Week of 4 February 2009

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

ADVENTURE COMICS #0 (4/09)
"The Legion of Super-Heroes" (reprint from ADVENTURE #247 [4/1958])
ROLL CALL (Classic Legion): Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Superboy (Retroactively conjectured: Brainiac 5, Phantom Girl, Triplicate Girl - see what Michael has to say about this)

How many times has DC sold me this sotry? Let me count the ways:

1. SUPERMAN ANNUAL #6 [25 cents]
2. ADVENTURE #491 (digest) [95 cents]
3. LSH ARCHIVES #1 [$49.95]
4. SILVER AGE CLASSICS: ADVENTURE #247 [$1.00]
5. MILLENNIUM EDITION: ADVENTURE #247 [$3.95]
6. WORLD'S BEST COMICS SILVER AGE SAMPLER [99 cents]
7. SHOWCASE PRESENTS LSH #1 (trade paperback) [$16.99]
8. LSH: 1050 YEARS OF THE FUTURE (trade paperback) [19.99]
9. ADVENTURE COMICS #0 [$1.00]

TOTAL: $95.07

What can I say? More money than sense, I guess....

Besides the new cover and nice reprint of a story I already own eight times, what we were all interested in was the backup "Origins and Omens" feature and a clue about the future direction of ADVENTURE. Will it star the Legion?

And the answer is: Fraid not. The "Origins and Omens" story features Luthor, Brainiac, and the ex-Guardian Scar; it seems to tie in to the upcoming "Blackest Night" series and hints at the return of Kon-El (who is not shown wearing his Legion flight ring.)

However, two house ads in the back of the comic are interesting. The first sets the stage for SUPERMAN #686 and ACTUION #875: the headline says "The Never Ending Battle...Just Got Some More Help" and it shows the Guardian, the new Nightwing and Flamebird, and...Mon-El.

The second interesting hosue ad is a thumbnail of the cover of ADVENTURE #1, with two figures visible only in silhouette. First, the cover has a layout that recalls ADVENTURE #300 and similar covers. Second, One of the non-silhouetted figures is Starman...and on his shoulder is a bare hand wearing a Legion flight ringl. Third, one of the silhouetted figures might be a flying guy with a cape -- Mon-El? (Of course, it could just as easily be Tellus.)

In any case, ADVENTURE should join the list of titles to watch for Legion content, along with SUPERMAN and ACTION. Come to think of it, I would advise watching all of Geoff Johns' comics...the Legion or individual Legionnaires can pop up at any point.

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FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF 3 WORLDS #3 (4/09)
"Legion of 3 Worlds Book Three"

ROLL CALL (Retro Legion): Blok, Brainiac 5, Chameleon Girl, Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, Dawnstar, Dream Girl, Invisible Kid (Jacques), Lightning Lad, Lightning Lass, Mon-EL, Night Girl, Polar Boy, Rond Vidar's corpse, Saturn Girl, Shadow Lass, Shrinking Violet, Sun Boy, Superman, Timber Wolf, Ultra Boy, White Witch, Wildfire

ROLL CALL (Earth-247 Legion): Andromeda, Apparition, Brainiac 5, Chameleon, Cosmic Boy, Ferro, Gates, Gear, Invisible Kid, Karate Kid, Kid Quantum, Kinetix, LeVIathan, Live Wire, Projectra, Saturn Girl, Shikari, Spark, Star Boy, Timber Wolf, Triad, Ultra Boy, Umbra, Valor (not called M'Onel), Wildfire, XS

ROLL CALL (Teenage Revolution Legion): Atom Girl, Brainiac 5, Chameleon, Colossal Boy, Element Lad, Invisible Kid, Karate Kid, Light Lass, Phantom Girl, Projectra, Saturn Girl, Shadow Lass, Star Boy, Sun Boy, Supergirl (flashback), Timber Wolf, Triplicate Girl, Ultra Boy

ROLL CALL (Legion of Super-Villains): Beauty Blaze, Black Mace, Chameleon Chief, Cosmic King, Dr. Regulus, Earth-Man, Echo, Emerald Empress, Esper Lass, Golden Boy, Grimbor, Lazon, Lightning Lord, Magno Lad, Mano, Micro Lad, Mist Master, Neutrax, Ol-Vir, Persuader, Radiation Roy, Saturn Queen, Silver Slasher, Spider Girl, Storm Boy, Superboy Prime, Terrus, Tharok, Titania, Tusker, Tyr, Universo, Validus, Zymyr

ROLL CALL (Retro Legion, Flashback to first L3W adventure): Bouncing Boy, Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Chemical King, Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, Dream Girl, Duo Damsel, Element Lad, Invisible Kid (Lyle), Karate Kid, Light Lass, Lightning Lad, Matter-Eater Lad, Mon-El, Phantom Girl, Princess Projectra, Saturn Girl, Shadow Lass, Shrinking Violet, Star Boy, Sun Boy, Timber Wolf, Ultra Boy,

ROLL CALL (Earth-247 Legion, Flashback to first L3W adventure): Apparition, Brainiac 5, Chameleon, Cosmic Boy, Invisible Kid, Kid Quantum (James), Leviathan, Live Wire, Saturn Girl, Triad, XS (as a baby)

ROLL CALL (Teenage Revolution Legion, Flashback to first L3W adventure): Brainiac 5, Chameleon, Cosmic Boy, Dream Girl, Light Lass, Lightning Lad, Projectra, Saturn Girl, Star Boy

ROLL CALL (Friends, Family, & Others): Don & Dawn Allen (holograms), Impulse, Koko, Lex Luthor, Myg (Karate Kid), Sodam Yat

Wow! Worth the wait. I laughed, I shivered, and several times I shouted out "yes!" aloud.

This is what good writing is all about. In a single double-page spread, several mysteries are explained: the first "Legion of 3 Worlds" adventure, how XS and Bart can coexist, how three different Legions have interacted with 20th/21st century DC heroes, what happened to the Tornado Twins, and even why the post-Zero-Hour Legion appeared on "Earth-247" in INFINITE CRISIS.

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS: So the Fatal Five attacks the force field protecting Legion Headquarters. Validus zaps it with his mental lightning. The Emerald Empress blasts it with energy from the Emerald Eye. The Persuader chops at it with all the force of his Atomic Axe. Mano unleashes the full power of his disintegrating disc. And Tharok...shakes his fist at it.

Good thing Ron-Karr wasn't there....

(Come to think of it, where is Ron-Karr?)

And I guess Eyeful Ethel couldn't get a substitute teacher to cover for her that day.

Interesting that Valor is no longer calling himself M'Onel.

And please, please tell me that Glorith is not lurking anywhere in the Multiverse....


TOP EIGHT CHUCKLES:

8. Gates: "I suppose, regardless of the world, they are still vertebrates."

7. Beauty Blaze: "You want us to burn a hole in the street?"

6. Lightning Lad: "I totally called this, didn't I, Cos?"

5. Blok: "I heard you complaining under there." Jo: "And Tinya says that never helps."

4. Wildfire: "So this is the bedroom of a madman? I thought there'd be more brains in jars."

3. Ultra Boy: "Three Phantom Girls? I hope I'm not dreaming,"

2. Lightning Lad : "It's pronounced WINE-ath, not WIN-ath." Spark: "We pronounce it Win-ATHE."

1. Brainiac 5: "You do know that negativity is a sign of eleventh-level intelligence." Brainiac 5: "Is not."


TOP TWELVE NODS TO THE FANS:

12. The most Interlac in-jokes per square inch of any double-page spread in history.

11. Another dead Karate Kid (by now, it's a tradition).

10. Sodam Yat's new version of the Green Lantern oath.

9. "He just went up, up, and away!"

8. Comics in Clark-Prime's backpack (ACTION #550, GREEN LANTERN #171, and LSH #306)

7. The Avenue of Heroes.

6. Shrinking Violet using the tiny guns that were designed for her way back in ADVENTURE #367.

5. All the trophies in Legion HQ, but especially the satellite from ADVENTURE #247.

4. Managing to fit in Lyle, Condo, and (I guess) James Cullen.

3. "Welcome to Smallville: Home of 'The Super-Boy.'"

2. Finally settling the dispute over how to pronounce Winath (and, by extension, every other name that fans have argued over.)

1. "LONG LIVE THE LEGION!"



TOP SEVEN INCONSISTENCIES EXPLAINED:

7. Clark's career as "The Super-Boy."

6. Inconsistencies in pronunciation (i.e. WIN-ath, Win-ATH, Win-ATHE) (and, by extension, spelling, etc.)

5. Why no-one except Adult Brainy knows about the Three Legions, Jenni, etc.

4. Jenni, Bart, and the Flash Family being in different universes.

3. Inconsistencies in costume/membership/age of the three Legions in the first L3W adventure ("And the Legions of three worlds were pulled together from different Earths and different times.")

2. How different Legions could interact with present-day DC heroes ("When time-traveling one can shift into the multiverse.")

1. ANY other inconsistencies, past, present, or future ("When time-traveling one can shift into the multiverse.")


TOP FIVE MOMENTS THAT MADE ME SQUEE!:

5. "Live Wire's back!"

4. Double-page spread on p. 4-5

3. Double-page spread recounting the first L3W adventure.

2. Bart's costume erupts from his Flash ring.

1. "LONG LIVE THE LEGION!"


TOP TWELVE STILL-UNANSWERED QUESTIONS:

12. Who's minding Graym while all this is going on? What about Cub, the son of Apparition and Timber Wolf?

11. How many other Legions are out there, what Earths are they on, and when do we get to see them? (I, for one, would like to see Kent Shakespeare, Devlin O'Ryan, and even Celeste Rockfish again.)

10. Where are Gazelle, Dream Boy, and the newly-resurrected Dream Girl of the Teenage Revolution Legion?

9. Are the Wanderers, the Subs, or the Heroes of Lallor going to show up?

8. Are Bouncing Boy, Una, and Quislet (Retro Legion) going to have parts in this?

7. Where are Chameleon Boy, Element Lad, Sensor Girl, and Tyroc (Retro Legion)?

6. How does Tellus figure into all of this?

5. What do we call the Earth that Superman comes from? Earth-One? Earth-Zero?

4. What's up with Luthor's hair?

3. When is Thom coming back?

2. What Earth is the Teenage Revolution Legion from?

1. Why does this have to stop after two more issues? Why can't it be a 12-issue series, or better yet, 52?

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