Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes On Kinetix and Power Lust

Kinetix has always been my favorite Legionnaire, and I wanted to take some time to mull over what really made her special. She's going to be prominent in any Legion fanfiction that I may write in the future, for sure.

Zoe always said she wanted power only so she could be useful and help others. She acted as a big sister type friend to Violet, Lori Morning, and to some extent XS, Triad and the rest. She was definitely confident - her often flip and abrasive personality helped show that.

Yet, her origin story and her reaction to power showed that she was a girl longed to better herself. No, more than that; it was as if she felt that she was no good at all without the power. She described herself as a "useless kid" before she managed to heal her mother with magic, and her dreams showed that she wanted more power so she could be more "pure" and "perfected".

During the Emerald Legion storyline, Zoe was one of those who asserted her independence over the Eye's group mind. She fractured it by turning Gates into an egg and trying to grab the power from Violet. Was her powerlust fueled by the Eye? She certainly didn't break free completely enough to question the morality of it all, and she wasn't free enough to want to leave the Eye completely, either.

I always thought it was a shame that they didn't delve deeper into Zoe's fascination with power during the Mordru storyline. What were her thoughts on the Eye's seduction?

She never wanted to abuse her power, that's for sure. Her joining the Science Police after the Rift Disaster shows that. It is arguable, though, whether she wanted to help people solely because of her principles, or because she was also getting much-needed self-validation out of it. "When you help others, you can't help helping yourself," or so this song goes.

Towards the end of the pre-DNA issues, in LSH 113, Kinetix seemed to turn her back on power once and for all. When Violet and Spark went into her head, she was the one who told them to "turn their backs on the things they wanted, and instead go for the things they needed".

I find it interesting that she alone of all the Legionnaires joined the Science Police. It speaks something about her character that she would join a regimented group just to be able to do some good. I always pictured her as determined enough to make it, although she would certainly not have been too happy about conforming to uniform regulations (Shvaughn called her out on wearing green lipstick once, causing Zoe to retort with a "pshaw!").

I wonder why wasn't she asked to join Cosmic Boy and the others on Legion World? The arguably more high-profile Sensor was there, so it couldn't have been because Zoe would have been missed. Cos didn't have any stealth-like powers, and Chuck Taine didn't even have any, so it couldn't have been because they needed certain powersets. And Zoe's best friend Violet was there.

All this paints a picture of a complex personality which embodies quite a few contradictions - a confident and flip girl who secretly needs self-validation; an independent spirit who is willing to give that up for the greater good.

What do you all think? If Kinetix had indeed turned into the Emerald Empress, would she have been able to control the Eye enough to become a force for good? Would the Legion even have been able to free her, like they did Violet?

I'm not terribly familar with that whole Legion era, although I refuse to accept that any character that was drawn the way she was wasn't intended to be seen as inherently good at heart.

What I do know of her, tends to be from posts like this, her Wiki entry or her entry at Hero History.

I love Kinetix as well!

It seems to me the story would've been more interesting had Zoe become the Empress, because then it could've become a metaphor for the corrupting influence of power, even when that power is sought for the sake of helping others. Instead it became... er... whatever it was.

It would've been interesting if, it the end of the day, she'd retained some connection to the Eye, even if she hadn't quite mastered it. So it could be something she called upon to help her, but always with some sort of price.

With the death of Sarya thing, in the classic continuity, it had been foreshadowed that the Eye was at least quasi-sentient, and lonely, by nature, bonding with a sentient 'wielder' and never, never letting them go, even if they would have gladly chosen death to get away from the Eye...

With Kinetix, it would have been possible for the Eye to form a connection with someone who didn't necessarily just want to use it as a weapon, but who might have the moral center and youthful optimism to consider actually returning the Eye's longing for companionship, and become more of an equal partnership between willing allies, than whatever sort of co-dependent master/slave relationship existed between Sarya and the Eye.

Zoe wouldn't necessarily have to worry so much about being corrupted by the Eye, because the Eye itself might not be inherently evil. Whatever malicious or sneaky tendencies it has might derive less from it's own nature, and more from the last decades (or centuries?) being bonded to Sarya, who alternately used it to wreak destruction or tried to get away from it.

There would be the usual missteps, of course. The Eye has spend a long time with someone who generally revelled in cruel and destructives uses of power, and the Eye might think that this is the sort of thing that would similarly please it's new 'mistress...'

One thing that I very much like about Zoe is that she's a bit more morally complex than many heroes. She doesn't *necessarily* have the lily-whitest of intentions, and that makes her feel more 'real' than someone who is all-saint, all-the-time.

I also like that she went out there and sought power, *for herself.* She didn't pull a Night Girl or Comet Queen or Flamebird and make herself into a superhero to impress a boy. She wasn't experimented on by men (or, male aliens, anyway), like Ms. Marvel or Starfire, or given her powers as a hand-me-down from a similarly-powered man, like the Wasp or She-Hulk.

Comics have a fair number of 'self-made men,' such as Invisible Kid or Iron Man, who bestowed powers unto themselves, and it's always refreshing to see a 'self-made woman,' who is the source of her own power, and actively chose this life, rather than being 'born that way' or inheriting a heroic legacy from another character.

A mystical background was also neat. Despite the early appearance of Mordru, and the obliquely mystical stuff surrounding Nura, Jeckie and Tasmia's cultures, it wasn't until the White Witch that an overtly magical person joined the team. Zoe added another facet of that, on a team set in a future that was much more strongly weighted towards science and technology.

It's interesting how magical backgrounds come and go. Green Fire (now just called 'Fire') used to have mystical green flames that could create illusions and change her clothing. That was stripped down to a six inch blast of fire from her mouth, and then stripped away completely, and then re-granted as a completely non-magical body of green fire with Human Torch-like powers. Icemaiden (now 'Ice') was similarly re-envisioned from a member of a hidden land of magical ice-people, to some random person with non-magical ice powers. For a few years there, someone at DC seemed to be working very hard to strip away magical origins from anyone who wasn't in the Vertigo line...

It was cool that, even when her original magical powers went away, she developed new powers that remained magical, and even as a Terrorform (a concept I didn't care for at all), she *still* had some connection to magic.

Set, I agree that Zoe is inherently good and that she had pure intentions for wanting power. I just find it fascinating that she also reveled in power because she felt it would "perfect" her. It sounds so... transcendental.

The Eye was actually shown to be sentient in the Postboot, and craved freedom. It did take hosts in order to be able to focus its power better, I think. I'm not sure about the companionship aspect, but I like your idea that Kinetix would be able to forge a more "equal" partnership with it. You also have a point - the comics hinted that the Eye wasn't so much evil as just desperate to avoid being enslaved by Mordru.

I agree with EDE that I would have wanted Zoe to have become the Empress, then freed of the Eye (but retained her original powers). It would have been better than what actually happened - Zoe became so awed by the Space Anomaly that she shut down, and then just decided to forget about power because of the experience. What!

Given her magical background, I can imagine Zoe calling upon the Eye in times of emergency. Maybe the price the Eye would exact could have been... her powers again? Possessing someone she knows? Draining a year from her life? Hm... I love Zoe too much to want the Eye to enact such a painful price. Maybe she could have tricked the Eye or something.

I wish it had happened that way. Poor Zoe had a lot of potential, but it was never truly realized, and I never felt that she really had her moment.

The Eye choosing her powers as the price, thereby ensuring that she'll feel compelled to call on it again, seems like the smartest choice, for an Eye seeking a life-companion.

By keeping her dependent on itself, for the power it knows that she craves, it keeps itself assured that she will keep coming back to it.

Eventually, their 'relationship' could mature, and the Eye realize that it no longer needs to trick her into staying with it, in this fashion, or, through some disaster, the shell housing the Eye's power and consciousness could be destroyed, and the energies of the Eye are at risk of dissipating and 'dying,' only to have Zoe offer up herself as a new 'vessel' for it's power, at the cost of the both of them losing what makes them unique, transforming into a composite Zoe/Eye personality.

Or not. I think I like Zoe's personality without any sort of conjoined Eye input...

A difficulty with writing characters you like is that it becomes painful to enact any sort of meaningful change upon them, and you end up having the choice of changing things, or writing the character as incapable of any sort of character growth, and therefore, kind of creatively 'dead anyway.'

That would be interesting, if Zoe could maintain her own personality. The problem there is, besides the powers, what drawback could the merger have for Zoe?

You're right, although it is much easier to put them through hell if it's only temporary, or if it is a change the character can adapt to. With Zoe, I can see her maturing enough to stop seeking more power, but I don't think she'll ever be able to accept losing her original powers.

I *j'adore* the idea that the Eye could be used as a force for GOOD, in the right hands.

But I recall in L.E.G.I.O.N. that the eye corrupted not only one but two good people- Garryn & Marij'n Bek.

The power of the eye is doomed to corrupt anyone, probably. Such is its curse.

This is kind a vaguely worked out idea, but maybe the price of the Eye would have something to do with extending its influence to successive generations. So even if Zoe can master the Eye to a limited degree, there's a risk that her children or children's children may fall prey to it's influence.

There's also the cool fact that Kinetix and her brother's were named "life" and "death", which seemed like it was significant but nothing was ever really done with.

Researching her for a fanfic, I was surprised to see a brother named 'Thanot,' and wondered if that had ever been touched upon.

Coming from a world named 'Aleph,' in a universe where the planet representative of 'Omega' is Apokalips, also seemed foreshadowing-y.

Yeah, that's the frustrating thing with her. It's like they set her up with all this really cool stuff, and then completely dropped the ball.

I think having Zoe struggle with that and just BARELY escaping would have been a good arc for her.

EDE, love the idea of a curse being attached to Zoe's bloodline. Every time she'd use the Eye, she'd have to weigh the needs of the present vs. the needs of the past.

I agree with both of you. There's also her mystical connection to Mysa, her potential at healing and magic, and the wonderful world of Aleph.

The symbolism deepens when we consider that her original power was described as the ability to ANIMATE or GIVE LIFE to inanimate objects! They didn't call it telekinesis, although in the end that's the term they used...

IB, I've been following this thread and your posts about Kinetix elsewhere, and I'm really interested in her now.

But I missed this era of Legion completely. Are there any particular issues you'd recommend to a Kinetix newcomer?

Well, I'm not IB, but I'd recommend both her first appearance (v4 #66) and her origin (v4 Annual #6). I'm sure IB can come up with some other nice issues that showcase her, though.

Awesome. Thanks, Eryk. Will look for those issues next time I'm at the comic store.

FL, thanks for asking. As a big Kinetix fan, it fills me with pride to think my posts have gotten someone else interested in the character.

Thanks for recommending, EDE! Those two are among the best issues for learning about Zoe.

The sad part about Kinetix is that she never really had her "moment". She was powerful and useful and heroic, undoubtedly, but I kept waiting for a WOW moment that would truly make her stand out as a hero to watch.

Still, here are some other good issues to watch out for:

Recommended

• Legionnaires 39-41, LSH v4 83-84 - heavily featured as part of the team that tackles Dr. Regulus; Zoe is one of the Legionnaires who manages to partially resist the Emerald Eye
• Legionnaires 42 - fills in major portions of her backstory; explains her link with Mysa
• LSH v4 113 - Violet and Spark enter her mind in order to bring her out of her "trance"

Somewhat Recommended

• LSH v4 81 - left as acting leader by Leviathan; butts heads with Brainiac 5
• Legionnaires 48-52 - Mordru/Emerald Violet conclusion. Not really focused on Kinetix, but one of the best stories of the Postboot

In case you want to learn more right away, here's a link to a bio that Set also mentioned: http://www.majorspoilers.com/hero-history-kinetix It's a pretty good writeup that succinctly captures her history.

You're very welcome, IB. And thank you for all the information. I know well what it's like to have a passion for a neglected, semi-obscure character.

Ooh, is that Lydea? Can't wait to see how you use her in your current fic

Coming soon...very soon.

I had mixed feelings about Kinetix back in the day but have grown fonder of her over the years.

To me, she was clearly introduced to some day turn into a bad guy, probably postboot's Emerald Empress. This seemed even more likely to me when Sarya was introduced without powers. I'd be interested in talking to Roger Stern or Tom Peyer, etc. about what they had planned for Zoe back in the day. Whatever they had in mind, it's plain to me they never exactly got to it. Same with Lori Morning (who I always felt was meant to grow into Glorith), among others.

Really, it was hard for me early in the reboot to warm up to the new characters who were basically replacing characters I was missing from pre-ZH or hogging spotlight from others who WERE there. But looking back, there have basically been NO attempts to add permanent new characters to the roster once the reboot ended until very recently with Dragonwing and the rest. So far, those don't really measure up with Zoe, XS, Kid Quantum II and the like. Honestly, I still sometimes wish the reboot was still the continuity of note as both Threeboot and now Retroboot have mostly been pretty uninspiring, IMO.

Never was crazy about "Kinetix" as a name, though.

Interesting perspective, Lardy. It really is true that we don't know what we've got 'til its gone. In hindsight, I wish that I hadn't dropped or ignored almost all the DC books after Zero Hour. This era of the Legion may not have been perfect, but these days it's looking better and better in hindsight.

To be clear, I had absolutely NO desire to have the Legion rebooted again. Postboot/Reboot had its ups and downs, but it was mostly up and seemed to be built on a solid continuity foundation that wasn't dependent on the whims of the present-day books. I could tell DnA were running out of steam so figured it was time to let someone else have a shot. I was at first excited to know Waid and Kitson were coming aboard, then kinda horrified to realize that this was another reboot. Oddly enough, they kinda downplayed this as not being a reboot at all. They justified it as a "reimagining"--but if it looks like a reboot, then, well...

(For the record when ZH came around, I did not realize immediately that that was a reboot, either. After all, nothing of the sort had ever been done before--at least over a couple of months. And none of the other DC books were getting the same treatment. It was hard on me for a while, but soon I recognized it as maybe being necessary as 5YL, as much as I loved it, took things as far as they could possibly go.)

I can see how a lot of the changes to long-time Legionnaires put people off.

XS and Kinetix, and possibly Gates, were lucky in that:

• They were introduced early, so old-time readers still had hope that THEIR favorites could also return, and these three weren't seen as taking up space
• They had relatively unique powers and didn't feel like "replacements" - unlike Magno, Monstress, Thunder and most notably, Sensor
• This last is arguable, but they had likable enough personalities that they seemed to fit in with the rest of the Legionnaires

The new kids in the Retroboot have a big hurdle since they've effectively barred Nightwind and other long-time supporting characters from joining.

Thank goodness for back issue bins

Wonder what a good name for Kinetix would have been... IMO, XS is a much worse codename!

Speaking of Magno, I always did wonder if they had plans for him. I like how he ended up - becoming Legion support staff and NOT turning into a villain/ becoming crazy/ trying to be a hero without powers and getting killed. His tenure was so brief, though, that I'm sure not everyone felt for him when he was depowered.