Action Comics #863

Action Comics #863
Title: Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes Part 6 of 6 - Sun Rise
Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciller: Gary Frank
Inker: Jon Sibal
Colorist: Dave McCaig
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Editors: Nachie Castro and Matt Idelson
Executive Editor: Gary Frank
Reviewer: Jude Deluca a.k.a. Sarcasm Kid

PREVIOUSLY: With the universe on the brink of war and the Legion scrambling to stop the Justice League of Earth, the Legion of Substitute Heroes are finally called into action as the Legion's wild card. While the Subs invade the JLE's satellite looking to avenge their fallen comrades, Superman and the Legionnaires finally discover most of their missing team-mates held in Earth-Man's stasis chambers. Brainiac 5 tries to free Sun Boy, but Earth-Man gets the drop on Colossal Boy and Superman. It finally comes down to Superman and Earth-Man for the fate of the Legion, the Earth, the universe, and the 31st Century.

And so we finally reach the end of this arc. We finally get the big showdown between Superman and the wannabe Nazi who has usurped his symbol for a petty grudge against the Legionnaires.

Action Comics #862

Action Comics #862
Title: Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes Part 5 of 6 - Revenge of the Rejects
Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciller: Gary Frank
Inker: Jon Sibal
Colorist: Dave McCaig
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Editors: Nachie Castro and Matt Idelson
Executive Editor: Gary Frank
Reviewer: Jude Deluca a.k.a. Sarcasm Kid

PREVIOUSLY: The Legionnaires discovered that Brainiac 5 assumed the role of Colu's leader to stall the United Planets from launching a full scale war on Earth. We get a look into each of the individual members of the Justice League of Earth and also discover Colossal Boy's wife, Yera Allon, has become an official Legionnaire as Chameleon Girl. Unfortunately, Superman and the other Legionnaires fled Colu when Brainy gets outed as a traitor. The universe is inching ever closer to war! 

We've finally come to my favorite part of this story arc (aside from #864's epilogue story), where for once I have more to applaud on Johns instead of deriding him.

As you can see from the cover, this issue features the official reappearance of the Legion of Substitute-Heroes, who've been largely missing since a couple of cameos in the Reboot Legion's era. But most surprising of all is Johns expands the roster by including a Legion Reject who has never before been associated with the Subs, and she happens to be one of my absolute favorites of the old school Legion applicants.

Action Comics #861

Action Comics #861
Title: Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes Part 4 of 6 - Chameleons

Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciller: Gary Frank
Inker: Jon Sibal
Colorist: Dave McCaig
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Editors: Nachie Castro and Matt Idelson
Executive Editor: Dan Didio
Reviewer: Jude Deluca aka Sarcasm Kid

PREVIOUSLY: The Legionnaires rescued Polar Boy and discovered Brainiac 5 is on his home planet of Colu. Superman meets up with several Legionnaires underneath Metropolis, then are ambushed by the Justice League of Earth. Forced to retreat, Superman, Dawnstar, Wildfire, Colossal Boy, and Polar Boy crash-land on Colu, where they discover Brainiac 5 is now in total control and plans to have them terminated!

There isn’t a lot of action in this issue (despite the title), as we mainly learn about what Brainy has been going through on his home planet. Secrets and motivations of the individual Justice Leaguers are brought to light. We also learn there’s another Silver Age Legion Reject within the League’s ranks, and the status of two more Legionnaires gets revealed in the process.

The issue does have a number of references to "The Lightning Saga," the story that ran in Justice League of America and Justice Society of America establishing this Legion's return. For those who don't recall, a group of seven Legionnaires (Star Boy, Karate Kid, Dream Girl, Wildfire, Timber Wolf, Dawnstar, and Sensor Girl) were sent to 21st Century Earth to invoke an experiment involving lightning rods similar to the ones used to revive Lightning Lad. We never found out what the Legionnaires were specifically trying to do, but as a side effect they inadvertently brought Wally West and his family back to the main DCU. At the end of the story, Star Boy and Karate Kid did not return to the future. 

Action Comics #860

Action Comics #860
Title: Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes Part 3 - Lightning and Shadows
Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciller: Gary Frank
Inker: Jon Sibal
Colorist: Dave McCaig
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Editor: Nachie Castro and Matt Idelson
Executive Editor: Dan Didio

Legion Roster: Superman, Dawnstar, Colossal Boy, Wildfire, Polar Boy, Shadow Lass, Night Girl, Lightning Lass, Timber Wolf, Brainiac 5

PREVIOUSLY: Superman learned all about what a xenophobic nightmare Earth has become in the 31st Century thanks to a bunch of Legion rejects crying about reverse racism.

The Legion founders tried to search for Batman's kryptonite ring as proof of Superman's alien origins and were brought down by the Justice League of Earth, just like the Legion Espionage Squad were.

Superman, Dawnstar, Wildfire, and Colossal Boy hope to find Brainiac 5 and another Legionnaires being held captive in an alien internment camp that looks disturbingly similar to the Legion's original headquarters.

In this issue, we find out more about what's happened to the other Legionnaires and how they've dealt with the persecution Earth-Man and the League have spearheaded with their "Neo Nazis of the Future" nonsense. And Geoff Johns does more of what he did in the last issue, which I'll share my thoughts on later.

Legion Cameos: Superman #213

Superman #213 (January 1969)
title: "The Most Dangerous Door in the World!"

writer: Cary Bates

penciller: Curt Swan
inker: Jack Abel

editor: Mort Weisinger

cover: Carmine Infantino & Neal Adams 

guest reviewer: Emsley "Ultra Fan" Wyatt

Guests: 
Supergirl, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, and.....??

Opponents: 
Lex Luthor and his generic henchmen, and....????

Editor's Note: Here is a second installment of what we call "Legion Cameos." These are stories where the Legion or certain Legionnaires play a small but usually significant role in the proceedings. This time out we have Legion of Substitute Blogger Ultra Fan telling us about a certain Superman vs. Lex Luthor story from 1968. Take it away, Emsley...!

First the cover (inks by Neal Adams).  A seemingly dead Superman lies in front of a vault to be opened only “in the event of my death.”  Shut up and take my twelve cents.  I thought that this was a great cover.

But I didn’t care for the title.  Maybe “The Mystery of Superman’s Vault” would have been better.  But unlike Al Capone’s vault, later made famous by Geraldo Rivera and containing only some old bottles, this vault promises a treasure of incalculable value.

Action Comics #859

Action Comics #859 
Title: Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes Part 2 - Illegal Aliens
Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciller: Gary Frank
Inker: Jon Sibal
Colorist: Dave McCaig
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Editors: Nachie Castro and Matt Idelson
Executive Editor: Dan Didio

Legion Roster: Superman, Dawnstar, Wildfire, Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Phantom Girl, Invisible Kid II, Ultra Boy, Shrinking Violet, Blok

PREVIOUSLY: A rampaging Brainiac drone in Metropolis catches Superman's attention, but the drone turns out to be controlled by none other than Brainiac 5. A blast from the robot brings forth long buried memories and Superman recalls his first time meeting the Legion of Super-Heroes when Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad traveled to 20th Century Smallville. It's been a long time since Superman saw the Legion, and now they need his help, because as Superman discovers, someone's messed 31st Century Earth up, starting with the fact that Earth's sun is red and the Legionnaires are fugitives.

I'll be picking up where the previous reviewer left off and attempt to finish recapping "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes." As always there will be my hate/love/hate with Geoff Johns and what he did to the Legionnaires when he brought them back. I look back on how much I loved everything about this story. I can't believe I was so young, so naive, so stupid.

Adult LSV: Action Comics #286

Action Comics #286 (March 1962)
title: The Jury of Super-Enemies
writer: Robert Bernstein
penciller: Curt Swan
inker: George Klein
letterer: Joe Letterese
cover: Sheldon Moldoff
editor: Mort Weisinger
reviewer: Mike "Nostalgic Kid" Lane

Mission Monitor Board
Superman, Supergirl, Honorary Member Jimmy Olsen

Opponents
The Superman Revenge Squad, the descendants of Pete Ross and Lana Lang, Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Electro, and the Legion of Super-Villains (Cosmic King, Lightning Lord, and Saturn Queen)

TOS: Adventure Comics #354

Adventure Comics #354 (March 1967)
title: "The Adult Legion!"
writer and layouts: Jim Shooter
penciller: Curt Swan
inker: George Klein
letterer: Milton Snappin
editor: Mort Weisinger
cover: Curt Swan and George Klein
reviewer: Mike "Nostalgic Kid" Lane

Mission Monitor Board:
Brainiac 5, Cosmic Man, Element Man, Lightning Man, Polar Man, Saturn Woman, Superman, Timber Wolf

Cameos:
Bouncing Boy, Colossal Man, Dream Girl, Duo Damsel, Duplicate Boy, Lightning Lady, Matter Eater Lad, Mon-El, Phantom Woman, Shrinking Violet, Star Boy, Ultra Man (and a host of cameos).

Opponents: Douglas Nolan and the Legion of Super-Villains.

TOS: Action Comics #289 Point-Counterpoint

featuring
The Legion of Super Bloggers Group Review on
Action Comics #289 (June, 1962)
title: "Superman's Super Courtship!"
writer: Jerry Siegel
artist: Jim Mooney
editor: Mort Weisinger

Mission Monitor Board: 
Supergirl, Superman, Phantom Woman, Cosmic Man, Chameleon Man, Duo Damsel, Sun Man, Saturn Woman, Lightning Man

Guests:
Helen of Troy, Super Woman of Staryl, Fred Danvers, Edna Danvers

Opponents:
Cupid?

Synopsis:
Supergirl sees a romantic movie on TV about a man who loses his love because he didn't speak up before she gets married. So Supergirl decides to play Cupid and introduce Superman to "the right girl." Her three candidates are Helen of Troy, Saturn Woman of the Adult Legion, and Superwoman from the planet Staryl.

Action Comics #864 Review/Recap

Action Comics #864 (2008)
Title: Batman and the Legion of Super-Heroes
Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciller: Joe Prado
Inker: Jon Sibal
Colorist: David Curiel
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Editor: Matt Idelson
Assistant Editor: Nachie Castro
Cover Artist: Kevin Maguire
Reviewer: Jude Deluca, a.k.a. Sarcasm Kid

I have what you’d call a love/hate relationship with Geoff Johns’ writing. Well, it’s more hate than love at this point.

Things I love: Stars and STRIPE, the variety in the different Lantern corps, Bette Kane as Batwoman, that he actually tried to do something with Duela Dent, the One Year Gap Titans, Cyclone, Darla Dudley, Rainbow Girl in the Subs, the Legion rejects he brought back, and Action Comics #864.

Things I hate: Um, actually…

I don’t wish to use this as another excuse to rant about my dislike of Geoff Johns in gross detail. I’d prefer to sum it up by saying that over the years the glaringly racist, homophobic, juvenile, patriarchal, and misogynistic elements of his writing took a toll on me around the time “Brightest Day” began and which only grew worse with the birth of the New 52. I started to hate seeing his name associated with any projects for DC, especially those concerning the Titans, the Legion, and Wonder Woman, and I would rest better knowing he had no further involvement at DC.

That said, Action Comics #864 still holds a very important place within my heart and remains one of my favorite comics for a number of reasons I’ll divulge in this review/recap.

Legion of Super-Heroes (v2) #300

Legion of Super-Heroes (v2) #300 (June 1983)
title: "The Future Is Forever"

writer/co-plotter: Paul Levitz

penciller/co-plotter: Keith Giffen (framing sequence)
inker: Larry Mahlstedt (framing sequence) 

letterer: John Costanza
colorist: Carl Gafford

editor: Karen Berger
cover: see Tuesday's post for the list of cover artists

Mission Monitor Board:  
"All 24 active Legionnaires, plus a host of former Legionnaires, Honorary Legionnaires, Substitute Legionnaires, Guest Stars, and More!"

Editor's Note: 
Presenting the review of the fabulous 300th issue of Legion of Super-Heroes, with a special celebration-length 55 page story review featuring most members of the Legion of Super-Bloggers! 
Take it away, guys!

Couples Legion Style

The earliest Legion stories I read as a child were reprints of earlier tales in Adventure Comics. The title at the time was featuring Supergirl, and Legion reprints were common. Two stories that left an impression on me were "The Revolt of the Girl Legionnaires" originally from Adventure #326 and "The Weddings That Wrecked the Legion" from Adventure #337.

These two stories made my preschool mind aware of two things. First: how progressive the future was in that men and women, even as teenagers, were all equal – as opposed to the present day where most super-teams only had one female, like Sue in the Fantastic Four and Wanda in the Avengers. Secondly I was made aware that most of the female Legionnaires were paired off with male Legionnaires. Straight in the Silver Age, but the Legion was ahead of its time gender-wise in the years to come. So it's true, the Legion taught me equality, and sexuality, before I even hit kindergarten.

So for the day before Valentines' Day, let's take a look at couples, Legion style!

The Puzzle of the Postponed Plotlines

Loose lips sink ships … and loose plot threads can annoy the sprock out of loyal Legion fans. Over the decades, while there's certainly been many a classic Legion adventure, there have been just as many frustrating unresolved storylines, as the Legion meandered from one reboot to another.

Whether they were intentional, caused by a change in writer, poor editing, or cancellation of the book, or perhaps they were simply a forgotten sub-plot, the unsatisfactory resolutions definitely reduce the overall enjoyment of the respective story arcs.

Let's have a look at some of the chapters in the Legion's history where gaps are waiting to be filled:

Who's Who: Cosmic King

Cosmic King
by Russell & Siskoid

Real Name: Unknown

Super-Power(s): Transmutation.
Planet of Origin: Venus

Relationship to Legion: Villain; member of the original Legion of Super-Villains.

Action Comics # 858

ACTION COMICS # 858
Superman And The Legion of Super-Heroes Part One
Title: “Alien World”
Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciller: Gary Frank
Inker: John Sibal
Colorist: Dave McCaig and Hi-Fi
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Editor: Matt Idelson
Associate Editor: Nachie Castro
Reviewer: Myk-El

RECAP:
In “The Lightning Saga,” seven Legionnaires travel back to the present day (or at least, to 2007) on a mission so secret even they don’t know what it is. Not until the Justice League teams up with the Justice Society to bring them all together. As it turns out, the Legionnaires intended to sacrifice themselves in order to “bring him back.” As an added bonus, they end up bringing back Wally West and his family. Their mission completed, the Legionnaires have returned to the 31st century. And now, so have we.

The Lightning Saga (chapter 5): JLA (v2) #10

Justice League of America (v2) # 10
Title: “The Lightning Saga Part Five: The Villain is the Hero in His Own Story”
Writer: Brad Meltzer
Penciller: Ed Benes
Inker: Sandra Hope
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Editor: Eddie Berganza
Assistant Editor: Adam Schlagman
Reviewer: Myk-El

RECAP:
The Justice League has teamed up with the Justice Society to locate seven lost Legionnaires, who have come back from the future on a mission so secret even they don’t know what it is. Not until they were all in the same room, that is. Not only have they ditched both super-teams, but they’ve split up once again. Starman, Karate Kid, Dream Girl, Wildfire, Timber Wolf, Dawnstar, and Sensor Girl each fly off in a different direction—each of them armed with a lightning rod, and ready to sacrifice themselves to “bring him back.”

The Lighting Saga (chapter 4): JSA (v3) #6

Justice Society of America (v3) # 6
Title: “The Lightning Saga, Part Four: Three Worlds”
Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciller: Dale Eaglesham
Inker: Ruy Jose
Colorist: Jeremy Cox
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Editor: Eddie Berganza
Associate Editor: Adam Schlagman
Reviewer: Myk-El

RECAP:
The Justice League has teamed up with the Justice Society to locate seven lost Legionnaires, who have come back from the future on a mission so secret even they don’t know what it is.  Or at least not until Karate Kid, Starman, Dream Girl, Wildfire, Timber Wolf, and Dawnstar come together. Turns out they all volunteered to sacrifice themselves to “bring him back.” Oh, and did I mention they’ll be using some very familiar lightning rods. Before we can find out any more, Dawnstar announces that she knows where to find the last Legionnaire.

The Lightning Saga (chapter 3): JLA (v2) # 9

Justice League of America (v2) # 9
Title: The Lightning Saga, Part Three: Suicide
Writer: Brad Meltzer
Artist: Ed Benes
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Editor: Eddie Berganza
Assistant Editor: Adam Schlagman

Hi, this is Myk-El again, continuing to look at the return of the classic, Pre-Crisis Legion, often referred to as the Geoff Johns "Retro-boot."

In Part One of the Lighting Saga, the Justice League discovers that seven Legionnaires have come back from the future on a mission so secret even they don't know what it is. In Part Two, the Justice League teams up with the Justice Society in order to locate the missing Legionnaires, finding Dream Girl in Arkham Asylum, and Wildfire in the Fortress of Solitude.

The Lightning Saga (chapter 2): JSA (v3) # 5

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA (v3) # 5

TITLE: “The Lightning Saga, Part Two: Dreams and Fire

WRITER: Geoff Johns

ARTIST: Fernando Pasarin

COLORIST: Jeremy Cox

LETTERER: Rob Leigh

EDITOR: Eddie Berganza

ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Adam Schlagman

Hi, my name is Myk-El, and starting this month, I'll be looking at the return of the classic, Pre-Crisis Legion, often referred to as the Geoff Johns "Retro-boot."

Now, we all have our favorite version of the Legion. For me, it was the 80s Levitz-Giffen era. So, you can imagine how excited I was to hear that the characters I fell in love with all those years ago were making a comeback.

The first stop on that road was a guest starring role in a five-part crossover called "The Lightning Saga." In Part One, the Justice League discovers that seven Legionnaires have come back from the future on a mission so secret even they don't know what it is. NOTE: The review of that issue can be found here. Onward!

TOS: Superman #147 Group Review

featuring
The Legion of Super Bloggers Round-Table Discussion on
Superman #147 (August, 1961)
title: "The Legion of Super-Villains!"
writer: Jerry Siegel
penciller: Curt Swan
inker: Sheldon Moldoff
letterer: Milton Snapinn
editor: Mort Weisinger
cover: Curt Swan and Stan Kaye

Mission Monitor Board:  
Superman, Lightning Man, Cosmic Man, Saturn Woman

Guests:
Lois Lane (as an illusion)

Opponents:
Lex Luthor; The Legion of Super-Villains, composed of Cosmic King, Lightning Lord, and Saturn Queen

Synopsis:
Luthor contacts and teams up with Legion of Super-Villains from the 30th century. The adult Legion of Super-Heroes comes to 20th century to help Superman.