Friday, May 29, 2009

The Ultimate Legion

This account of an unfinished article for Wizard got me thinking it'd be a good post here, something for you to think about over the weekend.
...While the main feature was proving a bit difficult to pull together, Andy and I came up with a killer sidebar we were having a lot of fun with: we'd pick the best members from all the various Legion incarnations and put together our own Ultimate Legion. We had a blast talking that out and would schedule meetings "officially" to talk about the news section or whatever and then have hour-long closed door sessions on who was the best Ultra Boy--awesome.

...Andy and I realized we wanted to include so many characters that our team was going to be huge even by Legion standards. We did not have much trouble mixing it up as far as having a diverse selection of creative eras represented as, while I can't recall our full team, but I believe we had Element Lad and Saturn Girl from the early days, Dawnstar and Wildfire from the Levitz/Giffen run, Gates and Live Wire from the reboot/Legion Lost era, and the Brainiac 5 and Triplicate Girl of Waid and Kitson's team; heck, I think we even threw "Five Years Later" Cosmic Boy/Rokk Krinn and Inferno from Legionnaires in for good measure.

So just for fun, who would be on your Ultimate Legion team? You can have anyone from any era or even any issue, with no restrictions at all on who you get, including multiple versions of a character through various timelines, reboots, alternate Earths, Elseworlds, animated, etc. You can justify your reasons or not.

Well, only one restriction: for tax purposes, you can't have more than 25 members.

16 comments:

  1. (Assume I mean the original, Silver Age through Baxter run Legionnaires unless specified, or else a name clearly indicates a later version)

    Superboy (Kal-El)
    Threeboot Saturn Girl
    Animated Cosmic Boy
    Live Wire
    Animated Bouncing Boy
    SW6 Matter-Eater Lad
    Mon-El (original)
    Kinetix
    Gates
    XS
    Animated Vi
    Wildfire (w/ containment suit)
    Shadow Lass
    Threeboot Dream Girl
    Brainiac 5 (JLU version)
    Phantom Girl (70s/80s costume a must!)
    Chameleon Boy
    Kid Quantum (Jazmin)
    Supergirl (JLU/Superman version)

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  2. Oh, and the original Karate Kid.

    And maybe Thunder.

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  3. Not a full roster, but some characters and relationships I'd like to see:

    Superboy (Kal-El) and Superboy (Conner Kent), preferably with Conner trying to be blase and cool around his inspiration and Kal being really impressed with how "cool" Conner is.

    Supergirl and Brainiac 5. "I really should have figured it out sooner. It's you. You're too damn distracting."

    Violet, after her abduction by Imskian separatists. Confident, badass, and maybe just barely controlling a lot of justified rage. "Violet? *That* was Shrinking Violet?"

    Five Years Later Jan Arrah and Senator Tenzil Kem. Calm, serious and spiritual, vs. enthusiastic, insightful and loving life. I think this is a road movie or a comedy of manners waiting to happen.

    Monstress. Only read a little of the reboot Legion, but she seemed like a great mix of brute and polite young lady. I preferred her to a great many of the other reboot characterizations.

    Kid Quantum (Jazmin), retroboot Rokk and retroboot Lydda. I like the idea of a love triangle that only exists in one of the participant's minds.

    Mon-El (original) and threeboot Shadow Lass. I also like the idea of a romance that already happened and perhaps should not happen again... or should it? I'm curious if Shady, who is attracted to the indiscriminate power of Ultra Boy, would find Mon-El's "power balanced by reason" appealing.

    Threeboot Karate Kid and Invisible Kid. KK so that MightyGodKing can finally write his "KK fights a planet" story and Lyle so that we can get more of that fanboy-joins-the-Legion groove that Waid did.

    Retroboot Polar Boy. See Invisible Kid above.

    Fill remaining spots with Kent Shakespeare, Sade, Ivy, Dawnstar (original), and the Five Years Later Subs commando squad.

    --that is a full roster, isn't it? My bad.
    hza

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  4. My ultimate Legion would be:

    1. Threeboot Saturn Girl (I like the idea that she can't talk because her race use telepathy for all communication)
    2. Original Cosmic Boy. My favourite version.
    3. Reboot Lightning Lad.
    4. Catpaw from 'Legionnaires'. What can I say, I like cats!
    5. Kinetix. If the version with a tail, I can see some amusing interraction between her and Catspaw.
    6. Thunder. I'm a fan of the original Captain Marvel!
    7. Wildfire. His attitude and his powers.
    8. Cockrum Timber Wolf. Caught between Catspaw and Light Lass in an amusing and sometimes violent triangle!
    9. Mon-El (original). Because it's not the Legion without a Daxamite.
    10. Original Shady. Because she belongs with Mon.
    11. Sensor Girl. Because she's just cool.
    12. Polar Boy. Cool in a different way.
    13. Threeboot Light Lass. I like the power, and I like the attitude.
    14. Atom Girl. With blasters, of course.
    15. Reboot Inferno. Team rebel.
    16. Original Element Lad. Jan Arrah with all his tragic background.
    17. Original Superboy. Because the Legion and young Kal go togther!
    18.Reboot Brainy. Just because we need a Brainiac, and he's my favourite version. Someone has to blow the Clubhouse up!
    19. Andromeda. Mostly to distract Brainy, of course.
    20. Threeboot Phantom Girl, trying to keep up her life in both universes and failing in both. That was an idea that was under-used, but fun.
    21. Reboot Ultra Boy, trying desperately to get Phant' to keep her attention on him. Frustration might lead him after one of teh other girls, of course.
    22.Gates. Non-humanoid with a great attitude!
    23. Threeboot Star Boy.
    24. Jasmin Kid Quantum
    25.Apparition. Two phasers, and Apparition trying to get U-boy to notice her.

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  5. If the human race hasn't gotten past imposing taxes in 1000 years, we're frigging hopeless. *libertarian / anarchist sigh* ;)

    I'd have been delighted to participate, and have done my list elsewhere, but I could never get it under 35 members!

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  6. the 3boot founders
    Original Brainiac 5 and Post Crisis Supergirl (Kara)
    Pre Crisis Mon-El
    Polar Boy
    Reboot Invisible Kid
    3boot Triplicate Girl
    pre crisis Star Boy and dream Girl
    Reboot Phantom Girl and Ultra Boy
    Pre Crisis Element Lad
    Matter Eater Lad
    3boot Princess Projectra
    White Witch and blok
    XS
    reboot Shrinking Violet, threeboot Micro Lad (colossal boy)
    Original Sun Boy
    3boot Chameleon boy
    Original Shadow Lass and Night Girl
    Gates
    A Karate Kid

    (I'm on 26 and there is no superboy to kick to the curb, woe! Maybe Giffen will write my team though ;))

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  7. Here's the response from moi, the original poster:

    http://thecoolkidztable.blogspot.com/2009/05/bens-ultimate-legion.html

    Thanks for linking!

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  8. I like the idea of picking a standard team from various eras, so I'll be going that route as well. Although I was sorely tempted to include every version of Brainiac 5 on this list, thereby guaranteeing instant success for any mission ever. I know I skew towards the reboot, but that's what I grew up on

    1) Cosmic Boy - Threeboot version
    2) Lightning Lad - Reboot version (who has gotten a better codename)
    3) Saturn Girl - Original version
    4) Brainiac 5 - Original version
    5) Mon-El - Original version
    6) Apparition - Reboot version (I prefer this name)
    7) Ultra Boy - Original version
    8) Inferno - Reboot version (who may or may not be Sun Girl in Teen Titans. Dirk never seemed very interesting to me)
    9) Polar Boy - Original version
    10) Wildfire - Original version
    11) Shikari Lonestar - Reboot version
    12) Triplicate Girl - Reboot version
    13) XS
    14) Gates
    15) Kid Quantum II - Reboot version
    16) Invisible Kid - Threeboot version
    17) Atom Girl - Threeboot version
    18) Micro Lad - Threeboot version
    19) Thunder
    20) Princess Projectra - Original version
    21) Element Lad - Reboot version
    22) Chameleon - Threeboot version
    23) Blok
    24) Karate Kid - Reboot version
    25) Star Boy - Original version

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  9. Pre-Shooter era
    Cosmic Boy
    Saturn Girl
    Lightning Lad

    Shooter ear
    Ferro Lad
    Karate Kid
    Shadow Lass
    Espionage Squad
    Invisible Kid
    Duo Damsel
    Phantom Girl
    Shrinking Violet
    Chameleon Boy

    Adult Legion
    Polar Man

    Action Comics backup
    Element Lad

    Superboy comics
    Wildfire
    Brainiac 5
    Ultra Boy

    Legion v3 comics
    Timber Wolf
    Lightning Lass
    Sensor Girl

    Legion v4 comics
    Kono
    Spider Girl
    Tenzil Kem

    Legionnaires comics
    Leviathan

    Post Zero Hour
    XS

    Legion v5

    Lightning Saga
    Star Man

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  10. Can't do it - I keep coming up with 26. i'd keep all the rest floating in and out as guest stars and subplots too..

    Lightning Lad
    Cosmic Boy
    Saturn Girl
    Brainaic-5
    Mon-El
    Ultra Boy
    Light Lass
    Tellos
    Gates
    Andromeda
    Phantom Girl
    Triplicate Girl
    Bouncing Boy
    Gear
    Dream Girl
    Shrinking Violet
    Wildfire
    Dawnstar
    Shadow Lass
    White Witch
    Blok
    Chameleon Boy
    Element Lad
    Kid Quantum
    Invisible Kid 2
    Light Lass

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  11. Part of me would love to see an all non-(standard Terran looking) Legion:
    Tellos
    Quislet
    Blok
    Proty 2
    Gates
    Shikari
    Monstress
    Flederweb? (the Khund Spider-man analog)

    and as tokens
    Wildfire
    Crystalline Jan/Garth

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  12. peter vandeneng6/02/2009 10:44:00 AM

    al-

    throw in:
    kinetix (kitty-kinetix OR big rock candy kinetix)
    furball

    and you *SO* have a deal!

    (especially anything to bring candi back...)

    OOO! would burning dirk be too gruesome?
    green energy celeste?

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  13. Excellent additions, Peter. But if we add Burning Dirk is added, could Ferro Lad be added as a token?

    Oooo, what was the code-name for the Turtle Boy Jim Shooter added at the very end of the latest run?

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  14. Peter - don't forget the zombie legionnaires like "all burnt up karate kid" and "stuck together ashes of Triplicate Girls's third body" sheeesh.

    ~T

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  15. peter vandeneng6/08/2009 11:23:00 AM

    stuck together ashes of triplicate girls's third body could be VERY useful in a fight...

    not much a conversationalist, though...

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  16. But a real pain if you get her in your eye. Eyeful Ethel, watch out!!!

    leeeemur!

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