Who's the Best... "Epic" Storyline?

Doug: Yesterday we discussed the Korvac Saga; how does it stack up? Multi-part crossovers, single title multi-issue storylines, and mini-series -- where resides your favorite "epic" in all of comicdom (feel free to break into periods beyond the Bronze Age)?

The Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga, part 5

Legion of Super-Heroes #294 (Dec. 1982)
"Darkseid"
Writer: Paul Levitz
Artists: Keith Giffen and Larry Mahlstedt

Karen: This is it, the conclusion of the Great Darkness Saga, with a dedication on the splash page to Jack Kirby. You know, it occurs to me that DC owes Kirby a huge debt for his Fourth World characters. It seems like they really didn't take off until the fan-boys of that era got older and became writers and artists themselves. Then those characters started showing up all over the place!


Doug: Yeah, I think Darkseid and Orion, and of course Mr. Miracle and Big Barda (and Oberon, too), have a place in at least my DCU consciousness. I'd also say that the inclusion of Kirby's characters in the Super Powers line of action figures back in the mid-'80's (I collected some when in college) was important in the formation of my knowledge of them. But I'll say again (at least I think I've said this before) that other than a few leaf-throughs of Kamandi the Last Boy on Earth, I'd really had no experience with Kirby's creations as written and drawn by Kirby.

Karen: I've read volumes 1 and 2 of Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus, and a few issues of Kamandi and OMAC. It probably won't surprise anyone to know that I think Kirby left something to be desired as a writer. His dialog is just flat-out terrible at times. But there's no denying the power and vitality of his ideas.

Karen: This is a hefty double sized issue with no filler. It's all one big story! Despite my misgivings about the previous issues, I have to say I really enjoyed this one. It was one heck of a roller coaster ride.

Doug: I agree. I'll tell you where I was nervous, though -- we got the one-panel Supergirl sighting and then after about 10 pages or so I was thinking "what... did they forget about her??" Man, and was Darkseid the ultimate baddie? Wow!

Karen: We start off with Brainiac 5 proclaiming that their enemy is Darkseid. For the sake of the rest of the Legion -and many of the readers too -he explains old stone-face's back story. We then get some really nice cameo appearances by the Legion of Substitute Heroes, the Heroes of Lallor, and the Wanderers -all groups that had made occasional appearances in the Legion book over the years. Supergirl also leaps into the thirtieth century again. But despite all that power, they have little effect in stopping Darkseid's army of Daxamite slaves, who are just tearing the universe up.

Doug: Karen, I know you weren't much of a Legionnaires reader, but I've been impressed at just how much Legion lore the various authors included throughout that series -- much of what you've just stated. I guess if you want to talk about a "jumping on point", that series was ripe for just that. It was fresh, and once Jeff Moy took over the pencils, it really had a Silver Age look to it. As I said above, I loved the inclusion of Supergirl in this conclusion.


Karen: The mysterious infant from the previous issue is now a mysterious child. The Legion still doesn't know who he is, but they know Darkseid wants him. The cruiser carrying the child is attacked by the Servants and Daxamites, and despite the Legion's best efforts, the child is kidnapped when the cruiser is torn to shreds. Only the mystical spells of the White Witch keep the Legionnaires alive in the vacuum of space. Soon they are rescued by another team. Now the Legion has decided to try a new tactic: going directly after Darkseid!

Doug: I appreciated the will with which the Legion fought. Strong as they were, I think deep down inside they knew they were hopelessly outmatched. But no one breathed a word of it, and they fed off each others' strength and determination.
 
Karen: There's a brief interlude on Earth, where Colossal Boy and Shrinking Violet take down one of the Servants. Violet actually takes down the Servant by entering her blood stream and preventing blood flow, causing the creature to pass out. I thought it was a creative use of a very limited power.

Doug: Totally agree -- of course the first thing one thinks of when Violet went "microscopic" was the Atom, but I was struck by the similarities of Ant-Man entering the Vision's body during the "Kree/Skrull War" and even the turned table when the Vision entered Yellowjacket's body in Avengers #140. Limited, yes -- but oh so cool in a scene like this!

Karen: Back in space, the Witch creates a space warp that leads the Legion to Darkseid. The Legion is having the fight of their lives against the Daxamites, until Brainy and Element Lad put a plan into action. E-Lad creates lead particles in the air, and lead being like Kryptonite to the Daxamites, they quickly succumb. But Darkseid himself shows up and puts a mental whammy on everyone, causing them to experience their greatest fears. He then goes after the child, but Shadow Lass is protecting him. Yes, Shadow Lass. Sure, a dome of darkness doesn't seem like much protection. But it's what's inside that dome that counts! It turns out the child was none other than Izaya, the Highfather of New Genesis and Darkseid's greatest enemy. He turns Darkseid's twisted clone of his son Orion against him, and father and son fight again, but Darkseid ultimately destroys the clone. Knowing that his time is short, Izaya gives the last of his energy to two legionnaires: Superboy and Supergirl! The two of them take on Darkseid. Although Superboy is taken out quickly, Supergirl lays a good whupping on Darkseid. The villain eventually gets the upper hand. But that's when the rest of the Legion arrives. Try as they might, even they are not enough to stop the master of darkness.

Doug: What did you think of the Michelangelo homage in the panel where Darkseid encounters Shadow Lass? Ripped right off the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel! Given that there had been the build-up of gathering all of the Legionnaires past and present, and then the throw-in of their allies, I thought this final battle was as much a celebration of the team's history as anything else. Yes, circumstances were desperate, but there was such an air of hope as the team fought together for victory or for sacrifice (if necessary).

Karen: I thought that homage was a little cheesy to be honest, and somewhat out of place. I'm not sure why they did that! Salvation comes in the last of Izaya's gifts: he has freed the Daxamites from Darkseid's control -and boy are they mad! Darkseid realizes that even he is no match for 3 billion Supermen -and he splits. But not before uttering a curse on the Legion.


Doug: What did you make of that? Do you know the outcome? The Deluxe Edition hardcover that came out a few months ago has the next two issues, but my guess is that this curse may have played out over time. I will have to read them sometime. Readers? Anyone out there know?
 
Karen: This was a non-stop thriller. Giffen's artwork seemed much improved over the previous issues, although I can't really tell you why. The whole issue had the feel of a blockbuster movie -massive explosions, destruction, and action. Yet Levitz still manages to get some nice character bits in. I especially enjoyed the epilogue, with Brainiac 5 telling Supergirl he was 'over' his crush on her. Sure you are, Brainy, sure you are. All in all, rousing ending to a tale that was a bit slow for me in the early stages.

Doug: Lots and lots of fun. For me, this showed that DC could do a long story that was interesting. Going over some of the Bronze Age material from DC that we've already looked at, there's some pretty weak stuff. As has been well-documented in these parts, Marvel was just such a fine-tuned machine in the realm of multi-part, multi-layered stories. This was output from the Distinguished Competition that easily could have been published under the Marvel Comics banner, and that's about as high a compliment as I can pay a DC story from this era. I'm glad we read this!

The Legion: The Great Darkness Saga, part 4

Legion of Super-Heroes #293 (Nov. 1982)
"Within the Darkness"
Writer: Paul Levitz
Artists: Keith Giffen/Larry Mahlstedt

Karen: How about that cover? It really catches your eye, doesn't it? I always enjoy seeing covers where the artist toys with the logo.

Doug: For me, that cover is reminiscent of Batman #194 from 1967 and by Carmine Infantino. I, too, really like the creativity of Giffen's effort here -- it's striking!

Karen: With the fourth part of our story, we're picking up steam. All the Legionnaires, including Superboy, have been called in in an effort to locate the Master. Six cruisers full of Legionnaires accompany those heroes who are able to travel through space unaided. The Legionnaires are still trying to figure out who the Master is -and how they can possibly stop someone who has stripped the powers from their greatest foes.

Doug: Again, we've remarked that the cat's out of the bag on this two-decades-later re-read. But I'll tell you -- if I had actually read this at the time of publication, I'd have been stumped. This slow reveal is really good -- very suspenseful! And I just love any story when all of the good guys are called together, to fight a menace no single hero could withstand!

Karen: There are a lot of scenes with various Legionnaires, expressing their concerns over the situation. We check in again on the mysterious baby the team found on the Sorcerer's World -who seems to be growing rapidly. There's also a look at the fallout from the Legion election -with perennial second place winner Element Lad letting off some steam at Dream Girl.

Doug: Did you think the new Invisible Kid was getting too much face time in this storyline? I know we've previously discussed "pet characters"; is that what's going on here? And re: the baby -- and again, this is looking at this story with the lens of history -- is the pay-off going to be solid? I mean, I know there's only one ish left in this arc. So this kid is basically going to get 4-5 panels over two issues, and then solve this existence-as-we-know-it-is-about-to-end problem in one concluding installment?

Karen: I was never particularly fond of this Invisible Kid. As you say, it sort of felt like the pet character syndrome here. I kind of liked that the old Invisible Kid was a scientist too. As for the baby -well, you know he's just a plot device!

Karen: Meanwhile the Master has made his way to the planet Daxam, and manages to mentally enslave all 3 billion inhabitants. To top it off, he somehow causes Daxam to be switched physically with his own dead world, so that Daxam is now in orbit of a yellow sun. Of course, that makes all the Daxamites as super-powered as Mon-El.

Doug: Again, I'm not a Fourth World authority by any stretch of the imagination. But, could this really happen? I don't recall our Dark Foe as having anywhere near that sort of power. Kirbyphiles, fill me in!

Karen: My impression is that he got souped-up by all the power he stole, but like you, I wouldn't call myself an expert on this character by any means! The Legionnaires encounter the Servants on a planet that should be Daxam -of course, we know about the Master's switcheroo. They wind up getting their butts kicked, at least until Superboy shows up to defeat his pseudo-clone. Brainy starts putting things together with that big brain of his, realizing what 3 billion super-powered Daxamites could do. Karen: Speaking of those guys, their Master has given them their first task: he has them use their heat vision to turn their once-beautiful world into a molten ball and then sculpt it into his image. Finally the Master is revealed...as Darkseid! What, you mean you already knew?

Doug: This was megalomania at it's best! Or worst... Hey, in regard to how Giffen drew Darkseid? Think he's a little slim? I think of him as just massive. Thanos-like. Oh, wait -- we haven't discussed that yet. Was Thanos Marvel's (or at least Jim Starlin's) answer to Darkseid?

Karen: If I recall correctly Doug, Starlin was influenced by the Kirby Fourth World characters, and editor Roy Thomas encouraged him to beef up Thanos, who originally had a more normal build. I believe Roy is to have said, "Let's show DC how to do Darkseid!" That might be apocryphal, but who knows. There's certainly a similarity. Karen: Here, in the penultimate issue, it finally feels like we're getting somewhere. We had some nice action and events on a huge scale -the re-shaping of Daxam is really pretty awesome. Things seem quite desperate for the team.

Doug: Again, kudos to Levitz and Giffen on the pace of the story. What seemed like a dragger at the outset became a tension-filled slow reveal, and in my worthless opinion seemed to hit pay dirt as we head to the last issue. I think I would have enjoyed this story off the spinner rack when I was 16 -- if I had been reading comics at that time! 

 

The Legion: The Great Darkness Saga, part 3

Legion of Super-Heroes #292 (Oct. 1982)
"Darkness Transcendent"
Writer: Paul Levitz
Artists: Keith Giffen/Larry Mahlstedt
Karen: The third part of our saga opens up with a group of Legionnaires helping clean up on Takron Galtos, the prison planet. Mon-El admits that he is scared; this mysterious Master is more powerful than any of the Legion's foes, including Mordru.

Doug: I thought Paul Levitz did a better job of conveying emotion throughout this story. Overall, this was the first time that I really felt like there was some tension building.

Karen: Another group of Legionnaires, which includes new Legion leader Dream Girl, is headed to the Sorcerer's World, where Dream Girl has foreseen the Legion falling before the forces of their enemy. Dream Girl's sister, the White Witch, accompanies them, as she once was a student on this world. The teachers tell the Legionnaires that they are mistaken, that the master cannot broach their defenses, but they are quickly proven wrong. Four servants come bursting out of a space warp in the sky. Two more teams of Legionnaires arrive, but despite all their power, the servants give them a licking.

Doug: This was the scene that really set the pace of this story, which was excellently executed. Slow, fast, slow again -- and so on.

Karen: Mon-El decides he's had enough and enters the space warp to face the Master. Although we are not shown his true appearance, Mon-El is in shock when he recognizes him. The master zaps him into a coma, and notes that he has taken information from his mind which will allow him to conquer all: "Daxam. What a splendid concept." Daxam is Mon-El's homeworld, where everyone has Superman-level powers. Can you see where this is going?

Doug: Certainly. You know, it was apparent that this was a hopeless case already, and that the Master was certainly one tough fellow. But his conclusion upon picking through Mon's brain just oozed evil. I liked the reference to Mon-el's imprisonment in the Phantom Zone. Unless I'm mistaken, the DC Universe doesn't have a counterpart to Marvel's Mephisto... this guy, however, could fill that bill.

Karen: Back at Legion HQ, the three original members, Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad, all work together to figure out the mystery. They decide it's time to call in everybody, and send out a general alert.

Doug: I thought their newfound information that the Servants of Darkness were each clones of historical figures was interesting. Karen, you'd noted immediately two issues ago that the super-strong Servant was like Superman; I did not immediately deduce that in spite of the shield symbol on his chest. But I also thought it was interesting that Levitz and Giffen did not totally tip their hands here, as there was one Servant who was not revealed -- and that's the one I got, which would have given me a major hint had I been reading this off the spinner rack 30 years ago.
 
Karen: The battle with the servants continues, with the remaining Legionnaires withdrawing to the teacher's isle. Meanwhile the teachers themselves have been performing a ritual in order to defeat the Master. What they get though, is a basket with a human-looking baby. Moses?

Doug: Or the Christ child (although I think Paul Levitz is Jewish). But you're right -- toward the end of the story the Moses angle is pretty clearly inferred.

Karen: Dream Girl is certain the baby is the key to stopping their enemy, although she has no idea how. The Master however, withdraws, essentially declaring that the Legion is beneath his notice. The team gathers round the child and wonders what their next move will be.

Doug: Did you think the end of this story was reminiscent of the end of The Empire Strikes Back, when there's a peaceful interlude in the midst of all the chaos? The heroes gathered to regroup mentally and physically, while the cloud of doom still hung overhead. This struck me as very similar -- in this case, the Legion awaited reinforcements from throughout their ranks. And even though Superboy had already had a taste of failure here, I'm certain that he will again serve as inspiration once it all comes to a head.
 
Karen: I found this issue more engaging than the previous ones. There's a lot of action this time, and tons of Legionnaires, which to me was always one of the big selling points of the book. I'm still finding though that this story isn't quite as exciting as I had recalled.

Doug: I agree with the large group action as a draw. As I said above, though, I felt this issue was nice as a bridge. We've had some set-up, with small bits of action interspersed. The creators have built up some suspense, and adding a bunch more super-heroes to the mix brings a sense of anticipation. However, and you all probably knew I'd get to this sooner or later, I'm still bugged by Giffen's lay-outs. His fight scenes are pretty good, but conversationally he just gives us such bland graphics! Again, the abundance of profile shots is overbearing (nary a 3/4 turn in the entire book!!), and the lack of backgrounds in a fairly large percentage of the panels was noticeable as well. I know he's no George Perez, but when you recall how Perez improved exponentially throughout each issue of the "Serpent Crown Affair", I'm just not seeing that here at all.

The Legion: The Great Darkness Saga, part 2

Legion of Super-Heroes #291 (Sept. 1982)
"A Sign of Darkness Dawning"
Writer: Paul Levitz
Artists: Keith Giffen and Larry Mahlstedt


Karen: The second part of this Legion saga begins with an examination of the servant of darkness that the Legion captured in the previous issue. It turns out she's a clone -sort of - of Shadow Lass's ancestor, Lydea Mallor. While this shakes up Shady, things are about to get worse.

Doug: How odd was it that Mon-el and Dream Girl were doing the diagnostics on the sentient, while Brainiac-5 was in the Legion HQ? My Legion memories have grown cloudy over the years, but I don't recall that Mon was any sort of scientist. Although since he's basically Superboy, perhaps he has a Super Science Brain, too...

Karen: Sometimes I think characters are just conveniently given whatever abilities they need. I know Superman seemed to be pretty tech savvy, although I never understood why. Super-brain? Does Mon-El have one too? But Dream Girl -I have no idea why she's there!

Karen: The Master and his number one servant release the sorcerer Mordru from his imprisonment on the planet Avalon, only to drain him of his immense power. Obviously, in order to do this, this Master is a pretty dangerous character.

Doug: It was on my second look at the cover, after reading this story, that I noticed it's the blown-out Mordru spread all about the cover's bottom. I loved the panel when the evil wizard was first unleashed from his prison; it was reminiscent of a scene in Adventure Comics #369 (which, by the way, I've been itching to review for a few years now!), when Superboy and the Legion confront Mordru in Smallville. And yeah, whoever the super-duper-baddie is (we all know who it is), he is the baddest dude in the DCU.

Karen: While the Legion tries to hold an election for their next leader, they are summoned to three different emergencies. The team splits into three units to deal with Mordru, an attack on Takron Galtos (the prison world) and a threat to Dream Girl's sister, the White Witch.

Doug: What's your opinion on how Paul Levitz wrote this election subplot? It seems like he was really trying to generate some Marvel-angst/upheaval, but to be honest it feels out-of-character here and somewhat forced. I rather prefer, by the way, the more mystical version of Element Lad after one (who can keep track?) of the reboots that began in the 1990's.

Karen: I think so many Marvel writers had worked at DC by this time that intra-team conflict was becoming pretty typical. I think some of the edginess started seeping in even around the Grell years. Maybe it's just my imagination.
Karen: On Takron Galtos, the team discovers that like Mordru, their old enemy the Time Trapper has been drained of all his power. Mon-El and Ultra Boy give one of the Servants a good fight, but he escapes through a space warp.

Doug: Karen, I know you're not much of a DC buff, but am I wrong that in one of the mini-series after Crisis on Infinite Earths the Time Trapper was revealed to be Cosmic Boy? Maybe that was just some sort of twist to a story -- again, my memory fades. Seems that it might have been the Zero Hour mini.

Karen: That's what the Wikipedia says; the only alter-ego I can recall is the recent version, with Superboy-Prime as TT. On Naltor, the team meets up with the White Witch. This is the first encounter between Blok and the Witch, and at least for Blok, you can tell it's love at first sight. This was the Legion's second tragic couple, after Wildfire and Dawnstar. But Blok and the Witch always seemed much happier. I liked those two together.


Doug: See, I'm showing my lack of activity over a decade of Legion lore. I am actually reading Blok for the first extended time ever for these reviews. He made his debut in Superboy #253, which I don't recall owning or ever reading. Again, Superboy #259 was my last issue until I jumped on board the Legionnaires reboot. I am mostly a tabula rasa for this stuff.

Karen: Moments after the team reaches Naltor to protect the Witch, a space warp opens and one of the Servants of Darkness appears. The Legion attacks, with mixed results. The Invisible Kid manages to enter the servant's space warp and comes face to face with "The Master," only to get blasted in the face. The rest of the team manages to drive off the Servant and he and his Master depart. Although they save the White Witch, Dream Girl tells the Legion she has had a prophetic vision: she saw the Legion battling the Servants -and losing.

Doug: "Space warp" -- don't you mean "Boom Tube"? Sorry...

Doug: I have always loved the varied powers of the Legion and the dynamics of how they use them. The scene earlier in the book where Mon-el and Ultra Boy captured all the escapees on Takron Galta was really enjoyable. I appreciated Invisible Kid's bravery in this scene, and I think it was especially poignant that for the first time the Legion got to examine one of these victims of the Darkness up close and personal -- and Blok noted that there was no visible physical injuries.

Doug: Can I comment again on Keith Giffen's art? I think it's better than it was last ish, but did you notice the number of profile shots? In the 18-page main story, there were almost 30 (I counted 29 if you want my Type-A truth of the situation) profiles drawn. It just gives the panel and even the page a flat look. If you're familiar with the work of Carmine Infantino, especially his Marvel work on titles like Nova and Star Wars, then you know the lack-of-depth I'm referring to. The fight scenes were dynamic, and some of the camera angles seemed more varied than the last installment, but it still seems off to me. But then, I'll argue that comic art in general in the early 1980's took a step backwards from what we'd seen in the 1970's. 
 
Karen: I'm still not excited about the art. Your comments about 'flatness' are spot-on. There's no sense of dimension or weight to any of the figures. The super-thin, almost Colletta-style inking doesn't help. Honestly, I had trouble choosing pictures to put in this post. Usually I have too many pictures I want to add. It didn't help that there were a large number of long, thin vertical panels in the book either.

Doug: Well, the panel at right is a great example of what I'm talking about. Good choice!
Karen: There's a follow-up story featuring Saturn Girl, but it seemed the chief thing to come out of that was to announce the new Legion leader: Dream Girl. I recall at the time not being too happy with that choice!

Doug: Trust me, personality-wise, there was something not to like about all three candidates. Hmmm... sounds like a slice-of-real-life, doesn't it? Did you think Giffen's art in this part of the book was more akin to what he'd do a bit later in his career? Even though the back-up story (why was it a back-up story? It was directly related to everything that had gone before) had the same creator credits, there was a heckuva lot more Giffen in this art than Larry Mahlstedt. Anyway, it's always nice to see a short story that involves the Legion's founders. It's like an adventure with the Avengers' Big Three.
 

The Legion: The Great Darkness Saga, part 1

Legion of Super-Heroes #290 (August 1982)
"And the Servant Shall Be A Sign..."
Writer: Paul Levitz
Artists: Keith Giffen and Larry Mahlstedt
Karen: We said we'd review more Legion stories, so here we are. The Great Darkness Saga is one of the best-known Legion tales. I remember when this story was coming out, how exciting it was -even though I knew almost nothing about Kirby's Fourth World at this point. It was obvious something big was happening, and Legion felt very dramatic and exciting.
Doug: This was a review that we'd planned to run way back in the summer. Karen has the comics, but I quit buying Legion way-back-when with issue #259 -- the departure of Superboy from his own book! So, I figured I'd just snag a copy of the tpb. I had no idea it had gone out of print, but did find out that there was a hardcover collection in the offing. So, having picked that up back on December 15, we're now ready to roll. By the way, the Deluxe Edition of the Great Darkness Saga has quite a few extras. First off, it starts out with Legion of Super-Heroes #284, and also includes Annual #1. There are some additional character re-designs by Keith Giffen, and a copy of one of the scripts Paul Levitz wrote. At only $40 msrp, notably cheaper online, it's a solid investment for you Legion fans.

Doug: I also knew very little about Darkseid and the whole Fourth World universe when I was a kid -- I don't think I really had any knowledge at all of it until after I began collecting comics again in the mid-'80's.

Karen: Our story starts with Legionnaires Superboy, Wildfire, Phantom Girl, Cosmic Boy, and the new Invisible Kid investigating an attack on the Museum of Mystic Arts -whose curator, Antonio Stefanacci, looks very much like a certain sorcerer supreme. This mysterious, dark attacker returns and pretty much kicks the Legion's butts. He takes off through a portal that appears in thin air with a powerful mystic wand. There's something very familiar about this creature - it wears a cape, and has a distinctive chest symbol. Hmmm...

Doug: I think the only one of these minions I figured out was the last one, and that was only because of the distinctive device on which he flew. Like I said, I'm just Fourth World dense...
Karen: Stefanacci tells the Legionnaires that there's been a crime wave of thefts of mystic artifacts, so the Legion heads to England to protect the sword Excalibur! There they encounter another creature; this one looks nothing like the previous one. It has a huge head and spindly body. The Legionnaires fail to stop this being too.

Doug: Question -- wouldn't Superboy have been powerless in the presence of these "mystic" artifacts? And I'll say one thing for all of these gatherers -- Giffen sure draws them U-G-L-Y! Hey, I liked in the scene at the Tower of London that there was a Thanagarian policeman, and I also thought one of the creatures in the crowd looked an awful lot like the guy that was on Space Phantom!

Karen: We then get an interlude back at Legion HQ, where Lightning Lad is suffering from some strange electrical anomaly of the brain. While his sister Light Lass sits by his side, his wife Saturn Girl is dealing with Timber Wolf. There's been some sexual tension between the two, and it hasn't gone unnoticed by their comrades.

Doug: Yeah, I went backwards in the hardcover to see what the heck had gone on while Timber Wolf and Imra were on whatever asteroid they were referring to. Near as I can tell, in Legion #289, there was a moment when it was believed that she would never see Lightning Lad again, and TW wouldn't see Light Lass again, either. There was some close proximity, when Saturn Girl related that once when she'd looked into Ayla's eyes, she could tell how much Brin cared for her. Imra told Brin that although she loved Garth with all her heart, she knew she could never get the sort of love from him that Ayla got from Brin. There was an embrace -- no kiss -- and all of sudden Dawnstar brought an injured Ayla down in the midst of this. I guess the jealousies grew out of the innuendo of the embrace.

Karen: The master of the dark servants appears, in shadow mostly. He rants and raves about spreading his darkness across the universe. Again, at this time I was not a huge DC fan, so I didn't know who this ominous figure was...although I'm betting regular DC readers sure did.

Doug: But didn't you think the silhouette morphed somewhat? I only thought when we saw a headshot that it was Darkseid.

Karen: Yeah, I agree, and what was up with that bizarre costume? I'm certainly not a Darkseid expert, but I don't think he's ever worn anything like that before. I guess they were just trying to throw the readers off. We get another attempt by the servants of darkness to steal another artifact, and this time the Legion manages to capture one of them. They return with her to Legion HQ. Meanwhile the other servant returns to his master with another prize, which appears to vastly increase his power. This issue is of course mostly build up. We know something big is going to happen, but it ain't happening just yet.
Karen: I have to admit, I'm not a fan of Giffen's art - and this was in his more conventional period! Maybe it's the inks; it's just very thin and insubstantial looking to me. And everyone has a line down the side of their face -I suppose for shading, but it just looks weird. I much prefer the work Jim Sherman and Mike Nasser had done prior to this.

Doug: I don't care for Giffen's pencils, either, and I was very happy to see that this story predated the really weird stuff he'd do once the Legion went to Baxter paper and the whole team aged to adulthood. I thought the storytelling was pretty straightforward -- not a lot of risks in panel lay-out or camera angles. Was this an extension of DC's well-known philosophy of marketing their books to kids, and being overly conservative because of that? Because what we've been looking at in the Fantastic Four with Rich Buckler's lay-outs just blows this stuff away! But, hey -- that's funny... Rich Buckler working for DC could be pretty bland, too. Hmmm...