The status of Mon-El in the 30th century is confusing at best, after the future was rebooted with LSH v4 #4. But as we already saw, his past 20th century incarnation already had a couple of adventures with the L.E.G.I.O.N.
But he didn’t limit himself to just that title, so let’s have a look at what else he was doing while Volume 4 was being published.
This time limiting to the appearances published in 1990; the ones from 1991 will be covered later, as will his 1992 regular series.
Also as a reminder: for clarity I’m still calling him Mon-El, even if in this period he’s still going by Lar Gand (which is his rarely used actual name); he hasn’t taken the superhero name Valor yet.
New Gods vol3 #17 (1990)
by Mark Evanier & Paris Cullins
Because the Legion is not complicated enough, Mon-El also ends up interacting with the very confusing New Gods relaunch from the 90s.
It’s taking place before Mon-El joins the L.E.G.I.O.N.
He drops by a planet that ends up being destroyed by the resurrection of one of the New Gods (Darkseid’s father Yuga Khan, if you’re curious).
And that’s all he does, really.
New Gods vol3 #18 (1990)
by Mark Evanier & Paris Cullins
Will Mon-El actually do something this time?
Well he helps some Thanagarians survive the destruction caused by Yuga Khan’s return.
Notice that he’s shown to be capable of interstellar travel: in this period Kryptonians couldn’t do it, but the same restriction doesn’t apply to Daxamites.
And again that’s all he does! I really don’t understand the point of having him show up in this series.
New Gods vol3 #19 (1990)
by Mark Evanier & Rick Hoberg
cover by Paris Cullins
This time he’s not even on the cover!
Mon-El only show up for 1 page, witnessing that Yuga Khan is becoming even more powerful, and that’s it.
New Gods vol3 #20 (1990)
by Mark Evanier & Rick Hoberg
It might be because I’m not intimately familiar with New Gods minutiae, but I find this series to be almost unreadable. Yuga Khan looks badass, though.
Why the heck was the bad guy in the Justice League movies called Steppenwolf when he resembles Yuga Khan WAY more???
It wouldn’t have made these movies good, sure, but “they’re fighting Darkseid’s father” would’ve sounded better.
Instead the movie villain was supposed to be THIS GUY.
And yes, this comic is so boring that I’m talking about about the DCEU instead.
Mon-El’s role is, you guessed it, witness the power of Yuga Khan and do nothing.
New Gods vol3 #21 (1990)
by Mark Evanier & Rick Hoberg
One last New Gods issue for 1990. Will Mon-El do ANYTHING AT ALL???
Yes, he FINALLY fights Yuga Khan!!!
Legion significance:0/10
WHY WAS HE EVEN IN THESE COMICS???
Silver Age-ness: snore / 10
Does it stand the test of time? zzz / 10
The Adventures of Superman Annual #2 (1990)
written by Dan Jurgens
pencils by Bob McLeod, Curt Swan & John Byrne
cover by John Byrne
Since Superman was never Superboy in post-Crisis continuity, this is technically speaking the first time he meets Mon-El.
We begin with Vril Dox crashing a L.E.G.I.O.N. ship into Earth. At this point Mon-El is already a member of the team.
Since the ship knocked off a planet, this looks like a job for Superman.
Superman catching a falling plane is of course a time-honored tradition. I like how nearly every post-Crisis incarnation highlights how it’s not an easy task, even for him!
At this point in his career, post-Crisis Superman hasn’t had that many alien encounters.
The reason why Vril Dox is on Earth is that he learned his father, the original Brainiac, is currently there. So he’s on a mission to kill him, for some reason without involving the full L.E.G.I.O.N.
Too bad the ship has been damaged so much that Dox and Mon-El risk being stranded on Earth forever. This is a bit weird: while it’s definitely true that this early in the post-Crisis era there are very few people on the planet capable of interstellar flight… Dox should DEFINITELY know they at least exist!
Luckily for them, they happen to find a giant underground installation.
There’s a reason for why Mon-El agreed to this mission. His father died to save Earth during Invasion!, so he’s looking for closure.
Meanwhile the rest of the L.E.G.I.O.N. has come to rescue them, and runs into Superman.
In the confusion, Lobo… who remember is working with the L.E.G.I.O.N… gets into a fight with Superman, confusing him for Mon-El in the mess created by the ship’s weapons.
The two had already met on Superman’s book, but Lobo was so incredibly drunk back then that he barely remembers!
Once Superman meets the L.E.G.I.O.N., he mistakes them talking about Vril Dox for them talking about Brainiac. Which is understandable, as technically the L.E.G.I.O.N. one is Vril Dox II and Brainiac is just Vril Dox.
Speaking of Vril Dox II, him and Mon-El have stumbled into the Project Cadmus underground base.
And Vril Dox is considered a clone of Brainiac… even though that’s a retcon, as his first appearance clearly stated he was his son… Cadmus mistakes him for the original Brainiac.
They’re going to need someone stronger than Guardian for the job.
As Superman sneaks into Project Cadmus, he recognizes the Lady Quark that joined L.E.G.I.O.N. is the same one that he met during Crisis On Infinite Earths.
It’s a bit more complicated… the Crisis one was from an alternate Earth, the L.E.G.I.O.N. one is an alien… but I can’t overstate how RARE it is to find a direct Crisis reference in this period.
Once again, the best way to showcase 12th-level intelligence is martial arts.
Unfortunately for Vril Dox, all he learns from the Cadmus database is that at this point Brainiac has left Earth.
Superman then fights Mon-El, believing he’s Brainiac’s bodyguard.
Mon-El should know about Superman thanks to his involvement with Invasion (in this period Superman isn’t particularly well-known outside of Earth, at least not yet)… but it seems he didn’t do his homework, relying on Dox’s intel.
While this is still relatively early in post-Crisis Superman’s career, he’s had years of experience fighting with his powers, while Mon-El has had a few months at best and hasn’t been significantly challenged. So the difference really shows.
Not that it’s an easy fight!
Especially when Lobo joins the fight as well.
Still… IT’S SUPERMAN.
Thankfully the situation gets resolved once the L.E.G.I.O.N. shows up. You have to love Vril Dox not accepting even the slightest responsibility.
He WAS the one trespassing after all.
But there’s still trouble, because someone is manipulating Cadmus’s manager Dubbilex into sabotaging the project’s nuclear reactor.
But with both Superman and Mon-El here, it’s not a big problem thanks to the Kryptonian time-honored tradition of throwing your problems into space.
As for the rest of the L.E.G.I.O.N., they’re busy dealing with a horde of Cadmus failed experiments.
Turns out there’s an entire society of outcasts living in the depths of Cadmus
Both Superman and the L.E.G.I.O.N. are horrified by this, but they have very sharp philosophical differences.
The one controlling Dubbilex was, of course, the original Brainiac.
Which will bring him to confront Vril Dox, but that’s outside the scope of my retrospective.
Legion significance: 0/10
You would think that the first meeting between Superman and Mon-El would be more important, but it’s nothing. Ironically, his meeting with the NEW Superboy will be far more significant.
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Not really.
Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
The artwork is a little distracting, as I’m not a huge fan of the shading technique. But overall it’s a pretty solid story for both Superman and L.E.G.I.O.N.
My only serious complains are that most of the L.E.G.I.O.N. is underutilized (most of them just show up), and while the moral conflict between Superman and Vril Dox at the end is excellent it has a glaring omission.
Why don’t we hear Mon-El’s position on this? He has a big falling out with Dox in the L.E.G.I.O.N. book, surely he should have taken Superman’s position here?