Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Reading the Postboot Legion! (LSH 110, L*67)

Legion of Super-Heroes 99
When The Reign Comes
Issue information

Summary:

Continuing directly from LSH 98: Derec Aucoin pencils. Robin, Superboy and Impulse guest star.

COMPUTO taunts with the last Legionnaire left standing, Spark. Gates teleports her to safety; COMPUTO blinds Gates as it knows he needs to see to teleport well. It boasts about its knowledge of the Legion, but Spark surprises it by using her new anti-gravity powers. COMPUTO is enraged that its data is wrong, and uses its Mother Box to teleport away. COMPUTO chastises itself for its emotional outburst. Seeing some crushed ants, it thinks of a plan.

Ultra Boy and an unconscious Tiffany Cross managed to survive their ship's crash. Jo dives into the wreckage to find the touchstone that absorbed Apparition. Inside, Apparition and Phase finally manage to sort things out, by making sure only one speaks at a time. Apparition tries to touch Phase, and their bodies merge into an amalgation (like siamese twins)!

Lee Moder takes over.

Oracle calls Robin (Tim Drake), saying that the JLA Cave, where the Legion is, has become a transmission dead zone. Robin goes to investigate.

The Legionnaires pow-wow. Cosmic Boy declares that nobody is to use COMPUTO's time portal to get home until they resolve the problems. Brainiac 5 says to keep the remaining Metal Men away, as COMPUTO might absorb them too. Shvaughn admits to keeping files on the Legion's adventures, and posits that they were COMPUTO's source of information. Cosmic Boy decides to call in unfamiliar heroes, such as Superboy. Brainy calls in Impulse, much to the chagrin of everyone else. Brainy defends it by saying the time portal will only remain open another 3 hours, 13 minutes and 22 seconds. Triad Purple and Orange are weakening due to their extended separation from Triad Neutral, though they say they can survive for much longer than 3 hours.

COMPUTO attacks the Happy Harbor nuclear plant. Oracle detects the data-surge and sends Robin there. The Legionnaires, Superboy and Impulse also make their way. COMPUTO transforms the power plant into a giant tank and begins firing missiles.

Back to Derec Aucoin.

Spark and Gates divert the missiles to Superboy and Cosmic Boy, who catch them. Non-powered Robin surprises COMPUTO, knocking it out briefly. Brainiac 5 encases it in his forcefield and tries to reason with it. COMPUTO destroys Brainy's forcefield and absorbs Cosmic Boy, creating two COMPUTO bodies: Triad Netural with Platinum as armor, and Cosmic Boy with Iron. COMPUTO reveals its plan to Brainy: because humanoids created and threatened to destroy it, humanoids are the direct threat toits survival. It plans to destroy humanity using technology. COMPUTO teleports away, leaving the Legion stunned.

Thoughts:

Well, this issue certainly ups the ante. COMPUTO is not only waging war against humanity, it has learned to control technology. Its capacity for emotional outburts certainly seems to qualify it as sentient (it DOES contain a Metal Men responsometer, so that makes sense).

For some reason though, I didn't find this issue particularly gripping despite the action and drama. At least not until the end. I don't know why; we even have Robin, Impulse and Superboy guest-starring. Perhaps it's because the stakes haven't been clearly defined until the end. Also, for much of the issue there's a glimmer of hope that Brainy can reason with COMPUTO. I do know that the last couple of pages made me more eager to see the resolution through. Overall, I'd say this is the weakest issue in the 3-part COMPUTO story; and that as a whole, it doesn't hold a candle to the Mordru three-parter.

Art-wise, it was a bit jarring to see the transition between Derec Aucoin and Lee Moder. The two have such different styles. I do like that Lee Moder brings in the classic, silly Impulse thought bubbles. Bart telling Brainy that COMPUTO is attacking? It's a giant bug eating some computer hardware.

Fave moments:

1) Ultra Boy making intelligent use of his powers. Invulnerability for him and Tiffany to survive the initial crash; penetra-vision to find the touchstone, speed to get it before it burns.

2) Robin dissing Batman.
Oracle: "Oracle to Batman and Robin."
Robin: "Batman couldn't make it. Sunshine depresses him."

Other thoughts:

1) I'm not familiar with Robin from around this time, so I can't say if his speech patterns are normal.He's rather flippant with the power plant employees, though. "Looks like the guardians of public safety have the situation well in hand!" Then, he shakes an employee for info. When the man stammers, "Tell you what... e-mail me." And when someone tells him to retreat because "this is no place for a kid," he goes, "What's your excuse?" I mean, I like witty sarcasm, but this isn't really it. It's just being flip for being flip. (Except for the Batman crack above).

Action Comics 741
A Cautionary Tale
Issue Information

Summary:

Superman is repowered again, but now has the energy-manipulating powers of the bluish Superman. Continuing from LSH 99: Superman stops some tanks wreaking havoc, and is surprised to find them empty. Some Legionnaires (Brainiac 5, Ferro, Gates, Shvaughn Erin, Spark, Triad) arrive and explain the COMPUTO situation. Brainiac 5 can't triangulate COMPUTO's location, so Superman tells them to use common sense. COMPUTO wants to hurt the most people possible, where? Triad points out that COMPUTO has so far stayed close, suggesting a limit on its range as well. Superman suggests COMPUTO might attack the Metropolis Aeroarts Exhibition. Shvaughn asks if there will be computerized aircraft, as COMPUTO can only manipulate electronics.

At the show, COMPUTO disrupts a computerized jet, sending it crashing. Gates teleports the pilot to safety; Superman, Spark and Ferro work together to land it safely, while Shvaughn liaises with local authorities to ground remaining aircraft and evacuate the show. Brainiac 5 reveals that he traced the signal of the tank attack at the beginning of the issue; it wasn't COMPUTO, but came from Lexcorp Tower. Superman and the Legionnaires confront Luthor with the evidence. Unfortunately, COMPUTO enters Brainy's Omnicom and deletes the data! Luthor plays the innocent card, taunting Superman. In a bit of revenge, Superman asks Shvaughn if she had ever hand of Luthor before arriving. When she says No, Luthor says he never intended to be famous off Earth. With some satisfaction, Superman tells Luthor, "What if they're not from another planet?" Superman comforts himself with the thought that Luthor's legacy will not survive into the 30th century, calls the JLA, and heads off to help stop COMPUTO.

Thoughts:

This issue wasn't necessary to follow the COMPUTO story. One can read LSH 100 without reading this. Still, it's a good issue with a lot of action and good detective work/combat from the Legionnaires. I did skip over several pages dedicated to other Superman subplots (at least half the issue).

I like how the issue is interspersed with Luthor reading his daughter the story of Chanticleer, a rooster who is kidnapped by a blue fox, jealous of Chanticleer signalling the sunrise. Chancticleer gets free by tricking the fox into announcing its greatness; in doing so, it releases Chanticleer from its mouth. Luthor's ego has himself as Chanticleer, and Superman as the fox. The trap refers to Superman arresting Luthor.

It's a good thing not all the Legionnaires appeared here, as there wouldn't have been enough for everyone to do. Some interesting choices though: Triad is depowered temporarily, and Shvaughn has no powers at all. But both characters get a lot of dialogue and use in the story, and actively contribute to deducing COMPUTO's next target and evacuating civilians. I'm pleased that Shvuahgn got so much screen time, in fact; while this is Reboot Triad's first encounter with Superman as well. In a nice touch, Gates' activism shows: he comments about the exploitation of natural resources at the aircraft show.

I like how Superman's humanity shows. Luthor escapes again, but Superman does get back at him by leaving him pondering over his cryptic remark.

Triad is miscolored; at this point, only Orange and Purple are free. This Triad is colored as Neutral. On the plus side, they didn't make the mistake of having her triplicate.

Legionnaires 56
The Better Part of Valor
Issue Information

Summary:

In deep space, M'Onel ruminates about his ordeal in the Phantom Zone. (The Future tense crossover: Superboy 21, LSH 74, L* 31. Because of legends of his deeds in the 20th century ("seeding" many of the planets that would go on to form the United Planets in the 30th century), and his sudden disappearance in the Phantom Zone, Valor had become deified as a god. Cargg, Triad's homeworld, is one of them; her reaction of worship to Valor prompted the Legion to keep his return a secret and pretend they had failed. The secret is kept among those who were present at the resolution of the Chu sting (LSH 80) - Legionnaires who had joined up to that point, plus RJ Brande and Marla Latham at least. Later Legionnaires, such as Monstress, don't know the truth.

Before flying into space, M'Onel was watching a documentary on Valor with XS (who knows the truth) and Monstress (who doesn't). It shows the extent of worship, with cults all over the galaxy developing their own creed called Valorianism. The movement has been growing quickly, more quickly than the general population. Believers are interviewed; one couple is even trying to build their own Phantom Zone projector to free Valor themselves. Some believers whisper that Valor is Star Boy (who has suddenly become super strong), Sensor (using illusions to hide himself), or M'Onel (who has powers and looks similar to Valor!) After increasingly ridiculous examples of faith, M'Onel had enough and walked out.

M'Onel struggles with whether he should reveal himself or not, and whether it will do any good in halting Valorianism. He is shocked out of his reverie by the sight opf a Khund warship on planet Silvan, home to failed Legion draftee Lume (LSH 66) - the Silvans are energy beings made of light. The Khunds are capturing Silvans to use as energy soruces, and their armor reflects the Silvans' attacks. M'Onel swoops in and stops most of the Khunds; Lume leads its people in destroying the weapons of the rest. M'On frees the captured Silvans. Lume asks if M'On will go to Daxam; the Khunds mentioned recruitment activities there.

M'On calls Legion HQ to update of his whereabouts. But nobody is there to receive the transmission; Dreamer walks in to find the Monitor Board empty. Tenzil can't find them either. On the new Legion Outpost, Dyrk Magz returns; Live Wire had convinced him that the Outpost would be neutral territory. Dyrk thinks helping out here will help him cope with the loss of his powers, but Legion HQ is too painful. Seeing the Outpost being dedicated to the deceased Leviathan helps soothe Dyrk's feelings, as he could have died rather than just being depowered. Tenzil calls in, and Chuck says the Legionnaires aren't on the outpost either. Dreamer can't prompt a precognitive dream, but she can tell that one Legionnaire (M'Onel) is closer, and that something intense is going to happen.

M'Onel lands on Daxam, and thinks of how its history shaped the xenophobic outposts of today. Epidemics decimated isolated populations, causing the survivors to isolate themselves even more. Strangers and aliens were driven away out of fear. He thinks that 30th century Daxam is even more insular; Andromeda herself grew up in a remote settlement, unlike M'Onel who came from a big city. M'Onel spies on the Khunds; a commander gives a speech saying that the United Planets damages planetary sovereignty, self-determination and genetic integrity. The Daxamites agree with some points, but are skeptical that the Khunds offer a better alternative. M'Onel reveals himself, accusing the Khunds of histories of invasions and conquests, their recent incursion into Silvan, and the 20th century invasion of Earth (the Invasion storyline/crossover). The Daxamites begin agreeing with M'Onel; one reveals herself to be a distant cousin (M'Onel's father Kel Gand was her ancestor)! The Daxamites tell the Khunds to leave; the Khunds blast M'Onel, who is weakened by Daxam's red sun but retains enough power to survive. M'Onel fights back, and the Daxamites rally to help him. They send the Khunds packing. This incident strengthens the Daxamites' belief that starngers are trouble. They thank M'Onel for his help, and politely ask him to leave too.

Back on his ship, M'Onel calls Legion HQ. RJ Brande, Rond Vidar, Chuck, Tenzil, Dyrk, Dreamer and Lori Morning are all trying to trace the Legionnaires. Rond detected a recent spike in chronal energy, superficially similar to the Emerald Eye's signature when it stranded some Legionnaires in the 20th century; but different as well. As Rond continues to try and trace the others, Brande asks M'Onel to return to Earth and the support staff (including Dyrk) to maintain security.

Elsewhere, the Dark Circle meets. The Khundian representative is chastised for the actions of his men. The Dark Circle leader says that it's only because their plans have not been irreparably damaged that he still lives. The Tyrazzian representative says they will be forced to redesign the weapons captured on Silvan. The Khund promises to eliminate mavericks in his ranks. The Dark Circle leader reaffirms plans for conquest; the plan is to take over so efficiently that most people will be happy to relinquish their freedom!

Thoughts:

This is one of the best single-issue Legion stories I have read. The documentary about the legend of Valor is a hoot! It's balanced nicely by M'Onel visiting Daxam and reflecting on the changes to his homeworld. It's also a great exploration into religion and xenophobia, which remain very relevant today. The documentary is a great way to show how religion survives into the 30th; much like in the 20th, we see panels that show how different species portray Valor as looking like them (some are distinctively non-humanoid). The Valorian creed is similar to a Christian prayer. The wide range of opinions of believers mirros those in major religions we have; some say the Legionnaires shouldn't have tried to free Valor; some say they should try again.

The Khunds' fear-mongering speech on Daxam echoes today's Brexit rhetoric about how the EU undermines sovereignty. And the Dark Circle shows that they don't necessarily believe what they say. It's an interesting and insidious concept; take over by sowing fear and division.

Having Lume reapper is cute, and a blast from the past. Lume has a distinct power, and adds to the alien-ness of the 30th century. That's why (shameless plug) I have made it a Legionnaire in my fic

Todd Nauck isn't my favorite penciller, but his style works well here - particularly for the humorous first few pages.

Fave Moment: The documentary's ending. Wait for it:

Believer 1: "Our Lord Valor will return next year. I saw him in a dream."
Believer 2: "... next month. I saw him in a vision."
Believer 3: "... next Tuesday. I saw him in a bowl of soy flakes."
Believer 4 (dressed like Elvis Presley, with hair to match): "T'tell the truth... Ah'm Valor."
M'Onel (standing up and stalking out): "That does it!"

Legion of Super-Heroes 100
Issue information

I'm going to structure this 96-page mega bonanza issue differently, folks. There are 5 different stories, so I'll give the summary and the thoughts for each in turn. I won't list the writers and artists per story, as the Issue Information above does that; though I will mention them in the review body. This post focuses on the stories, next will talk about the pin-ups.

Story 1: OK COMPUTO:

Summary:

Continuing from LSH 99 and Action 741. Guest-stars: Superman, Green Lantern Kyle Rayner, Martian Manhunter, Robin (Tim Drake), Impulse (Bart Allen), Superboy (Kon-El).

COMPUTO continues its mission to destroy all human life by wreaking havoc with technology and communications; even the 911 network fails. Legionnaires and allies scramble to fight fires. Brainiac 5 sadly realizes that COMPUTO's range keeps increasing, and that it can rearrange matter itself. Iron's responsometer is gone, and Brainy blames Ferro. Triads Orange and Purple tell him to focus, and Brainy consults with Superman, Martian Manhunter and Robin. Brainy's force-field is being used to protect the heroes' computers and data. Robin suggests using a computer virus, which Brainy dismisses as being too slow. But he realizes an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) will work nearly instantly! Veridium's consciousness can be shielded, so only COMPUTO would be erased. The plan: four electromagnetic enhancers will be used to generate an EMP. 1) Superman in the stratosphere; 2) Brainiac 5 from the JLA cave; 3) a team at the North Pole; 4) a team at the South Pole. The Triads make up team assignments, putting themselves on both the North and South pole teams. Brainy questions this; Triads say they want to make sure everything goes well, and share a suspicious look after.

Superboy grumbles at having to guard the time portal, making sure nothing or nobody crosses over. He tosses a flying car back to the 30th century.

Shvaughn complains to LEGION Officer Taptree (and her comrade-in-arms so to speak), that anyone without "powers or a mask" isn't allowed to help versus COMPUTO. She wishes to redeem herself, for feeding COMPUTO information on the Legion through her journal. Tiffany Cross shushes her; she's been meditating on the touchstone and makes contact with the semi-merged Apparition/Phase. She taps into the touchstone's energy, and unleashes memories of both Apparition and Phase. They see their origins: born to Winema Wazzo and a Carggite father, they were separated at birth. Their half-Carggite physiology allowed them to survive. The Tinya who became Phase was somehow sent back to the 20th century; this explains how they can merge now. They see a vision of COMPUTO standing over a fallen Ultra Boy.

At the South Pole: Martian Manhunter, Ferro, Saturn Girl, Spark and Triad Orange are attacked by COMPUTO-Cosmic Boy-Iron. COMPUTO quickly defeats everyone except Triad. Suddenly, the Weirdo Legionnaire appears (a glorious gray-skinned, rain-bow winged humanoid with claws and talons and four tentacles, claiming it's the Legion's secret member and its existence has been blocked from everyone's memories for emergencies. Triad Orange is surprised. COMPUTO detects a responsometer and pulls it out of the Weirdo; it's Ferro, using Iron's responsometer! This allows Iron to reform, and it grabs COMPUTO. "Superman" bursts out of the ice and freezes COMPUTO. COMPUTO knows Superman's new powers, and exposes him as J'Onn, setting him on fire. Saturn Girl uses the distraction to free Cosmic Boy from COMPUTO's control, and they save J'Onn. Cos congratulates the team, saying they would have lost if he remained trapped. He explains that COMPUTO has been using the Triads as a mole; all of them are under its control! Before they can warn the other team, though, Triad Orange uses their mental link to warn Purple to "end this fast".

Cosmic Boy leads the others to the time portal, claiming its COMPUTO's next target. To everyone's surprise, he flies through to the future. J'Onn wonders if Cos might still be under COMPUTO's control.

At the North Pole, Purple plays her part by telling Ultra Boy to use heat vision to melt COMPUTO-Triad Netural-Platinum's armor. COMPUTO knocks a non-invulnerable Jo out. It then plays with Impulse's nervous system, causing him to speed uncontrollably. Gates and Green Lantern are occupied by Impulse, as he dodges both their attacks. While they're distracted, COMPUTO prepares to kill Jo. Apparition bursts out of his body and punches COMPUTO!

Superman prepares to blast COMPUTO; COMPUTO detects the blast early and knocks Superman out! Tiffany Cross reappears too, and GL says they have to stop Impulse before he threatens her. They finally trap him by having Gates teleport Kyle's ring blasts. Tinya continues attacking COMPUTO, who grabs Tiffany and uses her as a hostage. COMPUTO is stopped by the glorious appearance of a Legion cruiser containing Cosmic Boy AND all the 30th century Legionnaires except M'Onel (explaining the L*56 mystery of where everyone vanished)! Robin, Superman and Brainiac 5 discuss COMPUTO possibly not being aware of these other Legionnaires; Robin suggests this could distract it long enough for a virus to take hold. Brainy posits that COMPUTO doesn't seem able to access Triad's memories directly (explaining why COMPUTO didn't know initially that Spark's powers changed in LSH 98). This is proven when COMPUTO doesn't recognize Sensor.

The Legionnaires then enact one of their most brilliant plans: Sensor's illusions make it seem like their powers have switched! COMPUTO wastes precious time countering the wrong Legionnaires with the right weaknesses. Superman takes advantage of its distraction to transmit a computer virus. A dying COMPUTO teleports Brainiac 5 to it, accusing him of creating COMPUTO just to suffer and die. It prepares to kill him, but Superman shows up and blasts it back. Triad and Platinum are restored.

Next is a two-page splash showing the Legionnaires saying goodbye. Lots of nice moments here. Plot points: Saturn Girl has called Inferno, who refuses to come; Brainiac 5 says her potential damage to time is minimal, and besides, the time portal is about to close. Ferro and Koko are distraught that they're being left behind in their native time. Veridium reveals he had no consciousness at all while part of COMPUTO. The Legionnaires board their cruiser, with Team 20 elated at finally coming home. Imra spots Ferro, flying behind them and crying. Cos considers, thinking that the Legion is all that Ferro has; he pulls Ferro and Koko in. Brainiac 5 screams as Koko latches onto him again.

Thoughts:

This conclusion was a worthy one to the COMPUTO 3-parter, and the longer-runnning Team 20 storyline (15 issues of the LSH comic, folks!) There are just enough guest stars to make things interesting, without overcrowding the book. Each character had something to do, and the good guys had a plan which they improvised as needed.

Lee Moder has won me over for good in this story. The Weirdo Legionnaire is glorious; adults Superman and J'Onn are drawn as adults; and his one-page splash of the Team 30 Legion using each other's powers is amazing! Kinetix growing, Violet using psychokinesis, Element Lad with electric vision, Star Boy transmuting, invisible XS, super-fast Invisible Kid, magnetic Sensor, shapeshifting Monstress, shadow-casting Live Wire, electric Umbra. Delightful!

Other fave moments:

1) Ultra Boy suspiciously questions Kyle on whether his ring is related to the Emerald Eye. Kinetix later sees it and goes "oooo, nice ring!"

2) Martian Manhunter empathizing with the Legion's plight, and suggesting they go home once Cosmic Boy and Triad Neutral are freed. I've always been a big J'Onn fan for his wisdom, kindness and compassion.

3) Brainiac 5 asking for 5 minutes to invent electromagnetic enhancers.

Robin: "You still had a minute to go."
J'Onn: "A good engineer pads his time estimates. Or so they say on Star Trek."

4) Ferro brilliantly using Iron's responsometer to shapeshift his own Iron body! And the Weirdo Legionnaire is such a great design!

5) J'Onn thinking that Cos' assertion they would have lost, had Cos remained under COMPUTO's control, was arrogance. It certainly sounded that way!

6) Apparition FINALLY being restored. Thank goodness! I love Tinya to bits, especially the Reboot Tinya.

7) When Superman questions Brainy, after Brainy tells him to blast COMPUTO. Brainy goes, "Sigghh, why do they always start thinking when the job is at hand?" At least he does still explain things

8) The clever tie-in to the Legionnaires 56 mystery of the vanished Legionnaires! They were in the past!

9) The two-page splash had several great moments:
a) Monstress admiring J'Onn. "They tell me you excel at shapeshifting too, Mr. J'Onzz. But why you'd ever want to change that shape is beyond me!"
b) Apparition and Ultra Boy celebrating Tinya's restoration; Tiffany jokingly tells them that public displays of affection are frowned on in the 20th.
c) Sensor introducing herself to Shvaughn and to Robin. Robin: "Uhhh... pleased to SNAKE your acquaintance. Make your acquaintance!"
d) Element Lad transmuting Lead's hand into silver!
e) Chameleon mocking Mercury by mimicking his appearance partially.
f) Umbra yelling at Impulse and XS to stop running around.
g) Taptree crying now that Phase is part of Apparition.
h) Superman saying he's met Garth before, calling him Lightning Lad. Much to Garth's and Ayla's confusion.
i) Brainy insisting that Inferno's potential damage t time is less than his. "I insist we exit before I invent something ELSE." hahaha!

Other thoughts:

1) One plot hole is Apparition and Tiffany Cross bursting out at the North Pole. Tiffany had the only touchstone, physically at Happy Harbor. This is never explained, but it's no big deal.

2) Another is how the existence of a time portal in both 20th and 30th century Metropolis goes unremarked. We even see a flying car enter it. Yes, Superboy guards it, but nobody seems to notice it or comment on it. And somehow, the whole time travel story is kept secret still. I mean, with Valor as M'Onel it made sense, he was very careful not to be seen and the Legion did a public failed attempt. This one seems to have slipped through the cracks.

Story 2: Reflections - Ferro's first mission and the Legion Day celebration

Summary:

It's Legion Day! The crowd goes wild, but Ferro ruminates. An elderly sentient spots his flight ring and asks why he's down. Ferro opens up, saying he doesn't think he deserves Legion membership. He talks about his first mission: a research station was attacked. Triad, Gates, Ultra Boy, Element Lad, Violet were with him. The Legionnaires found everyone turned to stone. A man with a gun called Rarb (who looks Tyrazzian) shoots at them. Jo shields the team, Jan transmutes the gun away, and Vi and Triad finish him off. Jo is surprised he didn't turn to stone; an accomplice called Stheno appears and turns everyone to stone. Vi saves Ferro by jumping on his face, telling him not to look. She recognizes Stheno as a Medusa from Imskian legends, and realizes reflections are safe. She tells Ferro to power up, and flies at Stheno backwards, knocking her out with Ferro. The petrification eventually wears off.

Ferro feels bad because he was just a "glorified mirror". The Legion fly-by starts, with everyone else - almost - in the parade. Ferro comments that everyone loves them, and that they do seem like a symbol for peace and unity. The sentient tells him that Violet needed him in that mission, that he has a chance to be part of something as cool as the Legion, and that he should be patient: with time and training, he can be great. A reassured Ferro proudly takes his place in the fly-by... and the sentient is revealed to be Chameleon!

Thoughts:

It was brilliant setting Ferro's self-doubt agains tthe Legion Day celebration. Seeing the crowd helped inspire Ferro to try again. This issue also made me a big Chameleon fan; I thought it was really cool of him to look out for a teammate that way. This characterization would continue until DnA, even.

The title, Reflections, alludes to the key plot point in the story of Vi using the reflection in Ferro's mask to beat the bad guy. But I can't help chuckling, as the famous Reflections song from Disney's Mulan, about being oneself vs. other's expectations, kind of fits here too.

Stheno is an interesting villain, though her power isn't the easiest to use for a writer. Fellow fanfic writer Omni and I have used her, though. Having Medusae show up in Imskian legends is interesting; perhaps Imsk was an Earth colony too.

Alan Davis' art is stunning as usual. Easter Eggs including someone suspiciously like Adam Strange; kids dressed as various Legionnaires; consumerist souvenirs Triad Triple Burger and XS Running Shoes. The schedule too: Guess My Weight with Star Boy, Spot the Legionnaire with Invisible Kid; Guess the Species with Chameleon. Fly-by Easter eggs: Kinetix dons a cape just for this, XS is beside M'Onel, Tinya and Jo hold hands.

Fave moment:

Disguised Chameleon asking if Ferro was worried because he "wished he had a couple of big guns with you, eh? Like M'Onel or Chameleon?" hah! that was my first clue it was really Cham; he has one of the most versatile and useful powers, but I don't consider him a big gun in terms of power Nice to see Cham has a little ego too.

Other thoughts:

"Violet" is the code name given for Vi here, not Leviathan. As late as L* 55 the roll call had her as Leviathan, and she adopted it in L* 52. That was fast...

Story 3: All Together Now

Summary:

The Legionnaires + Chuck Taine + Dyrk Magz put the finishing touches on Legion Outpost Allon! It's a movable secondary HQ that will allow the team to post themselves in trouble spots.

Spark begins feeling weak whenever she uses her new powers. Chameleon is too shy to openly flirt with her, and talks over his problems with Sensor - who encourages him to pursue Ayla. XS glimpses them, and mistakes their closeness for romance. Ayla comes looking for Cham, and XS steers her away.

Andromeda is unable to attend the dedication ceremony, referencing a new mission. Brainy is startled at her nun-hood.

Garth introduces Dyrk to Cos, hoping Cos has a solution to is powers. Rokk tells Garth they should talk; Garth side-steps. Ayla asks Imra if she's spoken to Garth, and Ayla later tells Garth to quit being an intertron-head and talk to Imra. Lyle tries transferring the Legion leadership to Rokk, who declines.

Girl talk! The Legion ladies gather - Apparition, Kinetix, Monstress, Saturn Girl, Spark, Triad, Umbra, Violet, XS, minus Sensor. Vi feels guilty that half the team was stranded in the past, but everyone reassures her not to worry. Zoe cheekily starts some boy-talk, asking Tinya how it is being married now that she's tangible. Tinya sidesteps, saying she still has to tell her mother. Ayla jokes that Winema will blow a few brain cells, to everyone's laughter. XS pines for M'Onel, while Umbra also looks forward to him arriving. Triad Orange also likes M'Onel, while Purple prefers Superboy, and Neutral hints at liking Chuck Taine. Chuck walks in to do a systems check, and freaks when he realizes the ladies have gone silent and are watching him! Jenni asks Zoe for advice about Umbra flirting with M'Onel; Zoe reassures her that Umbra and M'On are nothing alike. Both Tasmia and Jenni continue trying to flirt with M'On.

Ferro, Dyrk and Element Lad reflect in the Hall of Heroes (honoring Leviathan, Kid Quantum I, Atom'x, Blast-Off). Ferro mourns twin brother Doug, and Dyrk says he has gained perspective on his lost powers.

The dedication ceremony: Lyle thanks Cos for keeping the Team 20 together, and Chuck for renovating the outpost. Dyrk Magz is taking permanent monitor duty, and Dyrk thanks them for keeping him as part of the Legion family. Lyle formally dedicates the outpost to Leviathan, Gim Allon, who died in the line of duty (L* 39, LSH 83).

Thoughts:

No action here, but it was great for exploring the different interpersonal connections the team has. The girl talk scene is one of my faves, showing the camaraderie among the ladies and exploring the love connections.

The Outpost is a good, interesting idea that develops the Legion into a more professional organization, and is a great vehicle for focusing on sub-groups of Legionnaires, alien races and space adventures.

Fave moments:

1) The Mission Monitor Symbols finally reapper! Last seen in LSH 63. Most panels with the MMB show the Legion's faces rather than symbols, sadly.

2) Brainy on Andromeda: "A nun?! Of what? The first convent of combat evangelists?"

3) Supporting characters Chuck Taine and Dyrk Magz get a lot of focus, and Dyrk becomes a permanent member of the support staff. There's definitely room for them, and they enrich the team's universe.

Other thoughts:

1) Gates spends the entire story making snide comments about the Legionnaires. Calling Cos' and Lyle's dicussion about leadership a power struggle, calling Sensor "just another vertebrate" AND aroyalist, saying that Cham hugging Sensor is "disgusting".and so on. I was on Cham's side when he described Gates as seeing himself as saintly and long-suffering. This mean-spirited, judgmental Gates is so unlike recent issues, where Gates focused his comments on political systems and social issues. And, ever since LSH 93 he's slowly been warming up to the team, praising it for the camaraderie and support. This is way out of character considering recent events.

2) Umbra's thoughts on Dyrk as permanent Outpost Monitor Duty person. "What? He's lost everything! How...?" This smacks as unnecessarily mean. Why, does he have to have powers to man the Monitors? Or is she just surprised that Dyrk would pick himself up? I wish her line had more context.

Story 4: Brainiac Adventures

Note: Adam Hughes draws the last few panels (after Brainy wakes from his "dream").

Summary:

Cartoony Brainiac 5 blows up his lab again. Several Legionnaires and staff accost him, asking for this and that and that again. Brainy slams the door, but not before Tenzil gives him a "Tenzil Special" shake to calm his nerves. Brainy says he'd be better off if he never was, and blinks out... to meet someone who looks suspiciously like the Time Trapper, down to the ragged purple robes, and calls itself Clarence. Clarence is here to show Brainy how the world would have been without him! Brainy encounters a young Legion in their superhero club! They meet at the ice cream parlor and beat up bad guys! Brainy sarcastically suggets super-pets, much to the Legionnaires' glee. Brainy notices Koko isn't with him. Clarence shows Koko's life: he was involved in an intelligence expansion program, becoming a super-intelligent celebrity and living a luxurious life. Brainy concludes that his absence allows the Legion and Koko to lead a "happy, idyllic existence, free from despair", and that by existing, he makes them as miserable as they make him. He decides to return to existence, waking up in bed. He finds Tenzil, and blows up his kitchen; Tenzil thinks his shake tastes so foul it could cause hallucinations.

Thoughts:

The art fits Brainy's dream so well.

I laughed at the playful poking at the Adventure Era Legion; the superhero club, the super pets, meeting at the ice cream parlor. The little Legion are in their Adventure Era costumes (is that why none of the Reboot-only members show up)? For reference we have Ayla, Cham, Chuck, Cos, Garth, Imra, Jo, Lu, Lyle, Thom, Tinya, Vi. Also, Clarence the Time Trapper.

A nice exploration into Brainy's psyche too, though having it be a dream does give some wiggle room in interpreting how "selfish" and "vengeful" he is.

Story 5: The Fires of Creation

Summary:

Andromeda has been sent by her sisters to "seek peace among the stars". She encounters a weird anomaly that spits out light and comets. At the center, a voice speaks to her, and she faints.

At Legion HQ, the alarms sound. A giant image of Andromeda kneels in the center of Legion plaza, callling for M'Onel. Invisible Kid and Brainiac 5 test the image, and liken it to Sensor's illusions: there's no source of energy that could account for it. Lyle likens it to magic. M'Onel arrives and decides to go with the image, though he takes a tracker first. Brainiac 5 scoffs at his foolishness, and decides to take a team after them, saying that any force that could do this to two Daxamites might be dangerous.

Back in space, the Anomaly decrees that creation shall begin anew...

Thoughts:

It's a very Levitz story, all right. Its very v3, the way the Legionnaires think and act. The camaraderie level is lower here, making me recall a conversation with a fellow poster on how Levitz's Legionnaires seemed to snipe at each other all the time. I do feel like the pace was really slow,the first 4 pages are entirely of Sister Andy flying into the space anomaly. Brainy is a tad nasty here. When Lyle calls him Brainy, he goes, "It's Brainiac 5 to you." But Levitz has a good handle on Lyle as leader, and XS' speed comes in handy here (grabning a tracker for M'Onel ibefore Lyle even finishes his sentence).

All in all, a good 100 issue with lots for everyone.The sheer variety of tones and moods in the stories is good. And I'm especially happy that the team has reunited!

Legion of Super-Heroes 100
Issue information

Pin-ups:

There are 11 glorious pin-ups, and I'll list the artists for each as Issue Information does NOT give them. I found scans of 3/11 of them too. All colors by Tom McCraw (whose coloring I cannot fault), unless noted. McCraw does a great job, as the colors all seem to fit the art styles. The more cartoon-y pin-ups have brighter colors, the more serious ones are darker, etc.

The pin-up intro is cute; it's implied that the Legionnaires use their VR Room for most, if not all, of these. I love it; it's part of why I, as a kid, so wanted to be a Legionnaire. Because it's fun AND cool!

1) Pencils: Chris Sprouse, Inks: Bob Wiacek.

Spooky Legion. Cos and Imra cower in fear as ghostly Tinya, demonic Tasmia, werewolf Jo, Chameleon-bat, Ferro the mummy and Frankenstein's monster (possibly Garth or Brainy) attack. Also check out Lu as Siamese twins, and RJ Brande's portrait on the wall. Not a fan of Sprouse's faces on Cos and Imra, but his monsters are perfect.

2) Pencils and Inks: Colleen Doran

Fairyland/magical knights Legion. Link here. Highlights are Sensor as a dragon, Violet as a fairy with wings. Cute, I want an Elseworlds story about this!

3) Pencils: Dan Jurgens, Inks: Jose Marzan Jr.

Age of the Dinosaurs. Cos, Brainy, Umbra and Jo find a skeleton. The Legion's eyes are all shaded here,a tad weird and spooky.

4) Pencils: Mike Collins, Inks: Drew Geraci

Wild Western Legion! One of my faves, it's just a lot of fun! We get a Legion symbol that looks like a sheriff's badge; Gates riding on a horse; farmhand XS; dainty maiden Zoe; Tenzil grilling up steaks; nerdy Brainy with period-appropriate spectacles, and Sensor in a sheriff's hat.

5) Pencils and Inks: Philip Moy

The three founders as US Air Force pilots. Cute too, though I do find these three-founders pin-ups too common.

6) Pencils: John Delaney, Inks: Ron Boyd

Cartoony Legion. Link here. Delaney's style wouldn't work for the main books, but it's nice to see him draw the Legion! I consider him a good artist. Notice Magno, Inferno and non-nun Andromeda too.

7) Pencils and Inks: Cully Hamner, Inks: Stine Walsh

Police Legion vs. the mob. The pin-up is cleverly done, presented as a newspaper headline. The faces are weird though, Rokk and Garth both have really weird grins making them seem like psychopaths; I thought they were the bad guys at first. Brainy kneels while firing a gun into the air. A cool pose, but an odd choice of character (I could see Jo or Thom or Triad Purple doing this, but Brainy?) Ah, but Elseworlds.

8) Pencils: Dusty Abell, Inks: Drew Geraci

Emerald Legion ladies. XS, Saturn Girl, Spark, three Triads, Kinetix, Violet. It's a very sexy, cheesecake poster. Everyone is in tints of green, even down to their skin and hair. The art all ties into the mood, and this might have been the pin-up that made me realize I was gay

9) Pencils: Paul Pelletier, Inks: Drew Geraci

Sleepover! Jo, Cos and Garth spy on Vi, Zoe, Tinya, Imra and Lu. Pillow fight, movie night, and girl teen magazines! It was cute seeing everyone in their sleepwear and being all teen-agey. Bonus points, in Story 3 the girls take about planning a slumber party too.

10) Pencils: Todd Nauck, Inks: Ron Boyd

Apparition and Ultra Boy solemnly gaze at each other in space. It's more solemn and glare-y than romantic. Having Tinya phase through Jo is a nice touch.

11) Pencils: Jeffrey Moy, Inks: W.C. Carani

Shrunken Legion! Link here So many cute elements. Tiny Jan, Ferro, Thom,Lyle and Cham spy on sun-bathing Vi, Zoe, Lu and Candi (and Lu is putting suntan lotion on Zoe, playing up the "Zoe makes men wild" angle - see L* 49 for Radion and Atom'x fighting over here). Although, Lyle is looking at Cham, rather than the girls. Hmm. The three founders use a coffee mug as a jacuzzi, and Sensor is swallowing Gates! This is probably the cutest pin-up.

I'm generally pleased with the pin-ups, and I like that they feature a vast array of characters. Some (the 3 founders especially, plus Jo and Umbra) appear much more often than the rest, but no active Legionnaire is completely ignored either! Even RJ Brande, Inferno, Magno, Sister Andromeda and Tenzil Kem pop up in at least one.

That fantasy/medieval poster is pretty sweet...Ultra Boy and Umbra particularly look really good (I reckon the dragon might be Cham though with the antennae and all)

It's funny cuz I am not that into fantasy as a genre normally but I really like seeing superheroes get reimagined to fit a fantasy world. The Legion works well I think because there's a good range of visuals and powers to fit different fantasy roles and their home setting is already pretty fantastical. I liked when Busiek & Perez did it with the Avengers too although I don't think it's such a natural fit in their case.

Looking at that last pinup makes me think if they ever did a Legion/Archie crossover, it would HAVE to be a plot point that Betty and Imra get mistaken for one another at some stage (also I kinda want to see Jughead & Tenzil have to save the day with an eating contest now lol)

Oh, I hadn't ever considered Cham as the dragon! Good point, raz!

I agree that the Legion (with worlds like Orando and Zarrox and Reboot-era Dryad) could be a pretty good fit for fantasy. Some of the more "alien" Legionnaires like Tasmia and Cham lend themselves to that too.

Legion/Archie is a great idea! Tinya could have a good talk with Veronica (both are brunettes from rich families); Dilton bond with Lyle perhaps and fail to bond with Brainy; I could see Monstress flirting playfully with Moose and having Midge get all jealous; and Reggie would have a field day chasing after the Legion ladies (and Triad Purple might even encourage him). Jughead would be all envious of Tenzil being able to eat anything, I bet Think of all the tastes out of his reach...

Monstress flirting with Moose and Midge being the jealous one for a change would be awesome

I like Dilton and Lyle being science bros too, and Reggie and sassy Triad being bad influences on one another...this really writes itself lol

LSH Secret Files 1
Issue information

I'll again structure this differently, by dividing the issue into sections: Story 1, Story 2, Shvaughn's interview, Legion bios, the Outpost schematics, chronology, and the two-page poster of every Legion character ever and then some. I won't list the creators per segment, as this excellent Issue Information link does it for every individual bio and segment Yay!

One criticism: the cover doesn't include every Legionnaire. They had enough space, though. Boo!

Secret Origin: Legionnaires Three

Summary:

Triad narrates the behind-the-scenes formation of the Legion. Her legal guardian RJ Brande (explained in L* 24) is consistently frustrated by the lack of success of the fledgling United Planets. The UP Assembly's differences are so vast that they can't agree on anything. Triad tough-loves him by saying he should understand the common sentient to figure out how the UP can unite. Brande eagerly tours the galaxy, with last stop at Winath. An encounter with some skeptical sentients convinces Brande to spend even more time among them; he gives up his private shuttle for economy seats on a shuttle. (Bonus: Tenzil Kem appears at the Winathian spaceport eatery as a chef).

We see again the three Legion founders, Cosmic Boy, Live Wire and Saturn Girl, saving Brande from an assassination attempt. Triad anticipates Brande's next move and tracks down the three, and history is made (though there is a 2-page reenactment of LSH 0, we also do see Brande and Triad talking before the 3 come in). We shift focus to the 3 founders and their growing pains; Imra and Garth don't get along at first, but Cos pulls them together. The Legionnaires go through a series of photo ops and video shoots; Brande explains to the frustrated trio that they need to play along to help concretize and communicate their message. Last stop: Metropolis Zoo. Someone sabotages the cages, letting the animals loose! Garth and Cos stop the runaway animals, while Imra tracks down the bad guy - Grimbor the Chainsman! Grimbor provokes an escaped animal into attacking her; she calls Garth for help, and he saves her. Imra is surprised that Garth's emotions aren't all "lust and anger", but that he genuinely cared for her safety. Cos takes out Grimbor, and Imra reads his mind to find he has an energy-net on his person. Rokk and Garth combine powers to trigger it, stopping the escaped animal stampede.

Triad reflects on the Legion's greatest achievements, including their continued espousing of peace, cooperation, diversity and inclusion.

Thoughts:

Call me corny, but as a kid I really sank my teeth into the "symbol of acceptance and cooperation" idea. Still warms my heart, thinking about it. So this story hit the spot.

I like the focus on RJ Brande! It's a nice new look at the Legion's founding; we've had too many retellings of the "3 founders save Brande" story. It's refreshing to see it from another angle.

It is a bit odd that Brande, the industrialist and philanthroper, is spending so much time on the UP. He's even the one addressing the UP Assembly for legislative proposals, despite not holding office. But Triad does explain that, to business-savvy Brande, the UP is an investment. The Easter Eggs are wonderful; Brande's tour explains why he is on the public shuttle in LSH 0, and Tenzil's presence implies that Brande was the one who hired him as Legion HQ chef (first appearance LSH 63). Brande's direct involvement is what got Mr. and Mrs. Krinn their Brande Industries jobs, too. Ah, Brande. He's like Santa Claus and everyone's grandpa rolled into one.

Interesting Reboot of Grimbor. He's a little less leather-daddy and more rugged bounty hunter, complete with face tattoo and ponytail.

Fave moments:

1) The Durlan and the Vyrgan UP reps arguing about the legislative structure of the UP. Nice nod to the Durlans not being fluent in the Interlac language, and the Vyrgan talks so much like Gates does. Evil racist Daxamite Ambassador Roxxas makes a cameo, smiling in glee.

Durlan: "One-form make rigid! Not good fluid!"
Vyrgan: "By the pod! I don't even know what you're talking about, Durlan! No one does!"
Durlan: "One form rigid! Even bug should know!"
Vyrgan: "What did you call me?"

2) Doyle (Brande's business partner) giving Triad a hard time is a nice touch, and underscores how villainous he is (the Legionnaires arrested him for attempting to assassinate Brande way way back (L* 19).

3) Imra channeling her Sci-Cop self. "Grimbor the Chainsman, you're in violation of Section 9 of the Captive Animal Protection Act!"

4) Growing pains: both Garth and Imra ask Rokk to go to the photo shoot alone, leaving the other behind. Heh.

Individual Legion bios:

Members are arranged roughly in order of joining (with some out of place), and only currently Active Legionnaires are included.

a) With bios: Cosmic Boy, Live Wire, Saturn Girl, Triad, Apparition, Invisible Kid, XS, Chameleon, Brainiac 5, Violet (not Leviathan!), Spark, Kinetix, Star Boy, M'Onel, Element Lad, Gates, Ultra Boy, Umbra
b) Current active members who have to wait for their bio: Sensor, Ferro, Monstress
c) Past members without bios: Leviathan, Kid Quantum I, Andromeda, Magno

There are so many different artists that I won't even comment. I will list some of my observations:

a) It seems like the Leviathan code name for Violet is gone for good - even her bio says she "temporarily assumed it". I don't mind at all. Could be a sign of her finally moving on from Gim too?
b) Cos has stepped down officially from leadership; he can fly by tapping into planetary magnetic fields
c) Garth and Ayla's combined super-strong lightning blast is referenced. Garth's robotic arm can't conduct lightning.
d) Imra has vowed never to enter or control another Legionnaire's mind without express permission, possibly as a reaction to her subconcious animation of a catatonic Cos (LSH 96)
e) The Espionage Squad membership is apparently kept secret to all non-Squad members.
f) With concentration, Chameleon can take forms of his own imagination. This is an expansion, before he could only copy what he has already seen.
g) Spark still has anti-gravity powers, but her bio art shows her with lightning
h) Thom's unpredictable expanded powers keep him under constant medical observation
i) While in the Phantom Zone, M'Onel could eavesdrop - as a spirit - on the normal world
j) Element Lad cannot control any chemical reactions he initiaites from his transmutations
k) Gates' teleportation is capped at 200 feet, depending on line of sight. This seems very low, and I think many writers ignore it. He dislikes talking about how he gained his teleportation powers, because he felt the other Vyrgans developed an unhealthy dependence on him.
l) Umbra's aloofness makes most of her teammates regard her as "an arrogant snot". She was rejected as Planetary Champion of Talok VIII due to a "mysterious scandal".

Shvaughn Erin interview:

Ah, some great moments here. This takes the form of a transcript of Q&As. Interviewer Brad Majors pushes Shvaughn hard, which gives us insight into her. My best moments:

1) Asking her if she resents being Legion liaison (which she did initially, before being won over - LSH Annual 6). She denies, of course. She even says she was inspired by how the Legionnaires are exactly what they project to the galaxy: believing in the cause, being so responsible. On the flip side, she was surprised at how much htey curse and swear (nass, grife, frack, squadge, sprock), especially because they're so decent in any other way.
2) More on her job: she ensures the Legion and the Science Police are updated about important matters that affect their jobs. Legion membership, ensuring that each body doesn't interfere with another on cases (i.e. the Legion doesn't accidentally expose an undercover SP), updating each other of critical crimefighting information (i.e. the Composite Durlan's weakness).
3) Brad calls Shvaughn relatively young; she's 21, and suggests she was chosen partly because she was relatively close the the Legionnaire's ages (average 15 1/2).
4) Word association! Cosmic Boy: trustworthy; Saturn Girl: self-controlling; Ferro: naive; Gates: more naive; Brainiac 5: pass
5) And the pass leads to Brad digging to see if Shvaughn has a difficult relationship with Brainy. Shvaughn says no more than the usual, and Brad begins questioning if Brainy has problems with the other Legionnaires. This prompts Shvaughn to end the interview.

Legion Outpust schematics:

Not much to say here, really. Facilities such as the gym, cafeteria and rooms are designed to accommodate a variety of species. Brainiac 5's lab is marked "danger!", and can be jettisoned as a safety precaution.

Lost Pages: What Team 20 did for money?

A pretty funny story. Cosmic Boy tells the Legionnaires they can't shoplift, and most of them get part-time jobs.

a) Gates interviews for an EPS delivery job, citing his great organizational skills. He teleports packages from a moving truck. When he learns that workers don't get full-time benefits, he is aghast and uses his organizational skills to form a protesting union. Bye, Gates!
b) Cos raises the Titanic
c) Spark provides special effects for band Scare Tactics
d) Saturn Girl is a United Nations interpreter, frustrated by their constant arguing. She's tempted to show them images of the future, but controls herself
e) Ferro rummages through garbage for cans to recycle

Legion chronology:

It's really just a chronological list of major Legion events. There are no "real life" citations as to issue numbers. Events are classified as Mission Reports or Personnel Reports (changes in membership, individual Legionnaire status). A couple of Easter eggs: some time between LSH 62 (when Leviathan et. al. join and Kid Quantum I is killed) and LSH 63 (the Legion HQ is introduced and Brainiac 5 physically joins), is a classified report for authorized Legion members' eyes only. They encounter something unknown.

Other classified entries are: Invisible Kid forming the Espionage Squad; the successful rescue of Valor; everything related to half the Legion being stranded in the 20th century (no clue how they hid the time portal's existence); and the Espionage Squad reactivating to investigate Sklarian raiders.

Poster of everyone:
Link here.

Well, I'm impressed. It's the Reboot version of that famous Giffen poster of everyone. I'm more impressed with Phil Jimenez sneaking in Rebooted versions of Preboot characters who have not yet appeared in the Reboot before, such as Pulsar Stargrave (who will never appear, in fact) and Comet Queen. He also includes significant Preboot characters who've only made cameos in the Reboot before, such as Stone Boy, Color Kid, Chlorophyll Kid (all appearing in the tryouts in L* 43); or Beast Boy and Gas Girl (L* 49). And we have a host of villains and minor characters who've only appeared once or twice, such as Lume, the rejects in L* 44, Mantis Morlo, Buck Bond Science Ranger, etc. We have a key at the back, though unlike the Giffen poster it doesn't characterize people as Legionnaires, villains, etc. But it's good enough, any Legion fan can tell who is who!

Overall, this is a great issue. The two stories fill in gaps in the Legion's origin and the Team 20 time. Even the interview and the bios give lots of little tidbits that aren't explicitly stated in the main books. Well worth the price.

Whew. This has been a massive power-through, these past few days. Time to take a break from the "main" series, and wrap up a couple of "dangling" stories.

First up: whatever did happen to Inferno, and why did she stay in the 20th century when she so badly wanted to go home? I'll do one post for the entire mini-series.

Inferno 1-4
Mini-Series information

Summary:

Issue 1:

Picks up from Inferno's departure from the Legion in LSH 96. Inferno helpfully recaps her time with the Legion, reminds us she's afraid of the dark, that she still sort of wants to return to the 30th century, and that Ultra Boy should have easily been able to catch her. She wakes up in the parking lot of a mall.Jilly Major, a young girl who lives in said mall, befriends her. Inferno flashes back to her childhood and origins, the first we will ever hear of them. She was almost 9 when her pyrokinesis first manifested. She spent 3 years in a lab, being tested and isolated from all but her parents. Eventually, her parents gave her up to benefactor Leland McCauley. Inferno "wakes up" again, in the middle of a desert. It's happened before; she dreams about her past, then "wakes up" in this desert. She finally finds a little house with a panda, whose calls itself Eldrid Hayes or Ailuropoda Melanoleuca (its species name). It invites Inferno into the house. She destroys the house and apparently the panda, and wakes up.

In the real world mall, a series of bombs go off. Inferno draws in the flames from the fires they start, and she catchs the arsonist. After yelling at the cops for ignoring her despite catching the crook, a police officer tells her that "here, regular people are responsible, so just stay out of the way." Inferno thinks she's no hero... Another girl, Helen Gage, thinks she's cool and befriends her. Inferno realizes she's been robbed by Jilly, and goes with Helen for a free lunch.

A shadowy figure watches, thinking Inferno's power can free it from "its torture", and that it can stop telepathically manipulating children. The arsonist is freed from its control, and he clearly remembers nothing.

Issue 2:

Helen introduces Inferno to her friend group: Charlene "Charlie' Woodcock, Sophie Desjardins, Dinan Ferri, and Jane Washington-Carter. The girls aren't particularly warm, prompting Inferno and Helen to show displeasure; the girls, in a massive display of eye-rolling, greet Inferno more fake warmly. Helen sternly tells the girls to behave, and goesto buy lunch. Sophie warns Inferno that Helen only acts nice because she wants something, and that Helen messed Jilly up. Inferno recognizes the name; just then, Jilly shows up and Inferno grabs her. Jilly says she just wanted a look and was going to return the things, but had to flee when the mall cops started looking around.

Inferno flashes back to her childhood, remembering how angry and sick she felt all the time because of her parents' revulsion and the constant tests.

Charlie's boyfriend tells her to choose between him or her "weirdo, loser" friends. Charlie chooses her friends. The girls quiz Inferno on her hero activities. Jane asks if Inferno has ever killed anyone; Inferno scares her by saying it has become second nature; that she would sometimes wonder if they had lives, but then tells herself they're just meat. She's half-joking, and the girls laugh. The shadowy creature watches, and Inferno is transported back to the panda. The house she destroyed is repaired. The panda warns her about danger. In the real world, cops have come to take runaway Jilly back home. Inferno goes to help, then encounters some shoplifters whom she catches. Jilly does escape; the girls verbally beat Inferno up for not helping. Inferno reflects on this sorry state of affairs, then realizes something is in her mind. She finds the shadowy creatyre, which looks like some ugly albino vampire. Helen distracts her, and the creature disappears.

Issue 3:

Jane falls from the upper floors of the mall. Helen convinces Inferno to save her. Upstairs, it turns out that Charlie's boyfriend Sean pushed Jane. Donna and Sophie have subdued him. The girls tell Inferno to kill Sean. Inferno flashes back to an old Workforce mission with Spider-Girl and Ultra Boy; Inferno is burning down a forest. Ultra Boy and Spider-Girl tell Inferno to slow down so the animals can escape. Inferno freaks out when an ape climbs onto her back and covers her eyes, triggering her fear of the dark.

In the present, Helen and the others leave. Inferno tells Helen her friends hate her; Helen says she knows. She treats them like dirt, they hate her in return, but when it counts they're still friends. Inferno doesn't understand. Shadowy creature gets into Inferno's head again, and again she is brought to the panda. She finally enters the house, seeing happy memories of her childhood. Inferno yells that her father pushed her out of his life and let her become a hired killer; Panda defends father, saying he was trying to protect her and cou;d not have known. Jilly wakes Inferno up, she flies away, shadowy creature attacks again, Inferno wakes up again. Creature finally fights Inferno in the real world. It slashes at her, and then inexplicably Inferno is unharmed and hiding in a bathroom (was it a dream too?)

Issue 4:

Shadowy creature thinks Inferno is a great source of emotions. It will continue nursing her fear and anger so it can feed. Jilly finds a cowering Inferno, who mistakes her for the creature and blasts at her. Jlly offers to help her hide, and they have a confusing conversation. Jilly is confident Inferno can beat the creature. She just wants to be away from her family, and takes it in stride that Helen and others think she is crazy. Inferno flashes back: shortly after being ut in McCauley's care, her parents divorced. Inferno burned her entire past life, and found some mild kinship with the other "freaks" in the Workforce. Jilly suddenly seems to disappear, and Inferno is brought back to the Panda. She wakes again, and Jilly and Shadowy Creature are both there. Inferno tells Jilly to clear her mind, as Creature feeds on emotions, and to run. Creature attacks Jilly, forcing Inferno to attack Creature and save Jilly. Inferno uses the power of self-confidence to kill Creature, saying it isn't personal and that McCauley never forced her to do anything she didn't want to. Panda bids goodbye, telling Inferno she has changed for the better. Inferno explains to Jilly thatcreature fed on negative emotions (anger, fear, self-loathing), and that Inferno is now free of them. Jilly decides to return home, but tells Inferno she and company are Inferno's friends.

Saturn Girl telepathically contacts Inferno, saying they can go home; she says she had Inferno on "low-level monitor", just to know her whereabouts. Imra had no idea what was happening, but that Inferno is different. Inferno asks if she has a choice re going home; Imra says Brainiac 5 decided Inferno won't hurt the timestream (which is false, based on LSH 100; or at least, Brainy never made a determination, and everyone thinks Inferno still has potential to cause damage). Inferno decides to stay and hang out with her new "friends".

Thoughts:

Meh. The story is just weird. Giant panda, deserted wasteland, weird girls who befriend Inferno. I don't know why so many girls were introduced, as only Jilly and Helen really were important. Maybe a third to point out to Inferno that Helen is a Mean Girl. Props to the girls for diversity though. Helen is dark-skinned, Jane is Asian despite her very white name. Oh, I get it now, this is supposed to be an exploration into Inferno's psyche, so she needs a big "peer group" of girls. Okay. I guess it would make a good novel or even a movie, as it explores a lot of themes about friendship and self. But it just doesn't seem to go anywhere, not for me anyway.

I sort of understand Inferno coming to terms with her past and present. I still don't understand why she stays - power of friendship? Jilly and Helen touched her so much because they were real? Whatever.

The constant shifting between dream, dream in a dream, flashbacks and "real world" are confusing. By issue 3, I have no idea anymore what is really happening.

Inferno's personality is, thankfully, more fully-fleshed out here. Though she has killed, she's still on the side of good - at the mall, she does spare a thought for innocent bystanders. She doesn't really check on them though, just fuses the chunks of glass together. She also lets the arsonist fall, though catches him before he hits.

I appreciate the writer wanting to do something with Inferno. The reason being, Inferno was intriguing and he wanted to do something with her. Well, she did get some exploration and character development, but overall I found it forgettable.

Covers are really clever, designed as teen's or women's magazines with Infero as It Girl. They come complete with blurbs of articles inside. I wonder, is it a cheeky commentary on the nature of many celebrities and idols?

Fave moments:

1) Jilly's dialogue pokes fun at the super-hero concept. "Cool, a superheo. I couldn't do it. I could hardly board the plane to Acapulco last winer, so flying is definitely out... I also don't have a body like yours... and hetting hit - well, there's just no way. How do you manage? Every day must be like your world crashing down on you."

2) Inferno uses her powers intelligently and tactically, in a way we hardly ever got to see in the Legion books. Here, she uses a blast of fire to fuse together chunks of falling glass, saving innocents below.

Note: After this series, Inferno would make minor appearances in 20th century super-hero gatherings. I won't bother to fully review these, as Inferno generally gets a few panels or lines at most. I will give a few notes. Most of them involve her being in battle, or leaving a gathering of heroes. Sadly, she just eventually fades into obscurity.

Full list of all her appearances ever is jhere.

1) Young Justice 50-51: Inferno is called in by Young Justice to help invade super-villain haven Zandia,along with nearly every other young 20th century hero. When whiny Snake Girl whines at how muddy Zandia is, Inferno asks "would anyone object if I burn her to a crisp?" She flies rings around Heatstroke of the Masters of Disaster, seemingly defeating her.
2) JLA: World Without Grown-ups. When a genie creates a separate world for the adults and one for the kids, Inferno is trapped on kid-world and helps keep order, saving kids from their stupid actions.
3) Wonder Woman 174-175: Circe turns all male heros and villains into animals, teleporting them to New York and sealing the city off. Wonder Woman forms a massive female super-hero army to battle the female super-villains and Circe. As part of Vixen's Suicide Squad / Outsiders / miscellaneous themed squad, Inferno gets frozen by Killer Frost.
4) Teen Titans v2 17: This is the deaged Atom/Argent/Prysm era. At the Titans membership drive, Impulse arrives, prompting Inferno to leave. She only gets one line of dialogue, and it's not even funny.
5) Superboy 65: Cadmus holds "tryouts" for a replacement for Suoerboy, who vanished for a while. Inferno leaves; Risk teases her, and she says she couldn't care less about trying out for another team of "Legion of Super-Heroes wannabes".

Legion of Super-Heroes Annual 7
One Shot
Issue Information

This is the Dead Earth event tie-in. Premise: flash forward into the future to see what out favorite heroes would be like. It actually came out a couple of years before LSH 100; but it doesn't impact the Legion's timeline and could be treated as an Elseworlds. I'm rereading it now for completion's sake, as it does clearly spring from the Reboot Legion's timeline.

Summary:

Wildfire (who at this point hadn't been Rebooted yet in continuity), gathers his team. Mission: stop a space-cannon from destroying suns, and generating electromagnetic pulses that wipe out interplanetary communication, isolating former UP worlds and making them hate each other. The cannon appears periodically every century.

His team:
1) Phase from Bgztl, intangibility;
2) Nervosa from Bismoll, eats anything;
3) Metrox from Colu, super smart and has a Mobius chair with ill-defined powers;
4) Graft from Durla, shapeshifting;
5) Membrain from ???, telepathy and a gelatinous form that can engulf matter safely or otherwise. Pariah on its homeworld

Xenophobia and racism threaten to tear the team apart, with Nervosa snapping at Graft. Wildfire forces them to recite the Legion Catechism, saying they need to understand the point of cooperation. Wildfire reminds them that he is functionally immortal AND was part of the original Legion. Metrox warps them to the cannon. The Legionnaires are to face the robots pouring out while Wildfire destroys the firing mechanism. Nervosa's suspicion gets her and Graft killed. Metrox arrogantly blasts a robot Phase is attacking, burning her hand; she turns on him. Only Membrain engages in good teamwork. Without proper support, Wildfire gets blasted. The cannon fires, destroying its target sun and blurring communication lines everywhere. Phase and Metrox are killed. Membrain saves Wildfire's energy form and all the flight rings, returning to Legion HQ. Gizi and Ziga, Rimborian youths and support staff, transfer Wildfire into a new containment suit.

Wildfire is enraged, saying he needs to remember how the original Legion worked. The current situation is the antithesis of everything the Legion stood far. Worlds are suspicious of one another, spending on military might while letting their citizens starve. Membrain puts Wildfire through sensory deprivation to recover lost memories.

Wildfire remembers his origin (identical to the Preboot one: his body is converted into energy in a lab accident, Prof. Vultan designs containment suit); he joins Legion. He realizes that the Legion worked because its members were young and free from prejudice and hatred, meaning they could cooperate. He flies off to various worlds, recruiting the young, one male and one female, choosing their code names himself:

1) Shape and Shift from Durla, shapeshifting. Wildfire speaks Durlan fluently and cites legendary hero Chameleon
2) Magno-Boy and Lodestone from Braal, magnetic powers
3) Triad III and Triplicate from Cargg, triplication
4) Argent and SIlverwing, Reniians, flight and agility

He tells the Legionnaires NOT to fraternize; he only recruited two of each species so he could have a spare. It's reverse psychology; he WANTS them to mate so they will produce offspring. Wildfire is training the next generations of Legionnaires, as the cannon is not expected to appear for another 100 years. The Durlans threaten to kill a villain, causing Wildfire to sternly remind them of the No Kill rule. The Legionnaires prove effective on missions, scaring the bad guys and causing the cannon to reapper ahead of schedule. Wildfire takes his fledgling team, explaining he was planning to bring their descendants later on. He tells them his non-fraternization rule was a lie, to the Reniians delight.

As the robots battle, Wildfire realizes they are really Durlans. He exposes Shape and Shift as moles. Wildfire and Membrain figured it out, as they were trying to blame water-thieves for the star cannon. The Durlans defend their actions, saying they have been feared and mistreated. The Legionnaires engage the Durlans, before Membrain warns them to break off; this signals that Wildfire has reached the cannon. He destroys it, and the Durlans die in the explosion.

Now that communications are back, Wildfire begins reaching out to the old UP worlds, urging them to reform the United Planets with the Legion as a symbol of hope.

Thoughts:

I found the issue's message nice; it ties into what I love best about the Legion. The execution is a tad wonky, though. It seems a bit lazy, and I also found it boring.

Wow, is Nervosa is the worst. She was the only one who engaged in egregiously racist behavior unprovoked. ironically, she was right - the Durlans WERE the culprits. Interesting twist too; in the current Legion, there will soon be a story where Durlans are turned into scapegoats by the Dark Circle to scare worlds into joining their puppet alliance. Hm....

Too many inconsistencies, though. Wildfire enforces the no kill rule, blasting Shape (or was it Shift?) when it tries to kill a villain. Yet, they let the Durlans die when Wildfire destroys the cannon. Wildfire and Membrain act like it was obvious the bad guys were the Durlans; it's a bit tenuous, though I do understand the clues. The bad guys knew the Legion was working well, so it seemed likely it was from one of the new Legion homeworlds.

The timing is super weird too. The star cannon thing has been going on for 600 years. Wildfire's transmission to Winath says the Legion won "75 years ago". Are you telling me it took 75 years to reach Winath again?

Easter Eggs:

1) Dead Legionnaires with memorial statues: Gates, Reflecto, Galaxy (who knows who she is).
2) Members hinted at: Shadow Lass (fulfilled), Princess Projectra (we get Sensor instead), Invisible Kid II (not fulfilled though he does appear in Reboot as government agent and spy), Blok (not fulfilled and unlikely as Dryad will be destroyed), Chemical King (not fulfilled though appears as reporter), Karate Kid (will be fulfilled).
3) Wildfire had a relationship with XS; Dawnstar is not shown at all.
4) Cosmic Boy is hinted to become United Planets president
5) Brainiac 5 and Andromeda get married. Spark and Chameleon are a couple.

Art is okay, nothing special but also not bad.

Legionnaires 57
Troubled Minds
Issue Information

Summary:

Live Wire and Spark are in a VR training session. Ayla does well with her new anti-gravity powers (lightening rocks, throwing them at enemies, then restoring gravity as they hit), but suffers periodic bouts of weakness. Dr. Gym'll and Saturn Girl rush in to check on Ayla; and Imra refuses to scan Ayla's mind without express permission. Imra leaves to visit her family on Titan. Ayla pushes Garth to go with her, saying she'll be fine.

Brainiac 5 assembles his team (Umbra, Kinetix) to follow M'Onel and Andromeda, and explore the space anomaly (LSH 100). Brainy is enthralled; Kinetix jokes that he might just be fascinated by Andromeda. Umbra says Daxamites like Andy and M'Onel are fascinating. The final team member, Gates, shows up with Cosmic Boy in tow; Gates complains that Cos pressured him into "taxi service" to say bye. Cos also alludes to a mysterious space anomaly they Legion investigated shortly after forming; this could be the "classified" entry in the Legion chronology from LSH Secret Files 1? Imra and Garth arrive, on their way to Titan. Zoe wink-winks at Garth, who isn't amused. XS runs in just after the teams leave, sad that Umbra is going on the mission after M'Onel. Even as her former crush Cos comforts her, all she can think about is M'On.

On Outpost Allon, Ultra Boy staves off an angry call for Winema Wazzo, who accuses the Legion of hiding daughter Apparition. After Winema ends the call, Apparition comes in and thanks Jo for holding mommy off, as she can't face her yet.

On Med-Station One (orbiting Mercury), Ferro consults with a dozen doctors over his face. The doctors marvel at how Ferro's skull is so unlike any other species', even the human species. They also remark that Ferro's non-symmetrical face isn't unusual (at least, not by many non-humanoid species' standards). When Ferro says he wants plastic surgery, they say that he's perfectly healthy and changing his face would be unethical, and too risky!

On Titan, Garth and Imra hold hands. They clear immigration in no time at all, a mark of improved inter-planetary relations (in L* 38, the Titanians gave them a hard time, though Cos' was present then; Braal and Titan have a history of wars). Imra's parents and younger sister Jancel greet them, with Jancel coming on to Garth again. Imra explains her discovery that her old teacher. Dr. Micah Aven, had installed mental blocks in her mind to control her prodigious powers (LSH 90). Her parents are shocked. Imra meditates, making mental contact with Aven. Aven haughtily explains that Imra's powers had isolated her from less talented Titanians; she was so powerful tat she became withdrawn. It was only Aven's blunting of her powers that she regained her social ties. Imra's shocked, as she never knew Aven was tampering with her mind. Imra questions why Aven never told her about them, and accuses him of having gone through a similar ordeal. Her clue? Aven regressed to childhood temporarily when talking about what he did. Aven admits that he went through the same thing, and concedes that he may have subconsciously stopped searching for a better alternative to the blocks because he was ambivalent that Imra would escape the ordeal he suffered as a child; his child self appears, showing how much it still hurts him. He begs for forgiveness; Imra says she might forgive him, on the condition he is completely honest with her from now own.

At the UP Assembly, captured Sklarian raiders are brought in. RJ Brande notes that they have raided numerous UP installations (such as L* 53). Brande also cites Khundian incursions into UP space (L* 56). Several delegates demand greater security, saying they joined for safety. Brande rebukes them, saying their displays of fear are what terrorists want. Several Sklarian raiders enter, having demanded the right to be heard. An unidentified UP member slams the Sklarians for insulting their gift of a new homeworld. The Titanian representative detects their plan to assassinate Brande; the prisoners somehow get free from their shackles and shoot. Invisible Kid saves Brande. While questioning the Sklarians, they activate self-destruct switches, killing themselves. SP Commander Hagbard says they were scanned and searched twice, implying a mole in the UP smuggled them the self-destructs.

Invisible Kid convenes the Espionage Squad: Apparition, Chameleon, Triad, Violet and new member Sensor. They will investigate recent attacks such as the Khund incursions and Sklarian raids. All agree to potentially go undercover for extended periods of time.

The Dark Circle leader gloats that their plan worked. The assassination was intended to fail, in order to sow confusion and dissent.

Thoughts:

This issue (and the 3rd story in LSH 100) seem to mark the slow decline in quality of the Reboot Legion. First off, the dialogue seems a little less on point. In the past few issues, I had several examples of snappy, funny dialogue each issue. Here, there's less. The Legionnaires seem to go from being sarcastically funny friends (with a lot of camaraderie)! to becoming more insipid, yet still good friends. Example: Brainiac 5 absent0mindedly disses his teammates intelligence - "I don't expect you to fully understand this phenomenon", to which Umbra reacts with a "Gee, thanks". Brainy's sarcasm is usually sharper, and Umbra is usually not shy to point out how her teammates are acting. See my reread of LSH 100 for more examples, particularly Gates' constant un-funny grumbling.

On the other hand, it's many of the minor characters who shine here. Fleet Admiral Everett shows more personality than Invisible Kid in their scenes together. Micah Aven has become a bit more compelling than Saturn Girl; Imra seems to shake off her mental traumas easily, while Aven is still haunted by his.

The Dark Circle plot makes sense, but the execution leaves me wanting. I'm not sure if it's the dialogue, but the Dark Circle seems less menacing than, say, the White Triangle or Mordru.

Moy's art also seems less crisp in this issue. The Legionnaires' eyes in the roll call aren't as keen or sharp, for example. However, he does a good job drawing various alien species - especially at Ferro's medical consultation. The aliens, many with asymmetrical faces, make a good counterpoint to Ferro, and illustrate that Ferro shouldn't feel deformed in a 30th century with many different species!

Fave moments:

1) Live Wire channeling his electricity from his eyes; it's effective against bad guys but leaves him in pain. I know Spark will eventually use this once, but I can't remember when.

2) XS' encounter with Cos shows she's clearly over him. Ah, but now she's obsessing over M'Onel...

3) Fleet Admiral Everett. I just love her; she helped vs Mordru (L* 48-50). She's tough and no-nonsense.

4) Aven's ordeal. It was very realistic, making me feel for him.

Other thoughts:

1) Boy, Brainy sure does a quick 180. In LSH 100, Brainiac 5 was suspicious of the Space Anomaly, and contemptuous of M'Onel and Andromeda for exploring it. Here, he is positively thrilled and fascinated. Though, he DOES allude to his contempt, and explains he changed his mind because of scans he took. So points for good writing in explaining this in-story.

Legion of Super-Heroes 101
When The Reign Comes
Issue information

Summary:

Live Wire, Saturn Girl and Spark stop a thief. Spark collapses again after using her anti-gravity powers. Live Wire sternly tells her to visit Dr. Gym'll while he and Imra bring the thief to the police. Ayla resents Garth for leaving her alone. Dr. Gym'll explains that her weakness comes from her hang-ups that she and Garth no longer have the same lightning powers. Physically, she's fine. Spark heads over to the Metropolis Zoo, and enters the cage of Lucy the lightning beast in hopes of recharging her powers. Poor Lucy has been "neutered" by the zoo, though.

Spark tracks down Garth for a talk, but walks in on him insulting her powers to Chameleon and Cosmic Boy. She slams him into the ceiling and walks out. Garth searches for her. Imra says she's not in Legion HQ; Violet says she came out of Dr. Gym'll's office looking upset; Dr. Gym'll explains his diagnosis; Shvaughn hasn't seen her but says she's in trouble for breaking into Lucy the lightning beast's cage; and Cham says a mini-cruiser has been taken without being signed out.

On the Legion Outpost, Star Boy and Insect Queen chat. Insect Queen sees an alien invasion, and asks Star Boy for help. But the transmission is cut off before she can.

Spark crashes onto Korbal. A lightning beast blasts her, and she falls unconscious. Garth, Imra, Cos, Vi, Cham, Element Lad and Dr. Gym'll follow, and Dr. Gym'll pronounces her dead. Vi comforts a grieving Cham. A distraught Garth lets loose with lightning, briefly reanimating Ayla. Doc Gym'll theorizes that a powerful enough blast might restore Ayla's life and powers, but that Garth would need to relinquish control togenerate a blast that large. Cos comes up with the idea to cannibalize Spark's cruiser for parts. In a familiar plot, the plan is: Legionnaires collect lightning via metallic wands, and channel it to Live Wire, who will control the flow into to glass coffin housing Spark's body. As Garth isn't generating the current, he can focus on controlling it. The Legionnaires leave. Gym'll runs numbers and finds that there is a risk to Garth; before he can abort, Garth zaps him, willing to risk his life.

The plan works; Ayla is revived. Garth hugs her and tells her that her lightning should be restored. Ayla seems powerless, and gets mad at Garth, thinking it's a cruel joke. Suddenly, a blast of lightning erupts from her. Imra observes that it's more powerful than anything Garth or a lightning beast could muster. They find Ayla kneeling in awe of the extent of her powers, with Garth saying "cool power, Ayla."

Thoughts:

This is an interesting update on that Adventure Era story where Lightning Lad is resurrected. This doesn't hold up as well as the original, though, and I'm dissatisfied by several loose plot elements and poor characterization.

1) Spark's conflict with Live Wire seems completely artificial here. In LSH 100 and L* 57, Garth is shown being completely supportive of her new powers, while Ayla even prods him to pursue Imra. Now, Garth is making fun of her and Ayla is resentful that Garth spends more time with Imra. What gives? The conflict ball has been passed to them to create drama, apparently. The conflict itself is realistic, and I can imagine many pairs of siblings arguing like this. But the set-up smacks of being shoehorned.

2) Cos is the one who says that the mini-cruisers can give them enough equipment to revive Spark. Uh, what? he's not a tech genius! I would expect Invisible Kid, a scientist, to know this, but Cos? He's never displayed that level of know-how before.

3) Dr. Gym'll is horrible when consulting with Spark. While I don't mind his lack of bedside manner, I'm astonished that he merely tells Spark to go and not use her anti-gravity powers. She has to threaten him before he explains that her pains and weakness are all in her head, because she can't accept that she and Garth don't have the same lightning powers anymore.

4) Chameleon grieves for Spark. Their relationship is so weird; Cham hasn't really pursued it yet. Ah well. Garth/Imra at least have talked about theirs.

5) Jan continues to be weird. He clearly doesn't understand the Legionnaires' mourning, merely saying "let's imagine silicon". Earlier issues have shown him espousing the "death is just the beginning" view, but he was at least sensitive to grief. Also, as he transmutes metal to glass, he randomly says "I... I think I like glass." Oy.

6) I can understand Spark being upset her lightning didn't come back. But boy, does she go overboard versus Garth.

Ayla: "Don't you think I could feel it if it was there?How stupid do you think I am?"
Garth: "Hey, I just saved your life..."
Ayla: "Why? So you could humiliate me all over again? So you could gloat about your cool powers? That is so sick, Garth!"

This after Garth DOES just save her life!

Also, Spark becoming more powerful than Live Wire is never referenced again. Nor do we get any scenes where Ayla is chosen to do something because she's more powerful. It feels like a wasted opportunity.

Art-wise: The cover is great, and Alan Davis makes a beautiful homage to that Adventure Era story where Lightning Lad is resurrected.

Interior-wise, oh my gosh. I'm sorry, but Jason Armstrong's art is terrible. I wished Lee Moder had stayed; I feel like Moder had hit his stride a few issues before he left. Armstrong draws some of the most awkward faces ever.

Fave moments:

1) Monstress pointedly looking at her watch while waiting for Dr. Gym'll.

2) Spark giving Live Wire what he deserves. Spark walks in the room, overhearing:

Garth: "All I'm saying is, if I were a criminal, I'd rather you took away my lightning than zapped me with gravity. I mean, who wants gravity anyway? That's why we have flight rin-"
Cos and Cham look terrified, as Ayla clenches her fist.
Cos: "Shut up, Garth, and look behind y--"
Ayla slams Garth into the ceiling. "Rub it in, Garth!"
Garth: "What the sprock was that?"
Cos: "You getting just what you asked for."

Note, I think this scene is a bit out of character considering how Garth has matured. But it's not completely unrealistic, given the mild sibling rivalry; and it's funny!

3) Insect Queen being all snarky, dissing Monstress. "Please tell her the Amazers are somehow managing to thrive without her weekly makeovers." The running gag of everyone forgetting the bald Amazers name continues, as Star Boy just refers to him as The Bald Kid.

Adventures in the DC Universe 10
The Blobs
Issue information

Summary:

A cruiser containing 14 Legionnaires is attacked by the giant blobs mentioned in the title. Sensor is unconscious, leaving only Cosmic Boy, Live Wire, Saturn Girl, Apparition, Triad, Chameleon, XS, Invisible Kid (leader), Spark, Kinetix, Violet, Star Boy and Ultra Boy to deal with the menace.

The Legion's ship is stuck in a tractor beam, and the blob sends out mini-blobs to attack. Invisible Kid dispatches Cosmic Boy, Live Wire, Spark, Kinetix and Ultra Boy as their first line of defense. Violet tries to send a distress signal to HQ, but it is unknown if it goes through.

Ferro looks in on Brainiac 5, who is on monitor duty. Ferro tries to empathize with an annoyed Brainy by saying that Ferro feels useless while everyone is in battle; Brainy counters by saying it is a distraction from his research and a waste of his time, as anyone - "Even you, Ferro!" - could do the task. Gates teleports in to spell Brainy on monitor duty, along with an admonition - "Your inflated self-valuation is worthy of an archetypal capitalist oppressor!". Hee, I love Gates' one-liners. Ferro says he feels Brainy doesn't like in, to which Gates replies, "Why should you be any different from the rest of us?"

In space, the blobs seem to be feeding on Ayla's and Garth's electricity; Jo tries to punch one and ends up getting stuck, only getting unstuck through Zoe's telekinesis. The blobs seem to be acidic, as they were eating through Jo's transuit. Imra tries, and fails, to make mental contact with the blob. The Legion's cruiser is stuck in the blob's tractor beam, and in four minutes it will explode.

Cos and Zoe clear a path through the blob to the tractor beam, but the Legionnaires make little headway before the blob traps them. Zoe's telekinesis is established not to work on animate matter (like the blob's protoplasm) here, in contradiction to many of her previous appearances.

Lyle sends Chameleon, XS, Violet and Star Boy to try and free their teammates. He and Apparition will try to reach the tractor beam. Triad takes control of the ship. Saturn Girl is to keep trying to make contact with the blob.

Ferro asks Gates how to handle people's reactions to his looks. Gates fires back with this gem: "Your whole species has been brainwashed by capitalist propaganda! You believe you can get beauty, love and happiness by buying the right brand of shoes! Why should I care what humans think of my appearance? Why should I care if unenlightened fools think I am a monster?" A buoyed Ferro thanks Gates, who after Ferro leaves we see Gates shed a tear.

Tinya phases into the blob to wish Jo luck before she heads for the tractor beam. Cham, XS, Vi and Thom make some initial headway burrowing down to Cos' group, but Cham and XS are quickly pulled in. Lyle is trapped as well, leaving only Tinya to breach the tractor beam's origin. She finds, to her horror, that there is no machinery; it is biological, and something she can't affect. Back on the ship, Imra thinks she has finally made contact, but gets knocked out by feedback.

Back in HQ, Ferro encounters Shvaughn Erin in the library. Ferro talks about feeling out of place, prompting Shvaughn to talk about the Legion's origin. She points out that Ferro shouldn't feel left out just because of his own origins; the Legion was formed partly to serve as a model of interspecies cooperation, after all.

In space, Saturn Girl recovers. She tells the others what she learned: the blob is some sort of galactic antibody, and perceives the Legionnaires as invading germs. They're usually unknown in the area the team is in, but are often found in Sensor's sector. Imra doesn't know how to stop the blob. Cos interrupts Lyle to suggest that Imra shut down the ship's power (to prevent it from exploding) and bail out. Imra disagrees, saying that the loss of the ship will spell certain doom.

Ferro hears an explosion in Brainy's lab, and alerts the staff. Tenzil and Chuck are casual about it - Chuck has already built a weekly "Brainy blows up his lab" contingency into his HQ repair timeline! Ferro tripsover Brainy's prone form, and encounters Benn Pares, burglar. Benn shoots Ferro back with his gun, and gloats about how he's been planning this for months - using the ongoing repairs to conceal his tunneling, and waiting until most of the Legionnaires were away. Pares prepares to shoot at the reactor in Brainy's lab to cover his tracks (I still don't get how he planned to escape unharmed). Gates comes in at the right moment, and Ferro politely asks for two teleportation disks. Gates gets it, and helps Ferro teleport his fist into Benn's face! Tenzil catches Benn's gun and disposes of it by eating.

Imra makes one last effort to get through to the blob. Triad takes Sensor to try and escape. Vi and Thom are being cornered by blobs, and the blob is beginning to eat through the transuits of the trapped Legionnaires. Tinya returns to Jo. Imra lets loose one final telepathic assault, and suddenly - the blob vanishes! Sensor's vital signs stabilize at the same moment, leading Lyle to conclude that...

... it was all an illusion!

A conscious Sensor apologizes, but nobody blames her. Ferro comes to greet the team, who tell him they were happy he was back at HQ because he saved it.

Thoughts:

This was a great done-in-one story! A great introduction to the Legion for anyone, even those who know nothing about the team. The writers keep from overloading us with facts. Lots of stuff for everyone to do, for everyone to show off powers and/or personalities. We even get an origin story snuck in! Nothing really new for long-time fans, but a very good issue to recommend to anyone wanting to try the team out. The dialogue is exactly what I'd expect from the heyday of the Reboot - often snarky and sarcastic, but leaving me feeling that the Legionnaires are this group of friends who work together well.

I love John Delany's pencils! Though he uses a cartoony style, he gives everyone amazing facial expressions. I also love some of his little gags - like Tenzil's cutlery and cookware mostly having bites in them (but is that hygienic??), Lyle's little cheek bandage, and in the bottom left of page 2 you can see Star Boy recovering while upside down in a seat and saying "Never better".

I loved that we saw almost every Legionnaire, even if only in cameos. Besides the 17 in the main story, we see Element Lad on the last page; and M'Onel and Umbra in the flashback about the Legion's origin. Only Monstress is missing. For supporting characters, we have RJ Brande in flashback, and Shvaughn, Tenzil and Chuck appearing. (Note: in one of the LSH 100 pin-ups, we also see Magno, Inferno (Sandy) and Andromeda).

Fave moments:

1) Gates' rant about people being brainwashed by consumerism ("Your whole species has been brainwashed by capitalist propaganda! You think you can get beauty, love and happiness by buying the right brand of shoes!!")

2) Tinya's snarky line about Imra's telepathic reading of the threat (Imra: "All I read is hostility." Tinya: Now, there's a startling revelation.")

3) Triad's line when Imra reveals the blob is going to eat them - "Ewww, didn't we see something like this on TV while we were stuck in the 20th century?" "Yeah, and I thought it was totally unrealistic at the time!"

4) Tenzil and Chuck on Brainy:
Tenzil: "Wow, that guy must have struck fast to nail Brainy before he could erect a forcefield!"
Chuck: "Oh come on, when Brainy's engrossed in some experiment, you could just walk up behind him and hit him with a hammer! Something else else I've often wanted to do..."

5) Gates was the star of this issue, for me. Besides his hilarious and thought-provoking lines, I also found it surprising when he cried after talking to Ferro. "Why should I care? *sniff*". I never expected him to care about people's thoughts of his appearance!

Other thoughts:

Kinetix's powers continue to be ambiguous. Can she affect living things or not? Here, she can't - she's helpless against the blob's protoplasm - but I can cite many instances of her being able to affect living beings elsewhere. Unless she was grabbing their clothes, I don't know.

Green Lantern 98-99
Future Shock Parts 1-2
Issue 98 information
Issue 99 information

Summary:

Green Lantern Kyle Rayner meets the Legion of Super-heroes and battles a fake 30th century Green Lantern Corps!

Issue 1: Live Wire, Cosmic Boy, Violet, XS, Ultra Boy and some Science Police officers chase 8 GLs, the "worst gang of thieves in the century". Huh. They're stealing a sculpture from the Louvre, and I smile a little at the famous glass pyramid. I live 5 minutes away from there, so I'm happy. For some reason, the GLs are flying away on a ring construct, and not under their own power. Cos saves a falling SP officer; Jo and Garth initially block a GL blast but then get slammed; XS makes it onto the construct but is punched out by the GL leader (?! how did he punch a super speedster...), and Vi catches XS and grabs the construct before it grows spikes, making her drop it. Not exactly a good outing...

The Legionnaires follow up a lead. Kyle is in SP custody, and he asked for the Legion (having met them in Final Night and LSH 100). Garth and Jenni apparently weren't introduced to Kyle though. But at Legion HQ, Cos greets him warmly. Kyle is invited to the Legion briefing. Besides the 5 we saw earlier, we also get Apparition, Ferro, Invisible Kid, Saturn Girl, Spark, Star Boy and Triad for a full cast of 12 Legionnaires. Kyle is shocked that the 30th century GLs are criminals. We get bios and briefings on each, but the only one who gets any characterization is the leader, Xudarian Tomar Ro. An unusually large one, but this isn't ever important. They appeared initially as heroes to gain trust,before openly stealing. Kyle asks where the current GL is, and is shocked that there isn't one. Poor Kyle's world crashes down even more when he learns there's no historical record of him being GL. Cos tries to reassure him, saying that the records stop after Hal Jordan's time (though Hal is remembered as the greatest GL). Kyle then asks whether he can change his future, and whether they can send him home. Cos explains that time travel is illegal; but that resident genius Brainiac 5 might be able to do something. He's just on a mission (referencing LSH 101, but this is false for two reasons - Brainy leaves for his mission in L* 57, not LSH 101; and he doesn't return in time to send Kyle home!). Kyle's world falls apart, thinking he will never get home. Lyle reassures Kyle the Legion will help him get home, or readjust to the 30th century if they can't.

Back to work. Kyle explains that his ring is the only real one left in his time; and that Oa used to be Corps HQ. Away team time. Invisible Kid, Spark and Ultra Boy find nothing; Kyle gets suspicious as there should be debris at least. He and XS investigate, and XS gushes over them doing a classic GL-Flash team-up. Kyle is surprised to learn that Jenni is family with Wally West and Bart Allen, both of whom he knows. Citing the pressure they both feel living up to their legacies, XS comes onto Kyle ("I was thinking we could get better acquainted" while caressing his chest!), who politely brushes her off. They bump into a cloaking device concealing the GL Corps HQ. GL leader Tomar Ro says eh wants Kyle's ring. Kyle and the Legionnaires are quickly defeated. Tomar Ro grabs Kyle's ring; he can't make it work, and it vanishes... reappearing in the hands of 30th century Ganthet! He finds a homeless woman called Cary Wren and gives her the ring. And yes,she looks a lot like Kyle.

Issue 2: Ganthet explains the GL Corps history and the ring's capabilities to Cary. She also says Kyle Rayner is her ancestor, allowing her to use the ring. He tells her to save Kyle and the Legionnaires in the present; when Cary asks why he doesn't do it himself, Ganthet spins the old line about Guardians acting through others.

At Legion HQ, Star Boy says Invisible Kid's team isn't answering. Cos puts together "a team of volunteers" to check it out.

At Oa's site, Tomar Ro questions Kyle about his ring. Kyle doesn't know. The Legionnaires are also imprisoned. Kyle pushes Tomar Ro, saying that his Corps' rings are limited compared to real GL rings. Tomar Ro explains they are channeling the ambient energy left in Oa's old space. A Legion cruiser comes up, and the bad GLs go to deal with it. They bring Kyle with them. Cary Wren comes in and frees the Legionnaires. XS remembers the statue stolen from the Louvre and runs off; Cary follows her. Invisible Kid is left with Spark and Ultra Boy, but Lyle has a plan.

The bad GLs plan to toss Kyle into space as a warning. Kyle manages to break free (thanks to Donna Troy's hand to hand training!). The GLs ignore him because he has no ring. XS finds the statue, and the siphon the bad GLs are using. Cary catches up and says to destroy it. Cosmic Boy speaks to the bad GLs, distracting them long enough for Lyle to disable their HQ's force shield. Jo and Spark attack from inside, and Cos brings reinforcements Apparition, Violet, Live Wire and Saturn Girl in. They battle the GLs, but things don't look too good for the Legion.

Kyle catches up to Cary, and guides her in draining the GL energy, depowering the bad GLs. The Legion quickly mop up. Cary returns the ring to Kyle, who is grateful he left some legacy behind.

Back at Legion HQ, Brainiac 5 is finally back and rebuilds the time platform. For some reason, Lyle and Cos protest that a) time travel is illegal (but they just promised to help Kyle last issue...), and b) Brainy can't be sure the time platform works well (ok, this one is valid). Brainy goes ahead anyway, sending Kyle back in time. (spoiler: he'll overshoot by a few years, meet a young Hal Jordan at the start of his career, and finally return home). XS and Cary return the statue to the Louvre... and it's revealed to be of a sad woman, appropriately titled Sorrow, by a K. Rayner.

Thoughts:

The art is pretty. Darryl Banks does a good job giving each of the generic Green Lanterns a different look.

Pretty standard story. Plot is okay; the premise is pretty good but the execution is a little by-the-numbers. Ending is a nice touch. The Legionnaires don't come off too well, though the bit where they disable the force field through smarts is good. They also aren't treated with complete disrespect.

1) First encounter: Instead of being outright defeated, the bad guys just get away. The Legionnaires at least do something AND give the GLs a hard time. I'm mostly baffled by XS; she's too fast to be punched out by a GL! At least have her bounce off a shield or something.

2) Being captured: eh, they took XS by surprise and overwhelmed the team through sheer numbers. They don't lose points on this one.

3) Final battle: Props to the Legion for disrupting the force shielding, though the timing was suspect. They should have sprung the trap with more surprise. As it is, they didn't seem to be doing so well in battle because the Corps had a split second of warning.

Cary Wren is a worthy successor, for an issue anyway. She has that characteristic Kyle Rayner humor.

There are a few wasted opportunities. Star Boy, Triad and Ferro are there to fill up the numbers and serve no other use; Ferro doesn't even get any lines. Apparition and Saturn Girl fill up the battle scenes, but that's it. Oddly, Tinya is clearly shown to phase in one panel, but has trouble with a GL construct in another. Each of the 8 criminal GLs is given a name and a short bio; but in the story, only the Xudarian leader is truly distinct. Everyone else is just there, and interchangeable. Too bad, as some have quite interesting backstories (one has a robotic shell and nobody knows if it houses anything organic; another is a cyborg; a third is a Sklarian raider and skilled assassin; a fourth is the sole survivor of his colony). Ah well, at least they look cool.

I'm a little sad that Cary Wren was homeless. This is the 30th century! Earth at least should be more advanced

Characterization is a bit odd too, with Ron Marz writing some of the Legionnaires oddly (XS) and making others inconsistently (Cos and Lyle).

1) XS is way too forward for her personality. She outright calls Kyle cute, to his face. Jenni should be too shy and puppy-lovey to do that. XS even quips "I saw him first" to Triad. Triad is written consistently with the comics here - Orange thinks Kyle is cute, Purple thinks he'sOK, and Neutral is meh. Then XS comes on to Kyle in space while investigating Oa. Boy, talk about unprofessional. Again, she's more mature than that while on a mission!

2) The whole bit with the time travel falls flat. First, Cos reassures Kyle that, though time travel is illegal, Brainy might be able to help. Kyle still despairs; come on, Brainy's just on a mission, not lost in space. Lyle promises Kyle the Legion would do everything it could to send him home! But, then when Brainy does fix his time machine, Lyle and Cos yelling at him. They just used time travel to rescue their stranded team members, AND what about Cos and Lyle's promises? Also, when Lyle's team doesn't answer, Cos puts together "a team of volunteers". Seems odd, but okay. Why volunteers?

Fave moment:

Kyle being all "wait, you were a girl then... you got a sister?" to Live Wire. That's also how Superman recognized Ayla as being Garth's twin, way back when.

Legionnaires 58
If A Man Be Made of Iron...
Issue Information

Summary:

Ferro finally had plastic surgery. Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy, Gates and Chameleon watch and are saddened. Ferro seems himself in a mirror and is shocked... and then wakes up in the office of Dr. Mollie D'ennum, metallurgist. She explains that Ferro's skin, bones, muscles and facial organs are convoluted, without the normal layering of human tissue. That's why Ferro can't be operated on. However, his powers allow for an alternative. Ferro says he'd love to look like Superman; Dr. Mollie explains that in his iron form, his face could be re-sculpted to look like anyone! The catch? He would have to stay metal; if he switches back he would bleed to death.

In space, Brainiac 5, Gates, Kinetix and Umbra finally reach the space anomaly where M'Onel and Andromeda are ([url=https://www.legionworld.net/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=957771#Post957771]LSH 100[/url]). Gates and Brainy argue over their next move, prompting Zoe to throw transuits at them. Energy projections of M'Onel and Sister Andy appear, welcoming them. Brainy concludes that the Anomaly is creating energy and matter on a massive scale. Close by, a McCauley Industries pilot observes and sends data back to McCauley.

At Legion HQ, Ferro pigs out in Tenzil's kitchen. He asks Tenzil for advice: if he's in iron form, he can't taste and he can feel little more than texture. The Espionage Squad (Invisible Kid, Chameleon, Apparition, Triad, Violet, Sensor) walk in. They all advise him; Triad notes she would hesitate to sacrifice touch or taste for even one of her selves; Apparition reminds Ferro about touch. They all tell him they will support him, but not to make hasty decisions. Ferro keeps thinking that everyone else is gorgeous.

At the Outpost, Star Boy and Dyrk Magz fail to reach Xanthu (Thom's call with Insect Queen winked out in LSH 101). Thom decides to check it out; Monstress decides to tag along. Dyrk notes that monitoer duty makes him feel useful, at least. As Thom and Candi leave, Ferro calls in and asks Dyrk if he would give up one of his senses to regain his powers. Dyrk is initially offended, then tells Ferro that he would even trade faces if he could regain his powers. Dyrk politely tells Ferro off, suggesting he get counseling, and ends the call. Ferro takes Dyrk's advice and sees psychologist Dr. Ryk'rr, who is also from Dr. Gym'll's homeworld. Ferro recounts his past; how his mom gave him and twin Doug up; how it was Doug, and not Andy, who realized that their mom didn't want them at all; how he didn't accept this until he did meet his mom as an adult; and how he never knew his father. Dr. Ryk'rr helps Ferro realize that his early rejection by his mother left him with feelings of worthlessness; that in the 30th century, he is the only one so far with a problem about his face; and that his striving to better his face might be because he fears rejection again. After Ferro leaves, Dr. Ryk'rr accepts an offer from Dr. Gym'll to become Legion psychiatrist-on-call.

In Paris, Triad, XS and Lori Morning shop for a present for Shvaughn Erin, who has been promoted to Captain and received a Distinguished Service Award. Lu and Jenni here a call for help and leave Lori to investigate. A thief is being chased by numerous shopkeepers; thief reveals itself to be Durlan and sets off a bomb it planted. XS puts out the fire the bomb set, leaving Triad alone. Triad is doing fine, until Neutral gets shot by a cop by accident. Lori H-Dials herself into Ink and ensnares the Durlan, ensuring it can't escape even if it shapeshifts. Lu and Jenni thank Ink, asking why she hasn't applied for Legion membership. Ink makes excuses, slips away and regresses to Lori just in time.

Ferro, Triad, XS, Saturn Girl, Marla Latham and Lori Morning attend the press conference celebrating Shvaughn's promotion. Shvaughn parries questions about their "secret mission" (cover story for being stranded in 20th century), giving Cosmic Boy and Saturn Girl the credit for leading the team during that time. Fero affirms that he will stay as he is for now, though if a better option to change his face comes along, he will take it.

Thoughts:

It was a nice issue, especially for fans of Ferro. His case is extreme, but I'm sure many of us can relate to his feelings of rejection. It is a nice allegory of the importance of physical looks in our shallow society. I did sympathize with him, although he was so rude to poor Dyrk. Ferro is usually so afraid to offend, but his question to Dyrk (would you trade your sense of smell or taste to get your powers back) is downright insensitive! Even nice guy Dyrk reacts poorly, and I don't blame him! This was so insensitive, and Ferro doesn't even feel sorry.

Jeff Moy has taken over the cover art, and I'm happy. Alan Davis is doing the LSH covers, Jeff Moy doing the Legionnaires covers... ah, bliss.The "alien's guide to human anatomy" chart on thecover is a gem, all the internal organs are mislabeled and there's a lizard in Ferro's leg for some reason. Ferro's "uh oh"look is priceless.

Interesting quartet that Ferro chose for his operation audience. It's a dream, sure, but still interesting. Cos and Imra were the leaders in the 20th century, and Gates was there too. Cham? I don't know, they haven't had much interaction. Except in the second story of LSH 100, but Cham was in disguise then.

I like Dr. Mollie D'ennum! A minor character with a cool look that I plan to use in my own fics. She will only appear once more, sadly.

Dr. Ryk'rr is another great supporting character who will, if I remember right, only appear once more. As a Psychology major, I appreciate the need for a good therapist. Especially as being a Legionnaire is stressful!

Fave moments:

1) Kinetix dissing Brainy and Gates. As the two bicker:

Brainy; "You can't teleport there now, you chitinous cretin! You'd disrupt my data flow!"
Gates: "Oh, pardon me, "Brainiac", I thought we were planning to explore the Anomaly, not just observe it!"
Kinetix: "Oh, shut up and suit up, both of you!" (throws transuits at them)
Brainy and Gates: "Kinetix?? How dare you?!"
Kinetix: "Hey, you agree! Now that's an anomaly!"

2) Ferro having Tenzil cook his favorite 20th century foods, because he might never be able to taste again.

3) Star Boy expects Monstress to take all day packing, only to be surprised.

Monstress: "Just let me grab a few things!" (leaves)
Star Boy: "A few--? No! We don't have time to... Too late. So Dyrk... Since I'll probably be here all day... tell me, how do you like running the Outpost?"
Dyrk: "So far, so good. Of course, if my powers ever return I'd leave this desk job in a nanosecond. But until then, I feel useful here. But speaking of nanoseconds...!"
Monstress: "Well cutie? Are you going to talk or travel?
Thom: "Y-you're ready?"
Candi: "Yes. You? I bet you're not even packed yet! Men!" (drags Thom away)

4) Ferro comapring Dyrk Magz to a surfer dude. He's right, though! Dyrk is cute!

5) Seeing 30th century Paris. I've fallen in love with the city, having lived here nearly a year. Ah, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, and the familiar architecture... Mixed with 30th century futuristic towers of course.

Legion of Super-Heroes 102
Issue information

Two stories in this one, folks!

Summary:

Story 1:Heroes

Monstress and Star Boy depart for Xanthu, intent on investigating why communications suddenly blinked out (L* 58). Xanthu being an outpost world prone to breakdowns, Monstress thinks it's nothing. She does praise Star Boy for his newfound seriousness; Thom attributes it to Leviathan. When Thom was a new Legionnaire, Gim treated him as a screw-up; this is Thom's way of proving Gim wrong.

To their surprise, they find the planet being invaded. The Xanthian Amazers help defend: Atmos (as field leader), Konk! (sent to spy on the enemy using her detachable head, which can survive for an hour); Insect Queen, Kid Quantum II, and the Bald Kid (running joke: name and powers remain unrevealed, and he handles the communications/monitor board). The Amazers express surprise that only two Legionnaires arrive; Thom and Candi explain that they came here on their own instead of being sent by the United Planets.

Spying Konk! learns the enemy objective (to use Xanthu own plants as a power source, causing the energy wave razing Xanthu's surface), and provides evidence backing up Thom's observation: that the enemies only need one ship to survive (which is why they aren't even defending their ships). Star Boy questions Atmos' tactics, pointing out that Kid Q would be more effective slowing down the enemy energy wave on Xanthu. Kid Q agrees, making Atmos defensive. Atmos points out that he ordered Konk! to spy on the enemy. Her intel makes Thom and Atmos head to the nearest power plant, as the enemy is using it against Xanthu.Thom and Atmos destroy the plant to deprive the enemy of a source of power.

The invasion ends when the Khunds arrive and destroy the invaders. They undermine the United Planets by pointing out that only two Legionnaires arrived. Instead, they begin selling Xanthu on the idea of a new alliance, one that puts each world's self-determination above all.

Star Boy, reeling from the mixed victory, offers Kid Q membership in the Legion. Monstress calls him out on over-compensating for being shown up by the Khunds. Too late though, as Kid Q is interested (much to Atmos' dismay).

Story 2:

Apparition and Ultra Boy are engaging in, uh, marital bonding. They are interrupted by a call from Tinya's mom Winema Wazzo, whom Tinya has been avoiding. Tinya leaves Jo to deal with it, and when Jo asks her what to say, she says she doesn't know him (a sign of her being two people with two sets of memories (LSH 98-100)). Jo chases Tinya but can't catch her. Kinetix brings a suspension notice, saying they both are ordered to attend psychiatric evalution. Tinya and Jo visit Dr. Ryk'rr (who was formally hired as official Legion psychiatrist in L*58).

Elsewhere, Winema is torn up by Tinya's unwillingness to connect.

After initial discussions, Dr. Ryk'rr uses an instrument to help sort out Tinya's memories. Tinya's memories clear up, and she realizes that her father was Carggite, making her half-Carggite. Her dad had gambling debts; in order to pay them off, he gave two of Tinya's bodies to the Luck Lords without Winema's knowledge. The Luck Lords sent one to the 20th century to protect her from enslavement, where she became Phase of 20th century L.E.G.I.O.N.; the third self disappeared. Tinya is shocked; she realizes her father gambled that her being only half-Carggite would allow her to survive the prolonged separation. She also realizes it was pure luck as to which self was pampered by Winema and which selves were enslaved by the Luck Lords. She now has to process a mix of emotions, from both the "pampered rich girl who became a Legionnaire" and the "slave self who suffered under the Luck Lords". Jo is enraged by the revelations. So is Winema, who forces her way into the session, saying she learned of it through the Legion duty rosters as Tinya has been avoiding her. Tinya apologizes. Dr.Ryk'rr stresses that Jo and Winema must support Tinya through these revelations. Elsewhere, Tinya's dad is struck by guilt upon encountering a Carggite female.

Thoughts:

Decent stories. First one is pretty basic. Moves the plot re "the political machinations of the Dark Circle" along, and sets Kid Q II up for LSH membership. It also gives a bit of personality to the various Uncanny Amazers, past and present.Other than that, it's pretty "by the numbers".

Re the second. They do wrap up (sort of) Apparition's past, though her father escapes justice. That always bothered me, which is why I had him brought to justice in my fanfic. As for Winema, well, I'm no stranger to stage mothers. But I acknowledge Winema's good intentions and love for her daughter. She just goes about it the wrong way. On the plus side, though Ultra Boy resembles Tinya's dad superficially and physically, he has a stronger moral code and true love for Tinya. Thank goodness! They also explain how Winema was unaware of anything: Tinya's dad kept his Carggite nature secret; Winema opted for traditional birth, meaning she was sedated when two of Tinya's bodies were stolen away; and she never used gene-screening during their pregnancy. This also goes a long way towards explaining why Winema is so strict with Tinya; Winema's own experiences - falling in love with the family groundskeeper, despite her own parents' horror; and who turned out to be a terrible husband and father.

Well, Jason Armstrong (Story 1) is far from my ideal choice for penciller. This issue is saved (a bit) by the beautiful Alan Davis cover though. And as a treat, this is probably the only time Atmos, Insect Queen and Konk! get drawn by him. Todd Nauck (Story 2) gives a good showing as usual.

Other thoughts:

1) Odd story title. Heroes? this whole comic is about super-heroes.

2) Pretty funny how Star Boy expected Monstress to take FOREVER packing (because she needs her cosmetics!) only for her to be prepared because she has been packing in her spare time (just in case). She does still file her nails en route. Also cool that Candi appreciates Thom's newfound seriousness. Thom certainly has stopped pulling bone-headed moves after Gim's death.

Fave moments:
1) Kid Quantum II questioning each of Atmos' orders, and relenting when told that an order came from Star Boy. (poor Atmos)

2) Easter Egg: Dr. Ryk'rr's receptionist looks to be a native of Dryad.

Legionnaires 59
Friends, Lovers and the Calm Before the Storm
Issue Information

Summary:

A frustrated Monstress reports to Invisible Kid and RJ Brande on the Khunds' actions on Xanthu. She suspects that the Khunds staged the entire invasion, saying their timing and wooing of Xanthu is extremely convenient. Brande and Lyle agree; other planets are already showing interest in the Khund's new alliance. Brande sends Winema Wazzo, now UP Vice-President, to investigate; he also asks Star Boy and Monstress to help. Brande suggests that the other Legionnaires take some down time while they can. Lyle informs the Legionnaires on Earth of developments, and tells them to take the day off but to be alert.

I'll break it up per "group":

1) Lyle clutches a note (on paper!) saying "Can't wait to see you - C". We never see his night out, though he does think "it's great to know that we can still pick iup where we left off, even months later!" He catches Lori Morning sneaking into Legion HQ. She makes her escape when the picnic group arrives. Lyle steps down as leader; as Deputy, Imra becomes new Legion leader.

2) Star Boy breaks his date with Dreamer (first time was in L* 56); interestingly, he calls Tenzil Kem to tell him that, but doesn't call Nura directly. Huh? Nura has foreseen this though, and tells Tenzil to pack a picnic lunch for six.
Live Wire and Saturn Girl decide to hit the beach, but keep it small by double-dating with Apparition and Ultra Boy. Tinya invites Nura along. In a bit of a funny scene, Nura anticipates all of Imra's questions about her visions. She also explains she saw the picnic in a dream, saying Tenzil must be there - making it a "triple date". The boys play tri-volleyball (like normal volleyball except with 3 players competing individually). Nura and Imra talkabout helping Tinya sort through her feelings, but decide she wants to be left alone first. Imra and Garth take a romantic stroll; Nura encourages Jo to comfort Tinya. Nura also micro-sleeps a potential prediction, saying Tinya's issues will all work out. Nura also tells Tenzil there might be changes in store for him too.

3) Triad asks Chuck Taine (whom she expressed interest in in LSH 100) what to do in Metropolis, as he grew up there. Chuck says he and Tenzil had tickets to the robo-ball stadium games. The Triads agree to split up, as only Neutral is interested. Triad Purple joins the nightclub group (see #5). Orange wants to go to a tea house. Both Purple and Orange invite Chuck to go with them, but Chuck is saved by Neutral appearing and wanting to go to the ball game.

Because Tenzil is on the picnic, Neutral and Chuck go alone. Robo-ball appears to be like baseball. Neutral actually enjoys her date.

Element Lad overhears Orange's plans, and asks to go along. Jan enjoys the spiritual energy in the teahouse so much, he transmutes himself and begins levitating and meditating. Poor Orange is embarrassed.

4) Ferro tries flirting with Violet by making small talk on Imra and Garth planning their day in 15 seconds flat. Vi invites Ferro to spend a quiet day in HQ. As Vi updates her diary, Ferro sketches her. He tries, but fails, to work up the courage to tell Vi she's beautiful. Vi appreciates his sketch and calls him nice.

5) Chameleon and Sensor decide to go clubbing. Sensor encourages Cham to ask Spark out. Along with Triad Purple, the four assemble. Sensor has Chuck make her a fan; she disguises herself as a humanoid. They hit Paris, and are interviewed by reporter Condo Arlik.Condo appears to have some fame, as an Ambassador from planet Brogg recognizes him.

Purple at first has a nice time with a charming man with a "French" accent (who isn't French; he explains everyone on his planet speaks that way). She leaves as he begins harassing her and asking her to go home with him; he goes too far and she throws him into a table.

Sensor sings with the nightclub chanteuse (she's an alto!)

Spark and Cham finally talk about their mutual attraction, and agree to go forward with it.

6) In space, Kinetix, Brainiac 5, Gates and Umbra finally catch up to M'Onel and Sister Andromeda. All experience the Anomaly differently; Umbra, Gates, Brainy and M'Onel argue about how long they've been there (from 30 minutes to one month). Gates assists Brainiac 5 in making his equations work, making the two get along. M'Onel begins breaking down, as the Anomaly reminds him of his distorted sense of time while imprisoned in the Phantom Zone. Umbra wraps him in her darkfield, comforting him. Andromeda is enthralled, staring at the Anomaly fervently. Kinetix is even more enthralled, saying nothing except "Oh, my."

7) On the Outpost, XS feels sorry for herself as her two crushes, M'Onel and Cosmic Boy, barely notice her. Dyrk Magz begins flirting with her, but becomes discouraged because he can't compete with Cos' in XS' eyes. Dyrk drops more and more obvious hints, but Jenni continues to onbliviously feel sorry for himself until he gives up and leaves. Only after does she realize he was flirting!

Thoughts:

Though this issue didn't have much action, it did serve as a "day in the life" type of thing. It didn't have as many funny moments as LSH 94, though, and it focused almost exclusively on romantic relationships. I would have appreciated more interplay between friends.

Ah, the first big hint that Lyle may be gay. A secondhand source says it was Jeff Moy who revealed that Lyle was supposed to have come out as gay, and dating Condo Arlik (rebooted as an apparently non-powered reporter). I wish that had come to fruition. I wonder, I was sharing my Legion comic books then with a very religious,conservative peer; what would she have said? I would have been low-key elated!

Condo is darker-skinned than his Preboot version.

More on Sensor's powers: the camera records her as she truly is, and when Condo looks at the camera he sees her serpentine form. So Sensor's powers don't fool machines. She can affect Condo directly, but if he watches the tape of her, he will see her as she is.

Non-Earth people speaking in French accents has become a running gag. First Ze Tongue (L* 44), then the guy hitting on Purple here.

Although each Triad has a different idea of fun, each still wants to ask Chuck out! Lucky guy Robo-ball is so like baseball. Even cracker-jax have survived into the 30th century. Chuck drinks a Dr. Gingold, but it doesn't give him any powers.

The Outpost is not being given much importance yet; only Cosmic Boy and XS are stationed there, along with Dyrk Magz.

Thom and Nura. Their dating is clearly not that serious yet, if Thom would cancel on Nura WTHOUT EVEN CALLING HER DIRECTLY. Men! But Nura is very cool about it, perhaps because of her precognitive abilities? Her anticipating all of Imra's questions was funny. Nura's the breakout star here. Despite her often ditzy behavior (caused by her narcolepstic powers), she shows keen insight into others' emotions. Not always though, as she drops a vague line of possible changes to Tenzil, leaving him curious if this is a precognitive flash or just her making conversation.

Jenni is so unlucky in love. The whole sequence was a bit funny:

XS: "Sure, there are other guys in the galaxy... but they're not Legionnnaires! And who else do I meet, except for villains?"
Dyrk: "How about someone associated with the Legion, but not..."
XS: "Like Star Boy and Dreamer? Not a good example."
Dyrk: "XS, there are nice guys who aren't crooks or space cases."
XS: "Name one!"
Dyrk: "Forget it! Forget I said anything!" (leaves)
XS: "Sorry, I know I'm no fun..."
(XS thinks silently)
XS: "Was he...? Did I just...? (lies back and slaps forehead) "Ohhh grife, when am I gonna learn!"

Legion of Super-Heroes 103
A Storm in Heaven
Issue information

Summary:

Leland McCauley has meetings with the Khunds' new alliance. Evolvo has locked himself in the management men's room; McCauley and Karate Kid find him in "normal" human form, cowering before a gigantic machine. Val coaxes Evolvo into evolving again, though Evolvo worries he can't control his "future" self. Finally convinced to transform, future Evolvo sells his invention - the Omniscanner- to McCauley by saying it will allow him to surpass RJ Brande. The machine intends to harness the power of the Space Anomaly, though Evolvo isn't sure how yet. Karate Kid sees a vision of Andromeda at the Anomaly, and is awed by the spirituality. He resolves not to allow Evolvo or McCauley to corrupt the Anomaly, and smashes Evolvo's machine before Spider-Girl or Evolvo can stop him. Val steals a ship and flees, asking Saturn Girl and the Legion for asylum.

Saturn Girl is dealing with the pressures of being leader (she got promoted in L* 59). Dreamer comments on Imra's duty rosters, saying two Legionnaires won't be members next week, and there are new members coming.

On Xanthu, UP Vice President Winema Wazzo offers the UP's help to Xanthu's Prefect Lamar. Lamar says the Khunds, representing the Affiliated Planets, have come to help too. The Khund representative, Captain Takk, insults the UP, saying only two Legionnaires (Star Boy and Monstress) came to help against the invasion (LSH 102). Winema explains that the blackout on Xanthu didn't trigger any alarms, and the two came on their own - weakening the UP's position. Winema yells at Thom and Candi for not briefing her earlier; Thom replies that the mission isn't other. They've brought Kid Quantum II along to investigate the blackouts; Thom posits that maybe the blackouts were triggered deliberately to make the UP complacent. Candi detects something on Pon, the "lesser" moon. Caught in a tractor beam, the three take the fight to a bunch of Gil'dans (they live in globes and are communications specialists) and Sklarian raiders. Well, Kid Quantum II goes to take the fight to them, while Candi and Thom try to temper her actions. The Sklarians report to Captain Takk, who pretends to Winema and Lamar that the Khunds just discovered the sabotage themselves. He orders the destruction of the installation on Pon; Kid Q, Thom and Candi are caught in the explosion.

Thoughts:

Well, it moves things along. We get proof that the Khunds are the bad guys, but the Khunds were craftier.

Karate Kid's awe of the Space Anomaly is in line with his previous "spiritual" characterization.Though, McCauley has been shady this whole time (selling arms to Angtu, causing the sides in the civil war to murder the entire population (L* 20); trying to profit from the Mordru battle (L* 49)). So it seems a bit odd that the Anomaly would wow him so much. It does set up Karate Kid for Legion membership too.

Insight into Evolvo: he can't control his devolved or evolved selves. Huh.

McCauley is so transparent. He denies it, but everyone knows he has a one-sided rivalry with RJ Brande - as Karate Kid and Evolvo point out.

Not particularly clever, but I did giggle a bit at Khund Captain Takk calling the UP the "Untied" Planets.

Kid Q acts like she has a chip on her shoulder, rushing into battle without thinking. When a Sklarian calls her a coward for relying on her powers, she hits her back HARD. Candi and Thom have an interesting talk about Legion membership. Candi points out that Thom isn't authorized to directly recruit new members, and Thom sort of agrees by saying the membership has to vote.

Legionnaires 60
Scandalous
Issue Information

Summary:

King Charlz of Orando is furious that Sensor is socializing with "these creatures" - Chameleon and Spark. He's especially angry that Sensor is so close to a Durlan shapeshifter, and that she sang with the night club singer. Sensor's brother defends her, but the King thinks Sensor was shameful. A similar scene happens on Durla, where the Holy Council is up in arms over Chameleon's perceived irresponsibility and turning his back on their beliefs. One Durlan again thinks he/she would be a better Spiritual Leader, and pushes for Cham's excommunication.

Spider-Girl brings the "scandal" news to Evolvo, who is still fuming that Karate Kid knocked him out and destroyed his Omniscanner machine. Sentients everywhere begin reacting to the "scandal": the nightclub staff defend the Legionnaires, saying they were perfect gentle-beings. Some random sentients begin talking about Durlans shapeshifting, expressing concern that Durlans could be anywhere. Lori Morning sees an opportunity to become a Legionnaire, and tries using her H-Dial; she transforms into a large floating blob. As she can't move, she's forced to wait out her one hour.

Karate Kid enters Earth's atmosphere, pursued by McCauley Industries pilots. His ship is damaged, and he is forced to eject. Live Wire and the Science Police prevent the pilots from doing more damage, while Ultra Boy stops the falling ship. Sensor projects her illusions directly into the pilots' minds, making them think McCauley is recalling them. Saturn Girl and Shvaughn Erin question Karate Kid, learning his whole story (smashed Evolvo's invention to stop McCauley from exploiting the Space Anomaly, as McCauley clearly didn't care about the safety of the Legionnaires at the Anomaly). Imra vouches for his sincerity nor about its purity. Shvaughn uses her legal training to help Imra broker a deal with McCauley: McCauley drops criminal charges against Karate Kid, and they will do the same for McCauley's pilots. As for the cost of the equipment Karate Kid destroyed, Val gives up his accrued earnings: he never drew his salary, relying only on the Workforce's room-and-board allowance. Val gets probation, and will serve it as a Legionnaire (if accepted). Shvaughn and Imra caution him on talking instead of smashing next time.

On Pon, Kid Quantum II, Monstress and Star Boy barely survive the Khund's destruction of their sabotage-y installation. Unfortunately, all the Gil'dans and Sklarians perish. Back on Xanthu, the Khundian representative hams it up, saying he destroyed the hidden base full of Natra Dellons (the invading species in LSH 102), and didn't know the Legionnaires were there. Kid Q calls bullshit, saying the base was full of Gil'dans and Sklarians, and that the Khunds knowingly atomized the evidence. Thom pulls Jazmin away, telling her to choose their battles as they don't have proof. Winema says the same thing, explaining that they have to play a diplomatic game so the United Planets won't lose all influence.

Jazmin and Val are left alone while the Legionnaires handle their membership paperwork. Val offers his condolences on Jazmin's brother's death. (Kid Quantum I was killed in LSH 62). Jazmin explains that she and James had a competitive, difficult relationship growing up; James' arrogance made her envious of his Uncanny Amazer and Legion membership. When he died, she felt that he shamed her family. Partly because he was treated as a joke by some of Xanthu's officials (LSH 82), especially as he died because of his arrogance and inability to follow orders. She studied biophysics and underwent procedures to enhance her own powers, so she doesn't rely on a belt like James did (though makes it clear that she and James were born with very weak control over quantum fields). Now that Jazmin feels she's brought honor back to her family, she's allowing herself to grieve a little for James.

Jazmin and Val gain membership on a majority vote. A party is thrown. At the end, Chameleon and Sensor pretend to resign from the Legion because their peoples want to punish them for the scandal. Lyle thinks their resignations are fake; these are cover stories for their Espionage Squad work. Imra tries questioning Lyle if he knew, possibly suspecting the Squad.

At the Dark Circle council, the Sklarian and Gil'dan representatives rail against the Khundian and the Dark Circle leader for the deaths of their people. The leader ends the argument by murdering the Sklarian, saying that the Khund was right in destroying the evidence.

Brainiac 5 records a message to be sent to Legion HQ. After, he, Umbra, Gates, Kinetix and Sister Andromeda seem to give themselves over to the Anomaly's influence. A voice says that only M'Onel continues to resist, and that soon all will be overcome.

Thoughts:

This issue at least brought more humor to the table than the previous few ones did. Thank goodness, I was beginning to get bored.

The whole "scandal" thing seems to be overplayed and rather heavy-handed. I would have appreciated more of an exploration into why King Charlz and the Durlan Holy Council are so upset. We know they are, but the issue doesn't go deep enough. Are there some traditions or beliefs that shape it? Is it too forward for their cultures?

Kid Quantum II and Karate Kid join the team, adding different "powersets" and some racial diversity. Sometimes I wonder; neither had expressed desire to join before. Were their memberships an attempt at bringing more non-white "human" characters into the team? Not that I'm complaining. Kid Q's joining was handled better than Karate Kid's, but both did feel a little bit sudden. Consider also that neither was in the pullout poster in L* 50, though future members Monstress and Thunder (who won't join until LSH 110, half a year later!) were already there. Doesn't really tell us whether their memberships were planned that early though. Also, Kid Q seems to escape the political wrangling that Monstress went through (L* 51-52) where Prefect Lamar tried forbidding her to leave Xanthu's Amazers. On the other hand, the writers were clearly conscious of this, and addressed the suddenness somewhat: Karate Kid admits to ignoring McCauley's profiteering ways earlier so he could travel and learn, while Kid Quantum II references her brother's death as motivation. We get an origin story, explaining how her powers are intrinsic now.

Shvaughn's role as Legion liaison is critically important her, as she also acts as a legal advisor in getting Karate Kid off scot-free.

I wish we could have seen the membership votes. Apparently, only a majority voted YES. Val wonders who opposed. And 5 Legionnaires are investigating the Space Anomaly, so they likely didn't vote.

Ultra Boy can't seem to get over Sensor's illusion powers; he asks if she would ever play a trick on him. She says no, though pretends to be McCauley for fun.

The whole Anomaly thing continues to be mysterious, though there is clearly an intelligence behind it. What its goals are, nobody knows. It hints at wanting to transform the Legionnaires somehow... But honestly this subplot is moving so slowly. I'm only interested because I'm worried for the Legionnaires in it, but they aren't doing much either.

Fave moments:

1) Easter Egg on the roll call page: writers found in time warp. We get a panel showing whom I guess to be Tom and Mary Bierbaum.

2) Monstress pretending to chew Lyle out, for not throwing her a party when she joined! Lyle is visibly frightened until Candi explains she's joking.

Adventure Comics 80-Page Giant 1: 4th Story
Team Work
Issue Information

Summary:

Lori Morning watches Ferro sketching his most recent mission team. He tells her about how it went: Ferro was with Cosmic Boy, Kid Quantum II, Live Wire and Saturn Girl, investigating a projectile that crashed into Earth. The Legionnaires are to retrieve it and deliver it to the Science Police research labs. Jazmin complains that this is basically a delivery mission; Imra calls her out on the attitude. Some kind of blob emerges from the projectile. It shuts down Imra when she uses her telepathy, and absorbs Garth's lightning.Jazmin tries to slow it down; Ferro punches it and gets him arm stuck. It secrets acid, burning his iron form. Jazmin can't stop it completely, but she does slow it down enough for Ferro to break free. Cos buries it under some debris. Imra reveals she only sensed hostility. The blob attacks again. Ferro braces for it despite being ordered to dodge by Cos, but is teleported away at the last minute by a teleporter calling herself Blip.

Lori reveals to the readers that Blip was her using the H-Dial. She says Blip was helpful; Ferro says no, as he had time to get away on his own.

Back to the battle. The blob splits into five, each attacking a Legionnaire. Somehow, it has adapted immunity to their powers. Blip tries to help, but mistakenly teleports Ferro in front of Cos. However, this time it doesn't burn him. Imra realizes the blob can only adapt to one enemy at a time, and orders the Legionnaires to switch opponents quickly. They beat the team handily. Ferro scolds Blip for acting without thinking, and not cooperating well with the Legionnaires. Blip teleports away in a huff. Imra says there was something familiar about Blip.

Back at Legion HQ, Ferro tells Lori that Blip was reckless. Still, he's grateful for her help, and even sketched her. He gives the drawing to Lori. Lori thinks she'll continue helping the Legion in secret and will avoid Imra next time.

Thoughts:

Cute, short story. At least it didn't focus on Lori TOO much, while new Legionnaire Jazmin gets some use.

The "lesson" is a bit lost here. Ferro says Blip was helpful, but jumped in without thinking. Yet he himself refused to budge when ordered by Cos. Also, he says he had plenty of time to get away, but when Blip teleports him, we see the blob's form passing right through where Ferro was standing! Blip does make the big mistake of mis-teleporting Ferro the second time she tries it, though.

Kevin West has a lovely art style. I especially like his faces.

Jazmin still has a wee bit of a chip on her shoulder. But hey, she's new to the team, and has different expectations of what a Legionnaire does.

Paper being rare in the 20th century. XS mentions this in L* 24 as well. Minor error here: Ferro came on board the Legion cruiser last-minute, as it passed through the time warp (LSH 100). He didn't have time to pack, yet he says he brought his paper and pens with him from the past.

Finally, the two 20th century "refugees" (Ferro and Lori) talk!

Minor error on 3rd page, as a speech balloon of Imra's points at Jazmin.

Lori's form, Blip, is one of her most beautiful forms yet. She's like a purplish humanoid made of ink, not unlike Lori's Ink persona from L* 58.

The blobs will never return in the future, which gives me an idea for a story...

Martian Manhunter 11
Pilgrims
Issue Information

Not much to say here. A member of the Hsstssfss,a sentient plant-like species, shares a legend of the Martian Manhunter. They developed sentience after an encounter with the Swamp Thing on their home planet. In the 30th century, McCauley tries to bulldoze said planet, claiming he did the normal scans for sentient life. J'Onn tries stopping McCauley, saying that if he had done the proper basic telepathic scans, he would have known the Hsstssfss were sentient. McCauley refuses to listen, claiming the courts are on his side, and orders his employees to go ahead. Some try using force on J'Onn, and it ends predictably.

Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl and Invisible Kid arrive. J'Onn had contacted them, and they have a court order forcing McCauley to stop. They will also review McCauley's scans to check for falsification.

And that's it, they show up for two panels and don't even use their powers.

Not much else to say, really. McCauley is the greedy rich technocrat he usually is, and J'Onn is the noble protector of the innocent.

Legion of Super-Heroes 104
Heroes' Return
Issue information

Summary:

Affiliated Planets (the new alliance) is expanding through known space, causing jitters. A rebooted Kono, who has her phasing abilities, frees a Durlan prisoner on a passenger cruiser in AP space. The passengers panic and flee in escape pods. Dyrk Magz sends a Legion team, as the AP isn't helping and is instead fanning paranoia over the Durlans. XS worries that they might be risking an incident encroaching into AP space; Ultra Boy chides her for not being more impulsive. Apparition, Cosmic Boy and Element Lad complete the away team. Tinya does a headcount of the pods, while Jo and Jan fuse them together and transform them into something magnetic. Cos pulls them behind the Legion cruiser piloted by XS. Cos uses a focusing array designed by Brainy to amplify his power. The Legionnaires are driven away from Mellorus-7 and other worlds in the sector, as none are willing to risk letting a Durlan on-planet.

RJ Brande, Winema Wazzo, and SP leaders Commodore Baraka and Chief Rapolchellack look at a map of planets that have defected from the UP to the AP. They try to find a pattern, but cannot; the planets are spread out through space. They watch AP propaganda turning the Durlans into scapegoats and fanning fear, and Brande realizes the AP strategy is to scare planets into joining them. Brande calls the Twin Presidents of Winath and the King Chalrz of Orando (Sensor's dad), asking for their support in rallying the UP. Both say they are joining the AP, to Brande's disappointment.

Minister Amilia Crugg, Khund Chief Armorer, visits Leland McCauley and Evolvo. They try to sell her Evolvo's Omniscanner, which channels the Space Anomaly. Suddenly, the Omniscanner pulls forth the Legion away team: Brainiac 5, Gates, Kinetix, M'Onel, Umbra and Sister Andromeda! Brainy, Kinetix and Andy look physically different. Brainy also now activates his forcefield via buttons on his head; while Kinetix has become catatonic. M'Onel collapses, weakened. Crugg recognizes the Legionnaires and thinks McCauley set her up; she attacks, and only Andy's quick action saves Zoe. Crugg escapes, leaving McCauley livid. Andy expresses regret that she was pulled out of the Anomaly soon, as she expected an even greater transformation. Everyone except Gates is surprised when Brainy compliments Evolvo; Gates attributes it to the Anomaly and jokes that the upgraded Brainy should be called Brainiac 5.1. Everyone is shocked again when Brainy finds it funny, choosing to adopt it as his new code name.

After the Legionnaires leave, a chance remark from Gates and Brainy clues Evolvo in on how to use the Omniscanner to channel the Anomaly. He teleports Amilia Crugg back, and pitches the Omniscanner to her.

On Durla, Chameleon is made to give up his claim to Spiritual Leader (passed on from his father). Nyurt Roz claims the title. Chameleon shifts into his "true" Durlan form and is banished to the Cave of Atonement for twelve years.

Live Wire and Spark are training in the VR room. Suddenly, reality shifts and they transform into... their Adventure Era selves?

Thoughts:

A rather meh issue, really. I did like the Legionnaires saving the passengers, but not much else.

Okay, the whole Anomaly thing is just weird. So only 3/6 of the team went through obvious changes. Brainiac 5 (emotional intelligence / being nice, and internalized force field powers, Kinetix (new catatonic personality and costume), and Andromeda (tiny and small now! in L* 64 she will display a new power, the ability to generate destructive light, it seems). I'm neutral on Andromeda's changes, though hate that she looks like Lori Morning. But Brainy, who used to have one of the most distinct personalities on the team, is now saccharine sweet - we already have Monstress for that! He was more entertaining before. Personally, I most like Brainy how he was written beginning a few issues later up to under DNA: smart, occasionally condescending, but willing to engage with his friends. And as for Kinetix, good gravy. She also had one of the more intriguing, vivacious personalities, and now she's a zombie. Urgh! Hate, hate, hate. And what was the point of bringing in Gates, Umbra and M'Onel? Their only permanent changes seem to be... nothing. Well, Gates became friends with Brainy; and Umbra and M'Onel seemed to start flirting. But that's it. Yes, M'On collapsed, but this was never picked up on.

I still don't understand why the Science Police were extraditing a Durlan prisoner on a passenger freighter. Yes, he was restrained and powerless, but it seems careless. No explanation, either.

Continuity errors abound, making this extremely sloppy:

1) With the Anomaly away team. In L* 59, M'Onel was saying he had been in the anomaly for a month. Now he tells M'Onel he was in there for a day.
2) Spark and Live Wire say this is their first training session since before she was stuck in the 20th century. But they had a VR workout together in L* 57!

Still not really liking Jason Armstrong's art. But, I like his roll call, with the Anomaly team blacked out. Adds some mystery and suspense. I also approve of some of his alien designs, like the sentient white tiger.

Fave moments:

1) Chameleon is so happy to be free of the Spiritual Leadership that he can't stop smiling when he passes it on to Nyurt Roz! I can relate. Cham's a free spirit, and doesn't want to have to act a certain way just because of tradition. He quickly frowns when told he has to spend 12 years in the Cave of Atonement, though!

2) Brainiac 5 and Gates.

Evolvo: "Brainiac 5 is paying me... a compliment?"
Gates: "Yeah, the Anomaly kind of upgraded him. Just call him Brainiac 5.1."
Brainy: (mouth drops for a panel) "HAHAHAHAHA! Brainiac 5.1... that is hysterical! I'm using it!" (rubs Gates' head) "Isn't Gates a scream? Don't you just love him?" (cue Umbra and Evolvo's shocked faces)

Not a fan of new Brainy, but that moment WAS funny.

On the whole though, the quality of the consistency and writing has dipped quite a bit.

Legionnaires 61
If I Could Turn Back Time
Issue Information

Summary:

The cliffhanger ending from LSH 104 continues. We are in what seems to be the Adventure Era reality. In the crowd are Reboot-unique characters Gates, Kid Quantum II, Kinetix, Monstress, XS, Lori Morning; plus Ferro. They watch the Adventure-Era Legion's full membership (as of Shadow Lass' membership, but before Chemical King and Timber Wolf) do a flyby. Our friends form a tour group, and cracks begin to show. Kinetix remembers that "Colossal Boy" died; some of them think Legion HQ doesn't feel right; many are shocked at the memberships of Bouncing Boy and Matter-Eater Lad; Ferro remembers Superboy as Superman; and that COMPUTO was in a different century; and Gates remembers Duo Damsel should have three bodies. Things come to a head when they enter the Hall of Heroes, and Ferro recognizes... himself! This triggers his memory, and he jogs the memories of the others. An alarm sounds, and the group decide to escape.

Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl investigate the alarm. They find a time-tossed Superman assisting against a fire. (He was in a fight with the Linear Man in Adventure Comics 476). Superman tries to find out about his future (how long he lived after returning to the 20th century, and if he returned). The Legionnaires explain that historical records are spotty, and even if they weren't it would be dangerous to talk about his future. Imra detects a second fire; Superman goes to put it out and disappears in an explosion. Superman will next appear in Superman: Time and Time Again.

Our Reboot-only friends are led by Lori Morning to Rond Vidar. Rond doesn't recognize them, but Lori recognizes him. They explain their situation; Rond posits this is an alternate timeline. Gates mentions the alternate timelines visited by some Legionnaires in LSH 92 and L* 54. The Legionnaires discuss other time travel connections: XS being stuck in the 20th century, Monstress visiting it in LSH 100, Gates and Kinetix exploring the Space Anomaly, Ferro and Lori being from their 20th century, and Kid Quantum II having a time component to her quantum powers. They also realize their common thread is not having Legion counterparts in this reality. Suddenly, the Legionnaires are spirited away and into the timestream, and are back in their costumes. Kid Q II uses her powers to help XS channel her speed, and they exit...

... ending up in the Preboot Legion HQ of the 70's v2 Legion! Several Legionnaires confront them. XS distracts them while Gates teleports the others away; Jenni is too fast for even Wildfire. Gates teleports into the Hall of Heroes, and the team is shocked that Invisible Kid is dead too. They jump into the Records Library again, and try to access information: they are shocked to see Lu and Chuck married. XS runs in and they teleport off again. Lori touches some equipment, and they are pulled into the timestream again, and end up in a place eerily like the Anomaly.

A voice speaks, and Kinetix recognizes it from the Anomaly. XS also does (from her journey back through time in L* Annual 3)... it's the Time Trapper!

Thoughts:

Finally, a story focusing on the Reboot-only Legionnaires. They make a nice team. Most of them are female, too. Hm... This was a better issue than many of the recent ones. Quite a bit of action, and I loved seeing the contrasts between Reboot and Preboot attacked head-on.

Great art as always. Love the alien designs. Moy draws the Preboot Legion well too!

I love the hourglass cover, where Legionnaires that fall through get turned into their Adventure Era selves. But what happens when Kinetix and Gates, who have no obvious Preboot counterparts, fall? Lyle is shocked at his costume, and Jo (on top) is shocked at Tinya (in the bottom) and her new appearance. Triad looks possitively terrified to fall and be transformed.

More inconsistencies from the Legion books. Kinetix, fror example, acts normally rather than catatonic for most of the issue.

Fave moments:

1) Some nice Easter eggs. Adventure-Era Legion HQ is in Nolan Plaza. Tarik the Mute's robot is in the crowd. One of the aliens has an outfit like Cosmic Boy's Reboot costume. And I'm sure at least some of the characters in the crowd shot are homages to comics creatirs.

2) Monstress comforting Ferro by saying that Nolan is a common Earth name, like M'butu or Chiang. Points for diversity!

3) Gates' real name is apparently unpronounceable by a human larynx, hence why he goes by Gates.

4) Legionnaire reactions to the Preboot. Lori thinks the 70s Legion costumes are cool (she sees bustier Cosmic Boy, Lighting Lad, bikini Saturn Girl, bell-bottom Phantom Girl, Shadow Lass, Chameleon Boy, Wildfire, Karate Kid with collar, and Timber Wolf). XS is too fast for Brin, Val and Drake! Poor Chuck though; Lori is surprised he married Lu, and many comment on why Bouncing Boy is a Legionnaire. Tenzil gets the same comment, too.

Legion of Super-Heroes 105
Time Won't Let Me
Issue information

Summary:

The Time Trapper tells the captive Reboot-only Legionnaires that it is interested because a) they generally don't have counterparts in other realities; b) most of them have traveled through time (and Kid Q II, who hasn't has time powers). Trapper also mentions the ability to generate alternate versions of real people. Trapper freezes our team in time when they try to attack, and has also "frozen" the other Legionnaires in giant holos. XS remembers that Trapper helped her get home (L* Annual 3), and Trapper says XS' ultimate role has yet to be unveiled (note: this role will never be revealed in the Reboot!) Lori Morning reveals to the readers that the Trapper also gave her the H-Dial in LSH 91.

The Trapper alludes to many Preboot happenings: having once been a Legionnaire (in End of an Era, he was revealed to be future Cosmic Boy!); that it tampered with time, causing it to weaken and erasing reality in Zero Hour / End of an Era; and that the Reboot is what reality should have been without interference. It also reveals it created the alternate realities in LSH 92 and L* 54.

Lori makes a gamble, and tries to flatter the Trapper into setting her free. Trapper ages her to adulthood again (she was in that condition from LSH 75/L* 32 to L* 44). Elsewhere, Trapper has gathered versions of Cosmic Boy, Live Wire and Saturn Girl in a pocket reality and is making them battle; there are two villainous versions of each giving the heroic ones a hard time. The good versions begin to win, so Trapper unleashes a monstrous Legion on them. Lori desperately tries to use her H-Dial, and transforms into a cute young hero called Galaxy Girl. She uses her hammer to pound the Time Trapper, hurting it and freeing the Legionnaires. Gates, Kid Quantum II, Kinetix and Monstress save Reboot Cosmic Boy, Live Wire and Saturn Girl and begin fighting the monstrous Legion. XS is the only one who realizes Galaxy Girl is Lori. Because her mental age regressed, Ferro pretends to be the Tin Man to get her help. She relents, freeing the other "good" Legionnaires, from Reboot and Preboot eras.

A big battle ensues. As the "good" Legions beat back their evil counterparts, Trapper revels in it. Preboot Superboy rallies the team, giving a speech about how they are all people and don't deserve to be manipulated. Supes punches Trapper, but nothing happens. Reboot Cos rallies the team again, telling them to attack together...

...and an instant later, the Legionnaires return to Legion HQ. Tenzil says they disappeared literally a moment ago. Imra tells Brainy to work with Rond Vidar to see if the Trapper is still out there.

An upset Lori runs off, afraid that XS will realize she has an H-Dial and the Legion will take it away.

Triad and Ferro bond over the realization that their Preboot selves have died; Triad adopts Ferro as her special friend, saying they will watch out for one another.

The Trapper is happy that the Legion has overcome its "tests" (LSH 92 and L* 54 timeslips, plus this two-parter). It says the Legion must rise to their next challenge, so existence will be preserved.

Thoughts:

It was a decent, fun issue. Too much time spent on the Trapper talking, but the battles between good and evil Legions was nice.

I am a bit sad that Jason Armstrong did this issue. He handles the large cast well, but I just don'tlike his art style. Would have been cool seeing so many Preboot-only Legionnaires under Jeff Moy's pencils! We at least saw most of them in L* 61 - up until Wildfire, anyway. Jeff Moy Dawnstar and Blok would have been cool though. Props to him for making the monstrous Legion truly frightening, though. He also did a decent splash page of all the Legionnaires.

I wonder how Preboot fans felt when the Trapper revealed that the Reboot was reality "as it should have been", without tampering by the Trapper. I'm happy to hear that Kinetix, Gates, XS, Kid Quantum II and Monstress are characters who "should have been", and Lyle survives; but I do understand that this means Chuck and Condo should be powerless, Gim should be dead...

Nice moments with different versions of Legionnaires reacting to one another. Some of them include:

1) Triad and Star Boy being somewhat happy and impressed that Chuck, Dreamer and Tenzil are Legionnaires in another era.
2) 5YL Vi being surprised that Reboot Vi can grow, and encouraging her to stick to her friends.
3) Gang of Ultra Boys fighting together, and Tinyas admiring them.
4) Reboot Garth being surprised that Preboot Garth is married to Imra, and that they're so chummy.
5) Easter Egg: Reboot Lyle reveals knowing a Jacques in the Reboot
6) Preboot humanoid Jeckies are surprised that Sensor is serpentine; this proves that Sensor is meant to be a rebooted Projectra.
7) Cos' guilt at Reboot Gim being dead, while Preboot Gims are still alive.
8) Preboot Brin telling Reboot Spark that they used to be an item, much to Spark's horror. Then, Furball (5YL Brin) licks Ayla, who says he's cute. Brin: "I want to die..."
9) Wildfire bragging to Dawnstar as he takes out 5 enemies with one blast.
10) Reboot Cos seeing Preboot Pol Krinn