Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Legion of Super-Heroes #8 Preview (SPOILERS)

Obviously, Jaquaans have the ability to manifest either one or two extra arms growing out of their backs.

And comparing Dr. Gym'll with Variable Lad, it is also obvious that Jaquaan's bodies (although not their heads) decrease in height as they grow older.

In LSH #284 (Feb., 1982) Gym'll was drawn by Broderick with four arms. I think that was his first appearance. Perhaps he occationally hides an arm so less is expected of him...?

REPOST:

The editor needs to make a few decissions about what is right and wrong in the portrayals of certain characters, make sure the artist and colorist get the memo and make sure the portrayal is consistent. Or, they need to fire the lot of them from the editor on down and get people that can do the job right.

Like most humans, asymmetry bugs me. Three arms is just *weird!* So I want Gym'll to have three arms, because it makes him more alien, to my eyes, than a boring old four-armed dude.

I wonder how Gym'll sleeps with that third arm coming out of his back.

But, depending on where the 'third' arm is placed, balance would be terribly effected by the lack of symmetry.
My washer goes crazy when that happens.

And I prefer asymmetry,
which isn't really 'a lack of balance' (the dictionary says it's a lack of symmetry, sigh) but balance achieved using differing elements, imo.
It's hard to do successfully and that's why peopke find it uncomfortable.

But for bodies, it's even trickier to pull off.
Perhaps, in Gym'll's species, an arm is lost either through regular shedding or during some species ritual, say, like mating.

His moods might be affected during the regrowing period or during the time of only 3 arms or the opposite, during the time of 4 arms.

I wonder that myself.

Is it in the middle of his back?
Generally speaking, if he has it in the middle of his back he should be more radially designed.
Is the arm functional?
Does he have vision back there?
What's it used for?
sigh

It's his butt-wiping arm!!

Ha!

His spine must be more centrally located in his body, to make room for the arm-attachment stuff. And, to be consistently trilaterally symmetrical, he should have three legs!

Wow. He'd be a one-man three-legged race!

I like Candle's idea about Dr Gym'll...maybe his species just periodically discard and regrow limbs? Or if that's too random, maybe it's their way of dealing with disease/infection? If a limb gets so sick that it causes a substantial risk to the rest of the body, it falls off and they grow a new healthy one - but he may be predisposed to having certain issues (eg: cancerous growths) in that one arm which keeps falling off?

It would help explain why he's so cranky all the time!

The third arm may function a bit like a prehensile tail. Maybe his ancestors were tree dwelling and used it to hang from branches? It would also be useful for helping to carry babies on one's back. Not to mention that I bet he's got really good scratching coverage.

THAT would certainly come in handy!
:groan:

I thought of a prehensile tail, also, but it seems a little too high up.
But, maybe on an alien species.

I agree, that if it's actually an arm, he should have 3 legs.

Are there any vertebrates on Earth with an odd number of appendages?

Even insects like Gates, have matched sets.

Maybe it's just a pseudo arm, b. wiping aside.
lol

I was gonna say starfish, but then I noticed you specified vertebrates. I don't think there are any asymmetrical vertebrates...

But hey, he's not from Earth. Maybe his species evolved from something arboreal, and that was the arm that they used to cling from a branch, while the other arms gathered fruit or held babies or clutched sticks to beat back the ground-bound predators leaping up at them.

Or, also in a monkey vein, maybe that's his poop-throwing arm!

LOL
Yeah, or maybe his ancestors played around with genetics so the people around today are the by-products of some experiments gone wrong!

Larry Niven's "Pierson's Puppeteers" have an oddball semi-symmetry similar to Jaquaans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierson%27s_Puppeteers

Perhaps he is in some way related to Arm Fall Off Boy. It must take a lot of concentration to keep all four attached at once. I would imagine a "Plorp" every time he really has to focus on something else. This missing arm is on the floor awaiting pick up.

Octopuses have a limb called a hectocotylus that breaks off when they are done with it. Some species grow a new one each year, so the good doctor's appendage count might depend on his social calendar...

He's got four arms right now 'cause he ain't gettin' any?

Ew.
<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text"> A race that reproduces by fisting? </span></span>

Indeed.

<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text"> For other races, merely foreplay.</span></span>

Until the arm drops off. Then it's hentai horrorshow.

This is the best scenario I have come up with:

In an untold story, in order to foil an assassination plot (again) R.J. Brande hides in plain sight among the Legion themselves after being inducted as the mysterious "Cowl Kid". Equipped with a transuit, flight ring, and one of Brainiac-5's shield-belts, in an ironic twist, he captures the assassin himself while the Legion is looking the other way. Now that Brande has shuffled off this mortal coil, a statue of "Cowl Kid" graces the hall of heroes.

I think the super-fatass ray accidentally hit the statue of Reflecto. Then Ultra Boy put a cowl over his head out of vanity.

Jeepers! Retroboot Kid Quantum sure looks weird!

This calls for a new poll, I should think.

Personally, I'm splitting my vote between Eltro Gand and a version of Elvo (Elvar) of the original Wanderers.

:

Thanks to you and Krypton Kid, I'm never going to be able to read about the good Doctor from now on without hearing him as Zoidberg from Futurama.

Yeah, sorry for the confusion. I was thinking of the collected Action Comics stuff. I've read a few of the scans and know the basic story outline, but that's all. But I know that it wasn't Levitz' writing it. I guess it's just that he sees the character differently.

It confuses me that EM seems so raw and not inclined to think as a group member when he already led a group in the past. It just seems a little strange to me. Even if he doesn't like most of the people around him, he must have some clue as to how to get along with other people to accomplish goals. I guess... I don't expect a slick diplomat but I don't expect him to be quite like this, either.

Oh, well.

Quote

The Levitz Kirt seems to plan things out a little EXCEPT when he's actually in a fight, imo.
Then, everything is about him grabbing someone's powers and taking over.
He's done it over and over and over.

When he confronted the Earthers attacking the Titan refugees, he just grabbed Jan's power and started shouting.
When he got the GL ring he flew to the planet in question and just started clabbering stuff.
Here in this last issue, he just goes in powering up and powering up and hitting the Durlan.

Anyway, that's how I see him, mostly as a shallow, one note bully.

Yeah. I don't mind characters being unlikable. People can be on the same side of an issue without being on it for the same reason. I can accept EM's motivations for being where he is. After all, the alternative is presumably exile from Earth altogether or more torture in jail. But, yeah-- a lot of his personality right now doesn't really make much sense.