Legion of Super-Heroes #16 - sorry Heather, there's a new sheriff in town

[perletwo]

3 pages from LOSH #16, a filler issue in which we hang out, elect a new Legion leader, and move the last pieces into place for the return of the Fatal Five.

But I won't keep you in suspense about the popularity contest leadership election!





Levitz did a nice job of obeying Chekov's Law ("If you introduce a gun in the first act, somebody had better get shot in act 3") - the issue opens with Jo and Tinya landing at HQ, and Jo musing that Tinya should be leader - "You're smart!" Her response? "Nobody notices me, Jo, and that's just how I like it!"

As for Mon-El, I dunno; if the best your team's founder can say is, 'congrats on the not actually dying there,' doesn't it suggest something went pretty wrong?

Mon's also the standard bearer for the ancient tradition of Men Failing At Emotional Comprehension in this issue.



Congrats on not actually getting punched in the nose there, Mon. I begin to wonder if her grief for Earth-Man might not lead Shady into anti-hero country...?

He also admits he previously checked out Validus' inertron prison, and declared it intact. Ever suspicious, Cham has taken Ayla and Vi to Takron-Galtos to check it out for themselves, with Cham and Vi going subatomic to enter the unbreakable cell.

Remember how a couple issues ago, it turned out the Persuader Axe in its unbreakable vault wasn't really a Persuader Axe?



...eeeeyeaaahhhhh. On the upside, it turns out the SP turning the key on Validus' cell right now is Gravity Kid, another graduate from the same Academy class as the new kids - you'll recall his reaction to another classmate's death was to take a spousal posting with the SP's to be with his mate, Academy alum Power Boy - and it's lovely to see him again.

In other news, Brainy continues to dick around with Glorith's powerset in the time lab, and Glorith continues to look as though pulling a Comet Queen is becoming more and more appealing. If you've been fretting over Grava, note the bottom panel of the Mon/Shady page up there; appears they've got Saturn Girl working over her gray matter. Also, Star Boy is back on his feet and on the active duty roster.

And last page, far away, a complex quark relay station quietly goes about its business...until suddenly it doesn't. "And the universe may never be the same." Yeah. I got nothin' there.


Next issue: Things Fall Apart.

Comments

[chieflewal]

Is she from Starfire's planet?

[perletwo]

Which, Shadow Lass? No, but she's certainly as fond of near-nudity as Kory is - the boot cut-outs are new, I think.

[darkknightjrk]

In this universe, Supergirl made cut out boots popular?

[jlroberson]

Shadow Lass was wearing nearly nothing when Starfire wasn't even a glint in Perez's eye. Even in the 60s her costume was basically a swimsuit and a cape.

[q99]

Why did Shadow Lass ever get with Earth-man? From my not-following-the-book closely outside viewpoint, it seems really random.

[perletwo]

It was really random - to the point a lot of us readers thought she must be setting him up for some kind of payback for the whole Justice League of Earth thing. But they played it for reals.

Shady and Mon had already broken up before the UP stuck Earth-Man on the team, with Shady saying that this time when he came out of the Phantom Zone (after going back in post-World Without Superman/War of the Supermen arc over in Action Comics) he hadn't come back "to her." (We never got to see any of that, but those of us that like the Mon-El as Substitute Superman arc figured he was subconsciously still hung up on Billie Harper - who probably doesn't exist anymore since the nU hit.) Shady told Phantom Girl that Earth-Man made her feel like a warrior *shrug* - I figured it for a rebound thing, only now she seems determined to throw herself on the funeral pyre.

[q99]

Yea, sounds weird.

[darkknightjrk]

...You know, now that I think about it, that might be a fairly reasonable explanation. She uses Earth Man as a revenge lay (I still don't get why her and Mon broke up, but whatevs), in the process she finds that there is some good to him under it all, and after he sacrifices himself to save the universe or whatever, she's grieving not only for that, but feeling self-loathing and regret that she used him like that.

[perletwo]

Interesting interpretation, and if I'm right that Levitz is thinking of going Dark Shadow Lass on us, a dollop of self-loathing would fit in nicely with it, psychologically speaking.

I don't think anybody really gets why they broke up; it would be one thing if we'd seen some of it happen, where we could break down and interpret some of the emotional beats, but it was presented to us after the fact as a done deal. So it makes it really hard to figure how it all came about and why. I *think* Shady was the dumper here, but that's by no means definite; and then you have to ask, what did Mon say/do or not do to put her in a dumping frame of mind? We've got nothing that speaks to any of that.

[silicondream]

Awww, but I want Mon to have Shady's vote as lover. I don't even know what that means, but I love the idea of each Legionnaire's sex life being democratically decided by their teammates. Or by the Planetary Chance Machine, either way.

[perletwo]

I'm picturing poor Polar Boy now.

"...I got Tellus."

[kerithwyn]

My old-school fan Legion heart is delighted by the results of the election. About time Tinya had a turn.

[perletwo]

Yeah. On that splash page Jo reminded her about that time "when they voted me in - everybody thought it was a gag?"

It's interesting seeing how different characters handle the leadership role. One of the missed opportunities I'm mourning with the ax dropping on Legion Lost is the friction between official mission leader Tyroc, the diplomat, and former Legion leader Wildfire, the hotheaded man of action.

Icon love, BTW!

[kerithwyn]

I actually had to drop Legion Lost for badness. That's the only Legion book I've ever stopped buying in... *koff way too many koff* years.

When it started, though, I really wanted to see Tyroc blossom. The Giffen'verse timeline might've been worked out, but I loved the idea of Tyroc as president of Earth and I'd been looking forward to seeing him develop into that leader.

[perletwo]

Yes, this - I was so excited about LL because everybody on the team is a Legionnaire I've loved in the past with the possible exception of Gates, his Legion 'boot wasn't my era, but I'd enjoyed the little I'd seen of him, so. And he and T-Wolf developed a great bromance in LL. I'm writing Legion Lost fanfic for trope_bingo to try and salvage some of it for myself. :D

[kerithwyn]

Good idea! Look forward to seeing how that comes out. :)

[arilou_skiff]

Wait, his name was Nedrigh?

He he he.

[perletwo]

Nedrigh. Kirt Nedrigh. Has a ring to it, doesn't it?

[arilou_skiff]

Even worse, "Nedrig" in swedish means basically "someone behaving horribly":

[big_daddy_d]

Ok why was she even with Earth-Man and why should I care that she's mourning him and being so pissy towards Mon considering what Earth-Man's done? Did he actually redeem himself or something?

[perletwo]

Yeah, he pretty much did exactly that. Can't find it was posted here, so here's the potted version.

Remember there was a 2 year long rebooted Legion title right before all this New 52 megillah wiped everything out again? That 'boot picked up where the Action Comics 'Justice League of Earth' deal ended and started with 3 major events: the Time Institute, now on Saturn Girl's homeworld Titan, did the "going back to the beginning of Time" experiment and blew up Titan, incidentally producing an evil blue glowing baby; the last trace of the Green Lanterns, a worm-thingy called the Dyogene, activated a single ring and went looking for a champion; and the xenophobic faction of Earthgov forced the Legion to take Earth-Man on as a member to keep their endorsement.

The blue baby hooked up with Saturn Queen, and the Dyogene first picked Earth-Man as its champion. After some back-and-forth being tempted by the power of the ring, Nedrigh rejected it, and it chose Mon-El instead. It all wound up in an all-out battle with Saturn Queen's Legion of Super-Villains, the Dyogene and the Cosmic Blue Dude. Eventually it came down to Earth-Man demanding Green Mon-El link him up with all the Legionnaires; he absorbed all their powers and will and used it to destroy the Cosmic Blue Dude. It worked but it did kill him; and, as Shady pointed out, he knew it would because he saw it when Dream Girl's power was funnelled through him.

Whether this qualifies Nedrigh for a free pass on all the incredibly heinous things he and the JLE did is debatable. Brainiac 5 for one is on record as believing that a life should be considered in its totality and not wiped out by a single last act of martyrdom.

As to why we care - or not care - note that Nedrigh died in an ish dated October 2011. Shady has been carrying on like this for almost two solid years now. I know the heart has its reasons, but I gotta go with Mon on this one; it's getting pretty damn old!

[kenn_el]

He spent 1000 years in the Phantom Zone. You'd think he'd be more patient.