Legion of Super-Heroes #288 (1982)
by Paul Levitz & Keith Giffen
We are still in the prelude of the Great Darkness Saga, but this issue holds a special place for me… it’s the first Legion story I ever read.
Well, the last 5 pages are.
Most of the story is actually going to focus on the Projectra and Karate Kid storyline. And we begin with a very unique way to deal with a dialogue-heavy scene: as the two talk, KK is busy carving himself a weapon out of the scenery!
The whole situation is taking its toll on Projectra: not only she has to accept her father’s death, but also the fact that she’s going to be queen… if she doesn’t die.
Moving to the Legion, Levitz is already using the Mission Monitor and its icons to great effect, as visual aid while Brainiac 5 keeps track of the Legionnaires on their way to save Projectra.
I still hate Mon-El’s symbol, plus as you may notice Shadow Lass’ one has not been finalized yet.
I really like how Levitz handles the Brainiac 5 internal monologues. Brainy is my favorite Legionnaire, but it’s only in this period that his characterization finally gets defined properly.
Star Boy might be a bit rude but… yeah, the mood has been dark for the Legion lately.
Mostly because of the LL twins. Way to bring down the mood, guys!
Also, while it’s totally in character for Lightning Lad to blame himself… we can all agree that 99% of the Chameleon Boy mess is not really LL’s fault, right? Yeah he might have been a more laissez-faire leader than his wife was, but Chameleon Boy was the one to ignore orders and launch a secret unauthorized mission in enemy territory!
Back to the Projectra plot, the other Legionnaires have reached Orando to rescue her.
Interesting discussion between those four! Out of them Dream Girl is indeed the one who has done the least time travel, but… has Mon-El ever traveled further back than the 20th century?
It’s very lucky they are on the planet, because Projectra and Karate Kid are about to be burned at the stake. I continue to be impressed by the Giffen design of this place… has he ever drawn a series with a fantasy setting?
It’s only now that we discover the person behind the assignation of the king is the same person who gave Projectra her powers… her grandmother witch Hagga.
Despite being an extremely important part of Projectra’s backstory, this issue is her first and only appearance.
The Legionnaires arrive to the rescue, and it’s Ultra Boy that gets a very cool scene demonstrating just how much he’s grown in the use of his powers.
On one hand, this is great stuff!!! On the other hand, moments like this risk making his “weakness” rather pointless… he’s still using one power at a time, but if he can use them in such a rapid succession it’s not like it’s particularly important.
I also liked this bit about Dream Girl untying Projectra while taking advantage of the Flight Ring.
Unfortunately this batch of Legionnaires is not great against magic, so as soon as they get free Hagga imprisons them again.
Levitz also takes the opportunity to reminds us that Dream Girl has a sister that is a witch: she’s going to be re-introduced to the series after a loooong absence, so this is useful.
Levitz is also setting up Dream Girl being much smarter than she’s typically portrayed.
Her plan is to pretend she also has magic powers, thanks to her masterful use of the Flight Ring…
…with a little help from Shadow Lass (who apparently is a bit catty towards Dreamy).
AND IT WORKS, mostly because Projectra is currently powerless against the bad guys.
We’ll return to Orando shortly, but here’s a neat addition to the Legion lore: Earth gets permanently protected by a polymer shield! It’s a quick shorthand to show that we are in the future (it was very useful during Crisis with all the jumping around between universes!).
The “recent event” necessitating this might have been Grimbor CHAINING UP EARTH during Legion of Super Heroes 278/279.
Dawnstar is not a fan of the planetary shield, and for once it’s not the old trope of “the Native American is upset because of something about the environment”: she practically lives in space, so of course she hates the idea of any barrier that inconveniences space travel.
Speaking of changes to the status quo: the lost Legionnaires that Dawnstar is looking for are currently stranded on an icy asteroid, and we get some new costumes!!!
Understandably, Saturn Girl decides that a frozen wasteland is not the best place to wear her 70s pink bikini. She switches to her classic costume, and she must find it pretty comfortable considering that’s going to be her default look basically to the end of this continuity.
Timber Wolf, on the other hand, apparently wants to make Shrinking Violet feel warm despite her cleavage, so he decided to wear a new costume with even MORE cleavage than her.
Then again, Shrinking Violet is actually REDACTED here.
Jokes aside, it’s actually a well-played drama. It’s easy to think that they’re going to be rescued… as readers we know it’s going to happen, but the Legionnaires are in the worst possible situation.
The Legionnaires have a diverse range of opinions about Chameleon Boy’s responsibility.
The reactions of the Legionnaires regarding Chameleon Boy’s responsibility are quite interesting. Timber Wolf wanting to tear him a new one and Colossal Boy focusing on the rules were to be expected, but Saturn Girl being neutral is interesting.
Plus this scene makes me wonder if Shrinking Violet being REDACTED was already planned at this point, I think you can read it both ways.
Perhaps more importantly, Saturn Girl and Timber Wolf get a lot closer to each other…
…although not as much as Colossal Boy and Shrinking Violet.
Also… Cham, you don’t get to complain when this whole disaster IS your fault!!!
The stranded Legionnaires will be the focus of next issue, but now we have to close the Projectra storyline for good.
And NOW we are in the first Legion story I ever read!!!
When the Great Darkness Saga was first published in Italy it was in five different volumes, and I missed the first one. The second volume started with page 20 of LSH #288 for whatever reason (I guess other than Play Press always sucked at planning anything).
So this panel is forever burned into my brain. Which is kind of weird considering Pharoxx is such a minor Legion villain that, despite everything I just said, I can never remember his name!
Luckily, the same pages also gives us a Legion group shot.
Karate Kid hasn’t been all that impressive lately… he’s basically lost every single fight in this storyline. But now that we are at the end, he FINALLY gets a truly badass moment!
Speaking of not being particularly impressive, Projectra hasn’t exactly taken an active role either.
She has a somewhat stereotypical scene, but I don’t mind since the story really needed a moment of levity.
Now that Princess Projectra is Queen Projectra, she decides to stay on her planet. Both her and Karate Kid are now reserve members.
And if you think this means Levitz has no ideas left about Projectra… just know you couldn’t possibly be more wrong, but it’ll take a while.
And we close on a GORGEUS final page, with the official coronation of Queen Projectra of Orando.
Please tell me there’s a poster with that page!!!
Legion significance: 6/10
This is a tougher than it looks. Projectra becoming queen has lots of consequences, but the details of barely anything that happens in her part of the story are actually that important.
There are huge ramifications from what happens on the asteroid… except virtually everything happens next issue!
Oddly enough, I think Earth’s shield is the only other thing established here that stays the longest.
Silver Age-ness: 1/10
The idea that there’s a physical shield around the planet is SOMEWHAT Silver Age-y.
Does it stand the test of time? 10/10
As a reminder this is NOT the same thing as a quality score: it simply means you can basically reprint the entire story today and nobody could notice its age. While not perfect, every complain I can find is just nitpicking.
We are legion
Moving Karate Kid and Princess Projectra into the reserves.
21 active Legionnaires
6 reserve members
1 honorary member (Rond Vidar)
1 on sick leave (Matter-Eater Lad)
Interesting letters: in case you’re keeping score of who’s been Legion Leader the most times.
Out of all of these, I would say that only three have left a legacy with their leadership: Saturn Girl, Wildfire and Lightning Lad… though I would consider only Saturn Girl as having a positive legacy.
Everyone else either sucked as a leader or was basically inconsequential in the role.