The Legion of Superheroes Archives, Volume 2, by Various

This volume contains another 13 early stories about the Legion of Superheroes.

"The Legion of Substitute Heroes" introduces a new hero trying out to become a member of the Legion. But Polar Lad is rejected, and meets up with similar rejected heroes: Night Lass, Chlorophyll Kid, Stone Boy, and Fire Lad decide to band together and become the Legion of Substitute Heroes and fight crime when the Legion is away. But can they succeed when the Legion has deemed them useless?

"The Secret Power of the Mystery Superhero" introduces a new hero who cannot reveal his power, and the Space Pirate Roxxas, who killed the hero's entire planet. But can Jan Arrah bring the fearsome pirate to justice and make him pay for his crimes? Or will he succumb to his own powers?

In "The Return of Lightning Lad", the heroes are seeking a way to bring back Lightning Lad, who died to save the planet and Saturn Girl. But is this new Lightning Lad real, or a duplicate? Who is the person imitating Lightning Lad?

"The Legion of Super Monsters" and "The Legion's Super Showdown" has a rejected Legion Applicant turning bad and creating his own Legion, of Super-monsters! Can the Legion overcome the powers of Jungle King and his monsters? Or will he fall prey to his own arrogance and pride?

"The Doom of the Superheroes" and "Last Stand of the Legion" introduces a doll-sized supervillain who can emulate the powers of any member of the Legion. Slowly, he begins taking them out, one by one. Who is he? And can the Legion overcome his incredible powers?

"The War Between the Substitute Heroes and the Legionnaires" and "Duel of the Legions" has the Legion declaring war on their Substitutes and seeking to wipe them out. But is this a thing the real Legion would do?

"The Super Sacrifice of the Legionnaires" and "The Bravest Legionnaire" has the Legion once again looking to bring back Lightning Lad. But when Mon-El Claims that the method he researched won't work, Saturn Girl knows he is lying. But soon, the Legion finds out the truth- the only way for it to work is for one of them to sacrifice his or her life for Lightning Lad! But who will do it?

"The World of Doomed Olsons" has Jimmy being kidnapped by a being from the Future named "The Collector", who strands Jimmy on a planet with copies of himself and the many super-beings he can become. Jimmy summons Superman to save him, but when the Collector says he will destroy the Earth if Superman frees Jimmy, can Jimmy find his own way out of his predicament?

"The Condemned Legionnaires" and "The Secret of Satan Girl" have the female Legionnaires falling victim to a virus that weakens them and turns their skin bright crimson, the Legion asks Supergirl for help. But can she overcome Satan Girl, a woman as powerful as she is- who is immune to Kryptonite? Who is Satan girl?

"Supervillains of all Ages" and "The Civil War of the Legion" introduces Alaktor, whose Super-inventions have him rejected from the Legion. But he wants to take the Legion down, and he plans to put the three worst villains of the past into the bodies of the three strongest Legionnaires: Superboy, Mon-El and Ultra Boy. Into them, he puts the brains of Nero, Hitler and John Dillinger. Can the collective Power of the Legion overcome their strongest members and return their minds to them?

In "The Legionnaires' Super Contest" and "Winner of the Super-Tests", the Legion decides to offer Legion Membership to one member of the Substitute Legion. To determine who wins, each will have to perform a test. But who will be the winner, and how can they ever leave their comrades behind?

"The Renegade Superhero" And "The End of a Super-Traitor" have a discovery that Ultra Boy is a former outlaw. When the Legion kicks him out for his criminal record, Ultra Boy declares war against the Legion. The only one who doesn't believe that he is bad is Phantom Girl. But can she reform him, or is he too bad to save?

"The Menace of Dream Girl" and "The Doom of the Legion" introduce Nura Nal of Naltor, a world of precognitives. She wants to join the Legion, and uses her powers to discover a threat to the people of the Universe. The Legion is able to defeat it, but after she becomes a member, she goes wild, using the Constitution to have members of the Legion expelled, and even takes away Lightning Lass's powers with a trick. But is she a friend of the Legion, or a foe?

More stories from the beginning of the Legion, and every one of them interesting. A lot of them deal with heroes who seem to be villains or villains who turn the heroes powers against them, but there is enough variety in the stories for this not to become a real theme- and while the Legion sometimes seems most afflicted from within, not without, there are enough stories about other villains to not make it overdone.

And... is it just me or are some of the "jokes" the Legion plays on its own members and others kinda mean-spirited? It certainly wasn't limited to the Legion- see the website called "Superman is a Dick" to see the kind of "Jokes" or "All in Fun" kind of misleading I am talking about. Maybe I have the wrong sense of humor, but I'd expect some kind of apology for the stuff they pull- and on poor Jimmy olson no less! Not quite superheroic, if you ask me.

But that's only one story out of the rest, and thankfully, most of the other stories have the Legion being much nicer and less "joking". They never fall to the kind of college student pranks and silliness- at least not again in this volume! But as one story out of many. I can forgive it. Recommended.