Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! Wow!!! Legion #27!!! (SPOILERS)

1. If it was true that he had such a severe limitatiation on his internalised field, surely he would wear the belt AS WELL AS having it, and keep the interalised field for immediate danger or more delicate situations (or when he wanst to punch someone from a distance )
2. He creates those little discs all the time - surely B5 could have enclosed the bomb, even if it enclosed him too, then created a secondary, linear barrier WITHIN the field (think as when two soap bubbles stick together, with Brainy in one and the bomb in the other)

Nah - I still think he was just too wiped from holding the 'Tube open...

well i got my copy today [ 2 of them !!! ]

and i it !!! loads going on ..... and i can't wait to find out more about this time anomaly from 10 years in the past ....

i actually think we may be reading too much into Brainy giving Lyle a kiss !!! it did look like a friend happy to see his friend return from certain danger !!!

although i'm not saying it wouldn't be cool if the storyline grew from this kiss !!!

Matthew.

This was the first time that I recall having seen him use the field offensively, such as for punching. Has he done it before? I thought it was a pretty neat extension of his power here. It seemed nice, even somehow right, to see Brainy on the front lines so to speak, taking the battle to the enemy.

Your comment that Brainy would have kept his belt if there were any limitations on his natural power brings to mind another question. Why, in all of the Legion's many histories, not make his force-field belt available to all members? It seems to me that there are any number of dead Legionnaires who might have benefinted from a standard issue personal force field.

Does he? I don't recall seeing this effect before. I "read: it not as seperate discs of force, but as a straight on view of his full field, mostly invisble except for areas of disturbance around the impacts on it.

Both were shown in Legion 1 at the very least. (and he actually created a GL-style "fist" construct in there to do the punching)

I know - I seem to recall him saying something about it was "too complicated" for others to work before, but at the very least you'd think he could make a cut-down version that protected the person wearing it, if not a full version.

As interesting as it might be to contemplate otherwise, I do think this is probably what was intended.

I think Brainy looked a little embarrassed afterward simply because he'd been so expressive with his emotions -- not specifically because of the particular way in which he'd been expressive.

Regardless, I really liked the scene, as well as Brainy and Lyle's earlier interactions in the issue. I've never liked the postboot Lyle before this -- ever since he made fun of Brainy's name way back when (with a reference to Darkseid, I believe! ). But, in the span of one issue, their relationship seems to have really grown into something believable -- something more than just petty jealousies and snide bickering.

I've come to believe that Brainy and Lyle actually do respect and (more importantly) trust each other, and that has made both characters much richer and more likable, to boot.

Now that the shocks worn off, I agree with Stu's assessment. Actually, I hope we're reading to much into it. I like seeing relationships develop slowly, and I can't see Brainy jumping into a relationship. Also, Brainy's so unexpressive that that kiss on the cheek is getting close to out of character, but I like to see character growth, so its aceptable.

I thought Brainy's kiss was a nifty little plot "twist", but I hope nothing comes out of it.

In regard to relationships in general, I like the way the interpersonal relationships are getting a little more time (first Jo & Tinya, more recently Thom and Dreamer, Imra and Jan/Garth and Cos and Kid Quantum). I had thought this was one of the few areas the writing had been lacking, and I'm glad to see it addressed. I vote for more of it, particularly with the "quieter" Legionnaires, and maybe some cross dating of members from their traditional dating partners (such as Chuck and Vi, etc).

About Brainy's force field belt being distributed to other members, I would hope the Legionnaires would remember Kid Quantum 1 and be a little jaded to relying upon mechanical means in combat. The flight rings are enough.

Throw in a "the minerals used to power this force field belt are extremely rare" and you've got a great explanation why force field belts aren't commonplace!

Guys, in a comic book published by a major comics publisher in the United States in 2004, there's absolutely no reason for a male to kiss another male on the cheek unless there's subtext. I'm not saying I expect Brainy to jump into bed with Lyle next issue, or 20 issues from now. I think they're laying the grounds for a new romance that will take time to develop, myself. Or maybe something else.

It's really nice that everyone thinks that the 30'th century is liberated enough that male best friends can go around pecking each other on the cheek and no one gives a second thought. Gives me hope for the future of the world.

Let's look. Brainy kissed Lyle on the cheek in relief that he's okay. Lyle gets a stunned look on his face. Next panel. Brainy looks flustered, and a little nervous that everyone saw that. And Lyle's glowing.

There's no reason for this sequence in this story if the writers aren't planning on doing something with it. It's totally extraneous, useless nonsense otherwise. Especially since we've never seen Brainy so much as hug another person in his life. We'll see, but I'm not as ready to dismiss this as other people.

I'm glad you pointed this out, and I think you've explained PERFECTLY why the force field isn't standard Legion equipment. Or at least made a plausible enough explanation so that me disbelief can remain happily suspended.

A few months back during the Universo story arc I posted a message about how I thought the Legion title was in the spotlight at DC Comics in regard to performance/sales. The current storyline and efforts spent on the Legion by DC reinforce my beliefs.

DC is throwing everything they can into making the Legion a top selling title. They are using the 45th anniversary of the creation of the team as a springboard to generate a much higher level of readership. I am concerned that if this effort falls short (the results would be determined by next summer) that there could be many changes to the book, or cancellation altogether.

1) The Legion has had a top notch writing team for a few years now, and recently has had a top art team to match. The writing team saved the title from cancellation. The art team was added to make the book extra special to increase sales.
2) The change of masthead earlier in the year and the unique style of the cover art was designed to standout against other titles on the shelf.
3) The storylines have been thinned out a little, particularly for the Universo storyline, to attract new readers - those readers who historically have complained about complicated Legion plots and numerous characters.
4) "New" members like Karate Kid, Ferro, and a changed Sensor have been brought in, so new readers can join in on the ground floor with them. Now add Kon-El Superboy to this list.
5) Familiar characters from the DC Universe have been used in recent stories - the use of familiar villians Ra's al Ghul and Darkseid, and heroes Superboy and the dark servants of JLA members are more examples of promoting the title with recognizable characters.
6) The extra Secret Origins issue is a Legion 101 course for novice readers to make the transition to the current Legion easy.

All this high energy put into the Legion title to me adds up to high expectations of return by DC for the Legion to attract a crowd. Hopefully it will and the effort will have been beneficial to all. However, if sales have not improved by next summer, DC won't have any business reason not to cut bait and concentrate on other,more lucrative titles.

Hmm, all this talk about brainy and IK.

Now keep in mind, even though I am part of the art team on the book, I have NO CLUE about future script details..., so exactly what DnA have planned is beyond me, therefore what I am about to say is strictly personal opinion.

My point of view is that just because Brainy kissed IK, doesn't me there is subtext there at all. I view it as a plutonic, albeit emotional, moment between two comrades.

Lets face it, if I though I lost one of my best friends in a boom tube, I would probably do the same thing upon finding them.

Take into consideration how, shall we say, "emotionally repressed" Brainy is too, he snapped during a moment of joy and overreacted by planting one on IK. Think about the rare occaisions Spock of Star Trek fame has subtly broken character in much the same manner (smiling and hugging Kirk after thinking he was dead).

Just my two cents, of course, I could be completely wrong,, and that little peck on the cheek could be laying the groundwork for something else... time will tell

KP, I said almost exactly the same thing.

i do hope that you are right !!! and i know what you mean about, "showing" the kiss, if it's not leading anywhere, then what's the point in showing it ???

maybe DnA are just trying to "tease" us !!! they may have put it in, just to see our reactions !!!

i hope they do run with it, though !!! it would give the team a new dynamic ......

Matthew.

While I think it's obvious the kiss is meant to mean something, there are other things it could be signalling. People were commenting last issue about how Brainy seemed to be acting slightly out of character. This could easily be a manifestation of that (and, remember, DnA are the masters of deceiving people as to what's going on, so I'm not counting much that happens in this story as canonical until we get to the very end...). Or it could simply be a function of the fact that someone who's as emotionally repressed as Brainy may have trouble expressing their emotions in the most appropriate manner when they finally release them. What if Brainy didn't intend anything romantic by it at all, but Lyle interprets it as that?

Incidentally, Lyle is probably the most "kissed-on-the-cheek" Legionnaire since the reboot.

I seem to think of DnA as more, masters of dropping the ball. Maybe this one will bounce somewhere even if not where many seem to desire.

Umbra and Brainy are two of the more reserved members, yet are both shown in the same context. While I find kind of meaningless, statements that putting something in a comic, particularly a DnA comic, means that that something actually means something, the kisses could still possibly mean something.

They could mean there are some hypertime distortions. They could mean that there have been some big time editing errors which will be blamed on hypertime distortions. They could mean that Olivier is secretly writing the book and everyone has gone french. They could mean something that DnA will finally get around to explaining in their never to be published "last story."

However one thing I do not want to stoop to is stepping on somebodies fantasy about a fantasy book. If someone gets more enjoyment out of visualizing romantic liasons between their favorite characters, go for it. You paid, enjoy it.

Personally, I prefer to fantasize about the Legion members not being involved in such liasons because if I don't then I will have to fantasize that they were actually well written.

Okay, now I have to study what I have written for awhile to see if I made any sense to myself. Well, at least I could always fantasize that I did.

Oh, and I loved the "batinage" in this issue!

I agree with whoever said they had a nagging feeling that all the time blips must be leading to something. Within this storyline, it does seem like we're getting lots of little "homeages" to previous Legion ideas. I wonder if things are going to get all shaken up and changed. We'll be left to wonder what ever would have happened if Brainy and Lyle had followed up on that little kiss. What would have happened if Superboy had stayed with the Legion? What would have become of Garth? Etc, etc...

random thoughts:
-- THE KISS: Definitely interesting. Could just be Brainy breaking his detached facade (the fact that Lyle essentially placed his fate in Brainy's hands when he jumped into the tube would give Brainy more reason to be emotional about his safety), could be the start of something big. The way it's presented, I could see it either way.
-- *Great* shot of WILDFIRE and the Legion when they rescue Lyle!
-- Kid Q's not just having time blips, she's hallucinating? I can't imagine the significance of the snow and who were the silhouettes? Kinda looked like Superboy, Kid Q and maybe Garth and Thom (?) taking on Darkseid. And what were the other two shapes? Superman and ... Time Trapper? Spectre? (actually, it looks more like a helmet than a hood, but I can't place the shape...
-- Kinda cool to see Ferro standing up to Coz -- he's come a long way from calling them all "sir" and "ma'am".
-- DnA have really stepped things up this storyarc; having several locations of action both big and small, face-time for plenty of Legionnaires and an interesting cosmic villain story as well as a couple of subplots. Great art by Batsita as well though I think he should make at least some of the members less thin.

I wanted to comment on the art, too. I even think I'll start a seperate thread about it because I am very pleased. I'll echo what you've said about body types, Drake. Jaz has just lost too much weight! She *must* be messed up.

bleech bleech bleech

It was so out of character (even of the character that Abnett and Lanning have shown) to have Brainiac 5 kissing anyone.

I definitely can't wait until new writers take over.

There, I've said it and I am not sorry.

As well Umbra. I think that's the point of the story. It's out of character for somewhat to get blasted by a laser gun, but sometimes the story calls for that.

Now if nothing is ever given to explain this out of character behavior (assuming that it was and is), then I will also be disappointed.

I'm sorry - a very strong case could be made otherwise. People have been supposing this for LONG while.

Don't let your personal feelings cloud the facts here.

Are you saying people have been supposing that Brainy is attracted to Lyle? What are the facts that make this "very strong" case (and if it's supposition, are they really "facts"?)? I'm curious, because I've missed it. If you're referring to Lyle, it's no secret PMS intended to make Lyle gay but they never stated it explicitly in the comic.

It seems to me a lot of personal feelings are making a lot more of this kiss than has been presented. Does that mean it's wrong? No, I think DnA swung the door open for interpretation and are leaving things hanging at the moment. I could see them going either way on it, but I think things are ambiguous at the moment. They've teased us with the possibility, but haven't stated what it really means.

I just hope they don't drag it out as long as they have the repercussions of the Jo/Imra kiss (remember that?).

I finally got to see the issue this weekend. The kiss is so sweet. I'm sure that there are a million reasons that could be thought of for why this is not gay kiss but I certainly would not be dissapointed if this is the real thing. I'm actually surprised that no other Legionnaire seemed surprised at Brainys emotional outburst. As far as Brainy just being friendly goes I really can't see it. This is Brainy we are talking about. I just can't believe he would do that out of friendliess and even if he did, why the kiss. He could have just cuddled him.

As far as the time anomolies go that KQ is experiencing I do wonder if Retro Boy (was that his name?) is connected in someway.

That's just it. There was no lead up to this and I doubt that this will be "developed". At least with the Kid Quantum/Umber kiss/hug, we knew that part of Kid Quantum's nature was to care about her teammates and the fact that a teammate who lost her powers and just came back from an ordeal to regain them makes the hug/kiss believable to me.

Part of Brainiac 5's nature is that he is logical and tries to behave in a logical, rational, unemotional manner. He has been shown to be thrown by emotions. But nothing indicates that he would behave in so openly an emotional manner.

Yes, unexpected things can and should happen in a story. But I don't think that Abnett & Lanning properly develop a story to make unexpected things believable and I don't think they do good follow-up.