Legion of Super-Heroes v3 #37

Legion of Super-Heroes vol.3 #37 (1987)
by Paul Levitz & Greg LaRoque
cover by Steve Lighle

This is the start of a crossover between the Legion and Superman, tackling the most important change brought by Crisis that the Legion has so far ignored: Superboy.

We begin with the Legion repairing the Time Beacon, which was destroyed by the Time Trapper at the very end of the previous issue.

Technically speaking the Legion doesn’t KNOW the Time Trapper is behind it, but they immediately figure it out because:
A) this is set after Cosmic Boy #4 so they know the Time Trapper is after them
B) they’re not idiots

To counteract possible interference from the Time Trapper, Brainiac 5 has redesigned the Time Bubble™. Apparently making it bigger, but to me it looks the usual size.

This is the first issue when Polar Boy is in charge of the team, and he’s quick to establish himself as the leader: when Brainiac 5 proposes to bring the entire team in the mission, he stops him.
But either Brainy was being hyperbolic, or the artwork is REALLY selling short how big the new Time Bubble™ is supposed to be.

But Brainiac 5 doesn’t correct him, so yeah I guess he really DID want to bring everyone.

He’s also the one to select which Legionnaires are going on the mission.

Not the best endorsement, Night Girl!

The new Time Bubble™ is going to rely on Mon-El to push it through time, with the bubble providing the navigation.

The Time Trapper is watching over them, and get used to this depiction of him whenever he’s outside time. I really like it!
Truly makes it seem like he’s more than three-dimensional.

The Legion is attempting to break the Iron Curtain Of Time, something they have NEVER been able to do, in order to reach the End Of Time… and they make it through a new opening.

Unfortunately they’re not going to reach the End Of Time… because they’re going the wrong way!!!

What kind of power does the Time Trapper possess to achieve that!?

I never thought Blok would be such a philosopher.

Instead of the End Of Time, the Legion has landed in pre-Crisis Smallville.

This shouldn’t be possible: Crisis erased the existence of Superboy. But as I’ve said many times before, up to this point the Legion has completely ignored Crisis: this is really the first time the discrepancy is addressed properly.

Night Girl is the only person here who has never been to this era (Mon-El even lived here for a bit in his origin story).

They even run into a former Honorary Legionnaire.

Given Pete’s reference to “red skies” and an “energy wall”, which is obviously a callback to Crisis, I have to wonder if were meant to think this was actually one of the Earths spared by Crisis.
Except of course there was NO alternate Earth spared by the even, not even the one Superboy Prime is from.

It’s a callback to an easier time. There’s a sense of familiarity about Smallville, even though most of the Legionnaires look off-model (for some reason, the artwork took a nosedive this issue!).

I really like the fact that Pa Kent reacts to the Legionnaires having aged! Considering Superboy is stuck in his own time and doesn’t always stick around the 30th century, it’s a wonder we didn’t get a scene like this waaaaay earlier.

Eventually, the Legionnaires meet Superboy once again.

Ultra Boy asks Superboy if it’s “really him”, perhaps voicing the readers’ voice because they haven’t shown to be suspicious.
Also, what IS the Legion’s secret handshake?

Someone’s been keeping busy with their Legionnaire action figure collection!
The blonde behind Blok should probably be Supergirl.

They provide enough of a distraction to allow Superboy to freeze the Legionnaires, although notice Cosmic Boy still manages to use his Flight Ring to send a distress call.

It’s interesting to see Pa Kent has not been informed on what Superboy has been up to.

This causes the Legionnaires to miss contacting the rest of the team.

Brainiac 5 and Blok stayed behind with the Time Bubble™ because they would’ve attracted too much attention.
I don’t know why Sun Boy stayed. Granted he doesn’t know Smallville as well as Mon-El and Ultra Boy, both of which lived there shortly, and he’s visited it less frequently than Cosmic Boy… but still more than Night Girl.
As for Invisible Kid… I guess it’s the same reason of Brainiac 5: have we EVER seen someone in Smallville who isn’t white? I would hope it happened at least once in the 70s, but I wouldn’t be surprised otherwise.

But remember that signal from Cosmic Boy?

However before they can run into Superboy, Pete Ross shows up to tell them to escape.

Superboy ALMOST immobilizes them with the stasis ray, but the Time Bubble™ manages to escape.

Despite all clues to the contrary, however, Superboy has not been mind-controlled: this is all part of an effort to save the universe.

But even THAT is still part of the Time Trapper’s plan.

In other plots, Dream Girl is foreseeing her upcoming subplot while re-establishing herself as the fanservice queen.

Polar Boy is more than a little insecure in his role as leader. That’s going to bite him.

Considering the character development all the other Legion girls have received, it’s kind of a disappointment to see Phantom Girl is still stuck in her old “I’m so worried about my invulnerable boyfriend” zone. At least Shadow Lass comes off as a bit more independent.

And finally, we have the result of Quislet helping Wildfire getting a new body.

And it’s, uhm… it’s A LOT.

Look, Wildfire, you’re my second favorite Legionnaire and I’m really glad you got yourself a body.
But did you HAVE to pick this awful design!?

“Wh-wha-what” indeed.

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Legion significance: 9/10
This storyline is essential reading to understand the rest of Volume 3, although ironically the Superman titles are a bit more crucial.

Silver Age-ness: 4/10
Between the general vibes of Smallville, we also have the old way of traveling though time.

Does it stand the test of time? 6/10
This storyline has its harsh critics, but I liked it overall. This issue in particular, however, has a couple of things against it.
The most egregious is that a lot of time is spent beating around the bush: the Legionnaires arrive in Smallville and basically don’t do anything until Superboy shows up at the very end.
It might be deliberate… it’s the last time we TRULY spend time there, so perhaps it was a sendoff to the old era… but it doesn’t make for compelling reading.
The most shocking problem is the artwork: WTF happened!? Greg LaRoque is usually WAY better than this, and it’s not a problem with the inks: it’s by Mike DeCarlo, who has been inking him regularly for some time!
Everyone is incredibly stiff, all the faces lack expression, the backgrounds are barely existent… it doesn’t even look like Greg LaRoque drew this. Was it a problem with deadlines? The following issue will ALSO have the same problem.
I typically don’t put so much emphasis on the artwork, but the quality has dropped so much and so quickly that it’s distracting enough to lower the score.

We are legion
24 active Legionnaires
7 reserve members
11 deceased members

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Interesting letters: the Universo Project seems to have been a hit with readers.