Thursday, January 16, 2020

LSH v4 #22 annotations: Quiet Darkness part 2 - Electric Boogaloo

Annotations for Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #22

Fun fact: with nearly 30 links, this is the most heavily annotated issue I've done so far!


Anyone recognize if the bold-face names below that appear in this issue are relevant names in Legion fandom?

Notes:
  • Page 5: Jo, Celeste, and Kent on the way to Zuun. Using snail drive, it will take 4 days to get to Zuun. Last issue was April 15 when Darkseid recruited Lobo to hunt down the girls, this is about 2 days later (April 17 as confirmed later), so they’ll get to Zuun on April 21.
  • Page 7 panel 6: Aria and Coda are connected through “The Gemini Matrix” (which will show up later). 
  • Page 7 panel 9: note that “Frances” is traditionally the feminine name (he should be “Francis”)
  • Page 10 panel 2: Twylo is a new place that we haven’t seen before (named after the planet from Tom Bierbaum's favorite Dick Van Dyke episode)
  • Page 11: “Dan’lsonn” (seen last issue too) and “Garlannd” are SP, probably named after Interlac people
  • Page 17 panel 2: The doc’s name is “Frances Campbell”, probably named after Interlac people
  • Page 17 panel 3: Campbell was one of the only non-Coluans to ever be offered the “Brainiac” title
    • So now “Brainiac” is an honorific title, I wonder what his relationship to the original Brainiac is now? Also, who else was offered the title, both Coluan and non-Coluan?
  • Page 20 panel 5: based on the date of Nura’s most recent message to Mysa, the backup story takes place on 4/17, roughly concurrent with the scene where Darkseid met up with Dr Campbell
  • Page 22 panel 1: the Altair sector (or rather, planet Altair) is the home of the one-eyed Pyramid Men, a pair of whom tried to sell the Legion stolen "living paintings" from Thar, while the team was investigating Thieves' Planet (ADV 308). Despite it being a real-life star that’s relatively close to Earth, it hasn’t been seen much – Altairians also appeared in Action Comics 528 (1982) and the Green Lantern story in Flash 237 (1975).
  • Page 22 panel 2: “back in the 70s when we repelled their first invasion of Earth” refers to the Dark Circle's attempt in ADV 365, which took place in 2978 (revised timeline per the Sourcebook). We learn from the Omnicom screen later that this takes place on 4/17/95.
  • Page 23 panel 1
    • 8/21/77 per the Sourcebook, this is around the time of the Luck Lords (ADV 343) and the Super-Stalag of Space (ADV 344-345) stories. The Unkillables were a group trying to kill the Dominators in ADV 361.
    • 12/8/77 is the day that Ferro Lad & Co joined (ADV 346). Agent Nardo is a retcon that the Super-Stalag Warden Nardo was a Dark Circle agent.
  • Page 23 panel 3
    • 12/24/77 was 9 days after Nemesis Kid was exposed as a Khundish spy (ADV 347)
  • Page 23 panel 5
    • 3/26/78 “updated cell samples obtained through Tartarun exchange” – Kem, Taine, G. Ranzz cell samples – recall these three were healed by Dr Zan Orbal at the end of the Evillo/Devil’s Dozen story (ADV 350-351) on Tartarus (note that the Sourcebook puts this on 3/31/78)
  • Page 23 panel 6
    • 7/2/78 “cooperation with Universo secures brief access to Legion cell bank” probably a reference to Universo’s first appearance in ADV 349 circa March 2978, meaning this report happened 4 months later. We first saw the Legion cell bank in SBOY 206 when they unsuccessfully tried to clone Ferro Lad and Invisible Kid.
    • ~10/78 Doppelganger substitution during Dark Circle invasion (ADV 365)
  • Bottom line: the Dark Circle made clones of the Legionnaires from cells taken no later than ADV 351, and hid them in the Chambers beneath Metropolis. It looks like the Dominators found them and were going to mind-wipe them and use them.
  • Omnicom 1 – Shady’s diary
    • 4/12/95 is three days out from Carggg, which retroactively makes Shady & Valor’s actions with the Dark Circle in issue 18 take place on 4/9/95
    • 4/13 learned of Luna’s destruction, which took place 4/11
    • 4/15 Amadus Orbital Monuments – Amadus was the home planet of Blockade Boy, killed in the Super-Stalag (ADV 344)
    • 4/16 Graa is a jungle world of giant yellow-barked palm trees, where Chameleon Boy set up a radar-beacon to aid space navigators, when momentarily captured by the Time Trapper, who tried to pry information about the Concentrator, one of the Legion’s super-weapons (ADV 321)
  • Omnicom 2 – update on Sussa Paka, who is soon to be reintroduced to the storyline
    • 3/13/95 police report by Roon Dvron (first seen SBOY 207, last seen during the Magic Wars in LSH v3 62)
    • Sussa Paka (Spider Girl) first appeared as a reject in ADV 323, next seen as a member of the LSV in ADV 372, most recently seen with the LSV as they tried to kill the LSH (LSH v3 #8)
    • Benn Pares was the galaxy’s best thief who tried to steal the Miracle Machine (SBOY 213)
    • The Dazzle Gem of Xandu was what Lester Spiffany tried to pay the Legion in order to join the team (ADV 301).
    • Boston Foxworth is a pawnbroker in Archangel, Toonar. 
      • We briefly saw Toonar in issue 13 when Kent was on his way back to the Legion from Quarantine (Toonar was the world to which the Legion traveled after being abandoned in the vastness of infinity by a space-fatigued Sun Boy in ADV 318). 
      • There was a FoxMOOR mentioned in issue 5 during the Mordruverse, but we never saw them. The name FoxWORTH is new to the Legion (but may be named after someone).
    • Taltar is matriarchal world whose Ambassador Thora increases the powers of the female Legionnaires in an attempt to turn them against the males. On Taltar, women are the stronger, dominant sex. (ADV 368)
    • 1/1/76 rejected for Legion membership (ADV 323)
    • 9/8/81 arrested in connection with the Larx Kenrik assassination plot (SBOY 208)
    • LSV failed attempt to seize control of Orando in early 2985 (LSH v3 #5) (note that the Sourcebook has the death of Karate Kid on 11/12/85)
    • 12/7/81 Benn Pares arrested in attempt to steal the Miracle Machine (note that the Sourcebook gives the date on that incident as between 9/16 (SBOY 212) and 10/9 (SBOY 216))
    • Planet Risius 4 is new to this story
    • Officers Tilley and Nanco mentioned (Tilley is TBD, Nanco is Chip Nanco of Interlac)
    • Story of the Stancio Dazzle Gem continues in issue 27
In his "It's OK, I'm a Senator", Tom Bierbaum has some interesting items. The highlights are mine:
  • This was Keith’s way of setting up the possibility that the SW6 Legion we were going to meet in a couple issues might be the “real” Legion while the Legion that readers had been following from the mid ’60s to the early ’90s might be the “clones.”  In fact, Keith ultimately wanted to commit to that twist being true, and I suppose we could have done it.  We advocated aggressively against the idea because there were going to be a lot of little continuity details that would make it illogical for the adult Legion to have ever been replaced en masse, but we’d worked diligently to make the SW6 storyline a tight fit with continuity if the SW6ers were some sort of genetic recreation of a mid-60s Legion.  I eventually came to suspect that nobody was keeping track of the little continuity details to that degree, so we probably could have gone with Keith’s impulse, but I’m still glad we didn’t.  I think it’s a bit of a betrayal to tell people that the characters they’ve been following for nearly 30 years aren’t the “real” ones.
  • Eventually we advocated for some sort of alternate course where both Legions were, in their own way, the “real” Legion (both of them plucked out of alternate time streams, or some such).  It was one thing to have a bunch of supporting characters in the main Legion book be “clones,” but once we committed to giving the SW6 kids their own book, it again felt like a bit of a cheat to ask the readers to follow a group month after month and then tell them their Legion is a bunch of clones brought to life artificially by alien conquerors.  That could be a cool background for a certain type of super-hero book, but it seemed to us like it wasn’t quite appropriate for the “Legionnaires” series we’d launched— an entry level book that was attempting to recapture the fun spirit of the early Legion.
  • I guess those back pages in #20 were our last regular Legion pages that were fully penciled by Keith.  Starting with our back pages in #21, Jason Pearson began his stint penciling the Legion based on Keith’s layouts.  I don’t recall for sure, but I’m guessing these back pages during the “Quiet Darkness” were Jason’s tryout and he came through impressively.  While it was an adjustment to switch from Keith’s very distinctive style to Jason’s, I think the switch was worthwhile.  While Jason probably didn’t capture quite the grittiness and mundane detail that really set the tone for Keith’s Legion, Jason’s cleaner style probably made the storytelling clearer.  And most importantly, the arrangement kept the book a lot closer to a regular schedule, with much less interruption for fill-in issues.  That allowed us to tell the upcoming “Terra Mosaic” storyline in a much more consistent, uninterrupted manner than had been the case for our earlier arcs (which I guess were formally titled “Five Years Later” and “The Legion of Super-Heroes”).

Here's what we know of the timeline to date. I'm color coding them based on whether the date appeared in the 2995 Sourcebook (yellow), it's a confirmed date that was given in the comic (green), or an estimated date based on keeping track of events and days (blue). Bold text is something new added this issue.
  • 3/26/78 Dark Circle obtained updated cell samples from when Dr. Zan Orbal restored bodies and powers to Matter-Eater Lad, Lightning Lad, and Bouncing Boy on Tartarus, to complete their collection (LSH v4 #22)
  • 10/78 Doppelganger substitution during Dark Circle invasion (LSH v4 #22)
  • 2/17/89 – Mekt admitted to Labyrinth Penal Institute (LSH v4 #10)
  • 6/23/89 – Magic Wars end (LSH v3 #63)
  • October 2989 – the Great Collapse
  • 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) 
  • April 2990 – Validus Plague ravages Winath; former Legionnaire Brainiac 5 helps (LSH v4 #3)
  • 6/7/90 – Legion Academy closes (LSH v4 #16)
  • 7/6/90 – Former Legion Academy heads Chuck and Luornu Durgo Taine open the United Planets Militia Academy (LSH v4 #16)
  • TBD 2990 – Earthgov secedes from the United Planets, and the Science Police Earth splits from the Science Police Proper. (LSH v4 #2). Since then, “resistance forces have opposed Earthgov since the introduction of repressive measures… but with little success to date.” (LSH v4 #13)
  • 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)
  • 10/8/91 – Imsk sets off the Damper weapon on Venado Bay on Braal-13 during the Imsk/Braal War. Rokk lost his powers, Loomis lost an arm. Salu was head of security on the damper project and knew what it would do, but fought against it (not hard enough, in her admission). Imsk won, as the army is occupying Braal. (LSH v4 #1) She says that Braal attacked Imsk, and they were just defending themselves. (LSH v4 #10)
  • 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)
  • 4/11/93 – Announcement of upcoming wedding of Grev Mallor (of the City People) to Kahnya Nahtahnie (Lady Memory of the Hill People) on Talok VIII
  • 8/14/93 – wedding of Grev Mallor and Kahnya Nahtahnie 
  • 1/17/94 – Marzal reappears over Africa and the corrupt Earthgov destroys it, but not before Tyroc escapes (LSH v4 #16)
  • 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 – Cham begins to recruit members for the new Legion, first approaching Rokk; 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 (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 and Rond arrive in the morning, having left Laurel behind on Zirr; everyone (Rokk, Rond; 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); Celeste is healed by a green glow; the former Legionnaires team up to capture Roxxas, who reveals Dominion control of Earthgov (LSH v4 #12)
  • Wed 12/10/94 – All-points bulletin on Persuader, who meets Kent Shakespeare in on Quarantine trying to attack Char Burrane Jr. (LSH v4 #12) Persuader is defeated by Kent and SP Captain Gim Allon, who then takes Kent to Toonar. (LSH v4 #13)
  • Thu 12/11/94 – Kent leaves Toonar for Winath; Laurel fights Khunds in deep space; Tenzil and Brek on Gnogg. (LSH v4 #13)
  • Sun 12/14/94 – The Legion is formally reinstated
  • Mon 12/16/94 – Tenzil, Brek, and Calorie Queen are taken to Tartarus by Prince Evillo; Tenzil banished to the Realm of Darkness (LSH v4 #14)
  • Thu 12/25/94 – Garth, Cham, and Rokk remotely survey Talus (LSH v4 #14)
  • Fri 12/26/94 – Tenzil and Sugyn return from the Realm of Darkness, only to hear that Tenzil has been declared dead and his Senate seat vacated. (LSH v4 #14)
  • Sat 12/27/94 – Loomis writes his report on Talus’ suitability for being the new HQ; Tenzil leaves Brek behind on Tartarus and heads for Winath (LSH v4 #14)
  • Sun 12/28/94 – The reformed Legion establishes headquarters on the asteroid world of Talus
  • Sat 1/3/95 – Tenzil Kem rejoins the Legion
  • Sun 1/11/95 – Orando falls to the Khunds  (LSH v4 #15)
  • Mon 1/12/95 – The Legion agrees to team with the United Planets Militia to beat back a Khundish invasion that threatens the heart of the United Planets.  (LSH v4 #15)
  • Exact date unknown – Cham meets with a Khundish double agent; Venegar falls to the Khunds, who then make a deal with the Hill People of Talok VIII; the UP Militia tries to decide if Xolnar or Talok VIII will be attacked next; Valor and Shadow Lass appear on Talok VIII; Khunds attack Xolnar; Circe wants Dirk to give a pro-Dominator speech (LSH v4 #15)
  • Exact date unknown – Last stand on Xolnar; introduction of the Resistance on Earth (LSH v4 #16). 
  • Fri 3/13/95 – SP Officer Roon Dvron’s police report on Sussa Paka (LSH v4 #22)
  • Sun 3/22/95 – Khund decoy fleet arrives at Talok VIII, while the main fleet attacks Xolnar, leading to the death of Jed “Power Boy” Rikane; after destroying the Talok fleet, the Legion and the UP Militia arrive at Xolnar to finish the Khundish fleet; Glorith sent to the end of time; the Khunds are driven back to pre-2995 borders, and the Legion concludes its participation in the war against Khundish encroachment (LSH v4 #17)
  • Wed 3/25/95 – Don and Dawn Allen are arrested by Earthgov (LSH v4 #17)
  • Thurs 3/26/95 – Don and Dawn Allen are put on trial (LSH v4 #17)
  • Fri 3/27/95 – Tensions increase on Earth with the execution of Legion friends Don and Dawn Allen. (Note that 3/27/95 is a Friday, while the comic says it happened on a Monday) (LSH v4 #17)
  • Sat 3/28/95 – Daily Planet article on the Allen executions (LSH v4 #17)
  • Exact date unknown – Valor and Shadow Lass help counter a Dark Circle attempt on Queen Projectra’s life on Orando, then remove the Dark Circle cultists from Carggg; Universo and Jacques meet; holo studio bombing allegedly by one of the Resistance groups (LSH v4 #18)
  • Thu 4/9/95 – Valor and Shadow Lass leave Carggg on their way to some R&R in deep space (LSH v4 #22)
  • Sat 4/11/95 – Luna is destroyed, ravaging Earth. (LSH v4 #19). The mysterious “SW6 batch" awaken in an underground Dominion chamber on Earth. (LSH v4 #20)
  • Sun 4/12/95 – Jo Nah returns from an extended journey through time (LSH v4 #19) and is added to the reformed adult Legion team (LSH v4 #20)
  • Mon 4/13/95 – Dacey and Doritt Ranzz are born to ex-Legionnaires Garth and Imra Ardeen Ranzz. Rokk recalls the events of Venado Bay as the Dominators start executing Science Police Earth officers who are revolting against the Dominators. (LSH v4 #20)
  • Wed 4/15/95 – Furball meets Aria on Zuun, unaware that she’s being hunted by Darkseid; Atmos revealed to have been killed by Project Champion; the Dominators begin harsher punishment of insurrectionists on Earth. (LSH v4 #21)
  • Fri 4/17/95 – Jo, Celeste, and Kent on the way to Zuun to get Brainy and Furball; on Talus, Kono reads Nura’s unanswered messages to Mysa; on Altair, Valor finds troubling news from a Dark Circle computer (LSH v4 #22)
  • Tues 4/21/95 – Jo, Celeste, and Kent arrive at Zuun
Unknown dates:
  • 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). Timber Wolf was irradiated during Black Dawn, eventually turning him into Furball. Char Burrane (Starfinger II) was somehow involved. (LSH v4 #12)
  • Kent Shakespeare and Gim Allon are both ex-Legionnaires, but it’s unknown when or under what circumstances they left. (LSH v4 #12)

Posted by Michael at 1/16/2020 11:32:00 PM

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