Archive for the ‘Retro Review’ Category
Or – “Cut Me Some Slack, I Been Working For A Promotion…”
My day gig is a study in many things… Management theories. Inappropriate dress. The mating habits of the Bisexuals Of The Plains. But one thing that it is not, and has never been, is uncomplicated. Thus, I have come to you, our Faithful Spoilerites, with another batch of mini-reviews, just like a Chili’s mini-burger entree only less likely to make your @$$ look like a truck. (Also, be aware that I just barely decided not to do this one in limerick form, in honor o’ th’ wearin’ o’ the green…)
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Or – “The Brains Of The Outfit…”
So, last week (theoretically) we looked at the emotional center of the founding Legionnaires, this time around we look at the woman whose strength of will in many ways defined the team. She is one of the strongest characters in the Legion (perhaps one of the strongest in her world’s history) yet her powers are entirely subtle in nature. Like her namesake planet, she is an axis around which the LSH rotates, as much a cornerstone of the team as Brainiac 5 or Tom Welling, and she personifies the Legion in ways that no other character can. One of the first leaders, she was among the first Legionnaires to marry, among the first to start a family, and when everyone on the team was half-naked, she joined in and dressed like Strawberry Shortcake if she were a dominatrix. Occasionally hard to understand, but always impossible to overlook, she represents Legion’s iron will. This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Irma Ardeen Ranzz of Titan… Saturn Girl!
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Or – “I Honestly Have NO Idea When These Books Came Out…”
Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends… much like the harassment you get when you wear the pizza suit and dance on the corner in front of a Cici’s. Even when you’re cutting back on comics purchases, like I have, the urge to review more comics than there is time to review them is strong. Makes me with there were 8 days a week, actually. Thus, we at Stately Spoilers Manor have created this handy, dandy method of touching upon things going on at Penny Lane, down the long and winding road, even across the universe. So why don’t we do it in the road, throw some Norwegian wood on the fire, cause it’s a helter skelter ride through a day in the life of comics!
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Yellow submarine.
Or – “The Legion’s Impulsive Heart…”
And here we are, at the beginnings of the whole shebang. The three kids who started it all, who leapt into action to save the life of a stranger because they had the ability to do so. The founding members of the Legion represent an interesting triad, a study in contrasts. The studious, internally focused blonde whose powers are completely covert in nature. The charismatic, team-oriented dark-haired one, whose abilities represent the ability to shape, to change, to manipulate. The quick-to-action red-haired one, whose powers channel the destructive forces of nature. Imra as commanding mother figure, Rokk as guiding big brother, but where does that leave today’s entrant? A founding member, a powerhouse of the early team, but never quite comfortable in his own skin, his battles with his family (and, indeed, with himself) are as legendary as his clashes with any other opponent. Sometimes called the unluckiest Legionnaire, he nonetheless has been an anchor of all incarnations of the team to date. This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Garth Ranzz of Winath… Lightning Lad!
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Or – “Number Two Has To Try Harder…”
It’s absolutely amazing to me to think that we’ve been doing these Hero Histories now for over a year and a half. I’ve had relationships that didn’t last that long! When we started out, the list of Legionnaires seemed endless, stretching out into infinity. Now, it would seem we’re in the home stretch, having come to the point where there are fewer than half a dozen LSHer’s yet unprofiled. When I initially started this project, I knew where it had to begin, and I knew where it had to end, with a stretch of indecision in the middle. But today’s Hero History entrant absolutely had to be placed where he is: alongside the founding members of the Legion of Super-Heroes. His devotion to the Legion was always second to none, and his impact on the team as a whole was eclipsed by very few heroes. It can honestly be said that a large part of the Legion’s appeal was directly due to HIS actions and heroism as much as those of Cos and company. It may have taken him longer than others to make the team, but once there, he made an indelible mark on Legion history. This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Brek Bannin of Tharr… Polar Boy!
Or – “Sometimes You Have To Work Your Way Up To The Big Leagues…”
There’s a lot of confusion regarding the early days of the Legion and their recruiting practices. Bouncing Boy got in, but Radiation Roy did not. Matter-Eater Lad got the nod, whereas Animal Lad was told no. The reasoning behind this has been the subject of much discussion (though I like Geoff Johns’ recent revelation in Action Comics that some of the Legion rejects were rejected because Saturn Girl could tell that there was something wrong with their minds) but the whole issue really seems to boil down to “Who Do We Like Best?” Come on, we’re looking at a bunch of teenagers, even with vast super-powers, and teenagers do a lot of stupid, arbitrary, exclusionary stuff. We should be glad that the team wasn’t smoking super-elastic fluid, or piercing their pancreas. Some heroes who didn’t make the cut, though, wouldn’t take ‘No’ for an answer, knowing that their day in the sun was just around the corner. These stalwart few decided to prepare themselves for the inevitable moment when they would be the ones called upon to save the day. This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Lydda Jath of Kathoon… Ral Benem of Mardru… Ulu Vakk of Lupra… Staq Mavlen of Schwar… Drura Sehpt of Somahtur… Peter Dursin of Earth… Dag Wentim of Zwen… The Legion of Substitute Heroes!
Or – “What A Difference A Few Decades Make…”
If you’re a regular reader of our Hero Histories, you’ve probably gleaned that the team’s adventures have been somewhat unorthodox for a comic super-group. The Legion has been up and down the popularity charts, have run the gamut from super-silly to ultra-serious tales, and have dealt with grown-up subjects like marriage, death, betrayal, and sexual issues long before the rest of the comics world was ready to do so. The Legion’s earliest adventures, though, were steeped in the rules of the Silver Age of comics, and the rules of Mort Weisinger’s Superman titles especially. For a long time the LSH was considered nothing more than Tom Welling’s little pals from the far future, and no matter what happened, the boy in the red cape had to be the center of attention. Nowhere was this more evident than when his non-super pals made the scene in the Legion and were given special status due to their proximity to the boy of steel. (It’s good to have powerful friends…) Awesomely, though, the pals and gal of Superman ended up PROVING the point of the Legion rather than undermining it, showing once again that heroism is a state of mind. This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Pete Ross of Smallville… James Bartholomew Olsen of Metropolis… Gnill Opral of Hagor… Lana Lang of Smallville… Rond Vidar of Earth… The Honorary Legionnaires!
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Or – “Eight Heroes Are Better Than None…”
In recent weeks, we’ve been examining those heroes who joined the Legion in it’s second major incarnation, after harassment from a corrupt Earthgov (undermined by Dominator spies) drove the team to disband for over three years. The team was eventually brought back together by the murder of longtime member Blok (*sniff*) and rose like a phoenix from the ashes, only without sleeping with the kid in the visor. But there is something that we’ve only touched upon briefly that you may not have known… The Legion was active for several months during that Five Year Lacuna. And during that time, took on new members (including the already-covered Kent Shakespeare) whose Legion tenures were mostly undocumented. But, thanks to the miracles of modern technology (and a collection of Legion comics bigger than the average minivan) their stories can be told… Sort of. This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of E. Davis Ester of Touston… Bobb Kohan of Earth… Myke-4 Astor of Calish Aetia… Myg of Lythyl… Berta Skye Haris of Earth… Stig Ah of Rimbor… Myke Chypurz of Earth… Rhent Ustin of Earth… The Five-Year Gap Legionnaires!
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Or – “The Path To Heroism Is Seldom Easily Traversed…”
One of the great joys of the Legion of Super-Heroes has been the vast array of heroes to choose from. Don’t like planet-juggling mighty men? Maybe you can find the love for Phantom Girl, or Invisible Kid. Looking for somebody more cerebral? Try Brainiac 5 or Chameleon Boy. The post Five Year Gap members of the Legion were especially diverse, with members like Matter-Eater Lad and a powerless Cosmic Boy taking irreplacable roles in the team structure, and showing that you don’t have to be a combat powerhouse to contribute to the team dynamic. This Legion also welcomed a sneak-thief, a smuggler, a private eye, and even a cub reporter to their numbers, so it’s not that strange to see them welcoming one of their former foes on board as well. She came to the team looking for help, and ended up supporting them during one of their darkest hours. This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Sussa Paka of Earth… Wave!
Or – “For Those Who Wonder What Happened To The Guardians…”
There are a lot of interesting stories in the fifty-year history of the Legion of Super-Heroes, but the ones that fascinate me are the Legionnaires whose stories remain mostly untold. The post-Five-Year-Gap stories of the Legion tried to bring the shiny future kids up to speed with a more adult comic industry, adding to the mix characters who had adult skills and knowledges, giving the LSH experience with things out of the purview of, say, Lightning Lad, who has been fighting giant space whales since he was 12. From Tenzil Kem’s return with years of political experience and clout, to Devlin O’Ryan’s career as a reporter, to Kent Shakespeare’s medical training, these characters brought a new perspective to the kids, lads, and lasses. Today’s entrant was another of these, trained as a private investigator (even taking her pseudonym from a character near and dear to Stephen’s heart) with ties to the Legion’s earliest history. Get ready to pony up 200 credits a day (plus expenses) as we delve into her life and times. This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of the hero briefly known as Neon of Earth… Celeste Rockfish!
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Or – “Some Heroes Take A While To Warm Up…”
Last time out, we returned to the “Five Year Gap” era Legion of Super Heroes for the first time in a while, visiting the world as it was with neither Kal-El of Krypton or the Time Trapper. I’ve said before, and I still believe that this portion of Legion history (now, apparently relegated to one of many alternate realities) was the first dry run for rebooting Legion continuity, which was then considered to be too complex and hard to understand. Of course, Keith Giffen and company felt that the best way to deal with the issues of complexity and continuity was to remove the distinct color-schemed costumes and codenames and go low-tech. It was a bold move, and one that worked mostly due to the characters in play. One of the more unique Legionnaires of this time started out not as a hero, but as a Daily Planet cub reporter sent by Earthgov to bury the Legion with bad press. In a Legion that welcomed a smuggler, a private detective, a senator, and even a former member of the Legion of Super-Villains, he was our point of view character, the closest thing we had to the kid next door in a 30th Century fraught with terror. This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of the Legionnaire briefly known as Reflex of Earth… Devlin O’Ryan!
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Or – “Not Nearly As Innocent As She Looks…”
The post-Five-Year-Gap stories of the Volume Four Legion get, I think, short shrift in LSH history, for a lot of reasons. It was really the first proto-reboot of the title, pushing the team forward in time, forcing us to learn, issue by issue, what had happened in the missing years. It gave up on the colorful costumes and superhero codenames, and delved much deeper into the corruption that some would say always exists at the heart of a bright and shiny society. This period of Legion history is one known for a looser team ethic, a more catch-as-catch-can philosophy, and in some cases, a complete disregard for the legal niceties of the United Planets. That’s where this week’s entrant comes in… Born of a planet of notorious thieves, she joined the Legion almost by accident, but once there, became one of the definitive characters of her Legion’s era. Smart, funny, perverse, mean-spirited, and cute as the dickens, she perfected the art of needling her opponents by first torturing her friends and teammates. This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Brita An’nan of Sklar… Kono!
Or – “What’s REALLY In A Name?”
If you were to go to the dentist, open the door, and find a nameplate that reads “Dr. Hiram Rippedflesh, DDS,” you might consider postponing that appointment, right? And, say, if the first officers to respond to your call for help were Sergeant Lunatic and Detective Disemboweler, again, you’d probably have second thoughts about your situation, yes? I imagine that general feeling is roughly how the Legionnaires must have felt when confronted by a girl choosing a nom de guerre that originally hung on one of the worst threats the team had ever faced, a murderous inhuman creature that nearly cost Brainiac 5 his mind, that came close to killing the second Invisible Kid, that DID KILL one of Triplicate Girl’s selves. What possible reasoning could there be behind such a name, you ask? How about “It just sounds cool!“ The 1990’s were a brave new world for the kids of the LSH, and few moments are as emblematic of that move away from history and into the bright and shiny future’s brighter and shinier future-er than the induction of today’s Hero History subject… Once just a cute kid sister and plot device, she grew into a leader among the team, and a respected Legionnaire in her own right. This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Danielle Foccart of Earth… Computo!
Or – “I Can Has Flight Ring?”
There are many subtle differences between the comic publishing industry in 1958, when the Legion debuted, and 1991-ish, when the ‘Legionnaires’ comic was published. Aside from the obvious post-modern, technological blah dee blah, the major factor that separated the 90’s from the 50’s in comics terms was the existence of the X-Men. The 600 pound gorilla of the comics world, our boys and girls in blue and gold caused rampant changes to nearly every comic book title extant, in the hopes of catching some of that proverbial ‘phat cash.’ Today’s H.H. subject is one of the characters who really shows that influence, for good or for ill, as the 30th century’s take on Wolverine, himself influenced by Legionnaire Timber Wolf. (Of course, Logan then influenced Wolfsbane and other feral hero types, who in turn influenced this character. Can anybody say “Ouroboros?” No? Me, neither…) Regardless of her roots, though, she’s more than just a T-Wolf stand-in, acting as a change of pace in character terms, much as her teammate Dragonmage did in terms of powers. Driven by her instincts, motivated by her whims, she represents something unusual for the Legion: the animal perspective. This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of April Dumaka of Earth… Catspaw!
Or – “Magic And The Legion. Two Great Tastes That Taste WEIRD Together…”
Throughout the history of the Legion of Super-Heroes, many of their members have gotten their powers from experimentation run wild (Sun Boy, Wildfire, Quislet, and even the Ranzz twins, in a way) whereas others have gained their powers from simple genetics (Dawnstar, Cosmic Boy, Matter-Eater Lad, etc.) But for many years in the bright and shiny future, no one gained their abilities from manipulation of the mystic powers, from the hoary hosts of the neitherworld, or from the various powers beyond the pale. When Mysa Nal, the White Witch, joined the original Legion, she was, in her own way, nearly as alien as Tellus or Blok, with her spell and her grimoires and such. And it was quite a few years before another Legionnaire arose from the ranks of mysticism to take his place among the team. One of the shortest lived LSHers of all, he nonetheless showed courage, character, and heroic ideals worthy of the decades-long membership of Colossal Boy or Brainiac 5. This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Xao Jin of Earth… Dragonmage!
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