Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! Matter-Eater Lad, Bouncing Boy, Chemical King, and Ferro Lad!

Well, along those lines... one of my favourite moments was in the Braal issue of Legion Worlds:

"Welcome aboard the Bouncing Boy."

You've been using words like 'travesty' and 'slap in the face'. And I can understand how it feels like that, but I'm sure that it's not perceived as such on the creators' end. It's probably just an artistic choice.

Oh, and: poor Monstress.

I think the main thing for me is that when you have a cast that's clearly modelled on the Adventure Era team, and you leave out several members, with (at least apparently) no good reason, then of course fans of those characters are going to be upset by their lack of inclusion.

I would say the same thing if Waid had filled the book only with characters introduced after Zero Hour but had left out, say, Kinetix and Gear.

I see no good reason why they couldn't have started the book with twenty-four characters rather than twenty. The absence of these characters is conspicuous.

That said, I certainly think Wildfire, for example, is probably a far more identifiable/key character to the Legion mythos than, for example, Chemical King. The is probably true of Dawnstar or XS, for that matter. I'd also suggest that Matter-Eater Lad, being one of the most recognizable Legionnaires, is more important than a number of the current members of the team, however.

Most of the complaints I see about the team aren't about the roster (which is clearly rooted in the Silver Age), but the characterization or storytelling styles, which are far closer to later incarnations of the team than to the Silver Age.

The problem with MEL and BB is they don't translate as well.

Waid is trying to make the silver age cool again trying to make it "retro cool".

Look at the Mustang car they brought back the "classic" design. How many other car companies have done that?

MEL and BB are not mustangs. They would be whatever obscure low selling ugly car was around back then. In other words they do not have mass appeal...and I can think of a dozen characters that are better.

Matter Eater Lad has one of the worst names I've ever seen...and powers. If they retooled him called him Devourer...gave him energy absorption powers...fine.

Bouncing Boy belongs in a cartoon.

Ferro Lad I think can work personally. But again he's not this popular character. (like WILDFIRE)

Waid is going back to basics...which I hate. But I am glad he isn't bringing things that don't translate well these days. (or do I thank Kitson for that?)

And somehow, even in a thread listing 4 Legionnaires, Condo gets pushed to the curb and barely mentioned! Bah! I say, bah! to all non-Condo proponents!

Condo could be a powerhouse, if the writer understood how truly remarkable his ability to affect chemical reactions can be. All the others have at least been a part of the team in the recent past. Condo was relegated to the role of a journalist that made 2-3 appearances at most since his death.

He deserves a chance to shine.


* See my sig line

Yeah, I can see how Matter-Eater Lad is totally lacking in any appeal. Why would anybody possibly want to read about a guy who hides his disfunctional family from his friends because he's embarrassed by them? Or a guy who takes out the beautiful girl and stands up to her jerk boyfriend at the end of the night only to have her go back to the jerk in the end? I can't imagine anyone possibly relating to that guy.

And what dumb powers. You know, when I think of wussy animals, I think of things like lions, crocodiles, and sharks. Because, after all, what are they going to do, bite you? What a goofy combat strategy that is! Oh, maybe he's a little less wussy than a lion or shark, because he can actually eat anything, plus the whole super-speed aspect, but still...

And I can definitely see why bringing Blok back would be a much better idea. After all, nothing says "kewl" like a big, dumb, lumbering, rock who talks to other rocks! The mass appeal of that character is just so obvious! Oh, and notice how his name is just like "block", only without a "c"? That's just so hip!

EDE, I don't trust you know what hip is. But it's ok cause Waid doesn't either.

This book is finally getting better throwing guys like BB and MEL in there will not help.

Quislet is more entertaining personally on the joke side...and much cooler powers. They can get any member to play the shy teenage geek for guys like you to relate with.

And I would gladly sacrficie my 80's lessr known characters as long as BB and MEL do not show up.

Also if MEL had large canines and would rip the throat out of opponents...I may like him.

New Mutants had a character called Doug Ramsey. He had a useless power...but it wasn't inflating like a beach ball. it worked.

In this series so far Waid has given us a ton of Bouncing Boy's. How many of the extended Legion fans have we seen with useless powers but use courage to make a difference.

I can accept Chuck Taine or Tenzil Kim...as characters but with a tweak to the silly powers. For instance I enjoyed Chuck as the mechanic in the last version of the Legion.

But I guess tweaking their powers to translate better to this generation is a sin or something.

I don't care about power tweaks, I just hope when (not if, if the cartoon gets popular) Chuck and Tenzil come back, they aren't purple or polka-dotted or sentient mildew.

I don't want to go on at length about this, because I've got a Legion Abstract post planned on this and related subjects, but...

I actually do want Bouncing Boy and Chemical King and Matter-Eater Lad and Ferro Lad back in the Legion.

Because I want everybody.

Somehow.

Oh, I agree in essence about wanting everyone back. It seems to me it would've made a lot of sense with Waid starting the story in media res to have somehow acknowledged that all these other characters already exist, even if the series is not going to be focusing on them. Then the series could move on, and not have to spend the next decade waiting for everyone to be re-introduced.

THAT would have been ideal. I want everyone back too, even my personal non-faves like Tellus, because every fan should be able to see their favorites even if they appear infrequently (as would likely have to happen if everyone DID come back).

Legionnaires don't kill.

Please enlighten him, and me, and all other fans of these characters who must be in severe need of re-hip-ucation.

Most of the "hippest," now, whatever characters are from the Golden and Silver Ages originally. Most of their powers have not been changed to appease one fan, nor should they have been.

Luckily, the cartoon producers are intelligent enough to see the value of Bouncing Boy and Matter-Eater Lad (at least) without a need to "translate their powers to this generation."

Actually Matthew and everyone, I'm with you. I want everyone back to. That would be ideal.

(Except Monstress, her I want dead )

Yep, bring 'em all back. (Even Monstress - they can kill her off again.) But bring them back as the good guys - that LSV is getting entirely too crowded!

Chemical King was the least utilized of these four - no revivals after his death. So he is certainly due some panel time, IMO. However, I would really like to see what Mark Waid could do with MEL and BB - and what costumes/looks Barry would give them.

Well it is geared toward children. It is intelligent if it's for that age group. And a comic geared toward children would be great as well.

Sadly there intelligence didn't cover Brainiac 5 who is now a transformer.

But if they were sentient mildew, you know who else would be showing up, Lash?

Matthew E is the sage of this thread. Silver does NOT equal Classic. I do not begrudge others supporting the characters they want to see, but let's bring in the more worthwhile later characters too.

If Matthew is the "sage" then I'm the old "thyme"er

I have no objection to seeing some (or all) of the Legionnaires from more recent version brought into the fold. I think it would be fun for example to see Dawnstar and Shikari interacting as teammates ans Gates would be a great counterpoint to this megalomaniacal version of Brainy XS would do a great deal towards perking things ups and I think she and Quislet together would be lots of fun.

That being said, there would be no Monstress, no Gates, no KQ, no Kinetix, and certainly none of Jorge's "hip" Legionnaires were it not for the CLASSIC Legionnaires that came before them. Condo, Chuck, Tenzil and Andrew all brought a great deal to the table and helped shape the Legion, setting the stage that many others later traversed.

They helped create and maintain the fan base that fought and fought and fought to keep the Legion alive, through all its trials and tribulations in the early years when the editors thought that a kid that bounced or ate rocks was stupid. There would not be a Legion of Super Heores today preparing to celebrate a 50th anniversary were it not for the kids with the stupid powers and their die hard fans. Give them their due.

Hear, hear.

That's the kind of argument that applies to real people who can appreciate such an honour.

Since we're talking about fictional characters, I'm not going to be swayed by it too much. In fact, hold on:

They. They?! The fictional characters did that? The made-up superheroes took effective action, themselves, to create and maintain a fan base? Pull yourself together.

Let's say it like this:

Many people on this board, including you, are unhappy that some of your favourite characters, who are among DC's most venerable characters, aren't currently appearing in any of DC's comics, even the title that is their traditional and logical home.

That's a valid and reasonable complaint.

But let's not overstate the case. The Silver Age Legion, as a group, has received its due respect and then some. Which is something I can't say about all other eras of the Legion.

Well, the ability to detect sarcasm would be a good place to start.

Which, of course, means that you're going to have to look somewhere else for your answers on hip, Lasher.

As to the subject at hand: the contention that somehow characters named "Bouncing Boy" and "Matter-Eater Lad" are somehow not appropriate for a book which features characters named "Princess Projectra" and "Triplicate Girl" may be somewhat shaky.

Real life story: when Lee found out that there was a character named "Triplicate Girl," he shook his head, saying, "What is she, some kind of super-fast secretary? Can she file forms in triplicate faster than a speeding bullet? Jump in-boxes in a single bound? Is she stronger than a stapler?" After thinking about it, I had to agree that, yes, she was kind of a super-secretary (of course this was the reboot 'Triad' persona I was talking about...)

What's this tangent about?

Oh yes. The whole concept is a little bit silly, y'all. That's kind of what keeps it running.