After a really bad day at work (actually a bad week but no matter), I pulled out my Who's Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes issues and tried to see if I could come up with some "deep" questions so I was wondering...
- ...if Rokk Krinn was considered an adult on his homeworld of Braal, why was he called Cosmic BOY? Maybe on Earth but even on Braal he wasn't refered to as Cosmic MAN. And on Earth he still lived with his parents like he was still a minor. So was he legally an adult or not?
- Did Colossal Boy possess super-strength at normal-size? And how big could he grow? Certainly far more than Goliath's one-time twenty five feet limit!
- Were Brainiac 5 and Ultra Boy solo heroes on Colu and Rimbor, respectively before joining the Legion like Star Boy was? The "Brainiac" name was both heriditary and had to be earned at the same time. Ultra Boy said that he operated on his own but with only his vision powers.
- Why was Sun Boy rejected? He was a major Legionnaire throughout his career so it's odd that he was initially not accepted.
- Were Matter-Eater Lad's bones as hard as his teeth? He was able to consume incredible quantities of, well, matter so his entire physiology must have been really strong!
- How long was Element Lad kept a secret? He started off as Mystery Lad and the Legion was going to keep him like that for his own safety! In his second appearance though, he redubbed Element Lad (actually Element Boy) but seemed like a very public Legionnaire.
- Was Lone Wolf (the future Timber Wolf) meant to be a Legionnaire? He didn't reappear until the infamous Adult Legion story where he was married to Light Lass. Actually Jim Shooter said that E. Nelson Bridwell told him which members were married and to who!
- When did the Legion Academy start? Because the Legion let a bunch of baddies in: Command Kid, Dynamo Boy and Nemesis Kid!!
- Are there "missing" Ferro Lad stories? Several sources claim that Ferro Lad did a lot more than was shown.
- Did Chemical King have a Silver Age origin? Or even a real name?
If any Legion fanatics have any opinions or questions of their own, please comment!
LONG LIVE THE LEGION!
Replies
Some of the Legion material you read, Phillip, was post-Silver Age. I tended not to keep up with that because so many facts in DC continuity were rearranged or distorted by '70's and '80's writers, especially when it came to the Legion. I disregarded any bits of subsequent development that were based on these inaccuracies. (An example of one of these factoids was the idea, which arose in the early '70's, that Mordru the Merciless could be defeated only by burying him underground.)
With that caveat understood, I'll see what I can do to provide some answers.
If Rokk Krinn was considered an adult on his homeworld of Braal, why was he called Cosmic BOY? Maybe on Earth but even on Braal he wasn't refered to as Cosmic MAN. And on Earth he still lived with his parents like he was still a minor. So was he legally an adult or not?
Taking the second part first, whether or not he was legally an adult depended on the jurisdiction. Even if he was considered an adult on Braal, if he was below the age for legal adulthood on Earth, then while he was on Earth, he was not legally an adult. A person's status WRT to age-based privileges is attached to the jurisdiction in which that person is physically present. To use a more prosaic example, let's say Ferd is eighteen years old and, in the state in which he lives, it is legal for eighteen-year-olds to purchase alcohol. If Ferd goes on vacation to a state in which the legal minimum age for purchasing alcohol is twenty-one, then while in that state, it is illegal for Ferd to purchase alcohol---regardless of the fact that he may do so illegally in his home state.
Also, the concept that Rokk Krinn is "considered an adult" has some wiggle room. Many U.S. states---probably all---consider its citizens as adults for some things at one age, and at another age, to be considered adult for other things. For example, in North Carolina, one is considered an adult at the age of eighteen for voting, but he only has to be sixteen to be considered an adult if he is apprehended for a crime. In other words, at sixteen, a N.C. citzen is arrested as an adult (not a juvenile arrest) and is held in the real, honest-to-God, big-boy jail.
So, it's quite likely that the planet Braal also has shifting age standards for adult, depending on the rights and privileges, e.g., right to work, emancipation, voting, military service, and so forth.
As to why he calls himself "Cosmic Boy", that can only be a matter of conjecture; nothing in the Silver-Age texts relates to it. Reaching the age of majority, though, really has nothing to do with it in my mind. An eighteen-year-old in America may be considered legally an adult, but he is still a boy to me. (Though, granted, it's not likely you'd find an eighteen-year-old male who would see it that way.)
Did Colossal Boy possess super-strength at normal-size? And how big could he grow? Certainly far more than Goliath's one-time twenty five feet limit!
There are those who would argue that Colossal Boy did, indeed, possess super-strength while normal sized. These advocates base this on one panel, from the story "The Colossal Failure", Adventure Comics # 371 (Aug., 1968). In this panel, Colossal Boy, attending the Legion Academy for re-training, bends a "magnanium-steel bar" while normal sized.
However, this is the only instance in the Silver-Age era in which C. B. demonstrates remarkable strength while normal sized. Nor is there any reference to him possessing super-strength while at normal height, either in any Silver-Age story proper, nor in any of the several text pieces on the character. And Legion stories and text pieces tended to be very specific with regard to what each Legionnaire could do.
Thus, the preponderance of the Silver-Age material indicates that Colossal Boy did not possess super-strength at normal height. But that one panel in Adventure Comics # 371 provides an argument for those who want to believe he did.
As to how big he could grow, I never saw any story or text piece state a maximum height. Certainly, you are correct, though---based upon his depictions in various tales---that he could grow to a height much greater than twenty-five feet.
Were Brainiac 5 and Ultra Boy solo heroes on Colu and Rimbor, respectively before joining the Legion like Star Boy was? The "Brainiac" name was both hereditary and had to be earned at the same time. Ultra Boy said that he operated on his own but with only his vision powers.
Very little of this question held true during the Silver Age. True, the "Brainiac" title was handed down from the boy, dubbed "Brainiac 2", who was conscripted by the robot dictators of Colu to pose as the son of the humanoid computer Brainiac, to his descendants. But nothing in the entry on Brainiac 5 in the "Powers and Origins" text pieces, nor in the "Know Your Legionnaires" text piece devoted to him, made any mention of the follow-on generations having to "earn" the title of "Brainiac #".
In the Silver-Age, Brainiac 5 was never shown to have operated as a solo super-hero before joining the Legion. The same holds true for Ultra Boy.
Why was Sun Boy rejected? He was a major Legionnaire throughout his career so it's odd that he was initially not accepted.
Sun Boy was never rejected as a Legionnaire. His introduction came in "The Secret of the Seventh Super-Hero", Adventure Comics # 290 (Nov., 1961) and his origin was shown in the story "And Then There Were None", Adventure Comics # 348 (Sep., 1966). In neither of these tales was Sun Boy shown to be rejected by the Legion; in fact, from all indications, he was accepted as a Legionnaire with no problems. None of the text pieces on the Legion, either, suggest that Sun Boy was rejected by the Legion on his initial try-out.
Now, Sun Boy was ousted from the Legion, in Adventure Comics # 302 (Nov., 1962), after losing his power to radiate light and heat. Without a super-power, he no longer met the qualifications to be a Legionnaire and he was expelled. Fortunately, he found a way to resurrect his super-power and he was re-admitted to the club by the end of the tale.
Were Matter-Eater Lad's bones as hard as his teeth? He was able to consume incredible quantities of, well, matter so his entire physiology must have been really strong!
This was never addressed in any Silver-Age story or text piece on M-E Lad. But it's a matter of a great deal of fan conjecture, based upon the fact that a great many items he was seen to ingest were composed of substances of high durability. Fan conjectures range from crediting M-E Lad with super-strong, indestructable teeth to his saliva being some sort of potent, universal acid which would break down the material he ate.
How long was Element Lad kept a secret? He started off as Mystery Lad and the Legion was going to keep him like that for his own safety! In his second appearance though, he redubbed Element Lad (actually Element Boy) but seemed like a very public Legionnaire.
This was a short-lived plot concept. In fact, it died before his next appearance, a mere three months later, in Jimmy Olsen # 70 (Jul., 1963)---where he is, indeed, no longer called "Mystery Lad", but "Element Boy", and the chest insiginia on his costume has changed from a question mark to an upper-case "E". Of course, his name was changed to "Element Lad" with his next appearance, but never again was any mention made of the idea that his power and planet of origin had to be kept secret.
Was Lone Wolf (the future Timber Wolf) meant to be a Legionnaire? He didn't reappear until the infamous Adult Legion story where he was married to Light Lass.
Certainly, Lone Wolf's debut in Adventure Comics # 327 (Dec., 1964) opened the door for the possibility of him eventually becoming a Legionnaire. I suspect, though, that Mort Weisinger wasn't in any hurry to add yet another member to the already overcrowded Legion. In 1965, a fan's letter appearing in the Legion Outpost lettercol asked why it was taking so long to bring Lone Wolf back, and the editor replied that the delay was because they had not yet found a new sobriquet for the character, since "Lone Wolf" would not be suitable for the character if he joined the Legion.
When did the Legion Academy start?
The Legion Academy first appeared in "The Colossal Failure", Adventure Comics # 371. I seem to recall---but I don't have time to verify---that a fan suggested the idea of a Legion Academy earlier in a letter to the Legion Outpost, and the editor responded favourably to it.
Are there "missing" Ferro Lad stories? Several sources claim that Ferro Lad did a lot more than was shown.
Presumably, Ferro Lad engaged in more Legion missions than just the handful seen between his debut and his death. Just as all of the other Legionnaires who did not appear in a story were presumed, or occasionally stated, to be busy off-world on other assignments.
The only "untold tale" of Ferro Lad of which I am aware was "Knights in Shining Armor", from Legion of Super-Heroes # 3 (Feb., 1987).
Did Chemical King have a Silver-Age origin? Or even a real name?
No, to the former; yes, to the latter.
The fact that there would be a Legionnaire called Chemical King was foretold in the Adult Legion story from Adventure Comics # 354 (Mar., 1967). A statue of him appeared in the Hall of Deceased Heroes; the pedestal named him as Chemical King and stated that he died preventing World War VII.
The character himself first appeared on-stage in "The Colossal Failure", from Adventure Comics # 371. He is one of the Legion Academy students that Colossal Boy encounters during his re-training. The character introduces himself to C.B. as "My name is Condo Arlik! Some call me Chemical King!"
In the following issue, the second half of a two-parter, Chemical King and another Legion Academy student, Timber Wolf (the former Lone Wolf), are recruited by the Legion to participate in an infiltration mission. Here, we see Chemical King in costume and see that he is outfitted to be the same character as that seen in the Adult Legion story. At the conclusion of the tale, both Chemical King and Timber Wolf are awarded their graduation diplomas from the Academy and named full-fledged Legionnaires.
Chemical King never got a lot of Silver-Age play as a Legionnaire, showing up about as often as Lieutenant Hanley did in the last two seasons of Combat!. Part of the reason for that was because he came in so late in the Silver Age. The other reason was that writers really didn't understand his power or know what to do with him. Outside of his super-power and real name, his character was never fleshed out.
The first mention of his home world came in, of all places, Batman # 238 (Jan., 1972). This was one of the first "100-Page Super-Spectaculars", and it included a reprint of the story "The Legion of Super-Outlaws", from Adventure Comics # 324 (Sep., 1964). The cover of Batman # 238 was a wrap-around which, on the back, depicted the entire membership of the Legion at the time. The inside back cover provided a key to the Legionnaires. The line on Chemical King simply stated that his real name was Condo Arlik, his super-power, and that he hailed from the planet Valdow.
uperboy # 205 (Dec., 1974), another 100-Page Super-Spectacular, contained a section called "Lore of the Legion", written by E. Nelson Bridwell and drawn by Dave Cockrum. These were several mini-bios of some of the Legionnaires. One of those featured was Chemical King. In this entry, the name of his home world was changed to "Phlon" (which became the standard from then on). In describing his power and origin, C.K. once again got the short shrift. The accompany text accounted for his super-power by stating simply that Condo Arlik was born a mutant.
And that's all I can tell you on the fly. Sorry I couldn't help more.
:-)
Thanks, Commander! Informative and interesting, as always. I had forgotten (didn't reread the story) that Chemical King introduced himself by his real name to Colossal Boy! I agree with your statements................EXCEPT..........
Sun Boy was rejected by the Legion. His first appearance was Action Comics #276 (My'61), "Supergirl's Three Super Girl Friends!" which introduced a lot of Legionnaires: already members Triplicate Girl and Phantom Girl, accepted members Supergirl and Brainiac 5 and rejected applicants/future members Bouncing Boy, the ever-silent Shrinking Violet and, of course, Sun Boy! His nameplate listed his power as "super-radiance" and his one panel tryout had him glowing "quite bright". Since the macguffin of the story was that only "one boy and one girl" could join at a time, the Legion picked the super-genius over the human flashlight.
However his second appearance, Adventure Comics #290 (N'61), had already seen Sun Boy join the Legion. Here it mentions how he absorbs and emits solar energy which is far greater than mere light. He also was glowing constantly, something that would continue over subsequent stories. His next, Action #287 (Ap'62), was the first time it was clearly stated that the Solar Sensation could generate light and heat. That made him one of the more powerful and featured Legionnaires! Also, it made him more effective than the Human Torch as he commanded heat, not fire so he didn't need oxygen for his powers to work. He could operate in space or underwater.
So after rereading the stories (this time), my conclusion was that originally when Dirk Morgna discovered his powers, it was his light-emitting ones first. He tried out for the Legion and was rejected. Perhaps when Brainiac 5, Saturn Girl and Invisible Kid learned how he got his powers, they helped him develop his heat-based ones and that granted him membership into the Legion!
Forehead-slap!
You're right! I forgot about Sun Boy's appearance in Action Comics # 276.
There's nothing wrong with your conjecture as to why he was not selected for membership on that first occasion. It doesn't violate any established facts. It's completely serviceable.
On the other hand, I think you're resolving an issue that doesn't need resolving. Sun Boy didn't make the cut because the Legionnaires decided that they wanted a super-smart guy over a shiny, heat-radiating guy. It could have been that simple. After all, the Legionnaires were shown to not always make the best decisions in terms of membership applicants. Take their rejection of Polar Boy, whose power was the---ahem---polar opposite of Sun Boy's.
What was their rationale? According to Sun Boy, Polar Boy's power "might freeze and disable us at a critical moment!"
"Yeah, bright boy, and your super-power might burn and roast the Legionnaires to a crisp at a critical moment!"
I said it in jest, but for that matter, it's just the kind of rationale the early Legionnaires employed in selecting new recruits. In other words, it's not a slam-dunk that Sun Boy should have been picked as the new boy member over Brainiac 5, so we need to come up with a reason why he wasn't. With the Byzantine logic that the Legionnaires applied to selecting new members in those days, they certainly could have decided that a super-genius was preferable to a boy who cast light and heat.
Perfectly logical, Commander, given the rules that the Legion seem to make up on the fly, i.e. Triplicate Girl = useful power, Night Girl = too limited. Still, it's not that Sun Boy was rejected, it's that he was later accepted like Shrinking Violet and Bouncing Boy. BB's was explained in Adventure #301 and I'm figuring that Chameleon Boy wanted Violet for the Espionge Squad plus she didn't talk back! :-)
Anyway, rejected applicants rarely get admission later*. Those three were added to the team, probably by mistake because the creative teams wanted more Legionnaires and didn't read the original story too carefully. So Sun Boy had to have a reason to get that second chance. The addition of heat powers surely qualifies!
* Supergirl, of course, was admitted the second time around. Her first rejection was so absurd and pseudo-dramatic that she had to!
Also it was never stated that Chameleon Boy, Colossal Boy and Invisible Kid were rejected, either! All three could have joined at the same time.
A few more Legion queries, if I may. (And yes, I write about the Legion a lot. But they are my sentimental favorite and I offer no apologies.)
The Great Legion Romance involves Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl but was it created for a plotpoint? In the Legion's early days as guest stars in the various Super-titles, there was no affection ever shown between the Telepathic Teen and the Crackling Crusader until Action Comics #289 (Ju'62), "Superman's Super-Courtship!", where Sugergirl decides to get her cousin Kal hitched no matter what or who or when! She brings him to the 30th century to reunite with the Adult Legion (their second appearance--this is important!) on Christmas. She wants Superman to fall for Saturn Woman and Kal seems okay with that, kissing her twice under the mistletoe until Lightning Man asks the Man of Steel to please stop kissing his wife!
Embarassing yes but odd because the Adult Legion's first appearance in Superman #147 (Au'61) had Saturn Woman willing to sacrifice her life for the Action Ace yet Lightning Man only looks sad and there is no mention at all of any romantic link. They were simply teammates. So was their marital status just a way to give a reason why Superman couldn't marry Saturn Girl/Woman? Even when the Legion got their own series in Adventure Comics with #300, it wasn't until #304 (Ja'63) that the teenage versions showed any feelings for the other. And Lightning Lad had to "die" for that!
And earlier, in #302 (N'62), Saturn Girl seemed very concerned about Sun Boy! Hmmm...
Then there's Cosmic Boy and Night Girl. In Adventure #311 (Au'63), her second appearance, we learn that Night Girl is in love with the Magnetic Mainstay though he does not recipricate. This carries on throughout most of Night Girl's Silver Age career until we learn that they are married in the (in)famous Adult Legion story in #354. But I can't recall any SA tale where the two acted like lovers.
Why was Jimmy Olsen made an honorary member? In Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #72 (O'63), "The World of Doomed Olsens!", the Legion said it was because he helped them so much in the past. How and when? And why would they pick someone fron Superman's era? I think that the Legion was just kissing up to Superman (again) and Mort Weisinger wanted to use the Legion to open up more Jimmy adventures, which it did!
I like the Backstreet Boys defense. When they released their comeback album as adults, they were asked why they didn't change their name to the Backstreet Men. They simply pointed to earlier acts like the Oak Ridge Boys, Pet Shop Boys and Beach Boys. Nobody asked those groups to change their names when they got older.
In some cases, its a diminutive term of endearment like Guys, Dudes, Girls or Chicks. That doesn't mean that those words are always used without condescension. The comic book tradition of naming a female character "Girl" when the male partner is called "Man"- as in Hawkman/Hawkgirl or Bulletman/Bulletgirl- can be demeaning. But in the case of the Legion, I don't think there's any problem with characters using Boy or Girl in their names- even when they're technically adults.
Why was Jimmy Olsen made an honorary member? In Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #72 (O'63), "The World of Doomed Olsens!", the Legion said it was because he helped them so much in the past. How and when? And why would they pick someone fron Superman's era? I think that the Legion was just kissing up to Superman (again) and Mort Weisinger wanted to use the Legion to open up more Jimmy adventures, which it did!
Your conclusion is no doubt correct, but that doesn't really provide a satisfying reason within the stories themselves. My thinking is that the teenage Legion liked to hang around with other youths of their same age -- hence, that would explain why they came to Superman's era, since not only could they see their young friend now grown up to be the greatest hero of all time, but they could pal around with fellow teens Supergirl and Jimmy Olsen.
This would also explain why the Adult Legion never ventured back to help Superboy -- only the teenage Legion ever did that (unless I'm misremembering).
In the Randy-Verse, there's a perfectly good explanation for why Bouncing Boy got in to the Legion and Polar Boy was rejected. Simply this: Chuck Taine was a fun, cool guy to have around and Brek Bannin--well, wasn't. Consider that in many Legion stories in which Bouncing Boy appeared, the other Legionnaires did they're damnedest to keep him out of the action. I never saw Polar Boy shielded in anywhere close to the same fashion.
I think Lana Lang and Jimmy Olsen were given honorary memberships because they were teenage characters and supporting characters for Superboy/Man, and Mort figured that it would be fun for the readers if they had some sort of link to the Legion, so there you go.
As far as characters acting like lovers, I'd say it was pretty much par for comics from that era. Romances were eventually indicated as plot points, but rarely followed up on. Sure, Imra had a thing for Garth, Tinya and Jan had a major thing going on, but there just wasn't a need for any sort of long time establishment of these relationships. The sophistication we expect now from comics certainly was missing from the Legion comics of the Silver Age--and to be honest, I didn't really miss it. The Legion stories tended to be more plot-driven than character driven--at least at that time--so the romantic subplots in most instances just kept the story from moving forward.
Randy Jackson said:
You've hit on an important aspect.
The first clause of the Legion Constitution sets forth the qualifications for membership:
To qualify for membership in the Legion of Super-Heroes, a candidate must be under the age of 18; must have at least one genuine super-power, which he or she can fully control; and must be courageous and of good character.
But nothing about that clause insists that, if an applicant meets all the qualifications, the Legion has to take him as a member.
Let's retouch briefly on the discussion Phillip and I had above on Sun Boy. Setting aside all that "one member/one male and one female member per year" nonsense, suppose Sun Boy had approached the Legion and demonstrated his powers of light and heat, totally under his control, and from all indications, was brave and of good moral character? When the Legionnaires retired to deliberate over his application, the discussion could have very well gone like this:
"Well, what about it? He meets all the requirements."
"Yeah, but he's got that pushy attitude, like a lot of these Earthers do . . . ."
"You got that right. If we had to have a member from Earth, I'd rather take that fat kid, the one with the bouncing power. It's not much of a power, but at least he was a fun guy. Had a great sense of humour . . . ."
"Harrumph! Sun Boy looks just like my old boyfriend on Titan. The bastard dumped me right before the prom. I'm voting no."
"That's completely illogical."
"Oh, shove that 'illogical' business in your ear, Brainiac 5. I got two words to say to that: Triplicate Girl!"
(all the male Legionnaires at once) "She's a babe!"
The point of that little vignette is simply---the Legion was a private club and wasn't beholden to any kind of external rules or laws regarding discrimination or fair hiring practises. Sure, the club set down its own minimum standards for joining, but even if one met them, it didn't mean the Legion had to take him. As much as they acted like adults, they were still teen-agers and probably would have very much acted according to their personal whims and prejudices. And being a private club, they could do that without sanction.
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