SUPERBOY 172 (1971)
by E. Nelson Bridwell & George Tuska
After Action Comics #392, the Legion serial moves to the Superboy title. They will eventually take if over, like they did with Adventure Comics, but they’re the backup feature for now.
Kind of neat that it’s Superboy himself to introduce them!
Especially weird since he left the team in Action Comics #387.
The Legion is informed about a crime committed by Lightning Lord, the brother of Lightning Lad and Light Lass.
This is just an occasion to re-tell the trio’s origin.
As well as the Legion’s origin.
After wasting 3 pages on this (on a 7 page story!), they finally decide to track Lightning Lord.
His siblings are understandably reluctant to fight him, but even if Timber Wolf is convinced that his “Super-Acrobatics” will save the day…
…this turns into a lightning-on-lightning fight. Because, come on. It has to.
Lightning Lad wins the fight because he’s able to ricochet a lightning bolt. (???)
And that’s how Lightning Lord’s hair turned white. (????)
And it’s already over!
That was a pretty insignificant little story. It’s also the FIRST Legion story where we get full credits, which admittedly is kind of cool.
Historical significance: 0/10
No, turning Lightning Lord’s hair white doesn’t count.
Silver Age-ness: 1/10
A ricochet lightning bolt that turns your hair white? Come on, that’s a Tuesday in DC Silver Age.
Does it stand the test of time? 2/10
And I thought that the Action Comics run included stories that were more summaries. This is just a footnote! Basically nothing happened. The first real interaction between the lightning siblings is a major letdown.
We are legion
25 Legionnaires
3 reserve members: Kid Psycho, Insect Queen, Superboy
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.
Maybe my old school level physics is wrong, but I think that the wall should have been a poor conductor for the lightning to bounce back. That would certainly be the case with heat – the reason we use insulation (i.e. things that are poor conductors) is to keep heat from being channelled away. Thanks for the commentary as always – it makes it fun having another person’s perspective on these comics!