Adventure Comics #365

ADVENTURE COMICS 365 (1968)
by Jim Shooter & Curt Swan
cover by Neal Adams

Great cover by Neal Adams, but… guys, if you want the villain of the story to be a surprise, maybe don’t spoil it on the cover?

We begin on Talok VIII, a peaceful planet of the 30th century.

Except something about the planet has changed drastically in the past six months.

The United Planets doesn’t like this sudden change, so they ask the Legion to investigate.

They will be helped by a superheroine from Talok VIII, the yet-to-be Legionnaire Shadow Lass.

While there are no official credits in the issue itself, from the sources I could find the pencils are attributed to both Jim Shooter and Curt Swan. It’s highly probable that Shooter only did the layouts.
Whatever the case, in other DC books you would never see a panel structure like the one showing the perspective from Shadow Lass’ boots. So either because of the Shooter layouts or because he was just going all-out, this is one of the best things Swan has ever drawn.

Since the Legion is currently undercover, it’s kind of weird that no member of the Espionage Squad is present. More on that later.

The harsh conditions of Talok VIII are well explored here. Obviously it doesn’t bother Superboy because… well, you know why… but it’s hard even on native Shadow Lass.
Possibly because a bathing suit and a cape aren’t the best attire for crossing the desert.

While this is going on, someone working for “the master” is watching the Legion.

This mysterious figure unleashes some giant birds against the Legion, but Shadow Lass helps them demonstrating her power for the first time.

That’s cool, but couldn’t she have used that power when they were crossing the desert? More on that later.

Her power can be useful but it’s not the most spectacular. However, the script makes up for it by showing her to be very resourceful. It’s not too blatant, though, so we avoid the “everybody constantly points out how awesome the new character is” trope.

Brainiac 5’s comment on having to play the role of a “mountain man” made me chuckle.

The Legion does manage to sneak into the enemy base, with a comment acknowledging the lack of Espionage Squad. A bit clunky, but it does help the idea that Shooter thought of everything.

Unfortunately the villains are ready for the Legionnaires, who are teleported directly into dedicated death traps.

That’s pretty creative, especially for not using Kryptonite against Superboy. We’ll be told later that the trap was built with “metal from a planet with a red sun”, as if that was enough. Still, points for thinking outside the box.

The ways the Legionnaires escape are pretty interesting, from Karate Kid breaking the diamond by finding its weak spot (this will pretty much be his superpower in the reboot, much like Marvel’s Karnak)…

…to Cosmic Boy using his magnetic powers to cause one wall to repel the other one…

…to Brainiac 5 modifying his currently inoperative force field belt into a death ray…

…to the most interesting one: Superboy overcoming his self-imposed mental blocks that stop him from using all of his strength.
That will be a MAJOR part of Superman in post-Crisis, but this might just be the first time it’s ever brought up!

Shadow Lass also has a creative solution: her cape isn’t just for show, it has a practical use!

It’s not explicitly said, but I guess this is the reason why she didn’t use her powers to protect the team in the desert: it would’ve tired her out in such a harsh environment.

With the Legion getting closer and closer, the guy who has been watching over them the whole time decides that this is the time to release “the master” from an interdimensional prison.

If you didn’t notice the disclaimer on the cover, now you would learn that the villains are the Fatal Five.
On page 19 of a 22 page story, so… good job, cover.

Apparently when Validus struck the Persuader’s Atomic Axe in Adventure Comics #353, this caused the team to be teleported into another dimension for… reasons, I guess.

Sounds almost as legit as Tharok giving himself mind-control powers.

Apparently the whole reason for trapping the Legionnaires was to absorb all the energy they used to escape their traps to break the interdimensional barrier.

That’s a bit contrived. I get absorbing Superboy’s strength and maybe Cosmic Boy’s magnetism, but what “super-energy” did the others supply?
And what would’ve happened if the Legion sent less powerful members, for example if the Espionage Squad wasn’t busy elsewhere?

But there’s no time left to nitpick the Fatal Five’s plan, because we end with a cliffhanger of the Legion facing the Talokian army.

Which would be more impressive if Superboy didn’t help build an entire planet just two issues ago.

To be continued

Legion significance: 7/10
A great introduction to Shadow Lass and to Talok VIII.

Silver Age-ness: 0/10
This is the first DC comic to reach this score. Everything is explained, the dialogues are realistic, there is attention to worldbuilding, and the usual cheap tricks (Kryptonite etc) are avoided.

Does it stand the test of time? 10/10
Another first: a DC comic perfectly adaptable for today’s standards. My only nitpicks are on the master plan of the Fatal Five, which depends on a couple of convenient coincidences, but it’s believable that Tharok didn’t make his move until everything was in position. I would’ve gone with Emerald Empress using her eyes to hypnotize the Talokians, but again it’s just nitpicking.

We are legion
23 Legionnaires
2 reserve members: Kid Psycho, Insect Queen
2 honorary members: Elastic Lad, Rond Vidar
1 resigned member: Command Kid
1 expelled member: Nemesis Kid
2 deceased members: Dynamo Boy, Ferro Lad

How much Legion is too much?
The total number of characters who have been members is 31.

Bonus: this is one of the issues to include a featurette showing all the Legionnaires.
We’ve seen this before; most of them are recycled, but since Triplicate Girl is now Duo Damsel… they just erased her third body. Ouch.