Cosmic Boy resigns as Legion leader in both books! Darkseid is back... kinda! Phantom Girl freaks out Superboy! We take a look at Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 6) #4 & Adventure Comics #518

Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 6) #4

Whenever I write these columns, I'm always struggling with how nitpicky I should be. For example, should I point out that Lightning Lass has toothpick arms or not?Or that Saturn Girl's right arm is anatomically... questionable?

Yep, we're leaning into nitpicky this week.

The lightning-fast recap: Garth, Imra, and Ayla have headed to Avalon, which is a medieval planet that's been taken over by Darkseid. Or is worshipping Darkseid... Or really likes stone-faced dictators...

Earth-Man has thrown away his Green Lantern ring, Saturn Girl was defeated by a really powerful Sensor Girl, and Shadow Lass is single.

This issue is brought to you by writer Paul Levitz and artists Yildiray Cinar, Francis Portela, and Wayne Faucher.

The trio who've gone to Avalon are just a little bit surprised that everyone on the planet is worshipping Darkseid. We're going back to the Great Darkness saga because, why not? They even reference it as Imra mentions that Darkseid freed Mordru from this planet to steal his power during that epic story. They don't understand why either Darkseid or Mordru would want their children... um, really? I guess The Curse storyline didn't occur in this timeline.

Down on the surface, we get aliens swearing fealty to Darkseid, some blood-letting to show how serious they are, and then we get to the plan. A couple of Avalonians (Avalites?) found a blade with Darkseid's face on it and created a whole religion around the artifact. The bald one with the facial scarring is the leader and the Blastaar-looking one is drawn to the power. They're the ones who kidnapped the twins.

Saturn Girl can hear her children's thoughts and she knows they're afraid. They've got to rush to get them.

So lemme get this straight - two guys on a backwards, medieval planet have the technology to teleport two children from a moon millions of light years away. And one dagger has enough power to completely take over a planet. I just wish they'd try to make this make sense sometimes.

Back on Earth, we get to see Earth-Man arguing with the "Long Live Humans" group of xenophobes. If there's a plus to this scene, and I'm really stretching here, it's that they're showing Earthlings of all races plotting to get the Titanians off their planet. So they're xenophobic but not racist... is that better??

Earth-Man says that he can't help them, even though he threw away the Lantern ring. Yay - so the fascist xenophobe won't help his evil group of former co-conspirators any more because he's a Legionnaire.

Just let that sentence sink in. Am I allowed to say "not my Legion" at this point?

At Legion HQ, Cosmic Boy provides a much-needed explanation of why Dawnstar didn't solve the missing twins problem: she was away on another mission and Saturn Girl doesn't like it when help is forced upon her. Also, she was certain the twins were taken through time, which is why she stole the Time Bubble, and it's only because this whole story doesn't make sense that we're on Avalon.

Sensor Girl comments that it's good we're close to an election for the new Legion leader (no idea why they're all criticizing Cosmic Boy) and I really hate her costume... especially the mask... 

As they keep sniping at each other, Cosmic Boy schedules the next election for next month, we learn that Matter-Eater Lad has resigned to go back to Bismoll, and they're considering the Black Witch and Blok resigned as well. So they're down to 26 active members. Quislet comments that they're "Silly Flesh Creatures" and Shadow Lass agrees. Doesn't that include her?

Does that make me silly as well because I'm reading this?

On Avalon, Lightning Lad leaps into action even though they're not sure where their children are. Since he's still bad at being a superhero, he blasts the guards into unconsciousness (so they can't tell them any information) while Ayla poses dramatically. They mow through the guards quickly but as they reach the prison door, Saturn Girl swoons. Then Garth is blasted by some evil force.

It's the leader, holding the Darkseid blade that fires mystic beams of energy. Ok, I guess that's how they got the twins... maybe...

Back to the meeting of the xenophobes... Earth-Man physically shoves a woman away from him (guess he's still racist and violent) and says that he's not doing anything that will cost him Legion membership because that ring will enable him to save mankind his way.

He flies off in anger and the remaining Earthlings decide to continue with their plans, knowing that Earth-Man will do the right thing.

I'm really getting Andromeda deja vu here except he's not a confused teenager that was abused by people she trusted. Earth-Man's a psychopath. I really just want this to end and I know it's not going to.

Next, we head to Naltor, where Dream Girl is trying to convince the High Seer that it's good for her homeworld that she brought Dawnstar and Gates with her. And according to them, the Legionnaires are going "to live on Naltor." They're going to attempt "a successful blending."

Before any of this makes sense, they reveal that Professor Li is there and this might just mean that Naltor is going to get the new Time Institute. Li promises not to destroy Naltor as she did Titan and the High Seer is just happy they're getting this shiny new scientific structure... maybe...

Ok, so the Legionnaires aren't going to live there... Li was the blending, I guess. Once again, a scene that makes no sense. But that's kinda becoming par for the course.

Just a quick aside, if you're sending Legionnaires on a diplomatic mission to Naltor, why would you send Dawnstar and Gates? Have either of them ever been written as well-spoken and charming characters? Or characters who are good with different races and cultures?

Lightning Lass and bald guy with a knife are fighting on Avalon and it looks like Darkseid's knife is strong enough to defeat Ayla. The guy wants magic back on his planet, talks about how his master defeated the Legion there, and how he's more powerful than a Legionnaire.

Okay, not how I remember the Great Darkness Saga, but so be it.

To make matters worse, this guy (I seriously went back to find his name... nothing...) can wield Omega beams and fires at Ayla. Her response? To grab the other one and pull him in front of the beams.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's a Legionnaire killing someone, but what do I know anymore?

Nope, the guy quickly says that he'll locate the other villain another time, so can we just assume that Ayla immediately knew these were teleportation beams? And if so, are these the same beams that took the twins? And if so, how did Imra not recognize them if Ayla can? And if so, can this guy, or Darkseid actually, fire these beams at anyone in the universe even if he can't see them? And if so, why doesn't Darkseid just do that before he fights, say, Superman?

As the guy readies another blast, Ayla zaps Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad to wake them up. Unfortunately, she takes the full shot of blue energy and it looks like she's knocked out.

We head to Oa, to prolong the dumbest subplot of this series. Dyogene, the blue creature who gave the Lantern ring to Earth-Man, is ready to give up after they failed. Sodam Yat, the last Green Lantern, orders him to continue and to find another worthy hero. Or villain, at this point. Just someone who's willing to accept the burden. We also learn that Yat can't die until they find a new Green Lantern.

Here's a quick aside - why not give the ring to a character from the Legion's past and bring them back as a new Legionnaire? Or here's a crazy idea - Celeste Rockfish.

Time to wrap up the Avalon story. Saturn Girl projects an image of Darkseid in the bad guy's mind, showing how much the villain would treat him with contempt and scorn. It also looks like Imra's showing him that Darkseid would just blast him into dust. And the knife turns to dust as well in this vision.

They get their kids and we see that the bad guy is kinda turned to dust... for real... so did Saturn Girl kill him? Was she powerful enough to destroy the knife too? Are we levelling up Imra just like we did with Projectra? Ayla even calls out the Legion oath against killing but we're just ignoring this moment.

In Brainy's lab, as Querl continues his experiments to eliminate cockroaches (I really like this running joke), Shadow Lass comes in to "bug" him and then asks about the special ring he made for Earth-Man.

Brainy reveals that it originally was supposed to control his powers and to disable him, if needed, but the Green Lantern ring cancelled both of those. There's also a mood control on it, that's definitely a surprise for Kurt. Brainy wonders why Tasmia is interested and she says that she finds him "unpredictable."

Elsewhere in the HQ, Sensor Girl is letting Cosmic Boy know what she's discovered about the xenophobes. She's been using her powers to learn that, even though most of the Titanians have been moved off-planet, there's still a lot of people plotting against them.

Oh, and we discover why her mask looks so bad - she's wearing a headdress that makes her forehead gigantic. Seriously, you could pick any previous Jeckie costume in Legion history and it's better than what she's wearing here. I'm including the fan-designed one from the early 70s that only lasted one issue.

Earth-Man enters and they ask him if he knows what the Xenos (yep, they got a nickname) are planning. He asks, "How would I know that?" and flies off, planning to "borrow" Sensor Girl's powers to find out himself.

Shadow Lass flies up to him, asking where he's going, and they both fly off together.

...shudder...

I just want to point out they never named the main villain of this book. How does that get past editorial?

I think this issue has fully encapsulated everything that I'm not liking about this series. On one hand, it "feels" like an old Legion comic. You get the whole team, you get the Levitz method of the main plot line taking center stage while the sub plots percolate for a few pages to keep us ready for the next issue, you get enough soap opera to get you invested in the characters, and you get big battles mixed with quieter moments.

But this feels like a knock off the Legion, if that makes any sense. Nothing "feels" right. Sensor Girl isn't "really" Jeckie. Shadow Lass isn't "really" Tasmia. It's like a bunch of imposters have dressed up like your favorite heroes and taken their places.

With the Reboot and Threeboot version of the Legion, they were completely different characters. If they didn't act like the versions you had in your head, that was okay because they're not the same. Yes, Saturn Girl should be Saturn Girl and have the same moral center, but it didn't feel like a fake. It just felt like they didn't understand who Imra is.

But here, because they're so determined to make sure you know that these are the OG Legionnaires from the Silver and Bronze Ages, you know when it's wrong. And you know when the moments don't "feel" right. And when they ignore moments of the past (like the fact that Sensor Girl doesn't work as a hero if you know she's Projectra because then the villains will know everything's an illusion), you just can't get past it.

Also, speaking of Projectra, is she every going to mourn the fact that he husband died for a second time? While with another Legionnaire who travelled back in time because she was in love with him?

I so want to love this series and I just end up feeling empty when I'm done reading the stories. I really like the art even and I think Cinar is bringing a ton of energy and excitement to the pages. I keep wishing for the stories to catch up. 

 

Adventure Comics #518

Yep, that's supposed to be Doomsday on the cover. Am I the only one who thinks that's not even remotely close? I was certain it was a mutated Gorilla Grodd.

We're back to the Legion's past again and the team has grown from the original three. On the very first page, we see Ultra Boy and Sun Boy have joined the founders and they're still trying to capture Zaryan (remember him from last issue? He's stealing robots!). So I guess everyone has joined in the time between last and this issue, which means Zaryan's been thieving for a while now.

Oh, and yes I know that Zaryan is going to eventually kill Lightning Lad, but I'm trying to pretend there's going to be a twist here. Or hoping for one...

Once again, Paul Levitz is handling the writing, Kevin Sharpe is pencilling, and Marlo Alquiza inking.

This is something that just occurred to me - has anyone ever posited that maybe Levitz was overloaded by writing two comics each month? I mean, the last time he wrote more than one comic a month was back in the mid-80s... and he's been working as an executive for all these years... maybe he just took on more than he was ready for. Writing a comic book isn't something you just jump back into, right? Especially with this many characters.

The Legion is battling through Zaryan's thugs, all of whom are wearing really old-school style space suits. Saturn Girl reminds us that this mission is personal - after all, it was kinda her fault that an S.P. officer died last issue. This is why she's not willing to let Sun Boy fly ahead - Imra's determined to find the villain herself.

They burst onto the bridge of the ship they've boarded and we finally get our first look at Zaryan - on the computer monitor. Lightning Lad knocks out the ship's captain, Waphan, and Zaryan offers the Legion money to stop them from interfering with his raids. Of course the Legion rejects him and Imra grabs the navigation chip on the ship so now they know where the next rendezvous will be.

Because there's no way Zaryan would change locations, right?

Back at the clubhouse, Phantom Girl and Superboy are chatting about everything that's going on with the team. Tinya tells him that things have been weird recently - Legionnaires have been hearing voices. Other people on the team have been freaking out, like Invisible Kid, but Tinya's used to handling "ambiguous situations." She asks Superboy if he's like to see the personal quarters and Clark flies away like he's got an emergency to attend to. She giggles at his awkwardness and goes back to hunting ghosts.

Is it weird that Tinya's confidence and directness in dealing with Clark is one of my favorite parts of these books? I want more confident and direct Phantom Girl.

Zaryan is heading to Naltor and is not too sad Warthan's crew was taken by the S.P.s. Um, is this someone else, because the Legion captured a captain named Wapham. Does Zaryan only hire captains whose names are similar? Or did editorial drop the ball on this one?

To no one's surprise, Zaryan discovers that dozens of S.P. cruisers are waiting for him on Naltor and can't understand how this is possible. Does no one know that the Naltorians can see the future? He's not worried about defeating them until he sees that the Legion are part of the force as well.

Once again, the team makes short work of Zaryan's forces and Cosmic Boy sends Ultra Boy to catch an escaping battle cruiser. Rokk takes a blast to the shoulder and needs to go to a medicenter. Ultra Boy can't grab the ship before it speeds off... and I honestly have no idea why. Once again, the art and text doesn't make it clear. We see Ultra Boy behind the ship and the sound effect "Whump." So he hit it? But he's still close enough to almost grab it in the next panel. And then he misses. I guess I'm just unable to read comics anymore...

On the plus side, I've finally figured out who Sharpe's influence is - Dave Gibbons. There are a few panels that almost look like he's traced an old Gibbons comic.

Planet-side, the High Seer is congratulating Nura Nal for her premonition - that's why they knew to be prepared for the attack. I guess Saturn Girl getting the navigation chip wasn't really needed, right? Could it have killed them to explain that the nav chip Imra found brought them here as well? Just a throwaway line?

Nura talks about how she foresees herself, older, among the Legionnaires and then she collapses. It's how she most accurately sees the future.

Her vision this time: A Legionnaire's death.

Sorry, Garth.

Superboy has gone to the Superman museum and learns about his death - he's standing in front of a huge Doomsday statue. He purposely ignores the date and says that he's happy Saturn Girl's telepathic command make him forget anything he learns in the future.

Quick question about that - will he remember this when he returns to the future? Will every Legion mission lead to him thinking about his own death? Why would the Legion have shown him this place?

He hears a voice telling him to go home. Is it the ghost from the clubhouse? Is he hallucinating as well? The voice continues: "Go home... the future needs you to live... you can't stay here..."

So Superboy flies off, wanting to talk to Phantom Girl about ghost hunting. You think he wishes he went to Tinya's personal quarters instead?

He and Tinya go and talk to Brainiac 5 about what he heard. Brainy has an easy solution - send Superboy back home until his next scheduled visit.

Which is exactly what they do. The trio get into a Time Bubble and take Superboy back to Smallville. Phantom Girl mentions that they'll also have a new leader - Cosmic Boy resigned after getting injured. So yes, Cosmic Boy has resigned as Legion leader in both books. Wow - what did he do to irritate everyone?

Most definitely to be continued...

I've now come the the simple conclusion that I no longer want to see any new Legion book that's "replaying the hits." No more retelling of the Ranzz family getting their powers. No more retelling of Superboy's first meeting with the Legion. No more retelling of Trom's destruction. We've all seen them all. Give us new stories.

I really enjoyed the first story of Adventure, where we saw Superboy exploring the 31st Century for fun. It was a past story but showed a moment we hadn't seen before.

But this one, where we're just reliving Lightning Lad's death? It's just not needed.

Thoughts? Are you enjoying either of these more than I am? Did something leap off the page and get you attention? Did I miss something? Please let me know either here or on Reddit.

On the podcast front, our latest episode hits and it's a special look at the second Paul Levitz run in Legion of Super-Heroes Volume 2. And we have a special guest: writer Alex Segura. We talk about how amazing this run is, how special the Levitz/Keith Giffen partnership was, and our favorite moments of the series.

Check it out here on Podbean or on your favorite podcast app!

Check it out here on YouTube!