posted
I loved the notion of the Espionage Squad (when did we last see them in action?), and had similar line-ups for specific types of missions.
You had the Powerhouses (Superboy, Mon-El, Ultra Boy), the Commandos (Lone Wolf, Karate Kid, Blok, Ferro Lad) and the Elementals (Light Lass, Element Lad, Chemical King, Sun Boy, Lighting Lad, Braniac-5, White WItch).
But what happens when a generic "Help" message comes in to LSH-HQ? How do you pick and choose a team to respond?
How would you compose a generic team, assuming everyone was available? (And knowing there'd probably be another generic "Help" received in the near future?)
From: New Hong Kong | Registered: Apr 2008
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posted
Well, from the old Adventure story where Sun Boy gets Space Fatigue, I would assume there is a roster of those who have and haven't gone on missions. And those selected have reached the top of the list. The roster would be subject to exceptions, such as if the call came from Imsk and Shrinking Violet was not at the top, she would be sent just for being a native of the planet. Likewise, if a particular power were needed, say the distress call came from a heavy gravity planet, you'd want to include Light Lass.
A related question would be who decides how many Legionnaires respond to a particular call for help?
-------------------- Five billion years from now the Sun will go nova and obliterate the Earth. Don't sweat the small stuff!
From: Boston | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
It seemed like the elected leader was always the one who delegated, and wouldn't the number/power levels be based on necessity? It would seem like the leader would gauge the situation and respond with a reasonable number of Legionnaires. It never seemed, however, that they would send more than five or six at a time, tops, unless the situation was just massively screwed.
Examples:
"The Fatal Five are loose!" Okay, send Mon-El, Superboy, Ultra Boy, Wildfire, and Element Lad
"Doctor Regulus is knocking over a bank!" Okay, send Cosmic Boy, Sun Boy, Colossal Boy, and Ferro Lad
"Space Bandits are holding up a starship!" Okay, send Shrinking Violet, Matter-Eater Lad, Dream Girl, and Bouncing Boy
I think the whole "five or less" thing made sure that there were always more legionnaires on standby, just in case another crisis arose in the interim.
-------------------- "I weighed the odds of this working versus the odds I was doing something incredibly stupid and, well, I did it anyway,"
- Crow T. Robot
From: The Evil Anti-Moon!!!! | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
On a note related to the Espionage Squad, I always wanted to see a Goodwill/Diplomat Legionnaire core consisting of Tenzil, Nura, and Chuck. They'd still be active Legionnaires, and they'd still see action, but their primary goal would be conflict resolution as backed representatives of the U.P. . You can't tell me that the idea of Matter-Eater Lad going all Kissinger on the Brain-Globes of Rambat doesn't at least bring a grin to your face.
-------------------- "I weighed the odds of this working versus the odds I was doing something incredibly stupid and, well, I did it anyway,"
- Crow T. Robot
From: The Evil Anti-Moon!!!! | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Quislet, Esq.: Well, from the old Adventure story where Sun Boy gets Space Fatigue, I would assume there is a roster of those who have and haven't gone on missions.
A very Silver Age-y answer; thanks. I always wondered "Why didn't they send a Powerhouse, an Elemental, a member of the Espionage Squad, and two people for a character development subplot?".
From: New Hong Kong | Registered: Apr 2008
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quote:Originally posted by Not-So-Bad Lad: On a note related to the Espionage Squad, I always wanted to see a Goodwill/Diplomat Legionnaire core consisting of Tenzil, Nura, and Chuck.
I like that! Toss in Gim (his Mom used to be Up President in an alternate reality) and Princess Projectra (before she became a kleptomaniac).
Why shouldn't the Legion try to solve matters diplomatically first? (Then I remember: the Khunds think of all-out war as diplomacy...]
From: New Hong Kong | Registered: Apr 2008
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quote:Originally posted by Asteroid Al: A very Silver Age-y answer; thanks. I always wondered "Why didn't they send a Powerhouse, an Elemental, a member of the Espionage Squad, and two people for a character development subplot?".
Because that would make far too much sense.
-------------------- "I weighed the odds of this working versus the odds I was doing something incredibly stupid and, well, I did it anyway,"
- Crow T. Robot
From: The Evil Anti-Moon!!!! | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
It's an interesting question, and something we've seen only rarely in the book's fistory.
One could assume that in the Silver Age, the Planetary Chance Machine might have played a role in choosing, as long as the crisis wasn't so dire as to not allow enough time for the team to sit around and have a machine hurl tiny replicas of planets at them.
We did see Wildfire use a computer to randomly pick which members would go on the mission to avenge Chemical King's death (and iirc, we later learned that he had used his powers to secretly override the machine and make sure himself, Dawnstar, Superboy, Mon-El and Timber Wolf were chosen).
Chameleon Boy hand-picked Violet (being 'played' by Yera at the time) and Timber Wolf to accompany him to Khundia.
During the "Who is Sensor Girl" finale, once the team was finally able to locate the missing members, Wildfire and Dawnstar-- the two fastest, one assumes-- were sent to the rescue, and arrived in the barest nick of time.
But most of the time, we never see the process in action, just a team of Legionnaires arriving on the scene.
One would think with a precog on the team, the leader might seek her advice on who to send on what missions. I certainly would. "Run this past Dream Girl-- does she foresee the need for any changes?"... that sorta thing. Can't hurt to ask.
posted
I personally feel that the LSH along with the other major DCU teams are unbalanced in terms of power. I think the LSH have more Elementals than nessecary, which is why I embrace the new members. I dislike the Legion's policy of only allowing in members that have super powers. I also like a variety of personalities and skill-sets, and this is probably the effect of Japanese pop culture on my childhood.
1. Polar Boy- An Elemental and effective leader. He also has an interesting personality and ambition that is different from Cosmic Boy's. 2. Brainiac 5- I think technology is more worthwhile than telepathy. Whenever you chose a telepath in a tournament game, the first thing everyone else does is choose a telepath or build anti-telepathy devices. 3. Karate Kid- A fighter is nessecary on a team, they can pull off surprises. 4. Mysa- An experianced magic user is a must. 5. Blok- Every team needs a super-strong member, and an established couple makes for great drama.
-------------------- Go with the good and you'll be like them; go with the evil and you'll be worse than them.- Portuguese Proverb
From: Illinois | Registered: Jun 2010
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Set
There's not a word yet, for old friends who've just met.
posted
I pick the ones I want to use in the narrative, for a pure storytelling situation (my Tryouts fics, for instance), or one's whose personalities (or powers) feel complementary / synergistic, for one with more action.
For instance, if Mon-El is going to be in a story, I don't want Ultra Boy there, because he's just 'Mon-El light.' A team with Lightning Lad, Lightning Lass and Sun Boy on it is going to feel a bit 'blaster-heavy,' like a Fantastic Four team that has three Human Torches. I wouldn't want to use Timber Wolf and Karate Kid in the same story, because they both cover the same raw acrobatic physicality, and I want the characters I'm using to have different 'visual' style, and not be too similar.
Somebody should have some powerful sensory descriptiveness, whether it be Sensor Girl or Saturn Girl or Tellus or Dream Girl. Somebody should have a powerful muscular feel, or a strong sense of kinetic / athletic motion, such as Timber Wolf or Karate Kid, or Dawnstar or XS. Somebody should have a dynamic energy-blasting power, like Lightning Lass or Sun Boy or Wildfire. Somebody should have something transformative, like Chameleon Boy, Shrinking Violet or Colossal Boy. Somebody should just be hard and unstoppable, like Blok, Ultra Boy or Mon-El.
It's horribly 'gamist,' but I prefer breaking the mission teams up into gangs of five or six, each with their own strong-guy, energy blaster, fast attacker, sensory/controller, etc.
The only time I want to see scenes with powerhouses travelling in a pack, or blasters back to back, is in one of those big end-of-arc 'Khund Wars' or 'Great Darkness Saga' sorts of tales, where the whole Legion is fighting on one battlefield.
Registered: Aug 2006
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
As far as numbers go, it seems to me that it would make sense to develop some fairly standard guidlines, like "distress call from starship, send three members" or "planetary invasion by the Khunds, send everyone available".
For fairly generic missions, it actually makes quite a bit of sense to me to just alternate who gets sent on missions, making obvious adjustments due to to expertise or that you don't send a team entirely composed of rookie members or something.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by MLLASH: Nothing kills a thread like the word "fistory"...
"Fistory" is a fantastic word! (Although, you are the only person I think who has ever used it, and possibly Charles Nelson Reilly but in a different context).
-------------------- "My dance card was getting fuller than a contestant's at a Jandan shurg-off." - Exnihil, The Lost Klordny
From: Frederick, MD | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
If you're Cary Bates, you send out four or five or maybe six but that's it because there are too many damn Legionnaires!!! [Editor note to Cary Bates - don't piss off Curt Swan, please...]
-------------------- "My dance card was getting fuller than a contestant's at a Jandan shurg-off." - Exnihil, The Lost Klordny
From: Frederick, MD | Registered: Aug 2003
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