Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business Matter-Eater Lad: The Series CHAT THREAD

EDIT: MEL:TS chat for any & all here in this thread!!


Maximize your enjoyment of MATTER-EATER LAD: THE SERIES with this handy dandy guide to the issues thus far!

MEL:TS is set in current Legion continuity.

ISSUE CHECKLIST

# 1 Good Things Come To Those Who Eat

Issue 1 begins on page 1 of the MEL:TS thread and resumes on page 4.

Re-intro Tenzil Kem, former chef to the Legion. Intro of The Kem family, Ma, Pa & Renkil. Intro Taryn Loy, Tenzil's neighbor and life-long friend. Intro Lester Spiffany, working as a government courier on Bismoll.

SYNOPSIS

Tenzil is miserable at home with his trashy family when Lester delivers his senate draft notice. Between Tenzil, Lester and Taryn, they manage to get Tenzil elected to senate by buying his family its own reality TV show-- Kem Family & Friends-- making Tenzil a celebrity!

Meanwhile, shadowy figures watch and plot and Tenzil barely escapes an assassination attempt!

# 2 Interactive Do-It-Yourself Title

Issue 2 begins on page 6 of the MEL:TS thread.

Intro Prince Evillo. Intro Lotus Fruit Lass.

SYNOPSIS

Lester's secret origin s revealed during a flashback and it begins to become apparent that he has a special gift where money is concerned.

Tenzil, Taryn and Lester capture an escaped Boom-Boom Beast. They also capture the assassin from issue 1, and she reveals that Tenzil has been targeted by Prince Evillo of Tartarus.

Meanwhile, on Tartarus, Evillo holds tryouts for the Devil's Dozen. Only Lotus Fruit Lass makes the grade and his Dozen now stands at 5 members.

# 3 Welcome to Tartarus

Issue 3 begins on page 8 of the MEL:TS thread.

Intro Sugyn, Apollo, Wild Huntsman, Degree Damsel, Stick With a Nail in it Kid and Two-Face Tess as the rest of the Devil's Dozen. Intro Thora of Taltar, one of Evillo's ex-wives.

SYNOPSIS

Using a special Vacation episode of Kem Family & Friends, Tenzil, Taryn & Lester venture to Tartarus to find out Evillo's nefarious plans.

While Ma, Pa & Rnkil are busy, Tenzil, Taryn & Lester debate the best way to go about it, eventually settling on infiltrating the next Devil's Dozen tryout.

Tenzil as "Sir Prize" and Taryn as "Miss Terious" get close to succeeding, but Lester interferes when Evillo threatens to banish "Sir Prize" to the Realm of Darkness.

All 3 are then captured by the Devil's Dozen!

DEVIL'S DOZEN MEMBERSHIP

Apollo
Sugyn
Wild Huntsman
Stick With a Nail in it Kid
Lotus Fruit Lass
Two-Face Tess
Degree Damsel

# 4 The Night the Lights Went Out in the Realm of Darkness

Issue 4 begins on page 11 of the MEL:TS thread.

Intro Infectious Lass. Intro Azura, one of Thora's 2 allies.

SYNOPSIS

Banished to the Realm of Darkness, Tenzil, Taryn & Lester meet some of the quirky residents there, icluding Evillo's father King Malefico!

The King reveals his plan to have Tenz and the gang-- along with his League of Scantily-Clad Overendoed Assassins-- kill Evillo. Malefico teleports himself, Tenz, Taryn, Lester & the League back to Tartarus to do just that.

Meanwhile, Thora forms an alliance with Evillo and one of her 2 allies is revealed as Azura.

Pa and Renkil stay occupied while Ma makes a new friend-- Drura, also known as Infectious Lass.

# 5 Tartar US, Will You?

Issue 5 begins on page 13 of the MEL:TS thread.

Intro Eve (known as Saturn Queen in preboot continuity).


SYNOPSIS

Chaos rules as King Malefico, the League of Scanitly-Clad Overendowed Assassins and Tenzil, Taryn & Lester launch an attack on Evillo's castle!

Tenzil, Taryn & Lester engage the Devil's Dozen in combat. Things are going poorly until Lester convinces Sugyn to switch sides.

The League manages to take out both Evillo and Malefico and it is revealed that their whole plan all along was to seize Tartarus for Thora to rule.

But when Thora is taken down in combat by Infectious Lass, the League suggests that Drura become new queen of Tartarus!

Meanwhile, the third and final member of Thora's alliance is revealed as Eve of Titan.

# 6 Sissy Hissy

Issue 6 begins on page 15 of the MEL:TS thread.

Intro The Super-Companions. Intro Anti-Lad and her Fatal Femmes. Intro Dev-Em. Intro The Super-Moby Dick of Space.


SYNOPSIS

Spotlight on Spiffany! Once Tenzil makes it clear to Lester that he loves him, but doesn't love him "that way", an enranged Lester ventures out on his own.

He meets a group of men called the Super-Companions, who have watched him on the Kem Show. They try to get him to join their group, but are attacked by a gang of females called The Fatal Femmes, led by Anti-Lad. They unleash the Super-Moby Dick of Space to attack the men.

The Companions defeat the Moby Dick, but are being bested my the Femmes themselves until Lester singlehandedly turns the tide.

Lester decides to venture with the Companions to Thrann, their all-male paradise planet.

There, he meets Dev-Em, an honorary member of the Companions, and is smitten instantly by the Kryptonian rogue.

Meanwhile, Tenzil & Taryn find out the Kem Family & Friends Show has ben cancelled!

THE SUPER-COMPANIONS MEMBERSHIP

Othar
Splash
Shower
Treehugger
Shadow
Mzgrzz the Magnificent
Dev-Em (honorary)

THE FATAL FEMMES MEMBERSHIP

Anti-Lad
Rainbow Girl
Dyke Damsel
Utility Girl
Shaggy Lass

# 7 Senate Business

Intro Tiffany Spiffany. Intro unnamed group of Metas. Intro Heroes of Tartarus.

Issue 7 begins on page 17 of the MEL:TS thread.


Tenzil and Taryn attempt to put a spin on all the hijinks of the previous few issues, and manage to make Tenzil one of the most popular people on 2 planets.

Meanwhile, an unnamed group of Metas is captured by androids.

Renkil, traumatized by events on Tartarus, encounters a man in Metropolis that gives him life-changing advice.

Thora continues to plot with Azura and Eve.

Tiffany Spiffany shows up at Tenzil's office and demands to know Lester's whereabouts. Tenzil and Tiffany leave to find him, but Tenzil has ordered Taryn to meet with Thora as part of their deal for avoiding an interstellar incident with Taltar. Taryn decides to tail Tenzil secretly instead.

Lester, smitten, decides to join Dev-Em in his space-wanderings. They are almost struck by the spaceship that carries the Metas captured earlier.

On Tartarus, Queen Drura debuts the new super-team she has formed, The Heroes of Tartarus (or HOTties).

THE HEROES OF TARTARUS

Infectious Lass
Sugyn
Policy Pam
Spaceopoly Lad
Echo-Chamber Chet
Brittle Boy
Incredible Girl

UNNAMED GROUP OF METAS

Key Kid
Negative Nell
Weight Wizard
Itch Witch
Took
Multi-Maid
Blockade Boy

# 8 Stupid Stalag of Space

Issue 8 begins on page 19 of the MEL:TS thread.

Intro Nardo the galactic tyrant. Intro Plant Lad, False Pretenses Lad and Biron the Bowman.


SYNOPSIS

Dev-Em and Lester are captured by Nardo and become acquainted with some of the metas captured last issue.

To Lester's chagrin, Nardo alludes to nefarious plans that involve Dev-Em.

Meanwhile, Tenzil and Tiffany get ever-closer to catching up to Lester but the ship Taryn is tailing them secretly in breaks down!

On Tartarus, Infectious Lass trains the HOTties, along with their newest member... MATTER-EATER LAD...?!!?

On Taltar, Evillo is "acclimated" into Taltaran society as Thora wonders why Taryn hasn't arrived for her visit yet.

At Nardo's Stalag, we meet 3 of the prisoners there: False Pretenses Lad, Biron and Plant Lad. Plant Lad is foiled in his escape attempt as Nardo arrives with his new inmates!

Lash,
Thank you for posting these synopses (sp?). To be honest with you, I haven't read the whole series. I plan on printing out all the pages in order to read them, but that'll happen later on. I'd like to work out some rough sketches for the covers to each issue! I have some ideas already, but I'd love you and EDE to give me some direction on what *you'd* like to see cover-wise, each issue. I'd also like to do some character sketches, especially characters that you guys have made up. Like, what does Tiffany Spiffany look like? Post a list of who and what you'd like to see, and I'll get on it as I can. I can't commit to sequentials like Obadiah, but quick sketches and cover roughs would be fun.

I've been thinking about adding some character profiles to this thread as well, so character sketches to go along with them would be great!

Eryk, I had hoped you would want to add character profiles but I hated to ask you.

Dean, ANY artwork you want to do related to MEL:TS will be welcomed! Meanwhile, I intend to sprinkle the SECRET FILES will pictures of the castmemebrs I come across on LW, as I did with the Tenzil & your Drura pic above.

I'm glad you like the synopses; I figured it would be a nice way to be able to go DIRECTLY to the issue you want to read without having to scroll through 20-odd pages looking.

My first character profile:

Tiffany Spiffany

Lester's kid sister (by a year), Tiffany was clearly Daddy Spiffany's favorite. While Lester whines and complains whenever he doesn't get what he wants, Tiffany is more perplexed than anything else by unfulfilled desires. She's especially used to males doing basically whatever she wants, and doesn't understand when they don't. She's incredibly flirtacious, but not truly manipulative. Her flirting is more a matter of habit than anything else.

Tiffany overall has been far more sheltered and protected than Lester was, and shares the rest of the family's shock at much of Lester's 'scandalous' behaviour during his party phase. There's also a side of her that really enjoys being out on her own, though, and to be traveling with Tenz and the gang. To her, it's all a big adventure. She's a good kid at the core, though she can be incredibly insensitive and naive. She is incredibly polite and likeable on first impression.

Presently, she's still trying to find purpose in life as she grows beyond being "Daddy's little girl" and has to stake her own path in life.

Appearance wise, she should clearly resemble Lester, though her hair should be somewhat lighter (kind of a sandy blond, maybe?). She's attractive, bustier than Taryn, and dresses very expensively. She stands with a certain amount of poise and confidence, even when she doesn't feel it.

# 9 Stupid Stalag of Space Part 2: He Fattened Me With Science

Issue 9 begins on page 21 of the MEL:TS thread.


SYNOPSIS

We are treated to the secret origin of Plant Lad, as he suffers his punishment for his escape attempt last issue!

Tenzil & Tiffany land on the Stalag planet and are quickly captured by Nardroids!

While Tiffany learns of her fate through fellow girl inmate Nasal Hazel, Tenzil is reunited with Lester in the boys' prison!

Tenzil & Lester plot a jailbreak with Weight Wizard, Key Kid and Blockade Boy, but they are betrayed by False-Pretenses Lad!

Recaptured by Nardo, Tenzil & Lester learn that they shall share Plant Lad's horriffic fate!

Meanwhile, on Thrann, Taryn discovers a fun new hobby!

As far as cover images go, Eryk can offer his own input and here's mine. Warning: I'm big on comedic homages to covers of the past.


# 1's cover should certainly feature Tenzil, Taryn and Lester, probably in a pin-up shot.

# 2 could maybe feature the gang being attacked by the Boom-Boom Beast?

# 3 begins the story on Tartarus so Evillo should be on it for sure.

# 4 My idea was to have an all-black cover with only Taryn & Lester's eyes visible ('cause Tenz has on his sunglasses) and the words REALM OF DARKNESS along the bottom. I think its funny!

# 5 I'd love to see an homage to X-MEN 100 with Tenz, Taryn, Lester & Infectious Lass rushing to battle Sugyn, Apollo, Lotus Fruit Lass & Wild Huntsman. Where Xavier is standing on XM 100 would be Evillo.

# 6's cover should feature Lester prominently surrounded by the Super-Companions.

# 7 Maybe a pin-up of Tiffany while Tenzil looks on lustfully and Taryn looks on angrily?

# 8 Maybe a shot of Tenz, Lester and the boys slaving in a mine while Nardroids herd them on?

# 9 I wouldn't mind an ADVENTURE 300 homage cover (this could be used on any of them as far as I'm concerned) but if we use it for the Stupid Stalag arc it could include a middle shot of Nardo ('cause it would be funny) surrounded by Tenz, Tiff, Lester, Itch WItch, Weight Wizard, Dev-Em or whoever in seperate smaller shots ala ADV 300.

And for the current issue, 10, I'm leaning towards a riff on S/LSH 228 (Chemical King's death) but instead of those Legionnaires on that cover, it would have Tenzil, Tiffany, Lester, Took (in Chameleon Boy's place) and one other. The script will read "Which of these heroes will be fat-assed ... at the hands of this villain?"

i'm pretty happy with #1...

I think this would work well for #4 or #5, as well...

#2 is a difficult one. I'd kind of combine the pub and coffee shop scenes, with Tenzil and Taryn looking on as Lester throws money at the crowd and says something along the lines of "Poor people are so predictable!"

For #3 I'd do something along the lines of Evillo presiding over a Devil's Dozen tryout, with Tenzil there (not disguised) and Evillo saying something like "YOU want to join the Devil's Dozen?"

I like the Darkness cover for #4, so maybe the Drura pin-up could be used for #5.

I'd parody the cover to the original super-companions story for #6, with Lester leaving Tenzil and Taryn to board a spaceship with the Super-Companions.

#7 should definitely be Tiffany in Lester's office, with Tenzil fawning over her and Taryn looking on angrily.

Since #8's the first issue of the Stupid-Stalag arc, something with Nardo would be natural... but I also like the idea of a pic of Tenzil training with the HOTties, or maybe an Adv. #300 homage?

I'd have Tenzil and Tiffany getting captured by the Nardroids for #9...

You know what might be fun? An homage to Kevn Maguire's JUSTICE LEAGUE covers with the cast standing looking at the reader and looking all badass and stuff. That would work well for the STALAG arc which features a buttload of characters.

Tenzil could be saying, "You talkin' to US?"

I haven't read issue #2 yet, so I don't have an opinion about what would be a good idea. Sounds like a lot is going on in that issue, so it might be a good idea to simply show the cast in a pin-up style cover.

Sounds like #3 is the perfect opportunity to parody the cover of Adventure #247!

Okay, dark cover for #4.

How 'bout a NEW picture of Drura for #5!

ooooh, YES!!! A parody of ADV 247 with Evillo and 2 others of the Dozen rejecting Tenzil! *tee hee!* Good call, Dean!

And may I be so bold to say NEW PICTURES OF DRURA ARE ALWAYS WELCOME!! YES YES YES!

And Eryk, I love your idea for a parody of the original Super-Companions cover-- we could have Tenzil and Taryn all crying and stuff! *tee hee!*

For the #247 parody, I'd go with Evillo as Cos, Either Apollo or Sugyn as Lightning Lad, and Lotus-Fruit Lass as Imra!

# 10 Stupid Stalag of Space part 3 ...And One Shall Surely Be Fatassed!

Issue 10 begins on page 22 of the MEL:TS thread.


SYNOPSIS

Stranded on Thrann, Taryn finds herself having a wonderful time partying with the Super-Companions until news of Tiffany and Tenzil's kidnapping breaks.

Meanwhile, at the Stalag, Tenzil, Tiffany and Lester survive as best they can.

Nardo uses his super-fatassing power on Lester just before a massive revolt of the prisoners.

Nardo has quieted the prison revolt until his hard work is undone by the arrival of Taryn and the Super-Companions!