The Legion of Super-Heroes was immensely popular in the 60's with hardcore comic book fans. In those halcyon days when conventions were rare and fan contact was only beginning to take shape, the Legion fans formed devout clubs dedicated to the team. It was during the stories in this collection that the interest was likely highest. The youthful Jim Shooter was writing and laying out the stories for regular artist Curt Swan, with inks by George Klein. A few stories in this volume are by E. Nelson Bridwell, another fan turned pro who ambled the halls of DC. By the end of this tome we are getting some stunning covers by Neal Adams who is beginning to make his mark on the comic book world.
The membership of the team has been pretty well established, though Shooter did add Karate Kid and Princess Projectra to the roster soon in his tenure. Shadow Lass shows up and is inducted in later stories in this collection. He also added Ferro Lad, a helmeted hero who could turn himself iron hard and was possessed of great strength. The death of Ferro Lad was a momentous event in the history of the Legion. Lightning Lad had died but then returned to life, and Proty, the pet of Chameleon Boy had also famously died, and Triplicate Girl tragically became Duo Damsel, but the death of Ferro Lad was something I'm pretty sure Shooter had in mind from the moment he was inducted and his death to my knowledge has never been undone. (At least in any version of the DCU I give a hoot about.) There is a great two-part tale of the adult Legion starring Superman. We get glimpses of the Legion's future and find many of the heroes have married and moved on to other careers. A few have died in ways not revealed and some have simply gone on to pursue a useful career.
We also meet some intriguing villains. Dr. Mantis Morlo gives the Legion some trouble and in stories drawn by Pete Costanza looks more than a bit like an infamous Dr. Sivana of Marvel Family fame. Universo is a villain who brainwashes and hypnotizes his enemies and the Legion have to put his schemes to rest a few times with the help of his son Rond Vidar. We meet alien cultures like the Khund and the Dominators which will play crucial parts in the DCU in years to come. There's a viscous bloke called The Hunter who lives up to his name as he tracks down some of the Legionnaires. But easily the most significant addition to the rogues gallery of the 30th century was the Fatal Five. This quintet becomes the Legions most heinous counterpart and show up in two engaging two-part tales in this collection. We meet Tharok the half-man and half-machine villain, Mano possessed of a hand that can explode a world, the Emerald Princess with her Evil Eye, the Persuader and his atomic axe, and most incredibly the creature known as Validus, who is perhaps the deadliest villain in the Legion canon. (At least until Mordru appears.)
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The Legion even gets a new headquarters in this volume after long years in their wacky inverted spaceship.
Here are the covers in this Showcase volume.
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