Should have been a contender: Issue 9

This one is pretty short.  He's one of the longest running Academy members, being a trainee was Dawnstar was there.  We all know him: Jedidiah Rikane, aka Power Boy.

Jed's power was original termed as a condensed molecular structure, granting him super strength and a degree of durability, though nothing on the level of Kryptonian invulnerability. It's a power that would be tough to get into membership given how many members possessed super-strength.

He was from Earth but we never got an origin story as to how he received his powers.   Nevertheless, he made several appearances over the years, mostly cameos.  Sometimes showing some true combat ability, sometimes not..  He was killed off during the 5YL timeline and wasn't seen in either of the other two Legions.  His character returned in the Legion Academy stories in Adventure Comics.  Here, he changed greatly.  The first notable change was the while he dated Lamprey in the Academy during the Levitz/Giffen years, now he may be considered bisexual, as he began a relationship with Gravity Kid. 

Secondly, his appearance, while muscular seemed slightly less bulky.  Thirdly, his power is referred to as personal density control, indicating that he could increase his density at will, and decrease his density to the point of becoming intangible.  He was like the Vision or Jesse from Mutant X if anyone remembers that show. 

As a side note, can I say that I enjoy the use of black over blue in his costume.  It helps tone down the garishness of having purple skin with his ginger hair

With these expanded powers, he obviously would be much more useful, being able to handle both espionage and be in the thick of combat.  If Tinya and Jo ever decided to leave the Legion, he makes up for both their absences . Even if they were not gone, he would still remain a unique member of the Legion. How many Legionnaires powers can be used in place of others?  Reep or Yera instead of Vi anyone?

Personality-wise he was a bit of a meathead. Levitz, his creator, seemed to favor giving people with super-strength a lack of intelligence.  I doubt Levitz ever intended to give him much respect as a character.  I get it, not everyone can be a Legionnaire, but there is also something to be said for having characters with more unique abilities.

Unfortunately, the Retroboot was not kind to Power Boy.  Jed graduated from the Academy but was not offered Legion membership.  He, Lamprey, Crystal Kid and Nightwind were shoveled off to the SP or something else.  Long term Legion fans probably wanted to see these characters again and become members, instead of Comet Queen, Chemical Kid and the rest. I don't think Levitz ever really had an interest in developing those characters. 

Now, he may be relegated to Limbo again as there is no Academy in the Bendis-boot nor has he made an appearance yet as a tertiary character.  I think it is a shame. Bisexual characters are few.  His powers were unique enough to make him useful.  

A case of Shadow Lass

I know I have a lot of posts about female characters.  It's not that I hate female characters; I love female characters!  However, most of the Legion females are terribly written. Few are allowed to grow in power.  Often times, they are simply the "girlfriend-of" which brings me to my next character: Shadow Lass.  This is going to be a long one.

What's old is new: Earthwar

This story was before I was old enough to read.  I didn't start reading comics until 1982.  Any older Legion stories I read was because they were collected in the DC Digests.  The Legion had very few multi-part epics by this point.  This one seems pretty significant though.  I believe it will be part of the next hardcover Superboy & LSH available next month.  I read it earlier this year from Comixology because I wanted to see what the fuss was all about.  Expect some brutal opinions.

A case of Dawnstar

I have always kinda liked Dawnstar even though she can be a pretty terrible character.  Her visual appeal is undeniable.  Winged characters have always been a go-to in comics.  Yes, her costumes are a bit objectifying.  Her personality is somewhat unlikable at times, being totally officious, but then her hot and cold with Wildfire.  She never developed many female friendships and seemed to be most antagonistic with Phantom Girl. Then again, Levitz was not that strong in writing female personalities.

Levitz obviously created her with the purpose of making her tracking abilities a plot device in stories; but she had no offensive abilities.  Her best attempts over the years were dodging and weaving her attackers into destroying themselves. Since many of the Legionnaires had high profiles, one would think that attackers would leave her alone since can't really stop them herself, but instead during a chase, they fire upon each other or go headlong into the sun while chasing her.

She was extremely fast even though were are never given any explanation as to how her wings work in outer space.  This also raises a huge issue with faster-than-light travel.  Unfortunately, details about this have been overlooked in most of the Legion's publication history.  We should never see Dawnstar flying outside a cruiser if that cruiser uses some type of hyperdrive. She somehow survives in space unaided, no transuit or anything.  As I mentioned in my transuit post, they obviously have to protect against radiation in space so much so she must be naturally protected against that.  Early on, she is noted as being extremely tough (you would have to be to survive the vacuum of space) but she has show to be susceptible to physical injuries.  She has also been shown to be immune to the intense heat of Tharr, but not Wildfire's loving touch when he had a more solid form.

At times, her tracking abilities have been inconsistently portrayed, first as not very accurate, and they couldn't work on the moon or on planets, but she could also track people to asteroids.  She also did some interesting things, like sense fluctuations that a world was not in the proper place or sense if there was life in an area.  But no, Levitz loved her tracking abilities especially and that seems to be where we saw Dawnstar used most.  I joke that when he didn't have Dawnstar for vol 7 because she was in Legion Lost vol 2, he had to create a tracking character (Mwindaji) to fill that void because loves his missing Legionnaire stories.

I feel like the identity of Bounty for 5YL was almost an attempt to snub at Levitz for not doing more with Dawnstar, or creating her with such a limited purpose.  And really, there is no reason to believe that Dawny couldn't use her tracking power to be a sniper shot.  Many historical Legion storeis have shown characters using weapons and it would help to give Dawnstar some type type of offensive measures.

In the JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time  animated, Dawnstar had some sort of light abilities, able to create light daggers but able to imbue herself with the energy that she flew into the Time Trapper, knocked him off balance and caused a huge explosion. It's a decidedly different take on her.

It's difficult sometimes to discuss Dawnstar without bringing up Shikari who seemed to be a bit better thought out than Dawnstar, with a retractable body armor, the ability to fight in close quarters, and not a tracking power, but almost a precognitive/ESP ability to see pathways.

It appeared that later writers, Johns and Nicienza, tried to expand Dawnstar's powers, maybe borrowing a bit from Shikari, but she seemed to be progressing more towards cosmic awareness.  This isn't a bad take on Dawnstar and would definitely explain how she was able to ascertain certain events in her early adventures.  The only concern with that is that those powers can overlap with Sensor Girl's to an extent or can just make her a McGuffin like Dream Girl.  It's a shame too that so many "classic" Legionnaires have sensory powers and not combat abilities.

So with Dawnstar, some things need to be finally quantified:  how invulnerable is she?  how fast is she/how does she go so fast?  Are her powers only limited to tracking or is she capable of more?  These are some pretty difficult questions to answer if she ever returns to print.

What's old is new, issue 1

This segment is based on my read of an old comic that I had not read before to see if the story holds up.  I will critique or maybe just be an ass about it all. Today's subject is Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #1.

I picked this issue for several reasons:
First, it is the introduction of Invisible Kid II, Jacques Foccart, and his sister Danielle who would later become a hero named Computo.  Second, this is the reintroduction of Shvaughn Erin, a character first introduced by Levitz in Earthwar, but no one seemed to run with.  Officer Erin became an important supporting character through Levitz's run, somewhat in the 5YL storyline, and again in the Reboot.