Are there any instances of (pre-ZH) Ultra Boy actually flying without a flight ring?
The reason I'm curious is that descriptions of his powers seem to be inconsistent in whether they list flight as one of his abilities.
Posted by Ultra Jorge on :
I agree. I've always wondered that.
He can shift his energy to different parts of his body I always thought. Which makes sense for all his other powers but no flying.
Posted by doublechinner on :
What I didn't know until recently when I picked up one of DC's reprint 80-page giants was that, in his first appearance, Ultra Boy could only manifest one power, penetra-vision! What a great (if unintended) commentary on the teenagers of the time--teenage boy uses new-found power to see THROUGH things (just like the X-ray glasses advertised in comics!), only later discovers super strength, invulnerability, super speed, etc. No wonder Marla was sent to chaperone Jo on that first adventure! I can imagine Marla slapping Jo upside the head when Jo's gaze lingered too long on the Smallive lingerie and dainties shop! (Methinks I recall Waid making writing a nice bit about this in the 3boot, concerning Jo's discovery and Saturn Girl's switch to lead underpants.)
Posted by Kent Shakespeare on :
I do seem to recall Jo flying w/out a ring, but I can't recall when.
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
I've always wondered if they added the extra powers on top of Ultra Boy's vision powers just because they needed a third "Superboy-class" character for the Alaktor story, and still hadn't remembered Star Boy.
Posted by Set on :
quote: He can shift his energy to different parts of his body I always thought.
And that statement inspires a train of thought that I'll need therapy to get rid of...
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
Apparently, the "ultra-love" wasn't powerful enough to keep Ayla interested!
Posted by Set on :
quote:Originally posted by Eryk Davis Ester: Apparently, the "ultra-love" wasn't powerful enough to keep Ayla interested!
In her first appearance Ayla was able to convince the entire team that she was a boy, and Garth was hardly effeminate. Plus there's the whole identical twin thing, which mean's that something is going on under the hood, there.
Shvaugn Erin wasn't the first bit of mystery meat in the Legionverse, is all I'm sayin...
Posted by googoomuck on :
I didn't think that male & female twins could be identical.
Posted by Ultra Boy on :
quote:Originally posted by Set: [QUOTE]
Shvaugn Erin wasn't the first bit of mystery meat in the Legionverse, is all I'm sayin...
FYI . . . I just threw up in my mouth.
Posted by Not-So-Bad Lad on :
quote:Originally posted by Ultra Boy:
quote:Originally posted by Set: Shvaugn Erin wasn't the first bit of mystery meat in the Legionverse, is all I'm sayin...
FYI . . . I just threw up in my mouth.
Hey, it's the 30th century. With all the aliens, robots, etc., most bedrooms have to look like a bad japanese cartoon when the lights go off. Let's not be so quick to judge.
Posted by Ultra Jorge on :
quote:Originally posted by Eryk Davis Ester: Apparently, the "ultra-love" wasn't powerful enough to keep Ayla interested!
Well obviously he hasn't learned full control of his powers yet.
As for male/female twins being fraternal? I would guess on Winath they can be identical and different sexes.
Posted by Ultra Jorge on :
Re: Ultra Boy again.
I do remember him flying faster than the ring permits by using his powers.
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
I think it was said that he used super-speed to do that, though. Which doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but...
Of course, it was later established that the speed of flight with a flight ring is limited only by the wearer's willpower, so I don't know what to think of that.
Posted by Not-So-Bad Lad on :
quote:Originally posted by Eryk Davis Ester: I think it was said that he used super-speed to do that, though. Which doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but...
Of course, it was later established that the speed of flight with a flight ring is limited only by the wearer's willpower, so I don't know what to think of that.
Isn't that what Magnetic Kid did?
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
Yep.
Posted by Not-So-Bad Lad on :
It's kinda funny, the flight rings working like GL rings. Almost fitting...speaking of which, why haven't there ever been that many GL's in the 30th century? Rond Vidar is the only one I can think of off the top of my head...
Posted by Pov on :
Something about the Guardians keeping them away from Earth. Vidar, Rond's father, was a rogue GL before he was stripped of his ring and went on to become Universo.
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
As I recall they were banned from Earth on Mondays!
Posted by Not-So-Bad Lad on :
Still, with all the planet hopping the Legion does, and all the "Universal Threats" to crop up, you'd think you'd have seen more of them...
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
It *is* curious they didn't show up in Great Darkness. Or the Magic Wars. Or umpteen other billions of universe wide crises...
Posted by Not-So-Bad Lad on :
See what I mean?
Posted by Ultra Jorge on :
There had to be something behind the Lanterns not being around.
The Trapper is controlling the Guardians? The Time Trapper said the Legion is what always kept Mordu in check. Why not the Lanterns?
Are there less Lanterns in the future? Did they kept wiped out by Mordu? Or a scheme by Mordu followers keeping the GLs down?
Posted by Reboot on :
Well, post-Zero Hour, the Corps were never rebuilt from Mass Murdering Psycho Hal Jordan's rampage.
[ June 25, 2007, 12:23 PM: Message edited by: Reboot ]
Posted by Kent Shakespeare on :
Pre-ZH, we never saw more than a handful of GLs at a time. Maybe there weren't that many left? Maybe Oa's heyday was over, and they knew it. In GL continuity, remember, Earth of the year 6400 (or thereabouts) needed a time-travelling Hal Jordan (or Salaak); they had no GL of their own.
In 5YL, Celeste encounters a ring in flashback, just prior to her transformation, but it's implid that its purpose is not immediately evident; thus we can surmise GLs are not as well known in 30 as they were in 20.
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
Yeah, wasn't Celeste the recipient of the last of the Green Lantern energy?
The absence of the Guardians, for whatever reason, could also explain why the Controllers are suddenly taking a more active interest in the affairs of the Universe.
Posted by Ultra Jorge on :
Maybe the creation of the Legion is a direct result (from the Trapper's POV) of the GL being "weak".
Posted by Not-So-Bad Lad on :
quote:Originally posted by Kent Shakespeare: In 5YL, Celeste encounters a ring in flashback, just prior to her transformation, but it's implid that its purpose is not immediately evident; thus we can surmise GLs are not as well known in 30 as they were in 20.
Celeste got the ring off of a corpse, and referred to it as "Jewelry". She didn't know what the GLs were, and she was never portrayed as a shut in, so it can be surmised that GLs just weren't in circulation in the 30th....but why?
Posted by doublechinner on :
I can think of at least 2 "working with what you have" explanations:
1) The universe is a REALLY big place, even for the Guardians. 3,600 Lanterns spread over the whole universe is spread pretty thin. You could argue that, by the 30th Century, Earth and the U.P. had gotten their act together enough that the Guardians turned their scarce resources elsewhere. Doesn't explain the Great Darkness, unfortunately. Wonder if Levitz ever thought about a scene where Darkseid banished Oa with his Omega Beams, or dispatched a few hundred thousand Daxamites to bottle Oa and the Lanterns up?
2) The story Levitz wrote about Vidar (Universo), the Legion and the GLC involved the Time Institute. Basically, Circadia Senius and Brainy were using the Time Institute to explore the beginning of the universe, saw the old "hand at the beginning of time" schtick with the cosmic lightning bolt. This brought down the wrath of the Oans and the Lanterns. In retaliation, Earth banned the Corps. One might extrapolate that Earth's prominence led all the UP to similarly ban the GLC. So, the Oans were "honor bound" not to interfere with the Great Darkness, Magic Wars, etc.
[ June 25, 2007, 06:45 PM: Message edited by: doublechinner ]
Posted by Ultra Jorge on :
double chinner, i like that idea. The GL Corps are out among the fringe worlds. They cannot actually go to any UP world.
It gives them a very lawmen in the wild west feel.
Posted by Ultra Jorge on :
Geez, guys lets keep this on topic! Ok back to Ultra Boy and Green Lanterns!
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
It's Mean Jo Green! Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
Actually, if the UP has banned the GLC, there could still be a Khund or Dominator GL or something, which could be even *more* interesting...
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
Oh, and on-topic...
I'm still waiting for someone to come up with an instance of UB flying pre-ZH.
Posted by Nightcrawler on :
quote:Originally posted by Not-So-Bad Lad: It's kinda funny, the flight rings working like GL rings. Almost fitting...speaking of which, why haven't there ever been that many GL's in the 30th century? Rond Vidar is the only one I can think of off the top of my head...
And a Durlan GL offered help during the battle with Computo in LSH Annual #1. Not to mention Vidar/Universo's story in #295.
[ June 25, 2007, 07:28 PM: Message edited by: Nightcrawler ]
Posted by googoomuck on :
quote:Originally posted by Eryk Davis Ester: Are there any instances of (pre-ZH) Ultra Boy actually flying without a flight ring?
The reason I'm curious is that descriptions of his powers seem to be inconsistent in whether they list flight as one of his abilities.
He had no flight ring in S&LSH #239
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
Hmm... interestingly enough, it was about the same time that flight started being listed as one of his powers.
Posted by Ultra Jorge on :
S&LSH #239
That was before the Reflecto nonsense wasn't it? Cause we could always blame the flying on the Reflecto nonsense.
Heck, v4 Annual #1 was so impressive I'm suprised T&M didn't explain it somewhere in there.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
You may be onto something, Eryk. I just checked the "Lore of the Legion" feature in SUPERBOY # 202, which lists Jo's powers as "ultra-strength, ultra-speed, ultra-vision, and invulnerability," but there is no mention of flight.
Of course, this brief description should not be construed as comprehensive. It does not specify, for example, that "ultra-vision" includes penetra-vision, which can see through lead.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
quote:Originally posted by Ultra Jorge: S&LSH #239
That was before the Reflecto nonsense wasn't it?
Yes, the Reflecto story line ran from # 277-280.
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
The Origins and Powers of the Legionnaires feature from ALL NEW COLLECTORS' EDITION C-55 (1978) lists "flying" as one of the uses of his powers. As far as I can tell, that's the first time he's blatantly identified as having the ability.
AMAZING WORLD OF DC COMICS #9 (NOV/DEC, 1975) lists him as having "powers similar to Superboy".
As far as I can tell, there's no mention of flying prior to that.
These can be found in the Encyclopedia Galactica section of this website, of course.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
Cary Bates' text feature for LSH (v. 1) # 1 merely says that Jo has ultra powers. (Incidently, Bates also gives Jo's home planet as "Nimbor.")
During the earliest Legion stories I read, I thought that Ultra Boy's powers were unclear, but they must have been important, since ULTRA was always capitalized.
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
"Nimbor" is of course an alternate name for "Rimbor", kind of like Amarta/Winath or Colu/Yod. Posted by Ultra Jorge on :
Only the Northerners call it Nimbor.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
"Nimbor" is Cary Bates demonstating lack of careful research. In the same article, he lists a Legionnaire named "Princess Projectora" and implies that Element Lad got his powers as the result of an "atomic attack" on Trom.
Posted by Ultra Jorge on :
I figured it out. In the late seventies there was the "Unknown Crisis". *poof* Ultra Boy can fly and Karate Kid can detect any weakness.
Posted by jimgallagher on :
In Adv. 358 Ultra Boy flies without a flight ring. He says he's going to switch to ultra speed and "hope those metal mammoths are too heavy to fly." So I think flight was a function of his ultra speed.
He also tells Superboy in Adv. 361 that his flight ring is damaged and he can't fly and use his other powers at the same time so Superboy tells him to make himself invulnerable and he throws him at a falling boulder.
I'd have to look it up to make sure but in Adv. 316 when he is expelled, I think he's shown flying without a flight belt.
Those are the only early instances I can think of off the top of my head.
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
Interesting. Well, I'd say that pretty much establishes the ability.
It's still curious that it's never listed among his abilties in the 60s, however.
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
Okay, I just checked Adv. 316, and I think it supports your "function of super-speed" theory. In one panel, he's shown tossing several Legionnaires around with super-strength, but when they decide to call in Mon-El, he thinks "I'll switch me ultra-energy to super-speed and get away!"
The next panel shows him, however, flying with Mon-El in pursuit.
Posted by Not-So-Bad Lad on :
In #340, when Computo turns off the Legion's powers, we see Ultra Boy falling from the sky and ME-Lad unable to bite steel.
Posted by jimgallagher on :
I did some more checking last night. In Adv. 310, Ultra Boy is shown wearing a flight belt and doesn't use any powers.
In Adv. 314, which I believe is the first issue in which Ultra Boy displays multiple powers, he does indeed fly without a belt.
I did check Adv. 316 and reached the same conclusion as EDE from the panels he mentions: Flight is a funciton of his super speed.
One thing has always puzzled me. In Superboy #117, "The Five Legion Traitors" Ultra Boy and 4 other members from a parallel universe visit Superboy in Smallville. In every panel where they are shown flying, 2 other members are carrying Ultra Boy. Everyone wears flight belts except Ultra Boy. Why didn't he have a belt? Or why didn't he just fly under his own power?
Posted by Pov on :
Maybe he just wanted to cuddle?
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
Wasn't it mentioned or at least implied in TMK somewhere that Jo might have all kinds of crazy powers when he channels his ultra energy throughout his body. I always understood that when Roxxas blew him up, he was somehow able to unintentionally travel back in time via his powers. Am I dead wrong on that? Ultra-time travel, especially in light of his grudge with Glorith, would have been fascinating to follow-up on.
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
Didn't Roxxas just use some kind of time device on him?
But I believe it was theorized somewhere that he might have additional powers that he hadn't discovered.
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
quote:Originally posted by Eryk Davis Ester: "I'll switch me ultra-energy to super-speed and get away!"
This was also when Ultra Boy was going through his "Irish Leprechaun" phase... Posted by Ultra Jorge on :
Well he should probably have telepathey or telekinesis. If Brainy teaches him how to switch his ultra-energy to his brain! That would be kind of cool. maybe that is what he did to figure out the time travel stuff in v4 annual #1.
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
I was actually thinking yesterday that it would be cool for him to develop ultra-kinesis, kind of similar to what the Phantom Zone villains do in Superman II!
Posted by googoomuck on :
quote:Originally posted by Eryk Davis Ester: Didn't Roxxas just use some kind of time device on him?
A chronal-howitzer IIRC
Posted by jimgallagher on :
No, I think that's what Shrinking Violet used on Glorith later.
Posted by Kid Quislet on :
If memory serves, Roxxas had some sort of temporal grenade he was saving for a Daxamite, but since he was taking such a pounding, he had no choice but to use it on UB.
Posted by Insaniac5 on :
I don't know if Ultra Boy ever flew without his ring, but I do know it was an editor's note that he uses his flight ring to fly, thereby allowing him to use another super power, rather than "wasting" his one superpower at a time on flight. So, the editor did imply that he can fly without a flight ring.
Posted by Ultra Jorge on :
I'm reading the old Adventure stories now and Jo uses his penetra-vision 10x more than any other power. It's as if Superboy and Mon-El cannot use their x-ray vision.
Posted by Insaniac5 on :
quote:Originally posted by Ultra Jorge: I'm reading the old Adventure stories now and Jo uses his penetra-vision 10x more than any other power. It's as if Superboy and Mon-El cannot use their x-ray vision.
Actually, I think that was his only superpower early on. At some point, he started using other superpowers, though I don't recall when.
[ July 19, 2007, 03:10 PM: Message edited by: Insaniac5 ]
Posted by Kid Charlemagne on :
IIRC, the device used Roxxas used on Jo was a chronal howitzer, from which Brainy figured out how to build the CH used on Glorith.
BTW, a howitzer is a sort of cannon. Wouldn't "chronal grenade" be better?
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