S/LSH #34 review roundup

Hey, I've actually got another of these done, and it's out before the next week's comics are in! I've been lazy doing these reviews and holding on to articles: earlier tonight I got rid of over 100 links to reviews and news that have been sitting there since March. And I've still got tons more to get rid of, if only in a linkdump post.

Anyway, on to S/LSH #34, aka "the one that's just two issues away from Jim Shooter's debut". Did you notice that the cover was not the one that was solicited? You can even see it on the DC Nation page as the promo image.

What was solicited (even though the contents are mixed up):


What appeared:



Also, did you notice that Wildfire's "original" costume here was the post-Zero Hour version, while the costume he changed to was the classic Cockrum-designed outfit?

Not sure if Violet and Shady were being bloodthirsty. I'm hoping their body count referred to those that they knocked out (like with a boot to the head) rather than killed.

• From the Comic Book Revolution:
  

  Supergirl and the Legion of Super Heroes #34 was another great read. Bedard continues to impress me with his job as the interim writer on this title until Jim Shooter’s arrival with issue #37. Being the temporary writer is usually a thankless job and you rarely get much credit when shunted into that role. However, Bedard has made the most of his temporary status on this title and is delivering a well crafted story that displays a surprisingly good feel for the various characters in the Legion.
  
  Supergirl and the Legion of Super Heroes #34 was well plotted and paced. Bedard gives the reader an excellent balance of dialogue heavy scenes and fast paced action scenes. Bedard has constructed a tight story arc that is unfolding in a pleasant fashion.
  
  And it is a breath of fresh air to see characters outside of Supergirl kicking ass. Waid let Supergirl completely dominate and overshadow all of the Legionnaires. Superbarbie hogged all the action and made the rest of the Legionnaires look totally and completely irrelevant. Bedard doesn’t make that mistake.

  
  
• Dave's Unspoilt Capsules and Awards:
  

  Calero's art just got even farther from what I'd consider either good or
  appropriate to the feel of the story. Bedard does some jumping around with non-linear storytelling, plus some flashbacks to bring an old fan favorite back into the new timeline (well, a favorite of this fan), and seems to be striking a decent balance between respecting the old and putting a new spin on the character. Mostly a series of running fights, but an entertaining one. Recommended.

  
  
• The Legion Abstract:
  

  The cover is a surprise substitution that features a depiction of Timber Wolf so unsettlingly feral that I can't support it at all. Calero's art is so choppy in places that, after seeing the first page, I actually flipped back to the cover to make sure he was the listed artist for the comic.
  
  What does put me off is all this villainy among the good guys. We've got Wildfire as an assassin, the White Witch, Polar Boy, Inferno and Chlorophyll Kid in a new Legion of Super-Villains, and the Legion offering membership to Lightning Lord, Jeyra Entinn and the destroyers of Orando. Let's not forget that these are supposed to be superheroes.
  
  Which brings me to Bedard's characterization of Atom Girl. As written by Mark Waid, she had an undue amount of attitude, but was portrayed fairly realistically with it. Bedard is making her quite bloodthirsty and I can't say I like it at all.

  
  
• Silver Bullet Comic Books:
  

  I liked this issue slightly better than last time, but not a whole lot. I think I’m treading water waiting for Jim Shooter to take over with issue 37.
  
  While there was nothing blatantly offensive in this issue, its dark tone was a turn-off. The art once again seemed drenched in darkness. At least Calero is his own inker. I’d feel sorry for someone else if they had to add so many dark lines and blotches. For a Legion that’s fun for children, I’d point people towards Legion of Super Heroes in the 31st Century #6. I agree with Ray Tate’s review. That issue kicked ass. It told a tale of a Legion of Super-Heroes that was enjoyable and distinct, unlike this muddled mess we’re treading through now.

  
  
• Spot's World:
  

  Some of the most godawful ugly-ass art I've ever seen in comics is paired with a story with actual forward momentum. The only problem is, the art is so unbelievably atrocious, you hardly notice that there's even a plot.
  
  The search for Cos' continues, but we get a two-parter here starring the All-New, All-Different Wildfire. It's kind of interesting. I'm just not sure that I care any more.
  EH.

  
  
• Superman Homepage:
  

  The story itself was okay, but not spectacular. The main problem is that I don't believe ERG's motivation at all. His own narration of his tryout mission with the Legion tells us that he understood that Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl thought he died... yet his very next sentence accuses them of abandoning him. If you know they thought you were dead, how can you possibly feel they abandoned you? There's no real logic there.
  
  And even if that were the case, this suddenly makes you go from "trying to do something positive with your condition" to being an assassin for hire? Yeah, put it back on the shelf, because I'm not buying it.

  
  
• Major Spoilers:
  

  Make that THREE returns to form, with feral Timber Wolf back in the house as well [plus last issue's Tenzil and this issue's Wildfire]. After the care taken in the relaunch to make it clear that this is NOT the Legion we knew before, it seems like a lot of our LSHers are returning to a state much closer to their original pre-Crisis existences (which, honestly, suits me just fine.)
  
  This was another nice outing for the Legion, and Tony Bedard is getting really good at throwing in real bad mofo moments for characters old and new. The art, as I mentioned, isn’t working for me nearly as well as it did last time around, seeming a lot more haphazard and scratchy in the application of the inks, but still nice work. The pacing problems I noticed last issue are working themselves out, and all in all, it’s a well-done piece, with nice character from all four of the Legionnaires in the issue (and, yes, I’m counting Wildfire.) I’m still hoping beyond hope that Tenzil and Drake are welcomed back into the League again, and that we get to see more touches like these before we hit the upcoming Shooter epic. Supergirl & The Legion of Super-Heroes #34 earns a nicely done 3.5 out of 5 stars, with one full half-star going entirely to the return of Wildfire...

  
  
• Radio Free Metropolis:
  

  Not even my bias for the Legion could make me like this. [Dennis] Calero ruins the book with his over rendered and muddy artwork and Tony Bedard ruins The Legion by first making Timber Wolf, Shrinking Violet and Shadow Lass into essentially one-note characters obsessed with body counts and then he ruins Wildfire by making him into a villain - seemingly for the sake of change and being different - which wouldn’t even be that bad, but the issue itself is such a hack job that nothing could save it despite the flawed characterization and the bad dialogue. Sadly....CRAP! I can’t freaking wait for Jim Shooter to start his run on this book.

  
  
• Blake at ComiXtreme:
  

  Longtime fans of the Legion will appreciate this little nod to the past, as E.R.G.-1 was, of course, the original name of the popular and long-missed Wildfire. If this is the storyline that brings him back as a full-time member, it just got 150 percent cooler than it already was, and I already liked it quite a lot. Denis Calero is doing something a little different with the art this issue. While his style is usually very clean, very polished, he's taking a rougher approach here, with more detail lines and fewer smooth edges, fitting the harsher tone of the issue. It doesn't look quite as good as it did before, but it's still pretty good and very much fits the story. Bedard may just be filling in until Jim Shooter takes over the book, but he's doing a spectacular job.
  Rating: 4/5

  
  

"Cry Wolf" preview images (updated)

Updated Friday: added three new pictures. Looks like Cosmic Boy's out of the hospital, where he was last episode.

---

It's Tuesday, the day Warner Bros. Animation's publicity department sends out teaser images and a preview of the next week's episodes. So here's LSH episode 2.03, "Cry Wolf".

After being convicted for a deadly attack on his father, Timber Wolf must escape Legion custody and track down the real assassin, while being both hunted and aided by various teammates. It¹s up to Chameleon Boy and Phantom Girl to help Timber Wolf clear his name and discover the truth.

Episode 2.02: Man from the Edge of Tomorrow (part 2)

Wow, a lot happened in that episode! I'm kind of disappointed that Saturn Girl is out for a while. Rumor has it that she was removed due to focus group testing, but I'll see if I can dig that one up. But I've always loved the huge "everybody fight" scenes - although we didn't see everyone, there were 19 Legionnaires (every single one that we saw last season, plus Chameleon Boy who recently joined, and plus Superman-X) and 11 villains.

Cosmic Boy's not out for good, remember that Wil Wheaton did voices for several episodes, and there's a clip in the opening sequence that's not from either of these two episodes so far.

Here's a quote that Superman said to his clone. Can you tell who he's talking about?

"I know we're supposed to be related, but you remind me more of a friend of mine. Strong-willed, a bit of a loner, and when the time came for him to be part of a team, he resisted, and while he never liked it, he'll tell you he did far more good as a member of that group than he ever could alone. It just took learning how to compromise."

Alexis Luthor escaped, by the way, and wasn't recaptured. She was shown with the other villains leaving their cells.

Lightning Lord wasn't in this episode, I guess he left the Light Speed Vanguard/Legion of Super-Villains. There's a lightning-related episode coming up in two weeks, I expect to see Mekt there (and hopefully Ayla too).

Here's your Legion Wiki link and your regular-def torrent (doesn't look like they're doing the hi-def ones yet).

As for the torrents, they seem to be in different formats this time. One is formatted in .mkv which is a new open-source format, but it needs either new codecs or a new player. You may need a new video player called VLC (which is free). Read about .mkv files here. The other one is when the file is compressed and broken into chunks, you need to combine the chunks before you extract the file. These are in .rar compression. I don't know what decoders other than WinRAR work, but it's fairly easy. Then, once you "un-RAR" them, I don't know what format the file is in. Here's the MiniNova page where you can find all of the torrents for this and last season.

I'm sorry that the torrenting is not as easy as it was last season!

On to some reviews:

• Legion Abstract:
  

  I wonder if there's something about the process of writing for television that forces the writers more rigourously to build or portray scenes which should logically happen, in a way that comic books can get away with not doing. Comic books, for instance, never gave us anything like the Brainiac-Superman friendship that exists in this series, despite that many of its ingredients were always there to be used. This episode's example: Matter-Eater Lad chomping into the Emerald Eye like it's a big cocktail onion. Why did that never happen in the comic book? It's perfect!
  
  One thing I did not like. This whole subplot with Lightning Lad going all Charles Bronson on Esper because she put Saturn Girl in the hospital? Trite. We have seen this a thousand times before. And it always ends the same way. "If you kill her, you'll be as bad as they are!" Except, in this case, Phantom Girl's exact words were, "She wouldn't want you to go down this path." What, are we lost in the woods here? Eesh. I could have done without that whole thing. We need a moratorium on this particular plot element.

  
  
• Adventures in Comic Book Land:
  

  Legion of Super-Heroes was, as usual, awesome. There was some crazy drama. Triplicate Girl is now Duo Damsel because last week, she lost one of her bodies in the future. She might get it back, she might not; either way it’s good story-telling. It’s been good to see Matter-Eater Lad pulling his weight and chewing on random objects again. That’s what he does and he should be doing it. He chowed down on the Emerald Eye of Ekron and fried his brain, but Matter-Eater Lad was never relied upon for his keen intellectual skills.
  
  Lightning Lad and 41st Century Superman should start an angst club, they can sit around plotting overtly-violent vengeance that they’ll never truly seek out. I think it would be nice from both of them to have a group like that.

  
  
• Bradygirl12:
  

  Green-eyed Superman is learning. The poor guy has only known fighting his entire life, though we saw his grief over his robot parents being destroyed in the first episode. While coming back to save the Legion on the prison planet was no doubt inspired by his need of allies against Imperius, I do believe he was also doing the right thing, even if he couldn’t admit it to himself.
  
  IMO, the Legion was a better episode this week with hope mixed in with all the death and destruction. Looking forward to next week!

  
  
• Also, some discussion over at LegionWorld, ToonZone and Television Without Pity boards.
  

I'm sure I missed some, please point them out to me if you see any more.

Trivia Quiz #16

It's the first Monday of the month, and you know what that means: time for some Legion trivia. This month's theme: a look at the Legionnaires over the years. Membership has its privileges.

1. Who had been a member of any super-villain team prior to joining the Legion? I'm talking out-and-out villainy, not just a group of misguided youths.

2. When Lex Luthor's descendant Lex Luthor joined the Adult Legion, what power(s) did he possess?

3. What is the full name of the current Princess Projectra?

4. Which three Legionnaires were not re-created as members of the SW6 Batch? And why not?

5. What do Jimmy Olsen, Rond Vidar, Mon-El, and Green Lantern (John Stewart) have in common in relation to the Legion?

6. At what point in Legion chronology did Anti-Lad join the Legion?

7. Who were the members when the Legion finally disbanded in the wake of Black Dawn?

---

Special bonus questions (which don't count in the standings):

The Legion animated show is starting in Italy today (Monday). According to a couple of readers, the Legionnaires in Italy keep the same English names. But in some countries, the names are translated. See if you can figure out who these guys are (but if you're already familiar with them from reading their comics, please don't answer):

• In Germany, some members of the Legion der Superhelden are Winzwanda, Federleicht, and Sternschwinge.
  
• In Brazil, some members of the Legião dos Super-Heróis are Rapaz Saltador, Moça dos Sonhos, and Vésper.
  
• In Sweden, some members of the Rymdens hjältar are Osynlige pojken, Viktflickan, and Vargen.
  
• In Finland, some members of the Superlegioona are Salamapoika, Terästyttö, and Aavetyttö.

Legion on SKY TV in Italy

According to SKY Guida TV, the Legion show apparently premieres season 1 in Italy on SKY's Cartoon Network(s), channels 606 and 607, on October 1st.

If any Italian readers watch the show, please comment here about how it looks and sounds (dubbed with new voices? subtitled?).

Un gruppo di supereroi torna indietro nel tempo con l’obiettivo di convincere Superman ad unirsi alla loro lotta per mantenere la pace nel mondo. Così, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Brainiac 5, Phantom Girl, Bouncing Boy e Timber Wolf si avventurano in questo viaggio, ma qualcosa va storto... il gruppo scopre di essere tornato troppo indietro nel tempo!

Superman, infatti, é ancora giovanissimo. Nonostante ciò accetta con entusiasmo di unirsi a loro per difendere i diritti del mondo libero.

In ogni episodio, i mitici eroi si ritroveranno ad affrontare nuove minacce provenienti da altri mondi, nemici e avversari che mettono a dura prova la squadra.

Here's the Google machine translation:

A group of superheroes behind returns in the time with the objective to convince Superman to join to their fight in order to maintain the peace in the world. Therefore, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Brainiac 5, Phantom Girl, Bouncing Boy and Timber Wolf are taken risks in this travel, but something goes storto… the group discovers too much of being returned behind in the time!

The Superman, in fact, é still young. In spite of that chip ax with enthusiasm to join to they in order to defend the rights of the free world.

In every episode, the mythical heroes will find again themselves to face new coming from threats from other worlds, enemies and adversaries who put to hard try the square.

Here's another story via divertimento.it, which gives pretty much the same information.

Another Adventure #247 on eBay

There's another coverless copy of Adventure 247 for sale on eBay.

It's all there but the cover! The first wrap is barely hanging on to only the bottom staple. There is also some light chew/bug damage to the top edge. The pages are flat and tight and TAN in color with no brittleness or flaking. This is a great chance to get a key book at a bargain price, don't miss it!

It's currently at $52.00 (plus $3.50 shipping). Happy bidding!

Episode 2.02 pictures

Warner Bros. Animation has seen fit to include me on their list of promotional mailings for the Legion cartoon. Here's the last batch of pictures for episode 2.02 (some of which you've seen elsewhere, I just wasn't able to get them up until now, the rest are new).

FYI: There will be new episodes of both series airing on 10/6 and 10/13. For the near future, synopses will be released on a weekly basis -- generally on Monday with images previewing the coming week's episode.

And thus ... The synopses for this weekend:

"Legion of Super Heroes" concludes its two-part season premiere, entitled "The Man From The Edge Of Tomorrow," on September 29 at 11:00 a.m. ET/PT as part of the Kids' WB! Lineup on The CW Network. In the episode, the Legion has returned from the 41st century with Kell-El, a genetically-enhanced Superman clone. But Imperiex, the destroyer of galaxies, has reached the 31st century first -- and unleashed all of the Legion's greatest enemies. To restore order and combat this near-invincible foe, the Legion will once again turn to the past for help in the form of an older, more mature Superman with far greater grasp of his powers.

New pics for today:










Then the others you may have already seen elsewhere:

Legion TV schedule Oct. 2007

Check the KidsWB page for videos and pictures.

Here are the airdates and episodes for the Legion show for Oct. 2007, via SFTV:

Sept. 29 - episode 2.02 NEW "The Man From The Edge of Tomorrow, part 2"
Oct. 06 - episode 2.03 NEW "Cry Wolf"
Oct. 13 - episode 2.04 NEW "Chained Lightning"
Oct. 20 - episode 2.02 "The Man From The Edge of Tomorrow, part 2" (2nd airing) - last aired 9/29/07
Oct. 27 - TBD

Previously: all the other schedules

Episode reviews:
1.01 "Man of Tomorrow" (4 airings, last 07/07/07)
1.02 "Timber Wolf" (8 airings, last 09/08/07)
1.03 "Legacy" (3 airings, last 06/09/07)
1.04 "Fear Factory" (4 airings, last 06/16/07)
1.05 "Champions" (4 airings, last 06/23/07)
1.06 "Phantoms" (4 airings, last 07/14/07)
1.07 "Child's Play" (4 airings, last 06/30/07)
1.08 "Lightning Storm" (4 airings, last 07/28/07)
1.09 "Brain Drain" (5 airings, last 09/01/07)
1.10 "The Substitutes" (4 airings, last 08/18/07)
1.11 "Chain of Command" (4 airings, last 08/25/07)
1.12 "Sundown, part 1" (3 airings, last 09/15/07)
1.13 "Sundown, part 2" (3 airings, last 09/15/07)
2.01 "Man from the Edge of Tomorrow part 1" (1 airing, last 09/22/07)

Geek stuff

About a year and a half ago, when my readership was still fairly small, I posted this entry about how some people have Legion-related stuff in their "real" lives.

For example:

• my desktop is named after the LSH-HQ
  
• my laptop is called Computo (a sentient computer in the HQ)
  
• my network is called Sleepnet (the network that links the computer minds on Colu)
  
• my wireless router is the Legion Outpost (a base which helps connect faraway Legionnaires)
  
• my cell phone and old Palm PDA are both called the Omnicom (the everpresent and ubiquitous communications device in the future)

In the comments of the original article, Scott mentions the names of his computer and other electronic devices as well as other artifacts around the home. Other people have tattoos (Wildfire and Dawnstar here, the Legion "L" logo here; hey Jim, do you have pictures of yours online yet?) - not me, I'm too much of a wuss, and I hate needles (and pain).

What do you have?

Superboy lawsuit update, Sept. edition

Jeff Trexler at Trexfiles has the latest update on the Superboy lawsuit. The last time we were here, the judge had overturned a 2006 ruling that said the Siegels had recaptured the rights to Superboy. He wanted more information from each side (the Siegels and DC/Warners) that showed whether the original Superboy pitch from the early 1940s was or was not derivative (under the law) of Superman, which would determine whether or not there were any copyrightable elements in the original pitch - and thus whether there were any copyrights to recapture to begin with.

It happens that the judge in the Superboy case is also the judge in a separate case the Siegels have against DC/Warners regarding the rights to Superman himself. In a nutshell, changes to copyright laws over the years have allowed the original copyright owners (Siegel and Shuster) to regain the copyrights in certain cases (see this Newsarama series of articles on the Superman matter). That's an interesting case in itself, and hinges on a lot of the same copyright law, but outside the scope of the Legion Omnicom.

Anyway, the judge heard from both sides in both cases on Sept. 17 about various legal items, and ordered that (among other things) the trial date for the Superman lawsuit will start on January 28, 2008, and the date for the Superboy suit will be some time after that. So barring any pre-trial settlements, I don't expect to have anything new for a while.

More animated news from Wizard

Wizard Magazine has an interview with Legion series producer James Tucker and director Brandon Vietti. Some highlights:

• "There will be episodes where it’s just Season 1 Superman and there’ll be episodes where it’s future Superman, and some episodes will have both of them."
  
  
• "We really needed a big villain. And in the second season, doing Darkseid would’ve been too soon after “Justice League” for me because we just got through doing it in the last season. But I thought we needed someone like that. Someone with that potential and size too. ... I remembered Imperiex from the “Our Worlds at War” miniseries and I thought he had a visual I could play with. He’s pretty much a blank slate; I mean, nobody’s going to care if I change Imperiex around a little bit. But to do Darkseid this soon and you can’t do full on Darkseid for Kids’ WB, I don’t think? I’m not sure; we’ll see if we get to do that because that’s definitely on the plate for potential future seasons."
  
  
• "Nemesis Kid is going to be joining the Legion. There will be an appearance of the White Witch. Also Karate Kid, Dawnstar, Invisible Kid and Chemical King. Some of these characters wont be getting speaking roles, they’ll just be Easter eggs."
  
  
• "Ferro Lad is dead. He indeed did die."
  
  
• The first season was inspired by the Silver Age, while season 2 was inspired by Jim Shooter’s 1960's work. If there is a third season, it may be inspired by Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen’s work.
  
  
• " When we started the first season I couldn’t conceive of doing “Great Darkness Saga” in the format of the show then, innocent and young-skewing. We’re still young-skewing, but this second season we’re a little deeper into the storyline. The characters are more established and they’re a little older. I can see us doing “Great Darkness Saga” with this set of characters the way they are now. So yeah, definitely. People get upset when I say I reboot every season but that’s a trait from the Legion. You have to change things. So I’d like to move further along with it next season should that happen. And yeah, touch on some of the later runs of Legion and definitely the “Great Darkness Saga” if that’s possible."

Episode 2.01: Man from the Edge of Tomorrow (part 1)

So the long wait is over, Season 2 of "Legion of Super Heroes" premiered today.

I was concerned when I learned that for some reason, they did a housecleaning on the staff in the off-season: co-Producer Linda Steiner, Associate Producer A. J. Vargas, Story Editor Rob Hoegee, all three directors (Ben Jones, Tim Maltby, Lauren Montgomery), casting and voice director Kelly Ward, and probably others. The only top guy left is Producer James Tucker.

I don't have a clue what happened behind the scenes. We had what was apparently a high-rated show, with a high-profile toy tie-in at McDonalds... and not only do you clean house of the staff but you darken the series and jump a couple years in the future? What's up with that?

TiVoing through the opening credits, almost all of the footage was from this episode (with a bit from the next). At the very end during the roll call, there was a blink-and-you-miss-it shot of Karate Kid in his Grell-era costume. Based on the spotlighted characters in the credits, the core team this season will be Brainiac 5, Lightning Lad, Timber Wolf, Phantom Girl, Bouncing Boy, Duo Damsel, and Chameleon Boy (plus, of course, both Supermen). Shockingly, Saturn Girl doesn't look like a main character this season - she was only seen briefly in the opening credits.

Given all that - I thought the episode was pretty cool. Good story by new Story Editor Michael Jelenic; the fight scenes were unbelievable, some interesting storylines to be developed (what happens to Brainiac 5 in his future?). The red anti-matter bubbles are right out of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, and I was shocked to see Lu-White get Kid Psycho'd - I sure expected Computo to be responsible for that. I was disappointed to not see Bouncing Boy (outside of that cameo), Saturn Girl, or Phantom Girl, though.

So that leaves Kell-El/Superman-X in the 31st century, the last survivor from his home world/timeline; Triplicate Girl reduced to Duo Damsel (according to the credits); and we're waiting for the return of Superman.

LegionWiki link to the episode here, and here's the discussion at TV.com.

I've got your regular-def torrent right here, but nothing yet on the high-def one.

Reviews:

• The Legion Abstract:
  

  Why another Superman? I just don't get why this is something that they want to do. I mean, I know that the real Superman is going to show up at some point, but I don't get what they want Superman-X around for. I don't get why this is something they want to explore. We've had the naive inexperienced Superman, now... a pragmatic warrior Superman? Perhaps it will become clearer later.
  
  It all adds up to quite an intriguing and energetic season premiere. It's all very well done, but I'm unsure about the overall direction. Some of these new developments seem a little too extreme and proactive and totally in my face. We'll see.
  
  Promo images, the opening sequence, and the cast of this episode suggest that Bouncing Boy, Phantom Girl and especially Saturn Girl are going to play a reduced role this season. This sort of goes along with that thing I read, I assume on the Legion Omnicom, about how a focus group of eight-year-old boys advised the show's creators that there were too many female characters. To which I say, shove it, eight-year-old boys; Saturn Girl's awesome.

  
  I don't think I wrote about the focus groups here, that must have been somewhere else.
  
  
• Some discussion over at J. Torres' forum on Comicbloc. He says that the "Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century" picks up with the new season starting in issue 11.
  
  
• The Superman Homepage:
  

  So many of these Legion episodes focus on a small handful of the members, and that's the way it has to be on a team with so many people. But when you tell a story that plays up the threat THIS big, how can you not bring the entire team in on it? They wouldn't have even needed lines, but they should have been there, going through the portal and whupping some Imperiex drone behind. It would have been impressive, it would have leant a lot of credence to the threat level of Imperiex and it would have made logical story sense. "We need reinforcements! We need the Legion!" Well, Superman X, why didn't you get them then? Five people does not a "legion" make. They could use many team members for a Sun Eater, but not for this?
  
  I don't buy it.
  
  Off to a decent start, and I'm enjoying the more mature angle to the story (even if Chameleon is full of one-liners... that will at least keep the youngest of watchers amused), but still lacking some story elements that would really take it to the next level.

  
  
• Commentary over at Toon Zone.
  
  

More season 2 pictures

Warner Bros. Animation sent me the following pictures for this weekend's show. I note that Phantom Girl has a new costume, reminiscent of her post-Zero Hour outfit.

Season 2 premieres next week

Check your local listings to see what time next week's season premiere starts. Here's a press release I got from Warner Bros. Animation, with some new images. I note that these images are 16x9 instead of 4x3 so maybe season 2 will be presented in widescreen.

(But first, if I may: I've always disliked "LOSH" as the abbreviation, it should be "LSH". And I also dislike that they call the plural of "Superman", "Supermans" instead of "Supermen". But I digress.)

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"Legion of Super Heroes" premieres September 22 at 11:00 a.m. ET/PT as part
of the Kids' WB! Lineup on The CW Network with a two-part episode entitled
"The Man From the Edge of Tomorrow" (the finale airs Sept. 29). In the
episode, we learn that in the 41st century, the universe will be terrorized
by a warrior named Imperiex. The only person standing in the way of his
plans for domination is a clone of the original Superman. But unable to
defeat Imperiex and his vast army alone, the clone travels to the 31st
century to recruit history's greatest super hero team, the Legion, to help
fight this threat.




LEGION OF SUPER HEROES: 2007-2008


Wizard Magazine, the industry standard for measuring the fanboy¹s pulse,
hailed Legion of Super Heroes as the 2006-2007 season¹s "Best Animated
Series." So how do you go higher when you¹re already at the top?

You add more - of everything. You go big - and then go bigger.
You take "super" and double it.

Start with a second Superman, add an incomprehensibly undefeatable nemesis,
then toss in endearing new cast members in over-the-top adventures and you
have the recipe for the highly-anticipated second season of Legion of Super
Heroes.

The new campaign of LOSH finds the group fulfilling their collective
destiny, each member elevating his skills to new levels - just in time to
face even greater challenges. In an ironic turn of déjà vu, Future Superman
(a clone who goes by the name "Kell-El") arrives to recruit the Legion to
travel to the 41st century to help defeat Imperiex, a destroyer of galaxies
from the rich annals of DC Comics. But Imperiex turns the tables on the
gang, traveling back to the 31st century to crush the Legion¹s headquarters
and free all of the LOSH¹s deadliest enemies, thus creating an army of super
villains.





While occasionally criss-crossing centuries, the focal point of LOSH Season
2 is on the two Supermans and their attempts to end the reign of terror
brought on by Imperiex. As opposed to his formative days during the first
season, Superman has returned from the 21st century far better developed
with greater physical prowess and utilization of his powers. Kell-El is
actually a clone of Superman, however Kell-El has been created using
Superman¹s DNA along with alien DNA -­ thus forming a new Superman with
exciting new powers -­ and a different form of weakness.



Along the way, the LOSH provides the perfect complement of heroics and
comedy to the efforts of the Supermans. The Legion members' journey include
the discovery of old and lost relatives ­ with imperiled results. The LOSH
even expands (and sometimes contracts) during the new season, most notably
with the addition of an intriguing new Legion member, Chameleon Boy.







Renowned voice actor Yuri Lowenthal draws double duty in LOSH Season 2 as
the voice of both Classic and Future Superman. His villainous foil,
Imperiex, is blessed with the vocal stylings of sci-fi veteran Phil Morris,
most recently seen as Martian Manhunter on "Smallville." An admitted comic
book fanatic, Morris' credits range from a notable turn on "Seinfeld" and
frequent guest roles across primetime television ("CSI: Miami," "NCIS,"
"Will & Grace," "JAG") to constant voice work in feature film and
television animation. Alex Polinsky ("Charles in Charge") continues to
expand his career into animation voiceovers as the newest member of LOSH,
Chameleon Boy.



Two Supermans. One incredible villain. All new adventures for a popular band
of heroes. The "best" is getting better.

We can be Heroes, just for one day

I love the TV show "Heroes", about people with super-powers but no costumes or code names. (The season premiere is in about a week!). I took the names of all of the characters, plus their powers, and tried to match them to characters in the Legion multiverse. I matched a lot of them (some closer than others) but some didn't seem to have a Legion-related analogue - the Haitian, for example, is good at both wiping memories and damping powers, and Linderman can heal others with a touch, neither of whom I recall having a counterpart.

The main bad guy, Sylar, absorbs powers from others by an unknown means which appears to have something to do with taking their brain out of their head. One of the main good guys, Peter, absorbs powers from others just from proximity, and retains those powers (whether he realizes that he has them or not) with no ill effects to the original power holder. In the list below, Sylar's powers are marked with a #, while Peter's powers (which include all of Sylar's, since they met) are marked with a *.

The main cast
*Claire Bennett (self-healing/regeneration) - ???
*Nikki/Jessica Hawkins (strength) - Superboy/Mon-el/Supergirl/Andromeda/Ultra Boy (partial)
*DL Hawkins (intangibility) - Phantom Girl
*Micah Hawkins (technopathy) - Computo
*#Isaac Mendez (precognition) - Dream Girl
*Hiro Nakamura (time/space) - Infinite Man
*Matt Parkman (telepathy) - Saturn Girl
*Nathan Petrelli (flight) - Superboy/Mon-el/Supergirl/Andromeda/Ultra Boy (partial)
Peter Petrelli (duplicate another's power after he's been nearby, but can only use one power at a time) - Absorbancy Boy + Ultra Boy
*Sylar (steal powers) - Duplicate Boy

Everyone else
Charlene "Charlie" Andrews (eidetic memory) - Brainiac 5
*Claude (invisibility) - Invisible Kid
*#Brian Davis (telekinesis) - Tellus
*Charles Deveaux (dreaming) - Dream Girl
Hana "Wireless" Gitelman (internet) - Computo
Meredith Gordon (pyrokinesis) - Sun Boy
Haitian (memory erase, power damper?) - ???
Sanjog Iyer (can enter dreams) - ???
Linderman (healing touch) - ???
*Eden McCain (persuasion) - ???
*#Dale Smither (super-hearing) - Superboy/Mon-el/Supergirl/Andromeda (partial)
*Ted Sprague (radiation) - Radiation Roy
*Molly Walker (tracking) - Dawnstar
Candice Wilmer (illusion) - Princess Projectra
*#Zane Taylor (molecular manipulation) - Element Lad, Chameleon Chief
*#TBD (cold) - Polar Boy
*#TBD (unknown) //Sylar killed 6 before we met him, but we've only seen two of those powers)
*#TBD (unknown)
*#TBD (unknown)
*#TBD (unknown)

* = power of Nathan's via proximity
# = power of Sylar's via TBD

"Far from Home" this Friday night

This Friday night on the Boomerang network (channel 297 on DirecTV, check your local listings) they're rerunning the "Far From Home" episode of Justice League Unlimited. That's the one where Supergirl, Green Arrow, and Green Lantern go to the future and meet the Legion (originally broadcast in the US in April 2006). Here are my original posts on the episode, with screencaps starting here.

Adventure #247 for sale on eBay

Someone (not me) has a copy of Adventure 247 for sale on eBay. Here's the description:

Here is Adventure Comics # 247, April 1958 featuring Superboy and the first appearance of the Legion of Super-heroes from the 30th century. This comic is coverless and the bottom staple is loose from the first page. Someone used a pen on Cosmic Boy's feet and just about wore through the first page. The coupon is cut out of the last page, and the center page with the first page of the Green Arrow story has been ripped in half. The person with the pen wore through the peoples faces on the half that remains. The Little Pete page is good yet, but it might as well be missing the center page. Superboy and Aquaman storys are complete and book has slightly yellowed pages.

With just a $19.99 opening bid, based on the description I wouldn't think this should go for more than $100. From the description, I'd guess it's somewhere between Fair and Poor (and Near Mint is somewhere around $9000 in Overstreet, if any exist).

I bought my copy last year - it was coverless and missing the first wraparound (pages 1, 2, 31, and 32) and the centerfold was detached - for about $35. I bought it so that my other copy, which was missing the centerfold altogether.

Happy bidding!

Baltimore Comic Con '07, day 2

Here's the Baltimore Comic Con, day 2. The held the DC Universe panel, which ran the full 1:45, yet Jim Shooter was on the panel. Sounds like the Shooter panel was folded into the DC one, unless Shooter left early.

12:00-1:45 DC Universe
The crisis is over, isn’t it? Or is this just the beginning with the DCU counting down and the Monitors watching closely? Come catch-up, have your questions answered, and learn what lies ahead for the DCU in this slide show presentation and Q&A moderated by Dan DiDio, Senior VP/Executive Editor DCU, and Bob Wayne, VP – Sales, with a bevy of special guests!

Via Newsarama:

• Shooter talked about his run on the Legion, pointing out that he started writing Legion 42 years ago, and the last time he wrote the characters was 30 years ago. "That's got to be some kind of record," he said. Shooter said the series will be keeping the continuity that has been built during
  
  Shooter said the run will start with an epic 16-issue story -- pointing out that of course there will be smaller stories within the larger story. "The two main villains are Geoff Johns and Brad Meltzer, who are stealing the Legion," he joked. He said he's enjoying revisiting the characters, but is coming up with "new and different stuff" as well. "The Legionnaires are all about defending life, so I like the idea of them going out and doing that," he said, adding that comics characters have a "tendency to hang around the HQ until somebody attacks you," and he wants them to go out and make things happen.
  
  Waid said he's thrilled that Shooter is taking over the version of the Legion that he began, adding that he had wanted -- way back when he was doing Action Comics Weekly -- to have Shooter do a Legion Academy comic for DC, but it never happened. "If I'm going to pass the baton to anybody, there's nobody I'd rather pass it to," Waid said.
  
  
• Can Shooter speak to him owning the Legion characters because he wrote his first Legion issues when he was 13 years old? Shooter said he knew what he was doing when he signed the characters over -- he knew DC would own them. He said he was told, when he was writing for Marvel, that he could actually sue DC for ownership because he was not an adult when he signed over the characters -- and there had been no contact with his parents by DC. "I thought about it," he said. "And I said, 'No. I knew what I was doing at the time'" Shooter said it would be "dishonorable to backtrack on that deal."
  
  Didio joked, "Is somebody taping this, please?"
  
  Shooter said he later found out that Ditko was underage when he signed over Spider-Man. "If it's good enough for Steve, it's good enough for me."
  
  
• How does it feel to write something that you have to hand off to other people? Shooter: "You have to learn to let it go, and I've had to many times," he said, adding that even though things change, they're still the same basic concepts. "When they asked me to come back to Legion, they had changed the characters, but the basic characters, my stuff was still there." Waid: "You're contributing to a larger mythology, and you can't be selfish about that."
  
  
• Are Justice League Unlimited and Teen Titans Go gone because of the new kids line for Johnny DC? Didio: JLU will run to the middle of next year at least. "If sales support the number of kids books out there, we'll keep them out there. Those books were built to support television series that are no longer creating new material." He added that Legion of Super-Heroes will continue because the series is still out there.

1:00-1:50 Spotlight on Jim Shooter
From his first work on Legion of Super-Heroes at age 13 to serving as Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics to founding Valiant, Defiant and Broadway, Jim Shooter has been a force to be reckoned with in comics. After years of little involvement with the industry, he has reentered the field with renewed vigor. His new firm, Illustrated Media, produces custom comics, and he’ll have at least one big project announced this weekend. Come hear what’s going on with this comics legend.

Trivia #15 answers

Ack, I should have posted this on Friday. I'm only a couple days late this time, not a while week. So this month's trivia quiz theme was Bring On the Bad Guys!, questions about the Legion's villains.

1. Who were the different Luthors who appeared in the 30th century?

We all agree on teenage Lex (time travelling from the 20th century) and Alexa (from the cartoon). I could have sworn that the Adult Lex made a trip too, but maybe I'm confusing the LSV stories where they came back to his time.

2. Although it wasn't revealed until years later in a retcon, this Legion villain first appeared as a Wonder Woman villain, though not under their more famous name. What was this villain's original name, what are they more famously known as, and where was it revealed that the Wonder Woman villain is the same as the Legion villain?

I thought for sure nobody would get this one, but as usual I was wrong. In "Wonder Woman" #101 (Oct. 1959), she fights a one-shot villain named the Time Master (recently reprinted in the Wonder Woman Showcase TPB). A couple of decades later, the Time Trapper appeared a few times in the pages of "Super Friends", based on the cartoon. In the letters page in issue 17, it was revealed that the Time Trapper once fought Wonder Woman as "Ty M. Master, the Time Master".

3. B.I.O.N. was a Dominator-created android based on Computo and with the powers of the SW6 LSH (kind of like a cross between the Composite Superman and Amazo). What did B.I.O.N. stand for?

Biological Intelligence Organic Nexus.

4. When the Legion of Super-Villains appeared in the first story arc of V3 (where Nemesis Kid kills Karate Kid), which member(s) of the LSV had never been seen before?

I had only thought of two, but you reminded me of a third. Cosmic King had always appeared before this with the LSV as an adult, so this is the first appearance of his teenage counterpart. The Adult LSV was revealed to be from an alternate future. The other two were Terrus and Zymyr (who nobody got - yay me!).

5. During the 1980s, the Legion starred in a 4-part role-playing game from Mayfair Games. Each game module had a title that was part of a theme. What was the theme, and who was the main villain?

The theme was Chess and the villain was the Time Trapper. The four game modules were titled "Pawns of Time", "Knight to Planet 3", "Mad Rook's Gambit", and "King for All Time". You may recall the original Legion sourcebooks from Mayfair, one for the characters and one for the worlds - this is what they were written for. Click the pictures to enlarge.

6. The very first time we see Validus he is imprisoned in a cell of inertron. In a retcon, who was said to have been responsible for building this prison?

Grimbor (probably in the Legion Who's Who or one of the Sourcebooks)

7. In terms of publishing chronology, who was the first original super-villain that the Legion faced (that wasn't merely a member of an alien race)?

It was the notorious Jungle King, from Adventure 309. After being rejected for membership (he couldn't properly control his animals), he turned to crime and attempted to create a Legion of Super-Monsters. He failed when one of the creatures that he had rejected turned on him and killed him. Wow, what irony!

Legion TV schedule Sept. 2007

New season starts Sept. 22. Note that the weekend before, on Sept. 15, they'll be running the season finale two-parter back-to-back. I'm also not sure what time the new season will be on in the morning, I've seen conflicting stories. Check the KidsWB page for videos and pictures (and a preview here).

Here are the airdates and episodes for the Legion show for Sept. 2007.

Sept. 1 - episode 1.09 "Brain Drain" (5th airing) - last aired 7/21/07
Sept. 8 - episode 1.02 "Timber Wolf" (8th airing) - last aired 6/02/07
Sept. 15 - episode 1.12 "Sundown part 1" (3rd airing) - last aired 8/04/07
Sept. 15 - episode 1.13 "Sundown part 2" (3rd airing) - last aired 8/11/07
Sept. 22 - episode 2.01 NEW "The Man From The Edge of Tomorrow, part 1"
Sept. 29 - episode 2.02 NEW "The Man From The Edge of Tomorrow, part 2"

Previously: all the other schedules

Episode reviews:
1.01 "Man of Tomorrow" (4 airings, last 7/7/07)
1.02 "Timber Wolf" (7 airings, last 6/2/07)
1.03 "Legacy" (3 airings, last 6/9/07)
1.04 "Fear Factory" (4 airings, last 6/16/07)
1.05 "Champions" (4 airings, last 6/23/07)
1.06 "Phantoms" (4 airings, last 7/14/07)
1.07 "Child's Play" (4 airings, last 6/30/07)
1.08 "Lightning Storm" (4 airings, last 7/28/07)
1.09 "Brain Drain" (4 airings, last 7/21/07)
1.10 "The Substitutes" (4 airings, last 8/18/07)
1.11 "Chain of Command" (4 airings, last 8/25/07)
1.12 "Sundown, part 1" (2 airings, last 8/04/07)
1.13 "Sundown, part 2" (2 airings, last 8/11/07)