Legionnaires #25 (1995)
written Tom Peyer & Tom McCraw
pencils by Mike Collins
cover by Jeff Moy
There’s tension between the Legionnaires, including electrical tension.
No Jeff Moy this time, but guest penciler Mike Collins provide a solid alternative.
Saturn Girl finds herself in a very scary place…
…the mind of a shapeshifter.
This issue is a spotlight on Saturn Girl, and things are not good for her right now.
She’s feeling the weight of everything… both because of her telepathy, but also because she’s questioning her own role in the team while trying to help everyone.
This is a great moment for her. She recognizes her own mistakes and she vows to become more assertive.
Meanwhile on Durla, a shapeshifter has killed some of his fellow Durlans and the Science Police sent to investigate… as a way to hunt down Chameleon.
Where we get our first hint that Cham being a Legionnaire is not the only reason why he’s an important person on his planet.
This is still a book about teenagers, so we get a plot that will last for a surprisingly long time: Spark has a secret admirer!
While Apparition has a very NOT secret admirer.
We also have Shrinking Violet confronting Andromeda about her possible link to the White Triangle.
That went as well as it could have.
Shvaughn Erin is getting closer to the Legion. A bit too close as far as Saturn Girl is concerned.
Not a good moment, because this is when the mysterious Durlan attacks the Legion.
This is a tiny moment that I really appreciated: Shvaughn breaking her back during the attack is treated as minor injury. The fact that this is barely worth mentioning speaks volumes of 30th cenury health care!!!
The Legion gets a very cool introduction, arriving on the scene wearing stylish ponchos to deal with the heavy rain outside! It’s completely unnecessary, but that’s a good look.
Unfortunately this was all just a trap to get Chameleon.
Our villain is EXTREMELY dangerous. Not only he’s a Durlan shapeshifter…
…he can also COPY ALL POWERS.
Yeah that’s going to be one tough fight.
I always love it when the metal disk on Cosmic Boy’s costume actually serve a purpose!!!
You’d think this would come up more often.
Kind of surprising that it took THIS long to have a Legion villain capable of copying all their powers. Well there’s KIND OF a precedent, but we’ll discuss him later.
In fact, once he copies the intelligence of Brainiac 5, he decides to copy ALL the Legion powers… and become Composite Man.
Legion significance: 7/10
The fight will have an impact, and Composite Man will make a return later. But we also have the subplot about Spark’s secret admirer. No spoilers in the comments about who the admirer is, I want to see the reaction when it’s revealed. Both times.
Silver Age-ness: 6/10
While it’s not as egregious as his sort of predecessor, Composite Man should not work given what we know about Durlans.
Does it stand the test of time? 9/10
A strong examination of Saturn Girl’s emotions. She’s uncharacteristically antagonistic here, but it’s for good reason considering what went through. And I would imagine that a telepath WOULD be affected by the emotions of the rest of the team.
Not really a testament to Cosmic Boy’s leadership skills when he doesn’t really take the occasion to learn WHY one of his strongest supporters is now criticizing everything he does.
It’s also a neat glimpse in how Chameleon’s mind work; we will learn more about him, and his role in Durlan society, as the plot progresses.
Composite Man is a very straightforward villain with barely any personality, but he fits his role well enough that it doesn’t detract too much from the story.
Who did it better?
Composite Man is for all intents and purposes a new character… but he’s clearly a nod to Composite Superman from World’s Finest #142.
Who, in case you forgot, was a guy who received the powers of ALL Legionnaires because lightning struck their statuettes.
As iconic as Composite Superman is… yeah Composite Man is the superior character in every possible regard. Besides insanity.
We are legion
- 13 active Legionnaires (4 volunteers, 9 drafted)
- 1 resigned member
- 1 deceased member
- 15 people have been members
- 2 Legion leaders (Leviathan, Cosmic Boy)
- 2 members have been rejected
There is also the Composite Legionnaire from late 1977 – “Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes” #234, to be exact.
Composite Superman himself had a successor, as well. Just pointing that out, but it turns out that the Legion lent a hand when he appeared in that guise in World’s Finest #283-284 (1982).
Oh, and there is of course B.I.O.N. from the 5YL era, but that was a particularly uninspired take on the idea.
The campiness of Composite Superman makes him an unforgettable classic, but the Durlan Composite Man is a much greater threat, and has a more interesting backstory. The less said about the Composite Legionnaire, the better.
Young Justice will face a Composite Superboy/Robin, clearly inspired by Composite Superman.
Of course, the real highlight of this issue was Tenzil eating a cactus.
The line about Kinetix’s powers seems really counterintuitive by the writers. Sure, it’s a bad guy talking trash, but Kinetix is one of the few new heroes with a completely unseen power. Having a villain shrug and say, nah that’s rubbish doesn’t exactly stand her in good stead with the readers.
I know he mocks Violet too, but we have at least seen how kick ass she can be and it sort of suits her character to be looked down (not to mention that he uses her powers to escape Kinetix anyway). No wonder no one really gets a handle on her powers.
I think the big issue is she has no middle ground. Ever she’s uselessly wrapping people in gunk that they power out of, or she is able to imbue all solid matter with new forms and sentience which would make her akin to a God. Like Element Lad without the history.