posted
...given that Superboy turned out to be from the Pocket Universe and not a younger version of Byrne's Superman, don't you think it was kind of redundant for Saturn Girl to implant a post-hypnotic suggestion in his head to forget all evidence of the existence of his 'cousin' Supergirl whenever he would return to the 20th Century? Also, was there an Adventure comics story in which Vi implants a Kryptonite capsule in Superboy's brain that wiped out his memory of Supergirl? (I seem to remember her tussling with microscopic Kryptonian white blood cells). Inquiring minds want to know....
From: Flushing, NY, USA | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
But the legionnaires didn't know that their Superboy wasn't really from their past, so they thought they had to protect him from finding out about (what they assumed to be) his future.
Wasn't there a story that said it was actually Supergirl who hypnotized Kal into forgetting her? I know that Iron Butt makes more sense, but I swear I remeber Kara doing it...
And the story where Vi implanted GreenK in the memory part of Kal and Kara's brains was the ADVENTURE issue where Superboy/girl were forced to leave the Legion due to a cloud of kryptonite in (30th century) Earth's atmosphere. But everything turned out O.K. because Color Kid changed the color of the kryptonite cloud... Don't you love happy endings?
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
To clarify, originally it was indeed Supergirl who planted the post-hypnotic suggestion that caused Superboy to forget her whenever he returned to his time. It had been established during Mort Weisinger's editorship of the Superman titles that a Kryptonian could be hypnotized only by another Kryptonian. This detail was forgotten by the time of the SUPERBOY/LEGION series, hence, Saturn Girl getting the credit (and actually performing another post-hypnotic suggestion on Superboy, in LSH # 259).
The green kryptonite capsuls from ADVENTURE # 350-351 were intended not only to wipe out Superboy's memory of Supergirl, but also his memory -- and hers -- of the Legion. Since the super-cousins could no longer travel to the future to participate in the Legion, it was deemed safer if they had no knowledge of the future whatsoever. (Of course, they were later allowed to return, thanks to Color Kid!)
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
You know, I thought this was going to be a thread about Universo planting a post-hypnotic suggestion of some sort in the legionnaires' minds (or in some of them). I know this Universo is a mind-controller/telepath, not a you-are-getting-sleepy hypnotist, but he could have done something like that. Good for a sequel. "You will release me if I am captured," sort of thing.
It also brings to mind that the legionnaires will, one hopes, take this little adventure to heart and develop some way of resisting mind control or hypnotism that they might face from other villains - be it through some training or device such as the torq crystals. Of course, that would kill a whole bunch of future stories and villains, so I expect it won't happen.
posted
I can hypnotize a post. What do you want it to do?
Seriously, I thought the whole "hypnotizing Superboy so he doesn't remember Supergirl" (and the Legion a couple of times) was lame. It was really weak storytelling for why he stopped going to the future as of S/LSH #259. So why didn't Saturn Girl just wipe the knowledge he gained about his parents' deaths from his mind and he show up for the next meeting. They tried to explain it away, but it was weak!
-------------------- Craig C.
- Time travel stories are told in chronillogical order.
From: Santa Ana, CA | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I think the post-hypnotic suggestion does make a certain sense. If we could bring Col. George Washington into the present and reveal to him that he would one day be not only a general but the leader of an entire nation, would we want him to go back to the 18th century with that knowledge? It might make him too bold -- knowing what his future holds, he might get reckless and thrown in prison or killed. Or at least it might make him insufferable. ("Don't tell me what to do, Martha! I'm your future commander in chief!") Or it might even intimidate the young George, if he felt he wasn't ready.
Likewise, any knowledge of Superboy's future as Superman (including Supergirl's existence) might have had a similar effect on him. At least the temptation would be there, and he might also have accidently created an alternate future by second-guessing himself ("Let's see ... am I supposed to encounter Brainiac here, or does that come later?") and flying left instead of right.
As for his departure in LSH # 259, my understanding was that every time he would return to the 30th century, he would remember what he forgot when he went back. Why would the Legionnaires want him to remember the Kents' death, which was still in his future and which he couldn't prevent? Perhaps Saturn Girl couldn't permanently erase such information.
(Of course, this was never addressed when he later did return to the Legion, but, there's consistency for you.)
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by He Who Wanders: As for his departure in LSH # 259, my understanding was that every time he would return to the 30th century, he would remember what he forgot when he went back. Why would the Legionnaires want him to remember the Kents' death, which was still in his future and which he couldn't prevent? Perhaps Saturn Girl couldn't permanently erase such information.
OC's right. That plot was weak story-telling (given it was solely driven by creating a separate "Superboy" book).
If Irma could erase "future events" knowledge from Superboy's mind when he went to the past, why couldn't she erase "past events" knowledge, i.e. the Kent's death, when he came into the future?
quote:Originally posted by queer legion: If Irma could erase "future events" knowledge from Superboy's mind when he went to the past, why couldn't she erase "past events" knowledge, i.e. the Kent's death, when he came into the future?
(Good God, I sound like a fan-boy!!)
Because (and again, this is my understanding of stories I haven't read in quite awhile) the post-hypnotic suggestion only worked when Superboy returned to the 20th century. Every time he visited the 30th century, those blocked memories would return. They must have -- or he would have had to be reintroduced to Supergirl every time he encountered her. He would also have to be retold endlessly how Mon-El got out of the Phantom Zone.
(I know. I sound like a fan-boy, too. )
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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