Week of 17 November 2010

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

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #7 (2011/1)
"The Shifting Shape of Revenge"


 ROLL CALL:

Cosmic Boy, Dream Girl, Earth-Man, Mon-El, Polar Boy, Shadow Lass, Sun Boy, Timber Wolf, Tyroc, Ultra Boy, Durlans, Durlan masquerading as S.P. Chief Zendak

CUTE BOYS: Brek, Brin, Dirk, Jo, Lar, Rokk, Troy, several S.P. officers

Durlan assassins kill one of the U.P. councilors from Winath, but the Legion exposes the Durlans and prevents them from killing the councilor's twin. They take one of the Durlans into custody. Sun Boy, Polar Boy, and Dream Girl talk about the Leader election. Mon-El, who's been sulking in his quarters, confronts Earth-Man about Shadow Lass, and gets the better of the interaction. When Earth-Man returns, Shady comforts him but they are interrupted by the sudden appearance of Dyogene.

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:

Looks like Shadow Lass might be the next Legionnaire offered the Green Lantern ring. Well finally, that little green larva is showing some taste! Shady would make an excellent Green Lantern. (Although...first Rond Vidar, now Shady...what is it with the Green Lanterns and people who've been in love with Brainiac 5?)

Tyroc has been working on his sonic powers, and he uses them in several interesting ways. The most imaginative is using ultrasound to conduct a quick autopsy of the murdered councilor. The dynamic art, by Cinar and Faucher, just makes Tyroc's powers even more striking. In addition, Levitz is refining Tyroc's personality...we get a glimpse of Troy's detective side, which we've never seen before. In the past, Tyroc has been as one-dimensional as Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker -- angry, resentful, combative. He deserves to be more than a single-note symphony.

Not that Paul Levitz needs any help from me, but I suggest getting Troy Stewart a boyfriend, right away. I think Jacques would be a good choice, and not just because they're both black; gentle Jacques and fiery Tyroc would complement each other well. Alternatively, Tenzil would make a good companion to Troy; they'd both get a lot out of the relationship.

With the way "Zendak" is acting hostile toward the Legion, you'd think someone would suspect that it's not him. Very out of character.

Speaking of our-of-character...I don't believe Shady in love with Earth-Man, nor Mon and Shady broken up. I think it's all an act, a feint, a plot on Mon & Shady's part...possibly engineered by Brainy. We still don't know what Mon and Brek were doing on Daxam. Time will tell.

Polar Boy has a new arm, and it's not a robot one. I presume that Dr. Gym'll was able to regrow it, possibly with some variation of the Zan Orbal technique.

Dream Girl freaks out when Sun Boy almost touches her hair. This also seems a bit out of character. In the past, Dreamy's primary cosmetic concern has been with her fingernails, not her hair. With all these Durlans floating about, and with Paul Levitz at the reins, one must always be alert to the possibility that the Legion has been infiltrated. Could Dream Girl be a Durlan? Another clue, or a red herring? How does Levitz do it?

Having Timber Wolf sniff out the Durlan incense was a masterful use of his "enhanced senses." Any fool can use super-vision (sorry, Jo), but how often do you see a hero using super-smell? (And while we're at it, did anybody else think the scene of Brin rasslin' with Brin was kinda hot? Imagine the posibilities....

CHRONICLER'S ERROR?: This story is identified as happening in "Metropolis, 3010" -- the cover date of the comic is 2011. As regular readers know, I have no objection to identifying the Legion's time with a specific year...as long as it stays consistent. We'll see....

Tyroc's homeworld is once again identified as Marzal. Used to be, Marzal was an island, not a world. OTOH, this isn't the first time for this particular "error." Perhaps there's more here than meets the eye. Maybe we can hope for a "spotlight on Tyroc" issue sometime in the future -- especially if Tyroc wins the post of Leader (or even Deputy).

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LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #7 (2011/1)

"Inquiring Minds"

ROLL CALL:

Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, High Seer Beren, Dr. Harmonia Li

CUTE BOYS: Brainy, Cham (looking exceptionally cuddly this time around)

Brainy destroys a time sphere he's trying to repair. He and Cham go to Naltor, where Beren has a vision of Cham being attacked by his fellow Legionnaires. Brainy visits the enigmatic Dr. Li, and reiterates the mysteries about her: She escaped from the destruction of Titan without harm and without being quesitoned; she gets sent to Naltor and is embraced by the planet's ruler; she was offered (and refused) a Green Lantern ring; and she's much older than any data file admits. When Brainy confronts her, she says "I am who I say I am." She reveals that she is originally from Earth. Then she announces that she's returning to Earth to cooperate with Brainy, saying "I understand you've recently come into an inheritance from my old friend Mister Brande."

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:

Beren has a vision of Cham being attacked by his fellow Legionnaires. My guess is that he's actually seeing the Legionnaires attack another Durlan who has taken Cham's form.

Dr. Li plays a yangquin, which is a type of hammer dulcimer from central Asia. In a previous issue we were told that Tibet (in central Asia) is off-limits to tourism. Betcha this has something to do with Harmonia Li and her "work exploring time." We know that she taught Circadia Senius; she also calls R.J. Brande "my old friend." 

Say "DC Comics," "Tibet," and "time anomaly" together, and what springs to mind? Nanda Parbat, the Shangri-La of the DC Universe -- a hidden Tibetan city involved with all sorts of magical goings-on, were time passes differently than in the rest of the world. Deadman is involved with the place, Batman apparently trained there for a while, and a goddess named Rama Kushna rules the place. I'm guessing that Dr. Li has something to do with Nanda Parbat.

Naltor earns a substantial amount by leasing their people out to the rest of the U.P. as starpilots. This is the kind of brilliant attention to detail that makes the Legion good science fiction.

Brainy says "It's been a rough time." He says "It took months for the Legion to get to Colu to implement my plan, and then it was good 'politics' to allow Superman to get all the credit. And in the ensuing compromise, Earthgov makes us take that thuggish Earth-Man." He's talking about the events of the Superman and the LSH series, which happened two and a half years ago, but only recently in the Legion's timeline.

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