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Hello!!!! I am back!!!! so does the LEGIONOLOGY!!!!! We are going to continue our weekly Legionology (never too late!!! ) on analyzing either individual or team's characteristic traits and how it poses such uniqueness to the Legion Lore. We are now focusing the spotlighting on Legion's most well-known brawniest member as - Ultra Boy!
The basic idea is simple: Describe him, what sort of person he is, what he means to the Legion, why he has the friends and relationships that he does. Who is he? Are you the expert on him?
From Shooter's: "For whatever reason in his background he is kind of a depressing person. He equates being negative and sober and worried and dull with being serious about what he is doing. His humor is strictly sardonic, a kind of black humor. He is always certain that the worst will happen. Even Phantom Girl, the love of his life, is a source for more dire imaginings on his part. He is certain she will die, or be hurt, and is vastly overprotective. On the good side, he is strong, solid, dependable and absolutely devastating in anger. He angers easily. He bears authority well and can lead, but his judgment is suspect -- it is occasionally bent by his bleak oitlook and a system or priorities that puts Phantom Girl over everything. He is, however, selfless and bright and willing to risk his own life often in a morbid, intense, almost passionate rage. Ultra Boy would be hell in bed. He undoubtedly, however, makes gentle, tender (and expert) love to Phantom Girl and saves his occasional forays into the bizarre for someone less angelic to him -- say, Dream Girl. This guy is probably the Legion's closest to being a mental case. Though he would deny it, he needs a Bouncing Boy type -- I think he is smart enough to know that. But Bouncing Boy is gone now .... hmm...."
From Bierbaum's: "A street rat with a heart of gold. Raised in the squalor of an amoral frontier world, he picked up from his parents an unyielding sense of morality. From his hardscrabble background he picked up the resourceful intelligence of somebody who's survived a thousand scrapes that would have wiped out those of us from more genteel worlds. Yes, he's overmatched by Tinya's charms and powerful personality, but it all works out. Given some of the secrets he's carrying around, he desperately needs to be under-estimated, and coming off as Tinya's big, dumb plaything doesn't hurt that cause. "
Let's hear your view on our dumb jock or street smart Jo Nah!
From: Hayward, CA | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Jo definitely has street smarts, or common sense, if you will. He's shown that in Legion Lost, when he figured out the secrets on Singularity's planet. And he also knows himself, his true thoughts and emotions, else how would he have understood that it is Tinya he loves and needs, and he only kissed Imra because she had become a surrogate Tinya? And he really needs Tinya, she was the one who got him to realize that working for McCauley was no good for him, and she was the one who made him realize his inner nobility. But Tinya doesn't do all his thinking for him; she only pointed him in the right direction. It takes him a while, but eventually he'll figure himself out. But he's probably just lazy to use his brain sometimes, and he definitely prefers to deal with things physically. He understands his emotions, but he doesn't know how to act on them sometimes, like his recent quarrels with Tinya and Brin. But all we need is to give him some time. Incidentally, for those of you who've read Legion 27, do you think Jo's made peace with Brin? They didn't even squabble or anything. Or was it just because there wasn;t time to portray their animosity? Hm...
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On the lack of squabbling in #27: I think it's just that DnA chose to focus on other things. Besides, even Jo and Brin can be professional and put aside their differences in battle.
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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I've often said that Ultra Boy has never been one of my favorite Legionnaires, though I've come to respect what he brings to the team and to understand what others see in him.
Powerwise, he always had the same abilities of Mon and Supercousins, with the added drawback of being able to use only one power at a time. Many see this as a sign of strength of character. Jo Nah has to work to be a hero. I suppose they're right. But if I could be any Legionnaire, it would not be Jo. I'd rather be someone who didn't have such an obvious limitation.
Of course, that limitation and perhaps others (say, intelligence or education) makes Jo Nah a favorite with writers as well as fans. Jo is frequently portrayed as someone who has to struggle -- struggle in heroism, struggle in intelligence, struggle in love -- and what could be more dramatic than all of that?
Then, of course, there's his costume with the vaguely dragon-suggesting emblem. It's one of the most eye-catching Legion costumes and hasn't been changed substantially in the 40-odd years of Jo's existence. The costume also effectively shows off Jo's brawn, immediately pegging him as the strong man of the team, with all that that label implies.
However, Jo has only really come to life for me as a character since LEGION LOST. It began with his devotion to Tinya, which caused him to grab Live Wire by the throat when he thought she was missing. Jo would probably not have really hurt his teammate, but the others didn't know that. After all, Jo and Tinya had done nothing to convince the Legion that they weren't co-dependent beyond all reason. So Saturn Girl fabricated a myth to keep him in line.
Jo thus became the victim of Imra's manipulation, well intentioned though it may have been. To his credit, he didn't lose it when Tinya did turn out to be missing. Jo had grown a lot, and was only then choosing to show it. It probably came as a suprise to him that his teammates had so little faith in him.
Part of that growth has, unfortunately, resulted in his current estrangement from Tinya, "the love of his life." Face it: Neither of them are the same person they were when Jo became lost. They both grew on their own. Did they marry too young, after all? Who knows? But they are no longer the lovesick kittens they were when they became separated. They will have to learn to love each other on different levels if their relationship is to continue.
Jo, like many young men, has also recently found out that he's a father. This is another new role and a new chance for growth. My hope is that this plotline will soon be picked up and show us even more differnt sides to Jo.
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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anyone add more? Matthew - you with Ultra Power, where are you? Help me find him! I am sure he wants to saying nice about Jo, right?
From: Hayward, CA | Registered: Jul 2003
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(I like writing these without seeing what others have written, so if I seem to be repeating stuff -- that's why)
I'll go with reboot Jo: Jo's one of my favorites -- he's got that street cred and less than stellar background that's just "cool". He got involved with the Legion mainly cuz of a girl rather than ideals about heroism which reveals what I see is his nature: he acts on emotion, sees things in terms of a smaller scale, but embodies the lofty ideals without having to think about them.
Jo's been a bedrock of the team since he joined despite his background because of his raw power and also his devotion to the team (which was an extension of his devotion to Tinya). Partly it's due to his background as well -- he's been in a gang and knows what it means to watch your bro's back. He takes the team's identity as his own. (rah rah)
From: New York, NY | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by superboymddjr: anyone add more? Matthew - you with Ultra Power, where are you? Help me find him! I am sure he wants to saying nice about Jo, right?
hey SB !!! i'm here
i wanted to wait and say something really good about Jo and why he's my favourite Legionnaire !!!
he has remained my favourite in over 20 years off following this title [ full time ]
the initial draw was the costume, it just looked so cool !!! and then i liked the fact that he had to think about using his powers [ as opposed to them being there all the time like Superboy's !!! ]
during the 80's he was part of the "power couples" ... ULTRABOY & PHANTOM GIRL and MON-EL & SHADOW LASS !!! who were my 4 favourites during those years, also !!!
and then by the "5 Year Gap" Jo played a massive part in those issues, and he really grew as a great character, who was very clever !!!
and then were pretty much up to date with the reboot !!! where he has remained a main player in most stories, including a great part in "LEGION LOST" !!! and Olivier Coipel drew him so well !!!
i'm not very good at expalining why i like a character so much !!! but i hope that gives you some what of a clue ....
Matthew.
From: Manchester United Kingdom | Registered: Jul 2003
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i'm not very good at expalining why i like a character so much !!! but i hope that gives you some what of a clue ....
