Steven Howell Wilson's Blog, page 25

The Legion of Substitute Heroes Declares War on the Legion of Super-Heroes! (Adventure Comics #311, August, 1963)

So, right up front, Polar Boy is not a Bastard Person, as the cover might lead some to believe. There is a scene in the story in which he proposes to “battle the Legion to a showdown” (Huh? Run that by me again?), indeed, it’s a direct reproduction / reduction of the cover, shrunk down to one-panel size; but he has a really good reason for his proposal.

That reason is largely that the Legion of Super-Heroes members are being the most bastardly of Bastard People. It’s way over the top.

I was a...

Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Read – “The Doom of the Super-Heroes!” (Adventure Comics #310, July, 1963)

Fifteen Legionnaires are featured on the splash page of this adventure which claims to star every member of the Legion, but does not. For the record, there were 19 living Legionnaires at this point, plus the dead Lightning Lad. Supergirl is not pictured and not mentioned in the story, nor is Matter-Eater Lad. Phantom Girl is mentioned but never shown at all, and has still not appeared since her introduction in Action Comics. Mon-El is not pictured on the splash, but is very much apparent in t...

Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Read – The Legion of Super-Monsters (Adventure Comics 309 – June, 1963)

This is something of a “filler” story. Nothing particularly relevant to Legion history happens, although it seems we’re finally in the 30th Century to stay. The villain is a bit boring and derivative of Tarzan and similar jungle heroes. Indeed, before taking on the name “The Monster Master” he calls himself “Jungle King.” And yet, at 17 pages, this is probably the longest Legion story to date. (Mon-El’s first appearance is longer, but not an actual Legion adventure.) Seems the Legion was catc...

Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Read – “The Return of Lightning Lad” (Adventure Comics #308 May, 1963)

Edmond Hamilton was on a roll in the Spring of 1963, as his third story brought his count of characters introduced to the Legion mythos up to eight. We open with the Legionnaires saluting their new flag, and Cosmic Boy reflecting how sad it is that Lightning Lad didn’t live to see it. Kind of an odd reflection, really. Of all the things a teenage boy misses by dying, getting to see a new flag isn’t the first that leaps to mind.

As Saturn Girl and Mon-El leave on a mission, she instructs the r...

“The Secret Power of the Mystery Super-Hero” – Adventure Comics #307, April, 1963

After gentling into his Legion-writing career by focusing his first story on all-new characters with “The Legion of Substitute Heroes,” Edmond Hamilton plunges into the first-string this issue, and gives us a powerful new Legionnaire to boot!

A group of raiders led by the villainous Roxxas is taking much needed natural and technological resources from far-off planets. The Legion is enlisted to help, but their numbers are limited right now—too many members are off on other planets. So, apparen...

Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Read – “The Legion of Substitute Heroes” (Adventure Comics #306, March, 1963)

Edmond Hamilton’s first Legion Adventure adds a very important element to the franchise: The Legion of Substitute Heroes. Not only do Hamilton and Forte create five new heroes out of the gate on their first team-up, but they create the idea that there’s a backup team for the Legion. That’s something no other team up till now really had—Not the Justice League, The Justice Society, or the Fantastic Four. Oh, a lot of Golden Age heroes had squads of sidekicks and admirers who would step in to he...

Star Wars: The Last Jedi – Pros and Cons

I’ve seen this movie twice already. I enjoyed it both time. I must be honest, however, this movie frustrated me. Maybe it’s because it’s a middle film, like The Empire Strikes Back was. That one frustrated me a little, and was definitely my least favorite of the original trilogy. (Yeah, real film buffs… favorite film… so well-done… yadda yadda yadda. Never got into it like I did the first, found it less emotionally satisfying than the third.)

But it’s more than just the “middle” aspect that f...

Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Read – “The Secret of the Mystery Legionnaire” (Adventure Comics #305, February, 1963)

The vultures are here. Lightning Lad is dead, and the first thought on the minds of the people of the 30th Century is apparently, “Can I have his job?” A number of teenagers show up at the Clubhouse to apply for his open membership in the Legion.

Wow.

This is the second occurrence of “throwaway applicants,” and this one is more detailed than the last. We see Antennae Boy, who can pick up and share radio transmissions from the past. We hear that Kennedy was elected President again. That’s ADOR...

Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Read – “The Stolen Super-Powers!” (Adventure Comics #304, January, 1963)

This is an important issue in Legion history, for a few reasons, yet you’d never know it to look at it. The Legion isn’t even on the cover, and the splash page makes it look like just another gimmicky, I-don’t-believe-they-would-really-do-that, Silver Age story from the Mort Weisginger stable.

So the opening blurb tells us that Saturn Girl is “sweet.” Mmmm… would we call her sweet? Actually, we wouldn’t call her anything other than “Saturn Girl,” at this point in history. The distinct persona...

Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Read – “The Fantastic Spy!” (Adventure Comics #303 – December, 1962)

His Supreme Reverence and Benevolent Omniscience, Cosmic Boy the First, declares that “One of us Legionnaires is a—traitor!” And Saturn Girl is ordered to read everyone’s mind to find out who!

Wow. Don’t mess with this guy! Don’t let the pink tights fool you.

In a 21st Century hospital, Cosmic Boy and Brainiac 5 visit Lightning Lad and Sun Boy, who just crashed their rocket. The famous Martian fourth-dimensional surgeon, Dr. Landro will operate on them soon. The what now? He operates on time?...