Once a Legionnaire

[khaosworks]

Finally got around to watching the first episode the new Legion of Super-Heroes animated series. I have to confess that I didn't go into the show unbiased: I am a big fan not just of the Silver Age Legion in the comics (before Tom and Mary Bierbaum got their greasy little hands on it)^[1] but also of the animated series universe that Paul Dini and Bruce Timm put together. Sure, the Legion has had reboots before, and in particular the Waid reboots have been very good, but without a connection to the earlier animated shows, I believed it would suck.

I'm glad to say that James Tucker et al. have proven me wrong. They knew which of my fanboy buttons to push, and seriously, the moment they got me was during the title sequence when you see the classic Legionnaire symbols Giffen and Levitz came up with in the 80s streaming by on the mission monitor board. I'm such a sap.

Some people may have issues with the redesigns of the Fatal Five or the Legion themselves, but as long as the spirit of the Legion that drew me to those books over twenty years ago — that of young people with remarkable abilities banding together to serve a higher ideal, something greater than themselves — comes through, I'm going to be pretty happy. Still, the Science Police designs are obvious descendants of the Levitz/Giffen era, Legion HQ is an updated version of the post-rocketship HQ, and I was chuffed to recognise various alien species from the Silver Age in the crowd scenes of New Metropolis (a female Xudarian, i.e. from Tomar-Re's race and one of those gem-shaped guys from Barrio III... Chaselon was the name of their Green Lantern champion). I can so tell that the producers are from the same comic-reading generation I am.

Oddly enough, the one thing I don't feel that comfortable about is Superboyman. Marketing I understand, but given the Boy/Lad/Girl names, Superman as a code name is pretty incongruous. Also, I hope that the series moves away from him as a focus eventually. Clark's a nice guy, but he's not why I'm buying the ticket.

Looking forward to the rest. Now, if I can only get my flight ring off my now-too-fat finger...

1. Yes, I can tell you all their real names, and the planets they are from, and given a bit of prompting, in which order they joined and who was leader at what time. And I still have my replica flight ring.

Comments

[querldox.livejournal.com]

I'm still bugged by turning Brainiac 5 into a freakin' giant mecha who's also apparently a bit more immature than the rest of the team. Not to mention hating his visual redesign. But otherwise its something I would've been thrilled to watch at the age group they're shooting at.

[gingicat]

Not being familiar with the original, I'm finding it to be a lot of fun. It is, however, *incredibly* predictable. Also, Saturn Girl as a cross between the TV Starfire and Deanna Troi is more than a little annoying. And where are the rest of the female characters?

[khaosworks.livejournal.com]

Hey, don't diss my Imra! We were all in love with her once upon a time, although I don't know what personality traits this version is going to have. In the old days, Imra was one of the three founders of the Legion, along with Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad. Where Cos (Rok Krinn) was the sensible, responsible and highly ethical one, and Lightning Lad (Garth Ranzz) was the impulsive, flashy one, Saturn Girl (Imra Ardeen) was the rock — she kept the team together, she talked Garth down when he was going off the rails, and was able to make the hard decisions Rok balked at.

The thing about the Legion is that there's literally dozens of them, and if the mission monitor board is any indication, we've got Shadow Lass (Tasmia Mallor), Shrinking Violet (Salu Digby) and Dream Girl (Nura Nal) already in the Legion, albeit not yet seen. Still, Triplicate Girl (Luorno Durgo) and Phantom Girl (Tinya Wazzo) can be counted as four people, really. I hear Garth's brother Mekt Ranzz will be making an appearance (possibly villainous) later, so maybe Garth's twin sister Ayla (Lightning, then Light Lass, then Lightning Lass again) will show up sometime, also.

Personally, I want to see Dream Girl show up soon. She became my favourite of the girl Legionnaires when she was voted leader (by the fans no less - in those days, Legion elections were decided by actual fan vote and the writer(s) had to run with it) in 1982.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Fanboy. ;)