Crisis On Infinite Earths #7 Fallout: Legion Of Super-Heroes #38

Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 came out 30 years and two months ago.

In July, I did my best to cover Supergirl's death in that issue, the decision, the issue, and the ramifications of that in the comic world.

I was supposed to put the Crisis behind me but somehow I ended up covering some of the fallout of the issue throughout the rest of the summer.

Today I finally end my coverage of the death of Supergirl from the Crisis by looking at one more nod to her heroism in a universe that was supposed to have forgotten she had existed.

In Legion of Super-Heroes #37 and #38, writer Paul Levitz tried to reconcile Superboy's place in the Legion mythos in the new universe where Superboy never existed. John Byrne wrote the Man of Steel miniseries in the summer of 1986. Shortly thereafter, Byrne created the Time Trapper's 'pocket universe', a place where Superboy existed.

In Legion #38, Superboy turns on the Time Trapper and ends up sacrificing himself to save the world. Despite being a slave of the Trapper, he aids the Legion and dies a hero. It is an interesting story, one of the many somewhat loopy arcs that came out in the immediate aftermath of the Crisis as DC tried to hammer some major continuity issue smooth in the new timeline.

This issue, sporting a wonderfully powerful Bill Sienkiewicz cover, came out in June 1987.

 The inside art was by then-current Legion artist Greg LaRocque. I loved LaRocque's work on this title.

Here is the end scene where Superboy's body is laid to rest and a Superboy statue is placed in the hall of heroes. After all, dupe of the Trapper or not, he was still the team's inspiration and he died to save them all.

But look in the background!

Yep!

That is a statue of Kara in the hall of heroes.

We are two full years away from her death in the Crisis and definitely well into a History of the DC Universe where she didn't exist.

I am sure that this somehow slipped by the DC editors.

But serious kudos to Paul Levitz and Greg LaRocque for slipping her in. She died saving the multiverse. She should be remembered ... honored.

And so ends my 30th anniversary of the Crisis review.

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