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

Timber Wolf is walking through Metropolis when he falls prey to a well-planned trap: by stopping a bank robbery and getting blasted by a rip-ray. After he has captured the thieves, Timber Wolf is approached by an unnamed man saying that he is a doctor. He treats his wound and then gives Timber Wolf something medicinal to drink; he then rushes off. 

Timber Wolf returns to Legion head-quarters, where he snaps at Light Lass for "fawning" over him. H wants to be alone. Almost immediately he goes into a drug-induced haze, staying up all night with even more heightened senses than he usually has. 

The next morning Timber Wolf wanders the streets until "the doctor" approaches him. The man tells Timber Wolf that the Legionnaire is now addicted to the Lotus Fruit from the planet Oomar. He gives Timber Wolf two, telling him that he will get more if he eats one and gives the other to another Legionnaire. 

Timber Wolf returns to Light Lass and asks her in a dream-like way to eat the second fruit. When she refuses and tosses the fruit aside, he uses his advanced acrobatic skill to catch it and then storms out. As he enters another Lotus Fruit induced "trip," Light Lass watches him and realizes what is going on. 

The next morning, when Timber Wolf comes out of his haze Light Lass is ready for him. She trails him to a meeting with the unnamed dealer. The dealer has a whole basket of Lotus Fruit ready to give to Timber Wolf. He wants the Legionnaire to share the drug with his team-mates so that they all become addicted, so the man can control them. 

Light Lass uses her gravity-control power to grab the basket of Lotus Fruits from him. She quickly attaches a small detonator on them and the explosives on her. She tells Timber Wolf that if he chooses the Lotus Fruit, the detonator will cause an explosion and that she will die. She tells him he has to choose her of the fruit.  

After a moment's hesitation, Timber Wolf's love for Light Lass wins over the power of the Lotus Fruit, and he knocks out the dealer with one punch.    

Russell: This is one of the more famous Legion stories, as writer Jim Shooter claims it to be the first anti-drug story in comics. It pre-dates Amazing Spider-Man #s 96 (from May 1971) and Green Lantern (Green Arrow) #85 (Aug 1971), both much more famous than this, so I'm inclined to believe him.

Being first doesn't necessarily mean it's the best, though. The set-up is good, but the conclusion where Timber Wolf actually has the will power to Just Say No to the Lotus Fruit seems simplistic in the extreme. In fact, I think of a lot of harm comes from the idea that drug addicts (or alcoholics, or over-eaters, for that matter) would stop if they really loved their partner or family. It works as a plot device, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't necessarily work in real life.

Speaking of the Lotus Fruit, this is the second story in a row that references The Odyssey by Homer. Anybody want to guess whether high school student Jim Shooter had to read this book for an English class at about this time?

The art is by Win Mortimer and Mike Esposito, a one-time only combination. Mortimer by now is used to the Legionnaires and to the 30th Century locales, and his art is straight-forward if not a tad boring. His drug-induced hazes especially seem a bit dull, but I guess never having tried the Lotus Fruit who am I to judge his artistic representation of how it makes you feel? Inker Mike Esposito was well known as the inker for penciller Ross Andru on such series as The Flash and Wonder Woman. Although he had inked a few Curt Swan Adventure Comics covers during the Legion's run, this was his one and only Legion story. I would have liked to have seen more of this combination, as he "cleaned up" Mortimer's rough edges very nicely. Light Lass and Timber Wolf both look pretty good in this story.

Mike: I have been fairly harsh on the art of late, but this one was a noticeable improvement. The splash page was particularly well done thanks to Timber Wolf's sad sack appearance and the psychedelic design over half of his body. While you are right that Win Mortimer's drug-induced hazes were on the subdued side, I thought by Silver Age DC standards they still looked pretty impressive.

The creators do deserve credit for even trying to tackle this topic, especially given DC's more conservative approach to comics at this time. We are in the Weisinger era after all, so it is amazing this even got printed. On the other hand, that may explain the fairly simplistic resolution. I agree that the idea that addicts would stop if only they cared more about the people in their lives is a problematic solution.

Nevertheless, I try to review things in context and I do think that the fact that they even addressed this topic counts for a lot. After all, part of what made the Legion so appealing to readers in the Silver Age was how ahead of the curve they often were in comparison to other DC titles. It also adds a certain depth to the 30th Century world they inhabit. Certainly there are plenty of bad guys wandering around then, otherwise there would be no conflict to support a superhero title. But to introduce a drug dealer as the villain suggests that the Earth they live on is not nearly as enlightened or advanced as readers had probably assumed.

Status: 
This issue has been reprinted in The Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol 9 and Showcase Presents: The Legion Vol. 4.

Milestones: 
This is the first appearance of the Legion in their new home in the back-up spot in Action Comics. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
This story is well-known in the comic-book world as one of the very first anti-drug comic-book stories.