Superboy and the LSH #243 (1978)
by Paul Levitz & Joe Staton
cover by Mike Grell
“Earthwar” continues, but unfortunately we have lost the Jim Sherman artwork… and apparently things are so bad we’re going to need the Substitute Heroes!
Soon-to-be Legion liaison Shvaughn Erin finally gets her name after appearing in the previous issues, but someone behind the scenes is preventing her from helping the Legion.
Meanwhile the Legion is still on Weber’s World, where they prevent an assassination attempt to derail the peace talks. Weirdly enough, when the terrorists are shown to be intangible, nobody makes a reference to the possibility of them being from Phantom Girl’s world… wouldn’t that be everyone’s first guess?
Speaking of obvious suspects: the Dominators are here, and despite the fact that they’d normally be the first ones accused of manipulation… they’re actually on the Legion’s side.
Eventually everyone figures out that every single power involved in this whole mess has been manipulated in order to escalate tensions and start an inter-galactic war.
Unfortunately for the Legion, the fact that the team’s powerhouses are busy guarding Weber’s World means that the less powerful Legionnaires are left to defend Earth against the Khunds… and they lose.
To give you an idea of the scale, a single Khund ship is able to release THIS on the surface:
Also Brainiac 5 gets sucked into a black hole, because this day wasn’t bad enough for the Legion.
If you’re wondering why the Dominators are angry at the United Planets: they’ve been expanding their influence on Dominator territory. The more things change…
About time a storyline called Earthwar got to the point of Earth being invaded.
This is when the absence of Jim Sherman is felt the most… this should be an epic moment, but it’s kind of goofy.
Still, Levitz does his best to have the narration match the tone he was going for, even if the artwork isn’t helping.
We have reached the most epic part of the story: THE SUBS SAVE THE DAY.
Well… it was good until it lasted. Still, kudos to Levitz for figuring out a way COLOR KID could help in a war!!!
We end the story with the married Legionnaires returning from the reserves to help in the fight.
Legion significance: 7/10
Honestly this one doesn’t add all that much new information, but it’s elevated by still being part of Earthwar.
Silver Age-ness: 2/10
It’s rather jarring to see the Khund in their classic Silver Age look beginning to act like the 80s Khunds.
Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
I think I’ve made my thoughts on the artwork clear. It’s not the worst, but it’s rather stiff and doesn’t really work for the action heavy moments. Which is a shame since the political intrigue is well done, and Levitz is juggling a lot of plot points that are slowly converging. I especially liked not having the Dominators be the ones pulling the strings, for once.
It probably doesn’t come off in the review since I had to skip a lot of action scenes and recaps, but the fact that we have 25 pages instead of the usual half really helps the story breathe.
We are legion
21 Legionnaires
8 reserve members