Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Reboot Re-read: DnA Legion

I also remembered seeing Winema getting konked on the head, and thought that explained why she didn't phase. Which makes Tinya look less bad... after all, she can't help anyone if she remains solid and gets taken out


I wonder... I figured he couldn't think of a form that would have been able to catch a falling giant. the old "he mimics form, not function, can't copy powers" bit.

Oh, I definitely get the sequence of events - my point being that in that minute prior to the spike, when the attack begins and Tinya and Winema are made aware of something going on "We gotta get you outta here" is when they should have phased, or to take HWW's tack, have a quick back and forth of Winema not phasing to be more 'of the people' to make it make more sense in the story. I mean, who knows - I don't remember what happens for the rest of this story, so it may amount to a hill of beans by the end.


He could be a giant stunt bag.

As I'm skimming through the issue again, there are a few other things of note:

* Brainy implies that his facial implants keep his sanity in check. I don't recall if this was ever addressed before or if insanity was a condition of reboot Brainy as it was in the preboot, but it's truly scary to think that the mental stability of anyone would rest on technology. Yet we use pills and all sorts of things to regulate our moods and brain chemicals. Brainy's sinister expression on page four-from-last (why aren't these pages numbered??) is truly unnerving.

* The full-page scene where all the technology fails is wonderfully designed, but it requires careful "reading" to understand what is happening. Except for Devil's comment at the bottom, there is no dialogue. We really have to read this scene carefully and more than once to take everything in. This is a good example of showing versus telling, and how comics need both. It would have been great if there were some dialogue or captions to explain (minimally) what is happening. So much happens at once, and the images are overwhelming.

* I also think the above explains why Winema doesn't phase. From her perspective, she doesn't know what's happening and doesn't have time to react until it's too late. Two pages earlier, she's accompanying her daughter who says, "Mom! We've got to get you out of here." Then the next time we see her, she's beaned in the head by a flying camera. Why would she phase when her daughter had everything under control? (Again, I think the confusion results from a storytelling choice that isn't as effective as it should be.)

* It's interesting that the JLA "cult" members model themselves after heroes with color codenames: Blue Devil, Black Canary, Green Lantern, and Green Arrow. The cultists have stripped the color out of the names. I don't know if that was intentional, but it seems as if they are stripping away half of the heroes' identities.

* What race is Lantern? It seems we've seen his noseless, purple countenance before, but I can't place it within a Legion context.

* The Persuader's daughter is a fascinating character, and her refusal to react to his rejection makes me wish we'd seen a lot more of her. I totally think she and Val should have been an item.

* Devil's "I'm sure the survivors will thank us" is classic fanatic thinking.

I definitely have a soft spot for the Persuader's Daughter (whose name I can never remember), as well as the colorless JLA villains introduced in this arc! All characters that I wish we'd gotten to see more of. I really do wish the bad guy group had been given a name, however.

The facial implants were just introduced as part of the damn anomaly changes. Apparently they were there to augment his force field, but they never really explored any other capabilities.


I actually found that sequence extremely well done, but it did require a closer eye to get it all in, and some aspects were done better than others - the technology blinking out was well communicated; Winema getting hit was not. But going over the entire sequence from the moment that the SPs confront Arrow, its revealed that about a minute is happening from that page to the moment of the spike, so to me, that is why I still have a problem with the story choice about Winema not phasing. Still, its a story point, so I'll take it as it is - it does provide drama for sure, and I do feel a REALLY SMALL degree of sympathy for the Wazzos here, which is more than I can say for the entire rest of the reboot.


Great point.



Yes, she and Trudy seem to be the standout characters in this so far. It's too bad this team didn't have some kind of name.

Also, I did go back and look at the review threads for this issue from when it first came out and Gail herself came on the board!

Wow, did that get interesting.

It's always great when Legion creators interact with us, but one of our members pushed the wrong buttons and it didn't turn out so well. At least that's what I remember.

In any case, 35 has given me a renewed appreciation for what Simone could have brought to the Legion, and I'm curious to revisit how her story turned out.

Yeah, unfortunately its a reminder of how things can go badly online. I remember how bad things would get on the old Usenet, not to mention other platforms, which has now, unfortunately moved to FB and Twitter.

But yes, outside of the Winema issue that I have, I would have very much loved to have read more Legion penned by Gail - at least Legionnaires speaking with her words, for sure. And she's recently said that she'd love to write more, and wished she'd had more of a chance here. I really do like a lot of her other work, and given that the Legion is a mostly-female (and female-led at this point) it makes total sense to have a woman writing the title.

The Legion #36

Released July 28, 2004
DC Comics, Color
22 Pages

For No Better Reason Part Two - Peronality Conflict
Gail Simone - Writer
Dan Jurgens - Layouts
Andy Smith - Finishes
Sno Cone - Colors
Stephen Wacker - Editor

Synopsis

We pick up twelve minutes after the Spike, and Trudy's narration gets us up to speed on things. Winema is bleeding out and Tinya is desperately trying to get her to phase. Violet is laid out across the plaza and nothing's working. People are beginning to panic. Timber Wolf and Ultra Boy make an initial determination to help the people in the crowd until Tinya convinces Jo to take care of Winema. Brin takes care of the crowd's needs. Umbra tells us the tech on Brainy's face is a personality inhibitor that's turned off, and Cham has broken something that has rendered his arm useless.

Brainy starts to lose it due to his cyberdeck failing, so Umbra slaps him into focus and puts him in a darkfield to organize his thoughts. Tinya takes charge and puts Trudy to work after zinging her about her tabloid journalism. Brainy starts to figure out what to do.

On Oasis One, people start to revive. Persuader almost kills his daughter, but he reconsiders and they look for a way out. They find Karate Kid and four guards facing off against the rest of the prisoners.

In Devil's lair, she makes Dreamer, who is leaning on Canary, pick the next Legionnaire to fall by throwing the syringe used to keep her drugged.

Legion World - Wildfire, Chuck and Gear strategize. They can't send down any Legionnaires that are power sources, like Garth, as the phenomenon is rendering anything with power inert. They send in the recruits, including Nightwind and Dr. Gym'll to parachute in.

At the hospital, Jo pleads to have someone help the president, but most surgery is done cybernetically, so nothing can be done. Winema says goodbye and seems to finally accept Jo.

Oasis One starts to lose stability. Pinter decides he's going to take over, and the fight starts. The Persuader steps in and stops all the shenanigans.

Back at the plaza, Tinya and Brin start to figure out who can help out from the crowd. Brin leaves to track down a scream. Violet recovers. The able bodied start helping and the cadets parachute in from a portal high in the sky. Trudy organizes the helpers.

The meta criminals try to stabilize Oasis One. Persuader doesn't want Lialla to talk to Val. The prison nosedives into the water.

Archer shoots Gym'll and Timber Wolf tracks down the scream to Devil's apartment, and he's greeted by being impaled with Devil's trident.

Commentary

This was a good, solid second episode in the storyline. The plot did a great job of moving things forward, having some of the characters, mainly the Legion, regain their footing from the events in the last issue, but then give them a different set of problems. The narration continues through Trudy's voice, but slightly less so as the action takes place across several locales, and we mainly only hear Trudy when the events happen around her. Still, with all the internal dialogue, it would have been nice to hear something from Trudy after Tinya (rightfully) throws her tabloid trash back at Trudy. The events on the prison barge are handled well, but from the overall story we still don't really know what's going on with regards to Devil's motivations. Another pretty solid art delivery as well, although the men's faces look a little off somehow. Its not that big of a deal. I will say that in just a few pages, Gail Simone has made me feel more positive about Tinya, Jo and Winema that I have in the entire decade of this team's existence. They are finally all being treated like adults instead of the badly drawn out soap opera it had been for so long. Overall though, good pickup from the last issue and great cliffhanger at the end.

Winema's blood is on Tinya's shoulder, not her dress. But the better imagery is Winema's blood on the Legion ring. We see the blood on Tinya's dress later.

Brainiac 5 looks sinister in this drawing on the title page. I'm honestly not a fan of the Crazy Brainy trope since its been done so much before.

Having Brin and Jo having a confab here is kind of a nice change. Tinya's persuasion to have Jo help her mother was well done.

We get a quick "Streetcar" and "Moonstruck" moment with Brainy crying "STELLAAAAA" and then Umbra smacking him and telling him to snap out of it. Or Not.

Brainy's mind didn't have any controls on it before (that we're aware of), but the thought of the Anomaly opening up Brainy's mind further therefore requiring some kind of tech to keep things in line is an interesting thought. Its literally the most interesting idea to come out of the Levitz Anomaly.

In Val's flight scene, I'm hearing bowling pins get knocked over as he KOs multiple inmates.

Tinya staring up at Vi like she's never seen Vi large before is kind of weird. But I'm glad Vi's not hurt. Vi and Tinya are drawn in particularly fetching fashion.

I actually enjoyed the Persuader's portrayal here. Gail is definitely writing a few characters - Trudy, Persuader, the Wazzos - in a way that makes me like them a lot more than I did prior.

Man Arrow's cold shooting at a doctor like that.

That final panel - Ouch!

Overall Grade - A- I kept on wanting to go back and check stuff out in this issue in the good way!

36 . . .

You covered all the high points, Gas, and I have little to add. I enjoyed the subtext of a planet so dependent on technology that human doctors don't know how to operate anymore. It was a chilling moment when the doctor asks Jo if he'd rather have a human being operating on him--as if that's a bad thing. These people seem to have forgotten who built the machines that can operate so flawlessly.

The Legionnaires are overwhelmed by a situation so big that Tinya admits it's beyond their control. Still, they do what heroes must. They do what they can. And there's no bickering. Jo and Brin put aside past grudges and behave like professionals. Jo is thinking logically when he tells Tinya it's too late to help Winema. Of course, that's the wrong thing to say to one's wife, and Tinya justly makes him see the larger issue. This isn't just her mother; it's the president. And if she had to use a little bit of "guilt and self-recrimination" to get her point across, so be it.

I loved the bit where Tinya calls Trudy on her past reporting. Tinya has a bit of an ego and sensitivity over her appearance, and that's fine. She only uses it to make a point and secure Trudy's cooperation.

I also loved the scene of Winema touching Jo's hand in the hospital and calling him her son-in-law. She's not a bad person; she just has controlling and manipulative tendencies as many parents do. But she puts all that aside when she realizes she may die. And, like a good leader, she tells Jo to go back and help the people.

A lot happens in this issue, but each featured Legionnaire contributes something significant. Tasmia, the warrior, has no time for Brainy's insanity. Brainy, like everyone else, is so dependent on technology that he believes he needs the implants to focus his mind. I loved Tasmia's line that she refuses to accept this. She pays Brainy a compliment even while she's beating the snot out of him.

Other Legionnaires pull their weight. Val shines in solo combat against the prisoners and inspires the SP guards to keep fighting. Chuck is the boss of all emergency managers. And the recruits get pulled into action early.

Two things I'm not certain about. This is the first time in either boot I've heard of Cham breaking part of his body and not being able to morph. It seems like an overly convenient plot development, as does the fact that Vi spends most of the issue as an unconscious giant. While there is lip service to her being the most powerful Legionnaire present, I couldn't help thinking of all the DnA depictions of her as a giant for no reason. "You only love me for my size!"

The Persuader, in just a few scenes, is established as a more well-rounded character than he's ever been. He nearly crushes Lialla's skull and then, when she calls him father, backs off. Later he establishes that he's so badass that other criminals will follow Karate Kid's plan just because the Persuader says so. And he belatedly tries to "protect" his daughter from talking to Val (though there's a typo. He says: "I don't what you talking to that kid"). How sweet!

As for our main villains, they find new ways to be nasty. I don't really need a deeper motivation at this point. Some women just like to watch the world burn.

And I'm really enjoying the art by Dan Jurgens and Andy Smith. Back in the '90s, Jurgens was the artist on some of the titles during Valiant Comics' short-lived heyday. I think he drew Solar, Man of the Atom, for one. And he had lost none of his dynamic and powerful visuals in the decade since.

Yes, this was kind of a creepy thing to be so dependent on a technology to this degree. Oh wait, my calendar is beeping at me.


Yep, and it was interesting that Jo was so level headed about the whole thing.


I'm not sure if there is any continuity issue here or not, as we are led to believe that Tinya ran away early in her pregnancy, or am I misremembering? I don't know if she was even in the public eye when she was that far along.



Well, for Cham, when they first encountered the Fatal Five 9 years or so prior, the Empress had said something to the effect of squeezing a particular gland to prevent him from shifting, so there IS some precedent, but I agree that its a convenient plot machination. At least Vi wakes up! And I think its the second time Vi is referred to as powerful.



Yes, Master Bruce.


Yep I'm generally a Jurgens fan. I don't know if its the combo of how the art is being finished that makes me not like it as much, but its still good.

Actually, that paraphrase would make me Alfred. If you have to be in a Batman movie, be Alfred.

Devil's actions do remind me a lot of Heath Ledger's Joker, who would grace movie theatres just four years later. We never find out why the Joker does what he does in the film. Batman speculates that the Joker wants to prove that everyone is as ugly as he is. And whenever the Joker explains his origin, he always gives a different story. We're left with a tantalizing character whose secrets we will never know--and that's what makes him so memorable.

Very true!


Yes, its one of the reasons that movie is the best of that bunch. I'm curious to see where this kind of villain goes in this story.

Re: Tinya's pregnancy, apparently by the time she got to Rimbor she was pretty far along, so she must have been putting on weight well before that. Trudy's comment was incredibly catty and might have been based on nothing more than a little puffiness.

Haven't checked my comments on this issue at the time, but I remember not much liking Devil as a villain, and still don't. Too crazy. The comparison to Heath Ledger's Joker is apt. It's a very small group she's assembled; their actions would have had more impact if they'd been the front operatives for a large anti-tech movement. Canary is creepily under her control and doesn't come across as very bright at all; Archer and Lantern are only memorable for their powers.

Nevertheless, the catastrophe is impressive, and it's devastating how quickly things fell apart, with reminders (such as the absence of non-robotic surgeons) that people would be even less prepared for an EMP than we would today.

Agree that Jo, Tinya and Winema come across as real people and act like adults. Also, The Persuader really stands out in this story. You get the impression that he just didn't take a leadership role in the Fatal Five with two powerful personalities battling for control of the group already, but here he shows himself perfectly capable of assuming command - and is accorded the respect of some very dangerous people. Prior to this, he just seemed like more of a hired thug; here, he's a rational leader.

His daughter Lialla is a fascinating addition and her facial tattoo is unusual. She looks a bit mousy, but has she got some determination! What a shame the series didn't continue so we could see her relationship develop with Val and get some backstory on her life.

Crazy Brainy, not a fan. I would have preferred something like his brain started running too fast so he couldn't focus on the problem at hand. At least the crazy didn't last long.

The Legion #37

Released August 11, 2004
DC Comics, Color
23 Pages

For No Better Reason Part Three - A Sense of Confinement
Gail Simone - Writer
Dan Jurgens - Layouts
Andy Smith - Finishes
Sno Cone - Colors
Stephen Wacker - Editor

Synopsis

If you've been wondering about that other Legion mission going on at Karahdia during the events of the last couple issues, we now find a little out about that, as we open with Spark making her way back to the team - they are fighting a species of large bugs that evolve based on some kind of secretion. They have advanced quickly over the last few days to understand advanced technology and try to kill each other. The Legion decides to make themselves a target of the warring factions. She joins Triad, Star Boy, her brother, Kid Quantum, Cosmic Boy and Invisible Kid. Superboy and M'Onel are in reserve in orbit. Chuck briefs Saturn Girl on the situation. Gear gives the quick summary of the situation - over an hour since the tech blackout and the Legion Cadets are there helping the Legion regain control from a group of meta terrorists.

In Metropolis, Trudy diaries what's going on. Brainy seems to have recovered his senses and is getting things back in order as Vi and Ultra Boy fix up the environment. Brainy assigns Cham the duty of finding the metas attacking them with the Cadets. Jo gives some hard news to Tinya about her mother.

At Devil's lair, she tortures Timber Wolf into turning over the access codes to Legion World. Devil and her crew believe the world to be corrupt and the Legionnaires defenders of a corrupt system.

On Oasis One, Karate Kid confronts Piter and the other convicts. In the plaza, Trudy tends to an ailing Gym'll while Vi fixes things and Cham deduces that the Legionnaires - not Chu were the targets. Devil returns to Canary and Dreamer without the information, but Canary notices that Devil's outfit is torn. In the other apartment we see that Brin is still alive, and has a piece of Devil's outfit to trace her scent. Back on the prison, Karate Kid dispatches all the escaping prisoners, including Piter, as the Persuader looks on. Jo and Vi head to the prison and meet Val.

In the plaza, Cham and team are under attack by Lantern and Arrow, when Nightwind calls up her powers and disrupts Arrow's plans. Cham leads them into a diversion and Infectious Lass takes out Arrow and Lantern.

Devil explains her plan to kill all the Legionnaires.


Commentary

The ending of this issue, meaning the reveal of Devil's plans, reminded me of the South Park episode that spawned the "Phase 1 - Collect Underpants, Phase 2 - ???, Phase 3 - Profit" meme. We've seen the Phase 1, and she just told us the Phase 3 - killing the Legionnaires, but the Phase 2 - how you actually end up getting the Legion World codes to then dispatch the Legionnaires, seems incredible vague. Still, we do get more insight into her goals - they are indeed nihilists of a sort who don't believe in the UP, its government, its philosophy or anyone who supports that, which means the Legion. So they want to see it all come down.

This aspect of the story actually resonated quite a bit with me as I read it, as I heard this similar philosophy on display with people I know in 2016 here in the states. And without getting too deep into US politics (that way madness lies), people made certain choices that impacted the entire world because they wanted to "burn it all down." So I see here people who don't care about the implications or repercussions of their actions in order to get what they want, even if what they get is a bagful of nothing only to see others suffer. In other words, it hit home.

It was interesting to see the rest of the team on the other mission, but I'm kind of scratching my head as to why it was there. It just seemed to highlight where everyone else was (we knew) and it just enabled Imra's team to get an idea of what was going on back home. Maybe they'll address that on the next issue. And why wasn't Kinetix on that mission? It's literally a mission about evolution. You'd think Wacker could have said something to Gail and mention that for a rewrite. Also, Spark's (and Garth's) uniforms look different. But its good to see Garth in his normal costume.

But the story moved forward pretty well. The Legionnaires are regaining their footing, Karate Kid really has a stand out moment, and Cham gets to take command of a squad for the first time in a LONG time. Having Nightwind assist and Infectious Lass(!) take out these two pests was fun to watch. Trudy continues to evolve, despite having less to do aside from write in her Journal, and her keeping distance between her and Jo/Tinya was a nice touch. I'm still not convinced Winema's dead.

The Jurgens/Smith art was good - its been growing on me this last issue for sure.

A few other items:

Where the hell is Umbra?

The Canary/Devil relationship seems more than a little controlling and disturbing. But Canary's attention to detail makes me wonder if there's more to her than meets the eye.

So, I love Jurgens' Violet, but I do have to question the idea of having her in such a short dress. I guess it was done before on her date with Chuck, but that was a recreation night, not a formal event.

Nice bit with the L ring imprint on the prisoner's cheek in Val's fight. And Double Header! I'm sure there are more familiar faces here.

Glad to see Vi getting large AND small in the same book for once.

Cute how the Cadets with Cham only two could do anything effective. The unintended consequence of Chuck sending in the kitchen sink to save the day. We have seen other cadets though. I can see why Babbage wouldn't be sent, but I know there are definitely others.

How does Devil know so much about the Karahdian mission?

Grade - B-. The plot moved pretty well and good drawings, but this odd plot of Devil's is making me give it a little side-eye.

#37 . . .

Good point about the unexplained plot conveniences, Gas. Not only does Devil know about the Karahdian mission, but now she apparently knows how to get on Legion World. Did Brin spill the beans before he faked his own death?

Speaking of Brin, that healing factor thing is straight out of Wolverine. I know Wolverine was inspired by the original Timber Wolf, but, so far as I can recall, the healing factor idea originated with Wolvie. Seeing Brin refer to it as such brought things full circle in a contrived way. Of course, if Brin doesn't have some kind of quick and miraculous healing ability, his part in the story would be over, and we'd miss out on his cathartic determination to follow Devil to her lair.

I chalk it up to effective management of tropes. Simone uses a lot of ideas that have been done before, but she uses them really well. I was thrilled when I saw Infectious Lass, even though she hasn't been seen or mentioned before, not even when the cadets were being assembled and sent to earth. This one was for the fans.

Likewise, KK was spotlighted as an action hero last issue, so at first I questioned why we needed another round of him going solo against the prisoners. But it's so well done. His confidence is catchy and provides energy to the scene. And he once again proves what a badass he is by defeating the prisoners before his teammates arrive--and then ordering the rest of the prisoners to search-and-rescue detail. I don't want to know what a demerit from Karate Kid would look like. I suspect the prisoners don't, either.

Everything else rocks, as well. A lot of characters are featured, including Northwind (who was one of those "also-ran" cadets in the preboot), but they all serve the needs of the story yet shine in their own ways. Injured or not, Cham is a leader. Trudy shows growth by refusing to eavesdrop on Jo and Tinya's conversation. Not only do I admire Trudy more, but it's an effective way of keeping us in suspense about Winema's fate.

As for the Karahdian scene, I think it serves to explain why the Legion took so many of its big guns (Superboy. M'Onel, Kid Quantum, Cosmic Boy, the Ranzz twins, etc.) on the mission. They are facing opponents who evolve very quickly and whose war may spread across the galaxy. This is why a skeleton crew was left to defend earth and why those present on earth are so overpowered by the enormity of the crisis.

For me, seeing Ayla and Garth (back in his old costume) fighting side by side only reminded me that we never did get a scene of Ayla reacting to her brother coming back from the dead. Considering how her devotion to him was built up in earlier issues--she even adopted his codename--this is a huge failing of the series as a whole. Not Simone's fault by any means, though.

Good catch about Umbra's absence. This is especially glaring since she's featured on the cover. A casual observer might assume the blue-skinned woman is Devil, which, of course, means the cover makes no sense. (But then Canary doesn't do much in the story but boil tea and notice Devil's torn costume.)

Fat Cramer, above, noticed that Canary doesn't appear too bright, and this is borne out in the story. She's also a lesbian, which is not an issue in and of itself. However, as was pointed out to me several months ago, if the only depiction of people with "non-standard" sexual identities is in a negative light, it can be problematic. From my own experience, it can be a difficult thing for a writer: You want to be inclusive and to treat each character as an individual, but fans will see the characters as representative of themselves, whether the characters are intended as such or not. In the preboot, Ayla and Vi became a couple. It seems unfortunate that the reboot's first (?) foray into such a character is a dimwitted villain.

IMO, what makes the Karate Kid scene work is his line, "but NOW I'm prepared." showing how mental conditioning is key.

Also a big fan of the Nightwind and Infectious Lass bits so far. Both have always been faves of mine, as intriguing Legionnaires who could have done well had they been given a chance on the main team. Also funny to see the other 2 squad members recite their powers (heh) like rote... obviously they have been reciting that before. (I will gloss over the fact that responsible Cham would have known their powers at the onset,before even setting out - this was a nice moment of levity AND set up Infectious Lass' appearance really well after all).

Agree with the little bits - Cham, and Tinya, both shine as leaders. Trudi shows character growth, which makes me like and respect her. Chuck also stands up as a leader, doing his best in a tough situation.

Umbra praising Brainy (I refuse to believe that YOU need tech to control your mind!) while beating him up was so her, and so well done. Also Brainy asserting himself right after.

Also happy to see Lantern get some comeuppance, he was really starting to annoy me. Calling Vi freak especially

Agree with some criticism -

Growing Vi in the tiny dress just seems silly, but ah well.

Part of Cham's body being "broken" also seemed... strange. We've seen Cham get squished before, after all. But it's not a dealbreaker.

It also is a bit of a shame that Canary, a lesbian, is portrayed as very dimwitted.

I am pretty sure that Devil mentions to Canary that he "passed out" before he revealed any secrets. But that still shows a giant hole in this plan. The whole thing has this phase 2 approach of stuff happening the right way - she has to get the codes, then get all the Legionnaires to go through a wonky threshold that she assumes Canary will sabotage correctly. It's just an odd plan.

And regarding Brin, I think you're spot on. Wolverine was a copy of TWolf, but with added claws and healing powers. I want to say advanced healing was given to Brin in v4 at some point, but I can't remember as I'm still midway through the Baxter v3 in my other read. But here in the Reboot, I think this is the first we've seen of this ability. I'm wondering if Gail just figured, "well Brin is basically Logan, so he's healed." Wacker should have had a hand in this, but I'm pretty sure he was checked out for the most part, given the imminent end to this series.


Absolutely. And she herself is one. She recently wrote on Twitter that when she was given this assignment, she wanted to feature her favorites, so as a fan, I appreciated that and will always applaud decently done fan service.


Pretty much agree with all of this, although three issues into the story, I'm honestly wondering if having Winema get shot really adds much to this story other than a sense of jeopardy over her fate. Meaning, does anything else in this story change without that plot element? I'll wait until the last issue before I make a call there.


Well, regarding Karahdia, I think we were already told all that in the prior issues. So I'm not sure seeing them does much other than the bit of seeing Garth - and I completely agree with the Garth/Ayla thing. I wonder if it was a casualty of the editorial change or if Wacker knew that far in advance about the threeboot plans and didn't care other than the quickie panel in Foundations. We also get to see Lyle packing heat in the scene though! An odd choice to have Invisible Kid on the job if he can't use his powers and has to shoot blasters. Still, he is the second smartest person on the team, so there's use there.



Yeah, for reasons that will remain unknown until someone in the creative staff who knows says anything, the reboot seemed to consciously steer as far away from lesbian characters as they possibly could, which was odd given the positive reception of Ayla and Violet. The closest they came was to parallel Kinetix and Violet with those two in one of those timey-wimey odd issues where versions of the Legion converge, but it was done in such a vague way that you couldn't pin it down for sure, and they had portrayed both of those characters interested in men earlier. They teased Lyle as gay, but that never really bore fruit either. They did have two background characters, the Braalian and Titanian ambassadors as gay. So there we are, at the end of the reboot run with the only lesbian character in ten years being negatively portrayed. Ugh.

Yes! I think the cool thing is that this Infectious Lass appears to better focus her powers so that not everyone around her gets sick. I really enjoyed that scene.


Yeah, that REALLY bothered me.


I mean, I'm not going to COMPLAIN necessarily about Vi being in a LBD, but it does seem out of character a little.

For me, the shooting of Winema accomplishes at least four story purposes. First, it creates a sense of uncertainty as this supporting character, whom many of us have loved to hate, may die. As with McCauley's death early in the run, it thrusts us into a place where we're not certain what will happen. Second, we care about Winema because we care about Tinya and we feel something of what the latter's going through. Third, it provides Tinya, Jo, and even Winema with opportunities for character growth (as we've noted in previous comments). And fourth, it gives Cham a clue to the villains' true motives. As he surmises, the president wasn't the target; Tinya--a Legionnaire--was.

As for Karahdia, showing is more powerful than telling. This setup reminds me of the first Fatal Five story, Adventure 352-353, in which most of the Legion was off on some mission leaving only five on Earth to face the Suneater. Here we're actually shown why they can't come back to Earth to help with the crisis. Perhaps the story would have read the same without that scene, but, for me, it heightens Chuck's predicament of being support staff and finding himself in charge of a global emergency.

I loved Val's line about being prepared. My favorite line in that scene is the big-eyed villain's, "You know what. Pinter? Freedom's overrated."

Drura may have more control over her power in this boot, but I noticed that Cham was some distance away when she infected the villains.

Since some of us are following Gail on Twitter, perhaps it would be appropriate to post a link to this portion of the thread. She might enjoy seeing how her story is being analyzed and appreciated all these years later.

Good points - I think it generally doesn't do a ton for the core plot, but it definitely provides Winema, Tinya and Jo a lot of much needed character development, and I'll take it.


I think the best way for me to put this is that its answering a question I wasn't really interested in knowing the answer to. It was similar to the Second Galaxy team - we know they are away, that's fine. It's like the late v2 or v3 stories where you had the monitor board and some folks were away. Sometimes we got to hear from them and sometimes we didn't, and usually that was fine. When it was done well, the other teams would either tie into the primary story or be a new thread. Maybe this will be explored in the final issue.



Agree this was great



Maybe - I have to confess, I'm no master of the medium and more of a consumer/reader of feeds, so its hard to get any visibility there, especially by someone who sends out messages hourly. Who knows, I may be doing it wrong. (in fact, extremely likely!)

I think what this issue, and our comments, show is that we can be more forgiving of things if the payoff and execution are great. We?ve raised a few quibbles with this story that don?t necessarily detract from our overall enjoyment, for example

Oh yeah, as long as there's not a massive crater in one aspect, big delivery in the others goes a long way when done well.

So as I said a bit back - I was obviously not happy with the choice to have Winema forget a natural power she's had most of her life. But that elevated Tinya and Jo. (Finally )

Not to mention, its great to see a new take on these characters. Seeing Vi, Val, Chuck and Gear in more prominent roles is refreshing.

It's similar to the reaction towards DnA after the end of the reboot - people were so hungry for change, quibbles were forgotten.

I think what our comments show is that there was still life left in the reboot Legion, and Gail Simone would have been a good choice to take it to the next step.

+1 million on that, HWW.