Legion of Super-heroes Archives

Book excerpt: The 12th volume of the Legion of Super-Heroes' DC Archives series finds the 30th-century team still in a period of transition after being resurrected in the back pages of Superboy. Issues 213-223 of Superboy pit the Legion against some arch foes (the Time Trapper, a regrettably touchy-feely Fatal Five) as well as other random bad guys who only stand a chance against this mob of heroes by somehow turning their powers against them. The stories (usually a longer story balanced by a shorter "character" story focusing on a Legionnaire or two) are rather minor even despite the return of LSH legendary writer Jim Shooter, but a couple of the highlights are "The Charge of the Doomed Legionnaires, " in which Braniac 5 tries to outwit a Khund general, and "The Trillion-Dollar Trophies, " featuring Grimbor and the irresistible Charma. Mike Grell gets to show off his flashy artwork through the beauty of Charma and of a strange woman Superboy rescues from the path of a magnetic train. Also in this period was the introduction of Tyroc and the launch of Karate Kid's short-lived (15 issues) solo series, the first issue of which is included in this volume.--Amazon.com