[Legion Fan Club] Weekly Reader Week 36 - Before and After the EarthWar Saga of the late ‘70s - Dec 26 2019

Please join the [Legion Fan Club] as we peruse and enjoy the Legion tales from just before and right after the artistic triumph of the EarthWar Saga of the late 1970s (that we read a few months ago)!!!

Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #237-240, 246-247

The comics before the Earth-War Saga kind of resemble the “52 pick up” writer’s room feel of the Composite Legion story era we read recently, but the art sure looks pretty- Walt Simonson, Curt Swan, Jim Starlin, Howard Chaykin, Joe Staton, Mike Grell…take a peek!

PRIOR TO EARTHWAR:

Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #237 Arma Getten kidnaps R.J. Brande and sends the Legion to retrieve three items as a ransom! Writers: Paul Levitz, Jay Zilber Art: Walt Simonson!!! (SING ALONG: “Ar-ma Getten, gen-tille Ar-ma Getten, Arma Getten, je te plum-er-ai.”)
https://www.dcuniverse.com/comics/book/superboy-and-the-legion-of-super-heroes-1977-237/cb4bb5f6-cb70-4fa7-a3ca-eb1451dff047

Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #238 When the new United Planets President outlaws the Legion, some are sent to the Takron-Galtos prison planet, some are imprisoned on Earth and the rest go underground. WRITTEN BY (4): Al Milgrom, Bob Rozakis, Jim Shooter, Jay Zilber PENCILS: Curt Swan! (we read part two of this back in July fyi as Adventure #360, but the original story for part one, Adventure #259, has not been digitized except as shown in this double sized reprint issue, so enjoy!)
DC Universe

Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #239 When Ultra Boy is framed for the murder of an old girlfriend, An Ryd, he must prove his innocence before the Legion can find him and bring him to jail! Writers (3): Jim Starlin, Paul Levitz, Mike Flynn Artist: Jim Starlin (inks: Joe Rubenstein) Cover: Joe Rubinstein, Mike Grell. (story continues in #250 that we’ll read in the weeks to come, written and drawn by Jim Starlin)
https://www.dcuniverse.com/comics/book/superboy-and-the-legion-of-super-heroes-1977-239/415e1610-9186-441b-88ed-e5964c59d5e4

Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #240 Grimbor wants revenge on the Legion after the death of Charma in prison. While still a student at the Legion Academy, Dawnstar recounts her origin and learns teamwork when she tries to round up two escaped creatures by herself. Writers: Paul Levitz, Paul Kupperberg, Jack C. Harris, Jay Zilber Artists: James Sherman, Howard Chaykin (!) Cover: Joe Rubinstein, Mike Grell. NOTE: The first story here is a reprint of the main story in #221- but #221 has never been digitized or even appeared in a Legion Showcase TPB, so enjoy now!
https://www.dcuniverse.com/comics/book/superboy-and-the-legion-of-super-heroes-1977-240/0f271f85-4656-40d2-96be-7e575795d4ce

AFTER EARTHWAR:

Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #246 People are disappearing on Mercury, and the Legion tries to get to the bottom of things. Writers: Paul Levitz, Len Wein Artist: Joe Staton Cover: Mike Grell DC Universe

Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #247 Tharok plans to remake Corvan IV the way the Fatal Five wants it, but the Legion steps in. Writers: Paul Levitz, Len Wein Artist: Joe Staton Cover: Dick Giordano, Joe Staton
https://www.dcuniverse.com/comics/book/superboy-and-the-legion-of-super-heroes-1977-247/f7c195ed-5326-459b-8973-be329fdfe928/

Questions to consider (spoilers ahead):

  1. Which is better in your opinion in this run of comics: the art or the writing overall? Why?

  2. Did issue 238 deserve a fantastic wraparound cover for the contents inside? Why or why not?

  3. Did the drama and suspense of #239 concerning Ultra Boy being framed for murder appeal to you? What worked and what didn’t for you? Is Jim Starlin a better writer or artist in your opinion? Why?

  4. Did the last two issues of this run seem far different that the issues prior to EarthWar? Which group of the reading did you enjoy more, Prior or After EarthWar? Why?

Next week, the first Legion Club reading of 2020, we push the Legion Time Bubble to the max and go check on New 52 Legion Lost for the final issues of that series!!!

The monthly WatchaLong will be January 8th instead of New Year’s Day.

2 Likes
  1. I really think the art was better in these issues and the writing. maybe it’s just the art compared to some of the art last week that standing out for me, but I really feel like this was some great art for the time period. All of the characters look distinct in different in every panel.

The story was good too. I don’t know if there are more comics involved in this week’s run then previous weeks, or if the stories were just more text heavy oh, but they felt like it took longer to read than previous week’s comics. Not that that is a bad thing.

  1. Honestly, and maybe this is reflective of the writing, but none of these stories stood out to me too much. and if that’s what I’m thinking, then now I don’t think 238 deserved the wraparound.

  2. Ain’t the only thing that didn’t work for me is that it’s sort of us left on a cliffhanger. this very much felt like it should have been a one-and-done story, and yet it was left to be picked up and later issues. Overall, I do tend to like when they reveal snippets of a character’s past as a setup for a story about the characters president. I do typically feel like it is very limiting like most murder mysteries in that whoever the new character introduced is, that’s typically who your bad guy is. In this case ultra boys ex-girlfriend who is introduced just for the story clearly was going to be one of the main antagonist.

  3. Having not red earthwar, I’m unsure what its impact was as a storyline. The two issues that come after Earth war clearly are meant to be less impactful stories. And stories that once they’re concluded don’t necessarily need to be referenced again. so whereas some of the earlier issues and he done cliffhangers or left a lot of dangling plot threads for future issues, these two did not.

Overall though and I think a combination of the art and the writing even if there were gaps. I enjoyed these issues. I had a lot of stop-gap reading this last week, where I can only read a couple panels at a time, and it wasn’t hard to leave the story and come back.

So I enjoyed these stories because even though my week has been crazy and hectic and busy and extremely full, I didn’t feel like I necessarily had to go back and read parts of the story to keep going when I put down and picked up this app.

1 Like

@Meisaj , agreed, this week’s reading was definitely perfect if you had a hectic schedule since there wasn’t an overarching storyline over the six issues. In a way, it’s like we were having Christmas leftovers because we were reading a couple of “leftover” issues before and after Earth War, just the way things worked out but it turned out to be kind of fun!

I think because of Legions deep history over the decades and having these characters most of them so well established, they can work well either with the longer soap opera story runs or with the single issue or double issue type storylines.

1 Like

I completely agree. It was a perfect set of comics to read it over a Christmas break. I think the legion has a deeper and more varied history than I originally thought. I’m still trying to keep track of all the characters that are part of the Legion in my head.

this week stories also came from the era of what has to be one of the most fantastically awful comic book character costumes of all time. Cosmic boy just looks ridiculous.

Re-reading my own earlier post, I’m shocked you understood any of it. I really have to recheck what I am posting when I use speech to text on my phone to make sure it understood me.

Regardless, Happy New year, and I hope to read much more of the Legion this year.

Long Live the Legion!

Long Live the Legion in 2020!