Legion of Super Heroes - the Levitz/Giffen Era Reviews

[caj]

Legion of Super Bloggers review of Legion of Super Heroes #308 - more confusing Omen/Prophet blah blah blah, Dawnstar continues her quest through the stars, and Colossal Boy introduces Yera to his parents.

http://legionofsuperbloggers.blogspo...eroes-308.html

[caj]

I admit this is not one of my favorite storylines. Even at the time it came out, I had no interest in Omen or Prophet.

I could not get used to Giffen's new art style. It just didn't feel like the same book anymore. Even Malstedt's inks seemed different.

Colossal Boy is a favorite of mine but I never could get used to him being married to someone who impersonated Shrinking Violet. I mean, Violet was a woman he had genuine feelings for and he's not even angry at his Durlan wife for pretending to be her for months while she suffered??? There should've at least been a period where he struggled with his feelings for Yera considering everything she had done to deceive him. How could he ever trust her?

[kcekada]

I never warmed up to Yera. Realistically, Gim should have rushed to [correction]Salu's side -- not just shrug and stay with the woman who pretended to be her! Another Levitz gaff, IMHO.

[Timber Wolf-By-Night]

One of the things that nearly 40 years of hindsight has brought me as a Legion fan who became such under Levitz & Giffen was the realization that for all the acclaim the so-called "Levitz Paradigm" garnered for juggling multiple plots and multiple characters (or as one fan at the time called it, the Hill Street Blues style), Levitz's stories were primarily plot-driven. This isn't to say he couldn't do characterization well; look no further than the "spotlight" issues he did on the likes of Cosmic Boy and Star Boy for just a couple of examples. But you could tell when he had a specific ending in mind for a plot or when he wanted to use or focus on specific characters and not others; he would let the specific needs of the plot he had in mind dictate the characters' behavior in order to get to where he wanted the plot to go, no matter how forced or out of character that behavior might seem.

Quite often, really, Levitz's stories were about what the characters did or what happened to them and not about the characters themselves. Wolfman and Claremont would get into their characters' heads in the pages of New Teen Titans and Uncanny X-Men, much more often than Levitz did; hell, they'd let most of an issue, or even an entire issue, be devoted to the internal workings of their characters minds and feelings. Levitz nearly always seemed to feel the need to include at least some amount of action or fight sequence; outside of the spotlight issues, action trumped introspection, it seemed.

Look at the "Violet has been abducted and replaced" storyline, for example. In hindsight, Violet has been imprisoned by the Imskian dissident movement for 18 issues. Eighteen months in our "real" time, and an unknown number of months in "comic book time." Afterwards, she spends several more issues presumably hospitalized in recovery and, one has got to assume, physical and psychological therapy. I say "assume" because for virtually the entirety of the ordeal, from her abduction to her release from hospitalization, Violet is completely absent. The one time we get even a look at the real Salu Digby during that two-year period is the revelation of her being imprisoned in the sens-tank. Emaciated, hooked up to tubes and breathing apparatus, immersed in whatever that liquid she's floating in is, presumably cut off from sensory input (sens-tank, after all), and not even allowed to speak. Her hospitalization and recuperation? Also takes place completely off-panel. Paul spends not one moment on Violet dealing with her physical or, more importantly, emotional and psychological trauma. Sure, when we finally see her again (and hear her speak for herself) as she's leaving Dr. Gym'll's care, we see the transformation she's undergone, manifested in her new costume, new hair-do, and new personality/attitude (feistier, angrier, more aggressive and assertive). But we are shown nothing of her trauma, or of how she dealt with it. We just see her go to Lallor to deck the long-distance (ex)-boyfriend who, we only now find out, apparently figured out "Violet" was an imposter all the way back in #298, only to not say anything to anybody about it (!). Hell, the plot about her abduction and impersonation, was more a vehicle to further the stories of Element Lad (the one who figured it out and main force behind her rescue) and Colossal Boy (the one who became involved with her imposter).

[caj]

Great post, Timber Wolf.

One of the things that bothered me was how there was rarely any closure with Levitz's stories. For example, we never got a scene where Violet actually thanks Element Lad and Schvaghn for saving her life. That would've been nice.

[caj]

Legion of Super Bloggers review of Legion of Super Heroes #309 - even more confusing Omen/Prophet blah blah blah, Brainiac 5 almost unleashes Computo again, and Pharoxx interrupts Karate Kid and Projectra's honeymoon.

http://legionofsuperbloggers.blogspo...eroes-309.html

[caj]

This issue was a little better than the last one. I love the two groups coming together to fight the villains.

I love that Shadow Lass was able to user her powers to temporarily stop Prophet after Invisible Kid figured out his eyes.

It was nice to see Projectra and Karate Kid have some nice time together before...well. I wasn't that pleased to see Pharoxx again, though.

I remember not connecting the castle shown here to Sun Emperor's earlier appearance. But the clues were all there that something was happening on Orando.

Poor Brainy - trying to help cure Danielle Foccart and almost releasing Computo again. That was definitely foreshadowing.

[kcekada]

Confession. I don't think I ever read the Omen/Prophet stories in their entirety. I just didn't care enough -- and was still trying to reconcile Giffen's change in style from quiet and sophisticated to loud and obnoxious. So grateful that Steve Lightle would come along shortly to right the ship!

[Thor-Ul]

I remember that story, I liked a lot then but I think it never had a proper follow up.

[Nomads1]

For me, minus the shock of the art, it was an okay adventure. I liked it, especially the Legion going against the UP and the Khundian autorities to defend Kundia.
Also, I think this storyline marked the beginning of the End for Block. After this, he was no longer regarded as invulnerable, as an unmovable object, and was fairly often and easily hurt and damaged, changing his appearence, becomming an ever less effective Legionnaire, until his death at the hands of Roxxas in Giffen's 5YL. It's sad. I really liked him.

Peace

[caj]

The Omen/Prophet story wasn't all that great. If Levitz was planning on this being a starting point for an even bigger story down the road - and I don't know if that was the plan or not - he obviously dropped that idea due to the negative response to this story.

However, for me, I could've overlooked the lousy plot if Giffen had kept his art style the same - especially his style in issues #301-305. If the book had been drawn and inked beautifully, I wouldn't have cared as much for the dull story.

[hareluyafan1]

We just see her go to Lallor to deck the long-distance (ex)-boyfriend who, we only now find out, apparently figured out "Violet" was an imposter all the way back in #298, only to not say anything to anybody about it (!).

That part baffled me. When I read it I thought "when was that established? Did I miss something?" Sure in #298 Duplicate Boy said, "She's not the Violet I fell in love with" but that seemed like he was just speaking figuratively.

I never warmed up to Yera. Realistically, Gim should have rushed to [correction]Salu's side -- not just shrug and stay with the woman who pretended to be her! Another Levitz gaff, IMH..

I agree. I think it was supposed to be about acceptance and forgiveness (which is certainly laudable), but to me Gim just looked heartless, like he didn't give a fudge about Vi at all.

[Nomads1]

Does everybody who hated how the Gim/ Vi /Yera situation was done, prefer when a similar storyline was done over at Marvel's Fantastic Four, years later? (DeFalco and Ryan's FF, involving Johnny/ Alícia/ Lyja)

Peace

[Sutekh]

Does everybody who hated how the Gim/ Vi /Yera situation was done, prefer when a similar storyline was done over at Marvel's Fantastic Four, years later? (DeFalco and Ryan's FF, involving Johnny/ Alícia/ Lyja)

Peace

I didn't mind the Gim/Yera situation, and respected the Lyja thing for what it was (an author saving throw to retnuke the Johnny/Alicia romance).

I could see it feeling 'weird' that Gim fell in love with the woman he married, and then, after finding out he didn't really know everything about her *stayed in love with her,* but it felt like something real people, with all their assorted messy feelings and weird choices regarding who and how they love, would totally make.

And Violet's anger over the situation, for years, also felt very true to character. Messy drama, and I'm here for it.

And I can totally see Ayla talking Vi down by pointing out that Yera is the *second* person to become a Legionnaire after deceiving everyone and impersonating another Legionnaire. (Ayla being the first!)

[kcekada]

Does everybody who hated how the Gim/ Vi /Yera situation was done, prefer when a similar storyline was done over at Marvel's Fantastic Four, years later? (DeFalco and Ryan's FF, involving Johnny/ Alícia/ Lyja)

Peace

I wasn't as annoyed because I wasn't that invested in the Johnny/Alicia relationship. I doubt most people were. That story was actually a retcon by a later writer -- not the one who got the two together originally.

The irony of a Colossal Boy and Shrinking Violet romance was a great angle, but it was the short story in Superboy 202 featuring only Gim and Salu in which I first realized that they would make a great couple.