Kind of weird that today's comics do seem to work best in the old 1950's style where stories and series were never interconnected. Let each series and characters be of their own "universe" and if you wish to have another hero or villain co-star just do it without the Marvel Method of having to figure out where it takes place or fits into continuity. 

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes “Extinction Event!” #29 (June 2007)



Creative Team: Tony Bedard writing, Kevin Sharpe pencils, Mark McKenna and Jack Purcell inks.

The Story: This issue is told from the perspective of the Dominators “suffering” under an invasion of accursed humans.



There’s a recap of the Invasion story from 1989, followed by exposition of what’s happened to Dominion society in the last 1,000 years. The answer is, not much, until a few years ago when Booster Gold of all people came calling. The Dominators regarded this as an attack by Earth, resulting in the current Dominator retaliation, which they view as a defensive move.



A mad scientist among the Dominators has created a race of Super-Dominators which he expects will lose this battle and be scattered among the stars, ultimately reproducing far and wide to conquer the galaxy.



My Two Cents: Seems like sort of an X-Men story, with mutants replacing humans, except it’s on the Dominator world. Again, I have no idea about the 52 event and don’t know what Booster Gold was doing in the 31st century briefly, but it sure caused a lot of trouble for the U.P.

Justice League of America #8, 9, 10 and Justice Society of America #5, 6: “The Lightning Saga” (June-August 2007)

Background: After Grant Morrison re-invigorated the JLA and restored its classic Silver Age roster circa 1997, things got rocky again. The DCU seemed mired in an endless cycle of retcon events: Infinite Crisis, 52, Final Crisis, Zero Hour, and so on. Brad Meltzer’s controversial Identity Crisis committed a combination of character assassination and actual assassination on longstanding heroes and their adjuncts.

In 2007, Meltzer helmed the latest relaunch of the Justice League title (Morrison’s relaunch had been called simply JLA) with a lengthy story centered around Red Tornado. At the end of that story, the villain Trident (guess what his weapon is) had been identified as Karate Kid of the Legion of Super-Heroes, brainwashed or mind controlled or something. I think Starro was involved.



Also in 2007, Geoff Johns scripted the relaunch of Justice Society of America. This series introduced LSH member Thom “Starboy” Kallor as a loopy Deadpool type, living in the 21st century, saving lives, and spouting non-sequiturs with great gusto. His story is now supposed to be that he is a schizophrenic who was ejected from the Legion after an avoidable civilian death, but schizophrenics don’t act like Thom Kallor (now called “Starman”) does.



Anyway, these two stories led into this series which began in Justice League #8 and hopped back and forth to the new Justice Society for five issues total. The story is structured like a classic JLA/JSA team-up with sub-teams sent on missions and lots of banter and character moments that aren’t germane to the Legion’s involvement in this story; we will cover only the LSH portions, not the chatter.

JLA #8 “Lightning Lad”: Brad Meltzer writing, Shane Davis pencils, Matt Banning inks. Karate Kid awakens, still acting evil, and Batman must face him in unarmed combat. As they fight, the Trident costume gradually shreds, revealing Karate Kid in his Bronze Age costume with the insanely high but oh so stylish flared collar. Black Lightning puts him down for the count.



Even captured, Karate Kid still thinks he’s 21st century man Wes Holloway rather than 31st century man Val Armorr. He snaps out of it when Mister Terrific mentions that LSH member Starman is hanging out with the JSA. When Starman says “Lightning Lad” in Interlac, this proves to be a keyword which unlocks Karate Kid’s memory that seven Legionnaires (Seven Soldiers!) have come to the past on a secret mission. Who are the others, and where are they? Time to split up and find them!



JSA #5: Geoff Johns writing, Fernando Pasarin art. Batman, Sandman, Geo-Force, and Starman head to Arkham Asylum. Inside, nightmare-themed villain Doctor Destiny is fondling a chained Dream Girl while he hijacks her sleep to create various hallucinations. Starman says “Lightning Lad” in Interlac, and once again it restores a bewitched Legionnaire to proper thinking, and the awakened Dream Girl kicks Doctor Destiny's tail.



Red Tornado, Superman, Cyclone, and Stargirl follow a homing signal to the Fortress of Solitude. They find Superman's collection of Levitz-era LSH mannequins. But wait! One Legion member is duplicated here. Can you tell which one? It’s because a real Legionnaire is standing amidst the statues. Once again “Lightning Lad” spoken in Interlac brings him to his senses.



JLA #9 “Suicide”: Brad Meltzer writing, Ed Benes art. Wildcat, Vixen, Green Lantern (Jordan) and Flash (Garrett) head to the African city of Solovar and his genius apes. Who’s that guy second from left with his arm in a sling, participating in the dinosaur-riding race? Why, it’s Legionnaire Timber Wolf! A word of “Lightning Lad” in Interlac, and Timber Wolf remembers that he’s here on a mission that he won’t talk about.



Power Girl, Red Arrow, Hawkman, and Hawkwoman head to Thanagar, where they’ve heard that the winged Legionnaire Dawnstar is hanging out amidst thousands of other winged humanoids. They find Dawny's new girlfriend but not Dawny. Turns out they are too late. Dawnstar’s tracking ability has already led her to Earth, and to the five Legionnaires now assembled there. They have taken cartridges off of a utility belt and telescoped them into rods which will be familiar to anyone who’s read Silver Age LSH. If that’s not you, don’t worry, all will be explained. Well, not all, but some. (Note below that all the issue titles for this story were rendered in Interlac.)



JSA #6 “Three Worlds”: Geoff Johns writing, Dale Eaglesham pencils, Ruy Jose inks. Superman gives exposition to the assembled JLA and JSA. First he recounts the Silver Age story in which several Legionnaires used handheld lightning rods to resurrect Lightning Lad. The unlucky one turned out to be Chameleon Boy’s sentient changeling pet Proty, disguised as Saturn Girl. The second bit of exposition is more puzzling. Superman tells of a Legion adventure called “The Legion of Three Worlds” whose details no one knows, beyond the name.



The six Legionnaires (Dream Girl, Starman, Wildfire, Timber Wolf, Dawnstar, and Karate Kid) have vanished from JLA/JSA sight. Starman briefly tells of his adventure in the Kingdom Come: Magog story on Earth-22. The Legionnaires travel to Suicide Swamp. Is that lifted Alex Ross art, or just a good copy?



Also in the Swamp are Wonder Woman, Liberty Belle, Damage, Black Lightning, and Hourman. They open the abandoned Legion of Doom base (the one from the “Challenge of the Super-Friends“ cartoon that looks like Darth Vader’s helmet), and out comes Triplicate Girl. She tells them that the Legion’s mission in the past is to eliminate an evil Artificial Intelligence.



Suddenly the jungle outside the LoD base erupts with tentacles, and somehow the whole JLA and JSA are there, along with the six Legionnaires, to participate in a big double splash page battle which is pretty much the whole point of this story, so here; enjoy it!



But eventually, the whole combat sequence was revealed to be an illusion created by Sensor Girl, the former Princess Projectra. The magic words “Lightning Lad” bring her to her sense, and once more the LSH members, now numbering the full seven, disappear from the scene in the face of an oncoming thunderstorm.



JLA #10 “The Villain is the Hero in His Own Story”: Brad Meltzer writing, Ed Benes pencils, Sandra Hope inks. The seven Legionnaires fan out across the globe, awaiting the lightning strike that will enable them to perform some sort of resurrection while killing one of them. The fastest members of the JLA and JSA speed to the seven locations to try to prevent whatever is going to happen. But Braniac 5 has equipped the Legionnaires with impregnable force fields to ensure the success of their mission. Good thing Karate Kid couldn’t use that when he thought he was the villain Tempest!



Batman and Green Lantern recognize two of the seven locations. One is the former location of Barry Allen’s laboratory, where a freak lightning strike gave him access to the Speed Force. The other is the location of one of Barry’s manifestations when he was dying during Crisis on Infinite Earths. All of the other Legionnaires are in places meaningful to Flash as well.



After one of the Legionnaires sees the fatal lightning arcing his way, Braniac 5 teleports five of them back to the 31st century. But left behind are Karate Kid and Starman, off to have more 21st century adventures. Karate Kid managed to evade the lightning strike with his ninja skills, yet his lightning rod was activated anyway. Its effect has been to bring Wally “Flash” West back from somewhere, with a woman and two redheaded kids in tow. Everyone agrees it’s a happy ending, but nobody explains what has actually happened other than “Wally West was riding the Lightning, saved his whole family.”



My Two Cents: This series homages both JLA/JSA “team up then split up” stories of the 1960s and 1970s as well as 1960s Legion stories in which a Legionnaire quarrels with his friends because he is on a secret mission. Revealing the secret of his mission would have made its completion easier, but then the reader wouldn’t have any suspense as to what was going on. I always found that sort of story contrived, but there certainly were a lot of them, so if you’re going to homage classic Legion tropes, that’s one to use. Plus the Legion’s plan comes right out of Adventure Comics #312.



The Legion’s “secret mission” is to bring back Wally West and his family from another dimension. However, there’s no mention of Wally up to the moment of his return, so for me at least the punchline falls flat. I didn’t even know he was in another dimension, let alone why, or what the story of his family was. Perhaps the original 2007 readership was already up to speed (no pun intended) on these things, but these sorts of storytelling choices are alienating to new readers and to posterity.



More surprising to me (though not unwelcome) was the unexplained use of the Cockrum-era Legion characters, instead of the Threeboot characters seen in the concurrent Legion title. No explanation is given for this; Superman refers at one point to his Legion membership prior to Crisis on Infinite Earths. Seven Legionnaires figure into this story, which is a nice number self-consciously hearkening back to the Seven Soldiers of Victory in the Golden Age, Grant Morrison’s Seven Soldiers series, and other examples of the trope.



This story has no villain. There are three fight scenes in five issues: (1) Batman spars with Karate Kid; (2) Star Boy and Dream Girl swiftly defeat Doctor Destiny; (3) The combined heroes fight swamp tentacles that turn out to be a Sensor Girl illusion. I’m not sure how the final issue’s title “The villain is the hero in his own story” fits into this, except perhaps as an affirmation the Legion really are heroes, though this is never in doubt to readers.

Overall, an odd story, probably no worse than many of the classic JLA/JSA and LSH stories to which it pays tribute.

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #32 (September 2007)



Creative Team: Tony Bedard writing. Dennis Calero art

The Story: The Ranzz home is empty (including half-finished meals on the dinner table) and has recently been the source of unexplained electromagnetic disturbances. Was Cosmic Boy responsible? Tenzil Kem has an antagonistic chat with the three Legionnaires, who also bicker among themselves.



The farmhouse basement connects to a vast underground city which traverses the entire planet. a giant vault labeled “Validus” after Winath’s ancient storm-god. Mekt Ranzz was a member of the Validus cult, sent to Korbal to look for Validus. That’s where he and his siblings acquired their powers from lightning beasts, as in the Silver Age origin story.



Two Validus cultists lure Tenzil into a vacant granary and then begin filling it with wheat to assassinate him.



Mekt finds his parents, in the thrall of the Validus cult, and possessed of lightning powers like himself.



My Two Cents: Focusing on just four characters in one locations was smart and should be done more often. A Lightning Lad origin/family spotlight story would be a fine idea. I’m surprised this story was given to his brother Mekt instead. But that’s OK. I like the conflicted Mekt here better than the mustache twirler of the Silver Age. It’s fun that the Validus cult’s icon looks like the head of Validus from the Fatal Five. I love Dennis Calero’s art here. Great facial expressions. Too bad the characters in the interior story are not on the cover, or vice versa.

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #34 “E.R.G.onomics Part One” (November 2007)



Creative Team: Tony Bedard writing. Dennis Calero art

The Story: Now it’s time to pick up the Lallor plot thread from issue #31. You may recall that Timber Wolf, Atom Girl, and Shadow Lass were beating up some local cops who accused them of plotting to kill Lallor’s president. The previous “youth vs grown-ups” conflict on Lallor from issue #1 has been put aside. Now, Lallor’s government is in the throes of a civil war against rebels who want Lallor to secede from the United Planets.



The rebels have E.R.G.-1, a super-being made of pure energy, in their pocket. He was briefly a member of the Legion in the past but was assumed dead after a mishap on his inaugural adventure. Now reconstituted, he’s reluctantly agreed to assassinate the Lallorian president.



This leads to a big confrontation between the three Legionnaires and E.R.G.-1 in the president’s office, and his new containment suit is not as easy to breach as it was in the Bronze Age. He shoots Timber Wolf with a massive energy blast which mutates Brin Londo into a more feral form. This was apparently something that Braniac 5 has foreseen and even intended.



My Two Cents: Yay, Wildfire! He was my favorite during Levitz’ tenure. What a great costume, with gouts ofKirble Krackle frequently erupting from his hands and feet, plus a tragic Negative Man backstory. This issue riffs off of Wildfire’s original appearance in Superboy #195 (Cary Bates, 1973) in which he sacrificed himself to destroy the giant machine that was devouring all the crops. In that version (see below), E.R.G.-1 deliberately blew himself up, a noble sacrifice. In this new version, it was an accident.



It’s a Supergirl-free issue focusing on just 5 characters including E.R.G.-1. The “roll call” section has been revamped to include moody bust-type portraits of the spotlight characters rather than the previous full-length portraits standing out from the silhouettes of their comrades.



I enjoy Calero’s expressive and moody art, but some of the camera angles are odd.

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #35 “E.R.G.onomics Part Two” (December 2007)



Creative Team: Tony Bedard writing. Dennis Calero art

The Story: Braniac 5 admits that Timber Wolf’s feral transformation was part of some scheme. Atom Girl realizes that E.R.G.-1’s heart is not really into this “assassinate the president” mission that his brother sent him on, so she gets him to call his brother on the Presidential phone. (Lallor still uses landlines, we are told!) Then Atom Girl pulls a classic Silver Age Atom trick and rides the phone signal. The assassination plot having ended, E.R.G.-1 is invited to return to Earth and re-apply for Legion membership. See, this is a team that makes enemies into friends!



In the second half of this issue, the scene shifts to the third Legion strikeforce from issue #31. Supergirl, Lightning Lad, and Saturn Girl are in the Gobi forest in what used to be called China on Earth. At a high tech ziggurat rising from the greenery like Chichen Itza, they are accosted by a being who says he has the brainpower of humans a billion years from now. He turns into a brutish form and starts giving Supergirl a pummeling.



My Two Cents: This issue has an unusual structure, dealing entirely with the Lallor plot before shifting to the Gobi for its last few pages. Usually stories like this would be intercut, or else reserved for separate issues entirely. The final panel gives us (and Supergirl) a glimpse of the end of the 52 event which rolled over into a series called World War III. Doesn’t matter. It’s a lead-in to the following issue, which is the end of Supergirl’s time in the 31st century.



Evolvo Lad, who had the power to become either a caveman or a genius, first appeared in Adventure Comics #324 (1964) as one of the Heroes of Lallor, a.k.a. “The Legion of Super-Outlaws.” He and his colleagues were manipulated into attacking the Legion and eventually realized that their boss was not on the up and up.

Bedard seems a capable writer and it is good to know Wildfire wasn't totally forgotten, but I think my run of #1-31 is complete. I dislike the darker more photo-realistic style of art on this title and it seems to make the writing feel heavier from what I've seen here. When it was Waid, Kitson and Gray this was really enjoyable, and maybe it's a good idea to follow that team with something dissimilar, just not for me.