Superboy narrates this tale that starts out as a peaceful trip to the Science Police convention on the planet Thanagar. It starts as Superboy is playing a game of 3d chess with Timber Wolf when Shadow Lass comes in and tells him that they just got a message from Mon-El on the cruisers transceiver and that he is needed back on earth. Timber Wolf uses his best chess move of kicking the board over. Shadow Lass tells him that it is a small job and he should be done in time to meet them at the Con. Superboy zips through the airlock at super-speed towards earth leaving his friends behind. Not know that they would need his help that he would not be there to provide. Brainiac-5 is in command on the bridge telling Colossal Boy that in 15 minutes they would be over the Planet Ruzicka, where Brainy would leave the ship to compete in the interplanetary 3-D Chess tournament while the rest of them go to Thanagar. Colossal Boy sees a ship on the scanner closing fast. He Identifies it as a Khund raider flying an intercept course and that it is hostile. Note: the Khunds are a warrior race sworn to conquer the United Planets. The Legion halted their first attempt to invade Earth, (See Adventure comics 346 and 347.) They are still the single biggest threat to the free worlds.
Brainiac-5 orders the Legionnaires to battle stations. Brainy knows that they are coming to fast and that they will blow them to bits before they reach battle speed, so he orders Colossal boy in Engineering to cut the engines and divert all power to the shields. Alone in engineering the only way that he can operate the two switches on opposite sides of the room is to grow big enough to do the work of two crewmen. With Brainiac's quick thinking and Colossal Boy's enlarging power they averted disaster , the force shield saved the ship. But they have suffered damages. In the monitor room Shadow lass reports that the lights were out but that is no problem for the Mistress of darkness since she can see in total blackness. Timber Wolf reports that the hatch to the weapons pod was stuck but he freed it with his super strength. In engineering Colossal Boy reports that the blast opened a minor fissure in the fusion tanks but it is not critical yet but if it gets worse they will go Boom. Brainiac give the obvious order to keep an eye on it. Shadow Lass reports that the Khund is circling back. Which suits Brainiac just fine, he recognizes the insignia on the ship belonging to Field Marshal Lorca's flag ship. Lorca is the Khunds top commander, he is suppose to be the greatest military mind in the galaxy. Brainiac dreamed of testing himself against him. Brainy thinks this is even better than a chess tournament. He orders Colossal Boy to take them to battle speed. After a brief battle the Legion got the upper hand and the Khunds retreated back to their space sector. The team kisses Brainy's green ass and about the time Superboy reached earth the ship was orbiting Ruzicka and Brainiac-5 beamed down to the planet. The three remaining Legion members tell him that they will pick him up after the convention. But the danger was not over. Marshal Lorca met up with his squadron and they monitored Brainiac leaving the ship and the team continuing on to Thanagar. The first attack was just a test and now the real trap could begin. Lorca tells his men that the Legion ship proved to be superior to theirs and they must capture it. They plan to disassemble it and analyze the parts to learn what makes their ship so efficient. The Legion sees the squadron and starts to take evasive action. Lorca orders his squadron to fire. As powerful as the Legion's cruiser is it cannot withstand a surprise attack from a whole Khund squadron. Using his enormous strength Colossal Boy guides the wounded craft to Vanylack IV a barren planet. Every one on the Legion ship is okay but they wonder why the Khund did not atomize them. They figure out that the enemy wants to seize the ship. Colossal by activates his emergency signal. While Khund soldiers advance on foot, luckily the Ships photon ray still had a little power left and had enough juice to knock the soldiers down. Most of the soldiers scatter but one officer is injured on the ground. Colossal Boy thinks they should grab him and use him as a hostage. Timber Wolf and Shadow Lass leap out of the ship but immediately hear Brainiac-5's voice telling them to hit the deck. They keep going then they hear him again and they get down just as a laser blast almost cuts them in half. They return to the ship and find Brainiac-5 still on Ruzicka on the monitor, he is responding to Colossal Boy's signal. Brainiac figured out it was a trap because Lorca never allows any of his officers to be taken alive. Brainiac tells them that he will plan their strategy.
They see tanks out side getting ready to attack but Brainiac tells them that Lorca wants the ship so he won't blow it apart. Brainy has Shadow Lass black out the area so the tank can not see but they can see them by the glow of the headlights. Colossal Boy blasts them with the photon ray. As this is going on Superboy has received the emergency call and he is zooming toward Vanylack IV. At the enemy camp one of Lorca men confirm to the Marshal that Brainiac-5 is sending orders to the Legion. He orders them to Jam Brainiac-5's sub space frequency and to adjust the electronic voice duplicator to imitate his voice. Lorca boast that he will show them real strategy.The Fake Brainiac-5 tells the Legion to take the offensive, that a surprise frontal attack will force them to flee. The team debate this for a minute but decides that if Brainiac thinks it will work they might as well go ahead and do it. The real Brainiac was feeling helpless thing that his team would be slaughtered. Having faith in what they thought were orders from the smartest member of the legion the fly off using their legion flight rings and boldly entered the trap in front of them. Ion cannons to the right, Distruptors to the left and blasters dead ahead. The enemy fires at the team. Lorca orders the rear batteries to fire behind them to cut off any retreat. His flunky reports they are to retreating. Lorca orders them to fire on the rock formations to prevent them from taking cover. The flunky tells him they're not seeking cover. Lorca is looking at the map to determine how best to deal with them, when a Giant fist of Colossal boy hits the ground. He is being shot at by disruptor's but is determined to get his hands on Lorca. Shadow Lass uses her powers to black out an area and takes out a couple of more soldiers. Timber Wolf is going berserk leveling several Khunds. The team over comes the odds and the Khunds retreat just as Superboy arrives. The three heroes are injured but are pissed at Brainiac-5 for ordering them into a death trap. Superboy explains that hey were tricked by Lorca. They realize that Lorca is missing, the Marshall is sneaking into the Legion's ship planning to kill them when they return to the ship. The fusion tanks that were ruptured in the earlier battle have been building pressure this whole time and explodes taking out the Legion Cruiser along with Lorca. Superboy says if Lorca did not trick the team into leaving the ship it would of been the 3 heroes that died and not Lorca.
Roll Call:
- Superboy
- Shadow Lass
- Colossal Boy
- Timber Wolf
- Brainiac-5
- Ruzicka
- Vanylack IV
- Cruiser
- Flight Rings
- Marshal Lorca
- Khunds
If page numbers are off blame Dc they stop putting them on the bottom of the pages.
Cover:
- Mon-El is shown on the cover and while he is mentioned he does not appear.
- Timber Wolf pulls the classic Chess move by kicking over the board.
- Nice shot of Colossal Boy growing to operate two stations at the same time. Good use of his powers.
- We see the gauge that shows the fusion pressure, hmm will that be a thing later, not sure. (Sound of Chekhov gun loading.)
- Only Brainiac-5 would be excited about having to out think one of the Galaxy military commanders.
- Again they borrow the enterprise's transporter,
- Where does Lorca get his outfit from the local "Bondage are Us" store?
Page 7:- Brainiac is able to lead them from remote. If he can do that why does he need to leave the HQ every week, it is not like he can fight,
- Shadow Lass blacks out the area, it is the only thing she can do but at least it is helpful.
- Superboy is racing towards Vanvlack IV but some how I think he will be late.
- Brainiac looking frantic and helpless (just a normal day for our walking computer)
- Our heroes fly into a Suicide trap that just happens to work out and saves their lives.
- Lorca's biggest mistake is thinking that the 3 Legionnaires are smart enough to retreat or take cover, but he gives them way too much credit. If Brainiac-5 tells them it is a good Idea to take a bath with a plugged in hair dryer they would do it.
- Like the panel of Timber wolf acting like an animal, (truth in advertising.)
- Who shows up when the battle is over, why just one of the most powerful beings in the universe, The stranger from the planet Krypton, the Boy of Steel, Superboy. Where were you 5 minutes ago? Getting donuts?
- Like the panel of the Legion ship blowing up with the words around the explosion.
This was another good issue. Quickly gets Superboy out of the way and focuses on the lesser heroes. I like that the Khund are reintroduced in this issue. While here they look just like pointy eared humans later they take on a more alien like appearance. I do like the mention of Thanagar in the story. Thanagar is the home planet to the silver age Hawkman and Hawk Girl. At this time in my reading I do not believe that the Legion's writers used planets that showed up in the mainstream DC Universe. The fact that it is used here reminds the reader that this is part of an overall universe, even that it is set 1000 years in the future.
Next Time the introduction of my favorite non member character.
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