InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "This is Sparta!!!!"

superfan1 (superfan1) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-06-23 23:55:00

Entry tags:

char: brainiac 5/querl dox, char: cosmic boy/rokk krinn, char: dirk morgna/sun boy, char: imra ardeen/saturn girl, char: lar gand/mon-el, char: superman/clark kent, creator: greg larocque, creator: mike decarlo, creator: paul levitz, group: legion of super-heroes, publisher: dc comics, title: legion of super-heroes

Legion of Super-heroes v3 #38
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khaosworks
2009-06-24 12:55 am UTC (link)

This was a good story, as usual from Levitz and Co., but to paraphrase Art Spiegelman, this is where the troubles began. As an attempt to patch up the gaping Superboy-shaped hole that was left because of Byrne's Superman reboot, it was a valiant but ultimately clumsy attempt. In the end, it led to Legion continuity collapsing in upon itself not just once, but three times.

That it had to take Geoff Johns to come up with the most reasonable patch over 20 years later - that Clark was only Superboy in the 30th Century - still boggles my mind that nobody thought of it sooner.

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	aaron_bourque 2009-06-24 02:19 am UTC (link)
	Huh. Came up with that solution myself for my own personal canon a couple of (six) years ago . . . (Reply to this) (Parent)

tahngarth
2009-06-24 07:11 am UTC (link)

It all boils down to how the Byrne reboot was handled too. When Crisis on Infinite Earths was written there were NO plans to "reboot" Superman, which is abundantly clear if you read COIE#12 and the titles that came out a bit after that but before the reboot (for example History of the DC Universe referred to the Earth-1 Superman, as did the pre-Crisis Luthor in Moore's Swamp Thing). Even when it WAS decided the editorial direction seemed to be very light. Byrne was given more or less free hands because of his superstar status, and how that affected other titles he didn't give a damn about.

Of course, Byrne isn't really a fan of anything but the big-name creators like Kirby or Ditko, so it's no wonder his revision was very rough on the works of others.

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bluefall
2009-06-24 10:09 am UTC (link)

That it had to take Geoff Johns to come up with the most reasonable patch over 20 years later - that Clark was only Superboy in the 30th Century - still boggles my mind that nobody thought of it sooner.

Remember that they didn't remove Superboy from continuity because they removed his childhood adventures - that's backwards. They removed his childhood adventures because they removed Superboy. Byrne's reboot made him not powered as a kid. Making him 'only Superboy in the 30th century' isn't a reasonable patch when the whole point is that he couldn't have been Super period.

It wasn't until Johns retconned Byrne's retcon because he actually thinks Superbaby is a good idea that Clark participating in the Legion as a kid again became a plausible restoration.

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04nbod
2009-06-24 10:38 am UTC (link)

I don't think its unreasonable that clark couldn't have had powers as a teen or adventures as a teen in a DCU full of young heroes. Calling Superboy Superbaby is like calling the Titans the Toddlers. One of the big retcons still existing is that Legion were inspired by Superman when they weren't, they were inspired by Superboy and the idea that young people can make a difference.

http://www.studiosanning.shawbiz.ca/legion_of_super-heroes/constitution/index.htm

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aaron_bourque
2009-06-24 11:45 am UTC (link)

Superbaby

Did Johns actually go that far? AFAIK, he started with some powers as a kid, and they grew and grew as he matured.

To my mind, it's sort of like the "Batman is a loner" argument: Batman isn't a loner, he's got the biggest non-blood family in comics! Some writers keep portraying him as a brooding loner, some as the paternal influence over a whole slew of "bat-characters." It goes back and forth because the audience wants it both ways (when characters like The Question already exist for the brooding loner archetype).

Some writers portray Superman as not having his powers as a kid, some give him his powers as a kid. IMO, plenty of superheroes got their powers as adults, why not let Supes have his powers as a kid?

he actually thinks Superbaby is a good idea

As opposed to Wonderbaby? ;-)

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bluefall
2009-06-24 12:03 pm UTC (link)

I'm actually not much of a fan of Wonder Tot either - it works okay in Golden Age stuff because the amazons were all superpowered, and it just barely makes a passing grade post-Crisis with the "she's godly, and therefore inhumanly virtuous" argument, but I still prefer a gradual ramping up through adolescence.

Did Johns actually go that far?

I don't know if he has explicitly, but he certainly has implicitly, through the two-days-to-superpowers New Krypton kryptonians.

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aaron_bourque
2009-06-24 01:17 pm UTC (link)

two-days-to-superpowers New Krypton kryptonians.

Now that you mention it, all of those Kryptonians are adults, right?

Maybe Kryptonians, as their bodies mature, are better able to process yellow solar energies? Like, as kids, they can barely do it, their "stomach" isn't big enough, and even if it were they can't handle that much of it. So minor trickle of power. But as they grow older, as their bodies mature, their "stomach" gets bigger and they can process more and more and more of it.

. . . Yes. I like it. Also would help if Clark ever got Lois pregnant. Why didn't super-fetus kick through Lois's body before it was born? Or why didn't super-baby's tantrums level city blocks? They couldn't, super-baby's super powers are miniscule. The older a Kryptonian is, the faster they get charged by sunlight.

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	jlbarnett 2009-06-24 05:36 pm UTC (link)
	In John Byrne's Generations book Lois wore a locket that produced red sun radiation as a safety precation. It was unnecearry though as their daughter didn't display powers until five, at which point Lois gave her the locket to make sure she didn't blow the secret. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	jlbarnett 2009-06-24 05:12 pm UTC (link)
	Byrne had him developing powers in his high school years with flight being the last. COnsidering ever Legionaire gets a ring that grants the power of flight Clark had a window between say 16 and 18 when he was strong enough, invlunarable enough, and had enough supersenses and heat vision to work it. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	volksjager 2009-06-24 09:15 pm UTC (link)
	Whats your source on this ? Is it an idea, or an actual story ??? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

khaosworks
2009-06-24 09:41 pm UTC (link)

Johns's Superboy in the 30th Century idea? Oh, that surfaced during the JLA/JSA/LSH crossover "The Lightning Saga" and was made more explicit during the "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes" arc. In the latter, we see a teenage (and lonely) Clark being approached by Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl and invited to go to the 30th Century for a visit. And the rest is history.

It's a good patch, really, which allows the pre-Crisis Legion continuity to be more or less preserved intact (with a little juggling to deal with the few stories that took place in 20th Century Smallville, but that's easily done for the most part).

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