The End of Volume 3 - LSH #56-63 - Poor Magnetic Kid...

I'm not gonna lie - I can't believe we've gotten this far.

For those curious, I've posted my "How the 80's wrecked the Legion" in a different column so that anyone who doesn't want to read my long-winded, wandering missive about the 80's won't have to.

We're in the home stretch, the last time Paul Levitz would write the Legion for decades. His focus would be entirely on running DC Comics and, I think you can safely say, he did an excellent job at the helm. For most of his tenure, Levitz pushed DC Comics forward regarding creator payments, trade paperbacks, quality books, and basically did everything he could to make sure they were competitive with Marvel.

Unfortunately, this was probably the last time anyone in an executive position at DC cared about the Legion.

LSH #56

I only wanted to include this cover because it was one of the only times I bought a Legion comic and genuinely couldn't figure out who it was supposed to be. Is this Blok? I know it's supposed to be. But it looks more like a rocky Swamp Thing. I get what Steve Lightle was trying to do here, but this is one of his rare misses.

Inside, we get some nice guest artwork by Eduardo Barreto, who never really got the respect he deserved. He's probably most famous for taking over for George Perez on The New Teen Titans and being criticized for well, not being Perez. He's a solid penciller - won't stun anyone with his artwork but will draft a nice comic.

The story itself is the resolution to the very short "Blok tries to find his place in the universe" story line. I actually wish they had done more with this, and hadn't cheapened this out with him being conned by someone with bad intentions. Blok is a character that I really wish more writers would have worked with. But again, I don't know how much he shows up after the reboot.

LSH #58

This issue hits very differently when you know the title is ending soon.

In the first read through, it's a big story with lots of big changes happening.

It's the final showdown with the Emerald Empress, which culminates in Sensor Girl hiding the Empress from the Eye. With the connection gone, the energy leaves her body and she dies. Sensor Girl, without know this was going to happen, essentially kills the longtime villain.

It's a stunning ending to the story - readers had become used to heroes and villains fighting until the latter is knocked unconscious and taken to Takron Galtos. But to see them end the life of one of the Legion's greatest foes was a shocking twist.

This also means that Sensor Girl has 'killed' two villains in 5 years.

On an aside, I think they've done a lot of fascinating things with the Emerald Eye over time. Much like most female characters created in the 60's (and before, really), the Emerald Empress was de-powered and made to stand around while the male villains did most of the heavy lifting. But the Empress got elevated to a much higher level during Volume 3 and, as I mentioned before, I really liked that new Fatal Five led by her.

The Eye itself became the center of a lot of future story lines too. From L.E.G.I.O.N., where one of the heroes got control of the Eye and ended up going crazy because of it, to future Legion reboots, where the Eye became a source of great power connected to Shrinking Violet. It's one of the most powerful weapons in the DC Universe and it's great seeing it portrayed that way.

This issue also sees the end of the longest-running ill-fated romance in comics. Wildfire and Dawnstar separate as a couple and decide to just be friends. For some background, Wildfire, thanks to Quislet, was able to control his energy form into a 'body' and decided that he and Dawnstar could finally be together.

But this issue shows the consequences - Wildfire's powers are literally burning her body. He can't stand causing her any pain and the truth finally hits them both. This relationship cannot work. They can't be any more than friends. First he walks out, anguished at the fact that he's causing the woman he loves so much pain. And then she accepts it, deciding that it's time to find a partner she can actually be with.

These two pages kinda came out of nowhere for me - I don't know if they referenced her injuries anywhere else or that they were even taking their relationship to a more physical level. But it was the correct ending. It's a shame that they never went anywhere with this story (And a greater shame what they did to Dawnstar in 5YL). I think Dawnstar starting a new relationship, with depressed hothead Wildfire watching over, would have made for a great story.

Quislet also leaves the team, never to be seen again. Their ship is destroyed by the Eye and Element Lad isn't able to rebuild it. So they just fly away, never to be seen again.

When re-reading this title, knowing the series is about to end, you realize how much of this book is wrapping up stories for the next creative team. Instead of laying down plot lines, they're closing them.

You get the sense the Giffen just didn't want to deal with Quislet or the Wildfire/Dawnstar subplot, so they concluded it rather briskly.

LSH #60

I think my favorite part of the Steve Lightle covers for these last few issues is that he just refused (or I'm guessing he refused) to draw Sensor Girl's new costume. Everyone else? That's fine. Sensor Girl - nope, not gonna do it.

For the final four issues of Volume 3, Levitz and Giffen finish everything off with The Magic Wars, a four-part story that removes magic from the DC universe.

Sorry - what?

Here's the quick recap - magic starts taking over the universe, destroying the laws of science and causing huge amounts of damage around the United Planets. The Legion, along with sorcerers from the Sorcerer's World, work together to stop the Archmage, a new villain who's intent on punishing the Earth, and the universe, for working against him. The battle goes to Sorcerer's World, where the spirit of the planet tells the Legion to let the Archmage destroy it. So they do. And once the planet is destroyed, all magic is gone.

It's a dark, depressing, gritty, harsh story and not really the way I'd want the Legion series to end.

I'm also not even going to try to explain how one planet provides all the magic for the entire universe, or why any writer would want to get rid of it, or why anyone thought this would be a good idea... or anything about this story.

I think this final story was really just the first step towards where Giffen wanted to go with 5YL. Breaking down the United Planets would lead them towards the rest of the chaos in the new book. Whether it made sense, or worked in the DC Universe, was irrelevant.

But, the worst part of this story was the absolutely stupid death of Magnetic Kid. Sorcerer's World was surrounded by a magic spell that required a human sacrifice to open. So he flies in and sacrifices himself. On one hand, it was a great way to raise the stakes of the story and completely stun the reader. I can't imagine anyone saw that coming. I also don't think anyone would've expected Magnetic Kid to do it.

But on the other hand, was there any other reason to do this than to shock the reader and let everyone know that things were darker than before? I'd argue that it's not even a heroic death, and it made no sense for the character. If it had been Polar Boy, depressed over no longer being leader, and feeling like he had failed the team for months, that might have made more sense. If it had been Sensor Girl, depressed over the death of the Emerald Empress, happy to reunite with Karate Kid, that would have made more sense. But Magnetic Kid?

The only positives for this story were:

• Sensor Girl elected leader, with Timber Wolf as deputy leader. Neither wanted it. This could've made for some great stories moving forward. I don't know if I can properly explain how odd the choice of Timber Wolf in a leadership role is to anyone who didn't read these comics. I really wish they could've done with him what they did with Dream Girl when she got elected leader.
• The other Legionnaires returning - Brainiac 5 and White Witch came back to help the team.
• The Legion positivity at the end of the series. Even with all the darkness around them, the teammates know that the Legion can make things better again.

This could've been a great leaping off point for a new creative team. The Legion is back together, the universe needs their help rebuilding, chaos is back with more new villains, any magic-based character has to deal with a loss of their powers, and everything is set up for whatever direction you want to take.

Unfortunately, that wasn't what was going to happen.

 

Some random thoughts about these last 8 issues:

• Normally, fans of a comic hate when guest artists are needed so the regular creative team can take a much-needed break. We get two fill-ins here and I can't say I was very sad to see either of them. That's not a good sign.
• I mention this a lot in my "How the 80's wrecked the Legion" missive, but I really don't think this title should be dark. I think the Legion is about brightness and positivity and these issues really prove my point.
• There's an interesting little scene in issue #58, where Yera confronts her husband, Colossal Boy, for going out into action when he's still recovering from his injuries. They both realize that they're prisoners to the things that they love and they'll never change. The argument comes from them loving each other, with both making tough statements to the other. But the conversation also goes off the rails because, I'm guessing, Levitz was trying, through his dialogue, to make sense of the strange ways Giffen drew Yera. There's a whole xenophobic part of the discussion that feels really out of place and I couldn't help but wonder if that was the reason. It's a scene that should work well, and has some great character bits, but the art undercuts it.
• Speaking of the art, and I'm going to be repeating this point over and over again, but Keith Giffen might just be the most frustrating artist in comics. His creativity, storytelling, and imagination are all at the top of the field. But his clunky style and ugly characters really take away from the story. More and more, I'm convinced that he should be providing breakdowns but not finished art.
• Issue #59 is the final flashback Legion issue, focusing on Invisible Kid, and this was really the last time we saw Jacques Foccart as the unsure, still-figuring-himself-out character he started as. It's funny - for me, he is Invisible Kid. Lyle Norg was long dead for most of my Legion fandom and I never got too excited when he'd show up in future reboots. Jacques was just always more interesting that Lyle. I really wish they'd do something with him in the future.

 

For all the ups and downs, the hits and the misses, I really look back at Volume 3 with a lot of love. This was one of my favorite books at the time and I still really enjoy re-reading them after all these years. This is MY Legion, and the reboots and changes that will come never quite reach these heights, no matter how good some of the books are.

Next week, unless I need a vacation after all the writing this week, we start 5YL.