Legion of Super-Heroes #278-279

Legion of Super-Heroes #278 (1981)
by Gerry Conway (plot), Roy Thomas (script) & Jim Janes (pencils)
cover by George Perez

We have reached the last story plotted by Gerry Conway, sharing the credits with Roy Thomas who will take care of the rest of the storyline.

The Earth is still chained up after last issue, and Mon-El is the one to attack directly. With Superboy in the reserves and Ultra Boy presumed dead, he’s currently the only invulnerably flying brick… and even HE can’t do anything to the chains!

Considering the resulting explosion takes out Mon-El, it’s basically a miracle that Shadow Lass survives being hit by a fraction of the energy.
Light Lass blames her brother Lightning Lad for allowing Shadow Lass to get that close to the danger.

I can see both sides of the issue. It WAS Shady’s decision, yes, but it was a stupid idea and the team leader should’ve told her that.

You might remember that last time there was the utterly bizarre plot point of Earth being able to survive without importing food for barely a week. Not only that was nonsensical, but it was unnecessary from a plot perspective: there’s ALREADY a ticking clock because the chains are tightening. That’s a MUCH better reason for the Legion being in a rush!

There’s a nice bit with the Legionnaires combining their powers to destroy the chains, reasoning they might be made of a super-dense material and therefore vulnerable to Light Lass’ power.
It doesn’t work, but a good effort!

Light Lass realizes she’s been too harsh on her brother, but Lightning Lad is on a pretty self-destructive journey in this period. It’s only going to get worse for him.

Mon-El recovers quickly, revealing that the chains are actually made of matter… which has been converted from energy. Grimbor is working with some serious technology here.
And speaking of serious, Mon-El is planning to go all-out; he doesn’t exactly have the same level of self-restrain Superboy typically has, but he’s very very close.

That’s not necessary, though, because Saturn Girl discovers someone is beaming “thought-like emanations” from Earth. (????)

Back to Earth, Grimbor shows up (as a hologram) to reveal why he’s after the Legion: he still blames them for the death of Charma. She actually died off-panel (which still baffles me), but he’s been blaming the team for it since issue #240.

Once he’s done with his ultimatum (the chains will destroy Earth’s atmosphere within one hour), Grimbor discovers the Legionnaires approaching his lair.

But it’s only one of the Legion teams currently working on the case: the rest visit the Middle East.
Which yeah, I guess is a bit weird term to use when we’re typically dealing with entire planets.

30th century Earth is a utopia by modern standards, but that doesn’t mean corruption doesn’t exist!

That’s a good use of Phantom Girl, but from a member of the Espionage Squad I would’ve expected a little more subtlety.

Also you’re not fooling anyone, corrupt security guy. We know what you’re thinking.

Reflecto shows up to help, and Cosmic Boy is unnecessarily hostile to him.
Dude, I know he’s a very boring Off-Brand Superboy, but he’s done nothing but trying to help!!!

As if it wasn’t clear enough that Reflecto is someone we know, Duo Damsel and Bouncing Boy gossip about him. Very interesting to see Bouncing Boy comment that Reflecto is supposed to be a couple of years older than the Legionnaires, considering his eventual identity.

Seriously, Cosmic Boy, what’s your deal!? You KNOW this is not the time, and yet!

Didn’t we already know that Reflecto is super-fast, super-strong and invulnerable? If the purpose was to remind the readers (a totally legitimate idea), did we really need him to fight the Legionnaires for no real reason?

And speaking of unnecessary: did you know Bouncing Boy is fat? Because apparently we need to bring it up in every fight.

Reflecto, I was trying to defend you! Don’t start to act like a creep!

Still, Cosmic Boy comes out as the worst in this story.

With that out of the way, the Legion discovers what Grimbor has been hiding in his base in the Middle East: a Power Crystal™. Since those things are supposed to power an entire planet, it’s enough to create and sustain the chains.

How’s the North Pole team doing?

Yeah I think I see now why Timber Wolf wants to invade the castle on his own. His teammates kind of suck at this whole sneaking business.

Still, nobody beats S&M Reed Richards at chaining up people.

And so we end with he cliffhanger of the chains being minutes, if not seconds, from destroying the planet. With Grimbor being so far gone that he’s willing to die if he takes out the Legion.

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Legion of Super-Heroes #279 (1981)
by Roy Thomas & Jim Janes
cover by George Perez

With a cover like this you might hope this would be the end of the Reflecto mystery, but things are just now starting to get crazy!

Grimbor might have imprisoned the Legionnaires, but are his traps strong enough to hold Mon-El when he goes all-out? Yep!

Now we catch up with the Legionnaires who stayed at Legion HQ, Karate Kid and Princess Projectra. Who are beginning to feel the effects of the chains… compressing the atmosphere.

Sounds legit.

It’s actually a good character moment between these two, with Projectra being frustrated that their powers are not at the same level of their teammates, and Karate Kid being zen about it.

Ah, I was wondering when Roy Thomas would drop his “They also serve, who only stand and wait” moment. He seems to absolutely love that quote, considering I’ve seen him use it in basically every single series he’s ever written.
To be fair, THIS time it makes sense to use it.

Every time Karate Kid acknowledges his awful series it takes me by surprise, but not as much as his series being described as his “late lamented mag”.

While the plot about chaining Earth has been quite enjoyable, one thing has been seriously missing: the sense that it’s actually a catastrophe felt throughout the planet.
Now there’s a quick attempt to fix that. I don’t think it quite compensates, but it’s a good addition.

Karate Kid has had enough and decides to attack the chains himself (!!!), something that Projectra doesn’t seem to support.

Back to the North Pole, the second batch of Legionnaires tries to rescue their teammates when… oh my God, Cosmic Boy is STILL antagonizing Reflecto!?!? He’s making Wildfire look like the reasonable one!!!

Even HE notices!!!

This is supposed to be romantic and stuff, but I still find Reflecto’s one-track mind to be creepy.

So, uhm, Grimbor now has some kind of mind power over chains. Because it’s a thing apparently.

You think that’s random? Not as much as Projectra, a princess from a medieval planet, having spent months secretly creating a power-enhancing machine! WTF!?!?!?

And then Karate Kid decides to karate chop the giant chains!!!

Before he can do that, Grimbor finishes what he’s been doing the entire time: trapping the remaining Legionnaires. And Reflecto as well, who Grimbor is now convinced is a Legionnaire.

Yeah I’m sure Charma is alive. She died off-panel, so she might as well have been resurrected off-panel too!

And then Grimbor, like a complete freaking idiot falls for the most blatant trap ever.

Now this could’ve been a great use of Chameleon Boy or Saturn Girl. But nope, “Charma” is actually Phantom Girl disguised by a powered-up illusion courtesy of Projectra.
While it IS very interesting considering the future evolution of Projectra’s powers, it really comes out of nowhere in this issue.

Grimbor is absolutely convinced that Reflecto is actually Ultra Boy… but he can’t be, since he demonstrates he can use super-strength while invulnerable.

All that’s left is taking care of the chains. We don’t even get the awesome moment of Karate Kid figuring out the chain’s weakness and karate chopping it, since it’s Projectra that reveals the weak spot… and he just punches it!

Pretty anticlimactic.

And so we end the storyline with the revelation that Off-Brand Superboy… is not actually all that off-brand after all.

Sooo… according to Bouncing Boy’s earlier comment, is Superboy supposed to be one or two years older than the Legionnaires? Or at least older than Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel?

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Legion significance: 6/10
It could’ve had more significance if we got a shout-out to the Projectra power-up sceneduring the Sensor Girl storyline. Still of SOME significance due to the whole Reflecto stuff.

Silver Age-ness: 3/10
Surprisingly low, considering how easy it is to deal with Mon-El (and later Superboy) without hints of Kryptonite, lead or red sunlight.

Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
Jokes and nitpicks aside, this is actually a rather enjoyable adventure and it’s much better than the earlier parts.
The Grimbor stuff is quite good. He’s an entertaining villain, and while it’s ridiculous at points how easily he can trap the Legionnaires, he sells the idea that he’s a threat worthy of the entire team. Plus there’s a lot of variation in his plan an on how to counteract it: we go to his castle in the North Pole, we go to the Middle East, we go to space… classic superhero stuff. Personally I would’ve liked more scenes with reactions from common people, but that’s personal taste.
Lightning Lad blaming himself for everything is a well handled subplot, and while Projectra building the device comes out of absolutely nowhere the characterization checks out.
The Reflecto half of the story, on the other hand, has problems. He alternates between being super-chill, if a bit of a Phantom Girl stalker, to giving Wildfire a run for his money on how to react impulsively. His feud with Cosmic Boy and his fight with the Legionnaires make no sense. Plus having Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel talk more than once on how he’s familiar robs the plot from most of its potential mystery.
I can’t fault THESE stories for how absolutely bonkers the actual backstory of how in the world Superboy turned into Reflecto, but it still feels quite random.

We are legion
21 Legionnaires
6 reserve members
1 on sick leave (Matter-Eater Lad)
1 presumed dead (Ultra Boy)