Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Legion of Super-Heroes Favorites -- L.E.G.I.O.N.

And now:  bonus round!  I figured since I was having so much fun listing my favorite Legion members, I'd keep the streak going and focus on some other LSH related favorites. Today it's the members of the L.E.G.I.O.N.

L.E.G.I.O.N. '89-'94

At the same time as the "Gap" Legion, DC also started a companion series set in modern day times, with a team originally populated largely by ancestors of the original Legion. Entitled L.E.G.I.O.N. '89 -- a title that would of course change each year -- this anagramic title and team name stood for Licensed Extra-Governmental Insterstellar Operatives Network, which was basically an intergalactic police force for any planet willing to pay to join up. 

Vril Dox

A few years ago when I ranked my top 50 DC comics characters, the Machiavellian Virl Dox clocked in at #1. A brilliant mind coupled with a calculating nature made Dox one of those "love to hate" characters; always loved the fact that what kept most of the core L.E.G.I.O.N. members on the team in the beginning was their fear of what might happen if Dox was allowed to run things unchecked. 

Stealth


One of the few founding L.E.G.I.O.N. members with no overt ties to the LSH, Stealth always intrigued me when I was younger due the mysteries surrounding her origins -- there were frequent references to the fact that nobody was familiar with her race or planet of origin, and her biology confounded any scans performed.  By the time that crazy biology led to her going into a violent heat and nearly killing Vril Dox after mating with him, my need to know more about her was overpowering.  The issue where Stealth finally gives birth is probably one of my all-time favorite stand-alone issues, giving tantalizing hints to her origins while serving up some of the most disturbing biology I've seen on the comics page.

Phase

As stated before, many of the L.E.G.I.O.N. members had connections to the future Legion -- one member was even a younger version of a future member -- but Phase as originally conceived* was actually a time-displaced Tinya Wazoo, a.k.a. Phantom Girl, hurled back to the 20th Century and mind-wiped by the temporal villain Glorith.  The amnesiac Tinya took some time to acclimate to her new surroundings, but eventually proved herself to be one of the few people who could stand up to Dox, and was subsequently made his 2nd in command.  The phrase "could stand up to Dox" should be enough to sell you on why Phase made my Top 3.

*Although obviously always intended by writer Keith Giffen to be the time-lost Tinya, later writers changed it so that she was really PG's sister Enya who had been struck by Glorith's power by accident.  During the Reboot years, Phase was once again determined to be a time-tossed Tinya, albeit with a twist that led to a plot device which basically wound up wiping Phase out of existence . . . man, that still makes me angry.  I miss Phase!

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