Legionnaires #39 (1996)
written by roger Stern & Tom McCraw
pencils and cover by Jeff Moy
I’m all for making all of Triad’s bodies distinct, but this is going a bit too far.
Kinetix is still obssessing over finding the Emerald Eye of Ekron, something that isn’t ominous at all and won’t have any negative consequences.
She’s interrupted by Lori Morning, who is dressing very normally for a ten-aged-to-thirty girl.
Look, Kinetix, I don’t have kids but I could’ve told you this would have the exact opposite result.
If I were you, I would’ve said to Lori to follow these easy steps:
Step 1) Approach the guy and ask “I’m actually ten years old, do you think I’m hot?”
Step 2) If the guy says “yes”, RUN
Step 3) There is no step 3, you’re ten years old.
Nice summary of LSH #82, Leviathan, although you left out that you met a girl with the power to headbutt people with her flying head and that her codename is “Konk”.
Which, let’s face it, was the best part of your adventure.
The cafeteria is an underappreciated Legion setting. Not only it helps selling the “teenage heroes” aspect, but it allows you to do multiple character bits at the same time!
There is A LOT to love in this sequence! From the sheer energy of the Jeff Moy artwork, to Triad arguing with herself whether it’s racist to think Chamelon isn’t a good match for Spark, to Violet and Leviathan talking business, to Brainiac 5 being COMPLETELY oblivious.
I kind of sympathize with Leviathan regarding M’Onel. It’s good for the character that he’s allowed to leave the team whenever he wants, but from a leader’s perspective it sucks to be unable to reliably depend on the strongest member of your team.
But on the other hand, he does talk with his mouth full, so my sympathies only go so far.
Also, continuing the theme of Violet being a more attentive leader, she’s the only one who seems to notice Triad arguing with herself.
Hilariously, Brainiac 5 does notice that Chuck is humming slightly off-tune…
…but he didn’t notice ANYTHING ELSE.
Well, maybe he DID notice, but nothing he heard mattered. After all why would he care if Chameleon has a crush on Spark, or chare what Leviathan thinks of M’Onel’s membership status, or that Lori is obsessed about her first kiss?
Well the latter maybe SHOULD worry him.
Especially when Lori returns to her crush, Rond Vidar…
…for a kiss!!!
THANKFULLY, it doesn’t go further than that.
That’s not the kiss with the most consequences in this book!!!
If it sounds like this is out of nowhere… there’s a reason for it that will be examined next issue.
Triad isn’t feeling so good, and Kinetix decides to handle this instead of asking Brainiac 5 because… uhm… why DOESN’T she take Triad to Brainiac 5?
They don’t go to Dr. Gym’ll because he’s currently off-duty, okay, and Brainy would obviously complain… but come on, this looks serious.
Not serious enough to skip a new mission, because Dr. Regulus has escaped.
Sun Boy even gets recruited for the mission, and he’s STILL not considered a member!!!
Regulus just happens to be on a planet controlled by McCauley, so Workforce gets involved.
I’m quite surprised to see Karate Kid is still working for him, at this point he should know better.
So we have a new Legion and Workforce team-up.
Reboot Ultra Boy gets a lot of criticism from fans, but you can’t say he isn’t loyal.
Dr. Regulus has caused a blackout on the planet, which apparently freaks out Inferno.
Who apparently is afraid of the dark? Uh?
Spark is saved by Chameleon…
…and all Inferno really needed was a good slap in the face.
Hey, turns out that Chameleon being alien wasn’t the reason why Spark was upset!
She definitely still overreacted, but still. I remind you that canonically SHE’S FOURTEEN.
The Legion eventually finds Regulus, who is blind now. Not that this affects him much.
Kind of an awkward moment for Triad’s power to do THIS.
And so we end with the cliffhanger of Dr. Regulus now having magnetic powers as well.
Legion significance: 8/10
This is the beginning of an INCREDIBLY important story arc that will define the rest of this era, but this first part is mostly the setup.
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
You just know that the secret admirer plot would have been the focus.
Does it stand the test of time? 9/10
Solid as per the usual Reboot standard, with the cafeteria scene really standing out.
It’s also the last time for QUITE a while where we get to see the entire Legion off-duty at once; they won’t have another change for many, many issues.
My only complains are that, despite the importance of this arc, Dr. Regulus feels like an afterthought that could be replaced by almost any other villain… and while it’s important for her future actions, I could live without Lori’s plot.
Moy Tongues: 20
Who did it better?
No direct comparison comes to mind.
We are legion
- 18 active Legionnaires
- 1 resigned member (Andromeda)
- 1 honorary member (Superboy)
- 1 deceased member (Kid Quantum)
- 21 people have been members
- 3 Legion leaders (Leviathan, Cosmic Boy, Shrinking Violet)
- 2 members have been rejected
Interesting letters: we have the return of a long-lost tradition with a new Legion election!!!
Which certainly doesn’t bode well for Violet’s term, considering she was JUST elected.
But also, it certainly HAS been a long time since the readers voted!!!
This is the first reader election of the Reboot, but if I’m not mistaken 5YL never did this.
Was the election of Sensor Girl as the last Volume 3 leader the previous one? Because that would mean there hasn’t been a reader election for SEVEN YEARS at this point!
I’d be curious to know if any of my readers ever voted in Legion elections.