Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Legion Signs

I was just rereading some of The Best of the Legion Outpost and was intrigued by an article written by Len Rosenberg, in which he speculated on the astrological signs of the Legion membership of the day. He didn't make a definite call on some of these (for instance he speculated that Matter Eater Lad was either Cancer or Capricorn) but I summed up his comments thusly:

Aquarius: Wildfire, Brainiac 5

Pisces: Duo Damsel, Dream Girl

Aries: Ferro Lad, Timber Wolf

Taurus; Cosmic Boy, Tyroc

Gemini: Chemical King, Ultra Boy

Cancer: Bouncing Boy, Matter Eater Lad

Leo: Sun Boy, Princess Projectra

Virgo: Saturn Girl, Dawnstar

Libra: Karate Kid, Phantom Girl

Scorpio: Invisible Kid I, Element Lad, Star Boy, Shadow Lass

Sagittarius: Colossal Boy, Lightning Lad, Light Lass

Capricorn: Chameleon Boy, Shrinking Violet, Mon-El

Interesting idea. I wonder what Rosenberg based his choices on. In other words, what traits does an Aquarius supposedly have the Drake and Brainy share?

I feel obliged to point out, though, that our understanding of astrology is based on how the stars appear in the sky from earth's perspective. Inhabitants of a planet such as Colu or Winath or Daxam would observe a different configuration of stars and thus have different astrological signs, assuming they used them at all.

Back in the '70s, DC published a calendar containing the birthdays of all of their major characters, including the Legionnaires. I think those dates are floating around this site somewhere; if not, I'll see if I can find my calendar and re-post them.

The birthdays published back in the 70s can be found here from the Encyclopedia Galactica board!

Thanks, Future.

It's worth noting that the world of astrology experienced a major shake up recently when a astronomers pointed out that the traditionally accepted astrological charts didn't take into account one of the major constellations and changes in the Earth's rotation. A new chart has been introduced that includes the sign of Ophiucus. This change means that the majority of us have lived out our lives believing that we were the "wrong" sign. I personally shifted from Gemini to Taurus.

Some traditionalists are claiming that astrologers took all of this into account years ago, and the traditional signs are based more on seasonal changes than constellations.

http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/01/13/horoscope-hang-up-earth-rotation-changes-zodiac-signs/

Wow, I would shift from Libra to Virgo. Personally, I like being "the balance" better than being "the virgin."

I always felt comfortable as Gemini, but I'm embracing Taurus now. Lots of nice traits that I'm okay with.

I think I have about equal personality traits of Virgo and Libra, which may result from my birthday being so close to the (traditional) cusp. Or maybe I don't trust myself (Virgo) and can't make up my mind (Libra).

I got bumped from Cancer to Gemini. Huge, huge upgrade, IMO.

'Course, I don't believe in that sort of stuff, but still, I'd rather have twins than crabs.

Yes, he pointed that out in his article. If it weren't 9 pages long, I'd transcribe it and post it here.

Here's part of what he says about Wildfire:

Aquarius is unconventional, likes to break rules and identifies with the masses and the underdog. Astrophysics and space flight are also Aquarian interests.
Unpredictable, rebellious, tactless: all qualities of a negative Aquarian, and of Mr. Burroughs. The sign rules the lower legs—from which Wildfire often chooses to to project his energy. The stars are an Aquarian symbol, distant suns that symbolize hope and friendship, but are not as close or as warm as Leonine Sol. Of course, there's a star on Drake's chest—a star with long legs at that (another Aquarian trait!). A little-used aspect of Drake is his ability to "power" machinery, an example of the Aquarian love of gadgets and inventions.

Brainiac 5:

Brainiac 5 is a repressed Aquarius, like many inventors. He's tops in the intellect department, but has trouble handling his emotions. He saves most of his passion for his formulae and the driving desire to undo the evil of his ancestor. Now that he has destroyed Brainiac/Stargrave, he may find his sex drive rearing its ugly little head again. . . . A fixed air sign, he's impossible to influence unless you impress him with your logic; otherwise, he's very stubborn and old-fashioned in many ways, although basically progressive. Even his force-field belt is an example of "fixed air" —immovable, yet gas-permeable. . . .

Rosenberg mentioned the calendar in his article and scoffed at it. He based his speculations on a lot of things, including personality traits, interests, costume designs and colors, skills, interpersonal relationships, symbolic extrapolations of powers, etc.

I went from Scorpio to Libra in the new calendar. Yuck. My sister is/was a Libra. Now she's a Virgo I guess.

The new calendar doesn't make sense to me. Pisces is 38 days, but Cancer is only 21? Ophiuchus is only 18 days and Virgo is 44 days?
Scorpio is now only SEVEN DAYS????!!!!

I think I'll stick with the old math.

Hey! Libra's rule!

Thanks for posting the info on Brainy and Drake, Jim.

The thing about astrology is that you can read into any sign just about any personality trait someone chooses to express. I think its truer to say that ALL people exhibit the personality traits of each sign, depending on the situation they find themselves in, who they hang around/have to impress, and what's bothering them at the moment.

That said, Rosenberg's interpretations are interesting. Hope I get a chance to read the entire article at some point.

Glad you enjoyed it, Maybe I could scan the pages and email them to you if you like. But I highly recommend buying the book. It has lots of cool features and artwork in it and it wasn't too expensive.

Holy crap! I actually started a thread that made it past page 1! Does it count that half the posts are from me?

You'd think that if astrology worked, they would have noticed that astrology hadn't been working for the past decades or centuries.

Gee, it's almost as if it doesn't work at all but people are able to convince themselves that it has--no matter what its actual results are.

I appreciate the offer. I'd love to buy it if I could find it at an affordable price (re: cheap!).

Yes, it counts . . . because the other half of the posts aren't from you (or something like that ).

Thing is, Ken, that argument can be made for just about anything -- religion, democracy, civilization, starting a new business, rebooting fictional universes, etc. But that doesn't stop people from trying and hoping for the best.

As a Christian, I'm not *supposed* to believe in astrology. But then, as a Christian, (according to some) I'm not supposed to believe in same-sex marriage and gay rights. If one takes an even more extreme view, one can find arguments that integration or women's lib or progressive liberal Christianity don't work. But one can also find compelling arguments that they do.

If one is going to argue that astrology (or anything else) doesn't work, one should be prepared to back it up with examples. But, of course, people who believe it does work can back up their beliefs with examples of their own. And how would each side "prove" that a belief worked or didn't, anyway?

A better approach, I think, is to respect others' beliefs, even when they differ from one's own.

I don't believe in astrology, but I find it interesting to speculate on. I also don't believe in the Legion of Super Heroes, but I find them interesting to speculate on too.

WHAT????!!!!

heresy

I prefer himesy.

I just scanned Rosenberg's article with a text scanner. Below is the introduction. I'll post what he has to say about each Legionnaire later after I clean up the files a little.


Born Under a Triple Sun:

An Astrological Interpretation of the Legion

(From The Legion Outpost 10)

by Len Rosenberg

Five years ago, DC Comics came out with a super-hero calendar that assigned (rather arbitrarily, I thought) birthdates to the various characters appearing in its magazines. The Legion of Super-Heroes took up a good many days of the year, as was to be expected. I recall skimming past late February or early March (around the time of my own birthday), and grumbling loudly--to the surprise of the shoppers nearby "Humph! No way Sun Boy is a Pisces!"

You may gather from this that I am, in addition to being a comics fan, an astrologer.

I mean to stir no hornets nests by making this statement, but I know instinctively that I have divided you readers into two camps: the believers and the skeptics. Opposition to astrology is strong and vehement, championed by no-nonsense rational scientist types like Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan, who seem to feel that astrology is symptomatic of the fall of civilization and the turning of humanity's brain cells into prune whip. Hitting somewhat closer to the fannish heart, the late Mort Weisinger, ex-Legion editor, once took out ads offering a large fee to anyone who could irrefutably convince him of astrology's validity. I believe the money went unclaimed.

While there are some astrologers who believe that the Sun, Moon, and planets have a direct, causal effect on the Earth's inhabitants--be it by gravitational fields, alteration of the Sun's coronal radiation, or whatever--there are equally large numbers of astrologers who favor psychologist Carl Jung's theory of synchronicity: that the events of a particular time share the qualities of that time, whether they occur in interplanetary space or in interpersonal society, and that one can be inferred from the other without any causal relationship. However it is that astrology works, there are millions who will assert that it does work. While I don't expect to convince the skeptics, I do hope that they will find this article of some interest anyway for its character interpretations.

Returning to that 1976 DC calendar: I was annoyed by the birthdates given to the non-Earthborn characters; if Tenzil Kem's birth occurred on the date called February 8 on Earth,
he is unlikely to celebrate his birthday on February 8 again unless Bismoll's sun-cycie is identical with Earth's, which is highly unlikely. The potential problems of interstellar timekeeping are immense; it seemed to me the only dates that weren't meaningless were those of the Earthborn Legionnaires, and as an astrologer, those struck me as being off-base as well.

How does one determine the astrological make-up of a fictional character? Well, first of all, you examine the personality traits exhibited by the character and work backward from there. In a case like the Legion, where a dozen writers have imposed their different interpretations, and where the emphasis has been on action over character development, it isn't easy. One aid is astrology's use of correspondences; colors, metals, parts of the body, etc. are "ruled" by different signs and planets, so a character's costume, skills, powers and origin can indicate an astrological leaning. The result need not necessarily be the individual's "Sunsign"; we all have every sign influencing our personalities, but the sign rising, or the signs containing planets, are emphasized. A Sun in Pisces may have a "Leo-type" personality if there are many planets or the Moon in Leo, perhaps, with Leo rising. So, despite my outcry, maybe Sun Boy is a Pisces ... but a Fish strongly modified by Leonine influences, as you'll see.

I'm told that Steve Englehart, who is also an astrologer, searched his ephemeris (a listing of planet's places in the zodiac) when he was writing Dr. Strange, and chose a birthdate astrologically appropriate for the good Mage. Strange happens to be a Scorpio--a sign associated with surgery, sorcery and alcohol consumption. With no ephemerides for the Thirtieth Century, and barring an unexpected grant from a rich fan who will buy computer time to figure the planetary positions for, say, 2960 A.D., I will have to be less specific in my use of dates.

A thousand years hence, the vernal point will have moved (and the siderial astrologers with it) only halfway through the constellation of the Water-carrier. Sort of the noon-day of the Age of Aquarius. (When dealing with stars, you're dealing with slow effects.) The planets, in comparison, will have been whizzing by, even far-out pokey Pluto. And on the third planet from the Sun, the following Legionnaires will have been born:

Sun Boy: As the Sun is the center of the Solar system, surrounded by dependent planets, Leo--which is Sun-ruled--loves to be the center of attention, and is easy prey to flattery. Sun Boy's name and power are not the only links to Leo that Dirk exhibits; his enemy's name is Regulus--also the name of the brightest star in the constellation Leo, and gold (be it radioactive or not) is the sign's metal. I once asked Jim Shooter if he knew of these correspondences when he wrote the original Dr. Regulus story in Adventure #348; he said he did not. lnteresting coincidence, or Jung's synchronicty?

Dirk can be bossy and patronizing (he told the Substitute Heroes: "Your organization is ridiculous!" in Adventure #311)*. When under pressure, bossiness becomes a power complex; Dirk pulled rank in "Mutiny of the Legion" (Adventure #318). Leo is the showman, and when Sun Boy first joined the Legion, he wore a constant glowing aura; he probably leads the group in some amateur theatrical enterprises. He shows good deductive reasoning (Mercury in Virgo); combined with his friendship with Lightning Lad, this helped him discover Ayla's ruse when she impersonated her brother in Adventure #308--that and a well-placed hand on her chest.

Dirk should be matinee-idol handsome--and more than a little vain. He'd offer unsolicited advice, and cannot admit when he's wrong, but his affection is genuine. He appreciates art, and may design as well as collect sculpture. Like most Leos, he should watch out for back and heart trouble.

*This was actually a Sun Boy impostor--JG.