Legion of Super-Heroes v3 #10

Legion of Super-Heroes v3 #10 (1985)
by Paul Levitz & Steve Lightle

For once, the Legion is having to deal with someone else’s election.

Specifically, with the election of the next President of Earth, now that Colossal Boy’s mother has resigned. And in the 30th century, the candidates are chosen by a computer.

It’s a neat concept which has a lot of precedents in classic sci-fi, but I’m not entirely sure giving these people ONE DAY to prepare is a great idea.

Yeah I’m with Blok on this one.

IF the computer just selected a bunch of candidates, that could potentially work… so that humans have fewer candidates to actually vote for… but apparently EVERYONE is in the list of potential candidates!

The Khunds are targeting each candidate, and Invisible Kid is  sent to save one of them.
Unfortunately, invisibility is not that great in such a high-tech universe.

That’s a lame weakness. Yeah it makes sense, but at least make Invisible Kid capable of hiding from every kind of light!
But nope, apparently invisibilty sucks so much that we’re going to focus on Invisible Kid’s very random ability to create interdimensional portals.

It’s not like this isn’t a cool side-power, but… could you at least TRY doing something useful with invisibily for once!?

Also, while being in outer space without protection is bad for your health^[*], you don’t exactly pop out of existance.
^{[*citation needed]}

Look, I like the fact the Legion has a no-killing rule… but their hyper-focus on it can get quite ridiculous at times.

There’s another candidate to protect, and Wildfire is handling the situation.
Not sure I like the idea that 1,000 years in the future they are STILL bringing up the Indian caste system.

The Khunds are not exactly sending their best assassins for this job.

Which is kind of weird considering they have a weapon that can temporarily remove Colossal Boy’s powers!!!

Colossal Boy does manage to save his mother, and we’re left with the winner of the election and future President of Earth.
Considering that he’s the one who was boasting about coming from a higher caste, you won’t be surprised to learn he’s not exactly a saint.

In other plots, Timber Wolf begins his subplot about caring for the Karate Kid estate. Which, considering it includes everything Projectra owned in this universe before she left it, is A LOT.

Karate Kid’s will requires Timber Wolf to go through a very tough quest. He’ll have the help of his dead friend’s old master.

Saturn Girl has decided that she will return to active duty after all. And as I’ve always thought, her 70s costume works FAR better as a swimsuit.

And Cosmic Boy effectively resigns.

Yeah OFFICIALLY he’s just taking a leave of absence, but he 100% resigns so soon that I’m already counting him as a reserve.

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Legion significance: 4/10
The new President (Mojai Desai) will be involved in a couple of plots. And Cosmic Boy’s resignation will soon lead to an impact on the membership. But for the most part, this is a transition issue.

Silver Age-ness: 6/10
There’s something very old-fashioned in the futuristic computer politics of the 30th century.

Does it stand the test of time? 9/10
I suppose more could have been done with the candidates, and the Khund motivation is kind of generic… but it’s not like the Khunds have ever been particularly complex.
While I’m not a huge fan of where Invisible Kid’s subplot will go, right now there’s nothing objectionable about it.

We are legion
19 active Legionnaires
9 reserve members

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Interesting letters: while obviously I disagree with the premise… I’ve never had much problem recalling the various Legion identities and histories… I kind of wonder if the fact that the Legion can be perceived as “too big to follow” is one of the reason they rarely rise to popularity.

I’ve never given this much thought, but Jeff is right: the Legion DOES tend to handle the aftermath of huge events much better than series set in the present. It’s probably thanks to the liberty of being able to show impacts on society.