Retro Review: Legion Of Super-Heroes #101-121 & Legionnaires #57-77 By McCraw, Peyer, Stern, Armstrong, Kolins, Moy & Others For DC Comics!

Legionnaires #57-77, 1,000,000, The Legion of Super-Heroes (Vol. 4) #101-121, 1,000,000, Legion of Super-Heroes Secret Files #2 (February 1998 to November 1999)

Written by Roger Stern (LNR #57-65, 67-74, 76-77), Tom Peyer (LSH #101-108, 110-121, 1,000,000, LNR #75, 1,000,000), KC Carlson (LSH #109, LNR #66), Dan Abnett (LSHSF #2), Andy Lanning (LSHSF #2)

Co-plotted by Tom McCraw (LNR #57-60, 62-65, 67-74, 76-77, LSH #101-104, 106-108, 110-121), Roger Stern (LSH #105)

Pencilled by Jeffrey Moy (LNR #57-65, 67-77), Jason Armstrong (LSH #101-108), Philip Moy (LNR #58, 64), Todd Nauck (LSH #102), Lee Moder (LSH #109), Sean Phillips (LNR #1,000,000), Keith Giffen (LSH #1,000,000), Mike Collins (LNR #66), Scott Kolins (LSH #110-115, 117-121), Keron Grant (LSH #116), Chuck Wojtkiewicz (LSHSF #2)

Inked by WC Carani (LNR #57-65, 67-77), Ron Boyd (LSH #101-108, 110-112), Philip Moy (LNR #58, 63), Pam Eklund (LSH #102), Drew Geraci (LSH #103), Ray Kryssing (LSH #104, 114-119, 121), Prentis Rollins (LSH #106), Dan Davis (LSH #109), Sean Phillips (LNR #1,000,000), Al Gordon (LSH #113, 1,000,000), John Stokes (LNR #66), Scott Kolins (LSH #120), Dexter Vines (LSHSF #2)

Colour by Tom McCraw (LNR #57-77, 1,000,000, LSH #101-121, 1,000,000, LSHSF #2)

Spoilers (from twenty-one to twenty-two years ago)

I started off enjoying the reboot Legion, but as the two series continued to run, I found myself getting a little bored, or frustrated at potential that looked under-developed. It started to seem too forcefully lightweight, and as the cast grew, I found myself caring less about some of the characters. I basically have no memory of the books that are included in this column. In my mind, I dropped the titles and came back to them when Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning took over, but then I found every issue in my longboxes.

That doesn’t bode well, does it? I guess we’re going to find out…

One piece of housekeeping first. Legion of Super-Heroes flowed into the next issue of Legionnaires, and so on. Basically, they were one comic, kind of like how the four Superman titles read as one weekly story in the same era. They even put little boxes with numbers in them to help keep track of how the story flowed. Because of that, I’m going to write about both titles in one column, and will use the abbreviations LSH and LNR to denote which title I’m talking about.

Let’s track who turned up in the title:

The Legion of Super-Heroes

Live Wire (Garth Ranzz; LNR #57, 59-60, 64, 67, 74-75, 77, LSH #101, 104-105, 108, 110-111, 113-119, LSHSF #2)
Spark (Ayla Ranzz; LNR #57, 59-60, 62, 64-65, 75, 77, LSH #101, 104-108, 110-111, 113-118)
Saturn Girl (Imra Ardeen; LNR #57, 59-60, 63-69, 71-77, LSH #101, 103, 105-106, 108, LSHSF #2)
Brainiac 5/Brainiac 5.1 (Querl Dox; LNR #57-60, 62-65, 77, LSH #104-108, 110-111, 113-121, LSHSF #2)
Umbra (Tasmia Mallor; LNR #57-60, 62, 64-65, 71-74, 76-77, LSH #104-105, 108, 121)
Kinetix (Zoe Saugin; LNR #57-64, 66, 77, LSH #102, 104-105, 108-109, 111, 113-115, 117-118, 121)
Cosmic Boy (Rokk Krinn; LNR #57, 59, 64, 68, 70-75, 77, LSH #101, 104-106, 108)
Gates (LNR #57-65, 68, 72-74, 76, LSH #104-108, 120-121)
XS (Jenni Ognats; LNR #57-59, 61-65, 76-77, LSH #104-106, 108)
Ultra Boy (Jo Nah; LNR #57, 59-60, 64, 66-69, 73-74, 77, LSH #102, 104-106, 108, 119)
Apparition (Tinya Wazzo; LNR #57-60, 63-67, 69, 73-74, 77, LSH #102, 104-106, 108, 119)
Ferro (Andrew Nolan; LNR #57-61, 64-65, 67, 77, LSH #105, 108, 112-115, 117-118, 121, LSHSF #2)
Invisible Kid (Lyle Norg; LNR #57-60, 62-66, 75, 77, LSH #105, 107-108, 110-111, 113-118, 121)
Chameleon (Reep Daggle; LNR #57-60, 62-66, 71, 73-74, 77, LSH #101, 104, 107-108, 121)
Sensor (Jeka Wynzorr; LNR #57-60, 62-65, 77, LSH #105-106, 108, 113, 116-117, 121, LSHSF #2)
Triad (Luornu Durgo; LNR #57-60, 62-66, 77, LSH #105-108, 112-115, 117-119)
Violet/Leviathan (Salu Digby; LNR #57-59, 62-66, 77, LSH #101, 105, 107-111, 113-115, 117-118, 121)
Star Boy (Thom Kallor; LSH #101-103, 105, 108-109, LNR #58-60, 64-74, 76-77)
Element Lad (Jan Arrah; LSH #101, 104, 108, 111, 121, LNR #59-60, 64-65, 67-68, 71-74, 76-77)
M’onel (Lar Gand; LNR #58-60, 62-65, LSH #104-106, 108, 110-111, 113-119, 121)
Andromeda (Laurel Gand; LNR #58-60, 62-65, LSH #104-106, 108)
Monstress (Candi Pyponte-LeParc III; LNR #58-61, 64-65, 67-69, 71-74, 77, LSH #102-103, 105, 108, LSHSF #2)
Karate Kid (Val Armorr; LNR #60, 63-65, 77, LSH #105, 108, 111, 113-115, 117-119, 121, LSHSF #2)
Kid Quantum (Jazmin Cullin; LNR #60-61, 63-65, 68, 71-74, 77, LSH #105, 107-108, LSHSF #2)
Thunder (CeCe Beck; LSH #110-111, 113, 116-118, LSHSF #2)

Villains

Sklarian Pirates/Raiders (LNR #57, 64, LSH #103, 106)
The Dark Circle’s Dark Leader/Brainiac 4 (LNR #57, 60, 62, 64, LSH #106-108)
The Dark Circle (LNR #57, 60, 62, 64, LSH #106-108)
A Durlan thief (LNR #58, LSH #104)
Natra Dellons (LSH #102)
Captain Takk (Khund, Affiliated Planets; LSH #102-103, 107, LNR #60, 62, 64)
Kono (LSH #104, 106, LNR #63-64, 67, 77)
Minister Amilia Crugg (Khund, Affiliated Planets; LSH #104, LNR #62-65)
The Time Trapper (LNR #61, 64, 69, LSH #105, 108)
Representative Ar’By (Gil’Dan; LNR #62-64)
Ar’Dn (Gil’Dan; LNR #62-63)
Tyrazzians (LSH #106, LNR #63)
The Composite Man (LSH #106-107, LNR #63-64)
Dominators (LNR #63)
Khunds (LNR #64-65, 69)
The Emerald Eye of Ekron (LSH #109, 120-121)
Agent If (LNR #1,000,000)
Charma (LNR #66)
Dr. Savant (LSH #110, 118, LNR #72)
The Objective Order (LSH #110)
Redin Klerrgh (LSH #111)
Sarei Klerrgh (LSH #111)
Xotar the Conqueror (LNR #68)
Howl (LSH #112)
Murdermation (LSH #112)
Gronk (LSH #112)
Lord Pernisius (LSH #113, 115-118)
Doctor Deacon (LSH #113, 116-118)
Alux Cuspin (LNR #70-71, 74)
Domain (LNR #70)
Bizarro M’onel (LSH #114-115)
Bizarro Kinetix (LSH #114-115)
Bizarro Spark (LSH #114-115)
Bizarro Triad (LSH #114-115)
Bizarro Leviathan (LSH #114-115)
Bizarro Brainiac 5.1 (LSH #114-115)
Bizarro Ferro (LSH #114-115)
Bizarro Live Wire (LSH #114-115)
Bizarro Karate Kid (LSH #114-115)
Bizarro Magno (LSH #114-115)
Flutter/A’rie (air elemental; LNR #71-73)
Brika/Rrox (earth elemental; LNR #71-74)
Ebb (water elemental; LNR #71-73)
Phy’r (fire elemental, Dirk Morgna; LNR #71-73)
Scurrches (LSH #116)
Dr. Aywebn (Blackstar Prison; LSH #116-117)
Mordru (LNR #73)
Kprkrn (Blackstar Prison; LSH #117)
King Kradok (LNR #75)
The Empress (Fatal Five; LSH #120-121)
Tharok (Fatal Five; LSH #120-121)
Persuader (Fatal Five; LSH #120-121)
Validus (Fatal Five; LSH #120-121)
Rhysson (LNR #77)
The Blight (LSHSF #2)

Guest Stars

Insect Queen (Lonna Leing, Uncanny Amazers; LSH #101-102)
Atmos (Uncanny Amazers; LSH #102)
Kid Quantum II (Uncanny Amazers; LSH #102-103)
Konk (Uncanny Amazers; LSH #102)
Karate Kid (Val Armorr, Workforce; LSH #103)
Leland McCauley (LSH #103-104, 106-107, LNR #60, 62-65, 69, 72, 77)
Evolvo (Sev Tcheru, Workforce; LSH #103-104, 107, LNR #60, 63-64, 69)
Spider-Girl (Sussa Paka, Workforce, LSH #103, LNR #60, 63, 69)
Colossal Boy (original Legion of Super-Heroes; LNR #61)
Matter-Eater Lad (original Legion of Super-Heroes; LNR #61)
Superboy (original Legion of Super-Heroes; LNR #61, LSH #105)
Bouncing Boy (original Legion of Super-Heroes; LNR #61)
Duo Damsel (original Legion of Super-Heroes; LNR #61)
Saturn Girl (original Legion of Super-Heroes; LNR #61, LSH #105)
Cosmic Boy (original Legion of Super-Heroes; LNR #61, LSH #105)
Lightning Lad (original Legion of Super-Heroes; LNR #61, LSH #105)
Superman (Clark Kent; LNR #61)
Rond Vidar (friend of the original Legion of Super-Heroes; LNR #61)
Wildfire (original Legion of Super-Heroes; LNR #61, LSH #105)
Karate Kid (original Legion of Super-Heroes; LNR #61)
Timber Wolf (original Legion of Super-Heroes; LNR #61, LSH #105)
Ultra Boy (original Legion of Super-Heroes; LSH #105)
Phantom Girl (original Legion of Super-Heroes; LSH #105)
Princess Projectra (original Legion of Super-Heroes; LSH #105)
Vi (original Legion of Super-Heroes; LSH #105)
Dawnstar (original Legion of Super-Heroes; LSH #105)
Invisible Kid II (Jacques Foccart, original Legion of Super-Heroes; LSH #105)
Magnetic Kid (original Legion of Super-Heroes; LSH #105)
Leejah (Durlan living weapon/spiritual leader; LNR #63-65)
Brainiac 417 (Justice Legion L; LNR #1,000,000, LSH #1,000,000)
The M’onelves (Justice Legion L; LNR #1,000,000, LSH #1,000,000)
Implicate Girl (Justice Legion L; LNR #1,000,000, LSH #1,000,000)
Titangirl (Justice Legion L; LNR #1,000,000, LSH #1,000,000)
The Chameleon (Justice Legion L; LNR #1,000,000, LSH #1,000,000)
The Umbra (Justice Legion L; LNR #1,000,000, LSH #1,000,000)
Cosmicbot (Justice Legion L; LNR #1,000,000, LSH #1,000,000)
The Dreamer (Justice Legion L; LNR #1,000,000, LSH #1,000,000)
The Wildflame (Justice Legion L; LNR #1,000,000, LSH #1,000,000)
Superboy (Cris Kend; LNR #1,000,000, LSH #1,000,000)
Jacques Foccart (LNR #66)
Amilia Crugg (Workforce; LNR #69, 72, 77)
Dragonmage (Xao Jin; LNR #70-74)
Mysa (LNR #70-74, 76)
Pol Krinn (Rokk’s brother; LNR #70-71)
Dirk Morgna (LNR #70-74, 76)
Okok (Bizarro-Koko; LSH #114-115)
Gear (I.Z.O.R.; LSH #117, 119)
Vril Dox (LEGION; LSH #119)
Stealth (LEGION; LSH #119)
Captain Comet (LEGION; LSH #119)
Drake Burroughs (formerly Atom’X and Blast-Off; LNR #76)

Supporting Characters

Doctor Gym’ll (Legion doctor; LNR #57-58, 62, 68, 72, 74, LSH #101)
Koko (Brainiac 5’s monkey; LNR #57-59, 63, 65, LSH #106-108, 110-111, 113-121, LSHSF #2)
Vice-President Winema Wazzo (LNR #57, 60, 63-64, 74, LSH #102-104)
Bertor Ardeen (Imra’s father; LNR #57)
Sydne Ardeen (Imra’s mother; LNR #57)
Jancel Ardeen (Imra’s sister; LNR #57)
Aven (Imra’s former teacher; LNR #57)
RJ Brande (LNR #57, 59, 62-66, 71, 76, LSH #104, 106, 108, 114-115, LSHSF #2)
Science Police Commander Hagbard; LNR #57)
Xamuel Ivar (Titan’s UP Representative; LNR #57)
Shvaughn Erin (Liaison to Science Police; LSH #101, LNR #58, 60, 63-64, 71)
Tenzil Kem (chef, Legion headquarters; LNR #58-60, 64-66, 77, LSH #105, LSHSF #2)
Dryk Magz (LNR #58-59, 62, 65, 70, 77, LSH #104, 111, 114-117, 121, LSHSF #2)
Doctor Ryk’rr (Legion psychiatrist; LNR #58, LSH #102)
Lori Morning (LNR #58-62, 64-69, 72, 77, LSH #105)
Luonel Bordo (aka Murl, Tinya’s father; LSH #102)
Dreamer (Nura Nal; LNR #59, 68, 70, 72, 74, 77, LSH #103, 109, 121)
Chuck Taine (LNR #59, 62, 64-66, 71-72, 74, 77, LSH #109, LSHSF #2)
Deputy Prefect Lamar Zandoz (Xanthu; LSH #103, LNR #60, 65)
King Charlz (Jeka’s father; LNR #60, 62, 65, LSH #104)
Proty (LNR #60, 62, 65-66, 68-69, 77)
Prince Willum (Jeka’s brother; LNR #62)
Marla Latham (LSH #106, 114-115)
Rond Vidar (LSH #106)
Condo Arlik (reporter; LNR #64-65)
Athramites (LNR #68, 71)
Rokk’s mother (#70-71)
Rokk’s father (#70-71)
Derek Morgna (Dirk’s father; LNR #74)

Let’s take a look at what happened in these books, with some commentary as we go:

LNR 57 – Live Wire and Spark appear to be fighting raiders, but really, this is a VR simulation being used to test Ayla’s new powers (which doesn’t make a lot of sense, since none of the things she’s making lighter have any mass anyway). Saturn Girl and Dr. Gym’ll end the simulation when Ayla gets lightheaded. Imra announces that she’s headed to Titan to visit her family, and Ayla pushes Garth to go with her. Brainiac 5 is in the hangar bay with Umbra and Kinetix, preparing to go after Andromeda and M’onel, who have left to explore the “fires of creation”. Gates arrives with Cosmic Boy, and Rokk makes reference to a space anomaly they encountered when the team first formed, but this is not a story we know about yet. Imra and Garth arrive as well, preparing for their trip. The two groups leave, with only Rokk and Koko (Brainy’s monkey) left behind. XS rushes into the room, sad that she didn’t get to say goodbye. On the Legion Outpost, Ultra Boy deflects Vice President Wazzo, who wants to speak to her daughter. Wazzo is called away, and after she hangs up, Apparition talks to Jo, explaining that she can’t face her mother yet, although it’s not clear if that’s because of the fact that she’s merged with her other self (she’s half-Cargitte) or because she’s married Jo. On Med-Station One, Ferro learns that a group of doctors aren’t going to be able to fix his face, and don’t think he should worry about it so much. Garth and Imra arrive on Titan, where Imra’s family meet them. Once they are back at the Ardeen home, Imra asks them about her childhood, since she wants to know about the mental blocks that her teacher, Doctor Aven, put in her head. Her family knew nothing about it, so Imra enters the astral plane to confront her teacher. He is waiting for her. At a UP assembly, RJ Brande arrives with Invisible Kid, the Fleet Admiral, and the Commander of the Science-Police. He starts to talk about the problems of Sklarian pirates, and the actions of the Khund on Sylvan and Daxam. He wants the UP to show a united front, and then for some reason, the Sklarian pirates are brought into the chamber. Apparently they asked to speak to the assembly, but I can’t imagine a time where that would make sense. Anyway, Aven, the Titanian ambassador, realizes they are up to something just as they break out of their manacles, steal guns from their guards, and start shooting at Brande. Lyle manages to take them out, and later, they all trigger suicide switches in their shoulders before they can be interrogated. Aven explains to Imra that she was a very powerful telepath as a child, but had little control over her powers. As Aven trained her, he installed the telepathic blocks to slw her powers, which made it possible for her to join the SP and later the Legion. After her fight with the Composite Man, when she was injured, Aven fixed her, and made sure the blocks were still in place. Imra explains what happened with Doctor Psycho, and her almost marrying the comatose Rokk. Imra confronts Aven with her knowledge that he too was like her as a child, and despite warnings from his literal inner child, he explains to her how he was trying to save her from the pain he had felt. Aven promises to never lie to her again. At the Outpost, Lyle addresses the Legion Espionage Squad – Chameleon, Sensor, Triad, Violet, and Apparition. He wants to figure out who is behind all the recent attacks. At the same time, somewhere else, the Dark Circle guy we’ve seen once before is pleased that his assassination attempt on Brande didn’t succeed, as it wasn’t intended to; he’s moving to the next phase of his plan.
LSH 101 – Imra, Ayla, and Garth work to stop an armored thief from stealing a canister of toxic bacteria. When Ayla uses her gravity powers, she feels faint again, and the canister almost smashes open. Garth tells her to go see Doctor Gym’ll while he and Imra take the thief to the Science Police. Gym’ll, who is now better approximating his original portrayal as a grumpy doctor, tells her to stop using her gravity powers, but needs to be cajoled into explaining why. He believes the issue is psychological, since she is different from her twin Garth, which is frowned upon on their world. Ayla goes to visit a lightning beast from Korbal at the zoo, and explains her origin to it. She enters the beast’s enclosure, hoping to get it to blast her with lightning, but instead the beast tries to gore her and she has to use her powers on it; she learns from a warden that its lightning has been removed. Ayla goes to talk to Garth, but finds him talking to Rokk and Reep about her, and not in a nice way. She smashes him into the ceiling and storms off. Garth goes looking for her, but neither Imra, Gym’ll, Violet, nor Shvaughn Erin know where she went. Reep mentions that a mini-cruiser was taken from the hangar without being signed out. On the Legion Outpost, Star Boy is chatting with Insect Queen over video call. Suddenly, a large noise is heard, and Insect Queen sees a number of alien ships entering Xanthu’s atmosphere. She tells Thom that they need help from the Legion, but the call has failed. Ayla crashes her mini-cruiser on Korbal, and goes looking for some lightning beasts, hoping to get a recharge on her powers. She gets blasted, and it takes her down. A second cruiser arrives, and Garth, Imra, Rokk, Reep, Element Lad, Violet, and Gym’ll all come out. Gym’ll diagnoses Ayla as dead, but a lightning blast from Garth revives her momentarily. Gym’ll admits that a larger blast might revive her permanently, but doesn’t think it can be done there. Rokk realizes that much of the equipment they’d need to pull off Gym’ll’s idea can be stripped from Ayla’s downed cruiser. The team gets to work, building a device and some wands that will gather and channel electricity to Garth. (This is all designed to remind us of when Garth died in the original Legion continuity). The team spreads out to collect lightning from the atmosphere, but Gym’ll doesn’t believe that this plan is safe for Garth and wants to call it off. Garth refuses. Everyone begins to send energy to him while Jan acts flaky. The energy is not enough, so Garth asks for more, until we see the pod Ayla’s in explode. She emerges, and hugs her brother. When she tries her power, it doesn’t work. She gets angry at Garth for failing, and we see a massive burst of energy come from them. The rest of the team rushes over, and we see that Ayla has her lightning back.
LNR 58 – Ferro has his face unwrapped by the doctors who just performed surgery on him, and learns that the surgery didn’t go well. This is a dream though; he’s been waiting to speak to a metallurgist, who tells him that she could sculpt his face to whatever shape he’d like, so long as he never reverted back from his metallic form. In deep space, Gates and Brainiac 5 argue about how to study the anomaly they’ve followed M’onel and Andromeda to. The two Daxamite Legionnaires appear as giant energy projections. They tell the Legionnaires they can explore in their transuits safely; Brainy is excited to see how so much matter and energy is being created. Closeby, an employee of Leland McCauley is watching and analyzing the data. At Legion HQ, Ferro is eating a variety of his favourite foods. He explains to Tenzil that if he chooses to stay metal, he won’t be able to taste his food anymore (no one explains how difficult it must be for him to eat through his mask). The Espionage Squad enters the room, and Ferro explains his decision. The others all think he shouldn’t risk losing his sense of taste and smell. They experiment, and he learns that in his metal form, he can’t even feel Sensor constricting around him. He also feels intimidated by how beautiful all of his friends are. On the Outpost, Star Boy decides to go to Xanthu to see why they can’t get them back on coms. Monstress decides to come with him, and packs quicker than Thom expected. Ferro calls Dyrk to ask his advice, and Dyrk tells him how badly he wants his own powers back, and tells Ferro to talk to a counsellor. Later, Ferro meets with Dr. Ryk’rr, and they discuss his childhood, and the rejection he suffered at his mother’s hands. She helps him to see that the Legionnaires accept him, and she explains that his biggest fear is of rejection. Triad, XS, and Lori Morning are in Paris shopping for a gift for Shvaughn, who is being promoted to Captain. The two Legionnaires intervene when a number of shopkeepers try to arrest a man who has been stealing. It turns out he’s a Durlan, and he’s not that easy to capture. Lori uses the H dial to turn herself into Ink, and after a cop shoots one of Luornu’s bodies by mistake, intervenes in the fight, ultimately capturing the Durlan herself. After everything is taken care of, Luornu suggests that Ink try out for the Legion, while Jenni starts looking for Lori. Lori rushes off, and returns to normal, telling the two older girls that she found a gift for Shvaughn. Ferro finishes his meeting with Ryk’rr, and she gives Gym’ll a call and accepts his offer to come on as the team psychologist. Ferro thinks about girls liking him more if he was good-looking. Later, at Legion Plaza, Ferro arrives just in time for Shvuaghn’s promotion ceremony, and tells Luornu and Shvaughn that he’s going to stay as he is for now; he congratulates Shvaughn and calls her “lieutenant”, which is a bit confusing (but then, Ferro hasn’t done anything characteristically stupid yet in this issue).
LSH 102 – This issue is split between two stories. The lead story opens with Star Boy and Monstress travelling to Xanthu. Monstress explains how she sees Thom as having gotten a lot more responsible, and points out the positive impact that Leviathan’s “tough love” had on him. They arrive, and see that Xanthu is being invaded by unknown aliens. Thom calls the Uncanny Amazers, and the bald unnamed guy patches the call over to Atmos, who is in orbit with Kid Quantum trying to keep the aliens from getting to the planet. Atmos is not happy that there are only two Legionnaires there to assist (I don’t know why they wouldn’t have immediately called for more, unless the communications blackout extended to the Legion cruiser. Insect Queen reports that an energy wave is incinerating the surface of the planet. Konk, the Uncanny Amazer who can detach her head from her body, has snuck onto an alien ship, and learns that they are planning on using Xanthu’s power plants to power their energy wave. She is discovered, but escapes. When Thom and Monstress join Atmos and Kid Quantum, Thom questions why KQ is in space when her powers would be better served against the energy wave. It looks like they are going to argue, but instead Konk arrives and explains what she’s learned. Thom and Atmos head for the largest power plant they can find. Monstress and Kid Quantum arrive on the surface, and help Insect Queen keep people away from the energy wave. Thom and Atmos try to figure out how to shut down the power plant, and then see the alien ships explode. At first, Thom thinks he did something, but they learn that a Khund fleet arrived and destroyed the aliens. The Khund leader speaks to Xanthu’s president about the planet joining their new alliance. Later, the Uncanny Amazers (past and present) all chat, and Thom offers Kid Quantum a spot in the Legion. Monstress calls him out for trying to overcompensate after looking bad in front of the Khund, and while Thom agrees, both he and Monstress are surprised that Kid Quantum accepts his offer.
LSH 102 – The other story in this issue (featuring Todd Nauck’s stubby artwork) opens with Jo and Tinya making out, but when Tinya’s mom calls, she runs away again. Jo ends up busting through the wall trying to catch her, and sees Kinetix, who has come to tell him that Doctor Gym’ll has benched both Jo and Tinya until they have a psychiatric evaluation. Winema Wazzo is upset that her daughter still hasn’t talked to her since she got back (Winema doesn’t know she was in the past). Jo and Tinya arrive at Medicus One (this is the first that medical station has been shown in the reboot continuity) and meet with Dr. Ryk’rr, who introduces herself as the team’s psychiatrist. Tinya starts to talk about how she is now two people, and that her mind and memories are very confused. Ryk’rr puts a device on her forehead to help her, and Tinya starts to tell her story. She explains how her mother, daughter of diplomats, met Luonel Bordo (who was always called Murl before now). Winema didn’t know that Luonel was from Cargg, and that he would split into his three bodies so one could spend time with her, while the others went and gambled in casinos run by the Luck Lords. Winema got pregnant, and instead of admitting the truth to her, while she was still knocked out from giving birth, he took two of the three parts of Tinya and gave them to the Luck Lords as a way of paying off his debt. Winema never knew, and because Tinya was a hybrid Cargitte/Bgytzlian, she was able to survive without her other selves. One of the Tinyas disappeared, while the other worked in the Luck Lords’ casinos basically as a slave. The Luck Lords had problems with a planet called Lippikasolovid (seriously), whose people could touch Other-Tinya even when she was a phantom. The Luck Lord didn’t want them to get her, so he used a time-displacer to send her back in time, where she became Phase of the LEGION. Now Tinya is upset at how she was abused, and that she wasn’t. Jo is angry, and wants to find Tinya’s father. Just then, Winema phases into the room, and she’s just as angry (she read the Legion’s duty roster to find Tinya). Ryk’rr reminds Jo and Winema that they need to support Tinya as she incorporates two lives into one. We see that Luonel is gambling somewhere.
LNR 59 – Monstress updates Lyle and President Brande about what happened on Xanthu, and identifies the aliens they fought as Natra Dellons; they are all worried about what the Khunds might be up to. Brande suggests that the team get a little R&R as it’s quiet now, before whatever is up happens. Lyle agrees, and we see that he has a note from someone looking forward to seeing him with the initial “C.” Thom calls Tenzil to get him to cancel his date with Nura since he’s still on Xanthu. Nura shows up anyway, already knowing this, and tells Tenzil to pack a picnic lunch and dinner for six. Most of the rest of the team hears from Lyle, and decides how they are going to spend their time. Garth and Imra decide to go to the beach, and only want to take Jo and Tinya with them. Luornu calls Chuck to see what he’s up to, but doesn’t love his suggestion of going to a robo-ball game. Jeka encourages Reep to ask Ayla something, while Violet and Ferro decide it’s best to spend the day at the HQ. In the commissary, Imra is surprised to learn that Nura’s already planned the food for their beach trip, and has invited Tenzil along as their sixth person. At the Fires of Creation site, it seems that Andromeda and M’onel are having trouble perceiving time, while Gates and Brainy are getting along, studying the phenomenon. When Lar starts to freak out a little, remembering his time in stasis, Umbra comforts him. Jeka’s asked Chuck to make her a feathered fan (which is literally the Athramites only job). Jeka (dressed as the Chiquita banana version of fancy), Reep, and Ayla are ready to head to Paris. One of Luornu joins them, dressed all in leather. Another Luornu asks Chuck if he wants to go to a tea house with her, but that suits Jan better. The third Luornu comes to get Chuck for the ball game, and everyone heads out. On the beach, Imra and Nura talk while the guys play volleyball and Tinya broods. After the game breaks up, Garth and Imra go for a walk, while Nura suggests Jo spend time with Tinya. The Parisian contingent arrive at a fancy club where they see some lizardbeing tourists, and a guy from a planet of people with French accents starts flirting with Luornu. The other Luornu starts to enjoy being at the ball game with Chuck. Ferro draws Violet, and freaks out over how pretty she is. On the Outpost, XS works out, and is angry that neither M’onel or Cosmic Boy pay her any attention. Dyrk suggests they go for a walk and chat, but when Rokk walks by, Jenni’s attention is diverted. The group at the beach has fun, while Nura hints that something is going to change for Tenzil soon. Vi and Andrew seem to be getting closer. The French guy irritates Luornu while Ayla and Reep seem to be getting closer. The Luornu at the tea room finds hanging out with Jan awkward, while Paris Luornu tosses the French guy into the lizardbeings’ table when he gets too fresh. Ball game Luornu is the only one actually enjoying herself. Dyrk tries to get through to Jenni that he’s interested in her, but she’s pretty dense and he gets mad and storms off. Lyle returns to the headquarters (happy that he was able to pick up where things left off with whoever he went to see), and catches Lori sneaking in. Before Lori has to explain, the group from the beach returns, and Lyle tells Imra, who is deputy leader (which doesn’t make sense since she was in a different century when the votes were cast) that he’s stepping down as leader immediately.
LSH 103 – Leland McCauley is unhappy that he’s been summoned to his base on the Moon because Evolvo has locked himself in the executive washroom and is draining resources at a quick pace. Karate Kid kicks open the door, and he and McCauley see that Evolvo has built a massive device. Evolvo’s regular self can’t explain, but once he evolves into his future self, he tries to explain to McCauley that he’s on the path of something that will make McCauley richer than RJ Brande. Saturn Girl is not enjoying her new role as team leader, as she struggles to arrange duty rosters for the next week. Dreamer comes to chat with her, hinting that there are lineup changes coming. On Xanthu, Vice-President Wazzo meets with Deputy Prefect Lamar on Xanthu. She’s clearly trying to appease him, offering UP help with reconstruction after the invasion of the Natra Dellon, but is surprised when Lamar mentions how good the Affiliated Planets have been as well, and introduces her to Khund Captain Takk (although he never says his name, Wazzo uses it). Takk chides her for not helping Xanthu during the invasion, and for not investigating the communications blackout that hid it. Wazzo calls Star Boy to tell him off for not warning her about Takk’s presence, and we learn that Thom, Monstress, and Kid Quantum are investigating the cause of Xanthu’s frequent communications problems. Monstress finds a signal coming from a moon called Pon, where they find a facility of some sort. A tractor beam grabs the Legion cruiser, and KQ wants to fight. On Earth’s moon, Evolvo reveals that he’s basically built a device to monitor the space anomaly, which impresses Val. McCauley’s not impressed though, as he doesn’t see how to monetize this scanner, but Evolvo wins him over by insisting that he can turn the anomaly into a weapon with enough knowledge. Thom scans the facility on Pon, and they figure that it’s run by Gil’Dans (not Gil’Dishpans? This is either a reboot thing, or an error). They put on their transuits and fly out to attack. Monstress is attacked by Sklarian, while a Gil’Dan (I’ll stick with that) lets Takk know they are under attack. He informs Lamar and Wazzo that his men have discovered the source of the blackouts, and says he’ll take care of it. On Earth’s moon, Val talks to Spider-Girl about how corrupt McCauley is, and decides to take a stand. He breaks into Evolvo’s bathroom lab, and it’s clear he’s there to wreck the machine. Evolvo devolves to his ape form, and they fight briefly. Val starts taking apart the machine, and takes out some guards that come to stop him. A little later, Val calls Imra, asking the Legion for asylum, as he’s being chased by McCauley’s people. On Pon, Thom, Monstress, and KQ keep fighting, until they see a large number of missiles coming their way. Takk watches as the moon explodes.
LNR 60 – The 30th century version of the tabloid press has published pictures of Reep, Jeka, and Ayla from their night out, which is causing problems for King Charlz, Jeka’s father, and for the rulers of Durla; both recall the Legionnaires home. Evolvo tells Spider-Girl what’s happened on the Moon. It’s not really clear why Jeka and Reep dancing is a scandal, aside from xenophobia, but we see a group of “Friends” sitting around a coffee shop talking about Durlans in a negative way. Lori is hoping that Reep and Jeka will be kicked off the team, and wants to use the Hero Dial to try out, but Proty won’t let her; she ends up turning into a ball of protoplasm for an hour. Karate Kid is approaching Metropolis in his stolen jet, and is taking fire from his pursuers. On Pon, Star Boy, Monstress, and Kid Quantum manage to save themselves from the Khund missile attack, but don’t even try to save any of the Gil’Dan around them. Ultra Boy and Live Wire help cover Karate Kid, while Jeka sends an image of McCauley to the pursuers, ordering them to fall back; this surprises Jo, who apparently has never found out what Sensor’s powers are. Val explains to Imra and Shvaughn why he left, and repeats that he wants asylum with the Legion. On Xanthu, Captain Takk claims to be surprised that the base he attacked wasn’t full of Natra Dellon, but since there is no evidence, there’s nothing Kid Quantum can do. Thom believes that the Khunds are behind the attacks on Xanthu, and after Prefect Lamar and Takk leave, Vice-President Wazzo tells the kids to cool down. At Lunabase, McCauley fires the pilots that followed Val, and then has to negotiate with Imra and Shvaughn. They agree to not pursue charges on either side, and while McCauley is unhappy that Val’s probation is to be a part of the Legion, he’s happy that Val never spent any of his pay, and forfeits it back to McCauley. Thom, Monstress, and KQ return to Earth, and Monstress lets Imra know that she wants to join the team. After Monstress gives Val and KQ a tour of the headquarters, she leaves them in the memorial room. Quantum tells Val about how both she and her brother, the first Kid Quantum, developed their powers, but that James had to rely on his power belt to amplify his. After his death (on his first mission with the Legion), she had her powers amplified. She admits that she’s only now beginning to grieve his death. We also learn, finally, that her first name is Jazmin, when Imra calls her and Val to the meeting room. There, they are informed that by majority vote they’ve made the team, and are given flight rings and utility belts. The team has a bit of a party, during which Val and Jo get reacquainted (having worked together on the Work Force), and Sensor and Monstress both joke around. Reep announces that he has to return to Durla. Right after that, Jeka announces that she’s got to return to her planet as well. Imra mentions to Lyle that Dreamer predicted this, while Lyle’s thoughts make it clear to the reader that this was a planned action, as part of the Legion Espionage Squad. Elsewhere, the Dark Circle council meets, and when the Sklarian representative expresses anger at the loss of her people on Pon, the guy in the Dark Circle mask kills her. At the anomaly, Brainiac 5 sends a message to Earth saying that the investigation is going very well. Then we see that all of the Legionnaires there are actually curled up and in a trance, and that only M’onel is resisting; this section is narrated by someone who mentions time, and whose text boxes are tinged purple – the Time Trapper perhaps?
LSH 104 – A spaceliner is carrying passengers, including a couple of Science Police and a Durlan thief being returned to his world. The pilots are nervous about having to cross out of UP space and go through Affiliated Planets territory. A Sklarian identifying herself as Kono (who in the classic Legion comics, was a member of the team) phases into the ship and rips the restraining clamp off the Durlan’s head, creating chaos in the ship. All the passengers move for the escape pods as the ship’s life support is damaged. On the Legion Outpost, Dyrk lets a collection of Legionnaires – Ultra Boy (who is wearing some very ugly amber sunglasses), Cosmic Boy, Apparition, Element Lad, and XS – about what’s happened. He tells them that no one in the Affiliated Planets is moving to rescue the people in the pods. Jenni worries that going to rescue them might cause an incident, but Jo insists. On earth, RJ Brande, Wazzo, and a couple others look at a three-dimensional map showing how many worlds have left the UP to join the AP; Brande is trying to figure out what the pattern might be, and how the AP is recruiting worlds. An aide shows him signals they intercepted, which are playing up fear of the escaped Durlan by tapping into anti-Durlan sentiment in general. At McCauley’s Luna Base, McCauley demonstrates the barely-fixed omniscanner that Evolvo built to Minister Crugg, a Khundian representative of the AP, who is not happy to be in UP space. As they show her the space anomaly, she gets interested in its potential as a weapon. Suddenly, the Legionnaires that were sent to examine the anomaly appear in McCauley’s room, only some of them are changed. Andromeda, Kinetix, Brainiac 5, and possibly Gates look different. Zoe’s costume has changed a little, Laurel is in cargo pants and has shorter hair than before, and Brainy’s costume has also changed; most significantly, he now has three discs on his forehead, and a few other geometric shapes on his face. M’onel appears ill. Crugg freaks out and attacks the Legion before activating a device that wraps her in a helmet and flies her away. McCauley is furious, and thinks the Legion did this on purpose. On Durla, Reep transfers his spiritual leadership of the planet to Nyurt Roz, and then enters the cave of atonement in penance for his sin of going on a date. He is not happy to learn he should stay there for twelve years. The Legion squad arrives at the escape pods, and rounds them up. Jan transmutes them to iron so Rokk can better tow them to safety using his powers. The problem is that the first world they try to land on fires at them, fearful that the escaped Durlan might be among them. Brande speaks to the leaders of Winath and Orando, hoping they can help him hold on to more worlds, but Fegg and Charlz tell him their worlds are joining the Affiliated Planets too. Evolvo chats with the Legionnaires on Luna Base, but none of them can properly explain what was happening in the anomaly. We notice that Gates has become very fond of Brainy, and that Brainy seems much nicer; he even praises Evolvo’s work instead of insulting him. Gates calls him Brainiac 5.1, and Brainy cracks up. Later, after the Legionnaires have left, Evolvo thinks about something Gates and Brainy said about subwaves, and uses his omniscanner to teleport Crugg back into his lab. She’s not happy, but he points out she should be asking how he got her there, and if she’d like to buy that capability. On the Outpost, Live Wire and Spark are enjoying a practice session together when a flash of light happens, and we see them in their classic Lightning Lad and Light Lass costumes, fighting some big clanky robots. The clock behind them identifies the year as 2968, where before the flash, it said 2998.
LNR 61 – Roger Stern took over solo writing duties for this one, which is the latest in the line of Legionnaires in weird timeline issues. There’s a huge crowd outside the Legion’s headquarters, excited to see the team do a flyover. We spot Ferro, Monstress, Lori, Gates, and Jenni in the crowd. When the team flies past, it’s the Silver Age Legion, including the OG Superboy and Supergirl. The Legion is offering tours, so our familiar characters, including Jazmin, end up walking through together. Zoe is surprised to see Colossal Boy, having assumed that he’d died. Matter-Eater Lad shows off his powers, and Lori wonders how they would have ever gotten him onto the team. Superboy shows them footage of Sun Boy fighting the Sun-Eater, which seems familiar to Andrew. Bouncing Boy shows off the meeting room, and Jazmin wonders why he’d be on the team. Gates thinks he recognizes Triad, but it’s actually Duo Damsel, who talks about how her third body was killed by COMPUTO, a name that Andrew remembers. In the Hall of Heroes, Andrew is freaked out to see a statue of himself there. Andrew realizes that he’s Ferro, and identifies the others by their codenames. There’s a siren, and the issue takes a weird detour. Original versions of Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad rush to the Metropolis Spaceport to help after a crash. What follows is a few pages taken from the Time and Time Again arc that ran in Superman’s books. The adult Superman (although Moy’s art makes that hard to tell) is in this timeline, and gets help from the Legionnaires in stopping an explosion. The kids are surprised to see that it’s really him, and he mentions having met the Legion (although not at this point in their lives. They talk about the Legion’s knowledge of his adult life, and then he flies down to stop a secondary fire. There’s an explosion and he doesn’t return, but Superboy shows up. I think this whole sequence is used as a segue to introduce Garth’s notion of talking to Rond Vidar about the time problems. Our actual (for this series) Legionnaires have also gone looking for Rond, since Lori has memorized his address (in a different timeline/reality). Rond tries to figure out what’s happening, and supposes that it’s because all of these Legionnaires have been in the time stream (Jazmin hasn’t, but she has quantum powers so apparently that counts). His time-scanner goes off, and the kids are back floating in the timestream, in their usual outfits. Jenni and Jazmin figure they can work together to move through time, and they reappear in the Legion hangar deck. A group of Legionnaires confront them – this is a 70s Dave Cockrum showing, complete with Wildfire and Timber Wolf, two of the most-missed Legionnaires in the reboot (by me). Jenni tries to distract them so the others can leave. Gates teleports them into the Hall of Heroes, where they learn that Invisible Kid and Chemical King have died. Wildfire chases Jenni, while Gates takes them to the records library. They want to pull up a schematic of the headquarters, but instead learn that Chuck and Luornu are married. Gates takes them to a lab, where Lori starts working a time platform, and they are back in the timestream. This time they end up in a place kind of like the anomaly, but a voice that Zoe and Jenni recognize speaks to them. They stand in front of the gigantic Time Trapper.
LSH 105 – As the Time Trapper talks, we see various incarnations of the founding Legionnaires fighting with themselves. The Trapper talks about how he’s developed many versions of the Legion to play with. He shows the Legionnaires he’s brought to the end of time that he has their friends, and their alternates, all in his gallery. He says he uses the current Legion as his inspiration to create other Legions. He freezes everyone when Monstress tries to hit him, and says that he has big plans for the team. XS remembers that it was the Time Trapper that helped her return to the 30th century, while Lori remembers that it was him that gave her the hero dial in the timestream. The Trapper suggests that he might even be one of the Legion (we know from the Zero Hour era that he is actually the original Rokk Krinn, which I always thought was a cop-out). Kid Quantum asks why he’s collected them, and he says it’s because they don’t have doppelgangers anywhere else (which is weird, if he’s the one creating the alternate timestreams). The Trapper says he’s been lonely. Lori decides to appeal to this, and the Trapper ages her to adult again, declaring her glorious (I swear, this is the first time I’ve made the connection between Lori and Glorith, but I’m still not sure if that’s the intent for her. Lori is happy to be an adult, but the Trapper is more interested in watching the founders fight some more. Our/Reboot Garth has been hurt badly by a Bad Garth, but a ton of Rokks show up to help. 5YL Garth and Imra tell Our Garth that he’s going to marry Imra, and an Alternate Rokk says something about having seen his brother die, which worries Our Rokk and Silver Age Rokk. The Imras check to make sure everyone is ready to work together, and Our Imra puts Evil Imra to sleep. Getting bored, the Trapper decides to toss a lot more Evil Legionnaires into the mix, including a Mr. T(yroc). It looks like there are too many foes for the various founders. The frozen Legionnaires worry, while Lori looks for her hero dial, but the Trapper has it. She snatches it, and it turns her into Galaxy Girl, a very young kid with a magic hammer. She does some damage to the Trapper’s time field, and manages to free the Legionnaires she came with. Jenni is the only one who knows that Lori is Galaxy Girl, and Ferro tries to get her to help. The others join the founders, and Ferro gets Lori to bring all the good Legionnaires forward – the reboot versions, as well as many previous versions. Princess Projectra is surprised to see that Sensor is a snake (also its strange that she’s here at all, given that she was supposed to have left. 5YL Vi is surprised to see Violet grow, and gives her some advice (in a scene that might suggest that there’s something between our Vi and Kinetix?). Triad and Reboot Star Boy are surprised to see that Chuck and Tenzil are Legionnaires in the other reality, we finally get to see Wildfire and Dawnstar together, and Spark notices Timber Wolf, and Furball, showing her interest. Reboot Invisible Kid and Jacques Foccart Invisible Kid save Rokk, and are surprised to see each other alive (interesting that our Lyle knows a Jacques). Our Rokk sees his brother, Pol, and is happy he’s alive. The Time Trapper rallies and is about to attack when Original Superboy challenges him. The heavy hitters gather around the Trapper, and Our Rokk tells all the Legionnaires to attack. Suddenly, Our Legion (but not Sensor or Andromeda) finds themselves in Tenzil’s commissary. Lori runs off, and Rokk figures out that it was the Trapper behind their journeys to the Golden and Silver Ages. Brainy wants to go get his monkey, but Imra wants him to work with Rond Vidar to figure out what happened. Lori is upset to be a kid again, and to know that Jenni knows about the hero dial. Ferro and Luornu chat about how weird it is to know that they died in another reality. The Trapper talks to himself, and we learn that this was an experiment on his part, that the Legion passed. He says they need to rise to future challenges, for “the sake of existence itself”.
LNR 62 – This is the first issue of the Dark Circle Rising! arc. Doctor Gym’ll is examining the Legionnaires that returned from the anomaly (except for Andromeda, who has returned to her order). M’onel and Umbra seem the most normal, while Kinetix is in a bit of a trance, and only ever says one word at a time. Brainiac 5.1 seems very flaky socially, but unchanged in terms of his intellect, while Gates appears to have a crush on him. When Gym’ll gets annoyed with Zoe, she ends up lifting him in the air with her powers. XS sits with Lori watching the news, where President Brande is speaking about anti-Durlan bigotry. Jenni asks about Lori’s powers, and she admits that she’s the one who has been helping the Legion, but doesn’t tell her about the hero dial, instead blaming the changes they’ve seen on her chronal energy. The leaders of the Affiliated Planets have a big Zoom call, and are surprised when Leland McCauley and Minister Crugg teleport onto a vessel where the call is being broadcast. McCauley explains the new technology he’s developed, and the AP folks are pretty interested as if it scales up properly, it could replace stargate travel. McCauley leaves to let them discuss things, and the different councillors are revealed to be the Dark Circle we’ve seen before (so far, there’s the Khund, Dominators, Sklarians, Gil’Dans, and I think Tyrians, in addition to the masked leader). They talk about how they are continuing to scapegoat the Durlans, and have snatched Durla’s living weapons, and blocked the planet’s communications. On Durla, the new religious leader doesn’t want to do anything to make things worse for Durlans. One of his advisors mentions asking Reep for advice, but the leader gets angry. Reep, meanwhile, returned to the Caves of Atonement from the ‘timeslip’, is not happy, and is planning on leaving the cave. Some other Durlans come to see him, and tell him that the living weapons have been stolen. On Orando, Jeka and her brother, Willum, tour mines and are surprised to see that the raccoon-like servant race is being overworked and mistreated. Jeka confronts her father, King Charlz, and they argue. She makes Charlz feel like one of the labourers, and he commands her to leave his sight. Andromeda prays in the convent of the Sisters of the Eternal Cosmos. The mother superior visits her, asking her to go champion the Durlans. In the Gil’Dan enclave in Metropolis, that planet’s UP representative, Ar’By, an old school mollusc-like Gil’Dishpan, is surprised to be visited by a representative of Gil’Dan’s other race, which looks like a brain with sperm trying to penetrate the globe around it. Their discussion is being recorded by Violet, with a shoulder-mounted camcorder. The two talk about how they were involved in the Xanthu incident, the racial tensions between their groups, and the fact that they were involved in the assassination attempt on Brande. We also learn that Gil’Dishpan was a mis-translation of their name. The brain Gil’Dan detects someone’s mental energy, so Vi has to get out of their, while still carrying the camcorder. She appears to disappear, and the two globes end up blasting each other with their mental energy. As it turns out, Lyle was also there and helped her escape (I’m not sure why he couldn’t record then, as he could have made the camera invisible). Lyle wants to get some industrial spies involved in the Espionage Squad’s business. On Orando, Jeka thinks about her mother, talks to her brother, and is upset that he too holds xenophobic views. Triad and Spark prepare for a trip to Winath, and say goodbye to Chuck and Dyrk. Willum leads a strike of the Orandan mine workers, and Jeka speaks to her father over vid-screen, having already left the planet. She tells Charlz that she abdicates her right to the throne.
LSH 106 – Some Sklarian raiders (led by Kono) attack an Imskian space station, but Ultra Boy, Apparition, and Cosmic Boy are right on their tails (although we don’t know how they knew to get there). Tinya is surprised to learn that Kono can also turn intangible, and chases after her while the other two wrap up. XS, who is on a cruiser outside the station, lets Rokk know that a Tyrazzian ship is up to something. Tinya manages to take down Kono. Rokk joins Jenni, who tells him that it looks like the Tyrazzians are going to attack the stargate, which is what happens. The Tyrazzians teleport away, as do the Sklarians and Kono, surprising the Legionnaires. We see that the attackers’ escape didn’t go as planned though, with their ship rematerializing incorrectly, killing many of the crew. Kono calls McCauley, who is with a holographic projection of the AP’s leader, to complain. The leader comments that soldiers can be replaced; he’s happy with the results still. On Winath, Ayla is a guest of honor at a Presidential dinner, but she finds her family embarrassing. Triad is with her, and she triplicates so that two of her can go snoop around for information on the AP. One of the fiddlers playing at the dinner fires a beam from the end of his fiddle, killing one of the twin Presidents. Ayla attacks him, and he responds by firing her lightning back at her. The assassin is a Durlan, and he takes on Chameleon’s form. Luornu thinks it must be the Composite Man, and Ayla goes after him as he escapes. President Brande is in his office trying to figure out what to do about the Imskian stargate and all the people stranded there, and tells Marla to get Brainiac 5.1 on it, since he’s cooperative now. Brande learns of the assassination on Winath. Brainy and Gates are at the Time Institute working with Rond Vidar to try to find the Time Trapper when Saturn Girl arrives with Koko, Brainy’s monkey, which makes him happy. Marla calls to explain the stargate issue, and Brainy returns to headquarters, asking for M’onel’s assistance. Rokk and Jenni try to fix the stargate, which was not completely destroyed. Brainy appears via VR projection (which makes no sense), and talks them through a quick repair, which opens the gate long enough for M’onel to arrive with a new one. On Winath, the surviving President wants to go to war with Durla. Luornu’s other two selves are caught, and brought to the room where everyone is. She merges, and she and Ayla run for it, stealing the Presidents’ speeder; Ayla has an idea of where to go, and feels bad about becoming a traitor to her world. Andromeda approaches a UP customs station close to Durla, and is told to board the station. She explains that she’s there for outreach work, and to try to address the racism that is taking place. A vessel makes for Durla, and Andromeda flies out to stop it. The ship is full of angry Winathians who were headed to Durla for revenge. At the same time, Sensor enters the station, and Andromeda has to protect her from the UP officers. She’s also there to protect Durla, and feels that the UP is being unfair to it; the official points out that there are many vessels and worlds wanting to attack the planet, and that they are on the brink of war.
LNR 63 – The surviving President of Winath is calling for justice. Vice-President Wazzo and a Titanian SP officer interrogate Ar’By, who professes his innocence, even when Wazzo shows the footage that Violet took of him and his fellow Gil’Dan, who we learn is named Ar’Dn (I’d have gone with Wn’Dy). Ar’Dn feels that the Gil’Dan who died in the attack on Xanthu deserved what was coming to them. Apparition checks out Ar’Dn’s residence, and only finds some hate literature. Brande and Invisible Kid man the Espionage Squad command centre (when was this built?). Triad reports in from Winath, where she and Ayla are hiding out, and Lyle tells Sensor to wait for the rest of the team to help in rescuing Chameleon on Durla. We also learn that Violet is part of a mission to Colu, but we don’t know why. Brande and Lyle try to figure out why they can’t find the devices jamming transmissions from Durla. Tinya reports in, and gives them an idea inadvertently. Brande speaks to a UP admiral, asking that she work with Andromeda to check every piece of space junk near Durla; Laurel agrees. Gates and Imra hang out in the Legion’s botanical gardens, where Karate Kid sleeps. Lyle joins them, mentioning it’s good that Imra has reestablished ties with the SP in the Legion: Science Police mini. His plan involves them dressing like SPs, including Gates. At an AP base, some Dominators start to dissect a Durlan while Kono fumes that no one cares about the genocide of the Sklarians. We learn that the Composite Man has gone to the planetoid where his recently freed “sister” is. He is trying to recruit her to join in getting revenge on Durla, but when she refuses to help, he attacks her. On Durla, Chameleon helps his people at the site of the Volcano Prison, which the AP attacked to free the living weapons. A Tyrazzian collects the Composite Man for a mission, and they leave the other living weapon to die on the planetoid (of what, they don’t say). Leland McCauley is annoyed that none of the AP councillors will meet with him in person, and Minister Crugg, who he now calls by her first name, gives him a shoulder rub as she realizes that she’s never met any of the leadership either. Laurel smashes junks in space, and discovers Imskian tech. An SP cruiser approaches Jeka’s ship. She’s surprised when Gates teleports on-board to bring her to the bigger ship. There, Shvaughn Erin (who herself doesn’t know her rank anymore) waits with Lyle and Imra (who are also wearing SP uniforms so they can get clearance to go to Durla) and Kinetix and M’onel. After Laurel smashes another device, Lyle is able to find Cham’s signal. Reep and other Durlans find an injured Durlan, and while they work to get him out of the wreckage around them, a collapse happens. Reep shields the others, but is about to be crushed when M’onel and Kinetix save him. They try to help the hurt Durlan, but he passes away giving them some coordinates. Imra and Jeka are surprised by Reep’s anger. Brainiac 5.1, Violet, and Kid Quantum travel together to Colu when someone unseen calls, saying he’s been searching for Brainy. Reep and his squad find the female living weapon on the planetoid at those coordinates. They get her into a transuit, while Imra notices how different her mind is from the Composite Man’s. She turns out to be peaceful, but also wants to see changes made to Durla. Reep feels responsible for abdicating his leadership role, but is ready to make things better now.
LSH 107 – Brainiac 5.1, Violet, and Kid Quantum arrive on Colu and have some trouble accessing Brainy’s old lab. Once they’re inside, Brainy figures that the best way to convince the Coluans to not join the Affiliated Planets is by entering the Sleepnet. Spark leads Triad to her old tree fort, since they are now wanted on Winath. We learn that before she was caught, Luornu got some records from the Presidents’ office. Once she reveals that, a bug turns into the Composite Man, who attacks them by borrowing Luornu’s ability to triplicate, and then changing to make himself look like Luornu, making it hard for Ayla to know who to blast. Brainy enters the Coluan Sleepnet and starts to speak to all Coluans, showing humility and the new approach to dealing with people that has come with his upgrade. His people agree with him about the AP, and as a reward, show him an image of his mother, who abandoned him when he was an infant. One Coluan in the net doesn’t agree. Luornu gets the upper hand on the Composite Man, as she’s trained in Tri-Jitsu and he isn’t (I’m not sure why he doesn’t use Ayla’s powers on her). Instead, Ayla blasts him. The AP leader (who is now being called ‘leader’) orders Leland McCauley to teleport the Composite Man away from the fight, and to Colu. He assures McCauley that they had nothing to do with the assassination on Winath, although McCauley doesn’t buy it. The leader ends his call with McCauley and joins his advisors in the Dark Circle. He wants the entire Khund fleet to go to Durla, and when the Gil’Dan questions this, he blasts it. Vi and Jazmin are surprised when Composite Man, Ayla, and Luornu show up in Brainy’s lab. He is about to kill Brainy when he wakes up and blasts him with his force field. He’s still in the Sleepnet as well, having a twelve-track mind, and accepts his people’s suggestion that the Composite Man be brought into the Sleepnet. Brainy sees in CM’s mind that the AP is only about conquest, and that they are connected to the Time Trapper. The Sleepnet shuts down Composite Man, and Brainy explains that the AP could be bringing about the end of time. On Durla, Invisible Kid, Chameleon, and Gates track incoming ships, and then watch explosions happening in space.
LNR 64 – Leland McCauley is increasingly angry that the leader of the Affiliated Planets won’t meet with him, and that Evolvo can’t trace his signals. When the leader kills the Gil’Dan in his circle, all the other Gil’Dan in the universe learn of it. Ar’By tells VP Wazzo, while the guys that McCauley has stationed near the anomaly report in that the AP are draining it of energy. McCauley recalls his people, and calls RJ Brande to share information with him. Minister Crugg busts into McCauley’s office while they are still talking, ranting about how stupid the AP are for attacking the UP over Durla. The Legionnaires on Durla (and Shvaughn) watch the battle begin, as Khunds and Sklarians teleport all over Durla attacking. Shvaughn, Gates, and Kinetix teleport to the Holy Council chambers to rescue the Durlans there, although the spiritual leader is already dead. Sensor, Saturn Girl, and Chameleon link minds to give Durlans around the world the warning to hide and attack their invaders. In space, Andromeda continues to smash Khund ships, and is joined by M’onel. The distortion at the anomaly gets worse. The rest of the Legion, leaving Earth, the Outpost, and Colu, race to Durla, while Lori, Chuck, and Tenzil watch on TV, and Wazzo gets more info from Ar’By, and Kono refuses to keep fighting. Suddenly, the anomaly bursts, and it looks like all over the galaxy, everything freezes and turns grey except for Lori. She tries to use her hero dial, and it manifests many beings at once. The Time Trapper comes to her, and reveals her face – she’s either Glorith, an older Lori, or both. She puts Lori to sleep, and says that only the Legion can complete “our plan.” On Durla, the Legion and Shvaughn are the only ones who can move. Brainiac 5.1 calls Imra, and we see that he and the rest of the Legion are in the timestream, although Karate Kid is also frozen, and Brainy’s monkey is missing. Brainy figures that the Time Trapper has been training them for this moment through the weird time moments they’ve had to deal with. He has a plan, and Triad agrees to fly the three cruisers he needs. The Composite Man is with them, and still able to move; he figures it’s because he’s borrowed the powers the Time Trapper has given them all. Kid Quantum somehow moves a team to Durla, where they join the others in putting an end to the frozen warfare. Brainy, Triad, and the rest approach the anomaly, where they find that the Time Trapper is trapped. Brainy directs the team in constructing some kind of stargate that will restart. The Composite Man is surprised that they only want to fix time, without any benefit. As Umbra, M’onel, Live Wire, and Andromeda work to disable the Khund ships around Durla, Laurel demonstrates some new light-broadcasting powers. Brainy’s device is ready to go, and he volunteers to pilot it, but Rokk is worried he might not survive, and therefore wants to go himself, as do Jenni and Jazmin. The Composite Man is surprised by this selflessness. On Durla, Gates and Vi (who he calls Leviathan) arrange Khunds around the frozen Karate Kid. At the anomaly, Star Boy, Ultra Boy, and Apparition all argue that they should pilot Brainy’s device (no one wants Element Lad to do it). The Composite Man, having had a huge change of heart, attacks them and jumps in the device, flying it into the anomaly. Everyone channels their power into the device, and suddenly everything goes back to normal, although Chuck is surprised to find Lori on the floor, where Tenzil finds the hero dial. Karate Kid, coming back to normal, kicks a bunch of Khunds, while everyone realizes that things are all good. Andromeda is sad that the anomaly is gone, and Brainy finds no trace of the Time Trapper. The Composite Man is dying, and Ayla tells him that his sister forgives him, allowing him to die in peace.
LSH 108 – With the anomaly dealt with, and the attack on Durla defeated, we get three pages of recap, before we return to Durla, where Violet (or, as the roll call on the first page says, Leviathan again) and the others explain what’s happened, Gates happily takes off the SP uniform he’s been wearing (that never seemed all that important, did it?), and Sensor enjoys accepting the compliments of the Durlans. One one of the Legion cruisers, Cosmic Boy talks to his squad, while Brainiac 5.1 defends the Composite Man. Suddenly Rokk vanishes – he’s been summoned by the Time Trapper, who refers to him as the Legion’s spirit personified. The Trapper recaps all the ways he’s been “training” the team, and offers Rokk a reward. Instead, Rokk fires magnetic energy at him (what would that do?), and makes him angry. The Trapper makes him grow old, and then returns him, at his correct age, to his friends; Rokk worries that he’s just made the Trapper unhappy with the team. At the headquarters of the Dark Circle, the representatives of the other races confront the Dark Leader (we’re calling him that now), and he kills them all. At UP headquarters on Earth, RJ Brande is playing some VR shooting game while an assistant tries to brief him on the latest, including info from the (misspelled) G’ildan ambassador explaining that the Dark Circle, a secret society, was behind the AP. The Science Police breach the Circle’s temple (a couple of pages ago it was a headquarters, now it’s a temple) and find the dead bodies left by the Dark Leader. They also learn that a ‘shipsuit’ took off a few “timeparts” ago. Brainy is contacted by the Coluan sleepnet, which is apparently a thing that his upgrades allow now, and he’s summoned home. He takes off in a hurry, accompanied by Koko, who showed up at some point. Saturn Girl debriefs the rest of the team at Legion Headquarters, as they try to figure out where the shipsuit could have gone. She splits the team into smaller squads to start a search. Gates pulls Ayla aside to talk about Brainy. In one cruiser, Star Boy is suspicious that something is up. Brainy arrives on Colu (the scale of the universe is really off in this issue), where his mother, Brainiac 4 has turned up; he embraces her. Star Boy’s cruiser finds the shipsuit, but when M’onel goes to grab it, he learns it’s empty. At that same moment, Brainy’s mother attaches a cable to one of the dots on his forehead, and explains that she is using his force field to burn him. She explains that as Brainiac 4, she never really felt anything, which is why she left him as an infant, to become a gambler, a hero, and a beggar, although none of those things gave her any feelings. Finally, she became the Dark Leader, but still didn’t feel anything until she sent the fleet to war. Now she figures that killing her child will give her more feelings. Gates, Ayla, and Garth show up, and while the Ranzz’s distract the Dark Leader, Gates teleports behind her and knocks her out. Later on, we see that the Coluan doctors are able to heal Brainy, but when Gates tries to talk to him, Brainy is rude to him, suggesting he’s back to his 5.0 self. On Earth, Brande talks to Chameleon, Sensor, and Imra. We learn that Reep has been released from his duties on Durla, and that Brande wants these three to be special ambassadors for diversity and inclusion. Because of this, Orando, Jeka’s homeworld, has returned to the UP. Brande doesn’t want the other worlds that defected to return, as he feels betrayed by them. As the issue ends, we see Brainy looking angry.
LNR 65 – A man tries to smuggle a lot of cash off of Winath. He bribes his way onto a freighter, but we quickly learn that he’s being entrapped by the Legion, and that he’s Zakk Arn, the surviving President, who conspired with the Dark Circle. Invisible Kid is being interviewed on Durla by Condo Arlik (it took me a while to remember that this is Chemical King’s name in the original Legion). Other Legionnaires help the Durlans set up a stage for an upcoming broadcast featuring President Brande, as well as the ordination of Durla’s new spiritual leader. It does seem a little like Lyle and Condo are flirting with each other. At Legion HQ, Brainiac 5.1 is dictating his thoughts into a journal, as he tries to process all that has happened to him (he’s in a wheelchair and his arms are bandaged). He thinks about how much he wishes his mother had been there for him when he was a child. Gates asks Tenzil to eat the SP gear he had to wear. When Brainy enters the room, Gates shows him more kindness and encouragement; Triad enters and also tries to help him process things. Luornu’s different selves argue a bit, which irritates Gates, but Brainy says it helps him visualize his own conflicting feelings. On the Outpost, Kid Quantum, Monstress, and Star Boy are hanging out together. Thom burps and breathes out fire, which he figures is a new power. Dyrk comes to tell them that Xanthu has decided to stay a part of the AP, and that Prefect Lamar wants them all to return home. Preparations continue on Durla. Brande chats with the female living weapon, while Sensor and Chameleon talk about how she hasn’t spoken to her father. Spark turns up, giving Reep a hug, and explaining that she brought someone from Orando – King Charlz has arrived. On Earth, Lori Morning wants to talk to Brainy, but XS rushes her away from him. Brainy is processing the advice he’s gotten from Umbra, M’onel, and Element Lad. He talks to Karate Kid, but he comes off as flaky as Jan. On Durla, Brande gives a speech affirming the UP’s support for Durla, and explaining that the AP has rejected the actions of the Dark Circle, but wants to continue as its own alliance. Brande explains that Gil’d is returning to the UP, and that Khundia was rejected by both groups. Leland McCauley and Minister Crugg watch from Luna Base, and it seems like she plans to stay with him. Brande introduces King Charlz, who explains why Orando came back to the UP, and apologizes for being a bigot. Brande next explains that the living weapon, named Leejah, is going to be Durla’s new spiritual leader. She shares that she’s lost her powers. Her speech is watched by Prefect Lamar (who is worried about having to rebuild Xanthu), some Khunds, and at Science Police Headquarters on Earth, where we see Imra is in uniform (it’s never really explained why she’s there, but I assume it’s because she is in the Science Police miniseries, as a bit character). Leejah’s speech goes over well, and inspires Andromeda to stay on the planet out of choice, in addition to the fact that her mother superior sent her there. Later, Jeka talks to her father, who finally realizes that she and Reep are only friends. Lori talks to Brainy about the hero dial, and he kind of blows her off. He’s considering returning to his arrogant and rude former self. Chuck and Gates come to visit him, and Gates makes them all laugh; Brainy is left feeling hopeful.
LSH 109 – This issue was guest written by KC Carlson, and is narrated by Violet. Vi, Star Boy, and Kinetix stopped an unnamed supervillain from wrecking the statue of Superman in Metropolis, and while Vi is the one whose suggestion saves the day, she feels unsure of herself, which causes her to think about how the Emerald Eye took her over. Upon returning to headquarters, she goes, as she always does, to Colossal Boy’s statue in the Hall of Heroes. There, she finds Thom and his date, Dreamer, and Vi makes Thom feel bad about trying to make out with his girl in front of Gim’s statue. When he leaves, she asks Nura about dreams. Walking around, she runs into Chuck, and kind of asks him out, but he doesn’t catch on, and then gets nervous and runs off. Working out, Vi punches a punching bag so hard that it bursts, and hits Zoe. Vi is worried about how strange Zoe has been since being in the anomaly, and later decides to have a slumber party with her. When Zoe changes her pajamas, Vi freaks out a bit, and then Zoe leaves her. Vi tries to sleep, but is visited by the Emerald Eye, which appears to have taken Zoe over. The Eye burns Zoe out quickly, and tries to convince Eye to take it back. They argue and fight for pages, until Vi is able to capture it in some mirrors that she somehow wraps around it. Vi is surprised to see Zoe walking around, and that the Eye has disappeared. Vi feels confidence from her victory. When Chuck comes to check on the noises that he heard, she asks him out. This was not a great issue…
LNR 1,000,000 – In November of 1998, most of DC’s line tied in to the DC One Million storyline in Grant Morrison’s JLA series, which catapulted readers into the 853rd century, a time when the Justice Legion A protected Earth, and was built completely of characters based on their late 20th century counterparts (I hate when books do that). Anyway, the Legion got in on the whole thing, with two issues by Tom Peyer and Sean Phillips, featuring the Justice Legion L, the heroes of the United Planets Cluster. A lengthy opening sequence introduces us to Brainiac 417, The M’onelves, Implicate Girl, Titangirl, The Chameleon, The Umbra, and Cosmicbot. The team has to stop Agent If, who has the ability to warp reality. He wishes himself out of existence, but not before damaging the local sun. Brainiac 417 fixes it, but the JLL’s ship is damaged, putting them at great danger, It’s only when The Chameleon betrays his principles and uses his shape-changing powers for something other than camouflage, that they are able to get free. Cosmicbot and Titangirl talk about how The Dreamer, the last child of Naltor, continues to dream about a dying sun, suggesting that this mission is not over. Realizing that The Dreamer is afraid of some green light seen on the viewscreen attached to her forehead, Cosmicbot decides to consult The Wildflame, which is against Umbra’s wishes. Titangirl transmits Cosmicbot’s experiences as he enters The Wildflame, which, the following montage suggests, was once Wildfire, a Legionnaire we haven’t seen yet in the reboot universe (despite being one of the coolest Legionnaires of all time), who remembers in a broken way, the team’s history until Braalian separatists tried to blow up the Earth, and The Wildflame and Superboy managed to save it. Cosmicbot figures he’s learned nothing from this trip through these memories, but Brainiac 417, who is green energy with a visible brain, helps him to relax. Just then some supposedly extinct mineral eating creatures break into their base. The team fights them off, while Umbra takes The Dreamer away. Implicate Girl draws some ideas from the total Carggite population, who live in a gem on her forehead, and learns how to ride the creatures. Cosmicbot’s hand is bitten by a creature, causing The Chameleon to act again, wrapping the creatures in himself as he forms a massive sphere, and leaving the building. Cosmicbot is more worried about the fact that the “magnetism binding of the UP cluster” is fading away, which means the Justice Legion L can’t do anything to help Earth when the original Superman returns (in the DC One Million event). The suspect sabotage, while Umbra (who reminds me of Negative Man) thinks that maybe The Chameleon’s people, from Chameleon World, might have been disguising themselves as the extinct creatures. Umbra leaves. Brainiac 417 can think of only one way to fix things, and goes back in time one thousand years, to find Cris Kend, the Superboy of that era and take over his body.
LSH 1,000,000 – Keith Giffen returns to the Legion for this second DC One Million story, which is set even further in the future, a thousand years after the last issue of Legionnaires. A trio of teenagers find a picture of the Justice Legion L, and decide they should hide it from their parents. As one of the kids, Dav, talks to his father, we learn that they live in a tesseract, as part of an agrarian society. Dav is caught drawing the image of Brainiac 417, which makes his father angry. He beats the kid, who later goes to see his friends. Dav tries to destroy the picture they found, but instead frees the Wildflame from within it. The Wildflame explains that it has been part of the Legion for a very long time, and then starts to tell them what happened as the United Planets, which were magnetically bonded and on their way to Earth to help replenish its diversity, started to drift apart. This puts us back where the last issue left off. The Superboy that Brainiac 417 brought forward in time tries to hold the planets together with his telekinesis. Cosmicbot tries to call Umbra back. Implicate Girl realizes that The Dreamer’s screen is blank, which Cosmicbot assumes means she’s forecasting nothingness. Implicate Girl goes looking for The Chameleon, just as more of the old Braalian beasts return. The M’onelves fight them. On Chameleon World, Umbra rants at the other inhabitants of that secretive place. The Chameleon comes to get him. The fight against the creatures isn’t going all that well, and it looks like Titangirl isn’t helping. The Chameleon takes Umbra to Titan, where it’s revealed that nothing is as it seems. When they reveal that a tree is really technology, Titangirl arrives to stop them. Implicate Girl is also there, and she reveals that Titangirl is behind all the sabotage, and beats on her. As it turns out, the planets were never disconnected, Titangirl used her telepathy to make everyone think that these things were happening so that everyone on Titan could happily stay in their dreamworld, or something like that. Cosmicbot seems sad that Titangirl is off the team. The three kids listening to The Wildflame’s story are discovered, and Dav’s father apologizes. Dav explains that they could leave their tesseract, but everyone views this as delusion. The Wildflame comes to Dav in the asylum he’s confined to, and we see a vision of a future where Dav and his friends are heroes. These were not very good comics, sadly.
LNR 66 – It’s another KC Carlson guest written issue, and it opens two years prior, with two figures, Jacques (who Legion readers recognize as Jacques Foccart, the second Invisible Kid in the original Legion) and Mara sneaking into Lyle Norg’s lab at an Earthgov training facility. Lyle sees them, but Mara wants Lyle’s invisibility formula, and appears to have mental control of Jacques, who drinks it, and disappears while writhing in agony. In the present, Lyle finds himself shirtless and strapped to a chair in an expensive casino, run by Charma, who is actually Mara, all grown up. We quickly learn that she has created a new identity for herself, and to solidify it, needs Lyle dead, but of course, she wants to ask why he came to her casino. She goes through his belt, and finds his transuit, but doesn’t know what it is, which seems odd. She uses her powers of mind control to get Lyle to tell his story. He talks about how growing up, his parents were busy UP diplomats (although the UP was relatively new when Lyle joined the Legion, so that feels off), and he spent most of his time with the Foccarts, and his good friend Jacques. Jacques’s mom is the person who got him interested in chemistry, and he created his invisibility formula when he was about ten years old; Jacques wouldn’t take it. At Legion HQ, Chuck discovers that his upcoming date with Violet might be a bigger deal than he thought. Kinetix helps Vi pick out a dress for the night. Lyle talks about how he and Jacques used to sneak around a nearby Earthgov building, which got them in trouble with President Chu, but she then recruited them to the “Black Hole”, a secret agent training facility. That’s when they met Mara. Charma is not happy to hear her old name, insisting that Mara is dead. She talks about how she was irritated by the way that Lyle and Jacques completed their missions, making more noise than they should have, but also getting recognition for good work. Triad tries to talk Chuck out of going on the date, and when Vi shows up looking very fancy, Chuck runs off to change. Charma tells her story, about how most of her people died in a plague, and how she created her own chemical formula that gave her control over men. She wanted Lyle’s formula as well, and that’s why she made Jacques steal it, but after he died, she got kicked out of Earthgov. When puberty hit, she matured very quickly, and became more powerful. Everyone fawns over Vi, while Zoe helps Chuck look more presentable. Charma continues to talk about how she built up her new persona and business, and while she talks, Lyle’s manacles become loose. Charma has some sort of syringe, and is going to inject Lyle with it when he grabs her. Something knocks the syringe out of her hand, and they fight. Charma tries to use her powers on Lyle, but he’s put on his tracksuit, protecting himself from her pheromones. He gives her a nerve pinch to knock her out, and tries to talk to Jacques, who he believes is in the room. We get a montage of Chuck and Vi’s date, which looks like a lot of fun. As they walk back to HQ, they talk about how Vi has changed. Lyle checks in with Saturn Girl, and we learn that she also knows that Lyle thinks Jacques is still alive. As he leaves with Charma, we see Jacques appear, in a white version of his classic costume. We learn from his monologue that by the time he recovered from the coma Lyle’s formula put him in, his family had been told he was dead, and Earthgov placed him in the Black Hole program. He tracked Charma down at the same time that Lyle did (he actually tipped him off), but can’t reveal himself to him. The next morning, Vi talks to Luornu, and tells her that Chuck really likes her, and Luornu tears up. We learn that Charma’s been sent to Takron-Galtos, and Tenzil makes a massive sundae for Vi, which seems really weird to me (it’s taller than she is, although I guess she can grow to Leviathan size and eat it).
LSH 110 – The regular writing team is back, joined by new artist Scott Kolins (before he developed the style that I hate). A massive explosion in space catches M’onel’s attention, especially since he actually hears it, which shouldn’t be possible. At the Outpost, Invisible Kid and Brainiac 5.1 are also surprised by the magnitude of this blast, and what M’onel to scan it for them, as the energy and debris are moving towards UP space. Lar sees a girl go flying past him, and goes after her. The girl is dressed in the traditional Captain Marvel costume, and when Lar tries to help her by putting her in a transuit and telepathic earplugs, she hits him and flies off. When Lar decides to go after her, Brainy is annoyed. On Fawcettworld, a planet with a lot of humanoid tigers, some guy named Dr. Savant and his followers blast their way into the Catacombs of Shazam. They fly past a familiar sign, spelling out the names that make up the Shazam acronym, and find that they’ve managed to blow up the Rock of Eternity. Savant explains that magic is confusing (which is why they blew the Rock up somewhere else but now there’s a hole in the catacombs), and this is why they are working to eradicate it. The young girl arrives on Binderaan, to find that the city she grew up in is gone. Lar catches up to her and introduces himself. She says that her name is Thunder, and that she can’t understand where her home has gone. Lar explains that this planet has not been settled, and she figures out that she is six thousand years in the past from her time. When she mentions the Rock of Eternity, Lar recognizes it and mentions Captain Marvel. He explains what he remembers from his 20th century life, and she is surprised that he knows any of this. She explains that she is named Cece Beck (okay, that’s clever) and that she ended up getting the power of Shazam in her time, and wants to return there. She wants to go to Fawcett City, but now, it’s moved to Fawcettworld, which is run by magic. Lyle and Brainy arrive there with Live Wire, Spark, and Violet, and are taken to speak to their leader, the computer SHAZAM, which is powered by the ancient flame. As soon as Lyle explains that there was an explosion, the computer blinks out, as does the flame, and all the magically-operated things on the planet (which is everything) stop working. The Legion try to save people from flying cars that are now falling. M’onel shows up to help, while Thunder flies into the Catacombs, where she comes across Savant and his Objective Order. He explains that he is going to seal up the portal to eternity, and all of his people appear to set off suicide vests to do it. Savant is able to hurt Thunder, who is not invulnerable anymore. He is going to shoot her, but Lar saves her. He sets off his own suicide belt, and as it explodes, Thunder jumps into the blast. The Legion squad is finishing up setting up a power plant for the world, while Lar feels bad that he didn’t save Thunder, and while Lyle explains how the electrical systems work. Thunder shows up, with Dr. Savant with her. Later, on the Outpost, Thunder explains that Savant’s people were using anomaly tech to teleport instead of kill themselves, which now I guess creates explosions when it’s used. She figured this out through the Wisdom of Solomon, and the fact that scientists would never use suicide to advance their goals. Brainy gives Thunder a piece of the Rock of Eternity, but it acts like kryptonite, making her weak. Thunder wants to find every piece of the Rock of Eternity so she can put it back together and go home. In the meanwhile, she accepts the team’s offer to join the Legion.
LNR 67 – There are some crystal caverns near Metropolis, deep underground. Kono breaks into the tourist attraction at night and cuts away a large crystal. She almost causes a cave-in when she cuts at a wall by mistake. Ultra Boy and Apparition test-drive a flying car, with Element Lad along for the ride. Jo is happy when Tinya agrees they should buy it. Saturn Girl is on monitor duty, where Lori is bothering her about having sent Brainiac 5.1 to the Outpost. Live Wire is calling at the same time, to make the same complaint, since he’s upset that Imra moved him away from her. She yells at Lori, who storms off. Monstress is helping Star Boy test out his powers, which he is still having trouble controlling. Jan joins them as well, as they work through his power set and everything seems fine. Thom mentions that he doesn’t want to go to Doctor Gym’ll with his problems, and instead decides he wants to go out for a bit. Monstress turns him down, but suggests he take Ferro. At the crystal caverns, a tour group is visiting. A kid named Dennis is bored, so he slips away to explore on his own. There’s a cave-in, and Dennis gets trapped. His parents make it outside, and that’s when Thom, Jan, and Andrew arrive, having planned on visiting the place (Jan’s choice, of course). They offer to go in and save the kid, which of course makes Andrew think about whether his mother would have tried to save him, and has Jan thinking about how death is natural, again. Thom’s penetra-vision isn’t working right, so they have to split up to try to find the kid. Jan finds him, pinned down and unconscious, but can’t call the others, as there is too much static, caused by Thom’s electro-vision going haywire, to reach one another. Thom works to gain control again, while Jan thinks about turning the kid into crystal, like he did the dead of his planet. He starts to transmute the area around him into more stable structures, and creates a stretcher out of flight ring material under Dennis. He tries to widen his passage out, which creates more collapse, but Ferro arrives to brace it in his metal form. As the two exit, they pass Thom, who is able to use his electro-vision to stop some debris from falling on them. Later, we learn that kid is fine. Thom decides to call Doctor Gym’ll, while Dennis’s family invite Ferro to visit. Jan reveals that the damage inside the cavern was caused by a vandal. We see that Kono has delivered the crystal to her boss, who is thinking about getting the Hope Diamond next.
LSH 111 – Live Wire is still fuming about Saturn Girl’s choice to station him on the Outpost. Brainiac 5.1 calls in from the planet Sataar, where he, M’onel, Thunder, and Kinetix are searching for large chunks of Eternium. They found five, but don’t know how to get them back since the route they’d need to take passes a red sun, and would drain Lar’s powers. Garth is ready to leave, but Dyrk stops him, since there’s a team already in space, and he figures it’s better to send them there. On Sataar, Thunder insists on helping move the Eternium, even though it strips her of her powers. Lar recommends she wear a transuit, and then recognizes that there’s an earthquake affecting a nearby town. He discovers a large device under the ground that is causing the quake, and smashes it. He takes a moment to admire the diverse population of the town when an energy beam hits him from under the ground. A huge wind knocks over the rest of the squad, as M’onel attacks his friends. When Thunder goes to confront him, he blasts her, and they call each other Sarei and Redin; clearly, something has taken them over, and they go on a destructive rampage, while ranting some racist nonsense. A Legion cruiser approaches, carrying Invisible Kid, Karate Kid, and Spark. Val is critical of Brainy, which surprises Ayla. Sarei/Thunder attacks their ship, and Lyle, turning invisible, hacks her transuit so she passes out. This angers Redin/M’onel. He starts to explain to Val how he and his wife were the wealthiest people on their planet, and they promised to protect their people, which they saw as meaning keeping them pure and away from alien races. They figured out how to mutate into “wraithlike parasites”, and waited for centuries until their earthquake device detected worthy hosts, which they intend to use to get rid of all off-worlders (the irony of being in bodies of beings from different races and times goes unmentioned). Redin/M’onel attacks Val, who fights him for a few pages, remembering lessons from his training about staying ahead of his attacker, using his powers against him (like by having him collapse a cliff on himself), and ultimately, deflecting his fast-flying attack so he goes out into space, where the red sun starts to drain his powers. At that point, Redin flees Lar’s body, and Lar has to use all of his remaining power to escape the red sun. Later, the Legion works to fix things on the planet, while Val meditates. Lar comes by and thanks him for trying to kill him.
LNR 68 – Kid Quantum is out shopping with Monstress, who takes offense when the shopkeeper assumes she’s Khundian. Star Boy is having his powers checked out by Doctor Gym’ll, with some help from Ultra Boy. Gym’ll decides to ground him until he regains control of his powers. Jazmin and Monstress talk about how she handled the shopkeeper, and weirdly, Monstress starts to turn yellow. She immediately assumes it’s because of something that Element Lad did, after a discussion they had about the superficiality of skin colour. They plan to meet up with Cosmic Boy after he’s finished at the Time and History Museum. We see Rokk walking around with a curator, sharing his “research” on the 20th century. They go to the robot exhibit, and at the same time, a villain appears inside one of the robots. He’s there from the future (they are going to this well a little too often at this point), and is looking for some kind of power source. Rokk is amused by the errors in the Metal Men exhibit, and wants to show the curator holos he has (from his time there, which I guess is still a secret for some reason). The villain, Xotar the Conqueror sees Rokk and decides he’s a threat, like when he fought the JLA and Superman in the past. He tosses some devices onto different robots in the exhibit, which allow him to take control of them. He has them attack, and Rokk has trouble fighting them, since so many aren’t made of metal. He calls for Monstress and Jazmin to come to his aid. Saturn Girl is in the monitor room, talking to Jan over vidscreen. He wants help investigating the crystal caverns. Gates shows up, and suggests he figure out who was behind it. Dreamer and Thom come in, and Imra learns that Thom is grounded. Monstress, who is now a salmon colour, calls in to report the problem at the museum, and Thom has to be reminded to stay behind. Monstress, now deep red, saves an onlooker at the museum, while Jazmin and Rokk get the robots under control. Xoltar makes his way to the power sources exhibit, and is upset that the replica of Starman’s cosmic staff is just a replica. Imra and Gates arrive, and Imra finds Xoltar telepathically. Gates teleports to him and knocks him out with one punch, which somehow disables all the control disks too. Back at HQ, Lori is making a fake hero dial, and Proty is telling her not to. After Xoltar comes to, he rants a touch, and then jumps back through time. At Legion HQ, Monstress comes to Jan’s room. She’s now a burnt umber, and she makes clear to him that he shouldn’t have changed her without her permission. She turns down his offer to make her green again, since he also complimented her look, and suggests that the Athramites can help her get new clothes to match her new look (they run away). Lori sneaks into Brainiac 5.1’s lab to swap her fake dial with the real one, Indiana Jones style; Proty still objects, but she insists it’s the only way she can become a Legionnaire.
LSH 112 – It’s a Triad and Ferro spotlight issue. They are piloting a junkheap of a freighter as the issue opens, and Ferro apologizes for coming along; Triad declares him “practically” her best friend, and feeling uncomfortable, he suggests he go check the cargo. Triad triplicates, leaving “Purple” to pilot; Neutral tells her to stick to the flight plan. Of course, Purple is in a rush to get home, so she decides to fly through a large cloud in space they were originally going to avoid. We learn that the ship is cold and that our heroes are wearing transuits to stay warm. Orange notices some strange bugs eating through their hull, so they rush to the cargo bay. There, we see that they are holding three prisoners, in the tradition of generic 90s villains – Howl, Gronk, and their leader, Murdermaton, who they let out of their cells, only for Ferro to catch them with a containment rifle. They drag the prisoners through the part of the ship infested with bugs (who seem interested in eating Murdermaton), and take them to the bridge, where Neutral yells at Purple. Ferro gets them back on track, and the four of them try to put together a team to save the ship, although they know they have a lifepod that’s stargate equipped if they need it. Purple is rude to Ferro. The plan is to irradiate the infected area of the ship, and all Ferro needs to do is push a big button to make it happen. Neutral apologizes for Purple, and we learn that Ferro feels bad for the prisoners, due to his past. Neutral and Orange convince him that they are not good people, and leave him. Murdermaton fakes an injury to lure Ferro into coming close, and knocks him out and frees the others. When the Triads try to reach Ferro, they are attacked by the criminals, who subdues them until Ferro comes to rescue them. Purple yells at Ferro, and calls him an idiot, and while the others chastise her, the criminals take off again. The criminals look for the life pod, and are attacked by the bugs. As Murdermaton tries to blast the bugs, he also kills Howl. The Legionnaires search in the dark (the bugs have killed the lights now). Neutral wants to give up and leave in the life pod, but Ferro doesn’t. They find Gronk and Murdermaton fighting, but when they see the Legionnaires, they start fighting them. The bugs swarm on Murdermaton, and then on Ferro, who turns back to human form. The bugs start to eat his mask, forcing him back into his steel form. Purple takes off her transuit since Ferro’s is ruined, thinking she can just merge with the other Triads and doesn’t need one. Purple has to convince Ferro to follow her plan, and the others help him. They escape, with Gronk, in the life pod, and burn off any bugs that are following them. Later, after they’ve given Gronk over to the authorities on Takron-Galtos, Ferro asks Triad if she thinks he’s stupid. She admits that if Purple said it, part of her must think it, and she apologizes. He says they can’t be friends anymore. Triad triplicates, and when Purple tries to dismiss what she did, the other two slug her. This issue is like all those Star Trek episodes I hate, where some random space threat just appears.
LNR 69 – Ultra Boy and Apparition are flying their new ship near Luna Base. In Luna Base, Leland McCauley is reviewing the past of Workforce with Amilia Crugg, and they discuss some possible recruits, a Tyrazzian named Piston, Catspaw, from the previous incarnation of the Legionnaires, and someone called Lupine. At the same time, a group of Khund warships prepares to attack Luna Base to retrieve or kill Amilia. At Legion HQ, Lori is about to swap the hero dials, and we see that the Time Trapper is watching. Proty’s protests summon Saturn Girl and Monstress. Lori takes her anger out on Proty, and then has to tell the story of how the Time Trapper gave her the dial, and all the ways that she’s used it to be a hero, and how she lied to XS about the source of her powers. Imra plays the hurt card. As Jo and Tinya make out in their ship, Jo sees something. Star Boy is on monitor duty when Jo calls in to tell him that the Khunds are at Luna Base. Thom, who is unhappy at being grounded, calls Imra and Monstress (how are they the only Legionnaires around?). Lori uses the dial to turn into Plasma, a cosmic hero like the Frankie Raye version of Nova, and heads towards the moon. Imra and Monstress follow in a cruiser. The Khunds make it to McCauley’s office with no resistance, and put a collar on Amilia. Jo and Tinya fight off the Khund warships. Lori arrives and uses some kind of cosmic awareness to check on the fight, and heads straight for McCauley’s office, where she attacks the Khunds. Jo ends up there too (he doesn’t recognize Lori, which makes McCauley happy). As Imra and Monstress arrive, Imra senses another Khund ship, landed a little ways away. She uses her telepathy to order them to assault Luna Base from the ground, and then lets Monstress toss rocks at them, stopping them. With the fight over, Amilia threatens the Khunds. Imra and Monstress join them, just as McCauley offers Plasma a job with the Workforce. Imra and Monstress make her turn back to Lori, and while Monstress realizes how much she looks like a Khund (despite being orangeish now), Lori explains her history with Chronos and how she came to be in the 30th century, and how she wants to use the dial to do good work. McCauley repeats his offer, and reminds the Legion that none of them are her guardian (he has Evolvo researching this off-screen). The Time Trapper watches, with concern. Lori makes it clear that she’s joining, and McCauley explains that Amilia has been declared her foster parent. Lori agrees, and I wish that would be the end of her in this book.
LSH 113 – Al Gordon inks this issue, and suddenly all the things I don’t like about Scott Kolins’s art are front and centre. I don’t know if regular inker Boyd is just very strong, or if Kolins was developing his style at this time. The issue opens on Phlogista, a planet that is practically a sun. A team of Legionnaires (Ferro, Invisible Kid, Brainiac 5.1, Sensor, Thunder, Live Wire, Spark, Kinetix, M’onel, Triad, and Karate Kid) are there to survey the world, to make sure it’s lifeless before McCauley Industries starts drilling. Leviathan (the roll call refers to her this way, although I thought she’d stuck with Violet) appears to tell the team that there is a sub-atomic civilization on the planet. Brainy shrinks everyone so they can see it, and the locals start to fire on them. The team is actually in Brainy’s new Anywhere Machine, a remote viewing device he’s built out of the old Virtual Reality Chamber that will allow him to look absolutely anywhere using stargate technology. Brainy kicks everyone out of his lab, and wants to spend time with some “long-lost data” he gathered in the 20th century, but we are shown a tube that is labelled “Bizarro”. Lyle asks if anyone wants to go with him to drop off the data they collected, not wanting to transmit it. Ferro agrees, but then wants to back out when Triad also agrees. Luornu instead storms off, and Garth and Val agree to come along as well. Ayla and Vi talk about how spaced out Kinetix has been since the anomaly visit, and Ayla gets an idea to help her. Sensor chats with Thunder and her mission to collect all the pieces of the Rock of Eternity; Jeka offers to help. On Rimbor, a nameless smuggler brings a chunk of Eternium to a local warlord named Lord Pernisius. When his scientist, Doctor Deacon, pours an “unlocking fluid” on the rock, they all get caught in an explosion, turn black, and growl. Pernisius wants more of these rocks. Ayla and Vi bring Zoe to Brainy, who doesn’t want to help them until they suggest they use his Anywhere Machine. He rigs it so they can access her memory cells to return to the anomaly. After Brainy turns it on, he hears a strange popping noise coming from the Bizarro tube. Thunder and Sensor leave in a cruiser to prospect for Eternium, and we see that Pernisius and his people are doing the same. Ayla and Vi see the borders of the anomaly, and go through some age changes. They are joined by Zoe, who is able to speak in proper sentences again. Vi talks about how lusting for power was Zoe’s biggest flaw, but then she and Ayla try to dive into the anomaly. Zoe stops them, not wanting them to suffer the same way she has. She appeals to their friendship, and talks about the difference between wants and needs. This convinces them to turn away from the anomaly, and they all embrace. Zoe’s back to normal, but then they hear the same popping noise, and things go all white. Lyle’s cruiser approaches the Outpost, but it also flashes brightly, blinding everyone except Ferro, who is unable to describe the strangely cartoonishly transformed new appearance of the Outpost. It’s Bizzaro time…
LNR 70 – Four months ago, Alux Cuspin, Rokk’s former manager, was released from prison, and started plotting his revenge. One month ago, Dragonmage got frustrated that he wasn’t regaining the control over magic he had before the fight with Mordru, and Mysa’s encouragement doesn’t seem to be enough to console him. Three weeks ago, Cuspin reflected on his choices, and decided to go ahead with hiring someone called Domain, who can create his own realities, to kill him. Rokk attends the Magnoball playoffs in Tokyo, where his brother and the rest of the Braalian team, as well as his parents, have come to compete. Rokk flies through the arena and addresses the crowd. He learns that Dirk Morgna is now managing the Metropolis Lodestones, and settles in to watch the game. After the game, he joins Pol on the field, and that’s when Domain strikes, grabbing Rokk, Pol, a journalist, and a young girl, into his world. After testing a few looks, mostly based on thousand year old paintings, he dumps them in an MC Escher world of impossible staircases. At Legion HQ, Star Boy calls Dyrk to commiserate about their powers problems, but Dyrk blows him off. Dreamer tells him that he should thank Chameleon for something, and that she will support him. Dragonmage discovers a source of power in a scroll that stands out among the others he’s reading. Rokk and the others try to deal with the weird gravity where they are, and Domain dumps some big glowing balls into the mix. These things tend to blow up or crush things. Rokk saves the girl, and by working with Pol, who has the same powers as him, he’s able to maneuver to him and the journalist. Rokk confronts Domain, learning that his old manager hired him. He maneuvers his way to him, attracting the floating balls along the way. They detonate on Domain, who decides to die rather than surrender. The four are returned to the Magnoball spot, where they are checked out, and Rokk fumes. Dragonmage arrives on Zyzan, where a spirit tells him to turn away before he causes armageddon. Dragonmage wants power anyway, and is willing to risk it.
LSH 114 – Live Wire, Karate Kid, Invisible Kid, and Ferro enter the surrealistic Outpost, now renamed the Legion Inpost, and try to figure out what’s happened. The entrance requires them to lick a paper, which they are reluctant to do, but then they just get Ferro to do it. A barricade of random junk is blown away, and Bizarro-M’onel comes out, speaking in that Bizarro-speak that I hate so much (it’s never very consistent, and irritating). He’s soon joined by Bizarro versions of Spark, Triad, Kinetix, and Leviathan. Ferro recognizes them as Bizarros, and pretty soon they are all caught and taken to Bizarro-Brainiac 5.1. Ferro explains to the best he can, but it’s actually Koko (now called Okok) who shows Lyle some datapads that reveal that Brainy stole Bizarro tech from Lex Luthor when they were in the 20th century. Lyle sneaks off to get help, and Bizarro-Vi smashes a hole in the hull of the Inpost and then fills it with her own body. Lyle is not able to call out for help. Bizarro-Dyrk, the most powerful Bizzaro-Legionnaire, uses his powers to grab Garth, Val, and Andrew, and uses the technology to turn them into Bizarros too. They call Ferro the smartest when he suggests they go looking for Lyle. Lyle tries to figure out what to do, and Okok leads him to realize that the Bizarro tech works through light. The other Bizarros leave in a cruiser. Lyle calls them, pretending to be a Bizarro himself, and broadcasts the light behind him, but it doesn’t seem to have any effect. He tells them a faux-Bizarro version of the Legion’s origins. The Bizarro versions of the people he came with find him, but he turns invisible and hides. He sees on his datapad that the light he used is going to erase the original DNA of his friends, instead of the Bizarro DNA. Bizarro-Val catches him. On Mars, RJ Brande is enjoying a mud bath, while Marla warns him that they can’t contact the Outpost. The Bizarro-Legionnaires bust through the roof, planning on killing Brande.
LNR 71 – Alux Cuspin is working at his dish washing job in Brazil, fuming over his hatred for Rokk, who is with his parents, watching Pol practice, while Dirk Morgna flirts with the girl that Rokk saved from Domain. Element Lad is at Legion HQ, convincing Monstress to join him in searching out the theft behind the stolen crystals, which he thinks is related to the theft of the Mona Lisa and the Hope Diamond. Monstress becomes interested in helping him. On Swizzar, a winged being named Flutter works on some botany stuff (and is that Ivy, from the 5YG Legion run, in the background?). On Dryad, a being named Brika is in a land dispute with some colonists. On Gil’Dan, a floating brain Gil’Dan is not happy. On Zyzar, Dragonmage opens a door or something, and releases four flying chunks of power. Domain appears to Cuspin, showing a Legion flight ring as proof that he killed Rokk. Cuspin admits what he did, and Domain, who is really Chameleon, arrests him. He has some trouble calling Rokk to tell him the news, and then tells Shvaughn Erin that he’s headed off-world, and not to the Outpost. Rokk’s parents have a hard time believing that Rokk’s former manager was a crook. Mysa comes to the injured Dragonmage. Umbra and Kid Quantum practice together in the HQ when the power goes out. Star Boy, Chuck, and Saturn Girl work to communicate with the team. We see that the four side characters – Brika, Flutter, Ebb, and Dirk, are all hit with elemental energy, and are changed. The Krinns are touring a Brande Industries plant in Tokyo (Rokk’s parents work for Brande on Braal and are interested), when Thom calls to tell Rokk that there are problems in Tokyo. A containment unit fails, and a ton of molten metal spills out; Rokk is just able to save the workers in the plant, and his family helps him to keep it under control, so he can join his team. Chuck gets the monitor board working, and they receive word from President Brande that this problem is happening with tech all over the galaxy. Thom sends Jan and Monstress to Tokyo. Mysa brings Dragonmage to the monitor room, and lets Imra know that Xao released elemental forces. Rokk is joined by Jazmin and Tasmia, and then Jan and Monstress, and they find Dirk, transformed into a giant fire beast, rampaging.
LSH 115 – Invisible Kid struggles as some of the Bizarro Legion attempt to turn their Bizarro ray on him, while the other Bizarro Legionnaires are about to kill RJ Brande so they can have an origin story. Lyle is able to escape because Bizarro Karate Kid can’t fight, although Okok makes it hard for him to hide. He concentrates and turns himself only partially visible – his skeleton is all they can see, and that makes them like him. Bizarro-Leviathan is still holding onto the Inpost, and continuing to grow. Just as Bizarro-M’onel is about to kill Brande, his inherent vulnerability to glass disables him. Brande and Marla run. Bizarro-Magno joins the others in Bizarro-Brainiac 5.1’s lab, where they watch “Skelety” and Okok work on the Bizarro problem. Okok suggests separating the DNA completely, and figures out to broadcast it through everyone’s omnicom pads. Lord Pernisius is in his ship searching for eternium, when one of his henchmen learns that Sensor and Thunder just registered a find. Pernisius wants to hire an assassin to take care of them, and decides on a creature named Scurrches. Brande and Latham aren’t able to call for help from Mars, as their communications equipment isn’t working (this storyline doesn’t fit as well with the elemental one happening in Legionnaires – it’s really the first time the two books don’t match continuity perfectly). The Bizarros find them, but their belts start to glow, and suddenly the Bizarro Legionnaires are confronted with the appearance of their real selves. Lyle does the same thing to the Bizarros on the Inpost, and then rushes to rescue Violet as she separates in space. M’onel whisks Brande and Latham away while the others subdue the Bizarros. Bizarro-Brainy uses his forcefield to protect himself and the others, but it appears to cause an explosion. Later, Lar and Zoe try to fix the holes in the Inpost, while Brainy holds onto the Bizarros there in his forcefield. He gives Lyle his shrink-ray, but then uses the Bizarro-ray to make sure it will work properly. Brainy goes to deal with Bizarro-Leviathan. The Bizarros from Mars arrive, just as the ones in the Inpost escape, and it looks like there is going to be another big fight, but Brainy just shrinks them all. Later, they are being kept in a cube while Lyle and Brainy figure out how to restore the Outpost. They decide to rest until the next day, since they’ll have to evacuate the place in order to fix it. Lyle wants to talk to Brainy about their scientific rivalry, which Brainy doesn’t acknowledge exists. Lyle decides to give all the credit to Koko anyway (even though it was Okok who actually helped the most).
LNR 72 – A recap shows how Dirk Morgna got hit by the elemental energy, and was turned into Phy’r, who the Legionnaires can’t seem to stop. Mysa arrives with Saturn Girl and Gates, and when Mysa’s spell hurts him, Imra is able to tell that there is a human inside. On Swizzar, Flutter just gets her wish to be able to do research off world when the elemental energy turns her into A’rie. On Dryad, Brika continues to argue for her land rights when the elemental energy turns her into Rrox, who looks like a Concrete knockoff. On Gil’D, we learn that Ebb is actually a jellyfish servant to the Gil’Dan (I think the last issue wasn’t clear), and when the energy hits him, he doesn’t get a new name, but he does start committing genocide. A’rie is not upset to see that people around her are dead, and plans to take a cruiser. Rrox destroys Dryad so that no one can ever colonize it, and then takes off into space. Ebb withdraws all fluids from Gil’D. Mysa, Kid Quantum, and Umbra have Phy’r contained, but he breaks free for a moment, and then draws energy from the Earth to escape, leaving the Legion to contain a lava flow in Tokyo. The various elementals use stargates to go somewhere. Doctor Gym’ll is caring for Dragonmage, who wishes he had his powers back. Dreamer is there too, and when she wakes up, she tells Star Boy to thank Chameleon again, and that Thom is going to save a Legionnaire’s life. On Colu, the disruptions in communications have taken out the sleepnet, causing a lot of problems for the Coluans, not that Ebb cares. As A’rie flies past Takron-Galtos, she draws energy from the prison planet, and makes Doctor Savant get worked up. Rrox wrecks a McCauley Industries facility on some remote planet, and while Leland McCauley is angry about this, he refuses Thom’s request for aid. The small number of Legionnaires on Earth (there are so many characters that are just basically missing at this point) agree that they need to deal with these threats. Imra shares that she figured out that Phy’r is being hosted in Dirk’s body. Mysa believes that these elementals are connected to Mordru. Just then, Chuck gets the computers working, and figures out that the elementals are headed to the planetoid where Mordru is imprisoned.
LSH 116 – Thunder and Sensor are having a hard time fighting against a couple of big green guys who seem immune to their powers (which, given Thunder’s power set, makes them very powerful). Lord Pernisius and Doctor Deacon are there, and Pernisius explains that the Scurrches are his mercenaries, hired just for this job. When Jeka tries her powers on Pernisius, he doesn’t flinch, and is able to take them both prisoner. On Rimbor, his planet, he attaches them to a wall, and asks about the eternium. He’s had Thunder pumped full of truth serum, while Sensor has been given a hallucinogen. Thunder explains that she’s looking for eternium, and that her ship details their finds. When Thunder says the words “Captain Marvel” (which I’m sure she said once before, when Jeka appeared as him in front of her), a bolt of thunder hits and she disappears. Jeka, thinking she’s dead, breaks free and attacks Pernisius’s guards. Thousands of years into the future, Cece’s parents sit in their home on Binderaan, missing her. She suddenly appears, in her human form, and explains how she was in the 20th century, and then the 30th, and tries to explain that she needs to get back there. Sensor causes some fuss on the streets of Rimbor, causing a local gang boss to call for a bounty hunter. At the Outpost, Dyrk and Invisible Kid are trying to figure out where Sensor and Thunder have gone. They tap the cameras in their cruiser and see that Pernisius is onboard. They hear him mention a store of eternium on Hoxar. Lyle wants a team sent to that planet. Some random bounty hunter type captures Jeka on Rimbor. Cece argues with her parents, but says the magic words and is sent back to the dungeon on Rimbor, and heads off looking for Jeka (but weirdly, she flies off the planet, where she runs into Lyle and Brainiac 5.1, who are using the Anywhere Machine to communicate. She brings them up to speed, and as they are passed by a ship, Thunder knows that Jeka is on it. She gives chase, while Lyle and Brainy project themselves onto it, in such a way that the bounty hunter can’t see them. The ship is too fast for Thunder, but Brainy knows where it’s going. M’onel meets Live Wire and Spark on Hoxar, where they find Pernisius powered up by the eternium. Thunder heads to the place Jeka was taken, Blackstar Juvenile Correctional Facility, an off the books version of the Death Star that she can’t seem to get inside of. Brainy and Lyle follow Jeka, and see that the facility’s doctor is so excited to see an Orandan that he wants to vivisect her.
LNR 73 – Star Boy recaps the last issue by yelling at Dragonmage. On the planetoid where Mordru is being held, Ebb and A’rie attack the UP soldiers stationed there. Two Legion cruisers rush to the planetoid, and confirm that while Phy’r is getting closer, Rrox is further away. Thom keeps yelling at Xao, and discovers that his mass powers are working properly. Phy’r arrives and joins A’rie and Ebb. They intend to destroy Mordru. Ultra Boy and Apparition finally receive the messages the Legion has been sending them, and get contacted by Chameleon, who will meet them at the Planetoid. The Legion attacks the elementals, with Gates and Monstress setting up for Mysa to trap. Element Lad transmutes the water around Ebb, while Saturn Girl tries to reach Dirk inside Phy’r. Things are going well, but then Rrox attacks and takes most of them out. She is about to kill Kid Quantum when Jo and Tinya arrive. Jan blows up the stargate tech attached to Rrox, just as another cruiser arrives and plows into the big rock creature (it was Reep piloting it). Mysa again tries to capture A’rie and Ebb, but they are able to fight back, and we see that the battle is causing Mordru to stir in his prison. Dragonmage and Star Boy show up to reinforce the others, and Thom is able to anchor himself to help Mysa, who manages to pull A’rie from Flutter. At the same time, Imra helps Dirk regain some control over his body. Brika realizes that Rrox destroyed her world and is ready to give up, but Ebb still wants power and presses the attack again. A’rie regains control and joins Ebb in fighting Brika and Dirk. Dragonmage insists he be the one to contain all of them, but it takes help from the others, including Dirk. As the energy of the elementals implodes, Dragonmage is sucked in. Mordru goes dormant again. Mysa is able to pull Xao’s body out of the rubble, but it’s not clear if he’s still alive. Imra can sense some of the hosts are still alive.
LSH 117 – Invisible Kid and Brainiac 5.1 continue to watch through the Anywhere Machine as Sensor is almost vivisected. Thunder is still not able to break through the forcefield around Blackstar. When Lyle contacts M’onel, he learns that he and the Ranzzes are having trouble fighting Lord Pernisius, who is powered up with Eternium. They watch as the doctor cuts into Sensor, but then realize that Jeka is using her powers to distract the doctor and escape. Because she’s injured, she’s not able to maintain the illusion for long. Pernisius is strong enough to punch M’onel a great distance. On Blackstar, a Linsnerian named I.Z.O.R., called Gear, who is a technorganic being, hears from the doctor that Jeka is missing. He sends guards equipped to protect themselves from Jeka’s powers, and she is captured. Lyle decides to put together a team to go after Pernisius, and he has no choice but to pull Thunder away from Blackstar. Gear puts an inhibitor brace on Jeka, and as he does so, they discuss how he has been raised to see himself as a tool, and therefore doesn’t have an opinion on the evil things happening on Blackstar. Kprkrn, the being in charge of the facility, enters the cell and orders that Jeka be put to work. We see that the other juveniles in the facility labor at carrying containers to the force field. It’s not explained how Jeka, who is a giant snake, could do labor like this without appendages. Lyle, Brainy, Thunder, and some others are on a cruiser going after Pernisius. While Kprkrn (how lazy is this name?) oversees the beating of a lazy worker, Gear talks to Jeka about how he’s been biding his time to take the place down, waiting for help. Kprkrn somehow hears them and orders them killed. As Gear is badly injured, he frees Jeka from her collar, and she manages to scare off the guards. Gear has planted some programs in the prison’s systems, and once he’s disassembled, they take over the prison, shutting off its forcefield and freeing the prisoners. While Jeka cradles the injured Gear, the other inmates cheer; Kprkrn is shown flying away. On Rimbor, Doctor Deacon talks to himself about how he can find fragments of Eternium that show up in time as well as space, pocketing one. Lord Pernisius shows up, and the power boost he received from the Eternium wears off at the same time. Also, just then, the Legion turns up. He shoots at them with a gun, and then he tries to power up again. He fires a blast at Thunder, who deflects it right into Deacon, who it turns out is a robot. His severed head admits he was built to guide Pernisius to power, and tells him to say the word ‘Shazam’. As he says it, there’s a big rumbling sound.
LSHSF 2 – A Legion cruiser comes out of a stargate and almost hits an alien ship. The cruiser contains Garth, Brainy, Jeka, Ferro, Monstress, Jazmin, Val, and Thunder, and it is out of control. Garth is able to crash on a small moon with some help from Thunder. The moon was once green and lush, but is now crumbling and lifeless. None of the Legion’s technology works (except, apparently, for Garth’s cybernetic arm), and a sinkhole opens swallowing their ship. Brainy figures they don’t have a lot of time before the whole moon crumbles. The rest of the Legion are in the same system, with Brande, welcoming the planet Lycidas into the UP. Imra is worried that the missing Legionnaires haven’t arrived yet, and checks in with the Outpost and HQ to see where they are. Brainy sends everyone out to find any scrap metal that might conduct electricity, which becomes a framing sequence for each member of this group to share their origin stories with one another. Garth, Jazmin, and Val are attacked by crazed ape beasts, while Ferro and Monstress are trapped in a cave-in. Sensor and Thunder are also attacked by the apes, but Sensor is able to scare them off by pulling an image from their minds that frightens her too. Thunder and Jeka help Garth’s group fight off the apes (Garth has been knocked out, and doesn’t share his origin). Brainy figures they were the original inhabitants of the moon, and that whatever has happened there has changed them. Monstress and Ferro rejoin the group, and as more apes attack, Brainy directs Ferro into making something out of all the metal they collected. Jeka projects the same frightening image, and Val wakes Garth up by using pressure points. Jazmin is not impressed to learn that Brainy has only built a signal flare, but by using Thunder to carry the long conductive thread into space, with one of Jazmin’s quantum spheres in her hand, she is able to send off a big signal powered by Garth’s lightning. The rest of the Legion is searching the system, and they find them. The inhabitants of the alien ship at the beginning of this story are curious about where these powerful beings came from (basically setting up Abnett and Lanning’s upcoming run). Curiously, one of the Who’s Who pages in this book reveals that Monstress’s name is Candi Pyponte-LeParc III, which we’ve never known before.
LNR 74 – Mysa and Apparition help Dragonmage to a table and try to see if he can be healed, while Ultra Boy grumbles about him causing all of the recent problems in the first place. Saturn Girl leads the others in the recovery operation, and they find Brika shielding Dirk’s body under some debris. Brika is sad, and Chameleon rushes Dirk to help. Kid Quantum checks on Umbra, Cosmic Boy, and Gates, who seem mildly injured, while Star Boy discovers the bodies of A’rie and Ebb. Imra asks Thom who he left on monitor duty, and we see that Dreamer and Doctor Gym’ll are doing that job. Dirk’s father calls in, and Nura is able to tell him that Dirk is fine. Thom admits he screwed up and should have left Tenzil in charge. Imra gets a call from Live Wire, who mentions that things are calm there (this is the first time that the Legion books are out of sequence, chronologically, as Garth refers to events in the next issue of LSH). He wants to come see Imra, but she tells him to wait. Dirk wakes up and freaks out a bit – we learn that his vision has been altered after his encounter with Phy’r. He thinks it’s weird that everyone is being kind to him, given that he trashed Tokyo, but they reassure him that it wasn’t his fault. Rokk even volunteers to play magnoball as part of a fundraiser to help fix things. When Dirk sees Xao, he gets angry, knowing that he is really responsible for what happened. Xao seems to be having trouble accepting responsibility for things. Tinya comes to get Imra; she has a call from a UP Marine Corps general, who tells her that Vice President Wazzo is on her way, with soldiers and some SP to secure the site around Mordru’s prison. Monstress, Mysa, and Element Lad talk with Brika, who is mortally wounded. Jan comforts her as she collapses into rubble. Xao thinks about what he’d like to say to Mysa, but can’t bring himself to. Mysa and Tinya check to make sure that Mordru is dormant, and bond over their crappy dads. Imra is not happy to see Garth show up to check on her, and both Tasmia and Reep pile on him too. Star Boy seems to have his mass powers under control, and feels like his other ones are gone. He thanks Dragonmage for helping him inadvertently, which makes Xao feel worse again. Dirk and Rokk talk to Dirk’s dad about their recovery plans for Tokyo. Rokk then gets a call from Roundrock Prison’s warden, who patches him through to Alux Cuspin, who he tells off (with Xao in earshot – this scene is pretty forced). Wazzo talks with Gates and Imra, and we learn that the entire planet of Gil’D is without water, and that its inhabitants are all dead. Imra suspends Thom for a week, but he doesn’t feel bad when Nura says she’ll spend the week with him. Xao talks to Jan about atonement. Imra and Mysa talk to the SP captain, and Mysa agrees to stay on the planetoid to keep an eye on Mordru. Xao comes up and verbally accepts his responsibility in what’s happened, and is handcuffed and taken away (I have no idea what the charges would be). Mysa and Jan complete Brika’s last request, turning her remains into a memorial. Dirk thinks he sees something odd during the ceremony.
LSH 118 – Large quantities of eternium start raining down where Lord Pernisius is continuing to fight the Legion, helping him become ever more powerful. The team works to keep the chunks from him, and away from Thunder, who loses power when touched by this stuff. They retreat to their cruiser. Lyle suggests that Brainy use the ship’s power booster to magnify his forcefield, but he’s not able to do it for long. Lyle plugs Doctor Deacon’s head into their computer, and learns that he was created by Doctor Savant, and that he used a chemical to unlock the first piece of eternium Pernisius touched. Savant figured that the best way to get rid of all of the magic that comes from Eternium would be to get someone greedy and power-hungry, like Pernisius, to waste all that power, hence he created Deacon (although it doesn’t make sense that Pernisius would trust Deacon so much if he just met him). The team tries to figure out what to do next, as Pernisius’s power grows, and it looks like the planet they are on is at great risk. Most of the team disperses to help with the tragedies unfolding everywhere from earthquakes and other forces. Lyle wants Thunder to stay in the ship. Brainy suggests bringing in a stargate to teleport away all the eternium, but Lyle doesn’t like that plan. M’onel returns, and flies into Pernisius at great speed. Brainy figures out that he can create multiple devices to boost his forcefield, and Lyle delivers them to the team, having them stand by. Brainy and Lyle head out, and Thunder is supposed to stay to turn a switch at Brainy’s signal. She starts to talk to Deacon. Pernicious rants and hurts Violet. The rest of the team plant their devices, but when they call for Thunder to turn things on, she is gone. Somehow Brainy turns it on from his end, but it starts to short out. Thunder approaches the eternium, and drops a device on it, which causes the eternium to start exploding. All of the Legionnaires, including Thunder, are powered up by this, and together they manage to take down Pernisius, draining him of power in the process. All of the eternium gathers on them, and the Rock of Eternity is reformed. Later, Thunder takes Deacon’s head to Takron-Galtos, where she confronts Savant, warning him to stay away from her and the Legion. Then, she says the words “Captain Marvel”, and is teleported six thousand years into the future, where she returns home to her family on Binderaan, and they all call her Beck instead of Cece, and are happy that she’s home.
LNR 75 – Tom Peyer wrote this one on his own. On some planet that is never named, a flying sphere decorated with the Legion logo and appearing to contain Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Live Wire, terrorizes and massacres a group of protestors calling for the restoration of the King, King Kradok’s, rule. The demonstration was a diversion so a single pilot can steal a starpod and make orbit. The Legion sphere pursues, and he has to ignite all his fuel to get out of the atmosphere, where he begins to broadcast a distress call. Garth lies on his bunk at the Outpost, resenting Imra for sending him away. Spark responds to the pilot’s distress call, but when he sees that she’s with the Legion, he self-destructs his pod. Later, Ayla takes data from the pilot’s ship to Garth, showing him how his image, along with Imra’s and Rokk’s, is being used to control the population of that planet. He decides to take care of this on his own, contacting Rokk and Imra in a naked ploy to get the three of them together again to fix this situation and their image. Rokk agrees, wanting to resolve all the issues between them. On the planet, we see the three in the sphere conducting a twisted sort of “Legion try-outs”, and killing anyone who fails. The real Legionnaires arrive and attack the sphere, but the public panics at the sight of them. Imra tries to calm people down, while Garth follows her. They need Rokk to help save a young girl from being trampled, but she’s terrified of Garth when he tries to help calm her. They attack the sphere again, which is computerized and filled with mannequin versions of them. Garth says he wants to apologize, but only after they’ve dealt with things. King Kradok is in his floating castle, and explains to the person who tells him that the sphere is broken that he used it to make his people, who were ready to overthrow him, appreciate him more. The Legionnaires show up in his throne room, stop his guards, and land his castle. Imra admits that she’d been telepathically broadcasting his rants, and as they fly him over a crowd, he realizes they want them all dead. They retreat, and drop the king off somewhere by himself, suggesting he disguise himself as a “grub” to save himself. On their cruiser as they leave, Garth apologizes for the way he’s acted; Imra kisses him and admits that she has been keeping him distant. They decide to go on a trip together.
LSH 119 – Garth and Jo are playing a holographic video game based on the late 90s Day of Judgment mini-event, featuring The Demon, Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) and the Enchantress. When Jo wins, Garth thinks he cheated. Jo is distracted by the fact that Tinya and M’onel are chatting, but starts to play against Luornu. Tinya also worries that Jo will be upset that she’s talking to Lar, and that he might not like that Tinya’s other self, Phase, was friends with Lar when they served in LEGION in the 20th century. Luornu also thinks that there’s something wrong with the game they’re playing. Brainy and Gear enter the room, and introduces him to the others. When Gear offers to try to check their video game, Brainy gets annoyed. Lar comments that Brainy is “just like a Dox”, which (rather weakly) prompts him and Tinya to start telling Gear stories about Vril Dox after Brainy storms off. Lar tells the story of the time Dox took the two of them, with Captain Comet and Phase, to the planet Poriaxus, where the First Church of Money was established, to arrange banking services. Dox and Comet went with the two Bishops, Lokk and Lode to negotiate, and sent the others to check out the planet. While the three were shopping in a market, they discovered that their money was stolen (off datapads, apparently). To be poor was a crime on this world, so they are arrested. Lar agreed to follow local law. Dox and Comet were negotiating interest rates on their investment, and Dox stopped Comet from eating the food that was served. In their holding cell, Stealth was sprayed with a liquid that made her more tender, and three locals, carrying butchers’ tools, entered the cell. Lar figured out that they were going to use them as food, and flew to find more prisoners in the same boat. He started wrecking the place. One of the bishops is called away from negotiations because of the problems the LEGION were causing. Phase freed the prisoners, and Lar scooped up the two women and flew away. They flew to Dox to try to stop him from signing his agreement with the planet, but it was too late. Comet was shocked to learn how this planet operated, but it was clear that Dox already knew. When the other Bishop came to arrest the three again, Dox restored their credits and admitted that he’d arranged the whole thing to cause a distraction and allow him better terms. Jo is finished playing his game, and Lar establishes that he wasn’t listening in to their conversation with his super-hearing, as he had to use his speed to compensate for the glitches in the game. Lar offers to show Gear around the Outpost. Later, we see that Brainy has been tampering with the game.
LNR 76 – Umbra and Element Lad are rushing an energy being that is wrapped in Tasmia’s darkfield power and a crystal that Jan made into Medstation One. XS joins them (it’s been ages since we’ve seen her – apparently she was back in the 20th century, and the rules clearly state that time travellers must return to their time after a parallel amount of time has passed). Gates and Saturn Girl also arrive as they place the crystal in an isolation room, and when the doctors scan the crystal, there is an explosion. It turns out that Imra is narrating this whole story to RJ Brande in his office. She explains that the energy being was discovered on the Mordru planetoid by Dirk Morgna. Tasmia and Jan were hanging out at Brika’s memorial when Dirk (why is he still there?) joined them, causing Tasmia to think about how she is a disgrace to her bloodline. Dirk caught a glimpse of the energy being with his new strange vision, and Mysa, hearing about it, was able to reveal it. A UP soldier fired on it, so it fought back. Tasmia realized she could use her darkfield to gather the being’s energy, at which point Jan provided his crystal cage. Mysa realized that the being is Atom’x, the hero that Mordru killed. Tasmia insisted that they help him; Mysa asserted that he be placed in a vessel of some kind, and Jan thought of the medical station. At that time, Star Boy was whining to Imra about his punishment, but Jan let them know what was going on. At the medstation, Imra tried to reach Atom’x, and discovered that Blast-Off, another hero killed by Mordru, was linked to Atom’x’s energy too. (It’s worth noting that Atom’x’s real name was Randall Burroughs, while Bast-Off’s name was Jahr-Drake Ningle). Tasmia showed uncharacteristic empathy for these two. Imra continues to explain to Brande what happened next. One of the doctors suggested a containment suit, and while Jenni gathered materials, Gates went to get Dr. Dennum, the doctor who Ferro once consulted. The energy being couldn’t stop absorbing energy, so Tasmia covered it in darkness again, while Jan helped weave metallo-cermic fibers through the suit. Once the suit was done, the being was able to move into it, and walk around like it had a body. The combined heroes suggested that they be called Drake Burroughs now (the name of the original Wildfire, who this character strongly resembles, aside from the origin), and when Imra tried to compliment Tasmia’s courage, she snapped at her. Brande mentions that Umbra was put in the Legion to temper her fanaticism. Brande compliments Imra on a job well done.
LSH 120 – On Takron-Galtos, some prisoners are playing sports. The Empress has been brought out in, basically, a sarcophagus, so she can have some fresh air. As the guards talk about how dangerous she is, a green light bathes the area, and the Empress is free to kill the guards and the other prisoners. She talks to the thing that saved her, and tells it she wants to save her teammates. First they go to see Tharok, who has had his mechanical side removed. In another flash of green, he is restored. The Persuader is being made to shovel what looks like skeletons into a furnace. He hears a voice telling him to turn around, where he finds a new atomic axe, and starts using it, joining with Tharok and the Empress. Next, they go to free Validus, who is in a giant tank of some kind, and we see that the new fifth member of the Fatal Five is the Emerald Eye of Ekron. As the villains fly away together through space, the Eye explains that it doesn’t want to try to control a host anymore, but more to serve one, and that it’s chosen the Empress. On the Legion Outpost, Gates is narrating an anti-Legion propaganda video. He annoys Brainiac 5.1, who is working on something. We learn that all the other Legionnaires have gone on a vacation together, but that Gates decided to come and reconnect with Brainy, who is rude to him. Brainy lashes out, but since Gates is using the Anywhere Machine, he’s not actually there. An alarm sounds, and the two see that the Fatal Five have broken into the Outpost. Gates teleports there to stop them, but when he gets to the hangar, we see that Validus (whose size is never very consistent) is holding a cruiser in his hands. The Eye blasts Gates, but Brainy is able to use his forcefield to protect him. Validus smashes them both, so Gates teleports them away, while Tharok suggests the Five go to the control room. Gates tells Brainy that the weapons systems are offline. Gates and Brainy share a moment, wherein Brainy explains that since his upgrade, he feels uncomfortable with the new emotional connection he feels for others. Tharok takes control of the system, while Validus sleeps, and Persuader drinks silverale (why would the Legion have so much booze when they’re all teens?). They decide to search for the two Legionnaires. Brainy uses some energy-casting arm things to knock out four of the Five, but it blacks out the Outpost. The Persuader tries to cut them with his axe, but they are Anywhere Machine projections (which, somehow, the Five know all about). We see that Brainy and Gates have gotten away in a cruiser, and it looks like the Five fly the Outpost away in an opposite direction.
LNR 77 – Roger Stern’s last issue crams a lot of characters and plotlines into it. Thom and Nura are on Sumer World, enjoying the beach, not aware that they’re being spied on by Mr. Rhysson, the guy who has been hiring Kono to steal things. She has a batarang for him, but he feels like with Star Boy hanging around, it’s not safe to collect it (ever notice how small planets are in the Legion universe – I mean, you’d think he could find somewhere on a planet to meet her that Thom wouldn’t see him). Rhysson freaks out when he sees a large number of Legionnaires join Thom and Nura on the beach. Rokk explains to Thom that Jan and Monstress were set on investigating the stolen crystals from a while back, but when Dyrk and Zoe heard them recruit Jeka to come to Summer World, they decided to invite the rest of the team along, with just a few refusals (Tasmia, Lar, Brainy, and Gates), they all came. Rhysson decides that he doesn’t need to worry so much, and instead focuses on the conventions happening on his world. Leland McCauley is on his way to one such convention, and we learn he’s sent Amilia Crugg and Lori Morning ahead of him. Lori is excited to go on some rides. Jan, Monstress, Zoe, and Jeka start entering stores looking for the crystals, with Zoe changing their clothes for them regularly. Rhysson sees them in one of his casinos, and worries some more. Monstress gets them to go shopping. On the beach, some of the guys play Tri-Volley, while Reep flirts with Ayla. Monstress is happy with the dress she’s found, until she runs into Amilia, who is wearing the same one. Monstress and Zoe are happy to see Lori, and Jeka calls for Jenni to come, and bring Proty with her. Lori forgives Proty for ratting her out, and they embrace. Amilia invites Monstress and Jenni to go on some rides with them. Lyle calls in to Legion HQ, where Jo and Tinya have volunteered to stick around on monitor duty. Lyle explains that Brainy and Gates are doing the same thing on the Outpost (again, we’re a little out of sync here with LSH). After the call, Jo and Tinya realize they are the only ones there (Chuck and Tenzil went on the trip, and Tasmia and Lar have disappeared, perhaps together). Chuck and Luornu decide to hit the casino, while Jeka suggests to Jan that perhaps Imra would have better luck in finding out about the crystals. Amilia’s group enjoy their rides. Dyrk shows up there, and starts flirting with Jenni. One of Luornu wins big at the casino, and Rhysson gets even more unnerved by how everywhere he goes, he finds another Legionnaire. Imra arrives at the port at the same time as Lyle and Garth. Zoe puts them all in beach wear, and Jan asks Imra for help. Rhysson is watching though, and when he realizes who Imra is, he rushes over to confess, surprising them all. At the beach, Tenzil and Ferro build a fire, and Zoe learns that Vi is hiding out. She talks to her, and Vi predicts that something terrible is about to happen, but Zoe convinces her to enjoy herself still. Ayla and Garth start roughhousing, Chuck and Luornu return having won big, and Monstress and Jan share a sweet moment. There’s a two page spread of everyone enjoying themselves, and that wraps up the Stern/McCraw/Moy/Carani era.
LSH 121 – The Legion Outpost lands roughly on a distant and uninhabited world. Some Legionnaires (Ferro, Lyle, Reep, Vi, Val, Zoe, Jan, Jeka, and Dyrk) are on their way home after their beach vacation when they get a call from Brainy explaining what happened with the Fatal Five, explaining that he and Gates will meet up with them after they’ve gone through the stargate. M’onel and Umbra have arrived at the planet, which is under an orange sun, weakening Lar. They see Persuader and Validus terrorizing the primitive locals, so Lar attacks, but is hurt by the Persuader and then taken down by the Empress and the Emerald Eye. Tasmia tries to stop them, but she’s taken down too. The Legionnaires arrive and Brainy explains that he can’t find the Outpost on his sensors, but since he can see Tasmia and Lar’s ship, he figures it’s in the area. Vi is nervous about confronting the Eye again, but Zoe makes her feel better. Koko keeps interrupting Brainy while he makes a plan, which is to get the team to fight the Five while he takes back the Outpost. The Five gloat over their captives, but then discover that the others are coming after them. Elsewhere, Dreamer has a bad dream that something terrible is coming for the Legion. Vi fights Validus at his size, but both she and Ferro are hurt by his lightning. Val is able to take out the Empress on his own, while Brainy attacks Tharok inside the Outpost. Chameleon and Lyle aren’t much good against the Persuader, but Gates is able to teleport the Eye away. Brainy holds Tharok in his forcefield, but Tharok controls the Outpost’s security systems; during their fight, Koko runs off. Sensor is able to confuse Validus, so Vi and Ferro are able to knock him out. Gates sent the Eye into a cavern, where Jan and Zoe try to keep it from hurting them. Koko rescues a green monkey from the Persuader (he’s wearing Brainy’s flight ring), which gives Reep the opening to knock him out. While Tharok tries to kill Brainy, Dyrk simply turns off the Outpost’s systems, leaving Tharok defenseless. Brainy knocks him out. Jan is unable to transmute the Eye, but he is able to create a magnesium flare that blinds it. Later, Lar takes the Outpost into space. Brainy goes looking for Koko, but finds him with the green monkey and can tell he wants to stay. Brainy looks sad. As the team flies home, Brainy says he’s happy that Koko is gone. We see Koko doing some 2001 A Space Odyssey stuff, with Brainy’s very large flight ring around his wrist.

That’s an odd way to end a run that’s lasted four years, but there you have it. In some ways, it makes perfect sense, as this run slowly slouched towards mediocrity and bizarre points of focus, as the tone of the series underwent a steady shift.

When the reboot first happened, the tone of the series was still somewhat serious and mature, even though it felt much lighter compared to the version of the Legion it replaced. In the early days of this version, the kids worried about proving themselves, and when Kid Quantum died, it had lasting consequences for some characters. There was a cutesiness to the LNR title, with Jeff Moy’s art making the kids seem younger than Lee Moder’s LSH issues, but generally, there was some balance. As the books continued, they got more kiddush, and also less focused on the consequences of what happens. In the back half of the McCraw/Peyer/Stern run, we saw the destruction of multiple worlds (Sklar, Gil’D, Dryad), and the near-dissolution of the United Planets, but it was still beach vacations for the Legion.

In my last Legion column, I covered the time-lost storyline, which split the team between the half trapped in the 20th century, and the half that continued in the 30th. The books in this column were almost as divided, as the team was split across the two titles, with some of the team stationed on Earth, some on the Outpost, and a few just ignored for months on end (Brainy’s monkey is in this book more than XS and Kid Quantum).

Generally, I found that there was increasingly less to like about this book as it went on, and I felt like the creators really squandered some chances to tell some memorable stories. The Dark Circle arc never reached the level of epicness it could have, and revealing the villain behind it all to be Brainy’s mother felt like a copout. I much prefer my Dark Circle to be a religious cult. Also, stories featuring Mordru should be bigger, even if he doesn’t even wake up for them.

The writers kept adding members to the team, but then didn’t really do very much with them. Thunder is a good example of this. She was teased and announced as a member more than a year before she joined the team, yet she really only stuck around for her own storyline, and never even appeared in LNR, before returning to the distant future (without saying goodbye or ever being mentioned again). Kid Quantum got added to the team to just be ignored for the most part. XS disappeared for ages, and wasn’t exactly missed (I do think it’s noticeable that the two black Legionnaires had the least to do in the series). Karate Kid was seen more, but never really did a whole lot, or had any character development happen.

Other characters had minor growth, such as Monstress changing colour, and Element Lad slowly becoming less spacey. The space anomaly changed some characters, but then it didn’t. Sure, I think Andromeda kept her red cargo pants, and Brainy kept the new facial accoutrements he got, but after Ayla and Vi brought Zoe back to her right mind, all the changes got ignored. Brainy wasn’t exactly nicer anymore, he mostly went back to being his negative self.

There were attempts to develop Ferro and Triad’s characters, but they got dropped or ignored after the two (or four?) of them got into their big argument. Garth also grew out of his insecurity about his relationship with Imra, but that relationship never actually made sense, other than that it existed for legacy reasons.

One character that went through the most changes was Apparition, who was revealed to be half Cargitte. One third of her selves was lost and never searched for, which I thought was odd. I also thought it strange that her other other self was Phase from LEGION, simply because there should have been an age difference between the characters. That also created some paradox issues that got ignored. It’s strange that the writers didn’t pursue Tinya’s whole situation further, or put her father back into the book. Even her mother, who was such a force in the series’ early days, got gradually written out.

If I had to pick a main character for this comic, I’d say it was Star Boy, in that he got a lot of screen time, but like his Ultra Boy-esque powers, that fizzled away too. I am curious to reread the issues of Starman that he appeared in a little later, because I remember that I started to really like him once James Robinson was writing him.

Artwise, I found this run to be a little disappointing as well. Jeffrey Moy was remarkably consistent on Legionnaires, and while his work was never flashy, I did like it. He kept the Legion looking pretty young though, even the older, married characters seemed more youthful than they should have. Still, the length and consistency of his run is surprising. He didn’t do a lot of comics after this series, and I wonder what ever happened to him.

The art on LSH was more problematic. Jason Armstrong was a strange choice to replace Lee Moder, as he had a much rougher, more cartoonish approach to his art. Generally, I didn’t like it, except for the way he portrayed Sensor, who he made larger, and a lot less smooth. After him came Scott Kolins, whose work I’ve never liked (I put him in the same category as Mark Bagley – he has fans, but I don’t understand why). It was over the course of this run that he started to develop his own cartoonish, blocky style, with the issue that he inked being the most recognizably his.

When the McCraw/Peyer/Stern team left, there were some storylines that were left unresolved. I don’t think we ever learned what the space anomaly was, or how it was connected to the Time Trapper. We never got clarity on what the Trapper wanted with Lori Morning either. There were also some character arcs that were just left dangling. I was curious about the introduction of Gear and the new amalgamated Wildfire, but I know they both get picked up again later.

McCraw, Peyer, Stern, and in the beginning, Mark Waid, set out to restore the Legion as a new-reader friendly, unencumbered, optimistic team showing a possible vision of a bright future. In doing so, they tossed out over thirty years of continuity, a ton of great characters (including much of the supporting cast), and many locations. For a while, it looked like they were making this all fresh again, but eventually, this just became a pale imitation of what came before. The writers did a good job of not endlessly repeating classic stories (the temptation to rewrite the Great Darkness must have been huge), but I don’t feel like they added much of anything to the lore. The characters never felt as rich as the original Legion, and the team never really gelled the way the classic Legion did. Things were never terrible, but they were consistently mediocre, and that’s perhaps worse.

After this run, Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning came on the book (after getting a preview in the Secret Files comic), and they tore things apart. I remember being thrilled by their story, and by newcomer Olivier Coipel’s art. That’s where we’re headed next, and after the somnolence of this stack, I’m excited for it. Bring on the Blight! Also, the next few columns will be a lot shorter than this, as we move into the Legion Lost and The Legion era of consistent title relaunches.

If you’d like to see the archives of all of my retro review columns, click here.

These comics haven’t been collected, so you’re going to have to do some digging if you want to read them.

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Retro Review: Legion Of Super-Heroes #101-121 & Legionnaires #57-77 By McCraw, Peyer, Stern, Armstrong, Kolins, Moy & Others For DC Comics!

Legionnaires #57-77, 1,000,000, The Legion of Super-Heroes (Vol. 4) #101-121, 1,000,000, Legion of Super-Heroes Secret Files #2 (February 1998 to November 1999)

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