Reboot: Legion of Super-Heroes #109

Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #109 (October 1998)
title: "Wish Fulfillment"

guest writer: KC Carlson

guest penciller: Lee Moder

guest inker: Dan Davis

lettering: Pat Brosseau
colorist: Tom McCraw

assistant editor: Frank Berrios
editor: Mike McAvennie

cover: Alan Davis and Mark Farmer

reviewers: Siskoid & Shotgun

Mission Monitor Board:  
Kinetix, Star Boy, Violet; flashback: Brainiac 5, Triad, Ultra Boy, XS; as statues: Kid Quantum 1, Leviathan

Guests: 
Chuck Taine, Dreamer, Metropolis Special Crimes Unit; Superman (statue)

Opponents: 
Emerald Eye of Ekron, Molecule Master

Recap: 
Some time ago, Violet was possessed by the Emerald Eye of Ekron...

Synopsis: 
With everything that's been happening, only Star Boy, Kinetix and Violet are left at Legion HQ. They fight the Molecule Master who is trying to destroy the Superman memorial around the corner, but he disappears before the Special Crimes Unit can take him into custody.

While Star Boy shirks monitor duty to gallivant with Dreamer, Violet is worried about Kinetix since she came back from the Fires of Creation. Then she sees her friend in the thrall of the Emerald Eye and fights the entity for control. During the battle of wills that ensues, the Eye turns Kinetix into a statue and destroys it and tries to take control of Vi, but she fights it off, eventually imprisoning it in a mirrored ball.

She wakes up. It was a dream. Everything's fine. More than fine. Violet knows that she could beat the Eye if it ever did return. She feels a new confidence. She even asks Chuck Taine out on a date. Sorry Triad.

Commentary: 
Shotgun
I feel like this short story is bringing us back to the past just for the sake of it. The Emerald Eye storyline has been over for so long now, I had forgotten about it and it was fine that way. Sure, explore Vi’s insecurities and link it to this episode in her life, that makes sense. I’m all for introspection, trying to better yourself and move forward, leaving your trauma behind. But to bring the character back and have them fight for a whole comic, it felt a bit too much. All along, while the focus was on Violet, I wanted it to be on Zoe. How is it viable to have a member of the team in her state? I’d much rather see the team bringing her back from her stupor state than something I’ve already had enough of! 

My main problem with this issue is the following: I’ve been told over and over again, to the point where I’m the one now telling others, never to end a story with a “this was all a dream…..!!!” twist. I’ve learned to hate this with a passion. If they were to bring back the Eye for a WHOLE issue, then I wanted Vi to have actually vanquished it once and for all. I wanted her to have gone through this fight and come out stronger and fiercer than ever. Not question whether what happened was a dream or if it will have lasting impact on her. It better have, though! If not, that was a total waste of time and paper.

Maybe the reason why the Eye came back and vanished while shrinking is linked to the villain our three heroes were fighting at the beginning. A bad guy who preys on his opponents’ insecurities and project them, who knows? I guess that would redeem this story a little.

Siskoid
Can't help you there, SG. That was clearly Molecule Master, an old villain who was part of how Wildfire joined the team, an android with molecular powers. He appears, doesn't say a word, then disappears, and never shows up again. What?! With the anachronistic appearance of the Metropolis S.C.U. at the back end of it, it's like the WHOLE THING is a dream. I guess that, and an irrelevant one-off might happen when you employ a guest writer, but it's not a guest editorial team, is it?!

So I agree with you that the Emerald Eye is a thing of the past and that this story should have been told at least a year previous. Vi has been a strong character for a while now, and I don't need an issue to tell me that. It's been obvious. Maybe an echo of the Eye is still in her mind, and that's the battle of wills we were witness to, but even so, it comes too late for me to care. But what do you think of her as a match for Chuck instead of one of the Triads? Or will that be ignored like the mystery of Molecule Master?

Science Police Notes:  

• All-inclusive Legion numbering: 1998/20.
• Molecule Master makes his first and only Reboot appearance, though unnamed. He first appeared in Superboy (v1) #201.
• Oddly, the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit appears in 30th-Century Metropolis instead of the Science Police.
• The statue of Superman that used to be his tomb still stands in 30th-Century Metropolis.