Life is a battle that we all lose. Which is why you can’t live it like it’s a war.

With the Karate Kid series now firmly behind us, it is all Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes from here on out for our main, Thursday posts! And what better way to commemorate this occasion but begin a storyline, that is considered by many, to be the gem of the Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes era…Earthwar! 

I see you Levitz planting those little seeds previously because it looks like we are about to have us an all-out war with the Khunds! And boy is this a beautiful start to that war because James Sherman flexed massively on this issue, showing all of us once again why he is such a great artist. Those face renderings conveying emotion, eeeeeeeek! I gotta save this for the Creative Team section. Breathe, Chris, breathe.

Okay, now that I recovered, I can recommend that you get that favorite beverage of yours in hand, put those feet up, and get ready for the start of an epic like no other.

Prologue to Earthwar

Mon-El changes course and dives back down to Earth at super-speed. He catches the Aircar just in time and brings it safely down. He asks if they are alright, and after one of the female occupants answers in the affirmative, Mon-El jets off with the female pleading him to wait. She watches him leave the planet and she hopes that there are some Legionnaires left in Legion HQ, otherwise Chief Zendak will not be pleased. 

Mon-El, in the meantime, catches up with the Legionnaires and chastises Wildfire for almost causing a terrible accident. He quips back that the Science Police should keep their craft in good condition, and besides their mission is of upmost importance. 

Meanwhile, within the massive Legion Headquarters Complex on Earth, Brainiac Five worriedly watches the status updates of all the Legionnaires and cannot believe how understaffed they are. Sun Boy tells him to cool up, they will manage like they always do, and adds that Brainy could use a vacation. Not knowing that word they are interrupted by Element Lad who brings the Science Police female member with him, stating the Science Police has a message for them. She starts to tell them of the importance of her visit, when she is interrupted by a Space Alert. Brainy orders them all to the cruiser and the Science Police will just have to wait. He also alerts Superboy, who is currently in the twentieth century, to join them because they will need all the help they can get being as shorthanded as they are.

Once again, the officer’s message is undelivered as a sleek Legion Cruiser slices through the stratosphere, transporting Brainy, Sun Boy, Phantom Girl, Element Lad, and Shrinking Violet. Element Lad reminds Briany that he is deputy leader in Wildfire’s absence and should have decided on what it priority. Brainy quickly apologizes for overstepping, but considering that the S.P. Chief sent a Patrol Officer to deliver the message, he did not think it to be urgent. 

Before the conversation can go any further, the Legion Cruiser slips into an outer Earth orbit, next to a massive tanker, a tanker in the shadow of the Resource Raiders’ Ships, whom we have not seen since S/LSH #226! Sun Boy, Phantom Girl, and Element Lad don their space suits and start to attack. Phantom Girl turns to phantom form to confuse the Raiders, while Sun Boy melts their propulsion units into useless pools of molten metal. In the Cruiser, Brainy is concerned that they do not have enough power to stop the Raiders, when Chameleon Boy casually tells him to look beyond the tanker. Superboy arrives and grabs one of the ships and flings it away. He is about to grab the other one when Sun Boy warns him that he heated its hull to over a thousand degrees. But of course Sun Boy forgot that he is Superboy, and Superboy grabs it and throws it to another space sector. With one of the ship’s hull destroyed, a group of Raiders float out into space and Element Lad quickly turns it into oxygen so they can survive, which also gives Superboy time to round them up for interrogation. Brainy joins them and wonders what they will do with any information they gain because they are still at half strength and are in no shape to attack any Raider base. 

Weber’s World: artificial planet of the Trantor system. Total population: twelve million civil servants and diplomats. – Geographia Galaxia, 2977

Having arrived on Weber’s World, Wildfire greets Ambassador Relnic and asks why he has called them here. Relnic wants them to act as security and prevent any attacks on both their and the Dominators’ negotiating team so they can avert a war between their fleets. Relnic then introduces them to Ontiir of Tsuron who is head of security, and a very mean looking head of security if I may add.

All of Weber’s World begins to move and the artificial wanderer edges out of its normal orbit and out towards the edge of the galaxy, beginning its unique voyage. Meanwhile, on the more natural globe of Earth, the Resource Raiders are striking again, seeking to steal a shipment of rare Earth metals from their antarctic stockpile, information that was gleamed from Element Lad’s interrogation. Brainy admits the idea was good but so are the Raiders’ defenses because the ship they are blasting has an incredibly heat-resistant hull. Brainy tells Sun Boy to watch his heat but it is too late, and the reflected heat hits both Brainy and Element Lad. Sun Boy watches them fall, as their rings are inactive because they are not conscious. He just manages to grab them both before they hit the ground. 

Element Lad regroups and then uses his powers to transform the metallic atoms in the hull of their ship to Helium and then quickly turns the nitrogen and phosphorus in the soil below to oxygen so they do not die on impact. Even as Element Lad cripples one craft, Sun Boy and Brainiac Five concentrate attack on another with far less inspired results. A pair of fourth-dimensional cables reach out and capture Brainiac Five even within his force field, forcing Sun Boy to turn his attention to the smaller craft, with similar unpleasant results. A raider managers to zap Sun Boy and tells them they are outnumbered and that they will not permit Legionnaire interference any longer. Brainiac moves from behind and kicks the Raider in the head. There might not be as many Legionnaires as usual, but one Legionnaire is still better than a shipload of them combined. Brainy takes the controls of the ship and Element Lad congratulates him on a job well done. They watch as two of the Raider ships leave with some of the ore and their plan is going well. With Dawnstar not there with her superior tracking abilities, they decided to let two go with Chameleon Boy disguised as a portion of the ore they took and Shrinking Violet hidden in the shipment Superboy is guarding. Now all they have to do is wait for Chameleon Boy’s signal. Element Lad hopes it will happen soon because he is all alone out there. 

Yet within the retreating craft, Chameleon Boy is making it look easy. First, a chunk of ore seems to shimmer, dissolving into a jelly-like protoplasm and instantly reshaping. Then tentacle of a Slythscorpio reaches up, pulling the watching Raider into the pit, then the Slythscorpio reforms, changing into the Raider’s own shape, amply demonstrating how Reep Diggle earned the name Chameleon Boy. Disguised as a Raider he carefully makes his way through the ship. He quickly encounters two Raiders and one asks why he finished so soon and orders him to inspect the supercargo. Chameleon Boy guesses which direction the supecargo is and the corridor he chooses ends up at a door. He attempts to open the door when a group of Raiders appear behind him, obviously suspicious. Chameleon Boy wastes no time and quickly turns into a Fremulshmat Battle Beast and swipes them away. However, there are too many of them and he knows it. He attempts to send the signal for help and the Raiders blast him, knocking him unconscious, which forces him to return to his normal form. They immediately recognize him as one of the Legoinnaires and decide to eliminate him. 

We return to Weber’s World with Mon-El and Wildfire flying away with a few diplomats in their arm and the room they were just in exploding behind them. Mon-El spotted the bomb with his x-ray vision and they wonder who could possibly want to make these negotiations fail. Relnic appears with Ontiir and suggests it is because they want to frighten the Dominators into avoiding the conference. Wildfire is automatically suspicious of Relnic because either news travels fast or he knew of it beforehand. Relnic is, of course, insulted and Ontiir asks if he, as head of security, is also a suspect. Dawnstar produces a piece of the bomb and asks Ontiir to explain why it is marked U.P. Security Property. 

Meanwhile, aboard the Raider Ship, Chameleon Boy is being interrogated by a huge Brain, much like the one we saw before in issue #226. But that was a robot and this is the real leader and they are still intent on draining the solar system of every natural resource it possesses, hence their name, Resource Raiders. But suddenly they hear a sound in the distance and it is Superboy who received Chameleon Boy’s distress call. Superboy apologizes for being late, but it takes time for even him to travel at light speed. Chameleon Boy immediately helps Superboy fight off the Raiders when Superboy realizes that he is not using his power to shape-shift. Chameleon Boy explains that he was blasted with a ray that froze him in his current form. Superboy picks up a blaster, sets it to reverse, and blasts Chameleon Boy hoping to reverse the effect. It works and just in time because another team of Raiders descend on them. They fight as hard as they can but the Raiders keep on coming. Luckily Sun Boy, Element lad, Phantom Girl, and Shrinking Violet arrive and lend them a hand, in a beautiful splash page from James Sherman, which I do believe depicts Phantom Girl punching two Raiders through the chest. But you be the judge for yourself because I included the shot below in the Creative Team section. 

Superboy quickly seals up the hole that the Legionnaires entered in through so as to take away any possibility of escape and Sun boy forms heat pens to keep the Raiders in one place. Phantom Girl continues to punch the Raiders, but this time in the face, and Shrinking Violet wraps up the last of them as Element Lad changes the oxygen the Big Brain needs into hydrogen, making him black out. They continue to secure the space, and Brainiac Five finds the main control panel and analyzes it. He is flabbergasted. The Resource Raiders were not just an unusual group of criminals, they were actually the advance guard of an invasion. The Khunds are about to attack Earth in order to destroy it…totally!

Next issue:

• Are the Khunds also behind the sabotage on Weber’s World–or is someone…else?
• Can the Legion save the Earth—
• —and preserve the diplomats’ lives?
• Will we live to find out on May 18th?

Startarget: Earth

My Brother’s Keeper

Light Lass and Timber Wolf argue with the Commissioner of Police who cannot believe that the Legion only sent two of their members. Ayla reminds him she volunteered because this case involves her brother, Mekt, Lightning Lord. Mekt had escaped from prison on Takron-Galtos and returned to Winath, which is a problem because he is a major menace. Light Lass agrees but she wants to get involved so she can stop the police from killing him accidentally. The Commissioner disagrees and seeing how she is too personally involved, takers her off the case, which also enrages Timber Wolf. Light Lass tells him to calm down because the Commissioner can act as such and the Commissioner threatens them that they better remember that, otherwise he will not hesitate to throw them both in jail if they interfere. 

They exit the building and Timber Wolf tries to comfort her but he sees that her mind is far off. And we know how far because she recalls how she and her brothers gained super-powers. It was on a day when a privately-owned space-flyer returned to Winath from a party on another world. It ran out of power far short of its destination and was forced to make an emergency landing on the uninhabited world of Korbal. 

Mekt, Ayla, Garth, siblings seemingly stranded upon the planet until they decided to make use of one of Korbal’s natural resources, the Lightning Beast, to recharge their ship’s depleted energy cell. Instead, they themselves were bombarded by the creatures’ energies, creating an electrical field which induced them with the power to generate lighting on their own.

From that day, all their lives were changed, and with their family torn with hatred. For Mekt took the path of evil as Lightning Lord, and as a member of the Legion of Super-Villains, while Garth and Ayla chose to battle evil with the Legion of Super-Heroes!

We return to our present scene and Timber Wolf heads to the nearest, run down bar. His plan is to try to see if any of the seedy characters within know of anything. Light Lass tells him to be careful but he reassures her he will be subtle. Because subtle is Timber Wolf’s middle name. As they walk in, we peer back from a monitor that is being viewed by Mekt’s henchmen and Mekt himself. He orders his crew to capture Light Lass unharmed. We return to the bar and after receiving a sarcastic answer from the bartender, he hears a scream, and immediately sees Light Lass being taken. He jumps over the bar stools and chairs and rushes after her. Unfortunately for him the henchmen have a Molecular Scrambler and create a portal within the wall, also explaining how they were able to arrive so quickly. Timber Wolf jumps at the wall but the portal closes just in time. He pounds on the wall and is enraged. He turns around and glares at everyone in the bar. They will tell him where she is or else. He goes from patron to patron and then he sets his sights on the bartender once more. Suddenly the bar explodes into a full-blown brawl. For the majority of the participants, it is merely a bit of fun in an otherwise dull evening. But for Timber Wolf this battle is no game. 

Closer he makes his way to the bartender and the bartender panics and pleads for someone to protect him. But he is in a bar full of thugs who only care for themselves and they quickly move out of Timber Wolf’s way. Timber Wolf snatches up the bartender and demands him to spill the beans. The bartender refuses because he will die if he tells. Timber Wolf holds him close and asks him what is stopping him from doing the same? Slowly twenty of the thugs surround him but Timber Wolf does not cede any ground, and he is going to enjoy this. But the party is interrupted by the police force who spill into the bar to stop the fight from taking place. 

Later, Timber Wolf finds himself in a cell and the Commissioner of Police chides him for starting that fight, despite his warning to not interfere. And now he has the disappearance of Light Lass to worry about it. Timber Wolf demands that he release him but the Commission refuses. But that does not stop our Timber Wolf who pulls open a grate, finds himself on the other side of the cell, and snatches the Commissioner with his claws. He will cooperate, otherwise his life is about to become very uncomfortable. The Commissioner decides that he will be cooperative. 

We leave this scene to where Light Lass is being held. She is currently floating in a Force Cage that also nullifies her powers. Her audience is not only Lightning Lord himself, but also the who’s one of the most wanted criminals in the civilized galaxy. Light Lass warns her brother that it is just a matter of time before Timber Wolf finds her. He laughs in her face and tells her that very soon he will be the most powerful criminal mastermind in the galaxy. He then points to a communications device that generates power sufficient enough to broadcast across the cosmos. His plan? To use it to invite every criminal in known space to join his army, a poetic undertaking since the world of his birth will also be where is criminal empire is born. Light Lass swears she will fight him no matter the cost. One of Mekt’s henchmen hears her threat and advises that they should kill her now. He slowly turns to the one who spoke. To kill his own sister? And he raises his hand and electrocutes the henchman who spoke out of turn. 

He turns and smiles at his sister and reminds her that he is here to protect her like a big brother would. The only thing he asks in return is for her to submit to a mind wipe. With her reprogrammed, they will rule the galaxy as brother and sister. Suddenly one of the henchmen give warning that the police have broken through their defenses, and out explodes Timber Wolf who is furious. Lightning Lad blasts the police with lightning bolts and Timber Wolf shouts that he misjudged his target. The police are there to round up his flunkies, but Lightning Lord is his to take down. He grabs Mekt and slams him into a nearby piece of machinery. He quickly darts to Light Lass and finds the switch that releases her. She jumps into his arms but asks how he was able to find her? It was simple. Because they have total weather control on Winath, he asked the Commissioner to stop all the lightning on the planet. And then when Mekt used his powers to kill that henchman, they detected the only place that was using lightning, which is where she was. 

Light Lass is relieved and reminds him that he never needs a computer to track her down. Then they probably kiss. 

Creative Team

This is definitely an exciting time for us as we cover the Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes series, because we have arrived at the major event: Earthwar! And the prologue definitely does not disappoint. It sets up things nicely and Levitz manages to deliver a bit of mystery as we try to figure out what is the looming threat and who is behind it.

The pacing here was quite good, and I did enjoy how Wildfire has been leading the charge from one situation to the next. The fact that he causes an accident that probably would have been deadly if it were not for Mon-El, does make you wonder just how much the city of Metropolis and perhaps Planet Earth enjoy the Legion of Super-Heroes. I suppose if you gave a bunch of super-powered teenagers a freehand in delivering peace to the galaxy there would probably be some collateral damage. I do wonder if Levitz was asking that question and started to explore just that. 

Also, it was nice to finally get a good look at the Resource Raiders that Levitz introduced right when he jumped on. They are a weird looking bunch but the nice Big Brain calling the shots does give it some sort of threat. I still think someone’s goal of trying to take every single resource in the galaxy is a bit of a stretch. They are easily taken out by the Legion, especially Superboy. And speaking of being taken out, I am pretty sure Phantom Girl killed those two Raiders as depicted by James Sherman. The image, to me, is quite clear; she has definitely punched a phantom hole right through their chests. I dropped this on the LSH Reddit sub and the response was quoting the Legion Charter and if she did kill them, then she would be banned, etc. That might be the case, but I do think she got away with something here. 

And speaking of James Sherman, is this just not a beautiful story? He did a huge flex with this, and he kicks things off with Wildfire, Mon-El, and Dawnstar taking off to the sky and it is beautiful. His strengths have always been those big beautiful faces he drew. They convey emotion and with this being a sci-fi book in the 70’s, I think it also had that space opera feel. He was such a good artist for the Legion of Super-Heroes and he continues to prove why he probably even exceeded Mike Grell as an artist. 

With the second story, we focused on two Legionnaires, Light Lass and Timber Wolf, who are, of course, a couple. It was an interesting story mainly because it brought back Mekt, aka Lightning Lord, who we have not seen I believe since he regrouped with the Legion of Super-Villains and tried to take down the Legion again. Which, interestingly, also involved Ambassador Relnic. I think this was a nice touch and more proof that Levitz took these things seriously and tried, as much as possible, to build upon what came before, even though it might have been from a different writer. 

Unfortunately the art here is a bit hit and miss, but thankfully it is more of a hit. Arvell Jones & Danny Bulanadi did a solid job of depicting the world as well as the bar fight. I do like their interpretation of Timber Wolf and they made him look quite mean and tough. Some of the figure placements within a panel were a bit wonky, which made it not flow as nicely as it could. But still, they did what they came in to do, and delivered a story that may or may not have consequences for the Earthwar storyline that we will definitely be in with the issues to come.

All in all a good solid issue that starts a very exciting storyline with a bit of mystery to keep us engaged. With the Khunds deciding to instigate an all out war on Earth, the stakes are high and this is definitely a job for the Legion of Super-Heroes. James Sherman continued to show us why he was the best on the book, and if nothing else, pick up this thing for those beautiful pages. 

Legion Outpost

There is not too much to read in this Legion’s Outpost. The letters are in response to issue #236, which had three stories, and also set up Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad’s wedding. According to Levitz, it did have an incredible positive reaction, including from yours truly, especially that Mon-El story that was pencilled, inked, and colored by Mike Nasser. However, there was one who did not like anything they did, a letter from Dave Blanchard. Blanchard basically hated everything new that happened and asked a return to some of the classic elements, such as the Legion of Super-Pets, Supergirl, the Reserves, and the Legion of Substitute Heroes. 

Well in response, Levitz does confirm that this current storyline will be a multi-part epic and there will be room for the Substitutes. However, he does state that there are no plans for the Pets, Reserves, or Supergirl. So at least that is a bit of an insight into what they are planning. But as things have went in the letter’s section as of late, you cannot really trust anything they say to actually coming into fruition. 

Legion Medallion of Merit

Once again we have two stories to consider who is deserving of the Legion Medallion of Merit. The first one was packed full of Legionnaires, while the second had only two. It definitely does not go to Phantom Girl because I am pretty sure she killed those two Raiders. I did bring it up on the Reddit sub, but of course the responses focused on the negative, citing the Legion Charter being very explicit on the rule against killing. Charter or not, she punched through the hearts of those two Raiders, and there definitely was not a quick phasing/massaging of the heart to make them pass out. Those Raiders are dead. But hey, that image still looked cool and reinforced that big Sherman flex so I will give it a pass and do the mental gymnastics that my fellow fans on Reddit advised.

With that tangent over, I am going to go in an unexpected direction based on my feelings of Phantom Girl’s actions, and I am awarding the Medallion to Element Lad. Element Lad moved in quickly to actually save the Raiders that were almost stranded in space and who would have definitely died if it were not for Element Lad creating oxygen in time and simply ensuring that the Raiders were captured. I think we can agree that the Raiders are not good beings and their goal of taking every resource in the galaxy is quite evil indeed. But Element Lad remembered the Charter and though they were his enemies, he saved them.

Wear it proudly Element Lad. And if you happen to see Phantom Girl walking around the hallways in Legion HQ, show her the Medallion and ask her what exactly did happen with those two Raiders?

And that is it for this week’s installment Legionnaires! May your powers be used in true and a non-lethal form, and remember to always help your enemy, even if they want to take everything from you. But if you ever find yourself in a tough spot and there might be only one way out, remember that there is always another way, and all you have to do is shout that battle cry and call for help…

LONG LIVE THE LEGION!