Readers got a triple dose of the Legion of Superheroes in comics on newsstands in April 1964.
In their cover feature in Adventure Comics 321, the Legion proper wended their way through the usual suspicions and accusations of betrayal to thwart the scheme of the Time Trapper.
In Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen 77, the ginger-haired cub reporter used an enlarging potion to become a 20th century stand-in for Colossal Boy, costume and all, so that he could contain the threat of Titano the Super Ape. Titano’s kryptonite vision had rendered the Man of Tomorrow hors de combat.
And in World’s Finest 142, Superman, Batman and Robin faced a foe who possessed all the powers of 20 members of the Legion. They shouldn’t have been able to beat him — and they couldn’t!
“Vowing to prove himself Superman and Batman’s equal, he torments the duo again and again. Finally deciding to kill the captured and helpless pair, the Composite Superman suddenly finds his powers fading as the lightning charge in his body dissipates… The Composite Superman’s two Silver Age appearances have a distinct charm and a somewhat unique theme.”
Teenage superhero teams were in the air that month. Kid Flash, Robin and Aqualad also joined forces in The Brave and the Bold 54 for a story that would lead to the formation of the Teen Titans. And over at Marvel, the teenage mutant X-Men were between their fifth and sixth adventures.
Joseph Lenius:
ReplyDeleteLOL, I was 9 years old when those hit the stands, and in WF I remember calling him the “com-PO-site” Superman. I was pretty well read for my age, but that was a word that bypassed me at the time.
Alfred Walker:
ReplyDeleteLegion ascendent! What a franchise out of that almost quaint beginning in Adventure 247. I was no longer on board when they petered out in the late '60s, but it makes me wonder how that ball got dropped. World's Finest was not on my buy list throughout the early '60s because the stories seemed not in the Super-family continuity and Superman looked funny. But did I ever lock in on WF 142 and that Compy cover! How are you gonna walk away from that?!
Paul Zuckerman:
ReplyDeleteThe issue before had seen a major editorial shift at DC. Long time Batman and senior editor Jack Schiff had apparently been on the outs because he lost control of Batman and much else, being relegated to the back bench for the few remaining years of his career. (Though he did try hard with the Martian Manhunter and the innovative Dial H for HERO.)
The solo Batman books went to Julie Schwartz; but the team-up book went to Mort Weisinger, which meant that from that point on, it was more integrated with what was going on in the other Superman family books. And Mort brought in his ace team: Curt Swan and George Klein on the art, and Ed Hamilton as writer. Neither Swan nor Hamilton were strangers to the series, but they had not been involved for a number of years, and the addition of Klein on Swan's pencils gave the book more of a Superman family feel.
This was the beginning of a good run of books, though, toward the end of Mort's tenure it began to fall down a bit. Still, we were treated to some pretty amazing stories. And Jimmy Olsen received a sort-of-promotion in this run as well.
The Composite Superman was a character with depth; not the typical one-note villain that dominates comics. A great story.
Bruce Kanin:
ReplyDeleteBrilliant crossovers via Mort Weisinger & co. Look at arguably the greatest WORLD'S FINEST story ever re: Composite Superman. WF stars Superman & Batman (and that pesky bird-brain, whatever his name is), but under Weisinger's reign, he brought in a lot of Superman Family elements.
In this one, he used the entire Legion of Super-Heroes, seen semi-regularly (and then regularly) in Superboy's ADVENTURE COMICS, to create arguably the most formidable menace Superman had and has ever faced (yes, worse than Luthor & Brainiac combined!).
What a time to be reading comic books...!
Philip Davis:
ReplyDeleteI bought them all at the new stand. Still have them.
Johnny Williams:
ReplyDeleteThe ‘teenager-centric boom’ in popular culture had begun during the middle to late 1950’s and in part thanks to the British Invasion in music and fashion, the rise of the Counter Culture and other factors it continued into the 1960’s, and so those trends were reflected within the content of the comic book industry during those times also.
Clark Kentish
ReplyDeleteSo many Legion stories, so little money.
Thank goodness for second hand bookshops in 1964!👍
I replied:
My quarter allowance would buy five comics there!
Steven J. Allen:
ReplyDeleteI plan to hang out at the Lincoln Memorial during a thunderstorm in the hope that a freak lightning bolt will give me all of Lincoln’s powers.
(Love the Silver Age!)