Legion of Super-Heroes v3 #42 (1988)
by Paul Levitz & Greg LaRoque
cover by Steve Lightle
With Crisis rewriting Superman’s past, we previously had to adjust the Legion connection by introducing a Superboy from a different dimension.
But there’s still one connection left to fix: Laurel Kent is still supposed to be Superman’s descendant. And this two-parter seeks to come up with something for her.
We begin with Polar Boy being happy with his performance, for once. He also namedrops the Wanderers, who are starring in a miniseries that I will cover later on.
Tellus thinking that Polar Boy is the Legionnaire too full of himself is… odd, considering he’s had nothing but doubts about his leadership so far.
I’m sure there are important narrative reasons for why Shadow Lass exercises in a backless dress with fishnet stockings.
Colossal Boy hasn’t recovered from the injuries from last issue. In fact, this will be a long-lasting subplot for him.
Uhm, if Dream Girl had a premonition about this, shouldn’t Chameleon Boy take this WAY more seriously!?
Meanwhile Sun Boy is putting the moves on Laurel Kent, but she has other plans.
Specifically, sneaking into Brainiac 5’s laboratory.
That’s mostly because this is the only place on Earth with Coluan technology.
Apparently her goal has always been to get into Brainy’s lab. Considering she was introduced in 1976, she sure took her time!!!
Raise your hand if you’re surprised Brainiac 5 sleeps in his lab.
You might remember that Laurel’s only power is invulnerability. So no wonder Brainiac 5 is surprised to see her use super-strength!
The other Legionnaires are attracted by the noise, so they rush in to help.
Notice Violet calling out Laurel’s age and uncharacteristically making fun of her powers.
Shadow Lass is so shocked by this that she turned white!
But once she turns blue again, she kills the lights.
Except Laurel already took what she wanted from Brainy’s computer, and she just flees.
Inertron started out SO indestructible that even Superboy had a hard time damaging it, but now it looks like anyone with super-strength can.
Please note that Laurel is not being mind-controlled or anything. This story retcons her having ALWAYS been a spy.
There’s still the problem of figuring out what kind of data Laurel stole, considering she broke the computer.
Brainiac 5’s solution? Become the computer himself!
Your regular reminder that Brainiac 5 is, in fact, freaking awesome.
He deduced that Laurel stole information about other possible descendants of Superman, which naturally leads to the Himalayas.
Specifically, to a Buddhist temple run by robots.
Unsurprisingly, they’re not exactly a threat to the Legion.
They find Laurel in the temple. And turns out Shadow Lass wasn’t the one to get whitefaced.
That’s because Laurel Kent is not really a descendant of Superman.
She is a Manhunter.
No not a Martian Manhunter. She’s one of these guys, the robots that the Guardians Of The Universe used as a peacekeeping force before the creation of the Green Lantern Corps.
Which makes this YET ANOTHER case of the Guardians ruining everything they touch.
Why this sudden random connection? Because this story is a (rather loose) tie-in to the event Millennium, where the Manhunters were the bad guys in the 20th century books.
The endgame of that whole crossover was to set up the creation of the New Guardians, so… time well spent, I guess?
Legion of Super-Heroes v3 #43 (1988)
by Paul Levitz & Greg LaRoque
cover by Steve Lightle
Sun Boy may be a ladies man, but I don’t think this date is going to end well.
Laurel escapes the monastery by destroying it. Despite Sun Boy’s boasts, they lost her.
I don’t care if she was built by the Guardians and is self-aware. I have a hard time Laurel could be able to convince Tellus and ESPECIALLY Saturn Girl she was human.
This revelation has really shaken Polar Boy. He was confident about his role for a whole five minutes before this happened!
Brainiac 5 is not helping his confidence.
Wildfire and Quislet are absent because they will have their own plot soon…
…and Chameleon Boy sent a message saying that, as head of the Espionage Squad, he decided to go on a secret mission.
Shouldn’t Dream Girl know this, if she had a premonition about him? If not, what WAS the premonition mentioned in the previous issue?
As a Legion hyperfan, shouldn’t Polar Boy know this?
Didn’t he even check the rules when he was elected leader?
The next place to look for Laurel is the Amazon, for some reason.
Actually the reason is that there’s a cult that seeks immortality here, which interestingly nearly worship Coluans.
This is a VERY rare acknowledgement of Coluans having a long lifespan, although I’m pretty sure there are other races in DC with an even longer one.
But that’s a red herring: Laurel is actually attacking the Grand Canyon.
The Legion finds her, and this turns into a big dumb fight.
This is a complete and utter character assassination for Laurel Kent.
She wasn’t exactly a deep character or anything, sure, but this is just a generic villain that has absolutely nothing to do with her.
Brainiac 5 is as uninterested in the fight as I am.
Laurel then gets back her device, and with Brainy’s modifications it works better than ever.
Leave it to Brainiac 5 to come up in five minutes for an answer to a riddle that an advanced robot wasted 1,000 years on.
That’s obviously a trap by the Legion, and they eventually beat her.
This was all completely pointless because the immortals that Laurel was looking for aren’t even on Earth anymore.
And so she self-destructs.
The Legionnaires who die a hero’s death get giant statues and a memorial on their own planet.
Laurel Kent gets a grave in the middle of nowhere.
Sure was a good thing to kill an old Legion ally to create a link to a crossover that will have basically zero impact on the franchise.
Legion significance: 3/10
Laurel’s death is not exactly given that much importance.
Silver Age-ness: 4/10
That immortality cult was kind of random, wasn’t it?
Does it stand the test of time? 2/10
Ugh. Has ANY Legion fan ever liked this retcon? I look forward to finding the reactions in the letters page. As for myself, definitely not a fan. And I never really cared all that much about Laurel, so I can imagine the reaction of the people who liked her.
This storyline irritates me on four levels. First and foremost, it’s boring! Laurel is just replaced by a random character that has absolutely NOTHING to do with what we’ve seen about her.
Second, this was utterly unnecessary. Say what you will about wanting to remove Superboy and Supergirl from the Legion, but at least there was a reason behind it, even if you don’t agree with it.
But Laurel? What was the problem with having her around?
Is it because they didn’t want to confirm whether Superman can have kids? Just retcon her ancestry if you have a problem with that, there’s no reason to say she’s been an evil Manhunter the whole time!
Third, the whole plot makes no sense. If Laurel’s whole deal was finding the immortals and Brainiac 5’s computer was the key, you mean to tell me she couldn’t find a way to sneak there until now? Especially with the absurd amount of superpowers she suddenly has!?
The idea that she fooled EVERYBODY for so long is also laughable. I don’t have a problem with Doombots fooling telepaths, but at least they have the decency to NOT be part of a team!
And what about that time she was operated on after being shot with a Kryptonite bullet!?
Fourth: if you HAVE to do this story, why leave out the characters that Laurel has interacted with the most!? Where are the other Legion Academy students? Where is Dawnstar, who you might recall was Laurel’s roommate and confidante!?
Saved from a 0/10 exclusively by the artwork. What a clunky mess.
We are legion
24 active Legionnaires
6 reserve members
12 deceased members
Interesting letters: Levitz explains his perspective on how to integrate Crisis into the Legion.
It shows that his main goal was preserving as much Legion history as possible. I think the fandom doesn’t really give him credit for the effort.
(contrast and compare the abysmal way future eras will deal with the same problem)
A reader criticizes the crossover between the Legion and Superman as an effort to boost Superman’s sales.
I know the Legion fandom is one of the most loyal factions of the DC fandom, and granted the Legion has sold exceptionally well in several eras… but every single Legion fan HAS to know that Superman is far more popular, right?
Yeah this story is a big dud for all the reasons you outlined, the most notable miss from this volume I’d say.
Also I think Tellus’s comment about Polar Boy is actually spot on. Since he became leader he’s been obsessed with himself and his image, mostly in a negative light barring this specific instance, but still very self-absorbed nonetheless.
The only way this story works is if there’s an unpublished epilogue where the Legion frees the real Laurel who’s only just been replaced by the Manhunter bot.
The only consolation is that it could have been worse. Laurel was a very minor character and every book was under a mandate to sacrifice a character as a Manhunter, for the sake of a crossover that had no impact on anything. The only lasting development from Millennium is that it introduced G’nort.
At least we got to see Tasmia’s Black Canary Work-Out Wear.
This story is Exhibit A for why I don’t like crossovers. They are useless attempts to shoe-in ideas and characters that do not fit the main narrative. They damage existing characters and continuity. They sacrifice logic, emotion, and significance for shock value.