Week of 4 January 2012

STAR TREK/LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 4 (2012/01)
(untitled)
ROLL CALL:

Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Shadow Lass

CUTE BOYS: Brainy, Chekov, Garth, Kirk, McCoy, Rokk, Spock, Sulu

Castellan Kajz informs the Emperor that there are time travelers around. The Emperor asks why "he" didn't inform them.

The time-traveling team of Brainy, Imra, Rokk, Chekov, McCoy, and Spock run into turbulence in the timestream and crash-land in caveman times, several weeks after the point of divergence. They're attacked by cavemen armed with futuristic weapons, under the control of a powerful mind. Imra leads the team to that mind, and they find Vandal Savage.

In the present day, Cham, Garth, Tasmia, Kirk, Sulu, and Uhura get into the palace and fight their way to the throne room, where they find Flint.

Flint/Savage announces that he has had many names and titles, but the most important is Vandar the Stone, Master of Earth...and none will oppose him. But a shadowy figure with glowing eyes, present in both times, responds "That's what you think..."

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:

Funniest single exchange of the comic, perhaps the series: Chekov is doing his usual "bragging about Russia" shtick, saying "the steam engine, the printing press, even scotch -- all invented in Russia." Cosmic Boy responds, "That's amazing. Our timelines must be even more different than I thought."

Kirk attempts to flirt with Shady, but he's met his match; she's used to worse people than him leering at her.

So why does this Legion recognize Vandal Savage? I can't recall any previous meetings between them. (Yeah, there was Crisis on Infinite Earths, but that's later in this Legion's timeline.) Maybe it was an untold story...or those ubiquitous history tapes.

Fint is the immortal from the Star Trek (original series) episode "A Requiem for Methuselah." The split-screen panel showing him in both timelines is probably a deliberate homage to a similar panel in Legion of 3 Worlds with the Time Trapper and Superboy-Prime.

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ACTION 5 (2012/03)
"Rocket Song"
ROLL CALL:

Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Superman

CUTE BOYS: With this art? Everyone looks grotesque.

I don't know what to make of this one. The story retells the Superman origin myth with updates appropriate to the New 52 universe (Jonathan Kent is a devious schemer who deceives the government, Martha is self-absorbed and weepy). Then we cut to an undetermined time (this series hasn't been very good about orienting the readers in time) when Superman's rocket is attacked by "the Anti-Superman Army," who steals its "Kryptonite engine." The theft is discovered by Superman and the three Legionnaires, looking all adult and gritty. In a further attempt to give the readers what they apparently want, Saturn Girl's boobs are huge and both Superman and Lightning Lad have padded crotches.

Look, I have sympathy for new Legion readers who say they're lost -- after all, there's a whole lot of backstory to catch up on. But this is issue #5 of a brand-new continuity, and I'm completely lost. That's not because of the long back-story -- I've read all four previous issues.

I just don't get the appeal of Grant Morrison. I couldn't follow Final Crisis either. Those who think he's so great...what do you see in his writing? Is it the grittiness, the despair, the frowning faces, the enormous boobs and padded crotches? Is it that you figure since you can't follow the story, he must be so incredibly intelligent and good that he's beyond you? (If so, I have news for you...the emperor is wearing no clothes.)

I don't know what to do with this version of the Legion. Perhaps that will come as we learn more...if we ever do. For now, I think this falls into the same category as the Adult Legion's early appearances in Superman and Action comics -- there's no thought for continuity or even sense, DC just realizes that they'll sell more comics if they have guest appearances from the Legion.

Bah!

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Week of 28 December 2011

LEGION: SECRET ORIGIN 3 (2012/02)
"Connections"
ROLL CALL:

Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Cosmic Boy, Invisible Kid (Lyle), Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl, Triplicate Girl, Wynn Allon, Anisa, R.J. Brande, H'Hrnath, Marla Latham, Mycroft, Pheebes, Zarl, S.P. Chief Zoltorus(?)

CUTE BOYS: Brainy, Garth, Lyle, Rokk, Wynn, Assorted U.P. soldiers

A lot going on here.

U.P. troops take Phantom Girl to Earth, where she meets with the Security Directorate and gives them a data cube containing everything Bgtzl knows about the invaders. She then joins the Legion.

Brainy, in Admiral Allon's ship above Anotrom, helps U.P. forces defeat an invader ship coming though the suddenly-larger wormhole.

Cosmic Boy, lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, and R.J. Brande flight-test the new Leigon cruiser, the fastest ship in the U.P. Imra tells Brande that she tried to read the minds of the attempted assassins, but their minds are blocked and they were acting under the control of someone else. Brande announces that the Legion has better things to do than guard him, and he's going to get a bodyguard.

Another assassination attempt on Brade is foiled by his new bodyguard: Invisible Kid.

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:

Tinya's entrance into the Security Directorate's office is reminiscent of her arrival in the new Legion HQ in the Legion's origin story way back in Superboy 147 (1968/06).

When Rokk tells Garth not to crash-test the cruiser, Garth responds "Did that once -- that was enough." He refers, of course, to the crash-landing on Korbal that led to him, Ayla, and Mekt getting their lightning powers.

Among the holo-images of potential Legionnaires is Reep Daggle, later to be Chameleon Boy. Later, Brande makes a note to "Check if Marla gets Reep's quarantine pa--" (probably "papers") -- Reep is, in reality, Brande's son -- a fact that the Legion will not learn for quite a while.

Brainy defeats the alien ship by using "an ancient technique called crossing the T...from before wars were fought in three dimensions." This, I believe, is a deliberate slap in the face to shows such as Star Trek which so often forget that their ships can move in three dimensions. You might remember a scene from Wrath of Khan where Kirk surprises Khan by bringing the Enterprise up from beneath Khan's ship -- the scene came as a surprise because it went against the usual two-dimensional tactics of the show.

Well, now we know where Kirk learned that maneuver...from Brainy himself, probably between pages in the Star Trek/LSH crossover series.

On a more serious note, Brainy's maneuver worked only because the alien ship was emerging form the plane of the wormhole's mouth...thus, in effect, reducing the battle to a two-dimensional one. To Admiral Allon and the other U.P. troops, two-dimensional battle plans were unfamiliar, because for the last few centuries battles were always fought in three dimensions.

Incidentally, this is an early example of Brainy's tactical genius -- which later figured into his rivalry with the Khund Field Marshal Lorca in "The Charge of the Doomed Legionnaires" (Superboy 217, 1976/06).

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LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 100-PAGE SPECTACULAR 2 (2012/02)

This is a reprint volume that contains Legion stories from various scattered sources, most of them recent.

The cover is from Adventure 0 (2009/04), and is an homage to the iconic cover of Adventure 247.

First up is "The Legion of Super-Heroes" from Adventure 247, most recently reprinted in the same Adventure 0 (2009/04). By my count, this is the tenth time DC has sold me this particular story. (The other nine are listed here.)

Next up, "Long Live the Legion Part One," the backup story from Adventure 504/1 (2009/10) (I reviewed it here.)

Then comes "Long Live the Legion Part Two" (Adventure 505/2, 2009/11, reviewed here), "Long Live the Legion Part Four" (Adventure 506/3, 2009/12, reviewed here), and "Long Live the Legion Part Four" (Adventure 507/4, 2010/01, reviewed here).

Then, totally out os sequence, comes "Batman and the Legion of Super-Heroes" from Action 864 (2008/06), reviewed here. This is a particularly good story to have. It's an epilog to the Superman and the LSH series and a prolog to Legion of 3 Worlds.

Next is the four-page cute (if inaccurately-titled) story "Friday Night in the 31st Century" from Action 800 (2011/06) reviewed here.

The final story is "Who is Clark Kent's Big Brother" from Action Annual 10 (2007/03), which retold and updated Mon-El's origin for a continuity that no longer exists.

All in all, this is a nice volume to have, with some historically-important Legion stories.

By the way...what ever happened to Lightning Lad's quest for the lost twin that Mekt claimed he had? I'm just sayin'....

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Week of 21 December 2011

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 4 (2012/02)
"Not What They Seem"
ROLL CALL:

Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Chemical Kid, Cosmic Boy, Dragonwing, Dream Girl, Element Lad, Glorith, Harmonia, Invisible Kid (Jacques), Lightning Lass, Mon-El, Phantom Girl, Polar Boy, Sensor Girl, Shadow Lass, Shrinking Violet, Sun Boy, Ultra Boy, Dominators, Res-Vir

CUTE BOYS: Brainy, Brek, Dirk, Hadru, Jacques, Jan, Jo, Lar, Rokk

With coaching from Element Lad, Chemical Kid defeats Res-Vir. Between Cham, Mon-El, and the rest of the Legionnaires, the Dominators are sent back to the Dominion with their tails between their legs. (The mystery of why they wanted the Legion to follow them back remains unanswered.)

The team on Daxam discovers a lab working with what appears to be Kryptonite, apparently a tiny sample from a meteorite that Res-Vir collected before he disappeared.

Meanwhile at Legion HQ, Brainy continues to ponder the mystery behind the great power of Glorith's magical shields. Dream Girl visits and gives him the clue he needs: Glorith's shield displaces energy through time.

Finally, Shady welcomes Mon-El back and says it's good to see him acting like himself after such a long time. He replies, "You have no idea how long, Shady...no idea."

Wow.

It looks like things have come to a happy ending, but I'm guessing we're only at about the midpoint of this story arc. Several things are still unexplained:

1. Res-Vir's serum, presumably provided by the Dominators, doesn't use Kryptonite but some other strange ingredient.
2. The Dominators wanted to draw the Legion into the Dominion, where presumably some greater threat is awaiting them.
3. Mon's enigmatic comment to Shady...as well as her sudden friendliness toward him...begs explanation.

Meanwhile, here are not one but two absolutely stunning examples of good writing and good art working together.

First, Chemical Kid. Last issue we saw him start to realize that he was out of his depth. This issue, Element Lad coaches him into regaining his confidence and growing up a bit. Look at his face in the opening sequence. You see him go from total panic to tentative confidence to...humility. Look at how Jan encourages him while pushing him into the fray. Look at how Mon-El and Ultra Boy wait out of sight, keeping their eyes on things so they could swoop down in the nick of time. Look at how Mon-El, the Legion Leader, praises him -- both overtly and with the suggestion that lowly Chemical Kid could be on his level.

And finally, look at Hadru's response: "N-no, sir." Where's the brash, overconfident kid? Where's the juvenile delinquent? Where did this sudden respect come from?

The Legion, that's where. The older Legionnaires put Hadru into a situation where he had two alternatives: fail, or grow and succeed. And he rose to the occasion. (Don't you think Element Lad could have turned air into a foot-thick prison of intertron to keep Res-Vir at bay? Don't you think Lar and Jo couldn't have knocked him unconscious again? But no...they gave Hadru his opportunity.)

I think I'm starting to like Hadru Jamik...something I never thought I'd say.

The second stunning bit is the scene with Brainy and Dreamy in the lab.

This is Paul Levitz knowing his characters. Nura and Brainy have a lot of respect for one another, a lot of history together, and are good friends. At the same time, there's always been this tension between them; Nura's powers confound Brainy. Nevertheless, Brainy admits that Nura has a brain that is a worthy companion to his own.

Look, again, at the faces. Brainy, confused and resentful at this whole magic thing. Nura open and friendly, having an intellectual discussion with her friend. Then Brainy's eureka moment, followed by Nura's slightly annoyed expression.

Now think about what's actually going on here. Nura Nal dreams the future. Consider the implications.

Nura knew that she was going to be in Brainy's lab, and knew what both of them were going to say. She knew that she needed to go to the lab and give him the tidbit he needed to solve Glorith's shield.

Once you know that, it brings a whole new level of meaning to the conversation...and particularly to Nura's last remark. "Sigh...always lovely chatting, Brainy -- you listen so attentively..." She knew she was going to say that. She knew everything that both of them were going to say, and yet she had to go through it all, because that's how Dream Girl's life goes.

Like I said, stunning.

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Week of 14 December 2011

LEGON LOST 4 (2012/02)
"Coseismic"
ROLL CALL:

Chameleon Girl, Dawnstar, Tellus, Timber Wolf, Tyroc, Wildfire, Alastor

CUTE BOYS: Brin, Troy, Various cops and students at University of Minnesota

Dawnstar gets her turn as narrator this time around, and we learn why she's never pursued a career at the Discovery Channel.

We left Brin and Yera in the mall, where Yera was struggling to control her body form while the cops are panicking. She explains that she only has half of her Durlan body-mass, not enough to control, and she reverts to the alien form. Tyroc and Wildfire arrive, and in the ensuing confusion Year escapes. Brin goes after her, leaving Drake and Troy to deal with the cops.

We learn that Tyroc delayed the mission to pck a lot of supplies into the time bubble's tesseract storage chamber, which is now inaccessible. Wildfire hints that Troy knew something was going to go wrong with the mission. This presupposes that Tyroc has the 12th level intelligence that would be necessary to get anything coherent from this narrative.

The boys catch up with Brin, who has caught up with Yera, who is unconscious. Suddenly the Black Razors show up, shouting their name in Highly Significant Huge Red Letters. Yes, you read that right...the major revelation of this issue is that the Legion is being tracked by none other than The Black Razors. No! I hear you gasp, not the Black Razors! Who could have expected THAT surprise turn of events? This is a revelation that rivals the big reveal of Sensor Girl's true identity, or the reveal that the ultimate villain behind the Great Darkness was Darkseid! I hear you take a breath, then add, By the way, who the hell are the Black Razors?

Why, the Black Razors are...uh...wait, I recognize their logo from...uh...no, I got nothin'. I know, let's try Google! A search for "Black Razors" DC Comics reveals...uh, nothing pertinent.

I know, I know! Maybe the Black Razors are something that the writer invented just for this series, and then chose to reveal in such a dramatic method in hopes that everyone would be so dazzled by the drama that they'd forget to say "What the hell?"

News flash...readers of Legion Lost have never stopped saying "What the hell?"

Ahem. Back to the issue. Dawnstar finds Alastor hiding at the University of Minnesota. She swoops down and snatches him away, dropping him in a nearby swamp where she and Tellus confront him. But Alastor refuses to listen to reason (wow, who'd'a guessed that the wacko racist villain wouldn't listen to reason?) and tells them that he has full control of his transformation. He transforms to his monster form, which contains Carggite DNA so he's able to split into three. Suddenly, Dawny's plan doesn't look so clever.

The issue ends with the standard horrify threat that there will be another one.

News is that the writer is bailing out of this train wreck with issue #6. Good riddance. Maybe they can find someone to throw dice or string together random words from the dictionary or whatever his plotting device is. Or maybe they'll just cancel the title and send the lost Legionnaires back where they belong.

I really hope that Gates has gone to get someone competent to end this misery.

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STAR TREK / LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 3 (2011/12)

(untitled)

ROLL CALL:

Legion Universe: Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Shadow Lass

Cameos: Blok, Bouncing Boy, Colossal Boy, Dawnstar, Dream Girl, Duo Damsel, Invisible Kid (Jacques), Karate Kid (Val), Light Lass, Mon-El, Phantom Girl, SHrinking Violet, Star Boy, Sun Boy, Superboy, Supergirl, Timber Wolf, Ultra Boy, White Witch, Wildfire, Domintors, Khunds, Time Trapper, Universo

Imperial Planets universe: The Imperial Elite: (Emerald Empress), Emerald Eye, (Mano), Slar (Persuader), Ruk (Tharok), (Validus)

CUTE BOYS: Brainy, Garth, Rokk, Chekov, Kirk, McCoy, Spock, Sulu, Trelane (and did anyone else notice little Alexander Rozhenko and Harlak on the cover with all the Klingons and Khunds?)

The Legionnaires and the Enterprise crew battle until they overcome their mutual hostility and decide they are on the same side. Each side produces a two-page spread about their respective universes. Brainy and Spock reveal that this is not a third alternate universe; this is, instead, the two universes have merged. Unless they can undo the merge, they're doomed to remain in this version of reality.

Before they can decide what to do, they're attacked by The Imperial Elite, this universe's version of the Fatal Five. The Enterprise crewmembers pair with individual Leigonnaires to defeat the bad guys; each pair gets a single page to do so.

Then Spock and Brainy refit a flying platform into a time machine, and Our Heroes split into two groups. Brainy, Imra, Rokk, Checkov, McCoy, and Spock go back in time to determine when this timeline diverged from reality, and the rest stay in the present (because the platform can only handle six). The stay-at-homes go off to track down the other time anomaly.

This series continues to be intriguing, and the parallels between the two universes continue to be delightful. If Jeff Roberson, the writer, ever wants a job writing the Legion, I would not object. As a matter of fact, once Legion Lost has died a deserved death, let's resurrect Adventure and give it to him. Or bring back the Wanderers. What are the Heroes of Lallor doing nowadays?

I don't know if I'm the first, but I'd like to enthusiastically call for a second Star Trek/Legion series once this one is done.

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:

The big thrill this issue is the Imperial Elite, a nicely-merged version of the Fatal Five.

The Emerald Empress is an Orion woman -- they're green, after all, and deadly.

Mano is a Benzite, which is inspired. As far as I know, the Benzites didn't appear in the original Star Trek, but they are a Federation race who need breathing gear to survive in Earth environments. That's the nearest thing in the Star Trek universe to the poisonous atmosphere of Mano's homeworld Angtu. Good call.

The Persuader is a Gorn slaver named Slar, from the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "In a Mirror Darkly Part II." Great strength, armored skin, barbaric -- another good call.

Tharok is Ruk. In the Star Trek universe, Ruk was an android (played by Ted Cassidy) from the episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" Another good call, although honestly I had to look him up in Memory Alpha to remember him.

Validus is a Mugatu complete with single horn and see-through forehead. Unreasoning brute. Good call.

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Week of 7 December 2011

A week that will live in infamy...because there was no Legion content in DC comics.

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Week of 30 November 2011

LEGION: SECRET ORIGIN 2 (2012/01)
"Target"
ROLL CALL:

Brainiac 5, Colossal boy, Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl, Triplicate Girl, Wynn Allon, Anisa, R.J. Brande, Marla Latham, Mycroft, Pheebes, Zarl

CUTE BOYS: Brainy, Garth, Gim, Rokk, Assorted U.P. military men

While R.J. Brande and the Legion are admiring the new Legion HQ, another assassination attempt is made on Brande -- and quickly foiled by the kids. The Security Directorate approves an S.P. request to deputize the Legion for their work recovering the quintile crystal.

On Anotrom, Tinya tells Brainy that the attackers of Anotrom are probably the same creatures that have been destroying Bgtzl's colony worlds. Tinya reveals that she has a rare genetic gift that allows her to leave Bgtzl, unlike most of her folk.

A space warp opens and an attacker comes through -- looking oddly like Tyr or one of his people. Brainy's force field overloads the attacker's weapon and it explodes, apparently closing the warp.

Gim Allon (Colossal Boy) calls his dad (Admiral Allon) to talk about his future -- he asks if Dad has heard about this new Legion that's forming.

Back on Earth, the Legion foils a third attempt on Brande's life. At the Security Directorate, Mycroft muses about how they can use the Legion.

A very good story, well-told and nicely drawn. The Security Directorate remains mysterious, as do Brande's enemies and the attackers of Anotrom. Meanwhile, Levitz is having great fun messing around with the history of the Legion, adding all kinds of layers but on the whole remaining consistent with what we know...at least, within the boundaries of Chronicler's Error.

It'll be fun to see where this goes.


BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:

The story of the Quintile Crystal was told in DC Super-Stars 17 (1977/11).

Tinya's genetic ability to leave Bgtzl doesn't necessarily contradict anything we've seen before. The only Bgtzlans I can recall that we've seen in our dimension are Tinya's brother Gmya, Ron-Vizl (a Bgtzllan assassin),  and Solon Darga (Phantom Lad)...and the last two might have just had the same gift.

Gim Allon mentions that he's recovered from "the meteor accident" -- that would be the one that gave him his Colossal Boy powers.
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Week of 23 November 2011

In terms of the Legion, there was nothing to be thankful for this week: I saw no LSH content in any DC comic.

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Week of 16 November 2011

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 3 (2012/01)
"Shadow War"
ROLL CALL:

Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Chemical Kid, Comet Queen, Cosmic Boy, Dragonwing, Element Lad, Glorith, Invisible Kid (Jacques), Lightning Lass, Mon-El, Phantom Girl, Polar Boy, Shadow lass, Shrinking Violet, Sun Boy, Ultra Boy, Dominators, Res-Vir

CUTE BOYS:
Brainy, Brek, Dirk, Hadru, Jacques, Jan, Jo, Lar, Rokk

An action-packed issue that advances the storyline on several fronts.

On Panoptes, the Legion team is facing both Res-Vir the renegade Daxamite and an invasion fleet of Dominators. The older Legionnaires take it in stride, but Dragonwing and particularly Chemical Kid seem a little out of their depth.

Brainy experiments on Glorith, testing the young witch's force shield. He is unconcerned about the Panoptes situation.

A team consisting of Cosmic Boy, Invisible Kid, Lightning Lass, and Shrinking Violet goes to Daxam in search of info about Res-Vir.

Above Panoptes, the Legionnaires (with reinforcements) make mincemeat of the Dominators fleet. on the surface, Mon-El and Ultra Boy, with the help of Shadow Lass, keep Res-Vir busy while Element Lad tries to figure out how to neutralize Res-Vir's anti-lead serum. Cham disguises himself as a Dominator and slips aboard the command ship.

Element ad consults with Brainy, who is on the point of figuring out the best way to subdue Res-Vir, when Shady's darkness clears to reveal that Mon-El has already knocked Res-Vir unconscious. The issue ends with Mon saying "I'm a little more used to action in shadow" and Brainy replying, "A wise man knows when not to comment, my friend."

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:

Upon landing on Daxam the Legion cruiser is sealed off to prevent heavy metal contamination. Dialogue makes it clear that (a) Daxam's quarantine is there to protect the Daxamites, (b) Daxam is still a peaceful world with no interest in conquest, and (c) Res-Vir was somehow spirited offword without a trace.

Res-Vir's anti-lead serum doesn't use Kryptonite, like the one Brainy invented -- it uses "something else -- something unnatural."

Shadow Lass collapses when she lowers her darkfield, but seems to recover quickly. Some on the web have speculated that perhaps Shady is pregnant. I don't know...but certainly something's going on with her, perhaps going as far back as her breakup with Mon and her subsequent affair with Earth Man. That last exchange isn't just a clever double-entendre meant to reveal character...Levitz is undoubtedly reminding us that Mon and Shady had a romantic past. I'll bet there's more to come....

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Week of 9 November 2011

(This is the first of a series of catch-up posts from the past two months [gasp!]) Things have calmed down a little, so I should be more up-to-date soon. Thanks for being patient.)

LEGION LOST 3 (2011/ 01)
"Red Rage"
ROLL CALL:

Chameleon Girl, Dawnstar, Tellus, Timber Wolf, Tyroc, Wildfire

CUTE BOYS:
Brin, Jo, Kal-El, Troy, various police officers

Brin narrates this time. The hypertaxis plague continues to spread. While Dawnstar is off trying to track down Alastor, Brin suggests contacting some of the 21st century heroes they know, but Tyroc says they don't dare expose them to the plague. As they debate, they are interrupted by a Coincidentally Convenient News Broadcast (what a fresh plot device!) that sends Brin out to track an Okaaran rdrayyj attacking locals.

Brin finds the critter in a shopping mall (hey, I wonder if Inferno from the Earth-247 Legion is hanging around there?) and they fight for seven...long...pages -- including a bit where Brin fires his fingernails at the beast (you see, the hypertaxis has affected him as well, apparently mixing his DNA with that of a Fwangian Fingernail-Firer). Then the critter suddenly morphs into the presumed-dead Chameleon Girl. Bet nobody saw that coming!

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:

The absolute best moment in this comic comes at the bottom of page six, when a maid interruptes Brin, Telus, Tyroc, and Wildfire in their motel room. Tellus projects a telepathic image of normality. In that image, Drake looks like a slightly dorky redhead with green shorts and a red t-shirt bearing a large yellow star. And Tellus portrays himself as a fat guy, obviously somewhat older than the others (okay, what does the maid think is going on in that room?) -- and he's wearing a t-shirt with a cartoon image of his nonhuman body and the words "ironic t-shirt."

The second best moment is...uh...I'm working on it...oh, yeah -- when the hypertaxis plague lowers Tyroc's intelligence to that of a typical comic book writer, unable to conceive of contacting Superman in any way other than walking up to him (no telepathic contact, no phone call)...or of the possibility that Superman might be able to do something from safely outside the plague zone, like, oh, I don't know, setting up quarantine? Of course, this is the New 52 universe, so maybe all the 21st century DC heroes have become unbelievably stupid. That would actually explain a lot....

The third-best moment is when, about ten or twelve pages too late, the story ends. Unfortunately, there's a threat: there's going to be a next issue.

I shouldn't be so hard on this book. It's nowhere near as bad as the original Legion Lost, either in art or in writing. The writers are working under some strange constraints: they obviously can't interact much with the mainstream DC universe, they're trying to appeal to an audience that gets impatient if two pages pass without boobs, battles, or both. And they were stuck, for some reason, with a batch of Legionnaires selected by reverse alphabetical order (Wildfire, Tyroc, Timber Wolf, Tellus...how did XS, the White Witch, and Ultra Boy manage to escape?)

A long, long time ago, bringing Legionnaires back to the present worked pretty well. They got Superboy out of it, and Supergirl, and there was the first Mordru story which was superb. But in recent times, bringing the Legion back to the present day has been a recipe for disaster. Especially when it involves splitting the team into two. Let's hope sales take a nosedive and this comic soon gets put out of our misery.

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STAR TREK/LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 2 (2011/11)
(untitled)
ROLL CALL:

Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Cosmic Boy, ightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Shadow Lass, Controllers, Khunds

CUTE BOYS:
Brainy, Garth, Rokk, Chekov (with his shirt off, no less!), Kirk, McCoy, Spock, Sulu, Security officer

Now this is a comic!

We learn more about this new universe, which seems to be a fusion of the Star Trek and Legion universes. The Controllers and the Organians are a war. as are the Klingons and the Khunds. Tyrazz, mobile homeworld of the Borg, is entering Imperial space. the Emperor, who looks like Vandal Savage from the nose down, pledges that he will protect the Imperial Planets from all threats.

The Legionnaires escape a hostile mob, and Brainy saves an essential part of the shattered time bubble. The Enterprise crew steals a shuttlecraft while Spock peruses the History Channel to find out that Earth's technology was accelerated in this universe, so that humans erupted into the galaxy before they were completely civilized.

Meanwhile, a really adorable security officer finds the wreckage of the time bubble and contacts his superior, Castellan Kajz, to inform him that a time machine has been found.

Brainy detects the chronal signature of two other temporal anomalies and the Legionnaires go after the closest one -- which turns out to be the Enterprise crew. The issue ends with the two groups facing off for the traditional battle before they become friends.

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:

Castellan Kajz, high in the Imperial government, is a mix between Coluan and Vulcan (or possibly Romulan). In original Legion continuity, Brainiac 5's father (Brainiac 4) was named Kajz Dox.

The flying platforms used by Imperial forces are very similar to ones used by the Legion in Adventure 346/347.

This issue shipped with multiple covers. On one of them, Timber Wolf is featured as if he's part of the story. He isn't. (Another cover shows the whole Legion; most of them aren't in this story either).

Making Tyrazz the homeworld of the Borg is just brilliant.

Cham mentions that "last time we got shipwrecked, our rings were frozen, inoperable." That would have been Legion of Super-Heroes 289 (1982/07), "A Cold and Lonely Corner of Hell."

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Update

Get-a-Life Boy has been crazed for the last two months.

I promise, I will catch up Real Soon Now. But for the interim, here's a list of what's come out lately in new Legion of Super-Heroes comics:

Week of Nov 9

            Legion Lost 3 (2012/01)

                Star Trek/LSH 2 (2011/11)

Week of Nov 16

            LSH 3 (2012/01)

Week of Nov 23

            No LSH content

Week of Nov 30

            Legion: Secret Origin 2 (2012/01)

Week of Dec 7

            No LSH content

Week of Dec 14

            Legion Lost 4 (2012/02)

Star Trek/LSH 3 (2011/12)

More soon....

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Week of 2 Noivember 2011

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

That's okay, though...I'm still admiring my new action figures.

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Week of 26 October 2011

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

LEGION: SECRET ORIGIN #1 (2011/12)
"From the Wreckage"


ROLL CALL:

Brainiac 5, Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl, Triplicate Girl, Admiral Wynn Allon, Anisa, Lieutenant Boffin (died), R.J. Brande, Captain Dajone, M'Tobo, Mycroft, Unnamed U.P. Captain, Zarl, S.P. Chief Zoltorus (?)

CUTE BOYS: Brainy, Garth, M'Tobo, Rokk, Admiral Wynn, Assorted U.P. troops and S.P. officers (special award for Brainy Garth, and Rokk lookin' so innocent and young, especially Garth and Rokk on page 8 -- woof!)

Once again into the breach, dear friends....

You think you know the Legion's origin? Of course you do. Everyone does. So that's why Paul Levitz chose to tell a different story, where the foundation of the Leigon is just one of many threads woven together into a beautiful tapestry whose pattern will become clear over the next five issues.

It's the 31st century, and for three peaceful centuries the United Planets has bound together a collection of worlds ranging from former Earth colonies to long-established worlds like Colu. Now there's trouble: a U.P. starcruiser happens upon the world Anotrom, which has been left a ruin by an attack from foes unknown. The only remnant of the attackers is broken pieces of their alien technology scattered about Anotrom.

When a bit of that energy-absorbing tech explodes and kills a U.P. mechanic, the U.P. appeals to the geniuses of Colu. Unexpectedly, the Coluans offer their smartest child to solve the mystery: Querl Dox, aka Brainiac 5.

Meanwhile, we meet the real protagonists of this story: The U.P.'s Security Directorate, a secretive, officially non-existent agency that seems to have eyes and ears all over the Galaxy. The Directors are three: Anisa, a Naltorian with the power to see the future; Zarl, a Coluan; and our narrator, Mycroft, an aged Human. The Directorate is worried about the strange tech and some other minor matters, but Anisa receives a powerful presentiment concerning an event unfolding at that moment at Earthport.

Yes, it's the moemnt when Imra Ardeen, Rokk Krinn, and Garth Ranzz foil the attempted assassination of R.J. Brande. Anisa opines that this event will "determine the fate of many worlds."

Over the next little while (days, weeks, maybe months?) events begin to spin out of the Directorate's control. Brande, whose money has bought him many politicians on the U.P. Council,  tells Mycroft to keep hands off the Legion, to just observe. Near Anotrom, a space wormhole opens, while Brainiac 5 begins his investigation. There's also mention of the U.P. launching an experimental cruiser from Nullport.

Briny meets Tinya Wazzo (soon to be Phantom Girl), who tells him that she's come through the wormhole from Bgtzl to warn of a terrible danger that will soon confront the U.P.

On Earth, Luornu Durgo responds to the Legion's growing fame, and is accepted as a member. Zarl ponders that he thought it would take longer for the "handful of survivors" on Cargg to restore contact with Earth. We are left with the feeling that the Legion is a wild card in the Directorate's carefully planned universe.

Story, art, narration, background -- wow, this was a superior Legion comic. There's so much going on here, but just stand back and admire how skillfully Levitz packed so much information, seemingly effortlessly, into these 20 pages.

This is going to be a fun ride.

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BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:

Anotrom. Some folks seem to think that Anatrom is the planet Trom, home of Element Lad. Uh, yeah. By that reasoning, Neptune is a bit of music, Hungary is a suburb of Chicago, and England is a gland.

Admiral Allon is, of course, Wynn Allon, the father of Gim Allon, soon-to-be Legionnaire Colossal Boy.

Poor Lieutenant Boffin. In British slang, "boffin" is a term for scientist. Wikipedia has more information here.

The Coluans seem awfully eager to get Querl Dox off Colu and into a dangerous situation. From what we know of Brainy's past, his relations with his own people, and his propensity for exploding valuable laboratories, this isn't a surprise.

The Security Directorate raises echoes of the French Revolution & the Reign of Terror, Soviet Russia, and the Foundation Trilogy. Quite a trick for a three-word phrase, eh?

Mycroft. (No, it's not "Myecroft.") Of course, Mycroft was the name of Sherlock Holmes' brother, whom some say was smarter than Holmes. It was also the name of the all-powerful, planet-controlling computer intelligence in Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. What the two Mycrofts have in common is that they both preferred to work behind the scenes.

Anisa is an Arabic name that means "pleasant companion." The name also recalls the herb anise, which Pliny the Elder recommended as a cure for insomnia. Not a bad name for someone from Naltor, the planet on which everyone sees the future in their dreams.

Zarl. I can only find two Zarls with any relation to the Legion. Zarl Hendricks was Dirk Morgna's co-worker and cute boyfriend, who died in a radiation accident that was the fault of Dr. Regulus. Zarl Vorne was an Atlantean baby who was rocketed to the asteroid Juno when Atlantis was destroyed; he gained super-powers and had a heroic career as Power Boy. Zarl Vorne and Superboy had a brief but passionate affair in Superboy #52 (1956/10), but Kal had to leave Juno because his physical presence weakened Zarl.

The Science Police Chief that Mycroft speaks to is not named. An S.P. Chief who appeared in many early Legion stories seems to be the same one who was later identified as Zoltorus. I'm tentatively calling this guy Zoltorus, but I'm willing to be argued out of that.

We see Luornu meeting each of the Founders separately, then merging into one body when they get together. This comes directly from the first Legion Origin story in Superboy #147 (1968/06).

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So here's the big unanswered question. Is this a distinct alternate Legion?


There are several reasons we might consider the Legion depicted here to be a distinct version:

1. Costumes. The Legion's costumes are definitely not the classic ones. However, that could easily be artistic license.

2. Brainy. In the classic Legion, we first became aware of Brainy through his work with the Time Institute. But nothing says Brainy couldn't have been on Anotrom first.

3. Tinya. It was never stated that Tinya came through a wormhole from Bgtzl to warn the U.P. of danger. Then again, it was never stated that she didn't. (Yes, there was a Secret Origins story in which Tinya first traveled from Bgtzl to Earth aboard a trans-dimensional ship, using her own powers to make the shift...but that was written by Tom & Mary Bierbaum and I consider it part of the Glorithverse Legion.)

In short, there's nothing (yet) that's totally inconsistent with the Classic Legion. Any differences (so far) can be ascribed to artistic license or Chronicler's Error.

We shall see....

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Week of 19 October 2011

Wow, what a week to be a Legion fan! Two original comics, one reprint, a reprint hardcover, and action figures. I don't know about you, but I'm broke.

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

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #2 (2011/12)
"Hostile World"
ROLL CALL:

Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Chemical Kid, Comet Queen, Cosmic Boy, Dragonwing, Dream Girl, Element Lad, Glorith, Harmonia, Mon-El, Phantom Girl, Polar Boy, Shadow Lass, Star Boy, Sun Boy, Ultra Boy, Res-Vir, tombs of Earth-Man, Ferro Lad

CUTE BOYS: Brainy, Brek, Dirk, Hadru, Jan, Jo, Mon, Rokk, Thom (but I still don't like the beard)

On Panoptes, the mysterious Daxamite reveals himself as Res-Vir. He has a bug up his butt about Daxam being isolated from the rest of the United Planets. With the aid of powerful unnamed allies, he has access to anti-lead serum, and he's decided that Daxam will be free.

He imprisons Chameleon Boy, Chemical Kid, Dragonwing, and Ultra Boy. Phantom Girl, hiding within the ground, signals for Legion help. Then she tries to free the prisoners, and Res-Vir gets to her. But then  Mon-El swoops in, battling Res-Vir until a space fleet appears over the planet: Res-Vir's allies.

Last issue it appeared that Dream Girl, Glorith, Harmonia, and Star Boy were at the Time Institute -- instead, they were at Brainy's Time Lab in HQ. Brainy's attempt to reach the 21st century fails spectacularly; he explains that "The vibratory changes in the time stream immediately after Flashpoint have blocked our ability to reach the period of history that we synchronized best with -- the so-called 'Era of Heroes' in the early 21st century." Does this imply that the Legion can still reach other time periods?

Brainy is also intrigued by Glorith's magical shield, and speculates that her ability to defy the law of conservation of momentum might be key to effective time travel. Okay, show of hands here -- how many of you are surprised to see Glorith linked with time travel?

Meanwhile, a team of Legionnaires -- Comet Queen, Cosmic Boy, Element Lad, Polar Boy, Shadow Lass, and Sun Boy -- has laid Earth-Man to rest on Shangalla. Shady is still weeping and wailing. The team is then diverted to Panoptes to assist.

This story went by fairly quickly, defining the larger conflict and giving some nice character moments. We don't know Res-Vir's backstory, nor the identity of his unknown allies. We don't know the exact details of the U.P. restrictions that Res-Vir is pissed about. But those things will come. All in all, it was a good story and a fun issue.

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:

When Darkseid set the super-powered Daxamites on the rest of the galaxy during the Great Darkness, we met an insane Daxamite teenager named Ol-Vir. He's reappeared several times since as a member of the Legion of Super-Villains, most recently in Legion of 3 Worlds. Presumably, Res-Vir is some kind of relation.

Res-Vir says that the U.P. has made Daxam into a prison. Harmonia explains that "The last time Daxamites left their world in anger, they devastated much of the galaxy." Mon-El opines that Daxam i in isolation to protect its people from lead poisoning. Each expresses part of the story.

Yes, Daxamites devastated much of the galaxy -- but they were under the control of Darkseid at the time. And yes, Daxamites are vulnerable to lead, and only the rare anti-lead serum can protect them. (A key ingredient of the serum is kryptonite, but there also seem to be other ultra-rare components...at one point in Legion history, it took 24 hours to synthesize a single dose.)

So what's the truth? To my mind, the key question is the nature of the U.P.'s restrictions on Daxam. Preventing others from traveling to Daxam makes good sense; preventing Daxamites from leaving the world seems more dictatorial. Perhaps Daxam itself has rules against emigrating, rules that the U.P. doesn't mind enforcing.

I'm sure we'll find out more in the near future.

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STAR TREK/LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #1 (2011/10)
(untitled)
ROLL CALL:

Legion Universe: Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Shadow Lass plus Cameos by: Blok, Bouncing Boy, Colossal Boy, Dawnstar, Dream Girl, Duo Damsel, Element Lad, Invisible Kid (Jacques), Karate Kid (Val), Light Lass, Mon-El, Phantom Girl, Princess Projectra, Shrinking Violet, Star Boy, Sun Boy Superboy, Supergirl, Timber Wolf, Tyroc, Ultra Boy, White Witch, Wildfire, Krypto
"Wrong" Universe: Durlans, Sergeant Mallor


CUTE BOYS: Brainy, Chekov, Garth, Kirk, McCoy, Rokk, Scotty, Spock, Sulu


Three universes come together in this book: the Legion and the Kirk-era Enterprise crew both find themselves in the 23rd century of a third universe that's a mixture of the Legion and Star Trek unvierses.


In this third universe the "Imperial Planets" rules with an iron fist. As we meet them, an invasion of Durla is underway. A Human Starfleet Captain has a female Coluan Lieutenant. Among the invaders is Captain Starr of the Space Ranger Battalion (DC's Space Ranger) and the Shadow Troops under the command of Sergeant Mallor (a dead ringer for Shadow Lass, obviously a 23rd century ancestor).


This alternate universe came about at the dawn of history, when a mysterious figure appeared on Earth to observe, and had some bad effect on the developing Humans.


Meanwhile, a team of Legionnaires (Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, and Shadow Lass) is in a time bubble, returning after a mission. They're caught in a vortex in the time stream and Brainy crash-lnds them on the hostile Earth of the Imperial Planets.


Over in the Enterprise, Kirk et al are sent to Earth so Kirk can give a speech. A landing party composed of Chekov, Kirk, McCoy, Spock, Sulu, and Uhura beams down, but they also find themselves in the Imperial Planets universe.


The issue ends with the simultaneous realization by both teams that they are on a different Earth.


A teaser page for the next issue shows the entire Legion fling above the Enterprise crew. 


Bottom line: Somebody spent a lot of time planning this, bringing together complementary elements of the Star Trek and Legion universes. The attention to detail is amazing.


As a story, this issue is mostly set-up. They fit an awful lot into 23 pages, while still leaving plenty of loose ends. This is the nature of crossover stories: the first issue has to cover a lot of set-up. The next one should get more into the actual story.


A note for obsessive collectors: this comic comes with six variant covers by various authors: Phil Jimenez, Keith Giffen/Scott Koblish, and Gabriel Rodriguez. If that sort of thing is important to you, you'll want to spend untold amounts of money tracking them all down.




BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:


Based on costumes and dialog, this story takes place after Legion of Super-Heroes #302 (1983/08) and before #304 (1983/10). Cham donned his purple-and-gold outfit and regained his powers in #302. Shadow Lass says "If Pol does go to the Legion Academy..." and in #304 Pol was already enrolled.


(Shady finishes "...he could share a room with my brother. Grev could use a good influence." Okay, technically, Grev is Shady's cousin, not brother, but we can write that off as Chronicler's Error. I'm more interested in Pol and Grev sharing a room. Oh, baby!)


The Science Police are in evidence on Earth of the Imperial Planets.


The Starfleet of the Imperial Planets includes ships based on the Enterprise design, but also the Legion Cruiser Mark X (which itself was influenced by Star Trek, and looks somewhat like the classic Klingon ship).


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DC COMICS PRESENTS: SUPERBOY'S LEGION 1 (2011/12)


This is a reprint of the two-volume Superboy's Legion comic from 2011. It's a pretty neat alternate version of the Legion in which Kal-El's rocket wasn't discovered until 2987, when it was found by R.J. Brande. Definitely a fun story, and nice to have in one volume.


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LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES THE CURSE Deluxe Edition


This is really like a Legion Archives volume. It's hardcover, printed in bright colors on the same slick paper used in the Archives, and the cover price is $49.99. For that money you get 544 pages of Legion stories, following directly after the Great Darkness Deluxe Edition that came out a while ago.


The issues reprinted here are Legion of Super-Heroes #297 - 313 and Annuals #2 and #3 from 1983-1984. It includes the extra-size #300 with all the alternate Legions.


The number of Legion back issues that are available in graphic novel format is pretty amazing, what with the Archives, these hardcovers, the recent paperbacks of the later Levitz/Giffen era, and various other stuff. If DC keeps up at this rate, eventually all Legion stories should be available in graphic novel format.


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LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES ACTION FIGURES 12-PACK


My Legion 12-pack arrived yesterday, and I have plenty more pictures, but I'll just share a few right now. Maybe later I'll put up another post with more details. But for now -- yeah, these are kewl.

ABOVE: This is the box they came in.

ABOVE: This is the package. Stands about 2 feet high.

ABOVE: It unrolls to show the figures inside.

ABOVE: And here they are. Twelve Legionnaires, Proty, a flight ring, and an empty compartment labeled "Invisible Kid."

This post is way long enough, but one more observation before I go: Out of 12 Legionnaires, Saturn Girl is the only female. What a disappointment! Where are Phantom Girl, Triplicate Girl, Shadow Lass, Dream Girl? Where's Sensor Girl? For Friv's sake, couldn't they have included a microscopic dust mote and labeled it "Shrinking Violet"?

Pshaw!

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Week of 12 October 2011

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

LEGION LOST #2 (2011/12)
"The Dawn of the Hypersapiens"


ROLL CALL:

Chameleon Girl, Dawnstar, Gates, Tellus, Timber Wolf, Tyroc, Wildfire, Jeffrey Scanlon, Alastor

CUTE BOYS: Brin, Troy

The whole town turns out for a memorial ceremony for those who died. Timber Wolf is in the crowd, tracking a man (Jeffrey Scanlon) who has become a hybrid of human and energy being. Scanlon flees, but the Legionnaires track him to his home.

Tellus telepathically gives him the backstory of this comic. Alastor's sister was killed by xenophobes; in revenge, Alastor decided to go back through time and release a virus that would turn individual humans into various new species. The Legion tried to stop him, but arrived too late -- Scanlon is the first victim of the virus.

Athough Wildfire tries to teach Scanlon how to control his energy and remain somewhat human, Scanlon decides he likes being an energy being and attacks; in the end, his energy is dispersed and he dies/evaporates/merges with the speed force (the narrative is unclear).

Meanwhile, in a neighboring town, a weird four-fingered hand emerges from a swamp.

A fairly competent story. Wildfire is narrator, which is an interesting touch. There are many parallels drawn between Drake and Scanlon, both energy beings who were once human. Lots of typical Wildfire bemoaning of his terrible state. But really, nothing much gets accomplished. At the end of last issue, we knew that the Legion arrived too late and Alastor had dispersed a nasty virus, and now the Legion had to find a way to stop it. At the end of this issue, we know pretty much the same thing.

Maybe things will pick up next issue.

BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:

When Brin sees the supposedly-dead Scanlon at the memorial service, he asks "Not from Winath by any chance?" Winath, of course, is the homeworld of the Ranzz family, a planet where most people are twins.

In his narration, Wildfire at one point says, "I whine the loudest, so I win." This points out a change in Drake's personality that's been clear for a while: Used to be that Wildfire won by shouting and shooting off energy; now he wins by whining. I'm not sure which one I prefer.

The virus that Alastor released was designed by the Psions. I believe this is the first time we've heard of the Psions in Legion times. In one way, it makes sense...the Psions are genetic and biological engineers, constantly creating things like this virus. It's another link between the current DC Universe and the Lgion's time. But on the other hand, it's odd that we haven't run into the Psions before. In the Legion's time, you'd expect the Dominators to be behind something like this. And since the storyline in LSH has to do with the Dominators, it would be a nice link to the parent book.

Hypertaxis -- defined as "an evolutionary cataclysm" -- if you're thinking the term sounds familiar, you're right. The Earth-247 Legion faced a whole hypertaxis thing...it's what altered Sensor and turned Kinetix into a "Terrorform." It makes just as much sense this time around.

Wildfire tells Scanlon that the virus has turned him into a Teallian. Quislet is from Teall, which isn't so much a world as another dimension. Quislet also stays inside his ship because he can't survive in our dimension long outside it. Scanlon didn't seem to have that problem. (Interestingly, Quislet once taught Drake to maintain his energy form in a semblance of a human body; here Drake is apparently trying to do the same for Scanlon.)

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Week of 5 October 2011

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

I've been looking around at reactions to Legion of Super-Heroes #1 on the web. They fall into two categories.

First are the Legion readers, who seem to be relieved and delighted that the reboot has left the Legion reasonably unscathed -- and, especially, that there hasn't been a Fourth Reboot.

Then there are the non-Legion-readers. I will summarize their reactions below:

I never used to like the Legion, even though I haven't read it since the 1980s. Although I think X-Men and the Avengers are the greatest things in the world, with their cast of thousands, their convoluted histories, their endless reboots, and their soap-opera plotlines -- I still criticize the Legion for exactly the same qualities.

I picked up LSH #1 because I feel it's DC's obligation to make every one of their comics easily accessible to new readers...and even though I'll stop buying everything around issue #3 and go back to complaining about how much I dislike DC, I somehow thought that this new direction would turn them into Marvel.

So I opened Legion of Super-Heroes #1 expecting it to read like an introductory issue of Spiderman. It didn't, and I blame DC and Paul Levitz personally.

Boo hoo, I can't count high enough to keep track of more than 10 characters. Wah, I'm too stupid to follow more than one plot thread at a time. There were too many words and the drawings were too complex for either my primitive brain or my minuscule attention span. Whole pages went by without anything blowing up, anybody shooting a gun, or anybody killing someone else in a particularly gruesome way. It wasn't like watching TV or movies.

I do appreciate the little ID tags that they put on characters, and I wish the Legion had started doing that years ago.

I don't like my comics literate and challenging. I like simple stories where the good guys (only a few of them) beat the bad guys into bloody pulp. Above all, I don't want my comics to make me think.

The Legion is a failure and always has been. It's big, it's complicated, and it asks me to pay attention and fill in some of the blanks on my own. It scares me. I secretly suspect that I'm way too stupid to read the Legion, so I'll react with hostility and ridicule.

You know what? These people are right. They are too stupid to be Legion readers. The only way they would continue reading the Legion is if the Legion stopped being everything that makes it the Legion. So why does DC keep courting these people, trying to get them into the Legion.

Just this week I've received emails from two different people who recently discovered the Legion (before the whole "new 52" hoopla), became enchanted, and want to know more. That's the kind of new reader we want -- someone who appreciates the Legion for what it is. Someone who isn't just a passive consumer, but who is willing to put in some effort to get the rewards that the Legion gives.

You can't just sit down cold turkey, pick up a comic, and get the most out of the Legion. Being a Legion reader means being confused for a while, making lists of characters and powers and relationships, reading back issues to catch up, prowling websites to learn the backgorund. It means puzzling over obscure clues, trying (and failing) to see where the story's going.

Being a Legion reader means taking ownership, one way or another, of the universe and the characters. It might be as simple as voting in a Leadership election. It might be suggesting new Legionnaires, blogging about the Legion, dressing up as favorite Legionnaires, drawing your own pictures or writing your own fan fiction, collecting Legion crap. For some, it eventually means becoming part of a Legion creative team and actually shaping the myth.

If you just want to be entertained passively, if you want it all to be simple and straightforward and easy, if you don't want to be a participatory reader...then the Legion isn't for you. And, fate willing, it never will be.

And that's all I have to say about it. (For now.)

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Week of 29 September 2011

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

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Week of 21 September 2011

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

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #1 (2011/11)
"Renegade World"


ROLL CALL:

Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Chemical Kid, Colossal Boy, Comet Queen, Cosmic Boy, Dragonwing, Dream Girl, Element Lad, Glorith, Harmonia, Invisible Kid (Jacques), Lightning Lass, Mon-El, Phantom Girl, Polar Boy, Shadow Lass, Shrinking Violet, Star Boy, Sun Boy, Ultra Boy, Daxamite
Memorial Statues: Dawnstar, Earth-Man, Ferro Lad, Invisible Kid (Lyle), Karate Kid (Val), Tellus, Triplicate Girl, Wildfire

CUTE BOYS: Brainy, Brek, Cham (as a soldier), Dirk, Gim, Hadru, Jacques, Jan, Jo, Mon, Rokk, Thom, Assorted SPs, Hunky Daxamite


Well, fears of a complete LSH reboot were, as advertised, wrong. But neither does the Legion pick up immediately after the last issue. Instead, there's been some kind of disastrous mission, apparently involving the Time Institute. The seven Legionnaires who are now ("now"?) in Legion Lost are presumed dead, and there have been some behind-the-scenes roster changes.

The story picks up with an Espionage Squad mission to Pantoptes, a military watchworld on the Dominion border. Panotpes has gone silent, and the Legion team is sent to investiagte. The team consists of Chameleon Boy, Chemical Kid, Dragonwing, Phantom Girl, and Ultra Boy. They're dropped off by a  U.P. military vessel; one of the solider serving aboard is Gim Allon, aka Colossal Boy. With the apparent death of Yera, Gim has left the Legion to follow in his father's footsteps.

The team separates. Cham, Jo, and Tinya infiltrate the base, while Hadru and Marva get themselves captured and bungle things, causing a big fight with the military guys. Meanwhile, Cham and friends have learned that Panoptes is now preparing to send signals into the Dominion. Jo gets ready to destroy the transmitter, but he is stopped by a super-powered Daxamite with weird face tattoos.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Mon-El (in a stunning new outfit) helps install some new memorial statues, argues with Brainy, and checks on the rest of the Legion.

Cosmic Boy, Invisible Kid, Lightning Lass, and Shrinking Violet are finishing up with Saturn Queen's crowd, presumably on Takron-Galtos. Comet Queen, Element Lad, Polar Boy, Shadow Lass, and Sun Boy are in an undisclosed location where everything is secure. Dream Girl, Glorith, and Star Boy are at the Time Institute (on Naltor, presumably), where Dreamy observes that "Flashpoint effect has definitely 
closed off time travel into the past." With Dreamy's team is Harmonia Li, who is now a Legionnaire with the codename Harmonia and powers listed as "Natural elemental."

At the Time Institue, Glorith is mourning Oaa (aka Variable Lad) who died fighting Chemical King in the last issue of Adventure.

And that, fellow Legion lovers, is where it stands.

All in all, it could be worse. The Legion hasn't been rebooted, but it's been disrupted. I, for one, would like to know more about this catastrophic battle/event/whatever at the Time Institute.

I'd also like to know why the Legion is wailing about being underpowered when they still have numerous experienced members on the sidelines. For my money, Bouncing Boy is worth ten of Chemical Kid, and all Dragonwing does is bitch and spit (okay, she spits fire, but still).

Here's what I think: The bigwigs at DC insisted that Paul Levitz arrange some catastrophic event in order to shoehorn the Legion into this stupid "new 52" publicity stunt. Levitz had to disrupt carefully-laid plans, wrap up some plotlines in a hurry, and jettison some other stuff that he had planned.

And why? Whyd id the Legion have to be part of this nonsense? They didn't reboot Tiny Titans. They didn't reboot DC Universe: Online Legends. They didn't reboot I, Zombie, Looney Tunes, Scooby-Doo, The All-New Batman, American Vampire, Young Justice,  or Gears of War.

I know, I know -- these titles "aren't in continuity." That's just my point...The Legion shouldn't be in continuity either. The Legion should be allowed to exist outside DC continuity...it's a thousand years in the future, after all, and time travel causes weird things to happen (which could explain away any continuity-related quesitons).

Come on, DC. Keep your dirty paws off the Legion.

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STATUS REPORT:

Back in the 21st Century in Legion Lost, and presumed dead in LSH are Chameleon Girl, Dawnstar, Gates, Gates, Tellus, Timber Wolf, Tyroc, and Wildifre.

Confirmed Active Legionnaires depicted in this issue are Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Chemical Kid, Comet Queen, Cosmic Boy, Dragonwing, Dream Girl, Element Lad, Glorith, Harmonia, Invisible Kid (Jacques), Lightning Lass, Mon-El, Phantom Girl, Polar Boy, Shadow Lass, Shrinking Violet, Star Boy, Sun Boy, and Ultra Boy.

Resigned and with the U.P. forces is Colossal Boy.

On Detached Duty are Blok, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Sensor Girl, and XS.

Previously Active Legionnaires not seen in this issue are Quislet.

Previously Faculty at the Academy, current status unknown are Bouncing Boy, Night Girl, and Duplciate Girl.

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BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS:

Panoptes: In Greek mythology, Argus Panoptes was a giant with a hundred eyes. Since only a few of his eyes slept at any time, he was an excellent watchman. Hermes put him to sleep with boring sotries (perhaps reading DC's new universe?) and then killed him.

Gim trained for the Science Police before getting his powers and joining the Legion. His father is an Admiral in the U.P. fleet, and his brother Wynn also serves in the military.

Ayla's monitor board symbol is the feather she used as Light Lass, rather than the lightning bolts she's used as Lightning Lass. Chronicler's Error, or have her powers changed?

Glorith and Harmonia have no monitor board symbols yet.

Brainy is working on a way around the limitation on time travel. My guess is that when sales of Legion Lost begin to falter, he'll succeed long enough to bring back the timelost Legionnaires.



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