Adventure Comics #378 (DC, March 1969, 12 cents)
"Twelve Hours to Live!" Script: Jim Shooter, Layouts: Jim Shooter, Pencils: Win Mortimer, Inks: Jack Abel, Letters: Joe Letterese, Editor: Mort Weisinger.
A tale of the Legion of Super-Heroes, this comic book features Superboy and other members of the LSH. It is Brainiac 5's birthday, and because of some undetected poison—Rakurga—Karate Kid, Superboy, Duo Damsel, Princess Projectra, and Brainiac 5 himself have only 12 hours to live.
They spend their remaining time in different ways. Brianiac uses his twelfth-level brain to find an antidote. Superboy visits Smallville before saving a Martian city from a glacier, rescuing a Space Roc, and otherwise "devoting even the last hours of his life to the good of the galaxy!" Duo Damsel second guesses the value of her powers and spends time with her mother and father in the suburbs. Karate Kid goes on a suicide mission against the Fatal Five—a team of villains worth revisiting, perhaps. Pp. 11-17 are pretty incredible.
Princess Projectra moons over Karate Kid before going to a senso-theater. In Metro Square Park, she meets Myron Marks, park-bench philosopher, who shows her how to face death calmly. The group reconvenes to write their will on a steel tablet, bequeathing various items to the Legion before sinking into comas. The issue also features a one-page letter column, "The Letter Outpost," which features correspondence as prose rather than as discrete letters.
Showing posts with label Legion of Super-Heroes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Legion of Super-Heroes. Show all posts
Friday, January 19, 2018
Tuesday, January 09, 2018
An Imaginary Story
Action Comics #391 (DC, August 1970, 15 cents)
"The Punishment of Superman's Son" Script: Robert Kanigher, Pencils: Ross Andru, Inks: Mike Esposito. (15 pages)
I haven't read and don't really get the appeal of the idea behind the Super Sons, but they've returned. This older issue of Action Comics, featuring a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson, tells an imaginary story about the Super Sons in which Superman's son is overshadowed time and time again by Batman's son. "How can I think about wigs when I see Batman's son, everywhere I turn—doing the things our son should do!"
Superman, Jr., accidentally destroys a Flowering Fugue, the rarest plant in the universe, after his father collects it from a distant planet for the Metropolis Music Festival of Rare Instruments. He also races Batman, Jr., while Batman teases Superman—and Superman, Jr., decides not to help Batman, Jr., apprehend a gang because he mistook fake Kryptonite for real Kryptonite. (Wouldn't you be able to feel whether it was real Kryptonite?)
In the Fortress of Solitude, Superman, Jr., destroys a helper robot, accidentally freeing several dangerous beasts. At the end of the story, Superman is about to "destroy your superpowers forever" using some gold Kryptonite. Whatever, dude; it's an imaginary story. Who the heck cares?
Were you to determine your reading list based on the books on Superman's shelves on the first page, however, you'd be pretty well read. Text lettered on the spines of the books includes Art, Modern Art, Plato, Spinoza, Socrates, Space, Engels, Reid, Bacon, Ross, Ayer, Aquinas, Broad, James, Scotus, Zeno, Russell, Santayana, Spencer, Sartre, Einstein, and Taylor.
"The Ordeal of Element Lad" Script: Robert Kanigher, Pencils: Ross Andru. Inks: Mike Esposito. (10 pages)
In this tale of the Legion of Super-Heroes, Saturn Girl gets a job assisting Wandar, chief assistant for President Peralla on the planet Lahum—a cover to "get info on the mysterious chemical humanoids used by the dictator, Peralla." Meanwhile, Element Lad, Timber Wolf, Karate Kid, and Brainiac 5 confer with a rebel leader.
Chameleon Boy, disguised as a rebel lieutenant, determines that "his" girlfriend likes another rebel. "The revolution comes first, sweets!" The humanoids attack, but Brainiac has figured out the humanoids' formula, allowing Element Lad to make short work of the attackers. The rebel leader, however, is overly greedy. Pp. 6-7—especially the first panel on the latter page—are fun visually. The issue also includes a one-page letter column, "Metropolis Mailbag" including a letter from Martin Pasko.
Availability: DC has published at least two volumes of imaginary stories. The Legion of Super-Heroes story was collected in Showcase Presents: The Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 4 and Legion of Super-Heroes - Archives, Volume 9.
"The Punishment of Superman's Son" Script: Robert Kanigher, Pencils: Ross Andru, Inks: Mike Esposito. (15 pages)
I haven't read and don't really get the appeal of the idea behind the Super Sons, but they've returned. This older issue of Action Comics, featuring a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson, tells an imaginary story about the Super Sons in which Superman's son is overshadowed time and time again by Batman's son. "How can I think about wigs when I see Batman's son, everywhere I turn—doing the things our son should do!"
Superman, Jr., accidentally destroys a Flowering Fugue, the rarest plant in the universe, after his father collects it from a distant planet for the Metropolis Music Festival of Rare Instruments. He also races Batman, Jr., while Batman teases Superman—and Superman, Jr., decides not to help Batman, Jr., apprehend a gang because he mistook fake Kryptonite for real Kryptonite. (Wouldn't you be able to feel whether it was real Kryptonite?)
In the Fortress of Solitude, Superman, Jr., destroys a helper robot, accidentally freeing several dangerous beasts. At the end of the story, Superman is about to "destroy your superpowers forever" using some gold Kryptonite. Whatever, dude; it's an imaginary story. Who the heck cares?
Were you to determine your reading list based on the books on Superman's shelves on the first page, however, you'd be pretty well read. Text lettered on the spines of the books includes Art, Modern Art, Plato, Spinoza, Socrates, Space, Engels, Reid, Bacon, Ross, Ayer, Aquinas, Broad, James, Scotus, Zeno, Russell, Santayana, Spencer, Sartre, Einstein, and Taylor.
"The Ordeal of Element Lad" Script: Robert Kanigher, Pencils: Ross Andru. Inks: Mike Esposito. (10 pages)
In this tale of the Legion of Super-Heroes, Saturn Girl gets a job assisting Wandar, chief assistant for President Peralla on the planet Lahum—a cover to "get info on the mysterious chemical humanoids used by the dictator, Peralla." Meanwhile, Element Lad, Timber Wolf, Karate Kid, and Brainiac 5 confer with a rebel leader.
Chameleon Boy, disguised as a rebel lieutenant, determines that "his" girlfriend likes another rebel. "The revolution comes first, sweets!" The humanoids attack, but Brainiac has figured out the humanoids' formula, allowing Element Lad to make short work of the attackers. The rebel leader, however, is overly greedy. Pp. 6-7—especially the first panel on the latter page—are fun visually. The issue also includes a one-page letter column, "Metropolis Mailbag" including a letter from Martin Pasko.
Availability: DC has published at least two volumes of imaginary stories. The Legion of Super-Heroes story was collected in Showcase Presents: The Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 4 and Legion of Super-Heroes - Archives, Volume 9.
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