Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Superboy # 218 Starring the Legion of Super-Heroes


"The Secret Villain the world Never Knew" Story Cary Bates' Art: Mike Grell
  We see three rejected applicants leaving the Legion Citadel. Infectious Lass (first applied in Superboy # 201) complains that she found away to make her disease inducing power even stronger than before, she can now even cause epidemics, and they still do not want her. Quake Kid starts hitting on her offering her a ride in his Retro-Jetter when Infectious Lass's powers go out of control and makes him sick. Quake and Infectious leave arguing while the thrid reject stands there and thinks. "No wonder they were rejected... But I thought for sure I'd pass the membership tests! Instead they told me my special power is too limited." The disappointed stanger thought to himself.
 Above the dejected applicants a new candidate arrives in a pne man ship. In the citadel, Brainiac-5 is showing Colossal boy, Element Lad and Light Lass how Tryroc came to be a Legion applicant. Brainiac-5 tells them that Tyroc passed all of their qualification tests and all that is left is his offical induction ceremony. Out of nowhere a sound that the 3 Legionnaires have never heard before. "Oyuuuuuu" it sounds again and the Legion's newest partner teleports into the building. Tyroc gives Brainiac a hip hand shake and tells him he has park his cruiser on the roof with all of his personal belongings on board because this time he is here to stay. (yeah, sure) Just as Brainiac is about to introduce Tyroc to some of his new teammates they see a man in a strange costume burn through the view screen. The man is called Zoraz and he appears to be an old foe of the Legion. The four Legionnaires attack with Tyroc hanging back. One by one he use the teams own powers against them. Colossal boy grows out of control and cracks his head on the ceiling. Light Lass is made weightless. Element Lad has the air around him turn to ammonia and he is chocking. Brainiac is unable to think straight, he claims Zoraz is telepathing millions of wild thoughts into his brain. Zoraz turns his attention to Tyroc and before he could do anything, Tyroc unleashes a blood curdling scream that cause an explosion around Zoraz. But Zoraz absorbs the force of the blast with out even feeling it just like a blazing sun can soak up the engergy of an atomic bomb. (this is straight out of the comic I could not make this up.) Tyroc prepares for a more drastic yell when an ear splitting siren goes off. Zoraz has blasted the alarm control with fire making the alarm go off. With the decibels levels increasing Tyroc uses his power to make the alarm explod. By the time Cosmic Boy and Superboy arrive Zoraz is gone. They help their fallen comardes to the infirmary and Superboy tells Tyroc they will be okay in a couple of days, Zoraz had depleted there energy. Superboy and Cosmic boy take Tyroc down to the legion Cell Bank and explain that Zoraz stole cells from every Legionnaire's compartment. Which after analyzing he develop the means to turn the Legion's own powers against them. They think that Zoraz is still in the building the Legion will make sure that someone is always on guard but Tyroc is the only member that can stand up to him since he does not have his genetic code. Later Tyroc and Shrikning Violet patrol the halls while they are being spied on by some one in the ventilation shaft.  Dream Girl and Star Boy are making out in the hallway while Cosmic Boy and Sun Boy spy on them via the Legion's monitors. Just as Cosmic Boy is about to turn the monitor off Zoraz appears attacking Dream Girl and Starboy. Zoraz smashes a wall, Star Boy uses his powers to make things super heavy on Zoraz but it is turned back on Star Boy and he falls through the floor. Dream Girl's power is turned on her and she is having a nightmare in her own head. Tyroc arrives and uses his powers to make Zoraz spin, but he manuvers like a top and Tyroc has to follow him into the Gymnasium. Tyroc flies in and Zoraz uses Super-Breath to extract all of the air from the room creating a vacuum. Since sound doesn't travel in a vacuum Tyroc's super voice will not have any effect on him. Suffocating Tyroc activates his Legion Flight Ring, grabs a barbell and flies straight through the wall and into the fresh air. Crawling to his feet Tyroc is joined by Cosmic Boy and Sun Boy who arrived just in time to find an empty Gym. Not sure how Zoraz escaped the locked room but the pair of late arriving heroes vow to search every inch of the area after they get Tyroc to the infirmary. Inside the ceiling an unknown person hides and says that after seeing Tyroc in action twice he now knows how to defeat him. That night Tyroc is sleeping in his new Quarters when Superboy comes on the communication system and wakes him up, ordering him to report to the briefing room on the double. When he arrives Tyroc is startled to see the Legionnaires that Zoraz defeated standing around hale and healthy. Superboy asks Tyroc to look at the visi-tape that they made of Tyroc's first encounter with Zoraz. He watches to the end when Zoraz removes his helment toe reveal that it was Sun Boy in the costume. He then watches the 2nd fight and at the end it is revealed it is Superboy in the costume. Tyroc is pissed and wants to know what kind of freaky put on is this. Brainiac and Superboy explains that it was Tyroc's final test. They had to know how he would respond  to severe stress so they invented their own villain. They made up the bit with the genetic codes, each Legionnaire made it appeare that their own powers were going out of control. All of the other things that Zoraz did were done by either Superboy or Sun Boy. Just then Zoraz enters the room and Tyroc tells Sun Boy he knows it is him, but this time it is not. The man in Zoraz costume removes the helment to revel the Legion Reject from earlier. The reject was upset that they told him that his unusual power wasn't important enough for a Legionnaire, rejecting him and accepting Tyroc. He decided to prove his value by sneaking into the citadel, waiting till he could go into action, hiding out in the same ventilation shafts "Zoraz" was suppose to be using. The reject contiues to explain that he watched Tyroc in action and waited till he could grab the Zoraz uniform and now it was time for him to prove that he is better than Tyroc. Superboy charges at him but the reject using Sun Boy's powers glows with the energy of a red sun causing Superboy to lose his powers. Note: when Superboy nears the rays of a red sun he becomes an ordinary mortal!
 The reject then using Superboy's own strength smash the former teen of steel into the wall. Brainiac tells Tyroc that the reject is called Absorbancy Boy and that he can absorb residue energy left behind by super powers. Since he is wearing the same uniform that Sun Boy and Superboy wore it has given him their powers. Absorbancy Boy challenges Tyroc to a fight to see who is better qualified to be the next Legionnaire. Brainiac cautions Tyroc saying he is just as formidable as Superboy.
 Tyroc faces his foe and Absorbancy Boy taunts the dark hero. Tyroc explains that he is using  a yell at an ultra high frequency that only Superboy's hearing can pick up.  Absorbency Boy is not impressed but when Tyroc unleashes the yell Absorbancy boy grabs his ears and falls to the ground even through nobody else heard a sound. Tyroc easily incapacitate the villain and explains that he figured AB would be inexperienced with Super Hearing and turn it on at full  strength allowing Tyroc's ultrasonic cry to almost deafen him. Once Absorbency Boy is taken away they get on to the log awaited formal induction ceremony where Tyroc is officially sworn in as a full fledged member of the greatest fighting group in the galaxy The Legion of Super-Heroes.

Roll Call
  • Brainiac-5
  • Colossal Boy
  • Element Lad
  • Light Lass
  • Cosmic Boy
  • Superboy
  • Shrinking Violet
  • Dream Girl
  • Star Boy
  • Sun Boy
  • Tyroc
  • The other members of the Legion in the back ground.
Legion Equipment
  • Flight Ring
Rooms in the Headquarters.
  • Infirmary
  • briefing room
  • Monitor room
  • Cell Bank
  • Gymnasium
  • Tyroc's Quarters
Villain
  • Absorbancy Boy
Guest Star
  • Infectious Lass
Notes:
Page 2:
  • Nice call back to Superboy #201 with the use of Infectious Lass
Page 3:
  • Tyroc arrives in his own personal Cruiser
  • Brainiac-5 briefing members that missed issue 216
Page 4:
    • Tyroc Teleports in to nice effect.
    • Brainiac-5 thinks he is hip the way he shakes Tyroc's hand.
Page 5:
  • "Zoraz" burns his way into the room and easily defeats four Legionnaires.
Page 6
  • Tyroc stands by while a villain takes out his new partners.
Page7:
  • "Zoraz" burns the control box, is any one seeing a pattern here?
  • "Arrrhh!" Yell from Tyroc causes thing to explode
Page 8:
  • Superboy and Cosmic Boy arrive Late, this will happen again with Legionnaires showing up after Tyroc had faced the bad guy.
  • We see the 4 Legionnaires that were defeated by Zoraz lying in sick bay.
  • They show Tyroc the Legion Cell Bank last seen in Superboy 206.
Page 9:
  • We have a mystery man hiding out in the ventilation shaft.
Page 10:
  • Star Boy and Dream Girl making out in the hallway.
  • Cosmic Boy and Sun Boy watching them make out on the monitor.
  • There is probably a few sex visi-tapes floating around the 30th century starring Dream Girl.
Page 11:
  • Tyroc to the rescue.
  • Zoraz using super strength.
  • ZZZRRUGHHHH! make you spin round round like record baby.
Page 12:
  • Zoraz sucking all of the air out of the room with Super breath. Hmmm
Page 13:
  • Sun Boy and Cosmic Boy are a day late and a dollar short, or since this is the 30th century a credit Short.
  • Superboy wakes Tyroc out of a sound sleep.
  • Tyroc goes to the briefing room to see the injured Legionnaires up and around.
Page 14.
  • Tyroc should be pissed to find out he was part of a fraternity prank.
Page 15:
  • A 3rd person puts on the Zoraz suit, that thing must reek.
  • How many Legion Rejects turn into villains. This Guy, all of the Legion rejects in 212. I believe radiation Roy and Spider-Girl. I will have to do more research but there has to be close to a dozen.
Page 16:
  • Absorbancy Boy, his name is Absorbancy Boy, Cary, you are better writer than that your flash stories prove that, wait you came up with Big Sir, never mind.
Page 17:
  • Tyroc tricks Absorbancy Boy into using Super Hearing to take him out.
  • Tyroc get sworn into the Legion, this being the first of many stories of him with the team. Maybe not.
Notes:
Great Story until the end, have to use Super hearing to have the guy take himself out seems a bit anti climatic. But the build up to the reveal of Zoraz being Superboy and Sun Boy was good. I like that they played a prank on Tyroc similar to the one Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy and Lightning Boy I mean Lad, played on Superboy in Adventure 247.
 Good use of Infectious Lass even if it is only for a couple of panels, I always like when we can call back to passed issues. Absorbancy Boy is a little dumb but I will forgive it knowing now what Geoff Johns will turn him into.

Hostess Ad

Next Time Karate Kid 3, Oh Boy
                 

      No comments:

      Post a Comment