Tag: Vanvlack IV

Jim Shooter is back in the driver’s seat and delivers both stories. Mike Grell continues his solo art duties and he treats us to a closer look at Colossal Boy’s new look.

But why write a long introduction when we can simply ju—

—Hey gang, Superboy here again, saving you from having to read one of Chris’ long and, frankly, uninspiring introductions. I have the honor once again of introducing the first story. So I will go ahead and do that. Thanks and you’re welcome.

But first…ROLL CALL!

Superboy!
Brainiac 5!
Shadow Lass!
Timber Wolf!
Colossal Boy!

Wellington at Waterloo…Patton and Rommel in North Africa…Pelnath and Kralzk on Jupiter in the Great Solar War! All of them great generals who led mighty armies into conflicts that forged history. All of them super-strategists who dueled across battlefields like Grandmasters across chessboards!

Now Brainiac 5 leads the Legionnaires against the Forces of Field Marshal Lorca in a blazing battle that leads to….

The Charge of the Doomed Legionnaires

Not all Legion missions are dangerous and heroic…or, at least, not all of them start out that way! This one began as a peaceful trip to the Science Police Convention on the planet Thanagar.

Superboy and Timberwolf are playing a game of interplanetary 3-D Chess when -Shadow Lass comes over to inform Superboy that Mon-El needs him back on Earth. It’s a pity because Superboy was just about to defeat Timber Wolf. TW then proceeds to inform Superboy that he was just about to use one special move that he was saving for him. And proceeds to kick the board over. Luckily our Teen of Steel takes it in stride, simply smiles, and then flies off to Earth.

Brainiac 5 then announces that in over fifteen minutes they will be over the planet Ruzicka where he’ll finally be able to play in the Interplanetary 3-D Chess Tournament.

Or will he?

Because Colossal Boy informs the group that the scanners have picked up a fast moving ship, and it just so happens to be a Khund Raider and it is definitely hostile.

Brainy gives the command to cut the engines and divert all power to the shields. But only Colossal Boy has the ability to execute those two orders at the same time, and quickly grows large to reach both controls at once.

Despite the quick thinking and maneuvering by our beloved LSH, the ship is still absorbed a Khund blast. Brainy asks Shadow Lass for a battle report and she tells him the lights are out in the monitor room. He then instructs Timber Wolf to act, who is able to quickly open the hatch to the weapons pod despite it being jammed. Colossal Boy reports that the blast opened a minor fissure in the fusion tanks and it has the possibility of really going boom-boom.

The Khund ship circles back for another pass but Brainy is ready for it. Also, he happens to recognize the insignia of the ship, showing that it belongs to none other than Field Marshal Lroca, who is their top commander. Brainy is excited to put his wits against the Field Marshal and decides to forego the chess tournament. This is the real challenge.

It is a brief, furious battle, utilizing hyper-light speeds, ultra-powerful weapons, strategy and counter-strategy. But in the end, Brainy prevails.

Shadow Lass congratulates him and Brainiac 5 shows some modesty that he wouldn’t have been able to do it without the crew. He then readies himself to be beamed down to Ruzicka and will participate in the chess tournament after all.

Or will he?

Meanwhile, aboard the Khund ship, we see Field Marshal Lorca who is informed by his crew that Brainiac 5 has left the ship, and the ship is resuming its course for Thanagar. Lorca commands his crew to intercept, revealing that the first attack was only a test. It is Lorca’s goal to capture the Legion Cruiser so he can analyze and study it.

The Khund ship moves into position and delivers a quick surprise attack, forcing the cruiser to make a hard landing on Vanvlack IV, a barren planet.

Colossal Boy asks everyone if they’re okay, and despite Timber Wolf’s stubbed toe, they all seem alright. But why did the Khunds simply disable them? Aren’t they infamous for showing no mercy to their opponents? Then as if to give their answer, a battle group of Khunds bear down on the ship. Colossal Boy activates the emergency signal and Timber Wolf charges up the quasi-batteries that still have a bit of juice. The rays power up and deliver a blast, scattering incoming raiders except for one who lies hurt on the ground.

It might be an officer and it could make for a good hostage. Timber Wolf orders Shady to move with him and for Colossal Boy to cover them. As they rush out of the craft, they hear Brainiac 5’s voice telling them to hit the deck. They all drop and just miss a deadly ray pass right over them. The raiding party was merely a trick to lure them into an ambush.

Timber Wolf gets Shady back on her feet and they make a run for it. Brainy informs them that he’s still on Ruzicka and was able to receive Colossal Boy’s signal on time to help them from the communications center. Timber Wolf asks him how he figured it was a trap and Brainy reminds them that Lorka doesn’t allow any of his officers to be taken alive.

Brainy then proceeds to plan out their strategy. But he better do it fast because a group of Khund tanks are moving fast onto their position. Brainy orders Shadow Lass to blackout the area and Timber Wolf tells Colossal Boy to zero in with the photon ray and blast them.

Meanwhile, Superboy also received Colossal Boy’s signals and halts his journey to Earth and quickly flies back to save his comrades.

We return to Khund command and Lorca is informed that the group is being led by Brainiac 5. Lorka then orders them to jam Brainy’s sub-space frequency and to imitate Brainy’s voice.

Not long after our group of heroes receive a command from the fake Brainiac 5 for a full frontal assault. Colossal Boy exclaims the assault will be suicide but Timber Wolf knows that Brainy hasn’t failed them yet and he must have a reason.

Boldly, our beloved Legionnaires activate their flight rings and fly toward the village of death with the jaws of the trap snapping shut around them. With ION cannons to the right, disruptors to the left and blasters dead ahead, the Legionnaires are done for.

Or are they?

Lorca commands them to fire behind and cut off any retreat. The Khunds concentrate their fire on the rock formations above in order to prevent the Legionnaires from taking cover. But there’s a problem. The Legionnaires are not retreating. They continue their frontal attack with a ferociousness sends fear into the hearts of the attacking Khunds. Colossal Boy gets blasted but reaches out with a large hand to grasp Lorca, while Shady turns everything to darkness. Timber Wolf shows no mercy and pummels his way through a group of Khunds and ignores the pain from their attacks. The Khunds are scared and suddenly the command of retreat is given.

Superboy arrives on the scene to a warn out group of Legionnaires. Timber Wolf wants to thank Brainy with a swift-super kick in the man bits but Superboy informs them they were tricked by Lorca. But speaking of Lorca where is he?

Lorca makes his way back to the Legion Cruiser not knowing that its fusion tanks ruptured in the first attack and has been building pressure this entire time. Lorca starts the ship and is greeted with a massive explosion, presumably destroying not only the ship but everything inside it, including its Field Marshal.

Despite Lorca’s genius, he never considered the raw power, determination and just plain guts of three Legionnaires!

Future Shock for Superboy

A sunny summer day, just outside Smallville, Superboy flies overhead to the wonders of its residents. His aim? To pierce the time barrier. His destination? The 30th century!

Upon his arrival he notices someone that fell into a magnetic canal and is about to be hit by an iron freight barge. For those that don’t know, iron freight barges float on magnetic waves in waterless canals carrying cargo. The magnetic current propels them over 200 miles an hour. Hence Superboy’s worry.

He lands and notices that an insanely beautiful girl is waiting for him, and not very worried about the incoming crate. Showing off, Superboy casually lifts up his arm and stops the barge in its place. He scoops the mysterious woman in his arms and flies her to safety. He asks her how she got there in the first place and she replies that she’s just extra clumsy. Her name is Elna by the way.

He puts her down and she asks him if he knows who she is. Perplexed he says he doesn’t but he would like to extend their meeting. To which she heartily agrees.

Later he has finished answering all of her questions but observes that he still does not know much about her. Before she can reply he is interrupted by Wildfire and before he can introduce the two, Elna runs off into the distance. Superboy wants to go after her but Wildfire reminds him that he’s already due at the Council meeting.

Later, Superboy sits impatiently, wanting the meeting to end as quickly as possible. Once the end has finally been reached, Superboy quickly departs with a strong resolve to find Elna.

Superboy scours the futuristic city to no avail. He then deduces that the reason he can’t find her is because she is at the Legion Headquarters. He makes his way to the building only to find Wildfire blasting Elna right in the back. Furious Superboy confronts Wildfire but Elna rushes over telling him it’s alright. It was just a Legion training exercise.

Confused, Elna explains that her name isn’t Elna, but Laurel Kent. She obviously wasn’t harmed because she is invulnerable. And she’s invulnerable because, you guessed it, she’s one of his dependents.

Wildfire chimes in with the affirmative and explains that his ancestors will continue into the 30th century. Superboy is shocked and asks her if she inherited all of his super powers. But she answers only the invulnerability.

Still confused he asks her why she didn’t want him to know. She stares down, obviously very ashamed, and answers that she might have liked him a little too much and she assumed he would like her too. Simply because she resembles the girl he is destined to marry.

But that’s okay, because the Legion of Super-Heroes used super-hypnosis to block out any knowledge of his future when he returns to the present. And sure enough, as he breaks the time barrier once again and returns to the sleepy town of Smallville, he’s forgotten all about it.

Ain’t that swell?

Creative Team

I will admit that I was pretty hard on Jim Shooter during his last outing. I haven’t changed my mind but I was very thrilled to see his return to good form here. Especially since he contributed two fantastic stories.

The Charge of the Doomed Legionnaires was a good ole fashioned action packed romp that really tested the abilities of the characters. There were no gimmicks or tricks up their sleeve to get out of a bad situation. They charged right through and used their grit and powers to actually come out on top. It’s an important story because it reminds us why these are the most powerful teenagers in the universe and why they have a team to begin with. As we saw in Karate Kid #2, one of Shooter’s complaints from the earlier stories was the lack of action. So it’s not surpising that he makes sure we get a lot of it with his scripts.

With Shooter’s second story, Future Shock for Superboy, it was interesting to get a glimpse of Superboy having primal emotions, even if those emotions ended up being misplaced in a distant relative. Shooter also tied it full circle, showing how Laurel Kent looks like the person he is destined to marry giving us a nice call back to Lois Lane, whom Superboy hasn’t met yet of course. And of course Elna is simply an anagram for Lane, which is also a nice call back to when they used those things frequently in the Superman book.

Sure there’s the convenient ploy of super-hypnotism and Superboy won’t remember anything. But it was a fun Superboy centric story that delivered some nice characterization. Not to mention this is somewhat of a key issue since it is Laurel Kent’s first appearance. Laurel would continue to pop up from time to time and Paul Levitz would use her quite heavily, especially with the move to the prestige format series in the mid 80’s. So it’s a joy to welcome her for the first time here.

Now let’s talk about Mike Grell. When he first jumped on the book what really stood out was how well he depicted Superboy. He gave him movement and he made him ‘act’ like a teenager. With this Superboy centric story he returns to that and it just made me smile. Grell always gave Superboy a lot of fluidity and motion and his depiction of SB showing off in front of Laurel was a lot of fun.

In the Charge of the Doomed Legionnaires, Grell gave us a beautiful close up of Timber Wolf. Grell really flexed this issue, which catapults it to the top pile of the issues we have read so far.

The only weird thing about the issue, and probably the most perplexing and possibly the most disappointing, is that we didn’t get the follow up from last issue when Tyroc was introduced. He’s supposed to come back with the Legion to try out for membership but I guess that’s coming next issue. It just sort of proves that Bates and Shooter are doing their own thing and Boltinoff seems to be just fine with it. And I guess we are too.

Regardless, with Shooter redeeming himself with two very strong stories and Grell reminding us just how great he is drawing Superboy, this issue was absolutely fantastic from cover to cover.

Super-Talk

We do have a few interesting tidbits in the letters section this time around.

First up is the acknowledgement that the writers are applying some characterization to our beloved Legion of Super-Heroes. They are trying to develop the characters a lot more, pointing to the temper Wildfire displayed in issue #214. We can expect more of this, including what was on display in the second story where we got a bit more insight into Superboy’s feelings.

It is a nice acknowledgement and proof that they care about the book and understand the need to focus on the characters.

And, something that was right up my ally, Leo Cooper from Ellensburg, Washington, Nelson Esmont from Huntington, Utah, and David Mason from Athens, Tennessee suggested that they run a full-length 17 page story as a way to develop characterization, and essentially get rid of the backstory. This is something I have been asking for a while now and to my joy, the editor replied:

“The only reason we haven’t done so more often is we’ve been waiting for Jim or Cary to come up with an adventure that would warrant such length.

“Well Cary came up with one and it’s schedule for the next issue!”

And we’re going to get right back to Tyroc, which we remember was last issue and it is kind of perplexing we didn’t get the follow up. But as mentioned above, it’s obvious that Bates and Shooter are writing their own stuff and not necessarily coordinating with one another. Which isn’t a bad thing and was quite common at the time.

And then we get even more good news:

“Okay (we hear you say), that’s all well and good for Cary’s full-length, but what about Jim Shooter’s? Well, to tell the truth, he hasn’t come up with one—he hasn’t come up with two—the prolific Mr. Shooter has presented us with three book-length ideas for Legion extravaganzas!”

So there you go, something to very excited about.

Finally, they wrap it up with a little comment on Karate Kid. My biggest head scratch is how could Karate Kid be in the 20th Century and the 30th Century at the same time? Or rather why is he continually appearing in both books? I mean the business aspect I understand, but it defies my nerdy comic book logic. Tim Rice from Manchester New Hampshire asked the same thing, and answered the question for himself.

“I’ve just finished the first issue of Karate Kid and I’ve a question. Since Val Amorr appears to be acting much older in his own mag than he does in Superboy, are you telling us that his solos are taking place after his Legion missions?”

To which the editor replied:

“Right! That explains it exactly…Just as young Superman has been depicted on innumerable adventures in the 30th century, Karate Kid restores himself to the 20th century to enjoy or suffer his experiences. Clear? Good. Now explain it to us…”

That was quite funny because they obviously didn’t know. And since we all read the first issue we know that Karate Kid tracked down Nemesis Kid because he escaped from his little prison after the beautiful battle against the Legion of Super-Heroes back in #208 story, which is still depicting a young Karate Kid. So this explanation doesn’t quite cut it. But oh well, I guess someone gets a no prize somewhere that would make even Stan Lee blush.

The Legion Medallion of Merit

We have two superb outings from Jim Shooter and Mike Grell but the award of the medallion was quite easy.

It goes to Timber Wolf. Timber Wolf was thrust into battle and trusted Brainiac 5, even when it turned out it wasn’t Brainy who gave the order. But he followed it regardless, encouraged his fellow Legionnaires to not give up hope, propped up Shadow Lass, and completely destroyed the Khunds. Even when it felt hopeless and that they were all going to die, he knew what he had to do and he did it.

And not to mention Wolfy showed restraint and did not completely obliterate Brainiac 5 when he saw him again. And considering Wolfy’s temper, that is something indeed.

Wear this one proudly Timber Wolf. You were faced with incredible odds but you inspired your teammates to give the Khunds a good butt whooping. May everyone who lays eyes on your shiny medal remember not to $%## with you.

And that’s it for this week team! May all the calls you receive be genuine lest you be tricked to waging a battle you might not win. But if you do find yourself in battle, rally your troops with that one true cry that always rings out in the galaxy…

LONG LIVE THE LEGION!