Who's Who: Golden Boy

Golden Boy
by Russell & Siskoid

Real Name: Klint Stewirt

Super-Power(s): Gold touch
Planet of Origin: Earth

Relationship to Legion: Rejected applicant

TOS: Adventure Comics #328

Adventure Comics #328 (Jan 1965)
title: "The Lad Who Wrecked the Legion!"

writer: Jerry Siegel
penciller: Jim Mooney

editor: Mort Weisinger

cover: Curt Swan & George Klein

reviewers: Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage

Mission Monitor Board:  
Cosmic Boy, Sun Boy, Invisible Kid, Triplicate Girl, Superboy, Star Boy, Shrinking Violet, Ultra Boy, Mon-El, Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl, Element Lad, new member Command Kid

Guest-Star:   
Legion Reservist Bouncing Boy

Opponent:
new member Command Kid

Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century #6

Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century #6 (November 2007)
title: Attack of the Green Lantern Corps
writer: J. Torres
art: Alexander Serra
letterer: Mike Sellers
colorist: Heroic Age
editor: Jeanine Schaefer
cover art: Alexander Serra

Mission Monitor Board: Blok, Bouncing Boy, Brainiac 5, Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, Dream Girl, Element Lad, Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl, Shrinking Violet, Star Boy, Sun Boy, Superman, Timber Wolf, Tyroc

Villains: The Star Conquerors

Special Appearance: The Green Lantern Corps

New 52 legion of Super-Heroes #18

Another month, another death, another crazy issue in the decaying orbit of the New 52 Legion of Super-Heroes. Like many, I have been clamoring for a new Legion book to hit the racks. But I want it to be the right book. I'd rather have no Legion than the wrong Legion. And when it is clear that people who understand the Legion as well as Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen were struggling, that worries me.

Legion of Super-Heroes #18 continues the insanity of last issue with the Fatal Five attacking, a team stranded on a Promethean Giant, and technology failing throughout the universe. In this older review, I call it the reverse Magic Wars and in many ways that feels appropriate. It is a universal threat with the infrastructure of the universe crumbling. There are Legion deaths that seem superfluous, a way to make the story 'feel' important. And, of course, it marks the end of the book. 

But this comes so out of nowhere, that in rereading (and, of course, knowing all that I know) it reads more as desperate. Sun Boy dying last issue felt like a stunt. Star Boy dying here (crushed by a collapsing door of all things) feels unnecessary. What purpose does it serve in the story?

The art is done by Scott Kolins and Tom Derenick. I have always found Derenick's art pretty plain. And Kolins does his best to bring a Giffen-esque feel to his pages. But it isn't pretty.

So one more step closer to the end ... On to the old review.

Reboot: Legion of Super-Heroes #98

Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #98 (November 1997)
title: "C.O.M.P.U.T.O. the Conqueror"

writers: Tom Peyer and Tom McCraw

penciller: Lee Moder

inker: Rob Boyd
lettering: Pat Brosseau
colorist: Tom McCraw

assistant editor: Frank Berrios
editor: KC Carlson

cover: Alan Davis and Mark Farmer
reviewers: Siskoid & Shotgun

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

Guests:
Koko, Metal Men (Doc Magnus, Iron, Platinum), Phase, Shvaughn Erin, Taptree, Tiffany Cross

Opponents: 
C.O.M.P.U.T.O.

Who's Who: Galactic Coordinator

Galactic Coordinator
by Russell & Siskoid

Real Name: **Q

Super-Power(s): None
Planet of Origin: (CR)dx

Relationship to Legion: U.P. bureaucrat

TOS: Adventure Comics #327 - Timber Wolf!

Hey all, it's Anj, jumping into the original series reviews to cover 'The Lone Wolf Legonnaire' from Adventure Comics 327.

I assume I was offered to review this issue based on Timber Wolf's long standing romance with Ayla Ranzz, one of my favorite Legionnaires and an early comic book crush. How could I say no? As is typical for stories of this time, there is definitely a 'love at first sight' attraction between Ayla and Brin. Also, this is one of those classic overstuffed Silver Age stories with an insane number of plot points and wacky events careening through the fifteen pages!

Writer Edmond Hamilton introduces us to Lone Wolf, a new character with a very convoluted origin as well as a new set of powers, super-acrobatics. John Forte is on art and brings the classic house style of the 50s to the proceedings. Since this story is so rapidly paced, Forte is called on to draw circuses, mine shafts, and battle sequences.

This would have easily been an arc in a new book if not a drawn out plot. Think of Gazelle in the threeboot, slowly introduced with an origin revealed in bits before she joined the team.

On to the book!

The Write Stuff part 6

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 through "H". Today we leap the vast nothingness between I~R and pick up from "S" as in SMALLVILLE....! 

New 52 Legion of Super-Heroes #17

How interesting the passing of 4 years can make a comic seem. 

I am here to discuss The New 52 Legion of Super-Heroes #17, the first book of a reunited Levitz/Giffen creative team. It is something of a death knell. The book ends within the year. And only the low points stick in my head. I know things that happen that I really don't like. I don't have fond memories. 

That wasn't my feeling when I read this as you will see. I thought this was a shot of adrenaline in a book concentrating on minor threats and even more minor characters. Now it is Kirby Cosmic and a revitalized Fatal Five and even the death of a teammate. It starts with a bang, that's for sure.

The art is Giffen at his crudest Kirby-est. It is as far from Francis Portela as you can get.

We'll see if I think more of the end of the run as I finish re-reading it. But I don't think I will. Sun Boy dies here ... just because. What happens to Tinya in the near future is horrible. I expect a lot more from Levitz and Giffen together. I didn't get it here.

Reboot: Legionnaires #54

Legionnaires #54 (November 1997)
title: "A Golden Age"

writers: Roger Stern and Tom McCraw

penciller: Jeffrey and Philip Moy
inker: W.C. Carani
lettering: Pat Brosseau
colorist: Tom McCraw

assistant editor: Frank Berrios
editor: KC Carlson
adult legionnaire: Carmela Merlo

cover: Jeffrey Moy
reviewers: Siskoid & Shotgun

Mission Monitor Board:  
Brainiac -1 (Brainiac 5), Chameleon Boy (Chameleon), Colossal Girl (Violet), Cosmic Boy, E-Lad (Element Lad), Invisible Kid, Lightning Lad (Live Wire), Saturn Girl, Triplicate Lady (Triad)

Guests: 
Biff, Fala, Officer Murphy, President Roosevelt, Proty, R.J. Brande, Runty Runterson, unnamed horticulture club member, police commissioner, policemen (all characters from alternate reality)

Opponents: 
Boss Zogg and his Nazi gang, Cavendish, Doctor Regulus, Fleetfoot Jones, Kommandant Roxxas, Tangleweb, a kamikaze pilot (all characters from alternate reality); the Time Trapper (behind the scenes)

Who's Who: Flynt Brojj

Flynt Brojj
by Russell & Siskoid

Real Name: Flynt Brojj

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

Relationship to Legion: Superfan

TOS: Superboy #117

Superboy #117 (Dec 1964)
title: "Superboy and the Five Legion Traitors"

writer: Jerry Siegel
penciller: Curt Swan
inker: George Klein

editor: Mort Weisinger

cover: Curt Swan & Sheldon Moldoff

reviewer: Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage

Mission Monitor Board:  
Superboy, Chameleon Boy, Ultra Boy, Invisible Kid, Brainiac 5, Element Lad (sort of)

Opponents: 
plot contrivances

Scooby-Doo Meets The Legion

Scooby-Doo Team Up #33 
"The Ghost of Ferro Lad"
Writer: Sholly Fisch
Penciller/Inker: Dario Brizuela
Colorist: Franco Riesco
Letterer: Saida Temofonte
Cover Artist: Brizeula and Riesco
Editor: Kristy Quinn

Continuing the trend of Legion crossovers in 2017, DC paired up the Legion with none other than Mystery Incorporated in their “Scooby Team-Up” series. That particular series has seen the Scooby Gang teaming up with just about everybody DC could think of, as well as other Hanna-Barbera characters like Atom Ant and Hong Kong Phooey (Number One Super Guy). It was just a matter of time before they got to the Legion. But while this was a really fun issue, a small part of me is still disappointed.

Not to be nitpicky, but, I’d always hoped that if or when DC was gonna pair up Mystery Inc. with the Legion, they’d use the cartoon Legion. I mean COME ON, look at Garth.

Who here HASN’T made the Shaggy comparison? Back in 2008 I even tried to write a crossover story with Scooby Doo but, unfortunately, I never made it past the first couple of chapters.

That said, my dashed hope hasn’t stopped me from enjoying this story, which is utterly adorable and humorous in a way different from the Bugs Bunny crossover and the Batman 66 crossover.

This is a modernized take on a Silver Age Legion story, “The Ghost of Ferro Lad,” in Adventure Comics #357. Only, while the ghost of Ferro Lad is used as the main plot, the story doesn’t end anywhere similarly to the original tale.

New 52 Legion of Super-Heroes #16

This is the end ...

The New 52 Legion of Super-Heroes #16 is the end of Paul Levitz writing the team. And it had been a very good run, several decades worth of excellent stories. It is a shame that Levitz's lend with the team came with a whimper and not a bang. And I wonder how Levitz would look back at this time. Clearly the run from Great Darkness through the Sensor Girl mystery was about as good a run as any. But then came the later Baxter run and then this retroboot.  I doubt he would hold the New 52 stuff as being his best material.

And in rereading this run, I have seen glimpses of the old excellence. But I don't know if what I like is what new fans are interested in. Take this issue for example. We have a Legion election. We have some interesting character moments, in particular Dreamy and Star Boy. But you have more hints about Glorith being something more than she is (which I think never bears fruit) and we have a clunky Validus scene. Perhaps worst of all, you get the hope of Phantom Girl having won the leader election. I say this is the worst because I know how she is treated moving forward.

Anyways, this was a good Legion issue and the character bits reinforced what I think is Levitz's best strength and therefore is an interesting end of his overall run. Scott Kolins is on art and he has a smoother look here. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Reboot: Superboy #45

Superboy (v4) #45 (November 1997)
title: "Invaders from the Future!"

writer: Ron Marz

penciller: Georges Jeanty
inker: Doug Hazlewood
lettering: Richard Starkings
colorist: Buzz Setzer

assistant editor: Ruben Diaz
editor: KC Carlson

cover: Tom Grummett and Doug Hazlewood
reviewers: Siskoid

Mission Monitor Board:  
Apparition, Brainiac 5 (flashback), Cosmic Boy, Ferro, Saturn Girl, Spark, Triad, Ultra Boy

Guests: 
Dubbilex, Roxie Leech, Sam Makoa, Superboy, Tana Moon

Opponents: 
Silver Sword

Who's Who: Fenton Pike

Fenton Pike
by Russell & Siskoid

Real Name: Fenton Pike

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

Relationship to Legion: Villain

TOS: Adventure Comics #326

Adventure Comics #326 (November 1964)
title: "The Revolt of the Girl Legionnaires!" / "The Triumph of the Super-Heroines!"

writer: Jerry Siegel

penciller: John Forte
inker: John Forte
lettering: Milton Snapinn
editor: Mort Weisinger

cover: Curt Swan and George Klein
reviewers: Siskoid

Mission Monitor Board:  
Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, Element Lad, Invisible Kid, Light Lass, Lightning Lad, Matter-Eater Lad, Mon-El, Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl, Shrinking Violet, Star Boy, Sun Boy (figurine only), Superboy, Supergirl, Triplicate Girl, Ultra Boy

Guests: 
Proty II, men of Femnaz, Science Fair attendees, scientists, Space Police cadets, teaching assistant at Hall of Infinite Knowledge

Opponents: 
Queen Azura, a living lead robot, Gowampi Trigocerus Lympodiary, warriors of Femnaz

LEGION TOYS: Wildfire (Mattel 12-Pack)

by Derek William Crabbe

Drake Burroughs was an astro-engineer whose consciousness survived his physical form's disintegration by transforming into a pure anti-energy being. His snazzy looking containment suit keeps his energy form from dispersing and eventually joined the Legion of Super-Heroes with the code-name, Wildfire!

New 52 Legion of Super-Heroes #15

It is hard for me to believe but this set of Legion reviews will be ending in about 2 months. This title is reaching a turning point in the creative team and then will enter a decaying orbit into it's ultimate cancellation. Incredibly, there hasn't been a monthly Legion title since this one ended in 2013. Insanity.

But that said, in re-reviewing this series, I am not surprised.  This book was filled with ups and downs. And Legion of Super-Heroes #15 is a great example of that. This is basically a done-in-one adventure with the new Legionnaire Glorith. I thought Glorith would eventually become ... well.. Glorith the super-villain. Or maybe a new Time Trapper. It never happened. But, as I have said in prior reviews, this book just doesn't have the traction to be doing rest issues or side adventures every 3-4 months. I needed this book to be a Legion book in the classic sense. We just don't get there.

Writer Paul Levitz just seems to be treading water here. And that is a shame. There are the usual glimmers of brilliance and some good characterization. But there just hasn't been the sort of engaging storylines in this series to keep me invested.

This issue also is the last issue for artist Francis Portela and that is also a blow for the book. Portela's art has been brilliant. 

We'll have one more issue with Levitz and then it is onto Keith Giffen's insane ending run. And then ... well ... we're still waiting.

Onto this book and my old review.

Reboot: Legion of Super-Heroes #97

Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #97 (October 1997)
title: "Dwarfing the Infinite"

writers: Tom Peyer and Tom McCraw

penciller: Lee Moder

inker: Rob Boyd
lettering: Pat Brosseau
colorist: Tom McCraw

assistant editor: Frank Berrios (Para-Demon)
editor: KC Carlson (Highfather)

cover: Alan Davis
reviewers: Siskoid & Shotgun

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

Guests: 
Koko, Metron, Phase, Shvaughn Erin, Taptree, Tiffany Cross; cameos for Atom II, Flash III, Martian Manhunter, Mary Marvel, Prysm, Steel II

Opponents: 
Mantis, Parademons

Who's Who: Eyeful Ethel

Eyeful Ethel
by Russell & Siskoid

Real Name: Ethel Lyn Niwtyn

Super-Power(s): 360-degree vision
Planet of Origin: Earth

Relationship to Legion: Villain

TOS: Adventure Comics #325 Group Review

Adventure Comics #325 (Oct 1964)
title: "Lex Luthor Meets the Legion of Super-Heroes!"

writer: Jerry Siegel
penciller: John Forte

editor: Mort Weisinger

cover: Curt Swan & George Klein

reviewers: Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage, Tim "Kord Kid" Wallace, and Jude "Sarcastic Kid" Deluca

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

Opponents: 
Lex Luthor

Happy New Year 2018!

Happy New Year Legion fans!
With the passing of another year, we wanted to take a moment and thank all of you for continuing to join us in celebrating the Legion. This is a special time for the team as they first appeared in Adventure Comics #247, which went on sale February 27, 1958. This means of course that the Legion is just about to hit its 60th anniversary.