DC; August 1984
Cover by Keith Giffen and Larry Mahlstedt

Title: “Here a Villain, There a Villain …”
Synopsis: With the Legionnaires spread around the galaxy on various business, Lightning Lord regathers the Legion of Super-Villains.

Writer: Paul Levitz
Penciler: Keith Giffen
Inker: Larry Mahlstedt

Review: Under attack from an array of new publishers targeting the emerging direct-sales market, the Big Two moved into the post-Bronze Age with very different strategies. Where Marvel experimented with lower-selling books like Ka-Zar, DC went all out: Baxter-format relaunches of their top titles, including The Legion of Super-Heroes. The results here are top shelf. Paul Levitz delivers a complex story, featuring the blend of sci-fi, superheroics, and character drama that defined his Legion run. Keith Giffen is early into his José-Muñoz phase; the transformation was shocking at the time, but looks much better in retrospect. A fine series debut.

Grade: A

Cool factor: Keith Giffen’s new style looks awfully good on the upscale Baxter paper.
Not-so-cool factor: His old style might have looked even better.

Character quotable: “And each of us has now the burden of leaving one Legionnaire a rotting corpse.” – Lightning Lord, brimming with ill intentions for little brother Garth

Copyright ©2016 Off the Wahl Productions, all rights reserved. Each week, T. Andrew Wahl takes a look at a Bronze Age Fantastic First. For more reviews like this one, check out Wahl’s website, SequentialReaction.com.