Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #4

Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #4 (2011)
by Chris Roberson & Jeff Moy
cover by Phil Jimenez

This is a good cover! Until you realize there is no Timber Wolf in this story.
Or what I assume is supposed to be Sun Boy.
Or a space fire dragon.
Come to think of it, maybe it’s not a good cover.

Why didn’t they go with the alternative cover by Chris Sprouse? Sure it’s nothing special, but at least all the characters are in the story!!!

The Terran Emperor is informed about the interference of time travelers. He’s surprised by this because “he” should have warned him.
Keep this in mind for next issue.

Meanwhile, have half of each team is traveling into the past to identify the point of divergence where history was changed.
It’s a bumpy ride; perhaps a minor reference to the countless times the Enterprise is shaken because something hits the shields.

Some more bickering between teams.

I think the miniseries has been overusing the “Chekov boasts everything has been invented in Russia” running gag… he doesn’t do it THAT often in the original series… but it was worth it just to have this panel.

The time machine eventually krashes into the past, there’s an unexpected welcoming committee.

Since the caveman have advanced technology, they provide a chance for an action scene.

This is kind of funny because Star Trek’s Earth has been visited by TONS of advanced races, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they find out one of them armed the cavemen… but instead turns out that the time machine just took a wrong exit.
Leave it to the Legion to be late using a time machine, AGAIN.

Too bad the Legion is not from the Marvel Universe, otherwise they could’ve told Chekov that there IS one Russian with magnetic powers…

…one of the Super-Apes of the Red Ghost.
Which I bring up because:
1) he totally counts
2) I can’t think of any other Russian character with magnetic powers
3) I get to use this hilarious panel

The cavemen are mind-controlled, so Saturn Girl leads the team to the source.

But that will have to wait for the cliffhanger. Because while this was going on, the other half of the team is in the 23rd century waiting for an opportunity to infiltrate the Terran Empire headquarters.
An opportunity that comes with a prisoner being transported.

So they knock out both the guards and the prisoner, stealing the uniforms.

Told you that the only reason for including Shadow Lass in the story was to have Captain Kirk (surprisingly off-model in this panel) hit on a blue-skinned hot alien chick.

There’s only three uniforms (Kirk, Sulu and Lightning Lad); the others are uniforms for the Talokians that leave much of the skin exposed, and a Dominator which is hard to confuse with any other species.
Of course this is the ideal situation for Chameleon Boy, but surprisingly Uhura is going to struggle avoiding attracting attention.

The way this team infiltrates the headquarters is just pure concentrated James T. Kirk.

No notes. Perfect representation of the character.

Too bad they couldn’t give Uhura ANTHING to do.

At this point the two plots re-unite, because both the team in cavemen times and the one in the 23rd century discover who is behind the entire thing.

And it’s actually TWO villains: Vandal Savage and Flint.

Well, I said “villains” but that’s not exactly true… Flint is from the Star Trek episode “Requiem for Methuselah“, and he wasn’t really a bad guy.
And he absolutely did not look like Vandal Savage’s cousin.

The final page makes it look like this is an Amalgam fusion between Vandal and Flint…

…but next issue will make things weirder.

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Does any of this show up in any regular continuity?
As far as I know, the Legion has never actually met Vandal Savage. But they do fight with Ra’s Al Ghul in the reboot.

SHOULD any of this have happened in regular continuity?
Yeah why HASN’T the Legion met Vandal Savage? We know he’s going to live waaaaay past the 31st century!

Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Not really.

Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
Not as solid as the previous issue, but not anywhere near as decompressed as the first two issues.
My only complain is that the vast majority of characters don’t get to do ANYTHING… only Kirk, Spock, Saturn Girl and Brainiac 5 have a serious impact.
I’ve already complained about Uhura getting nothing to do, but the one to really suffer is Lighting Lad. Other than throwing a couple of bolts, he has done absolutely nothing so far.