SUPERBOY and the LEGION of SUPER-HEROES #208 - The Future NOW!

I bought this pretty nice copy for $8

As a young teenager, the Legion of Super-Heroes was one DC group I actually liked, thanks at first to Dave Cockrum and then a little bit to Mike Grell. This is Grell in the early stages of his career, and he did some pretty cool stuff, but looking back now, you can certainly see he was a new talent immediately thrust into the spotlight.

(SUPERBOY and the LEGION of SUPER-HEROES #208 - cover-dated April 1975, on newsstands January 9th, 1975 with cover art by Mike Grell)

I'm a lot more familiar with the Marvel Twinkie Ads than I am the DC ones, as I read a lot DC Comics back in the day, so it's kinda cool to read some of these for the first time. A perfect presentation of mainstream Batman and Robin.

(SUPERBOY and the LEGION of SUPER-HEROES #208 - cover-dated April 1975, on newsstands January 9th, 1975 with art by...)

It seems Saturn girl was always the Alpha Female of the LSHs, and in the late mid-70's they tried to give her a more sexy appearance, I guess to increase her popularity. I'm far from a prude, but her look just seems to be trying too hard. "Please like me!" 

It never worked. I guess the idea of a female that can read your mind just is a bit too scary for most men!

(SUPERBOY and the LEGION of SUPER-HEROES #208 - cover-dated April 1975, on newsstands January 9th, 1975 with art by Mike Grell)

The Legion of Super VILLIANS started as a lazy writing exercise (Cosmic King, Lightning Lord and Saturn Queen), kind of the adult, evil versions of the original three charter members of the LSH, but over the years morphed into something more interesting. I guess. I liked the Fatal Five much better.

(SUPERBOY and the LEGION of SUPER-HEROES #208 - cover-dated April 1975, on newsstands January 9th, 1975 with art by Mike Grell)

Grell really was starting to step up his action splashes here, though that's a view of Star Boy I can do without. Camera angle, depth of perception, perspective (mostly)... he went all out here! As a fan of Martial Arts movies, I thought Karate Kid was kinda cool. 

(SUPERBOY and the LEGION of SUPER-HEROES #208 - cover-dated April 1975, on newsstands January 9th, 1975 with art by Mike Grell)

If any team needed a scorecard, it was the LSH! They even had a huge list of SUBSTITUTE Heroes!

(SUPERBOY and the LEGION of SUPER-HEROES #208 - cover-dated April 1975, on newsstands January 9th, 1975 with art by Curt Swan)

Two pretty decent reprints included in this 80 page Giant, in the first Lana tries to prove Superboy is really Clark Kent. Lana's Dad uses shame, humiliation, and name-calling to try and talk sense into his daughter. When that doesn't work...

(SUPERBOY and the LEGION of SUPER-HEROES #208 - cover-dated April 1975, on newsstands January 9th, 1975. It's reprinted from SUPERBOY #93, which was cover dated December 1961, on newsstands October 5th, 1961 with art by George Papp)

He... uh, dude... that's kinda creepy.

(SUPERBOY and the LEGION of SUPER-HEROES #208 - cover-dated April 1975, on newsstands January 9th, 1975. It's reprinted from SUPERBOY #93, which was cover dated December 1961, on newsstands October 5th, 1961 with art by George Papp)

If I'd have been a 7 year old and discovered the Legion of Super-heroes, I might've thought this stuff was ok, but as a fairly well-read teenager, I was just perplexed at the idea of 'Super Pets'!

(SUPERBOY and the LEGION of SUPER-HEROES #208 - cover-dated April 1975, on newsstands January 9th, 1975. It's reprinted from ADVENTURE COMICS #343, which was cover dated April 1966, on newsstands February 24th, 1966 with art by Curt Swan and George Klien)