Trivia #10 answers

Very good, class, although it did take a whole 4 days to get the final answers.

1. Why did the Legion move from its original HQ (that looked like an upside-down rocketship) to the next one (the big one with the "L")? What happened to the original, and what happened to the replacement?

This was the easy question. The upside-down rocketship HQ got trashed in a fight with the Fatal Five (ADV 366). They moved into a new building that was built by the Miracle Machine (ADV 367), and they used it until it got blowed up real good by Wildfire and Omega (S/LSH 251). The old HQ was picked up (literally) by the Subs (SBOY 211), though I don't think we ever saw them using it.

2. Which Legion villains were related to each other?

As usual, you guys picked up one that I hadn't considered. I had remembered Otto Orion and his son Adam Orion (aka Orion the Hunter), Jungle King and his brother Dr. Marden King, and Lars & Molock Hanscom/Starfingers I & III. You remembered Validus and his uncle Lightning Lord.

3. Which members that joined the Legion during the Five Year Gap had never appeared before in regular continuity up to that point?

I picked just Echo and Reflecto. Echo had been seen only once before, as a member of the LSV, but in an Adult Legion story that is not deemed to be in normal continuty. Reflecto first appeared as a statue and then as an identity that was a combination of Superboy and Ultra Boy when they were merged. All the others had appeared before in regular continuity.

Update: in the comments below, Dave reminds me that I forgot Kent "Impulse" Shakespeare. D'oh!

4. Pete Ross and Jimmy Olsen were Honorary Legionnaires, while Lana Lang was a member of of the Legion Reserve. What's the difference between the two, and why were each put in their respective categories?

An Honorary Legionnaire is "the highest achievement a non-powered being could receive from the Legion." The letters page of ADV 363 says "an honorary Legionnaire isn't required to have super-powers." Jimmy Olsen was made an honorary member because of his services to Superman, not because of his Elastic Lad powers. Pete Ross, too, was made an honorary member because of how he kept Superboy's secret ID.

According to the LSH Constitution (ADV 326), "The Legion Reserve, consisting of worthy former members, rejected members, honorary members and the Legion of Substitute Heroes, shall be prepared to go into action in the event of an emergency when the active members are away on missions or otherwise unable to respond." Lana was a Reservist because she had powers, even if those powers came from an external source, but only made a couple of trips to the 30th century.

5. Why did the Legion reject Young Darkseid for membership?

Surprisingly, the toughest one to get. The Elseworlds 80-Page Giant (1999) had a number of parody one-page gags and short stories, one of which (by Ty Templeton) showed a young Darkseid being rejected for membership. Here's the page in question. In a speech they've given many times before, Young Darkseid (with a "YD" on his chest emblem) was rejected because his powers of Omega-Vision might unwittingly harm someone during battle. Hey, at least he got a flight-belt consolation prize. I did say this was not a dream or hoax, didn't say anything about an imaginary story.

6. Who was the Green Lantern of sector 2814 following Vidar (later known as Universo)?

Xenofobe, as mentioned here a little while ago. Rond Vidar didn't get the ring until after his father became Universo and outlawed the Legion. His only named appearance was in Superman v1 295, and I'm not sure if he appeared in the couple of stories in which Green Lanterns showed up.

It was never explicitly said that he was the GL between the two, but it fits anecdotally. Argus Oranx III/Vidar was the GL during the Legion's formation and earliest cases in 2973 (according to the more-or-less established chronology). Vidar was booted from the GL Corps as seen in LSH v2 #295. Rond Vidar's entry in Who's Who in the LSH suggests that he did not acquire his father's Green Lantern ring until after Vidar became Universo in 2978. It's not unreasonable to assume Xenofobe was the Sector 2814 GL in the time between the two. See the Cosmic Teams Chronology for more.

7. When the Legion was notified that they'd face "financial ruin" over tax penalties if they had more than 25 members (despite R. J. Brande's immense wealth, apparently), Superboy resigned from the Legion. Why did he resign rather than Supergirl, who rarely showed up for meetings?

The Legion of Super-Pets threatened to resign if Supergirl left, so they accepted Superboy's resignation instead. No, really. (ACT 387)

Thanks for playing!