Commentary on Superman Plus the Legion of Super-Heroes #1 (February 1997)
Shotgun
What is there to say that hasn’t been said before. Another attempt at returning home, another failure. I enjoyed the interruption of the action scene just to show Brainy’s annoyance. Does this happen after Saturn Girl's full potential has been activated? If that’s the case, it is interesting to see her help Cos get more confidence in his aptitude through her own power. I feel awful for poor Jo. Losing someone you love is a traumatic experience and he just keeps on losing Tinya. The team has a lot to deal with. First, they must get back home, then they have to learn more about what’s happening to Apparition. Interesting dynamic with Superman being this annoyed at the team. Not something I saw a lot of until now, the irritation experienced by locals when foreign heroes come to their help. I’m sure it’s a classic hero’s rivalry formula, but it felt fresh to me as I’m still a noob when it comes to comics.
Well, in this case, it makes total sense for Superman to be edgy - they freed one of his key villains, all to help themselves. Now Brainiac's out there and he could come back at any time. But of course, he's Superman, and he's quick to forgive. As for Imra, I personally place this after Dr. Psycho released her potential (as I do the next story), because we've never seen her use her powers in quite this way. Of the two Plus specials, this is the better one, with more pleasant art and some good character bits like those you mentioned, but you could still skip over it and not miss a thing. Unless you're really into Superman history and want to read a sort of follow-up to the World of Krypton mini-series. As a post-Crisis Superman fan, I was intrigued by Black Zero II, but ultimately, it just turns into an Eradicator story with the numbers filed off.
title: "History Lies!"
writer: Chris Claremont
pencillers: Derec Aucoin and Roger Robinson
inkers: Dexter Vines, Jason Baumgartner and Gary Martin
lettering: Comicraft
colorist: Noelle Giddings
separators: Digital Chameleon
associate editor: Eddie Berganza
inkers: Dexter Vines, Jason Baumgartner and Gary Martin
lettering: Comicraft
colorist: Noelle Giddings
separators: Digital Chameleon
associate editor: Eddie Berganza
editor: Kevin Dooley
cover: Cully Hamner
reviewers: Siskoid & Shotgun
reviewers: Siskoid & Shotgun
Mission Monitor Board:
Saturn Girl; (in flashback) Brainiac 5, Cosmic Boy, Gates, Leviathan, Live Wire; (as illusions) Andromeda, Kinetix, M'Onel, Spark, Star Boy, Ultra Boy
Guests:
Sovereign Seven (Cruiser, Finale, Indigo, Network, Rampart, Reflex); Casey Rassendyl, Conal Savoy, Daisy Miller, Jack, Mitch, Molly Savoy, Tony Merlyn; (in flashback) Aven, Bertor Ardeen, Sydne Ardeen, Impulse
Opponents:
Swordsman; (in flashback) Dr. Regulus, Emerald Violet
Recap:
Part of the Legion is trapped in the late 20th Century with no means to get home. Very recently, Saturn Girl's full powers were unleashed in an altercation with Dr. Psycho that struck down the defenses put in her mind by her mentor Aven.
Synopsis:
Saturn Girl goes looking for the telepathic terrorist history know as Network of the Sovereign Seven, apparently the one responsible for telepaths being feared and forced to undergo rigorous conditioning by the 30th Century. Imra tracks her to Crossroads in New England, and Network befriends her in civilian garb, hiding her powers from her. They become good friends and Network becomes convinced she can help Imra with her mental wounds. When the villain known as the Swordsman attacks, a psionic scrambler makes Saturn Girl pull everyone's astral selves into her mindscape where she fights them as the Emerald Empress. Network makes her confront the trauma of not having been able to help Violet when she was taken over by the Eye, and instructs her on how to reach her full potential while also staying morally pure. In return, Imra helps her new friend learn a little discipline.
Shotgun
If the whole theme of this comic is to learn to swim in the chaos, well, what happened in my mind while reading it must be a perfect representation of what it feels like to do so. I know nothing of the Sovereign Seven so you can imagine that I was absolutely lost amid all these characters. Two things struck me while reading this story: First, I find it sad that Imra still feels so much guilt when it comes to Violet. Even with her powers, she couldn’t possibly keep track of everything that goes on in everyone’s mind. It would be an invasion of privacy to begin with. Plus, even if she would’ve known, it doesn’t mean that she could’ve prevented the Eye from taking over her friend’s mind. She takes such blame for a situation she had absolutely no control over. She has to move on! Second, and this one’s pretty silly, but I have to talk about Finale's pendant. Before the close-up, it looks like an ordinary cross. When Imra mentioned it, I had to stop reading right there and started wondering how she never saw a cross before? Such a regular symbol for someone like me. I mean, I know she’s not from Earth and I’m not sure how religious views will evolve in the next 1000 years so that’s how it hit me that she might never have seen a simple cross before in her life. Not what it was, but an odd, sort of pleasant thought anyway.
Well, grasp at what straws you can, right? I don't know the Sovereign Seven from Adam either. Though I was of course a fan of Claremont's X-Men in the 80s, by the time the decade ended, they'd become a pale (and over-complicated) shadow of what they'd been. I was well well put off by the time he jumped ship to DC with his creator-owned project, who all have those ridiculous 90s names like late-era X-characters. Aside from Network who is heavily featured in this story, I couldn't recognize them in a line-up (and her neither, in costume). Worse, this is very Claremont indeed, with tons and tons of word balloons, angst, and referencing of events that aren't really necessary in a team-up book. I did like the exploration of Saturn Girl, and that perhaps even with the mental blocks removed, she's still restrained and why, but you can only take so many conversations between people you don't know before you get bored. For me it was around page 20, just past the halfway point. The action comes late, and is rather confusing - mindscape stuff is also very Claremont - made more so by speech balloons that DON'T POINT TO THE RIGHT CHARACTERS! The mind tentacles are pretty cool and all, but this could definitely have been half the length and done the same job.
- The Sovereign Seven, though published at DC and part of the DC Universe, are owned by their writer Chris Claremont. One member, Cascade, does not appear in the story.
Sovereign 7 Was Claremont at his absolute worst. The only character I remember is the Big Guy, and very little at that. The X-Men had become unreadable, and S7 was very similar, except without the beloved and recognizable characters. I gave the series every chance, but ultimately could not get past the melodrama and silliness. I read this issue back in the day, but forgot about it completely.
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