This pocket-sized paperback from 1977 reprints 4 Superboy & Legion of Superheroes tales. The first tale is a straight-on Superboy story from the mid-70s, in which the superpowered youth discovers a capsule containing the bodies of his Kryptonian parents Jor-El and Lara. However, Superboy cannot rescue them as their vessel is encrusted with deadly Kryptonite. Added to the danger, a rogue scientist from Kal-El's birthplace has rigged nearby asteroids to exploded should Superboy use his powers. You know, for doomed planet in which Superman was originally the only survivor, a whole lot of Kryptonians slipped through the cracks of that tragedy!
The next story is taken from the late sixties. It Involves Superboy bringing his girlfriend Lana Lang with him to the future to meet the Legion of Superheroes. Lana at this time had a way to become a superhero called the Insect Queen and it's her hope that the Legion will make her a member. But when it is discovered that her powers are not natural, they reject her. Can she convince them that she has what is takes or will a prophecy from a Legionnaire with clairvoyant powers spell Lana Lang's doom?
Story #3 stars only the Legion. Saturn Girl ana Princess Projecta are called upon to recapture a dangerous fugitive. When the villain escapes them, he also causes the heroes to pass out. When revived, none of their fellow Legion seem to know who they are and treat them as villains. Even more mysterious are two new Legionnaires named Saturn Lad and Prince Projecto! Are these male counterparts behind the Princess and Saturn Girl's mistaken identity or is there a more sinister plot lurking in the background?
Lastly, in perhaps the best story of the four, is a tale that spans the past, present, and future. In medieval England, Superboy battles a wizard who seeks to use a powerful stone to kill Superboy and then conquer the world. After Superboy defeats the mage, he throws the rock into the stratosphere where it goes into orbit for two thousand years. The rock winds up in the hands of the Legionnaire Chameleon Boy. Possessed by the stone, Cam is compelled to complete the wizard's goal of killing the Boy of Steel as he travels to 1970s Smallville to finish the job!
The second and last story were really any good. They were entertaining, fun, and didn't seem to treat the reader like they were stupid. The first adventure ended in such a way that the reader is lead to beleive that none of it even happened. And the ending to the tale with the forgotten Legionnaires was such a cop-out and it had a really stupid solution to it. I was not impressed!
This reprint collection is rare and by many collectors, it's considered a holy grail. Actually, any pocket-sized treasury like this from DC or Marvel is held in high regard amongst collectors and fans of Silver and Bronze Age comics., I being one of them! But, they look nowhere near what they originally did when they hit newsstands. This type of book is reprinted in black and white, edited down in order to fit the smaller format, and they rarely give credit to the writers, artists, and editors behind these vintage yarns.
Yet, those same collectors who adore these collections often tend to hate their modern counterparts (DC Showcase Presents and Marvel Essentials!) This is ridiculous. Both vintage and modern collections are in black and white. Both don't always give credit where it is due and both are edited for format reasons. Yet, the modern collections only remove ads, letter pages, and stories that don't star the theme character. Plus, the modern books boast bigger pages and for only $20 you get about 25 stories in DC Showcase and Essentials!
So why all the hate? I love both versions of the reprints and I REALLY love the modern treasuries as they are a darn good deal. I think a blindness to nostalgia is behind the hatred.
If you are looking to get a bunch of reprints for a good price search out Essentials and DC Showcase. I'm not trying to dissuade you from books such as this one that I am reviewing. But due to rarity, they are often very expensive and since they are scarce, they are really hard to find unless you are willing to look and look.
Collections like these are beautiful discoveries when you can locate them. And like everything beautiful, it's in the eye of the beholder. But this is one of the weaker collections I have been fortunate to come across in my nearly 40 years of comic collecting.
Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.
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