invisible land and finally reach Gandia, a land filled with children.

Princess Laurel tells them Valor went to fight the Starfingers and never returned. Starfinger's sister turned all the people of Gandia to children. Ayla vows to go find Valor. The sister monitors their journey. Ayla's companions, disguised as guards, say they are bringing Ayla to her as commanded.

They are pursued by winged Amerindians and ensnared by shape-changing blobs. Only Ayla is free to continue. She meets Blok, whose people were killed by the Starfingers, and finally reaches Starfingers castle to confront the sister. Ayla's friends are prisoners and the sister offers to exchange the Dreamy doll for Starfinger's ring; Ayla refuses. As she tries to escape, the sister is knocked into a blazing furnace. Ayla finds her friends changed into toys and uses the ring to change them back. They find a shield with the symbol of Gandia; when touched with the ring, it changes into Prince Valor. Erg gets the sister's ring out of the furnace, Ayla gives Valor both rings and he uses them to take everyone to Gandia and return his people to their adult ages. The White Witch uses her magic to send Ayla back to Winath, where she has become older as well as wiser.

Violet concludes the story; Ayla appears to have fallen asleep. However, she sheds a tear as she hears the Legionnaires vow to find a way to reverse her youth.

Comments:
Loosely based on the Wizard of Oz, which I vaguely remember. It's clever enough as an Elseworlds story, weaving together Oz and the Legion, with a wide array of artists. The different styles flow together quite well, except for Ted McKeever's, a very distinctive look which suffers by immediately following Curt Swan's classic lines.

It was fairly easy to adapt Oz characters to the Legion; there's a common thread of character types in fairy tales and hero stories. Mordru might have been chosen as the man behind the curtain, but Glorith fits better with the Legion's current situation and Starfinger suits the fairy tale.

Assuming that Violet tailored a classic story for Ayla tells us more about Violet. Based on this, she has a dim view of Shadow Lass, Dawnstar and Cham (or Proty), all portrayed as villains, and considers Polar Boy and Sun Boy to be childish squabblers. Tellus and Invisible Kid are neutral; Dream Girl is just a stuffed doll. The heroes are those on her current team, with the exception of Valor. Valor's princely depiction is more based on his legendary past than his current status as someone wandering around the galaxy.

I never thought abut how the adaptations might reflect Vi's opinion of the other legionnaires. Very interesting idea.
I am a big fan of the Wizard of Oz movie so I enjoyed that the creators chose to use it. It was fun putting the different legionnaires in to different parts. However it's not a particularly outstanding story (the comic). Ok but nothing fantastic. Just filler really, but that can be nice when the main story has been so grim.

Legionnaires Annual #1 "Castles in the Air" by mark Waid & Ty Templeton, art by Paul Pelletier & Jeff Moy, Mark Farmer, John Lowe, Wade Von Grawbadger & Ron Boyd, colours by Tom McCraw, Letters Pat Brosseau, Assistant Editor Mike McAvennie, Editor KC Carlson

R.J. Brande wants to build a haven of freedom in a galaxy dominated by the Circle. He gets Rokk Krinn to extract the anti-grav Nth metal from the ruins of Thanagar. The metal enables R.J. to build Space Station Avalon as a bastion of freedom, protected by Legionnaires from many planets.

Some time later, R.J. marries Imra and Rokk. He mentions Rokk's leadership skill and Imra being the sole survivor of a race wiped out by the Circle. Mekt Ranzz hides in the back of the chapel. Garth Ranzz intervenes, protecting the couple from an explosion. Garth explains that his mad brother was sent by the Circle to kill R.J.. Garth is accepted as a member after Imra scans his mind.

Jan Arrah delivers a sentence of execution on the traitor Hart Druiter. As he dies, Hart says that even the miracle machine will not save them. Rokk dismisses the machine as a legend.

Years pass. R.J. dies and Rokk leads Avalon. Mekt, still in service to the Circle, plans to attack the station. Rokk complains that his wife is always working in virtual space.

In virtual space, Imra and Garth are having an affair. Suddenly, an alarm sounds as the station suffers a partial collapse and a number of Legionnaires and Avalon residents are lost. Others decide, behind Rokk's back, to seek the miracle machine and seek out Projectra of Orando in a different section of Avalon. She performs a seance with Xao and conjures up Mordru. Projectra says all is lost if he has the machine; she collapses and Val orders the Legionnaires to leave.

Later, Imra investigates an alarm and finds Mekt has attacked Garth. Garth prevents her from stopping Mekt; Jan, Rokk, Cham and Ferro appear, having come to see where Imra went. Jan accuses Garth of letting Mekt escape and asks what's going on between the two of them. Rokk orders them taken into custody. Imra enables Garth's escape; she goes to trial for betrayal before Jan. Rokk pronounces her guilty.

Some Legionnaires (Jo, Cham, Vi, Dirk, Xao) disagree and leave on a quest of their own to protect Avalon. They head to Sorcerers World and find Mordru. They learn that he destroyed the miracle machine to keep it from the Circle, since his magic couldn't control it.

On Avalon, Imra is brought for execution. Garth rushes in and rescues her, which secretly pleases Rokk. As they escape, they are surrounded by Mekt and Circle soldiers. The Legion suffers badly in the attack; as Mekt moves in to kill Rokk, Imra kills Mekt. The team that found Mordru arrive and all pledge to work together as one; they drive off the Circle. Rokk, however, dies - but not until he tells Imra and Garth to carry on and keep the Legion strong.

Several years later, Avalon is completed; Imra dedicates the station to the memory of Rokk and tells the residents to spread their message of peace beyond Avalon's boundaries.

Comments
The Camelot story offers a good base for a Legion Elseworlds. Camelot 3000 preceded this issue by a couple of years and faced the same problem: what do you do with the women? The original was pretty much limited to Guinevere and Morgan le Fay. Camelot 3000 made one of the knights a man reborn in a woman's body. Waid and Templeton limit the number of active females to the early Adventure era group and have a couple of others appear as background characters.

Imra plays the part of cheating wife Guinevere. Triad is some sort of priestess. Violet goes on a mission as a Legionnaire. Projectra (now dead in the Legionnaires series) lives in a different part of Avalon with her guard Val; neither is an active Legionnaire. Others - Danielle (I think: a dark-skinned woman who looks more like Storm of the X-Men) and Laurel (again, I think it's her) appear in crowds. Jacques and Drura are also seen in the background.

There's not a whole lot of personality developed here apart from noble, sacrificing Rokk and sneaking-around Imra. The others are pretty much generic hero types.

Possibly the most disturbing aspect of the story is the portrayal of Jan Arrah, a harsh inquisitor/executioner. He's on the side of the good guys, but comes off as a bit villainous. Neither adult nor SW6 Jan have gone mad god at this point, but one can see the potential here. Avalon's a tough place, fighting for survival and no tolerance for betrayal. Despite his personal feelings, Rokk was prepared to see Imra executed. In the end, Imra does a nice job of killing Mekt with a back stabbing, sort of symbolic for how she treated her husband.

To have the Dark Circle as the primary villain, with Mekt as their chief thug, was inspired. Mordru would have been the easy choice, or Glorith as le Fay although Glorith isn't a foreground character in the SW6 Legionnaires' world. Here, Mordru acts for the good of the galaxy, but only to prevent an enemy from gaining power over him. He's more or less neutral, although if there had been a volume 2 in this Elseworlds, Mordru could conceivably have fought Avalon.

I enjoyed this Elseworlds but then I am softy for this type of tale. I felt it had a good balance of triumph and tragedy. The attitude of strict adherence to code with little leeway for forgiveness is too harsh for me but it is eased by a bit by the feelings displaying some disagreement with that position. It seem Waid and Templeton were trying to portray Rokk as being torn by his commitment to the rules to keep the dream going and his love and friendship for his companions. He is shown as being very strict in following the law even while hoping all the while that something will turn up to allow his friends to live while not weakening his stance and the commitment of his people to the dream. Even Jan's role as executioner is lightened a bit with his conversation with Rokk to hold on to hope to the last second, leading to Rokk wearing Jan's robes to keep everything going without the execution actually happening. Not sure what he would have done if Garth hadn't shown up, but his relief is obvious as is his dying speech of forgiveness.

I will be honest and admit that my male thickheadedness blinded me to the lack of strong female characters apart from Imra. Still there aren't much of any characters outside the three and Mekt. Some get speaking roles but it is more for the plot than as characters in their own right. It would have been good perhaps to include one of the women in the discussions such as Rokk had with Tenzil. (Thor is going to miss that hammer.) At least Vi and Lu were seen fighting in the climactic battle.

Women with roles: Imra, Luornu, Vi, Jeckie.
Women appearing: Unknown dark-skinned woman with white hair ( Nura, April?), Danielle, Tasmia (both at the interrupted execution), Drura (good spotting - I had missed her).
Women not seen: Tinya, Laurel (a blond woman is seen but could be anyone), Ayla (particularly absent given the pro/antagonists).