Great Darkness Saga

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The Great Darkness Saga was a 5-issue storyline In the comic book Legion of Super-Heroes that ran from issues #290-294 (August-December 1982), with a prologue in #287 (May 1982), and is considered by many to be one of the greatest Legion epics of all time (with the Earthwar saga and the 5-issue Legion of Super-Villain War being two others).

The storyline was written by Paul Levitz with art by Keith Giffen (both plotted the saga) and others.

The prologue was a short back up story where Shadow Lass and Lar Gand (Mon-El) accidentally land on a dead world drifting through uncharted space. The entire planet was barren except for a single tomb, guarded by small automated robots. Mon-El was injured; Shadow Lass surrounded them with darkness, which (to her surprise) repelled the robots long enough for them to escape. The darkness, however, awakened the inhabitant of the tomb. As they flew off, the unknown creature laughed.

In a latter issue, it created powerful servants that, though looking like dark dry corpses, were strangely familiar, and sent them out into the cosmos. One it calls its son.

It begins as a mystery, with these strange, dark superhumans stealing magical devices for there unknown master to feed upon. The Legion captures one of these beings and learns she is a "reverse DNA clone" of Lydea Mallor, Shadow Lass's ancestor (but formed from innanimate matter). With this knowledge, the Legion computer deduces that two of the others are reverse clones of Superman and a Guardian (particularly disturbing, since guardians are immortal and easily as powerful as several Green Lanterns). The servants and their mysterious master (always hidden in darkness) start attacking and draining living sources of magical energy, including the wizard Mordru and the Time Trapper (although we learn latter it is just a mortal pawn given tremendous power by the real Time Trapper, the living embodiment of entropy). From these actions, it becomes clear that the Sorcerer's World will be next.

Journeying to Sorcerer's World, the Legion witnesses the majority of the population killed and absorbed by their unknown foe; the White Witches teachers pool their powers, casting a spell that calls for help. Instead of summoning more power (as they expected), it summons a mysterious child. Several of the teachers sacrifice themselves to magically shield the child from detection.

Mon-El takes the fight to the mysterious master; in the maw of some kind of spacewarp, he recognizes him. The master strikes Mon-El so hard he winds up in a coma from the concussion. In that moment of contact, however, he sees how he knows him from his time trapped in the Phantom Zone back in the 20th century; he also sees how he can conquer all.

The Legion is able to track the Servants of Darkness to their master's planet; as a Legion team follows the Servants, their master has learnt of Daxam from Mon-Els mind, and uses his powers to enslave the natives. He then exchanges that world with his own, which has a yellow sun. With an army of empowered Daxamites at his command, he orders them to reshape their planet in his image, revealing himself to be Darkseid, god of darkness from the 20th century.

All the heroes of the 30th century unite to fight the Daxamites, who attempt to conquer the entire United Planets. At the same time, the Legion fights Darkseid himself and his Servants on Daxam. All but one of the Servants are destroyed as Element Lad creates gold kryptonite to strip the clone of Superman of his powers, and then adds tiny amounts of lead to the atmosphere, weakening the Daxamites. The White Witch, her powers boosted by the mysterious child (who is aging at an accelerated rate), transfers the Daxamites to Apokalips(which is now in orbit around a red star, leaving them powerless).

Darkseid himself is at full power by this point, however, and damns each of the Legionnaires in their own worst nightmare come true with a single thought (involving forms of mental or physical torture). Darkseid appears to be on the point of victory, and orders his final servant to slay the mysterious child (currently protected by Shadow Lass). Once the servant enters her protective bouble of darkness, Darkseid heres the sounds of a Mother Box (a powerful sentient computer used on New Genesis). In anger, he dispels the darkness, revealing the child to be Highfather, who has restored the final "reverse clone" to its normal form; that of Orion. Because he is not the real Orion, he is unable to defeat Darkseid. Darkseid soon destroys it.

During the battle, Highfather explains that, unlike Darkseid, he did not have time to rest and rebuild his own strength as a god of light; by expending it so quickly (helping the White Witch, aging himself to adulthood, restoring Orion) he was fading away back to whence he came. He uses his power to restore and heal the Legionaries; and sends a spell into space. With his last action Highfather summons Superboy and Supergirl from their own times and allows them to retain their powers, even under Daxam's red sun. They fight Darkseid to a standstill (remembering this is the Pre - Crisis Superboy, who, like Superboy Prime, had unlimited strength - he can easily move entire worlds, and was virtually a god). Darkseid uses a Boom Tube to send Superboy back to his own time, and is attacking Supergirl when the rest of the Legion rally. Although they protect Supergirl, their presence does little to hinder Darkseid - but he realizes something is wrong. His mind reaches into space, and sees that Highfathers spell had been meant for the Daximites. Darkseid realizes that, while he was focussed on the Legion, he has lost control of the Daxamites, who are returning. Knowing that even a god cannot defeat a billion billion supermen (who, thanks to Highfather, can also function under a red sun), Darkseid admits defeat (although it is clear from his speech he does not fear that they can actually destroy him - just that his plans have failed and that he cannot win the battle. Cursing the Legion, Darkseid, and his world of Apokalips disappear.

Darkesid's final revenge comes later, when he steals one of Saturn Girl's newborn twins, and sends it back in time to become Validus. Some time after that, when Saturn Girl realizes it's her son and prays to Darkseid for mercy, he restores Validus to an infant again.

A short follow up storyline some time latter had Darkseid acting in the background (more like a businessman) helping a young woman evolve into a god of light. He then coerces her into using that light to slay him. The final panel implies a repentant Darkseid entering Heaven.

The story has been collected in a trade paperback collection: Legion of Super-Heroes: Great Darkness Saga: ISBN 0-930289-43-9

Elements of The Great Darkness Saga were used by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning in the post-Zero Hour story Foundations (The Legion #s 25-30, 2003), most notably the awakening of Darkseid and his use of heroes from the past as his Servants of Darkness (taken through time-travel and brainwashed, rather than clones).