I had some free time lately thanks to a house move, and with some Archives in hand I started up a tallying project, where I counted each and every appearance of a Legionnaire or supporting character. I've always been interested in something like this, seeing who really gets the most face time and just how many times certain favorites actually appeared, so I thought I'd share it here with fellow Legion fans who may get a kick out of it.
I tracked panel by panel, counting times they were in disguise, a monitor board picture showed up, the works, so I could get the fairest representation possible. The sole exception being Luornu, who even when doubled/triplicated, I only counted her as one appearance in a panel so she wouldn't run-away with an inaccurate tally. Though I know I'm missing a tale or two that weren't in the Archives (I know of a Superman, Jimmy Olsen, and Lois Lane story off-hand), the below list covers every panel appearing in the Adventure era, including the Action back-ups. Rank, name, and then # of appearances.
LEGIONNAIRES 01. Superboy 2670 02. Saturn Girl 1482 03. Brainiac 5 1400 04. Cosmic Boy 1349 05. Sun Boy 975 06. Chameleon Boy 931 07. Lightning Lad 918 08. Ultra Boy 804 09. Mon-el 786 10. Duo Damsel 710 11. Karate Kid 655 12. Invisible Kid 612 13. Supergirl 590 14. Star Boy 584 15. Element Lad 555 16. Phantom Girl 536 17. Shrinking Violet 530 18. Bouncing Boy 491 19. Light Lass 468 20. Colossal Boy 389 21. P. Projectra 387 22. Matter-Eater Lad 348 23. Dream Girl 277 24. Shadow Lass 222 25. Timber Wolf 182 26. Ferro Lad 132 27. Chemical King 104 28. Nemesis Kid 37
SUPPORTING CHARACTERS 01. Proty II 226 02. Lana Lang 216 03. Night Girl 200 04. Polar Boy 195 05. Jimmy Olsen 177 06. Krypto 131 07. Comet 120 08. Fire Lad 103 09. Chlorophyll Kid 95 10. Stone Boy 92 11. Streaky 92 12. Beppo 83 13. Pete Ross 81 14. Duplicate Boy 63 15. Beast Boy 56 16. Proty I 32 17. Marla Latham 31 18. Kid Psycho 30 19. Evolvo Lad 29 20. Gas Girl 29 21. Rond Vidar 27 22. Life Lass 21 23. Eltro Gand 14 24. Color Kid 13 25. RJ Brande 7 26. White Witch 6
VILLAINS 01. Tharok 101 02. Mano 98 03. Dynamo Boy 96 04. Emerald Empress 93 05. Persuader 88 06. Cosmic King 84 07. Lightning Lord 82 08. Validus 81 09. Dr. Mantis Morlo 66 10. Saturn Queen 65 11. COMPUTO 58 12. Time Trapper 57 13. Nardo 55 14. Universo 53 15. Mordru 52 16. Otto Orion 51 17. Command Kid 50 18. Super Moby Dick 39 19. Evillo 38 20. Dr Regulus 35 21. Thora of Taltar 35 22. Glorith 27 23. Starfinger 21 24. Echo 14 25. Tarik the Mute 14 26. Beauty Blaze 13 27. The Hag 13 28. Sugyn 11 29. Spider-Girl 8 30. Ron-Karr 6 31. Radiation Roy 5
I have some notes I'd like to make about the tallying, but I'll take a break to compile my thoughts and see if anyone has any questions about the process.
[ August 10, 2004, 07:59 AM: Message edited by: Future ]
Posted by Future on :
Apologies for how squished the numbers are next to the names. I had spaced them out, but it must not show up on the UBB code. Posted by MLLASH on :
Dang! Nice work, Future! I love stuff like this.
I don't think anyone will be surprised by Superboy, Saturn Girl or Brainiac 5's rankings. I do think it is important to note that Imra's accomplishment of being THE most-frequently-shown Legionnaire (I'm not counting Superboy here) is MASSIVE for a female character outside of Wonder Woman in the Silver-Age.
As I was reading your explanation of the process, I suspected Luornu would have a high count, despite counting her dupli/triplicated appearances as one. I see I was right; she made the top 10 and is the seecond-highest-ranked female.
Fun! Thanks!!
Posted by Tromium Crystal on :
Wow! What an amazing feat, Future! Very informative. It should go into the Encyclopedia Galactica.
Heh, Saturn Girl was a panel hog even back then. Cosmic Boy, Brainy. Yup, the usual suspects. Sun Boy was such a prominent character; how the mighty have fallen! Cham's exposure took a big dive postboot, no? Maybe you should footnote the fact that Lightning Lad was dead for eight months, and that Star Boy was expelled from the Legion for nine months. It impacts their numbers. I always suspected that Element Lad was given short shrift; now I know it's true. For someone who only visited now and then Supergirl did alright for herself (I'm so glad she's back in the DCU). Funny how some of the supporting characters (Proty II, Lana) eclipsed the bottom-rung Legionnaires. Krypto appeared more times than Chemical King!
I'm really surprised that Tharok comes out as the most prominent a villain. I would never have guessed.
This is the REAL Legion, boys and girls, and don't you forget it. Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
I wouldn't be surprised if the Time Trapper ends up at the top of the villain's list.
Karate Kid's fairly high-rank shows what a panel-hog he was after he debuted, besting out many characters who were there for the entire Adventure run.
I was a bit surprised by how far down Gim was.
You rock, Future!
Posted by matlock on :
Funny that RJ is dead last considering how important he became in the long run.
And kudos to you Future for putting the work into the list.
[ August 09, 2004, 08:13 AM: Message edited by: matlock ]
Posted by Future on :
Thanks for all the kind words, gang! Half the fun of tallying up the appearances was actually seeing where everyone started in the early days, and how they fared as time moved on. There was actually a lot of place swapping issue after issue, especially with the bigger storylines. I'll try to comment on stuff that has been mentioned.
Saturn Girl was indeed the biggest panel hog, though I have to give her props for being consistent. There never really was a huge storyline spotlighting her that boosted her numbers...they built up over time. She actually rarely appeared in the last few Adventure issues and had few spots in the Action back-ups, so she would actually be a lot better if she had maintained her prominence.
Even dead, Lightning Lad didn't lose too much ground. Sun Boy slipped past him in appearances, and after his revival, the two best friends have been pulling ahead and then falling behind each other over and over again. The ghost of Ferro Lad story finally broke Dirk loose from Garth, but he's managed to catch up to where he was now thanks to bit parts in many of the later stories. While they were tussling, Cham pretty much flew out of the second-tier ranks and inserted himself between the two. Another Action back-up and Reep would probably pass both of them.
Mon and Jo have stayed in place the whole time, usually at the pit bottom of the top 10. They appeared together often in the early days and had equal time as leaders to keep them fairly in line with each other.
Colossal Boy, Invisible Kid, and Brainiac 5 all started out at the bottom of the list (as did the Legion gals: Vi, Tinya, and Lu). Brainiac 5 slowly but surely picked up pace and then kept on going until he got to his rank of third. Lyle actually stayed fairly low in the ranks until he became leader. He then pretty much shot through the charts, and nested where he was now after he was replaced. I don't think anyone passed him after he was elected leader. Gim, plain and simply, never took off. He never would have broken 300 if it wasn't for the LSV storyline and the Action back-up he was in. He never played too much of a role in any story...and when he did appear he usually only added anywhere from 2-10 appearances throughout the 80+ issues I went through.
Matter-Eater Lad, like Gim, just never got consistently featured in stories. Element Lad suffered from this a bit in the later days too, but a few Action back-ups helped him soar past the Legion gals back into the middle. Another long-standing middle-tier, Star Boy, actually had quite a few appearances before his expulsion. Especially as Sir Prize, it didn't take him long to reclaim his middle ground. He was pretty much right under Supergirl during the whole tallying process until the last dozen Adventure issues.
Hoo boy, the Legion gals! Tinya and Lu first appeared together and stayed fairly neck and neck until Lu started getting some roles. Tinya and Vi didn't get too many appearances until around Archive 2 or 3, and even then they slowly but surely kept up with the others. Lightning Lass/Light Lass actually was the #2 girl for quite awhile. Her debut and appearances with Garth's return secured her spot above the other girls in the early days. Afterward, she pretty much dwindled in appearances. She made enough to not be obscure, but by the time Shooter came on the scene and bumped up PG (just like the Mordru storyline and the last few Adventure tales did for Lu), she just watched the other gals go by. Vi kept up with Tinya fairly well, eventually catching back up to her through Action back-ups and the like.
Luornu, actually stayed pretty consistent throughout the whole of Adventure. Even without her big roles, she'd easily be the #2 femme.
Supergirl was actually fairly high on the list when it started out. She got lots of appearances in during the Legion's early days, and everytime she would start slipping in the ranks, a Satan Girl, Unknown Boy, or Taurus Gang story came along to help her out. She's actually stayed around the 500s for the last five Archives, not really gaining any ground with her last few appearances.
Bouncing Boy was a real shock when I started the list. He was in the top 7 easily (the founders, Dirk, and the Super cousins beat him out), and stayed there surprisingly for the first two dozen issues. Of course, after losing his powers and leaving the book, he quickly slipped in rank with dozens of other Legionnaires finally coming unto their own and getting featured. Even when he rejoined, Chuck was more obscure than Gim or Tenzil. His appearances at the end of Adventure really helped BB out, as before then he had the same number as Colossal Boy.
As per the latecomers, Chem and Wolf would be tied if it weren't for Brin's Lone-Wolf days. Shady actually didn't gain too many appearances...half of her total count is from the Fatal Five two-parter alone. Dream Girl's first story and guise as Miss Terious is where most of her appearances came from, attributing to why she's so low on the list when people who've joined after her sped past.
Supporting characters don't have too many surprises. As usual, big stories or appearances are what kept Jimmy, Lana, and Proty where they were. Though he wasn't a promimently featured Super-Pet, Krypto had plenty of early Legion appearances with Superboy to help him out. Beppo fared the worse of the Pets, while Duplicate Boy for his romance with Vi and Beast Boy for his renegade status spirited them slightly ahead of the rest of the Lallorian heroes. Night Girl had a huge lead over the other Subs, until the Adult Legion story had Polar Boy beat her out. She reclaimed #1 sub with her sole appearance in the Action back-ups. Stone Boy, despite his important role in several tales, was always usually left out of group shots and other parts of stories, making him the Sub founder with the least. Color Kid never had time to come unto his own. I forgot to tally the White Witch, but all but probably five of her appearances would have been of her as the Hag.
Not many surprises with the villains. Tharok and Mano's squabbling sprinted them ahead, while big and bulky Validus usually got left out of panels and gained a lower count. Of the LSV, Cosmic King usually stole the show as leader. Flashbacks are really what kept Mekt in-line with him. The Time Trapper would probably place slightly below Validus from what I remember, with Glorith likely ranking above Thora.
[ August 09, 2004, 12:00 PM: Message edited by: Future ]
Posted by MLLASH on :
Yeah, it would be pretty hard for Shadow Lass, Timber Wolf and Chemical King to have scored very high on the list as they were the last to join, but Ferro Lad's rank is a bit of a surprise considering he was dead in like, 6 months! I'll bet his ghost and statue kept his numbers up, tough.
Posted by Future on :
You've got it, Lash. Ferro Lad barely broke 100 appearances when he died if I recall correctly (most of those from the Sun-Eater story, too). His statue, ghost, and the funeral rocket with his picture on it is what got him where he is.
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
Future, this is really cool! You space-rawk!
It's funny about the top ten, in that you can even tell on the covers that Cos, Imra, Sun Boy and Brainy were *thee* consistently appearing Legionnaires, with other more obscure ones rotating into the stories. Both before and after Shooter.
And Garth, Jo, Mon and Cham are no surprise either! I am a bit surprised (and delighted) to see Luornu though, I'll have to keep an eye out for her when I re-read those issues.
And like you said EDE, it's amazing at how often Karate Kid appeared after he joined! It's so obvious when re-reading these stories and the letter pages that he was a MAJOR fan-favorite and this really shows here.
Off the top of my head, some of my favorite stories feature the top ten: Cos, Brainy, Val and Superboy in Shady's origin and Cos, Dirk, Superboy in the Fatal Five story with Ferro Lad and Jeckie rotating in.
Posted by Thora on :
"Glorith likely ranking above Thora"? Bah!
I --Thora of Taltar-- am pleased with my top-10 ranking. No need to tally up appearances by that ridiculous Time Trapper or his blonde, bubble-chested man-toy. To do so would surely brand you as a cretin and bring you utter misery and unmerciful floggings. To obey Thora of Taltar would surely bring you happiness.
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
I bet Nardo would rank higher than Thora of Taltar.
Posted by Future on :
I updated the villains sections, which means good news and bad news for Thora of Taltar!
The good news is, Thora, that you have nothing to worry. I updated the list with Glorith and she actually ranks below you!
The bad news is, EDE was correct. I tallied up Nardo and added him to the list too. He beat out both Thora and Mordru to secure the #8 spot. That's even without Nardo robots!
I'll have to sit down tonight to look for the Time Trapper. I forgot about a couple of different stories he cameo'd in when I looked up the other two, so I'll have to clarify later.
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
I'd guess Universo as another high scorer. He's got his debut, plus the two-parter "Outlawed Legionnaires" story.
Evillo might be in the "Nardo"-range as well, with his two-parter.
Posted by Lightning Lad on :
Very good work Future! I love this kind of stuff but never seem to have time to do lists like this myself.
If there are any issues you need help with, just give me a holler.
Posted by Future on :
E-Gads! Thanks for reminding me about all these villains, Eryk. I can't believe I forgot so many, especially ones that play bigger roles later in v3 and v4.
Scott, thanks for the compliment! I don't know if you or anyone else have the issues on hand, but I know for a fact there was a three-parter in Superman where he was dying and had super-heroes complete tasks for him that he never finished (I have this in tabloid form but it's sadly packed up). The Legionnaires popped in for part three, and Supergirl was a prominent character.
There's also a Lois Lane story where Night Girl comes in and saves the day, I believe, and I think there's a Supergirl story where Phantom Girl pays the Mighty Maiden a visit. I'm sure there are many more smaller, A.R. appearances and cameos like this in the Adventure era, so if anyone has any stories they know aren't in the Archives (every story I tallied was from Archives vol. 1-9), please do feel free to look them up and let us know the counts for characters in those tales! This way we can get the best accurate numbers!
I'll be indebted to you for forever and a day. Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
I can do the Legion's cameo in Action #285, in which Supergirl is revealed to the world.
But there's just a few panels of the Legionnaires, so do I count all of Kara's panels throughout the whole book?
And Superman's appearances count for Superboy?
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
Just doing Part II, which is pretty much a self-contained story:
EDE, thanks so much! I'll update the list accordingly. Yeah, I count Superman as Superboy for the Adult Legion tales and other stories.
I figure if the Super cousins are acting on Legion business, or interacting with a Legionnaire or supporting character in their tale, those appearances should count (both before and after the Legion shows up). I'm not quite sure where to draw the line in a tale where there's only one or two Legion appearances, so I guess it's up to you guys when you do the counting.
Posted by lil'rhino on :
Thanks for this faboo undertaking, Future. I love it!
lil'rhino
Posted by Kent Shakespeare on :
... I was very tempted to make a jibe at the amount of free time you must have (yes, I'm envious), but dammit, I must admit I'm impressed with your dilligence... good work!
Posted by Kid Quislet on :
Yes, this is good stuff! Thanks for the info. I'd be curious how well Starfinger made out – he had a large 2-part story in the adventure run.
BTW - I would hope that creative teams would use this kind of info to feature characters overdue for panel time. A story featuring Colossal Boy, Element Lad, Ferro Lad, Princess Projectra, Shadow Lass and Bouncing Boy could be real interesting ...
A more recent story would feature Xs, Gates, Kinetix and Gear under this criteria.
Posted by Blacula on :
I agree Kid Quislet! The lesser featured Legionnaires are *WAY* beyond due for some spotlighting. I look at that list and see that the top 10 Legionnaires on it are (with the exception of Luornu and maybe Dirk) my top 10 most disliked members. I just *CANNOT STAND* panel-hogs!
Still, that was a very interesting and informative job Future. Well done!
Posted by Future on :
Villains, villains, villains!
There's been some major upsets in the villains' rankings, as I've added Evillo, the Time Trapper, Universo, Dr. Regulus, Sugyn, the Hag, COMPUTO, Starfinger, Tarik the Mute, Dr. Mantis Morlo, the Super Moby Dick of Space, and our two Legion tratiors (Command Kid and Dynamo Boy). Thora of Taltar won't be pleased.
For the supporting characters, the White Witch (Xola Ag) and Rond Vidar have added. Mysa now beats RJ for supporting character with the least amount of appearances.
Thanks to lil'rhino, Kent, Blacula, Kid Quislet, and the rest for the kind words!
[ August 10, 2004, 08:02 AM: Message edited by: Future ]
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
Go Dynamo Boy!
(Though if one of my theories is correct, his total should really be added to the Time Trapper's )
Posted by Future on :
Haha. Maybe so, Eryk. I was shocked with how well he did, as a one-time villain. Of course, maybe I should add both his AND TT's count to Rokk's?
Other classic villains, even with two-parters, didn't fare as well because they had minions running around to do their work or stayed in disguise. Mantis Morlo, Otto Orion, Dynamo Boy, and Command Kid (despite being one-shots) garnered more appearances as they interacted with the Legionnaires themselves more over their one or two-part stories.
Starfinger didn't shine too much, as it was Lightning Lad in disguise, not Lars, who was suited up and using the Starfinger powers. Hanscomb only wore the suit to yell at his minions.
Interesting to note is that half of the Time Trapper's appearances come from him disguised as the Legion interrogator (whatever his name was).
Which reminds me, Mysa's appearances as the White Witch and the Hag are listed seperately. I don't know my logic behind this, but it just makes sense.
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
The Dynamo Boy story really is told, for the most part, from his perspective, so it makes sense that he would rack up a high-appearance count.
One thing that's interesting about the Time Trapper is that there's a lot of talking about the Time Trapper in issues in which he doesn't actually appear. He's the main villain in the "Proty joins the Super-Pets" story, for instance, even though he's not in the story. His "presence" is felt a lot more than his actual appearance-total indicated.
[ August 10, 2004, 08:26 AM: Message edited by: Eryk Davis Ester ]
Posted by Future on :
Agreed, EDE. The several cameos I was worried about looking up weren't cameos at all. They were either mentions of the Time Trapper's threat issues before he ever appeared, or an appearance from his iron curtain of time that Superboy and the others tried to break through. He really only had two issues in which we actually saw him, yet the Legion worried about him on multiple occasions (Dream Girl's first story, etc).
Posted by jimgallagher on :
Did you count cover appearances or just interior panels?
Commissioner Wilson was Time Trapper's alias in Adv. 321 btw.
Posted by Future on :
Just interior panels. I was hesitant on covers, especially when several weren't inserted in the Archives. I know I can find them all online, so I may go back and add them later to see if it upsets the rankings at all.
Thanks for the reminder about TT's alias!
Posted by Caunotaucarius on :
I think it would be more interesting to cout covers seperatly.
Posted by Future on :
Good thinking, Caun! It'll give me something to do this weekend, at any rate.
Relating to covers, something I noticed that was funny about the Archives was that Gim was so prominently featued despite the lack of appearances in the actual issues. I think he was on 5 of the first 9 issues, without any big story or role to back any of those covers up except for #8 (the LSV storyline). I guess it was just a case of throwing the big guy in the background to populate the cover. One would think Vi would have done well cover-wise in that respect, being able to squeeze in anywhere. I think she only got 3 covers out of 9, though.
Posted by The LMBP Spectre on :
Future, this is very impressive!
One thing that I found funny: Stone Boy has the least amount out of any of the Subs, and he was the only one that could have become a Legionnaire! Polar Boy and Night Girl obviously had more, but I'm surprised Chlorophyll Kid beat him out. I think he just needed a more dynamic costume.
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
Great work, Future!
It's amazing how Luornu, who probably had the least useful powers of all the girls, was able to soar so high. I was sure Tinya and Vi at least would have been able to keep pace with her. And poor Gim! He always seems to get the shaft. Posted by Future on :
AND...because only two people asked for it (I think):
The Adventure Era COVER Appearance Count
LEGIONNAIRES 01. Superboy 85 02. Saturn Girl 33 03. Cosmic Boy 28 04. Lightning Lad 24 05. Sun Boy 21 06. Chameleon Boy 21 07. Brainiac 5 20 08. Ultra Boy 20 09. Duo Damsel 19 10. Colossal Boy 18 11. Light Lass 17 12. Mon-El 17 13. Phantom Girl 14 14. Element Lad 13 15. Star Boy 13 16. Shrinking Violet 10 17. Supergirl 9 18. Bouncing Boy 8 19. Invisible Kid 8 20. Projectra 8 21. Karate Kid 6 22. Ferro Lad 6 23. Matter-Eater Lad 5 24. Shadow Lass 5 25. Dream Girl 3 26. Timber Wolf 2 27. Chemical King 1 28. Nemesis Kid 1
SUPPORTING CHARACTERS 01. Lana Lang 4 02. Jimmy Olsen 3 03. Krypto 3 04. Streaky 3 05. Beast Boy 2 06. Beppo 2 07. Comet 2 08. Dev-Em 2 09. Night Girl 2 10. Proty II 2 11. Chlorophyll Kid 1 12. Evolvo Lad 1 13. Fire Lad 1 14. Gas Girl 1 15. Polar Boy 1 16. Kid Psycho 1 17. Stone Boy 1
I used the Online Legion Companion for the covers, which was a good bet as they only really featured the covers that showed the Legion tale within. I was hesitant about counting all those Superboy-centric covers that had nothing to do with the back-up Legion tale, so this worked out.
No real surprises. The founders stayed together this time...most of the Legionnaires stayed put from actual appearances...but whoa, nelly! Check out Gim and Ayla's rankings. Apparently covers were their place to shine.
[ August 16, 2004, 10:35 AM: Message edited by: Future ]
Posted by jimgallagher on :
You missed Lone Wolf's cover appearance on Adv. 327. Don't know if you're counting that since it's not a Legion cover. And I count 6 covers for Ferro Lad: Adv. 346, 347, 352, 353, 354, and 357. Are you not counting the statue or the ghost?
Dang, I'm kind of embarrassed that I included White Witch in my silver age Legion figurines since she only appeared in 6 panels in the entire Adventure run! Oh well, she's done now.
[ August 16, 2004, 10:03 AM: Message edited by: jimgallagher ]
Posted by Future on :
Jim, the White Witch figure looks great, though! She definitely belongs...if only for the potential she had.
Thanks for updating me on some of the cover counts. I'm sure that some covers slipped by or were excluded from the web site I got them from. I do indeed count Ferro Lad's ghost or rocket as an appearance, though one easily could slip by as I did this quick and was probably more tuned in to looking for the genuine article.
Posted by jimgallagher on :
Hey, Future, I was just reviewing this list and I noticed Pete Ross is not mentioned. I can tell that you included other titles besides Adventure in your cover appearances at least, because Lana Lang, Jimmy Olsen, and the Super Villains didn't have many Adventure covers, if any. Did you not include Pete's cover appearances from Superboy and Adv. 308 because they weren't Legion covers?
Posted by jimgallagher on :
Also, I can only remember 1 cover appearance for Proty II (Adv. 322). What was his other one?
Posted by jimgallagher on :
Egad! I just checked Future's profile and he was born in 1984! I was out of college and had been reading Legion for 15 years before he was even born!
Damn Whippersnapper Lads!
Posted by Lame Lad on :
Shouldn't Lu get divided by two since there were two of her?
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
I miss Future.
Posted by legionadventureman on :
quote:Originally posted by jimgallagher: Also, I can only remember 1 cover appearance for Proty II (Adv. 322). What was his other one?
That cover which featured Comet taking a chunk out of Cos's pants?
Posted by wayniac5 on :
I'd like a good list of appearances with short overstreet style abreviations...
The thread on here is a pain inthe ass with reprints and such being listed in withthe regular books while excluding tons of other appearances.
I'd like to start a new FAQ list with only appearances of LSH members ( excluding "superboy or supergirl ONLY" appearances in other titles) and have the list actually list why its an appearance if its obscur...
"chameleon boy cameo two panels only" etc etc
Posted by Sir Tim Drake on :
It would be interesting to see a similar appearance count for Paul Levitz's Legion, but I can't imagine how much time that would take.
(edited to be less snarky)
Posted by jimgallagher on :
quote:Originally posted by legionadventureman:
quote:Originally posted by jimgallagher: Also, I can only remember 1 cover appearance for Proty II (Adv. 322). What was his other one?
That cover which featured Comet taking a chunk out of Cos's pants?
Nope. Proty doesn't appear on that cover. I'd still like to know the answer to this and my other questions. Where is Future?
I'm thinking he must've been counting the cover from "The World of Doomed Olsens" which shows Proty II disguised as Wolfman Olsen, IIRC.
[ March 14, 2006, 07:04 AM: Message edited by: jimgallagher ]
Posted by jimgallagher on :
Here's another question. Why is Nemesis Kid listed as a Legionnaire instead of a villain? Dynamo Boy and Command Kid were Legionnaires too but they're listed as villains.
[ March 14, 2006, 06:50 AM: Message edited by: jimgallagher ]
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
*sigh*
Only Future had the willpower to provide such a count and then answer questions about it...
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
quote:Originally posted by wayniac5: I'd like a good list of appearances with short overstreet style abreviations...
The thread on here is a pain inthe ass with reprints and such being listed in withthe regular books while excluding tons of other appearances.
I'd like to start a new FAQ list with only appearances of LSH members ( excluding "superboy or supergirl ONLY" appearances in other titles) and have the list actually list why its an appearance if its obscur...
"chameleon boy cameo two panels only" etc etc
Jeepers! People put in a lot of effort for those lists and threads dear fellow! 'Pain in the ass' they may be to you, but thats hardly a fair or accurate comment to make!
Posted by jimgallagher on :
So, where is Future? Is he no longer posting on this board for some reason?
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
He hasn't posted since January of last year. No one is certain why.
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
We miss him though Posted by Faraway Lad on :
quote:Originally posted by wayniac5: I'd like a good list of appearances with short overstreet style abreviations...
The thread on here is a pain inthe ass with reprints and such being listed in withthe regular books while excluding tons of other appearances.
I'd like to start a new FAQ list with only appearances of LSH members ( excluding "superboy or supergirl ONLY" appearances in other titles) and have the list actually list why its an appearance if its obscur...
"chameleon boy cameo two panels only" etc etc
Wayniac,
This site might give you something of what you want. It ends in 1997 but its a great start. It helped me track down issues and stuff.
If you wanted to start here and then create a list to bring things up to date I'm sure people here would be able to chip in and help out.
Oh and by the way how would you feel if you did a load of work and produced such a list and had it called a pain in the arse?
Posted by MLLASH on :
quote:Originally posted by Sir Tim Drake: It would be interesting to see a similar appearance count for Paul Levitz's Legion, but I can't imagine how much time that would take.
How about Levitz BAXTER-era only cover appearances?
NOTES FOR NUMBER-NERDS:
I started from issue 63 and moved backward to issue 1.
I did NOT count non-Legionnaires appearances, only those who are or have been Legionnaires. Except for NIght Girl. Nobody puts Lydda in the corner.
Annuals ARE included.
I did NOT try to figure out someone's arm or leg if that is all that is shown. I also did NOT count silhouettes (see issue # 63, 47 & 38... in fact, 2 issues of MAGIC WARS had *no* counts from me) I *did* count Karate Kid's bloody arm cover as it is identifiable because of the mission monitor symbol.
Add a point to all on list for issue 29 (sorry, but I just couldn't do it!!)
Issue 22- I also didn't count for anyone, thought the puzzle peices were easy to figure (you can add a point to Sensor Girl, Dawnstar, Tellus & Brainy if you want).
That said, I certify this tally to be at least... 94.8 percent accurate!!
THE LIST: member/# of cover appearances
BRAINIAC 5
19
CHAMELEON BOY
15
POLAR BOY
13
TIMBER WOLF
12
SENSOR GIRL/PROJECTRA
12
MON-EL
12
SHRINKING VIOLET
12
ELEMENT LAD
11
TELLUS
10
DAWNSTAR
10
INVISIBLE KID II
10
WILDFIRE
10
ULTRA BOY
9
SATURN GIRL
9
BLOK
7
DREAM GIRL
7
COLOSSAL BOY
7
SHADOW LASS
6
LIGHTNING LASS
6
SUN BOY
6
PHANTOM GIRL
6
MAGNETIC KID
5
LIGHTNING LAD
5
COSMIC BOY
5
STAR BOY
4
DUO DAMSEL
4
SUPERBOY
3
WHITE WITCH
3
QUISLET
3
BOUNCING BOY
3
KARATE KID
3
FERRO LAD
2
NIGHT GIRL
2
INVISIBLE KID I
1
CHEMICAL KING
1
SUPERGIRL
1
Posted by MLLASH on :
And looking over my notes, I think Quislet should be 4 cover appearances...
Posted by jimgallagher on :
This thread reminded me of another similar tally that I think was posted on an earlier message board that is now defunct. I can't remember who the original poster was, but anyway, I had printed his data out and I just found the hard copy and scanned it in. There are several inaccuracies in his information, but I thought his observations and analyses were interesting enough to post here.
TOTAL ADVENTURES APPEARANCES -- 81, #300-380, 9/62 - 5/69
1 Superboy - 75 - 92%
There were only six Legion stories in Adventure that didn't have Superboy in them. Five were between 300-311; in 312- 380, Superboy only missed 344, and there was a "proxy" Superboy in that issue (I think it was a Durlan.) This is why it was Superboy AND The Legion before it was The Legion.
2 Brainiac 5, Saturn Girl - 64 - 79%
These two appeared in every four out of five Adventure issues. Brainy gains the #2 tie because all writers used him, and Imra gains it because of her untouchable record during the HIS period. It would be accurate to say these two are Mr. & Ms. Adventure Legionnaire. Interestingly, both their powers are cerebral, both were Leaders, and both are blond (despite Shooter's preferences.)
4 Cosmic Boy - 60 - 74%
Wouldn't have thought Cos was in three out of every four Adventure issues. Maybe it's his reputed blandness. Another Leader.
5 Sun Boy - 59 - 72%
Dirk still comes in as #5 overall during the Adventure run. If Shooter had used him as much as HIS, he'd be number #2 on this list with 71 apps. If Star Boy was the "forgotten" Legionnaire at the start of the Adventure series, then Sun Boy must be the forgotten Legionnaire currently.
6 Chameleon Boy - 55 - 67%
A very strong finish for Reep: #6 for the sixth to join Legionnaire. As with Sun Boy, if Shooter had used Reep as much as HIS, he'd also be #2 on this list, joining his fellow tie-er from HIS period, Brainiac 5.
7 Lightning Lad - 50 - 61 %
I thought Garth would have been higher in total Adventure Apps, but that's probably because of his charter member status and his many major roles during HIS period (his death, revival, Controller ploy, loss of arm, Starfinger brainwashing, and "wedding.") Still, #7 is a high rank.
8 Mon-el - 49 - 60%
If Shooter had used him as much as HIS, Mon would have been #5 on this list. If Superboy, was around all the time, Mon easily would have been in top three.
9 Ultra Boy - 48 - 59%
Interesting that Jo and Mon are almost identical in total Adventure apps. With many Legionnaires's number rising and falling, Jo's percentages remain constant thru the Adventure run. Last Leader during Adventure.
10 Duo Damsel - 47 - 58%
Luornu makes the top ten Legionnaires during Adventure run, and is highest placed female after Saturn Girl, thanks to high use by Shooter and moderate use by HIS.
11 Shrinking Violet - 46 - 56%
Although she made #10 and tied for #8 in the prior two lists, Salu just misses making the top ten in Adventure.
12 Invisible Kid - 43 - 53%
Lowest placing Leader on this list. Hey, he's INVISIBLE Kid.
13 Light Lass, Phantom Girl - 41 - 50%
These two Legionnaires with very dissimilar prior rankings meet at #13 on this list. At the 50% mark on this list, they each appeared in half of the Adventure issues. EXCLUDING MON-EL, Light Lass is highest Adventure-joined Legionnaire on this list (which FYI, includes nine other members.) If Tinya had been used by HIS as much as by Shooter, she would have placed eighth, tied with Mon-el.
15 Colossal Boy - 40 - 49%
Another Legionnaire appearing in almost half the Adventure issues.
16 Bouncing Boy, Element Lad, Star Boy - 36 - 44%
If Bouncing Boy's percentage during 301-319 had continued thru to 380, he would have been the SECOND highest appearing Legionnaire during Adventure, only being beaten by Superboy. That gives one pause. If Star Boy's percentage between his two HIS absences had occured thru the entire Adventure run, he would have placed FIFTH on this list.
19 Matter-Eater Lad - 26 - 34%
I would not of thought that Matter-Eater Lad had appeared in a third of the Adventure issues.
20 Karate Kid - 20 - 24%
First Shooter Legionnaire on this list, if his Shooter percentage had occured thru the whole Adventure run, he would have placed 11 th on this list.
21 Projectra - 18 - 22%
If her Shooter percentage had occured thru the whole Adventure run, she would have placed 13th on this list.
22 Dream Girl, Supergirl - 15 - 18%
As indicated in earlier lists, who would have thought that Supergirl appeared 15 times during the Adventure run? That almost one appearance every five issues.
24 Night Girl - 11 - 13%
25 Chlorophyll Kid, Polar Boy - 10 - 12% 27 Fire Lad, Stone Boy - 9 - 11 %
Averaged out, one out every eight Adventure issues had the Subs in them.
29 Shadow Lass - 8 - 9%
Tasmia represents lowest regular female Legionnaire on the list. If her percentage from her "active" period of 365-380, were extended for the whole Adventure run, she would be untied at #13 on this list.
30 Ferro Lad - 7 - 8%
If the app percentage of his brief existence
of 346-353 were extended to whole Adventure run, he would place at #7.
31 Chemical King, Timber Wolf - 5 - 6% Last regular Legionnaires.
33 Color Kid - 3 -3%
INDEX OF LEGIONNAIRES' COVER APPEARANCES ON ADVENTURE COMICS 300–380
1- SUPERBOY - 68 CA - No surprise here, same SA rank. Only missed CAs were 318, 374, 380. However, 318 has a~ pictured blurb of him for his story, and 380 has only his empty costume. Technically then, the only issue without any sort of Superboy image on the cover during the Legion run of Adventure Comics is 374 (which also has only two other Legionnaires on It, Superglrl and Ultra Boy.)
So, his first CA is 300 and his longest streak 319-373. He has five CAs where he is the only Legionnaire - 322, 324, 331, 355, 358. (On 331 & 355, the only other characters on the covers are the same - the classic members of the LSV, Cosmic King, Saturn Queen, and Lightning Lord.) Other Featured CAs are numerous and usual.
2 - SATURN GIRL - 26 CA - Though she duplicates her SA rank (but this time untied,) her CA indicates how much fewer CA numbers are compared to SA (26 CA out of possible 71; 64 SA out of 81.) Her first CA is 300, and she appears on first seven Legion covers, longest streak after superboy's, with another small streak of 349-351. Biggest CA gaps are 340-348 & 352-362. In 351-380, she only has three CAs. As mentioned in the SA indexes Shooter didn't use her much. No Featured CAs, but she often had a speaking CA.
3 - COSMIC BOY - 19 CA - Moves up one place from SA rank of 4th. First CA is 300. Used frequently on covers during Shooter's first two years, yet no CA after 366. Second big gap: 320-335. Actually those are two big missing chunks for someone in 3rd. No streak over two issues (yet had six of these.) No Featured CA.
4 - TIE: DUO DAMSEL, SUN BOY, ULTRA BOY - 17 CA
TRIPLICATE GIRL I DUO DAMSEL - Big jump from 10th SA, and still remains #2 female on index. First CA is 300 (and likewise only other female beside Imra on that premiere issue's cover, so perhaps her #2 status was foretold.) She is the answer to Teaser Question #3 - she is the only Legionnaire to appear on the covers of Adventure 300 & 380 (as mentioned, Superboy's costume is on 380's cover, but not Superboy.) She was on the cover eight times as Triplicate Girl and nine times as Duo Damsel. No steak over two issues. Featured CA is 340, Triplicate Girl's death (only "real" Legionnaire death on a cover?)
SUN BOY - Almost same rank as 5th SA. First CA: 300. Significantly, he was on first six Legion covers; only Superboy U and Saturn Girl were also. Biggest gaps: 324-335, 342-351, 358-370. Featured CA: 302, 318.
ULTRA BOY - Big Jump from 9th SA to 4th CA. I always felt he was a bigger draw than his SA rank suggesdted. First CA: 302 (first non-300-er on list.) Has a small streak of 336-338, but during 339-367, his only CAs are 350 & 360. If he CA-ed during this long gap at the same rate as he did earlier, he would have been 3rd with 25 CA. Featured CA: 316, 374.
7 - LIGHT LASS - 16 CA - Big jump from second tier of SA (13th) to top ten CA. Beats her brother's ranking, and becomes 3rd CA ranked female (was 5th SA.) First CA after poster issue of 311 is 312, her brother's revival. She has third longest streak (tied with Sun BOY,) being six issues, 333-338. Other than Superboy's ongoing CA run, this is the only significant CA streak after the first year, a singular distinction. She has four CAs as Lightning Lass, 311-313, 316. After 350, her only remaining CAs are 368 & 371. A big absence; if she CA-ed during this period at the same rate as earlier, she would rank 3rd with 23 CA.
CHAMELEON BOY - Small drop from 6th SA. First CA after 311, like Light Lass, is 312 and is part of his small streak of 311-313. Big Gap of 350-371. Featured CA: 376. Appears at least twice on covers disguised as other Legionnaires -372 (Superboy,) 375.(Bouncing Boy.) (Others?)
COLOSSAL BOY - Colossal leap from second tier SA (15th) into top ten CA. Tied for second biggest gain of seven places. A giant on the cover does tend to attract attention. First CA after 311 is 316, but doesn't CA again til 330. After 362, only CA IS 372. Has two small streaks of 335-337 & 349-351. Featured CA: 341 & 351.
LIGHTNING LAD - One place drop from SA rank of 7th. First CA is 300 and next CA is his revival on 312 as a rather happy corpse. Has a small streak of 316-318, but has a phenomenal missing CA period. After 350, Lightning Lad doesn't appear on the cover again. That's 30 issues! And he's a charter member! Ouch! If this late period had the same CA rate as prior, he would have ranked 2nd (only behind Superboy) with 27 CA. Quite a switch.
After Superboy, he tied with Supergirl for highest Featured CAs with four: 312, 321, 332, 336. (It's probably this higher amount of Featured CAs that makes me think he appeared as often as Saturn Girl in this early period, when he really didn't. He just had big & ADVERTISED roles.)
11 TIE: BRAINIAC 5, MON-EL
BRAINIAC 5 - BOOM! Huge drop from 2nd SA to 11th CA. At a loss of nine place, it is the second biggest drop on this index, but might be considered the most significant fall since it's from the top of the first tier down into the second tier. It may prove that Brainiac 5's high SA was because of his utility to writers (giving exposition, making plot deductions,) and not necessarily because of high reader appeal. After poster cover of 311, next CA isn't till 319, and then he doesn't CA again till 330. From 340 to 355, his only CA is 349. No Featured CA and no streak more than two issues. Brainy, get out of the lab!
MON-EL - Drops down from 8th SA. Not as steep a drop as Brainiac 5's, but still would have expected more CAs from this fan fave. First CA is 300, and he is the last 300-CA-er on this list. (So answer to Teaser Question #2 is: Superboy, Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy, Triplicate Girl, Sun Boy, Lightning Lad, and Mon-el.) Biggest gaps are 340-350 & 371-380. Featured CA: 320 & 339, and 320 is one of the five covers where the only Legionnaires are Superboy and one other member.
13 ELEMENT LAD - 11 CA - (Because of break between 14 and 11 CAs, this could be considered start of second CA tier.) Jan gains three places from 16th SA. First CA is 307 (he is the first Adventure joined Legionnaire to be on a cover.) After 311, his next CA isn't till 323. During 360-380, his only CA is 373. Featured CA: 307, 323.
14 - STAR BOY - 10 CA - Like Element Lad, small jump from 16th SA. After 311, his first CA is 318 (not appearing on 317, which is his return from "limbo.") Has a gap of 322-332 and a small streak of 341-343, but this is followed by a gigantic absence of 344-380, with the only intervening CA being 367, and this is barely a small head shot behind Superboy. (Hey, another "hair" theory!: he was only Legionnaire with a buzzcut during the longhair late sixties, yet he had 17 SAs during this same CA absence. Useful but too "establishment" for the cover? YOU MAKE THE CALL, AMERICA!) Featured CA is 342, his expulsion.
15 - PHANTOM GIRL - Small drop from 13th SA. The huge surprise here is that Phantom Girl, a pre-series Legionnaire, doesn't first appear on a cover till 326! (Answer to Teaser Question #1.) That's over two years before a cover appearance! A second gap is 369-380. No streak more than two issues and no Featured CA (not even 316, in which her romance with Ultra Boy is revealed.)
BOUNCING BOY - The Chuckster duplicates his SA rank. First CA is 307. Monster absence after power loss: 320-374, .except for one CA of 343. But he is one of only three Legionnaires to make the final cover of 380. Featured CA is 375 (but it's really Cham!)
PRINCESS PROJECTRA - Highest Shooter Legionnaire, she jumps up from SA third tier rank of 22nd into CA second 3 tier. First CA is 346, with small streak of 351-353. Her Featured CA of 377 is one of the five "Superboy & one Legionnaire" covers."
SHRINKING VIOLET - Drops from 11th SA. After 311, first CA is 313. As mentioned on the Shrinking Violet Birthday Topic, her first starring story in 324 doesn't have a CA by her.
19 - SUPERGIRL - 7 CA - First CA is 325, one of the "Superboy & one Legionnaire" covers (a big absence of two years, but she was always an unofficial reservist. She should have been on the cover of 313, the "Satan Girl" story.) Other big gap is 351-367. Small Jump from SA rank of 22nd. Featured CA: 325, 334, 350, 374.
20 TIE: FERRO LAD, KARATE KID - 6 CA
FERRO LAD - He has the biggest jump up from SA ranking on this CA index, moving from 30th to 20th. (Half of answer to Teaser Question #4.) First CA is 346, and has small streak of 352-354 (half of his total CA.) Featured CA: 354 (statue) & 357 (ghost.)
KARATE KID - Duplicates SA rank. First CA is 346, small streak of 365-367 (half of his total CA.) Featured CA: 347.
INVISIBLE KID - BAM! Biggest drop, from 12th SA to 22nd CA, one more place lost than Brainiac 5. (Second half of answer to Teaser Question #4.) After 311, doesn't have a CA again till 336. These are both the "poster" issues! So his actual first "real" CA is his next and only Featured CA: 348 (which should be Sun Boy's cover anyway as it's his origin story, but Lyle also assumed the Leader position this issue.) His only remaining CAs are 359 and then not again till 379. (He should have been Featured on 358, the Hunter story.) He was Leader during 349-370 and only appears twice on the cover during his tenure. Truly, the Invisible Kid! No wonder he was killed off so soon after the series moved to Superboy.
MATTER-EATER LAD - Small drop from 19th SA. First CA was only 318, and next CA wasn't till 335. His last CA is 345, an enormous absence of the remaining 35 issues, and therefore he NEVER appeared on the cover during Shooter's tenure, which began with 346. But his only Featured CA of 345 is also one of the five "Superboy & one Legionnaire" covers.
SHADOW LASS - Tie~ for second biggest jump, from 29th SA to 22nd CA. First CA is 354, the "famous" statue cover. With only five CAs, she still has a small streak of 368-370.
25 - DREAM GIRL - 3 CA - First and only Featured CA is 317. Appears next on 342, and finally on 356.
26 - NIGHT GIRL - 2 CA - 311 & 313 (with ill female Legionnaires.)
27 - CELLAR TIES - 1 CA
Legionnaires - Chemical King 354 (statue,) Insect Queen 370, Quantum Queen 354 (statue,) Reflecto 354 (statue,) Timber Wolf 372 (but an uncounted pictured blurb on 327 of Lone Wolf.)
Subs - Chlorophyll Kid, Fire Lad, Polar Boy, and Stone Boy, all appear on 311 (along with Night Girl,) but not as poster images, as the real characters.
ZERO CA - Color Kid - i guess he really wasn't that colorful.
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I miss Future.