Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes "The Terrifics", co-starring (a) Phantom Girl!

http://www.cbr.com/plastic-man-rebirth-new-costume-team/

I'm not the only one who thinks this is Tinya right?

A return for Phase if the Legion isn' t with her?

Well Phantom Girl is from Bgztl, which is right next to Earth, right?

So WHAT IF in whatever universe this is, all the Legion from Earth come back in the present, instead of the future?
That would be XS, Wildfire, Sun Boy or Inferno or both, Bouncing Boy, Colossal Boy... maybe Tyroc. Saturn Girl is already there.
Would that count as a Return of the Legion?

It could well do, as it doesn't rule out contact with the future in the well... future. I think that the future is an important part of the Legion, but feel fairly sure it would only be a matter of um...time before it became part of the story.

A panel today confirmed that's Phantom Girl in a new "Fantastic Four homage" team The Terrifics with Mr. Terrific, Phantom Girl, Plastic Man, and Metamorpho.

Whew. It's a relief that it's a FF homage, as none of them had anything to offer in their own right.

Hmm... one would think Phantom Lady would be the obvious choice on a team with Plastic Man.

Lemire also tweeted that this "isn't the Phantom Girl we know", in response to a complaint that the Legion was being picked apart. So it might not be a time-lost Tinya.

Maybe she's the legacy character that Tinya bases her identity on?

Please God let it be so.

Found the original tweet saying this isn't the Tinya from the Legion.

I have to wonder, though, what the commercial wisdom is of emulating a competitors Intellectual Property which is (arguably) so many years past its sell-by date? I mean, I could be wrong, but I don't think the only reason Marvel put the FF on indefinite hiatus was because they don't own the movie rights.

Here were the sales of the last volume of F4:


Even at the absolute nadir (v6 #14), it still outsold Marvel books including Nova (lasted until last month), Black Widow (lasted until March this year), Punisher (still running), Captain Marvel (Marvel just won't give up on her, no matter how many times it fails and gets relaunched), Iron Fist (currently ongoing), She-Hulk (currently ongoing as "Hulk") and Elektra (most recent relaunch just cancelled last month).

I don't get it.

And by "I don't get it", I mean I don't get why the book is even being published.

What do these characters even have in common?
With each other?
With the original FF?
It's four guys and a gal?
So are Sun Boy, Robotman, Green Arrow, and Black Canary.

Why would anyone be interested in picking up this book?
Is there an untapped base of Mr. Terrific and Metamorpho fans out there?

I'm just confused.

There's a reason MARVEL keeps publishing a CAPTAIN MARVEL comic book and that reason is spelled S-H-A-Z-A-M!

In the 30th Century, super powered teenagers looked to the past for inspiration. Shunning originality and avoiding legal action from the Siegel Estate, they took as much from the names, powers and appearances of their ancestors as they possibly could. They called themselves the R.I.P.O.F.F.S. *

Holt 5.0, The Terrifiteen
Jemima Olsen, Plastic Lass
Tinya Liftandrop, Phantom Girl
Rehx Mahson, Metaphor-morpho

I've only read the FF when they've appeared in the odd Marvel Event from years ago. A rival company launching a book based on something I've never read isn't much of a draw. I guess, devoid of their own ideas, they're going to emulate the group dynamic. The personalities of the team could work well against each other, in the way FF seems to do. A blatant copy it may be, but it's a blatant copy from people who at least knew what they were doing.

Similar costumes, apart from The Thing Metamorpho and possibly a similar goal provide some point/ cohesion for the group. There's another group like that... oh yeah FF. Each character does bring a number of sub genres to the group, which might also give it some traction. And they've got a team name that emulates The Ultimates, without stealing it entirely. It's also not limited to a number,"Justice" or "Teen" either giving DC another property to expand upon.

Still having that string across the chest look for Plas though...

Quality aside, I've never been keen on seeing the identity of the Legion watered down across the other DC properties. Mon El and Superboy can reminisce at Legion HQ about all the characters from the 20/21 century that had exactly the same names/ goals/ visual appearance etc etc.

*R.I.P.O.F.F.S. : Really Irritating Plundering of Fantastic Four Series

All they need to do is put out something every few years to protect the trademark. They have gone a decade without an ongoing Captain Marvel book. I think they genuinely believe in the character's potential. She has a fiercely loyal fan base, even if the sales numbers don't reflect that. I think that's something we can all relate to.

I have always loved the character of Carol Danvers, and think them giving her the name is long overdue, considering how many other Captains Marvel she outlasted. I haven't loved any of the recent attempts, but I know many people who have (although they all seem pretty disgusted by her portrayal in Civil War 2), so I would be overjoyed if the character found her spot. I prefer her to many of the other female characters Marvel has tried to promote to the A-List.

This might be an attempt to get something together for movie potential before the Fantastic Four get a Pixar movie.

I suppose there might be franchising potential in mind, but I think there's more than enough reasons within the industry: 1) tap into dissatisfied FF fans (and people who became FF fans to grouse at Marvel for its cancellation), 2) repurpose some characters they aren't currently using in a way that may give them better chances of success than solo series, and 3) tweak Marvel's nose, something Marvel hasn't been shy about doing to them in the past.

I'm honestly moderately excited about it. It could be interesting. I've also never been a huge PG fan, so I'm less worried about that aspect than I might have been.

"He knew it was mine, and he took it from me anyway," said Superman with grim, measured tones that chilled his comrades. "Another link to my past... gone."

Batman looked at each hero in turn as he spoke, connecting them to the directness of his thoughts. "Luthor must pay for what he has done."

The League agreed in determined silence more than in consent. "We must change who we are, in order to confront such crimes," continued The Dark Knight. "Henceforth we shall be... The Revengers!"

Wally West seemed uncomfortable at the dark turn of events. "We're not over reacting here, are we guys? Luthor only pinched a yoghurt from the Justice Fridge after all."

A Martian hand rested firmly on his shoulder. "Stand not in the path of Justice. Or cinema receipts."

I think it was confirmed yesterday that this The Terrifics "Phantom Girl" will actually be Tinya's ancestor, from our century.

So it looks like a duck, It walks like a duck, It quacks like a duck... ... ... but it's not a duck! ... ... ... ... ... gottit!

Sometimes a duck is a duck is a horse

Another day in the life of Comet, the Super-horse.

So we can begin the countdown to the temporal paradox created when Tinya's ancestor gets killed before bearing children?

Why a duck? Why a no chicken?

Sadly killed crossing a space lane. But why? Why?

Alas, someone had to get to the other side.

Darkseid.

There goes another chicken.

It's a cockup

The spread of puns on another thread is sure to ruffle a few feathers.

Would that be pun pate?

Of course

The book is out today and we now no it's not Tinya.

I enjoyed it but didn't love it. I'll see how it shakes out. I was hoping it would be less of a direct Metal tie-in, but maybe that's just the opening story. I admit my initial enthusiasm has been somewhat dulled by realizing that this entire line seems designed to be a dark, gritty counter to Rebirth. But I'm struggling to go back to judging the book on it's own terms. Lemire is a good enough writer that I don't think he will let editorial politics control the end product too much.

While they establish what Phantom Girl's deal is right out the gate, we don't get much of a sense of her personality since she's the last member of the team to appear, and she is in the midst of the plot when she appears. The other members have well-defined pre-existing personalities that show pretty clearly here, so this new PG is the wild card. I'm in for the short term, reserving judgment on the long.

It's a quirky team, like Red Hood & the Outlaws. I enjoy Lemire's work, so I'll stick with it for a while at least.

The thing that surprised me was

So, now that we know it’s not Tinya... does discussion of this book belong here? Or should we take this thread to the Cultural Rarities?

I liked the second issue quite a bit. It feels like the concept is really coming together. Aside from Mr T. being a jerk, the established characters all behave on model. I suspect the Phantom Girl plot will end with her getting an extra, more traditionally offensive power. More shades of Sue Storm.

I was afraid that we’d get a six issue Metal epilogue arc, but it looks like we’re done with Metal except for the physical after effects that drive the team’s formation. I know some people were irked by the “random FF analog” cast, but in my mind it’s resulted in one of those quirky random crews that I loved so much in the Bronze Age. Instead of FF, think Champions, Defenders, or Forgotten Heroes. Or a little later, original recipe New Warriors. That’s how I’m viewing it.

So far I am not that invested in this new book. I will give it a couple more issues and see from there.

So, is anyone reading this book? I haven't posted here in years, but just for excoriated on one of the Facebook Legion forums. Thought I might try for a sympathetic ear here among the generally longer-serving fans.

Anyway, I was just now getting around to reading TERRIFICS #4 and was aghast to see the team traveling through space to get to Bgstl. Apparently, it not longer exists in the same time and space as earth, but is an entirely different planet within the same dimension.

My first reaction was that, clearly, the creators had not bothered to do even basic research on Phantom Girl and her homeworld. It was suggested that perhaps the planet will be moved to its traditional other-dimensional place as a result of this story (which I suppose might explain why Bgztl is the one multiverse Earth to have it's own name end not be Earth-Pick-A-Number). Still, I opinion, if this is true, it would be an approach disrespectful of all previous creators to work on the character as Phantom Girl (and in this case, her ancestors) have always been said to get their power as a result of phasing part-way between dimensions. But here they already possess the ability to be intangible.

Anyway, I was called "bitter," "hateful," and even "disgusting" for thinking this change, no matter how hypertimed or flashpointed, is, at best, ill-advised.

Now, I did say that THE TERRIFICS is a good example of why I would almost prefer the Legion stay in limbo rather then risk DC completely bastardizing the characters with any re-launch.

What do you guys think? Am I over-reacting.

Hi Portfolio Boy. Good to see you back!

Considering the admitted rip-off of the Fantastic Four concept, I'm surprised Bgtzl isn't now called The Negative Zone.



Flashpoint/ Rebirth really is a get-out-of-jail-free card whether the plot move was deliberate or not. In the revised Universe, this Phantom Girl may have powers already, while the rest of her planet do not. Her planet may then get shunted to another dimension. This Phantom Girl, by virtue of having her powers, may be the only one able to transverse between the dimensions. That's just one of many possible examples.

It has the two key pillars of Phantom Girl having phantom powers and Bgtzl being in another dimension. Is everyone having Phantom powers on Bgtzl before/ along with Phantom Girl more important than those two? Does it have to be there for the premise to work?

The above scenario is almost post-crisis (rather than going back to huge groups of people falling over themselves with the same powers) in that it makes Phantom Girl unique among her people. It gives an origin as to why Bgtzl is so similar to Earth (if it is in The Terrifics?), yet not an Earth-A to Z.

That's a fairly solid cause and effect storyline. You can later add wrinkles such scientists from Bgtzl managing to duplicate her powers on Stehve Rohgehrs (following the Terrifics Marvel fawning premise), and viola, you have a new Phantom Lad, etc.

The writers may well have looked into Phantom Girl's history. They may be thinking that it's not Tinya, it's not the universe that was and that the vacuum created by the lack of a Legion book allows for others to chip away characters. So, this is what they wanted to do with it. A lot then rests on how well they do it. I always thought that Bgztl was simply forgotten about when Crisis came round, so it wasn't as though the creators at that time were hugely concerned about its place in the DCU either.

You'll have a better idea than me form other bits of the plot if it looks as though the writers bothered to look back or not.



That seems overly strong, not having seen the conversation. In the end, if the book doesn't meet your expectations, for whatever reason, then vote with your wallet and tell them why. I've no doubt that there was expected to be a few sales of the back of a "Legion" character being in there.

I'm going to give the book a seven issue try. My lcs is grabbing the issues for me now. But it's only got seven issues to wow me. DC used to get a much longer tryout, but lately not so much. I'm trying immortal men by Lee and crew, but it reads and looks too much like the other universe stuff he did after marvel, and it's not grabbing me at all.

I'm not that impressed with the Terrifics. one thing I dislike is another is

That first bit sounds terrible.

How long do the rest of you give books the chance to impress? I used to go with three, or lower if it was a complete stinker. With the post Flashpoint, I took an average rating and if it dipped below that, then it was gone.

Like EDE, that reasoning sounds poor.

Well, I used to say three as well. But honestly, I'd stick longer on a lot of books trying to give them a chance because I liked the character or I liked a writer or artist. But then DC went stupid and I dropped so many books. Now, I give it a seven issue. That's one story arc for the trades and an issue to see if they improved or not.

Good point about that being about the right issue number for a trade, or the end of a conversation of talking heads if it's a Bendis book.

Okay, just got issue 4. Missing 2, my lcs can't seem to find one. But so far, it isn't bad. I liked the fact they got the hell away from Simon Stagg and Sapphire. That backstory always seem to weigh the character down. Great character but bad backstory. Hey, not every one can be a winner.

Terrific seems colder than he did in his JSA days, and plas, while annoying, seems to fit well. Linnya...still kind of a cypher to me. Is she fourteen or 24? Looks childlike but seems more adult, until she went home to Big Its Ul. Still have a few issues to pick up for my seven. But it's holding interest. Not really driving, but holding. Which, I have to say, is more than I expected.

While I was looking up something for Black Hammer, I noticed that Lemire is leaving The Terrifics with #14.

Well, that’s not good. Considering that this is part of DAn Didio’s pet line, it’s shocking that it was as entertaining as it was. I can’t imagine Didio appointing a successor that will capture what’s good about it.

Issue 5...fun and starting to show a pattern. Kinda like Hawkman in that each issue seems to jump from spot to spot, seemingly disjointed but actually with a purpose. I like it, but as a whole they haven't meshed yet. They still seem like strangers that interact when required to.

Up to 12 now and they did a 180 and went right back to Stagg and Java. Good story but I hate those two characters.

Just got the first issue after the original writer. Pretty damn good. Not everyone tries to take on God.

I bought the first six issues as singles and only recently read them. The first 3 issues were kind of awkward. Attractive art surrounding kind of a stock story without much interesting characterization. 4-6, though, started building some steam. The characters started popping and the plots were getting interesting. I really liked the issue focused on Phantom Girl, and the premise of the elemental threat around Metamorpho's origin seemed pretty inspired.

I like the premise of the four actually being stuck together because they'd literally blow up if they aren't at least within a mile of one another. It makes more sense than just strangers deciding to team up for the hell of it. It also sets up a goal for them to work toward, and if they achieve it, will they have found something worth sticking together for?

I think I'll buy the next batch of issues as a trade, based on these positive impressions and to see how they cross over with Alan Moore's Tom Strong characters.

I really enjoyed The Terrifics as a fun adventure kind of book. I'm not attached enough to miss it greatly if the new creative team doesn't pan out, but I had fun and I'll give the new team a chance.

DC can't even keep their Fantastic Four going. >sigh<

I'm not really sure the print market can put up with new stuff the way digital does. We might be looking at a slate of digital only books that come out in trades - especially for new ideas (in other words, those ideas NOT related to the big properties - Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Justice League, etc.)

The end of the Floppy Age (which usually means that pills have arrived. )

If we get more interesting stuff that companies wouldn't otherwise take a chance on, I'm okay with this.

In a couple of decades, floppies will make a comeback, like vinyl!

It seems to me a total lack of respect from DC Comics to its most loyal customers, especially doing this at the end of the series. I have faithfully purchased all copies of Supergirl and The Terrifics. Now the whole collection is going to ruin me with the digital endings. This no longer gives me the security to continue buying a collection, if the company changes it to digital when it occurs to it. Really, an unfortunate move and they are unethical. DC comics are scammers