Week of 24 February 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Still among the missing? Dream Girl and Tyroc.

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

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

The rampant Legion-discrimination in the Flash titles continues unabated

Week of 17 February 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Week of 10 February 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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Week of 3 February 2010

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

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

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

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

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


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Analog Review of L3W

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

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

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

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