[Legion Fan Club] Weekly Reader: 10/2/2019 Week 24 THE RETURN OF FERRO LAD! (Ain’t he dead?)

Don-El · October 2, 2019, 10:47pm

For our Week 24 [Legion Fan Club] Weekly Reader Club, we join Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen again just a little AFTER the Great Darkness Saga, circa mid 1983 publishing dates.

The Legion Club presents: THE RETURN OF FERRO LAD!! (Ain’t he dead?)

Legion of Super-Heroes (1980-) #300 (6/83) Special, super-sized anniversary issue! The Legion of Super-Heroes gathers together to celebrate the anniversary of the team’s founding! However, a familiar face visits: their deceased friend Ferro Lad—who brings with him some disturbing news!
https://www.dcuniverse.com/comics/book/the-legion-of-super-heroes-1980-300/1950ec3e-2df3-40ee-9d0a-4c51542059bb

Legion of Super-Heroes (1980-) #301 (7/83) Chameleon Boy returns to Durla with his father to try to regain his lost shape-changing powers.
https://www.dcuniverse.com/comics/book/the-legion-of-super-heroes-1980-301/e260dad8-cb4c-42c6-8920-3b579cf8d56d

Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #2 (1980-) (7/83) Wedding issue for Queen Projectra and Karate Kid!! Nothing can go wrong, go wrong, go wrong……
https://www.dcuniverse.com/comics/book/the-legion-of-super-heroes-annual-1982-2/10331d78-2d6e-46f7-a7ee-de1baae97f1a

Due to this being watchalong Wednesday week for the Legion Fan Club, we’ll keep things simple this time around:

Questions to ponder and discuss (may contain spoilers):

Which of the three is your favorite story? Why?
Which Legionnaires are you glad appear in these issues? Which ones do you wish weren’t on the team? Why?
Was it a great idea to have Supergirl and Superboy both in the same time period like that? Why or why not?

No bonus round this time, but next week, we take a peek at the Legion just after Flashpoint resolves!

Jay_Kay · October 3, 2019, 2:15am

Nice! Looking forward to these issues.

Since I doubt anything in these issues will change my mind on this, I’ll just go ahead and answer #3 now.

“Was it a great idea to have Supergirl and Superboy both in the same time period like that? Why or why not?”

I mean, probably not, but hey, when has that ever stopped them? I mean, just having Superboy as a regular part of the team at all is a risky venture. We’ve seen Legionnaires die in these stories, and if Superboy dies in the future, and he never becomes Superman, their whole world is gone. But I think it also is beneficial in that the experience of being in the Legion, even if most of the spoilers are wiped away when he goes back, is beneficial to make him the man he becomes as Superman. Therefore, the Legion basically helps create the world they live in, so it’s worth the risk. And while I don’t think there was anything similar with Supergirl (because it was established in the 50s when a woman’s only proper course is professional homemaker), you could make the same argument there.

MisfitCMJ · October 6, 2019, 12:47am

Probably the regular issue, 301-- it hits the mix of super-heroics and science fantasy the most, and fits the overall run, one of the best in comics at the time, the best as well. The annual is highly entertaining-- we love Dave Gibbons. Issue 300 has a bunch of little stories to it, but by this point, Levitz’s strength has become the long game. There’s not a bad story/vision, here-- but the main story is a little harsh. And, Mon-El’s treatment of Tasmia is just off-- yes, I know, the whole Shadow Woman thing where paints herself “white”-- terrible choice of word-- is meant to bring us closer to the Adult Legion story, and when Ferro Lad’s brother fades to another universe, that paradoxical lock is broken-- Tasmia looks like she’s been killed according to that old storyline, but then! No! She survives! Mone-El threw the bad reactor back at the Khunds OP! Not the best storytelling of Paul or Keith’s career. Don’t get me wrong-- absolutely thrilled that the Adult legion story gets kicked to the side, AND that Shady lives. Long Live Umbra!!
Nobody seemed out of place.
Well, Superboy forgets everything that can alter his personal future-- but does Supergirl forget her times with 16 year-old Clark? Ponder that one, Legion scholars!

2

Don-El · October 6, 2019, 2:27am

It was a good time to be alive when these issues came out, and they were part of the reason why!!

Don-El · October 8, 2019, 10:24pm

We’ll be continuing the weekly comic book crawl through the huge mass of comics called “Legion” over on the Discord side until they turn the lights on over here again…feel free to stop by, we’re in the Legion Room towards the bottom left…