Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #11 (1990)
story by Tom & Mary Bierbaum, Keith Giffen & Al Gordon
pencils by Craig Brasfield (main plot) Keith Giffen (Legion scenes)
cover by Keith Giffen
Finally something I was actually looking forward to: Matter-Eater Lad returns to Volume 4.
We begin with a commercial for a movie starring Matter-Eater Lad (or MEL for short).
I’d watch that.
Also, because it’s been a while and MEL will reference it constantly: he’s been a Senator for him his home planet Bismoll since Superboy #212.
Which itself is a reference to Adventure Comics #354, an Adult Legion story where we learn he eventually becomes President of Bismoll.
Superboy #212 also introduced Calorie Queen, who has the same powers of MEL plus super-strength. The fact that she wasn’t used between 1975 and 1990 is a complete waste of potential, as the fact that she’s back as MEL’s secretary… she doesn’t even use her powers.
MEL’s career is making increasingly deranged movies and documentaries, including one about the Giant Presidents of Bismoll.
Yep. He’s UNIRONICALLY doing the meme.
Although, given that this is the DC Universe, the existence of giant aliens resembling US Presidents isn’t THAT implausible.
Case in point, MEL even finds actual evidence.
Specifically, he obviously found the Batcave.
While I don’t think it’s ever been made explicit canon, the idea that Gotham City is in New Jersey is a popular one.
That MEL found the Batcave shouldn’t be too surprising, since the Legion DID visit in Adventure Comics #341. That’s him on the left.
Too bad we can’t ask Bill Finger to confirm the location of the Batcave. But he does have strong opinions on MEL’s theory.
As ridiculous as these TV shows are, there’s a reason for it: they’re MEL’s way of finding an excuse to get back to Earth.
I’d watch that.
In the meantime, we learn the aftermath of last issue’s events through the news.
Roxxas is SOMEHOW still at large. And I have to ask, spoilers be damned… does a future issue clarify that he has some kind of protection about telepathy?
If not, how the heck is SATURN GIRL unable to find him???
Chameleon Boy and Ultra Boy are believed dead. I’m not adding either to the count as such because we will learn VERY soon that it’s not the case.
Celeste Rockfish, who I must once again remind you hasn’t done anything yet, is in critical condition. Bounty (hasn’t done anything yet) and Lightning Lord are fine, and Devlin O’Ryan (another new supporting character who hasn’t done anything yet) is listed under “allergic reaction”.
Because surely that’s newsworthy when reporting a terrorist attack against the most famous people on your planet.
This is a classic case of Keigh Giffen overindulging with his trademark dark humor at the expense of the story. Roxxas is hunted by the whole planet (INCLUDING A TELEPATH ANT THE SMARTEST MAN IN THE UNIVERSE) and has been hurt very badly.
But he’s still able to avoid capture when he breaks into a clinic and brutalizes the staff???
In fact, much later in the story, he’s STILL AT LARGE.
Also, is that Antennae Lad from Adventure Comics #305 or just a member of his species?
Speaking of the smartest man in the universe, we get Brainiac 5’s comments on the condition of the other characters. I really like the idea of him suggesting to Chameleon Boy to rearrange his organs!
I do have to question his “thank the Muses”, though. Feels very off-character for Brainy.
It should be noted that Brainiac 5 has already figured out the real identity of Bounty.
Can we even classify that as a mystery since she hasn’t done anything?
Can we please have ONE Brainiac 5 appearance where he’s not giving up???
He should at least FREAKING TRY coming up with something completely bonkers!!! Suggest sending her to the Phantom Zone, turning her into a Bizarro, ANYTHING!!!
Back to the MEL plot, he finds out that Polar Boy has been arrested for inciting a rebellion.
I would pardon him just based on the fact that he ditched his awful costume and went back to the classic.
The weird speech bubbles are because MEL and Shvaughn Erin are having a parallel mind conversation thanks to the Telepathic Earplugs™.
That’s a great use of an existing part of Legion lore! Although I’m a bit surprised the Science Police doesn’t have a way to monitor something like this… then again, it’s the Science Police.
Something else I really like: MEL is able to run circles around the Dominators because they consider him too ridiculous to be a threat. That’s a fantastic use of MEL!
MEL is going to represent Polar Boy at the trial. Notice the sight gag of MEL lighting his pipe just to eat it!
MEL’s plan is to turn the trial into a media circus, to avoid Earth’s government from making Polar Boy quietly disappear.
Too bad MEL’s legal expertise is just watching episodes of Future Perry Mason.
But he does start by talking with the prosecutor. I would normally criticize this scene for not being futuristic enough for the 30th century… but this place is from 2219, so it makes sense.
This might be my favorite MEL sight gag of all time: eating a full ashtray and adding a bit of salt.
I don’t question the existence of technology like this in the Legion universe, but I have to imagine it’s not particularly reliable or we would’ve seen it used A LOT more.
Since we previously learned that 30th century crime is so low that Earth has like twenty police officers, it’s not surprising that trials are very fast.
MEL spends the night studying the case. Nothing a good cup of motor oil can’t fix!
In addition to being in the actual trial, MEL is also starring in his own new TV show.
Since it’s for a Bismoll audience though, would they really be impressed by the fact that he can eat anything when everyone on the planet can do the same?
I’d still watch the show.
The trial is not off to a great start… for the judge.
I can’t decide whether this is a genius defense or lunacy. Probably the latter.
Playing off his earlier (deliberate) misunderstanding of the judge’s words, MEL tries to argue that Polar Boy is a Green Lantern and therefore should be deported until Monday.
Keith Giffen’s humor can be hit-or-miss, and in particular his treatment of the Subs can be questionable. But I do find this issue truly hilarious.
The judge is not a fan.
I have the strong suspicion that this is legal nonsense, but that’s kind of the point right?
After all, MEL didn’t REALLY need to win the case: he just needed the give the prosecutor any excuse to drop it, and the fact that she thinks he’s hot helps.
At the end, thanks to a very necessary splash page…
…we find out that Ultra Boy is now on the Khund home planet, SOMEHOW.
I’m as confused as you are as to why in the world Ultra Boy was sent to another planet by an explosive used by Roxxas. But don’t worry, things will make even less sense in future issues because he’s also been thrown into another time. SOMEHOW.
How is it possible that the text review for the MEL legal show makes more sense than this subplot?
The Grid: 10 pages out of 24
10 pages with an imperfect grid
2 pages without a perfect grid
1 splash page
1 text page
Legion significance: 6/10
The specific events don’t really matter, but this effectively introduces a new characterization for Matter-Eater Lad that is going to last the rest of the era. And even beyond that.
Silver Age-ness: 2/10
It’s a bit too meta, but some of the ridiculousness echoes it.
Depression scale: 3/10
Would be higher if the series gave me ANY reason to care about Celeste Rockfish.
Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
Words cannot express how refreshing it is to finally have a story that can be followed, has both nuance and humor, and is not constantly trying to be edgy.
MEL’s story is by no means a masterpiece, but next to the stories that preceded it might as well be.
His goofball persona could potentially be grating, but I found him endearing. Mostly because he’s not doing it just to be annoying, there’s a point to his madness! Well, up to a point at least.
For crying out loud, when was the last time you saw a character in this series WHO WAS HAVING FUN DOING THE RIGHT THING?
Also as you might have noticed, all the scenes focusing on MEL are by Craig Brasfield. While it’s nothing groundbreaking, it’s a welcomed break from The Grid: he uses the Perfect Grid for a few pages, but it’s mostly imperfect grids with lots of variations.
Brasfield doesn’t have a ton of credits: at DC he’s penciled a couple stories and half a dozen “Who’s who”, and about 16 at Marvel. He seems to have disappeared from comics after 1995.
It’s also FINALLY a story that can be followed easily and isn’t trying to be cryptic.
If this was JUST the MEL plot, I would have given it an easy 9/10 if not even a 10/10.
But then there’s the rest, which really holds it back. There’s the Grid, there’s the continuous embarrassment of Roxxas still being at large for no reason, there’s the defeatist interpretation of Brainiac 5 that you know I despise, and in general whenever we move away from the MEL plot: 
We are legion
The Legion is still officially disbanded. But not for long.
0 active Legionnaires
0 reserve members
43 resigned members
10 deceased members
53 people have been members
51 people have been rejected
Interesting letters: a snapshot of the two kinds of letters that you can typically find in this period.
This letter confuses me. I completely agree that these stories are nasty and self-indulgent, but David thinks these are… positive qualities?
From what I can tell, reader reaction to Laurel Gand was positive but there was a lot of criticism for the retcons. I disagree with Todd’s idea that continuity should just be “whatever”: while it’s a positive to have enough wiggle room to keep things vague enough to avoid restraining the writers… the opposite approach of “anything goes” is detrimental to a series.
Case in point: it’s KIND OF IMPORTANT whether you still consider the Computo and the Time Trapper stories or not!!!
But the most controversial part of Laurel seems to have been the stripperific nature of her first appearances.
The idea that 5YL is more readable when read without waiting a month between issues is a popular one between its fans, and it dates back to the beginning.
I disagree. I’ve attempted to read it as a single block more than once and I always find it barely readable.
And finally, am I the one that finds the exclusive use of civilian names to be irritating? Especially when all the recaps have to specify the “previously Codename” for everybody?
It made perfect sense for the very few issues, where the team had been separated for years and nobody was doing any hero work, but I feel it overstayed its welcome.
