Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #225 (March, 1977)
"And Who Shall Lead Them?"
"A Matter of Priorities"
Writer - Paul Levitz
Pencillers - Jim Sherman & Mike Nasser
Inker - Bob Wiacek
Editor - Denny O'Neil
Cover Price: $0.30
When folks think of important creative figures in Legion of Super-Heroes history, one name that is often at the very top is Paul Levitz. I figure for this installment of "Learnin' the Legion", we'll go back to what I believe is his first Legion issue!
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We open during Wildfire being sworn in as new leader of the Legion of Super-Heroes. A very angry Superboy bursts onto the scene, claiming Wildfire cheated him out of the position... because, he had more votes! Things nearly become physical as this entire confrontation is being televised on WGBS.
As Superboy is being restrained by Mon-El and Ultra Boy, Dream Girl and Lightning Lad inform him of a change in the Legion Constitution... since Superboy (and Karate Kid, evidently) are only part-time members, they are unable to fulfill the role of Legion leader. Kinda begs the question why so many people would vote for a part-timer, right? Superboy did say he had the most votes! Anyhoo, he stomps out in a huff, kvetching at Shadow Lass on the way down the hall.
Hours pass, and the Legion is alerted to their first big threat under Wildfire's leadership... the Resource Raiders are attacking a dam on Earth! It looks like this crew is widely known as plundering resources throughout the galaxy. The Legionnaires swoop into position, rescuing the nearby civilians...
... before taking aim at the Raiders' own odd flying saucer. Lightning Lad and Shadow Lass hold the spinning disc at bay while Wildfire breaks off to attend to the busted up damn. Before he might give it "one good blast", Superboy flies in and takes the brunt of it. After throwing the Resource Raiders into orbit like a Frisbee, Superboy explains that the dam was coated in tiny explosive powder, which if ignited would've destroyed the entire valley.
Later on, in the Legion Lounge, Ultra Boy claims that there was no powder on the dam... otherwise he would have been able to see it with his Penetra-Vision. Shadow Lass doesn't want to think that Superboy may be trying to set their new leader up... to which Dream Girl thinks there might just be more going on here than meets the eye.
We shift to the Legion's Hall of Uniforms, where an embittered Superboy skulks in the shadows. He comes across his bounty... a Wildfire costume, just as the real-deal Wildfire shows up. A brief skirmish ensues, ending in the darkness. Once the dust settles... Wildfire leaves the room... or is it?
It isn't long before the Resource Raiders (I gotta stop typing Rescue Rangers) return to pillage and plunder, and Wildfire summons the Legionnaire to battle stations. The team questions how Wildfire could have seen the Raiders, as they were hiding behind satellites... without penetra- or telescopic vision, this shouldn't be possible! Wildfire simply replies that he "has his ways".
The Legion attacks the Raiders... and Wildfire is almost immediately blasted to atoms! At that very moment and to everyone's surprise, Superboy shows up!
As Superboy enters the fray, and helps the team easily take out the Raiders, he explains that the reason he's been such a jerk is because he saw that the Legion computer predicted whoever was the new leader would be blasted and killed during their first mission... and he intended to (literally?) take that bullet! During his fight with Wildfire in the Costume Room, Wildfire convinced him that he would have a better chance of surviving the (Kryptonite-laden) blast. Wildfire slips into his spare costume, hoo-ha, the whole world works. Everything's cool in Legion-land.
Our back-up story provides us with an "unknown tale" from Legion history. It occurs on a spaceship where Legionnaires, Timber Wolf and Sun Boy are escorting Ambassador Relnic on a diplomatic mission. Timber Wolf believes the intergalactic mass-murderer Tseln of Thaun is also on board... and despite Sun Boy's arguments, set out in pursuit.
In giving chase, Timber Wolf grabs a lone drape off the wall, and hurls it at his bounty... which turns out to be fellow Legionnaire, Princess Projectra! It's really unclear just what the hell is going on here... like, I think he threw a drape at her... but it creaked when it came off the wall... like maybe it was a piece of the wall itself... but that would probably have taken Projectra out, right? I dunno...
Anyhoo, Sun Boy and Relnic catch up, and we hear more about the mission of diplomacy. Relnic is to head into the Dominion Worlds to avert a pending war with the Dominators. We also get some exposition on Tseln. The Legion have followed him across 12 planets, and still haven't gotten a good look at his face. It's said that the baddie is quite superstitious and always kills using a ceremonial knife. Relnic attempts to reason with Timber Wolf to settle his tea kettle... as it would be most unfortunate if the Dominators were to find out that he was secretly being escorted by Legionnaires.
Timber Wolf retires to his room, unhappy with having to wait... while Relnic, Sun Boy, and Princess Projectra have themselves some dinner... and, as it turns out, a show! Suddenly the main area of the ship is filled with flame as a pair of smilin' demonic beasts make a (very) dramatic appearance!
The devilish-duo starts rattling the chains of the passengers when, wouldn'tcha know it, after some very comics-code-friendly threats, the very superstitious Tseln of Thaun shows his face... and ceremonial blade made of Mithril Silver!
Tseln attacks, but gets kayoed for his troubles. The Devil-dude vanishes as ship security descends on the mass-murderer. Turns out the devil was (I think) Timber Wolf under a Princess Projectra projec-tion, and the flames were courtesy of Sun Boy. The whole ordeal is written off by the captain as the "ship's entertainment getting out of hand". We wrap up with the Legionnaires whispering to each other about having stopped a mass-murderer without Relnic even realizing it. Wonk wonk wonkkkk.
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Ehhhhh...
While the first story wasn't terrible, I really found it hard to believe that Superboy would act like such a brat. I mean, would the Legionnaires not listen to him if he spoke to them about his findings in private? Did he really need to cause a televised Legion-incident by storming in on the swearing-in ceremony? Did he really plant gunpowder on the dam? Did it really matter that whoever was in charge was going to be blasted by the Raiders? Seems like Wildfire would've survived without Superboy's assistance, right? I mean, buddy's an energy-type being, right?
The (brief) mystery of who is in the Wildfire costume was decently done, I suppose... but, if Wildfire was always Wildfire... how could he suss out the Raiders if they were hiding behind satellites? I mean, that was a red herring to make us thing Superboy was under the mask... but isn't really explained away, unless I'm missing something. Perhaps Superboy tipped Wildfire off after they put their plan together? Was there a plan? Oof.
Even with all of my misgivings/confusion, I gotta say... I enjoyed the first story a whole lot more than the back-up. This one was just a chore. This is the kind of story that always scared me away from the Legion... just three random Legionnaires in an out-of-costume adventure. I mean, I can hardly identify some of these characters in costume... in their civvies, I'm totally lost. That isn't to say there wasn't a fair amount of exposition... and by "fair amount" I mean a TON.
I'm still unclear on what it was that Timber Wolf through at Princess Projectra... was that all part of an elaborate act to smoke the baddie out, or did the "act" start with the devil illusion? Why couldn't Relnic know what they were doing... I mean, he already knows his "bodyguards" are really Legionnaires, right? Did he really need deniability? Is he so dense that he wouldn't realize that, when the baddie gets captured due to a mixture of an illusion and flames, that perhaps Sun Boy and Princess Projectra had a hand in it? I dunno...
The art for the first story was pretty great. I was a bit disappointed initially that Mike Grell wasn't on art after seeing his work on the cover (along with Superboy's man-sized sideburns!), but Sherman put in some excellent work. Nasser's work in the back-up was a bit sketchy, but not bad at all. I definitely prefer Sherman's though.
Overall... perhaps not the best initial outing for Mr. Levitz. From what I hear (and what little I've read) his run with these characters throughout the Bronze Age and beyond is pretty legendary. Believe it or not, the first Legion of Super-Heroes story I (attempted to) read, was The Great Darkness Saga. That would kinda be like reading Crisis on Infinite Earths as a brand-new DC fan (which I also did some 20 years ago). I look forward to eventually giving Great Darkness another look when I have a better grasp on the characters and their world... I'm sure I will have a much better appreciation for it by then.
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Green Lantern (vol.2) #95 (June-July, 1977)
"Terminal For a Tragedy"
Story - Denny O'Neil
Penciller - Mike Grell
Inker - Vince Colletta
Colorist - Luz Berube
Cover Price: $0.35
Here's another from the "Get a load'a that cover" collection! Let's just get right into it!
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The issue opens with both of our hard-traveling heroes finding themselves dealing with the stickiest of wickets. In space, John Stewart attempts to carry an unconscious Hal Jordan away from the pull of a neutron star... and Oliver Queen finds his on-again off-again Black Canary bound to a set of gears just ready to tear her in two! John questions himself, citing a lack of experience for his (seeming) failure to save Hal, while Ollie is greeted by a Colonel Krisp... who offers to spare his Pretty Bird, if he agrees to... if the cover hasn't given it away, kill the President of the United States! This being 1977, I'm guessing the shadowy President goes by the name of Carter.
Ollie's all "nuh-uh", because he's not an idiot. Krisp pleads his case, claiming the current President to be just as traitorous as all of his recent predecessors, because... get this, he offers aid to "lesser nations". The horror! As you might imagine, this doesn't persuade Ollie in the slightest. He plays along asking why Krisp isn't employing a gunman rather than an archer... for expediency sake, if nothing else. Krisp explains that due to metal detectors, an archer is the only way to go.
Ollie refuses again... and so, Krisp threatens to tear Dinah in half. Ollie pretends to consider it... even agreeing to do it, just before elbowing Krisp in the gut. A pair of heavies are sicced on him, and the gears that hold Dinah begin to slowly spin. Oliver launches himself into the gears in attempt to slow them down... which, proves to be rather futile.
Back in space, John finds that he and Hal now are now in the pull of something beside a black hole... they are yanked toward a spacecraft. Thankfully, it's a friendly one. The pink alien on board welcomes the Lanterns, and straps Hal to an examination table to see if he might be of any help. It turns out that Hal is suffering from a disease... of the soul! The only way to cure it is for the affected to do astral-plane-y battle with their deepest fear. John's all "no dice", because... Hal's fearless! The alien's all "That's adorable" before loading Hal into a Telluratron MRI machine.
Hal is inserted into the machine as the pink alien starts tapping buttons on the control console... which endows Jordan with artificial energy with which he might do battle with his worst fear... which turns out to be... Hal Jordan himself!
Back with Ollie, Colonel Krisp approaches the Emerald Archer as he tries holding the gears at bay. He reveals that he is holding a button... which, if he releases... the gears will begin moving again. Ollie knows he's outta luck, so he agrees to kill the President. He insists that he craft a new bow for the job, however... as he'll need to fire from 200 yards away. Krisp is cool with it, and even assigns some of his henchmen to help.
Back in space, we witness some wicked Hal on Hal violence. The yellow Hal embodies all of flesh 'n bone Hal's insecurities and feelings of inadequacy... which makes me think of how this would never fly in a post Green Lantern: Rebirth (2005) world... having any human weakness would totally harsh Hal's current Fonzie-ness. Hal ultimately wallops his alter ego, and crawls out of the strange MRI tube.
We return to Earth, where the President is holding an outdoor meeting with a group of folks. The only item on the agenda is a doozy... World Peace! Colonel Krisp is among the guests... and is keeping his right hand in his pocket... to hide the Black Canary death button he carries with him 24 hours a day. 200 yards away, Green Arrow readies himself to take his shot.
And... he does! It looks like Ollie is employing a trick arrow here, as it releases a cloud of vapor as it burrows into Jimmy Carter's chest. The entire collective of World Peaceniks appear to be dead... including Colonel Krisp... who still has his finger on the button. Some military types in a circling helicopter witnessed the entire affair, and prepare to open fire on Ollie (and the Krisp-geek who is with him). He reveals to the geek that this was a suicide mission... the arrow he fired wasn't going to kill anyone... just paralyze them. It probably still hurt poor Jimmy though, just sayin'. Anyhoo, it would freeze Krisp's hand, so he couldn't let go of the button. He figures the military or police would be able to find Black Canary and free her when they come to investigate the "murder".
The geek attacks Ollie... and it doesn't go so well. He is almost immediately shredded to ribbons by the helicopter fire. Just as Ollie prepares himself for his most fatal of fates... the cavalry arrives, in the form of John Stewart and Hal Jordan!
The Lanterns box off the ballistics and save Ollie's life. Time passes, and everything is straightened out. Ollie and Dinah are reunited, and just as it's about to get "mushy" Hal, and his tiny little plant-pet Itty vamoose.
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It's so funny how things "escalate" in comics. It's unlike anything in the world. Our main threat here is like "You wanna save your girlfriend? Okay, all ya gotta do is... kill the President!" Okay, wow. Ol' Colonel Krisp don't mess around, does he?
The whole story feels sorta like a writer's workshop exercise. It's as though Denny wrote himself into a corner with both plot threads. First... how are ya gonna make Ollie not actually kill the President... but make it look like he did? Second, Hal Jordan is widely known as being "fearless"... so, how do you make him face a fear that doesn't exist? I think O'Neil handled both quite well... maybe a bit convenient, but well enough.
Colonel Krisp is a pretty terrible villain. I mean, if you hire a dude to kill anyone (much less the President!) against his will... would you let him out of your sight while he prepared his arsenal? That just seems ridiculous. Also, we're to understand that this fella's got his finger on a button 24/7? That's gotta cramp like hell! I'm lucky if I can hold a spoon long enough to eat a whole bowl of soup... couldn't imagine the dedication the Colonel has to his buttony cause.
To our cosmic half... this bit showed a side of John Stewart that I'm not entirely familiar with. Seeing him in awe of Hal Jordan... and so insecure in his own abilities struck me as kinda weird. Not saying it isn't right... just feels different from the character I know. I'm used to John being confident and headstrong. No real bearing on the issue... just an observation from a fan who came in many years after this issue hit.
Hal facing off with... himself? Interesting, while at the same time... kind of a cliche. Of course, the man without fear would only fear his own insecurities. Stands to reason... decent enough way to pull Hal out of his jam. Also, Itty appearance!
Overall, I really enjoyed this. Mike Grell delivers some excellent art here. Really wasn't sure about the clean-shaven Ollie... but, he makes it work. I gotta say, Grell's Black Canary... really nice! The entire package, art-wise was a ton of fun. I'd recommend checking this issue out if you come across it. It doesn't look like this one has been made available digitally... and given what appears on the cover, I'm not sure I'd be holding my breath (though, I've been wrong before!).
Before we wrap up and since we're on the subject, I wanna make mention of the most comprehensive resource for all things Grell... our pals Ruth and Darrin over at Warlord Worlds cover Mr. Grell's work on Green Arrow, Warlord, and Jon Sable: Freelance. Of late, they are also including discussion of his work on Legion of Super-Heroes. It's always a great listen... and definitely worth your time.
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Justice League of America #172 (November, 1979)
"I Accuse..."
Writer - Gerry Conway
Penciller - Dick Dillin
Inker - Frank McLaughlin
Letterer - Ben Oda
Colorist - Jerry Serpe
Editor - Ross Andru
Cover Price: $0.40
Today we're not only going back to the pre-Crisis... we're going back to pre-Chris...is. This fun (and silly) JLA/JSA team-up hit the shelves a few months before I made my understated debut on Earth-Prime.
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Welp, it looks like Mr. Terrific is dead. He's the victim of... murder! But whodunnit? Was it YOU? Was it ME? Well the way Superman is looking at us makes me think he believes so. Well, of course it wasn't one of us... he actually believes it must have been one of the members of the Justice League... or the visiting Justice Society. He orders the Green Lanterns and Dr. Fate to seal the Satellite, ensuring nobody enters and, more importantly, nobody leaves.
We turn our attentions to the Huntress, who is the daughter of the Earth-2 Batman and Catwoman. She reflects on the annual get-togethers between the two teams with Justice in their name... and how this one went from joyous to horrifying. Ya see, Mr. Terrific was an aged superhero who just decided to come out of retirement. Clearly, this was a bad idea considering that he is now very much dead.
At first, due to hearing a loud explosion the heroes assumed the death was an accident, however, once Zatanna got involved and began working her hoo-doo, she found herself shocked into a coma... perhaps to stop her from finding out the truth! From there, the Flashes did some reconnaissance, and found nothing. After standing around with their hands on their chin for awhile, Superman finally suggests that there is very likely... a traitor in their midst!
We shift to the Lanterns and Dr. Fate in the Monitor Room, where they are creating a bubble that will surround the entire Satellite. After they construct the bauble, they discuss how difficult it would be for any of them to leave at this point... perhaps fearing that they just locked themselves inside with a murderer!
Moments later, in the Conference Room, Superman is holding court. He assigned detective-duties to Batman and Huntress, who immediately get to work, asking who might be the last person to have spoken to Mr. Terrific. It turns out it was the Flash... es, that last saw him. They chatted about Sloane coming out of retirement, and the reemergence of the old super-villain the Spirit King. The conversation got heated, and ended with Terrific stomping away proclaiming that when all is said and done, one of the Flashes will be branded as... a traitor!
Batman does the whole "hand to his chin" thing to ponder what he'd just heard. Huntress is skeptical... saying the words of a dead man aren't much to go by... a dead man, who, while alive may have been... dun dun dun... senile! This raises the ire of (Earth-2) Hawkman and Alan Scott. Batman tells them all to settle their tea kettles... and repeats the facts... well, fact of the matter. All we know for sure is that Terry Sloane was murdered! He excuses himself (along with Huntress) to investigate the crime scene.
Among the ruins of the crime scene, Batman is able to find a piece of busted up debris from the explosion. On it, he finds depressions which could easily be the result of super-powered fingertips digging in.
The detectives split off, Huntress heads to the JLA Computer, and Batman decides to chat up his old friend Barry Allen. Barry reveals the entirety of his conversation with Terry... including how it went so wrong. Sloane appeared to be very defensive about his age... and really took any little comment as a personal affront. Across the room, Huntress is tapping away on the console when... it explodes!
The heroes rush to her aid, Superman wraps her in his cape to smother the flames. Batman kneels over the girl-who-could-be-his-daughter... and is told how cool it feels to be burned... what? Does Huntress dig pain? Ay yai yai. Anyhoo, Dr. Fate scurries over and magicks the burns away. The Flashes run in circles until the fire is extinguished. I get what they're thinking here... but the panels showing them running around are really quite silly.
Once the hub-bub dies down, Batman is prepared to reveal his findings. He pulls out that piece of debris (piece of debreese?) from earlier... and suggests that perhaps it was Superman! But, no... the finger-indents are too close together for that. He then points to... Power Girl! Who, flatly denies it (traitors always tell the truth, right?). Batman agrees with her, claiming she would be too obvious... which I don't quite understand. Did Power Girl and Mr. Terrific have a messy history? I dunno.
Anyhoo, Batman then reveals the true murderer... Jay Garrick! Well, kinda... it's Jay Garrick possessed by... the Spirit King!
The Spirit King's ethereal form reveals itself... grows one hell of a beautiful afro, and admits to everything. He's all, "Yeah I did it... did that too... and that, yup, and that!" Looks like Jay Garrick's off the hook!
Then... he escapes. He manages to run past all of the heroes and into the Transmatter Machine back to Earth-2. The heroes are all upset that they've lost this battle... but Superman is insistent that they, in fact, won. Ya see, they now know that there were no traitors among them. Mr. Terrific's still dead, but that's a small price to pay to know you can trust your teammates!
The story ends with the Earth-2 heroes hopping into the Transmatter Machine to give chase to their horrible foe.
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Love "captive team" type stories. Just love the idea of all these strong personalities bubbling under the surface while they're all scrutinized for killing one of their own. I mean, the ending was sort of a no-brainer... it's not like we were gonna find out that Batman or Superman is a murderer or anything, but it was still a lot of fun. Not clear how Batman came to his conclusion... but that seems to be a theme. Either they're just pulling it out of their backside, or I'm too dense to keep up... perhaps both!
Some of the dialogue here was really fun. I like Huntress sheepishly suggesting that they're going on the word of a man who might have been senile... and the reactions around the room. Also, Huntress saying that it feels cool to be burned... wassupwitdat? Was she saying that it was a, I dunno... cold flame? Or did she just dig the feelin', maaaaaan?
The Satellite Era is still something of a novelty to me... it's such weird fun, while at the same time there's this feeling of formality, almost "ceremony". I mean, really now... picture Superman standing in front of a room exclaiming "I ACCUSE!"
This is one of those stories where it feels like the Leaguers (and Society-ers... Socialites?) seem more like co-workers than friends. In rummaging through whatever ephemera (physical and digital) I can come across, I found it's a pretty common... don't wanna say complaint, maybe "observation", that the JLA seem like people grouped together to do a job... where the Avengers (the old... classic Avengers, before everybody was one) seemed more like a group of friends who happened to fight for the common good. It wouldn't be unusual to see a couple of Avengers having a chat over drinks... whereas the League just feels so stuffy and formal.
That's not to say I didn't enjoy this thoroughly... because, I did. It's just that with each revisit to pre-Crisis League, the clearer those observations become. Overall, I'd definitely recommend this... especially if you can find the issue before this one too, which I sadly do not have. The entire story (and several more) are collected in Crisis on Multiple Earths, vol. 5, and is also available digitally.
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