Ok, I may be jumping the gun on this considering the Academy arc won't be released for a few more days, but anyone care to speculate which (new) student is going to become a Legionnaire first?

Because the Legion is currently lacking in female members with Black Witch, Sensor Girl and Saturn Girl no longer active, I would say it's the new girl....who is she? I missed the preview.

I dunno, but I'm totally favor of fan voting on who should join the team!

none in one year...but someone who should have joined the Legion Academy within one year: COMPUTO, as in Danielle Foccart!!! Catspaw....and Dragonmage!

I'd be ok with Nightwind finally becoming a member....but she needs a new costume.

I was hoping for Nightwind, Power Boy and Lamprey to join...in that order.

Look at old Academy members...does anyone know the powers for Balm, Flotsam and Jetsam? (Tank i can take a guess...big, strong heavy guy).

Lamprey and Nightwind, definitely.

I think part of Power Boy's 'charm' is that he's just flat-out not Legion material. He's the 'coulda been a contendah' guy who *doesn't* turn into a bitter super-reject or justice league of earth villain. I kinda like him remaining the underdog, which kinda precludes him ever really being tapped for the big leagues.

Emerald Empreror, I think the girl is called Dragonwing?

I prefer Chemical Kid or her.

I still think new members should use a Boy/Lass/Kid codename for a specified time.

Nightwind.

The rest, I'm not sure.
The newbies need awhile in the Academy, I think.

Yeah, I finally found that. I'm sure it will be awhile before any of them join.

But I'm still hoping Nightwind gets in.

Chemical Kid

I bet the Chief picks Nightwind. She'd got to be related to Fart Girl.

I can't see anyone in the new class joining anytime soon, but that's the point, isn't it?

However, I do like that Chemical Kid is turning out to be more powerful than Chemical King ever was.

I think Nightwind and Lamprey deserve to make it to the Legion. It looks like Paul may have other plans for Jed??

I've never thought Lamprey had much of a chance to join because she was basically too similar to Lightning Lass. However, she can breathe underwater as well. It seems like an aquatic character would be someone that would be very useful to the Legion. Surely many missions have taken place underwater or on aquatic worlds.

As far as the dulicate power of electric generation - Superboy and Mon-el are almost identical. Timber Wolf's distinction is claws and agility. Shouldn't be a stretch to have two (or three) members who can generate electicity.

And the wonderful thing about adding Lamprey and Nightwind is both were created by Legion fans.

A trait they share with Polar Boy, who I believe is the only fan-created character to actually make it on the team (not counting 5YG memberships!)

When I start randomly getting mentioned in jokes in threads totally outta nowhere, I know I'm a star here!

(P.S. Go Nightwind...if it indeed gets me closer to getting hooked up with FG!)

Total agreement on all counts!

Either that or Jed dies heroically on his first mission after being inducted...or is inducted posthumously after dying heroically.

Set's idear is happier, I guess!

I'll be honest. I want Gravity Kid 'cuz he looks totally hot in that groovy outfit!

I just noticed that Jed's power is listed as 'Personal Density Manipulation,' and, IIRC, he always did have that ability to explain his super-strength. There's no reason why he couldn't manipulate his density in the other direction as well, and while the team doesn't need another Phantom Girl, that might make him a bit more functional as a solo hero, or as part of another team, if he could not just increase his density to become strong and tough, but could also decrease his density to become like mist and float through non-airtight openings and stuff.

It's also interesting that his homeworld is Earth, and yet he's got the purple skin thing going on. Sure, he could be second, third, etc. generation Earthborn, but from another species, or part-alien, but there's also the odd possibility that he's 100% human, just that dying one skin different funky colors on a permanant basis is a fad somewhere on Earth.

Indeed, with the retcon that earth was wicked xenophobic even before the Justice League of Earth thing, and before the Legion even formed, it's less and less likely that Jed is a mixed-blood human/alien, or a naturalized Earth-citizen born to aliens who lived on Earth, making the 'human who likes to dye his skin purple' or 'human who suffered an accident / mutation that gave him super-powers and turned his skin purple' more likely than in the past.

^^^It would be cool if Jed just dyed his skin. It would be interesting to see more stuff like that in the Legion...I don't want it to turn into Cyberpunk, but I really like little future cultural touches like that.

Kind of like how Coipel took to drawing Kid Quantum's earrings as just floating there without actually being attached to her ears, or how Duo Damsel's/Triad's costumes have split into different colors when she splits.

My guess is that Jed and Lamprey will be part of yet another 31st century super-team!

At least that's the impression I get after reading the latest issue of Adventure!

Set's comments got me thinking about the early rejects.
Maybe, if there had been a Legion Academy from the beginning, instead of tryouts where the Legionnaires laughed at or snubbed rejects, there wouldn't be so many reject villians.

Many of the rejects were as powerful as the older class of cadets.
Drura, Spider Girl, Polar Boy, Chlorophyll Kid, to mention a few.
Fire Lad even had Dragonwing's power of fire breath.

I know the Legion can't go back an undo things, but a lot of the reject bitterness stems from HOW they were rejected, rather than nurtured into becoming the best that they could be, like Jed.

Candlelight-

I think that is perhaps part of the reason for the Legion Academy: to take those rejected applicants who are not completely psychotic or sociopathic and give them a place where they can safely explore their abilities.

Rather than the Subs, who tended to enthusiastically tackle projects beyond their abilities.

Sort of like American Idol setting up formal singing classes for those who show promise, but are not quite ready for Hollywood.

Incidentally, purple skin is a sign of silver poisoning.

This guy was in the news recently.

Grandpa Jed!

I always thought Nightwind had all the right stuff to become a member. She has a pretty good power and a yellow blue haired lady would add some nice variety to the team. Agree with those that think she needs a different costume. Power Boy looks great but his power set would need some tinkering with. Just being strong isn't going to do it. I agree with those who are thinking that some of these are going to end up on a new team. Would be great to see at least one get to graduate to the main team though.

Oh my!!!!! is that real? not photoshopped or expertly painted over? gosh...you know what? he reminds me of the Smurf...Grandpa Smurf. heh. oh SORRY! oops.

I think future king is right. I think if Jed doesn't make the Legion, he'll go out and start his own team, or connect with an existing team like the Heroes of Lallor or the Wanderers (I wonder what their status is?).

Anyway.. I would love to see Lamprey, Nightwind and Crystal Kid make the big leagues.

The thing about Crystal Kid....Polar Boy and Element Lad can almost do some of the same things. Not sure he would be the best choice.

It is funky, since Crystal Kid originally had the power to turn himself into 'indestructible crystal' and to turn other people into crystal, and Polar Boy originally had the power to generate intense cold.

Now both of them have the power to create great quantities of stuff (crystal or ice) out of thin air, like Iceman/Kole knockoffs.

Wonder if Crystal Kid will show up soon in Adventure?

Jiminez did show him in the backup story preceding the Adventure run, so he does seem aware that the character is out there (then again, he even had background shots of characters that were never named, so his presence doesn't guarantee that they have any significant plans for the character...).

After reading the last few issues of Adventure, I have picked who I want to be the next Legionaire....Chemical Kid. He's the most interesting of the lot, and his power doesn't duplicate any current member. Luorna won't recommend him, but Chuck and Lydda might after some more training.

Would be nice to see Nightwind join, though she has the most impractal costume imaginable for someone who manipulates the wind....

Am disappointed though that she, Lamrey, Crystal Kid and Jed are all from Earth - how dull!There's a galaxy full of humanoids yet the super powered ones are concentrated on old Terra. And am I the only one who really dislikes Crystal Kid's costume and white skin?

I don't lke Dragonwing but other than that really like the new group - even Comet Queen!! Though am disappointed that Gravity Kid (- aside, sounds better as Gravity Lad don't you agree?)is from Earth, is white and brown haired. As it doesn't look likely that Star Boy will be active again for a while Gravity Kid may be fast tracked and the Legionneed another white brown haired male like I need another ex...

Chemical Kid is getting a lot of attention right now but is his arrogance sustainable? How long until he would "learn humility"?

Glorih is great looking though as a magic user too ill defined a power set.

Overall, I'd really love to see more diversty in the team along with a few more physically powerful women....

Chemical Kid is arrogant, but I find those characters to be interesting and a lot of other people too. The Legion has plenty of Mickey Mouses, it needs more Donald Ducks. He is alittle immature, but I think in time and some ego-shattering (Element Lad vs. Chemical Kid would be match I would love to see) he will be a good member.

That's kind of my point Emily, he's fun now but sadly we both know that it won't be long before he's taken down a peg or two and stops being quite so annoying or for that metter, attractive....

It is odd that, of the four of them, Crystal Kid is the only one that looks like an earth-born human, between Power Boy's purple skin, Nightwind's Sklaran coloration and Lamprey's greenish complexion and 'energy-hair.'

Particularly in light of the 'Earth was always xenophobic' retcon, a batch of alien-looking people who list 'Earth' as their homeworld seems unlikely, since their families would have been hunted down and booted off the planet long ago.

It is amusing that the classic Legion has never had a woman from earth as a member. Sun Boy, Colossal Boy, Invisible Kid, Ferro Lad, Tyroc and Karate Kid are of earth-human descent (even if some of them weren't born on earth), but all of the girls are aliens...

True that. It was fun seeing Night Girl in action as a Legionnaire briefly because she's the closest the classic Legion has had to a female heavy-hitter. (LeViathan, Andromeda, Monstress and Thunder, and, to a lesser extent, Gazelle, also filled that niche, but not in this continuity.) If Laurel Kent was still around, she can fake being a heavy hitter pretty well, just by flying into stuff like a human cannonball, since she's pretty much unhurtable.

Lightning Lass fills the blasty role nicely, so as long as she doesn't revert back to makes-things-light-lass, she's got a big gun and isn't afraid to use it!

(If Lightning Lass wasn't around, I'd agitate for Quantum Queen to make a showing, but Ayla's got that role covered, and is, IMO, a fun character that I'd rather see more of anyway.)

hmmm isn't Celeste Rockfish (Neon) from Earth?

I don't remember, but she's not in this continuity yet, so Set would still be correct.


As for Nightwind and Lamprey, they USED to look more human and less humanoid.

And, while I personally find many of the freshman cadets to be interesting and certainly powerful enough to join the Legion, one which had Lu and Chuck as active members at one time, I'd certainly rather see some of the senior class join now instead of waiting for the 'kids' to go through the curriculum.

Nightwind could be a heavy hitter....just change that costume!

Go, Urk!!

I've always thought that Nightwind has the most to offer the readers by becoming a full Legion member.

* Unlike Jed and, to a lesser extent, Tayla (who's got her underwater niche) Berta's got a unique power that no one else on the team possesses.
* Her power is a formidable one that would make her one of the few femmes on the team that can keep up with Lar, Jo, Drake, etc in the heavy-hitting, offensive department.
* Thanks to whichever artist gave her that fantastic design upgrade with the cool facial markings, she's got a great look that would make her stand-out on the team.
* Her personality and back-story are unknown enough that she could offer a lot of intrigue and mystery to whatever history a writer wanted to give her.

I really hope she makes the step up one day. (Though, at the same time, I really like the foursome of her, Tayla, Jed and Bobb and I'd hate to see that broken up.)

Nightwind definitely has a very cool visual. I love her costume. (Not every girl superhero needs to wear a bikini or a miniskirt!)

Her powers *might* not work in space, unless she generates the air she manipulates, and there's precedent for that anyway (Polar Boy can create ice in space, despite there being no moisture in the 'air' and Sun Boy can create flame, despite there being nothing flammable, and no oxygen to burn, making 'flame' impossible), so it's not an insurmountable problem.

Berta's power is also a decent non-lethal option. For a team with a code against killing, they've got a lot of heavy-hitters with extremely lethal powers (yeah, I'll try to throw fire at you, in a way that won't cause lasting harm...), and Nightwind's powers seem like they would be better at throwing people around / holding them back / keeping them pinned down, without the difficulty of having to hold herself back that someone like Wildfire has to deal with (yeah, I'm going to try to incapacitate this thug by *creating an antimatter explosion!*).

Although I would like to see the four of them (and perhaps Urk?) stick together. While we haven't seen any indication of this, yet, Tayla, being adapted for underwater function, might be a bit stronger and tougher than she looks as well. Aquaman has gotten consistently stronger and tougher, with that excuse, so it wouldn't be inconsistent for Lamprey to also be able to use high-pressure undersea adaptation as a rationale for being a bit stronger/tougher than expected.

Who knows what Crystal Kid's powers are, currently. I think I like the crystal-wall/construct-creation stuff (more Kole / Krystalin, less Golden Boy / Emma Frost). Turning self and others into diamond statues doesn't really appeal to me as much.

I'm also for Nightwind joining the Legion. I never bought Wildfire telling her way, way back in her first appearance that she needed to practice using her powers.

I'm worried that she (and Crystal Kid) have had virtually no dialogue so far. Hopefully that isn't a sign that she won't make it in.

I also hope they won't give us an excuse that her powers are too limited (ex. no wind in space, Tellus' telekinesis being a better way to lift/slam objects, blah blah). The Legion could really use a powerful new female member to balance the numbers out some more.

Urk stands a chance now!!

Rooting for Jed to get a shot. If Dragonwing gets a shot but Jed doesn't, then I'm calling a foul! Cos's dismissal of Jed's potential in the recent Adventure story just stunk of personal bias!

It looks like all of them!

Nightwind, Crystal Kid, Chemical Kid, Gravity Lad, Lamprey and Jed are the ones I'd most want to see 'move on up'.

Possibly with a couple of characters we only really see in backgrounds during the Academy stories.

I'm quite sure Glorith and Dragonwing will- though, honestly, I'm not that 'wowed' by either of them.

Variable Lad has a better than average shot- since he'd fill that 'alien-looking alien' slot being vacated by Tellus and Gates. I'm not crazy about his power, though- at least until I see it better defined and used.

Cos is jealous because Jed gets to show more skin! Purple skin, at that! Rokk's still smarting over public reaction to his 'Rokky Horror' uniform that he so dearly loved...

I think having Jed in the team would detract from Tinya too much - unless they reintroduce the concept that Bgtzl is actually a 4D world and let her develop some side-abilities to go along with that (which I would be more than okay with).

Now that we know the LSH are losing seven members (and we know from that new cover that Dragonwing will be joining the main team at least), it looks like more of the Academy kids will be joining.

Again, I am okay with that but I hope not all of them do...Glorith would die in their first fight, and as much as I would love Comet Queen to join it wouldn't really make sense in-story unless they find some way to get around her brain damage.

A mix of Academy kids and Subs would be cool though!

A mix would be nice.

Glorith and CQ have been shown to be very unready, Glorith in skills and CQ in memory.
They both have so much potential, though.
Couldn't CQ eat some fruit and get an accent change?
And get konked on the head and channel 'smartness'?
She doesn't seem stupid anyway, just not academic in her aptitudes.

I don't know why Glorith is so timid, either.
Oh, well.

Johns probably kept XS and Gates for these further purposes and will use her somewhere in the DCU, too.

Go, Urk, Fish Twins, Mendalla, Chemical Kid and all of the others, especially Plant Lad and Nightwind!

Kabir talked to Paul at the DC Booth and he asked us to hold judgement on the membership issue until we read the stories. "We may love him or we may hate him..." based on what he does with Power Boy & Gravity Kid.

They haven't shown her doing it forever, but Tinya can phase more fully into Bgtzl-space and become invisible to people in this space, while still being able to see (or cross over into the Phantom Zone and do the exact same thing). I think, because of Invisible Kid(s), they choose to ignore that aspect of her powers (just as they downplay that Chameleon Boy can duplicate the abilities of three or four other Legionnaires).

In theory, if Bgtzl-space is 'smaller' than Earth-space (a pocket dimension, instead of an entire infinite universe of its own), she should be able to do what Nightcrawler does, and step a few steps in Bgtzl-space, to cross much greater distances in 'real-space.' It's not really teleportation, but close enough for government work, as she crosses over long enough to cross seven leagues in a single step.

Alternately, if she's really going 'fourth dimensional,' then 3D space should be as delicate and ephemeral to her as 2D constructs (like walls of super-thin tissue paper) are to us, allowing her to *appear* to be ridiculously super-strong and tough, as 'merely' three dimensional matter feels like tissue paper and nerf-pellets to her four-dimensional body.

(Ironically, Power Boy acts *much* more like a 4D person than Phantom Girl ever has...)

Artists have never really depicted anyone as a 4D person in 3D space, 'though. Instead of phasing through matter, a 4D person would 'walk around' 3D obstructions, and, to the human eye, unable to process their movement, would seem to slide out of view and reappear on the other side of the obstruction, or *perhaps* seem to 'shrink' into the obstruction and 'grow' out off the other side, depending on perspective. They've never, in any case, seem to be hanging out phased, halfway through a wall, which PG does all the time. But that's less 'proof' that PG (or PB) isn't 4-dimensional, than it is proof that the artists and writers never really thought about what a 4D traveller would look like going 'around' a 3D obstruction.

Perhaps Cos secretly has the hots for Gravity Kid.

So THAT's why he broke up with Night Girl!

I guess to be fair, that would be really hard to draw while still looking dynamic and not just kooky...I suppose you could handwave it by saying her appearance when she's phased is the way 3D brains interpret the information before them because they just don't know how to perceive what it really is? Like Violet or the Atom being able to interact with the world around them normally when they're subatomic?

I can see why the invisibility thing doesn't get used because really it's the only trick Jacques has so it wouldn't really be fair if she could go one better than him...but it would be cool if they did more with the other-dimensional aspect of her power in other ways...like perceiving things that even Mon-El or Jeckie might not be able to because they're limited by a 3D perspective...

I do like the revelation that Dawny can't track her, that was kind of neat.

Really hoping for Lamprey and Nightwind especially to find their way back into the Legion later on. Maybe in a future arc they can visit and cause a stink about the untrained rookies getting in over them?

I'm pleased with the three Academy students that made it/will make it on the team, though I really hope Comet Queen and Gravity Kid get some in-story explanation as to why they don't get in. Even if it's just a quick mention their powers would be redundant. Not surprised Variable Lad didn't make it - he hasn't found his footing whatsoever. I really wish his visuals/species had been applied to the Gravity Kid or Glorith concepts initially if he was simply created as an alien token.

Perhaps the hole the Legion Lost cast members will be leaving will be filled by some reserves? If the Academy does close down, it'd be great to get Chuck and Lu back.

Yeah, them, Laurel Kent and Crystal Kid have always been my favorites of the Academy crew (although Power Boy has grown on me).

Gravity Kid running away to hang with Jed on Takron-Galtos would at least be something foreshadowed with their last conversation, and be a fun tweak in characterization, since Tel has been the most seriously invested in his Academy studies and training, and been the 'teacher's pet' sort of student, thus far, praising teachers comments, criticizing other students not taking stuff seriously, and shown up early exercising instead of sleeping in like his classmates.

Having him just toss all that away, angry at both the rejections of the previous graduates and, as Chemical Kid points out, the 'zero in four' chances of this pre-Legion training ever amounting to a fat stack of jack, to be with Jed, could be cool, and be a kind of non-verbal smackdown of Rokk's decision to not admit the current crew of graduates and how it's demoralized the current class into abandoning their training and just wandering off and doing whatever, since the Legion's 'farm team' seems to be nothing more than a waste of time.

That's my thought, too. I like the idea of one of his race being a hero, and I like his attitude (even more than Tel, whose competitive nature can mess with his moral compass, the most 'earnest' feeling of the current batch of potential heroes), but the nature of his powers, and his relatively light showing, place him in the back of the pack, for me.