Legion of Super-Heroes #39 “Evil Adventus Part Three: Downfall” (May 2008)



Creative Team: Jim Shooter writing. Francis Manapul pencils. John Livesay inks.

The Story: Princess Projectra returns to her mini-castle in Metropolis to find that the repo man has been there. All her furniture has been taken, and the house is being taken over by the bank to cover the debts incurred by her lavish lifestyle. Saturn Girl’s mother Councilwoman Ardeen tries to give her a reality check, but Jeckie will have none of it.



Later Jeckie flies by a mob looting a jewelry store. Not only does she not stop them, but she helps herself to a jeweled bangle and then uses her illusion powers to slip past the cops.



On Triton, the locals are surprisingly ungrateful at being rescued from alien monsters. Timber Wolf has a typical temper tantrum, forcing Saturn Girl to intervene telepathically to prevent an incident.



In New Beijing, Element Lad, Colossal Boy, and Ultra Boy have been sent on a mission to eradicate super-vermin.



Back at Legion HQ, Phantom Girl and Light Lass hang out in their negligees and gossip about the stress that Lightning Lad is under. I’m not sure whether this conversation passes the Bechdel Test or not, but it’s high on the cheesecake-o-meter.



My Two Cents: No deep analysis needed for this issue, which mixed action and character development, with turns toward darkness for both Timber Wolf and Projectra the former princess. This train’s Interlac sign declares it to be the “Shooter Express.” All aboard!

Legion of Super-Heroes #41 “Enemy Rising Part Two: Busted” (July 2008)



Creative Team: Jim Shooter writing. Aaron Lopresti pencils. Matt Ryan inks.

The Story: Thankfully, the tourist assaulted last issue by Projectra proves quite resilient, and he’s too star-struck to press charges. He settles for a picture of her and two other Legionnaires who come to investigate. Not a selfie, though. I guess those weren't a thing yet.



Invisible Kid Lyle Norg sneaks into Science Police headquarters to observe a dissection of the alien monster, who turns out not to be quite as dead as everyone thought. Norg defeats the monster with a surgical saw but is captured by the new S.P. recruits, including Giselle (now code-named “Gazelle,”  an obvious choice), and the kids who were rejected from the Legion back in issue #38. See, I said this would happen! Their team name is “United Planets Young Heroes.” The Legion is in big trouble with the government for spying on the S.P.s again.



Chameleon is feeling lonely, so he goes to the park and propositions a bird. OK then…



Speaking of sex, Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad’s intimate moment is interrupted by news of an attack on Ultra Boy’s homeworld of Rimbor. The U.P. government reluctantly authorizes the Legion to go investigate this new threat.



Covers That Mislead: In the grand tradition of early Bronze Age DC covers, this one depicts an apparent stand-off between a Science Policewoman and three Legionnaires. Really it’s just a gag by Chameleon.



My Two Cents: The alien invaders come in several levels of sophistication. Brainiac 5 suspects they were developed over time, and the newer, faster ones have arrived simultaneously with the older, slower ones. This reminds me somewhat of Orson Scott Card’s book “Ender’s Game,” in which remote pilots were required to fly ships of varying levels of technological sophistication.



There’s also a three page feature at the end about the powers of the Legion Flight Ring. Atrocious art by Sanford Greene.

Legion of Super-Heroes #43 “Enemy Rising Part Four: The Leader Who Lost the Legion” (September 2008)



Creative Team: Jim Shooter writing. Francis Manapul pencils. John Livesay inks.

The Story: The Rimbor away-team must flee into the sewers when its cops come to arrest Ultra Boy for some reason. Whom do they stumble across but Giselle, who is on Rimbor for unknown reasons. As often the case with her, she’s used her super-adrenaline power to the point of exhaustion and requires resuscitation with carbohydrates. In gratitude, she misdirects the Rimbor police when they come her way. But the cops catch up with the Legionnaires, cornering them atop a building and opening fire.



On the planet Velmar V, The Young Heroes attempt to tangle with The Peril Men and the Ikonn, two bands of space pirates. The Ikonn prevail against the Peril Men and capture the Young Heroes. A band of Legionnaires arrives to rescue them. But on the way there, a Time Bubble appears before Karate Kid and Triplicate Girl, holding four figures and inviting the two Legionnaires to join them.



Unfortunately, this leaves Timber Wolf, Light Lass, and Shadow Lass badly outnumbered, and the Ikonns capture them. At least Invisible Kid is still free, somewhere nearby.



To cap it all off, the Science Police search Legion headquarters and find Braniac 5 studying illegal data from the autopsy on the alien monster. They announce that the Legion is being outlawed. They also attempt to confiscate Phantom Girl’s vintage DC comics, but she reclaims them secretly as the cops are leaving.



My Two Cents: The Legion just can’t catch a break today! They joined with the U.P. and lost all their teen fans, and now they’ve lost the U.P.’s support too, while two away teams are in deep trouble. Presumably the four figures in the Time Bubble are Cosmic Boy and the three 41st century heroes who recruited him back in issue #30. Good to see Jim Shooter picking up that thread, which was one of the more interesting moments in this series.

Braniac 5’s password “ENB-31-87” seemed awfully specific not to be an Easter Egg. Sure enough, E. Nelson Bridwell lived 1931-1987. Nice tribute.



Chameleon claims that he can duplicate the physical characteristics of objects. This contradicts dialogue from Waid’s run in which Chameleon said that he could mimic the appearance of a steel wall but would not be as hard as steel.



The Peril Men and Ikonns sound like they would be revived Silver Age villains, but they’re brand new. The Ikonns are led by Cazhmir (Cashmere) and Ikilles (Achilles). The Peril Men are only mentioned and not seen in this issue, and never mentioned again.

Legion of Super-Heroes #44 “Enemy Rising Part Five: Operational Calculus” (October 2008)



Creative Team: Jim Shooter writing. Sanford Greene pencils, Nathan Massengill inks.

The Story: On Velmar V, the Ikonns gloat over their captive Legionnaires and Young Heroes and contemplate a rape party. This doesn’t sit well with jealous Cazhmir, the paramour of Ikonn leader Ikilles, so Ikilles has her killed. When Ikilles starts to fondle Light Lass, Invisible Kid reveals himself with a challenge.




Invisible Kid manages to crush Ikilles between two falling statues, then frees Light Lass, who immobilizes the rest of the Ikonns in mid-air.



On Rimbor, the Legionnaires go on the offensive against the police attacking them. Ultra Boy demolishes a police skycar and rescues the officer inside, who seems to know an awful lot about him. We still don’t know why Ultra Boy is a wanted man, but the Legionnaires have sure destroyed a lot of manned police vehicles, so I hope it’s worth it.



Back at Legion HQ, M’rrissey quells the government threat with some legalese and financial wizardry. Now the Legion has money to turn on the warp portals and bring the away teams home.



But Braniac 5 is not thrilled to discover how M’rrissey came up with the money.



My Two Cents: A quick wrap-up to the various threats from last issue. But the alien monster threat is still looming. Also, one of the frequently stated facts of the Waid Threeboot era was, “Legion Flight Rings cost more than a planet.” How valuable is the patent on an item that no one can afford to manufacture? More on this next issue.

I wasn’t a fan of Sanford Greene’s art when he did a few pages previously, and this issue has not improved my opinion. Too cartoony for me.

#45 “Enemy Manifest Part One: Monster in Our Midst” (October 2008)



Creative Team: Jim Shooter writing. Francis Manapul pencils. Jim Livesay inks.

The Story: An astronomical crisis has arisen: A Saturn-sized planet has materialized near Jupiter, threatening the integrity of the whole Solar System. M’rissey leverages the situation to extract concessions from the United Planets so the Legion can spring into action.



The away teams from Rimbor and Velmar V return from the perils of the last few issues. Lightning Lad tries to retask Saturn Girl to deal with this new threat, but she straight-up refuses, right in front of everybody. Looks like there’s trouble in paradise!



In other character-based news, Atom Girl is chagrined at not having bested a Rimbor cop in single combat. She hits the gym and vents to Colossal Boy, who is no longer trying to call himself “Micro Lad” thankfully.



Lightning Lad repeatedly calls the president by her first name instead of her title even after being corrected, and then he gets inside her personal space when a earthquake knocks her over. Not very professional! We can predict where this is going.



The Young Heroes have been holding their own recruitment drive. When it’s disrupted by the planetary crisis, a couple of applicants go on a rampage but prove no match for Lightning Lad and Element Lad. Lads represent!



Braniac 5 goes to the U.P. science headquarters and determines that none of them have any clue how to deal with the rogue planet. The gravitation-manipulation powers of Star Boy and Light Lass prove extremely helpful in setting the Solar System right, even with the extra planet.



Back at Legion HQ, Ultra Boy continues making his move on Saturn Girl. Then they make a joint move into the broom closet, where Invisible Kid stumbles upon them in dishabille.




My Two Cents: A solid mix of plot, action, and character. Shooter backpedals on the big surprise at the end of last issue, which was that M’rissey had sold the Legion flight ring patent to raise some quick cash. But now we’re told it’s just a toy version. That was a bit of a cheap shot.



Shooter is re-opening Bronze Age relational dynamics, with Colossal Boy pursuing Shrinking Violet (Atom Girl), and Saturn Girl teetering on the edge of an affair, both as seen in Levitz/Broderick Legion of Super-Heroes #289, in which the four were marooned on an ice asteroid after a failed mission. Except this time Saturn Girl is more diving in than teetering, and it’s with Ultra Boy rather than Timber Wolf.




“Nurse Ratched” the robot in the Legion infirmary homages the same-named character in Ken Kesey’s book (and then film) “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”



Modern comics have some old advertisements!

#47 “Enemy Manifest Part Three: Dream Wedding, Blind Love” (December 2008)



Creative Team: Jim Shooter writing. Rick Leonardi pencils. Dan Green inks.

The Story: In his dreams, Braniac 5 talks with Dream Girl, who has a sexy prediction for him. He also completes his experiment to duplicate the alien weaponry he’s been working on for several issues. Unfortunately, the weaponry is part of the monster alien to which it’s attached, and soon a live alien is stomping through his dream killing folks. Bad dream! He awakens and resolves not to let that scenario transpire in real life.



Brainy visits Meander, a beautiful spirit medium in the Metropolis slums. For a price, she will allow Dream Girl’s spirit to possess her body and then have sex with Braniac 5. Somewhat ashamed at believing in all this mysticism (but not at hiring a woman to be a sex host for his dead girlfriend), he accepts, and the two spend the night together.




Princess Projectra is fascinated with the story origin story of Braniac from Action Comics #242. She sees Braniac as a hero who wants to restore his lost planet, just like herself. She demands that Phantom Girl tell the story as if Braniac won. Disturbing!



Later, Projectra meets with the gang that promises to restore her to her rightful monarchy. She says that real Legion flight rings track their wearers. That’s a bit surprising since Waid’s whole premise was that the Legion rings defeated the “Private Service” which the United Planets used to track all teenagers. But then again, there’s that big Legion flight board that shows where all the team members are, so maybe. Anyway, they agree that Dream Girl is a threat who could spoil their game; she needs to be eliminated, even though she exists only in Braniac 5’s dreams.



Somehow Projectra has mental powers that allow her to get inside Braniac 5’s mind during his tryst with Dream Girl/Meander. That night, he’s attacked in his dreams by monsters. He drives them out, but not before Dream Girl is wounded, losing both physical sight in the dream-world as well as precognitive ability. Also, one of the monsters escapes out into the “mundane world” of reality.

My Two Cents: Princess Projectra is a straight-up villain now, perfectly willing to maim or kill anyone necessary as she ascends her throne. Pretty dark stuff!

Shooter engages in some cosmological world-building here, claiming that our “Mundane World” is the second of five levels of reality. I don’t know whether this five-level structure comes from some other literature, or whether it’s supported by other writers in the DCU. It’s not a part of the Grant Morrison/Geoff Johns master plan, as best I can tell.



Rick Leonardi does good work overall, but something went seriously wrong with Dream Girl’s face on the splash page as seen below. I remember Leonardi from the post-Sienkiewicz days on New Mutants. He was trying to copy Bill Sienkiewicz’ scratchy style. I like him better here. However, he draws all the Legion women with pointy 1950s breasts.



The monsters in Brainy’s dream call out “Biter” and “Beater.” I’m not sure to whom they are referring, but these two words are what Tolkien’s goblins call the twin swords Orcrist and Glamdring in The Hobbit.