Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! The Cover & Solicit for SLoSH #25... Spoilers

He's choking on a sandwich, she's helping?

Yes, only now Calamity King is hatless, Lester Spiffany is a polka-dotted 3-armed alien, Infectious Lass is a mass of floating sentient bacteria, Calorie Queen is an obese drag queen and Nardo has two eyes.

Bah! Barry Kitson best not make Calamity King hatless in his upcoming appearance, if he knows what's good for him!

(I kind of like the floating sentient bacteria take on Infectious Lass, though...)

Oh heck - am I in trouble!?!

So...24-25 issues into this new series we seem to be getting another new member with another 4-6-issue backstory...oh, and Supergirl's still there...ay caramba! It's good to see new members but it's not like we've really seen all the other ones we already have currently.

Man, I wish that this version of LSH was written more like Young Avengers. That book managed to evoke a genuine teen team spirit with ample amounts of characterization in 13 issues.

Sorry, I'm just getting really, really bored with this "reimagining"...as someone in another forum wrote, LSH now is just "glacial" in its pace. :-(

[/QUOTE]I still suspect that he's the Power Boy who will be appearing in various DC titles (Supergirl, Teen Titans, 52, etc) Check out the newest Supergirl solicit & cover. That really looks like Lar in a L.E.G.I.O.N.esq outfit to me. [/QB][/QUOTE]

This might tie in with a recent Superman comic. An alien "collector" scans the earth and notes THREE kryptonians. Will Mon-El be Kryptonian this time ?

From Matthew E:
1. a stagnant, calcified, narrow-minded society
2. a long-standing ongoing history of peace and safety
3. a stifling atmosphere for teenagers

I hold the UP responsible for all three of the above conditions. We have seen how the UP has used tracking and mind-control devices on the “under-agers”, how they are attempting to bring the Legion under their control and are certainly using media manipulation in presenting the Legion as being in full support of UP initiatives. They have also promoted media manipulation to create isolation among the population thus limiting the amount of face-to-face interpersonal contact in this society, contributing greatly to “a stifling atmosphere for teenagers”. There has been speculation both here on LegionWorld as well as on DC Legion Message Board that the UP is connected to the Robot Rebellion.

I have also been thinking about something that Terra Firma said (#13 pg 15 p 2+4) about how the UP ‘exiled and abandoned’ the ancestors of the members of Terra Firma because they were criminals. Maybe the real reason that the UP exiled and abandoned their ancestors was that they were super-heroes who would not go along with the type of changes to the society that the UP was making. Maybe the UP has suppressed the ‘real’ history of super-heroes on Earth. Maybe the UP has made everyone believe that super-heroes were “myths” that only existed in comic-books and that’s why there are so many old comics around, to reinforce the idea that superheroes never really existed. Remember that when Supergirl first showed up there were cynics in the crowd that didn’t believe her to be ‘real’. In fact, in #16 pg 20 p 4 there was a character in the crowd who says that superheroes were fictional. Remember that the old Legion HQs that had “street cred” because it used to be a prison. Remember that Cos stated that what the Legion was trying to do wasn’t that much different than from what Lemnos was hoping to accomplish, “to usher in a new era of interstellar progress”. Remember that there is a sub-culture under the city of Metropolis where society’s outcasts and non-conformists live “who for whatever reason (have) chosen to remove themselves from society”. When we are first introduced to Under-City (#18 pg 1 p 3) I had a feeling that the two guys in the panel, a bearded bald man and a gray haired man were none other than R.J. Brande and Marla Latham. Remember that the UP (Earth Gov) consists of some of the parents of the Legionaries and they have shown that they are not above using their children for their own nefarious goals and that they also don’t seem to have the same distaste for face-to-face interactions that the rest of the society seems to have. Remember how the kids in Big City keep calling Atom Lad a phony (questions: how did Atom Lad’s flight ring get repaired so quickly when Brainy says that he gave Supergirl Dream Girl’s ring because of the problems in making a new one? Why not give Atom Lad Dream Girl’s ring?). Perhaps there the UP has even caused a change in the time stream that the UP has made everyone not notice somehow and only Triplicate Girl perceived it on any level because she is lone survivor of her planet and doesn’t have anyone to convince her that there has been “a long-standing ongoing history of peace and safety”.

If all of this is ‘true’ then this UP is not the open, benevolent and democratic one we have seen in other versions of the LSH, but appears to be a malevolent, oppressive, fascist one that has convinced everyone that there has been a “long-standing ongoing history of peace and safety” through oppressive and domineering means. Maybe the UP has been infiltrated (LSV?).

Now, this Legion having grown up in this environment, without any other kinds of socio-political structures to compare to, without the heroic inspiration of Superboy, nor the moral leadership of R.J. Brande and Marla Latham, that they’ve had in the past, has acted in non-LSH ways, most notably (to me at least) the killing of untold numbers of Lemnos’ invading army in issue 13 when the Legion shut down the transmitter gates without making sure that the gates were cleared first. Because of this lack of moral, heroic direction, the LSH revolts against this society in the only way that the poor things can think of, “Eat it Grand-Pa”, not realizing that there are much deeper issues that they need to deal with than just plain ageism. Madame Ardeen made a comment that the UP did not take into account the “universal constant” of old vs. young. This battle against an oppressive government, the eventual fall of that government and the subsequent establishment and institution of a benevolent, democratic UP would make for some very interesting adventures and really good reading, IMO. Watching Ylum go through its’ societal growing pains was one of the many highlights in “Nexus”.

The thing is; it’s been almost two years that we have watched all of this unfold in drips and drabs and hints and glimpses. If this is in fact the direction that this book is heading in I say enough with the set-up, it is time to move the book along to wherever it’s eventually headed. Reading about these directionless heroes in this oppressive society gets boring unless the Legion begins to focus their revolt on the infiltration of the UP and the overthrow of this fascist government. Without heroic inspiration and moral leadership that has a true historical perspective, the Legion will continue to fight the right Ta-Ta but they’ll continue to have the wrong Hee-Hee. Now anytime you see that happen it’s always good for a couple of laughs at first, but as it goes on it gets boring and you end up feeling sorry for the pathetic person(s) caught up in that trap. I think this is where this book in now.

Of course, as always I could be completely wrong and all this is just the liquor talking.

Some good ideas in there. I particularly like this one:

which would answer quite a few of my questions.

But I don't think as badly of the 31st century as you do. I think it is, just as in the previous versions of the Legion, a bright future. I think they have achieved peace and stability, and that their society is fundamentally a good one. I think some prices were paid to do this, however, and the nature of those prices have been hidden from most of the citizenry. And I think it's a society that does need changes, changes that the Legion can provide. But nothing as bad as a fascist dictatorship.

Definitely I agree with you that the Legion lacks guidance of how to be superheroes. That's an aspect that I hope gets played up a bit.

I'm going back and re-reading the whole run to see if I can pick up anything I've missed.
Almost two years in and I'm not feeling it. I like the art but the storyline is painfully slow. I'm getting so tired of the writing for the trade mentality. Mark Waid is a better writer than this.

Let's tie up some loose plotlines and get moving.

Has the slow pace got anything to do with the book being one of the first OYL titles?
Will we have to wait until the end of 52 to find out just what is going on here?

LLL

I still suspect that he's the Power Boy who will be appearing in various DC titles (Supergirl, Teen Titans, 52, etc) Check out the newest Supergirl solicit & cover. That really looks like Lar in a L.E.G.I.O.N.esq outfit to me. [/QUOTE]

This might tie in with a recent Superman comic. An alien "collector" scans the earth and notes THREE kryptonians. Will Mon-El be Kryptonian this time ?[/QB][/QUOTE]

Howdy. Power boy showed up in this week's "52" as a member of the Teen Titans. He appeared to be from New Genesis, as he was hanging around with "Little Barda" (Don't ask! Jack Kirby must be spinning in his grave) so I would say his chances of being a) Kryptonian and b) Mon-el are fairly slim

What a great Christmas gift! This old fan is very pleased with your rendering of my favorite Legionnaire and his return to this title.
You do this series proud and,IMO,deserve your standing at the head of the list of the greatest artists that ever brought the LSH to life.

Thanks LL - I don't deserve such high praise, but I'm always grateful to receive it! Gets the day off to a great start!

A lot has actually happened in the current LSH...

...I-Kid & T-Wolf's induction
...Lemnos & Terror Firma
...Orando's demise
...Dream Girl's death & resurrection (?)
...a robot uprising in the works
...a possible Legion of Super-Villains courtesy of a yet-unseen Tarik

With all these it actually got me thinking that in fact, a lot has happened over the last 22 issues. But for some reason it appears that what it lacks is some sort of resonance for me. We opened this chapter/reboot/reimagining of the Legion with the team already active within the confines of a 31st century that's allowed itself to remain very predictable/certain by controlling as much as they can.

I guess what remains unanswered for me is what is at the heart of the Legion that's being published at the moment? Is it the concept of heroism (as presented in #1 and is essentially a reaction to the circumstances that necessitate the need for individuals to make a stand) that fuels them or is the Legion a movement (one that's advocating change)? In the middle of this question I'm bombarded with "reimagined"/"re-costumed"/"re-characterized" Legionnaires, an essentially new universe to explore, a new socio-political structure to get acquainted with, a re-imagined Workforce in the form of the ex-Terror Firma agents, a delusional-we-think Supergirl and now a reimagined Mon-el.

While I do wonder how they're bringing him into the series (member? ally? competition?), when I take several steps back I can't help but see a very threadbare Legion. These things are coming fast & furious but they all seem to be built on what to me appears as a hazy foundation. So while I am enjoying bits and pieces of this new Legion, at this time I can't seem to feel it's pulse enough for these new developments to actually matter... :-(

Oooo! I think it would be cool if that was the same Mon-el as the one Conner helped out, but then again, I'm really open minded here. I can't wait to see what WaK have in store for us!

Wow.. I agree. I don't want to agree, I mean I want to love these guys more than anyone. I agree with what most people have said here. It's moving slow, and its starting to hurt. Buuut.... On the other hand, I feel like books like Green Lantern move to fast!

I don't know what the answer is here guys... someone mentioned "clean up some of the plot threads, and move on." Sound good, as long as it doesent seem rushed. I thought it was weird that first we were dealing with robots, and now an evil group of young villans... and yet so many other questions don't have answers... and I feel like they havent even been touched on. I'm eager to see what Waid has planned for us though, I still think he's the right guy for this. I remember after reading issue 2 or 3 with Dream Girl, KK and Brainy, I was like "ohhh man, now this is great stuff!". But a year of Terra firma was a bit much for me.

Man, I have to give Waid credit though, writing this book cant be easy! I wouldnt even know where to begin, and so I don't know the solution here... 20 some odd pages a month, I don't know how I could possibly tell a story. Now if we have two books again...

Lets hope that theres more great stuff to come guys!

Here's a quiz for you kids...

Both of these covers were colored by professional comic book colorists (both have worked on the series). Can you guess which one is the official, editor approved (paid for) version and which was done for fun in an hour and a half?

A. B.

Honestly, Nightcrawler, are you trying to depress me?

Wow.

like the second one better........

Supergirl looks too pale in the first one.

I guess well just have to wait and see who this young man that Supergirl is choking actually is.

You can't mean that B is the "done for fun in an hour and a half" one do you?

I believe he does sir.

Well, all I can say is B rocks.

The one on the right has better use of shading and richer colors, which lends an aura of menace to the scene.

(Fortunately for you people, that's as artsy as I get.)