DC Comics Presents #43 (1982)
by Paul Levitz & Curt Swan
cover by Brian Bolland
Team-ups between Superman and the Legion are surprisingly rare. This time they’re up against Mongul, who is only on his second appearance after his initial storyline (which I’ll eventually cover as part of the villain retrospective).
We begin with Superman himself, spotting some trouble in the sky and coming up with the most ridiculous excuse possible.
Although I can excuse him for panicking, considering there’s a freaking SUN EATER coming for Earth!!!
It’s quite touching that, after all these years, the death of Ferro Lad still weighs on Superman’s conscience. Of course he has no reason to blame himself, but that’s superheroes for you.
No clue why a Sun Eater would be devouring a world… it kinda defeats the purpose of calling it a Sun Eater. Also I’m not sure what world it’s eating: Superman is knocked into the Moon, so it might be in our solar system.
That’s where he meets Mongul!
The biggest question is how the Sun Eater managed to reach Earth 1,000 years in advance.
Turns out Mongul just killed the Controller who was keeping it and sent it after Superman’s adoptive world for revenge.
And then he traps Superman inside an indestructible cube that shrinks him down to action figure size. Wait, WHAT!?
Now get ready for one of the most Silver Age moments in a 1982 comic book.
Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen are following all this on a telescope (which can totally have the resolution to spot Tiny Superman). And why do they know exactly where to look? Because people at the observatory spotted a dust cloud on the Moon.
So let me get this straight. Superman landed on the Moon, creating a dust-storm; then he meets Mongul, they exchange a few words (they don’t trade a single blow) and Supes is shrunk down.
That should take about a minute. Let’s be VERY generous and say the whole thing takes five minutes… it sure doesn’t feel like that long, but just for the sake of argument.
That is enough time for:
1) the observatory notices the dust cloud
2) they call the Daily Planet
3) Lois and Jimmy drive there
4) they look at the dust-storm, which is big enough to be visible from Earth but also not dense enough to obscure Tiny Superman
Sounds legit.
Lois decides to call for help, but it’s a tough decision: who do you call to defeat someone who defeated Superman without even breaking a sweat?
Jimmy doesn’t have a lot of confidence in Supergirl or the Justice League (despite the fact that the former has experience fighting Mongul).
Since I’m reviewing this, you guessed that he calls the Legion of Super-Heroes.
Seems like I was a little hasty to count him between the dead members… oops.
From a historical perspective, it’s interesting to see the Legion being considered a team of powerhouses, even above the Justice League.
It’s true that most versions of the Legion have more powerhouses than most versions of the JLA, but the latter tends to be held in higher regard, especially in 20th century stories.
No clue how the heck Jimmy knows that the signal will be taken by the 2981 version of the Legion.
What if it was the 2964 version?
The emergency signal is taken seriously by the Legion, which assesses the situation.
It’s interesting to see Curt Swan draw the 80s Legion. He does a good job because… well he’s Curt Swan, of course he does… but it’s kind of weird to see.
Wildfire pushes to do something and intervene, to which Brainiac 5 responds in a very Brainiac 5 manner. Also notice the discussion of alternate timelines; this would be following the Marvel time travel rules (which were not properly codified yet), rather than the pre-Crisis ones.
Also this is not the same Sun Eater that the Legion has met. I get why it’s the case, since it allows the good guys to destroy it a the end… but it would’ve been more interesting if this was the SAME Sun Eater, because it would’ve raised the problem of preserving the timeline.
Bringing up another Sun Eater is risky, because you might cheapen the threat of the original, but for now we’re striking a good balance.
Not sure why the Legion is in such a hurry, though. Can’t they wait until the entire roster is present? YOU’VE GOT A TIME MACHINE!!!
I can’t believe I’m writing this, but Jimmy Olsen was right: the JLA is getting thrashed.
It does help that Mongul can SOMEHOW harness some of the Sun Eater power.
That’s when the Legion shows up to rescue Superman. I love this scene!
It’s not often shown effectively, but pre-Crisis Mongul is HUGE.
Plus he really IS a powerhouse. I like the post-Crisis version, but his threat level was seriously downgraded.
Not sure about him breaking through Inertron, though. That stuff holds Validus, who should be waaaaaay stronger than Mongul!!! Chalk it up to the transmutation not being complete, I suppose.
Despite the fight, the Legion decides that their priority is defeating the Sun Eater.
Shadow Lass is the only one to object, in a moment that feels like it belongs more to the 60s Legion.
So the Legion chases the Sun Eater and wow, talk about a blast from the past: with Curt Swan drawing, this really feels like we’re back in the Shooter era!
While Brainiac 5 runs calculations on what to do, Element Lad brings up the anti-energy bomb carried by Ferro Lad…
…which is all Brainy needs to come up with a solution.
The plan involves making sure Wildfire get as close to the Sun Eater’s core as possible and cut loose… because he’s made of the same anti-energy that powered Ferro Lad’s bomb.
That’s a good scene, but I have to point out that it’s not how the original bomb was supposed to work.
To be fair it’s only Element Lad that calls it an anti-energy bomb; Brainiac 5 just says that Wildfire’s anti-energy was “as effective as” the original bomb, not that it’s the same thing.
Still a bit sketchy, but slightly more acceptable.
Despite his power, Mongul still loses to a fair fight against pre-Crisis Superman.
Superman mourns the fact that yet another Legionnaire had to sacrifice his life to defeat a Sun Eater, but he’s reminded that Wildfire is basically impossible to kill.
Nice reference to the mental blocks created by Saturn Girl.
And so we end with the team having a good laugh on Wildfire finally shutting up.
So… yeah, Jimmy Freaking Olsen basically saved Earth.
This ALMOST makes it worth it having him as a honorary member. ALMOST.
Legion significance: 0/10
I suppose you could count this as evidence that there are more Sun Eaters running around… and we will see other ones later… but this story is not referenced.
Silver Age-ness: 3/10
Just for the observatory scene and the time travel shenanigans.
Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
A solid story. Levitz plays fast and loose with the continuity details and the time travel rules, but the core of the story… the relationship between Superman and his old friends… is there.
Having Curt Swan as the artist is a bonus, not just because he’s Curt Swan but because it’s a chance for him to revisit the Sun Eater.
Mongul a good if a bit one-dimensional villain, and Superman’s desperation is well played. It’s also a chance to increase the Legion’s status without diminishing Superman’s, considering he does defeat Mongul on his own once the Sun Eater is out of the equation… at the price of downplaying the JLA and Supergirl.
I particularly liked the use of Jimmy Olsen: he’s instrumental to the story, but he stays out of the action… if this was a Silver Age story you can bet he’d be on the Moon with the others.
Having Wildfire defeat the Sun Eater is a bit forced. I can buy that defeating it a second time should be easier if you know his weakness… but at that point why couldn’t Brainiac 5 just build a second bomb before returning to the 20th century? THEY HAVE A TIME MACHINE!!! Which means, of course, the return of an old category.
Time travel doesn’t work that way
Admittedly this is nitpicking… but this doesn’t work with 1982 DC time travel rules.
At this point history can’t be changed no matter what, and Earth being destroyed a thousand years earlier is a pretty big change. A pity because this mistake could’ve easily been avoided: just say that history doesn’t say exactly when Superman dies (remember that “Whatever happened to the man of tomorrow” hadn’t been published yet, and it’s not strictly in continuity anyway).
Plus I know it’s a staple of Legion stories since the very beginning, but “we don’t have time to prepare before we jump on the time machine” still makes no freaking sense.
We are legion
I know, I know, I should have waited to exclude Jimmy Olsen from the count until this issue. But this really IS his last Legion contribution… right?
23 active Legionnaires
4 reserve members
1 honorary member (Rond Vidar)
1 on sick leave (Matter-Eater Lad)