The Legion of Superheroes: An Eye for an Eye by Paull Levitz, Keith Giffen, Steve Lightle and Joe Orlando

The Legion of Superheroes is a team of Superheroes from the 30th Century that protects the various planets and peoples that make up the United Federation of Planets. Recently, the Legion lost two of their own to marriage: Val Armorr, known as Karate Kid, and Princess Projectra of the Planet Orando.

But when they return to Orando to see to their people, they are attacked and imprisoned by Nemesis Kid, the Leader of the New Legion of Supervillains. He is reforming the LSV to take down the Legion, and has recruited not only many of the past members, but new ones like Hunter, Olvir, Silver Slasher, and Zymyrr.

The Legion battles against the new Supervillains, but seems unable to truly defeat them, as the minute the heroes start gaining the upper hand, the villains manage to disappear into strange vortices. And meanwhile, Ayla Ranzz, the former Legionnaire known as Lightning Lass and then Light Lass, is kidnapped from her home planet by her insane brother, Mekt, who hopes of coaxing her to his own side, against the power of their own brother, Garth Ranzz, also known as Lightning Lad. But she refuses, and suffers under Mekt's power.

As the Legion bands together to try and figure out what the LSV wants, the Villains strike back, defeating and kidnapping some members of the Legion, who they plan to sell on the open market. Meanwhile, they take the parts they have been stealing and construct a device that allows them to steal Orando from the universe, taking it elsewhere to become their Headquarters. If they are in another plane of existence, they cannot be tracked or brought to justice.

But the villains haven't counted on the heroism of Light Lass or Karate Kid, both of whom free themselves and go to war on the villains. And even though Nemesis Kid can defeat anyone or anything with his powers, is he up to defeating the enraged Master of the Martial arts and his Royal Wife? Or will the outcome favor the LSV over the Legion?

I remember getting into the Legion of Superheroes only a little bit before this story ran, and with a name like "An Eye for an Eye", I was thinking it was going to involve the Emerald Empress, a female Supervillain with an "Eye" related theme. But instead, the book takes the most literal meaning of the story. This book is mainly about vengeance- the LSV wants to take it on the Legion, and many of the plots in the book are about past foes taking revenge for their losses or about the retribution dealt to the villains for their evil deeds.

Without giving anything away, I have to say that this story counts as one of the saddest in Legion history. So much happens, and yet the story is easy to follow. At every step, you know what is happening, if not why, and even the why becomes clear in time. So many threads and stories blend in this book that it could have been hard to sort out, but it never happens.

This is an exciting story, if a sad one, and shows the excitement that the Legion of Superheroes had to give to the comic world. Even if many characters seem like occasional retreads of Marvel characters or as "Super-racism" characters, I still was able to find a fond smile from reading this book, and I enjoyed it immensely. Highly recommended.