Showcase Corner - Legion Of Super-Heroes Two!

Let us talk about writers. The earliest stories of the Legion of Super-Heroes in Adventure Comics were written by Jerry Seigel and Edmond Hamilton. Hamilton's stories were ripe with sci-fi concepts as well as lifts from classic literature such as the time Lightning Lad lost his arm to an enormous space whale. Sigel's stories on the other hand were two steps above zany. The scheme seemed to be to dream up some predicament for the Legion members to be in, often one involving the seeming demise of a member or members and then undo all of the ramshackle plot development with last minute information. I admire Siegel immensely for enormous contribution to pop culture with the invention (alongside artist Joe Shuster) of Superman, but I cannot forgive the hair-brained stories in this volume and the one before. Before this second Showcase volume closes out a third writer will take the helm, a writer as far removed from the crusty veterans Seigel and Hamilton as could possibly be. A fourteen- year-old Jim Shooter would impress editor Mort Weisinger enough that he handed the gig to him. Shooter made his bones at this very tender age on a team of heroes who were only a tad older than he was himself. 

The introduction of new Legion members slows down considerably in this second Showcase volume. The creators seem to have enough and the focus seems to be on delivering trouble to some of the Legion members with the higher profiles. To that end, Lightning Lad, who had died previously loses his arm and is overcome with a desire for vengeance. Budding romances between Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl and Ultra Boy and Phantom Girl form the basis for ongoing soap operatic doings in the Legion clubhouse. Superboy is hanging around a lot in the future, to hang with his new friends and adds considerable power to the team. Star Boy is actually kicked out of the Legion because he was forced to kill while defending himself. But there are a few new heroes introduced, such as the heroes from the planet Lallor. These are Beast Boy, Gas Girl, Life Lass, Evolvo Lad, and Duplicate Boy.  Also getting some weird powers in the pages of Superboy in anticipation of a Legion membership bid is Lana Lang who becomes Insect Queen. 

The Legion battles some weighty villains such as Starfinger, Computo the Living Computer, Beast Boy from the aforementioned Lallor heroes gone bad, and the Time Trapper who fends off the team for many issues with a barrier in time. The Legion has a difficult time getting to the Time Trapper as he's created a barrier to his time location. It's many issues before they can confront the villain who would prove a perennial enemy. Starfinger gets the name from the Bond movie Goldfinger, but is nonetheless a difficult opponent for reasons all too obvious when the identity of the villain is revealed. The concept of death does rear its head in the Legion stories and the battle against Beast Boy is no different. Computo was created by Jerry Seigel and in contrast to my criticism above, the mechanical invention of Braniac 5 is featured in a two-part story with singular focus and momentum. Again death is on the table. It doesn't hurt that Curt Swan steps in to handle the art for a few issues. (I was struck in this reading how much Brainiac's creation of Computo reminded me of when Hany Pym made Ultron.) 

Doctor Regulus shows up in the last story in this collection. He's a creation of Jim Shooter who took over the writing reins and brought a fresh new style to the Legion stories. He also supplied layouts for the stories and the pages open up, leaving behind the somewhat stodgy classic DC look from the 50's and 60's and giving a more modern vibe. Shooter also introduces four new Legion characters in Ferro Lad, Nemesis Kid, Princess Projectra and Karate Kid. These issues, thanks to Shooter's work have a somewhat more fanzine feel, but they bristle with energy. It's clear why the Legion in 1966 is about to take off. 

Here are the covers for stories in this collection. 

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