Legion of Super-heroes #86

Heart of Iron

Your guides to the 20th century:
Tom Peyer – Writer/Co-Plotter
Tom McCraw – Co-Plotter/Colorist
Lee Moder – Penciller
Ron Boyd – Inker
Pat Brousseau – Letterer
Ruben Diaz – Associate Editor
KC Carlson – Editor

The cover is by Alan Davis, Mark Farmer and Patrick Martin. It shows the hero Ferro, who can turn his skin into iron, riding a bomb into the sun. This is paying homage to the original Ferro Lad, who died in a similar manner in 1967. But this is 1996 with a new Legion of Super-heroes and new circumstances. However, Ferro does not actually dive into the sun in this issue. He wants to, but doesn't get to.

As you may or may not know, the Legion of Super-heroes is team of teenagers from the 30th century. Bart's cousin, Jenni Ognats aka XS, is a member of the team, which was stranded in the 20th century during the whole Sun-Eater attack. But Jenni was able to return to the future thanks to the future Flash, John Fox, and the cosmic treadmill. But the rest of her teammates are still here, mostly complaining about being stuck in 1996 and whining about how cold it is. I guess they do help out a few people here and there, but the majority of this issue serves to annoy me. Impulse will later have some direct adventures with them, but for now, he's relegated to the background of a flashback.

The interesting part of the issue comes at the end, when Ferro presents a plan to Brainiac 5 and Lex Luthor. You see, Ferro doesn't want any of the major heroes like Superman to risk their lives, so he volunteers himself for a suicide mission to deliver a bomb to the Sun-Eater. He even drew a little sketch that looks just like the cover. But Brainiac 5 and Luthor dismiss Ferro's idea, choosing instead to contain the hyper-nova with a force field. Luthor wants Green Lantern to set it up, but he mysteriously disappears at that very moment. So Superman volunteers, but Ferro's death wish isn't satiated.




I guess this would have been an OK issue if I were a Legion fan, but I'm not, so it came off as rather boring. I'm also not exactly sure why Ferro was so insistent that he kill himself. I think this was a case of the writers being too excited to re-create history, and their unbridled excitement came across as an usual eagerness for Ferro to end his own life.

None of the letters in Legion Outpost mention Impulse, or even XS for that matter, so we'll head straight to the ads:

Skittles. Taste the rainbow. I could be mistaken, but I believe this may have been one of the first time's Skittles used that slogan. And they've kept it going for 20 years.

There's a Cap'n Crunch one-page comic, wherein the Cap'n uses his delicious cereal to motivate three kids to cross a dangerous rope bridge.

CD-ROM comic books burst onto the scene! Featuring animation from the classic 1960s DC Saturday morning cartoons.

If you can't meet the pros in person, we'll send them to your door. Dynamic Forces New York Comic Convention.

It's the ultimate Halloween party. And you're invited. Batman: The Long Halloween. Jeph Loeb. Tim Sale. This is a classic that is required reading for any and every comic book fan.

Night time has come. Night Force. Marv Wolfman, Brent Anderson, Will Blyberg.

Subscribe to the world's mightiest heroes! A normal issue of Legion of Super-heroes cost $2.25, but you could get 12 issues for $21, plus the annual for free.

Watch This Space talks a bit about the DC Versus Marvel trade paperback, which included Mercury, the cross of Impulse and Quicksilver. But most of the editor's column is taken up with a sad note about the sudden passing of 30-year-old artist Mike Parobeck. Apparently he was killed by complications due to diabetes. He was the penciller of Impulse Annual #1, an issue I really didn't care for. But Parobeck was better-known for his work on the comic adaptation of Batman: The Animated Series.

Same time. Same place. Different dimensions. Sliders. Fridays on Fox.

Prepare to fly. Nights: Into Dreams ... Sega Saturn.

Next time, we conclude DC's big event of 1996 with The Final Night #4.