Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #63 (1994)
written by Mark Waid & Tom McCraw
pencils by Lee Moder, Brian Apthorp & Scott Benefiel
cover by Lee Moder
Guys, there’s no need to change the new costumes, they’re fine as they are.
We begin with Mano hiding in the sewers of a planet we’ll visit later, recharging his powers after blowing up his own world.
Meanwhile Apparition is trying to teach Interlac to Chameleon.
The rest of the Legion is busy fleeing…
…from the Athramites, aliens specializing in fashion.
Given the suggestion to add “more chrome” and add jackets to the costumes, this is definitely making fun of 90s costumes.
But the new costumes are not the only thing Brande is providing…
…because this is the official debut of the Legion Headquarters.
Unfortunately the scan for the double-page spread doesn’t make it justice, but seen from above it’s the Legion logo!
Take the Legion’s word, for now.
The tour also introduces a familiar face… who won’t get to join the Legion: Matter-Eater Lad instead returns as the team’s chef.
He’ll be around as a supporting character for a while, but this version won’t become a superhero.
It’s mostly because this era is trying to avoid “silly powers”, but I think there’s another factor: Matter-Eater Lad’s role in the 5YL era.
Bouncing Boy will also be reintroduced as a civilian, but he will manage to find himself a more important role and stay around longer.
Brainiac 5 also introduces himself to the team. Kind of.
The reputation of the Brainiac family precedes him.
But we are STILL not done introducing things that will influence the Reboot, because the Legion receives a distress call from one of Brande’s rivals… Leland McCauley.
He appeared in the previous continuity as well, but he wasn’t particularly notable. In the Reboot, he will be a thorn in the Legion’s side for a long time.
And even THAT is not the end of the introductions, because we get out first glimpse at the people who are ultimately responsible for the attempt on Brande’s life.
All we know for now is that they’re very xenophobic and that they can hang out in space.
No spoiler in the comments for those who know who these people are, I want to see if readers who don’t know manage to guess it.
So the Legion travels to the planet where McCauley sent the distress call… or rather the moon.
In addition to being a source of trouble, McCauley also demonstrates why Brande is so protective of the Stargate technology.
Also notice in the dialogue the first hint that there is a sinister secret behind the Stargate.
Understandably, the local Science Police officers are not Legion fans.
To be fair the SP, the Legion DID lose a member in its first mission, so that wasn’t much of a first impression.
This is where we finally return to the Mano plot, because the chemical weapons that destroyed his world and caused his mutation were supplied by McCauley.
He hasn’t even fought the Legion yet and Mano has ALREADY surpassed MOST of the previous incarnation of the Fatal Five in how scary he can be!!!
This is the first mission with Cosmic Boy as leader, and he shows how great he is by making sure everybody is up to speed AND puts Leviathan in charge of half the team… therefore testing him to make sure he did the right thing rejecting his resignation.
If you haven’t figured out yet, McCauley is from the “being terrible from every conceivable angle” kind of billionaire.
I get that these are very inexperienced heroes, but you have a Flash and a telepath in your team… how hard can it possibly be to explore this place?
Did I mention how scary this Mano can be? His thoughts are so full of hatred that even Saturn Girl had trouble scanning it!
Also, while this version of Mano is BY FAR the most sympathetic, he is still a villain.
Still, I did mention we have a Flash.
Even she can’t take down Mano so easily.
This sequence is definitely helped by the fact that by this point the pencils have been taken over by Scott Benefiel, who delivers a GREAT sequence.
In addition to being dangerous on his own, Mano is a particular threat in this situation because he just needs to touch the dome that is protecting the city from the vacuum of space.
Yeah I can see why they didn’t make Live Wire the leader.
Legion significance: 8/10
The headquarters, Tenzil and McCauley’s first appearances, plus the slow introduction of the biggest threat of this era.
Silver Age-ness: 2/10
I could see the Athramites in the Silver Age. Despite getting the cover, they won’t have a big impact on this era.
Does it stand the test of time? 9/10
The artwork is once again the weakest part, even if it does get better in the last few pages.
My only other complain is that the series is not doing a very good job at establishing the limits of Saturn Girl’s powers, because I feel that even this early she SHOULD have been able to pinpoint Mano’s position.
The Reboot continues to introduce new elements from previous eras, mostly improving them.
Who did it better?
We get the first case of the Reboot introducing a worse version of a previously existing character, with Matter-Eater Lad.
The 5YL version remains the gold standard, but even his pre-Crisis appearances were more memorable. He will get SOME development and a couple of good scenes here and there, but he’ll get completely overshadowed.
Quite frankly, while I did enjoy what the Reboot eventually did with Bouncing Boy, they would have been better off just skipping Matter-Eater Lad entirely.
On the other side of the spectrum, this version of McCauley works far better as Brande’s rival.
We were introduced to the McCauley family as early as Adventure Comics #374…
…but that was the father, Leland McCauley III.
The son, Leland McCauley IV, first showed up as a kid in Superboy #214 and eventually bothered the 5YL Legion as an adult; the Reboot is clearly taking inspiration from the latter.
To be fair, both pre-Reboot version of McCauley were not bad characters.
But the father showed up very infrequently, and by the time the son became an important player there were already SO MANY intermingled plots in the series that he didn’t stand out.
The Reboot McCauley will have the advantage of being under the spotlight for a considerably longer time.
This issue is crammed full of characters and developments, some which will be important later on while others won’t (yep, Tenz). However, none of it feels rushed or too much. The issue reminds me of the classic Adventure stories in which a lot of world-building was done that had no impact on the story. In one issue, the Legionnaires went out for Martian ice cream. In another, they built a planetarium showing the Legionnaires’ homeworlds–things that had nothing to do with the plot but created a sense of fun and wonder about living in the future.
Similar ideas are integrated in this issue, some for fun, others to create a sense of impending danger. But it all flows together seamlessly with the Legionnaire going from the amusing interference of the Athramites to confronting a real threat in Mano.
All I can add is they did a PERFECT job with the HQ. Front-on, it looks like the original upside-down rocket, but the fact that it looks like the Legion logo from above is a stroke of genius to make it less Silver-Age-sci-fi-silly. When the Bierbaums brought back the original HQ in all its old timey glory for the SW6 Legionnaires series, it was just a pure nostalgia play. This time, it’s a nod to the nostalgia while adding thought and meaning.
When Live Wire looks at the HQ and remarks that he’s seen rocket ships that weren’t this slick, he of course means the rocket ship HQ from original continuity.
I still maintain that Tenzil and Mano have the same power: Tenzil in his mouth, Mano in his hand. Treated properly, they could be equally terrifying. Poor Tenzil tends to be regarded as a joke. He’ll be taken far more seriously in the threeboot.
No spoilers from me… Cos I forgot.
So it wasn’t until this article that I realized this site has a comments section. I’ve been coming here for a year and I’ve never read a comment until now. When I didn’t see comments at the bottom of the page, I just assumed there was no comment section. How many more times can I say “comment” in a single comment?
Better late than never, but welcome to the comments 🙂
Is a Bismolian a good choice for a chef? He’d have a hard time remembering what is and isn’t edible to other people.
Also, I don’t know how many caught it, but “Bismolian” is a reference to the popular pink stomach medicine Pepto-Bismol.
It reminds me of the Futurama episode where Bender was made the ship’s chef despiteas a robot, lacking the sense of taste.
Something abou only using 90% of the lethal dose of salt.
Fry: “It’s the saltiest thing I’ve ever tasted – and I once ate a block of salt!”
I love that show.
A whole cartload of characters and situations and not feel the weight! This series is like the perfect mix of teen humor and sci/fi! (I wish they will do a scene in which M.E.L will eat a couple of fingers off Mano’s hand -“Yumm, a bit spicy tho, Man!”)
Other than that, Mano remains my favorite character together with the Emerald Empress, am VERY curious to see what the new F5 will be like.