Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! A Look Back: Sensor Girl and the new Fatal Five (v.3, # 14-27)

Yes, it's a Bates/Cockrum story.

Okay, thanks. I've been thinking of filling the Cockrum-era gaps in my collection by getting Volume 10 of the Archives, and there's a good incentive.

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES # 16 -- "Baptism"

Credits: Paul Levitz, writer -- Steve Lightle, penciller -- Bob Smith, inker -- Karen Berger, editor

Plot: While Brainiac 5 mourns Supergirl (recently killed in Crisis on Infinite Earths) and does some soul-searching, the longtime Legion members attend the baptism of Imra and Garth's son Graym, and the new Legion members -- minus Polar Boy, who stays behind on monitor duty -- investigate an explosion and discover it was caused by renegade Science Police officers, who in turn are arrested by the new Legion members.

Thoughts: Although the art is not as good as it could be (largely due to the bad inking), Levitz is back on form here, skillfully juggling three plot threads at the same time and exploring the characters. Particularly good are the scenes where current Legion leader Element Lad is torn between work and play, while his girlfriend Shvaughn Erin just wants him to loosen up and enjoy the festivities. The new members prove their worth, with great banter to boot:


Sensor Girl: "This was no accident."

Quislet: "Whatta deduction! Whatta girl! Quislet knew that already!"

Sensor Girl: "YOU could grow TIRESOME."

and later

Tellus: "Your confidence is quite impressive, Sensor Girl."

Quislet: "Not sensible, though."

Sensor Girl: "I know my abilities, Legionnaires."


In good fiction, it's always the characters that are the most important.

Issue # 16 served as a good vehicle for the new kids. Levitz continues to tease us with Sensor Girl's identity, e.g., her use of something similar to infrared vision. Coupled with the "cover story" of Brainy in mourning, these clues lead fans to the obvious (and erroneous) conclusion that Sensor Girl is Kara -- a clever bait and switch, in retrospect.

This story also introduces (?) Dr. Chaseer, an alien female scientist who expresses her condolences to Brainy. Some fans, including myself, thought she was being introduced as a potential new romance for Brainy. A pity that this was never developed.

Yes. A happy Brainy in a stable relationship would have been a pleasantly surprising evolution. But flaws and all, I still Brainy.

The teases that Sensor Girl was Kara was not a deliberate bait-and-switch at first. She *was* originally Kara Zor-El, as discussed in this interview with artist Steve Lightle .

An excerpt:

"I believe the original idea was that even she didn't know her true identity, and that she had lost all her Kryptonian powers except those pertaining to her senses. This is why, in the early appearances of the character, she appears to have powers consistent with X-ray vision, heat vision, etc. ....

....

"The Kara hints BECAME a red herring, but it was our intention, at the outset, to have Kara in the Sensor Girl costume."

Jeannette Kahn put the kabosh on it, Levitz came up with Plan B (Jeckie), and the rest is history. I sometimes wonder how differently the rest of Levitz's run (and Brainy's character arc) would have been had he been allowed to save that one piece of pre-Crisis history.

I actually think that things might have happened for the best. To me, Projectra was never as interesting as she was when she was Sensor Girl, and if it had really been Supergirl, who knows how she might have been messed up by the rest of the DC writers wanting to use her for this or for that?

"Jeannette Kahn put the kabosh on it, Levitz came up with Plan B (Jeckie), and the rest is history. I sometimes wonder how differently the rest of Levitz's run (and Brainy's character arc) would have been had he been allowed to save that one piece of pre-Crisis history."


KAHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(THINK KIRK IN STAR TREK 2 THE WRATH OF KHAN)

i was one of those who was hoping against hope Sensor Girl was Kara...heck even in the reveal issue they had it seem she was she was blonde on it and Emerald Empress took her mask off! boooooooooo i say to Kahn booooooooooooooo i say...especially when other writers soon thereafter started to reintroduce precrisis elements back to the status quo so soon after Crisis was over. but to contiune... KAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!

Oh, I'm quite sure Kara would've been messed up eventually but her continued existence (for the next year or two at a minimum) might very well have precluded the Pocket Universe Superboy retcon and Matrix Supergirl -- both I see as highly untenable and undesirable.

Though it's certainly not my intention to derail Stealth's thread with the mechanics of dismantling the Legion's Earth 1 legacy, it's very difficult to ignore what's happening behind the scenes of these stories. Once we get past issue #18, the entire shape of their universe begins to change.

I agree Jeckie was stronger and more interesting as Sensor Girl than Projectra -- at first. But as time went on I lost patience with her weeping widow act and wished she had remained on Orando. She was the first of Levitz's trio of "Downer Girls", later joined by Luornu and Shady. As I see it, anyway.

I have to agree that Plan B of Jeckie as Sensor Girl worked out great.

It's strange that, even though Levitz is my favorite Legion writer, I can't stand the way he portrayed my favorite Legion member, Shady, all single-minded devotion to Mon-El and bitchiness toward others. And while I'm not much of a Luornu fan, I think that making her one of the conspirators was a terrible idea, and it also bothers me that the final chapter of Conspiracy set the mold for the series of horrible short hairdos that Luornu has had for the past two decades (I really loved the hairdo that Cockrum gave her back in the day, and I wish it had stayed intact.)

well to be fair he did at least give Shady a personality that was more than she was given b4 he penned her. And with great bitchiness with shady comes great gossiper with Quislet as the Sensor Girl story develops.

I thought having Duo Damsel part of the conspiracy was a great idea. Most the Legionnaires had a reason to love Superboy and get revenge but none more than her (& Mon-El).

Agreed. I've seen people here complain that Levitz made many of the characters 2-dimensional. Well that was a step up from 1 dimensional. And no offense to the great Mr. Shooter but I believe the members back then had a very cookie-cutter similiar personality. Sure some didn't but for the most part I think they did.

When you have 20 something characters it's hard to make each one be three dimensional all the time.

Sensor Girl really came into her own as this arc progressed, and the later issues have some truly memorable scenes. However, I certainly agree that it's a bit flat at the outset - since I didn't really remember most of the issues covered so far. Perhaps it's only in comparison to the later story that these seem pale, or more of a set up for something bigger.

I didn't know they had intended Sensor Girl to be Kara - that certainly provides lots of speculative, alternate timeline fodder!

Getting close to one of my favorite reads in the entire series.

At his point, I really don't think much advantage was being taken of the Baxter. It seemed to me the same art, without pixilated colors.

A "weeping widow" act from Jeckie, I don't recall. Perhaps it will come to me as we read on but I can see it an issue. Who ever gets over the death of a spouse without repercussions on the personality. I certainly don't recall Jeckie ever portrayed as "weak."

Can anyone pinpoint Levitz' rewrite of the character from Kara to Jeckie? Some of the early feats of Sensor Girl I would have difficulty assigning to Kara. Darkening a room on Takron Galtros wasn't it? We've had the discussions of whether it made more sense that Jeckie's projections were physical manipulation of light or command of mental perception. Command of mental perception would be a reasonable explanation for being able to darken a room lit up by the emerald eye as well as many of the other feats presented.


Ultimately, I like the way it panned out and I think even the early issues for me, reread better knowing this is Queen Projectra rather than Supergirl.

I don't care! I still don't like the bitchy personality!

EDIT: Sorry if that reply comes across as...well...bitchy, but she's my favorite character and I have very fixed ideas about how I think she should be and sometimes I get so passionately defensive I lose sight of my social skills.

If she had stayed behind and monitored the rest of the conspirators, MAYBE I could have accepted it. I think it was very foolish of her to go to the end of time with them. There is no way that her power could have any offensive capabilities against the Time Trapper.

And I'll NEVER accept that haircut.

This story arc did the opposite of what a lot of modern-day story arcs do -- it got better and better as it went along, whereas modern arcs are usually great setup, gradual loss of momentum, and lame ending. I often wonder what could possibly be afflicting modern writers? Levitz himself showed symptoms of it when he wrote that JSA arc recently.

Reread "Baptism" last night and a few things surprised me. Rond telling Brainy to pull himself together because people were looking - was this his own embarrassment at his friend's display of emotion or was he playing on Brainy's usual self-consciousness to get him to snap out of the misery?

The other thing was that the baptism was clearly a Christian ceremony, with the crucifix pictured. Later in the series, we see Shady holding a small crucifix on a chain as she cries over the severely injured Mon-el. I hadn't remembered the Ranzz baptism and don't think there was another reference to them being Christians. (Tasmia, of course, went on to be a nun in 5YL - not specified as a Christian order, but I assumed it was based on the earlier scene.)

Dr. Chaseer - I'm sorry she didn't become a regular supporting character. We only saw her a second time and she never made it into 5YL.

its ok stealth we all have our own views of how a character should be and be bitchy all you want...just dont go all stealth wanna breed with you mode ...that's just hurtful!

That took me a second to get. But I got it.

Stealth, oh yeah...Duo Damsel against the Trapper? What in sam hill? That didn't make sense.

At least Duo Damsel's reasons for joining the conspiracy were clear. I never did understand Saturn Girl's involvement.

LOL

Seriously, though, thanks for being understanding. At most other boards my reply would have sparked a flame war.

That was a flame war, Legion World style.

This storyline prompted me to send the first letter I wrote to DC, out of five. I *loved* the mystery aspect of Sensor Girl's ID. I liked that it echoed the Saturn Girl/Element Lad 'conspiracy' way back in his origin issue.

My guess for 'Who is Sensor Girl' was Quantum Queen, based largely on my desire to see more of her, I think.

Her light-control powers could've accomplished a lot of what Sensor Girl did, in my own defense.

I wonder-- could Jeckie's new costume have been an equivalent to 'widow's weeds'?