Legion of Super-Heroes #300 (1983)
by Paul Levitz & Keith Giffen
As a celebration for the 300th issue, this one features every Legionnaire (except Tyroc, because of course). It’s quite a ride, so buckle up.
Notice Proty II is on the cover. He doesn’t make a proper appearance until next issue (which is actually the only scene where I don’t hate him).
The excuse to have several Legionnaires show up is that this isn’t only an anniversay because it’s the 300th issue, but it’s an anniversary for the Legion as well.
Even Superboy shows up, something rare in this period.
There’s a sense of familiarity with an old friend around, but there’s also the neat detail that with Superboy spending less and less time in the 30th century he’s feeling a bit left out of the loop.
Supergirl also shows up, but unlike her cousin she will stick around for a few issues.
I always like it when writers point out that, while they’re both from the 20th century, she’s not from the same era of Superboy. Very few stories, if any, ever take advantage of that fact.
Wildfire is still mad at Invisible Kid for taking him out of the dream dimension where he had his body back, AND CAN YOU BLAME HIM!?
That was on page 3, but we won’t pick up with this anniversary plot until page 27 (!!!!!).
Since it’s by far the quickest plot to discuss, I’ll jump ahead to it; nothing really consistent, other than setting up the upcoming Chameleon Boy plot and nice character scene for R.J.Brande.
Other than the giant picture at the very end of the story, that’s it for the anniversary plot.
The real meat of the issue comes from the framing device of Brainiac 5, Circadia Senus and Rond Vidar (we haven’t seen him in QUITE a while!!!!) working to cure a mysterious figure.
This is also when Rond starts to officially work at the Time Institute with Circadia Senus, which will help him make a lot of appearances where he mostly ends up talking only to Brainiac 5.
Blink and you’ll miss it, but we get a bit of Legion lore too: Brainiac 5 is specifically called out for being the one helping Circadia Senus build the Time Bubble™.
The reason why this is the framing device is that the patient is experiencing painful visions of other timelines, which is the basis to have small “What If?”-style stories.
The story treats the identity of the patient as a secret for a while. But he’s CLEARLY wearing Ferro Lad’s costume, so there’s really no sense hiding it: this is twin brother, first seen in the Adult Legion story from Adventure Comics #354.
Every vision is written by Paul Levitz, but each one has a different artist that represents a different Legion era.
First vision: art by Kurt Shaffenberger, as if you couldn’t tell.
It’s nothing special, but it is always neat to see Kupperberger art. Too bad he’s only drawing the old-school Legionnaires, I would’ve loved to see his interpretation of later members.
At first that might’ve seeemed like an untold tale from the pre-history or the Hamilton era, but we soon find out why this is an alternate timeline.
Not only is the Superboy of this timeline leaving the Legion WAY earlier than the regular one, but he also makes a rather questionable decision: protecting Earth, and ONLY Earth, and not caring about other planets.
That’s weird, especially since he references this being related to an oath to his adoptive parents.
What idiotic incarnation of Pa Kent would make him swear something like that!?
Sounds legit.
Back to Giffen artwork, Brainiac 5 is amazed at the chance to see an alternate timeline.
Which is kind of understandable, since these didn’t exist at all in the Silver Age proper and even in the early 80s were incredibly rare at DC.
Second vision: art by Howard Bender, who is DEFINITELY going for the classic Silver Age style.
This is an alternate timeline where Computo killed A LOT of Legionnaires, not just 1/3 of Triplicate Girl.
Awww, all it took for the poor Subs to get some recognition was having enough victims to replace.
After his terrifying new incarnation in the Annual, it’s very weird to see the original Computo.
In this timeline Computo also recruits the original Legion of Super-Villains. We haven’t seen them for quite a while, but Lightning Lord will soon get the spotlight in the main timeline.
Word of advice: never make Saturn Girl angry enough to do THIS to you.
Not content with killing 1/3 of Triplicate Girl, Computo then murders 1/2 of Duo Damsel…
…and then 1/1 of what’s left.
I’ve always said that the reason given by the Legion for rejecting Polar Boy was nonsense, and this might be the ultimate proof: in this timeline, he SINGLE-HANDEDLY defeats Computo!!!
He dies, sure, but what a way to go!
Brainiac 5 (again back on Giffen artwork) is not very fond of that timeline. Can’t imagine why.
The third vision has Curt Swan artwork, and it’s one of the shortest ones.
There’s a brief fight with the Fatal Five…
…with Validus being defeated by Chamelon Boy, which I can kind of buy working once provided that Validus is kept away from his teammates…
…the relevance to the framing device is a visit to the statues of the dead Legionnaires.
This is straight from the Adult Legion stories, and it’s the reason for the “Shadow Woman” nonsense (more on that later)… except in this timeline, more Legionnaires have died early on.
This is clearly meant to homage the Jim Shooter era, and it’s a fitting tribute to Ferro Lad…
…and to remind the readers that Ferro Lad’s brother exists.
Back on Giffen artwork, this might have been the clue Brainiac 5 was looking for. But there’s more visions to get through.
The fourth vision takes us back to the 70s, with art by Dave Cockrum!
Even a bearded Tyroc makes a cameo.
So… are ALL the alternate timelines the bad ones where everyone dies?
This really is “What If”!!!!
With a war with the Khunds going badly, in this timeline there’s a fierce debate about the Legion’s no-killing policy.
Understandably, this is the tipping point for Superboy quitting the team.
This gets so bad that the Legion basically turns into an army, according to the commentary provided by the married couple of Star Boy and Dream Girl.
Surprisingly enough, the point of divergence seems to have been that in this timeline the Legion never repealed the idiotic rule that married members must retire.
The lesson of the story is that you should let superheroes get married.
And that only Star Boy looks good with a beard.
The fifth vision has artwork by Jim Sherman and it’s GLORIOUS.
Just look at this GORGEOUS splash page!!!
Where has THIS Mordru been!?!? This is AWESOME!!!
I like Keith Giffen’s artwork… at least in this period… but man did I miss Sherman as the regular artist!!!
This would’ve benefitted immensely from more traditional coloring, though.
This vision is also quite brief, and we’re missing a lot of details, but the plot really reminds of what we eventually got with the Magic Wars.
Actually, I kind of prefer this development over the Magic Wars; it ends with magic being completely destroyed…
…along with most of civilization, which the Legion vows to rebuild.
Give me this over the 5 Year Later era any day.
Back to Giffen artwork: all these What Ifs have given some ideas to Brainiac 5, plus we get a clear explanation for the Time Institute: it works as a beacon for time travelers!
That doesn’t QUITE fix the innumerable inconsistencies on how time travel is used in Legion stories, but it’s a start.
Last vision, with artwork by another former regular artist: Joe Staton.
And this is yet another timeline where everything went wrong, what are the odds.
Even Blok is getting tired of this. We’re at page 44 now (!!!), so can you blame him?
In this timeline he never rebelled against the Dark Man, so he helps him blow up Legion HQ.
That was by far the weakest vision, but apparently it was the final piece of the puzzle for Brainiac 5.
It’s only now that we officially learn the identity of the patient.
It’s actually a neat idea, if a bit convoluted. Basically because the two brothers had a mental link and tremendous mental strenght (which had something to do with their powers)… when Ferro Lad died, his brother’s mind looked for a new place in different timelines.
I think. I don’t have a 12th level intelligence.
What does this mean? A happy ending, because Ferro Lad’s brother fuses with an alternate version of himself that joins the Legion.
It’s quite simple, apparently.
Brainiac 5 is quite philosophical this issue. Either that or he smoke something heavy.
As if that wasn’t enough, in the middle of all this there’s also ANOTHER subplot!!!
It’s about Shadow Lass changing into Shadow Woman as both a direct reference to the Adult Legion stories and, I guess, some kinky roleplaying (that Mon-El is not into).
That was page 19. After an attack from a Khund ship, the resolution is at page 51 (!!!!) with Shadow Lass trying to save herself from the resulting explosions.
She fails, with page 52 being an entire splash page dedicated to her gruesome death!!!
But she’s perfectly fine at page 53 without explanation?
WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THAT!?!?
And that’s the end! The issue ends with a gorgeous two-page spread representing all Legionnaires, which I’ll discuss down below.
Legion significance: 3/10
Despite the anniversary, this doesn’t have a lot of repercussions. It’s neat to deal with Ferro Lad’s brother without dealing with the Adult Legion… but speaking of that, the only reason the whole Shadow Woman nonsense is not the most unnecessary long to that story… is that the Reflecto mess exists and was much longer.
Silver Age-ness: 2/10
Some of the flashbacks dwell into some of the look, but even there things are too harsh for the real Silver Age.
Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
Wow that was A LOT. Not counting the final double spread, this is a 53 page comic book and it FEELS like it. The framing device is fine and most of the visions are good… but by the halfway point it turns into a bit of a slog, especially since we don’t get into the details of any of the alternate timelines.
They’re also very inconsistent; while it’s deliberate for the artwork, the length and the attention to detail varies greatly. Not to mention that basically all of them are completely unrelated to the final resolution, unless I’m missing some finer details.
Plus WTF was the point of the Shadow Woman misdirection!? Why waste an
entire splash page “killing” her only to have her return the very next page!?
A nice celebration of the team’s long history, but it could’ve used being trimmed here and there.
We are legion
22 active Legionnaires
8 reserve members
1 honorary member (Rond Vidar)
41 people have been members
Finally, the stunning double-spread roll call!!!
And then some! Even Kid Psycho bothered to show up, amids the Subs…
…as well as Batman!!!
Also behind Sun Boy, together with Gas Girl from the Heroes of Lallor, there’s Spider-Man (!!!!) and I believe possibly Garfield.
Behind the Wanderers and one of the two Tornado Twins, there are three civilians: writer Paul Levitz, artist Keith Giffen and artist/inker Larry Mahlstedt.
There are tons of little amusing details.
Matter-Eater Lad is, of course, shown eating.
Chameleon Boy reacting to his father possibly hitting on Projectra and White Witch.
Blok still holding Wildfire’s uniform, since he only shows up as disembodied energy.
Proty II is shown in the frame, despite the following issue making us think he was the one taking the picture.
And finally my absolute favorite detail: Timber Wolf being annoyed that Dawnstar’s wings get in the way!!!
The Shadow Lass/Woman subplot in this issue DID have a point, though. Until this story, Legion writers were basically shackled by Jim Shooter’s Adult Legion story and its notorious Hall of Deceased Legionnaires. According to that, Chemical King died preventing World War 7 and Shadow Woman died saving the Science Asteroid. When the first happened, it made the second seem inevitable, until this story, which broke the prophecy.
My brother had this issue. I loved it., especially the cover. This marks the final appearances of some of the Cockrum-Grell costume designs.
Jeckie never seemed to have a consistent costume after discarding the Cockrum outfit.
Actually Kupperberger did draw the Legion in THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERBOY 50, one of the final Superboy-Legion stories.
The reason for Shadow Lass’s “death” scene was to play with fans’ expectations–those that were set way back in Adventure # 354. Ever since then, writers felt obliged to follow the predictions–hence, the death of Chemical King, the marriage of Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl, and so forth. It’s easy to look back on the Shadow Lass arc as a bit of a cheat–and it was–but we really had no idea how this story would play out when it hit the stands. There was a real possibility that Levitz would kill her off. Instead, he chose to throw out the Adult Legion predictions once and for all.
This is an uneven, but cool and fascinating issue nevertheless, to see all those alternate realities.
The real significance of this issue is not to the the Legion itself, but its significance to the writers. They no longer have to feel they must steer the Legion towards the Adult Legion. If this issue hadn’t explained the Adult Legion away as an alternate timeline, Shady would have indeed died in that blast as predicted, just as Chemical King died as predicted. Shady’s Adult Legion memorial statue still should have been blue, though. She wore Caucasian makeup on her last day alive, and so she must be memorialized that way? Weird.
That was a fun recap. Thanks!
One of the two most perfect anniversary issues ever, the other being Justice League of America # 200.
This is one of my favorite Levitz issues. I love the Ferro Lad II story and I really like the fact that ALL the stories, even the seemingly separate shadow lass story at the end are all alternate reality stories, just the shadow lass story shows you an alternate reality story that DOESN’T happen. I think that is pretty clever and makes me appreciate Levitz’s skills as a writer even more when you think that there’s this solidly entertaining story with some really neat stuff going on at a deeper level. Others have noted it really closes the door on the adult legion issue. I think about things like how Kingdom Come dominated the direction of certain characters for a while and I get how that 1960-1980’s era legion fan must have felt. This is Levitz basically saying a good writer can tip hit hat to a great story and not be bound by it.