Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Tired of the Founders and Brainy?

Anyone else tired of Saturn Girl, Brainiac 5, Cosmic Boy and Lighting Lad hogging all the spotlight? What gives with the over-kill? If DC loves them so darn much then give them their own title called "The Mini-Legion of Super-Hoggers" or some such thing, and give all the rest of the Legionnaires a chance.

[EDIT: I've decided to edit the title from "Kill the Founders and Brainy too!" because frankly this level of negativity isn't what this board is about.]

Jeepers! Another pleasant post from Bouncing Bear!!

[raises eyebrow]

Uh, could you maybe tone down your title a little bit, BB? Seriously.

Yeah, and the sad thing is: I'd also like to see some underappreciated characters in the spotlight. But not via another round of gratuitous deaths. That's the kind of thing that helped drive me out of fandom in the first place.

I'd buy "Mini-Legion of Super-Hoggers", on the condition that Brainy and the founders were changed into super-piglets!

[braces for incoming "swine flu" jokes]

I'm all for more focus on the non-founders and non-irascible-green-people.

But, killing characters never seems to stick anyway, and then there's the tedious ressurection.

Just send them on vacation or something.

Garth and Imra are raising the kids, on Winath, or 'New Titan,' a colony being set up on another of Saturn's moons (Enceladus, perhaps) or something.

Rokk can rescue a distressed ship full of green alien wimmin, who volunteer to egregiously relieve him of his virginity for a couple of years, so that when he comes back a few years later, he'll be much less uptight.

Brainy returns to Colu to babysit baby Brainiac 1.0 and try to rehabilitate his ancestor into something useful and productive, like he did Computo. (Good luck with that, Querl...)

I'd love to see some of the older classic Legionnaires get a little more spotlight (Tinya, Lu, etc.) *and* see some of the newer additions (ranging from Tellus to Chameleon Girl to XS to Gates) explored.

It's only natural that a Legion fan would crack and go on a muderous rampage after having Rokk, Imra, Garth and Querl slammed down our throats for so long.

I'm just sorry we didn't see the warning signs coming and do something to help Bouncing Bear before it was too late.


... (but also secretly glad that he made this thread before I did and will therefore take all the flack for it. )

A Legion without those four to me seems incomplete, but there's no reason they can't recede into the background and just have a panel or reference made to them. This may already be where the book is going - Garth's off somewhere, Imra's off in time, Brainy could easily follow her, or shut himself up in his lab and Cos could just be directing the others from the HQ.

No need to see them, just a nod that they're still out there and will fold back into the story at some point.

However, I have gained a new fondness for Imra and would like to see her solo, not part of the founders' triangle or babysitting Garth's temper.

Most of us are pretty fed up with superhero deaths at this point.

Well I guess killing them would be a little too extreme...would putting them all into a coma be ok? :-)

Oh...and I'll try a post something nice.

There has always been an ebb and flow of which Legionnaires are getting panel time. Starting the new book focusing on two of the better-known members is only natural and I expect that over the next 12 issues, we'll see some others take the spotlight. Paul was always good at this and I see no reason to doubt that he'll continue to play with the whole team.

I at the very least demand Wildfire be bumped up to panel-hogger status again!

BB, not cool.

this sort of thread topic seems prone to stepping on others feet, potentially escalating into getting personal.

there are other ways to get your opinion across about characters you dislike, ones that engage your fellow fans rather than having them react to sheer negativism.

If the Founders and Querl were taking off the board for whatever reason...

Polar Boy
Wildfire
Dawnstar
Invisible Kid

... can step up!

Killing characters as a way of getting rid of them is as ridiculous as destroying a world. (Oh, wait . . .)

I've never minded, Cos, Imra, and Garth getting a lot of focus in the past few decades. With a team as large as the Legion, it's nice to have someone serve as the "central" character. Superboy served that role for much of the Legion's history. After he left, it seemed that whoever the leader was (LL, Dream Girl, Element Lad) was thrust into that role, however temporarily.

Brainy, on the other hand, serves two vital roles: he's the one who comes up with scientificky explanations and gadgets and (in the last few decades) the one who provokes intergroup conflict with his aloofness or insanity.

Why get rid of characters who serve these roles so well?

Focusing on them does not mean that the others characters have to get short shrift.

Any Legion #1 wants to grab new readers that may recognize the high profile members from elsewhere, so the founders, Brainy, and any red "S" makes sense to feature right away. I want this ("these" with Adventure) titles to last for 50 years, so I can deal with panel hogs under the gentle guidance of Levitz. So far I love his use of Imra, and I am hoping he can move Querl away from the shrill ranting of Johns' Brainy. More than that, I am saddled up for a long ride.

(And while I have this saddle on...oh, nevemind)

And yet...

P.S. Unless its name is 'Joker, The' I am not a fan of any more characters getting killed off in comics. It has been SO overdone in comics (especially DC Comics) in the last few years.

I wouldn't mind if Rokk, Imra, Garth and Querl won an all-expenses paid vacation to the farthest reaches of the universe though. And then got lost coming back.

there was time in the late 80's when the new kids got a lot of story time. first dawnstar, invisible kid 2, wildfire, blok and white witch and later towards the end of the baxter run polar boy, quislet,tellus, sensor girl, and magnetic kid.

I am looking forward to Legionnaires interact XS, Gates, and Chameleon Girl as fellow Legionnaire instead of Legion-wife. I hope that relationships with Earth-Man are rich and varied, and that we can get into his head a bit. Also, into Vi's head as she deals with Yera being around. I am surprised that a vet like Vi hasn't gotten over it yet, especially since Yera actually was kinda a victim (or at least a dupe) in the situation (which maybe 50% of readers are actually familiar with). It would be great to see Night Girl go on a mission without Shady and see the comments of others, say Timber Wolf, as to her usefulness. ("Cos felt guilty and made his ex-girlfriend into Shady'd pet project, but that doesn't mean we should have to babysit her. Jeeze, can't she stick to monitor duty, or something?")
Hoping to see more of Tyroc, Black Witch, M-E Lad, and Invisible Kid. An update on Danielle Foccart? There is a lot of material to look forward to!


(Does Levitz lurk on LW?)

That was Legion Lost, minus Rokk - and it got a whole 12-issue series. Watch what you wish for, Blacula!

Or Legionnaires 3, which was their response to getting bumped from panel-hogging in the main book.

There is no Paul Levitz. That's just an alt-ID of Abin Quank.

But seriously, Mr. Levitz mentions LW in the recent Legion of Substitute Podcasters interview.

Let's look at this objectively shall we BB?

The founders are the reason the Legion is around at all, so yeah they're going to be a huge focus and see more action than some of the others (who will get their share of the spotlight, just not enough of it as some of us would hope. Myself included).

Think of it like this ... would you buy the Superman title so you can read about your favourite Kryptonian, then have your dreams dashed seeing others (let's say Jimmy Olsen) get most of the spotlight? No way, you would drop the book like a hot potato after a few months of no Supes.
This is like that example ... granted there are more heroes in the Legion, and the Legion has GROWN since the original three, but Garth, Imra and Rokk were the first, so like it or not they are always going to be related to the story somehow. Even if it is as supporting characters to another hero's feature that month, whatever.

That explains the founders, but as for Brainy ... not really sure. Aside from the way he's been written lately, as the guy to come to for the answer/solution, to me there is nothing endearing about the character whatsoever. He stopped being a favourite of mine in the 90's and the 3boot version was just the worst one for me and so did nothing to get me excited about him again. I hope Paul can make him "loveable", but I somehow doubt that will ever happen.

Hey, if you want to see more of your fav legionnaire it's simple really. Just inundate Paul Levitz with countless e-mails and such and hopefully he'll cave in and use your fav more often. That includes seeing less from the likes of Brainiac 5.

It worked for fans of Dream Girl in the 80's. Heck she even became leader! Paul was writing the team during that time. Hmmmmmmm......

This subject is one that goes through my mind quite often. But the funny thing is, depending on who you ask, other Legionnaires are sometimes listed (Ultra Boy being the most glaring example).

Cosmic Boy has been in and out of the spotlight numerous times.

Lightning Lad has been over-exposed at times, but nothing like the main two offenders.

I agree about both Brainiac 5 and Saturn Girl. There was a time that I absolutely wanted nothing less than Imra to be off the canvas and I really didn't care how it happened. With that said, in Legion #1, I came to an appreciation of her that i have never had before, so as of right now, I want to read more.

Brainiac 5 is another matter entirely. I am not a fan, and I doubt I ever will be. But he does serve a purpose story wise. Do I think much of this could be done off-panel? Absolutely.

The Legion has always focused on Brainiac 5, Saturn Girl and what seems to be a rotating cast of others (Wildfire, Dream Girl etc). As long as others are rotated in and out, I can suffer through Brainy overload.

I have not liked Brainiac 5 since he has been portrayed as an arrogant know-it-all.

You're right. They're like the villains in a horror movie - every time you think you've gotten rid of them, they spring up somewhere else!

I loved Legion Lost though and I also loved both Imra and Querl in it.

So if their panel-hogging in the main book is the price I have to pay for great appearances/stories like that one... /typing with gritted teeth/... maybe it's worth it.

I think the rest of the Legion make for great medallion-wearing characters, myself.

It is worth noting that Levitz wrote both the founders and Brainy off the team during v3 (though Imra came back before Brainy left, so at least one was always there).

Maybe he'll do so again.

Thing about Brainy is: there are other Legionnaires who canonically have scientific know-how. It shouldn't be necessary to have him there to solve every situation that requires science, any more than it should be necessary to have Lar and Jo on hand to solve every situation that requires physical force.

I like the character fine, but if I wanted to read a solo book, I'd buy a solo book, damnit.

It would certainly allow scientifically-minded Dream Girl and Mon-El a chance to step up to the plate, if Brainy took a break. Danielle Foccart could also make an appearance as a non-superhero Legion affiliate. Chuck may or may not have some technical skills, depending on whether his characterization from other 'boots bleeds over to this one.

While this iteration of the team doesn't have Invisible Lyle or Gear, it's not lacking for smart and tech-savvy members.

I now want at least a solo mini-series of Brainy now. The adventures of Querl doing science, loving the women, blowing up labs and just generally being a pompous arse.

I feel it would sell millions.

Scenario;

Brainy goes back in time because it's not bad enough that Brainiac was messing up the future, but now Vril Dox is messing things up, and he has to 'set him straight.' In a struggle over a piece of alien technology, their minds get switched into each other's bodies.

Shenanigans ensue, including Kara Zor-El falling totally for Vril Dox-in-Querl's body, and flipping out when she finds out he's not who she thought he was.

Current/Recent portrayals of Brainy-as-arrogant-jerk I have no interest in reading.

Give me Brainy as embodiment of the Enlightenment intellectual, working tirelessly in his lab by day, hanging out in the space-salons discussing politics, economics, art, and religion by night, and practicing the lumina-organ on weekends... and I am *so* there!

And building sexbots in his sleep.

Yes! I knew I forgot something important!

Personally, I always wondered what it would have been like if his intelligence could be turned on and off, like other powers and if that would have impacted his personality at all.

That would be an interesting direction for Evolvo Lad, should he ever turn up again.

I think I’m in a bit of a minority here because I actually like the Founders; Imra is one of my favourites and I have absolutely no problems with seeing them in action. Just as I would want to see Superman in Superman Books I want to see the Legion in the LSH and that to me means Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad.

agreed. I like other, newer characters too, but I'd hate to lose the founders.

Maybe Paul Levitz, as the new Legion comic continues and evolves, will find a happy medium and incorporate those Legionnaires that have historically been underused into stories where they see as equal share of the action as,say, Lightning Lad would.

Now, that being said, if a founder or Brainy became Leader then that whole train of thought would be out the window ... understandably so. The leader would obviously be a central focus in almost every issue.