Gaze on that cover fellow super-heroes! Behold the majestic might of Mike Grell. Has our beloved Brainiac 5 turned evil? Maybe! And what a story this is with a pinch hit nonetheless from Gerry Conway, Joe Staton and Jack Abel. We have an incredible, amazing, epic of a thriller that will bring you chills and remind you why we fell in love with Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Gerry Conway continues laying down the track that Jim Shooter started and Paul Levitz purchased. Also Joe Staton hops on delivering a very different artistic style than the one he is currently assisting Ric Estrada with in Karate Kid. Whew, I better ‘cool up’ and hold my excitement lest I have nothing left for the Creative Team section.

So join me as we are thrust in the middle of the action and find ourselves in a…

War At World’s End!

30,000 miles above Planet Colu, homeworld of Brainiac Five, a small one-man spacecraft lifts to a parking orbit and moments later a lone figure in a spacesuit, which appears to be Brainiac 5, floats silently in the void, thrilled that they fell for his trap. Now the only thing left for them to do…is to die!

And sure enough, into soundless vacuum of space, laser beams flare like miniature suns and where the proud Legion Cruiser once soared has been replaced by a nuclear cloud. Brainiac Five admires his work and is quickly interrupted as a hand is casually placed on his shoulder. The owner of said hand? Superboy! And with one mighty super punch, he sends this fake Brainiac flying, right into the clasp of a gigantic sized Colossal Boy who mentions that if they had not remembered that Brainy does not need a spacesuit they would surely have been tricked!

Phantom Girl jets ahead and uses her phantom power to search the storage locker in a nearby spaceship and locates the real Brainiac Five. Wildfire takes the lead and heads toward the spaceship, gives it a good blast that acts as a homemade door for the team to enter. However, there is nothing inside. Saturn Girl deduces that since everything is fake, the ambush was not meant to succeed. And the real Brainiac Five emerges from a hatch and confirms that to be true. It was simply a show to prove the futility of opposing him. Him being his pretend father, the one called Stargrave but whose real name is Brainiac One, the most monstrous villain of all.

Brainy then recounts the previous issues. How the Legion first encountered Stargrave on P88-01, a being who gained his powers when aliens tried to bury his body in a star going nova and that he would be reborn in Pulsar Stargrave, the living embodiment of solar force. The Legion was not able to defeat him but Pulsar Stargrave wanted them to help him destroy the one being that was more powerful than him and an even bigger threat to the entire universe…Mordru!

Strargrave then revealed himself to be Brainiac Five’s father, but only after finding Mordru’s Star Stone did Brainy learn the truth. Stargrave was not Brainy’s father, but the original Brainiac One, the nemesis of Superman. But once Stargrave learned that his secret was out, he was bound to attack the one place he hates most all in the universe, his old homeworld. Saturn Girl looks at the imposter Brainiac Five still in the grip of Colossal Boy and probes his mind. She sees two images on Colu; one of a Graviton Monitoring Station at Colu’s North Pole, and the other of a vast airfilter planet in the Colian Desert. 

Wildfire gives the orders to split into teams. Shadow Lass, Colossal Boy, and Shrinking Violet will join him to investigate the Gravitron, while Superboy, Princess Projectra, and Phantom Girl will check the airfilter. Lightning Lad volunteers to stay behind with the real Brainiac Five in case trouble happens.

Wildfire’s team arrive on the North Pole and Wildfire recalls the Legion dossiers on Colu. Colu is a planet suffering from intense tidal flux, caused by its proximity to its sun and by the six moons orbiting its equator. Earthquakes were common and were catastrophic. However, they developed the Gravitron, a gigantic gyroscope to offset the periodic lunar tides that would otherwise cause the earthquakes. And as Colossal Boy adds that they would be in trouble without the gravitron, an intense blast erupts form the sky.

And as they look up they realize the blast is not coming from the sky, but from an army of robots, or rocket powered drones to be exact. Colossal Boy and Wildfire engage and Shrinking Violet and Shadow Lass notice that the robots are blasting every building except for one. And as they study the building more closely, they see a figure that looks like Pulsar Stargrave rushing inside. They give pursuit but Shrinking Violet wonders if they should first warn Wildfire? Shadow Lass shakes her head. She voted for Superboy and not that egoist. This is a job they both can handle themselves with any advice from their so called team leader. 

They enter the facility but it is pitch black. Suddenly Shadow Lass notices Huldur creeping along who quickly dashes for Shrinking Violet. Shadow Lass warns her but the room is so dark, Shrinking Violet cannot see anything. But Luckily Shadow Lass can see in the dark and she delivers a quick swift kick to Huldur, knocking him out before he can do any damage. They continue their search and they enter another room. However, they step on a heat-sensitive lightning plate and the enormous room is flooded with a brilliant light. And in the center of that brilliance, there stands revealed, Stargrave! Stargrave laughs and simply tells them there is not a thing they can do to stop them, and blasts them with a burst of stellar energy, forcing our two Legionnaires to collapse. 

Meanwhile, Superboy, Princess Projectra, and Phantom Girl have arrived on the airfilter planet in the Colian Desert and start their own search. They turn up nothing and realize that everything is in working order. Superboy finds it suspicious and his suspicions are instantly confirmed as a giant robot rises from the ground. And with one mighty backhand, the robot hits Superboy sending him flying. Princess Projectra quickly conjures a projection of a wild Venusian Wart-Bull. The robot detects the projection and attacks it, and is kept busy while the two heroines tend to Superboy. 

Superboy starts to recover and mentions that he thought he saw someone enter the airfilter plant. Phantom Girl jumps into action, reminding everyone that she was a Legionnaire before Superboy and actually has more experience than him. She admires the workings of the facility, remembering that this airfilter plant is vital to Colu’s existence because it processes the atmosphere polluted by Colu’s industry. She moves further inside and sees the figure before her and gives chase. She rounds a corner and there in front of her stands none other than Stargrave, just like before. But how can he be in two places at once? He blasts her with a burst of energy.

Atop a towering structure in the city of Colu, the twiglight breeze caresses three Legionnaires and their prisoner. For almost an hour Brainiac Five and his friends have waited for word from their comrades. But this wait abruptly ends and Brainiac Five commands Lightning Lad to destroy the imposter because he just realized the truth. The thing is not even living because everything about this attack was false. Lightning Lad trusts Brainy and decides to give enough of a shock to stun and as he does, the robot explodes. Saturn Girl feels icky from reading the mind of a robot and Brainy assures her that it was no simple robot but an android, much on the level of the original Brainiac. Lightning Lad then asks for a crash course of who this Brainiac is and Brainy obliges:

“Centuries ago, when my world was ruled by computers, Brainiac was created to be a spy. The computers wanted a mobile agent who could pass among men as one of them, a walking computer, to promote his masters’ ambitions. But Brainiac was more than a slave to the computer controllers of Colu, and eventually he broke away from their service, using his brilliant mind to steal cities from a thousand worlds with a diabolical shrinking ray. A series of crimes, which led to his inevitable capture by Superman.

“For years Superman and Brainiac carried on their constant struggle until finally, Brainiac became bored with the endless fighting, and decided to seek a new career in a different era. He built a timeship, and slipped forward through time to the thirtieth century. Where, due to a side-effect of the time-traveling process, he fell into a death-like coma. He was discovered by aliens just a he told us, but everything else he told us is a lie.”

Somewhat satisfied Lightning Lad asks a follow up a question. If he is not really attacking those installations, then where is he? Brainiac tells Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl to follow him, because he has a pretty good idea.

Powered by their Legion flight rings, three heroes skim silently across the lowering Coluan sky. Brainiac 5 leads them to the vast science museum, a reminder of a post which could have been tragic, when machines ruled instead of men. 

Landing in the museum Brainy tells them that after the revolution which returned control of Colu to the humans who created Brainiac, all the burned out computers were turned into an exhibit, in this very museum. And he believes this is where he will be. 

And a chilling voice tells him he is correct and instantly melts the floor underneath the Legionnaires. It is Quicksand, the last of Stargrave’s assistants. Brainy says it is up to Saturn Girl to do something because they cannot move and she must use her telepathy to fight back. Saturn Girl’s power has never been physical, and once this worried Saturn Girl. But that was years ago when she was younger and less mature. Today, though, she still does not completely understand herself, but she does understand her capabilities, and with an effort that leaves her drained of all energy, she strikes Quicksand, taking her down. 

But once Quicksilver is unconscious, the outside wall’s start to explode inward, and burn away. But who could do such a thing? Who else but Stargrave. He stands over the three trapped Legionnaires and explains himself. Brainy was right, he never intended to destroy Colu and the attacks on the Gravitron and the airfilter were decoys. The real purpose is to revitalize his old computers, his creators, with his power as Pulsar Stargrave. And once his old masters live again, he plans to turn the people of Colu into their slaves.

He bathes the computers in a mysterious light and just when it looks like he might be successful, Superboy and Wildfire explode through the wall. They were able to quickly deduce that they were sent on a wild goose chase because there were just too many elements in his attacks. Why send a robot army or a robot giant, when he could have destroyed everything on his own? Simple, because the Stargraves were decoys. But this time, they know they are facing the real one.

Superboy and Wildfire face Stargrave and with one synchronized double super punch, with one blow so fierce, Stargrave shoots upward to the sky, out through the atmosphere, to outer space, and right into Colu’s sun. Later, Saturn Girl asks how they were able to guess that the two Stargraves were imposters. Much like he already said with one added element. The blasts from the two Stargraves were not able to hurt Phantom Girl, Shadow Lass, or Shrinking Violet. So the answer became more obvious.

Brainiac Five stands over the destruction caused by their attack and looks at his friends. Would they be willing to stay and help rebuild? But how about some rest and relaxation first? Colossal Boy mentions he could use some rest and Superboy responds with a resounding amen. 

Creative Team

When you have someone fill in for you, it better be Gerry Conway. Conway has always been a master at pacing and he demonstrates that here in force. With this assist, we basically wrap up the final loose threads that Jim Shooter left dangling when he jumped over to Marvel. Also, there is a very strong editorial direction because the plot moves and there is not a moment of whiplash, which sometimes happens when a new writer or artists comes in. Instead of disrupting everything, Conway actually complimented what Levitz was doing. Also what makes this issue absolutely brilliant is that it can also act as a standalone. The recaps are put in the right places and it does not distract from the pacing, and instead you are dropped in the middle of a mission.

Plus this thing is action packed. Conway makes effective use of all his Legionnaires. He does the classic splitting-them-up trope that is used quite often in team books, but thankfully each group has a purpose and each member has the chance to show off their powers. Plus, I particularly enjoyed how he instilled strength and resolve in the female members. Up until now I always thought they were sort of pushed to the side or the writer did not know what to do with them. Especially Jim Shooter, who was not too kind to his female Legionnaires. But here they go on their own, confront Stargrave, and confirm that no matter the gender, if you made this squad, you are a force to be reckoned with.

Regardless of Conway’s brilliance, I should also point out that this is a full-lengther and nothing needed to be rushed or quickly resolved. Again, I do understand why they would like to focus on the two story issues, but this issue alone should prove without a doubt that a full length story, in most cases, will serve the story better. When Levitz jumps back on I hope we can continue this.

And again, going back to Denny O’Neil, we are definitely at the time when we are moving through an overall threat that has high stakes and allows the Legion to not only shine but are reshaped in some manner through conflict, both internal and external. Denny O’Neil is doing a fantastic job so far.

Now on to Joe Staton. If you are following the Karate Kid book you might be a bit surprised on what you see here. Staton does an incredible job and shows you why he is one of the masters. He can easily depart the cartoony style that he is currently assisting Ric Estrada with over in the Karate Kid book, and switch it to something more of a ‘realistic’ style. Plus this complimented nicely to the look that James Sherman is currently employing. Staton not only handles the action effectively, in particular with Brainiac Five, but his facial and body expressions remind you why we loved Mike Grell so much. Staton also makes his characters act, and dare I say I would like to see more of Staton on this book. Luckily, however, Sherman is still proving that he is a very capable artists so I will not miss Staton that much after this one.

We have an incredible issue where the writing and the art come together to not only remind you why you love comics in the first place, but also why Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes is one of DC’s top books at this time. 

Super-Talk

In this issue’s Super-Talk we get a nice tip of the hat to Gerry Conway and Joe Staton who stepped in to cover for Paul Levitz and James Sherman. Levitz was focused on writing the next Legionnaire epic and James Sherman was wrapping up his commitment on the Challengers of the Unknown. Also I must mention that Levitz would also contribute a Legionnaire story in the DC Special series, in particular #28. I will also cover this one next week and label it “ad interim” as it is not officially under the Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes title. Which also means next week we will have two posts! One on Tuesday and one on Thursday. Be there or be punched in the nearest sun!

But back to the letters.

Outside of the tip of the hat not too much is happening though they do promise a return of the Espionage Squad next issue so I am looking forward to that.

They also mention plans for a new stand-alone Superboy series that should satisfy fans who are missing the Superboy focused solo series. I believe this will end up becoming the quite excellent New Adventures of Superboy from our inducted member in the Legion Hall of Fame and former friend of the book Cary Bates and artists Kurt Schaffenberger. I have only read an issue here and there but I do remember it being quite good. Plus if you explore some of the Superboy chatter around the different internet worlds, it is a quite beloved series by Superboy fans. 

Finally they end the section by calling for letters to elect a new Leader of the Legion so it does sound like this will start to be a common thing and not just something held at a convention. They remind us that both Superboy and Karate Kid are not eligible since they are both part-timers. Karate Kid of course being off doing his thing in the twentieth century in our spin-off series, Karate Kid.

The Legion Medallion of Merit

With so much action, movement, and brave actions by our fellow Legionnaires, this one was actually quite hard to nail down. I do know I say something like this every week for this section, but I promise it to be true this time. So let us go through the thought experiment together. 

Wildfire showed great leadership qualities and worked with the team to figure things out with Superboy. This is true. Superboy helps save the day but he was definitely in a supporting role here. 

Shrinking Violet and Shadow Lass decided to go their own way and Shadow Lass in particular wanted to prove that they are just as capable as Wildfire and the other heavy-hitters. They also end up taking down Huldur, which was quite admirable.

Phantom Girl also showed initiative and checked out the facility and chased Stargrave to the end, albeit it was one of the imposters. Phantom Girl has been known to do her own thing and take the initiative, which takes guts.

However, I think I will have to give the Medallion to Saturn Girl. We have not seen her in action too much and it was a really great moment for her here. When they were all still stuck in the ground because of Quicksilver, she found that extra needed bit of strength and determination to take Quicksilver out, basically isolating Stargrave, which gave Superboy and Wildfire a chance to take him down when the ended up crashing the party.

Congratulations Saturn Girl! As a founding member you reminded everyone, including yourself, that you continue to demonstrate what is needed from a Legionnaire in the line of duty. Strength, determination, and of course the most important element, belief in yourself. Hold the Medallion up high and let the greatest call in the thirtieth century ring out all over the planet of Colu, as a reminder to its people that they do not need to fear their previous computer overlords…

LONG LIVE THE LEGION!