Superboy #221 Starring the Legion of Super-Heroes

Superboy # 221 Starring the Legion of Super-Heroes.  Cover Date Nov 1976, Cover Price . 30 Cents " The Trillion-Dollar Trophies" Art: Mike Grell and Bob Wiacek. Story: Jim Shooter.
Part 1 The living Key
Superboy and Timber Wolf are answering an alarm at the Power sphere, the mammoth nucleonic power plant, which supplies 30th century Metropolis with Energy. The Installation is protected by the galaxy's most advanced, virtually fool proof computer system.. which only moments ago has been tripped. Tripped by Grimbor and Charma and they are looking to trap some Legionnaires.  They split up to search the lead radiation shielding blocks Superboy's super-vision. Grimbor blinds side Timber wolf with his chains, The wolf fight back with little effect. Hearing the struggle Superboy arrives on the scene only to be stopped in his tracks by the sight of Charma. Charma speaks softly to him not to hurt her and Superboy just stands there looking at her. Grimbor tells her to hold him as he finishes up with Timber Wolf.  Morning at the plush penthouse office of the R J Brande Building. One of the wealthiest beings in the universe Legion Financer, Rene Jacques Brand is hard at work. Charma comes in followed by 2 thugs carrying large boxes. Brande yells at her  and she gives him a sad look and he backs down. She tells him that she wants a 100 Million Dollars to insure the safety of the Legionnaires. Charma tells him that she will be in touch as she leaves. Brande hears a sound coming from one of the boxes and calls the Legion on his private hotline. Six Legionnaires respond almost instantaneously. Colossal Boy grows to giant size and smashes the crates together and Superboy and Timber Wolf fall out. The two are chained up with complicated restraints. Shrinking Violet shrinks down and looks inside the locks, she sees that it is a pin and tumbler type but  she never saw one so intricate. She flies out of the lock and tells the team that they require a multi direction expanding key.
Chameleon Boy says that he can take care of is and has his malleable hands turn into keys that fit the locks. He turns the keys and the chains explode and vanish. Light lass runs to care for Timber Wolf as Cosmic Boy questions Brande. Superboy and Timber Wolf do not seem to remember any thing until Brande describes the delicate and beautiful young lady. He concludes that their memories must have been wiped out by some form of Super Hypnosis. He cannot remember any think except a Fragile, helpless looking girl. Brande says he should pay the extortion but the legion refuses.

 Chapter 2 Charma and the Chain-Maker

Gimbor and Charma are on the asteroid strong hold of the chain maker and both go through their origin stories. Grimbor is the greatest master of bondage, restraint and security in the universe. He has sold his services to  everyone from criminal to kings. He boasts that he once designed a cage to hold the Mighty Validus. He brags that he has been paid fortunes to build strongholds and safe guard treasures. Charma reminds him that he spent all that money on more locks, tools equipment and materials, that he is penniless as she was. Charma explains that she was a poor little orphan that was sent to a girls school that was little more than a prison. As she got older she use to get punished by the head mistress more and more frequently. It was not just the head mistress, all of the girl's grew to hate her. They beat her and took her few possessions. Grimbor tells her to stop he can not bear to hear how she was treated. That is because she is a mutant, her power is that no man can bear seeing her suffer pain. The mere thought of her being threatened enrages them. She has the opposite reaction from women they want to hurt her. Which is why the head mistress came to Grimbor, Charma was to be released but the head Mistress did not want to let her go and hired Grimbor to create a special lock for her room and shackles that only she could open. But like any man, when he entered the school and saw her he was hers. Grimbor professes his love for her but he has doubts about her plan for the legion. He has her why not rob a bank instead. She tells him that Brand owns a Dozen of interplanetary banks. She knew that Brande would refuse her at first but they will get it all. Charma butters Grimbor up stroking his ego.
      Night in the offices of R J Brande. He gets a call on the vis phone by Charma asking him if he reconsidered his offer. Brande tells her absolutely not. Charma ends the call but Brande traces it back and it is coming from Legion Headquarters. He has an assistant ready his flier for immediate take off.
Meanwhile at Legion HQ, Charma and Grimbor leave the communication Room. Grimbor brags that no place is inaccessible to him. Colossal Boy comes around the corner and Grimbor takes him down using his enhanced strength, Shadow Lass attacks Charma from behind while Grimbor is dealing with Colossal Boy. Charma screams and Grimbor nocks Shadow Lass out. They shackle the two down Legionnaires and Grimbor remarks that it was good that Shadow Lass reacted to Chama's powers and did not use her black out powers to help Colossal Boy. Grimbor crashes into the rec room and Charma uses her powers to make the men helpless while Grimbor captures them. Light Lass and Timber Wolf watch on the monitor room and Light Lass says there is only one way to beat them. Seconds later a metal wall comes down from the ceiling separating the two crooks.
Part 3 "Divided and Conquered"
Timber Wolf and Grimbor go at it with the Wolf getting the upper hand, when a scream from Charma comes from the steel barrier. The cry is like a siren's song to the two and they burst through the barrier and see Light Lass using her powers and beating the hell out of Charma. Under Charma's spell Timber Wolf smacks the woman he loves. Timber Wolf is shocked by what he did to Ayla that it releases him from Charma's hold. But Grimbor gets the jump on him and puts the feral Legionnaire in Titanium Manganite. Charma kicks the down Light Lass while Grimbor locks her up with an Absorbium spiral band.  A little later in the monitor room Charma and Grimbor talk about that all the Legionnaires on the premises have been captured. They spot Brande approaching  the complex, they bring him into the monitor room and he agrees to pay the hundred million. Charma tells him that the price has gone up to a cool trillion dollars. Grimbor says he won't sell. He tells them that this is his greatest feat of bondage, and wants to keep them as trophies. Brande tells them that he will give up his entire fortune and promise not to prosecute. Charma is happy but Grimbor insist that they are his and he will not sell them not even for Charma. Charma realizes that Grimbor loves his work more than he does her. Brande is begging Grimbor to take his money while Charma sneaks off to the storage vault where the Legion is kept. She plans to destroy one of them and threaten to destroy the rest unless Grimbor relents. She aims her blaster at Light Lass when a microscopic Violet grows on top of the blaster and spoils her aim. Violet savagely beats on Charma and her power is having an hypnotic effect on the male Legionnaires and that affects their wills to defend her and the rage charges their muscles with desperate strength until they burst free of the bonds. The male members flight right at Violet but just before they hit she shrinks down and they fly into the wall and burst through and tackles Grimbor. Violet knocks Charma out and then locks her up using chains that Grimbor created that gives off a special radiation which nullifies her power. Apparently once Grimbor had helped Charma capture them, he was going to shackle her, make her a prisoner of his love. He wanted to make sure she'd never escape.


Roll Call:

• Superboy
• Timber Wolf
• Colossal Boy
• Shadow Lass
• Chameleon Boy
• Cosmic Boy
• Light Lass
• Shrinking Violet

Villains

• Charma
• Grimbor

 

Page 2:

• This is a first, a good reason for having lead around, shielding radiation at a power plant is a good thing. A good number of stories have lead in it just to block Superboy's vision but this makes sense.
• Charma is hot, even with yellow skin and she is showing a lot of skin.

Page 3:

• The way Superboy is looking a Charma on this page and the previous one do you think he is using his x-ray vision?

Page 4:

• Brande has his own hot line to the Legion just like Commissioner Gordon does for Batman.
• Colossal Boy Takes the two creates and smashes them together and out fall Superboy and Timber Wolf.

Page 5:

• Cham morphs his hands into the shape of the locks he turns them and there is a small explosion and the chains vanish.

Page 7:

• Grimbor shows Charma how he once restrained the monstrous Validus.
• We see how Charma was treated growing up.

Page 9:

•  Charma and Grimbor call Brande from the Legion HQ

Page 10:

• Grimbor uses his bondage powers to bound Shadow Lass.

Page 12:

• Timber Wolf and Light Lass share a kiss.

Page 13:

• Timber Wolf smacks a bitch (Light Lass)

Page 14:

• Charma kicks the crap out of a downed Light Lass

Page 16:

• Violet opens a can of whoop ass on Charma.

Page 17:

• Violet's quick thinking saves the day.

Great story and an Introduction of a good Villain. (Grimbor) Unfortunately this is Charma's last appearance in this continuity.

Next time Superboy 222 Yes I am talking about Tyroc.

Superboy # 217 "Future Shock for Superboy"

"FUTURE SHOCK FOR SUPERBOY"

Story: Jim Shooter, Art: Mike Grell
Superboy flies though the the sky's of 20th century smallville and building speed until he pierces the time barrier on his way to the 30th century and the latest meeting of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
The Teen of steel exits the time stream and marvels at 30th century metropolis and the people cheering him. He notice that someone is in the magnetic canal that carries cargo on magnetic waves at over 200 miles an hour. He plans to scoop the unlucky guy out of the canal before the cargo gets close, but he notices it is a girl and what a girl she is. The scantily clad girl is standing there calm as can be, Superboy could just fly her out of there but feels like showing off  and uses his super strength to stop the cargo in its path. He flies the girl out of the way and asks her how she fell into the canal in the first place and she just replies that she is extra clumsy. She asks Superboy if he knows who she is and when he asks if he should she says no and tells him her name is Elna. Elna is impressed and says she always wanted to meet him and she never had been held by a living legend before. The teen of steel is smitten and ask her to hang out with her until he has to go to his meeting in a half hour. They talk for a bit mostly about Superboy, when Legion member Wildfire comes around the corner Elna takes of before he can see her. Superboy wants to go after her but Wildfire reminds him they are due at the meeting. Later in the Legion Council chamber Mon-El adjourns the meeting. Wildfire asks if he is returning to his own time but the Smallville Sentinel has a certain girl he can't get out of his mind and goes off in search for her. Wildfire would of gone with him but he has duty that night at the Legion Academy working with some new trainees.  Note: the Legion academy was introduced in Adventure comics 371.
           As Superboy flies off Elna arrives crying thinking she should of told him the truth about herself right away. Hours later Superboy cannot find a trace of her it is as if she vanished into thin air. He questions while she would run from Wildfire, then he realizes the one place he did not look is the Legion headquarters. He arrives as Elna is getting blasted by Wildfire as she appears to be breaking into the headquarters. Superboy freaks out and grabs Wildfire and is about to smash him when Elna pops up and tells him she is alright and that it was a Legion training exercise. Superboy is shocked and happy that she is still alive. Elna explains that her name is actually Laurel Kent and she was not harmed be cause she is invulnerable. She tells him that she is his Descendant. Wildfire joins in and tells him that eventually Superboy will become Superman and marry and have a family that will continue to the 30th century. Laurel explains that she only inherited his invulnerability which is how she made it into the Legion Academy. Laurel also tells him that she always wanted to meet her famous ancestor and that she ran away from Wildfire because he might give her away. Laurel explains that she liked him and that she knew that he liked her too because she resembles the woman he is destined to marry. Wildfire assure her that he will not remember anything that she tells him be cause they use Super Hypnosis to block out any knowledge of his own future. Later Superboy penetrates the time barrier heading of the mid 20th century and home. Once he returns to the 20th century he loses all knowledge of Laurel Kent.
Roll Call:

• Superboy
• Wildfire
• Mon-El (Leader)
• Colossal boy (background)
• Light Lass (Background)

1st app.

• Laurel Kent (Elna)

Rooms in the headquarters

• Council Chamber

Notes:
Page 1:

• Superboy flies from 20th century Smallville into the time stream.

Page 2:

• Superboy arrives in the 30th century and sees a Hot girl and flies down to talk to her. "Hi I'm Superboy" must be a hell of a pickup line. And if you knock up a girl from the future you do not have to worry about her showing up with a paternity suit.

Page 3:

• Superboy causes property damage just to impress a girl.
• The girl says her name is ELNA. E L N A, think about it.

Page 4:

• Just when Superboy thinks he is getting somewhere, Wildfire shows up and ELNA takes off.

Page 5:

• After searching all night for her he finds her just as it looks like she is being killed by one of his own teammates.

Page 6:

• Elna is alright and her name is really Laurel Kent a descendant of Superboy.
• Laurel admits she was attracted to what should be her Great, great, great, great (add as many greats as you want.) Grandfather.
• Laurel tells Superboy that she resembles the woman he is destined to married. Great that narrows it down to most dark hair women from DC's Silver age. (Lois Lane, Carol Ferris, Jean Loring, even Diana Prince.)
• Another mention of Legion Brain washing, just wait there will be more.

Laurel Kent is my favorite non Legion Member. When I first read this at 11 years old I thought it was great that Superman had descendants in the 30th century and could not wait to they did more with her. I had a while to wait, and they did use her a little over the years I was disappointed in how they finally dealt with her. The alias she uses Elna gives us a hint to who Superman Marries, change the letters around and you get Lane. If you want to here an excellent podcast on this story got to the two true freaks website and under the I have a few things to say about Superman show, Host Scott H Gardner cover this story a few months back and he did an excellent job and if you have not listen to the Two True Freaks shows I suggest you do they have many shows and they are very entertaining. Scott and his fellow Freaks cover all things geek, Star Trek, Star Wars, Comics, Movies and more.
http://twotruefreaks.libsyn.com/
Next Time: a Story starring everyone's favorite hero: Tyroc, yes I said Tyroc, hey he is only in 3 stories in this era so give him a break.