Shooter: Self-effacing, insecure, burdened with feelings of inadequacy, and yet -- he is more together and competent than most people suspect, especially himself.
Bierbaums: A great guy. Fun, supportive and far more valuable a team member than anyone realized. Made the most of everything he had.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: For whatever reason in his background he is kind of a depressing person. He equates being negative and sober and worried and dull with being serious about what he is doing. His humor is strictly sardonic, a kind of black humor. He is always certain that the worst will happen. Even Phantom Girl, the love of his life, is a source for more dire imaginings on his part. He is certain she will die, or be hurt, and is vastly overprotective. On the good side, he is strong, solid, dependable and absolutely devastating in anger. He angers easily. He bears authority well and can lead, but his judgment is suspect -- it is occasionally bent by his bleak oitlook and a system or priorities that puts Phantom Girl over everything. He is, however, selfless and bright and willing to risk his own life often in a morbid, intense, almost passionate rage. Ultra Boy would be hell in bed. He undoubtedly, however, makes gentle, tender (and expert) love to Phantom Girl and saves his occasional forays into the bizarre for someone less angelic to him -- say, Dream Girl. This guy is probably the Legion's closest to being a mental case. Though he would deny it, he needs a Bouncing Boy type -- I think he is smart enough to know that. But Bouncing Boy is gone now .... hmm....
Bierbaums: A street rat with a heart of gold. Raised in the squalor of an amoral frontier world, he picked up from his parents an unyielding sense of morality. From his hardscrabble background he picked up the resourceful intelligence of somebody who's survived a thousand scrapes that would have wiped out those of us from more genteel worlds. Yes, he's overmatched by Tinya's charms and powerful personality, but it all works out. Given some of the secrets he's carrying around, he desperately needs to be under-estimated, and coming off as Tinya's big, dumb plaything doesn't hurt that cause.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: He is, as (Cary) Bates defined him, basically insecure. Contrary to what many people say, he has not had a thousand years of life to his credit, but due to the hoeostatic nature of the zone, he has had the same year 1000 times. That is -- the zone
Bierbaums: An immensely heroic figure. Perhaps the greatest hero of all time. Utterly dedicated to serving others and paying whatever price is necessary for the common good. A thousand years in the phantom zone? No sweat. (It was the Eltro Gand personality projected into Mon-El's psyche that couldn't handle the Phantom Zone memories, not Mon-El himself.)
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: A student, a scholar, a leader type, but not in the Legion. He is heroic and loyal and dedicated and intelligent and clever and too valuable to be out of place in the Legion. As a Legionnaire he brought up the rear and his valuable qualities were largely wasted in a context where they were not in demand. One doesn't negotiate with Mordru. He is a fine person who had to come from behind, in the sense of having a dismal background, to succeed -- he has, and will.
Bierbaums: He was the one LSHer who understood that life was meant to be fun and being a Legionnaire was the greatest gig in the universe. Absolutely understood how ridiculous his power and code name were and loved being a living, breathing Monty Python routine.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: Hmm. An introvert who covers with snappy patter! Could be gay, who knows? He is confident, almost arrogant. He has a right to feel very special, and his is an overwhelming power.
Bierbaums: Came out of a society that had to teach their offspring from infancy not to turn their playmates into molybdenum anytime they get into a fight over the tinker toys. So he's a youth of vast discipline and spirituality. That's meant all these years he's been secretly, methodically dealing with the unspeakable horror of Roxxas' slaughter, coping in his own intensely private way. That's meant there's such disconnect between Jan's physical impulses and what his mind allows him to act upon, that questions of sexuality (yes, he's gay) are almost irrelevant.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: Not as plain as you paint her. Perhaps she has developed since the disguise incidennt (when she was surely on super-hormones!) She is fairly bright, and a samaritan, a good match for Timber Wolf when who needs a non-dominant, pleasant and patient girl. I think she is actually very feminine. She used to wear high heels!
Bierbaums: She's mother earth. The sweetest, most nurturing, most empathetic person you'll ever meet, the ultimate expression of the well-adjusted, naturalistic culture of Winath. She also deals beautifully with life's darkest moments, though her emotional Achilles' heel is facing up to the pathological behaviors of her renegade brothers Garth and Mekt. Also secretly harbors an eternally unrequited love for... Saturn Girl.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: I never believed that she scientifically changed Light Lass' power. It could only have been White Witchcraft -- and for some reason W.W. didn't watch the Legion to know about her.
Dream Girl is dumb. Her power is more or less hit or miss in value (though it is always accurate) and I'm sure her main service to the Legion is in her quarters after dark. She needs constant reassurance of her value, and since her Legion career has been less than stellar, the only way to get psychologically stroked is to allow herself to be physically stroked. By anybody. She has a need for love, adoration and reinforcement of her narcissistic self-image. Star Boy is either too dumb to realize this, or has resigned himself to it. His most fervent wish is to get her off to some godforsaken observatory somewhere, alone. Forever.
Bierbaums: Formidable. Her sexuality is a force on par with Brainiac 5's intellect, Mon-El's strength, Cosmic Boy's dedication. In part because of her power and in part because she's a very smart cookie, she can see many more moves ahead in the chess game of life than anyone else. And that's pretty useful when you can turn any corruptible male into your pawn. Luckily, she works for the good guys.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: Was not a political admission. She is proud of her noble background and yet does not want to be separated from her friends by station. K.K. is a natural for her, because he'd act the same before the King of Razamataz as he would with Sam the Streetsweeper. She'd say, "I'm a Princess" and he'd say, "Far-out! Wanna screw?" Opposites do attract -- her couth, class, cultural offset his rowdy behavior and vastly different culture. She is somewhat lost in this technological world, he is at home. She is a mystic, he has grown up amid science -- and yet, perhaps the Oriental half of Val is more in tune with Projectra's background. She is very duty-oriented, and to conduct herself in public, anyway, as a princess, is very important to her. She believes in her own nobility and that belief is the source of what courage, honor, loyalty and strength she has.
Bierbaums: A regal demeanor, with all that implies. Perhaps because of in-breeding within noble lines, she seems especially susceptible to some debilitating mental viruses, but Projectra has admirably rallied back from those difficulties.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: (Despite the fact Shooter created Ferro Lad, he had also killed him off soon after, and long before he had written these bios.)
Bierbaums: Being a repulsive freak of nature has given Andrew a devil-may-care streak that almost borders on fatalism. There seems to be a death wish lurking somewhere in there, and a determination to have as much fun and shake up his teammates as much as possible until the inevitable end comes.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: Definitely scrutable. Blunt. Forward, open, sometimes rash, impulsive, hot-headed. He is exactly as he seems. Courageous, loyal, and bright, believe it or not. He can lead, but mostly prefers to be alone or operate with relative autonomy. He'll work with a group, but prefers many options to many orders. He can think deep, but doesn't want to -- he is, in many ways, an artist!
Bierbaums: Here's a guy who's mentally disciplined himself to such a degree that he can give Superboy a run for his money. The problem is, Karate Kid has trouble dealing with teammates who have so much more to work with and expect so much less of themselves. Well-matched with Princess Projectra, who also has occasional trouble regarding her teammates as worthy equals.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: A romantic, a busybody, probably a gossip and a bright, sexy, sultry, swinging chick who is a lot of fun for Mon-El.
Bierbaums: She's a great hero, but also a bit of a schemer and manipulator. Has a dark side and can be a brat. All of which makes her a great partner for stuffy Mon-El, getting him to loosen up and enjoy life a little more.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: Hmm. I pictured him as a rich kid who sees this Legion biz as one big, happy, nifty-neat adventure. A likeable 30th Century kid-from-the-big-house-in-the-hill who never saw hard imes and approaches disaster, chaos, and destitution with a let-them-eat-cake naivete. He is a real chin-up character who firmly believes things will work out because they always have for him. It's fun for him... to the end.
Bierbaums: A minor character that we never wrote and never got to use much. Robert Loren Fleming's excellent Secret Origin seems like the definitive take on the character.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: Second to Ultra Boy as the Legion's leading fruitcake. He is probably as neurotic as is Ultra Boy, but exclusively about his own identity. He covers his interior uncertainty with coldness and hostility. Fortunately, Light Lass is enough of a romantic to be turned on by this aloof stance.
Ultra Boy thinks he knows himself while Wolf knows he doesn't. This alone makes Wolf a more palatable personality, He is the type who will make wisecracks and noise to hide his inward uncertainty. He wants their approval and acceptance. Actually, being a goody-goody Legionnaire is hard for him, because he is more of the James Bond type, just a little visious and nasty even though he's with the good guys. I think Light Lass had to lead him by the hand to bed, but thanks to her, he undoubtedly does well there now.
Bierbaums: Our idea for Brin was that his Zuunium treatments were a kind of super-steroid, giving him powers, but also warping his mind. We thought the look of his Cockrum appearance was by far Brin's best and tried to establish that as his actual native appearance, but never got that story published.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: Bleah. How dull. A hothead, yes. A bright but juvenile person (?) who is dull, dull, dull.
Bierbaums: He always seemed like the flattest, most two-dimensional character of the lot. But in a way, he was the perfect character to take the role of the inevitable upstart, the loudmouthed newcomer who just doesn't understand or respect the greatness that proceeded him. I liked him a lot more as the traditional hero of his original couple appearances, and he was on his way to being one of my all-time favorites, until they came up with the Marvel-inspired hothead business.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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Shooter: (Dawnstar was a post-Shooter era character.)
Bierbaums: She came across mostly as Marvel pretension with not much real personality, but we tried to deal with her as a hero who was, at once, aloof and troubled, cocky and vulnerable.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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