After a two issue, three month absence, Cary Bates is back baby! And he seems to be molding quite comfortably into what Jim Shooter is stepping on.

Bill Draut continues his assist of Mike Grell and not only do we have two strong stories they are also stunning.

But why take my word for it? Find that rainbow and let’s get reading.

No Price Too High

Behold a 30th-century marvel–Planet Gyrich! A factory world whose entire surface is covered by one enormous manufacturing complex.

A lone robot reports that all is normal, as a Superboy pokes his out. He tells Shadow Lass, Wildfire, Brainiac 5 and Karate Kid that it’s safe. The group trots out of their hiding place and Karate Kid asks Brainy if he can fix the malfunctioning defense computer. He answers in the affirmative when suddenly the Teen of Steel blasts skyward heading to outer space. Brainiac pleas for him to stop lest he be spotted by radar.

Superboy ignores the plea and intercepts a one-man ship. He quickly wraps the sole occupant in his indestructible cape when the ship suddenly explodes, just like the others for the last two months.

Superboy returns to the group and unwraps his cape to find an ungrateful brat who tells SB he wrinkled his suit. Taken aback Superboy begins to explain that he just saved his life, when the brat cooly tells everyone that his dad is Leland McCauley, the owner of this planet factory. And he decided to borrow one of his daddy’s speedsters.

Wildfire tells him he’s an idiot and that this factory has been sealed off for months because the auto-defenses of the planet has gone haywire.

As if on cue, robot R-5 reports that it traced the flying intruder to Pump House 10. Its orders? To vaporize it immediately. It begins to confirm the order when suddenly a mighty fist appears on the outside of its metallic chest. It’s Karate Kid who then notices a group of robots descending upon the Legion. Wildfire makes quick work and blasts them all at once. They are safe for now.

Later Shadow Lass once again covers the team in darkness as they plan their next move. They have no choice but to take the brat along because they can’t spare anyone to take him to safely. When they start discussing how they will be able to safely arrive to the control room, the little brat asserts that he will not fight and strides out into the light. He’s certain these robots will listen to him.

He approaches the nearest Patrol Bot and starts to speak, when the robot simply blasts a death ray right at him, which is easily intercepted by Superboy. The other Legionnaires follow suit and start taking out the robots. Karate Kid delivers a stunning kick to a robot head, while Wildfire delivers yet another blast.

Suddenly the robots receive orders to take a hostage and one Patrol Bot manages to grab the brat. Brainy orders the Legionnaires to stop fighting and Superboy tells them they surrender to an angry Wildfire.

They are taken to a cell-like cubicle and a Patrol Bot tells them to rise for the overseer. Brainy is surprised because he thought the last human overseer was dismissed five years ago. As if to answer his call, the Overseer strides over to him and tells Brainy he is correct. Leland McCauley III did in fact fire him. But after years of planning his revenge, he has returned and because of his knowledge of the planet was easily able to take it over. Out there he was nothing, but inside here? He is number one, and he plans to stay that way.

Unfortunately for the Legionnaires, they all must be eliminated and if they try to resist, he will simply kill the little child they have in their possession.

The Overseer takes his exit and Wildfire realizes the Overseer doesn’t know the brat he took is actually McCauley’s son. Brainy surmises that if he did, he would simply kill him. Superboy agrees and decides to warn him. Using super-ventriloquism, he tells the brat to stay put and to not mention his name otherwise they will kill him. Of course the kid thinks it is a trick, and, ignoring Superboy, calls for a guard.

Superboy can’t believe what he’s hearing and relays it to his teammates. Wildfire brushes it off and decides to fight his way out since he doesn’t have to worry about him. Karate Kid agrees but Superboy reminds them both that a life is at stake while giving Wildfire a little tiny push.

Wildfire squares up to SB, tells him nobody pushes Wildfire, and blasts Superboy right in the chest. The Teen of Steel is unmoved and slowly walks to Wildfire. Wildfire turns up the heat, literally, but it’s no match for Superboy who pushes him against the wall. Superboy doesn’t care about Wildfire’s personal feelings and reminds him he’s a Legionnaire so he should act like one.

The Overseer meanwhile responds to the brat’s call and as the brat is about to tell him who he is, he suddenly loses his voice. The Overseer has no time to play stupid games and since the kid now has nothing to say he leaves. Back in the cell with the Legionnaires, we see Wildfire using a pencil-thin beam of low-power energy that disrupted the brat’s vocal chords just in time. Superboy says good work and they both shake hands, burying the hatchet.

Later, the Overseer has our beloved Legionnaires taken to the deck of the control center in order to execute them. Superboy commands him to let the kid go and the Overseer refuses. It’s in his best interest to keep him covered until every last Legionnaire is dead. And once that happens, he’ll release him in the Shuttle-Craft.

The brat walks over and says it’s named after his dad. The Overseer is surprised but quickly draws his blaster and points it at the kid. Superboy warns him that if he even tries it, he’ll have that weapon wrapped around his neck in no time. Let him go.
Superboy then makes a promise. If he promises to spare the boy he swears on the Legion’s sacred honor that he can blast them instead. As the Overseer contemplates his answer, the little brat finally decides to make himself useful and bites hard on the Overseer’s hand.

With the Overseer distracted, the Legion jump into action and quickly destroy the surrounding Patrol Robots. Karate Kid has his sights on the overseer, flips over the robots, and delivers a mighty Karate kick right in the Overseer’s jaw.

With the battle quickly over, the kid rushes into Shadow Lass’ arms, crying that he wants to go home. Wildfire is surprised that the little brat actually did something good while Superboy asks Brainiac 5 if he can repair the factory planet. Brainy says of course, he just needs an hour in the control room.

Later, the little kid boards the Shuttle-Craft and before he goes, he tells them all he was very bad and that he was just thinking of himself. And then he takes off without saying sorry.

Superboy watches the shuttle disappear and asserts that this is probably the first unselfish act he has done. Shadow Lass meanwhile asks Superboy if he really was willing to sacrifice everyone for the little brat’s safety. Of course not, because Wildfire and himself are naturally invulnerable to the overseer’s weapons, Brainy has his force-shield belt, and he would’ve simply wrapped Karate Kid and Shadow Lass in his invulnerable cape.

After all, he offered to let him blast them but didn’t say they’d die.

Stay Small–or Die!

Saturn Girl and Brainiac 5 monitor Shrinking Violet’s dreams on the Video Dream Scanner. Brainiac has found the reason that Shrinking Violet will not use her power anymore. She is terrified that a monster will trample her if she ever shrinks down again.

And it’s all due to the time she was in the gym, practicing her powers in tiny form when she was almost stepped on by Sun Boy. Saturn Girl tells Brainy to be careful because in her current state, if she has another shock she may never be able to use her powers again.

A dazed Shrinking Violet sits up and tells them she is absolutely drained. Brainy tells her to find herself some dinner so he and Saturn Girl can converse further. As they both watch her leave, Brainy still doesn’t understand why he can’t simply hypnotize her with his beamer to help her. Saturn Girl reminds him that she telepathically linked herself with her mind during the session and her sanity is hanging by a thread. They need to be really careful about this.

Brainy agrees but tells her they have a real problem on their hands, because if she can’t get over her fear, they will lose a great Legionnaire.

Later that night in the Legion’s sleeping quarters, a lone figure approaches a sleeping Shrinking Violet. He knows that Saturn Girl warned him not to use the Hypno-Beamer but her sanity and the future of the team is on the line.

Hypnotizing her, he commands her to follow him and leads her to a Legion cruiser. They take off and Ultra Boy runs into the control room with a very relaxed Colossal Boy. He tells him Cruiser LX-4 wasn’t scheduled for take off, but CB tells him to cool up. It’s Brainy and he filed the appropriate paperwork. They’re probably only going out on a joy-ride.

Later on the cruiser Brainy spots a planet that should be perfect for SV’s recovery, the Planet Klorra.

Brainy prepares the Illusion-Meter to project an imaginary giant at her with the hopes of snapping her out of her fear. He then carefully lands the cruiser and places Violet outside while concealing himself and the ship.

Vi regains consciousness and as she stands up, she is surrounded by large every-day objects and realizes she is three inches tall again. She panics and tries to regain her senses when she hears a very awful whirling. Suddenly a robot creature jumps out to attack her.

She dodges the attack and it forces her slowly backward. She sees that she’s actually standing on a table and tries to dodge the next attack, a bit of blob, but is too late. She falls over the edge and tries to active her flight-ring but the blob connects her first, trapping her.

Meanwhile we see that Brainiac 5 is also trapped in the blob and confesses that he has made a very grave error. He thought the planet was deserted but in fact it was once inhabited by giants, who were wiped out by a terrible plague. He wasn’t expecting an automated pet that was left behind by a Klorran to still be active and obviously mistook them for garbage that it was now cleaning up. In fact, he didn’t even have the chance to activate the illusion-meter.

As Brainy continues to figure out how he’s going to get out of this mess, the robot creature slowly approaches once more, when suddenly the robot short circuits. And out pops Shrinking Violet! When she fell off the table, the air current didn’t slow her fall like it should have when she’s only a few inches tall. It was then she realized she was still normal sized. Thinking quickly she shrank down really fast and slipped through the stands of the blob.

She frees a grateful Brainiac who tells her he owes her his life. But she tells him she is the one who actually owes him, because he taught her a valuable lesson.

“No matter how small you are, if you’ve got confidence in yourself, you’re 10 feet tall.”

Creative Team

After wondering back and forth whether or not Cary Bates is off the book, well it looks like he’s not. So I will stop speculating on this point because it does look like him and Jim Shooter are sharing the writing chores, even after a leave of absence.

Either way we have two strong stories this issue from two writers that are at the top of their game, and Mike Grell who keeps on knocking it out of the park.

First, let’s focus on how this issue is a key issue. Wildfire has been around for a while now, but he hasn’t really done anything. And this issue is where we see his hot temper for the first time courtesy of Jim Shooter. And it’s done very well with a quick bit of reconciliation.

The whole premise of No Price Too High was good and was very effective world building. We have a factory planet gone haywire and the introduction of Leland McCauley III and the IV who we will see in later issues. The whole snobby-kid-depiction is a nice touch because, let’s face it, we all knew one of those growing up.

I do like how Superboy was compromised simply from protecting someone and how he had to stand up for his beliefs, especially when other members disagreed. It was nice to see disagreement among the members and that not everything is rosy all the time. It really built out the team dynamic.

And of course Mike Grell continues to impress with his rendering and depiction of a whole different planet, its robots and the overseer. Also the fight scenes with all the different characters he manages with ease and he’s just a fantastic artist and continues to be my favorite.

The second story by Cary Bates, Stay Small–or Die!, was also well done. Interestingly it felt like a continuation of dealing with fear from last issue, but instead of it being Ultra Boy, it’s now Shrinking Violet.

We did have that classic Cary Bates plotting with a little twist of being normal size with everything else being big. It had a good resolution with a bit of risk thrown in on Brainy’s part willing to bet Violet’s sanity or her needing to leave the Legion for good. All in all it was a solid story that allowed us to focus on a small group of Legionnaires, which seems to be the formula for these two-story formats.

Super-Talk

We have a lot of juice in this issue’s Super-Talk, so get out your favorite Legionnaire Slurpee Cup from 7-Eleven, insert that straw, and let’s get into it.

We get a whole lotta praise for issue #211, which is no surprise because it was fantastic. Shooter really came off his Soljer story and continued to deliver something deep and tragic.

Boltinoff then sets things up by stating that with our two scripters, Jim Shooter and Cary Bates, the idea is to really deliver a cluster and diverse group of characters, including the Legion of Substitutes, which was also the backup in issue #211.

And this is a welcome assertion because we’ve been pretty much ramping up so it’s about time they use the whole arsenal in various ways. Bates used it to great effect with issue #208 when we got a nice match up between the LSH and LSV, but that was about it.

We also get a call for a new Legion Leader from fellow Missourian Donny C. Hampton. And come to think of it, we haven’t had an election as of yet. This has always been a fun event when we see our Legionnaires battle each other for the position. It always produces a lot of drama, infighting, and intrigue, all just to get the top job. So perhaps with the mention here we’ll get one of these soon.

Finally, one of the two big announcements is that they FINALLY announce the Karate Kid spin-off series. Here’s the full announcement.

“Announcement of the Century! (20th or 30th–take your pick):

On sale November 11th is the first issue of (hold onto your hats!) KARATE KID! That’s right, Legion-lovers, the valid Val Ammorr, the master of all forms of hand-to-hand combat in the universe, gets his very own mag, devoted exclusively to his exciting adventures!

This thrilling new mag will be brought to you by our good friends in the next office, editor Joe Orlando and writer Paul Levitz!

But don’t fret Legion-lovers; Karate Kid isn’t forsaking you in these pages. He’ll still be here whenever and wherever he’s needed, battling alongside his familiar super-lads and lasses!”

As you know I will be covering these issues and weaving these in from week to week with the regular series. What’s interesting about this announcement is that one, they didn’t make the release date, but it would actually come out in the beginning of December, and second, and most importantly, Paul Levitz joins the Legion of Super-Heroes, I believe for the very first time.

Paul Levitz’s contribution and impact of the whole LSH universe cannot and must not be understated. He would define the Legion of Super-Heroes, creating fantastic stories, characters, and scenarios all the way through post-crisis on beyond. Literally more than a decade’s worth. I can’t wait to cover his contribution and it’s very exciting that we are dipping our toes in the Levitz-era for the first time.

This announcement alone is quite exciting, but it doesn’t stop there.

Because we actually get an Announcement of the Century #2.

“For Sandy Jarrell, Raleigh, N.C., Dawn Weckerstrom, Kanloops, Canada, Charles Washington, Selma, Ala., and all the rest of you who have been clamoring for a Black Legionnaire to join the ranks, keep your eyes peeled for TYROC. Who or what is TYROC? More electrifying info next issue! –JCH”

And there we are, the announcement and first mention of TYROC who would become a fan-favorite and also produce some dialogue and debate. But as I reported in the past, this was a huge undertaking by Mike Grell to convince Boltinoff to do it, and whether it was Grell’s persistence or the mail from fans, or perhaps a combination of both, it doesn’t matter. Because Tyroc is finally coming.

So there you go, probably one of our most exciting Super-Talks in the series since issue #195 when this series was announced.

The Legion Medallion of Merit

We have two stories here. In No Price Too High, the Legion were pretty much constantly on their back foot, trying to dodge and get out of the mess that the little brat put them in. And tempers flared. Wildfire wanted to solve the problem the easy way and Superboy stood up to him.

However, I think in our second story, Stay Small–or Die, Shrinking Violet displayed courage with the help of Brainy to get over fear of being stepped on. Brainy took a big risk in doing what he did and his plan even failed. If it wasn’t for Vi’s quick thinking and realizing what was happening, who knows if the both of them would still be stuck in that blob and being forced to watch the robo-vacuum tidy up forever. So in my humble opinion, our beloved Shrinking Violet is deserving of the Medallion.

Congratulations Shrinking Violet! May you always remember this moment and how you, like Ultra Boy before, showed great courage and can overcome great fear.

And that’s it folks for this week’s write-up. Join us next week as we explore the first issue of the spin-off series Karate Kid! And please don’t forget the battle cry that rings out throughout the galaxy…

LONG LIVE THE LEGION!