Superboy and the LSH #241

Superboy and the LSH #241 (1978)
” Prologue to Earthwar” by Paul Levitz & Jim Sherman
“My Brother’s Keeper” by Paul Kupperberg (writer), Paul Levitz (plot) & Arvell Jones (pencils)
cover by Jim Sherman

You wouldn’t really tell from the cover that this is the beginning of Earthwar.

From a modern perspective, it’s weird that “Prologue to Earthwar” isn’t on the cover itself, but just on the teaser page.
Also: the Legion costumes seem reeeeally tight.

And speaking of understated beginnings: this is the first appearance of future Legion liaison Shvaughn Erin, who Mon-El saves from a shuttle crash.

The fact that the Legion is overstretched will be a recurring theme.

As is the fact that Brainiac 5 in particular is feeling the weight of his duties.

Brainiac 5 completely ignores the Science Police’s attempts to talk to the Legion, and he goes over the authority of Element Lad who is currently the deputy leader (under Wildfire).
This is not the first time Brainiac 5 acts as if he’s the leader even when he’s not, but this time it will have consequences down the line.

The emergency is an attack from the Resource Raides, so cut to some fun space action:

It’s possible you forgot who the Resource Raiders are, but I bet you remember how they look!

As if this story wasn’t already the definitive step towards the classic Legion, we also have the debut of “Weber’s World”, the artificial planet serving as the administrative headquarters of the United Planets. A planet completely covered by a city from the Trantor system, uh?
As if THAT wasn’t enough of a signal that Levitz is a massive Asimov fan… this is explained in an entry of the “Geographia Galaxia”.

The Legion is here to act as security for a conference between the United Planets and the Dominators. Both Ambassador Relnic and Ontiir will be recurring characters.

Your regularly scheduled reminder the Element Lad is stupidly overpowered.

Still, the Resource Raiders manage to escape… according to Brainiac 5’s plan, who has ordered Chameleon Boy to disguise himself as some of the ore that the alien stole (!!!) in order to track them. This kind of stuff is one of the reasons why I love Brainy.

Chameleon Boy is also VERY awesome in this period.

When the rest of the Legion saves the diplomats from a bomb on Weber’s World, the conclusion is obvious: someone is trying to start a war.

Ontiir is a prime suspect for trying to sabotage the conference. With a face like that, who would’ve thought?

In case you were wondering what the cover had to do with any of this: that’s the leader of the Resource Raiders, who has just captured Chameleon Boy.

Legion to the rescue! Jim Sherman is just ON FIRE this issue!

Still… it’s the Legion. It’s not a long fight.

Once the Resource Raiders are defeated, however, Brainiac 5 finds a Kirby Chair ™ in their control room.

Turns out the goofy-looking aliens were just the vanguard of a full-on invasion of Earth.

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Moving to the second story: we’ve already seen multiple attempts to make a story where Lightning Lad faces his evil brother Lightning Lord… and so far they’ve all sucked.
So this time we’re trying with their sister Light Lass.

She’s on her home planet Winath with Timber Wolf, and Lightning Lord spots them almost immediately.

Aaaaand Light Lass gets herself captured immediately. Not exactly off to a good start.

At least Timber Wolf gets to beat up some goons while looking for her.

Timber Wolf even gets himself arrested for the trouble he caused…

…but he can be quite persuasive.

I don’t like how Lightning Lord has a device that can nullify his sister’s power, or one to brainwash her. It feels way off his theme.

He’s also, well, not exactly all there.

Alright, time for the epic showdown between Timber Wolf and Lightning Lord!

Aaaand it’s over in ONE PANEL.

This took twelve pages, people. TWELVE.

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Legion significance
First story: 9/10
Not only the prologue to Earthwar and Shvaughn, but also lots of large and small new bits of lore are just everywhere.
Second story: 1/10
Just BARELY escapes being completely irrelevant by showcasing that Lightning Lord has gone completely off the deep end.

 Silver Age-ness
First story: 4/10
Not so much from the story itself but come on, the alien leader is a giant brain with tentacles and googly eyes!
Second story: 5/10
Lightning Lord is straight out of the Silver Age, isn’t he?

 Does it stand the test of time?
First story: 10/10
The Legion at its best. New interesting worldbuilding (almost literally!), intrigue, action, good characterization, stellar artwork… no wonder Earthwar is a classic!
Second story: 0/10
Utterly forgettable filler with subpart art. Come on, is it really THAT hard to have a decent Lightning Lord story!?

We are legion
21 Legionnaires
8 reserve members