Brainiac 5 attempts to bring Dream Girl back from the dead and Ultra Boy gets worse... we look at Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #21 & 22

 

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #21

Please let this be the end of this silly story as Brainiac 5 continues to try to figure out how to bring Dream Girl back to life...

Our creative team this issue (and for the first time, they're providing these at the end of the story): Mark Waid & Tony Bedard on the script, Barry Kitson on layouts, Adam DeKraker on pencils, and Rob Stull on inks. So here's my dumb question - does that mean no one plotted it? Or Kitson did?

We begin in (snicker) Big City, Antarctica, where Micro Lad is still watching over the giant criminals captured last issue. He's not happy that the news has connected him to the bad guys and think he may be responsible.

Three Science Police officers arrive to transfer the prisoners and when Gim calls Legion HQ for confirmation, he makes the discovery that we have more S.P. imposters. One of them blasts him with blue fire and he falls back, stunned.

Before we can see Gim fail... again... because that's the only way he's been written since Zero Hour, we move to the Crab Nebula. Brainy, Light Lass, Atom Girl (Shrinking Violet??) and Element Lad are still onboard the old L.E.G.I.O.N. ship and they've begun trying to bring Dream Girl back from the dead. Element Lad, once again, tries to talk Brainy out of doing this but his pleas fall on deaf ears. Which, again, makes me point out that all Jan has to do is stop helping and this whole dumb attempt is over.

To Legion HQ we go, where Supergirl is having a drink with Triplicate Girl, Phantom Girl, and Projectra, who's somewhat insulted that Kara continues to believe that everything she's experiencing is a dream. The three non-Kryptonians begin talking about how their problems are similar to Kara's and how that could bring them together. When Projectra mentions how her planet was destroyed, just like Krypton, Supergirl immediately leaves, anxious to wake up, back in Argo City.

We also learn that Cosmic Boy asked the three to talk to Supergirl and try to break her from her fantasy. They know it's the only way to help her, even if it means they have to be harsh.

Back to Big City, and it wasn't blue flame, it was ice - Micro Lad's frozen. Luckily for him, the three imposters are just as incompetent as the real S.P.s, so they're unable to break anyone out before Gim busts out of the ice. He grabs the three and threatens to squish them unless they talk.

One of them uses his powers to make Gim throw up and they use this distraction to freeze the lock and bust the giants out. The giant leader immediately punches Micro Lad in the jaw and knocks him down. Then the rest start piling onto poor Gim, putting him in wrestling holds.

At the same time, we learn one of the identities of the imposters - it's Nemesis Kid. And he's talking to the leader of the group: Tarik. Does this mean we have a new Legion of Super-Villains?

I guess my only dumb question here is why Micro Lad is alone. They couldn't spare a few more Legionnaires?

Back to the Crab Nebula, where everything is going perfectly until Dream Girl disappears instead of being recreated. Even as the data flew through Brainy's... brain... it wasn't enough to accomplish what he wanted.

He orders everyone to start searching for her when Element Lad finally tries to stop him physically and considers this as close to an actual funeral as they could get. So Brainy grabs him by the throat and starts choking him. Element Lad's powers do nothing as Brainy is completely out of control. Even Light Lass and Atom Girl are unable to stop him.

How? Brainy is immune to every Legionnaire's powers.

Only a voice, coming from nowhere, telling him to let Element Lad go, gets him to stop. Brainy does so and drops his force field.

Congratulations, Waid and Kitson, you've made me hate one of my favorite Legionnaires.

Back at Legion HQ, Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad have a chat about how they're losing support with the underagers because of all the bad publicity and their connection to the U.P. To solve this, Cosmic Boy plans an election for a new Legion leader, and every Legionnaire, not just the ones with powers, can vote.

As Element Lad, Atom Girl, and Light Lass figure out what to do next and head back home, Brainy is trying to sleep. Continuing the moronic storyline we're being tortured with, Dream Girl has returned, as a ghost, to keep him company and make him feel better. She promises to never leave him again and he sleeps soundly.

If you're wondering why this feels like deja vu, we've already seen a Legion ghost come back from the dead in the reboot Legion.

What have we learned here? Brainiac 5 can do whatever he wants, act however he wants, become the villain of the story, and gets rewarded with kinda achieving his goals. I, quite simply, no longer care about this story.

 

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #22

Same creative team as last issue (plus Rodney Ramos on inks) so at least we're staying consistent.

I just wanted to make one point before we start looking at this issue. I've always been a fan of those moments when the more experienced artist (Kitson in this case) provides breakdowns for the new artist (DeKraker). I think it's one of the best ways for younger artists to learn their trade and learn how to lay out a page. Keith Giffen may have provided more breakdowns at DC than any other artist and he's had a positive effect on some great talent (Kevin Maguire, Steve Lightle, Simon Bisley, to name just a few).

We begin this issue a year in the past. Karate Kid and Shadow Lass are on a date. Which means, of course, that they're fighting a literal army. Val wants to talk and get to know Tasmia, but she seems more interested in his ability to destroy. He loses his temper, mows through the numerous villains, and gets a kiss for his reward.

But he wants more than just a kiss, more than just physical contact. He wants to communicate. Tasmia reminds him that this is how people of Talok VIII communicate - physically. He kinda blanks out and we move to modern day.

He's sitting beside Tasmia in the lounge and she's complaining about how Ultra Boy is obsessed with Supergirl. She's looking for relationship advice, which is something he's not willing to give. But he does, suggesting that maybe Jo has a crush on Supergirl and that's why he's acting this way. She immediately agrees and is ready to do something rash. Val tells her that he'll see what's up when he and Ultra Boy have a training session later.

Wow - 5 good pages of story that show character, make you actually like the people involved, and get the reader interested in what's happening. Why do they write Karate Kid so well and other characters so badly?

Oh, and if you don't think I'm not already expecting something horrible to happen to Karate Kid, you haven't been reading these columns.

We move to somewhere in Metropolis and the Legion elections are causing problems. The Science Police are looking to shut down the electioneering and the regular Legionnaires are ready to fight back.

Before things get too violent, Cosmic Boy and Supergirl show up. They stop the one who's shooting energy at the S.P.s and invite him to join the Legion training program. Cosmic Boy, even after he tries to help the Legionnaires get a permit for their rally, finds out they're not going to vote for him - they're pro-Brainiac 5.

Most importantly, Supergirl gives Rokk a kiss on the cheek. He's speechless, watching her fly away. Then Invisible Kid appears and tells him that he's not really in love with Supergirl.

Lyle's explanation is that everyone is feeling uneasy around Supergirl because her personal electromagnetic field is causing interference for everyone else. Everyone feels strange around her. Of course, that doesn't mean that Lyle doesn't have a crush on her, too.

Back to frozen Australia and Karate Kid and Ultra Boy are having their training session. They talk about energy, and focus, and Karate Kid punches him in the nose. And they talk about Supergirl.

This is really starting to feel like an episode of some kid's show where every male cast member has a crush on a female guest star. With about the same emotional range of a Nickelodeon show...

Finally, we get a subplot introduced. We head to Marchus III, where Sun Boy and the former members of Terror Firma are investigating a Dominator colony. A big, tough Dominator attacks, angry that they're not the real Legion.

Back to Metropolis, where Light Lass and Supergirl are sharing a moment, enjoying the sunset. I guess we've completely forgotten that Light Lass is pissed at Supergirl and doesn't want her there. 

Shadow Lass arrives, Ayla leaves immediately, and we get a showdown over Ultra Boy. But before anything can happen, Karate Kid shows up and sends Supergirl on a mission. Shadow Lass isn't happy to see Supergirl fly off through a transmatter gate but Karate Kid tells her to be patient.

Where did Supergirl go? To Tykon's 4th moon, where Ultra Boy is already there. His job is to stop a meteor shower from destroying an entire city. They both let loose, using their powers to their full extent.

Shadow Lass and Karate Kid watch the video feed and she's not happy. She thinks Val set them up on a date.

After two hours of action, Supergirl starts to feel weak. She's in an orange-sun system, so she's only at half power. Ultra Boy immediately starts gloating, happy to see that she's weak and he's not. He tosses her through a transmatter gate and returns to action.

After returning to Earth, Karate Kid catches Supergirl and they reveal this was all part of the plan. They knew that once Ultra Boy feels that he's better than her, he'd stop fixating on her.

The other part of the plan was to prove to Shadow Lass that Ultra Boy doesn't have any deep motivations - he's all surface. There's nothing underneath, no secret agenda, because he's too basic for that. And that's why he and Shadow Lass make such a great couple.

Hmmm... as happy as I am that this has been resolved, I don't know if it's a great tactic to say that two of your heroes are so shallow and simple that they're perfect for each other. And I know that this is sounding like a broken record, but, yet again, they've made Ultra Boy look just horrible. I mean, I've seen misogynistic characters before, but he's really sprinting to the bottom of that category.

Back to Marchus III, where Sun Boy and the others have been taken prisoner. They're being held on a ship that suddenly disappears...

To be continued...

Maybe it's because Karate Kid is one of my favorite Legionnaires, or maybe it's because he's one of the only likable Legionnaires in this series, but this issue worked for me. Or maybe it's because there was no Brainiac 5... I don't know...

But I am curious about what's going on with the Dominators, even though I really have no emotional connection to any of the "heroes" Sun Boy is working with. Let's see where this goes next week.

 

Our next Legionnaire in the spotlight... Dragonmage!!!

Let's start with the positives. Xao Jin is a magician from China who joins up with the SW6 Legion after the Dominators are defeated. He wore good to great costumes for his entire run and brought a much-needed power set to the team.

On an aside, I could never figure out why so many Legionnaires were so anti-magic throughout some of these runs when they would consistently run up against magic-using villains.

He was always part of any mystic fight right up until Zero Hour. As crazy as this sounds, he was a far more interesting and likable character in Legionnaires than a lot of the SW6 Legionnaires... cough... Livewire and Inferno... cough...

The holographic dragons were also a great visual touch to his powers and made him stand out even more. I was a fan, right from the beginning.

In the reboot Legion, he was rejected by the team for using magic (see my comment above) and caused massive problems for the galaxy on his insane quest for power. His actions resulted in Mordru returning to wreak havoc on the universe. He also freed Elementals, which resulted in millions of deaths, in another vain attempt at gaining more power. I was worried he was going to get away scott free and then ended up turning himself in to the Science Police once all the villains were defeated... wow... consequences...

On the negative side, his entire running subplot of possibly dating Mysa, who was much, much, much older than he was, veered headlong into one of the creepiest Legion subplots of the reboot era.

I think you could make a strong argument that he was more villain than hero during the reboot era. I could also make the argument that if the Legionnaires were smarter, he would've been an amazing member of the team and helped them in numerous ways. But since they turned him away, he followed a horrible path that only led to death.

I think Dragonmage should be a member of the Legion moving forward even if they bring back the White Witch - he provides a different power set, look, and provides the Legion with some more diversity... something this team always needs.

 

Our new podcast was just released and we spend a lot of time talking about the Silver Age, so please check it out if you haven't already.

Please leave any comments you have on either these books or Dragomage... it's always great to read your feedback.

Until next week...