Legion of Super-Heroes #259

Welcome fellow Legionnaires to our final covering of a full issue of the Legion of Super-Heroes starring Superboy! Sadly, this issue is not Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes but rather simply Legion of Super-Heroes #259. As we know, the previous issue left us hanging on a cliff, so we must see where it ends and how Superboy will depart the team. Please allow me to grab a box of tissues.

*Sneeeeeeeze*

Okay, with that out of the way, what an interesting issue this is! We finally get insight into who exactly is the Psycho Warrior and we once again see why Gerry Conway is the absolute best at pacing and dialogue. 

Join me, my friends, as we finish out the series and simply wage…

Psycho War!

Picking up the events from Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #258, medics attend to Sun Boy, Lightning Lad, and Saturn Girl, victims of the so called Psycho-Warrior. The Psycho-Warrior found out their greatest fears and used those fears to immobilize them. Wildfire is filled with rage and Karate Kid does not attempt to calm him down. Superboy and Rene Brande recount the events and unbeknownst to them both, the Psycho-Warrior stands just a few paces away, planning his next attack. But his plans are interrupted when a St. Croix Medical Center craft arrives. 

A group of unnamed doctors alight the craft and are immediately bombarded with questions from the Legionnaires. But before they answer them, the doctors immediately tend to the victims. After successfully putting the trio to sleep, the doctors inform the Legionnaires that they know who attacked them and why. The Legionnaires guide the doctors to Rene Brande’s penthouse so they can talk privately. Once settled in, the doctors tell them that they rushed to find them as soon as they found out that he escaped, because they had reason to believe he was going to do them harm. His name is Rejis Thomak. Chameleon Boy admits that this Psycho-Warrior is a dangerous man but the question is how dangerous. The doctors decide to tell the Legionnaires Thomak’s backstory and how he came to Earth.

“Rejis Thomak is a fourth-generation colonist of Bunyon’s World, a planet located on the very rim of our galaxy, orbiting a double star. Though humans have inhabited Bunyon’s World for close to two hundred years, they haven’t tamed it. And it’s doubtful they ever shall, for Bunyon’s World is in reality a living hell!

“Life on Bunyon’s World is a constant, nightmarish struggle for survival, against predators of every shape, and size, and of every species animal and vegetable. For on Bunyon’s World, even the plantlike has a voracious appetite–human flesh! This is the world Rejis Thomak was born to, and grew to maturity on a madhouse of violence. And it was on Bunyon’s World that he met Matil and fell in love.

“He met her while they shared duty on one of the mining machines which provide Bunyon’s World with its wealth, and its reason for a colony. She was strong, intelligent, competent, in every way. A fit life-mate for a man doomed to that hell-planet. And he loved her, and she loved him.

“It was traditional for Bunyon’s World to send young adults to Earth for their professional education, and Rejis and Matil’s parents agreed to their going together. They left home in a mood of melancholy, and excellent––melancholy, for leaving the world they loved, despite its horrors. And excitement, for the opportunity to explore new worlds together. 

“It was an idyllic time, a time of promise and fulfillment, a time of dreams of hope. And then it was shattered in one horrible moment, as their craft fell off course into the gravity well of a pre-nova star. A one-in-a-million fluke, a faulty automatic navigator, a deadly star not listed on the charts. They tried to alter course, but it was too late. 

“Because of its mass, their spacecraft was caught in the star’s gravity well…but there was a chance that the smaller more maneuverable lifeboat could burst free. They reached the lifeboat in its pod on the spacecraft’s skin; Rejis Thomak stepped in, and turned to help Matil.

“It was tragic: another moment and she would have been at his side––but his shoulder accidentally brushed the automatic injection switch, and in that terrible instant the lifeboat blasted away from the spacecraft’s side, just as the star went nova!

“At least, Matil felt no pain…our computer calculation determined she was vaporized instantly. Rejik Thomak was not so mercifully treated. His survival suit had a polarizing helmet that protected his optic nerves from that blinding burst of actinic light. But nothing could protect his mind from retaining the image, of that last horrible moment, the last sight of the woman he loved, dying in the light.

“We estimate, he drifted in space for two months until. Passing U.P. Survey Ship discovered the shattered lifeboat; his survival suit kept him alive, barely. He was in a state of shock…so naturally he was brought to our facility on St. Croix. It was while he was at St. Croix as a patient that he first came into contact with your fellow Legionnaire, Brainiac 5, also a patient and under our care. I think that’s when he began…to hate you all…

“We noticed, at that time, that he began to take an interest in his surroundings, especially when Superboy, Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, and Sun Boy would visit Brainiac 5. We know now that it was Sun Boy he resented. Sun Boy, whose very being must have bene a reminder of his beloved’s horrible death. 

“Around this time, he showed the first signs of violence. And shortly thereafter, he had to be confined to the maximum security section. Last night, he escaped. After doing two guards, he proceeded to the hospital’s psychological profile computer, where we store the results of the psycho-profiles you Legionnaires were required to undertake under the terms of your charter.”

Shadow Lass and Shrinking Violet are flabbergasted. Then he knows their deepest, darkest fears. A voice looms out behind them confirming their statement. And it is Psycho-Warrior who shouts his hate at the Legionnaires and throws a bomb. Superboy starts to go for it but Chameleon Boy beats him to it and quickly changes into the shape of a Plutonian Protomorph. The bomb explodes. The Psycho-Warrior activates the jets on his ankles and as he makes his escape, throws another bomb, an optic detonator, that explodes. The doctors, Karate Kid, Rene Brande, Shadow Lass, Shrinking Violet, and Chameleon Boy are all paralyzed. But Superboy is not affected and rushes Thomak. Thomak shoots off into the sky and Superboy follows him. Thomak activates a button on his wrist and suddenly Superboy crashes to the ground. 

Superboy picks himself up and sees the grave of Martha and Jonathan Kent. He hears voices and he turns around to his dead foster parents speaking to him. They tell him its not his fault that they died while opening a strange chest in the Caribbean, that caused them to contract the ‘fever plague’ and die. Superboy drops to his knees with tears in his eyes. He did not want to know how they died because he knows he cannot change the past. He feels helpless and the word helpless continues to ring, over and over in his mind. His face then tightens and he shouts the word ‘no.’ He will not play the victim and he knows that Thomak is using his greatest fear against him, the knowledge of his foster parents’ death while he is in the future. Superboy smashes through the illusion and immediately captures Thomak. He tells him he will help him face his fear as well.

Superboy hurtles upward into outerspace with Thomak in his clutches. He flies him closer to the sun, and Thomak screams in terror. He takes out his blaster and tries to shoot the sun, but the sun does not flinch. He cries out for his dead lover Matil and screams that he killed her and it was his fault. He then calls for his own death before passing out. Superboy scoops him in his arms and tells him that he just admitted his fear and it is the beginning to his healing. 

Later, with Thomak back at St. Croix, Superboy announces to his friends that he is leaving. He did not want to know the deaths of his parents, but because he does now he wants to spend as much time as he can with them before they die. What is more, he wants to stay and does not want to return.

Lightning Lad turns to Saturn Girl and asks if that was her doing and she confirms his suspicion. Superboy will always rememberer his parents’ deaths, whenever he returns to the thirtieth century so she implanted a hypnotic suggestion commanding him to remain in the twentieth century, and not to return for his own sake. As they watch Superboy fly away, perhaps for the very last time, each Legionnaire whispers a goodbye in their own way. And they know, no matter where Superboy goes, and whatever he becomes, they think in his heart and theirs, he will always be a…

Legionnaire! 

Creative Team

With Superboy’s departure and the end of the Psycho-War two-parter, we can now say we have definitively wrapped up the Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes stories. The ending is very reflective of the creative team, and how they envisioned the future to be. We still had ramifications of Earthwar as well as Brainy’s insanity, which put a nice spin on the story. With the Legionnaires arriving to visit Brainy, this created an obsession of Rejis Thomak who decided to make them enemies in order to repress his own guilt. I am not sure if Conway did this on purpose to give new villains of the Legion something in common, but Thomak was quite reminiscent of the Infinity Man, in the sense that it was tragic and not really their fault that they succumbed to evil. It was nicely done. 

Indeed, there are some aspects that are quite mired in narration, but because Thomak’s backstory was quite interesting, it did not distract and kept things on track. There was a moment as I was reading the narration that I was reminded of Karate Kid’s own book. Michelinie would use this device quite often, introducing a ‘villain’ of the issue and then have his backstory told. But because it was done only once (so far) it was quite effective. All in all, Conway continues to put the Legion in interesting situations, while acknowledging the consequences of what came before. If you were a Legion fan at the time, I imagine you would be quite excited to see what would happen next. Also, with the use of Sun Boy quite often, I think we can declare that Sun Boy was definitely one of Conway’s favorite Legionnaires. Which was nice, since we did not really see too much of him when Levtiz was on the book. 

As for the art, Joe Staton and Dave Hunt continue doing what they do best. They compliment Conway’s script very well and are able to instill action when needed, as well as tragedy when it occurs. And not to mention that Staton is able to juggle all the different depictions of the Legionnaires themselves as well as the environments they put themselves in. This was not a hard flex that we have seen before, but you can just tell that Staton and Hunt found their groove and were jamming together at the time. You could just see this particular creative team being on the Legion for a very long time. 

As for the ending, with Superboy seeing, for the first time, how his parents died, it was well done. As readers and fans of Superboy, we knew how Jonathan and Martha Kent died from one of the Superboy stories at the time that came out, I believe, in the sixties. And in typical sixties fashion it was quite weird. But they will die and nothing short of that would force Superboy to leave the Legion and decided to dedicate his time to Smallville. Also, one could construe that this was the moment that put Superboy firmly on the track to become Superboy. Conway forces you to imagine that Superboy will not be joining the Legion again any time soon. I think Conway and editor Jack C. Harris wrapped this up quite well. Again, they acknowledged what came before and made it a believable decision. And the decision was finalized by Saturn Girl who made it where Superboy would not be able to return. In short, this issue was a definitive moment in the Legion’s history and a turning point for the book.

All in all, a fitting end to Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes and what a ride it has been. The final post will be my overall thoughts on the series as a whole, and I am toying with the idea of developing a longer essay, going into detail the different periods and moments in the series adn so forth. Also, at the time of this writing, I just learned that Jim Shooter passed away and his contribution cannot be understated. He did bring the Legion to an older audience and proved to the editors and others writers that you could produce adult-like stories, and these stories were in fact appropriate for the audience reading the Legion at the time. Shooter’s contribution deserves its own essay and moment entirely, and there have been many professional and amateur writers who wrote about his influence. But as we come to the end of the series and Superboy’s departure, I just could not finish the post without mentioning Mr. Shooter one last time. He will be missed. 

We will skip this issue’s Legion Outpost since the series is continuing without Superboy. The only snippet worth mentioning is that they do promise to return Tyroc shortly. It is a pity he was so underused in this series but it is nice that they will try to bring him back in future issues. But as we know, what is declared and promised in the letters’ page is usually not carried out. Sadly. 

The Legion Medallion of Merit

We now end this analysis of Legion of Super-Heroes #259 with the Legion Medallion of Merit. This is the moment we award one Legionnaire a Medallion who went above and beyond the call of duty and made a real impact to the story. And what a fitting way to end this series than to give it to Superboy. He was able to find that last moment of courage to really take down the Psycho-Warrior. Not only did he save himself and his fellow Legionnaires in the process, but he also made it where the Psycho-Warrior was able to confront his own fear and guilt that will, hopefully, put him on the path to recovery. And if that is not worth of the Medallion I do not know what is.

Congratulations Superboy! As you return to Smallville and start your new adventures, may you find peace and solace that you made a difference to the universe’s greatest team of super-heroes. Not only will you miss them but they will miss you too. And with the Medallions that you have collected in the process, we hope that these will bring you great comfort as you continue your life with the absence of your friends.

That is it for this week’s installment of Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes fellow Legionnaires! And guess what? We do have one more story left. As we now know Saturn Girl has effectively made it impossible (if not really really hard) for Superboy to return to the thirtieth century. Thankfully, one story did come before that momentous undertaking and we will cover this Christmas story on Tuesday, next week and celebrate Christmas a little earlier this year as the final part of our ad interim series. 

A Christmas story? You betcha! 

And until then, should you ever need that extra oomph and courage always remember to bellow out that one true sentence that will always break through any obstacle, whether mental or physical…

LONG LIVE THE LEGION!