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)

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES # 25: "Revelation"

Credits: Paul Levitz, writer - Greg LaRocque, penciller - Mike DeCarlo, inker - Karen Berger, editor

Plot: At Emerald Empress' sanctuary on the planet Stratus, the new Fatal Five is finally completed by Caress and by the mysterious fifth member. One large team of Legionnaires tracking Sensor Girl makes a stop on Shanghalla where, after a brief confrontation with Mano, they realize who Sensor Girl is. A smaller team of Legionnaires is shot down over Stratus and battles the Fatal Five; when they see Sensor Girl approaching, they think she's joined the Fatal Five, but she's on their side; the real traitor is Mentalla, and after Emerald Empress knocks Sensor Girl down, Sensor Girl lies revealed as Projectra.

Thoughts: Last issue was nearly perfect. This issue is absolutely perfect. LaRocque is now a full-fledged dynamo, without a single awkward or sketchy moment in the whole issue. The action is non-stop and thrilling, and the three-fifths female Fatal Five is a concept that should have been given a lot more mileage. Nice of Levitz to think of fans of the classic Fatal Five and throw in Mano, just as we'd previously been treated to Validus during the destruction of Takron-Galtos a few issues earlier. And now...bring on the climax!

Was the non-human idea all his? I figured that at least some of it was Berger's and/or Levitz's impetus, as well.

Regardless, I miss it.

You might be interested in this thread , which has detailed information on the creation of Tellus. I believe there's a similar one for Quislet, as well.

I don't think anyone ever said Levitz was 'weak on new characters'. What has been said, even by Levitz himself, is that he wasn't so great at creating new *villains*.

And since he pretty much dispatched most of the major LSH foes, that left the opposition pretty thin.

I think Levitz is correct in his self-assessment. Throughout his long tenure, and certainly after The Great Darkness Saga, his focus seemed to be on the Legionnaires themselves: developing relationships, expanding characterization, and evolving the team. He spent a lot of time on minutiae and references to past stories. Villains seemed almost an afterthought.

The Sensor Girl reveal was one of the great moments in Legion history. The set up issues were well paced and the suspense was at its peak when the reveal finally occurred. Having it occur in the midst of a battle with the new Fatal Five added to the suspense. The payoff was great.

I hope that the "Showcase Presents" series will feature the Baxter run. Thanks Stealth for bringing back fond memories; good times, goood times.

Oh, I didn't read that here, ML. Definitely on a few other boards/sites, though.

LEGION OF SUPERHEROES # 26 - "Illusion"

Credits: Paul Levitz, writer - Greg LaRocque, penciller - Mike DeCarlo, inker - Karen Berger, editor

Plot: All-out war between the Legion and the Fatal Five! During a lull, Projectra explains that she agreed with the Great Council of Orando on a journey of penance, with the Sensor Girl identity allowing her to do it incognito, as well as reflecting her new powers of not of projecting illusions but also seeing through others' illusions. In the end, the Legion triumphs, but at the cost of Mentalla's life -- she switches sides mid-battle and dies by the Emerald Empress' hand, but she dies a heroine.

Thoughts: Pure action, artfully mapped out by Levitz and beautifully rendered by LaRocque and DeCarlo. The only thing I would criticize about this issue is the vagueness of Sensor Girl's explanation of her new powers, something which Levitz would never quite make clear over the rest of his run. I love Projectra as Sensor Girl, but Supergirl as Sensor Girl would have defintely been a lot more straightforward.

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES # 27: "Going Home"

Credits: Paul Levitz, writer - Mike DeCarlo, inker - Greg LaRocque (Sensor Girl and Legion HQ sequences), Colleen Doran (Jan & Shvaughn sequence), Shawn MacManus (Mysa sequence), Gene Colan (Gim & Yera sequence), pencillers - Karen Berger, editor

Plot: Sensor Girl turns down the throne of Orando and leaves her home planet for good; Jan & Shvaughn visit Trom and grow even closer; Mysa goes to Zerox and takes part in the ceremony of de-powering Mordru and giving him a shot at redemption; Gim & Yera visit Gim's parents; Sensor Girl is officially re-inducted into the Legion and the entire team, plus Shvaughn, parties.

Thoughts: This issue always makes for bittersweet re-reading, knowing how these plot threads turn out: Sensor Girl never achieved her full potential or established a coherent set of powers, while the Jan/Shvaughn and Mysa/Mordru threads lay inert until TMK, and I didn't like how they turned out, to put it mildly. Plus, it marks the end of what I consider Levitz's most consistent stretch of issues. After this, we'd get some more water-treading (including the introduction of the lame Starfinger II) until the awesome Universo saga, after which Superboy died and the book was ruined forever. LaRocque continued to grow impressively as an artist even while Levitz's writing was in a downward spiral, until he seemed to burn out two-thirds of the way through the Luck Lords issue, and then he dropped out without finishing Conspiracy, and when Giffen returned, well, that was the end of it for me.

Therefore, I've decided that I will continue the saga of the Baxter-era pre-Superboy-death Legion of Super-Heroes in a series of fanfics to be posted here at Legion World in the Bits forum, where the timeline diverges after the election of Polar Boy as leader in issue # 36. I estimate the first "issue" will be posted sometime during the week of Sept. 28 - Oct. 4. So stay tuned.

Mentalla didn't change sides. She was trying to infiltrate the Fatal 5 to prove herself worthy of Legion membership. At least that's how I remember it.

Yeah, me too.

Which puts her in the unfortunate position of proving that the Legion were right to not pick her.

"Watch as I impulsively get myself killed trying to prove myself!"

Interesting that the Cosmic Teams guy decided that the current Legion timeline diverges after # 27.

Three years later, and the current Legion timeline is a mess, especially in relation to the Fatal Five.

But we'll always have the classics to re-read.

I give a happy nod to that sentiment. I'm so unenchanted by this 'fast and loose' mentality that DC plays with its characterization (and continuity) but the old stories still exist and can still thrill me. Nothing can change that.

Cheers, Cobie.

To be fair though, she did act at exactly the moment it would do the most good - though with more experience maybe she could have done it in a way that the Fatal Five wouldn't have realized she was a mole. Ah well...