Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! CALLING THE ROLL of LSH #37, #38, and #39

CTR for LSH 37 begins after menu.
CTR for LSH 38 begins at post 10.
CTR for LSH 39 begins on page 2, post 5.

LIGHTNING LAD : It's kind of painful watching him befuddled and incompetent. Remember him in his earliest appearance of this boot? Seems like a different character. Guess he belongs behind the throne.

SATURN GIRL : Garth's loss of face is Imra's gain. Nice to see traces of ol' Iron Butt (I type that with affection) back. Or would that be Durium Butt?

TIMBER WOLF : "Timber Wolf is tearing into them. Grife, he's fast and strong. And vicious. And right now, at least, we need some vicious." I would've liked some more visual evidence. Showing, in addition to telling. But, I did enjoy Saturn Girl's descriptions of her teammates.

I like T-Wolf's current look, as opposed to the more feral one he's getting. Ah, well.

PRINCESS PROJECTRA : Now *this* is the way illusion-powers should be portrayed. None of that stoopid standing in a corner with gibberish in a balloon above her head while she makes frantic gestures. Thank the Legion gods that take appears to be gone. Now, if only that thing behind her head would go the way of the spoken incantations...

Hmmm... maybe Element Lad can send Val (or some other champion) on a trip through time to earn his father's blessing for their union. It'd only be fair, since Jeckie now has Jan's origin.

With my luck, E-Lad'll start passing out every other issue from Comet Fevers, Space Plagues and Asteroid Allergies.

In all honesty, this is the first time I've liked this Projectra-- other than the panel of grief in her quarters.

Cryogeyser City/Triton: Loved this setting... this is the kind of world I want to see in LSH stories. A little more development and it's genuine world-building. More of this and much less of multiple invasions of Metropolis, please.

Visually, Triton was a treat. I liked the 'containment' domes of the city and it's varied levels on the mountain. Snow-settings are unusual for the LSH, so there's room to see how they'll operate... that is, *if* they get out of Cryogeyser City and onto Triton proper.

Glyco: I think I could get to like her, if she's going to be using her powers to recover and save the day next issue. If not, her death could well lead to some much needed character-growth for Lyle.

Beasties: Have we seen Val, Thom and Brin become murderers here? Or are these creatures considered nonsentient? Robotic? Do the Legionnaires know? And does it matter to them?

Unlike the 'transuits' of previous 'boots, the environmental protection appears to be a field generated by the ring in this 'boot. So the field might allow claws to pass through it, but it's not gonna break like glass, anymore than any other magnetic / whatever energy field would. I imagine you'd have to damage the flight ring to do that, and given that Ultra Boy and Supergirl have been shown punching people with their flight-ring-bearing hands, the darn things gotta be pretty darn tough!

I like a few of the Kitson costumes, and wouldn't mind seeing them stick around. Timber Wolf, Lightning Lad, etc.

This whole world might seem only quasi-real to her, a fantasy place that no one else in her 'real world' can see or touch. Under the threeboot origin, the destruction of the entire earth universe would be an inconvenience to her, with the loss of all her 'imaginary friends,' considering that she has an entire other home-dimension to live in.

True that.

And yet he makes one mistake, sending the wrong team to the wrong place, and admits it when he realizes it after the fact. It's not like every other Legion leader hasn't made a mistep or two. He seems to have a reputation as a screw-up in this boot, which is kinda annoying, but I'm not seeing him actually *being* a screw-up yet, just making a mistake. Given how many times Brainy's plans have gone terribly terribly wrong (let's transmat the delegates out! Oops, they all got cut in half! I'll blame it on the other Coluan...).

Less telling me that Star Boy and Timber Wolf are awesome, more *showing* me how cool they are! I agree on that.

In this boot, Lyle's 'best friends' might be people who don't like him quite as much as he likes them. But, in his eyes, they are the best friends he's got.

I'm hoping that he saves the day somehow. He isn't shown in the final scene, so it's possible.

Her telling 'Wolf' to 'shut up' when he criticized 'loverboy' was interesting. One part of me sees her as more diplomatic, while another part of me likes seeing her willing to talk the smack.

I like trenchcoat-Brin almost as much as red-eyed Lightle Brin. The upcoming shoeless Joe look does nothing for me.

Yup, loving the more assertive Projectra.

Yes and hell yes. Much, much, much less of Metropolis and / or Earth under attack!

Power wise she seems a lot like Timber Wolf, with the limited super-strength / agility effects, but she's different enough to work for me.

The threeboot Legionnaires haven't seemed to have any sort of code against killing, which I'm not sure I like.

Nice summation of the characters that we're shown. The people that Lyle is closest to are Atom Girl, Brainy, Cham, Starboy.

CALLING THE ROLL returns! Welcome back!

"Flower Drum Song": lesser-known Rodgers & Hammerstein.

Saturn Girl's comment: "I've been trying to penetrate these things' minds, but ... I can't even tell if they're life-forms or constructs." (emphasis Shooter's (has Jim been reading GirlGenius ? ))
Someone is at least wondering about the opposition ... I wonder who the mastermind is ... perhaps a 3boot version of Dr. Mantis Morlo?

IMO, the new creative team is off to a good start!

Todd's Calling the Roll is akin to the first step toward legitimizing the threeboot!

I'm glad Brin's lost the trenchcoat and Gambit look.

Mystery Lad, your character by character play by play is right on the mark. Glad to see it back!

I agree with Cobie. Calling the Roll always kept my excitement going for the latest issue after it was over and I'm glad it's back. Thanks, Mystery Lad!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Mystery Lad:
: Just how did his uniform get all ripped up while his flight ring protection is activated? He's in space... if his uniform got ripped, wouldn't the field also be pierced?

Good point. Maybe he was battling inside a building first and got torn up there. Or did he come straight from another battle? He already had a broken arm and Phantom Girl later mentions taking him to the infirmary again.

Strange choice for Val to be the one discounting the utility of the 'weaker' powers... perhaps he's being protective? I would've appreciated a word or two from Tinya speaking up for Luornu. Though her bodies strewn across the scattered disk wouldn't exactly back-up such a defense

Well, he did credit her bravery and he's probably right about Garth's choice for that mission. Still, Lu has often triumphed when least expected as has Lyle. Does Val still distrust Lyle?

I hope this is the last of the OK KK jokes.

PHANTOM GIRL : There's something unflappable about this Phantom Girl. Rooted in her origin? Perhaps.

She certainly has been the calm and collected one. Does KK still have a crush on her?

LIGHTNING LAD : It's kind of painful watching him befuddled and incompetent.

In the prior issue, Saturn Girl described him as battle savvy. Of course, that doesn't make him a great manager and he seems to have messed up the mission team choice. Haven't the legionnaires learned by now that they need an administrator/front-line receptionist (Theena? Bouncing Boy?)? I hope Garth isn't going to crack up again. He didn't exactly embrace the leadership with great confidence, however.

STAR BOY: "Star Boy is our big gun... using exponential gravity increases inside the things to implode them, or under them to crush them to pulp on the ground. Just plain... awesome." Ok-k-k, Imra. If *you* think so...

New role for Star Boy; it's usually been Ultra Boy, Mon-el or Superboy who was the big gun. I guess his days of can't through a punch and blow up the plaza are over. Brainy described both Light Lass and Star Boy as powerful legionnaires - can a girl be a big gun?

INVISIBLE KID: I liked his "I'm here" moment with Imra. And his dismantling of the teen attackers was great. His proffering the drink and the flower was sweet (at least he's advanced from keeping shrines hidden in his room...). It'll be interesting to see how he survives the attack of the whatever-it-is.

It's odd that Saturn Girl didn't scan for his mental energies, or whatever, to find him. Is he also invisible to mind-readers? One of the interesting aspects of Invisible Kid (and Triplicate Girl) is how ingenious they generally are, not relying on heavy-hitting powers. Still, wasn't it a bit bad form of him to wander off, entranced by the girl, when he should have stayed with the team? Focus, Lyle, focus.

SATURN GIRL : Garth's loss of face is Imra's gain. Nice to see traces of ol' Iron Butt (I type that with affection) back. Or would that be Durium Butt?

Imra wasn't in the forefront in the Waid Legion and it's been good to see her on missions in Bedard's run and in this first Shooter issue. She doesn't strike me as so Durium Butt as she has been in the past, but she certainly is firm, capable and non-nonsense.

PRINCESS PROJECTRA: Now *this* is the way illusion-powers should be portrayed.

Hmmm... maybe Element Lad can send Val (or some other champion) on a trip through time to earn his father's blessing for their union. It'd only be fair, since Jeckie now has Jan's origin.

In all honesty, this is the first time I've liked this Projectra-- other than the panel of grief in her quarters.

She's great! Just the right mix of power and attitude. She strikes me as royally haughty without the Daddy's girl bitchiness. At least she's not like a Russian aristocrat, resigned to waiting on tables in Paris.

Projectra does have Jan's origin now. Will she confront her planet's murderer? She certainly lacks his spirituality, or so it appears.

Cryogeyser City/Triton: Loved this setting... this is the kind of world I want to see in LSH stories. A little more development and it's genuine world-building. More of this and much less of multiple invasions of Metropolis, please.

Agreed! More off-world missions, especially when the worlds are as distinctive and well-crafted as this.


Glyco: I think I could get to like her, if she's going to be using her powers to recover and save the day next issue. If not, her death could well lead to some much needed character-growth for Lyle.

I doubt we've seen the last of Glyco.

And welcome back CtR!

How do I copy that bumper and put it the beginning of each new CTR?


CALLING THE ROLL of LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 38:
Evil Adventus Part 2: Cataclysm

LIGHTNING LAD: I don't like seeing Garth portrayed as 'stupid'. His lostness is a flashback to Levitz's writing of the character as leader. Which isn't a bad thing, in and of itself, but is curious.

Will he be more together when Imra's back? Is it possible she engineered the scenario to run things from 'behind the throne' telepathically?

Lack of sleep can account for some of these misguided decisions.

Would appear to have a better handle on what a leader should be doing than Garth. Of course, she doesn't carry the responsibility.

It'd be fun if she dressed like a boy and took Garth's place at one or more of these bureaucratic sessions. A nod to ADVENTURES past.

INVISIBLE KID: His little crush won't be leading anywhere good, I predict.

GISELLE: Named for a famous real world classical ballet, for those who missed that. I like the name 'Combat Ballerina'. I don't know if it'd hold up as code-name, though.

I could certainly see this character eventually joining the team, or the SUBS, or a Legion Academy.

I could also see her, perhaps more easily, as an antagonist, a shades of gray opponent or even an out-and-out villainess.

I like her powers and the outsider/snowboarder/adventurer aspect to her charcter. But her very callous refusal to help the 6,000 sentients in the safety shelter cannot be glossed over. 'They don't care about me, so why should I care about them?' doesn't cut it. Adolescent overdramatization? Maybe. We saw last issue that she has cause to feel wounded. I sympathize with her.

But her argument here is that of a wounded child and not a prospective super-heroine.

I wonder what Imra sensed about her. Did she make the offer, actually thinking Giselle might accept it? Or was it a token attempt?

I hope to see the character again, as she's pretty interesting. I'd probably prefer her in an antagonistic position, but her distinct POV could be welcome as a Legionnaire, too.

FRUIT BOY: Chlorophyll Kid and Plant Lad needed another member to complete the Flora Squad.

I like the imagined pairing of him and Gim's brother.

Actually, his power could be *very* useful in a 'l'egionnaire capacity. Especially if there's famine on some world or other.

He's so darn cute and likeable, though, I can't help wanting to see him reappear.

SLUDGE: It's a bit much making a kid with this power also a lech.

VIRUS: Nuboot Infectious Lass? I wouldn't mind if IL pops up again and comes from the same world as this girl. Virus showed even less control of her power than Drura did.

Maybe if Virus returns with antennae and a butterfly-tattoo on her face? Hmmm-- the tattoo could be a symbiant that helps her target her power or something.

SPY: Didn't really get a chance for a fair assessment. Why was Ayla so upset? I wouldn't think she'd mind being lusted after-- even by a 'Sludge'. Maybe that's it-- Ayla was really *into* Sludge, but hated herself for it! That's why she had to quiet Spy so quickly!

I liked this character's visual-- part MOON KNIGHT, part KARATE KID and part JED RIKANE. I hope we haven't seen the last of him.

SONAR: Why wouldn't they provide an environment for her to display what she could do? This was clearly a case of giving the unsexy girl short shrift (see Monstress and Cera Kesh). In addition to anti-Aquatic speciesism.

Bet ya she's almost as strong as Ultra Boy and probably as tough.

VOICE: I didn't like the Lightning Lad joke. It was snicker-inducing, but I don't care for general trend regarding Garth. He might not be an intellectual, but he's not the opposite, either.

She, too, might've been able to display more useful facets to her power if given a chance.

That said, I didn't like her much. Could she be the nuboot Charma, given the way Ayla reacted?

At first read, I was quite disappointed at the HQ scenes. Mainly because of possibly unmeetable expectations for the 'seven candidates'. The prospect of seeing old faces, or new ones in the same league as Giselle was tempting. There's still time for that.

What we got *here* was a nice, old-fashioned nod to the past with some of the snarky underpinnings of the current boot.

I found it interesting that some of these candidates shared characteristics with Shooter's earlier LSH creations: there were traces of Chemical King in both Giselle and Fruit Boy, and of Quicksand in Sludge.

I hope that new readers, or even veterans, adopt one or more of these characters and give them a tiny home in their imaginations to blossom, the way Animal Lad, Gas Girl, Infectious Lass and Chlorophyll Kid have in mine.

After using her power this way in fanfic (although on a bunch of conscious SPs), it was a treat to see her 'using the environment' the same way Cosmic Boy would, even if, in her case, the 'environment' is other people!

After his doofus portrayal throughout the threeboot, it's a real treat to see him be something other than bumbling comic relief.

Did he ever heal fast? Hard to remember.

My least favorite thing, so far. I'd like to see Garth remain impulsive and yet also effective.

True, he's yet to be portrayed as the dim-bulb hothead that Jo became in the threeboot.

Since she hasn't left his side since noting that he was over his head, she kinda has, actually. Phantom Girl is also backing them up quite a bit, despite being less talkative.

Very, very good signs, IMO, as they are showing signs of working things out together, like a team, unlike so recently when Cos made his decisions in a vacuum, calling people aside only to yell at them.

Given that she was apparently on the verge of being raped last issue, and the city administrator said that she spent a lot of time in detention for getting into fights (which we are then shown could usually be cases of her being jumped from behind by bigots, and defending herself), and then finally locked out of the security shelter and left to the Life Eradicators tender mercies by her people, I'd give her a pass on the attitude this once.

Or if he carries around alien fruit with super-properties. "The kaba'an cactus fruit explodes upon sharp impact when ripe, spraying it's sharp seeds all over like a shrapnel grenade! Catch!"

I did love how earnest and hopeless he seemed. It's so perfectly silver age for the tryout to be totally out of his league, and have a big smile on his face as he demonstrates his incredibly lame 'power.'

I'd definitely like to see more of Spy, Voice and M'Rissey, particularly.

A big nod to the Legion's past in this issue was that the girls really had it together. Though it was a little weird to see Saturn Girl strangely playing Ripley she was awesome. On the homefront, Ayla and Tinya were well on the way of navigating the delicate issue of membership of UP Kids with rich parents with a bureaucratic trick of committee procedures before Garth lost his patience.

Im liking this a lot. In just two issues it feels like i have a legion i can stand to read again. Kitson's artwork was great, but the stories just didn't feel like LEGION material. Mostly, i didn't like the smartass characters. There were some when Levitz wrote the book, but they were balanced out by the fact that they really were good kids. I haven't really had that feel for a while now.

Glad to have a legion i LIKE back. I don't expect every character to be sweetness and light, but i don't expect every character to be one i would want to backhand for being a smartass either.

Shooter isn't taking long to find a good groove. "Cryogeyser City". Now this is like something out of the old Adventure stories. Liking it a lot and I am expecting a lot more from Shooter.

As to the art. I don't hate it, but to be honest, the angular, hatchy work is not something i go for. Maybe i am just getting older, but the manga derived look doesn't grab me.

Anyway, Art- solid B
Story- Solid A-.

If only it was the real legion.

I'm really starting to like the art, the style is growing on me. I don't see the day when I'd want to see all the art like this, as it seems to be in Japan, but for an arc or two, it's pretty cool. Giselle I suspect was designed around the art style and what a great character!


The future speak is annoying but I suppose we'll have to wait 20 years and see if there are posters on this board florging left and right. Probably the first "grife" elicted a few groans.

For once, I feel bad for LL. I don't think he's dumb. Just feeling way over his head with a lot on the line. He needs to cut some losses.

you know what i dont mind the grifes, the sprocking, the frankings, florgs,futzwit and the foob.i have some issue with the when there used way to much, i didnt like it in the the legion reboot when every one was saying sprocking left and right. and im not loving it now i understand that a the legion is mostly teenagers hanging out with the common belief that rules suck, and as teen would be prone to cursing a bit more, but to me cursing in writing should be avoided (my engish teacher told me once you only write people cursing when your not smart enough for then to say something witty) unless its a a moment where curseing would be appropriate

example. a gaint robot pig is about to land on you "i'm so floged."

saying flog or sprocking and even grife, too often loses its fun

In this boot, Lyle's 'best friends' might be people who don't like him quite as much as he likes them. But, in his eyes, they are the best friends he's got.

i think Lyle hasn't had time to develop his personalty in the legion so far, Some times i feel ppl are too hard on him first he's the new guy on the team, brought in by B5 who isn't the most loved of the legionnaires so that has to be hard, and second lyle is an abused kid, he may be smart but there is no way he can normal sociably, he used all his brain power making something to make himself to disappear to so there has to be some level of self loathing in his subconsciouses.

to Lyle some of his 'best friends' could just be people who understand him better then any one has before in his life they might not have that super legion bond but for lyle that could be enough

To me the Legion isn't 'cussing' so much as using slang. I've never seen Grife as a swear word, more like 'shoot' or 'darn' or even 'good grief' I mean, senator Ardeen using one of those words and I seriously doubt she would use a 'swear' word in conversation. My big beef is when you have six new words introuduced an issue and they are used a lot, and then next issue they aren't used again and six new words are instead introduced, its a little too much.

As for Lyle, the problem for me is that he is no where like his original or post-boot persona, so its hard to get a feel for him. The other Invisible Kids were confident and smart and really likable, I like Lyle (in a pity sort of way) but he is more of a loser and not really worthy of being a Legionnaire (so far). To me the low powered characters were often the better heroes because they really had to dig deep down in themselves to save the day, whereas the others could just rely on their super powers.

Threeboot lyle still hasn't proven himself beyond what would be considered an ally of the Legion (heck I don't think he's even earned honorary status yet). I'm hoping that Shooter plans to rectify this, the fact that he had Timber Wolf comment on how worthless Lyle's powers were made me think Lyle is about to shine (time honored Legion story, character with lame powers saves day and proves their worth).

On Lyle - I second that.
It really was one of the flaws of the WaK Run, that a character who was introed in the very first issue (the crossover with Titans) as a lynchpin for what the New Legion stood for, still had not arrived in the Legion by the end of their run - not even by issue 39 after several creative changes.

Even a comparative newbie like TW - who joined after Lyle - get's more accolade than IK...

Way to go, Lyle!

My take on threeboot iKid is a bit different.

Excellent and very thoughtful - like the rest of your stuff. Thanks for pointing me once again to your site.

Read the the article then - when I had high hopes for the future development of IK.

Still...
let's see what ShMa have in store for him

CALLING THE ROLL OF LSH #39: EVIL ADVENTUS Part 2: DOWNFALL

LIGHTNING LAD : Ahh, it’s so good to see that Winathian standards of dress are nongender discriminatory. Hmmm. I wonder if the ‘footsteps’ will be an administrative assistant aiding Garth secretly. That’d be kind of interesting. Garth stumbles in his shorts to the monitor room and discovers lists, etc. he didn’t remember making. Could lead to trouble (as if that weren’t coming, anyway.)

Hmmm. As I typed the title of the first arc of Shooter/Manapul's 'reign', I wonder if the evil we're seeing the advent of is actually in the characters of Timber Wolf and Princess Projectra?

?????MINI-POLL!!!!

Question: Should CALLING THE ROLL continue on one ongoing thread or return to one thread per issue, as it appeared before the Shooter/Manapul era??????

I know this is way late, but some stuff came up at work (I got a promotion!), so I didn't get to write this up in a timely manner. Sorry!!

So, anyway, I'll give this edition a week or so for comment, then CTR of #40. The answers to the mini-poll at the end of CTR #39 will determine how CTR will be presented going forward.

Congrats on the promotions. I can definitely understand work interfering with web usage.

I definitely think that CTR works best as separate threads per issue. It definitely helps to spark interest in new discussion when a new thread appears.

I vouch for the separate thread.

Love, love, love your individual spins on each character.

I vouch for the separate thread.

Love your individual takes on each character.