Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes #317 (Part 2) (1984)
plot by Paul Levitz
dialogue by Mindy Newell
pencils by George Tuska
The Heroes of Lallor rarely get the spotlight, with Duplicate Boy being the only one to interact with the Legion. So this is an occasion to get to know them a little better.
The reason for the story is that Duplicate Boy has mysteriously lost his powers.
Understandably, the other Heroes of Lallor are not exactly happy about being glossed over all the time.
It’s not just a matter of professional jealousy, though. As Gas Girl points out, Duplicate Boy has consistently made an ass of himself.
Apparently both her and Life Lass had a crush on Duplicate Boy.
This gives Evolvo Lad an idea. Who wouldn’t trust a guy with a head like that?
Considering it’s basically the only planet with its own superhero team in the 30th century, Lallor is surprisingly an underdeveloped setting.
Speaking of underdeveloped: Duplicate Boy has barely been a character up to this point, so this soul-searching would be a great opportunity to do something with him.
And then SUDDEN TRAFFIC ACCIDENT!!!
That was just the thing Duplicate Boy needed to restart his powers.
As a bonus, he also gets a date out of this.
As you probably imagined, this was organized by his teammates: the car wasn’t malfunctioning, Life Lass just directed it towards the nearest cute girl.
Too bad Duplicate Boy and to a lesser extent Evolvo Lad are the only ones to ever do anything, because Life Lass has the potential for some truly terrifying scenes.
Legion significance: 0/10
Harmless fluff.
Silver Age-ness: 8/10
This would fit nicely with the Hamilton era.
Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
In terms of quality, it would barely be a 6/10. But brevity aside, you can place this almost in any continuity and in any era and make it fit. Perhaps clarifying that the woman was never in any real danger would’ve been better, though.
It’s also a bit of a missed opportunity… there was a chance to develop Duplicate Boy by giving him some much-needed soul searching. But nope, everything’s just fine.