Because this year the Legion retrospective completed its original incarnation, let’s anticipate their cameos in the Superman retrospective.
I have tried more than one time to include ALL the cameos, and while there might possibly still be an extremely minor one I am 100% certain that… well, make it 99% certain that with these I have covered ALL the Silver Age appearances.
Action Comics #284 (1962)
by Robert Bernstein & Curt Swan
This is not a Superbaby story, but believe it or not it’s ALMOST as dumb as a Superbaby story.
We begin with Clark Kent at a séance, attempting to expose it as a fraud.
I find it utterly fascinating that the Superman books are still consistently skeptical about the existence of magic powers, despite definitive proof that magic exists.
While it would make perfect sense to frame it as “I know that THIS is not the real deal because I’ve seen real magic”, but more often than not the reference is “magic is not real”.
After the séance, however, Clark receives an ominous warning that we don’t get to see and he IMMEDIATELY decides that he HAS to turn himself into a baby.
Remember that, because it’s the main reason this story is unbelievably dumb.
Conveniently, Superman has the exact kind of Red Kryptonite that will turn him into a baby.
Since Red K affects the same person only once, this sample must have turned someone ELSE into a baby. If it was Supergirl, she had been turned into a baby in Action Comics #260 by completely different means, so this might imply she has been turned into a baby in two unrelated occasions.
The Silver Age, everybody!
It is VERY important to remember that this was Superman’s FIRST idea.
Which will be particularly funny when you consider he’s standing right next to the bottle city of Kandor.
Most of the story is an excuse for Superbaby scenes.
The reason why Superman had to turn himself into a baby is aurora borealis…
…has opened a portal into the Phantom Zone.
The reason why I’m covering this is that the one who sent a message to Superman was actually Mon-El, in a rare appearance set during his exile in the Phantom Zone.
Because of the mental blocks that make him forget details about the Legion’s future once he gets back home (due to his own hypnotism and Saturn Girl’s telepathy), not only Superman can’t remember that he served with Mon-El in the Legion… from his point of view, he hasn’t seen Mon-El in like fifteen to twenty years.
That’s only in hindsight however: this was published a month after Adventure Comics #293, so Mon-El had yet to join the Legion.
There is no explanation whatsoever why Superman couldn’t shrink himself by using the same ray he typically uses to enter Kandor, instead of turning himself into a baby.
It’s not because he’d be too weak inside the Phantom Zone, because its inhabitants can’t even touch him anyway.
He also didn’t need to get inside the Phantom Zone for anything except talk to Mon-El, because he could have just closed the portal from Earth’s side anyway.
This issue also has a Supergirl story where Red Kryptonite transforms her in several ways.
Superman #157 (1962)
by Ed Hamilton & Curt Swan
Speaking of Phantom Zone stories…
…this one has a Mon-El cameo that is a bit problematic.
It shows Superman having the means to talk to Mon-El whenever he likes, and yet their interactions are extremely limited in the Silver Age.
You would think that they would talk more frequently, but poor Mon-El is mostly left alone.
It might possibly be Superman’s subconscious making him avoid the chance to ruin the timeline, giving Mon-El spoilers, but it’s still harsh.
Especially when Mon-El is not even mentioned in the rest of the story!
Action Comics #307 (1964)
by Leo Dorfman & Jim Mooney
cover by Curt Swan
It’s a bit disturbing how many stories there are where Supergirl almost gets married, considering that she was definitely still a minor at this point.
It’s yet another Phantom Zone story, but spoiler alert: Mon-El won’t be the Legionnaire who shows up.
Because of her cosmic firework show, Supergirl inadvertently creates an opening for the Phantom Zone that allows only one criminal to leave.
Not really sure why only one of them escapes, especially since they are the ones who planned the creation of the portal.
Instead they ask one of their own to use the Phantom Zone Projector™ to set them free, and he immediately betrays them. You can’t even trust convicted supervillains these days.
Kryptonian supervillains feel much more of a threat whenever they show up in the Supergirl serial. This one threatens to KILL EVERYONE IN KANDOR if they expose him!
Step 1: escape from the Phantom Zone.
Step 2: get a job as Supergirl’s teacher.
Step 3: seduce Supergirl.
Step 4: get on the Kandor Watchlist
Step 4: convince Supergirl he’s a fellow Kryptonian. Which he IS, by the way.
Step 5: rejuvenate Supergirl’s foster parents.
Step 6: propose
Step 7: pay Supergirl’s dowry
Step 8: make a Superman robot to give his blessing
Step 9: marriage
And ALL OF THAT was just to make Superman embarrassed about being related to a criminal.
Yep.
That’s his entire goal.
I’ve already told you that Mon-El is not the one who shows up, so let’s try a game of “Guess the Legionnaire”.
As a hint, this was published between Adventure Comics #314 (the one with the Legion fighting time-displaced Hitler and Nero) and #315 (the one where the Legion becomes aware of the Subs).
Who showed up to prevent this marriage and how did they help?
A) Saturn Girl disguised herself as Supergirl
B) Brainiac 5 replaced the Kandorian priest with a robot
C) Chameleon Boy disguised himself as Supergirl
D) Phantom Girl disguised herself as Supergirl
E) Element Lad transformed the wedding ring into Gold Kryptonite
And the answer is…
Note the extremely clear indication that Saturn Girl’s telepathy is vastly superior to Lori’s and Comet’s.
Also of note is the fact that Saturn Girl was not afraid of the Kryptonian criminal in the slightest.
There wasn’t much reason to even go through with the ceremony at that point!
For SOME reason, the criminal is being held in the future instead of being immediately sent back to the Phantom Zone (I’m pretty sure Supergirl knows how to rebuild the projector at this point).
This will be his last appearance, presumably because of what Superman did to him after learning what this creep tried to do his teenage cousin.
Historical significance: 0/10
At best, the first story reminded readers that Mon-El exists before he joins the Legion.
Silver Age-ness: 10/10
Only in this period Superman would turn into a baby for such a dumb reason AND the wedding would go that far.
Does it stand the test of time?
Superbaby: 4/10
Some truly gorgeous Curt Swan artwork is the only saving grace.
Supermarriage: 3/10
You could really do a much darker version of this story today, but the subject would have to be treated COMPLETELY different. Jim Mooney’s artwork is great but not enough as the only selling point.
And that was probably it for the Silver Age Legion, unless I find a REALLY obscure cameo… which, given how these things go, is probably likely.