Fridays with Anj - The Next Step: Adventure Comics

I have reviewed 5YL.

I have reviewed the Threeboot.

I have reviewed the late 300s Levitz/Giffen books.

I have reviewed the New 52 Legion of Super-Heroes and Legion Lost.

I have reviewed Legion Secret Origin.

I even reviewed Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds.

And then I took a break.

You had to deal with me showing you my signed books and discussing some creator interactions.

Well the reviewing bug has bitten me again.

The Legion had a backup feature in the rebooted Adventure Comic book from 2009. I read these books when they came out. I remember them looking a lot at the Legion Academy. But I don't remember the specifics.

So this will be a good look back for me. And it'll let me get back to what I think is my strength, reviewing issues.

So settle in. I'll be back.

I might take a break in the summer to discuss convention prep and plans. But for the most part, I'll be looking at this run for the next several months.

Reboot: Legion of Super-Heroes #125

Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #125 (March 2000)
title: "Extinction Event"

writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning

penciller: Angel Unzueta
inker: Jaime Mendoza
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, Element Lad, ERG-1, Ferro, Gates, Invisible Kid, Karate Kid, Kid Quantum II, Kinetix, Live Wire, M'Onel, Monstress, Saturn Girl, Sensor, Spark, Triad, Ultra Boy, Umbra, Violet, XS

Guests: 
Amber, Chuck Taine, Dune, Lori Morning (Dialed Hero: Helios), Magno, Repulse

Opponents: 
None (the rift)

Who's Who: Science Police - Roon Dvron

Dvron
by Russell & Siskoid

Real Name: Roon Dvron

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

Relationship to Legion: Friend to a number of Legionnaires

TOS: Action Comics #384

Action Comics #384 (January 1970)
title: "Lament For A Legionnaire!"
writer and layouts: Jim Shooter
penciller: Curt Swan
letterer: Jack Abel
editor: Mort Weisinger
reviewer: Russell "Bilingual boy" Burbage

Mission Monitor Board: 
Dream Girl, Mon-El, Karate Kid, Element Lad, Princess Projectra, Shadow Lass, Superboy, Ultra Boy

Guest-Star:
Mon-El's descendant, Eltro Gand

Opponents:
Hubris

Legion of Superheroes S02 E10: Trials

"Trials"was directed by James Tucker and written by Steven Melching.

Original Airdate: March 15, 2008.
Review by Mike "Nostalgic Kid" Lane

Mission Monitor Board: Bouncing Boy, Phantom Girl, Starboy, Superman, Superman X, Timber Wolf, and White Witch.

Opponents: Mordru. And possibly Zyx? We will have to see.

Jose Luis Garcia Lopez Autograph

Welcome to the last of my Legion Autograph posts.

I feel both elated and a little upset with myself about this signature story.

One of my comic book gods is Jose Luis Garcia Lopez. We in the comic internet don't say 'Praised be his name' when we talk about him for nothing.

His work spans comics and companies. But his work on anything Legion of Super-Heroes is almost non-existent.

Garcia-Lopez was a guest at Boston Comic Con a few years ago and I brought him Legion of Super-Heroes #55 , I believe his only Legion work, to get signed.

The issue is a classic 'catch up' issue by Paul Levitz. We get four separate brief stories catching us up on some of the Legionnaires personal lives. Garcia-Lopez drew the Dream Girl story. So I had him sign on her 'square of the cover'.

I have to admit, I talked almost exclusively about Superman during my brief time at his table. (The rest of the talk was gushing over his work on Howard Chaykin's Twilight'.) So I didn't take advantage of the opportunity to talk Legion with him.

Reboot: Legionnaires #81

Legionnaires #81 (March 2000)
title: "Even Horizon"

writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning

penciller: Adam DeKraker
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, Element Lad, Ferro, Gates, Invisible Kid, Karate Kid, Kid Quantum II, Kinetix, Live Wire, M'Onel, Monstress, Saturn Girl, Sensor, Spark, Star Boy, Thunder, Triad, Ultra Boy, Umbra, Violet, XS

Guests: 
Amber, Atmos, Chuck Taine, Dreamer, Dune, ERG-1, Insect Queen, Lori Morning (Dialed Hero: Helios), Magno, Marla Latham, Meta, Phrenologax, Repulse, RJ Brande, Wimena Wazzo; UP Ambassadors

Opponents: 
Leland McCauley

Who's Who: Science Police - Gigi Cusimano

Gigi Cusimano
by Russell & Siskoid

Real Name: Gigi Cusimano

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

Relationship to Legion: Science Police liaison

TOS: Action Comics #383

Action Comics #383 (Dec 1969)
title: "Chameleon Boy's Secret Identity!"
writer: E. Nelson Bridwell
penciller: Win Mortimer
inker: Jack Abel
letterer: Ben Oda
editor: Mort Weisinger
reviewer:  Mike "Nostalgic Kid" Lane

Mission Monitor Board: Chameleon Boy, Karate Kid, and Princess Projectra.


 

Karate Kid #9

Karate Kid #9 
"The Black Belt Contract!"
script by David Michelinie writing as Barry Jameson
art by Ric Estrada and Joe Staton
edited by Denny O'Neil
cover by Al Milgrom
cover date: August 1977
review by Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage
dedicated affectionately to Glenn "Continuity Kid" Walker

In typical mid-Seventies fashion, we start this story on the docks, after dark, with two shadowy characters in trench coats, one an Angry Black Man and the other a debonair White man, discussing underworld activity. An episode of SHAFT? Perhaps it's BARNABY JONES (a Quinn Martin production)? No, it's the newest issue of Karate Kid. 

More Keith Giffen Autographs

 Last week I talked about meeting Keith Giffen and bringing him some 5YL books to get signed.

As I have said, one of the new things I need to calculate when I attend cons is the cost of autographs. With more and more creators charging for their autograph, I need to decide how much money I want to spend on signatures and therefore how to rank issues.

For Giffen, as a lifelong fan, I had in my mind 10 signatures or $50 maximum. If Giffen was charging $10 a sig, I would only get 5 books signed.

Incredibly, Giffen wasn't charging. In fact, at Terrificon that year, only a couple of creators were charging. Most had a Heroes Initiative charity jar on their table instead. I definitely threw a lot of money into those jars that weekend.

Meanwhile, with Giffen signing whatever you brought to him and with (shockingly) never a long line at his table, I was able to bring books to him each day. And with the 5YL books signed, I dove into the earlier years.

So now, with that out of the way, the question I ask you is which issues would you bring from your collection to be signed.

I think most would bring some (if not all) of the Great Darkness Saga. Let's face it, that story sort of out Levitz/Giffen on the map. And it still holds up today. I opted to bring the first and last issue, #290 and #294. My guess is Giffen has signed a ton of these.

Reboot: Legion of Super-Heroes #124

Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #124 (February 2000)
title: "Childhood's End"

writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning

penciller: Angel Unzueta
inker: Jaime Mendoza
lettering: Comicraft
colorist: Tom McCraw

editor: Mike McAvennie

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

Mission Monitor Board:  
Brainiac 5.1, Cosmic Boy, Element Lad, Invisible Kid, Live Wire, M'Onel, Saturn Girl, Star Boy, Thunder, Triad, Umbra, Violet

Guests: 
Chuck Taine, Dreamer, Lori Morning, Magno, Marla Latham, Proty, R.J. Brande, Wimena Wazzo; medical personnel, refugees, U.P. ambassadors, adult Workforce (unseen)

Opponents: 
Amelia Crugg, The Blight (flashback), Leland McCauley; McCauley employees

Who's Who: Science Police

 

Science Police
by Russell & Siskoid

Known members: Commander Loring, Chief (Commander) Wilson, Chief Zoltorus, Chief Ianos, Chief Zendak, Officer Dvron, Captain Maltor, Officer Smyt, Commander Hagbard, Officer Shvaughn, Officer Cusimano, Officer Quav, Officer Ishikindru, Officer Skden, Officer Shadder, Officer Omar Magz, Officer Dyrk Magz, innumerable unnamed officers 

Relationship to Legion: Allies

TOS: Action Comics #382

Action Comics #382 (Nov 1969)
title: "Kill A Friend To Save A World!"
writer and layouts: Jim Shooter
penciller: Win Mortimer
inker: Jack Abel
letterer: Milt Snapinn
editor: Mort Weisinger
reviewer:  Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage

Mission Monitor Board: 
Ultra Boy, Karate Kid, Shrinking Violet, Light Lass, Timber Wolf; cameos by Superboy and Mon-El

Opponents:
Cosvarr and Zorla

The Write Stuff: Back to the Future Pt 2

BACK ISSUE! 22 (Jun 2007)

Following on from the article in BACK ISSUE! 15 which featured both Dave Cockrum and Mike Grell, this issue turns the spotlight on scribe Paul Levitz and artist/writer Keith Giffen.

    At the time of the joint interview, Paul was president and publisher at DC Comics, while Keith was handling Countdown for DC and Starlord for Marvel.

    Paul's love for the Legion is well-known, as is evidenced by his three separate tenures as the writer of a title which he acknowledges would be “a pain in the ass” unless you really loved it.

    “You'd literally have to write the Legion with a scorecard and notes. If you didn't know them and love them, it was a lot of hard work,” he said.

    Keith was more direct. “If you didn't care for these characters, it would be agony,” he said.

   

Keith Giffen Autographs

Keith Giffen was a guest at Terrificon a couple of years ago and I knew that I was going to have to meet him and thank him for his impact on my comic life. Given his work on multiple eras of the Legion, there is no doubt that he is one of the most impactful creators in my comic fandom. Toss in JLA, the Doom Patrol, the Heckler, etc, his work is all over my collection.

But one of the things I wanted these autograph posts to be about is the hard decision of what comics to get signed. And had Giffen been charging for signatures, which comics would make the cut. (Luckily, Giffen wasn't charging at all so I was able to double dip on the second day of the con.)

I brought a smattering of his early '80s Legion (see next week's post) given that run is still considered by many as the high water mark for the team.

But let's face it, I am a 5YL guy. And I wanted to thank him for 5YL. And I wanted to get his signature on key 5YL issues. So if that was the goal, what issues would you bring?

It is easy to pick Legion of Super-Heroes #1.

And I thanked him for the run as I put this issue in front of him. As I have said here, I feel my reviews of the early 5YL issues on this site are my own personal high water mark of blogging/social media.

On to the other books.

Reboot: Legionnaires #80

Legionnaires #80 (February 2000)
title: "Legion of the Damned Part Four: Damned for All Eternity!"

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, Element Lad, Ferro, Gates, Invisible Kid, Kid Quantum II, Kinetix, Live Wire, M'Onel, Monstress, Saturn Girl, Sensor, Spark, Star Boy, Thunder, Triad, Ultra Boy, Umbra, Violet, XS

Guests: 
The Doda, Magno, Shvaughn Erin

Opponents: 
Atrophos, The Blight

Who's Who: Sadaharu

Sadaharu
by Russell & Siskoid

Real Name: Unon Sadaharu

Super-Power(s): Martial arts
Planet of Origin: Earth

Relationship to Legion: Villain

TOS: Action Comics #381

Action Comics #381 (Oct 1969)
title: "The Hapless Hero!"
writer and layouts: Jim Shooter
penciller: Win Mortimer
inker: Jack Abel
letterer: Milt Snappin
editor: Mort Weisinger
reviewers: Mike "Nostalgic Kid" Lane

Mission Monitor Board:
Matter-Eater Lad, Shrinking Violet; cameo appearances by Brainiac 5, Chemical King, Karate Kid, Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, Princess Projectra, and Saturn Girl

Opponent:
Duplicate Boy

LEGION TOYS: Star Boy (DC Direct 2003)

Alone...
He wants to be alone so he can process this
To a point of understandingness
Starboy! That’s who he is that’s not who he ain’t
Starboy! He knows it now and now it's the truth...
The Captain of Outer Space that is his brother, Uh-huh!
The Captain of Outer Space he knows it’s true, Uh-huh!
Alone...
He wants to be Alone... 

Colleen Doran Autographs

After a week off, I am back with another post of my meeting great Legion creators. Today I talk about my brief interaction with Colleen Doran.

It was many years ago in Boston. And I was still in the mode of being a little nervous around creators and trying to be brief in my interactions. Nowadays, assuming no line of people behind me, I try to talk to creators a bit more.

I saw that Doran was a guest. I knew she loved the Legion and Element Lad. And I knew that I had books to get signed by her. I also knew I would love to talk Legion stuff with her.

But remember I wasn't in that mode back then. So instead I just thanked her for coming and put the books down. The cool thing is that Doran saw they were mostly Legion books and seemed happy to see them. She asked if I was a Legion fan and I said I was a lifelong fanatic.

She signed all my books 'To Andrew, Long Live the Legion, Colleen Doran'.

Here is Legion of Super-Heroes #27 .This book was one of those rest issues in the Baxter run. 4 short stories were in this issue drawn by Greg LaRocque and Mike DeCarlo, Gene Colan, Shawn McManus, and Colleen Doran. Doran's story was appropriately Element Lad bringing Schvaughn Erin to Trom.

(You may notice Mike DeCarlo's signature on the cover as well.)

Reboot: Legion of Super-Heroes #123

Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #123 (January 2000)
title: "Legion of the Damned, Part Three: Damned If We Don't!"

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, M'Onel, Monstress, Saturn Girl, XS

Guests: 
The Doda (flashback)

Opponents: 
Atrophos, The Blight, Blighted heroes (Atmos, Elemental Lad, Ferro, Kid Quantum II, Kinetix, Particon, Radion, Spark, Star Boy, Thunder, Ultra Boy, Umbra), Entropy (flashback)

Who's Who: Rond Vidar

Rond Vidar
by Russell & Siskoid

Real Name: Rond Vidar

Super-Power(s): Possessor of Green Lantern power ring
Planet of Origin: Earth

Relationship to Legion: Ally