Analysis Notes
| Cover |
I want a t-shirt with this image on it. |
| 1 |
When we last saw the Legion Lost statue — perhaps
as little as hours ago, in Legion Worlds #1 (story #2) —
it was located in Legion Memorial Plaza, with the former Legion Headquarters
behind it. Since that building isn’t seen here, the statue
might have been moved to a new location. Another possibility is
that Legion headquarters has been moved or demolsihed. A third option,
though, is that the statue itself rotates, such that the view behind it
in any given story may change from the previous view. |
| While the text says a year has passed, it seems a bit cliché for it to be exactly one year to the day since the Rift collapse until the Lost team returns. We’ll consider this an exaggeration for dramatic purposes: it might be a year and a week or something like that, but it’s most convenient to just refer to it as a year. |
| The star in the sky is the Legion Lost ship, of course. Note that it mirrors to the “star” in the Legion logo. |
| 2:1 |
This is the interior of Oversight Control, housing the support personnel for the Oversight Watch; their uniforms are similar to the Science Police, but they are a different organization. |
| “East Polis and The Buroughs”: Metropolis is on the east coast of North America and has sprawled to encompass probably the entire Boston-to-Washington corridor by the 31st century (or it had in the preboot, and undoubtedly has in the current continuity, too). “The Buroughs” thus may refer to old New York City — Bronx, Brooklyn, Queen, Manhattan, and State Island — and by extension, “East Polis” may equate to Long Island. |
|
The third bit of dialogue is directed to M’Onel as he tries to stop the Legion Lost ship. |
| 2:2 |
“Planet-shield”: the mention of this invokes the old Polymer Shield from the preboot, although this seems to refer to more of a force-field or planetary defense system. M’Onel’s “cease fire” comment in 3:1 indicates the latter. |
| 2:3 |
Under the theory that “everything means something,” some fans presumed that this child is someone tied to continuity, with the most likely candidate being Apparition’s child from Legion Worlds #6. That particular theory doesn’t work, though, because of the timing; this child is old enough to speak, and even with speed-learning techniques in the 31st century, Apparition’s baby is still a newborn (presumably; it is hard to tell the exact flow of time in some of the Legion Worlds issues). If there is significance to the child, it would be embedded in the name “Chance”: if the child were born during or just after the Blight invasion and subsequent repulsion, a name like “Chance” would have meaning similar to “Hope”, as a look toward the future. |
| 2:4 |
This is presumably the news program The Earth Spins. |
| 3:2 |
“TitaNet Mast”: presumably the equivalent of a radio tower. See Legion Worlds #3 (story #2) for related information. |
|
The little dot to which the word balloon points counts as an appearance for M’Onel. |
| 4:4 |
We’ll call these “magnicopters” to differentiate them from things like “gravcars”, since these have a visible levitation effect. |
| 4:6 |
“Hamilton Park”: named for science fiction and pulp writer Edmond Hamilton, who wrote most of the Legion’s adventures from Adventure Comics #306 (Legion of Substitute Heroes, 1963) through #345 (Super-Stalag of Space, 1966). |
| 5 |
Recall that Saturn Girl was in the medibay in Legion Lost #12, and hence her unconscious state here. Ultra Boy and Chameleon obviously recovered from the paralyzing shock Live Wire gave them. |
| 6-7 |
Tracking which speaker is which of the three or more vidcasters on these pages is difficult. Some can clearly be attributed to Vigo Toosalembli; since his partner on The Earth Spins is Trudy Trusoe, we will credit the counterpoint dialogue to Vigo as being hers. Other dialogue may or may not belong to the two of them, to the walrusoid newscaster, or to unknown others, and will not be tracked. |
| 6-7:1 |
Recall that Wildfire was known as ERG-1 before the Rift
collapse, and in his different outfit, he is not recognizable to the reporters
as the same being. |
| 6-7:2 |
Wildfire, Chameleon, Kid Quantum, and M’Onel are seen here. |
| 6-7:4 |
Note the “<incomplete>” note about the Brainiac family line. It is possible that Vril Dox II and Lyrl Dox are “Brainiac 2” and “Brainiac 3”, but that has not been established as fact, nor have any details about Brainiac 4’s parentage. |
| Note that the dialogue picks up just after mentioning the character’s name. That’s because Earth doesn’t know that Brainy was dropped the “.1” from his name — he was using it at the time of the Rift collapse — but that’s an added bit of continuity which doesn’t need to be dealt with in a #1 issue. |
| 6-7:5, 6-7:8, 6-7:10 |
The Legion “fans” (bystanders) pictured on this page are no one who has been seen before, nor do their names seem to indicate that they are based on any real-life fans, as has often been the case with previous creative teams. |
| 6-7:6 |
The vidcaster “Vigo” referred to here is Vigo Toosalembli, the blue-skinned man seen in Legion Worlds #1 (story #1). Unless he is a shapeshifter of some sort, Vigo is not the walrusoid vidcaster. |
|
Interesting that firemen’s hats haven’t changed much in a thousand years. |
|
Dialogue here is from Vigo and Trudy. |
| 6-7:7 |
Indeed, how will Talok VIII react to the return of its hereditary champion, and how has it reacted in the intervening year? At what point do they choose a new one? |
| 6-7:11 |
This is Trudy Trusoe, Vigo’s newsmate on The Earth Spins. She and Vigo are based on Storm and Angel from The Uncanny X-Men. |
| 6-7:12 |
The boots behind Shikari appear to be a Legionnaire’s, but the colors are wrong. They presumably belong to a Science Police officer. |
| 8:1 |
Chameleon and M’Onel are clearly identifiable in this panel, but Wildfire and Umbra are on the lower right corner. |
| 8:3 |
Note that M’Onel doesn’t question Mr. Venge’s statement. With the return of teammates he thought dead for the past year, you’d think he might at least use his super-vision (telescopic plus x-ray) to check the state of the problem (which turns out to be fake, per 18:5). Could this indicate something awry? |
| 8:4 |
Note the bald individual in the crowd with the forehead tattoo — a dot in a circle. |
|
Ultra Boy’s boots are seen between Umbra and Wildfire. |
| 8:5 |
How do the other Oversight Watch members fly? Probably Brainstorm (a telekinetic) levitates them. |
| 9:1 |
“Trahp” is right. |
| 9:2 |
Shikari’s cup says “que” and Chameleon’s says “Mari” or “Mart”. Perhaps portions of a name, perhaps Olivier Coipel’s new child? |
| 9:3 |
Can’t make out the Interlac text on the sign above Brainiac 5’s head. Possibly pointing the way to the toilet? |
| Note that Saturn Girl is still with the rest of the team, despite being unconscious. The paramedics must have checked her out and determined that she is merely asleep due to exhaustion or something similar which doesn’t require immediate attention. |
| Brainy is uncertain of Mr. Venge’s name? Tell me another one: this indicates that Brainy is already suspicious of things. |
| 9:4 |
If you count the new millennium as starting at the beginning of 3001, yes, a new one. But Brainiac 5, being the logical, scientific type, wouldn’t put much value in the inaccurate religious basis of that date. He is more apt to consider the start of 3000 as the significant date (as that’s when all the numbers flip over); indeed, in the alternate universe seen in Titans/Legion of Super-Heroes: Universe Ablaze, he spent time working on the “Y3K problem”. (Of course, Brainiac 5 would also realize that the year is largely culturally based and he is thus probably quite dismissive of attaching significance to any such numerology.) |
| 9:5-6 |
The presidential changeover occurred even as the Legionnaires were dealing with the Rift. Checking in on news from Earth was the last thing on their minds at the time. |
| 10:1 |
“Poo”? What kind of language is that from a President? (We find out that this isn’t McCauley in The Legion #3, of course. So what kind of language is this for Ra’s al Ghul?!) |
| 10:2 |
From Legion Worlds #1, we were told that Mr. Venge is President McCauley’s prime advisor, so why is he riding around with Repulse, one of his super “hero” flunkies, albeit the only person still on McCauley’s staff who was around prior to the Rift collapse? |
| Further, why is Repulse’s eye glowing green? Let’s see, do we know of any Legion foes who have green glowing eyes? (Other than the Emerald Empress, thank you.) Especially ones who have been known (in the previous continuity) to advise/control the president of Earth and who have had a hand in disbanding the Legion? Where is Rond Vidar when we need him? |
| How’s this for a possibility… The WorkForce members, including Lori Morning, escaped the Rift collapse in a life pod. The pod headed for the nearest inhabited world; since the Rift was between Saturn and Uranus, this was Titan. Somewhat damaged, the pod crashed into The Vault, damaging the equipment which keeps Sarmon Ardeen (Universo, in a parallel universe) imprisoned. Repulse and Lori were the only survivors. Ardeen used his powers to switch his mind and Repulse’s, and then took control of Lori. Back on Earth, Repulse/Universo disposed of the real President McCauley and had Lori Morning use her H-Dial to take his place. (Okay, we know that at least the Lori-as-McCauley part of that isn’t try, per The Legion #3.) |
| 10:4 |
Repulse can be seen flying away from the Presidential limousine. |
| 11:5 |
Off-panel dialogue is from Izaard. |
| 12:1 |
Terrorists and spaceship (plane) crashes, six weeks after September 11? Hollywood was pulling movies which had things like this featured in it; maybe the Legion is low enough profile that it didn’t warrant modification or delay? |
| 12:2 |
Corvan IV was known in the preboot continuity as a low tech world which was “uplifted” by the Fatal Five (shortly after Earthwar) and rejected the “help” of their benefactors, and was later seen again when the Prophet visited there. These terrorists share the yellow skin of the previous race, but little else. The world has been mentioned in the postboot continuity as a member of the United Planets, but had not been seen to date. |
| Izaard (this terrorist) has a forehead tattoo of a dot inside a circle. Does this indicate a link to the bystander in 8:4? Is it a Corvani tattoo? Indicative of Dark Circle allegiance? Are they fans of Dr. Manhattan (from Watchmen)? Under Universo’s control? |
|
The “plight” of Corvan IV is probably about the same as other lesser United Planets worlds, per commentary in various issues of Legion Worlds: overcrowding, collapsed economy, perhaps starvation, and especially given the rebuild of Metropolis, probably a feeling of being vastly second citizens compared to Earth. |
| Izaard, McCauley, and the cameraman seen in 12:3 are presumably the three figures seen between the blue podium and the brown desk. |
| Vanquo, based on hair and gun style, is the terrorist in the foreground. The one Ultra Boy goes after on page 13 is the one in the seats on the far side of the room. |
| 12:3 |
Note that the camera is being manually operated, rather than the floating, remote (or robot) holovid cameras seen in the past. This may relate to the Corvani terrorist’s low tech lifestyle: the cameraman may be a sympathizer, or they may simply not trust the automated cameras. |
| 13:5 |
While it was Vanquo whom Ultra boy disarmed, the tumbling terrorist here is a different one, as Vanquo was seen to have two compatriots nearby in 12:4, but this one was alone in the stands in 13:3. |
| 14:2 |
Recall that the Legion’s flight rings’ flight ability was inoperative in Progenitor’s galaxy, probably due to the transition to there. They are presumably still broken; these three and Ultra Boy (and Chameleon, in certain forms) are the flyers of the group. |
| 14:6 |
The pincer claw Shikari chopped off looks quite similar to part of a weapon which Umbra has been seen wielding in promo artwork for upcoming issues. |
| 15:2 |
The orange delegate is a Durlan, in the standard off-world form. None of the other delegates are from identifiable races or worlds. |
| 15:4 |
This is the first time we’ve seen Brainy use his force-field in this sort of a piecemeal manner. Interesting effect. (The field disks are presumably parabolic rather than flat, since he is sending the blasts back at those who fired them.) |
|
If his calculations are correct: like they could be wrong? |
| 15:5 |
No one was killed by this return fire, of course. Brainy’s a Legionnaire, and he probably modified his force-field on the fly to be slightly resilient and thus decreased the damage the blasts could do. (Brainy could do that, of course.) |
| 15:6 |
It’s an interesting accumulation of tech which the Corvani terrorists are using, as though they picked things up randomly or cobbled them together. Corvan IV may still be a low tech world. |
| 16:5 |
Based on hair color, the terrorist on the left is Vanquo. The other two Umbra fights in this scene are presumably the ones seen with him in 12:4. |
| 17:4-5 |
It isn’t clear whether the trigger mechanism was outside Kid Quantum’s field in 17:2, or if fusion gel-wires, for all their primitiveness, stand up to the rigors of time real well. |
| 17:5 |
If the Corvani are using 23rd century technology, that further indicates that Corvan IV is a very low tech world. It was probably all they could afford or could get their hands on. |
| 18:22 |
Coipel apparently has fun with Brainy’s uncontrollable spike of hair, as seen with the force-field outline. There’s probably a manga influence in the hair. |
| 18:3-4 |
Again, no recognizable races or home planets among these delegates. |
| 19:3 |
“Substitutes”: hmm, what happened to the Legion of Substitute Heroes over the past year? Were they not ready to pick up the slack, or were they put down? |
| 19:3-4 |
All the holovid dialogue here is attributed to Vigo and Trudy. |
| 20:2 |
Wildfire is in silhouette behind Kid Quantum. He is presumably not being quarantined because he’s revealed his past as ERG-1, and is thus a known quantity. |
| 20:3 |
Is this what Brainy really feels, or is there a touch of external control (presumably from Universo) involved? |
| 20:4 |
Will Shikari take this literally, and try to escape if she isn’t back with the Legionnaires in one hour? (Shikari’s is the sort who would do so, and her tracking power would let her find them quickly.) The Legion #2 makes this question moot. |
| 21:4 |
“Forte Hill” is named for John Forte, who drew the adventures of the Legion of Super-Heroes in Adventure Comics, from when they took over the title through #227, and some stories up through #339. |
|
Non-radio dialogue is from Brainiac 5. It’s not quite clear why this technology would impress Brainiac 5 — what tech ever impresses him? Perhaps he’s actually impressed by the fact that the transportation system has been improved and upgraded along with the city architecture. |
| 21:5 |
Perhaps she is being artificially suppressed, either by Brainstorm or Universo, and is internally fighting? That might explain her sudden awakening in 21:6, if her opponent’s attention is being drawn elsewhere. |
| 22 |
Oh, like the Legion couldn’t survive this? |
