Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes The 5YL Legion: Reviews by Kappa Kid

You're welcome, Nighty.

I think I'll add the link to Tom's blog at the beginning of the thread for people to reference.

I don't think it would be inappropriate to mention that the 5YL Legion had a sister book, L.E.G.I.O.N., co-created by Giffen with Alan Grant and Barry Kitson, and launched just eight months before 5YL. It took place in the present day, focusing on a team of galactic law enforcers, formed during the "Invasion!" event and led by Brainy's Machiavellian ancestor, Vril Dox II.

I liked L.E.G.I.O.N. much better than 5YL. Part of it, I'm sure, is that Giffen exited L.E.G.I.O.N. after the first year, just as the book was starting to come apart at the seams. IMO, Alan Grant & Barry Kitson rescued L.E.G.I.O.N. from oblivion and turned it into one of the best books DC has ever published. The dark humor was more in sync with my sense of humor, the pace rarely let up, action was plentiful, and the characters had plenty of shades of grey without being muddled.

As I've said in the past, my introduction to the DC Universe was the "Armageddon 2001" event, of which L.E.G.I.O.N. Annual #2, written by Alan Grant and drawn by a young Mike McKone, was the crown jewel among the tie-ins. Meanwhile, at the same time, the 5YL Legion was trudging its way through "The Quiet Darkness", and I gave up on it a few issues later, after the S. Erin fiasco. But I stayed loyal to L.E.G.I.O.N. up through issue #51. So without L.E.G.I.O.N., I might never have become a fan of the 30th Century Legion.

I could never get tired of re-reading either of these. Dox MADE the Brainiac line what it is, IMO. They absolutely NAILED that character. I'd be afraid of anyone that could even write such a manipulative character so realistically and unpredictable. He was always steps ahead of me. Oh and when he got "fanfied," didn't see THAT coming.


So many terrific NEW characters, just an amazing job and merging in the tragic Phantom Girl story. I got too involved in that one.

I enjoyed reading Tom Bierbaum's thoughts on Shady, too, especially why she wore skimpy costumes and switched her attraction from Brainy to Mon-El.

Regarding the latter, I had always assumed Brainy was not responsive. He was still in love with Supergirl, after all. The reasons why she picked Mon, in Tom's view, make more sense to me.

I also understand his reasons for marginalizing Shady. As a "latecomer" along with Brin and Condo, he was not as attached to her as he was to the more established Legionnaires, and she didn't seem like a "real person" or someone he could relate to on a personal level, at least not initially. I felt much the same way about Drake, Tyroc, and Dawny, at first. They were not "real" Legionnaires. ("Real" in my young mind meant those Legionnaires who were already part of the team when I first discovered them.) Of course, I eventually grew to accept them much as Tom had grown to accept and understand Shady.

Another comment he makes also strikes me as genuine. When he says that Shady and Condo wore pedestrian costumes, he is absolutely correct. Their Silver Age costumes were quite boring. (One might argue that with blue skin, Shady didn't need an eye-catching costume, but still.) For a young reader, such superficial considerations are important, and they can form a lasting impression of the character.

Now I'm REALLY glad I didn't read it! Did TB read the same story which introduced her in Adv 365-366 as I did?? Cause it sure as hell doesn't seem that way to me! Not a "real person", give me a freakin' break!

See, this is just what I was afraid would happen when Stalgie encouraged me to post critiques in this thread. There is just something about both the 5YL and its principal creators that really pushes my buttons and brings out the madwoman in me.

Tom says he discovered the Legion in 1972 (the same year I did, ironically), so he didn't read those issues until much later.

Well, that at least partly clears it up. Thanks, He Who.

Tasmia was consistently marginalized after her inital flurry of appearances during the Adventure era. I still hold on to my theory that it had to do with how badly she came off during the Mordru story. Don't get me wrong, it's a good story, but I think she came off very badly in it. No one seemed to have a real interest in her, not even Levitz, who, like I said, I think gave her one of his worst interpretations of any Legionnaire. And when she finally started getting interesting again during the post-Trapper/pre-Magic Wars phase of the Baxter era, Levitz seemed to quickly lose interest in her to the point of abruptly leaving her subplot hanging unfinished. But before that, she touched greatness with Baxter #56, which was one of the first Legion back issues I ever bought (and at the time, it was purely because Eduardo Barreto guest-pencilled it) and made me a fan of hers for life. So, yeah, it does bother me that TMK didn't see the same potential in her that I did.

All authors are liars. Especially when asked about where they get their ideas from.

In fact, all forms of art entertainment are, at root, lying with style.

Yes, but there are good liars and bad liars.

A Short Mediation on Death and Super-Heroes

“Kill Your Darlings” is the famous advice to writers: that is, be brutal in your editing, and get rid of those sentences, paragraphs, and ideas that are just too precious.

Comic book writers generally seem to want to literally kill everybody else’s darlings. There is a terrible danger in introducing a new character into a long-running comic book series: namely, that the next author will casually off them, or simply retconn them out of existence.

My issues with comic book deaths are manifold.

Death for Shock Value. It has worked in the past. Less and less effective as time goes on. They always come back.

The Darwin Problem. In X-Men First Class, Darwin, whose ability is to adapt to any threat, is killed because he could not adapt to a threat: that is, he is killed in a manner in which he specifically ought not to be able to be killed. I use this as the iconic example, although the problem existed before. Superman is beaten to death by Doomsday, when he has classically possessed the sort of invulnerability that would specifically prevent him from being beaten to death. Blok, who can absorb and deflect energy, is killed with some sort of energy grenade.

Joss Whedon skillfully avoided this problem once in Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. Tara the Sorceress is killed not by vampires or demons or magic, against which she and Willow have powerful defenses, but by a stray mundane bullet. Her death seems senseless, but that was the point.

Death As The Fundamental Motivation for the Character: Krypton destroyed. Batman’s parents killed. Uncle Ben. Hal Jordan’s father. Women in refridgerators. Spoiler Alert: in the real world, everybody dies. If you are permanently psychologically scarred by the death of a loved one at what you perceive as the ‘wrong’ time, then you already had a serious saving-people-problem to begin with.

Basically, my objections to Character Death in the comics always comes down to: Failure of Imagination. What could possibly motivate a character you do not like to participate in the story you are writing? Oh, only Death. Ha. Consider Matter-Eater Lad. He didn’t have to die to leave the Legion: he was drafted in to the Bismollian Senate.

(Incidentally, as far as I have been able to determine, we have never, in all the multiple incarnations of the Legion, seen Matter-Eater Lad die. This makes him pretty exceptional as a Legionnaire. Even in the mass extinctions of the Legionnaires, such as Blok’s betrayal, or the Mask Man fiasco, Tenzil is not present. Only with the entire annihilation of the Universe- which really happens more often at DC that is strictly necessary- can we imply his demise. When Matter-Eater Lad dies, the Universe dies.)

Great thoughts, Klar.

You have an interesting way of putting it: comic book writers like to kill other writers' darlings. (Giffen is the archetype of this.) It's almost the reverse of what constitutes good writing. The "Kill your darlings" rule, often attributed to Stephen King, is meant to teach writers to be economical in their work, to not get attached to what they've written, and to sacrifice anything to make a better story.

Comic book deaths are the opposite of the all that. They are rarely economical. That is, they overall story line is seldom improved by the character's removal. They show that the writers are indeed attached to the characters, albeit in a negative way. And nothing is sacrificed if the character eventually comes back.

I wonder if we had been given a hint that Wildfire was still alive, but the Legionnaires just didn't know it, would have changed the story for the better? It would have been even more tragic and have been a good cliff-hanger.

The death thing in comics has become a joke, how characters almost always come back, or a particular writer just kills a character he doesn't like (supposedly cackling with mad glee). However, I think there is room in the Legion, and other superhero stories, for death: it's a dangerous business and somebody is bound to be outmatched or slip up on occasion.



Says a lot for the eat-anything diet!

Matter-Eater Lad has sometimes been written seriously and sometimes maligned. It is a silly-inducing power, but it brings to mind that some writers will denigrate a character they dislike. This might also be evidence of a lack of imagination and raises Klar Ken's question of why use a character you don't like?

On #5

I was going to peek at #5 again, but peeked at #3

I still think the first page, where Mordru is peeking at all the Legion, is a bit clunky. Considering the slow reveal and peeks of the first two issues, it’s a huge info dump. Admittedly, it does show the Sorcerer’s paranoia over the team that has repeatedly defeated him. And yes, that does provide the writers with the opportunity to keep us up to date with a number of characters. And yes, it provides some early links to subplots such as the Ranzz child and the locations of Dox and Arrah in particular. But I still have that feeling.

The Ayla/ Vi scene by the statues is excellent.

While I’m not dealing with #5 I meant to mention that I also feel the initial idea of #4 didn’t necessarily add to the overall main point of the first Legion arc. With Lar dead from the Baxter run, was there any need to have him come back? I think TMK were going to kill him off again at the end of the issue. There’s the implication of the Ranzz reveal, but I wouldn’t have picked up on that at the time. So, it’s a bit much to pin an issue on. It’s the Editor War that adds more meaning to the rest of the run.

Which does bring me onto #5.

Considering the ideas for this would have been created somewhere in the middle of the plotting of #4, it’s an impressive issue. Mordru’s first appearance was terrifying and we’ were told of his conquest on other worlds. Now, we see what would have happened, not if he had managed to overcome the Legion, but if there never was a Legion to oppose him.

This issue has been, possibly fortuitously, foreshadowed by Mordru’s earlier appearances in the run. The team were going to go after Mysa anyway. But this has shown the reader his, still impressive, power in a much weakened state. The fear of Mordru is enough to provide motivation for everyone in this world. We don’t have to see him. The peak at the end just shows the power that the likes of Mordru and the Trapper have at their disposal. What they are fighting to possess.

The sense of oppression and almost religious persecution is clear from the first page. News of the missing, including Legionnaires , a glimpse of a broken Bannin is offset by the hope that sight of Nolan instils. There are realistic levels of heroism throughout. Mysa knows what she’s risking more than anyone. Nolan has a family, but attacks a dangerous version of Mano to protect her.

The cast are very well chosen, and also link well with the run. Rond, who had been due to be bumped off not long before, is suddenly a key player. Mysa’s role and appearance links our last sighting of her with what is to come. Nolan’s heroism reminds me very much of the alternate worlds of #300. Both he and his brother were heroes there too.

I could go on about all the little Easter eggs, none of which got in the way of reading a story that’s strong on its own merits.

The switch between Tinya and the Durlan would end up being a really pivotal Legion moment. It would end up giving much more depth to the Legion’s origin and provide us with characterisation and subplots for this run through Jo and Glorith.

To have all that, and see the structure of the world to come is an impressive feat. The inspiration, the Daxamite strength, the financier. But Vidar has been collecting tales and relying on magic. The fragments we see in his hands and in Mysa’s retelling of the dream are paid off at the end. “Many of the original pieces—gone…so we make our own and pray they serve their purpose.”

Vidar wants to have this old world back. But he’s as much driven by his thirst for knowledge and desire to pursue that away from Mordru. He’s prepared to lie to Glorith and sacrifice her to reach his goals.

Considering the number of reboots we’ve had across comics companies since, I’m struggling to think of a better one than this.

I don't think so. That last panel, with his empty costume, is just so powerful that anything added to it--even dialogue--would detract from it.



True, and the formerly permanent deaths of Bucky Barnes, Ferro Lad, and Invisible Kid illustrated that danger quite effectively.



I suspect that a lot writers are working out their own ego-gratification problems. If you kill off a character, it makes you powerful. If you kill off a beloved character and fans hate you for it, it gives you a sense of godawful superiority! (Read some of Giffen's interviews. He sounds so condescending when he explains why he kills off Karate Kid because "super-karate" is a stupid power.)

One of the rocks and hard places of writing a continuing series I suppose. I wouldn't expect anyone to like all the characters they are tasked with writing. And how bland would every character end up being after many writers have added their own diversity. All marriages of diversity ultimately tend to the same color to carry an analogy. The other option, making a character PERSONALBY "likable" could still violate the originator's intent with the character but it could also add to the legend of the character.


Who draws the lines?

I put this on the editors and publishers, not the writers. Writers are charged with using their imaginations, their heart. How much story gets lost if the writer is continually doing self-checks on the "bigger" picture? It's the editors charged with the bigger picture. An editor would have well in their power to curb a writer who seems to have personalized an agenda against a fictional character not of their own creation.

my bad. movies now been out three months now. dvd not out for another month. fixed my post.

Movies, theater, $$$


But I think I can connect it to my thoughts on what we can expect from a writer on a continuing series. TV shows have different writers AND directors from episode to episode. The responsibility for continuity is on the overall production, not the individual creators. The writers didn't kill your favorite character. The producers did.


"The Darwin Problem"



Doesn't the name indicate it actually isn't a problem? Do we want writers to ignore "Darwinism?" I'm the fastest gun in the west, until I'm not. I may be fastest and go looking to prove it, looking for tougher and tougher challenges. That's normal behavior. Then one day, I'm not fastest anymore. Either I slowed or I came upon someone faster.


Or

My reputation gets out. Someone actively decides they want the title. I don't know they're out there. I don't know what standard they are laying, until they finally come for me. Darwin will choose one of us. I may still be fastest, but not on this day.

Or

I could trip and hit my head.


As a nine year old comic book reader, Superman being "invulnerable" (except for certain cases) meant he couldn't be beaten by a physical pounding. But I was nine. Doomsday beating Superman to death didn't change canon. It respected the meaning of meanings: they change. "Invulnerable" never meant he couldn't be beaten by a physical pounding. It meant he had never met the physical pounding that could beat him. And thank goodness because if it meant the former, we'd have a much smaller library of good stories or one less picture inducing adjective in which to describe being tough.

I'm not sure if this has been posted before, but here's a pretty cool fan-made issue by issue timeline that would fill in the gap between the Magic Wars and the first issue of the 5YL. A lot of the ideas here are really interesting and I wish they had made it to print in some capacity.

http://www.readersadvice.com/lsh/levitz.html

I've seen this timeline before. It is quite a fascinating and thorough interpretation of how the "in-between" issues might have played out.

EDIT: I really love author Don Sakers' explanation for the insertion of Laurel Gand into the Legion's story. It can be found in his entry for "Annual #5."

Wow that timeline is amazing! What a great job!

I've read the timeline before, and it's amazing. I love how the Gap only Legionnaires like Nightwind are given their day in the sun too. Thanks for sharing it again.

I also echo HWW's comment that Laurel's introduction was masterfully done. And the way the author described the slow dissolution of the Legion was so poignant I shed a tear when they disbanded.

Legion of Super-heroes (1989) #7



Writer: Keith Giffen, Tom Bierbaum, Mary Bierbaum
Pencils: Keith Giffen
Ink: Al Gordon
Color: Tom McGraw
Editor: Mike Eury

Grade: B-

Summary: On Tharn, the vampiric Vyrkos is deciding what to do with the captured Legionnaires. Suddenly, Laurel Gand bursts in and the two engage in a lengthy brawl. Rokk wakes up to find that he’s having dinner with Mordru and is forced to play the situation as best as he can for Mysa’s freedom. The other Legionnaires also wake up and find themselves dressed in strange pajamas and they reconvene to figure out what happened to them. The other Legionnaires join Laurel in the fight against Vyrkos. Back at the dinner, Mordru reveals to Rokk that he also had Rond captive as well. However, he isn’t in a position to stop them from taking Rond and Mysa as his powers aren’t at their full capacity at the moment. Back with the fight, Mysa eventually uses her powers to disintegrate Vyrkos in a ray of light. As the Legionnaires leave, Mordru takes solace in the fact that this won’t be the last time he fights the Legionnaires and that he will have Mysa again. In space, Celeste, Deviln, Bounty, and Jan are on the way to Winath for Blok’s funeral. Devlin laments how he’s breaking a promise to his boss by taking this detour, but Bounty says only he was the one to make a promise. Celeste tells Jan that going to Winath may be useful to the investigation, but Jan says that the funeral is more important and paying his respects is the least he can do. As they fly to Winath, a research station notes the green energy emitted by the shuttle.

Thoughts: This issue can basically be summarized as one giant fight scene and one I don’t particularly care for. Vyrkos is an interesting character visually, but is rather bland from a personality and motivational standpoint. Laurel Gand is also an empty vessel at this point, since her backstory and personality wouldn’t be fleshed out until subsequent issues. I’ve said before that Giffen’s new pencilling style and use of the nine panel grid wasn’t conducive to crafting high tension fight scenes and this is one instance of it not offering anything particularly compelling.

Where the issue does manage to capture my attention, however, is the secondary plot of Rokk and Mordru’s dinner. Fans and writers have often said that Rokk is the rock (pardon the pun) of the team and the leader who can pull them through the toughest of situations. With this issue, TMK finally show us just that. Even in the face of an immortal sorcerer and without any powers of his own, Rokk is able to stay in control of his fear and play out the situation as best as he can. This issue offers some great characterization for Rokk and displays his true strengths as a strategist in the face of tough odds.

I would be remiss in not mentioning that this issue also marks Mark Waid’s last issue as editor of the book. From thoth lad’s thread spotlighting the 5YL Legion in Amazing Heroes, Waid mentions that he urged the Bierbaums to focus on the Adventure era Legionnaires over the newcomers like Dawnstar and Wildfire. Did Waid’s departure affect the overall direction of the book once he left? Was he a huge part of what made those early issues so special? It makes me wonder what direction the book would have gone if he had stayed on it longer.

That dinner with Modru was the highlight of the book and cemented the idea of Rokk Krinn as the quintessential leader. Calm, cool and collected in the face of overwhelming odds - not many people could match wits with Mordru.

The fight scenes usually bore me and you raise a good point that the 9-panel grid doesn't do any fight justice.

There are some interesting set-ups for future stories: the green light, Laurel trying to rescue Rond - I remember being a bit confused about why she was so broken up that she hadn't come for him earlier, not being aware yet of their relationship.

There's also Jan's priorities shift from seeking justice to paying respects to the dead; I hadn't picked up on that until you pointed it out here. It's a good insight into his character, accomplished with a simple panel.

Legion of Super-heroes (1989) #8



Writer: Keith Giffen, Tom Bierbaum, Mary Bierbaum
Pencils: Keith Giffen, Chris Sprouse
Ink: Al Gordon
Color: Tom McGraw
Editor: Mike Eury

Grade: B+

Summary: The issue opens at Brande Industry Headquarters where Marla Latham receives a communication from Reep about their retrieval of Mysa and Rond from Mordru. After hearing the news, Marla flashes back to when he and R.J. Brande first met. While working at his job, Marla hears a commotion and finds other workers beating up a Durlan traveler. He intervenes and gets into the brawl himself, getting pretty banged up in the process. He is able to deactivate a forcefield holding the Durlan back from using his powers and the Durlan shape shifts and takes out the thugs. Marla takes the Durlan to another Durlan friend of his, Theg, to learn more about him. The two Durlans speak and Theg is surprised to find that the mystery Durlan speaks a Durlan dialect that was thought to be extinct and that the mystery Durlan has amnesia. Theg smuggles the mystery Durlan back to Durla, but find that they can’t leave afterwards. The mystery Durlan, revealed to be R.J., mates with Theg’s sister and has two kids, Reep and Liggt. Unfortunately, she passes away from Yorggian Fever that Theg unwittingly brought with him to Durla. R.J. leaves his two sons with another sister of Theg’s and the two Durlans depart to find a way off the planet. The two find a way to leave and become entrepreneurs, working hard to build Brande Industries. Meanwhile, Marla has become a married man and is working on his same company, though as a supervisor. One day, R.J. comes to offer him a job working for him to take over some duties for Theg, who is operating under the alias Doyle. Doyle has become a sleazy party animal and is blowing all his profits while ignoring his duties to the company. Eventually, Marla and R.J. realize they need to buy him out of the company, which he greedily accepts. However, Doyle quickly blows all his money and keeps asking R.J. for more, even going so far to threaten his life. However, R.J. doesn’t seem to care and instead focuses on his collection of 20th century superhero memorabilia and Titan memory treatments to retrieve his lost memories. One day, while on a shuttle, R.J. is assaulted by some thugs who try to take his life, but he is saved by three youths: the soon to be founding Legionnaires. R.J., inspired by their bravery, decides to form his own team of youth superheroes. Though they have a rocky start, the three founding Legionnaires quickly come into their own and their reputation grows across the galaxy, inspiring other teens to try out and join the Legion, such as Phantom Girl and Triplicate Girl. Eventually, Marla suggests bringing in a Durlan Legionnaire to improve the team’s PR as a way to combat Durlan prejudice. R.J. says he has the perfect candidate, which turns out to be his estranged son, Reep. Marla interviews Reep and Reep joins the Legion. Marla thinks that Reep reminds him of that mystery Durlan he met so long ago and wonders if they’re connected. This ends the flashback portion of the story and we’re back in present day. Rokk, Rond, and Laurel are on Zirr, where Laurel is fighting of some Khunds who attempted to ambush the trio. Laurel defeats them with ease and takes them to her and Rond’s home. Rock discovers that the two of them had a child together and is shocked.

Thoughts: While this issue is almost entirely flashbacks without any current development, it is yet another example of the team utilizing continuity revisionism that was forced on them to tell a good story. Telling the story through the eyes of a minor supporting character is creative way to engage the reader as it makes the Legionnaires and Brande seem larger than life, almost mythic figures that Marla looks up to. I think that this is a great context to put those characters in as the entire point of this run was to make that Legion the white knights who would save the galaxy once again after having fallen from grace in the past.

The retcon of R.J. Brande actually being from the 20th century is a bit of a double edged sword in my opinion. On one hand, I can understand the pressures TMK were under to rewrite the Legion mythos as Superboy no longer existed in the DCU and Valor (Mon El) had taken his place as the R.J. Brande inspiration to create the Legion so I applaud them for making the best out of what they’re giving. On the other hand, it’s yet another instance of how tying too many bits of continuity together can ultimately make the universe seem much smaller and less organically formed as everything just seems to coincidentally be related.

Chris Sprouse provides the majority of the art for this issue and it’s jarring to see the switch from his work to Giffen’s at the end of the issue. It works here since Sprouse provides the artwork for the flashbacks and Giffen provides the current story artwork so you have a visual dichotomy between the past and present, which is what the story was about. Unfortunately, this “too many artists in the kitchen” trend will continue into the later issues in this run and it won’t be as appropriate in my opinion.

Legion of Super-heroes (1989) #9



Laurel’s Story
Writer: Keith Giffen, Tom Bierbaum, Mary Bierbaum
Pencils: Keith Giffen, Paris Cullins
Ink: Bob Lewis
Color: Tom McGraw
Editor: Mike Eury

Grade: C+

Summary: The issue opens on an intergalactic library where Roxxas is checking out a “holo” about Laurel Gand which is narrated by Laurel herself. Laurel reveals that she didn’t grow up on Daxam itself, but on Ricklef II, an asteroid city. One day, Khund invaders under the lead of Zaryan, the Khund conqueror, attack the base and kill her parents. However, Laurel has knowledge of how the base is run and uses the computer system to override the main control and destroy the entire Khund fleet. She is rewarded for her bravery, but Zaryan survives and looks for her to take his revenge. After an attempt on her life by Khund assassins, Eltro Gand, Laurel’s cousin who she is staying with, recommends that she go underground to avoid them. She goes to live in an orphanage on Earth. She is visited by Saturn Girl, Phantom Girl, and Triad, who offer her membership in the Legion. Laurel tries out and is accepted into the Legion, though she has to have her lead poisoning cured by Brainiac 5. One of her first missions is to bring in Doyle, R.J. Brande’s “cousin” for attempting to take Brande’s life. Laurel captures Doyle and the two seem to fall in love. The holo ends and Roxxas is about to leave when he sees a wanted ad for him put out by Earthgov. Roxxas is outraged to find that his employers went behind his back and put a bounty on him. Meanwhile, we see that the green light is still being tracked by scientists. Roxanne then heads to Winath to attack the Legionnaires during Blok’s funeral. On Winath, Salu is distressed because she knows Rokk will be coming to the funeral and she doesn’t know how she is going to face him.

Thoughts: This was a pretty mediocre issue overall, perhaps the first real sign in this run that the internal politics at DC were beginning to take a toll on TMK. While Giffen and the Bierbams were adept at making the best out of the retcons handed to them (see issues #5 and #8 for that), this is just a really bland story. Laurel Gand, while a well written character later in the run, just doesn’t spark the same interest in me as a reader as Supergirl did, not helped by the fact that her entire backstory is near carbon copy of Supergirl’s but without any kind of Silver Age fun.

Paris Cullins’ pencils are not my cup of tea and they almost feel like they let out of a completely different comic. The exaggerated cheekbones and elongated faces contrasty heavily with Giffen’s Kirby-esque block heads so the transition is a bit jarring. I really wish Giffen was doing complete art duties for the book again.

I do really like the way the Roxxas subplot is developing. Having Earthgov sell him out to cover their own butts is a pretty clever twist and his raving reaction to it is just priceless.