Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Read – “Mordru the Merciless” Part One (Adventure Comics #369, June, 1968)

And here is Jim Shooter and Curt Swan’s Legion masterpiece. It’s so great, in fact, that I need to split the review of just the first half into two parts. If you don’t believe me, believe the DC Limited Collector’s Edition series of tabloid-sized comics, which chose this story to be its first representation of the Legion back in 1976.

The original issue begins with a Neal Adams cover, depicting the hands of Mordru the Merciless, heretofore unheard of in Legion lore, tearing through the solid metal walls of his prison vault, as Mon-El laments that they’re “Dead! His magic is greater than our combined super-powers!” Continue reading

Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Read – “Mutiny of the Super-Heroines” (Adventure Comics #368, May, 1968)

Wrapped in the exciting packaging of Shooter and Swan in 1968 comes a derivative plot from four years previous. “Revolt of the Girl Legionnaires” also concerned a matriarchal, alien world trying to control the female Legionnaires to their own devious ends. Only that time they just tried to lure the boys into romance so they could bring them down, one by one. This time out, the girls gain greatly enhanced powers and attempt to show the world how useless their male comrades are.

It all begins when a spaceship carrying an ambassador falls from orbit. The Legion races to the scene, only to discover that the ambassador has saved herself, using super-strength to move the wreckage. Star Boy is a little too surprised that the ambassador is a woman in this 30th Century supposedly committed to sexual equality. Ambassador Thora is introduced to President Boltax, although she admits that, coming from a matriarchy, it’s hard for her to deal with men being in charge.

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Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Read – “No Escape from the Circle of Death” (Adventure Comics #367, April, 1968)

This is a visually gripping cover, with the Legionnaires at center, being menaced by borderless, purple shadow images. With the vivid yellow, lime green and magenta around them, the artwork easily qualifies as “psychedelic.” This is part of a trend that began with Adventure 365, with more action-oriented poses (Superboy being punched toward the reader by Validus) and use of shadow and light to make the characters look more three-dimensional (as in the Legionnaires standing in the glare of the Fatal Five’s prison.) From here on, the covers wouldn’t feel as flat, and would depict more action, in keeping with the more realistic, often more somber tone of comics post-1968.

The Legion’s new headquarters is going up, and we’re told its construction is being funded by the United Planets, out of gratitude for all that the Legion has done for their worlds. It’s described as “a fortress,” with Inertron-based insulation in the walls, which even Superboy could not punch through. (Small dialogue error in this scene, as Brainiac 5 calls Sun Boy “Brainiac 5,” as part of a line of dialogue which it seems unlikely was meant for Sun Boy.

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The Colonel’s Plan – Going Gray

October 3, 2017

Dear Daddy —

I’m going gray.

I just walked into the office, and, Rick, one of my co-workers grabbed my arm and asked, “Are you all right?”

I asked, “Don’t I look all right?”

My Deputy, Tom, said, “You look dead on your feet.”

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Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Read -“The Battle for the Championship of the Universe” (Adventure Comics #366, March, 1968)

This issue picks up right where the last one left off, with the Talokian military bent on destroying the Legionnaires and Shadow Lass. Superboy observes that there are thousands of them, and he seemed nervous. Perhaps Shooter had decided that, at 15 or so, Kal-El was still depowered to 1938 levels. That might explain why, in this story-arc, he has Superboy schlepping through the desert like Lawrence of Arabia. At the very least, his super-speed must not have been up to Barry Allen levels yet, or he would have been able to quickly dispatch all those soldiers.

Of course, he is able to make it through the time barrier into the 30th Century with no troubles…

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Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Read – “Escape of the Fatal Five” (Adventure Comics #365, February, 1968)

At long last, the Jim Shooter / Curt Swan team is back! It’s been four long issues since they brought us “The Legion Chain Gang.” The title of their triumphant return, though, betrays the mystery they so carefully develop in the story itself. It must have been an editorial edict that the cover and splash reveal that the Five were waiting on Page 19 of the story. The author and artist were otherwise too careful to keep it a secret.

Talok VIII is a peaceful, advanced planet that has suddenly undergone a dramatic change in its behavior towards other worlds. The cities have become armed camps, deadly anti-matter weapons are being tested in space, and any ship that comes near is blown out of the sky. (Actually, we’re told, it’s any ship that comes within “a million miles.” That’s awfully damn close, in planetary terms—less than four times as far away as the Moon is from Earth.)

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Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Read – “Revolt of the Super-pets” (Adventure Comics #364, January, 1968)

Welcome to 1968! It’s a year of big changes in comics. Wonder Woman is going to lose her powers and her costume. Aquaman will begin a months-long quest for Mera, with art by Jim Aparo, and And while Silver Age greats like the The Challengers of the Unknown would soon fade away, the Doom Patrol would die, and Rip Hunter had already been canceled, over at Marvel, Iron Man, Captain America, The Hulk and The Sub-Mariner all premiered in their own titles. Within a year, Green Arrow would his fortune and become a hard traveling hero. Dick Grayson would go off to college. Neal Adams would take over the X-Men, too late to save their title. It was a time of change. Indeed, a house ad from DC, appearing in December, 1967’s Adventure Comics #363, heralded “New Things Are Coming from DC!”

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Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Read – “Black Day for the Legion” (Adventure Comics #363, December, 1967)

It takes a while for Part Two of the Mantis Morlo story to start. After the splash page, there’s a page of recap of the last issue, then the first actual page of news story just repeats the story elements already shown on the splash page. The Legionnaires, were left in battle with the Chemoids at the end of last issue, and they weren’t doing well.

Now they trade Chemoids, and their powers work well when used against a Chemoid who was adapted for one of their teammates. That suggests that the Chemoids are not as versatile as Morlo claimed, or maybe they just don’t adapt quickly enough to handle multiple opponents. Superboy takes out the smog generator that was endangering Orando. The mission is accomplished, but Morlo escapes, jumping off a flying platform and vanishing utterly.

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Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Read – “The Chemoids Are Coming!” (Adventure Comics #362, November, 1967)

The villain of this month’s piece looks mighty familiar, and for good reason. Dr. Mantis Morlo was co-created by Jim Shooter and Pete Costanza. As mentioned yesterday, Costanza was a longtime senior member of the Marvel Family creative team. He surely drew the Big Red Cheese’s (that’s the original Captain Marvel’s) arch-nemesis many times over. No doubt, when he was told that this issue called for an evil mad scientist, he thought of Dr. Sivana, consciously or non. If it was consciously, well, it had been a dozen or so years since Sivana legally appeared in comics. In comics time (at the time, and from the perspective of the publishers) that’s a couple of generations.

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Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Read – “The Lone Wolf Legionnaire Reporter!” (Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #106, October, 1967)

An Unknown writer brings us this Legion tie-in story from the pages of Jimmy’s late, lamented comic. Regular Olsen artist Pete Costanza drew it, and would draw the next couple of outings of the Legion in Adventure Comics as well. Costanza was 54 when this story was released, and has been a regular penciller of Captain Marvel and The Marvel Family, and Marvel-creator C.C. Beck’s chief assistant, from the time Billy Batson and company were created, until they folded under the weight of the DC lawsuit in the 1950s. Fawcett alumnus Otto Binder brought Costanza on board to draw Jimmy Olsen.

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