LSH v4 #20 annotations: Venado Bay

Annotations for Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #20

• On sale date: May 14, 1991
• It's OK, I'm a Senator: https://itsokimasenator.livejournal.com/10356.html
• Legion of Substitute Podcasters episode 582 (December 9, 2019)
• Timeline: April 13, 2995 (per the Sourcebook)

Anyone know if and/or how the names Dacey, Dorrit, Collazzo, Wray, Christie, or Steinhelper that appear in this issue are relevant names in Legion fandom?

Notes:

• Cover – Venado Bay. You may recall that we’ve heard of this twice before, issue 1 and issue issue 10. We knew that Rokk and Loomis are injured at Venado Bay on the Braal side, and Rokk lost his powers. Salu was somehow involved on the Imsk side. Imsk won, as the army is occupying Braal. Vi 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). 
• Page 1 – Aetian Sector is new, but the 2995 Sourcebook says it’s the “triangle of space between the Khundish Empire, the Dominion, and the United Planets”. Myke-4 Astor, aka Echo (who we will find out later was briefly a Legionnaire in the 5 year gap) was from Aetia.
• Page 3 – Dirk Morgna did not fare well in the null radiation from Triple Strike.
• Page 4 panel 1 – Anton Relnic used to be the Earthgov Ambassador to the United Planets, looks like he’s now Chairman of the UP. We first saw Relnic in Superboy 225 when he was trying to broker a peace treaty between the Dominion and the UP, and then later during Earthwar. He was last seen during the Universo Project and in a quick cameo during the Magic Wars.
• Page 6 – even though Metropolis’s powersphere detonated, I guess the whole city wasn’t wiped off the map. Devlin O’Ryan is still around. 
• Page 6 panel 9 – Devlin is found by a group who we won’t know who they are until issue 25, 5 months from now.
• Page 7 panel 3 – we heard of “the chambers” last week, now they’re the “SW6 Chambers”. SW6 is part of a postal code in London, home of an Interlac member. One Dominator says “they’re loose” – I didn’t put it together at the time, but they’re strongly hinting to the reader that the SW6 group is the group who found Devlin.
• Page 8 – Laurel and Celeste. Back in issue 18, we learned that Celeste, Bounty, Jan, and Devlin had returned to Earth (issue 15) but were under surveillance. Celeste was healed by the green glow back in issue 12, which took place on December 5th (we’re now mid-April).
• Page 9 – Celeste was transported to Legion HQ without her clothes. 
• Page 10 – Mysa has a vision of a purple-skinned woman standing in crystals, who is apparently telling Mysa that she’s waiting, and Mysa is happy to hear that. That’s probably Amethyst, but we don’t know that yet (recall that we’ve already tied in Gemworld to the Sorceror’s World and Mordru in the 1987 Giffen/Newell/Maroto Amethyst miniseries). In his IOKIAS, Tom mentions that this plotline doesn’t wrap up for another 20+ issues. 
• Page 11 – Cham sees evidence that Superman was on the moon when it blew up. Apparently he hasn’t talked to Garth, Imra, Furball, Laurel, or Vi about what he was doing there, as they were with him during the fight with Dev-Em (although they left before the moon blew up so they don’t know that the Linear Man was involved).
• Page 12 – Vi has a blue probe leg, I hope the probe didn’t mind giving it up (or that anyone will notice that the probes were spies and pawns for Mordru). Oh yeah, I forgot, that plot line went away.
• Page 13 panel 1 – Starfinger III finally got to the son of Starfinger II, like he tried to do back in issue 13 but Persuader was stopped by Kent Shakespeare. 
• Page 13 panel 4 – Lydda hears the news about Dirk, who is reported killed (even though we know he hasn’t died).
• Page 13 panel 9 – birth of Dacey and Dorrit Ranzz, per the Sourcebook this is April 13, 2995 (Luna exploded on the 11th and Jo got back on the 12th). We had learned back in issue 3 that the children were due in April, at the time (Nov 2994) Imra was 4 months pregnant.
• Page 14 – Per the Sourcebook, Jo came back on April 12th, and this is the next day
• Page 15 – Rokk is talking with an Imskian about Venado Bay. He was a Legionnaire for over 20 years but in the war he was just a gunman second class, under General Moss (named after Interlacker Glenn Moss, who lived on Venado Way).
• Page 16 – we finally know the date, October 2991, this was around the time that Garth and Imra had started up the Lightning Ring Plantation. Sub-officer Collazzo and a soldier named Wray mentioned.
• Page 16 panel 7 – Kent Shakespeare was fighting with the Braalians
• Page 17 panel 2 – Loomis lost his arm
• Page 18 panel 6 – it’s Salu Digby for the Imskians, Rokk doesn’t recognize her but she knows it’s him and tries to prevent her soldiers from killing him, but he injures her
• Page 19 panel 2 – Rokk was talking to Mr. Christie
• Page 19 panel 8 – Ivy returns, we last saw her on Quarantine getting mad when Kent left. She mentions that the cactus blabs (a hint to her powers)
• Page 20 – Color Kid and Stone Boy, part of Jacques’ resistance force. This is the first time we’ve seen these two in the Resistance. Both were last seen in the 1985 Subs Special.
• Page 21 – Shvaughn Erin is now a fugitive from the Science Police Earth and confirms that the Chambers do exist below Metropolis. 
• Page 21 panel 9 – Tenzil reveals that Jan has joined Shvaughn, and  we see that he is embedded with Jacques in the Resistance.
• Page 22 – SPE officers are being executed as insurgents at some SPE stations; some cities had been damaged by their powersphere detonations (Beijing, Ahmedabad, Essen, Sao Paulo) while some survived intact (Quebec City, Brisbane). 
• Page 22 panel 8 – SPE precinct captain Steinhelper mentioned
• Page 22 panel 9 – Bounty is still spying on Circe
• Page 23 – more cities asking for help: Ascension and St. Helena (both islands in the South Atlantic), Sassandra (a town in Ivory Coast)
• Omnicom
• Left column is from an Imskian textbook, right column is from a text more sympathetic to Braalians – “history is written by the victors”
• Venado Bay was 10/8/91

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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.

• 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)
• 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 [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 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). 
• 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)
• Sat 4/11/95 – Luna is destroyed, ravaging Earth. (LSH v4 #19). The mysterious “SW6” Legionnaires 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).
• 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)

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)

LSH v4 #19: Cities destroyed by Operation Triple Strike

Special bonus coverage of LSH v4 #19, listing all of the cities destroyed in Operation Triple Strike when their powerspheres exploded.

Organized by continent > country > city, with fake DCU cities highlighted in yellow.

• AFRICA
• ALGERIA
• ALGIERS
• ANGOLA
• HUAMBO
• EGYPT
• ALEXANDRIA
• CAIRO
• ETHIOPIA
• ADDIS ADABA
• KENYA
• NAIROBI
• LIBYA
• TRIPOLI
• MADAGASCAR
• ANTANANARIVO
• MOROCCO
• CASABLANCA
• NIGER
• NIAMEY
• NIGERIA
• LAGOS
• SENEGAL
• DAKAR
• ZIMBABWE
• HARARE
• ANTARCTICA
• ICE CITY (ADV 355)
• ASIA
• BANGLADESH
• DHAKA
• CHINA
• BEIJING
• CHONQING
• HONG KONG
• SHANGHAI
• SHENYANG
• TIANJIN
• TURPAN
• INDIA
• AGNI
• AHMEDABAD
• BANGALORE
• BOMBAY
• DELHI
• MADRAS
• INDONESIA
• SURABAYA
• IRAN
• TEHERAN
• IRAQ
• BAGHDAD
• JAPAN
• NAGOYA
• OSAKA
• SAPPORO
• TOKYO
• KOREA
• SEOUL
• MONGOLIA
• ULAANBAATAR
• PAKISTAN
• LAHORE
• PHILIPPINES
• MANILA
• RUSSIA
• ARCHANGEL
• GORBAGRAD - presumably named for Gorbachev, who was in the news in 1991, but not a place that's been seen before
• NOVOSIBIRSK
• OBOTSK
• SAUDI ARABIA
• RIYADH
• SINGAPORE
• TAIWAN
• TAIPEI
• THAILAND
• BANGKOK
• TURKEY
• ANKARA
• UZBEKISTAN
• TASHKENT
• VIET NAM
• HO CHI MINH CITY
• AUSTRALIA/OCEANA/PACIFIC
• AUSTRALIA
• MELBOURNE
• SYDNEY
• EUROPE
• ENGLAND
• LONDON
• MANCHESTER-BIRMINGHAM
• EUROPOLIS (European mega-city, whose "suburbs" include London, Paris, Amsterdam, Stockholm,and the Ruhr, as seen in Mayfair Games LSH Sourcebook Vol II: The World Book)
• FRANCE
• PARIS
• GERMANY
• BERLIN
• ESSEN
• GREECE
• ATHENS
• HUNGARY
• BUDAPEST
• IRELAND
• DUBLIN
• ITALY
• MILAN
• NAPLES
• ROME
• NETHERLANDS
• AMSTERDAM
• NORWAY
• FRIDTJOF NANSEN - a Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who apparently had a city named after him, but not someplace that has been seen before
• ROMANIA
• BUCHAREST
• RUSSIA
• LENINGRAD
• MOSCOW
• SCOTLAND
• GLASGOW
• SERBIA
• BELGRADE
• SPAIN
• BARCELONA
• MADRID
• SWEDEN
• STOCKHOLM
• NORTH AMERICA
• ALASKA
• ANCHORAGE
• CALIFORNIA
• SANANGELEOPOLIS (comprised of the former metropolitan areas of San Diego and Los Angeles, as seen in Mayfair Games LSH Sourcebook Vol II: The World Book)
• CANADA
• CHURCHILL
• EDMONTON
• MONTREAL
• TORONTO
• VANCOUVER
• CENTRAL CITY
• COAST CITY
• CUBA
• HAVANA
• DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
• WASHINGTON
• FLORIDA
• MIAMI
• GEORGIA
• ATLANTA
• LAKOPOLIS (comprises the former cities of Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, Toledo and Toronto, although Toronto is also separately included in this list; as seen in Mayfair Games LSH Sourcebook Vol II: The World Book)
• METROPOLIS
• MEXICO
• GUADALAJARA
• MEXICO CITY
• MONTERREY
• STAR CITY
• TEXAS
• DALLAS
• SOUTH AMERICA
• ARGENTINA
• BUENOS AIRES
• SAN MIGUEL DE TUCUMAN
• TIERRA DEL FUEGO
• BRAZIL
• BAHIA
• BELO HORIZONTE
• BRASILIA
• SALVADOR
• SAO PAULO
• CHILE
• SANTIAGO
• COLOMBIA
• BARRANQUILLA
• BOGOTA
• PARAGUAY
• ASUNCION
• BELEM
• PERU
• LIMA
• VENEZUELA
• CARACAS
• UNKNOWN LOCATION
• BIANCA

LSH v4 #19 annotations: Good night, Moon

Annotations for Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #19

• On sale date: April 9, 1991
• It's OK, I'm a Senator: https://itsokimasenator.livejournal.com/14744.html
• Legion of Substitute Podcasters episode 581 (December 2, 2019)
• Timeline: April 11-12, 2995 (per the Sourcebook)

Anyone know if "Lenn O'Connor" is a relevant name in Legion fandom? That name is given on the Omnicom page at the end of the story.

Notes:

• Picks up immediately after Adventures of Superman 478 when the moon went kaboom, Sourcebook says this is April 11, 2995.
• Page 1 – farewell, Medicus One
• Page 2 – RIP Dr. Gym’ll
• Page 3 – just some random SP officers doing their jobs
• Page 4 panel 1 – “most major lunar fragments have carried clear of Earth”
• Page 4 panel 3 – first mention of “the chambers”
• Page 5 panel 5 – the Dominion ship exploded in the atmosphere, creating a giant nega-pulse power surge (which is probably a lot worse than the Electro-Magnetic Pulse, or EMP, which is created during a nuclear explosion and knocks out electronics)
• Page 7 panel 2 – more random SP officers
• Page 8 panel 9 – RIP Circadia Senius
• Page 9 – we learn all three parts of Operation Triple Strike:
• Part 1: blow up the moon. 
• Part 2: shut down the defense network. 
• Part 3: detonate the power spheres.
• Page 10 – list of cities destroyed when their fusion powersphere detonated. (I counted 110 cities, see list on this special bonus page for what country each was in, sorted by continent and then country. Because of course I sorted them out.)
• Page 11 – now, let’s forget about the destruction caused on Earth for an extended yet ultimately pointless section on Jo Nah, who’s been in the past since issue 10 (that’s 9 issues ago).
• Page 12 panel 5 – this is Nabu, one of the Lords of Order (who oppose the Lords of Chaos). The Lords of Order and Chaos are powerful magical beings, appearing from time to time behind the scenes. I think this all started to take form in the stories of the 1970s-80s, with Nabu and Mordru both retconned into being among the most powerful on their side. Among the other Lords of Order are Amethyst, Arion, and the wizard Shazam; the Lords of Chaos include Klarion the Witch-Boy. Hawk and Dove were later retconned into being avatars of each side.
• Page 14  - this woman reads Jo’s mind and creates herself to be the perfect woman for him
• Page 22 – Nabu snaps his fingers and Jo is back in his own time. I call BULLSHIT on this whole plotline. Sourcebook says this is April 12, 2995.
• Page 23 – Jo can finally mourn Tinya.
• Omnicom – Science Police finally put together what Operation Triple Strike was and what happened, and they’re not happy. Captain Lenn O'Connor mentioned.

OK, let’s talk about that ending. “Jo can finally mourn Tinya” is the payoff for 9 months of a plot that went nowhere? I don’t know what the Bierbaums had planned for Jo, what he was going to do in the past or what he would do when he got back to the present but this was a COMPLETE waste of our time. Did they not have a plan? Were they so lost that they needed a Lord of Order to snap his fingers and bring him back because they couldn’t figure out what to do with him in the past? Or was this really what they had thought of 9 months prior? WORTHLESS. And we spent 13 pages on this piece of shit subplot and only 10 on the most cataclysmic event on Earth since the destruction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago? Puh-leaze. This issue had the potential to be relatively good but I’ll give it a D overall (saved somewhat by the first part).

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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.

• 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)
• 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)
• 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 [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 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). 
• 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)
• Sat 4/11/95 – Luna is destroyed, ravaging Earth. (LSH v4 #19).
• Sun 4/12/95 – Jo Nah returns from an extended journey through time (LSH v4 #19).
• April 2995 – Imra & Garth’s twins due (LSH v4 #3)

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)
• Rokk and Loomis are injured at Venado Bay on the Braal side, and Rokk lost his powers. Salu was somehow involved on the Imsk side. 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)
• Kent Shakespeare and Gim Allon are both ex-Legionnaires, but it’s unknown when or under what circumstances they left. (LSH v4 #12)

Superman: Time and Time Again, part 2

Time and Time Again part 2
Legion of Substitute Podcasters episode 580

Action Comics 664: Time & Time Again, part 5 of 7 (on sale 3/5/91)

• Superman finds himself back in the age of dinosaurs. After several weeks he has grown a beard, and one day he meets Chronos, who was stranded there after a fight with Blue Beetle (Blue Beetle #22). Chronos theorizes that Superman may have absorbed exotic energies when he first went into the time vortex, and the energies are triggered by the release of an explosion. Chronos tries to use the time travel hardware in his suit with the energy stored in Superman to make a controlled time jump, but he tries to double-cross Superman. Superman destroys the equipment and is bounced forward in time to the time of the wooly mammoth. He recalls that a humanoid alien race lived at that time (as seen in Superman v2 #6), and finds their city just as they flee the planet. The resulting explosion from their spacecraft bounce him forward in time to Camelot.

Superman 55: Time & Time Again, part 6 of 7 (on sale 3/19/91)

• There’s a big battle at Camelot, with Merlin and Arthur’s forces on one side and the demonic forces of King Arthur’s half-sister Morgan le Fey on the other. She is preventing Merlin from summoning the Shining Knight, so Merlin calls on his own half-brother Etrigan the Demon. There’s a guy in black armor fighting for the demons, but Etrigan blasts the armor away and it’s Superman. When Morgan stopped Merlin from getting Shining Knight, Superman popped in, and she found and enchanted him. Merlin gives Superman some enchanted armor to fight on his side. Camelot is about to fall, so Merlin sends Etrigan out to take residence in the body of a human, who turns out to be Jason Blood. Superman disappears in a blast of magic as the castle falls.

Interlude: Who’s this Dev-Em guy, anyway?

• Silver Age: the Knave from Krypton – First appeared in ADV 287 in a Superboy story. Dev-Em is a Kryptonian juvenile delinquent who put himself into suspended animation to avoid Krypton’s destruction. He later arrived on 20th Century Earth and plagued Superboy, before traveling to the 30th century where he reformed and joined the Interstellar Counter-Intelligence Corps instead of taking the offer of Legion membership (ADV 320). 
• Bronze Age: ICIC operative - He was helpful during the Great Darkness Saga (LSH v2 294) and later in taking down the Dark Circle clones (LSH v2 322-325).
• Post-Crisis: According to his new entry in "Who's Who in the Legion" #1, in a history never seen before or since, he's David Emery from Titan, whose family emigrated from Titan to Earth because they didn't have normal telepathic powers. But upon adolescence, his mental powers kicked in and he turned himself into a Kryptonian and fed a phony backstory to the Legion. He refused to join the Legion for fear they'd find out.
• 5YL: insane Daxamite from the 20th century (as we’ll see in this issue)
• Post-Infinite Crisis: a renegade Kryptonian sentenced to the Phantom Zone for murder, attacks Superman but taken down by Mon-El (Action 851)
• DCEU: thousands of years in the past, he was put on trial for murder, but escaped and made his way to Earth on a Kryptonian scout ship. He killed everyone on board except for Kara Zor-El, but is killed as the ship crashes on Earth (prequel comic to “Man of Steel”). In the movie, a different Dev-Em was briefly seen as one of General Zod’s followers.
• Krypton (TV): a former commander in the Kryptonian army and ex-betrothed of Lyta-Zod

Adventures of Superman 478: Time & Time Again, part 7 of 7 (on sale 3/26/91)

• Timeline: We saw in LSH #17 that a newspaper dated 3/28/95 the story of the deaths of the Tornado Twins, then in issue #18 Valor and Shadow Lass took on the Dark Circle. The 2995 Sourcebook puts the end of this issue on 4/11/95.
• Page 1 – last time we saw a colony on the moon, it was during the wedding of Garth & Imra and the moon had been colonized by the Chinese.
• Page 3 panel 1 – Back in issue 6, we were given the following, in an Omnicom article on the Last Days of Daxam: “Little is known about the fate of the third great survivor of the 20th century, Dev-Em (the other two being Lar Gand and Glorith). He is known to have lived beyond the destruction of Daxam and has long been linked to the Interstellar Counter-Intelligence Corps, but no information on his whereabouts –“ and the article cuts off there.
• Page 3 panel 3 – Valor sent Dev-Em to the future, thus more or less replacing how Superboy sort of sent him to the future.
• Page 4 panel 1 – Rokk and Cham are in the Legion HQ on Talus
• Page 4 panel 3 – Back in LSH #3, we were told that Garth & Imra’s twins were due in April 2995.
• Page 6 panel 1 – Laurel knew the Pocket Universe Superboy, who Superman also met in the crossover with the Legion
• Page 10 – a quick recap of the Death of Superboy arc
• Page 11 panels 1-2 – here’s the rest of the origin of the 5YL Dev-Em: he got bored on Daxam, went to Earth, messed with Valor, contracted lead poisoning, and sent to the future to look for a cure (which is better than hanging around in the Phantom Zone for 1000 years), but sickness + time travel = insanity
• Page 14 – Operation Triple Strike has the Dominators ready to blow up the moon, that’s how they blackmailed Earthgov
• Page 18 – they stopped the explosion with 2 seconds to spare, just like James Bond. But all that exposition lasted way longer than 19 seconds.
• Page 19 – the Linear Man FINALLY explains what’s been going on with Superman, he’s been bouncing Superman from time to time to prevent him from changing history. 
• Page 20 – as it turns out, stopping the moon from exploding was NOT what Linear Man wanted, it was supposed to send Superman back to his own time. So since Imra stopped the timer, he’ll have to restart it…
• Page 21 – Superman is back in his own time, finally, and has an epilogue in Action 665 in one week.
• “Don’t miss the Legion of Super-Heroes #19 to find out how the event Superman just witnessed is affecting Earth in 2995!” – but you listeners will only have to wait one week to hear about it, instead of the two weeks you would have had originally to wait to read the issue.

Action Comics 665 (on sale 4/2/91)

• Superman makes it back home. He tells Lois he’s been gone for five months, while for her it’s only been hours. He relates what he’s seen and done, and tells her about how he saw the moon destroyed while he could do nothing about it. She tells him that for all his powers, he’s not God, he can’t do the impossible – “you did your best, you can’t expect to win every time.”

Note that the Time & Time Again reprint collection also includes Superman 61 and 73, featuring the Linear Men.

Next time: Where's the kaboom?

Sales Data for Superman & LSH: Millennium

Thanks to Comichron, we have some sales numbers to look at - but only up through LSH: Millennium, we'll have to wait til next month to see what the regular series shapes up like. There's no sales data yet on the new series, but expect it to be high because (a) multiple covers and (b) flight rings. I'll go out on a limb and be optimistic and say LSH #1 will hit 65k sales. No predictions for the future after that just yet.

• Superman #14 - 47,777
• Superman #15 - 47,857
• LSH: Millennium #1 - 48,389
• LSH: Millennium #2 - 39,489

For historical context, in the last 20 years, here are the issues that have sold at least 39k copies (note that the top seller, Adventure #4, came with a Lantern ring):

Jan-10	85,145	Adventure Comics v3	4
Oct-08	73,914	Legion of Three Worlds	1
Dec-08	64,412	Legion of Three Worlds	2
Apr-09	61,358	Legion of Three Worlds	3
Oct-04	61,047	Teen Titans/The Legion Special	1
Feb-05	59,944	LSH v5	1
Feb-10	59,876	Adventure Comics v3	5
Jun-09	56,888	Legion of Three Worlds	4
Oct-09	56,706	Adventure Comics v3	1
Sep-09	55,970	Legion of Three Worlds	5
May-06	54,826	Supergirl & the LSH	16
Mar-10	53,721	Adventure Comics v3	7
Nov-11	53,285	LSH v7	1
Jul-10	50,106	LSH v6	1
Nov-11	49,952	Legion Lost v2	1
Mar-05	48,584	LSH v5	2
Sep-19	48,389	LSH: Millennium	1
Sep-19	47,857	Superman	15
Aug-19	47,777	Superman	14
Jun-06	47,697	Supergirl & the LSH	17
Nov-09	47,296	Adventure Comics v3	2
Feb-08	45,803	Supergirl & the LSH	37
Jul-06	45,520	Supergirl & the LSH	18
Apr-05	44,824	LSH v5	3
Dec-09	44,431	Adventure Comics v3	3
Aug-06	43,918	Supergirl & the LSH	19
May-05	43,408	LSH v5	4
Mar-10	42,514	Adventure Comics v3	6
Dec-11	42,504	LSH v7	2
Sep-06	41,679	Supergirl & the LSH	20
Jun-05	41,664	LSH v5	5
Dec-06	41,554	Supergirl & the LSH	23
Jul-05	40,970	LSH v5	6
Oct-06	39,852	Supergirl & the LSH	21
Oct-19	39,489	LSH: Millennium	2

For the September issues, looking at Comichron data:

• The #1 book was Spawn #300 at 262K
• The next ten DC books on the list are Doomsday Clock, DCeased, Batman, Harley Quinn, and Justice League.
• LSH: Millennium #1 was the #26 overall book and the #11 DC book.

Getting back to the October issues, here's what Comichron says regarding Diamond sales:

• The #1 book was X-Men #1, at 255K
• The next ten DC books on the list are Joker, Harley Quinn, and/or Batman
• The next eight DC books after that are Superman, Batman, and/or DCeased
• After that comes Event Leviathan, Superman, Action (all Bendis), Green Lantern, and LSH: Millennium #2 at 53rd; LSH Millennium #2 outsold everything DC has that's not Batman & Co, Superman, or Green Lantern.

Looking back at the current Superman series, Superman #13 sold 52,000 copies, that's the closest comparison I can make on a Bendis book - it's the highest non-Batman, non-JLA, non-DCeased book for the month, and is the #15 book for DC in July. (This issue got a bump because of the cardstock cover for some reason, it's normally selling around 49k). Sales are flattening from the Bendis relaunch, which is to be expected - issue 1 sold 133k, issue 2 sold 77k, issue 3 sold 67k, that's normal for a new title.

In comparison, going backward in time:

• Nov. 2011: the New 52 Legion started at 53K sales, sank below 20k with issue 9, and ended with about 15k
• Oct. 2008: Legion of 3 Worlds started out with 74k and ended with 56k, and it had George Perez
• May 2006: Supergirl & The LSH #16 (her first issue) hit 54K and that dropped to the low 20s by the end of that series. 
• Dec. 2001: Abnett/Lanning's The Legion started at 30k and dropped to 23k

That brings us back to 2001 almost 20 years ago when the market was different. You have to go back to the earliest days of the Reboot in 1995 to find a time when the Legion was regularly selling over 30k.

In the past, the Legion series have all bottomed out around 15-20K, suggesting that's the core base that will always buy a Legion title: v7 (New 52) at 15K, v6 (Retroboot) at 22K, Adventure at 19K, v5 (Threeboot) at 22K, The Legion (Reboot) at 23K, and LSH v4 and Legionnaires (Reboot) at 17K.

So this is a long-winded way of saying that any any significant sales increase over what we've seen before will probably be due to people who have NOT been Legion fans. And given the choice between bringing in new fans vs appeasing old fans, I think DC would rather grow for the future. The 5YL stories started 30 years ago in 1989, the Reboot 25 years ago in 1994. People get older and you have to bring in new readers.

A Field Guide to Legion Cover Variants, 2019

The Field Guide to Legion Cover Variants, part 7: 2019

1958-2005, 2006-2007, 2008-2009, 2010-2011, 2012-2014, 2015-2018, 2019, 2020, 2021-2022, 2023-2026

Unused covers, Second printings 

(Retcon note: this was the first part of the Field Guide I published, but it's actually part 7 chronologically.) 

Given all of the different covers (variant and otherwise) that have appeared for the newest Legion book, including the Superman and Supergirl issues that introduced them and the LSH: Millennium series, I thought it would be a good idea to put up a Field Guide to the Legion cover variants 2019. Let me know if I've forgotten any!

Superman v5 #14 - August 28, 2019
This issue and Supergirl #33 were originally to go on sale on 08/14/19, but less than a week prior to that date, DC asked retailers to destroy all copies of these issues and told them that replacement copies would be sent to go on sale later. This issue was delayed to 08/28/19, Supergirl #33 was delayed to 09/04/19. DC's stated reason was that the original issues had covers that featured a "Year of the Villain" logo, but these issues had no ties to that event so they would be re-issued with new covers. This reasoning was questioned, as there was another issue on sale the same week, Catwoman #14, that also had a "Year of the Villain" cover logo and a story that had no ties to the event, and that issue was not recalled. Subsequent speculation centered around the introduction of the new Legion of Super-Heroes in the Superman and Supergirl issues, and the depiction of Lightning Lad's ethnicity. In the published issue, Lightning Lad is portrayed as dark-skinned, in leaked images of the original printing, Lightning Lad was light-skinned. The second printing featured the standard cover by Reis and Prado with an orange background instead of blue, and went on sale 10/2/19.

Superman #14 Original standard cover (recalled) Art by Ivan Reis and Joe Prado	Superman #14 Replacement standard cover Art by Ivan Reis and Joe Prado
Superman #14 Variant cover (recalled) Art by Adam Hughes	Superman #14 Replacement variant cover (minus the Year of the Villain logo)
Superman #14 Second Printing (orange background) Art by Ivan Reis and Joe Prado
x

Supergirl #33 - September 4, 2019

Supergirl #33 Original standard cover (recalled) Art by Eduardo Panisca	Supergirl #33 Replacement standard cover Art by Kevin Maguire
Supergirl #33 Variant cover (recalled) Art by Derrick Chew	Supergirl #33 Replacement variant cover (minus the Year of the Villain logo)

Superman #15 - September 18, 2019

The first cover below was solicited in Previews, but when the decision was made to change Lightning Lad's skin color, DC opted to have a new, different cover created (both by Ivan Reis) and the second one was the published cover. The original cover with the light-skinned mohawk version of Lightning Lad was never published.

Superman #15 Original standard cover (never published) Art by Ivan Reis	Superman #15 Published standard cover Art by Ivan Reis
Superman #15 Variant cover Art by Adam Hughes

Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium #1 - September 4, 2019
The variant cover by Bryan Hitch is part 1 of a 2-part connected cover featuring all of the characters seen over the two issues in the miniseries. The complete art (both halves) will be used later for variants of LSH: Millennium #2 and LSH v8 #1.

LSH: Millennium #1 Standard cover Art by Ryan Sook	LSH: Millennium #1 Variant cover Art by Bryan Hitch

Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium #2 - October 2, 2019
LSH: Millennium #2 was also caught up in the effort to change Lightning Lad's ethnicity. In the original solicited version of the standard cover, featuring Saturn Girl holding up a flight ring through which we see Superboy, Bouncing Boy (to the left of Superboy) was dark-skinned and Lightning Lad (to the right of Superboy) was light-skinned. For the final version of the cover, the ethnicities were reversed. The original version was never printed. Here's a close-up comparison:

And looking at the cover, you can see Light Lass change ethnicity too, just above Ultra Boy's shoulder from his raised arm, below Shadow Lass, and above Element Lad. A version of the entire Hitch image - left half as seen on issue 1 and the right half on issue 2 - was sold at the 2019 New York Comic Con as a convention exclusive. This version is a wraparound cover printed on foil.

LSH: Millennium #2 Original standard cover (unpublished) Art by Ryan Sook	LSH: Millennium #2 Published standard cover Art by Ryan Sook
LSH: Millennium #2 Variant cover Art by Bryan Hitch	LSH: Millennium #2 New York Comic Con 2019 convention exclusive (foil) Art by Bryan Hitch

Superman: Time and Time Again part 1

This 7-issue story arc wound between the three Superman books at the time - Adventures of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman (in that order) - for just over two months. To set the stage, Clark Kent has just revealed his secret ID to Lois Lane, and she's not sure what to make of their relationship following this revelation.

The Legion of Substitute Podcasters talk about it in episode 578.

This story arc was later reprinted in trade paperback as "Superman: Time and Time Again".

Adventures of Superman 476: Time & Time Again, part 1 of 7 (on sale 1/29/91)

• A time traveler called the Linear Man appears, and sets off an alarm that brings Booster Gold to Metropolis. The Linear Man is looking for Booster because he has violated the natural laws of time for his own selfish means, and it’s his duty to bring him back. In trying to stop him, Superman accidentally grabs his time controls, which opens up a hole in the time/space continuum. Superman and the Linear Man get sucked into the portal, leaving Booster behind. Superman wakes up surrounded by a fire (where his cape gets burned away). He arrives in the 30th century on page 17, and we see the rest of his meeting with the Legion from his perspective.  
• Page 22: Superman mentions that he’s met Brainiac 5, Blok, Sun Boy, and Invisible Kid, referring to Superman #8 & Action #591, which is his past but the Legion’s future. Saturn Girl says she recognizes some of those names, meaning all but Blok since the other 3 joined very early in the Legion’s time (all before Adventure 300).
• When this was published in 1991, the Legion’s appearance here was supposed to be the Silver Age version of the 5YL Legion, because that’s what was being published at the time. But after the Reboot, in Legionnaires 61 (1998), we see this exact scene from the perspective of the Legion (instead of Superman), and it’s presented as the Reboot Legion instead of the 5YL Legion with some shenanigans caused by the Time Trapper. Roger Stern was a writer on the Superman titles of 1991 and also the Reboot Legion, so he repurposed the scene to keep the rebooted continuity intact.

Action Comics 663: Time & Time Again, part 2 of 7 (on sale 2/5/91)

• Flashback to part 1 for those who don’t read Adventures of Superman. Superman asks the Legionnaires to tell them about his future, to make sure he did return after this. Saturn Girl says their records are spotty, but before she can continue, the fire (from earlier) blows up again and Superman is transported back in time to WWII. He wakes up and is taken by a bystander to the nearby circus, because his costume looks like that’s where he belongs. He’s having trouble seeing, but he finds out that he’s in 1943 and decides to stay with the circus until he gets better. His act is Samson, the strong man, where he breaks chains and lifts elephants. He spends 2 months there. Meanwhile, back in Metropolis, Booster says he knows some people who might be able to help find Superman. Superman leaves the circus and goes to Metropolis where he saves FDR, who tells him that he should join the Justice Battalion. Superman goes off to Washington to find the JSA, but the Spectre stops him, saying it’s too early for him to meet the JSA. Spectre sends him to a train station in Nazi-occupied Warsaw where he says Superman is needed.

Superman 54: Time & Time Again, part 3 of 7 (on sale 2/19/91)

• June 1943, Superman is spotted by the Nazis but leaves. Nazi General Zeiten captures the soul of a Jewish prisoner in a magical crystal. Superman flies to the Warsaw Ghetto, where he overhears the Nazis talking about using the Jews as test subjects for their atomic experiments. Superman recognizes the general as someone he’s met before, “Mister Z” (Superman #51), and wrecks the experiment lab and stops a train carrying the Jews. The Nazis drop their bomb anyway, but Superman catches it and takes it out of the atmosphere. The explosion causes him to disappear.

Adventures of Superman 477: Time & Time Again, part 4 of 7 (on sale 2/26/91)

• Page 7: Wildfire is a new member who hasn’t had a chance to read up on Legion history, which suggests that this takes place circa Superboy 201 when he joined (in the comments to our podcast episode, David Spofforth says "If I had to nail down an exact placing for the sun eater episode, I’d put it precisely between Superboy 202 and 203. Wildfire didn’t get his new name until 202 and the non-reaction to Superman’s mention of Invisible Kid means it should go before one Invisible Kid’s death in 203"). That sounds good enough to me! Per the Sourcebook timeline, this was in June 2981; the Linear Man says that Superman came out of the time stream about 7 years too soon, and the closest thing in Legion history (5YL version) to that would be Glorith’s destruction of Daxam in January 2988 (as seen in LSH v4 Annual #1); in pre-5YL history, that would probably be the revival of the Infinite Man and the battle with the Time Trapper (as seen in LSH v3 #50) in February 2988.
• Page 14: Superman says he just met Garth “a couple of days ago” but recall he spent 2 months in the circus in 1943 right after that.
• Page 20 panel 1: this is clearly the Cockrum-era Legion, since the cruiser has a small bubble up front and not the big bubble over the whole saucer section like it was under Grell; also, notice that Wildfire’s faceplate goes down underneath his chin, which was how Cockrum drew it, as opposed to how Grell drew it ending above the chin.
  

Coming soon: why are we interrupting the LSH v4 Five Years Later with a Superman story arc that only guest-stars the Silver Age and Bronze Age Legion in only some of the chapters? Long story short: events in T&TA have a direct and major impact on the Legion v4 series going forward. You'll have to wait to see how.

LSH v4 #18 annotations: The Dark Circle

Annotations for Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #18

• On sale date: March 12, 1991
• It's OK, I'm a Senator: https://itsokimasenator.livejournal.com/14226.html
• Legion of Substitute Podcasters episode 577 (November 4, 2019)
• Timeline: late March 2995 (issue #17 ended on 3/28, issue #19 takes place on 4/11)

Here's the original art from this cover, from the collection of Miki Annamanthadoo:

Inker Al Gordon said about this piece: "This cover took me a day and a half to Ink... sigh. [...] I was just looking at the cover... and I don't think there's much Pen on it at all... Some of those last detailed guys in the far BG seem to be outlined with Brush and just a little Pen used inside the figures. Looks like I Inked the danged thing with Brush mostly. No wonder I was dizzy for a week afterwards."

Notes:

• Page 3 panel 4 – is that Marte Allon?
• Page 5 panel 3 – Dr Gym’ll used to be the Legion’s doctor, he was last seen briefly in the Magic Wars (LSH v3 #62) before making a quick appearance in Furball’s flashback in issue 6.
• Page 6 panel 1 – that’s a Lightning Ring Plantation ship, named after Andrew “Ferro Lad” Nolan
• Page 8 panel 6 – Note that Cargg is now spelled Carggg with 3 g’s, because triplicates each need a “g”.
• Page 10 – we have never been to Cargg (or Carggg) before, though we did get an intro page of it in “Who’s Who in the Legion” #4
• Page 10 panel 4 – note that Shadow Lass is wearing a protective suit (and not a transuit). The high exposure to solar radiation makes the planet dangerous to visitors, as they are required to wear protective gear at all times.
• Page 15 – Valor is almost worshipped as the seeder of Carggg (among other places)
• Page 19 – the action on this page suggests that not a lot of time has passed since the battle on 3/22, and we saw the deaths of the Tornado Twins on 3/27 (next issue takes place 4/11), so this is likely the last few days in March to the first week in April
• Page 20 panel 6 – set up for a future showdown with the Dark Circle
• Page 22 panel 1 – Celeste, Bounty, Jan, and Devlin returned to Earth a while back (issue 15, about 2 months ago story-wise). Celeste was healed by the green glow back in issue 12. 
• Page 22 panel 4 – Last we were told, the trio was with Jan, but Circe doesn’t know that (if that’s who this is here), and also doesn’t know that Bounty is spying on her
• Page 23 – the Underground, aka Khundish sympathizers, bombed the holo-studio where Marella Tao was reporting. We last saw her in issue 10 
• Page 24 – Jo has finally made it to Earth, but 5000 years in the past (circa 2000 BCE). Recall that he’s been there since issue 10 (on 12/3/94, which was 4 months ago story-wise).
• Page 25 – Dark Circle propaganda. Notice the repeated use of “intellectuals and elitists”. This is a common class-based charge by right-wing groups, because anyone who is intellectual or elite is not “one of us, the common people”. 
• Via Wikipedia on Elitism: “Some synonyms for "elite" might be "upper-class" or "aristocratic", indicating that the individual in question has a relatively large degree of control over a society's means of production… As a term, "elite" usually describes a person or group of people who are members of the uppermost class of society, and wealth can contribute to that class determination… In politics, the terms elitism and elitist are often used to disparage a politician's views as out of touch with the interests of the "average Joe". The implication is that the alleged elitist person or group thinks they are better than everyone else, and put themselves before others as a result. The definition of elitist is similar to that of the word "snob".”
• Here’s a 2016 Salon article explaining how the terms are used in modern America. “The juxtaposition of the “real America” with “elitist America” exposes the actual meaning of all the endless denunciations of the elite. It is not anti-elitism. It is anti-intellectualism. … Many Americans reflexively distrust anyone who demonstrates expertise or excellence in analytical intelligence. It is not that Americans are not smart, but that they often view the intellect as functional, namely in its capacity for commercial success.” In other words, they don’t trust the experts because the experts are intellectual elites, and not part of “real America”.

Following this issue, we have to digress into a Superman story arc called “Time and Time Again”. Big picture: Superman bounces around through the time stream and meets the Legion during three separate time periods (Silver Age, Bronze Age, and 5YL Age), with some dramatic consequences that directly impact this series - which is why we're doing them now. I think we can do that storyline in two episodes, plus we’ll also have LSH v8 #1 to review, so we won’t be returning to issue 19 for a few weeks.

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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.

• 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)
• 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)
• 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 [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 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). 
• 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)
• April 2995 – Imra & Garth’s twins due (LSH v4 #3)

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)
• Rokk and Loomis are injured at Venado Bay on the Braal side, and Rokk lost his powers. Salu was somehow involved on the Imsk side. 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)
• Kent Shakespeare and Gim Allon are both ex-Legionnaires, but it’s unknown when or under what circumstances they left. (LSH v4 #12)