posted
First of all, I have to explain my absence for the past month. After a long struggle with congestive heart failure and kidney disease, my father passed away on December 1st. Working in retail, I got a few days off, but had to expend whatever energy I had portraying a certain amount of positivity for the holiday season... and spending time with my mom. In the middle of all that, I got careless and let my AOL membership get behind.
So, ugly December... but now it's behind me. So, onto better things! A *new* LSH #1!
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"Drop the head, children!"
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Let the Roll be Called!
SHADOW LASS: "Why don't we discuss this recent inclination towards UP servitude?" This question, in conjunction with Shady's fostering attitude towards Star Boy, leads me to guess that this Shadow Lass is a 'voice' to reckon with.
Appropriate, since if her origin stands as hereditary planetary Champion of a line dating back at least to the 'heroic age' venerated by this group, Shadow Lass should be queen of the lot, shouldn't she?
Her 'royal cousin', Jenni Ognats should get reintro'd ASAP, I'd think.
I liked the image of Shady ('Shady'! Yay!) emitting a dark-blast(?) while standing next to her opposite, Sun Boy (in mid-flare).
"Weren't you the one to coin the Legion's first battle cry?" leading me to think that Shady's a fairly recent addition to this Legion's ranks.
ULTRA BOY: I liked the frequent switching between Ultra powers. I'm glad that this aspect to Ultra Boy's powers have stayed consistent. From his confidence and interplay with Light Lass and Sun Boy, it seems obvious that U-Boy's a member of fairly long standing. I instantly enjoy this UB in a way I haven't in a loooong time. He should have lots of opportunities to shine in the abscence of Daxamite and/or Kryptonion heroes. That's fine by me.
As is his apparent status as a dog-owner. We all know what that means, don't we?
SUN BOY: Deputy leader? Former leader? Future leader? He sure acts like one of the above, from his telling the SPs to 'move along'... to his interactions with Theela and Invisible Kid... to his leading the Lallorian mission and his 'confrontation' with Cosmic Boy.
"When I joined your team, you swore to me that Legionnaires fight our own battles. If you're so damn terrified that we can't handle what might or might not happen when we do that- then just say the word."
Whoa, Sun Boy! Smart, playful AND a conscience for the team! Impressive.
I liked the glowing sun-emblem effect... though the yellow leggings still don't appeal to me. And I vastly prefer Sun Boy as a redhead, not a blond. Here, he's not even that orangey comic book strawberry blond.
That quibble pales beside how excited I am to see Sun Boy back among the ranks, though.
COLOSSOL/MICRO BOY: "He thinks he's on some grand adventure with the 'little people'". Hee-hee!
C-Boy and Ultra Boy look like twins in that panel. Too much so-- unless there's something else going on.
It's also good to see this character towering over the other Legionnaires in group shots. The 'race of giants' has me intrigued.
STAR BOY: Untold story #2 (this team's origin would be #1)= the FUSIONSTRIKE case. Hopefully, his great uniform will inspire SB to overcome his apparent tendency to bungle. His interaction with Invisible Kid was quite interesting (possibly evoking a certain naivete on SB's part?). Though I'd have to say that this team's method of orienting a new member is somewhat... haphazard, to put it kindly.
LIGHT LASS: Sassy. Flirtatious. Confident. Yeah- I'll miss the tom-boy Ayla of the reboot. But this LL was enjoyable! I didn't like the inference that a Legionnaire of some tenure wouldn't know all 20 (or less) names chosen by/for her teammates.
INVISIBLE KID: If we had to lose the best characterization of the reboot (IMO), at least the 'new' Lyle invented the 'ribosomal geneserum' that gave him his power. Wonder if there's any spy-background, at all? Hope he can render others invisible, too. I liked that addition to the character.
It's odd reading the Kid as younger than all the other Legionnaires. Lyle's 'cornball' comment is somewhat redeemed by that 'feels like home' reaction to seeing the insides of the HQ. And by his question about the 'human shield' legionnaires.
CHAMELEON: I notice the shapeshifter's antenna is out when the team arrives on Lallor (great splash page, I thought), though not in later panels. Since Cham has only uttered one 'hello' thus far, I'll refrain from asking for identification of the critters he shifted into on Lallor. But that's something I constantly want to see. Nice visual of the 'change'.
TRIPLICATE GIRL: A grouping unto herself...no color differences in the uniforms worn by the separated triad.
PRINCESS PROJECTRA: For such a prominent cover position, Jeckie doesn't get any substantive panel-time. Surprising, since it's been a loooong time since she's appeared as an official Legionnaire.
Just who is she sitting next to in the Legion HQ!?
COSMIC BOY: Shades of Madame Chu! In some timeline or other, there's a Cosmic Boy who doesn't have to spend half his time wrangling with bureaucrats. In this reality, Cosmic Boy's nemesis appears to be Delegate (later promoted to Senator?) Takron. As in Takron-Galtos? How long till a Legionnaire is interred?
Cosmic Boy show the most emotional range of any character in the issue... capably conveyed chiefly through the art of Barry Kitson.
KARATE KID/PHANTOM GIRL: Warriors in white who looked great... making me eager to learn about them.
ELEMENT LAD: Apparently, E-Lad accomplishes his transmutations by touch... or at least he's chosen to in this battle. I wondered if there'd be some sort of costume effect occuring with the symbols on his uniform when he used his powers. Apparently, there isn't. Am I missing something?
BRAINY: (we don't know his 'full' name yet, hmmm?) One panel justifies center-spot on the cover?
SCIENCE POLICE/UNITED PLANETS/'THE ESTABLISMENT': OK, all adults are unrelieveably patronizing. Ugh! How progeny-like! There's some incomplete messages here (as there should be-- it's a #1!) Are the Legionnaires together just to create excitement and rebel against the constipated establisment? How far would they take that motivation? Could a new LSV be created with the participation of both groups- just for the presence of opposition? Come to think of it- this set-up could easily serve as the creation of a Legion that would've been opponents of other Legions that've appeared in some time/dimension crossing storyline or another.
"Eat it, grandpa." A little of this age-gap hostility should go a long way. If that's the central theme of the series, I'm going to get bored pretty quickly. We need to see some older adults who think similarly to the Legion, IMO.
I want to see more of what the Legion's fighting FOR...
The Lallor scene was a start. Thanks for a scene set on this long-neglected Legion world. I hope more stories are set here, as I really didn't get a sense of the planet from this issue (understandably). I wonder if Gas Girl, Evolvo, Beast Boy, Duplicate Boy and Life Lass were in that crowd?
Speaking of crowds, it's gonna take awhile for me to comfortably refer to the 'human shield' as legionnaires. I appreciate the sentiment... and even sense a bit of resonance between the HQ-girding crowd and the history of Legion fandom.
I kept looking for familiar faces in those crowds... none stood out for me, unless that was Night Girl near the end.
But that's not the point of the little 'l' legionnaires, is it? We'll have to see if Star Boy's optimistic view of them bears credence, or if Cosmic Boy's despcription of the macrobot's head is more prophetic that he knew.
The one character to stand out from the mob is Theela, whose multi-tentacled organ? symbiant? apparatus? with the lenses? screens? portals? left me wanting to see her more fully fleshed out and explained.
Though the page showing the team emerging on Lallor was first-rate, I'm a little disappointed in the inclusion of the Transmatter Room. I was SO hoping for the return of the spaceships. Ah, well--- I see the need of the 31st century being portrayed as ahead of the technological curve.
The new tech I DID like was the holo-projection function of the flight rings. Cool.
Sun Boy mentions a rule about names. I notice not one civilian name is used for any of the Legionnaires in this issue. Do they know each other's names? Are they using secret identities? Or was this an 'easy entry' editorial decision?
There're lots of touches I enjoyed here- chiefly seeing Sun Boy, Colossol Boy and Element Lad back in action while on a LSH team. The art was stunning. The opening pages, while pretty, weren't really what I consider an effective use of space.
I enjoyed this issue... while not quite buying into this as *the* new reality yet. There's an air of the Elseworld about this #1 for me.
They're all 'elseworlds' when it comes down to it, though, aren't they?
From: Knoxville, TN | Registered: Jul 2003
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My father also passed away (years ago), also during the holiday season. For what it's worth, I feel with you.
From: Vancouver, BC, Canada | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
Add my condolences Todd. As someone who has lost both parents I can understand the need to spend some time with your Mom, especially over the holidays. I'm glad you are up to coming back and providing another great insight to the new Legion series.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Mystery Lad: ULTRA BOY: I liked the frequent switching between Ultra powers. I'm glad that this aspect to Ultra Boy's powers have stayed consistent. From his confidence and interplay with Light Lass and Sun Boy, it seems obvious that U-Boy's a member of fairly long standing. I instantly enjoy this UB in a way I haven't in a loooong time. He should have lots of opportunities to shine in the abscence of Daxamite and/or Kryptonion heroes. That's fine by me.
As is his apparent status as a dog-owner. We all know what that means, don't we?
nice review of ULTRA BOY !!! still my favourite LEGIONNAIRE !!! i hope we do get to see JO's dog !!??
and btw, what does it mean if you're a dog owner ....
Matthew.
From: Manchester United Kingdom | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Mystery Lad: COLOSSOL/MICRO BOY: "He thinks he's on some grand adventure with the 'little people'". Hee-hee!
C-Boy and Ultra Boy look like twins in that panel. Too much so-- unless there's something else going on.
i quite liked the fact that they looked like twins !!! although i think BARRY mentioned in another thread, they will look diffrent in the coming issues .....
Matthew.
From: Manchester United Kingdom | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
My sincere condolences on the loss of your father, Todd. Welcome back for another year of CTR.
ULTRA BOY: As is his apparent status as a dog-owner. We all know what that means, don't we?
Huh? Knowing Ultra Boy, he probably has a mean, mangy-looking Rimboran wolfhound. Calls it Brin.
SUN BOY: Deputy leader? Former leader? Future leader? He sure acts like one of the above, from his telling the SPs to 'move along'... to his leading the Lallorian mission and his 'confrontation' with Cosmic Boy.
Their Silver Age confrontation in "The Mutiny of the Legionnaires" is burned into my memory. Now that Dirk is feeling a little better (hee, hee), these two are well matched. I dare say, Sun Boy seems smarter and more attuned to the spirit of the Legion than Cos.
SUN BOY: And I vastly prefer Sun Boy as a redhead, not a blond. Here, he's not even that orangey comic book strawberry blond.
His hair color varied somewhat throughout. Earlier in the issue, it was almost identical to Ayla's (which varied as well). Personally, I prefer the muted red color for Light Lass and the golden blonde shade for Dirk, i.e., sun rather than fire. It compliments his costume, and would help distinguish him from Lightning Lad (who also has longish hair), assuming L-Lad's coloring is identical to Ayla's.
SUN BOY: That quibble pales beside how excited I am to see Sun Boy back among the ranks, though.
Yup. I never realized how much I missed Sun Boy until now. SW6 Inferno and the postboot Dirk were pitiful imposters.
LIGHT LASS: Sassy. Flirtatious. Confident. Yeah- I'll miss the tom-boy Ayla of the reboot. But this LL was enjoyable!
Not only is she cute as a bug, but she's comfortable bantering with the tough guys and doesn't shy away from a bit of raunchy talk! This Light Lass doesn't need lightning to sparkle. One of the better characterizations, imo, along with Sun Boy and Star Boy.
COSMIC BOY: Cosmic Boy show the most emotional range of any character in the issue... capably conveyed chiefly through the art of Barry Kitson.
Maybe, but I found his reaction uncharacteristically hot-headed and belligerent. A less melodramatic, but more "Cos-like" response would have been terminating the transmission while the senator was in mid-sentence, rather than destroying the holo equipment in a hissy fit. An intemperate Cosmic Boy doesn't bode well for the characterizations of other, traditionally less level-headed Legionnaires, imo. Next thing you know, Ultra Boy will be tearing up the rec room because Phantom Girl snubbed him.
Waid remarked in a recent interview that he wanted to explore both the joys and anger of being young. Fine, as long as he gets point across without distorting the characters. Speaking of which ...
ELEMENT LAD: Apparently, E-Lad accomplishes his transmutations by touch... or at least he's chosen to in this battle. I wondered if there'd be some sort of costume effect occuring with the symbols on his uniform when he used his powers. Apparently, there isn't. Am I missing something?
I recall Barry saying the symbols would change as he transmutes. But you're right, we didn't see it happen here. While I dislike the wizard costume, I was very pleased with Jan's battlefield debut, even if he didn't utter a sound. The chess scene looked promising, too. It suggests he won't be portrayed as such an oddball loner this time around. We shall see.
"Eat it, grandpa." A little of this age-gap hostility should go a long way. If that's the central theme of the series, I'm going to get bored pretty quickly. We need to see some older adults who think similarly to the Legion, IMO.
I agree, and Barry hinted we would eventually see adherents of all ages. The older ones prefer the battle cry "Eat it, sonny".
I want to see more of what the Legion's fighting FOR.
Exactly. I'd hoped for a more substantial explanation of their ideology and motives in the first issue. The historical montage was nice, but not particularly informative.
The Lallor scene was a start.
Perhaps, but didn't it bother anyone else that "Victory Day Plus One' epilogue doesn't portray one single Legionnaire or Legion follower mourning the dead of Lallor? Instead, Star Boy banters with Lyle about the team "leaving an impression" while the crowds below in the plaza look jolly. It was presumably a great loss to the movement, and should have had a more discernible impact. The term "red shirts" comes to mind.
The new tech I DID like was the holo-projection function of the flight rings. Cool.
I'm glad you mentioned this enhancement in particular. Very cool, indeed.
I enjoyed this issue... while not quite buying into this as *the* new reality yet. There's an air of the Elseworld about this #1 for me.
Well, it *is* an Elseworld as far as I'm concerned, until the writers come up with a good explanation why the Legion of the last 10 years was not the "real" one. I don't mean to sound obstinate, but they're not getting away with it that easily!
posted
Hey Mystery Lad! Good to have you back. Sorry to hear about your father
SHADOW LASS: She's comfortably speaking her mind right off the bat. Shadey has more shades of Umbra than adventure-era Shadow Lass, but a better attitude towards the team. She's not taking much part in the casual banter, though. Maybe she's all business. I like her uniform, but wouldn't mind a more visible symbol on it.
ULTRA BOY: I never considered that Ultra Boy's powers might change, so I suppose it's good that they didn't. He really exhibits a strong personality here, even if it isn't the most cuddly variety. Still, I too enjoyed his depiction. Provided he isn't later symbiotically linked to Tinya so that he's useless without her, I think I'll like what he adds to the team. His uniform is fine too, as one of the more iconic it couldn't really change too much, so whatever changes it does have are fine with me.
SUN BOY: Definitely more reminiscent of his adventure-era persona, and I too was surprised to see how much I enjoyed that. Not that I liked him calling Brainy a geek or arguing with Cosmic Boy when they really didn't need to. It's just nice to see someone else who can take charge instead of the usual take-charge panel-hogs. Now we just need him to not become one. I think his new costume is perfect.
COLOSSAL/MICRO BOY: He appears to like to hang out with Ultra Boy, which might introduce an interesting dynamic. I appreciate the shift in his origin too. Something needed to happen with the "affected by a random comet-fall" type origins that haven't passed muster since the 70s. His costume works, though some epaulets or shoulder ruffles wouldn't be bad.
STAR BOY: I never cared much for Star Boy, and yet he was easily my favorite character from this story. He wins best new costume award, and his fallibility was likeable rather than overdone. Make too much of it, though, and I'll just get sick of it like I did with the whiney reboot version
LIGHT LASS: Light Lass was at her worst when she left the legion after the Great Darkness and when she had issues when her powers changed in the reboot. I hated those depictions. Here she wasn't trying to prove something or wallowing in self-doubt; it was the best I've ever seen her. I suppose the bare midriff costume is today's version of the 70's swimming-suit. At least it makes more sense, and Light Lass's is well done.
INVISIBLE KID: I suppose that he's the one we're supposed to identify with. Well, he serves the purpose of an avenue for introducing an established team well enough, though I felt the result left him without as well-developed a personality as the others. Maybe I'll be more impressed later.
CHAMELEON: I liked Cham here, maybe because he didn't talk much. I never really appreciated the personalities he developed in previous versions, so the less I hear from him the more I can foster the hope that I'll like him better here. Still, I'd like to see something more imaginative than changing into more big monsters. His costume and look were fine by me, and I definitely appreciate the recognition of his (her?) non-gender.
COSMIC BOY: Cosmic Boy representing the Legion to the authorities is just about what you'd expect from him. But, it was nice to see him get angry with himself and help establish that the Legion isn't a branch of the UP--which was a good. Now there's just all the other questions to answer about where the Legion came from and what they're up to.
KARATE KID: Looks like he does what he always has, but it's good to not hear from him during the issue. Actually it was good to see that none of the combatants were chatting while in action on Lallor. They may be smarmy when the job is done, but when they're at work it's time to focus. Anyway, Karate Kid's costume is okay. I'd like it even better without the yin-yang symbol. I just can't see that symbol without thinking of some kitschy consumerist merchandise.
PHANTOM GIRL: She looks good, appears a bit more hand-to-hand than I'd expect. But I suppose only making certain body parts tangible would be quite useful on any battlefield.
ELEMENT LAD: Okay, he has to touch to transmute things--and apparently concentrate too. I'm not completely thrilled with that, but I suppose anything to keep him from becoming a lunatic again. I would really like to see one practical aspect of his power dealt with; however, and that's the technicalities of changing something from solid to liquid or gas and vice versa. If you're theoretically changing wvery atom in an object to an atom of something else, you couldn't change a dense solid into a gaseous form without some form of decompression could you? And you definitely couldn't change a batch of atmosphere into a solid metal--maybe metal dust or something, but not a defined object. Anyway, just some form of explanation for how he accomplishes that sort of thing would do. His costume is okay, a bit too intricate for my preferences. If you look at the lowermost symbol when he transmutes the weapons on Lallor, the triangle changes from pointing down to pointing up (perhaps evoking his up-arrow costume). It looks almost like an afterthought.
BRAINY: He is kind of a mystery left over from the cover, isn't he. Well, we supposedly get more of him in the next issue. How many days until that again?
Condolences all around. May you and your family have a new year of with fond remembrances and new joys. I hope it is consoling to know that the Legion World community eagerly awaits your CTR post.
And how wonderful it is to start a new year with interesting Legionnaires again!
Colossal Boy: The big man with a chip on his shoulder! Oh, and he. is. alive!
Sun Boy: Radiant! Charismatic! Decisive! A veritable Apollo! A new keeper of the flame for the spirit of the Legion! (Whatever that is, at this point.) Sun Boy is easily the most interesting and surprising character of the new series.
Shadow Lass: Calm, confidant, questioning, counseling, a little sarcastic. I love her, and let me go on record, I don't MIND her new color so much. She's like a dusky, kick-ass elf when she is talking with Cosmic Boy. I always thought the bright blue looked too cartoony.
Cosmic Boy: Very intelligent, very serious, very responsible, but still willing to listen to others and change his mind. Not bad qualities for a leader, but I will look forward to a non-CB leader someday. (How many of the past 16 years of the Legion's publication has Cosmic Boy BEEN leader, anyway? Geez, sit on your hands and give someone else a chance for a change!) What I like about Cos is that he is clearly struggling to lead something he founded, but that is growing beyond his ability to directly control. That's very real and very interesting.
Ultra Boy: "It's not all giant robots." Ultra Boy is, thankfully, still cool, and cooler than he has been in awhile. Also a natural leader and mentor, although in a tough-love sort of way. I vastly prefer this UB to the somewhat diffident, puppy love Jo of the early reboot. He's clearly accustomed already to being the most powerful Legionnaire. Wonder how he will feel when a Daxamite shows up?
Star Boy: Of all the Charlie Browns in the world, you're the Charlie Browniest. The hard-luck hero with the heart of gold is back.
Light Lass: Sassy, sexy, and fun. Who could ask for more? Like others, I am delighted to see her enjoying her light powers again.
Invisible Kid: Definitely not the inscrutable, devious character of the 1990s, at least, not yet. He's a great choice to represent us new readers in the story. He's smart, curious, wants to learn, but doesn't take things at face value.
-------------------- ...but you don't have a moment where you're sitting there staring at a table full of twenty-five characters with little name signs that say, "Hi, my superpower is confusing you!"
From: Chicago, IL | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
Thank you for the condolences Nightcrawler, Kent Shakespeare, DrakeB3004, Lightning Lad, the boy with Ultra Powers, the Man From Cargg, Tromium, Awkward Pause Lad and doublechinner. Your thoughtfulness means a lot.
I'm sorry for your losses, too, Kent, Scott and TMFCargg. We're all in this mess together, huh?
From: Knoxville, TN | Registered: Jul 2003
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Strange... this gives me a mental image of Validus kicking back at a holoshow, munching on handfuls of 'legionettes' in between giggling at 31st century holotoons.
"Look, ma... he's got candy shaped like legionnaires!"
"No, sugar... those *are* legionnaires! Aaaaagh! Help us!"
Hyperpath: Email this page to someone!
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![[Shadow Lass - Re-Imagined]](graemlins/ShadowLass3.gif)
SHADOW LASS: "Why don't we discuss this recent inclination towards UP servitude?" This question, in conjunction with Shady's fostering attitude towards Star Boy, leads me to guess that this Shadow Lass is a 'voice' to reckon with.![[Ultra Boy - Re-Imagined]](graemlins/UltraBoy3.gif)
ULTRA BOY: I liked the frequent switching between Ultra powers. I'm glad that this aspect to Ultra Boy's powers have stayed consistent. From his confidence and interplay with Light Lass and Sun Boy, it seems obvious that U-Boy's a member of fairly long standing. I instantly enjoy this UB in a way I haven't in a loooong time. He should have lots of opportunities to shine in the abscence of Daxamite and/or Kryptonion heroes. That's fine by me. ![[Sun Boy - Re-Imagined]](graemlins/SunBoy3.gif)
SUN BOY: Deputy leader? Former leader? Future leader? He sure acts like one of the above, from his telling the SPs to 'move along'... to his interactions with Theela and Invisible Kid... to his leading the Lallorian mission and his 'confrontation' with Cosmic Boy.![[Light Lass - Re-Imagined]](graemlins/LightLass3.gif)
LIGHT LASS: Sassy. Flirtatious. Confident. Yeah- I'll miss the tom-boy Ayla of the reboot. But this LL was enjoyable! I didn't like the inference that a Legionnaire of some tenure wouldn't know all 20 (or less) names chosen by/for her teammates.![[Invisible Kid - Re-Imagined]](graemlins/InvisibleKid3.gif)
INVISIBLE KID: If we had to lose the best characterization of the reboot (IMO), at least the 'new' Lyle invented the 'ribosomal geneserum' that gave him his power. Wonder if there's any spy-background, at all? Hope he can render others invisible, too. I liked that addition to the character.![[Cosmic Boy - Re-Imagined]](graemlins/CosmicBoy3.gif)
COSMIC BOY: Shades of Madame Chu! In some timeline or other, there's a Cosmic Boy who doesn't have to spend half his time wrangling with bureaucrats. In this reality, Cosmic Boy's nemesis appears to be Delegate (later promoted to Senator?) Takron. As in Takron-Galtos? How long till a Legionnaire is interred?![[Element Lad - Re-Imagined]](graemlins/ElementLad3.gif)
ELEMENT LAD: Apparently, E-Lad accomplishes his transmutations by touch... or at least he's chosen to in this battle. I wondered if there'd be some sort of costume effect occuring with the symbols on his uniform when he used his powers. Apparently, there isn't. Am I missing something?
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Confused]](confused.gif)
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