Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Legion of Super-Heroes #20 Review (SPOILERS!)

You mean Shikari's presence was ignored in the Threeboot? Or the fact that she came from the Reboot?

She was never shown in the Threeboot. It's like she never arrived.

Well to me this implies that she actually found a Legion very much like the Threeboot, but not the one portrayed in the Threeboot.

Or perhaps she arrived at a time in their history that happened just after their boot was no longer chronicled. It seems odd that Waid would show her going to his never version if he wasn't going to eventually use her. (I'm thinking Waid did both boots? Or was he not there at the ending of Reboot?)

Just rationalizing these things is more fun than reading the actual stories sometimes, isn't it? :-)

Suspect it may tie into her first appearance after the devastation of Anatrom, thus the final member of the new Fatal Five may be the being originally responsible for that atrocity, who may fear Tinyah's phasing abilities for some reason....

I found that odd too. But then again, I've never quite understood Sorcerer's World. Is it supposed to be one of the major spots for magic in the overall DCU, akin perhaps to the Rock of Eternity or Fate's Tower?

Because I hardly ever see it referenced outside of the Legion-verse. The last modern appearance of Sorcerer's World that I recall was in Captain Atom's back-up feature in Action Comics. Written by James Robinson with wonderful art by Cafu, Atom was coerced into helping Mordru lead a rebellion, I think, on Sorcerer's World. Interesting mix of science and magic and the relationship that developed between Atom and Mordru was intriguing. Shame it was never followed up on.

Well, it's Sorcerer's World, not necessarily "Heroes" world. I'm sure they did what most other citizens do when Validus rampages through their city.... run! I'm also pretty sure that Mysa was rebuilding after Mordru's rule, so I imagine most of the higher level mystics are long gone one way or another, and the majority of the mystics left are still novice level at best.

Did Ultra Boy forget he could fly in this story? Several scenes show him climbing, jumping, being carried by Cham, etc. when he could've just used his own flight power.

Yeah, I was wondering why the page I saw previewed somewhere showed him falling.

Originally it wasn't called Sorcerer's world or Zerox till well after our time, so you would only have heard that term in LSH stories. In our time it was still Gemworld. I guess since you mention a modern appearance, that's long changed with various crises and boots.



I'd love to hear more on that, what sort of relationship happened? And when?

Reminds me of that old 5 Legion Traitors story when somebody else was always carrying Jo around.

Well, arguably, the first appearance of Sorceror's World was actually in the Supergirl story in Action #301, which establishes it in the 20th century long before the "Gemworld" retcon (or even its first Legion appearance).

Apparently, some recent stories have presented it as the locus of all magic in the universe, but DC "continuity" is so inconsistent these days, who knows what to believe?

I personally would prefer some editorial consistency, but I've long ago decided I only NEED a firm answer if I'm running a roleplaying game in that universe. In which case I get to make up the answer, because obviously any licensed rpg you play is at best in a very close parallel to published DCU (or whatever property), so problem solved.

Gemworld....you mean as in Amethyst or something different?

I'd have to dig out the issues again to make sure, but the story occurred during the 'World of New Krypton' storyline. I don't think Atom was fully aware of Mordru's past so he wasn't that distrustful of him. Mordru was grateful for Atom's assistance and grew to like his attitude (General Sam Lane's secret Project 7734 was also involved in this rebellion)

Basically, it was a 'You did me a favor, I will return the favor for we are now associates' type of thing.

The co-feature ran from Action Comics #879-889

Yes, Post-Crisis Gemworld was revealed to be the 20th century Sorcerer's World (setting up a Mordru/Amethyst conflict). It's hard to say how much of that is still canon.

I took it that the gem at the core of Sorcerer's World that Validus was attacking was some sort of reference to that connection.

Ah, okay, yeah, just read up on the Amethyst connection and how she relates to Mordu (and his claustrophobia). Interesting that their history goes back that far. I wonder, was that part of her original intention or something Giffen threw in for some reason?

As for Atom, read up on those issues and it breaks down like this:

General Lane had an operative working for him named Mirabai, a sorceress. Atom came into conflict with her, got the best of him for a bit, then he decided to confront her once and for all.

With the help of Shadowpact, they direct Atom to Sorcerer's World via a portal in Skaratis. (The group emphasizes that Sorcerer's World is THE focal point for all magic in the DCU)

Reaching Sorcerer's World, Atom helps the rebel forces looking to overthrow Mirabai's rule. Atom eventually ends up defeating her and then learns the second-in-command of the rebellion was Mordru in disguise. Mordru did not have the power to confront Mirabai directly so was binding his time to build up the power by helping this rebellion.

Atom does know of Mordru's past fights with the JSA. Mordru passes this off in an interesting way, saying that his actions and goals may go against Atom's hero friends, but that is all on Earth. This is Sorcerer's World, Atom should come back in 1000 years to see how well Mordru has ruled.

Mordu sends Atom back to Earth, claiming that on Earth, he may end up fighting against Atom, but when on Sorcerer's World, Atom will forever be Modru's friend.

Thanks MoV. I wonder if Legion World has a History of Mordru thread somewhere?

Interesting review from SciFiPulse on issue #20: http://scifipulse.net/2013/05/in-review-legion-of-super-heroes-20/

See, I I wonder why the reviewer assumed that.

Well, she does a nice pointy thing sticking through her abdomen, so she can't be in too good a shape. But, yeah, odds are she's not really dead.

I'm still trying to figure out how I missed "the reveal of the final Fatal Five member in action", though. You've got to wonder at these really enthusiastic reviews that seem to screw up on basic plot points.

Well the news of cancellation sure killed sales last month: http://www.icv2.com/articles/markets/25928.html

I wished that Portela's amazing art and a well written issue, along with a stand of loyalty among Legion fans, might have bumped sales a bit to let DC know that we want Legion to continue in some fashion after this current title is over. Alas, it did not happen.

The reality that this is really going to be the end of the Legion for a very long time is starting to sink in.

Well if they're not going to be pleasing enough Legion fans or attracting new readers, they really shouldn't be doing Legion anyway. Can't say I've heard many praises for the current run.

The cover was pretty good too. And that's all the praise I have for that issue, which didn't even feature Kinetix or Gates or Sensor. Bah! At least non-nun Andromeda showed up.





The loss of Earth-247's universe was at least not Kid Q's fault, and she did lead her Legion to save the universe from the Fatal 500. And who knows, maybe their universe still exists somewhere

Meh. Read it, liked the art, but it's pretty hard to be invested.

Although I *LOVE* the idea of that awful Harmonia being the 5th F5 member...

The introduction of some new characters to the Legion, such as Harmonia, Glorith, Dragonwing and Chemical Kid really had a chance to add some ethnic diversity, some more 'action oriented' female characters with active powers, and, had Variable Kid survived, even some non-humanoid diversity. It's painful that stuff we'd been asking for (more diversity, frex) was granted in such a backhanded and unwelcome manner.

And yet, it was somehow presented in a way that turned some of the biggest proponents of that sort of thing off, with the new recruits feeling somehow shoehorned in and undeserving of their new Legion status. With the pushing out of the classic Academy students, and the writing out of some of the core Legionnaires to make room for them, they had an uphill struggle to be accepted. (And Harmonia displaying air elemental powers, like a Nightwind replacement, *when air isn't even one of the Chinese elements,* was particularly boneheaded, IMO.)

Unfortunately, that's my takeaway on this. Some good ideas, perhaps even some great ideas, inconsistently executed.