Tag: Gun-Hand

“The Gun That Mastered Men“

If you needed further confirmation that we are firmly in a new era of the Legion of Super-Heroes, look no further. For we actually have two tales!

First, we are treated to the sequel from issue #197. As my loyal fans remember, after Tyr was defeated his gun jettisons into outer space ominously waiting to strike.

Tyr smirks and taunts the Legion saying he won’t be their prisoner for long and they are all doomed. We get a glimpse into his inner thoughts and we see that the gun is indeed plotting for his escape.

We go back to the Legion as Brainiac-5, Star Boy and Princess Projectra send off Superboy. Superboy warns him that Tyr is dangerous and starts to head back to Smallville when suddenly the weapon sends down a powerful beam, striking the Legion headquarters.

Inside the headquarters Chameleon Boy and Dream Girl are alerted and go into battle stations. Tyr grows ever confident knowing that his invincible hand will take of everything. Meanwhile Star Boy and Brainiac-5 start to analyze the damage and see what exactly is happening.

The Sensor-Scan reveals that the field is an unknown energy that defies analysis and it appears that the beam has locked the Legion inside. Princess Projectra worries about the other members, but Chameleon Boy mentions that everyone had left with Mon-El for his mission on his Home Planet Daxam.

Retreating to the armory, the bring out some big guns and try to blow a hole through the main entrance, to no avail. They are prisoners in their own fortress. If only Superboy hadn’t traveled back to the 20th century.

But what’s that? In mid travel Superboy was able to detect the strange beam and kept himself from fading away Seeing that they are indeed trapped like sardines in a can, he tries to uses his Super strength to smash through. But even he can’t do it.

Instead he decides to track the beam to its source and much to his non-surprise he finds the deadly weapon of Tyr. moving quickly he decides to give a hand-shake, Superboy-style and smashes it to bits.

Meanwhile, Dream Girl has one of her premonitions and tells Star Boy that he will about to fly toward the ceiling with open arms but she doesn’t know why. Brainiac-5 mentions their might be an interesting reason as he looks up at the ceiling and he’s going to check it out..

Sure enough Brainiac-5 blasts the ceiling vent and out drops Tyr.

Realizing the force-field outside was just a diversion, Tyr confirms and says that the energy-cone also nullified the psionic bars of his cell allowing him to escape. The Legionnaires try to bring him back into custody and tells them that they are doomed regardless, because his hand never gives up! And neither do the Legionnaires!!

Meanwhile Princess Projectra is distraught. She tells Brainy what chance do they have if they’re the weakest members and not as powerful as the others.

Brainiac agrees but says they still have htier wits and they have to keep their if they want to get out of this crisis. Princess Projectra agress.

Suddenly Star Boy alerts the others that something has happened. The force field is gone. Using a pericope Chameleon Boy discovers none other than Superboy, who hadn’t traveled back to the 20th century at all. As they cheer his return Tyr realizes his plans crumble. Superboy enters when they realize that it’ snot Superboy talking, but the Gun-Hand!

Yes, the Gun-Hand hit Superboy with a Cosmic blast then adapted its circuits to take over Superboy’s nervous system and his brain. Why would the gun go back to an inferior beam like Tyr when it has complete control of one of the most powerful beings in the universe! Now for the next step the gun exclaims. Despite all the effort and willpower that Superboy can muster, his hand with the gun slowly points to the Legionnaires and hits them with a powerful blast.

Superboy is crushed. He didn’t have the strength to stop the gun from destroying his friends. Suddenly Tyr jumps on Superboy and the gun. Confused, the gun can’t fathom how Tyr could overpower Superboy’s strength. Then Tyr reveals that he is wearing a glove of artificial kryptonite. Doing a quick computation, the gun realizes the odds are no longer in his favor, Superboy’s power is drained, and it must surrender. And it releases Superboy from its grasp.

After Tyr grabs the gun, a fantastic transformation takes place. It’s Chameleon Boy! He tricked the gun to releasing Superboy and as he points the gun again, he also sees that the team has survived. He didn’t destroy them! Princess Projectra used an illusion to make the gun think as much and they were hidden the whole time.

Chameleon boy helps Superboy up, apologizing for the Kryptonite grip. Relieved Superboy tells him to forget it, the gun was controlling him and he had to be stopped.

Superboy then flies off to return to the 20th century.

Princess Projectra tells Brainy that he was right. They might not be as powerful as the other members or Superboy, but if they worked together as a team, their combined forces are more formidable than anyone hero could ever be.

Placing his hand on her shoulder, Brainy smiles.

“Right, Princess! And teamwork is what the Legion is all about!”

“The Impossible Target!“

The second tale is a focus on a fan-favorite (mine included) of the beloved Bouncing Boy. This also serves as a sequel of sorts from Adventure Comics #358, titled “The Hunter!”

The story, titled “The Impossible Target!” finds Bouncing Boy speeding along in his mini cruiser, checking on one of the Legion tracking stations. Minding his own business, he is suddenly alerted as a Class-R Meteor Swarm bears down on him.

Not too concerned as he can simply use his Radar-Repellor system to knock them off track, after its activation he discovered they are in fact man-made satellites. The satellites surround his ship and guide him to the planet below, forcing him to land on a very ominous looking fortress courtesy of Dave Cockrum.

Alighting from the craft, a hatch opens suddenly underneath him. Bouncing Boy engages his bouncing powers to cushion the fall. A voice calls down to him and tosses him his own spaceship, which has been reduced to the size of a baby’s first.

Suddenly, a figure emerges and Bouncing Boy recognizes him. For he is the son of his late father, Otto Orion, whom the Legionnaires battled in the above mentioned issue of Adventure Comics, and he is set out on revenge.

New Orion guides Bouncing Boy on a small tour and gives him a sack that looks exactly like him. Knowing things are getting weird, Bouncing Boy sees it is getting weirder as Orion straps on some anti-gravity boots and tosses the sack in the next room. Peering through the glass, BB sees that the next room has zero gravity, and Orion calmly takes out his weapon and blasts the sack to smithereens.

Even though everyone could get the meaning of that demonstration, Orion allows BB a chance to survive. If he can evade him in the jungle, he will allow BB to live. If not, he will capture him and take him to the weightless chamber and destroy him.

Bouncing Boy darts through the jungle without any particular destination other than his own survival. He crashes into some water and tries to evade Orion. However, Orion catches up to him and tells him why he chose to kill him first over the other Legionnaires. Bouncing Boy is the weakest, and he decided to start at the bottom. After all, what can he do other than bounce around?

Despite being captured, this motivates BB to not give up without a fight. Orion throws him into the weightless room, and BB waits until the very right moment. Having received a small cold from being in the water, BB emits a loud sneeze, and blasts off against the wall, ricocheting with ever greater speed until he slams into Orion. Orion cannot believe his defeat, and BB’s head grew three more sizes that day.

Letters

It is pretty standard fare in the Letters. There is a lot of praise for #195, especially on Dave Cockrum’s art. We can see a lot of people really enjoying his new designs. One interesting letter is from future writer Bob Rozakis, a letter hack in the day. Albeit it is for Superboy #196, praising the story. Which of course makes you question Rozakis’ tastes at the time. But I must admit I have not read that story.

There is a new section called Lines About the Legion, and here we are treated to our fantastic fans.

Cary Bates counters a fan who questions the Legion law that prohibits members with duplicate powers, pointing out Lightning Lad and Lightning Lass. Bates reminds this fan that their powers were changed a while ago, which is true and it happened in Adventure Comics #317.

But the juiciest comment is from Kari Smartt of Cupertino California, who claims that Chemical King has the power to create chemical reactions, not change or create elements. Oh the fandom was still in full force back then.

Also the editor acknowledges letters about bringing back Erg-1 who then tells everyone to wait and see, which is quite an enticing teaser.

LSH Universe

If we take a step back and look at this issue in the grand scheme of things, it’s a weird one. We have a sequel to a story that happened two issues ago and a random spotlight on a Legionnaire, which also serves as a sequel to a story way back in Adventure Comics.

My guess is that editorial was still trying to get its ducks in a row and Dave Cockrum was more or less running a bit late. The previous issue was a huge three parter that took up his time, and he also needed to work on issue 200, which is coming up. Something in these stories must have served as an inventory story or an extension of a backstory in the old format.

In short, this is pure filler stuff all the way.

Nevertheless, I did enjoy the first tale because we did receive more insight into Tyr as a villain. Because who is the true villain, the gun or Tyr himself? The gun was in control and demonstrated that it had a lot of power. Albeit it was quite cowardly when it decided to give up so quickly due to it calculating a very low probability of succeeding. Maybe this is why it needs Tyr after all and why AI will always need humans to progress its agenda. Let’s not scare ourselves too much here.

With the Bouncing Boy tale, I did think it was an odd choice and the plot moving devices are pretty standard fair. Nothing spectacular but it did tie in well to the lesson of the first one, creating some consistency. Whether intentional or not. Never underestimate a Legionnaire. Even if their powers might not be the strongest because they will be victorious in the end. The only thing they have to overcome is themselves, which they do in the end.

The Legion Medallion of Merit

This one is a little difficult because we have two stories to consider. Whilst Princess Projectra and Bouncing Boy do have the same arc, I don’t think they should have the Medallion. Rather this issue’s Medallion must go to Brainiac-5. He kept his cool during a bad situation, rallied the troops, and also inspired Princess Projectra to use hers powers to help give the Legion the upper-hand. Also he reminds not only Projectra but all of us, that teamwork is what this whole thing is all about.

Congratulations Brainiac-5! As you hold the Medallion up high, you would care less about the glow and admiration you receive from your fellow Legionnaires because what you did was simply rational and needed at the time.

Next up, Superboy Starring the Legion of Super-Heroes #200!…

Coming out three months later!?