DC's Next Level

 Now that I have had a nice rest from buying comics, thanks to the annoying and absurd "K.O." crossover, let's take a look at what is next: DC's "Next Level".

Given that this was an excuse to have heroes fight heroes (because DC STILL can't stop itself from aping Marvel) that brought back tedious Darkseid only minutes after we were told we were finally RID of him (which is basis for the nugatory "Absolute" line of comics). I can only hope that the "Next Level" is UPWARD rather than downward.

Lobo

Well, THAT hope was short-lived.

Sigh.

Batwoman

Well, we all like Batwoman, of course; she's like parfait.  However,

But since she was 10 years old, Kate Kane has lived in the shadow of a prophecy and the machinations of a religion devoted to the end of all things. How do you fight the devil when the devil is real? And how do you win?

it sounds as if no lessons were learned from her last run.  Batwoman is a great concept but she was badly weighed down by the "Church of Crime" nonsense (and to a lesser degree by her one-note battle against her own sister).  The only elements they needed to KEEP about Batwoman were: ex-military (the "don't ask don't tell" part is much outdated now), lesbian, Bruce Wayne's cousin, and The Best Costume Design Ever.  They had a chance to jettison the rest and they seem determined to blow it.

Deathstroke

See entry for "Lobo".

As a comic book fan, it is not the Penguins or The Erasers or Dr. Dominoes who embarrass me. It's the Deathstrokes-the-Terminators and the Banes and the Promethei.

And The Rest

Sigh.

Etrigan? Firestorm? Zatanna? Why, oh why does DC continue, decade after decade, to INSIST that these are "fan favorites", let alone ones that merit ongoing series? At least we have (for now) been spared Captain Atom.

The Legion

"Mark Waid gave his blessing for [Josh] Williamson’s new take, promising a beloved team for all Legion fans."

PHEW! Finally, something truly positive.  The DCU has three main "pillar" teams: The Justice Society from the past; the Justice League from the ongoing present; and the Legion from the (far) future.  However goofy their history has been

(which is "plenty", by the way)

the DCU is a wobbly table without them.  Whatever the flaws of its various incarnations, the Legion stands as a PROMISE: the heroic adventures you have read and are reading of present-day heroes are not for naught. They MATTER and make a long-term difference.  The Legion is the living proof that heroic legacy and its ideals in the DCU is never fully extinguished.

I can't pretend I am familiar with Williamson's work, but my fingers are crossed. Ignorable dross like Deathstroke and Lobo are worth it if we are also getting the Legion back.

GASP!

 Unlike many of our comic book friends, I am not given readily to gasping.

The Battle of the Empty Costumes

But gasp I did upon seeing "THE REVEAL" of who the mysterious "Legionnaire" was in the most recent Justice Society.

Literally the last person you'd expect.
Or is it...?

I assume most of you already know, but Mordu is an evil sorcerer who was introduced by writer Jim Shooter as a foe for the Legion in Adventure Comics #369 (JUN 1968). He is generally considered their most powerful single enemy, because the Time Trapper is too passive-aggressive.

This cover strikes me as odd, since sealing Mordru in an airtight container IS the way to defeat him.
Because magic.  

Mordru's original design was, to put it kindly, of its time.

Although I suppose seeing anyone THAT unconcerned about fashion-norms is going to be pretty disturbing, especially in the 30th century where fashions norms are already quite ... broad.

He had repeated dust-ups with the Legion.  And by dust-up, I mean "and now Mordru has All Teh Magickz in the Universe" or "history has been rewritten and now Mordru is the ruler of the Universe." Mordu is a not a "poison Gotham's reservoir" level villain.

In the 1987, a redesigned Mordru was repurposed as a foe for the Justice Society of America.

Because in the '80s "The Dark Lord" was deemed cooler than "The Merciless".
These things go in cycles.

It's involved, of course, because JSA arcs are involved and Legion arcs are involved and Mordru is a Legion villain.

All I will tell you is: it's completely Jean Loring's fault, which should surprise no one,
because nothing that lives OR HAS EVER LIVED is safe from Jean Loring.

So, on the one hand, the LAST person you would be expect to be a Legionnaire is effing Dark Lord Mordru the Merciless.  Even a mysterious metal-masked Legionnaire in the present.

The Legion has a history surprisingly rich in mysterious masked members, because the Legion is what happens when comics are actually written for kids (or BY them, in Shooter's case).

Especially given that the redacted bio for "The Legionnaire" clearly shows him with a different, non-Mordru-ish haircut.

On the other hand...

OF COURSE it's Mordru.  Even if Geoff Johns isn't writing this storyline, his DNA is all over much of what goes on at DC, especially anything that smacks of repairs to damage that Dan Didio has done to the timeline.

Theory: Dan Didio is the Glorith of our universe. 

And Geoff Johns always relies on making organic connections between characters in unexpected but reactively logical ways.  If you create a "The Legionnaire" character to connect the Legion to the JSA, you make it an already-existing character who already-connects them:

Okay. Fine. YES, Starboy/man would have been a much more obvious choice. But it's been done; it was TOO obvious.

And (setting aside Starboy), MORDRU is the best known character with strong ties to both the JSA and the LSH.  EVIL ties, yes, but strong ones.

And DCU is not averse to using strong evil ties.

Plus, the current arc for the JSA  (as is being made PAINFULLY REPEATEDLY LOUDLY CLEAR) is second chances for the redemption of villains.  And few characters are more irremediably evil than Mordru.  He's got no Arkham-crazy excuses; he's simply a terrible person.

With a terrible hair-care routine.

So redeeming HIM would be the ultimate impressive feat for the JSA.  What I find interesting here is that several Mordru stories in the past have implied that it is POWER that corrupts Mordru and that in the JSA story he mentions "these new powers".  Are we going to watch the battle for Mordru's soul happen right before us...?

Disarming

Floyd Belkin?!

Can't we let that joke die? It wasn't that funny in 1989, and repeating it hasn't helped.

This looks pretty good; why'd they ruin it with Floyd? smh

Who is The Legionnaire?

Well, now that the Golden Age issue has come out we know more details about "the Thirteen" who have been retconned into Golden Age history ("reinserted" as they put it, in-universe), so I'm going to do a brief follow up to my earlier post on the subject.

First and foremost, I want to correct the headlines (because I'm Comic Book Guy) that say these are "thirteen new characters". They are not.   It's, at most, ten and a half.

The Golden Age Mister Miracle and the Golden Age Aquaman are pre-existing characters. And despite the change in names, "Quiz Kid" is, as I suspected, quite clearly modeled on pre-existing Golden Age character Genius Jones.  So, that's a half.

As for the mysterious "Legionnaire"...well, we don't know who that is, yet, do we? However, there is a Time Bubble in the image, from which we can deduce that this boy (the silhouette is a male figure) originates from 31st Century.  There's little point in having a representative from the future if it's somewhere we don't already know so... I suggest that it's almost certainly a pre-existing Legionnaire, meaning it's only NINE and half new characters.  

Who is that pre-existing Legionnaire?  The way I see, there are only four possibilities.

SO gay.

Ultra-boy, because he first appeared on a visit to the past.  His power set makes him an ideal Superboy/man stand-in.  The exact same rationale applies to Mon-El, or, of course, Superboy himself.  

No comment.

Frankly, I wouldn't put it past Geoff Johns to make a younger Jon Kent into the Golden Age Superboy, growing up in the age he is now first under the tutelage of the JSA and then once puberty hits with the LSH in the future. It's just the kind of grand madness he likes to pull off. BUT:

There's no cape.

No cape,  no Mon-El or Superboy.  Also that figure is clearly an adolescent. So it could be:

Karate Kid. For several reasons. One, Karate Kid, canonically, comes to live in the past for a while (see below).  Two, he doesn't have any super-powers so he won't be an overwhelming figure in the Golden Age. Three, "Karate Kid" is probably not a codename you'd be using in the U.S. at that time (for several reasons) which explains why he might just go by 'the Legionnaire'. Four, absolutely nobody in the 31st Century will miss Karate Kid. Five, the hair and the action pose.

I will admit the silhouette is NOT AT ALL consistently with KK's classically stupid costume, but they could take the opportunity to change it, since that would be a dead giveaway.

But that's all a bit too tidy. My real guess is based on two things: the silhouette and How GJ Thinks.  

The silhouette says it's a male (human-looking) with a much simpler costume, with hair that can do that (or it's Cham, of course, but that's cheating).  And Geoff Johns does things for REASONS. 

Let me rephrase that.  Geoff Johns MAY write a story that is fun. Or shocking. Or... whatever. But that is incidental. That's a side-effect.  Intentional, yes; but not the primary goal. The primary goal, visible or not is always: world-building. Stone by stone. Tree by tree.  

For those of you who watched the show Westworld: Geoff Johns is not Head of Narrative Lee Sizemore, writing stories for guests; he is Westworld Founder Dr. Robert Ford, building a world and hosts that can outlive those stories and guests.

Everything he does, in anything he writes, is done with an eye toward building the larger DCU.  That's why his stories sometimes don't seem to have a clear ending. His real "story" is The DCU itself.

With that in mind: there is no REASON to bring KK to the Golden Age. It accomplishes nothing; it doesn't connect any dots; it doesn't close any loops, establish any legacies, further any dynasty building. AND THAT'S WHAT GEOFF JOHNS DOES.   Just look at all the rest of the Thirteen for a moment first as proof...

Betsy Ross & Molly Pitcher. A matched set of female sidekicks for Miss America (one of DC's yardsale heroes), who plenty of modern readers have never even heard of, but who's probably going to be reintroduced as a Golden Age Wonder Woman analog.  Even though Wonder Woman is STRONGLY name-dropped as being a long-term member of the JSA in Golden Age, so... go figure.

Salem, the Witch Girl. Borrowing a Kirby concept to make a kid sidekick for Dr. Fate, something no sane person would ever contemplate. 

Nabu? Not really good with kids.

John Henry, Jr. A legacy for a non-existent "John Henry" line of heroes that modern day Steel can be the inheritor of, tying John & Natasha Irons to a Golden Age history even if that undercuts the whole 'inspired by Superman' origin. Oh, well.

The Boom. If the Wests and Allens have legacy, then sure as shootin' GJ is going to make sure the Garricks do. It's okay; the name sells it.

Cherry Bomb. As mentioned in my previous post, the idea of giving THE HUMAN BOMB a kid sidekick would be hilarious absurd...if it weren't for the previous existence of TNT and Dan The Dyna-Mite.

The Golden Age Red Lantern and The Harlequin's Son are obviously are about fluffing out Alan Scott's dynasty so that's as overgrown as the modern Green Lantern's.

Ladybug. She's the key to my guess.  Ladybug is a kid sidekick for ... The Red Bee.  Now... I love the Red Bee.  I've spent time imagining treatments for updating the Red Bee. How can you not love a concept as comic booky as the Red Bee?  But he hasn't been on the radar for decades and no one's been clamoring for his return; The Red Bee is usually just a punchline or a trivium.  So why give Red Bee, of all people, a retconned kid sidekick?

Because Ladybug can shrink.  Just like Bumblebee.  The existence of Ladybug can be used to link Bumblebee, the Red Bee, the Golden Age Atom and the Modern Atoms (oh, and that idiot, Atom Smasher).  Finally, GJ will have that Ant-Man/Wasp Dynasty DC fumbled on creating with all its shrinking/growing characters.  

What does any of this have to do with The Legionnaire? Maybe nothing.

Unless the Legionnaire is Gim "Colossal Boy" Allon.

Things That Made Me Happy...

...in my comics this week.

Much to my surprise this week, I bought five DC comics and actually liked them.

Even BEFORE Dan DiDio was fired.

Matt Fraction's Jimmy Olsen was its delightfully, deepeningly insane self again.  This is not only a great way to write Jimmy Olsen, it's the ONLY way to write Jimmy Olsen. 

If you don't think that's funny, you don't deserve to read comic books.

This week's Aquaman gave us an ailing Mera, squabbling Atlanteans, a new explanation for someone's powers -- all of that's pretty standard BUT we got a baby out of it, so I approve.

"We'll name her... Aqua5G."

I thought the whole "Mera's pregnant/will she miscarry?! Stay tuned, same Aqua-channel!" thing would go on forever as an 'arc'.  But it just... happened. Like things used to happen in normal comic books.  That made me happy.


Meanwhile, in Gotham, things aren't going well because, well, that's how you know it's Gotham.  Bruce is rebuilding Gotham without, apparently, telling anyone what it will look like (which is hilariously unrealistic to me, a Washingtonian); Alfred is still dead again; and Gotham's non-united underworld (Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Catwoman, and, I hope at some point, Two-Face) are caught up in some ancient plot they once had which is starting to blow up in their faces and it has something to do with this guy:

Not certain; pretty sure he fought the Doom Patrol, though.

This is "The Designer" *snicker*, who apparently got caught flat-flooted by a last-minute invitation to the Villain Cotillion and had to cobble together a costume by breaking into the prop room at the community theater.  

JUST to hammer home the Doom Patrol joke, you understand.

Now, any well-read Batman fan will realize this is just a combination of Alan Grant's "Destroyer" storyline from 1992 and the Mike W. Barr's "Paul Sloane" storyline from 1987. But 20+ years is enough time passing to make a redux acceptable. Is this story so far any good? Probably not, but at least it's good FUN.  And it acknowledges that Catwoman used to be a MAJOR VILLAIN, rather than just Batman's moll. That made me happy. 

By the way, DC: stop "de-clawing' all the DCU's greatest female villains (e.g. Catwoman, Harley Quin, Poison Ivy) to make them into faux-edgy anti-heroes.  It's both tedious and sexist.

Meanwhile, in Justice League, Robert Venditti effortlessly accomplishes the sine qua non for any JLA story (which most JLA stories sorely lack): a credible threat that makes sense based on the existing universe.  The Eradicator backed by lead-immune Daxamites wants to use them to make Earth the new Krypton by eradicating humans. That's simple, clear, sensible (in a supervillain way) and an unquestionably JL-level threat.  

Polite Superman is the best Superman.

Flash not being honest with his teammates about his current power issues is stupid and out of character, but, um, somehow Dan DiDio is to blame, so I'll overlook it for now.

Speaking of Dan DiDio being to blame, this issue of Brian Bendis's Legion of Super-Heroes was... not completely incomprehensible.  That's an improvement. That made me happy.  Sure, the Interlac is still more comprehensible than everything else but Bendis is laying a fairly solid foundation that his successors (may they come soon) can built on top so that we can ignore his work. I'm all for that.  

Perhaps Bendis should be barred from English and confined to Interlac.

Seriously, while Bendis's dialog remains superhumanly annoying, the plot elements seem solid. Origins for each of the three Legion founders, origin of the Legion, an RJ Brande who doesn't look like the Monopoly guy; all this will work going forward. When someone else is writing Legion.  What he's doing will need to be done better later by someone else, but it won't need to be UN-done.  

Except for Rose/Thorn. That's just silly.

Broad Live the Legion!

Let's talk about this, the group drawing of the new Legion of Super-Heroes shared by incoming author Brian "Blah blah blah" Bendis in his interview with Seth Meyers:

COMPUTO! Zoom and ENHANCE!

Thanks, Computo

Before we start annotation, let's start with 'number zero': the Legion as an ensemble.  In short, this looks great, it looks like the Legion should, and if you don't think so, well...
you're wrong.

Nobody cares, least of all me, that "this isn't the Legion I grew up with," so shut yer yaps.  Your precious past is STILL THERE, preserved in about 10,000 different volumes of old LSH stories available to you in a wide variety of formats. Go back and read them if you want, I know I do that myself.

God knows, we must revere and preserve the Legion's honored past and traditions.

More than any other DC intellectual property, the Legion of Super-Heroes isn't about your past; it's about our future.  If you want to spend your life living in the past, what the sprock are you reading the Legion for anyway?!

Similarly, "The Diversity Issue". YES, this version of the Legion looks more 'diverse' than many we have seen before, and no one cares if that triggers your atavistic reactionary incel-self.  Because just as the Legion has always been about the future and not the past, it has always been about diversity. Different people from different planets and species/races with different powers, committing to do great things by creating a greater synergy from their differences.  Again, if you aren't into that concept, then what the sprock are you reading the Legion for anyway?

And, last: please note that Legion looks like they are having fun and enjoying one another's company.  They aren't angry sad-sack Marvel characters, forced to band together against a cruel society that hates and fears them because "They Are Different".  They are friends and teammates, clearly eager to join forces to do good for the galaxy.  And that's the people in whose hands I want the future to be.

Now, the annotations.  Help me unpack all this!

1. The only guess I have here is Ferro Lad, but that's almost certainly wrong.  What's that symbol on his chest; Hello Kitty?  Is this Hello Kitty Lad?  Maybe I am not as okay with diversity as I thought. Could it be... Proty 2?  That would be amazing.

Cuz Proty 2 will sprock with your head, man.

2. Obviously, Gim "Colossal Boy/Leviathan" Allen, being a **** and looking like someone gave him a black eye recently, which would all be fairly on point for him.  Note to DC: it IS a cooler name, but given what else you are publishing this year, naming him "Leviathan" could cause some confusion.

3.  Well. That's Dr. Fate, no debating that.  That'll be interesting.

Let's hope we don't have to endure a Bendis re-telling of THAT origin story.

4. Blok (or is it Strata, his female counterpart?). Regardless: it's Future Concrete.

5. Lessee... White. Female. Dressed like Felix Faust at Easter. Let's assume it's the White Witch.  Usually she is THE magic-wielder in the Legion (although sometimes other members have had powers with magic source, they seldom 'wield' magic), so having Dr. Fate around is even more intriguing.

6.  Skeletor Lad? Atomic Skull Boy?  Nurse Phosphorus?  Mister Bones, Junior?  Halloween 5.0? Translucent Kid?  The Phantom of the Future Paradise? Yo Soy El Esqueleto de Juan? Mano-cure? DAVID S. PUMPKINS?!

Maybe it's Invisible Kid, having fun.

7. Shadow Lass, a.k.a. Shady.

8.  Sun Boy or Inferno or Fiery-Face Lad if you wish.  A sort of human torch, if you will, standing beside a big rock-person Thing.  Good call.

9.  A Lantern? A Yellow Lantern?  Well, that's an interesting choice.  Like Dr. Fate, it shows some through-line to the present-day DCU... but Yellow? Interesting.  Maybe it's a ... Gold Lantern?

10.  Chuck "Bouncing Boy" Taine, with an uncharacteristic mop of red hair.  Look, I'm okay with Princess Projectra being a giant snake, but giving Chuck red hair may be crossing the line.  This just isn't the Legion I grew up with!

11.  PINK LADY.  Well, it's about time we got some adult beverage representation in the Legion!  Not everyone drinks Silverale, you know.  Anyway, it's probably Princess Projectra but I miss Sensor Girl!

12.  Given the Asian look and martial artsy costume, I'm going to guess Karate Kid.  I can't believe they are actually going there.

Again.  

13.  Reep "Chameleon Boy" Daggle.

Can't this be his default form? Pretty please?

14.  Another imaginative reinterpretation of Triplicate Girl, a.k.a. Triad.  We'll see how they make it work this time.  She may not be the most combat-threatening Legionnaire, but existentially she is TERRIFYING.

15. Dream Girl / Dreamer.  Always a baller.

Or, as they call her on "Supergirl", Phone Cord Girl.

16.  Mon-El / M'On-El / Valor.  But if you don't already know that you probably aren't reading this.

17. Saturn Girl, still trying to make her logo work.

18. Star Boy, based on the characteristic costume.  No beard, thank god.

19. I'm thinking Pink-Punk-Hair-Loss Lass is Shrinking Violet.

20.  Jon "Superboy" Kent. Great, sure, fine; anything to put an end to The Super-Sons Saga.

21.  Brainiac 5. Smiling. I'm sold.

22.  Tinya "Phantom Girl/ Apparition" Wazzo.  The hair braids and costume holes are a dead giveaway.

23.  Lightning Lad; classic costuming, red hair. Two arms, even.

24.  Dawnstar. Sigh.  I think there's some sort of magical covenant that Dawnstar can't die until Cher does (sometime AFTER the 23rd Century).

25.  Cosmic Boy, yummy as ever.

25.  Goateed hippy-boy Element Lad, his logo funnier than ever and who knows nothing and should shut up.

You wanna argue with Brainiac 5?
Good luck with that.

26. XS, the Legion's superspeedster and descendant of the Flash.

27.  The most clean-cut version of Ultra-Boy ever.

28.  Wildfire.  The Sonny Bono to Dawnstar's Cher.

30.   Matter-Eater Lad, looking like beans rice and inertron didn't miss 'im.

31.  And Timber Bear. I mean, Wolf. Yeah; no; I mean Bear.

Custom Heroclix Map: Legion HQ / Weisinger Plaza

Here's the perfect (but quite belated) Klordny gift for all my fellow Legion fans:

a Heroclix map of Weisinger Plaza, the place where Legion Headquarters sits.

Now, Wizkids itself has made a Legion-oriented map but, except for its use of Interlac, it's a rather bland and generic future map. I wanted to make something more like how I think of the Legion.

First thing you'll notice as the navbeam guides your autoflyer over the Plaza is that the future is not bland; it's eye-pokingly colorful, like Mr. Nebula's Eventual Revenge. Read any old Legion story (particularly as gloriously reproduced in the Archive Volumes); the 30th/31st century is aggressively colorful, like a Easter Egg gone postal.

Second you'll notice the "Super Hero Clubhouse", complete with Legion cruiser, Time Bubble, Mission Monitor Board, Legion flag in the courtyard, and, of course, the Planetary Chance Machine. Oh, and that garden beside the Old Upside-down Rocket-ship isn't just a fancy; early Legion stories always depict the HQ against a background of trees and plants.



No visit to Weisinger Plaza would be complete without a tour of the Superman Museum and a stop at the Nine Worlds Ice Cream Parlor; I recommend the Martian ice cream.

Teenagers from the Future

Are you going to the New York Comic Con in April? I'm not, but I'll be there in spirit.

Actually, I'll be there in print. I'm one of the essayists in a new anthology that will be released there:

TEENAGERS FROM THE FUTURE

It's a meaty tome, with 350 pages (!) about the Legion, its members, and its place is history (and the future). It's from the perspicacious folks at Sequart (they make books about comics for smart people), and edited by the blogosphere's own Tim Callahan. If you're unconvinced that the Legion is an essential part of the DCU, this may be the book that convinces you otherwise. If you're already a Legion fan, then it's a must-have since it's the book LSH-lovers will be discussing for the next one thousand years.

After it's premiere at the NYCC, it'll be available for sale on-line at Amazon and such. And, if you buy a copy, book a flight, fly to DC, metro over to my neighborhood, then walk to my house, I'll sign it for you. But call first; I could be out walking the dog.

My essay makes the case that the JSA and JLA, contrary to what many think, are extremely different in concept and that it was the Legion that showed the transition between those two very different groups. In essence, the gap between the Elders of the past and the Primes of the present was bridged by ... the Teenagers from the Future.

Check it out!

Legion 37

Jim Shooter, welcome back to the Legion of Super-Heroes.

As many of you probably already know (and probably know more about than I!), Jim Shooter was hired sight unseen to write the Legion of Super-Heroes in 1966 at the age of 14. Weird stuff like that used to happen before the internet. He created Ferro Lad (whose sacrifice is one of the Legion's great recurring legends), Princess Projectra (who became the ultra-fabulous Sensor Girl), and Karate Kid (he's okay-kay-kay, but I still don't like him). After high school, he left the Legion, and went on to, er, some other comic book related stuff.

Now, I know that Jim Shooter has his detractors, particularly as regards the other-than-author aspects of his comics career. But I know none of this (or will pretend to). I think, as a whole, all that is irrelevant to what he brings to table with Legion.

Setting aside the particulars of both author and title, it's quite an amazing thing to have someone come back to write a title they help shaped forty years before. It could herald a return to greatness or a giant step backwards.

Shooter's first (new) issue, LSH 37, has me leaning toward thinking it a return to greatness (and apparently others as well). I'm a Legion fan, but not a Legion zombie. I loved the "Archie Legion", but the 5YL Legion made my head hurt, Legion Lost completely lost me, and Mark Waid's recent LSH simply wasn't working for me (except when Supergirl was around).

So what did I like about Shooter's return in LSH 37?

Lingo. Part of the gloriously geeky appeal of the Legion is that they are world all their own, and they have "Interlac lingo" to go with it. This is a common feature in sci fi, and helps put the LSH in its unique spot somewhere between sci-fi and superheroes. The new Shooter Legion has "Glyco" for "soda pop", which is sensible; "yo-d'lay" as a greeting in a skiing colony (from the yodel "yo de lay hee hoo") is cute. The skiiers using phrases like "avalanche her" and "drift her under" is clever. And swear words and "futureuphemisms" are always a delight! Florg; futzwit; noob-head; snoog. Use them daily.

Consistent characterization. But that I don't mean simply within the issue itself. I mean consistent with both what Waid's done and the Legionnaires' "classic" personae. The haughtiness, but vulnerability, of Projectra. The natural leadership of Saturn Girl. The general incompetence of Lightning Lad. Light Lass's devotion to her brother.

Politics, both inside and outside the Legion. This was always an integral part of the Legion's shtick, and Shooter's continuing it in a much less grating way than Waid's rather immaturely and unrealistically anti-authoritarian version of the Legion. Projectra's statelessness, Garth being in over his head as Leader, the suspension of the transmatter accounts, the lack of authority on the skiing colony... and I can't wait to see who the "pre-approved candidates" are. These things inject sociological realism into a scientifically fantastic world, which always helps ground the story for me.

Humor. I don't recall this being a strength of Shooter's original run (really, how could it be, for a teenager?), but it's certainly there now, and rather subtly so. There are no "HERE'S THE BIG JOKE, FOLKS" kind of moments (the kind I find so grating in many Marvel stories). It's the little things, like "okay-kay-kay", "Mr. under-checker", "dressed this time, I see," and Invisible Kid pantsing somebody. Impulse helped me see that humor and pathos are not incompatible in a title, and are particularly important in a title about young people, and I'm happy to see Shooter bring that touch to the Legion.

Tradition. This is like "consistent characterization", but with other elements of the Legion. Specifically, I liked see the "Duty Roster", which is of course just a spruced up version of the old "Monitor Board". Sure, in "the real world" that could just as easily be on a desk-sized monitor rather than appearing in cinemascope. But this is the Legion, and modern Monitor Board, like the old, needs to be a big ass display for everyone to see, dominating the entire command center.

Patina. By this I mean two things: a Legion that takes advantage of its sci-fi settings with wacky worlds and concepts (like the old Mount Rushmore of Outer Space) but still uses them mostly as a patina that colors very basic and recognizable features of our world and experience. That's rather a mouthful, but the essence of it is "people don't change much and higher tech just means a glossier version of the same things we always do". This is another staple of sci-fi (unless you're Gene Roddenberry, in which case you think technology will breed out of people all greed, ambition, and violence [and please do not hijack the comments on this post into a Roddenberry/Star Trek discussion, thank you very much]). In this issue, I point to Cryogeyser City on Triton, which isn't some essential mining facility or military outpost -- it's just a ski resort with nitrogen snow. That's the kind of "Ice Cream Parlor of Nine Worlds" style fun I look for from the Legion.

Creationism. Gulp! No, no, not "creationism" versus "evolution". "Creationism" is what I call a certain approach to writing a long-standing property. Mere "recidivism" makes a writer afraid or unwilling to make any changes or advances to property's existing mythos; they dance safely but unspectacularly within its existing boundaries. Untrammeled "revisionism" spur a writer to the other extreme, to try to re-define the character, overturn his world, in the hope of revitalizing him. But "creationism" respects where a character is and has traditionally been, but uses it as a starting point for the continued evolution of the myth, not as an end point (like recidivism) or an albatross to be shed (like revisionism). In this comic book sense, "creationism" is evolution.

Anyway, that "creationist" attitude is what marks some of DC's best books today (such as Blue Beetle, Wonder Woman, Dini's Batman, Booster Gold, the All-New Atom, Green Lantern). It was the attitude that created such myths as the Legion to begin with, and Shooter hasn't lost a whit of it in 40 years. New people, places, and plots, all right there in his first issue.

Accessibility. The Legion, like a long-running soap opera, can be difficult to crack open for the uninitiate. Shooter could pander directly to longtime Legion fans like me, but he doesn't. Not only does he include necessary exposition (who has what powers, the minimal background necessary to understand the events in the book, terms and limits of technology used, etc.), he does it fairly naturally. Saturn's telepathy, the Legion's relationship with the UP, Projectra's problem, trans-neptunian objects, transmattering, Star Boy's power, etc., are all explained within the course of predominantly natural dialog. This is very important in a potentially daunting property like the Legion, with its deep and broad mythos. Now would be a good "jumping on" point for the Legion, if you have even the slightest interest or curiosity about DC's premier sci-fi title.

JLA 13: Black Canary, still not the leader of the JLA

One of the complaints readers had about Brad Meltzer's run on Justice League was that he wasn't able to show effectively why Black Canary was chosen as leader of the team, or show her leading it effectively afterwards.

But, you know what? McDuffie has been fixing many of Meltzer's gaffs, one by one, but this one has gotten even worse. In JLA 13, it seems almost that McDuffie has gone out of his way to show that Black Canary isn't leading, or certain not leading well.

1. While Black Canary is still recovering from kissing off Ollie, Green Lantern has already begun the meeting and briefed everyone on the situation.

2. Superman, Black Lightning, and Green Lantern debate Hawkgirl's fitness for duty. Black Canary has no say in the matter.

3. Black Canary mentions that one team has been out of contact for a while, Superman and Green Lantern decide what that means and that something needs to be done.

4. When Red Tornado asks for a battle plan, Black Canary does come up with one. But "Split into two groups and retrace their steps, okay?" isn't the single greatest example of clear and decisive leadership I've ever read. Can you imagine Hawkman, Wonder Woman, Power Girl, or Aquaman saying, "Split into two groups and retrace their steps, okay?" They would say, "You, you, and you, do this; you, you, and you, do that. Let's go, troops; stay close to one another and be careful."

5. Then Superman decides he's leading one of the subteams, and decides who he's taking. THEN, when they let Canary pretend she's picking the other team (it's everyone who's left, natch!), Green Lantern questions, then countermands the decision, points out a huge flaw in the decision, and changes the team. Far as I can tell, Green Lantern is leading the JLA.

6. Black Canary is utterly unaware that anything is amiss with Vixen's powers. Superman has to figure it out and confront Vixen. Then, neither of them say anything to Canary about it. Can you imagine him not telling Batman, Wonder Woman, or Aquaman? Can you imagine them not knowing already?

7. Then, when the villains show up, Black Canary shows that she's not a very good leader or, for that matter, Heroclix player. Canary; you're a Secondary Attacker. Use your Primary Attacker, Superman, first. Then, once they are softened up, your own attacks will be more effective. If you'd attacked with Superman and/or Vixen first, then you would have been free to tie up Parasite.

8. Black Canary shows that, not only is she a bad leader, she's a bad team member, and a crappy Heroclix player. When faced with three villains all of whom would be sensitive to her superpower, she decides instead to kick one in the face. Why? Mostly because she's indulging a delayed emotional reaction to something he did, oh, maybe 7 years ago. Yes, I can forgive BC for being emotional about rape in general, and the rape of her friend in particular. But if she can't do her job because of it, then she shouldn't be leading the JLA, or even in it. Can you imagine Aquaman or Wonder Woman doing what she did? I can't.

9. Once the villains have retreated, who retrenches and starts to make plans for their next move? Superman and Black Lightning.

Now, you could make the case that this portrayal of Black Canary is sexist. In fact, I'll wager there are about 147 blogs, livejournals, and podcasts that already have done so this week. And maybe it is. But there's another possibility:

Maybe McDuffie isn't to blame here.
Maybe this isn't the way Black Canary is being written.
Maybe it's the way she is.

Now, a good number of you will immediately dismiss me as insane or sexist for writing that. But I've come to believe these characters, having been around a long time, develop quite a lot of "inertia of characterization". Big ships turn neither quickly nor sharply. It's hard for anyone (at least, anyone who knows enough about them to become their writer), to change dramatically who they are, or even to write them too far out of character (except for, you know, Frank Miller).

For example: Geo-Force is a pompous, callous, ass. Recent attempts to refresh him in the public eye have led to a re-evaluation of the character in a new era, with new writers, and new readers, who seem to have reached a new consensus: Geo-Force is a pompous, callous, ass. I happen to think that's simply because... he is. The frog should not blame the scorpion for stinging, folks.

Blame it on Julius Schwartz, for inculcating me with the tenet that everything the writers here on "Earth Prime" write is merely a "reverberation" in their brains of what's happening on the "other Earths". Blame it on collective fandom memory, for whom each story of a character is merely an instantiation of the unalterable Platonic idea of that character. Blame it on me, for being a pompous, callous ass. But don't necessarily blame it all on McDuffie.

Some may object that Black Canary proved her leadership under a different writer (the glorious Gail Simone), who is the principal architect of the modern day grooviness of Black Canary. Perhaps. But (1) Black Canary was more of an MVP in Birds of Prey; Oracle was, and is, the leader. (2) Birds of Prey was, and is, a great team. But they are a great B Team, and Black Canary was the big fish in that smaller (but still rather large!) pond. The JLA is the A Team, folks, and Black Canary is surrounded by fish that are larger than she. And it's showing.

Don't get me wrong; I like Black Canary. I like her now more than I ever have. But, I like lots of characters, without thinking they are the appropriate ones to be leading the JLA. I don't think it's just because she's a woman or isn't the strongest member. After all, two of the greatest leaders in comic team history were Saturn Girl and Dream Girl of the Legion, neither of whom is exactly a powerhouse. I wouldn't buy Superman as the leader of the JLA, either; no matter how many times writers try to foist leadership onto Superman (usually in crossovers) it's always extremely ill-fitting. Superman is a fullback, not a quarterback. Aquaman is a quarterback; John Stewart is a running back; Flash, a wide receiver. Black Canary? Tight end.

It's exactly because I like Black Canary that I don't like seeing her lead the JLA; frankly, it's making her look bad. Brad Meltzer "promoted" her out of some misguided sense of Affirmative Action when the previous characterization to support it hadn't yet been built. Now JLA reads like a theater group where a weak director is being gently back-led by her company of strong actors.

When do Aquaman and Martian Manhunter get back?

Things That Made Me Happy...

in comics this week.

• The most relaxing Big Monkey Podcast of all.
• Jordana Gardner. Who'd thunk it?
• Poor Catwoman. But really, it's inevitable, and thank you, Will Pfeiffer, for realizing it.
• Bouncing Boy versus Starro.
• I really have no idea why a badger is attacking Phobia, but I love it anyway.
• Pomegranate magaritas?
• I actually enjoyed the Flash this week!
• Nice G'norrt cameo in Legion.
• The entire history of the relationship between Green Arrow and Black Canary in three pages.
• See? I told you Klarion's a bad guy. Don't believe otherwise.
• Lois brings mace and brass knuckles to a wedding? Good old Lo-lo!
• Good lord, it's Serling Roquette; I'd almost forgotten her.
• Those are gardening gloves the Spectre wears, aren't they?
• "The U.S. Navy?!!" Heh; nice one.
• Well, THAT's an interesting origin for Eclipso, and probably the most sensible one so far. Even if it turns out to be a lie.
• See? Everybody knows he's an idiot.
• Good lord, I'd almost forgotten the origin of the cold-gun.
• Impressive recap of the Fate helmet's recent history.
• That the four men wearing suits to a bachelor party are Clark Kent, Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, and Plastic Man.
• Two successive panels in Robin completely encapsulated the spectrum of Batman's personality.
• Wait... is that Power Girl spanking a stripper...?
• Soup into a colander? That's ingenious.
• Connor Hawke can perform weddings; monks are cool.
• The Return of Mister Terrible.
• Tad Williams, who realizes that Aquaman can crush a gun, that Vandal Savage is just a caveman, that Lorena would take the time to paint an "A" on her armor, and that Aquaman has the power to defeat Krusivax and save the world.
• "I came for the fight."
• I love the realistic mundanity of Kent Nelson's fall from grace.
• Plastic Man versus Clayface.
• Kyle becomes a penciller; take that, Dr. Wertham!
• Hey, Eclipso; please remember he used to be Public Enemy No. 1!
• Most surprising honeymoon ever!!!! And leave it to Ben Hatton to put all the pieces together...
• I think BOP 110 just taught me to love the Huntress.
• Zatarra's even hotter than Tim Drake, if that's possible.
• Glad to see that Acuna realizes how freaking huge Central City/Keystone is.

The Madness of Queen Jean, 4

Okay, so Jean Loring's gone crazy (I mean, publicly, in a way people can't help but notice), Ray's locked her in his bedroom while he explores the rug, and his arm's been mysterious encased in silver. Just another day in Ivytown.

Suddenly, Ray's attacked by Don Quixote and gives us a judo lesson.

They just don't write 'em like this anymore, folks.
Well, except for Judd Winick.

Ray's about to get zapped by Mister La Mancha's argentrifier, when he escapes by de-shrinkifying, which cracks the silver casing on his arms. Upon enbiggenment, Ray discovers...

JEAN LORING HAS ESCAPED!!!

It's such a lovely image. Helmet-haired Jean Loring, in those kicky white boots, lurching around the suburbs of Ivytown, whirling a cigarette stand above her head like a drunk Nancy Sinatra, escaped from her backstage handlers at the LA Pride Festival.

Is "a drunk Nancy Sinatra" a redundancy?

Now, if I discovered that

JEAN LORING HAD ESCAPED,

I'd call off the FBI manhunts for the Joker and Lex Luthor, signal the JLA, the JLA reserves, the JSA, the Freedom Fighters, and the Sea Devils, recall the 50 Green Lanterns who guard Superboy Prime, and leave a note in a time capsule for the Legion of Super-Heroes (because they are notorious for eavesdropping on our era).

But Ray Palmer is not me. Ray Palmer calls Hawkman.

Fortunately (because this is how comics worked in those days), Carter "Hawkman" Hall just happens to have lying around in his museum a suit of armor identical to the one worn by the Atom's assailant.

See? And you thought Ray was stupid for calling him.

The armor, Carter says, was found in Death Valley and appears to be made of an extraterrestrial alloy. So instead of being in a government lab, being studied, it just sits around in a museum somewhere. Welcome to the Silver Age.

You know who should play Hawkman in "Hawkman: The Movie"?
Josh Bernstein. Josh Bernstein in spandex and a harness.

Naturally, they go to where the suit was found, Ray turns a shrinky-dink ray on Hawkman, then they discover a subatomic city (by this point in his career, everything Ray does is "subatomic", not just tiny; no wonder they named it the Palmerverse), where they are immediately attacked by sentries flying on robot birds.

Why? Mostly to give Hawkman something to do, I suppose. Besides, mechanized birds were kind of a thing in the Silver Age. Remember Major Mynah?

Atom: "Sic 'em!"
Hawkman: "Wait, so, I'm your dog, now?"
Atom: "Silence, beeyotch, or I'll slap you like I did Jean and Hank Pym's wife."

Well, naturally, Hawkman does what Hawkman does, and takes out all the cyberavian sentries.

"Exactly as I hoped--!
The unexpected surge of lift drove him into his companion!"
FINALLY, I find my signature saying.

But what's this? Who does not approve?



No, Hawkman; not "Jean Loring". Rather, it is...

"QUEEN JEAN!"

And what does Queen Jean do to bad little boys and girls?

PUNISH.

Someones appears to have attached the "Trick Shot" feat to Queen Jean, huh? I guess only truly crazy people can fire in a loop-de-loop.

With Hawkman (the muscle) out of commission, the Atom (the brains) immediately gets clocked in the noggin by Don Quixote, who trusses them up in anti-theft devices, and explains that he drove Jean crazy with a crazy-making device (or possibly just by reading her Denny O'Neill's script for this story).

Why drive Jean crazy? Because he doesn't like long trips, that's why.

Next...

after Hawkman and Atom bond while wearing harnesses, doing heavy sweat work, and sleeping in the same cell, they fall for each other (with Josh Bernstein as "Hawkman", and Jake Gyllenhaal as "the Atom").