Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #86 (1996)
written by Karl Kesel & Tom McCraw
pencils by Lee Moder
cover by Alan Davis
Hey, no spoilers on the cover!
I was going to comment that this is not a weather problem and that dealing with a star shutting down is a bigger issue… but they can probably do something about that too in the 30th century. They definitely did pre-Crisis, when R.J.Brande would’ve just sold Earth a new Sun.
I often forget that Shvaughn Erin was with the Legionnaires lost in the 20th century. She doesn’t really get to do much, but coordinating public response to a crisis WOULD be right up her alley.
Because I first read the Final Night miniseries years before I read the Legion issues, I was under the impression that the Legion had been in the 20th century for a while when the Sun disappeared.
Turns out they either have REALLY bad luck or the Emerald Eye has a twisted sense of humor.
It’s time to address the elephant in the room: why is the Legion worried about the Earth being destroyed in the 20th century, if they’re from the future?
And the answer is pretty simple: they might not be exactly from THIS future, and the way they figure it out is from Superman’s comments in the previous issue.
Also: I would have loved to read the conversation between Superman and Brainiac 5 that lead them to make this face to each other.
Among a significant part of the fandom, Reboot Ultra Boy gets a bad reputation for just being a dumb jock. He does have moments that show he’s not exactly smart, but I think the reputation is undeserved and vastly blown out of proportion.
Case in point: he’s the one to immediately about saving the homeless population of Metropolis.
Gates is just flabbergasted at the concept of homeless people. Shvaughn thinks this is because he’s a “sheltered radical”, but… if most of the 30th century is as close to a utopia as we are frequently told, shouldn’t MOST people from the United Planets have no concept of being homeless?
Ultra Boy as an exception makes sense since he’s from a singularly crappy planet, but Shvaughn is from 30th century Earth. Shouldn’t SHE be just as shocked?
Not that I’m complaining since this scene gives us the touching panel of Gates crying.
While Gates is mellowing a bit, Inferno continues to be insufferable for no reason.
Also: Spark weighs a ton? She’s a skinny 14 year old and you’re using an anti-gravity Flight Ring!
You’re just complaining for the love of complaining, isn’t it?
There’s growing tension in the Legion, for obvious reasons… they were just thrown from a huge crisis into an end-of-the-world scenario where they are stranded in an unfamiliar place, AND they have to deal with Inferno.
How long has this version of the Legion existed in-universe? Like six to eight months? Doesn’t really feel long enough to even know what “a typical Legion saint” would be.
Final Night did a really good job at giving multiple views of the same scenes from different perspectives spread throughout its books, but it also means that I’m kind of sick of seeing all the same people in the same place over and over again.
This is a chilling indication of just how terrible Lex Luthor is, when just standing near him gives the creeps to a telepath even without reading his mind… but did you HAVE to compare him to insects as an insult?
I mean how would Gates react to that sentence?
The situation is SO overwhelming that Saturn Girl just has to leave the room.
Very interesting to see that one of the things that truly bothered her is apparently too many people having music stuck in their heads. Does that mean that there are no earworms in the 30th century?
It would be fascinating if this was in particular a Titan thing… would an entire planet of telepaths even HAVE music?
Cosmic Boy shows up to console her…
…and quite bizarrely, this flashes back to an earlier scene set the same day.
That would be when Brainiac 5 was shopping for parts to repair his belt.
Why would the Legion carry around McCauley technology? Surely they have enough Brande money to get better stuff?
Also: if the store clerk is able to read what’s written on it, it must be English and not Interlac.
You just know McCauley printed that in English to sound fancy and get more money.
As mentioned, everybody is REALLY tense during this whole time exile.
Spark is particularly worried for her twin brother.
Shockingly, “I’ll pay you back once I’ve rebuilt my time machine” doesn’t work.
Cosmic Boy shows up to put a stop to this, but Brainy brings up a good point: who IS the Legion leader right now?
I agree that “this is a democracy because I say so” is kind of funny, Brainy, but this is hardly the moment to be snarky.
This is where Cosmic Boy showcases what a great leader he can be: he sympathizes with the reasons why everyone is upset and makes the argument for why he should be in charge.
But he also ends up kissing Saturn Girl because he might be a superhero and a paragon of justice, but he’s still a teenager and she’s Saturn Girl.
This is going to cause some serious conflict, because Spark doesn’t like her new stepfather.
Back to the same old room, Ferro has a plan!
But that will have to wait, because first we have to stop Ultra Boy and Gates from fighting.
Although not for stupid reasons: they have an opposite view on what is needed to help the homeless.
The situation is resolved by Ferro, who was homeless himself.
See, I told you there’s more to Reboot Ultra Boy than his bad reputation!
And as for why Ferro was homeless… his origin story is quite heartbreaking.
This makes me wonder: do superheroes with a non-tragic origin story have a similar reaction when they hear the very messed up ones?
All of this build-up helped Ferro work up the courage to actually present his plan.
I often criticize Lee Moder’s artwork when it comes to how he draws faces, but I think he just nails Brainiac 5 and his smug confidence.
Although Ferro’s plan… let’s just say it needs work.
Look, I like Ferro. He’s a good character and a good kid.
But we can agree that was a stupid idea, right?
I mean I wouldn’t laugh in his face about it, but let’s not pretend it was a good idea to present the plan of “you do absolutely everything and then I deliver the final product”.
Very reluctantly, Brainy finds a more polite response.
We will see the specifics of the actual final plan in the last issue of Final Night. But of note is that the way Saturn Girl dealt with Brainy impressed Dr. Faulkner from S.T.A.R. Labs enough to invite the Legion to stay at their headquarters.
For reasons we will see in the finale, Superman is the last candidate available for a suicide mission to stop the Sun-Eater.
Well… maybe not the ONLY candidate.
Legion significance: 8/10
This issue is 100% why Ferro will still hang around the Legion after Final Night, but it also establishes some of the dynamics of the 20th century exile.
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
I really don’t want to see the Silver Age version of the homeless plot…
Does it stand the test of time? 9/10
As solid as we’ve come to expect for this part of the run. My only complain is that the flashback structure feels off and unnecessary… possibly due to the need to coordinate with the timeline established in other books?
But it does a good job at selling most characters as three-dimensional (Inferno and Shvaughn are the only ones who still feel flat).
Who did it better?
The cover is, of course, a homage to one of the most repeated panels of the Silver Age.
It’s worth noting, however, that the bomb Ferro Lad used to destroy the original Sun-Eater was not made by Brainiac 5 (who wasn’t even in the story): it was built by Tharok.
As for the way the Sun-Eater is *spoiler* actually defeated, we’ll discuss it next time.
