Who would have thought that the little internet group I joined six years ago would still be going strong today? Or that I would still be a part of it? I've been involved in online groups before, but nothing with this sort of staying power. So what makes the LMBP different than these other groups?
Friendship.
It's not just that we share a common interest. We've become involved with each other on a very personal level. We've been there through personal highs and lows, shared each other's joys and gave support when we needed it. We've met face to face, talked on the phone, even exchanged gifts and cards on the holidays.
We're no longer just a "legion of message board posters." We've become an extended family. These are the ties that bind us, and that is the reason why we're still going strong after all these years.
Gallaghers! I can't even imagine how I would have filled the past 6 years if the LMB had not come to exist. Memphis might be nothing but a smoking ruin by now. You guys have saved thousands of lives! Give yourselves a pat on the back!
So thanks for giving me a place to annoy people with irritating catchphrases and buzzwords, and an outlet for expressing my love for obscure characters that very few care about!
It struck me not long ago that the LMB is going to be the one thing I'm most likely to be remembered for and I'm proud of that.
--MLLASH (wondering what the exes he's pissed off will remember him for)
"You know, we should really straighten out our continuity one day.”
Lash said that one September afternoon in 2003, and for some reason the idea really stuck in my head. I had returned in September of 2003 to the LMB, Legion fandom, and well, the internet in general after a lengthy hiatus (really my third one) and had regained a familiar thrill—the feeling I had gotten years earlier in posting with the LMB through the unique hobby of having fun online with a group of friends who lived very, very far apart.
The continuity of the LMB has always fascinated me, and I was always immersed in the way the LMB characters mimicked the comics books that we loved so much in the sense that there was an ongoing story that had its own complex and wonderful continuity. So I took it upon myself to try and organize a complete and all-encompassing LMB timeline, knowing full well that the history of the LMB was a maze of craziness and composite stories and subplots over a variety of years, many of which I was not around for. And I loved every second of it.
And now I can say, without a shadow of a doubt that nothing has been left out. I’ve talked to every available member, read every available thread/document and read all the backlogs of all the still active message boards (even the Yahoo Group) and have formulated a very intricate timeline for the history of the LMB. In creating a smooth timeline out of a series of unique and unrelated stories and characters, I’ve found a fun hobby that has only increased my love for this group ten-fold.
However, somewhere along the way, I realized there was a much deeper and greater story to tell. The story of the group itself, in real life, and how it came together to mean so much more than a group of people who posted about comics and stuff on a message board. And how over the years, people have come and gone and the group has grown and changed, although never losing the spirit that defines it, no matter how hard it is to define that spirit in words. In fact, the story of the migration from message board to message board, and the ability to keep people staying and returning online when they were apparently lost in cyber-space is as interesting a story to read as the mirroring tale of cosmic super-heroes and their wacky adventures.
I began the continuity research in September 2003 and officially began the timeline in the fall of 2004, and now, I can open up the official thread. It feels good. And less I start to feel the eventual ‘downer’ effect of completing something you like doing, I’m reminded of the fact that the story is far from over and going on still—and I’m still behind on recapping the most recent events! Knowing its an ongoing story is the most enjoyable aspect of this entire timeline: in terms of the fun adventures of a group of well-meaning but bumbling super-heroes, as well as the story of a group that continues to grow as a genuine community of friends and kindred spirits.
Sweet Ass Sweet!!!
- Cobalt Kid
[ February 04, 2006, 02:31 AM: Message edited by: Nightcrawler ]
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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In brief, the LMB, or LMBP as some call it, is a group of posters that have been hanging out online since March 12, 2000. The Legion of Message Board Posters (LMBP, although often referred to as LMB, especially by its oldest members) was given this title by MLLASH when he kick-started the group then, although the foundations for the group are truly a little earlier.
But it oh so much more.
According to the LMBP Yahoo! Group "Welcome to the Yahoo!Group home of the Legion of Message Board Posters. Drawn together by our love of the Legion, held together by our friendship and mutual respect. All are welcome here, but please play nice."
According to the LMBP Outpost "Welcome to the LMBP Outpost, the Internet home and headquarters of the Legion of Message Board Posters! We were drawn together by a love of DC's Legion of Super-Heroes, but it's the friendships we've forged that keep us together.”
The group began as a collection of internet fans of the Legion of Super-Heroes, who originally posted on the Official DC Comics Message Board. A handful of posters had gotten to know one another better, in a real attempt to do away with internet formalities and get to know the person speaking behind the ambiguous moniker. A short while after, the Legionnaires Forum on the DCMBs was all but largely abandoned, and a handful of those posters already getting to know one another began posting there more often. Thus, the main posters doing so, MLLASH, LardLad, Shadowplay in Candlelight, Cobalt Kid and Tsarin (now Mystery Lad) were dubbed the LMBP by MLLASH. Mere hours later and already others had signed on, such as bellbookcandle and Newcru to name a few.
Inane, utterly silly, vulgar and often pushing the line of decency in a public forum, this group of message board posters grew into something larger, that not only talked about the Legion, but talked about each other and each other’s interests, and literally began building itself into an online community.
As months turned to years and time continued on, it became apparent that this group had no intentions of disbanding and had truly grown into something far more than a fan club for the Legion of Super-Heroes—indeed, many of the posters hardly spoke about the Legion of Super-Heroes at times. Gaining its own websites, continually being joined by new, enthusiastic members with the same off-beat humor, the group has become a adhesive, potent force in the last 6+ years.
It means friendship and doing away with internet formalities, and creating a real community of friends online that have a common goal of loving the Legion. It means being a place to come to when you feel like you've got nowhere else to go, to discuss the various things that interest you. And it means you've decided that above all else, it’s much more important that everyone is having a good time together.
There is a mission to it too: a type of pro-active stance on involving others in Legion fandom, in doing any tiny little bit it takes to help increase the profile of the current comic book by bringing in new fans and showing them what a cool concept the Legion is--in all forms.
It’s hard to define what the LMB is, because it is constantly evolving and changing, and it means different things to different people. But it certainly is something, and its here to stay
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Introduction What is Continuity in Regards to the LMBP?
Within mere days of the LMB’s existence the various active members of the LMB began to create the fictional universe of the LMB with no true goal or purpose in doing so. Using their screen names and love of various aspects of the Legion, comics in general and popular culture in general, LMBers were created as a super-hero team that mimicked the Legion of Super-Heroes. There was one exception to the rule: the LMB Universe, from the very start, incorporated more drunken shenanigans, sexual debauchery and off-beat zanies that made it apparent to any reading that it did not take itself seriously. In a way, it was a Legion of Samwise the Braves—but Frodo would not have gotten very far without Sam, so that was enough.
The continuity exploded onto the scene and became a solid part of life among the LMB, as stories and character bits became commonplace. Soon, the LMB had a vibrant, living universe that was expanding and building upon previous cannon, so that it had its very own continuity in the truest sense of the word. This has continued to this day, and in a way that has at times embraced the silliness and complicatedness of comic book continuity, to the point where it became hard to sort out what had happened when.
This is why this narrative was begun—to get a set timeline to bring together many years of silly and sometimes serious LMB stories into one coherent timeline. In that respect, I’m quite certain I’ve far exceeded my expectations.
Continuity has been established through a variety of means. Tag Team threads, where one poster posts a big of a story and then passes it on to the next, as well as Onevisions, where there is one sole author (a method created by LardLad) have been two main venues to showcase LMB continuity. However, little character bits can be found in almost any thread over the last 5+ years, and a genuine sense of the continuity comes from every aspect of the LMB.
The Real Life/Continuity Overlap Real life time does not reflect continuity time. In regards to how old the LMB is, it is five and a half years old at October, 2005. In continuity, it’s a little over six years old. This stems from the notion that the leadership terms of the LMB are supposed to be three months long, although they are often much longer, and sometimes drag on for a long time. On the other hand, they sometimes are exactly three months, but during a period where there was such an immense amount of activity, it would make no sense that all could fit into one term. In an effort to sort this out in terms of continuity, it’s been established that each leadership term is about four months long in continuity, although there are special exceptions where they are even longer. Thus, the LMB’s characters move along at a relatively easy to manage pace (as often too much happens in one term to truly fit into just three months), while the real life LMB leadership can fluctuate in terms of length in regards to the atmosphere of the team.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Introduction On the Prose of this Narrative
LMB vs. LMBP The terms LMB and LMBP are virtually interchangeable, and I will use them in that manner throughout this entire narrative. They both originally referred to “Legion of Message Board Posters”, although much later Stu came up with the idea of the LMBP referring to that traditional title and LMB referring to “Legion of the Message Board”.
Real History and Continuity I set out to write this written history with the LMB’s continuity in mind, although upon doing so I realized there is a much deeper and far more important story to be told in the form of the real life history of the LMB and how the group has evolved and progressed since days when it was an infant concept. Throughout this narrative, I will continually offer insight on events during the history of the LMB, and split them up into how things occurred in real life, and then in terms of how history moved in the LMB’s fictional continuity. Thus, two distinct threads will be woven throughout this story of the LMB, and each one, as can subtly be seen, affected the other.
Breaking of the Sections Each chapter of the narrative will be broken down by the terms of the LMB Leader, and listed chronologically. There will be some exceptions, when there appeared to be no LMB leader at the time, as well as two bookend chapters “Before the LMB” and “Five Years Later”, which offer insight into the continuity of the fictional LMB universe, although do not accurately fall into any one time period of the LMB’s existence.
Dates Each section, broken up by the then current LMB leader (with some exceptions) will have at the top of the post a set of dates that will distinguish when those events took place in real time. As previously mentioned, there is a real life/continuity overlap—however, the dates at the top of the page will give you an accurate idea of when the events in that post were occurring, despite real life leadership terms taking longer than ‘in continuity’ terms.
Links There are a variety of active places to find original LMB stories and threads still on the internet. For each one of these that exist, a link will be included into the timeline, so that readers can view the original source material to see where the information was secured.
Footnotes A separate thread of footnotes will exist as an addendum with this thread, giving further historical insight on more specific bits of LMB history and trivia. Often, these might include mine and others personal recollections of obscure bits of LMB lore.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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Pre-Egypt Real History During the Ongoing Tag Team Thread of Year Five, Abin Quank began writing his own unique story more in line with a Onevision. This was a story about Rody the Super Rat, Iron Rat and Nightcrawler traveling back into time and confronting another JSMBP, and the origins of Stoopid Cat, Pagan Lass and Iron Rat.
In Continuity In Pre-Egypt, the Cat-Goddess Bast understood that one day a great and terrible evil would descend on the galaxy, and she attempted to create agents to stop this evil. Already, the great mystic Numb-Nuts the Semi-Incomprehensible began training StuRat, who was already an adept mystic, and Bast sought to create an equally powerful being in the form of Stoopid Cat, who she endowed with extraordinary power. Using a cat from StuRat’s century, Bast also saw the opportunity to make one more agent, in the form of Pagan Lass, also from that century. In the time since, many of LMBers have learned of further connections to this time period. this was originally a Onevision by Abin Quank
The Golden Age LMB Real History During the LMBP’s Year Two, Onevisions became a popular form of story-telling amongst the LMBP. Faraway Lad was one of those who perfected this, as he wrote the LMB story “The Golden Age” LMBP, which introduced a group of heroes who established a connection and history with the current LMBP. This continued the trend of establishing an ever growing universe for the LMBP and helped inspire MLLASH (along with the comic book CHASE) to create the LMB Experience.
In Continuity During the 1940’s, a group of heroes banded together to fight crime and spread the virtues of justice and peace! They were the Justice Society of Message Board Posters: Lard Knight, The Loser, The Lash, Beagle Twins, The Conciliator, The Flying Squirrel and Squirrelly the Boy Rodent, Scrapper man with his nine year old companion Slugger, and the Green Miasma! Many of these had connections to present day LMB heroes, such as the Lard Knight who was a Lard Knight of that era and The Loser, who could tap into the Loser force! this was originally a Onevision by Faraway Lad
The Justice Society of Message Board Posters of the 1950’s Real History During the Ongoing Tag Team Thread of Year Five, Abin Quank began writing his own unique story more in line with a Onevision. This was a story about Rody the Super Rat, Iron Rat and Nightcrawler traveling back into time and confronting another JSMBP.
In Continuity During the 1950’s, a group inspired by the original JSMBP came together to try and once more show people that Justice could still exist. They were: Super Duper Marvelous Man, Spectaculur Aqua-Lungs Girl, Jesse Quickly, Green Latrine, Mr. Terrifically and his T-Spheres Ben and Wa, Duck Bloggers and his sidekick Green Cloned Pig. For a period of time in this era, the heroes Stoopid Cat and Pagan Lass traveled back in time and served on the team, until returning with other future heroes Iron Rat, Nightcrawler, Rody the Super Rat and Dusty Baker this was originally a Onevision by Abin Quank
The LMB Experience Real History During the second year of the LMBP, Onevisions became a popular form of storytelling. One of the first to use this style was MLLASH, who created the LMB Experience in “The Last Days of the LMB Experience”.
In Continuity SPOILERS During the 1960’s and 1970’s, another group attempted to take up the mantel of super-heroes, to continue the tradition of super-heroics. However, most of this group would meet a terrible end, thus leaving a sad legacy for super-heroics that would last a millennia! Among their original line-up was Acid Lad, Boy 54, Sundown, Rhinestone Cowboy, Roller Queen, Platform King, Belle Bottom, Peace-Taker, The Living Afro, Bong Boy and Frisbee Frank . Towards the end of the era, different attitudes about politics and society, mixed in with rambunctious sex and drug-taking helped send many of the LMBE on path of destruction. In the mid-70’s, the villain Dr. Butz began to attack and murder them one by one, culminating in his murders of Rhinestone Cowboy and Sundown! Finally, it was Acid Lad, Boy 54 and Roller Queen who learn that Dr. Butz was actually Golden Age sidekick The Slugger gone evil, joined by the other Golden Age Sidekick, Squirrelly the Rodent Boy. Both sidekicks had been abused by their so-called ‘heroic mentors’, as Squirrelly was locked away as a monster and Slugger suffered far more terrible abuse. Finally, through the sacrifice of Boy54, the two heroes were able to make it alive, and the two former sidekicks turned villains perished. With a sense of new-found hope, Acid Lad and Roller Queen reenter the world attempting to shrug off the painful previous few years, as Boy 54 is able to somehow cheat death and continue to party on as he always had. this was originally a Onevision by MLLASH
Engine Joe Real History- On the old DC Boards, there were two boards, the Legion of Super-Heroes Board and the Legionnaires Board. Everyone posted on the LSH board, while no one did on the L* board...except Engine Joe. For months, he single-handidly kept it alive so the moderator would not delete it from existence. Most of the LMB would not know about his efforts until he left the boards a week earlier (sadly ironic since he never saw the LMB, which started partly because of his inspiration).
LMB Continuity: In an era with few heroes, the sad 20th Century, one man stood apart from the rest and performed many Heroic deeds--Engine Joe. He was a virtual Superman, as heroic and brave as he was smart and crafty, and with numerous abilites and super-powers to go with it. So great was his influence that he would be remembered as a great hero for one thousand years.
Little is known about what happened to him, and most still don't know to this day. Unknown to the LMB , Engine Joe lived on for a thousand years, adopting the name R. Engine J. Brande and living life as a industrialist and philanthropist in the 30th century.
[ February 07, 2006, 08:43 AM: Message edited by: Cobalt Kid ]
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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Real history : the foundation of the LMB truly begins with the thread "Who Are You?" on the old DC Legion of Super Heroes Board. Although many posters had been there for months, and some had even gotten to 'know' bits and pieces about one another, there was still major internet ambiguity and an impersonal feel to the boards. One day, LardLad, a somewhat major poster at the time, began the thread "Who Are You?” saying that he was tired of this internet ambiguity and that he felt more comfortable getting to know people personally, and have people get to know him.
Immediately this thread was a hit. Many of us from the first year began posting little anecdotes about ourselves, and many of the early friendships began there. For instance, MLLASH knew LardLad from a previous message board and the two often joked together and argued against Greybird. However, in this thread both MLLASH and LardLad became friendlier with Greybird, just as they became more friendly with Cobalt Kid, Armsfalloffboy, Newcru and a variety of others. Here was the true beginning of the LMB.
In LMB Continuity:
Throughout the universe, many young men and women existed with extraordinary abilities or extraordinary courage and dreams. Some even had both. An evil scientist, R'ym J'aab, believed that if he could control the minds of these young men and women, he could build a virtual army to conquer the universe. Obviously mad, he adopted the name Salad Tosser Lord, and quickly set out to capture these young men and women.
Many of them, including LardLad, Lash Lad, Shadowplay in Candlelight Lass, Cobalt Kid, Tsarin Kid, Crusader and many more were captured. However, Shadowplay in Candlelight Lass was able to break free of her bonds and free LardLad, who then fought back against Salad Tosser Lad, while Tsarin Kid and Cobalt Kid dismantled his mind-controlling devices.
In the end, Salad Tosser Lad escaped, although he was beaten. However, most of these young men and women could not truly remember what had happened to them, asking each other "Who Are You?" after the battle concluded and their memories were erased. Only Lash Lad had the slightest sense of what happened before they all parted ways.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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Real History: A week or so after Engine Joe stopped posting on the L* Board, a few random posters decided to venture over and start creating threads. Soon, a massive influx of new threads overwhelmed the Legionnaires Board, and the seven or so of us doing them having so much fun posting with each other that we quickly became a group of good friends. This was mainly MLLASH, LARDLAD, Shadowplay in Candlight, Cobalt Kid, Tsarin, Bellbookcandle, Leviathan and Goon Boy (although some others popped in a bit, like Newcru). This was all in the span of only a few days.
By the end of those few days, MLLASH created the most infamous thread in message board history: "The Legion of Message Board Posters." With that, the LMB was born.
In it, he said: "Charter members: Lardlad Cobalt Kid Tsarin Kid Shadowplay in Candlelight Lass Lash Lad Engine JoeBoy
Post here to earn full membership, including your very own replica Dream Girl barette and LMB walking ring which enables all LMB members to travel via the ground! Our membership is strictly limited to 25 so don't delay! Offer open to all posters on the Legionnaies board****"
LardLad, Cobalt Kid, Tsarin, Shadowplay in CandleLight, Engine Joe and MLLASH became the founders of the LMB, taking on the names Lash Lad, LardLad, Shadowplay in Candlight Lass (commonly referred to as Shady, as she will be from here on out), Cobalt Kid and Tsarin Kid. Engine Joe never posted again, so he did not truly become a founder.
By the second post (from Shady), she added that others should be involved to: Bellbookcandle, Goon Boy and Leviathan, known as Bellbookcandle Kid, Goon Boy and Lev Lad [ note - the name Bellbookcandle was retroactively changed to Seahorse].
That same day, Newcru also posted on the thread asking for membership, and quickly joined up. Under the name Newcru King [ note- this name has been retconned to be Crusader], he rounded out the days line-up. With that, the LMB was formed.
In Continuity:
There are a variety of Origin Stories dealing with the Origin of the LMB Basically, it follows this: LardLad , Lash Lad and Shadowplay in Candlelight Lass, while meeting unexpectedly, end up saving philanthropist R. Engine J. Brande from an assassination attempt. He tells them of heroes of old, and that they should start their own group. They quickly do so, with their first two new recruits Cobalt Kid and Tsarin Kid, both of whom knew each other previously. Quickly, Seahorse, Goon Boy, Lev Lad and Crusader rounded out the team, so the LMB founders ushered in a new age, the age of the LMB.
Throughout the ages, many interpretations of this story have been published, in an attempt to further understand how the LMBP came to be:
Real History: Immediately, there was a major influx of members. So many joined up so quickly, that it became common place to try and keep track of who joined. In one day there would be five new members often. Eventually, it began to stabilize around twenty-five or so members with Looks that Kill Lad, although many more members still joined at a very rapid pace. By then, however, it was easier to keep track of.
Throughout this rapid influx of membership, the LMB was bursting with energy, creativity and pure chaos. There was threads about the Legion, threads about each other and then quite suddenly...threads about the LMB as Super-Heroes (more on that later).
This is the period hardest to keep track of on whom joined when. It has retroactively been established that anyone who only posted one time did not truly join the LMB, but had honorary status (the list would be too hard to figure out and too long). They will all be listed in the continuity section, with a basic timeline for this period.
In Continuity:
- After the nine founders established the LMB, many tried to infiltrate them. One in particular was LLANCE , who almost succeeded. However, he was revealed to be a super-traitor and was sent home from the LMB.
- The first two new members to join the LMB arrived in Superstar fashion: Grey Birdboy and Rhino , the first two new recruits of the LMB!
- The LMB set up their first Headquarters, which would serve them for their first two years.
- Beagle Boy was the next to join
- Loser Lad joined
- FoodMaker Kid joined- FoodMaker Kid was retroactively inserted into LMB Continuity. No such person ever existed, he was the first fictional LMB member
- The motto "SWEET ASS SWEET" was coined by LardLad and adopted by the LMB.
- Ultra Jo
- Lumber Fox
- Carggaphile Kid (now known as Man From Carrgg)
- Kbern Kid
- Armsfalloffboy
-Beagle Boy's dog, Piddlin' Pup joins the LMB at their headquarters.
- Stately Wayne Manor Eater Lad (Zoe's Love Slave)
- JWB Boy
- Sketch Lad
- Dev-Em
- Lurker Lad I (Grae)
- Igee the Mighty
- Looks that Kill Lad (Paul McNeil)
- During the tryouts held by the LMB in the early weeks, hundreds of other applicants tried out and did not receive membership to the LMB. One such applicant was Dazzle Lass. Dazzle Lass and LardLad immediately become very close after he consoled her following her rejection.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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