By Jim Shooter, Curt Swan, George Klein, Pete Costanza, Jim Mooney & Sheldon Moldoff (DC Comics)
ISBN: 1-56389-398-3
Once upon a time, in the far future, a band of super-powered kids from a multitude of worlds took inspiration from the greatest hero of all time and formed a club of champions. One day those Children of Tomorrow came back in time and invited their inspiration to join them…
And thus began the vast and epic saga of the Legion of Super-Heroes in early 1958, just as the revived comicbook genre of superheroes was gathering an inexorable head of steam. Since that time the fortunes and popularity of the Legion have perpetually waxed and waned, with their future history constantly tweaked and rebooted, retconned and overwritten time and time again to comply with editorial diktat and popular whim.
This stunning and sturdy, action packed seventh full-colour deluxe hardback collection re-presents tales from the disparate Superman Family titles which saw the early zenith of the team in sagas from their own feature spanning Adventure Comics #359-367 from August 1967 to April 1968 cover-dates, with a Legion-starring tale from Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #106 (October 1967) thrown in at no extra cost.
This period completed the Tomorrow Team’s transformation from wholesome, humorous and generally safe science fiction strip into a grittily determined army of galactic warriors dedicated to universal peace and, after an effusive and fulsome Foreword from sometime Legion scripter Tom Peyer, the action starts fast, picks up speed and just keeps going…
The architect of the transformation was teenaged sensation Jim Shooter, whose scripts and layouts (generally finished and inked by veterans Curt Swan & George Klein) made the series accessible to a generation of fans growing up in the Future…
Adventure #359 found the entire team of once-beloved and trusted champions disbanded and on the run as ‘The Outlawed Legionnaires!’ thanks to the manipulations of a devious old foe, only to rousingly regroup and comprehensively counter-attack in #360’s conclusion ‘The Legion Chain Gang!’
Once again restored to their position as a key component of United Planets Security in ‘The Unkillables!’, a small superhero squad consisting of Bouncing Boy, Duo Damsel, Ultra Boy, Phantom Girl, Karate Kid, Shrinking Violet, Superboy, Star Boy, Collossal Boy, Light Lass and Brainiac 5 were then assigned to protect alien ambassadors the Dominators from political agitators, assassins and a hidden traitor in a tense thriller illustrated by Jim Mooney, after which ‘The Lone Wolf Legion Reporter!’ (Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #106, by Shooter & Pete Costanza) found the young newsman seconded to the 30th century to help with the club newspaper. Sadly he was far better at making news than publishing it…
Adventure Comics #362 found the Legion scattered across three worlds as mad scientist Mantis Morlo refused to let environmental safety interfere with his experiments in ‘The Chemoids are Coming!’, resulting in a lethally ‘Black Day for the Legion!’…
Shooter & Costanza then topped their gripping two-parter by uncovering ‘The Revolt of the Super-Pets!’ in #364, when the crafty rulers of planet Thanl attempted to seduce the animal adventurers Krypto, Streaky, Beppo the Super-Monkey, super-horse Comet and amorphous telepathic blob Proty II from their rightful – subordinate – positions with sweet words and palatial new homes…
When the isolated world of Talok 8 went dark and became an ultra-militaristic threat to the UP, their planetary champion Shadow Lass led Superboy, Brainiac 5, Cosmic Boy and Karate Kid on a reconnaissance mission which resulted in the disastrous ‘Escape of the Fatal Five!’ – illustrated by the returning Swan & Klein, whose time was increasingly being taken up with work in Superman and Action Comics).
The despicable quintet then almost conquered the UP itself and were only frustrated by the defiant, last ditch efforts of the battered heroes in the blistering conclusion ‘The Fight for the Championship of the Universe!’
In grateful thanks the Legion were gifted with a vast new HQ but before the paint was even dry a vast paramilitary force attempted to invade the slowly rebuilding planet Earth in #367’s ‘No Escape from the Circle of Death!’ (with additional inking by Sheldon Moldoff) ending this classic collection with a blockbuster battle and revelatory encounter which would reshape DC continuity in the years to come…
The Legion is unquestionably one of the most beloved and bewildering creations in comicbook history and largely responsible for the growth of the groundswell movement that became American Comics Fandom.
Moreover, these scintillating and seductively addictive stories – as much as Julie Schwartz’s Justice League – enflamed the interest and imaginations of a generation of young readers and underpinned the industry we all know today.
If you love comics and haven’t read this stuff, you are the poorer for it and need to enrich your future life as soon as possible.
© 1967, 1968, 1997 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.