1980-1984: LSH v. 2

Finally, the Legion had its own comic: Legion of Super-Heroes (designated "volume 2" to distinguish it from a short-lived reprint series in the 70s). The Legion of Super-Heroes began this period as an absurd, somewhat campy super-hero team, and finished it as a mature, adult series that once again mixed the best of science fiction and modern-day myth. The less said about the storylines of 1980 and 1981's "Dark Man" fiasco, the better. The disappearance of Ultra Boy, and the subsequent arrival of the mysterious Legionnaire called Reflecto, turned into an interminable farrago of time-travel, mistaken identities, and just-plain-silly threats to the world. The turning point, surely, was a storyline which is almost-universally acknowledged as the best Legion saga ever: The Great Darkness in LSH(2) 290 - 294. Also among the exceptional stories were LSH(2) ANNUAL 1's "Monster in a Little Girl's Mind," and the tour-de-force of LSH(2) 300's "The Future is Forever."