SUPERBOY 204 (1974)
by Cary Bates & Mike Grell
cover by Nick Cardy
The Legion of Super-Heroes is often accused by casual readers to be very confusing. I actually think that’s an overblown concern, but this story is one of the most confusing ever published.
We begin with the Legionnaires finding out that they have forgotten one of the first members: Anti-Lad.
Both Superboy AND Saturn Girl have my exact reaction during the rest of the story.
Just to give you a taste of what’s to come: we then jump to the 75th century, where someone is… ehm… “time-peeping” the Legion.
With an expression like “time-peeping” you might think they’re looking at the 70s era costumes ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) but no, they just discovered that Superboy was actually never recruited into the Legion!
And it’s all this guy’s fault.
So, uhm… yeah. History is somehow wrong and these guys are going to correct it.
Because of dominoes. (???)
What the… howe are consequences taking time (???) to reach your century if you already know that history has changed!?
And so, while the father asks the Science Court permission to go back in time to fix history, the son decides to do it on his own.
Why does that time machine have both the distance in years AND the time of destination?
Specifically, after a trip to the 20th century that we don’t actually see, he then goes to the 30th century to join the Legion immediately after they have rejected Superboy.
Phantom Girl being there is consistent with the Legion’s origin story. Colossal Boy and Chameleon Boy are a little harder to swallow but they’re not outright impossible based on what we know at this point.
The guy from the future teleports into the HQ, calling himself Anti-Lad, and volunteering to take Superboy’s place.
Despite appearances, his power isn’t that he has an ass on his head.
(come on, you’re ALL thinking that!)
His power is actually the rather confusing ability to turn any power into a weakness. (what does that even mean!?)
Okay I can buy Colossal Boy or Chameleon Boy being members before Superboy, but Brainiac 5 makes ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE. We’ve seen him join the Legion, why create confusion!?
It’s not like you needed Brainiac 5 to figure out this guy was a fraud!
Turns out that Anti-Lad doesn’t have any actual powers: his visor was doing everything.
Including ruining Superboy’s audition!
And that he was his plan all along, so now he can just mind-wipe everyone and go back to the future.
Note that this is THE SECOND TIME that Cary Bates gets Superboy’s initiation COMPLETELY wrong, after Superboy #173. Couldn’t he just READ the comic he was referencing at least ONCE!?
Since the Legion completely forgets about Anti-Lad I’m not counting him as a member or as a reject. Mostly because I still don’t understand what the heck happened.
After that train wreck, let’s get into our second story because this is actually VERY significant for the Legion’s history.
It’s also the first time we see Supergirl’s 70s costume, introduced in her own series.
We get an awkward attempt at future slang. “Cool up” doesn’t sound that bad, but since it seems to have the same meaning of “cool down” I just find it confusing.
This is just to introduce the fact that Brainiac 5 is severely overworked. Which, for Brainiac 5, basically means he’s alive.
But actually his mind is not focused on work as much as on Supergirl.
Note that it’s said that Supergirl hasn’t joined a Legion mission in years.
This was certainly true in real life! The last time was 4 years before this story, in Action Comics 387, the issue where she actually wanted to leave the team… but Superboy took her place because he didn’t want to separate her from Brainiac 5.
Speaking of people who have been missing: somebody is coming back after a long, long absence. More on that later.
Brainiac 5 decides to relax on Recreation Asteroid 7, to get his mind off Supergirl.
Good luck with that!
Things are so serious that Brainiac 5 actually decides to leave the Legion to be with Supergirl!
Once they leave the station, though, they randomly run into a radioactive storm.
This looks like a job for Supergirl… ‘s cape.
Then REAL Supergirl shows up! Not the robot who has been making out with Brainiac 5.
Turns out Brainiac 5 built a sentient super-robot WHILE SLEEPWALKING.
Not only that: a sentient robot who fell in love with him.
And so we end with Supergirl revealing why she came to the 30th century… to resign from the Legion. She becomes one of the reserve members, where she will stay for the rest of this entire continuity (with an extremely brief exception).
Considering how things will turn out for pre-Crisis Supergirl, this is a rather bittersweet ending.
Historical significance
First story: -1/10
This kind of story is one of the reasons why negative scores for this category even exists, because it basically breaks the entire continuity.
Second story: 8/10
Considering her importance in the history of the Legion, Supergirl officially leaving active membership is rather significant. It also frees Brainiac 5 to be involved in different kinds of stories instead of being tied up with a romance that won’t be allowed to work.
Silver Age-ness
First story: 7/10
I can’t decide what’s sillier: the plot, the overpowered visor, or Anti-Lad’s look.
Okay I’m lying, it’s clearly his look, but still!
Second story: 3/10
Random space radiation AND building a robot in your sleep.
Does it stand the test of time?
First story: 0/10
Second story: 8/10
This story wouldn’t work if Brainiac 5 came off as creepy, but I actually think that the story manages to stay within boundaries and manages to make him a tragic figure. Its main problem is that it’s extremely short, but you could do it today and still be tasteful.
Also: at this point it’s a given that the art is spectacular, but seriously… has anyone EVER drawn a more gorgeous Supergirl than this!?
We are legion
23 Legionnaires
4 reserve members: Kid Psycho, Insect Queen, Duo Damsel, Supergirl
3 honorary members: Elastic Lad, Pete Ross, Rond Vidar, Bouncing Boy
1 resigned member: Command Kid
1 expelled member: Nemesis Kid
3 deceased members: Dynamo Boy, Ferro Lad, Invisible Kid
How much Legion is too much?
The total number of characters who have been members is 36.