Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes #316 (Part 1) (1984)
by Paul Levitz & Terry Shoemaker
What’s funny is that this has less subplots than the typical Levitz story.
This is a Substitute Heroes story… up to a point. Onlpy Polar Boy, Night Girl and Stone Boy are present, together with Cosmic Boy.
You can REALLY tell the difference when Levitz is handling the Subs without Keith Giffen.
Levitz pretty consistently treats them as respectable heroes, whereas Giffen sees them as just punching bags.
As hilarious as some of the Giffen stories will be, I very much prefer the Levitz version.
Unfortunately they don’t quite manage to capture the smugglers, and get trapped inside a ship that is sent away from the planet.
This is a deviously simple plot: with the ship’s controls no longer working, the Subs have no way to avoid drifting in space forever.
This is the first chance we’ve had in a looooooooong time to get into the characterization of the Subs.
Polar Boy is his usual positive self, but apparently Stone Boy has a morbid and pessimistic side.
This is a classic sci-fi plot: how do you steer a ship that has no engine?
Having superpowers sure helps.
If this was Giffen writing, I have no doubts that the only contribution from the Subs would be to be funny. But instead they’re vital to the mission!
You would expect Cosmic Boy to magnetically move the metal capsule back to Earth, but it’s too much for his powers. Instead he does something smarter: get help from the Legion Academy, which includes his little brother!
That was a very cool way to A) use Cosmic Boy’s powers in a creative way B) not have him overshadow everyone else C) make both the Subs and the Academy useful.
In other plots, Saturn Girl leaves the hospital but she’s at least sensible enough to get SOME maternal leave.
You can never have too many Dr. Gym’ll scenes.
We also have the ongoing subplot about the resurrected first Invisible Kid…
…which is FINALLY getting explored next issue, because the two Invisible Kids teleport back to the plance where they first met in #299.
Which SOMEHOW also teleports Wildfire.
Poor guy just can’t catch a break.
Legion significance: 6/10
On a purely technical level, this doesn’t have a real impact. But I’m still bumping up the score because I believe this is an important step for Polar Boy’s upcoming development.
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Not really, otherwise Cosmic Boy’s probably would’ve done anything my himself.
Does it stand the test of time? 10/10
Short and simple, with some nice growth to minor characters, and a couple of subplots that don’t take too much space. You can really tell the difference in the writer when the Subs are involved.
Admittedly Levitz is helped by not having the full team, but Stone Boy has one of the most ridiculous powers in the team and he still manages to use him in a serious way.
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