Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Reading the Legion: Archive 36

A few changes to the old Ranzz family story are welcome, if gruesome. Mekt burning off Garth's arm is more awful than some random Super Moby Dick of Space accident.

Ayla may not be as blind to Mekt's character as Garth is/was, but they both do an admirable job of fighting him, Ayla taking the lead until Garth recovers somewhat from his shock.

For all his prior violence and bluster, Mekt is reduced to powerless babbling after the twins' attack, his hair turned white. Whether this is from the shock of the lightning blasts or the shock of being defeated by his siblings isn't clear.

One thing that stood out to me was Mekt's statement that Garth is 14 years old. Even though that was the age established at the outset (and underlining that it's been less than a year since the Legion formed), I'd sort of forgotten that the Legionnaires were that young. Mekt, for his part, looks a lot older. Minor points.

The sound effects for the lightning are good, mostly variations on "kzaakk", with "shzzll", "fassh" and "krakl". Got me thinking about just what lightning does sound like.


This struck me as well. Carrier pigeon syndrome. If there's only one left, I guess they could clone it, although we haven't seen cloning technology in this version yet.


Looks like the Legion is going to get two powerhouse characters at once. So who needs Ultra Boy?

Valor appeals directly to Cosmic Boy for help, providing a brief backstory. I've got to wonder if his fate was lost to time and he just became some legendary figure. Was anyone looking for him up until now?

Interesting that Rokk tells Gim "you're the only one I can trust". Imra might have been insulted but she and the others are too distracted by the prospect of time travel.

I liked the sibling dynamics at play here, with Ayla defending Garth while dissing Mekt. Ayla has a good head on her shoulders, while poor Garth still desperately wanted to see Mekt as a good older brother - and paid the price for it.

definitely a lot of deaths in the first part, and with that good Sci-Cop wanting to help Garth... and getting fried by Mekt for it... man, that hurt me.

Mekt definitely looks like an adult here...

Mega bonus points for Ayla all around, she comes out very well in this story.

I'm doing the final three issues for this Archive as one post.

Superboy #21
Making History - Future Tense, part 1 of 3
Issue Information

Legion of Super-Heroes 74
Prisoner of the Super-Heroes, Future Tense part 2 of 3
Issue Information

Legionnaires 31
One Thousand Years of Solitude, Future Tense part 3 of 3
Issue Information

This was a new Superboy for me, not having followed that series. They must have been trying to making him fashionable for the time. Throughout the three issues, he does come across as a very believable person - not the old school boy scout who inspired the original Legion - and he's rather more appealing for that. Superboy in the 30th century might have been a big deal, but he's way overshadowed by rumours of Valor's return, something which really distinguishes the reboot from the classic version.

Also more believable is the Legion's first encounter with the past, which they botch. Bursting from the ground and speaking only Interlac, they're considered attackers: more evidence that this is still a young and inexperienced team. Also, this may be the first instance of time travel for this universe, so some surprises are to be expected.

I liked the Superboy-Brainiac 5 dynamic, very much at odds to begin with but able to work together by the end of the mission. Like the Triad-Superboy scenes, it added some comedy to the story.

It's not clear if all Carggites would regard Valor with such reverence, or if this is Luornu's particularly strong belief. Cargg's worship of Valor was also emphasized in the 5YL series, although that Luornu had more of a romantic than religious interest in the man. One can speculate about various reasons for a cult of Valor to take hold on a particular planet, whether for political expedience or the result of a very influential preacher. The other Legionnaires simply view him as a person of historical importance and seem taken aback by Luornu's radical reaction. There's almost an anti-religion message, not just with Lu's reaction but the crowds claiming their personal version of Valor and selling t-shirts. At least, there's a dim view of zealotry.

The complexity of reboot Luornu is emphasized in this story. You get a sense of why Carrg was so nervous of individual personalities. Under fear of missing Valor's arrival, she splits into three and begins arguing. Purple and Orange take extreme positions. A "normal" Luornu would have a toned-down mix of Valor adoration and Superboy lust; internal conflict, but more balanced.

XS is lost in the timestream, Kinetix is missing, Andromeda is believed dead by most, Phantom Girl is assumed dead, Kid Quantum was killed - not a very auspicious record for the Legion.

Other characters who had receded from the main story - Ultra Boy and the Ranzz twins - aren't forgotten, although only Jo actively joins the group. Chu and R.J. are brought into the story, pretty much as bystanders. Finally, it's great to see Purple Eyestalk Guy again and to have him spilling the beans of the Valor news to the media.

The Scavenger is a good addition to the roster of adversaries. He's not really a villain, he's just in the way of what the Legion needs. Unfortunately, I don't believe he was ever seen again. The character provides a reason to throw in a whole lot of DC and pop culture symbols, which is fun. His philosopher's stone is a little too powerful, but the writers come up with a creative solution to defeat him, with Triad using the Stone to free Violet and Violet dispatching Scavenger, who tried to escape by shrinking to molecule size. But what became of the Philosopher's Stone, last seen in Triad's hands? It's equivalent to the Miracle Machine.

Valor is released from the Zone in the DC's fictional desert country of Qurac, away from the crowds going mad for his arrival. That works well for Valor, but the Legion is ill-prepared for the crowd's anger when the stasis zone projector appears to malfunction.

This three-part story is a quest: the team travels to strange lands, collecting objects for their mission, fighting adversaries, some of whom become friends. It ends in an unexpected fashion, however: the prize (Valor) is won, but happens in secret. It's quite an anti-climax, even sad to see Valor snap at Lu to back off, then stand alone in a barren room. The final irony is the eagerness with which Superboy wants to return to his own time and the equal enthusiasm among the Legionnaires to have him leave.

Thanks for keeping this going FC, really appreciate your hard work!

I'll come back and add my thoughts later.

I must have missed the L* 30 post while I was on my hiatus this last week! It's a great story, and the one that ends the Legionnaires 2 Omni. I was shocked (ha!) by the level of brutality that Mekt had for his siblings, and the fact that he'd blast off Garth's arm. But Ayla comes to the real rescue here and just tells Mekt he's a jerk. Ayla is always there for Garth it seems, and this issue was one that really solidified why she's a favorite. (She's also a favorite of Moy, and it shows.)

The 14 year-old comment is something that again makes me think about how they were spinning this series out. The time internal to the reboot had only progressed two or three months of their time in 2994, but the timeline gets rapidly advanced around DnA's time, which makes sense given you have a decent amount of 'procreation' going on.

Regarding Future Tense, at this time I was all in on the Reign of the Supermen story, so I was totally down with Superboy here, and had been actively collecting his title at this time, so this whole crossover was a lot of fun for me. The whole thread of Valor worship was an interesting idea that didn't get really fleshed out enough for the rest of the timeline, IMO. The whole bit about Superboy blabbing about Valor resulting in the huge crowd was pretty funny.

I didn't have too much of an issue with Ultra Boy, Valor and Superboy, as SB was only going to be there for a bit, but having Mon El available for the team made total sense after the Daxamite war.

The Scavenger hunt was well done, including the oh so small easter egg that became so much more in the LSH page 19 panel. Everyone gets something to do to be useful. Good stuff! I also enjoyed Lar's unhappy reaction to Rokk's insistence that he lay low. It could have been used for a lot more pathos than it was for his pre-boot predecessor.

And PS - Maybe doing these rereads on a storyline basis versus individual issues isn't a bad idea generally?