Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Reading the Legion: Archives Vol. 9

Exactly. She was much more impressive in her earliest appearances, but later on they just stopped trying with her.

That I agree with.

I didn't like Jeckie until she avenged Karate Kid in an extreme manner and subsequently became Sensor Girl.

To each their own.

To me, Jeckie was always sort of there--neither a favorite nor someone a disliked. I agree with Jim that there wasn't much imagination used by writers in depicting her powers, but I think that's true with most of the Legionnaires from the '70s on.

To me, the few standout Jeckie moments include the following:
-- creating an illusion of Validus to startle the Emerald Empress and Persuader (Superboy 198);
-- creating an illusion that informs Superboy of the altered history in the wedding of LL & SG tabloid; and
-- her power being adversely affected by one of the many illnesses she had to endure (Superboy # 206, which shows how dangerous her power can be).

I liked it when she became queen of Orando, as that event provided a believable and natural way of moving her and KK off stage for awhile. KK's death was wholly unnecessary and so, therefore, was her execution of Nemesis Kid. Still, it was totally in character for someone who had been trained to be a monarch to exercise this prerogative, and it showed her allegiance to a code of honor that, for her, predated and the Legion's code against killing. In a way, it was her way of exercising her independence from the Legion and closing that chapter on her life.

I recall being disappointed when Sensor Girl was revealed to be Projectra. The story had been set up so that Supergirl would be the big reveal; the last minute substitute felt like exactly that--a last minute substitute. While I came to enjoy Sensor Girl as a character, and particularly as leader of the Legion in the stories which followed, I would have preferred it if she had remained part of the Legion's past. Few characters ever say goodbye for good; yet that would have been a realistic and, in some ways, positive outcome for the series.

Good point well taken, He Who.

I, too, wish Sensor Girl had been Kara, but I love the design so much, I'm willing to settle for Jeckie.

I liked Sensor Girl's look also and it was fun re-reading with the foresight that it was Jeckie, to see how well what Sensor Girl did could be rationalized to Jeckie's powers.


To me, Jeckie was still best when with her original partners, KK and Ferro Lad. I vaguely recall a "flashback" type story with those three that I enjoyed a lot but I can't recall what boot.

Baxter Legion, issue 31. I liked that story, too.

I didn't like Jeckie at all when she first appeared. She reminded me of that girl in the cello section of my junior high school orchestra who wouldn't give me the time of day, despite the fact that I was first chair violinist. (Issues? What issues?)

On retrospect, I think it was the hair.

Action Comics 383

My main memories of Chameleon Boy from older Legion books relate to him feeling uncomfortable about his appearance and unable to hook up with human girls. I see that this story is a sort of follow up to the Elwinda tale. If only no one mentions it to Cham, he won’t recall that he was dragged back from the love of his life. Oops, that took just over a page. Poor Cham.

Interesting that Val is too busy to take time off at weekends, as he’s Legion leader. The Legion: The book that created a generation of workaholics stretching all the way into the 30th century.

He’s also not very keen on mingling with others. Since his duties as royal consort are basically looking nice at public engagements, I’m wondering if his later death was more suicide than it first appeared (and it appeared very suicidey at the time).

Perhaps Cham struggles with opposite genders of other species because he’s very creepy when he introduces himself? He’s obsessing after only a couple of panels. Sure, she looks like Elwinda. But he’s spying on her using his Super Creepy powers. I wonder if the Legion Espionage training manual has a chapter on perving.

This issue’s moral message: Use information you’ve obtained deceitfully to manipulate others!

Jeckie even joins in helping Cham. I guess she doesn’t like Janice that much then. Jealous over the Light Jewel?

Starro the Conqueror makes a guest appearance; His minions take a cue from Cham and masquerade as innocent Gill- Masks! When the Legionnaires leave, everyone else becomes his mindless slaves.

The great waiter strike of 2961 meant that they were all replaced by Marvin the Depressed Android clones. No one in Janice Warren’s class much liked the original waiters anyway.

Note that Flamebird’s cosmetic surgery became famous enough to last a millennium and inspire a dish.

Right Janice. You have a secret code to your family’s vault. A code that you then show to a complete stranger because you fancy him. This is why family fortunes are difficult to sustain down the generations. You can’t help but spoil your kids and they end up as dim as a light jewel in a Batcave.

Wow! You never see Hercule Poirot post armed guards on hover platforms! Who needs storms to keep the suspects in the big, old house?

Jeckie gets a power tweak, rendering Invisible Kids redundant. But it’s a nice look to how her powers affect the minds of others.

A Splurped Glorith must have survived the Time Trapper. She ends up working at the Metro Science Centre on her Senili Ray. A device that can age people 10000 years in 30 seconds. Maybe it was Rond Vidar on his lunch break? More terrifying technology from the future.

Cham crosses over to Marvel, becoming the Impossible Man to save Janice. He’s rewarded by a pity post kiss. Janice seems to now be quite taken with Reep, now that she’s in the clear for allowing her jewel to be pinched.

We get another Legion moral. Being heroic isn’t worth doing, unless there’s something in it for you at the end!

Elsewhere in Action: Clothes Do Not Make the Man. Except when they’re mind controlling you. Superman faces two uniforms. Both cooler than his own, and driven by forces that have survived death!

Dane's bare legged outfit do add to that Aqua-vibe. Yay! I'm glad I wasn't the only one to think Impossible Man

I liked Sensor Girl's costume, too. The character's convoluted raison d'etre? Meh.





Jeckie's original appearance did make her appear hoity-toity and better-than-thou. In hindsight, it was a very bland and boring appearance, something no real princess would likely wear: a bathing suit with a cape. And that hair! Swept back and all white. Was she trying to look like somebody's grandmother?

The curly haired upgrade was much improved. The costume--though it afforded the Legionnaires, villains, and pervs ample view of her cleavage and belly button--was stylish without being overly obvious that she was a real princess. (I didn't realize until some years later that the crowns on her boots were there for a reason). Of course, depending on the artist, her hair either looked immaculately coiffed or as if she couldn't find a good stylist in Metropolis. And the cape, tied around her neck, left her vulnerable to an Isadora Duncan demise.

I guess Val's death taught her to be more practical in her appearance (or illusion of appearance, as it were).

I liked her original costume and hated her Cockrum one. It was too busy and the colors clashed, imho. I didn't like Sensor Girl's either.

I think it's fascinating how we each have different views about what liked and didn't like about Projectra. She appears to have had an impact on us, whether we "liked" her or not.

To me, the Cockrum costume worked because it was striking, and it stood out among the other Legion outfits. The first time I saw it was the first time it was used, in Superboy 198. It provided a contrast from Brainy's, Jan's and Val's outfits.

In the next issue, Jeckie teams up with Brainy again, along with Cham (who also appears, but in a lesser role, in 198), Thom, and Nura (and Kal, of course). The dominant red in her costume and Cham's didn't make her costume quite so striking, and the color schemes of those Legionnaires' costumes seemed somehow off. I'm not an expert on design, and I don't think characters should be chosen just because of the complementary nature of their costumes; still, I imagine this is a consideration for most artists. The look of the comic as readers flips through the pages can make a difference in whether the reader picks up the issue or not. I imagine that's why Jeckie's color scheme was chosen to be what it was in 198.

In hindsight, Jim, you're right that the colors clash. Most of the costume is red and yellow, except for her cape, which is pink. I've always wondered why it wasn't red to match the rest of the outfit.

I always thought if they changed the red and yellow to the blue and white of her original costume, it would be a lot more appealing.

Some often refer to the Moys' work as the "Archie Legion," but I think the story in Adventure #383 and others before and after it are certainly Archie-like. Just replace the adults in Archie stories with space-villains, take out most of the laughs, and you have a late 1960s Legion story.

It just occurred to me how "Jeckie," while an obvious nickname for Projectra, is also very close to "Jackie" as in Kennedy, the closest contemporary thing to American royalty. I wonder if DC was nurturing that connection. I don't recall if I saw the similarity when I was reading the books back in that day.

"Chameleon Boy's Secret Identity" is certainly not a strong story. When I first read it, I half expected that Projectra would follow the stereotypical path of distancing herself from the odd Cham around her society friends. It was good to see her show no hint of that.

And I thought the smitten Cham's final words were charming: "I feel so good I just might turn into a cloud...and float away!"

But she didn't come to his defense when Janice said he gave her the creeps either. I was disappointed at that.

^ Since the focus immediately switched from Janice's comment to Cham's response, we didn't see how Projectra responded. I gave her the benefit of the doubt.

It was surprising to see Cham so insecure about what a girl thinks about his looks. I guess this was an ok story for a teenager finding himself, but not an exciting Legion stort.

It is interesting that Janice's dislike of Cham's non-human looks foreshadows Geoff John's xenophobia storyline with Earth-Man. Prejudice seems to remain a social cancer no matter what century we are in.

Lost moments in Legion history #247

"...and then he dumped me because I didn't kiss like Elwinda! He's only going out with me because I remind him of someone! Me Dumped! I've had it with aliens Kirt! Had it with the lot of them!

"Don't worry Janice, I'll make sure that no nasty alien will bother you again."

"You're so kind, Kirt. And you don't have antennae..."

^

I was thinking he dumped her because every time they went out in public, she insisted he appear as "Dane" of some other fantasy human male. It never occurred to me that Reep had his own brand of shallow.

Action 384 "Lament for a Legionnaire"

I'm predisposed to favoring any story which features my main man and namesake, Mon-El. A story which spotlights one's favorite Legionnaire is a lot like watching an episode of a TV series in which your favorite actor pops in or hearing a song that features a guest vocal by a musician of whom you're a fan. There's a charge of electricity in just knowing that your favorite someone gets special treatment, rather like getting special treatment yourself.

That's how I felt every time Mon (and, to a lesser extent Garth, Lyle, and Dirk) were featured in the Superboy/Legion stories of my childhood.

Even though I'm older and delusionally wiser now, that feeling remains, or remnants of it. So, with that caveat in mind, let's look at "Lament," in which Mon learns he is dying.

The story begins with Dream Girl experiencing a vision of Mon dying alone on a rocky surface somewhere in space. The Legionnaires are reminded once again that Nura's dreams always come true, so Mon looks like a goner. Overhearing his friends discuss his fate, Mon takes it stoically by going to bed after a long and tiring mission. Waking the next day, he enjoys the sunrise, a shower, and breakfast. He then decides to carry with him some extra anti-lead serum to try to prevent his death from happening.

Realizing that lead is, in fact, the only thing that can hurt him, Mon refuses to take his death lying down. He insists that Karate Kid send him on a mission. The only mission available lasts three days in space. This does not please Shady, who barely misses Mon when she returns from a mission herself. She goes so far as to call KK a BEAST! (in large, red letters).

Curiously, Mon never thinks of Shady at all in this story, and this, for me, is its biggest letdown. Yes, I know this is a super-hero story written for young teenagers who might find it unmanly that their hero pines away for his girlfriend, but we've seen Jo, Chuck, and even Cham express tenderness toward their significant others. It's really not asking too much for Mon to try to spend his final days with Shady or at least say goodbye.

But off Mon goes on his mission and, when he returns, he acts distant and aloof toward Shady. But, never fear, this isn't Mon at all. It's Eltro Gand, a descendant of Mon's brother. Eltro reveals that he overpowered Mon in space and impersonated him in order to keep the prophecy from coming true.

Here we have some tropes that we just have to accept as a given in Silver Age Legion stories or Silver Age DC comics in general. Trope 1: Your descendant will look just like you (re: Whizzy, Lex Luthor, Mxyzptlk), even if he is not a direct descendant. Trope 2: Your descendant will be heroic, just like you, and abandon his own life, whatever it may have consisted of, to save you. Trope 3: Your buddies will not catch on to the impersonation because the only clue is that your impersonator acts distant and aloof toward your girlfriend. So, in other words, your future descendants will look, act, and talk just like you. Must be nice to know you're immortal.

Tropes aside, Eltro's scheme comes undone in an ironic way. By trying to save Mon, he inadvertently kills him, a twist reminiscent of Greek tragedy. So, again demonstrating that heroism runs in the family, Eltro flies Mon's body to earth where he uses an "exchanger" machine to transfer his life essence into Mon. Eltro dies and Mon awakens, oblivious to what has happened.

Overall, the conclusion works even though it becomes Eltro's story, not Mon's. (Having a passive protagonist is a problem in several of these Action stories.) At least the solution builds on previously established Legion lore--the resurrection of Lightning Lad--so it does not come wholly out of left field. Readers unfamiliar with the earlier story might have seen the ending as a deus ex machina, though.

However, this Action story, like most of the others so far, would have benefited from being given more room to develop. It would have been nice to learn more about Eltro and why he was willing to go to such lengths, and even sacrifice himself, for a distant relative he's never met. Alas, we're never given a hint of his motivation.

So, does that "electrified" feeling remain for me after reading this spotlight on Mon? Yes and no. I liked the early parts of the story, when he appreciates the sunrise and other things he thinks he'll never experience again, and I appreciate the fact that he tries to find his way around the prophecy by stocking up on anti-lead serum. But I feel I haven't learned anything new or interesting about him. As I said, it is Eltro, a throwaway character, who makes the decisive choices, not Mon.

Sidenote department:

Nura's bed is much smaller here than it will be in Superboy 201. I guess she hadn't yet made room for Thom (or Proty II!).

Page 5 apparently contains an error. It's been established that Mon takes his anti-lead serum ever 24-48 hours (and he even alludes to this when he says Brainy's equipment automatically produces one dose very 48 hours). However, in Panel 3, he says he'll be safe if he takes a dose every eight hours. Perhaps he wanted to hedge his bets.

This is the first Action story in which Superboy plays a role (other than his and Mon's cameo as unconscious sources of the Protectors' power in "Kill a Friend ..."). Superboy doesn't do much here, but it is nice to see him try to overpower and kidnap is "big brother."

Good thing R.J. Brande (or the UP, perhaps) doesn't mind footing the bill for casual destruction in Legion HQ. Why Mon thought that creating a hole in the floor (which anyone could easily go down to reach his vault) was a good idea is anybody's guess.

Don't forget the new trope that anytime someone exchanged their life force to save you, a teeny bit of them remains inside you for future writers to use to turn you into a decades old lie.

As a one-off, the story is okay, something to read, something to do. Pleasant. In light of its use in future events, it was more of a chore for me to read.

You raise an interesting point, BB. When people re-read these stories, do they read them in the context of later developments, or do they read them as stand-alones?

I've been trying to do the latter, because 1) Shooter is not responsible for what later writers did with his creations, and 2) every story should stand or fall on its own merits.

As for Eltro inhabiting Mon's mind, I don't really have a problem with it. I think it was brilliant how TMK used this idea to foreshadow the eventual Proty/Garth revelation, and I don't think it alters Mon's character much--although maybe his personality was altered in positive ways.

Some have suggested that the lack of self-confidence Mon displays in Superboy # 190 can be attributable to Eltro. However, I think it's just as likely that Mon picked up some of Eltro's boldness and selflessness. After all, Mon didn't become Legion leader until after the transference. Prior to the transference, he was a more laid-back and subdued kind of guy; afterwards, he became more prominent and assertive.

But then if you were to assign Mon-el's behavior to Eltro's personality you'd be violating the "stand alone" preference. Oh what a tangled web we weave.


I think from a "review" approach, it is only fair to critique from the POV of what came before and what the writer had control over, which normally wasn't a decade after but I generally prefer to read and discuss in the context I have, the what comes after. Makes the stories new for me and I think that is what the later writers would have intended.

As pointed out, this was a minor one-off of little consequence that only became big in the long scheme.


Something else else I'm maybe not remembering correctly, when Mon-el was revived by the Trapper after Magic Wars, and both personalities were evident, wasn't Eltro the whiney voice?

My stand-alone preference does not have to be absolute. It's impossible (for me, at least) to read these stories without some context of what has gone before. As I mentioned in my review, Action 384 builds off of Adv. 312, and it enriches the story if the reader knows this.

I agree with you that it's fair to critique only what the writer had control over, which includes, to a degree, what had gone before in previous stories. But I prefer not to read too far ahead in drawing connections. Doing so makes sense, I think, only if the same writer is involved and there is a reasonable expectation that the later development was intended all along. Since the TMK era was written by different writers twenty years later, those developments do not impact this story (though the reverse is obviously not true).




I'd have to re-read the TMK issue to see if Eltro comes across this way, but there's no reason he couldn't be whiney and have the positive traits he displays in 384. A character with more than one personality trait? Who'da thunk it?