posted
I am going to be rereading the 5YG Legion in preparation for my fanfic project. I will be the first to admit that I loved this era of the Legion. It was fresh and exciting, at least for me, and you really never knew what was going to happen next.
Feel free to chime in with thoughts and opinions as well.
[ January 09, 2010, 02:58 PM: Message edited by: Dev Em ]
From: Turn around... | Registered: Jul 2003
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The New Legion of Super Heroes, as the cover boldly pronounces. 5 Years later.
The Legion is gone. Disbanded. Fini. Sun Boy is the Earthgov Liason, Cham is running Brande Industries, Salu is in the Brig, and Rokk is stuck on Braal with his pregnant wife Lydda. Polar Boy is mentioned as someone who didn't know when to
Something happened at Venado Bay that cost Rokk his powers, and cost his friend Loomis his right arm...something that the Imskians did. Salu has a scar from that encounter that she will not let her superiors remove. She is dishonorably discharged and heads to Winath to join Ayla, and work with Garth at his plantation.
Reep "recruits" Rokk to help reform the Legion, partially by helping get Lydda off planet.
We are then shown, in word balloons that someone is being set free to "resume" their mission. We know that this is Roxxas.
One nice feature that they had were the McCauley Omnicom Text pieces. This issue shows us the debate over what caused the "89 Collapse." Showing that retroactively, Earthgov had been infiltrated even at that point. We also see that Earth President Tayla Wellington called for the disbanding of the Legion. As well as Brek Bannan's memo announcing the actual disbanding 2 years later. This also gives us the first mention of "Black Dawn", and that it cost the Legion a great deal.
We lastly get a commercial for Flight Ring Village. An apartment complex that once was Legion Headquarters.
Looking back at the things we know about where these threads lead, this was a packed issue. A lot if information is given, but there is still so much that we did not know at the time. I remember pouring over each issue looking for hints of what had happened to different characters.
From: Turn around... | Registered: Jul 2003
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Okay folks, I love this issue. Loved it then, love it now. It features Ultra Boy (Jo Nah) as the main character. My favorite Legionnaire of all time. The seeds are sown here that lead to the Jo that I am so glad emerged with the first annual. That being that there is much more to him than being "Superboy with a gimmick." Page 21, where Jo goes back to get the remains of the shaving brush that Rokk had given him is a perfect example of why I love Giffen's art in this series. There is a lot said by Jo, even though there are no spoken words by him on the entire page.
We are also introduced to Kono. A great addition to the Legion cast. Smart, feisty and loyal to Jo. Also able to hold her own. The Khunds have something against Kono, so they are willing to take out Jo to get to her. That of course backfires.
We are also updated on Lydda and Loomis heading to Kathoon. We see Shvaugn for the first time, and she is under the watchful eye of Circe, The Earthgov pawn, who is sleeping with Dirk. Kinda funny that Dirk is chasing her so hard, given what happens with Shvaugn later in the series.
Roxxas is also back, and totally off his rocker. Cool.
The thing that saddened me about this issue was learning that Tinya was gone. Yes, we learn later that she was "exchanged" for the L.E.G.I.O.N. Durlan. I think that this actually did make Jo a more rounded character.
All in all a great issue.
From: Turn around... | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Same here. Starting with #2, TMK really just throw away all the bad about Jo Nah and make him one of the best Legionnaires of them all again, and I've loved him as one of my top five favorites Legionnaires (and comic book characters in general) ever since. They really build from #2 thereafter, particularly with the Legion Annual featuring him, which I think is one of the greatest Legion stories ever told.
I also loved Kono, and I love her 'psuedo-sidekick' relationship with Jo in the beginning. When I first read the TMK run I didn't really latch on to her--only on the second, third and fourth reads (yeah, like most of us I dorkishly have read the TMK run a bunch of times), I've really grown to like her. Mary Bierbaum did a bang-up job in creating her (pretty sure it was her). What works with her is the second she comes on-panel, she creates tension and a dynamic with other characters (not so much Jo but with everyone else as the series goes on). That kind of character is absolutely needed in a series.
In this issue we learn Tinya has died and it still pulls on my heart strings to reread that, including the text page at the end, which makes me a little teary-eyed. Obviously it was a set-up to introduce her in LEGION, but when you’re rereading the series and not rereading LEGION (considering how they screwed up the continuity thereafter and now its part of historical hindsight), its better to forget all that and just look at it from Jo’s perspective.
In Tom Bierbaum's blog about the TMK run, he mentions in this issue the Hotel Woodmere, spaceship/intergalactic traveling hotel on Page 12 is named after a place in Stamford, CT, where I now live. I wondered if I could ever find where that is. I always forget though when I leave the computer and I doubt I’d find it (I’m not originally from here so damned if I know my way around).
Looking forward to more of your reviews of this era, Dev. Its awesome that you’re back on LW full-time!
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Read 3 & 4 last night...hope to have them up today sometime. Great stuff. Cannot wait for issue 5, the one off issue featuring a different take on everything.
From: Turn around... | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Superboy-Supergirl: Cobalt? u didnt get affected by Nitro in Civil War did you
Having lived in Stamford for about 2 and 1/2 years now, I can say we could use Nitro in a portion of it to 'inspire' some remodeling of the old buildings
[ January 07, 2010, 09:25 AM: Message edited by: Cobalt Kid ]
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Cobalt Kid: Mary Bierbaum did a bang-up job in creating her (pretty sure it was her). What works with her is the second she comes on-panel, she creates tension and a dynamic with other characters (not so much Jo but with everyone else as the series goes on). That kind of character is absolutely needed in a series.
Mary did create Kono. Keith put Kono in league with Jo because she seemed to fit in best there. All that is according to Tom's blog about this era.
From: Turn around... | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Issue #3, Jan 90 - Roxxas' back and they're gonna be in trouble...
Another great issue. We get the lowdown (or at least teasers) on a huge amount of characters in a short amount of time.
This issue covers a lot of ground. We are immediately caught up with glimpses of Nura, Dirk (who knows about the Dominators!!), Jan (okay, so it's just a image of Trom...but), Lar (wait...isn't he dead?), Dawnstar(oooohh...more on this later in the series), Brek, Thom, Querl (with hints at the Validus plague and Garth and Imra's son) and back to Reep on Rimbor. 9 panels, 9 quick teases. Brilliant!
A tiny rant about the 9 panel grid used for most of Keiths run here. I LOVED it. More story crammed into an issue for me! Sure, some of it became static and a little confusing...but they were able to do so much more than writers do nowadays. Some writers would have a fit if they had to do this for any length of time, but Tom, Mary, Al and Keith made it work to their advantage.
We then see that Mordru has Rond captive, and that Rond is being endlessly devoured by some creature. Pretty nasty...although Mary saved Rond from Death here by coming up with a torture worse than death. Which also in turn gave us the triangle with he, Brainy and Supe---oops Laurel. Mordru becomes aware of the plans that the fledgling Legion has to come and get Mysa from him.
We then see that Mekt is "down on the farm" with Garth, Imra, Ayla and Salu. Imra is preggers again, and they have lost a shipment of produce.
Reep and Rokk meet Furball who takes them to Jo, and in turn Kono...of which the friendship between Kono and Reep is one of the greatest things ever. Furball is Brin, as we find out soon enough. There have been parallels with Jo and Furball to Han and Chewbacca...they seem fitting, and think I will try some background stuff to the time-frame before Reep comes calling.
The other major point of this issue is Roxxas and his destruction of Blok. Shvaugn reacting to it, and the fact that Roxxas sent the body to Graym, Garths son. This let's the Legionnaires know that Roxxas is out there and coming for them. Another item to note here from Tom's blog is that Shvaugn was supposed to die here and not Blok. But Al Gordon came to the rescue...with the idea that comes to fruition in issue #31. Keith liked it, so She was spared and Blok was lost.
Text pieces on the Ranzz family and the Validus Plague.
Then the set up for next issue...Mon is back...but there are multiple voices here and one of them is not friendly at all.
The letter pages start in this issue with an introduction to the creators guiding us through the series. They also started the "What has gone before" bow which gets you caught up on what you should need to know to understand the issue. Reading the previous issues was always better, but at least they were trying to keep everyone in the loop long before others adopted reca pages.
The letter pages also became a treasure trove of information for longtime readers with tidbits of info scattered throughout.
From: Turn around... | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
5YL . . . people either love it or hate it.
My appreciation for what Giffen and the Bierbaums were trying to do has grown over time, but on re-reading # 1-2, I felt much the same as I felt on reading them the first time in 1989: confused as to what was happening, disappointed that even the Legionnaires I knew were unrecognizable, and frustrated that the story was moving so slowly.
Part of this disappointment is due, no doubt, to Giffen's deconstruction of the Legion: They are no longer the darlings of the UP who win every time, who wear brightly colored costumes, and who are all pals with endearing nicknames such as Cos and Cham. They have been swallowed up by the adult reality of their times: poverty, war, politics. When Vi gets her dishonorable discharge for not agreeing to keep silent about Venado Bay, it drives home just how lost the Legion is in a galaxy that does not share their ideals.
Surely it is Giffen’s intention to jar the reader, to shake Legion fans out of their complacency. In this, he is quite successful.
But much of my disappointment also stems from Giffen’s storytelling style. In one interview, Giffen boasted about the dense layering of 5YL, and it is dense. But density itself is not a laudable goal when storytelling clarity is sacrificed. Dev’s summaries, above, were a lot clearer than the original issues.
Issue # 1 starts out well enough with a media recap of the Legion’s career. Then Cham enters the picture and announces it’s time to do something (as long-time readers, we can guess what: reform the Legion). But then we’re given a flashback/dream of Rokk and Loomis on Venado Bay, except that it’s not clear that this is Rokk until the sixth panel, or where they are or what is happening. Giffen tries to convey the confusion of war by using vacant panels and overlapping word balloons, but confusing the readers is not the same as confusing the characters. As a reader, I wanted to put the book down at this point. For me to care about what is happening, I need to know the journalism basics: who, what, where, when, how, and why? Giffen barely gives us a who here.
Mercifully, Giffen gets us back on track with a scene we can recognize (or at least have long hoped for): Rokk and Lydda are now married and about to have a child. Of course, Braal has seen better days, but I’m still with Rokk as he travels the crowded, poverty-stricken streets, passes a check point, and hooks up with Loomis and then Cham. At least, I’m mostly with him: another flashback/dream occurs when he encounters the “Venado Bay” graffiti. Even though Rokk has mentioned “the damn bay” previously, I did not connect the two on first reading nor understand the signficance of the graffiti.. More confusion.
To make matters more confusing, Giffen seems to have rewritten the Legion’s origin by having just one assassin attempt to kill Brande instead of two. Is this the same Legion universe or a parallel one?
Issue # 2 is better for the reasons Dev cites, above: the focus on Ultra Boy and the introduction of Kono. Again, however, Giffen’s obscure storytelling gets in the way of some really good ideas. When the Rimborian science police shoot up the club, it’s not clear what they are doing until its over—or even why they did it in the first place, since their target, Kono, was nowhere nearby. Likewise, the fight between Jo and Kono and the Khund assassins is hampered by unnecessary murkiness in the art and the restrictions of the nine-panel grid. When Kono causes one of the assassins to sink into the ground on page 17, the first two panels fail to convey what is happening. Perhaps this is because the assassin’s form is so grotesque and silly to begin with that he looks like a Play-doh creation.
Speaking of the Khund assassins, did their annoyingly polite dialogue remind anyone else of Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd from the James Bond film Diamonds are Forever? Such dialogue combined with their appearance made it hard for me to take the assassins seriously in spite of the horrendous acts they perpetrate. I was not sure if Giffen and the Bierbaums were intentionally trying to be funny or not.
I’m not a reader who insists that everything be spelled out in a story. But I do believe it’s the writer and artist’s responsibility to orient the reader to the world of the story and to keep the story moving. Giffen and the Bierbaums didn’t quite manage this on these first two outings, but, as I recall, they got better as they went along.
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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I remember that this one blew my socks off back then. What the hell happens next?!?!?! But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Giffen's cover is great here. I freely admit to being one of those (maybe the very few) that likes this Giffen style. It's not for everyone, but I like it. That being said...Mon El cracking his knuckles and looking pissed off on the cover...whoo boy, someone is in for a beat-down.
A few things of note here. Nobody else (Legionnaire wise) aside from Tasmia, Lar and Brainy appear in this issue. It's also an issue where I think the 9 panel grid is used the best.
The Time Trapper has brought Mon El back from the "dead" (although, he was only apparently mostly dead) for his own evil schemes. It seems that Lar has been the Trappers fail-safe, a safe house to hide in. It also appears that Eltro has his place in Lar's mind as well. This was to explain certain apparent inconsistencies in his portrayal over the years. It was also used again with Garth, with a much, much bigger fan reaction. It also is never really brought up again from what I remember...
Tamia and Brainy are really there to propel the story to the showdown between Lar and the Trapper. Neither are really needed, but it was nice to see them.
The Trapper goes over his past manipulations of time and space to prove to Lar that he cannot dare destroy him or else he wipes out everything. Over-simplification of things, but I do not feel like typing out every nuance.
Lar then proceeds top destroy the Trapper and everything goes white.
We also get a text piece about Mon El.
This issue was of course tweaked over and over due to the "NO SUPERMAN REFERENCES AT ALL" edict that came down for the Superman editorials. A big mess that they tried their best to work with...to varying degrees of success. Much more on that as it happens. Read all about Tom's recollections of it here: http://itsokimasenator.livejournal.com/1392.html
From: Turn around... | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by He Who Wanders: 5YL . . . people either love it or hate it.
My appreciation for what Giffen and the Bierbaums were trying to do has grown over time, but on re-reading # 1-2, I felt much the same as I felt on reading them the first time in 1989: confused as to what was happening, disappointed that even the Legionnaires I knew were unrecognizable, and frustrated that the story was moving so slowly.
Thing is, can you imagine if they tried this story with Bendis writing it now...it's take 3 years to get Reep and Rokk to Rimbor.
From: Turn around... | Registered: Jul 2003
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