"No Price too High" Story Jim Shooter, Art Mike Grell.
The Planet Gyrich a factory world whose surface is covered by one enormous manufacturing complex. Every thing is automated even the security patrols. Hidden from the robotic patrols in a shadow are 5 Legionnaires. Superboy, Brainiac-5, Karate Kid, Shadow Lass and Wildfire. Once the robot is passed Shadow Lass drops her shadow and the team go about their mission to fix the malfunctioning defense computer. Superboy spots something with his super-vision and takes to the air without telling his teammates. Brainiac-5 tries to tell him that he will be spotted by radar but either the does not hear him or he ignores his teammate. Superboy is rushing to intercept a one man ship that is about to enter the planets air space. In a burst of speed Superboy wraps the young pilot in his indestructible cape and takes him out of the ship just as a blast destroys the ship just as it has to every other ship that approached the planet in the last two months. Superboy brings the pilot to the other Legion members and removes his cape. The pilot a boy complains that Superboy wrinkled his suit and was being quite the brat. He tells the team that his father Leland Macauley owns the planet and that he was bored with school and "borrowed" on of his father's speedsters to visit the planet. Wildfire goes off on the kit telling him that the planet's auto defense have go haywire and that the planet has been sealed off for months. At the same time one of the security robots has noticed the team hiding in the pump house, and reports it and is ordered to vaporize the Pump house. Just when it was about to carry out the command Karate Kid who was scouting the area puts a fist through the robots metal chest. This brings more robots that Wildfire destroys with his anti energy. Hiding in the shadows again the team discuss completing their mission and decide that they will have to take young McCauley with them. Not wanting any of that the kid leaves the hiding place determined to talk to the robots saying that they will listen to him. Despite thinking that they should just let the robots kill the kid Superboy flies out and takes an energy blast that was meant for the child. The team comes out of hiding and destroys more robots but one of them takes the kid and tells them to stop or it will kill the child. The team surrenders and is placed in a small cubicle in the central control complex where they await the Overseer. Brainy tells them that the last human overseer was dismissed 5 years ago. The overseer arrives saying that he was fired by Leland McCauley III that he was not needed any longer. He had begged McCauley to let him stay on with no pay but the owner would not let him. But the Overseer knew the security system better than anyone and so after a couple of years he made his way back in and took over the system. The overseer being quite mad tells the team that know one will force him to leave again that he is number one, and they need to be eliminates. Wildfire threatens the man but the overseer tells them that he has their young friend under guard and if they try to escape he will be killed. But if the Legion cooperates and lets him kill them he will let the boy go, to reveal that the Planet is now his. The madman cackles on how this will be sweet revenge on McCauley for firing him and walks off. The Legion realizes that the Overseer does not know that the boy is McCauley's son and if he did he would murder him. Superboy using his "Super Ventriloquism" power tells the boy not to mention who his father is that if he tells the robots or the Overseer who he is that they would kill him. With all of the logic of a young boy he decides to do the opposite of what he was told and tells the robot guards to call their boss. Superboy eavesdropping with his super hearing tells the team that the kid is going to tell the Overseer who he is. Wildfire ever the example of rational thinking says they should let him and that they would have an easier time getting out of here without them. The Karate Kid kind of agrees saying that they would not even have to fight their way out the Overseer would be so happy that he would let them go. Not wanting to here any of this Superboy shoves Wildfire. Being tired of Superboy's shit Wildfire blasts him with anti-energy. Superboy walks through the blast as if nothing is happening slams Wildfire up against the wall and tells the hot head to start acting like a Legionnaire. The Overseer arrives at the boy's cell and just when he is about to tell him who he is Wildfire traumatizes the kids vocal cords with an unseen beam of energy. This should leave him speech less for a minute or so. Superboy and Wildfire have a kumbaya moment and shake hands.
The Overseer brings our heroes and the kid to the spaceport deck of the control center to execute them and after that he will let the boy go. The kid is happy that the Legion will be killed for they were mean to him. The boy notices that the shuttle that the Overseer is going to put him in is named after his father and says so. Realizing that he has the man who ruined his life child in his clutches he points a laser gun at the kids head. Superboy spouts empty threats at the Overseer but he is determined to kill the child. Superboy distracts him with some gibberish about the Legion's sacred honor and about letting the Overseer blast them if he lets the kid go. The Overseer lets his grip on the child go, and the scared kid bites him in the hand. This allows the team the fraction of a second that they need to destroy more robots and for Karate Kid to Kick the Overseer in the face. The boy sobs on to Shadow Lass's chest and tells them that he wants to go home. Brainiac-5 goes to the control room and brings the place back to normal. The kid thanks the team and leaves in his father's shuttle. Shadow Lass asks if Superboy was willing to sacrifice them all for the sake of the kid. Superboy tells her that he offered to let him blasts us, "I did not say that we would die."
Bits of Legionnaire business:
Roll Call:
- Superboy
- Brainiac-5
- Karate Kid
- Shadow Lass
- Wildfire
- Gyrich
Notes
Page 2:
- Team hiding in one of Shadow Lass's shadows. (not the last time this story)
- Superboy saves ungrateful kid.
- Kid last name is McCauley, I find this interesting since this came out about 5 years before the birth of McCauley Caulkin, and they both are annoying brats.
- 6 robots killed
- Hiding in Shadow Lass's shadow again.
- Kid not listening and almost killed (I wish Superboy was slower)
- 3 More robots killed.
- The Overseer makes his appearance and he is stark raving mad.
- Super-ventriloquism Yeah I mean boo! Last blog I mentioned my least favorite Superboy Power Super-hypnotism this time my 2nd least favorite power.
- Young McCauley doing exactly what Superboy told him not to do.
- Wildfire and Karate Kid think it is okay to let the boy die.
- Superboy has had enough of Wildfire's crap.
- Superboy and Wildfire kiss and make up. (no slash fiction please)
- First good think the Kid ever does biting the Overseer.
- More robot homicide.
- The kid is not as stupid as I thought.
Interesting story, I originally thought this was the first appearence of Leland McCauley IV, but this does not add up. The boy is never named he is just Identified as Leland McCauley III's son. When we see IV years later in the Legion run he is older than the heroes, the boy here might be a younger brother to the one we see later. This issuse shows us some of the conflict that Wildfire has with other team Members most noticably Superboy, this is great character building it shows us that not all of the heroes are made out of a cookie cutter. Shadow Lass and Brainiac-5 are prettly much useless in the story, I can see the need for Brainy he is the only one smart enought to reprogram the computers but their is no need for Shadow Lass, she provides a couple of shadows and give the kid a chest to sob on to. All in all a good read.Recently the company who makes the Hostess snack products went out of buisness, in honor of them I am posting the Hostess Ad that ran in this issue, I might make it a regular feature but they only continue to run for about a year or two from where we are in the time line. Not sure if they do this ad but if you want to here a couple of great podcasters acting out hostess ads check out two true freaks, they act these out in several episodes of Back to Bins and Tales of the JSA, I recommend the shows. http://twotruefreaks.libsyn.com/
Also in the Super talk Letters page they note that on November 11 1975 the first issue of Karate Kid will hit the stands, I will cover it and maybe the first 5 or so issues but I will not cover the whole series (I do not have a complete run of them and as I recall they are not that good, but I could be wrong.)Next time the 2nd story of Superboy # 214 "Stay Small or Die" by Cary Bates and Mike Grell.
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