Legion of Super-Heroes v3 #46 (1988)
by Paul Levitz & Greg LaRoque
cover by Ken Steacy
That is one busy cover.
We begin with four Legionnaires secretly swearing an oath. There’s no mistaking Brainiac 5 for anyone else, and you can probably tell who the other guy is, but even knowing who the other two conspirators are… the one on the left doesn’t match, right?
This conspiracy is going to be an important part of the series up until issue 50, and its repercussions will influence the rest of Volume 3.
Polar Boy isn’t the most observant Legion leader, but even he noticed something is up.
Polar Boy, I rooted for you during the election… but you’ve been a constant supply of disappointment.
Another plot that is going to take a huge portion of these issues is the undercover mission of Chameleon Boy, who is trying to find Starfinger.
It’s not a bad plot, with Chameleon Boy swapping multiple identities until he’s recruited into the Starfinger gang, but I’m skipping most of it because to be honest I still can’t bring myself to care about Starfinger.
The legionnaires get some R&R, mostly because Greg LaRoque wants to draw hot women in swimsuits.
But jokes aside, it’s to show that Mon-El is not doing so well.
Honestly, considering his backstory it’s a wonder he’s not ALWAYS an emotional trainwreck!
We continue the plot of Atmos trying to join the Legion, and he really wishes we were still in the time where you could just demonstrate you have a new power and they’ll let you in without asking questions.
Shockingly, constantly boasting how much you are than anyone else doesn’t help you join the team.
Who does Atmos think he is, the Superman of the Super-Sons stories?
Atmos takes this with the grace you’d expect.
But back to the main plot, you might remember that Chameleon Boy went on his infiltration mission on his own, something that he’s apparently allowed to do as leader of the Espionage Squad.
Despite that, Polar Boy sends a team to extract him.
This is a great example of just how much of a trainwreck Polar Boy’s leadership has devolved into.
I don’t buy that he sent the Legionnaires to rescue Chameleon Boy because he fears for his safety; this is blatantly because Polar Boy feels threatened as a leader.
If the team didn’t show much respect for him before, this isn’t going to do him any good.
(also: feeling a little cold, Phantom Girl?)
Colossal Boy is still having trouble with the injury inflicted by Starfinger. You’d think that in the 30th century it wouldn’t be such a big problem, but I like showing that the Legionnaires can still be seriously wounded and not be magically fixed every single time.
If you think I’m being too harsh on Polar Boy, accusing him of thinking of his leadership more than of the team’s wellbeing… well, he basically admits it.
We’ve seen time and time again that Rimbor (Ultra Boy’s native planet) is a giant crime den, but never exactly how that worked.
Levitz drops an interesting bit of worldbuilding about it.
Shockingly, finding an undercover shapeshifter with a whole planet to search is not easy.
Is Dawnstar FINALLY going to be useful again???
Surprisingly yes! But when Phantom Girl finds Chameleon Boy, he gives her the Espionage Squad signal meaning “WTF are you doing here???”.
Yet another reason Polar Boy is bad at his job: the team he sent to extract Chameleon Boy against his wishes includes Phantom Girl.
You know, the Espionage Squad member who has worked with Chameleon Boy for years but has been pretty vocal in her disdain for Polar Boy?
He seriously expected HER to blow Chameleon Boy’s mission only to protect Polar Boy’s ego?
And finally, we have a nice interaction between Saturn Girl and Tellus.
He really has completely replaced Blok in the role of “alien who misunderstands humans”.
But it’s significant because Tellus catches a glimpse of the conspiracy.
Legion of Super-Heroes v3 #46 (1988)
written by Paul Levitz
pencils by Greg LaRoque & Pat Broderick
cover by Ken Steacy
The concept behind the cover is great… see Chameleon Boy’s shadow… but I don’t think it works with this style.
After the Legion prevents a disaster when a broadcasting tower blows up…
…the idea of a conspiracy is already dividing the Legionnaires.
And speaking of divisions: the mission to extract Chameleon Boy is going great!
Also note the recurring theme of Phantom Girl being a bit of an elitist against new members.
Then again, it’s hard NOT to be rude to Dawnstar.
Speaking of Chameleon Boy, he’s doing great rising through the ranks.
Chameleon Boy is great in this: he even uses his spare time to expose a rigged casino!
Back to the conspiracy: nobody knows what it IS yet, or who else is in it besides Saturn Girl… but you don’t slip secrets past the mistress of secrets.
Holy crap, Polar Boy, the galaxy doesn’t revolve around you!!!
The Khunds have picked the wrong time to get pushy, considering Mon-El is just waiting for an excuse to blow off some steam.
Tellus tries to talk with Shrinking Violet about the conspiracy, but this is the last issue where Greg LaRoque is the main artist and he wants to get all the fanservice out of his system first.
Eventually, Chameleon Boy does manage to get a meeting with Starfinger.
Also, because we don’t have enough subplots already, Colossal Boy has left on his own mission.
Since nobody will listen to him, Tellus decides to tell Duo Damsel all about the conspiracy.
Too bad SHE is part of the conspiracy as well!
Conspiracy to do what, exactly? We’ll have to wait a bit longer to learn it.
Legion significance: 7/10
The conspiracy is going to be VERY important, but at this point it’s mostly hints.
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Not really.
Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
Your opinion of these issue will depend a lot on how much you like the Legion being shown as dysfunctional, because they’re definitely at their worst here.
I don’t mind it, since it’s been setup for quite some time at this point.
From the conspirators acting everyone’s back, to Polar Boy wasting time and resources to boost his ego and completely failing to get any respect, to Tellus utterly failing at exposing the conspiracy because he’s too respectful of the older Legionnaires… nobody is safe from criticism here.
Well, nobody except Chameleon Boy. He’s doing just fine on his own.
While it does make for interesting drama and the stories are definitely not boring, it’s still a bit much. Makes you wonder how the Legion ever managed to get anything done.
We are legion
24 active Legionnaires
6 reserve members
12 deceased members
2 resigned members
1 honorary member
45 people have been members
50 people have been rejected
I’m adding Atmos to the rejects, under the criteria “lacks teamwork”. Although “is a jackass” would also have applied.
Interesting letters: the Laurel Kent storyline is not a fan-favorite.
Most letters about it are negative, but you can apparently mostly blame Steve Englehart.
Glad to see I’m not the only one frustrated by Dawnstar.
