Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Reading the Legion: Archive 35

About Gim being a bad leader. I wonder if he?s a bad leader BECAUSE he was a Sci-Cop. Like, he?s used to working with people trained to follow orders and be one of many. So when faced with teammates who question orders and grandstand (Kid Quantum I), and without training, well?

Showcase '95 #6
The Alienation of Unification
Issue information

Summary:

Apparition and Andromeda escort three students to the new Legion Academy: Tomb, who can control bodily functions; Cannus, a canine tracker; and arrogant Brawler, who is tough and can mind-mesh with machinery. Andromeda and the three students hate each other, but are forced to work together when their ship is hijacked.

Thoughts:

The story by Beau Smith is generic and bland; it's nice enough but I never find myself getting excited.

Even fans of Apparition or Andromeda won't mind skipping this issue, as we learn almost nothing new about them. The action is generic and virtually no character development occurs. Even their personalities don't match what we've seen in the main series: Apparition plays a leader role but loses almost all of her sarcasm and "fire", while Andromeda's demonstrated aggression towards the three students could be chalked up to annoyance and irritation rather than her xenophobia.

None of the three students is particularly interesting. Brawler acts like your typical arrogant jock, and Cannus contributes nothing to the story besides punching some bad guys (there was really no reason to make him a tracker or a canine). Tomb is the most interesting; his power is very formidable. He's also silent and the only hints of personality we get are that he has some sense of humor (laughing at Brawler getting shot down by Andromeda) and apparently isn't afraid to kill (though nobody dies). We're not given a good reason for why Brawler and Tomb, despite their good powers, are not considered Legion material. Is Tomb's power too lethal or scary? But what about telepathic Saturn Girl or shapeshifting Chameleon? Is Brawler too arrogant? Then why is xenophobic Andromeda a Legionnaire? Perhaps the reason is politics, but it would have been nice to say so.

The story is generic: Andromeda, Brawler, Cannus and Tomb dislike each other. Apparition is the voice of reason, but has to leave to infiltrate the enemy ship. Andromeda and the students work together out of necessity, and not because of any deep realizations. They certainly don't end the story as friends - or even as a team, despite what Apparition says.

The art (Mike Huddleston - pencils, and Jim Mahfood - inker) is good; cocky Brawler and aggressive Andromeda in particular are drawn well. There's a lot of shading though, which gives it a very "bleak space" feel and the characters look much older than teenagers.

This story is fun enough, but is definitely for completists only.

Showcase '95 #6
Learning Curve

Summary:

Hard-headed, violent and rebellious Science Police Officer Sybelle Deacon has been placed under the supervision of Gigi Cusimano and Shvaughn Erin as a last resort - either she begins to fall in line or she will be discharged. Along with Leviathan, the four investigate a robbery. The day is saved thanks to a combination of Sybelle's unorthodox tactics, Leviathan's powers and teamwork from Shvaughn and Gigi.

Thoughts:

Here's another story that tries to teach a lesson, and the delivery is pretty rough. Sybelle Deacon is the one who notices that the dragon-creatures they're fighting are being controlled. She then defies orders and goes after the crooks without backup, but is saved only because Leviathan, Shvaughn and Gigi work together to track her and surround the enemy. It would have worked decently if not for the fact that Leviathan himself countermands Gigi's orders twice; Gigi and Leviathan wrangle over who has jurisdiction over the scene; and Shvaughn herself can barely stand working with Leviathan. (Which is a pretty big continuity error - Shvaughn expresses dislike not only towards Gim but to the whole Legion, when she is already Legion liaison; but LSH Annual 6 clearly shows her gaining respect for the Legion immediately after getting the assignment). Although they are certainly a lot less brutal than Sybelle, their behavior isn't all that far from Sybelle's contempt for authority. Yes, Gim, Gigi and Shvaughn do work together in the end but they give each other a rough time doing it. Gigi's supposed to be the voice of reason, but she's undermined because the writers have Leviathan go against her orders - and be right doing so!

The art is okay, but Leviathan is toothy and grimaces a lot. There are times when the transition between panels isn't clear, and the action can be hard to follow.

Again, an okay story but unless you're a big Gigi Cusimano fan I'd give it a pass.

Legionnaires 26
Issue Information
"Authority"

Summary:

Saturn Girl gets some unexpected help from a former mentor. Apparition meets up with Ultra Boy and accompanies Workforce on a mission in which they learn some (more) unsavory things about McCauley.

Review:

I want to be charitable towards this issue because it develops some of the ongoing subplots and has a few memorable twists and turns. However, one of the two major plot lines reads like an idiot plot?a plot which would end very quickly if the characters stopped acting like idiots.

The chief idiot this time is Aven, Saturn Girl?s former teacher on Titan. Having learned of his pupil?s catatonia, he travels to earth to cure her with his own formidable mental powers. Unfortunately, Aven doesn?t bother to announce what he?s doing. He simply performs some Jedi mind tricks to get others out of his way and reveals who he is only after Cosmic Boy interrupts his mental ministrations.

This kind of set-up creates a lot of false and unnecessary drama. If Aven had stopped acting like a jerk, much of the plot development could have been avoided?and the story would have been better for it. Imagine Aven reaching out to the Legionnaires first, and them inviting him to earth to help Saturn Girl. We could have gotten into the meat of the story much quicker. Complications could even have been introduced if Aven?s mental ?operation? turned out to be as unsuccessful as it is here?with Saturn Girl waking up but being able to repeat only one sentence (?Hello, Cosmic Boy.?).

One might suppose that Aven's behavior was influenced by the UP-wide distrust of telepaths, but this long-dormant plotline is not mentioned here. Instead, Aven behaves like a bad guy in order to build tension in the story. The tension, however, is artificial; as a reader, I felt I was being talked down to, which goes back to my earlier theory that the creators of the reboot were targeting very young children who might find such story telling techniques fresh.

The other main plot is more successful. Tinya, thoroughly smitten with Jo, is annoyed with him for being late, yet she instantly forgives him. Jo plays the typical dunderheaded teenaged boy who doesn?t realize the girl he likes might have preferred roses to a cactus (a cactus?). Perhaps on Rimbor a cactus is considered romantic. In any case, their date is interrupted by McCauley, who sends Jo on a mission and invites Tinya along so she can see how ?professionals? handle super-heroing. Tinya accepts, affording her a brief reunion with Garth and a chance to tease Jo over his casual relationship with Spider-Girl.

More importantly, the Workforce tackles a group of White Triangle racists who reveal that McCauley is their former business partner. It seems that McCauley doesn?t care who he sells arms to. Showing they have more integrity than he does, the thieves are willing to die to prevent McCauley's arms from getting into the hands of races they deem inferior. Only quick actions from Karate Kid, Jo, and Garth prevent ?the entire region? from being destroyed by a glowing globe of hazardous waste.

This sequence brilliantly shows the contrast between the Legion and Workforce. One team has dedicated itself to idealistic purposes; the other doesn?t care about McCauley?s double-dipping business practices as long as they get paid. Tinya loses her respect for the Workforce, including Jo. Garth, at least, has the sense to quit.

So, Legionnaires 26 is a mixed bag for me. Both plot lines are well intentioned and flesh out our understanding of the Legion?s universe. Only one, however, is delivered in an authentic and convincing manner.

Grade: 84.2 (B)

Legion of Super-Heroes 70
Beyond Belief
Issue information

Summary:

Andromeda is suffering from deadly lead poisoning, and Brainiac 5 is the only one who can help her. Will Andromeda's xenophobia make it an impossible task?

Also, Violet discovers something chilling about Andromeda.

Thoughts:


My first impression for this issue was that Jason Armstrong's art is hideous. The characters' faces have no symmetry. One good thing I can say is that he does facial expressions well, as evidenced by the roll call page. But the interiors are a shame, especially in contrast to the gorgeous Alan Davis/Mark Farmer cover.

On to the story. The Andromeda/Brainiac 5 dynamic works very well; you have a xenophobe who believes her race is superior, and a highly intelligent man with a superiority complex of his own. "Someone of your intellect lacking faith in my prowess is akin to a dog lacking faith in its master." Ooh. Fighting words.

Andromeda herself is interesting: she whispers she's scared but won't admit it to Brainy; she apologizes to him in the end but only because he proved that he isn't truly inferior; she swears she's angry at the thugs for defying her but perhaps, just perhaps, she does care enough about Triad that she doesn't want her to die. And when Brainy shows his own contempt for Daxamites, of course she can't help but react - she was raised to believe they are the superior race, after all.

Andy won't be able to rest for long though. Andy's White Triangle connections are outed both to the Legion and to the readers. Her guilt is clear; she herself admits she knows the White Triangle faction is actively working to destroy the UP.

Violet, on a lesser scale, is also (at first glance) a creature of contradictions. She's bothered by Andromeda's thoughts towards her, but once she finds something that points to Andy's guilt she doesn't hesitate to share it (rather dramatically) with the rest of the team. I DO find the circumstances behind her finding Andy's necklace a bit too convenient (She acknowledges she doesn't know Andy well, but thinks Andy will appreciate her cleaning up her room. and she knows she shouldn't snoop, but she still moves things around...?) I think her actions do make sense though. She's obviously more loyal to the team than to Andromeda.

Let's talk about Daxam as well. Having the White Triangle be social outcasts, and not representative of the Daxamite government, is a good logical step which explains why Daxam is a UP member. It's comforting to know that the White Triangle members don't represent the majority of Daxamites.

Other plotlines:

Saturn Girl's case seems as hopeless as ever. At least Triad is back in action, and she seems none the worse for wear.

Kinetix is in high spirits, considering she's just lost her powers. She must be very confident she can regain them, and it fits in nicely with how she acted in her first few appearances. She's also keenly perspective when she's not distracted by thoughts of power.

Spark's secret admirer plotline is clumsily shoved into the scene. I know, it's there to set up Zoe's suggestion to Violet of giving Andromeda a gift, but she could just as easily have suggested it without Spark being there.

The Cosmic Boy-Winema Wazzo scene is another clumsy one. Frankly, Cos jumped the gun here. All Winema did was say she would monitor the situation. Without knowing exactly what it would entail, he antagonized her and dragged Apparition into it. Oh, Cos.

These other plotlines seem very inconsequential in the shadow of the main Andromeda/Brainiac 5 plot, though. Andromeda's near-death experience and her being saved by Brainiac 5 is a realistic way of making her confront her xenophobic beliefs. She doesn't totally discard them, which would be unbelievable; but she is forced to admit to herself that maybe not all races are completely inferior to her own. And yet, it may be too late - looks like the White Triangle plot is going to blow up pretty soon!