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Maximize your enjoyment of MATTER-EATER LAD: THE SERIES with this handy dandy guide to the issues thus far!
MEL:TS is set in POST-BOOT Legion continuity.
ISSUE CHECKLIST
# 1 Good Things Come To Those Who Eat
Issue 1 begins on page 1 of the MEL:TS thread and resumes on page 4.
Re-intro Tenzil Kem, former chef to the Legion. Intro of The Kem family, Ma, Pa & Renkil. Intro Taryn Loy, Tenzil's neighbor and life-long friend. Intro Lester Spiffany, working as a government courier on Bismoll.
SYNOPSIS
Tenzil is miserable at home with his trashy family when Lester delivers his senate draft notice. Between Tenzil, Lester and Taryn, they manage to get Tenzil elected to senate by buying his family its own reality TV show-- Kem Family & Friends-- making Tenzil a celebrity!
Meanwhile, shadowy figures watch and plot and Tenzil barely escapes an assassination attempt!
Lester's secret origin s revealed during a flashback and it begins to become apparent that he has a special gift where money is concerned.
Tenzil, Taryn and Lester capture an escaped Boom-Boom Beast. They also capture the assassin from issue 1, and she reveals that Tenzil has been targeted by Prince Evillo of Tartarus.
Meanwhile, on Tartarus, Evillo holds tryouts for the Devil's Dozen. Only Lotus Fruit Lass makes the grade and his Dozen now stands at 5 members.
Intro Sugyn, Apollo, Wild Huntsman, Degree Damsel, Stick With a Nail in it Kid and Two-Face Tess as the rest of the Devil's Dozen. Intro Thora of Taltar, one of Evillo's ex-wives.
SYNOPSIS
Using a special Vacation episode of Kem Family & Friends, Tenzil, Taryn & Lester venture to Tartarus to find out Evillo's nefarious plans.
While Ma, Pa & Rnkil are busy, Tenzil, Taryn & Lester debate the best way to go about it, eventually settling on infiltrating the next Devil's Dozen tryout.
Tenzil as "Sir Prize" and Taryn as "Miss Terious" get close to succeeding, but Lester interferes when Evillo threatens to banish "Sir Prize" to the Realm of Darkness.
All 3 are then captured by the Devil's Dozen!
DEVIL'S DOZEN MEMBERSHIP
Apollo Sugyn Wild Huntsman Stick With a Nail in it Kid Lotus Fruit Lass Two-Face Tess Degree Damsel
# 4 The Night the Lights Went Out in the Realm of Darkness
Issue 4 begins on page 11 of the MEL:TS thread.
Intro Infectious Lass. Intro Azura, one of Thora's 2 allies.
SYNOPSIS
Banished to the Realm of Darkness, Tenzil, Taryn & Lester meet some of the quirky residents there, icluding Evillo's father King Malefico!
The King reveals his plan to have Tenz and the gang-- along with his League of Scantily-Clad Overendoed Assassins-- kill Evillo. Malefico teleports himself, Tenz, Taryn, Lester & the League back to Tartarus to do just that.
Meanwhile, Thora forms an alliance with Evillo and one of her 2 allies is revealed as Azura.
Pa and Renkil stay occupied while Ma makes a new friend-- Drura, also known as Infectious Lass.
Tenzil is like the main character from an 80s teen movie. He's like Ferris Bueller, Marty McFly, and Zach Morris all rolled into one. Not conventially "cool", and yet so incredibly cool. Despite his ever-present shades, he always sees the brightest side of life. He is completely confident that things will work out for the best in the end, and they usually do. Of course, he's not beyond breaking whatever rules are necessary to insure this...
His family is wacko, and completely dysfunctional, yet he takes as much of it as he can in stride, confident that everything will work out. He shows far more loyalty to them than they deserve. Despite the fact that the series begins with his plan to move out, he'd never really completely abandon his folks or his brother, no matter how creepy they are or how miserable they make him.
His best and oldest friend is the girl who grew up next door, Taryn Loy. He depends on her to keep him focused and to keep his more irresponsible side in check, while he serves to provide joy and levity to her life.
Tenz is handsome, charming, and witty. But more than anything he is a good guy. That's why he's the star of the series, right?
Intro The Super-Companions. Intro Anti-Lad and her Fatal Femmes. Intro Dev-Em. Intro The Super-Moby Dick of Space.
SYNOPSIS
Spotlight on Spiffany! Once Tenzil makes it clear to Lester that he loves him, but doesn't love him "that way", an enranged Lester ventures out on his own.
He meets a group of men called the Super-Companions, who have watched him on the Kem Show. They try to get him to join their group, but are attacked by a gang of females called The Fatal Femmes, led by Anti-Lad. They unleash the Super-Moby Dick of Space to attack the men.
The Companions defeat the Moby Dick, but are being bested my the Femmes themselves until Lester singlehandedly turns the tide.
Lester decides to venture with the Companions to Thrann, their all-male paradise planet.
There, he meets Dev-Em, an honorary member of the Companions, and is smitten instantly by the Kryptonian rogue.
Meanwhile, Tenzil & Taryn find out the Kem Family & Friends Show has ben cancelled!
THE SUPER-COMPANIONS MEMBERSHIP
Othar Splash Shower Treehugger Shadow Mzgrzz the Magnificent Dev-Em (honorary)
Intro Tiffany Spiffany. Intro unnamed group of Metas. Intro Heroes of Tartarus.
Issue 7 begins on page 17 of the MEL:TS thread.
Tenzil and Taryn attempt to put a spin on all the hijinks of the previous few issues, and manage to make Tenzil one of the most popular people on 2 planets.
Meanwhile, an unnamed group of Metas is captured by androids.
Renkil, traumatized by events on Tartarus, encounters a man in Metropolis that gives him life-changing advice.
Thora continues to plot with Azura and Eve.
Tiffany Spiffany shows up at Tenzil's office and demands to know Lester's whereabouts. Tenzil and Tiffany leave to find him, but Tenzil has ordered Taryn to meet with Thora as part of their deal for avoiding an interstellar incident with Taltar. Taryn decides to tail Tenzil secretly instead.
Lester, smitten, decides to join Dev-Em in his space-wanderings. They are almost struck by the spaceship that carries the Metas captured earlier.
On Tartarus, Queen Drura debuts the new super-team she has formed, The Heroes of Tartarus (or HOTties).
THE HEROES OF TARTARUS
Infectious Lass Sugyn Policy Pam Spaceopoly Lad Echo-Chamber Chet Brittle Boy Incredible Girl
UNNAMED GROUP OF METAS
Key Kid Negative Nell Weight Wizard Itch Witch Took Multi-Maid Blockade Boy
Lester's kid sister (by a year), Tiffany was clearly Daddy Spiffany's favorite. While Lester whines and complains whenever he doesn't get what he wants, Tiffany is more perplexed than anything else by unfulfilled desires. She's especially used to males doing basically whatever she wants, and doesn't understand when they don't. She's incredibly flirtacious, but not truly manipulative. Her flirting is more a matter of habit than anything else.
Tiffany overall has been far more sheltered and protected than Lester was, and shares the rest of the family's shock at much of Lester's 'scandalous' behaviour during his party phase. There's also a side of her that really enjoys being out on her own, though, and to be traveling with Tenz and the gang. To her, it's all a big adventure. She's a good kid at the core, though she can be incredibly insensitive and naive. She is incredibly polite and likeable on first impression.
Presently, she's still trying to find purpose in life as she grows beyond being "Daddy's little girl" and has to stake her own path in life.
Appearance wise, she should clearly resemble Lester, though her hair should be somewhat lighter (kind of a sandy blond, maybe?). She's attractive, bustier than Taryn, and dresses very expensively. She stands with a certain amount of poise and confidence, even when she doesn't feel it.
Intro Nardo the galactic tyrant. Intro Plant Lad, False Pretenses Lad and Biron the Bowman.
SYNOPSIS
Dev-Em and Lester are captured by Nardo and become acquainted with some of the metas captured last issue.
To Lester's chagrin, Nardo alludes to nefarious plans that involve Dev-Em.
Meanwhile, Tenzil and Tiffany get ever-closer to catching up to Lester but the ship Taryn is tailing them secretly in breaks down!
On Tartarus, Infectious Lass trains the HOTties, along with their newest member... MATTER-EATER LAD...?!!?
On Taltar, Evillo is "acclimated" into Taltaran society as Thora wonders why Taryn hasn't arrived for her visit yet.
At Nardo's Stalag, we meet 3 of the prisoners there: False Pretenses Lad, Biron and Plant Lad. Plant Lad is foiled in his escape attempt as Nardo arrives with his new inmates!
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# 10 Stupid Stalag of Space part 3 ...And One Shall Surely Be Fatassed!
Issue 10 begins on page 22 of the MEL:TS thread.
SYNOPSIS
Stranded on Thrann, Taryn finds herself having a wonderful time partying with the Super-Companions until news of Tiffany and Tenzil's kidnapping breaks.
Meanwhile, at the Stalag, Tenzil, Tiffany and Lester survive as best they can.
Nardo uses his super-fatassing power on Lester just before a massive revolt of the prisoners.
Nardo has quieted the prison revolt until his hard work is undone by the arrival of Taryn and the Super-Companions!
Taryn is the girl next door, if the girl next door's dad were a mad scientist who does crazy biological experiments on family members as well as family pets and if her mom had left after being given an extra breast by her aforementioned mad scientist dad. Taryn grew up very quick, and unlike Tenzil, who somehow managed to keep a childlike optimism despite his circumstances, Taryn harbors a certain resentment at her lot in life.
(At least initially in the series...) She is the responsible one, who always sees what's really at stake and what is really important. Despite the fact that she rarely explicitly laughs at Tenzil or his antics, she secretly values very highly the joy he brings into her life. He's the only person that she completely trusts, and deep down, she fears losing him more than almost anything. There's a certain lack of self-confidence, a unwillingness to believe that others' actually care about her, and at the same time, a strong desire to find a group that she really fits in with. She often uses her enhanced physical strength to cover up this insecurity.
Taryn is cute, cuter than she believes herself to be. In Tenzil's words, she's "just-rightly endowed". She is tall and lean, with maybe even even a slightly athletic build.
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