Who Drew It Better? Tales vs Baxter #25-29

By Siskoid and Russell

Completing our comparison of the covers of the Baxter version of The Legion (volume 3) and their reprints one year later in Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes. This time we wrap up this series, as the reprints ended with Tales #29. The stories were exactly the same, but each issue had a brand new cover. So we go back to the age-old question: Who drew the better cover?

Who Drew It Better? Tales vs Baxter #20-24

By Siskoid and Russell
Continuing our comparison of the covers of the Baxter version of The Legion (volume 3) and their reprints one year later in Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes. The stories were exactly the same, but each issue had a brand new cover. So we go back to the age-old question: Who drew the better cover?

Who Drew It Better? Tales vs. Baxter #16-19

By Siskoid and Russell
Continuing our comparison of the covers to the Baxter version of The Legion (volume 3) and their reprints approximately one year later in Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes. The stories were exactly the same, but each issue had a brand new cover. So we go back to the age-old question: Who drew the better cover?

Lana Lang's Two Alien Boy-Friends

“Twice Told Tales” or “Mars and Stars”
Another  "double-header" review by Emsley Wyatt

“Lana Lang's Romance On Mars”
Adventure Comics #195 (December 1953)
Writer: uncredited
Artist: Curt Swan & Stan Kaye
Cover: Win Mortimer

"Lana Lang and the Legion of Super-Heroes” 

Adventure Comics #282 (March 1961)

Writer: Otto Binder

Artist: George Papp
Cover: Swan & Kaye

I’ve done a couple of these “Twice Told Tales”, one involving Mon-El, and one involving Sun Boy.  Well, it had slipped my mind that there was a third such pair of stories, this one involving the initial appearance of yet another Legionnaire, Star Boy.  Thanks to “Anonymous” for reminding me of this fact.  OK, here we go.  First, here are the covers.  As previously, the older story is on the left and the newer on the right.

The Two Two Clark Kents!

“Twice Told Tales” or “Haven’t I read this comic before?”
Another "double-header" review by Emsley Wyatt

“The Two Clark Kents”

Adventure Comics #191 (August 1953)

No writer named

Artists: Curt Swan & Sy Barry

Cover: Win Mortimer

“The Secret of the Seventh Super-Hero”

Adventure Comics #290 (November 1961)

Writer: Robert Bernstein

Artist: George Papp

Cover: Curt Swan & Stan Kaye

Presenting another “Twice told Tale”, an example of “recycled story lines” for which DC was notorious back in the day.  These stories were published eight years apart.  

Adventure 290 represents the second appearance of Sun Boy although, as regular visitors to this blog are aware, the “Sun Boy” in this story is, for the most part, an impostor.  His first appearance was as a Legion applicant in Action #276 (May, 1961).  

Imposture is definitely the theme of these stories as each features an impersonation of Clark Kent and one features an impersonation of Sun Boy as well.  But enough, let’s get to the stories.  

Following the pattern established in the last episode of this two-part series, the older story excerpts are presented first, then the newer, sometimes in two panel segments, sometimes with side-by-side panels from each story. 

Superboy's Brothers Halk Kar and Mon-El

“Twice Told Tales” or “Haven’t I read this comic before?”
A "double-header" review by Emsley Wyatt

“Superman’s Big Brother”
Superman #80 (Jan/Feb 1953)
Writer: Edmond Hamilton
Artist: Al Plastino

"Superboy’s Big Brother” 

Superboy #89 (June 1961)

Writer: Robert Bernstein

Artist: George Papp

It was not uncommon back in the early days of comics for stories to be, err, recycled after a period of time.  The thinking was that folks only read comics for a period of a few years and that nobody would ever notice and so what if they did.
The idea that the ephemeral medium of comic books would ever be subjected to in-depth analysis would have been inconceivable to the publishers and editors of the Fifties and Sixties.  Usually the “in house plagiarism” was limited to plot points or story elements but you would get those instances where the entire story was retold with only minor changes.  A couple examples of this involved the initial featured appearances of two members of the Legion of Super Heroes, Mon-El and Sun Boy.  This review concerns the former; we’ll get to the latter on another occasion.

Who Drew It Better: Tales vs Baxter #11-15

By Siskoid and Russell
Continuing our series comparing the covers of the Baxter version of The Legion of Super-Heroes (volume 3) and their reprints approximately one year later in Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes. The stories inside were exactly the same, but each issue had a unique cover.

So we bring up the age-old question: Who drew the better cover?

Who Drew It Better? Tales vs. Baxter #6-10

By Siskoid and Russell
Continuing our comparison of the covers to the Baxter version of the Legion (volume 3) and their reprints approximately one year later in Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes. The stories were exactly the same, but each issue had a brand new cover. So we go back to the age-old question: Who drew the better cover?

DC Super-Stars #3

DC Super-Stars #3 was one of the first Legion comics I bought that wasn't the actual Superboy series. When this issue came out I was a huge fan of Mike Grell and Cary Bates' Superboy/Legion series. And I was one of those fans who was eager and willing to purchase MORE Legion stuff if DC would just get it out there. 1976 was a good time for Legion reprints; there was this issue and a few months later there was the Limited Collectors' Edition C-49 book which reprinted the classic Mordru saga. I bought them both, so I'm assuming they sold well....

I'm showcasing this issue today because over in our TOS Tuesday slot we are about to get to these actual stories. And I gotta tell ya, as a kid reading this Adult Legion story I was *totally* confused!! Old costumes. Old relationships. New members. Dead members. Favorite Legionnaires NOT featured. This story is quite a trip for a young fan of the mid-Seventies. But we'll get to the details of the stories tomorrow. 

I remain confused to this day, but not so much on the plot but on the story choice. Of all the great Legion stories that DC could have chosen to reprint to fill these 36 pages, they picked the controversial and slightly confusing "Adult Legion" stories. I wonder, Why?

Who Drew It Better? Tales vs. Baxter #1-5

By Siskoid and Russell
With the Baxter series, the Legion started telling stories for the direct market only. On the newsstand, the book changed its title to Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes, and for about a year, continued to tell new stories. But after a year, the newsstand kids would no longer be denied and Tales would begin reprinting the Baxter series. And aside from the first of these issues (above), the reprint would feature a new cover. And so the question before us is... Who drew the better cover?

The Legion of Super-Heroes v1

As we here at Legion of Super-Bloggers have finished our reviews of the third volume of Legion of Super-Heroes and gear up to start profiling the second volume, we thought we should stop and talk about the unheralded and often forgotten FIRST volume of that title...

Superboy and The Legion #238

Superboy and The Legion #238 (April, 1978) was a reprint. For the first time since the Legion had "returned" to cover-billing, 40 issues before, there was no new Legion story this month. Instead, Paul Levitz apologized for the deadline crunch as DC re-presented the classic Universo vs Legion story-line from Adventure Comics 359-360. 

Who Drew It Better? LSH 37 vs Superman 8

Often, on Hollywood (and other) Award Shows, some women show up wearing the same dress design, or men show up in the same type of tuxedo. When that happens, gossip reporters often dissect the fashion event by asking, "Who Wore It Better?"

Well, in the four-part Legion adventure "Past Imperfect," the Post-Crisis Superman came up against the Silver & Bronze Age Superboy and Legion. In the first issue crossed-over from the Legion title itself, the pertinent information from Legion (v3) #37 is repeated in Superman (v2) #8. So the Legion of Super-Bloggers is proud to present,

  Who Drew It Better?!