posted
I'm going to make this an umbrella thread for CTRs leading up to the LSH relaunch, then each issue will get its own thread, like before.
This is late enough that spoiler space isn't necessary (and it's in the Subject heading, anyways).
Let the Roll be Called!
FIRST STORY:
BRAINIAC 5: Aww- poor Brainy, a target for the bigger, buffer bully boys to pick on. What a way to find out the ancestor you're named for is hated by everyone around you. Not telling him is kind of irresponsible of his dad, if you ask me. Maybe he wanted Brainy to get picked on?
OK- the destroyed worlds list... Durla I (is that Cham's world- or are/were there more than one in the system?)? Imsk? Rimbor? Does this mean Shrinking Violet and Ultra Boy are escapees from little bottled cities or what?
Assuming that Vril and Lyrl are Brainiacs 2 and 3, we now know this boot's Brainiac legacy in full. Or do we? I haven't seen either of the Doxi I mentioned calling themselves 'Brainiac' yet, so maybe the lineage is more complicated than we yet know. I wish one of them were female, though... patrilinear nomenclature seems way too outmoded for Coluans.
Brainiac 4 seems likeable enough, especially for a Dox. I wonder what direction his trying to reclaim the Brainiac name took?
Wonder just what was the intent of having young Querl dressed in an outfit very similar to that of the New Wanderer (reboot) Brainiac 5? Odd...
The timing of this conversation seems strange to me. Brainy joined fairly close to the team's founding. He seems younger here than he would've been when he joined. In order for him to have heard of it, the Legion would've had to have been around for some period of time. I don't see how he would've aged in the time between this conversation and his joining. Maybe Coluans experience sudden and rapid growth spurts?
I liked the text box "That I know everything" leading directly into Brainy's surprised dialogue "What the hell is that?" A statement, by the way, that's pretty remarkable when uttered by Querl Dox's lips.
The big, rapid-grow magenta chronal rift seems threatening enough-- a perfect problem for Brainy to face. The LSH has faced similar rifts before, to dire effect. Here's hoping these rifts are manageable.
Wouldn't it be a kick if they encountered Black Bolt from Marvel while fighting/repairing the rifts? (He's lost in a rift in space and regarded as dead in Marvel's REALM OF KINGS storyline, written by Abnett and Lanning, who wrote the rift story that led to LEGION LOST a couple of boots ago...)
The art is fairly good here, though I hate that last image of Brainy and that weird, horsey nose.
Brainiac 5 going after Brainiac 1-- wonder if any of the in-between Brainiacs will also show up? How will the Brainiac/Luthor clone girl fit in? Should be fun and loaded with snark...
COSMIC BOY: I hope this Cos gets a couple of 'lighter' scenes fairly quickly, because he's registering as way serious, so far. He shouldn't be that limited. "Let's Go, Legionnaires!" Wonder what else they'll be borrowing from the Wanderers? Did they pick that up from Gates and XS in whatever time has passed for these characters since the end of LOTW?
WILDFIRE: Didn't have a single line? Has Drake *ever* been this quiet?
DAWNSTAR: I think she looks great, but I just hated that pose with her touching her forehead in order to track/sense the position of those who needed to be rescued. I'd rather see roving eyes, her head constantly shifting position as she tracks than this hokey fingers-to-forehead genuflection that's way too much like Saturn Girl.
LIGHTNING LASS: "We'll go after them." Inviting herself along to keep an eye on lover man. Too bad she's part of a LSH eterna-couple again. I always wanted to see a Rokk/Ayla pairing that *didn't* involve slapping. At least publicly.
"Aw, c'mon guys. Don't look so shocked to see us." I can only shake my head. And think to myself, "Those ol' Light Lass powers would come in handy during rescue work, wouldn't they?"
I like her competance.
TIMBER WOLF: I don't have a 'read' on this Brin, yet. I'm not crazy about this uniform. I would've thought that sleevlessness would work pretty well for Brin, but I don't actually think that it does. I'm not sure why I think that.
SECOND STORY:
SUPERBOY: Technically, I should be discussing Conner after all the Legionnaires, but he's still a member, to me. Just not of this Legion. Though I'm not sure that sort of distinction means much to the actual members of the various branches. Anyway...
... I guess Conner likes chemistry class. "If I'd known it was you, I'd have been down sooner." Or is he angling for a better grade?
I actually would've liked to see 'Mr. Janson' played out as Conner's chemistry teacher for awhile longer, but I know this subplot's been percolating past most folks' patience for months already. I just wonder what Jan's life has been like while he's been staying in Smallville. What all the Espionage Squad's lives have been like. I have the best idea of Tellus' and Star Man's... and Jeckie's, I guess. But everyone else? I'd like some glimpses into their experiences...
ELEMENT LAD: as in 'This is a job for..." Yeah, it's a clunky line. Mainly, because the 'job' doesn't really require much in the way of transmutation, or even Legionaire-itude, really. I like the pulling the shirt open. Though, y'know, it would've been pretty nifty if he turned the teacher-drag to oxygen or Lallorian cave-gas or something. Just to demonstrate what he can do. 'Cause readers who don't know him won't have a clue.
I like the pink and black and especially the Interlac 'E'.
What I didn't like, or at least felt kind of put off by, was the almost mugging facial expressions Jan wears in the barn scene when he says dialogue like "And me, Smallville" and "A great and very wise man." Guess he's developed some tricks while teaching 21st century teens. To me, his facial expressions would've seem more at home on Tenzil, who comes across as the 'serious' guy.
CHAMELEON BOY: Like the new/old uniform. It works for him. Don't like that 'different instructions that we weren't allowed to share even with each other' bit. An unnecessary convolution, IMO. "Squire you." Uhhh, I don't think Cham means what it sounds like he means here. 31st century word usage?
SENSOR GIRL: I guess she's disproving the illusion of good taste or something. Maybe it's Orandan tradition to wear something supremely ugly while mourning your husband the second time he's killed.
Her costume does look better while she's casting the illusion of Brainy's spacehead over New Krypton, though.
QUISLET: I love seeing this Legionnaire. But he's so quiet! He's this story's Wildfire!
MATTER-EATER LAD: Looks nothing like Mitch. I'm surprised Mon-el recognized him. Where'd the brown hair come from? Without the costume, I wouldn't have *ever* thought this was Tenzil. Especially with absoultely no humorous lines! Shocking!
TELLUS: I wonder if Tellus and Jan had meetings while in Smallville? I would've liked to read those... not to mention whatever communication is going on between Krypto and Tellus on the variant cover! (That panel is worth the price of the book, almost.)
KRYPTO: Well, he *was* a member of the Legion of Super-Pets, after all.
Wonder what he smells on Star Man's boot?
Do you think people from the future smell different? It might've been fun if he was fascinated by Mr. Janson--
I further wonder if Krypto sees Jeckie's illusion? I wish there'd been a 'bark' on that last page...
STAR MAN: OK, I've never felt the slightest discomfort at the way Thom's mental differences have been shown (who knows what the symptoms of *Xanthusan*- he's *not* human! mental difficulties might read like), but I am more than ready to read some 31st century medicine-cured Thom Kallor.
Did you think Cham's arm around Thom's shoulder was warm and friendly or condescending?
I'm not gonna cover that third story- it was all very murky and suitably dark, I'm sure.
One last thing- I like to use the LSH gremlins to highlight the main characters. Which 'version' should I use for this LSH? Have they got their own? Or they assumed to be the originals?
From: Knoxville, TN | Registered: Jul 2003
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BRAINIAC 5: OK- the destroyed worlds list... You're probably right about Imsk and Durla being ressurrected from the bottles. I think that DC is going somewhere pretty big with that whole thing, but we'll have to wait and see this summer.
Lyrl designated himself Brianiac 3 in .REBELS # 10 after Starro implanted him with on of the starro's and removed his mental blocks, restoring his 12th level IQ. It's been referred to a few times since then.
I wish that one had been female, too. But since the ID was considered very bad, maybe not, so much.
Vril was pretty universally dispised and so was Lyrl in his infant state. He's worked with the Starro's since coming back into the public arena, which doesn't bode well for his reputation, either. sigh
And Brainy 4 may have decided to reclaim the title but I didn't see a 12th level intellect in the panel that we saw.
And I think that the reboot costume might have just been a nod to that era, much like the 'rift' idea (and yes, I know it's cronal but the original one might have been cronal as well as spacial, since the Legionnaires were spewn out at multiple times, Jan and Wildfire, especially.) The timing of this conversation seems strange to me. Brainy joined fairly close to the team's founding. He seems younger here than he would've been when he joined. In order for him to have heard of it, the Legion would've had to have been around for some period of time. I don't see how he would've aged in the time between this conversation and his joining. Maybe Coluans experience sudden and rapid growth spurts?
I liked the text box "That I know everything" leading directly into Brainy's surprised dialogue "What the hell is that?" A statement, by the way, that's pretty remarkable when uttered by Querl Dox's lips.
WILDFIRE: Love his new 'look'.
DAWNSTAR: Hate the keyhole. I wish that she'd grown past the need to display her body that way.
LIGHTNING LASS: Like her but her Adventure style outfit looks strange to me. Very dated.
TIMBER WOLF: Hate the outfit but sadly, the original Brin was always a rather bland character up to this point in the retroboot, imo.
SECOND STORY:
The ES's lives during this last year, besides the ones you mentioned, we saw quite a bit of Tenzil as Mitch, too.
ELEMENT LAD: A transmitted outfit would have been pretty cool. I wish that they'd thought of it.
The outfits from all different eras mixed with new 'looks', too, kind of bothers me. It's a mess, I think.
Tenzil: Actually, Tenzil WAS a pretty serious guy up to this point, wasn't he?
TELLUS: Love Tellus, his look, his development so far, everything.
KRYPTO: He's my favorite new/old character that Johns and Robinson have done. I hope he smells chronal energy on the boot and now can track it through time and space.
He might be smelling Thom's sickness, too.
-------------------- 'In the twinkling of an eye' I'll be dancing in the sky!
Come, join me!
From: Salem, Oregon USA | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
I could easily see Krypto smelling Thom's illness. Dogs can sense all kinds of things, including gender, disease, and death. A super dog with super senses might be capable of much more.
Durla's being destroyed could be referring to the nuclear war that wiped out their civilization and caused their shapeshifting powers. Maybe they're just laying all of that at Brainiac's feet now.
They also seem to be trying to tie Brainiac's shrinking ray to the Imskians' shrinking ability, like they alluded to in the last boot.
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From: Champaign, IL | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Candle: Tenzil: Actually, Tenzil WAS a pretty serious guy up to this point, wasn't he?
TELLUS: Love Tellus, his look, his development so far, everything.
Boots, reboots...?
After Mordruverse and the SW6 were both irreverent.
Before 5YG, I don't even recall his last appearance. I know I should recall his "cure" but the issues are just not coming to mind.
From: East Toledo | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I think it was right before that #300 special with all the different artists. He's shown in the background in his wheelchair on the double page spread I believe.
-------------------- Buy my new graphic novel! http://www.dodeka12.com
From: Champaign, IL | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Candle: Tenzil: Actually, Tenzil WAS a pretty serious guy up to this point, wasn't he?
TELLUS: Love Tellus, his look, his development so far, everything.
Boots, reboots...?
After Mordruverse and the SW6 were both irreverent.
Before 5YG, I don't even recall his last appearance. I know I should recall his "cure" but the issues are just not coming to mind.
Yes, I'm trying to refer to Tenzil BEFORE his famous stint on Evillo's world and his relationship with Saturn Queen, which is were he got funny, right?
-------------------- 'In the twinkling of an eye' I'll be dancing in the sky!
Come, join me!
From: Salem, Oregon USA | Registered: Aug 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Candle: Tenzil: Actually, Tenzil WAS a pretty serious guy up to this point, wasn't he?
TELLUS: Love Tellus, his look, his development so far, everything.
Boots, reboots...?
After Mordruverse and the SW6 were both irreverent.
Before 5YG, I don't even recall his last appearance. I know I should recall his "cure" but the issues are just not coming to mind.
Irreverent? Did you mean irrelevant?
lol, I see your point but how relevant can a guy who chews stuff be expected to be? IMO he became relevant by admitting the silliness of the power and giving him a role as a powerful supporting character with a quirky view on life instead a difficult character to find uses for.
From: East Toledo | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by jimgallagher: It was either then or the Subs special or the Polar Boy trial. I think the Subs special was probably first.
Other than biting off Pulsar's (?) nose I don't recall much from his role in the Sub's special but he was a tactical genious in freeing PB.
From: East Toledo | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I enjoyed the issue but they are really delivering this story at a slow place. Anything over a year is sloooooooooooooow. That said, the Legion has certainly been relaunched out of the greater DC Universe and Superman mythos. It'll be interesting to see how many readers they pull now.
On the characters, I'll just say on Matter-Eater Lad, the best usage of him was in the 5YG. That was all time great Legion stuff and the highlight of the 5YG for me.
I think ME Lad should be a big part of the Legion if only because he's got kind of an unusual powerset and it's not like his power is completely weak in the hands of a good writer.
Decisions like not writing ME-Lad because his power is so unconventional means you are left with...writing a bunch of characters with conventional powers. Not that exciting. There are lots of guys with magnetic powers and lightning powers etc., not a lot of guys that can eat stuff. He probably should have some extremely powerful saliva though.
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted
Posted elsewhere, but copied here...casue I didn't scroll down far enough and see this earlier.
The Last Stand of New Krypton #1
Best line comes from Starman: "The Legion of what? I thought we were the Planeteers." Click Here For A Spoiler Well, the Legionnaires do not show up until about half way through or so. Then they do not do much before Supergirl leaves them in the capable hands of Zod. Who promptly plans to have them arrested. I have not read the New Krypton stuff, but I wonder why Kara would trust Zod so much.
Note Candle informed me of Zods role in New Krypton, so it does make more sense now.
From: Turn around... | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by jimgallagher: It was either then or the Subs special or the Polar Boy trial. I think the Subs special was probably first.
Have either of those been reprinted?
And I agree with BB, I prefer Tenzil in a roll where I can see him more, rather than in a roll where he's ignored because his 'power' is so silly and difficult to write for.
Then, you can see him lots and if something comes along where his power is actually usable, he can use it, without being just eye-candy the rest of the time.
I loved him as a Legion cook AND as a lawyer. His time as Mitch was a nod to the cook era and I appreciated it and him. Why didn't we guess that Mitch was Tenzil immediately?
-------------------- 'In the twinkling of an eye' I'll be dancing in the sky!
Come, join me!
From: Salem, Oregon USA | Registered: Aug 2003
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