Legion of Super-Heroes #293

Legion of Super-Heroes #293 (1982)
“Within the darkness”
by Paul Levitz & Keith Giffen

How bad are things for the Legion during the Great Darkness Saga? They’re struggling to keep their logo intact in this awesome cover!

So many Legionnaires have been summoned that a single spaceship isn’t enough anymore!
Also, this issue will end with the revelation of the true identity of the Big Bad Guy of the saga; the clues keep increasing, including how his home planet is fully shown.
I guess that if you were aware of the character, at this point you probably figured out the identity… more on that at the end of the review.

So far the only Legionnaire who has learned the true identity of The Master is Mon-El, but he was beaten so badly that he’s in a coma. Fortunately, Dream Girl and her sister White Witch seem to have the technology needed to heal his crotch.

Speaking of White Witch, she’s going to be a big player in the rest of the saga (and the series), so Levitz takes a moment to clarify her powers a little. She’s a magician but she’s not all-powerful, and her abilities are left vague enough.

Last issue we learned that one of the Servants is a clone of Superman. I wonder why there’s no mention of Bizarro, who has met Superboy. Granted the Servant is far scarier than Bizarro, but still a weird omission.

Superboy will slowly be phased out of the team, which makes sense because we are probably relatively close to the end of his career.

Interestingly, in this period Mon-El is called several times the strongest Legionnaire. Which I’ve always considered to be the case: if we go by his first appearance he’s physically older than Superboy, and in this era he’s typically drawn slightly bulkier.
Superboy would probably still win in a fight since he seems to be more skilled in the use of his powers, but Mon-El is likely physically stronger. Admittedly it’s hard to judge since they can both juggle planets.

If you’re confused how the Legionnaires are split into sub-teams during the mission, the Mission Monitor gives a handy diagram!
Some of the symbols are still not 100% final, but I absolutely adore this part of Legion lore!!!

Levitz is juggling a lot of subplots… as usual… but one is relegated into a corner: Chameleon Boy’s, who we have seen very little. He’s been kept busy fighting with other inmates (mercifully more dressed than those of Dazzler’s prison story).

I don’t particularly care for this subplot, but there’s a very touching scene where Cham reconciles with R.J.Brande.

I really feel for Brande. The revelation that he’s Cham’s father has gone nowhere so far, but he absolutely sells this scene.

As for the other Legionnaires, Karate Kid is playing Space Invaders In Space^© in the ugliest costume he’s ever worn…

…and Invisible Kid discovers that the McGuffin Baby won’t be a baby for long.

I really like White Witch’s introduction, but it might have been a mistake to insert her during Invisible Kid’s fist storyline. When they share a scene, she overshadows him so much that he really feels invisible.

Also, IS Dream Girl the leader? Because if we go by Element Lad’s reaction, it seems he considers himself to be the leader until the crisis is over?

Good thing Element Lad will get TONS of character development in the next era, because he’s just about insufferable throughout the Saga.

In the more serious part of the story, The Master finally reached Daxam.

Daxam having a population of only 3 billion people feels low today, since as of 2022 Earth has a population of almost 7.8 billion. But consider that in 1982, the population was 4.6 billion.

This is where The Master shows just how absurdly powerful he is, first by mind-controlling THREE BILLION PEOPLE at once…

…and then by switching the position of Daxam and his planet. (!!!!!!)

We will soon see just how screwed the Legion is thanks to this move, but some Legionnaires have already been beaten up.

That’s the work of the Servants, since The Master has already left. They give the rest of the Legion some trouble, but this time they’re ready for them.
Starting with Superboy, who can now use his powers under the red sun of Daxam thanks to one of Brainiac 5’s inventions!

Why wasn’t this used more often? My guess it’s because the circuitry is NOT protected by Superboy’s invulnerability, making its use more limited.

But it’s Element Lad that comes up with the shockigly easy way to deal with the Not-Superman Servant: just make some Gold Kryptonite!!!

Yeah, when written correctly, Element Lad is ridiculously overpowered. This also gives Timber Wolf the chance to finally punch something!

Now that they know their weaknesses, Wildfire can unleash yellow energy against the Oan Servant.

Defeating two of the Servants is a hollow victory, however, because Brainiac 5 has deduced:
A) the real identity of The Master
B) the fact that they’re about to go up against THREE BILLION SUPERMEN

And so we have one of the coolest and most terrifying moments in Legion history, now that The Master has taken full control of the Daxamites…

…including Bearded Thor and Space Stripper Pope Woman!

The Master uses their combined powers to MELT DOWN THE SURFACE OF DAXAM…

…and reshape it into an image of his REAL identity…

…DARKSEID, who is given an entire splash page for the reveal!

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 I haven’t spoiled the identity of The Master until now because the comic did a pretty good job at keeping up the suspense. Sure there were hints, but until this issue it was a well-kept secret.

Which makes it a bit infuriating that EVERY PAPERBACK spoils it on the cover!!!!

I’ll talk more about the influence of the Great Darkness Saga on the Legion once the saga is over, but I have to mention that this is also a big deal for Darkseid himself.

Today having Darkseid as the big bad is so much of a cliché that Sergio Aragonés made fun of the idea in his Sergio Aragonés destroys DC (ironically, in a section parodying the Reboot Legion)…

…but you have to put things into perspective.

Darseid was created in 1970, and all throughout the 70s he would ONLY appear on Kirby’s Fourth World, on Jimmy Olsen and sometimes on Lois Lane.
Once Kirby left DC Comics, Darkseid would appear sporadically. He’s in the somewhat obscure Secret Society of Super-Villains in 1976, a 1977/1978 attempted relaunch of New Gods by Gerry Conway, two Adventure Comics issues in 1978, and three Justice League issues in 1980.
That’s it!!! He was AROUND, and he was a big deal when he showed up, but he wasn’t a constant presence.

In fact, AFTER the Great Darkness Saga, Darkseid would basically disappear from DC continuity for a while, appearing only in tie-in comics for toys and cartoons, until 1985 where he showed up in the Hunger Dogs graphic novel by Kirby himself and on Ambush Bug, of all places.

So as hard as it is to imagine today, when Darkseid showed up in Crisis, outside of the Fourth World books he had only been the big bad of a storyline TWICE: the three JLA issues in 1980 amd the Great Darkness Saga in 1982.

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Legion significance: 10/10
Darkseid taking control of Daxam, switching it with Apokolips and gaining an army of 3 billion Superman-level beings is TO THIS DAY one of the most memorable Legion moments. And you better believe it will have consequences.

Silver Age-ness: 2/10
Any appearance of Golden Kryptonite can’t be a 0/10. That’s the new rule.

Does it stand the test of time? 10/10
This is great. Darkseid is phenomenal, the Legion is competent even when there’s still an abundance of personal drama, the action is great… a high point of the saga.

We are legion
22 active Legionnaires
6 reserve members
1 honorary member (Rond Vidar)
1 on sick leave (Matter-Eater Lad)