What a character!

A roundup of various character-related posts on these here internets lately....

• New blogger Queer Legion (QL) at The Planetary Chance Machine has been showcasing various Legionnaires as part of Beefcake/Cheesecake Appreciation Week. As mentioned earlier here (Saturn Girl and Shrinking Violet Got Back!), here's Dream Girl (v3 era), followed by new images of Colossal Boy (current version), v3-era Princess Projectra and Mon-el, and Phantom Lad and Cosmic Boy. Other Legion-related entries include v4-era Dream Girl at the Fish-Flavored Baseball Bat.
  
  
• Queer Legion (QL) is currently following that up with some of his favorite Legion "character" moments: Brainy and Dream Girl during the Universo Project, and Ultra Boy and Light Lass with a light moment rebuilding after Omega.
  
  
• Over at the Legion Abstract, Matthew has been writing a series of wonderfully analytical essays on various Legionnaires, which I have been sadly neglecting. Here's his take on Invisible Kid:
  

  Now, I speculated [earlier] that Invisible Kid's power of disappearing made him perceived as inherently untrustworthy by the other Legionnaires. And the idea still appeals to me. But I now think that another possibility is that his power matches the desire of an abused child to hide, to disappear, to not be there anymore. I'm not comfortable putting too much weight on that idea, but you can have it if you want it.
  
  The point is that he can get some support in the Legion. Probably he needs more therapy than they can give him, but at least they'll cut him the slack that his parents never did. He'll get comfortable, he'll let down his guard a bit, he'll grow up a little. He’s a superhero and a Legionnaire; he’ll be fine.

  
  That was followed by QL's response at The Planetary Chance Machine.
  

  Lyle’s reactions follow a classic passive-aggressive pattern. Some of the panels you feature support this: Lyle faces people and situations in which he’s relatively powerless. He “provokes” [sic] in many instances not overtly and in a way that elicits a strong negative response. This behavioral pattern allows Lyle the luxury of trying to assert himself, while maintaining his self-perception of being an under-appreciated victim. Furthermore, you may be correct in your assessment that “his power matches the desire of an abused child to hide, to disappear, to not be there anymore” [sic], but I view Lyle’s power as more a metaphor of his own feelings of social impotence and lack of recognition by those around him. Lyle feels “invisible”, especially to those from whom he craves recognition the most.

  
  Go read both for some interesting analysis.
  
  
• Scott at Polite Dissent remembers Tenzil Kem's v4-era "All-Star Benefit Concert to Rebuild the Earth". Why do we remember who Shagrek is?
  
  
• Puppyboy Sukk has a celebrity crush on the new Sun Boy.
  
  
• The Fortress Keeper at the Fortress of Fortitude notes that it's good to be Chuck Taine, can't wait for Waid to reintroduce him in the current Legion, recognizes his fighting prowess on the Justice League and LSH cartoons, and thinks Bouncing Boy is cool. Commenter John Freer notes that
  

  Bouncing Boy was the Legion’s own Ringo Starr. Not a key player by talent or position but nonetheless posessed by a high social intelligence and an ineffable charisma.
  Guys like that always land in the sack with twins.

  
  The same, however, can't be said for Silver Age Matter-Eater Lad, who was always eating vaguely phallic items and talking with his mouth full of stun-beam.
  
  
• For some reason, Brian Hughes at Again With the Comics is proud of the fact that he is apparently the #1 Google hit for Dr. Mayavale. That story, from LSH v2 #268, ranks down there with the worst Legion stories ever written and/or drawn. At least the issue had a nice cover by George Perez.
  
  
• Ye Olde Comick Booke Blogge takes a snarky look back at Superboy #195, featuring the first appearance of Wildfire.
  

  Going back to my original point, while my knowledge of the Legion's adventures is limited, I'm struck by the fact most of them seem to be treated as epic, life changing events by the Legionnaires. ... I get the impression if the Legion went to Safeway and found the bakery section was understocked on bagels, tears would be spilled and a statue would be built to commemorate the date.

  
  Wait, who's that guy in the green? Is that actually Chemical King, in a real mission? (OK, the mission is to fight "a giant, mob controlled dustbuster that's destroying all the crops on an agriculture planet as part of a scheme to shake down the Federation for money", but still - a real mission!)