What do you think?
Rate this book
Legion of Super-Heroes Archives #3
Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Vol. 3
Collects tales about the Legion of Super-Heroes and its most legendary member, Superboy.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1997
About the author
Edmond Hamilton
1,049 books138 followersEdmond Moore Hamilton was a popular author of science fiction stories and novels throughout the mid-twentieth century. Born in Youngstown, Ohio, he was raised there and in nearby New Castle, Pennsylvania. Something of a child prodigy, he graduated high school and started college (Westminster College, New Wilmington, Pennsylvania) at the age of 14--but washed out at 17. He was the Golden Age writer who worked on Batman, the Legion of Super-Heroes, and many sci-fi books.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 19, 2016
Another good, solid set of early Legion stories by Edmund Hamilton and John Forte, joined occasionally by Superman creator Jerry Siegel on scripting duties. This volume contains a stripped down Legion Constitution, as well.
Hamilton's stories are the best of the lot. We see the Legion of Substitute Heroes in action again, and this time the entire universe learns of their existence in a story called The Legion's Suicide Squad (hmm, where have I heard of a Suicide Squad before?). Chameleon Boy's protean pet Proty II joins the Legion of Super-Pets after an arduous initiation test, and Sun Boy becomes super-stressed after a space mission and becomes a super-tyrant.
Future Legion member Timber Wolf is introduced here in his initial guise as Lone Wolf, and Kryptonian knave Dev-Em has reformed from his villainous past and is now in the 30th century as an undercover agent for the Interstellar Counterintelligence Corps. He becomes the first person to turn down Legion membership, to the shock of the Legionnaires. The Heroes of Lallor also make their debut, including Duplicate Boy, later a romantic interest for Shrinking Violet, who at least gets some page time in these issues instead of being merely a background figure scowling at the reader as Forte usually drew her. Jimmy Olsen also becomes a Legion reservist as Elastic Lad. When Light Lass meets Lone Wolf, she develops romantic feelings for him, which later blooms into a long lasting relationship.
Perhaps the most important part of this book is the introduction of the long-running subplot. Superboy and Mon-El have discovered that a mysterious being called the Time Trapper has erected the Iron Curtain of Time in the future, which doesn't allow them to travel as far into the future as they used to. There are just a few panels here and there which allude to this, and the battle with the Time Trapper comes up in the next volume. I don't know of any other instance at DC where this was happening in 1964, except maybe over in Doom Patrol. Either way, this was an interesting development which would later become a Legion story staple.
John Forte's art becomes a bit less wooden here, probably due to a smattering of different inkers. His characters look a bit more friendly and even smile on occasion.
It's been nice to revisit the Legion's early tales again after such a long time. Definitely a product of their time, corny, but still very interesting over all. I've rarely found the Legion to be boring, even when there wasn't a whole lot going on. But as time went on, the stories became a bit more complex and we began to see some of the personalities of the heroes develop.
Hamilton's stories are the best of the lot. We see the Legion of Substitute Heroes in action again, and this time the entire universe learns of their existence in a story called The Legion's Suicide Squad (hmm, where have I heard of a Suicide Squad before?). Chameleon Boy's protean pet Proty II joins the Legion of Super-Pets after an arduous initiation test, and Sun Boy becomes super-stressed after a space mission and becomes a super-tyrant.
Future Legion member Timber Wolf is introduced here in his initial guise as Lone Wolf, and Kryptonian knave Dev-Em has reformed from his villainous past and is now in the 30th century as an undercover agent for the Interstellar Counterintelligence Corps. He becomes the first person to turn down Legion membership, to the shock of the Legionnaires. The Heroes of Lallor also make their debut, including Duplicate Boy, later a romantic interest for Shrinking Violet, who at least gets some page time in these issues instead of being merely a background figure scowling at the reader as Forte usually drew her. Jimmy Olsen also becomes a Legion reservist as Elastic Lad. When Light Lass meets Lone Wolf, she develops romantic feelings for him, which later blooms into a long lasting relationship.
Perhaps the most important part of this book is the introduction of the long-running subplot. Superboy and Mon-El have discovered that a mysterious being called the Time Trapper has erected the Iron Curtain of Time in the future, which doesn't allow them to travel as far into the future as they used to. There are just a few panels here and there which allude to this, and the battle with the Time Trapper comes up in the next volume. I don't know of any other instance at DC where this was happening in 1964, except maybe over in Doom Patrol. Either way, this was an interesting development which would later become a Legion story staple.
John Forte's art becomes a bit less wooden here, probably due to a smattering of different inkers. His characters look a bit more friendly and even smile on occasion.
It's been nice to revisit the Legion's early tales again after such a long time. Definitely a product of their time, corny, but still very interesting over all. I've rarely found the Legion to be boring, even when there wasn't a whole lot going on. But as time went on, the stories became a bit more complex and we began to see some of the personalities of the heroes develop.
March 10, 2023
This volume reprints some of the first appearances of popular characters in the mythos of the Legion of Super-Heroes: Dev-Em (another survivor of Krypton), Duplicate Boy (and the rest of the Heroes of Lallor) and Lone Wolf (later known as Timber Wolf, who became one of my favorite Legionnaires).
The stories fluctuate from the entertaining (Timber Wolf's introduction story; the tale with the Heroes of Lallor) to the ridiculous (Proty II puts lives at risk for a silly puzzle; three of the female Legionnaires go to extremes to make Jimmy Olsen look good in front of Lucy Lane; a full story with the Legion of Super-Pets). The nice constant is the art of John Forte; I know many criticize it as being somewhat wooden, but in the recolored tales in this book the lines he drew look fresh and clean. His art helped to cement the positive, bright future that was the Legion's hallmark until the "grim and gritty" era of the 90s.
Tales very much a product of their time (pun fully intended).
The stories fluctuate from the entertaining (Timber Wolf's introduction story; the tale with the Heroes of Lallor) to the ridiculous (Proty II puts lives at risk for a silly puzzle; three of the female Legionnaires go to extremes to make Jimmy Olsen look good in front of Lucy Lane; a full story with the Legion of Super-Pets). The nice constant is the art of John Forte; I know many criticize it as being somewhat wooden, but in the recolored tales in this book the lines he drew look fresh and clean. His art helped to cement the positive, bright future that was the Legion's hallmark until the "grim and gritty" era of the 90s.
Tales very much a product of their time (pun fully intended).
June 18, 2020
I'm helped (when I read through some of the strangeness of these early Legion stories) by thinking about how often violent conflict is not central to the narrative. A regular focus is how everyone uses their powers in ways that are helpful and protective, as opposed to offensive. So - in this volume - we get several "series of tests" stories, where Legionnaires have to inventively solve problems and puzzles using their abilities in new ways. The Legion stories have never been slugfests, and perhaps part of the reason is here: there's more focus on what an individual can contribute to a team than how one individual can beat somebody else.
And, of course, there's tons of mid-sixties strangeness: the Legion of Super-Pets, an amazing amount of emphasis on substances (Kryptonite, lead, copper, etc...), brains in globes, and crazy looking monsters. There's also the first appearance of Dev-Em, the heroes of Lallor, and the hints that Element Lad might be gay.
And, of course, there's tons of mid-sixties strangeness: the Legion of Super-Pets, an amazing amount of emphasis on substances (Kryptonite, lead, copper, etc...), brains in globes, and crazy looking monsters. There's also the first appearance of Dev-Em, the heroes of Lallor, and the hints that Element Lad might be gay.
June 11, 2016
Wonderfully-hokey stories, each one packed with enough plot material to fill a book, with the strangely wooden art of John Forte illustrating them exactly so. A warm, optimistic antidote to our modern dystopian clichés.
November 15, 2017
A few gems here: "Mutiny of the Legionnaires!", "Code of the Legion", "Super Tests of the Super-Pets!", "Luthor Meets the Legion!", & "Lone Wolf Legionnaire!".
February 26, 2016
I am a huge LOSH fan. These collected volumes are prefect to be able to go back and read the older adventures of this Silver Age superhero team. Very recommended
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews