Week of 3 August 2011

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

ADVENTURE #529 (2011/10)
"The End"


ROLL CALL:

Bouncing Boy, Duplicate Girl, Night Girl, Chemical Kid, Comet Queen, Dragonwing, Glorith, Gravity Kid, Variable Lad (died), Cosmic King

CUTE BOYS: Chuck, Hadru, Tel

It's taken me a while to post on this issue, because I've been sorting through my feelings on two different levels. More on that in a moment, but first a synopsis:

Chemical Kid, Comet Queen, and Dragonwing confront Cosmic King, who has already defeated Bouncing Boy, Duplicate Girl, and Night Girl. They are basically getting their butts kicked (and not in the good way) when Glorith, Gravity Kid, and Variable Lad show up. The newly-arrived kids make a good showing, until Cosmic King threatens to melt their bodies (and not in the good way). Variable Lad, whose powers have turned him into a giant silver cobra, attacks Cosmic King and when the smoke clears, Variable Lad is dead and Cosmic King is nowhere to be seen (although wherever he is, he's missing part of his shirt and most of a glove).

Later, during the mopping-up process, everyone is grieving for Variable Lad. Chuck tells the cadets that their chances of making the team have just gone way up. Gravity Kid announces that he's resigning from the Academy and going to Takron-Galtos as a "trailing spouse" of Jed Rikane aka Power Boy. As he elaves, he voices his hope that none of the rest of them wind up like Variable Lad.

Okay, now my two things.

Tel and Jed: Hooray for the very public admission that they're a couple (spouses, actually). I know there have been gay relationships in the Legion before -- in the Glorithverse Legion, Ayla and Salu were an item, and there was the whole regrettable Jan-Shvaughn/Sean thing; and in the Earth-247 Legion there were strong hints that Lyle and Condo had something going on, and of course Lyle kissed Brainy, and there were other gay couples among the supporting characters. And admitted, Tel and Jed aren't technically in the Legion. But still, this is (more or less) the Legion I grew up with, and to me at least, there's something momentous about this.

And yet....

They aren't Legionnaires. They're supporting characters, and it looks like they're being shuffled off to the sidelines, to appear only as cameos in the next "all hands on deck" Earthwar/Great Darkness/L3W storyline. Even worse, is Tel's final line foreshadowing? Is he going to Takron-Galtos only to die during the next prisoner escape, or when bad guys use his life as a weapon against Officer Jed?

I hope I'm wrong. I can envision a great subplot going on, about how someone (I'm looking at you, Rokk Krinn) kept Jed from joining the Legion out of homophobia -- a subplot leading to revelations about what Garth and Rokk did together in the early days of the Legion, and how Rokk has always felt weird (or maybe it was Rokk and Pol, brothers who shared a small single bed while the family was living in squalor on Bismoll Brral, the innocent games of childhood, the struggle for dominance, and Rokk's subsequent self-imposed guilt over Pol's death...) -- and the joyful reconciliation as Rokk comes to term with his homophobia and Tel & Jed welcome him into a celebratory three-way....

Yeah, like that's going to happen.

So there's where I am: mixed feelings. Happy to see a gay couple in the Legion; dismayed that they're probably going to be sidelined and ignored or worse.

The last issue and the New 52 reboot: Yeah, I know, the Legion is supposed to be changed the least of all DC's titles. And even though Adventure Comics is going away, there will still be two Legion titles, at least at first. However, I feel a real sense of loss here. There's a break, and however much Paul Levitz tries to minimize the disruption, I still feel like some plot threads are going to be lost in the transition.

The future will tell, of course. But for now, it seems like the story of the Academy group is over before it really got started.

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:

Deaths: I've seen speculation that Variable Lad isn't really dead. Some people are saying that we don't see any bodies, so the jury is still out. That could be true...but among the debris I see bits of silver dragon, and what's clearly part of the dragon's head. In addition, that's clearly a coffin the cadets are bearing (although they seem to be putting it into a garbage truck). Besides, the emotional point of the whole story demands that Oaa is dead. All I can say is, Dr. Gym'll isn't going to be happy.

Cosmic King, on the other hand...was on the planet of wisdom in the last issue of LSH. There's no body, and it's hard to imagine that Levitz would kill him off permanently. I'm going to guess that he was spirited away by the Blue Entity (remember, he was on a mission for Saturn Queen). This is one of those details that I fear may be lost in the rush to wrap up the LSH storyline.

----------



 ----------

Week of 27 July 2011

(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. However, I do have this:

DC COMICS: THE ULTIMATE CHARACTER GUIDE (2011/07)
Amazon Listing here


ROLL CALL:

Brainiac 5, Cosmic Boy, Dawnstar, Dream Girl, Karate Kid (Val), Lightning Lad, Mon-El, Saturn Girl, Sensor Girl, Starman/Star Boy, R.J. Brande, Sodam Yat

Just in time for the reboot of the entire DC Universe, here's a beautiful hardcover guide to the major heroes and and villains of the DC Universe. This book seems aimed at kids and casual comics fans, not the sort of well-informed readers who hang around here. OTOH, it does have Legionnaires: one listing for the Legion of Super-Heroes, along with individual listings for Brainiac 5, Cosmic Boy, Karate Kid, Lighting Lad, Mon-El, Saturn Girl, and Starman.

I don't know the source of all this informaton; it seems drawn from various different versions of the DC Universe, and there are some odd things out of left field here and there. Karate Kid, for example, is described this way: "Though fast on his feet, he's not always the quickest of his team to leap into action -- he always looks for a peaceful way to victory first. Karate Kid uses his fighting skills only when he must!" (It also notes that recently "...he was exposed to a rare version of the OMAC virus which left him incredibly sick" - which seems to be another way of saying "dead.")

My guess is that the book was edited with an eye toward impressionable kids, and they didn't want to encourage children to go out and emulate Val by dashing off after the Fatal Five alone, or leaping up to smash power spheres to save Orando....

Saturn Girl's write-up notes that she "...sometimes flies using her flight belt, rather than her Legion flight ring." Uh...yeah, sure.

Most interesting, however, is a note in Starman's entry: "Dream Girl (a.k.a. Nura Nal) is Starman's 31st century girlfriend and Legion teammate. Nura's power to see the future recently drew the attention of the evil Doctor Destiny, who kidnapped her and transported her to the 21st century. But Starman and the rest of the Legion of Super-Heroes were quick to travel back in time to save her."

Say what?!

I have a theory. Remember that Dreamy was one of the missing Legionnaires in L3W? Remember that panel in Adventure that showed the Legion rescuing Dreamy from 21st-century imprisonment? Remember how that whole thing was never addressed? At the time, I guessed that Dreamy was supposed to have been captured by Brainiac, but the writer just forgot and left her out.

Perhaps not. Perhaps there was a storyline somewhere involving Doctor Destiny. Anyone know anything about this?

Bottom Line: I wouldn't treat this book as canon in any way, and you've seen all the art before, but it's an attractive volume at a pretty attractive price ($16.99 undiscounted). To this Legion completist, it was definitely worth the price.

----------



 ----------

Week of 20 July 2011

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

DC COMICS: THE NEW 52 #1 (2011/09)
"Legion Lost/Legion of Super-Heroes"

ROLL CALL:

Chameleon Boy, Chamelon Girl, Dawnstar, Dragonwing, Gates, Tellus, Timber Wolf, Tyroc, Ultra Boy, Wildfire

CUTE BOYS: Brin, Jo, Tyroc (with hair!)

This is a free promo for the "New 52" (wonder what they'll call it in five years? "The same old 52"?).

We all have a lot of questions about this new restart at DC, and few answers about how it will affect the Legion. We've been told that the Legion will be among the books least affected; that ought to be a comfort.

Yet we've seen this happen again and again: DC changes Superman's background, and those changes alter the Legion's history. The Legion's creative teams go through all sorts of contortions to bring the LSH into conformity: pocket universes, Valor, reboots, Crisis after Crisis -- only to have DC, sooner or later, restore the status quo.

Here's what I'd like Paul Levitz to say to the DC powers-that-be: "Do what you like with the DC Universe, rearrange Superman's life however you want, eliminate Superboy or keep him, give Supergirl whatever origin you want. But don't expect me to change the Legion's history to match your fashions. I've got the Time Trapper and the Infinite Man on my side, along with as many alternate timelines as I want and the time-travel magic to move between them at will. If there are discrepancies, just don't worry about them."

And here's what I'd like him to say to the fans: "I will take care of the Legion, but don't push too hard. If you start complaining to DC about discrepancies between the Legion's history and the present-day DC universe, you're going to upset the applecart. Do you remember Glorith? Do you remember Valor? Do you really want them to dig out some fan writers to ruin the Legion again? Do you want another reboot? Or would you rather find out what happens next with these characters we all care about? Then just be cool, okay?"

Of course, none of this is going to happen. Sigh.

----------

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #15 (2011/09)
"False Victory"


ROLL CALL:

Brianiac 5, Colossal Boy, Dawnstar, Dream Girl, Earth-Man, Element Lad, Gates, Invisible Kid (Jacques), Lightning Lass, Mon-El, Phantom Girl, Polar Boy, Shadow Lass, Star Boy, Sun Boy, Tellus, Timber Wolf, Tyroc, Ultra Boy, Dyogene, Harmonia Li, Black Mace, Blue Entity, Chameleon Chief, Cosmic King, Hunter (Adam Orion), Lightning Lord, Questor, Radiation Roy, Saturn Queen, Spider Girl, Sun Killer, Terrus, Tusker

CUTE BOYS: Brainy, Brek, Brin, Dirk, Gim, Jacques, Jan, Jo, Mon, Tyroc

Harmonia Li and Thom work together to take the Legion to the planet of the Wise, where they join in combat against the Legion of Suepr-Villains. The Legion appears to gain the upper hand, but Saturn Queen appeals to the Blue Entity, who tells her that Earth-Man is the key to her victory.

A surprisingly-straightforward story with lots of action. Dyogene gives the best explanation we've gotten so far of who the blue entity is: "...the nemesis of Oa, the doom from our original sin, reborn through mortal arrogance. He would topple the balance of the worlds, and sees this timeless sanctuary as a fulcrum...he will come here."

Last month I offered a pristine, shrinkwrapped copy of Legion Archives #1 to the commenter who guessed the actual identity of the blue critter. pblfsda suggested "a devolved form of Krona" -- a guess that instantly impressed everyone else. It looks as if pblfsda is on the right track, but let's hold off until next issue when All Should Be Explained...although my guess is that pblfsda will soon have a copy of Legion Archives #1.


On a more solemn note, this is the last Legion issue pencilled by Yildiray Cinar. I am very sorry to see him go; to my eyes, he captured the Legionnaires and their world in a unique and beautiful way. I wish he could have stayed through next issue, to bring the LSV storyline to its conclusion. I wish Mr. Cinar all the best in his work on Firestorm.


BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:


Notice that Lightning Lord mentions that Saturn Queen sent Zymyr back for "more pillagers," which explains the presence of hordes of villains in that magnificent two-page spread.


...That doesn't, however, explain what Cosmic King is doing here, while he's simultaneously infiltrating Legion Headquarters over in  Adventure. 


Hunter has gained the power to control wildlife (due to the blue entity's magic, which has been boosting the powers of all the villains.) This power is reminiscent of an old Legion villain, Jungle King/Monster Master.


----------




CHRONICLER'S ERROR?:


On page 4, there's a puzzling figure right in front of the leftmost Legion crusier, to Dream Girl's right -- the one who says "It's clearly where the villains who ravaged Colu went..." By the logic of the situation, it almost has to be Brainiac 5...but he's colored completely wrong.

 ----------

Week of 13 July 2011

There were no Legion appearances in DC Comics this week.

----------

Week of 6 July 2011

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

First, apologies for being so late. It's been awfully hectic around here lately. Now on to the comic:

ADVENTURE #528 (2011/09)
"Graduation Day"


ROLL CALL:

Bouncing Boy, Chemical King (memorial statue), Duplicate Girl, Ferro Lad (memorial statue), Invisible Kid (Lyle) (memorial statue), Karate Kid (Val) (memorial statue), Kid Psycho (memorial statue), Night Girl, Chemical Kid, Comet Queen, Crystal Kid, Dragonwing, Glorith, Gravity Kid, Lamprey, Nightwind, Power Boy, Proty I (memorial statue), Variable Lad, Cosmic King

CUTE BOYS: Bob, Chuck, Hadru, Special Mention for Jed & Tel


It's Graduation Day, and Lamprey is off to the S.P. outpost on Houp, while Power Boy, Nightwind, and Crystal Kid are off to the new S.P. special squad Takron-Galtos. Gravity Kid is upset; he and Jed have a tender farewell scene that confirms the two of them as a couple.

Meanwhile, a shadowy figure sneaks into Legion Headquarters, in service of Saturn Queen and armed with codes to deactivated all the alarms. It turns out to be Cosmic King.

Back at the Academy, Bouncing Boy, Duplicate Damsel, and Night Girl detect an ambiguous Headquarters alarm, and head off to investigate. They are followed by Comiet Queen, Chemical Kid, and Dragonwing.

In a nightmarish sequence in the Hall of Dead Heroes, the three Legionnaires are attacked by the HQ defenses, and then face Cosmic King himself. He gets the better of them, then turns to face the newly-arrived trio from the Academy.

All in all, a fun issue with plenty of action. The scene between Jed and Tel is sweet, although it would have been nicer to see them kiss. Oh, well, progress is progress, I suppose.


BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:

Houp, Lamprey's next post may be a misspelling of "Huop," an energy world inhabited by energy beings. The world was first mentioned in Adventure #377 (Feb 1969). It makes sense for Lamprey, with her electrical powers, to be assigned to an energy world.

Cosmic King has not really appeared much in action against this Legion. He was always more an Adult Legion villain. (Of course, the Retro Legion is pretty much an adult Legion, aren't they?) Unless I'm mistaken, this may be the first time he's been written by Paul Levitz. Anyone know for sure?

 ----------

Week of 29 June 2011

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

I did get my copy of the hardcover collection of Legion Lost. I re-read the series, and while I can see many reasons that people liked it, it really wasn't my cup of tea. I guess I just prefer my Legion a bit less dark and miserable.

Ah, well. It's still good to see the Legion popular enough for DC to feel they can make money off a hardcover like this.

Makes me think of some other series I'd like to see in hardcover or trade paperback. Just off the top of my head:

• The death of Superboy
• The Universo Project (maybe combined with "The Condemned Legion" from Adventure)
• The Conspiracy storyline
• The Emerald Empress series from late in the Levitz/Giffen run
• Secrets of the LSH and Who's Who in the LSH in one volume
• Earthwar
• A Legion Weddings collection, including "The Weddings that Wrecked the Legion," Chuck & Luornu's wedding, Garth & Imra's wedding, Ultra Boy & Apparition getting hitched in the Earth-247 Legion, and probably one or two others I've forgotten
• End of an Era
• The whole 20th Century Exile storyline from Earth-247
• A collection of Brainiac 5 Goes Crazy stories
• Legionnaires 3 and Cosmic Boy
• A collection of Legion of Substitute Heroes stories
• Wanderers
• Valor
• Legion Worlds

Okay, DC, that should keep you busy for a while. Release these over the next couple of years, and you can charge me $20-$30 apiece. I'm stupid, I'll pay.

What about the rest of you? What Legion series would you like to see released in bound form?

 ----------

Week of 22 June 2011

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

Kid Flash Lost #1, a Flashpoint spinoff, takes Bart to the year 3011 in the Flashpoint universe. There, Earth is part of Brainiac's empire and there's no hint of a Legion. (I knew I didn't like the Flashpoint universe.) Two more issues are scheduled; I suppose it's possible that some Legionnaires may turn up (Jenni, maybe?), so it's worth watching this title.

Proceed with extreme care, however, and take every precaution, or you might accidentally read some of it. If you do, apply an antidote as soon as possible: re-read some old Legion stories as quickly as you can.

----------

Week of 15 June 2011

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

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 14 (2011/08)
"False Dreams"


ROLL CALL:

Brainiac 5, Dawnstar, Dream Girl, Element Lad, Mon-El, Shadow Lass, Star Boy, Ultra Boy, Wildfire, Aven, Dyogene, Master Kong, Harmonia Li, Akka (died), Blue Entity, Hunter (Adam Orion), Immortus, Lightning Lord, Questor, Saturn Queen, Sun Killer, Zymyr


CUTE BOYS: Brainy, Jan, Jo, Lar, Titanian boy in grey jccket & greenish pants


Harmonia Li uses the multiversal energies in Thom's suit to open the way to her "adopted world," the world of wisdom. She prepares to leave with Thom and Nura, but first the ring construct Mon-El demands an explanation. Which, apparently, Li gives offscreen -- for next thing we know, they're hurtling toward Colu to gather the other Legionnaires and head for Wisdom World. Nura has a vision of herself standing on Shanghalla, with Brainy telling her that Thom's power won the battle.


Meanwhile, on Colu, Ultra Boy slaps Immortus down, at which point Aven and the Titanians take over to neutralize him and "guide him back to the way."


Saturn Queen and LSV have another meeting with the blue entity. In order to boost Hunter's tracking abilities, SQ kills Akka (whose name is back to "Akka" this issue).  The LV (minus Akka) appear on Wisdom World and are met by Master Kong, who supposedly died 3500 years ago. They immediately begin wrecking the place.


On Colu, everyone is wrapping up when Harmonia Li arrives with Thom, Nura, and green Mon-El. Li announces that her foolishness at the Time Institute has placed Wisdom World in danger.


Cut to a weird space, where Dyogene and the real Mon-El meet Dawnstar, who is still on the trail of the blue critter. Mon-El seems surprised to see her. She says that the trail ends at a dimensional barrier she can't pierce, although maybe the power ring can.


Dyogene says that maybe they shouldn't go after the blue critter, since "his strength has gestated for centuries, awaiting the day when hubris would free him to complete the evil his creator wrought." Dyogene counsels letting Wisdom World fall, saving their strength to protect Oa. He says the rings can't take them through the barrier.


Then who should arrive but Harmonia Li and the rest of the Legion! And Mon-E says, "I told you not to underestimate the Legion."


Obviously, we're getting to the end of this arc -- all the threads are coming together. And darned if I can figure out where they're going.


The blue critter was created by someone centuries past, in order to bring chaos to the universe. It's been dormant underground on Earth all this time. When Li tried to look at the beginning of time (which, might I say, was pretty stupid for someone who's been keeping company with Confucius), she somehow loosed the blue critter.


So who is the blue critter? Who was its creator? When Levitz does this kind of thing, it usually ties into existing DC continuity somehow. Anyone?


Tell you what: I have here  a pristine, shrinkwrapped copy of Legion Archives #1 that I recently saved from the "50% off" rack at Twilite Zone and have been saving for a prize. If anyone leaves a comment guessing the actual identity of the blue critter, I'll send that person this prize. So comment away!


BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS: 


Nura's exclamation "Thank Delphi!" refers to the ancient Greek oracle. Nice.


"Master Kong" is a translation of Kung-fu-tzu, aka Confucius.

 ----------

Week of 8 June 2011

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

No, that's good news: this week, DC is all about the Flashpoint crossovers, and I don't think any of us wants to see the Leigon dragged into that train wreck.

----------

Week of 1 June 2011

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

ADVENTURE 527 (2011/08)
"A Comet's Tale"


ROLL CALL:

Bouncing Boy, Brainiac 5, Chemical King, Cosmic Boy, Dawnstar, Duplicate Girl, Lightning Lad, Night Girl, Saturn Girl, Shadow Lass, Tellus, Timber Wolf, Ultra Boy, Chemical Kid, Comet Queen, Dragonwing, Glorith, Gravity Kid, Mandalla, Shadow Kid, Stone Boy, Variable Lad, Saturn Queen

CUTE BOYS: Brainy, Brin, Chemical Kid, Chuck, Condo, Garth, Gravity Kid, Jo, Rokk, Shadow Kid, Stone Boy

A recap of Comet Queen's origin story, followed by some updates on her more recent activities. Oddly, there's no mention of her time with Rokk, Lydda, Luornu, and Myg in the second Legion of Substitue Heroes.

Basically, she graduated from the Academy (along with Mandalla and Shadow Kid) and went into service with the Subs. (This looks to be after Superman & the LSH and possibly after L3W. After Titanfall, an encounter with Saturn Queen erased most of Grava's memories. With the help of Tellus, she regained many of her memories, and went back into the Academy to retrain.

I see that we're back to making fun of the Subs. I don't mind when they're treated with humor -- as in Superman & the LSH or in Straczynski's recent Brave & Bold two-parter...but to me, there's a basic nobility about the Subs that a lot of people miss. Sure, it takes courage for Ultra Boy or Wildfire to go up against evil supervillains -- and even more for Legionnaires like Invisible Kid or Shadow Lass -- but all the Legionnaires have their experience, training, and teamwork. For someone like Stone Boy or Comet Queen to go up against the big bad guys (which they have done, many times) takes enormously more courage.

Besides, the Subs are the team who produced Polar Boy and Night Girl, who certainly had the Right Stuff to become Legionnaires.

Anyway, it was good to see answers to some of the questions we had about Grava, and to have her star in a story. I've always liked her irrepressible optimism, her goofiness, and her unbounded confidence. Matching her with Chuck was brilliant -- the two have similar personalities. If anyone deserves to be part of the Legion, she does.

Perhaps Grava needs the same sort of transformation that's happened to Chuck: maturity, wisdom, whatever you want to call it. She needs to get over her crush on Chuck and find someone else to fall in love with and, maybe, marry.

Perhaps Glorith is the right girl for the job.
 ---------

Week of 25 May 2011

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

However, I did go to Balticon, where our Green Lantern presentation won "Most Humorous" in the Masquerade. Here's my costume -- you might recognize the inspiration:

 ----------

Week of 18 May 2011

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


LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #13 (2011/07)
"False Hopes"


ROLL CALL:

Brainiac 5, Cosmic Boy, Dawnstar, Dream Girl, Earth-Man, Element Lad, Gates, Invisible Kid (Jacques), Lightning Lad, Mon-El, Polar Boy, Quislet, Saturn Girl, Shadow Lass, Star Boy, Tellus, Timber Wolf, Ultra Boy, Wildfire, Dyogene, Dr. Harmonia Li, Akka, Blue Entity, Hunter (Adam Orion), Immortus, Questor, Saturn Queen, Sun Killer, Zymyr

CUTE BOYS: Brainy, Brek, Brin, Garth, Jacques, Jan, Jo, Mon, Rokk

The battle on Colu continues, as many Legionnaires fight members of the LSV. Saturn Queen summons the blue flame, which is embodied as an older version of the unknown blue critter. This being says "...When your work is done, my dreams over the endless centuries of exile shall be fulfilled and the galactic civilization shall fall!"

Gates and Tellus show up to release Brainy from Saturn Queen's spell. Gates makes reference to legends of a world of the wise: "My ancestors knew their wisest would be taken away to become immortals beyond our star." Tellus adds that he glimpsed a picture in Gates's mind: a picture he has also seen in the mind of Harmonia Li.

At Legion HQ, Mon-El tries to coordinate various teams and individuals. He also has a brief, tender chat with Dream Girl. Dreamy returns to the lab and tells Dr. Li "I foresaw you and Thom, holding hands in space with incredible energies around you." Dr. Li announces that Thom must join her in sacrifice, but first they must stop draining the multiversal energy from him.

There's something off about the art in this issue. Not everywhere, but particularly in the pages with Brainy, Earth-Man, Gates, and Tellus...and maybe a little bit with the encounter between Hunter and Earth-Man. The art just doesn't look as...clean? Tight?

The art is credited to Yildiray Cinar and Jonathan Glapion, instead of Cinar & Faucher. (This was also true about last issue.) I assume that Glapion is doing inks, and maybe he has a bit of a heavier hand than Faucher. Anyway, it's a great example of how the penciller and inker are a team, both contributing to the final look of the comic.

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:


Lots of great Quislet action tis time around. Gotta love his cry of "Upsi!" as he animates the ground to engulf Sun-Killer.

Brainy set up codes to call in reinforcements, but didn't share those codes with anyone else. That seems a bad choice, strategically. Is it Brainy's natural egotism ("no team with me present can need help") or an indication of the pressure Brainy's under?

The blue critter has been exiled for "endless centuries." Saturn Queen calls it "Bringer of Chaos." This makes it sound like the blue critter/blue flame is a Lord of Chaos, about whom I really don't know enough to guess. Anyone?

The chat between Mon-El and Dream Girl is exquisite, and shows the kind of easy friendship that many Legionnaires share. Mon's concern for Thom, in the middle of everything else that he's dealing with, is touching.

The enigma of Professor Li continues. It's pretty obvious that she's one of the immortal wise ones. More than that, I can't guess.

Gates speaks of legends of the world of the immortal wise ones -- but Gates is from a different universe. Whatever's going on, it covers the whole multiverse -- which explains Dr. Li's interest in Thom's multiversal energy.

 ----------

HOUSEKEEPING: I finally obtained a copy of Action #900. I've updated my entry for Week of 27 April 2011.

Farewell, L.E.G.I.O.N.

Our R.E.B.E.L.S. are now ended. These our L.E.G.I.O.N.naires,

As Brainy foretold you, were all Legion knockoffs and

Are melted into limbo, comic book limbo:

And, like the pointless plots of this vision,

The towers of Rann, the Tamaranean palaces, 

The Psion laboratories, the Vegan system itself,

Ye all which it inherit, shall dissolve

And, like this Baxter paper faded,

Leave an empty rack behind. They are such stuff

As graphic novels are made on, and their little lives

Are rounded with bright covers.

(apologies to Will Shakespeare)

 ----------

Week of 11 May 2011

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

FLASHPOINT #1 (2011/07)
"Flashpoint Chapter One of Five"


ROLL CALL:

XS

CUTE BOYS: Barry Allen, Billy, Eugene, Freddy, Pedro, Shade

XS appears in a cameo of the Flash Family on page 3.

----------

R.E.B.E.L.S. #28 (2011/07)
"Starstruck: Conclusion"


ROLL CALL: 

Adam Strange, Amon Hakk, Bounder, Captain Comet, Ciji, Lobo, Lyrl Dox, Starfire, Tribulus, Vril Dox, Widstar, Xylon, Smite, Starro

CUTE BOYS: Adam Strange, Captain Comet, Lyrl Dox, Vril Dox, assorted Rannian cannon fodder

This is the last issue of R.E.B.E.L.S. (this time around).

Tribulus, under the direction of the two Doxes, defeats Starro, who flees. Smite, having bonded with Lobo over drinks, unites with Lobo in taking down Starro. And...uh...well, that's it.

R.E.B.E.L.S. has been a problematic comic. There was a lot of potential here. The Legion connection, the other sf elements of the present-day DC universe, some really nice art...yet it never really managed to grab me. About the best story was the Annual, telling the origin of Starro.

I can't exactly say this comic was a failure -- after all, 28 issues is a respectable run. But it wasn't a huge success, either. Why?

I think there were some mistakes along the way. First, there was too much concentration on the Doxes and too little on other characters. Look at all the intriguing characters here -- Ciji the Durlan, Xylon the renegade Dominator, Wildstar, Bounder, and above all Tribulus. We didn't even get an origin story for Ciji, Bounder, or Tribulus. And we didn't get to know these characters any. One of the great things about the Legion is how even minor characters come alive, with detailed backstories and problems we care about. Except for Starfire and Comet, there was little of that in R.E.B.E.L.S.

I think the stories were too simple. Starro attacks, Starro is defeated. Brainiac attacks, Brainiac is defeated. Some nonsense with Green Lanterns. Starro attacks again, Starro is defeated again. I'm not saying that stories should have had the same multi-level complexity as Paul Levitz's best -- but a few strong continuing and interlocking subplots would have nice.

Finally, I think the creators were too ambitious in tying the series into the rest of the DC Universe. Crossovers with Blackest Day and the Brainiac/Last Days of New Krypton series were just distracting. Bringing in the Omega Men and the whole Vega system might have been a good idea, but the execution was lacking. For readers like me, who were not all that familiar with the Vega/Omega Men/Tamoran/Psion mythos, there should have been more explanation of the background. Bringing Rann and Adam Strange into the mix made it even more confusing.

There are ways to do this kind of thing well, ranging from in-story exposition to text boxes to back-of-the-comic "what's what" features. But here it was a case of too little, too late.

Ah, well. As Vril Dox says at the end, L.E.G.I.O.N. is here to stay. Eventually another storyteller will come along who can do justice to the group.

----------

DC COMICS PRESENTS: LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 100-PAGE SPECTACULAR #1 (2011/06)
"Legion of the Damned"

It's back again. This time with a white logo on the cover, and the four chapters of the story in correct order. This comic reprints Legionnaires 79-80 and Legion of Super-Heroes 122-123.

Re-reading this story left me with the following thoughts:

How To Do a Legion Story That I Won't Like

(based on the Giffen/Bierbaum Method)

1. The Legion's future is too bright and optimistic. Let's make it darker and more depressing.
2. Let's join the story after all the great changes have already taken place.
3. Some Legionnaires should turn traitor to the human race, that's totally in character.
4. More despair.
5. A great evil power should turn Lar Gand into a puppet, why not?
6. Let's make everyone in the universe look grotesque. Who wants attractive art?
7. Oh, yeah, corruption should be everywhere.
8. The art is too bright. Put in more dark shadows.
9. Do everything you can to obscure people's faces. Masks, dirt, shadows, it's all good.
10. Have a few flashbacks, but don't identify them as flashbacks. Readers like being confused.
11. It still looks too attractive. Can you get a three-year-old to scribble all over the pages?
12. Put in lots of white letters on black backgrounds. Who needs to read words?
13. More splotches. All over the place. Everything in the dark, depressing future should be splotchy.

Wow, I can't wait until Legion Lost comes out next month. Even darker, with more corruption, more splotches and scribbles, and even uglier art!

----------

Week of 4 May 2011

Once again, sorry for the delay on this post. My bout with Infectious Lass is almost over.

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

ADVENTURE #526 (2011/07)
"First Hints"

ROLL CALL:

Bouncing Boy, Chemical King (memorial statue), Cosmic Boy, Duplicate Girl, Night Girl, Chemical Kid, Dragonwing, Glorith, Gravity Kid, Variable Lad (cover only), Alchemical Girl, Black Mace, Shagrek


CUTE BOYS: Chemical Kid, Chuck, Gravity Kid, Rokk

Chemical Kid leads Dragonwing and Gravity Kid to a memorial for Chemical King, and liberate some of Condo's genes. Using them, Glorith performs a magical ritual that draws Condo's gene-modification out of Alchemical Girl, removing Condo's powers from her. They turn the powerless Alchemical Girl over to the Science Police.

Returning to Earth, the other cadets ask Glorith where she got the extra power to defeat Alchemical Girl. She says that she believes she got the power from Mysa, but "...at what cost I cannot imagine."

Meanwhile Chuck, Lydda, and a handful of Luornus discuss Power Boy's failure to enter the Legion. Chuck says, "Standards change...they'd never let me in these days." The only standards that appear to have changed are the ones that give the entire Legion a vote on applicants -- if you remember, last issue Power Boy (and Lamprey) were summarily rejected by Cosmic Boy alone. (And much as I love Rokk, he isn't even Leader now.)

Back at HDQ, Rokk reviews the mission report of the cadets, and tells Lydda that the new kids are showing potential. He says that their rule-breaking and disrespect for authority remind him of Garth in the early days of the Legion.

Finally, at the Academy Glorith sends a message to Harlak, then falls asleep on the floor. Luornu finds her and tucks her in, calling her "Sweetie."

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:

Bouncing Boy was rejected in his first try at Legion membership. He was later accepted when he saved the Legionnaires' lives. Maybe Power Boy should hang around waiting for the Legionnaires to get in trouble so he can save their lives and get in that way.

Chuck's statement that he wouldn't be accepted in the Legion these days is fairly accurate. Look at the two younger (i.e. more modern) versions of the Legion. In the Earth-247 Legion, Chuck Taine was permitted to be the Legion's all-around fix-it guy, but he never gained bouncing powers and was never an official Legionnaire. In the (even newer) Earth-Prime Legion, Chuck didn't even exist.

Cosmic Boy has become something of a bastard (more on this in the next story). What is his problem with Power Boy? Is Rokk prejudiced against purple people? Does he fear that Jed's bare muscled chest is going to make people forget his own magnetic bustier of the 1980s? Is he jealous because Lydda seems to like Jed? Or is Rokk still smarting from the time Jed kicked him out of bed in favor of the Westerner?

CHRONICLER'S ERROR?: 

The cadets want to remove Alchemical Girl's gene-mod so that Chemical Kid's father won't be exposed as giving the gene-mod to the Taurus Gang. To keep this secret, they break into the repository of Phlon's greatest treasures and despoil the tomb of Phlon's greatest hero. Uh...I think it's possible that someone might notice. (Of course, at the end of the story Rokk says he will get the S.P.'s to clean up the records; maybe cleaning up the mess on Phlon is part of that.)

 ----------

ADVENTURE #526 (2011/07)
"Mosaic"

ROLL CALL:



Night Girl, XS, Dawn Allen, Don Allen, Impulse, Blue Critter

CUTE BOYS: Bart, Don Allen

Night Girl visits XS in Africa. Jenni has been working (slowly and deliberately) on a mosaic mural filled with Flash-type images. Lydda offers her a place with the Academy, but Jenni gets insulted and refuses.

Jenni then runs off to find a stone for her mosaic. She end up in Olduvai, at the spot where the unknown blue critter emerged from the ground a while ago. She finds a blue rock, but when she touches it she is hit by a visual mosaic that shows (among other things) some cavefolk around a fire; Jenni running with a Flash, Impulse, Jay Darrick, and Dawn & Don Allen; Jenni running on the cosmic treadmill; the blue critter bursting forth and ascending into space, and a giant hand in the middle of a whirlpool of light (the standard DC symbol for the beginning of time).

Jenni comments that "That tasted of the speed force...and the time barrier...and the ugliest soul I could ever imagine." (One hopes she isn't talking about Bart.) She goes back to her mosaic, musing that she will "let the Legion worry about whatever came out of that crack that felt like it led straight down to hell."

I don't exactly know what to make of this story. It feels like part of something bigger -- I hope it isn't all going to tie in with Flashpoint or some Green Lantern nonsense.

I suspect that the "mosaic" metaphor is meant to apply to this story, in a kind of meta-commentary way. This story is like one stone in a mosaic, something that exists by itself, but is also part of a larger pattern. And in that larger pattern, the story has a meaning that is totally different from the meaning it has as an individual story. It's like Paul Levitz is saying, "Don't worry, once this project is complete and you step back, you'll see the whole design and it will all mean something you don't expect."

Jenni is feeling lost, which isn't surprising -- the universe she grew up in was destroyed, the friends she knew and loved (except for Gates) are wandering the waste spaces of the multiverse without her, and she found out that she was really born in this other, familiar-yet-different universe. So she's trying to find her place, I get that.

And I don't blame her for refusing Lydda's offer to come to the Academy. (It was probably Rokk who told Lydda to do that -- it would be just like the new Rokk to decide that XS needed training in how to be a "real" Legionnaire.)

Still, raise your hand if you think Jenni might be better off right now spending some time in the past with Bart, Wally, and the rest. She has a family and a place in the universe, and I just don't see that making a mosaic is going to help her.

You know what would help Jenni Ognats? Going on a mission. Being useful, helping teammates, saving the world. IMHO, that's what Jenni needs.

Ah, well. Perhaps that blue stone will be the missing piece that's needed to defeat the blue critter and whatever else is going on. Maybe Jenni will save the day in the end.


BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:

We learn a little of the split between Lydda and Rokk. Lydda says, "He dumped me so he could concentrate totally on the Legion...and I guess I was still distracting." In other words...Rokk is behaving like a bastard. He needs a good whop upside the head, and it seems to me that Jed Rikane is just the one to do it. A violent fight would clear the air between the two, then they could have great make-up sex. Then Jed could join the Legion while Rokk and Lydda went off together to heal their relationship.

---------- 

Week of 27 April 2011

(edited 21 May 2011)

ACTION #900 (2011/06)
"Friday Night in the 21st Century"


ROLL CALL:

Blok, Brainiac 5, Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, Dawnstar, Lightning Lad, Lightning Lass, Night Girl, Phantom Girl, Polar Boy, Saturn Girl, Shadow Lass, Superman, Timber Wolf, Ultra Boy, Wildfire

CUTE BOYS: Brainy, Brek, Brin (with his mouth full, ooo baby!), Clark, Garth, Gim, Jo, Rokk

This is a cute 4-page story for the big Action Comics #900, which I originally missed thanks to Infectious Lass and every comic store in the world selling out. Thanks to Brainy Pirate for alerting me, and thanks to Lone Star Comics where I finally got a copy.

Lois Lane is digging under her desk at the Daily Planet while Clark nags her about the mess (shut up, Clark!) She produces a Legion flight ring (she says Saturn Girl gave it to her in case of an emergency), and Clark asks what she wants with it. Turns out Lois just wants to invite Clark's childhood friends to dinner. The subsequent two-page spread is set in the Kent apartment while various Legionnaires hang around with Clark and Lois.

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:

Lois's guest list seems odd, if only for some curious omissions. It seems to be heavy on couples, which fits well enough for the young-married Kents. So we have Garth and Imra, of course, and Rokk and Lydda (Rokk's probably ashamed to let Clark know that he jilted her), Jo and Tinya.

Blok is there but not Mysa -- she probably wouldn't have come, but why did he? Oh well, at least he looks miserable without her.

Gim is there but not Yera. That's really odd...certainly Lois would've invited them both. I assume that Yera has an acting job that she can't get out of -- which certainly makes sense until you realize that they have a bloody time machine, and could return her to the exact instant they left. We are left with four possibilities:

1. Yera refused to come because she can't stand Clark
2. Yera refused to come because she can't stand Lois
3. Yera is there but was in the bathroom when this picture was taken
4. Yera is there and playing hide-and-seek with Gim; she's actually that head of lettuce in the fridge but Gim just doesn't recognize her

Ayla and Brin, another odd choice. Together, I mean. It also seems like Brin is hiding from Ayla, who's pissed at him. I can certainly believe that (and it fits in well with the theory of a hide-and-seek game going on), but...they aren't a couple any more, are they?

And if Ayla's here, and so are Garth and Imra, then who's taking care of the kids? Aunt Imra? 

And speaking of Ayla...where's Vi? Okay, yes, she could be anywhere in the picture, hiding behind that soda bottle or between the floorboards. (If Vi came along, that would help explain Yera's absence.)

Brek is there, but that's not difficult to understand. Brek has had a crush on Clark since he first applied for Legion membership, maybe even before -- he's certainly not going to turn down an invitation to a mad orgy that includes Clark along with the other Legion boys.

Which leaves Shady. Oh, it's not difficult to understand why she's here: Shady has obviously shared a lot of bed time with Clark and Lar, so she'd certainly want to be involved in the orgy. However, I'm surprised she would show her face, since she's been sleeping with Earth-Man -- I can't imagine Clark would be too happy about that, and you don't want to get a Kryptonian mad at you. Heat vision, freeze breath, super-punches...it could be bad.

But where is Mon-El? Busy with his Green Lantern stuff, maybe? Can't be bothered to take off a night and visit his best friend, little brother, and frequent bedmate Kal-El? Doesn't want to be in the same room as Shady? It's a mystery.

Saturn Girl is laughing at Lois -- it's nice to see Imra enjoyng herself, she's been so grim lately.

Cosmic Boy is juggling silverware and smiling -- also good to see him happy.

Lighting Lad seems totally engrossed in the football game. Either that, or he's supplying electricity to the big-screen TV.

Is Polar Boy trying to make bunny ears over Cosmic Boy's head?

And what is Clark looking at? If you follow his eyes, it's not the readers...it's not Lois...it might be Brin (X-ray vision, remember?)...but it seems to be something out of picture, something off behind Saturn Girl. I know...he's staring into the bedroom, where a naked Lar Gand is in a suggestive pose on the bed, awaiting his best friend, little brother, and frequent bedmate. And if you doubt that, look at where Clark has his left hand....

----------

Week of 20 April 2011

Sorry for the delay posting this. Get-a-Life Boy had a run-in with Infectious Lass, and temporarily changed his name to "Sick-as-a-Dog Lad."

He's feeling better now, and ready to tackle the backlog of Legion-related comics from the past few weeks.

-8 May 2011

---

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

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #12 (2011/06)
"False Trails"


ROLL CALL:

Brainiac 5, Colossal Boy, Dream Girl, Earth-Man, Element Lad, Gates, Invisible Kid (Jacques), Lightning Lass, Mon-El, Phantom Girl, Star Boy, Star Boy (Earth-247 Legion), Star Boy (Earth-Prime Legion), Tellus, Timber Wolf, Dyogene, Harmonia Li, Atta/Akka, Hunter (Adam Orion), Immortus, Lightning Lord, Questor, Saturn Queen, Stegus, Sun Killer, Zymyr

CUTE BOYS: Brainy, Brin, Gim, Jacques, Jan, Jo, Mon, Thom, Thom, Thom, Okinawa Scientist

On Rimbor, a Legion team (Colossal Boy Phantom Girl, & Ultra Boy) interrupts Lightning Lord and Akka in their attempt to recruit new LSV members. Despite the appearance of Lightning Lass, the villains escape when Zymyr teleports them away.

On Earth, Brainy hooks Thom up to a machine that will draw the multiversal energy out of his uniform (thus curing him). He leaves Dream Girl in control of the process, tells Dr. Li he will get back to her, and then leaves to assemble a team to deal with the situation on Colu.

On Colu, Saturn Queen and the LSV are after the location of the mysterious third world of immortals. The Legion team arrives (Brainy, Earth-Man, Element Lad, Invisible Kid, and Timber Wolf). The LSV keeps them busy until Questor finds the data he's after, then most of the LSV departs, leaving Akka and Lightning Lord behind to deal with the Legion.

At the same time, Dyogene and Mon-El examine the wreckage of the Rock of Eternity. Dyogene despairs that there are only two Green Lanterns left to deal with this threat -- Mon-El tells him not to underestimate the Legion.

The art in this story is so dynamic, it's incredible. Notice particularly the use of energy (in many different forms) and the way it alters the light in each scene. And the way the panels are structured, so the the art seems to overflow boundaries and almost leap off the page.

It's not often that I notice good comic art -- I tend to read for story, and usually notice the art only when it detracts from the story -- but even I am very impressed by what Cinar is doing with the Legion.


BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:

Five alternate Star Boys are visible in the multiversal energy being pulled out of Thom. Clockwise from upper right: Star Boy of Earth-247 Legion, Star Man of Earth-22, Star Boy of Earth-Prime Legion, the original Star Boy, and a red-hooded Star Boy of Yildiray Cinar's own design. I, for one, would love to see an entire alternate Legion in Cinar-designed costumes.

Brainy comments that Thom has had worse luck than most of the Leigonnaires. Again, Garth is traditionally the unluckiest Legionnaire -- but Thom has also had his share of bad luck, so I guess Brainy's more or less right.

CHRONICLER'S ERROR?:

Last issue her name was Akka; this issue it's Atta. Actually, either is correct: the Sklarian letter "ktay" can be pronounced either as "k" or "t."

 ----------

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES: THE CHOICE (Hardcover)

This beautiful volume collects the first six issues of the new Legion of Super-Heroes title. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on it, as I've covered the stories already.

BONUSES: While there aren't any text pages, there's a lot of additional art in this book. First, there's Cinar's cover, which is not only another dramatic and dynamic group shot, but also shows attention to detail in the faces of the individual Legionnaires -- he's done a fantastic job of capturing the personalities of some members. Check out Brainy, Brin, Garth, Imra, Rokk, and even Shady in particular.

The stories are separated by full-page drawings of various Legionnaires: Saturn Girl, Dawnstar (and her boobs), Lightning Lad, Ultra Boy, Earth-Man, Chameleon Boy, and Timber Wolf (with two S.P. boobs in tow).

The Jim Lee alternate covers are included (in publication order), along with the complete image of all six in graphic order. Which raises a question -- hey, DC, how about producing that image as a poster? You can charge us an unconscionable amount for it, you know we'll pay.

As an extra bonus there are also 11 pages of Cinar sketches, including four try-out pages he did for the Legion assignment. Hey, DC, let's see the whole story that these pages illustrate! You can charge us an unconscionable amount, you know we'll pay.

The back cover also has an image that looks new, one with a sulky-looking Sun Boy who is just begging to be comforted by one of his buddies. While Cinar makes all the Legionnaires look as hot as possible, his Sun Boy is incredibly cute...it's hard to believe that Earth-Man slept with Shadow Lass instead of Sun Boy.


PROOFREADER'S ERROR?: The blurb on the front cover flap states that "An accident at the Time Incident leads to the destruction of Saturn Girl's homeworld..." Uh, it's the Time Institute, not Time Incident.

----------

DC COMICS PRESENTS LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 100-PAGE SPECTACULAR One-Shot (2011/06)

By now everyone knows about this: it reprints the "Legion of the Damned" storyline, and the comic was recalled because the stories were printed out of order. (Proofreader's Error, anyone?). Some comic shops went ahead and sold copies -- my comic shop guy didn't even find out about the recall until he was sold out. Fortunately, I got my copy. It's an interesting oddity for insane completists to have in a Legion collection.

This is supposed to be reprinted with a different colored logo (white instead of yellow) and presumably a different date on the cover. I had all sorts of snide and snippy things to say about this storyline, but I'll save it until the reprint comes out.

----------

Week of 13 April 2011

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

ADVENTURE #525 (2011/06)
"First Tests"


ROLL CALL:

Chemical Kid, Comet Queen, Cosmic Boy, Crystal Kid (cover only), Dragonwing, Glorith, Gravity Kid, Lamprey, Mandalla (cover only), Night Girl, Power Boy, Shadow Kid (cover only), Variable Lad, Visi-Lad (cover only), Westerner (cover only), Dr. Gym'll (cover only), Father Jamik, Alchemical Girl, Black Mace, Shagrek Look-a-Like #1, Shagrek Look-a-Like #2


CUTE BOYS: Chemical Kid, Gravity Kid, Power Boy, Rokk


Alchemical Girl and the rest of the Taurus Gang have the Academy team on the ropes, but Glorith receives a transfusion of power from the Black Witch, and turns the tables. We learn that Chemical Kid's father sold the secret of his gene-mod to Taurus to repay gambling debts.


Meanwhile, Cosmic Boy and Night Girl bring Lamprey and Power Boy to Metropolis Starport to respond to a crisis -- and to give the cadets a final test. The mission is to capture some smugglers without damaging their cargo, a priceless elephant stolen from a biological preserve. Lamprey and Power Boy handle the mission well, but Cosmic Boy is against having them in the Legion. The senior S.P. officer says that he will recommend the kids for the "new Takron-Galtos security team."




An interesting exchange between Lydda and Rokk.

Rokk: We don't all get our dreams, Lydda. 

Lydda: Or know how to hold onto them...but maybe these ids are smarter than you.

There's obviously some history there. Sometime during the missing years, Rokk and Lydda seem to have broken up as a romantic couple -- and it had something to do with Rokk's devotion to the Legion. I'm betting that we'll learn the full details in due time.

Meanwhile, my advice to Mr. Krinn is, get down on your knees and apologize. Maybe she'll take you back.

On another topic, does anyone else think Jed and Tayla are getting a raw deal? Sure, their powers aren't in the same league as Lighting Lad or Mon-El -- but the Legion has never been about having great powers, it's about teamwork and devotion to duty and the ability to contribute. Besides, why is Cosmic Boy the one who gets to decide whether they can be Legionnaires? Shouldn't the whole Legion get a vote?

This story was well-done and all, but I wound up feeling a little frustrated.

----------

ADVENTURE #525 (2011/06)
"The Darkness Within"


ROLL CAL:

Black Witch, Blok, Chemical Kid, Glorith, Harlak, XS, Mordru


CUTE BOYS: Harlak


On Sorcerer's World, Harlak sends another letter to Glorith. Meanwhile, Mysa has descended into a deep pit, leaving Blok to brood above. Mysa gets a recharge of magical energy from across the universe, but she sees that Glorith and the cadets are in danger and sends the power her way. In the process, Mordru almost escapes from within Mysa, but Mysa triumphs and contains him once again. She stumbles to the top of the pit and embraces Blok, saying she can rest now. It's all over...at least for now.


A nice backup story, tying in with both the Legion Academy storyline and the goings-on in the main Legion title.


----------


BOOSTER GOLD #43 (2011/06)
"Endgame"


ROLL CALL:

Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, Dawnstar, Karate Kid, Lighting Lad, Mon-El, Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl, Shrinking Violet, Star Boy, Sun Boy, Timber Wolf, Ultra Boy, Wildfire, Proty II, Validus


CUTE BOYS: Booster Gold, Brainy, Brin, Dirk, Garth, Gim, Jo, Mon, Rip Hunter, Rokk, Thom, Val


Booster, in the throes of "chronal leprosy," winds up in the future with the 1970s-era Legion, who are fighting Validus. After much misunderstanding, Brainy comes to accept Booster's story and cures him of the leprosy. Booster goes back to his home time, while Brainy talks with Rip Hunter, who has apparently arranged everything for some reasons of his own.


BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:


At the Time Institute, Brainy partners with a scientist who looks like Circadia Senius but is called Dr. Tsuris. We've never seen this guy before...unless he really is Circadia Senius and the writers just didn't remember his name.


----------


THE FLASH 10 (2011/06)
"Case Two: The Road to Flashpoint Part Two"


ROLL CALL:

Bart Allen

CUTE BOYS: Barry Allen, Bart


Bart's origin in the 31st century is briefly recounted. Barry refers to Bart as "my descendant from the future," which tends to indicate that he does't know Bart's his grandson...and possibly explains why he isn't all that aware of Jenni.


----------


R.E.B.E.L.S. #27 (2011/06)
"Starstruck Part 3"


ROLL CALL:

Adam Strange, Amon Hakk, Bounder, Captain Comet, Lobo, Lyrl Dox, Starfire, Tribulus, Vril Dox, Xylon, Smite, Starro

CUTE BOYS: Adam Strange, Captain Comet, Lyrl Dox

On Psion, Lobo and Smite fight to the point where they've bonded enough to have drinks together. Starro and Vril Dox return to Rann, which is overrun by Starro face-huggers. Meanwhile, Lyrl Dox is working to heal Tribulus; instead, he "reboots" Tribulus and sets him against the Starros. Meanwhile, a L.E.G.I.O.N. team of Starfire, Comet, and Adam Strange ride a zeta-beam back to Rann to join the fray.

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:

In his rebooted form, with exposed brain, Tribulus looks an awful lot like Validus. Could it be possible that the two are the same? Now that would be pretty cool. But how does it tie in with Darkseid's curse? Maybe it will all work out -- Darkseid turned Garridan Ranzz into Validus, then later turned him back. Then, somehow, Tribulus 2.0 goes into the future and takes the place of Validus/Garridan.

Time will tell.

 ----------

There was no actual Legion content in Superman #710 (2011/06), but there's a plot that concerns Vandal Savage and deals tangentially with Nanda Parbat. Just makes me think...the current storyline in Legion is all about immortals, and we haven't seen Vandal Savage in the Legion mythos, have we? At least, not lately.

Worth thinking about.

----------

Week of 6 April 2011

No Legion content in DC comics this week.

It's hard to believe that DC's outer-space comic Weird Worlds has gone four issues without containing the slightest shred of Legion-related content...but there it is.

Next week is supposed to be new Adventure and new R.E.B.E.L.S. -- so at least that's something.

----------

Week of 30 March 2011

There was no Legion content in DC Comics this week. Boo, hiss.

 ----------