Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! Calling the Roll of TEEN TITANS 16/LEGION SPECIAL (spoilers)

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CALLING THE ROLL is a character-by-character look at the latest issue of any comic featuring Legionnaires.

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Let the roll be called!

SHIKARI... She should've referenced her fight with the Batman robot-thingie on Warworld.

"Legion friends!" Guess she never played Crack-the-Whip-in-the-Timestream. I need a definitive answer in order to believe that 'Kari's now on new-Legion world. She could be in yet another reality.

UMBRA... A perfect companion for Raven.

DREAMER... The dreaming eye and cryptic, to her actual listeners anyway, comment comprised Nura's contributions.

STAR BOY... "I see. And what sort of headquarters do you have?" Ha!

SPARK: It looks like she and Cos just did a 'do-ce-do' in space right before meeting the Titans! Also looks like she's subbing for Garth-in-Jan for the primary Legionnaires tableau (the founders plus Brainy, Cham and Jo-- only M'onel's missing...).

BRAINIAC 5... "I drink to forget you." Right... Brainy's full of Bart-love and we all know it. Why else would call him Koko... after his dear, long-absent pet?

"That wildlife preserve you call the 21st century," Heh! Everything else Brainy said on that page made my eyes cross. Good thing Cos was there to translate. (snicker)

APPARITION... Love the leaping intangible image of Tinya in the bottom panel of page one of the Special. Lovely. I like Reis' Tinya. Maybe he should illustrate a Special featuring just the Nahs...

"Grife, were we ever that age?" God... guess seeing her mom almost die aged Tinya.

SATURN GIRL... Nice 'glow' about Imra when she announces her telepathic pinpointing of the moment to which they returned Superboy. Wouldn't Titanet have been useful in battling the 500?

CHAMELEON... It'd be humorous if Cham's first action upon meeting someone was always to turn into them. Loved the brown/green triceratops.

The image of the blued-up-with-Raven's-teleportation-energy Cham was quite nice to look at.

Interesting choice to have Cham deliver the closing (for the reboot) 'LONG LIVE THE LEGION'.

KID QUANTUM... I liked Jaz's ambassadorial stance with Starfire. But, jeez... how did Gary Coleman 2030's head get grafted to her body?

I'm surprised the Titans didn't have something to say about her line, "Superboy's become a valued member of the Legion. And he's finally coming into his own. He's actually useful."

TRIAD... Princess Valiant? Notice that it was Triad to whom Superboy looked when deliberating between the Titans and the Legion. Maybe the flight rings weren't the only things to get 'upgraded' in the months between FNBR and the Special.

M'ONEL... Cos may be the leader of leaders of the Legion, but it's M'on who's the point of the 'flock'.

XS... Man, I like seeing her with her cousin. I sure hope this wasn't the last time. I enjoyed her trust in Bart, providing him a moment with his mom. I wanted to see more of the COMET COUSINS.

INVISIBLE KID... "Headband Lad" says "My name is Invisible Kid. Should we just wear names on our shirts?" Lyle, you've got a head start, since you're sporting the first letter of yours.

GEAR: "But even if this works, I-Kid, isn't there a danger of..." Cue the organ music. What was Gear thinking?

GARTH-IN-JAN... "Shikari's the one with the wings, throwback. I'm Livewire...er... I mean Element Lad." Guess being called a *girl* flustered Garth and he just couldn't remember who he was. 'Boktonium alloy'? New one on me. "Amplified her bio-electric aura"? What? Since when could he do that?

VIOLET... "Zap away, little man. It tickles." Looks to me like she's enjoying it...

ANDROMEDA... Andromeda? Andromeda! No dialogue? No dialogue! No dialogue

TIMBER WOLF... Guess he'll be kicking himself for all eternity (however long that'll last) for letting 'Kari go.

GATES, SENSOR, KINETIX... at least they made it for the migration.

SCATTERED THOUGHTS...

Liked the art, esp. in the SPECIAL.

I expected more of the Fatal 500... an Emerald Emperor... a female Tharok... a gorilla Mano... a Fatal Five comprised of evil Legionnaires... a truly heroic Fatal Five... a robotic one...

What if a handful of Peruaders traded axes?

There could've been a hundred stories in this crossover.

What is it about Titans/Legion crossovers? Something else else in the timing's never right. Though I mostly was entertained... the itch I've wanted to see scratched in viewing these two teams meet still keeps itching.

Maybe a TT/LSH meeting... with the 'new' kids traveling to the youth of the original Fab Five plus a couple? I dunno...

The final shot of the reboot... hand-in-hand, arranged in the V of migrating birds... a V of victory as yet unwon, the Legionnaires once again disappear into their ultimate foe... Whitespace.

Like the plague victims trailing after Death personified, also hand-in-hand, in the closing shot of the SEVENTH SEAL.

THE PREVIEW... LYLE... Presumably Invisible Kid. First, the tantrum. I wonder if his 'sucks' speech was supposed to signify the 'plight' of teens across the UP civilization rather than serve as a delineation of Lyle's core character? I hope so.

That intense scene with his parents reminded me of REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE. Lyle as James Dean?

His mom is cute.

The UP as stagnant utopia ignoring its stifled youth could get old real quick. I hope there's more going on than a generational cold war. Please... some... many... adults who 'get' it... whatever the 'it' is going to be.

I found the fall/flight sequence quite interesting... an obverse of a similar scene in LEGION WORLDS featuring Karate Kid.

On one level, Lyle really does commit suicide. He's literaly letting his 'old' life fall away.

His intentional freefall reveals a daredevil streak. His joy at donning and activating the flight ring, and all it apparently implies, is palpable.

"Glad you decided to join us," (who said that?), I think does not necessarily imply that Lyle's a brand new Legionnaire. I get the sense that Lyle's participated with the Legion. But not, perhaps, as a fully committed 'lifer'.

"We didn't think you would. We figured you'd be grounded." (and who said that?) I hope all the Legionnaires aren't alienated from their families. That'd be a dangerous message. And boring.

I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of the word 'grounded'.

December seems a long time away... I'm both encouraged and fearful of the new #1. Anticipatory.

Todd

Whoo! Amazing stuff, Todd. I don't have TT #16 on-hand, but I'll gladly share some thoughts about the special.

TITANS:

SUPERBOY: Not surprised he's at the forefront of this epic, and despite the bashing he's gotten like a little brother, I'm glad to finally feel he's come onto his own and is more than just "another Superboy" figure. Shame I have to feel this way. The Titans or Legion issue that plays twice here is really potent. He HAS had five months to spend with the team...maybe more. It's almost like the first semester of college...you wouldn't trade those friends, would you? At the same time, the gang at home is still close to you. Of course, Kon has the advantage here of not being gone from the Titans for too long. Had it actually been five months and the TTs had grown without him, there may have been doubt if he could fit back in. Glad to see the tacticle telekinesis get some use, nicely done with the axe, and double-glad to see Superboy WON'T pick between the two teams and wants to save both.

WONDER GIRL: This read as typical boyfriend/girlfriend dialogue to me...but from other's comments I gather Cassie and Kon aren't that close yet. You know, I like the visuals of this character, now that she's blonde and in red. In the background she fills a visual even Saturn Girl can't mimick. I like the character from what I've read.

KID FLASH: Glad to see Bart's ties played up, though I *AM* kind of puzzled about how quickly he remembered his mom and that he knew where'd she be. Then again, it's part-two of the crossover and if I was in my mother's time-period my memory might go jogging too. Like how dependable he was, though true to his nature in running off. I keep hearing how Bart has changed since donning the yellow and red, but he read here just like he came from his first encounter with the Legion. Glad to see Johns/Waid playing up his relationship with Brainy.

ROBIN, STARFIRE, CYBORG: All had a moment, but that was it. Starfire I would think would have gotten more brutal during this slugfest, but I suppose we didn't see enough of her view. I like how in the beginning that Robin is still playing to his guns until he discovers he's out of his league. Cyborg vs Tharok was an interesting concept...I'm surprised Rokk had enough control to pull dozens of Tharok's apart and yet leave Cyborg (whose in the middle) unharmed.

BEAST BOY: Fun guy. Read a little conceited until Thom made his comment about the HQs in return. Loved seeing him and Cham trundle around together in the beginning.

RAVEN: I don't know the character well, but this "Ass" comment rubbed me the wrong way. It's definitely true, but as someone who came into the Titans deceiving them all, has apparently gone evil multiple times, and always has her own secrets/reasons...I'm surprised how critical she is being of Brainy's working. I'm surprised she didn't do more with her mass teleportation.

LEGION:

ANDROMEDA: You know, I'm actually glad she showed up. So much so that I can overlook ignoring her midget change. Since it happened nearly seven years ago when Waid probably wasn't keeping up with the book I understand it. I'm more upset she didn't get more of a role. I'd rather have her with the team at the end stating how she's glad to be back even now than an explanation for her presence. Missed opportunity. Then again, she doesn't appear in the time stream with the others, does she? Perhaps she flew off and got left behind?

APPARITION: Loved the look of her in the special, definitely. Of all the Legionnaires, the comment about the Titans being "young and inexperienced" comes best from Tinya. Even IF she's around their age...and I'm leaning more toward the age of Gar and the older guys...she's had enough gone on in the past several years of her life to feel older. Raising a child, hiding for a solid year, serving with the Legion on a big, organized structure defending the galaxy...I can see the point of this compared to the fact that the Titans, though impressive, do seem a lot more unofficial and have other super-heroes who can back them up saving the world.

BRAINIAC 5: *sigh* Now, THIS is the Brainy I've missed. The little comments that make me smile, though a bit mean. "Koko" was classic, and I do have to wonder if it's an ironic term of affection considering even Querl eventually got attached to the monkey. I like seeing how, even with how big his mind makes, even he can make oversights: like the timestream sucking the immediate vacinity in too.

CADETS: Glad to hear they're doing something in this crisis. Naturally they have their hands full with Legion World now and probably can't make it. I'd love to see a mini-series where these guys become the new Legion of Super-Heroes with their mentors now lost in the time-stream. I wouldn't mind this series also featuring them getting Rond Vidar to help retrieve their teachers. It's nice to know the UP galaxy is at least still partially protected with them left behind.

CHAMELEON: Again, loved him and Gar. As one of the few Legionnaires to serve without interrupted tenure (even his leave of absence in Dark Circle Rising was for the Espionage Squad), I can see the logic behind Cham making the final calls. He's really close with Shikari too, though we tend to forget this with Drake here now and Jazmin in charge. He's certainly grown hasn't he, both in learning the language and in being a symbol for his people.

CHUCK TAINE: Well, that was random. Not in the entire crossover and then pops into the timestream alongside Sensor & Gates? I assume this means Chuck is as "official" as an "unofficial" Legionnaire gets since Raven brought him down but left all the Legion Cadets on the LW remains.

COSMIC BOY: Man, he's such an icon. I love it, just how together he always is. He really is the backbone of the team in all these instances. Glad to see he didn't hold back in dismantling the Tharoks.

DREAMER: Where was she? I know she was in the TT issue, but no mention or sign of her here except for the cover.

FERRO: Not a lot of involvement and no lines...appropriate I guess for how much background time Andy has seen, even since returning to the Legion. I wish people would have highlighted him and some other neglected characters of late.

GATES: I'm going to miss this guy...and am sorry we saw nothing but a small cameo of him in the time stream. A line or two would have been great, even as the team was fading away. "I always knew you lot would be the death of me."

GEAR: Glad to see him get used, though it's more sitting around than action as always.

INVISIBLE KID: Yes, I appreciate the "names on the shirt" inside-joke...though it's sadly appropriate and many Titans fans will probably agree. I wish he could have had some cool scene using his powers where he sucker-punched someone or freaked out one of the Titans with his tricks, but he DOES work best in the lab position.

KARATE KID: Didn't do much, but was always there fighting in the background. In a way, it's appropriate this is how his last appearance goes...it's really how he's been written except for the past year of Legion tales.

KID QUANTUM II: In the forefront like a leader should be, though she didn't call too many shots. Nice to see her defer to her beau in this instance. I also liked the panel of her looking after Saturn Girl. Jaz really HAS learned to become a team player and care for everyone, especially the past few years as leader.

KINETIX: A shame we didn't get her De-Terraformed at all. Or saw her for that matter. Like Dreamer, I couldn't even place her in the small silhouettes in the time-stream. With her being so "omnipotent", I'm really sick of hearing her keep getting injured (The hypertaxis that affected Sensor, Ra's exploding gun, and now something likely on Khardia or in the Fatal 500 fight).

LIVE WIRE: Okay, that Element Lad line came from left-field. Regardless, I'm glad to see him getting used here...with any power. Transmutation is a powerful skill and one Garth's aware of that he probably has to learn. It makes sense he'd be trying it out instead of blasting people with lightning. I wish he would have stressed he transmuted Vi's suit to something unconductable instead of using new-element jargon.

M'ONEL: He really is iconic, isn't he? He just hasn't gotten used in this capacity much. Being forefront in many of the situations in the crossover though probably conveyed that idea enough to Titans fans. Glad to see him with all the team discussions and brawling with the other super-peeps.

SATURN GIRL: I love seeing Imra coordinating with everyone. To me this is something she always should be doing in big disasters like this...even if it means leaving her in the Bouncing Boy above Khardia like in FNBR. As a fierce woman and a former leader & founder, I like how she makes her own calls too while monitoring the others. I know I'd listen to her, even if Jazmin ordered me not to. Retreating to the old HQ was brilliant...and a nice touch to Legion fans.

SENSOR: A shame no one feels like using her, or any of the non-humanoid postboot-only changes. Her illusion powers would have added a great edge to the Legion team...and could have easily accounted for her "injury" if she overtaxed herself making a mass illusion.

SHIKARI: No real moments until the end, of course. I do wonder where she ended up. Was Shikari ditched and brought over to the WaK era (presumably she's there) because Waid likes her, or because her powers would have been too much of an "easy way out" for the Legion and we can't have that? I hope this is followed up on. It was so sad to watch her yell "Legion friends!" They really do all care for her and vice versa...it was touching watching her want to stay and get lost with them, though Cham & Jazmin quickly encourage her to flee while she can. I've fallen in love with this character.

SPARK: Another ignored Legionnaire. Would've liked to see her in the front-lines a bit more with how offensive her powers were. It would have been nice to see her alongside Garth or Cham during the grand fade-out. As it stands, I can't remember even seeing Ayla in the timestream though I'm sure she was there.

STAR BOY: I'd bash the "rising from the ground" in the beginning, but even without his Superman-like powers Thom has been portrayed too much as a massive powerhouse with his expanded gravity tricks. I guess this works. Liked his comment about the shape of the headquarters of course, though couldn't someone else have given this line? Thom's not always the sharpest tack. Would've liked to have seen him with Nura one last time...

TIMBER WOLF: Not much from either, except for "losing" Shikari. If we ever caught back up with the postboot team, I'd love to see him dealing with this. Brin always was hard on himself. Would have liked to see him more in action. Alongside Dreamer, though they've been around for a little bit, they really haven't had too many moments to shine up until now.

TRIAD: A shame she didn't get much use. I was overjoyed to see Supes look to her while deciding between the two teams...she really has been his #1 fan all along, though DnA never followed that. I thought that panel, and her, looked gorgeous...even if we only saw her backside. I found it odd she remained triplicated even while in the time stream, but it IS a nice nod that there are three of her, not one, that really add to the team.

ULTRA BOY: Nice to see him staying by Tinya throughout this crossover, if only to reinforce they ARE still together. Also nice to see him pair off with the other heavy-hitters.

UMBRA: Great use covering the Titan/Legion escape. She could've gotten a nice, catty line in during the down-time about the situation or the Titans, but perhaps it's for the best she didn't. I liked her hair in the few shots we saw.

VIOLET: Well, since this was written awhile ago I don't mind the "Leviathan" slip too much. After all, she hasn't officially changed the name anyway. I liked her use here, both as taking on the Validuses and as a "tool" for Jarth. Yes, she grew again *sigh*...but with the codename it's best she does that instead of shrink so as to not confuse the Titan readers too much.

WILDFIRE: "Cocky kid." This line works. I can see Drake being pissed off by their overwhelming opposition and unknowingly tearing into everyone for not doing their part to stay alive. Would have liked to see more from him this issue, especially when Shikari got seperated.

XS: Oh, I'm so happy she freaking got lines and a use finally...let alone good ones! Glad to see her with Bart again and seeing the compassionate, energetic girl I've missed. She WOULD goad Bart into going faster and would pick up slack for anyone should they ask it of her. Jenni's not a quitter...a state-of-being she's very proud of I'd imagine since overcoming her initial fear years ago of being a Legionnaire.

I wonder if this may be the origin of Booster Gold's Flight Ring?

Really? I'm excited. The UP is probably more technologically advanced, and there might not have been as many wars in the 1000 preceeding years. Or the corruption in the UP. On the other hand, it's culturally stagnant and the Legion can be counterposed as an example. That's more interesting than making the Legion a reflection of the advanced social mores of the all-benevolent UP. They're not military any more, they're heroes. They're a movement. And this is a way to explore the social themes that the Legion has always had, but hasn't emphasised as much.