quote:Originally posted by Sketch: NURA! They called her NURA!
I can't believe I didn't spot this until you mentioned it, Dean! But I didn't.
I still wonder if the Legionnaires know each other's civie ids-- or if they choose not to use them.
From: Knoxville, TN | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Tromium: S*QUIR Kudos to Barry for this wierd and wonderfully imagined alien. How long did it take him to draw all those tentacles?! The interpreter (shades of Molecule Master) and delegates were nicely rendered too. I genuinely appreciate the loving care he puts into these secondary characters.
Definitely... I liked the in-story use of the alien's touch-communication and physical secretions, too.
quote:Originally posted by Tromium: DREAM GIRL Her famous beauty mark has been replaced by star-shaped silver earrings. You can see them clearly on the next to last page.
Has she worn star earrings in other versions? Hmmm... maybe she's met Donna Troy.
quote:Originally posted by Tromium: Yet another vote for platinum hair. And why so thin? Prominent boobs aside, the girl could use a few more feminine curves. Love the shiny silver halter top and bracelets, but those low-slung, psychedelic tie-dyed pants ruin the overall effect, imo.
I *like* the clouds! I think there should be a bit of blue somewhere in her top, though, to tie it all together.
quote:Originally posted by Tromium: I wonder about the guy at the center of Nura's apocalyptic vision. If he's a villain, he's the most attractive baddie I've seen in ages. Bring him on!
You have a thing for fish-faced warriors? Oh, you mean the *other* guy! He is intriguing, isn't he? I wonder what those facial markings indicate?
quote:Originally posted by Tromium: By the look in her eyes, I think Nura was DEAD SERIOUS about B5. I never would have thunk it, but the prospect of these two together is absolutely tantalizing.
Y'know-- it'd be kind of cool if this is hinted at from time to time but isn't actually confirmed or denied for a good long time. Sort of like the Adult Legion stories from Adventure through LSH #300.
quote:Originally posted by Tromium: BRAINY Nice dialogue. The creators are clearly in love with B5, but does he deserve a full page pin-up, not to mention 4 panels just to depict his reaction to Dreamy's little "joke"? If only they'd stolen a couple of panels from him to show Sun Boy and Chameleon trading blows.
While I wanted to see the dialogue leading up to the blows!
I didn't begrudge Brainy the space, though. Clearly he's going to be a central part of the new legion. As he should.
quote:Originally posted by Tromium: So, 12th level intellect becomes "unparalleled" intellect. Yet his inability to process data quickly enough in the early scenes (even with the wires) suggests a real limitation.
So much we don't know-- what else might he have been working on? 'Unparalleled'= lots of wiggle room, for the writers.
I'll miss the concept of the 12 mostly independent tracks of thought, if they're no absent.
quote:Originally posted by Tromium: If Vril's, uh, Brainy's ambition to supplant the U.P. ever comes to fruition, we may have to send the Legion to take HIM down.
That's what I'm afraid of-- I'd really dislike that. Even if it is well-told and illustrated.
quote:Originally posted by Tromium: COSMIC BOY This issue, "wry" Cos replaces "ballistic" Cos. Both seem odd to me, as if WaK had created an entirely new character and stuffed him in Rokk's body. Turning him into a practical joker (so where'd he get the goats?) didn't help matters, as if the writers were willing to try *anything*, however ludicrous, to make him interesting.
I guess Cos just grates on me, no matter how they depict him.
Love Cos-- turning deaf ear to Cos slams. Wonder who'll get the first honorary 'inspirational speech' this go round? Or the more desperate measure of Braalian Slap Therapy?
quote:Originally posted by Tromium: ELEMENT LAD a.k.a. MOLECULE MASTER II "Molecular transmutation" suggests he's capable of altering compounds and there's no need for him to transmute (or in theory, even identify) the constituent elements first. So then what was that whole bit with Brainy about? Doesn't make sense to me.
Guess we'll have to wait for the E-Lad spotlight... whenever that gets scheduled.
quote:Originally posted by Tromium: I'm still not digging the wizard costume or the soul patch (ugh!), but I like his new-found spunk. The (remote) possibility of seeing a populated Trom makes me giddy.
I don't mind the soul-patch... it fits the mischievous facial expressions we've seen. And dovetails (at least for me) with Element Lad's earliest characterization in ADVENTURE.
quote:Originally posted by Tromium: SHADY She's wearing stiletto heels. Who needs Umbra's mystical dark-field when you have lethal weapons of that caliber?
Now, now-- don't make fun of other races' physical characteristics. Didn't you know Talokian's have spiked *heels*-- and I don't mean just their shoes.
quote:Originally posted by Tromium: KARATE KID Heh, I've been waiting a long time to see someone punch the crod out of him. That said, I prefer this KK to his previous incarnations. Nura was right. He's a dork, but he's an entertaining dork.
Entertainig dork? Wasn't that a movie?
He's also inventive-- creating (or adapting) his own martial art utilizing anti-gravity... spiffy.
quote:Originally posted by Tromium: MICRO LAD/ULTRA BOY This was my second favorite panel, after page 1. I have real sophisticated reading tastes.
Obviously.
quote:Originally posted by Tromium: I wish I could say this issue sold me on the new series, but the truth is I'm still suffering from LSH cognitive dissonance.
It passes. Mine did after Zero Hour. Curiously, in some cases it proffers immunity, while in others it fosters a tendency to catch the disease again and again.
From: Knoxville, TN | Registered: Jul 2003
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I think its appropriate that Brainiac and some of the other Legionaires honestly want to see the United Planets dissolved. It makes the Legion movement more realistic.
We don't yet know that any other Legionnaires want this, do we?
From: Knoxville, TN | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by MYG: I can't tell you how much I love what we're seeing with the Legion! I have one question...was the fist fight between Cham and Sun Boy (supposedly they came to blows over religion according to Brainy) before or after their "civil" exchange in the first issue? Just curious.
Definitely after. The events of #2 take place a week after those of #1. In addition, the closing scene of #1 takes place some time after the battle on Lallor... which in turn takes place after the civil exchange earlier in #1.
From: Knoxville, TN | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Loser Lad: I was more than a little bothered by the fact that Star Boy, who is pictured so prominently on the cover, didn't even get so much as a cameo in the story. After the first issue, I was looking forward to seeing a little more of him, as he was probably my favorite walking away from that issue. Why put him on the cover as opposed to Nura, who, you know, actually appeared in the book?!?
So next issue has Triplicate Girl on the cover. Does that mean I should be looking forward to a spotlight on Ultra Boy?!?
I don't mind when covers aren't *exact* reflections of what's inside... but they should *suffest* an *idea* of the contents.
And it should be a rule... one written someplace... that if a character appears on the cover, they gotta have a role in the issue. Doesn't have to be a starring role, but they gotta be there.
From: Knoxville, TN | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Mario Di Giacomo: Didn't Barry say something about the covers?
Ah yes, here it is:
quote:The idea for the covers 1-6 was that they wouldn't be too related to the interiors but give a 'flavor' of the book. After #6 when a deal more of what's happening has been revealed they will be more story related...or that's the plan at least
Thanks for the quote, Mario. That sentiment is fine when it comes to cover composition, theme, etc. But I still say, if a character is looking out at me from a cover, I have a reasonable expectation to see that character somewhere in the book when I open its pages.
From: Knoxville, TN | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by THE LABRADORIAN: are they trying to give the impression that JASON BLOOD/THE DEMON is the cause, or did it just look like that, maybe i should take another look?
Maybe not THE DEMON... but The Devil-Fish!
From: Knoxville, TN | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Maybe Cham, Jan, and KK were playing a new 31st century tag team version of chess...
I agree that the characters on the cover should appear in the book and that the covers to issues 1 and 2 would have been more appropriate if they were switched.
If the sky and clouds on Naltor are green, how come they're not green on Nura's pants?
-------------------- Buy my new graphic novel! http://www.dodeka12.com
From: Champaign, IL | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Just got my copy yesterday. This was a remarkable issue.
Dream Girl -- hair color issues aside, this is clearly the ultimate Dream Girl, integrating all the best aspects of her previous incarnations (Flaky AND brilliant, non-chalant AND kick-ass, smart AND sexy) into a truly impressive new synthesis. Her relationship (?) to Brainiac 5 is brilliant, a great example of how starting the characters fresh from the beginning (rather than trying to re-tread the past) can lead to interesting, logical and entertaining new stories.
Karate Kid -- he reminds me a great deal of the original Shooter KK -- confident, physical, humorous, but very, very disciplined.
BTW, did anyone else get the impression that Dream Girl and Karate Kid have been more than just colleagues? In the whole "clock me/dream" sequence, he touches her hair & neck affectionately BEFORE she asks him to hit her, and then he seems very knowledgable about how her sleep-based visions work.
I also really love how Waid incorporated time/prophecy-oriented phrases into the Naltorians' dialogue. Especially "clock me!"
Brainiac 5 -- Why wouldn't the smartest man in the universe want to run it? This may turn out to be Brainy's central character arc for the new series (along with his possible Naltorian paramour). He clearly has the brains, but it takes more than brains to govern successfully. Again, the science/sorcery conflict seems obvious in retrospect, which means it is a brilliant insight by Waid to build a story around it.
Cosmic Boy -- A sense of humor, thank God!
Element Lad -- I like his distinctive look and it seems to fit very well with character. It's worth saying that one of the best things about Barry's art is that the Legionnaires DO look distinctive and like "real" people. I liked the implication of cultural/style differences in his banter with Karate Kid.
Shadow Lass -- Does she love the Legion because it's an excuse to hit people? I love her "dark elf" appearance. Again, she seems a true synthesis of past incarnations, not as clingy and melodramatic as the Shooter/Levitz Shady, but a more urbane, humorous and sophisticated tough-girl than the DnA Umbra.
A final note: there has been much justifiable discussion and praise for Barry's character designs (since we had such wonderful previews), but with LSH #2 I think we begin to see how good Mr. Waid is at making characters interesting, distinctive and humorous through very well-crafted dialogue.
-------------------- ...but you don't have a moment where you're sitting there staring at a table full of twenty-five characters with little name signs that say, "Hi, my superpower is confusing you!"
From: Chicago, IL | Registered: Jul 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Sketch: NURA! They called her NURA!
I can't believe I didn't spot this until you mentioned it, Dean! But I didn't.
I still wonder if the Legionnaires know each other's civie ids-- or if they choose not to use them.
I didn't notice it, either, so don't feel bad. But you could be right about the secret identities. OTOH, in a place as information rich as the UP, is it even possible to keep people from knowing who you are just by calling up info based on your face?
-------------------- Dan
From: Newburgh, NY | Registered: May 2004
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I think its appropriate that Brainiac and some of the other Legionaires honestly want to see the United Planets dissolved. It makes the Legion movement more realistic.
We don't yet know that any other Legionnaires want this, do we?
I thought Brainy said he was replacing the SPs? Or was I just translating it that way in my head because I'm thinking police force SP to police force LSH?
-------------------- Dan
From: Newburgh, NY | Registered: May 2004
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posted
I thought this issue was really well done in every way. I can't find anything at all to bitch about, other than having to wait for the next issue.
-------------------- The only consistent feature of all of your dissatisfying relationships is you.
Don't judge me!
Registered: Aug 2003
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quote:Originally posted by doublechinner: Brainiac 5 -- Why wouldn't the smartest man in the universe want to run it?
Because running it is a *lot* of work, and we genuises are a very lazy lot. If someone offered me the chance to rule the universe, I'd turn them down.
Well, maybe I'd take it just long enough to make it so lightning automatically struck telephone solicitors & spammers, but then I'd be out!
Others on this thread have mentioned Shady being depowered. If played accurately, shadow casting should be very powerful. After all, most futuristic weaponry is usually portrayed as light based, she should be able to effectively make forcefields against laser and similar weaponry.
Of course, Brainy's forcefield (assuming he still has one) should be easily penetrated by lasers since you can see him through it, it's clearly light permeable. And yet, Brainy's field was always presented as being proof against lasers while Shady's field let lasers right through. Makes no sense. Don't these comic book authors understand basic physics???
Um, pretend I never asked that.
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From: That's what THEY want to know | Registered: Jan 2005
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