Come on, now... how many of you will disagree that it's GOT to be Lex Luthor and Mr. Mxyzptlk?
"If I know my buddies, they've already accepted you in our ADULT LEGION unanimously!" guffaws a haggard-looking Lightning Man, as a balding Cosmic Man and goofy Element Man chuckle mightily.
I loved the ADULT LEGION tale, but that ending sucked big fat parakat eggs!
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
I've said it once, and I'll say it again: it should've been Dougie Nolan who burst in and saved the day in that story.
Posted by Charles Phipps on :
Lex Luthor as a legionaire wouldn't be that bad. Maybe Lex's son and they could do a Brainiac 5, Lex Luthor Jr. team up story.
They could be Soft travelling Scientists out to see the universe.
Posted by MLLASH on :
Other people who could have burst through that door instead Of Lex Luthor & Mr. M:
Doug Nolan (as mentioned)
Rejects rejected for being useless, like Kid Heavyfeathers (armed with a space-potato sack full of feathers) or Antennae Lad!
Calamity King!
2 of the revealed-to-be-dead characters that hadn't appeared yet, like Reflecto & Quantum Queen-- not so dead after all!
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
Any one of the "fate unrevealed" Legionnaires, like Invisible Kid or Sun Boy.
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
You know, Lash, I'm surprised to hear you make such negative comments about the Legion's first gay couple...
Posted by MLLASH on :
BAH! They're icky! Can you imagine them doing it....?!? *shudder*
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
Are they any ickier than those two zany old men from Thoon?
Posted by Fat Cramer on :
If that story were written today, they would have Lobo bursting in and saving the day. He would certainly qualify as one of the worst ever.
Posted by Sketch on :
What were their super powers? I haven't read that story forevs.
Posted by Shadow Kid on :
Lex and Mxy, yeah they sucked alright.
But what shocked me so much about that issue was Rokk's receding hairline. one thousand years in the future and there still isn't a cure for baldness?? Yikes!
Posted by MLLASH on :
And Star Boy-- poor guy!
Lex Luthor had somehow given himself the powers of both Light Lass & Star Boy, and Mr. M's powers were magic!
Posted by jimgallagher on :
How did they do it in that lead armor?
Maybe lead is the new leather in the 30th century, since all animals are probably extinct by then.
I can see them hanging out with Unknown Boy, Sir Prize, and Miss Terious in a Lead Bar. Maybe Miss T was in lead drag.
Posted by Greybird on :
You're counting the Adult Legion stories?
I don't, nor any person who didn't join honestly. (Nor any such "entity," viz., "Bounty.")
That leaves LEGIONNAIRES, period, none of whom are "worst," sez I.
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
Monstress sucked raw eggs!
Posted by PolarBoy on :
I hated Kinetix's ill defined powers. There I said it and im proud damm it.
Posted by knowjack on :
I'm with you on that one Polar Boy. Isn't Kinetix basically LIFE LASS from the Heroes of Lallor?
Speaking of ill defined powers, I never really got a handle on Kid Quantum's powers. Maybe 'cuz I'm not smart enough? She did rock the short hair and big hoop earrings, though.
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
Kinetix was (originally) a telekinetic whose power allowed her to reshape matter at a molecular level.
Life Lass brought inanimate objects to life, as kind of cartoonesque creatures.
They're really quite different. Kinetix is much closer to Quislet than to Life Lass.
Posted by Super Lad Kid on :
My vote goes to Bloodclaw who was in the Legion for about ten minutes before he was killed by Pol Krinn's dead corpse. That's pretty pathetic.
Posted by MLLASH on :
A good runner-up would be BIRON THE BOWMAN and BLOCKADE BOY, who were both members for all of 6 panels!
And who were actually Proty and Comet the Superhorse in disguise!
If I had been they, I would have DEMANDED they keep my LSH membership intact, so I could thumb my nose down at that stupid cat, dog & monkey!
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
Bah! Anti-Lad is the worst, and nobody even remembers him!
Posted by armsfalloffboy on :
I still think Tyroc was a bad joke, Peter Pan boots or not.
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
quote:Originally posted by Cobalt Kid: Monstress sucked raw eggs!
That was a rumor. She actually just used the raw eggs in a protein shake she would drink.
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
I do know of one Legionnaire, who was "beaten by a girl" in his qualification test. I think that makes Superboy the worst Legionnaire ever.
Posted by Kid Quislet on :
Put me down for psycho murdering Sade as THE Worst.
Bounty, Jamm, Kono, Devlin O'Ryan, Fledderwhatsis (from the Khund Legion), Thunder and Lori Morning (Dial H for Horrible) all make my "Elseworlds" list. Give me Tyroc and Mr. Mxyztplk as a Legionnaire over the above any day.
Posted by Charles Phipps on :
But Lori was so cute!
Admittedly, she was Rond Vidar's jailbait but eh.
Posted by MLLASH on :
Sade, Jamm & Lori Morning were never actual members of the team, so we're cool there.
Devlin was so polite, and he blasted the crap out of Mordru! So he space-rawks.
Kono, Bounty & Flederweb were all pretty "feh", to varying extents!
Posted by Tromium on :
The Bierbaum's James Cullen, a.k.a., Kid Quantum, Soul of Antares.
Only temporary insanity can account for the genesis of this character.
Posted by MLLASH on :
The genesis, maybe, but I found him to be a sweet, likeable young man during LEGIONNAIRES. I even liked the smarmy gay James of the reboot before he was used as cannon fodder.
Posted by MLLASH on :
But let's face it... James was TMKs way of inserting racial diversity into the ADVENTURE-era cast without altering already-existing members' races. I applaud them for taking this route. And then, of course, there was Computo, Catspaw and Dragonmage, more diversity! They did a great job there, I thought, and I still prefer it to altering already-exisiting characters' races.
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
I totally, completely agree on that. I'd much rather them insert a diverse character in than alter an existing one.
Posted by Kent Shakespeare on :
My 'worst' list:
Bouncing Boy (when he had/has powers), the terrorformed Kinetix, Chemical King (only because he was never written well or even interestingly), Gear (ditto), Matter-Eater Lad (ditto, before TMK).
Posted by MLLASH on :
Kent, see the Chemical King tale in SECTRET ORIGINS' "Dead Legionnaires" issue for an incredibly-written tale starring Chemical King, "The Unique Properties of Condo Arlik".
I always liked the enigma-ish Chemical King, and that heartbreaking story finally showed me why!
Can't help you with Gear. He's pretty "meh", but of course I've always loved le Bounce-Boy and le Eater-Lad!
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
I agree about terrorformed Zoe. It was especially painful when I picked up issue 18 and found out that Zoe wasn't transformed back to normal at the end. That issue broke my heart!
Preboot Atmos was a jerk, and I'm glad he only joined during the 5 year gap. I was pretty glad to read that he had been killed by BION.
Posted by Kent Shakespeare on :
I really liked Chuck the character - especially when we was without powers (reboot, mid-70s) and even as a supporting character during Levitz (except his Comet Queen team-up)... I guess the only time I didn't like him was in Adventure (but even there I did like him with Lu in #380)... I guess I like him better than I realized.
Only the TMK Tenzil did I really cotton to.
Posted by Outdoor Miner on :
quote:Originally posted by MLLASH: Can't help you with Gear. He's pretty "meh",
He never had a chance, really.
His only time in the spotlight was in the Giffen issue and he was basically a sidekick/foil to Chuck in that.
Posted by Kid Psychout on :
'meh' sums it up. vaguely resented him because he filled a space Danielle 'Computo' deserved.
Same goes for the Kid Quantum characters. Would rather see a (non-antarean) James in the book than the way they've altered Thom. Interesting power, cypher personality.
But Celeste 'why the hell is the in the book cauz she doesn't DO anything. Oh wait she's... green' Rockfish is my all time least favourite. My feelings towards Kinetix are practically benevolent compared to that 40 odd issues of waiting for the bint to do anything interesting baggage.
Posted by Yellow Kid on :
quote:Originally posted by Eryk Davis Ester: Bah! Anti-Lad is the worst, and nobody even remembers him!
We got that wonderful picture though. Poor guy never even got to go on an adventure with the team.
Posted by jimgallagher on :
Quislet sucked the worst for me. Thank God they couldn't figure out what to do with him and wrote him out almost as soon as they wrote him in.
Catspaw is first runner up. Since when are night vision and claws enough to get into the Legion?
Kid Quantum and Kinetix can duke it out for Miss Congeniality. Nobody ever did figure out exactly what they could do. It seemed to change each time they appeared.
Posted by Pov of Nine on :
quote:Originally posted by jimgallagher: Quislet sucked the worst for me. Thank God they couldn't figure out what to do with him and wrote him out almost as soon as they wrote him in.
Oh, you just can't figure out how to make an action figure for Quis, g'wan, admit it... Posted by MLLASH on :
Current worst Legionnaire? Sun Boy, for ditching.
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
quote:Originally posted by Super Lad Kid: My vote goes to Bloodclaw who was in the Legion for about ten minutes before he was killed by Pol Krinn's dead corpse. That's pretty pathetic.
That *is* pathetic!
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
Current worst for me: Invisible Kid. Worst Lyle EVER!
Eryk finding that old SLK quote is hysterical! Pol Krinn's dead corpse is just as interesting as Pol Krinn the Legionnaire! (OK, that's possibly an exaggeration...)
Posted by Lightning Lad on :
Kid Q II and XS. Hated them, never want to see them again.
Posted by Lightning Lad on :
And, of course, the worst Legionnaire "wannabe" ever. Lester Spiffany. Posted by Thriftshop Debutante on :
He's so cute!
Posted by Bicycle Repair Man on :
Let the tally show another vote "for" Celeste Rockfish.
Posted by MLLASH on :
But I still say worst of all time are those gay old bears Luthor and Mr. Mxyzptlk!
Posted by Sir Tim Drake on :
How about Thunder? Did she ever have any personality at all, or do anything worthy of mention?
Posted by Harbinger on :
Superboy gets my vote - he's so good natured I'd have to kill him Posted by Doctor One on :
quote:Originally posted by Harbinger: Superboy gets my vote - he's so good natured I'd have to kill him
Seconded!
Posted by armsfalloffboy on :
Absolutely, without question, Thunder.
Runners up: Dragonmage (crappy diversity is still crappy), Catspaw.
Posted by LegionFan223 on :
My personal favorite crappy Legionnaire is Phantom Girl. She was one of my favorites during the Adventure Era but that changed during the Levitz Era. Tinya became very snooty and acted like she was better than everyone else. She was constantly critizing Timber Wolf and Blok, was whiny when Jo wasn't around. During the re-boot I found her to be even more appalling. Bossy, clingy, holyier-thatn-thou attitude. The new version I'm holding off judgement until we see more of her character. I hate her new origin and didn't like the way she treated Karate Kid in her origin story. I liked her best in the 5YL arc mostly because she was dead.
Thunder gets my 2nd place vote. Non-original and no personality to speak of. Plus, she deserted the Legion when they needed her most.
Not a big fan of Quislet either.
Posted by EmeraldEmpress on :
1 - Sensor The snake (The first for taken Projectra's place)
2 - Monstress
3 - Thunder
4 - The current Star Boy
5 - Kid Quamtun II
Posted by Evolution Has Failed on :
Was Atmos ever a member? I really couldn't stand that armpit-less freak...
(From the same era..thank god Comet Queen never joined...)
But of people I'm SURE were members, my vote goes to MAGNO...what the ^@$^%$# was the point?
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
Atmos was supposed to have been a member during the 5 year gap, so his membership was undepicted.
Posted by Yellow Kid on :
quote:Originally posted by Lightning Lad: Kid Q II and XS. Hated them, never want to see them again.
I lobbied endlessly for XS to take on the Flash mantle and add another "legacy" character to the Legion's ranks. Especially after meeting up with Jay, Wally, Bart and even Barry. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to take the character into the "big leagues". I swear, so many Legion writers have missed major opportunities to really make the book shine.
However, in keeping with the subject and just to toss out another name for consideration... Brainiac 5 may be the worst Legionnaire ever. How many times did he create something that almost destroyed the Legion? The Universe? Other Legionnaires?
He's always been an interesting character but (dang!) that boy's a menace to society!
Posted by DrakeB3004 on :
I want to stand up for Celeste Rockfish - she was an interesting character before she joined the Legion and I loved that she represented the Green Lantern legacy (even though I would've preferred Rond with the ring instead as the torch bearer). I feel they dropped the ball in terms of not exploring her connection to GL, but that's my only gripe with her.
My vote for the worst is Kid Quantum I - preboot he sucked because he had a confusing (and not very interesting) origin that was a huge retcon, then in the reboot, he was just an annoying character whose external powers didn't even make him qualified to be on the team.
Posted by Lone Wolf Legionnaire on :
The last series revamp of Wildfire I waited so long for him to come back and when he did I was mad because they screwed his origin up.
Posted by disaster boy on :
sneckie
catspaw is number 2.
Posted by lil'rhino on :
I hated Catspaw. Dream Boy had the worst hair. I loved Gear though 'cause he reminded me of that cool Bjork video.
Posted by Set on :
Command Kid. Not only was he a dick, he had a stupid costume!
Dyrk Magz. Nobody replaces Cosmic Boy. His kid brother got killed trying to replace him!
Posted by cleome on :
quote:Originally posted by Fat Cramer: If that story were written today, they would have Lobo bursting in and saving the day. He would certainly qualify as one of the worst ever.
Can I just pick Lobo as Worst Everything EVER?!
I mean, I sympathize with everyone who thinks certain characters were handled badly or were just plain superfluous, but-- but-- Lobo. Ewwww...
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
IMO, Dream Boy was worse than Lobo, Bloodclaw and Lex & Mxy's descendants combined. He was the very worst Legionnaire in the history of the franchise.
Anti-Lad's saving grace was his oddly shaped "head". Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
I thought Thunder was pointless and just a second rate Andromeda who was a Supergirl replacement.
I never got into Gear.
Posted by Ram Boy on :
The snake that replaced Princess Projectra. You can almost hear the thought process that went into its creation.
"Time to revamp Princess Projectra! Hmmm, let's see, she's a princess and became Sensor Girl...a princcccessssss...ssssssenssssor girl...Eureka! Let's make her a SNAKE!"
Posted by Disaster Boy on :
no one has said Kid Psycho? lol
Posted by Set on :
quote:Originally posted by Disaster Boy: no one has said Kid Psycho? lol
I kinda liked the turban!
"Every time I use my power, I die a little bit inside."
"I feel the same way everytime I see your oversized noggin. Put a cloth over it or something!"
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
quote:Originally posted by Set: Command Kid. Not only was he a dick, he had a stupid costume!
Dyrk Magz. Nobody replaces Cosmic Boy. His kid brother got killed trying to replace him!
I liked Command Kid because he was featured in the first Legion story I ever read. His costume was no worse than any other Silver Age Legion outfit. And, yes, he was a dick . . . but that was the point.
As for Dyrk, I think the attitude that "nobody replaces Cosmic Boy" mirrors what Garth was thinking. As a result, Dyrk was prejudged before he really had a chance. In spite of that, he managed to show what being a hero was all about. In losing his powers, he sacrificed more than most Legionnaires ever do.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
quote:Originally posted by cleome:
quote:Originally posted by Fat Cramer: If that story were written today, they would have Lobo bursting in and saving the day. He would certainly qualify as one of the worst ever.
Can I just pick Lobo as Worst Everything EVER?!
I mean, I sympathize with everyone who thinks certain characters were handled badly or were just plain superfluous, but-- but-- Lobo. Ewwww...
I'll second that. I've never understood the appeal of Lobo. A badass space biker dude?!? Can you say, "pandering"?
Posted by Blacula on :
I LOVE Magno!!! He had a great "journey" (to borrow a phrase from every competitive reality show ever) - wimpy Legionnaire to powerless depressive to tough Sci-Cop. He's a bright spot in an otherwise dull period of the reboot IMO.
Dream Boy - I am fascinated by this character. Having dropped the threeboot long before he came on board I've never read a story about him but I'm tempted to dip back into that ocean of suckitude just to see if he's as bad as everyone says. I almost want to like him just so that someone does. We can all agree he's cute though right? He kinda reminds me of Adventure-era Jan Arrah - surely the cutest male Legionnaire ever.
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
I assume everyone knows this, but Lobo was created by Keith Giffen as a parody of all the "macho" heroes of the 80's. Particuarly, Rambo (thus why the name is so similar). Giffen always intended it as a farce.
The irony is that Lobo became incredibly popular. His one-shots and miniseries were selling really well and whenever he appeared anywhere, like in the JLA and Omega Men, sales would go up--including the Legion. Eventually Giffen got tired of the character but DC didn't stop--the whole "Guy Gardner Reborn" miniseries in which Guy Garnder got a yellow power ring was basically a Guy/Lobo team-up (giving Guy a fake sense of popularity...he was never really popular at all, it was just the Lobo appearances that made the sales staff at DC seem to think so).
So Giffen created a monster that started out as a joke. He certainly doesn't hate his own creation but he admits to scratching his head to this day wondering how Lobo became so popular for a time.
But remember, this was the late 80's/early 90's. "Fanboys" ruled the day. Lobo was DC's answer to Wolverine, Ghost Rider, the Punisher, Youngblood, Cyberforce and all the rest. And like all the rest of them, his popularity died in the mid-90's when all those "fanboys" moved on.
Posted by Disaster Boy on :
such a bad time in comics, not to mention the strange sketchy disproportionate body parts art.
dream boy waas cute. but in a please dont replace my dream girl type of way.
set - i think we know what you want for xmas. a big green turban!!
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
quote:Originally posted by Eryk Davis Ester:
quote:Originally posted by Super Lad Kid: My vote goes to Bloodclaw who was in the Legion for about ten minutes before he was killed by Pol Krinn's dead corpse. That's pretty pathetic.
That *is* pathetic!
Super Lad Kid is still correct!
Seriously, it boggles my mind that the Legion actually went through a phase where it had members named "Bloodclaw" and "Firefist"!
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
Dream Boy, I didn't mind. Not his fault he got picked to "replace" Dream Girl. And he was more likable than certain 3boot Legionnaires (ehem Ultra Boy).
Magno, I liked. His "journey", as Blacula said, was realistic and he was very sympathetic.
Threeboot Ultra Boy gets my vote. Here we have a jerkass character with an overinflated ego who had little/no character growth whatsoever. I deal with enough nassheads like that in real life, thank you very much!
Posted by Blacula on :
Hmmm... who are my least fave Legionnaires?
I'll start with a couple I used to hate but eventually came around to -
* Monstress - DnA did wonders with this character and then gave her one of the best Legion deaths ever (and there have been a lot of good Legion deaths). * Wildfire - From my least favourite Preboot member to one of my favourite Postboot members. The Retroboot one is somewhere in the middle.
Now for my least favourite Legionnaires -
* Quislet - Don't find him funny. Don't like his power. Preferred him when I thought he was a little alien piloting a ship - the energy thing doesn't do it for me. * Kono - I just found her really annoying with an unappealing visual in all the stories I read featuring her. * Inferno (Sandy) - Fine as a villain/antagonist toward the Legion, but all wrong as a Legionnaire. * Shikari - a very poor man's Dawnstar.
And my #1 Most Hated Legionnaire of All Time -
*Superman X - I disliked A LOT of the decisions the show-runners of that cartoon made, but this annoying, redundant character was the worst of the lot.
(Dis)Honourable Mentions -
*Brainiac 5 and Saturn Girl - good characters but I would like them a whole lot more if they didn't appear so damn much!
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
Jeepers! This newly bumped thread totally needs a mention of Earth-Man!
And Harmonia Li might be thrown in as well!
Posted by KryptonKid on :
quote:Originally posted by armsfalloffboy: Absolutely, without question, Thunder.
Runners up: Dragonmage (crappy diversity is still crappy), Catspaw.
Point One: I agree 100%. Hate Thunder, hate, hate, hate. We shall never peak of her again.
Point Two: I disagree 100%. Both SW6 and reboot Dragonmages were less-than-adept, but I was intrigued by the chance to watch them grow into their roles, a la Bart Allen or Kon-El. Besides, Jin was cute.
Point Two, latter: Cawspaw, meh. Even with an ex-boyfriend and hints of a back-story, she didn't catch fire. She just wasn't relatable. Even at his most feral, T-Wolf was brave, loyal, and tragic. April was a punchline without a set up.
Posted by Power Boy on :
Harmonia Li makes me cringe ...
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
quote:Originally posted by Blacula: Hmmm... who are my least fave Legionnaires?
I'll start with a couple I used to hate but eventually came around to -
* Monstress - DnA did wonders with this character and then gave her one of the best Legion deaths ever (and there have been a lot of good Legion deaths). * Wildfire - From my least favourite Preboot member to one of my favourite Postboot members. The Retroboot one is somewhere in the middle.
Wow, I find myself agreeing 100% with this!
Posted by Candlelight on :
I guess I got the joke with Lobo. He always made me laugh, although I didn't care much for his Legion cameo.
I also like Shikari much better than Dawnstar. She's more interesting and less of a cliche, imo. But, I liked Sneckie, especially as the Naga, and Gear and Zoe and Monstress.
I think my least favorite female is the Kund, whatever her name was. I hate when women are portrayed as slaves to men and delight in manipulation. Veilmist.
My least favorite male would have to be Earthman. :ick:
Posted by razsolo on :
Least favourite male: Earth-Man. Even the Khunds had more rationalisation for their membership than him.
Least favourite female: I HATED Jeckie before she became Sensor Girl, but as Sensor Girl she quickly became one of my favourite Legionnaires. I will say least favourite is Glorith, only because I really don't think she has shown she has what it takes to flourish in high-stakes or tense situations.
Posted by KryptonKid on :
quote:Originally posted by Power Boy: Harmonia Li makes me cringe ...
I just don't know her well enough for my pupils to dialate. Is she officially a Legionnaire yet? It would be nice if whomever is the Legion leader at the time would (on panel) welcome new members or assign them to orientation. That would eliminate months of guessing. For some reason I always picture Tinya giving noobs the HQ tour.
Posted by Tom Tanner Issue #One on :
Least favorite = worst? Legionnaire:
5-year-gap Cosmic Boy/Rokk Krinn.
He's the TIME TRAPPER of his timeline.
Even as a thirty-something, Mordru treats him as an equal.
He's like the Legion's Mary-Sue-Boy.
Posted by cleome45 on :
[snip]
quote:Originally posted by Invisible Brainiac: Threeboot Ultra Boy gets my vote. Here we have a jerkass character with an overinflated ego who had little/no character growth whatsoever. I deal with enough nassheads like that in real life, thank you very much!
I agree with this, but I think that Waid meant for him to be obnoxious and unlikeable.
Posted by Candlelight on :
Wasn't that more Shooter than Waid? Waid's Jo was shallow, but Shooter's version was more creepy and stupid and self loving. IIRC.
Posted by Set on :
Shooter, IMO, wrote Jo as if he had some sort of man-crush on him. The bit with Imra suddenly falling madly in lust with him felt very out of left field, and then Jo being 'punished' for the not-really-affair by getting an issue of highlight as he rounds up and handily schools various low-level thugs who got turned away from the UP Young Heroes recruitment trials, while being explicitly 'blamed' for what didn't really happen by the Legion leader, felt like serious woobification* to me.
*Note: I have no idea what woobification is supposed to mean, but, in this case, I mean that he was pretty much not to blame for what happened (or, pretty much, *didn't* happen, since he never even got his belt undone), and Garth flipped out on him a bit unfairly, and he just shrugged and took it, rather than throw it in Garth's face that he was abusing his position as leader to give crap assignments to someone that he was pissed at. The whole set up seemed designed to make Jo look like some long-suffering martyr, dragged unfairly into some other couple's messy breakup, and plugging away and keeping his head down, rather than add to the strife by attempting to defend himself, while Imra, Garth and Lyle were different levels of jerks. (That's my least favorite aspect of woobification. Not that one character is fluffed up, but that, inevitably, one or more other characters have to be dragged into the mud in the process...)
Waid's Jo, IMO, came off as more of a simpleton with some 'issues.' (Like losing control of his powers if he lost his self-confidence, or felt the team, his 'family' or 'gang' was splitting up, or that someone was threatening his manly man status, in the case of Supergirl.)
I didn't care for either of those portrayals.
Shooter felt like he was Mary-Sueing him up. Waid felt like he was turning him into the village idiot.
There's a whole hell of a lot of fine characterization to explore between deconstructing someone to the point of them being an unlikable bouchedagge with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, and fluffing them up into always-right-BatGod whose crap doesn't stink, and I'm not thrilled when writers can't seem to stay out of those extremes.
[ January 08, 2012, 05:54 AM: Message edited by: Set ]
Posted by Harbinger on :
Cosmic Boy had always irritated me, he's such a smug git with a stupid haircut and selection of bad outfits. Bah...
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
I just skimmed through this thread and found it interesting which Legionnaires people dislike and why.
My initial reaction is to say there's no such thing as a "worst" Legionnaire since the premise of the team has always been that every member has something valuable to contribute (yes, even Chuck and Lu and Tenz).
Still, some characters were ill thought out by the writers (Sneckie, Thunder), but blossomed under later writers (Monstress's death scene, as mentioned above), while other characters were meant to annoy us or to challenge our thinking about what it means to be a Legionnaire (Magno).
Other members were added for story purposes and were never intended to be permanent Legionnaires (Veilmist, Bloodclaw, Luthor and Mxyzptlk's descendants). In mind, I have to separate these from the so-called "real" Legionnaires.
Among the "real" Legionnaires, my least favorite was Quislet. I appreciated Levitz's desire to create truly alien Legionnaires, but Quis came off more as a joke to me, a Herbie-like sidekick who spouted one liners and zipped away. He was never given a well-developed personality (but that was true of most of the Legionnaires under Levitz's writing).
Posted by Set on :
quote:Originally posted by He Who Wanders: Among the "real" Legionnaires, my least favorite was Quislet. I appreciated Levitz's desire to create truly alien Legionnaires, but Quis came off more as a joke to me, a Herbie-like sidekick who spouted one liners and zipped away.
Giffen seems to have a gift for making joke characters (like Ambush Bug or Lobo or pretty much his characterizations of the entire Justice League International) that appeal to a section of the fanbase.
I feel that Levitz may have been attempting to tap into that sort of well, but simply failed to bring to the table whatever Giffen brings that makes such characters work for some people.
By the time he got serious with Quislet, and started dealing with the somewhat grim situation with Teall, and with his teaching Wildfire how to make an energy body, I think it was a little too late as Quislet had already been typecast as the annoying gadfly or 'the Scrappy,' and trying to deepen / broaden the character beyond that just annoyed fans who would rather, at that point, not have seen him at all.
With a team of characters the size of the Legion, each of whom is *somebody's* favorite, each new character added has an increasingly uphill struggle, as they are both competing with twenty-some other main characters (and dozens of compelling secondary characters, like R.J. Brande or Rond Vidar or Gigi Cusimano or whomever) for attention, but also could be seen as 'stealing' page-space away from characters that the pre-existing fans bought the book to read about in the first place.
Still, it could be worse, he could be Comet Queen, who was felt to have such an uphill struggle that she was partially lobotomized in an attempt to garner her some sympathy...
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
quote:Originally posted by Set: With a team of characters the size of the Legion, each of whom is *somebody's* favorite, each new character added has an increasingly uphill struggle, as they are both competing with twenty-some other main characters (and dozens of compelling secondary characters, like R.J. Brande or Rond Vidar or Gigi Cusimano or whomever) for attention, but also could be seen as 'stealing' page-space away from characters that the pre-existing fans bought the book to read about in the first place.
Very true. When Wildfire joined, a very big deal was made about him -- he was the main character in the story of his return from apparent death (SUPERBOY # 201), and the issue before featured a subplot foreshadowing his return. Even the issue after his return made a big to-do of changing his name, even though he had nothing to do with the rest of the story ("Wrath of the Devil-Fish")
And, then . . . he disappeared. Except for a minor role in SUP # 205, I can't recall a single appearance by him until # 215 or so (the McCauley brat story) -- at which point he was treated as just another cocky hothead. The rich personality of a determined go-getter that had been developed for him earlier was lost.
Sadly, that's true with a lot of Legionnaires. Rich personalities and character growth can be make them irresistable if they "star" in a particular story, but that momentum becomes lost when the focus shifts to other characters or plot threads.
Posted by Korbal on :
Everytime I try to think of my favorite Legionnaire, I end up with three, then five, then ten, then about two dozen of them...
It's like trying to pick a favorite kind of pie. Is it Pumpkin? Mincemeat? Apple? Cherry? Blueberry? Custard? Shepard's? Bacon and Egg? Chicken and Mushroom? They're all good!
Posted by lowercase mllash on :
quote:Originally posted by lowercase mllash: Come on, now... how many of you will disagree that it's GOT to be Lex Luthor and Mr. Mxyzptlk?
"If I know my buddies, they've already accepted you in our ADULT LEGION unanimously!" guffaws a haggard-looking Lightning Man, as a balding Cosmic Man and goofy Element Man chuckle mightily.
I loved the ADULT LEGION tale, but that ending sucked big fat parakat eggs!
NOW ON VIDEO!
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
quote:Originally posted by armsfalloffboy: I still think Tyroc was a bad joke, Peter Pan boots or not.
Hmm... I wonder if armsfalloffboy still thinks this after recent stories?
Posted by lowercase mllash on :
quote:Originally posted by Power Boy:
catspaw is number 2.
What a terrible thing to say. This thread is no place for toilet humor.
Posted by MLLASH on :
^Still upset about Peebz calling April $#!+
Posted by Power Boy on :
She is crazy sauce! and that weird boyfriend of hers?!?!
Posted by Power Boy on :
quote:Originally posted by MLLASH:
quote:Originally posted by Power Boy:
catspaw is number 2.
What a terrible thing to say. This thread is no place for toilet humor.
Should possibly be moved to the poop thread.
Posted by Power Boy on :
flushed even.
Posted by MLLASH on :
I was waiting for you to notice my delightfully charming "take your quote out of context" post
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