Week of 3 March 2010

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

ADVENTURE #511/8 (5/10)

This one has two covers, and Legion completists will want both.

The standard cover (left) is a really cool picture split down the middle between the 21st and 31st centuries. On the left side, flying over present-day Metropolis, are Element Lad, Sensor Girl (and her boobs), Star Boy/Starman, and Tellus. On the right side, flying over future Metropolis, are Brainiac 5, Dawnstar (and her boobs), Lightning Lad, and Timber Wolf. In a really nice touch, the Daily Planet globe spans both eras: on the left the word "DAILY" is in English, and on the right "PLANET" is in Interlac.

The 1-in-10 variant cover (right) is done in the style ADVENTURE #300. On the left are General Lane, Element Lad, and Car-Vex (boobs partly hidden). In the middle, Cosmic Boy, Dawnstar (and her boobs), Lightning Lass (and guess what), Timber Wolf, and Wildfire. Right side: Brainiac 5, Mon-El & Conner Kent, and a really sweet shot of Tellus & Krypto. My hubby, Thomas, points out that this cover also echoes the infamous nine-panel grid, which makes me wonder if that, too, was inspired by the cover of ADVENTURE #300.

Whatever the cover, there are three stories in this issue:

ADVENTURE #511/8 (5/10)
"Superman: Last Stand of New Krytpon: Prologue Part One: The Future is Prologue"
ROLL CALL: Brainiac 5, Cosmic Boy, Dawnstar, Lightning Lass, Timber Wolf, Wildfire
CUTE BOYS: Brainy (young & old), Brin, Rokk

All right, this is more like it! The Legion in action (well, technically, in Adventure, but the idea is the important thing). First, a brief flashback to Brainy's childhood, where the other Coluan boys beat him up because his father named him after great-great-great-great-great-grandfather Brainiac). Then we cut to the present, where the Legion is on a mission to rescue scientists from a space outpost menaced by a chronal rift. The team rescues the scientists, while Brainy finds out that such rifts are popping up all over.  It seems that they have their origin in the 21st century, and they were created by the original Brainiac. It turns out that Brainiac's scheme is to destroy the future and use the power from that destruction to kill Superman.

This story continues next week in SUPERMAN: LAST STAND OF NEW KRYPTON #1.

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:

Young Brainy, studying the original Brainiac, sees a list of "Worlds Destroyed." They are:

• Arkheon (origin uncertain)
• Auros (uncertain)
• Blight World (maybe a reference to the Blight from the Earth-247 "Legion of the Damned" storyline?)
• Calufrax Major (a Doctor Who reference)
• Cundiff (uncertain)
• Durla I (Chameleon Boy and his people come from Durla. In classic continuity, Durla went through a devastating atomic war centuries ago. Is it possible that this event is replaced by Brainiac's destruction of "Durla I," and that survivors went on to populate Durla II?)
• Imsk (Shrinking Violet's homeworld. In classic continuity, the whole planet went though periodic shrinking episodes. Since shrinking is Brainiac's thing, it would be only natural to link this odd planetary behavior to an attack by Brainiac.) 
• Krop Tor (uncertain, although it's "Rot Pork" backwards. Maybe Zatanna had something to do with this world?)
• Larroo (uncertain)
• Landthia (uncertain)
• Lexor (pre-Crisis, Lexor was the one planet in the universe where Lex Luthor was considered a hero. In that continuity, Lexor was destroyed by Luthor himself.)
• Rimbor (Ultra Boy's homeworld. Rimbor has been important in the history of various versions of the Legion. Last time we saw, Rimbor was doing fine, not destroyed by Brainiac...unless we interpret "destroyed" in an economic sense.) [I can't find a good link for Rimbor.]

Brainy's ancestry: In classic continuity, Brainy was the great-grandson of a Coluan boy adopted by the original Brainiac; that is, Superman's foe was Brainiac 1, his "son" was Brainiac 2, and so on. Pulsar Stargrave may (or may not) have been Brainy's father, presumably Brainiac 4.

Post-Crisis, L.E.G.I.O.N.'s Vril Dox was Brainiac 5's great-grandfather. In the Earth-247 Legion, Brainiac 4 was our Brainy's mother, not his father. Presumably, Vril Dox was still Brainiac 2.

Now, it seems that Brainiac 5 is eight generations removed from the original Brainiac. Over in R.E.B.E.L.S., Vril Dox is being called Brainiac 2 and his son, Lyrl, is Brainiac 3. After that, the "Brainiac" name fell out of favor (isit any wonder?) until our Brainy's father revived it, calling himself "Brainiac 4."

In classic continuity, five generations across a thousand years implied a Coluan lifespan of 200+ years. Now, eight generations implies that Coluans live 125+ years. Interesting.

Time-Travel: Brainy explains that Brainiac is "the reason we've had trouble with time travel the last year. The reason it's been locked off from us. He's tearing our universe apart from a thousand years ago, and he's somehow stopping us from going back." This is why Superman hasn't been able to get into the future ever since Mon-El emerged from the Phantom Zone.

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ADVENTURE #511/8 (5/10)
"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton: Prologue Part Two: The Future is Now"
ROLL CALL: Chameleon Boy, Element Lad, Matter-Eater Lad, Mon-El, Quislet, Sensor Girl, Star Boy/Starman, Tellus
CUTE BOYS: Conner, Jan, Mon-El, Tenzil (looking particularly cute, if you ask me, and no crude jokes about "I've got something here he can eat"), hell, even Cham looks cute here.

Conner finds oout that his chemistry teacher, Mr. Janson (get it?) is really Element Lad, aka Jan Arrah. Continuing from SUPERMAN #697, Conner brings Mon to meet the Legion in the Kent's barn. Mon trusts them, and Cham reveals that they must travel to New Krypton to fight Brainiac.

Best...Line...Ever: "This is a job for Element Lad!"

This story, too, continues next week in SUPERMAN: LAST STAND OF NEW KRYPTON #1.

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:

R.J. Brande gave separate instructions to each of the members of the Espionage Squad, instructions that they have not shared with one another. The Metropolis contingent were supposed to guard Mon-El and help him to grow into the hero he's destined to be. Element Lad and Tellus, in Smallville, were supposed to do the same for Conner, although Conner is "further along in doing the whole hero thing." "All we know is the future is frozen...it's in danger and [Mon is] a part of what fixes it."

In the post-Crisis "Five Years Later" (aka Giffbaum) universe, Lar Gand had a 20th century career as the hero Valor, who seeded human worlds throughout the galaxy and then disappeared, eventually to wind up in the 30th century. It looks like they're setting up Mon-El to have a big heroic career in the 21st century before (presumably) going back into the Phantom Zone and emerging in the 30th.

My guess? Among the cities that Brainiac stole are cities from Durla, Imsk, Rimbor, and all the other worlds mentioned above. Like Krypton, those worlds were destroyed. Mon will be responsible for freeing those cities and putting them on new worlds, which will become the Durla, Imsk, Rimbor, etc of the Legion's time.

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ADVENTURE #511/8 (5/10)
"Awake Part 1 of 3"
ROLL CALL: No Legionnaires, but there are some Dominators and a Khund or two
CUTE BOYS: It is to laugh. General Lane doesn't recruit any cute boys. Stupid General Lane.

This story in this issue shows Car-Vex enlisting in General Lane's corps, although she's really an undercover agent on a dastardly mission from General Zod. If you ask me, she ought to just off Lane right now and spare us all a lot of grief. In fact, why didn't someone off Lane a long time ago?

In a flashback to Invasion, we see some Dominators and Khunds, and we learn why Lane hates aliens so much. (Actually, we don't really learn anything, and his hatred for aliens might just be jealousy over Supes stealing his daughter.)

This story is continued, but they don't bother to tell us when & where. Perhaps they knew that we wouldn't care.

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BOTTOM LINE: Wow, what a comic! This had everything. The Legion in action in the 31st century. The Espionage Squad in the 21st. Superboy meeting with the Legion on the Kent farm in Smallville. Lots of Legion background, lots of answers to things that have been puzzling us, lots of hints about what's coming up.

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ALERTS:

Mon-El and the Legion are apparently going to be appearing all through this "Last Stand of New Krypton" crossover storyline, so keep an eye on the Superman books as well as the SUPERMAN: LAST STAND OF NEW KRYPTON miniseries.

Also, there's an ad for a Justice League crossover storyline that features Mon-El. Look out for JUSTICE LEAGUE RISE AND FALL SPECIAL, THE RISE OF ARSENAL 4-issue limited series, and "The Fall of Green Arrow" in GREEN ARROW #31 and #32.

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