SUPERBOY 209 (1975)
“Who Can Save the Princess?” by Jim Shooter & Mike Grell
“Hero for a Day” by Cary Bates & Mike Grell
Jim Shooter returns to the Legion! There’s a fascinating story behind that which we’ll discuss later.
We begin with Princess Projectra crash landing on Legion HQ, with Timber Wolf helping to avoid a tragedy.
I guess it makes sense since she comes for a less technologically advanced planet, but Projectra is sick with a very dangerous illness AGAIN.
This is the rather simple premise of the story: Brainiac 5 has come up with a way to share Projectra’s pain in order to save her life.
Both Brainy and Superboy have an excuse for not being there in person.
And OF COURSE there aren’t any other Legionnaires available. Notice that they ask for both the reserves but also for the Subs! Always glad to see them acknowledged as a real asset.
First up: Timber Wolf!
My guess is that they seriously underestimated just how much painful this would be.
Even Karate Kid has trouble dealing with a truly enraged Timber Wolf, but Saturn Girl deals with it by telepathically making him blind. (!!!!)
A sign that Jim Shooter is back: instead of randomly making Karate Kid change his costume, he uses this opportunity to switch to the 70s version.
Saturn Girl points out that giving her THAT much pain without restraining her is a recipe for disaster.
That’s pretty reasonable, although I can’t help but feel it’s just an excuse to satisfy a fetish.
So… the pain is so great that it causes Timber Wolf to lash out uncontrollably and force Saturn Girl into doing THAT. How will Karate Kid deal with it?
By being a f##king Zen badass.
As you see Superboy has arrived just in time to save the day. Except… thanks to his invulnerability he can’t share the pain!
With only seconds to spare, Karate Kid is ready to sacrifice himself by getting a second dose, which is guaranteed to kill him.
Not if our surprise guest has anything to say about it!
Yep! Of all people, DUO DAMSEL just saved the day!
I was counting Bouncing Boy as honorary member since he lost his powers, but since this formally acknowledges that he’s a reserve I’m updating the list.
And that’s about it.
We’ll get to the reasons behind Shooter’s return in a moment. But first let’s go to the second story by Cary Bates, because it ties into that.
This kid, Flynt Brojj, is a Legion fan who has won a contest by raising the highest amount of money for charity. That means he gets to be a Legionnaire for one day.
During the visit he witnesses how the Legion gets its fan mail.
Unfortunately somebody sends them a space monster!
Why is this animal so dangerous? Because it spreads INVISIBLE POISONOUS RADIATION.
This radiation is so strong that there is no known way to stop it from spreading, meaning that ONE of these animals will inevitably irradiate the entire planet.
And since the Witch Wolf ALSO has super-powers, it’s going to be extremely hard to get rid of it.
What superpowers, you may ask? Basically it can do anything.
So the Witch Wolf has taken out Cosmic Boy, Wildfire and Shriking Violet.
This looks like a job for… Flynt Brojj !?
And he saves the day by… basically doing nothing.
Basically because THERE WAS NEVER ANY WOLF.
I don’t think we ever learn who did all of this. All the signs point to Universo, being about hypnosis and all that.
So… what a weird story, right? Well, there’s a reason behind it, and it’s tied directly to Shooter’s return.
“Flynt Brojj” is explicitly based on real-life Legion fans Mike Flynn and Harry Broertjes, creators of the fanzine Legion Outpost.
How do they tie to Shooter’s return? The letters page is dedicated to the explanation!
That’s already amazing in its own right. But Shooter goes on to explain that he basically retired from comics at 18 years old (!!!), and it’s thanks to the Legion fans that he returned to the industry.
So… yeah, we have Mike Flynn and Harry Broertjes to thank both for the second Shooter run for the Legion, as well as what he did for Marvel in the 80s.
What do they deserve for being responsible for all of that?
Historical significance: 1/10
Remember that I don’t count real world events as significant for this category (otherwise Shooter’s return would bump it up). Without that, the first story is completely skippable and the second one is only important for Flynt Brojj who has a couple of minor cameos later on.
Silver Age-ness
First story: 3/10
The Pain Plague is an interesting concept. But once you introduce the idea of sharing the pain with multiple people… why couldn’t the Legion simply share the pain with a thousand people and make it the Annoyance Plague?
Seconds story: 8/10
Invisible poisonous radiation!!!
Does it stand the test of time?
First story: 10/10
This is a fantastic example of lean and clean storytelling based on a simple but compelling high concept. You can basically reprint this anytime and it wouldn’t feel out of place.
Seconds story: 7/10
A story about a Legion superfan saving the day has no right to be THIS good. It could’ve easily been a train wreck, but luckily Flynt Brojj doesn’t really act like a self-insert.
We are legion
23 Legionnaires
5 reserve members: Kid Psycho, Insect Queen, Duo Damsel, Bouncing Boy, Supergirl
3 honorary members: Elastic Lad, Pete Ross, Rond Vidar
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.