{"id":27824,"date":"2023-04-19T09:00:49","date_gmt":"2023-04-19T09:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=27824"},"modified":"2023-04-06T15:47:16","modified_gmt":"2023-04-06T15:47:16","slug":"superboy-and-the-legion-of-super-heroes-volume-1-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2023\/04\/19\/superboy-and-the-legion-of-super-heroes-volume-1-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes volume 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

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\u2026<\/p>\n

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

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<\/strong> and The<\/strong> Legion of Super-Heroes<\/strong> #234-240 (spanning December 1977- June 1978) and includes an untold tale of their earliest exploits from DC Super-Stars<\/strong> #17, as well as a major event from tabloid colossus All-New Collector\u2019s Edition C-55<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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<\/strong>, get relegated to a back-up slot in Action Comics<\/strong> and even vanish completely for a time. However, Legion fans are the most passionate of an already fanatical breed\u2026<\/p>\n

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<\/strong>, 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<\/strong> from the Boy of Steel and made it uniquely their own\u2026<\/p>\n

Without warning or preamble, the adventure continues with Jack C. Harris, Juan Ortiz & Bob Smith exploring \u2018The Secret of the Quintile Crystal\u2019 <\/em>(DC Super-Stars<\/strong> #17, cover-dated December 1977) as founders Saturn Girl<\/em>, Lightning Lad<\/em> and Cosmic Boy<\/em> 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\u2026<\/p>\n

Superboy<\/strong> and The<\/strong> Legion of Super-Heroes<\/strong> #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 \u2018Wanted Dead or Alive: The Composite Legionnaire\u2019 <\/em>(by Gerry Conway, Ric Estrada & Jack Abel), ultimate mercenary Bounty<\/em> goes after the victim and he won\u2019t let sentiment or the remaining heroes interfere with \u2018The Final Hunt!\u2019. <\/em>Happily, Superboy and energy-being Wildfire<\/em> have enough power to stop the hunter and cure their companions\u2026<\/p>\n

Issue #235 featured the kind of story uber-dedicated fans adore. \u2018The Legion\u2019s Super-Secret\u2019 <\/em>– 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<\/em>, the Legionnaires fear the greatest hero of all time may expose the Future\u2019s most dangerous biological deception.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cBoy\u201d, \u201cGirl\u201d, \u201cKid\u201d, \u201cLass\u201d and \u201cLad\u201d. As if comics never had serious social problems and issues to address, right?<\/p>\n

The lead story is far-surpassed by potent back-up \u2018Trial of the Legion Five\u2019 <\/em>(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\u2026<\/p>\n

S&LSH<\/strong> #236 was a power-packed portmanteau offering and brimming with vibrant new artistic talent. It begins with \u2018A World Born Anew\u2019 <\/em>(written by Levitz & Paul Kupperberg with stunning art from then-neophytes James Sherman & Bob McLeod). When fantastically powerful alien property speculator Worldsmith<\/em> arbitrarily terraforms the planet Braal, even a full Legion team is unable to stop him\u2026 until Princess Projectra<\/em> deduces a better way to send the crazed capitalist packing.<\/p>\n

Levitz, Mike Nasser\/Netzer, Joe Rubinstein & Rick Bryant then provide an all-action prologue to greater sagas in the making as \u2018Mon-El\u2019s One-Man War\u2019 <\/em>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\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2018Words Never Spoken\u2019 <\/em>by Levitz, Sherman & Rubinstein at long last saw Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl set the day\u2026<\/p>\n

No longer bound by responsibility, they had agreed to quit the team – because teammates (like cousins) weren\u2019t allowed to marry – resulting in a huge tabloid-sized milestone released as All-New Collector\u2019s Edition C-55<\/strong> (March 1978).<\/p>\n

Comic book weddings never start well and \u2018The Millennium Massacre\u2019 <\/em>(Levitz, Grell & Colletta) coincided with a dastardly plot by their greatest foe to rewrite history. As the young marrieds stumble into a honeymoon \u2018Murder by Moonlight\u2019<\/em>, Superboy and a select team voyage to 1988. They\u2019re hoping to prevent the destruction of the United Nations and solve \u2018The Twisted History Mystery\u2019 <\/em>before their comrades and the newlyweds perish in an interplanetary war, but the real showdown only occurs after a \u2018Showdown at the End of Eternity\u2019\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Augmented by a potted visual history of \u2018Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes\u2019 <\/em>by Grell & Colletta, fact-features \u2018The Origins and Powers of the Legionnaires\u2019 <\/em>and \u2018Secrets of the Legion\u2019<\/em> – by Levitz, Sherman & Abel- this epic event laid the groundwork for a darker, more compelling tone\u2026<\/p>\n

That began with #237\u2019s \u2018No Price Too High\u2019 <\/em>(Levitz, Walt Simonson & Abel) wherein the team\u2019s financial backer R. J. Brande<\/em> is abducted by maniac Arma Getten<\/em>. He demands the team bring him \u2018The Heart of a Star\u2019<\/em>, \u2018The Stolen Trophy\u2019 <\/em>and life-sustaining artefact \u2018The Crown of the Graxls\u2019 <\/em>in return for their patron\u2019s life. Painfully aware that these objects hold the power \u2018To Shake the Stars\u2019, <\/em>the team comply\u2026 Apparently\u2026<\/p>\n

Due to deadline problems #238 was a hasty reprint of Adventure Comics<\/strong> #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.<\/p>\n

Plotted and laid out by Starlin, with Levitz script and Rubinstein finishes, #239\u2019s \u2018Murder Most Foul\u2019 <\/em>saw rowdy, rebellious Ultra Boy<\/em> framed for murdering a prostitute and a fugitive on the run from his former comrades. Only LSH Espionage Squad leader Chameleon Boy<\/em> 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\u2026<\/p>\n

The final inclusion in this mammoth compilation is #240, delivering a brace of thrillers. Levitz, Harris, Howard Chaykin & Bob Wiacek opened with \u2018The Man Who Manacled the Legion\u2019 <\/em>as old foe Grimbor the Chainsman<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n

Super dense (yes, I know, just go with it) Jed Rikane<\/em>, invulnerable Laurel Kent<\/em> and Shadow Lad<\/em> (Shadow Lass\u2019<\/em> younger brother) all show potential and flaws in equal amounts, but the mutant tracker mercenary is who really troubles Wildfire. \u2018Dawnstar Rising\u2019 <\/em>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\u2026<\/p>\n

Rounding out the future fun, \u2018Notes from Behind the Scenes\u2019 <\/em>provides glimpses at Levitz\u2019s original presentation for tabloid edition, plots for a Queen Projectra tale and data cheat sheets for Saturn Girl and others.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Justice League of America<\/strong> or Jack Kirby\u2019s Fantastic Four<\/strong> – fuelled the interest and imaginations of generations of readers to create the industry we all know today.<\/p>\n

If you love comics and haven\u2019t read this stuff, you are the poorer for it and need to feed your dreams of a better tomorrow as soon as possible.
\n\u00a9 1977, 1978, 2017 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes volume 1”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[76,154,107,310],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dc-superhero","category-legion-of-super-heroes","category-science-fiction","category-superboy"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-7eM","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27824"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27828,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27824\/revisions\/27828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}