The Best Legion Stories Ever
Written: Aug 30 '08 (Updated Aug 30 '08)
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Pros: Terrific comic book stories from the golden age of one of comic's big supergroups.
Cons: Not all stories are top-notch.
The Bottom Line: Classic Legion of Super-Heroes stories from the 1960s. This is great comic books.
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| sweaver's Full Review: Comic Books Legion of Super Heroes Archives Vol. 6... |
This volume collects the Legion of Super-Heroes stories from Adventure Comics #350-358, published in 1966 and 1967. It represents the very best Legion material ever published. This was truly the glory days of the Legion.
This period puts the Legion at a membership of 18, huge for a supergroup at the time. Most stories featured a selection of those Legionnaires, rather than the whole group. Superboy, the big selling point at the time, was always in it.
The volume begins with a two-part story from Adventure #350 and 351, titled "The Outcast Super-Heroes" and "The Forgotten Legion," by writer E. Nelson Bridwell and the art team of penciller Curt Swan and inker George Klein. To begin, it is found that Superboy and Supergirl must leave the Legion, because a ring of Kryptonite dust has encircled the Earth and will not dissipate for two years. Efforts to remove the Kryptonite have failed. They ask to name their replacements, masked and armored individuals going by code names Miss Terious and Sir Prize.
The Legion's foes for this story are soon revealed as "The Devil's Dozen," actually four super-powered individuals under the direction of a demonic-looking figure calling himself Evillo. The Legion struggles to battle them, calling in the Substitute Heroes for help, and going back to a 20th century for Superboy, who does not remember them because of their efforts to remove his memory and avoid changing history.
In the end, the masked Legionnaries are revealed to be former member Star Boy and his paramour Dream Girl, who remain in the ranks. Substitute Color Kid changes the kryptonite from green to blue, which is not harmful to the Kryptonians. And further, Lightning Lad, Bouncing Boy, and Matter-Eater Lad are restored to full health and powers, leaving the Legion at full strength, and clearing the decks to enter a new era.
Teenager Jim Shooter returns to the writing with the next story, a two-parter that features the debut of the Legion's greatest foes, the Fatal Five. In a story modelled after The Dirty Dozen, the five Legionaires left on Earth, Superboy, Cosmic Boy, Sun Boy, Princess Projectra and Ferro Lad, are faced with the menace of the Sun-Eater, a frightening creature that consumes stars. It is headed directly through our galaxy in a straight-line path for Earth. Under the theory that the villains are imperiled too, the galaxy's five most wanted villains are recruited to help in the battle. Tharok, the Persuader, Mano, the Emerald Empress, and Validus are all either near capture or death, and trade the slim chance to escape for the hopeless battle followed by amnesty.
In an epic battle, a Legionnaire dies to save the universe, and the team has united the worst villains ever into a team. A pyrrhic victory at best. This is followed by a two-part "Adult Legion" story, which has caused controversy and excitement since it was published. In it, an adult Superman visits the Legion in a time period where they are also adults, and many future "facts" about the team are revealed. The story excited Legion fans for many years afterward, who cheered when plot points in the story were used in Legion stories, and booed when it was contradicted. It both provided fodder for stories and frustrated future writers, but the fans were usually right.
In spite of a trite ending to the Adult Legion stories, those two stories may be the best Legion stories ever. Both tend to rank at or near the top whenever fans vote on such things. They still hold up as exceptional stories with excellent artwork.
The rest of the stories in this volume are not as good, but are interesting in their own right. "The Six-Legged Legionnaire" is an Otto Binder story that has Superboy's girl friend Lana Lang joining the Legion in her Insect Queen identity as a reservist. "The Five Legion Orphans" includes a "Parent's Day" celebration with five of the team members left out, and they end up on a rescue call that ends up with them changed into infants and "adopted."
"The Ghost of Ferro Lad" sees the members who were present at the death of the Legionnaire feeling guilt over his demise, and an enemy's attempt to exploit that guilt. Finally, "The Hunter" is a takeoff of "The Most Dangerous Game," where 30th century big-game hunter Otto Orion decides that stalking big cats and apes is too boring now, and that hunting Legionnaires would be more sporting. This is the only story in the volume without Swan/Klein art, as George Papp handles the drawing chores.
This volume has classic DC Comics stories from the 1960s, with strong plotting and excellent artwork. If you have ever wondered what the fuss was about over the Legion, here is where much of that depth of feeling originates.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 29.95
Type of Toy: Other
Age Range of Child: Kids to Teens
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Epinions.com ID:
sweaver
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Member: Shawn Weaver
Location: Vienna, WV, USA
Reviews written: 252
Trusted by: 44 members
About Me:
Husband, father of 4, Chemistry and Physics teacher, church choir
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