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» Legion World » LEGION CLUBHOUSE » Long Live the Legion! » I have cracked Mark Waid's code (Page 2)

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Author Topic: I have cracked Mark Waid's code
Matthew E
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Well, that's fine if we're talking about a static text. But the Waid/Kitson run of Legion isn't complete yet, so any interpretation that occurs while they're still creating new issues runs the risk of being contradicted by future events. So guessing correctly what Waid and Kitson have in mind does have value: it helps us understand future issues, where an incorrect guess would at best be swept away and at worst confuse us. It's not just personal satisfaction that makes me want to be right, even if I never find out for sure if I am.

(Of course, there's also the possibility that Waid and/or Kitson are reading this and deciding to do it this way even if they weren't before. Which would amuse and delight me to no end. I have to admit I've posted quite a few things, here and on Legion Abstract, where I kind of wished Waid and/or Kitson could or would chime in, not so much to Confirm My Genius as to reassure me that I wasn't Away With The Fairies.)

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Legion Abstract

From: Ontario | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Lad Boy
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I don't have the credentials to confirm your genius, but I can assure you that you're not Away with the Fairies.

The column was one of the most interesting analyses of this Legion that I've read.

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Kent Shakespeare
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quote:
Originally posted by Lightning Lad:
Very well thought out Matthew. I applaud you. Gives me reason to go back and re-read the series.

I'll ditto that.
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Cobalt Kid
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I'll third it. Well done Matthew--you've got me thinking about the Legion in a whole new way. Your analysis of Cham is really interesting, and now I'll be looking at every interaction he has with another Legionnaire much more carefully. It could be the ultimate literary tool for foreshadowing (like your thoughts on how Dirk didn't feel like he was fitting in).

I'm really curious to see what this means for Jo, and how Cos might seem different now to Cham.

If Cham infiltrates a team of super-villains? Wow, you've just raised a really interesting scenario.

From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Nick Vinson
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This is the kind of indepth analysis/critique that is sorely lacking on super-hero comics. There is lots of this kind of stuff for the non-capes work. It's almost as if real critique on the superhero set is written off as a waste of overall time.

I really enjoyed this essay. Do more of this. Please.

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-Nick-

Is Civil War over with yet?

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Sir Tim Drake
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Perhaps Jo can only think about one thing at a time.

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Aaron Kashtan/Sir Tim Drake

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Matthew E
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quote:
Originally posted by Sir Tim Drake:
Perhaps Jo can only think about one thing at a time.

That'd be kind of neat. The average person can think about, what, two things at once? Three or four? I read it somewhere but I forget. That'd be a real handicap for Jo.

quote:
Originally posted by Nick Vinson:
This is the kind of indepth analysis/critique that is sorely lacking on super-hero comics. There is lots of this kind of stuff for the non-capes work. It's almost as if real critique on the superhero set is written off as a waste of overall time.

I really enjoyed this essay. Do more of this. Please.

Thanks, Nick (and everyone else), and I will try to do more... but I've been trying to do stuff like this all along! Check the Columns (or Roster, or Reviews) page on Legion Abstract and see if there's anything else you like. I'm prouder of this article than of many of my other articles, but I do think some of the other ones were good too.

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Legion Abstract

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Tromium
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Matthew, I just got around to reading your blog and I concur with the others it's a very intriguing and cogent theory. Whether or not you've really cracked the code isn't as important as your realization that, to a large degree, this version of the Legion seems to be about exploring the essence of the characters (though, obviously, some of them have been deep-mined while a few have barely had their surfaces scratched.)

I look forward to your take on the personalities of the animated Legionnaires which, I presume, will be even more tightly integrated with their powers.

From: Reimagined Trom | Registered: Jul 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
doublechinner
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Thinking about Matthew's "Legion Code" and the issue #22. Subject: Ultra Boy.

He's all surface. He can use only one power at a time. Cause, effect, correlation?

First, Waid's Ultra Boy provides new insight into his power. I think Waid's point is that the "ultra energy" in Jo could be used for ANYTHING. If he wanted, Jo could be "I-Shoot-Energy-Turds-Out-of-My-Butt" Boy. (Do NOT tell him that...)

He uses the energy to replicate the powers of histories greatest hero, Superman. Coincidence? Heck, no, not for Waid and Kitson. You get Ultra Energy in an accident, you intuitively realize you can use it to be a super-hero, you do your best to emulate the iconic super-hero. Hence, strength, invulnerability, speed, flight, vision powers, etc.

Does this imply Jo isn't very imaginative? Perhaps so.

What I ponder is this. Can he use only one power at a time BECAUSE he's all surface, no subtlety, no doing two things at once? Or does using his power require so much concentration there's no mental room left for nuance? I like both explanations. If I had to bet on the "right answer," it would be on the former.

I like this code stuff. It explains EVERYTHING. Why Jo would just happen to have all Kryptonian-like powers, and WHY he can use only one at a time, and what that says about his personality.

There's also his code-name. If you are ULTRA BOY, you would be, well, all BOY, right? History's greatest frat guy, with all the good and bad that implies. Do NOT let this Ultra Boy near anything important, like the Legion Leader or UP diplomacy!

Some thoughts on Shadow Lass and issue 22, sometime.

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...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!"

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Set
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Interesting thoughts on Ultra Boy.

I also wonder if the nature of his powers prevents him from being anything other than Shallow Surface Lad. It's possible that controlling and directing his Ultra-Energy is so taxing that it doesn't leave him much 'room' for anything more complicated.

If he's expending everything he's got just to control what's raging inside of him, and, as has already been demonstrated, hasn't always been successful even at that, perhaps he doesn't really have much emotional energy left for introspection. He's riding a tiger, and if were to stop to admire the sights, he might end up getting mauled...

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Matthew E
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I've got some more support for my Chameleon theory.

In #4, Cham and Gim are being chased by Science Police. Cham snarks off at Gim about how Gim doesn't understand his shape-changing powers... in exactly the same way Gim complains that people who call him 'Colossal Boy' are misunderstanding his powers.

Interestingly, after that, Cham talks Gim into delaying the SPs for a moment, and when Gim does it, he murmurs to himself, "So trusting... so gullible." Is that Cham's own sentiment about him? Or did he reflect it from Gim (who would have been thinking such thoughts about... the Legion?), implying that there's more to Gim than the big friendly guy we can see? Maybe Gim is the Science Police spy Cham conjectured in #19.

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Legion Abstract

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SiliconDream
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That fits really well with Cham's misguided impersonation of Jo in #9. Why did s/he think pretending to be Jo and making up with the others would help? Because then Jo could copy hir. To Cham, becoming a superior version of somebody is doing them a huge favor, because then they can duplicate your better points. Being threatened by this makes no sense--why value your individuality when you can become exactly like whatever/whoever you admire most?

Which means s/he'll probably always have trouble with Jo. One reflexively alters hirself to match the moment, the other has a reflexive dislike of being other than The One Thing He Is Right Now. Oil & water.

This is really quite brilliant, Matthew. If Waid isn't doing this on purpose, he ought to be.

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Set
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Random thoughts on Garth and Ayla.

Twins in the real-world tend to get heartily sick of the whole 'dress them identically, aren't they so precious' thing at a young age, and begin to define themselves apart from their sibling, wanting to be recognized and valued for themselves as individuals and not as 'unit 1 of 2' or 'the one on the left.'

In some cases, this turns into a situation where one of them becomes the 'outgoing, confident' one, and the other becomes the 'quiet, passive' one.

In the case of the Ranzz twins, Garth is being portrayed as focused, loyal enough to appeal to a girlfriend who doesn't have to ever wonder what her boyfriend is thinking and idealistic. He's clearly an optimist. Just as a lightning bolt is an impressive and flashy and focused display of otherwise unimpressive ambient electricity, Garth tends to zero in on something and expect the best situation, and the best from people (leading him to potential disappointment or missteps, such as his hasty signing of the UP documents).

Ayla is very much not an optimist, having a more cynical view of people, and, if one were to define her by her powers, seems to float like a feather on the wind through relationships, and through points of view. She's actively contrary, like trying to catch a dandelion seed, only to have it float away every time you snatch at it, pushed away by the air pressure from your hand. When everyone is pro-Supergirl, she's the one pointing out the negatives. When people dump her with the Kandorians / Rokyn / whatever, Ayla's the one saying, 'hey!' and disapproving of this as well. Growing up with Garth as a brother, she was likely the one who had to 'let him down softly' when he expected the most of someone and was disappointed, since she was more cynical (she would say more *realistic*) and didn't expect the best out of everyone. (I wonder if Mekt has anything to do with this attitude. Perhaps she was once trusting and loyal as well, and a family blow-out with Mekt left her unwilling to do that again.)

But, Mekt aside, Ayla most likely gets her attitude from growing up with Garth. He's the trusting one who dives into life full-throttle, and she plays 'big sister' and casts a wary eye on people, watching out for those who would not only hurt her, but her brother as well, since, in her opinion, he doesn't look so hard at the people around him. She's developed as a person to counter-balance him, and in so doing, encouraged him to go even further in his own direction. Like some twin-pairs, they end up occupying extremes, and being balanced out / moderated by each others 'gravity.'

Ironically, this train of thought of mine had nothing to do with the Ranzz's. I was wondering what sort of conversation occured between the three members of Triad after the incident with Element Lad. I doubt very much that they can keep secrets from each other, and yet I suspect as well that, like twins, the longer they remain in seperate bodies, the more 'apart' they grow. After they recombine, they equalize a bit, but once they seperate again, they quickly start veering back into whatever sort of individuals they are becoming. At some point, particularly if one of them begins engaging in acts the other two don't approve of, will the 'lone wolf' feel increasingly unwilling to recombine with her sister-selves?

It will be interesting to see if Element Lad can even tell them apart. It's been established that on their home-world, they all functioned as individuals, and that they *choose* to merge. They aren't a single person who can split into three, they are three people capable of forming into a gestalt, which begs the question of whether or not one, or more, of them is becoming less and less interested in being 'one of three' and wants to be an individual and live her own life. How will the other two react? What if one of them is emotionally co-dependent on her sister-selves and cannot deal with the 'seperation anxiety' / abandonment issues provoked by the notion of own of them leaving for good? These are girls who've been rejected from their own species, from the warm embrace of a 'family unit' like we can't even imagine, so it would hardly be surprising if one or more of them have enough 'issues' to stock a magazine rack...

Will it develop that everytime they have suggested to merge to settle something, like who had the 'best time ever' on their tri-date, or to resolve their 'rock, scissors, paper' impasse, it was the same 'sister' who wanted to merge, not because it was necessarily the best solution, but because she's most comfortable in the embrace of her sister-selves?

Will it turn out that one of them is the 'natural leader' who prompted them to learn coordinated martial arts techniques and team gymnastics and such? Is another a natural follower? Is one a wannabe individual, increasingly frustrated by her inability to 'get away' from her sister-selves?

At first, I would have suspected an easy 'Ego, Superego, Id' thing with Triad, but I see little evidence of that, which is kinda refreshing.

Shadow Lass and Ultra Boy and Shrinking Violet have the 'Id' thing covered, it seems. [Smile]

[ November 13, 2006, 09:03 AM: Message edited by: Set ]

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Gorilla Nebula
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don't forget. people think Ayla is a "lighter-than" air-head.

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Gorilla Nebula

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Downunder Lad
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Some brilliant analyses, here, people. Very well done, Matthew E for coming up with the initial analysis. It does explain an awful lot.

One thought on Ultra-boy: in previous incarnations, it was stated that the "base" state of his ultra-energy was invulnerability, and that he had to consciously switch the energy to speed, strength, etc. This was put forward as one reason why when he belted a brick wall with super-strength he didn't break every bone in his hand: not all of the energy was diverted to strength, and some remained in the base state to protect him. Now think of that in terms of Matt's analysis. If you're pretty much invulnerable, sure you're going to be brash and unthinking. Nothing you do can have any lasting effect, physically, so why worry? That attitude is then going to colour everything else you do: "I'm in trouble? So what? They can't hurt me, and I can bust out of any prison cell." One of the reasons Frat boys are arrogant and take stupid chances is that they have yet to learn that their actions have consequences. To Jo, there are no consequences.

[ November 16, 2006, 03:28 AM: Message edited by: Downunder Lad ]

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