The last two Bierbaum issues of the main series.
Legion of Super-Heroes vol4 #49 (1993)
written by Tom & Mary Bierbaum
pencils by Darryl Banks & Stuart Immonen
cover by Stuart Immonen
The 90s are infamous for gimmick covers, and this one boasts the first edible* cover.
Hopefully, readers read the asterisk before eating it.
Also, does DC Comics actually have a trademark on the term Bismollian?
The issue focuses on Matter-Eater Lad, and probably as a throwback to his earlier Volume 4 adventures it uses more pages with The Grid than what has become the norm.
Starting with a display of trading cards which include him going on a date with Legion reject Eyeful Ethel. Believe it or not, that’s going to be a plot point later.
Generally, I don’t think the Bierbaum sense of humor aligns with M.E.L’s, as established by Giffen; as a result I don’t find the story to be as funny as it thinks it is… but some gags got a chuckle out of me, like mixing actual M.E.L. adventures with him eating historical artifacts.
Next, Evillo manages to get his hands on Universo’s Hypno-Stone™. No idea why that thing is on Evillo’s planet.
If this was still the Giffen era, I wouldn’t have put past him to have an actual musical number.
But it’s just a nightmare dream, which Saturn Queen used to send a message.
So he decides to fly back to Evillo’s planet, Tartarus.
And he IMMEDIATELY gets captured, after having been influenced by a creepy statue we’ll see again.
There’s no reference to issue #14 or a summary of what happened there, by the way. If you never read that issue, good luck following this story.
Thankfully for M.E.L., he’s helped by Evillo’s rebellious daughters Stiletta and Styx.
They help him reconnect with Polar Boy, who stayed behind at the end of the previous story.
Up to this point the story was pretty solid, but the Bierbaums lose me when they go overboard with parody once Polar Boy introduces the new team of heroes he assembled.
I know Policy Pam has fans in the Legion fandom, but I find the idea painfully unfunny.
The less said about Spaceopoly Lad and Echo-Chamber Chet, the better.
That Sugyn from the Devil’s Dozen continues to make appearances is baffling to me.
I just realized… between Sugyn, M.E.L, the two Evillo daughters, Polar Boy and his three recruits… we currently have 8 heroes assembled.
If only they recruited Apollo and Wild Huntsman, all they needed were a couple more members and the Devil’s Dozen might have FINALLY achieved 12 members!!!
Evillo is using Universo’s stone and the statue to hypnotize the planet, and he’s planning to use the same power on a larger scale.
Believe it or not, Echo-Chamber Chet is the new recruit with the most useful power!
As for Spaceopoly Lad…
…we don’t talk about Spaceopoly Lad.
The most shocking part is that Evillo’s plan actually MAKES SENSE.
I definitely wasn’t expecting that.
And by syphoning the leftover energies of the Miracle Machine™, Prince Evillo will now choose the form of his destroyer.
M.E.L. takes advantage of the confusion to free his team.
Eyeful Ethel’s giant copy is almost as much as a threat as the original.
Policy Pam almost made me chuckle here.
I still find Spaceopoly Lad painfully unfunny.
In the most significant development, M.E.L. frees Saturn Queen who was trapped inside the statue.
The only moment in the entire story that genuinely made me laugh.
From what I can tell, this is the last ever appearance of Prince Evillo.
We will see Polar Boy again before this era is over, but I’m pretty sure we never see his new team ever again.
The issue ends with another throwback: a text page.
Which is the history of the Hypno-Stone, now tied to the history of Saturn.
9 pages with The Grid
1 page with an Imperfect Grid
10 pages without a grid
3 splash pages
1 text page
Legion of Super-Heroes vol4 #50 (1993)
written by Tom & Mary Bierbaum
dialogue and colors by Tom McCraw
pencils by Darryl Banks & Stuart Immonen
cover by Stuart Immonen
Considering the Bierbaums leave with issue 50, I’m guessing it was at least a bit programmed.
We begin in Shanghalla, where the Legion is re-burying all the dead heroes resurrected by Mordru.
Martian Manhunter is offered membership, but after surviving 1,000 years he would probably be killed off in a couple of issue if he stayed, so he wisely refuses.
I should point out that J’onn basically hasn’t accomplished anything in his Legion appearances.
Something else has followed the Legion to Shanghalla. Although this scene won’t make much sense until the very very last issue of this era.
As a fallout from the previous issue, Matter-Eater Lad escorts Saturn Queen back to Titan.
That’s not just a fancy name, she’s actual royalty.
This was actually clarified in the text page of the previous issue, which also pointed out the title is just ceremonial at this point.
Element Lad is still on the brink of death, but the Science Police FINALLY shows up to arrest Roxxas.
The fact that it took them so long to actually look for him is just ridiculous: considering the amount of publicity of his case, he should be the most wanted person in the United Planets!
A significant part of the story is then narrated by Element Lad’s spirit (!!!) as he’s just about to die.
Meanwhile, Kono reunites with her space pirate mother.
Kono agrees to go with her mother, which is why we see them together on Legionnaires.
Considering Ultra Boy is now sharing more scenes with Spider Girl than with her, Kono (correctly?) believes she no longer has a point in this series.
We get a nice scene between Timber Wolf and Lightning Lass, where they basically both agree that they’ve been horrible people within their relationship.
They even manage to make Timber Wolf’s relationship with Aria feel almost not creepy, which is QUITE an accomplishment, and contextualize his attitude towards Lightning Lass.
That’s definitely a deeper relationship than Saturn Queen and M.E.L.
In another sweet moment, Saturn Girl realizes that her twin daughters inherited her telepathy.
Too bad this continuity won’t last enough for them to do anything; I don’t even think most Legion superfans remember the names of the daughters!
Time for Element Lad to go to Heaven.
Except he’s prevented from doing this by the ghosts of his planet.
This is a bit on the nose, but I like the idea that his people don’t want him to just carry the weight of their legacy on their own.
Of course this can all be read to just be in Element Lad’s head.
This means he missed M.E.L’s wedding.
In my headcanon, it’s Bismollian™ tradition to eat the wedding gifts.
The credits at the end of this issue give the Bierbaums writing credit until page 26.
Which means that their last contribution to the main series is Matter-Eater Lad saying goodbye to his teammates to bang Saturn Queen.
There’s definitely a split in the book, as the rest of the issue has little connection to the first part.
I’m pretty sure the story is by Tom McCraw, although he’s just credited for “words”.
It includes Dawnstar being sent back to her people.
Please, he’s used to lose way more members in a single issue.
We have a scene with a depressed Cosmic Boy that makes me reconsider the membership count.
Spider Girl is listed separately from the Legionnaires, reinforcing my decision not to include her as a member, but the other monitors are problematic.
Projectra, Matter-Eater Lad (Tenzil) and Timber Wolf are not included among the active duty Legionnaires. I interpret this as Projectra and M.E.L. as being reserves now; I would do the same for Timber Wolf if it wasn’t for a later scene.
But the “on duty” monitor shows both Infectious Lass (Drura) and White Witch (Mysa).
Infectious Lass HAS been following Invisible Kid II around the entire time.
I was not under the impression that she was an actual member at this point, but this is confirmation enough for me.
And yes, I extrapolated ALL THAT from a single panel. Overanalyzing stuff beyond the point where it makes sense is a tradition around here.
I have a hard time believing White Witch should be considered an active member, but this scene leaves me no choice (in addition to including Timber Wolf).
But in the middle of this Cosmic Boy makes a good point: he HAS been doing nothing the whole time, as has most of the team!!!
We’re at page 32 at this point, and since we’re due an action scene B.I.O.N. wakes up.
This is a big deal because B.I.O.N. has all the powers of the SW6 Legion.
Maybe Martian Manhunter should have stuck around, he has almost the same amount of powers.
So naturally Timber Wolf can take him out easily.
Sounds legit.
Or not? The sequence is not exactly clear to me, but I believe B.I.O.N. was faking defeat and sucker punched Timber Wolf.
The fight is not over, though, thanks to the unexpected return of Wildfire.
Words cannot express how happy I am to see him back and ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING.
This is still an uphill battle, though: B.I.O.N. has Triplicate Girl’s powers, so they’re technically fighting THREE robots with all the Legion powers.
Thankfully, the Legion has decided to adopt a brand new strategy: ACTUALLY WORKING AS A TEAM. It only took them 50 issues to remember how.
And we close with a cliffhanger: Universo has convinced the United Planets that the adult Legion should not be allowed to continue operations.
The issue also has a 3 page story (written and penciled by Immonen), done in a cartoony style, with Brainiac 5 facing B.I.O.N.
It’s a funny extra.
2 pages with The Grid
48 pages without a grid
no splash pages
no text pages
Legion significance: 4/10
Issue 49 mostly ties up the Evillo plots, and issue 50 sets up most of the subplots that will carry us to the end of this era.
Silver Age-ness
#49: 8/10
Almost too stupid for the true Silver Age. Almost.
#50: 0/10
Not really.
Depression scale: 0/10
Even the most horrific parts of Tartarus are treated like a joke; the tyrant is a buffoon who gets arrested and the hero gets the girl.
Even issue 50, with people coming and going and Element Lad confronting death, is surprisingly angst-free.
Does it stand the test of time?
#49: 4/10
The original Evillo storyline in this era had a distinctly Giffen style of humor. And even Giffen himself wasn’t always able to keep it funny.
The Bierbaums are no Keith Giffen. Most of the humor feels unfunny and silly for its own sake. I know there are Legion fans that like Saturn Queen’s redemption arc, but I just don’t see the depth.
#50: 8/10
Surprisingly solid, both the Bierbaum and the McCraw part. Characters are finally talking like people! Sure there’s a lot of standing around doing nothing, but at least there’s some character development going on. There’s a very visible attempt to restructure the membership based on the interests of the new writer… just look at how many changes there are in the membership… but I felt it was mostly in-character for everybody.
I’ve been VERY critical of the Bierbaums, so this graceful exit warrants a slightly higher score.
We are legion
I’m counting Kono as resigning. Projectra and Matter-Eater Lad are moved to the reserves. Timber Wolf, Infectious Lass and White Witch are moved to active membership.
35 active Legionnaires. Of these, 20 are in the “Legionnaires” team
1 presumed dead (SW6 Mon-El)
5 reserve members
28 resigned members
18 deceased members
83 people have been members
68 people have been rejected
Interesting letters: in a very long letter that I’m cutting for brevity, Antony has a lot of valid criticisms for how Mordru’s attack was handled.
The Bierbaums were given enough time to pack their storylines, but unsurprisingly they wanted to continue.
Issue 50’s letters page opens with a lengthy presentation by editor KC Carson about the new creative team and what is going to happen to the series.
Zero Hour is looming over the horizon.
Imagine the Legion being confusing!
