Sorry, your princess is in...excruciating pain!

A downside to my blogging technique is that I sometimes pick up a bunch of issues of a particular title at once, but I don't want to blog them all at once, right? Which sometimes leads to me not reading half of, or even any, of said bunch! For example, I picked up a bunch of Legion and a Showcase volume, and I still have most of them unread. Somehow I think I thought I had just done a bunch of Legion posts; which I'm not sure was actually the case, but whatever. Here's one I thought we'd hit before, but now's as good a time as any: from 1975, Superboy (starring the Legion of Super-Heroes) #209, "Who Can Save the Princess?" Written by Jim Shooter, art by Mike Grell.

Princess Projectra nearly plows a Legion cruiser right into headquarters, stopped only by Timber Wolf and some quick lasso work; but while he and Karate Kid would've probably written that off to women drivers, it's worse than that. She collapses, and Brainiac 5 makes a remote diagnosis: she had contracted the dreaded "pain plague." While the fever it caused wasn't fatal, it did cause six hours of blinding pain that did kill; but Brainy talks them through a treatment: Projectra had already suffered through two hours, and if T-Wolf, Karate Kid, and Saturn Girl can each take an hour of her pain, Superboy would be back on earth in time to cover the last hour. Seems reasonable enough, but the flaw becomes apparent, as T-Wolf goes berserk.

After subduing T-Wolf (and changing to his new costume going forward!) Karate Kid suggests he could take two hours, since the pain was getting worse each hour. Saturn Girl is unwilling to let him risk himself, but her mental powers could be a problem: she could turn on him, Projectra, anyone. She has to be bound and gagged in an anti-telepathy helmet for her hour; which kind of feels like a fetish for someone. Superboy arrives after Karate Kid had taken his hour, in stoic meditation; but Superboy realizes, his invulnerability is protecting him, and he can't take Projectra's pain. As Superboy scrambles to try and find a fix, Karate Kid drags himself to try and save his love by sacrificing himself for the last hour, but is stopped by the sudden return of reserve member Duo Damsel! Who then attacks herself, forcing Superboy to keep them separated for an hour. (DD had a crush on Superboy that didn't pan out, so she was probably okay with that one!)

Also this issue: "Hero For a Day" Written by Cary Bates, art by Mike Grell. Young Flynt Brojj was the number-one fundraiser for the U.P. charity drive, and wins a day with the Legion. And what better place to start the tour than...the mailroom, basically. Just in time for some joker to ship them a dreaded "witch-wolf!" The witch-wolf gave off "an invisible poisonous radiation" that turned someone's greatest ability against them, and it downs Cosmic Boy, Wildfire, and Shrinking Violet as they try to teleport it away. Luckily, Flynt has realized something: after his borrowed Legion flight ring fell off, he couldn't see the witch-wolf anymore. It was a trick of hypnosis, transmitted through the rings. Seems like that's something the team'd need to follow up on, but nah, Flynt gets his moment of glory, and that's good enough.

Also also this issue: a USPS statement of ownership. Average number of copies sold during preceding 12 months (total paid circulation): 225,427. Actual number sold for issue nearest filing date (total paid circulation): 260,480.