Category Archives: Hero History

8
Hero History: Kent Shakespeare

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Or – “Proof That Where Goeth The Legion, There Goeth The DCU.”

Over the last few years, the family of Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman, have come forward with a fascinating claim, with which faithful Spoilerites are probably quite familiar.  The gist of it all is that when Jerry and Joe Shuster sold Superman to National Periodical Publications, (now known as DC Comics) they were royally hosed, a fact that seems pretty obvious since DC had made millions upon millions of dollars after only a few years of the character’s stories, while Jerry & Joe were paid a pittance for the rights.  Add to that a claim that Jerry pitched a series chronicling the adventures of Superman when he was a boy while NOT under contract to DC, had the proposal turned down, went to war, then returned to find DC using his idea, and mamushkah!  You gotcherself a lawsuit.  What this boils down to is a question over whether DC can legally use the name and character of Superboy Tom Welling, making DC ignore him for the most part.  Of course, old-school Legion fans have ‘been there, done that,’ seeing as how WE got to see a world without a Tom over a decade ago.  At that time, Keith Giffen and company had just relaunched the LSH title in a new volume, with a darker and more adult approach, an approach that the Superman offices apparently didn’t care for.  Keith was told that Mr. Welling (then known as John Hames Newton) could no longer appear in the stories, in any aspect, a difficult prospect for a team that was so inextricably tied to him from their very first appearance.  The answer was as simple as it was interesting: they reset the continuity, and changed the very nature of the Legion in so doing.  But as with the Crisis on Infinite Earths a few years earlier, the universe created a replacement, and so was born the legend of Impulse.  It’s a very Silver Age tale of a young medical student from New Rochelle, his strange accident and his rise to greatness…  This is your Major Spoilers Hero History of the Legionnaire once called Impulse of Earth… Kent Shakespeare!

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7
Hero History: Element Lad

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Or – “Turn And Face The Strange Ch-Ch-Changes…”

One of the pitfalls of a team the size of the Legion is that certain characters tend to fall between the cracks.  Sure, we know all about guys like Mon-El, Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy, and even Andromeda, but the backstories of others (say, Star Boy, Sun Boy, and today’s entrant) have taken literal decades to play out.  One of the most ethereal of Legionnaires, today’s subject is also one of the longest tenured, even serving three tours as Legion leader and several more as deputy.  His costume colors and varying (but always exquisite) hairstyle fueled conjecture as to his sexual orientation, even in the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” 60′s, and years later, the answers to those questions were as difficult to quantify as the hero himself.  Confident enough to wear hot pink, yet manly enough to put the smackdown on space pirates, he’s a study in contrasts as much as heroism.  This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Jan Arrah of Trom…  Element Lad!

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7
Hero History: Ferro Lad

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Or – “A Heart Of Iron, With A Face Even His Mother Didn’t Love.”

The kids of the Legion are a pretty diverse lot, spanning the galaxy as well as a spectrum of skin tones.  Some are made of energy, others made of stone, and at least one seemed to be made of nothing much at all.  And even though they’re heroic to a boy, kid, or lass, even the kids of the Legion have their own legends to live up to.  Case in point: a young man from Earth whose face was so horrible that even in the age of enlightenment, surrounded by aliens of all shapes, people couldn’t bring themselves to look at him.  Rather than take the path of many physically scarred types (notably The Viper, Doctor Doom, and Tony Montana) the extraordinary lad made the most of his shortcomings, joining the foremost heroic assemblage in the universe, and sacrificing himself to save the various worlds.  He is the man even the heroes of the Legion speak of in hushed tones, and rightfully so.  This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Andrew Nolan of Earth…  Ferro Lad!

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10
Hero History: Colossal Boy

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Or – “In The 30th Century, Big Man On Campus Takes On A New, Very Literal Meaning.”

The Legion of Super-Heroes has room for many different kinds of hero. Some, like Sun Boy, Wildfire, Tom Welling and Ultra Boy seek out the spotlight. Others, like Blok, The White Witch, Star Boy, Tellus and others prefer to work more in the background. But only one Legionnaire tends to BE the background, backstopping his teammates and literally crushing everything in his path. Gim Allon is a straight-shooter, the kind of guy who sees life as a choice between right and wrong. If you’re right, he’ll fight any and all who oppose you. If you’re wrong, well… I hope you’re not allergic to five-foot wide knuckles. Though sometimes overshadowed in terms of sheer power, (he does work with a bevy of Kryptonians and Kryptonian-analogues) even his most powerful Legion teammates admire his tenacity, single-mindedness and dedication. Though his talents for mass property damage are as prodigious as his height, Gim is also a responsible hero, using his strength and size to clean up after the battles as well. With a taste in costumes makes even Tyroc look stylish, he was nonetheless one of the most recognizable Legionnaires for over 4 decades. This is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Gim Allon of Earth… Colossal Boy!

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10
Hero History: Tyroc

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Or – “Living Proof That Some Questions DO NOT Need To Be Asked. Ever…”

One of the side-effects of writing a series in the future is having to fake it. Legion writers not only have to come up with a decent superhero plot; not only have to utilize 16 to 25 superheroes with varying levels of power; not only have to explain why Mon-El and Tom Welling don’t tear off the villains arms, cauterize the wounds with heat vision, and beat them insensate with their stumps; they have to create an entire culture out of whole cloth. Future fashion, architecture, technology, even hairstyles must be guessed at, and 0ver the 50 years of Legion the creators have done a pretty good job showing us a utopian future, and barring the occasional Phantom Girl bell-bottom pants, Dawnstar’s hippie headband or early 80′s Sun Boy Tom Selleck hair, they’ve done a credible job of it. Unfortunately, the prevailing wisdom (and I use the term loosely) of the 50′s and 60′s comic books made the appearance of black skin a no-no. When the time finally came to unveil the Legion’s first black member, somebody in DC’s offices felt the need to explain why we had never seen someone of that skin-tone in the (presumably) color-blind utopian future. Their response, while probably good-intentioned, was arguably more racist than the policies that kept dark skins out of the stories in the first place. My intent with our Hero Histories has always been to explain what makes each of the Legionnaires heroes, to dissect what makes them tick and give you a glimpse into what makes them awesome. Though I chose today’s entry because of his shorter tenure, I accidentally gave myself the biggest challenge of my Hero History career… But, fortune favors the bold (and also the ridiculously stupid) so it’s time to touch upon one of the Legion’s lesser-known members. This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Troy Stewart of Marzal Island… Tyroc!

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7
Hero History: Lightning Lass

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Or – “The Girl So Nice They Named Her Twice Seven Times.”

The Legion of Super-Heroes was remarkably progressive, always a few steps ahead of it’s time, with a few exceptions.  One thing that was never a problem was finding strong female characters in the 30th Century.  Today’s Hero History subject actually joined the Legion under an alias (and an assumed gender) before taking a long-time supporting role.  She starred in one of the Legion’s EARLIEST romances, and when that one ended, was a part of one of the more controversial ones.  Always a soothing presence, she meshed well with all her comrades, and whether they called her Light Lass, Lightning Lass, Pulse, Gossamer, Spark, Livewire or just plain Ayla, she is an island of calm in the midst of the madness of the Legion.  This is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Ayla Ranzz of Winath…  Lightning Lass!    

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6
Hero History: Bouncing Boy

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Or – “How To Really Make An Impact As A Legionnaire…”

As I may have mentioned before, the early days of the Legion of Super-Heroes are a continuity cop’s nightmare, with strange developments galore as the team cameoed their way across the Superman universe, rolling through the accumulated lore of their parent title on their way to building an empire. On the way, the varying writers made for some really inconsistent storytelling, such as the fact that all Legionnaires were supposed to have one UNIQUE super-power even though Kryptonian powerhouse Tom Welling and his identically powered cousin Laura Vandervoort were allowed to be concurrent members, or even the varying characterizations of Saturn Girl. But of all the odd choices made in those days, you have to question the decision-making of a team that rejected the relatively-powerful Polar Boy, Night Girl, and Fire Lad, but inducted Matter-Eater Lad, Shrinking Violet, and today’s Historical subject. Known primarily for his up-beat nature, Chuck Taine is the Legion’s everyman, the unlikely Legionnaire who nonetheless made the most of every chance he was given, the regular guy who still managed to bag the ultimate male fantasy wife. This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Charles Foster Taine of Earth… Bouncing Boy!

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10
Hero History: Brainiac 5

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Or – “If Your Power Was ‘Smartest Man In This Or ANY Room’, You’d Be Testy, Too.”

The day that I have been dreading has finally come…  We’re turning our attention to a Legionnaire whose span of membership is essentially unbroken from 1961 to the present, a Legionnaire who was present for the battle with Computo, the Dominators first salvo, all three of Universos attempts to take over the world, the EarthWar, The Great Darkness Saga, the Five-Year Gap Legion, the SW6 Legion and Zero Hour, as well as being key to the reboot AND Threeboot Legion stories.  If there was ever a member who would challenge my ability to effectively summarize the essence of the Legion, this is the man.  Even in a fantastic future world of wonders and technology that seems like magic, he is an innovator, utilizing his boundless intellect to help his teammates maximize their potential.  No matter what the era, every Legion needs their Brainy, and a twelfth-level mind is a terrible thing to waste.  This is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Querl Dox of Colu… Brainiac 5!

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15
Hero History: XS

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Or – “Feeling The Love For The Post-Reboot Squad…”

There are a couple of reasons that I chose to go with this particular Legionnaire.  The first is a sense of innate laziness, in that her history isn’t nearly as long as some of the other candidates (Brainiac 5, notably.)  The second is that, sometimes, I feel like the old guy ranting into a vacuum about how comics were better when I was a boy, uphill, both ways, through thirty feet of snow, and the starving children in Romania don’t even HAVE comics, you ungrateful whippersnappers!  Though thoroughly modern and original to the reboot Legion, today’s History subject comes from a most heroic lineage, with her mother, uncle, cousin, great-uncle and grandfather all carrying on the tradition started by Mr. Garrick in 1939, and though she wasn’t one of “my” Pre-Crisis Legionnaires, she was nonetheless one of the most compelling of the post-reboot newbies.  (Plus, it’s good to be able to start one of these without having to type “It all started back in Adventure Comics in 1964.”)  This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Jenni Ognats of Aarok… XS!

  

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13
Hero History: Dream Girl

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Or – “More Than Just Another Pretty Face…”

As I continue with these Hero Histories, I find two things to be true… First, the dang things seem to get longer every time, no matter how much I try to limit myself or edit (and trust me, each one feels like I’ve slashed it to the bone! Lord help me when I get to Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl, who’ve appeared in 85% of the Legion stories to date.) Second, I’m always amazed at how consistent the characters have stayed, even after decades of stories. Today’s subject has always had a bit of an image problem. She’s known primarily for her looks, and has been often underestimated in terms of wits, guts, and superpowers. Her greatest strengths lie in her will and intelligence, as well as her keen sense of tactics, and she served as Legion leader during arguably the most tumultuous period of their history, steering the team during both the Great Darkness Saga and the war with the Legion of Super-Villains. She has been called both coquette and martinette, bimbo and exemplar, but like all her fellows, she’s more than the sum of her parts (but man, the parts ain’t bad.) This is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Nura Nal of Naltor… Dream Girl!

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9
Hero History: Star Boy

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Of the seven time-tossed members of the Legion of Super-Heroes left in the past, I had expected that the most difficult histories would be those of Dream and Sensor Girls, respectively. That was before I had a chance to really look at the facts of the situation. Indeed, both the ladies in question will be considerably easier to quantify than today’s entrant… Initially nothing more than a love-triangle fodder for Lana Lang’s quest to win over another boy, he won Legion membership, lost it, then was able to return from adversity. His story is one of loyalty, of love, but most of all, it’s the story of a man who understands his duties. Guided by his emotions, but blinded by love; torn by responsibility, but always quietly heroic; he is one of the most complex Legionnaires, and one of the few who was able to leave behind his past. This is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Thom Kallor of Xanthu… Star Boy!

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7
Hero History: Sensor Girl

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Or – “In Every Woman, There Is A Queen…”

Generally speaking, my favorite Legionnaires are the ones who are most positive and fun:  Bouncing Boy and Matter-Eater Lad, making up for less-impressive powers by force of personality.  Blok, with his thoughtful, yet upbeat alien nature.  Volume four’s Lightning Lass, with her “all wilts in worry, grows in sunshine” serenity combined with her ability to stay positive while kicking your @$$.  But today’s entrant is a bit different…  Of the seven Legionnaires currently stuck in their past on their mysterious mission of mercy, she is the most esoteric, the one with the hardest to define powers, and the one who’s nature is furthest from my own.  Though initially the first Hero History subject who wasn’t a favorite character, I am very gratified to report that once I did my research, (though perusing back-issues is hardly WORK, since sitting in a comfy chair with a soda reading a comic is probably my native habitat) she has revealed herself to be noble, possessed of a heroic nature, and occasionally wont to wear costumes that show more skin than Fred Dukes in a speedo.  Originally, like Blok and Dawnstar, she used her real name as her alias, but paradoxically found her greatest fame under a mask.  This is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Projectra of Orando…  Sensor Girl!

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