Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Annotated "Legion of Three Worlds" #1

Also check out the annotations by Douglas Wolk and Tim Callahan.

Updates on Tuesday night: added info on Jun and Mara; 30th century Smallville; Superboy Prime's last appearance; the Superman Museum

Updates on Wednesday: added pages 6-22. I'll make corrections and updates from everyone else's annotations starting tomorrow. Whew!



Starting early, due to the 5-page preview in Newsarama. Finishing up tomorrow night, after I recover from my brain meltdown (as predicted by inker Scott Koblish) from reading pages 6-15.
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more,
Or close the wall up with rebooted dead!
... I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot!
Follow your spirit; and upon this charge
Cry 'Long Live the Legion! Annotate on!'

For first appearances and creators of all the characters, see these pre-annotations for the Pre-Zero Hour Legion (including Pre-Crisis, Post-Crisis, Glorithverse, and Lightning Saga), Post-Zero Hour Legion, Post-Infinite Crisis Legion, and villains.


Written by Geoff Johns; Art by George Pérez and Scott Koblish; Covers by George Pérez
From the moment Kal-El landed on earth until the end of time, the Time Trapper has sought to erase Superman's impact on the universe. But the Legion of Super-Heroes have always been there to stop him. This time, though, even the Legion won't be enough. The Time Trapper has found the ultimate weapon to carry out his plan – a twisted mirror image of the boy of steel from a parallel Earth long dead: Superboy-Prime! Who will answer the Legion's call for help? Find out here as the Crisis of the 31st century begins!


Cover (full version): Three Garth Ranzzes, the Pre-ZH/Lightning Saga one featured, with the Post-IC version inside the lightning ball in back, and the Post-ZH one in front. But the last time we saw Post-ZH Garth, he was inhabiting the crystalline body of Element Lad.

Cover (sliver version): My shop sold out within hours, so I never saw the "sliver" cover.

Page 1
  • Panel 3 - The Time Trapper at his HQ at the end of time. He was last seen in LSHv4 #105 where we saw the Glorthiverse Legion and the Post-ZH Legions together. He said "Next time, they must rise to all of those challenges, and more - for the sake of existence itself!" Not quite so concerned this time. In that issue, he also alluded to XS's "ultimate role" which has not (yet) been identified. Vinnie Bartilucci at Newsarama suggests that this is the ruins of the Linear Men's HQ, Vanishing Point.
  • Panel 5 - "I tried to rip their soul out. I tried to make them forget Superman." It's unclear here whether he's referring to the Pocket Universe Superboy, the removal of Superboy from continuity at the "Mordruverse" transition, or the recent Superman/Legion story in Action Comics.
  • Panel 6 - Superboy-Prime, somewhere in the time stream, last seen caught in the explosion of Monarch (Countdown #13).
  • Panel 11 - that explains how Superboy-Prime ended up in the 31st century

Page 2
  • Panel 1 - the time stream in the DC Universe has traditionally been shown with "year markers".
  • Panel 2 - is this the first time we've ever seen Smallville in the 31st (or 30th) century? RAB reminded me (after a brain fart) that 30th century Smallville first appeared in Adventure Comics #247.
  • Panel 3 - Jun and Mara as farmers in Smallville obviously recalls Jonathan and Martha Kent (and they appeared in Action Comics #858, as Matthew and Doug remind me). Earth-Man was the lead villain in the recent Superman/Legion story in which he and his team tried (with assistance from the Time Trapper) to make Earth a human-only and Legion-less world, and denying Superman's heroic status. This story takes place some time after Action Comics #864, the epilogue of that storyline, as seen by Earth-Man's trial information. The newscaster is Marella Tao, a holo-vid reporter for "Metropolis Tonite" (first appearance: LSHv3 #36).
  • Panel 4 - Earthgov (first appearance: Superboy & the LSH #240) is the government of Earth, while the United Planets (first appearance: Adventure Comics #336) is a group of affiliated worlds numbering over 150. Earth is a member of the UP. (Thanks for the references, exnihil!)
  • Panel 6 - Jun shot and buried the last alien baby to land on his farm (Action #858 - thanks Patrick!).

Page 3
  • Superboy-Prime arrives. He doesn't get the same warm welcome that Jonathan and Martha Kent gave to their Kal-El.

Page 4
  • Superboy-Prime used his own heat vision finger to carve the "S" symbol in his chest. (It recalls this image of Clark Kent from the first season of "Smallville".) Jun and Mara are his first victims in the 31st century.

Page 5
  • Panel 1 - the sign would logically be in Interlac, like other signs in the town.
  • Panel 6 - Superboy-Prime meets a dog-walking robot. (In San Diego, at his panel, Geoff Johns referred to this panel: He used the anecdote how Prime was out strolling in 31st century Smallville and met a robot dog-walker who told him to have a nice day. The dog growls at him and he tells the dog to shut up. Apparently that caption was removed.)
  • Panel 7 - the sign on the building in the background reads "Din" in Interlac, presumably a "Diner".
  • Panel 9 - the sign reads "Superman museum" in Interlac. There's a real Superman Museum in Metropolis, Illinois, and there was a Superman Museum in the Pre-Crisis DCU Metropolis. However, we've never seen such a museum The last time I recall seeing the Superman Museum in the 30th/31st century was in DC Comics Presents #59 (Superman and the Subs vs Ambush Bug - thanks IDLE!), except in in addition to the animated series (as seen here in episode 1.01).

Pages 6-7
  • Statues: Jonathan Kent, Martha Kent, Pete Ross, Lana Lang, Jor-El and Lara with Kal-El's ship, the Kents with baby Kal, Superman with a car (from Action Comics #1), Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White
  • bottom row of panels: Superman (For All Seasons?), Superman (1,000,000?), Superman (Kingdom Come/Earth-22), ???, Krypto, Superwoman (Kristin Wells of the 29th century, created by Elliot S! Maggin in his novel "Superman: Miracle Monday", first DCU appearance in DC Comics Presents Annual #2), Supergirl (current version), Superboy (Connor Kent)
  • top row of panels: the Kents (from "Superman: Birthright"), wedding of Lois and Clark, Clark with Jimmy and Perry at the Daily Planet, Luthor, Power Girl, Steel (John Henry Irons), Lori Lemaris, the early Justice League of America (J'onn J'onzz, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Batman, Flash)

Page 8
  • Panel 3 - Superboy Prime activates the Superman Museum guide, Jimmy Olsen. The crystals are from the current version of the Fortress of Solitude (which in turn are based on the Fortress from the Superman movie of 1978 and the TV series Smallville)
  • Panel 5 - "Strange visitor" is, of course, from the 1950s Superman TV series. The irony here is that Superboy Prime really is a strange visitor from another planet.
  • Panel 8 - The Hall of 1000 Olsens is Jimmy from his various Silver Age incarnations. These names are taken from the cover captions: Human Octopus Jimmy (SPJO #41), Gorilla Reporter Jimmy (SPJO #116), Tornado Jimmy (???), Giant Turtle Jimmy (SPJO #53, after the July 1940 Thrilling Wonder Stories), Human Flame Thrower Jimmy (SPJO #33), Human Porcupine Jimmy (SPJO #65), Jimmy the Freak (fat red, SPJO #59), Bird Boy Jimmy (???), Human Skyscraper Jimmy (SPJO #28), Jimmy from Jupiter (SPJO #32), Super Brain Jimmy (SPJO #22), and Wolfman Jimmy (SPJO #44). Plus, of course, Elastic Lad (SPJO #31). Room probably named after the "World of 1000 Olsens" (SPJO #105), mostly reprinted recently in "The Amazing Transformations of Jimmy Olsen" TPB.

Page 9
  • Panel 1 - the bottle city of Kandor, and Superman and Jimmy as Nightwing and Flamebird (who really were the Batman and Robin of Kandor). The helmeted robot looks familiar but I can't place it. Above the newspapers the sign says "Olsen" in Interlac.
  • Panel 2 - Don't know if those newspapers are from a certain story, but the sign above reads "Olsen Phot-" in Interlac.
  • Panel 6 - the origin of Superman, on pretty much every version of Earth.
  • Panel 8 - the sign above the statues reads "portrait ga-" (gallery). Beneath each image is the name of a former Superman artist: "-uster" (Shuster), "boring", "swan", "garcia-lopez", "-ne" (Byrne), and "hi-feld". In front is the "perez" version. Inker Scott Koblish said he put in two hidden "Ninas", no doubt the figure behind the Perez version is "Hirschfeld". If you squint really hard, you can see the two NINAs, one on each foot. In the far left corner, it reads "bu-", maybe for Burnley? On the back wall is the JLA, with Aquaman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Martian Manhunter visible.

Page 10
  • Panel 2 - the sign on the Phantom Zone projector reads "-hantom zone" "on loan" in Interlac.
  • Panel 3 - the Lightning Saga version of the Pre-Crisis Legion. Front row: Phantom Girl, Dawnstar, Brainiac 5, Saturn Girl, Superman, Shrinking Violet, Cosmic Boy, Sun Boy. Second row: Invisible Kid II, Lightning Lad, Chameleon Girl, Blok. Third row: Polar Boy, Wildfire, Ultra Boy, Lightning Lass. Fourth row: Night Girl, Timber Wolf, Shadow Lass. Back row: Colossal Boy.
  • Panel 4 - Superboy Prime read about the heroes of the DC Universe in comics when he lived on Earth-Prime before the original Crisis. In the background is a replica of their HQ and the United Planets globe, as first seen in Adventure Comics #367.
  • Panel 5 - the three founders in the costumes first seen in Adventure Comics #247, although when they saved Brande they were in civilian clothes. This scene from their origin first appeared in Superboy v1 #147.
  • Panel 6 - Leland McCauley III (first appearance: Adventure Comics 374, created by Jim Shooter and Win Mortimer) was Brande's rival, jealous because Brande was worth more than he was.
  • Panel 7 - statues of the missing Legionnaires. From left: Quislet, Karate Kid, Bouncing Boy, Mon-El, Tyroc, Dream Girl, White Witch, Sensor Girl, Matter-Eater Lad, Star Boy, Tellus, Chameleon Boy, Duo Damsel (twice), and Element Lad.

Page 11
  • Panel 1 - the upside-down rocketship HQ is visible in the room that Superboy-Prime leaves. In the glass cases: Steel's hammer, Nightwing's costume (???), Superboy's jacket, Guardian's shield. Below the cases: various flavors of Kryptonite, including green, blue, red, gold, and black.
  • Panel 2 - at upper left is Knockout, bottom left is Dubbilex, both from the Superboy v2 series. The key and door are from the Pre-Crisis Fortress of Solitude, and the text at bottom reads "-olitude" in Interlac. At right are a famous image of Clark Kent changing into Superman (similar to this Alex Ross cover, but the original was by Curt Swan, and I can't find the image), and Titano the Super-Ape.
  • Panels 4-6 - thanks for the IDs.
  • Panel 8 - Hank Henshaw the Cyborg, Toyman, and Metallo.

Page 12
  • Panels 4-6 - the ending to Infinite Crisis, though not quite the way Superboy Prime thought about it.
  • Panel 7 - from the Sinestro Corps War.
  • Panel 8 - Neutron was another Superman villain.

Page 13
  • Panel 10 - a statue of the Composite Superman
  • Panel 12 - statues of the Teen Titans: Wonder Girl, Starfire, Kid Flash, Superboy (Connor Kent), Beast Boy, Robin, Raven, Cyborg

Page 14
  • Panels 4-5 - the Science Police uniforms read "spd" on the helmets (Science Police Department?) and "police" on the back. The Science Police are the law enforcement branch of the United Planets, and first appeared in Superboy #98 as the Galactic Patrol

Page 15
  • Panel 3 - left panel, Superman and Martian Manhunter; right panels, Captain Marvel's cape and Comet the Super-Horse, unknown armor
  • Panel 5 - statues of Stone Boy and Color Kid at far left, Proty at far right. The Interlac underneath Proty's capsule reads "pr-".

Page 16
  • This UP Council chamber is new.
  • Panel 3 - the Interlac beneath each of the three podiums reads "braal" (homeworld of Cosmic Boy; note that the speaker has the same type of disks on his chest that Cosmic Boy has), "taltar" (matriarchal world which recruited and gave powers to Spider-Girl), and "dur-" (Durla, Chameleon Boy's homeworld).

Page 17
  • Panel 1 - the Winath embassy (homeworld of the Ranzz siblings)
  • Panel 3 - the Earth embassy, and the President of Earth (name as yet unknown)
  • Panel 6 - the Colu embassy (homeworld of Brainiac 5). Note the Brainiac-looking robot.
  • Panel 7 - the sign under the monitor reads "Colu" in Interlac.
  • Panel 9 - the Saturn embassy (though it should be the Titan embassy, as inhabitants live on the moon and not the planet)

Page 18
  • inhabitants of the Phantom Zone, including General Zod, Ursa, and Non

Page 19
  • Mon-El has a confusing continuity. This is the Pre-Crisis Lar Gand (from Superboy #89) who was put in the Phantom Zone by the Pre-Crisis Superboy (Kal-El), while the Lar Gand (M'Onel) of the Post-ZH Legion was put in the Stasis Zone by Superboy (Kon-El, Superboy v2 #19) and the Lar Gand of the Post-IC Legion was put in the Phantom Zone by Clark Kent (Action Comics Annual #10).

Page 20
  • Panel 5 - Mon-El was absent in the recent Superman/Legion storyline because he was stuck in the Phantom Zone.
  • Panel 7 - Brainy claims that he alone created the anti-lead serum. Saturn Girl invented Serum XY-4, which was a temporary solution, in Adventure Comics #300, but Brainy came up with the permanent solution in issue #305.

Page 21
  • Panel 9 - Sun Boy got a womanizer reputation under the Levitz/Giffen run.

Page 22
  • Panel 3 - Myg of Lythyl was the second Karate Kid, a member of the second Legion of Substitute Heroes on Cosmic Boy's team. We don't know how or when he became a member, when or how he left, and the circumstances surrounding the return of the first Karate Kid.
  • Panel 4 - Shrinking Violet had been kidnapped by Imsk separatists, and Yera (later the wife of Gim "Colossal Boy" Allon and then Chameleon Girl) was hired to impersonate her.
  • Panel 7 - That's Dr. Gym'll of Jaquaa (first appearance: LSHv2 #284, created by Paul Levitz and Pat Broderick)
  • Panel 9 - probably the ruler of Talok VIII, homeworld of Shadow Lass.
  • Panel 11 - H'Hrnath of Nullport (first appearance: LSHv2 #285, created by Paul Levitz and Pat Broderick)
  • Panel 12 - J*ss Toor-Tsaquin of Kaffar, formerly warden of Labyrinth (first appearance: LSHv3 #22, created by Paul Levitz and Greg LaRocque)

Page 23
  • Panel 3 - Rene Jacques Brande was the Legion's financier (first appearance: Adventure Comics #350, created by E. Nelson Bridwell and Curt Swan)
  • Panel 5 - the flight belt was used in between the rocket pack and the flight ring, first seen in Adventure Comics #300.

Page 24
  • Panel 1 - Takron-Galtos was one of the original prison planets, in use since at least the 20th century. It was destroyed in the Crisis on Infinite Earths and was replaced by Labyrinth. Apparently in the interim Takron-Galtos was rebuilt.
  • Panel 2 - Statues of dead Legionnaires Ferro Lad, Chemical King, and Invisible Kid I.

Page 25
  • Panel 4 - the Legion of Super-Villains. Front row: Radiation Roy, Tarik the Mute, Chameleon Chief, Cosmic King, Lightning Lord, Saturn Queen, Nemesis Kid, Terrus. Second row: Spider-Girl, Esper Lass, Sun Emperor, Tyr, Micro Lad, Ron-Karr, Titania. Third row: Zymyr, Silver Slasher, Magno Lad, Ol-Vir?, Hunter, Lazon, Neutrax, and Mist Master (in back).

Page 26
  • Panels 4-6 - the three founders in their Adventure 247 costumes, from when they went back to recruit Superboy.

Page 28
  • Brande was originally a Durlan known as Ren Daggle, but he was stuck in human form after contracting Yorggian fever (as seen in the Secrets of the Legion miniseries). He made his fortune creating stars.

Page 30
  • Teams looking for the missing Legionnaires Chameleon Boy, Dream Girl, Element Lad, and White Witch.

Page 34
  • The Post-Zero Hour Legion, last seen floating off in nothingness before a cameon on Earth-247 at the end of Infinite Crisis. Front row: Sensor, Gates, XS. Second row: Dreamer, Andromeda, Livewire, Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, Ultra Boy, Karate Kid, Shrinking Violet, Brainiac 5.1, Koko. Third row: Triad, Kid Quantum II, Ferro, M'Onel, Umbra, Spark, Chameleon. Fourth row: Monstress, Chuck Taine, Invisible Kid, Gear, Timber Wolf, Star Boy, Element Lad, Shikari. Fifth row: Apparition, Kinetix, Kid Quantum I, Thunder, Leviathan, Magno, Wildfire. Note that this can't be a group picture since Leviathan died early and Shikari and Gear joined very late.

Page 35
  • The Post-Infinite Crisis Legion, currently appearing in LSHv5. Front row: Invisible Kid, Chameleon. Second row: Light Lass, Brainiac 5, Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, Star Boy, Karate Kid. Third row: Shadow Lass, Triplicate Girl, Princess Projectra, Ultra Boy, Sun Boy, Element Lad. Fourth row: Mon-El, Dream Boy, Timber Wolf, Colossal Boy, Dream Girl, Supergirl, Phantom Girl.



Acknowlegements (in addition to the commenters here):

45 comments:

Richard said...

"Panel 2 - is this the first time we've ever seen Smallville in the 31st (or 30th) century?"

You mean other than Adventure #247? Since the original inverted-rocket Legion headquarters is located in Smallville, presumably every story in which it appeared was also an appearance by Smallville...though I don't recall getting to see much more of the town itself beyond the Nine Planets Ice Cream Shop (which presumably went out of business for its crummy selection of flavors) and the robot factory.

Michael said...

Duh. I'm an idiot.

The upside-down rocket HQ may have originally be in Smallville, but when it was demolished in the fight with the Fatal Five, didn't they rebuild on the same site, which was in Metropolis?

Matthew E said...

Jun and Mara first appeared in the first issue of the recent Legion arc in Action Comics, right? That was them?

Michael said...

You're not the only one to tell me that. How do I have no recollection of them? Issue 858, which also showed the "Smallville" sign in English (not Interlac).

Patrick C said...

Yep, that was at the introduction to the Action arc, where some other planet sent their baby to Earth, where Jun did his duty and killed the little alien bastard.

Superboy-Prime was last seen Countdown #13 when he was caught in the explosion of Monarch (after ripping Monarch's suit off of him).

And the S in his chest wasn't created by his heat vision, he actually carved it into his chest with his finger in Infinite Crisis #7!

Anonymous said...

Wasn't there a superman museum (and a comment on signs in english) in the Subs DC Presents issue?

IDLE

Dave Hackett said...

I don't think Earth-Man and company so much denied Superman's heroic status as they claimed he was from Earth and not an Alien (and used that to help foster Xenophobia in his name).

Matthew E said...

The upside-down rocket HQ may have originally be in Smallville, but when it was demolished in the fight with the Fatal Five, didn't they rebuild on the same site, which was in Metropolis?

Wasn't there something about how the sprawling, growing Metropolis swallowed up Smallville over the intervening thousand years, and now it's basically a neighbourhood of Metropolis? Or am I imagining things?

Dave Hackett said...

Matthew's right. Metropolis ate up a huge chunk of the Northeast, including Smallville, which was never defined as part of Kansas until much later (was Byrne the first to move it to the mid-west)?

Me said...

Michael said
"How do I have no recollection of them?"

The same way I had no recollection of the reporter you identified. We're old now Mike, we're old.

BTW, re: HQ in Metropolis, IIRC, Smallville was not moved to Kansas until the Crisis. Before that, it was a suburn of Metropolis. By the 3oth century, we were told, Metropolis had grown to include Smallville. So, the pre-Crisis HQ was in BOTH Metropolis and Smallville.

Michael said...

Marella Tao was a friend of Timber Wolf's in the v3 series, after he broke up with Ayla. She first appeared right after the Universo Project story and right before the Superboy/Pocket Universe story.

Anonymous said...

First Appearances for:

The United Planets - Adventure #336 9/65
Earthgov - Superboy & the LSH #240 6/78

jase said...

IIRC, Marella Tao was also a regular holo-news reporter during v4.

Baal said...

Just wanted you to know your efforts are appreciated. Good work, man.

Matthew E said...

I think Marella died during one of the many Earth-wide catastrophes in the 5YL series.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the hard work! Very much enjoying the annotations so far...

TJK

Timothy Callahan said...

I have annotated:
http://geniusboyfiremelon.blogspot.com/2008/08/final-crisis-legion-of-three-worlds-1.html

I'm sure I missed a gazillion things.

Scott Koblish said...

Very impressed!
Congrats on the Nina's!
you win a prize - to be handed out to your descendants 1,000 years from now!

Ricardo said...

Page 7

There are two different Superman uniforms in two different bottles, behind Power Girl's poster.

Page 11
Panel 8

There's the Psycho Pirate mask there too.

Page 12
Superboy is wearing the Anti-Monitor's disguise. Thought it would be cool to point out.

Page 35
This team is clearly the one before LSH v5 #48, without Giselle, Night Girl, Turtle etc.

Anonymous said...

"the circumstances surrounding the return of the first Karate Kid."


I believe Johns said at the SDCC that they brought Val back from the dead the same way they originally brought Lightning Lad back, with the lightning rods.

Anonymous said...

Legionnaires Annual#3 After the Time Trapper meets XS he notes her
"important, dare I say COSMIC destiny."

Anonymous said...

I don't think that the Mon-El in the Action Comics annual is the threeboot/Post-IC Mon. I think that story was just a retelling of Mon's original origin, and he is in fact the Pre-Zero Hour Mon-El (with a Geoff Johns "Lightning Saga"-esque makeover). After all, it's quite obvious that all of Johns' recent stories have completely retconned that ridiculous "Superman was never Superboy" editorial mandate from the 80's, and as evidenced by the Lightning Saga and Superman and the LoSH, the original Legion is the MAIN Earth's Legion (whatever they're calling it nowadays... I think "New Earth"), not the threeboot Legion. So, when young Clark sent Mon into the Phantom Zone in the AC Annual, one would presume that he would end up in the original Legion's future, not the threebooters'.

And the Legionnaires do vaguely mention that Karate Kid had been brought back to life sometime between the start of LoSH V3 (the second Levitz series, where he died) and the Lightning Saga, but they don't say how. If Johns really had intimated that they used lightning rods to do it, that would mean that the Legionnaires were real one trick ponies, haha (using the rods for Lightning Lad, Karate Kid, and Flash[es?]).

Anonymous said...

Oh, one other little thing. I hope Mr. Johns at least gives a one-liner to explain how "Jarth" got seperated back into Live Wire and Element Lad. ;-)

Murray said...

Hey Mike, great work! Way up at the top of your annotations you say that the last time the Trapper appeared was way back in Legion #105. But didn't he appear in the recent Action Comics issue that was published right after the "Superman and the Legion" arc?

Matthew E said...

Oh, one other little thing. I hope Mr. Johns at least gives a one-liner to explain how "Jarth" got seperated back into Live Wire and Element Lad. ;-)

Abnett and Lanning stated that it was always their intention to separate out Live Wire and Element Lad again. Presumably Johns just skipped to the bottom of the page on that one. And, if you were noticing, he did it as far back as Infinite Crisis #6.

Allen said...

I don't have the issue in front of me to reference, but I believe the "???" in the list of Superman on the two-page splash inside the museum was the Tangent Superman (nice extra nod to all of the multiversal stuff going on).

I wonder if we're going to get official word via this series on which Earth each of the Legions belongs to?

Anonymous said...

did anyone else notice that all of a sudden this legion is using threeboot legion's logo?

all through the action comics story arc, their rings/belts etc. had the L* logo with the arcing/falling star. and now it's apparently retconned into the symmetrical shooting star that the current book (threeboot) uses. and, judging by the composite "group portraits" at the and of the story, that's the only logo all the legions use.

Anonymous said...

Great work!

Page 9 - Panel 1
It looks like the armor that Superman used in Krisis of the Krimson Kriptonite in Action Comics #659

http://www.comics.org/details.lasso?id=48678

Regards.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Without the comic in front of me the only thing I have to add is a slight correction: Dubbilex (p11) was originally created by Jack Kirby and introduced in his run of Jimmy Olsen, which is where he first encountered Superman at the Project. (Don't have the issue number right now, unfortunately.) Given Johns' late Silver/Bronze Age love, I'd bet he's referencing the original version of the Project as well as Kesel's post-Crisis version.

Mike A. said...

First, Mike, as always, AMAZING work here. I buy my comics at Meltdown in Hollywood and the clerk told me that Johns evidently put in a shout-out to the store somewhere in issue one. I've read it several times trying to find it (so far no luck) and I still hadn't come up with a lot of the things you grabbed here. Thanks.

Second, @ Allen. I think we're going to be seeing a lot more of the "multiversal stuff" going on. After all, the series is entitled "FINAL CRISIS: Legion of 3 Worlds" and my suspicion (and has been for a while) is that DC is moving toward bringing back a true INFINITE multiverse by the end of Final Crisis. :-)

I'm not so sure that there are two different Mon-Els in the Phantom Zone and perhaps the Pre-Crisis Mon and the Post-IC Mon are the same, just pulled from different times out of the Zone (which IIRC is accessible from all universes of the multiverse as it exists outside of the multiverse). And I have a feeling that Johns will explain that, Karate Kid's "resurrection", the Jarth split and any other "continuity glitches" before these five issues are done, even if he uses the Time Trapper (WHICH Time Trapper is this, anyway? ;-) ) as a Deux ex Machina (which I personally have no prob with).

In short, I don't think we need five issues of a Legion of Legions giving Prime the Smackdown. That could be done in three. I think having five full issues are DC's way of having their best Continuity Cleaner straighten out the mess that the Legion has become so we can move forward with Legion Lore in some fashion.

Anonymous said...

Sorry if any of these are duplicated by any other source, but just a few amends to your notes:

p. 6-7: concerning Kal-El's rocket, it might be worth noting that this design was first used in the 1978 Superman movie.

p. 8 panel 5: Actually, "Strange Visitor," dates back to the 1940 radio show.

p. 11 panels 5 & 6:Also the feet, then the hand, of the Parasite

p. 14 The name "Science Police" was first used in Adventure #303 12/62

p. 16 panel 3:The first time we've seen Taltarians as green-skinned.

p. 20 panel 8: "I alone." Brainy is fond of this verbal construction - see Adventure #344 and episode 1.09 of the cartoon

p. 21: I have no idea if this was intended, but this whole sequence is very evocative of the scene between the 2 Invisible Kids (Actually Jacques & the Dream Demon) in Tales of the Legion #316

p. 22 panel 9: Likely Kahnya Nahtahnie, "Lady Memory," from Tales of the LSH #318

- I think, from page 26 onward, you might have your page numbers mislabeled.

On the whole, Michael, fantastic job, as always.

Anonymous said...

Great job! I just have a couple of things to add.

Pg. 17 panel 3 - the President/ambassador of Earth. Could that be Mojai Desai? He was featured semi-regularly as president during the V.3 run.

pg. 22 panel 10 - that might be King John from Pasnic. It kind of looks like him anyway.

Patrick C said...

Great job, just 2 more things:

1) It's Conner Kent, not Connor Kent.

2) On page 6 to the left and right of Luthor that looks like the Unknown Superman from AS Superman, and to the right Cyborg Superman.

Anonymous said...

exnihil said: p. 22 panel 9: Likely Kahnya Nahtahnie, "Lady Memory," from Tales of the LSH #318

If that's Lady Memory, as I'm also inclined to think it is, then the coloring is off. The Yakka-Mahor hill-people tribe she leads have greenish skin, unlike the blue hue of Talok VIII's city-dwellers, who count the Shadow Champions of the Mallor family among them.

http://www.comicvine.com/lady-memory/29-51882/

Though I'm not sure if it's still in continuity, she and Grev Mallor (Shadow Kid) married sometime after Shadow Lass and Mon-El did, with Grev serving as planetary champion during Tasmia's period of sequestered mourning following Lar's death.

kenaustin said...

allen is right. The ??? from the bottom panels of Pages 6-7 is the Tangent Superman from Earth 9.

Excellent job!

Hal Shipman said...

So, what was Holo-Jimmy trying to say about Nightwing and Flamebird on Page 9? It sounds like he and Supes never were that team, but then why the hell have the statues there? Was this just Johns trying to include everything Silver Age, but couldn't think of a better way to fit that?

Unknown said...

Page 21 seems to be a tribute of sorts to the Giffen/Bierbaum Legion - note the nine-panel page and how Sun Boy appears in the first few panels. It's reminiscent of a page from LSH #28, Vol. 4 (1992) where the LSH members, one by one, tell him they're leaving, and the last panel is Polar Boy trying to cheer him up. On p. 21 of LoTW #1, we also see Polar Boy trying to cheer up Dirk.

KalPDG said...

Page 9

The helmeted robot looks familiar but I can't place it.


This isn't a robot, it's a "super-suit" used by Clark and created by Emil Hamilton in the Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite run.

Anonymous said...

Great work Michael G.!

A few to add:
Page 6-7 Spread-The "S" emblems beside the "manger scene"-There are two, and their shape is reminiscent of when Superman was split into two-the revamp of Superman Red and Superman Blue.

Page 9 bottom panel-The 4th Superman from the left-the "Garcia-Lopez," appears to have a backwards "S" emblem.

Page 11, Panel 5-Bizzaro, standing on the cube shaped Earth

Page 24 Panel 2-Ferro Lad, Chemical King and Invisible Kid in somewhat of a Cockrum style.

Page 26, Panel 2-I realize the three baddies are all wearing color variations of the same suit, but to me, Lightning Lord's looks just a wee bit like Ambush Bug- an homage to Giffen perhaps?

Page 32-Background of panel 3-Not only is the rocketship clubhouse there, but so is the Daily Planet.

Michael said...

Thanks, everyone, for the comments! I've been busy with home stuff and I'm out of town this weekend but I'll get these updated as soon as I can. You guys rock!

Anonymous said...

Great work!

I just wanted to add as I've not seen it mentioned anywhere else that Superman and his two sons (Kal-El II and Jor-El II) appear on page 6 between Clark and his parents and the wedding picture. First appeared in SUPERMAN #166 (JAN/64)

Also in the background on that page - the Unknown Superman from ALL STAR SUPERMAN #6. Plus, a damaged Superman robot (seen in the LSH Cartoon) next to the bottle city of Kandor.

PenaltyKillah said...

Krypto "appears" in the 31st century as the barking white-fur dog on Page 5, Panel 6. Notice the tag.

H_UK said...

Page 18: bottom panel - top right - is that Chris Kent?

H_UK said...

the flight belt was used in between the rocket pack and the flight ring, first seen in Adventure Comics #300

actually flight belts were introduced in Action 289

PenaltyKillah said...

Geoff Johns on his tie-ins -
"During Final Crisis, I'm basically Robin to Grant's Batman. I'll be there to help facilitate and support and hopefully energize my books in line with his."