Meanwhile: Kingdom Come #1 notes
Over on the podcast when doing LSH v4 #81 (episode 804), we noted that there was an ad for a then-new story called Kingdom Come, which had its first issue come out the next week, a week before Legionnaires #38. On the show, I have a recurring segment called "Meanwhile..." named of course after Dick Giordano's house ad columns, reused here to mention what's going on with the Legion (or Legionnaires) outside of the main book that doesn't necessarily warrant full coverage on the podcast.
So here's what I came up with for the surprising amount of Legion content in the book that is nearly devoid of it, as used on the podcast for Legionnaires #38 (episode 805).
The week before this issue came out (5/8/1996) saw the publication of Kingdom Come #1. In last week’s episode, we mentioned that there was an ad for it in LSH 81. This iconic story includes some Legionnaires and Legion-adjacent characters. In the comic itself, we only saw the characters, usually without names, but the names and backstories were given in the trading card set and later from the supplement to the Slipcase edition of Kingdom Come, called "Revelations". And originally designated as an Elseworld, it later became Earth-22 and it (and its characters) eventually crossed over into the mainstream DC Universe.
- Starman VII: The card set describes him as "formerly Star Boy, from the 30th century." "Revelations" adds the following: The eighth character to bear this title is actually a design culled from my childhood supergroup creation. Since my design was so obviously inspired by the Legion of Super Heroes 1970s Star Boy costume, I figured that this Starman should be the grown-up incarnation of that character, transplanted to our time from the 30th Century (much like Karate Kid was for a time, as well as many of his contemporaries have been on occasion). It is not known how he travelled to the Kingdom Come timeline. This Starman was later retconned to be a time-lost Thom Kallor from the Retroboot who got stuck there before coming to current Earth in the Lightning Saga.
- A new character called Demon Damsel; the card set calls her a "would-be Legion of Superheroes member." Mark Waid says Demon Damsel is a new character, and not someone who actually applied, in the comics, to be a LSH member. The Revelations supplement adds this about her, presumably from Alex Ross: "This is my sexy, childhood design for a villainess with a Legion of Super Heroes member sound to her name."
- Brainiac's Daughter (informally known as XTC) is a new character here. She was originally described as "the living computer's human progeny, and ancestor of Brainiac 5." However, this was later changed. From the "Revelations" supplement: “As silly as it sounds, this character is the combination of two songs by one of my favorite groups, XTC: "That's Really Super, Supergirl" and "Brainiac's Daughter." Apparently people assumed that her origin was from the coupling of old-time Legion lovebirds Brainiac 5 and Supergirl, and so, never having answered this question before myself, I'll go along with this idea. This also suggests that she has traveled back in time from the 30th Century.”
- Finally, The Legion of this timeline is shown only once in this issue as a cameo. Their costumes in most cases resemble those of the post-Zero Hour Legion, but there are a number of different members (Princess Projectra the human rather than as the anthropomorphic snake Sensor, Bouncing Boy, Chemical King, etc.). The Revelations supplement says this about Superboy & Supergirl, who were shown with Legion-inspired costumes: “The current inheritors of these classic Superman family roles may not have the same blood relationship to Superman that the former had, but they could still join the Legion just as the originals did. The 30th Century's interplanetary Legion of Super Heroes could well invite the super-youths to join their ranks and offer them a second home in the future. The implication in Kingdom Come is that at some point they will leave our modern era behind for the more settled society of superhumans in the future. Designing these costumes was a real joy, combining the modern Legion design aesthetic with the classic Silver Age outfits of Superboy and Supergirl. Superboy's current "mod" hairstyle is grown out like Superman's recent `do, but pulled back to give a sense of the original Boy of Steel's clean-cut look.”
(via Travis Ellisor's Legion Visual Reference Page)
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