Born in Vancouver, BC Canada...and after living in a lot of different places since then....has finally returned home.
Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
28 | 29 | 30 |
According to Genesis, on the sixth day, created man and gave him dominion over all the creatures of the Earth. It stands to reason, that in another book, gave some other creature, dominion over man…
LEGION OF SUPERHEROES: WEEK FORTY-ONE
Once Zero Hour hit the DC Universe, everything previously known about the Legion of Superheroes was wiped out. All those beloved stories that I had been following my whole life were trashed. The future was re-set and a brand-new origin for our favorite teen-aged heroes was fashioned. Except, it wasn’t much different from how the Legion was originally formed -- just a clearing away of some clutter that had accumulated in its decades-long continuity. It was a fresh-start; just like the old-start. Sounds dreadful, right? I agree. Rather than follow along this re-model version of the Legion, I quit reading. I didn’t as much as crack open the cover of another LoSH book until 1999. I have no idea what went down. After Zero Hour, this is Five Years Later (for-real) …
Legion of Superheroes: Secret Files #1 (1998*)
Written by Tom Peyer and Tom McCraw.
Drawn by Jeffrey Moy, Todd Nauck and a host of profile artists.
(*Disclaimer: I rushed out to the back-issue bins to find this book after returning to the Legion in ‘99, just so I could figure out who the these newer characters were)
We all know the origin of the Legion of Superheroes by now. I just covered it with the Zero issues last week. Here, the new-style origin is re-told, but from R J Brande’s perspective. In the previous version of the LoSH, Brande was mostly known for his star-making technology. In the 90’s version: the story is tweaked to show the industrialist is the inventor of the star-gate, not actual stars. Since nu-Brande was pivotal in securing the formation of the United Planets, it makes sense that he also created the avenue for which transportation between planets became so easily achieved. The story begins, before the formation of the Legion, with Brande appealing to a group of planetary representatives to promote a United Planets concept. There is dissent within the congregation, however: each claiming Brande is too rich and out of touch with the common galactic being to understand their needs. But, Brande is undeterred in his vision. By : he will somehow find a way to settle these aliens’ baseless concerns! He shuns his personal secure transport and climbs aboard a shuttle to Earth with the common folk. From there, he encounters Rokk Krinn, Imra Ardeen and Garth Ranzz for the first time. You know the rest of the story…
In addition to this altered version of the Legion’s genesis, there are profiles of each of the main Legion members, a silly “what if”-type story, an interview with Shvaughn Erin and a few other goodies. The last couple of pages includes a summary of what has gone on, post-Zero Hour (like I care), but it seems to have been cut short without conclusion. Page count problem, perhaps. Not important. The real reason for getting this book is to see who the main characters are, so the following adventures will make more sense. This 90’s version of the Legion includes:
Cosmic Boy (magnetism), Live Wire (electrical), Saturn Girl (telepathy), Triad (triplicates self), Apparition (phase ability), Invisible Kid (invisibility), XS (speedster), Chameleon (shape change), Brainiac 5 (super smart), Violet (size change), Spark (electrical), Kinetix (alter inanimate objects), Star Boy (gravitation), M’onel (superman), Element Lad (transmutation), Gates (teleportation), Ultra Boy (various powers but can only use one at a time), Umbra (darkness).
Despite its flaws and redundancy of content, this book is a very useful resource, by !
Grade B.
Legion of Superheroes: Secret Files #2 (1999)
Written by Tom Peyer, Matt Brady, Tom McCraw, Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning.
Drawn by Chuck Wojtkiewicz, Derec Aucoin, and a host of profile artists.
While on a trip to Lycidas, the latest world to join the United Planets, a group of Legionnaires nearly run into a giant space-ship of unknown origin at the edge of the star-gate. After taking evasive maneuvers, they crash-land their ship on a barren planetoid near their original destination. Brainiac, Thunder, Live Wire, Sensor, Kid Quantum, Monstress, Karate Kid and Ferro all survive the impact, but their cruiser is damaged beyond repair. Although the team is very close to a nearby inhabited planet, their means for communication has been destroyed. Brainiac develops a plan to build a make-shift beacon and each member ventures out to scavenge the rocky surface for conductive materials. While searching for bits of their wrecked transport, Live Wire is attacked by a group of savage indigenous creatures. Ferro and Monstress are buried by boulders from a sudden tremor, rendering them helpless to assist. Sensor reads one of the beast’s minds and exploits their greatest fear to drive them away. Finally, a beacon is built, and Live Wire activates the device after Karate Kid revives him from unconsciousness. Noticing the stranded Legionnaires’ signal, Saturn Girl organizes a rescue-party, and saves the team from planetoid-implosion at the end.
I believe this is Abnett and Lanning’s very first Legion story and it is a crackin’-good thriller. They capture each of the characters perfectly and develop a rising intensity at each turn of the page. The resolutions to each challenge are handled intelligently and with panache. A very impressive start to the DnA era of the Legion. The artwork is clean, expressive and nicely presented. Also: similar, to the first “Secret Files” issue, this one includes a bevy of bonus material, including an interview with R J Brande (by !), the Legion Constitution, a list of UP Worlds and more. Most importantly, there is the Legionnaire profile pages to round out your knowledge of the newer characters on the team:
Karate Kid (martial arts), Kid Quantum (quantum field generation), Sensor (illusion casting), Thunder (future Shazam!), Ferro (metal), Brainiac 5.1 (super smart upgrade), Monstress (super strong).
A wonderful re-introduction to my favorite thirtieth-century heroes. It’s like nothing I have ever experienced before and meeting the embrace of an old friend, all rolled up in one.
Grade A.
Legionnaires #78 (1999)
Written by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning.
Drawn by Jeffery Moy.
After the Legion receives a distress call from a mega-freighter in deep space, Cosmic Boy joins Brainiac, Apparition and Monstress on a cruiser to investigate. After jumping through a star-gate to the outskirts of UP territory, the team finds the freighter intact and undamaged. Once entering the gigantic ship, they discover the entire crew mysteriously frozen in status. After further investigation, the team is assaulted by a platoon of robotic war-machines made entirely of impervious polymer plastic. Cosmic Boy’s magnetism is ineffective and Monstress is unable to get close enough to the machines without getting shot to pieces. Apparition manages to disable one of the machines with a deft phasing move, and Brainiac eventually rigs a device to scramble their code. Then, the big bad freezer-bot appears, blasting at them with its immobilizing rays. Brainiac just reprograms the first group of robots to protect the Legionnaires from harm and they blast the freezer-bot to oblivion. With the robot-threat finally contained, the Legionnaires return to their cruiser and head back for home. Just as they are approaching the star-gate, however, a flash of purple energy blasts past them, destroying the space-fold in its wake. The destination of this massive bust of energy: planet Earth.
Dan and Andy begin their term as Legion scribes with this innocent old-school Levitz-era type LoSH story. There’s an indeterminate threat established, a team assembled, a mystery to solve and a little super-heroic fighting along the way. Nobody gets seriously harmed and all is back to normal by issue’s end. That is, until the purple ray goes blasting through the star-gate: stranding the team in deep space. The nature of this devastating blast will be examined in the following issues. While this one-off is a riff on old standard Legion traditions, there is plenty of foreshadowing that alludes to some major future developments for the team. Jeffrey Moy does an adequate job illustrating this basic adventure tale.
Grade C+.
Legion of Superheroes #122 & #123,
Legionnaires #79 & #80 (2000)
“Legion of the Damned”
Written by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning.
Drawn by Olivier Coipel.
One month later, planet Earth is devastated. The mysterious burst of energy that knocked out the entire UP star-gate system, found its way to Earth and blew the planet’s infrastructure to pieces. The once majestic visage of gleaming cities, natural paradise and pinnacle of cultural advancement is now laid to ruin. With the ravages of this cosmic assault, comes an inter-galactic species known as: The Blight. These once proud and highly advanced creatures, have devolved, over time, into soul-less monsters bent on destruction for the sake of their own immortality. Finding the Earth teaming with life-energy, they sought the planet for grazing. Now, nothing but devastation and the Blight’s alien appropriation exists on the planet. Of the few remaining survivors on Earth, some are brain-washed and converted to the Blight’s manipulations. They serve as hunter-killers or recruiters of those who continue to hide from influence. The small pockets of human resistance, resigned to the loss of their planet, scramble through the shadows to find refuge and perhaps some chance at redemption. At a secret meeting point, R J Brande readies his final star-gate to serve as an exodus from this total alien assimilation of his home-world.
Somewhere, on the ravaged streets of Metropolis, Live Wire, XS, Shvaughn and Chameleon lead a small party of human refugees toward Brande’s extraction point. As they scramble through the wreckage, the band of heroes are intersected by blighted versions of Ultra Boy, Karate Kid and Umbra. They do battle with their corrupted former team mates but are eventually subdued and taken to a place called “The Stem”. This, the hub of Blight activity on Earth, is the source of all the Blight’s power. It’s also a sort of transmission center for Blight energies passing to and from other planets in the galaxy. To destroy the Stem is to defeat the Blight. Many have entered the Stem. None have returned.
Of the original refugee party, only Chameleon avoids the clutches of his former, now-blighted, friends. Using his shape-changing ability, Cham manages to escape notice while in search of a new, viable hide-out. Finally arriving at the old Science police HQ, Cham runs into a few familiar faces: Cosmic Boy, Apparition, Brainiac, and Monstress have returned from their deep-space adventure. After a lengthy journey back to Earth (see Legionnaires #78), the group was able to hone-in on Chameleon’s life-signature and travel to his new resting spot. While the five remaining Legionnaires commiserate in the darkened corners of the old SP-HQ, something begins to stir in the bowels of the Stem. Inside, the once disabled XS breaks free from a stasis-pod and grabs Saturn Girl for a dead-run out of the Blight’s fortress. After finally evading a group of blighted heroes, the two escapees’ race outside and unite with the other remaining surviving team-mates.
As the ranks of the gathering Legionnaires increase, so does the Blight’s resolve to trample or assimilate their spirits. A final battle between blighted and yet uncorrupted Legionnaires occurs within the stem. Ultra Boy battles with Monstress while Saturn Girl determines the nature of the Blight’s energies. She discovers that the grungy old eternity-seeking aliens had corrupted and utilized a sentient cosmos-spanning life-force whose original intent was merely to send life-bringing “flowers” into the universe. Using her mental powers, Saturn Girl releases this affirming creature from the Blight’s influence, thus causing the ultimate destruction of the Stem. With the Blight now defeated, the LoSH becomes whole once again: gathering together at the edge of the fallen stem amidst the unending wreckage of Metropolis.
Wow. What a fast-paced, exciting adventure! This story of the Blight taking over the Earth and the Legionnaires somehow finding a way to overturn their rule is a thrill-ride from start to finish. Dan and Andy take the classic “Earth Invasion” trope, spin it through a wash of LoSH traditional beats and manage to out-perform any other similar type story I have yet read. This is way better than how the Bierbaum’s handled the Dominator invasion. Olivier Coipel is a legendary artist known for his unique style and impeccable compositions. Here, his line work is excessively rendered, compared to later, more polished work; but I find his dynamic style to be highly rewarding. The way he draws Saturn Girl’s golden flowing locks alone, is worth the price of admission.
This spectacular first collaboration between DnA and Olivier Coipel provides many jaw-dropping moments throughout the storyline. First, there’s the initial shocking full-page image of the blighted Legionnaires showing up, and then the part where Live Wire getting entwined is incredibly affecting. The parts with XS dragging Karate Kid around or carrying Saturn Girl through the Stem evokes so much frantic energy off the page, I was nearly breathless. I love Coipel’s rendition of Chameleon: his fat, floppy antennae provide an added dimension to his already unique personality. The final resolution to this story may be a bit hokey, but at the end, I really don’t mind. This story is an example of the ride being much more important and exciting than the final resolution.
Grade A.
Legion of Superheroes #124 & #125, Legionnaires #81 (2000)
“Widening Rifts”
Written by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning.
Drawn by Angel Unzueta and Adam Dekraker.
In the aftermath of Earth’s devastation from the Blight, the Legionnaires slowly begin to pick up the pieces of their broken lives. Umbra and Ultra Boy experience shame and heart-ache from the memories of alien manipulation. Live Wire remains shaken from the horrors of the Blight’s entwining. Despite their recent victory, there remains a foreboding atmosphere within the team’s ranks. Even with the loss of the star-gate network for travel, Star Boy decides to take Dream Girl the long way back home to Xanthu. M’onel and Triad begin the reconstruction effort but are largely shunned by crowds blaming the team for their recent woes. A common consensus against the LoSH, grows on all sides of the political spectrum. After facing mounting pressure from the United Planets membership, Brande rails against this negative perception but is eventually forced to quit his UP-leadership position and disband the Legion.
Meanwhile, a single destabilized star-gate remains open in an area of space near Saturn. With a group of cargo ships poised to enter the damaged gateway, the LoSH arrive in their space-faring outpost to help reaffirm the portals’ integrity. Unaware of the recent political activities on Earth, Brainiac ventures out to the star-gate’s rim in an armored space-suit. While he diagnoses the trouble at the gate, a team of arrogant super-beings known as “Work Force” enters the Legion outpost. Claiming their UP-sanctioned authority, the Work force team quickly assumes control of the star-gate project. An named Meta flies out to replace Brainiac’s activities and inadvertently causes an explosion at the star-gate’s control mechanism. This event results in a violent outward chain-reaction that ravages the awaiting cargo ships and nearly tears the Legion outpost apart. Residual damage from this event causes a tear in the fabric of space-time, which threatens to soon envelop the entire solar system.
Amidst this sudden surge of energy, and subsequent implosion of the star-gate, the Legionnaires take quick action inside their outpost. Element Lad and Invisible Kid wrest control from the Work Force members, while various other Legionnaires work together to shore up the integrity of their craft. Then, Kid Quantum, Wildfire (aka: ERG-1??) and Element Lad fly toward the event horizon of the space-time fissure to help Brainiac escape it’s gathering pull. With Brainy secured back on the outpost, the three Legionnaires refocus their attention on the widening fissure. Wildfire arrives first to absorb the outwash of energy from the reality-tear, to give cover for his team-mates. While protected from harm, Element Lad converts all matter into a substance that star-gates use to stabilize space-time. While her team-mates provide the environment and materials to work with, Kid Quantum mounts an attempt to reverse the effects of the imploded star-gate. The plan works at first, however, the energy emitting from the fissure is too much for Wildfire to contain. He bursts open and falls uncontrolled into the special gap. With the energy flow returned to overwhelming levels, Kid Quantum and Element Lad are soon also overcome. At the end, the Legion outpost itself is consumed. Everything goes white…and then only darkness presides.
“This is how the world ends. Not with a bang, but a whimper.” -T. S. Eliot.
With this “Widening Rifts” story, Dan and Andy weave some nice political intrigue, wonderful super-heroics and intelligent sci-fi into a thrilling and highly enjoyable nihilistic yarn. The story begins with a slow plodding angst and with each issue, drums the apocalyptic din up to a fervor. There is the futile railing against ignorance and prejudice. There is the courageous struggle against impossible odds. The teamwork and use of intelligence toward this seemingly insurmountable threat brings a sense of false-hope throughout the adventure. Near the end, it looks like the heroes may just find a way to push back the impending disaster. But, what if they don’t? Saturn Girl reflects the terror of the moment best in the middle of the final chapter, when she utters: “Are we out of our depth? Is this bigger than the Legion? The scale of this disaster…” her words trail off as she reaches some futile solace in Garth’s arms. This is the final glimmer of hope before the Legion ultimately fail to ward off their doom. Now, just as Imra feared: all is lost. The artwork here is not on-par with the likes of Coipel, but Unzueta and Dekraker provide a sense of normalcy to the imagery that serves as counter-point to the narrative’s dive into a widening existential calamity. The final dreadful moments of utter destruction nearly sneaks-up on you as you follow the intrepid Legionnaires into the arms of oblivion. Only on the last page are you sure the end has finally come. This is how you make a proper exit.
Grade A+.
Next: Whatever doesn’t kill you, makes you stranger…
Long Lost the Legion!
Member auction items on eBay ? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|