Mordru the Merciless
Encyclopedia
"Mordru the Merciless" is a story arc that was published by DC Comics
, and was presented in Adventure Comics
#369-370 (June–July 1968). It was written by Jim Shooter
, pencilled by Curt Swan
and inked by Jack Abel
. The story arc features the first appearance of Mordru
, arguably the most powerful enemy of the Legion of Super-Heroes
.
' headquarters, Superboy
, Duo Damsel, Mon-El
and Shadow Lass
race toward the Time Chamber, in an effort to escape the sorcerer Mordru
, the Dark Lord. A being of near-limitless mystical power, Mordru conquered much of the galaxy until he was imprisoned in an airless steel block by Superboy and Mon-El. He remained locked away at Legion HQ until he was accidentally freed by Shadow Lass, a relatively new member of the team. With his mastery of magic (the one weakness shared by both Superboy and Mon-El) and with all the other Legionnaires seemingly destroyed, the team is forced to retreat. They travel to the 20th century and seek refuge in Superboy's hometown, Smallville.
Duo Damsel and Shadow Lass adopt secret identities which allow them to hide at the homes of Police Chief Parker
and Lana Lang
, while Mon-El stays with the Kents in his old guise as Clark
's cousin Bob Cobb. Soon thereafter Mordru blankets Smallville in a mystical shadow in an effort to locate the Legionnaires. When the shadow touches the town's residents, their minds are possessed by Mordru (although Shadow Lass' powers protects the Legionnaires from being detected). Meanwhile, Duo Damsel cries herself to sleep when Superboy fails to notice her romantic feelings for him.
Mordru attempts to flush the Legionnaires out of hiding by creating a myriad of disasters throughout the town, but the teens recognize that the calamities are illusions and ignore them. After a week passes without Superboy being seen, a group of gangsters tries to seize control of Smallville — but the Legionnaires defeat them in their civilian identities. Later, Lana spies the Legionnaires in costume, which allows Mordru to find them. The teens barely manage to escape a second time. Since the wizard is capable of probing their minds, the Legionnaires resume their civilian guises and use a hypnotic device to erase their own memories of their true identities.
After several weeks have passed, Mordru encases Smallville in an impenetrable shield and lifts the town into orbit above Earth. He then unleashes his 30th century soldiers upon the people of Smallville. The Legionnaires, robbed of their memories, provide no protection. Clark Kent's best friend Pete Ross
, who is fully aware that Clark is Superboy, realizes that the Boy of Steel has forgotten his super-identity. Since both Pete and Lana have auxiliary Legionnaire status, he enlists her aid, but is forced to reveal that Clark is Superboy. The two manage to jog Clark's memory by showing him that, like Superboy, his hair is unbreakable. He then retrieves the hypnotic device and restores the memories of his teammates.
The Legionnaires — including Pete and Lana (in her guise as Insect Queen) — launch an attack on Mordru, but they are all captured. The wizard conjures several of the 30th century's most notorious criminals and places the Legionnaires on trial in a mock courtroom. Acting as defense attorney, Pete tries to convince the jurors that Mordru will be a threat to them if he is not stopped. Later, one of the jurors — the sorcerer Wraithor — tries to help the Legionnaires escape through an underground cavern, but is discovered by Mordru and killed. Mordru then summons a massive fireball of force in an effort to destroy the Legionnaires once and for all, but the energies cause the cavern to collapse. Mordru is entombed, unable to free himself.
With all of the Legionnaires having survived, Superboy uses the hypnosis ray to erase Lana's knowledge of his secret identity. But before he can do the same to Pete, Mon-El turns the ray on Superboy, causing the Boy of Steel to forget that Pete is aware of his identity. Mon-El notes to himself that Pete must maintain his knowledge of Superboy's identity, as he is destined to save the hero's life years in the future precisely because of that knowledge. Upon returning to the 30th century, the Legionnaires discover that their teammates were not killed by Mordru after all. Dream Girl had been forewarned of Mordru's attack through one of her precognitive visions. She contacted her sister, the White Witch
, who cast a counter-spell which deflected Mordru's attack upon the Legion and their headquarters. Finally, Princess Projectra
created an illusion which fooled the sorcerer into believing that he had succeeded.
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, and was presented in Adventure Comics
Adventure Comics
Adventure Comics was a comic book series published by DC Comics from 1935 to 1983 and then revamped from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues , making it the fifth-longest-running DC series, behind Detective Comics, Action Comics, Superman, and Batman...
#369-370 (June–July 1968). It was written by Jim Shooter
Jim Shooter
James Shooter is an American writer, occasional fill-in artist, editor, and publisher for various comic books. Although he started professionally in the medium at the extraordinarily young age of 14, he is most notable for his successful and controversial run as Marvel Comics' ninth...
, pencilled by Curt Swan
Curt Swan
Douglas Curtis Swan was an American comic book artist. The artist most associated with Superman during the period fans and historians call the Silver Age of comic books, Swan produced hundreds of covers and stories from the 1950s through the 1980s.-Early life and career:Curt Swan, whose Swedish...
and inked by Jack Abel
Jack Abel
Jack Abel a.k.a. Gary Michaels was an American comic book artist best known as an inker for leading publishers DC Comics and Marvel Comics. He was DC's primary inker on the Superman titles in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and inked penciler Herb Trimpe's introduction of the popular superhero...
. The story arc features the first appearance of Mordru
Mordru
Mordru is a fictional character, a supervillain in the DC Comics' main shared universe.Mordru is the most prominent Lord of Chaos who is fated to survive even after the end of the universe, although he is usually shown as a powerful wizard...
, arguably the most powerful enemy of the Legion of Super-Heroes
Legion of Super-Heroes
The Legion of Super-Heroes is a fictional superhero team in the 30th and 31st centuries of the . The team first appears in Adventure Comics #247 , and was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino....
.
Plot
At the Legion of Super-HeroesLegion of Super-Heroes
The Legion of Super-Heroes is a fictional superhero team in the 30th and 31st centuries of the . The team first appears in Adventure Comics #247 , and was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino....
' headquarters, Superboy
Superboy (Kal-El)
The original Superboy is a fictional superhero who appears in DC Comics. The name of Superman as a boy, Superboy has adventures that occur in the relative past to those of Superman and take place predominantly in his hometown of Smallville...
, Duo Damsel, Mon-El
Lar Gand
Lar Gand, known primarily as Mon-El , is a fictional character in DC Comics' universe who is associated with the Legion of Super-Heroes, Superboy, and Superman...
and Shadow Lass
Shadow Lass
Shadow Lass is a fictional character, a comic book superheroine published by DC Comics. She first appeared in Adventure Comics vol. 1 #365 , and was created by Jim Shooter and Curt Swan.-Fictional character biography:...
race toward the Time Chamber, in an effort to escape the sorcerer Mordru
Mordru
Mordru is a fictional character, a supervillain in the DC Comics' main shared universe.Mordru is the most prominent Lord of Chaos who is fated to survive even after the end of the universe, although he is usually shown as a powerful wizard...
, the Dark Lord. A being of near-limitless mystical power, Mordru conquered much of the galaxy until he was imprisoned in an airless steel block by Superboy and Mon-El. He remained locked away at Legion HQ until he was accidentally freed by Shadow Lass, a relatively new member of the team. With his mastery of magic (the one weakness shared by both Superboy and Mon-El) and with all the other Legionnaires seemingly destroyed, the team is forced to retreat. They travel to the 20th century and seek refuge in Superboy's hometown, Smallville.
Duo Damsel and Shadow Lass adopt secret identities which allow them to hide at the homes of Police Chief Parker
Chief Parker
Chief Douglas Parker is a supporting character in stories published by DC Comics featuring Superboy, the younger version of Superman. He first appeared in Adventure Comics #225 .-Pre-Crisis:...
and Lana Lang
Lana Lang
Lana Lang is a fictional supporting character in DC Comics' Superman series. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist John Sikela, the character first appears in Superboy #10...
, while Mon-El stays with the Kents in his old guise as Clark
Clark Kent
Clark Kent is a fictional character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Appearing regularly in stories published by DC Comics, he debuted in Action Comics #1 and serves as the civilian and secret identity of the superhero Superman....
's cousin Bob Cobb. Soon thereafter Mordru blankets Smallville in a mystical shadow in an effort to locate the Legionnaires. When the shadow touches the town's residents, their minds are possessed by Mordru (although Shadow Lass' powers protects the Legionnaires from being detected). Meanwhile, Duo Damsel cries herself to sleep when Superboy fails to notice her romantic feelings for him.
Mordru attempts to flush the Legionnaires out of hiding by creating a myriad of disasters throughout the town, but the teens recognize that the calamities are illusions and ignore them. After a week passes without Superboy being seen, a group of gangsters tries to seize control of Smallville — but the Legionnaires defeat them in their civilian identities. Later, Lana spies the Legionnaires in costume, which allows Mordru to find them. The teens barely manage to escape a second time. Since the wizard is capable of probing their minds, the Legionnaires resume their civilian guises and use a hypnotic device to erase their own memories of their true identities.
After several weeks have passed, Mordru encases Smallville in an impenetrable shield and lifts the town into orbit above Earth. He then unleashes his 30th century soldiers upon the people of Smallville. The Legionnaires, robbed of their memories, provide no protection. Clark Kent's best friend Pete Ross
Pete Ross
Peter Joseph "Pete" Ross is a fictional character who appears in the Superman comic books published by DC Comics. He was introduced in Superboy #86 .-Pre-Crisis:...
, who is fully aware that Clark is Superboy, realizes that the Boy of Steel has forgotten his super-identity. Since both Pete and Lana have auxiliary Legionnaire status, he enlists her aid, but is forced to reveal that Clark is Superboy. The two manage to jog Clark's memory by showing him that, like Superboy, his hair is unbreakable. He then retrieves the hypnotic device and restores the memories of his teammates.
The Legionnaires — including Pete and Lana (in her guise as Insect Queen) — launch an attack on Mordru, but they are all captured. The wizard conjures several of the 30th century's most notorious criminals and places the Legionnaires on trial in a mock courtroom. Acting as defense attorney, Pete tries to convince the jurors that Mordru will be a threat to them if he is not stopped. Later, one of the jurors — the sorcerer Wraithor — tries to help the Legionnaires escape through an underground cavern, but is discovered by Mordru and killed. Mordru then summons a massive fireball of force in an effort to destroy the Legionnaires once and for all, but the energies cause the cavern to collapse. Mordru is entombed, unable to free himself.
With all of the Legionnaires having survived, Superboy uses the hypnosis ray to erase Lana's knowledge of his secret identity. But before he can do the same to Pete, Mon-El turns the ray on Superboy, causing the Boy of Steel to forget that Pete is aware of his identity. Mon-El notes to himself that Pete must maintain his knowledge of Superboy's identity, as he is destined to save the hero's life years in the future precisely because of that knowledge. Upon returning to the 30th century, the Legionnaires discover that their teammates were not killed by Mordru after all. Dream Girl had been forewarned of Mordru's attack through one of her precognitive visions. She contacted her sister, the White Witch
White Witch (comics)
The White Witch is a fictional comic book character who exists in the DC Universe, a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th century. Her real name is Mysa Nal, although her name was given as Xola Aq in Silver Age Legion stories in Adventure Comics; the revelation that her name was...
, who cast a counter-spell which deflected Mordru's attack upon the Legion and their headquarters. Finally, Princess Projectra
Princess Projectra
This page discusses the humanoid version of the character. For the post-Zero Hour/pre-Threeboot version, see Sensor.Princess Projectra is a fictional character, a superheroine in the DC Comics universe. She lives in the 30th and 31st centuries, and is a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes...
created an illusion which fooled the sorcerer into believing that he had succeeded.