The Stop Button

Without getting effusive, this issue might be one of artist Mike Grell and writer Jim Shooter’s best Superboy collaborations. There’s only so much wrong with it; they both keep the comic packed and moving, and none of the Legionnaires are exceptionally crappy.

I mean, they’re still crappy. Lightning Lad’s ableist and Colossal Boy is only nice to the girl he likes when he thinks her boyfriend is going to die so he can get some action. And then Brainiac 5 is a bloodthirsty, callous creep most of the time.

But other than those characters, it’s all reasonably solid. Lightning Lad barely has anything, and Brainy becomes background. Colossal Boy’s thing recurs (and gets the last word), but it’s amidst a lot of action.

The Legion’s nemesis team, the Fatal Five (there are like twenty Legionnaires and five bad guys, and the bad guys keep them busy), is pulling a series of heists throughout the galaxy. They’re stealing android parts, experimental goo, toxic gases, and a planet fragment. One of the Fatal Five—Validus—is a super-powered giant who can tear up planets. Comes in handy for this exact story.

Shooter splits it into three parts. The first part has the villains striking and almost killing non-Legionnaire but still superhero future teen Duplicate Boy, leading to his girlfriend asking Brainiac 5 for help and kicking off the whole thing with Colossal Boy, too. Brainiac 5 has given up hope on saving Duplicate Boy, so he’s ready to kill the Fatal Five whenever the opportunity arises.

Now, one of the “charming” aspects of the comic is Superboy wondering what the heck is going on with his teammates. He’ll practically stare through the fourth wall, trying to get the reader to pay attention to the weirdness going on around him. It happens a few times this issue, including for that goofy last story beat.

The rest of it—the Legion splitting into pairs so they can fight the Fatal Five—is all right. There’s some silly stuff; Emerald Empress has the major hots for Superboy, but without, you know, good writing. And they always talk about her deadly gadget, which is called the Emerald Eye. It’s a silly name, made even more ridiculous how they keep referring to it by the full name. Often with a possessive (the Emerald Empress’s Emerald Eye). Even when they do a whole bit about Validus being a literal infant (with props), the Emerald Eye business is still sillier.

Now, despite Shooter and Grell keeping things moving, it’s not like it’s a good issue for Grell. His facial characteristics continuity is nil, and you’d think he’d be better at scaling between characters (Colossal Boy and Validus versus the normal-sized folk). However, some of Grell’s more design-oriented moves work better, and they don’t demand much attention.

The issue feels rote, but it’s a (relatively) okay routine.