Lethal Legion

The Lethal Legion is a supervillain team that features in Marvel Comics.

History

The Lethal Legion

Following a series of humiliating defeats at the hands of the Avengers that left him virtually penniless, Italian nobleman and former Maggia leader Count Luchino Nefaria concluded he could no longer rely on others to take on the heroes. He decided to acquire superpowers for himself, but in order to do so he needed the services of Professor Kenneth Sturdy and his team. Sturdy had worked with Baron Heinrich Zemo on the ionic augmentation process that powered Wonder Man Simon Williams and offered to make Nefaria even more powerful than that. In order to pay Sturdy's exorbitant fee, which the professor described as a 'Fuhrer's ransom', Nefaria planned to acquire super powered help. In part because he needed them to get some money, but also because Sturdy had to use super powered beings to study so he could increase and siphon their power into Nefaria. Count Nefaria selected Whirlwind Dave Cannon, Living Laser Arthur Parks and Power Man Erik Josten as the new members of his Lethal Legion. With only Power Man currently not in prison, the count sought out the down on his luck Josten and successfully tempted him to join his cause by promising to remake him and increase his power. A few days later, Power Man executed what the papers described as a 'daring raid' when he freed Whirlwind and Living Laser from prison. They both agreed to work for Nefaria as well. Their first assignment, though they were unaware of Nefaria's dire financial straits, was to rob the Union National Bank in Manhattan. As soon as the Legion entered the bank, the robbery made news. Police had the place surrounded and the Avengers were on their way as well. Spotting the cops when they emerged from the bank, their hands full of stolen money, the Legion considered what to do. Power Man reminded them of Nefaria's orders to return immediately. But the bloodthirsty Living Laser announced he'd be burning some cops before he left. Before he could do so, he was struck by Captain America's shield. The star spangled Avenger was accompanied by Black Panther, Scarlet Witch, the Wasp and Yellowjacket. Seeing the heroes caused Power Man to panic, but the others were convinced they could take these Avengers because their far more powerful members like Thor and Vision were not there. Reassured, Power Man pressed the attack and landed a hit on Captain America while the Living Laser had great difficulty keeping up with the Wasp and Yellowjacket who were buzzing by him too quickly for him to accurately aim his hand lasers. Black Panther tried to take on Whirlwind, jumping the wiry villain and being surprised by his massive speed. Unable to hold on, Panther was launched into Captain America which left both heroes open to an incoming attack by the Living Laser. Without his shield to protect them, Cap feared the worst. Luckily, the Scarlet Witch used her hex powers to cause a nearby water main to shatter, dousing the Laser in a sudden, torrential surge. Realizing they were now outmanned and outgunned, the Legion decided to beat a hasty retreat. Living Laser fired a wide range beam that turned the street into a river of molten, flaming tar to cover their escape. (Avengers v1 #164)

While the Legion was fighting the Avengers, their leader Nefaria had a final meeting with Sturdy and his scientists in the laboratory located under Nefaria's upstate New York abode. They assured Nefaria everything was ready to go, provided he had the money they'd been promised. Luchino pointed out to Sturdy and the others that his accomplices were taking care of it that very moment. The Legion successfully eluded the Avengers and the authorities, returning with their loot to Nefaria's townhouse. They noticed how run down the place looked: the furniture was dusty and there was no serving staff. Living Laser griped about the fact he was more than a petty bank robber, while Whirlwind concluded that Nefaria must be broke and had been using them to get rich quick, which angrily made him wonder what made Nefaria think he was big enough to boss him around. Power Man tried to keep them in check by explaining what Nefaria had promised to do for them. Whirlwind remained sceptical and defiantly claimed that maybe Power Man needed Nefaria to help him get his name and self-respect back, but Whirlwind had never lost his own. Nefaria interrupted the argument, appearing on a videoscreen to tell the Legion he was ready for them downstairs. (Avengers v1 #164)

Members

• Grim Reaper :
• Living Laser :
• Man-Ape :
• Power Man :
• Swordsman :

Notes

• The Lethal Legion were created by Roy Thomas, John Buscema, and Tom Palmer where they made their first appearance in Avengers v1 #78 (July, 1970).

Appearances

• Avengers v1: (1970)

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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