Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Legion of Super-Heroes #6 (Preview & Spoilers)

Dacey & Dorritt are from the 5YL stories. They don't exist in this continuity...yet.

I'm surprised no one's picked up on the first part of Cosmic Boy's monologue as he flies to the Academy. It seems to confirm the worst fears about the long-ago mindwipe.

Seeing Rokk, Imra and Garth bantering together like old friends isn't the positive reading experience it used to be back in the day. Now they make my skin crawl.

For the record, Pol didn't die in Rokk's place. Rokk wasn't even there when Pol flew into the giant keyhole -- which Rokk would never have done even if he had been there because he isn't a complete idiot.

The skankification of the Legion continues with Shady's moronic "warrior" speech. I don't buy it, and I don't buy Niegrigh's miraculous redemption.. But the part that bothers me most isn't Shady's astonishing bad taste, it's the unvoiced implication that she dumped Mon-El because he isn't manly enough for her. As a Mon-El fan, I resent her for that.

The only thing that bugs me about Ayla and Violet's holiday on Imsk is, last I remember, Ayla was all cozy with Timber Wolf. I don't care for LL/TW as a couple but I like the idea of cheating on your boyfriend even less.

Memo to Mr. Levitz: Don't think you can repeat your old habit of empowering female Legionnaires by emasculating the male ones (writing the men as weaklings, pawns, victims, dummies, a$$wipes, and losers whose manhood wouldn't fill out a junior-sized jockstrap.). This time it won't go unchallenged.

Jimenez gets props for his nice visuals, but the new Academy members are a disappointing bunch except maybe for Variable Lad, who might get better buzz as "Deus Ex Machina Boy" or something. Comet Queen is every bit as annoying as she was 20-something years ago (how many times did she get left back?). The Legion doesn't need another gravity manipulator or firestarter, let alone a Chemical King clone (as cute as he is). I predict it won't be long before they're standing out in the cold with Babbage, Amp, Retro, Flying Foxlike Creature, Turtle Boy, Sizzle and all the other junior wannabees who got shut out in the past.

Something else else tells me Chuck is going to be hit by a space-bus on his way home from the reunion.

This new Karate Kid thing has to be a joke. Maybe Levitz is doing it just to yank Keith Giffen's chain.

The artwork continues to outshine the writing, which is sloppier and more confusing with each passing month. It would be tolerable if I liked the characters, but with a precious few exceptions, I don't. Having plodded through the entire first arc with the help of a jug of my uncle's homemade wine (someone could hit you with a mallet, you wouldn't feel any pain), it's now my considered opinion that LSH v6 is the worst Legion relaunch since the pre-0-Hour "Legionnaires" in 1993.

IIRC During the 5YG the world fomerly called Tharn became the new Sorcerer's World.

I tend to read these issues in the context of the last Adventure, and, sure enough, in the last Adventure, we have a much younger Brainy acting a certain way to convince his friends that he's someone they might be a little more comfortable with (allowing them to think that he 'made a mistake' a year ago, because he knew it made them happy to think he was fallible).

Given that context, which may have been 'in-story' years ago, but was written probably in the same week as this story, I prefer to think that this is the exact case, with Brainy allowing Earth-Man to think he's all intimidated and stuff.

Whatever makes him happy. It's not like Brainy seems like the sort of person who really gives a crap what most people think of him...

Yeah, craps all over the 'Trust Paul to not go there!' theory I was beaten over the head with when I complained about the long-term ramificatinos of the mindwipe earlier.

He's definitely 'going there.' I don't think he would have bothered dedicating an issue of Adventure to it, if it wasn't going to mean something.

Other thoughts;
Interesting that Brainy's force field belt can extend a force field around someone else. (The xeno on pages 12 and 13.) I think that's the first time I've seen him do that to someone who wasn't in the same force field as he was.

Hey, check out the piping on Batman's new costume on page 14! All he needs to do is go sleeveless and he's an honorary Legionnaire!

Hmm. Ayla gets munchies after sex? Ahem.

And in the same-sex shenanigans front, Mon-El went to hang out with Polar Boy on Tharr, and now the two of them are vacationing together on Daxam? Not the rebound choice I was expecting from Mon-El...

Brainy is exposing cockroaches to weird energies he found on Avalon? Oh Brainy. Tainting cockroaches with the power of Darkseid? I expect better from you, Mad Scientist Lad. Save time and crossbreed them with Tenzil Kem and then feed them a Miracle Machine.

And the Academy. Montauk Point is purdy.

Comet Queen. Like, gag me with a space-spoon, totally. Hasn't she already used her comet gasses to smother a fire before? Did she forget how to do that? Isn't one eccentric quirky exuberant annoying-as-hell Quislet enough?

Chemical Kid. Why is this not AU / reborn Condo? I mean, really. I like the costume, and I'd love to see a good exploration of the powers (having once written a two page list of ways that Condo's power could be used in a superhero game), but a different Phloni mutant with the same power just feels like someone heard my cry for raw meat and handed me a tofu burger. No matter how it's sculpted, it's not what I was asking for, and when I want tofu, I don't want tofu pretending to be meat. Go long or go home! Heck, go Ferro Lad and have him be Condo's never-before-mentioned younger brother Timeshare Arlik. That's cheap, but at least not this cheap!

Gravity Kid. Sure is a daring costume choice he made there. That would have made an interesting tweak of Star Boy's origin, having his super-strength and invulnerability back in the old days be a result of gravity manipulation. Between Star Boy and Light Lass (and, to a lesser extent, Blok), people who can manipulate gravity / increase their density aren't exactly in short supply. I think I like his attitude more than his powers (sniping at Dragonwing for showing him up, which, from a Legionnaire perspective, would be outrageously out of line, but from the standpoint of a teen student, seems entirely in-character).

Variable Lad. Someone said Deus Ex Machina Lad, and that's what these sorts of characters turn into. Let me spin the H-Dial and turn into someone with the exact power we need to deal with this situation! I do like that a member of Gym'll's race was presented as a cadet. That's cool, I'm just not in love with his Nemesis Kid-esque squiffily-defined powers. Didn't we just retcon Tyroc's powers because they were squiffy? Do we need more squiff? Why do I keep saying squiff, anyway?

Plus, like Earth-Man, I'm not delighted by characters whose entire schtick is borrowing / duplicating the powers of others, and, hey look, first thing Variable Lad does is turn into Brainiac 5! Boring. We already have one of those...

Dragonwing. Her visual makes me gasp, it's so amazing. She looks something you'd see in a Top Cow book (Spirit of the Tao, particularly). Wow. Totally distinctive and exciting and, I fear, so hard to draw that she'll have to change into something less complicated for the artist to render on a regular basis... Even her *hair* (which I also like) is going to be a pain to draw. With a name like 'Dragonwing,' I wonder if she also has some sort of innate flight power, as well. Fire breath is neat. Making it green, evocative of Fire (from the JLA), is intriguing. Acid venom, 'though? Yikes.

Karate Kid as some sort of 'eternal champion?' Hmm. Jury remains out on that concept. Certainly would make mastering every martial art in the galaxy a little more realistic as a life-goal, if one is going to keep reincarnating and coming back...

Those three sticks mean something. Some sort of I Ching thing that I'd know about if I wasn't such a Philistine.

The gray alien face between the Sensor Girl and Karate Kid symbols? I got nuthin.'

Background pictures of Crystal Kid, Power Boy, Urk, Flotsam & Jetsam, Visi-Lad, Nightwind, Lamprey, Westerner, and, uh, big bearded dude and some chick with a target on her chest (is that Mandalla? I've never seen her, so I have no idea). Very cool. They still exist, even if I might not get to see them in action for awhile!

This is the first Legion issue that's got me really excited. It shouldn't have taken to issue 6 for me to get here, but I'm here now, so it's all good.

I forgot to say I really hope Marte Allon gave Yera the brisket recipe. Another "shocker" we can see coming a mile away. (Oy vey.)

I believe Marte Allon is the one behind the Durlans

Did anyone notice the Allon table was set for three? The dialogue seemed to imply that the family had suffered some loss. Did Gim's dad die and I missed it? Or is it something that happened during the "new gap"?

I was wondering the same thing rouge. Did Gim's Dad die, or maybe he and Marte divorced?

Maybe it's nothing and he's just off planet or something.

Oooh! What a great idea! What a way to get her digs in on the in-laws!

I took Cosmic Boy's memory gaps to be due to the Timetrapper's manipulations and all the crisis/reboot nonsense and the possibility that he will still become the Timetrapper someday. . .

Dear Set, I love your reviews. Hugs, rhino

Hey! Everybody shut up about Comet Queen. Her existence is one of the things that got me to buy some really old issues of Tales of the Legion when I was, like, in elementary school.

So SHUT UP!

Okay so I'm totally kidding. I'm just in a good mood and feel like acting a little dumb.

BTW, was that Mentalla's statue in the hall of fallen Legionnaires? I thought it was another Duo Damsel one.

Like a few others mentioned, I thought it was odd to see Comet Queen (and a few others) still in the academy, much less a member of the "new class"... reminds me of the TV show "Fame"... maybe she had to start back as a "freshmen" after leaving the academy to join the new Legion of Substitute Heroes back in LSH annual #3... regardless, I'd rather see more of the new cadets...

I agree. This is the first issue where everything came together. If they can stay on this path, I predict good things.

Portela solo is an improvement over sharing the work with Cinar. Portela has a bit more flair. Maybe if he inked Cinar's work?

Jimenez introduced some visually stunning designs for the Legion Academy. Too bad the Legion looks like they are in Silver Age hand-me-downs. This needs to be fixed.

Finally, a break from all the Green Lantern nonsense! It was bad enough that Legion seemed to be the guest-stars in Legion of 3 Worlds, but I've really grown tired of too much GL stuff in the Legion series.

And then there's Earth Man. I guess Paul chose to use him as a way of bringing in people who liked Geoff's Legion arc in Action Comics, but I think he's getting way too much spotlight-- especially when several characters are still MIA.

I loved the unexpected return of Val Armorr.

I just thought about another possible LSH conflict. We were briefly introduced to a "Karate Kid III" type character at the end of Legion of Three Worlds series. Now we see the "return" of Val Amorr (from which reality...who knows). what sort of issues is this going to cause when/if these two meet up. I got the feeling that the one introduced in Legion of Three Worlds is arrogant and self absorbed, much like Myg was when he was first introduced. It will be an interesting dynamic to say the least!

hmmm I am gonna tell Paul Levitz that he really wrote Brainiac 5 the wrong way...in fact, it is so OUT of characteristics of B-5 when he "cringed" or "afraid" of him....in fact B-5 should have expected that SpaceMan would figure out eventually and congratulated him to figure out and will continue to monitor his behavior no matter what. thats how B-5 should be written like. Look at Vril Dox...and Brainiac....both of them would not be afraid of Kurt...geez. I am so much disappointed.

did someone invite Paul L over here and let him read our feedback? hmmm...

And also...
wow...Legion Academy ......LOVED IT....but Gravity Kid....gahhhhh - I can predict that his costume will be the ones most talked about since Cos's infamous black corset. LOL!

absolutely love Dragonwind...but sure wish to see Xao, April, and Danielle....sigh. someday perhaps.

young Karate Kid? hmmm...I am not sure but I am holding my judgement. hmmm...now that's interesting.

so glad to see Vi and Ayla together...and they will be appear in the Annual fighting Em Empress. hmm...gonna be cool.

so no XS? no Starman? no Night Girl? is Paul trying to copy a pattern from Adv. Comics where Matter Eater Lad, StarBoy, and Phantom Girl has been absent for one year? hmm.. *rubbing chin*

Ok, another subplot from the latest issue of LSH came to mind. I thought that Brin and Ayla were back together...at least that's what the Legion of Three Worlds series led us to believe anyway. So is she seeing both Brin and Salu or what?

I haven't been this excited about the Legion in years, hence my multiple postings. Anyway, I was disappointed when both Myg and Rond Vidar were killed off...two of my three favorite characters. I hope we get to see Grev Mallor soon and he deserves more than "Substitute Legionnaire" status after all of these years! He has the warrior skill and attitude to be a full fledged Legionnaire like his Cousin Tasmia (although in some incarnations she was protrayed as an older Sister). I don't remember if his "arranged marriage" on Talok VIII was pre or post Magic Wars...but it would be interesting to find out if any heirs came of that. Now that I think of it, I think that marriage came atfer.

Although it was stated that all continuity up until Magic Wars is intact, I don't think Levitz necessarily meant that EVERYTHING post Magic Wars is excluded. which means there's hope for a lot of good subplots that occurred during that time.

Can't wait to see what tore apart Rokk and Lydda and did they marry as in the post Magic Wars years? I guess we will eventually find out. Wow, there is just so much going on behind the scenes and I can't wait!

Now *that* would actually be a cool development.

rhino hugs get me through the week, right back atcha!

Ayla and Vi were just very close friends before Magic Wars --- so I assume that still applies.

While I'm getting the 'just friends' vibe, with the hand on the hip being a little 'easter egg' for those who remember them being more than friends in another continuity, it would certainly make sense for Winathians, already described as have some sort of dual marriages between twin-couples, in at least one continuity, being a bit more prone to 'double-dipping.'

Ayla + Brin + Vi would be amusing, and, if this model of Winathian dating holds up, it would be even more funny in regards to the current Garth + Imra + Rokk shenanigans. "Why didn't you tell me you wanted to date Rokk, too, honey? We can just add him to the marriage..."

Ultimately the decision about who Ayla will end up with falls on Paul to decide, and I think he might keep us guessing a bit longer with this one.
Just a hunch.
Personally I agree with you Set about Ayla and Vi being just friends now, but we'll see.

So I'm assuming that Legion Annual #1 takes place on Imsk.

I'm just thinking off the top of my head here, but actually it's not out of character for Brainy at all, necessarily. There have been situations in the past where Brainy has been deferential and obsequious toward a villain... and it's always been when Brainy's got whoever it is right where he wants them. So if that pattern holds, then maybe some tables are about to be turned.