Legion of Super-Heroes v3 #1 (1984)
by Paul Levitz & Keith Giffen
The Legion begins a new era with its first legitimate “issue 1”.
Volume 3 is also called “the Baxter era”, from the high quality Baxter paper it was printed on.
This was a clear indication of just how popular the Legion had grown, since the other Baxter series was the bestseller New Teen Titans. On the other hand, this is the first Legion series that was not distributed in newsstands.
This volume will carry the series all the way to 1989, in what is probably the last remains of the pre-Crisis continuity (with quite a few caveats). For tracking purposes, I will be splitting the series into pre-Crisis and post-Crisis.
The series opens with a splash page, showing an extremely low-tech version of the Mission Monitor.
This is the foundation of the new (and very much improved) Legion of Super-Villains; we don’t learn just yet who is in it besides Lightning Lord, but its roster will SERIOUSLY expand.
We then move to the casino planet Ventura where Dream Girl and Star Boy are on vacation.
Micro Lad shows up to mess things up; you might remember him as the guy behind Shrinking Violet’s kidapping.
He tries to escape by shriking down, but it’s payback time!
This is one of the most satisfying beatdowns I’ve ever read.
Unfortunately, Micro Lad is teleported away by a mysterious force.
Notice Shrinking Violet exclaiming “Dragon’s hide!”, no doubt a reference to the space dragons linked to her civilazation that we discovered all the way back in issue 234.
Speaking of the kidnapping, in this era we will be revisiting the relationship between Colossal Boy and his new wife.
Colossal Boy’s happiness about having moved out to his own apartment is spoiled by the fact his mother has resigned from being President of Earth.
We also visit Winath for the first time in quite a while. That’s the planet where Lightning Lad is from, and where almost everyone has a twin.
The planet is also now established as an agricultural world, something that will last throughout multiple continuities. I’m very surprised to see it has only 8 million people though!
By comparison, in 1984 Earth had roughly 4.7 billion people.
Weirdly enough, in this continuity Winath doesn’t farm wheat, but giant mushrooms!
We’re here because Light Lass, after retiring from the Legion, has been living in a commune with her good friend Sara.
Specifically the kind of friend you hang out topless.
Jokes aside, this is the beginning of her much-needed character development.
I kind of wonder if this would’ve created more of a fuss if it was published on a more mainstream comic book.
You’d think people would complain in 1984 if they noticed the topless bisexual superheroine.
Heck, some people would complain to death TODAY.
Even retired, she’s still the target of supervillains.
It’s not shown yet, but the guy attacking her is Radiation Roy from Adventure Comics #320.
One long-lasting subplot that has reached its conclusion is the reconstruction of Daxam, which has been almost entirely rebuilt after being reduced to a pile of rocks by Darkseid.
Really goes to show the absurd level of technology of the 30th century!
We’re not QUITE done with the fallout from the Great Darkness Saga, though, because the Legion is called to deal with a Daxamite who is still rampaging.
That’s a big deal because ONE Daxamite is powerful enough to render the entire prison planet of Takron-Galtos “non-functional”.
That’s particularly impressive because said Daxamite is Ol-Vir, the kid that hunted down Chameleon Boy during the Great Darkness Saga.
And he’s still worshipping Darkseid.
Mon-El is not happy to see a fellow Daxamite having turned into a homicidal psycho.
Luckily for Ol-Vir, much like Micro Lad he’s saved by the Legion of Super-Villains.
Legion significance: 5/10
This is mostly setup for the upcoming Legion of Super-Villains saga.
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Not really.
Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
Surprisingly less packed than what will be the standard for this series. Even with multiple subplots, as we’ve come to expect from Levitz, to be honest there isn’t a ton of substance here.
For a #1 issue, there’s also NO effort whatsoever to explain anything to a new reader; I suppose it makes a certain amount of sense since this series exists because the regular one was very popular, but still, you’d think there would be the slightest attempt to introduce this universe.
As I said this is almost entirely setup. Not much to nitpick, but it’s a far quicker read than usual.
You might also have noticed the shift on the Giffen artwork. I’m not the biggest fan of the style he uses in this period, but I have to acknowledge how well he plays with the shadows.
Giffen will remain on layouts and plots for a while, but he’ll soon be replaced as the main artist by the late Steve Lightle.
We are legion
20 active Legionnaires
8 reserve members
1 honorary member (Rond Vidar)
41 people have been members
Interesting letters: there’s a very detailed explanation for the launch of the new series.
We barely see any of those anymore, since by now a new series is created mostly to sell a new #1.
You can definitely tell there was some resistance to moving away from the newsstands. That’s one of the reasons given for the existence of “Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes” (which I’ll alternate to reviews of the main series).
You can definitely tell Levitz had endless passion for this series.
