Legion of Super-Heroes vol.3 #33 (1987)
by Paul Levitz & Greg LaRoque
cover by Steve Lighle
The Universo Project continues, and the cover promises a bit more action than last time.
The main plot focuses on the four Legionnaires who have escaped Universo’s mind control.
Last time Saturn Girl had the spotlight, so this time the other three Legionnaires get the chance to contribute to the mission.
But as good as the rest of them are, make no mistake: this is still Saturn Girl’s finest hour.
Unsurprisingly, Chameleon Boy is by far the best at keeping a low profile.
Also, first time we actually see Atmos in person!
I praised last issue for showcasing Saturn Girl’s logical approach to the mission, but this one does a great job by highlighting the dedication of Chameleon Boy.
Not to mention his versatility. I have the impression he’d be able to escape on his own, if it wasn’t for the other prisoners to free.
Meanwhile, Saturn Girl is trying to contact her family.
This is a great moment for Brainiac 5, showing his empathy and how much he has grown as a person over the years.
I tend to prefer the versions of Brainiac 5 that start off more emotionally detached, but given enough time they all reach this stage.
Atmos, on the other hand, doesn’t make a great impression.
A warning to the people who are reading these reviews without having knowledge of future issues: prepare to hate this guy. A LOT.
Chameleon Boy takes the spot of being the most useful Legionnaire (no wonder he’s on the cover!) by swimming beneath the fountain that Saturn Girl tried to explore.
Chameleon Boy transforming into plankton to escape the drones makes me wonder if there’s a limit to how small he can get. He’s turned into insects plenty of times, but can he go smaller? Could he change into a bacterium, for example?
We don’t see whatever he finds beneath the surface, but Saturn Girl provides a quick telepathic recap for the others.
The next day, the Legionnaires sabotage the fountain and free the other prisoners from mind control.
A lot of prisoners are superheroes from other planets, so that’s going to be very useful.
It’s very rare to see heroes that are not part of the Legion, and even more rare to see one-off people like this girl here. But it really goes a long way into making the 30th century feel like a whole lot bigger.
We finally get a good look at Atmos and, in particular, to whatever the heck is going on with his anatomy.
The way he’s missing parts of his torso makes me uncomfortable. We also don’t know why he’s like this… he’s the champion of Xanthu, the planet Star Boy is from, but the people there look 100% human.
So is he from a different planet? Is it a side effect of whatever gave him his powers?
Seriously, WTF even is Atmos!?!?
Sadly we never learn who these other heroes are. Which is a shame because I’m fairly sure one of them is She-Hulk.
A giant robot shows up to fight the heroes, and especially Atmos.
His powers are vaguely defined but we’ll see he’s definitely a powerhouse, so the fact he’s knocked out so easily goes to show Universo really thought this through.
I told you this was Chameleon Boy’s moment to shine!
Now that the defenses are off, Brainiac 5 is able to build makeshift transports that will allow Atmos to bring all the heroes back to their planets.
A tip to Universo: never, EVER put Brainiac 5 in a place with technology.
Next issue will tell us why Universo chose to imprison those four Legionnaires in particular.
It’s a motivation that still gets debated among Legion fans to this day! So if you’re reading this review without having read the rest of the story… why do YOU think he chose these four?
In other plots, the Legionnaires on Tellus’ planet are now facing the being behind that mission: Zymyr, who has updated his bubble to be tough enough to withstand Wildfire’s blasts.
He also has a bunch of robots now, which are not particularly useful when Quislet is part of the team.
Your irregular reminder that Quislet is, in fact, awesome.
Unfortunately Zymyr DOES have an ace up his bubble: he’s now able to teleport the Legionnaires to different planets.
Specifically, White Witch has been teleported to a desert planet…
…Tellus has been sent to a place where he’s being attacked by spheres (???)…
…and poor Wildfire is being TORN TO PIECES.
Not really sure why Zymyr hasn’t sent Quislet anywhere, though.
We also have the Legion delegation dealing with the Dominators falling into a trap… not by them, but by the United Planets ambassador.
Legion significance: 8/10
All chapters of the saga have significance, but this one slightly more so because of Atmos showing up.
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Nope.
Does it stand the test of time? 10/10
The saga continues to be spectacular. Having more than one Legionnaire to focus on means we get a bit more banter and personality conflicts than last issue, which was already fantastic!
Chameleon Boy gets to show why he’s such an integral part of the team, Saturn Girl gets to show a bit more vulnerability while still remaining focused, Brainiac 5 remains understated but he’s there when needed, and Dream Girl… well she kind of gets the worst between them, but next issue she’ll be the one under the spotlight.
The only potential nitpick is that the plot about the Legionnaires dealing with the Dominators isn’t given NEARLY the same amount of attention as either the main plot or the Zymyr one, and as a consequence it’s rather forgettable.
We are legion
23 active Legionnaires
8 reserve members
11 deceased members
Interesting letters: apparently a Legionnaire was supposed to die all the way back during Earthwar!
No clue on who could’ve been, even Levitz doesn’t recall.
I believe that Atmos’s strange appearance is due to whatever gave him his powers, and more so, I think the missing parts of his torso are merely invisible. After all, when he’s wearing the prison outfit, the body giving it its shape seems to be normal.
Maybe he’s one of those guys that always gets sweaty underarms so he turned his armpits invisible just to be safe
A very enjoyable review from one of the most enjoyable Legion stories out there. Yesterday was the 66th anniversary of the release of Adventure Comics #247 so the review works like a gift of sorts.
Hi! Long time reader,first time commentor here. I’ve been loving the Legion Retrospective and it even turned me into a fan of them as well.
While I have read ahead; I will, without spoilers,share my thoughts on why Universo picked Those four legion members to kiddnap.
Saturn Girl:This one’s easy as her telepathy is pretty much a major threat to his plans*as both last and this issue saw* but she is a LOT more experienced that Tellus…and that’s as far as I’m gonna go as going further will be spoilers.
Chameleon Boy: head of espionage group and shapeshifting means he could disrupt Universo’s plans by either spy work, or changing into something that could royally mess things up.
Brainiac 5: aside from it being Brainy…There’s a personal reason as Brainy and Rond Vidar were friends so…
Dream Girl: This one’s the hardest BUT,The combo of her being almost as Smart as Brainy*She knows how to use the force field belt among other things!* but also her having just one, just one precog dream about all this could put the legion on high alert and better to nip that in the bud before hand, eh?
“The Universo Project” was one of the last really good Legion stories before the reboot, yet it was never a favorite of mine–possibly because the four featured Legionnaires were never among my personal favorites. However, the story shows each in a new light and contains wonderful interplay. Nura’s wink is so Nura, and Cham’s reaction is so on point. The mystery of why these four were chosen makes a good hook, and the eventual revelation of why they were chosen makes perfect sense.
The other storylines feel as if they were marking time. I thought it odd that no one commented on the four missing Legionnaires.
Universo had the other Legionnaires under his personal control. Remember that in the final issue of the story he actually has them attack the prison-planet four.
I don’t know. It always seemed to me that he got them in his control after their missions. Seemed like a collection of characters that might give him trouble so he tricked them away to give him time.
It makes sense to take out Dream Girl and Brainiac 5. Both are wild cards that can find or create vulnerabilities in any scheme and make effective use of those.
Chameleon Boy is difficult to predict and even more to contain. Also a skilled and experienced infiltrator and intelligence gatherer. Anyone who is plotting against the Legion and has reasonable awareness of its history would better assume that, given half a chance, he will turn up, impersonate some critical person, and reveal himself when it is most inconvenient for him to be present. It is sort of his specialty.
Saturn Girl is one of the most powerful and experienced telepaths alive, and extremely well connected to boot. Being a reserve member means that she can’t be monitored in LSH headquarters nearly as easily as the active members, and she has about as good a chance of detecting Universo’s influence as anyone could. Who else has both mental powers and direct experience in dealing with Universo?
The story itself argues those points pretty effectively, I think.