Reboot: Legion of Super-Heroes #89

Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #89 (February 1997)
title: "She's Electric!"

writers: Tom Peyer and Tom McCraw

pencillers: Jeffrey Moy
inker: Ron Boyd
lettering: Pat Brosseau
colorist: Tom McCraw

assistant editor: Ruben Diaz
editor: KC Carlson

cover: Alan Davis
reviewers: Siskoid & Shotgun

Mission Monitor Board:  
Apparition, Brainiac 5, Cosmic Boy, Gates, Saturn Girl, Spark, Ultra Boy

Guests: 
Ferro, Inferno, Koko, Oracle, Shvaughn Erin, a security guard (Rupert), mental institution personnel

Opponents: 
Dr. Psycho

Who's Who: Captain Frake

Captain Frake
by Russell & Siskoid

Real Name: Alisia Frake

Super-Power(s): None
Planet of Origin: New Tartuga

Relationship to Legion: Villain and romantic interest

TOS: Adventure Comics #308 Point-Counterpoint

Adventure Comics #308 (May 1963)
"The Return of Lightning Lad!"
written by Edmond Hamilton
drawn by John Forte
lettered by Joe Letterese
cover by Curt Swan & George Klein
review by Anj and Russell

Mission Monitor Board: Sun Boy, Bouncing Boy, Chameleon Boy, Cosmic Boy, Brainiac 5, Lightning Lad (?!) ; cameos by Saturn Girl, Mon-El, Shrinking Violet, Superboy, Supergirl, Invisible Kid, and Triplicate Girl

Hello everybody and welcome to Silver Age Tuesdays. It's Anj, from the Supergirl Comic Box Commentary site and this Legion blog. I usually hang out here on Fridays but Legion Leader Russell offered me the chance to review this Legion story and I jumped at the chance. As most know, I am also a huge Ayla Ranzz fan and so this review will be a special treat.

"The Return of Lightning Lad!" was written by Edmond Hamilton with art by John Forte and introduces two characters to the Legion mythos. One of them is my beloved Ayla, a character who I have comic crushed on for decades. As is my wont in life and on many levels, I wouldn't have a chance with her.

So settle in for a fun story with some standard Silver Age odd moments. We will run this as a Point-Counterpoint, with me starting off and then let's see if our Leader has anything different to add!

Legion of Super Heroes S02 E04: Chained Lightning

"Chained Lightning" was written by Matt Wayne and directed by Brandon Vietti, original airdate: October 13, 2007, review by Glenn 'Continuity Kid' Walker. 

Mission Monitor Board: Lightning Lad, Superman X, Brainiac 5, Shrinking Violet, Bouncing Boy.

Opponents: Lightning Lord, Imperiex, the Dominators, Validus, Destructo-Bots, and three Lightning Beasts of Korbal. 

Guest-stars and cameos: Ayla Ranzz (pre-Lightning Lass/Light Lass), Superman (mentioned).

After a brief interlude spotlighting Timber Wolf last episode from the ongoing season-long struggle against Imperiex, we're back in the business of that villain's war, but with a twist of Legion lore in the mix. We finally meet Ayla Ranzz officially, get a rerun of the Ranzz family's secret high voltage origin, and see the return of Lightning Lord. It's a very unorthodox family reunion for the Legion!

Terrificon and Keith Giffen

This last weekend I drove about an hour and forty-five minutes south to Uncasville Connecticut to partake in Terrificon, the Terrific Comic Con.

This was the first time I had been to this con and I was very happy with the whole thing. First off, this definitely seemed to be comic-centric in its approach. There were celebrities present but all had some connection to comic book entertainment. And the comic creator list was deep and filled with legends.

Reboot: Legionnaires #45

Legionnaires #45 (February 1997)
title: "Things Change"

writers: Roger Stern and Tom McCraw

penciller: Philip Moy
inkers: W.C. Carani
lettering: Pat Brosseau
colorist: Tom McCraw

associate editor: Ruben Diaz
editor (Morlo wrangler): KC Carlson

cover: Jeff Moy & W.C. Carani
reviewers: Siskoid & Shotgun

Mission Monitor Board:  
Chameleon, Element Lad, Invisible Kid, Kinetix, Live Wire, Magno, M'Onel, Sensor, Star Boy, Triad, Umbra, XS

Guests: 
Dreamer, Lori Morning, Marla Latham, Proty, Bielans, Science Police (Lt. Webb, others), Vyrgans (Matriarch, Xxyx Kyzzhn, others)

Opponents: 
Emerald Violet, Mantis Morlo, Mordru, Proteans

Who's Who: Captain Baktra

Captain Baktra
by Russell & Siskoid

Real Name: Kamil Baktra

Super-Power(s): None
Planet of Origin: Dromedania

Relationship to Legion: Victim

TOS: Adventure Comics #307

Adventure Comics #307 (April 1963)
"The Secret Power of the Mystery Super-Hero"
written by Edmond Hamilton
drawn by John Forte
lettered by Joe Letterese
cover by Curt Swan & George Klein
 review by Glenn 'Continuity Kid' Walker 

Mission Monitor Board: Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, Invisible Kid, Sun Boy, Bouncing Boy, Brainiac 5, Colossal Boy, and introducing Mystery Lad/Element Lad

Opponents: Roxxas and his space pirates. 

Guest-stars and cameos: Superboy, Bizarro, 'Green Guy,' and 'Camera Eye Kid.'

"The Secret Power of the Mystery Super-Hero" is the first appearance of Element Lad and features the story in which he joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. Element Lad, who started his career as the now somewhat forgotten Mystery Lad, was always a favorite of mine. I always thought that he was seriously underused and had a frequently misunderstood superpower (though not as much as Chemical King). I never cared for the pink costume, but when Dave Cockrum gave him the drastically different and very dynamic green costume, I liked him even more. We'll get to my review in a moment, but first there's that pesky Superboy...

The Write Stuff part 5

It's been a while, but we're back! And we continue our look at magazines which contain Legion-related articles and features.
When last we left our reviews, we had completed an alphabetical rundown up to "C". So now it's "D"-day and beyond ...

Terrificon and Keith Giffen

Hey all!

I know everyone is eager to read my review of Legion of Super-Heroes #313, the last issue before the commencement of the Baxter run. But life here is busy and I haven't had a chance to write that review because I have been prepping for TerrifiCon this weekend.

While I did go to Boston Comic Con this year, I am considering TerrifiCon my 'big' convention, going all three days and really stuffing by bag with issues to get signed.

If you peruse the guest list, you'll see a great mix of both current and legendary creators. Many of these creators I have never run into before at a convention and many are huge presences in my comic book life. Marty Pasko. Steve Englehart. Peter David. Paul Kupperberg. Jerry Ordway. Marv Wolfman. Roy Thomas. Etc etc. It is an amazing list.

Oh, and there is this creator...

Reboot: Legion of Super-Heroes #88

Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #88 (January 1997)
title: "Fast Times"

writers: Tom Peyer and Tom McCraw

pencillers: Lee Moder
inker: Ron Boyd
lettering: Pat Brosseau
colorist: Tom McCraw

assistant editor: Ruben Diaz
editor: KC Carlson

cover: Alan Davis
reviewers: Siskoid & Shotgun

Mission Monitor Board:  
Apparition, Brainiac 5, Chameleon, Cosmic Boy, Gates, Kinetix, Live Wire, Saturn Girl, Spark, Triad, Ultra Boy, XS

Guests: 
Impulse, Inferno, Kitty Faulkner, Koko, Max Mercury, Rep. Carl Mellor, Rond Vidar, Sen. Dottie Money, Shvaughn Erin, S.T.A.R. Labs staff; in flashback: Flash II, Iris West

Opponents: 
Lab accidents

Who's Who: Bounty I

Bounty
by Russell & Siskoid

Real Name: Jaeger Tallspirit

Super-Power(s): Tracking
Planet of Origin: Minerstown

Relationship to Legion: Pardoned villain

TOS: Adventure Comics #306

Adventure Comics #306 (March 1963)

title: "The Legion of Substitute Heroes!"
writer: Otto Binder
artist: John Forte
letterer: John Letterese
editor: Mort Weisinger
reviewer: Siskoid

Mission Monitor Board: 
Bouncing Boy, Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, Shrinking Violet, Sun Boy

Guests: 
Chlorophyll Kid, Fire Lad, Night Girl, Polar Boy, Stone Boy, Science Police, Stone Boy's family, Chlorophyll Kid's family, a news anchor

Opponents: 
Flying Crime City, Plant Men, sea monsters

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #62

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #62 (July 1962) 
title: Superman's Phantom Pal
writer: Leo Dorfman
artist: Curt Swan and George Klein
cover: Curt Swan and Sheldon Moldoff
editor: Mort Weisinger

Supporting Cast
Perry White, Lois Lane, Lucy Lane, Superman


Mission Monitor Board
Elastic Lad and Mon-El

Opponents
Jax-Ur, Professor Vox, and Dr. Xadu

Legion of Super-Heroes v2 #312

Legion of Super-Heroes #312 is the penultimate issue of this particular run of the book; the Baxter Book is right around the corner. With the main title shifting and all major plotlines moving there, the creative team needed a neat little story to fill the last two issues here. And, in what I think is a brilliant move, this story is a more in-depth look at the Science Police.

One of the things that most Legion fans pride themselves on is their encyclopedic knowledge of the team's members and history. So, something like the Science Police, a presence in almost every issue but not really explored, is almost a frontier. It would be easy to just say the SciPo are just future cops. But this is the 30th Century. There has to be more.

And for fastidious readers, this issue is stuffed with Interlac. You could spend an hour translating all the screens and signage in this book. Perhaps that is why they gave us the alphabet last issue.

As usual, storytellers Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen infuse a crime procedural story with the usual subplots and character moments that this run is famous for. Giffen is on pencils but instead of usual inker Larry Mahlstedt, Giffen's art is finished by inker extraordinaire Karl Kesel.

It has been a while since I have revisited these issues and I know I only have one left. But I have been pleased as punch with reviewing these. Just wonderful.

Reboot: Impulse #21

Impulse #21 (January 1997)
title: "A Little Knowledge"

writer: Mark Waid

penciller: Craig Rousseau
inker: Wayne Faucher
lettering: Chris Eliopoulos
colorist: Tom McCraw

assistant editor: Jason Hernandez-Rosenblatt
editor: Paul Kupperberg
with thanks to: Otto Binder

cover: Humberto Ramos & Wayne Faucher
reviewers: Siskoid & Shotgun

Mission Monitor Board:  
Brainiac 5, Cosmic Boy, Gates, Saturn Girl, Spark

Guests: 
Impulse, Koko, Max Mercury; statues of Flash I, II and III

Opponents: 
Velociraptors

Who's Who: Blockade Boy

Blockade Boy
by Russell & Siskoid

Real Name: Phyl Staad

Super-Power(s): Turn into a steel barricade
Planet of Origin: Amadus

Relationship to Legion: Ally

TOS: Adventure Comics #305

Adventure Comics #305 (February 1963)
title: "The Secret of the Mystery Legionnaire"

writer: Jerry Siegel

artist: John Forte

editor: Mort Weisinger 

reviewer: Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage

Mission Monitor Board:  
Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy, Sun Boy, Bouncing Boy, Invisible Kid, Shrinking Violet, Colossal Boy, Brainiac 5, Mon-El

Opponents: 
Sun-Eater, space pirates, the Phantom Zone

Synopsis: 
The Legion starts their day by mourning for Lightning Lad. They then hold new member try-outs to replace him.

Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century #3

Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century #3 (August 2007)
title: The Powers That Were
writer: Scott Beatty
penciller: Sanford Greene
inker: Nathan Massengell
letterer: Mike Sellers
colorist: Heroic Age
editor: Jeanine Schaefer
cover art: Steve Uy
reviewer: Mike "Nostalgic Kid" Lane


Mission Monitor Board: Bouncing Boy, Brainiac 5, Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl, Superman, Timber Wolf, Infectious Lass.

Special Appearances: Chlorophyll Kid, Color Kid, Double-Header, Night Girl, Polar Boy, Porcupine Pete, Son of Vulcan, Stone Boy.

Legion of Super-Heroes v2 #311

It is hard to believe but I am almost done with my reviews of the pre-Baxter series Legion of Super-Heroes book. I just have a couple more issues to get through. At that point, the Legion books split into the Baxter run and the Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes newsstand book. Those have already been reviewed by Russell.

Legion of Super-Heroes #311 was something of a rest issue. Split into two stories, the issue ties up a couple of long-standing subplots which had been percolating in the background. After the somewhat muddled Omen and Prophet arc, these character-driven Legion stories were welcomed as something of a creative palate cleanser. And given that I was pretty invested in both stories - Danielle Foccart's possession by Computo and Dawnstar's vision quest - this issue is a big winner for me.

So on to these stories and the fun stuff!

Reboot(ish): Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #7

Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) Annual #7 (1996)
title: "One Shot"

writers: Tom Peyer and Tom McCraw

penciller: Mike Collins
inkers: Mark Farmer and Robin Riggs
lettering: Pat Prentice
colorist: Tom McCraw

assistant editor: Ruben Diaz
editor: KC Carlson

cover: Alan Davis
reviewers: Siskoid & Shotgun

Mission Monitor Board:  
Argent, Lode-Stone, Graft, Lode-Stone, Magno-Boy, Metro, Membrain, Nervosa, Phase, Shape, Shift, Silver-Wing, Triad III, Triplicate, Wildfire; in flashback: Blok, Brainiac 5, Chameleon, Cosmic Boy, Invisible Kid, Karate Kid, Live Wire, M'Onel, Projectra, Quislet, Saturn Girl, Spark, Star Boy, Tyroc, Umbra, XS

Guests: 
Gizi, Ziga, Space Museum guard; in flashback: Flash II, Martian Manhunter, Professor Vultan, Superman, Wonder Woman

Opponents: 
Durlans, ocean thieves, star cannon robots

Who's Who: Blackout Boy

Blackout Boy
by Russell & Siskoid

Real Name: Graah

Super-Power(s): Cast darkness; the power is temporary
Planet of Origin: Murra

Relationship to Legion: Villain; temporary Legionnaire

TOS: Adventure Comics #304 Group Review

featuring
The Legion of Super Bloggers Group Review on
Adventure Comics #304 (January, 1963)
title: The Stolen Super-Powers!
writer: Jerry Siegel
artist: John Forte
editor: Mort Weisinger

Mission Monitor Board: 
Saturn Girl, Chameleon Boy, Bouncing Boy, Cosmic Boy, Shrinking Violet, Triplicate Girl, Sun Boy, Brainiac 5, Lightning Lad, Invisible Kid, Colossal Boy, Ultra Boy, Phantom Girl, Mon-El, Superboy, Supergirl

Guests:
Lori Lemaris

Opponents:
Zaryan the Conqueror

Synopsis:
Saturn Girl uses her telepathic abilities to cause the others to vote for her as Legion Leader in a misguided attempt to stop Zaryan the Conqueror from invading Earth.