Welcome back heroes! We have a good one in this week’s installment of the Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes blog, or Starring I should say since the name has not changed just yet.

We have another full length feature from Jim Shooter and boy, it sure does look like Jim and Mike are going through an interesting period in their lives. Plus we welcome Bob Wiacek as the official full-time inker on the title. Bob was chosen by Mike Grell and we have a nice biography of him in the letters page. Welcome Bob! And R.J. Brande, the favorite, lovable, founder of the Legion of Super-Heroes makes his first appearance in the title. Nice to see you again R.J.! 

But enough cheering and welcoming and join me as we enter into the world of light bondage. Yowzers.

The Trillion-Dollar Trophies

Part 1 – The Living Key

This is the fusion power sphere. The mammoth nucleonic power plant, which supplies 30th century metropolis with energy. This vital installation is protected by the galaxy’s most advanced, virtually foolproof computer-operated security alarm system, which only moments ago, has somehow been tripped!

Superboy and Timber Wolf make their way into the installation as two figures hide in the shadows, waiting to strike. As Superboy and Wolf continue their search, Superboy realizes that there is a lot of lead radiation that is blocking his super-vision. He suggests to split up. As Timber Wolf goes it alone, he is struck from behind by a heavy chain. He blocks the second attempt and continues his struggle. Superboy quickly comes to his aid but a female figure blocks his path. The boy of steel tries to make is way to help his comrade but he cannot move. He stands there transfixed as Timber Wolf is defeated. 

We leave this scene and go into the morning, when the sun’s first faint rays slip through the windows of the plush penthouse office of the R.J. Brande building. Rene Jacques Brande is already at work, he is the wealthiest man in the universe and the founder of the Legion of Super-Heroes.

He puts down a paper with the headline, “Two Legionnaires Missing” and wonders what could have happened to them. His thoughts are interrupted by a delivery, as our female nemesis who transfixed Superboy moments ago confidently walks into the room, She instructs the two men to put down the two crates and then leave. R.J. demands to know who she is, and she answers with a startled reply of ‘please don’t shout at her!’ R.J. immediately apologies profusely. She quickly swats the apology to the side and tells him that she wants a hundred-million dollars for the safety of his two Legionnaires. Pay up, or his Legion friends will die. She leaves R.J. with the two crates.

As he takes a closer inspection of his new gifts, he hears a faint “mmph!” Someone must be inside. He quickly hits the emergency hotline to Legion HQ and shortly six Legionnaires respond. He tells them to be quick because there are people in those crates who might be suffocating. Colossal Boy quickly grows large, picks up the crates and breaks them in two. And out pop Timber Wolf and Superboy, restrained in an intricate and highly advanced set of constraints. 

Shadow Lass observes that if Superboy is still constrained there is no way Colossal Boy can snap them out. Shrinking Violet agrees and shrinks down to her trademark tiny size and moves into the locks. She observes a series of complicated pin-and-tumblers and knows that she cannot possibly move them all at once to free them.

She returns to the outside and tells Chameleon Boy what she saw. He looks at both of the keyholes on the constraints, concentrates, and instructs his two hands to morph to their inside shape. When suddenly, the constraints go BAM and then disappear freeing both Superboy and Timber Wolf. 

The Legionnaires are relieved but Shadow Lass quickly points out that they can no longer analyze them for clues. But maybe Superboy and Timber Wolf can fill them in? Light Lass who is caressing and comforting her beloved tells them that Wolf is in no condition for questioning. R.J. tries to help and recounts his experience to Superboy, telling him of the delicate and beautiful young lady. It triggers a faint memory in Superboy but he deduces that their memories must have been wiped out by some form of super-hypnosis. But the girl he does remember and he also remembers that he was not able to brush her aside to help out Timber Wolf. 

R.J. relents that for this reason he should probably pay her and give in to her demands. Shadow Lass tells him no, and Cosmic Boy adds that they have their pride. They will do whatever they can to protect him, and then they fly out in search of their new adversaries.

Chapter 2 – Charms and the Chain-Maker 

On a distant, lonely asteroid stands the stronghold and smithy of the man called Grimbor, also known as the Chain-Maker. Charma announces herself and she is the one who was able to overpower Superboy and threaten R.J. Brande with her demands. She informs Grimbor that they will soon have enough money to fill all of his rooms with anything that his heart desires. But what does his heart desire? Not money, but to continue to be the greatest master of bondage, restraint, and security in the universe!

He walks over to his giant 3-D trophy and reminds Charma that he has sold his services to everyone from criminals to kings. He bound their enemies, fettered monsters—even once the mighty Validus—built for them impregnable strongholds and safeguarded their treasures. And they paid him fortunes. 

Charma is not amused and agrees that they paid him fortunes, but what did he do with it? He spent it on more locks, tools, equipment, and materials. He spent it all and he is now penniless. Money obviously has no importance to him, but it does to her. She had to watch her parents die in a food riot, fighting for scraps to feed herself, only to end up poor and orphaned. She was shut away in a girl’s school and was punished continuously in the punishment chair by the headmistress. 

As she got older, she was punished more and more and not only did the headmistress hate her, but also all the other girls in the orphanage. Grimbor interrupts her and and tells her he cannot stand to hear anymore. And she knows, because she is a mutant and she has a hypnotic effect on any man that comes near her. But for women, she has the opposite effect. Women want to hurt and punish her and that is why the headmistress hired Grimbor to make a special set of constraints for her. But she used her powers on Grimbor and he helped her escape. 

Grimbor takes her in his arms and tells her he loves her, but why must she involve the Legion and threaten Brande? Why simply not rob a bank? She scoffs at his suggestion and tells him that Brande is the wealthiest man in the universe, he owns dozens of banks. She anticipates that he will deny her at first, but by putting all of his beloved Legionnaires in chains, in Grimbor’s chains, he will have no choice but to give her what she wants. And to Grimbor who hesitates, he should consider this the greatest challenge for a craftsman like himself. 

And sure enough, later that night as R.J. Brande sits in his office, he receives a call. It is Charma and she demands to know if he reconsidered her offer. R.J. defiantly tells her no and she tells him he will be sorry and hangs up.

Luckily R.J. took Superboy’s advice and had tracing equipment installed on his phone and he manages to trace the call. To Legion Headquarters! He quickly gets on the communicator and knows he has to warn the Legionnaires. But the line is dead and he quickly orders a flier for immediate takeoff.

Meanwhile Charma and Grimbor stroll into Legion HQ and are confronted by Colossal Boy. Grimbor quickly hits him and continues his pounce. However Shadow Lass grabs Charma from behind and they begin their struggle while Grimbor knocks out Colossal Boy. Seeing Shadow Lass hurt Charma, Grimbor becomes enraged and punches her out, cold. He puts them both in special restraints. He then finds another room and crashes through it, where Cosmic Boy, Superboy and Chameleon Boy happen to hang out. 

Superboy immediately recognizes Charma and knows her power. Cosmic Boy uses his magnetic powers to throw Grimbor against the wall, playing to the advantage of his metal armor. However, both Superboy and Chameleon Boy have already succumbed to Charma’s ability and stand fast as Charma picks up a chair and knocks Cosmic Boy from behind. Grimbor quickly ties him up with fiber-rope, knowing that his magnetic powers will be useless. Charma pretends to faint, knowing both Superboy and Chameleon Boy will do anything to protect her.

And sure enough as they stand guard over her while Grimbor also puts Superboy in tough inertion chains and Chameleon Boy in a special heavy gauge thyme-plastic bag that will be able to hold him no matter what form he decides to change into.

Timber Wolf and Light Lass are watching the struggle on the monitor and prepare for battle. They understand there is only on way to beat them. Timber Wolf places a passionate kiss on Light Lass’ lips, knowing it might be for the last time.

Part 3 – Divided and Conquered

Seconds later in the nearby hall, a steel door divides Grimbor from Charma. Timber Wolf tackles Grimbor on one side, knowing that he has a score to settle from earlier before. As he pummels Grimbor he hears a scream from Charma who is being taken down by Light Lass. He cannot fight the urge and both he and Grimbor blast through the steel wall and Timber Wolf punches Light Lass out cold. He holds her in his arms, distraught from what Charma forced him to do. 

Seconds later Grimbor binds Timber Wolf in titanium magnet shackles. All the Legionnaires have been captured and are now proudly displayed in Legion Headquarters. Shortly, Charma and Grimbor watch R.J. Brande arrive and they defiantly show him how they captured and locked up his entire team in the storage vault. R.J. bows his head and admits defeat. He will pay the hundred-million. Charma sneers at him and tells him the price has gone up to one trillion dollars. 

However, Grimbor refuses. This is his greatest achievement, his greatest feat of bondage. And he wants to keep them all as his trophies. R.J. pleads with him and tells him he will even give him his entire fortune, but Grimbor still refuses. Charma cannot believe what she is hearing and she quickly darts into the storage vault. She will kill one Legionnaire, Light Lass, and will threaten to destroy the rest of Grimbor’s ‘trophies’ if he fails to submit. She takes out her gun and aims it at Light Lass, when suddenly Shrinking Violet reveals herself having hid in the gun itself. 

She knocks Charma with a powerful right cross and continues to pummel her. She knows that the male Legionnaires are watching and because of Charma’s power they are growing enraged.  But that is all part of her plan as she continues her assault when suddenly all the male Legionnaires explode out of their bonds and charge Shrinking Violet at the same time. 

But Superboy takes the lead and Shrinking Violet knows she has to time it just right. Just as he reaches her she shrinks down to small size, and Superboy smashes through the door behind her, and right into Grimbor. Because they are in the other room Shrinking Violet tells them to stay there lest they succumb to Charma’s charm yet again.

Later having put Grimbor at Science Police Headquarters in a top security cell, they managed to find a pair of shackles that fit Charma in Grimbor’s bag. Shrinking Violet ended up cuffing her and because the bonds give off a special radiation her power of persuasion is effectively nullified. They deduce that once Grimbor helped her capture the Legion, he was going to take her prisoner as well, and keep her as his lover, as long as he lived. He wanted to make sure she’d never escape.

Creative Team

Jim Shooter was definitely projecting something, but it does take some courage to take a theme like bondage and apply it to a super-hero book. The concept of domination and submission is very prevalent throughout, especially the changing of the role between Charma and Grimbor. The theme itself does make it quite an interesting application to the book and we do get into some of the more fascinating concepts, but I do think a lot of the plot movements were a bit forced. Specifically Grimbor’s fascination with collecting trophies and Charma’s motivations in securing money.

However, the nice little spin on Charma’s influence on the men being the opposite on women, was some nice characterization work on the part of Shooter. We do empathize with her backstory, which leads us to believe her perception and outlook on the world is quite bleak and depressing. Furthermore, she might not truly know if someone is in love with her because of her powers is offset by a female’s hatred of her. Meaning she is always alone and possibly can never find nor understand true love. 

I am not sure if I would have chosen this subject or have went so far into it, but it does serve as a talking piece and is another demonstration how Shooter contributed very adult-oriented stories, which was very much ahead of the other books in the DC line.

Also, Shooter continues to show why he is so good at team books. Each character serves a purpose and he still manages to instill characterization in all of them despite only having seventeen pages to do so. Plus, he can deliver action and we are jumped right in the middle of an operation as the Legion responds to an alarm. It is all vey effective. 

Mike Grell is joined by Bob Wiacek and they do a solid job in bringing the story to life. There are some proportion issues that Grell seems to be struggling with, the cover image being the most obvious one. But you can always love Grell, no matter what he does. Once again his strength is very much his depiction of Superboy, and giving him a lot of movement. One of the key moments was definitely Superboy exploding through the wall and tackling Grimbor from behind.

All in all this was a solid offering that took a very interesting subject and applied it to the Legion of Super-Heroes. The title continues to develop as we explore unknown territories. 

Super-Talk

In this issue of Super-Talk we do have some fandom being proudly displayed, but nothing on the current editorial situation despite the bombshell announcement in Karate Kid #5. As you know it was casually mentioned in that issue that the Karate Kid book editor, Joe Orlando, would take over from Murray Boltinoff by the end of the year. So if you were not picking up the Karate Kid book you would have no idea. Note: I usually do not like to add things before posting but, since I am ahead in the reading, I know that it will not be Joe Orlando that will take over, but Denny O’Neil.

But back to Super-Talk this issue. Louis Conzo made an actual model of the Legion Cruiser and showed it to the entire DC office. The days when you could just knock on the door must have been a lot of fun. They took a picture of it and included it in the latest issue of The Amazing World of DC Comics, which I believe would be #9. I do have something exciting to share. I recently procured an issue in very good condition and will include it in the blog shortly so do expect a full review plus I will see if I can include a picture of the model in this post.

Oh and as a thank you they gave Conzo an advanced copy of issue #218 and he gave it a great review. 

The other item of interest is that we get a nice little welcome for Bob Wiacek who is officially announced as the new inker for Mike Grell. And Bob Wiacek’s last name is pronounced “why-a-check.” We also get a nice little autobiography from the man himself:

“For me, it all began in Manhattan, New York—I was born there. It seemed that all my life I was headed for some sort of art career because I was always drawing something. My love for drawing led me to the School of Visual Arts where, after three years, I was instructed by such comic greats as Will Eisner and Harvey Kurtzman. Under their guidance, it seemed as if comic book work was my direction and goal.

“Toward the end of my third year at school, I showed my work to artist Mike Kaluta who, in turn, showed it to Neal Adams and Dick Giordano. At the time, the two of them were heading the artist team known as The Crusty Bunkers. Neal liked my work and started me off on some of the Bunkers’ assignments, I was on my way.

“Soon after, I started working with Dick Giordano on backgrounds for the Batman feature in Detective Comics and on The Joker. I worked side by side with Terry Austin, a good buddy who also did (and still does) backgrounds on Dick’s jobs.

“After a while, Terry and I branched out and started handling background duties for Bob Oksner and Tex Blaisdell on Superman (with a few Batman and Flash jobs here and there).

“Terry soon left to do other work by himself. He was given assignments by DC editor, Julies Schwartz, a very good editor. In fact, everyone we worked with has been good—helping us in his own individual way.

“I was soon able to meet Mike Grell, who liked my work very much and asked me to do some backgrounds for him. I worked on the first issue of the new Green Lantern/Green Arrow for him while I continued to take assignments from Tex Blaisdell, Bob Oksner and Continuity Associations (the company Neal Adams and Dick Giordano now head).

“My first work over Mike Grell’s pencils went over so well with his editor that he returned to ask me to help him on the Legion of Super-Heroes #219. He showed the results to editor Murray Boltinoff who has now given me the opportunity to ink all of the Legion’s adventures!”

And what a nice little biography, name dropping some of the legends like Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman, Neal Adams, Dick Giordano, Mike Kaluta, Bob Oksner, and Terry Austin. What an exceptional amount of talent to be around at the time.

The Legion Medallion of Merit 

The Legion Medallion of Merit is a defining moment we choose in every issue that commemorates an individual who acted above and beyond in the act of duty, demonstrating why the Legion of Super-Heroes is the greatest team in the 30th Century, if not in all time. So who can be deserving of such a reward?

Why, we have to give it to our founder, R.J. Brande, who continued to show faith in his Legionnaires and who was willing to give up his entire fortune for their well being. If that does not prove that you believe in the cause, I do not know what does. 

Congratulations Mr. Brande and may the medal have a special place on your mantle and occupy a space next to the numerous objects you have collected over the years thanks, in part, to your immense wealth and taste for adventure. 

And that is all for this week’s installment and if you ever find yourself bounded or under the control of an evil super-villain, all you have to do is ring out that wonderful cry that instills fear in beings who are intent on doing evil, and inspires those that desire to be good…

LONG LIVE THE LEGION!