Yet another battle at the end of time... and we say good bye to a longtime contributor... We look at Legion #103 - 105 and Legionnaires #60 & 61

Before we get into the actual issues, I wanted to say goodbye to someone who's been a part of this Legion journey for a fairly long time - editor K.C. Carlson. He started editing the Legion back during Five Years Later, watched Keith Giffen leave the book, kept everything running as they got a second book - Legionnaires, oversaw what might have been the worst time creatively in Legion history, rebooted both books as part of the Zero Hour crossover, kept the Post Zero Hour Legion running for years, and then was replaced by editor Mike McAvennie just as the Legion of Super-Heroes achieved something they had never done before - reached a 100th issue.

I have no idea what happened behind the scenes and I don't want to speculate. All I can say is this - if they replaced him with McAvennie because they figured he would improve sales, can you give him any credit for good sales on the books he's editing in April 1998 - Creeper, Steel, Superboy, Supergirl, and Superman Adventures? Was the idea to have someone from the Superman offices pull the Legion under his banner and tie them more closely together? Was that a good or bad idea?

Or did they want to go with someone who was less connected to the source material? I always wonder if making a fan of the book the editor is the best way to move forward. Carlson is a huge Legion fan and brought his depth of knowledge to the book. Continuity was never a problem and there were never any huge mistakes in that area. But does that knowledge hamstring you sometimes because you're tied to the past instead of moving forward. For example, would someone with less Legion lore at their disposal recognize that they way they were handling the Saturn Girl/Live Wire relationship didn't work in their stories?

Talking about editors is always weird for me because, as much as I recognize their names because I see them in the credits of every issue, I can't really hammer out exactly what makes a good or a bad editor. I think of the editors that most people put on the list of the "greats," Karen Berger, Axel Alonso, Louise Simonson, Archie Goodwin, Denny O'Neil, Diana Schutz, etc. (yes, I know I'm missing your favorite, sorry), and I think of a few things I know they do well:

·         Supporting and encouraging talent

·         Scheduling and organization

·         Meeting deadlines

·         Putting together the right creative team

·         Pushing for the best stories

·         Keeping track of all the continuity connected with the title

·         And much, much more

I think, for the most part, K.C. Carlson was battling during his time on the Legion. He faced the problems surrounding Giffen as he ran down his run on the book. He fought with DC over the book's direction and style. He watched as sales continued to drop and fought hard to reverse the trend, although the 90's were not kind to a lot of DC books and the Legion was just another casualty. He put the best creative team he could afford on the book and nurtured new talent. He got them connected to DC's crossovers, hoping it would bring in and keep new readers, and I imagine many DC higher ups didn't want his characters working in their playground.

So let's salute him here. He did a job that no one else would have wanted to do. He had some successes. He had some failures. But I think you can safely say that the Legion was in better shape when he left than when he began.

LSH #103

With this issue, I'm starting to like Jason Armstrong's artwork more and more. Maybe it's the Kirby-esque vibe I'm getting. Maybe it's the fact that it looks like a futuristic tale. Maybe it's because he's bringing a lot more energy and verve to the title. Maybe I'm just happy Lee Moder is gone. I don't know. But it's working. Well, some of it is working...

We get two stories here and one of them doesn't involve any Legionnaires at all. Yep, if you were wondering how they'd successfully juggle such a massive team, your answer is by focusing on other characters and leaving Saturn Girl sitting in the Mission Monitor Room.

One story is all about Karate Kid and how he's no longer happy working for Leland McCauley. To be blunt, having him work for McCauley in the first place was bad writing and a bad understanding of the character. It's only now that he's upset because Evolvo wants to use the Fires of Creation to do something destructive. Not all the other heinous things he's been involved with. This is the step too far.

So Karate Kid beats up Evolvo, beats up some McCauley soldiers, escapes in a spaceship and calls Imra, hoping for asylum. Can't he just quit? Can't Brande just buy his contract? Why bring asylum into this?

Now for a dumb question, because Legion artists have struggled with this since the 1970's. Is Karate Kid Asian? Cause Armstrong draws him really inconsistently and his coloring changes as well. Would it be so hard for them to just decide and keep him looking one way or the other?

The other story focuses on Xanthu as Star Boy, Monstress, and Kid Quantum are investigating to see what went wrong and how the U.P. didn't know there was an invasion happening. They discover a huge structure on one of the moons, run by aliens, that appears to be causing all the communication problems. So, rather than stealthily figure out what's going on, they just rush into the attack. Which, honestly, feels like the choice three teenagers whose home world just got invaded would do. So I'm not complaining about that.

Just as they're battling the forces on the moon, the Khunds who are currently "helping" Xanthu fire off a huge number of missiles to destroy the structure and everyone there. You don't have to be smart to know that they're just destroying any evidence that would tie them to it. But this could be the end of two Legionnaires and one wannabe.

I actually kinda like both of these stories, but that might be my Karate Kid bias showing. Since I know this is what gets him onto the team, I'm happy. And since I like the three Xanthuan heroes, I'm enjoying that as well. I do find it ironic that this investigation into what caused the invasion is taking longer than the actual invasion.

The only downside? Why have Winema Wazzo as the ambassador? Wasn't she made Brande's second-in-command? Isn't she the Vice President? Wouldn't she be busy with her daughter? Wouldn't she be the last person you'd send on a diplomatic mission? I mean, have they ever shown, in this entire run, that she's even slightly capable of doing her job or, more importantly, that anyone in a position of authority would trust her to do anything?

Legionnaires #60 - Does the Karate Kid here look anything like the Karate Kid on the previous cover?

And we continue with the ongoing stories and see where these new twists take us. I'm going to break everything down into point form so I can focus on more of the basics:

·         Karate Kid escapes from McCauley's pilots and is saved by the Legion. His punishment for leaving the Workforce and destroying Evolvo's scanner: joining the Legion. That was quick and easy. We also learned that he was born on the Omega Colony (no idea if that's ever going to pay off or what it means) and he also didn't make any money working for McCauley - he just accepted room and board. Which makes him staying with the Workforce even dumber... I mean, the whole point was for him to go and travel. He gets paid a lot, which would let him travel by himself, but he doesn't keep the money and stays working for a criminal. I know they're trying to paint Val as someone above these petty concerns, but I'm worried they're going to start turning him into a more violent Element Lad.

·         The Legionnaires are, of course, not killed by the huge number of missiles that blew up the base on a moon of Xanthu. Unfortunately, they aren't able to save anything else, everyone on the base dies, and the Khunds are free and clear to continue recruiting Xanthu to their new organization... which is, of course, run by the Dark Circle, who ran that secret base. Winema lays into the Legionnaires for not being diplomatic when facing the Khunds when they pretty much just acted like she normally does. Would it even be possible to give Winema one small redeeming quality? Or show she's actually good at her job? Is that too much?

·         When the three from Xanthu get back to Earth, Kid Quantum is immediately made a member, so all the previous drama over what the team would do when Star Boy told her to come back and join the team is completely tossed aside. There are moments when I get the sense that the writers of this book think they're following the old rule Gene Roddenberry came up with for Star Trek: no conflict, everyone gets along, and we're all one big happy family. Between this, how they're writing Cosmic Boy, Spark immediately recovering from her brush with death, and everyone else just being buddy/buddy, it's kinda getting boring. Does anyone on the team dislike anyone else?

·         Apparently Spark, Chameleon, and Sensor going to a Parisian nightclub is a scandal for Earthlings. I get it being a problem for Durla and Orando. But on Earth? Why would anyone care that they were having fun? If anyone caused a scandal, it was Triad beating someone up (yes, she had good reason to, but fighting in public would be problematic). But they don't even mention her.

·         Evolvo is turning into a jerk... and I have no idea why...

·         We get a one-page Kid Quantum origin story - basically, she got experimented on to augment her powers and took her brother's name. That's it. Nothing else needed.

·         Cham and Sensor leave the team, telling everyone that they need to go back to their home worlds to deal with the problems and the scandals. But they're lying - it's actually an Espionage Squad mission that will have them dealing with the Dark Circle.

·         I'd just like to point out one huge, astronomically huge, problem they've created by putting Sensor on the Espionage Squad and with her powers in general. They revealed that her powers don't work on electronics, just on people, so cameras see her as she really is and people see the illusion. But yet she sends messages through the comms to the McCauley pilots telling them to back off and they only see her illusion... which wouldn't work at all. And if she goes undercover, what happens when she's spotted by even one person who has artificial eyes? Or a camera? And do her illusions stay on when she's asleep? They're kinda writing themselves into a corner.

·         Someone is trying to control the Legionnaires at the Fires of Creation... and only M'onel is resisting. Oh, and those McCauley scientists we saw a couple of issues ago? Just mentioned and completely gone.

LSH #104

Imagine you're sitting in a writer's room, trying to figure out where to take the Legion next. You have two options - forge forward and come up with your own ideas or mine the past and call it a reboot or a tribute. You can guess where we're going here.

Step one of mining the past: bring back past characters who we haven't seen that longtime fans will remember, like Kono the Sklarian showing up to help a Durlan criminal escape custody.

Step two: bring back old story lines that you've used before. We already saw the Daxamites try to destroy the United Planets by using racism and hatred to get the planets to stop working together. This time, have the Dark Circle focus all their hatred on Durla and get planet after planet to quit - this week, it's Winath and Orando leaving the U.P.

Yep, we're going back to go forward... kinda...

If you had bets on what would be the dumbest way to wrap up the Fires of Creation plot, I doubt you pictured this one: Evolvo is working on the new version of his scanner and suddenly pulls the Legionnaires out of the void and back to reality. Andromeda has a new costume, haircut, and personality. Brainiac 5 has dots on his forehead and is nice. Gates, Kinetix, Umbra, and M'onel? Nothing changed. That's because for Umbra, she was there for five minutes. For Andromeda, two years. Is it safe to assume that they're not actually going to explain what happened and are just using this as a way to reboot two characters?

Oh, and he's Brainiac 5.1 now... ugh...

And to continue with the "everyone gets along" concept, Gates is now kinder and less political as well. So of all the characters who had problems with the team and brought a little interpersonal conflict to the stories, only Umbra has even the slightest amount of backbone left. And she's too busy fawning over M'onel to do much else.

There's some stuff with McCauley trying to sell tech to a Khund and Evolvo offering what is going to be a new transportation device to the same Khund, which I'm sure is going to become more important in the future, but since I really don't like what they're doing with Evolvo, I moved pretty quickly over that.

At the end of the issue, Live Wire and Spark are battling in a training room and we learn just how much she hated her gravity-controlling powers. And suddenly, they're in a 1960's comic and next issue promises Adventures in Action. I'm guessing we're finally going to wrap up the time travel issues. Or just create more unanswered questions.

Legionnaires #61 

 

LSH #105

Before I start writing this, if there's anyone who's reading these books and was even slightly surprised by the reveal of the villain, please hand in your Legion flight ring and take your place at the back of the class. Would it have been so hard to create a new time-based villain? Or not make it so obvious that our villain will be clad in purple robes?

But I digress... let's recap the story.

We're in 2968 and it's like we're back in an old Adventure Comics comic. The Legion looks just like they did before Dave Cockrum changed every almost every costume and Superman and Supergirl are there as well. We're celebrating Legionnaires month, by order of EarthGov, and the Legion is allowing visitors to come and take a tour of Legion HQ... which, oddly enough, doesn't look anything like any of the previous HQs, but I'm nitpicking.

Seven visitors are ready to start their tour, entering the HQ and passing through security. They all have a sense that they've been there before. And they have, because the seven beings are Gates, Kid Quantum, XS, Kinetix, Monstress, Ferro, and Lori Morning. I guess when Live Wire and Spark changed last issue, they became part of the illusion. But since these seven were never Legionnaires in the old continuity, or were dead when this happened, they get to be regular folks.

They are first greeted by Matter-Eater Lad, or Tenzil KIM (how does that typo make it past editorial?), and Lori says the line I've thought many, many times:

Why would the Legion induct a guy who just eats stuff? This isn't right!

Never thought I'd agree with Lori on anything.

Because we have to move this story along quicker than the last two time shift adventures, the seven all immediately feel like they're in the wrong time and space. They can't understand how Chuck became a member. They're stunned it's not Triad, but Duo Damsel, and Ferro can't believe that he's dead in this time.

That's what shocks them into remembering their super-hero names. But before we can move this story forward, the Legion has to serve a greater master - DC editorial.

For absolutely no reason whatsoever, Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad (different timeline, right?) head off to stop a fire that could set a toxic chemical loose in the atmosphere. Imra realizes there's a super being in the fire, also trying to stop it, and once they get things under control, Superman appears. Yep, Superman from the 20th Century arrives, without his cape, and they reveal he's being sent through time because of his battle with the Linear Man. Which, by the way, happened in 1991. And this issue was published in 1998. Since this is the Superman who also met the original continuity Legion, and Brainiac 5, Blok, Invisible Kid (II), and Sun Boy, he mentions that, leading to a Imra wondering who Blok is. Or was.

The fire gets worse and Superman rushes off to help but is blasted back into the time stream to continue his battle with the Linear Man. And the Legionnaires just kinda fly around, wondering what's happening. And that's it. 5 pages just gone from this story. And for no reason whatsoever.

Also, Jeff Moy really has trouble drawing adults. Superman really just looked like a thicker Superboy without a cape here.

Okay, here's my aside. Just to put how completely convoluted DC continuity is at this point, the rebooted Superman that was first introduced in the 1980's has, by 1998, met:

·         The original continuity Legion when they tied up the Superboy story and introduced the pocket universe

·         The volume 4 Legion when this Time and Time Again storyline with the Linear Man was first introduced. He was there when the moon exploded.

·         The SW6 and older Legionnaires during the Zero Hour story

·         The rebooted Legion post Zero Hour when they came back in time during the Final Night

·         This old version of the Legion, which is the rebooted version, but with all the old memories of the original Legion, but has members that don't exist in the rebooted version, but must exist within some timeline... or some other universe... does this mean the Legion was the first book to re-introduce the multiverse to DC Comcis? Man, my brain hurts just trying to figure this out.

Back to the actual story, the seven get some help from this version of Rond Vidar, re-enter the time stream and get all their powers back, and end up in the 1970's Legion, facing Cosmic Boy's horrid costume, Karate Kid's epic costume, and Timber Wolf's great hair. Did like the fact that XS was checking them out as she was running away. They're also stunned by Luornu and Chuck's marriage.

One more time on a time platform and they end up at the end of time facing... the Time Trapper. Yes, I know we all saw that coming. And yes, I wish I was getting paid every time I wrote the word "time" in this recap.

In a perfect world, XS will remember everything that happened in that previous annual and actually save the universe and the time stream. I'm not betting on it.

Also, and bear with my insane ramblings right now, there are two possibilities as far as I can see them. One, the Legion is hallucinating everything, along with the rest of the universe, as the Time Trapper is simply playing with their minds. They have never moved through space and/or time and are just in some sort of illusion. If this is true, however, that means that the Time Trapper knows about this alternate Legion and, therefore, we have a multiverse. They're also hallucinating their time in the time stream.

The second possibility is that the team is literally moving through the alternate universe, and has done so before. The Time Trapper is jumping them through the multiverse and they're experiencing all these different spots in time.

And the presence of Superman just further complicates everything. Since we know this is the "real" Superman from the current continuity, we know that it's directly tied to the "correct" universe. So did he really go to 2968? Was he hallucinating as well? Did he jump into an alternate time line (multiverse) and meet the three? He's already jumped into the original time line at least twice - which one was he in now?

I guess the big question is this: which one is more likely? Is the Time Trapper powerful enough to cause universe-wide hallucinations? Is there a multiverse?

I know the writers aren't really too concerned about this and they've definitely played fast and loose with time and alternates before. But I would think DC editorial is concerned with it. Especially now that their editor is part of the Superman group of titles. If there is a multiverse in 1998, didn't that go against everything the DCU was doing?

I am spending way too much time thinking about this. Hopefully the second part of the story answers my questions.

As we begin Legion #105, we're at the end of time, where the Time Trapper explains that he can, and I'll quote here:

I have the power to create my own realities from a single moment in time -- 'pockets' of time, which may or may not actually 'exist,' depending upon my mood.

That clears everything up, doesn't it?

We get some more moments of Time Trapper monologuing, and then freezing time so no one can attack. We finally get an explanation of how Lori got the Dial H for Hero amulet, when the Time Trapper gave it to her in LSH #91. So wait, he just popped into the story, gave her the power to be a superhero, and popped out? And they didn't show it because... reasons??

Then we get the next big reveal: the Time Trapper is aware of all the other timelines and how he tried to control and help the Legionnaires in the other stories. So, basically, even though DC rebooted everything and wiped away the other continuity, it did actually exist and the Time Trapper is aware of it.

So the Time Trapper is aware of the other timelines, but he also said that he created them, and he's been controlling and helping the Legionnaires in these different time lines. He's powerful enough to create them but not powerful enough to create Legionnaires within them to be the beings he needs.

So he's God. Okay... that's... problematic...

And why is he revealing this now? To these seven? Because, according to him, they don't have doppelgangers in other Legion histories... well, except for Ferro, but let's ignore that. And they're all connected to time in some way, either by going back in time, coming forward in time, or having time-based powers. Except for Monstress, but let's ignore that.

Man, could they even try to make these stories make sense?

So Lori compliments the Time Trapper and he calls her "my other little experiment." Then he makes her older again, gives her powers, and they, I think, enter into one of the Trapper's alternate universes (which is conveniently displayed on a StoryHolo) to watch Legionnaires fighting Legionnaires. I'm not sure why he talks about returning to where we started, but that's par for the course here.

In this universe, multiple Lightning Lads, Saturn Girls, and Cosmic Boys are fighting, but quickly stop when they realize there's no reason for them to... which leads to my joke of there being no reason for any of this... So the Time Trapper sends a bunch of other evil Legionnaires to attack them.

Lori then tries to rebel against the Trapper, trying to use her dial. He promises her power if she stays with him (which is now getting a little creepy). She finally uses the dial and becomes... a super-powered child with a hammer. Okay, that's unexpected. But her powers work, she actually weakens the Time Trapper, and the others are freed.

The Legionnaires join the battle to rescue... I think it's their versions of Cosmic Boy and Saturn Girl (but not Live Wire??)... and then realize they have to free the rest of their team from the StoryHolo the Trapper put them in.

Lori then breaks all of the different versions of the Legion out of their different holos and they all start attacking... the bad Legionnaires. We also get a bunch of "reunions" of the different Sensors, Violets, Ultra Boys, and Timber Wolfs... Wolves??

Then everyone teams up and blasts the Time Trapper, which results in them all suddenly appearing back in Legion HQ, with full memories of what just happened.

Lori's not happy that XS is going to tell everyone her secret and she'll lose her dial. Which makes no sense as XS seems to have been the only person who actually was nice to her.

Speaking of XS, there was never any reference to what she knew from the previous annual. And she didn't save the time line. So glad they dropped that ball so spectacularly.

Ferro and Triad deal with the questions of how they died (and got married) and swear to protect each other. Triad wants to find Ferro a girlfriend and he keeps calling her Ma'am... is it normal for one teenager to call another teenager Ma'am?

And the Time Trapper rants about how the Legion must rise again to face more challenges "for the sake of existence itself!"

If reading this was confusing, you're not alone. Once again, they did something in two issues that they really should have taken four to properly tell the story. I just don't understand why these creators (although Tom McCraw wasn't part of the writing for these two, just Roger Stern and Tom Peyer) rush through everything.

Also, on a quick aside, the team literally just found out, with great proof, that there is a multiverse. They made it abundantly clear that these created universes contain people with lives who deserve their own existences. Does anyone react to this? Nope. Do any of the smart ones try to figure out how to 'save' their doppelgangers? Nope. Does this story actually affect them? I'm guessing not.

Since next issue starts the Dark Circle Rising story, I'm going to stop here.

 

Our next Legionnaire in the spotlight... Sun Boy (Inferno)!!

 

I have ranted many, many times about Sun Boy and how he was completely ruined in volume 4. He's also been barely a footnote in this PZH Legion, so I imagine I'm going to spend most of my time talking about the original. He got written out of the Threeboot but was still kinda involved, but hasn't done much else. Is it safe to say that he'd just kinda been relegated to the dustbin of Legion history?

My thoughts on Sun Boy:

·         Has there ever been a comic character whose fate and popularity was so completely changed by a few throwaway moments in the 1970's? You could argue that Hank Pym had it worse, but he's still appearing in comics and movies. But the moment they decided to make Sun Boy a ladies' man, or a playboy, or a jerk, his entire existence was changed. I always go back to this - no one took the issue where Cosmic Boy literally slaps Light Lass for no reason as motivation to turn him into a jerk and an abuser. But Sun Boy not wanting to date just one woman became his sole trait and, arguably, the reason he's been ignored for 30 years.

·         For me, Sun Boy was never the bad guy. He was the young, good-looking, single Legionnaire who actually acted like a pro athlete. I'd argue that he might have been one of the most realistically-written characters during Paul Levitz's entire run. Would I want to hang out with him? Nope. Did I ever think he was a villainous little toad under his bravado? Nope. But he was the guy who had the world at his fingertips and wanted to enjoy every moment. While other Legionnaires were settling down and being responsible, he was having fun.

·         I think everyone also forgets about his skills and talents - he was a great pilot, an amazing nuclear scientist, and a brave fighter. His loyalty to the Legion and to his teammates was never in question. There are some great moments, such as how he reacted when Cosmic Boy's family was injured in a bombing, that showed just how much he cared about his friends.

·         He was also one of the first to jump into battle and his abilities were crucial to the success of many of the stories he was in. He's vital during the Great Darkness Saga.

·         He's also one of the only Legionnaires with his own villain. Dr. Regulus existed only to torment Sun Boy and was an effective foil.

·         Also, and I had completely forgotten about this until I did some research - Sun Boy was actually rejected for Legion membership the first time because the Legion had rules for how many people could join at one time. They would only take one boy and one girl at a time. By taking Brainiac 5, they made Sun Boy wait for a year. Crazy, huh?

·         Were there any greater moments than when Sun Boy failed in his romantic attempts? It was great seeing GiGi Cusimano dump him. And Colossal Boy and Vera play tricks on him. He was bold and brash and irrational self-confidence and that made his being knocked down a peg or two even sweeter. They could play his persona off for laughs and comedy and it worked very well because readers loved watching him get his comeuppance.

·         Five Years Later may have been the worst hatchet job on a superhero every performed. I get why they did it - it was compelling to see a hero fall. It just would've been nice to see his redemption. He was yet another Legionnaire during that time who suffered because some member of the writing team hated him.

·         The way the SW6 version, Inferno, was written might have been even worse. He was a jerk, a bully, and so completely unlikable that most readers were happy when he didn't appear in a story.

·         The more I think about it, the more I think he got to shine in the Threeboot but they only figured out a way to use him by making him leave the team. And since almost every character in that book was a jerk, he seemed kind in comparison.

Thoughts, anyone? What did you think of the Time Trapper stories? Or Sun Boy? Or my mass confusion over time lines and the multiverse? Please share in the comments below. I would love to see as many people as possible start a conversation about these books.

Until next week!