Legion of Super-Heroes v2 #262 (1980)
by Gerry Conway & Jim Sherman
Jim Sherman returns for one issue to give the artwork a much-needed bump in quality.
I wouldn’t have recognized his Light Lass if it wasn’t for the costume, though.
Kind of weird to see Ultra Boy flirting so openly when he’s already in a relationship (and so is Light Lass). Shades of his more scummy incarnation from other continuities, perhaps?
Just saying, I don’t think Phantom Girl would really like this panel. I, on the other hand, am a sucker for when artists use Wildfire’s visor as an extra panel.
The reason we’re following this subset of the Legion is that they are helping R.J.Brande recover his fortune. Which, in case you forgot, involves building new stars.
Am I glad we got Jim Sherman for this one. These panels are AWESOME.
It’s easy to lose the grandeur of the Legion’s setting when we are used to see it on a monthly basis, but… they basically built a new star before breakfast.
“What’ll we do for an encore” indeed!
And in case this wasn’t mind-blowing enough for you, R.J.Brande doesn’t only build new stars.
HE SHIPS THEM.
Either that is a very small star or “enough to push three Jupiters” is a massive understatement, considering Earth’s sun has a mass over a thousand times higher than Jupiter’s.
Bad news: the entire system of the destination has been wiped away by an unknown force.
Good news: we still have Jim Sherman drawing the scene.
The Legion is able to talk to one of the survivors (who has a great alien design), thanks in part to Chameleon Boy.
It might sound strange to have north and south in space, but even in real life there are indeed types of galactic coordinates that use the terms.
The Legion travels past the Galactic South to find pirates. Not space pirates, mind you… pirates in space!
Interesting bits: Karate Kid being his awesome self and the fact that Earth pirates are not that easily recognizable to people of other planets. That’s going to be kind of hilarious in a few issues!
Then an explosion takes out the ship…
…and then find themselves naked except for Comics Code-approved underwear.
They’ve been brought here to meet the leader of these pirates… who is dead.
So, get this: this guy used to be an eccentric rich guy building himself a whole artificial planet which he used as his own amusement park.
This has been going on for centuries, even after his death, so…
The Legion is currently fighting a zombie android pirate planet. In space.
Colossal Boy gets injured trying to escape, so Chameleon Boy transforms into a copy of the dead master to order the androids to shut down.
And it works! The artificial planet is then destroyed by dumping it on the newly built star.
A surprisingly poetic ending to a story featuring a zombie android pirate planet.
Legion significance: 1/10
Really important if you care about R.J.Brande’s struggle to recover his fortune.
Silver Age-ness: 6/10
Zombie android pirate planet. In space! And STILL one of the least ridiculous things I’ve ever reviewed.
Does it stand the test of time? 10/10
This was great! A good science fiction story with a touch of comic book insanity, with solid dialogue and smart use of characters. More of this, please!
We are legion
22 Legionnaires
6 reserve members
1 on sick leave (Matter-Eater Lad)
Interesting letters: in an answer to someone liking issue 255, the editor responds that “someone up here hates Insect Queen”.
That is interesting: given the era I would’ve guessed Paul Levitz since he doesn’t seem to care much for the Superboy cast being involved with the Legion, but he’s not a regular right now, so… editor Jack C. Harris, perhaps?
