World’s Finest #283 (1982)
by Cary Burkett & George Tuska
cover by Rich Buckler
Right in the middle of the Great Darkness Saga, for some unexplainable reason the Legion finds itself involved with Composite Superman, who we last saw in World’s Finest 168.
We begin with an alien escaping from a prison planet and then stealing a time machine to arrange the murder of Superman and Batman.
Aaaaand that’s when the entire plot falls apart. Page 2, quite impressive!!!
If he has a time machine, NONE of what he does in the rest of the story makes sense. I will grant the comic one thing: he can’t simply go back in time and kill the heroes as babies, since we are still following the pre-Crisis rules that prevent history from being changed.
But once we’re done with the story, I’m certain anyone could come up with a better use for the time machine.
After some scenes with Bruce Wayne that go nowhere, we cut to Superman being a dick.
You would think Batman would use his grappling gun or his cape to save himself, but he decides to play Spider-Man instead.
Soon thereafter, it’s Batman’s turn to be a dick.
Superman saves himself by jumping off the roof to get away from the Kryptonite rays (since the fall can’t hurt him), and then he decides to play a visit to the Batcave.
Superman knows where it is since he’s been there plenty of times, but at this point I’m convinced he doesn’t know where the door is since he’s ALWAYS crashing through the floor!!!
And so we reach the shocking revelation that the villain of the story is *gasp* Composite Superman! Which we already knew from the cover AND the teaser page, so I’m glad we kept the suspense for EIGHT PAGES.
In the comic’s defense, not everyone could’ve remembered that he has shapeshifting powers, since Composite Superman has a Martian Manhunter amount of superpowers.
Yeah Composite Superman is a freaking beast. You might think he’s not that threatening since some of the Legionnaire have powers in common, but apparently THEY STACK.
At least he has one weakness: his powers are on a timer.
Superman gives a brief summary of World’s Finest #142, the first Composite Man story. But the colorist doesn’t get the memo that the people in the flashback are supposed to be Brainiac 5 and Saturn Girl.
He ALSO summarizes World’s Finest 168, reminding us that Composite Superman is supposed to be dead.
They fight the new Composite Man the following day… and they fail pretty miserably!
I’m of the firm opinion that there are no characters that are “too powerful”: it’s just a matter of using them in the right context and writing them well.
But I’m willing to consider Composite Superman an exception.
He’s stronger than Superman AND he has Brainiac 5’s intelligence AND Saturn Girl’s telepathy AND Element Lad’s powers!!!
HOW DOES THIS GUY EVER LOSE!?!?
The world’s greatest detective, ladies and gentlemen.
To be fair, I can respect Composite Superman’s effort to be a complete troll. He IS copying Silver Age Superman after all!
Composite Superman is so unbeatable, in fact, that Superman just BAILS.
Except it was just a trick to go call the Legion.
I actually kind of like this little twist. The only way it could’ve been better is if Superman said that he learned this trick from Saturn Girl or mentioned that he has experience fighting people with telepathy.
World’s Finest #284 (1982)
by Cary Burkett & George Tuska
cover by Keith Giffen
Now THAT is a cover!!!
It’s always a treat when Superman gets to meet the Legion; you really do get the feeling he’s meeting his high school friends.
Although I do question his choice on WHEN he shows up: does he know he popped up in the middle of the Great Darkness Saga? Probably not, since Superboy doesn’t keep all of his memories when he travels back to his time.
But it does make sense that he would contact THIS Legion, even when Composite Superman’s origin are tied to the Hamilton era, since these are more experienced Legionnaires. Plus he’s met them somewhat recently in DC Comics Presents #43.
Speaking of that story, this one ALSO takes the opportunity to make fun of Wildfire.
The placement of this story in Legion continuity should be straightforward: Cosmic Boy is wearing the costume that debuted in the Annual published two months before this.
Except Lightning Lad is just fine in this story; that means the mental breakdown he suffered in LSH #290 was NOT due to Computo.
So what, Lightning Lad suffered a mental breakdown after #289, then got better long enough to fight Computo AND Composite Superman, but then he relapsed in #290?
Or does this take place before that and Cosmic Boy is trying out his new costume in advance?
Anyway, back to Composite Superman being ludicrously overpowered.
Then again, maybe the story is set BEFORE the Annual, since Lightning Lad is addressed as the leader.
At this point you’ve probably figured out that this new Composite Superman is actually the alien that helped the original one in his last appearance.
With that revelation, Composite Superman realizes he looks ridiculous (YOU DON’T SAY!!!) and manages to find an even worse look.
Talk about lame!!!! Yes Composite Superman is ridiculous, but he has SOME Silver Age charm.
“Amalgamax” is a TERRIBLE name and looks as generic as possible.
Good news: Saturn Girl is able to block his telepathy.
Bad news: he still has Triplicate Girl’s powers.
HOW DOES THIS GUY EVER LOSE!?
Amalgamax (ugh) may be invincible, but Batman has a plan: get Shrinking Violet into his pants.
You read that correctly.
Wildfire doesn’t have a great opinion of Batman. Which I guess checks out: the 30th century does remember Batman more as a historical footnote. Wildfire HAS already met Batman in JLA #147, but NOBODY would be impressed by him in that story.
Only NOW the heroes deduce the identity of Amalgamax, but Wildfire continues being Wildfire.
Now we learn why Amalgamax needed the time machine in the first place: to go back in time and duplicate the origin of the original Composite Superman.
Still not the best way he could’ve used the time machine.
Saturn Girl’s costume has obviously been re-colored in several panels, yet another indication this might take place before the Annual.
But the biggest continuity problem, aside from Lightning Lad, is Projectra.
Colossal Boy calls her Princess even when at this point she’s already a queen, plus she’s moved into the reserves now. I guess the Legion might have recruited her for the mission, but still, weird.
Batman’s plan involves tricking Amalgamax into thinking he has contracted an incurable disease.
It’s not a bad plan, since Saturn Girl is still blocking his telepathy.
Still a bit forced, since he has Brainiac 5’s intelligence and about a dozen super-senses, so he should be able to test himself.
And so we end with Amalgamax being taken into custody and a sitcom finale.
Legion significance: 0/10
It has a dubious continuity placement to begin with, and doesn’t add much. This is also the last appearance of the second Composite Superman, to the surprise of nobody.
Silver Age-ness: 8/10
Between the absurd origin, the casual time travel and the utterly unnecessary renaming of the villain, this is almost a legit Silver Age story.
Does it stand the test of time? 5/10
This ALMOST works. The first part wastes too much time with Superman and Batman suspicious of each other, which has no payoff since we know from the cover who is behind it. The way Superman sneaks away by masking his thoughts is pretty neat, but overall the fact that Composite Superman STILL loses just makes him exceedingly lame. At least the reunion with the Legion was fun, but I would’ve preferred a little more interaction between them and Batman.
Almost everything in the story could be fixed, though, with one major flaw: Amalgamax himself. Despite repeated boasts about his powers he never truly comes off as a legitimate menace, and he’s severely lacking in the personality department. A huge stepdown from the original.
This Superman really need Batman? Not really
Batman’s main contribution is making sure Saturn Girl negates Amalgamax’s telepathy and get Shrinking Violet into his pants. Pretty sure at least one of this things would’ve happened on its own.
We are legion
22 active Legionnaires
6 reserve members
1 honorary member (Rond Vidar)
1 on sick leave (Matter-Eater Lad)
Ok something I thought of. If Amalgamax had Brainaic 5’s computer mind, WHY did he need a timer in the first place?