Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Volume 5 by Curt Swan, George Klein, et al.

Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Volume 5

Collection published: 1994
Contents originally published: 1966
Acquired: July 2025
Read: January 2026

Writers: Jerry Siegel, Edmond Hamilton, Jim Shooter
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. 

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.

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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've already read the next volume, but looking back at my review, I was surprised to see how scathing I was about Shooter's work. I'll be rereading some of it soon, so maybe I'll like it more this time around.

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

Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Volume 2 by Edmond Hamilton, John Forte, et al.

Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Volume 2

Collection published: 1992
Contents originally published: 1961-64
Acquired: November 2023
Read: July 2025

Writers: Edmond Hamilton, Jerry Siegel
Pencillers: John Forte, Curt Swan
Inkers: John Forte, George Klein
Letterers: Joe Letterese, Milton Snapinn

This volume continues on from volume 1, establishing the Legion of Super-Heroes as a regular ongoing feature; it contains the Legion stories from issues #306 to 317 of Adventure Comics, plus one story from Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen guest-starring the Legion. All of the regular Legion stories are written by Edmond Hamilton (husband of Leigh Brackett, fact fans), usually with art by John Forte. We can see that the Legion has bedded in as the regular concept we now recognize. Though the early stories here claim they come from the twenty-first century, it soon switches to the thirtieth and stats there. Beyond that, we get key concepts like the idea of Legion tryouts, the Legion of Substitute Heroes, the debut of Proty (and then Proty II), the resurrection of Lightning Lad, the first mention of the Time Trapper, Phantom Girl's thing for Ultra Boy, Star Boy's thing for Dream Girl, and so on. Overall I found this a solid set of Legion stories that really show how it can work as an ongoing concept; I reread my review of volume 3 (into which this ones leads) before writing this one, and I was I quite grumpy about it, writing, "Even by the standards of 1960s superhero comics, I would argue, most of these stories are dismal and dull and daft." Well, maybe Hamilton's early days were better than his later ones, or maybe I was just in a bad mood back in 2016, because I didn't think this was great literature, but I did enjoy it for what it was. Maybe it was interesting because you can see the Legion concept developing, as was the case in volume 1, whereas that wasn't really a factor later on.

I like how in the DC universe, a random guy who sees a kid fall into vat of chemicals can state with confidence that he'll grow up to have superpowers... and that he'll be right.
from Adventure Comics vol. 1 #306 (script by Edmond Hamilton, art by John Forte)

In any case, here are some notes and highlights. Like I said above, this volume contains the debut of the Legion of Substitute Heroes, and in fact two other stories focused on them. Obviously I know about them from later stories, but this was my first time reading their debut. I can see why people glommed onto them, they are actually quite charming. Polar Boy, Night Girl, Stone Boy, Fire Lad, and Chlorophyll Kid are all rejected at Legion tryouts, but remain so dedicated to the Legion that they decide to form a back-up group for the Legion. (Legion rejects get flying belts, which seems kind of over-the-top, but maybe flying belts are a dime a dozen in the thirtieth century.) What really makes the story shine is Polar Boy's determination to make the Subs work as a group; they keep trying to help the Legion but are unneeded, but Polar Boy knows if they don't prove useful sometime, his new friends will fall apart. 

Good guy Stone Boy.
from Adventure Comics vol. 1 #315
(script by Edmond Hamilton, art by John Forte)

The other highlight for the Subs is the one where the Legion creates a contest to admit one Sub. It's neat to see them use their crappy powers cleverly, and it's charming both that Stone Boy wins because of his motivation, not his powers, and that he turns down the offer so he can stay with his friends. You can see why these characters would make an impression on the readers, and why later writers would keep going back to them.

You might think that someone handed a cast of characters with (I believe) eighteen members might think to themselves that that's enough, but not Edmond Hamilton, who introduces three more Legionnaires here: Element Lad, Lightning Lass, and Dream Girl. Element Lad's is okay, more an excuse for a scientific mystery than a new character (and I don't think he really does much in the rest of the volume). 

Lightning Lass's is interesting; I had never read her debut story before, though I was familiar with the broad strokes from later stories: joins while her brother is dead, gets her powers changed. What I hadn't known was exactly how this all happens, and I was actually surprised. I've read the story where Lightning Lad is resurrected before, but it was an awful long time ago, so when Lightning Lad was seemingly resurrected I thought it really was him. It turns out to be his sister disguising herself as her dead brother. Sun Boy figures it out but plays along; the Bierbaums would later make him into kind of an entitled player, but here he's a good guy, helping her out covertly (or at least he thinks he is, because he doesn't know she has lightning powers too). I'm a bit surprised they didn't pick up on the cross-dressing angle later on, as Lightning Lass makes a very successful boy.

I said this story makes Sun Boy into a good guy but maybe not, since he's apparently the kind of person who scrutinizes people's Adam's apples to determine if they "really" are the gender they present as.
from Adventure Comics vol. 1 #308 (script by Edmond Hamilton, art by John Forte)

Later, after Lightning Lad comes back to life, she continues in the Legion. I knew she got her powers switched later on, to control of gravity (thus making her "Light Lass") but I had figured it was by accident or something. It's actually done deliberately by Dream Girl in her debut story (who knew it was so easy to change someone's superpowers? who knew someone who take their powers being changed so easily?), because the Legion doesn't permit member to have identical powers. Lightning Lad came back to life in Adventure #312, and the power swap happens in #317. I'm assuming they got letters from earnest fans who noted the contradiction because no one in the intervening stories notes the issue.

The face of a woman who is mean... and likes being mean...
and of a man who likes it when she is mean.
from Adventure Comics vol. 1 #317
(script by Edmond Hamilton, art by John Forte)

Speaking of Dream Girl, she doesn't join up permanently in her debut, but she immediately makes an impression, both in terms of her physical attributes (the subplot about all the boys swooning for her is hilarious) but also in terms of her cleverness, using her powers to try to save the Legion's life without threatening the timeline. Dream Girl is one of my faves, so I was delighted to see this story. If I'm not mistaken, it would be a long time before she returned, not until a story collected in volume 5.

And speaking of long gaps between appearances, Star Boy was one of the very first Legionnaires we learned about, in Adventure #282, but then promptly disappeared, appearing in no other Legion stories for over two years, until #310 (collected here). He finally does something of note in the Dream Girl story, though it's mostly falling for her. During his run, Paul Levitz would explain this long absence, as well as Thom's changing powers, in one of my favorite Legion stories. Another story that later writers would do a lot with is Adventure #316, where Ultra Boy goes on the run... though of course he turns out to have good reasons for it that he can't tell anyone about.

From this, the Bierbaums would later birth a very controversial retcon...
which I'm not gonna lie, I kinda liked?
from Adventure Comics vol. 1 #312
(script by Edmond Hamilton, art by John Forte)

Chamelon Boy's "pet," the seemingly sentient, telepathic, shapeshifting blob named Proty, makes his debut in #308, the story where Lightning Lass debuts... and dies in #312, just four issues later, sacrificing his life so that Lightning Lad can come back to life. But Proty II debuts immediately thereafter, without fanfare, in Jimmy Olsen #72. Jimmy identifies someone disguised as him as Proty (how he does this, I don't know, because there's no story where Jimmy meets Proty), but he's corrected by Chameleon Boy: "Actually, it's 'Proty II', a friend of my first protean pet, who died when he sacrificed his life for Saturn Girl!" And that's it! I wonder if Jimmy Olsen #72 was mostly done when someone informed its writer/editor that Proty had been killed off, so they had to add this comment at the last minute... and thus a whole new character was born! When Proty II pops up in Adventure for the first time, it's with no more explanation.

"Superboy's brain has been replaced by that of the
man responsible for one of history's worst genocides!"
"Ah, well, must be Tuesday again."
from Adventure Comics vol. 1 #314
(script by Edmond Hamilton, art by John Forte)

Obviously a lot of these stories are ridiculous (e.g, the one where Supergirl fights her own duplicate, who turns all the female Legionnaires pink), but the place of honor has to be set aside for the one where a criminal sneaks into their clubhouse and steals a time bubble... so that he can team up with Emperor Nero, John Dillinger, and Adolf Hitler ("the three wickedest men in history"), transferring their brains into the bodies of Superboy, Mon-El, and Ultra Boy to create super-criminals. I am not so sure you would see Hitler treated so casually these days; funny that he gets taken more seriously the further away we get from him. 

I read a Legion of Super-Heroes collection every six months. Next up in sequence: Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Volume 5

Review: Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Volume 4 by Edmond Hamilton, John Forte, et al.

Comic hardcover, 222 pages
Published 1994 (contents: 1965)
Acquired December 2014
Read June 2017

Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Volume 4

Writers: Jerry Siegel, Edmond Hamilton, Otto Binder

Artists: Jim Mooney, John Forte, George Klein, Sheldon Moldoff, George Papp
Letterers: David Huffine, Milton Snapinn, Vivian Berg

The beginning of this volume actually sets up three ongoing mysteries for the Legion:

In the introduction, KC Carlson (who edited the Legion in the 1990s) calls the flight rings "bane of Legion artists and editors," but I don't know why. Surely it beats the flying belt anyday! Interesting to note that the flight ring does not yet incorporate the Legion symbol; I wonder when that comes about.
from Adventure Comics vol. 1 #329 (script by Jerry Siegel, art by Jim Mooney)

As far as I know, this is the first mention of the "vanishing world" and the "hardened space criminals reforming," but the Time Trapper bedeviled the Legion multiple times in volume 3. The Time Trapper ends up being the only one of these elements to come up again; if multiple recurring plots were being set up, they didn't pay off within the next year despite Saturn Girl's intentions.

Not that intentions count for much. The Legion doesn't finally defeat the Time Trapper because of anything they do here (or any of the preparations they undertook in the previous volume), but because he decides to attack them by sending a minion with a de-aging weapon, from which they are saved by the most contrived of circumstances:

Review: Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Volume 3 by Edmond Hamilton, Jerry Siegel, John Forte, et al.

Having reached the most recent unread Legion of Super-Heroes collection in my possession, it's time to loop back around to the earliest:

Comic hardcover, 222 pages
Published 1993 (contents: 1964-65)
Acquired December 2014
Read November 2016

Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Volume 3

Writers: Edmond Hamilton, Jerry Siegel

Artists: John Forte, George Papp, Al Plastino, Sheldon Moldoff, George Klein, Curt Swan, Jim Mooney
Letterers: Milton Snapinn, Joe Letterese, Vivian Berg, David Huffine

Whenever I dip back into the pre-Great Darkness Saga adventures of the Legion of Super-Heroes, I'm like, this is what people look back on so fondly? Even by the standards of 1960s superhero comics, I would argue, most of these stories are dismal and dull and daft.

A subtle critique of 30th-century gender roles.
from Adventure Comics vol. 1 #326 (script by Jerry Siegel, art by John Forte & George Klein)

The dominant writers of the period, Edmond Hamilton and Jerry Siegel, are obsessed with plots where it seems like the Legionnaires have turned against one another: the stories collected in this volume include leader Sun Boy* going nuts from space fatigue and the Legion having to take him down, the Legion imprisoning Lightning Lad for revealing their secrets to their enemies, the female Legionnaires seducing and eliminating the men under the influence of evil women from the planet (I shit you not) Femnaz, five Legionnaires traveling back in time solely to screw over Superboy by revealing his secret identity, and short-lived member Command Kid turning the Legionnaires against each other. Each plot is more contrived than the previous, and the Femnaz one is ridiculously awful: the women of Femnaz destroy their planet's men because the men try to clamp down on violent arena games and won't let them shoot rockets at the moon. They see the error of their ways when they crack their moon in half with some of their rockets, and the male Legionnaires put it back together for them. Uh huh.