TOS: Action Comics #380

Action Comics #380 (Sept 1969)
title: "Half A Legionnaire?"
writer and layouts: Jim Shooter
penciller: Win Mortimer
inker: Jack Abel
letterer: Milt Snappin
editor: Mort Weisinger
reviewers: Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage and Mike "Nostalgic Kid" Lane

Mission Monitor Board: 
Duo Damsel, Bouncing Boy, Mon-El

Opponent:
Nam Lor?

Justice League vs. The Fatal Five

"Justice League vs. The Fatal Five" was directed by Sam Liu and written by Alan Burnett, Eric Carrasco, and James Krieg.

Review by: Mike "Nostalgic Kid" Lane

Spoiler Warning: This post contains significant spoilers! Of course, spoilers are usually present in most of our posts but we are usually discussing old comic books and not newly released films. Under the circumstances, I felt an extra warning is warranted.

The Heroes: Elyes Gabel (Starboy), Diane Guerrero (Green Lantern Jessica Cruz), Kevin Conroy (Batman), Susan Eisenberg (Wonder Woman), George Newborn (Superman), Daniella Bobadilla (Miss Martian), Kevin Michael Richardson (Mr. Terrific/also Kilowog), Tara Strong (Saturn Girl/also Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy), and Noel Fisher (Brainiac 5).

The Villains: Peter Jessop (Tharok), Matthew Yang King (The Persuader), Sumalee Montano (Emerald Empress), Phillip Anthony-Rodriguez (Mano), Bruce Time (Validus/also Two Face), and Tom Kenny (Bloodsport/also Salaak).

LEGION TOYS: Timber Wolf (DC Direct 2004)

If he's not saving circus-goers from stampeding Camelephants, he's off pummeling Lightning Lord for the honor of his gal, Light Lass!  It's Brin Londo a.k.a Timber Wolf, back when he still cleaned up really well in his classic Silver Age costume! Kind of like Mon-El, I remember being introduced to this character when he got his own mini-series in the early 90's that sprung out of the Quiet Darkness Saga.

Reboot: Legionnaires #79

Legionnaires #79 (January 2000)
title: "Legion of the Damned Part Two: Damned If We Do!"

writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning

penciller: Olivier Coipel
inker: Andy Lanning
lettering: Comicraft
colorist: Tom McCraw

editor: Mike McAvennie

cover: Olivier Coipel & Andy Lanning
reviewers: Siskoid & Shotgun

Mission Monitor Board:  
Apparition, Brainiac 5.1, Chameleon, Cosmic Boy, Ferro, Invisible Kid, Kid Quantum II, M'Onel, Monstress, Saturn Girl, Triad, XS

Guests: 
Phrenologax, Shvaughn Erin

Opponents: 
The Blight; blighted heroes: Element Lad, Evolvo, Kinetix, Lori Morning, Spark, Spider Girl, Star Boy, Ultra Boy, Umbra, Violet

Who's Who: Resource Raiders

Resource Raiders
by Russell & Siskoid

Real Name: Name of of the group; no individuals ever specifically named

Super-Power(s): More than human strength, speed, and cunning
Planet of Origin: Undisclosed

Relationship to Legion: Adversarial

TOS: Action Comics #379

Action Comics #379 (Aug 1969)
title: "One Of Us Is An Impostor!"
writer: E. Nelson Bridwell
penciller: Win Mortimer
inker: Murphy Anderson
letterer: Milton Snapinn
editor: Mort Weisinger
reviewer: Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage

Mission Monitor Board: 
Dream Girl, Element Lad, Lightning Lad, Mon-El, Shadow Lass

Opponent:
Sunburst, impostor Legionnaire who may or may not have been Uli Algor

Karate Kid #8

Karate Kid #8 
"Pandemonium....Panic.....and Pulsar!"
script by David Michelinie writing as Barry Jameson
art by Ric Estrada and Joe Staton
color by Liz Berube
edited by Denny O'Neil
cover by Mike Grell
cover date: June 1977
review by Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage
dedicated affectionately to Glenn "Continuity Kid" Walker

I never went to any, but I hear that those live stadium shows in the late Seventies were just fab.
Here we have Karate Kid and Pulsar fighting on stage as Police Commissioner Banner tries to keep out of the way and three DC Comic staff members frantically take notes. Groovy, baby. Mike Grell back on double-duty pencils & inks clearly enjoys what he is doing. Looks like this is going to be another all-out action issue in the mighty Marvel DC manner!

Mike Grell Autographs and More!

 Back in 2015 I was pretty pumped to learn that Mike Grell was going to be at the Rhode Island Comic Con.

Many know that I consider the Mike Grell Legion books as my first comics ever and hold Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #211 as my first comic. Grell holds a special place in my fandom for that reason. And that was going to be my first time having the opportunity to meet him.

As a sort of lifelong fan of Grell's I knew I would have a bunch of comics to bring to him to sign, Legion and otherwise. I also knew that most of my Grell Legion books are well-read and well-loved. So trying to decide which books to bring for autographs was a little tricky.

One book I knew I would definitely be bringing was Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #204. That has the infamous 'Brainy builds a Supergirl fembot' story that put a pause on the Supergirl/Brainy romance for about a decade! For any Supergirl fan, this is a can't miss.

Grell was one of the bigger names at the con so I didn't have much time to chat with him. Interestingly enough, almost all the people in line with me were there to get Green Arrow and Jon Sable things signed. I seemed to be the only Legion fan there!

Reboot: Legion of Super-Heroes #122

Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #122 (December 1999)
title: "Legion of the Damned, Part One"

writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning

penciller: Olivier Coipel
inker: Andy Lanning
lettering: Comicraft
colorist: Tom McCraw

editor: Mike McAvennie

cover: Olivier Coipel & Andy Lanning
reviewers: Siskoid & Shotgun

Mission Monitor Board:  
Apparition, Brainiac 5.1, Chameleon, Cosmic Boy, Invisible Kid (mentioned), Live Wire, Monstress, Sensor (mentioned), XS

Guests: 
R.J. Brande (voice only), Shvaughn Erin; refugees

Opponents: 
The Blight, Blighted Legionnaires (Karate Kid, Kinetix, Star Boy, Ultra Boy, Umbra)

Who's Who: Rainbow Girl

Rainbow Girl
by Russell & Siskoid

Real Name: Dori Aandraison

Super-Power(s): Irresistible pheromonic field
Planet of Origin: Xolnar

Relationship to Legion: Rejected applicant, later member of Legion of Substitute-Heroes

TOS: Action Comics #378

Action Comics #378 (July 1969)
title: "The Forbidden Fruit!"
writer and layouts: Jim Shooter
artist: Win Mortimer
letterer: Mike Esposito
editor: Mort Weisinger
reviewer: Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage and Mike "Nostalgic Kid" Lane

Mission Monitor Board: 
Timber Wolf, Light Lass; cameo by Lightning Lad

Opponent:
an unnamed extortionist and drug dealer

Legion Homages: The League of Superteens

In my ongoing attempt to explore and analyze the various Legion homages, pastiches, and parodies, I'll be discussing one team that's held an important place in my heart for nearly a decade.

Unfortunately, part of what frustrates me about this particular Legion-based group and part of what makes me love them so much is how there is literally no other information about them beyond a single monitor board. So, realizing there was nothing else I could find out about them, I decided to flesh out this group myself in my own fan fiction and commissions.

Hopefully some day I might be able to do this group justice in an official capacity for DC; until then please enjoy my talk about Milestone Media's League of Superteens.

The closest we may ever get to a Milestone Legion.

Mark Waid and Barry Kitson Autographs (and more)!

I'm continuing my look at Legion issues I have been lucky enough to get autographed.

I have a soft spot in my heart for the Threeboot Legion, specifically the Mark Waid/Barry Kitson section of that run. I liked it enough to review the run here on the site, including the ending bit by Jim Shooter and Francis Manapul.

Whether it was the youthful energy of this counterculture team, the amazing art by Barry Kitson, or the later inclusion of Supergirl, I think I like this version of the team more than most.

Reboot: Legionnaires #78

Legionnaires #78 (December 1999)
title: "Emissary"

writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning

penciller: Jeffrey Moy and Olivier Coipel
inker: W.C. Carani and Andy Lanning
lettering: Pat Brosseau & Comicraft
colorist: Tom McCraw

editor: Mike McAvennie

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

Mission Monitor Board:  
Apparition, Brainiac 5.1, Cosmic Boy, Live Wire, Monstress, Saturn Girl, Ultra Boy, XS

Guests: 
Hesperides captain and crew

Opponents: 
Ares series robots, The Blight (behind the scenes), Robotican Emissary

Who's Who: R.J. Brande

René Jacques "RJ" Brande
by Russell & Siskoid

Real Name: Ren Daggle

Super-Power(s): None (former: shape-shifting)
Planet of Origin: Durla

Relationship to Legion: Financier, ally, and secretly, a Legionnaire's father

The End of the ADVENTURE....

The Legion of Super-Heroes moved into Adventure Comics with issue #300 (Sept 1962). The Legion moved OUT of Adventure Comics after issue #380 (May 1969).

These 81 issues (plus a few odd Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, and Superboy issues) constitute the foundation of the Legion of Super-Heroes' "world." Although the majority of Silver Age Legionnaires made their debut appearances prior to this Adventure Comics run, all of the classic Legion friends, villains, and supporting characters DID first appear in one or more of these 81 stories. The Legion of Substitute Heroes? Check. (Adventure #304.)  The Time Trapper? Check. (Adventure Comics #317). Mordru? Check. (Adventure #369). Rond Vidar and his proud papa, Universo? Check and check. (Adventure #349).

Prior to Adventure #300 the Legion had no particular home; they bounced around as supporting characters in Superman, Superboy, and Supergirl features. After Adventure #380 they moved to the back-up spot in Action Comics, where they stayed for approximately one year. They were then homeless again until they moved over as one of the rotating back-up spots in Superboy from #172. I think we all know how *that* move turned out...

Today we here at the Legion of Super-Bloggers would like to take a moment to salute these pivotal issues of Adventure Comics before we move on to the Action Comic series. To tell you the truth, without them, we don't think we would be here today.

Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century #11

Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century #11 (April 2008)
title: Mars
writer: J. Torres
penciller: Alexander Serra
inker: Rick Ketchum
letterer: Sol Cirpiano
colorist: Heroic Age
editor: Jeanine Shaefer
cover art: Alexandra Serra

Villians: The Hyperclan 

Mission Monitor Board: Blok, Brainiac 5, Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, Superman, Timber Wolf, and Triplicate Girl. 

Greg Larocque Autographs (and more!)

It was many moons ago and I was heading to my first big convention in Baltimore. This was many years before the Boston Comic Con was even created.

And despite my advanced age even then, I considered myself a sort of convention newbie. I had little idea about autographs and commissions etiquette. And it didn't help that I had to fly down to Baltimore. I mean how many comic books do you want to pack to bring to a convention? Those things are heavy.

Anyways, I saw Greg LaRocque was going to be there and I knew I had to get books signed by him. I was very strict with my book counts then so I decided to only bring a handful of books per creator at that show.

Reboot: Legends of the DC Universe 80-Page Giant #2

Legends of the DC Universe 80-Page Giant #2 (January 2000)
title: "Bedtime Story"

writer: Paul Levitz

penciller: Stuart Immonen

inker: George Freeman
lettering: Bill Oakley
colorist: Tom McCraw

advice: Mike McAvennie
editor: Mike Carlin

reviewers: Siskoid & Shotgun

Mission Monitor Board:  
Brainiac 5, Cosmic Boy, Live Wire, Saturn Girl, Spark, Violet, XS

Guests: 
Dawn Allen, Dayla Ranzz, Jeven Ognats, Lady Mysa, Ma and Pa Kent (flashback), Pol Krinn, Superman (flashback); two unnamed archaeologists, Coluan children

Opponents: 
Granny Goodness, Lightning Lord; Hunger Dogs

Who's Who: Quicksand

Quicksand
by Russell & Siskoid

Real Name: Anjelika Dugensa

Super-Power(s): Transforms solids into liquids and vice-versa
Planet of Origin: Earth

Relationship to Legion: Villain

TOS: Adventure Comics By The Numbers

As the Legion of Super-Heroes series in Adventure Comics comes to a close, please join us as we take one cold, calculating look at the series as a whole in a way that would make Brainaic 5 proud....

LEGION TOYS: Colossal Boy (DC Direct 2004)

Okay, so now we're back to covering Legionaires that we've already covered. The DC Direct action figure has the Silver Age Jim Mooney designed costume for Gim Allon a.k.a. Colossal Boy. Like Mordru this is another figure you can have lots of "scale-fun" with, so come on in and check it out!