Things that make you go "huh?"

From the Home Office in Webster, Texas, here are the Top Ten Legion moments that make you go "Huh?"

10. Steve Ditko Archives: The Legion Years
9. The Omen & Prophet Saga
8. I Dream of Sneckie
7. Sure, Keith, go ahead and use those thick black markers, they're better than fine lined inking
6. A five-year gap? That could work...
5. Reboot? I guess so, that couldn't make things any more confusing
4. Reboot? Sure, why not, we've already had one, what's one more?
3. We don't need no stinking Superboy! We can write around that.
2. If we take Superboy & the Legion out of "Adventure Comics" and make them a backup strip in "Action Comics", they'll totally love Supergirl instead.
1. Despite having one of the universe's richest men as their benefactor, the Legion lets Superboy leave over a tax issue, because if Supergirl left then the Legion of Super-Pets would leave too.

Sorry, no good April Fools joke this year. But go back and read my earlier ones from when I was funny.

Talk Like a Pirate Day 2010: Roxxas

Ahoy, mateys! Sept. 19th is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Yo ho ho and a bottle of Silverale!

For this year's pirate spotlight, we go to the dread pirate Roxxas, the scourge of Trom. Here's his pre-V4 bio from "Who's Who in the Legion" #5. That series embellished a lot from what had been seen in the comics, but for the most part it has been accepted as canon, so you might find out a little that you didn't know. Roxxas... you don't have to put on the red light....


KIVUN ROXXAS of MURGADOR

Roxxas, a surly but intelligent young man, was accepted into the naval academy on Amadus only to desert after killing his commanding officer and raiding the compu-vault for credits. As a fugitive, he spent many years fighting and running before he joined a group of techno-pirates. Roxxas pushed the men toward more and more illegal acts until he had become by authority and combat, the leader of a band of space-pirates. Roxxas led them on raids to many worlds. When he heard rumors of a valley of transmuters on Trom, he sent spies to visit the world and report back to him. They told tales of wonder, children turning their toys to gold, young men clearing new ground by evaporating boulders, all in a largely pacifistic civlilation. Roxxas immediately ordered the kidnapping of several Tromians to hold hostrage for their cooperation of the rest of the world. When Roxxas' men tried to take hostages, some were accidentally killed in self defense by the peaceful Tromians, at which point the pirates began slaughtering the Tromians in cold blood. One young boy, Jan Arrah, escaped in a small ship and was subsequently picked up by investigating Science Police. Roxxas, furious that his men had lost control and maddened by the failure of his plan, led his men in search of the one remaining transmuter, who had fled to Earth and joined the Legion of Super-Heroes. When they met again, Jan was willing to sacrifice himself to stop Roxxas, but he was saved by Invisible Kid. [Adventure 307]





Roxxas was captured and taken to Takron-Galtos. Escaping years later, he ran to Trom, assuming no one would think to look for him there. Alone, he gradually became insane. Later, when the Legionnaires raided a prisoner refuge world called Haven, they got a lead on Roxxas, and Element Lad tracked him to Trom. Element Lad, in a vengeful rage, tried to kill Roxxas but was stopped b other arriving Legionnaires. Roxxas, who believed himself to be haunted b the "ghosts" of the Tromians, surrendered and begged to die. Element Lad decided the best revenge was to let Roxxas live. He is currently undergoing intensive psychotherapy on Labyrinth. [Superboy 211]



Roxxas was the primary villain in the initial story arc of the v4 Legion. Sprung from prison by the Earth Government (secretly run by the Dominators) and given advanced weaponry, he was assigned with preventing the reformation of the Legion of Super-Heroes, preferably by killing them. They ignored his irrational behavior, which included hearing voices in his head of his former victims. He set out by murdering ex-Legionnaire Blok. He expected this would cause the remaining Legion members to gather on Shanghalla for the funeral, where he could take them out with one bomb. They instead gathered on Winath, so he attacked them there, critically wounding Chameleon Boy, and injuring several others before being forced to flee. He was eventually tracked down by a team lead by Element Lad and returned to prison. He then provided key evidence that Earthgov was run by the Dominators, which started the next story arc of freeing Earth from their control. In many ways his actions brought about the very thing he was hired to prevent, as the Legion reformed. [via Wikipedia]



Previously:
2009: Captain Frake
2008: Dynamo Boy

Talk Like a Pirate Day 2009: Captain Frake

Captain Alisia Frake of New Tartuga [Note: this entry spells it this way, while 2008's Pirate spotlight on Dynamo Boy spells it "Tortuga"]

From Who's Who in the LSH #1:

Growing up amidst the poverty and lawlessness of New Tartuga led Alisia into the most common profession of the asteroid world: piracy. Quickly gaining a reputation for her ruthlessness, she manned the pirate ship "Antares" with cutthroats and led a successful pirating career until she crossed the path of Ultra Boy, who was floating through space after being thought killed by Pulsar Stargrave. Captain Frake fell for Ultra Boy, but he turned against her when the Legionnaires arrived on New Tartuga to arrest the pirates. Captain Frake and her crew were killed when the blast from a weapon called the Star Crusher ricocheted off Ultra Boy.

Talk Like a Pirate Day 2008: Dynamo Boy

Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. This year's pirate honoree is Dynamo Boy, aka Vorm of New Tortuga.

From Who's Who in the LSH #2:

One of the children born to pirate inhabitants of New Tortuga, Vorm enjoyed the exciting, dangerous life there and learned pirate ways quickly. When the pirates' leader asked for a young volunteer to infiltrate the Legion, Vorm stepped forward and killed an opponent to win the "honor". The pirates gave him a hidden belt device with which he simulated special energy-wielding powers in front of Star Boy, who was impressed enough to bring him to the next Legion tryouts. Dynamo Boy passed all tests quickly and gained membership, then proceeded to secretly sabotage all his teammates during ensuing missions and use loopholes in the Legion Constitution to have them expelled. Eventually, Vorm ended up being the only Legionnaire left. Holding tryouts for new members, he screened all applicants to find those whom he might possibly corrupt to his own ends, butg he had no luck until three adults claiming to be Cosmic King, Saturn Queen, and Lightning Lord of the Legion of Super-Villains showed up and offered their serves. The four "Legionnaires" posed as heroes in public, covering their private thievery.

Vorm returned to New Tortuga to report his success and ended up killing the pirate leader in order to establish his supremacy on his own home planet. However, when he returned to Earth, he walked into an LSV trap which sent him off irretrievably into Earth's far future. Once he was gone, the super-villains were defeated by the Legionnaires, who had returned to Earth once they had become aware of Vorm's sinister motives. All expelled members were readmitted. Vorm has not been seen since.

First (and only appearance): ADV 330-331, and he didn't even make the cover of either.

See for yourself:

• Paul & John Review Dynamo Boy
  
• The Silver Age Legion (ADV 330 and ADV 331)
  
• The Comic Treadmill (ADV 330 and ADV 331)

Ambush Bug

Once upon a time, back when comics were fun, Keith Giffen co-created Ambush Bug in the pages of DC Comics Presents. He showed up first in issue 52 and then again in issue 59, the infamous Superman/Legion of Substitute Heroes teamup. If you've never read it, stop what you're doing right now and go to your local comic shop and buy it, then read it. Or read it in the store, if they don't mind.

OK, so now you've read one of the best Legion stories ever. Levitz and Giffen at their peak. And really funny - who knew? That's the issue in which the Subs became a joke, by the way, which wasn't really fair to them, but they're fictional characters so they didn't protest too much.

Ambush Bug appeared in several of his own miniseries and specials in the 1980s, and the Legion had some odd cameos (because of Giffen).

For example, who can forget Julie Lad, from "Ambush Bug Nothing Special" (1992) (as seen here with R.J. Brande and Cosmic Boy)?


Over at the Legion Wiki, you can find a list of the Ambush Bug stories that the Legion has been somehow involved in, whether it's Bug talking to Paul Levitz, the Super-Pets, or the SW6 Legionnaires.

But now, Ambush Bug is coming back this summer, where Giffen promises to poke fun at all of DC's crossovers. I think somewhere in here we'll find that Bug is responsible for all the Legion reboots. It may even guest star Dark Proty, who makes his debut in an upcoming DC Nation page (sneak peek at the page on DC Nation's Myspace page).

Talk Like a Pirate Day! Aaarrrr!

I can't believe I missed "International Talk Like a Pirate Day" yesterday (Tuesday). I was already prepared for my Legion tie-in:

Good ol' Captain Frake. Too bad this was her only storyline, and I believe she's the only space pirate the Legion ever met.

Apparently by the 30th century, pirate-speak will have died out. Had this scene taken place in the early 21st century, it would have sounded something like this:

"No, gar! You're one o' me space pirates now -- and I order yo t' destroy the cursed Legion, and send 'em to Davy Jones' locker! Yaarrrr!"