Superboy and the LSH #253 (1979)
by Gerry Conway & Joe Staton
cover by Dick Giordano
This is the real beginning of the Conway run, but as previously explained the first six issues are still placed in the “Superboy & LSH” era.
Legion fans might spot a familiar face on the cover.
This is indeed the first appearance of future Legionnaire Blok, as part of the “League of Super-Assassins”.
The team features his cousin (???) Silver Slasher, who is silver and… slashes things…
…plus Lazon (who can turn into light and lasers), superstrong “not the Marvel one” Titania, Mist Master (who sounds like a Flash villain), and Neutrax whose power we’ll learn later.
But even the Super-Assassins pale in comparison to the true enemy of the Legion… bills!!!
The Legionnaires take some time off to recover. And get high.
Colossal Boy is the first one to fall when Mist Master attacks him by turning into knockout gas.
Silver Slasher defeats Timber Wolf by… doing whatever this is…
…and Blok proves to be invulnerable to the powers of Light Lass.
And finally we have Neutrax, who is able to do whatever the plot needs.
Well his power is SUPPOSED to be switching off other people’s powers, but he can also “neutralize brainwaves”.
And that’s the first outing of the Super-Assassins! Both successful and underwhelming at the same time.
Superboy and the LSH #254 (1979)
by Gerry Conway & Joe Staton
cover by Dick Giordano
Superboy is supposed to save the rest of the team, but the cover doesn’t seem to have much confidence on him.
Much like Superboy himself, who visits Brainiac 5 at the insane asylum where they’re apparently letting him carry his experiments.
So the penal system has learned NOTHING from 20th century Lex Luthor.
But he doesn’t have the chance to do anything because Lazon ambushes Superboy by turning into Kryptonite rays!
I find it funny that Mist Master was called the mightiest of the Super-Assassins, only to be immediately upstaged by Neutrax, only to be immediately upstaged by Lazon.
Also all pretenses of him being able to turn into light just evaporated, just say he can turn into any kind of energy. He pre-dates Marvel’s Monica Rambeau (Captain Marvel II / Photon) by a whole three years, by the way.
Brainiac 5 does not give a f#ck.
R.J. Brande has gone bankrupt, WE GET IT, can we PLEASE use this thing in a plot and be done with it!? Or are we going to reveal it over and over again!?!?
This is where the story loses me. Not because Brainiac 5 goes to the Substitute Heroes for help… the Subs rock… but because he brings with him the unconscious Legionnaires, now under suspended animation.
But wait, it gets dumber: Superboy put HIMSELF in suspended animation WITH X-RAY VISION.
But wait, it gets dumber: Superboy put EVERYBODY in suspended animation…
…by using his X-Ray vision to activate the compound that was making the Legionnaires high in the previous issue.
This is absurd.
First of all, HOW would Superboy know x-rays would activate the compound?
Second, WHY does the compound activate when hit by x-rays?
Third, how would this work on Superboy himself if he’s invulnerable?
Fourth, why would the compound be “in his bloodstream” if Brainiac 5 claims it was a gas in the atmosphere?
*groan*
To add insult to injury, the entire origin of the Super-Assassins is delivered with a quick infodump.
(if you’re wondering, the white alien works at the mental institute where Brainy is supposed to be)
At least the issue is redeemed somewhat by having the Subs save the Legion and coming off as pretty awesome in their own right.
Remind me again why we can’t have those guys join the Legion?
You might have noticed Blok has done absolutely nothing the entire issue.
He gets his revenge with having a bittersweet ending.
We don’t get to learn the real identity of the Dark Man, but we do learn that the Super-Assassins have been tricked into believing the Legion destroyed their world.
How young are the Super-Assassins supposed to be if they were “just children” at the time?
Or to put it another way, how old are the Legionnaires now?
Better not think too much about it. Which I realize is the motto of this two-parter.
Legion significance: 6/10
Blok will obviously return in a completely different role. The rest of the Super-Assassins will return as well, joining the ranks of the Legion of Super-Villains. And the Dark Man will be a mystery for a while. Despite all this, it ranks rather low in my opinion… you can completely forget all of this for Blok’s backstory, the others are just cannon fodder, and the whole Dark Man think won’t exactly get a satisfying resolution.
Silver Age-ness: 9/10
Superboy saving the day in a contrived way that makes you question why he didn’t just defeat the villains on his own? Check.
Does it stand the test of time? 4/10
Conway is not exactly off to a good start. The Super-Assassins are a neat idea… but that’s it. Having the Legionnaires need to be rescued by both Superboy and the Subs doesn’t exactly boost their competence. And the ending, despite being clearly prepared since the first issue did include the details about the compound, still has the taste of “we need to wrap this up in the next three pages”.
We are legion
22 Legionnaires
5 reserve members
2 on sick leave (Brainiac 5 and Matter-Eater Lad)