Superboy and the LSH #227 (1977)
by Gerry Conway & Joe Staton
cover by Mike Grell
After Jim Shooter and Paul Levitz, we have our THIRD and final writer working on the Pulsar Stargrave storyline: Gerry Conway, who will have a brief but intense run as the main writer pretty soon.
We begin with Brainiac 5 preparing a trap for the Legion above his native planet of Colu.
Except it turns out this is actually a robot copy, which Wildfire deduces because the real Brainy wouldn’t need a spacesuit (thanks to his force field).
This issue is infamous for having a lot of errors in the balloons and coloring.
Witness Princess Projectra scold herself…
…and Brainiac 5 having a conversation with a green skinned Lightning Lad.
The fact that we randomly had a robot Brainiac 5 show up for no reason makes this even MORE confusing because for a second I thought this was Brainy talking with his robot!
Speaking of the robot, Saturn Girl reads its mind (WTF!?) to find the devices that Pulsar Stargrave needs to do… I dunno, something evil I guess?
We do get some interesting worldbuilding about the planet, so that’s something.
Stargrave’s robots attack the planet. Colossal Boy and Wildfire deal with them, while Shrinking Violet and Shadow Lass follow Stargrave.
Interesting to see Shadow Lass showcase some of her rebellious streak, as well as some tension against Wildfire’s leadership.
Behold the last appearance of Stargrave’s lesser minion, Holdur:
He’ll be missed.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team SUDDEN ROBOT!
While Superboy and Princess Projectra deal with it, Phantom Girl goes on her own mission while pointing out her seniority.
She will get a lot of exposure during Conway’s run, so he might have planned to focus on her right from the beginning. Her being a bit of a snob when it comes to Legion membership will occasionally be brought up by Levitz as well.
Not that any of this matters for this issue.
Wait… I was under the impression that the Legion already knew that the Brainiac 5 impostor was a robot! Why are they only figuring it out NOW!?
At least Saturn Girl points out the absurdity of her reading a robot’s mind.
Even if it comes off as more than a little robophobic, but hey, it was the 2970s.
Now we get the latest version of the Pulsar Stargrave origin, which won’t even be the last:
This origin doesn’t make much sense because at the time it had already been revealed that the original Brainiac was a robot and not a biological being, so him going into coma is insane.
Especially since in the next page the comic acknowledges that the original Brainiac was created by the computers of Colu!
Either we have a new balloon error, or Lightning Lad is suddenly speaking in third person.
The narration implies that Saturn Girl’s powers are evolving past telepathy and into telekinesis, but nothing will come out of this. (at least in the comics, something similar happens in the 2008 cartoon)
Unlike Holdur, the other henchman Quicksand will make a few more appearances.
Meanwhile, Pulsar Stargrave… actually called Brainiac this time around… plans to revive the computer that created his original body.
Superboy and Wildfire have decided that they are done with his convoluted plan.
AND THEY DOUBLE PUNCH HIM STRAIGHT INTO THE SUN.
What I’m getting out of this is that Pulsar Stargrave was defeated by his plan not making any sense whatsoever. Not exactly the best way to plot your story.
Pulsar Stargrave won’t come back until 1981, before fading into obscurity.
We won’t really get the full details of his third origin, but spoiler alert: he’s not even the original Brainiac.
What a waste of an awesome name.
Historical significance: 3/10
Stargrave’s influence over Brainiac 5 will briefly be a plot point, and like I said he will return… but even his return will largely ignore this specific story.
Silver Age-ness: 8/10
Random robots! Random plots! Stargrave being completely different from his other appearances! Superboy basically one-shotting the bad guy in one panel!
Does it stand the test of time?: 4/10
What a mess. It’s abundantly clear at this point that the writers had absolutely no interest in developing the Pulsar Stargrave plot; either Jim Shooter didn’t tell anyone what was supposed to happen, or they didn’t care.
Which is rather puzzling since the teaser written by Paul Levitz wasn’t bad at all, and it would’ve been interesting to see a new version of Brainiac against the Legion.
But whereas Shooter’s Stargrave was a cool villain, Conway’s version is as generic and forgettable as they come!
It’s not a complete waste, mind you. There’s some interesting things here and there… the worldbuilding, Shadow Lass and Phantom Girl gaining a personality… but the rest was pretty awful.
Which is really a shame because Conway is a really good writer, and his Legion run is fondly remembered.
We are legion
24 Legionnaires
6 reserve members