Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! Postboot Appearance Count

Those of you that were here in the summer probably remember my random Adventure-Era Appearance Count project, where I tallied panel by panel the number of times each Legionnaire, villain, and supporting cast member appeared in the Adventure and Action run.

Well, I've struck again. Since I'm on holiday I sat down and re-read the whole of the postboot, tallying things up. I blame this project for my absence here, even being out of school. I've got a few notes about the evolution of these ranks, but not nearly as many as last time. I'll wait and see if anyone has questions before I post those thoughts.

Included are the character's rank, number of appearances by panel, and their name. Without further ado, the Postboot Count:

LEGIONNAIRES:
01. 3235 - Saturn Girl
02. 2895 - Cosmic Boy
03. 2669 - Brainiac 5
04. 2026 - Live Wire
05. 1888 - Spark
06. 1809 - Ultra Boy
07. 1788 - Triad
08. 1777 - Chameleon
09. 1675 - XS
10. 1553 - Invisible Kid
11. 1548 - Apparition
12. 1495 - Violet
13. 1107 - M'Onel
14. 1099 - Star Boy
15. 1089 - Kinetix
16. 1079 - Kid Quantum II
17. 1007 - Ferro
18. 950 - Gates
19. 921 - Umbra
20. 818 - Leviathan
21. 797 - Element Lad
22. 793 - Sensor
23. 786 - Monstress
24. 671 - Karate Kid
25. 631 - Inferno
26. 571 - Wildfire
27. 548 - Shikari
28. 487 - Andromeda
29. 479 - Superboy
30. 386 - Thunder
31. 371 - Magno
32. 358 - Timber Wolf
33. 304 - Dreamer
34. 213 - Gear
35. 71 - Kid Quantum I

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS:
01. 646 - R.J. Brande
02. 625 - Koko
03. 589 - Lori Morning
04. 523 - Shvaughn Erin
05. 424 - Chuck Taine
06. 280 - Mysa Nal
07. 264 - Winema Wazzo
08. 230 - Leland McCauley
09. 162 - Dirk Morgna/ F'yrr
10. 145 - Tenzil Kem
11. 142 - Dragonmage
12. 141 - Marla Latham
13. 139 - Evolvo
14. 138 - President Chu
15. 133 - Rond Vidar
16. 126 - Spider-Girl
17. 117 - Dr. Gym'll
18. 112 - Aven
19. 110 - Cub
20. 106 - Trudy Trusoe
21. 100 - Proty
22. 80 - Amilia Crugg
23. 54 - Particon
24. 53 - Insect Queen
25. 53 - Radion
26. 52 - Atmos
27. 48 - Atom'X
28. 48 - Gigi Cusimano
29. 48 - Pol Krinn
30. 47 - Ingot
31. 31 - Blast-Off
32. 28 - Jacques Foccart
33. 26 - Lialla
34. 16 - Polar Boy
35. 13 - Nightwind
36. 12 - Konk
37. 11 - Infectious Lass
38. 9 - Night Girl
39. 8 - Phrenologax Lad
40. 7 - Condo Arlik

VILLAINS:
01. 255 - Ra's Al Ghul
02. 239 - Emerald Eye
03. 206 - Composite Man
04. 188 - C.O.M.P.U.T.O. (56 were as Venge)
05. 184 - Lightning Lord
06. 177 - Emerald Violet
07. 164 - Mordru
08. 164 - Tharok
09. 158 - Persuader
10. 141 - Universo
11. 139 - Mano
12. 137 - Empress
13. 118 - Darkseid
14. 104 - Validus
15. 92 - Dr. Regulus
16. 59 - Time Trapper
17. 57 - Roxxas
18. 51 - Repulse
19. 49 - Tangleweb
20. 43 - Abyss
21. 40 - Brainstorm
22. 40 - Twine

This list, sadly, isn't quite comprehensive yet. I'm still missing some significant guest appearances, such as Jenni's Flash issues and the Brainiac story in Showcase. Below is a list of the issues I do have and were able to count, though. If you have any other issues not listed and would like to do the counting on those to help me get a better tally, I'd appreciate it.

Action Comics #741
Adventure Comics 80-Page Giant
Adventures in the DC Universe #10
Adventures of Superman #540
Final Night #1-4
Genesis #1-4
Green Lantern #81, 98-99
Impulse #9-12, 19, 21, 25
Inferno #1-4
JSA #51
Legends of the DC Universe 3-D Gallery
Legends of the DC Universe 80-Page Giant
Legends of the Legion #1-4
Legion #1-38
Legion Lost #1-12
Legion of Super-Heroes #0, 62-125
Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #6-7
Legion of Super-Heroes: Secret Files & Origins #1-2
Legion Secret Files 3003
Legion Worlds #1-6
Legionnaires #0, 18-81
Legionnaires Annual #2-3
Martian Manhunter #11
Power of Shazam! Annual #1
Science Police #1-4
Showcase '95 #6
Showcase '96 #8, 10
Sovereign Seven + Legion of Super-Heroes
Starman #50
Superboy #21, 45
Supergirl Annual #2
Superman + Legion of Super-Heroes
Superman #119
Teen Titans (Jurgens) #17
Teen Titans (McKone) #15-16
Teen Titans/Legion Special
Titans/Legion: Universe Ablaze #1-4
Unlimited Access #1-2

Uh...wow!

Yeah, I've got way too much free time.

Future, did you count the appearances of "Jarth" as Live Wire or as Element Lad?

I guess poor Kent's one or two panels doesn't rate a place on the list... (sniff.)

But seriously, AMAZING job!

If it makes you feel any better, Kent, I think he had a total of four as a Cadet (two in the group shots and two more in the background of the tour). I started counting but ended up not tracking most of the Cadets for space reasons, though I couldn't resist putting Berta and Drura in.

Tromium, I counted Jarth as Garth. Didn't want to step on too many toes and say that was Jan too. Jarth is what boosted Live Wire's count into the 2,000s, coincidentally.

WOW! That's another great job Future! It would be great to see your Adventure-Era Appearance Count re-posted here too, to compare the two... Oh whoops - I just saw the link. Never mind.

Some thoughts on this one -

* I see Saturn Girl is once again and unsurprisingly the biggest panel-hog - and by a huge margin too! Oh, how I hate thee Imra Ardeen! I just wish you would DIE! DIE! DIE! Thank God Mark Waid is giving her the back-seat in the new universe.

* Looking at the rest of the Top 10 I see that XS and Invisible Kid (at #9 and #10) are the only two characters who would be anywhere near my list of Top 20 Legion characters. I guess I just really don't like panel-hogs!

* Surprised to see Leviathan above Element Lad considering his very early death. I guess Gim, Jan and Dirk fans really were the biggest losers of the reboot (not counting Dawnstar, Blok, etc fans). Thank God for Mark Waid!

* Surprised Violet didn't rank higher. This book seemed to be about nothing but her at one point. Guess DnA's forgetting that she existed as anything other than a giant background prop really damaged her ranking.

* Seeing how low Andromeda was on the list makes me realise how badly she was neglected too. I don't know why none of the creators wanted to use her. She was a strong, engaging character who'd shown a lot of story growth and potential. Now that Supergirl's back I wonder if we'll ever see her again?

* RA'S AL GHUL WAS THE TOP VILLAIN!?! RA'S AL GHUL! That is just SO wrong! A friggin' Batman villain appeared more times than anyone from the Legion's own wonderful back-catalogue! Oh, how I DO NOT miss DnA!

* Were those the Top 22 villains? That's not a very impressive showing. I guess another weak point of the reboot was strong villains. President Chu and the White Triangle were all good strong antagonists at the beginning of the reboot (and both should have come back at a later point) but I can't think of any villains that didn't disappoint me later in the run. The Fatal Five, Venge/C.O.M.P.U.T.O./Robotica, Darkseid, Emerald Violet, The Elements of Disaster, Time Trapper - all were mishandled badly.

Still, it's surpising Garth came in at fourth place, seeing he was dead for 2 1/2 years. Your numbers also confirm beyond a doubt that Element Lad was given short shrift in the postboot.

Great job, by the way! It deserves a place in the Encyclopedia Galactica.

Thanks to you guys for the comments, and most of Blacula's observations about several character's rankings are spot on. Especially that of Violet as a background prop under DnA and the lack of real, impacting villains on the books.

Here are my, as always, long-winded thoughts while doing this:

Legionnaire Notes:
The postboot reality isn't really a fair one for appearance counts. Mini-series like Legion Lost and Worlds, as well as the 20th century trip, got specific people very boosted in their panel appearances. Had the whole team appeared solely in their monthly titles and no one ever got lost somewhere, we'd probably have a more reasonable count. That's why so many members who actually DID appear alot in the Archie days fell behind, thanks to Lost and the time-consuming reformation of the team in the Legion.

The top tier: the founders and Brainy. They're really never a surprise in any reality. Cos was actually ahead of Imra until Lost. Cham kept close but didn't take off as well as I thought, while Ultra Boy definitely thrived under DnA. Spark did well all throughout the reboot, no matter which creative team had her. Extra spotlights while Moy was penciller though is what got her as high as she is, I think. I'm actually quite pleased we got this much Ayla in the reboot. Something else else different and a lot better than her previous counterpart.

Triad and XS, specifically, got lots of spotlight in the early days and were extremely high. Yes, they were even ahead of Saturn Girl in year one. This balanced out a bit...leaving both in the top seven...until Lost came about. Sporadic appearances in the Legion even after they rejoined ensured they never got to catch up to the others.

Kinetix held her own with Vi actually up until DnA came in. As we all know, Zoe pretty much faded away and Vi was sustained through background appearaces. Spark, too, must have been a favorite of Batista (we know she was of Moy) since a lot of her count came from background work or spotlights. Invisible Kid, heavily featured in the early days, actually didn't do too well under DnA. He'd be a lot higher if they kept his appearance up. Gates never really was a big winner, but he was steady until DnA (I make them sound like a character crippling disease; I really do love them). He gained less than 100 panel appearances in the last five years. I kid you not.

Dead people. Monstress and Leviathan, specifically, were regularly featured while they were alive. This explains their high totals despite only a few months as members. Statues, especially the one of the Lost group, as well as flashbacks kept them and Element Lad slowly but surely chugging along even after their departure. Flashbacks and time as the Progenitor is what actually got Jan past the 600 mark. Live Wire would have been ranked below Spark, had it not been for his Jarth days. Note how even being dead didn't hamper Apparition back too far. Her ghostly appearances in the 20th century and spotlights in Legion Worlds 6 and the Legion 9 helped her stay afloat.

Sensor and Umbra. At the close of the Archie days, Sensor had Umbra trashed hard on appearances. I think it was like 600 to 200, roughly. Lost helped Tasmia, but what really got her up was her spotlight in Legion #24. Sensor got few appearances after that until her new body, so it allowed Tasmia to play catch up. The two gained probably the same number of panels every issue after that until DnA left and Jeka got regulated to non-existant, almost.

Karate Kid pretty much was a background character until the final days, and his numbers reflect this. Ferro got a pretty good feature in the beginning, especially being introduced in Superman and playing a part in the 20th century. Going with Karate Kid to Steeple pretty much shot Ferro's good pacing though.

As for the bottom? Gear never took off. All but 100 of Dreamer's appearances are from before she was a Legionnaire. Thunder got a little boost since I counted the Power of Shazam annual and Timber Wolf enjoyed a nice two-part spotlight to play catch-up. Inferno actually shouldn't be that high, but I counted her mini-series which brought her pretty much from about 250 to the 600s. Her and Shvaughn really didn't benefit from the 20th century trip as much as I had thought. Kid Quantum I, Superboy, and Andromeda are no brainers...though I should note I only counted Superboy when he was a member or working with the team (Future Tense crossover). Being in the background of the Genesis mini-series or Final Night didn't/wouldn't help his count unless he was aiding the Legion in some way.

Supporting Character Notes:

I'm sure we were all expecting Lori to be a panel hog, but it's amazing how much Koko was too. He really was in pretty much every Brainy panel though for two years...that's got to help. It's scary to think they haven't appeared in the last five years. If they were still as important to the lore today as they were back then, they'd easily edge out R.J. despite their lack of purpose.

Not too many other surprises. Winema was low on the list but slowly shot up as U.P. President. I stopped tracking Leland after the Blight storyline and assumed his appearances after that were Ra's in disguise, since Venge was also with him at the time. Tenzil and Marla did pretty good considering they dropped off the face of the Earth in the past five years and I'm shocked Chuck wasn't higher up. I thought he would be. The Amazers and Workforcers don't really surprise me too much. Atmos caught up to Insect Queen thanks to the Starman crossover and Particon only beat Radion due to a few extra panels in Legion of the Damned. For one issue only, Jacques and Ingot handled themselves well. Condo...well, I thought he'd have more, but he didn't. I double-checked.

Villain Notes:

Ra's Al Ghul's numbers contain his posing as McCauley. I didn't count all the Ra's clones that later appeared too, but instead did the same rule I have for Triad. It doesn't matter if it's just one in a panel or fifty, I counted it as one appearance.

Universo may seem higher than he should because I counted his retconned appearances in Universe Ablaze. Mordru I'm sure would have more if I shifted through JSA and Lightning Lord got some nice bumps to his count thanks to his questionable reforming in Legion Worlds. Darkseid is the combination of both old and young Darkseid from the Foundations arc.

As for the Fatal Five Hundred, I only counted the postboot Five & the Eye, when I could spot them. I considered the other Five members from another reality and not part of the tally. Persuader was the lowest appearing Fatal Five member, even compared to Validus, until For No Better Reason and the Titans crossover bumped him up. Mano was strides ahead of the rest thanks to his first two-parter, but as soon as he was dropped from the team when the Eye came in, the others played catch-up. Composite Durlan/Man's high count shows just how many times he got brought back in the PMS days before dying in Dark Circle Rising.

Two notes I didn't include at the time:

- Lori Morning's total contains her H-Dial personnas as well, but even those only account for probably 100 of her panels.

- Wildfire actually shouldn't be that high either. He got over 150 panels from the Elseworlds annual and as the Wildflame in DC One Million, which I count and consider postboot still.

I have Final Night and the first part of the Titans/Legion crossover, i'll do it in these two.

Here is the count for Final Night:

Brainiac 5: 35
Saturn Girl: 27
Ferro: 27
Cosmic Boy: 25
Spark: 14
Ultra Boy: 11
Inferno: 11
Gates: 3

I have a problem with the first part of the crossover in Teen Titans 16. There's two panels where the characters are so small, i can't tell who is who except for a few.
I must ad that the count for Brainiac 5 also includes the last page of Teen Titans 15 where we can see him send Superboy in the past and that for superboy, i only count his appearances when he is a legionnaire that means in the issue when he arrives in the past from the future.

Except for these two panels, this is what i have:

Superboy: 22
Brainiac 5: 9
Ultra Boy: 7
Karate Kid: 6
Star Boy: 6
Chameleon: 6
Cosmic Boy: 5
Apparition: 5
Dreamer: 4
Shikari: 4
Spark: 4
Saturn Girl: 4
Kid Quantum 2: 4
Triad: 4
Wildfire: 2
Umbra: 2

Villains
Persuader: 15
Empress: 4
Emerald Eye: 5
Validus: 3
Tharok: 8
Mano: 4

I gotta echo the first response, "wow"!

Great work Future but man I swear you GOTTA get a life.

Only one real comment though, when are you going to adapt to the new rule and start calling yourself Future BOY?

All in due time, YK.

And Querl, thanks for the help! I owe you one. I'll update the tally now.

If he did that, we'd need to find out what the male version of "Lori" is...

The thought of being a star-crossed lover or counterpart for Lori/Future Girl suddenly makes me never want to be reimagined.

Great work, Future!!

Future,

GREAT Data! Do you have yearly appearance counts? It would be interesting to see the top 5 or 10 by year. (Sorry, analyzing data is my life.)

Don't have any official counts yearly, DC, but it's pretty easy to recall. First year was really all about the first ten that joined, and then as time went on certain people (Spark & Brainy) pulled ahead while Apparition, Leviathan, and others fell behind for obvious reason.

To my recollection, Cos, Imra, Garth, Lu, Jenni, Lyle, and Cham have been in the top ten since day one. Early spotlights kept the likes of Jenni and Lu there even when gone for the whole of Lost. I think Vi slipped in there after the Emerald Legion story and then dropped out after vanishing for a few months. Brainy was in by the close of the Conspiracy story and Spark slipped in thanks to the Lightning Lord two-parter and both kept shooting up ever since.

If anyone is curious how favorite characters or things ranked at certain points or overall, let me know. I don't have the best memory but a lot of the trends are still fresh in my head.

Thanks again for the kind words.

Yep, great job, Future!