As a special treat to celebrate the first incarnation of the Legion, let’s take a look at how the awards stack up against each other!
I have to say the Legion Awards are one of the most fun traditions of the retrospective.
I started doing them with the Hamilton run and then retroactively created one for the Pre-history.
It’s mostly for fun and not to be taken too seriously, but some of these awards have led to some very hard choices! Whether it’s because there are too many good stories and characters in a specific era, or too many stinkers.
So this got me thinking: why not try having the previous award winners compete against each other?
Obviously I’m not doing the three generic categories this time… choosing the most significant era, the most Silver Age era, and the one who has stood best the test of time… would be kind of ridiculous. Everything else is fair game!
To be clear: the only eligible entries must have won the respective Award in a previous edition.
So without further ado… ladies and gentlemen: the Legion Awards Of Awards!
BEST LEGIONNAIRE
I will do a separate ranking of ALL Legionnaires, but this is something else entirely.
Who has won Best Legionnaire the most times?
Pre-History: Saturn Girl (1)
Hamilton era: Saturn Girl (2)
Shooter era: Karate Kid (1)
Action Comics era: Matter-Eater Lad (1)
Superboy era: Duo Damsel (1)
Superboy & LSH era: Chameleon Boy (1)
Pre-Darkness era: Wildfire (1)
Great Darkness era: Saturn Girl (3)
Post-Darkness era: Colossal Boy (1)
Volume 3, pre-Crisis: Princess Projectra (1)
Volume 3, post-Crisis: Saturn Girl (4)
Volume 3, Endgame: four-way tie, Saturn Girl (5), Duo Damsel (2), Brainiac 5 (1), Mon-El (1)
Unsurprisingly if you’ve been following the Legion Awards, but Saturn Girl is the queen of this category by winning an astounding FIVE TIMES.
Interestingly, Duo Damsel is the ONLY other Legionnaire who has won more than once!
Considering I didn’t pay attention to whether someone had already won a trophy before deciding each new winner, that’s an impressive testament to how any Legionnaire can be the star.
But the Legion Award of Awards for Best Legionnaire unquestionably belongs to Saturn Girl.
WORST LEGIONNAIRE
Pre-History: Star Boy (1)
Hamilton era: Command Kid (1) and Dynamo Boy (1)
Shooter era: Nemesis Kid (1)
Action Comics era: Mon-El (1)
Superboy era: Cosmic Boy (1)
Superboy & LSH era: Light Lass (1)
Pre-Darkness era: Cosmic Boy (2)
Great Darkness era: Chameleon Boy (1)
Post-Darkness era: Dawnstar (1)
Volume 3, pre-Crisis: Dawnstar (2)
Volume 3, post-Crisis: Cosmic Boy (3)
Volume 3, Endgame: Polar Boy (1)
Another result that you probably expected, but the Legion Award of Awards for Worst Legionnaire goes to Cosmic Boy.
Good thing he’s about to get a MASSIVE improvement because he was the biggest disappointment of this retrospective.
MOST IMPROVED LEGIONNAIRE
This is a weird one because the trophy didn’t exist until the Shooter era, but it’s still worth checking.
Shooter era: Duo Damsel (1)
Action Comics era: Element Lad (1)
Superboy era: Shrinking Violet (1)
Superboy & LSH era: Ultra Boy (1)
Pre-Darkness era: Superboy (1)
Great Darkness era: Brainiac 5 (1)
Post-Darkness era: Cosmic Boy (1)
Volume 3, pre-Crisis: Lightning Lass (1)
Volume 3, post-Crisis: Princess Projectra (1)
Volume 3, Endgame: Chlorophyll Kid (1) and Chemical King (1)
Okay that is incredible because I assure you that I did not plan this out, but NOBODY has won this award more than once!!!
Meaning the Legion Awards of Awards for Most Improved Legionnaire should go to either nobody or to the entire roster.
BEST VILLAIN
Pre-History: the Brain-Globes (1)
Hamilton era: Computo (1)
Shooter era: the Sun-Eater (1)
Action Comics era: Bureau of Revenue and Taxation (1) from Action Comics 387
Superboy era: Validus (1)
Superboy & LSH era: Infinite Man (1)
Pre-Darkness era: Grimbor (1)
Great Darkness era: Computo (2)
Post-Darkness era: Mordru (1)
Volume 3, pre-Crisis: Nemesis Kid (1)
Volume 3, post-Crisis: Universo (1)
Volume 3, Endgame: Time Trapper (1)
I’m very surprised that the Fatal Five have never won a Best Villain award! They showed up often on the podium, but they always happened to share the era with more impressive adversaries.
Too bad because they’re the most consistently well-written villains, as both the Time Trapper and Mordru have extremely unflattering eras.
This leaves Computo as the only villain to win the award more than once, something remarkable considering he has VERY few appearances… basically the only two that granted him an award!
So yeah, the Legion Award of Awards for Best Villains goes to Computo.
WORST VILLAIN
And speaking of rough patches, on the other side of the spectrum…
Pre-History: the Legion of Super-Heroes (1)
Hamilton era: Mask Man (1) from Adventure Comics 310
Shooter era: Prince Evillo (1)
Action Comics era: Zorla (1) from Action Comics 382
Superboy era: Mordru (1)
Superboy & LSH era: Arma Getten (1) from Superboy and the LSH 237
Pre-Darkness era: Mordru (2)
Great Darkness era: the second Composite Superman (1) from World’s Finest 284
Post-Darkness era: Omen (1)
Volume 3, pre-Crisis: Pulsar Stargrave (1)
Volume 3, post-Crisis: Mordru (3)
Volume 3, Endgame: Archmage (1)
…yeah.
MOST FANSERVICE LEGIONNAIRE
This is another weird award to analyze because, in addition to being a late addition, sometimes I just didn’t give the award and sometimes the winner wasn’t technically a Legionnaire.
So to shake things up, I’m also counting protagonists of the “most fanservice panel”.
Superboy era: Dream Girl (1, panel)
Superboy & LSH era: Princess Projectra (1, winner), Dawnstar (1, panel)
Pre-Darkness era: Lightning Lass (1), Dawnstar (2, panel)
Great Darkness era: Mon-El (1, panel)
Post-Darkness era: Laurel Kent (1, winner), Shrinking Violet (1, panel)
Volume 3, pre-Crisis: Laurel Kent (2, winner), Brainiac 5 (1, panel)
Volume 3, post-Crisis: Dream Girl (3, both winner and panel)
Volume 3, Endgame: Shrinking Violet (2, winner), Mon-El (2, panel)
Unsurprisingly, even with a couple of strong contenders… the Legion Award of Awards for Most Fanservice Legionnaire goes to Dream Girl.
And now the greatest challenge of all: the best and the worst Legion stories.
I’m not going to attempt figuring out how I could possibly define the most influential one.
BEST STORY
Pre-History: Adventure Comics #247 (the first Legion story)
Hamilton era: Adventure Comics 342 (“The Trial of Star Boy”)
Shooter era: Adventure Comics #357 (“The Ghost Of Ferro Lad”)
Action Comics era: Action Comics #381 (Matter-Eater Lad’s life)
Superboy era: Superboy 211 (Element Lad confronts Roxxas)
Superboy & LSH era: Superboy and the LSH 233 (Infinite Man)
Pre-Darkness era: Legion of Super Heroes #283 (Wildfire’s life)
Great Darkness era: Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #1 (Computo returns)
Post-Darkness era: Legion of Super Heroes #306 (Star Boy’s life)
Volume 3, pre-Crisis: Legion of Super-Heroes v3 #4-5 (Karate Kid’s death)
Volume 3, post-Crisis: Legion of Super-Heroes v3 #32 to #35 (the Universo Project)
Volume 3, Endgame: Legion of Super-Heroes v3 #50 (“Life And Death And The End Of Time”)
Wow, what a tough choice!!! There are stories that are surprisingly absent, I know, but most of the eras had lots of strong contenders for the podium.
This is very very hard to pick, because they’re very different kind of stories: some are focused on a single Legionnaire or on a select group, some are an epic fight, and some are whole storylines.
In terms of personal favorites, I’m tempted to pick “Life And Death And The End Of Time”… but it focused on few Legionnaires. The Universo Project is also a strong contender, but has a similar problem in that most of the team is being mind-controlled.
The Computo Annual is a VERY strong story, if we’re talking about epicness Infinite Man’s story is hard to beat, and Action Comics #381 is shockingly modern.
But if we’re trying to represent what the Legion is about, I’m really torn between the complex moral dynamics of “The Trial of Star Boy” and emotional punch of “The Ghost Of Ferro Lad”.However there’s just ONE tiny thing that holds back “The Trial of Star Boy”… half of the team feels completely flat thanks to the poorly aged decision to have all the girls vote for Star Boy because he has a girlfriend.
So, with what is BY FAR the toughest call I’ve ever had to make in this retrospective… the Legion Award of Awards for Best Story goes to Adventure Comics #357, “The Ghost Of Ferro Lad”.
WORST STORY
Hopefully it won’t be AS hard to call out the worst of the worst.
Pre-History: Adventure Comics #267 (“Prisoner of the super-heroes”)
Hamilton era: Adventure Comics 330 (Dynamo Boy)
Shooter era: Adventure Comics #351 (Prince Evillo)
Action Comics era: Action Comics 382 (the one where the villain kills herself for no reason)
Superboy era: Superboy 215, second story (Cosmic Boy is a dick)
Superboy & LSH era: Superboy and the LSH 250 (Omega)
Pre-Darkness era: The Brave and the Bold #179 (Batman meets the Legion)
Great Darkness era: Legion of Super-Heroes #289 (Part 2) (the Orando story)
Post-Darkness era: Legion of Super-Heroes #307 to 310 (Omen)
Volume 3, pre-Crisis: Tales of the Legion #321-323 (Dawnstar being insufferable)
Volume 3, post-Crisis: Cosmic Boy #1 to #3 (‘nuff said)
Volume 3, Endgame: Legion of Super-Heroes v3 #60 to #63 (the Magic Wars)
We really had to get through some crap, didn’t we?
Some of these are incredibly dumb stories but they’re still entertaining!
You can make fun of Adventure Comics #267 and of Dynamo Boy for making no sense, Prince Evillo is hilarious, and some of these won the category because they’re just boring.
LSH #289 is the only one of these that I don’t consider a BAD story: it’s just unfortunate to be inside the Great Darkness Saga.
The same can’t be said for LSH 250 which is just badly written, and Superboy #215 starts the downward spiral of Cosmic Boy.
That leaves the stories that actually made me upset: the Omen storyline that went nowhere, Tales Of The Legion that made me despise Dawnstar, and the Cosmic Boy miniseries which is just embarrassing.
HOWEVER, these three had positive traits: Omen has some neat ideas that are just handled poorly, Tales Of The Legion has good artwork, and Cosmic Boy is fun if you read it as a comedy.
So, while I tried my hardest to avoid the recency bias and focus too much on the most recent reviews… there is one storyline that has too many things against it.
Meaning that the Legion Awards of Awards for Worst Story goes to Legion of Superheroes v3 #60 to #63, “the Magic Wars”.
And now for something simpler: the panel-specific awards!
BEST REACTION SHOTS
Starting from one of the oldest categories, which skipped a few eras.
Here are ALL the previous winners.
And the winner of the Legion Award of Awards for Best Reaction Shot… is the entire reason for the creation of the category, this gem from Adventure Comics 316.
WORST REACTION SHOT
The candidates:
It takes A LOT of talent to beat Keith Giffen in his “everyone has a weird expression” phase… but Carmine Infantino makes it with LSH 289 (Part 2).
Therefore the Legion Award of Awards for Worst Reaction Shot goes to this lovely Element Lad masterpiece.
MOST SILVER AGE PANEL
Be prepared to lose brain cells with the previous winners.
So many contenders there! But to be a REAL Silver Age panel, it helps to make no sense AND include clunkly exposition.
Something that Adventure Comics 345 manages to do in the next-to-last panel of the Hamilton era, itself probably the most Silver Age era.
Meaning the Legion Award of Awards for Most Silver Age Panel goes to:
MOST MEME-WORTHY PANEL
I’m sure at least ONE of these has been a meme at some point.
Specifically the panel from Action Comics #289, which wins the Legion Award of Awards for Most Meme-Worthy panel.
MOST FANSERVICE PANEL
Keep your pants on for the previous winners, even if they don’t.
The winner is naturally the only full frontal nudity we’ve seen from a Legionnaire who isn’t Tellus, meaning the Legion Award of Awards for Most Fanservice Panel goes to Dream Girl’s money shot from Legion of Super-Heroes vol3 #20 (Part 2).
BEST ALIEN DESIGN
I’m not judging, but please still keep your pants on.
It’s sacrilegious NOT to give the honor to a John Forte design, since his creatures are the whole reason this category exists… and Chameleon Boy’s gelatinous lawyer from the Great Darkness Saga is a masterpiece… but there is one that stands above others, because only for ONE of them we ever got an explanation for they they look that way.
For the first time someone praises their looks, the Legion Award of Awards for the Best Alien Design goes to the Gil’Dishpan.
BEST PANEL
Another though choice!!!
All have their own merits, but only one tells a complete story on its own.
WORST PANEL
A couple are bad from the context, but most simply look like crap.
But only one of these panels makes me lose my appetite.
The Legion Awards of Awards for Worst Panel goes to Legion of Super-Heroes v2 #295.
BEST SPLASH PAGE
How to easily feature in this category: have Validus or Projectra, apparently.
But seriously, there are three good reasons to have a splash page.
A huge action spectacle, a shocking reveal, or something so amazing you can’t convey its awesomeness in a single panel.
And the latter is the reason why the Legion Award of Awards for Best Splash Page goes to Legion of Super-Heroes #288 with the coronation of Queen Projectra. Can’t you just FEEL an awesome piece of triumphant music with Latin choirs in the background?
WORST SPLASH PAGE
Much to my surprise, the award has been done ONCE.
Because of exactly zero competition, the Legion Awards of Awards for Worst Splash Page goes to this totally necessary page of Legion of Super-Heroes vol3 #61.
BEST COVER
Another though category, as the Legion has some LEGENDARY covers!!!
But I have to support the cover that wouldn’t look out of place as an album cover or a movie poster.
The Legion Awards of Awards for Best Cover goes to Legion of Super-Heroes vol3 #50.
WORST COVER
Most of these aren’t even BAD, they just have the misfortune of sharing the spotlight with great covers.
Except this one.
The Legion Awards of Awards for Worst Cover goes to Justice League of America 148.
And finally, some notable miscellaneous silly categories covered over the years.
These are all repeats, so please consider it a “best of the Legion Awards” reel.
WORST REASON TO REJECT A LEGIONNAIRE
MOST REPEATED PANELS
MOST REPEATED BANKRUPCY
LEAST PLOT RELEVANT BANKRUPCY
LEAST SCIENTIFICALLY ACCURATE PANEL
MOST JOHN FORTE PANEL
BEST TECHNOBABBLE
BEST INVENTION OF ALL TIME
WORST CATCHPHRASE
MOST FRUNT PANEL
MOST NSFW CODENAME
BEST BEARD
WORST MOUSTACHE
BEST HAIRSTYLE CHANGE
BEST SEX CHANGE
And that’s it! Thank you for following the Legion Awards of Awards. To celebrate the milestone, what better way than a musical number?
THE LEGION DANCE-OFF
And the Legion Awards of Awards for Best Dancer goes to Supergirl!
Shake those hips, Kara!
“The Ghost of Ferro Lad” is a good choice, but it features so few Legionnaires (only five–everyone else is on a mission) that I feel it’s more of an outlier.
Going out on a limb, I’ll say the best Legion story from the Shooter era is one you dislike: Adventure 350-351. Almost every Legionnaire has something to do, and there are a lot of surprises such as the Hag turning out to be Dream Girl’s sister. The plot twists are clever, including how the Subs procure Comet’s footprints. Many supporting characters are worked in–the Subs, the Super-Pets, Mxyzptlk–but nothing feels rushed or crowded. E. Nelson Bridwell paces the story well, and the Curt Swan/George Klein art is awesome, as always.
Sure, there are coincidences such as the three “defective” Legionnaires being captured and the scientist conveniently curing them. And the green kryptonite cloud covering the earth is never mentioned again. It provides a week rationale for stripping Superboy and Supergirl of their memories, but so much was done with this device. Supergirl doesn’t recognize the Subs and uses the Super-Pets to attack them; nevertheless, the plucky Subs succeed in their mission. Superboy’s trip with Mon-El to Mxyzptlk’s dimension gives them a rare brother bonding.
There are wonderful character moments such as Invisible Kid standing up to the much more powerful Ultra Boy. Cham’s fourth-wall-breaking reference to Spider-Man is unnecessary, but he’s entitled to some crowing since he has just used spider-powers to subdue one of the bank guard monsters. Cosmic Boy magnetically hurls the ironed-up Ferro Lad like a cannonball into some goons, an imaginative use of teamwork.
Evillo may be underwhelming as a villain, but he and his cronies do an effective job of dividing and conquering the Legionnaires. Apollo seduces Saturn Girl, and when Lightning Lad intervenes to grab the present meant for her, he finds it’s a trap meant for him. The one-armed Lightning Lad tries to get the best of Evillo but is again tricked, this time into firing a weapon that only increases the villain’s power. The Hag foreshadows Ferro Lad’s death. The goofiness of Sugyn drinking a river and blowing it out to capture Bouncing Boy is the Silver Age at its finest: outwardly silly but with its own internal logic.
The story ends happily with the entire Legion being reunited and whole. It’s a bittersweet ending considering what happens in the next two issues, but, to me, it represents the apex of the Silver Age Legion.
I can see the logic. But since it didn’t win the “Best story” award of its era, it wasn’t eligible for the Awards of Awards.
Understood. Then I support (with some reservations) your choice because the “The Ghost of Ferro Lad” plays off the camaraderie and loyalty of the team. I also agree with “The Legionnaire Who Killed” as a strong contender except for the poorly aged sexism. In some ways, though, the latter story represents more of what the Legion is about because it focuses on the rules of being a Legionnaire (something that separated the Legion from most other teams) and how seriously the team takes it when someone breaks those rules. Star Boy loses (rare for a hero back then), but he still wins by getting the girl and being accepted into the Subs.
The more I think about it, neither of these stories truly represents what the Legion is about because the former features such as small team and the latter is more of a legal drama without the team going up against a villain or demonstrating their powers and teamwork. Both are still excellent stories and hold up better than most of the others on the list. Tough call indeed.
That was fun – thank you!