Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! CALLING THE ROLL of LSH #45 "Monster In Our Midst" (spoilers)

freezie-sweet, vicari-comics (I want to see one! Aside from the SEA MONKEYS one M'rissey's looking at), veloci-billiards, Lyapunov Terminus Boundary, UP Science Nexus, Department of Astrophysics and Celestial Mechanics, Spaceguard Command Center... lots of new sci-fi-ish vocabulary


LIGHTNING LAD: I really like that opening splash page with a quartet of Legionnaires and M'rissey looking up at the holo of Madame President Kieselbach.

Garth clearly felt rejected when Saturn Girl thought at him "do you understand? No!"

Weird flight postures for LL and El as they fly to the Chief Executive Office Building. Where they fly over that line of applicants. Night Girl's the most immediately recognizable, but the guy in the mohawk standing beside her *could* be a new Atmos... there's a fella that might be Bouncing Boy further back... even further a spiny guy could be Porcupine Pete. And the red-skinned girl in black or gray looks alot like an applicant from the Lightle years.

"Hey, ho"?

Garth's graduated amperage approach-- good strategy or recipe for disaster?

He seems a bit more comfortable with bureaucracy this issue. Maybe it's the sleep he finally got? Or is it that he's dealing with an attractive female?

ELEMENT LAD: Some new details to his costume... I like the interlac 'E' brooch, for lack of a better term. Not sure about the girdle. Guess the ambitious design of having symbols change on his cape as he changed elements is gone. Probably for the best. but I liked the idea.

"You idiot!" El has been hanging around Brainy too much recently.

We may have lost the elements on the uniform, but when Jan changes the Bludgeon Brother's something into sand, there's a halo of element symbols circling his hand. Notice, he isn't touching the something before transmuting it. Nor is he touching the air around the BB before changing it to helium. No mention of the time thing.

SATURN GIRL: I think Saturn Girl's "Do you understand? No!" is one of the saddest lines I've seen in comics. Yes, if she's that tired, she should make it known for everyone's sake. But- it's so un-Imra like. It's a different version. Whatever. Saturn Girl should supercede all that, IMO. She's a historic character. You can't write her as history, I suppose, but I dunno... I just find this characterization sad. Sure, she can now 'rise'... but so what?

Is she turning from Garth (and her role as a Legionnaire) purely out of guilt for the kiss on Rimbor?

Frankly, the fact that she decided to have sex with Jo isn't nearly as troubling to me as reading her shirking her duty. This gal plainly wouldn't take the brunt of hurt that other versions have. I would've much preferred it if someone *else'd* pointed out how tired and hurt she was. Then, her sitting alone in the kitchen rather than in the bio-repair unit would've made more sense.

Her susceptibility to Jo? I'm not crazy about it... we've seen it before, haven't we? I wonder if Shooter has read LEGION LOST and the rest of the reboot that was? Is this repetition of an incident fully intended?

Is she suffering under some other agent's influence/control? Somehow, I don't think that's the case. It'd be a bit too convenient. Though the title of the issue could well indicate that it's so. Perhaps the gravitational effect has everyone on edge?

The dumpy, poor self-image I'm ascribing to the lack of sleep (sort of a minor theme in this Legion) and general tiredness, as that just doesn't ring true even for what we've seen of Imra just in this boot.

STAR BOY: I wonder if pouring your power into a nameless, faceless, non-threatening machine would be difficult? Sort of like acting in front of a green scene for screen actors? The threat is as dire as could be, but abstract.

ULTRA BOY: "Hey, don't worry, I don't mess with other guys' girls." That lasted a whole ten seconds, didn't it? I keep looking for depth hidding behind all this shallow obviousness with Jo. It's futile, though. This is all threeboot Ultra Boy is. A selfish, bull-headed cad with little thought for Imra *to* read. If there's anymore to him, Shooter or somebody'd better get it in print quick.

PRINCESS PROJECTRA: Tiresome. Boy, does she suffer in comparison to preboot Jeckie's strength. I think this was more of a likely moment for friendly confrontation, as opposed to the Gim/Salu scene. Who'll be able to get through to Jeckie? *Some*one needs to.

This character has been in one form of denial or another since #1 of this series, hasn't she?

INVISIBLE KID: I'm tired of the slope-shouldered posture. Shouldn't Lyle have grown a bit by now? Physically, I mean. I am curious about what happens immediately after his 'discovery'.

I really appreciate the artistic renderings of the futuristic settings like the President's situation room and the Spaceguard command center.

I posted nearly roll call style on the #45 thread, but I do want to add that many of the Legionnaires in this issue were exhausted and pretty banged up. I'm getting the feeling that many posters here only want to see shiny fresh agreeable Legionnaires, and if they don't, they call it bad writing.

The art was very good.

well gee, it's been a whole month. you'd think they'd be rested by this ish.

Hmmm... SG doesn't look too exhausted in that final scene with U-Boy... she does look pretty "banged up" however.

I was actually pretty impressed with how he handled that, sending everyone who needed medical attention off and then knowing that regen doesn't work on Durlans (when the rest of the team doesn't seem to know *anything* about how Cham's powers / physiology works, given how annoyed Cham sounds every time he has to explain it, for the benefit of the audience).

Yeah, I get the feeling that the Shadow Lass / Ultra Boy pairing is pretty much over on both sides. Neither of them has shown any indication of being a couple in the last year.

I also laughed at nurse 'Ratched.'

Well, that very last panel certainly desroyed any hopes for the Legion's two classic pairings in this reincarnation. But if I do recall... Tinya had virtually no interaction whatsoever, and who knew if Garth was on the verge of being serious or not. Anyways, I'm not very pleased with SQ's lack of ... what made SQ great in the first place. (Maybe someone isn't that good at portraying a girl's emotions...) But of course, those teens have to act like teens from our century. How are we going to relate to them then?

Futuristic lingo... Lightquick? A pretty niffy Newspeak.

LL and El as partnering diplomats? Basically a Jarth mission? That's quite rich of Jim, considering the Threeboot era had severed most ties with classic Legion lore.

Anyway, I'm just glad that the plot's moving along again, perhaps in time for a good brawlin' climax by #50 and thoughtfully close a chapter of the Legion's history... so, yeah, the inconsistencies in characters may not really matter by now.

On the flip side, Imra must have felt hurt he was so unconcerned about her injuries he tried to push her beyond endurance into another mission. Before this, Garth had failed to answer her calls for help on Triton and Rimbor, threatened to expel her from the team and, given the choice of making love to her or answering the phone, he chose the phone.

Jo's accusation that Garth is treating Imra “like crap” is a lie, but he’s given their romance a pretty low priority and now he's walked away from her when she’s on the brink of a breakdown.

Garth isn't the only one who felt rejected in this scene, imo. I’m not shifting the blame from Imra to Garth -- just trying to see it from her disoriented point of view.
He says here “I don’t want to kill anybody”. I suspect he’ll feel differently next issue.

Not for nothing is the President drawn to resemble the older Action Saturn Girl. Plus, the panel showing Garth and Kin’thea face-to-face was a typical “love at first sight” pose -- just re-letter the word balloons.

We've seen the unthinkable happen in the pantry. Here’s something else just as unthinkable -- Garth *has* lost romantic interest in Imra. Or if he hasn’t yet, he soon will. He’ll be crushed by Imra’s betrayal, I’m sure, but not as badly as some people expect.

Maybe Imra has already sensed a change in Garth’s feelings towards her, and it’s one of the reasons she’s falling apart.

Notice it’s an earthquake that drops Kin’thea into Garth’s arms and drives Imra into Jo’s arms. That’s some nifty symbolism/symmetry.

Imo, Jo's kiss is just one link in a long chain of events that began building when Lightning Lad became leader. Jo is the catalyst of Imra’s downfall but not the root cause. There are many missing pieces of the puzzle of Imra’s psyche, but we can’t expect Shooter to lay them all on the table at once.

One thing does seem crystal clear, though. Imra didn’t throw herself at Jo because she’s a happy little hussy who wants a playful romp in the pantry.. She’s angry, confused and miserable. There isn’t anything joyful, romantic or sexy about what she did.

All of a sudden the hussy jokes don’t seem so funny anymore.

Imo, her duty-shirking was necessary to show beyond a shadow of a doubt that Imra’s not her normal self and nothing she does afterwards can be considered her normal self.
Shooter’s piling on the vulnerabilities to make us sympathize with Imra -- he doesn't want us to hate her or see her as an irredeemable slut. But, yeah, he’s piling it on too thick here.
No only to Jo. Imra’s been “cheating” on Garth since 1962 (the mistletoe incident with Superman). Yes, I do think Shooter’s read “Legion Lost”, “Corner of Hell” and the story that had reboot Imra puppeteering a romance with comatose Cosmic Boy, and intends to re-explore this troubling aspect of her psyche and push it to its outer limits. The only thing I question is the timing of it. It comes on the 50th anniversary of the Legion, when fans want to see its foundation stories and characters to be upheld and iconized, and aren’t in the mood to see its once loving founders break up in such as shocking way.

To be honest, it disturbs me too. But the way I see it, Shooter is crafting a Crisis as intense as the one going on elsewhere, with threats that loom as large as Superboy Prime. “Monsters” from without and within. Both Legions will have their crises and probably triumph over Evil in the end – but not without casualties and tears.

A hokey, happy ending with the two founders renewing their love. Jo finding his soul, and 3boot Legion joining together in a big group hug isn't a very likely outcome -- but as this issue proves, you can't tell which way Shooter will turn next.
One way he can be redeemed is to die saving the universe or something.

We've learned one other important thing about Jo in this issue -- he isn't dumb as they say. He's smart like a predator with the uncanny ability to sense the weaknesses of its intended prey.

Maybe he’ll use those predatory instincts to find the traitor in the Legion’s midst. I don’t think it’s Jo.

Had the "cosmic symphony" scenes taken place in any other issue, Brainy would have been the star of the story. But he and almost everything else are overshadowed by the pantry scene.

I took it as a harmless dig that rolled off Garth's back as quickly as Brainy's earlier insults did. “El” was funny and engaging this issue, as he was in the “Tulip menagerie” scene a couple of months ago. Intelligent, quirky humor is a trait I really value in Jan -- a nice antidote to the pseudo-philosophical drivel.

Shooter is tweaking Jan’s powers along with his costume and his personality – all for the better. Now that we know Johnsboot Jan is M.I.A. and reboot Jan is still dead, he’s the only one of the three multiversal E-Lad’s we know for sure exists -- and I’m rooting for him.

If she’s still Jo’s official girlfriend, Tasmia won’t take kindly to his little fling, but she might understand his carnal impulses.

Salu's personal crisis parallels Imra's. Both women feel injured, can't control their emotions, and react by doing something irrational and dangerously self-destructive.

Denial and desperation are I think the keys to Jeckie’s behavior. In her desperation to hold on to her lost identity, she's taken the royal act to its worst extreme – right into “Marie Antionette” territory. She's experiencing a personal crisis, too, but it pales in contrast to Imra's, and isn't quite as interesting as Salu's. Maybe it's because Jeckie's ice princess act is too cold to win our sympathies.
I figure Lyle will turn invisible and run away. It’s not lost on anyone (readers, I mean) that he’s the tattletale who informed on Cosmic Boy when CB raided Brainy’s lab. Then, I dunno, maybe Imra will be shocked back into her mind, Jo will make a quick exit and leave her to face the music alone. I may be wrong, but I don't see their "affair" lasting more than 10 minutes.

I'm wondering if there was a surveillance camera in the pantry that recorded the whole lurid thing. M'Rissey could sell the tape to a Holo-Vid reality show and make the Legion richer than ever.

"..nomad … pilgrim … migrant …peace .. peace ...peace"

I think the U.P. is about to be overrun by some crazy illegal immigrants.

Great issue, I'd say. One of the best of the run so far. Funny how after 8 issues of hinderance the UP's nuisance does a 180. It's a breath of fresh air from a storytelling perspective, though horribly eerie at the same time. I kept feeling like guns would be trained on the team at any moment. It's nice that it lets the team concentrate more on some real action (and character moments). Terrific art by Manapul. I'm glad he's back.

I'm finally settled into most of the new uniforms so I may make a few comments about those.

LIGHTNING LAD: I really liked seeing him in charge and in the field with Element Lad. He handled the situation well while still being a bit 'himself' and not completely kissing up. Wouldn't expect any less from the creator of "eat it, grandpa." As for his look, it's a bit too scaled down for me still. Garth's been wearing several variations of this look for 30 years. It needs more zap to it after all that time.

SATURN GIRL: I'm not enraged like some about what Imra's done. I wouldn't call it bad writing; that's such a broad insult with vague definitions applied to it. What we have here is just a different take. It was novel to see a "worn out" Saturn Girl, especially to the point of her terse responses to Jo. While Imra with Jo isn't original after Lost, I'd like to think Shooter may be taking this somewhere that won't make it a retread with sexual indescretions sprinkled on top.

Once Tromium reminded me of all the ways she's been mistreated by Garth, her declining to participate in the mission made even more sense. When you're that beat up, what's the point when you got a 0:2 chance of being left to fend for yourself if something goes wrong? It's not like Imra was in a hurry to help the UP previously either.

Loved the Legionnaires in the background as Garth walks away from Imra. They're all looking in different directions and giving the sense that the room got very awkward very quickly.

One thing I'm surprised no one has brought up is Imra's scene with her mother in #41. An open-ended, private discussion that presumably left Imra in the know about some secrets in the UP or even the Legion. Ever since that scene, every thing Imra has done or said has been suspect to me if only for clues to what she could know. For all WE know, her actions in any of these issues could be a part of this 'inside information'. Maybe she's sticking close to Jo for a reason? Maybe she's trying to make herself alienated or playing more exhausted than she is? All of this could be unrelated, but it's a possibility.

ELEMENT LAD: Great use of his powers here, something we haven't seen much of this series. I'm fine with the limitations on them being gone. On the costume I loved the 'e' brooch when I saw it. I thought that was a nice touch. I like this updated look - assuming the colors on the splash page are the actual design rather than the solid mass of red like the rest of the issue.

PHANTOM GIRL: Really missing the old costume, too. Especially the bells and black pieces of her uniform. She's missing a visual flare without them. This is one Legionnaire who I hope gets some story focus soon. She's pretty much been running errands around headquarters Shooter's entire run. Ayla finally got to go out and do something, now it's her turn.

SHADOW LASS: Loved her lines here. As for her look, I do like seeing Shady in an open front again. I wish her hair would be colored darker. She's a bit too blue overall visually.

ATOM GIRL: Loved seeing this defeated side of Salu. Sure, it's a bit jarring from what we've seen of her ever but it definitely gives her some needed depth. We've seen before how she reacts to anyone referring to her as small. Is this so much of a stretch? I love how Shooter took what I disregarded as a throwaway fight last issue and turned it into a character insight/builder for Vi.

COLOSSAL BOY: Retread of his past crush on Vi or not, I did enjoy Gim's scenes with Salu. It's nice to see the 'gentle giant' side of him. Also terrific to see "grife" used again. That stood out to me after getting so many new profanities from this book. I really love how Manapul draws his physique and I've quickly warmed up to the new uniform here.

BRAINIAC 5: Loved his fake out to get Star Boy and Light Lass to push harder. Maybe it was transparent, but it was cute. They're not idiots, but they were exhausted already and Brainy definitely got them riled up. After all, when has he ever NOT meant an insult until now? I adore his uniform more than I should. It really fits the character.

STAR BOY: Thom seems to be a bit more 'laid back' than most of the Legion guys this 'verse. Maybe Brainy goading him along really was needed to let Thom reach his potential.

ULTRA BOY: He almost came off as well meaning at first in the kitchen. How quickly that spiralled down. Of course, did Jo's dialogue really devolve at any point or was it that Saturn Girl's rejections came more quickly and dramatically? Like as has been mentioned elsewhere, I think Jo doesn't necessarily expect Imra to cave seeing as how he was ready to run off. He's just suggestive and aggressive in general. We see some depth by his awareness of her situation, but he's a bit too tactless, loud, or perhaps opportunistic to approach it delicately.

TRIPLICATE GIRL: I miss her. Hopefully she'll make it home for well deserved panel time before the series end. Of course, the same could be said for Cos, Dirk, and Dream Boy.

INVISIBLE KID: It would be 'innocent little Lyle' to walk in on the pantry business. I could definitely see a 'fade out and flee' solution happening here. Still having a hard time getting adjusted to the black and red scheme; I adored the white/black version we saw months ago. Admittedly the team already has a number of black/white schemes, but I wouldn't mind this one.

M'RISSEY: Interesting character, if only because every time he's about to grate on my nerves he redeems himself. Not sure how I feel about him making himself at home so quickly. He does have a resemblance to Lyle from the side, but the differences in the details (like his hair) are more apparent from front views I've noticed.

PRESIDENT KIESELBACH: Reminded me a lot of Three Worlds Saturn Girl as well, if only because she was working with Garth the whole time. I really liked her personality though; she's perhaps the most 'human' politican we've encountered outside of Imra's mom.

I hope Ayla’s okay, but her condition got me thinking.

In the days of old, brain concussions, space fatigue and such were popular ways to explain away irrational behavior, so the writer was free to portray Legionnaires doing unthinkable things.

Here, Ayla says she has a concussion and three seconds later Imra has a sudden, uncharacteristic outburst and starts complaining about her injuries, including a wall falling on her.

What’s the chance “concussion” is a coded message from the Silver Age? The brains of the mute telepaths of 3boot Titan might react a lot worse to extreme mental and physical duress than your average humanoid folks do. I mean *a lot* worse.

Add to this Garth stating the biorepair unit can't fix Cham. Maybe the biorepair unit can't diagnose and fix a traumatic neurological condition that's limited to the Titanian race, either. (Not that Imra even used the biorepair unit this time, which is another cause for suspecting she's not all right.)

So include "Titanian Brain Fever" to the list of possible reasons for Imra's irrational behavior (the thoughts of the intruder planet might be making her act crazy as well) -- though I don't think any of them are strong theories.

That's a very cool observation.

The ground is slipping away from under the 'bedrock' of the Legion?

That's not necessarily true... I loved the 5 year gap stories, Legion of the Damned, Legion Lost... all about the darkest the Legion has ever been. I'm just looking for consistency and internal logic in character behaviour. Saturn G has been shown to be a very strong, self-possessed female thus far in the 3boot until now. I'm not saying she can't have hidden insecurities... I just think insecurities in relation to accessing emotion readily would make more sense then body issues for this character. I was fine with the Vi characterization... as this seems consistent with what we've seen thus far of her.

Has she 'though? We see her portrayed as helpless and vulnerable in the threeboot scene where we first learn that she's actually mute, and as somewhat wry and not at all 'smitten' as she accepts Garth's invitation to 'spend a decent interval' with each other, and image-conscious as Cham is turning into her (and she expresses concern that she really 'looks like that,' suggesting that she had a poor body image *long* before Shooter showed up) and giggly as Cham mockingly turns into a big-headed Brainy. I *remember* a tough-as-nails Imra from previous writers, but I didn't see the Threeboot Imra as being all Sarah Conner action chick.

Salu and Tasmia, on the other hand, have been portrayed as pretty fierce, and Tinya and Lu, while not quite as gung-ho, have both been portrayed at times as very no-nonsense. Imra's been just about the *least* tough and no-nonsense of the Legion women under Kitson's direction, so much so that I found it a startling development when *Shooter* portrayed her as toting a gun and being kinda hardcore after the mission on Triton, because it felt, to me, out of character for *this version* of Imra!

It was a welcome development, the 'toughening up' of Imra, since I have fond memories of the Imra who glared at Mon-El and Ultra Boy and shut them down cold in the Universo Project, but I didn't see it as being part of the characterization that Kitson had established.

My understanding was that both Waid and Shooter consider Saturn Girl to be much more "emotionally imbalanced" in this more modern approach to the Legion - a move that I salute. I can imagine how a person, who can absorb so much emotion and has even the power to act upon it, be shaken and torn by that. Added to the fact they are teenagers, and we have a much better character and a more dual view of Imra.
I liked classic Imra, but not until Levitz, when she was a full grown-up smart women. Before that, she seemed to fluctuate between extremely cold (where her mind powers were merely a functional tool) and girlie (when she would act like a supporting act to guys). Something else else was missing - Levitz found maturity. Now, they found emotions. And Shooter has clearly done it a bit further than Waid.

I'm participating at this and the other thread about this issue, so pardon me if I mix up what I've said and where.

I believe that Imra is attracted to Jo even though she knows she shouldn't be. He's a dog. She's with Garth. They both know that they're both very attractive. That's a duh. He was being very direct- even inappropriate, she was being coy- sort of repulsed, but also intrigued. I think she is going to regret what she's done, but she can't deny that it was what she really felt like doing.

This is definitely not preboot Imra. We actually don't know much about threeboot Imra... but now we're getting to.

I’m not at all denying Imra felt some base physical attraction to Jo, which was intensified by his kiss last issue, but the thing is

JO'S NOT THAT HOT.

He’s really not -- and Shooter’s too good (imo) to lean so heavily on the clichéd “Good Girls can’t resist Bad Boys” trope. If Ayla Ranzz -- who draws the line only at giants, super-sized puppies and maybe Durlans --- can easily resist Jo’s’ advances (two issues ago), his super-fatal-attraction powers aren't strong enough to be an overriding factor in Imra’s decision to degrade herself in the pantry.

I’m not convinced Shooter thinks Jo’s that hot, either. The scene in last month’s issue where the female S.P. Jo rescued blurted out “I love you” reminded me of the old story that had Adventure Imra saying “I love you” to Apollo when he dosed her with his super--pheromones. Shooter’s having fun with stud fantasies, methinks, and I’m willing to bet Jo’s Ultra-Virility will be debunked pretty soon.

Ultra Boy fled in primal terror when he saw Triplicate Girl was playing a prank on him in her bedroom, and Shadow Lass once confided in Karate Kid he couldn’t “perform” when he was obsessing over his inferiority to Supergirl. The thought of Jo doing an instant shrinking act at the sight of Invisible Kid walking through the pantry door is so delicious, I wish I could write the next issue myself.

Just a couple of extra thoughts (I'll do the reply round later):

- telepathy wouldn't be a hedge against ultra-pheromones, would it? Powers-wise, this has been more of a literal legion (Dream Girl's a dream, mute Saturn Girl, etc.) Maybe Ultra Boy has to always have a power 'on' and doesn't know it? Ultra-Pheromones would be the default?

- No one's mentioned this possiblity yet... what if Lightning Lad knows about Imra/Jo? As in, open relationship kind of knowing...

Remembering that scene you brought up where Jo, Dirk and Jan ran in terror from the thought of a 'merged' date, I wonder if Jo's response might actually be the opposite of shrinkage- you know the theory about true homophobes, don't you? (I don't mean anti-homosexual bigots, either.)

Omygod

Wasn't it stated in the first couple of issues that Ayla already dated Jo?

Yes, but all that proves is the amazing magnitude of Ayla’s super-bed-hopping powers, unless Timber Wolf, Sun Boy, Karate Kid and untold others possess Ultra-Virility, too. Anyway, even Ms. “I Can’t Sleep Alone” dumped him like the bag of garbage he really is.

I’m renaming Ultra Boy ““False-Masculinity Pretenses Lad.”

And yet Ayla *also* isn't dating Sun Boy, Timber Wolf or Karate Kid any more either, which certainly doesn't mean that she 'dumped them like a bag of garbage,' just that she's not looking for a long-term relationship at this stage of her life, and she's (gasp) not a nun. Good for her. Nice to see her in charge of her own sexuality.

There's been a whole lot of judging both Imra and Jo on 20th century standards, and fairly old-fashioned ones at that. This is 1000 years in the future, and the vast majority of these teens are from other planets, where the concept of a two-person long-term relationship or of spousal fidelity might have *never existed,* let alone be in vogue at the time. Even in our world, there were societies where that sort of thing was scoffed at. (Celtic royalty, married or unmarried, male or female, were expected to 'spread the wealth' and sleep around. In Biblical times, multiple wives, and approved mistresses, were absolutely allowed and expected, with the prohibitions only extending to having sons by your mistresses, as it screwed up lines of inheritance.)

We haven't seen anything but nuclear families thus far (Sun Boy's parents, Lyle's parents, Rokk's parents, Giselle's parents), but that doesn't mean that Ward and June Cleaver are the only possible family configuration in the future, or that Imra is somehow damaged goods for hooking up with Jo, or that Jo is a sleaze machine for the heinous crime of having sex with willing partners. Both of them are old enough to have made whatever decisions they've made without having to be mind controlled or insane or evil.

In the same issue where Jo is canoodling with Imra, we see Tasmia, who, as far as we know, was last depicted as his jealous girlfriend, telling Brin that she enjoys the sight of his naked body, and asking if he also is enjoying the view as she removes her clothing! Maybe that sort of flirting is normal for Talokkians, maybe the Jo/Tasmia thing ended a year ago and nobody told us readers. But I'm not prepared to consider Tasmia a big 'ho for being flirty with Brin (whom she knows is 'taken', and when she, last we heard, was also 'with someone'). 'Cause I don't know the full story yet, and I'm not quite ready to jump to conclusions and start tut-tutting about people's adult lives, since nobody appointed me Assistant Deputy Undersecretary in Charge of Moral Purity and Dissappproving Glares.

There's a story here.

Perhaps Jo has ultra-pheremones. I wouldn't like that, particularly the assumption that he must be aware of it and using it like Ultra-Roofies.

Perhaps Imra's a grown-up and can make up her own darn mind without anyone casting aspersions on her mental state.

Perhaps *everyone* is under some mental strain or outside compulsion that's making them act out, with the effects being most pronounced on Projectra, Brin, Garth, etc.

Perhaps Imra has made a horrible mistake and Jo's a complete dog.

I don't know yet, and jumping to conclusions may be the only exercise I get these days, I don't think it's doing anything for my waistline.

Ya know i'm still waiting for the best test of Ayla's bed hopping powers.. Threeboot Salu and Ayla for the win of course.

The scene I mentioned, just two issues ago, had Ayla sneering contemptuously at Jo and sending him on a unwanted ride to the ceiling when he attempted to flirt with her. IIRC, She never treated her other ex-bedmates with disdain that I know of.

Pay no mind to my moral judgments. Only Shooter’s matters. Imra is one of his favorite Legionnaires, so he must have empathy for her. He loves them all of course, but the only memorable thing I recall him ever saying about Jo was: “This guy is probably the Legion's closest to being a mental case.:


When Imra protested “I would NEVER!. I have a boyfriend” she confirmed *her* society conforms to cultural standards of fidelity and monogamy similar to 21st century Western norms, though she herself only gave them lip service. Jo, when he (falsely) states he doesn't pursue other guys' girls, does too.


The words “heinous”, “insane” or “evil” never left my keyboard.

But where are the mature,decision-making adults you speak of? I propose they aren’t the two bodies (responsible adults might pause a second to shut the door) who were surprised butt naked in a food closet adjacent to a public cafeteria by the Legion’s biggest tattletale -- they were the two fully clothed persons having their own kind of whirlwind romance at United Planets HQ.

Triangulating with those two couples are Shady and Brin. I have no idea where you getting the "ho" stuff from, but I suspect she’s the bearer of a super-secret-encoded message from the Great Beyonder to the tune: “a dog who sniffs around too much may suddenly find himself replaced by a wolf.”

I'm not leaping to conclusions about Jo without Shooter's assistance.

Bah from the family values front.

Now if current societal norms are to be believed: Given 1) that the mother is a politician of some power, 2) Imra Palin (I mean Ardeen) is a teenaged girl with typical issues, 3) We've not seen Imra's father.

I believe that we've not seen Mr. Ardeen because he is racing Proty Sleds across the arctic wastes of Titan.

BTW, I'm really looking forward to next issue. That's something!