Legion of Super-Heroes #274 (1981)
by Gerry Conway & Steve Ditko
cover by Rich Buckler
By the time we reach the 80s, superhero deaths are already common enough that we’re not even going to pretend Ultra Boy is actually dead.
At least that’s on the reader’s side. All the Legionnaire deaths so far have managed to stick, so you can excuse the Legion for holding a funeral 24 hours after Ultra Boy “died”.
Do the Legionnaires believe Tyroc is dead? His statue is shown among the fallen heroes, even though he showed up in Secrets of the LSH.
Meanwhile, Ultra Boy’s body has been floating through space and is eventually caught by a spaceship. I’m not going into the specifics of what actually happened to him because it’s one of the most convoluted messes from the Legion’s history (and that’s saying something!!!).
But it should be suspicious that he’s floating around when Pulsar Stargrave was supposed to have simply disintegrated him with a solar blast.
At least we get some character development for the Legion ladies. Phantom Girl is understandably not herself at the moment, leading to what is possibly the first time is called “the ice maiden”.
Variations of the nickname show up in multiple continuities: Saturn Girl keeping her emotions close to her heart is a defining trait of the character.
However she shows she’s more complex than that when, without even saying a single word, makes Phantom Girl re-live her happy memories of Ultra Boy.
That’s a nice moment and your regular reminder that Saturn Girl is the best.
Aw, that was sweet and surprisingly mature. So of course that’s the best moment to switch to SPACE PIRATES!!!
Remember way back the awesome issue #262 when the Legion treated Earth pirates as something odd that they wouldn’t expect to see in space, and I said it was going to be hilarious later on?
Well, meet Captain Fanservice Frake.
Rule number one about being a space pirate is apparently to look either incredibly hot or incredibly stupid. Guess which one Ultra Boy picked.
Yeah, if I had to wear that I would also pretend to have forgotten my name.
Another indication that something is up? It looks like Ultra Boy doesn’t need to switch between powers anymore.
And that’s how he gets recruited for the crew of Captain Fanservice Frake.
Ever wondered how faster-than-light travels works in the Legion time? Keep wondering.
The pirate crew happens to run into the Legion cruiser (because of course it does), and Not-So-Ultra Boy is dispatched to attack.
We ALMOST get another reference to Karate Kid’s awful series. Almost.
Unfortunately he’s knocked out cold by Not-So-Ultra Boy. Phantom Girl goes to the rescue, and once again the Legion is back to using bulky spacesuits… and it’s not the first time this happens when Ditko is drawing.
She hasn’t used the standard trick of characters that can phase through solid objects, but it’s already becoming Phantom Girl’s go-to solution. Which usually doesn’t work.
Even with his amnesia Not-So-Ultra Boy can’t bring himself to kill her. What is up with his weird contortionism!?
And so we end with the revelation that Saturn Girl was able to read “something” from Not-So-Ultra Boy’s mind.
Though I’m pretty sure he’s not thinking about anything in particular.
Legion significance: 6/10
As the start of the whole “death of Ultra Boy” fiasco, it’s kind of important.
Silver Age-ness: 7/10
Let’s just take what we know from this story alone, not including retcons. Ultra Boy is blasted on his planet but, instead of being disintegrated, he floats into outer space where he happens to run into space pirates, who then recruit him and happen to run into the Legion.
Does it stand the test of time? 4/10
Meh. The Phantom Girl / Saturn Girl scenes are good, but everything surrounding Ultra Boy is just too cliché and convoluted. And it’s only going to get worse than that.
Even on the artwork side, this is possibly the most understated Steve Ditko I’ve seen.
We are legion
21 Legionnaires
6 reserve members
1 on sick leave (Matter-Eater Lad)
1 presumed dead (Ultra Boy)
Interesting letters: there’s an effort to come up with some futuristic slang. It’ll be a while before it happens, it’s suck a pain in the kolodny to keep track of those things.
