Legion of Super-Heroes #302 (August 1983)

When it comes to superheroes, drama is part of the job. Especially if you're a member of a team of them. People don't always get along, stuff from personal lives, romantic interludes, stuff like that. The Legion of Super-Heroes is not immune to this. After all, they're only human...in the metaphorical sense. Yes, there are members from Earth, but you know what I mean. And it does not stop, even after major upheavals and events. The comic we're looking at here this week helps show what I mean. This is Legion of Super-Heroes #302!

The cover is a Keith Giffen and Larry Mahlstedt piece. It depicts Lightning Lad fighting his villainous elder brother Mekt, aka the long-time Legion menace called Lightning Lord. It's a really nice cover. What makes it look unique to me is the way it's colored. The heavy usage of yellow makes it look like they are really trying to tear each other apart with their electrokinetic powers. 

"Family Matters"
Writers: Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen
Penciler: Keith Giffen
Inker: Larry Mahlstedt
Colorist: Carl Gafford
Letterer: John Costanza
Editor: Karen Berger
Executive Editor: Dick Giordano

The story begins at Legion HQ with Legion members Timber Wolf and Blok hanging out and shooting the breeze. The two get notified of an alert. Something big is coming!

They run to check it out, and they find that the HQ has a very uninvited guest. 

"CABLE GUY!"

Dawnstar engages this lightning-lobbing madman, but he's able to bring her down with a little electric trick.

"Never. Touch. The. THREADS."

Say hello to Mekt Ranzz, aka Lightning Lord. He's the evil older brother of Garth Ranzz/Lightning Lad and Ayla Ranzz/Lightning Lass/Light Lass. And speaking of Garth, Mekt has been looking for him. 

Dawnstar tells him that his younger brother and sister-in-law Imra Ardeen/Saturn Girl left several hours ago. Mekt believes it, as he thinks the Legion are terrible liars. Timber Wolf engages him, having defeated him previously in issue #241. Mekt gives him a Mighty Punch (Lightning-Charged Edition), assuring him that was a fluke. The madman sees Blok and decides "Yeah, Electric ain't good against Rock. I'm done here."

Meanwhile, over at the planet known as Weber's World (the planet that is the bureaucratic center of the United Planets), Element Lad and his Science Police officer girlfriend Shvaughn Erin are discussing their relationship and a mystery within the Legion...

On the planet, Brainiac 5's team are checking the place out. Unseen to them, someone is watching them.

The height of 2980s fashion right here.

Yup, it's the old Legion villain Emerald Empress, and she has plans. Cunning plans.

We next go to the hospital satellite known as Medicus One. There, Garth and Imra are discussing a medical issue with the Legion's physician Dr. Gym'll. And then Mekt bursts in. Like he's the 30th century version of the Kool-Aid Man.

Mekt wants to know where Ayla is. She had left the Legion in issue #294, and wants to offer some...guidance to his little sister. Yeah, thing about Mekt is, he's always had a strange obsession with his little sister, trying to get her to join him in the criminal life. He was a single birth in a world of twins, so maybe that's why. Who knows, he's nuts.

Anyway, the Ranzz brothers brawl and toss lightning all over the satellite.

During the fight, Mekt blows open the airlock, causing the brothers to end up drifting into space. Transparent spacesuits prevent the brothers from dying of exposure to space, but they ended up knocked silly. Out colder than an ice cube in the Arctic.

Elsewhere, we turn to Daxam, which is being repaired after its people were dominated by Darkseid during the Great Darkness Saga. Yeah, during that whole thing, Darkseid made them literally make the planet into a big old statue of his head.

The repairs are being aided by the UP. A group of Legionnaires are also visiting, presumably to check up on things. Mon-El (who is of Daxam himself), has dialogue that implies that the UP has done all this security simply because they are Daxamites. Wildfire comes in, alerting them of news from Earth. However, thanks to her precognitive powers, Nura Nal/Dream Girl is already aware of the news: Val Armorr/Karate Kid and Princess Projectra are getting married. 

I can only see their marriage being a rather long and happy one, filled with many good times and possibly children. She also notes that Lightning Lord is attacking the headquarters, as seen earlier. She doesn't know how it'll go, but she's confident the Legionnaires on Earth can handle it. Besides, she has more important things to worry about: another one of her nails is broken. 

Let's switch scenes again, shall we? We next go to the headquarters of the Science Police on Earth. Officer GiGi Cusimano is returning a file she "borrowed" (part of the storyline with Schvaughn and Element Lad), but she got busted.

With that out of the way, the brawl between Mekt and the Legionnaires continues on. Garth engages his mad elder brother and wins...with a bit of aid from his beloved wife Saturn Girl.

"You have been awake for six days straight, Mekt. TAKE A NAP."

Timber Wolf asks where Ayla went. Garth reveals that she never told him, nor has he heard from her since. He's never brought it up because he wanted to give her the peace and quiet that she deserved. Basically, Mekt's little quest...was all for nothing.

Back to Weber's World! The team of Legionnaires there prepares to leave, but the story ends with them getting blasted by the Emerald Eye of Ekron.

I enjoyed this issue. This is one of those issues that is really read best when you read it as part of reading a whole storyline. This is not a bad thing, nor does it mean that this comic wasn't an enjoyable read. It's just the nature of comic serialized storytelling. Youl'll encounter issues like this a lot, especially with a very long run. We do get plenty of storylines touched on, but it makes a lot of sense when you keep in mind just how many members there are in the Legion. It makes sense that a lot of them would have their own things going on. 

The "main story" of the comic is the conflict between Mekt and Garth, two brothers who were both given incredible electrical power, but ended up going on different paths. This story does make Mekt come off as a bit one-dimensional, but the nature of superhero comics is that more often than not, the heroic characters get the lion's share of the spotlight. On a plus note, I got a bit of a chuckle out of some moments of this comic, like Dream Girl worrying about her nails. 

As for Keith Giffen's art, we're starting to see it further evolve into his more recognizable style.

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2014 trade paperback Legion of Super-Heroes: The Curse. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!