Week of 10 March 2010

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

ACTION #887 (5/10)
"Truth to Power"
ROLL CALL: Mon-El (mentioned)
CUTE BOYS: Chris Kent

Jax-Ur, who keeps turning into a green Barsoomian, has extracted the god essence from Nightwing and Flamebird to create Rao, a giant crystalline red Barsoomian who gets more powerful with every weapon that's used against him. Meanwhile Lois Lane, doing her best Amanda Waller impersonation, has followed leads through the deserts of Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan in her quest to tell the truth about General Lane (who, incidentally, doesn't appear to be anywhere near any of those countries)...just when her transportation gives out, Chris hears her voice and (being a dutiful son) comes to fly her into the heart of danger. Rao (or Jax-Ur) turns Chris into glass...or maybe traps him in glass...or maybe sends him into the nonexistent Phantom Zone...it's really, really hard to tell. And now the Pakistani army is going to launch nukes at Rao, which will make him much stronger and (incidentally) reduce Lois to her constituent atoms. But we have to wait until next issue to find out what happens, because they had to make room for a totally pointless second story about Captain Atom and the same six-page preview of Flash #1 that's using up space in half the comics I got this week.

Confused? Trying to figure out why you should care? Welcome to the club.

To make things even worse. Chris remains fully clothed for the whole story. Bah.

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JUSTICE LEAGUE: RISE AND FALL SPECIAL #1 (5/10)
"Green Arrow Unbound"
ROLL CALL: Mon-El (cameo)
CUTE BOYS: Gun shop looter whom Black Canary kicks on page 10

Mon-El appears in a single panel, in the context of a newspaper story on the destruction of Star City.

This issue takes up pretty much where JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRY FOR JUSTICE left off. If you didn't read JL:CFJ, then count yourself very, very lucky. Besides, you don't need to: the first few pages of this story recaps what that series took 7 tedious issues to tell. This comic has lots of things that JL:CFJ didn't: a comprehensible plot, good pacing, solid characterization, and an intriguing theme.

Basically, Green Arrow is so freaked out by the destruction of Star City, the maiming of Red Arrow, and the death of his granddaughter, that he went and killed the buy what done it. And so begins a tale that strikes to the morality of super-heroes, the use and abuse of power, the corrupting power of revenge, and other great questions.

It's good to see this. There was a time, not long ago, when such questions were considered quaint and naive in the DC Universe (and many other comics). So-called "heroes" were torturing and murdering so-called "bad guys" all over the place (Lobo alone killed more people than any ten super-villains), and even Superman turned executioner. But since KINGDOM COME, traditional morality has been creeping back, so that now readers can feel the shock of heroes like Green Lantern and Flash when they contemplate what Green Arrow has done.

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R.E.B.E.L.S. #14 (5/10)
"In the Flesh"
ROLL CALL: Adam Strange, Amon Hakk, Captain Comet, Ciji, Tribulus, Vril Dox, Wildstar, Xylon
ROLL CALL (Omega Men): Broot, Darkfire, Doc, Elu, Tigorr
CUTE BOYS: Adm Strange (especially with his helmet off), Captain Comet, Darkfire

The Starro storyline comes to a satisfying end, narrated by Adam Strange. Notice that the title, which appears at the end, contains a major clue.

Now Dox is triumphtant, L.E.G.I.O.N. is back in business, and the decks are cleared for the upcoming meeting of the Three Brainiacs. Be afraid. Be very afriad.

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SUPERMAN: LAST STAND OF NEW KRYPTON #1 (5/10)
"Part One: Invaded"
ROLL CALL: Chameleon Boy, Element Lad, Matter-Eater Lad, Mon-El, Quislet, Sensor Girl, Starman/Star Boy, Tellus
HONORABLE MENTION: Superboy (Conner) and Supergirl
CUTE BOYS: Any number of cute Kyrptonians, Conner, Jan, Mon-El, Tenzil

Brainiac attacks New Krypton. General Zod loses it. Kal goes back to being Superman. Superboy arrives with the Legion in tow. Supergirl and Mon go off to help the Kryptonians, and Zod orders his guards to arrest Superboy and the Legion. Meanwhile, Superman discovers that Brainiac and Luthor have joined forces, which we've known since, what four issues of Adventure ago?

The Legion explains the nature of Brainiac's threat to the future. Concerning the cities that Brainiac has stolen, "...we have information that these cities need to be rescued and restored to their places in the galaxy so worlds can grow from them and exist in the future. We're certain the fate of that future depends depends on it."

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS: Zod thinks that some super-powered Krytponian guards with blasters can arrest the Leigon? It is to laugh. Let us count the ways the Legionnaires could fight back:

1. Sensor Girl can render them blind and deaf
2. Starman/Star Boy can make their blasters too super-heavy for even Kryptonians to hold
3. Tellus can use telekinesis to push the guards away and/or shield the Legionnaires
4. Cham can turn into a Three-Eyed Babootch and scare them all away
5. Quislet can poop into their guns and make them explode (wait, that didn't come out right....)
6. Superboy can use freeze breath to...uh...freeze them
7. Element Lad can turn anything and everything around them into Kryptonite

Mess with the Legion...ha!

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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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Week of 24 February 2010

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

SUPERMAN #697 (4/10)
"Man of Valor: The Espionage Squad"
ROLL CALL: Chameleon Boy, Element Lad, Matter-Eater Lad, Mon-El, Quislet, Sensor Girl, Star Boy, Tellus
CUTE BOYS: Conner Kent, Element Lad, Matter-Eater Lad, Mon-El (naked & in the shower!)

Quislet!!! Poop-a-doop! He was masquerading all the time as Hover-Cam 2 (best...disguise...ever). And boy does he kick ass!

Not to be missed: Mon-El naked in the shower with Billi Harper. Mon has always looked particularly sexy with wet hair, and this scene is no exception.

Also not to be missed: Conner and Mon playing with Krypto in a Smallville field. I love the way everyone's been dealing with Krypto lately: he's coming off as really intelligent and yet totally a dog.

One thing puzzles me, though: I am not sure of the sequential order of the scene between Mon & Conner in Metropolis, and the scene of them in the Smallville field. Which comes first?

The last page, with the shot of the Legionnaires, is awesome. The story will be continued in ADVENTURE #8.

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS: On page 13, Mon-El and Steel seem to be fighting the Composite Superman.

In L3W, eight Legionnaires were said to be missing since Superman & the LSH: Chameleon Boy, Dream Girl, Element Lad, Matter-Eater Lad, Quislet, Sensor Girl, Tellus, and Tyroc. Six of those have now been revealed on Espionage Squad business in the 21st century.

Still among the missing? Dream Girl and Tyroc.

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FLASH: REBIRTH #6 (of 6) (4/10)
"Fastest Man Alive"
ROLL CALL: No Legionnaires, certainly, not even XS. Bart's there, Wally's little brats are there, even Jesse Quick is there (isn't she Liberty Belle now? So why's she wearing her Jesse Quick outfit?). But Jenni? Nowhere to be seen. She's only carrying on the Flash legacy in the distant future, but can they be bothered to even five her  cameo? Noooo.

The Justice League is there, so you'd expect Mon-El...but no, it's the old Justice League, complete with Superman and Wonder Woman.

The rampant Legion-discrimination in the Flash titles continues unabated

Week of 17 February 2010

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

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #42 (4/10)
"Team History"
ROLL CALL: Mon-El
CUTE BOYS: Ace, Blackhawk, Mikaal, Mon-El, Prof, Red, Rocky

More bad guys go after more pieces of alien technology from the past, while Mon-El doesn't do much of anything (his only action scene is off-panel). So why is Mon-El in the comic? Just to sell more comics to Legion fans?

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SUPERGIRL #50 (4/10)
"Queen"
CUTE BOYS: As if! (this comic is for Lesbians and straight men: boobs all over the place)

No actual Legion connection, but Lana Lang once again becomes the Insect Queen. In an earlier reality, Lana Lang's Insect Queen was a Legion Reservist.

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SUPERMAN/BATMAN #69 (4/10)
"The Big Noise Part 2: Benediction Redux"
CUTE BOYS: nope.

Again, no actual Legion connection, but the villain is a time-traveling Durlan. (You'd think a Durlan could masquerade as a cute boy, but apparently not.) The Durlans apparently tried to eliminate the Kryptonians once upon a time, and this Durlan is still on about that. Chameleon Boy, Chameleon Girl, and R.J. Brande were all Durlans -- and none of them tried to kill Kal-El or Kara, so I guess the Durlans got over it by the 30th century.

Week of 10 February 2010

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

ACTION #886 (4/10)
"Captain Atom Chapter Eight"
ROLL CALL: Mon-El
CUTE BOYS: Mon-El

Mon-El, having delivered Captain Atom to the JLA satellite, takes his leave on a mysterious mission. Instead of using the teleporter to return to Earth, he flies off into space, saying "I prefer the stars."

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS: It is explained (is that the word?) that Mirabai' world is the Sorcerer's World, which "...is the locus for all the magic here on Earth as well as other arcane worlds and dimensions. Ifé. Gemworld. Mxyxptlik's 5th dimension. Jejune Realm. Myrra, where our buddy Jim Rook, the Nightmaster, lives. And so, in turn, the land of Nightshades. The Green. The Grey. The Red. Countless other realms and worlds. Hell, even Hell...the gates up to it, anyway..." The Captain Atom heads for "...one place with a clear through-line from Earth to Sorcerer's World..." which is the land of Skataris.

Sorcerer's World, of course, is the home of the White/Black Witch and Mordru.

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ADVENTURE #7/510 (4/10)
"What Did Black Lantern Superboy Do?"
ROLL CALL: Starman/Starboy
CUTE BOYS: Conner Kent, but not for most of the story; Black Lantern Superboy (in a weird undead/zombie sort of way)

A one-panel flashback to Starman/Starboy putting Conner's corpse in the Kryptonian healing chamber under the Fortress of Solitude. This is a scene that we haven't actually seen before; it took place between panels in L3W. There's also a mention of the Legion, and the story ties into L3W.

Incidentally, this is a really good story, and you don't need to know much of anything about Conner/Superboy's background...it's all explained in the story. As a bonus, Krypto is baaaad!

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BOOSTER GOLD #29 (4/10)
"The Tomorrow Memory Part Two"
CUTE BOYS: Booster Gold, Drew (Michelle's boyfriend)

No actual LSH appearances, but Booster's Legion Flight Ring is in evidence in several panels.

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R.E.B.E.L.S. #13 (4/10)
"Tests, Allies, Enemies"
ROLL CALL (L.E.G.I.O.N.): Adam Strange, Amon Haak, Bounder, Captain Comet, Ciji, Lyrl Dox, Tribulus, Vril Dox, Wildstar, Xylon
ROLL CALL (Omega Men): Broot, Darkfire, Doc, Elu, Tigorr
CUTE BOYS: Comet, Lyrl (who still needs a haircut), Vril

Lyrl is up to the Dox family game of betrayal-within-betrayal. Plus, there's a really hot incestuous tussle between him and his Daddy (Vril, not the hulking bear whom Lyrl keeps calling "Master.") In the end, it's Big Daddy Starro face-to-face with Vril Dox. Wonder who's going to win?

And isn't it about time Ciji turned into a cute boy for a while? I'm just sayin'....


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Week of 3 February 2010

I did not see any Legion content in DC Comics this week. But watching the Smallville episode "Absolute Justice" almost made up for it. It was a great story, and there were plenty of nice touches for comics fans in there. Hope we'll see a lot more of the Justice Society, and soon.

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BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS: The Legion was mentioned in "Absolute Justice." When Doctor Fate tells Clark about Clark's destiny, Clark mentions that he sounds like another team, this one from the future.

And there's an interesting question: Has Doctor Fate's helmet appeared in the 30th/31st century? Other than in pictures, or on the head of a present-day Doctor Fate? Is there a Legion-era Doctor Fate?

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Legionnaires currently in the 21st Century: In the current (interminable) storyline running in the Superman books, various Legionnaires have been revealed in undercover positions: several members of the Metropolis Science Police, residents of Metropolis and Smallville, etc. When this whole dreary thing is over and everyone is revealed, I intend to go back through all the comics and update listings here to include the undercover Legionnaires. Get-A-Life Boy will do it so you don't have to. I just don't see any reason to do this until we know who everybody was.

Look for a special entry announcing these revisions when I do them.


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Analog Review of L3W

One of my jobs is book reviewer for Analog Science Fiction and Fact, the oldest and most successful science fiction magazine.

In my column in the April 2010 issue, online here, I reviewed Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds. It really tickled me to be able to introduce the Legion to the readers of Analog.

If anyone else is an Analog reader and LSH fan, I'd love to hear from you.

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Housekeeping Updates

I edited the entries for 13 January 2010 and 20 January 2010 to include some stuff I hadn't seen before. Take a look.

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Week of 27 January 2010

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

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #41 (3/10)
"Team History"
ROLL CALL: Mon-El
CUTE BOYS: Dan (Tomahawk's scout), Mon-El, Tomahawk, Wildcat

There are two covers to this issue. One features Mon-El's right leg and part of his cape; the other shows the rest of him.

Mon-El fights Atomic Skull, then Doctor Light invites him to join the Justice League. She appeals to Mon's desire to do everything that Superman did, saying "You want to to be like Superman? Superman was in the Justice League." Oh, good, now Mon can cross "Was in the Justice League" off his numbered list of things that Superman did.

Oh, wait, that's Conner Kent aka Superboy who has a list of things that Superman did, not Mon-El. Whoops.

Mon's dialog sounds rather pathetic, but he doesn't say much so I guess that doesn't really matter.

The very best thing about this issue, though, is that it includes a two-page recap of the ending of Justice League: Cry for Justice. This is a great public service: it means that when the last issue of Cry for Justice finally appears (sometime in the next few months, perhaps), nobody has to waste another $3.99 to find out how it ends. If the gods are kind, it might even mean that DC will be able to avoid publishing the last issue of Cry for Justice at all, thus saving enormous amounts of paper and ink that would otherwise be totally wasted.

(Of course, if the gods were truly kind, they would retcon Cry for Justice out of existence altogether, and return the money and hours that readers have already spent on that worthless series.)

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JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #35 (3/10)
"The Boxing Match Part Two of Two"
ROLL CALL: Mordru
CUTE BOYS: Doctor Fate, Mister America (with his shirt ripped, and later with it entirely off, ooo baby)

A pretty neat story that rings new changes on the old storytelling method of splitting up the JSA and having each hero fight a different threat. The nature of Mordru's spell (pocket universes in cardboard boxes), and the ultimate solution, is pretty kewl -- an a nice twist on getting rid of Mordru by imprisoning him in an enclosed space. One almost expects to see Professor Farnsworth and the rest of the Futurama crew come popping through at some point.

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SUPERMAN #696 (3/10
"Man of Valor Part Three"
ROLL CALL: Chameleon Boy or Chameleon Girl (?), Mon-El
CUTE BOYS: Chris Kent (aka Nightwing), Mon-El

So "Control" wasn't Duplicate Damsel at all...she was Yera all along. (Unless that's Cham...but the ear, eyebrow, and lips suggest Yera.) [Later addition: Check the comments. I'm now leaning to the "Cham" side of the argument.] [[Later later addition (2/22/2010): Yeah, it's definitely Chameleon Boy.]]

A really great bondage/S&M flashback to Major Lane's lab, where the gorilla surgeon is working on Mon: "I have long looked forward to medically experimenting on a male Daxamite's reproductive organs." Well, duh! Who hasn't?

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Week of 20 January 2010

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

I did not see any LSH content in DC comics this week. Pshaw!

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(added 30 January 2010)

Thanks to Craigopher for pointing this one out. You might want to check out SUPERMAN/BATMAN #68 (3/10) "The Big Noise Part 1 Rumble Face" While examining a Kryptonian spaceship from the past, Batman finds evidence of a shape-shifter. While there are other shape-shifters in the DC universe, we might be dealing with a Durlan here. Stay tuned.

(This story apparently takes place during the "Our Worlds at War" crossover event, published in Summer 2001 -- unless somebody put the wrong banner on the cover. Since "Our Worlds at War" was several iterations of the DC Universe ago, it's unclear how much any of this has to do with current continuity. That confusion of continuity is another sign that the Legion might, ultimately, be involved.)

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New Legion Title Coming

If you haven't heard the news yet, head over to Legion Omnicom to get the details. Apparently this summer the Legion is going to get a new LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES title, as well as continuing in ADVENTURE. Whoo-hoo!

The new LSH title is technically LSH v. 6, but that whole volume thing got confusing pretty quickly, so here I'll just continue to include the month and year with each comic and leave volumes to those who aren't as easily confused as me.

Two ongoing Legion titles, plus R.E.B.E.L.S. (which counts as far as I'm concerned), plus the upcoming "Brainiac and the LSH" series in the Superman books, plus Mon_El in the JLA: this is all a very good start. We still have a ways to go before we see the Legion featured in every DC title all the time, but...this'll do. For a while, anyhow.

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Week of 13 January 2010

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

ACTION #885 (3/10)
"Divine Spark Part 3"
ROLL CALL: Mon-El, Sensor Girl (Wilcox)
CUTE BOYS: Chris Kent, Mon-El

I didn't quite notice this before, but Nightwing and Flamebird have strong Superman inspirations on their new costumes. The chest emblems on both are within the pentagonal S-shield, and they both have conventional S-emblems for belt buckles. Considering the relationship between Chris and Superman, as well as Thara and Supergirl, this seems quite fitting.

We find out that S.P. Officer Romundi is a Zod sleeper agent named Car-Vex, which sounds like that printout you're supposed to get when you buy a used car.

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ACTION #885 (3/10)
"Captain Atom Chapter Seven"
ROLL CALL: Mon-El
CUTE BOYS: Mon-El

Mon-El continues to act as a member of the Justice League as Captain Atom's dreary story continues. Anyone without an encyclopedic knowledge of the obscure history of the DC Universe(s) will be completely lost. When the Legion does this, it's gripping storytelling and intricate plotting; when anyone else does it, it's annoying incestuous crap. The moral? More Legion content makes any story better.

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R.E.B.E.L.S. #12 (3/10)
"Secret Weapons"
ROLL CALL: Adam Strange, Amon Hakk, Bounder, Captain Comet, Ciji, Garv, Lyrl Dox, Rocky, Stealth (zombie), Strata, Tribulus, Vril Dox, Wildstar, Xylon
ROLL CALL (OMEGA MEN): Broot, Darkfire, Doc, Tigorr
CUTE BOYS: Adam Strange (maybe, if he took off that stupid helmet - plus his shirt for good measure), Captain Comet, Darkfire, Lyrl Dox

After a full year, R.E.B.E.L.S. has certainly lived up to its promise. Dox has put together a Legion-inspired team (I'm never sure whether to count Kanjar Ro or Despero as part of the team) and they've had an interesting, action-filled run so far. I hope it continues. Some interaction with the real Legion would be nice, and I gather that's coming with the "Brainiac and the Legion of Super-Heroes" storyline.

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(edited 30 January 2010)

REALM OF KINGS: IMPERIAL GUARD #3 (OF 5) (3/10)
(no title)
ROLL CALL: not-Brainiac-5, not-Ferro-Lad, not-Lightning-Lad, not-Phantom-Girl, not-Saturn-Girl, not-Star-Boy, not-Sun-Boy, not-Superboy, not-Timber-Wolf, not-Tyr, not-Ultra-Boy

Some stuff happens. Things blow up. Some fighting, more explosions, more fighting, lots of angst, tons of menacing things looming over other things. On the planet Quar, not-Superboy is sitting in a chair, completely bored by what's going on.

I know just how he feels.

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Week of 6 January 2010

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

I did not see any Legion content in DC Comics this week.

In fact, I have not seen any Legion content in DC Comics this whole year.

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Action Boy Was There First...AND He's Cuter

Capatin Action #3, March 1969. Crisis on Infinite Earths #7, April 1985.

I'm just sayin'....

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Updated Post

I updated the post for the week of 23 December 2009 to include JSA #34. Thanks to brainypirate for pointing it out to me.

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My Favorite Christmas Present

My hubby, Thomas, made me this acrylic ornament at his laser shop. (The penny is there for scale.)

I'm thinking of wearing it as a pendant when appropriate.

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Week of 23 December 2009

(SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers. Don't read it before you've read the comics.)
[Post edited on 26 December 2009 to include JSA #34]

JUSTICE SOCITY OF AMERICA #34 (2/10)
"Merciless Part One of Two"
ROLL CALL: Mordru
CUTE BOYS: Dr. Fate, Mr. America (and he has a whip!), Jeremy Karnes aka Karnevil aka Kid Karnevil aka All-American Kid (in bondage, no less)

I'd lost interest in the Justice Society. And after JSA All-Stars, I was even less inclined to pick up this issue.

Boy was I wrong.

This one has almost everything that makes a team comic good. Cute boys, teamwork, humor, cute boys with whips, good pacing, clever dialogue, cute boys on the floor with their legs spread, good art, Mordru, cute boys getting blown on the floor (I am not making this up), suspense, magic, cute boys being entered, technology, cute boys in bondage...all it lacks is Legionnaires. And nudity.

Mordru starts off as a disembodied spirit adrift in time, and winds up as a middle-aged version of himself with crazy eyes.

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SUPERMAN #695 (2/10)
"Man of Valor Part Two"
ROLL CALL: Mon-El, Sensor Girl (Wilcox), Tellus, possibly others
CUTE BOYS: Chris Kent, Conner Kent, Jimmy Olsen, Mon-El

In the ongoing soap opera that is the Superman comics nowadays, all of the disparate threads are coming together into one tangled mess. While Wilcox and the other SPs capture Parasite, Mon regains his powers and chases off Bizarro...who vows to come back with a Bizarro Mon-El. Meanwhile, we learn more of Conner's secret mission to the Fortress of Solitude: Mon wants Conner to begin the repair of Mon's spaceship.

Mon can't tell the truth about General Lane and Project 7734 because Lane is way ahead of him. The only person who believes Mon about Chris and Thara being good is the dark-haired girl who may or may not be Duplicate Damsel. Wilcox greets Mon, who says he knows who she is (he doesn't; she's Jeckie in disguise). Mon dashes off in answer to Jimmy's signal watch, which is being held by Perry White.

Jimmy is still alive, but officially "dead" and in hiding. He was rescued and healed by Tellus. He's working with Natasha Irons, who is a double-agent inside Project 7734. Mon flies off to see Billi. Natasha goes to see her uncle, Steel, who is unconscious...but she uses her super-power of inspirational speech to bring him back to consciousness. Confused about his location, he demands an atlas.

Mon does the nasty with Billi, but then rushes off to where the SPs have discovered Nightwing and Flamebird.

BITS OF DAXAMITE HOT ACTION: When Mon finds out that Jimmy is still alive, he gives the boy reporter a really sweet hug. But with Perry and Natasha around, they can't really take it any further.

However, hugging Jimmy gets Mon so hotted up that he goes in search of Mitch. Unable to find his boyfriend, he has sex with Billi Harper. But notice: he turns her around so he can pretend she's a boy. Afterwards, Mon rushes off to find Chris...don't worry, with his Daxamite powers of regeneration, he'll be ready to have a go at Chris right away.

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Week of 16 December 2009

You didn't miss anything. I didn't see any LSH content in DC comics this week.

Apparently there's a big upcoming crossover in all the Superman books to be called "Brainiac and the Legion of Super-Heroes." At last we'll get to see what all the Legionnaires in the 21st century are up to. Based on the last issue of R.E.B.E.L.S., the action will probably cross over to that comic as well. There may be others.

I have only one request for the DC creative staff: Please don't get rid of New Krypton by moving it into the 31st century. The Legion has enough problems without having to cope with that lot of malcontents.

Unless...Paul Levitz has said that he's going to start off slowly, by destroying a Legionnaire's homeworld. I would accept New Krypton going into the 31st century if it gets destroyed soon after. (Yeah, yeah, I know: it's not technically Superman's homeworld. But Kandor was part of Superman's homeworld, and Kandor is part of New Krypton, so...)

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS: In the "Five Legion Orphans" story in ADVENTURE #356 (5/1967), it was established that the planet Rokyn had been settled by the inhabitants of Kandor when Superman enlarged the city in the 20th century. The Earth-Prime version of Rokyn was shown in SUPERGIRL & THE LSH #23 (12/06), with basically the same backstory. The status of Rokyn/New Krypton in current continuity remains to be seen.

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Organizing Those Comics

Lately I’ve been reconsidering the way I have my comics organized.

Naturally, I have comics all bagged and boarded and tucked away in their boxes (short comic boxes, preferably, because they’re kinder on the back). What I’m considering here is how to arrange those comics within and among the boxes.

Now, I’m not talking about my 1600+ Legion comics: those are stored in chronological order, which is the only proper way. No, I’m dealing with the 3000+ other comics, the Supermans and Actions and Flashes and Superboys that go back 50 years, the multi-title crossovers and one-shots, and the odd stuff that’s crept in here and there throughout the decades.

Like many other collectors, I used to do the alphabetical-order thing. (I’m a librarian, so alphabetical order comes naturally to me.) That’s how most comic shops organize their back-issues: Broadly separated by publisher (Marvel/DC/Other) then alphabetically by title, then (usually) separated by volume, then by issue number. And that makes great sense for a shop, where customers are going to be looking for specific issues of specific titles.

It has slowly penetrated to me that I do not live in a comic shop.

Alphabetical/issue-number worked fine in the olden days. Then, each title was separate, and most single issues were self-contained. A two-or-three-parter could go across successive issues of the same title, but it was very rare to see a story that (for example) started in Action then moved into Superman before concluding in Supergirl.

Nowadays, that sort of thing happens all the time. Even before Crisis on Infinite Earths, I remember stories that started in All-Star Squadron and continued in Infinity Inc. And now, there are story arcs that stretch across five or six titles – not to mention mega-crossover events like Final Crisis or Blackest Night. Even when there aren’t actual story arcs, story elements continue across all of the Superman books, the Batman books, or the Green Lantern titles.

It’s time to give up on alphabetical order.

This article tells us:

There’s a saying in the comic book collector hobby: alphabetical is for chumps. Attempting to keep every title is perfect alphabetical order will make adding to your collection a nightmare, as will trying to access a series that includes multi-book crossovers.

Instead go for either character or publisher.

That states the problem nicely, but it isn’t very helpful. (I have noticed some comic shops using a modified character-based system: i.e. all the Bat-books or Superman titles are together in one section, nicely alphabetized by title/volume/issue-number.) “Go for character or publisher” is probably fine when you have 20 Supermans, 18 Spidermans, and a handful of assorted independents – but it doesn’t scale up to thousands of comics.

I found a lengthy discussion from 2006 that talks about the different ways people arrange their comics. In that discussion, there’s the following from DrBombay:

Lately, with all the events, crossovers and relaunches, not to mention zero and half issues, what really seems to make the most sense to me is sorting by publication date. What would really be great is some way to have a database for physical objects where you could resort easily based on whatever mood strikes you.

But yeah, my collection, which is right now mostly in piles, is going to be sorted by year, then month, then week.

That’s more along the lines of what I’m looking for, although it goes a little in the anal-retentive direction: by week?! Year and month are on the cover (or in the indicia), but week? I generally don’t keep track of what week my comics came out, and I’m certainly not going to look it up for 3000 older comics.

Still, chronological arrangement has its advantages. Mega-crossover events will pretty much all be together. Story arcs will be much easier to follow.

And since I have my comics cataloged (in HanDBase for the iPhone and Mac), it’s no trouble to look up the year and month of a particular issue.

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of arranging all my comics the way my Legion collection is arranged: by year, month, and then (I guess) alphabetically by title.

However, I’m going to give the last word to Travis Pullen, from his two-part series titled How Do I Organize My Comics? (Part One, Part Two):

A final note on managing your collection: there is no right or wrong way to do this, it's all about what's right for you. Some of my friends do alpha order everything, but by the indicia, which means a Giant-Size Avengers will actually be filed under ‘G.' Another friend says, "The Dewey Decimal System," and walks away smiling like he just won an argument or something. My organizing is specific to me.

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Week of 9 December 2009

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

Now this was more like it! There were Legion appearances in four comics this week.

Or maybe not. Two of them involved simple cameos of Legionnaires (two of them dead), and one was published by Marvel and only had not-the-Legion.

ACTION #884 (2/10)
"Captain Atom Chapter Six"
ROLL CALL: Mon-El
CUTE BOYS: Mon-El, looking hot in his new costume

NOTE: There are no Legion appearances in the main story. The only cute boy is Chris Kent, cured of his hyper-aging (and even he looks kinda dorky).

Mon-El joins the endless, pointless Captain Atom second feature. He and Atom fly to the Justice League satellite, Atom gives a capsule review of the last few years (which I suspect would make more sense if one had actually followed Captain Atom, but which just serves to confuse everyone), and then half the Justice League shows up calling Atom a fugitive from the military, a danger to the world, and in desperate need of justice.

Pay particular attention to the double-page spread on pages 2-3 of this story. The action proceeds counter-clockwise across the two-page spread; that is, down page 2, across to the bottom of page 3, and then up page 3. Notice the artful placement of the word balloons to lead the reader through this unconventional sequence of panels. I think this was very well done. If you didn't notice it while you were reading, that's a tribute to how well the layout worked.



BITS OF JUSTICE LEAGUE BUSINESS: This story seems to take place after the upcoming changes in the Justice League, which are supposed to follow the end of JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRY FOR JUSTICE, which is only on issue 5 of 7.

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ADVENTURE #5/508 (2/10)
"He Primed Me Part Two: Flame War"
ROLL CALL (EARTH-PRIME LEGION): Brainiac 5 (vision), Element Lad (zombie), Light Lass (vision), Lightning Lad (vision), Sun Boy (zombie), Ultra Boy (vision)
CUTE BOYS: I admit it, Prime looks kinda cute at the end of the story, shirtless and all like that

As usual, this issue came out with two covers. For once, you don't have to feel like you must have the 1-in-10 variant cover: the only Legionnaire on it is a blurry figure who might be the Black Lantern Earth-Prime Sun Boy.

The story of Superboy-Prime comes to...well, a conclusion, if not an actual end. Prime's fight with Black Lantern Alex Luthor and the Black Lanterns of all the heroes he's killed takes him to the DC Comics offices, where he complains to the editors that he's sick of being their punching-bag, and threatens to (in Prime's phrase) "feed them their own tongues." Then Alex & the Blacks take him back to his basement and spill his comics.

Prime puts on a black power ring and becomes a Black Lantern. The, unaccountably, he (and the ring) cycles through the emotional spectrum: green (willpower), indigo (compassion), orange (avarice), yellow (fear), red -- until he winds up as a rage-filled Red Lantern. But then he says he loved Laurie and explodes in violet (love) light, apparently reducing the Black Lanterns to oilspots. Then the ring shatters, bathing him in six of the seven colors ( blue for hope is nowhere to be seen). Prime is left shirtless and devastated, mourning how he was turned from a hero to a bad guy, and how hs hates himself.

The Laurie comes down the stairs, telling Prime that the DC editors sent her to tell him that they're going to leave him alone now, and everything is alright. On her hand is a Black Lantern ring with a faintly-blue glow, and the word "hope."

Huh?

Okay, I get that Prime is filled with rage, but the rest of it doesn't make an sense. I mean, it doesn't even make comic book sense. The whole Earth-Prime-is-Our-Earth thing, with DC people in the comic producing the very comic that we're reading, thus altering their own reality, is one of those ideas that sounds pretty cool when you think of it at 3 am one morning after too many pizzas and shots of vodka, but quickly collapses under its own absurdity when sobriety returns. If those DC people could change the nature of their own reality, why didn't they edit this very story to negate the damage that Prime and the Black Lanterns did to their offices?

Adn what's this whole thing about Prime donning a black power ring and cycling through the emotional spectrum. Black power rings never did that before. If it's intended to show that Prime has all the emotions within him, not just rage, then that's all fine and good -- but isn't that true about other characters who've been turned into Black Lanterns?

And I guess I'm okay with the resurrected Laurie having a blue (hope) power ring, but khaving a black power ring that thinks it's blue? WTF does that mean? They've spent all this time establishing that black power rings are bad and blue ones are good, and then we get this...is the ring good or bad? Are we supposed to think that Laurie is a good buy or a bad guy? Is the story over, or is she going to rip out Prime's heart and...what? Turn him into a Black Lantern? But he already was a Black Lantern, and it didn't stick.

No, I'm sorry, this whole Black Lanterns/Blackest Night thing is making less and less sense the longer it goes on. I have to believe that Geoff Johns thinks he knows what he's doing here, but he sure isn't making any effort to share that with the rest of the class. He has a good understanding of the Leigon, and I'm forever grateful to him for bringing them back, but...Blackest Night has been nothing but a narrative disaster up to now, and I sure don't see it getting any clearer.

The good news is that, for all the fire and lightning and such, most of Prime's comics seem to be undamaged at the end.

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS: When Prime turns yellow, we get to see what he fears: Superman, Flash (Bart?), Kid Flash (Bart?), and four Earth-Prime Legionnaires: Brainiac 5, Lightning Lad, Ultra Boy, and Light Lass.

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R.E.B.E.L.S. #11 (2/10)
"The Son & the Stars Part Two"
ROLL CALL: Adam Strange, Amon Hakk, Bounder, Captain Comet, Garv, Lyrl Dox, Rocky, Stealth (zombie), Strata, Tribulus, Vril Dox, Wildstar, Xylon
ROLL CALL (RETRO LEGION): Brainiac 5
CUTE BOYS: Captain Comet, Lyrl (get a haircut, boy!)

A three-way battle between Starro's troops, the Black Lanterns, and the R.E.B.E.L.S. Lyrl invents the Stargate and brings Starro people & Black Lanterns to the planet, but Dox gets mad and sends them all back. Sinestro gives Dox an order, which Dox refuses, so the yellow power ring rejects him and dashes off in search of a replacement.

The last page of this issue ("R.E.B.E.L.S. Rolls Along in 2010!") shows Dox, the original Brainiac, and Brainiac 5.

BITS OF L.E.G.I.O.N.NAIRE BUSINESS: Everybody except Tribulus gets a nametag in this issue.

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REALM OF KINGS IMPERIAL GUARD #2 (2/10) (Marvel)
(no title)
ROLL CALL: not-Brainiac-5, not-Ferro-Lad, not-Lightning-Lad, not-Phantom-Girl, not-Saturn-Girl, not-Star-Boy, not-Sun-Boy, not-Superboy, not-Timber-Wolf, not-Tyr, not-Ultra-Boy

The adventures of the Imperial Guard continue. Yawn.

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Week of 2 December 2009

I did not see any Legion content in DC comics this week.

I did get, and read, SUPERMAN: WORLD OF NEW KRYPTON #10 (2/10) -- although why I did, I have no idea. The people of New Krypton are all so unpleasant, their society is unpleasant, and the longer Kal-El stays there, the more unpleasant he gets. (I will say, though, that a lot of the members of the Labor Guild are particularly good-looking...which raises interesting and disturbing questions about the nature of the "labor" they are required to engage in. There are several porn stories in there.)

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Under the Dome

Steven King's new book, Under the Dome, takes place in a small town that is suddenly walled off from the rest of the world by an impenetrable dome...


...where a local thug exploits the populace...


I wonder where he got that idea?

...I'm just sayin'.

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Week of 25 November 2009

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

SUEPRMAN #694 (1/10)
"Man of Valor Part One"
ROLL CALL: Chameleon Boy [Control], Matter-Eater Lad, Mon-El, Quislet [Hovercam MTSP02], Sensor Girl
CUTE BOYS: Conner, Matter-Eater Lad, Mon-El

Mon-El is back, and he's learning to use contractions. He spends some tme on the Kent farm with Conner, Ma, and Krypto. Ma makes Mon a snazzy new tight costume. Mon sends Conner to the Fortress of Solitude on a mysterious mission. Then Mon flies off to Metropolis to rescue Sensor Girl and the Science Police from Bizarro. Mitch turns out to be Matter-Eater Lad, and eats a car to rescue a little girl. Then the Parasite takes way Mon's powers.

So Mitch was Matter-Eater Lad all along. And Wilcox is Sensor Girl. Element Lad is Superboy's chemistry teacher. Tellus is living in the swamp near Smallville. And now I'm doubly-suspicious of everyone in the 21st century.

Look at page 7. Three panels, each showing the woman the Guardian calls "Control." She might be moving around the room as she speaks...but it sure looks like there are three of her. And when the Guardian tells her that Mon-El is not dead, she responds "Mon-El? Of course he isn't." Is she Luornu?

The woman who left her daughter napping in the car...sounds like criminal negligence -- is she a supervillain in disguise?

What about that tractor on the Kent farm? Chameleon Boy in disguise?

According to L3W, the "missing" Legionnaires are Chameleon Boy, Dream Girl, Element Lad, Matter-Eater Lad, Quislet, Sensor Girl, Tellus, and Tyroc. Are they all in the 21st century on this Espionage Squad mission?

Chameleon Boy: Still unknown, but could be anyone or anything.
Dream Girl: Could be the girl Lori in Conner's school in Smallville.
Element Lad: Conner's chemistry teacher in Smallville.
Matter-Eater Lad: "Mitch" in Metropolis.
Quislet: Still unknown, although Thom seemed to indicate to the birds that he was part of the mission.
Sensor Girl: "Wilcox" in the Science Police, Metropolis. (Incidentally, the way to spot her in armor is that her hair sticks out from under her helmet.)
Tellus: In the swamp in Smallville.
Tyroc: Still unknown.

In addition, we know that Starman is still in the 21st century, and "Control" might be three of Duplicate Damsel's bodies. Historically, Luornu has always been part of the Espionage Squad.

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS: IMHO, Matter-Eater Lad completely blows his cover as soon as he calls Mon-El "buddy." Mitch is Jonathan Kent's buddy, not Mon-El's.

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WORLD'S FINEST #2 (1/10)
"Book Two: Guardian and Robin"
ROLL CALL: Mon-El mentioned in dialog.
CUTE BOYS: Damian Wayne is still too young, but he can come back in a few years. The two S.P.s he beats up are not un-cute.

Mr. Freeze and the Parasite are trying to out Mon-El in a freeze chamber so Parasite can feed off him. Freeze says, "Once I've finished and you've caught him, Parasite, Mon-El will stay frozen in time, forever young." An interesting parallel to Mon's time in the Phantom Zone.



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Week of 18 November 2009

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

ADVENTURE #4/#507 (1/10)
"He Primed Me Part One: Spoiler Alert"
ROLL CALL (EARTH-PRIME LEGION): Brainiac 5, Chameleon, Element Lad (zombie), Light Lass, Lightning Lad, Sun Boy (zombie), Triplicate Girl, Ultra Boy
CUTE BOYS: Superboy-Prime is not unattractive,

Zombie Alex Luthor travels to Earth-Prime to take on Superboy-Prime, accompanied by zombie Element Lad and zombie Sun Boy, as well as other zombies of people Prime has killed. Meanwhile(?) in the 31st century, the Earth-Prime Legion gets an alarm that Prime, who is under house arrest, has left the building.

First of all, it's good to see the Earth-Prime Legion again. I hope Adventure Comics continues to show the different versions of the Legion, and not just the Big Three: I miss Devlin O'Ryan and Kent Shakespeare, Danielle Foccart's Computo and Dragonmage. Come on, DC, there are 52 universes: let's see a Legion form each one!

Second, although I never thought it would be possible, Superboy-Prime almost comes off as sympathetic in this story. It's hard not to sympathize with someone who thinks he's going to die. Or a kid who finds out that his parents fear him. The moment that crystallized it all was when Prime threw himself in front of his parents to save them. It's the most unselfish thing I've seen him do since Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Is it possible that Superboy-Prime has begun his journey to rehabilitation?

If so, what would it take for the rest of the DC Universe to accept that he's rehabilitated? If we take a lesson from Hal Jordan, a big enough self-sacrifice can reclaim the reputation of a hero-turned-villain. Final Night ended with Hal Jordan giving up his life and reclaiming his reputation. If Blackest Night ends with Superboy-Prime giving up his life to save the world, would that be enough to reclaim his reputation?

(if that's what happens, you heard it here first.)

It would be interesting to see a rehabilitated Superboy-Prime as part of the Earth-Prime Legion. Some of the others would never trust him, some would accept him, some would have mixed feelings.

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ADVENTURE #507/#4 (1/10)
"Long Live the Legion Part Four: Star Crossed"
ROLL CALL: Black Witch, Blok, Brainiac 5, Dawnstar, Phantom Girl, Wildfire
CUTE BOYS: It's a sad day when Brainy is the cutest boy in the story.

Blok, crumbling as an effect of his fight with Mordru, heads off to the Sorcerer's World to find Mysa. Dawnstar and Wildfire accompany him. Mysa states that she is, now and forever, the Black Witch. She is fighting to keep Mordru's evil magic inside and turn it to good. She removes Mordru's poison from Blok, making him whole again. He elects to stay on the Sorcerer's World with Mysa. Dawny and Wildfire leave, expressing their own love-across-enormous-gulfs.

A very sweet and powerful story of two couples whose love transcends the differences between them.

Thematically, this story fits in with the two previous ones in showing love transcending differences. First there was Garth and Mekt, brothers who still love one another despite the gulf between good and evil. Then Sun Boy and Polar Boy, comrades whose love crosses not only the gulf between hot and cold, but that between Legionnaire and Sub, experienced oldster and newbie. And now we have Mysa & Blok, Dawny & Drake with love that bridges gulfs of species and physical form.

And isn't that one of the important messages of the Legion? Love/respect/affection that bridges the gulfs separating people?

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS: On the Sorcerer's World there are statues of Evillo and Glorith. Did Mordru put them there? Mysa?

I'm able to identify five of the six stone faces surrounding Mysa's throne: Zatanna, Green Lantern Alan Scott, Raven, Blue Devil, and his son. I'm missing the one in the upper left: he's obviously a Green Lantern of some kind, but he also looks like the Spectre. Anyone?

Mysa's transformation is obvious: she went form White to Black. Whatever changes happened to Blok are less obvious: he went form being a craggy rock to being a smooth rock. I guess I was expecting more. Strata turned into crystal, after all.

ADDED LATER: My husband Thomas points out that Mysa's struggle to contain and tame Mordru's dark energy is a parallel to Wildfire's situation: Drake is all about containing and taming wild energy. I have a very perceptive husband.

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Week of 11 November 2009

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

R.E.B.E.L.S. #10 (1/10)
"The Son & The Stars Part One"
ROLL CALL: Adam Strange, Amon Hakk, Bounder, Captain Comet, Ciji, Garryn Bek, Garv, Lobo, Lydea Mallor, Lyrissa Mallor, Lyrl Dox, Rocky, Strata, Stealth, Tribulus, Vril Dox, Wildstar, Xylon
CUTE BOYS: Lyrl Dox, of course. continues to run around without a shirt. Captain Comet lloks cute in some shots, less so in others.

I was very dubious about a Blackest Night crossover, but this one worked. They used the zombies theme very effectively, to bring back Stealth...and she's after Dox.

BITS OF L.E.G.I.O.N.NAIRE BUSINESS: You just know that ever since Dox heard of the Yellow Lanterns, he's been planning what his outfit would look like....

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ACTION #883 (1/10)
"Divine Spark Part 1"
CUTE BOYS: Chris Kent, of course, in a new tight outfit.

Mon-El is mentioned, but there are no actual Legion appearances.

At last, someone has noticed that Jimmy Olsen hasn't shown up for work in more than a month. His girlfriend goes to his boss, Perry White -- to whom the fact that Jimmy's missing comes as a complete surprise. I mean, wouldn't you think the Daily Planet would have a timeclock or sign-in sheet or some method of making sure that its employees actually show up for work?

Anyway, Chris blows up another apartment and is suddenly a decrepit oldster.

You know, Brainiac 5 could have this whole tedious storyline solved in about an hour, including a break for lunch. I'm just sayin'

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ALSO OF INTEREST THIS WEEK:

REALM OF KINGS: IMPERIAL GUARD #1 of 5 (1/10) (Marvel)
(No Title)
ROLL CALL: not-Brainiac-5, not-Colossal-Boy, not-Cosmic-Boy, not-Dawnstar, not-Ferro-Lad, not-Lightning-Lad, not-Phantom-Girl, not-Star-Boy, not-Sun-Boy, not-Superboy, not-Timber-Wolf, not-Tyr, not-Ultra-Boy

Marvel's Imperial Guard is their version of the Legion; call it the Legion of Earth-Marvel. This miniseries is written by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning, who were Legion writers a while ago.

The art is awful, the story doesn't make a lot of sense, the Imperial Guard is bloodthirsty, and their members don't get along together very well. In short, it's a lot like the Giffbaum Legion, without the nine-panel grid.

The Imperial Guard doesn't show up very often, but they're back in this five-issue miniseries. Is this Marvel's way of capitalizing on the excitement that the Legion is generating in DC circles? Dunno.

Should Legion fans buy this series? I'm a fanatical completist, but even I don't have a complete set of comics featuring the Imperial Guard. I must admit that I've picked up some from back-issue ins, but I haven't been deliberately seeking them out. To me, the Imperial Guard falls into a category similar to Booster Gold's flight ring: I just don't feel the compulsion to own every single issue.

Still, as long as I'm spending good money on Blackest Night and the whole pointless New Krypton thing, it can't hurt to pick up five Imperial Guard comics. Your Mileage May Vary.

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Week of 4 November 2009

I did not see any Legion content in DC Comics this week.

In a rather pointless story in SUPERMAN: WORLD OF NEW KRYPTON #9 (1/09), we learn that the whole universe is watching what's happening on New Krypton. One can only wonder why: are there their lives that boring? Because frankly, with no Legionnaires and very little of consequence going on, there's really not a lot of point in watching what happens on New Krypton.

At least Tyr-Van, Superman's cute ex-boyfriend from the Labor Guild, is still around. Apparently, members of the Labor Guild are supposed to do whatever their supervisors command. That leads to interesting naughty speculations, and would certainly provide the rest of the universe something more worth watching....

Meanwhile, it's been nearly two months and Jimmy Olsen is still floating dead in Metropolis harbor. Just thought I'd mention that.

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Week of 28 October 2009

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

SUPERMAN #693 (12/09)
"7734"
ROLL CALL: Mon-El, Sensor Girl (maybe)
CUTE BOYS: Mon-El spends most of this issue with his teeth gritted and his brow furrowed. Ir's not flattering.

Mon-El is tormented as Major Lane's prisoner. With the Parasite, he plots an escape through the Stargate. Luthor & Brainiac attack Lane's base, and Lane decides to let Mon-El go. Two days later Bizarro shows up in Metropolis.

Jeckie might be in with the SPs on the penultimate page, but with them all in their suits, who can tell?

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SUPERMAN: SECRET ORIGIN #2 (1/09)
"Secret Origin Book Two: Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes"
ROLL CALL: Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy (voice only), Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl, Superboy, Triplicate Girl
CUTE BOYS: Brainy, Cos, Garth, Kal

This issue has two covers, and Lgion fanatics will want both. The standard cover features Brainy, Saturn Girl, Superboy, Lightning Lad, and Cosmic Boy in front of the Legion Clubhouse; the variant cover features Triplicate Girl's and Phantom Girl's breasts, and has Cosmic Boy, Superboy, Brainy, Lightning Lad, and a surprisingly flat-chested Saturn Girl in the background. Hey DC, how about some parity here? If we're going to see Tinya and Luornu's well-endowed boobs, why can't the boys have similarly-exaggerated packages?

Parts of this story are a revisit of scenes in the Superman & the Legion of Super-Heroes series.

Clark is doing super-feats in his super-suit, but he's keeping out of sight and still hates the costume. There's a nice discussion about Clark's underwear. Then Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, and Saturn Girl show up and take him to the 30th century. In a fight against human supremacists, Superboy coins the phrase "Long Live the Legion." Legion relations with the SPs are strained -- the Legion does not yet have official UP sanction. Superboy meets Phantom Girl and Triplicate Girl, who both flirt with him (nice echo of Luornu's eventual unrequited crush on Kal). Brainy berates the founders for bringing Kal to the future, but Garth dares him to figure out a way to involve Kal without endangering the timestream.

The founders return Kal to 20th century Smallville, where he is a changed boy: he loves the Legion, loves his super-suit, and the look on his face clearly shows that he's stopped wearing underwear.

Then a rocket shows up over Smallville, Kal catches it, and then comes the single greatest panel in the entire issue: Superboy's delighted face reflected in the rocket's metal as he hears an "ARRF!" from inside.

Meanwhile, Lex Luthor has killed his father (making it look like an accident) and he's off to Metropolis to start a life of crime.

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS: Chameleon Boy summons the Legionnaires to the anti-alien riot in downtown Smallville, but we never see him. I assume he's back at the Clubhouse on monitor duty.

We never see the Clubhouse, either.

Rokk says that the Legion chose to base the team in Smallville. This is a direct echo of the first Legion story. I don't know that his has ever been explicitly established, but the implication is that the Legion remained based in Smallville until the Fatal Five wrecked the Clubhouse and they built their new Headquarters in Metropolis. Comments, anyone?

There's a cute statue of a cartoon-style Krypto in Smallville.

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Also out this week: LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES: ENEMY RISING Trade Paperback, which collects issues LSH #37 (2/08) - #44 (9/08). The cover also features Phantom Girl's boobs.

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Week of 21 October 2009

I did not see any LSH appearances in DC Comics this week.

Mon-El was mentioned in SUPERGIRL #46 (12/09), and the hardcover collection of FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF 3 WORLDS came out with no additional material -- no introduction, no background sketches, nothing that you didn't see if you got all the comics, except it's in a fine-looking hardcover.

Specifically, there were no Legionnaires, not even Mon-El, in JLA #38 (12/09). Unless Invisible Kid or Chameleon Boy were there on Espionage Squad business.

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Meanwhile...

Just to let everyone know: It has not escaped my notice that Jimmy Olsen has been floating (presumed) dead in Metropolis Harbor for over a month now, and nobody -- not his "best friend" Superman, not his coworker Lois Lane, not his boss Perry White, not even the Daily Planet HR department -- seems to have noticed or seems to care.

It's because he used to be a Legionnaire, that's why. Even though it was long ago, far away, and several universal reboots ago that young James wore the Elastic Lad costume and journeyed to the 30th century, that doesn't prevent the DC bigwigs from mistreating, abusing, and neglecting current and past Legionnaires (and/or Legion supporting characters).

I mean, look, Batman co-starred with the Legion in a handful of stories, and they went and killed him.

When will this rampant anti-LSH bias end?

(Yeah yeah yeah, I know, it's been going on for 25 years or more, why should it stop now?)

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Week of 14 October 2009

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

ACTION #882 (12/09)
"The Hunt for Reactron Part 3"
CUTE BOY: Chris Kent (in bondage, no less)

No actual Legion content, but Mon-El is mentioned on the second page.

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ADVENTURE #3/506 (12/09)
"Superboy the Boy of Steel Part Three"
ROLL CALL: Element Lad
CUTE BOYS: Conner Kent, Tim Drake (comforting one another, but no kissing)

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS: One of Conner's classmates is a blond girl named Lori, who sleeps all day and is up to trouble at night. Apparently she is "a born troublemaker." Obviously she's someone of significance, possibly a villain (see below). My first guess is Dream Girl, but somehow I just don't see it. Horrible thought: Lori...G-LORI-th? Think about it: have you ever seen the two of them together?

Look at Tim Drake and Conner together in Luthor's abandoned lab: they would definitely be happier if they would cuddle and kiss a little, don't you think?

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ADVENTURE #506/3 (12/09)
"Long Live the Legion Part Three: Running Hot and Cold"
ROLL CALL: Polar Boy, Sun Boy
CUTE BOYS: Sun Boy is looking particularly good, and even Polar Boy is actually a little adorable. (Yes, "actually.")

Once again, this issue came with two covers. The one you want is the variant cover, with Sun Boy and Polar Boy on it.

A fine friendship and action story. And a surprise at the end: Cryo-King, the LSV wannabe, has a map of Earth in the 21st century. He says, "Come on, Sun Boy. You think you're the only Legion with an espionage squad in the 21st century?"

Aha! The LSV has people back in the 21st century too. And Lori must be one of them. (Unless she's really a good guy in disguise. What about Chameleon Boy?) Now I don't trust anyone in Smallville or Metropolis to be who they claim they are.

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BOOSTER GOLD #25 (12/09)
"Day of Death: Aftermath"
CUTE BOYS: Booster's looking kinda nice with his mask and goggles off; ditto for Dick Grayson; Damian is a little young but he should definitely come back in a few years.

No actual Legion content, but Booster's flight rings is quite in evidence on the cover and throughout the issue.

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R.E.B.E.L.S. #9 (12/09)
"Strange Companions"
ROLL CALL (L.E.G.I.O.N.): Adam Strange, Amon Haak, Bounder, Ciji, Captain Comet, Garv, Lyrl Dox, Rocky, Strata, Tribulus, Vril Dox, Wildstar, Xylon (aka Fleet Admiral)
ROLL CALL (Omega Men): Broot, Darkfire, Doc, Tigorr
CUTE BOY: Lyrl Dox runs around wearing only tight shorts. Sure, he needs a haircut, but wotthehell. And Darkfire looks kinda...hot

Adam Strange steps in to save Kanjar Ro from Starro, the Omega Men land on the Starro homeworld and attract some attention, and Starro's homeys are after the perennially-shirtless Lyrl.

Another fun issue. Unfortunately, that all goes away next month when Blackest Night invades R.E.B.E.L.S. I don't have anything against crossovers invading Legion territory...as long as they're good ones. But whenever DC starts messing with the dead, things get tedious pretty quickly. (Anybody remember a little disaster called Underworld Unleashed?)

BITS OF L.E.G.I.O.N.NAIRE BUSINESS: The Dominator Fleet Admiral has a name now: Xylon. And they're calling Lyrl "Brainiac 3," but I'm doing my best to ignore that.

It's been interesting how some of the new L.E.G.I.O.N. personnel parallel both the powers and names of real Legionnaires. Bounder and Bouncing Boy. Wildstar and Wildfire/Dawnstar. Tribulus and Validus. The one I was having trouble with was the Durlan (well, not "the Durlan," who was an original member of L.E.G.I.O.N. several continuities ago, but the Durlan who's joined the team now) -- I mean, "Ciji"? What's up with that?

Well, I just got it. Ciji...pronounced "see-gee"...like C.G....like Chameleon Girl.

I can't decide if I think this is incredibly clever, or really, really stupid.

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Week of 7 October 2009

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

JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRY FOR JUSTICE #4 (12/09)
"Cry for Justice: The Fix"
ROLL CALL: Mon-El

I was about ready to give up on this series, but I thought "What the hell, it's issue 4 of 7, maybe it will start making sense now," so I went ahead and bought it.

And who came swooping down on page 11, but Mon-El! It's a cameo, where Jay Garrick imparts some mysterious yet obviously important bit of information to Mon as part of his tour-the-DC-universe-with-Jay-Garrick gig.

Suddenly it's worth paying attention to CRY FOR JUSTICE.

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R.E.B.E.L.S. ANNUAL #1 (12/09)
"Starro the Conqueror"
ROLL CALL: Amon Haak, Bounder, Ciji, Lyrl Dox, Stealth, Strata, Tribulus, Vril Dox, Wildstar

Wow, a really good story. Think nobody could make Starro sympathetic? You were wrong.

The members of L.E.G.I.O.N. appear only as cameos, but that doesn't matter. It's a good story.


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Week of 30 September 2009

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

SUPERMAN #692 (11/09)
"Down Time"
ROLL CALL: Karate Kid (image), Mon-El (image), Sensor Girl

The Guardian gathers the Science Police together in their usual cop bar for a wake for Mon-El. He reveals that Jon Kent was Mon-El's secret identity, and Billi Harper is shocked. As the two talk, the Guardian reveals that he also knows that Billi is the neice of the man he was cloned from. (Apparently he knows everyone's secrets...or so you'd think.)

Next the Guardian talks to Team Leader Wilcox, the redhead who has been around for the last few issues. She tells him, "I'm a widow. Lost my hubby not too long ago. My heart's closed. Maybe forever. Certainly for now." The two of them toast to "The future."

Then we follow Wilcox home. She speaks on the phone, saying (among other things), "Anyway, the Science Police had a wake for Mon. Yeah. They think he's dead. They'll know the truth soon enough, I guess."

Mon-El, alive?! Who could possibly have guessed?

Wilcox hangs up, and on the next page...well, there's an advertisement for Blackest Night. But on the page after that...Wilcox looks at a framed picture of Princess Projectra and Karate Kid and sighs, "Oh, Val." Pull back, she's crying and the top of Sensor Girl's costume hovers by the open window above her.

All right, I'll admit it. They surprised me. I knew that Mon-El wasn't dead, but I would never have guessed in a million years that Wilcox was Jeckie. (In fact, I had to look back at the last few issues to see if Wilcox was actually there. She was.)

We already knew that the Espionage Squad is on a mission in the 21st century. And Tellus has already been connected with the whole storyline in Superman. But now it seems that they're a little more involved in what's going on.

I wonder if Team Leader Romundi is anyone?

Anyway, the story ends with Mon-El a bacta tank in in Project 7734, just like the one that had Tellus in it. Unfortunately, they put a bathing suit on him...but it's a tight one. Hooray! And he's mad.

Next issue should be fun....

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Week of 23 September 2009

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

SUPERGIRL #45 (11/09)
"The Hunt for Reactron Part 2"
ROLL CALL: Mon-El (image only)

Supergirl, Thara, and Chris are on the run from the Science Police, and Reactron gets orders to kill them. Mon-El (still presumed dead) shows up in a picture on the front page of the Daily Planet. Lana Lang is bleeding, Lois Lane is pissed, and Kara and Thara are still mad t each other.

Despite the fact that Chris is still looking very nice, I am left with one major question: Is this storyline over yet? (Please, can it be over?)

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ALERT: Upcoming Legion content.

Two of this week's comics have warning of Legion content coming up next month.

First, SUPERMAN: SECRET ORIGIN #1 ends with a teaser: "Next: Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes." Definitely not to be missed.

Second, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #37 has an ad for the next issue, in which "A new era begins" (oh no, not again). A picture of the next JLA lineup features Mon-El, his usual costume adorned with a small Superman-style S. It looks like the trio of Mon-El, Donna Troy, and Dick-Grayson-as-Batman are going to be stand-ins for DC's Holy Trinity (Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman).

I guess Mon-El isn't really dead. Golly gee, what a surprise. Who could have predicted that?

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Week of 16 September 2009

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

ACTION #881 (11/09)
"The Hunt for Reactron Part 1"
ROLL CALL: Mon-El (image only)

Supergirl, Nightwing, and Firebird are accused of murdering Mon-E, with an image of Supergirl punching Mon on video screens all over Metropolis.

First, it wasn't really them. Second, oh come on now, we all know that Mon-El is not dead.

With all my recent pondering of Legion chronology, I was fretting about Mon-El. In the Superman titles, he seems to be 20-something -- but about a thousand years from now, when he's released from the Phantom Zone, he should be a teenager. How is that going to work?

No problem. If Chris Kent has shown us anything, it's that physical age can change in the Zone to match whatever is needed for the plot. Eventually Mon will go back into the Phantom Zone, and when he comes out again in the 30th century, he'll be the right age to pick up his aborted hot-teen-sex thing with young Clark.

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R.E.B.E.L.S.#8 (11/09)
"Stealth"
ROLL CALL (L.E.G.I.O.N.): Amon Hakk, Cece, Garv, Lyrl Dox, Rocky, Stealth (flashback), Strata, Tribulus,Vril Dox, Wildstar
ROLL CALL (Omega Men): Broot, Darkfire, Doc, Elu, Tigorr

The R.E.B.E.L.S. track down Lyrl Dox on Voorl. Lyrl informs them that his mother (Stealth) was killed by L.E.G.I.O.N. robots. Strata sends Wildstar off to find Garv and her son, which she does. The Khunds attack Starro's forces and are defeated. Meanwhile, the Omega Men are fitted with mutant Starros that make them invisible to the real Starros, and they set off for the Starro homeworld to kill the main Starro.

It's good to see Stealth again. Everyone who believes that she's really dead, please raise your hands. Yeah, I thought so.

As the Omega Men were approaching the subspace rift, there was a nice homage to Return of the Jedi. I almost expected Tigorr to say "Fly casual."

I was never much of an Omega Men follower before, but I'm certainly enjoying them here in R.E.B.E.L.S. I doubt that I'll pick up more of their adventures -- the whole Vegan thing is a level of complication that I don't really need. It's already hard enough to keep track of the Legion....



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Fixing Legion Chronology (For the LAST Time) (No, Really)

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The Problems:

1. The Legion is 50+ years old, but its members are in early adulthood (20s - 30s).

2. The Legion interacts with the "present day" DC Universe on a fixed 1,000-year interval.

3. Reconciling these two conditions results in a Legion chronology that is ever-changing and ever-shrinking to match the current DC Universe.

4. Everybody keeps messing with the Legion, and there is no agreement on fundamental principles.

5. By the nature of the problems, most solutions are only temporary. Ideally, any solution should still stand when the Legion celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2058.


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Previous Solutions:

Based on the Mayfair Games sourcebooks, a generally-accepted Legion chronology was established in the 1990s. This chronology, based on the terms of Legion leaders, had the Legion founded in 2973 and the Magic Wars in 2989.

Unfortunately, this chronology would have Cosmic Boy aged 42 in the year 3000 and most Legionnaires approaching their 50s at the time of "Legion of 3 Worlds." And it's only going to get worse in the future.

Basically, the generally-accepted chronology is too long. It needs to be shortened.


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The Givens:

1. The Legion was founded in the 3oth century. Young Clark Kent/Superboy visited the 30th century.

2. The Legion is "now" in the 31st century. Superman visits the 31st century.

3. Rokk Krinn (Cosmic Boy) was 15 when the Legion was founded. The ages of other Legionnaires are relative to him.

4. With Paul Levitz coming back, this is a great time to end the madness once and for all. One hopes that Levitz has the clout to make changes stick.

Everything else is assumed to be negotiable.


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The Proposed Solution:

1. The fixed 1,000 year interval must be abandoned. Ideally, the Legion's chronology should be divorced from the present day as much as possible. To accomplish this:

A. "Legion time" runs more slowly than "present day" time. In particular, the ratio is approximately 1:5 - that is, five years of "present day" time equals one year of "Legion time."

In practical terms, each month (or each issue of the comic) covers more-or-less one week in Legion time. Sixty issues (5 years) covers one year in Legion time.

(Roy Thomas used a similar system with All-Star Squadron/Young All-Stars and it worked fine. Also, in LSH v.4 Giffen & the Bierbaums ran "Legion time" on a slower rate than "real time.")

B. There is only one anchor point: the year 2000 corresponds to the Legion's year 3000 (technically, December 31, 2000 = December 31, 3000). Therefore, Adventure Comics #1/504, cover date October 2009, corresponds to a Leigon time of late in the year 3001 (mid-December, to be exact, although cutting things so closely is not encouraged - it would tie the hands of creative teams too much).



2. To shorten the generally-accepted chronology, it is decreed that all Leigon Leaders served half-year terms (forget what the Legion Constitution says - that was pre-Choose-Your-Crisis).



Under these changes, Cosmic Boy was born in 2976, the Legion was founded in 2991, and the Magic Wars occurred early in the year 3000. Cosmic Boy was 15 when the Legion was founded, is "now" about 25, and will be about 35 by the time of the Legion's 100th anniversary.

Here's a quick-and dirty outline of the proposed chronology:

2991 [old: 2973/74] Legion Founded - Leader: Cosmic Boy (2 terms) - Hamilton/Binder Era - Adventure

2992 [old: 2975/76] Leader: Saturn Girl (2 terms) - Death of Lightning Lad - Adventure

2993 [old: 2977/78] Leaders: Brainiac 5/Invisible Kid - Computo, Death of Ferro Lad - Shooter Era - Adventure

2994 [old: 2979] Leaders: Ultra Boy/Karate Kid - Shooter Era - Adventure/Action

2995 [old: 2980] Leaders: Mon-El/Ultra Boy - Chuck & Luornu married - Cockrum Era - Superboy

2996 [old: 2981/82] Leaders: Mon-El/Wildfire - Earthwar - Levitz I Era - Superboy/Superboy & LSH

2997 [old: 2983/84] Leaders: Lightning Lad (Element Lad)/Dream Girl - Clark/Superboy resigns, Great Darkness - Conway Era, Levitz II Era - LSH v.2

2998 [old: 2985/86] Leaders: Element Lad (2 terms) - LSV, Crisis on Infinite Earths - Levitz II Era - LSH v.3

2999 [old: 2987/88] Leader: Polar Boy (2 terms) - Universo Project - Levitz II Era

3000 [old: 2989/90] Leaders: Sensor Girl/Unknown - Magic Wars - Levitz II Era, Interregnum

3001 Leaders: Unknown/Unknown - Lightning Saga, Superman & the LSH, L3W - Johns Era

3. These changes apply to the Classic/Retro/Earth-0 ("Lightning Saga") Legion only. Other Legions from other Earths have their own internal chronologies.


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Moving Forward:

1. Elections for Leader should happen roughly every 2.5 years (30 issues).

2. In "Legion time" a new year will come in every "real time" year that ends in 5 or 0 (2005, 2010, 2015, 2020, etc.)

3. In the "present-day" DC Universe, the Legion's time should be referred to as "about a thousand years in the future" or "the 31st century." Any adventures of young Clark Kent/Superboy took place in "the 30th century."

4. Unless future creative teams want the Legionnaires to grow up and have grandchildren, this scheme will probably need some sort of adjustments around the year 2100. I doubt I will be here.

5. There's enough leeway here that creative teams can play fast-and-loose with these guidelines. If they want to spend a five-issue arc on a two-day adventure, that works. If they want to cover an entire year in a single issue, there's room for that too. If they want to revisit a past time occasionally (Levitz did), no prob.


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What Next?

No scheme is perfect. Make comments and suggestions. We'll thrash it around a bit. Spread the word to other Legion fans so they can weigh in.

Once you think we have a solution that's workable, contact DC (to the attention of Paul Levitz) and let them know. Posting on the DC message boards would probably help too.

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Legion Boys and Girls

Has anyone noticed how the Legionnaires are getting subtly younger since "Superman & the LSH" and L3W? In Superman etc, they looked to be contemporaries of Superman's, say early 30s. Now they look early-to-mid 20s.

I wondered if Geoff Johns was going to address the "Lad" and "Boy" and "Girl" names for characters who looked like they were in their 30s. Now that Levitz is coming back, I suppose we can all just agree that the explanation of "extended lifetimes with extended adolesence" is true, so it's not odd for them to be "Boy" and "Girl" at what we would consider to be advanced ages.

I'm okay with that, as long as we don't have to be brainwashing Superman to keep the secret from him. That was a cool idea, but it didn't quite fit in with the Legion. One of Levitz's rare misses.

of course, it might just be a public relations thing: the public responds better to "Lightning Lad" than to "Lightning Man." After all, that's always been his name.

I've been trying to think of similar contemporary examples; the best I've come up with is the Spice Girls, some of whom are as old as the Legionnaires appear to be now. There's also a group of definitely-mature woman performers who call themselves "The Fuel Girls." And, of course, there was the comedy troupe called Kids in the Hall.

It's the old dilemma of letting time pass and characters develop vs having stories take place in some sort of "eternal now." If you look closely at the official chronology of DC Comics, the Infinite Crisis happened more than a year ago, while the original Crisis on Infinite Earths must have been only a few years before that, certainly less than a decade...otherwise Superman would be in his 40s. It gets really absurd when you try, for example, to reconcile the ages of the multiple Robins.

We were doing okay with a Legion history that covered 15-20 years between the Legion's founding and the "present," but that's not going to be tenable forever. On the other hand, I like having a Legion that changes and develops; I don't really want these characters to go back to being teenagers in an "eternal now."

Is it possible to craft a solution that will satisfy today's readers, while still allowing for what things will be like as the Legion approaches its 100th annviersary? I don't know. I would love to see the development of a second-generation Legion, featuring the sons and daughters of the current Legionnaires, along with their friends and classmates. I would love to see Garth and Imra and all the others as grandparents (I know, sacrilege!).

But I do know one thing...every time the Legion gets too tightly coupled to the present-day DC Universe, sooner or later it leads to bad things for the Legion.

It's that damned fixed 1,000-years timespan. If we gave up on that, we could allow the Legion to develop along its own calendar...similar to the way Roy Thomas ran All-Star Squadron, where each "month" in comic-book time (i.e. one issue to the next) covered a specific period (a week, maybe?) in real-world history. Anchor the Legion firmly at some particular date in the 30th century, and allow approximately one "Legion week" to pass for each issue of them comic. Or give up on a fixed-ratio, just elect a new Leader every five years (60 issues) and call that a "Legion year."

I shall have to think on this, toss some numbers, and see if I can't codify it into something useful.



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Week of 9 September 2009

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

ADVENTURE #2/#505 (11/09)
"Superboy: The Boy of Steel Part Two"
ROLL CALL: Element Lad

Element Lad is masquerading as Superboy's chemistry teacher.

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ADVENTURE #2/#505 (11/09)
"Long Live the Legion Part Two: Lightning Lad"
ROLL CALL: Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, Dawnstar, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Wildfire; Lightning Lord, Storm Boy

There are two covers for this sisue, same as last time. And same as last time, the one to get is the 1-in-10 variant cover, which has Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, and Saturn Girl on the cover (among others). Besides, the standard cover is a big spoiler for the Superboy story, giving away a panel that they spent four pages setting up.

In the Legion story, Garth travels to Takron-Galtos to see Mekt. After an emotional interchange, Mekt reveals that he thinks his parents lied to him: he actually has a twin, who was separated from him at birth. Garth sets out to Winath to start tracking down his lost brother.

A low-key but powerful story that shows Lightning Lad as more than a one-note hothead: there's real depth of character there. And the story shows how Mekt can still get inside Garth's head and mess with him. But at the same time, there is obviously still some kind of familial feeling between the Ranzz boys...for when Mekt needs help, he calls on Garth.

Good story. Looking forward to more.

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Week of 2 September 2009

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

I did not see any LSH content in DC comics this week.

Nothing to do but wait patiently until Adventure #2 comes out next Thursday. (Comic are delayed due to the Labor Day holiday.)

Sigh.

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Week of 26 August 2009

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

SUPERMAN #691 (10/09)
"Codename: Patriot Part 4"
ROLL CALL: Mon-El

Mirabai, disguised as Supergirl, leads Mon-El into the Metropolis sewers, where she ambushes him and he is, for some reason, knocked out by Reactron. (Does Gold Kryptonite affect Daxamites? It never did before...) Then the sewers explode, and Mon is presumed dead.

Why everyone assumes that a few punches from non-Super people and some run-of-the-mill explosions could kill a guy who goes sunbathing in the sun, I have no idea. Maybe because Mon-El is under the influence of a power greater than Daxamites, Kryptonians, or any other force in the DC Universe: the script. Script says "Mon-el is knocked out and everyone assumes he's dead," and that's what happens.

When you look up "good storytelling" in the dictionary, they do not have a picture of this story.

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SUPERMAN'S PAL JIMMY OLSEN SPECIAL #2 (10/09)
"The Death of Jimmy Olsen"
ROLL CALL: Mon-El

Jimmy is afraid that Codename: Assassin is coming after him. Mon-El assures him that he has nothing to fear; Mon will respond to his signal watch.

Then Codename: Assassin comes after Jimmy, and Mon-El doesn't respond to the signal watch. This is because Mon-El is presumed dead in the sewers of Metropolis. So Codename: Assassin shoots Jimmy, who falls into the water, bleeding profusely.

Okay, first of all, I doubt that Jimmy is dead...and even if he is, he'll be back. Death isn't the handicap it used to be. It doesn't slow down your career the way it did in the old days.

Second, before anyone accuses Mon-El of dereliction of duty, I think it only fair to point out that at the same time Jimmy was getting shot, Supes was ignoring both the signal watch and a terrorist attack on Metropolis, and instead was chasing his way off to New Krypton for a fabulous party with his aunt and his New Kryptonian posse. Mon-El at least had the excuse of being (somehow) beaten half-to-death by Mirabai and Reactron, and further inconvenienced by some explosions that had to seriously tickle....

...You know what? I can't go on. This whole General Lane/Who-is-Superwoman?/Codename: Stupidity storyline has been a disaster from page one, and I just can't even try to take it seriously any more. No more trying to piece together this sloppy narrative. I'm just going to look at the pretty pictures of Mon-El and cute Kryptonian boys, and drool quietly in the corner.

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FLASH: REBIRTH #4 (9/09)
ROLL CALL: Not XS, certainly

The long-awaited FLASH: REBIRTH #4 arrived this week, and once again it features every important speedster in the DC Universe...with the exception of Jenni Ognats (aka XS). Well, okay, the Tornado Twins are also absent...which just makes the rampant anti-LSH bias in this comic even more obvious.

I mean, at the end of L3W #5, Jenni could've said, "Okay, Bart, I'll go back to the 21st century with you just long enough to participate in FLASH: REBIRTH, then my flight ring will catapult me forward to the exact time I left." But nooooo.

Mon-El knocked out & presumed dead, XS cruelly banished from the Flash Family Reunion...what is it with DC and Legionnaires?

Pshaw!

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Week of 19 August 2009

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

SUPERGIRL #44 (10/09)
"Codename: Patriot Part 3"
ROLL CALL: Chameleon Boy [Control], Mon-El, Sensor Girl [Wilcox]

Kryptonian cutie Ral-Dar escapes from Project 7734, but it's all part of General Lane's nefarious scheme.

Meanwhile, Mon-El and Supergirl go after Nightwing and Flamebird, and Mon-El is pleased to see how Chris has developed into a gorgeous young man. Only trouble is, it isn't really Chris, but only a magical simulation.

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SUPERMAN ANNUAL #14 (2009)
"The Secret Origin of Mon-El and His World"
ROLL CALL: Mon-El, Tellus (fingers only)

An issue that proves Mon-El came by his good looks honestly. First there's Dax-Am, the Kryptonian who discovered and settled Daxam (and who was apparently sent on his way by the Jedi Council). Then Lon-Am, who started interbreeding with Daxam's aborigines. Zax Vane and his boyfriend Van Toth were the first to leave Daxam to explore the galaxy. Mon-El's direct ancestor Bal Gand bore a child to a tall, hunky Earth Aztec named Juyu. And Lar left a cut boyfriend, Van, behind when he fled Daxam.

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS: Lar's great-great-etc-grandmother Bal Gand visited several planets besides Earth. One of them was Imsk, later to be the homeworld of Shrinking Violet. Other Daxamite explorers are shown making friends with inhabitants of Dryad, homeworld of Blok. Kryptonian invaders are visible on Imsk and Durla.

When Mon goes to the gay porno theater, he prefers comedies to action pix.

The Damamite vulnerability to lead was apparently due to genetic manipulation by the Kryptonian entity called the Eradicator.

It is strongly implied that Tellus was the source of the mysterious bottle of anti-lead serum that Supes found to save Mon-El after the Phantom Zone collapsed.

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