Superboy and the LSH #235 (1978)
“Trial of the Legion Five” by Gerry Conway & Joe Tuska
“The Legion’s Super-Secret” by Paul Levitz & Mike Grell
cover by Mike Grell
The Levitz story is on the cover and is printed first, but I’m starting with the Conway story since it follows from last issue. Kind of.
We begin with five Legionnaires on trial for murder.
Interestingly, this seems to be causing some public protests against the Legion. That’s very, VERY rare for them pre-Crisis.
The accuser is a politician who has always hated the Legion, and the victim is his son who happened to suffer from a very rare disease…
…which COULD have been cured by killing a minotaur from Titan… (!!!)
…except the Legion refused to let him capture the beast, keeping it for themselves, resulting in the son’s death.
I’m no lawyer, but that doesn’t sound like “first degree murder” as he accused.
Saturn Girl explains why the Legion needed the minotaur: to save the life of Wildfire after last issue’s injuries.
Saturn Girl, I know you’re distressed, but you should really get your eyes checked out.
However, while that’s an explanation of why they wanted the minotaur, it doesn’t excuse the Legion from giving Wildfire priority over the sick boy.
That’s good law drama stuff! Not surprising, considering that after leaving comics Gerry Conway ended up writing scripts for Law & Order.
We rarely get an explanation why a particular set of Legionnaires is chosen, but this time we go into the details. Saturn Girl is chosen because Titan, Brainiac 5 is chosen because science, Timber Wolf because minotaur, Shadow Lass is chosen because dark, and Lightning Lad is chosen because ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Titan takes nearly 16 days to orbit Saturn, by the way, so it makes sense they can’t wait.
The testimony of all the Legionnaires doesn’t help much, only providing information on how they captured the minotaur.
But before Timber Wolf can testify SUDDEN WILDFIRE!!!
What in the name of Perry Mason is going on? Believe it or not, the story actually makes sense in the end!
Okay now I really want to see THAT in an episode of Law & Order.
Moving to the Levitz story, we begin with the Legion brainwashing Superboy!
Superboy being brainwashed by the Legion is nothing new: if you remember, in the Silver Age we learned that he volunteered to have Supergirl hypnotize him into forgetting any 30th century details.
The mindwipe session is cut short by an emergency.
This is the story’s mystery: what secret must be erased from Superboy’s mind?
Said emergency is to stop a bunch of space pirates ladies (the returning Sklarian Raiders) from stealing from the “Life Institute”.
There are so many worlds where people look indistinguishable from humans that even Sklarians get them mixed up (Light Lass is from Winath, not from Earth).
The Legion easily defeats the Sklarians, but not before Superboy begins to suspect something weird is up.
It’s hard to keep secrets from someone who can hear you speak from “thousands of miles away” when you’re in space (???).
(I assume he’s using super-hearing; planting a bug would not be Superboy’s thing)
Oddly enough I don’t think the orbiting science lab of Technos shows up again. If so that’s a pity, it would fit perfectly into the Legion lore.
Some creative paneling from Grell who shows Superboy dealing with the Sklarian Raiders by throwing their ship beyond the fourth wall!
The space pirates are not a major concern, especially when compared to the risk of having Superboy discover the secret the Legion is holding back.
If you think the Sklarian Raiders are just an excuse to have sexy space pirates, think again!
They’re sexy space pirates with a full backstory!
That’s a very interesting sci-fi concept, and of course it ties directly into the whole Superboy brainwashing plot.
Speaking of which, it’s time for Guess The Secret Of The 30th Century! What must the Legion keep a secret to Superboy at all costs?
A) the secret of stop aging
B) the secret of curing all diseases
C) the secret of creating life
D) the secret of how to make him immune to Kryptonite
E) the secret that everybody thinks super-ventriloquism is the dumbest power ever
Make your guess!
And the answer is…
…actually something else!!! Brainiac 5 made up that excuse on the spot!
Yep! After Superboy returns to the 20th century and agrees to get his mind wiped, we learn that the REAL secret is that… everybody in the future is VERY long lived!!!
What do you think of this revelation, Saturn Girl?
Yeah that’s about right.
I understand not wanting to tell this to Superboy… since he’s not grown into The Worst yet, the temptation to try using the serum in the 20th century would be too great.
Although the final panel suggesting that the serum isn’t shared with all 30th century worlds rubs me the wrong way.
Historical significance
Conway story: 0/10
Harmless.
Levitz story: -1/10
Surprisingly enough considering Levitz will later have the longest Legion run in history, but the idea that the Legionnaires are much older than they look was effectively erased from continuity the moment this was published.
Silver Age-ness
Conway story: 8/10
There’s a minotaur on Titan that shoots telepathic energy from its horns and who can cure people when it dies.
Levitz story: 4/10
Superboy coming out of absolutely nowhere with the idea of the secret of creating life.
Does it stand the test of time?
Conway story: 8/10
It’s a bit clunky at parts and it’s way too short, but it’s surprisingly good! My only real complain is there is little reason for Brainiac 5 to say nothing about his plans to the other Legionnaires. I get why he doesn’t say anything to the politician, but couldn’t he at least drop a “By the way I’ll be back in a couple of days to resurrect your son”? Really?
I’m not typically a Tuska fan, but the artwork is very solid here… with exceptions.
Levitz story: 9/10
I can understand why the ending was removed from continuity, since it’s hard to integrate it with the larger universe. But really that’s the only outstanding point because this was very good!
You have worldbuilding, conspiracies, action, moral implications, and it’s great to have Grell back at the artwork.
We are legion
23 Legionnaires
6 reserve members
Interesting letters: the process of having the readers elect the Legion leader is questioned.
The answer however reveals an unexpected new winner: Lightning Lad, who will begin serving as leader in a few issues.
