ADVENTURE COMICS 370 (1968)
by Jim Shooter & Curt Swan
cover by Curt Swan
The second part of the first Mordru story.
During last issue’s cliffhanger, the Legionnaires decided that they didn’t need to hide from Mordru anymore.
So the first thing they do when facing Mordru again is to hide. Again.
They spent last issue hiding from Mordru, but since that didn’t work out Superboy has a new plan: hypnotize themselves into forgetting they are Legionnaires.
I don’t see how that solves the problem of having a world-conquering evil wizard running around Smallville.
Even when Mordru reads the minds of all the citizens of Smallville (!!!) he can’t find the Legionnaires… but it turns out that he’s not an idiot, so he still suspects the right people.
Suspecting that his targets are still here, Mordru does what any respectable evil wizard would do: summon his evil minions from the future, while ALSO stopping any other time traveler.
And if THAT wasn’t enough, he also levitates the entire city into space!!!
Now THAT’S a power move!
The mind wiped Shadow Lass and Duo Damsel don’t try to defend themselves, so Mordru’s minions assume they’re not actually the Legionnaires they’re looking for.
So this time it’s up to Lana Lang and Pete Ross to save the day.
This is the first time his membership has been acknowledged within a story, so I’m finally adding him to the count.
Jim Shooter takes a little time to acknowledge that this is really awkward for Lana.
With Lana back to her Insect Queen identity, time for some disgusting transformations!
WHY COULDN’T YOU USE THE SCISSORS!?!?
And that’s all they need to remind Superboy that he has superpowers, so he then uses his device to restore the memories of his friends.
I wonder: if this didn’t work, how long would it take Shadow Lass to figure out that she’s not human? Last time we saw that her whiteface isn’t very permanent, so at best she would’ve lasted until her first shower.
Then Pete Ross disguises himself as Superboy, while Duo Damsel disguises herself as Shadow Lass and…, well, herself… and they all get captured on purpose.
All so that Superboy, under the cover of Shadow Lass, can finally land a punch on Mordru!
However Mordru is still WAY out of Superboy’s league, so he just turns everything into a mock trial in the span of two panels.
Since when are the Devil’s Dozen among the worst criminals of the 30th century!?!?
Pete Ross tries to turn the criminals summoned by Mordru against their master…
…but that doesn’t work since they’re mind-controlled.
(Pete looks at least 50 here!)
The Legionnaires are sentenced to death. Since they once trapped Mordru by exploiting his weakness (he falls into a coma if he can’t breathe), they will suffer the same doom.
However it turns out that not everyone is under mind control: Mordru is so powerful because he has absorbed the power of all other wizards, and the one acting as prosecutor wants vengeance.
He gets disintegrated for that (!!!), plus Mordru takes away the powers of the Legionnaires.
For all intents and purposes, the Legion has lost this battle.
However Mordru didn’t consider than doing this underground would mean that the cave would collapse on him. And since his only weakness is being buried… Mordru just defeated himself.
This conveniently kills all of Mordru’s minions, but not the Legion.
We’re almost at the end, so it’s time to fix the timeline by erasing Lana Lang’s memory…
…and Superboy’s.
Once they’re back to the 30th century, they discover that Mordru didn’t actually kill the rest of the team.
All thanks to Princess Projectra, Dream Girl, and a very rare Silver Age cameo of her sister White Witch.
It’s ironic that Mon-El is typically better than this, because he’s being a dick here.
Legion significance: 7/10
While the first part is full of little moments that will be referenced time and time again in future stories, this one is a little more forgotten.
Silver Age-ness: 2/10
With Smallville playing a much reduced part, there aren’t as much Silver Age tropes at work here.
Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
Still a good story, but definitely a step backwards after last issue. Mordru proves to be smarter and genre-savvy than expected… and then he defeats himself like an idiot. The ending was definitely planned, with Mordru’s weakness being repeatedly brought up, but Shooter could’ve used a few more panels to let it seem less rushed.
We are legion
24 Legionnaires
2 reserve members: Kid Psycho, Insect Queen
3 honorary members: Elastic Lad, Pete Ross, 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?
Since Pete Ross finally calls himself a honorary member and nobody comments on it, the total number of characters who have been members is now 33.
EDIT: as pointed out by reader Commander Benson in the comments to Superboy #98, Pete Ross is actually mentioned as honorary member in a caption during Adventure Comics #323. Oops!