My heart's...a-far...for El-var

The final entry in our series on the Wanderers looks at the clone resurrection version of Elvo.

Elvar's Look and Powers
Where his original look wasn't bad, I have always thought the clone version--notwithstanding the thigh high boots--was an improvement. For one, the original yellow and purple color scheme was pretty garish.  It's difficult to pull that off.  Green and black are much a better combo.

Second--and I realize mileage will vary here--I liked the more elf-like look given Elvar.  I've got to believe that the morphological affinity of "Elvo" with "elf" was part of the inspiration. Elvar combines the tropes of both the snarky elf and the agile sword wielding elf in one character. The former trope is illustrated by other examples like Marvel's villainous Elf with a Gun (introduced in July 1975).

The agility and swordsmanship combo was, of course, well established in fantasy literature.  Interestingly, Elvar's uniting of the elvan swordsman with superhero tropes was aped by Marvel's Excalibur version of Nightcrawler who, seemed to be wielding a saber every time you turned around.  I don't recall that being a part of Nightcrawler's basic depiction prior to Excalibur.  The basic chronology here makes me suspect that Elvar may have inspired the changes in Kurt Wagner. (However, as an admittedly arm's-length reader of both the X-Men and the Excalibur, I realize I may just be ignorant of "the elf's" backstory.  Perhaps some well-versed X-fan can clarify the situation for us?)

Does he look like a refugee from the Dark Crystal?  Sure, but I submit that's still better than looking like a guy with a yellow beach bucket on his head.

The power upgrade made Elvar a bigger asset to the team and just a more interesting character generally.  First, he got enhanced agility. Second there seem to have been some changes in regards to the energy properties of his sword.  As noted in the post on Elvo, however, there's inconsistent information about the precise parameters of those changes.

A Bird's Eye View of Ornitho

We return to our foray through the history of DC's 30th century ronin, the Wanderers, by looking at  Ornitho.

Source: Comicvine

Possible inspirations
As I reflect on Ornitho, it seems there might be several points of connection between him and other heroes.  Obviously, he is yet another in the ranks of the winged superheroes. Since he emerged in the late 60s out of a DC publication, I'd assume that Hawkman was the nearest inspiration. After all, Hawkman did have a syndicated cartoon on television around this time.

Over at Marvel,  the Angel (a founding member of the popular X-Men) had made his first appearance only three years earlier.

Source: Comicvine

A much later (and, therefore, correspondingly tendentious) possible connection is illustrated in Marvel's 1982 debut of the French hero, Peregrine.  Though Alain Racine's abilities were the result of his costume, as opposed to being inherent in himself, am I the only one who perceives some suspiciously similar color schemes going on?

Ornitho in 1968

Peregrine in 1982

A word about Ornitho's powers

Adventure Comics #375 (DEC 1968)

Pivoting from inspirations to power sets, I gotta tell ya:  there's a key element that just doesn't make sense to me.  I can see how transforming into a parakeet might help on stealth missions, or turning into a flame-breathing space bird could add valuable oompf to the team's punching power; but--at a gut level--there's just something incongruous about a guy with wings whose main power seems to be to turn into other things with wings!  I mean--what's the point of having the wings in the first place?   DC made a stab at simplifying/rationalizing Ornitho's powers during his 1980s reboot as Aviax.  Unfortunately--as will be illustrated in a future post--those "solutions" created as many (perhaps more) problems than they solved.


Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes #200 (JAN 1974)

Though, technically, the Wanderers appear in this issue.  They basically do nothing more than make a brief cameo.  The issue as a whole records the tale of Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel's wedding--and its predictable "crashing" by the super-villain Starfinger.

Indeed, there's only one (admittedly, now iconic) scene in this entire issue featuring the Wanderers...and I'm not too sure that I can spot Ornitho in it at all.  What say you?

Dartalg Misses the Mark

Originally, Dartalg was--if I'm honest--the corniest member of the Wanderers. Like Celebrand, in his original incarnation Dartalg lacked superpowers, but where Celebrand at least boasted a massive Han Solo-esque blaster, Dartalg was the mighy master of....the blow gun.

That's right friends, a weapon principally utilized and associated with colonized native terran societies in 15th - 19th centuries, was the weapon-of-choice for a cosmic adventurer in the 30th century.

The only thing sadder than Dartalg's armory, was his inability to defeat
a guy whose super-power was blowing up like a balloon.  This really makes Dartalg's trash-talk all the more pathetic.

If my speculation that the Wanderers were inspired by The Magnificent Seven, then just as Celebrand was the cosmic version of Chris Adams, Dartalg might've been inspired by the knife master Britt.

Like a latter day, Green Arrow (well, at least one version of him) Dartalg attempted to off-set the inherent limitations of his weapon with high-tech, specialty darts (e.g., explosive darts, poison darts, etc.). Unfortunately, no writer was ever able to pull this off in a way that seemed even remotely plausible for a 30th century setting. 

Adventure Comics #376 (JAN 1969)
Though technically considered the second appearance of the Wanderers, in truth their role in this story is even less impressive than their debut.  Indeed, only two of the Wanderers seem to have made an appearance in this issue (Celebrand and Psyche) and then, only in flashbacks to the previous issue.




I'll be out of the country for the next two weeks, so I'm not sure I'll be able to make posts.  I'm trying to prepare a couple of interludes, but we'll see if I can get them done before departure time.  After I return, we'll continue this foray through the original Wanderers by looking at the winged hero Ornitho!

Dartalg in the deck
Jim Gallagher artwork

The Magnificent Wanderers

One of the things I've learned since becoming an amateur comic blogger is that there were a lot more non-Legion heroes and teams in DC's 30th century than I realized. (In addition to the Heroes, there was the Legion of Subs, The Uncanny Amazers, and the subject of the present series:  The Wanderers.)

The Beginning of the Wanderers' Journey


Originally created by Jim Shooter and Win Mortimer, the original Wanderers (Quantum Queen, Psyche, Ornitho, Immorto, Dartalg, Elvo, and their leader Celebrand) first appeared in Adventure Comics #375 (DEC 1968).  Interestingly, they were introduced as having been in existence prior to the Legion of Superheroes; and, in fact, to have been around long enough to have developed a respected reputation by the time the Legion met them. (Comicvine)

I guess the thing that was originally intended to set the Wanderers apart--as their name suggests--was that they were not stationary, but ranged (or "wandered") about the galaxy fighting evil.  They fit into the "masterless ronin" hero type.

Though I can't prove it, I suspect the earlier success of two movies may have been a direct contributor to the creation of the Wanderers.  In 1954 legendary filmmaker Akira Kurasawa released his movie The Seven Samurai.  The "samurai" in this case were actually ronin, a term that more specifically meant they were "masterless samurai."  Wikipedia proclaims the movie, "one of the most remade, reworked, referenced films in cinema."

In America, it only took six years before John Sturges released a Westernized version of the story, The Magnificent Seven, which was equally-successful in its own right.  Flash forward another eight years, then, and Shooter/Mortimer bring us the tale of seven, wandering heroes (i.e., ronin) going about the galaxy righting wrongs.  Indeed, it's interesting that when Shooter and Mortimer introduce the Wanderers, they do so with the implication that these aren't new heroes...that, in fact, they pre-dated the establishment of the Legion of Superheroes itself!

If my math is correct (and excluding reprints), the original Wanderers appeared in only five issues:

• Adventure Comics #375 (DEC 1968)
• Adventure Comics #376 (JAN 1969)
• Superboy #200 (JAN 1974)
• Legion of Superheroes #294 (DEC 1982)
• Legion of Superheroes #300 (JUN 1983)

My intention in the coming weeks is to start by examining the original Wanderers and their adventures.  This will be followed by a series looking at the Post-Crisis version of these characters. 

Next week, we'll kick things off by looking at the Wanderer's original leader, Celebrand and (hopefully) their debut in Adventure Comics #375.

Catching the Infectious Lass Fever

As with virtually all Legionaires and affiliated characters, my introduction to Infectious Lass came from the Who's Who in the Legion of Superheroes series.  Consequently, this is her classic look as far as I'm concerned:

Okay, so she wasn't much to look at (unless you're into mucous) but I found her power set--and especially the backstory--terrifyingly cool.  Drura Sehpt (IL's real name) came from the planet Somahtur, where the dominant sentient life form gained its position not by conquering and destroying "lower" forms of life (i.e., bacteria, viruses, etc.) but through complex symbiotic evolution with them.

The upshot was that every Somahturian became a walking CDC virology lab.  Unfortunately, Somahturian symbiosis didn't play too well with off-worlders.  Your average Somahturian could  "quickly [and fatally] infect other living bio-organisms." (Infectious Lass. Comic Vine) So it's easy to understand why the United Planets kept a pretty tight quarantine on the planet, not allowing access to anyone other than a handful of select medical personnel. (Think about standard global protocols towards regions experiencing an Ebola, for example.)

Drura was atypically adventurous for her race, becoming one of the few to venture off-world.  Her would-be galactic road-trip suffered a delay, however, as she was confined for sometime to Medicus One...due to her [species' aforementioned] health risk to others. (Infectious Lass. Comic Vine)

When Drura was finally released she bee-lined it for a Legion of Superheroes tryout where she demonstrated her power by making Star Boy terribly sick. Unfortunately for Drura she had more power than control, and the Legion rejected her application due to safety concerns.

Superboy #201 MAR 1974

  

The Long-Term Substitute
Following her rejection by the regular Legion, Infectious Lass was recruited into the Legion of Substitute Heroes by Polar Boy.  She appeared pretty infrequently after that until the "Five Years Later" jump of1989.  Below is a listed compiled from Comicvine (excluding Who's Who and  other such "encyclopedic" appearances)

• Superboy #218 (Jul 1976)
• Superheroes Album #6 (Jun 1977)
• Legion of Superheroes #300 (Jun 1983)
• DC Comics Presents #59 (Jul 1983)
• Legion of Substitute Heroes Special (Apr 1985)

  
Possible inspiration?
Infectious Lass's 1974 debut may support a suspicion I've long-harbored--that her appearance owes something to the Andorians of Star Trek, who made their first appearance six years earlier in the episode "Journey to Babel."

Note the blue-skinned, antennaed chap in
the right background

Of course, blue skin and antennaes aren't exactly unprecedented tropes in science fiction.  I make no claim to have proven anything. This is only a speculation...but what say you?  Does it plausible to imagine that the Somahtur doesn't fall far from the Andoria?

Kenner's Inexplicable Choice of Tyr for the Super Powers Collection

My first memory of DC's cosmic warlord Tyr was his appearance as an action figure in Kenner's third series (1986) of Super Powers action figures.

Under the influence of toy lines like Masters of the Universe, I just assumed his name should be something like Laser-Arm. 

Three decades later, it remains a mystery to me why Tyr was chosen for the Super Powers line.  According to Jake Rossen, following the wind down in popularity of Star Wars figures, Kenner was looking for the next big thing.

They thought they'd found it in the deep bench of DC super characters; and the first two series of figures seemed to vindicate that belief.  Anchored by cultural icons like Batman and Superman, and tying in directly with the Super Friends cartoon--which had been airing under one name or another since the 70s--most of the figures were familiar, at least to Saturday morning cartoon junkies like me.  

And then came the third round.  I always enjoyed seeing new action figures...but it really frustrated me when they never made their way into the cartoons.  Eventually, even a naive kid like me was bound to start suspecting the producers were more interested in making a quick buck than in making high quality art/entertainment.

As I later learned, Tyr had always a Legion of Superheroes foe. This made his inclusion in the Super Powers Collection even more baffling.  All the other villains were classic enemies either of the Super Friends as a group (e.g., Darkseid), or individual members of the team (e.g., Penguin, Mr. Freeze).  What was the point of randomly including a villain from faaaaaar in the future who never fought any of these guys?

One might hypothesize that this was a first volley in some strategy to expand further into the DC canon. Yet even if this were the case, the Tyr decision still doesn't make sense. If they wanted to enter the world of the Legion, it would have made way more sense to start with some heroes (e.g., maybe the original three--Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, and Saturn Girl).

Furthermore, even if--in some bizarre drunken stupor--a Kenner exec actually convinced himself that starting an expansion with a villain would be a great idea, why the heck Tyr?!  Wouldn't a higher-profile LSH foe like the Time Trapper or the Fatal Five have been a far more solid choice?

[I refer you, dear reader, to the following two videos on the topics of "greatest villains of the Legion of Superheroes."  Wanna guess who doesn't get mentioned in either of them?]

 

 

So what do you say?  Can someone with either more insight into the DC universe, or an insider perspective on the action figure biz, provide a rationale for this decision?

Sure ya will, buddy...just keep swingin' for the fences.

The Heroes of Lallor: brief thoughts on some square peg superheroes

The Heroes of Lallor

In previous posts, I've discussed my appreciation for members of the Legion of Superheroes (specifically Chemical King and Polar Boy).  Today, I want to return to DC's 31st century, but not to focus on the LSH.  Instead, I'm interested in another super-group:  The Heroes of Lallor.

One of the main things I liked about the Heroes was the contrast they presented to the Legion.  It always struck me as odd--given the plethora of teams and independent heroes in the contemporary DC timeline--that by the 31st century superheroes had largely been consolidated into one massive uber-team.  With an even bigger universe, it seemed natural to assume, there should've been at least as many independent heroes in the 31st as there had been in the 20th. 

Gas Girl

The five powered teens (Beast Boy, Gas Girl, Evolvo Lad, Duplicate Boy, &  Life Lass) who composed the Heroes, were all born on Lallor, a planet ruled by a single dictator.  They were mutants whose powers were the result of exposure (in utero, apparently) to fallout from an accidental atomic explosion.  The kids' powers manifested when they were quite young--a fact the planetary authorities seem to have known. Eventually, however, "Prime Minister" Vorr experienced one of those sudden, inexplicable opinion changes that are all the rage with  dictators, and banished the teens.

The actual reason for the banishment isn't exactly clear to me.  Wikipedia  says it was for, "opposing the dictatorship," while the DC Database wiki simply claims that, "the leader of Lallor, fearing what the young people could do [had] them exiled..." Whatever the specifics, one thing is clear:  the Heroes were outsiders.  They were the super-powered square pegs in the 30th century...and that's one of the main reasons I like 'em.

Evolvo Lad

This theme of nonconformity appeared again in Adventure Comics # 339 (Dec 1965) where Beast Boy--who, for some reason was shunned from polite Lallorian society--retreated to the jungle planet Vorn where he led an animal revolt against the planet's human population.  As it turned out, this story concluded with Beast Boy's death and his burial on the memorial planet Shanghalla.

Polar Boy: A few of my favorite heroes

Source: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRKS-P1Y8_gdx6tiU59oxAizUqhqjusa9lH0jpl-u4Hw3vKUC_8tg

Today's post is devoted to another Legionnaire who had an instinctive attraction for me as a young reader:  Polar Boy.

Though he's gone through a variety of costume changes (most of them pretty sucky-looking in my opinion) over the years, the one up top represents Polar Boy as I first encountered him (and, therefore, obviously the zenith of his sartorial flair.😏

PB's original look
Source: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f2/de/49/f2de497fe22220b4d62c206edda2a8d7.jpg

in the (regrettably) short-lived Legion of Superheroes cartoon
Source: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/losh/images/d/dd/Polar_Boy.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20131012161421

the most current (I think?) look for Polar Boy
Source: https://static.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_small/0/3664/334393-170281-polar-boy.jpg

Why did I like Polar Boy?  On the surface, I've always liked ice-based heroes and villains (e.g., Captain Cold, Iceman, Blizzard, Mr. Freeze) but in the case of Brek Bannin, there are a few extras that helped warm up to the character. Pun, most certainly, intended.

His creative origin

I like that Polar Boy essentially began as a piece of fan fiction.  The concept for the character was originally suggested by a regular comic book reader--Buddy LaVigne of Northbrook, IL--in the letters page of Adventure Comics #304. (Polar Boy, Wikipedia)

His struggle

Though I doubt it was Buddy LaVigne's intention, when Polar Boy became a reality in Adventure Comics #306 (March 1963), he did so as a decided underdog.  In fact, he was rejected during his first try for membership in the Legion because he was deemed to have insufficient control of his powers.  Down, but not out, Polar Boy pulled together a handful of other rejected applicants to form the Legion of Substitute Heroes.

Sidenote 1:  I guess what the writers were doing here was plausible...but I have to admit  that I always had a hard time with the argument that Polar Boy wasn't Legion material, but Matter-Eater Lad and Bouncing Boy --BOTH of whom, had already been made Legionnaires by this point--were.  Surely, the Legion could've recognized, "You know, there's a lot of people with fire-type power around.  We might occasionally have to combat a giant lizard creature or something...it probably wouldn't hurt to have a cold-dude around. "  As far as the  insufficient control argument goes...wouldn't that kind of be the point of joining the team? 

Sidenote 2:  It seems like there's a bit of a plot hole in the story of Polar Boy and the other Tharrians.  In his initial tryout for the Legion, he explicitly says that the power to create intense cold has been developed by "a few people" on Tharr.

Yet in subsequent material (e.g., Who's Who in the Legion of Superheroes) we're told that "all natives" of the planet have "the ability to project intense cold."

His grit and determination

Despite these early struggles, Polar Boy eventually made it on the Legion line-up.  Indeed, after one year as a member, he was elected Leader. (Who's Who: Polar Boy, Legion of Super-Bloggers)  He went on to serve two terms at the Legion's helm--and these weren't exactly times of peace and tranquility.  

Now that Brek had triumphed over institutional obstacles and been accepted by those he idolized, he would now have to learn to accept himself, by overcoming feelings of excessive and/or misplaced guilt. He was tortured by his failure to save his friend Magnetic Kid during the Magic Wars.  Eventually, time and circumstance even forced him to preside over the dissolution of his beloved Legion.  (Who's Who: Polar Boy, Legion of Super-Bloggers).

Following a number of reboots, a storyline was introduced in which Polar Boy had to deal with pain of a more physical nature.  He lost an arm as a result of torture by Earth Man and his "Justice" League.  True to form, however, that didn't stop Brek.  He simply manifested a new arm made out of ice. 

Sidenote 3:  Though,  the ice arm occasionally looks cool (e.g., pics like this one featuring PB and Sun Boy in a sort of yin/yang theme)

 

It doesn't really make sense to me that the limb would be usable.  Sure he could form it...but wouldn't it just be more like an old -style prosthetic...sort of a 30th century version of the old pirate's peg leg?

Wrapping up

Brek Bannin really is the little-superhero-who-could.  His journey from reject, to member, to leader...from naively optimistic youngster, to sage old hand represents one of the best morality tales you can encounter in superhero comics, "...that being rejected by the people you want to like you doesn’t mean you can’t make a mark in your own way, and still be happy." (Dan Hagen, A Legion of Losers Takes a Bow in Adventure)

The Unrealized Potential of Chemical King: what went wrong?

My introduction to the Legion of Superheroes came about primarily via 1988's seven volume Who's Who in the Legion of Superheroes? series.  I was always a fan of teams, and though I'd not heard of the Legion before, I knew I liked the Justice League...and I figured a "legion" had to have even more heroes in it than my beloved JLA. 

Readers of this blog will not be surprised to learn that my interests naturally gravitated toward some of the more obscure Legionnaires. One example of this was Chemical King.

Chemical King by Chris Sprouse
Source: http://www.legionworld.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chemical_King

One of the first things that attracted me to the character was simply his name:  Chemical King already had a more serious-sounding tone than the bevy of: lasses, lads, boys, and girls that predominated in the Legion.

A second feature I liked was the heavy green of CK's outfit.  Yes, I know it's not exactly unprecedented (DC did have an entire Corps of galactic heroes running around in green, after all) but amongst the Legionnaires, it seemed to stand out.

Finally, even as a kid who basically knew nothing about chemistry, I found the description of his powers pretty interesting--"able to speed up or slow down chemical reactions at will or exert slight control over chemical combinations, changing them to alter their outcome."

So given the trifecta:  (1) a good name, (2) a good look, and (3) a good power set, what explains the lackluster phenomenon of Chemical King?  Well, here's at least a couple of a theories.

No real plan for the character

According to the Who's Who books, Chemical King's first appearance was Adventure Comics #371...but that's not quite right.

Technically, CK's first appearance was in Adventure Comics #354 (March 1967). This story was set in the future where Superboy was summoned by the "adult" legion.  CK appears simply as a statue in a special hall commemorating fallen legionnaires. 

Of the five dead heroes that appear on the cover, only Ferro Lad had even appeared.  Chemical King’s fate would match the cover exactly, while stories of Quantum Queen, Reflecto and Shadow “Woman” (Shadow Lass when she got introduced) would play with the dooms foretold here.  (Adventure 354 - The Adult Legion)

So, in other words, the character was created, named, and given a specific look first...and only later was an attempt was made to supply an identity and personality. While I'm just an amateur fiction writer, I would suspect this is a process that almost never ends well.

A "brainy" power set too closely mirrored by other legionnaires

A second, possibly more serious problem for CK, was his power set--which, yes, I just discussed as a strength.  Let me explain.  

While I love the description of CK's powers, it is rather hard to get a mental image of what it means to be able to "speed up or slow down chemical reactions."  At the very least, it's much more difficult to visualize than saying:  "This guy is super strong." "That girl can shoot lasers from her eyes."  This character can run at the speed of sound."(etc.)  

CK had potential to be a superhero for the hard-core science nerd...but really developing his power set and making it meaningful and predictable to fans was probably fated to address only a small niche of the fan base.

The other aspect of this problem is that many of the avenues that might have been available for developing CK's power set were already taking up by the more prominent Element Lad and his ability to "transmute one substance or element into another."  Furthermore, Element Lad's powers seem never to have been restricted to anything like a similar degree.  

Wrapping up

Working within those parameters, there really weren't too many ways left available to help CK stand out.  Of course it might still have been done via great personality development, but if generating compelling personalities was that easy, all literature would be filled with riveting characters.  Plus, working with as large a cast as the Legion, you simply don't have the time to pay minute attention to every single character.  

At least, that's my best guess about what happened to Chemical King.  What say you?