It Came From the Back Issue Box: Legion of Super-Heroes 16

In anticipation of Supergirl's major part in Final Crisis #6, which is a long 3 months away, I am continuing my review of her role and appearances in Crisis on Infinite Earths and related issues.

While not emblazoned with an official Crisis On Infinite Earths Cross-Over banner, Legion of Super-Heroes #16 is often put on lists of issues pertaining to COIE. It is written by the Legion legend Paul Levitz and drawn by Steve Lightle and Bob Smith.

I always wonder why it didn't merit the official cross-over banner. As is wonderfully rendered on the Lightle cover, this issue mostly tells the story of Brainiac 5 dealing with Supergirl's death in the Crisis. I really think this is a great cover showing Brainiac's overwhelming grief. And the depiction of Supergirl at her moment of death on the cover is powerful and shocking.

The issue opens with Brainiac openly grieving Kara's death in his lab, replaying footage of her death over and over. Indeed, the panel above, a copy of a COIE #7 panel, is the only panel in this issue in which Supergirl appears. It seems as though Supergirl's death in the Crisis is a historical fact in the future, and this night represents the thousand year anniversary of her murder at the hands of the Anti-Monitor. This explains why Brainiac 5 is so grief-stricken now.

Brainiac 5's friends Rond Vidar and Chronarch try to help him with his grief but it is of no use. Brainiac tells them how despite knowing she was someone from the past, despite knowing when and where she would die, he still went to great lengths to meet her and love her, even inventing Time Bubbles to do so. But he knew he could not change destiny and so watched her go to her death.

This struck me as a little odd ... his knowing all this. I thought part of the mystique of the Crisis was that it was happening throughout all time at the same time. This is why Anthro and the Legion are shown facing the same anti-matter walls sweeping over Earth as current heroes are. As such, I would think that knowledge of its outcome would be unknown, as if history itself was in flux or being re-written (which of course it was). Still, despite knowing all this, Brainiac 5 is one sad Coluan! And for a super-intelligent android who already has had major psychological breakdowns in his past, that is a bad thing.

Now that is not the only storyline in the issue. The other storyline involves the newly added Legion rookies: Polar Boy, Magnetic Kid, Tellus, Quislet, and the mysterious Sensor Girl. They are the only Legionnaires minding Earth while the rest are off celebrating the baptism of Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl's baby boy Graym. Of course, the rookies are called into action when terrorists begin bombing places in the city including a techno-park. This part of the issue is rather pedestrian ... straight forward comics fare.

Sensor Girl's identity at this point was a mystery, although it was hinted at that maybe it was Kara behind the mask. Her powers remained vague enough throughout many of her first adventures to make it possible. The 'Who is Sensor Girl' mystery lasted about a year and was entertaining as readers tried to guess her true identity. Even Legion characters were in the dark and they started stating their guesses in future issues. Indeed, at one point while in the depths of his depression, Brainiac begins scheming on how to prove that Sensor Girl is Kara. He teeters on the edge of insanity at that point.

But for now, he is in the early stages of grief. He continues to talk about how brief his time with Kara was. He has some drinks with friends.

He even contemplates going back in time and try to change history and save her, knowing the resulting ramifications could destroy himself ... even the universe itself. In the end, he knows he can't do that ... and brands himself a coward for doing the right thing. In some ways it echoes the current 'Saving Thomas' storyline, showing a hero desperate enough to save someone no matter the cost.

While it is clear that Brainiac is deeply saddened by the loss of Kara, some of his dialogue come off just a bit eerie here. His lines tend to be maudlin and over-the-top. These could be the lines spoken by a lover with a history of descending into madness. Or they could be the lines of an obsessed fan who has become a stalker. In any case, they felt right coming from his character, so addled with sadness.

In the meantime, Sensor Girl keeps acting just enough like Supergirl to keep people guessing. Here she helps the new Legionnaires defeat a bunch of brainwashed Science Police officers who were behind the bombings. As for who she turns out to be .... 2 decade old SPOILER ALERT ... in the end Sensor Girl is Princess Projectra.

While Supergirl barely appears in this issue, she clearly is the dynamic behind the happenings here. The concept of grief is not usually covered in comics, what with characters dying all the time. I like the fact that we actually got to see Brainiac's response to the death of Supergirl in such a lengthy way, that we got to see how much her passing impacted his every day life. All too often we don't see this in comics. We certainly didn't see this much of a reaction to her death in the Superman titles. We didn't see any reaction like this to Barry Allen's death. So I thought this was a touching cap-stone to Supergirl's comic career, one last eulogy to Kara. For fans of Supergirl, it would be a nice issue to have in a collection, a sympathy card in four colors.

I think comics do a better job of showing characters reacting to loss now. From Funeral to a Friend during the Death of Superman storyline to the recent Final Crisis:Requiem we at least see some scenes of super-heroes having to deal with grief.

Overall grade: B