Analysis Notes
| Cover |
Flight rings (as seen on Apparition and Triad) have not
yet been introduced. |
| Apparition’s interaction with the Legionnaires
and Zero Hour logos resulted in some paste-up problems; her head
is especially poorly done. |
| 1:1 |
The phrases “all corners of the galaxy” and “unity
of our universe” are obvious hyperbole. The United Planets
only covers a small portion of the Milky Way galaxy at this time. |
| 2:1 |
“Those vid shots” refers to the story seen in
Legion: Secret Files #1. |
| 2:2 |
“Magno-ball” is a typo for the more typical “magnoball.” |
| 2:4 |
Garth’s powers are apparently not true lightning,
but a similar electromagnetic phenomenon (although just how it differs
is unknown). Since lightning works via an energy transfer between
electric potential differences, presumably a portion of Garth’s powers
is the creation of those potentialities in other objects. |
| 2:5 |
When the holovid was shot, the eventual “L*”
logo had apparently not yet been approved. |
| Note the date: May 11, 2994. Dates are typically
topical references, useful only in establishing the relative occurrence
of one event with respect to another; in the context of the Legion milieu,
any given “current” story is 1000 years in the future from the
20th century present, be that 1994 or 1998 (presumably the Legion will
go into the 31st century when publication dates enter the 21st). |
| 3:1 |
“Lightning Lad” was Garth’s
preboot codename. (While Superman met a Lightning Lad during “Time
and Time Again” [Superman #< > and Legion of Super-Heroes
v4 #84], that was the Garth of a separate timeline.) |
| 3:2 |
Imra’s earrings have changed color. Perhaps
these are “mood” earrings, with the orange color from 2:1 reflecting
her shock at the holovid, and the green color here reflecting a more calm
and centered state. (Or maybe Tom McCraw goofed.) |
| 3:3 |
This formalization is a marked change from the earliest
days of the preboot, where the Legion’s existence and approval by
the United Planets was a given. Without United Planets approval,
the appropriate law-enforcement recognition for the Legion would never
come, regardless of how much money Brande threw at it; the result would
be a private team of vigilantes, akin to McCauley’s WorkForce. |
| 3:5 |
The use of identical uniforms was tried to a degree in
the early days of the Bierbaum era, and echoes back to various incarnations
of Marvel’s X-Men and DC’s Challengers of the Unknown.
The “new” uniforms mark a rejection of that uniformity concept. |
| 4:1 |
Presumably Doyle’s reference to “too fast”
indicates that the White Triangle has plans afoot, but ones which are
threatened by the existence of the United Planets; the stronger the United
Planets is, the less stable the White Triangle’s plans will be. |
| 4:3 |
Note that the White Triangle, which we will later come
to understand as xenophobic, apparently has no problem with different
races mingling, only with different species. |
| 4:4 |
The sphere on Doyle’s desk is apparently just a paperweight
or other object, despite the resemblance to the gold balls on the United
Planets globe. |
| 5:1 |
Tinya Wazzo does not wear a Bgztlian touchstone as part
of her day-to-day garb. |
| 5:3 |
Note the logo for United Planets Earth, replacing the United
Planets starfield with the Terran globe. Presumably other planetary
members have similar variant logos. |
| If the cloaked ambassadors in the council chamber are Durlans,
they are apparently not required to maintain the traditional orange body
while acting in an official capacity for Durla. |
| There are several holovid cameras floating above the main
dais. |
| 5:4 |
Since his title and clothing style match those worn by
other human Xanthans later in the issue, Ambassador Wazzo is apparently
speaking with the human Xanthan ambassador. |
| 6:1 |
Phased Bgztlians can apparently “see” while inside
solid objects. They are presumably able to interpret high energy radiation
(x-rays, etc.) to do such “seeing”. |
| Bgztlian phasing powers are not well known, or at least
commonly seen. |
| It is unclear what the purpose of the elevated platform
from where President Chu presides is; since Brande’s personal assistant
is seated there, it is apparently not reserved for an Executive Council.
Perhaps it is a location for scheduled important guests to speak from. |
| 6:2 |
Ambassador Wazzo does not approve of Tinya using her powers
in public. This may be a cultural issue rather than a personal one. |
| 7:1 |
By incorporating the Saturn badge into her uniform, Saturn
Girl works to “reclaim the power” of the symbol, turning it
into a symbol of pride rather than a brand of difference (compare to the
pink triangle for gays and lesbians). |
| 7:2 |
Brande did not clear the revised uniforms with President
Chu. |
| 7:3 |
Presumably the Legion’s “interplanetary protection
force” mission is intended to act in conjunction with the Science
Police, or in situations where meta-powers are needed, rather than as
any sort of replacement. |
| 7:4 |
The “Breather” aliens’ questioning the maturity
of the teen Legionnaires parallels that of the readers. Note that
the questions are never directly addressed, but the issue will eventually
come up later in Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #124 and Legionnaires
#81. |
| One of Doyle’s people can be seen locking the doors
to the Council Chamber. |
| 8:4 |
Some of the individuals in Saturn Girl’s telepathic
scan can be identified: a Durlan (lower left corner), President Chu (left
edge), a “Breather” (next to the Durlan), R.J. Brande (above/right
from President Chu), Saturn Girl (center), Luornu Durgo (above/right from
Saturn Girl), and Tinya Wazzo (right edge). The others do not seem to
correspond to known characters. Given the problems Imra will later
be shown to have in delaing with alien minds, this must be an extremely
surface scan. |
| The “…when’s lunch…” thought
balloon may be from a Bismoll native. |
| 9:2 |
Saturn Girl still has training to do in dealing with a
world of non-telepaths. |
| 9:3 |
The dialogue balloon with symbols in it is from a Durlan. |
| 9:5 |
Live Wire shows his hotheaded personality. |
| 10:1 |
Triad’s exclamation of “Blessed Trinity”
is indicative of her religious leanings. While it is probably a
reference to a three-in-one god or goddess reflecting the Cargg triplication
ability, the fact that Cargg is a Gandian world with colonists originally
from Earth mean that “Trinity” may be the Christian father/son/holy
spirit combination or a pagan mother/maiden/crone trio. |
| 10:4 |
It is heavier than it looks because Rokk is probably used
to lifting items mostly composed of materials that his powers can latch
onto. Here, only portions of the globe respond easily to his powers,
with the rest being so much dead weight. |
| 10:6 |
With luck, Rokk used his powers to contain most of the
debris from the exploding globe. |
| 11:1 |
Garth’s lightning appearing to come from outside while
the doors burst outward is an artistic error. |
| 11:2 |
The cloaked figures are Durlans. |
| 11:3 |
Only two of Doyle’s agents are present at the scene.
Where is the third one? |
| 11:5 |
Based on coloration and facial hair style, Daxamite ambassador
Obin Der may be standing behind Winema Wazzo. The hair color differs
from the Xanthan prefect she was speaking with in 5:4, although the clothing
color is the same. |
| 12:3 |
Since Garth has been in the seedy area before, it is possible
Black Mace’s establishment is located in the neighborhood.
If we can make connections based on seedy portions of 20th century Metropolis,
this area may be Suicide Slum. |
| Interlac Translation of sign: gibberish, best translation
is “rcaa bcct” (and it thus may not be Interlac at all).
The building seems to be a whorehouse, given the poses of the women in
the windows. |
| Eccentrica Galumbits, the Triple-Breasted Whore of Eroticon
6, is a throwaway joke from Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide
to the Galaxy books. (Because this appearance is a joke, Eroticon
6 is not deemed to be a mentioned location.) |
| The text above “Bar + Grill” is hard to read,
but says “ET’s” (as in “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”). |
| The white-haired woman in the upper-left corner of the
panel was colored with orange skin in the original printing of Legionnaires
#0, but her skin was changed to a Caucasian “pink” in the Legion
of Super-Heroes: The Beginning of Tomorrow collection. |
| 12:4 |
Titanians do surface scans based on general emotions rather
than specific thoughts; empathy is usually though of as a simpler form
of telepathy. |
| That is Tinya’s hand about to push the crates. |
| 13:3 |
The sign undoubtedly says “X-Rated.” |
| 13:4 |
Interlac Translation of the “Condemned”
notice: gibberish, perhaps “l?cn????.” (Could be something
like “Licn. k4i9,” but with several characters reversed or otherwise
incorrect. Or again, might not be Interlac at all; alternately,
given the similarity of some of the letters to Interlac in combination
with the situation probably existing in such a “slum” area,
it could represent a non-standard, “anti-establishment” form
of Interlac.) |
| Saturn Girl seems much more adapted into using the code
names than Live Wire, although this could in part be because he was thinking
he would be called “Lightning Lad” up until just a few hours
previous. |
| 14:2 |
Energy weapons (or some energy weapons, anyway) don’t
affect Bgztlians while they are phasing. |
| 14:4 |
The reference to “alien freak” is the first hard
evidence given that the woman is a White Triangle agent. |
| 14:5 |
Live Wire can project “lightning” from his feet
as well as his hands, and the powers are definitely electrical in nature
to be conducted through water like this. |
| “I’ll take charge now.” Heh. |
| 15:1 |
Any place without dozens of curious onlookers would be
a better place to scan, especially without onlookers involved in the sex
trade and other less-than-legal (presumably) dealings. Of course,
Doyle’s agents are undoubtedly protected by psi-screens, just like
the assassins at the spaceport were. |
| 16 |
Interlac Translation of text on building: gibberish,
perhaps “pil?” (the fourth character appears to be a backwards
“d”). |
| 17:1 |
President Chu is wearing an outfit of the same design as
the one Imra was in at the start of the issue. |
| 17:3 |
Frankly, Brande is wrong. The Legion is a
vid-bite for the United Planets, and President Chu is right that they
need to be sent on a visible mission if they are to overcome the “maturity”
issue. |
| 17 |
The Brande assassination attempt took place on May 7 or
8, based on the introduction to the Legion of Super-Heroes: The Beginning
of Tomorrow collection, but according to 21:6, the events at the start
of Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #62 will not occur until May 31, leaving
more than three weeks between the founding of the Legion and the arrival
of the draftees. With these first two issues occupying perhaps a
week of that time, perhaps President Chu’s “mission” did
occur for the initial five Legionnaires, but the story has not yet been
told. The timeline in Legion: Secret Files #1 indicated such
an event, and the indications from Impulse #21 that Cosmic Boy
and Saturn Girl meet Max Mercury at some point may also play into this
unseen period. |
| 18:1 |
The Forte District is named for John Forte, who drew some
of the Legion’s early adventures. |
| 18:2 |
While the appearance of the U.S.S. Enterprise is an in-joke,
there are similarities to be noted between Star Trek’s “Federation
of Planets” and the Legion’s “United Planets.” |
| 18:3 |
40 meters = 130 feet (approximately). Stu may be
exaggerating, but apparently not much, since he doesn’t get corrected. |
| 18:4 |
“Mook” is slang for “person”. |
| 18:5 |
Jai refers to Gim as a lieutenant, but the introduction
to the Legion of Super-Heroes: The Beginning of Tomorrow collection
refers to him as an “officer candidate,” which would mark his
May 7 rank as below sergeant. While he may have been promoted to
sergeant already, lieutenant is a bit too high at this stage. (In
comparison, it will take almost two years for Shvaughn Erin to make lieutenant.)
In light of the other references to rank in this scene, the best answer
is to presume Gim was recently and suddenly promoted to sergeant, and
Jai is just participating in the fun of his advancement. |
| 19:1-2 |
Xanthu apparently chooses its planetary champion on an
annual basis. We can assume that other Xanthan heroes (members of
the Uncanny Amazers) were also competitors who dropped out of the running
before Day 5. |
| 19:3 |
Xanthu clearly has more than just the three heroes seen
here, and feels it has a need for such a multiplicity. This probably
marks Xanthu as being on the fringes of United Planets, perhaps near Khundish
space. |
| Was Kid Quantum chosen because he was the best, or because
he was the most expendable? Probably the latter, since the Xanthan
government was surely aware of both his limitations and his attitude problem
before sending him to join the Legion. |
| 19:4 |
Atmos is the character with the red mohawk. In the
preboot, he was Xanthu’s longtime planetary champion. He was
also missing chunks of his body for unknown reasons, but he appears to
be intact here (or the missing chunks could simply be covered by the dress
uniform Atmos is wearing). Star Boy still displays the same haircut
that the young temporal clone did just before Zero Hour. |
| The white object on Kid Quantum’s belt sash (recolored
purple in the Legion of Super-Heroes: The Beginning of Tomorrow
collection) must be the controls for his stasis belt. |
| 20:2-3 |
The animosity between the Science Police and the researchers
points to past or longtime problems; some of this is seen in The Flash
#91 (occurring approximately twelve years prior to this story).
Understandably, the scientists are opposed to any attempt by the government
to control their research. Since the research facility is referred
to as a “station,” the site is presumably located in space or
some remote planetary region, and the fact that the Science Police is
not allowed on the station would indicate that it is not affiliated with
or located in proximity to a member world of the United Planets (and any
other entity that recognizes the authority of the Science Police). |
| 20:4 |
According to artist Jeff Moy, Jenni Ognats’ character
design is based on actress Halle Berry. |
| 21:1 |
In the preboot, the planet Durla was the site of a major
nuclear conflict around the year 2000 B.C. (the Seven-Minute War), which
devastated the planet; exiled Durlan shapechangers returned to the planet
to resettle it (as seen in Legion of Super-Heroes Annual v2#2).
This depiction of the planet seems to hold to that. (The status
of any such exiled shapechangers is unrevealed in the postboot.) |
| 21:1-4 |
The recurring “O” symbol in the Durlan speech
balloons may represent the United Planets (unity, shared technology, wholeness,
etc.). It might also represent Durla. |
| 21:6 |
“I’m with the government, and I’m here to
help you.” Yeah, right. |
| 22:2 |
Lyle Norg did EarthGov “a couple favors;” for
an invisible kid, this probably equates to spy work, as confirmed in Legion:
Secret Files #1. |
| 22:3 |
This is the first indication that the formal age of emancipation
(adulthood) is in the mid-teens. |
| 22:5 |
Querl Dox has no interest in reading “important”
missives (including draft letters) if it interferes with his important
work. |
| The paper addressed to “Ron” is probably a typo
for “Rond,” although it might be a joke reference to inker Ron
Boyd. |
| Although not stated here, Legionnaires #19 indicates
that this lab is on Talus. Talus was the headquarters of the Legion
during the Giffen/Bierbaum era. |
| Reprints |
This issue was reprinted in the Legion of Super-Heroes:
The Beginning of Tomorrow trade paperback collection. |
