DC Special Series #21

Welcome fellow Legionnaires to the final post in the blog that is Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes! Just when we thought we wrapped things up in S/LSH #158…just when we thought things were finally finished with Legion of Super-Heroes #159…a Christmas miracle happened and we have one final installment! And you guessed it! It is a Christmas story.

But Chris, you ask. How do you know this should also be counted as part of S/LSH?

Great question! Well, on page 2 in the first panel, we have the trusty * that tells us: “This Merry Christmas event occurs before the adventure in Superboy and the Legion #258! —Len.” 

So there you have it!

Now, DC Special Series #21 is an interesting one to hunt down because if you do find a copy in the wild, you might be a bit startled on the price point. Why is this issue so special? Because one of the stories, in particular the Batman story, is drawn by none other than the legend, Frank Miller. Making this, effectively, his first Batman story (I think.) Hence the price point.

But if your mouth dropped to the floor do not fret dear comic book collector because this particular story was also reprinted in Christmas With the Super-Heroes #1, which reprinted a bunch of Christmas stories that appeared in a range of DC books. This one has a much better price point and is worth picking up for the Justice League of America #110 reprint. Hal Jordan slips on a bar of soap and John Stewart is called in to replace him and the gang heads off to St. Louis to solve a little mystery. The tale was written by fellow Missourian Denny O’Neil and is a classic.

But stop it Chris, this is not a JLA blog! This is a Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes blog! We made it to the end so do not ruin it and stay focused. And stay focused I will! Because we do have a very special guest artist…the maestro himself, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez! Welcome to Legion HQ Jose!

Even though it is July, bust out some egg nog, put on some Christmas music, and relax in your comfy chair and get ready for the final installment in…

Star Light, Star Bright…Farthest Star I See Tonight!

Superboy returns to 2979 a.d. and instantly admires Legion HQ. The Legionnaires are currently trying to rebuild it after the ramifications of Earthwar. He notices Mon-El and stops by to say hello. As he enters further into Legion HQ he notices that the Legionnaires have not decorated any of the underground passages. Suddenly, he spots some mistletoe and instantly feels a kiss on his cheek. It is Phantom Girl who phased through the wall to greet him. She apologizes for surprising him, but for some reason Superboy does not mind. 

Phantom Girl escorts him further down the hall to Saturn Girl and Superboy wishes her a Merry Christmas. Phantom Girl remarks that Saturn Girl’s luck is bad since she is stuck on monitor duty. But Saturn Girl does not mind since her and Lightning Lad think of Legion HQ as home. Superboy is started when a large projection of Karate Kid, Princess Projectra and Sun Boy fills the monitor board. Saturn Girl simply tells him that Karate Kid invited both Princess Projectra and Sun Boy to Japan for the holidays and they celebrate by undergoing a tea ritual, shared only by close friends. Saturn Girl presses some buttons and then shows him more images on the monitor board; how there are fireworks trees on display on snerl, how Chameleon Boy does not celebrate Christmas so he is on space patrol, to homes like Colossal Boy, where Chanukah is the holiday instead of Christmas. Wildfire walks in and summarizes that all the message are simply the same: peace on Earth. Superboy wonders and he wishes for a good ole fashioned Christmas tree as well as some tinsel. Then he gets an idea. Why do they not simply search for the star that blazed over Bethlehem that Christmas?

Moments later, deep in space, a Legion Cruiser contains Wildfire, Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl and Superboy. Lightning Lad being the expert navigator, he is still puzzled. Based on projecting star patterns from history, he was easily able to identify the coordinates. The trouble is they are where the star should be. But there is no star, just.a lonely, little planet. The Legionnaires look at each other to ask a question they already know the answer to. They are going to have a look around. 

Wildfire starts with his section of the planet and spots scaly creatures trying to extract food that grow on the sea’s surface. The trouble is the ever-increasing cold freezes the food into icebergs, and the creatures only have flippers, making it nearly impossible for them to access the food. Wildfire has an idea and lifts one of the icebergs in the air and uses a controlled burst of his energy-powers. The iceberg melts, releasing the food, much to the happiness of the creatures. Though this is only a temporary solution since the food will only last them a few days. What will they do after that?

Meanwhile, Lightning Lad and Phantom Girl are doing their own investigation. They immediately sight the dominant race of land-dwellers who are trying to keep warm by burning their own crops. If they continue to do so they will run out of food and starve. Phantom Girl hears cries for helps and one of the creatures is surrounded by fire. She swoops in, turns on her Phantom form, and reaches the poor creature. However, the flames are too close for her to fly out but luckily Lightning Lad has an idea. He blasts the fire and carves an area of bare walk, giving Phantom Girl just enough room to fly herself and the creature out. She returns her to her family but the prospect of starvation still hangs heavy over the temporary reprieve. 

While in the high forests a few miles from the shore, Superboy is doing his own rescuing. He carefully takes a nest with eggs for the bird-lady and brings it higher up a tree to protect it from ice storms. He digs out metallic ores and spins cables, and then uses them to lash the nests to the trees, safely out of harms way. 

Moonrise and the four Legionnaires are reunited. They look at the scene and wonder what else they can do. The races they discovered are in hopeless situations and not even evacuation arks could get there soon enough to do a rescue. They simply own’t make it. Superboy suddenly has an idea and urges the rest to follow him. Superboy asks Phantom Girl to hand him some telepathic ear plugs. He will give some to each race and give them the a ability to communicate with each other. And a few minutes later, near one of the hills along the coastline, Wildfire and Lightning Lad are putting into action Superboy’s plan, though they, nor Phantom Girl, know exactly what that plan is. They carve a cave that allows water to drain inside. Superboy returns with representatives from each race and lets his friends on what he was planning. He tells them that these representatives are clan chiefs of the three races, and this cavern will be their common home. 

“Because we sheltered it and gave it access to warm underground springs, the water-dwellers can grow their crops here in safety, which they’ll share with the land-dwellers in trade for the land-dwellers setting fires around the pool’s edge to add to the warmth. And the bird-like species can contribute the wood for hte fires from their trees, in trade for shelter for their young during the great storms. 

“Alone, none of the three races could survive. But together they should be able o hang on until the United Planets can arrange a safe evacuation.” 

Phantom Girl is amazed at the miracle and it warms her heart. Superboy reminds her that is what Christmas is supposed to do. It is about caring and helping, and maybe a brightly shining star in the sky that science says is possible. Wildfire finds it preposterous but Superboy does wonder if something brought them here this Christmas Eve. Later, as Superboy puts the finishing star on the Christmas tree, Saturn Girl wishes all of us Happy Holidays from the Legion of Super-Heroes. 

Creative Team

Paul Levitz jumps back onto the Legion to give us a holiday story in the DC Special Series #21. Though I was happy to see Levitz’s return, I must admit it was quite underwhelming and everything felt quite forced. Now, I am not one to discuss religion and politics on this blog but if I were to believe that Superboy would leave the 20th Century for the 30th, and having done so for a number of years, I do not think, at this point, he would actually believe there was a star of Bethlehem still shining in the sky. I mean yes, Superboy is from Kansas so I do understand that religious value would probably be instilled in him. But the whole thing seems pretty far fetched. I will concede that religion is probably not the point of this story but traditions around Christmas. This makes the exercise mind boggling because even though we do get a quick snapshot of what each Legionnaire does around the holidays, it would have made for a far more interesting story if we made it Legion-centric and had a plot point or conflict on a specific Legionnaire as it related to how they celebrated Christmas.

Oh well.

Okay I am not done. Also, Levitz did not even bother in naming the species that the Legionnaires helped, so it does make you wonder if this thing was quite rushed and last minute. And come on; if you are going to have the Legion fly off in search of the star of Bethlehem in order to have them do something, then you are kind of at the bottom of the barrel and have run out of ideas. I suppose this does sound harsh but the story just did not grab me and we all know Levitz could have done a lot better. If you picked up DC Special Series #21 and read the other stories in the book, you would unfortunately conclude that this story was the weakest of the bunch. 

But the real reason to be here is Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. The master himself gives us his take on the Legion and it is glorious. He does such a great job of rendering the characters that the art is worth the price of admission alone. The only fault with the master is that his character designs for the three species left a lot to be desired. But still, the story was a bit silly in the first place and I do wish Levitz would have him do a bit more with the Legion and made the story have more action. That would have played to his strengths and give us a great take on Garcia-Lopez’s Legion.

To conclude the final entry of this blog as it relates to a study of the issues themselves in the Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes series, this one was sadly not up to par to the stories that came before it. Yes it is a holiday-centric entry so it is restricted on what it can or cannot do. But if we were to compare this to what Gerry Conway was doing at the time, this is definitely a step back. Perhaps that is the reason why it found its way in DC Special Series #21 and not as a back-up in the main line. But either way, I must declare this to be Levitz’s weakest contribution to the series. The saving grace of course is the maestro, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. I just wish he was given a little bit more to do.

The Legion Medallion of Merit

Well folks, this is our final award of the Legion Medallion of Merit where we pick one Legionnaire who went above and beyond the call of duty and made a real difference in the story. This one is a weird one but of course we have to give it to Superboy. Even though he proved himself to be a country-bumpkin from Kansas who believed there was a star of Bethlehem and then forced the Legionnaires to go on a wild goose chase, his leadership still helped to save an entire planet. Or at least give its species time to survive while the United Planets plan a much needed evacuation and find them another home. Congratulations Superboy! May you always follow your gut and your beliefs.

Wow. That is it fellow Legionnaires, we are finished covering all the issues and stories in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes! I will make one more post that will give an overall summary as well as my thoughts of the series as a whole. But until that time, please remember that anything is possible. You just have to put your mind to it. And if it is not possible, Wildfire will tell you so. And in any event always remember that glorious call to action that must ring throughout that universe as many times as possible…

LONG LIVE THE LEGION!