At first I was hesitant to start this thread, seeing as how the Legion Archives reread is ongoing (and Conjure Lass and Georgehaze have their own recent threads too!)

But, I figure some of us are only familiar with the Postboot Legion and those contributing to the Archives thread can chime in here too. Plus, this thread is intended to go through the entire Postboot Legion in chronological publishing order (more or less).

Besides, the impending cancellation of the Legion AND all the good memories brought back by other threads have made me nostalgic!

Table of contents: (L* stands for Legionnaires)

LSH 0
Legionnaires 0
LSH 62
L* 19
LSH 63
L* 20
LSH 64
L* 21
LSH 65
L* 22
LSH 66
L* 23
LSH 67
L* 24
LSH 68
L* 25
LSH 69
LSH Annual 6
Showcase '95 #6, 1st Legion story (2nd story in issue)
Showcase '95 #6, 2nd Legion story (3rd story in issue)
Legionnaires 26
LSH 70
L* 27
LSH 71
L* 28
L* Annual 2
LSH 72
L* 29 (note: concurrent with this issue, Brainiac 5 time travels into Guy Gardner: Warrior 29, but only appears in 3 panels without dialogue, so it doesn't get its own reread)
LSH 73
L* 30
Superboy 17 and 18
Superboy 19
Superboy 21
LSH 74
L* 31
LSH 75
L* 32
LSH 76
L* 33
Impulse 9 (only XS appears)
Flash v2 108 and 109, Impulse 10 (only XS appears)
Flash v2 110, Impulse 11, Flash v2 111 (only XS appears)
Impulse 12 (only XS appears)
LSH 77
L* Annual 3
L* 34
LSH 78
L* 35
LSH 79
L* 36
LSH 80
L* 37
LSH 81
Showcase '96 #8 (3rd story)
L* 38
LSH 82
L* 39
LSH 83
L* 40
LSH 84
L* 41
LSH 85
L* 42
Adventures of Superman 540 (only Ferro appears; also references events in Final Night mini-series)
LSH 86 (direct tie-in to Final Night mini-series)
Final Night 1-4
L* 43
Showcase '96 #10 (3rd story; only Ultra Boy really appears)
Showcase '96 #11-12 (1st story in each issue)
LSH 87
Superman v2 119
L* 44
Impulse 21
LSH 88
L* 45
Sovereign Seven Plus LSH 1 (only Saturn Girl appears)
Superman Plus LSH 1
LSH 89
L* 46
LSH 90
L* 47
LSH 91
L* 48
LSH 92
L* 49
LSH 93
L* 50
LSH 94
L* 51
LSH 95
Supergirl v4 Annual 2
L* 52
LSH 96
L* 53
LSH 97 and Genesis 1-4
Unlimited Access 2 (Legionnaires only appear in first few pages)
Superboy 45
L* 54
LSH 98
L* 55
LSH 99
Action Comics 741
L* 56
LSH 100 stories and pin-ups
LSH Secret Files 1
Inferno 1-4 (also lists Inferno's future appearances)
LSH v4 Annual 7
L* 57
LSH 101
Adventures in the DCU 10
Green Lantern 98-99
L* 58
LSH 102
L* 59
LSH 103
L* 60
Adventure Comics 80-Page Giant (4th story)
Martian Manhunter 11 {3 Legionnaires appear in 2 panels)
LSH 104
L* 61
LSH 105
Legends of the Legion 1 Origin of Ultra Boy
Legends of the Legion 2 Origin of Spark
Legends of the Legion 3 Origin of Umbra
Legends of the Legion 4 Origin of Star Boy
L* 62
LSH 106
L* 63
LSH 107
L* 64
LSH 108
L* 65
Starman 50 (co-starring Star Boy and Umbra; Atmos and Insect Queen make cameos)
Legion: Science Police 1 (note: Saturn Girl and Shvaughn Erin appear, but most characters in this mini-series are new)
Legion: Science Police 2
Legion: Science Police 3
Legion: Science Police 4
LSH 109
L* 66
LSH 110
L* 67

Also, He Who Wanders' issue scores (up to L* Annual 2, and excluding the Showcase issues): scorecard

Go for it, Ibby.

I'll contribute as I can.

To repeat, anyone is welcome to post his or her own reviews!! Please, do so!

Legion of Super-Heroes 0
Time and Chance
Issue information

Summary:

It's the beginning of a new era/reality, and we get front row seats to the actual formation of the Legion. You know the drill: Rokk Krinn, Garth Ranzz and Imra Ardeen save the life of wealthy RJ Brande, who has the bright idea to form a team of heroes as a symbol of hope and unity. We glimpse a few more familiar faces (Luornu Durgo, Ayla and Mekt Ranzz). We also delve more into the private lives of our characters, and the issue hints that this Legion will be much more involved in politics than the Preboot version ever was. Are you ready to join the team on this ride?

Detailed Summary:

Issue begins with a flashback that any long-time Legion fan would find familiar. Garth, Ayla and Mekt Ranzz are on a joyride. Mekt plays it cool, Garth is way excited, and Ayla is "the responsible one". They are forced to make an emergency landing on Korbal. Garth tries to be helpful but annoys big brother Mekt; this early we see Mekt has anger management issues. Interestingly, Ayla is the one who suggests using the lightning beasts to recharge the ship's capacitor. Before they can act on it, lightning beats sneak up on all three...

and then Garth wakes up. Only a dream! He helpfully tells us it has been three years. He also tells us he ran away from home.

Cut to Braal. Rokk Krinn, nicknamed "Cosmic Boy", is being interviewed. (Glad the Cosmic Boy name came from his Magnoball career. As code names go, I always found it pretty bad - not descriptive of his powers at all, and Cos doesn't have the iconic hero status of Superman or Wonder Woman to excuse him... I'm looking at you also, Ultra Boy!) Ah, the 30th century press is so tabloid-like, as Cos gets grilled on his little brother and on magno-skater Sindy Paller. And someone asks him about his debt structure. Rokk's manager Mr. Cuspin cuts that question off! Rokk gets goaded by someone into demonstrating his skills, so he uses the metal on the guy's clothes to launch him into the air. Hah! As Rokk gets onto his flight, he sees that Titan is the next stop, and worries about Braal-Titan relations.

Easter egg time - we see a Sklarian, an alien from the Alien series, and someone who looks like late 5YL Brainiac 5 after Glorith aged him!

On to Titan, where Imra Ardeen, top Science Police cadet, is mentally probing three suspects over a theft. She says none of them is giving off any information about the stolen goods. A Science Police buddy and someone - I'll assume the proprietor? - give her a hard time. Imra then picks up thoughts from the proprietor about the black market. The proprietor tries to get away, only for Imra to show off her fighting skills and take her down. And apparently, this was Imra's final test; passing it means she gets to join the Science Police on Earth!

Back on the ship. Garth meets Rokk, and they hit it off (awww). Garth reveals he is looking for his brother. Their conversation is interrupted by RJ Brande's arrival. Brande is kind of like that cool but slightly loud uncle everyone has - he waves off any "special treatment", but does it loudly enough that most of the ship can here. He spends time talking to passengers too, asking them how they are. Nice guy. Rokk gets starstruck and talks about how Brande invented Stargates, which are interstellar teleportation devices. They jump quickly to Titan, where Imra gets on. Garth has lustful thoughts; as Imra passes by she gives him the evil eye and tells him not to think about it. Gee, is it just me or is she being nosy? I mean, it's not like Garth was making a scene. Garth has the grace to be embarrassed instead of blaming her. We also see the reappearance of the mandatory Saturn ID that marks telepaths, and we see people leaving their seats to get away from Imra. Hmmm. Well, I wouldn't be very comfortable either.

Then on Earth...

Well, we know the drill. Imra picks up thoughts of assassins sent to kill Brande. Her warning gives enough time for Garth and Rokk to act, saving Brande and catching the bad guys. Rokk and Garth impress each other (aww). Imra is whisked away by the Science Police; Garth disappears because he is technically a runaway. Brande's partner Doyle and Luornu appear, making long-time Legion fans wet themselves in excitement.

Fast forward to Brande meeting with United Planets president Chu. Chu tries to convince Brande to hand over the secrets of the Stargates, but Brande is shrewd enough not to let go of his moneymaker. Instead, he offers to finance a symbol of unity for the young United Planets - and we see he has been doodling the familiar Legion logo. Who knew Brande had an artistic side?

At SP HQ, Imra is being given menial tasks by Commander Hagbard. Another SP officer gossips to Shvaughn that Imra will never rise, because Hagbard hates Titanians. Shvaughn whispers back that they have to be careful, as Imra can read thoughts. Lournu - revealed to be Brande's personal assistant - approaches a disgruntled Imra with an offer...

Rokk is being given a hard time by his trainer/manager. Another, more flirtatious Luronu (must be Purple! Just like the SW6 version) approaches him with an offer.

Garth is in jail being bullied by a few goons. Apparently, Garth was making trouble at Black Mace's place (sadly, none of the goons look like other members of the Taurus Gang). Poor Garth gets a bucketful of what looks like urine (ewwww) in his face. Luornu picks him up just in time. She posts bail, so I have no idea what happened to Garth's charges or what he was charged with.

The three reunite in Brande's office. Cuspin leers at Imra; she responds by outing him to Rokk. Cuspin has been channeling Rokk's earnings to pay off Cuspin's gambling debts. Yikes! An angry Cuspin attacks Imra; Garth and Rokk stop him, and Rokk tells Cuspin they are through. Rokk is kind of grateful, but does tell Imra she seems nosy (yeah, just what I was thinking; glad the writers addressed it). Imra excuses herself by saying that strong or lewd thoughts are easily picked up by telepaths, and she only really delves deeper when that happens.

Brande makes his entrance by showing holos of Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and Flash. Brande gives them the pep talk/sales pitch. Form a team of heroes that the galaxy can rally around; help others. Try it out, and see what happens. Maybe, just maybe, they are meant to make magic. Dang! It's quite a good talk if I say so myself. And all three agree.

Last page - shadowy figure says his assassins failed. He sends an underling to tell their masters. And appoints another underling to take underling 1's place, because the masters won't be forgiving. Cold. Aaaaaaand shadowy figure is Doyle... and he is still planning something!



Thoughts:

I can see why the Postboot might be a bit of a hard sell. After all, we're coming off the End of an Era, where we see our beloved Legionnaires fading into white. Like waking from a blissful dream...

Garth Ranzz's dream is anything bit blissful. He flashbacks to when he and his siblings were on Korbal. This time, all three of them were there - Garth, Ayla and Mekt act like "normal" siblings would in our day and age. Garth has some sort of hero worship for Mekt despite his solo status; he obviously looks up to her more than he does Ayla. And he's a runaway, uh-oh.

Super sports star Rokk Krinn is next. Nice to know that despite his status, he's still quite a bit of a nice guy who cares deeply for his family.

Note the Easter Eggs on page 5 - an Alien from the Aliens series, a guy in the bottom left corner who looks a lot like Vandal Savage but is also dressed like the X-Men's Sebastian Shaw, and a guy who resembles Brainiac 5 from the Legion on the Run stories. There's also a Sklarian, though she doesn't dress like Kono did. I wonder how many readers freaked at these little throwaway cameos?

Lots of Legion Worlds mentioned: Tharn (the Sorceror's World), Imsk, Zuun, and of course Winath and Titan. Again, I wonder how many readers freaked at the thoughts that the White Witch, Shrinking Violet or Timber Wolf might be re-written as Legion founders this time?

Next up is Imra Ardeen. Her telepathy isn't particularly impressive, in this scene. Maybe it's because we're used to such power levels from her and similar telepaths like the Martian Manhunter. I have to echo the SPs: "And she's Titan's best telepath?" All she demonstrates here is the ability to read minds. We don't know enough about the "benchmark" level of telepathy here to tell if what she did here is supposed to be impressive. Maybe picking up a stray thought is supposed to be, I don't know. Her combat skills are impressive though - she took down the culprit without harming her, as the culprit can still walk in the very next panel.

We see R.J. Brande close up, and he seems very authentic. I certainly like him here more than I did the Preboot version. His vibe is like that of the jolly, kind, rich old uncle who wows you with interesting stories on family reunions.

Stargates are introduced, and I like how they both open up and restrict space travel at the same time. This opens the writers to have future stories set in remote areas of space without Stargate access, for example. Now Legionnaires can get lost in space in a more plausible manner!

Here comes Imra, being nosey again. Her mind-reading of Garth helps explain why Titanians need to wear a Saturn badge - if someone could and would peek into your mind uninvited, wouldn't you like to know? I have often wondered why other planets don't need to wear an ID. Besides Durlans (which will be touched on in future issues), I'd think that I'd want to know if the sentient beside me is a Daxamite! (shameless plug - I explored that idea in my Andromeda post for "Loss", though instead of an ID I had them wear a red-sun bracelet).

And it looks like the Garth-Imra romance won't be a love-at-first-sight one! More like lust. Oh, Garth. Thinking such adult thoughts!

I also dare say that the Rokk-Garth friendship is off to a great start, and in these few pages has been highlighted more than it has in the entire Adventure run!

Nosey Imra strikes again, but this time she saves RJ Brande's life! She IS nosey enough to catch Rokk and Garth mentally complimenting each other though. What?! Can't two guys get some privacy as they mentally admire each others' [strike]equipment[/strike] powers?

And RJ Brande's status as a visionary is highlighted once more, as only he sees the potential of these three working together.

He acts fast, sending a very familiar face to gather the three (hi Luornu!). Though her powers aren't made obvious here, as she doesn't merge into three. Her personality differences are made obvious as well - the Luornu with Rokk flirts with her target, while the Luornu who gets Garth is all business-like. I do wonder why Garth didn't just zap his assailants. He could have, it's not like they're wearing full-body armor!

I empathize with Imra as well. She's clearly competent and motivated, yet she's tasked with menial jobs. It's fair, though the mention of Hagbard (another familiar name, though I can tell you right now he won't do much for the rest of this continuity) hating Titanians doesn't sound so good.

We also see Shvaughn Erin, and it's interesting to meet her at a time when she isn't a fan of the Legion yet. Let's see how this turns out!

And we have the gathering. Wait, Luornu isn't joining them yet? What?! Come oooooooon! Oh, and Cuspin's a rat. Tsk tsk. Where will this go, I wonder? It's a tad convenient that he's exposed so quickly; and I'm left wondering where this will lead. Why even introduce him? Perhaps it was to add a touch of realism - Rokk is barely an adult, after all, and even veteran athletes need a manager and trainer.

Having the Legion be inspired by multiple 20th century heroes (interesting that the Flash is the 4th hero, and not G.L. or J'Onn) is a good move, and touches on the rich legacy of all of them.

The scene with the 3 agreeing to Brande's proposition is somewhat subdued and not exactly a big, rip-roaring Long Live the Legion moment. Which makes sense in this context; Rokk and Imra are turning their backs on their chosen careers and Garth is technically a runaway. Maybe that's why Cuspin was included; to make Rokk's decision more plausible. Imra's isn't surprising, since she's obviously not satisfied with her first day with the SPs. Garth? I think he's mostly along just to get another shot at Imra.

All in all a rich first issue. Old Legion fans will be thrilled at the possibilities (Luornu is here! Shvaughn Erin is here! RJ Brande will play a bigger role it seems! And the 3 Founders... don't like each other yet!) And there's enough here to thrill a new reader as well, especially with the brains of RJ's assassination revealed to be his business partner!! But there's a looming mystery, as he isn't doing it just for himself. Uh-oh! What sinister forces are at work here? And why is President Chu in the background when Doyle's face is revealed? *Gasp*, is SHE behind this???

The art is a tad rough, but serviceable. The Legionnaires look young, and I for one am pleased that Rokk and Garth aren't musclebound gym bunnies and that Imra's cleavage doesn't look like a pair of overripe fruit.

It's also nice to see the Legionnaires acting (and being treated like) teens. There wasn't much of this at all during the old "Super-Hero club" days, was there?

Thanks, HWW! I'd love to hear YOUR thoughts on how this era compares and contrasts with the Preboot!

I read the scene differently.

Imra, like Rokk, is introduced as someone upon whom a lot of lofty expectations have been placed. He's a sports star; she's the best telepath of Titan has to offer--and both encounter the pressures and lack of appreciation that go with such a mantle. Rokk is bombarded by Papparazzi. Imra can't get the police's desired results. This sets up conflict in their individual lives and suggests an incentive for them wanting to join Brande.

One of the things I appreciated in the reboot was that the Legionnaires' power levels were generally nowhere near their preboot levels. In the early Adventure issues, Imra picks up stray thoughts from worlds away; here her power is more localized. I don't think this scene is meant to impress us with her power so much as it is to establish what her power is and to show she is very good at using it.



Yes. He comes off as less of a caricature here. He's formidable and believable as someone who negotiates with the president of Earth.




While re-reading this issue, I was struck by how much the reboot borrowed from Babylon 5. Both of these ideas--the technology used to travel space and telepaths having to wear special identification and being distrusted by others--were integral parts of that show.




Garth is, what, 14 or 15 here? He's thinking 14 or 15 year old thoughts.

I did appreciate the contrast in the three founders' personalities. This scene plays out in a more entertaining way than it did in the preboot.




Not only that, but it gives Rokk an added incentive to throw in with Brande. Since Cuspin has stolen Rokk's endorsement deals, that leaves Rokk (it is implied) with little money to support his family. It would take something major like that for Rokk to consider abandoning a successful sports career to join a team of heroes.

The writer could have making this clear, though.



Notice Superman's mullet--ugh!




I agree that it's a very subdued scene, and I found it disappointing for that reason. Why doesn't Rokk raise an objection that he's abandoning his career? Why doesn't Imra say this isn't what she trained for? Why doesn't Garth hold out until Brande promises him the means to help find his brother? Brande's speech is very inspirational ("It might not work. We might all walk away in three months."), but the trio are far too passive in this scene.



Agreed on both points.



The word that comes to my mind after re-reading this issue is "innocence." The reboot restores a sense of innocence to the Legion. This can be both a good and bad thing. There's a sense of the Legionnaires being decent kids (even Garth) who are caught up in political realities they have no control over, yet who are now called upon to be a symbol for unity. What kid wouldn't want to make a difference in a troubled world?

Yet the depiction of all this is, to use your word, subdued. It just doesn't feel like there's much at stake here. The final scene with "Lord Doyle" is a clunky way of introducing the villain, and, otherwise, there's little sense of passion or importance to any of the story's events. We are told, for example, of the decades-long war between Braal and Titan, not shown it. There isn't even any real antagonism between Rokk and Imra, just a cursory mention of the war.

The Legionnaires seem almost to have been placed on a pedestal by the creators. The latter approached this story as if they were treading on hallowed ground; they didn't go far enough in making this story their own or making it stand out from previous tellings. The changes they've made are largely surface (though some work better than others, such as the Ranzz siblings' relationship), but we learn very little that's new about the three founders and the world they live in. There are very few insights that one might expect in the re-telling of an old story.

I may do a formal review at some point, but, for right now, I'd grade this story as 76.1 (C).

You have a good point there, HWW. I suppose, coming from a point in time where I'd seen telepaths in comic books shutting down multiple minds and altering memories, I was disappointed by how "weak" Imra was. I never disputed that she was the best Titan had to offer; what disappointed me was that if it were so, then telepaths must be quite weak in the Postboot Legion's universe.

I have to agree with you on how subdued it all was, and the distinct lack of passion. Perhaps the creators rushed the formation of the Legion too much - a better tack might have been to have the 3 founders initially rebuff Brande, but then be brought together again at a later date because of another emergency. Only then would they have been convinced to form a team. "So, what now" sure isn't the most auspicious way to begin!

I do like the vastly different interplay between the founders, though - Garth and Rokk as best buddies, with a frosty "friendship" between Garth and Imra. Certainly gives the writers a lot to play with here.

I'll pick up on LSH #0 itself later, but what sort of schedule are we doing for this? I presume we want to avoid Mon/Wed/Fri since they're "Archives days", so depending on whether we do two or three a week, either Sun/Thurs or Sun/Tue/Thurs?


They missed a very obvious trick there - all four heroes are then-present (1994) versions. They should have mixed the costumes up a bit - Year One Batman, Byrne Superman, 1994 Wonder Woman, John Fox (future) Flash, perhaps?

As for "Why Flash and not...", well, J'Onn's never really held a solo title, and I think he was off in Justice League Task Force at the time, not even the main JLAmerica title, while Waid & Ross would point-blank refuse to even acknowledge let alone include Kyle in Kingdom Come only a couple of years later. Plus, y'know, Waid was the Flash writer of the time, so including Wally was a slight plug for his other book...

Besides the above "real life" reasons, for in-universe reasons I suppose a GL wasn't chosen because there are a ton of GLs. In an inter-planetary setting why choose one of the Earth GLs instead of, say, Kilowog or one of the Xudarians?

Re schedule, I haven't really thought about it myself. On one hand the Postboot Legion has shorter (?) issues at only 22 pages each compared to some of the Adventure era stories; plus we have more two-parters so 3 a week should be very much ok. Sun/Tue/Thurs sounds good to me even with the time differences.

We just came from an 8-hour power outage, so I'm going to go on ahead and continue.

Legionnaires 0
Close Encounters
Issue information

Summary:

Things are speeding up for the Legion - they're formally introduced/marketed to the UP and the team isn't quite receiving a warm welcome from all sectors. Can they foil a terrorist attack on the delegates and achieve respect and acceptance?

Familiar faces Tinya Wazzo and Luornu Durgo are in the right place at the right time, and the issue closes with the introductions of 6 more possible new members.

Thoughts:

We start with an infomercial of the 3 founders. Cosmic Boy, interestingly, is the one most shocked - yet he should be the one most used to being in the spotlight. The second shot makes it seem like he's flying; some clever editing or is he using his magnetism to "fly"?

Botk Rokk and Imra are 15, a year older than Garth. They both do seem more level-headed, but it's probably because of their life experiences (Rokk supporting his family, Imra in intense study) than a function of their age. Garth was supposed to be called "Lightning Lad" but marketing changed his name to Live Wire because it was fresher. They probably didn't mess with the "Cosmic Boy" codename for Rokk because he was already known by it. I guess they couldn't come up with anything else for Saturn Girl. Of course, in real life we know they just copied the codenames the 3 Founders' SW6 counterparts had.

Mr. Brande, to his credit, answers Imra as an adult would to an equal. I find him so well-written that even I call him "Mr." Brande! It just doesn't seem right callimg him RJ, he's so respectable.

Marla Latham reappears as well. Preboot I think he only appeared twice, once in the story introducing Ultra Boy and the other when he was framed for murder. It's good to see him taking a bigger role here, and it makes sense as Mr. Brande doesn't have the free time to handle all the details.

So the 3 Founders designed their own outfits? That's the implication, at least. Yet they didn't seem to have picked their own codenames.

Not sure what the point is of keeping Doyle's face in shadow; we already know who he is. In the first panel of the page you can see him clearly as well. Artistic license?

Tinya Wazzo is here! Nice to see a familiar face agai. Boy, is her mom scary. Grabbing her by the ear, what? I'm not sure if the other delegates are surprised that she can phase, or that she phased through the UP globe itself (based on how Winema reacts, possibly the latter). You can even see the guy beside her facepalming.

RJ Brande earns cool points again for thinking that the new uniforms are cool. I always did take issue with the use of the word "uniform" though; they're not uniforms because they aren't identical. There's a sort of central-stripe with outer colors design, but they are hardly uniforms.

The Legionnaires face a tough crowd, and they know it. As many teens do, they try to seek approval but at least they're doing it the right way. I am much more impressed with Imra now than I was last issue, as she was able to scan the minds of dozens of sentients in a very short time. I take back what I said about her not being all that powerful!

She loses a few points, though, for blabbing out about the bomb. As Garth said, "smooth move". Frankly, besides her alerting everyone about the Brande assasination attempt (which was needed to prevent his death), she could have been more cautious both against Cuspin and against the jewel thief on Titan. But oh well.

Garth is a little reckless as well, though he does have a point -blowing out a wall could have injured more people and it would have been harder to get rid of the bomb without the altitude. Cosmic Boy takes charge and gets the three of them working together well despite their inexperience and the little blame games going on.

Luornu also pulls an amazing save, one that she couldn't have without her triplicating abilities. You go, girl! And props to Rj Brande for trying to save the President himself.

Imra strikes again, catching the crooks. I don't mind so much that she doesn't show the ability to shut down minds or stuff, her thought-scanning is already very useful.

Tinya jumps right into the fray! Good thing Garth picked up on her intangibility and fried the bad guy. She totally earned her stripes and her (future) flight ring here, and her line makes it clear she wants to earnt he respect of her MOM. Her mom, by the way, is totally overbearing but means well - it's a tough combination to deal with.

And so the Legion grows by two, with Apparition and Triad quickly joining the ranks and the UP (or at least trhe crowd here) fully behind them. Not a bad start huh? Saving the UP assembly from a bomb sure earns you a lot of cred.

But hold, what do we have here? Chu wants to send them in a mission - and to prep them she wants to add another half dozen Legionnaires! In short order we get familiar faces Gim Allon, Lyle Norg, Querl Dox and KID QUANTUM? Uh-oh, we all know how that turned out. There's also a mysterious covered figure; I'm sure old-time fans familiar with the Preboot Legion's joining order guessed it would be Reep Daggle. And new girl Jenni Ognats, who has super speed apparently.

Star Boy is also mentioned, but he's passed up in favor of Kid Quantum. Why? Perhaps the Xantihans felt he was the one they could "spare" the most, as they made a big deal out of not weakening their own forces.

Gim is also a science cop; will he and Imra have different approaches to their work? His growth power is fully accepted by his teammates, but that may be because he is a Science Cop. They might react differently if he becomes a Legionnaire.

Lyle is sneaky and mischievous, more so than his Preboot or SW6 counterparts were.

And Brainy... he hasn't usually been depicted as this preoccupied and borderline rude. well, this is gonna be very interesting.

I'm sure a lot of old-time Legion fans were excited; we end the issue with 5 Legionnaires and 6 more on the way, plus Ayla Ranzz, Star Boy (and Atmos) all existing in this new continuity. Several elements are the same, with the Legionnaires mostly having the same identities and powers and even joining in roughly the same order they did Preboot. What's new, as HWW pointed out, is the Legionnaires are acting more like teens with "typical" teen problems like overbearing moms and unrequited crushes and even chips on their shoulders.

There is enough to hook some new readers as well, and I think having a cast of 5 + 6 = 11 Legionnaires is just the right number for now; enough to seem like a Legion but not enough to overwhelm. The supporting cast is turning out pretty nicely, too.

A solid issue, but then again not a rip-roaring LONG LIVE THE LEGION one. The team isn't charging into greatness so much as slowly easing itself into it, and I think the writers wanted to keep it that way so we could experience their growing pians firsthand.

LSH #0:

This is a lot more fun than I had remembered. Visually, there's a lot going on - the easter eggs that IB pointed out (I'd missed those!), lots of aliens and different clothing, what looks like the tail of a dog standing in line at the counter - but maybe it's a sentient alien? Rokk, Imra and Garth really do look like teenagers and have very distinctive personalities. Ayla and Lu are also given actual character - Ayla cautious and responsible; Lu competent and unflappable. Bits of back story and hints of future developments (like the reporter's question to Rokk about debt structure) make this a full and multi-layered issue to read.

There was a red-haired assassin - I wonder if they thought at some point to make that guy Mekt and have Garth cover up for him.


Legionnaires #0:

This issue really builds up the team quickly. It is fun for old-time Legion fans to see the group growing and meet somewhat familiar characters in new circumstances. New readers must have found this a good introduction as well; a lot of characters are introduced, but each one gets some panel time and background - something that was filled in after the fact in the original Legion.

You get the idea, from the set-up, that each of these teens has been chosen for the Legion; only at the end do you read the actual conscription message.

A scene I would have liked to see: Tinya's mother getting the news that her daughter was selected (or offered?) to be Bgtzl's representative. We've had some indication that other parents are out there, specifically Garth's and Rokk's, but Winema is the first one we actually meet and, while she's a classic, she's a very realistic mother of a teenager, alternating between annoyance and concern.

Awesome to have you commenting, FC! I totally missed the easter egg you caught. In the very same panel as the dog's tail, there's a sentient who looks like a mole rat with clothes too. I love that crowd scenes on any planet have a mix of human and alien "people"; the Adventure Era for example usually had more homogeneous crowds.

Tinya would mention just a few issues later that she'd never have been admitted into the Legion without Winema's okay. I would also have loved to have seen that scene.

Good catch on the red-headed assassin. It would have been interesting, but I guess the writers didn't do that as it would have possibly derailed the Legion's formation!

Since the weekend is coming up, I sure hope more posters will be able to contribute!

Legion of Super-Heroes 62
Forced Friends, Deadly Consequences
Issue information


Summary:

The Legion's membership has doubled, with Cosmic Boy, Live Wire, Saturn Girl, Apparition and Triad being joined by Leviathan, Chameleon, XS, Invisible Kid and Kid Quantum. Leviathan is appointed Legion leader, and they are quickly thrown into their first mission without the chance to really get to know one another. They investigate a series of spaceship disappearances, and what they find is pretty scary... Can the untested team pull together and survive this?

Not all of them will.

Thoughts:

Anyone familiar with the v4 Legion must already have had an inkling as to how this issue would end. Heck, the title even hints so!

Ah, the VR room! If I were a Legionnaire I'd spend a lot of time there with the others, too! Aside from doing naughty stuff with Condo and Lyle (and Blaze, how could I leave him out of it?), it'd be great for bonding and for developing teamwork with the rest.

I don't know what to think about the girls' derision of the VR room. Short-sighted, perhaps, but they do raise a lot of interesting questions. How would the VR room create a "mind" for Imra to read, or objects for Tinya to phase through?

I love that they played a prank on the boys, though.

The panel on the next page shows a great snapshot of what the UP thinks about the Legion. Interesting that Lu among the girls, and Cos among the (two) guys are the ones attracting the opposite sex.

More easter eggs: Data and someone else from Star Trek, the 3 Stooges, and a guy in a sleeveless red shirt who looks a lot like Mon-El or Superboy. Oh, Lu! Why does Lu Neutral react like that when Lu Purple gives their number? Either she doesn't really want to date that guy (despite acting all flattered), or she's worried Lu Purple will "go behind her back"?

Next we have an illuminating next few pages that characterize the "next 5" Legionnaires:

1) Leviathan is a take-charge dude, but I wouldn't quite call him a leader yet. Act first, talk later? Definitely different from previous Gims. "Who do you think you are?" Oh, I dunno, just the founder of YOUR team. "Our" team, he says. I guess the UP holds more stock with him than the other Legionnaires do.

2) Kid Quantum has a big ego and is extremely unlikable. Uh-oh. "Team?" he says. Nasshead.

3) XS has a terrible codename IMO (XS = Excess? okay...) though using only 2 letters does fit her "rushed" speed powers. I for one like the "talking fast" bit. She could probably have taken on Cham by herself, but running for the others shows she's either a very team-oriented gal or that she's afraid to act on her own. Do I see a little hero worship of Cos too? She seems mighty disappointed when he doesn't exactly welcome her with open arms.

4) Cham can't speak Interlac, great. We do know he's peaceful enough since he only shifts in self-defense, and Lyle was able to talk him down.

5) Lyle is kind of sneaky, keeping himself invisible the whole time. He's smart, speaking Durlan well enough to communicate with Cham. Confident, too. Maybe a bit... aloof? And sarcastic, for sure.

Cos continues to be the voice of reason (being elected by the other 4), while Garth is both a bit of a hothead though sensible enough to wait for Cos' lead. Imra is willing to support her friend Cos, as well.

Dissension in the ranks? Even Jenni and Lyle seem a bit put off by Gim's priorities. Big glory, huh?

Heh, Starsector 247-A!

Tinya and Lu already have a budding friendship, like their Preboot counterparts supposedly did.

Gim makes his first bad call of the mission. Splitting up so soon? Didn't he ever watch horror movies? It's not really that bad a call, but his team-ups are questionable. He wants Lyle to "watch the Durlan" (who by the way IS A FULL-FLEDGED LEGIONNAIRE, HELLO!) but doesn't send a third with them. Cosmic Boy, the other team member who's shown the best leadership skills so far, is in the same subteam as him. Seems very unbalanced to me.

Two pages later, two of the subteams meet up again. I was hoping we'd get a bit more characterization with the smaller teams, but I guess they didn't have the space.

I like how Lyle's invisibility doesn't make him a Mary Sue here. He's a valuable team member, but he's not Batman.

Wow, nice tackle from Apparition there! I'd guess she knows how to fight! And good for her, telling Kid Quantum off like that.

Gim's battle tactics suck. Cos, Lyle and even Garth take charge more than he does, and he doesn't even have the sense to shrink down.

I'm guessing these "drone" things aren't alive, because a) Cos can nab them with his magnetism, suggesting they're metallic; b) they explode when crashing into walls; and c) the Legionnaires blow them up (though I doubt they have a Legion code yet).

Kid Quantum's belt power's running low already? How long have they been there anyway? He also makes the classic movie villain mistake of standing there AND TAUNTING HIS OPPONENT. Idiot. Oh well, here it goes...

Gim earns points back for admitting he made some mistakes (though I, like Cos, don't blame him totally - James was really difficult to work with and they were thrown into the deep end too soon!) He earns even more props for offering to resign.

Cos earns MAJOR props for acting like a true leader and encouraging Gim. Now THAT is a true leader.

The cast of 10 Legionnaires is handled well, with everyone getting something to do and some additional characterization. Besides James, I like how they mesh well with each other and in a realistic manner. All in all a solid story with good pacing and action and a promise for more - you just know this isn't the last we've seen of Tangleweb!

I think that was Spock with Data. And I was really puzzling over who the hunk was in the red shirt. Stupid me! Given Lu's preboot/5YL history, it had to be Superboy/Valor.

What a great clash of personalities and independent go-getters versus government bureaucracy. One can just imagine the difficulties in getting people from all different planets, supposedly chosen for their exceptional abilities, to form a team right off the bat. AND you've got a leader parachuted in, displacing the established, most natural leader. Cosmic Boy really shows his leadership qualities in this story.

The team has built up really quickly and each Legionnaire is distinguished not only by superpower but by personality. Gim's reaction to "the Durlan" is extreme and surprising for anyone who read the original Legion. It sets the basis for a long-running story line and illustrates some of the problems the United Planets is having to remain united.

I never liked Tangleweb; he is a creepy villain but a sentient spider just didn't resonate with me. Somehow Tolkein's Shelob was a lot scarier because she didn't talk; she was just a giant, hungry spider. I sort of feel like I could maybe reason with Tangleweb, then we could go have a beer together.

However, I really enjoyed story, establishing the new team. It's sort of sad to think how it all degenerated, but that's quite a few issues away from now.

I'm with you FC, this was a good start. Just enjoying it for how it is "at the moment", so to speak

"Independent go-getters" is definitely the right word! I think XS (and the non-Interlac-speaking Cham) was the only one who didn't have a rebellious or stubborn streak.

And despite the shiny bright surface, it's a good insight that the UP is hardly as united as they project. Durlans not allowed to "roam free"; Titanians required to wear an ID. Tsktsk.

Legionnaires 19
The Quick and the Dead
Issue information

Summary:

Wait, we already had a death last issue! Don't tell me it isn't over? The team deals with Kid Quantum's death and explores some of the possible political consequences.

XS also has to deal with her panicking during a mission last issue - and she gets her chance when only she among the team is left able to act during an attack on Kid Quantum's funeral.

Thoughts:

My first thought was: wait, they CAN'T possibly kill XS! She's all-new, arguably the most powerful of the current Legionnaires, and IMO a very sympathetic character! Plus she's (besides Cham) the only non-caucasian left in the cast (besides the Asian Chu)!

Our new hero, XS, is heavily featured on the cover. Jeff Moy also does cover art, and I think his cover is much more gorgeous than his interiors are right now. I don't know if it's the inking.

I like that the issue starts with discussions from "men on the street" about the Legion. Makes sense there would be some skeptics.

The blue alien woman with no eyes is slightly creepy. I know I've seen some science fiction shows with eyeless androids, but I don't think this one is.

We have about 2/3 of a page with RJ rightly expressing outrage, and the Legionnaires are 100% behind him! Well, maybe not Leviathan. Apparition and Triad are quite sneaky and have the makings of good Espionage Squad members. Oh Tinya, the Incredibles would have a lot to say about getting caught by your cape. Luornu proves that she's a Legionnaire for more than just her power; she very cleverly uses the security systems to her advantage!

RJ gives props where props are due, crediting Gim for being able to admit his mistakes.

Ah, so that's what happened to Brainy. And he used to work for RJ? Whoa. Small cosmos.

Did Imra just cough up BLOOD? This scene highlights the dangers of telepathy - it's a double-edged sword. To her credit, Imra takes it and even tries to stop Garth's more unusual method. To Garth's credit, he definitely exercised enough care to avoid hitting them.

I know Jenni was scared, but could she possibly have dodged the draft? Seems unlikely given how the draft notice was phrased. Okay, so she panicked momentarily. It's good that Cos picked up on it, but I wouldn't really call it cowardice. She ran back right away and I think her decision to leave was spurred mostly by James' death than by her moment of panic.

Highly convenient for Doyle's viewscreen to pop on just when his name was mentioned. Maybe he set it to do just that. Half the money? Frankly, even only half the money Brande Industries makes is quite a lot!

I'm not sure why Lyle had to instruct Cham to shapeshift when the blaster was pointed at him. Maybe Cham wasn't in any real danger from said blaster? And Lyle was obviously trying to scare Doyle into surrendering, because last issue proved that Cham's fairly peaceful.

Nice to see some reality in the transference of "old Earth customs". We also have a lot of modern practices whose origins we don't really know.

Also nice to see intertron reintroduced.

Whew, seeing that bomb explode in slow motion was pretty amazing. Sadly, poor James' body is now kaput. I'd like to think that some of the faces in the crowd are the Cullen family and at least some Xanthu officials and Amazers - with Stargates there's no excuse for them to be absent. Of course, you'd expect the Cullens to be front and center with the Legionnaires.

XS shows smarts in prioritizing - she saves Chu and RJ first.

The stasis field doesn't extend outside the immediate bomb zone; why doesn't anyone in the crowd react? Or is everything just happening that fast? Good illustration of XS' speed here - wow, the assassins really underestimated her. I like the scene with Cos saving Jenni back - good illustration of teamwork. She's the star of the day, for sure.

Finally, we;re introduced to Mano, the first familiar big-name villain to be reintroduced. This is a very different Mano; the old one destroyed his homeworld out of spite, while this one did out of sadness. On a side note, at least some of the dead Angtuans wear the same outfit that Mano does. A military uniform?

I wonder, are the woman and child Mano is cuddling related to him? Or were they just the closest to him?

Yikes! Planetary suicide! Did Mano try using his power on himself as well? I would assume he did later on, since he so badly wanted to die too.

All in all a good issue. The subplot in the background (who is trying to destabilize the UP?) continues; we get some good focus on the new Legionnaire XS; and Mano is introduced. Not bad for a 22-page comic!

That blue alien woman looks like one of the 5YL probes that everyone had as servants/assistants.

The Legionnaires are a little less straight arrow than the original versions. They're eavesdropping on R.J. and Winema, Saturn Girl doesn't have the experience to deal with the rotten thoughts of the three assassins.

Marla's reaction to Brainiac 5 is great and sets up the (now) classic Brainy-blows-things-up characterization.

Kid Quantum's death and funeral didn't have much impact for me; we hardly got to know him and he did behave like an ass on his first and last mission.

I think I prefer this origin for Mano to the original. It's more tragic. It also introduces that rat McCauley into the picture. I figure that was a military uniform, since Angtu had been at war for ages.

Come to think of it, Kid Quantum's death seemed to do little to further the character growths of anyone besides XS and Leviathan. None of the other Legionnaires seem particularly affected by it: we don't see anyone else questioning why they joined the Legion. Even if James was patently unlikable, you'd think the others would be shaken up a bit more - especially considering that Lyle and perhaps Gim and Imra are the only ones with any sort of military/police/spy experience.

I also prefer Mano as a more tragic character than as an outright villain. You keep thinking that if things had turned out differently, he might even have been a Legionnaire in this reality.

Legion of Super-Heroes 63
Things at Hand
Issue Information

Summary:

The team gets a major upgrade - a new headquarters. We also meet RJ Brande's rival Leland McCauley, who has problems of his own in the form of a vengeful Mano. Despite the danger, the Legionnaires race to the Moon to stop him. However, they aren't quite prepared for the lengths Mano is willing to go to in order to get revenge.

Plus, Brainiac 5 finally joins the team.

Thoughts:

Uhoh. Mano seemed like such a decent guy last time, but now he's mad! All the deaths are made all the more tragic because a) McCauley is such a big jerk, and b) Mano started off with good intentions. Damn.

Tinya has a point here, why WOULD the UP draft a Legionnaire who couldn't speak the language? I think the UP, at this point, is using the Legion primarily as a marketing tool. Maybe they wanted Cham in to appeal to the non-humanoid member planets.

The Athramites are annoying and kinda creepy, but Garth, Lu and Lyle running away from them is a bit of on overreaction. Funny, though.

Oh, the MMB symbols! I missed those! I do wish Triad had used her triangular chest symbol instead though.

I would have expected gravcars to be common issue in the 30th century. Or is Gim marveling at their enhanced speed instead?

Oh, that Legion HQ is sweeeeeeeet and I would have reacted exactly the same way. The design borrows heavily from the SW6 Legion's HQ, down to the meeting room. Glad Lyle is there to get Imra to defrost a bit and try the damned VR room already. How does the VR room compensate for possible destruction caused by powers, though? Lightning rods for Garth's lightning bolts, non-magnetic materials for Cos?

Ah, a Bugs Bunny cameo on page 8. Cute.

So Imra DID try the VR room! Not in control? A setup for a future story?

Hey, it's Tenzil! Rats, so he might not be a Legionnaire this time around. But at least he's here! Nice one, Triad.

And Brainy finally shows up! Boy is he focused. At least he had the decency to mutter out a "Greetings". I wonder if Lyle feels threatened that we have someone potentially more intelligent on the team.

McCauley, slimy as ever.

And now we have the first appearance of the White Triangle. Hm, one thing I miss about the Adventure Era was that the stories there were so self-contained. All scenes in a particular issue tied into the main plot of that issue. No spillovers, no throwaway lines that may not even lead to anything.

Nice contrast here between Brande and McCauley. One is conscientious, the other greedy. And Brande's mysterious past, ooooh.

Big surprise, a lot of Sci-cops don't want to cooperate. Stupid of them, frankly. But how did Mano take them all out? They have the benefit of range on their side. And why did he leave this one guy alive? Didn't think he was a threat anymore? And with his announcement to McCauley I guess he didn't care about keeping hidden.

Heh. Cos' team is full of females. Oh, Cos.

Saturn Girl fails to detect Mano early enough. That's the problem with telepathy; it's hard to set defined power limits. Her telepathic range is not defined at all.

Good that Lyle was smart enough to keep invisible. I think some Legionnaires like Lyle and Tinya would do well to keep their powers at "default" all the time.

Frankly, Mano doesn't seem too tough here. Both XS and Leviathan got in good hits, and had Mano not been backed up against the dome I'm sure they could have beat him. Still, it was good of the writers to have that situation. They showed how driven Mano had become, and he WAS tough enough to take XS' and Leviathan's attacks without getting knocked out. A pretty formidable second opponent for the Legion.

Legionnaires 20
The Descent of Mano
Issue information

Summary:

How will the Legionnaires survive the bad place Mano left them in last issue - on the surface of the moon with no environmental shielding or oxygen? And how do they stop an opponent who, with enough time, could actually blow up the whole Moon?

Also, it is sibling rivalry as the issue ends with the introduction of Ayla Ranzz!

Thoughts:

Mano's on a crazy mission of vengeance here. Yikes!

Cosmic Boy does a good job saving the time while he's straining to hold onto consciousness. As a swimmer, I can appreciate how hard it is to concentrate when your lungs feel on fire.

XS tries valiantly but falls. Luckily, Chameleon was there to help.

Tinya reacts with disgust at Cham's touch. I wonder, couldn't a phased Apparition have just sank into the ground to get to safety?

Ah-Heet-Dees-Plees! Heh. Cham should use that line more often. Sadly, I doubt he understands what he said at all.

Mad props to the Legionnaires for staying despite being in danger, and for Brande to warn them of it and urge them to come home. Props to Lyle as well, for acknowledging Brainy's intelligence and coming to him for help.

And mad SLOPS to McCauley for being the greedy, paranoid and amoral nasshead that he is.

Whoo! Brainy figured all THAT out without even being there? Very smart, alright. I love the scene on page 13 where the Legion charges into action. Would have loved it more if they were flying, though. I miss those flight rings!

"Can't you even read a clock?" Heh.

The scene of Tinya walking in on the naked guy is funny AND believable - in a place like that, you'd get horny too. Naughty writers! (I wonder if that's his girlfriend back home, or a performer).

Great teamwork from Cos and Gim there!

Mano's escape raises a lot of questions. Just how thin was that floor? Surely he's not just using the blaster to carve an entire tunnel?

Cham and Lyle double-team McCauley again, like they did Doyle. They make a good pair. But wait! Wouldn't Tinya have been in a better position to follow McCauley? I'm starting to feel like Lyle's getting all the glory. Of course, since he's the only one who can talk to Cham it should have been him. But... did he NEED to have told Cham to punch Mano? Hello, Cham can't speak Interlac but that doesn't mean he's stupid.

Jenni tries hard throughout, trying to help search even. You'll get there, girl. Don't worry. She does it in a way that's endearing rather than annoying.

Ugh, McCauley tries to buy off the Legion. Nasshead!

And Garth's runaway status is coming back to haunt him. Enter Ayla!!

Wow. The surprises just keep on coming.

Can't wait until you catch up to Andromeda!

As an aside, I'm not sure whether or not anyone has noticed but, over the years, whatever was the 'current' variation in TV and film scifi drama has always left its mark on the (various) Legion titles.

In the Pre-boot era, the original Legion cruiser looked a LOT like a Klingon ship from Star Trek... Mike Grell frequently added little touches from Space:1999 here and there...

Now, with the beginning of the Post-boot era, the dominant scifi shows (of that time) were the latest iteration of Star Trek and Babylon-5, the latter of which heavily influenced both story and art.

Suddenly we had large stargates that ships traveled through rather than warp-capable ships, as was the case in Babylon-5 and it wasn't until the "Stargate-SG1" era of TV that the reboot began reflecting that in it's 'people-scaled' stargates.

The whole 'people of Titan must wear symbols to let people know that they're telepaths'... that was almost a clone of Babylon-5's similar treating of telepaths (except that they wore black leather gloves and wore a Psi-core patch).

Anyway, I thought that I'd share that little insight with you.

Thanks Georgehaze! I'd love to read YOUR reviews as well, especially since I know how passionate you are about the Postboot Legion.

That's a good insight you shared. I think it's great that the Legion's creators have been open to adapting elements from other universes and series. It helps enrich the Legion's reality, and it's only right that they keep innovating given they're set 1000+ years in the future!

Something else else that you said about Tinya and her response to Cham is that, in this version of the Legion (early on, at any rate) there were more frequent occurrences of species-racism (for lack of any better term).

I've got to think that this would, in all likelihood, be a perfectly normal reaction. Certainly, it is more so than the Trek-ish and Star Wars-like commonplace reactions that one sees to thoroughly alien contact, even in enlightened cultures. Even in the 30th century, it's not that easy to throw off millions of years of evolutionarily learned behavior.

Sure, there's the argument that people learn to fear spiders and snakes and that such fear is not inherent in our species. On the other hand, I've seen plenty of people recoil at the presence of either - no one taught them to do this.

As such, seeing Tinya recoil at Cham's touch seems a valid reaction, and one that I wish that had been expanded upon. Conversely, for a species that can alter its shape, texture, size, color, smell, etc, like the Durlans, such an emotional reflex would probably seem quite baffling.

Now, the hatred that Laurel/Andromeda had for Querl (at first, before their mutual - and mutually denied, though no one else was buying it - attraction started kicking in) was obviously learned prejudice, taught and enforced by her family/community.

In summation; this (among so many other such things) is just another example of the superior writing that was one of the best defining characteristic of the Post-boot era.

Just more observations... thanks for letting me share.

Hey, thank YOU for adding in your two credits! I'm glad we'e able to generate more discussion.

Besides the racism to the shapeshifting Durlans and the telepaths of Titan, I'm glad this version of the Legion also explored Coluan snobbery, the racism/xenophobia of the Daxamites and their White Triangle lackeys, and even the Carggitte's intra-species prejudice and the Winathian's treatment of solos. You're right in that there's a "natural" and instinctive reaction towards what is different - even Kinetix was seen by some of her people as an aberration of nature (sadly, this was never explored), and Gates was looked at skance by the Vyrgans for being opinionated. Then we have how the Orandan serpents treated the raccoons as servants, and Monstress
having a rough time on Xanthu.

What I liked about it was that it showed the future was NOT perfect - but it was still worth fighting for because of people like the Legionnaires who stood as models of cooperation and unity. It was realistically flawed, yet still hopeful.

You've hit on one of the reasons why, in my opinion, the three-boot Legion and the pre-boot Legions failed.... neither of them inspired the readers. The adult legion just didn't have the youthful sense of adventure that made the Legion worth reading. And the three-boot Legions's reason for even existing as a group in nonsensical.

The Post-boot Legion were brought together from their individual worlds to inspire, like those of the 20th century that inspired R.J. Brande.

Yes, I completely agree with you on those distinctions. Going through the Adventure Era Legion, the Pre-boot Legion (at least in its early days) seemed more like a club for Superboy's peers than a "galactic force for inspiration and unity". Although to be fair, maybe we should use the terminology for the final era of the Preboot - the 5 Years later portion I think earlier volumes captured the youth and the inspiration, though I agree that from around v3 or so the camaraderie and adventure seemed to vanish and the characters' concerns grew too adult for me.

Even then, when the youthful SW6 Legion was introduced, they were supposed to makr a return to the youthful, inspiring days. But there was plenty of infighting too (jerk Inferno, jerk Live Wire) whick, frankly, turned me off the book.

The Threeboot's teenage rebellion was inspiring to teens, but ultimately divisive because they failed to engage the adults.

A lot of people deride the Postboot Legion for being too "Archie", but I'll say again that I LIKED the bright and shiny future and the genuine friendship among the Legionnaires! Why can't our heroes be happy people who genuinely enjoy what they do?

Hear, hear!

Long live the Legion

Mystery Lad! Great to see you back and I hope you'll keep posting more thoughts in this thread

It occurred to me that, if a poll were taken on this site for which incarnation of the Legion should be brought back for the next go-around (pending, of course, the inevitable failure of JL3K), the Reboot Legion would probably be the most feasible given the "new 52" reboot and them having cast the original/Levitz incarnation into Earth-2 limbo.

While I'll concede that the 5YG Legion didn't have the youth, I'd argue that it was the inspiration of the Legion that brought them back together. Duty and loyalty for some, memories and hope for others.

Against the darker galaxy, the core Legion values shone through even more. The cast were mature and did show themselves as having got on well together in the past.

If I couldn't have that Legion back, then I'd happily take the one Levitz has just left us with.

I'd certainly vote for the Reboot Legion. 5YG was wildly ambitious, but also wildly out of control (and I don't think the fault lies entirely with the editorial of the time.) There's bad things and good things about it, and I personally think the bad outweighs the good.

As Cobalt recently put it, if the current DC brought back the postboot, they would just ruin it. I wouldn't trust them.

It would be interesting to discuss and dissect how important the "youth" component is to the Legion. Do fans believe that, say, the Adventure Era was more lighthearted and the Legionnaires had more camaraderie because the Legionnaires were young, or because it was the Adventure Era? (hey, it was the Time Trapper himself who said the Legion's camaraderie was at its highest just before Ferro Lad's death!)

Agree with Reboot that I wouldn't trust current DC with the Postboot Legion. I'd much rather (for now) relive them through talented fan writers on this site or via back issues.

I would pick the Postboot Legion any day though, as I said above I like my Legionnaires happy and lighthearted

COULD be explained by having those costumes simply be the most iconic ones associated with those heroes. After all, Superman, Wonder Woman and Flash have had the same costumes for the longest times and even Batman's costume variations have generally been minimal.

When I read Adventure I'm not struck too much by it's light heartedness. The threats are certainly dire enough, and characterisation comes in angst sized chunks.

There's not a Tenzil Kem issue in the way the 5YG had him, for example. So there you have 5YG being the lighter book.

Youth is important as a lot of the angst is around being accepted, being able to connect with the girl/boy friend of your choice etc.

The camaraderie was higher back then, but that's because the characterisation was more limited. The characters were more generic then, so it was easier to pull them all in the same direction.

Better writing in that area resulted in the characters having their own ideas. That results in distances developing between characters.

I think with Adventure, there is angst but it seems more lighthearted because, in most cases, the angst is resolved by issue's/story's end. Unlike in more recent times when subplots could last years!

There were some seemingly permanent changes to the status quo (e.g. Bouncing Boy losing his powers, Star Boy being expelled) but the characters were still left in a fairly hopeful state. Compare to Arsenal losing a hand and becoming a drug addict!

There also was conflict between characters in the Adventure era, but I think because most subplots were contained in one issue, rifts between them were often resolved by the end of the issue too. We rarely had disagreements or animosity lasting multiple issues.

I think that all of the Legion is pretty hopeful.

When Mon El is destroying the Time Trapper, there's his hope that somehow a Legion will rise in whatever comes next.

When things are at their darkest in the 5YG, it's the love, loyalty and hope of pulling the galaxy back together that reforms the team.

After Legion Lost, there's the joy of the returning Legion, and the hope that they can help a blighted UP.

The hopes of finding love within the team probably faded away with couples pairing up a bit. But everyone was so serious about the Legion and it's regulations back in Adventure. Step out of line of those regulations and you were out of there.

I'd say all the Legion is pretty hopeful, but sometimes it takes a while for that hope to really rear up That was my main point regarding the length of story arcs or subplots.

I guess later eras had more shades of gray in them. Compare the trial of Star Boy for Kenz Nuhor's death and the later trial of Brainiac 5 for the Infinite Man's death. And then we have Projectra's execution of Nemesis Kid.

Boy, Star Boy sure must have felt bad about those.

Yeah, back then if you broke a rule you were out of there.

Had he been Prince Thom Kallor or Kallor 7.0 from the Compu-Hive of Xanthu, he'd have been forgiven.

What's that Star Boy? Lost your powers too? Shame. All the best in the Subs. We're due to pop round and throw abuse at those rejects next week, so we'll see you there.

I'm reminded of the Dynamo Boy/LSV story (which was reviewed just a little while back). Colossal Boy gets booted out for seemingly lying about the location of some reward the Legion got, and Cosmic Boy is only too happy to toss him out.

Tying this all back to the Postboot Legion though

One of the coolest moments is when Live Wire resigns just before tackling the Omniphagos, because he knows the only way to stop it is to give it a terminal stroke. Damn. I still tear up whenever I even THINK about that scene. He was so close to going home, and he and Imra were gonna get married...

Of course, he was well within the rules. I'd say that the self-defense clause would apply, and on top of that there's the "proven only alternative to the death of other sentient beings"!

That was the one I was thinking of too

Didn't Mon El get kicked out for lying too? "But I didn't have the blaster" while it's in his belt all the time. The only time he ever had a blaster, and it gets him kicked out.

Yet when Star Boy resigns to rescue Dream Girl and Brainy? From a hover chair, no less. Does he get a mention (other than this one)? No, he does not. He gets squished by falling masonry for his troubles.

Legion of Super-Heroes 64
Sibling Rivalry
Issue information

Summary:

Cover doesn't lie - Ultra Boy shows up at Legion HQ to scope out the team. He has pretty bad timing though, as Garth's status on the team is still uncertain. What will Cos do?

Tensions between Garth and Ayla over their Legionnaire status and their powers, as well as Ultra Boy's spying, lead to a heated confrontation where Garth takes the decision away from Cos' hands and leaves the team.



Thoughts:

Enter the familiar face of Ultra Boy! His costume's pretty much unchanged from the Adventure Era too. In his intro scene he gets to show off his street smarts and his fighting skills - note, fighting skills. It's not clear if he used strength or speed, but somehow I think not. He certainly didn't need them to polish off two non-powered bullies who wanted to steal his jacket.

And we pick up where we left off, with Ayla Ranzz/Spark coming into the Legion and Live Wire's fate left unclear. The scene also highlights how new and loose the team is - Cosmic Boy is the only one who even talks to Garth in this scene, and Triad and XS are the only other ones who seem to notice he's not in good spirits. Gim, Tinya and Imra are even crowding around Ayla. On the one hand, it's good that they're welcoming. On the other, what about Garth? (Gim and Tinya haven't shown yet that they're particularly sensitive, while Lu's always been observant and Jenni's always been compassionate).

Or perhaps, nobody really realized how bad things were until RJ Brande came in and said he couldn't talk the UP out of bumping Garth off the team.

Imra rises to the challenge, and she even takes the lead when they confront Chu. Cos is more diplomatic, but his message is clear as well. (And of course, Garth is pretty happy that Imra's sticking up for him - but Imra quickly tells him it's not just him).

Chu's reaction is interesting. "Just a couple more draftees, and after which I promise you we'll listen to your concerns!" She already knows the Legionnaires have bones to pick, at least about their membership. Hmmmm. (At least she's giving them enough importance that they didn't have trouble seeing her without an appointment).

And the bombshell is dropped. Garth is a runaway on Winath because he's underage (UP worlds don't have a standard age of majority yet, a good mirror of Earth's present state). Mekt's villainy is an issue for Garth, but not for Ayla, because it is Garth who wants to find Mekt. Chu's not making Garth's search an issue though, as she expressly tells Cos he can make this call - then she follows it up with "Don't give me a reason to start doubting you too." Oy. Boy, is she a seasoned politician.

We get some insight into other Legionnaires - Brainy prefers pure theory (?) to Lyle's practicality of tactile engineering. So, to test a theory Lyle would actually build something while Brainy would...? Why does Lyle sneak around the lab invisibly, anyway? He's in Legion HQ. And he derides Brainy back by saying, "yes, you would ignore it."

Tinya gets into a fight with her overbearing mother. I'm all on Tinya's side here - hey, Winema gave her consent. They didn't destroy the moondome, Mano did. And they saved a lot of lives. Winema's approach doesn't help at all as she doesn't even acknowledge Tinya's good intentions. And I don't see Chu giving them flak over the destroyed moondome. At least Tinya gets some comfort from Jenni.

Gim's teaching Cham some Interlac, and Gim is showing patience for once. Good job!

Lu's very disciplined with her workouts, we can see. Wouldn't expect anything less. Jo mentally tells himself to skip it - I would linger too, Lu's looking good.

And Jo's attracted to Tinya, big surprise! But his reverie is interrupted by Imra. Good show, her telepathy's sharp as ever.

And enter Ayla! Uhoh, talk first, Spark. Imra had the right idea. When Imra tells Ayla she doesn't have to prove herself, is that insight gained from telepathy or is it just a guess?

Despite the sibling rivalry, Garth comes in and saves Ayla (though frankly, Jo was just restraining her. I don't think she was in that much danger).

Garth's statement is cryptic at best. "The Lightning? something he has to warn her about?" He could easily have told her earlier. And if there's something dangerous with the lightning, why join the Legion in a role where he'd have to use the lightning often?

Garth is pretty sharp with his guess that Jo can only use one power at a time. At the same time he's reckless - look at the destruction he caused. Garth realizes that, to his credit. He walks away from the team...

... into a new one with some familiar (to Preboot fans) faces. Is that Evolvo Lad? Spider-Girl? Karate Kid??? and McCauley, who claims to have met Mekt? Uhoh!

This is a good issue that serves to further cement the personalities of many characters. Ayla is more level-headed than Garth, but she also has an impetuous streak of her own. Garth can be reckless and emotional, but is mature enough to realize his mistakes and take responsibility. Imra has a very strong will and is pretty fearless. Rokk is ever the diplomat.

The Legion is such a young team, but look at all the upheaval they've been through. Kid Quantum dead, and Garth replaced with Ayla. Whew! Toss in all the other drama (Winema Wazzo) and you can see they've got their work cut out for them.

Legionnaires 21
Enter the Workforce
Issue Information

Summary:

We meet the Workforce, and they're basically glorified corporate security due to McCauley's micromanagement. Poor Garth.

The Legion also gets possibly its most intriguing mission yet - to check on a prison cut off from the outside world because of the failure of the electromagnetic tunnel that allows exit from its location - inside a star.

Unfortunately, what seems to be a routine mission does not turn out well, as someone is willing to use force to stop the Legionnaires from repairing the tunnel.

Things are going to get pretty hot in here!

Thoughts:

First time we see the full Workforce in action, and when Live Wire calls them professionals, we know it means it's because they're paid tons of cash. Why else would they put up with a jerk like McCauley?

Who, by the way, is a total ass who makes questionable decisions. Besides his lack of concern over the guy Inferno killed (?!), his bloopers with Spider-Girl, Evolvo and Ultra Boy were really stupid. Ultra Boy or the telekinetic Evolvo could have taken the crate, Live Wire or a recovered Ultra Boy could have gone up against the thugs, and any of the long-ranged attackers should have covered Ultra Boy when he was chasing the crooks. Sheesh. Poor Garth didn't know what he was getting into.

Over to the Legion. After seeing how bad the Workforce members have it, it's doubly a pleasure seeing them!

Saturn Girl's sensitivity shines through when she asks Spark what's bothering her. I like to think that, though her telepathy makes her more sensitive to others, she's internalized it enough that she doesn't need to use her powers to do so.

Lyle and Triad show their naughty sides. Darkseid 2? Burn. I'm a bit surprised that Lyle didn't research about Brainy's lineage, but I'd guess he's not all that impressed with the Coluans - he knows they're intelligent, but he finds their preference of theory over practical applications to be a waste. Despite his cheekiness, Lyle does have the grace to apologize to an obviously angry Brainy.

The premise is very excitingly futuristic - a prison inside a star. Whoa! Nice characterization of the Wakeets too (education is distasteful? huh, but I can imagine some cultures WOULD find molding the youth to be tough).

Too bad we didn't actually see any Wakeets. Based on Brainy's description though it doesn't seem like any of them would actually dirty themselves operating the prison.

Imra's telepathy continues to be fraught with limitations - she has trouble reading mentally disturbed minds, and the physical conditions of her environment can hamper her. I guess it's not as easy as reading a book. Big surprise that the inmates are full of anger and hatred - I'd hate to be imprisoned inside a hot, sweaty star myself. I wonder though if they should have been sweaty at all, or at least to that extent. I would expect there to be little humidity inside a star.

Spark continues to show her thoughtful and intelligent nature - asking Brainy politely about his codename, and being sharp enough to understand why she should be careful with her lightning. She also showed a lot of concern for Cham, being the most distraught when she thought he'd died.

I wondered if it was wise to bring Cham along despite neither telepathic Imra or Durlan-speaking Lyle being there. If it hadn't been for his shapeshifting...!

Whoops! And what a cliffhanger the issue ends on - we're not sure if the half of the team who went to check out the generator is alive, and the rest of the team's about to get mowed down by hundreds of inmates. Wow, I bet the Legionnaires all thought this would be a routine mission!

Spark is probably my favorite Legionnaire this issue, as she was thoughtful, intelligent and compassionate and pulled her weight on the team.

Legion of Super-Heroes 65
Breakout
Issue information

Summary:

Planet Hell part 2! Last issue's attack destroys the prison's power grid, freeing all the prisoners! The Legionnaires and the newly-arrived Workforce have to put down the riot while preventing any escapes. Drama and poor cooperation (at least on the Workforce side), as well as overwhelming numbers, make their job harder. It's a moot point though as the loss of power not only wipes out the prison shields but kills the magnetic tunnel that will allow exit from the prison. Oops!

Thoughts:

I echo Triad's words - take a look at what's coming. Yikes! Can't blame XS, Triad and Lyle for freezing for a moment. At least they recover quickly after Imra and Gim swoop down and grab them. Their jetpacks should have saved them though, right?

Good job, Cos, for calling Brainy out for dissing the others while also being fooled himself. Nice use of his powers too - shielding them from the blast AND "levitating" the others out of there.

Points to the other Legionnaires "on the ground" too -

Gim shows good thinking in crippling the ships; leaves the Legionnaires in a bad position but at least they're containing the prisoners.

Luornu, despite being overpowered, shows good tactical thinking - she knows the Legionnaires are outnumbered and she was the first one to react during the initial stampede.

Imra's ability to trigger sleep and stimulate pain in her enemies is nice and broadens her versatility.

Lyle really makes good use of his powers, being able to turn his jetpack invisible, taking out the guards, and blinding prisoners by removing their goggles.

Enter the Workforce. They make a sharp contrast to the Legionnaires - Inferno kills a prisoner and lets her guard down (necessitating a save from Triad); Spider-Girl gets subdued once and mind-controlled the next time; and Evolvo doesn't take down any prisoners that we see. Even Karate Kid gets mind-controlled; he does sarcastically call out Inferno for killing a guy though (I'm sure the writers kept his hands relatively clean to keep the door open for future Legion membership). The Workforce members don't demonstrate teamwork at all, unlike the Legionnaires who watch each others' (and the Workforces') backs. Even Garth seems a little off his game, possibly because of his resentment towards Ayla - not only doesn't he thank her but he chooses to argue with her in the midst of battle. Ayla doesn't bite, thankfully.

And Ultra Boy? He loses major points for making goo-goo eyes at Tinya while obviously being involved with Spider-Girl. That is a big no-no, pal. You wouldn't like either Tinya or Sussa when they're mad (and you haven't even met Tinya's mom yet!)

All in all a good issue which moved the plot along and provided a lot of nice moments along the way. When you think about it, not THAT much happened and it was basically a big prison brawl but it allowed the writers to highlight each of the dozen-plus characters involved. Lots of good moments here.

For those of us who don't have the issues, I've gone back and added short summaries of each. They're very brief but give (I hope) a basic summary of the events for each.

Legionnaires 22
Hard Time
Issue information

Summary:

The finale of Planet Hell! Will the combined intelligence of Brainiac 5, Invisible Kid and Evolvo be able to repair the shields and the magnetic tunnel? How will the Legionnaires, Workforce and prisoners deal with the stress of being slow-cooked inside a sun?

Thoughts:

The seeds of the Brainy-Lyle rivalry are planted here. Brainy doubts the level of Lyle's intelligence but acknowledges (perhaps a bit begrudgingly) his creativity. Lyle definitely knows that it's a bit of an issue for Brainy.

Lyle's not clean either - he refuses to admit his fear of heights (though he does successfully conquer it) and is a little cocky too (though he backs it up with results).

Brainy's very intelligently pragmatic and quickly takes charge, even giving Cosmic Boy a short speech about swift initiative (despite Cos just wanting to wish him good luck!). He knows he's smarter than Evolvo, Lyle and Imra but is willing to involve them, so we know his ego's not that big.

Some interesting insights derived from the incarcerated Legion/Workforce:

1) Live Wire and Spark still don't quite make peace despite their lives being in danger. There's quite a conflict here: Garth's mad at Ayla for taking his Legion slot, yet he also warns her about the lightning being dangerous because it builds up anger and violence. So if that's the case, why is Legion membership so important? Does he think it can help him control the lightning (but shouldn't he be happy that it will help Ayla?) Is it because he wants to be near Imra, or use the Legion's resources to find Mekt? There's a lot of conflict in that scene, and it shows that Garth's not totally clear on his priorities either.

2) XS and Karate Kid. Val's very quietly confident without being arrogant. He knows he can break through a forcefield (much to my and XS' surprise). XS shows she's probably the friendliest Legionnaire as she really tries to get to know Val. I don't think she's flirting with him, she's genuinely just friendly.

3) Chameleon and Leviathan. Cham's a nice guy, he just has the misfortune of being paired with grumpy and hot-headed Leviathan. He yells at Cham to leave him alone since they can't communicate (did he forget the telepathic earplugs? wait, have they even been introduced by now? perhaps not yet...) Cham gains a lot of points for bearing with it and offering Gim a snack!

4) Cosmic Boy/Apparition and Spider-Girl/Ultra Boy. Selfless Cos tells Tinya to phase, since it doesn't make sense that she don't. Tinya was just being nice. Makes me wonder, if the whole prison burns up in the star she'd likely survive in phased form - though she wouldn't be able to get out without outside help. I don't think her jetpack (if she could retrieve it) would be enough to get her back to Earth. Oh well.

Poor Tinya walks in on Jo and Sussa heavily making out. I think Tinya's shocked more by it being Jo (with whom she had a moment last issue) than by them kissing - she walked in on a naked guy using adult entertainment back at McCauley's Moon base remember?
Poor Tinya, and boy what a lug you are Jo. Playing around with two women at the same time. Okay, not quite playing around, but he obviously can't get Tinya off his mind. Not good.

I guess Sussa and Jo don't quite mind being seen? I mean, those prison screens are transparent...

5) Triad and Inferno. I'm not a fan of Inferno's rampant bullying, but she DID have a point as Triad's three bodies were taking up too much space. I still don't get the whole "I don't have to kill you" thing. I know she's pretty casual when it comes to killing, but really? Would she really have killed Triad for not re-integrating? Maybe she's just bluffing and maintaining her persona.

Imra has a great idea in using Bur Rac to calm the prisoners, but sadly she wasn't able to screen his thoughts. Oops. His racist thoughts point to a larger conspiracy afoot and may be related to the movement to destroy the UP.

Lyle pulls off a last-minute save by not only reactivating the forcefield, but causing it to repel the sun's energy and propel Planet Hell out of it! He can also generate the field anywhere he wants, and with a snap he contains all the prisoners.

Last page shows Jo talking with Tinya, and then attempting to pacify an angry Sussa. Grife, make up your mind will you? Garth is talking to Lu, but Ayla's nowhere to be seen - guess they still haven't made up. And Jenni's still hanging out with Val - boy, she sure is friendly! Or was something more being planned?

Planet Hell Part 3 is a good comic and shows how character relationships are handled well and made interesting. They take up as much space as the main action without slowing down the momentum of the story. Heck, each of the dozen-plus characters gets at least one good bit in this story! A+ for me.

I really loved this storyline when it came out! There's heaps of really good characterisations and it's a really unique threat! I am a big fan of stories where the team are isolated in a really hostile environment and there's not necessarily a villain to fight, I think it's great for exploring personalities and interpersonal relationships that wouldn't normally be seen (eg: I'm a big fan of the Triad/Inferno scene because you get so much in a very brief interaction....Triad's different personalities, her willingness to see logic in Inferno's words despite her abrasive nature, and we also see that even though Inferno at this stage is still really painted as an out & out villainous thug, she's not a MINDLESS thug).

I would love to do a Planet Hell homage in my series at some point if I can figure out a way to do it!

I'm finally getting a chance to catch up on this thread and perhaps re-read the issues. Here are my thoughts on Legionnaires 0, after Ibby's convenient summary.



This was a very light and enjoyable read. It clearly was intended to appeal to a young audience. Since Mid-grade and Young Adult stories are often written for readers two years younger than the protagonists, it's easy to imagine this story being written with 12- to 13-year-olds in mind. It hits all the right marks that I would have loved at that age: the Legionnaires are suddenly thrust into overnight stardom. They have the world's richest man providing them costumes and code names. They get to make a dramatic presentation before the president and delegates. They even get to save the day. What 13-year-old wouldn't fall in love with the story and these characters?

I really have enjoyed this modern (well, not so modern now) re-imagining of the Legion's origin as it adds so much color, so much texture to the original series. The Legionnaires continue to exhibit believable teenaged personalities: they are impetuous, quarrelsome, and eager. But they also get the job done in spite of their inexperience.

The plot is exceptionally well done, moving fluidly from the infomercial to Brande's office, to the UP assembly and to the Legionnaires trailing the crooks on their own. If the story had ended there, it would have been complete. However, the creators give us something extra--two things extra, actually: the memberships of Tinya and Lu and the introductions of several other familiar faces in new contexts. A lot is accomplished here, yet it all feels natural.

The story is not without its flaws. Tinya's motivation isn't sufficiently explained. She goes from being a nervous girl terrified of her mother to taking down a would-be assassin almost single-handedly. The assumption of this version of the Legion is that young people with powers are automatically brave and therefore Legion material (which is also Chu's assumption, but she's a politician; she can afford hasty decisions).

I'm of two minds about the bomb sequence. Imra blurting out that there's a bomb and Garth endangering lives by destroying the roof shows, for one thing, that these Legionnaires aren't ready to be heroes and that Chu is rushing them too quickly into action (as is Brande, who should have made sure they were well trained before announcing their existence). On the other had, one would expect even such green Legionnaires to have an ounce of self control. If Imra had whispered her discovery to Rokk and Garth within earshot of some other loudmouth, and if Garth had had a moment's hesitation before considering that blasting the roof was the only way, their actions would seem more plausible and the same plot turns would have happened.

I'm also a bit troubled by the fact that Gim Allon, who is 17 or 18, is already a lieutenant in the Science Police and bucking for captain. While his quick rise through the ranks will eventually be explained as a political move, it just seems very unrealistic and an unnecessary conceit that kids get ahead far quicker than they would in the real world.

One of the pluses, though, is that this story shows us the political relationships of the 30th century and how much power Chu wields in order to conscript young people from different worlds. There is a an element of danger building as events quickly spiral out of the Legionnaires' control. At this point, they are little more than puppets on a larger stage, with Chu pulling the strings on one side and Doyle on the other. Like the best children's stories, our protagonists will find themselves facing overwhelming odds before they can prevail.

Grade: 93.4 (A)

If ever a Legion story needed to be spread out over two issues, it's this one. I admire what was attempted here, but it feels rushed. In one issue, we've got five new Legionnaires, a mission, team conflict, a new villain, and a death. It feels like the story is rushing from scene to scene without stopping to let any of it sink in.

The story, to be sure, is well intentioned, and it gets off to a good start, with some nice interplay between the five existing Legionnaires. Garth and Rokk, the only two males on the team, buddy up and play with the new gadget (boys and their toys, indeed), while the three girls upstage them, pointing out the limitations of the toy and establishing that they're not going to stand idly by while the boys have all the fun. This initial scene was very well done.

After that, things move along at a frenetic pace. The creators do a good job of introducing the five new Legionnaires, showing the conflicts that exist in the UP, and establishing a dominant personality trait for each new member. But the story's major failing is that none of the characters move beyond their dominant trait because the story doesn't allow them room to do so. We've got Gim as the bigoted leader, James as the egotistical star, Jenni as the one who's in over her head, Lyle as the sneaky one, and Cham as the one who doesn't speak Interlac. The characters are stereotypes at this point, and the story doesn't afford them the opportunity to grow beyond being such.

It is very hard to believe that President Chu would throw such a team of teenagers together so quickly and then immediately send them on a mission to investigate missing spaceships. Even a politician who is interested only in promoting the Legion's brand (heh) would not do such a stupid thing: It's a disaster in the making.

Once the team boards the freighter, the action scenes turn out okay--although a couple of scenes need better transitions. Imra and Garth's initial encounter with Tangleweb is not shown, only the aftermath (page 14), leading to some confusion when one turns from page 13. Also, the bottom two panels on page 14 both have black backgrounds, leading me to think, at first, that they were the same panel. However, for the most part, the large cast is handled well and weaved in and out of the story with each Legionnaire getting a chance to do something and remind us of his or her personality trait.

Then James makes his fatal mistake. It's become a well recognized trope that if you've got one black guy on a team, that character is going to bite the dust (see also "X-Men: First Class"). His death is flawed for that reason and another: The whole point of James' death in the preboot was to establish why Legionnaires had to rely on natural abilities instead of devices. The limitations of James' power belt are mentioned in passing but in clunky, off-hand ways. This development really needed its own story in order to create the impact his death was intended to have.

Likewise, since neither we nor the Legionnaires got to know James, his death lacks any emotional impact. He's just a jerk who gets his comeuppance and gives Gim a reason to abdicate the leadership. Surely James deserved better.

Lee Moder's art is another weak point in the story. It looks very awkward and ugly in places, though, to his credit, it's always easy to tell what's going on. The layouts, too, keep the reader moving along.

As for Tangleweb, he (?) is a nothing villain, a one-dimensional monster used to illustrate the story's purpose: You can't force a team to be a team. Politics and image have nothing to do with whether or not a team can function. In some ways, the story succeeds in illustrating this point. I just wish it had been given more room to breathe.

Grade: 63.0 (D)

I'm very glad that you've jumped in with your thoughts, raz and HWW! Hope to hear more frmo you.



I'm a big fan of throwing two random characters together and seeing what we can come up with myself, and I echo your sentiments. Would be excited to read your take on this raz!



I would have just turned 14 when this issue came out, and I distinctly remember being awed that the Legionnaires were about my age yet were being thrown into (and succeeding at) these adventures. I agree with you, everything seemed natural in this issue yet quite a lot happened!

Re LSH 62, I also agree that too much happened too quickly. Too many new Legionnaires, a short and fast-paced mission and a hollow death. James, we hardly knew ya.

Not sure how much free time I'll have in the next few days, so I'll throw out my last review for a bit. Looking forward to various other reviewers catching up

Legion of Super-Heroes 66
Membership Drive
Issue information

Summary:

Membership drive! This is one of my favorite issues as we're introduced to three new members: familiar face Shrinking Violet; somewhat familiar face Andromeda, who reminds us of 5YL creation Laurel Gand; and completely new face (though with familiar Life Lass powers) Kinetix. This is a much better "introduction" issue than LSH 62 was as we are given enough time to really get to know each of the three.

We also see two "rejects" who do not join for various reasons: Lume, an energy being with light and heat powers; and the teleporting bug Gates.

Thoughts:

The 3 New Legionnaires

Each of the 3 newbies adds a very different set of skills and personalities to the team.

Shrinking Violet is possibly the best hand-to-hand fighter the team has now, as others who've demonstrated some combat skills (Apparition, Saturn Girl, Invisible Kid, Triad) have not shown a level of skill anywhere near Violet's! Her ability to shrink down to the subatomic level is also a key asset, as anyone familiar with the JLA's Atom knows. Her shyness is greatly balanced out by the fact that she's extremely confident in battle; she's clearly had a lot of training, more than most of her teammates.

Kinetix's ability to animate inanimate objects makes a good long-range weapon, and would also be useful in non-combat situations like search and rescue. Her description here makes it clear that she has to control the object when she uses her power on it, so it's not as though she actually gives them a life of their own. She's the most personable of the three and looks like she would get along with everyone else; her fascination with increasing her already impressive powers (making her late for the tryout) is a mild warning button but besides that she looks like she has the makings of a great Legionnaire.

Andromeda is easily the most powerful Legionnaire right now, and she demonstrates impressive control over her powers (she should be strong enough to crush her trainers, but manages to punch one relatively unharmed into the nearby pool)! Sadly, her extreme xenophobia and the need of a transuit to protect her from lead are glaring weaknesses.

The story

Each of the introductions is designed to let us discover what makes each of the characters unique. Andromeda's is a combat situation that neatly shows off all her powers, and demonstrates how bad her xenophobia is. At the very least, she's not actively violent against the others; she doesn't so much as hate other races as just deems them grossly inferior. Of course, the UP (despite some of their questionable decisions lately) wouldn't be so dumb as to accept a Legionnaire who might murder her teammates in their sleep. she'll be difficult to work with, but she'll do her job.

We're also promised a new Xanthuan Legionnaire who's been in a space-cruiser accident. Longtime fans surely picked up on that Star Boy's coming!

I applaud Imra for continuing to be strong and questioning Chu on their membership decisions. Of course, she does also prejudge the new Xanthuan Legionnaire based on her opinion of Kid Quantum.

It was nice seeing Gim and Cham getting along a lot better. Cham's selfless gesture on Planet Hell paid off!


Gim and Cham travel to Silvan to pick up the energy-being Lume, who throws off heat and light. You already see him with some limited shape-changing ability (in one panel he suddenly shrinks, and his default form seems to be as a small burst of light). Sadly, he can't leave his homeworld - is it because he's physically prevented from doing so or he's just afraid of the dark? Too bad, as Lume's powers were promising and he would have added a lot of diversity.

Their second jaunt is to Vyrga, to meet future Legionnaire Gates. I'm pretty sure the letter-columns somewhere revealed that Gates was originally supposed to be a one-shot reject character; I'm glad they eventually did use him. He and Lume helped expand our knowledge of the UP to include some very "alien" worlds. Gates' teleportation powers are also very potent - he can teleport other objects even without being in contact with them. 'Porting Gim and Cham into the air over a sharp cliff was pretty dirty and dangerous though. "Teenage death squad" has got to be one of the funniest phrases I've read since the series started!

Triad's still harboring some resentment towards Inferno - not surprising

Last one is Aleph, for Kinetix. We meet her in a cave where she's searching for something to give her more power. Her brother Thanot probably echoes what was on a lot of reader's minds; her power's already pretty impressive, why play with things that may not actually strengthen her but instead do much more grievous harm?

Her preparations for her audition show a much more "typical teenager" side to her; using her power to have fun and try on different outfits. Hey, who among us would not love to use superpowers such as this in our everyday lives right? She has a nice sense of style too - and she thinks Cham is cute! Here's a hero who wants to have fun, and I found it immediately appealing and attractive Leviathan does as well, apparently. Wonder if this will go anywhere, and if Kinetix can help temper his rough spots. It was also good of the writers to have Chameleon participate in Zoe's power demonstration, as his shapeshifting helped show how versatile her own powers can be.

Now we head over to Imsk where Apparition and Spark are tasked with picking an Imskite. Tinya's clearly taking the lead here - the way she told off the insensitive cop made me cheer. Her experience helping out her mom paid off. The cop's attitude is very immature in fact; I'd think even a "normal" citizen would be in his/her place telling off that cop.

The contest between Violet, Ion and Micro takes a deadly turn as Ion is murdered by Micro. The mystery isn't too deep - an auraflux blade was planted on her and both Violet and Micro would have had motive. Violet's actions clearly show it wouldn't be her unless she's a very good actress, and it would have been surprising to say the least. But the way the mystery was solved is very satisfying, with good teamwork from Spark, Apparition and Violet and a very astounding fight scene where Violet absolutely creams Micro through intelligent use of her powers and amazing combat skills. Tinya's glowing endorsement shows that Violet really is likely the best fighter in the current lineup. Violet really wanted to earn her membership - and she did.

And so we end with 13 Legionnaires, 5 guys and 8 gals. The Legion's always had a pretty decent balance between the sexes, but I can't remember the last time the females outnumbered the males. What's even better is that each of the Legionnaires has a very different personality (and Triad has 3!).

All in all an exciting issue which had a lot of action, and promises a lot more action, drama and fun to come! Definitely an A+ for me.

The intro issue for Vi, Zoe & Laurel was well done and gave us a feel of their personalities and capabilities very quickly. Not sure how I feel about Laurel's xenophobia...it was an awesome storyline and it was really one of the first things to distance this Legion from its predecessor, but in the long run I don't know how good it was for her character as she never really made a successful comeback after the xenophobia story wrapped up.

One thing I think they definitely did get right was showing Vi as being quiet and unassuming, but still very very good at what she does. Seeing how timid she was in a lot of the old pre-Yera stories, you wonder why she was in the Legion at all sometimes! I much prefer the balance we got in the postboot Legion

I had stopped bouying the Legion a couple of issues before this one. I did buy it on the strngth of the cover. I recall it being a good issue. Clean, crisp art. Youthful freshness. Interesting new candidates. But it wasn't my Legion.

Looking back I'm not sure I thought Laurel's xenophobia would wear off. It was one of her main character traits. He problems with the [SPOILER DELETED] seem to bear that out in part. Although Laurel had only been introduced in v4, I had read the Levitz Supergirl appearances, and this was still quite a change from both.

I'd already seen Violet as the introvert for years. While her combat experience and training helped, it was a step back again. I wanted to see her with Ayla and to have developed into a strong tactical leader. Again, the subsequent [SPOILER DELETED] issues moved her away from that role too.

So, it's a good issue, making strong statements about the characters it was going to use. Ironically, in doing so, it reminded me of how far away it was from the Legion I liked. I didn't pick up too many issues beyond this one at the time.

Not only that, but why would a newscast announce his arrest before his arrest had been made? Was there a leak in the SP holding cell?

I loved the story, but there are some things that are too convenient to accept. Another example is how the Legionnaires rush to embrace XS when she announces she's going to stay. I thought only Cos knew about her panic during the Tangleweb episode and, by extension, her doubts about staying.

I loved it, though, that Triad did not remember her name earlier in the story. It established that Jenni was still on the outer fringes of the team and, likely, no one would have missed her if she had left. (Though if she had, none of the others would have been alive to miss her.)

Another unexplained coincidence: How does Triad grab hold of Apparition's cape when the latter is intangible? It's been established that Tinya can phase only parts of her body, but why would she leave her cape (and, by extension, her back end?) tangible while peering into the president's office? She was just asking for a butt kicking.

On the other hand, this story has two qualities the Tangleweb story lacked: natural pacing and character development. It's good to see the Legionnaires sitting around, waiting while Brande and Chu discuss their future. This scene, in which "nothing" much happens, affords us the opportunity to get to know the characters a little better as they interact. Lu, who was treated only as a supporting character during the first two issues is gradually coming to the fore as a competent, surprising, and unpredictable girl with three personalities.

Cos's depiction is also very fresh and credible. He continues to demonstrate leadership qualities in his nonjudgmental way of addressing XS's panic and in the speech he gives at James' funeral, playing up the latter's positive qualities (or spinning them, one might say).

The scene with Imra and Garth tells us so much about the limitations of being a telepath (or, perhaps, Imra's limitations). It also advances the plot in a surprising way.

Good riddance, Doyle. I'm glad that this subplot finally draws to a close and once again establishes that the Legionnaires can be quite effective in closing a case. One definite advantage that most of these stories have had over many which came before is that there's a more satisfying sense of closure to the subplots. Even the Tangleweb episode ended in a way that felt natural even though the villain got away.

And, of course, Jenni gets her big moment in the spotlight. I have nothing new to say about this, as it plays out as expected. I did like the slowing down effect of the stasis field and the abrupt shift into high speed on page 17. For an instant, I felt what it must feel like to have super-speed.

(But here's Concidence No. 4 or is it 5? Why would James be buried with his stasis belt? Why would such a dangerous device be allowed anywhere near a state funeral?)

Last, we have Mano's origin. I agree with Ibby and Cramey: Mano is a much more interesting villain with an element of tragedy. In the issues to come, as I recall, he exhibits a sense of decency (and here, he destroys his world because he considers the corpse-littered streets an "abomination"--giving his people a decent burial, as it were). One gets the feeling that he was a good man pushed to the brink of madness and beyond by circumstances out of his control: a tragic hero in the classic sense.

Grade: 78.4 (C+)

Although the story doesn't tell us this, I've always believed they were his wife and child. It makes his tragedy so much more personal.

And, by the way, it provides a nice contrast with the preboot Mano, who was shunned by his society.

Laurel's xenophobia was certainly a bold move, and made for a great character arc. I agree with thothkins, the way Laurel was written made it doubtful whether she would have been able to overcome it - which would make future issues pretty powerful. I'm fairly happy with the first part of Laurel's "heroic arc", but agree with raz that what they did with her after was largely unsatisfying.



I wondered also whether the UP had meant to bury him with the belt, or whether Doyle's people had snuck it into the coffin. The latter seems more likely, as it really doesn't make sense - even if the belt had been deemed safe, surely the UP could have put it to good use instead of burying it with James. Perhaps they had meant to, as the belt was shorted out when James died yet it works perfectly fine during the funeral.

Well, although it would be trivial to conceive of a computer in the background scanning all the news links for any mention of Doyle's name, I'm pretty sure "convenient" is spelt L-Y-L-E in this case [Pretty sure the "newsreader" is Imra, Lu or - most likely - Tinya in a wig & false eyebrows too!]


Well, remember that the belt was an *amplifier*, not a generator.

As for the rest, well, why would such a dangerous device as a BOMB be allowed anywhere near a state funeral?

I wondered also whether the UP had meant to bury James with the belt, or whether Doyle's people had snuck it into the coffin. The latter seems more likely, as it really doesn't make sense - even if the belt had been deemed safe, surely the UP could have put it to good use instead of burying it with James. Perhaps they had meant to, as the belt was shorted out when James died yet it works perfectly fine during the funeral.

And good point on the belt being an amplifier - Doyle's people probably not only repaired it but also boosted it quite a bit.



And this would have been done to catch him in the act? Maybe the telepathic info Imra pulled from the assassins' minds wouldn't have been admissible in court - or if it were, it wouldn't have been sufficient?

If Doyle's men had snuck it into the coffin, Jenni should not have guessed that it was there. Or perhaps she should have drawn the same conclusion herself.

As you point out, even if the belt had been shorted out, it makes no sense that James would be buried with it. Surely it contained technology that could be useful or dangerous in some other capacity.

I chalk it up to sloppy writing.

Curious interpretation, Reboot. If that was the writers' intent, they did not make it clear.




I may have missed an explanation in the earlier stories that the belt amplifies some natural ability James possesses. Perhaps that was how the belt worked in the preboot and the writers didn't bother to explain such for these stories. (And, really, they should have; since they've altered so much, they shouldn't have left it to the readers to assume anything was the same.)

In any case, I'm not sure what the difference it makes. The belt was clearly a dangerous device, and it remained so even with James dead.

I'm puzzled by your last question. Clearly no one "allowed" the bomb to be present. But someone did place the stasis belt there, and Jenni reacts as if she expected it to be there. Perhaps she should have thought, "Oh, that must be James' stasis field! Someone must have smuggled it in!" The writers leave too much guesswork to the readers.

This issue demonstrates how versatile Legion stories and writers can be. It takes us from the comical to the horrific in one issue, and the transition feels natural.

The Athramites have little to contribute to the story, but they do provide a nice spell of levity following the seriousness of the previous two issues. Yes, Garth, Lu, and Lyle overreact by running from them, but, since the Athramites aren't villains, they can't very well clobber them. (One supposes Garth was merely trying to scare them with his lightning bursts.) Metaphorically, the Athramites represent the reality that image and public opinion polls often take precedence over substance, and the Legionnaires' reactions represent how many readers (or how this reader, in any case) wanted to react: to run away screaming.

Oh, to be a Legionnaire and have a grandfatherly rich dude shower you with a brand, spanking new headquarters, state of the art technology, and even your own chef! These scenes illustrate what makes the Legion, in part, so appealing: they are the elite who get the best of the best. Who wouldn't want to belong to this most exclusive of clubs?

But, of course, there's a cost for all this luxury: the Legionnaires have to save a slimy profiteer from a horrific assassin such as Mano. I love the complexity of this storyline: McCauley is clearly the bad guy and Mano the victim, yet it is Mano's actions the Legion must stop. Mano has crossed the line, murdering employees of McCauley's in some delusional belief that he is getting back at McCauley and working his way up to him. One can feel sorry for Mano and even sympathize with him while understanding that he must be stopped.

Even though this issue is tightly plotted, it does not feel rushed. It allows for plenty of revealing character moments, such as Cos putting Gim in charge of the second team, and Gim's almost tearful reaction. The Imra scene again tells us something about being a telepath: when she probes for someone, she can be detected.

The art remains the weakest part of this LSH series: Five artists were used on this story, and there are some rough spots. (Tinya looks like she's put on a lot of weight on page 3, and Rokk looks plumb ridiculous on page 22). In other places, the settings convey an appealing sense of expansiveness. This is a roomy 30th century, even in McCauley's underground.

However, it is always easy to tell what is going on--an enviable skill many artists lack.

I believe this is my favorite issue so far--it even ends with an appropriately unexpected cliffhanger. How are the Legionnaires going to survive? How will Mano?

Grade: 90.3 (A-)

One thing about the whole Mano thing that I do find unsatisfactory is that, apparently, there was no follow up to the deaths of the people of Angtu. Although knowing McCauley, he would have made sure he violated no laws and there probably was no basis for the UP to prosecute him - most likely, legally the deaths on Angtu were caused by the people who used the weapons, and not by McCauley as he only manufactured and sold them.

Great thread. I'm re-reading them too but I'm a bit further along. By re-reading them I found I'm actually missing 3 issues! I thought I had everything! This includes LSH Annual 6. I've got to go to a comic show because I can't find them at the three stores in my area!

I know how you feel WangLung. I'm missing an issue in the Baxter run it turns out. Browsing through e-bay...

As for Mano, the blowing up a planet with his hand was always a little silly. I possibly prefer him as a creepy psycho to a tragic fallen figure. Sometimes it's nice just to have really nasty villains.

Glad you're enjoying them as well, WangLung! Please jump right in and post your thoughts

LSH Annual 6 was a gap in my collection for the longest time. I can still feel the enormous smile that crept on my face when I dug it out of a back issue bin at my local CBS. Too bad it's closed now, it had so many good back issues... Luckily I managed to buy nearly all the ones I was missing before it did close.



In general I do prefer villains to just be villains, because if you make one a tragic fallen figure you'd better do something good with it. Mano's "fallen figure" arc was developed OK in the Postboot up until the Legion's first battle with the Fatal Five, but nothing was done with it after - a wasted opportunity.

Now, blowing up a planet with his hand is silly? I think they tempered it well by making sure Mano needed to charge up his power enough (and his "used to be a good guy until everyone on his planet died" backstory at least ensures that he won't go around randomly blowing planets up just for the heck of it, unlike if he were a full-blown bad guy).

I agree that Mano is insanely powerful to be able to blow up a planet with his hand!

Something else else this issue doesn't touch on or explain very clearly is what was the source of his disintegration ability? We're told only that the population of Angtu was killed by chemical warfare, and that the chemicals turned Mano into a shadow-skinned freak, but it's not clear if they also gave him his power or not.

Alas, the creators of the reboot didn't bother to explain a lot of things, as Legionnaires # 19 shows. They almost take if for granted that readers can fill in the rest, or perhaps they thought the unexplained aspects didn't matter. (As a writer, I know it's easy to get caught up in the story you want to tell and forget that the readers do not know the back story in your head as well as you do.) In this respect, the reboot is almost 180 degrees from the Adventure era, in which everything was explained, whether it needed to be or not.

Purely from a writer's standpoint, Angtu is a narrative device--something that gets Mano into the action. It is neither necessary nor desirable to back track and figure out what went on.

You do raise an interesting question for speculation, though. Why didn't the UP investigate? I'm sure McCauley did cover his butt legally, and he even says that the Angtuans bought the chemical weapons knowing they had been untested so he could easily shift the blame to them. Also, Angtu may have been a remote planet that was not part of the UP (Durla itself had only recently joined), so perhaps it fell outside of UP jurisdiction.

Angtu being outside UP jurisdiction could explain it somewhat, but if McCauley's legal excuse is tne Angtuans knowingly bought untested weapons then the law (or appropriate regulations) needs to be revised. I'd expect chemical/biological weapons to be strictly regulated in the 31st century!

But you are right, in that it's not important to the story itself (though if I were the writer I'd probably want to touch on it next time I use Mano, for example).



That is a good point - on one hand he seems experienced enough with his powers to know he's capable of blowing up his entire planet, and to know when he'll be charged up enough to destroy the Moon. On the other hand, he had absolutely no idea has was immune to his own power (of course, I doubt he'd ever tried it on himself unless he was an infant or toddler!). Perhaps a good explanation would be that his powers emerged in his teens, and his powers interacting with the chemical weapons could have caused the changes in his physical appearance.

Has it also ever been explained, either Pre- or Postboot, what materials his glove is made of and why it is immune to his powers?

I also noticed that at least one of the dead Angtuans has an outfit similar to Mano's own. Could that be a military or police uniform on Angtu? I wouldn't be surprised if Mano had been a soldier, he seems to have the combat/survival skills for it and he also exhibits some patriotism.

The depiction of Angtu reminds me of the planet Charon in the classic Star Trek episode, "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield." That race, too, was destroyed by Civil War.

Interestingly, though, the Federation apparently had never heard of Charon until Lokai and Bele showed up on the Enterprise. Space is so unimaginably vast that it was impossible to be acquainted with every race and every world. In this way, Star Trek in the 1960s reflected much of the U.S. understanding of the world, which also seemed unimaginably vast and full of unknown and mysterious people.

We've sort of lost that sense of vastness and mystery in the age of the Internet and, certainly, this trend was under way in the '90s, when these stories were published. However, the depiction of Angtu as a remote tragedy, and certain other indications of the distances between worlds in the reboot (the stargate technology being new, the UP being new and shaky) rekindle, at least for a moment, this frontier spirit of vastness and mystery.

You raise a good point, HWW. I do enjoy the Legionnaires' reactions to new cultures - Apparition and Spark having to be briefed about Imsk, or Gim and Cham being surprised on Silvan, or Durla and Daxam being new UP worlds. A later story would show Umbra's (that's the Postboot Shadow Lass for non-Postboot fans :p) reactions to her world joining the UP.

I especially like it when our Legionnaires show a sense of wonder, curiosity and respect to these other cultures. Too often in this Internet age we have individuals acting like they know everything, and making snap judgments about other people and other cultures.

Yet another reason why this iteration of the Legion has always been my favorite!

Maybe this was just in my head but wasn't it because Angtu was so damaged by chemical warfare, Mano caused a chain reaction?

I wondered the same thing, WangLung, but there's nothing in Legionnaires 19, at least, that indicates this.

I'm not sure how the Legionnaires avoided being blown into outer space when the dome was destroyed. I'm not up on my science, but wouldn't the sudden decompression of an entire city's worth of atmosphere cause people to go flying everywhere? And since the dome appears to have covered a city-sized section of McCauley Industries, the non-Legion casualties must have been staggering. (Unless the Science Police managed to evacuate everyone from the domed area first, perhaps.)

Such considerations aside, the second half of Mano's debut plays out as it should. There are few surprises, but some wonderful story telling moments, such as Cham being present as a fly in two panels on Page 17 before we realize it's him. Also, Brainy finally gets to do something by pointing out that which the Legionnaires (and the readers) should have wondered about in the first part: why didn't Mano simply destroy the moon to kill McCauley?

Once Brainy realizes that Mano needs time to recharge his power, it's a race against the clock. However, even though the Legionnaires have less than 24 minutes to act, this sequence lacks a sense of urgency. There's no doubt they'll win, and the writers use the time to give us some realistic but misplaced character moments: XS wanting to help out, Apparition helping out but failing, and finally Gim and Cos working together to pull the roof off the living quarters--wonderful moments all, but they don't convey the sense of urgency the sequence requires.

Mark Waid's name disappears from the credits (for good? I haven't checked), and perhaps that explains why this plot, while serviceable, feels like it's missing something. Waid always brought something extra, even in the rushed Tangleweb story, to convey a sense that the circumstances of the story mattered. Here the writers and the Legionnaires seem to be going through the motions.

The Moy brothers' art is certainly more consistent than the previous story's, and their characters and settings are mostly appealing. But in some cases, the manga-style elements of their art are distracting; the Legionnaires appear too childlike, such as Gim at the bottom of Page 13.

The story ends with the obligatory cliffhanger, but at least this one builds on what we've been told before and adds a twist to established Legion lore: sibling rivalry, indeed.

Grade: 86.5 (B)

Mano was planning to blow up the Moon in Legionnaires 20 and nothing indicates the Moon was damaged either. I think Mano is really just powerful enough to destroy a large celestial body if he builds up a powerful enough charge.



A McCauley grunt reveals that on page 10, no casualties were reported due to "auto-sealing systems" on the surface structure. I guess Mano and the Legionnaires were the only ones "outside".

Interesting point - Mano was able to ride the rushing air currents to lift himself up out of the dome, so why not the Legionnaires?

As to Mark Waid, he continues to be credited in LSH 64-66 for the story, but in Legionnaires 21-23 he's only credited as an "Adult Legionnaire"; Tom Peyer is credited as writer. I don't know if that means Peyer handles both script and plot, or just script while Waid (and Tom McCraw, the other adult Legionnaire) contribute to the plot as well.

Ah, thanks for catching that.

Waid's credit as "adult Legionnaire" implies some sort of oversight or consultancy role. It will be interesting, as I re-read those issues, to see if any difference in the story quality jumps out.

First off, this issue sports one of the best covers in any Legion boot: Ultra Boy showered with mysterious white energy (which will be revealed to be sparks from Garth or Ayla in the story), unfazed, front and center, with that determined look in his eye, ready to take on anything. Even the blue-white logo seems to reflect light from the sparks, creating one of the most visually arresting covers in Legion history.

Jo's unexpected arrival on the cover steals the thunder away from Ayla, who in turn steals the thunder away from Garth. Things are happening fast and furious, and new/old characters are thrown at us before we've had time to get used to the ones who are already there. This approach works both for and against the series as a whole and this issue in particular.

The situation over Garth's status creates the oddly fitting impression of the Legion as a high school football team: The Legionnaires are mere "players" at this point, and have no say in Garth being bumped for a "better" player. Even Coach Brande can't keep Garth on the team, so the team captains, Rokk and Imra, go directly to Principal Chu. The prez clearly has anticipated such a confrontation: She marshals her evidence that Garth is a runaway and potential troublemaker who idolizes his criminal brother, yet she ultimately leaves the decision up to Rokk. Notice how she doesn't give Rokk the choice of keeping both Garth and Ayla on the team--why the team should have only one representative from each world is not clear--but it's a crafty and diplomatic move that gives Rokk the illusion of having a choice.

This scene and many of the other character bits are very real, and remind us that the Legionnaires are still kids. Garth's exchange with Ayla, for example, is rife with the jealousy that exists only between siblings. They fall into familiar patterns of behavior, with Garth acting immature and Ayla tactlessly reminding him that she's the responsible one. Then Garth, sounding like a six-year-old, says, "I hate you," and Ayla comes running after him to apologize. One gets the feeling they've played out this exchange their entire lives.

I'm less happy with Ultra Boy's role in the story. It's unclear what he was doing at Legion headquarters: Did he come to recruit a Legionnaire for the Work Force, or is he merely spying on the Legion? If so, that seems out of character for Jo (or perhaps I'm reading his preboot personality into this new version) and rather dumb—to spy in plain sight. This scene also provides a very awkward way of getting him to notice Tinya: Watching her cry and wanting to "make her feel better." Not only does that line come off as creepy, but it’s a ham-handed way of foreshadowing their relationship--'cause, you know, it's Jo and Tinya, and they have to be together.

The fight between Jo and Ayla and then Jo and Garth also seems forced. Ayla, the “responsible” sibling, attacks Ultra Boy at a moment when he isn’t doing anything? Even if Ayla wanted to prove herself, as Imra says, this is way over the top. Garth’s actions are somewhat more believable: He has a lot of tension to release and, in spite of his earlier exchange with Ayla, he’s very protective of his sister. We can do without the “something about the lightning” speech (as I recall, he thinks the lightning will drive him and Ayla insane because he believes it drove Mekt insane). This unnecessary bit of melodrama suggests that the writers didn’t have enough confidence in the characters or in the story to be dramatic enough.

I was impressed with how the fight ended, however, with Garth seeing the damage he’s caused. For the first time, he realizes he is, in fact, irresponsible and he does the honorable thing by quitting. I wish the story had ended there to give the reader time to digest this transformation in Garth’s character and his departure from the team. Instead, Jo whisks Garth away—a minute ago, they were enemies; now they’re best buddies—and we’re on a whirlwind ride to another cliffhanger.

In a lot of ways, LSH 64 is typical of comic book writing in the ‘90s and beyond: Keep the story moving; have something happening all the time so readers with short attention spans won’t get bored. This carnival-like atmosphere works against the story and the series as a whole. Too many things happen in rapid succession, and none of it really has much impact. (This could by why none of the Legionnaires have reacted to James’s death apart from Gim’s understandable guilt.) The reader almost has to fill in the missing emotional context.

Tinya’s scene with her mother is typical of this. Both characters come off as one dimensional and over the top. Tinya, who in her brief Legion career has faced Tangleweb and Mano, quakes in her boots while talking to her mother and then runs crying from the room? Winema is so disappointed in her daughter for joining the Legion that she disowns her? Perhaps the tendency to be a drama queen runs in the family.

Strangely, the most fully realized character so far appears to be Gim. In two short scenes, we see different sides of him we haven’t seen before. He exhibits patience and encouragement in teaching Cham Interlac (this despite Gim’s earlier distrust of Durlans), and he shows forceful restraint while subduing Garth: “I don’t dare [let go of you]! Look around you, Garth! Look what you’ve done!” Perhaps it’s me, but I “hear” a measured, straightforward tone in this speech. The Gim of a few issues ago would have shouted Garth’s head off.

That sort of nuanced character growth is hard to pull off in a team with ten members and counting, but when it works it is very effective—and much more satisfying than a carnival ride.

Grade: 85.0 (B)

You know, this illustrates a thing I have often thought....with his guilt over James' death and his introduction as a more important member of the Legion than Colossal Boy in any other boot ever has been, I think it's a shame where they ultimately decided to take Gim. I understand why they did it and I guess we can talk about that more when certain story events happen, but I do think they wasted an opportunity to make Gim a more integral part of the team than his predecessor ever was...

Good point, razsolo.

Although Colossal Boy was never one of my favorite Legionnaires, he's quickly become one of my favorites in the reboot--not because of his power but because of his personality. Gim's Science Police training makes him a valuable asset to the team, and he exhibits a wider range of emotions and behaviors than any other character so far. In a way, these qualities make him the prime candidate for being killed off--we care about him, and we feel something when he dies.

Unbridled fury and incandescent rage? Oh yes, I felt something when Gim died.

I was thinking more in terms of grief, but as long as you reacted to the story in some way, that's a good thing.

I thought that the postboot Gim had many similar attributes, but with a lot more panel time.

He's a solid, dependable jock. He is naturally, and through his SP training, dependable in thought and action. He's a Legionnaire you can count on. Despite his height, it's his down to earth attitude I like best. He had a natural grasp of the important things when he showed no hesitation in declaring his love for Yera* despite appearances and cultural differences.

*Vi being rather dropped out of things despite being the victim being another issue.

Since Gim Allon has always been Blacula's favorite Legionnaire in any incarnation, I'm not so sure if that reaction was a good thing

Postboot Gim had a wide range of behaviors and emotions, which definitely made him one of the most interesting AND realistic of the Legionnaires. He showed a great head for tactics and practicality, but I can cite several moments in future issues where a) the writers wasted the opportunity to highlight his training (i.e. LSH 80, LSH 82, Legionnaires Annual 2); and b) where his temper (sometimes justifiably, sometimes not) would flare up (LSH 82 is one of the issues in which Gim comes across very poorly; there was also LSH 76).

I find it sad as he actually seemed to regress after a certain point; LSH 68 was a good issue for him as he showed plenty of the good forceful restraint that HWW described him using on Garth in LSH 64. He became inconsistent after that.

Since every Legionnaire is theoretically somebody's favorite, then killing off anyone would seem to be a no-no.

Anger is a perfectly understandable and justifiable emotion when people we care about die. If Gim's death provoked that kind of reaction, the writers were doing their job.

I look forward to reading the issues you cite, Ibby. If Gim's personality was inconsistent, it could mean he wasn't dealing with James's death or other issues very well. On the other hand, it could be more sloppy writing.

I would lean towards sloppy writing; in LSH 82 his throwing Star Boy under a bus (not defending Star Boy's Legion membership but easily agreeing to Xanthu's wanting him back as an Amazer) prompted Kid Quantum II to call Gim out. When Gim learned she was James' sister, he spouted off a canned response about them doing everything they could. He showed no signs of guilt the rest of the issue.

I also noticed that besides Garth and Imra, none of the Legionnaires are shown visibly reacting to Garth's ouster. Only Triad and XS, in one panel, are shown noticing Garth's reaction - yet none of the others rush to comfort him. Some, like Tinya and Gim, even rush to welcome Ayla.

As for having only one rep per world, Chu uses the phrase "we must maintain the balance". Most likely it's also diplomatic and political move - each UP planet wouldn't want to be shown up by other UP planets having more Legionnaires on the team.



Future issues will show that this Jo doesn't have the skills or common sense that Preboot Jo did. I can think of at least 4 battles where Tinya has to tell him how best to use his powers - which is pretty dangerous IMO for someone who can only use own power at a time!




Though I regularly face top-level corporate clients, there are some instances where I'm afraid to face my own parents I think it's sadly realistic for Winema to be over-the-top; many teens have trouble understanding why they can't get their parents' approval. Tinya hinted in Legionnaires 0 that she wanted to join the Legion to gain Winema's respect.

Winema herself likely holds Tinya to impossibly high standards and has strict ideas for how Tinya should behave. I find it fairly believable that she'd lose her temper that way and say words she doesn't truly mean.

It was inevitable that the Legion would inspire other super-teams to come into existence, and that McCauley's rivalry with Brande would lead him to create the first copycat Legion. So, as the title says, "Enter the Workforce!"

This is a handy way of bringing in a bunch of established Legion characters into the reboot without having them join the Legion, or at least not yet. So we've got Ultra Boy, Karate Kid, Spider Girl, Evolvo, and a new female version of Inferno, along with ex-Legionnaire Live Wire.

But if Live Wire thought this new team was going to be anything like his last, he is sadly mistaken. For one thing, McCauley calls all the shots--and they're all bad. And Inferno appears to be a psychopath who thinks nothing of burning criminals alive.

This scene is well intentioned but a little too goofy for my tastes. McCauley is such a bad micro-manager that it's a wonder the kids in his charge don't get vaporized by the criminals they are trying to stop. But Garth's increased admiration of Ultra Boy gives us more reasons to like the latter and anticipate his eventual inclusion in the Legion.

After Page 9, it feels like a completely different story. Our focus shifts to the Legion and their mission to Planet Hell. Invisible Kid and Triad induldge in typical teenage shenanigans by teasing Brainiac 5 over his name and learn that he doesn’t share their sense of humor. Brainy (who hasn’t warmed up to that nickname yet) guides the Legion through some needed but clunky expositon regarding Planet Hell, and the mission gets underway.

There are a lot of really good character moments in what follows and some good attempts at black humor (such as the warden revealing that he is the warden). And, of course, complications arise, leading to the next cliffhanger. (Why does every issue have to end on a cliffhanger?)

All of this is well done, but it feels like the story is underdeveloped, even for a two-parter. There’s just not enough plot here to take up a 22-page story; they could probably have told the entire Planet Hell tale in one issue if they’d omitted the Workforce prologue.

But we do get an imaginative science fictional setting, and a feeling of what it would be like to be sentenced to a prison in which there truly was no escape. The blind prisoner at the top of Page 20 illustrates the despair of the place.

However, such raw emotions often seem at odds with the goofiness of other aspects of the story. Spark can perhaps be forgiven for thinking Chameleon has died, since she has just joined the team, but the scene came off as rather trite and silly. I can’t tell if the writers are trying to make readers laugh or not, but it feels as if they are not sure what kind of story they want to tell or what effect they want to have on readers. As a reader, I’m bounced from the farcical depiction of the Workforce to the despair of Planet Hell to the teenaged wisecracking of the Legionnaires, and I’m not sure what to feel.

It’s almost like the creators want this story to be all things to all readers, but no story can be that.

Grade: 80.0 (B-)

I've been thinking myself whether it is better to categorize Inferno as a sociopath or as a psychopath. Nearly all sources I've accessed agree that there is a distinction between the two, but some contradict each other as to which is which.

These articles agree that a psychopath is more "highly functioning" than a sociopath; the psychopath is able to maintain a normal job, plan, understand (though not necessariy experience) normal human emotions, and is able to pretend to be normal.

I think Inferno does tend towards being a psychopath; despite her powers I doubt if McCauley would have hired her if he couldn't at least control her. And she is able to restrain herself enough to work with the other Workforce members. I think she only burns enemies alive because McCauley lets her; if he'd expressly ordered her not to she would be able to control herself.

Despite my all-consuming rage at the death of Gim and the fatwa I've put out on Tom Peyer for coming up with the idea for it... I actually think certain aspects of the issue it occurred in were very well-written (I'm a big fan of the "No... No... No... No... .... Yes!" Vi reveal for example) - but that said, I still completely and fundamentally and totally disagree with the sentence I've quoted above.

I was infuriated by Lilith's death in Graduation Day too. But that didn't make the death scene or any other aspect of that wretched trash good writing. On the contrary. It was clearly just a pathetic Winick/Didio attempt to make that crappy series of theirs "matter" since they knew the Donna Troy death was just a fake-out. And that's still a contender for the very worst series I've ever read in a 25 year hobby.

Ditto the wholesale slaughter of interesting characters in Cry For Justice. No writer who writes the lines "He's the Atom. I'm Ray Palmer. Welcome to pain." can be said to have been doing any sort of job, unless it's a bad one.

Gim's death may have ultimately ruined the Reboot for me, and I agree that a lot of the anger I felt might have been more to do with the loss of his potential than the quality of the writing (though there were lots of problems there too - "his heart's desire"? Ugh!; the fact that half a dozen Legionnaires who could have easily saved him just stood around watching I'm die!) but to say that anytime someone gets angry at death in comics is because the writing is good is flat-out wrong IMO.

Fair enough.

I never read Graduation Day or Cry for Justice, so I can't comment on those.



It will be interesting to see if I come to the same conclusion about Gim's death as we go through these re-reads; it has been several years since I read it, and I read it the first time after he was already dead, so my perceptions may be influenced by those factors. It could very well be sloppy writing.

But I want to clarify that your paraphrase of my statement isn't wholly accurate. I did not say "anytime" a death provokes anger, it is "because the writing is good." What I said was that if Gim's death provoked a reaction, the writers were doing their job. It is the job of writers (particularly fiction writers) to provoke some kind of response in the audience. The response does not have to be a happy one. Writers can make the readers sad, long for better days, proud of their nation, ashamed of the human race, etc. They can have any effect on the readers they desire--but they have to know what effect they're aiming for.

When a beloved Legionnaire, such as Jan or Garth or Gim or Lyle, bites the dust, the writers must know they are playing with dynamite--because so many of us already care about the characters. To give that character a send-off which honors such devotion is hard--but it is something writers who are any good at what they do will aim for.

Did Gim's death do that? I don't know yet, though I respect your judgement that they didn't. Going simply by the way Gim has been depicted so far (through LSH 64), he has been set up as someone I care about, and that makes knowing his fate all the more tragic.

So, are you saying your corporate clients are like Mano?

Seriously, your point is well taken. I just feel that the scene as presented is over the top and does not give us enough setup. It's been five issues since Winema and Tinya were introduced and since this "win Mom's respect" angle was commented on, as far as I can recall. It would have been nice if there had been a reminder and even a slow build-up to the scene, either in this issue or the previous couple.

The article was fascinating.

Based on the descriptions, I'm not sure if Inferno would be classified as either, though I'm going by my memories of her role in the Team 20 arc. She didn't seem all that murderous, only antisocial. How then do we reconcile her depiction in Legionnaires 21? I think you're right that she burns the man because McCauley lets her--she's testing her boundaries, as it were, and probably hasn't developed a conscience or a sense of empathy yet. Whether or not she ever does remains to be seen.

On Inferno: I think we will have more to go on after reading LSH 65 and Legionnaires 22. There is one more instance of her burning an opponent to death, and one more of her threatening a Legionnaire. I've commented on those in my posts but I think we'll have an enjoyable time discussing it after you've done your own re-read



Some of them can be I have one in particular who always looks like she has a bad case of gas. And that is why my team and I regulalry go for beer on Fridays.

And your point on the importance of a reminder or slow build-up is good as well. You are right in that it came out of left field.

I think some of the over the top things like this are there just to get the point across quickly. There’s just to many characters and plots going on to spend too much time on one relationship. The very quick romance between Tinya and Jo is one of them too. There’s just no time to delve into those things. Not if you want them to finally beat the bad guy. To me the Legion would only be best if it was like five titles! Then they would actually be able to focus on things like that. I think at the time we were really lucky we had two titles!

For characters that have long histories together, like Ayla-Garth or Tinya-Winema or Brande-McCauley, I don't mind not spending so much time on them. But when you have characters that have only just met like Tinya-Jo or Imra-Garth, I'd much prefer a more realistic build-up to their relationships. Otherwise it'd feel too shoehorned (oh, okay, so they were together last 'Boot, let's get 'em together again!)

I get you but I also wouldn't want it becoming a True Legion Romance comic either. While I love the relationships I'd rather see them fight some bad guys.

Yeah, I agree that I don't want them to focus too much on the relationships either. There was a period in the Postboot when I got sick of all the "Oh Jo, Oh Tinya" stuff.

I'm reminded of Legionnaires 75, which had a good balance of romance (the problems Imra and Garth were having) which they partially resolved while fighting some bad guys. That was a good issue.

I agree. That's one thing that bothered me about the Jo-spying-on-Tinya scene: It goes exactly where we expect it to go. Wouldn't it have been more interesting if Jo had thought, "Why is she bawling so much? What a crybaby!" or, "Gee, that dark-skinned chick is really hot!" instead? That would have been unexpected and leave some doubt in the reader's mind as to whether or not this Jo and Tinya would become a couple.

(Of course, it might also have angered the purists who can't accept anything less than Jo and Tinya as the perfect couple.)

Ya as soon as I read that, I thought of the uproar it would cause. I liked the relationship changes in the threeboot some.

The Threeboot made such radical changes to some characters from the very first issue (Star Boy! Phantom Girl! Triplicate Girl! mute Saturn Girl! Micro Lad!), so I was also primed to expect major changes across the board. I didn't mind at all that Tinya and Jo weren't together there because of how different those characters were from other Tinyas and Jos.

Other than not being with Jo, how did they change Phantom Girl? They didn't change her power or race or anything. I think they even went back to her being inter dimensional. in Post ZH they had her from another planet in the UP but originally she was from an other dimensional earth.

Actually, I thought that the mute Saturn Girl (like all of her race) was a nice touch. Unfortunately, that was also one of the VERY few things that I liked about the threeboot.

3Boot Phantom Girl existed on both Bgztl and Earth's dimension at the same time when she phased. So when she was fighting robots on Earth, people on Bgztl could see her. Personality-wise, she didn't change much.

In terms of personality, I think 3boot Ultra Boy had the more extensive changes (becoming much more aggressive and dumb-jocky than either Preboot or Postboot version!).

Yeah, I didn't mind her being mute much either. And... um.... I liked Theena!

I'm not saying all the changes were bad; I didn't mind Star Boy for example, or Micro Lad being a default giant who could shrink to human size. If they could have served up likable characters and a good, compelling story then why not?

Great summary! It tells us pretty much everything we need to know about # 65, as do your other comments.

This issue was quite a ride and, even though not much happens other than the Legionnaires' failing efforts to contain the prisoners, it feels like a lot was accomplished. This is because the creators do an outstanding job of utilizing the Legionnaires' powers and developing their personalities. Everyone gets something to do, but it doesn't feel forced or contrived. Every action furthers the story line or tell us something new.

Take, for instance, Gim--the subject of much discussion in this thread. Here he recognizes that the only way to keep the prisoners from escaping is to destroy all the ships--including the Legion's own! This is a military-like tactic: putting the needs of the mission above the needs and even survival of the soldiers. However, I can't help wondering if it's also an early symptom of Gim's death wish--although here he seems willing to take the rest of the Legion and Workforce with him.

I wasn't bothered by Jo and Tinya falling in love at first sight on the battlefield--it was a comical moment amidst all the action and urgency. It reminded me that this book truly was aimed at a young audience. "Over-the-top" moments such as this and others we've discussed probably appeal to such an audience in a way that wouldn't to us older, more experienced readers.

Was Jo truly involved with Spider Girl? I got the impression that she thought they were involved, in a creepy, possessive way, but Jo has done nothing to reciprocate. She doesn't even seem to be on his radar.

As for the power upgrades, both Rokk and Imra demonstrate increased abilities we haven't seen before in this boot. I can buy Rokk creating flying sleds for his teammates--he does seem to be straining--but Imra's ability to put people to sleep comes from left field. So far in this boot she's demonstrated the ability to read people's minds and scan for thoughts. Controlling others' minds is a huge step that hasn't been hinted at before.

But there are lots of great character moments, such as Garth and Ayla renewing their sibling rivalry, Imra thinking the lightning burst came from Garth (wishful thinking?), and Lyle, who is a very proactive, intelligent, and effective combatant. The preboot Invisible Kid was one of my favorite Legionnaires, but I can't deny that this one is a definite upgrade.

The art continues to be a weak spot. I appreciate Lee Moder's efforts to give each Legionnaire a distinctive face, but his figures often seem malnourished or just off. Ron Boyd is probably not the best inker for Moder--Page 1 looks unfinished, and the cover (if it is by the same team) is one of the ugliest covers I've seen on a Legion comic. The washed out colors, meant to convey the brightness of the sun, simply call attention to the unattractiveness of the Legion figures.

But LSH 65 demonstrates how to do an all-out action issue. The suspense never lets up, and several scenes--such as the numerous small panels of prisoners arming their guns--escalate the tension so much, we don't bother to ask what the Workforce is doing there (if an explanation was given, I missed it).

One of the single best issues so far.

Grade: 90.3 (A-)

Thank you I'll have to make sure all my succeeding summaries are like this.



When Sussa kisses Jo in Legionnaires 21, she calls him baby and he responds with "this isn't a good time, honey". Legionnaires 22 will also show that they are definitely at least dating.



It does make sense that she could manipulate mental processes enough to do this, but I agree with you that seem like a bit step. Perhaps it's because the only true combat situations she's been in before were ones where hand-to-hand combat (catching the jewel thief in LSH 0) could solve the day, or where she had her teammates to help her out (chasing terrorists in Legionnaires 0, Tangleweb in LSH 62, Mano in LSH 63/Legionnaires 20).

come to think of it, that is part of what makes this issue so refreshing. We see the Legionnaires up against hundreds of opponents, which really gives each one a chance to show us what he/she can do in battle!



I also find Lee Moder's art a bit... stick figure-like. Almost everyone is rather thin, and it doesn't help that there are a lot of lines on their faces.

There was a throwaway line about the Workforce being able to track the goons who stole the weapons cache back in Legionnaires 21, but I agree that their arrival was very smooth in terms of storytelling.

Pretty much my assessment, as well. What stands out to me is that, although the stakes are high, there's an almost comical undertone in how the various Legionnaires react to the situation and several moments which, if not outright funny, are genuinely amusing.

Brainiac 5 comes front and center for the first time in the series. I love his depiction as a super-smart guy who is so devoted to theory that it doesn't bother him if they all burn up. He brings Saturn Girl along on the mission solely so she can monitor how the others are treated. If they're abused, Brainy says, he and others can stop working on the shields and magnetic tunnel. That's a very abstract way of looking at the situation! To his credit, Brainy seems to care about his teammates enough to monitor their treatment; on the other hand, maybe he just doesn't like to be double crossed.

The story is full of unexpected twists, with Bur Rac acting as a wild card as much as Brainy. First he trails Brainy and crew because he doesn't trust them, and then he broadcasts his racist thoughts, via Imra, to the other prisoners, sending them on a rampage. This scene is comical yet effective in moving the story along to its resolution. In a development which would make Star Trek proud, Lyle finds a pseudo-scientific way of not only containing the prisoners but saving everyone's hide. In this way, the story makes effective use of science fiction without getting bogged down in details.

The scenes of the Legionnaires and Workforce in their cells afford us opportunities to get to know them in a way that was short-changed in earlier stories. In a brilliant move, the writers have the characters interact in unusual pairings, so we get to see, as Ibby notes, Jenni's friendliness with Val and fear of talking too much; Rokk and Tinya both acting selfless; Tinya's heartbreaking episode of dropping in on Sussa and Jo (who says absolutely nothing!); Triad arguing with herself (!) and being put in her place by Inferno; and the wonderful Gim and Cham scene, in which the former's hostility toward the latter finally begins to soften.

The Jeff Moy/Tom Simmons art is much more appealing than Moder/Boyd, and while Moy's manga-like style often seems too lighthearted for the series, it suits this story well.

Only two minor complaints: Lyle's acrophobia seemed as unnecessary as Garth's fear of the lightning did a couple of issues ago--a rather clunky way of introducing a character flaw. I don't recall Lyle's acrophobia being developed or even mentioned again; certainly, it never became a major story point, as Garth's fear of the lightning did.

Also, Val remains the most underdeveloped character so far. That's perhaps understandable in a series already populated with so many characters, but even "minor" ones such as Sussa and Evolvo come across as having personalities. Val just kind of stands around, matter of factly tells us why he's joined Workforce, and then kicks his way through the force field. While his calmness and reserve are traits that will be developed in this boot, in his appearances so far he comes off as flat.

But those are very minor complaints in an issue that brings a satisfying end to the Planet Hell story. This is even the first issue that doesn't end on a cliffhanger; though Garth and Rokk’s conversation hints at things to come, it also provides a nice sense of closure to this first arc of Legion stories. The Legion began with Garth and Rokk meeting aboard a spaceship, and so the first storyline of the reboot ends with them going their separate ways.

Grade: 96.7 (A)

Lyle's acrophobia would be referenced in LSH 68 and again (though not overtly; if you didn't know he had a fear of heights you'd think he was just complaining) in Legionnaires 33. However, these ARE just references and do not have any impact whatsoever on the story, oddly enough. I suppose not every character trait has to be there for a reason, but it does seem odd.

I also agree it was satisfying for the Legion to have a victory (and a pretty overwhelming one at that) which they are able to savor a bit. Except for poor Garth. This is a clear signal to us readers that this Postboot Legion is different from the Preboot version, and will continue to be so.

Interestingly, the creators of the reboot kept finding new ways to make established Legion events happen all over again. For example, Ayla replaces Garth, just as she did in the preboot. Garth loses his arm, just as he did in the preboot. The circumstances have changed, but the outcome is the same.

Perhaps this was intentional or perhaps the Legion's overall story just "goes" this way. When the creators tried to do something truly different--such as Gim dying or Vi becoming Emerald Violet, or Jeckie as a snake--it was met with hostile fan reaction. Perhaps such developments veered too far away from the way the Legion's story is supposed to go. (Okay, Sneckie was just silly.)

In many ways, the reboot was different; in many ways, it was the same.

That's a good point - we can add the Imra-Garth relationship, which took some time to materialize. Of course, there are also many Preboot events which never came to fruition - Lyle, Triad and Ferro never died, and the Lar-Tasmia relationship was never quite established.

There are also some Postboot developments which met with (I think) generally more welcome fan reaction - Triad surviving COMPUTO and Ferro surviving the Suneater of course, and the memberships of XS, Gates and Kinetix (and to a lesser extent, Kid Quantum II and Gear and Shikari).

I think part of the intrigue was trying to guess which events would eventually play out as they did Preboot. Of course, not everyone would agree.

And yes, Sneckie was really just silly.

I think it’s hard for a writer to know when or not to cross a line. They want to be creative but they don’t want to piss people off either and loose readers. On a few things they just went a little too far. Like Snekie. I wouldn’t have minded her being non-human, but not that far! I didn’t mind Gim dying because I knew I’d have Karate Kid back. It’s a bit of a tradeoff I suppose.

Yeah, having a giant space snake is a cool concept if it's NOT a character who used to be human. Shikari, at least, was still humanoid plus the creators (DNA) went on record many times saying that she was NOT a Postboot version of Dawnstar.

Good point about writers not knowing when to cross the line. As I've been doing these re-reads, I've been impressed with just how much the series appears to be aimed at a very young audience. Developments like a snake Legionnaire and a bug Legionnaire would appeal to very young readers. But the creators also had to contend with us old fogies (or not-so-old fogies) whose love for the preboot characters colored our perceptions of this version.

The best children's stories--at least the best ones I've read--appeal to adults, as well (Harry Potter, f'r instance). They do so by not talking down to their audience. I can't help but feeling that the creation of Sensor was talking down to the audience ("You like snakes, boys and girls? Of course you do! Here's a snake Legionnaire!"). Too, they were playing a deliberate bait-and-switch game with long-time readers by introducing Jeckie in her original preboot appearance and then revealing that appearance to be an illusion. It was almost as if they were seeing how far they could go in crossing that line.

Don't think I could get my head wrapped around the "talking down to" bit.

It didn't seem a popular idea. I certainly didn't like it. But I didn't feel like anyone was patting me on the head. It was just an idea, that her world was all an illusion. Maybe there was some intended allegory, books and covers.... to tie into the xenophobia plots but I never got the feeling the writers felt their audience was stupid or immature. It seemed like an idea presented with all intents to explore concepts.

The adult reader in me wishes the creators had developed the already large team we have before throwing even more new Legionnaires at us. The geeky kid in me screams, "More Legionnaires!"

I think the geeky kid in all of us wins out with this one, as it's a fun, lighthearted issue that harkens back to the membership tryouts of old. There's no major catastrophe to deal with, no real villains even (though Micro is a murderous snot), just a sense of exploration and mystery over who will be the new Legionnaires.

It's fitting that the Legionnaires actually get to participate in the selection. Had Micro not decided to steal the show (and Ion's life), the Imskian selection would have been up to the team. Also, Gim and Cham are shown exercising their discretion by abandoning Gates (at least for now); they also appear to have a say in Kinetix's membership. The team is maturing and earning Chu's trust, though the prez does pull in Laurel Gand, who is to be their mightiest member, and has a pre-selected Xanthuan on the way. Hey, the prez isn't going to give up all her authority.

It's fascinating that all three of those selected are girls, and that the girls outnumber the boys for perhaps the first time in Legion history. What's even more fascinating is how varied the three recruits' personalities are--on a team already bursting with strong personalities, that's no mean feat. Of course, since the book is already crowded, we're afforded only glimpses of one or two personalities for each: Laurel is the powerhouse but also a bigot; Zoey is greedy for more power but also a playful girl; Salu is shy (natch) but also a highly skilled fighter.

I have to thank Ibby for highlighting that last trait in his review, as I had thought Vi's scenes were a bit too obvious. They were meant to establish that, despite her shyness, she is Legion material, yet they go over the top (that phrase again) in having her solve the murder and then singlehandedly catch the killer. Vi seemed on the verge of suffering from Wesley Crusher Syndrome. But, as Ibby points out, Vi's fighting skills establish her as someone who can do more than just shrink; such skills will be a definite asset to the team and offer a fresh angle to her character that wasn't present (or at least not emphasized) in the preboot.

As for the veteran Legionnaires, they get a few bits of character development, as well. It was refreshing to see Tinya lay into the culturally insensitive cop and then just walk away with her head held high when he responds sarcastically later on. This Tinya is nobody's fool, and she's not going to be baited by a loudmouth with a badge. Meanwhile, Gim and Cham have grown so close in such a short amount of time that Gim now addresses the Durlan as "Bud." Cham's Interlac is improving, as he throws in the odd word here and there.

The Moder/Boyd artwork has also improved, though there are a few places that remain awkward or unclear. The arrangement of the panels and images on Pages 2 and 3 made me think I was supposed to read them straight across and then down (which left me thinking Chu was Apparition on Page 3, Panel 1). Also, Vi's fight scene with Micro is full of stiff and awkward anatomy. And Page 21 left me wondering why Vi was holding the tiny Micro in her hands when, in the first panel on that page, both are shown growing to the size of the cops. I had to look at the page several times before I realized they still weren't grown to full size. (The flowing white curtains in Panel 1 are apparently Apparition's cape.)

LSH 66 does what its creators set out to do: Introduce three new Legionnaires in a surprising, fun, and lighthearted way. This is the kind of storytelling that made the Adventure run so much fun, and it's nice to see that tradition updated for the reboot.

Grade: 90.0 (A-)

I'm guessing you were not a young reader when these issues came out, BB. They're the ones I suppose were being talked down to, not us old-timers.

Pretty sure that my not seeing where you're coming from with that opinion doesn't have to do with whether I was young or old when I first or later read this. I just don't find anything in the writing or the conception to support it like you do or perhaps the words "talk down to" have a different connotation to me than to they do to you. eh.

Without further evidence, words from the writers, I think it was just a concept, not an attempt to reach a snakes and raccoon aged audience, whatever that might be. And even it if was, I don't really see anything specific about it that would be considered "talking down to" that audience?

I'm not sure about that, but towards the end of the Postboot (between LSH 100 and the beginning of the DNA run) I did notice that some of the dialogue began getting more "childlike". It's hard to describe, but I'll cite examples when we get to that era. And it wasn't just Lori Morning, but the Legionnaires too.

It also stands out that Vi, at this early point in the team's existence, has shown more advanced combat skills than even Science Police Cadets Imra and Gim. It could be that Vi has simply been given the opportunity to do so, unlike with the others.

In general though, I find that hand-to-hand combat skills were highlighted more in the Postboot. Legionnaires who have to throw punches to take their enemies down, like Violet, Triad, Lyle, and Tinya are all shown to be very skilled. Even Imra and Tasmia, whose powers are a bit more offensive, are good fighters.

Hope Ibby doesn’t mind if I proceed with the next ish:

Legionnaires 23

“Flight”

Summary:

After Invisible Kid introduces the Legionnaires to their new mode of transportation—the flight ring—the girls take a night on the town. Andromedra tries to make friends and has a disturbing encounter with other racists. Apparition still has mommy issues.

Review:

Where to begin with this one? It is probably hands down the best issue so far, in terms of what the creators attempted to do and what they succeeded in doing. “Flight” is a classic “A Day in the Life of” type of story which gives us a great opportunity to know members of our large cast a little better. This single-issue tale paves the way for future story developments, yet it celebrates the central appeal of the Legion: the joy of having super-powers, being able to fly, and belonging to a team.

Although I focus more on the writing in these reviews, I couldn’t help but notice the art. Jeffrey Moy (he’s credited by his full name here) and W.C. Carani rock, as does Tom McCraw on colors. The art is sharp, crisp, and clear. This is the bright, shiny future the 30th century is supposed to be. It’s not perfect (as Andromeda’s encounter with those of “her kind” will demonstrate), but there is hope and joy—especially as expressed in the Legionnaires’ faces when they realize that Lyle’s rings enable them to fly. The bottom of Page 3 and the splash on Page 4 beautifully express this sense of liberation and wonder.

(And the settings aren’t bad, either. Check out the lounge/rec room in Panel 1 of Page 3. Who wouldn’t want to hang out there?)

The story rocks, as well. The Legionnaires are depicted as universal teens everywhere. There’s the thrill of the being able to fly. Then Brainy’s jealousy of Lyle begins as the latter gets the accolades for creating something from Brainy’s lab failure. Then the girls want to go out and have fun, but the boys want to stay in and play with the V.R. (a futuristic video game, natch)—Imra, significantly, also chooses the V.R. But the rest of the girls dress in civilian clothes and go to a new club.

Here we get to know the Legion lasses by watching them interact. Zoey keeps changing “Shy Vi’s” clothes to hilarious effect. The girls tease each other over which Legion boys they like. Laurel is so out of place she wears her uniform to go out. And Tinya unexpectedly encounters her mother, who makes her go home and reminds us that these super-hero kids are, well, kids.

Of course, it wouldn’t be much of a story if nothing “bad” happened, and something does: A trio of racists take out their hatred on a fish-like alien. Laurel pursues them and then lets them go.

There’s so much in Laurel’s expression at the bottom of Page 20: confusion, a reflection of herself, perhaps? If she condemns these attackers, she will have to condemn herself, and she is nowhere near ready to do that.

The other scene which stands out for me is one of Rokk and Imra nearly sharing a kiss while getting lost in their V.R. characters. This scene, like the one above, plays with our conceptions of what Legionnaires are supposed to do. Imra is supposed to be with Garth, not Rokk! But this is a new Legion, full of new possibilities.

Flaws? The transition from Page 8 to Page 9 is jarring, as we go from Laurel’s nervous request to join the gang to Garth’s dream. But that’s the only one which jumps out at me.

Grade: 99.0 (A+)

Issue information for Legionnaires 23

Thanks for continuing, HWW! I was planning to post last night but dinner ended late.



Couldn't agree more. Even the way Obin Der convinced Andromeda to make friends - "or we could pull you back here where you won't have any super powers at all" - speaks to that. Laurel is toughing it out NOT really because she wants to make Daxam proud, but more because of the sheer joy of having powers.



Ditto. The Legionnaires look just about right for the age too, and they make the 30th century look like an era I would want to live in.



Lyle DID give credit to Brainy for accidentally creating the flight ring metal, but I understand where Brainy's coming from. The way Lyle revealed the surprise put the spotlight entirely on him. And Lyle went and created the flight rings without involving or collaborating with Brainy.

On the other hand, Brainy completely ignored his creation and he isn't exactly the collaborative type.

Still, I can imagine how Brainy is feeling now - "I'm the one who was put on the team for being smart, but because I didn't use my smarts to create anything cool - they don't praise me as they do Lyle!"



Ayla's line "I keep thinking all the boys will turn out like my brothers" is telling as well. The Ranzz siblings are definitely not close.

Poor Tinya, look at how her mom treated her making a scene in public like that.

And Zoe shows that she returns Gim's attractions...



Laurel is nowhere near as violent as they are, but I agree that she subscribes to their beliefs completely.



I like this scene, though. The way Imra has interacted with both Rokk and Garth so far makes this scene very organic and possible. She has been equally close to either of them (possibly closer to Rokk than to Garth!), so even if this goes contrary to everything we know from the Preboot, it is acceptable and believable.

Notice how the other Legionnaires don't seem too much care that Brainy created the substance which powers their flight rings? Lyle tried to do the right thing--give credit where credit is due--but I imagine that only makes Brainy even more jealous. Lyle is doing everything "right," which calls attention to the fact that Brainy is doing everything wrong, at least as far as being accepted by his teammates is concerned.

And yes, Lyle does succeed in self promotion!

Just to be clear, I loved the Rokk and Imra scene, too. I appreciate the risks the creators were taking here. I almost wish they had gone further and had Rokk and Imra become a real couple (as opposed to a her subconsciously manipulating his unconscious form). But perhaps that would have been too great a change from what fans expected.

One flaw in Lyle's method is that he only mentioned Brainy's involvement after he'd demonstrated the rings could fly. Naturally, the others were too excited by the rings to listen. Before Lyle revealed the rings could fly they were politely grateful too, but nobody was exactly kissing Lyle.

When you think about it, the Legionnaires are much like today's teens and young adults. They can be a bit too distracted and self-absorbed sometimes - nobody really notices Brainy's involvement (to be fair, he doesn't deserve much credit either) and when Ayla was introduced almost nobody noticed Garth's reaction.

Rokk and Imra would have been interesting, although the contrast between Imra's and Garth's personalities ultimately (IMO) makes them a much more dynamic couple. I do like that before she subconsciously manipulated Rokk, Imra and he were in a "real" (for all intents and purposes, as it was a mutual decision) relationship. Rokk was definitely attracted. As to whether Imra returned the attraction, well we can probably discuss that better when we get to those issues

Which just tells me that Lyle had a good sense of drama.




Absolutely. I think this is true of teens of any generation.

I'm leaning more towards "a good sense of self-promotion" I don't think he minded too much that all attention was on him rather than on Brainy either

You summed the issue up perfectly with this paragraph. Looking back, there are so many little moments that stand out.

Besides the ones you mentioned, we have:

Brainy being stunned upon seeing Andromeda;

Triad's line - "something FUN finally happens to us!" And all three Triad's agree! This is the first time we've seen Triad in civilian garb where each triplet wears a different outfit. Triad Purple is sharp enough to catch Jenni's crush (which hadn't really been made apparent before!) on Rokk. (Purple's outfit is also easily the most daring of all the girls'!), while Triad's time on Earth makes her the sort-of tour guide of the group over - Chicago? Ooh.

Gim invites Cos to the VR, and Cham apparently tags along. Lyle and Brainy apparently aren't invited because they're the "smart" kids I guess.

Zoe's line: "same on MY world. You just can't get a boy to dance." Her changing Violet's clothes and sort of taking the shy girl under her wing. (Hey, if I had her powers I'd be changing my clothes into new outfits too instead of buying new ones!) And she (and Triad) among the girls seem to be the most mature of all of them - except for the part where she keeps changing Violet's outfit without permission. (On the bottom right of Page 14, we see a version of Violet's Adventure costume. We see one again on page 17!) When she's helping the alien who got attacked, she also takes on quite a bedside manner.

Tinya's obviously been in clubs before, as she's the one telling all the others to act "cool". But Earth's crowd seems to be a lot more uppity than Bgztl's.

Page 14 - the alien in the upper right panel of the page looks like someone from Vulcan!

Jenni is impatient but still very nice, as she says Garth's a great guy. She's also fast enough to get in - I wonder, could she have snuck the others in one by one using her speed?

Ayla's younger age and relative inexperience with the big city is showing - she's the only one besides Andromeda who seems to have just learned about Earth's old custom of killing animals for food. She also trashes the club as snotty - though I admire her for not getting hung up on it.

Andromeda's xenophobia and racism obviously extend to all races/species (I think the writers used "race" to account for the possibility of inter-breeding, as most Legionnaire couples come from different homeworlds!). Still, she makes a decent effort to get along with the other girls and you can see she's genuinely concerned about keeping order and about the safety of the "fish man".

Legion of Super-Heroes 67
"Insect Fear"

Issue information

Summary

The Legion's first official mission comes back to haunt them as they follow up on a lead on Tangleweb. Cosmic Boy makes the tactical decision to split the team, leading to a few ruffled feathers. He brings Leviathan, Andromeda, Apparition, Chameleon, Kinetix and Spark (whom Leviathan calls power players). Brainiac 5, Invisible Kid, Saturn Girl, Triad, Shrinking Violet and XS (whose super-speed Cos says isn't much use on a spaceship), are asked to stay behind.

Can the away team including an emotional, guilt-stricken Leviathan and a xenophobic Andromeda save the day? The Legionnaires encounter Tangleweb pillaging a ship. Spark refuses a direct order to back down and gets captured; Tangleweb also takes Cosmic Boy before being driven away.

Meanwhile, Invisible Kid and Triad react to being left behind in different ways. Invisible Kid borrows a government ship to follow. And for Triad at least, her reaction puts her in danger, as she gets beaten by some White Triangle goons!

Thoughts

Minor quibble, but the story title is probably the worst one so far. It seems more apt for a horror movie than for a Legion comic, though it could also refer to Andromeda's disgust towards the spider-creatures.

The story opens with Tangleweb attacking a ship, and we learn that it actually eats the brains of its prey in order to get knowledge and power. Huh, interesting.

Leviathan is still feeling guilt for Kid Quantum's death, which makes him even more hot-headed and temperamental than usual. He handles the meeting poorly by insulting Saturn Girl, insensitively telling the ones left behind not to take the decision personally when they are obviously feeling inadequate (much like he himself does over James' death!), and deals with his guilty feelings poorly.

Zoe is actually the one who calms him down; she adroitly helps defuse the tension by asking about Tangleweb (notice that she speaks up instead of Laurel or Ayla!). You can also see her smiling happily at him and touching his arm to console him. Maybe she can be the Beauty to his Beast?

Cosmic Boy does a better job, calmly but firmly explaining his tactical reasoning in selecting the team. His reasoning is such that even Lyle and Lu can understand, though not like, his decision. "This isn't about who's better or stronger", he says - though he leaves out telepathic Imra, super-fast Jenni and microscopic Vi; the former CAN telepathically detect Tangleweb (despite what Leviathan says) and the latter two can easily evade his attacks. He brings Tinya, possibly because her powers allow her to keep out of harm's way; why not bring the latter two?

Lyle won't take no for an answer, and even borrows a ship so he can follow the team. Why? He mentions in one panel, "You don't understand, you're going to need me." In another he says, "but they can't do without me." But he doesn't reveal why he thinks that; his invisibility and brains are useful but neither proved to be an invaluable asset against Tangleweb. Does he just really feel so confident in his abilities? As he takes off he says, "it's not like I'm going to survive this anyway." So was all that "you'll need me" just false bravado? Is he going more because he wants to prove to himself that he can stand alongside his more powerful teammates?

"Time to repent your sins, pusbag. You're busted!" Oh Tinya, you go girl.

I also like that ships are now equipped with a device that can track Tangleweb. That shows quite a lot of foresight!

The Legion's fight against Tangleweb is terribly one-sided. Despite there being seven Legionnaires, they're taken apart like amateurs! Ayla gets in too close even though Cos warns her back, and if she hadn't been an established character she could possibly have been killed like James was! Andromeda needs to be told to use her non-contact powers; Zoe's powers can't hold her cage together (!) and Cham and Tinya do absolutely nothing during the fight. Gim also makes himself a bigger target - exactly what Cos told him NOT to do during their first fight against Tangleweb!

We can see that Andromeda is genuinely concerned for her teammates - she calls out Spark's name.

Gim, at least, manages to pull the remaining Legionnaires together in Cos' absence. With a little encouragement from Zoe, he prioritizes AND comes up with the good idea to have Andromeda provide propulsion, plus he knows the first priority is to get Cos and Ayla back safe. He's also sharp enough to notice that Tangleweb is smarter.

The five remaining Legionnaires catch up to Tangleweb on a planet full of spider-like creatures too. Uhoh. Thank goodness they have their flight rings.

Finally, we head back to Earth to see Triad again. Her mixed reactions are interesting to say the least; she argues with her selves as if each is a different person. She's also ashamed to let the rest see what she's like, which explains why she walked out. Once she calms down we see her act rationally. Sadly, her splitting up of her selves gets her in trouble as Neutral is cornered by a bunch of thugs; at three against one the odds are bad to say the least. The issue ends with Orange and Purple feeling Neutral's pain, and Neutral left for dead.

Whew. The writers sure know how to up the stakes. We have the entire away team AND Triad in deathly peril by the end of the issue.

Invisible Kid seems to be the writers' darling here; he's set up to be the big hero (or a sad casualty?) by the next issue. I have to say he's one of my least favorite Legionnaires here. And though Leviathan does show some good leadership, I don't like his poor handling of his emotions either. On the other hand, both boys ARE written very realistically (especially considering their ages - they'd both be around 16 I think).

This is a pretty good issue as the action flows along really well and we still get quite a lot of good character moments. Most of the Legionnaires on the away team (except Chameleon) get to do something, and even many of the ones left behind do too.

We also see that the team is in need of serious work. Though they do work together alright, they're not as tight as they could be - the fight against Tangleweb, and the disastrous meeting, show that they still have a lot to work on.

Chris Renaudi's guest pencils are OK; he gives the Legionnaires very expressive faces which are appropriate for each scene (except for the middle panel on page 20 where Leviathan looks like he's about to faint, and the one on page 21 where he looks constipated).

As with the first Tangleweb outing, I appreciate what was attempted here. And, like the first, this story does not come off as well as it could have.

The opening scene is fine enough, as it re-establishes Tangelweb as a serious threat. Ibby complained about the title, “Insect Fear,” being too horror movie-like; this scene provokes my similar complaint. It would work fine in a horror movie, but, here it seems disturbing and out of place. Never mind, though: It does establish who our villain is and why he must be stopped.

Then comes a scene which reminds us of Gim’s guilt and leads into another scene in which the Legionnaires act like spoiled children. It’s never explained why so many members object to being left behind. Are they out to avenge the death of James—a member they barely knew and whose death, they seem to agree, was his own fault? Are they upset because they will miss out on the action? Not only are their motives unexplained, but their volatile reactions come off as cliched.

There’s also a rather clunky page of exposition in which the new members are told of the Legion’s first encounter with Tangleweb. This page does nothing more than tell the readers what we need to know, something all writers should avoid (“As you know, Wonder Woman, I come from the planet Krypton and was rocketed to earth as an infant . . .”). One would expect new Legionnaires to have boned up on the team’s short history.

We are afforded, at least, a couple of opportunities to see Cos assert his leadership, first with Triad and then with Invisible Kid.

I have mixed feelings about Lyle’s depiction. On one hand, he comes off as cocky and arrogant—which fits in nicely with his portrayal last issue as the Great Benefactor who created the flight rings. On the other hand, mysterious comments such as “You’ll need me” and “It’s not like I’m going to survive” are clunky ways of adding to the drama.

Triad’s depiction is surprising. She literally has a split personality, and her argument with herself gets her into serious danger. I can accept this to a degree—it’s a very unusual depiction of her abilities and gives her a significant weakness. But one would think her experience as Brande’s assistant would lead to more self control. Like the other Legionnaires, she just comes off as spoiled and immature.

Once the mission to find Tangleweb gets underway, the story proceeds along conventional paths. Rokk is taken out of the fight instantly, so Gim gets a chance to redeem himself. Laurel’s attitude gets in the way of stopping Tangleweb, but she can be counted on to do her job when she’s given a clear order, such as hauling the Legion’s crippled ship.

And then we end on not one but two cliffhangers, making up, I suppose, for the lack of cliffhangers in the previous two issues.

Renaud’s art is serviceable—awkward in places, such as Gim’s constipated look (as Ibby notes)—but it does the required job and is not overly distracting.

“Insect Fear” was meant to show the Legionnaires experiencing difficulties adjusting to being a team now that they’ve grown so large it is necessary to split them into smaller groupings. It was also meant to show them going after James’s murderer. It accomplishes both but in a way that seems forced and conventional. This reads more like a so-so SyFy movie than a Legion story.

Grade: 72.6 (C-)

You made a good point that issue 67 is as much about the Legionnaires adjusting to working with new teammates in a large team. I think this was accomplished fairly well with the away team.

I completely agree with you on Lyle's depiction; not only are his comments clunky, but the "it's not like I'm going to survive this" line contradicts his cocky and arrogant characterization. Unless perhaps the writers are trying to portray him as an insecure individual who needs to feed his ego?

As for Triad, her Purple personality will consistently (in the Postboot era) get her other selves into trouble because of her thoughtlessness.

Legionnaires 24
Me, Myself and I
Issue information

Summary:

The Legionnaires on Earth really to help save Triad, though they may not be able to do so without delving into her past and her experience of having 3 different personalities. it turns out that Triad is extremely unique among Carggites.

They also try to track down the thugs who beat Triad up, and learn that there might be a connection both to the Planet Hell case and the attack on the nightclub the Legionnaire girls tried to visit.

Thoughts:

Right off the bat this issue contradicts the last. The textbox tells us, "When Cosmic Boy took the unprecedented step of excluding the LEAST POWERFUL Legionnaires from a mission...". This despite Cos saying it's NOT about powers or who is best, but about who is needed (though of course, Leviathan himself had already contradicted Cos last issue). Not hard to see why many of the Legionnaires left behind were upset.

These "weaker" Legionnaires are certainly NOT comparatively useless: XS, Violet and Saturn Girl display good teamwork and use each of their powers to track an abandoned hideout of the racist thugs, while Brainiac 5 works to save Triad.

The abandoned hideout is disturbing for 2 reasons: the first, that a level of racism and hate such as that still exists in the 30th century; and two, Violet remembered the thugs Andromeda went after - and didn't bring back - also wore the same symbol: a White Triangle. Oooh. Violet's still too shy to tell her teammates though.

The Carggites won't help and Earth's hospitals don't know much about Carggite physiology. Brainy's experiences tell him that Triad's not like the other Carggites, which may be the key. And we delve into a very sad story...

Triad was born with each of her 3 selves experiencing different emotions, unlike the typical Carggite. An unaccepting Carrgite society persecuted her for it. It was so bad that her father left and her mother committed suicide - but a guardian angel came in the form of her grandmother.

Interestingly, Luornu's mom's name is Iruna Durgo. So she took her mom's surname. I'm guessing that Granny Murlu is her maternal grandmother and that Lu's dad blamed her mom's genes for the differences.

It's ironic that Granny Murlu encouraged Lu's differences but didn't exhibit her own to Lu until she died. I'm not surprised that she didn't; her deathbed comments make it seem like she was forcibly taught to not display her differences. And one of her comments is spot on: "You come on! It's easy to preach, but living on this world with these feelings..." It's hard to be yourself when almost the entire world tells you it's wrong. What's surprising is that she didn't share her own differences with Lu, while encouraging Lu to embrace her own. Perhaps she didn't want to display her individual personalities as it would be hard for her not to dredge up the painful memories of her own past?

Triad's differences - and Purple's reckless side - are displayed again when they make their first attempt at reintegration. Sometimes these differences can be a good thing, sometimes they are bad. It's odd that Granny Murlu says they're good for a Carggite's mental health, but we've seen Lu's 3 personalities give her a lot of trouble!

Reboot, Omni, razsolo and I had a really good discussion about they nature of the differences. Our consensus is that the majority of Carggites are born fully identical; for the minority with differences, the degree of difference can vary per individual with some successfully suppressing any outward display and others not being able to do the same.

Triad manages to escape the mental hospital she was put in, and lucky the ship she tries to break into was owned by one RJ Brande!

Saturn Girl has a moment of doubt on Brande's reaction to Triad's differences, but she tests her suspicions and thankfully they are unfounded.

One bright spot in the barbaric way these hospitals are run? It looks like you're only sent there if you're a ward of the state, or perhaps if your parents send you there voluntarily. Lu was able to stay out of them while she was under her Granny's care.

Cue the 2nd attempt at reintegration. Triad Purple and Orange overcome their differences by merging; their personalities are so far apart that it's the only way. Even with their merger, they hesitate briefly upon seeing Neutral's agony. But it works, Triad is safe, and their differing personalities may actually have contributed to their survival this time.

The story ends with Brande vowing to find the thugs responsible, and Violet worrying about Andromeda's possible complicity.

The story is a good allegory for homosexuality. Being born with it; some people thinking it can be "cured" and suppressed; it's something that you can't always tell about a person just by their exhibited behaviors or appearance. The intent is good and so is the execution - the messages aren't hammered into our heads, but rather they unfold through the touching story of someone we have grown to care about (and the parallels aren't too obvious either - I certainly didn't pick up on it when I first read this issue at about 15 years old).

There are 2 inkers for this issue, Tom Simmons and W.C. Carani. You can tell which inked which page; the Simmons pages seem a bit more rough and the characters' eyes are a bit off. The art is serviceable though and the action is very easy to follow.

This is a good issue and it fulfilled its purpose - it made me care more for a character, it moved the overall plot along, and it left me with a good message.

Ironically, the job I have now is with a company that is rapidly expanding, taking on new faculty, and even moving to a new building in another state in a few weeks. This has resulted in a lot of adjustment--people moving around, shifts in who reports to whom, new positions being created. There's an opportunity for chaos here, but, so far, the transitions have been handled smoothly with clear lines of communication to keep everyone informed.

I can imagine that a new organization composed entirely of teenagers would have an entirely different reaction to such rapid change. Many of the long-time members who were used to working together as one team--and particularly those who were present when James died--may have felt slighted at being left behind, as teenagers often do. In some ways, this depiction makes sense. However, it still feels clunky and contrived.

The one thing I liked about that scene is that it shows the headaches leaders often have to deal with, and how sometimes they have to stick to their guns.

I'm glad your company is handling its expansion well, HWW.

I think one reason the scene felt clunky is how it played out: it didn't feel like Cos and Gim made their announcement in a good manner. After they announced almost half the team would be left behind, Zoe and the other newbies still didn't know who Tangleweb was, and nobody was clear on his logic! Perhaps they would have taken it better if he had started with a background of their first case and pointed out the challenges (i.e. having ten Legionnaires face off against Tangleweb in a crowded spaceship).

^Good point, Ibby.

Cos is still very young and feeling his way into the leadership role. He probably didn't handle it very well. And Gim needs lessons in tact.

Iruna could have kept her husband's name after he left.

Of course, this presupposes that Carggite women change their names when they get married. Perhaps that is only an earth custom.

As for Iruna committing suicide, the story only tells us that she couldn't stop being mad at herself. Perhaps she died from an accident or an alcohol-related disease (cirrhosis, perhaps).



I hadn't thought of this story as an allegory for homosexuality, but it works as such. I assumed it was about any "difference" that is considered culturally unacceptable (which, of course, could include homosexuality). The story works for this reason: It's one of the most "science fiction-like" stories yet--extrapolating from a real world setting into a fantastic, alien culture and showing the ramifications that could happen if fear and hatred win.

Good point in that it could stand for other "differences" besides homosexuality. I did think of it because homosexuality (unlike race or some diseases) is not apparent from physical appearance (not always), plus it is one of the "differences" that some believe could be cured by medication or therapy.





Again, good point. Cargg could also be a matriarchal society, we don't know enough about it.

The line about Iruna hurting herself is what made me think of suicide, but you are right in that the actual cause of death could have been something else.

This issue features one of the most disturbing Legion covers I’ve seen: Triad, bloody and breaten, lies on the ground, a white triangle painted over her body, as three male attackers with blood splattered hands stand over her. This image leads to all sorts of interpretations. Was she raped? Is this a “bondage” cover (without the bonds)?

Obviously, she wasn’t raped in the story—at least not that we were shown. But, given how similar assaults play out in real life, it would be hard to believe her assailants didn't try to go that route.

And that touches on the inherent contradictions of the postboot Legion. The all-ages art, youthful protagonists, and uncomplicated stories suggest DC was aiming the reboot at a very young audience. Yet the series pulls no punches in dealing with mature themes such as racism. There’s an almost fairy tale-like quality to this issue, particular in Lu’s back story. I don’t mean fairy tale in the Disney sense, but in the Brothers Grimm sense—early fairy tales featured eyes getting pecked out by birds and toes being cut off to fit into glass slippers. Fairy tales were originally meant to help young listeners cope with what they already knew—that the world is not a nice place and bad things happen even to children.

Whether or not this Brothers Grimm-like approach suits the Legion is debatable, but this issue, in some ways, marks the end of the reboot’s innocence. Megapowerful villains such as Mordru and Validus have nothing on the three non-powered xenophobes who inflict such damage on our beloved Lu. Not only have they assaulted a Legionnaire, they’ve assaulted the very foundations upon with the Legion was built—the idea that young people could make a difference in the future. The world is indeed not a nice place, not even in the 30th century.

That caveat aside, the story is expertly delivered. The writers made two critical choices. First, they focused entirely on the Legionnaires left on earth—there’s no Tangleweb subplot—and second, they did not include the capture of the three assailants, who, momentarily at least, get away. These choices kept our attention squarely on Lu’s origin and survival. Interestingly, the only Legionnaires featured in this story, apart from Brainiac 5 (who fulfills the needs of the plot), are female: Saturn Girl, XS, Shrinking Violet, and, of course, Triad.

Triad’s back story is the stuff of fairy tales gone Disney. Misunderstood, alienated, branded a freak, and ultimately orphaned, she is left to fend for herself until her Fairy Godfather, in the person of R.J. Brande, comes to rescue her. If I have any complaint about the story, it’s that the writers lay all of this on too thick. Poor Lu is Cinderella times three. Even the moment of doubt regarding Brande’s reaction when he learns that Lu is an “escaped mental patient” seems syrupy. Brande is a man without faults, apparently.

Young readers can, I’m sure, identify with Lu’s struggles in this story—both her struggle to be accepted for who she is and her struggle within herself to trust her teammates and do what must be done. The ending is classic: Against Brainy’s advice, the two remaining Triads merge because they recognize this is the only way they will have the courage to reintegrate with their injured third self. There is strength in numbers and it’s good to have someone to lean on, even if that someone is yourself.

Grade: 97.3 (A)

Given that her attackers are rabid racists, whom I assume are like the others in feeling completely disgusted by other races, I doubt they would have raped Triad. Just the thought of getting that close would have disgusted them. And thankfully those portions of her costume remained untouched (as far as we can see anyway).



You bring up a good point - the issue deals not only with oppression back on Cargg, but also with the virulent racism on by the xenophobes on Earth. And poor Triad was a victim of both. At the same time, she also gets very lucky twice - being "rescued" by her Granny, and finding RJ Brande (which paves the way for her becoming a Legionnaire).

By "intimate" I know you mean "proximity" and not what it sounded like so before anyone jumps on you for using that particular word, I thought I'd mention it could be easily misinterpreted.

I think I disagree with your conclusion. Their prejudice and hate would be all the more reason to demean, dominate and violate. It was a very real (in a fiction sense) possibility.

Indeed. The movie "A Time to Kill" provides a vivid and horrifying depiction of this.

I don't know, I'm trying to think whether the manifestations of their xenophobia in the Postboot would have let them. In Legionnaires 27 several inter-race couples are killed just because they are couples; the White Trianglists who killed them expressed disgust at the thought of people of two races touching each other. If they had indeed thought of violating Triad like that I still doubt they would have touched her in that way, lest they be "contaminated". I can see them using implements though.



Thank you for the correction on word usage, BB.

Legion of Super-Heroes 68
"Sticky Situation"
Issue information

Summary:

The away team gets captured by members of Tangleweb's species, and learns that they're not hostile. Chameleon is able to communicate with the spider-creatures, and uses his shapeshifting to tell the other Legionnaires their story. Tangleweb is a terrorist on their world, and became intelligent by eating brains.

Invisible Kid catches up to the Legion and (in a major part due to luck) manages to save Cosmic Boy and Spark. Andromeda (with some tough love from Leviathan) overcomes her xenophobia enough to find a way to save the day.

Thoughts:

The issue satisfactorily resolves an "open" story arc that began way back in LSH 62, and gives many of our Legionnaires some good development.

The away team of Leviathan, Kinetix, Apparition, Andromeda and Chameleon are outnumbered 5 to 1 by members of Tangleweb's species. The odds are so staggering that Leviathan appears stunned at first; it's Apparition who asks Andromeda for a quick scan of the situation. Leviathan decides to take the offensive, which is pretty disastrous; Andromeda is the only one who has a chance to win. Despite using only her long-range heat vision, a Spider-person tears her transuit and she collapses. The other four Legionnaires get taken down quickly.

The team's definitely still getting used to working together. Kinetix gets a face full of gunk when Apparition phases right in front of her; and I don't see any of them use their flight rings to give themselves an advantage.

Back on Earth, Triad is conscious but weak. Imra scans her memories and is horrified by what she sees. She also still disapproves of Cos' decision to split the team, though frankly Triad would still have been in danger if she'd gone after Tangleweb too. I give Imra a pass here though, as Triad's beating was definitely traumatic to "see".

Leviathan's team is still alive. Andromeda realizes she merely overreacted; we realize that her attitude isn't just derision and contempt for "inferior" races but also fear and disgust for the stranger ones - particularly non-humanoids. (Now I wish she and Gates had been on the team at the same time; Gates' retorts would have been hilarious). You can't really blame her for her fear, as she'd never left Daxam before being drafted. Likely she was raised that way.

The Legionnaires use their brains, with most of them staying behind in safety while sending a phased Tinya finds Cham.

Next we enter Invisible Kid, displaying little of the cockiness and arrogance he did in previous issues. He mentally admits that he's terrified, he falls into a trap, and he has to constantly reassure himself. It makes me wonder more than ever why exactly he followed the team? Was it to prove something to them - or to himself? Seems to be more of the latter, frankly. I get that the writers wanted him there because he was the only one (besides Imra) who could translate Cham's speech, but getting him there was clumsy. And so was the addition of a captive Science Police officer who did absolutely nothing except provide a blaster for Lyle to use. Convenient, and nothing more.

"Shame Imra or Lyle aren't around to translate... but I guess they're too weak to come along on this mission huh?" Good girl, Tinya. At the same time, a sign that even the "power player" Legionnaires - as Gim put it - don't approve of dividing the team like that. Cham brilliantly uses his shapeshifting to communicate to the others, and Zoe, Tinya and Gim not only do a good job interpreting it but also defend him when Andromeda raises her doubts. Good show.

Cos and Ayla do a good job combining their powers to take out Tangleweb. Cham's strong friendship with Lyle is demonstrated with their reunion, and we learn another crucial piece of info - not only does Tangleweb use technology to become stronger, he uses brains to become SMARTER. Leviathan's observation on Tangleweb's intellect was spot on. The reunited team faces a trio of Tanglewebs.

Gim helps convince Andromeda to work past her fears and end the battle quickly. It's a practical move, though I think the writers overplayed the drama; even with Andromeda reduced to a cowering xenophobic mass you still have 7 Legionnaires and a Sci-Cop against 3 Tanglewebs - far better odds than the opening battle.

Scene ends with Cos reminding Lyle that he's leader, but not punishing him because he did save them. I approve; it's clear that Lyle wasn't following because he had vital information or anything like that. Cos also takes time to praise and encourage Gim, who also thanks Laurel. It's a satisfying ending, and as Cos points out there aren't any new stars tonight. All's well, for now.

Next up? Well, we also get a curious scene on Durla, where what appears to be a living fluid creature escapes confinement and attacks some Durlans. Uh oh.

Some thoughts on the individual Legionnaires:

Leviathan starts to mature. He's a lot less cranky this issue, and he actually deals with Andromeda quite well. It's still tough love, but he doesn't demean or bully her but appeals to reason to get her to fight. It's a very positive and welcome change.

Andromeda also comes through by working around her xenophobia to intelligently fly the Tanglewebs into the atmosphere. I'm glad the writers stopped at that; it was realistic and shows Andromeda has the makings of a smart and effective Legionnaire.

Cosmic Boy continues to grow into his leader role fairly well, asserting his authority naturally. The only poor bit was him yelling at Lyle for following them while Tangleweb was approaching, but the way he admonished Lyle while still not punishing him was good.

Lyle himself is a walking contradiction. He's outwardly cocky, but look at his face when Cos talks to him in the last page. He's clearly worried. He's definitely covering up for - for what, really? We only know he's scared this issue but it doesn't tell us much new about him except his cockiness is a facade for... approval seeking maybe?

Chameleon does a good job here, as his intelligence and craftiness shine through. It's good to know that despite his inability to speak Interlac he's just as capable as any other Legionnaire. The scene with him shaking hands with the Spider-people is good; maybe he could be an ambassador.

Spark, Apparition and Kinetix don't get to do too much, but each has her moments. Tinya and Zoe especially make a good pair standing up to Andromeda. I think these two would make good friends and would love to see them in battle together. Spark doesn't shine at all, and it would have been good for either Cos or Gim to admonish her for staying too close to Tangleweb last issue - that's what led to her capture, after all.

This is a solid issue and gives good development to Leviathan, Andromeda and Chameleon. Best of all, it all feels organic rather than forced.

Ibby did such a thorough job of reviewing this issue, I have little else to add. One of the strengths of the story, though, is that it seems both old and fresh at the same time. Some of the themes and actions are very familiar: the creepy aliens who aren't so bad, Laurel as the strongest member who is also a coward, Gim as the guy who's struggling to be a leader. Yet all of this feels natural and authentic, even truthful. I do think Gim comes off as too much of a stereotype. He attacks the spiders, calls Laurel a coward and continues to berate himself for not being a leader. All of this rings truthful, but it's one-dimensional.

in other places, the story succeeds by keeping the focus on the Legionnaires and their interactions. Zoey and Tinya's look of disgust at Laurel at the bottom of Page 17 is priceless (even as rendered by Lee Moder), and Lyle's panic when confronted by Tangleweb seems real. It rounds out his personality: he's bold and cocky, but still a sneaky kid who doesn't want to get "caught." Even Imra blaming Cos for what happened to Lu seems real. She's dealing with her own emotions of being left behind and inability to find the attackers, so she blames the person she can blame. Very human.

(This scene also depicts an ingenious use of her powers--getting inside a victim's mind to see what happened from her perspective. If only modern courts had that ability.)

The plot and the aliens are serviceable, nothing more and nothing less. Ibby pointed out the two main flaws: that Lyle is there only to translate for Cham, and the police officer is there only so Lyle can use his weapon. I'm not bothered by Spark's "lack of development," though. Not every character needs a chance to shine; some can be subordinate to the needs of the plot for awhile.

LSH 68 is indeed a satisfying end to the Tangleweb story, with both Laurel and Gim growing as characters, and the villain who killed James being apprehended without much fanfare. The conclusion hits the right emotional balance.

(Cos's last lines seem oddly prophetic in hindsight, though: "You can rest a little easier, Gim. You and James both.")

Grade: 87.6 (B)

My only issue with nothing being done about Spark is that she was captured for almost the same reason James was killed - she disobeyed orders and stayed too close to Tangleweb. That was reckless and could have gotten her killed. I do like to think that Cos took time to call her out on it offscreen. I think that would be a responsible thing to do.

Gim in some ways is the opposite of Lyle. Gim is an open book; he doesn't really hide his insecurities about being a leader. Lyle keeps it hidden and everybody thinks he's fully confident in himself. I agree with you that both characters (plus Imra) are very human.

More on Imra next issue

Interesting observation. I hadn't thought of them that way before.

I re-read the scene, and I agree with you. Ayla's recklessness here and in No. 64 isn't given any justification, other than the fact that she's Garth's sister and "machismo" seems to run in the family, as Imra observed in 64. But that's a rather lame excuse. Had Ayla been one of those present when James died, I could see her wanting to fry Tangelweb's ass (if spiders have asses), but there's no real set up for her actions here.

In the end, her insubordination didn't matter much since Cos, who was a pretty good distance away from Tangleweb, got slimed first. If Cos upbraids her off-panel, she would be justified, I think, in pointing that out to him. She was not justified in disobeying a direct order, though.

The more I think about Lyle's role in this story, the more it irks me. He made a big to-do out of coming on the mission and even disobeyed a direct order himself, as if he had some secret knowledge about Tangleweb that would make a difference. Yet he contributes nothing to the story that couldn't have been accomplished by any of the other Legionnaires--except that he translates for Cham. If anything, this makes Cos look bad. Why would he take along a teammate who can't speak Interlac? And why didn't Lyle point this out to Cos in 66 without being all cryptic?

Legionnnaires 25

“Skin Deep”

Summary: After Saturn Girl sees the inner workings of a Durlan mind, the Legion gets attacked by a Durlan who imitates all of their powers and has a vendetta against Chameleon.

Review:

It must have been easy to come up with certain story ideas for the reboot Legion. All the writers really had to do was delve into back issues of the preboot for plots and villains and then “update” them for a ‘90s crowd. In this case, they update the Composite Superman, a villain who appeared in World’s Finest and who possessed the powers of the Legionnaires which he gained while working in the Superman Museum, when lightning struck the miniature statues once used to summon Superboy.

In this case, the “Composite Legionnaire” (though he’s not referred to by that name in this story) is a Durlan who has been genetically bred for war by assimilating the powers as well as the appearance of anyone with whom he is in close proximity. The makes him a truly formidable Legion foe as he is able to keep the entire team on its toes, shifting easily from Spark’s electricity to Cos’s magnetism, from Apparition’s phasing to Violet’s shrinking, and then to Brainy’s intellect—the latter ability making him realize that he can take on all the Legionnaires' powers and some of their appearances at once!

Even though very little new ground is covered here, either in terms of the villain or the storyline, what is delivered is expertly done. The story hints at a motivation behind the new Durlan villain, whose warrior caste apparently was at odds with the religious caste (shades of Babylon 5!), to which Cham belongs. So, the villain’s motivation is simple revenge, but it works. He also trumps Cham in being able to assimilate Interlac far faster than the Legionnaire has been shown to do.

The plot flows seamlessly from Saturn Girl’s voyage to the bottom of Reep’s mind to Gim’s visit to the Science Police, where he trades barbs with Shvaughn Erin before being attacked by the Durlan. Watching this on the viewscreen, Cos assembles the entire Legion to deal with the threat—a big mistake, as it turns out, since so many Legionnaires give the Durlan more powers to assimilate. The battle scenes which follow are well choreographed for the most part, though some Legionnaires are simply not shown after the group shots on Page 16, leading me to forget that Brainy and Tinya were even present.

The story feels disjointed, though, particularly in the early parts. The writers try to heighten the drama by creating Marvel-style tension in the ranks, but their efforts are not wholly successful. Saturn Girl muses that “it’s all going wrong,” but this comes across as an overly dramatic interpretation of the past few issues. Imra also feels bad for throwing herself at Cos—a comment which made me think I’d missed an issue until I realized she was referring to their innocent near-kiss a few issues ago.

It’s nice to see a focus on Saturn Girl, but not when she comes off as a drama queen.

Likewise, Imra’s attempt to communicate with Cham’s mind goes on too long and pads the story—which leaves us with an ending that feels like very little has been accomplished. Unlike in previous issues where the plot development has been so tight that the cliffhangers seem natural, this one is too abrupt. It reads like a lot of the old-style Marvel comics of the ‘60s and ‘70s in which very little actually happened in the story.

Legionnaires 25 provides us with a successful update of an old character in a partially successful story that I almost want to grade as “Incomplete.”

Grade: 79.2 (C+)

You make good points here which I agree with. Lyle could have saved himself a lot of trouble just by raising the "Chameleon can't speak Interlac" issue. Same for Ayla's disobeying a direct order; one could argue that she wouldn't have been slimed by Tangleweb if she had kept her distance and that it was just luck she wasn't killed like James was. I think it ties into your observations on issue 67 that many Legionnaires acted like spoiled brats.

It's so easy to forget that they really are just teens because they are being given a lot of responsibility. It's realistic for them to act like brats from time to time. At the same time it's scary that we don't see any adults advising them or giving guidance.

It's also strange that the UP standard age of majority for most UP worlds (as was revealed in LSH 64) is 14. That's a pretty low age, especially compared to the present "real world". We don't see any justifications for why such a low age was chosen. Chu's line in Legionnaires 19 is telling - "But to give police powers to civilians - TEENAGERS, even!" I'm almost surprised that Chu or Winema Wazzo hasn't already pushed for a full-time adult supervisor for the team; though I can see why - from a storytelling standpoint it's an unnecessary complication that would make the writers' jobs a lot harder.

Thanks for a thorough review of Legionnaires 25, HWW! Issue information



Imra IS a big drama queen here. I wonder, was she so shaken up by going into Cham's mind? Though she also says, "half the team feels useless" - if it had been a reference to Cos splitting the team for the Tangleweb mission, the writers should have made it clear. Or was she so upset at being left behind that she is projecting her feelings of uselessness onto the others? Or are the writers trying to show us the dangers and drawbacks of being a telepath - Imra's open mind is making her feel the negative feelings of the rest of the team?

I think one reason the story appeared so disjointed was the large number of subplots either introduced or developed. In short order, we have a new secret admirer for Spark; Apparition feeling heartbroken over Ultra Boy despite him not even being mentioned for FOUR issues; and Violet approaching (She's so shy I almost hesitate to say confronting!) Andromeda about the thugs. The Spark and Violet subplots are handled well but the Apparition/Ultra Boy one seems abrupt (much like her sudden argument with her mother in LSH 64!).

After rereading, I find the Leviathan-Shvaughn argument an okay scene. Yes, both of them are being a little bit petty, but it's a reflection of the Science Police's attitude towards the Legion and it didn't get out of hand. Odd that Cos and Shvaughn saw through Composite Durlan's first Sci-Cop disguise, but only Cham saw through the second one - I guess Comp Durlan learned from his first mistake.

I agree that the battle scenes were done pretty well (though Comp Durlan loses points from me for not seeing the utility of Zoe's powers! shame!). I love how the Legion ladies are shown in action - Zoe, Vi, Ayla, and even Andromeda's warning to Cos. I give silent thanks that Triad wasn't present - imagine fighting THREE Composite Durlans! Seems like the writers anticipated that and planned accordingly.

Also interesting that Cham knows what "the bodies" in his mind were. Does he consciously analyze these templates? He might, because he instantly knew what Imra (through interpreter Lyle) was describing.

Legion of Super-heroes 69
Absolute Power
Issue information

Summary:

The battle against the Composite Durlan (C.D.) continues. He reveals that Cham's from the royal lineage of spiritual leaders; and that they kept C.D. and two others like him imprisoned despite them being genetically engineered to be able to copy powers.

The Legion tries, and fails, to use Cham's knowledge to stop the C.D., necessitating Saturn Girl's telepathic intervention. She manages to render him catatonic - at the cost of her own mind.

Thoughts:

The battle continues to flow naturally, and nearly everyone gets something to do. I'm particularly pleased with the good use of XS and Kinetix.

Zoe's caring and "big sisterly" nature is further highlighted here, and it fits in well with her encouragement of Vi and Gim in past issues. She's the one who tells Cham to keep his head in the game, and she's the one you see trying to reach out and stop Imra from entering C.D's mind. Zoe's power levels are also impressive - she (and Cos) were able to stall the C.D. long enough for some important background. Said exposition was also delivered in a way that fit the flow of the story.

XS has grown as well; you can see she's scared, but she barely hesitates to place herself in almost certain danger to save Cham and innocent bystanders, and to buy her teammates time. I love the panel of her telling herself NOT to think so she won't spoil the plan. I also like how the writers referenced her crush on Cos without making it feel out of place. Hey, she thought she was going to die!

It was also nice seeing Brainy and Lyle working together to mix up the chemicals to stop the C.D. Love the contrast between Lyle's greater tactical ability and Brainy's greater analytic ability. Lyle's mistake in translation was believable, and kept the momentum of the fight going. Because of it, I almost didn't notice how abrupt Imra's sudden burst of courage was. We go from her adamantly refusing to enter C.D.'s mind - and lashing out at Cosmic Boy to cover up her own fear - to jumping right in and shutting C.D. down despite the obvious fear and danger it is putting her in. That last page of a catatonic Imra is made all the more powerful because of her heroism.

Let's not forget how heroic Chameleon is as well. He staves off the grief over his father's death to focus on shutting down C.D. He also bravely puts himself in danger and helps keep bystanders out of it.

Cosmic Boy does a good job leading the team this issue. It's good to see him take to leadership so well.

Now let's go to C.D.s motivation. It shows that the 30th century isn't quite as shiny and bright as we thought; much like with the oppression of Carggites with differences, the C.D.s are punished simply for being. They had absolutely no control over their creation. His hatred is understandable (though I wonder why he didn't free the two other C.D.s? but from a storytelling standpoint that would have been undesirable as well - no way the Legion could have dealt with three C.D.s at once).

The art has improved; Lee Moder and Ron Boyd make a good combination. The Legionnaires are a lot less angular and it's easy to follow the action.

All in all, this is a good issue. The action is solid and flows naturally; good character bits are mixed in throughout without slowing the story's pacing; and nothing is shoehorned in. This is much, much better than the first part of the story.

Good point about the subplots, which I forgot to touch on my review. Not only are there too many subplots, but none of them seem to work very well. Ayla's secret admirer comes out of left field. While it's one of those developments one might expect in a comic aimed at kids, it comes across as sudden and pointless. Tinya's infatuation with Jo, which, as you mentioned, hasn't been touched on in awhile, is also poorly handled. Suddenly, he's sending her gifts and she's ready to write off boys altogether. It really does feel like we've missed an issue.

Vi is a character of contradictions at this point. We're told she's shy, but we have very little evidence of this, other than that her speech is presented in a smaller font, indicating, I suppose, that she speaks quietly. But she barges into the xenophobes' lair two issues ago and confronts (yes, I would use that word) Andromeda in this issue. The latter choice is hard to understand--why not bring her concerns to Cos instead of to Laurel, whom she barely knows and has little reason to trust?

Predictably, the confrontation goes badly, but it does afford the readers a chance to see that Laurel is hurt by those words and perhaps feels guilty.

As for Vi, we simply don't know enough about her to know why she does what she does.

Good point on Laurel's reaction! I think it ties into her portrayal in recent issues - yes she is xenophobic and racist, but she doesn't hate them, at least not enough to violate their basic right of safety. She does care about doing a good job as a Legionnaire.

As for Vi, you are right. Does she go to Andromeda because she wants to reach out and befriend her? Or simply because she wants to give Andromeda a chance to air her side out first? I do think her characterization is consistent with her LSH 66 and Legionnaires 23 depictions: she had a lot of fire and competence in combat, but has trouble interacting with others socially.

Legion of Super-Heroes Annual 6
Deep Background
Issue Information

Summary:

Shvaughn Erin is appointed Legion Liaison Officer. She gets teased mercilessly by her fellow Science Police officers. Though she is upset, she is a professional; she goes through the Legion's files, and digs deepet into the origins of XS, Kinetix and Leviathan. At first, she skips over Leviathan's file; like most Science Police, Shvaughn believes the Legionnaires are incompetent glory hogs, and thinks Leviathan betrayed the ideals of the Science Police to join the Legion.

XS: Running Scared reveals that XS is indeed part of the Flash family; she's the daughter of Dawn Allen and granddaughter of Barry Allen. In this reality, XS' mother Dawn and her uncle Don went into action to rescue Dominator captives, but were themselves slain. The news made it to Earthgov; to protect the family, grandma Iris took Bart (who manifested speed powers) into the past (though XS didn't know about it, just that they were safe). XS' dad took her to his homeworld, Aarok, where they could hide from the UP... but not from the Dominators.

Her powers manifest themselves when she sees Dominators torturing her father. It takes time, but eventually the stress of watching her dad be tortured gets to here. She runs out and saves him, and stray Dominator shots blow up the lab they were in.

XS' dad is worried that her powers will put her in harm's way (we know they have!), but XS is determined to make it right.

Shvaughn is impressed, and continues.

Kinetix: From Dawn to Darkness tells us that Kinetix's obsession with power stems from the feelings of perfection and usefulness that using said power gives her. Sadly, her quest for more power leads her to losing hers!

We open with a scene from Kinetix's dream journal, where she uses a lot of flowery words to talk about her love for power. "I'm not a person anymore, but a personification, a presence... a visitation. .." "I'm too powerful, too pure to allow such suffering to exist..." Whoa, girl! She uses her powers to make plants grow, turning a barren area into a paradise. Whew. So that's why she's not satisfied with what she has now.... She wants to be ablde to do that!

We find her and Violet on an archeological dig. Zoe gushes about power, and Vi calls her out on it. Zoe is taken aback, and talks about her origin. Her mom was an archeologist, and Zoe always felt useless hanging around digs and being unable to help. One day, her mom fell ill from poison gas, and nothing could heal her. But Zoe taught herself a magical spell from an old book, and used the Moon of Koll to heal her mother. "It could transform a drop of love into a wellspring of health, once in a lifetime..." Zoe succeeded, despite her mother's fears and her brother Thanot's skepticism. It's telling how, when Zoe's family is hugging, Zoe kept looking at the Moon of Koll. The feeling of "being useful" made her throw herself into her mom's work so she could find more power... which she did, through an energy-pool on Titan. She absorbed it and gained her amazing telekinetic abilities. But Zoe still says it wasn't enough, not when there's so much more. Violet finds the Star of Akkos hidden in the ground. In her rush, Zoe digs it up - almost burying Vi, who calls her out on it again. Zoe barely hears as she holds the Star... which charges her up.... and makes her lose her powers! Violet comforts her as Zoe stares forlornly, saying that she just wanted the power to end suffering and to feel "perfected".

Shvaughn sympathizes and continues. She reads through the remaining Legionnaire bios, files on RJ Brande, stargates, the Legion HQ and staff (interestingly, Marla is described as the team's advisor and Brande Industries liaison (his primary assignment now!), while Tenzil is described as non-officially acting as Legion counselor. The Athramites are aesthetic designers and maintenance coordinators. We get a map of Legion HQ, descrpitions of the Legion cruisers, telepathic earplugs, transuits, utility belts, and a brief history of the United Planets including a list of member worlds (though the writers built in an out, saying the UP is currently expanding).

Finally, Shvaughn has only one file left...

Leviathan: Greater Good shows Gim choosing to leave the Science Police for the Legion because his commanding officer was just using his him to further his career. He believes the Legion will enable him to do more good.

We flash back to the day Gim was drafted. He lashes out at his Science Police colleagues for teasing him; he is focused on building a career in the Science Police. Chief Wilson, Gim's commander, refuses to let him go. Gigi Cusimano, Gim's close friend, tells Gim to be wary of Wilson using Gim to further HIS own career. Gim reflects; he does see the appeal in joining the Legion as a force for good, but has always wanted to be in the Science Police. Gim gained his powers from a meteoroid crashing near him.

They are called away to deal with a terrorist situation. Racists are threatening to blow up some alien hostages. Roon Dvron makes an appearance. Gim has a plan, but Chief Wilson (that idiot) strolls right in and takes charge, refusing to risk Gim as "Gim is his ticket to fame". Two Science Police officers go up, and one is killed by the terrorists. Wilson STILL refuses to let Gim go, at which point Gim defies orders, grows to giant size and takes out the terrorists with one slap of his hand.

Gigi is upset at first, worried that Gim has outgrown their friendship. Gim reassures her that is not the case, but that Wilson's actions have shown him that he needs to serve the greater good. Gigi says she will stay in the Science Police and help expose Wilson for the gloryhound that he is.

Their stories, and their "unswerving belief in something more important than themselves', inspire Shvaughn so much that she does a total 180. She digs into all the Legion's files, reading up on all their adventures. She becomes convinced that the Legionnaires all truly believe in their mission - something that is more important than themselves. She tells off a colleague teasing her, by introducing herself as "Liaison Lass, with the powwer to super-liaise. My weakness is creeps who don't want to liaise and therefore won't talk or listen. Since my power is useless in combat, I would be lucky to even become a Reservist. But if that day comes, I will be proud to be a Legionnaire."

Thoughts:

The opening scene reminds us that the Legion has a long way to go to prove themselves to everyone. It does make a good framing sequence for the story though, and sets Shvaughn up to become a more prominent supporting character.

The one-page bios are nice and informative. The highlight of the issue, of course, are the origin stories. It's no surprise that the two Legionnaires who were created in the Postboot, XS and Kinetix, get two of the spotlight stories.

XS' origin is a nice way to tie the Legion into the 20th century DC Universe without making these ties too restrictive. The only requirement for her origin to hold up is for Barry and Iris Allen to raise a family in the 30th century. It's a pleasant story, but is very much standard superhero fare: the hero is normal, then her powers are triggered by seeing someone important be placed in harm's way. It reveals her past but doesn't really reveal anything new about her personality. If anything, she seems more confident and competent in this story than she was in LSH 62 or Legionnaires 19. We do understand her motivations for being a Legionnaire better though - she wants to make her family proud.

I've written about Kinetix's origin and powerlust elsewhere, and my opinions stand upon rereading. Zoe loves using her powers because it makes her feel useful and "perfected"; while she tells Violet her origin she refers to herself as "useless" at least thrice. It doesn't seem as though her mother neglected her, so maybe Zoe just wanted to be useful as a way to repay her. Now we understand why she craves power; it completes her. She has a very deep need for self-validation, and the story shows how addicting power can be - you see it when Violet finds the Star of Akkos, and Zoe recklessly retrieves it without regard for Violet's safety. Now the big question is - where to next? The writers didn't g to all this trouble to create a Legionnaire and strip her of her powers just as a cautionary tale.

By the way, I love the gorgeous Alan Davis/Mark Farmer art in this story.

Violet is put to good use as well. Besides moving the plot along, we see more and more that she isn't exactly shy. She doesn't hesitate to question Zoe's need for power, or to call Zoe out for being reckless. In contrast to Zoe's need for self-validation, Violet displays a sort of inner strength. She really is an odd one.

We get some informative text pieces, though the stories so far haven't yet demonstrated some of what we read. Marla Latham's primary assignment is as advisor to the Legionnaires, though I only remember seeing him in that capacity in LSH 66. Tenzil is a non-official counselor to the team, which makes some sense as he is their age. And we know RJ Brande's past is mysterious, though his "uncle-ly" manner certainly doesn't make him seem mysterious.

I'm sure many fans were thrilled to see a lot of familiar worlds on the list of UP members - besides homeworlds of introduced characters, we have Kathoon, Lallor, Lythyl, Manna-5, Myar, Naltor, Phlon, Rann, Schwar, Taltar, Tharr, Vengar (a misspelled Venegar?) and Zuun. Many Substitute Hero homeworlds on this list!

We move on to Gim's origin. He's hotheaded as ever and blows his top at a little teasing. I can give him a pass though, as he's confused by the (apparently recent) emergence of his powers and the two career options presented to him. He displays the same tactical thinking and regard for the good of many that we've seen him do in recent issues. Having Chief Wilson be a dirty gloryhound gives Gim an easy choice; he won't be able to do much good under the Chief's thumb so joining the Legion is the logical step.

His friendship with Gigi is used to help him verbalize his inner conflict, and is also a good way to show that his new powers have changed things for him. It's odd that they would send Gigi all the way to Earth just to recruit Lyle; we already know there are plenty of SciCops on Earth. I guess it's as good a way as any to get her on Earth too, but she hasn't appeared since Legionnaires 0 either.

All in all this issue served its purpose - it gave us a lot of information on the Legionnaires and their immediate universe. It added new dimensions to 3 Legionnaires and set up future storylines for Kinetix. It was a pleasant enough read, even for readers who aren't big fans of XS, Kinetix or Leviathan.

Like Ibby, I was impressed with the non-stop action, which flows logically from one scene to the next and is well paced, allowing for a few natural pauses (such as Brainy and Lyle arguing before getting zapped, Laurel tossing the police cruiser away, and Imra and Rokk sniping at each other). Even though the tension escalates, the story does not feel rushed. Rather, it moves along a natural curve towards its inevitable climax.

So many things work well in this tale. Cham’s inability to speak Interlac actually serves the story as we can see he’s upset in his fight with the Composite Durlan, but we don’t know why until Lyle translates. These scenes build tension and keep the reader hooked.

Speaking of tension, Cos and Imra really go at each other here. The events of the last few issues seem to weigh on Cos, and he acts as if he feels personally betrayed by Imra’s failure to support him when he divided the team. There may also be some confusing feelings between them over their near kiss. Whatever the motivation, these are the two founders left, and their division does not bode well for the team.

As for Saturn Girl, I was puzzled why she offered to “warn Andromeda further away” when we were led to believe that the latter was already out of the Composite Man’s scanning range. It’s clear, though, that Imra is trying to dodge Cos’s order to link with the Composite Man’s mind. Imra is very willful in these scenes, and I have to remind myself that this is not the Imra I knew of the preboot. It’s difficult to imagine the original Saturn Girl disobeying an order or shying away from telepathically monitoring a villain, but this Imra is a different character with a whole different set of emerging motivations. Her refusal to link minds with the Durlan seems as real as Lyle and Brainy’s miscalculation.

But ultimately the solution does come down to Imra, who must face her deepest fears in order to stop the villain. I admire how the resolution of the story tied back into and grew out of her visit to Cham’s mind last issue. This is a very natural and sneaky way of plotting a story, as the earlier scene seemed almost a throwaway that could have been left out of the story. Instead, it foreshadows the tale’s ending.

There are only two things that ruined this story for me. One is the Moder/Boyd art. Ibby makes a good point that parts of it feel more natural, yet other parts seem rushed and as if drawn by the proverbial sixth grader. Look at Lyle and Brainy on Page 2, Panel 2: they are humungous heads atop underdeveloped bodies. Look at Imra at the top of Page 9: her expression of fear looks forced and amateurish.

Yet such flaws are offset by the layouts, which continue to be innovative and fluid. Laurel’s confrontation with the SP craft on Page 4 is handled in a series of panels which look like shards against a white background with a black stripe. And the two-panel sequence of XS and the Composite Man zooming across the façade of the building on Page 17 features an impressive use of angles to convey motion. So, the art remains a mixed bag for me.

As for the other thing that ruined the story for me . . . by now, I’m well used to the cliffhangers, but they seem to be getting more and more outlandish. Each issue tries to top the previous one by raising the stakes a little higher. This issue’s cliffhanger features a drooling, straightjacketed Imra, rendered catatonic by her costly victory over the Durlan. It’s almost as if the writers didn’t have the confidence to end the story on a positive note or at least a less devastating one. Worse, the book is starting to feel like Lost in Space, the ‘60s children’s sci fi show in which every episode for the first two seasons ended with a cliffhanger.

The two Legion books remain an engaging read. However, if I had picked up these issues off the stands in 1994-95, instead of buying back issues several years later, I might have checked out at this point. The writers don’t seem to have enough confidence in their story or in me as a reader to avoid such cheap ploys.

Grade: 80.0 (B-)

That's a good point which I didn't pick up on. I had attributed Imra's sniping to her earlier failure with Cham and fear of peeking into C.D.'s mind. I failed to factor in that the kiss and the unspoken feelings behind it may have played a part.



I have to agree with you there. Not only do the stories end with so many cliffhangers, but we're seeing the team get slowly broken down instead of being built up. In about half a dozen issues we have:

- Triad nearly beaten to death
- a catatonic Imra
- a depowered Zoe (in the very next issue!)
- an orphaned Chameleon

That's 4/13 Legionnaires, and of course we also have founder Live Wire getting booted off the team a few issues earlier.

I didn't originally read these issues chronologically, as I started a couple years down the road and slowly pieced together my collection of back issues. Had I started from the beginning I would probably have been upset. Why introduce so many new Legionnaires so quickly, only to heap such tragedy upon them?

These statements pretty much sum up my thoughts on Annual 6, as well. It's one of those necessary evils in comics--a special edition that doesn't really tell us a whole lot but encapsulates a lot of information for new fans and old alike. The one-page "bios," for example, tell us nothing new, unless fans are dying to know each Legionnaire's height, weight, and eye color.

The various text features do what they are meant to do, though I felt somewhat cheated by the unattractive design of the cutaway diagram of Legion headquarters. But then I grew up with the diagram of the '70s headquarters, first published in one of the tabloid editions. That diagram included color and panels from actual stories to show where they "took place" in the headquarters. A lot more imagination went into that diagram than in this abstract model.

As for the stories themselves, I prefer Kinetix’s the most because she was an unknown factor at this point and pretty much anything could be done with her. Some have theorized that the creators planned to turn her, not Vi, into the Emerald Empress, and the seeds of such corruption are clearly planted here. Zoe is not only power hungry but also full of self-deception. Even at the end, she professes that she did nothing wrong.

(The story is also good for confirming her friendship with Violet, hinted at in the regular series. Clear contrasts are drawn between their personalities as “Shy Vi” does indeed emerge as the stronger of the two.)

Jenni’s and Gim’s stories do what they are meant to do, but little else. Jenni’s confident personality certainly seems at odds with her depiction in the early issues of the reboot. I can buy it that her power emerged under duress of seeing her father tortured, but she never expresses alarm or uncertainty in what to do next. She whizzes past the Dominators and rescues her father as if she’d been super-heroing her entire life.

Gim’s tale gives him an outwardly despicable antagonist in Chief Wilson, which provides Gim with an easy choice to make at the end. There is no growth in his character, and we learn nothing new about him—except that he is very thin-skinned about being teased by his sci cop colleagues.

I did enjoy the banter between Shvaughn and the other sci cops. This seems very real to me, as does the territorialism displayed by the sci cops in the series so far. My brother is a police officer, and I’ve witnessed many of the same behaviors in him and his colleagues. Some of it is just well-meaning banter and some of it reflects a deep commitment to the job and to others who wear the same uniform. No police officer anywhere, I imagine, would appreciate kids coming out of nowhere and telling them how to do their job, as Cos and certain other Legionnaires have done.

As for Annual #6, it has little to recommend it. For completists only.

Grade: 65.0 (D)

Annual 6 used to be one of my favorites, but after rereading it (and seeing that your opinions are pretty much the same as mine!) I agree that story-wise it doesn't do much. Much of the art isn't particularly good either (though I love the beautiful art in the Kinetix story).

However, if I had to I would still buy it all over again if only for the Kinetix story. As HWW says, it's the only one of the three which really reveals new layers about its subject. Zoe's story is very poignant and showed her vulnerabilities very well. Besides sowing the seeds of corruption, it also sows the seeds for a future heroic arc where Zoe must wrestle with her need for power.

I've often posited that Vi's later seduction by the Eye was because Violet was stronger (indeed, that was the focus of my fanfic on Vi). Whereas both Vi and Kinetix liked using the Eye's power, Vi didn't need it to feel good about herself. Kinetix did.

By the way, HWW, there are two stories in the Showcase series which take place at around this point in time. One of them features Andromeda and Apparition and should probably have been placed before Legionnaires 25, though it shouldn't make a difference to our review thread.

I don't have the Showcase stories, Ibby; however, feel free to review them.

You make a good point about the value of the Kinetix story. However, given that this was an eight-page story in an annual priced at $3.95 (in 1995 dollars), I would not have considered it worth the effort or expense.

Thanks HWW. I will prioritize the main series stories though. I am really enjoying reviewing all these with you!

Re the Kinetix story, I admit I may be biased considering Kinetix is my favorite Legionnaire XS is a favorite too though, but her story is certainly not as insightful as Zoe's is.

Showcase '95 #6
The Alienation of Unification
Issue information

Summary:

Apparition and Andromeda escort three students to the new Legion Academy: Tomb, who can control bodily functions; Cannus, a canine tracker; and arrogant Brawler, who is tough and can mind-mesh with machinery. Andromeda and the three students hate each other, but are forced to work together when their ship is hijacked.

Thoughts:

The story by Beau Smith is generic and bland; it's nice enough but I never find myself getting excited.

Even fans of Apparition or Andromeda won't mind skipping this issue, as we learn almost nothing new about them. The action is generic and virtually no character development occurs. Even their personalities don't match what we've seen in the main series: Apparition plays a leader role but loses almost all of her sarcasm and "fire", while Andromeda's demonstrated aggression towards the three students could be chalked up to annoyance and irritation rather than her xenophobia.

None of the three students is particularly interesting. Brawler acts like your typical arrogant jock, and Cannus contributes nothing to the story besides punching some bad guys (there was really no reason to make him a tracker or a canine). Tomb is the most interesting; his power is very formidable. He's also silent and the only hints of personality we get are that he has some sense of humor (laughing at Brawler getting shot down by Andromeda) and apparently isn't afraid to kill (though nobody dies). We're not given a good reason for why Brawler and Tomb, despite their good powers, are not considered Legion material. Is Tomb's power too lethal or scary? But what about telepathic Saturn Girl or shapeshifting Chameleon? Is Brawler too arrogant? Then why is xenophobic Andromeda a Legionnaire? Perhaps the reason is politics, but it would have been nice to say so.

The story is generic: Andromeda, Brawler, Cannus and Tomb dislike each other. Apparition is the voice of reason, but has to leave to infiltrate the enemy ship. Andromeda and the students work together out of necessity, and not because of any deep realizations. They certainly don't end the story as friends - or even as a team, despite what Apparition says.

The art (Mike Huddleston - pencils, and Jim Mahfood - inker) is good; cocky Brawler and aggressive Andromeda in particular are drawn well. There's a lot of shading though, which gives it a very "bleak space" feel and the characters look much older than teenagers.

This story is fun enough, but is definitely for completists only.

Showcase '95 #6
Learning Curve
Issue information

Summary:

Hard-headed, violent and rebellious Science Police Officer Sybelle Deacon has been placed under the supervision of Gigi Cusimano and Shvaughn Erin as a last resort - either she begins to fall in line or she will be discharged. Along with Leviathan, the four investigate a robbery. The day is saved thanks to a combination of Sybelle's unorthodox tactics, Leviathan's powers and teamwork from Shvaughn and Gigi.

Thoughts:

Here's another story that tries to teach a lesson, and the delivery is pretty rough. Sybelle Deacon is the one who notices that the dragon-creatures they're fighting are being controlled. She then defies orders and goes after the crooks without backup, but is saved only because Leviathan, Shvaughn and Gigi work together to track her and surround the enemy. It would have worked decently if not for the fact that Leviathan himself countermands Gigi's orders twice; Gigi and Leviathan wrangle over who has jurisdiction over the scene; and Shvaughn herself can barely stand working with Leviathan. (Which is a pretty big continuity error - Shvaughn expresses dislike not only towards Gim but to the whole Legion, when she is already Legion liaison; but LSH Annual 6 clearly shows her gaining respect for the Legion immediately after getting the assignment). Although they are certainly a lot less brutal than Sybelle, their behavior isn't all that far from Sybelle's contempt for authority. Yes, Gim, Gigi and Shvaughn do work together in the end but they give each other a rough time doing it. Gigi's supposed to be the voice of reason, but she's undermined because the writers have Leviathan go against her orders - and be right doing so!

The art is okay, but Leviathan is toothy and grimaces a lot. There are times when the transition between panels isn't clear, and the action can be hard to follow.

Again, an okay story but unless you're a big Gigi Cusimano fan I'd give it a pass.

Sounds like I didn't miss much by not having those issues.

I enjoy doing the reviews, too, Ibby. I wish more people would participate, though. It's starting to look like the Ibby & Huey Show.

I'll get to the main series again soon, hopefully tonight I just did these two since they're relatively short - and the upcoming developments with Andromeda made me think it was best to sneak in this inconsequential story right now.

I spoke to Blacula about it on the Legion Trivia thread, and he said he's holding off on rereading because he plans to do one big reread soon.

As for Reboot, he's just busy right now but has expressed interest in reviewing too.

Maybe instead a review of each issue, do it arcs. Sometimes a single issue is blah but taken in a whole story arc it makes sense. For example: right now I'm on the Dark Circle arc.

I thought of that and had suggested it to Reboot, and it makes sense considering that the Postboot era has fewer stand-alone issues. My concern is that it would take a very long amount of time per arc - perhaps we can continue to do single-issue reviews, and those of us who prefer to do arc reviews (like you) can chime in when HWW and I have covered the last issue of an arc?

What do you think, WangLung?

I'd love to participate in this thread but like IB said, once I've picked up the comics I have stored at my brother's place in America later in the year, I plan on doing a MAMMOTH re-read of my entire DC comics collection in chronological order, and I'll get to the Reboot Legion toward the latter part of that.

I plan on posting my thoughts as I go through it so hopefully some of you will still be interested enough to talk about these issues again then.

Oh, definitely. Just post as you get to the issue. I know I'll be chiming in.

Wonderful idea, WangLung.

One advantage to reviewing individual issues is that I get to see how they stand up on their own and to grade them as such. I've always believed that each issue should stand on its own merits, even when it's part of a larger whole. When you have to wait a month between issues and each issue, at that time, cost $1.75, the investment better be worth it. However, there is a lot of merit to reviewing story arcs, and there's no reason you or others can't do so.

I don't even think you need to wait until the arc is completely reviewed. Go ahead and jump in when you think it's appropriate to do so.

Unfortunately I just don't have the time for writing like that. As it is I'm reading this when I should be working lol.

You could always jump in and comment on entire arcs as a whole

And lately I've been having trouble finding the time too. Lately I've been working overtime 3/5 days a week I'm only up now because I fell asleep on the couch when I got home!

You don't need to write in-depth reviews. I do so just because I'm anal in that way.

But any comments and/or interaction is always appreciated.

I almost need to go back because I'm a bit ahead right now. Sometimes I start reading and I can't stop lol.

You don't even need to comment on specific story arcs. Just jump in with any general observations, even if they're not directly picking up on anything we've written.

I thought I commented yesterday but apparently not! Mysterious! I really enjoy reading these reviews, thanks y'all!

I usually stay lurky in the background because it's been so long since I read these issues that I can't remember a lot of the individual details....it is fun seeing stuff brought up & being reminded of bits and pieces though!

Legionnaires 26

“Authority”

Summary:

Saturn Girl gets some unexpected help from a former mentor. Apparition meets up with Ultra Boy and accompanies Workforce on a mission in which they learn some (more) unsavory things about McCauley.

Review:

I want to be charitable towards this issue because it develops some of the ongoing subplots and has a few memorable twists and turns. However, one of the two major plot lines reads like an idiot plot—a plot which would end very quickly if the characters stopped acting like idiots.

The chief idiot this time is Aven, Saturn Girl’s former teacher on Titan. Having learned of his pupil’s catatonia, he travels to earth to cure her with his own formidable mental powers. Unfortunately, Aven doesn’t bother to announce what he’s doing. He simply performs some Jedi mind tricks to get others out of his way and reveals who he is only after Cosmic Boy interrupts his mental ministrations.

This kind of set-up creates a lot of false and unnecessary drama. If Aven had stopped acting like a jerk, much of the plot development could have been avoided—and the story would have been better for it. Imagine Aven reaching out to the Legionnaires first, and them inviting him to earth to help Saturn Girl. We could have gotten into the meat of the story much quicker. Complications could even have been introduced if Aven’s mental “operation” turned out to be as unsuccessful as it is here—with Saturn Girl waking up but being able to repeat only one sentence (“Hello, Cosmic Boy.”).

One might suppose that Aven's behavior was influenced by the UP-wide distrust of telepaths, but this long-dormant plotline is not mentioned here. Instead, Aven behaves like a bad guy in order to build tension in the story. The tension, however, is artificial; as a reader, I felt I was being talked down to, which goes back to my earlier theory that the creators of the reboot were targeting very young children who might find such story telling techniques fresh.

The other main plot is more successful. Tinya, thoroughly smitten with Jo, is annoyed with him for being late, yet she instantly forgives him. Jo plays the typical dunderheaded teenaged boy who doesn’t realize the girl he likes might have preferred roses to a cactus (a cactus?). Perhaps on Rimbor a cactus is considered romantic. In any case, their date is interrupted by McCauley, who sends Jo on a mission and invites Tinya along so she can see how “professionals” handle super-heroing. Tinya accepts, affording her a brief reunion with Garth and a chance to tease Jo over his casual relationship with Spider-Girl.

More importantly, the Workforce tackles a group of White Triangle racists who reveal that McCauley is their former business partner. It seems that McCauley doesn’t care who he sells arms to. Showing they have more integrity than he does, the thieves are willing to die to prevent McCauley's arms from getting into the hands of races they deem inferior. Only quick actions from Karate Kid, Jo, and Garth prevent “the entire region” from being destroyed by a glowing globe of hazardous waste.

This sequence brilliantly shows the contrast between the Legion and Workforce. One team has dedicated itself to idealistic purposes; the other doesn’t care about McCauley’s double-dipping business practices as long as they get paid. Tinya loses her respect for the Workforce, including Jo. Garth, at least, has the sense to quit.

So, Legionnaires 26 is a mixed bag for me. Both plot lines are well intentioned and flesh out our understanding of the Legion’s universe. Only one, however, is delivered in an authentic and convincing manner.

Grade: 84.2 (B)

I'm not sure I would expect someone with Aven's particular power and position to have social skills or recognize authority. I've certainly seen people with less power, act similarly. I almost think that had to be part of the story.


As I recall, the storyline follows up on this reasonably well.

I found both storylines convincing. The art isn't much to my liking and I didn't care for many of the long range plots and that's why I rarely get back to these issues but there are some one or two issues plots/stories and characterizations that I strangely count in my favorite all time.

Issue information for Legionnaires 26



Aven's characterization is consistent - future issues (LSH 80, Legionnaires 38 and 57) will show him doing much the same, and Legionnaires 57 will also flesh out his background and give some insight into why he acts that way.

I agree with BB here, that it felt natural for Aven to act that way. None of the Legionnaires are telepaths so he probably assumed that none of them would be able to help much.

What I do want to know is - did Cosmic Boy's interruption do more harm than good? If he hadn't intervened, would Aven have been able to fully heal Imra? Somehow I doubt; Aven's expression of - shame? regret? - in that page shows it, and he would have told Cos outright if his interference had been the cause.





This is consistent with his indirect role in Angtu's destruction.



It's a shame, as the Workforce members (in this issue, Karate Kid, Ultra Boy and Inferno at least!) show they are decently competent.

Subplots and other developments:

The list of recent tragedies IS pretty long: an injured Triad, a catatonic Saturn Girl, an orphaned Chameleon, a missing Andromeda, and now a depowered Kinetix. Whew.

Spark's secret admirer strikes again. The suspects are few: assuming it's a male Legionnaire, we only have five. Cosmic Boy and Leviathan are too direct (and are more interested in Imra and Zoe, respectively) while Brainiac 5 is too oblivious. So, Invisible Kid or Chameleon? Both of them are on Durla now, but they COULD have planted the gift before leaving.

Spark does well standing up to Winema Wazzo. Good for her. As for Winema, well... she is who she is.

The one-pager with Lyle and Cham is confusing, and the art and lack of translation don't make it any clearer. Is Cham thinking of leaving the Legion? Does he know have new duties on Durla? It's too cryptic.

Cosmic Boy does well trying to convince Chu to let Kinetix leave the team. It makes sense, and Zoe's presence (and lack of protest) mean he discussed it with her beforehand. Chu's priorities are not in the right place, as she places politics before Zoe's safety.

Legion of Super-Heroes 70
Beyond Belief
Issue information

Summary:

Andromeda is suffering from deadly lead poisoning, and Brainiac 5 is the only one who can help her. Will Andromeda's xenophobia make it an impossible task?

Also, Violet discovers something chilling about Andromeda.

Thoughts:


My first impression for this issue was that Jason Armstrong's art is hideous. The characters' faces have no symmetry. One good thing I can say is that he does facial expressions well, as evidenced by the roll call page. But the interiors are a shame, especially in contrast to the gorgeous Alan Davis/Mark Farmer cover.

On to the story. The Andromeda/Brainiac 5 dynamic works very well; you have a xenophobe who believes her race is superior, and a highly intelligent man with a superiority complex of his own. "Someone of your intellect lacking faith in my prowess is akin to a dog lacking faith in its master." Ooh. Fighting words.

Andromeda herself is interesting: she whispers she's scared but won't admit it to Brainy; she apologizes to him in the end but only because he proved that he isn't truly inferior; she swears she's angry at the thugs for defying her but perhaps, just perhaps, she does care enough about Triad that she doesn't want her to die. And when Brainy shows his own contempt for Daxamites, of course she can't help but react - she was raised to believe they are the superior race, after all.

Andy won't be able to rest for long though. Andy's White Triangle connections are outed both to the Legion and to the readers. Her guilt is clear; she herself admits she knows the White Triangle faction is actively working to destroy the UP.

Violet, on a lesser scale, is also (at first glance) a creature of contradictions. She's bothered by Andromeda's thoughts towards her, but once she finds something that points to Andy's guilt she doesn't hesitate to share it (rather dramatically) with the rest of the team. I DO find the circumstances behind her finding Andy's necklace a bit too convenient (She acknowledges she doesn't know Andy well, but thinks Andy will appreciate her cleaning up her room. and she knows she shouldn't snoop, but she still moves things around...?) I think her actions do make sense though. She's obviously more loyal to the team than to Andromeda.

Let's talk about Daxam as well. Having the White Triangle be social outcasts, and not representative of the Daxamite government, is a good logical step which explains why Daxam is a UP member. It's comforting to know that the White Triangle members don't represent the majority of Daxamites.

Other plotlines:

Saturn Girl's case seems as hopeless as ever. At least Triad is back in action, and she seems none the worse for wear.

Kinetix is in high spirits, considering she's just lost her powers. She must be very confident she can regain them, and it fits in nicely with how she acted in her first few appearances. She's also keenly perspective when she's not distracted by thoughts of power.

Spark's secret admirer plotline is clumsily shoved into the scene. I know, it's there to set up Zoe's suggestion to Violet of giving Andromeda a gift, but she could just as easily have suggested it without Spark being there.

The Cosmic Boy-Winema Wazzo scene is another clumsy one. Frankly, Cos jumped the gun here. All Winema did was say she would monitor the situation. Without knowing exactly what it would entail, he antagonized her and dragged Apparition into it. Oh, Cos.

These other plotlines seem very inconsequential in the shadow of the main Andromeda/Brainiac 5 plot, though. Andromeda's near-death experience and her being saved by Brainiac 5 is a realistic way of making her confront her xenophobic beliefs. She doesn't totally discard them, which would be unbelievable; but she is forced to admit to herself that maybe not all races are completely inferior to her own. And yet, it may be too late - looks like the White Triangle plot is going to blow up pretty soon!

Legionnaires 27
Eyes of Hate
Issue information

Summary:

The White Triangle is getting bolder: they're destroying Stargates around the galaxy and killing inter-species couples. Cosmic Boy tries to have Andromeda expelled from the team due to her White Triangle connections, but the secretly White Triangle-aligned Ambassador Roxxas ensures she'll stay - after she gives up the lead antidote. Things are looking very grim indeed.

Thoughts:

The Legion and the UP are in over their heads, and this issue does a good job of highlighting that. The White Triangle is moving fast on many fronts; destroying Stargates not only costs lives but compromises transportation across the galaxy, and also causes paranoia. Heck, with all that happened this issue I'm feeling pretty scared for our characters myself.

I love that RJ Brande takes it upon himself to investigate. After all, he created the Stargates. Every time he appears I find him more and more likable.

The "evil eye" being used by the White Trianglists is chilling, and the deaths senseless and pointless. I shudder to think of something like that happening to me while I'm kissing Blaze. Though the killings are heinous, I have to admit the scene is extremely well-choreographed. Having Tinya and Jo's kiss lead right to a Triangle attack is a great way to further their relationship, and to further the story as well. The fight scene is very well done, with each of the 5 characters playing an important role. I love how Apparition's brains and tactical ability are just as important, if not more so, than her phasing powers her. Ultra Boy's machismo and lack of battle smarts helps limit his effectiveness and tempers his (already bad) one-power limitation, and this helps heighten the drama during the battle. Also love the sibling rivalry between Spark and Live Wire being alluded to in the end.

The Andromeda plotline also picks up, and proceeds quite well. Andromeda knows she's found out, and in her desperation to avoid expulsion she gives up the lead antidote. Her hesitation and her reaction in the last panel show that she knows it's the wrong thing to do. She's being set up to be a very tragic Legionnaire, indeed.

Other things I liked:

Marla Latham finally makes an appearance as adult Legion advisor, and he and Rokk play off each other nicely.

Having Roxxas be a White Trianglist, and being of a higher rank than Obin Der, adds important context to Andromeda's Legion membership and explains why the UP allowed a xenophobe to join.

Live Wire's visit to Saturn Girl is a test that for Garth. What does he really feel for Imra? Is he willing to let Mekt wait so he can stay with her, and will he really be able to help her?

Tinya's being upset with Jo is natural. I'm not happy with how she forgives him so easily after a little sweet talking, but I have to admit it seems realistic.

XS, Spark and Apparition looking at preboot Phantom Girl and Shrinking Violet costumes is a nice nod to the Preboot.

This is a wonderful issue: it's a good standalone read in itself but it also moves the White Triangle plot along marvelously. It heightens the tension and drama and sets up a lot of dominos which are sure to converge soon. Now that I'm reading this in the proper order I'm amazed at how much impact it has on me.

I've known people like that, too. Unfortunately, we don't know enough about Aven yet to know why he acts this way.

Even if his behavior is explained in subsequent issues, as Ibby says, it leaves a hole in this story. Aven is set up so the reader will think he's a bad guy, much as Lu does, out to do Imra harm--but how many of us were really fooled by this?

Again, I think a very young audience might have bought into the setup; as an older (much older, admittedly) reader, I was jolted out of the story by the fact that Aven didn't bother to tell anyone what he planned. He's not a bad guy; he's not doing anything illegal. Why not approach the Legion or the hospital administration first and offer his services? Only if were turned down would his actions make sense.

(By the way, did anyone else notice that the man at the hospital--whom I take to be Imra's father--sees Aven but does not recognize him, even though Aven is Imra's teacher?)

With Winema taking on a more direct advisory role, it leaves me wondering about Shvaughn, who was made SP liaison in Annual 6 but has yet to appear in that role in the comic. I think it was you, Ibby, who mentioned the lack of adult supervision in the Legion. With Marla, Shvaughn, and now Winema, it seems they will be overrun with adult supervision.

Speaking of Winema, I thought Cos (in # 70) was trying to be very diplomatic in telling her to keep her relationship with Tinya out of her dealings with the Legion. But Winema, being Winema, reacted badly. I get the feeling nothing Cos said would have mattered.

I do like how Cos stands up to both Winema and President Chu in these last issues. Although he is powerless to countermand their dictates, he's willing to stick his neck out for his team like a good leader should.

I like the Lyle/Cham scene precisely because it leaves it up to us to surmise what is going on. It stays true to the boundaries established so far in the series: Cham does not speak Interlac and needs a translator. His translator (Lyle) doesn't translate for the audience since "we" are not actually there--it would be breaking the fourth wall if he did. (Though he breaks the fourth wall anyway, and understandably so, by speaking in "English" to begin with.) But it's clear from their exchange that something unexpected is going to happen, and this sustains my curiosity into following the next issue.

I'm not sure what you mean about the art being confusing. Cham's father is being lowered into what looks like a molten lava pit for burial--that's what I took out of it.

Ah, thanks for clarifying your point that the writers probably wanted to develop tension and make us fear Aven. I do agree that this was a poor and illogical way of doing it.

As for the man in the hospital, my reading of it was he was the father of another patient and not Imra's father. He was simply put there to show that visitors generally aren't let in by the hospital staff, and that Aven was using his telepathy to conceal himself from the staff.

Re Cos and Winema, I do agree with you that he is right to stand up for his team. I respect and appreciate him for that. My criticism is that he should already know how difficult Winema can be - butting heads with her and pointing our her issues with Tinya was one of the worst things he could possibly have done especially since she is already being given some sort of power over the team. Approaching Marla or RJ Brande or even Chu herself for help would have been the better way to go.

What I meant was that the scene was confusing precisely because we couldn't understand the script. The art itself wasn't confusing, but it didn't clear up the script at all.

I think too that they tried to show arrogance with Aven. To me he reminded me of someone like Magneto from x-men. They way he used his powers on people without a care was pretty telling.

The secret admirer thing was a bit forced too. I think it was done to try and get more relationships going that were different from previous ones. With no Timber Wolf I guess they thought Cham would work well.

I liked the thing with Andromeda being a part of the white triangle. It made for some conflict within the team but but didn't seem to forced for the sake of it.

I remember when the secret admirer thing happened I was really bummed it wasn't Vi, especially when if I remember correctly it did seem like they were hinting at that...I think I read an interview with Mark Waid once where he said he didn't feel like the Legionnaires were old enough to be aware of different sexual orientations (or something similar) so to him the idea of a girl being into another girl wouldn't work...which I've always found kind of disappointing because aside from that I've always thought of him as a fairly progressive writer.

Funny how things change though, for example looking at the latest Young Avengers series where only one person out of the whole team was actually straight and that was quite well received. I think the internet has been really good for showing that comic fandom is actually quite diverse

I can separate being a progressive writer and having progressive experience. I mean really, each person only has a rather narrow look at the world.

Taking him at his word, it's not that hard to believe that he would believe that. I think we're still in an era where even most progressive ADULTs would believe relationships develop that way.

The thing I found most incorrect about his statement is that at present, open relationships between girls is much more accepted than open relationships between boys, even amongst their peers.

I wondered about that, too, but, if so, it was left ambiguous. Since the only patient we're aware of is Imra, the natural conclusion is that the man was there to see her. A little extra dialogue or changing the gender of the patient might have cleared things up.

By the way, the nurse was pretty cold in her attitude toward him!

That's a good comparison. To add, both of them have a very strong idea of what is right and what is wrong, and seem to be willing to pursue what they think is right at all costs.



Yes, the nurse who showed Triad Purple where to find Triad Neutral's room was also pretty cold (though not THAT cold!)



Another error: He says they're not old enough to be aware of different sexual orientations? The Legionnaires are 14-15, I think they'd be old enough. And I would assume homosexuality and bisexuality would be more common in the 30th century too.

I think that's the point razsolo was making. I just don't necessarily proscribe (correct word?) the error to not being a progressive writer. I proscribe it more to experience in life. I don't know what experience Wade has with teens and their relationships but I'd venture that most Adults on the planet don't really know the state of the next generation.

As for how he should/could have reflected the future, I think present trends would agree with you about what shape the future will take but I'm not sure trends at the time of this writing would. Also, we've seen writers talk about the decisions made between writing the future as they think it will be and writing the future to the desires of a present day audience.

We'll probably never have anything but his word as to why he wrote the plot as he did.

This is one of my favorite single issues so far because of the contrast between Brainy and Andromeda. It’s interesting to recall that Andromeda is the Supergirl analogue in the reboot and, thus, the creators are playing with our perceptions of how their relationship should go. Further, the writers round out both of their personalities by giving them negative qualities (Laurel as a racist, Querl as condescending) that would have been unthinkable in the preboot.

I love the nuanced character portrayals. Laurel is someone we should detest—yet we can’t help feeling sorry for her. She is utterly vulnerable here, both physically and psychologically. Her body is under attack from lead poisoning, and her cherished beliefs are under attack by circumstance: Her survival depends on a member of one of the races she deems inferior.

And Brainy milks her predicament for all its worth. In addition to the “dog and master” analogy, he delivers at least one other memorable zinger when he tells Laurel to try to be worth his efforts to rescue her. Later on, he questions whether Laurel cares for a “mongrel” Carggite. Querl never lets up in his efforts to puncture Laurel’s assumptions, and his efforts pay off. The climax of the story occurs when Laurel can say neither that Brainy is superior nor inferior. Yes, there is hope for her yet.

But, just when we start to care about Laurel, Violet discovers a shocking piece of evidence which appears to polarize the team against our recovering xenophobe. The last full-page panel is one of the most effective cliffhangers in the series thus far.

I’m also intrigued by the depiction of life on Daxam—of the separatists who raise their children with their own distorted view of “the truth.” I live in a part of the country where a certain church feels it necessary to “protest” at funerals to further their views that God hates homosexuals. In the reboot universe, Valor takes on a Christ-like significance as “seeder of worlds”; he is deified by diverse cultures, as shown by Triad’s devotion to him. Yet on Daxam, his homeworld, his historical truth is distorted and perverted by those who are wrapped up in fear and hatred—just like some of Jesus Christ’s own so-called followers—a sad, sad reflection of reality.

As for Jason Armstrong’s art, it is a very rough departure from what we’ve come to expect. Yet, I think he serves the emotional tone of the story well. I also like his individualistic faces—much like Moder’s—although Violet looks about 30.

Things I didn’t like? The Saturn Girl plot line has her reduced to a child-like mentality, but this seems very familiar (Star Trek’s “The Changeling,” perhaps?). It also seems unnecessary. Imra’s sidelining—as well as Zoe’s departure—seem on one level an attempt to manage the Legion’s large cast by moving certain characters off to the side for awhile. On the other hand, such plot lines feature unexpected twists that give most of the characters something to do. (Interestingly, though, Gim—who was so prominent in earlier issues—has really lapsed into background character status at this point.)

As a reader, I felt like I was being pulled through an emotional ringer in # 70—hate Laurel, feel sorry for Laurel, feel hope for Laurel, feel allied with the team against her—and I appreciated the skill with which the writers and Armstrong kept me so emotionally involved.

Grade: 93.4 (A)

"Proscribe" means to forbid, so perhaps you want to use the word "Attribute"? But I agree, it's probably because of his experiences and not because he doesn't want to be "progressive".

These are also among my reasons for loving this story. The writers have very masterfully used it to build up the tension and conflict for the grand finale (of the story arc) in Legionnaires Annual 2!

HHW, I like the points you raise about Laurel's depiction....it is a testament to the writing that someone who is an all-powerful bigot comes across as sympathetic even while we disagree with her ideals. I think Waid (Mark Waid was still writer at this point I think?) did a great job of showing Laurel as someone who was motivated by ignorance and fear more than hatred.

Mark Waid is indeed still involved, razsolo. In fact, Waid is credited with the dialogue in this issue, which probably explains why it has so many memorable lines and exchanges.

One of the sad things about racism is that kids who are brought up in such a belief system often embrace it before they have any "reason" to fear or hate others. The church I mentioned in my previous post regularly takes children along on its "protests," having them carrying around signs that spew their vile filth. If you're a child and Mommy and Daddy are telling you that Carggites or Durlans or homosexuals are bad, who are you going to believe? Waid and crew are unflinchingly honest in their depiction of Laurel's mindset.

They also struck an amazing balance between Andy's upbringing and her "inner good", so to speak. Her moments of hesitation and self-doubt are extremely realistic and sympathetic. It's just sad that future issues didn't utilize the character quite as well. But we'll get to that eventually

Sadly, Laurel's character got shallower as the series progressed. Super Space Nun was pretty one-dimensional.

Yeah I thought super space nun really ruined her...interesting idea for how she'd respond to everything but terrible execution

Especially after she came back from the Anomaly. That was a totally unnecessary and useless change. I didn't know what to make of her after that.

The White Triangle story kicks into high gear with this issue, after building gradually for several months. In fact, since Doyle was backed by the White Triangle, this plotline has been brewing since the reboot’s inception, which gives the series the welcome feel of a novel—gradually building to a climax. The various subplots weave in and out of the main plot, which is finally coming to the fore.

This issue does a stand-up job of moving the story along, though I felt a bit unsatisfied. After the nuanced portrayals of Laurel and Brainy in the previous issue, it was a letdown to see the main villains reduced to one-dimensional stereotypes of racists. They do despicable things—murdering innocent people for kicks, destroying stargates and disrupting the economies on countless worlds, and spewing hate-filled terms such as “gene-trash” and “half-alivers”—but that’s all they do.

One might point out that that’s how racists, homophobes, and others come across in real life, and they would be right. But fiction should always try to make sense where real life fails. The purpose of fiction, some theorize, is to provide structure to our unstructured lives, to offer a model of reality in which the unexplained gets explained. We may never know what drives serial killers, for example, to murder random strangers, but fiction can provide us with a means of filling in that gap, by showing us possibilities and causing us to seek and question instead of wallowing in the pit of despair and uncertainty. We should never identify with villains who commit horrific crimes or excuse their actions, but if we can see them as individuals who have made some very bad choices, we can perhaps glimpse how our own choices can lead us astray.

Sadly, none of that is present here. The White Triangle members are cardboard bullies who serve the needs of the plot, nothing more.

For that matter, the Legionnaires themselves are not portrayed much better. Ultra Boy (who is not a Legionnaire yet, but we know he will be eventually) is even more dumb-jocky than usual. His cluelessness in relating to Apparition is understandable and even endearing, but when he can’t figure out how to use his powers in battle without her telling him so, he really does come off as muscle-brained. (She, on the other hand, emerges as perceptive and quick thinking under fire.) Spark and XS serve the needs of the plot, which is fine—a good story needs solid supporting characters as well as main characters.

It’s good to see Garth back in a major role, and he is well utilized and developed here. He approaches Brande for a space cruiser, and learns of Imra’s condition. The scene of him watching her as she plays with the video game is truly moving; Garth barely knows her still, yet the interest and attraction is there. He must be unsure of how he is feeling or supposed to feel.

It’s less clear why Garth follows his ex-Legionnaire teammates through the city, but it’s good that he does. The scene of him blasting the White Triangle member, then casually leaning against the building to announce his presence (“Please. No applause.”) tells us so much about him, as do the reactions of his teammates. This is one of those “Glad to see you back where you belong!” moments, even though no one says those words.

In addition to Garth, Cos is also well handled in this issue. He unleashes his controlled fury at Andromeda and then demands her expulsion from the team, only to have his wishes undercut once again by President Chu. A telling moment occurs when Marla says under his breath that Cos should try acting mature. This is a subtle reminder that Cos is still a teenager and is being challenged as never before. These scenes push him (and us) towards a moment which can make or break him as a leader.

I’m not sure why it was necessary to make Roxxas—Element Lad’s old adversary from the preboot—a Daxamite ambassador and the power behind the White Triangle. This, like the dresses in the window, comes off as a cursory nod to preboot fans, but whereas the dresses were included for laughs, the appearance of Roxxas feels arbitrary. Why not make one of the other preboot villains a Daxamite—Nardo? Evillo? Regulus? Or better yet create a totally new character to fill that role?

Roxxas' bullying of Laurel, however, is all too real. He relents only after she tells him about the anti-lead serum. Laurel digs herself and the Legion into an even deeper hole, yet one can’t help but feel sorry for her and sympathize with the limited choices she has.

The Mike Collins/W.C. Carani art is among the best in the series so far although uneven in places. Their depiction of R.J. Brande at the bottom of Page 5, for example, is full of individuality and determination. Yet their depiction of Laurel often comes off as forced and cartoony, particularly at the bottom of Page 11.

Legionnaires 27 is expertly plotted; I just wish it had featured more nuanced characterizations like the previous issue. Then, Waid was credited with the dialogue; here the plot and script are both Tom Peyer’s show (though Tom McCraw is co-credited with the plot), and while Peyer has the competence to pull it off, he lacks Waid’s finesse.

Grade: 88.8 (B+)

I am glad you mentioned Cos; I can't believe I forgot to do so. Unlike with his clumsy confrontation with Winema, I greatly admire and agree with Cos on this count. Laurel's affiliation with the White Triangle is an urgent matter that impacts the safety of every Legionnaire and of the entire UP. This requires urgent action.

And I agree that we can't help but sympathize with Laurel. The scene shows us how conflicted she is - she clearly felt pushed into giving up the lead serum. That final panel on the page shows how torn up she is about it.

As for Garth, his confusion is portrayed so well here. He can be cocky and confident elsewhere, but when it comes to Imra he's a bit lost. First love, perhaps?

The answer to that will be revealed next issue Though sadly, Element Lad NEVER meets Roxxas.

I've re-read LSH 71 now, and I see the logic of making Roxxas a Daxamite. I still have mixed feelings about it, though, which I will try to articulate when I do my review.

Legion of Super-Heroes 71
Heaven and Hell
Issue information

Summary:

RJ Brande visits Trom to get Tarn Arrah to make more tarnium for the stargates. Tarn declines as he must represent Trom at a UP teleconference to negotiate for Trom's membership. However, Jan Arrah reveals that he's also adept enough to make tarnium. The paradise that is Trom is suddenly attacked by a dozen Daxamite White Triangle members, who callously raze the whole planet with their heat vision. The only witness to the massacre is RJ Brande, and there's nothing anyone can do.

In other news, Kinetix's search for power takes a bad turn. Her destination Stargate is destroyed; she exits "no-space" with a damaged cruiser and rapidly failing life support.

Finally, Invisible Kid pulls together Apparition, Triad, Chameleon and Shrinking Violet to form a squad and investigate the White Triangle. They begin connecting the various events that have happened since the Legion was formed.

Thoughts:

This is one of the most powerful single issues in all of the Postboot era. If we didn't hate the disgusting beliefs of the White Triangle before, we certainly do now. If last issue accelerated the plot, this puts it into overdrive.

The script complements the plot very fell. The text boxes that accompany the razing of Trom and its aftermath just fit. I'm not ashamed to say that I still shed tears every time I read this.

Excessive violence in comic books is deplorable, but here it makes sense. If I were intending to weaken the UP, and I knew of a world which could manufacture the very element that was lethal to me... that's what I would do. It is also a nice nod to the Preboot history. Trom once again dies, and Roxxas (that @&!(!(&) is once again behind it. As an extra dose of coincidence, he himself is present during the teleconference.

I am glad the writers gave us a glimpse of the simple and spiritual life on Trom before it was destroyed. Change is very important to the people, and makes sense given their transmutation powers. It also made the destruction even more powerful.

Perhaps one criticism I do have? Touching up on HWW's point before, we are not given any further insight into why the White Triangle thinks the way they do. Andromeda said it's just love for her own race, but whatever insights we get from her can't begin to explain the brutality of these White Trianglists. It's hard to believe she would go as far as they would, despite having been raised with the same beliefs. And her time with the Legion has been too short for that to be the reason why she isn't as extreme as they are.

It's also a bit odd - of the 12 Daxamites who destroyed Trom, one has African features and two could possibly be Asian. I suppose the 30th century definition of race means coming from the same planetary stock, as opposed to our present day definition. A nice touch, in my opinion.

The Moder/Boyd art is a bit distracting this issue. Tinya's odd pose on page 11 is weird, and Zoe's eyes on pages 4 and 5 make her look like a tarsier. But the portions on Trom are well-drawn.

Subplots:

Lyle's formation of the Espionage Squad is inspired. It gives these "weaker" members a chance to shine, and their conversation shows that Lyle isn't the only one with brains in that group. They deduce that events as far back as the assassination attempt on RJ, and the Planet Hell breakout, are connected too. I look forward to what they will turn up.

As for Kinetix, boy is she unlucky. It looks like her path is leading her towards... well... hard to say what she will find. Her (mutual) attraction towards Leviathan is also touched on her, but sadly, neither one made a move. In fact, LSH 67 was the last we've seen any traces of it before now.

This issue was very well-executed. Even though the cover (and Preboot history) already tell us where it will lead, it still makes me feel. It also makes me hate the White Triangle even more; they are villains, through and through. It's hard to believe that any of those participating in this issue's massacre could ever be redeemed.

Legionnaires 28
Nightfall
Issue information

Summary:

The Espionage Squad catches and interrogates (tortures, to use Triad's words) some non-Daxamite White Triangle terrorists. We don't learn any concrete plans, but we do get some insights into their thoughts - they love their own races and believe that mixing races together leads to war so they drive away and kill those who are different. Their hate is fueled by ignorance.

Violet pushes for the investigation of the Daxamite connection, but Lyle brushes it off.

RJ Brande informs Cosmic Boy of the destruction of Trom. He accurately reads that this is just the beginning of something much worse.

Roxxas and his "direct action cadre" take the anti-lead serum. Now that they're immune, they decide they no longer have to rely on White Triangle members from other worlds. Andromeda learns of this and rushes to confront them - but it's too late. Four Daxamites are about to attack Earth.

Thoughts:

This issue heightens the tension, but not quite as well as the last two issues did. You get a sense that the Legionnaires are running around putting out fires, but can't really do anything because they are too disorganized.

There is a lot of idiot ball passing among the Legionnaires. RJ tells Cos about the destruction of Trom; but Cos seems to fail to make the connection with the Daxamites. And he doesn't tell Lyle or the other Legionnaires; if he had, Lyle and company would definitely have figured it out. Lyle isn't exempt either; he doesn't tell Cos about their investigations. If he had, I am certain Cos would have supported them. Cos' decision to leave them out of the Tangleweb mission was because he didn't think their powers were useful IN THAT SITUATION. We know he'll go to bat for his team.

In fact, Cos' line "I don't have time for your nonsense" is very uncharacteristic. I can't for the life of me think what happened (besides the Tangleweb mission) that could have driven such distrust between Cos and Lyle. And that mission ended well! All the above seems like a very clumsy way of keeping the Legionnaires from putting things together in time. It's very sad, as Lyle, Violet and company have very good ideas while Cos and Gim also begin watching out for unusual phenomena. I keep thinking that if they had involved all the Legionnaires (including Imra and her telepathy and Brainy and his super mind!), maybe, just maybe, they could have done something in time.

Speaking of, Brainy shows quite a bit of frustration and emotion at Andy chasing him away. It's a bit different from his cold and calm debating and insulting of her thoughts in LSH 70. Yes, I understand he'd be upset but his way of showing it (through shouting rather than calm insults) is uncharacteristic to say the least.

Finally, Roxxas reveals more insight into the Triangle thoughts. We still don't really understand why they hate other races so much, but at least we understand why they are involving non-Daxamites in their schemes - they just need warm bodies to help disrupt the UP. And a very sharp contrast is drawn between the Daxamite Trianglists and the non-Daxamite ones: the Daxamites seem motivated by pure hate and contempt, while the non-Daxamites are fueled by fear and ignorance. Both manifest their thoughts through acts of violence though.

On the plus side, I greatly enjoyed watching each of the Espionage Squad members, with their so-called "weaker" powers, took out their opponents. Buck Bond was a nice touch too.

Subplots -

Apparition finally stands up to Winema by pointing out that Winema was the one who allowed her to join the Legion in the first place. We see that Winema has good intentions but a TERRIBLE approach - and find that her husband and Tinya's dad leeches money off of Winema (and has a bad boy look much like Ultra Boy's!) Maybe that's why Winema is so harsh and protective; she wants to make sure Tinya doesn't make the same mistakes she did.

Spark gives Live Wire a wake-up slap by pointing out that he never actually goes looking for Mekt. She has a point that he didn't do anything concrete until he left the Workfroce, but it's a little mistimed considering he has been trying to get a ship for the past few issues.

Triad's dialogue during the torture scene is a bit odd - and off. In LSH 67 her 3 bodies used "us" and "we" when arguing, but here they act like 3 separate bodies. "They injured Triad, we owe it to HER." "I'll personally turn them in." I always thought the writers were writing her as one "self" in three bodies, not as three separate selves and identities. The disconnect is probably due to the script being done by Peyer, and not Waid; I agree with HWW that Waid has more finesse.

The Joyce Chin/W.C.Carani art is good and I love her characters' expressions. I do think the females' lips are distracting because of how perpetually full and puckered they are, and she seems to favor closeups a lot.

To sum up, this issue moved the plot along and have us some information on the White Triangle, but it just felt out of place somehow. The rising tension of the past two issues is absent here; some of the dialogue is "off", and the Legionnaires really should be working together more.

Sorry for the delay. Real life and all that.



This is more R.J. Brande’s tale than the Legion’s. They are relegated to sideline status in this issue, which focuses on the tycoon’s fateful trip to the planet Trom. However, the shift in focus feels natural—it’s good to see the Legion’s universe expand to such a degree that events which will impact them are shown even though they have no direct connection to those events as of yet.

Yes, those White Triangle bastards! They lay waste to entire peaceful planet to prevent it from joining the UP and adding its natives’ formidable transmutation powers to the “gene trash” the White Triangle so reviles. Their actions are horrific, but are they really different from any “pre-emptive strike” a given country has made against another? The example that comes to mind is the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Does it really matter to the victims if the U.S. felt it had to do so, that doing so probably ended the war much quicker and saved a lot of American lives? The motives of the White Triangle may be based on race, but their actions have pretty much the same effect.

I do think it was brilliant how the writers worked the destruction of Trom into the storyline. Not only do they make the Trommites a powerful potential ally of the UP but they also reveal that Jan’s father created the element which powers the stargates. This provides a believable excuse to get Jan off planet when Armageddon hits (and, in a very sneaky move, the creators don’t show Jan accompanying Brande, leaving his fate in doubt). It also now makes perfect sense why Roxxas is involved—though, ironically, he does not contribute directly to Trom’s destruction.

The telling of the story is also well handled. The sudden demise of Jan’s parents on page 14 creates a moment reminiscent of the nuclear bomb TV movie “The Day After,” back in the ‘80s (in which a young woman is similiarly reduced to a skeleton before our eyes). For all the destruction, however, the story ends on a philosophically hopeful note as the chant praising change, seen earlier in the story, is juxtaposed against the images of paradise-turned-wasteland. To the Trommites, death is just another change.

(Which may—just may—put Jan’s later murder of Candi in a different light, but I digress.)

And yet (you knew there had to be a yet), something about the clinical manner in which Trom’s destruction is inserted into the story seems off. I can only imagine how readers unfamiliar with the preboot reacted to this story (Ibby’s review gives us a hint), but, being well versed in the preboot, I felt emotionally detached from the proceedings. The minute Trom was mentioned, the phrase “doomed planet” entered my mind. The minute Jan was introduced, I surmised he would join the Legion as Element Lad (or whatever his new codename might be). I hasten to point out, of course, that I’m re-reading this story, but suspension of disbelief, even upon re-visiting a tale, is a powerful thing. Knowing what was “meant” to happen, I could not suspend my disbelief enough to get caught up in the story. And, considering the events which transpire, that’s a shame.

Trom’s destruction, as with the off-hand introduction of the Legion Espionage Squad, is a clever re-working of preboot material. However, the only time I felt emotionally involved in the story was during Zoe’s spaceship ride to nowhere. She has gone from being a powerful Legionnaire to being utterly powerless in more ways than one—and, since she has no significant preboot analogue, she remains the wild card.

Grade: 85.7 (B)

HWW, I think you meant to "quote" LSH 71 but quoted Legionnaires 28 instead.

Re Jan's later murder of Candi, I've often thought that myself. And... I think the whole circumstances around Candi's "death" would make it fairly easy to bring her back (as opposed to, say, the deaths of Leviathan or Kid Quantum I)!

I do have to disagree with you on knowing what was "meant" to happen. I'd already read Preboot Element Lad's introductory tale before ever reading LSH 71, and even though I "knew" that Trom would die and that Jan Arrah would become Element Lad eventually, it did not diminish the impact of this issue in the least. The way Trom's death was depicted still felt very powerful to me - and in my opinion it was much more powerfully executed here than it ever was in any Preboot issues I've read.

Oops!




Fair enough.

I agree that in terms of storytelling, this is a much better rendition (though that judgment must be qualified by acknowledging the differences in comic book standards of the '60s versus those of the '90s). But I can't help feeling that the reboot creators were simply re-telling stories that have already been told. They change details where they can, but the overall story remains the same.

Elsewhere, I've theorized that the Legion's story was "meant" to go a certain way, and I think that that statement is still true. If Trom had survived and/or Jan had died, it wouldn't have been a Legion story, any more than a King Arthur story would be authentic without Merlin. Still, even when a story is retold and retold (as in King Arthur), it's incumbent upon the creators to make it fresh. I feel that was lacking in LSH 71.

I do agree with you that the Postboot story of Trom could have been explored better. Even thinking about future issues, I can't recall many instances where Trom was revisited. The only new aspect introduced was the whole "death is just another change" thing.

Interesting also that Kinetix, a character whose power used to Lchange" objects, is featured. This issue

By the way, I did like the inclusion of the Espionage Squad in this story. It builds nicely off a Cos's decision to split the team in an earlier issue and off of Lyle's penchant for being sneaky and acting independently.

Yes, I think the Espionage Squad was a good idea too. But next issue will show some of the problems with Lyle acting on his own and Cos not trusting Lyle!

From a story telling perspective, Trom serves one purpose only: to give Jan Arrah a reason to join the Legion. It would have been nice, I suppose, if the reboot creators had developed the plot line over several issues so we could have gotten to know the world a little better and an element of doubt (hah!) regarding its fate could be introduced. As it is, though, they did an impressive job of making Trom feel like a different culture in this single issue. Even Jan's greeting to his father ("You've changed well.") gives the feeling that this is real place with its own customs.

Well, I think they did the best they could in the single issue they were given to develop Trom the living world. I'm very satisfied with the story of Trom's death as it was told. On the other hand, I do wish we'd been able to explore Trom's customs more through its lone survivor Element Lad. It makes me wonder - besides memorializing his world, what else would he have done to keep Trom "alive"?

About the only thing Jan could have done to keep Trom alive was to have more Trommite children, but that didn't work out for him either in the preboot or in this version.

It really is sad how he turned out in the reboot. By becoming the Progenitor, he perverted Trom's peaceful legacy and ended for all time the memory of his people. I can't help feeling there might have been some undiagnosed PTSD in his later actions. Having lost his entire race and then having lost his family in the Legion, he went nuts, embracing the philosophy of change in a very abstract sense.

I remember an issue in the Preboot where he brought Shvaughn to Trom, and had her join him in some Trommite ceremony. The only equivalents in the Postboot were him transmuting each Trommite skeleton into crystal memorials, and one scene with him communing with an Emerald Eye-generated illusion of his parents to convince him to join them in the afterlife.

Many Legionnaires remarked that Jan had always been a bit... disconnected. Besides Trom dying, he was also brainwashed by Chu for a bit, and was transmuted into living crystal by Mordru (he did get better though). His time in the rift was traumatic as well; he spent years calculating how to launch the Outpost and his friends back through the rift into normal space. Then he got separated, tossed through time, and spent thousands of years floating in space alone. That kind of thing could make anyone go nuts.

Legionnaires Annual 2
Four Horsemen
Issue information

Summary:

The Legionnaires and the Workforce mobilize to defend Earth against four rampaging Daxamites. Their taking of the anti-lead serum has also made them insane, and the Legionnaires (with the last-minute arrival of RJ Brande and Jan Arrah) are only able to stop them by opening a Stargate in their path. Apparition perishes in battle. Andromeda confronts and exposes Roxxas, which ends with his death and her imprisonment. Only Cosmic Boy and President Chu are aware of her survival.

Detailed Summary:

We open with Evolvo and Spider-Girl confronting White Triangle member Suggin (who has brown hair in a ponytail and a well-trimmed mustache and beard) in Miami. Suggin slams an injured Evolvo into Spider-Girl, telling them to die slowly. Suggin joins three other Daxamites in orbit. To drive home the extreme prejudice and racist attitudes of these guys, another Daxamite, Arns, with long red hair, uses his heat vision to murder two aliens helping one another. Ugh.

Cosmic Boy is visiting Saturn Girl to say goodbye. Poor Imra still thinks like a child. She makes a mistake while cutting paper puppets. As Cos tries to console her, she tells him to go away because she wants Garth. Before Cos can react, the hospital crumbles - a Daxamite smashed through its walls. It is all Cos can do to prop up the building and stop it from collapsing entirely. Making sure Imra is safe, he leaves.

In orbit, Apparition and Ultra Boy (with a jetpack) tackle a bald Daxamite who is destroying the weather control satellites. Jo gets in a punch, with the Daxamite complimenting him on his strength. But the Daxamite super-speeds himself away. Jo despairs that he isn't smart, powerful and crafty enough to beat the Daxamites, especially with his one-power-at-a-time limitation. Tinya interrupts to tell him to use invulnerability. The Daxamite plows through her intangible form and into Jo, sending them both plunging through the atmosphere onto Earth.

On Mount Swan, a volcanic energy plant (heh! nice homage), Leviathan and Inferno face Suggin. Suggin uses super-breath to blow magma onto Leviathan. Inferno absorbs the heat from the magma, but Gim still goes down. Inferno uses Gim's flight ring to ask Triad and Spark for a diversion. She suggests drawing the Daxamite towards Triad (smart move!) Spark catches on, and tells Triad to send one of her selves out as a decoy and integrate at the last moment. Unfortunately, Daxamites have super-hearing... Suggin slams right into the volcano, causing an eruption.

RJ Brande calls Brainiac 5. Cos ends the transmission before Brande and Brainy can say too much, chastising them for speaking while the Daxamites could possibly here. We get a hint of the plan - Brainy asks Brande how he will obtain tarnium for Stargates. Cos leaves Brainy, to find Live Wire entering HQ through a hole he created in the wall. There's a mob outside, and at least one of them is holding a White Triangle sign. Must be non-Daxamite lackeys who believe in segregation. Cos deputizes Garth and gives him a task.

Ambassador Roxxas is being questioned by several UP delegates via videoconference. Obviously, because the delegates are not stupid, they strongly suspect the four men tearing up Earth are Daxamites. Roxxas plays dumb, and cites lack of transuits as evidence. How can the invaders be Daxamites when they are not wearing transuits to avoid lead? Roxxas plays the victim card, saying he won't leave his quarters because the whole galaxy is slandering the Daxamites. Andromeda bursts in, yelling that she knows the invaders are Daxamites and implying that Roxxas gave them the anti-lead serum. Roxxas cuts off the videoconference, attacks Andromeda, and reveals he also took the serum.

Invisible Kid and Chameleon are in the Church of Universal Being. The Church preaches of a god who loves every species on every world, making it a prime target for a highly prejudiced Daxamite called Fethro Jorn. Cham morphs into a mind-wrencher, a creature from Daxamite mythology that is apparently a Daxamite's worst nightmare. Sadly, Jorn takes Cham out with one punch. Lyle calls Cos, telling him he has no options left - Jorn isn't even wearing a transuit, so lead exposure won't help. Jorn takes Lyle out just after he gives Cos this information.

Cos calls Brainy and says that Andromeda must have given the serum to the Daxamites. Brainy is shocked; he had faith that she wouldn't betray them. Oh, Brainy. Brainy says there's no way a red sun projector will help, as Daxamites can move faster than light. He also doubts he can counteract the serum; it was geared to Andromeda's physiology, and would have driven the other Daxamites insane.

Garth visits Imra in the hospital. She is so happy to see him, it almost melts my heart. Garth gives her a little speech - not about his feeling, not really. "We have a plan, but it won't work without you. We need you. I need you." That's the closest he comes to confessing his love - nice trick, writers! Oh, so close! But it does pull Imra out of her childlike state! Whoa, the power of loooove.

Karate Kid guards Capetown Spaceport alone, as he needs solitude to maintain concentration. Okay. People are, understandably, panicked; Val has contempt for them. Okay, Kid, not everyone is as disciplined as you, kay? Val attacks Arns and makes him drop the ship he is carrying. A piece of debris embeds itself into Val's leg. Uh oh. Arns is already insane, it seems; he can't believe Karate Kid staggered him, and thinks he is dreaming. Thankfully, he chooses to run away.

Back at Legion HQ, a poor Athramite is being beaten up by a racist mob. Garth saves the poor thing. Cos asks Imra to mentally link all the Legionnaires and Workforce members; when Brainy is ready, they have to herd the Daxamites to Legion HQ.

At UP HQ, Andromeda continues her fight with Roxxas. She breaks off to save some delegates from being crushed. Roxxas slams her into what seems to be the control center. Before he can pummel her again, he suddenly loses control of his motor functions.

At Osaka, Suggins is using super-breath to create a gigantic wave. XS tries to carry as many people as she can to safety indoors. Suggins snaps the neck of a beachgoer feet away from XS, just before the wave crashes down on her and the last civilian she is saving. Mercifully, Suggins leaves her alone, taunting her that she could not save everyone.

RJ Brande makes it to Earth orbit. Fethro Jorn tosses the Eiffel Tower at his ship, but it dissolves in his hands. Jorn is smart enough to know what it means - Brande has a Trommite!

We return to Tinya, who finds Jo charging at his Daxamite again. She yells at him to become invulnerable, as there is no way he can win one-on-one. Apparently, Jo listens, and headbutts the Daxamite instead. The Daxamite seems to be out, and Tinya and Jo reunite. Jo calls her a genius and says he loves her. As Tinya is about to say she loves him back, the Daxamite recovers and his eyes glow red. Oh no.

Tinya and Jo vanish in a maelstrom. When the smoke clears, we find Jo was invulnerable... but Tinya was not intangible. Jo cries over her charred body.

Back at Legion HQ, the three founders scatter the mob. Brainy tells them they have to trigger their plan now, while Metropolis still has enough of an energy supply. To up the drama, Brainy says Brande may or may not make it in time; and Imra says she can't contact any of the Legionnaires! In desperation, Cos tells Imra to telepathically call the Daxamites herself! (Which is smarter, in my opinion. No guarantee that the Legionnaires could have lured the Daxamites there - most aren't faster than them!)

Roxxas' problem is revealed to be Violet - she shrank down and thrashed his brain's motor control center. Violet helps Andromeda up and tells her not to waste her intervention. Andromeda pummels him, but Roxxas has enough control to open the lid of the atomic furnace powering UP HQ... and it supposedly has the heat of ten stars. Violet makes it out alive, but Roxxas and Andromeda are lost in the explosion.

Before we have time to process this, the Daxamites rocket towards the three founders as they have a quiet moment of tension. The four Daxamites are already flying at them. Cos apologizes, but Garth and Imra thank him for the chance to be heroes. And at the last possible second, Brande arrives with Jan Arrah to transmute some tarnium and open a Stargate right in front of the Daxamites! As the three founders try not to get sucked in, Imra sees what might be the figure of a person. It's a very vague outline, though. Then Brainy closes the Stargate.

The Legionnaires, Workforce, Brande and Jan Arrah reunite. Last to arrive is Ultra Boy with Apparition's corpse. Leviathan, trying to console everyone, says maybe they should be grateful they only lost one of their own... then Violet appears. The next page drives it home - golden statues of Apparition and Andromeda join Kid Quantum I's.

Chu meets with Cos, and reveals that unofficially, the prison planet in the heart of the star contains exactly one inmate. One young lady who turned herself in after barely surviving the White Triangle attack. It is Andromeda. Chu swears Cos to secrecy, because public knowledge of a Legionnaire who gave an anti-lead serum to the Daxamites would destroy the UP.

Thoughts:

Wow. This is the Legion's most epic battle yet, and it doesn't have a happy ending. Each scene in this story serves its purpose, and I have to say each scene is heart-breakingly powerful.

Most of the Legionnaires and Workforce members are scattered across Earth, but none of them save Andromeda can even hope to match the Daxamites in battle. The Daxamites themselves are taking great enjoyment in their terrible deeds.

Cosmic Boy visits Saturn Girl to say goodbye. Her "go away, I want Garth!" line must have hit him hard. To his credit, he gets right back to work after seeing she's safe.

Brainiac 5 and RJ Brande are smart enough to realize that the Daxamites are toying with them. Brande lets it slip that he's with someone, and sharp readers will realize that it must be Jan Arrah. But we're kept too busy with all the chaos to ponder it for long. Cosmic Boy is likewise sharp enough to realize that they have to protect against the Daxamites' super hearing. I like Brainy's dose of optimism and his cooperative banter with Cos. I also like how the focus on Cos is on his planning and leadership skills, not on his powers.

Garth makes his way to Imra's side, and realizing how critical Imra's telepathy is to their survival, he goes right for her. It's a nice, touching moment, though I have to suspend my disbelief a bit - Aven wasn't able to heal her, but Garth was? If this is supposed to highlight their "true love" for each other, it falls a bit flat. I can buy that Imra's condition would let her longing for Garth come to the fore, and I can very much like Garth giving her comfort, but it all seems a bit convenient. And I can buy Cos knowing that Imra wanted Garth, but how could he have known it would work?

Brande and Jan scare a Daxamite into fleeing. Luckily for them, this Daxamite isn't particularly bright. He's already immune to lead! He's also not bright enough to warn the others that a Trommite is on Earth.

The final showdown at Legion HQ is masterfully done. The tension is built all throughout, with the Legionnaires 3 fending off rioters while Brainy warns them they're running out of time. And with the other Legionnaires down, Cos has to push Imra hard! They don't even know if the others are alive (though we know most of them are). I can forgive Cos for yelling. He's under a lot of pressure.

The 3 founders make a good team. Cos is still obviously the leader, and the two defer to him. But they're both behind him, and each has their own role in the trio.

I did cheer when the Daxamites flew right into the Stargate, but the victory seems hollow somehow. It's so hard to make sense of all the death and destruction. Oh, those terrible, terrible Daxamites!

In a parallel series of events, Andromeda catches Roxxas trying (in vain) to fool the UP Assembly. Come on, does he seriously believe anyone would think those attackers are NOT Daxamites? I love the writers' inclusion of the scene where Andromeda takes time to save people from being crushed by the UP Globe. This stays true to her character, as we've seen her saving innocents at least once before.

Violet's role is inspired! One of the "least powerful" Legionnaires manages to render a Daxamite almost helpless. Almost. I think having Andromeda almost die, then give herself up is a logical and proper ending to her arc. She finally redeems herself and proves she is a hero, but this isn't enough to assuage her conscience. It also helps Chu and Cos out of having to deal with the fallout of her involvement with the Triangle.

The riots on Earth are sadly not unexpected. I'm sure a lot of those people already had White Triangle leanings (such as the ones beating up the Daxamites and holding up "Earth for humans" placards), but many of them were probably caught up in the fear and panic.

Apparition and Ultra Boy take on the bald Daxamite. Jo would have been toast if Tinya hadn't been doing his tactical thinking for him. Oh, Jo. All that power... And just when we think they actually managed to stop a Daxamite? He wakes up and... and... grife. That scene remains burned in my mind. Tinya is having possibly the happiest moment in her life and she just dies. Just like that. And it's so ironic, because she among the Legionnaires should have been the safest - plus she was always the one telling Jo to stay invulnerable. Oh, how I wished that the smoke would clear away to show that she had survived... Unlike with Kid Quantum's death, Apparition was a Legionnaire I had grown to care about.

The other scenes also serve to continue heightening the tension:

Evolvo and Spider-Girl barely get any speaking lines. They were sent together to defend Miami? Really? They're probably the most outmatched pair among the Legion/Workforce defenders.

Leviathan, Inferno, Spark and Triad defend Mount Swan (nice homage to Curt Swan) together. Gim gets taken down right away, and Inferno has her most impressive scene yet. She calms him down AND directs Spark and Triad to distract the Daxamite. Good job, Inferno! If she hadn't shown such a callous disregard for life before, I'd totally nominate her for Legion membership right now (just like how Gim is almost recruiting her).

Chameleon and Invisible Kid are smart enough to try and scare the Daxamite away, but sadly they're still outmatched. Lyle does manage to deliver a useful piece of info to Cos - the Daxamites don't have transuits.

Karate Kid defends Cape Town alone because he didn't want teammates distracting him. Much like in the Preboot, he is skilled enough to faze a Daxamite, though not skilled enough to actually beat him. Luckily for him the insane Daxamite turns tail.

XS tries to save the people of Osaka; her scene fits her personality really well. The caring Jenni is traumatized by her inability to save everyone, despite her speed. And the Daxamite just taunts her because he knows she can't stop him.

The art is amazing, and I'm happy that it was the Jeff Moy/W.C. Carani tandem who got to do this story. Despite Moy's reputation among Legion fans as an "Archie" penciller, he manages to evoke a very real sense of danger and urgency.

On the other hand, the final victory is hollow somehow. Earth is thrashed, and we saw so many innocents killed. The Daxamites don't get their just punishment, as Jan points out. Tinya is dead, Laurel is a prisoner... This victory gives little satisfaction. Even Gim's line - "maybe we should be grateful we only lost one." Or two. It's a heartbreaking issue that pushes the Legion to its limits and leaves us all trying to make sense of what just happened.

This issue was masterfully written and plotted, and if its goal was to get us hooked as to what happened next, it definitely succeeded. But it's definitely not a feel-good issue!

We never do find out what happens to these Daxamites. In my fic, I posit that they died on the world the Legion sent them to because they were non-powered AND insane. I feel that's a fitting end for them.

Agreed with all points! This story was awesome, and I think handled the idea of how outmatched most heroes are against a regular Daxamite more so than when Darkseid turned a whole planet of them against the UP back in the day.

While the 80s crazy Daxamite invasion was an epic idea, it was kind of diluted by seeing characters like Duo Damsel and Bouncing Boy fight characters with the power of Mon-El without consequence. The modern riff on crazy Daxamites worked better for only having a handful of them, and for showing that the Legion were in very real danger every second of the confrontation. Which leads us to poor Tinya....

I still remember that scene as well. That was really one of the best death scenes I've seen in a comic, in that it was totally unexpected and it was shocking because it happened in a title where that kind of violence rarely happens. Geoff Johns should take note, a violent death only has shock value when it's not happening every Tuesday... ;p

Very astute observations, and I agree with most of them. This issue feels like a “transitional” issue, which is often a problem with comic book series in which a major storyline has to conclude in an annual or other special edition. The creators have to do something with the issue before that special edition, and the results often feel like they’re just marking time.

This issue somewhat typifies this phenomenon. It begins with an overlong battle between White Triangle members and a group of “Durlan tourists.” Only when the battle ends do we learn that the tourists are really the Legion Espionage Squad, and that the impersonation was part of a sting operation. This all makes sense, and the clues to the Legionnaires' identities are there if one cares to look; however, the whole scene was rather disorienting—particularly the addition of Texas cowboy lawman “Buck Bond” (who is introduced as if he’s someone we should recognize), a ridiculous character who assures us that Texas stereotypes will remain unchanged in a thousand years.

What follows this opening sequence is a haphazard collection of scenes, some of which mesh well while others don’t. Apparition once again runs from Mommy Dearest—only this time we get a look at Winema’s life (why is she wearing a cyborg headpiece?). Yes, we’re meant to think that Winema disapproves of Jo because she herself has been in an unsuccessful relationship with a “bad boy”—and is apparently still involved with him on some level, which makes her wariness of Jo hypocritical. It also doesn’t explain why Winema allowed Tinya to join the Legion and then criticizes her every move. Maybe Winema is just a psycho.

I can buy into the tension between Lyle and Cos, though, and their resulting lack of communication. Lyle has once again acted without authorization, and Cos is not happy. (What leader would be?) The fact that Lyle produces results only makes Cos angrier—perhaps it reveals a bit of Cos’s own insecurities. He did, after all, snap at Imra when she refused a direct order during the Composite Man story. Given the stakes thrust upon Cos’s shoulders as leader of the Legion—and the increasing tension with the shutting down of the stargates and the destruction of Trom—it’s a wonder he doesn’t snap more often.

And Lyle is perfectly believable as someone who uses subterfuge to lure the White Triangle members into a conflict and then tortures them to get what he wants. I found this sequence utterly chilling in the post-Guantanamo Bay era. The argument given by those who advocate torture is that it produces results—and it’s hard to feel sorry for White Triangle racists or anyone else we deem to be the bad guys. But it’s still torture.

Lyle, of course, doesn’t learn a whole lot from the White Triangle members, except how they justify their actions—but that doesn’t really tell us anything new.

The other major sequence involves Andromeda, who spies on Roxxas and learns what a dupe she’s been. It’s awful convenient that she happens to use her x-ray vision and super-hearing (or whatever they’re now called) to observe the ambassador while he goes over his plans with the Direct Action Cadre, commits a murder, and then casually drops in her name—but you’ve got to work in the exposition somehow. The scene ends with in a typical super-hero trope, with Laurel punching her way out of Legion HQ (good thing Brande has unlimited funds for repairs, right?) and flying off to deal with the matter “alone.” No super-hero worth her salt would ever redeem herself by asking her teammates for help, would she?

None of these scenes are enhanced by Joyce Chin’s art, which make the Legionnaires look like they belong on the cover of a romance novel. Check out Tinya’s long, flowing hair on Page 10 (and, yes, her pouty lips) and the jut-jaws of the boys on Pages 2 and 3. They look like they’ve just come off a fashion shoot.

However, the issue does end on another effective cliffhanger as the Direct Action Cadre takes the war directly to earth, making a nice segue into the annual.

Grade: 72.3 (C-)

By the way, my favorite part of 28 was watching the Alamo tour guide mangle history. I don't know if this was meant to be a commentary on how how unreliable our interpretation of history can be or an indication that the tour guide was a hack. Either way, it was quite funny.

The stretch of issues beginning with the start of the White Triangle saga through the end of President Chu's term is one of my favorites in any Legion's history. In the preboot, we never saw anything like the scenes set on Trom before the Daxamites struck.

The one complaint I have is that Jan's more or less a bit player in his own origin as a superhero. A player with an important role to fulfill, but still- if White Triangle were a movie, he'd be on the second page of cast credits.

That's an excellent point about Jan being a supporting character in his own origin, Mystery Lad. The contrast between Jan's depiction here and his role in his preboot origin is stark. In the original story, Jan is the hero who hides his identity and won't even tell the Legionnaires his power to avoid attracting the space pirates' attention. He then tries to go it alone to stop the villains, only to be rescued by Invisible Kid. Jan acts like a hero in the classic sense, although, as part of a team, he needs help to win.

In this story, Jan is barely even present. He's been confined to one brief scene and his role in accompanying Brande is purposely kept vague. From a story-telling point of view, I find this very clever, as it plays with our expectations of what is supposed to happen. Ironically, though, Jan doesn't really come to the fore as a hero until much later. In his next major appearance (as I recall), he's brainwashed into becoming Starfinger. So he remains a supporting character for quite some time.

You have a good point there, raz! The annual's tactic of taking time to show smaller groups of Legionnaires facing off against single Daxamites really helped drive home the danger.

Also, having Tinya die right after she and Jo declared their love for each other made it even more unexpected. We're brought to an emotional high, and then suddenly - BOOM!

Thank you



You make a good point there. Sometimes I forget that Cos and Lyle and the others are just teens. When I was their age I would find myself engaging in unspoken rivalries with some of my teammates. It's not too much of a stretch to imagine them subconsciously withholding information because each wanted to get results on their own, especially if each felt that the other wouldn't be wholly cooperative.

If you take a close look at the various forms of racism in the real world you will find a common thread of one group feeling somehow threatened by the other. It does not have to be a mortal threat either. The Klan always claimed they were trying to preserve a particular way of life that was near and dear to their hearts. The Nazis targeted Jews because they had economic power that non-Jews felt threatened by. Right-wingers in the US hate immigrants because they are taking job opportunities away from native-born Americans.

But what threatens the Daxamites? These guys all have Kryptonian-class powers when off their homeworld, after all. Sure, they have a vulnerability to lead, but that's a naturally occuring element, not something manufactured specifically for the subjugation of Daxamites.

Often, racism on the part of one group against another is deliberately fostered by a third party with its own hidden agenda. Could this be the case on Daxam as well? In that case, who is/was that third party and what was their agenda?

Sadly, these are questions that will probably never be answered (since that version of the Legion is unlikely to be revived), but it might still be fun to speculate on it.

The lead vulnerability itself could create not just the sense of threat, but the sense that they have already been victimized by other races, who, to their sense, must be jealous of / afraid of their power, and have somehow arranged this lead vulnerability to 'keep them down' and deny them their rightful place in the universe.

Lead is ridiculously common. Even if nobody in the universe is currently pumping out lead-based weaponry, as simple as balls of lead they can toss at Daxam, so that it hits the atmosphere, burns up and potentially kills millions, there's no reason why the Daxamites have to believe that (look how many people still think Saddam had WMDs), or that any potential threat couldn't just manufacture them, quite quickly using future manufacturing techniques. The threat doesn't have to be actual, for it to exist in potential, and, to the Daxamites, it's an extinction-level threat. One soulless Daxamite news agency could keep the fear alive, just to provide them ratings to sell commercial space, and keep millions in a constant state of fear, utterly convinced that the rest of the universe is jealous of them, has already acted against them by inflicting them with this lead weakness, and has stockpiles of lead-based weapons ready to wipe them out at any moment, which any single fanatic could get their hands on and launch.

Any sort of 'war' began when the other races infected the Daxamites with this lead vulnerability, to keep them in check and hold over their heads, so any sort of retaliation is not 'racism,' it's self-defense against an aggressor that has already attacked each and every one of them.

Whether or not there's even a germ of truth to it, is irrelevant, since it's generally impossible to prove a negative (that the current crop of local UP races had nothing to do with any sort of imposed lead vulnerability), and harder to do so to a people who are feeling persecuted, under attack and in fear for their very lives.

And so, the easiest 'solution' to the 'xenophobic Daxamite' question is to tap into pre-existing lore (the lead vulnerability, artificially imposed in at least one continuity) and run with it. All the groundwork has been laid.

Other races could be similarly xeno'd up, with some built in rationalizations for why Durlans, Titanians, Talokkians, Imskians, Hyrkraians, etc. might feel ostracized or looked down upon or persecuted or neglected / taken advantage of by other UP races, but the Daxamites (or the Tromnians, obviously) are the ideal examples, and make for some powerful drama, since the Daxamites are particularly powerful, individually capable of being tremendous threats.

That's an interesting theory, that the Daxamites could have used the lead vulnerability as a reason to hate other races. Although, what I picked up from the recent reread is that the lead vulnerability wasn't a factor. It was rarely brought up. They just simply thought they were superior to other races.

It would be interesting to find out if this superiority and xenophobia had developed before, or after, the Daxamites found out that they had awesome powers under a yellow sun.

Oh, I'm not offering it as something that was present (since I really didn't read much of that run, so I have no idea why Daxam was all racist in that continuity), but something that *could* have been used to explain their xenophobia, if a writer actually wanted to do so and not just make them arbitrarily racist.

Thanks for the clarification. I did think that's what you meant, just citing a possible obstacle to why it might not work in the Postboot reality.

Switching the cart and the horse, though....


Picking up on Hermit's post, there are usually reasons or at least excuses peoples use to justify their prejudices. What if a developed Daxamite science discovered an "alien" race had instilled that vulnerability eons ago, because they predicted the powers that would become the Daxamites once they left their world?

Other possible plot points, why instill vulnerability as opposed to decimating the still undeveloped population.



Or instead of an alien race it could have been Trapper or Mordru or Darkseid or... Earth. All would have been interesting plot points to develop the reasons xenophobia developed, IMO more powerful than just a planet full of arrogance.

That's also why I thought it would be interesting to know if the Daxamite xenophobia had developed before or after they found out about their yellow-sun powers annd their lead weakness.

I wonder if and how the Daxamite xenophobes reconciled their genetic superiority with the fact that they remain non-powered under their native red sun? Perhaps some took it as a sign - oh, we only get these powers under yellow suns, we must have been given these to protect ourselves / lord over those who live in yellow sun systems!

I had a fanfic notion for a Crime Syndicate story in which Ultra Man was part of an evil Kryptonian race that called themselves the 'Golden Empire,' because they had conquered a large area of surrounding space (any system with a yellow sun), leaving a sort of patchwork of red sun systems unconquered, because their powers didn't work there.

That sort of thing has always interested me, living in a country that has hundreds of tiny micro-states (Native American reservations, which are considered sovereign territory, mostly) tucked away within it. Is the UP an old-school continguous territory, or is it, much more likely, a patchwork quilt with vast expanses of non-UP territory intermingled with it, as various planets, colonies, etc. join or don't join. Are there entire *other* inter-world alliances and governments mingled in, perhaps involving worlds utterly inhospitable to earth-human types (methane atmosphere, gas giants, water worlds, silicon-based life-forms, plasma aliens living in suns, etc.)?

Just as not every part of the US is technically 'America,' are there sections of Earth that still consider themselves independent and not part of the UP? Is Luna or Mars independent, and, even if not, are there communities scattered throughout the Earth solar system that aren't part of the UP, or even part of *other* power-groups (such as an Atlantean group, with territory in the seas of many worlds, and perhaps even part of the UP, but scattered across certain sections of dozens of worlds, rather than having one 'world' of their own)?

In sci-fi stories with 'federations,' such as Star Trek or the Legion, maps tend to show clean lines dividing 'our' space from Klingon space or Khund space or whatever, even if that doesn't really make a lick of sense for a Federation (or United Planets) that *isn't* an overbearing conquering race that expands and colonizes in a linear fashion, regardless of the desires of whoever lives in the systems 'in their path of expansion.' In theory, the UP being a peaceful *voluntary* alliance of worlds (or even specific cultures on a single world), would be a weird spider-web that goes in all directions, but has huge holes in it, where worlds, cultures, etc. have chosen not to sign up and remained independent. For those cultures closest to Earth (or wherever the center of power is for the great alliance), it would be a 'Puerto Rico' sort of situation, where they get many of the benefits of UP membership (well patrolled space, for instance, close to the policed space lanes and centers of commerce and opportunity) and few of the regulatory downsides. For those on the fringes, closer to the actually expansionary or belligerent sorts, like the Khunds, or Dominators, or Sklarans, joining the UP might seem necessary, and even a culture that isn't terribly fond of UP rules and laws (like 'no slavery' or 'no capital punishment' or 'no unregulated time travel' or 'no antimatter weaponry' or whatever) might bite their tongues and sign up, since the alternative is being enslaved by Khunds or dragged off to be experimented upon by Dominators...

You raise a lot of interesting questions and ideas there, Set! I would love to see your take on the Golden Empire. I think your fic would be much more effective at exploring the issues you cited than the few Postboot stories tackling it did.

In the Postboot Dark Circle story, the Affiliated Planets was formed as a front for the Dark Circle. Many worlds (Xanthu, Orando, Winath) joined it without knowing the true nature of the alliance. One issue showed a map of UP worlds vs. AP worlds, and it looked like what you described above - a "spider web" with holes in it, both UP and AP worlds mixed in together.

Sadly, though both UP and AP continued until the DNA run, their continued coexistence after the Dark Circle's destruction wasn't explored all that much.

There was another short story in a Showcase issue which showed two sister worlds. One wanted to join the UP and the other didn't. An official tried to block UP membership of one world because the other would have been left behind.

Again, I agree with virtually all of this (which is why I quoted so much of your post!). Among all of the “epic” Legion stories, this is probably the best executed. The Legionnaires’ mission is clear, and the stakes are high, but believably so. They are clearly outmatched in power by their adversaries, who want nothing more than to toy with them to death. It is only by ingenuity, teamwork, and wits do the heroes prevail.

Every scene builds upon the tension of the previous scene, and every scene affords us an opportunity to see Legionnaires (plus Work Force members!) in action. Very often, “epic” Legion stories become overcrowded and suffer from the necessity to give everybody something to do. The writers worked around that this time. For one, they kept the focus on a small number of Legionnaires who have major roles throughout the story—Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, Live Wire, and Andromeda—while most of the others are subordinated to a few scenes. Yet even within those scenes, the heroes are the “stars”—protagonists of “mini-stories” that make the reader care about what they are doing and trying to achieve. XS’s scene is heartbreaking as the Daxamite toys with her inability to save everyone.

Then there is Jo and Tinya’s scene. By the ‘90s, it had become obligatory for a character to die in each “epic” comic book story, and this scene is no different. Yet it is extremely well handled. Jo and Tinya finally declare their love for one another, only to have their joy (and ours) cruelly snatched away. I can’t help but feel that the writers were playing with our preboot notions of how their romance was supposed to go (yet, ironically, they parallel Tinya’s demise during 5YL—it just happens a lot sooner). And, as you note, Tinya is the one Legionnaire who should have been above harm. She is taken unawares in a moment of emotional and physical vulnerability, and the outcome is devastating for Jo and for us.

My favorite scenes, though, are Andromeda’s. They do exactly what they are supposed to do. She gives Roxxas his commeuppance and redeems herself—and Violet’s unexpected role is a delight. Their shared arc comes full circle here, with all of Violet’s suspicion over Andy dissolving into one moment of communion: “Take him down.” “Love to.” And, of course, it’s Violet who is left to mourn when she thinks Andy is dead. If someone sheds tears for you, you can’t be all bad.

The climax of the story, with the three founders, Brainy, Brande, and Jan, is also very effective. It builds upon what has previously been established about Tarnium and the stargates. It was ingenious to send the “Four Horsemen” to a planet with red sun.

And yet the ending does fall flat somehow. I don’t mind that it’s not a “feel good” ending—in fact, I applaud the writers for giving the Legion’s a very costly victory. This almost serves as a “coming of age” tale in much the same way that 5YL did: the world is not a pleasant place (even though Moy’s art anomalously renders it as such), and being a hero is hard. Even when heroes win, it isn’t always cause for celebration.

But somehow that last two pages rush through the denouement to wrap things up. We go from Tinya’s demise to Andy’s possible demise to the statues to Chu revealing Andy’s true fate. It just happens too quickly without letting any of it sink in. Perhaps if the full-page statue image had been omitted, things would have flowed better. After all, the statues do nothing but confirm that the Legionnaires think Andy is dead—but we surmise that from Gim and Vi’s exchange.

The statue “scene” is troublesome for another reason. No one else is in the panel, so it seems disconnected from the rest of the story. Yes, we know the Legionnaires honor their dead by building statues of them (as James’s own statue reminds us), and yes, we know there are now three dead Legionnaires (at least momentarily). But the “scene” provides a maudlin and unnecessary attempt to manipulate readers’ emotions. The rest of the story was doing just fine on that score.

No story is ever perfect, though, and Legionnaires Annual 2 provides quite a bang for the buck, a successful wrap up to more than a year’s worth of stories.

Grade: 94.2 (A)

I was going to chime in on this but forgot!





I think you both said everything relevant about Jan's introduction. The only possible thing classically heroic about Jan was his demeanor when facing the Daxamites who destroyed his world, and his skill - LSH 71 tells us only he and his father were skilled enough to create tarnium. Slim pickings, I know. It's almost as if the writers had to rush to include him because of his role in the defeat of the Daxamites, but ran out of space to flesh him out further.

I'm trying to remember, but I don't think Jan really gets pushed into the spotlight until the Mordru storyline (L* 48-50). And even then he spent much of that time sitting the battle out while trying to control his powers. L*55 is a much better use of him, as he comes up with the winning strategy to beat the Composite Durlan. He also has a couple of panels in L*36 where he forgives Andromeda for her role in the White Triangle war.

Hear, hear. I'm glad we agree on so many points!

For the end of the story, I think you hit the nail right on the head. We don't feel hollow because it's not a feel-good story (I think having an extremely happy ending here would have been a poor fit, given the amount of death and destruction caused by the Daxamites and also by the amount of danger the Legionnaires faced). But you're right that the ending was too rushed. We're left trying to make sense of things, but we are not able to just yet because our minds are left reeling. Maybe the writers had intended it to be an abrupt ending because they planned to explore the fallout in later issues, but it still didn't work perfectly.

You raise a very interesting point here, and it touches on one of the least satisfying aspects of Legionnaires Annual # 2 for me. We're led to believe that the severity of the four White Triangle member's actions is due at least in part to going insane from taking the anti-lead serum not calibrated for their bodies.

But insanity, really? That's a convenient device that prevents any sort of character development and fails to explore some of the underlying causes of racism and war, as you, Set, and BB mentioned.

And yet some of that simplification may have been intentional. I've theorized that the reboot was targeted at a primarily young audience and such an audience isn't likely to be concerned overmuch with the motivations of racist bad guys. In some ways, that's a shame because the reboot creators missed an opportunity to educate and not just merely entertain.

One of WT members is named Fethro Jarn; his name reminds me of Jethro of the Beverly Hillbillies. Perhaps it was the reboot creators' intent (or assumption) that some Daxamites were uneducated hillbillies whose isolation from mainstream society fueled their need to be superior and to toy with "lesser" races.

Laurel's backstory in LSH 70 revealed that her family lived in a White Triangle camp in the desert. She mentioned that their extreme views had led to them being shunned by many other Daxamites. This supports your suggestion above.

I thought it might be interesting to take a moment and tally the grades I've given each issue so far. Although the grades are entirely subjective, I think some interesting patterns have started to emerge. In general, the Legionnaires issues have scored higher than the LSH issues (due, in part, to better artwork). Also, the series seems to have reached an early peak in quality as the White Triangle story began to build.

Below is how each issue scored, an average grade for the series as a whole, as well as the top 8 highest scoring issues and the lowest five.

LSH 0: 76.1 C
L 0: 93.4 A
LSH 62: 63.0 D
L 19: 78.4 C+
LSH 63: 90.3 A-
L 20: 86.5 B
LSH 64: 85.0 B
L 21: 80.0 B-
LSH 65: 90.3 A-
L 22: 96.7 A
LSH 66: 90.0 A-
L 23: 99.0 A+
LSH 67: 72.6 C-
L 24: 97.3 A
LSH 68: 87.6 B
L 25: 79.2 C+
LSH 69: 80.0 B-
LSH An 6: 65.0 D
L 26: 84.2 B
LSH 70: 93.4 A
L 27: 88.8 B+
LSH 71: 85.7 B
L 28: 72.3 C-
L An 2: 94.2 A

Total and Series Average: 1952.9/24 = 81.3 (B-)

Top Eight Highest Scoring Issues
L 23: 99.0 A+
L 24: 97.3 A
L 22: 96.7 A
L An 2: 94.2 A
L 0: 93.4 A
LSH 70: 93.4 A
LSH 63: 90.3 A-
LSH 65: 90.3 A-

Five Lowest Scoring Issues
LSH 62: 63.0 D
LSH An 6: 65.0 D
L 28: 72.3 C-
LSH 67: 72.6 C-
LSH 0: 76.1 C

And, in case anybody's interested, here's the rubric I've used:

I. Plot/Structure/Script
A. The story sets up a dramatic situation,
develops it into a climax, and resolves
the initial conflict.
5 4 3 2 1 x 10 =__________

B. There is neither too much nor too little
exposition; exposition is interegrated
naturally into the story
5 4 3 2 1 x 5 =__________

II. Characters
A. The story clearly identifies the main
characters and gives the reader reason to
care about them.
5 4 3 2 1 x 10 =__________

B. The characters behave and speak in
natural, credible, and appropriate ways.
5 4 3 2 1 x 7 =__________

III. Art
A. The art supports and enhances the
story and is appealing to look at.
5 4 3 2 1 x 10 =__________

B. The art makes effective an imaginative
use of layout and setting and character
designs.
5 4 3 2 1 x 5 =__________

IV. Themes
The story connects to something larger
than itself; it makes the reader think and
explores the complexities or ambiguities
of life.
5 4 3 2 1 x 5 =__________


RAW SCORE =__________

Raw Score Divided by Total Points Possible ______/260

TOTAL SCORE ___________

100-98: A+
97-93: A
92-90: A-
89-88: B+
87-83: B
82-80: B-
79-78: C+
77-73: C
72-70: C-
69-68: D+
67-63: D
62-60: D-
59-0: F

It looks like a lot of your top-scoring issues were ones which were well-executed in their attempts at developing the personalities and backstories of the Legionnaires -

L 23 is the girls' night out issue
L 24 is Triad's origin
LSH 70 explores Andromeda's backstory and xenophobia through banter with Brainiac 5.

L 0 and LSH 63 had portions which showed the Legionnaires simply having fun (much like in L 23).

L Annual 2, LSH 65 and L 22 were the conclusions of the White Triangle storyline and parts 2-3 of the Planet Hell 3-parter, respectively. Though they had very well-written plots, we also praised them for having many good character moments while ably juggling nearly 20 characters.

By the way, I likely won't be able to write any reviews until the weekend of March 29-30. Please feel free to continue, and I'll catch up as I can.

Great observation, Ibby.

It's also interesting that most of these issues focus on the female Legionnaires, though I don't think that was a determining factor in my evaluations. Rather, the writers seemed to have developed the female characters much better than the male characters so far.

I think my main criteria is that I'm looking for a good story, and my criteria has changed over the decades, informed by college and graduate studies in writing, as well as having written a comic book and a novel. I can understand, perhaps, why the writers made certain choices even if those choices upset fans. And I'm going for understanding what effect they hoped to have on readers, whether they always succeeded or not.

It's been fascinating to apply what I've learned to my first love, comic books--and to the Legion, in particular.

So long as you're taking a break, though, I will, too. There are some other things I need to focus on.

I agree with you there. So far, most of the character development of the males has been as "part of the plot" (i.e. Gim's "natural" development during the Tangleweb stories, Cos as leader, Lyle as the sneaky spy). Unlike with many of the females where the writers really make it a point to shine the spotlight on them (i.e. Triad, Kinetix, Andromeda, XS, Apparition and her love story with Jo).

I very much appreciate how you review the story from a writer's perspective as well as a reader's. It's certainly given me much to think about in writing my own reviews.

I'm looking forward to when we'll both be back and reviewing in tandem again. At the same time, I hope some others can chime in too!

Ibby, He Who, I just want you guys to know that, as someone who missed this era the first time around and still has a LOT of catching up to do, your reviews have been an education. I look forward to seeing you both return from your break, and I especially look forward to when you reach the DnA issues.

Thanks, Fanfie. It's good to know our efforts are appreciated.

Yes, thanks for the note of appreciation Fanfie. I'm glad you're finding the reviews informative as well!

Unfortunately, there are some truly horrible storylines (LSH in the 20th century and the whole Bizarro thing, for example) to work through before we get there. But I'm getting ahead of myself. There are still plenty of good issues left in what I consider the opening "mega-arc" of the Postboot/Reboot/Earth-247 series (you'll know what I mean by "mega-arc" when we get there, I promise).

Thanks for the warning, Hermit.

The pay off at the end of that mega arc is amazing, though. Hermit is right - you'll know it when you read it!

And after a long hiatus...

Legion of Super-Heroes 72
Absent Friends
Issue information

Summary:

This issue doesn't deal so much with the effect of the White Triangle invasion on the galaxy, as its effect on the team. The deaths of Apparition and Andromeda are heightening tension among UP officials; Tinya's mom wants to shut the Legion down more than ever, the Alephian government is worried about Kinetix's absence, and morale is low among Legionnaires and allies (such as RJ Brande). Cos tries, but fails, to play politics; this causes Pres. Chu to limit the Legion's freedom and to block the memberships of Live Wire, Ultra Boy and Jan Arrah. The pressure causes Cosmic Boy to become aggressive and emotional, and he alienates his fellow Legionnaires.

Thoughts:

Ah, the pressures of leadership. I've been there before, and I can say that Cos' reactions in this issue are realistic. He tries his best, but curve balls and people pulling him in all directions are causing him to snap.

It's depicted as a slow buildup too - we see signs of this in previous issues. Cos tries his best to take care of the team, but in short order he (not purposely, but absentmindedly) alienates Shvaughn, the ambassadors of Aleph, Braal and Titan, and finally President Chu.

He really should have waited; I'm certain Chu wouldn't have come down so hard on him if he hadn't stormed off in front of the cameras. It's admirable that he wants to boost the team's morale so, but sometimes timing is key.

He wants to help soothe Brainy, but understandably can't tell him the truth about Andromeda. That was wise, but what wasn't is his denying Brainy's request for leave. Surely Legionnaires can get time off? I'm sure he could have done something about it.

Then there's the Garth incident. I can understand Cos removing him from the Legion, as President Chu checkmated him. But the normally cool Cos overreacted by magnetically pushing Imra away. Hothead Garth escalated, of course, and walks away - Garth's reaction may also be spurred by some jealousy; Imra doesn't exactly make it clear to either boy which one she likes, or even if she does like either of them. The issue ends with Cos yelling at the gathered Legionnaires and alienating them even more.

Granted, the other Legionnaires aren't being very understanding, but this just highlights a sad breakdown in communications. Past issues have shown that if Cos explains his reasoning and command decisions, most of the other Legionnaires will understand or at least accept them. He doesn't even try to talk to them here. Imra's the only one who seems to understand the pressure he's under, and Cos shuts her out too. He could really use a friend right now, but he seems all out of those.

In other news...

A couple of pages tell us that White Triangle cells through the galaxy have been obliterated, members arrested, and that's that. I guess the writers are more interested in exploring the effects on the team rather than on the UP as a whole; possible sanctions against Daxam aren't even mentioned.

A lot went on in the few pages showing the funeral.

- Interestingly, even as Violet thinks nobody will miss Andromeda, we get a line from Leviathan remembering how she came through against Tangleweb.

- A Durlan bows to Chameleon, making me think his dad's spiritual leader post is hereditary.

- Kinetix's missing status is mentioned, but the writers don't show us how she's doing

- Ultra Boy is about to leave the Workforce, but this is left hanging

- The Trommite philosophy is touched on, with Jan Arrah talking about envying his people. In the annual though, he said that no punishment could be harsh enough for the White Triangle members. So, what's going on here, Jan? I suppose death is welcome, but murder is not?

Oh, and as if things weren't enough, we have Doctor Regulus on the horizon.

A lot happened this issue, and the writers are juggling a lot of subplots! This all gives the impression that the team is in a state of flux and is heading for turbulent times. In the end, I feel much like Cos does - reeling and a bit confused, and wondering what will happen next.

Yay! The reviews are back. Thank you so much, Ibby! I hope He Who can chime in, too.

Kinda funny, though, that the first issue since the hiatus is a Cos-centric one, at just the moment that I'm turning him into an out-and-out villain in my Bits fanfic.

Thanks for the warm welcome, Fanfie! He Who and I have talked about it and he'll try to jump in as he can, though work's keeping him busy. I decided to start over again but to slow the pace down while I charge ahead with my own fic.

There is a central threads to both versions of Cos - his very strong sense of responsibility and conscientiousness, which can drive him nuts!

Good point. He has always walked a very fine line, though I don't think it excuses some of his behavior in both the Postboot and Preboot.

I agree, his best depictions balance his high standards with his keen understanding of human behavior and his high emotional intelligence. I'm reminded of the JSA miniseries a while back, where an issue pointed out that the original Mr. Terrific had such high standards that it drove him nuts when others couldn't live up to them. Cosmic Boy should NOT be in the same boat, IMO.

It's tough reviewing a comic when you know that what happens in a future issue or issues will cast what you're reviewing in a different light. In regards to Cos's behavior, this is the point when he's starting to playact to keep Chu unaware, isn't it?

About Jan... I wonder how much of his philosophy was created between the annual and this issue? By the writers, I mean.

I always felt he was a bit younger than his teammates. And even younger in terms of how his culture raised him, at least in some ways. As such, I thought his understanding of the Trom philosophy/ spirituality a particularly adolescent one. Which ultimately led to his utter destruction as a character.

I think this is an excellent insight.

When one is asked to describe the culture one lives in, it's hard for any of us to do. Looking at Trommite philosophy through the lens of religion may shed further light: When one who is a Christian is asked to describe what being a Christian means, that person gives his or her own interpretation--and that interpretation is not always consistent with how one behaves!

In Jan's case, he had no elders to "correct" him or point out where his understanding of Trommite philosophy may have gone off the deep end (as extremists in any religion are wont to do). He had no formal schooling in his culture's ways after the age of 13 or so. (And who at age 13 really knows anything? ) And so he had to take his limited education and lack of adult experience and build from there--with horrific results.

Of course, Jan Arrah is not a typical religious fanatic--he did spend millennia in isolation on top of losing his parents and entire race--but I think you've nailed it as to why his explanations of Trommite beliefs seem inconsistent.

Yes, it is I had to put myself in the shoes of someone who hadn't read future issues either. But I have to say, the writers did a decent and believable job of making it seem like the build up of pressure on Cos was what caused his behavior.

I agree, that makes a lot of sense.

His inconsistencies started way before he became the Progenitor. As early as L*55 you have Live Wire worrying about Jan being spacey. In L* Annual 2 you have him expressing anger at the Daxamite White Trianglists and wondering how they will be punished, while in LSH 72 he envies his peoples' death. In LSH 83 he thinks suicidal thoughts and claims death is his heart's desire. In L*67 he talks fatalistically about a boy trapped in a cave-in.

Perhaps part of this was a way to cope with the death of his entire homeworld? He could have magnified the teachings about death being a change in order to soothe his feelings of loss and sadness.

Mind if I join in, everyone? Give this thread a little bump.

Some thoughts on Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #72:

This bold "second chapter" for the team after the long-running White Triangle storyline definitely doesn't have the impact on a re-read it first did. So many of the vexing plights are resolved mere months later in a positive way (Tinya's death, Cos' personality shift, the blockage of new members, Andromeda's isolation, Kinetix is missing!, etc). Thus, this issue leaves little to no historical impact despite appearances which makes a re-read feel like filler.

You definitely see here how well the subplots of the first 18 months of the reboot were planned. Many are mentioned or begun in this issue even if they don't progress far. We didn't know it at time of publication, but in retrospect this issue was REALLY all about setting up Cos and Chu as they embark on their endgame missions to undermine the other. Winema's understandable hysterics here also set her up as the red herring she ultimately became when the Legion tricks Chu.

Upon dissection, I can see why first-time readers wouldn't have much to praise either. The team and the reader get emotionally beat up this issue. Any shred of hope in this aftermath story gets under-minded in the same issue - from Cos' about-face on his morale speech to the prospect of new Legionnaires getting rejected.

Even the set-up for Dr. Regulus, which would surely bring about the reboot of Sun Boy, really didn't turn out like Preboot Legion fans probably wanted. Quite the opposite - nothing came of Dirk and Regulus ultimately cost the team Gim.

My favorite page is probably the interaction between R.J. Brande and Chameleon, which has some obviously intentional nods through scripting about their relationship in the Preboot. There's something heartwarming about R.J. fretting over his "kids"/Legionnaires.

Also good to see Gim's reference to his positive experience with Andromeda against Tangleweb. I always hated that their dynamic/relationship never was featured again before his death considering it was an example of Legionnaires learning to work together despite their differences.

That sure is a neat Alan Davis cover though! Props to the writers for throwing in as many supporting characters as they could in this one, too.

Mind? Of course not, we're happy to have you actively reviewing too!



That's a very good point, Future. On one hand, the subplots were planned really well; on the other, they seem to have been planned so well that the resolution of this next storyline managed to wrap almost all of them up in one fell swoop! (Andromeda, Kinetix, Live Wire, Ultra Boy, Element Lad and M'Onel all return together, as does XS; Cosmic Boy reveals his end game in the same issue too).



Like with Magno, sometimes I wonder if the writers originally had something more planned and just aborted at the last minute. Unlike with Magno, sometimes I think that Dirk was brought in just so the writers could thumb their noses at the reader and show how not everything in this reality would follow the Preboot.

Just a bump up to say that I will hopefully be able to continue with the reviews soon. In the meantime, I will be going back and adding links to the covers and information (writer, penciller etc.) of each issue that has already been reviewed.

Legionnaires 29
Rising Sun
Issue information

Note: Brainiac 5 makes a three-panel appearance with no dialogue in Guy Gardner Warrior 29 during the events of this story. It's time travel, it's complicated.

Summary:

This issue picks up almost immediately from last issue. Doctor Regulus has kidnapped Dirk Morgna, son of wealthy businessman Derek Morgna - who is a close friend of President Chu. Saturn Girl, Spark, XS and Leviathan are sent to save Dirk.

Dr. Regulus is injecting Dirk with radioactive gold to see if he will gain solar powers; he also intends to ransom Dirk for a large sum of money. Despite the Legionnaires' best efforts, Dirk is caught in an explosion which does indeed turn him into a walking sun - he's too bright and hot for anyone to interact with.

We see some Legionnaires and allies dealing with the fallout of the White Triangle Saga, including the revelation that Brainiac 5 has apparently invented time travel (proven by his materializing in his lab with a glass of beer from Guy Gardner's Warriors bar in the 20th century!) ... and Saturn Girl sees Valor again!

Thoughts:

Old and new collide in this issue. Dirk Morgna still gets the ability to radiate intense light and heat because of Dr. Regulus, but this time Dirk's powers are more of a bane than a boon. He's so bright that nobody can look at him directly. I don't have an immediate problem with it, as it may be interesting to have a reluctant hero on the team (if Dirk does join). But his origin story does leave something to be desired. I can't quite put a finger on it, but it just doesn't seem to make sense.

Regulus wanted to use Dirk as a guinea pig. Yet his first comment is, "Still alive? Interesting." This seems to have been before he injected any of the radioactive gold into Dirk. So did he just think of the experiment on a whim? He should have been more careful if that had been his plan all along.

Regulus' recollection of the original accident which got him fired (being distracted by Dirk's delivery) is probably biased. Still, it just seems odd that he didn't seal his lab better if his experiment was so critical!

The Legion's battle against Regulus is a bit weird and full of contrivances, too. After their great coordination and strategy during the White Triangle war I was honestly expecting better. They did capture Regulus and shatter his armor, but forget his gloves - which allows him to trigger the explosion that ultimately gives Dirk his powers. XS is fast enough to save her three teammates, but can't get to either Regulus or Dirk in time. Saturn Girl now conveniently has trouble shutting down other minds - yet in the White Triangle war she was able to summon four insane Daxamites from around the globe. And the Legionnaires are unaware of Dirk's presence until Imra telepathically eavesdrops on Regulus... yet the Science Police and Derek Morgna knew that from the start of this issue!

Despite all that, I did enjoy their final "plan", with Leviathan, XS, Spark and Saturn Girl all working together and using their unique powers to make it work. This despite the minor snags and disagreements (Gim calling Imra out for taking charge, XS feeling the need to defend Cos in front of Imra). THAT is the kind of teamwork I expect.

Cos' characterization continues to be erratic, with him asking Ultra Boy to leave Legion HQ because he's not a Legionnaire. Triad even comments that he's in Chu's pocket... yet Cos sidesteps Chu's request for him to go and to bring the team. And readers may have missed the very interesting background art where an Omnicom levitates out of Chu's files while Cos is speaking with her. Invisible Kid? And... did Cos miss that too, or did he notice it? It looks like Cos may be playing the President too!

The composition of the mission team may also point to Cos trying to wrest control from Chu. Only four Legionnaires go; even Cosmic Boy and Triad, who were both in Legion HQ, don't go. Did Cos make a call and say Triad was too weak again? Yet Cos went out of his way to look for Brainy for this mission, so how come he didn't go himself? Saturn Girl even comments that Cos couldn't be bothered to come. Looks like the President isn't his top priority after all.

Other subplots:

Live Wire finally leaves to look for Mekt. He and Ayla sort of make peace too, finally. They are brother and sister, after all.

Is Brainy's invention of time travel a way to save Andromeda? (also funny how Brainy returns from his trip - to the opening of Guy Gardner's bar, Warriors, in the 20th century with a mug of beer, takes a sip... then promptly spits it out in disgust. Note, Brainy also appears in Guy Gardner: Warrior issue 29, but he's only there for 3 panels and says nothing, so no point in reviewing)

Jan Arrah returns to Trom, and we see that their belief (that death is a passage to a higher state) is helping him cope with his planet's destruction. He takes it upon himself to transmute every single corpse into a crystal monument to help it reach said higher state. It's a nice page that helps give some closure to Trom.

I actually enjoyed this issue more for the subplots (the intrigues that Cos appears to be getting into, the time travel revelation, and the glimpse of Valor) than for the main plot. However, none of the developments in these subplots are particularly crucial to their overall resolution.

The most important developments are the introductions of Dirk Morgna and Doctor Regulus. However, my enjoyment is lessened even more by my knowledge that Dirk won't actually get to be a Legionnaire in this era; for that matter, nothing much will be done with him. Oh well. It was a pleasant issue, but fails to really accomplish anything concrete.

Legion of Super-Heroes 73
End of the Road

Issue information

Summary:

Live Wire's search for missing brother Mekt turns out poorly. He's mistaken for Mekt and arrested on planet Bisbe. Mekt breaks him out and brings him back to Korbal, where Mekt reveals his twisted plan... to kill everybody and everything else that has lightning powers, including Live Wire and Spark!

Will Spark reach Live Wire in time?

And the Valor subplot continues as he makes yet another appearance - in Legion HQ!

Thoughts:

The missing Mekt subplot is finally touched on after more than a year of "searching", and this issue sets it up well. Mekt frees Garth not out of any sense of family, but because he's eager to preserve his uniqueness. True to his basic goodness, Garth tries to stop Mekt from killing anyone else. Throughout the issue though, you can tell that Garth still hopes Mekt will come to his senses and return home. Sadly, that doesn't seem likely. Unlike Garth, Mekt really revels in his powers. It's also pretty clear that Garth is just using the lightning powers to excuse Mekt's bad behavior; boy is he in for a rude awakening. The conflict between Garth and Mekt, and even Garth's internal conflict, is dealt with really well here.

At first I did feel that the whole mistaken identity thing was silly (how far away can Bisbe be that news of the Legion hasn't reached them yet?) but the latter part of the issue fixed it. Shvaughn Erin was able to check Garth's ID scans, and the poor cop on Bisbe figured it out too. It was just a matter of time.

Subplot time. Triad's absence last issue (but not Cos') is touched upon as Cos confronts her for her absence. He also notes the absences of Lyle and Cham (but not Vi); why would he expect all three to be together? Hmm. So did Cos not notice the levitating Omnicom in Chu's office?

And Valor makes a third appearance, though this time he's a lot more visible (unlike the vague colors in L* Annual 2 and L*29 - though this could be artistic license more than anything else). Finally! For Preboot fans this must have been torture; while new fans are just now understanding just how important this Valor is.
Imra also finally explains that he's a holy figure on Cargg, which adds a whole new dimension to Lar Gand.

Legionnaires 30
Struck by Lightning

Issue information

Summary:

Live Wire continues trying to talk Mekt into stopping his rampage, despite Mekt making it clear he wants to kill Garth and Ayla too. Garth is finally forced to fight Mekt physically. Spark shows up just in time to save Garth, and together they finally defeat the more powerful Mekt - though not without Garth losing an arm first.

The Legion also finally makes contact with Valor long enough to understand what happened to him. Just like in the Preboot, poor Lar Gand has been trapped for a thousand years! And Brainy's lead serum can make it safe for him to go out... if only they can reach him. To do so, six Legionnaires go back in time so they can ask Superboy for help!

Thoughts:
The cover is quite a big spoiler, and Preboot fans wouldn't be too surprised by Garth's missing arm. It's a beautifully done cover too, very striking.

First page - I just find it odd that we have two lightning beasts grazing calmly even as 5 others lie dead around them.

It was a good move making Mekt so formidable in terms of his skill with a weapon, and also in terms of his power. With all the electricity he's absorbed, he presented a credible threat to Live Wire and Spark. The battle was well-done; it's difficult to make a battle between three identically-powered characters interesting, but the writers did it through intelligent use of powers (such as Spark and Mekt using their electricity on the rocks), the broiling family conflict (Mekt and Ayla finally make Garth understand that it's not the electricity that has turned Mekt nuts), and the urgency of dealing with the loss of Garth's arm.

Spark proves to once again be a very competent Legionnaire; she intelligently goes for the blaster once Garth's arm is lost and doesn't hesitate to shoot Mekt in the leg. She also figures out why Garth was using the lightning as a bogeyman, and helps him realize that Mekt was a bad apple all along. The last, joint electrical blast by Garth and Ayla makes it seem that Garth has finally let go of his fears and is ready to embrace the lightning.

As for Mekt, he makes it clear that he was never bothered by his solo status in the least. Who knows, really, if he became nuts because he was a solo, or if his being solo had nothing to do with it.

It's also good that the Valor subplot is now moving to the forefront. Finally! The Legion could really use someone as powerful as Mon-El, and it'll be interesting to see the then-current Superboy interact with the team.

Legionnaires #29 never impressed me on my first read of it years ago. I had already read Sun Boy's Adventure era origin, so this tale felt like "nothing new."

Like Ibby says, it's nice when the four Legionnaires fighting Regulus are able to get their act together and coordinate an impressive defeat. Poor Regulus gets melted into his armor and then blinded as the authorities arrive. One would think this would be the last time we see of him for awhile, but he's back before the year is out.

Despite how much of a pain Cos is in this issue, it's nice to see the little hints like Lyle's subterfuge start to show that maybe everything isn't quite what it seems. Still, the subplot that was most interesting for me is the shadowy figure watching Jan on Trom. I know how that plays out, but I found that more intriguing on my first read than Dirk's cliffhanger.

Speaking of Dirk's cliffhanger, I'm surprised this is the last we see of him for awhile. Given the timeline, I can't help but wonder if they were trying to get him in place to become a Legionnaire by LSH #80 with the others. When they changed their minds, is that why the immediate next arc involves wrapping up Dirk and Regulus' story?

Did they decide that Sandy Inferno would be the more interesting of the two? As soon as Dirk was given the boot, the next issue Inferno quits the Workforce to pal with the team. Yet when Stuart Immonen was working on Final Night a mere two months later, he recalls that Inferno's name was on a list of people who could be killed (this ultimately led to him doing a mini-series for her). So that fact undermines the idea that the Toms wanted to put all their eggs in one basket with Sandy. Was editorial not a fan that she was replacing Dirk and wanted her gone? Did the writers lose interest in her so quickly?

I thought the scene with Garth and Ayla was cute. They love each other dearly but feel the need to mask their remorse and guilt respectively that only one of them gets to be a Legionnaire. Now that they're getting used to that, duty keeps them separate on the quest to find their missing brother. I have a hunch that even if Ayla didn't get the mission call, she wouldn't have wanted to go find Mekt. Sure, she looked pleased he asked - but I think she was more pleased that he would want her company over what the mission was. Garth always did seem to be closer to Mekt of the two siblings. Ayla, always the more practical, seems in this reality to especially be keen to the fact that something is off with Mekt. That concept plays a huge part of Legion Worlds #2.

My favorite part of this issue is probably Brainy's four panel distaste for root beer.

Good catch, Future. I totally missed that until you pointed it out. I agree, it certainly was more interesting than Dirk's plotline; it was pretty much closed when he defeated Regulus this issue, uncontrollable powers notwithstanding.

Re Dirk vs. Sandy, the fact that Sandy has killed at least twice before she ditched the Workforce already made her a very hard sell on a team with a strict no-killing rule. The Postboot changed many things but I think fans would have been up in arms if that rule went out the window.

Re Garth and Ayla, good observation (which is confirmed in LSH 73 and L* 30!).

By the way, the next issue the Legion appears in is Superboy 21. I don't have that issue, so I'll jump right to LSH 74. But if anyone does have Superboy 21 and wants to review, please go ahead!

I haven't been posting on this thread, but I want you all to know how much I'm enjoying reading it. Unfortunately my copies of all these issues are in a box underneath five other boxes, so I can't really get to the books themselves. Keep it up!

Something else else else I just noticed in a later issue is Cos furious as to why Lyle, Cham, and Lu didn't respond to the team mission for Dirk. Lyle we know was pre-occupied. Cham was nowhere to be seen (or so we think). Lu was just goofing off with Jo in the rec room. Was Cham really Jo in disguise for some reason, to irk Cos or test his new behavior? Nothing really comes of Cham's absence, to my knowledge, and we really don't have any leads. Cos' accusation never gets an answer from Lu before ... well, I'll touch on that later!

I think Sandy having killed BEFORE she was a Legionnaire actually sounds like a neat selling point. Could someone come back from that and embrace the Legion's ideals, or would she eventually show she wasn't Legion material? Or would the Legion simply want to jail her rather than consider membership. Having her stuck in the far past with them really side-steps the issue and is probably the closest she could have gotten to becoming an official Legionnaire anyway.

I can dig up Superboy #21, Ibby. I'll get to it after I post my thoughts on the other two.

Legion of Super-Heroes #73

At long last we've found Mekt, and I'm of mixed minds about the whole thing. Garth has spent so much time and familial turmoil to find his brother, let alone all the credits which are meticulously summarized for us in this issue. So I don't know whether to feel ripped off or not that it's Mekt who finally finds Garth ... and in a jail cell to boot! Did Mekt know where Garth was the whole time? Or was it just luck of still being in the area, since clearly the locals had just encountered Mekt?

Love the officer who sided with Garth, though I feel his death was written too early. Garth would have gone with Mekt anyway, even without killing the officer. I think this officer's death would have worked better if he had found the Ranzz siblings in Legionnaires #30 and THEN Mekt killed him, cementing for Garth that his brother wasn't salvageable. On a re-read I am glad that this scene reads more like Garth was kidnapped or had no time to really process anything - my memory had him just happily riding along.

Did anyone notice the guards detaining Garth are wearing "On the Run" Wildfire/NRG's armor, minus the helmet? Fun fact and a great nod from Moder. We see a member of Antennae Lad's race as an officer. I also liked Garth's tassled hair this issue, likely indicating his tireless search the last few days. I also think Garth wearing a jacket over his uniform is rather cute.

I wonder if Mekt's "killing lightning beasts for their power" plot should have actually been something recurring he did from time to time, to help explain his mental degradation? It's not like he doesn't know where Korbal is as the one who flew the cruiser there in the origin story anyway. I find it silly he just now decided to go there to amp up. Also silly that blasts from half a dozen lightning beasts just feed him but Garth and Ayla's "sibling lightning power attack of love (patent pending)" next issue takes Mekt out and gives him his trademark white hair. Oh well! Comics!

Legionnaires #30

I've always loved this cover. The vivid, though not blinding, yellow contrasted nicely against Garth's suit suit. It popped off the rack for me two decades ago and it pops on my computer screen now. I like that the white background of the barcode on the cover is translucent here.

I mentioned artistic continuity last post, which is bound to miss a thing or two when two artists are working on the same broader story simultaneously. Jeepers if it isn't jarring that LSH ended with Mekt being charged by lightning beasts and this issue opens with them absently grazing amongst the corpes of their beast brethren, ignoring Mekt.

Garth definitely reads like a boy here and a whiny one at that as his rose-colored view of his brother is at last destroyed. It's hitting Garth just how stupid he was to go with Mekt, but really he's also realizing how stupid he was to ever believe in his brother or want to find him. I'm grateful Ayla comes in as the voice of reason, that Mekt was like this even when they grew up.

I absolutely LOVE when "Mama Bear" Ayla comes out. We don't get to see it too often, but she is definitely fiercely loyal to her brother and her lover(s) over the years. That's true across most continuities. She's especially sensitive when they betray her trust but also horribly aggressive when they're threatened. I love that Ayla is willing to damn the Legion code if she has to in protecting Garth and the world from Mekt, though she uses her smarts to avoid having to cross that line.

The subplot of finally getting to speak with Valor and taking the time platform to go back and get him out is straight forward enough. It's nice that plot is finally getting some fast momentum and, even more exciting, we're getting this Legion to time travel for the first time! Definitely a big component of the team's lore usually and an act they'll become more familiar with as the years roll on. I enjoy that no one really questions Brainy having a time platform, though clearly this is fall-out from wanting to save Andromeda.

Superboy #17 and Superboy #18
Neon! / Battle of the Century!

Issue Information / Issue Information

Summary:

Superboy has an epic adventure against a guy wearing a suit laced with neon lights called ... Neon. What matters most for Legion fans is the issue's last page!

Superboy's manager, Rex Leech, nervously enters a boxing ring after hours for a shady business deal. Mr. Gambino, the ring owner, says Rex owes him a lot of money and now knows how Rex can repay. He wants Rex to get Superboy to a certain place at a certain time and then they're even! This is so Gambino's "boy," a young man with blue eyes, familiar black hair, and an impressive musculature, can take care of Superboy.

Next issue! Superboy is retrieved by friends Krypto and Dubbilex, trying to prove a point that Superboy needs to guard his thoughts better. They're joined by Rex, who reveals he just had a nightmare where Superboy was beaten in a bloody battle ... but that could never happen, right?

Elsewhere, at the boxing ring, Gambino's boy is obliterating a practice robot with his flight and heat vision. He has amnesia and wishes he could remember his own name. Mr. Gamboli promises to get the boy the best help money can buy ... as long as he promises to become his "Champion" and defeat Superboy.

At school, Superboy and his friends find a note in his locker where his sweetheart, Tana Moon, wants to meet him for lunch. Superboy rushes off, but is ambushed by this "Champion." The two super-powered youths duke it out, causing vast property damage across Hawaii and playing right into Mr. Gamboli's ploy to make money off the biggest staged fight in history. Suddenly, the fight is broken up ... the impressive Knockout has arrived!


Thoughts:

While I appreciate the nod to past history in that Lar Gand's story must first begin with some amnesiac time in the 20th century spent with Superboy, fighting each other like all heroes did in the early 90s probably isn't what the fans were asking for. There's also no nod or reference here to who Lar really is, so if anyone didn't read the REBELS series (which is most people) they'd be out of luck.

Not much to say here about these two issues. Tom Grummet's art is very distinct. I actually think this was his heydey or the era most people think of his art style. I find his pencils tight here, maybe because of the inker. This issue is really just set-up to get Valor and Superboy to scrap a bit to show Valor's equivalent, impressive abilities. Now it's time to get into who exactly this "Champion" really is.

Superboy #19
T-K-O!

Issue Information

Summary:

Knockout has butt into the fight between "Champion" and Superboy. She takes down "Champion" and Superboy interjects - he thinks the boy may be sick and wants Knockout to scram so he can help him! Just then a mysterious, computerized voice interjects! It belongs to Babbage - a sentient, golden space-ship. Babbage reveals that they're fighting Lar Gand, alias Valor, who is from Daxam and dying of lead poisoning! Babbage had been looking for Lar and found him due to Mr. Gambino's broadcasts.

The military arrives to detain everyone. Knockout lashes out, which gives Superboy the distraction to push Valor into Babbage. Babbage wants to escape to Colu but Valor refuses to go anywhere until he's in his proper Valor costume. Even though he's, you know, dying. Oy. Babbage wants to take Valor to Colu, where they hope to find a lead poison antidote from Vril Dox. They attempt to take off but Knockout dismantles the ship, still wanting to fight Superboy. Superboy rescues Valor and they escape as Babbage explodes.

Mr. Gambino sees the explosion on screen. Assuming all three are dead, he gloats he gets to keep all the money! Then Knockout comes crashing down onto his ship to foil his plans.

Superboy meanwhile has raced to S.T.A.R.labs, bursting in with Valor. He wants to use the Phantom Zone projector they have to postpone Valor's death. They charge up the projector and Valor races inside while thanking Superboy. The projector powers down and Valor appears as a phantom, able to talk to everyone present but not touch them. Suddenly the phantom zone projector explodes! With it, Valor and his voice fade away. The scientists say it may take years to rebuild and repower the machine!

Knockout chases Mr. Gambino on his sinking ship. He tries to shoot her, so she takes an exposed power line and dips it into the water at their feet - killing him. As an Apokoliptian (I believe?), Knockout is unharmed.

On the beach at home with his friends, Superboy wonders whether he actually saved Valor or condemned him to hell.


Thoughts:

I've never read the 90s REBELS series so some part of me feels like this is truly our first "postboot" look at Lar Gand. It's a little awkward, so I guess luckily this really isn't. Is it REBELS? Is it parts of the close of the Valor series? It's all a bit confusing and I honestly don't love Lar enough to resolve it in my head.

Babbage seems pretty cool, calling out Valor in his own sardonic way for how idiotic it was to have to change clothes before their journey. Of course this doubles as A) getting Valor back into his classic costume for the Phantom Zone and B) stalling for enough time for Knockout to shake Superboy and the military to take out Babbage. Shame that he gets taken out without fanfare or mourning from anyone. He seemed nice enough!

I don't read a lot of this era of Superboy, but I feel like Knockout pops in and out like this a lot in this book just to skirmish and generally annoy Superboy. From this one adventure alone it's a little grating. Just hook up already, you kids.

For someone frequently depicted as not the brightest or strategically sound, Superboy does seem to have the Phantom Zone projector idea in his back pocket very easily to help Valor. At this point we all know where this story is going, so as a reader I'm suspending belief more than I normally prefer to so the tale can ride.

Two issues later, Valor's plot is touched on and pretty much resolved. Probably for the best. Doubt they want to be telling stories about an angsty Superboy, but it'd also be rude of him to just forget the guilt of what he had done to Valor.

Superboy #21
Making History - Future Tense, part 1 of 3

Issue Information

Summary:

As Superboy ironically races to history class, members of the Legion of Super-Heroes arrive in the 20th century. One is missing though - XS! Brainiac 5 insists they look for her later and find Superboy. They can always time travel again to save her, so he views it as a moot issue.

Superboy has returned from class and is distraught his artificial knowledge has now caught up to where they are in school. Now he'll have to *gasp* actually study. Just then, the Legion bursts in! The typical super-hero battle ensues, as the Legion can't get a telepathic earplug into Kon's ear to translate Interlac for him. Superboy realizes something is off and his telepathic roomie, Dubbilex, links them all together.

Learning the Legion has arrived to rescue Valor, Superboy takes them to S.T.A.R.labs and relates how he saved Lar. The blueprints from holding the projector together are still in Superboy's mind, so Saturn Girl links him and Brainy. Everyone is hopeful Brainy can use his smarts to rebuild the machine, but the materials are too obsolete. Brainy gets huffy and triggers a time jump back to the 30th century, taking Superboy with them!

Thoughts:

This may be the first time the Legion bursts into Superboy's home in the 20th century, but it certainly won't be the last time. In fact everything is feeling very deja vu about this. It probably doesn't help that Cos, Imra, Brainy, and Lu all return to Superboy's home at some point as those stranded in the Team 20 era.

I always hate when Saturn Girl's telepathy gets written as more incapable than it is. Here it's Dubbilex that gets to be the psi that links everyone together - Saturn Girl never seems to think to try it in the battle. I'd rather a line about her fear that she couldn't understand old English herself anyway or just have her knocked out for the sake of the plot.

Poor XS. While Brainy's argument is valid, they do give up on looking for her quick. Cosmic Boy is the most concerned by her missing status - something Jenni would be blushing about had she known.

Despite taking 22 pages to tell, the plot here is very straight-forward. If it wasn't for the subplots, arbitrary hero fight, and throwing in Superboy's roommates for fun ... the whole story could have been cut in half. Valor's origin is retold I suspect less for Superboy readers but more for Legion fans who are tuning in for the first time due to the team's guest appearance here.

Wow, that was fast! Thanks for reviewing all those Legion-related Superboy issues, Future! I'll read through them in more detail later.



Thanks, the Hermit! Feel free to chime in any time, even if your copies are in storage I'm sure you'll have some great insights to contribute.

It was weird when I first read it too - why does he ask Lu about Lyle and Cham too, but not Vi? Did Vi answer and was unavailable? Does he suspect Lu, Lyle and Cham are working together? Or is this just a smokescreen? For that matter, I don't think we ever found out where Lu was...



Well, maybe not jail - the deaths Sandy caused could arguably be self-defense (granted, it's a tough sell, but I don't think she actually murdered anyone in cold blood). I agree that she was unlikely to have ever been offered membership. The Team 20 Legionnaires explicitly invited Ferro; while Inferno wore a flight ring, but either was never invited or never accepted (I think she was never invited, myself). In LSH 88 when the Legionnaires voted on whether to admit Impulse or not, there were only 7 votes - Cos, Imra, Brainy, Spark, Gates, Tinya, Jo.



Yeah, the early death of that poor officer didn't quite have the emotional impact it could have had. I'm also glad the scenes made it clear that Garth was trying to stop Mekt from killing anyone else.





I commented on the lightning beasts as well. Are those things deaf and blind? Didn't they see the half-dozen lightning beast corpses around them?

Another point on artistic continuity - last issue, Triad was in her workout clothes when they went to find Brainy. This issue, she's in her Legion garb.

I think on some level, Garth was relieved to have a "big brother" in Mekt. For one, maybe he found it a bit easier to look up to a male sibling; Ayla makes it clear that Garth always looked up to Mekt.

Agree on Mama Bear Ayla. I love how she is level-headed and the voice of reason without coming off holier-than-thou. And I like how Garth finally saw through Mekt and grew up.

Thanks again for the Superboy reviews, Future. Doesn't look like I missed too many Legion-related moments; LSH 74 and L* 31 give a good enough summary of how Superboy projected Valor into the Phantom Zone.

One good and important point that wasn't explicitly stated in the Legion issues, is that the Phantom Zone projector exploded; this casts Superboy in a much better light. Reading LSH 74 and L* 31 only, I got the impression that Valor was projected into the zone and then Superboy totally forgot about him!

Obligatory hero fights, oh well. I don't think that trend will end any time soon. But having Valor be the aggressor in this instance is a lot better IMO than in the Preboot, where Mon-El ended up exposed to lead because of Superboy's jealousy and suspicion.

There wasn't really a lot of Legion in those Superboy issues if you remove Valor's presence. As stated earlier, I was never a fan of his growing up so I always skipped the stories that largely involved him. I never read a lot of these Superboy issues until the digital age a few years ago, nor the Valor series aside from the End of an Era issues.

Superboy's own book definitely paints him far more sympathetic about his part in Lar's imprisonment than the Legion issues do. In fact, Superboy spends so much time in his cocky and bull-headed persona only in the Legion issues that I'm surprised at the level of insight and emotion he had in his own book. There's a definite reason I wasn't a Kon fan until the Johns issues of Teen Titans.

What a busy three months this was for oldschool Legion fans! Jo, Jan, Dirk, Lar, and a Superboy all mixing with the team.

I've only read a couple of issues of Superboy, so I can't really comment (though in the ones I did read where he fought Silver Sword and the Female Furies, he certainly seemed like he had more depth than in LSH 74 and L*31!).

I read a handful of Valor issues as well, and he certainly seemed a lot younger there. His exile in the Phantom Zone really changed him.

And in a few issues, Legion fans would get even busier with the addition of two new members and the return of several more

Legion of Super-Heroes 74
Prisoner of the Super-Heroes, Future Tense part 2 of 3

Issue information

Summary:

The Legionnaires and Superboy return to the 30th century, much to Superboy's annoyance. Brainiac 5 realizes that the Phantom Zone Projector's parts are too primitive to replicate with the materials he has on-hand. A team of Legionnaires, plus Superboy and Ultra Boy, travel to planet Korr to search its technological archive only to find that the piece they need has been stolen... by the Scavenger! The issue ends with the Scavenger using the Philosopher's Stone to vanquish the entire team!

Plus, a careless Superboy inadvertently reveals the Valor rescue mission to the UP public, stirring up extreme reactions from believers of different worlds.


Thoughts:

This issue was a pretty good read. It ably handled the series of conflicts - Triad's internal disagreements; Superboy's conflict with Brainiac 5 and much of the Legion; and the debate on how to handle Valor's rescue mission.

Superboy has every right to be annoyed at Brainy; as Future's review told us, Brainy had already asked Saturn Girl to link him to Superboy's mind, and had already realized how obsolete they were:



Yet Brainy pulls the specs AGAIN this issue. Ah well, the writers had to make sure Superboy was "needed" in the future, or this wouldn't be much of a crossover. I actually think Superboy's reaction was justified, and though he used machinery to attack Brainy, it was mild compared to what, say, Wolverine would do. And Superboy's right - you need help, just ask!

Having Triad be the Legionnaire whose belief in Valor is strongest is a good move. Her three personalities allow us to see just how extreme these feelings can get. It's also a way to further develop her, as we see that their emotional and mental differences extend even to their faith. Ooh, blasphemy. Triad must be really mad at Purple now. (By the way, the panel of Imra frowning in the background as Superboy is distracted by Triad's lust, is priceless).

Speaking of, Superboy's inadvertent Valor slip is unfortunate but not unexpected. He picked up on Triad Purple's interest and tried too hard to impress her. He got careless. A lot of teenage boys do that.

We don't see much of the UP's reaction to the Valor rescue mission, but we don't need to. Triad's reaction and Chu's call with Cos are enough to drive the point home. The writers also took a good opportunity to look in on the Ranzzes; it seems Winath is also a world of believers. The reactions of Spark and Live Wire are not nearly so extreme as Triad's though. Spark even chooses to stay home on Winath, and nobody admonishes her for it. Even if she were just humoring Garth, I'm sure her dad at least would have told her to go. If this were really the "most important event of their lives", of course. No, Triad's beliefs are a lot stronger.

Imra also knew about Valor's religious significance, though it doesn't seem as though she believes in him as a religious figure. And none of the other Legionnaires we see show signs of it.

By the way, Leviathan's explanation to Superboy on page 10 - "Sure, we're all from other worlds, except me", is a bit misleading. To Superboy's, and the readers', perspective, it makes it sound like Gim is from Earth while Lyle is not. Superboy, for all intents and purposes, sees himself as an Earth native. Or Kryptonian. Either way, Gim is from Mars; even if he had come from Earth, Lyle is also from Earth. But eh, it's a minor quibble and Gim is hardly the best at seeing things from others' perspectives.

Finally, we see quite a bit of action at the end. Interesting that Scavenger is still alive after a thousand years. His collection is amazing - I see two versions of the Batmobile, a Preboot Legion clubhouse, a ball with coloring matching that of Plastic Man's, Ray's helmet, Blue Beetle's bug and costume, Luthor's battlesuit, Brainiac's ship, Batman's giant penny, McDonald's arches, Guardian's shield, Hawkman's helmet, Flash's ring... and this is besides Superboy's jacket, Steel's staff, New Genesis aero-disks, Blue Devil's trident, the Philosopher's stone... and is that Captain Cold's gun that he uses to freeze so many Legionnaires?

Oh, and on page 19, 2nd panel... is that the Emerald Eye that bounces away from the shattered display case? UH-OH. Boy, I hope this is just a replica, and not the REAL eye...

The battle itself is well-choreographed. Things happen really quickly, though most of the Legionnaires get something to do and we do see them engage in some teamwork. The storytelling also makes it just abut plausible that Scavenger can easily take down 7 super-powered youths all by himself. The artwork gives us a sense that he's moving really quickly, and he does have access to a huge arsenal of weapons (thankfully most of them non-lethal). The only element that didn't go well? That one panel where Superboy and Ultra Boy go "where did he go?" Um, he seems to be right there in the panels before and after; you can see him in the foreground with Leviathan in the background, and he's close enough to zap Ultra boy too. Also, Triad doesn't get any action.

All in all a good second part to the crossover. The ending definitely leaves me wanting more.

Legionnaires 31
One Thousand Years of Solitude, Future Tense part 3 of 3

Issue information

Summary:

The away team manages to beat Scavenger without any casualties. The Legionnaires make a big show of activating the Phantom Zone projector to release Valor, only for the projector to fall apart in front of the gathered crowd and the news cameras!

A while later, the Phantom Zone spits out Valor - Brainiac 5 had triggered a time delay so Valor could exit the Zone in secret! The lead serum is successful and Valor is finally free, though he is forced to lie low due to his status. An upset Valor turns on Triad, who is consoled by Superboy. Superboy is made honorary Legionnaire before being returned to the 20th century.

Thoughts:

This was another fun issue with effective storytelling. The layout of the panes in the battle with Scavenger us superb, as is the teamwork: Chameleon gets Scavenger to drop the Philosopher's Stone, Triad catches it, Leviathan coaches her to use it to save Violet, who follows and defeats a shrunken Scavenger. And Ultra Boy's penetra-vision finds the missing piece they need, with Superboy's guidance. The pacing was just right and the excitement was kept up all throughout.

The Legion's solution to the Valor mess is inspired, and the storytelling is very effective. We don't get a hint at all that the Phantom Zone projector is meant to fall apart; the only clue is the last panel on page 14 where Superboy and Brainiac 5 grin as they run away, and that's already after the projector fails. That is good writing.

I do feel a bit bad for Brainy. He probably doesn't care much, but Cos yells at him a lot this issue. He's pretty much the only one Cos yells at! I do share Cos' concern for XS though. "XS is lost in time, and you're making toys?" Yeah, it's not like Brainy's forcefield is urgent. But I guess Brainy is just that confident about being able to find XS.

Superboy really redeemed himself this issue! He shows a lot of the depth that Future stated was present in his own series. I wouldn't call him manipulative, but he certainly knows how to make amends. Telling Saturn Girl he's a screw-up, apologizing to and flattering Brainiac 5, and consoling Triad at the end. And, as I forgot to mention in last issue's review, his budding friendship with Chameleon - who actually cries when he leaves.

Valor's anger at Triad and his disappointment at being asked to lie low is very realistic. After being trapped for so long, he must be itching to explore again; in the 20th century, he had the same lust for exploration. As someone who eagerly trawls through the Internet to find cheap flights and to research on far-off lands, I can relate. It's worse for Valor, as he easily has the powers and means to explore; the only reason he can't go out is because of his believers! His outburst is right in that the believers do use him to add meaning to their lives, but of course we can't blame them. His legend has been built up for over a thousand years, after all; and his deeds were great. It's nice to see the world seeding still a part of continuity too.

More Easter Eggs in Scavenger's lair - Quislet's ship, a GL power battery (?), Data's (from Star Trek's) head, and Atom's belt.

Scavenger's cybernetic enhancements also help explain why a) he's so tough, and b) why he's so long-lived.

I'm also pleased by how the creators managed to show - in one panel on page 8 - the gravity of the Valor leak. The two beings from different worlds arguing about how Valor looks like? Comedic AND effective.

The issue also has some choice comedic bits, like:

1) The ongoing flirtation between Purple and Superboy. When Purple whispers something to Superboy, Triad Neutral's and Orange's are much less violent. "Valor's watching!" I wonder how they knew what she was whispering to Superboy? Does she have some sort of telepathic link, or is it just from experience? Also, when Superboy whispers (possibly the same thing) back to an integrated Triad, her "WHAT did you say?!" line is priceless.

2) Chu asking who Superboy is. When Cos says he's a friend of Brainy's, Chu goes, "Brainiac 5 has friends?!"

3) The initiation prank at the end, where the Legion pretends that the time machine failed. A nice homage to the Adventure Era.

All in all, this was a nice, fun issue and helped us forget for a while just how bad the political climate around the Legion has gotten. It was a welcome break from the doom and gloom immediately following the White Triangle saga's conclusion.

By the way, I have edited the first post. It now contains links to each issue that we have reviewed as well