Adventure Comics # 369Cover date: June 1968, Cover Art by Neal Adams. Price .12 cents
"Mordru the Merciless: Story by Jim Shooter, Pencils by Curt Swan and Inked by Jack Abel.
I took the issues credits from Mike's Amazing world of Dc comics an excellent site, I recommend you check it out.
Synopsis:
Mon-El, carrying and unconscious Superboy leads Duo Damsel and Shadow lass to the Time Chamber. They are being pursued by Mordru the dark lord. They make it to the chamber and Duo Damsel sets the controls and one at a time they step into the time cube and vanish. Mon-El the last to appear recognize that they are in Smallville, in Superboy's time, the 20th Century. Shadow Lass blames their predicament on herself and explains that as a new Legionnaire she was trying to familiarize herself with the New HQ, and while exploring the Sub-Basement she came across a vault. She moved the dial a little when Mon-El came in and told her to stopped. He explains that Mordru is locked away in the vault. Mordru was a Sorcerer from the planet Zerox, decades ago he acquired massive mystic powers and made himself master of his world. Overtime Mordru conquered the outer planets and eventually turned his attention to earth and the united planets, He seamed to be unbeatable until Mon-El came up with a plan to trapped Mordru in an air less vault and negate his powers. When Shadow lass started to open the vault air came in and Mordru used his powers to break free. Mon-El uses the signal device in his flight ring to contact Superboy and moments later Superboy and Mon-El enter the vault like chamber. Mordru is free and uses his magic against both heroes. Magic being the only thing both Mon-El and Superboy are vulnerable to. Superboy gathers up his strength to attack Mordru but the sorcerer blasts him with a magic bolt. Mon-El picks Superboy up and they along with the two female heroes end up in the 20th century. With the story finished our foursome decided how they are going to deal with the problems they have. Originally they thought this would be the first place Mordru would look, but Superboy has second thoughts, it might be too obvious, He might not figure that they would go here, but they will need disguises. They go to Superboy, parents home and and the girls meet Martha and Jonathan Kent. Martha is a little shocked to see a girl with blue skin but gets over it and they come up with a plan to hide the teens. Superboy applies all over body make up to Shadow Lass and she takes on the identity of Betsy Norcross an exchange student and gets taken in by Lana Lang's parents. Duo Damsel takes the name of Marie Elkins a 2nd cousin of Leah Parker the wife of the police chief and moves in with them. Mon-El uses the identity he had the last time he was in Smallville, that of Bob Cobb traveling brush salesman, a Kent family relative.
Later after the new Identities are in place Mon-El and Clark notice that Mordru's shadow is blanketing the town searching for the missing Legionaries. When the shadow touches Lana see becomes Mordru's eyes and is programed to watch for the Legionnaires. Shadow Lass in her Betsy disguise uses her powers of shadow to hide the gang in her own shadow. The Shadow passes and Lana returns to normal. Later when Lana is asleep Betsy gets out of bed and meets the others in the Kents Basement. At the meeting they say that they are just going to fade into smallville and hide until they can come up with a plan to battle Mordru. Shadow Lass is worried and frighten and seeks comfort with Mon-El. Duo Damsel tries to do the same with Superboy but the Teen of steel is dense and sends her home through his secret tunnel. That night the pretty brunette cries her self to sleep. Douglas and Leah Parker watch as the young girl sleeps. Next morning at the Langs house Betsy and Lana get dressed in the room they share. At breakfast Betsy makes a slip and almost tells the Langs about the Computer schools that she used to go to. The girls meet up with Clark and he introduces them to Marie Elkins (Duo Damsel). Suddenly the teens start seeing disasters all over town, they seem so real but a calm Bob Cobb (Mon-El) tells them it is an Illusion created by Mordru to get them to expose themselves. When the heroes do not react everything returns to normal. At school the teacher introduces Betsy Norcrosss (shadow lass) to the class. One of the kids notice that she has blue skin on one of her arms. Clark thinks fast and uses a fountain pen to squirt ink in one of the kids faces. The rest of the class thinks that Clark must of squirted Betsy's arm as well. After class Lana reminds Clark about their movie date that night, and Clark suggest that his Cousin Bob and Betsy join them and make it a Double Date. Marie feeling like a fifth wheel leaves them. Just then two truck look like they are going to have a head on collision, neither Clark or Bob dare use there powers and are about to let the drivers get killed when our favorite double D Heroine pick up a school road sign and throws it in front of the truck and it causes the truck to tip over, only causing minor injuries to the driver. Both drivers gush all over Marie and Clark explains that sometimes in emergency people do things that are beyond their normal strength, he makes a joke about doubling their strength. As Marie leaves Clark watches and thinks about how Pretty Duo Damsel is.
Lana wonders where Superboy is and Clark brushes her off saying that he is probably off on a space mission. They watch as a Human fly robs the Jewelry exchange and hopes that the police can head him off. The heroes remain hiding and on the eighth day of their exile the morning calm breaks with "King" Carter and his gang arrive in smallville and declare that this is their kingdom and they are taking over. The "King" has his men cut the phone lines and threatens the people that if anyone causes trouble he will erase the town. The "King" and his men loot the town and bully all of the residence even Jonathan Kent. Clark watches as the gangsters force his father to give them money. Jonathan tells Clark that he would like to fight them but no one else is willing to help without Superboy to back us up. Clark and Jonathan call on the disguised Legionnaires to convince the townspeople to fight. Marie is shown "talking" a Hardware store owner into helping. And that night Betsy tells Jonathan that she has four others that are willing to help. Jonathan tells them that by tomorrow they will have enough.
The next morning Jonathan and some neighbors confront the hoods. "King" tells them that the town is in their grip and they are keeping it this way. Jonathan keeps them distracted while other town folks got into position on the roof and start to pelt the hoods with vegetables. the town folk attack the hoods with Clark and Bob secretly using their heat vision to melt down the firing pins on the hoods guns. Shortly the town have got "King" tied up and drag him off to jail. Later the four Legionnaires meet and talked about feeling guilty about telling the town to face up to the hoods while they are hiding from Mordru. They deiced to return to the 30th century and are soon back in costume behind the Kent home. Nearby Lana is watching form her window and sees the Legionnaires, and the spell from Mordru kicks it. Just as they are to head back to the 30th century Mordru appears out of a cloud of smoke. To be Continued next issue.
Bits of Legionnaire Business
Roll Call
- Mon-El
- Shadow Lass
- Superboy
- Duo Damsel
- Saturn Girl (leader in flashback)
- Other members of the Legion in the background (Flashback)
- Lana Lang
- Mordru
- Flight Rings
- Time Cube
- Time Chamber
- Sub-Basement Vault
Page 3:
- The Legion appear in Superboy's time and you know it is that because you can see the "Smallville home of Superboy Sign"
- Shadow Lass comes across of a big vault in the lowest Sub-Basement of the headquarters so of course she tries to open it
- Flash back inside a flashback as Mon-El tells Shadow Lass the story of Mordru, the legion's greatest villain who we first see in a flashback to an appearance that we never saw in print.
- Mordru burst from his chamber and Mon-El calls Superboy with a signal from the flight ring.
- Ma Kent looks a little fluster meeting a blue skinned chick. The woman raised an Alien baby and she is shocked by skin color.. WTF.
- The Legion girls con their way into staying at the Parker and the Langs.
- "It's a good thing Superboy dug up some info on all these relative" Duo damsel thinks this while she con's Mrs. Parker. I can just imagine what dirt Clark has on all of his neighbors.
- Shadow Lass saves the day by covering the team in 3 different houses with her shadow. I think this is a little out of the scope of her powers, at least as we seen this far.
- Lana is possessed by Mordru.
- We see the beginning of the Mon-El, Shadow Lass romance and we also see that Clark is a stupid bastard. Duo Damsel is coming on to him and he makes her go home crawling through a tunnel.
- Duo Damsel is a little catty when she thinks that Shadow Lass finally figured out that she was not going to get anywhere with Brainiac-5 with Supergirl around so she sinks her hooks in Mon-El.
- Duo Damsel cries herself to sleep.
- Pervy Chief Parker watches a strange teenage girl sleep.
- We see that Lana and Shadow Lass share a room and maybe a bed, cannot tell if there is a 2nd bed in the room.
- Same Panel Lana starts to take her nightgown off in front of a girl she just met yesterday.
Page 15:
- Mon-El in his Bob Cobb identity just casually strolls through town as all hell breaks loose.
- Clark has Shadow Lass and Mon-El join him on his Date with Lana.
- Superboy and Mon-El are going to let two trucks crash into each other to save their secret Identities.
- Duo Damsel saves the day by throwing a sign under the truck causing it to flip over.
- Clark makes a comment about Duo Damsel having Double strength, I am not sure that this was ever shown before but it makes sense due to her powers of being able to split in to two.
- It is not shown but I swear Clark is using his x-ray vision to check out Duo Damsel's butt.
- The Heroes ignore a crook robing the Jewelry exchange.
- With Superboy missing for a week a bunch of hoodlums come into take over the town.
- Hoods take Jonathan's money with his son the most powerful being on the planet just looking on.
- The good people of Smallville beat the crap out of the gangsters.
- The team feeling guilty get ready to return to the 30th century and face Mordru when Lana rats them out.
- Mordru!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Next time: A Legion Christmas story, if I can find it.
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