Analysis Notes
| Cover |
Based on costuming details, the silhouetted figures on
the cover are Apparition, Leviathan, Cosmic Boy, Live Wire, and Saturn
Girl (left to right). |
| 1 |
Draping the coffin with a flag is a 20th century funeral
custom that has survived to the 30th century. |
| In the preboot, the Legion flag was luminous and could
be seen thousands of miles out into space. This particular version
of the flag does not share those qualities. |
| The nameplate on the coffin is in English. While
Interlac stems from non-Terran origins (it is in use in the 20th century),
many non-official signs on Earth (and those worlds stemming form Earth)
may be in English or other languages rather than Interlac. |
| 2:1 |
As indicated in the annotation to Legion of Super-Heroes
v4 #62, death is only part of XS’ fear; failure is more significant. |
| In the preboot, Probes were artificial beings with some
apparently telepathic abilities, used primarily in service tasks.
At least the latter still appears to be true. |
| Interlac translation: indecipherable (first character may
be “L” or upside-down “R”) |
| 2:3 |
The silhouetted head behind Triad is Invisible Kid. |
| 3:1 |
There is a gravcar going by outside the window. |
| 3:2 |
Coloring error: Brande’s moustache did not get colored
properly. |
| Bgztlians phase by shifting their bodies into the Bgztlian
Buffer Zone, becoming increasingly transparent as they do so. Apparition
appears to be nearly invisible, so she much be almost completely phased
away. |
| 4:1 |
It is unclear how Triad could have possibly grabbed onto
Tinya’s cape, much less pulled it in a manner to yank her back into
the room, given the degree that Tinya was phased. Possibly Tinya
is not yet quite used to needing to phase a cape along with the rest of
her clothing, and it phases to a lessening degree the further it is from
her body (but the integrity of the cape remains intact, since it is traversing
dimensions rather than losing molecular cohesion) |
| 4:3 |
Triad (or at least the extroverted third of her) is quite
the hacker. This skill will also make her an asset to the Espionage
Squad. |
| 4:4 |
So the United Planets is willing to take Brande’s
money to fund the Legion, but will give him negligible control?
Fortunately, Brande has too much emotional investment in the Legion to
walk away from it. |
| President Chu turns on her desktop holovid projector. |
| The orange frame around this panel indicates it is being
viewed from the other room via the securi-cam. The projection is
apparently a flat holographic video display (which is probably easier
to produce and cheaper to operate than a full three-dimensional holographic
field). |
| 4:5 |
Durlans themselves have some degree of paranoia about interacting
in a largely human society. This is probably well founded, if most
humans react to Durlans like Leviathan did. |
| 4:6 |
The dialogue in this panel is from President Chu. |
| The scene in this panel must occur between the end of Legion
of Super-Heroes v4 #62 and the start of this issue; there is known
to be a “classified” untold story occurring between Legion
of Super-Heroes v4 #62 and 63, so the scene might be from that.
It is a projection from President Chu’s desktop holovid projector. |
| The Legionnaires’ “police powers” should
include the ability to arrest lawbreakers and clearance to enter sensitive
areas. It is unprecedented only within recent history; it was certainly
prevalent enough amongst superheroes in the last couple decades of the
20th century. |
| President Chu’s reference to the Legionnaires being
teenagers indicates that, although the majority of the team is above the
age of majority — adults according to the law — they are still
seen as incomplete members of society. (This is not very different
from current society, where we grant “adult” privileges such
as a driver’s license, voting rights, and legal drinking of alcohol
at various ages, but even at age 21, the individual is considered barely
an adult.) |
| 5:1 |
Actually, the “stupid” action was sending the
Legion out on a mission before they had so much as introduced themselves
to one another. The draft might not have been a problem if there
had been time for the group to become a team first. |
| 5:2 |
If Tinya seems a bit bloodthirsty, this can be attributed
in part to her politician mother. Tinya has grown up around a very
aggressive woman, so she acts accordingly. Winema might have a particular
dislike for Chu, as well, which would have rubber off on Tinya. |
| Read from the other side, the text on the securi-cam panel
says “MUTE”. |
| 5:3 |
The Legionnaires — even their originally appointed
leader, Leviathan — were not given sufficient information on their
teammates to know that one had not reported for duty. This indicates
Chu’s intent to retain as much control over the Legion as possible. |
| Being the leader means taking the bulk of the blame as
well as the credit; being a literally big leader means that much more
blame. |
| 5:4 |
The missing Legionnaire being Brainiac 5, of course.
If Brande did not know about Brainiac 5 being drafted, that means Chu
may have arranged it behind his back. |
| 5:5 |
For a former personal administrative assistant, Triad really
should know names and codenames better that she shows here. |
| Note Triad’s tongue. This became a running gag
for Jeff Moy to draw characters — especially the girls — with
their tongues out, and for the fans to keep count. See each issue’s
statistics analysis for a running count of these gratuitous tongue appearances;
non-gratuitous ones (like Doyle on 12:3) are not counted. |
| 6:1-5 |
Saturn Girl’s mental link is a two-way street.
Against trained persons, her probes can be held off, and she can even
be attacked or threatened; this may be a side effect of the psi-screens,
which must still be active if she cannot read the criminals. |
| 6:6 |
This is a different part of the Metropolis jail than where
Garth was briefly held. Of course, assassins who attempt to kill
one of the galaxy’s richest sentients warrant stricter security measures
than did a teenager arrested in a barroom brawl. |
| 7:2 |
Garth’s lightning seems to be able to disrupt the
energy bars on the cell. |
| 7:4 |
My, but the 20th century certainly still has a reputation,
doesn’t it? This does bode well for future generations, however. |
| 7:5 |
Garth’s “attack” was faked. Given
Imra’s melodramatic comments in 7:1, both of their parts may have
been a set up. |
| 8:2 |
Note that the photo only features Jenni and her father;
her mother, Dawn Allen, is already dead. |
| No father worth the title would be disappointed in his
daughter. |
| 8:4 |
The picture is electronic rather than holding an actual
physical photograph; it has been turned off. |
| 8:5 |
The view of Cosmic Boy here is similar to the view that
would be seen through a door’s peephole. Of course, 30th century
camera technology should be able to avoid this sort of fisheye effect.
(On the other hand, it predates an advertising trend from the late 1990s
featuring just this sort of distorted images.) |
| 9:1 |
Not wanting to let on that she is leaving, XS has just
hidden her suitcase. |
| 9:5 |
Gee, you would think Cosmic Boy was the team telepath,
not Saturn Girl. (A good leader is able to read these things.) |
| 10:2 |
Nobody notified Marla, apparently. |
| 10:4 |
While R.J. Brande doesn’t take no for an answer, Brainiac
5 didn’t exactly fight to stay on Talus. Although he would
never admit it publicly, he probably was somewhat intrigued by the chance
to play a role in the Legion. |
| 10:5 |
R.J. Brande invokes Valor here, indicating a kind of legendary
or religious status for the character. |
| 10:6 |
Marla indicates that Brainiac 5 no longer works for Brande
Industries. The Talus laboratory may be an extension of the Metropolis-based
Time Institute, making it probably a research group funded by grants from
the United Planets, industry, and philanthropists (including R.J. Brande,
of course). |
| It has been suggested that Brainiac 5 blows up labs because
that is part of his experimental procedure. Equipment and testing
sites are replaceable and repairable, but sentient beings are not; by
testing extreme failure conditions on inanimate materials, Brainiac 5
can lessen the impact on living beings should such conditions occur. |
| Brande is not above a little knife-twisting with his plan
to bill the United Planets for Brainiac 5’s expenses. |
| 11:1 |
The United Planets globe is probably something Brande ordered
to be placed in the offices of all top-level Brande Industries executives.
If Doyle is indeed part of the White Triangle, then this symbol of galactic
unity is not something he wants in his office. |
| 11:2 |
The vidscreen was turned on by Invisible Kid. |
| There is no way the Science Police would allow a news report
like this to be broadcast before they have had a chance to arrest Doyle
in one of the most likely locations to find him: his own office.
The Legion must have mocked up this broadcast, including using Saturn
Girl as the newscaster (possibly with computer effects to slightly disguise
her). |
| 11:4 |
Despite the robes, Jando was not a Durlan as might have
been assumed from Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #0. |
| 11:5 |
Information in files A, B, and G must not be damaging. |
| 12:1 |
Vidscreen Translation: the bulk of the text is neither
English nor Interlac, and is thus indecipherable. The English text
present probably says “Believed Human” with an identification
number beneath it. (In the preboot continuity, Doyle was Brande’s
cousin, and in the Secrets of the Legion of Super-Heroes mini-series,
Brande and Doyle were revealed to be Durlans trapped in human form due
to Yorggian Fever. “Believed Human” reflects that former
status.) |
| 12:1-4 |
The prototype Espionage Squad in action. |
| 12:2 |
“Weakness” of a power is in the eye of the beholder.
Lyle can certainly make good use of his power, despite being unable to
use it to destroy spaceships. |
| 12:5 |
The Empress reveals that Durlans do have guts (or at least
internal organs) in Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #79. |
| 13:2 |
The type of creature Chameleon turns into is assumed to
be a Neegl, based on the emphasis in Invisible Kid’s dialogue. |
| 13:3 |
Of course, Chameleon does understand Interlac, and may
even be able to speak it at this time, but Doyle doesn’t know that. |
| 13:5 |
Chameleon is probably saying the equivalent of “Yeah.” |
| Doyle’s comment alludes to the upcoming difficulties
with the White Triangle, as well as simply the bomb in Kid Quantum’s
coffin. |
| 14:1 |
Lowering the flag to half-mast is another 20th century
funeral custom that has survived the intervening millennium. |
| Inertron is an essentially indestructible metal, probably
a Noble solid (a lá Noble gasses), based on the name. In
the preboot, it was first seen in Adventure Comics #336, and was
at one point stated to be a 20th century invention of the Dominators (Legion
of Super-Heroes Annual v4 #2). As we will later find out, Brande
has access to the people of Trom, so inertron may be a creation of Trommite
transmutation powers. |
| 14:3 |
The people in the front row of the crowd are probably primarily
United Planets ambassadors and their staffs, given the presence of the
Talokian, “Breather,” and apparent Durlan. |
| 14:3-15:3 |
Cosmic Boy does a decent job of delivering a eulogy for
Kid Quantum, despite knowing him primarily via his flaws. |
| 15 |
This scene is reminiscent of one in The
Flash #< >, where Wally West’s super-speed kicks in by
instinct to deal with flying bullets. |
| 16 |
The combination of XS’ super-speed and the stasis
belt slowing time probably made XS look to be moving at about normal speed
while inside the belt’s field, but still at super-speed to those
within the field. To Brande, Chu, and the other Legionnaires, they
would have seen the explosion suddenly occur and then been whisked out
of danger before they could react; unless they could see those outside
the field apparently all moving at super-speed, they would not even notice
the slow down until they had been removed from the field. |
The entire connection of the belt and the bomb is somewhat
suspicious. Although references are made to the belt being the origin
of the stasis field, Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #62 indicates that
it merely enhances James’ innate powers; it could be that the belt
specifically enhances stasis fields and is even able to generate them
on its own to a degree. Additionally, we will later see James’
sister, Jazmin, wearing the (or “a”) stasis belt; unless the
technology involved is easy to replicate, the Xanthan government would
probably have wanted to retain the physical belt rather than let it be
disposed of with Cullen’s body.
One
possibility is a supernatural explanation: as in the preboot, where the
ghost of Ferro Lad watched over the Legion and protected them on one occasion,
perhaps a similar occurrence has happened here, and Kid Quantum’s
spirit — far less stuck up in death than in life — invoked his
stasis powers (more powerful in death than in life) to help save the team;
the belt would not even be present, and the bomb planter did not necessarily
factor XS’ super-speed into the equation.
Another
possibility is meddling by the Time Trapper; since XS and other Legionnaires
will later directly meet the Trapper, his hand might be active behind
the scenes here. |
| 16:5 |
It is Live Wire that XS is carrying in this panel, based
on the order of the other people XS rescues. |
| 16:9 |
XS may have not rescued Cosmic Boy first for several reasons:
(a) he was the furthest person away from her, (b) she subconsciously thought
that, as leader, he could rescue himself, or (c) there could have been
a subconscious resentment toward him for trying to convince her to not
leave the Legion. |
| 17:5 |
Although it isn’t quite clear from the art, XS’
slingshot effort apparently disintegrated a portion of the (indestructible)
inertron flagpole due to the friction. |
| 18:3 |
In the preboot, James Cullen was not actually a human,
but instead a Protean posing as a human being, hiding the “Soul of
Antares,” the collective soul of the Protean race. Instead
of actually dying, he faked his death and went undercover, with the truth
only being revealed nearly two decades later (in Legion of Super-Heroes
v4 #34). The fact that Cullen’s coffin — and thus his
body — has been destroyed by the bomb fuels speculation that the
postboot Cullen may also have Protean connections. |
| 18:4 |
The bomb was planted on behalf of the White Triangle by
Doyle’s underlings, probably either by the missing White Triangle
agent from Legionnaires #19 or by Jando prior to his arrest. |
| 19:5 |
XS quickly became a favorite of Legion fandom, too. |
| 20:1 |
In is unclear if the toxic vapors enshrouding Angtu are
natural, or the result of McCauley’s chemicals; probably the former,
based on the preboot appearance of Angtu also being a dark, vapor-covered
planet. |
| Angtu orbits in a two-sun system, one of which may be a
red dwarf. |
| 20:2 |
“Forever” is an exaggeration, but probably at
least a century or two, long enough for the root causes of the war to
be long forgotten. |
| Leland McCauley is an unscrupulous businessman, more interested
in immediate profits than long-term sales potential. As we will
later find out, the chemical weapons sold to the Angtuans were untested. |
| 20:3 |
“Mano,” of course, is Latin (or Spanish) for
“hand.” (It has been said cynically that you can tell
what class Jim Shooter was taking in school when he created Mano back
in the 1960s.) |
| It is unclear whether “Mano” is his given name
or merely a nickname or epithet applied to him later; this might largely
depend on when in his life his destructive power surfaced. If, for
example, it was first used at birth, possibly even killing his mother,
than “Mano” might be the only name he has ever known. |
| In the preboot, Angtu was also seen as a haze-enshrouded
planet, presumably naturally so. This haze is apparently poisonous,
although it is certainly possible that McCauley’s chemicals combined
with Angtu’s natural hazy atmosphere to create the poisons. |
| 20:4 |
Mano is an Angtuan mutant. His primary mutation is
the destructive force released by a disk on his right palm; based on his
comment in Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #63, his blackened skin and
the energy dancing around it are probably a side effect of McCauley’s
chemicals. The destructive force is probably a release of anti-energy
or anti-matter, and the energy dancing around him may be a very low-level
reaction similar to that from his palm. |
| Given that Mano knew about the chemical weapons, his helmet
was likely a means of attempting to survive the release of the chemicals
rather than something he needed for day-to-day survival. Indeed,
it may have allowed him to survive long enough for the interaction between
his power and the chemicals to cause his blackened appearance. |
| Besides the helmet, Mano’s outfit is not unique protective
garb, as we see several bodies clad similarly in 20:3-4. Given his
comments, Mano had enough status that he had some chance of getting people
to listen to him. He was probably an officer in the army on one
side of the Angtuan conflict, and the outfit is his uniform. |
| 20:5 |
The four-pointed star on Mano’s neckpiece is an iconic
representation of his power. |
| 21:1 |
It is uncertain whether Mano could even commit suicide
in this manner. |
| 21:7-22:1 |
If Mano can indeed cause planets to explode, and moreover
to separate the pieces into an asteroid belt type of space, then he is
indeed quite powerful. His power was presumably boosted by his emotional
state and a lengthy recharge period since the last use of his power. |
| 22:1 |
Mano (and his survival suit) must also have significant
invulnerability to have survived the explosion of the planet, not only
to survive the power discharge but also any damage from rubble.
Perhaps exposure to McCauley’s chemicals provided this, along the
lines of “Whatever doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger.” |
| 20-22 |
Note the low-level Superman parallel: last survivor of
a doomed planet, strengthened in 20:4 by placing Mano in something of
a Jor-El role. |
| Tongue Count |
Triad (5:5) |
| Reprints |
This issue was reprinted in the Legion of Super-Heroes:
The Beginning of Tomorrow trade paperback collection. |
