Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Volume 5 |
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Collection published: 1994 Contents originally published: 1966 Acquired: July 2025 Read: January 2026 |
Pencillers/Layouts: Curt Swan, Jim Shooter
Inkers/Finished Art: George Klein, Sheldon Moldoff, George Papp
Letterers: Milton Snapinn, Vivian Berg
In my experience, you never know what you're going to get with a volume of Legion of Super-Heroes Archives. Sometimes it's stupid as all get out... but sometimes it's an enjoyable and clever 200+ pages of Silver Age comics. Thankfully, volume 5 is one of the latter. In the foreword, Mark Waid trumpets the arrival of Jim Shooter as Legion writer, but this is a solid collection even before Shooter turns up for its last four issues.
The first story is a two-parter where Brainiac 5 builds Computo; he's hoping to make a superintelligent robot to help the Legion, but it backfires and Computo decides to take over the world. I think this is the first-ever "Brainiac is too smart for his own good" story, which will eventually become an overused Legion trope, but nicely sets himself apart from the other Legionnaires in these early days. Unfortunately, I don't think the second issue quite stands up to the first; while the first is written by Jerry Siegel, the second is credited to "Edmond Hamilton or Jerry Siegel" in the archive edition. Neither would surprise me, as it does very much have the feel of someone with no idea how to end the story and making it up as he goes along. While that could be a different writer coming in, plenty of Jerry Siegel stories have that vibe when he writes them in their entirety!
Famously, Computo kills one of Triplicate Girl's three selves. This establishes him as a strong threat... but the moment is pretty much forgotten right away; she's just like, "lol i guess i'm Duo Damsel now" and that's it.
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| Maybe in the future, therapy is so good you can just get over your trauma in a moment. from Adventure Comics vol. 1 #340 (script by Jerry Siegel, art by Curt Swan & George Klein) |
I was pleasantly surprised by the next story, "The Legionnaire Who Killed!" In this one, Dream Girl comes back (she previously appeared in Adventure #317, collected in volume 2, over two years prior), and Star Boy is forced to kill someone to protect her, in violation of the Legion's code against killed. Brainiac 5 puts him on trial, with Superboy as the defense; I had totally forgotten that there's a later set of stories where Star Boy and Dream Girl are in the Substitute Legion, and thus I was quite surprised when the stor ended with Star Boy being kicked out of the Legion! (I totally loved that all the female Legionnaires voted to acquit Star Boy... except for Saturn Girl, of course. That's my girl.) My expectation for stuff like this in the Silver Age is that there's always a cop-out, like maybe the dead guy turns out to be a robot, or it's a frame-up, or whatever. One of the thing that really sets the Legion apart from contemporary DC stories is the feeling it's a genuine ongoing saga, and we see that really effectively in this issue.
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| How do they get back in the Legion, anyway? I bet I've read that story already and don't remember it. from Adventure Comics vol. 1 #342 (script by Edmond Hamilton, art by Curt Swan & George Klein) |
Again, we see some serialized storytelling in the next issue, where the Legionnaires become convinced they're under a bad luck curse, what with Computo and Duo Damsel and Star Boy and so on, not to mention all the bad things that have happened to Lightning Lad. And of course, it's Saturn Girl who refuses to buy into this nonsense. I thought the Luck Lords, aliens who use hypnosis to convince you you're experiencing bad luck, were great villains; I don't remember then ever appearing future Legion stories, which is disappointing. I'd totally bring them back if I was writing a Legion story.
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| Saturn Girl always cuts through the bullshit. from Adventure Comics vol. 1 #343 (script by Edmond Hamilton, art by Curt Swan & George Klein) |
The story after this is another great one. The initial setup is a bit contrived—a guy who hates law enforcement so much he goes around putting superheroes in a space prison??? sure why not—but the story told with it is excellent. Along with a bunch of other teen superheroes from across the galaxy, the Legion is locked up and must use their wits and their powers in subtle ways to escape. It's a strong premise, and it's very well done. Of course, Saturn Girl once again saves the day. And there's a key role for Matter-Eater Lad! What else does one need? (My only objection is I think the fact that the Superboy who gets killed was really a Durlan ought to have been hidden from the readers for at least a bit.)
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| ME READING THIS PAGE: Wow, I bet that power comes in handy all the time. ME A FEW PAGES LATER: **sobbing as I finally understand how useful his power is** from Adventure Comics vol. 1 #344 (script by Edmond Hamilton, art by Curt Swan & George Klein) |
After this come the stories of Jim Shooter. Legendarily, Shooter was just a kid who sent in some unsolicited scripts and got them published; because he knew nothing about comics scripting, he included drawings of the whole story, and the editor just got an inker to go over Shooter's stuff. Even once Shooter knew what to do, he continued to supply images for penciller Curt Swan. Swan is a solid artist, of course, one of the greats, but I found that giving him Shooter's layouts to work from made Swan's work a lot more dynamic and interesting. Shooter must have had a good eye for angles and composition.
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| Haven't we all accidentally taken a nap next to a leaking nuclear reactor? from Adventure Comics vol. 1 #348 (script/layouts by Jim Shooter, finished art by George Papp) |
I found the actual Shooter stories a mixed bag. The one that introduces four new Legionnaires has some good moments, though, especially the initiation battle between Superboy and Karate Kid. (I love Karate Kid.) The other two are a bit wacky and contrived. Why does Sun Boy just happen to get amnesia when a villain from his past turn up? Why does he take a nap in a nuclear reactor?? Why is Universo's plan so bizarrely complicated??? That last panel of his son is excellent, though.
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| Has Karate Kid ever beat Superboy? I bet he could. from Adventure Comics vol. 1 #346 (script/layouts by Jim Shooter, finished art by Sheldon Moldoff) |
I read a Legion of Super-Heroes collection every six months. Next up in sequence: DC Comics Classics Library: The Life and Death of Ferro Lad
