LSH v4 #11 annotations: "Five Years Later" (part 11)

Annotations for Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #11

• On sale date: July 17, 1990
• It's OK, I'm a Senator: Issue 11 Recollections (March 28, 2009). This is Tom Bierbaum discussing all of the stuff going on behind the scenes that culminated in this issue.
• Legion of Substitute Podcasters episode 565 (August 12, 2019)
• Timeline: This issue takes place on December 4-5, 2994

A few names in bold are likely former Interlac people or others in Legion fandom, if the name is familiar, please let me know!

• This is yet another fill-in issue, the third in 11 issues. Read IOKIAS for the back story behind that.
• Cover: Eyestalk Guy!
• Page 1 panel 7: Tenzil in “The Conan Pose” after Frazetta’s “Conan the Adventurer” book cover painting
• Page 1 panel 8: for those too young to remember, between 1963-1988 there was a weekend TV show called “Wild Kingdom” sponsored by Mutual of Omaha that featured wildlife and nature.
• Page 2: Tenzil arrived last night (12/3). This is the next day.
• Page 3: The archaeological dig has uncovered the Batcave in the Jersey District of Metropolis. Prior to this, the Legion took refuge in the Batcave while on the run from Universo in ADV 341 (and Tenzil was there at the time), so the cave must have collapsed between 2977 and 2994
• Page 4 panel 7: Tribute to former Batman co-creators Bob Kane and Bill Finger
• Page 5: the only way this fits into the timeline is if Tenzil did the Batcave dig live on TV in the morning, then came back to the Bismollian Embassy and took Brek’s case at lunchtime.
• Page 7 panel 4: So Cham’s not dead, despite a headshot, because his brain was elsewhere at the time
• Page 7 panel 6: Brainy knows Bounty’s secret, but he’s keeping it for her. No known patient records for Bounty (who has unexplained scar tissue).
• Page 8: yay, telepathic earplugs!
• Page 9: finally ties in with the storyline. Brek has been in prison for 2 years and has been seen occasionally in this series so far, now it’s Tenzil for the Defense.
• Page 11: Jakobi (a reference to one of the first law firms to advertise aggressively on TV, Jacoby & Meyers, and a nod to a favorite race driver of Tom’s back when he was a kid, Bruce Jacobi)
• Page 13 panel 3: Tenzil has slept through the night, making this the morning of Friday 12/5
• Page 13 panel 8: Richard Gunther = ???
• Page 14 panel 2: Khfeurb Chee Bez, the former Antennae Lad (occasionally Antennae Boy), is now a TV reporter
• Page 14 panel 5: Aydon Jecks = ???
• Page 14 panel 7: J*ss Toor Tsaquin had an eye on an eyestalk growing out of his forehead, not just an eye there. He was warden of Labyrinth after the destruction of Takron-Galtos. He made a few appearances after his intro in LSH v3 #22, last appearing in LSH v3 #54.
• Page 16 panel 2: The judge talks about his full docket next week, with Bensam on Thursday, Chang on Friday, and Green Lanterns on Monday. Based on this being Friday 12/5, Bensam is to be sentenced next Thursday 12/11, Chang's hearing next Friday 12/12, and the Green Lanterns at the beginning of next week, on Monday 12/8. (Note that it would have been easier if this day were Monday 12/1 or Tuesday 12/2, then it would make more sense with Bensam on this coming Thursday 12/4, Chang on Friday 12/5, and GL on next Monday 12/8, but figuring out the dates for the issues prior to this wouldn't let that happen and still fit the dates as given in the comics and the Sourcebook..) Bensam is Interlacker Richard Bensam; he was listed as a known associate of Shvaughn Erin back in issue 2. Chang is Marko Chang, who we heard about last issue as the former UP Councilman who was helping fund the Dominators plot
• Page 19: Braino of Mrynah, the noblest being of all time, has only been seen as a memorial (ADV 320)
• Omnicom 1
• Bril Tone and Har Daws – on Facebook, Tom said these are “references to my colleagues at Daily Variety, whose reviews appeared not under traditional bylines but under three- and four-letter “signatures” (my “sig” was “Bier.”). “Bril” was Brian Lowry (now with CNN), “Tone” was Tony Scott, “Har” was Jim Harwood and “Daws” was Amy Dawes, all friends and Variety staffers of the late 1980s / early 1990s.”
• The critics seem to think this is made up, as they reference “performances”.
• Page 23: quotes
• Bierbaum, from IOKIAS: There's a spiral of word balloons that, without explanation, represent travel backward in time, since the further they go from the reader's eye, the further back in time they go. I believe virtually every one of the balloons is from Legion history, though I think some of them may have been from stories yet-to-be-published at that time. I think at least one letter-writer tried to identify as many of the balloons as he could. I know we selected some quotes from that first Universo story where he sent various Legionnaires back in time, plus the "Soljer" story from the Grell years that took place in, I think, the 27th century. And we took a quote from the appearance of Antenna Lad, whose crazy-looking ears could pick up radio transmissions from throughout time. Here we used the one snippet that Antenna Lad picked up during his brief Legion try-out that has always stuck in my mind: "He's three-eyed Sam from the plant WHAM!" Note that the LSH Annual would come out one week after this issue.
• That’s why they call it invulnerability, pal! [Jo explains why he survived an explosion on Rimbor, LSH v4 #2]
• … Have the rest of our lives to spend together… / … Can’t believe we’re finally doing it! [Jo, after proposing to Tinya, LSH v4 Annual 1, p 53 panel 3]
• … My God… the entire planet… every man, woman, and child slaughtered…. [Valor, referring to Glorith’s destruction of Daxam, LSH v4 Annual #1, p 3 panel 1]
• Stop him! Stop him! / Too late… he’s out the airlock… [death of Ferro Lad, ADV 353 p 19 panel 5]
• He did it… he saved the galaxy… but at what a cost… [death of Ferro Lad, ADV 353 p 20 panel 5]
• He’s going to kill Mr. Brande! / Get down! Everybody down! [the Legion’s origin, as remembered in LSH v4 #1]
• I mean, bloody liberty, that boy was murdered! [Jo Nah’s parents, LSH v4 Annual 1, p 12 panel 6]
• He’s three-eyed Sam from the planet Wham! [one of the broadcasts that Antenna Lad picks up, ADV 305]
• We’ve been spotted! / A gamma grenade! / We’ll fill in the crater… bury him here. / It’s… all we can do… [Private Mike “Soljer” Essad dies in 2783, SBOY 210, page 3-4]
• … Vacation on Venus… [one of the broadcasts that Antenna Lad picks up, ADV 305]
• Sonic assassins or something? [Not sure where this is from]
• Foul perrverrted scheme of the highest caste… [A Dominator, LSH v4 Annual 1, p 23 panel 2; this is from when Jo went back to the late 20th century and met Valor]
• A day that will live in infamy… [FDR’s 1941 speech, but did this ever appear in a comic?]
• Behold… he lives! Truly he is the great sun-god! [Chameleon Boy travels to the year 1300 while looking for Universo, ADV 349 page 10; the exact quote is “the great Incan sun-god”]
• He is the tool of our enemy! Slay him! [Colossal Boy travels to the year 693 while looking for Universo, ADV 349 page 14]
• Great Isis! She disappeared! [Shrinking Violet travels to the year 1243 BC while looking for Universo, ADV 349 page 11]
• Page 24: Jo has been transported to Lyme Fields, Malden Precinct, Khundia District

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So here's the updated timeline of things we know, as of this issue (new stuff in bold):

• 2/17/89 – Mekt admitted to Labyrinth Penal Institute (LSH v4 #10)
• 6/23/89 – Magic Wars end (LSH v3 #63 – date as given in the 2995 Sourcebook)
• 4/13/90 – Communique from Earthgov President Wellington, trying to legally disband the Legion, with Imra, Rokk, and Cham “currently out of the picture” (LSH v4 #1)
• October 2989 – the Great Collapse
• April 2990 – Validus Plague ravages Winath; former Legionnaire Brainiac 5 helps (LSH v4 #3)
• 4/12/91 – Tinya goes missing (LSH v4 #2)
• 5/8/91 – Search for Tinya called off; Sun Boy is leader (LSH v4 #2)
• 5/27/91 – Mekt released from Labyrinth, rehabilitated (LSH v4 #10)
• 6/9/91 – Planned date of wedding of Tinya and Jo (LSH v4 #2)
• TBD 2991 – Garth and Imra, having left the Legion, start the Lightning Ring Plantation (LSH v4 #3)
• 1/21/92 – Rebirth Summit (LSH v4 #1)
• 7/6/92 – LSH leader Polar Boy disbands the Legion, mentions Black Dawn which cost the Legion (LSH v4 #1); Mordru coronated as the Supreme Teacher of Sorceror’s World (LSH v4 #6)
• TBD 2992 – Brek Bannin arrested for insurrection (LSH v4 #11)
• 10/22/94 – Raid on anti-government terrorists, but ringleader Vidar (aka Universo) is not captured; Cham tells Marla he’s leaving (LSH v4 #1)
• 10/23/94 – Reep Daggle begins to recruit members for the new Legion, first approaching Rokk Krinn; Vi leaves the Imsk army for Winath; Dominator agents help Roxxas escape from Labyrinth (LSH v4 #1)
• 10/25/94 – Attack on Jo and Kono on Rimbor; Loomis and Lydda en route to Kathoon (LSH v4 #2)
• Fri 11/21/94 – Blok is killed by Roxxas the Butcher [Sourcebook] (LSH v4 #3)
• Thu 11/27/94 – Mordru crushes Rond Vidar’s ring; Rokk and Cham finally meet up with Jo and decide to go to Tharn to rescue Mysa; Dominators and Shvaughn Erin watch the tape of Roxxas and Blok, whose body is delivered to Winath; Mon-El resurrected (LSH v4 #3)
• Fri 11/28/94 – Mon-El goes to Talok VIII, then Shadow Lass and Mon-El visit Brainiac 5, then Mon-El destroys the Time Trapper (LSH v4 #4)
• Sat 11/29/94 – Mordruverse (LSH v4 #5)
• Sat 11/29/94 – Cham, Rokk, Jo, Kono, and Furball arrive on Tharn and are captured by Mordru; after being hired by Earthgov to find Blok’s killer, Celeste, Devlin, and Bounty leave for Trom (LSH v4 #6)
• Sun 11/30/94 – Celeste, Devlin, and Bounty meet Jan on Trom (LSH v4 #6); with the help of Laurel Gand, Rokk’s crew rescues Mysa and Rond from Mordru but are teleported to Grocz; Celeste, Devlin, Bounty, and Jan leave Trom for Winath (LSH v4 #7)
• Mon 12/1/94 – Rokk, Cham, Jo, Kono, Furball, Rond, Laurel, and Mysa travel from Grocz to Zirr (LSH v4 #8)
• Tues 12/2/94 – Rokk, Laurel, and Rond take some R&R time on Zirr with baby Lauren, while the others go to Winath; Marla reminisces (LSH v4 #8); on Cygnus IV, Roxxas watches a holo of Laurel Gand; Celeste, Devlin, Bounty, and Jan arrive on Winath (LSH v4 #9)
• Wed 12/3/94 – Rokk, Laurel, and Rond arrive in the morning; everyone (Rokk, Rond, Laurel; Cham, Jo, Kono, Furball, Mysa; Celeste, Devlin, Bounty, Jan; Brainy, Garth, Ayla, Vi, Imra) is on Winath when Roxxas attacks; Bounty, Mekt, Cham, and Celeste are seriously injured, while Jo disappears and is presumed dead; Earthgov linked to Roxxas; Tenzil arrives on Earth (LSH v4 #10)
• Thu 12/4/94 – On Winath, Roxxas is on the loose, and kills a doctor and nurse in the Bloomfield Free Clinic. On Earth, Tenzil participates in the Batcave dig, meets with Shvaughn and Brek (who is released for the first time since incarceration 2 years prior), has dinner with Prosecutor Jakobi, then falls asleep. (LSH v4 #11)
• Fri 12/5/94 – Tenzil and Brek in court; Holo Scene news article on the trial (LSH v4 #11)
• April 2995 – Imra & Garth’s twins due (LSH v4 #3)

Unknown dates, presented in the order they were revealed in the comics:

• Black Dawn: something big and bad happened. Polar Boy says “you know what that cost us”. Sun Boy was a previous leader. By the time it happened, Chameleon Boy had left the Legion and “watched everything fall to pieces” (LSH v4 #1).
• Rokk and Loomis are injured in the Braal/Imsk War at Venado Bay, and Rokk lost his powers. Salu was somehow involved on the Imsk side, which did some questionably legal things. Imsk won, as the army is occupying Braal. (LSH v4 #1) She says that Braal attacked Imsk, and they were just defending themselves. She was head of security on the damper project and knew what it would do, but fought against it (not hard enough, in her admission). (LSH v4 #10)
• At some point, the Science Police Earth splintered off from the main Science Police (referred to as Science Police Proper) (LSH v4 #2)