Superboy returns to the Legion/plus Dave Cockrum and Mike Grell on the costume desings

[volksjager.insanejournal.com]

On of the least plausible Legion stories. Hmmm Chains that would crush the earth...









Cool cover. Note this was my first experience with the "bait and switch" cover as a child. I only realized when I got home that only the cover was done by George Perez, the interior was done by some hose'.

Comments

[seriousfic.insanejournal.com]

"Blok is hard as a walking boulder!"

That's not something you want to hear from a guy in that outfit.

[volksjager.insanejournal.com]

This is true...

[dr_hermes.insanejournal.com]

In Woodstock, they sell brown suede vests with two widely seperated laces in the front. They're unofficially called Booby Traps and, yes in hot weather you do see the occasional young woman wearing one with nothing underneath. The effect is much like Phantom Girl here experiences. (I imagine the tan lines must be puzzling.)

[freivolk.insanejournal.com]

"Oh God, Superboy is dead. We all will....!" (Timestream collapse, Universe is destroyed)
Even as a kid I had the feeling, that the whole "Superboy has adventures in the 30th century"-concept has a major flaw.

[volksjager.insanejournal.com]

especially the notion that Superboy STOPS visiting the future because he realizes that 1,000 years ahead everyone he knows is long dead ???!!!???

[dr_hermes.insanejournal.com]

Superboy's ability to travel forward in time must have required a huge amount of self-control not to misuse. He could learn how his foster parents or friends would die, how he himself would die. That's knowledge mortal minds are not built to handle.

And to the Legionnaires, Superboy would be a bit spooky to have around. It would be like hanging out with Grandpa as a kid. I know these Legion guys are used to strange situations but still. Imagine having (for example) Jack Kennedy showing up every now and then to give advice, not knowing his own fate, and then saying goodbye with a cheerful, "Well, I'm supposed to meet Jackie in Dallas today, so long." And you couldn't say anything.

[volksjager.insanejournal.com]

These problems were dealt with in a few ways. One supposably Saturngirl made it so he didn't recall the adventures when SB returned to his present. In the last Legion post I did,a foe torments Superboy be showing him that his parents will die despite anything he does. This leads to him deciding to never return to the future again and Saturngirl puts the full whammy on him so he will never return. This story was about how all that breaks down ans he creates this other persona "Reflecto" to live out his life in the future (Didn't superman do the same when he adopted the Gangbuster persona ?).


Problems with these ideas of what Superman recalled about the future were numerous. In Action comics 500 at the opening of the Superman museum, there is a Legion display and Superman talks about his experiences with them and then..he just never saw them again.

Actually I kinda like Geoff Johns idea that there was no superboy except in the Future. The Legion picks up Clark takes him to the future he does all his Legion stuff and then returns to the 20th century minutes after he left. Dunno, I think it will always be a wonky problem.

[crinosg.insanejournal.com]

So.... Grimbor's master plan was to tie up the entire planet with chains.

There's kinky, and then there's....dayum.

Grimbor the Chainsman: Maybe, just maybe, too kinky for Scans daily.

[icon_uk.insanejournal.com]

And this is why he's one of my favourite villains! :)

[volksjager.insanejournal.com]

Had he ever been used before or again ???

[icon_uk.insanejournal.com]

Indeed he has...



IIRC he showed up in the 5YL gap looking for the daughter he'd had with Charma, who had inherited her mother's power

He also showed up in Season 2 of the Legion cartoon, chaining up the heroes with cheerful abandon.

[volksjager.insanejournal.com]

That would work for "Ultiamte Grimbor"

[tacobob.insanejournal.com]

Wow, it sure was busy at the Ugly Costume Convention this year.

[ashtoreth.insanejournal.com]

I love Cosmic Boy's bustier costume!

[tacobob.insanejournal.com]

It's like they sent him a lady's costume and he was like, "Eh, as long as it fits! Time to fight evil. FUTURE evil!"

[geoffsebesta.insanejournal.com]

It's not pink! It's pale scarlet!

[04nbod.insanejournal.com]

as do I, its legendary. He made a guy overtly sexual when comics to this day shy away from that while women's costumes were increasingly becoming more cheesecake-y

[artnouveauho.livejournal.com (from insanejournal.com)]

The SPOKK! sound effect should definitely be used more often.

[mania21.insanejournal.com]

Sure, alot of supertypes run around half naked, but that thing they put Cosmic Boy in....There's just no words for it! It's like they let some bizarre slasher/Yaoist design it!

[his_spiffyness.insanejournal.com]

There's just no words for it! It's like they let some bizarre slasher/Yaoist design it!

Worse, they let Mike Grell design it :)

[volksjager.insanejournal.com]

Still I bet it went on in a Jiff. like two snaps. Came off even quicker !

I winder if he still kept it when he briefly bacame the time trapper ???

[icon_uk.insanejournal.com]

And God bless them for it! :)

[sandoz_iscariot.insanejournal.com]

And the majority of comic fans wouldn't blink if that was Cosmic Girl's costume.

[volksjager.insanejournal.com]

Ding -ding we have a winner !

[perletwo.insanejournal.com]

Aaaand I feel some genderswitch fanart comin' on, just as an experiment...

[volksjager.insanejournal.com]

We can only hope !

Sorta like this !

[volksjager.insanejournal.com]

Re: Sorta like this !

[jlroberson.insanejournal.com]

Ahhh, Dita.

Re: Sorta like this !

[psychop_rex.insanejournal.com]

The one on the woman actually wouldn't look too bad if she put on a jacket - she'd basically be Black Canary. With, uh, sparkly nipple-pasties. But the guy's costume is just... no. Nonononono. There is no one in the entire world who can pull off disco-ball pants. Even Elvis never got that tacky. Icch. It's like the '70's just threw up.

Re: Sorta like this !

[volksjager.insanejournal.com]

Don't tell that to German synth-bands. This was from Eurovision this past year.

Re: Sorta like this !

[psychop_rex.insanejournal.com]

Then I revel in the fact that German synth-bands are not my thing. (I think - to tell the truth, I haven't the foggiest idea what a synth-band is.)

[jlroberson.insanejournal.com]

No, we wouldn't, because as said, it's a BUSTIER, which is already a known woman's garment.

[thanekos.insanejournal.com]

i'd only start worrying about that if the gloves were elbow-length.

[randyripoff.insanejournal.com]

Honestly, I liked most of the redesigns, but Cosmic Boy's just never worked for me. Had he switched to swim trunks or shorts, that would have been cool. The bustier just plain didn't make sense either from a practical or aesthetic point of view, at least not to me. I know the costume has some fans, but I'm just not one of them.

[jlroberson.insanejournal.com]

Cosmic Boy, until Gary Frank, I think, has always had the suckiest designs, one of the worst being this one, but I'd say coloring his costume pink was always one of its worst aspects. Blue just looks better on him, and is more suggestive of magnetism as it's related to electricity, whereas pink not only didn't look very good, it didn't make much sense. I'm guessing it had to do with not making his look too much like Lightning Lad's. But then there's also that stupid space helmet he had for no apparent reason.

[tacobob.insanejournal.com]

And for the record, what's with those giant collars some heroes wear? Karate Kid has them, as did Iron Fist and Deadman.

[surlytmpl.insanejournal.com]

I blame the 70s and disco.

[jlroberson.insanejournal.com]

Cockrum's designs were the shit. Phantom Girl being my all-time favorite. It's sexy and also looks good, and though it looks totally 70s it doesn't date for some reason. I liked Gary Frank's revision as well.

[jlroberson.insanejournal.com]

>>Note this was my first experience with the "bait and switch" cover as a child. I only realized when I got home that only the cover was done by George Perez, the interior was done by some hose.

I can't name the penciller because there's no distinguishing them under the scratchy, careless hand of Frank Chiramonte, in my mind the worst inker, ever. He makes Vince Colletta look passionate. (and Colletta could sometimes look like he gave a shit--a few Kirby THOR stories here and there)

And yeah, Perez introduced me to the phenomenon as well. DIAL H FOR HERO, for instance. DC had him doing half their covers during that time for exactly that reason. And I also was bothered when, even when he did the inside art, the inking was never the equal of Perez' own either. I find it interesting that, when Perez inks himself, the shading is very sharp and contrasty, and the blacks are heavily, and very well, spotted. Whereas those inking him have lots of open space and largely eliminate the deep blacks. Which weakens him and makes his work start looking...I don't know how to describe it except the way I thought of it in the 80s. "This looks very Michael Jackson," I'd say. I think all the perms he liked drawing had something to do with that.

[dr_hermes.insanejournal.com]

All very true, and clarifying some thoughts I had in the back of my mind.

That "bait and switch" with cover artists has been going on as long as there have been comic books. I don't like it and learned even as a kid to take a minute to look over the interior; but you can why publishers do it and they're not going to stop.

[jlroberson.insanejournal.com]

Neal Adams, Nick Cardy, Brian Bolland, and Dave McKean. There's four B&S artists DC has used successfully that I can think of offhand. Frank Quitely these days.

[geoffsebesta.insanejournal.com]

Huh...you have a really good point about Perez's inks. I'm wondering how much that phenomenon's contributed to the general "Lost in Space" feel that 70s-80s house style was so prone to.

[04nbod.insanejournal.com]

I want a comic where the legion's clothes are taken to the imskian dry cleaners and all the legion are left with are their most embarassing outfits and they fight crime as if what they are left with is the shit