Week of 30 April 2008

(SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers. Don't read it before you've read the comics.)

ACTION #864 (6/08)
"Batman and the Legion of Super-Heroes"
ROLL CALL (Lightning Saga Legion): Dawnstar (cover only), Karate Kid (deceased), Lightning Lad, Mon-El (cover only), Star Boy/Starman, Superman, Una (deceased), Wildfire (cover only)
ROLL CALL (Classic Legion, cameos): Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, Dream Girl, Ferro Lad, Karate Kid, Light Lass, Lightning Lad, Mon-El, Phantom Girl, Princess Projectra, Saturn Girl, Shadow Lass, Star Boy, Sun Boy, Timber Wolf, Time Trapper, Triplicate Girl, Ultra Boy, Wildfire
ROLL CALL (Earth-Zero Legion, cameos): Brainiac 5, Cosmic Boy, Ferro, Gates, Saturn Girl
FOLL CALL (Teenage Revolution Legion, cameo): Brainiac 5

Well, this is it: the missing link that explains the mystery of the Three Legions. Should have known the Time Trapper was behind all this....

There are still some questions about the relationship between the Lightning Saga Legion and the Classic Legion.

First: Is the Lightning Saga Legion the same as the Classic Legion from ADVENTURE and SUPERBOY & THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES? Technically, no. Consider Mon-El: in the Lightning Saga Mon-El's backstory differs from Classic Mon-El's (for one thing, Lightning Saga Mon-El didn't meet Lana Lang during is brief sojourn in Superboy's time) . Consider Karate Kid: the Classic Karate Kid died on Orando, while the Lightning Saga Karate Kid survived long enough to come back to the 21st century and die in the pages of COUNTDOWN. And consider Supergirl: she was a Classic Legionnaire, but (as far as we know) not in the Lightning Saga Legion.

However, of the three official Legions, the Lightning Saga version seems to be the closest to Classic Legion history.

Second: How does the Fiver-Year-Gap Legion fit in? Again, they are two distinct versions of the LSH. Lightning Saga Blok is still alive and fighting Shadow Demons in DC UNIVERSE 0; Five-Year Gap Blok was killed by Roxxas. In addition, the teenage Five-Year Gap Legion included members Valor and Laurel Gand, and had nothing to do with Superboy (who didn't even exist in their universe).

Third: When did the Lightning Saga Legion branch off from the Classic Legion? In "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes," Superman mentioned the Magic Wars. Technically, the first four issues of LSH [1989] belonged to the Classic Legion timeline (a timeline which perished with the Time Trapper at the end of that issue) -- but I'm willing to bet that there was no Five Year Gap in the Lightning Saga Legion.

Now, onward to the Legion of Three Worlds!

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:

In Superman's Fortress, a Kryptonian thought-beast displays a version of the double-page Legion group from ACTION #858.

Batman's flashback to Final Night includes Gates, who did not appear in that storyline.

During the visit with Thom, Garth is unfamiliar with the concept of schizophrenia. This is ironic, considering Garth's own personal history of mental illness.

Superman's new flight ring has a "cloaking mode" that turns it invisible. Once, all Legion flight rings had this capability -- a clever explanation whenever an artist forgot to draw a flight ring on a Legionnaire.

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DC UNIVERSE #0 (6/08)
"Let There Be Lightning"
ROLL CALL (Lightning Saga Legion): Blok, Brainiac 5, Chameleon Girl, Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, Dawnstar, Lightning Lad, Lightning Lass, Night Girl, Phantom Girl, Polar Boy, Saturn Girl, Shadow Lass, Shrinking Violet (cover only), Sun Boy, Superman, Timber Wolf, Tyr, Tyroc (cover only), Ultra Boy (cover only), White Witch, Wildfire

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS: No Legionnaires appear in he flashback to the First Crisis.

Blok is shown wearing only one flight ring, instead of his customary three. The other two must be in cloaked mode. :)

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LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #41 (6/08)
"Enemy Rising Part Two: Busted"
ROLL CALL (Teenage Revolution Legion): Brainiac 5, Chameleon, Invisible Kid, Light Lass, Lightning Lad, Princess Projectra, Saturn Girl, Timber Wolf, Ultra Boy

The U.P.'s "new regime" is anti-Legion. Has anyone seen Universo lately?

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS: Chameleon doesn't need action figures, as long as those fingers are around!

"The Secret History of the Legion Flight Ring"
ROLL CALL: Atom Girl, Brainiac 5, Chameleon, Colossal Boy, Invisible Kid, Light Lass, Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl, Triplicate Girl, Ultra Boy

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS: Although not mentioned in the "Customizations" section, Invisible Kid's flight ring can obviously become invisible. Can you say "cloak mode"?

Two special thought codes are mentioned. "1-9-5-8" obviously refers to the year the first Legion story was published; "O-B-A-P" must be the initials of Otto Binder and Al Plastino, the writer and artist (respectively) of that first Legion stroy.


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