SUPERBOY 184 (1972)
by Cary Bates & Dave Cockrum.
Attention, everyone, Dave Cockrum has arrived. I repeat: Dave Cockrum has arrived!
He will of course have a huge impact on the look of the Legion, but it’s still going to take him a couple of issues before reaching his peak form.
We begin at Legion HQ, with Saturn Girl picking up plans to sabotage the place.
And these thoughts are coming from… Matter-Eater Lad!?
Since M.E.L. denies this, they test if Saturn Girl is telling the truth.
Instead of using The Detector on M.E.L., Ultra Boy decides to arrest him… and he’s taken by surprise.
Or not.
They put Matter-Eater Lad behind bars. But because he can eat his way through anything, the bars are made out of a super-poisonous metal.
I’m guessing Inertron would’ve costed too much.
Now you might be wondering: why does the Legion have access to “the most poisonous metal alloy in the Galaxy”?
THEY DON’T.
Matter-Eater Lad escapes on a ship that is in no way inspired by Star Trek and goes back to his homeworld of Bismoll.
In Action Comics 381 his family was living on Earth. Which isn’t a problem, they could’ve moved back to Bismol, but it’s surprising to find out that:
A) Matter-Eater Lad has a younger brother that we never saw
B) he’s the bad guy!
And his plan really shouldn’t have worked: that thing stayed in MATTER EATER LAD’s stomach for a whole day!? What is it made of!?
Renkil has the same motivation of several future Legion villains: jealousy for not being the representative from his planet.
Well I guess “Anything-Eater Lad” didn’t have the same ring to it.
Are we SURE we don’t want M.E.L’s brother instead?
Renkil calls the Legion to save his brother, and they do.
You might think that Matter-Eater Lad would resent him for this, but… nope!
Then again, considering this is the LAST time we ever see Matter Eater Lad’s brother, maybe he didn’t exactly forgive him.
Historical significance: 0/10
Changes in the creative team don’t influence this score, so considering Renkil’s complete disappearance from continuity…
Silver Age-ness: 2/10
Bismollians can eat anything but you can hide a transmitter into their stomach for a whole day? Also, Matter-Eater Lad being able to eat energy kind of defeat the entire purpose of his codename.
Does it stand the test of time? 0/10
It’s only 8 pages long, but that’s no excuse: this sucked. Both Ultra Boy and especially Saturn Girl are uncharacteristically hot-headed, M.E.L’s brother comes absolutely out of nowhere, and honestly this story doesn’t exactly treat him like an effective hero.
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.
I know nothing about Dave Cockrum before Legion. But even that first panel is simply sumptuous. The background. Mother’s alien garb. Dad’s hairline making him look older. Younger bro has ya rounder, younger face. So much detail. Gorgeous.