Superboy 198

SUPERBOY 198 (1973)
by Cary Bates & Dave Cockrum
cover by Nick Cardy

Strangely enough we don’t continue the story from last issue (that will be next episode!).
But this one has the Fatal Five, so I’m not complaining.

Strangely enough we begin in 20th century Smallville, where even more strangely Clark is on a date with Lana Lang!

But he’s distracted by a weird object that is giving everyone X-ray vision.

Also he needs to deal with SUDDEN GORILLA!

Please, this is so pedestrian that Lana doesn’t even worry about it!

Once the mysterious object was identified as a flying ball, considering the cover you probably already guessed that Emerald Empress is behind this.

Once Persuader shows up as well, they’re easily able to take out Superboy.
That’s right: less than half of the Fatal Five is enough to defeat him!

We then cut to the Legion, who has learned that the Fatal Five have traveled to the past and are here to stop them.

We have the debut of Princess Projectra’s new costume, which surprisingly isn’t shown all that much in this issue.

Also Element Lad finally gets rid of his god-awful first costume! He’s also too distracted by cotton candy to properly showcase it, but it’s one of my favorites.

Turns out that Tharok survived Superboy 190 just fine.
Also Colossal Boy sports his new classic costume.

It looks like the Fatal Five have found a way to change history, because the Legion disappears from the 30th century!!!

Let’s not think too hard about the fact that if you remove the Legion from time, then the Fatal Five technically shouldn’t exist either.

Also it turns out that there WAS a reason to X-ray the entire town! Not sure why everybody else needed to have X-ray vision, but whatever.

Karate Kid also answers everyone’s question: why doesn’t anyone simply smash the Emerald Eye!?

Galvanized by not having to wear a ridiculous costume, Element Lad shows off his powers!

While Mano fights the Legion in the 20th century, ANOTHER Mano returns to the future.

Awww, Validus crouching like that is adorable!

Mano persuades the Persuader (uh?) to go back in time to make absolutely sure the Time-Sorter ™ has not been discovered by the Legion.

One guess on who the fake Mano is.

The Fatal Five are ready to kill him, but he’s saved by Validus!

Or rather by the illusion of Validus, courtesy of Princess Projectra.

The Legion has discovered that both Superboy and the Time-Sorter ™ were hidden inside a statue this whole time.

Persuader, Emerald Empress and Validus manage to escape, but at least 2 out of 5 were captured.

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Historical significance: 1/10
The debut of several new costumes.

Silver Age-ness: 9/10
Weirdly enough this one breaks one of the most consistent rules of the Silver Age about time travel. We’re never actually told why the Time-Sorter allows to change history. But, since it comes out of nowhere and is never explained AND we have that gorilla…

Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
This one was great! Several Legionnaires get something to do, the Fatal Five shine showcasing several dynamics, and overall it’s a very enjoyable and well-written story. Just don’t think too much about the Time-Sorter.

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.