School’s out! Superboy finally completes his Legion orientation

Yup, we’re all allowed a little frivolity, even amidst a pandemic.

Last month, LSH #4 concluded with Superboy’s orientation being interrupted by the theft of Aquaman’s trident and the Science Police arriving at Metropolis to shut down the Legion under orders of the United Planets’ Madame President Brande. Let’s pick up the action in…

Legion of Super-Heroes #5
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis, Pencillers: Ryan Sook and Scott Godlewski, Inks: Wade Von Grawbadger, Colors: Jordie Bellaire
DC Comics,  March, 2020

Plot

As the Science Police surround Legion headquarters and a conflict appears inevitable, Brainiac 5 is able to talk down the S.P. commander. Brainy then instructs Superboy to complete his orientation and sends out a contingent of Legionnaires led by Ultra Boy to search for the stolen trident. Back in orientation-mode (coordinated by Computo, the Legion’s AI control system), Superboy experiences Madame President’s former appearance before the U.P. Council calling for the creation of the Legion based upon the revered heroes of the 21st century, the Justice League. In the next revisited scene, Superboy experiences Brande in conference with Rokk Krinn/Cosmic Boy, Imra Ardeen/Saturn Girl, and Garth Ranzz/Lightning Lad, requesting that they form the Legion. After Brande leaves, the trio agrees to organize the Legion, but are wary of Madame President’s motives. The three founders immediately seek to enlist Brainiac 5 of the planet Colu, who is already renowned throughout the galaxy for his intellectual prowess. Brainiac 5 surprises the trio by not only enthusiastically accepting the offer of membership, but then delivering a soapbox soliloquy by which he asserts the need to bring Jon Kent/Superboy to the 31st century in order that the heroes of both ages are aligned in the effort to defend the galaxy. As Superboy’s orientation ends, we learn that Aquaman’s trident has been found. In the final panel, an alarm sounds for the entire populace to evacuate New Earth immediately.

Comments

Bendis is doing a nice job of introducing the reader to the Legion’s origins while simultaneously interweaving the plotlines involving the Legion’s increasingly antagonistic relationship with Brande and Aquaman’s trident. A few interesting sidebars in this issue were 1) the introduction of Dr. Fate and Monster Boy to the Legion roster, 2) Invisible Kid resigning from the Legion in a huff, and 3) Chameleon Boy revealing Madame President Brande is his mother. There are also references to Sir Oliver Queen the Eleventh (aka Green Arrow) and the Watchmen that only DC Universe nerds* are going to pick up on. I’m definitely enjoying all of the plot twists of this inaugural epic. I’ve seen several Legion relaunches/reboots over the decades, but Bendis’s dialogue and characterizations are the best yet. Penciller, Scott Godlewski, decently spells Ryan Sook in the Superboy orientation frames, although Sook is definitely the master.

Personal sidebar: Our local comic shop is in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so I was forced to download the LSH #5 e-comic to my Kindle, which has a screen size of only 7.25″x 4.75.” I’m glad to have it, but it’s definitely not an ideal way to read a comic book.

*I’m definitely not a DC Universe expert (like Sheldon Cooper). I initially glossed over the aforementioned references, but later learned their significance via some internet articles.

The Keys to Spiritual Growth

The Keys to Spiritual Growth
By John MacArthur
Crossway, 2001, 196 pp.

You’ve just accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior by faith alone and have been spiritually reborn as a child of God! Now what? It’s very helpful for new believers to read a good book on the basics of spiritual growth. It’s also helpful (and needful) for “seasoned saints” to periodically “go back to Bethel” for personal reexamination and encouragement. This book on the keys/basics to spiritual growth by Pastor John MacArthur is an excellent resource. If you’re one of those “seasoned saints,” pass it along to a new believer after reading it yourself.

Chapters

1. The Master Key – A Presupposition
2. The Master Purpose   – The Glory of God
3. The Master Plan – How to Glorify God
4. Obedience – Unlocking the Servants’ Quarters
5. The Filling of the Spirit – Unlocking the Power Plant
6. Confession – Unlocking the Chamber of Horrors
7. Love – Unlocking the Bridal Suite
8. Prayer – Unlocking the Inner Sanctum
9. Hope – Unlocking the Hope Chest
10. Bible Study – Unlocking the Library
11. Fellowship – Unlocking the Family Room
12. Witnessing – Unlocking the Nursery
13. Discernment – Locking the Security Gate

Thanks to Pastor Jimmy at The Domain for Truth for alerting us to free downloads of this book from Crossway Publishing here.

Say it ain’t so!

Suspend the New York Knicks’ season? Fine. Cancel the NCAA Division I hockey playoffs and end the season for the RIT Tigers? Okay. Cancel Spring Training for the San Diego Padres? Sure. Stock market plunging like rock? Life goes on. A frenzied run on toilet paper countrywide? We’ll handle it. Shut down the county library system? SAY WHAT?!?!?!

Introducing the Legion’s Founding Trio, Redux

Last month’s LSH tale ended with General Nah’s incarceration, Aquaman’s trident being stolen, and a thoroughly confused Superboy FINALLY on his way to his Legion orientation. Let’s pick up the action in…

Legion of Super-Heroes #4
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis, Pencillers: Ryan Sook and Mikel Janin, Inks: Wade Von Grawbadger and Mikel Janin, Colors: Jordie Bellaire
DC Comics,  February, 2020

Plot

Superboy begins his orientation courtesy of Computo, the Legion’s AI (artificial intelligence) system. He is able to experience the memories of the founding members immediately prior to the establishment of the Legion:

• Imra Ardeen/Saturn Girl (super power – telepathy) of Titan, a moon of Saturn, is discontented with her life, yearning for greater adventure, and successfully applies to the new Young United Planets (YUP) intergalactic youth organization.
• Garth Ranzz/Lightning Lad (super power – electrical manipulation) of Winath comes to the attention of U.P. President, R.J. Brande, because of his and sister Ayla’s activism on behalf of persecuted minorities on their planet. Both are invited to join YUP, but only Garth accepts.
• Rokk Krinn/Cosmic Boy (super power – magnetism manipulation) of Braal is a planetary champion and is chosen by Braal’s congress to to be that world’s representative at YUP.

As the three travel together to the Young United Planets headquarters on Earth, the U.P. President, R.J. Brande, appears and informs the trio she envisions a special role for them as personal counselors. However, an abrupt attack by Horrazian pirates ends the meeting – the Legion’s inauguration – and Computo also ends Superboy’s orientation because of pressing business; the remaining Legionnaires learn of the theft of Aquaman’s trident from one of the team’s vaults. As the contingent debates whether to allow Superboy to finish his orientation or to begin the hunt for the trident, the U.P. Science Police abruptly arrive and place the Legionnaires under arrest by orders of Madame President, Brande. When Superboy questions why the Legion’s former patron and benefactor is now opposing the team, Cosmic Boy informs him that the answer was in the second-half of the orientation.

Comments

Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad were the Legion’s founding members in the Silver Age, making their first appearance in the inaugural Legion tale in Adventure Comics #247 way back in April 1958. Bendis pays his respects to Legion tradition by presenting the same trio as founders in this latest LSH permutation. I’m anxious to find out what soured the Legion’s relationship with Madam President and where this Aquaman’s trident-storyline will end up. Great story with snappy dialogue. Great pencils and colors. Bendis, Sook, and Co. have done an excellent job to this point.

Contending for the Gospel (in an era when MOST Christians would rather “get along” with false teachers than contend with them)

Contending for the Gospel: For the Glory of Christ and the Sanctity of His Church
By Mike Gendron
Proclaiming the Gospel, 2019, 288 pp.

In this recently published book, evangelist Mike Gendron compares the genuine Gospel of salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone with Roman Catholicism’s false gospel of sacramental grace and merit. Gendron leads a Gospel outreach ministry to Roman Catholics called Proclaiming the Gospel (see here). While this book is not as well-structured as “The Gospel According to Rome” by James. G. McCarthy (see here), it is still, overall, a very good analysis of the irreconcilable theological differences between the Gospel of grace and Rome’s false gospel of sacramental grace and merit. In this book, Gendron also addresses the accommodation, compromise, and betrayal of the Gospel by ecumenical “evangelical” Judases who eagerly accommodate and embrace Rome and its false gospel.

Chapters are as follows:

1. The Foundation for the Gospel
2. The Message of the Gospel
3. The Person of the Gospel
4. The Exclusivity of the Gospel
5. The Promise of the Gospel
6. The Compromise of the Gospel
7. The Opposition to the Gospel
8. The Departure from the Gospel
9. The Catholic church and the Gospel
10. The Urgency of the Gospel
11. The Proclamation of the Gospel
12. The Response to the Gospel

I’m very grateful for this new book and for Mike Gendron and his ministry to Roman Catholics. However, I do have a few minor qualifications: 1) As in the later editions of Gendron’s previous book, “Preparing for Eternity,” there’s nothing in the title or the cover graphics of this new book that would indicate that it’s a rebuttal of Rome’s false gospel. That’s obviously by design, but I’m not in favor of that kind of roundabout stratagem. 2) Gendron warns his readers to be cautious of Roman influences seeping into the evangelical church, yet favorably quotes A. W. Tozer on multiple pages. Huh? It was Tozer who introduced Catholic mysticism into the modern evangelical church, and now hipster, mega-church pastors are offering “contemplative, centering prayer” and “spiritual direction” classes to their congregations. In a book that warns about accommodation with Rome, why was Tozer chosen as an oft-cited favorable reference? Gendron should know better. 3) As in other materials I’ve read from Gendron, he scolds those who exhort lost souls to “accept” Jesus as their Savior, something that I do quite regularly. He objects to the word because he sees it as promoting Arminian free-will. However, it’s abundantly clear from Scripture that in order to appropriate the free gift of salvation in Christ Jesus, a person MUST receive/accept it!!! Check your concordance. Receiving/accepting (Greek, λαμβάνω, lambánō) Christ is a thoroughly Biblical doctrine.

“I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept (lambánō) me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.” – John 5:43 (NIV)

“But to all who did receive (lambánō) him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” – John 1:12 (ESV)

Gendron admonishes his readers to use only “believe in Christ” in Gospel outreach, but I don’t choose to use “believe” because every Catholic argues that they certainly “believe” in Jesus. An argument over this kind of tertiary preference doesn’t belong in a book like this.

Those minor qualifications aside, this is an excellent book that would benefit both Roman Catholics who are curious about Gospel Christianity and believers who are interested to know the basics of Rome’s false gospel. Mike Gendron is generally not well-received within today’s mega-church “evangelicalism” where pastors would rather teach theological cotton candy than warn and equip the sheep regarding false teachers and false gospels. Order from Amazon here.

Scripture is Sufficient

One Foundation: Essays on the Sufficiency of Scripture
Edited by Jeremiah Johnson
Grace to You, 2019, 199 pp.

I had the pleasure and blessing of reading this collection of articles, which expound on the sufficiency of God’s Word. This book was published by Grace to You to commemorate the 50th anniversary of John MacArthur’s ministry.

The Roman Catholic church entered into great error when it subordinated God’s Word to its “Sacred Tradition.” Most pseudo-Christian sects/cults likewise appeal to some type of extra-biblical “revelation” or authority in addition God’s revealed Word. The writers in this collection make clear that the Bible is our sole authority in matters of faith and practice and is fully sufficient to equip God’s servants:

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17

The articles and authors are as follows:

• Based on God’s Word Alone – R.C. Sproul
• Why You Can Believe the Bible – Voddie Baucham
• The Finding of an Old Book – Jack MacArthur
• The Sufficiency of Scripture – John MacArthur
• Not Ashamed of the Gospel – D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
• The Standard of Sound Words: A Mandate for the Pulpit – Steven Lawson
• In Praise of God’s Word – Mark Dever
• Evangelicals, the Challenge of Modernity, and the Quest for a Christian Worldview: Lessons from a Century of Hope and Disappointment – R. Albert Mohler*
• The Folly of Adding to Scripture – Conrad Mbewe
• We Must Obey God Rather Than Men: Scripture, Authority, and the Reformation – Nathan Busenitz
• Hearing from Heaven: How God Speaks Today (And How He Doesn’t) – Justin Peters
• The Foolishness of the Cross – Phil Johnson

I appreciated all of the articles, especially “Hearing from Heaven” by Justin Peters. My blog deals in discernment ministry issues and I appreciate Peters’ calling to defend God’s Truth amidst the rampant error and deception outside and inside the church. Peters is not afraid to name the names of false teachers and apostates, as did the apostle Paul in his epistles.

*As a cautionary note, I don’t endorse Albert Mohler’s bent towards political activism/Christian nationalism and his eager willingness to ally with non-Christian “co-belligerents” (e.g., Roman Catholics) in cultural/morality wars. We’ve already seen how this type of accommodation and compromise in the interest of preserving “Christian America” ultimately leads to embracement of the Catholic church and betrayal of the Gospel (see Chuck Colson, James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Robert Jeffress, Franklin Graham, Bill Bright, etc.).

Order “One Foundation” from Amazon here.

Robin flies the coop as quickly as he arrived

At the conclusion of last month’s issue, the Legion was planning on sending two teams to investigate why Ultra Boy’s father and Mordru the Merciless both desired Aquaman’s trident, while Superboy was eagerly anticipating bringing Damian Wayne aka Robin to the 31st century. Let’s now pick up the action in…

Legion of Super-Heroes #3
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis, Pencillers: Ryan Sook and Travis Moore, Inks: Wade Von Grawbadger and Travis Moore, Colors: Jordie Bellaire
DC Comics, January 2020

Plot

The story begins with Superboy transporting Robin to to 31st-century Metropolis in the misguided hope that the Boy Wonder can help with the Legion’s investigation into all of the intrigue involving Aquaman’s trident. A contingent of Legionnaires – Cosmic Boy, Colossal Boy, Shadow Lass, and Mon El – arrive on the planet Rimbor and attempt to find out why Crav Nah, the powerful leader of the planet and also Ultra Boy’s father, desires the trident. The meeting quickly turns into a violent confrontation and Mon El subdues Crav. In the meantime, another Legion contingent – Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, Chameleon Boy, and Triplicate Girl – travels to Planet Gotham, where Mordru is being held prisoner, to try to ascertain why the wizard wants the trident, but without success. They are summoned back to Legion headquarters where Crav has been transported. The angry Rimborian warlord had freed himself from his bonds and was making short work of the entire Legion until Superboy KOs him. The Legion deems that Robin must be returned to the 21st century immediately and that the very confused and disgruntled Superboy MUST sit through the orientation the Legion had originally prepared for him back in LSH #1. The story ends with Crav in a Legion holding cell and disturbing news that Aquaman’s trident has been stolen from one of the team’s secure vaults.

Commentary

Bendis is doing a nice job with this story line although it was a little disappointing to see Superboy go to all the trouble of transporting Robin to the future for zero effect. It’s interesting from my Silver Age perspective to see these old characters actually act human, like frazzled Cosmic Boy’s lack of confidence as the Legion’s leader and Superboy’s frustration with being out-of-the-loop. I’m looking forward to seeing how Bendis is going to resolve the Legion’s first “intergalactic incident” involving the arrest of Crav. U.P. Madame President Brande is already quite annoyed with the Legion and this is only going to increase tensions. I’m also looking forward to a formal introduction to the new Legion via Superboy’s orientation. As an answer to a question I had last month, it appears Planet Gotham is one of the planet pods of the artificial New Earth.

Postscript: In a conversation with a group of other Legionnaires, Chameleon Boy intimates that Damian Wayne/Robin could possibly grow up to be a very dastardly, Hitler-like character. That’s entirely predictable seeing he’s the grandson of Ra’s al Ghul.

Excellent preface to 2020 Kazan Fest

Elia Kazan: An American Odyssey
By Michel Ciment
Bloomsbury, 1988, 238 pp.

I can still vividly remember watching a particular movie on television as a young teenager back in the early 1970s. The flick was, “Splendor in the Grass” (1961), and I was so startled by the unconventional, un-Hollywood-like ending that I took special note of the name of the director, Elia Kazan, in the closing credits.

Over the many decades that followed, I’ve enjoyed watching all of Kazan’s nineteen films and reading the many books written by him or about him.

“Elia Kazan: An American Odyssey” is an interesting collection of disconnected articles and notes written by Kazan regarding his directing career. The text is supplemented with many interesting photographs, some of which I’ve never seen before. Be aware that this volume is intended more for Kazan fans who are already knowledgeable about the director and his films. It’s no place to start for a neophyte.

French film critic, Michel Ciment, previously presented a collection of interviews with Kazan, “Kazan on Kazan” (1973), in which the director spoke briefly about each of his films. See my review here.

Reading “Elia Kazan: An American Odyssey” was a timely prelude to the upcoming launch of my Elia Kazan Film Festival, 2020 Redux series. I was happy to be able to purchase this handsome volume from an Amazon used-book seller at a very cheap price. Bloomsbury used to do an excellent job with these semi-coffee table books back in the day.

This Wednesday: Kazan’s excellent directorial debut, “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn”

Everybody wants that trident!

Legion of Super-Heroes #2
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis, Penciller: Ryan Sook, Inks: Ryan Sook and Wade Von Grawbadger, Colors: Jordie Bellaire
DC Comics, December 2019

Plot

Issue #1 of the “new,” re-launched Legion of Super-Heroes ended with the Legion surrounded by a gang of angry Horrazian pirates eager to reclaim the contraband trident of Aquaman. In the midst of the battle, Ultra Boy slips the trident to Superboy, who attempts to escape, with the leader of the pirates, Tortor, in hot pursuit. Saturn Girl, with her power of telepathy/mind control, is able to induce the combatants into a stupor, but Superboy and Tortor are too far away to be affected. Saturn Girl then focuses all of her powers on the two adversaries and a mysterious flood of water – somehow brought into existence by the trident – subdues the Horrazian leader.

Elsewhere, at United Planets headquarters, the Legion’s diplomatic liason, Rose Forrest, attempts to smooth things over with the U.P. President, whose last name is Brande. Hmm. That’s a name that rings a bell with Legion fans. The negotiations between the two get off to a rocky start and devolve from there. Rose returns to Legion headquarters and informs the team of the tense tête-à-tête. It’s clear Madam President is not happy about Superboy’s presence in the 31st century or about the Legion’s possession of the trident.

The Legionnaires amble down to their “consumption hall” for a strategy meeting over dinner. Ultra Boy (aka Jo Nah) reveals his father is a powerful and dangerous leader on his civil-war-torn home planet of Rimbor. Both the elder Nah and Mordru were after the trident until Ultra Boy intercepted the Horraz pirates and took possession of the thing himself. A contingent of Legionnaires decides to travel to Rimbor to attempt to smooth things over with Jo’s dad before things escalate while another contingent heads to Planet Gotham to try to find out what Mordru had planned for the trident. Superboy is so excited about the existence of Planet Gotham that he makes the journey back to the 21st century to inform his buddy, Damian Wayne aka Robin. Looks like the Boy Wonder is headed to the 31st century!

Comments

We can predict a cataclysmic brouhaha ahead with the U.P. President, Ultra Boy’s father, and Mordru all in competition for Aquaman’s trident. I’m still a bit fuzzy regarding Gotham Planet. Is it one of the several domed cities of New Earth or is it off by itself somewhere? This was a good story with some excellent dialogue from Bendis. Also, I’m so pleased with Sook’s masterful illustrations. The Legion hasn’t been drawn this well since Curt Swan did the duty back in the 1960s.

Trivia alert: I forgot to point out Ultra Boy’s Biblical connection in my review of LSH #1. His civilian name is Jo Nah and he supposedly acquired his super powers after being swallowed by a space energy beast, which exposed him to strange radiation while inside.

In this excerpt from Superboy #98 (1962), Ultra Boy explains the origin of his penetra-vision. Note Jo Nah being swallowed by the space beast. It would later be revealed that Ultra Boy had all of the powers of Superboy, although he was limited to using one power at a time.

The woman who “defied the Puritans”?

American Jezebel: The Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson, the Woman Who Defied the Puritans
By Eve LaPlante
Harper Collins, 2004, 312 pp.

As I prepared the draft for my annual “Happy Thanksgiving” post, it occurred to me that I didn’t know all that much about the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. Were they Puritans? I did some investigating via Wikipedia, which eventually led to this book. Turns out both the Pilgrims and Puritans of early-17th-century England embraced Calvinism/Reformed theology, but the Pilgrims desired to completely separate from the Anglican church with its vestiges of Roman Catholic sacramentalism, while the Puritans chose to remain in the state church and attempt to “purify”/reform it from within. But the Puritans faced increasing persecution within England. Lawyer, John Winthrop, led the first Puritan mass migration to Massachusetts in 1630, establishing the Bay Colony and serving as governor for 12 of the colony’s first 20 years. The founders touted the colony as a divinely covenanted “New Jerusalem;” a semi-theocracy, where citizenship and church-membership were inseparable.

Francis Marbury was a Puritan pastor who walked the tightrope of conformity within the Anglican church in England. His daughter, Anne, witnessed his many travails throughout her childhood and was emboldened by his example. Anne married Will Hutchinson in 1612 and they journeyed the 25 miles from Alford to Boston (England) each Sunday to hear non-conforming Puritan minister, John Cotton, preach. Cotton, facing persecution from the Anglican hierarchy, immigrated to Boston, Massachusetts in 1633 and the Hutchinsons followed him the next year.

Cotton emphasized God’s grace and election to a preeminent degree compared to other Puritan pastors in the Bay Colony who also taught salvation by God’s grace alone, but also strongly emphasized works as evidence of salvation in a semi-theocratic community where conformity to the established civil-religious order was absolute. The other pastors of the colony taught “preparationism” (see here) and Cotton rejected that theology as a “covenant of works.” Cotton believed certain of the elect had the gift of determining who had been redeemed and who hadn’t. His church in England and the one in Massachusetts consequently had separate services for the redeemed elect and the unredeemed. Hutchinson began holding mid-week Bible studies, initially attended only by women, but subsequently by men as well, at which she reinforced Cotton’s “grace alone” sermons and strongly criticized the other pastors. A controversy erupted and spread throughout the colony and in 1637 Governor Winthrop ordered Hutchinson to stand before the civil court where she was convicted of heresy and sentenced to banishment. In an ecclesiastical trial the following year, the Puritan ministers of Boston excommunicated her. The Rev. Cotton, in an unadmirable act of self-preservation, increasingly distanced himself from his disciple during both proceedings and eventually became one of the main witnesses against her.

Winthrop is credited with coining the term, “Antinomianism” (Greek: “against law”), to disparagingly describe Hutchinson’s “free grace” teachings, although Hutchinson did not endorse licentiousness as she had been accused. The troubling circumstances involving Hutchinson came to be known as the Antinomian Controversy of 1636-1638 (see here). In addition to her theological non-conformism, she was criticized for usurping the role of male ministers. Her opponents claimed she was either a witch or demon possessed.

The Hutchinsons subsequently immigrated to Providence, Rhode Island, a colony founded by Roger Williams guaranteeing religious freedom. After Will died, rumors spread that Massachusetts was attempting to annex Rhode Island. Fearing for her safety, Anne Hutchinson fled to the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam (Manhattan, New York City). In 1642, she settled her family on a farm near Pelham Bay in modern day Bronx, but was murdered by a band of Siwanoy Native Americans the following year.

This book was a fascinating look at the early-Puritan settlers of Massachusetts Bay Colony including their theology and their governmental/social structures. The author attempts to portray Hutchinson as a proto-feminist, but that is a role she would not have accepted. Controversies over Antinomianism continue today. Popular TBN prosperity gospeler, Singaporean, Joseph Prince, advocates a form of free grace/hyper grace Antinomianism whereby he teaches his followers they needn’t feel convicted by or confess sin after their “redemption.”

Postscript: Harvard College was founded in 1636 in response to the “Antinomian Controversy” in order to properly train ministers to prevent the type of “heresies” propagated by Hutchinson. The Puritan churches (eventually named “Congregational” churches, a term coined by John Cotton) began drifting into liberalism/modernism apostasy in the mid-19th century. Don’t expect to hear any semblance of the genuine Gospel at Harvard Divinity School today.