Legion of Super-Heroes #305 “Violet’s Story” (November 1983)
Writer: Paul Levitz
Pencils: Keith Giffen
Inks: Kurt Schaffenberg!
Quality: A+
Kid-Appropriate: Fine
The Story: Braniac 5 has realized that “
Shrinking Violet” is an impostor, a Durlan spy named
Yera. She says she was hired to impersonate Violet months ago (18 issues, however many months that was) by some of Violet’s countrymen from Imsk. Yera didn’t ask any questions about the real Violet.
The Legion takes her to Imsk, where she rendezvous with her local contacts. Except it’s not really Yera now; it’s
Chameleon Boy, followed by Brainy,
Element Lad, and a particularly enraged
Colossal Boy who wedded “Violet” secretly not long ago. They tear apart the nest of conspirators rapidly.
In a B-plot, Legionnaires back at home gossip about
Wildfire’s doomed romance with
Dawnstar. Dawny has returned to her home planet of Starhaven to acquire a gem which will lead her to her fated life partner. She tries not to think about Wildfire.
In a teaser C-plot, Sun Boy’s analogue from the Legion of Super-Villains terrorizes a rural village, preparing the way for a future story arc.
My Two Cents: This was the period in LSH publication when critical acclaim and sales came together in a book that was DC’s #2 behind
New Teen Titans in circulation but at least equal to it in quality. Despite the issue's title, this isn’t really Violet’s story after all; she barely appears, and only comatose. It’s mainly a Colossal Boy spotlight story that undoes his romance with Violet. I wonder whether this was planned from the outset or was a retcon. Yera gets off waaaaay too easily for her role in Violet being kidnapped, mentally interrogated, and tortured for months. Colossal Boy just shrugs and says, “Oh, I guess it was you that I loved, you and your adorable web of lies.”
A similar fate befell Johnny Storm (in
Fantastic Four #357-8) when Tom DeFalco wrote that his marriage to Alicia Masters must end. She too was revealed to be a shapeshifter. Inspired by this story? Or just an obvious solution to a similar problem? Johnny had a much more likely response to discovering that his supposed wife had actually been comatose in a sensory deprivation tank ever since the original
Secret War, and his marriage was a lie.
Schaffenberg does a great job on inks; I don’t even miss the excellent Larry Mahlstedt. Maybe a bit too much reliance on Ben-Day dots, but still creditable. Colossal Boy gets some great carnage shots. And the cover is a creative perspective that lets readers congratulate themselves on recognizing the boots of the three large figures pictured.
