I probably use this word too often in these awards, but… what a rollercoaster.
This might be the most inconsistent era I’ve covered: from writing to artwork (ESPECIALLY the artwork), from optimism to nihilism, the tone and the quality is all over the place.
Legion significance: 8/10
Could you have Volume 4 without the abrupt turn to pessimism in the latter half of this era? Could you have the upcoming retcon shenanigans without what happens with the Time Trapper?
Probably. But it’s influenced anyway.
Silver Age-ness: 2/10
There is SOME to be found early on, but it goes into the other direction HARD.
Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
This is a very tough call because the highs are VERY high and the lows are VERY low.
And while this is not supposed to be a quality score, I do find the influence the lows have on the next eras are overwhelmingly negative. If it wasn’t for just how great some of the best stories are, it would get much lower.
And now, ladies and gentlemen: the Legion Awards!
BEST LEGIONNAIRE
Winner: the Conspiracy Four, tie
(Brainiac 5, Saturn Girl, Mon-El, Duo Damsel)
Is this both a cheat and a copout? Yes. Is 90% of this based on issues 50 and 51? Yes. Do they do anything interesting after issue 51? Not really. But man were they great in there.
Runner-up: Chameleon Boy
A dark horse. But while the rest of the team is stuck in endless drama, he goes on to deal with Starfinger in an incredibly competent way. I don’t even care about that storyline but Cham seriously impressed me there! No wonder that in Volume 4… you’ll see.
Third place: Colossal Boy
I may not like the Starfinger storyline, but it takes a large chunk of the first half of the run and Colossal Boy is important there. He’s not spectacular or anything, but a solid character.
Honorable mention: Sensor Girl
I don’t like how she hogs the spotlight so much that she basically replaces both Dream Girl and White Witch, and most of the time she does it by coming in at the end. That being said, she’s clearly the Legionnaire with the most attention paid to her.
Sorry Princess, but the series is trying a little too hard to hype you.
WORST LEGIONNAIRE
Winner: Polar Boy
To nobody’s surprise. He didn’t deserve this character assassination, but it happened.
Runner-up: White Witch
Another character assassination. Take away anything that makes her interesting, undo her entire character development, make her partially responsible for a galactic disaster, and make her whine all the time.
Third place: Dawnstar and Wildfire, tie
I just can’t stand you two anymore.
Dishonorable mention: Rond Vidar
I don’t like him becoming a Green Lantern, his absence makes little sense, and his decision to leave for good is even worse.
PARTICIPATION TROPHIES
-Shadow Lass: she’s never been this dark, but she plays the role perfectly.
-Quislet: poor guy deserved better stories and a MUCH better ending.
-Invisible Kid II: he has a good enough show against Emerald Empress and we get brief reminders that he’s a good character when they remember to use him.
-Invisible Kid I: he deserves a posthumous trophy for a nice flashback
WORST TEAM MEMBER AWARD
-The entire active roster: Saturn Girl, Chameleon Boy, Colossal Boy, Phantom Girl, Brainiac 5, Sun Boy, Shrinking Violet, Ultra Boy, Mon-El, Element Lad, Lightning Lass, Dream Girl, Sensor Girl, Shadow Lass, Timber Wolf, Blok, Invisible Kid II, Magnetic Kid, Tellus, Polar Boy, Quislet
The slow disintegration of the team is really everyone’s fault, so this time EVERYONE gets a one-time-only negative trophy.
It’s so bad that I’m including this award specifically to make sure everybody gets at least one negative trophy.
Notice Polar Boy is the only one to get both a negative trophy AND this one.
MOST IMPROVED LEGIONNAIRE
Winner: Chlorophyll Kid
He’s still a joke character, but now he’s a joke character with SOME depth!!! This was so out of left field that he wins the trophy despite not being a Legionnaire.
Runner-up: Chemical King
He received his only positive trophy in his death, so it’s appropriate that the second one is posthumous.
BEST ALMOST LEGIONNAIRE: Visi-Lad and Comet Queen, tie
Cosmic Boy’s new incarnation of the Subs doesn’t go beyond Annual 3, but Visi-Lad is interesting and Comet Queen remains hilarious.
I still can’t bring myself to care for Karate Kid II.
WORST ALMOST LEGIONNAIRE: Atmos
Can you believe this guy almost got in?
MOST FANSERVICE LEGIONNAIRE: Shrinking Violet
Whether you like Butch Violet or Thong Violet.
BEST VILLAIN
Winner: Time Trapper
Yes I’m biased. He’s still amazing and nearly everything I love about this era revolves around him.
Runner-up: Emerald Empress
She looks and acts so differently that she might as well be a new character. But she still carries the scene and let’s face it, it’s not like she has tons of competition.
Third place: Hywyndr
Once again, helped by the lack of competition. But a cool power and entertaining personality.
Honorable mention: the Legion of Super-Heroes
The disintegration of the team is their own fault. No villain has ever managed to break the Legion of Super-Heroes quite like the Legion of Super-Heroes.
Which brings things full circle, by the way, because the Legion was the winner of the Worst Villain category in the first Awards.
WORST VILLAIN
Winner: the Archmage
As far as eldritch abominations go, he doesn’t work because he talks way too much.
As the final boss of the volume, he’s just dreadful… he comes in at the end with an explanation about what he is that is both too little and too much.
Runner-up: The Manhunter Formerly Known As Laurel Kent
A retcon that makes little to no sense and that nobody wanted. I could at least tolerate it if she was an entertaining villain, but she’s not even that.
Third place: Starfinger
He started as a cool villain. But then he became incompetent and the mystery about his origins was stretched way too long… only for him to be revealed to be just some guy, without even giving a proper explanation for his ring.
Dishonorable mention: the Luck Lords
They’re behind the special celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Legion and THEY DON’T DO ANYTHING.
BEST STORY
Winner: Legion of Super-Heroes vol3 #50
You knew this was coming. Absolutely stunning and I’ve already spent probably too much time talking about how and why I love it.
Runner-up: Legion of Super-Heroes vol3 #51
A great character study for several Legionnaires, plus some surprisingly deep philosophical questions.
Third place: Legion of Super-Heroes vol3 #59
Would I like this much if it wasn’t surrounded by so much crap? Probably not, but it’s still solid.
Honorable mention: Secret Origins vol2 #37
Because the Subs need more love.
MOST INFLUENTIAL STORY
Winner: Legion of Super-Heroes vol3 #50
The story wins yet another award, yes, but this time it’s a negative one: most of the retcons of Volume 4 are a consequence of Mon-El’s fight against the Time Trapper. You also have the long-lasting effects on Duo Damsel.
Runner-up: Legion of Super-Heroes vol3 #41
You also wouldn’t have to sideline Colossal Boy in the next volume if it wasn’t for this injury…
Third place: the Magic Wars, LSH #60 to #63
…and you wouldn’t have most of the bleakness of the next era without this disaster.
You probably expected to see this higher, but I’m ranking it slightly lower because I don’t think the specifics REALLY matter here.
Honorable mention: Secret Origins #42
Phantom Girl’s mother is going to be immensely important to the Reboot… but this isn’t really the same character, so she only gets a honorable mention.
WORST STORY
Winner: the Magic Wars, LSH #60 to #63
I really did my best to avoid a recency bias, but the more I think about it the more stuff comes back to memory.
The nonsensical plot! The artwork! The Grid! The grimdark! The artwork! The unnecessary deaths! The artwork! The depressing feeling and finale!
What else? Ah, yes, I also didn’t like the artwork.
Placing them together, otherwise they’d dominate the whole podium.
Runner-up: the Manhunter saga, LSH #42 to #43
Wanting to tie the Legion to the 20th century crossover makes sense. Turning Laurel Kent into a secret Manhunter, not so much.
Third place: Legion of Super-Heroes vol3 #54
In addition to the new costumes, we’re blatantly stalling for time.
Dishonorable mention: Legion of Super-Heroes vol3 #45
For the 30th anniversary, there sure was a lot of nothing in this issue.
MOST SILVER AGE PANEL
MOST MEME-WORTHY PANEL
BEST ALIEN DESIGN: the Inquisitor
WORST MOUSTACHE
BEST BURN
BEST REACTION SHOT
WORST REACTION SHOT
Without looking up the context, in this panel is Invisible Kid II:
1) worried?
2) scared?
3) tired?
4) constipated?
BEST INTRO
I’m not kidding when I say I know this paragraph by heart.
BEST PANEL
I’m more surprised than you are that it’s not from #50 or #51. But as much as I love those two, there isn’t a panel that stands out on its own if we exclude those that are basically splash pages.
No, it’s Mon-El’s death from #61. Even more shocking: this is part of a Perfect Grid AND the grid actually enhances the effect of this one.
To the point that I’m cheating slightly and adding part of the grid too!
WORST PANEL
BEST SPLASH PAGE
I realize this might sound like a joke… “the best splash page of the Magic Wars is the one that is almost solid black”… but I mean it in a positive way.
As much as I really don’t like the storyline, the ending of #60 is VERY effective.
WORST SPLASH PAGE
On the other side of the spectrum, this was completely unnecessary and a wasted page.
MOST FANSERVICE PANEL
Shrinking Violet has won the Most Fanservice Legionnaire, but here’s something for the ladies.
Although Violet is also something for the ladies.
MOST STD IN A SINGLE PANEL
BEST COVER
No contest.
WORST COVER
WORST NEW COSTUME
Winner: Dawnstar
Runner-up: Timber Wolf
Third place: Chameleon Boy
Dishonorable mention: Saturn Girl
It wouldn’t be the worst superhero costume on its own, but it’s a MASSIVE downgrade.
BEST NEW COSTUME
HALL OF FAME (combining all eras)
9 good trophies
-Saturn Girl: you knew this was coming. 6 good trophies, including Best Legionnaire FIVE TIMES (to be fair the last time she cheated by sharing it with others, but still) and one Third Place once, plus three Participation Trophies. It’s not included in the count, but she also won Best Costume once. Two negative trophies, Worst Legionnaire Third Place once and this era’s Worst Team Member shared with everyone.
8 good trophies
-Bouncing Boy remains right behind her, despite having only participation trophies.
–Duo Damsel: twice Best Legionnaire (once shared, in this era), one Best Legionnaire Runner-Up, one Most Improved, plus four Participation Trophies. One bad trophy, Worst Legionnaire Third Place once.
HALL OF INFAMY (combining all eras)
6 bad trophies
-Lightning Lass: 6 bad trophies, 1 participation trophy and 1 good one (Most Improved)
4 bad trophies
-Tyroc: Worst New Legionnaire, Worst New Costume, 2 Worst Legionnaire Third Place. No good or participation trophies.
And that’s the last of the Legion Awards for the original incarnation of the Legion.
But I got so much fun during these that I wondered… how do the winners of each category across multiple Awards rate against each other?
To answer this question nobody answered, next up: the Legion Awards of Awards.
Because that’s a thing now.