Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! CALLING THE ROLL OF LSH#11... spoilers

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CALLING THE ROLL is a character-by-character look at the latest issue of the LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES.

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Let the roll be called!

LIGHTNING LAD: Was anyone else surprised that Garth took a back seat to Sun Boy and even to Shadow Lass? Shows a healthy ego, I guess, that he can let others lead when he's perfectly capable himself, as we saw earlier in this series.

STAR BOY: Star Boy's essence is to exude a display of outer space while coming up with solutions to problems? Interesting. In this case, he determines that using Inkling allies (because they're young?) to reestablish communications is the way to go.

LIGHT LASS: I like that she confronted Cos with her suspicion of him as soon as she had it.

BRIN LONDO: No code name? Or planet of origin? Who is keying in this info, anyway?

SATURN GIRL: Titanians are mute. But you'd think that other Legionniares would know this about her. Or about Titananians in general. Oh, right- what was I thinking?

PROJECTRA, PHANTOM GIRL, TRIPLICATE GIRL and KARATE KID appear, but don't contribute to story.

SUMMING UP: Well, my concern over Dream Girl is going to be kept going for another month. The lead story seemed to end sooner than usual-- was #11 extended into #12? I liked visiting the new worlds of Dormir and Ttrxl, finding one of them pretty fascinating and the other a somewhat curious choice. Skelter the probability enforcer joins the Naltor guards (now what were they called?) as potential future allies or adversaries that I'd like to see recur.

Some of the ideas are somewhat hazy. The fifth dimension as power source for transmatting is bizarre. Sentient communication faciliators? In the word of Element Lad, "cool". I'd like to see more of the essence building environment. In fact- it'd be a pretty good idea to take any potential Legionnaire there for intitiations.

With no plot point settled, next month's issue looms even larger. The promised or hinted at 'power discovery' didn't happen, that I saw. Oh, well.

Because of the 'middle' nature of the lead story, I was at first annoyed by the back up. But upon rereading it, I think it's a little gem. I liked the conceit of the characters mimicking the poses on the comic book covers. It perfectly encapsualtes the legendary heroes of the past/Legionnaires/'l'egionnaires connection. Seeing the torn pages blowing in the wind made me think of the recent spate of hurricanes here in the U.S. As did the actions and motivations of Elastic Lad and his confronters. Looter and rescuers... preserver and bullies... In the future, at least, they finally listen to each other and move forward.

"It's just comic books." Call to action? Advice to chill out? How do you take it?

I hope we see more of Elastic Lad and the long-haired blond buy in the red-white-and-blue. Less so the 'bang' twins.

From the cover that concludes the issue... "C'mon readers! I need your help! My power ring needs the will power of everyone out there to stop Flash from killing us all!" That cover wasn't chosen by accident. What was it meant to convey?

I'm hoping they go back to Zoon as his planet of origin. I hated the last T-Wolf and the idea that he and Jo were from different Rimborian gangs never sat well with me.

I thought this was a nice way of brining Elastic Lad back to the Legion mythos. I'd like to see more of him, even if he ends up in something along the lines of "reserve member" (sort of like Jimmy Olsen being an honorary member).

COSMIC BOY: I haven't quite wrapped my head around the worlds of Dormir and Ttrxl yet. My first impulse is that I'm glad to see 'wild and wacky' back in Legion stories. Then, I wonder if the inclusion of these worlds serves *this* story. I don't have an answer.

- Ttrxl (Fifth Dimension) might very well be the final battlefield in issue #13, so spending some time there now could pay off later. The "people" we've just met - Sentient Cloud Boy, the inklings, Agent Skelter - might all have roles to play in the next two issues as the "three key worlds" strategy plays out. That said, maybe the Legion spent too much time on Dormir, and too little time on the TF homeworld, to serve the best interests of this issue's story.

Speaking of the 'essence building', I'd have liked to see more of that. In a subtle way, maybe we did. Cos' essence is a magnetic speaker. With a 'magwaving' effect.

- A very "cool" concept and possibly the reason why I actually enjoyed Cos for the first time since the series began.


SUN BOY: Still not seeing why Sun Boy should always be paired with Shadow Lass. Sure, they complement each other-- but 'always'? They do make a terrific team. Building on each other's thoughts... they seem more like co-leaders, than Sun Boy as mission leader, by himself.

- Waid seems fond of pairing the characters in various permutations, e.g. Cos/Brainy, Brainy/Nura, Cos/Lyle, Garth/Imra, Light Lass/Star Boy, Shady/Ultra Boy as well as Shady/Sun Boy. It works very well, I think.

It was fun seeing Dirk enjoy 'trading' powers with Shady.

- But not as much fun as Bizarro Sun Boy and Bizarro Shady.


ULTRA BOY: So Ultra Boy's the leader over Karate Kid, Phantom Girl and Karate Kid? Interesting.

- Maybe it was Cos's subtle way of telling the "irresponsible jerkwit" he's actually a valued member of the team.


CHAMELEON: "Don't Judge Me!" What in Cham's past lead to that? He's been lightness and fun, so far-- with offscreen actions that lead to fistfights over religion and to the team's leader calling him poisonously bitter. I think there's a real sadness underneath this character.

- Cham wasn't all lightness and fun the issue before last when Ultra Boy attacked him and Lightning Lad reprimanded him for impostering. But I agree, he's much sadder a figure than "poisonously bitter".


LIGHTNING LAD: Was anyone else surprised that Garth took a back seat to Sun Boy and even to Shadow Lass? Shows a healthy ego, I guess, that he can let others lead when he's perfectly capable himself, as we saw earlier in this series.

- Since Dirk *is* Cosmic Boy's first officer, it really didn't surprise me that Garth would defer to him as mission boss. But now that Imra is missing, things could change very quickly.


LIGHT LASS: I like that she confronted Cos with her suspicion of him as soon as she had it.

- I see a slapping match in the future.

From the explanation the teleportation technology, Waid has based it on the science of Quantum Mechanics. Specifically look under the part of it under the title "Spooky Action at a Distance".

Specifically there is a very small (but real) probability that one second from now, I will cease to be sitting here in Canada and simultaneously I will materialize in orbit around Alpha Centauri with no reference to the speed of light etc. In Waid's mind some Fifth Dimensional technology can manipulate the probability of this occurence.

I believe that physicists have recently been able to cause a single atom of gas to jump across a room.

How can they be sure it's the same atom?

Interestingly, I believe quantum teleportation is explained in String Theory through appeal to additional dimensions.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Mystery Lad:
Guess Cos likes 'testing' his theories.

Also the way he put himself in the path of the inkling to confirm what he thought happened to Star Boy. Brave initiative or dumb risk-taking?

The inklings and notions of Dormir raise some questions.

Speaking of the 'essence building', I'd have liked to see more of that. In a subtle way, maybe we did. Cos' essence is a magnetic speaker.

This was one of the more interesting aspects of the story - and barely touched on. I think some ideas are too complicated for comic books - just not enough space can be given to their exploration and development. A lot of Grant Morrison's stuff is like that for me. A panel, a page... then on to the next bright idea. Somebody mentioned that perhaps Quislet could be one of the inklings - I'd like that - then maybe we'd get more insight into this from WaK's point of view - otherwise we'll fill in the blanks ourselves, I suppose.

Magnetic personality Cos, star-embedded Star Boy - I wonder what Element Lad & Light Lass would have become?

Though I enjoyed Skelter and his 'trading places' power-- and I really like the Ttrxl team of Dirk, Shady, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl and Chameleon-- I'm less sold on the *idea* of the fifth-dimensional world as a power source for transmatting. The probablity-manipulation made a certain level of sense, but energy source? I guess it's a case of shrug and keep reading.

Shrug or scream? Another complex idea short-panelled! It did remind me vaguely of Douglas Adams' probability hulled ship. Skelter was quite interesting! Where did the legionnaires go when he traded places with them?

Talk about risky infrastructures...

Including the Fifth dimension suggests that transmatting is magical in nature.

Yeah, you hope they know what they're doing... but, like Tromium, I like the idea that transmatting would originate in another dimension. Not that I understand it any better and I prefer the space cruisers myself - or, at least, the very limited use of transmatters.

Wow. Brainy... Love the act of him placing his force-field belt on the dead or near-dead Dream Girl.

It is madness to think that he can 'outthink' death, isn't it? Last issue, we saw Brainy tout his own genius. Let's see if he can back it up.

Is he ignoring the plight of Metropolis and Earth for the sake of saving Dream Girl? In a way, I'd admire that. But I don't think he is. Can't wait to see just what rabbit the Coluan's gonna pull from his very battered hat.

*sniff* That's sweet... or smart? I wonder if he has a larger plan beyond Dream Girl, or if it will be left to Lyle to save the day. Maybe this is where the green kid learns that he's not the final word on smarts in the universe, always a great moment in Brainy stories.

That panel in which Lyle is standing in shadow/silhouette, with the red around the speech balloon - that really looked like Morpheus from Sandman to me. Maybe because I'd been reading about Gaiman earlier in the day? But it suggested to this wishful thinker that she's just, uh, dreaming....

It was also a bit strange that Theena called him "sir" - twice. Is he that intimidating?

The next panel... is that supposed to reveal part of Jan's essence? A single word 'Cool' spoken by a smiling Element Lad against a background of space (or is that a visualization of atoms?)... Hmmm. Fits with the 'I like to be naked' part of Jan, I guess.

Empty-headed? No more flaky Jan, please - I hope there's some substance to his spirituality.

"An effective warrior needs his sword and his shield." I'd like to see the interactions with Invisible Kid where Shady tells him things like this. (Espionage Squadding?) It was surprising seeing her turn into Light Lass for a second. She didn't seem to get the same thrill using Sun Boy's power that he did using hers. Ha!

Ah, Shadow Lass. I think I've found my favourite.

"Don't Judge Me!" What in Cham's past lead to that? I think there's a real sadness underneath this character. On a more hopeful note, I think that his scanning of Ttrxl's terrain is going to pay off big time, next issue.

Maybe he isn't too clear on language as well as social behaviour? "Don't judge me" does suggest misunderstanding of his powers or intentions. His inability to hold his form - which we also saw when Ultra Boy clobbered him - is pretty interesting as well. Dream Girl lost her ability to see the future, Cham can't keep his shape, legionnaires' powers are switching - life seems pretty unstable for these kids.

Was anyone else surprised that Garth took a back seat to Sun Boy and even to Shadow Lass? Shows a healthy ego, I guess, that he can let others lead when he's perfectly capable himself, as we saw earlier in this series.

Quiet confidence? I like this Garth.

Titanians are mute. But you'd think that other Legionniares would know this about her. Or about Titananians in general. Oh, right- what was I thinking?

You'd think someone would have picked up on this... or hasn't a Titanian anywhere wondered what it would be like to speak and tried it, or learned it? Maybe she should have a whistle.

Because of the 'middle' nature of the lead story, I was at first annoyed by the back up. But upon rereading it, I think it's a little gem. In the future, at least, they finally listen to each other and move forward.

"It's just comic books." Call to action? Advice to chill out? How do you take it?

I liked the story. Maybe short term I would have preferred more main-action Legion story, but this had nice touches. It's not often in superhero comics that everybody gets to act like a hero, instead of sitting back and letting the costumes save the day.

I'm not entirely sure how to take the "it's just comic books". I didn't take it as a message to us fans until I read some comments here to that effect. It could be that - but it seemed more to be a signal that the LSH (and their supporters) are growing up themselves - it's not a fun and games, play-acting or infatuation with some mythical past anymore.

I hope we see more of Elastic Lad and the long-haired blond buy in the red-white-and-blue. Less so the 'bang' twins.

I thought that might be Grev at first as well. Too bad. The big guy who confronts him, whose face we never see... why don't we see his face? Could he be "brown boots" - or has that one been identified? The bang twins...interesting, but leave them in the Plaza. The guy looked like Buddy from Hate Comics.

From the cover that concludes the issue... "C'mon readers! I need your help! My power ring needs the will power of everyone out there to stop Flash from killing us all!" That cover wasn't chosen by accident. What was it meant to convey?

Maybe just a call to teamwork - not just among the kids but between the kids and adults in the face of destruction of the city and the incipient invasion?

I know it's just comic books, but it did sort of bug me that the city centre is destroyed, we see huge buildings collapsing and it's all so antiseptic. I remember reading after 9-11 some comic creators saying that they couldn't show a superhero fight destroying a building with no consequences anymore... I'm not saying Kitson should have drawn pages of dead and mutilated bodies, it's just that the shortcomings of the medium for displaying the reality of disaster rankle. Although Dream GIrl could have shown more signs of having debris collapse on her...We did have the one girl commenting on the blood, but the horror these people must have experienced didn't really come across.

"Brown boots" has been identified as belonging to Brin Londo.

And you can see that Skelter switches places with his victims. So that Shadow Lass and Chameleon are standing where he just left. Shadow Lass is in the distance on page 13 panel 3. And Cham is standing next to LL in panel 6, but then Skelter is there in panel 7.

Is it Skelter who is actually causing the power switch as well, or just the environment of Ttrxl?

I see Jan as sort of innocent and enjoying the act of experience for the sake of experience.

I love the way so many character nuances have been developed through hearsay. Isn't that how we form much of our perceptions of the people around us?

I see a lot of these characters dealing with their powers in the way teenagers deal with their new driver's licenses -- sometimes awkwardly and unpredictably.


I've never made a conscious effort to provide for contingency that I'd have to engage in communication with the students (predominantly deaf or hearing impaired) of Galludet University even though it's just dozen or so blocks from my office.


I had exactly the same reaction. It seems almost exploitive to create imagery that reminds us of the large scale spectacle of 9/11 without including some of the associated human scale horror and tragedy.

If the flight rings are so expensive, why would they give one to Brin, who's not even a Legionnaire? Brown Boots was in flight with the others, right?

Right. I just know that Barry confirmed Brin as "brown boots." I'd speculate that Brin is a Legionnaire. Based on the fact that he appears in the Roll Call, Brainy felt comfortable dispatching him, and LL & SG were both relatively comfortable with him appearing on Rimworld and both treated him as a Legionnaire.

I think Brin prefers the role of loner, but is still technically apart of the team with a flight ring. Much like powerless/useless Projectra and untrusted Invisible Kid and unknown Atom Girl.

Plus, seeing that Atom Girl's existance is in doubt, I think that scene isn't considered apart of their continuity.


I think the power changes are apart of the environment.

Thinking more about that back-up story - it's open to debate for me, whether the stretchy kid should have collected the comics or not. There was a crisis, with many people hurt - so his priority should have been on helpling the injured. However, I'm reminded of Frank Hurley, Shackleton's photographer on the disastrous Antarctic expedition who argued (and won) to take some 150 (bulky & heavy) photographic plates on the journey across the ice, when the team could only carry the minimum required for survival. His reasoning was that it was important for history, to factually document what they had gone through thus far. So I think the stretchy kid makes a valid point about these comics being the inspiration for the Legion, hence an important part of their history. It's also akin to throwing out your childhood trinkets as unnecessary when you leave home, then regretting it years later, because the actual objects are a tactile part of your history and can't be recovered. I don't think the back-up story was as much of a throwaway (so to speak!) as it first appeared.

That was my favorite thing in the whole story, actually. I love the idea of a planet which actually exports improbability as part of its economy. As well as, of course, another planet of information entities who can physically ferry all our communications back and forth.

So if the Legion's universe is a 3-dimensional subspace of an at least 5-dimensional reality, does that mean there are 9 (9 = <span style="font-size: 8px;">5</span> C<span style="font-size: 8px;">3</span> - 1) other 3-dimensional realities all of which have some intersection with the Legion's?

I seem to recall the planet "Dormir" (Spanish for sleep) being used during the Silver Age in a Lois Lane story or something. Can anyone confirm this?

I've been thinking a lot about Saturn Girl's muteness the past few days and its subtle (and not so subtle) implications for the character and her relationship to others. Despite her impressive new ability to physically alter brains, we see in this issue how easily an unexpected disruption of her powers can result in isolation and heightened personal vulnerability. And this isn't the first time her mind-powers have been impacted during a mission. On Rimworld 19, her effectiveness as a combatant was essentially neutralized until Terror Firma's psi-filters went down. Since psi-filtering and psi-scrambling technology seems prettty common in the 31st century, the risk of her becoming defenceless at critical moments is, in theory, uncomfortably high. When other Legionnaires lose their powers, they become less effective as super-heroes, but it's doubly true of Imra. Since her telepathy is also her primary means of communication, few of them would be rendered quite as disadvantaged as she. By her own admission, she's not much of a martial artist either, which just compounds the risks if her mind powers are blocked.

Moreover, it looks like her telepathy doesn't work over long-range communications devices, for example, remote monitors or flight rings (Note: it was LL alone who was communicating with HQ in issue #5). It seems to me this limitation would seriously undermine her ability to serve as Legion leader, or even deputy leader. I for one would hesitate to vote for someone who couldn't yell spontaneous orders through a flight ring. She'd always need another Legionnaire to be her physical voice in such circumstances, and she'd probably be unable to go off on a solo mission. Now, it appears that Garth often acts as her voice (perhaps one of the reasons Shady didn't even realize she was mute), which dramatically alters the dynamic of their personal and working relationship as well. He's always been protective of her, but with the exception of Colu and Helegyn, they seem to act as a separate team-within-a-team. Their closeness may in fact be based on practical as well as romantic considerations.

Finally, how does Imra's muteness affect her core characterization, if at all? Despite her increased vulnerability, she seems as smart, stubborn and courageous as ever (with a bit of a mean streak, as Elysion found out), but it's already clear she's less extroverted and sociable than her "pretty in pink" postboot counterpart. At the very least, her racial muteness reinforces her fundamental quality of aloofness, though ironically she's not as icy as some earlier depictions. I suppose the "ice maiden" veneer is no longer necessary now - her muteness lends her a natural air of remoteness. All in all, it's probably her hussy quotient that's going to be impacted most heavily. Now that her mind is a more central aspect of her persona than ever before, her physicality becomes a less important defining aspect. It's hard to imagine this Imra shaking her pink booty in public. Maybe that's why she was designed to look a bit thinner than the other girls and has a less seductive hairstyle and costume (to my eyes, anyway). To some degree, her muteness seems to go hand in hand with these physical and personality changes.

I'm not saying I like this Imra any more or less than other incarnations (I'll never be an Imra fan), just that her muteness casts her in a new light.

I didn't mind that so much, since in the absence of more concrete info, I imagined that Timber Wolf was from Zoon and had migrated to Rimbor.

Or First Sub member? I've read that several people thought it was Shadow Kid until he started strectching. He could still be Grev Mallor, though. I doubt that he is, but he could.

I like the interdimensional aspect-- but the Fifth Dimension? With Mr. Mxyptlk and Bat-Mite and the thunderbolts?

I guess of all DC properties, the Legion is the one that oughta have it's own 'mite' to torture them. Don't think this is the story to debut it in, though.

Lyle as Igor?

Just as long as Nura doesn't 'awaken' with a Bride of Frankenstein 'do.

Shhhh-- you might give someone ideas...

Makes sense. A bit of a peace offering.

No, he wasn't. But he was still coming from an innocent place, I think. The 'Don't judge me' seemed more... primal.

And Karth Arn!

Good call about the psi-filters-- but who's to say a whistle would work on Ttrxl? Maybe she'd end up summoning a 5th dimension hellhound or something.

I think it made the story a bit more universal by having no recognizeable characters in it.

From what I've read, you certainly weren't alone- with respect to Grev, anyway.

Love a scientific insight- thanks, Tamper Lad!

I wonder why they chose the Fifth Dimension rather than Bgtzl's dimension-- or the letter-number (X twenty-something?) dimension that was the source for a never-told mission in other Legion boots?

Depends on the result, I guess. Since he's stayed leader, I guess his intuition has been right, so far.

And this sort of 'idea' propelled plot creates grist for future mills. Years from now, maybe a writer will make more use of Dormir or Ttrxl. Also, this sort of storytelling is reminiscent of many ADVENTURE issues.

Space-surfer dude and floatie lingerie model? Or a humanoid atom for Jan-- and I'm blanking on Light Lass. I'm thinking something flirtatious- but it'd be more interesting if that *wasn't* so, indicating that that trait isn't really such a part of her basic personality. Hidden intuiter?

We just haven't seen enough, yet.

This one definitely needs a little 'humanization' more than others have. Though all of them eventually did.

Nura, you mean? I'd love a Nura/Dreaming connection-- or at least a meeting. Or did you mean that *you* were dreaming?

A Lyle/Morhpeus link? Hmmmm. That could work, actually. If invisibility leads to dimensional travel.

'l'egionnaire to Legionnaire.

I hope that's not his dominant personality core, this time.

Could be, but that 'don't judge me' seemed more that that, to me.

Or one of those collar thingies like Tarik the Mute, going way back.

The fact that I've seen so many interpretations makes me thing it's a successful piece. I like it more and more as time goes by.

I thought maybe it was always a way to prompt comic readers to get involved in helping tragedy sufferers.

Isn't the big guy one of the bang twins?

I agree. But if they'd shown extensive gore and suffering, would it have made the condition of Dream Girl less of a focus? That turns out to be more of plot-hinge, apparently. As a reader, perhaps we're meant to worry more about her rather than empathize with the injured.

Also, remember that it appears there aren't a heck of a lot of pedestrians in this Metropolis. Perhaps the real carnage will be shown when Lyle and co. reach the 'center city'. We've only seen non-Legion building wreckage from a distance, I think.

Good question. Hopefully, we'll find out. I'd lean towards Skelter himself- either as a personal power, or as Probability Enforcer tech.

That fits- but I'd hope there's more to him,

Very true- this ain't the crack superhero team the Legion's been from the beginning.

But the deaf or hearing impaired would have developed some way to communicate with you, if it were necessary.

Tech is unreliable in the Fifth Dimension, though.

The story's not over yet.

As I've said, it's the connotations of the Fifth Dimension (Mr. Mxytplk, imps and mites, etc.) that puts me off Ttrxl. Improbability exportation sounds terrific, though. Wonder if that's a major at 31st century universities?

Now my head hurts.