Welcome back my fellow fans of the Legion of Super-Heros, to this landmark issue for several reasons. 

First, our beloved editor, Murray Boltinoff, has left the premises. Murray has been here since the beginning. He ushered in the new direction for the Superboy line, brought on Mike Grell as the artist as Dave Cockrum’s replacement, helped onboard the return of Jim Shooter, and basically helped bring the book up to a certain status. A status that would be used as a foundation that would end up propelling the Legion to heights undreamed of before. So let us raise our Legionnaire flight rings to the sky, and as we watch Murray board the mighty Legion Cruiser that will whisk him away into the cosmos, let our beloved battle-cry ring out forth as a thank you to his contribution…

LONG LIVE THE LEGION!

Secondly, as one chapter ends another begins, and with that let us welcome to the book the newest editor that many DC fans are already well aware of, Mr. Denny O’Neil! If you are reading along you also know that Denny is editing the spin-off series, Karate Kid. They have been promising more of a synergy between the two books, so I am very excited to find out, together, whether or not that transpires.

Finally, this second part of a two part story is the final installment for Jim Shooter. And what a curtain call this is. Not only does he wrap up the second story very effectively, but he hits us with an incredible moment at the end, that could only be described in this simplistic 21st Century as a mic drop. I will have more reflection on the Shooter-era in the Creative-Team section. But for now, roll up your sleeves, crack your knuckles, because it is reading time!

When Stargrave Strikes 

Above remote Planetoid P88-01, the sky is shattered! Along an iridescently crazed plane an anti-matter, universal threatens to breach the barriers of time and space and touch our own continuum, triggering a cataclysm that could destroy both!

Nine Legionnaires have met here in an attempt to avert the disaster. Their efforts are suddenly interrupted by Holdur, who enthusiastically attacks Superboy in order to prove his worth to his master. And boy is Holdur fast as Lightning Lad quickly realizes he cannot hit him with a bolt of lightning. Brainiac 5 quickly instructs Star Boy to intervene, whose sun powers will not hurt Superboy but should be enough to give Holdur a nice singe. But as he takes his aim, the ground he is standing on quickly turns into liquid. And it is none other than Quicksand, effectively sinking Sun Boy, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Karate Kid, Chameleon Boy, and Star Boy before turning the liquid back into solid rock, encapsulating them all in her trap.

Suddenly Stargrave arrives and tells them to cease their efforts and congratulates them on doing so well. Stargrave—a lone imposing figure, who is poised on a nearby peak. Awesome energy crackles around him as he reaches out toward the torn sky. The planetoid trembles. Natural laws bend to his will as the sky fuses and tears the fabric of space before it is mended once again. Saving them all. 

Superboy is dumbfounded and he knows that not even the whole Legion working together could have done what Stargrave just accomplished. Karate Kid ignores his sentiment and immediately sets to work freeing himself with some nicely placed elbow thrusts. He moves onto the rest of the Legionnaires, helping them out from their rock prison. Stargrave then starts to grow and within seconds our super-heroes of the 30th century find themselves in Stargrave’s throne room. Or what he likes to call, home. 

Our heroes start to bombard him with questions but he orders them to silence and seals them in a force bubble. He then tells them that it was he who made the fissure in space above this planet knowing that they would arrive. And he brought them here because he needs their strength and help, and he requires an ally. 

Indeed, it was him who released the Time Trapper from the time stasis field in which they had imprisoned him (as seen in Adventure Comics #338). Stargrave knew that the Time Trapper would set on revenge and he fully expected for him to be successful. But when the Legion defeated him, he knew he would instead choose the Legion of Super-Heroes to fight by his side.

Superboy has heard enough. He slams with all his might against the force field, proving that it is not so impenetrable after all. The Legionnaires are free and Princess Projectra throws up an image of Mordru that scares Holdur away. Quicksand joins the fray and turns the ceiling into cold, molten steel that rains down on Chameleon Boy, Sun Boy and Princess Projectra and makes it solid again, completely covering them. Karate Kid screams out that they are trapped and will suffocate and pleads with Saturn Girl to get them out, especially his beloved. Saturn Girl can still locate them telepathically and knows they are simply unconscious and in no real danger.

Star Boy jumps on the moment and uses his power to increase Quicksands weight, forcing her to sink into the floor, completely helpless. Holdur jumps on Brainy but he uses his force-shield to stave off the attack. Lightning Lad begins hurling bolts right at Stargrave but they are not affecting him. Superboy notices Stargrave’s attention is diverted on Brainy, and rushes him for a surprise attack.

Stargrave is surprised but only for a short moment. He grabs Superboy by the neck, rears back with a clenched fist, and hits Superboy so hard that he crashes through the air and into outer space. A scene so beautifully depicted by Mike Grell that it deserves an inclusion below. 

Stargrave thinks he is out of the way, but only seconds later does Superboy explode through the wall. All eyes are on Superboy as he is obviously very very angry. He slowly walks toward Strargrave with fists clenched. Holdur attempts to intercept him but Superboy swats him away like he would a fly. 

Stargrave calls the son of Krypton a fool and that he is overconfident. Though Superboy might have the might to shatter worlds, Stargrave is the embodiment of a blazing sun. He announces himself as Pulsar Stargrave, and becomes bigger, looming over Superboy. Superboy does not care how big he gets and he reaches back to deliver a mighty super-punch but is in vain. And the blow backfires, knocking Superboy unconscious. Brainy orders the Legionnaires to blast him and bring Stargrave down.

Lightning Lad hurls deadly lightning bolts and Sun Boy hits him with an intense blast of solar heat. Star Boy jumps in a increases the radiation while Saturn Girl assists and delivers mighty mental blasts. But all these powers combined in such an incalculable power has no effect against Stargrave.

Stargrave smiles at Brainiac, and calls him by his true name, Querl. He tells him he is weary of this so called game and decides to end it. And with a wave of his hand the Legionnaires are put out of commission once and for all. But Stargrave reassures Brainy that they are not dead and that he will listen while he tells him exactly who he is, and why he is here. 

“I was once mortal, like you Querl! I was a scientist, investigating an unusual stellar phenomenon in my one-man laboratory probe, when my life support system failed. To preserve my life I took an emergency drug, which induced a state of suspended animation, hoping that someone would find and rescue me. Eventually, I was found by spacefarers of an unknown race who misinterpreted my coma and believed me to be dead.

“As was their custom, they teleported my seemingly lifeless body into the heart of the nearest star, just as that star reached its supernova stage. My body was destroyed! But in that critical nanosecond my mind somehow fused with the exploding plasma. The supernova collapsed into a pulsar but I was one with a living pulsar. Soon, I mastered my own energies and reincarnated myself into this body.”

Hearing the story, Brainy solemnly replies that he looks much like he did before. Stargrave is surprised because it has been fifteen years and Brainy was just a child. But Brainy reminds him of his photographic memory and asks him what he will do with such power.

Leaving it unanswered for the moment, we propel a bit in time when the Legionnaires are traveling back in their cruiser digesting their meeting with Pulsar Stargrave. Lightning Lad speaks directly to Brainy, telling him he has not said much since they left and asks him what Stargrave told him. Chameleon Boy is also curious and wonders what his ultimate goal is.

Brainiac 5 closes his eyes and simply says…everything. Brainy tells them that Stargrave wants help in taking over the universe, and he adds that he also thinks they should. Superboy and Sun Boy are shocked and they tell Brainy that he must be insane. But Brainy is convinced, and be lays out his reasons. 

Later, as a solemn Brainiac 5 walks a darkened dormitory hall, lost in thought, Stargrave appears in holographic form. He asks Brainy to give him an answer and Brainy tells him that he did convince the Legion to join his side and fight against his enemy. But he warns Stargrave that if they win, the alliance ends and they will try to stop him from conquering the universe. 

Stargrave asks what about him and he replies that he accepts his mission and will leave for Zerox immediately to begin the war against Mordru. And as Superboy inches closer and continues to listen to Brainiac 5’s conversation, Brainy bows his head and tells Stargrave that he cannot fight him.

And then calls him father.

DUN DUN DUUNNNNNNNNN

Next: The Legion gets a new leaders—in the most disputed election ever! “And who shall lead them!” On sale December 21st!

Creative Team

I will now officially state that this and the last issue were probably the best of the series so far. And it has a lot to do with Jim Shooter. Not only did he create a new interesting ‘villain’ that is in direct conflict with a member of our beloved Legion, but he laid some track and teased the return of Mordru. 

It is a pity that he left at this point, just when things were ramping up. We do know that he will move to Marvel and make quite a contribution as an editor on a line of books, and specifically as a writer to the Avengers. He will eventually become Editor in Chief, directly contributing to one of the Golden Ages in Marvel’s vast history, and not to mention changing the comic book industry for the better. Shooter would go on to introduce creator rights, specifically creating and implementing policies as it relates to compensation for the creation of characters that Marvel would use. And DC would also follow suit. If it were not for Shooter we probably would not have many of the new characters and stories that we received as the Bronze Age was getting into high gear. You could write an entire essay on this, and many have, but let us take a bit of time and write a few words on Shooter’s legacy on Superboy Starring/and the Legion of Super-Heroes.

When I think back on Superboy Starring the Legion of Super-Heroes #209, the issue that made his return, it was a definitive introduction of things to come. He used a character that he created, Karate Kid, and placed him in a very challenging situation in order to save Princess Projectra. The solution ended up being KK’s determination and resilience, as we he gritted his way through the machine that allowed him to take all of Princess Projectra’s pain. The look of agony and the depiction that these Legionnaires could be hurt, and hurt bad, brought the line to very much an adult audience.

The following issue, #210, was Soljer’s Private War, a very dark tale that definitely had reflections of the Vietnam War. Here Shooter really differentiated himself from Cary Bates, and was not afraid to dive into controversial topics. In short, with these two issues it was a clear signal that Shooter would be contributing his knowledge of Legion lore, especially the chapters that he helped create, while not shying away from controversial themes. Also, he allowed his characters to argue with each other. Wildfire was given a temper, and Shooter even explored the themes of bondage.

Were there missteps? Of course. As I stated in previous entries, I did not enjoy the way he treated his female characters, in particular Light Lass, whom Cosmic Boy slapped at the end. This could be his characterization of Cosmic Boy being an absolute prick and perhaps proof that this was the direction Shooter wanted to go with that character, much like his choice with Wildfire. But regardless, you could see a convenient theme of the female characters not being respected.

However, all in all, Shooter really set the table nicely for things to come. I do think if it were not for him and of course for Mike Grell’s incredible art, we would still be stuck in the Murray Boltinoff/Cary Bates-plot devices that would end up not really going anywhere. Nothing against Mr. Bates, these devices served their purpose and have proven to be quite effective (Bates is one of the Master’s after all). But if it were not for Shooter I do not think we would end up getting the classic storylines that we will end up getting as we progress into the Levitz era. 

If you read some of my earlier posts on Shooter’s earlier stories, you will see me making a lot of remarks that he is about ready to jump to Marvel, or his time on the Legion is numbered. In fact, because he started with issue #209 and would leave after #224, he ended up sticking around for a good year and a half. I think what made it feel short was that Shooter was definitely hampered by the scheduling and transitioning of the book. Superboy moved from eight issues a year to twelve, and you could tell throughout that Boltinoff was scrambling in ensuring that the stories were there in order to meet the deadlines. This resulted in some pretty unmemorable backups, by both authors, and a definite inconsistency of approach. It was painfully obvious that Bates and Shooter were not coordinating, as was proven by the new Legionnaire Tyroc, which was a brainchild of Cary Bates and Mike Grell. Shooter never used him, and probably never intended to. And as you progressed from issue to issue and Tyroc still did not show up, the book felt outdated and that it was simply treading water. It is no surprise that DC had to change things up, and Shooter jumping to Marvel was a good incentive for them to do so.

So how can we rate Shooter’s return in the grand scheme of things, especially as it relates to this series? I would say it is solid one and he planted essential seeds to readers and showed them that the book could be something more than one-off stories or a team of teenagers conveniently solving problems. If it was not for this, there would be no Levitz and possibly not the tremendous success that the book would experience for literally another two decades.

So farewell Mr. Shooter. It was a real pleasure getting the stories that we got from you. Thank you for your contributions and thank you for making it so easy to be a fan of the Legion of Super-Heroes. 

Super-Talk

You would think that with these bombshells dropping we would get at least a peak or a warm welcome to Denny O’Neil who would set the table for things to come. But we do not get any of that. Instead we have three letters that pretty much are complimentary on the monthly status.

From the quality of these full-lengthers, it would be wise to focus on this format rather than reverting back to the back-up stories. But with Shooter gone and Paul Levitz taking the reins, while also knowing that we are not getting a direct follow up to this issue, I think we might have to wait a little bit.

Next issue will be the election of a new leader, which will also be a first for this series. So far we only had two inductions of actual members, Wildfire and Tyroc, and a switch of acting leaders, which is usually Mon-El. So this will already be a welcome addition. Stay tuned.

The Legion Medallion of Merit

Welcome to the ceremony for the Legion Medallion of Merit. This is the time where we award one Legionnaire with a beautiful medallion, who went above and beyond for his teammates and truly made a difference. If it were not for members like these, the Legion of Super-Heroes would not be as great as they are. And surely they would not be the great group of heroes in the 30th Century.

I believe this is a first since we started giving out Medallions. For this is the second time in a row that they are deserving of such an award. And if you have been reading along you know that the recipient is none other than Superboy!

Look, Stargrave punched Superboy so hard that he left the planet. But scant seconds later, he returned to the fight, more determined than ever, to bring Brainiac-5’s papa down. He never gave up no matter how many times he fell down.

Enjoy Superboy! Because of your super-strength your neck will not be heavy, carrying the burden of two Medallions at once. But perhaps we can allow just a tiny sliver of red sun in the room so you can know just how much of an honor this truly is. Wear them both proudly!

And that is all for this week’s installment. May the gods bless Jim Shooter and the Legion of Super-Heroes. And please do not forget…

LONG LIVE THE LEGION!