Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! Legionnaires benefiting (or not) since Shooter

Since Mr Shooter took over the writing duties, some Legionnaires have fared very well character-wise, some not so much, and a few have actually suffered. Here's my take, a list in order of most benefited to least:

1) Ultra Boy - Lots of panel time, use of powers, and gets the girl. Obviously Shooter's fave character.

2) Light Lass - Good stuff from her both in the HQ and in action. As strong a character as she's ever been.

3) Saturn Girl - She's taken her lumps recently, but gotten a lot of panel time and much more depth. I originally thought her character was subdued under Waid because she was mute, but now see it was just the writing.

4) Brainy - Still abrasive, but now more of a teenager.

5) Invisible Kid - Now part of the team, not an outcast.

6) Colossal Boy - Some real nice moments, both in action and interacting with Atom Girl, Saturn Girl, and leading U-Boy and Element Lad. "Micro Lad" and its re-origin has been mercifully dropped.

7) Atom Girl - Fiesty, nice action recently. Getting used to the guns.

8) Star Boy - Good use of powers recently. Bombs and Cookies mercifully dropped.

9&10) Karate Kid and Triplicate Girl - While there has been some action spots, Mr. Shooter seems handcuffed with these two by the Countdown drudge.

11&12&13) Shady, Element Lad, Phantom Girl - Some exposure but not enough (yet). These three, especially PG, need a mission with some meat to it.

14) Timber Wolf - I kinda like the feral version, but this Wolf has become too tamed, especially in regard to Projectra and Saturn Girl. Beat up by Ilkilles (sp?) a low point.

15) Projectra - While her new elitist attitude and snobbery are different, I still feel they are un-Legionnaire-like and a downgrade for the character.

16) Lightning Lad - He is suffering badly, coming across as a poor, confused leader and an impotent boyfriend. He needs something spectacular to happen to him soon.

17-23) Sun Boy, Dream Girl, Dream Boy, Cosmic Boy, Mon-El, Wildfire, M-E Lad all MIA. Would like to see at least some of these characters back soon.

OOps! I knew I'd forget at least one Legionnaire. I'd place Cham at 7a). We've seen some interesting things involving him, such as the loss of body mass and lack of clothing, even though the bird flirtation was a little too kooky for me.

Not forgetting Shooter actually gave him new powers, kind of a cross between ol'Cham and Plastic Man. Which I kinda like it. And I find his zany visuals quite charming.

I'm not sure about that. Despite getting a fair amount of play in the past few issues, I think Ultra Boy has come off as a jerk. I'm not sure that is favorable treatment, but it may give him some more depth than he had under Waid, et al.

I like how Shooter had really addressed both of their powers. They and Element Lad are probably as powerful as any Legionnaires, but that has never really been emphasized.

I know people object to the Imra/Jo hook-up, but I'm glad to see some shake-ups.

I think Brainy has improved significantly under Shooter. He became pretty insufferable during the post-Waid period.

I really like how she has an inferiority complex and needs to overcompensate, but I suspect she is going to get into trouble soon because of it.

I like what Shooter has done with E-Lad. We haven't seen much, but have seen a continuation of the moral, ethical character that Waid created, plus a very original use of powers in the last issue that hints at just how powerful E-Lad can be. Have we ever seen him knock out an opponent by removing their oxygen?

I'm sort of mixed on T-Wolf. I like the relationship with Projectra as a balance to the seeming out-of-control character. As for Ikilles, since we never really saw his strength, I'm not sure it was a low point. Had it been Validus who beat up Brin, would we think it a low point?

I'm also ambivalent. On the one hand, I like that she has an elitist attitude since it does befit her background. On the other hand, it seems to have gone overboard.

He is very powerful, as Shooter demonstrated, but he's not fit for the position as leader. But even then, he did well in the last issue when his role was more as a personality rather than a bureaucrat. It's given Garth some depth, beyond the typical hot-head characterization.

WILDFIRE: Was finally reintroduced complete with origin and history with the Legion. Offered membership right before Shooter took over. Shooter chose to leave him off the team!!! Needless to say, I'm not happy about that...

Star Boy has, IMO, benefitted the most. Shearing beasties in half, making 'air hammers,' and most recently joining Ayla and Brainy in re-ordering the gravity of the entire solar system, he's been shown as both powerful, and, more interestingly, *creative.* He's also shown a tad more characterization, interacting with Gim, Ayla and Cham and not once being portrayed as the clueless screw-up of the Threeboot.

Cham has gotten less grumpy or, to quote Cos, 'poisonously bitter,' and has actually been quirky and fun. I *vastly* prefer quirky and fun to grumpy.

Tasmia seemed to be callous and kinda mean-spirited under the Threeboot (the goggle-stealing and the insane jealousy over Jo's obsession with Supergirl didn't help, IMO), but has evolved into being confident and no-nonsense without being a junior felon.

Tinya has turned into quietly supportive, from the flighty and distracted 'girl stuck between two worlds' version we'd seen earlier. I get that it was the nature of her dual existence that made her 'flighty,' but it was still a step down from previous portrayals, IMO, and it's nice to see her attentive and back on track, a full participant in the book and not a distracted visitor who is 'not all there.'

Imra became, briefly, very no-nonsense and in-charge, but seems to be falling apart at this point. She's been both stronger and weaker than she was in the early Threeboot, leaving me wondering if the action hero we saw on Triton was a big show, and more than she could take on, as she's not quite up to Salu or Tasmia levels of butt-kickery yet. I suspect she's not quite up to Ayla levels of sexual-openness either, and that her attempt to be all things to all people is going to cause her to lose her sense of self.

Projectra was on a downward spiral pre-Shooter, and he's just kept her on that slope. It's definitely been downhill for her, and it remains to be seen if it's one of those descents into the abyss that forges a hero, with Projectra having to hit bottom before she can stand up again, or if she's going to become the first Legionnaire we see actually expelled, or turning to the dark side. It would be a nod to Projectra Past if the princess ended up leaving the Legion for the same reason that the original Jeckie chose to step down, because she had taken a life...

Before the focus on Ultra Boy, I would have thought that Karate Kid was Shooter's man-crush. Three of Luornu show up with guns and defeat a couple of Life Eradicators, but nearly get killed in the process, then Val shows up and punches *a dozen of them* to death, goes home, tells off the team leader, and then gets to have sex with Ayla? Yikes. Just a tad over the top, IMO. His characterization rings false to me, because things seem to go too well for him.

Ayla has gotten to play the supportive sister to Garth, more than once, which is nice to see, and, even nicer to see, also expressed doubts to Tinya behind his back! She's not just a comfortador, she's also *thinking* back there. She got to join Brainy and Thom in 'conducting the music of the spheres,' but hasn't gotten a chance to independently shine the way Thom has, and certainly hasn't done anything to match her 'gravity storm' on Colu. More importantly, IMO, she hasn't yet been shown (under Waid *or* Shooter) using her powers intelligently or creatively, but more as a brute force tactic. She's just as dangerous as Star Boy, and, like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, everything he can do, she can do backwards, in heels. Shooter has at least shown her to be intelligent (questioning Garth's ability to Tinya) and loyal (supporting Garth even through her doubts), but I'd like to see her apply some of that intelligence to her power uses as well. Maybe even in front of Brainy, to shut him up.

Brainy has improved greatly. He's just displayed a hint of psychological manipulation on Thom and Ayla, but nothing like the cold-blooded and nasty Dox tactics of a few years back, when he was manipulating the entire team to be at each others throats and fighting in the headquarters in an attempt to destabilize Cos's grip as leader. I much prefer Shooter's take on Brainy, who has seemed much more likable, while retaining that grumpy impatient edge.

Salu has been even, across both writers, IMO. She's shown strength, she's shown fire, and she's shown (again, under both writers) to have a massive chip on her shoulder. Under Waid, the chip seemed to have a lot to do with her species former enslavement and came out in moments such as her belting Colossal Brother, but under Shooter it seems more personal.

Gim has improved slightly. In the early Threeboot, he seemed to be likable, but dense, with the sole bit of characterization being wrasslin' (but not in a gay way) with Ultra Boy and unintentionally 'talking down' to people. More recently, we've seen his room, some hints as to some hobbies and interests, and his interactions with Salu and Thom, indicating that he's got his heart in the right place, and not just a dim-witted buffoon who considers his time on the Legion 'some grand adventure with the little people.'

Random addition that I forgetted;

Element Lad has improved somewhat. He'd been portrayed as flighty and ineffective (described as useless in a fight by Cos, and soundly smacked about by Brainy), and while his morals appear to remain strong (as he jumps into the debate about Imra's use of her powers on Brin), he also is shown to have a sneaky sense of humor (when the SPs go into his room and he shows them Tulip) and to demonstrate a more practical use of his powers, as well as increased power-levels from the Threeboot, transforming an item at close range (instead of being limited to touch) *and* transforming an item into a compound (sand) instead of from one element to another pure element. I definitely feel like things are looking up for Jan. There's been no mention of the one minute duration thing either, although that doesn't mean that it's gone. I wouldn't be terribly sad if he kept that limitation. He's 'turn stuff to other stuff' Lad, not 'make infinite mountains of money' Lad. One minute transmutations remain useful in fights, but don't render the economy of the UP meaningless. For that matter, the one minute duration also allows him to do some scary things, if he sets his mind to it, like turn someone into an iron statue, knowing that it won't KILL them, it will wear off in a minute anyway!

Luornu seems to be the big loser of the Shooter era, so far. She was developed nicely in issue three of the Threeboot, and then pretty much abandoned since then. Still, that's more than Shooter has done with her, since she's basically gotten her butt kicked by the Life Eradicators, and then sent away on a cross-time mission, from which she may never return! <choke!> No joy for Lu!

I agree with many of your comments, KQ-- particularly about Light Lass, Brainy, Gim, Salu,
Star Boy and Lightning Lad (though I feel a bit more positive about his recent portrayal).

A few thoughts on some others:

Ultra Boy- Maybe he is Shooter's favorite... or the one he likes the least.

Saturn Girl - I'm not overly fond of the current characterization of Imra, but she's endured much over the years from writer to writer.

Invisible Kid - I have a *really* difficult time separating this Lyle from his most recent predecessor, who I adore. Recently, I've mostly liked the way he's been presented, though I wish he'd be aged a bit in the art.

Shady- Very satisified with her. The goggles incident is best left forgotten. I've really liked our glimpses of Talok VIII. I *much* prefer a Tasmia independent of a romance to define her.

Element Lad- The glimpse of his quarters, his pet, and most recent outings are looking up- but they aren't coming close to the gutting he's taken by removing his traditional origin.

Phantom Girl- I like her as she's been a sterling supporting character, but she does to take a star turn.

Projectra- I agree about the deficiencies in her characterization, the origin-stealing hussy. But Shooter has *excelled* in the way her power-usage has been written. The best ever for this character, IMO.

I can't think of a better presentation of illusory powers in comics. Anyone have a suggestion?

Amen my friend that just pisses me off. Although I must say, while I skim through a few issues here and there I haven't felt inclinced to buy anything that Shooter's done with it so far. Maybe if things change later on perhaps, but for now? Nothing about it makes me want to buy it, Not even Francis' art and I like this style as well.