Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Earth Man: the new Hannibal Lecter?

Did anyone read the book Hannibal, the sequel to Silence of the Lambs? I thought it was preposterous. The author spent his first 2 novels (Red Dragon and Silence) convincing us what a horrific monster Hannibal Lecter was. Then in the sequel, he decides to make this serial killing cannibal a sympathetic character and tries to transform him into the hero, even going so far as having his heroine fall in love with him and run away with him in the end. WTF?

I am reminded of this story by the recent conversion of Earth Man from uber villain to hero. The powers that be went to great lengths to transform him from disgruntled failed Legion applicant to a new major Legion villain, had him kidnap and torture several Legionnaires and Subs and now suddenly he's a good guy and getting all warm (no pun intended) and fuzzy with Sun Boy, the guy he held hostage and tortured for months and whose powers he used to discredit and depower Superman? And now another Legionnaire is jumping in the sack with him?

Even if Shady turns out to be an illusion or an impostor, I'm afraid Paul has lost all credibility with me. I want Earth Man off stage now.

Agreed.
I'd never trust him as a Legionnaire.
If it's the real Shady and she's just doing this stuff because she loves him, I'll never trust her again, either.

I think that there is something going on with the flight ring Brainy made for him. I think there's a property to it that is keeping Earth Man in check somehow ... maybe it monitors his whereabouts/activities?
It may also have some sort of personality-controlling quality to it.
That would be fair if you think about it. E-Man did try to control the Legion when he ran his Justice League.

The transformation could be plausible, but it's happening too fast for my taste.

However, I don't think the storytellers care what readers want. They're going to tell the story they want to tell. So let's just hope there's more of an explanation down the line for what's happening.

One problem is that the current story doesn't give much room to show the interior life of the characters, which makes EM's transformation and that of the people around him a harder sell-- at least for me.

What I find even more egregious than EM's sudden transformation is his sudden acceptance by Sun Boy, Shady, et al. They may be heroes, but nobody's THAT forgiving OR forgetful.

My whole thing is that I never understood the purpose of putting EM into the Legion to begin with.
1) Don't the Legionnaires make those sorts of decisions (who to bring into their team) themselves? This isn't 3-boot Legion!
2) Why would the Legion even accept it even if he WAS drafted into service as a Legionnaire? Worst case scenario, accept him officially (to satisfy the powers that be) then kick his sorry ass out 2 days later.
3) Was he too powerful for the SP to control ... so put him with the people who would do the best job at controlling him?
I have 2 words for you: Takron Galtos

None of this makes any sense to me except to serve the purpose of getting the Legion fans all riled up, talking and debating it. Hating and loving it. Almost like all the drama one would expect from, oh I don't know, a current reality TV show?

I reread the issue last night with a somewhat clearer head than before. [cough] I don't think that anyone's accepting EM because they think he's swell. I think they're working with him because they have no choice for now if they want the team to stay together as an arm of the U.P.

As for his change of heart, all I can think of is: he always wanted to be a Legionnaire before becoming a villain, right? His one-time obstacles had to reconsider their original rejection of him. So if he has some shred of perspective, he has to in turn reconsider how he feels about sharing his homeworld with other species.

Again, I have no idea whether I'm on the right track here or not. But I'm willing to read along at least a while longer and see what happens.

I'd kind of like Levitz to clarify what he's going for, but he may have decided that it's better not to beat us over the head with The Big Underlying Message, at least for now. I don't know... My main issue is still that the change seems so rapid. I would have liked more build-up to it, if it's real.

Shady getting in bed with him seems to indicate that she thinks he's swell. If it's not a hoax anyway,

Well, jumping into bed with somebody is not always a declaration of Teh Twue Lurve or even undiluted Like, jg. Not even in comics.

The more I think about it, the more I think I'd rather it was just a lapse of judgment on Shady's part than some kind of creepy brainwashing thing.* TBH, I've had enough disturbing non-con sex stuff in my pop culture in the last few decades to last me a lifetime.

But... nothing else to do but wait and see, right?

*<span style="font-size: 11px;">That is, if it's not actually a hoax of some kind...</span>

Thought.Shady is repulsed by the man, and is trying to get the ring off to show everyone that he is the same homicidal maniac that we all know he is. She is luring him, and Tinya interupted the whole thing prematurely. Just a theory.

My theory: Bad writing. Pure and simple.

I have to give Paul Levitz the benefit of the doubt here though ... as much as I hate the whole Earth Man plot, not to mention the character himself.
Paul has something extra-special planned for him, that's for sure.
All this pain and anguish we (as well as the Legionnaires themselves) feel about E-Man and his membership, GL status then renege, involvement with Shady, it's all for a reason.

I trust Paul will resolve this in a fashion that satisfies all invested parties.

I don't.

Nope. It's the real Shady. She really has the hots for him. He still hates aliens. It makes no sense to me.

Yeah, it does look like that right now doesn't it? I hope Paul surprises (and satisfies) all us E-Man haters/Shady doubters out there and pulls a complete 'left turn' on all this nonsense.