ADVENTURE COMICS 373 (1968)
by Jim Shooter & Win Mortimer
cover by Neal Adams
Win Mortimer replaces Curt Swan as the Legion’s regular artist. I’m not a huge fan, but we still get Neal Adams covers.
We begin with a lesson in scientific gibberish.
This is apparently what Phantom Girl and Sun Boy study.
We check on what other Legionnaires are doing when they receive the alarm: Princess Projectra is showing her gigantic apartment to Karate Kid…
…Element Lad is ditching his date…
…while Superboy and Brainiac 5 are being nerds.
When the Legion gets to the scene of the crime, however, two unknown teens have already solved everything.
These are Don and Dawn Allen, the Tornado Twins.
Later, at another emergency where the Legionnaires are not exactly effective…
…the twins show up again to help them, demonstrating several powers.
The Legion is ridiculed for their embarrassing results, while the twins are all the rage.
Given their history with mysterious heroes, the Legion verifies if they’re hiding something.
Like most 23-page stories in this period, it’s divided in two separate chapters. I don’t typically talk about them individually, but this time the title gives a big clue to the story’s final mystery.
The twins continue to one-up the Legion.
Now you might wonder: if these two aren’t supervillains, why doesn’t the Legion recruit them?
The twins refusing membership really gets on the Legion’s nerves. It’s Karate Kid, of all people, to get physical.
That’s weird seeing him play the part of the hothead… he’s typically the diplomatic one.
Not that the others are any better.
Yeah, uhm… the Legion kind of sucks in this issue.
The Legion is pretty depressed when a giant rocket lands in front of their HQ.
It contains… a giant statue of the Flash!?!?
Yep: the Tornado Twins turn out to be descendants of Flash!
You know, the Fun-Loving Allens Super-Heroes.
In the post-Crisis continuity, the Tornado Twins will actually be Barry Allen’s children, inheriting his powers instead of recreating them.
All of this was a publicity stunt for the first Flash Day.
And that’s the end! I’m so glad that we spent 23 pages celebrating the Flash by making the Legion look like idiots.
Great use of your temporary powers, guys.
Legion significance: 8/10
The twins won’t make other Silver Age appearances, but I assume Mark Waid absolutely loved this story because it has HUGE ramifications for the Legion (which he rebooted) and the Flash (which was pretty much redefined by Waid).
Don Allen is the father of Impulse while Dawn is the mother of XS, a very important Legionnaire in the reboot continuity.
Despite this it’s not a 10/10 because the impact of the events of the story is pretty much non-existent. And despite the huge importance of the Tornado Twins in the reboot continuity… they won’t actually meet the Legion, because they die before the team is founded.
Silver Age-ness: 5/10
Nothing out of the ordinary for the era. Which is surprising since the Legion is typically LESS Silver Age than the rest.
Does it stand the test of time? 3/10
The art is what prevents this story from being a complete disaster, because it’s rather effective, especially in power demonstration scenes. Having said that… it’s really hard to root for the Legion this time. This is more of a Tornado Twin story guest-starring the Legion.
The twins are also a little insufferable and their plan doesn’t make any sense: they want to celebrate a dead hero by trash-talking the new ones?
We are legion
26 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?
The total number of characters who have been members is 35.