We keep looking for Cosmic Boy... kinda... and a former Legionnaire returns... we look at Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #33 & 34

 

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #33

Okay seriously now - who's the Legionnaire at the bottom of the cover? According to the Grand Comics Database, it's Star Boy. Do his eyes glow? Is he bald? Do they think he's Cyborg now? Man, I'm confused.

They also say that it's not Saturn Girl, it's Jeyra Entinn, the Wanderer who is a cold-blooded murderer and possible new Legionnaire. Yep, standards have dropped... everywhere...

We've reached part two of The Quest for Cosmic Boy. Last issue, Sun Boy, Star Boy, and Mekt went to Winath to find Rokk. Tenzil Kem, a U.P. prosecutor, showed up as well to arrest Rokk. They went underground to find the missing people, Tenzil got buried under a pile of grain, and Mekt got zapped by some Winathians, including his parents, who are worshiping Validus, the god of lightning.

This issue is brought to you by writer Tony Bedard and artist Dennis Calero. After the Dominator war, we're taking a step backwards and slowing things down a little... so let's relax and enjoy this new take on the Legion.

Brainiac 5 is at the Metropolis Convention Center, which is where the Legion HQ is now located, and he's frustrated that the other team members searching for Cosmic Boy are asking for help. Well, maybe if they hadn't gone out in the teams of three... or if they weren't being sent on wild goose chases...

Down on the planet of Winath, Star Boy uses his powers to stop all of the attackers. They question them, wanting to know how they got lightning powers, and the mayor of the town says it's the will of Validus. And then zaps Star Boy... somehow... I guess his powers only last a short amount of time.

Roll call time and we finally learn the name of the dumb Coluan who messed everything up during the Dominator war - Vrax Gozzl. He's revealed to be just a 10th level intellect, so I guess that's why he's been unable to do much of anything... or get a name before now...

Sun Boy is ready to strike back, believing Star Boy to be dead, but Mekt drags him away, saying they need to find Tenzil. Nope, that doesn't make any sense to me either... To no one's surprise, Tenzil escapes from the silo. It's kinda hard to bury someone under grain when they're able to eat their way out. He burps and calls the people hicks - after all, how can you smother someone from Bismoll?

And now, ladies and gentlemen, here's my yearly Matter Eater Lad rant. Has anyone ever actually sat down and figured out how fast he can eat and/or how much he can eat? I get that he can eat through anything, which is an amazing power when you think about it. And I've seen him eat through the Atomic Axe... which is kinda crazy. And eat through the Miracle Machine, which makes sense.

But how fast can he eat? Getting buried under grain is not a problem because of the food. It's a problem because of the weight and the lack of oxygen. Tenzil wouldn't be able to breathe. And would be crushed. Unless he was able to start eating immediately, and consume mass quantities at super speed, he'd be dead.

And here's my last ME Lad question of the day - what would happen if he was thrown into the ocean? Could he prevent himself from drowning by consuming all the water around him?

Ok... now my last question... could he eat the Emerald Eye?

Back at HQ, Brainy faces off with the Wanderers, who are not happy their leader has been sent off to Winath. They assume Brainy is the leader, much like everyone else does, and figure he's done this to get rid of a rival. How is Mekt Brainy's rival? Nothing makes sense to me anymore. Are there any other actual Legionnaires there?

Sun Boy and Mekt hide from the Winathians, ready to rescue Star Boy (who is, of course, not dead). As they argue with each other, they figure out which planet is an expert at miniaturization and nanotech and could've given the Winathians super powers... Colu...

Elsewhere in the underground bunker, two twin boys are literally dragging Star Boy by the feet so they can tranquilize him. Tenzil shows up and starts smacking them around before Star Boy uses the tranquilizer on one of them.

While Sun Boy and Mekt try to figure out how to fight back against the people without hurting them, Star Boy and Tenzil easily find the power source that's giving the Winathians powers. One Kem bite through a lock and Star Boy destroying the equipment and the battle is over.

Once the "heroes" are reunited and Mekt shows absolutely no remorse for blasting his own parents, we get a ton of exposition that reveals that everything was built by a Coluan - Vraz Gozzl, the Coluan who's part of the Wanderers.

Mekt says that it's a set up and threatens Kem, pointing a single finger at him... which Tenzil bites off. Mekt collapses in pain, gets tranqued, and Kem charges him with a bunch of crimes because of his connection to Vraz... I think...

Star Boy and Sun Boy return to Legion HQ and Dirk decides to rejoin the Legion as long as they'll allow his Terror Firma team to join as well. Then we get the following reveal:

The Wanderers left when they heard Mekt was in custody, so Vraz isn't in custody. But Brainy had been tapping his computer systems and discovered the following:

• It was Mekt's idea to destroy the Dominator homeworld
• Jeyra implanted that idea into Cosmic Boy's mind

So I guess this means that Brainy is setting the Wanderers up to take the fall for all the war crimes. We know that he was part of the plan, and he knows that the homeworld isn't actually destroyed, so the Wanderers are now the Legion's patsies? They're going to take the fall for the crimes that didn't actually occur. So, once again, do we end up feeling sympathy for the villains?

Speaking of villains, I'll just continue reminding everyone that the Terror Firma members, who have just been welcomed into the Legion, were part of the group that destroyed both Orando and Colu... so they're mass murderers... 

Also speaking of villains, can we assume that Brainy is the one who set everything up on Winath and planted the evidence against Vraz? Is there anything differentiating him from any Legion villain?

Kem calls in to let them know that they've dropped all charged against Rokk... and that his bosses are expecting the Wanderers to become some sort of "Legion of Super-Villains."

Sun Boy asks if the other search teams are having any luck which is when we get the biggest reveal - the team on Lallor is facing off against someone who looks a lot like Wildfire.

 

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #34

We continue our quest for Cosmic Boy with the latest chapter called... E.R.G.onomics.

Tony Bedard is writing and Dennis Calero is providing the art. We head to Lallor, where an unknown assassin is planning on killing the president. Remember two issues ago when Legionnaires Timber Wolf, Shadow Lass, and Atom Girl arrived and were immediately attacked because they thought they were the assassins?

Yep, that didn't make sense to me either. I mean, don't people recognize the Legion by now?

Considering the first page shows Wildfire (sorry, E.R.G.-1 based on the title) threatening the president with death, I think that mystery is solved. He's taken out the security detail and is a little surprised that the president doesn't seem too worried. Atom Girl suddenly appears, points a gun at E.R.G.-1, and asks him if he has a girlfriend.

As an aside, I'm writing the name as it's written in the comic even thought my brain reads it as E.R.G. minus 1. I know he was called ERG-1 waaay back in Superboy #195 and it's correct, but my brain is broken... or burnt out from these issues.

We then flash back three hours. The three Legionnaires are fighting a bunch of armored, masked goons. Atom Girl leaps around, counting every person she blasts with her guns while ogling Timber Wolf. Shadow Lass kinda agrees, saying that she likes her men simple as well... but Brin has the personality of a killbot... which makes him more attractive to Atom Girl. Wow... I really think they're just trying to turn the Legion into the Authority.

We get a requisite moment with the villains, who figure that the Legion won't be able to stop the assassination attempt. The man in the foreground tells the rest that once they transfer him the credits, he'll unleash E.R.G.-1.

I never thought I'd write this in a Legion review, but it's Timber Wolf who slows down the carnage to actually find out what's going on. The soldier he was nice enough to stop hitting tells him that the Legion entered a civil war - the pro-U.P. forces are battling the anti-U.P. forces. The anti side hired an assassin to kill the president before he could get Lallor into the U.P.

Shadow Lass overhears all this and demands the soldier contact the president - after all, she's practically royalty on Talok VIII so she's a diplomatic visitor. Couldn't she have done this before they even arrived? Does anyone on this team think before they do anything?

We move to a quiet room, where the person called Randall is motivating the energy being called Drake about what's coming. We see the old Wildfire costume hanging on the wall, empty, and Randall threatens to leave Drake in the tank he's in.

Drake enters the suit and says that he'd kill Randall if he wasn't family. So Randall is Drake's brother. And Drake, or E.R.G.-1, is the assassin. They've also expanded the plan - now they'll blame the president's death on the Legion to ensure Lallor never joins the U.P.

Hmmm... okay... so is Randall a hired gun or does he actually care about Lallorian politics? Also, would it have been so difficult to give Wildfire a new costume? I mean, every other Legionnaire got one for the threeboot. Why not him?

In the Lallorian capital, Atom Girl has disappeared and Shadow Lass asks for help finding Cosmic Boy. They argue about whether Rokk might be the assassin (of course not) and Shadow Lass asks for permission to search for their former leader.

But since we haven't heard from Brainiac 5 this issue (I swear his name should be on the title of the book), he calls Atom Girl to let her know they're going to be attacked and to let Timber Wolf take charge. We get a nice recap of everything else happening in the series (the other teams looking for Cosmic Boy) but Brainiac 5 doesn't reveal how he knows this or who's telling him this information.

E.R.G.-1 attacks but is careful not to kill anyone. He blasts his way into the building and Timber Wolf says that he recognizes him from a picture in Rokk's office.

We get the next round of exposition - E.R.G.-1, in the costume designed by Olivier Coipel for Legion Lost, applied for the Legion and used his powers to destroy a faminebot. One of the pieces of the shattered bot broke his faceplace and his energies dissipated away. The Legion thought he was dead. Instead of recovering and trying again, Drake got angry that he saved the day and no one cared about him after.

That's a strange way of retelling his origin. The new suit, which is actually the old suit, is an upgrade and when Timber Wolf shatters this face plate E.R.G.-1 is able to repair it and smack Brin away. Drake then delivers this epic piece of dialogue:

...I am not the same E.R.G.-1 you found so disposable three years ago! You thought my flame went out that day... but all you did was start a Wildfire.

For fromage like that, I usually recommend a nice Merlot... or Zinfandel...

The battle begins with the three Legionnaires struggling to battle E.R.G.-1. The roof collapses on Timber Worf, which Brainy claims is just what he needs. Oh yeah, they're all talking to Brainy as this battle goes on because... who knows...

Brin emerges from the wreckage in full animal mode. He suddenly has Wolverine-style hair, white eyes, and black marks all over his body.

Most definitely to be continued...

 

I actually liked the end of the Winath story more than I thought I would have. Everything got wrapped up fairly succinctly and it really felt one of the Cary Bates/Jim Shooter stories from the early 70's. Of course, those stories took 12 pages and this one took two issues.

I'm still not a fan of Calero's artwork and it's really simply why - he can't draw a single character the same way twice. I'm fairly certain Shadow Lass went from white to Asian to white again on one page. I don't think I'm asking a lot, am I?

I will fully admit to my bias and my protective feelings regarding Wildfire, but I don't think they could've dropped this ball any worse. None of their choices made any sense, from his going from the newer, more modern-looking costume to the older one as an upgrade, to his new origin story that just didn't work, to his now being an assassin. I know there's no moral problem with the Legion recruiting killers, but is it too much to ask for one character to be heroic?

Another aside - this is now the second time when the Legion gets rebooted, the Silver Age characters are retconned and made new again, and due to flagging sales they have to bring back some Bronze Age characters to try to make the fans happy. It happened on the reboot. And now on the Threeboot. I know that the Legion writers who worship the Silver Age will never admit it, but at some time they have to accept that some of these characters, like Wildfire and Dawnstar, are far more popular than the ones they grew up on... cough... Invisible Kid... cough... 

 

Our next Legionnaire in the spotlight... Magno!! 

 

 

 

If you want the strongest proof that poor Dyrk Magz has been lost to the dustbin of DC, a search for him garnered more results for Magno Lad, an old Legion villain. Magno Lad's costume was leagues better, so that is kinda understandable.

What can I say about Magno? He only joined the team to replace Cosmic Boy. He never really did much of anything during his run. He spent a lot of time sitting at a console, wanting to do something. He lost his powers, returned to Braal, joined the Science Police, and ended up the star of one of the best issues of Legion World.

Okay, so he has that.

Oh, and he almost dated XS... so he's got that going for him.

His biggest claim to fame is this... and I'm quoting directly from Wikipedia here:

Magno appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.

Would I care if Magno disappears from the Legion forever? Nope. Would it be nice to see him show up as an unpowered Braalian working for the S.P.s in a new Legion story? Yep. Have I ever been able to figure out why, of all the possible names they could've chosen, they went with another Dyrk/Dirk? I know they ignored Sun Boy as much as possible during the reboot, but really? Really?

 

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And until next week, please leave your comments about these issues or Magno here, Reddit, or Bluesky.