Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! Brainiac 5's brain lesion

I was talking to Fat Cramer about B5's brain lesion and it got me pondering about what would've happened if the lesion had not gotten healed.
First off I wondered how he got it. I was thinking either from stress, his mother's attack, or from whatever the anomoly did to him (or maybe a combination of those factors).
We also discussed why he didn't know he had the lesion. I figured it was probably because he's not exactly the type to let himself be examined all the time. I don't know how often he examines himself or does brainscans either.
For someone like Querl, damage to his brain would be one of the worst possible things. He could probably handle becoming physically crippled so long as he could think. But if he lost his ability to think clearly it would be like torture for him.
I was watching a program about a brain surgeon who had a severe stroke and was so damaged that she had to relearn how to speak and think. She no longer recognized colors until someone mentioned the concept of color to her. Something else else like that would be devastating for Querl.
Another thing I started to ponder was if the Coluans would have told Querl if they'd noticed a lesion, or if they'd keep quiet and let it develop while secretly hoping it would mean there would be no more Brainiacs. They strike me as a rather cold race and since they didn't seem to have much of a fondness of Querl I think they might've just left him to die rather than risk the danger of the Brainiac line continuing. They certainly didn't want another Brainiac 4. I wonder if they blamed him for the whole COMPUTO thing.
I also wonder what Querl would have done if he'd discovered the lesion on his own.
Any thoughts?
luv,
-Su

Sorry, probably just a mental block but !?!?!?

Is that a question about "what brain lesion"?
I was told that in Legion Lost the Progenitor healed a "micro-lesion" in Querl's brain. Fat Cramer said that the Progenitor told him the lesion would've crippled him with a stroke in a few decades or something like that. I think she said it was Legion Lost #11 or something.
luv,
-Su

Just to confirm, yes, Legion Lost #11. One of those small panels that people might even overlook, not crucial to the story but as a big Brainy fan, I noticed - and joke that it was the highlight of Legion Lost for me.

Lol. I take it Brainy didn't get to do much in Legion Lost?
luv,
-Su

Oh no, he did lots, or at least went through the motions of appearing busy (by his own admission) - all in an effort to get everyone back home. Yet it's the minor, "throwaway" details iin The Legion, such as the brain lesion thing, which entice me so greatly. There could be a whole, detailed story developed just out of that, encompassing the many questions you raise.

The eastern bloc war correspondent Ryszard Kapuscinski said that he wrote about "the forest of things" (silva rerum), to capture the world as he lived it with all its details. To me, these minor details, of which there are hardly enough in The Legion, make the stories real, they bring the 31st century to life and give it a richness and depth beyond the straight story line. I always want to know more, more details of the background, more about the characters, their families, the worlds they inhabit. What isn't supplied I more or less make up on my own.

The whole story of Brainiac 5 and Colu is, or could be, a fascinating one on many levels. They call him "the outcast", or is that just a certain political faction? He was considered responsible for some high politico's death, although the man was meddling in an experiment. Is that why B5 is an outcast? Or are the powers that be simply afraid of him? Given what we know of the current situation on Colu, I have no doubt that they would like nothing better than to see Querl meet with some fatal accident. Perhaps there will be an assassination attempt?

In any event, it appeared from the Lost story that he didn't know the lesion was there, it was possibly too small to detect at that point, unless you're a god with a whole array of nifty powers. Where this might have gone in some future, without the intervention of the Progenitor, is, alas, up to you and me (and anyone else interested in such speculation) to decide.

Progenitor:
"There, I've closed that micro-lesion in your frontal lobe. It would have crippled you with a stroke in a few decades. You didn't even know it was there, did you?"

Brainiac 5:
"Huh?"

--I consider this a quick and perhaps offhand way of re-booting Brainiac 5's mental instability. --It could have happened, but now it won't.

Well, he could always develop another one. It's been a while since we've had Brainy go nuts; that's one of the more classic plots, along with retelling the founders' story.

We must be due a Brainy going slowly mad storyline, we haven't had one in quite some time now....

They're always fun!

I would guess that regardless of whether or not Brainy examines himself on a regular basis, the point of that scene was that it was probably something undetectable by almost all standards, but used to show just how powerful and omnipotent The Progenitor was.

And if Brainy had detected it on his own, I'd guess that he'd work on a cure on his own and not tell his teammates about it until it became a problem that they'd have to confront him about.

That problem probably being some universe endangering situation created by the cure.

Tsk tsk! Querl Dangerfield - no respect.

One thing's for sure, if he hadn't noticed it before, he's spent hours looking for evidence of it since.

An alternate consideration is that the Progenitor's healing could be the cause of his coming mental instability.

Or maybe even a method for Element Lad's return, see Star Trek 3.

Wow. We have alot in common. I love the little details. I wanted to see more about Querl's upbringing. Like, just how much interaction did he have with other Coluans. I wonder just how isolated he was. He said he had met other Carggites when he was trying to heal Triad.. So I wonder when he got to meet people and under what circumstances.
LOL. I could just see that "I'm sorry but that monstrous computer that just blew up our base was something I created to cure my brain lesion."
I wonder how long it would take them to realize he'd mentioned the words "brain lesion".
I was thinking it would've been interesting if he'd had the lesion for years and learned that the Coluans had known about it but left it untreated.
As for an assassination attempt, I think that if he was going to have brain surgery it would be a Coluan surgeon that would be most qualified, but he might not trust the Coluans. There might be some pressure from the Coluan government to botch the surgery. I don't know if they still hate him since he started participating in the sleepnet though...
I think the hatred and fear they harbored toward him was because of what his mother did. The experiment that resulted in the death of the interfering Coluan probably added to the fear and hatred. I'm actually surprised they didn't arrest him and send him to prison for doing something illegal that resulted in a death. Although he was a child when it happened...
I'm not sure I want to see Brainy go insane and become destructive. But it would be interesting to see him have a mental breakdown from stress and get depressed or something.
For all we know the Progenitor may have lied about the brain lesion.
As for what could cause Brainy to lose it, maybe the forcefield thingy being inside his head is causing damage...
I need to get the Legion Lost comics...
luv,
-Su

'Brain lesion' was actually a typo. It should've read 'Brain Legion'. Yep-- Brainy was constructing a nearly-microscopic Legion inside his brain. Sub (would that be sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-subconsciously?)consciously, yet.

The 'offending' sub-track would've maintained the mini-Legion was for defense in a last resort situation, but anyone who remembers the old Brainy and Supergirl's robot story knows the *real* reason he was constructing them.

Imagine- a Legion of SuperHeroes with its own continuity progressing in the depths of Querl Dox's brain...

There's an idea for an elseworlds if I've ever heard one.

The eventual stroke? Mini-ERG1's demonstration of his 'sole' superpower, of course.

TN

ROTFL. I never saw the robot story. I think I heard about it though. Did he build a supergirl android to keep him company or something? Guess an inflatable doll wasn't enough.
luv,
-Su

Yep, Su- that was the idea. All the work was done while Brainy was sleepwalking (in some sexy pjs, I might add...).

Somehow the pair ended up at a resort on another planet (not sure how a sleepwalking Brainy planned that...) and, as always ensues in superhero comics, trouble followed.

The robot ended up saving Brainy's life by giving her own (such as it was).

This was all preboot and had *very* kinky over (or under) tones that were enhanced by Grell's sensualized art.

Really, thinking back, I think it was that story that made Brainy one of my favorite characters.

Regrettably, it also indirectly led to the Brainy-insanity storyline. (I'm not a fan of those-- I think they're smartie-phobic:)).

TN

Lol. Any idea on the issue numbers? I think I would like to track those issues down. I think the oldest comic I have is the Brainy's Lucky Day one.
luv,
-Su

The story, a back-up, was 'Brainiac 5's Secret Weakness' appearing in SUPERBOY AND THE LEGION OF SUPERHEROES #204.

It was recently (well- sort of recently) reprinted in the LEGION ARCHIVES #11.

TN

Cool. I'll have to add that to my comics wishlist.. :-)
Thanks!
luv,
-Su