LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #1 (2011/11)
"Renegade World"
ROLL CALL:
Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Chemical Kid, Colossal Boy, Comet Queen, Cosmic Boy, Dragonwing, Dream Girl, Element Lad, Glorith, Harmonia, Invisible Kid (Jacques), Lightning Lass, Mon-El, Phantom Girl, Polar Boy, Shadow Lass, Shrinking Violet, Star Boy, Sun Boy, Ultra Boy, Daxamite
Memorial Statues: Dawnstar, Earth-Man, Ferro Lad, Invisible Kid (Lyle), Karate Kid (Val), Tellus, Triplicate Girl, Wildfire
CUTE BOYS: Brainy, Brek, Cham (as a soldier), Dirk, Gim, Hadru, Jacques, Jan, Jo, Mon, Rokk, Thom, Assorted SPs, Hunky Daxamite
Well, fears of a complete LSH reboot were, as advertised, wrong. But neither does the Legion pick up immediately after the last issue. Instead, there's been some kind of disastrous mission, apparently involving the Time Institute. The seven Legionnaires who are now ("now"?) in Legion Lost are presumed dead, and there have been some behind-the-scenes roster changes.
The story picks up with an Espionage Squad mission to Pantoptes, a military watchworld on the Dominion border. Panotpes has gone silent, and the Legion team is sent to investiagte. The team consists of Chameleon Boy, Chemical Kid, Dragonwing, Phantom Girl, and Ultra Boy. They're dropped off by a U.P. military vessel; one of the solider serving aboard is Gim Allon, aka Colossal Boy. With the apparent death of Yera, Gim has left the Legion to follow in his father's footsteps.
The team separates. Cham, Jo, and Tinya infiltrate the base, while Hadru and Marva get themselves captured and bungle things, causing a big fight with the military guys. Meanwhile, Cham and friends have learned that Panoptes is now preparing to send signals into the Dominion. Jo gets ready to destroy the transmitter, but he is stopped by a super-powered Daxamite with weird face tattoos.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, Mon-El (in a stunning new outfit) helps install some new memorial statues, argues with Brainy, and checks on the rest of the Legion.
Cosmic Boy, Invisible Kid, Lightning Lass, and Shrinking Violet are finishing up with Saturn Queen's crowd, presumably on Takron-Galtos. Comet Queen, Element Lad, Polar Boy, Shadow Lass, and Sun Boy are in an undisclosed location where everything is secure. Dream Girl, Glorith, and Star Boy are at the Time Institute (on Naltor, presumably), where Dreamy observes that "Flashpoint effect has definitely
closed off time travel into the past." With Dreamy's team is Harmonia Li, who is now a Legionnaire with the codename Harmonia and powers listed as "Natural elemental."
At the Time Institue, Glorith is mourning Oaa (aka Variable Lad) who died fighting Chemical King in the last issue of Adventure.
And that, fellow Legion lovers, is where it stands.
All in all, it could be worse. The Legion hasn't been rebooted, but it's been disrupted. I, for one, would like to know more about this catastrophic battle/event/whatever at the Time Institute.
I'd also like to know why the Legion is wailing about being underpowered when they still have numerous experienced members on the sidelines. For my money, Bouncing Boy is worth ten of Chemical Kid, and all Dragonwing does is bitch and spit (okay, she spits fire, but still).
Here's what I think: The bigwigs at DC insisted that Paul Levitz arrange some catastrophic event in order to shoehorn the Legion into this stupid "new 52" publicity stunt. Levitz had to disrupt carefully-laid plans, wrap up some plotlines in a hurry, and jettison some other stuff that he had planned.
And why? Whyd id the Legion have to be part of this nonsense? They didn't reboot Tiny Titans. They didn't reboot DC Universe: Online Legends. They didn't reboot I, Zombie, Looney Tunes, Scooby-Doo, The All-New Batman, American Vampire, Young Justice, or Gears of War.
I know, I know -- these titles "aren't in continuity." That's just my point...The Legion shouldn't be in continuity either. The Legion should be allowed to exist outside DC continuity...it's a thousand years in the future, after all, and time travel causes weird things to happen (which could explain away any continuity-related quesitons).
Come on, DC. Keep your dirty paws off the Legion.
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STATUS REPORT:
Back in the 21st Century in Legion Lost, and presumed dead in LSH are Chameleon Girl, Dawnstar, Gates, Gates, Tellus, Timber Wolf, Tyroc, and Wildifre.
Confirmed Active Legionnaires depicted in this issue are Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Chemical Kid, Comet Queen, Cosmic Boy, Dragonwing, Dream Girl, Element Lad, Glorith, Harmonia, Invisible Kid (Jacques), Lightning Lass, Mon-El, Phantom Girl, Polar Boy, Shadow Lass, Shrinking Violet, Star Boy, Sun Boy, and Ultra Boy.
Resigned and with the U.P. forces is Colossal Boy.
On Detached Duty are Blok, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Sensor Girl, and XS.
Previously Active Legionnaires not seen in this issue are Quislet.
Previously Faculty at the Academy, current status unknown are Bouncing Boy, Night Girl, and Duplciate Girl.
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BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:
Panoptes: In Greek mythology, Argus Panoptes was a giant with a hundred eyes. Since only a few of his eyes slept at any time, he was an excellent watchman. Hermes put him to sleep with boring sotries (perhaps reading DC's new universe?) and then killed him.
Gim trained for the Science Police before getting his powers and joining the Legion. His father is an Admiral in the U.P. fleet, and his brother Wynn also serves in the military.
Ayla's monitor board symbol is the feather she used as Light Lass, rather than the lightning bolts she's used as Lightning Lass. Chronicler's Error, or have her powers changed?
Glorith and Harmonia have no monitor board symbols yet.
Brainy is working on a way around the limitation on time travel. My guess is that when sales of Legion Lost begin to falter, he'll succeed long enough to bring back the timelost Legionnaires.
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