posted
I've noticed a number of Garth fans besides myself recently hanging around Legion World. So why do you like Garth?
For me, I always identified with his hard-luck life and his perseverances. And I think Imra and he are the one destined soul couple of the group. Each one has proven they'd be willing to die for the other and Garth has given his life twice now.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I think when I was a kid, when I started reading the Legion, Garth was just the epitome of cool. He had the beautiful girl, the wicked lightning powers, and a really sleek costume and hairstyle. My very first issue, Legionnaires #41, was a beautiful cover by Jeff Moy of a wounded Garth looming over a gloved hand (XS) pinned under wreckage. I was hooked to the character immediately by his desperate search for Imra, who was nowhere to be found since she had been sprited off to the 20th century, and how he coped with the situation as well as deciding his presence in the Legion and his powers were more important than getting his arm back.
Over time, I've come to love his determination and vigor in the postboot, his fatherly habits in the preboot, and even the brashness of the SW6 version (which mildly carried over into the postboot at first). Garth is also fun because of all the different people he has to play off of, specifically Ayla, Mekt, Imra, and Rokk. He's had some great stories focusing on his character, relationships, and his hard luck nature and a rather creative origin story to boot. We've seen the character evolve in the postboot, learning how to lead and find his place, cope with situations better, and handle his temperment. His romance with Imra really became something they both worked for in the postboot, which was a treat to see since I wasn't around for the hook-up in the Adventure days.
His sacrafice was just amazing in Legion Lost and for that alone I love Garth Ranzz!
Registered: Jul 2003
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When I was a kid, Lightning Lad was what I hoped I'd look like when I grew up... well, a human version of what he looks like. I agree that his cool powers and costume had a lot to do with that.
I've identified with him because he became a stay-at-home dad when Imra went back to the Legion in late V3.
I like that his position as a founder has cemented him so firmly in Legion history.
I was apalled at the notion that Proty took over Garth's dead body with his mind. The deception there was more than I could stand and I've consistently protested this concept online. If I didn't care so much about Garth (and Imra and the family), I suppose it wouldn't bother me so much.
Live Wire has been an interesting character, but I never understood why he didn't just grab Imra and give her a big ol smooch and show her why she likes him. I think he was really wimpy with her.
And now, he's gone. Huh.
It's fun to acknowledge him still though. I like to draw pictures of him (though I do prefer to draw the ladies). In that way, he lives on!
posted
Garth is cool because he's the wild, reckless guy who's good. He has values and will risk all to defend or protect those he loves.
I didn't like the Proty business either, it was a bit too creepy. Maybe if it had been done openly, and Imra had fallen in love with this new person, it would have been different. But I like to think that wild young Garth would still have become the quiet, competent and peaceful adult that he became in the 5YL stories, even without the Proty influence.
Here's hoping he comes back - AS HIMSELF - but with the maturity gained from his sacrifice and experience.
From: Café Cramer | Registered: Jul 2003
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First of all, I feel really, really bad about Jan's role in Garth's "disappearance", and I wish to apologize on his behalf while he's off dawdling on another plane of existence.
That said, I admit without hesitation that I've loved Garth since I was a kid. If I became a bit more stuck on Element Lad, it was only because Jan wasn't already spoken for in the Adventure era. In those days, I was drawn to Garth primarily because he was handsome, wore a dashing outfit and had cool powers, not to mention that funky robot arm. I appreciate him even more now, forty years later, for different reasons.
In all his incarnations, Garth has been portrayed as passionate, loyal and courageous. These strengths stand out in even greater relief when contrasted with his flaws, most notably his erratic temperament. Unlike Rokk and Imra, his intense emotions always lay on the surface, making him seem more vulnerable, and to some eyes less capable, than the two other co-founders. But the way I see it, if his cooler-headed counterparts are the backbone of the Legion, Garth is its deeply-felt heart. While he never really aspired to the mantle of leadership, he proved himself more than worthy to wear it, particularly in Legion Lost, when he reclaimed the Legion's heroic legacy in its darkest hour.
If I had to choose a single word to describe Garth, it would be "connectedness". More than any other Legionnaire, he is defined by his relationship to others -- Ayla, Mekt, Imra, Rokk, his own children -- to name only the most obvious ones. He derives his strength and motivation from these connections (though some might argue his passion for Imra is his Achilles heel). It is fitting therefore that Garth's finest moments, both pre-boot and post-boot, took the form of the ultimate sacrifice so that others might live.
The misfortunes that plagued Garth throughout his lifetime(s) have been interpreted by many as bad luck. This is an understandable but shallow perspective. Levitz came closest to acknowledging the archetypal nature of the character when he portrayed Garth as "the fated child" in the 30th anniversary issue. If Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, and Claude Levi-Strauss had been Legion fans, they would have immediately recognized Garth as the classic solar hero of Western mythology: the young man of ordinary background who leaves home on a quest, facing monsters, obstacles of the heart and mind, and disfigurement and death during the course of his journey. Confronted with the overwhelming forces of darkness, he transcends his own limitations by sacrificing himself to restore the light, only to be resurrected later, literally or symbolically. The story is as old as mankind and Garth is one of its most appealing modern-day archetypes.
DnA are fully cognizant of his central role in the Legion mythos, referring once to his death as "one of the most important things to happen in post-reboot continuity." and citing "the Death of Lightning Lad" as one of the epic tales of the pre-crisis Legion. It is no coincidence then that the larger arc they put into place nearly four years ago began with Garth's "little death" in LOTD, came to a climax with his "real" death in Lost, and will, I believe, draw to its inevitable conclusion with his return to the Legion pantheon (long-time fans of DnA will remember them as the creators of the inimitable Resurrection Man). It cannot be otherwise, for just as Imra declared herself "incomplete" without Garth, so too is the Legion he helped create.
P.S. Just to make myself perfectly clear on the matter, no, Garth was NEVER Proty.
From: Reimagined Trom | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Very interesting, the solar hero. After all, Odysseus came home. Took a while, but he got there. Maybe Garth will show up sooner than later, with tales of adventure.
posted
How did I not see this thread earlier? Obviously I'm not spending enough time on Legion World! And with the newest solicitations for Legion in November, it might be time to bump this thread back up!
It has all been said well before (applause and kudos for those above, "Bravo!"), and I have to echo the sentiments. Garth is my favorite superhero (not just my favorite Legionnaire), and pretty much has been since I first began delving into comics as a kid. The cool powers, the great costume (thanks Dave Cockrum!), the beautiful girl he loves.
Rokk has always been the soul of the Legion. Imra has been the heart of the Legion. Garth is in every way the light, the energy of the Legion.
He's what we aspire to be, even in our worst moment. He's a man of action, and a man of passion. Of resolve even he didn't know he possessed: overcoming all that "bad luck"...his own death, his arm, his evil brother, his parent's accident, the apparent loss of Rokk, Imra and Ayla during Team20. He would give his all for the team, and proved it regardless of which 'boot you are talking about.
And more for him than anyone else on the team, the Legion is "family". Ayla is his sister, Imra is his love, and Rokk is his absolute best friend. Ironic to think that as a runaway he literally went looking for family. He found one (and "founded" one), it just wasn't the one he was seeking.
I'm still moved when I think about his death at the end of Legion Lost. I saw it coming. It was inevitable. I'm thinking "No, don't do this..." (to the writers of course. Only an idiot would talk to a comic...duh... ) But I can't be angry at DnA, because the story was told so well. His sacrifice was noble and brave and (tragically) necessary for the Legion to become whole again. He "found" the Lost Legionnaires. He seemed to be good at that.
During Legion Lost, when things were at their darkest, he led the team back into the light. He called the shots and they all listened and did as they were told, in order to get "home": Finding their ship, keeping tabs on Jan, crippling the Progency, and examining the Omniphagos' portal for a way to their universe... that's a lot of ground to cover and balls to juggle with less than 2 issues to go in the series.
And when it was down to the wire, for Garth to have the presence of mind to quit the team, knowing his actions would tarnish the group as a whole...he could not let that happen, but knew what had to be done to save not only two universes, but save his family as well.
It's almost funny. Why do I like Garth so much? Because as heroes go, he's one of the most "grounded".
-------------------- Craig C.
- Time travel stories are told in chronillogical order.
From: Santa Ana, CA | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
When I was a kid, my best friend, and fellow comic book fiend, had red hair. (We had arranged with the local variety store owner, to let us look through the comics and make our selections before he put them on the carousel rack.) The two of us were total DC fans and the Adventure series featuring the LSH was one of our biggest favorites. I think my friend identified with Lightning Lad (we used code names in those days) because of his red hair. I guess I always left LL to my friend because of that. I do remember with particular fondness when I first read the death of Lightning Lad (when it first came out). That was the first time I'd ever experienced a super-hero death. I was relieved that it was Proty, although sad. How shocking years later to find out that LL had really died and the pet had taken his place. That was a little out there. But, that's why the Legion has kept my interest for 40 years.
[ August 22, 2003, 10:10 PM: Message edited by: Semi Transparent Fellow ]
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
Craig, I've been waiting for your post to this thread. All I can say is, bravo! Very well put and from the heart. Thanks!
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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![[Lightning Lad]](graemlins/LightningLad.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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) But I can't be angry at DnA, because the story was told so well. His sacrifice was noble and brave and (tragically) necessary for the Legion to become whole again. He "found" the Lost Legionnaires. He seemed to be good at that.
