Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Twenty Questions about Legion Lost #1

1. Granted I'm old-school enough to balk at Timber Wolf having tracking powers at all, but is it even physically possible to smell DNA?

2. So, it's official, Tyroc no longer needs to yell to activate his powers?

3. If not to set up his eventual miraculous return, what was the purpose of Gates' initial disappearance and "What's wrong with me?" reemergence on the exact spot where the salvage team happened to be?

4. Pretty gruesome seeing Yera cut in two, but don't we have at least one precedent (late Adventure era?) of Cham being able to make with the Arms-Fall-Off Boy routine?

5. Was Yera's reference to an "acting gig at the Time Institute" meant to imply a temporary assignment, or a position in her old vocation? If the latter, for what purpose would the Time Institute need an actress?

6. Why did all the 31st-century tech malfunction *except* the tools used to repair the Time Bubble?

7. Did anyone else think that many word balloons were oddly place, configured or, in some case, pointed at the entirely wrong person?

8. Did anyone else find some of the dialogue (especially right after the crash landing) to be oddly clunky, as people were forced to say unnatural sounding things in order to convey information to the reader? Too bad narrative captions are such a lost art, eh?

9. Why is the name Alastor sticking out like a neon Easter Egg in my mind? Is that the real name of the reject who could make feathers heavy, or the dude with the mind-helmet who brought Hitler et. al. to the 30th century?

10. Is "Flashpoint Breakwall" another way of saying "Iron Curtain of Time?"

11. Granted the Time Bubble must travel through time AND space in order to get to where the Earth was 1,000 years in the past, but any particular reason the Legion would pop out in Minnesota?

12. Is this the first time we've seen a Shikari-like visualization of Dawnstar's powers?

13. How, I wonder, does Tyroc manipulate sound waves in a way that enables him to fly?

14. If Tyroc can channel sound waves for flight like Iron Man's repulser rays, doesn't it stand to reason that he could have knocked Timber Wolf on his ass, if he really wanted to stop him from going off alone?

15. If all that 31st century tech is failing, shouldn't Tellus be flopping around on the ground like a beached flounder? Or did he lose the gills when he grew fingers?

16. Did anyone spot Lori Morning... I mean, the Time Trapper... I mean the hooded girl from Flashpoint #5 that was in all the DCnU Week 1 books?

17. Why is Yera the only person other than Dawnstar to be affected by our dirty air? Having been raised on the radioactive wasteland that is Durla, shouldn't she be less susceptible than, say, Timber Wolf, who's nose is sensitive enough to smell DNA?

18. Speaking of failing 31st-century tech, containment suit anyone?

19. Did they Legionnaires travel through time at all on the attempted return trip?

20. Is this the first time we've seen Tyroc control sound volume?

9. You're thinking of Alaktor, who stole a time bubble and recruited Hitler, etc. The names do sound suspiciously close.

INSERT SPERM JOKE

4. Pretty gruesome seeing Yera cut in two, but don't we have at least one precedent (late Adventure era?) of Cham being able to make with the Arms-Fall-Off Boy routine?

ADVENTURE #376 Cham separates a piece of himself to form a foe's battle hammer.
In the threeboot, Brainy rather savagely hacks off Cham's arm after having him mimic a weapon.

How much time has passed between Legion #16 and LL#1? Enough for Tyroc to grow a new head of hair at least.

Or here.

I picked this one up, flipped through it and put it back ...

In particular, the reference to 'flashpoint' turned me off since DC has said over and over ad nauseum that there is not going back to the previous continuity, there are no trap doors, no way back, it's an entire reboot .... and then we get a reference to the 'flashpoint wall' in Legion Lost #1.

maybe it's a slightly different 'flashpoint wall' ... maybe I don't care.

I flipped through a couple times looking for some story reason to buy it and decided there's a lot else I'd like more, and my loyalty to the Legion was misplaced.

If i hear god buzz I might pick up the trade.

So in your theology, the Supreme Being is an insect?

Answers to innumerable questions:

1.Granted I'm old-school enough to balk at Timber Wolf having tracking powers at all, but is it even physically possible to smell DNA?

A: No, it is not possible to smell DNA. It is possible to smell the by-products of the disintegration of unique proteins which a particular configuration of DNA produces.

2. So, it's official, Tyroc no longer needs to yell to activate his powers?

A: Apparently. Oh, was that rhetorical?

6. Why did all the 31st-century tech malfunction *except* the tools used to repair the Time Bubble?
15. If all that 31st century tech is failing, shouldn't Tellus be flopping around on the ground like a beached flounder? Or did he lose the gills when he grew fingers?
18. Speaking of failing 31st-century tech, containment suit anyone?

A: 31st-century technology has a special fail-safe guarantee: it is designed to fail only in the service of the narrative.
The real question is, where is Tellus going to recharge the 31st-century batteries in his apparatus?

10. Is "Flashpoint Breakwall" another way of saying "Iron Curtain of Time?"

A: No, it’s another way of saying “arbitrary plot device”.

11. Granted the Time Bubble must travel through time AND space in order to get to where the Earth was 1,000 years in the past, but any particular reason the Legion would pop out in Minnesota?

Well, everything has to pop out somewhere. At least it wasn’t at the bottom of the Marianas Trench.

13. How, I wonder, does Tyroc manipulate sound waves in a way that enables him to fly?
14. If Tyroc can channel sound waves for flight like Iron Man's repulser rays, doesn't it stand to reason that he could have knocked Timber Wolf on his ass, if he really wanted to stop him from going off alone?
20. Is this the first time we've seen Tyroc control sound volume?

A:Tyroc’s powers have been completely rewritten. Apparently, he now has the power to generally control sound, and the Magic Shouts are un-history.

16. Did anyone spot Lori Morning... I mean, the Time Trapper... I mean the hooded girl from Flashpoint #5 that was in all the DCnU Week 1 books?

A: I think that’s Barry Allen’s mom, but what do I know: I’m not DC’s editorial staff.

17. Why is Yera the only person other than Dawnstar to be affected by our dirty air? Having been raised on the radioactive wasteland that is Durla, shouldn't she be less susceptible than, say, Timber Wolf, who's nose is sensitive enough to smell DNA?

[i] A: People who visit foreign countries often get ill, usually from some inflammatory disorder of the intestines. The problem is not that the water there is more unclean than at home, but that it contains different toxins and bacteria than they are used to. (For example, Japanese who visit the U.S. are wise to drink only boiled water; Americans who visit Japan are wise to drink only boiled water.) On the other hand, some people are not affected. (For example, when I was in college, I went to Tijuana almost every weekend, ate and drank absolutely deplorable stuff, and never got ill.) Luck of the draw.

Yes.

And also a way to tie it in with Flashpoint.


BTW Tom, happy belated birthday!

11. Granted the Time Bubble must travel through time AND space in order to get to where the Earth was 1,000 years in the past, but any particular reason the Legion would pop out in Minnesota?

Presumably because they were tracking Alastor and that is where he was. Why he was in Minnesota, I don't know.

Theory - When time travelling, it's best to dress up like / act like the natives of the new time period.

Hiring a professional actress with very specific skills and experience in long-term impersonation to tutor time-travelling researchers in how to convincingly act like residents of post-revolutionary France or Han dynasty China or courtiers in the court of Ptolemy, seems like a sensible idea.

We could chalk Tellus' breathing apparatus Wildfire's containment suit up to writer's need. It wouldn't be much fun for us to read about two Legionnaires just flopping around/ floating aimlessly.

Alternatively, not all the tech failed outright and these two were lucky enough theirs remained.

Or, some 30th century geniuses modified the tech so they would be as simple as possible?

The X-Men's Banshee and Siryn could do that too. As to how, how do any of these powered heroes really fly, anyway?

Re Tyroc repulsor rays, you do have a point. If Tyroc HAD reacted quickly enough, he may have been able to have caught Brin. But they had just recovered from a crash, so maybe Tyroc needed a little time to get his bearings.

Um, the reference to an "acting gig at the Time Institute" is probably referring to her introduction as a Violet impostor.

Wow! Those are good points. Also what did XS's thing in Adventure have anything to do with anything?

On Yera's reference to an acting gig at the Time Institute: I assumed that the Legion had found out Alastor was up to some kind of shenanigan there and she was sent in undercover to ferret him out. He must have gotten his time bubble from somewhere....

On Tyroc's powers: Unfortunately I guess the days of Tyroc having a completely unique power are done and gone, so he can now be DC's Banshee/Siryn. I don't really like it but considering he is getting more use and a lot more respect now than he ever has, I'm willing to tolerate it.

On only SOME of the 31st century tech failing: this was the one area I think was just too heavy-handed as a plot device. The time bubble malfunctioning because of Iron Wall of Flashpoint, okay, I can live with that.....the flight rings and transuits not working doesn't make any sense to me at all especially when the Legion have been back into the past a zillion times in their own history with nothing like this ever occurring previously. And it's just too convenient that the only things that didn't malfunction just happen to be the two pieces of equipment keeping Tellus and Wildfire alive and well.

Dawnstar and Yera's sickness: Again, just an assumption on my part, but I figured this was the effect of the pathogen and they just don't know it yet.

Over in the other Legion title, one of the characters mentioned Superman by name, and there was a stealthy Legion mention in Action #1, so we know that at least Clark's history with the Legion still exists in some form. I am gonna assume Supergirl's does too. It will be interesting to see what justification is used for the LL team to not go running to Clark and Kara for help - I guess we may be back to Kara not having met the LSH yet if she has only just come to Earth in this continuity, but why wouldn't the team go to Clark when he's right there?

Gates also said "What the Crock is wrong with me?", indicating that his (its?) powers weren't working properly, either. The pathogen, too?

Re Tyroc's powers, I agree that his old powers were more unique, but I like the current powerset. It's more consistent and less deus ex machina.

I really tried not to respond to this (and almost made it a month), but:

But reading about 2 Legionnaires (appearently) being cut in half and/or blown-up is a Happy Time then?

Only if you think that's what my post implied.

In hindsight, I should have said - it would have taken too long to move the story along if Tellus were just flopping around gasping for air, and Wildfire were just floating along as a disembodied ball of energy.

Sorry, my post sounded harsher on the screen than it did in my head. I mean in no way to imply that you would enjoy the death of any Legionnaire, it was more a critisism of the writer. Of course, I would prefer that none of them died. However, if 2 characters had to be killed in the very first issue then Tellus and Wildfire would have made better choices from a plot situation point of view (failure of technology)than either Gates or Yera were. Again, my appologies if I offended.

Technically Gates & Chameleon Girl are not dead. They are just missing. And Gates was opening his warp hole just as the TIme Bubble was entering the time stream. Therefore Gates & Chameleon Girl might just be lost in time.

Thanks, I actually thought that's what your post meant. That's why I edited my original reply - I realized you probably didn't mean to insinuate anything about me wanting to see beloved Legionnaires die.

Apology accepted, and apologies from me too if I reacted poorly.

You have a good point on Tellus and Wildfire being more... "practical" victims for killing off.

Like Quis says above though, I don't believe they're dead YET. There's always hope where time travel and teleportation are involved.

But if Gates and Yera do end up dead, well... I'll be one of the first to protest!

I respect that you're so passionate in protesting character deaths, and your willingness to apologize too.

First: Thanks! No harm no foul as long as we now both understand where the other one was coming from.
Second: I also kind of doubt that they are actually dead, even with the 'dna' evidence. However I do believe we were ment to think they are dead and that kind of writing for the shock value of it is only slightly better than actually killing them off. It was so random. Life is random enough and sometimes downright depressing. I want my heroes to entertain me and astound me with their brilient solutions. I want my heroes Larger-than-Life, technocolor gods that always prevail in the end and if one should happen to die then it means something. And yes, I realize that in this day and age that I am asking too much. I want it any way and will always be disappointed when the book fails to deliver it.

This is something from the Silver Age I miss terribly, when a cover would show something terrible happening, and it would all turn out to be a clever trick the heroes were playing on the villains, pretending that they'd been killed or beaten or whatever.

I certainly wouldn't want that to *always* be the case, but, gosh, I sure would like my heroes to *occasionally* do something clever or competent, and not consistently fail to save people (or entire planets!).

I'm also very much not a fan of what I call 'undeserved victories.' I don't want the hero to win because he suddenly started doing in the 11th hour what he should have done in the first 30 minutes, or because 'he got real angry' after some terrible loss, and, with no change in tactics or powers, suddenly beat up the unbeatable foe. That feels cheap to me, and shows up all the time in media. (Latter seasons of Buffy were famous for that. After a bunch of people she was supposed to protect got killed, because she wasn't doing her job, she'd get all angry and suddenly punch to death someone who had soundly kicked her butt earlier, as if she had to see a few secondary characters or innocent bystanders die before she felt like fighting.)

Heroes should have saved Titan. Should have saved Earth from the 'terrorforming' (and the blight, and the roboticans). Should have saved Rond Vidar (who, as expected, was never mentioned again, never recalled fondly by his friends or teammates, despite an entire arc involving a green lantern ring and the search for a new green lantern!), instead of leaving him to face Mordru, Universo, the Legion of Super-Villains, League of Super-Assasins *and* Superboy Prime, alone.

I don't mind the occasional shocking twist, or heroic death, but senseless deaths (or the 'shocking' destruction of entire worlds) just make the heroes look like chumps.

I want to see the *villains* look like chumps, and the heroes, with their 12th level intelligences and their precognitive hotties and their experience and their training behind them, *not* be constantly playing defensive and struggling to keep up with the always-ahead-of-them bad-guys.

Is it impossible to craft a storyarc where the heroes, at the end, can call it an unvarnished 'win,' and where they haven't lost a teammate, watched a bunch of bystanders die, had an entire planet blown up, or even had their entire universe fade from existence?

Does every victory have to be pyrrhic?

Indeed.