Before we get to Volume 4, we have to talk about a series that has a big impact on the Legion of Super-Heroes despite being set in the 20th century.
Only the first 8 issues are published before Volume 4, but I will talk about the impact of the rest the series as well.
L.E.G.I.O.N. #1 (1989)
written by Keith Giffen & Alan Grant
pencils by Barry Kitson
cover by Kevin Maguire
The first issues shares the same cover date of LSH #58 and Wanderers #11.
It’s arguably the only successful spin-off of Invasion!, considering it lasts an impressive 70 issues, meaning it will be running parallel to the ENTIRE “Five Years Later” era.
You can see from the cover our initial cast: Brainiac 2, or Vril Dox as he will almost universally be called throughout the series, is on the poster.
Then we have the rocky Strata, the mysterious Stealth, Garryn Bek (who we saw in Invasion), Lyrissa Mallor (ancestor to Shadow Lass), and a yet unnamed Durlan.
Stealth’s thing is that she can make herself invisible to most sensors thanks to sound powers, which is right there from the start.
This series has probably the most amount of lore for Colu that we receive throughout the entire history of DC Comics.
Specifically this is post-Crisis Colu, but it keeps some of the original lore: the Computer Tyrants are still a huge problem.
But in THIS version they didn’t build Brainiac a robot, because in this continuity Brainiac is just a guy who betrays his entire planet.
The robot Brainiac is cool and all, but I’ve always preferred this interpretation. I really, REALLY like the idea that this guy is so ruthless he basically betrayed his planet to help Skynet!!!
In pre-Crisis continuity, Vril Dox 2 was just a random kid “adopted” by Brainiac.
Here he’s his ACTUAL son, which restores the idea of Brainiac 5 being a direct descendant of the original Brainiac.
Interestingly we don’t hear anything about the mother of Brainiac 2; I’m pretty sure there are future references to Brainiac 2 begin a clone of Brainiac 1.
The original Brainiac will end up on Earth to have his fights with Superman, leaving his son as a dangling plot threat. I’m going to refer to the son as “Vril Dox” for the remainder of this, since most characters do.
Vril Dox is hands down the best part of L.E.G.I.O.N. He’s a cold manipulative a-hole who just happens to be (mostly) on the side of the good guys, so even when he’s TECHNICALLY doing the right thing everyone hates him.
Most of the time for good reasons.
L.E.G.I.O.N. #2 (1989)
written by Keith Giffen & Alan Grant
pencils by Barry Kitson
Case in point: the team escapes captivity from the Computer Tyrants by causing a MASSIVE explosion. Without consideration for the casualties.
Eventually the team is able to depose the Computer Tyrants, which is what REALLY puts them on the map.
90% of this series in a nutshell.
L.E.G.I.O.N. #3 (1989)
written by Keith Giffen & Alan Grant
pencils by Barry Kitson
The remaining 10% is this:
This issue also has the closest thing to a post-Crisis version of Pulsar Stargrave. He’ll be around for a while.
L.E.G.I.O.N. #4 (1989)
written by Keith Giffen & Alan Grant
pencils by Barry Kitson
The main reason there even IS a team at all is that, in this period, the Green Lantern Corps is in shambles.
That’s the origin of the name L.E.G.I.O.N., which stands for “Licensed Extra-Governmental Interstellar Operatives Network”.
They’re basically mercenaries hired by planets to keep the peace. Except for when Vril Dox acts without anyone’s approval… which, come to think of it, is nearly always what happens.
L.E.G.I.O.N. #5 (1989)
written by Keith Giffen & Alan Grant
pencils by Barry Kitson
Since Garryn Bek is one of the main characters, it’s important to know that his planet Cairn is basically the drug capital of the Galaxy. Weird that we don’t see it much in the 30th century, as the “bad planet” role has mostly been taken by Rimbor.
One of the things that definitely helped the team’s popularity is that Lobo was a member.
Well, “team member” is probably an overstatement. He’s hired help, first recruited to assassinate the mob boss of Cairn.
Who just happens to be Garryn’s father-in-law, eve though Garryn was a police officer.
Because Garryn is kind of an idiot.
L.E.G.I.O.N. #6 (1989)
written by Keith Giffen & Alan Grant
pencils by Barry Kitson
Vril Dox deposes the drug lord in the most Vril Dox way possible.
While you can’t argue about the results with Vril Dox, you can argue A LOT about the methods.
L.E.G.I.O.N. #7 (1989)
written by Keith Giffen & Alan Grant
pencils by Barry Kitson
Stealth hasn’t done much up to this point, but this is when she goes crazy because of something related to her alien nature.
L.E.G.I.O.N. #8 (1989)
written by Keith Giffen & Alan Grant
pencils by Barry Kitson
After Stealth has nearly killed Vril Dox in a frenzy, we learn two important things about our cast.
First, that she’s VERY alien and not always in control of her actions.
But more importantly: Strata is going through puberty, and we learn she’s actually a girl!
As for Lyrissa, we learn the reason why she was a prisoner of the Dominators during Invasion is that her planet sold her as hostage. And we learn she has a daughter, who we’ll see later.
And that’s all the Legion-related stuff happening in the 8 issues of L.E.G.I.O.N. published during Volume 3.
So now I will sprint through the Legion related stuff that will go on parallel to Volume 4, trying my best to avoid Legion spoilers.
Mind you, I’m going REALLY fast here, so I will be skipping A LOT of stuff unrelated to the Legion!
L.E.G.I.O.N. #9 (1989)
written by Keith Giffen & Alan Grant
pencils by Barry Kitson
cover by Kevin Maguire
Good thing I’m skipping through lots of stuff because having to explain Phase would drive me NUTS.
But more on her later, since she barely appears in this issue.
More importantly: Stealth is pregnant with Vril Dox!!!
Which yes, it does mean Brainiac 5 is not FULLY Coluan, but he has a different alien species in his ancestry.
And second… I’m guessing the reason this isn’t brought up often is that, technically speaking, she’s pregnant because she raped Vril Dox in her hormonal frenzy.
L.E.G.I.O.N. #10 (1989)
written by Keith Giffen & Alan Grant
pencils by Barry Kitson
Okay, back to Phase: we are not explicitly told who she is, and it’s initially assumed she’s just a time-displaced Phantom Girl.
That will go through a couple of retcons in this series, and the definitive origin will be established during the Reboot. I’m not going to give away the eventual origin until I get to the Reboot itself.
Not helping the mystery is the fact that she has amnesia, but she HAS to be from the future if we consider the post-Crisis continuity considering she knows Bismoll (Matter-Eater Lad’s planet), which has not been colonized yet in the 20th century.
This is also where the unnamed Durlan disappears. We will see him again in the Legion books because he has a HUGE impact on Volume 4.
L.E.G.I.O.N. #11-12 (1989)
written by Keith Giffen & Alan Grant
pencils by Barry Kitson
Garryn finds the Emerald Eye of Ekron in these issue.
Also: Phase’s heart “hums” instead of beating, whatever the heck that means.
One of the things that make Vril Dox fascinating to me is that he might have all the tropes of a supervillain, but in his mind he’s only doing this because he TRULY believes it’s for the greater good. He’s basically a more heroic version of Doctor Doom with a slightly lower opinion of himself.
Very, very slightly lower.
But don’t be fooled, Vril Dox is not a hero. AT ALL.
Technically speaking, the team doesn’t have an official name until issue 12.
It’s also the last issue where Keith Giffen co-writes.
L.E.G.I.O.N. #13-15 (1990)
by Alan Grant & Barry Kitson
The Emerald Eye influences Garryn to become an all-powerful maniac during these issues, which is something that will happen again on multiple people around the Eye across continuities.
Also, Lyrissa’s infant daughter is aged into adulthood by Not Pulsar Stargrave and programmed to hate her mother.
L.E.G.I.O.N. #16-18 (1990)
by Alan Grant & Barry Kitson
cover by Kevin Maguire
Mon-El is a member of the L.E.G.I.ON. for a while… well, kind of.
This is him BEFORE he ends up in the 30th century, and he’s not even called Mon-El… in this period, he goes by his (so far) rarely used real name of Lar Gand.
He’s in the team because Vril Dox is blackmailing him through the use of the anti-lead serum.
Have I mentioned Vril Dox is not a hero AT ALL?
The team also recruits Lady Quark, who you might remember is a character introduced during Crisis on Infinite Earths. This series is the only one that tries to do SOMETHING with her.
L.E.G.I.O.N. #19-22 (1990)
by Alan Grant & Jim Fern
Garryn has lost control over the Emerald Eye, which is now following his wife. Who likes it because she made her lose weight, as she was obese before Garryn used the Eye on her.
This series also introduces an annoying quirk: whoever is possessed by the Eye, and later the Eye itself, replaces “I” with “Eye” when they speak.
And eye think that gets annoying very fast, but what do eye know?
Considering Vril Dox is… well he’s Vril Dox… it shouldn’t surprise you that Mon-El’s membership is VERY brief.
Garryn retains SOME of the Eye’s power.
This little exchange summarizes the team dynamic: when Vril Dox asks who is the L.E.G.I.ON.’s worst enemy, there’s no hesitation in bringing up HE is just. The. Worst.
Lyrissa dies in issue 21, after being brutally assaulted by her brainwashed daughter.
The Eye of Ekron disappears after issue 22, once Not Pulsar Stargrave is defeated.
L.E.G.I.O.N. #23 (1991)
by Alan Grant & Richard Piers Rayner
This is the issue where we learn what happened to the Durlan. We learn that him and Vril Dox go way back, since the Durlan was a captive of the original Brainiac.
Until Vril Dox freed him from captivity.
The Durlan was the closest thing Vril Dox had to a friend… which is saying A LOT.
After recapping the adventures we already know, we learn what actually happened to the Durlan after he disappeared from L.E.G.I.O.N: he was taken to the 30th century…
…where he became R.J.Brande.
I wasn’t a huge fan of the 70s retcon that made R.J.Brande secretly a Durlan, but at least that was internally consistent with the Legion universe.
This makes thing EVEN MORE complicated.
L.E.G.I.O.N. #28 (1991)
by Alan Grant & Keith Giffen
Nothing Legion-related happens for a while. In issue 28 Stealth gives birth, and she’s SO alien that she turns into THIS THING before delivering the baby.
This is a VERY weird and experimental story, and I’d be lying if I said I understood exactly what Stealth is supposed to be. At the very least her people don’t look like her, AT ALL.
At any rate, this issue has the most unique credits I’ve ever seen.
L.E.G.I.O.N. #32 (1991)
by Alan Grant & Barry Kitson
Stealth returns to active duty, but we won’t see the baby for a while.
L.E.G.I.O.N. #42 (1992)
written and penciled by Barry Kitson
In fact we don’t meet the baby until the following year, as Stealth left it with a completely different alien species.
L.E.G.I.O.N. #50 (1993)
written by Mark Waid & Barry Kitson
pencils by Barry Kitson
After the kid has been kidnapped by some enemies, Vril Dox manages to rescue him… and possibly for the first time he acts like a human being.
L.E.G.I.O.N. #55 (1993)
written by Mark Waid & Barry Kitson
pencils by Barry Kitson
Lydea has joined L.E.G.I.O.N. by now, after being deprogrammed from her brainwashing. In this issue we visit Talok VII, where we learn that the heritage of the planetary protector seems to go WAY back further than we imagined.
And if you have doubts about her joining the team, after murdering her own mother… the mother’s ghost testifies for her!
L.E.G.I.O.N. #59-62 (1993)
written by Mark Waid & Barry Kitson
pencils by Arnie Jorgensen, Stephen Jones, Tom Tenney
Every other issue there’s a different artist, and they’re WILDLY inconsistent.
You already imagined that Vril Dox wouldn’t be “father of the year”… but it turns out his son is anything but ordinary.
By this point Vril Dox’s origin has been retconned into being a clone of Brainiac, instead of a natural born son from an unnamed woman.
The mystery about Phase has been left lingering all this time, but she eventually meets some people who have her exact power. Turns out that they were granted intangibility in order to cross into the dimension of some sort of demon.
Phase teams up with some of the kids who grew up avoiding being eaten by the demon, and they relocate to a parallel dimension.
And in a thousand years, these guys will create the society where Phantom Girl comes from.
This… doesn’t really work with what we know about the origin of the OTHER planets from the Legion’s time.
L.E.G.I.O.N. #63-64 (1993)
by Tom Peyer & Arnie Jorgensen
The Dox family certainly has sone… unusual dynamics.
The kid turns out to be even smarter than his father.
So much that he’s appointed as the administrative director!
He’s sometimes referred to Brainiac 3, but unlike Vril Dox I don’t think we have definitive proof that Lyrl is an ancestor of Brainiac 5. We know Vril Dox is, but he might have had other sons (Coluans are VERY long-lived).
L.E.G.I.O.N. #68 (1994)
by Tom Peyer & Derec Aucoin
I’m skipping A LOT that doesn’t involve the Legion, but I have to mention the only good relationship of the book, and the most wholesome… between Strata (who despite appearances is a woman) and the pink-skinned Garv, another L.E.G.I.O.N. operative from a high-gravity planet.
L.E.G.I.O.N. #69 (1994)
by Tom Peyer & Arnie Jorgensen
I avoided Legion spoilers so far, but for the next-to-last issue it’s impossible.
This is where Ultra Boy goes back to the 20th century, wearing his AWFUL new costume… and we learn Phase is not really Phantom Girl, but just her cousin.
And she was accidentally sent back in time by Legion villain Glorith.
I consider Glorith to be the blight of the Five Years Later era, by the way. Definitely NOT looking forward to covering her shenanigans.
L.E.G.I.O.N. #70 (1994)
written by Tom Peyer
pencils by Arnie Jorgensen & Derec Aucoin
The series concludes with the marriage of Strata and Garv…
…and with Lyrl pulling off a successful takeover of the entire L.E.G.I.O.N. organization.
As you might imagine since we’re talking about SEVENTY ISSUES, there’s a lot I didn’t get the chance to talk about… from the fact that Captain Comet is a member for most of the run, to many interpersonal relationships and very convoluted plans and worldbuilding.
I would recommend the first 25 issues or so, as they’re the most consistent. The latter half of the series is not as solid, especially in the artwork department.
The Legion retcons it brings to the table are best left forgotten.
As you probably imagine by this post and by the other characters I like, Vril Dox is BY FAR the most interesting character for me.
Stealth is basically the only one I don’t care for.
Phase was great, to the point that I honestly find her more interesting than the pre-Crisis Phantom Girl.
Garryn Bek is kind of the L.E.G.I.O.N. version of the movie Star-Lord.
Strata and Garv are the best, and have great interactions with most of the cast.
Lobo is Lobo.
Even the ones I barely talk about or didn’t even mention… Garryn’s wife, Lady Quark, Captain Comet, Telepath, and even most of the junior team R.E.C.R.U.I.T.S… they’re an interesting bunch.
If you like a space opera full of intrigue, with a grey morality and with lots of dark humor, L.E.G.I.O.N. is a great book. But aside from the setting it has very little to share with the Legion in terms of tone, so don’t go into it expecting “20th century Legion”.
What’s left of the team will form a new team to oppose Lyrl, but at this point we’re too far removed from any Legion connection.
We will still see the L.E.G.I.O.N. in a few comics I’ll discuss during the next era, though, and as previously mentioned Phase will have her own epilogue during the Reboot.
By the way, R.E.B.E.L.S. stands for “Revolutionary Elite Brigade to Eradicate L.E.G.I.O.N. Supremacy”. Which yes, does mean it’s an acronym that contains another acronym!
“Revolutionary Elite Brigade to Eradicate Licensed Extra-Governmental Interstellar Operatives Network Supremacy” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.