Technically speaking this story is not canon: it was intended to be just an “Imaginary Story”, although its events are sometimes considered taking place on a separate Earth.
The relationship between Crisis and the Legion is WILDLY complicated, something I’ll discuss in length once the retrospective reaches 1986.
But why and I covering it now? Well, LSH #282 was the last time Lana Lang interacted with the Legion in her Insect Queen identity, and there are no more Legion stories that feature Pete Ross and Jimmy Olsen. So while this is not TECHNICALLY canon, I’m using this moment to count them among the dead in the list of Legionnaires.
SUPERMAN 423 (1986)
by Alan Moore & Curt Swan
(with George Perez inks)
I’ve already covered the part of this story that connects to the Silver Age Legion, but there’s more to it to discuss.
In addition to the cover’s style being a homage to various Superman anthologies, the title also follows the format of the the “Whatever happened to…” backup feature that Bob Rozakis wrote for DC Comics Presents.
According to legend, Alan Moore threatened to murder Julius Schwartz if he wasn’t allowed to write the story. That would be 100% apocryphal for anyone else, but with Alan Moore I can only go as low as 99%.
The story is set 10 years after Superman died, and the framing device is Lois Lane (now remarried) narrating everything to a journalist.
The story will feature nearly all the major Superman villain, but for some reason the Parasite doesn’t show up: he dies before the story begins in a clash against Terra-Man, of all people.
Either Moore didn’t care for Parasite or he wanted this to be a red herring.
If you’re unfamiliar with Terra-Man… consider yourself lucky, but I’ll cover that loser eventually.
Things go south very quickly, with Bizarro suddenly becoming a dangerous murderer and then committing suicide.
Then Superman’s secret identity is exposed by Toyman and Prankster working together.
Superman doesn’t even seem all that bothered by this development.
And that’s how Pete Ross dies. Every other major member of the Superman cast gets a heart-felt sendoff, but Pete just dies off-panel.
Well, he was a major supporting character for SuperBOY, but he rarely ever showed up in the Superman books.
Superman deals with Toyman and Prankster easily, but the fact that THEY have turned into murderers targeting his friends brings up a scary thought: if the idiots are now killers, what’s going to happen to the ones who were already the worst of the worst?
We get a glimpse that something much worse is coming: once Luthor recovers the remains of Brainiac, they form a VERY creepy relationship.
After Metallo and a bunch of minions attack the Daily Planet for revenge…
…Superman decides to bring everyone he knows to the Fortress of Solitude to keep them safe.
Good call, because Kryptonite Man also shows up! This story is the first time I read about him, so I assumed he was a major Superman villain. In reality, he actually fought Superboy almost exclusively and was a surprisingly minor threat.
This two-parter also serves as the ending of the Lois Lane retrospective. Typically I would go through Crisis first, but Lois is barely in Crisis. Well, the Lois of Earth-1 anyway.
I’ve talked at length about the Silver Age Legion showing up, so I’ll just link back to my original review for that.
I will, however, once again refer to a continuity point that has been perplexing me for years.
Brainiac 5 reminds Superman that, back when he was Superboy, he learned the Legion’s future.
I still haven’t found what he’s talking about! Every Adult Legion that I’m aware of stars Superman, not Superboy. Supergirl does know SOMETHING about their future, thanks to Action Comics #289, but that featured Superman as well.
Even the folks at Legion World were stumped by this. Is it just a mistake on Moore’s part or is there an even more obscure reference there?
What’s important for THIS story, however, is Brainiac 5 giving a present to Superman… which he interprets as the Legion paying their last respect to a man who is about to die.
And after Superman has met Supergirl one last time, knowing she’s already dead, we end the story with one of the most depressing Superman panels ever.
SUPERMAN 423 (1986)
by Alan Moore & Curt Swan
(with Kurt Shaffenberger inks)
While this is not technically the Earth-1 Superman, this was intended to be for all intents and purposes the last story of the Silver Age Superman.
In addition to several heroes and supporting characters, the cover also shows four real-life people.
Left to right:
-Murphy Anderson (one of the main DC inkers from the Golden Age onwards)
-Curt Swan (penciler of roughly seven thousand Superman stories)
-Jenette Kahn (editor)
-Julius Schwartz (truly legendary editor)
As the story opens we meet the man Lois married, who is not particularly fond of her ex.
Luthor/Brainiac and Kryptonite Man prepare themselves for an assault of the Fortress of Solitude, and are joined by some unlikely allies: the Legion of Super-Villains.
They’re mostly here for the glory, as the haven’t fought Superman very often.
Brainiac isolates the Fortress thanks his force field, and none of the Earth heroes are able to get inside to help. The fact that Captain Marvel is shown among the heroes suggests this is no longer Earth-1, since he was from Earth-S. To be fair, he may just be visiting.
Also Kryptonite Man never uses his power to transmute anything into Kryptonite the entire story!!!
While Superman has a heart-to-heart talk with Perry White, Jimmy and Lana decide to help.
Weirdly enough, while Jimmy goes for the Elastic Lad serum (one of the origins of his many, many, many superpowers) Lana doesn’t change into Insect Queen!!!
I feel like that’s a direct reference to a specific story, but I haven’t identified it yet. At first I though it was the same magic water from waaaaay back in Lois Lane #12, but that one only gave Lana super-strength.
No, this magic water gives all the standard Superman powers… including super-eavesdropping.
And then Lana Freaking Lang KILLS LEX LUTHOR!!!
Kind of bittersweet since they knew each other from Smallville.
Lana’s superhero career is short-lived. Perhaps appropriately for reserve member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, she’s killed by the Legion of Super-Villains.
Well at least she goes out with a bang by killing Lex Luthor.
Jimmy Olsen, on the other hand, is unceremoniously shot in the back by Brainiac.
I feel bad for Jimmy… up to a point. The superpower-giving pool was RIGHT THERE, did he seriously think the Elastic Lad powers would be more useful!?!?
The Fortress is breached by Kryptonite Man, who discovers that KRYPTO IS TERRIFYING.
I’m not showing the panel with Krypto’s corpse. Things are depressing enough as it is!!!
It probably goes without saying, but killing Superman’s friend and his dog IS A VERY BAD IDEA.
The Legion of Super-Villains flees into the future, leaving Brainiac/Luthor as the last villain standing… but not for long: the two characters with the biggest ego suffer the most humiliating defeat.
It’s not over: the barrier created by Brainiac is still up, even though his tech has been disabled. So Superman realizes there’s only one of his villains unaccounted for: Mr. Mxyzptlk.
And when he shows up… he’s not funny anymore.
This is as terrifying as the little imp has ever been or will ever be.
It’s also notable that, in the first Kryptonite Man story, Mxy saved Superboy’s life just to keep him entertained.
If there’s one thing I have to criticize about the artwork (which has been spectacular all the way through), is that the artwork doesn’t capture what is supposed to be the real form of Mxyzptlk. According to the narration he should be an eldritch abomination that our mind can’t comprehend, but really, he seems just a weird monster.
Mentioning the 30th century is a mistake, because the statue given to Superman by the Legion is the final clue to his greatest victory.
Inspired by the statue, Superman uses the Phantom Zone Projector™ to exile Mzyptlk… right as he’s returning to the 5th dimension, which kills the imp.
Take a moment to appreciate the irony that the final clue to save Superman’s life was given to him by Brainiac 5: the descendant of one of his greatest foes.
But while the Legion might have indirectly saved his life… Superman has broken the Legion code.
And so Superman decides that it’s his time. He walks into a chamber holding Gold Kryptonite, which permanently removes superpowers… and Lois never saw him again.
Yeah, why would Superman want to hang up his cape? Surely nobody would ever willingly give up being Superman… right?
Legion significance: ???/10
Like I said, this story is TECHNICALLY not canon.
Silver Age-ness: 10/10
The best possible showcase that being a very Silver Age-y story doesn’t automatically make it bad: sometimes it can be its best feature!!!
Does it stand the test of time? 10/10
This is consistently considered to be one of the best Superman stories ever told, and for good reason. It’s a love letter to the Silver Age version of the character that doesn’t shy away from the silliness but also makes an effort to treat everything with the utmost respect.
It’s a great examination of Superman’s character, and it’s very fitting that his last story is not about some great fisticuff against a strong bad guy… because Superman’s most interesting feature has never been his invincibility. There’s lots, LOTS of deep stuff in this, especially the final observation by Totally-Not-Superman that “he thought the world couldn’t get along without him”.
I have friends who detest the Silver Age but point towards this story saying that it made them sad that the Silver Age was gone. Now THAT is a compliment.
Over the years I’ve read some criticism of the story… some of the deaths and violence are a bit gratuitous, Clark Kent is basically a footnote, some readers disavow this Superman because he commits murder and some criticize him for abandoning his duties… but I feel some of it is just nitpicking.
If you want to end a long-running franchise or give it a satisfying sendoff before a reboot, THIS is the best possible way to do it.
We are legion
Pete Ross, Lana Lang and Jimmy Olsen are removed from the list: while this is not canon they never show up again as members, and they ARE dead anyway since they’re from the 20th century.
This leaves the “current” count to:
-23 active Legionnaires
-4 reserve members
-1 honorary member (Rond Vidar)
-1 on sick leave (Matter-Eater Lad)