Lana/IQ had a fairly big role in my earliest S/LSH issue, # 205.
Not long after that, the first S/LSH tabloid came out, which featured a reprint of the first Mordru story from ADVENTURE comics. This tale heavily featured Lana as herself and as Insect Queen.
Also around this time, a S/LSH paberback book was released which featured some reprints in black & white. Among them was the story that had Insect Queen in the Legion's time and losing her ring. Light Lass discovers it in Superboy's cape.
So when I was little I figured Insect Queen was a regular player in the Legion. I was soon to discover otherwise. It turned out those were her 3 major appearances in Legion stories. How odd they would come out (in one form or another) so close together. Posted by Greybird on :
You're overlooking "LSH" v2 n281-282, the closing chapters of the "Reflecto"/Ultra Boy story. Lana gets in quite a few metamorphing kicks.
It doesn't look like we're going to get that kind of touch-of-whimsy side character in the oh-so-serious New, New, New, New, New Legion. Someone like Insect Queen leavened the mix.
[ June 04, 2004, 05:48 PM: Message edited by: Greybird ]
Posted by MLLASH on :
I did forget those issues, but by that time (early 80s, iirc) I had realized Insect Queen was NOT a major player in the Legion mythos.
Maybe Waid will allow the AMAZER Insect Queen to have a role. One can hope.
Posted by Future on :
I love the Lonna Insect Queen of modern day! Even though it would seem overdone to have another Legionnaire from Xanthu, I'd be overjoyed for her to join. Thom, Jenni, and Nura could certainly vouch for her. Her insect metamorphic powers are fairly unique...her being able to go a step beyond Cham's power by mimicking their natural abilities. Not to mention, she seems like someone who is just plain fun everytime she appears! We need more fun characters!
Posted by Infectious Drura on :
The thing that always bugged (ha!) me about Lana Lang, Insect Queen was that she let Superboy in on her secret identity (I presume she had one, since she had a mask), but he didn't let her in on his!
I always think that Lana should have been allowed to retain her memory of Clark's identity that she discovered in the Mordru story in Adventure comics, (can't remember the issue number now! some Legion fan I am etc etc)And why on earth did Clark keep his identity from her anyway? As said Mordru story showed she could be trusted with it. Bah. Yes I know the real reason is that the Lana/Superboy/ thing was carved in stone and could not be altered by dictat of the Superman editor hence Shooter had to push the reset button at the end of the story with the lame 'this super hypnosis machine will take your memory away!' device. Bah.
Anyway, that double standard always annoyed me!
Posted by The Mighty Quinn M. on :
Insect Queen Lana deserves a fabulous graemlin!! And she got it!! Posted by MLLASH on :
I reread "The Six-Legged Legionnaire" last night, and thoroughly enjoyed it!
Lana proved herself to be heroic, inventive with her abilities, competent in battle and fearless in the face of danger! Definite Legionnaire material!
And I just loved the li'l flash of light and ZZTTT! sound-effect that meant she was using her ring.
Posted by rjbrande on :
My first exposure to Insect Queen was similar to yours - the tabloid and the pocket book. IQ's always been one of my favorite Legion-related characters, and I honestly believe she was one of the big reasons I was first hooked on the Legion.
Posted by Fat Cramer on :
For some reason, LL/Insect Queen was a character I always found to be physically repulsive. It was a great power, and Lana herself was inspiringly daring, spunky and ingenious; it was just her appearance that was disturbing to me. Seriously. The updated version we saw on Xanthu was okay, but we didn't see much of her.
Posted by Sketch on :
It'd be cool to have a current artist depict her really being adept and kewl looking.
I never saw her appearances til way after I was already used to the Legion without her, so, naturally, I could tell that she was only a bit player in the big picture. I never really read Superboy or Superman comics, so I didn't know her well from those, either.
In fact, what's up with Lana now? Is she still in Superman comics? Is her time as Insect Queen ever mentioned?
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
Dean, Lana is still in the Supes comics, and is married to Pete Ross with a child named Clark. However, recent issues have her leaving Pete and admitting that she's still in love with Clark. Not sure how I feel about any of it.
I like Lana as Insect Queen (Lana is a hottie!). I've always been fond of Pete and Lana, and liked seeing them in Legion stories. Pete Ross is probably my favorite supporting character among all the DC titles ever (his devotion to Superboy without Clark ever knowing is the kind of heroism I miss in today's comics).
The tribute to Insect Queen in the form of the Uncanny Amazer was greatly appreciated by this fan!
Posted by Sketch on :
Posted by jimgallagher on :
Nice drawing, Sketch! Love it!
Posted by MLLASH on :
Yes, that is one fabulous Lana!
Posted by Omni Craig on :
Wow, Dean! I wish I could draw half as good as you can! That is simply stunning!
And Cobie, I agree with you about the loyalty Pete Ross showed in discovering Clark's secret, and keeping quiet. Clark had no idea how true a best friend can be! It's a shame the post-Crisis Superman stories lack that aspect of their history together.
Posted by Sketch on :
Thanks for the compliments, guys! That's how it works...someone expresses interest in an obscure character, which inspires someone like me to make a drawing of said character. If not for Legion World, I would probably never do sketches of Lester or Sinde or Beauty Blaze. LLL!
Posted by Blacula on :
I'm another BIG fan of Pete, Lana and the Insect Queens of both the pre- and re- boots! Wish we could've seen more of all of them!
Speaking of Pete - has anyone been reading recent issues of Adventures of Superman? I've got a bad feeling he's about to be bumped off in it! It'll be a real shame if so but the way post-Crisis writers have been so mean to this character it'll come as no surprise unfortunately.
Posted by MLLASH on :
See, that's why I hate reboots... we lost the reboot IQ and there's not likely to be one on the horizon...
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
Hmm... I wonder what the heck Mort Weisinger was talking about in Adv. 301?
quote: Dear Editor: Will Lana Lang ever go into the future and meet up with the Legion of Super-Heroes?
Laura Schorr, Westfield, N. J.
(We had Lana involved with the Legionnaires in a couple of stories several years ago and plan to stage a reunion between her and Lightning Lad very shortly. -Ed.)
Posted by Mystery Lad on :
Maybe the plan was to have Lana somehow be Garth's time-lost twin, since this letter was printed before Ayla's introduction.
Imagine Lana as a teen drag king...
Posted by Mystery Lad on :
Apparently, there's going to be a 'new' Insect Queen in upcoming issues of SUPERMAN by Kurt Busiek. (Not sure that that's the Supes title Kurt's writing, but I think it is.)
It's supposed to be a storyline comprising three issues. There's a picture in the newsarama column about the DC Universe panel in Baltimore that is *probably* her, though it could be Bumblebee or Queen Bee.
No mention if there's any connection to Lana. I can't imagine Busiek would write this character without one- even if it's fairly tenuous.
Posted by Superboy on :
I always loved Lana and the Smallville cast being a part of the Legion. In particular Insect Queen.
She was in my favorite all time Legion story...Adv 369-370.
Thing is...she is tied into the original Superboy mythos and I believe that cast has something to do with the legal definition of the Superboy character, that's part of why they lost the case concerning the Smallville TV Show...so it's probably one of those things DC has to work around.
It wouldn't surprise me if Busiek makes Lana the Insect Queen again....but as for it being the Smallville Lana...doesn't look promising.
I really hate this ownership dispute...I wish DC would just pay the Siegels, again, and be done with it. They've made a ton of money off Superboy and the other Siegel creations, like Superman...not to mention Siegel's own role in the development of the Legion itself...time to just get this over with. I agree retconning the copyright laws was lame...but this disupute is even lamer.
Posted by Blacula on :
Gosh - I wonder if this post will kill this thread for two years again like my last post did?
Anyway, it's great that my fears re: Pete's fate two years ago were unjustified. Not sure what he's been up to lately but I think he should always be a part of Superman/boy's life.
Lana too. And the Legion should always have an Insect Queen. And a Konk! I am seriously missing that character for some reason. We got to see far too little of her.
Oh I'm gonna get emotional if I start thinking about all the good characters we lost with the threeboot... Posted by He Who Wanders on :
I don't have a problem with Lana as Insect Queen or with her being a Legion Reservist, but I'm content that her appearances were few and far between. One of the peculiarities of the Superman mythos is that most of Kal's friends -- made while he was both a teen and an adult -- became involved in the Legion in some way: Pete Ross and Jimmy Olsen became honorary members; Lois Lane had several adventures with the Legion. Only Perry White seemed to be miss out on all the fun ...
For that matter, Mon-El started out as a friend of Superboy's before he joined the Legion. Ma and Pa Kent played significant roles in certain Legion adventures. And let's not forget Superboy's cuz, Kara.
(And just so his enemies don't feel left out, we've got Brainiac 5 as an adopted descendent of the original Brainiac and multiple appearances by some variation of Luthor and Mxyzptlk.)
At some point, all of this involvement of Kal-El's friends, family, and hangers-on stretches Legion credibility to the breaking point. No other Legionnaire had so many others who were connected to the team. Many Legion parents and siblings appeared once or twice, some not at all. (Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel's parents didn't even attend their wedding; I don't believe Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl's parents attended theirs, either.)
Since Superboy was the "star" of the Silver Age Legion, occasional appearances by his friends and family made sense -- and, in the case of the Mordru story, their involvement was crucial -- but too much of a good thing can spoil the soup, as it were.
By contrast, Lana appears in a non-Insect Queen role in both Superboy # 197 and 198. These stories showed she was still part of Superboy's life and a friend of the Legion, even though she didn't participate in these adventures. When she next appears as Insect Queen (# 205), it's in a contrived story in which only she and Ultra Boy can save the entire Legion. Lucky for the Legion that Superboy decided to bring her by for a visit on her birthday.
When Lana and the other characters could be worked in organically, as in the Mordru story and Sup # 197-198, they enhanced Legion stories. Otherwise, credibility suffered through their frequent involvement in a team a thousand years removed from their lives.
Posted by Mystery Lad on :
quote:Originally posted by Blacula: Gosh - I wonder if this post will kill this thread for two years again like my last post did?
I thought I was the only one who did that around here!
My post killed this thread for a couple of months before the new IQ news.
quote:Originally posted by Blacula: Oh I'm gonna get emotional if I start thinking about all the good characters we lost with the threeboot...
Or the one before that. And the one before it.
Seriously-- I *loved* postboot L'onna INSECT QUEEN Long. Maybe even more than Lana. We didn't get to see *nearly* enough of her!
Posted by superboymddjr on :
hey I loved Lonna too but maybe she will worm her way into the new Shooter era Legion someday soon. *finger crossing*
Posted by Superboy-Supergirl on :
Only Perry White seemed to be miss out on all the fun ...
that's cause he was an icky adult and the legion were teens. And Lois ended up there cause she was Superman's giiiiiiiiiiiiiiirlfriend so she had a reason to be tied up there.
Posted by Vee on :
quote:Originally posted by Mystery Lad: Apparently, there's going to be a 'new' Insect Queen in upcoming issues of SUPERMAN by Kurt Busiek. (Not sure that that's the Supes title Kurt's writing, but I think it is.)
It's supposed to be a storyline comprising three issues. There's a picture in the newsarama column about the DC Universe panel in Baltimore that is *probably* her, though it could be Bumblebee or Queen Bee.
No mention if there's any connection to Lana. I can't imagine Busiek would write this character without one- even if it's fairly tenuous.
If you are refering to the picture of the woman in red with insect wings at the bottom of that page, I believe that's the new Red Bee, slated to appear in Uncle Sam & The Freedom Fighters upcoming series.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
quote:Originally posted by Superboy-Supergirl: Only Perry White seemed to be miss out on all the fun ...
that's cause he was an icky adult and the legion were teens. And Lois ended up there cause she was Superman's giiiiiiiiiiiiiiirlfriend so she had a reason to be tied up there.
Well, Jimmy was an adult, too, and he didn't have a romantic relationship with Big Blue (that we know of).
All Perry had to do was get some sort of temporary power (perhaps super-copy editing) and he could have been made an Honorary Legion Mentor, after Marla.
Posted by Reboot on :
You know my opinion of Insect Queen. I actually love the costume but...well...you know. I thought it worked back then...suprised we saw her as late as the Reflecto story.
![[Insect Queen]](graemlins/InsectQueen.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)