The battle starts to heat up between the Legion and the Legion! The Academy students become immoral thugs. XS is back, and no one will be happy about it. Let's look at Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 6) #12 & Adventure Comics #526

Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 6) #12

Welcome back as we continue looking at the final storyline of volume 6... which is very weird to say, considering this title didn't even last two years before everything in the DC universe was ripped apart and rebooted... kinda...

The recap: The Legion of Super-Villains is back, led by Saturn Queen, as she wants to destroy the four planets that symbolize good in the universe. They've already blown up the Rock of Eternity and now they're on Colu, which has gone silent. Dawnstar is flying around, searching for a blue energy force that put her in a coma. Brainiac 5 is both sexist and a horrible teammate... but at least he's trying to save Star Boy. Anything else, we'll get to it as we go.

"False Trails" is written by Paul Levitz with Yildiray Cinar and Jonathan Glapion on art.

We begin on Rimbor, where Lightning Lord and Atta, LSV members who are tasked with finding new members, are seeing just what Stegus, an evil dinosaur alien (who comes from the planet Saurius) can do. What can he do? Kill lots of people, judging from the massive amount of blood on the first page.

Just as the three of them are about to leave, but not before Mekt gives us a nice rundown explaining that he's loyal to Saturn Queen, but not too loyal, Colossal Boy arrives. If you bet that he would be wearing a new costume and would get blasted almost immediately, you'd be two for two. Atta slashes Gim with one of her knives and it's Phantom Girl to the rescue.

Lightning Lord orders Stegus to retreat, telling them they can kill Legionnaires later (although I don't know why they don't just finish off the unconscious Colossal Boy). He fires off a lightning blast that blinds everyone... including Stegus, who's knocked unconscious by Ultra Boy.

If you were wondering, as I am, where Atta and Lightning Lord went, you're obviously not alone. But Ultra Boy flies off with Stegus, leaving Tinya with the almost unconscious Gim.

If I was Atta, this is when I'd attack. But the LSV members are nothing but not incapable of completing the main goal of the team.

Back in Legion HQ, Brainiac 5 is trying to get Star Boy's costume off of him. It's harder than it looks, and not just because it's skin tight. It's connected to the multiverse and is causing his mental problems. Dream Girl yells at Brainy, who reminds her that Thom volunteered for the mission, volunteered to wear the costume, and suffers from bad luck. Yes, that's a longtime part of Star Boy's character, so I kinda like that someone mentions it again.

Also, it's kinda nice seeing, as the multiversal energies are being pulled out of Thom, the different reboot versions of the character hovering over him.

Brainy decides to head to Colu, assuming that their silence is connected to the Takron-Galtos break out. He's guessing that he'll be asked to lead the team heading there to investigate. He also tells Professor Li, who dropped the bombshell last issue that she's responsible for everything that's happening on Colu, that she'll have to wait until he gets back. If you told me that Levitz was planning on driving Brainy crazy again, kinda like what happened back in the Bronze Age, I'd totally believe it. Nothing he says or does makes much sense. First he wants to know everything about Li, then he doesn't. First he wants to lead the team and take charge, then he doesn't. First he acts like he hates everyone, then he gives a speech about how the Legion is full of his friends. I'm actually kinda worried he's going to break down soon.

Speaking of Colu, the other LSV members, Saturn Queen, Immortus, Sun Killer, Hunter, and Questor, are trying to find the location of the mystery "world of the wise" they want to destroy. Questor, who's a Coluan, is having trouble accessing all the planet's data.

To gain access, Saturn Queen gets the information from the closest Coluan, killing him. Questor calmly asks Immortus to dispose of his uncle's body.

In Okinawa, Timber Wolf continues his investigation to try to locate Sun Killer... who we know is on Colu, so he's turned this into a chance for Levitz to provide us the villain's back story. We find out Sun Killer is a solar power vampire and is not on Earth... which is when the S.P. officer asks Brin is he's off duty. But Brin doesn't have time to relax... or go on a date... he's got to find the LSV.

Back on Rimbor, Ultra Boy catches up to Atta, who wants to use her knives on him. Since he's invulnerable, she can't do much. But Lightning Lord can, and he blasts Jo in the back, knocking him out after he switched to super speed. Man, even in this universe Ultra Boy doesn't know how to use his powers very well.

Phantom Girl comes to the rescue, kicking Atta in the face. As Mekt gets ready to blast Jo, Lightning Lass shows up and it's yet another Ranzz family feud. Tinya tells Jo to turn invulnerable, so his energy can heal him, and he's ready to take another lightning blast to the chest.

Which is when Zymyr shows up and teleports the two LSV members away. On the plus side, it looks like Mekt and Atta failed completely - they didn't get any new members.

Somewhere in space, Dyogene (you remember him - he's the alien who handed Mon-El his Green Lantern ring) and Mon-El are surrounded by rocks and debris. Dyogene tells him that this used to be an enormous citadel of faith and Mon-El says that he "met him, long ago." I'm guessing they're where the Rock of Eternity used to be, and Mon's talking about Captain Marvel. But there's no way we'd ever use captions to explain this.

On Colu, Invisible Kid, Element Lad, and Timber Wolf are fighting against Sun Killer and Immortus. Brainiac 5 leaves them to the battle, not caring a bit that his planet has been attacked. He enters the Prax Infocampus, ordering Earth-Man to follow him.

Xart Prax blasts him but Brainy quickly knocks the Coluan out. Saturn Queen arrives, and now that the blue flame has made her more powerful than before, she's quickly able to take control of Earth-Man's mind... insert you own joke here.

Brainy calls for help from Tellus and Gates (they're just waiting to attack Saturn Queen) before she takes control of him as well. In case we all forgot, the pair is literally just sitting and waiting to be called into action to face off against Saturn Queen. So, of course, they don't show up.

Zymyr arrives and quickly whisks Saturn Queen and Questor (who has the coordinates for the planet of wisdom) away, leaving Lightning Lord and Atta to fight the other Legionnaires. Until next issue...

This is a very average part three of a multi-part story. Nothing really happens except the villains get moved into place, the heroes get closer to stopping them, and none of the mysteries are solved. I say average because it makes you want to come back next issue, but it doesn't really accomplish anything.

Art-wise, I was kinda surprised by the fact that Cinar's work didn't look as sharp as in previous issues. I'm going to mark this up to the fact that we have a different inker. I know he has better work in him, so I'm hoping it's going to get better as this continues.

I know I've made this complaint time and time again, but wouldn't it be nice to actually see the Legion working together as a team for once? Atta should be the easiest LSV member to take down and yet, for reasons that make no sense, she keeps escaping. Every time the Legion sees her, they just forget every advantage they have.

Also, and this is connected to everything else that's been going on in Adventure Comics, we have yet another issue where Invisible Kid shows up and I can't help but think that every single Academy trainee would be a better Legionnaire than poor Jacques. 

 

Adventure Comics #526

"First Hints" is brought to you by storytellers Paul Levitz and Geraldo Borges and inker Marlo Alquiza. Since I assumed that crediting Levitz and previous artist Phil Jimenez as storytellers meant that both were contributing to the plot, are we to assume the same thing here? Or does Levitz not want to take all the blame here?

We're still on Phlon and Chemical Kid has brought Gravity Kid and Dragonwing to the University of Phlon to get some scientific secrets. They're investigating how Chemical Kid's dad gave up his gene mod tech to pay off his gambling debts to the Taurus Gang.

You know, now that I think about this, if his dad couldn't pay his gambling debts, isn't giving up his gene mod tech an acceptable way to pay them back? Would FanDuel accept tech if you lose on their platform?

Oh, and I'm only now noticing that Gravity Kid has a costume that gives 70's Cosmic Boy a run for his money.

Levitz is also starting to use these character's first names in the dialogue, so I guess I'm going to have to learn who's who. Chemical Kid is Hadru. Gravity Kid is Tel. And Dragonwing is Marya.

They break into a university building and discover Chemical King's memorial. He wasn't buried on Shanghalla but here, instead. Hadru says that his "best bits" are buried in the memorial. Dragonwing says what we're all thinking: "Creepy."

They bust into the coffin and it's full of Condo Arlik's raw genes... which look like glowing rocks to me. Each rock has the original mutation, so they grab one to bring back to Glorith to work her magic on.

For those keeping score at home, the students have nor committed breaking and entering, grand theft, and grave robbing. And these are the heroes. 

Let's go back to Legion Academy, where Night Girl, Duplicate Girl, and Bouncing Boy are talking about what the Legion is looking for in their new members. Lydda still figures that Power Boy was one of their best and offers exactly what the Legion needs. Chuck figures that they'd never let him join these days... which Luornu is quite happy about.

I know I've ranted about this before, but this whole plot line just makes less and less sense the more you think about it. And the fact that Bouncing Boy doesn't see himself as being an acceptable Legionnaire these days tells you that things are really askew. The whole beauty of the Legion is that the members have different powers, not that they're all powerhouses. Has the creative team completely forgotten this? 

Who the Legion selects as a member has never really made sense. They reject heroes who they shouldn't. They accept ones who should never be given a ring. It's all really down to the whims of the writers and then they have to make sense of it. If only they had some sort of constitution...

 

3.1 To qualify for active membership, a candidate must:

(i) be at the time of proposed admission under the age of eighteen (18), as measured on the Terran comparative physiological age scale (as periodically revised by the United Planets);

(ii) have at least one genuine super-power not activated, assisted, or powered by extrinsic means and not possessed by the contemporary Terran population; and further, such super-power must be distinct from the super-power(s) possessed by any active member other than Superboy;

(iii) be able to fully control such power; and

(iv) be courageous and of good character. Candidates may be proposed for membership by any member or may propose themselves on such occasions when the Legion of Super-Heroes may announce a willingness to examine candidates.

3.2 Candidates are subject to evaluation by the standing Committee on Membership to determine the candidates' qualifications and merits, including any reasonable testing procedures the Committee may deem necessary and desirable. The results of such evaluation shall then be presented to the membership by the chairperson of such Committee, along with the candidate.

3.3 Voting on new active members shall then take place as provided in Sections 8.2 and 8.3 hereunder. Candidates elected shall be promptly inducted into active membership.

Couldn't this all just be solved by Mon-El bringing forth everyone who's graduated from the Academy and letting the team vote? Why is Cosmic Boy the only person making a decision? 

Back to Phlon - Glorith is preparing a spell, using the special rock, to pull the gene mod out of Alchemical Girl's body. She must be awake, so we basically get to watch Glorith torture this young woman and strip her of her powers.

I have so many questions, the least of which are these: what gives any of these Academy members the right to do this and how are the "teachers" at the Academy okay with this?

Just think about what's happened - these "students" become grave robbers for the sole purpose of stealing someone's powers away. Why do they want to do this? So Chemical Kid can feel unique again. Sending Alchemical Girl to Takron-Galtos isn't enough.

Why not start doing this to every villain? Surely Glorith can get a lightning beast and depower Mekt. Or find the genetic code and remove a Durlan's ability to change shape. Where does this end?

We wrap the story up with Cosmic Boy congratulating Night Girl for her students' performances (while agonizing over having to get the S.P.s to wipe away their crimes) and Chemical Kid happy his dad has money again. Yep, no lessons learned and no one's improved in the slightest. Exactly what I want out of a Legion story.

Our wrap-up shows Glorith ponder what Mysa did to save her last issue. She hopes that Mysa didn't damage herself. I must give Levitz credit here - he must've known both these books were sprinting towards their endings and he's still laying the foundation for a Mordru comeback. Is that optimism or stubbornness?

 

Our back up story this issue, called "Mosaic," was written by Paul Levitz, pencilled by Jeffrey Moy, and inked by Philip Moy. We begin in XS's room and she's putting together a massive mosaic on the wall. And she's doing it very... very... slowly...

Night Girl has arrived to visit and she's surprised by how slowly Jenni is moving. Jenni, who's never met Lydda before, wonders why she's come to Lake Tana (in Ethiopia - remember before when the blue flame blasted out of the ground?) to see her. We get a bit of preamble where Lydda explains that Cosmic Boy sent her to take over the Academy after they broke up. 

Why'd they break up? According to Lydda, "He dumped me so he could concentrate totally on the Legion..."

Yep, so Rokk's an idiot, too.

Anyway, Night Girl is here to ask XS to come to the Legion Academy. XS is justifiably insulted and Lydda tries to reassure her by offering a crash course in this Legion's villains and asks her to help train the recruits.

XS still doesn't want to do it and speeds away.

Where does she run to? She says it's family business - she goes to Olduvai Gorge to find a rock or two for the center of her mosaic. It represents both sides of her family, the Allens and the Ognats.

When she grabs a green rock, she's suddenly overcome with visions. Visions of the past, of her and Impulse, of the beginning of the universe, of her on the speed force treadmill, and of the blue baby that's threatening the galaxy.

Rather than help, or let anyone know what she's seen, or warn the Legion, she goes home and keeps working on her mosaic. Her final line:

"...to finish my mosaic... slowly... and let the Legion worry about whatever came out of that crack that felt like it led straight down to hell."

What the...

So XS left her own universe, all her friends, and everything she knew, including her family, to come to this universe and hide in Africa? She didn't join the Legion? She isn't a super-hero anymore (but is still in costume)? What's the point?

Not even seeing the Moy brothers working on the Legion again is enough to get the bad taste out of my mouth. This was not just disappointing, but also insulting.

Sorry to all the fans of the reboot Legion, but this is yet another example where the creative team can't hide their contempt for the pair that came over from the reboot universe.

I guess, if there's a positive, it's that we're only a few more weeks away from the end of this...

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