1076 - Adventure Comics 356 - The War of the Legions!

Index Number – 1076 - 1.0
Issue – Adventure Comics 355
Cover Date – April 1967
Title – The War of the Legions!
Characters – Brainiac 5, Cosmic Man, Element Man, Lex Luthor, Lightning Man, Mr. Mxyzptlk, Polar Man, Saturn Woman, Superman
Introduction – Lex Luthor, Mr. Mxyzptlk
Villain - Legion of Super-Villains- Beauty Blaze, Cosmic King, Echo, Lightning Lord, Saturn Queen
Synopsis – Having failed in their attempt to destroy the Legion with Douglas Nolan, the Legion of Super Villains take the direct approach. They would have won if not for the timely intervention of the similarly-named descendents of Lex Luthor and Mr. Mxyzlptlk, who are given Legion membership.
Writer – Jim Shooter
Artist – Jim Shooter, Curt Swan / George Klein
Cover – Curt Swan / George Klein
Editor – Mort Weisinger
Reprinted – Legion of Super-Heroes Archive 6 – 1996
Showcase Presents the Legion of Super-Heroes 3 – 2009
Legion of Super-Heroes - 1,050 Years of the Future - 2008
The DC Comics Classic Library – The Legion of Super Heroes – The Life and Death of Ferro Lad - 2009
Comments – Paul Levitz has recently been quoted saying that he enjoys working on the Legion because it is set in the future and he doesn’t have to get involved in the rest of the present-day DC universe. Not so in the Weisinger era. Mort Weisinger edited all of the Superman books, and liked to have characters cross over from book to book. That explains the frequent appearances of Jimmy Olsen, Lana Lang, Lois Lane, and even Lex Luthor’s and Mr. Mxyzpltk’s multi-great-grandsons.

1075 - Adventure Comics 354 - The Adult Legion!

Index Number – 1075 - 1.0
Issue – Adventure Comics 354
Cover Date – March 1967
Title – The Adult Legion!
Characters – Gim Allon, Brainiac 5, Cosmic Man, Element Man, Nura Nal Kallor, Thom Kallor, Tenzil Kem, Lydda Jath Krinn, Lightning Man, Ayla Ranzz Londo, Mon-El, Tinya Wazzo Nah, Polar Man, Old Qelo, Salu Digby Qelu, Saturn Woman, Superman, Chuck Taine, Luornu Durgo Taine, Timber Wolf, Ultra Man
Introduction – Douglas Nolan
Villain – Legion of Super Villains – Cosmic King, Lightning Lord, Saturn Queen
Synopsis – Superman is summoned to a time period when his Legion friends are adults. After some sightseeing, he help them capture a mysterious attacker – Ferro Lad’s twin brother.
Writer – Jim Shooter
Artist – Jim Shooter, Curt Swan / George Klein
Cover – Curt Swan / George Klein
Editor – Mort Weisinger
Reprinted – Legion of Super-Heroes Archive 6 – 1996
Showcase Presents the Legion of Super-Heroes 3 – 2009
Legion of Super-Heroes: 1,050 Years of the Future - 2008
The DC Comics Classic Library – The Legion of Super Heroes – The Life and Death of Ferro Lad - 2009
Comments – The Trouble with Time Travel: Marriages and deaths are prefigured to the eternal anguish of continuity hounds everywhere. Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl and Ultra Boy, Light Lass and Timber Wolf, Night Girl and Cosmic Mon, Duo Damsel and Bouncing Boy, Shrinking Violet and Duplicate Boy are all married, In addition to Ferro Lad, future Legionnaires, Chemical King, Reflecto, Quantum Queen and Shadow Lass are shown to have died in battle. The Curse of Male Pattern Baldness – Cosmic Man, it’s called Rogaine! The Ferro Lad Effect – One issue after dying, Ferro Lad makes his first post-mortem appearance.

1074 - Adventure Comics 353 - The Doomed Legionnaire!

Index Number – 1074 - 1.0
Issue – Adventure Comics 353
Cover Date – February 1967
Title – The Doomed Legionnaire!
Characters – Cosmic Boy, Ferro Lad, Princess Projectra, Sun Boy, Superboy
Villain - Fatal Five - Emerald Empress, Mano, Persuader, Tharok, Validus
Synopsis – The Legion and the Fatal Five unite to save Earth, but Ferro Lad sacrifices his life to deliver the death blow to the sun eater.
Writer – Jim Shooter
Artist – Jim Shooter, Curt Swan / George Klein
Cover – Curt Swan / George Klein
Editor – Mort Weisinger
Reprinted – Legion of Super-Heroes Archive 6 – 1996
Showcase Presents the Legion of Super-Heroes 3 – 2009
The DC Comics Classic Library – The Legion of Super Heroes – The Life and Death of Ferro Lad - 2009
Comments – Over the years, I have never seen any interview with Shooter or any other staff member that confirms that Ferro Lad was introduced in Adventure 346 just to be killed seven issues later. His death was even foretold by the Hag in Adventure 350. But don’t be sad, Ferro Lad will maintain a long lasting presence in Legion lore for many years.

1073 - Adventure Comics 352 - The Fatal Five!

Index Number – 1073 -1.0
Issue – Adventure Comics 352
Cover Date – January 1967
Title – The Fatal Five!
Characters – Cosmic Boy, Ferro Lad, Princess Projectra, Sun Boy, Superboy
Villains - Fatal Five - Emerald Empress, Mano, Persuader, Tharok, Validus
Synopsis – The Legionnaires gather together the five worst villains in the universe to battle a sun-eater.
Writer – Jim Shooter
Artist – Jim Shooter, Curt Swan / George Klein
Cover – Curt Swan / George Klein
Editor – Mort Weisinger
Reprinted – Legion of Super-Heroes Archive 5 – 1994
Showcase Presents the Legion of Super-Heroes 3 - 2009
Comments – This two-parter is the template for the best epic “team book” stories, where the different abilities of the heroes are combined in a Rube Goldberg type plan to overcome a seemingly unbeatable adversary.

1072 - Adventure Comics 351 - The Forgotten Legion!

Index Number – 1072 - 1.0
Issue – Adventure Comics 351
Cover Date – December 1966
Title – The Forgotten Legion!
Characters – Bouncing Boy, Brainiac 5, Chlorophyll Kid, Color Kid, Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, Dream Girl, Element Lad, Ferro Lad, Fire Lad, Invisible Kid, Karate Kid, Lightning Lad, Matter-Eater Lad, Mon-El, Night Girl, Phantom Girl, Polar Boy, Princess Projectra, Saturn Girl, Shrinking Violet, Star Boy, Stone Boy, Superboy, Supergirl, Ultra Boy, White Witch
Introduction - White Witch (Mysa Nal)
Villain – Prince Evillo, Sugyn, Wild Huntsman
Synopsis – Miss Terious uses a spell to transform her system from the Hag to the White Witch, who then helps the Legion defeat Evillo. The two newcomers are revealed as Dream Girl and Star Boy, who are welcomed back in spite of their violations of the sacred Legion Code. And Bouncing Boy and Matter-Eater Lad switch body types.
Writer – E. Nelson Bridwell
Artist – Curt Swan / George Klein
Cover – Curt Swan / George Klein
Editor – Mort Weisinger
Reprinted – Legion of Super-Heroes Archive 5 – 1994
Showcase Presents the Legion of Super-Heroes 3 - 2009
Comments – Color Kid changes the green kryptonite cloud to blue, allowing Superboy and Supergirl to rejoin, making himself the greatest super-hero of all time. Note the fill-in writer. E. Nelson Bridwell will become a Legion writer of great renown.

1021 - Adventure Comics 350 - The Outcast Super Heroes!

Index Number – 1071 - 1.0
Issue – Adventure Comics 350
Cover Date – November 1966
Title – The Outcast Super Heroes
Characters – Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, Duo Damsel, Element Lad, Invisible Kid, Karate Kid, Light Lass, Matter-Eater Lad, Mon-El, Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl, Shrinking Violet, Sun Boy, Superboy, Supergirl, Ultra Boy
Villain – Evillo, Apollo, the Hag, Sugyn, the Wild Huntsman
Synopsis – When a green kryptonite cloud encircles the Earth, Superboy and Supergirl are forced to resign. Their replacements, Sir Prize and Miss Terious, mysteriously and surprisingly help battle Evillo and the other four members of the Devil’s Dozen.
Writer – E. Nelson Bridwell
Artist – Curt Swan / George Klein
Cover – Curt Swan / George Klein
Editor – Mort Weisinger
Reprinted – Legion of Super-Heroes Archive 6 – 1996
Showcase Presents the Legion of Super-Heroes 3 - 2009
Comments – Once again, the Legionnaires induct new members based only on trust, and then immediately begin to mistrust them.

1070 - Adventure Comics 349 - The Rague Legionnaire!

Index Number – 1070 - 1.0
Issue – Adventure Comics 349
Cover Date – October 1966
Title – The Rogue Legionnaire!
Characters – Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Colossal Boy, Shrinking Violet, Saturn Girl, Superboy
Villain - Universo
Synopsis – Universo lures the Legionnaires to moments in Earth’s past to be executed, but they are rescued by his son’s science project.
Writer – Jim Shooter
Artist – Jim Shooter, Curt Swan / George Klein
Cover – Curt Swan / George Klein
Editor – Mort Weisinger
Reprinted – Legion of Super-Heroes Archive 5 – 1994
Showcase Presents the Legion of Super-Heroes 2 - 2008
Comments – In my humble opinion, this is the book in which Shooter, the boy wonder, came into his own as a writer. Each character has a solo adventure with plenty of action (even Saturn Girl). It was only within the last few years that I learned that Shooter drew basic layouts for his scripts, that would be used to prepare the finished art. His first two stories (Adventure 346 and 347) seemed very simplistic in design, but they quickly improved.