Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! Clone Banks: Use 'em or Lose 'em?

Should the idea of the clone banks fade forever from the LSH mythos or... would you like to see a LSHverse where cloning deceased teammates was common?

What if there was a wrinkle-- though not one as bad as the clones exploding in 24 hours, a la S/LSH # 206.

What if, for instance, the cloned Legionnaire had to grow from babyhood at a normal rate only? Or something else crazier?

Clone Banks: Great potential or too much potential for disaster?

Disaster, IMO.

While a Transhumanist 'today I choose faces' sort of Legion of the 31st century could indeed be gonzo-fantacular, it's not what the Legion is or ever has been, and I fear change of that extent.

The darn writers and editors have enough trouble trying to keep characters consistent over three to five reboots of varying 'hardness' or 'softness,' the *last* thing we need is for them to be able to use, 'Oh, of course she's a lesbian, she's Shady's clone, remember?' as an excuse for their sloppy characterization.

I choose disaster as well.

While I'm all for the repair of severed limbs, the cloning aspect to me cheapens the aspect of life in general. There has to be some sort of finality to the world, or it becomes meaningless. The countless ressurection of characters in the DC universe in general has made the whole aspect of heroes and courageous deeds somewhat of a joke, as we know somehow the doomed character pops back into existence no matter what happens. Countdown was a crudfest of storytelling, as the inevitable obligatory purge of characters was predictable, if not very heroic.

Reboots, IMO, are large scale cloning of titles, and we've all seen how well that has worked so far.

Clone banks, for sure. It's science fiction. Cloning is nearly science fact, and the scientific reality creates all sorts of interesting questions and moral dilemmas. Where will the sceince of cloning be in a thousand years? It seems like a question that needs to adressed and could lead to some interesting and original storylines if done correctly.

Cloning could very well be the explanation for KK & Una in the Lightning Legion & Countdown.

The clones were just a joke being played on Superboy. You see, the Singularity has already occurred, the Earth has no artificial structures on it, and humanity is now composed of Cold, Inhuman Intellegences. Just before Superboy or Supergirl is scheduled to arrive, a group of Cosplayers take on the form of the Legionnaires, make the Earth look the way Superboy expects it to, and play at being Superheroes...

There may be a story in this... Do the Coluans know?

But how do you get around clone banks cheapening the sacrifices made by the heroes?

You could do the infancy thing, like pointed out earlier. You could have the clones be physically identical but without the memories of their predecessors....suppose you could do a lot, but it would still feel like a cop out to an extent.

Why not have cloning exist, but it's outlawed, like Time Travel?

My preferred interpretation of cloning for not-so-near-future SF:

It exists and is a non-issue. A clone does not share your personality, memories or consciousness. It is merely a younger identical twin, with no physical difference from humans in general. Specifically, it has the same life expectancy, and is not more susceptible to suggestion.

Therefore, a clone is not another of the same character. It could be more closely compared to said character having a child.

(Incidentally, The 6th Day with Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn't a bad piece of SF... as long as you realize that its defining technology wan't cloning, but the copying and transference of thoughts, memories and personalities. That's something hugely morally convoluted. Cloning is simple, and in fact morally irrelevant.)

Cloning was quite apparent in 20/21st century DCU... it's hard to picture it being unethical a thousand years from now.


And about clone banks... why does that remind me of The Island? You mean stem cells, right?

Use 'em once, then lose 'em.

I'd rather know what the Master did with *his* biological samples (remember his plan for the Legionnaires in his space ark?)

I'll bet he stored all sorts of goodies in that beehive hat...

Potential....why? so the legion could use them as their "Life Model Decoy" (yeah from Nick Fury's SHIELD) to trick the enemies.

I actually liked the Wanderers storyline about cloning and why it wasn't a good idea. I think i have that run somewhere.

If clones were used in the way Triplicate Kid suggests, it might make a good story.

But I wouldn't want cloning to be used as a convenient way of bringing back dead characters.