Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #237

I hope you were able to digest that massive serving that was the All New Collector’s Edition C-55 Legionnaires! My fingers and eyes still ache from all that typing and editing. But as you know there is no rest for the wicked and the show must go on.

Welcome to the return of the main series where we receive a tiny glimpse of the ramifications of Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad’s wedding. But boy does this story look a bit too familiar to you? We will have some interesting comments in the Creative Team section!

And speaking of Creative Team, it is not everyday that we can welcome an absolute legend to Legion HQ. Do my eyes deceive me or do I see the amazing Walter Simonson in this issue’s credits? They do not for he is actually here and he has produced a banger. Welcome to Legion HQ Walt! If at any time you come to me and ask to leave Legion HQ, I say to thee NAY!

But in all seriousness if you think it has been a bit wacky with all the different art teams of late, you are not the only one because this is also addressed in this issue’s Legion Outpost. But with all that out of the way, get out your notepad and pencil, because soon you will collect for me various objects that I will use to rule the entire galaxy! Because as they say…

No Price Too High

Cosmic Boy, dressed in a ceremonial cape, requests attention of all those present in the great hall, his fellow Legionnaires. He asks that Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad to come forward, so their comrades can do them honor for the last time in their careers. 

He announces that because they are married they must leave the team, even if it saddens him. And as the original team leader he must make the official request. CB bestows a gift to them both; a metallic globe that was developed by Brainiac Five, which also responds to their biorhythms and changes into a special memento of where it all begin. And in Saturn Girls’ hands, the globe transforms to the original clubhouse. 

In every life there are a few moments when a personal star of destiny rides high in the sky, and the entire universe seems to fall beautifully into place. At such times, old bitterness seems to fade into tearful joy, and friendships seem eternal and indivisible. But though such instants seem eternal, eventually they have to end. And with the passing of this one, the Legion careers of Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad must end as well. 

After their heartfelt goodbyes are given to each Legion member present, they board a special Legion Cruiser with ‘Just Married’ engraved on its hull, and they jet out into space. And looking at them with affection, is R.J. Brande, the richest man in the galaxy who also put the three members together and created the Legion of Super-Heroes with his vast wealth. But his reminiscing is cut short by a strange buzzing sound, with its source being a swarm of microdroids that attack. He dives out of the way just in time and calls the Legionnaires for help. But before they can react to Brande’s scream, the microdroids are at work, slicing the billionaire’s robot guardians into metallic slivers. 

Timber Wolf and Superboy cannot believe what is happening and thought they had secured the ceremony. Superboy gives the order to scramble and the Legionnaires move in to protect Brande. Superboy swoops in low to analyze the damage and thankfully the microdroids did not hurt Brande, just his robots. In fact, they had avoided him all together. A menacing voice cuts through Superboy’s analysis and a futuristic looking being appears and announces that his intention is not to hurt R.J. Brande, at least not yet. And he warns the Legionnaires to stay out of his way and away from the energy shield he is creating to capture Brande. 

Ultra Boy turns on super strength and launches himself at the globe. Brainy warns him to stay back, and he bounces off. It was not the shield he bounced off of but Superboy, who flew in just in time to stop him from making contact with the globe. Brainy had analyzed the forces in the shield and concluded that they were unstable, hence the warning. He tells the Legionnaires that one touch will kill both R.J. Brande and his kidnapper.  What’s more, the shield will not hold together for more than a few hours and it is acting like a ticking time bomb. The futuristic being names himself as Arma Getten. It is not his intention to be destroyed by his own shield, but he shall go willingly to his death and take Brande with him, unless they do as he says.

Chapter Two – The Heart of a Star 

Chapter Two starts with Arma Getten’s instructions (which sounds quite familiar!).

“To ransom Brande, you will fetch three things for me, Legonnaires. I shall send a group of you for each of them. And several of you will remain here, along with Brande, as hostages. If you attempt any treachery, the billionaire dies!

“Mon-El, take Superboy, Sun Boy, and Dawnstar and bring me the heart of a star.”

The heart of a star is found at the star mine Helios, which was recently visited and saved by Mon-El in the previous issue, who managed to drive the Khunds away. But not far enough it seems, for near the star mine, a Khundish computer hums. A Khund warrior announces that the Tacticomb has completed its analysis and thankfully the Warlord hears it because if he did not hear it by the end of the day, he would have had its programmer executed. But now it has calculated a weapon that will be effective against the Legionnaire that thwarted their taking of the Mine, and with their repairs completed they can attack the mine again and be assured of success. He orders his Khund Warriors to their ships and they better return with the star core or do not return at all. 

Moments later, they meet the group of Legionnaires and recognize Mon-El, as Mon-El recognizes them. They must have been ready for them but Superboy, Sun Boy, and Mon El engage and are blasted by the Khund’s new weapon, which is a blast of red-sun radiation. They quickly fall and then the Khunds turn their sights on Dawnstar. But before the crimson bolts can strike, Dawnstar angles out of their path evading them as easily as if they were standing still. 

The ships pursue, she dives sharply heading straight for the star winning platform, going beyond, towards the blazing sun, and turning within scant miles of the solar surface, a ninety degree turn executed at almost the speed of light. And far faster than the Khundish ships can manage, leaving them to plummet into the sun, with their pilots barely escaping in time. 

Meanwhile, Sun Boy decides to move after faking unconsciousness, and gives the Khund forces a solid dose of Sun blast, destroying the ships. Mon-El asks Sun Boy if he has it under control and checks on Superboy, who is slowly recovering. Mon asks Dawnstar to track what is probably the mother ship and Dawnstar quickly finds it even though it was hiding around the horizon of the sun. Mon-El and Superboy grab the ship and throw it out of the solar system. 

Soon aboard the mining platform, Director Vxeraz is once again giving Mon El their thanks for saving them once again and knows that finding a way to repay him at this point would be an insult.  But Mon says there is a way, if they could just give them one of their star core samples, they will return it undamaged. Superboy adds that lives are at stake. Vxeraz agrees for they would not still possess it if it were not for their heroic actions. 

Back at the Brande estate, Getten lets his hostages a bit more in on his plan in taking revenge not only on Brande but also on the universe, oh, and the United Planets too. It will be their role as hostages to guarantee his success. He then materializes a series of restraints out of thin air, and orders each Legionnaire to put it on, for each restraint is designed to nullify all their specific powers. They comply and Getten is happy with the result. Dream Girl cuts in and asks why he would be after Brande. Getten sneers at her and tells her it was Brande and his spice company that bankrupted his father, and for that humiliation he will pay. Brande tries to make a move but Getten cuts him off and tells him to relax and wait. He will get his chance to face him, and die. And he watches the last of his equipment to materialize. 

Chapter Three – The Stolen Trophy  

At Legion HQ, Princess Projectra is complaining to Wildfire that they have to stay on guard duty while the others can enjoy R.J. Brande’s estate. Wildfire tells her them’s the breaks but she counters that he no longer remembers what it is like to have fun, because how can an energy creature be entertained by life? Ouch. Wildfire is just about to give her a talking to, when the intruder alarm rings. The Princess detects the intrusion in the Trophy room and Wildfire immediately flies to figure out the disturbance, daring her to keep up, even if she is just…a human.

He quickly arrives and turns on a brilliant burst of explosive energy to light the room. The devastating bolt of energy would certainly have incapacitated any ordinary intruder, but the three women in the trophy room are no ordinary intruder, they are Phantom Girl, Shrinking Violet, and Shadow Lass. Wildfire encounters Shadow Lass first and asks her what she is doing there. She tries to use her charm on Wildfire to hide the now-empty case of the quintile crystal. Phantom Girl has already passed through the headquarters wall and races towards the speedy cruiser that brought the women to Earth from Brande’s estate.

Princess Projectra arrives and also asks what Shadow Lass is doing. She quickly notices the empty case and that the Quintile Crystal is missing, which must have triggered the alarm. Wildfire cannot believe it, but Shadow Lass does not wait around and moves away. Wildfire tries to capture her, but Shrinking Violet appears, quickly growing to normal size and disables Wildfire’s helmet control, which forces him to leave his protective costume. Shrinking Violet holds his empty suit and Princess Projectra tells them her powers alone can stop them now. But Shadow Lass blasts a bit of shadow in her eyes to stop her from projecting any illusions and Shrinking Violet knocks her out. They then escape into the Legion Cruiser back to Getten, leaving a confused Wildfire and Princess Projectra behind. 

Back at Brande’s estate, where unusual objects keep teleporting into existence, and where an army of microdroids are assembling a strange craft Star Boy whispers to Chameleon Boy that they need to stop him and Getten interrupts to show them what he is building. It is the most powerful, destructive device ever created and it will threaten their solar system. All he needs is the power of the star core, the focal point of the quintile crystal and the most vital element that the third team was sent to bring him. The key to artificial energy…

Chapter Four – The Crown of the Graxls

As all four corners of the galaxy vie for the title of “The Sargasso Sea of Space”, but as far as the Legionnaires are concerned, the kingdom of the Graxls can have it, with their blessing. For here, among the mysterious fiery trails of energy, the crown of the Graxls generates, lie the twisted hulks of a hundred thousand starships, and swirling eddies of energy that wait to trap a hundred thousand more. 

Inside the Legion Cruiser, Timber Wolf, Cosmic Boy, and Light Lass are working on finding where the Crown of Graxls is through all the junk debris. Timber Wolf mentions that all this mess does not make sense and Cosmic Boy replies it is because of the Crown. They zoom in and are quickly spotted by a small squadron. Cosmic Boy attempts to communicate with them using Interlak but the Graxls respond with an attack from a tractor beam. Inside the ship they applaud their direct hit to their leader, Great Draxxt. He commands them to bring the ship closer but suddenly everything starts to drift up even with the gravity still working on the ship. Then the Legionnaires explode out of the wall. Cosmic Boy informs them that he used his magnetic powers to disable their tractor beam and Light Lass was the cause of making everything super light. 

Great Draxxt declares them to be the builders of ancient time because of their awesome energy they displayed. Cosmic Boy quickly grabs on to the opportunity and Light Lass lets them down slowly. The Graxls call the Legionnaires bright ones and will accompany them to the crown, which is in the Citadel of the Graxls. They arrive and the Graxls point up. To their astonishment the crown hangs from the ceiling, and is extremely massive. They better wait and figure out a plan on removing it when everyone is sleep. 

Later that night, Timber Wolf is alone and makes his way to the Crown Room. He quietly and quickly takes out some of the guards. He makes his way to the Crown Room and studies the heavy chains supporting it from the ceiling. He jumps up and smashes the chains apart, and uses his flight ring to escape. Short seconds later, the Crown comes crashing after him, lifted out of its chamber by powerful beams of magnetic force generated by Cosmic Boy, which is leaving chaos in its wake. 

The Graxls try to mobilize and shoot the Legionnaires down, but all the firepower of the Graxls is expended to no avail, for all their equipment is salvaged off the derelicts of the Sargasso Sea of Space, while the Legion Cruiser has the newest, and swiftest engines built that carry it away from the Sargasso, even as the fiery radiation of the Crown begins to fade, and the jungle of ships begins to grow cold and dead. 

We return once again to Brande’s Estate, where this time Dream Girl asks her fellow captives if they understand the plan. They answer to the affirmative, and Colossal Boy rushes Getten and expands. But as Gretten reminds him, his restraints are built specifically for him, and will expand with him as well, making his escape improbable. And to make it even more menacing, he orders the microdroids to fire at will and they blast Colossal Boy in the back. 

They scoop him up and take him back, when Getten realizes there is a Legionnaire missing and it is Chameleon Boy. They used Colossal Boy as a diversion. Enraged he orders the microdroids to use their sonic probes to find him, and if they continue to interfere with his plans, Brande will suffer. And to prove his words he backhands Brande, causing him to hit the floor. The microdroids return and they could not find the missing Chameleon Boy. But according to Getten it is no matter, Chameleon Boy is powerless to stop him and it is more important to be ready for the other Legionnaires’ return. Because soon they will bring him the three things he needs to make his dream a reality, the power…

Chapter Five – To Shake the Stars

The Legionnaires return to Brande’s asteroid when Dawnstar notices something is wrong. Superboy uses his telescopic vision for a closer look and confirms that the whole estate is wobbling in orbit and it is heavier. This must be the work of Star Boy and to make matters worse the ‘wobbling’ could destroy the asteroid and then the entire solar system. Superboy suggests that a group stay to guard the objects while the others end this once and for all. 

Superboy, Mon-El, Sun Boy, Shadow Lass, and Dawnstar arrive on the planet and Getten is furious that they returned without the objects. Superboy informs him they know what he is up to and Getten sneers in response. He moves his hand closer to the energy sphere reminding them that if he touches it, he will kill both Brande and himself in the process. Superboy is frustrated and stops his intended attack. But Brande cries out “No! No man’s life is worth a solar system, no one’s not even mine!” He hurls himself at the sphere much to the horror of the observing Legionnaires. And as they watch, the sphere implodes as Brainiac Five predicted, but with results very different from those predicted and threatened. And both Getten and Brande are alive. Getten admits that he lied and takes out his electroknife to try to kill Brande in one last attempt. Superboy uses his heat vision to melt the knife and now he moves in to take care of him personally. Getten tells him to stay away and that he will unleash a weapon that was his father’s last and mightiest discovery, and it has the power to destroy them all. But then something happens and does not go according to Getten’s plan. To his horror he feels himself being pulled apart and he disappears. Later, Dawnstar does a search and confirms that Getten is nowhere to be found. That is okay for Brande because he is still so proud of his team.

We arrive at the Epilogue where Brainiac Five is telling Brande that Chameleon Boy switched places with Star Boy and stayed behind as a captive, while Star Boy escaped and used his power to alert Superboy and the rest of the Legionnaires. He also wonders if Brande’s plan to help repair the damage to Graxl will work. Brande tells him of course it will work and he should not forget that he made his first billion creating a star.

As the Legion ship enters Graxl space, the Graxls are not happy to see them and after taking their crown they are probably back to take their lives. But as a scribe of an earlier age said, reports of their death are greatly exaggerated to say the least. Or even as the Graxls prepare for doom, the Legionnaires launch Getten’s world-destroying machine, now equipped with the crown, crystal, and core, and some unusual modifications and as it approaches space’s Sargasso Sea, it begins to glow, finally exploding, bursting into a nuclear fire that will burn in the Graxl’s sky for millennia, a star of life, born out of a plan for death. And the Graxls are saved!

Creative Team

Literally a week after the release date of All-New Collector’s Edition C-55, we already have some of the ramifications of Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad’s wedding. But if you read the story, it might have seemed a bit too tad familiar to you. That is, if you read the Justice League of America / LSH crossover. Because it is essentially the same plot. Instead of Mordru kidnapping some Legionnaires and sending three groups to fetch a few items, it is now Arma Getten. To me this was obviously reused, probably for the sake of time. And I do wonder if Mordru was actually meant to be the original villain but instead repurposed for the crossover? There are enough signs and signals to make that the case, but either way, especially if we look at Legion Outpost, there is a sense of disorganization with the creative team behind the scenes.

But regardless, it is still a pretty entertaining outing, that gives us a sci-fi story with a bit of a fantasy flavor. I always find it enthralling when the Legion has to travel to other places in the galaxy in order to figure out how to solve the problem. It enriches the world and this is something Levitz will lean on heavily in future issues. Also, one of the things that I really like about Levitz, is that he is not afraid to reference previous stories. I suppose one could call this a semi-sequel to the Mon-El story in #236 as he has to return to the Mining Fleet that he saved, and he saves again, and in return they gift him the star. 

Plus, you have to admit, this story gave room for Levitz to really use pretty much every active member. I think almost everyone had something to do (except for poor Tyroc and Element Lad) so that was really neat. Probably one of my favorite scenes is when Shadow Lass, Phantom Girl, and Shrinking Violet surprise Wildfire and Princess Projectra in the throne room. It was a nice display of interaction between those two groups and it did put a smile on my face.

Also, I found it fitting that Levitz would use. R.J. Brande again, who is also an important figure in the Legion. He decided to give him a bit of characterization here, when he finally has had enough and is frustrated that the Legionnaires would focus on saving him than actually the universe. So it was interesting how he threw himself in the line of fire, pretty much putting his money where his mouth was.

Outside of it being a rehashed telling of the JLA crossover mentioned above, my only other complaint is that the story did get a bit confusing sometimes. I did not think that the whole Graxl thing was explained very well and even after re-reading it a few times it still is not very clear. I think Levitz had something more there and had to take a few things out.

As for the art, is it a surprise that it is well serviced here? Walt Simonson, one of the true legends in comic book history, provided the pencils and boy did he do a great job. I think his Thor run would come a bit later than this but you can tell he is just made for space, and also conceptualizing weird and fantastical creatures. It was his character designs of the Graxls that put it firmly on that line between sci-fi and fantasy, and that is not a bad thing. All the Legionnaires were handled quite well, and he really leaned on the nice, plump king look for R.J. Brande, which is fitting for his character. I am not sure if we will see Mr. Simonson again on this book but I would not complain. Though I hope we do see the return of James Sherman soon.

All in all this issue did what it needed to do. It could be construed as a ‘filler’ issue, but Levitz manages to reference the Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad wedding as well as reference that awesome Mon-El story from #236. If you were to find this in the wild and pick it up, you would still be entertained and have a good idea of what Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes was all about. 

Legion Outpost

There are a few items noteworthy in this issue of the Legion Outpost. First we have a letter from Snapper Estes who congratulates Al Milgrom on the new appointment and then decides to criticize Levitz while also mentioning he thought Gerry Conway’s story in #232 was much better than Levitz’s story in #231. Levitz kind of goes in to defend himself to remind Snapper that there were fewer characters in #232 but also reveals that the Legion “is one of the top sellers in the field, surpassing many magazines at all companies, and with a sale that has increased while I’ve been writing the book.” (Emphasis his). It is no surprise that the Legion is doing well but people are responding quite nicely to Levitz’s stories.

However, as we have noted earlier, there has been quite a lot of inconsistency with the artists as of late. We have had a bunch of different ones making contributions and they do admit as such, while responding to Mike White’s letter who also has spotted inconsistencies, such as announcing the next issue being Infinite Man but then are treated to a different story entirely. Paul Levitz responded:

“We’d dearly love to print the Legion in the order we write them–and if we can ever get the art situation on this book stabilized, we will. Right now it appears that this issue you hold will be a Walt Simonson, Jack Abel collaboration, and will be followed by either the beginning of a five-part epic by Jim Sherman or a tale by Jim Starlin. But editor Al promises to get the art situation straightened out by the spring thaw…or else!”

Would you not be surprised that next issue is neither of these things, though Jim Starlin does make a contribution, but not the one you would expect. What is it? You will have to wait until next week!

Finally, if you remember those Legion elections that were happening in the preceding issues where they asked the readers to vote for who should be next Legion leader, you should remember that we have a bit of a problem. That is because Lightning Lad received the most votes and because he is now married, he is no longer a Legionnaire. Uh oh. Levitz teases that it does seem like an impossible situation but they will have to find out how they do the impossible by simply keep reading. 

The Legion Medallion of Merit 

We have another issue packed full of Legionnaires who were once again split off into different teams to serve a vital function of the story and help save R.J. Brande. But who is deserving of the Medallion that commerates a Legionnaire who went above and beyond the call of duty? Why R.J. Brande of course.

Look, Brande must have been absolutely stewing in that sphere with Getten, feeling quite helpless. So when Supeboy decided not to act out of the desire to spare Brande’s life, Brande had enough. He launched his entire body at the sphere, believing that it would result in both his and Getten’s death, all to stop this insanity from happening. And he came out on top, reminding everyone why he started the Legion of Super-Heroes in the first place and what they stand for. 

Congratulations R.J. Brande! Though you are the richest man in the Universe and probably have all sorts of items and trinkets adorning your estates and halls, we do hope this Medallion will nevertheless have a prominent place.

And that’s it for this week’s entry fellow Legionnaires! Be nice to your fellow co-workers and try to keep an eye on all your business assets and make sure they are doing good and not evil. Otherwise an eneraged ex-employee might make a run for destroying the solar system, and if you see this happening remember that call to action…

LONG LIVE THE LEGION!