ADVENTURE COMICS 352 (1967)
by Jim Shooter & Curt Swan
This is the big one: the Sun-Eater story, possibly the most influential Legion story ever told.
We begin at the edge of the galaxy, at a warning station built by the United Planets.
The warning station is there to keep an eye on an unseen menace that threatens the entire Galaxy… and it’s coming.
Meanwhile the Legion is reviewing information sent by the Science Police about the Galaxy’s most wanted criminals: the Fatal Five.
First up is Persuader, with an atomic axe that can cut through anything… including gravity. (???)
Persuader is definitely my least favorite of the Fatal Five… his atomic axe is a very neat concept, but he lacks a personality and I never really liked his codename.
Next is Tharok, originally “a small time crook” who had half of his body vaporized. (!!!)
And now he’s a half-man half-machine supergenius evil mastermind because the Zadronians saved his life. Thanks so much, Zadronians.
Next is the Emerald Empress, “guilty of every crime from murder to space-piracy”, who wields the ill-defined but immensely powerful Emeral Eye of Ekron.
She’s arguably the Fatal Five member who will cause the most damage.
Then we have my second favorite Legion villain: Validus, a.k.a. “the Hulk, only bigger, stronger, with no eyes and constantly shooting lightning from his brain”.
I absolutely love the design of Validus. The exposed brain could very easily look silly, but it’s the lack of eyes that make him a create monster design.
Also he’s so dangerous that the authorities have no way of executing him and keep him confined into a cell made of Inertron.
And last we have Mano, a mutant from a super-polluted planet.
The mutant power to BLOW UP PLANETS BY TOUCHING THEM, so he’s not going to join the X-Men anytime soon.
The Fatal Five getting five pages of introduction are a blatant indication that they’re going to become major Legion villains, but name-checking the old ones helps.
Poor, poor Time Trapper… you had such a stellar beginning and now you’re grouped with complete losers like Prince Evillo…
The Legionnaires go home for the night, but they’re recalled right away by a priority message from the United Planets: something big is coming.
It’s the Sun Eater, the most terrifying pink blob you have ever seen.
If you think I’m exaggerating? This thing ate an entire galaxy in FIVE YEARS. No wonder the public isn’t informed!
Unfortunately the rest of the team is busy on a mission “in another dimension”, so these five Legionnaires will have to do.
Take notice of Ferro Lad “I’d rather go down fighting” attitude.
The Legion calls for the help of the other super-heroes of the Galaxy, with… questionable methods.
Great idea, Sun Boy. Considering the speed of light, you might get the first reply in a few years.
Not that it matters: apparently all the non-Legion heroes are jerks.
No, we won’t ever see any of these people again.
The United Planets inform the population about the incoming menace at the last possible moment, on the account that this is a terrible idea.
Well those heroes we’ve never heard of were of no help, but there are a few heroes the Legion could contact. There’s the Heroes of Lallor, and of course they can always count on the Subs.
Or they could recruit the Galaxy’s most wanted.
Sounds legit.
Cosmic Boy recruits Tharok, whose base is currently under siege by the Science Police.
But not without proving his super-villain credentials, of course!
Next is Emerald Empress, who is being burned at the stake. (!!!)
Now you might be wondering: if the Emerald Empress is supposed to be very powerful, why didn’t she use her Emerald Eye to break free?
That’s because SURPRISE KRYPTONITE!
She does accept to work for the Legion too, taking interest in Superboy.
Sun Boy is in charge of surviving an encounter with recruiting Validus.
The thing about Validus is that he’s something in between a wild animal and a child throwing a tantrum… with “the energy of 1,000 power plants”.
Validus even resists a full power blast from Sun Boy. But since he got his rage out of his system, he agrees to help.
Princess Projectra stops Persuader from holding “the governor of Jupiter” hostage and then makes her offer. This is her first time to shine and she doesn’t disappoint.
And finally we have Mano, who has been sentenced to death by having his hand amputated (!!!) by a rocket guillotine (!!!) so that he will explode in space. (!!!)
When Ferro Lad stops the execution, the Science Police naturally tries to arrest him…
…but since the Legion is deputized by the United Planets they give up Mano.
And that concludes the setup!
Also: a short recap of the Legion’s origin, with additional details about Cosmic Boy’s backstory.
Neat detail about Cosmic Boy needing to look for a job when he was 14 years old… as written by 14 year old Jim Shooter supporting his family by writing comics.
Legion significance: 10/10
First appearance of the Fatal Five AND the Sun-Eater AND the Legion’s backstory? It rarely gets more significant than this!
Silver Age-ness: 5/10
If you cut out the Legion’s attempts to contact other heroes, it could be as low as a 3/10.
Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
A mixed bag. Obviously it needs to be read together with the second part since this is 100% setup, so it makes things a little incomplete. The team’s decision to recruit the Fatal Five comes out of nowhere, since they don’t establish exactly HOW they’re supposed to help.
We are legion
24 Legionnaires (even if only 5 appear), which is the highest it’s been so far.
1 reserve member: Kid Psycho
1 resigned member: Command Kid
1 honorary member: Elastic Lad
1 expelled member: Nemesis Kid
1 deceased member: Dynamo Boy
How much Legion is too much?
The total number of characters who have been members is 29.
Interesting letters: letterhack Irene Vartanoff makes a good synopsis of the book’s increasing quality.
Just a sample of the fact that the readers really, REALLY liked the book’s direction.
The push for Legionnaires who aren’t humanoids goes waaaay back, but it won’t be until the 80s before we get non-humanoids.
One thing that the readers didn’t like? The Legion acting like jerks towards rejected members!
Amazing to think Shooter created not just one or two iconic LSH villains but a whole team that went on to give us do many key stories including Empress / SG.
Although I do basically ignore the final, final LSH story featuring the new upgraded Tharok. The consequences for the team were just too unkind.