Customer Reviews

Showcase Presents: Legion of Super-Heroes, Vol. 3

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

DC Comics' Silver Age was often marked with bland cookie-cutter storytelling, and there's some ridiculous stuff in there, too. But a big however was Jim Shooter who amazingly was only 14 years old when he began writing stories for DC (beginning with ADVENTURE COMICS #346), and his dynamic plotting instantly blew away that of his older contemporaries. In his heyday, young Shooter crafted some truly memorable tales of the Legion, most of these encompassing single issues, or two issues at the most. Take that, Bendis. Take that, decompressive narrative style.

The Archive editions being a bane to one's wallet, DC's Showcase Presents series is a more sensible, more affordable alternative, once you get past its black and white format. 500 pages reprinting ancient, hard-to-find issues, and I am so fully on board with re-airing the LoSH from the '60s and '70s (although I think I'll pass on Silver Age Aquaman). SHOWCASE PRESENTS: LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES Vol. #3 collects ADVENTURE COMICS #349-368 and SUPERMAN'S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN #106. This is when the Legion comic book really hits its stride, and while Shooter couldn't quite get away from his share of silly ("The Revolt of the Super-Pets!", "The Five Legion Orphans!"), he does work in several key stories from this stretch of issues which will go on to define the Legion for decades to come.

With "decompression" utilized so frequently nowadays as a storytelling device, with this in mind, it's astounding to note how much content was packed into these single or two-part issues. Today, story arcs such as "The Fatal Five!", "The Adult Legion!" and "The Outlawed Legionnaires!" would've been stretched to epic, multi-issue runs, especially as writers now have an eye towards the trade market.

Jim Shooter, in his first crack at the Legion, would lend a sense of continuity to the stories and usher in a cast of characters which would become integral to the Legion mythos. In these issues alone, we first encounter Universo, the White Witch, the Fatal Five, the Sun-Eater, the Controllers, the Dominators, Shadow Lass, the Dark Circle, the Legion's new HQ, and the Miracle Machine recently featured in FINAL CRISIS.

Just a few things I learned from this trade: a) Shadow Lass and Brainiac 5 had a thing for each other; b) One thousand years into the future, kryptonite will still be as commonplace as dirt; c) don't eff with the Super-Pets, they can kick the crud out of the Legionnaires; and d) even the Legion was aware of Spider-Man's popularity over at Marvel, that is, if you go by Chameleon Boy's playful aside in "The Outcast Super-Heroes!"

I dig the retro art of the Silver Age. Not every issue is credited with the interior artist, although Curt Swan's clean lines grace most of the interiors and he even provides pencils for many of the covers (Neal Adams handles a few covers near the end). Jim Shooter also contributes some layout work. The artwork is mostly decent, and yet when Swan isn't the illustrator, the art tends to show a rigidity in the composition and a static quality to how the figures are drawn. But mostly the fun, innocent quality of the narrative makes up for the lack.

Brief plot synopsis of the issues in SHOWCASE PRESENTS: LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES Vol. #3:

- "The Rogue Legionnaire!" (issue #349) - The mind-bending Universo becomes the Legion's newest recruit. This can't be good.

- "The Outcast Super-Heroes!" (#350) & "The Forgotten Legion!" (#351) - Superboy and Supergirl get kicked out of the Legion. Shortly after, the Legion greets Miss Terious and Sir Prize, two new members come disguised in armor. Conjectures and suspicions are soon bandied about.

- "The Fatal Five!" (#352) & "The Doomed Legionnaire!" (#353) - When the awesome Sun-Eater threatens to consume our sun, the Legion teams up with the depraved Fatal Five. This is the classic arc which would climax with the death of Andrew Nolan (a.k.a. Ferro Lad), who willingly gave up his life to save the galaxy.

- "The Adult Legion!" (#354) & "The War of the Legions!" (#355) - In "The Adult Legion!" Superman returns to the far flung shiny future and meets the adult versions of the Legion. This one issue sets up many future LoSH stories. In "The War of the Legions!" no sooner does Superman depart than the adult League of Super-Villains makes its move. The fighty fight ends with two unexpected additions to the Legion ranks.

- "The Six-Legged Legionnaire!" (also in #355) - Lana Lang, in her guise as the Insect Queen, applies for membership in the Legion.

- "The Five Legion Orphans!" (#356) - To quote from the story: "Shades of Ponce de Leon!" During the annual Parents' Day festivities, orphans (and, therefore, non-participants) Superboy, Mon-El, Dream Girl, Brainiac 5, and Element Lad are regressed to cute, adorable babies and hauled away to the orphanage.

"The Ghost of Ferro Lad!" (#357) - Ferro-Lad returns from beyond the grave, nursing a furious grudge against four members of the Legion.

- "The Hunter" (#358) - The Legionnaires have no choice but to participate in the Most Dangerous Game... as the prey.

- "The Outlawed Legionnaires!" (#359) & "The Legion Chain Gang!" (#360) - Returning from various off-planet missions, the Legionnaires shockingly find themselves branded as outlaws, with all of Earth turned against them.

- "The Unkillables" (#361) - As the Legion escorts a peace-seeking envoy of Dominators thru the odd 10th Dimension, the group is ambushed by the deadly Unkillables (who, it turns out, are pretty hurtable).

- "The Lone Wolf Legionnaire Reporter!" (SUPERMAN'S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN #106) - With a deadline frantically looming for the next edition of the Legion Bulletin, Jimmy is talked into acting as roving reporter in the 30th Century. Except that Jimmy can't scarce up any news.

- "The Chemoids Are Coming!" (#362) & "Black Day for the Legion" (#363) - Introducing Dr. Mantis Morlo, another one of those nutjob scientists. When his lethal experiment is foiled by the Legion, he retaliates by menacing three of the Legionnaires' home worlds. Time to split up into tiny teams again (personally, I'd always make sure I'm on Superboy's team).

- "The Revolt of the Super-Pets" (#364) - Feeling underappreciated, the Super-Pets strike out on their own. Cue the goofy shenanigans.

- "Escape of the Fatal Five!" (#365) & "The Fight for the Championship of the Universe!" (#366) - It only took six months to transform the peaceful Talok VIII into a hostile, warmongering planet. Of course, the Legion investigates. Of course, it's a trap. Can Shadow Lass, Talok VIII's own super-heroine, turn the tide?

- "No Escape from the Circle of Death!" (#367) - With the Legion's all-new and improved headquarters still under construction and half the Legionnaires away on personal time, the Dark Circle invades.

- "The Mutiny of the Super-Heroines!" (#368) - When the girl Legionnaires' powers mysteriously get a boost, who needs boys in the club? "Why don't you guys form a Losers' Legion of your own? Ha, ha!" so sneers Phantom Girl. Ouch!

Artist John Forte was several cuts below Curt Swan, but the Legion stories Forte drew have a special quality--inspired naivete, shall we say. Forte's figures are identical. Superboy's body looks no different than Lightning Lad's. However, the same can be said of MOST DC artists of the '60s, including Curt Swan, heck--even including Neal Adams!!!

But Forte's faces are all the same and the figures all MOVE identically. Swan's Batman swings from a Bat-line very differently than Swan's Superman flies. But all Forte's figures swing and fly and jump and walk in much the same posture. He is fantastically stiff! Before the Legion feature, the Bizarros were the main feature of Adventure comics, and I can't imagine anyone but Forte drawing them so perfectly rigid. He was the Rousseau of '60s American comics.

Jim Shooter, on the other hand, was one of the more adventurous of DC writers. Even as a young teenager, he recognized that the DC house style (hammered into writers by editor Mort Wesinger--called a "toad" by major comics figure, Roy Thomas) was oppressively dull compared to the revolution that was taking place at Marvel. Taking Marvel Editor Stan Lee's innovations as his cue, young Jim introduced more adult characterizations, and often laid out his own scripts so well that once, when the book was running dangerously behind schedule, his layouts were inked, skipping over of the usual intermediary step of having a penciller develop full images from the layout--before the inker tightened them into a clean black and white image for the cameras that shot the "plates" for printing.

Shooter's endless imaginative inventions of life in the future made reading the stories an adventure, no matter what the plot was, but his plot were almost always far more creative than the accustomed formulas of the Wesinger books. This is not to denigrate pro SF writers such as Ed Hamilton who also wrote for the Legion. Hamilton--famous among fans for creating Captain Future in the pulps--was often a thrilling read despite the restraints put upon him.

Here's an example of how clever the book could be...and how absurd--When Triplicate Girl had one of her 3 selves slain, She became Duo Damsel. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Now, I simply applaud and share the fun.

Needless to say (I think), I recommend this collection very highly for anyone who loves comics.

###

I have all four of the Showcase Presents Legion of Super Heroes and that reprints all of the Adventure Comics # 300 - 380 (though in black and white). This volume even reprints the Action Comics back up feature before the Legion went into Superboy issues. I started around the end of the Adventure series buying Legion issues in the 1960s...because this super hero team had more characters than any other team. I have followed there stories ever since. In one series or another for the last 48 years. I was able to back buy all the way back to issue 300 of Adventure comics a few years ago at Christmas time. Now I will seal up my original issues and put them away and only reread these reprints. They are in order and collected in thick trade paperbacks. I am so familiar with the series that I don't need the colors to know who's who. Long Live the Legion.

THIS IS IT!
This is the issue that reprints many of what is considered some of the best stories of the Legion of Super-Heroes. These stories introduce many of the Legion's most enduring foes, such as the Fatal Five, Universo and the Dark Circle and show different spins on the Legion of Super-Pets, the eternal boys vs girls debacle and begin defining the individual personalities of each legionnaire. What you'll see here is the noble sacrifice of a legionnaire, which will bring a tear to your eye, the vilest dephts the villains can sink to and the will power of many legionanires to surpass challengers almost impossible to win. With many stories pencilled by the great Curt swan and most written by Jim Shooter, you'll be entranced by them. The only flaw in the issue is that it's too short, just 500 pages and one story shy of introducing Mordru, the Sorcerer.
You'll be amazed by these stories, mostly written by a 15-year old Jim Shooter and see how they still stand the test of time.
LONG LIVE THE LEGION!

This volume concludes a 3 volume set showing "Classic" Legion stories from the Silver Age. Curt Swan's artwork, featured in the majority of stories, looks great even in Black and White. (All showcase presents are Black and White#. I enjoyed re-reading stories that I read when I was young #I'm mean - when I was much younger#. Not much like the recent cartoon show at all, for new fans. This volume has some classic stories of Legion lore, including the introduction of the Fatal Five and the death # and ghost return ) of Ferro Lad.