LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #11 (2011/05)
"False Start"
ROLL CALL:
Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, Dawnstar, Dream Girl, Lightning Lass, Mon-El, Phantom Girl, Shrinking Violet, Star Boy, Sun Boy, Timber Wolf, Tyroc, Ultra Boy, Wildfire, S.P. Chief Gigi Cusimano, Dr. Harmonia Li, Warden Marwat (corpse), Frost, Fume, Micro Lad (corpse), Sun Emperor
CUTE BOYS: Brainy, Brin, Dirk, Gim, Jo, Lar, Rokk, Troy
Another issue with a lot going on.
On Rimbor a Lgion team (Colossal Boy, Lightning Lass, Phantom Girl, Sun Boy, Tyroc, and Ultra Boy) goes after escaped villains. One pair, Fume and Frost, talk about Saturn Queen's new LSV.
At Headquarters, Gigi calls for help from Brainy, saying that there are escapees on a dozen worlds. Brainy says he has everything under control. Yet he gets frazzled when Dawnstar refuses to retrun, and Dream Girl walks in with an unconscious and still-deranged Star Boy. When Mon-El shows up by Power Ring projection, he unwillingly takes command and sends Brainy to the lab to work on Thom.
On Takron-Galtos, Chameleon Boy, Comic Boy, and Shrinking Violet are working clean-up when they run across Micro Lad's corpse -- Vi spits on him, which sums up her feelings about their past history. They also find Marwat's corpse, spotting the signs of Lightning Lord's handiwork.
Meanwhile, Timber Wolf goes to Tokyo in search of Sun-Killer. Instead, he finds Sun Emperor, and the two have an epic battle that leaves Sun Emperor defeated.
Finally, Brainy is worried about what's taken Colu off the grid, and in walks Dr. Harmonia Li with an announcement that it's all her fault.
The art in this issue (by Daniel HDR & Wayne Faucher) is okay, but it lacks Cinar's sparkle -- and his nice touch with wild hair. Notice how smooth everyone's hair seems.
The lettercolumn gives the numbers from the Leader election, and promises that XS will be spotlighted in Adventure 526, which is good news indeed.
BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:
This is a great example of why it's a good idea to ignore advance solicitations. First, the cover shown in advance solicitations was different: It showed Dream Girl with Star Boy thrown across her shoulders. Second, the text of advance solicitations read:
A jam-packed extravaganza! Star Boy returns from the 21st century! Sensor Girl searches for Karate Kid! The team trails the escaped Legion of Super-Villains! And Saturn Girl seeks Harmonia Li's blood-and the reason why will shock you!Okay, Star Boy came back, and a team did trail the LSV (sorta). But Sensor Girl and Saturn Girl were nowhere to be seen.
Obviously a lot of changes happened between the time the solicitation went out and the time the issue was published.
On Rimbor there are a number of Interlac signs. They say things like "XXX DRINK X" "DRINK SEX" "ALIEN SEX" and "OPEN BAR" -- about the kind of things you'd expect to see on Rimbor.
Star Boy is suffering from "multiversal disorientation accelerated schizophrenia" made worse by the connection of his uniform to the multiverse.
In Tokyo there is a holo of a bespectacled man with an Interlac legend that reads "C'ABIO YABV PARK." I suspect an anagram of sorts, although the only thing I can come up is "Via Cab Boy," which sounds like a Legion reject. Anyone?
Brainy's speech to Dream Girl is typically arrogant, and about the sweetest thing Brainy has ever said.
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COMIC SHOP NEWS SPRING PREVIEW
This is a free newspaper-style handout that most comic book shops have. The cover features the Legion against the LSV.
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4 comments:
Perhaps the major reason the advance solicitations were so wrong is because DC then decided to cut cover price to 2.99 and to cut the number of pages. I guess Levitz had to cut out a number of the brewing side-plots and focus much more on the main narrative.
And I'm thinking that this cover is much more dramatic and enticing to newer readers than Dream Girl carrying Star Boy over her shoulder. I approve, lol.
I asked about the Interlac over at Legion Abstract and was told that the placard under the holo-bust reads "Fabio Yabv Park" which would be a reference to Fabio Yabu, who is is a Japanese-Brazilian creator of webmanga (e.g., Combo Rangers) and of the animated tv show Sea Princesses. Apparently, his blog has pictures of him that resemble the holo-bust as well. (Thanks to Stile86 for the info!)
Timber Wolf is not invulnerable nor does he have super-healing powers (IIRC). Nonetheless, he manages to fight off Sun Emperor's flames with relative ease, with only his costume burnt. While I am obliged to provide some suspension of disbelief, this is a bit much.
Moreover, did this supposed Timber Wolf display any Timber Wolf characteristic? That is, it seemed to me that the guy fighting Sun Emperor could have been any random character -- Rokk or even Bouncing Boy.
Rob: I liked the published cover better, too. Your explanation sounds convincing.
Brainy Pirate: Thanks for researching that. Fascinating. Yet another example of multicultural content in the Legion. I approve.
Madman2001: You mean you have no trouble believing in a guy who can create sun-level heat by sheer will, but you're troubled when another guy doesn't get burned up fighting him?
I figured it was a combination of (a) the standard Legion transsuit, (b) 31st century medical nanobots, and (c) Brin's own enhanced healing abilities.
I didn't have any problems with the fight, but then I tend to skim over fight scenes -- especially modern ones that go on for pages and pages. I'm more a fan of strategy than beat-'em-ups.
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