Legion Week continues with a team draft!
Marc Singer
We need a Fifth World Mission
Monitor Board!
Chris Maka
Heh.
Marc Singer
And symbols. Lots of Interlac
symbols.
JL Franke
Welcome to the LSH casting call! The idea behind this exercise is for us to
take a look at the various versions of the Legion and pick our cast for a new
book from any of the previously existing teams (or call for new versions, as
necessary).
Chris Maka
I'll try my best not to simply ask
for v3 versions of every character.
Marc Singer
Yeah, that's gonna be tough.
Sean Fields
Me too, Chris. 😂
JL Franke
For review, we'll be looking at the
originals, the reboot (the Tom Peyer, Jeff Moy, etc. version) from post-Zero
Hour, and the "threeboot" by Mark Waid and Jim Shooter (and others)
from post-Infinite Crisis.
There's also a chance we might want
something from Five Years Later (5YL), when Keith Giffen and the Bierbaums took
a blowtorch to everything that was good and holy about the Legion, or the
"retroboot" when Geoff Johns and Paul Levitz brought back a version
of the originals.
Everyone ready? I prepped images for everyone, and there
appears to be about 10,000 Legionnaires to go through.
First up, the founding members:
 |
| Rokk Krinn, aka Cosmic Boy, also known briefly as Polestar |
 |
| Garth Ranzz, aka Lightning Lad/Lightning Boy/Live Wire |
 |
| Imra Ardeen, aka Saturn Girl |
Marc Singer
For Lightning Lad, I have to go
with the original... and I mean *all* the way back to the original.
JL Franke
Cosmic Boy didn't change much over
the various versions, though the reboot version got a little frisky with both
Saturn Girl and Kid Quantum.
Marc Singer
I'm not going to say that Edmond
Hamilton wrote the best Lightning Lad, but LL was definitely the best character
in the original Legion stories. The first one to have a distinctive
personality. Everything else built off that.
JL Franke
How far back are we talking about,
Marc? Pre-death? Pre-arm amputation?
Chris Maka
I definitely dislike any Live Wire,
young hot head, reboot versions of Lightning Lad
Marc Singer
No, I'm talking death,
resurrection, arm amputation, the whole nine.
Saturn Girl is tough... I'm tempted
to say Levitz, though motherhood sidelined her for a big chunk of his run. I
thought the reboot Saturn Girl was fine.
Sean Fields
Reboot version of Cosmic Boy may be
my favorite Cosmic Boy. Arm amputated LL is good and was Threeboot Saturn Girl
the one who only talked telepathically?
Dvandom
I came in via a weird vector. I read a couple of books before getting
serious (the "Academy kids" issue where Dawnstar left on her Grand
Tour and Wildfire detonated out of emo, the annual where the darkness covered
the galaxy and Validus was stolen), missing a lot of important bits, before
seriously getting into Legion with The Magic Wars.
So, really, the three founders
weren't "my" Legion as much.
JL Franke
I thought the threeboot Saturn Girl was interesting, where as a
telepath, she never spoke.
Marc Singer
That is almost exactly when I came
into the Legion (including the Academy issue!), though I got hooked on the Five
Years Later version... but more on that later.
Dvandom
(Wildfire was my favorite early on,
and I was stunned by his apparent death, not knowing he had a history of doing
that.)
JL Franke
Dave, yeah, they never could tell when
he'd blow up. 😏
Marc Singer
I have to say, one of the things I
hated about the "threeboot" Legion was its use of gimmicks in place
of characterization. If a character is defined by what type of balloons the
letterer gave their dialogue, I am not going to like that version.
Cosmic Boy... you know, I really
tried on this one and I came to the conclusion that I don't like any version of
Cosmic Boy.
JL Franke
Marc, but what about Polestar? 😀
Marc Singer
I mean, I don't dislike him.
There's just... not a lot of personality there.
Dvandom
He's sort of the custard base
against which other flavors shine.
Sean Fields
☝
Marc Singer
Everybody tells us what a great
leader he is, but zero charisma. That's okay! The boring administrators serve
their purpose, too.
Chris Maka
I liked Levitz's Cosmic Boy,
especially after his spotlight story where his family was fire bombed. I
appreciated his staid personality surrounded by crazy.
JL Franke
Levitz's Cosmic Boy seemed to be
the last version that didn't have to be the leader.
Chris Maka
True.
I think later writers wanted too
much to turn him into a Cyclops, Robin/Nightwing type, without really being
able to write him that way
Marc Singer
That is my favorite team member
type, though.
Chris Maka
Same.
Marc Singer
I don't think the Legion really
needs it the way smaller teams do.
JL Franke
So what I'm hearing so far is
everyone wanting OG Lightning Lad, little real fire over Cosmic Boy (with mild
endorsements for both OG and reboot Rokk) and a decent amount of disagreement
about Saturn Girl.
Chris Maka
I agree. And I like the Legion's
rotating leaders.
Marc Singer
When you have 20 members, maybe a
boring administrator is exactly what the situation calls for!
JL Franke
The elections was one of my
favorite aspects of the Legion. I loved
the issues Levitz would do with those.
Marc Singer
Yes to the rotating leaders. And to
reader elections!
Chris Maka
Those were so much fun.
JL Franke
Before we move on, do we want to
revisit Saturn Girl? It sounded like
Sean and I were for the threeboot version, while Chris and Marc were against
that one, with one of you endorsing OG Imra.
Is that accurate?
Marc Singer
Imra has such a well-defined
personality that she will be pretty much the same across any version... except
the threeboot didn't use that version. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
JL Franke
Really? I thought other than using strictly
telepathy, I found her very similar to reboot Imra.
Dvandom
I found the "not used to
actually talking" version was a little more interesting.
Chris Maka
I don't strongly dislike any
version of Imra, really
Dvandom
Making Titan a more politically
touchy polity also helped, rather than it being just a sort of Happy Telepath
Utopia in the background. Sure, it was
still utopian, but...guarded.
JL Franke
Poor Lightning Lad, I think Imra
either cheated or was tempted to cheat in every single iteration, with Timber
Wolf in the originals, with Cosmic Boy in the reboot, and with Ultra Boy in the
threeboot (and she went all the way in that last one).
Marc Singer
Yeah, that was when I signed off on
that Imra and the threeboot in general.
But at least LL wasn't a Protean
Sean Fields
Never got that relationship anyway
but that’s for another discussion.
JL Franke
Well, luckily for you, DC did that
right afterward, canceling the threeboot version. 😏
Let's move on to some other
characters...
 |
| Querl Dox, aka Brainiac 5/Brainiac 5.1/B-5 |
 |
| Gim Allon, aka Colossal Boy/Leviathan/Micro Lad |
 |
| Tinya Wazzo, aka Phantom Girl/Phase/Apparition |
 |
| Luornu Durgo, aka Triplicate Girl/Duo Damsel/Triad/Una/Duplicate Damsel/Duplicate Girl |
Marc Singer
Brainiac 5 is one of the best
characters when he's right, and one of the easiest to get wrong.
Chris Maka
Levitz Brainy for me, but I'll take
any non-grumpy-and-arrogant version
JL Franke
I agree Marc. When did they decide he had to be an
asshole? Was it the reboot, or did
Giffen and the Bierbaums do that to him?
Dvandom
I'm partial to threeboot
Brainy. Original was too prone to random
madness or maudlinness because writers couldn't figure out what else to do, at
least making him snarky and more explicitly working off family guilt gave him
more hooks.
Marc Singer
Writing Brainy as an asshole is
usually a sign that a writer is going for some gritty, "modern" take
that doesn't suit the Legion at all.
Dvandom
Some of this is timing...I'd
already seen a lot of classic Brainy schtick coming from Hank Pym by the time I
read older Legion books.
Marc Singer
The problem with the threeboot
Brainy was not just that he was an asshole, but that all the characters were
kind of assholes.
JL Franke
Marc, that is kind of true. I believe instead of "Long Live the
Legion", their motto was, "Eat it, Grandpa!"
Marc Singer
All of which is to say, Levitz all
the way.
Sean Fields
Most of the threeboot cast were
terrible teens, which is accurate as someone who has worked with teens for a
decade plus.
Marc Singer
(Jerry: I know, right? What was
that?)
JL Franke
I think I'd have to push for the
Levitz Colossal Boy as well.
Sean Fields
Original flavor Brainy for me.
Me too Jerry.
Chris Maka
Agreed re: Colossal Boy
Marc Singer
The thing is, whether it's Buffy or
Veronica Mars or Legion, we don't really want accurate teens in our
teen-centered media. We want idealized ones.
Just like our adults.
JL Franke
I think he had the best personality
of the three. I can't even remember
Leviathan, and the Micro Lad thing was just a little too cute for me.
Chris Maka
He's been ill served by all the
reboots, imo.
Marc Singer
Yeah, the Micro Lad thing was
another gimmick passing as characterization.
Gimme the well-meaning lunkhead of
Levitz.
Leviathan was played as the team
jerk, which is fine when only *one* team member is the jerk, but Gim shouldn't
be that guy.
JL Franke
I also think that once he actually
faced his desire for Violet and then found himself married to Yera, his
character really took on some added depth that the reboots never found again.
Marc Singer
Definitely.
Chris Maka
Yeah.
Sean Fields
I like reboot Phantom Girl and
Triplicate Girl.
But that is strictly because I am
most familiar with those versions.
Dvandom
With a cast that big, you kind of
need everyone to have a single hook that they can use whenever they're not the
focus. Nuance is antithetical unless
you're willing to whittle the cast down and play the "focus on a
subset" game, cycling through.
Sean Fields
Yup.
JL Franke
I think Tinya is one of the few
times I favor the reboot version. I
thought the Levitz version was a bit too Mean Girls, and the threeboot version,
where she co-existed in both dimensions at the same time was another case of
Waid getting too cute.
Marc Singer
Yeah, I like Tinya as the
privileged kid who joins the team against her helicopter mom's wishes. I think
the reboot introduced that.
JL Franke
Marc: yep, it did.
Marc Singer
Totally agreed on Tinya's cattiness
in Levitz. But his female characters rarely had the depth of his male ones in
that era.
Chris Maka
I like the reboot versions of both
of those characters as well.
Sean Fields
(Aside I’m very interested in this
phantom girl character in the new The Terrifics series aka DC Fantastic Four.)
Marc Singer
Yes, making Luornu the super-admin
assistant finally gave her something to do, and made sense given her power set.
JL Franke
For Luornu, I actually kind of like
the threeboot version. This idea where
she re-populated her planet with versions of herself and then the Legion
version was too alien to rejoin the collective was an interesting concept for
me.
But I also liked the reboot version
where all three bodies had distinct personalities.
(Sean: Me too. It's on my tablet but I haven't read issue 1
yet.)
Marc Singer
The reboot added some facets to a
character who, ironically, had never had any facets before.
Sean Fields
(Jerry-it’s off to a good start)
Dvandom
Trying to model the Legion is why I
developed a sliding scale system for my Modern Knights tabletop RPG...Lu
practically defined the low end, with Mon-El at the high. Finding ways to make Lu useful in a full team
fight is...difficult.
JL Franke
So what I'm hearing here is that
the majority of us are down with OG Brainy and Gim and Reboot Tinya and
Luornu. Shout out if I'm
mischaracterizing.
Dave, did you model tri-jitsu? 😏
Next batch:
 |
| Charles Foster Taine, aka Bouncing Boy |
 |
| Reep Daggle, aka Chameleon Boy/Chameleon |
 |
| Jan Arrah, aka Element Lad/Alchemist, also briefly known at various times as Mystery Lad, Starfinger, and Progenitor |
 |
| Lyle Norg, aka Invisible Kid and Jacques Foccart, aka Invisible Kid II |
Sean Fields
I kinda hate Element Lad. No idea
why.
Chris Maka
I must confess: I don't like any
version of Bouncing Boy. Not really sure why.
Heh.
Sean Fields
And any Bouncing Boy is good to me. 🙌
Dvandom
Bouncing Boy was the Experienced Legionnaire
in my first ever issue, so I do have something of a soft spot for him.
Marc Singer
I thought Levitz did a great job
with BB as the Academy instructor.
JL Franke
I liked Bouncing Boy once he became
an instructor.
Dvandom
I prefer Eminince Grise reboot
Invisible Kid.
Marc Singer
Weirdly enough, the reboot Chuck
Taine had all the qualities that made the Levitz BB work... except the powers.
I mean, what was even the point of having him in the book?
Chris Maka
I did like academy instructor BB, I
will say
JL Franke
 |
Of course, I may be biased on Chuck.
|
Sean Fields
🙌
Marc Singer
For Invisible Kid: Jacques Foccart
forever!
Chris Maka
Love Jacques. Reboot Invisible Kid
was pretty good too.
JL Franke
I'm glad I'm not the only one who
likes Jacques best. Three versions of
Lyle Norg and I still can't stop being annoyed at them.
Marc Singer
Raymond McDaniel, who wrote Special
Powers and Abilities (which is, believe it or not, an amazing book of poetry
about the LSH) described Jacques as the first actual adult to join the team. I
think he's right.
Sean Fields
Lyle is just Brainy’s dumb buddy.
JL Franke
I love that quote, Marc!
Chris Maka
Yeah, that's a good line
Marc Singer
I liked the reboot Lyle who was in
competition with Brainy as the team scientist. But Jacques brought a lot to the
team, and he had one of the best reasons for becoming a Legionnaire.
JL Franke
So on Jan, I liked what Levitz did
with him, especially giving him someone to interact with on a personal level in
Shvaughn.
Marc Singer
Also, not for nothing, Jacques was
the first non-white member who wasn't an walking stereotype... and still one of
the few.
Chris Maka
I like Levitz Element Lad
Marc Singer
One of the best leaders the Legion
ever had.
JL Franke
Also, the decision to make the
reboot versions of Jan this zen monk kind of thing never rang true to me.
Marc Singer
I loved Jan in the Five Years Later
era, which was where the zen monk thing originally came from.
JL Franke
Any thoughts on Cham? I think that's one of the few (only?) cases
where the OG version was the asshole of the trio.
Marc Singer
It made sense for that character...
he was older, and he'd been living in solitude on Trom for years.
Sean Fields
Reboot Cham
Chris Maka
I liked 5YL Jan as well.
Right.
Marc Singer
But then they imported that to the
younger reboot versions, and just wiped out any trace of a character Jan ever
had. He's never worked for me since.
Chris Maka
None of the post 5YL versions of
Jan worked for me either
Marc Singer
Jerry, are you thinking of the
Levitz Cham as the asshole?
JL Franke
Marc, yes. I'm specifically thinking of that period in Levitz when Cham led the Espionage team into Khund space and almost started a war, then got a portion of the team stranded on a frozen rock, then went behind everyone's back to out Yera/Violet without telling Gim.
Heh, I like that Cham. 😏
Jerry: agreed, though I could at least buy his rationale for not cluing in Gim. (Levitz's Gim was many things, but an actor he was not.)
Chris Maka
Reboot Cham was good too
Dvandom
Soulpatch Jan really didn't work
for me.
JL Franke
Should we tackle the elephant in
the room when it comes to 5YL Jan? I don't
mind at all that Jan's sexuality is amorphous.
I do mind that they took one of Levitz's strongest women and turned her
into Mike Huckabee's view of the transgender.
Marc Singer
That storyline was deeply misguided
on just about every level.
Chris Maka
I hate hate hated the Profem story
Sean Fields
I hated Jan that much that I
totally forgot about that? Wow.
Dvandom
That something like profem
exists? Good. That it was treated as a Dirty Secret? Not good.
Chris Maka
Agreed, Dave.
JL Franke
Dave, my other problem with it was
that Sean didn't become Shvaughn because he identified as a woman, but because
he thought it was a way to trick Jan into loving him.
Marc Singer
I mean, writing Jan as gay (even if
it's only to confirm an old fan theory) is fine. Just write him as gay! The
idea that that meant Shvaughn had to be transgender, or that trans and gay were
somehow equivalent... (shakes head)
JL Franke
That's just a couple steps from
throwing on a dress to sneak into the girls' locker room, which is just a wrong
portrayal.
Marc Singer
That's right! Shvaugn wasn't even
really trans, just a creepy stalker. No good.
JL Franke
Final thoughts on Cham? I'm not getting a clear picture on our
preferences there.
Marc Singer
I liked the 5 Year Later Cham,
actually. You could see some of his father's charm showing through.
Sean Fields
I'm going with Reboot Cham
Chris Maka
I was gonna say 5YL Cham
JL Franke
(I'm noting that we like instructor
Chuck, OG Jan (or even 5YL Jan), and Jacques.)
Do you have an opinion Dave? You might be the tiebreaker. 😀
Dvandom
No real investment in any Cham,
sadly.
JL Franke
I think we'll go with 5YL Cham
then.
Next batch:
 |
| Thom Kallor, aka Star Boy/Starman, also known briefly as Danny Blaine and Sir Prize |
 |
| Dirk Morgna, aka Sun Boy/Inferno/Ph'yr and Sandy Anderson, aka Inferno |
 |
| Kara Jor-El, aka Supergirl (and Linda Lee Danvers) and Laurel Gand, aka Andromeda |
 |
| Jo Nah, aka Ultra Boy/Emerald Dragon |
Sean Fields
Threeboot Star Boy
Marc Singer
Ultra Boy is my favorite
Legionnaire bar none. It isn't even close.
Sean Fields
Any Ultra Boy is good.
Marc Singer
And yet he's one of the
Legionnaires that writers are most likely to get wrong by writing him as a
mimbo or something.
Chris Maka
I liked all three of those
Star Boys. Threeboot Star Boy may be my favorite as well.
JL Franke
Marc, since Jo is your favorite,
let me ask you: is there any difference among the versions? He seems to be the most consistent of all
legionnaires across the versions.
Dvandom
I like all Jos, but 5YL version
most, in that he's grown into himself.
Marc Singer
Oh god, yes. Mimbo Jo is a recent
development, I think from the threeboot.
JL Franke
I have a soft spot for "if it
weren't for bad luck I wouldn't have any luck at all" original Thom, but I
can see the strengths of the threeboot version.
Dvandom
No real interest in any Sun Boy or
Star Boy.
Marc Singer
The 5YL version is the one that
made me a fan for life, but most of what I like about him actually came from
that one Starlin issue that had Jo framed for An Ryd's murder.
Sean Fields
Threeboot Jo is definitely "dumber".
Chris Maka
Yeah, I got no use for mimbo Jo.
JL Franke
I thought the dumb Jo version came
from reboot first. Or am I
misremembering?
Marc Singer
I think that's the issue that
established Rimbor as the noir/cyberpunk planet of the UP, and Jo as the rough
and tumble kid who made it out.
The best Legionnaire ever.
Dvandom
I guess I like threeboot Supergirl
a bit better of the three, because while she was clearly brought in for cynical
sales reasons, she provided the best contrast to her version of the Legion.
JL Franke
I think I agree with Dave on
Supergirl. Anyone want to pull for
original Kara, 5YL Laurel, or superracist Laurel?
Marc Singer
Jerry: the reboot wrote him as the
hunk who had two women falling for him (Tinya and Spider Girl, a romance they
inherited from 5YL), and that slowly morphed into mimbo.
Sean Fields
I might be the outsider that goes
with Andromeda strictly because I like my Legion contained and the Daxamites
have a weird isolationist angle that can be played with. Their weakness is dumb
though.
Marc Singer
I stopped reading the threeboot by
the time Kara came on board. I liked the original Supergirl, though. If nothing
else, she had the best relationship with Brainy.
Sean Fields
Give me only racist light Laurel.
Chris Maka
I like threeboot Supergirl.
Marc Singer
Question about threeboot Star Boy,
since you all seem to like him: ... what was his personality?
JL Franke
Thoughts on Sun Boy? There's flirty original Dirk, something
something something reboot Dirk, field leader threeboot Dirk, and hotheaded
Inferno from the reboot. (I honestly
can't remember anything about reboot Dirk other than he at first just shone
really brightly).
Chris Maka
I guess it's a bad sign for this
self-professed Sun Boy fan that everyone skipped over him. 😀
JL Franke
Threeboot Star Boy seemed to be the
closest thing to the adult in the room.
Marc Singer
I think that summary conclusively
proves that original Sun Boy is the best, Jerry.
Sean Fields
He was the quiet dude that had
people's back. I think I preferred him to original Thom because he didn't seem
to be defined by his girlfriend. Crazy Thom is also an interesting take even if
only for a plot device.
Chris Maka
Yeah, I'm pulling hard for pre-5YL
Sun Boy
Sean Fields
Throw Sun Boy into the sun!
JL Franke
What about decapitated retroboot
Sun Boy? 😕
Marc Singer
So here's what I'm noticing about
both Invisible Kid and Star Boy: does the One Black Member get written as
"the adult in the room" by default?
Sean Fields
I really have no opinions about Sun
Boy.
Chris Maka
Don't get me started on pointless
Legion deaths.
Sean Fields
I think so because that was also
true with a version of Kid Quantum/Jazmin.
Marc Singer
You're right! C'mon, Legion!
JL Franke
So if I'm getting our thoughts
down, I think the winners here are OG Sun Boy, 5YL Ultra Boy, threeboot Star
Boy, and threeboot Supergirl.
Marc Singer
I also have to give it to the
original hard-luck Star Boy, a characterization that held over into the reboot
well.
JL Franke
Next batch:
 |
| Ayla Ranzz, aka Lightning Lass/Light Lass/Pulse/Gossamer/Spark/Live Wire |
 |
| Salu Digby, aka Shrinking Violet/Atom Girl/Virus/LeViathan/Veye |
 |
| Tenzil Kem, aka Matter-Eater Lad |
 |
| Lar Gand, aka Mon-El/Valor/M'Onel/Champion, also known briefly as Legionnaire Lemon |
JL Franke
Of course, for Ayla, we also need
to answer the question, light or lightning?
(I'm amazed that all three versions actually had her have both powers at different times.)
(I'm amazed that all three versions actually had her have both powers at different times.)
Marc Singer
Lightning Lass and Shrinking
Violet: 5YL, with a pretty significant asterisk.
(Which I think Levitz finally made good on when he took over the retroboot after Johns.)
(Which I think Levitz finally made good on when he took over the retroboot after Johns.)
Dvandom
Spark, Giffenized original Tenzil
(both Subs special and 5YL).
Sean Fields
I prefer the character of Lightning
Lass but like her powers as Light Lass better
Dvandom
Reboot Vi, she got to grow as a
character (pun intended) without it being OMG TRAUMAZ.
Marc Singer
The best Tenzil is clearly the
Giffenized version.
JL Franke
It's kind of interesting for
me. I like the relationship between Vi
and Ayla from the original (and retroboot), but in terms of individual
personality, I kind of like threeboot Vi and reboot Ayla.
Sean Fields
I agree with those choices, Jerry
Marc Singer
I like the Ayla/Vi relationship a
lot, but I wish that 5YL had the courage to make it explicit.
(I mean in terms of acknowledging
the relationship, not... you know.)
JL Franke
Then the retroboot is definitely
for you, Marc!
Sean Fields
Giffen Tenzil is best Tenzil.
Marc Singer
Yeah, I appreciated that Levitz
owned it.
So I notice nobody's talking about
Mon-El. Does anybody actually *have* a favorite Mon-El?
Related: does any version of Mon-El
actually have a personality?
JL Franke
Lar kind of strikes me as the
vanilla ice cream of Legionnaires.
Dvandom
I did kinda like what was done in
the Valor book.
Of course, the challenge there was
"do something interesting with the least interesting Superman
knockoff," so they tried a lot of things.
Sean Fields
Was that the "seeding all
planets' stuff?
JL Franke
I'm okay with all versions except
for the retroboot version where he has a mid-life crisis and becomes a Green
Lantern.
Sean Fields
I'll go with the Threeboot version
because it appears that Kara is choking him out.
Marc Singer
Yeah, what was the point of that?
We're going to take the most powerful Legionnaire and give him more power --
that should make him easier to write!
Chris Maka
lol
Dvandom
The seeding was more of an
"off screen" thing for the most part.
The actual book was about him trying to figure himself out.
JL Franke
😏 Yeah, he only appeared very briefly
threeboot.
Chris Maka
I don't have a strong Mon-El
opinion either way
Marc Singer
Nobody does
JL Franke
So I'm hearing 5YL for Tenzil,
5YL/retroboot for Vi/Ayla, and maybe we leave Mon-El in the Phantom Zone.
Marc Singer
WHERE HE BELONGS
Sean Fields
LOL
JL Franke
Next batch (we're almost halfway
done, guys!)
Marc Singer
Oh God. Why didn't we pick the Doom Patrol?
Sean Fields
Are we going to get to Catspaw at this pace?
JL Franke
Sean, you laugh, but I have a collage with her in it!
Sean Fields
Oh, no!
 |
| Nura Nal, aka Dream Girl/Dreamer, also known briefly as Miss Terious, and Rol Purtha, aka Dream Boy |
 |
| Andrew Nolan, aka Ferro Lad/Ferro |
 |
| Val Armorr, aka Karate Kid, and Myg, aka Karate Kid II |
 |
| Willimena Morgana Daergina Annaxandra Projectra Velorya Vauxhall, aka Princess Projectra/Queen Projectra/Sensor Girl, and Jeka Wynzorr, aka Sensor |
Marc Singer
Dream Girl is really tough. I want
to say Levitz, but I went back and read those issues and he was constantly
having the male characters undercut her when she was leader.
Sean Fields
Snake Projectra strictly so I don't
mix her up with Dream Girl.
Chris Maka
Maybe this should be a two-parter.
I've only got another hour in me. [Note: he did.]
Marc Singer
Granted, she leads the Legion
through their greatest adventure ever, but she seems to be pulling against her
writer as much as her teammates.
JL Franke
I think we'll make it through all
the originals in that hour. We can put
off the others until a later date. [Note: we did not.]
Dvandom
I like the original Sensor Girl
costume most (one of my favorites of all time), but Sneckie as a character.
Chris Maka
I like what I think Levitz wanted
Dream Girl to be the best.
I did not like Sneckie at all.
Sean Fields
Levitz Dream Girl was probably the
best DG.
Marc Singer
Yeah, the Levitz Nura is a case of
the writer bringing out the best in a character almost in spite of himself.
JL Franke
I'm surprised by all the Sneckie
love. I hated her. Odd change for change sake and for a
teenager, she talked like my grandmother.
Marc Singer
Sneckie is a classic case of
gimmick in place of characterization. Terrible character.
Dvandom
No real position on Karate Kid,
Ferro Lad, or Dream Girl.
JL Franke
I'm down with the Levitz Nura. Hated the reboot Nura -- narcolepsy should
not be a power.
Marc Singer
(And for some reason all the reboot
Legionnaire women talked like grandmothers! Don't get me started on
Monstress...)
Karate Kid - have to go with
Shooter here.
Sean Fields
I guess I'll go with Reboot Ferro
Lad.
JL Franke
For Jeckie, Sensor Girl is my
fave. Hated the snake, and threeboot
Jeckie outright killed several people.
Marc Singer
Projectra - I think Levitz did her
best, as Queen Projectra, in the LSV story, and as Sensor Girl.
JL Franke
Reboot Ferro Lad had the benefit of
having a personality. 😏
Chris Maka
Shooter Karate Kid.
Marc Singer
But it was a pretty dull
personality.
JL Franke
I think I agree with Marc and Chris
on Val.
Marc Singer
That was a classic case of an arbitrary
change to past continuity leaving a character with no purpose. Because what is
Ferro Lad for, if not to die fighting a Sun-Easter?
Chris Maka
Yeah, Levitz Queen Projectra/Sensor
Girl for me
Marc Singer
Shooter's Ferro Lad didn't have much screen time, but how do you improve on that story? You don't.
BTW, I think Val's alive again. Does Giffen know that? Or is he still lining up a shot on Ralph
Macchio?
Sean Fields
Never really cared about Karate Kid
so Shooter to be at the cool kid's table.
JL Franke
Ok, so I think I'm hearing Levitz
Queen Projectra/Sensor Girl, Shooter KK, Levitz Dreamy, and reboot Ferro Lad?
Next batch:
 |
| Condo Arlik, aka Chemical King |
 |
| Tasmia Mallor, aka Shadow Lass/Umbra |
 |
| Brin Londo, aka Timber Wolf/Lone Wolf/Furball, also known briefly as Karth Arn |
Chris Maka
Definitely Levitz Timber Wolf
JL Franke
Chemical King is almost a no
op: It's OG CK, reporter guest star in
reboot CK, or no CK at all.
Marc Singer
For Chemical King, I would actually
go with the new kid from the retroboot Legion Academy stories. The spoiled rich
kid whose dad buys him Condo's powers.
Dvandom
Neither Chem, reboot warrior Shady,
original Timber Wolf.
Sean Fields
Original Timber Wolf and Threeboot
Shadow Lass because I want her to be buddy cop with Star Boy
Marc Singer
For Timber Wolf, I really like
Abnett and Lanning's version from the reboot, but nobody beats the original.
(pre-Furball, obvs).
JL Franke
I think I'd go with threeboot
Shady. She was a real badass.
Marc Singer
Shadow Lass should be one of my
favorite Legionnaires, but nobody ever quite gets her right.
Chris Maka
I don't care about Chemical King
either way. I'm down with Threeboot Shadow Lass.
JL Franke
OG Timber Wolf was one of the few
characters I've seen played as a bit of a moron, but in a loveable way.
Marc Singer
I feel like she ought to be this
Edgar Rice Burroughs type character: Tasmia Mallor, Champion of Talok VIII.
Chris Maka
Yeah, I don't think we've yet seen
the best Shady could be written.
JL Franke
Threeboot Timber Wolf was actually
pretty awesome as well.
I agree, Marc.
Marc Singer
But the original was reduced to
"Mon's girlfriend" and the threeboot I don't remember well at all. I
think the reboot came closest, but none of them have really realized her
potential.
JL Franke
Chris, do you have an opinion on
Shady? I think it's 2-2 between reboot
and threeboot.
Chris Maka
I'm not entirely happy with any version of Shady, but I guess Threeboot comes closest to date
JL Franke
Here's the last batch of choices. We will also have a few "Do we want any of these singular characters?" [Note: see tomorrow's panel continuation.] And we should finish before Chris turns into a pumpkin! [Note: we did!]
 |
| Dawnstar, also briefly known as Bounty, and Shikari |
 |
| Drake Burroughs, aka Wildfire/ERG-1/NRG |
Dvandom
Original Wildfire and Dawny.
Chris Maka
Levitz Dawny and Levitz Wildfire,
done and done
Marc Singer
Yeah, this one is no contest.
JL Franke
Agreed.
Sean Fields
I like Shikari but Dawnstar is
better
JL Franke
Levitz really hit his stride with
those characters.
Marc Singer
(Wait, are we not even getting up
to the Great Darkness Saga?)
Sean Fields
Levitz Wildfire.
Marc Singer
I thought Abnett and Lanning did a
great job of putting most of the original heroes back in place in more or less
recognizable form (and without any reboots!), but Shikari definitely tested the
bounds of "less recognizable."
And that's it for the first part of our panel. Tune in tomorrow for the continuation and the reveal of the officially chosen Fifth World Legion.
If you have a topic you'd like to see the Fifth World staff address, tweet the topic to @5thworldonline and include #FridayPanel in your tweet.
5W Panel: The Ultimate Legion Roster (Part 1 of 2)
Reviewed by JL Franke
on
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Rating:
Reviewed by JL Franke
on
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Rating:
