LSH #4 (SPOILERS)
Dani Zweig
Okay, so Superboy never existed; we'd already figured that. So Mon-El never
existed: Does that mean that Shadow Lass is planetary champion again (and
has her finger back?)
The Time Trapper never existed! Does this mean that Triplicate Girl is
still Duo Damsel? Does it mean that Mordru now controls the universe or
that the almost identical Legion would have formed without the Time Trapper's
help, and beaten Mordru? Does this mean that Brande stays in the 20th
century and that Phantom Girl doesn't?
We'll see soon enough. Comic book logic being what it is, I'm expecting the
path of least resistance: Brande was transported to the thirtieth century
by a 'time storm' or something equally convincing, not deliberately;
inspired by the promising aspects of the L.E.G.O.I.N. he created a Legion of
Super Heroes whose past was indistinguishable from the one we knew except
that it never had any members who originated in the twentieth century.
Possibly Shadow Lass isn't in mourning for anyone. Everything else will be
virtually unchanged. (Question: Where will flight rings have come from
without Mon-el to create them?)
Of course, now that all of history has been changed, *any* violation of
previous continuity can be explained away.
I'm not terribly pleased with this issue. Bringing back two major characters
by such a shabby gimmick is bad enough. Having their return be for just a
single issue makes it worse, not baetter. And having the whole purpose of
the exercise be to do away with those aspects of previous continuity that
the current writers don't like is, well, cheating.
-----
Dani Zweig
has...@andrew.cmu.edu
God helpe the man so wrapt in Errours endless traine -- Edmund Spenser
Martin Frederick Terman
>Okay, so Superboy never existed; we'd already figured that. So Mon-El never
>existed: Does that mean that Shadow Lass is planetary champion again (and
>has her finger back?)
Well, first off, we have to wait till the next issue to find out what happened
after this episode. Its quite possible that Mon-El will be returned to where
he was dragged from. Or equally possible that he was destroyed along with the
Trapper's universe.
>The Time Trapper never existed! Does this mean that Triplicate Girl is
>still Duo Damsel? Does it mean that Mordru now controls the universe or
>that the almost identical Legion would have formed without the Time Trapper's
>help, and beaten Mordru? Does this mean that Brande stays in the 20th
>century and that Phantom Girl doesn't?
For one thing, we have no way of knowing whether or not the Trapper was
telling the truth or not. It could be he was simply lying to keep Mon-El
from totally destroying him. Since the Trapper couldn't threaten Lar's
wife and friends, he could easily make up some story that would make his
death threaten the end of the LSH. I tend to favor this theory.
>We'll see soon enough. Comic book logic being what it is, I'm expecting the
>path of least resistance: Brande was transported to the thirtieth century
>by a 'time storm' or something equally convincing, not deliberately;
>inspired by the promising aspects of the L.E.G.O.I.N. he created a Legion of
>Super Heroes whose past was indistinguishable from the one we knew except
>that it never had any members who originated in the twentieth century.
>Possibly Shadow Lass isn't in mourning for anyone. Everything else will be
>virtually unchanged. (Question: Where will flight rings have come from
>without Mon-el to create them?)
This is an interesting possibility. And it would remove Mon-El and the problem
of having a totally invulnerable character around. Brainiac could be the
inventor of the flight rings. But the Trapper's effects on the LSH were myriad
and so I doubt it would be simple just to write them all off as a bad dream.
--
Martin Terman "Being a graduate student is never having to
Mutant for Hire say `I have dignity and self respect'"
mfte...@phoenix.princeton.edu --M.F. Terman
MFTE...@PUCC.BITNET Disclaimer? I don't even know her!
Kenneth Arromdee
In article <gZYjxXy00...@andrew.cmu.edu> has...@andrew.cmu.edu (Dani Zweig) writes:
>Wow! Talk about a retcon by another name!
>Okay, so Superboy never existed; we'd already figured that. So Mon-El never
>existed: Does that mean that Shadow Lass is planetary champion again (and
>has her finger back?)
If you read carefully, the _entire_Legion_ never existed. The trapper spe-
cifically said that Mordru would control the universe for a millennium if
the Trapper wasn't around. If the Trapper's existence is wiped out, there
will be a universe controlled by Mordru. Period.
If the Legion exists at all and Mordru is defeated at all, this means that
the Trapper made a mistake in saying this. And if he made that kind of a
mistake, maybe he made some other kind of mistake--maybe "kill me and I will
never had existed" was also a mistake and really isn't so.
Or, consider this: the Trapper says that the pocket universe will still have
existed. Could this whole storyline be an excuse to get rid of the Byrne-
destroys-the-pocket-universe story?
>I'm not terribly pleased with this issue. Bringing back two major characters
>by such a shabby gimmick is bad enough. Having their return be for just a
>single issue makes it worse, not baetter. And having the whole purpose of
>the exercise be to do away with those aspects of previous continuity that
>the current writers don't like is, well, cheating.
I don't think so. If Mon-El was dead, it would have been announced,
considering how the death of Blok was hyped. And nobody ever believed he was
really dead in the first place, so it's not really "bringing back" anyone.
PS: it'll be a few days before my Scorecards come out. At about the same time
I'll be reposting the first three.
--
"Workers of the world, we're sorry!" --Soviet protestor's slogan
Kenneth Arromdee (UUCP: ....!jhunix!arromdee; BITNET: arromdee@jhuvm;
INTERNET: arro...@crabcake.cs.jhu.edu)
Dani Zweig
>I don't think so. If Mon-El was dead, it would have been announced,
So the integrity of the writing is determined by the actions of DC's PR
people?
>And nobody ever believed he was really dead in the first place,
>so it's not really "bringing back" anyone.
Or, perhaps more reasonably, by appeal to our understanding of genre
conventions and of how they interact with said PR?
This new title has remarkable potential. It seems a pity to squander it
so soon.
-----
Dani Zweig
has...@andrew.cmu.edu
If you're going to write, don't pretend to write down. It's going to be the best you can do, and it's the fact that it's the best you can do that kills you! -- Dorothy Parker
Douglas R. Oosting
>
>Okay, so Superboy never existed; we'd already figured that. So Mon-El never
>existed: Does that mean that Shadow Lass is planetary champion again (and
>has her finger back?)
>
>We'll see soon enough. Comic book logic being what it is, I'm expecting the
>path of least resistance: Brande was transported to the thirtieth century
>by a 'time storm' or something equally convincing, not deliberately;
>inspired by the promising aspects of the L.E.G.O.I.N. he created a Legion of
>Super Heroes whose past was indistinguishable from the one we knew except
>that it never had any members who originated in the twentieth century.
>Possibly Shadow Lass isn't in mourning for anyone. Everything else will be
>virtually unchanged. (Question: Where will flight rings have come from
>without Mon-el to create them?)
>
Least resistance for sure...the already-enplaced elements will remain as
they were; that's why there were being set up that way (ie Mordru is
still preparing to maek a move; perhaps he has even spotlit certain people
(Legionaires by OUR memory, not their own now)...Hm. Interesting.
Looks like Mon-El is going to stay dead after all.
As far as flight rings go, check the letters page for that issue. Someone
mentions eliminating flight rings in the column (I think that letter is
right after the one by Ken Arromdee). The response? "You want it,
you got it."
>Of course, now that all of history has been changed, *any* violation of
>previous continuity can be explained away.
>
You mean, like right after CRISIS?
>I'm not terribly pleased with this issue. Bringing back two major characters
>by such a shabby gimmick is bad enough. Having their return be for just a
>single issue makes it worse, not baetter. And having the whole purpose of
>the exercise be to do away with those aspects of previous continuity that
>the current writers don't like is, well, cheating.
>
Cheating? Perhaps. It does tie it together (and its no worse than the
original PUniverse kludge; indeed, it ties it together a bit more. Im
not sure how well it will hold up though)
I for one think this is an interesting shift...and it DOES cut that last tie
to the "old" legion. Im considering the book as a new series with little
connection to the old one (except perhaps for inside jokes)
Long live...err...umm....yeah, right. :)
--
Cogito ergo Spud | Douglas R. Oosting, University of Florida
(I think, therefore | d...@beach.cis.ufl.edu or Pend...@oak.circa.ufl.edu
I yam...) |...{mailrus|gatech}!uflorida!beach.cis.ufl.edu!dor
In the Society : Cadrys ap Dulas o Caereira, Barony of An Crosaire, Trimaris
Robert L. Wald
>Least resistance for sure...the already-enplaced elements will remain as
>they were; that's why there were being set up that way (ie Mordru is
>still preparing to maek a move; perhaps he has even spotlit certain people
>(Legionaires by OUR memory, not their own now)...Hm. Interesting.
I skipped the Magic Wars at the end of the last run. How did Mordru
get his memory and bad disposition back?
(A summary of Legion #1 and #2 would also be appreciated as I only
started with #3 (my local shop has become unreliable).