PopSyndicate.com

Legion of Super Heroes: Vol. 3 finishes off the first season with a bang.

To catch everybody up, Legion of Super Heroes tells the story of super-powered teens in the 31st century.  A young Superman, brought from the 21st century, joins their ranks and helps them to keep the United Planets safe from threats.  Some threats are political, while some are more your standard super villain fare.  The Legion takes on new members and faces every threat with ever-growing numbers, becoming a force for justice in the dangerous future they live in.

History lesson: The current cartoon series has roots in DC Comics, where the Legion of Super Heroes first appeared in 1958’s “Adventure Comics” (starring Superboy).  The Legion kept showing up with Superboy, and eventually became a featured story in “Adventure Comics”.  By the 1970’s, the “Superboy” title became “Superboy and the Legion of Super Heroes”.  At the beginning of the ‘80’s, the title became “The Legion of Super Heroes” and has had reincarnation after reincarnation that continues on through this day.  It is one of the most popular and long-running super hero franchise, and the cartoon pays homage to (and reinvents) the legacy that spawned it.

The main cast consists of Superman, Lightning Lad (electrically super-charged), Saturn Girl (a powerful telepath), Bouncing Boy (name kind of says it all), Triplicate Girl (can split into three people), Phantom Girl (passes through solid objects), and Braniac 5 (descendent of Superman villain Braniac).  In the five adventures on in Vol. 3, other heroes appear with varying degrees of screen time.  Some notables are Timber Wolf (a wolf man), Shrinking Violet (can shrink herself), the tragic Ferro Lad (turns to living iron), and my all-time favorite Matter-Eater Lad (he can and does eat everything and still keeps his boyish figure).

These episodes have the team going up against Starfinger (who is voiced beautifully as a Euro-trash kind of guy by actor Taylor Negron and who has a different power in each finger), Zyx (a magical misfit from the Sorcerer’s World), a Controller (extra-dimensional judge and jury), and one of the biggest threats from the Legion’s long history known as a Sun Eater.  The Legion kids even have to team up with their nemeses the Fatal Five (consisting of the Emerald Empress, Tharok, Mano, Validus, and the Persuader) for the two-part season finale. 

The first episode introduces the cartoon’s version of the Legion of Substitute Heroes, a group of heroes with odd and mostly useless powers.  The line up is Chlorophyll Kid (makes plants grow but can’t control them), Stone Boy (turns to inanimate rock), Color Kid (can change the color of any object), Porcupine Pete (covered in quills that he can project but can’t aim), and Infectious Lass (generates infectious diseases, but also has control and aiming issues).  Their portrayal is hysterical.  From having Infectious Lass have a stuffed nose when she speaks, to Stone Boy who remains stony and quiet, to the flamboyant Color Kid…just a great job all around.  It’s even that much more impressive when they help save the day.

An odd hint of the future of the series can be seen in the cover art, which has a shadowy figure in the background.  The haircut, lack of cape, and big “S” insignia on his chest indicates he is the Superman from the 41st century who doesn’t appear in these episodes or in the first season at all, but is the main driving force of the second season.  Another oddity is the episodes themselves.  For some reason I’m not aware of, the episodes on the disc (and the previous Vol. 2) are shown somewhat out of their airdate order.  Luckily, this doesn’t seem to effect the pacing of the show at all.

Bare bones bonuses on this one.  Trailers for It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown & You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown Deluxe Editions, Smurfs: Season 1, Vol. 2, and Ben 10: Season 4 are it.  Some behind the scenes features or a trailer for Legion of Super Heroes: Season 2 would have been nice, but alas it was not meant to be.

Some other traditions from the Legion’s past get leaked into these episodes.  Holding auditions for new members, having elections for group leader, romance, in fighting, and more.  The show creators did the right thing and realized the core elements that have allowed the Legion to survive for 50 years needed to be present in this adaptation.  The result is a great cartoon for longtime fans and new inductees alike.  I can’t wait for more!

4