Secret Origins (1986) 8 (1)

Secret Origins (1986) 8

Nov 1986

The Shadow of the Past

by Paul Levitz, Tom Mandrake, John Workman, Carl Gafford, Robert Greenberger

Tasmia Mallor (aka Shadow Lass) is called upon by the people of her city on Talok VIII to live up to her grandfather Sarven Mallor’s reputation and help them to drive away the Yakka-Mahor, a mountainous people who are threatening to attack the city.

Shadow Lass eventually becomes a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes but her future teammates don’t enter the picture until the last few pages of this story, after she has dealt with the Yakka-Mahor. 

Shadow Lass first appeared in Adventure Comics 365 (Feb 1968) in a story written and drawn by Jim Shooter and Curt Swan. I believe that this issue of Secret Origins is the first time that her origin story has been told. 

Legion of Super-Heroes 296

What Do You Do on the Day After Doomsday?
by Paul Levitz, Kieth Giffen, Larry Mahlstedt
Feb 1983

- editors' credits eliminated from 294 (Laurie Sutton, Karen Berger), 295 & 296 (Karen Berger); where editors notes where preserved the editor's name or intials were eliminated

- cover title: Night of Mourning
- floating heads on cover: Dream Girl, Star Boy, Phantom Girl, Element Lad; Sun Boy holding the body of Cosmic Boy's brother

- structure reminiscent of Annual 1; Levitz and Giffen credited as co-plotters as on Annual 1
- title is repeated 15 times, usually at the top of the page, with a different response each time

- pp 1-2: Mon-El and Shadow Lass arrive on the Science Asteroid in the Asteroid Archipelago

- p 3: Blok and White Witch touring the tesseract (TARDIS?) in the basement

- p 4: Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl throw a party; SG's hair looks shorter; Sun Boy and Phantom Girl clash;  which quickly ends when...

- pp 5-7: low level nuclear explosion in an urban area on Earth (where exactly?); Legion rushes in to help; Sun Boy and Phantom Girl clash again; Cosmic Boy's brother

- pp 8-9:Light Lass, Saturn Girl, Timber Wolf (missing footnote); Colossal Boy, Shrinking Violet; Evolvo Lad,  Duplicate Boy

- p 10: SPO Shvaughn Erin, Doctor Gym'll, Legion response team

- pp 11-12: SP track down some criminals and with some help from he Legion response team try to capture them

- p 13: Queen Projectra, Karate Kid in her embassy (?); KK wants to get married

- pp 14-15: Invisible Kid; Brainiac 5, Matter Eater Lad in the Medical Lab; IK leaves to join Wildfire, Dawnstar, Blok, and White Witch on a mission to the Asteroid Archipelago

- pp 16-17: Response Team captures criminals who tell them about a scam going on at Metropolis Space Port

- p 18: Chameleon Boy gets rewarded for his actions in LoSH 294; what's that writing?; CB's powers don't work after he is released? Why?

- pp 19-22: Response team captures criminals at the MSP who confess to being behind the fireball but only after being threatened with torture by Sun Boy

- p 22: Night Girl and Cosmic Boy returning from Daxam (??) after helping people from Braal (CB's home world) help Daxamites build a new place to live

- p 23: Colossal Boy and Shrinking Violet, dancing, making out

Next issue: Mettle - a special spotlight on Cosmic Boy
Definitely Not The End...

Letters Column
- Annual 1 the first "real" annual for DC Comics; all previous were reprints
- Annual had too many subplots - exactly what I liked
- long detailed letter about why the Master of Darkness has to be Darkseid
- much shorter proclaiming the the MoD must be former Legion writer and (at the time) current Editor in Chief of Marvel Jim Shooter
- call for new nominees for the next leader of the Legion
- legion hairstyles; Star Boy; mohawk, pony tail

Legion of Super-Heroes 295

The Origin of the Universe File --
By Paul Levitz, Kieth Giffen, Dave Hunt, Howard Bender, and John Costanza
Jan 1983

- story within a story
- aftermath of the Great Darkness Saga
- Timber Wolf is trying to decide whether to go with Light Lass or not; Blok encourages him to have a seat so he can show him something that might help him decide: an archive tape of early Legion adventure

- Cosmic Boy, SG, LL, Colossal Boy, Triplicate Girl rush to the Time Institute
- Guardians of the Universe, Green Lanterns
- Vidar, rogue GL; two other unnamed GLs one of whom is Durlan
- Time Institute; Circadia Senius (Chronarch); looks a little like one of the Spy vs. Spy characters (minus the coat and hat) from Mad Magazine
- the Hand at the beginning of time, Krona, forbidden by the Guardians;
- After returning to the Institute Colossal Boy and Triplicate Girl (without explanation) drop out of the story; when did they first appear; is this the first time it has been hinted that they were on the team prior to its first appearance?
- After a weird attempt to travel back in time (to meet Superboy and Supergirl for the first time?) the OTL return to the TI and find Vidar trying to unlock the Origin of the Universe, capture him and return him to the Guardians on Oa

- TW decides to stay with the team and not go with Ayla (Light Lass)

- Blok epilogue; speculates about the strong resemblance between Vidar and Universo (pre DNA evidence)
- but then shrugs it off because if there was anything to it then Brainiac 5 would have noticed it

- Art
- Howard Bender draws the flashback, and while the way characters and in things represented in the panels looks Silver Age the panel layout doesn't always look old school
- p21 Timber Wolf does a cartwheel

- missing footnotes
- p1 - Did you think Blok was the only one who needed a rest after last issue?
- p15 - as originally revealed in Green Lantern 40
- p20 - since Sinestro of Kouragar, no doubt

Krona - Oan scientist who sought to discover the secrets behind the origins of the universe

Green Lantern (1960) 40 (1st appearance)
Tales of the Green Lantern Corps (1981) 1-3
see also Crisis on Infinite Earths

Letters Page - The Legion Outpost
- reads as if it was originally intended to be published in 294 but they forgot to change some of the references
- notes from Paul Levitz
- 1. introduces Karen Berger (later editor of Swamp Thing, and Sandman; started the Vertigo imprint)
- 2. references build up to issue 300
- 3. more legionnaire profiles (Shadow Lass, Shrinking Violet, Star Boy, Sun Boy, Superboy, Supergirl, Timber Wolf, Tyroc, Ultra Boy, Wildfire); honorable members (Pete Ross, Eleastic Lad, Kid Psycho, Insect Queen, Ron Vidar); Legion of Substitute Heroes

Legion of Super-Heroes 294

The Great Darkness Saga Conclusion
Darkseid
By Paul Levitz, Keith Giffen, and Larry Mahlstedt

- Opens with 9 legionnaires (Brainiac 5, Dawnstar, Wildfire, Element Lad, Star Boy, Phantom Girl, Ultra Boy, Shadow Lass, Timber Wolf) on the planet from which Darkseid emerged; B5 explains that the planet must be Apokolips, love the use of shadows on these pages

- Dream Girl, Sun Boy, Invisible Kid, and White Witch still have the boy delivered to them by the spell cast on Sorcerer's World (LSH 292); Dream Girl decides to call in more reserves (Legion of Substitute Heroes, Supergirl)

- 3 billion Daxamites create havoc in the universe in the name of Darkseid; get glimpses of other individuals and groups (Dev-Em, the Heroes of Lallor, the Wanderers, Thanagarians, and the Legion of Substitute Heroes) fighting the Daxamites; there are some great pages here including a couple (4, 8) which are made up of 4 vertical panels and one splash page of the Legion of Substitute Heroes

- led by the SoD who rides on an Astroglider, a large group of Daxamites attack the LSH cruiser bearing the young boy who has grown quite a bit in the short time he has been with them, but not quite as fast as Alexander Luthor will in CoIE

- first the SoD attempts to take the boy only to be repelled by Sun Boy, then the SoD has the Daxamites tear the ship to pieces and he grabs the boy and he takes him to Darkseid

- the legionnaires are saved by White Witch who casts a spell to keep herself and the legionnaires (DG, Light Lass, Blok, SB, IK) from dying; we get another 4 vertical panel page as WW reflects on the nature of magic and tries to think of a way to save herself and the others, who are all unconscious

- WW wakes up to find that she and the other legionnaires have been saved by some of their teammates, somehow without realizing it, she managed to cast a spell calling for help

- LSH BoomTube to Daxam thanks to WW, love the art especially the way the second panel which shows WW casting a teleportation spell is drawn and colored (red, white, pink, yellow) and the close up on her eyes a couple panels later

-  Interlude 1: Chameleon Boy is chased by a Daxamite boy on Takron Galtos but manages to throw him into Validus' cell without using his powers, because he can't with the inhibitor on his antennae; Validus is one of the Fatal Five, and this is not the last that will be seen of the boy he shows up again in the first arc of the Legion of Super-Heroes baxter or 1984 series collected in An Eye for an Eye

- Interlude 2: Colossal Boy and Shrinking Violet back at Legion HQ battle the female SoD, shrinking Violet causes the SoD to have a stroke by shrinking down, entering her body, and blocking the flow of blood in her brain

- LSH arrive on Daxam and battle the Daxamites, great splash page followed by some other great pages

- the child reveals he has been helping WW cast her spells and once again helps her this time to cast a spell moving the people from Daxam to Apokolips and vice versa

- Element Lad changes the air of Daxam to make it 1 part per 1000 lead which is enough to cancel their powers and soon there are Daxamites falling from the sky

- Darkseid gets impatient and strikes down most of the legionnaires, each in a different way and then goes after the young boy, all that stands between DS and the boy is Shadow Lass who uses her powers of Darkness to envelop the two of them

- Darkseid sends his astroglider riding SoD into the Dark Bubble generated by SL but when it bursts the boy has become Highfather and the SoD is now Orion; footnote: Anybody who doesn't know the story of the 20th Century War of the New Gods... too much to explain here

- while Orion and Darkseid fight, Highfather, in his final act restores the dead legionnaires to life

- Orion fights valiantly but ultimately is killed by Darkseid but before DS can get the upper hand Superboy (or is it Superman?) and Supergirl show up to battle Darkseid, they are protected from the red sun by Highfather's magic

- Darkseid zaps Superman/boy back to the 20th century with his omega beams but SG gives him a run for his money and almost defeats him on her own, in the end she underestimates the DS, similar to the way she falters in CoIE when she is killed by the Anti-Monitor but in this case she is saved by the restored legionnaires

- Darkseid laughs when the legionnaires seem confident that they can defeat him but then he sees why, he no longer controls the Daxamites and they have joined forces with the Wanderers and the Heroes of Lallor and are headed his way

- rather than surrender DS vanishes but not before cursing the legion and telling them that their purest member shall be the next to die

- Epilogue 1: Light Lass and Timber Wolf - LL is willing to try to give their relationship another try but she has decided she needs to quite the team and if TW wants to be with her then he will have to come with her

- Epilogue 2: Brainiac 5 and Supergirl - SG says goodbye to B5 before returning to the 20th century, flirts with him, which he doesn't realize she is doing until she has flown off

- Splash pages
1 - Darkseid, heroes in silouette, red sun
7 - Legion of Subsitute Heroes fighting Daxamites on Weber's World
20 - LSH versus Daxamites
25 & 26 - Double Page Spread - Darkseid and son emerging from a warp the attack Light Lass, Shadow Lass, and the boy
37 - Darkseid seeing the swarm of Heroes of Lallor, the Wanderers, and the Daxamites headed his way, reflected on his face

- the female legionnaires play crucial roles in this story
- White Witch - with her spells with some help from Highfather
- Supergirl taking on Darkseid after Kal-El has been sent back to the 20th Century
- Shrinking Violet, single handed , defeating one of the SoD

- similar to the annual this issue bears re-reading for all the little details that are included in it, I had lots of fun researching all the details especially about the minor characters who show up here briefly and just pulling it all apart and looking at how neatly it all flows together


Additional Notes on Characters, Teams, and Places

Dev-Em - survivor of Krypton, on Krypton he was Kal-El's babysitter; escaped Krypton thanks to Jor-El's warning and his own preparations, later left the 20th century and traveled to the 30th century where he joined the Interstellar Counterintelligence Corps; makes several more appearances in LSH, pre-CoIE but largely disappears after that

Adventure Comics 287 (Aug 1961)
Adventure Comics 288 (Sep 1961)
Adventure Comics 320 (May 1964)

Links: Comic Book DB - Wikipedia


Heroes of Lallor - Beast Boy (deceased), Duplicate Boy, Evolvo Lad, Gas Girl, Life Lass

Originally known as the Legion of Super-Outlaws, they were good guys who where tricked into fighting the LSH, their powers come from their parents who were exposed to radiations (sounds like the X-Men), as a team they had three appearance prior to GDS, although Duplicate Boy had a few more appearances without the rest of the team and also had a romantic relationship with Shrinking Violet, the group had a few more appearances in LSH pre-CoIE (5) and a few more (4) afterwards

Adventure Comics 324 (Sep 1964)
Adventure Comics 339 (Dec 1965)
Superboy 200 (Jan/Feb 1974) - guests at Duo Damsel and Bouncing Boy's Wedding

Links: Comic Book DB - Wikipedia


Wanderers - Celebrand, Psyche, Quantum Queen, Elvo, Dartalg, Ornitho, Immorto

A team of 30th Century adventurers who in their first appearance fought the LSH because they had been turned evil temporarily, they later got their own ongoing series in the late 1980s which lasted for 13 issues, but nothing since then

Adventure Comics 375 (Dec 1968)
Superboy 200 (Jan/Feb 1974) - guests at Duo Damsel and Bouncing Boy's Wedding

Links: Comic Book DB - Wikipedia


Legion of Substitute-Heroes - super-powered heroes who applied for membership in the LSH but were rejected; in this issues we see Polar Boy, Night Girl, Chlorophyll Kid, Fire Lad, Stone Boy

Previously seen in Annual 1,

Adventure Comics 306 (March 1963) - first appearance, 11 total in Adventure Comics
Superboy - 9 appearances 200 - 254
Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen 72 (October 1963)
Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane 47 (February 1964)
Secret of the Legion of Super-Heroes 3 (March 1981)

1980s, Post GDS Appearances

Legion of Substitute Heroes Special
DC Comics Presents 59
Secret Origins 37

Links: Comic Book DB - Wikipedia


Weber's World - artificial planet built by the United Planets government, played a role in the Earthwar story arc (Superboy 241-245) also written by Paul Levitz, in which the Legion faces off against the Khunds, the Dark Circle, the Dominators, and Modru

Legion of Super-Heroes 293

The Great Darkness Saga Part 4
Within the Darkness...
By Paul Levitz, Keith Giffen, and Larry Mahlstedt
Nov 1982

- The Master of Darkness arrives on Daxam and uses his powers of persuasion to enslave the 3 million residents, he uses his power to make Daxam and the world on which he emerged from to change places, and now Daxam is bathed in the rays of a yellow sun, rather than red which unleashes the potential of the Daxamites as they become powerful like Mon-El
- he has the Daxamites reshape their planet into a monument to their new master who is finally revealed to be Darkseid
- the legion does not encounter the Master of Darkness but when they land on the planet that switched places with Daxam they are confronted by his servants
- for the first time the Legion has some major success in battling the SoD
- the first legionnaires on the scene are Shadow Lass, Ultra Boy and Phantom Girl; they get blindsided by the SoD
- the next team to arrive is Wildfire and Dawnstar but are soon followed by Element Lad, Brainiac 5, Timber Wolf, Starboy, and Superboy
- Dawnstar gets abducted early in the fight
- the legionnaires use what they know about the origins of the SoD to knock two of them down for the count
- Wildfire uses yellow sun radiation or yellow fire to vaporize the egg headed SoD, think about it, yellow is the weakness of the GL rings
- Superboy tries taking on his clone but he doesn't fare very well so Element Lad uses his powers to first create a protective lead shell around Superboy and they turn the rocks around the SoD to Gold Kryptonite which permanently robs him of his powers after which Timber Wolf smashes him to pieces
- interlude: Chameleon Boy in prison, fighting against other Durlan prisoners; he is able to defeat them without the use of his powers which none of them are able to use because of the devices on their antennae; after the fight he gets a visit from his father RJ Brande which is a tear filled reunion of the father and son who haven't seen each other since before Chameleon Boy led the espionage squad to Khundia

3/7

Legion of Super-Heroes 292

Legion of Super-Heroes 292

Oct 1982

Darkness Transcendent

by Paul Levitz (writer), Keith Giffen (penciler), Larry Mahlstedt (inker)

⁃ Chapter Three of The Great Darkness Saga

⁃ most of the active members of the Legion travel to Sorcerer’s World where they battle the Servants of Darkness and then the Master of Darkness

⁃ weird geography of the Sorcerer’s World

⁃ Mon-El tries taking on the Master of Darkness and winds up in a coma

⁃ Dream Girl and White Witch work with the head sorcerers, who cast a spell which produces a baby; it is unclear why but Dream Girl is convinced that it must be protected and hidden from the Master of Darkness

⁃ three of the servants of Darkness are revealed to be clones of Superman, a Guardian of Oa, and Shadow Lass’ ancestor

⁃ a previously unseen Servant of Darkness takes part in the battle

⁃ Keith Giffen’s art seems back to its regular form

⁃ eventually the Master of Darkness gets impatient and joins the fight; then all of a sudden the Servants of Darkness and Master of Darkness are gone, Sorcerer’s World is devastated, two of the head sorcerers are dead but most of the Legionnaires are still in fighting shape

⁃ before the Master of Darkness disappeared he said something cryptic about a service done to or for him by one of the Legionnaires

⁃ while the battle raged on Sorcerer’s World, Light Lass, Saturn Girl, and Cosmic Boy remained on Earth at Legion HQ to compare notes, analyze data, and eventually send out a call to all inactive Legionnaires including Superboy, Karate Kid and Princess Projectra, Colossal Boy and Shrinking Violet, Duo Damsel and Bouncing Boy

⁃ before the fight begins Timber Wolf and Light Lass cross paths, and have a very brief, awkward moment

⁃ opens on Takron Galtos with Mon-El, Shadow Lass, Ultra Boy, Phantom Girl helping to clean up the place, as they leave another ship is arriving with Chameleon Boy, already tried and convicted of treason

⁃ Light Lass, Invisible Kid, Dream Girl, Blok, Sun Boy, White Witch arrive of Sorcerer’s World soon followed by the team that just left Takron Galtos

⁃ Mon-El’s team is the first to encounter the Servants of Darkness 

⁃ Also Brainiac, Element Lad, Star Boy, Wildfire, Dawnstar, and Timber Wolf land on Sorcerer’s World

Legion of Super-Heroes 291

Legion of Super-Heroes 291

Sep 1982

A Sign of Darkness Dawning

by Paul Levitz (writer), Keith Giffen and Larry Mahlstedt (artists)

⁃ Chapter Two of The Great Darkness Saga

⁃ Dream Girl, Mon-El, and Shadow Lass examine the captured Servant of Darkness, who despite her appearance is an exact genetic genetic clone of Shadow Lass’s ancestor Lydea Mallor

⁃ the Master of Darkness and his (un)captured servants arrive on Avalon, where Modru lives; they free him and then strike him down

⁃ brief glimpse of Chameleon Boy meeting with his lawyer, talking about his chances in the upcoming trial 

⁃ Legionnaires meet to elect a new leader but it gets interrupted by (a) Dream Girl having a precognitive moment, (b) a transmission from Science Police Officer Shvaughn Erin about problems at the prison on Takron Galtos, (c) an alarm going off telling them that Modru is free

⁃ Team 1 (Mon-El, Ultra Boy, Shadow Lass, Phantom Girl) arrives on Takron Galtos; find the prisoners running amok, try to get things back under control; find their old foe the Time Trapper drained of his energy; tangle with the astro-glider-riding Servant of Darkness who once again escapes once the odds seem to turn against him

⁃ Team 2 (Element Lad, Brainiac 5, Dawnstar, Wildfire, Star Boy, Timber Wolf) arrive on Avalon, and discover Modru who looks very subdued and as if he has suffered the same sort of treatment as the Time Trapper

⁃ Team 3 (Dream Girl, Sun Boy, Light Lass, Invisible Kid, Blok) arrive on Naltor and meet with Dream Girl’s sister, the White Witch; the egg-headed Servant of Darkness shows up and tries to abduct the White Witch; while the others are fighting the Servant of Darkness, Invisible Kid steps through the warp that brought the Servant of Darkness to Naltor and comes face to face with the Master of Darkness; meanwhile the others fight off the Servant if Darkness and prevent him from abducting White Witch; when Invisible kid returns from the warp he is shaken and in need of medical care

⁃ interlude at Legion Headquarters: Superboy visits with Saturn Girl, who stayed there while the others are away, to keep an eye on Lightning Lad who is in a coma and has yet to recover from the battle with Computo (see Annual 1); Saturn Girl knows something about the fate of Jonathan and Martha Kent (that they dies of a mysterious ailment similar to the one that Lightning Lad is currently experiencing) but she withholds that information from Superboy 

⁃ Leaders and Lovers

⁃ - different letterer but otherwise the same creative team; but the art looks different, not quite as delicate and detailed as in the first part of this issue

⁃ - Saturn Girl is interrupted from her thoughts as she keeps comatose Lightning Lad company by a call from Cosmic Boy about the election; the call is interrupted by the “captured” Servant of Darkness who attacks cosmic Boy; Saturn Girl rushes to help but in the end it is Lightning Lad who saves the Day after he awakes just long enough to knock out the Servant of Darkness with lightning bolts before collapsing once again

⁃ Leaders and Lovers was originally drawn (for the comic book) by the team of Howard Bender and Rodin Rodriguez; it was redrawn for the collected edition by Kieth Giffen and Larry Mahlstedt; the letterer on the original edition of this story was Janice Chiang but on the redrawn version it was John Costanza

02/01/16

Legion of Super-Heroes 290

Legion of Super-Heroes 290

Aug 1982

And the Servant Shall Be a Sign…

by Paul Levitz (writer), Keith Giffen and Larry Mahlstedt (artists)

- Chapter One of The Great Darkness Saga

- Welcome to the Most Chilling Legion Epic in Years

- Big bad gut sends his servants to steal items of power, the Legion does their best to thwart these attempts

⁃ Cosmic Boy, Superboy, Wildfire, Phantom Girl, Invisible Kid

- - Museum of the Mystic Arts (once known as “The Magic Castle”) in Mega California
- - Antonio Stefanacci, curator, looks a little like Dr. Strange
- - Wand of Mentachen - power over elements in their natural state
- - Servant of Darkness - cape, triangle, Superman like powers; Phantom Girl phases through him,

passes out; escapes with the wand

⁃ London, Tower of; Excalibur

- - Eggheaded servant of Darkness; escapes with the sword (no stone 😕)

⁃ Talok VIII (homeworld of Shadow Lass)

- - Institute of Parapsychological Phenomena
- - Orb of Orthanax
- - Two Servants of Darkness, one female, one male
- - - male - on a space glider; escapes with the orb
- - - female - captured by the Legion

⁃ Legion HQ

- - tourists; Oli-3 Queen tours
- - Timber Wolf, Chameleon Boy arguing over the past
- - Timber Wolf, Saturn Girl
- - Timber Wolf, Element Lad

⁃ Legion HQ

- - Element Lad, Dream Girl, Ultra Boy announce they are all running for team leader
- - Marte Allon (President of the United Planets, mother of Colossal Boy) announces that Chameleon Boy’s trial, treason, will begin tomorrow
- - Superboy and friends return with the female servant

⁃ Scenes of the Lord of Darkness (my name for him)

⁃ Grychnik’s Earth on Five Mega Credits a Cycle (no idea?)

⁃ Orb of Orthanax - ?

⁃ Artwork as always spectacular - love the look of the servants

- - aliens - was that a Thanagarian?
- - page 8, flying over London
- - page 13, alien doctor - look and facial expressions
- - panel layouts, near and far shots

⁃ Who are the servants? Dark versions of heroes? Superman? Orion? I can’t recall

⁃ Fatal Five - 2nd story started in Adventure Comics 365 also first appearance of Shadow Lass

12/12/15

Legion of Super-Heroes Annual 1

Legion of Super-Heroes Annual 1

1982

Monster in a Little Girl's Mind

by Paul Levitz (writer), Keith Giffen (penciler/co-plotter), Bruce Patterson (ink artist)

- 41 pages: 39 pages of story, 2 page diagram of LSH HQ which is ruined in the Kindle version

- in a nutshell: Computo takes over Legion HQ and almost kills the Legionnaires trapped inside

- how it all begins: Jacques Fouccart has brought his little sister, Danielle, to the legion. She has a rare disease. While trying to cure Danielle, Brainiac 5 inadvertently releases Computo, who takes over Danielle's body and Legion HQ.

- the story is made up of lots of little stories of the Legionnaires fighting back against the machines that run their HQ

- the annual opens with the arrival of Science Police Officer Shvaughn Erin at Legion HQ; she's the new liason officer; meets Element Lad; he gives her the tour which ends abruptly on page 5 when Computo arrives on the scene

- SE's updates as a framing device pp 6-38

- p 6 - Cosmic Boy

⁃ p 7 - Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad

⁃ p 8 - Star Boy and Sun Boy; D+D

⁃ p 9 - Computo Lives (Medical Center)

⁃ p 10 - Science Police Central

⁃ p 11 - Bouncing Boy & Duo Damsel

⁃ p 12 - Element Lad, Shvaughn Erin, Shadow Lass - Life Support Malfunctioning 

⁃ p 13 - Colossal Boy, Shrinking Violet

⁃ p 14 - Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Colossal Boy

⁃ p 15 - Medical Center: Brainiac 5, Jacques F, Computo

⁃ p 16 - Timber Wolf, Blok in gym

⁃ p 17 - Science Police central: President Marte Allon (CB’s mother); Green Lantern offer to help; “No Green Lanterns on Earth ever again!”

⁃ p 18 - Medical Center: Brainiac 5, Jacques F, Computo

⁃ p 19 - Ultra Boy, Phantom Gitl, Light Lass

⁃ p 20 - Metropolis: Chameleon Boy; Headline (Daily Planet) Khunds Threaten War, Unidentified Durlan Cause

⁃ pp 21-22 - Legion HQ blueprint 

⁃ p 23 - Medical Center: Brainiac 5, Jacques F, Computo, Telepathic Device

⁃ p 24 - Wildfire, Dawnstar, Colossal Boy, Shrinking Violet

⁃ p 25 - Element Lad, Shvaughn Erin, Shadow Lass

⁃ p 26 - Star Boy, Lightning Lad, Sun Boy

⁃ p 27 - Medical Center - Brainiac 5, Jacques F, Computo, invisibility serum

⁃ p 28 - Timber Wolf, Blok, gym

⁃ p 29 - Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, Star Boy, Sun Boy, Colossal Boy

⁃ pp 30-31 - Medical Center; Jacques F, Brainiac 5, Computo; JF takes the serum and turns invisible 

⁃ p 32 - Light Lass

⁃ p 33 - vault; Element Lad, Shvaughn Erin, Shadow Lass

⁃ pp 34-37 - Medical Center; Jacques F, Brainiac 5, Mon-El, Computo; finally manage to subdue Computo by sedating the body he inhabits, that of Danielle Foccart

⁃ p 38 - 9 panels, reactions from all over Legion HQ to Computo’s end

⁃ p 39-40 - meeting; Brainiac 5 offers to resign (for allowing Computo to return to life) and nominates Jacques Foccart for membership; his resignation is voted down but JF is voted in

⁃ p 41 - Brainiac 5 and Jacques Foccart (Invisible Kid)

⁃ Bottom right panel - usually different from the rest of the page; sometimes a lead in to the next page; sometimes a view of what is happening else where

⁃ p 12 - Superboy (1969 AD)

⁃ p 14 - Legion of Substitute Heroes outside Legion HQ

⁃ pp 18, 19, 20, 24, 26 - big bad guy

⁃ 1st time reading this issue

⁃ Initial reaction - not great, tenuous connection to the rest of the of the Great Darkness Saga

⁃ Much more impressed with it after analyzing it and making notes

⁃ Computo - invented by Brainiac 5, first appeared in Adventure Comics 340 (Jan 1966); killed one of Triplicate Girl’s bodies

⁃ Triplicate Girl/Duo Damsel - originally Triplicate Girl; first appeared in Action Comics 276 (May 1961); first non-founding member to join the Legion (according to ComicBookDB and Wikipedia); Luornu Durga (real name); native of the planet Cargg (all people of Cargg have ability to split themselves into 3 bodies, due to their planet having 3 suns; married to Bouncing Boy; reserve member of the Legion at the time of the Great Darkness Saga

⁃ Shvaughn Erin - 1st appearance in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes 241 (Jul 1978); Annual 1 is first appearance since Superboy 241-243; regular recurring character in Legion of Super-Heroes throughout the 1980s after which ?; eventual romantically tied to Element Lad

⁃ Green Lantern Corps in the 30th Century - see Legion of Super-Heroes 295