Category: Superboy

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Showcase Presents Superman volume 3


By Otto Binder, Jerry Siegel, Robert Bernstein, Bill Finger, Jerry Coleman, Edmond Hamilton, Leo Dorfman, Jack Schiff, Wayne Boring, Al Plastino, Curt Swan, Kurt Schaffenberger, Jim Mooney, George Papp, Sheldon Moldoff & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-1271-1 (TPB)

Superman has proven to be all things to all fans over his decades of existence, and with the character currently undergoing another radical overhaul, these timeless tales of charm, joy and wholesome wit are more necessary than ever: not just as a reminder of great tales of the past but as an all-ages primer of the wonders still to come…

At the time these tales were published The Metropolis Marvel was enjoying revived interest. Television cartoons, a rampant merchandising wave thanks to the Batman-led boom in “camp” Superheroes generally, highly efficient global licensing and even a Broadway musical: all worked to keep the Last Son of Krypton a vibrant icon of Space-Age America.

Although we think of Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster’s iconic invention as the epitome of comic book creation, in truth soon after his launch in Action Comics #1 he became a multimedia star and far more people have enjoyed the Man of Steel than have ever read him. By the time his 20th anniversary rolled around, Superman was a regular on radio, astounding animated cartoons, two movie chapter-plays and a feature film, and had just ended his first smash-hit live-action television serial. In his future were many more; a stage musical; a franchise of cinematic blockbusters and a seamless succession of TV cartoons, starting with The New Adventures of Superman in 1966. Even Krypto got in on the small-screen act…

It’s no wonder then that tales from this Silver Age period should be so draped in wholesome trappings of “Tinseltown” – even more so than most of celebrity-obsessed America. It didn’t hurt that editor Whitney Ellsworth was a part-time screenwriter, script editor and producer as well as National/DC’s Hollywood point man. His publishing assistant Mort Weisinger – a key factor in the vast expansion of the Kryptonian mythos – also had strong ties to the cinema and television industries, beginning in 1955 when he became story-editor for the blockbusting Adventures of Superman TV show.

This third magnificent monochrome chronicle collects the contents of Action Comics #276-292, Superman #146-156 and excerpts from Superman Annuals #3-5, spanning May 1961 to October 1962; taking its content from the early 1960’s canon (when the book’s target audience would have been actual little kids) yet showcasing a rather more sophisticated set of tales than you might expect…

Wide-eyed wonderment commences with Action Comics #276’s ‘The War Between Supergirl and the Superman Emergency Squad’ by Robert Bernstein, Wayne Boring & Stan Kaye. Here, Superman is conned into revealing his secret identity and resorts to incredible measures to make a swindler disbelieve his eyes, after which #277 presented ‘The Conquest of Superman!’ (Bill Finger, Curt Swan & John Forte): another brilliantly brutal duel against super-scientist Lex Luthor.

Superman #146 (July 1961) offered ‘The Story of Superman’s Life’ relating more secrets by recapitulating Clark Kent’s early days in a captivating resumé. Covering all the basics, Otto Binder & Al Plastino share the death of Krypton, rocket-ride to Earth, early life as Superboy, death of the Kents and moving to Metropolis. Closing, ‘Superman’s Greatest Feats’ (Jerry Siegel & Plastino) sees the Man of Tomorrow travel into Earth’s past and seemingly succeed in preventing such tragedies as the sinking of Atlantis, slaughter of Christians in Imperial Rome, deaths of Nathan Hale, Abraham Lincoln and Custer and even the death of Krypton’s population. Of course it is too good to be true…

Action #278 featured ‘The Super Powers of Perry White!’ (Jerry Coleman, Swan & Kaye) with the senescent editor suddenly gaining superpowers and an inexplicable urge to conquer the world. In Superman #147 ‘The Great Mento!’ – Bernstein & Plastino – a mystery mind-reader threatens to expose the hero’s secret identity. ‘Krypto Battles Titano’ (Siegel & Plastino) finds the wandering Dog of Steel voyaging back to the Age of Dinosaurs to play before inadvertently saving humanity from alien invasion alongside the Kryptonite-mutated giant ape. The issue closed with ‘The Legion of Super Villains’ (Siegel, Swan & Sheldon Moldoff): a landmark adventure and stand-out thriller featuring Lex Luthor and the adult Legion of Super-Heroes overcoming certain death with valour and ingenuity.

This was followed by Swan’s iconic cover for Superman Annual #3 (August 1961); the uncredited picture-feature Secrets of the Fortress of Solitude and a superb back-cover pin-up.

The author of Action #279’s Imaginary Story ‘The Super Rivals’ is regrettably unknown but John Forte’s sleekly comfortable art happily limns the wild occurrence of legendary heroes Samson and Hercules brought to the 20th century by Superman to marry Lois Lane and Lana Lang, to keep them out of his hair! In #280 ‘Brainiac’s Super Revenge’ (Siegel, Swan & Kaye) returns that time-lost villain to our era and attacking the Man of Steel’s friends, only to be foiled by guest-star Congorilla (veteran Action Comics hero Congo Bill, who traded consciousness with a giant Golden Gorilla). Imaginary Stories were conceived as a way of exploring non-continuity plots and scenarios devised at a time when editors believed that entertainment trumped consistency and knew that every comic read was somebody’s first…

When Editor Weisinger was expanding Superman continuity and building a legend, he knew each new tale was an event adding to a nigh-sacred canon: that what was written and drawn mattered to readers. However, the ideas man wasn’t going to let aggregated “history” stifle a good plot situation, nor would he allow his eager yet sophisticated audience to endure clichéd deus ex machina cop-outs to mar the sheer enjoyment of captivating concepts. The mantra known to every fan was “Not a Dream! Not a Hoax! Not a Robot!”: emblazoned on covers depicting scenes that couldn’t possibly be true – even if it was only a comic book.

Superman #148 opened with Edmond Hamilton, Swan & Moldoff’s  ‘The 20th Century Achilles’, wherein a cunning crook makes himself immune to harm, after which ‘Mr. Mxyzptlk’s Super Mischief’ (Siegel, Swan & Moldoff) again finds the 5th dimensional pest using magic to cause irritation after legally changing his name to something even easier to pronounce, whilst the delightfully devilish ‘Superman Owes a Billion Dollars!’ – written by Bernstein – depicts the Caped Kryptonian’s greatest foe: a Revenue agent who diligently discovers that the hero has never paid a penny of tax in his life…

Action Comics #281 features ‘The Man Who Saved Kal-El’s Life!’ (Bernstein & Plastino), relating how a humble Earth scientist visited Krypton and cured baby Superman, all wrapped up in a gripping duel with a modern crook able to avoid Superman’s every effort to hold him, whilst in Superman #149, ‘Lex Luthor, Hero!’, ‘Luthor’s Super-Bodyguard’ and ‘The Death of Superman’ (Siegel, Swan & Moldoff) form a brilliant extended Imaginary saga describing the insidious inventor’s ultimate victory over the Man of Steel.

In “real” continuity, Action #282 shares ‘Superman’s Toughest Day’ (Finger & Plastino) as Clark Kent’s vacation only reveals how his alter ego never really takes it easy, before #283’s ‘The Red Kryptonite Menace’ (Bernstein, Swan & Kaye) follows Chameleon Men from the 30th century afflicting the Action Ace with incredible new powers and disabilities after exposing him to a variety of Crimson K chunks.

Superman #150 opened with ‘The One Minute of Doom’ – Siegel & Plastino – disclosing how all survivors of Krypton – even Superdog – commemorate the planet’s destruction, before Bernstein & Kurt Schaffenberger’s ‘The Duel over Superman’ finally sees Lois and Lana Lang teach the patronising Man of Tomorrow a deserved lesson about his smug masculine complacency.

Siegel, Swan & Kaye then baffle readers and Action Ace alike ‘When the World Forgot Superman’, in a clever and beguiling mystery yarn, followed here by extracts from Superman Annual #4 (January 1962): the stunning cover and featurette The Origin and Powers of the Legion of Super-Heroes by Swan & George Klein.

Action #284 featured ‘The Babe of Steel’ (Bernstein, Swan & Klein) wherein Superman endures humiliation and frustration after deliberately turning himself into a toddler – but there’s a deadly serious purpose to the temporary transformation…

Superman #151 opens with Siegel & Plastino’s salutary story ‘The Three Tough Teen-Agers!’ wherein the hero sets a trio of delinquents back on the right path, after which Bernstein, Swan & Klein’s ‘The Man Who Trained Supermen’ sees Clark expose a crooked sports trainer. ‘Superman’s Greatest Secret!’ is almost revealed after battling a fire-breathing dragon which survived Krypton’s doom in a stirring tale by Siegel, Swan & Klein: probably one of the best secret-identity-saving stories of the period…

Since landing on Earth, Supergirl’s existence had been a closely guarded secret, allowing her time to master her formidable abilities. These tales were presented to the readership monthly as a back-up feature in Action Comics. However with #285, ‘The World’s Greatest Heroine!’ finally goes public in the Superman lead spot, after which the Girl of Steel defeats ‘The Infinite Monster’ in her own strip. Supergirl became the darling of the universe: openly saving the planet and finally getting credit for it in stirring tales by Siegel & Jim Mooney.

Action #286 offered mini-epic ‘The Jury of Super-Enemies’ (Bernstein, Swan & Klein) as the Superman Revenge Squad inflicts Red K hallucinations on the Man of Steel: tormenting him with visions of Luthor, Brainiac, the Legion of Super-Villains and other evil adversaries. The saga continued in the next issue, but before that Superman #152 appeared, with a surprising battle against ‘The Robot Master’ (Siegel, Swan & Klein), charmingly outrageous romp ‘Superbaby Captures the Pumpkin Gang!’ (Leo Dorfman & George Papp) and ‘The TV Trap for Superman!’, a devious crime caper by Finger & Plastino with the hero unwittingly wired for sound and vision by a sneaky conman…

The Revenge Squad thriller concluded in #287’s ‘Perry White’s Manhunt for Superman!’ (Bernstein, Swan & Klein) as an increasingly deluded Man of Tomorrow battles his worst nightmares and struggles to save Earth from a genuine alien invasion.

Finger & Plastino’s ‘The Day Superman Broke the Law!’ opened Superman #153, as a wily embezzler entangles the Metropolis Marvel in small-town red tape before ‘The Secret of the Superman Stamp’ (Edmond Hamilton, Swan & Klein) sees a proposed honour for good works turned into a serious threat to the hero’s secret identity…

‘The Town of Supermen’ by Siegel & Forte, then finds the Man of Tomorrow in a western ghost town in a deadly showdown against ten Kryptonian criminals freshly escaped from the Phantom Zone…

The growing power of the silver screen informed ‘The Man Who Exposed Superman’ (Action #288 by writer unknown and Swan & Klein) as a vengeful convict originally imprisoned by Superboy attempts to expose the hero’s identity by blackmailing him on live television. ‘The Super-Practical Joker!’ (#289 by Dorfman & Plastino) sees Perry White forced to hire obnoxious trust-fund brat Dexter Willis: a spoiled kid whose obsessive stunts almost expose Superman’s day job.

Opening Superman #154, Hamilton, Swan & Klein’s ‘The Underwater Pranks of Mr. Mxyzptlk’ see the insane sprite return, resolved to cause grief and stay for good by only working his jests whilst submerged, after which ‘Krypton’s First Superman’ (Siegel, Swan & Klein) tells a lost tale of baby Kal-El on there that has unsuspected psychological effects on the full-grown hero. Next comes an example of the many public service announcements running in all DC’s 1960’s titles. ‘Superman Says be a Good Citizen’ was probably written by Jack Schiff and definitely illustrated by Sheldon Moldoff.

Exposure to a Red Kryptonite comet in Action #290 sees him become ‘Half a Superman!’ in another sadly uncredited story illustrated by Swan & Klein, after which Superman Annual #5 (July 1962) offers another stunning cover and displays the planetary Flag of Krypton, whilst Superman #155 featured  2-chapter ‘Superman Under the Green Sun’ and ‘The Blind Superman’ by Finger, Wayne Boring & Kaye, as the Man of Steel is trapped on a totalitarian world where his powers don’t work. Blinded as part of the dictator’s policy to keep the populace helpless, even sightless, nothing stops the hero from leading the people to victory. As if that wasn’t enough Siegel, Swan & Klein then debut showbiz thriller ‘The Downfall of Superman!’ with a famous wrestler seemingly able to defeat the Action Ace – albeit with a little help from some astounding guest-stars…

‘The New Superman!’ (Bernstein & Plastino, Action #291) sees the Metropolis Marvel lose his deadly susceptibility to Kryptonite, only to have it replaced by aversions to far more commonplace minerals, whilst #292 reveals ‘When Superman Defended his Arch Enemy!’ – an anonymous thriller illustrated by Plastino – which has the hero save Luthor from his just deserts after “murdering” alien robots…

The grand excursion into comics nostalgia ends with one of the greatest Superman stories of the decade. Issue #156, October 1962, featured Hamilton, Swan & Klein’s novel-length saga ‘The Last Days of Superman’ which began with ‘Superman’s Death Sentence’ as the hero contracts deadly Kryptonian Virus X and goes into a swift and painful decline. Confined to an isolation booth, he’s visited by ‘The Super-Comrades of All Times!’ who attempt cures and swear to carry on his works… until a last-minute solution is disclosed on ‘Superman’s Last Day of Life!’ This tense and terrifying thriller employed the entire vast and extended supporting cast that had evolved around the most popular comic book character in the world and still enthrals and excites in a way few stories ever have…

As well as containing some of the most delightful episodes of pre angst-drenched, cosmically catastrophic DC, these fun, thrilling, mind-boggling and yes, occasionally deeply moving all-ages stories also perfectly depict the changing mores and tastes which reshaped comics between the safely anodyne 1950s to the seditious, rebellious 1970s, all the while keeping to the prime directive of the industry: “keep them entertained and keep them wanting more”.

I know I certainly do.
© 1961, 1962, 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Showcase Presents Legion of Super-Heroes volume 4


By James Shooter, E. Nelson Bridwell, Cary Bates, Curt Swan, George Papp, J. Winslow Mortimer, George Tuska, Dave Cockrum, Murphy Anderson, Mike Esposito, Vince Colletta & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-2185-0 (TPB)

Once upon a time, a thousand years from now, a band of super-powered kids from a multitude of worlds took inspiration from the greatest legend of all time and formed a club of heroes. One day those Children of Tomorrow came back in time and invited their inspiration to join them…

Thus began the vast and epic saga of the Legion of Super-Heroes, as initially envisioned by writer Otto Binder & artist Al Plastino when the many-handed mob of juvenile universe-savers debuted in Adventure Comics #247 (April 1958) just as the revived superhero genre was gathering an inexorable head of steam in America. Since that time the fortunes and popularity of the Legion have perpetually waxed and waned, with their future history tweaked and rebooted, retconned and overwritten over and over again to comply with editorial diktat and popular fashion.

This drama-drenched fourth monochrome compendium gathers a chronological parade of futuristic delights from June 1968 to September 1970, originally seen in Adventure Comics #369-380 and the reprint issue #403, plus back-up tales from Action Comics #378-392 – a time when the superhero genre again dipped in popularity. Also included in this enchanting tome are the tentative first forays of the team’s slow revival as an alternating back-up feature in Superboy, via game-changing exploits from #172-173, 176, 183-184, 188 190 and 191, collectively covering March 1971 to October 1972.

During this period the youthful, generally fun-loving and carefree Club of Champions peaked; having only just evolved into a dedicated and driven dramatic action series starring a grittily realistic combat force in constant, galaxy-threatening peril. Although now an overwhelming force of valiant warriors ready and willing to pay the ultimate price for their courage and dedication, science itself, science fiction and costumed crusaders all increasingly struggled against a global resurgence in spiritual questioning and supernatural fiction…

The main architect of the transformation was teenaged sensation Jim Shooter, whose scripts and layouts (generally finished and pencilled by the astoundingly talented and understated Curt Swan) made the series accessible to a generation of fans growing up with their heads in the Future but as the fashions shifted, the series was unceremoniously ousted from its ancestral home and full-length adventures to become a truncated back-up feature in Action Comics. Typically, that shift occurred just as the stories were getting really, really good and truly mature…

Crafted by Shooter, Swan & Jack Abel, tense suspense blooms with ‘Mordru the Merciless!’ (Adventure Comics #369) when the Legion is attacked by their most powerful enemy: a nigh-omnipotent sorcerer the entire assemblage had only narrowly defeated once before.

A sneak attack shatters the whole team and only four escape, using a time-bubble to flee to the remote, archaic era where Superboy lived. With him come Mon-El, Shadow Lass and Duo Damsel, last remnants of a once-unbeatable force.

Mordru’s magic is stronger though and even the time-barrier cannot daunt him. Disguised as mere mortals, the fugitive Legionnaires’ courage shines through in exile as petty gangsters take over Smallville. The teens quashed the parochial plunderers and then opt to return to the 30th century and confront Mordru, only to discover he’s found them first…

The saga concluded in #370’s ‘The Devil’s Jury!’ wherein the band again break free to hide in plain sight by temporarily wiping their own memories to thwart the Dark Lord’s probes. Against appalling odds and with only Clark Kent’s best friend Pete Ross and Insect Queen Lana Lang to aid them, the heroes’ doomed last stand implausibly succeeds when Mordru’s overbearing arrogance causes his own downfall.

Then when the exhausted fugitives get back to the future they joyously discover that Dream Girl and benign sorceress White Witch had undone the deluded Dark Lord’s worst…

Extortion and espionage were the order of the day in #371’s ‘The Colossal Failure!’ as a Legionnaire’s parents are abducted and the hero is forced to botch missions. Ordered to retrain at the high security Legion Academy, Colossal Boy is subsequently caught selling the team’s training secrets and cashiered from the organisation…

This issue also offered the George Papp illustrated ‘When Superboy Walked Out on the Legion!’, wherein hyper-advanced super snobbish aliens threaten Smallville unless Superboy leaves Earth to join their band of press-ganged heroes. It requires ingenuity, a faux civil war and massive destruction to finally convince the alien autocrats to let the assembled champions return to their own home-worlds…

Colossal Boy’s tale of woe concluded in Adventure #372 when his concerned former comrades uncover the cause of the expelled giant’s dilemma, tracking him to a ‘School for Super-Villains!’ (Shooter, Swan & Abel), where the fallen hero is compelled to teach meta-powered man rogues all the LSH’s secrets.

Luckily – and thanks to the expedited induction of apprentice and ergo unknown heroes Timber Wolf and Chemical King – the good guys infiltrate and shut down this first incarnation of the Legion of Super-Villains.

From #373 onwards Golden Age veteran J. Winslow Mortimer replaced Swan as penciller and ‘The Tornado Twins!’ Don and Dawn Allen run rings around and generally humiliate the assembled heroes… but all for a very good cause, before ‘Mission: Diabolical!’ in #374 focusses on the future equivalent of organised crime after most Legionnaires are ambushed and held hostage by the insidious Scorpius gang.

Hard-pressed by rival outfit Taurus, the mobsters decided to “recruit” a team of heroes to equal their enemies’ squad of hyper-powered goons; Rogarth, Mystelor, Shagrek, Quanto and Black Mace. Of course, after infiltrating and defeating their foes, the compromised kids – Supergirl, Element Lad, Dream Girl, Ultra Boy and Matter-Eater Lad – are double-crossed by Scorpius and might have died if not for fortuitous intervention by the Legion of Substitute Heroes…

Next (#375-376) comes a powerful and devious 2-part thriller introducing galaxy-roving heroes The Wanderers, with that temporarily-insane-and-evil group battling the United Planets’ champions. They are far more concerned with determining who will be crowned ‘The King of the Legion!’ …

The matter is only relevant because a trans-dimensional challenger has demanded a duel with the “mightiest Legionnaire”, but when the dust settles the only hero left standing is chubby comic relief Bouncing Boy. When the triumphant winner is spirited away to another cosmos he lands in a feudal wonderland – complete with beautiful princess – menaced by a terrifying invader.

Sadly the hero is soon exposed as shape-shifting Durlan Legionnaire Reep Daggle and not the at-least-human Chuck Taine, but manfully overcomes his abductors’ initial prejudice and defeats usurper threat Kodar. He wins the heart and hand of Princess Elwinda, but is tragically rescued and whisked back across a permanently sealed dimensional barrier by his legion buddies who mistake a Royal Wedding for ‘The Execution of Chameleon Boy!’

A welcome edge of dark and bitter cynicism was creeping into Shooter’s stories, and ‘Heroes for Hire!’ (pencilled by Mortimer & inked by Jack Abel) sees the team charging for their unique services, but it’s only a brilliant ploy to derail the criminal career of Modulus: avatar of sentient living planet Modo who has turned his world into an unassailable haven for the worst villains of the galaxy…

Adventure #378 opens another tense and moving 2-parter as Superboy, Duo Damsel, Karate Kid, Princess Projectra and Brainiac 5 are poisoned and face only ‘Twelve Hours to Live!’

With no cure possible, the quintet separate to spend their last day in the most personally satisfying ways they can – from sharing precious moments with soon-to-be bereaved family to K-Kid’s one-man assault on the Fatal Five – only to reunite for their final moments and die together…

The incredible conclusion sees hyper-advanced being Seeron freeze time and offer to cure the practically dead victims if late arrivals Ultra Boy, Phantom Girl, Chameleon Boy, Timber Wolf, Star Boy, Lightning Lad and Chemical King return to his universe and defeat an invasion by brutes invulnerable to the mighty mental powers of the intellectual overlords…

However, even as the abducted Legionnaires triumph and return, their comrades – having been had been found again – are afforded the honour of ‘Burial in Space!’ …

Happily, a brilliant last-minute solution enables the dead to rise just in time to lose their long-held position in Adventure Comics as changing tastes and shrinking sales prompted an abrupt change of venue.

‘The Legion’s Space Odyssey!’ (# 380 cover-dated May 1969, by Shooter, Mortimer & Abel) sees a select band of Legionnaires teleported to the barren ends of the universe and forced to laboriously battle their way home against impossible odds. This argosy includes the “death” of Superboy and persistent sabotage by the Legion of Super-Pets. There’s a perfectly rational and reasonable excuse for the devious scheme of course, with the tale best remembered by fans as the mission on which Duo Damsel and Bouncing Boy first got together…

From #381 onwards Adventure Comics was filled with the 20th century exploits of Supergirl and the LSH took over her back-up spot in Action Comics, beginning with a reprint in #377 which is not included here.

Original, shorter Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes began in #378 (July 1969) with ‘The Forbidden Fruit!’ by Shooter, Mortimer & Mike Esposito with Timber Wolf deliberately addicted by criminals to a hyper-narcotic lotus in a bold scheme to turn the entire team into pliable junkies. Fortunately, the hero’s love for Light Lass allows him to overcome his awful burden, before #379’s ‘One of us is an Impostor’ (E. Nelson Bridwell, Mortimer & Murphy Anderson) offers a clever mystery to baffle Mon-El, Dream Girl, Element Lad, Shadow Lass and Lightning Lad as thermal thug Sunburst and a clever infiltrator threaten to tear the team apart from within.

Duo Damsel declares war on herself in #380 when one body falls under the sway of an alien Superboy. As half of her turns to crime, only Bouncing Boy can clean up the psychological mess of ‘Half a Legionnaire?’ (Shooter, Mortimer & Abel), after which Matter-Eater Lad reveals lowly origins and a dysfunctional family to lonely Shrinking Violet in #381: ending up ‘The Hapless Hero!’ battling her absurdly jealous absentee boyfriend Duplicate Boy -mightiest hero in the universe…

In #382 a covert team comprising Ultra Boy, Karate Kid, Light Lass, Violet and Timber Wolf attempt to end a potential super-robot arms-race and find that to succeed they have to ‘Kill a Friend to Save a World!’, before still-heartbroken Durlan Reep discovers an Earthly double of lost love Elwinda. However, on morphing into her ideal man he quickly sees the folly of ‘Chameleon Boy’s Secret Identity!’ – a tear-jerker with a hint of happy ending from Bridwell, Mortimer & Abel.

Shooter left his perfect job with #384, but signed off in style with his landmark ‘Lament for a Legionnaire!’ With art misattributed to Mortimer but in fact a welcome fill-in by Curt Swan & Abel, it tells how Dream Girl’s infallible prophecy of Mon-El’s demise comes true whilst his shocking resurrection introduces a whole new thrilling strand to the Lore of the Legion.

Bridwell, Mortimer & Abel show how a vengeance-crazed killer’s quest for retribution fails in ‘The Fallen Starboy!’ before crafting ‘Zap Goes the Legion!’ (Action #386) wherein female foe Uli Algor believes she has outthought and outfought the juvenile agents of justice. She forgot one crucial detail, however…

Then in #387 the creators delightfully added a touch of wry social commentary when the organisation had to downsize and lay off a Legionnaire for tax purposes after the government declares the team has ‘One Hero Too Many!’

Action #388 was an all-reprint Supergirl giant, but the now revenue-compliant Club of Heroes returned in #389 with ‘The Mystery Legionnaire!’ (by Cary Bates, Mortimer & Abel), explaining how robot dictator Klim is defeated by a hero who doesn’t exist, and Bridwell’s ‘The Tyrant and the Traitor’ (#390) reflects political turmoil of the 1970’s in a tale of guerrilla atrocity, destabilising civil war and covert regime change. The Legion Espionage Squad is tasked with doing dirty work, but even Chameleon Boy, Timber Wolf, Karate Kid, Brainiac 5 and Saturn Girl are out of their depth and only ‘The Ordeal of Element Lad!’ in the next issue saves the undercover unit from ignominious failure and certain death.

Action #392 (September 1970) temporarily ended the feature’s unbroken run with a low-key but gripping yarn from Bates, Mortimer & Abel including alternate dimensions and preposterous testing of ‘The Legionnaires that Never Were!’…

The Frantic Futurists weren’t gone too long. In 1971 a concerted push to revive them began with March-dated Superboy # 172 and ‘Brotherly Hate!’ by Bridwell & George Tuska. The sharp, smart yarn details the convoluted origins of twins Garth and Ayla Ranzz AKA Lightning Lad & Light Lass and their troubled relationship with older brother Mekt – the deadly outlaw Lightning Lord.

At the same time Adventure Comics #403 (April 1971) was released: an all-Legion reprint special which included new ‘Fashions from Fans’ by Bridwell, Ross Andru & Esposito as well as a comprehensive ‘Diagram of Legion Headquarters Complex’, included here for your delight and delectation…

Some of those fan-costumes – generally the skimpier ones designed by boys for the girl heroes – were adopted for ongoing backups appearing in Superboy. They continued the comeback with ‘Trust Me or Kill Me!’ (#173 by Bates & Tuska). Here, Superboy must devise a way to determine which Cosmic Boy is his true friend and which a magical duplicate made by malefic Mordru.

The origin of Invisible Kid and secrets of his powers are examined in #176 when a crook duplicates the boy genius’ fadeaway gifts in ‘Invisible Invader!’, whilst Bates, Tuska & Vince Colletta report on the ‘War of the Wraith-Mates!’ (#183) with energy entities renewing an eons-old war of the sexes after possessing Mon-El, Shadow Lass, Karate Kid and Princess Projectra.

In a tale by Bates. Superboy #184 hinted at days of greatness to come with ‘One Legionnaire Must Go!’ Here Matter-Eater Lad is framed and replaced by his own little brother, but the big advance was the inking of LSH fanatic Dave Cockrum over Murphy Anderson’s pencils. The neophyte artist would gradually transform the look, feel and fortunes of the Legion before moving to Marvel and doing exactly the same with an almost forgotten series entitled X-Men…

With Superboy #188’s Bates-scripted ‘Curse of the Blood-Crystals!’ (July 1972), Anderson began inking Cockrum, in the sixth stunning back-up tale of a now unstoppable Legion revival that would eventually lead to them taking over the entire comic book. This clever yarn of cross-&-double-cross finds a Legionnaire possessed by a magical booby-trap and forced to murder Superboy… but which of the two dozen heroes is actually the prospective killer?

Superboy #190 featured ‘Murder the Leader!’ as the Fatal Five attack during the election of a new Legion Commander. Rival candidates Saturn Girl and Mon-El must work together if either is to take the top job, after which this volume concludes with stunning thriller ‘Attack of the Sun-Scavenger!’ (Bates & Cockrum from #191). In a staggering burst of comics brilliance, manic solar scoundrel Dr. Regulus again attacks Sun Boy and his Legion comrades, using his own apparent death as key to ultimate victory…

The Legion of Super-Heroes is unquestionably one of the most beloved and bewildering creations in funnybook history and largely responsible for the growth of groundswell movements that became American Comics Fandom. Moreover, these scintillating and seductively addictive stories – as much as Julie Schwartz’s Justice League or Marvel’s Fantastic Four – fired the interest and imaginations of generations of 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 days as soon as possible.
© 1968-1972, 2010 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Showcase Presents Legion of Super-Heroes volume 3


By Jim Shooter, E. Nelson Bridwell, Otto Binder, Curt Swan, George Klein, Pete Costanza, Jim Mooney & George Papp (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-2185-0 (TPB)

Once upon a time, in the far future, a band of super-powered kids from a multitude of worlds took inspiration from the greatest legend of all time and formed a club of heroes. 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, as first envisioned by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino 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 tweaked and rebooted, retconned and overwritten over and over again to comply with editorial diktat and popular whim.

This third sturdy, action-packed monochrome compendium gathers a chronological parade of futuristic delights from October 1966 to May 1968, as originally seen in Adventure Comics #349-368, and includes a Legion story from Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #106 (October 1967).

During this period the Club of Champions finally shed the last vestiges of wholesome, imaginative, humorous and generally safe science fiction strips to become a full-on dramatic action feature starring a grittily realistic combat force in constant, galaxy-threatening peril: a compelling force of valiant warriors ready and willing to pay the ultimate price for their courage and dedication…

The main architect of the transformation was teenaged sensation Jim Shooter, whose scripts and layouts (usually finished and inked by veterans Curt Swan & George Klein) made the series accessible to a generation of fans growing up in the Future…

The tense suspense begins with Adventure #349’s ‘The Rogue Legionnaire!’ (Shooter, Swan & Klein) wherein Saturn Girl, Colossal Boy, Shrinking Violet, Chameleon Boy and Brainiac 5 hunt hypnotic villain Universo through five periods of Earth’s history, aided by boy-genius Rond Vidar, a brilliant scientist with a tragic secret…

This is followed by a stellar 2-parter from #350-351 scripted by E. Nelson Bridwell which restores a number of invalided or expelled members to the team. In ‘The Outcast Super-Heroes’, a cloud of Green Kryptonite particles envelope Earth and force Superboy and Supergirl to retire from the Legion just as demonic alien Evillo unleashes his squad of deadly metahuman minions on the universe.

The Kryptonian Cousins are mind-wiped and replaced by armoured and masked paladins Sir Prize and Miss Terious in ‘The Forgotten Legion!’ but quickly return when a solution to the K Cloud is found. With Evillo’s eventual defeat, the team discover the wicked overlord has healed one-armed Lightning Lad and restored Bouncing Boy’s power for his own nefarious purposes, and together with the reformed White Witch and rehabilitated Star Boy and Dream Girl, the Legion’s ranks grow and might swell to bursting point.

That’s a very good thing as in the next issue Shooter, Swan & Klein produce one of their most stunning epics. When a colossal cosmic entity known as the Sun Eater menaces the United Planets, the Legion are hopelessly outmatched and forced to recruit the galaxy’s most dangerous criminals to help them save civilisation.

However, The Persuader, Emerald Empress, Mano, Tharok and Validus are untrustworthy allies at best and form an alliance as ‘The Fatal Five!’, intending to save the galaxy only so that they can rule it…

Adventure #353 reveals how the Five seemingly seal their own fate through arrogance and treachery with the true cost of heroism paid when ‘The Doomed Legionnaire!’ sacrifices his life to destroy the solar parasite…

Issue #354 introduced ‘The Adult Legion!’ when Superman travelled into the future to visit his grown-up comrades – discovering tantalising hints of events that would torment and beguile LSH fans for decades to come – before the yarn concluded with #355’s ‘The War of the Legions!’ as Brainiac 5, Cosmic Man, Element Man, Polar Man, Saturn Woman and Timber Wolf, accompanied by the most unexpected allies of all, battled the Legion of Super-Villains.

The issue also included an extra tale in ‘The Six-Legged Legionnaire!’ (by Otto Binder, Swan & Klein) wherein Superboy brings his High School sweetie Lana Lang to the 30th century, where she joins in a mission against a science-tyrant as bug-based shape-shifting Insect Queen. Disaster soon strikes though when the alien ring which facilitates her changes is lost, trapping her in a hideous insectoid incarnation.

Issue #356 sees Dream Girl, Mon-El, Element Lad, Brainiac 5 and Superboy transformed into babies to become ‘The Five Legion Orphans!’: a cheeky, cunning Bridwell-scripted mystery leading into darker matters as repercussions and guilt of the Sun-Eater episode are explored and survivors of that mission are apparently haunted by ‘The Ghost of Ferro Lad!’ (#357, by Shooter, Swan & Klein), after which ‘The Hunter!’ (Shooter & George Papp) sees the LSH stalked by a murderously insane sportsman with a unique honour code.

Adventure #359 depicts the once-beloved champions disbanded and on the run as ‘The Outlawed Legionnaires!’ (Shooter, Swan & Klein) thanks to manipulations of a devious old foe, only to rousingly regroup, counter-attack and triumph in #360’s ‘The Legion Chain Gang!’.

Illustrated by Jim Mooney, and with the superhero squad once more a key component of United Planets Security, the Legion are assigned as secret service to protect alien ambassadors The Dominators from political agitators, assassins and a hidden traitor in tense thriller ‘The Unkillables!’, before ‘The Lone Wolf Legion Reporter!’ (from Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #106, October 1967, by Shooter & Pete Costanza) finds the young newsman seconded to the 30th century to help with the club newspaper. Sadly, he’s far better at making news than publishing it…

The team is scattered across three worlds in Adventure Comics #362 as mad scientist Mantis Morlo refuses to let environmental safety interfere with his experiments in ‘The Chemoids are Coming!’, culminating in a lethally ‘Black Day for the Legion!’…

Shooter & Costanza then top that gripping 2-parter by uncovering ‘The Revolt of the Super-Pets!’ in #364, when the crafty rulers of planet Thanl seek to seduce the animal adventurers from their rightful – subordinate – positions with sweet words and palatial new homes.

When the isolated world of Talok 8 goes dark and becomes a militaristic threat to the UP, their planetary champion Shadow Lass leads Superboy, Brainiac 5, Cosmic Boy and Karate Kid on a reconnaissance mission which results in the cataclysmic ‘Escape of the Fatal Five!’ (illustrated by Swan & Klein). The vicious quintet then nearly conquer the UP itself: only frustrated by the defiant, last-ditch efforts of the battered heroes in blistering conclusion ‘The Fight for the Championship of the Universe!’

In grateful thanks, the Legion are gifted a vast new HQ but before the paint is even dry, a vast paramilitary force attempts to invade, slowly reconstructing planet Earth in #367’s ‘No Escape from the Circle of Death!’ (Shooter, Swan, Klein & Sheldon Moldoff), before this volume ends on a note of political and social tension as a glamorous alien envoy attempts to suborn the diminished and downtrodden female Legionnaires in #368’s ‘The Mutiny of the Super-Heroines!’

The Legion of Super-Heroes is unquestionably one of the most beloved and bewildering creations in comic book history and largely responsible for the growth of the groundswell movement that became American Comics Fandom. These scintillating, seductively addictive stories, as much as Julie Schwartz’s Justice League, fired up the interest and imaginations of a generation of readers to underpin 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.
© 1966, 1967, 1968, 2009 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Lex Luthor: A Celebration of 75 Years


By Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster, Bill Finger, Edmund Hamilton, Len Wein, Cary Bates, Elliot S. Maggin, John Byrne, Roger Stern, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Brian Azzarello, Paul Cornell, Geoff Johns, John Sikela, Wayne Boring, Curt Swan, Jackson Guice, Howard Porter, Matthew Clark, Lee Bermejo, Frank Quitely, Pete Woods, Doug Mahnke & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-6207-5 (HB/Digital edition) 978-1- (TPB)

We’re all celebrating the anniversary of the ultimate superhero this year, but who’s thinking of his archenemy – the world’s first true supervillain? Time to address the balance, even if it’s actually two years until the mogul of menace is actually due his bit of candle-covered cake…

Closely paralleling the evolution of the groundbreaking Man of Steel, the exploits of the mercurial Lex Luthor are a vital aspect of comics’ very fabric. In whatever era you choose, the prototypical and ultimate mad scientist epitomises the eternal feud between Brains and Brawn and over eight decades has become the Metropolis Marvel’s true antithesis and nemesis. He’s also evolved into a social barometer and ideal perfect indicator of what different generations deem evil.

This stunning compilation – part of a dedicated series reintroducing and exploiting the comics pedigree of venerable DC icons – comes in Hardback, Trade Paperback and digital formats, sharing a sequence of snapshots detailing what Luthor is at key moments in his never-ending battle with Superman. Groundbreaking appearances are preceded by brief critical analyses of the significant stages in the villain’s development, beginning with Part I: 1940-1969 The Making of a Mastermind.

After history and deconstruction comes sinister adventure as the grim genius debuts in ‘Europe at War Part 2’ (Action Comics #23 April 1940 by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster). Although not included here, Action #22 had loudly declared ‘Europe at War’ – a tense, thinly-disguised call to arms for the still-neutral USA, and as the Man of Tomorrow sought to stem the bloodshed, the saga became a continued story (almost unheard of in the early days of funny-book publishing).

Spectacularly concluding in #23, Clark Kent’s European investigations revealed a red-headed fiend employing outlandish science to foment war for profit: intent on conquering the survivors as a modern-day Genghis Khan. The Man of Steel strenuously objected…

Next is ‘The Challenge of Luthor’ (Superman #4, Spring/March1940) and produced at almost the same time: a landmark clash with the rogue scientist who, back then, was still a roguish red-head with a bald and pudgy henchman.

Somehow in the heat of burgeoning deadlines, master got confused with servant in later adventures, and public perception of the villain irrevocably crystalized as the sinister slap-headed super-threat we know today. The fact that Superman was also a star of newspapers – which operated under a different inworld continuity – is widely considered the root cause of that confusion…

Siegel & Shuster’s story involves an earthquake machine and ends with Luthor exhausting his entire arsenal of death-dealing devices attempting to destroy his enemy… with negligible effect.

From Superman #17 (July 1942), ‘When Titans Clash’, by Siegel & John Sikela, depicts how the burly bald bandit uses a mystic “powerstone” to survive his justly earned execution by stealing Superman’s abilities. However, the Action Ace retains his wily intellect and outsmarts his titanically-empowered foe…

Jumping ahead 10 years, ‘Superman’s Super Hold-Up’ (by Bill Finger, Wayne Boring & Stan Kaye from World’s Finest Comics #59 July 1952) is a supremely typical duel of wits in which the Einstein of Evil renders the Metropolis Marvel helpless with the application of a devilish height- and pressure-sensitive mega explosive device… if only for a little while…

WFC #88 (June 1957 by Edmond Hamilton, Dick Sprang & Kaye) offers ‘Superman and Batman’s Greatest Foes!’ wherein “reformed” master criminals Lex and The Joker ostensibly set up in the commercial robot business. Nobody really believes them… as it happens, quite correctly!

As the mythology grew and Luthor became a crucial component of Superman’s story, the bad boy was retroactively inserted into the hero’s childhood. ‘How Luthor Met Superboy!’ (Siegel & Al Plastino in Adventure Comics #271, April 1960) details how Boy of Steel and budding genius were pals until a lab accident burned off Lex’s hair. In his prideful fury Lex blamed the Kryptonian and swore revenge…

In Finger, Curt Swan & John Forte’s ‘The Conquest of Superman’ (Action Comics #277, June 1961) the authorities parole Lex to help with an imminent crisis, only to have the double-dealer escape as soon as the problem is fixed. By the time Superman returns to Earth, Luthor is ready for him…

For October 1963, Superman #164 featured ‘The Showdown between Luthor and Superman’ (Hamilton, Swan & George Klein). The ultimate Silver Age confrontation between the Caped Kryptonian and ultimate antithesis pitted them in an unforgettable clash on devastated planet Lexor – a lost world of forgotten science and fantastic beasts – resulting in ‘The Super-Duel!’ and displayed a whole new side to the often two-dimensional arch-enemy.

Part II: 1970-1986 Luthor Unleashed previews how a more sophisticated readership demanded greater depth in their reading matter and how creators responded by adding a human dimension to the avaricious mad scientist. ‘The Man Who Murdered the Earth’ from Superman #248 (cover-dated February 1972, by Len Wein, Swan & Murphy Anderson). Here Luthor dictates his final testament after creating a Galactic Golem to destroy his sworn enemy, and ponders how his obsession caused the demise of humanity.

For Action Comics’ 45th anniversary, Superman’s two greatest foes – the other being Brainiac – were radically re-imagined for an increasingly harder, harsher world. ‘Luthor Unleashed’ in #544 (June 1983, by Cary Bates, Swan & Anderson) saw the eternal enmity between Lex and Superman lead to Lexor’s destruction and death of Luthor’s new family after the techno-terror once more chose vengeance over love.

Crushed by guilt and hatred, the maniacal genius reinvents himself as an implacable human engine of terror and destruction…

Elliot S. Maggin, Swan & Al Williamson offer a glimpse into the other motivating force in Luthor’s life, exposing ‘The Einstein Connection’ (Superman #416, February 1986) wherein a trawl through the outlaw’s life reveals a hidden link to the greatest physicist in history…

The Silver Age of comic books utterly revolutionised a flagging medium, bringing a modicum of sophistication to the returning sub-genre of masked mystery men. However, after decades of cosy wonderment, Crisis on Infinite Earths transformed the entire DC Universe, leading to a harder, tougher Superman. John Byrne’s radical re-imagining was most potently manifested in Luthor, who morphed from brilliant, obsessed bandit to ruthless billionaire capitalist as seen in the introduction to Part III: 1986-2000 Captain of Industry…

The tensions erupt in ‘The Secret Revealed’ (Superman volume 2 #2, February 1987 by Byrne, Terry Austin & Keith Williams) as the pitiless tycoon kidnaps everyone Superman loves to learn his secret. After collating all the data obtained by torture and other means, the corporate colossus jumps to the most mistaken conclusion of his misbegotten life…

‘Metropolis – 900 Miles’ (Superman vol. 2 #9, September 1987 by Byrne & Karl Kesel) then explores the sordid cruelty of the oligarch who cruelly torments a pretty waitress with a loathsome offer and promise of a new life…

‘Talking Heads’ appeared in Action Comics #678 (June 1992, by Roger Stern, Jackson Guice & Ande Parks), set after Luthor – riddled with cancer from wearing a green Kryptonite ring to keep Superman at arms’ length – secretly returned to Metropolis as his own son in a cloned (young and handsome) body. Acting as a philanthropist and with Supergirl as his girlfriend/arm candy, young Luthor has everybody fooled, Sadly, everything looks like falling apart when rogue geneticist Dabney Donovan is arrested and threatens to tell an incredible secret he knows about the richest man in town…

‘Hostile Takeover’ comes from JLA #11 1997) wherein Grant Morrison, Howard Porter & John Dell opened interstellar saga ‘Rock of Ages’ with the Justice League facing a newly-assembled, corporately-inspired Injustice Gang organised by Lex and run on his ruthlessly efficient business model.

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Flash, Green Lantern and Aquaman are targeted by a coalition of arch-enemies comprising Chairman-of-the-Board Lex, Joker, Circe, Mirror Master, Ocean Master and Doctor Light, with ghastly doppelgangers of the World’s Greatest Heroes raining destruction down all over the globe.

Even with new members Aztek and second-generation Green Arrow Connor Hawke on board, the enemy are running the heroes ragged, but the stakes change radically when telepath J’onn J’onzz detects an extinction-level entity heading to Earth from deep space…

The action and tension intensify when the cabal press their advantage whilst New God Metron materialises, warning the JLA that the end of everything is approaching.

As ever, these snippets of a greater saga are more frustrating than fulfilling, so be prepared to hunt down the complete saga. You won’t regret it…

A true Teflon businessman, Lex met the millennium running for President and Part IV: 2000-Present 21st Century Man follows a prose appraisal with ‘The Why’ from President Luthor Secret Files and Origins #1 (2000, by Greg Rucka, Matthew Clark & Ray Snyder). Here the blueprint to power and road to the White House is deconstructed, with daily frustrations and provocations revealing what inspired the nefarious oligarch to throw his hat into the truly evil political ring…

The next (frustratingly incomplete) snippet comes from a miniseries where the antagonist was the star. ‘Lex Luthor Man of Steel Part 3’ by Brian Azzarello & Lee Bermejo offers a dark and brooding look into the heart and soul of Superman’s ultimate eternal foe: adding gravitas to villainy by explaining Lex’s actions in terms of his belief that the heroic Kryptonian is a real and permanent danger to the spirit of humanity.

Luthor – still believed by the world at large to be nothing more than a sharp and philanthropic industrial mogul – allows us a peek into his psyche: viewing the business and social (not to say criminal) machinations undertaken to get a monolithic skyscraper built in Metropolis. The necessary depths sunk to whilst achieving his ambition, and manipulating Superman into clashing with Batman, are powerful metaphors, but the semi-philosophical mutterings – so reminiscent of Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead – although flavoursome, don’t really add anything to Luthor’s character and even serve to dilute much of the pure evil force of his character.

Flawed characters truly make more believable reading, especially in today’s cynical and sophisticated world, but such renovations shouldn’t be undertaken at the expense of the character’s heart. At the end Luthor is again defeated; diminished without travail and nothing has been risked, won or lost. The order restored is of an unsatisfactory and unstable kind, and our look into the villain’s soul has made him smaller, not more understandable.

Lee Bermejo’s art, however, is astoundingly lovely and fans of drawing should consider buying this simply to stare in wonder at the pages of beauty and power that he’s produced here. Or read the entire story in its own collected edition…

Rather more comprehensive and satisfying is ‘The Gospel According to Lex Luthor’ as first seen in All-Star Superman #5. Crafted by Morrison, Frank Quitely & Jamie Grant from September 2006, here an unrepentant Luthor on Death Row grants Clark Kent the interview of his career and scoop of a lifetime, after which ‘The Black Ring Part 5’ (Action Comics #894, December 2010 by Paul Cornell & Pete Woods) confirms his personal world view as Death of the Endless stops the universe just so she can have a little chat with Lex and see what he’s really like…

This epic trawl through the villain’s career concludes with a startling tale from Justice League volume 2, #31 (August 2014) as, post-Flashpoint, a radically-rebooted New 52 DCU again remade Lex into a villain for the latest generation: brilliant, super-rich, conflicted and hungry for public acclaim and approval. In ‘Injustice League Part 2: Power Players’ by Geoff Johns, Doug Mahnke, Keith Champagne & Christian Alamy, bad-guy Luthor has helped Earth from extradimensional invaders and now wants to be a hero. His solution? Make real superheroes invite him into the Justice League, which can be accomplished by ferreting out Batman’s secret identity and blackmailing the Dark Knight into championing his admission…

Lex Luthor is the most recognizable villain in comics and can justifiably claim that title in whatever era you choose to concentrate on; goggle-eyed Golden Age, sanitised Silver Age or malignant modern/Post-Modern milieux. This book captures just a fraction of all those superb stories and offers a delicious peek into the dark, unhealthy side of rivalry and competition…

This monolithic testament to the inestimable value of a good bad-guy is a true delight for fans of all ages and vintage.
© 1940, 1942, 1952, 1954, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1972, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2014, 2015 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved

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Showcase Presents Legion of Super-Heroes volume 2


By Otto Binder, Jerry Siegel, Edmond Hamilton, Jim Shooter, Curt Swan, John Forte & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1- 4012-1724-2 (TPB)

Once upon a time, in the far future, a band of super-powered kids from a multitude of worlds took inspiration from the greatest legend of all time and formed a club of heroes. 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, as first envisioned by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino 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 tweaked and rebooted, retconned and overwritten over and again to comply with editorial diktat and popular whim. Happy 65th Anniversary, teams!

This splendid, charm-soaked, action packed second monochrome collection continues to re-present those early tales from assorted Superman Family titles in chronological order: the sagas from their own feature spanning Adventure Comics #316, 322-348, and 365 with guest-shots from Superboy #117, 124-125 and pertinent portions of Superman Annual #4, covering July 1964 to September 1966.

From Adventure #322 the fun-filled futurism opens with ‘The Super-Tests of the Super-Pets!’ by Edmond Hamilton, John Forte & Sheldon Moldoff, wherein the Legion’s mighty animal companions – Krypto, Streaky the Super Cat, Beppo, the monkey from Krypton and magical Super-horse Comet – are left to guard Earth as the humanoid players continue to pursue the elusive Time Trapper. When Chameleon Boy’s pet Proty II applies to join the bestial bunch, they give him a series of extremely difficult qualification tasks…

‘The Eight Impossible Missions!’ (#323 by Jerry Siegel, Forte & George Klein) see the incomprehensibly smart Proty setting the human Legionnaires a set of challenges to determine their next leader, after which the tone switches to deadly danger for ‘The Legion of Super-Outlaws!’ (Hamilton & Forte), as a grudge-bearing mad scientist manipulates a super-team from far distant Lallor into attacking the United Planets champions…

Issue #325 reveals how ‘Lex Luthor Meets the Legion of Super-Heroes!’ (Siegel & Forte) in a cunning tale of deadly deception whilst a ‘Revolt of the Girl Legionnaires!’ (Siegel, Forte & Klein) finds the female heroes attempting to eradicate their male comrades. Of course, they don’t mean it and a sinister mastermind is behind it all…

Superboy #117 (cover-dated December 1964) offers a classy thriller wherein Chameleon Boy, Invisible Kid, Ultra Boy, Element Lad and Brainiac 5 seemingly travel back 1000 years to attack the Boy of Steel in Siegel, Curt Swan & Klein’s ‘Superboy and the Five Legion Traitors!’ whilst over in Adventure #327 ‘The Lone Wolf Legionnaire!’ introduces bad boy Brin Londo in a clever thriller from Hamilton, Forte, Klein & Moldoff. This troubled teen is framed for appalling crimes but will one day become a valued member of the team…

Siegel & Jim Mooney began an engaging run of tales in #328, opening with ‘The Lad who Wrecked the Legion!’ as insidious Command Kid joins the superhero squad to dismantle it from within.

Narrowly escaping that fate, the heroes confront the topsy-turvy threat of their own imperfect doppelgangers in #329’s ‘The Bizarro Legion!’ after which another evil juvenile infiltrates the organisation, intent on destroying them all in ‘Secret of the Mystery Legionnaire!’. The dastardly plan proceeds without a hitch until victorious Dynamo-Boy recruited malevolent Lightning Lord, Cosmic King and Saturn Queen and falls victim to ‘The Triumph of the Legion of Super-Villains!’ in #331.

Rescued and restored, the good kids are back in Adventure #332, facing ‘The Super-Moby Dick of Space!’ (Hamilton & Forte) as recently resurrected Lightning Lad suffers crippling injuries and an imminent nervous breakdown…

‘The War Between Krypton and Earth!’ (#333, by Hamilton, Forte & Klein), has the time travelling wonders flung back into Earth’s antediluvian past and split into internecine factions on opposite sides of a conflict forgotten by history, after which Hamilton, Forte & Moldoff’s ‘The Unknown Legionnaire!’ poses a perilous puzzle with an oppressed race’s future at stake.

The same creative team introduce sinister super-villain ‘Starfinger!’ in #335, framing one luckless Legionnaire for incredible crimes before ‘The True Identity of Starfinger!’ (inked by Klein) reveals the real culprit.

Superboy #124 (October 1965, Otto Binder & George Papp) features Lana Lang as ‘The Insect Queen of Smallville!’: rewarded with a shape-changing ring after rescuing a trapped alien. Naturally, she uses her new abilities to ferret out Clark Kent’s secrets…

Adventure #337 highlights ‘The Weddings that Wrecked the Legion!’ (Hamilton, Forte & Moldoff) as two couples resign to marry. However, there’s serious method in the seeming marital madness…

Long absent Bête Noir Time Trapper at last returns in #338, as Siegel & Forte expose ‘The Menace of the Sinister Super-Babies!’, with sultry siren Glorith of Baaldur using the Chronal Conqueror’s devices to turn everybody but Superboy and Brainiac 5 into mewling infants. When they turn the tables on the villains a new era dawns for the valiant Tomorrow Teens…

Cover-dated November 1965 and by Binder & Papp, Superboy #125 signals darker days ahead by introducing a legion reservist with a tragic secret in ‘The Sacrifice of Kid Psycho!’, after which Hamilton, Forte & Moldoff tell a bittersweet tale of disaffected, tormented Lallorian hero Beast Boy who turns against humanity in Adventure Comics #339’s ‘Hunters of the Super-Beasts!’…

The slow death of whimsy and light-hearted escapades culminates in #340 when Brainiac 5’s latest invention goes berserk, with ‘Computo the Conqueror!’ (Siegel, Swan & Klein): attacking humanity and killing one of the superheroes before ‘The Weirdo Legionnaire!’ (inked by Moldoff) begins the team’s fight-back and eventual triumph.

‘The Legionnaire who Killed!’ (#342, Hamilton, Swan, Moldoff & Klein) sees Star Boy forced to take a life and facing the harshest of consequences, whilst ‘The Evil Hand of the Luck Lords!’ (Hamilton, Swan & Klein) finds the bold band of heroes assaulting the stronghold of a sinister cult claiming to control chance and destiny.

The same creative team ramps up tensions in Adventure #344 in ‘The Super-Stalag of Space!’, wherein the Legion – and many other planetary champions – are incarcerated by malicious alien overlord Nardo; an epic thriller completed in #345 with ‘The Execution of Matter-Eater Lad!’…

With Adventure #346 (July 1966) the dramatic revolution culminated in ‘One of Us is a Traitor!’ as Jim Shooter – barely a teenager – sold script and layouts (finished and inked by veteran Sheldon Moldoff) for a spectacular Earth invasion yarn. Here the sinister Khunds attack the UP, and the depleted Legion inducts four new members to bolster their strength. Sadly, although Princess Projectra, Nemesis Kid, Ferro Lad and Karate Kid are all capable fighters, it is soon apparent that one is an enemy agent…

With Earth all but fallen, ‘The Traitor’s Triumph!’ (Shooter, Swan & Klein) seems assured, but there’s one last surprise to come in a spectacular debut yarn from one of the industry’s most innovative creators…

This superb second compendium concludes with a tense thriller by Shooter & Papp from Adventure #348, as the secret origin of Sun Boy is revealed when radioactive rogue Dr. Regulus attempts unjustified vengeance in ‘Target-21 Legionnaires!’

But wait! There’s more!

Before the end, an expanded illustrated pictorial check-list and informational guide to the entire team by Swan, Klein & Al Plastino, culled from Superman Annual #4 (1961), Adventure Comics #316 and #365 (January 1964 & February 1968, respectively) reveals all you need to know about the youthful champions.

The Legion is one of the most beloved and bewildering creations in comic book history and largely responsible for the growth of the groundswell movement that became American Comics Fandom. Moreover, these sparkling, simplistic and devastatingly addictive stories as much as the legendary Julie Schwartz’s Justice League fired up the interest and imaginations of a generation of young readers and built the industry we all know today.

These naive, silly, joyous, stirring and utterly compelling yarns are precious and fun beyond any ability to explain – even if we old lags gently mock them to ourselves and one another. 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.
© 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966, 2008 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Showcase Presents Legion of Super-Heroes volume 1


By Otto Binder, Jerry Siegel, Robert Bernstein, Edmond Hamilton, Al Plastino, Curt Swan, John Forte, Jim Mooney, & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1- 4012-1382-4 (TPB)

Once upon a time in the far future, super-powered kids from many alien civilisations took inspiration from the greatest legend of all time and banded together as a club of heroes. One day those Children of Tomorrow came back in time and invited that legend to join them…

Thus, began the vast and epic saga of the Legion of Super-Heroes, as first envisioned by writer Otto Binder & artist Al Plastino when the many-handed mob of juvenile universe-savers debuted in Adventure Comics #247 (April 1958), just as the revived superhero genre was gathering an inexorable head of steam in America. Happy 65th Anniversary, team!

Since that time the fortunes and popularity of the Legion have perpetually waxed and waned, with their future history tweaked and rebooted, retconned and overwritten again and again to comply with editorial diktat and popular whim.

This glorious, far-and-wide ranging collection assembles the preliminary appearances of the valiant Tomorrow People, tracking their progress towards and attainment of their own feature. It re-presents in stunning monochrome all pertinent tales from Adventure Comics #247, 267, 282, 290, 293, 300-321, Action Comics #267, 276, 287, 289, Superboy #86, 89, 98, Superman #147, Superman Annual #4 and Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #72 and 76.

As already stated, the many-handed mob of youthful worlds-savers debuted in Adventure #247, dreamed up for a Superboy tale wherein three mysterious kids invite the Boy of Steel to the 30th century. He is being vetted to join a team of metahuman champions unanimously inspired by his historic career. Binder & Plastino’s throwaway concept inflamed public imagination and after a slew of further appearances throughout Superman Family titles, the LSH eventually took over Superboy’s lead spot in Adventure: thereafter enjoying their own far-flung, quirky escapades, with the Kid Kryptonian reduced to “one of the in-crowd”…

However here the excitement was still gradually building as the kids returned for an encore 18 months later, Adventure #267 (December 1959) saw Jerry Siegel & George Papp make the Boy of Steel ‘Prisoner of the Super-Heroes!’ when the teen wonders attacked and incarcerated Superboy of Steel because of a misunderstood ancient historical record…

The following summer Supergirl met the Legion in Action Comics #267 (Siegel & Jim Mooney, August 1960) as Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy secretly travelled to “modern day” America to invite the Maid of Might onto the team, in a repetition of their offer to Superboy 15 years previously (in nit-picking fact they claimed to be the children of the original team – a fact glossed over and forgotten these days. Don’t time-travel stories make your head hurt?).

Due to a dubious technicality, young and eager Kara Zor-El failed her initiation at the hands of ‘The Three Super-Heroes’ and was asked to reapply later – but at least we got to meet a few more Legionnaires, including Chameleon Boy, Invisible Kid and Colossal Boy.

With the editors still cautiously testing the waters, it was Superboy #86 (January 1961) before the ‘The Army of Living Kryptonite Men!’ by Siegel & Papp turned the LSH into a last-minute Deus ex Machina to save the Smallville Sentinel from juvenile delinquent Lex Luthor’s most insidious assault. Two months later, in Adventure #282, Binder & Papp introduced Star Boy as a romantic rival for the Krypton Kid in ‘Lana Lang and the Legion of Super-Heroes!’

Action Comics #276 (May 1961) debuted Supergirl’s Three Super Girl-Friends’ (Siegel & Mooney) which finally saw her crack the plasti-glass ceiling and join the team, sponsored by Saturn Girl, Phantom Girl and Triplicate Girl. We also met for the first time Bouncing Boy, Shrinking Violet, Sun Boy and potential bad-boy love-interest Brainiac 5 (well at least his distant ancestor Brainiac was a very bad boy…)

Next comes pivotal 2-part tale ‘Superboy’s Big Brother’ (by Robert Bernstein & Papp from Superboy #89 and June 1961) in which an amnesiac, super-powered space traveller crashes in Smallville, speaking Kryptonese and carrying star-maps written by the Boy of Steel’s long-dead father…

Jubilant, baffled and suspicious in equal amounts, Superboy eventually, tragically discovers ‘The Secret of Mon-El’ by accidentally exposing the stranger to a lingering, inexorable death, before providing critical life-support by depositing the dying alien in the Phantom Zone until a cure can be found…

Sporting an August 1961 cover-date, Superman #147 unleashed ‘The Legion of Super-Villains’ (Siegel, Curt Swan & Sheldon Moldoff): a stand-out thriller featuring Luthor and an evil adult Legion coming far too close to destroying the Action Ace until the temporal cavalry arrives…

In Adventure #290 (November), Bernstein & Papp seemingly gave Sun Boy a starring role in ‘The Secret of the Seventh Super-Hero!’ – a clever tale of redemption and second chances, which is followed in #293 (February 1962) by a gripping thriller from Siegel, Swan & George Klein. ‘The Legion of Super-Traitors’ sees the future heroes turn evil, prompting Saturn Girl to recruit a Legion of Super-Pets – comprising Krypto, Streaky the Super Cat, Beppo, the monkey from Krypton and magical Super-horse Comet to save the world…

‘Supergirl’s Greatest Challenge!’ (Siegel & Mooney, Action #287 April) sees her visit the Legion (quibblers be warned: for some reason it was mis-determined as the 21st century in here) to save future Earth from invasion). She also meets a telepathic descendent of her cat Streaky. His name is Whizzy (I could have omitted that fact but chose not to – once more for smug, comedic effect and in sympathy with all humans-with-cats everywhere)…

Action #289 featured ‘Superman’s Super-Courtship!’ wherein the Girl of Steel scours the universe to locate an ideal mate for her cousin. One highly possible candidate is adult Saturn Woman, but her husband Lightning Man objects…

Perhaps charming at the time, although modern sensibilities might quail at the conclusion that his perfect match is a doppelganger of Kara herself… albeit – and thankfully – a bit older…

By the release of Superboy #98 (July 1962), the decision had been made. The buying public wanted more Legion stories and after ‘The Boy With Ultra-Powers’ by Siegel, Swan & Klein introduces an enigmatic lad with greater powers than the Boy of Steel, focus shifted to Adventure Comics #300 (cover dated September 1962) where the super-squad finally landed their own gig; even occasionally taking an alternating cover-spot from still top-featured Superboy.

Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes opened its stellar run with Siegel, John Forte & Plastino’s ‘The Face Behind the Lead Mask!’; a fast-paced premier pitting Superboy and the 30th century champions against an unbeatable foe until Mon-El, long-trapped in the Phantom Zone, temporarily escapes a millennium of confinement to save the day…

In those halcyon days humour was as important as action, imagination and drama, so many early exploits were light-hearted – if a little  moralistic. Issue #301 offered hope and role model to fat kids everywhere with ‘The Secret Origin of Bouncing Boy!’ by regular creative team Siegel & Forte. This yarn formalised a process of open auditions – providing devoted fans with loads of truly bizarre and memorable applicants over the years – whilst allowing the rebounding human rotunda to give a salutary pep talk and inspirational recount of heroism persevering over adversity.

Adventure #302 featured ‘Sun Boy’s Lost Power!’, as the golden boy is forced to resign until fortune and boldness restore his abilities, whilst ‘The Fantastic Spy!’ in #303 provides a tense tale of espionage and possible betrayal by new member Matter-Eater Lad.

The readership was stunned by the events of #304 when Saturn Girl engineers ‘The Stolen Super-Powers!’ to make herself a one-woman Legion. Of course, it was for the best possible reasons, but still doesn’t prevent the shocking murder of Lightning Lad…

With cosy complacency utterly destroyed, #305 further shook everything up with ‘The Secret of the Mystery Legionnaire!’ who turns out to be the long-suffering Mon-El finally cured and freed from his Phantom Zone prison.

Normally I’d try to be more obscure about story details – after all my intention is to get new people reading old comics, but these “spoiler” revelations are key to further understanding here and you all know these characters are still around, don’t you?

Pulp science fiction writer Edmond Hamilton took over the major scripting role with #306, and introducing ‘The Legion of Substitute Heroes!’ (quirkily, perfectly illustrated by John Forte). This is a group of rejected applicants who selflessly band together to clandestinely assist the champions who spurned them, after which transmuting orphan Element Lad joins the major team. He seeks vengeance on space pirates who had wiped out his entire species in ‘The Secret Power of the Mystery Super-Hero!’ before #308 seemingly sees ‘The Return of Lightning Lad!’

Actual Spoiler Warning: skip to the next paragraph NOW!!! if you don’t want to know it’s actually his similarly empowered sister who – once unmasked and unmanned – takes her brother’s place as Lightning Lass…

‘The Legion of Super-Monsters!’ is a straightforward clash with embittered applicant Jungle King who takes rejection far too personally and gathers a deadly clutch of space beasts to wreak havoc and vengeance, whilst #310’s ‘The Doom of the Super-Heroes!’: a frantic battle for survival against an impossible foe.

Adventure #311 opens ‘The War Between the Substitute Heroes and the Legionnaires!’ with a cease-and-desist order from the A-Team that turns into secret salvation as the plucky, stubborn outcasts carry on regardless under the very noses of the blithely oblivious LSH…

The next issue (September 1963) features the ‘The Super-Sacrifice of the Legionnaires!’ and inevitable resurrection of Lightning Lad – but only after the harrowing sacrifice of one devoted team-member, after which Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #72 (October, by Siegel, Swan & Klein) visits ‘The World of Doomed Olsens!’ Depicting an intriguing enigma as the cub-reporter is confronted by materialisations of his most memorable metamorphoses, it’s all just a prank by those naughty Legion scamps – but one with a serious purpose behind the jolly japery…

Adventure #313’s ‘The Condemned Legionnaires!’ (Hamilton, Swan, Klein & Forte) affords Supergirl a starring role after the sinister Satan Girl infects the team with a deadly plague, forcing them all into perpetual quarantine, before ‘The Super-Villains of All Ages!’ (art by Forte) reveals how a manic mastermind steals a Legion Time-Bubble to recruit the greatest monsters and malcontents of history – Nero, Hitler and John Dillinger – as his irresistible army of crime.

Why he’s surprised when they double-cross him and possess Superboy, Mon-El and Ultra Boy is beyond me , but happily, the lesser legionnaires still prove more a match for the brain-switched rogues. Then ‘The Legionnaires Super-Contest!’ in #315 finally sees the Substitute Heroes go public, for which the primary team offer to allow one of them to join the big boys. Which one? That’s the contest part…

Issue #316’s ‘The Renegade Super-Hero!’ outs one trusted teammate as a career criminal who then goes on the run, but there’s more to the tale than at first appears, after which the heroes confront ‘The Menace of Dream Girl!’: a ravishing clairvoyant who beguiles her way into the Legion for her own obscure, arcane reasons. In her knowing way she presages the coming of deadly foe The Time Trapper and even finds time to convert electrically redundant sister of recently-resurrected Lightning Lad into gravity-warping Light Lass.

Adventure #318 sees ‘The Mutiny of the Legionnaires!’ as Sun Boy succumbs to battle fatigue and became a draconian Captain Bligh during an extended rescue mission, whilst in Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #76 (April 1964) Siegel & Forte describe ‘Elastic Lad Jimmy and his Legion Romances!’ wherein the plucky journo is inveigled into the future and finds himself inexplicably irresistible to the costumed champions of Tomorrow. It isn’t his primitive charm, though…

Hamilton & Forte began a strong run of grittier tales from #319 on, beginning with ‘The Legion’s Suicide Squad!’ as the Science Police ask the team to destroy, at all costs, a monolithic space fortress, whilst #320 debuts daring new character in Dev-Em, a forgotten survivor of Superman’s dead homeworld who was little more than a petty thug when Superboy first defeated him. Now in ‘The Revenge of the Knave From Krypton!’ ( Siegel, Forte, Papp, Moldoff & Plastino), the rapscallion returns as either a reformed undercover cop or the greatest traitor in history…

The story portion of this titanic tome concludes with Adventure Comics #321 and Hamilton, Forte & Plastino’s ‘The Code of the Legion!’, revealing the team’s underlying Articles of Procedure during a dire espionage flap, simultaneously testing one Legionnaire to the limits of his honour and ingenuity and actually ending another’s service forever.

Perhaps. Sort of…

An appropriate extra from Superman Annual #4, follows: featuring a 2-page informational guide and pictorial check-list illustrated by Swan & Klein which was amended and supplemented in Adventure #316 with additional pages of stunning micro-pin-ups, all faithfully included here. This fabulously innocent and imaginative chronicle also includes every cover the team starred on: mostly the work of honorary Legionnaire Curt Swan and inkers George Klein, Stan Kaye & Sheldon Moldoff.

The Legion is undoubtedly one of the most beloved and bewildering creations in American comic book history and largely responsible for the growth of the groundswell movement that became Comics Fandom. Moreover, these sparkling, simplistic and devastatingly addictive stories as much as the legendary Julie Schwartz Justice League fired up the interest and imaginations of a generation of young readers and built the industry we all know today.

These naive, silly, joyous, stirring and utterly compelling yarns are precious and fun beyond any ability to explain – even if we old lags gently mock them to ourselves and one another. 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.
© 1958-1964, 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes volume 1


By Paul Levitz, Gerry Conway, Paul Kupperberg, Jack C. Harris, Mike Grell, James Sherman, Jim Starlin, Ric Estrada, Howard Chaykin, George Tuska, Walt Simonson, Mike Nasser, Juan Ortiz & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-7291-3 (HB/Digital edition)

Once upon a time, 1000 years from now, super-powered kids from a multitude of worlds took inspiration from the greatest legend of all time and formed a club of heroes. One day those Children of Tomorrow came back in time and invited their inspiration to join them…

Thus, began the vast and epic saga of the Legion of Super-Heroes, as first envisioned by writer Otto Binder & artist Al Plastino when the many-handed mob of juvenile universe-savers debuted in Adventure Comics #247 (April 1958), just as a revived superhero genre was gathering an inexorable head of steam. Happy 65th Anniversary, Junior Futurians!

Since that time, the fortunes and popularity of the Legion have perpetually waxed and waned, with their future history continually tweaked and overwritten, retconned and rebooted time and time again to comply with editorial diktat and popular fashion. This cosmically-captivating compendium gathers a chronological parade of futuristic delights from Superboy and The Legion of Super-Heroes #234-240 (spanning December 1977- June 1978) and includes an untold tale of their earliest exploits from DC Super-Stars #17, as well as a major event from tabloid colossus All-New Collector’s Edition C-55.

This was a period when the recently impoverished superhero genre had once again flared into vibrant new life to gain its current, seemingly unassailable ascendancy. That prior plunge in costumed character popularity had seen the team lose their long-held lead spot in Adventure Comics, get relegated to a back-up slot in Action Comics and even vanish completely for a time. However, Legion fans are the most passionate of an already fanatical breed…

No sooner had the LSH faded than fan agitation to revive them began. After a few tentative forays as an occasional back-up feature in Superboy, the game-changing artwork of Dave Cockrum inspired a fresh influx of fans. The back-up soon took over the book – exactly as they had done in the 1960s, when the Tomorrow Teens took Adventure Comics from the Boy of Steel and made it uniquely their own…

Without warning or preamble, the adventure continues with Jack C. Harris, Juan Ortiz & Bob Smith exploring ‘The Secret of the Quintile Crystal’ (DC Super-Stars #17, cover-dated December 1977) as founders Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad and Cosmic Boy relate to Superboy how a theft by diplomats beyond the reach of the law catapulted the kids – and their unique problem-solving gifts – to the forefront of United Planets Security Planning…

Superboy and The Legion of Super-Heroes #234 then offers a contemporary cosmic catastrophe, as a clash with a space dragon mutates a squad of teen heroes into a marauding amalgamated menace. When the call goes out ‘Wanted Dead or Alive: The Composite Legionnaire’ (by Gerry Conway, Ric Estrada & Jack Abel), ultimate mercenary Bounty goes after the victim and he won’t let sentiment or the remaining heroes interfere with ‘The Final Hunt!’. Happily, Superboy and energy-being Wildfire have enough power to stop the hunter and cure their companions…

Issue #235 featured the kind of story uber-dedicated fans adore. ‘The Legion’s Super-Secret’ – by Paul Levitz, Mike Grell & Vince Colletta) gives a glimpse into the covert cognitive conditioning Superboy endures every time he returns to his own era. When the process is abruptly interrupted because of a raid by resource hungry Sklarians, the Legionnaires fear the greatest hero of all time may expose the Future’s most dangerous biological deception.

Although a tense and rousing escapade, the sad truth is that this tale was conceived to placate sections of the audience who kept carping over why clearly fully mature characters were still being designated “Boy”, “Girl”, “Kid”, “Lass” and “Lad”. As if comics never had serious social problems and issues to address, right?

The lead story is far-surpassed by potent back-up ‘Trial of the Legion Five’ (Conway, George Tuska & Colletta), wherein some of the heroes are accused of causing the death of a citizen caught in the rampage of the now-defunct Composite Legionnaire. Their accuser is an old political adversary bearing a grudge and as ever, things are not what they seem…

S&LSH #236 was a power-packed portmanteau offering and brimming with vibrant new artistic talent. It begins with ‘A World Born Anew’ (written by Levitz & Paul Kupperberg with stunning art from then-neophytes James Sherman & Bob McLeod). When fantastically powerful alien property speculator Worldsmith arbitrarily terraforms the planet Braal, even a full Legion team is unable to stop him… until Princess Projectra deduces a better way to send the crazed capitalist packing.

Levitz, Mike Nasser/Netzer, Joe Rubinstein & Rick Bryant then provide an all-action prologue to greater sagas in the making as ‘Mon-El’s One-Man War’ finds the formidable Daxamite exerting all his energies to save an experimental star mine during a bloody incursion by war-crazed Khunds before the moment Legion fans had impatiently awaited for decades finally came…

‘Words Never Spoken’ by Levitz, Sherman & Rubinstein at long last saw Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl set the day…

No longer bound by responsibility, they had agreed to quit the team – because teammates (like cousins) weren’t allowed to marry – resulting in a huge tabloid-sized milestone released as All-New Collector’s Edition C-55 (March 1978).

Comic book weddings never start well and ‘The Millennium Massacre’ (Levitz, Grell & Colletta) coincided with a dastardly plot by their greatest foe to rewrite history. As the young marrieds stumble into a honeymoon ‘Murder by Moonlight’, Superboy and a select team voyage to 1988. They’re hoping to prevent the destruction of the United Nations and solve ‘The Twisted History Mystery’ before their comrades and the newlyweds perish in an interplanetary war, but the real showdown only occurs after a ‘Showdown at the End of Eternity’…

Augmented by a potted visual history of ‘Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes’ by Grell & Colletta, fact-features ‘The Origins and Powers of the Legionnaires’ and ‘Secrets of the Legion’ – by Levitz, Sherman & Abel- this epic event laid the groundwork for a darker, more compelling tone…

That began with #237’s ‘No Price Too High’ (Levitz, Walt Simonson & Abel) wherein the team’s financial backer R. J. Brande is abducted by maniac Arma Getten. He demands the team bring him ‘The Heart of a Star’, ‘The Stolen Trophy’ and life-sustaining artefact ‘The Crown of the Graxls’ in return for their patron’s life. Painfully aware that these objects hold the power ‘To Shake the Stars’, the team comply… Apparently…

Due to deadline problems #238 was a hasty reprint of Adventure Comics #359 & 360 and is represented here by its spiffy new Jim Starlin wraparound cover, but the intended tale when it finally emerged was an instant classic worth the wait.

Plotted and laid out by Starlin, with Levitz script and Rubinstein finishes, #239’s ‘Murder Most Foul’ saw rowdy, rebellious Ultra Boy framed for murdering a prostitute and a fugitive on the run from his former comrades. Only LSH Espionage Squad leader Chameleon Boy saw something behind the seemingly open-&-shut case, and his off-the-books investigation indicated there was indeed a Legion traitor: potentially the most dangerous opponent of all…

The final inclusion in this mammoth compilation is #240, delivering a brace of thrillers. Levitz, Harris, Howard Chaykin & Bob Wiacek opened with ‘The Man Who Manacled the Legion’ as old foe Grimbor the Chainsman kidnapped the UP President in a bizarre scheme to kill the heroes he held responsible for the death of his true love. The book does close on a tantalising high however, as Levitz, Kupperberg, Sherman & McLeod take us into the Legion Training Academy and introduce a bevy of new heroes eager to join the big guns.

Super dense (yes, I know, just go with it) Jed Rikane, invulnerable Laurel Kent and Shadow Lad (Shadow Lass’ younger brother) all show potential and flaws in equal amounts, but the mutant tracker mercenary is who really troubles Wildfire. ‘Dawnstar Rising’ shows not only her immense ability but a disregard for her comrades that might have lethal consequences in the days to come, unless the Legion somehow works its inclusive magic on her…

Rounding out the future fun, ‘Notes from Behind the Scenes’ provides glimpses at Levitz’s original presentation for tabloid edition, plots for a Queen Projectra tale and data cheat sheets for Saturn Girl and others.

The Legion is unquestionably one of the most beloved and bewildering creations in comics history, and largely responsible for the explosive growth of a groundswell movement that became American Comics Fandom. Moreover, these scintillating and seductively addictive stories – as much as Julie Schwartz’s Justice League of America or Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four – fuelled the interest and imaginations of generations of readers to create 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 feed your dreams of a better tomorrow as soon as possible.
© 1977, 1978, 2017 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Legion of Super-Heroes: The Silver Age volume 1


By Otto Binder, Jerry Siegel, Edmond Hamilton, Robert Bernstein, Al Plastino, George Papp, Jim Mooney, Curt Swan, John Forte & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-8157-1 (TPB/Digital edition)

Once upon a time, in the far future, a super-powered kids from dozens of alien civilisations took inspiration from the greatest legend of all time and formed a club of heroes. One day those Children of Tomorrow came back in time and invited that legend to join them…

And thus began the vast and epic saga of the Legion of Super-Heroes, as first envisioned by writer Otto Binder & artist Al Plastino in early 1958, just as the revived comic book 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 tweaked and rebooted, retconned and overwritten again and again to comply with editorial diktat and popular whim.

This glorious, far-and-wide ranging collection assembles the numerous preliminary appearances of the valiant Tomorrow People and their inevitable progress towards and attainment of their own feature. It includes all pertinent material from Adventure Comics #247, 267, 282, 290, 293, and 300-310, Action Comics #267, 276, 287, 289, Superboy #86, 89, 98 and Superman #147, cumulatively spanning April 1958 through July 1963.

Happy anniversary!

The many-handed mob of juvenile universe-savers eponymously premiered in Adventure Comics #247 (cover-dated April 1958) in Superboy tale ‘The Legion of Super-Heroes!’ wherein three mysterious kids invited the Boy of Steel to the 30th century to join a club of metahuman champions inspired by his life.

Devised by Otto Binder & Al Plastino, the throwaway concept gripped public imagination and, after frequent further appearances throughout Superman Family titles, the LSH eventually took over the Boy of Steel’s lead spot in Adventure for their own far-flung, quirky escapades, with the Caped Kid Kryptonian reduced to merely “one of the in-crowd”…

However, here the excitement is still gradually building as the kids return 18 months later in Adventure #267 (December 1959) for Jerry Siegel & George Papp to play with. In ‘Prisoner of the Super-Heroes!’ the teen wonders attack and incarcerate the Boy of Steel because of a misunderstood ancient record they have uncovered…

The following summer Supergirl met the Legion in Action Comics #267 (August 1960, by Siegel & Jim Mooney) as Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy secretly travel to “modern day” America and invite the Maid of Might to join the team, in a repetition of their offer to Superboy 15 years previously (in nit-picking fact they claimed to be the children of the original team – a fact glossed over and forgotten these days: don’t time-travel stories make your head hurt?).

Due to a dubious technicality, young and overeager Kara Zor-El fails her initiation task at the hands of ‘The Three Super-Heroes’ and is asked to reapply later – but at least we get to meet a few more Legionnaires, including Chameleon Boy, Invisible Kid and Colossal Boy…

With editors still cautiously testing the waters, it was Superboy #86 (cover-dated January 1961 but on sale in November 1960) before ‘The Army of Living Kryptonite Men!’ (by Siegel & Papp) turned the LSH into a last-minute Deus ex Machina to save the Smallville Sentinel from juvenile delinquent Lex Luthor’s most insidious assault.

Two months later in Adventure #282, Binder & Papp introduced Star Boy as a romantic rival for the Krypton Kid in ‘Lana Lang and the Legion of Super-Heroes!’…

For Action #276 (May 1961) Siegel & Mooney debuted ‘Supergirl’s Three Super Girl-Friends’, which finally saw her crack the plasti-glass ceiling and join the team, sponsored by Saturn Girl, Phantom Girl and Triplicate Girl. We also met for the first time Bouncing Boy, Shrinking Violet, Sun Boy and potential bad-boy love-interest Brainiac 5 (well, at least his distant ancestor Brainiac was a very bad boy…)

Next comes a pivotal tale as ‘Superboy’s Big Brother’ (by Robert Bernstein & Papp from Superboy #89, June 1961) reveals how an amnesiac, super-powered space traveller crashes in Smallville, speaking Kryptonese and carrying star-maps written by the Boy of Steel’s long-dead father…

Jubilant, baffled and suspicious in equal amounts, Superboy eventually, tragically discovers ‘The Secret of Mon-El’ after accidentally exposing the stranger to a lingering, inexorable death, before providing critical life-support by desperately depositing the dying alien in the timeless Phantom Zone until a cure can be found…

With an August 1961 cover-date Superman #147 unleashed ‘The Legion of Super-Villains!’ (Siegel, Curt Swan & Sheldon Moldoff): a stand-out thriller featuring the adult Luthor and correspondingly mature wicked future bad guys coming far too close to destroying the Action Ace …until the temporal cavalry arrives…

Bernstein & Papp seemingly give Sun Boy a starring role in ‘The Secret of the Seventh Super-Hero!’ (Adventure #290, November 1961), followed by a clever tale of redemptive second chances followed in #293 (February 1962) in a gripping thriller from Siegel, Swan & George Klein. ‘The Legion of Super-Traitors’ posits the future heroes turning evil, prompting Saturn Girl to recruit a Legion of Super-Pets including Krypto, Streaky the Super Cat, Beppo, the monkey from Krypton and magical Superhorse Comet to save the world…

Siegel & Mooney set ‘Supergirl’s Greatest Challenge!’ in Action #287 (April 1962) seeing her visit the Legion (quibblers be warned: for some reason it was mis-determined as the 21st century in this story) to save future Earth from invasion. She also met a telepathic descendent of her cat Streaky. His name was Whizzy (I could have omitted that fact but chose not to – once again for smug, comedic effect and in sympathetic solidarity with cat owners everywhere…)

Action #289 originally hosted ‘Superman’s Super-Courtship!’ wherein the Girl of Steel scours the universe for an ideal mate for her cousin. One highly possible candidate is the adult Saturn Woman, but for some reason her husband Lightning Man objects…

Modern sensibilities might quail at the conclusion but at that time his obvious perfect match was a doppelganger of Supergirl herself… albeit thankfully a little bit older…

By the release of Superboy #98 (July 1962), the decision had been made. The buying public wanted more Legion stories and after ‘The Boy with Ultra-Powers’ (Siegel, Swan & Klein) introduced a mysterious lad with greater powers than the Boy of Steel, focus shifted to Adventure Comics where #300 (cover-dated September 1962) proudly saw the futuristic super-squad finally land their own gig: even occasionally taking an alternating cover-spot from the still top-featured Boy of Steel.

Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes opened its stellar run with ‘The Face Behind the Lead Mask!’ by Siegel, John Forte & Plastino: a fast-paced premier pitting Superboy and the 30th century champions against an impossibly unbeatable foe until Mon-El, long-trapped in the Phantom Zone, briefly escapes a millennium of confinement to save the day…

In those halcyon days humour was as important as action, imagination and drama, so many early exploits were light-hearted and moralistic. Adventure #301 offered hope to fat kids everywhere with ‘The Secret Origin of Bouncing Boy!’ by regular creative team Siegel & Forte, wherein the process of open auditions was instigated.

These provided fans with dozens of truly bizarre and memorable applicants over the years but here allows the rebounding human rotunda to deliver a salutary pep talk and inspirational account of heroism persevering to triumph over adversity.

Adventure #302 featured ‘Sun Boy’s Lost Power!’ with the golden boy forced to resign until fortune and boldness restore his abilities, after which ‘The Fantastic Spy!’ in #303 sparks a tense tale of espionage and potential betrayal by new member Matter-Eater Lad.

The happy readership was stunned by the events of #304 when Saturn Girl engineered ‘The Stolen Super-Powers!’ to make herself a one-woman Legion. Of course, it was for the best possible reasons, but still didn’t prevent the shocking murder of Lightning Lad…

As a result she was elected Legion leader – at that time the first female to ever lead a comic book team.

With comfortable complacency utterly destroyed, #305 further shook everything up with ‘The Secret of the Mystery Legionnaire!’ who turns out to be long-suffering Mon-El, finally cured and freed from his Phantom Zone prison.

Normally I’d try to be more obscure about story details – after all my intention is to get new people reading old comics – but these “spoiler” revelations are crucial to further understanding here and besides you all know these characters are still around, don’t you?

Pulp sci fi author Edmond Hamilton took over the major scripting role with Adventure #306, introducing ‘The Legion of Substitute Heroes!’ (still quirkily, perfectly illustrated by John Forte): a group of rejected audition applicants selflessly banding together and clandestinely assisting the champions who had spurned them, after which transmuting orphan Element Lad joins the big league.

He seeks vengeance upon the space pirates who had wiped out his entire species in ‘The Secret Power of the Mystery Super-Hero!’ whilst in #308 readers seemingly saw ‘The Return of Lightning Lad!’

Actual Spoiler Warning: skip to the next paragraph NOW!!!

Otherwise you’ll find out it was actually his similarly empowered sister who – once unmasked and unmanned – took her brother’s place as Lightning Lass…

Penultimate escapade ‘The Legion of Super-Monsters!’ was a straightforward clash with embittered applicant Jungle King who took his rejection far too personally and gathered a deadly clutch of space beasts to wreak havoc and vengeance, after which the future tension temporarily subsides with ‘The Doom of the Super-Heroes!’ from #310: a frantic battle for survival against an impossible foe

The Legion is undoubtedly one of the most beloved and bewildering creations in American comic book history and largely responsible for the growth of the groundswell movement that became Comics Fandom.

Moreover, these sparkling, simplistic and devastatingly addictive stories, as much as the legendary Julie Schwartz Justice League, fired up the interest and imaginations of a generation of young readers and built the industry we all know today.

These naive, silly, joyous, stirring and utterly compelling yarns are precious and fun beyond any ability to explain – even if we old lags gently mock them to ourselves and one another. 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.
© 1958-1963, 2018 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.