A case of Ultra Boy

Yes, I'm sure many people will think me weird thinking that Ultra Boy is problematic in some way.  It's no surprise Jo is one of the most popular Legionnaires. His one-man-show in Superboy and the Legion of Super-heroes 239 showed that he was plenty capable to best many of his teammates, including Superboy and Mon-El.  Many times, Jo was seen to be quite proficient at switching his abilities on the fly, except maybe when he was flying at full speed across space.  His intelligence, however, varied with writers.

Universe Building: the Legion Academy

The Legion Academy, at one point known as the UP Militia Academy and the Legion Cadet program, was a training school for the Legion of Superheroes.  The wikipedia entry on it makes me chuckle:

Training there may be deficient to some degree, however, as Chemical King, Karate Kid II and Magnetic Kid have all died in the line of battle, though as two of those were selfless sacrifices made to save others, they clearly teach heroism quite well.

LOL.  Initially, it is not clear who was in charge of the training at the Academy.  Wildfire does appear to be heavily involved in it after he becomes a member, but that is after Timber Wolf and Chemical King join.  We see later that Duo Damsel and Bouncing Boy later become instructors, which was actually a pretty good way for Levitz to keep their fans happy.  In the Retroboot, however, Levitz demotes Night Girl from full membership to Academy instructor (and presumably reserve status). 

The future is fluid. Some thoughts on Electric Warriors

So writer Steve Orlando is going to the future, but not the 31st century.  Instead he is going somewhere in the middle between present day and Legion with a new series called Electric Warriors, which is inspired by the 1980's mini series Electric Warrior by Doug Moench.  This series will focus on a post-apocalyptic future after the age of heroes, reminiscent of Kamandi.  It will showcase four major races, Earth, Khunds, Dominators and the Vrangs.  I don't know much about the Vrangs but Orlando has a penchant for digging into obscure Superman mythos.  Essentially, Orlando plans to look at these races and how they will/may change in about 500 years.  He notes that the Vrangs, a conquering race, change and become a nomadic, farming racing.  I'm somewhat interested in the concept.  But will it impact the Legion?

The article, which you can read here, has some interesting thoughts from Orlando. 

 io9: Is it divergent from the mainline continuity?

Orlando: My opinion of how this fits in, along with all the other futures DC has, is that it’s all happened until it’s happened.

io9: That’s a very Hypertime way of looking at it.

Orlando: But it’s true! Until decisions in the present are made, Electric Warriors is happening, Kingdom Come is happening, and so is the future of Professor Zoom—which is also the 25 Century. Until we reach that time, everything is fluid

I find this info to be pretty significant.  Basically, the next Legion writer will have choices: 

1. build off what Orlando creates
2. go back to what was
3. go in an even different direction

It's actually a good position to put the next writer in and maybe some fans should accept Orlando's zen-like stance to continuity. I do have to wonder why any writer would go back to what was.  DC has continued to mine LSH continuity for modern day purposes.  We have heard Braal pop up in modern day context and Phantom Girl from the Terrifics appears to be from a Bgzlt that may be in our own universe. And she has the last name Wazzo!  In fact, as Phantom Girl II notes, she was traveling from Bgztl to Bismoll, implying that those races had contact before the UP. Dominators and Khunds have appeared for 20+ years in the modern DC stories after being introduced years prior in LSH.  And yet when Levitz returned to the Legion, he used the same Dominators race that has always existed and who seemingly don't change.  So maybe some fresh new concepts isn't such a bad thing.  What happens if the Dominators overthrow their caste system? Could the Khunds make peace with the UP?  Maybe it's time to give rest to old familiars and try to look at these races in a new light.  We've seen Khund Legionnaires in the 5YL saga; could we see a Dominator Legionnaire?  

I'll be picking up Electric Warriors just because I think it sounds interesting, not because I think I'll miss something when the LSH returns.

Should have been a contender, issue 4

For this installment, I figured I would focus on one of the Subs. Ladies and Gentlemen: Ulu Vakk, aka Color Kid