SUPERBOY 221 (1976)
by Jim Shooter & Mike Grell
The last issue before the series gets retitled “Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes”.
Introducing the two Legion villains I’m sure we’ll never see in live action: Grimbor and Charma.
The Legion received a distress call from one of the Power Spheres that supply energy to Earth.
Timber Wolf has to deal with Grimbor, who is “Buff S&M Reed Richards”.
Superboy has to deal with Charma, who has the power of fanservice and mind control.
She’s basically like Marvel villains Purple Man or Mandrill, but her power only works on men.
She just delivered two boxes to Legion patron R.J.Brande (almost unrecognizable by how slim he is); they don’t contain bombs but Timber Wolf and Superboy… in Inertron chains!
They are freed by Chameleon Boy, with a somewhat mundane use of his power.
Grimbor is tough, but Charma is the real menace if she can put a spell on Superboy without even an alliterative name.
When I joke about Grimbor being an S&M supervillain, I’m not joking. It’s literally in the text!
Tempting as it is to treat him as a joke… he’s managed to restrain VALIDUS, so that’s impressive.
Since Grimbor works with Inertron, possibly a reference to the Inertron cage we first saw Validus in Adventure Comics #352.
Charma has a rather interesting backstory and gimmick. Despite appearances she’s not an alien: she’s an orphan human mutant (!!!) with the power to bend men to her will… with the side effect of being hated by all women.
Despite her power, Grimbor is apparently really in love with her. She still manipulates him in other ways, though.
They infiltrate the Legion HQ, with Grimbor being able to take down Colossal Boy. At least he’s confirmed to have super-strength, but I don’t think we ever got an explanation on WHY.
Told you it’s in the text!
These two make a rather impressive team, if a bit ridiculous at times.
Even though I don’t really like how much Inertron he has at his disposal. It kind of cheapens the impact if we see it all the time.
Timber Wolf and Light Lass try to attack them separately. It’s a good plan, ruined by the fact that Charma doesn’t even need to be in the same room of her targets… they just have to hear her voice.
Charma has a tragic backstory, but that doesn’t mean she’s always sympathetic.
With the Legion defeated, they use them as a bargaining chip to get the entirety of the R.J.Brande fortune.
Except… plot twist: Grimbor loves bondage more than he loves Charma!
Of course, the trouble with the Legion of Super-Heroes is that there’s so many of them that inevitably you forget one.
Shrinking Violet’s plan it to beat up Charma, which has two results: it’s REALLY satisfying…
…and it gets the Legion boys so mad that they manage to escape from their restrains!
Once they crash through the wall, they are far enough from the knocked out Charma to be safe from her power.
And so we end with Grimbor escaping and the revelation that all this time he was only interested in chaining up Charma.
Like I said: in the text.
Historical significance: 6/10
Both Charma and especially Grimbor will return multiple times. They’re not exactly big villains, but they are a minor recurring threat.
Silver Age-ness: 4/10
Grimbor’s arsenal is a little ridiculous, plus he gets zero background (especially that super-strength) even when Charma gets a proper if brief backstory.
Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
Does Grimbor look ridiculous? Yes, of course he is. But it’s not a bad comic, and honestly today you could probably get away with being a little more explicit with him.
Charma is definitely the more interesting of the two. Fanservice aside, she’s a great character concept! You don’t often see supervillains whose power is also a curse, and it was handled fine here.
We are legion
23 Legionnaires
6 reserve members
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 37.