Legion of Super-Heroes vol.3 #21 (1986)
by Paul Levitz & Greg LaRoque
The beginning of the end for the Sensor Girl saga.
We begin with Brainiac 5 voicing his suspects about Sensor Girl to Element Lad.
He’s got a point. Even with Saturn Girl vouching for her, admitting Sensor Girl without knowing ANYTHING about her wasn’t the smartest decision. Not knowing her identity I get, but not knowing her powers was a bizarre move.
Element Lad points out that this isn’t without precedent: after all he was the one to be accepted on Saturn Girl’s word, aaaaaall the way back in Adventure Comics #307.
It’s a solid point, but I’m still on Brainy’s side on this… first of all, Sensor Girl is being WAY more mysterious than Element Lad was.
Second, at the time you admitted people who dressed like this!
Still, this amounts to nothing…
…or does it?
Of course, being told to drop the investigation had no effect on Brainiac 5.
A surprisingly low-tech approach from Brainac 5, but hey, whatever works.
More clues or red herrings? Still a few issues to go.
Sensor Girl doesn’t appreciate this invasion of privacy, AT ALL, so she does… something to teach him a lesson.
Moving on to the main plot: there’s a riot in a transport ship that is taking supervillains to Takron-Galtos.
Which means, you guessed it, a big dumb fight.
Emerald Empress is the one behind this riot…
…because she’s shopping for a new lineup for the Fatal Five.
None of the Legionnaires volunteer for obvious reasons, but we get a sweet splash page out it.
This is when Sensor Girl swoops in to save the day.
Though not everyone agrees with that statement.
Notably, the Emeral Eye doesn’t work on her.
Emerald Empress, when are you going to learn the Legion is not into you?
Emerald Empress ends up recruiting only Persuader, and Sensor Girl can’t follow her because she’s accidentally stopped by Timber Wolf punching Hunter.
Which I’m bringing up because A) that’s hilarious B) I will reference it when I track down the Sensor Girl clues and whether they make sense.
The rest of the supervillains are easily captured. Not without an awkward reminder to Shrinking Violet. (that’s Chameleon Chief, not Chameleon Boy by the way)
And so we end with the Legionnaires trying to guess who Sensor Girl is.
Brainiac 5 in particular is REALLY into the Supergirl theory.
In other plots, Shadow Lass reveals to Phantom Girl that Mon-El is having trouble with his anti-lead serum.
Yeah that’s… not good news.
Legion significance: 5/10
This sets the tone for basically all future Emerald Empress stories in this continuity.
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Not really.
Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
A bit disjointed; Levitz is typically better at juggling plots. But the Emerald Empress plot was basically a fight scene with little more, and the Sensor Girl mystery is starting to feel a little stale.
Still, even if there isn’t a whole lot of substance, it’s the usual levels of competency.
We are legion
24 active Legionnaires
7 reserve members
11 deceased members
Interesting letters: this is a pretty solid theory on why Brainac 5 became so interested on Supergirl.
Interestingly, the readers wanted MORE mysterious members!
Man, Larocque drew a great Emerald Empress. I’ve also praised his Dream Girl in the past. Lest you think I think he’s just generally the best with all females, I preferred Lightle’s Shadow Lass.