Legion of Super-Heroes v4 Annual #1

Legion of Super-Heroes v4 Annual #1 (1990)
written by Tom & Mary Bierbaum
pencils by Doug Braithwaite
cover by Adam Huges

The Legion in general and Volume 4 in particular have the reputation of making continuity into an incomprehensible mess. And while up to this point that was mostly unwarranted… welcome to “Unnecessarily Complicated: The Annual”.

The good news is that we’re actually learning SOMETHING about what happened during the Five Year Gap.
The bad news is that it involves Glorith, who in this new reality has the powers of the Time Trapper. This would technically be clarified in issue #13 of the regular series, but that would not be published until THREE MONTHS after the Annual.

The worst is that Glorith begins the issue by KILLING EVERYONE ON DAXAM.
You would think this would have been brought up earlier!!!

Well at least THIS TIME Brainiac 5 doesn’t immediately give up!!!

Ultra Boy insists that they shouldn’t bring Mon-El into the mission, because he’s read the script he knows Glorith has control over him.

And the story has already lost me.
Saturn Girl reads into his mind basically what we’re going to learn throughout the rest of the story, but still insists to bring Mon-El AND doesn’t want the other to know?
Speaking of which, why doesn’t Ultra Boy want them to know either? Well the issue is about giving us a reason; you be the judge whether it actually does.

The story is BLATANTLY trying to echo Volume 3 issue #50. There’s the fight with an unstoppable villain with time powers, there’s talk of a conspiracy, and the key players are the same (with the addition of the living retcon Laurel).
You know I hold #50 in high regards, but even if you don’t you have to admit this one completely lacks the same buildup and emotional stakes.

Although I have to give props to this comic for ONE thing it does better than #50: show off just how completely broken time manipulation is as a superpower.

That was page 7. Saturn Girl gets into Glorith’s mind at the beginning of page 8…

…and the rest of the issue is one gigantic trip through multiple retcons, with the excuse that Glorith can view across time I guess.
Just to give you an idea of how long this is: we won’t get back to the scene where Glorith is fighting the Legion until PAGE 50.

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First part of the trip is an extended Ultra Boy origin, giving us a bit of insight into the years before he got his powers.

We are reintroduced to his former girlfriend An Ryd, first seen in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #239; turn out that Ultra Boy also tried acting, something I’d never have guessed.

Notice that reference to the scene being from “Leeta 87”. That’s a deep cut: she was one of the dead heroes resting at Shanghalla as we briefly saw in Adventure Comics #341.
Now THIS is how you throw in a reference for the superfans: it doesn’t distract from the main plot, it doesn’t cause the story to fall apart if you miss it, and it makes sense in-universe (if she was a renowned hero there WOULD be plays based on her life).
Too bad the 5YL era rarely does it correctly.

Good retcon: the way Ultra Boy survived being swallowed by a Space Whale was thanks to the Space Dragons from Shrinking Violet’s planet (introduced in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #234).

Bad retcon, changing the appearance of the monster that swallowed Ultra Boy into THIS THING.
You’ve made it a point to only call him by his real name Jo Nah throughout this entire run, the least you could do is remember he’s only called like that because he was SWALLOWED BY A SPACE WHALE! Why make it a generic monster???

Now that he has powers, he runs into Phantom Girl fighting Sugyn.
This ties back to Secret Origins #42, not coincidentally also written by the Bierbaums.

This gives him the idea to join the Legion, where he’s one of the potential recruits next to… oh my god, REFLECTO AGAIN.

More on the Reflecto nonsense in a bit, because first there’s Ultra Boy’s initiation.

Since Superboy has been kicked out of continuity we can’t keep the original Superboy #98, so instead his mission is to find out what happened to Mon-El.
Which we can all agree makes absolutely no sense as an initiation test, right? Especially since the Legion at this point already includes both Laurel Gand who is a descendant of Mon-El AND Brainiac 5, who not only has a personal interest in time travel BUT ALSO is the descendant of the man who was Mon-El’s boss in the L.E.G.I.O.N.
Why would they want this random guy they haven’t even admitted into the team to investigate, instead of doing it themselves???

So Ultra Boy ends up meeting Mon-El, who as you see is already in his classic costume.
That’s because this encounter is set AFTER the stories that were being published at the time.

I am very confused by Mon-El mentioning that the civilization of Rimbor (Ultra Boy’s planet) died long ago. Aren’t the 30th century planets supposed to have been colonized thanks to the efforts of Mon-El? So now we’re introducing the idea that at least some of them used to have local populations that were replaced by the new ones.
This complicates things for no reason at all. Which is kind of this issue’s theme.

Mon-El learns that the Dominators are planning a new invasion of Earth.

Which apparently is all it takes to discover “the secret of the disappearance of Mon-El”.

This results in both Ultra Boy and Reflecto being accepted into the Legion (or not? More on that later)
Your guess is as good as mine about what the heck was Reflecto’s assignment.

What the… HOW was that supposed to be “an impossible mission”???
You took a time machine to see what happened to Mon-El and you just arrived at the wrong moment! All you had to do to find out the truth was just going a little forward in time!
THIS MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE!!!

This is just stupid. If you’re worried about tampering with history, DON’T SEND ROOKIES BACK IN TIME TO MEET HISTORICAL FIGURES!!!
At least when the Silver Age did it they had the excuse of the “history can’t be changed” rule!!!

The Bierbaums are often accused of playing favorites with the Legionnaires, to a much higher degree than most Legion writers.
And I can see why, when they have a “find out who is pulling the strings behind time travel” plot and they give it to ULTRA BOY instead of Brainiac 5.

So his investigation has him ask Legion assistant Marla about his past, because something looks familiar to him.

Thankfully we’re not hit with a flashback inside another flashback.
But this has Ultra Boy checking the timestream, because apparently we absolutely cannot give this plot to the Legionnaires that would fit it.

I know I keep going back to this, but come on, THIS IS A BRAINIAC FIVE PLOT.
Why would any of this even make sense to Ultra Boy? Or is he suddenly also a genius?

Heck it would make at least A BIT of sense giving this to Invisible Kid, since at least he’s a legit genius (not in time travel, but you know, comic book supergenius rules).
But his only real contribution is informing Ultra Boy that R.J.Brande is big into the 20th century.

And this SOMEHOW is all that Ultra Boy needs to deduce that R.J.Brande is from the 20th century.

This is particularly impressive because, if I have all the references right (BIG “IF”), Brande himself currently doesn’t remember he’s from the 20th century!!!
The whole thing is SUPPOSED to show us something deep about Ultra Boy, but the circumstances are so contrived I just can’t get behind it.

Ultra Boy is making some bizarre leaps in logic here. He has almost no reason to come to these conclusions.
Even the Adam West Batman would call this out!!!

This is where the Legion learns about Glorith, while also changing how the Iron Curtain Of Time is supposed to work.
Originally it just blocked time travel towards the far future, but now it’s set just 30 days in the future.

You might have noticed that sprinkled throughout the story are these green balloons providing commentary, coming from… uhm… actually I’m not sure, are those from Glorith?
They don’t add anything and they’re even more annoying than they seem.

The Legion is once again unable to break through the Iron Curtain of Time, and for some reason it’s important to keep Ultra Boy as the cool one outsmarting everyone.
I’m not saying Ultra Boy is dumb by any means, but this is trying SO hard to hype him it’s kind of pathetic.

The flashback has reached the Ultra Boy and Phantom Girl romance, showing us the aliens from Adventure Comics 316.
Notice Matter-Eater Lad mistakenly thinking Sun Boy is calling Ultra Boy gay.
Is the joke that “thespian” is not used very often as a synonym for actor, or is this some kind of wordplay that I’m not catching?
I just don’t trust the Bierbaums on the subject, considering a controversial retcon later in the 5YL. No spoilers in the comments, but longtime readers know what I’m talking about.

The aliens have the same design from Secret Origins #42. That’s not a bad design, but the original John Forte is still unbeatable.
We’re also muddling with the original continuity, because this is changing the order of the original events: the romance starts in Adventure Comics #316, the Time Trapper and the Iron Curtain Of Time are from #317, and Glorith is from #338.
Excusing the Glorith one since she replaced the Time Trapper, it still changes the order of the romance versus the Iron Curtain.

Also if you thought the unhinged Phantom Girl reaction from Secret Origins #42 was going to be toned down… it’s even worse here.
Am I the only one who finds this so irritating that I’m glad she misses MOST of this era???

Jumping forward, Phantom Girl mentions the team is about to fight Mordru for the first time.
Placing this moment is quite difficult, because Mordru’s first appearance in Adventure Comics #369 technically wasn’t the first time the Legion met it, as that story made the baffling decision to namedrop an earlier encounter we never saw.

Then Ultra Boy deduced Mordru, who I remind you HE’S NEVER EVEN MET AT THIS POINT, is the whole reason why Glorith manipulated history to create the Legion.
Based exclusively on how powerful Mordru is supposed to be.

Not only this is stupid for how contrived his realization is, but this is a recurring problem for Mordru in this era: we’re constantly TOLD Mordru is incomprehensibly powerful, but WE’RE NEVER SHOWN ANYTHING.
At least when Mordru was hyped in the Silver Age we actually saw him throw around powerhouses and fight multiple superhero teams at once! But here? HEARSAY.

Also what the heck is Superboy doing in that panel? Isn’t this whole insanity done just to remove him from history? Why does every single answer in this thing bring up more questions???

Speaking of questions: why is there a statue in honor of Lightning Lad? If we’re supposed to be after #316, Lightning Lad was resurrected in Adventure Comics #312.
And I know the Bierbaums know about that story, since they will eventually make it the center point of one of the worst retcons in comic book history!

Speaking of retcons, this story is establishing that keeping the secret behind the creation of the Legion has always been THE driving force behind Ultra Boy’s characterization all along.

Okay at this point I’ve lost all hope of understanding when these scenes are taking place.
We’re still earlier than the first Mordru encounter, Phantom Girl and Lightning Lass are still in their original 60s costumes, but Star Boy is in his 70s costume?
Heck even Shrinking Violet looks like she’s in her mid-80s costume!!!

Ultra Boy is now negotiating a non-aggression pact with “the Jaguar Court of Grykk”, which sounds like a reference I’m not getting.

I mean the planet Grykk is a reference to Adventure Comics #301, but where the heck is the Jaguar Court coming from???

The plot had already lost me many pages ago, but it’s getting worse.
Apparently Ultra Boy signing a non-aggression pact with Grykk is bad because they’re allied with Mordru? Then what was the point of sending Ultra Boy on a “goodwill tour”?
Also: if they signed a non-aggression pact with Grykk, why does that suddenly imply they can’t attack Mordru???

THIS MAKES NO SENSE: unless the Legion attacks Grykk, nothing would cause Mordru to attack the Legion!
Unless the Legion actually WANTED to attack Grykk, which makes this EVEN WORSE because it would have meant Saturn Girl sent a Legionnaire there A) without telling him they intend to attack the planet B) doing a goodwill tour against a place you want to attack is some supervillain crap!!!

But apparently Ultra Boy is some super-duper supergenius playing 5-D chess against Glorith.
Man I’m seriously starting to despise this interpretation of the character!

Speaking of things I despise: the interpretation of Shrinking Violet as being into dumb tough guys because they have powers.
I know she used to date Duplicate Boy but even the Silver Age didn’t double down on this idiocy!!!

Also, going back to my earlier complaint: this blatantly the 80s costume.

Seriously, even the Bat-God would tell Ultra Boy to tone it down!!!

Alright Mordru, I will give you ONE final chance to demonstrate that you’re really the big deal everyone keeps hyping.

He’s at a disadvantage against Glorith. While I really don’t like what they’ve done with her, at least she has DEMONSTRATED HER POWERS.

Until Mordru decides to look into the future…

…where we are TOLD the two are destined to get into an infinite stalemate.

Something that ULTRA BOY figured out on his own, while also TRICKING MORDRU INTO THIS.

Brainiac 5 finally REMEMBERS THAT HE HAS A FREAKING BRAIN and starts to use it…

…to ask a computer to help.
Something that triggers the Glorith-Sense.

So Glorith and her thong show up IMMEDIATELY.
Why exactly didn’t she pick this up when Ultra Boy found out? What, is she constantly aware of everything written on a Legion computer?

Please take a moment to appreciate the sheer absurdity that Mordru… a guy who was just tricked by Ultra Boy wearing a fake nose and a hoodie… required a near-omniscient time stripper/witch to be foiled.

I’m repeating myself, but that’s a point I really want to drive home.
IN THEORY, the idea that Mordru and whoever is the Time Trapper this month are engaged in a game of chess spanning millennia using the Legion as pawns is REALLY interesting.
But to me this feels completely flat because we’re constantly TOLD, but never SHOWN, what these beings are capable of doing.

In fact, what little we are shown seems to go in the completely opposite direction: these galactic threats are just UNBELIEVABLY BAD AT THEIR JOB.
Glorith just boasted she can “perceive all times and all possibilities”, but Ultra Boy wearing a disguise is too much of a mystery for her to uncover???

At least this exonerates Brainiac 5 from the Omega fiasco, because it turns out he didn’t suffer a mental breakdown but was just under the influence of Glorith.

That’s not a bad retcon, but why the heck does Ultra Boy know that it was Glorith and it wasn’t really Brainiac 5 going nuts!?
What next, Computo also wasn’t his fault because Glorith was behind that too?
Is Ultra Boy convinced that EVERYTHING is always Glorith’s fault???

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This concludes the extended flashback, and Glorith knows that Ultra Boy is the one who thwarted her earlier plans. Laurel Gand doesn’t care, beating her SO badly that Glorith has to hide in the timestream.

This battle is retconned into being the reason why Mon-El was in a coma at the beginning of Volume 4, since the actual circumstances of his Volume 3 death have been retconned… somehow.
This doesn’t match issue #4 of this volume though, because Shadow Lass DEFINITELY thought Mon-El was dead and not in a coma like shown here.
But who knows how THAT story is supposed to work now, with all those incomprehensible retcons.

With the battle now over, we move a little further down the Five Year Gap when Ultra Boy proposed.

Which is when Glorith decides to retaliate, killing Phantom Girl to punish Ultra Boy for his interference.

Which ALSO will proves Glorith is supremely incompetent as the Time Trapper, because instead of killing her she ends up sending her back in time to become Phase of L.E.G.I.O.N. (until she’s retconned into something else entirely, but we’ll see that eventually).

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Legion significance: 2/10
I suppose this one does have SOME impact, but do we really learn anything new that isn’t already covered by the main series?

Silver Age-ness: 10/10
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the original Reflecto story MADE MORE SENSE THAN THIS.

Depression scale: 8/10
The Legion is full of ineffectual heroes that are complete pawns of an unseen force that runs circles around them. Only one guy is allowed to be smart and do anything useful, as long as it doesn’t amount to anything and gets his fiancée killed.

Does it stand the test of time? 0/10
I had only read this one once before, and I remembered it being pretty bad… but man is this even worse than I remembered.
The Ultra Boy hype is obnoxious, I can’t take seriously either Glorith or Mordru as the larger-than-life threats they’re supposed to be, Brainiac 5 and Saturn Girl are for some reason unlikeable jerks, and with the partial exception of the Omega one none of the other retcons make any kind of sense.
If I had to summarize the whole story in one panel:

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We are legion
The Legion is still officially disbanded.

This re-introduces the Reflecto mess: since he passes the initiation, I have to consider him a member… but in what category? Whatever happened to him? The story COMPLETELY forgets about him, and technically speaking he doesn’t have a proper second appearance.
Unless we turn to the secondary source “2995: The Legion of Super-Heroes Sourcebook”, written by the Bierbaums themselves. It’s generally considered canon, but I don’t like relying on it too much since it’s the companion book to a roleplaying game… but when there’s NOTHING ELSE to go on, I kind of have to consider it.
It doesn’t list him as joining together with Ultra Boy in 2974 (but it does spoil a moment I haven’t reviewed yet, so I’m censoring that).

But it later gives us the full origin of the 5YL Reflecto.

The actual story seems to suggest that Reflecto DID pass the audition and just forgets about him; but since he’s not shown as a member in the rest of the story, I’m going to follow the Sourcebook and consider that he didn’t pass.
But for whatever reason we STILL keep part of the nonsense of the original Reflecto storyline.
I have no idea what the heck the Sourcebook is talking about when it mentions Ultra Boy admired him “since childhood”.

Despite my reservations about the canonicity of the Sourcebook, I guess I should still consider Reflecto as joining the team in the 5 Year Gap.

At least he doesn’t overstay his welcome, because he dies very soon.

In fact, if we go by the Sourcebook, his membership lasts FORTY DAYS.

That leads to the official count being:

0 active Legionnaires
0 reserve members
43 resigned members
11 deceased members
54 people have been members
51 people have been rejected

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Interesting letters: we’re not finished yet, because the letters page (weird for an Annual to have one) also includes some clues into why and how this story exists.

The Bierbaums seem to consider themselves as the ones to figure out that the Pocket Universe storyline leads to the Time Trapper being the one to create the Legion… and this is a weird way to put it, since that was LITERALLY A PLOT during the Levitz era!

The Bierbaums are far from the first writers to approach a series as previous fans; it’s not even the first or the last time this happens to the Legion.
But it seems to me that they are the only ones that consistently portray themselves as fans first and writers second, while it’s normally the other way around. Which I consider one of their biggest hurdles writing the book.

The reference to “outside considerations” makes me wonder: was disposing of the Time Trapper an editorial mandate? It’s well established that the removal of Superboy from the Legion’s history came from above and was basically forced on the creative team.
So does this refer to just a by-product of removing Superboy, or was it something specific?

If I read this correctly, the Bierbaums were asked to write a story exploring Ultra Boy. That’s not a bad idea at all, but the fact that this lead to a convoluted retcon-fest is weird to say the least.

Interestingly, the readers were asked to name their favorite Legion story. The results are not exactly unpredictable.

I completely agree with Mark: if the 5YL was its own Elseworld thing, I probably wouldn’t be so harsh with it. I still wouldn’t like it, but it’d be an improvement.

Also, the 5YL being considered “just a bad dream” and a new Legion series continuing the events of Volume 3 by completely ignoring what came afterwards… is kind what eventually happened.