This was my jumping on point for collecting the Legion of Super-Heroes (LSH). I'd encountered them before, in something known in the Philippines as National Bookstore reprints -- an interesting Philippine artifact that I'll tackle in another post.
The Legion wasn't new to me. My Superman / Superboy fandom had brought me to various anthologies, compilations, and trivia books and had prepared me for most of the cast of this book.
However, the ongoing plotlines and the visually arresting cover and contents of this book really hooked me, and sustained my interest for many issues to come.
This cover is particularly noteworthy. Not only is it visually arresting, it's also quite clear that Colossal Boy is much larger than everyone else (courtesy of normal-sized Mon-El beside him), making for a stunning action scene right on the cover. It was because of Colossal Boy's portrayal in this comic that really drove home the coolness of the power to me. A shame it's rarely used these days.
SYNOPSIS & COMMENTARY
Scene 01: The story starts with a handful of members from the Legion of Super-Heroes (Shadow Lass, Mon-El, Colossal Boy, Star Boy, and Shrinking Violet), sent to Nullport -- a key spaceship drydock of the United Planets -- to pick up their Legion starcruisers.
After some expository captions, dialogue, and good-natured ribbing between the teammates, there is an accident. A starcruiser undergoing work suddenly begins to topple -- Mon-El manages to save the workers, but Colossal Boy (as seen to the right) misjudges the effect of reduced gravity on Nullport, and is unable to prevent damage to the afflicted ship.
Shrinking Violet, who shrank to avoid getting crushed, serendipitously also manages see through the wreckage she hid in that a signal from the control tower was what caused the 'accident' to occur.
Scene Commentary: I liked the easygoing banter between the members of the team assigned to this mission. There was something that -- to my older mind now -- felt like it was a movie or a TV show scene where the main characters get to interact with one another and show what they're like when things aren't stressful, to contrast sharply with how they are under pressure. There was also exposition about their mission and situation that didn't feel forced.
I really liked the portrayal of Colossal Boy's powers in this issue, and this scene is one of the reasons for that -- Pat Broderick did a great job here -- even if, ultimately, he fails to save the cruiser from falling over. I especially like that the reason he failed is due to misjudging the lighter gravity; it really establishes the Science Fiction feel of the book, and shows that having powers and training isn't always enough to prepare you for the multitude of experiences and challenges of the universe.
In hindsight, I suppose this is why even Mon-El isn't overpoweringly dominant all the time: the size, scale, and variety of the Legion universe can humble even a Super-Daxamite.
One other thing: you can see how much plot is packed into this one issue (and there's even a backup feature in this comic, also about a member of the Legion, also written by Paul Levitz!) by seeing what they left out. In modern comics, you'd have been treated to Shrinking Violet's view of the accident and what convinced her that it was sabotage -- here, it's all done through dialogue in order to move the plot along.
Scene 02: Orando, a kingdom of a thousand and one enchantments! Val Armorr (Karate Kid) and Princess Projectra have announced their intentions to get married, the King (Projectra's father) notes that Karate Kid has managed to complete his labors to prove worthy of Projectra's hand in marriage.
In the middle of explaining his reasons for not wanting a commoner to marry royalty, the sovereign promptly collapses!
Scene Commentary: This cut to Karate Kid and Princess Projectra on Orando -- a world considered incredibly backwater by the United Planets (a sword & sorcery world in a science fiction setting) -- may seem a bit odd. Was Orando a reference to Orlando, home to another "magical kingdom"? Who can say?
This scene, by the way, does help to establish for new readers the breadth and variety of worlds in the the United Planets and the overall setting, it really just sets up a plotline that gets resolved in a later issue.
Of additional note is the artwork of Pat Broderick, who seems to be quite fond of this 'stop-motion' effect used to show the sudden collapse of Orando's reigning monarch. He used it several times earlier to depict Colossal Boy shrinking to normal size, Star Boy performing some acrobatics, and Colossal Boy growing to giant-size once more. I also liked much of his panel-to-panel storytelling in this issue.
This was also part of the appeal of the LSH comic book. While one team was doing some thing in one corner of the United Planets, others were doing other things elsewhere, some were back at base, others were back at home -- lots of interesting locations and mostly interesting plot threads, back in the days before decompressed storytelling became popular in comics.
I also liked the look of the King of Orando. Aside from the crown, he carried a sword and wore what looks like a chainmail shirt underneath his robes.
By the way, the words "Ayeeeeeee!" and "Ayeeeeiiiiiiii!" tended to be used a lot in Legion comics to indicate a scream of pain. You don't really see it in much use these days.
Scene 03: Back on Nullport, the Legionnaires are trying to convince H'hrnath, the profit-minded horse-with-tentacles-and-human-limbs sentient who runs Nullport, that sabotage may be behind the accident with their cruiser.
The cigar-chomping H'hrnath, who doubts such leaps in logic (based on his years of experience in the biz), argues that the accident was just an accident. But Star Boy -- showing off some insight into espionage and sabotage -- argues that perhaps they should be given greater investigative leeway.
H'hrnath refuses, until a second accident takes place, shaking his confidence (and pride in his operations, probably) and allows the Legion to go ahead with their detective work.
Scene Commentary: The Science Fiction feel is lightly touched on here, but it is touched on. I liked the short exposition bit by H'hrnath on the costs of running Nullport -- it made it feel like a thought-out aspect of a larger SF setting. I also liked the absurdity of the look of H'hrnath merged with a cigar-chomping entrepreneur. It made the strangeness of the world of the Legion also very understandable.
My younger self didn't really question the ability of the Legion to conduct investigations anywhere in the United Planets; they were super-heroes after all. However, my older self appreciates the care placed here in 'asking permission' from the business owner to investigate or help out. It's also interesting to see Star Boy take point in dealing with H'hrnath, almost as lead liaison, I guess because I always tended to see him as a support character rather than as a leader (or worse, the boyfriend of Dream Girl) in stories.
Scene 04: We see Star Boy reporting back to Legion HQ, with Brainiac 5 handling monitor duties. Star Boy expresses concern that the Legion might not have enough team members to handle other missions or emergencies, but Brainy tells him they're fine for the moment.
Continuing the scene, there's a short but lovely exchange between Timber Wolf and Brainiac 5 about the possible culprits behind the sabotage: Brainy suggesting an infinity of possible suspects, but Brin Londo (Timber Wolf) interjects, stating that the Khunds are the only ones who'd profit from such villainy.
Scene Commentary: Again, a really dense scene, both visually and text-wise. Not only do we see a long vertical panel of Legion HQ, we also get a pretty detailed look at the monitor room of the Legion, where Brainy is communicating with Star Boy.
The exchange between Brainy and Brin is particularly noteworthy because in the space of a few panels we get:
- Brainy characterized as a brilliant, but methodical genius -- more prone to careful, deliberate and exhaustive approaches to problem-solving instead of leaps of intuitive logic;
- Brin gets to show a cunning not really showcased before, an it gets attributed to his 'new face';
- Brin (via an exchange with Ayla "Light Lass" Ranzz) also drops exposition regarding his cure last issue from his 'animalistic face', and the possibility of a relapse if he loses his cool;
- Brainy reluctantly agreeing with Brin, but not before sharing what he really thinks of Brin's intellectual capacity.
It's a great slice of the Legion storytelling that I fell in love with. It's also a great reminder that not everyone in the Legion likes one another, or gets along with one another.
Scene 05: As the investigation commences, Shrinking Violet (who was also instrumental in finding evidence that convinced H'hrnath to begin the investigation in earnest), leads the charge in finding out what might be causing the 'accidents' by diving into the circuitry of Nullport.
In a show of that legendary Legion teamwork, Mon-El uses his microscopic vision to keep track of (and perhaps guide) Shrinking Violet as she searches the circuitry for sabotage. While noting that none of them can go after her if she runs into trouble, at the very least he's keeping tabs on her progress.
Violet does manage to find the culprit: a circuit interrupter that can receive control signals from an external source and muck about with Nullport's systems!
She vaporizes it, after noting that it's of Khundish make. A short-term solution to a long-term problem. Exposition via dialogue once again makes it clear to readers that Khunds are a perennial problem for the United Planets, and deserving of a longer-term solution.
Scene Commentary: I really like this non-combat teamwork by the Legion. Rather than just relying powerhouses, the Legion was dangerous because of the sheer variety of powers and their teamwork, making the team greater than the mere sum of its parts.
Shrinking Violet really earned her keep in this issue, and showing some serious spine in standing up to H'hrnath and in going it alone in this mission. She also showed some knowledge of circuit design and electronics (from her own unique perspective, of course), which made me wish there were more missions like this for the Legion Espionage Squad! For those of you not familiar with that mini-team, more in another post.
I also liked the use of slang like 'Natch', and the off-hand exposition suggesting (especially to new readers like me) that the Khunds were a constant problem, and potentially a force to be reckoned with.
NEXT: Part 2 of our Issue Read-Through for LSH #285!
