Secret Origins #25 (1988)
by Paul Levitz & Rick Stasi
cover by Curt Swan
It’s the Legion’s 30th anniversary, which means it’s yet another retelling of their origin.
Sadly, they don’t actually interact with the original Atom.
We begin at the waiting lounge of an airport, where Santa Claus R.J. Brande interacts with some kids who are Legion fans.
And that’s our framing device: Brande is going to be the one narrating the origin.
Which sets it apart from previous retellings.
Well the story pretends the old man is someone else, and technically speaking we will learn only at the very end that it’s Brande… but if it was intended as a surprise, the artist dropped the ball because the man in the flashback is OBVIOUSLY the same guy!!!
At this point, the origin has been retold enough times that some minor details stay consistent.
Like the fact that Saturn Girl wanted to join the Science Police, something that is going to stick even in the Reboot (where technically speaking she DOES work for the SP before joining).
Although this is perhaps the only retelling where Cosmic Boy seems to have the hots for Saturn Girl as much as Lightning Lad does. Then again, this is Brande’s opinion.
Another thing that stays rather consistent throughout the eras and reboots is Brande’s “old man charm”.
Levitz is also playing a bit with the “girls mature faster than boys” idea, giving it a bit of a sci-fi twist.
All the three founders still look older than they are supposed to be, but not to a ridiculous degree like previous retellings.
Coming later than other retellings, this one has the advantage of more stuff to work on, like giving Lightning Lad an actual reason for going to Earth.
Levitz is also integrating the fact that Cosmic Boy was originally born on Earth, something I’m fairly certain Levitz was the first to establish.
Although the fact that Cosmic Boy was looking for a job at fourteen had already been established.
And the rest is history.
It’s kind of neat to see Brande’s thought process when vetting the future Legionnaires.
I wouldn’t have minded if Levitz took the occasion to retcon the Legionnaires to be inspired by SuperMAN instead of SuperBOY, but they’re still technically inspired by the guy from the Pocket Universe.
The fact that two thirds of the founders come from planets where everyone has powers is brought up…
…and it WOULD have been a nice occasion to utilize the fact that Brande also comes from a planet of superpowered beings, thanks to the retcon of him being a Durlan shapeshifter.
But nope, not even an hint.
One interesting aspect is the idea that “non-Terran powers” are restricted on Earth. We don’t really get any real indication of that in actual stories, except some general distaste or suspicion for telepaths and shapeshifters.
The 30th century may be a utopia, but money still makes rich people above the law.
Marla from Ultra Boy’s origin story is also firmly established. His role in the original Legion is barely anything; he’ll get a little more to do in the reboot.
I’m not a huge fan of the retcon about Brande being Chameleon Boy’s father, but at least that’s been used in a couple of good stories.
The idea that Brande founded the Legion to find his son, however, leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It also makes little sense: if Brande is THIS powerful and influential, is this really the only way he could find his son? Even if he’s a shapeshifter, it’s a bit ridiculous.
Another returning firmly established point: that Triplicate Girl and Phantom Girl where the very first new recruits following the founders.
However it does NOT repeat a mistake done by previous retellings: Brainiac 5 is not mentioned as a member pre-dating Superboy. Just that he was working on time travel and would eventually join.
And finally we get a VERY cool two-page spread showcasing all the Legionnaires.
However the kids don’t believe the old man, because the Legion has already gathered a bunch of conspiracy theories.
Something that Brande is okay with.
Nice story, but was ANYONE fooled into believing it wasn’t Brande narrating this from the very beginning?
Legion significance: 6/10
Nothing really new, but it does consolidate previous retellings.
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Not really.
Does it stand the test of time? 9/10
Not a masterpiece, but up to this point it’s probably the best telling of the Legion origins.
There’s a lot of missed opportunities to explore stuff (most notably why the third richest man in the universe is taking a commercial flight), but it’s just a short celebratory story so we can probably excuse it.
I saw a meme recently of Paul McCartney riding in a train like an ordinary passenger. The subtext was that even the richest Beatle in the universe was a humble guy. I guess the Legion creators were trying to say the same thing about Brande. There’s something endearing about the third richest man in the universe who owns his own planetoid and goes around saying “By damn!” slumming with common folk.
I suspect that the writer of the original origin story didn’t give it much thought. However, it would have been difficult for Brande to interact with three ordinary teens if he traveled first class or in his own private cruiser.