Continuity Tracking: Preboot Time Travel

January 19, 2000 / Updated: August 4, 2000

     In the post-Crisis, preboot continuity, it was revealed that most (if not quite all) pre-Crisis occurrences of time travel in the Legion’s past had been redirected by the Time Trapper to go to the Pocket Universe instead of the “real” DC Universe. This allowed Superboy to continue to exist as an inspiration and former member of the Legion despite the rebooted Superman continuity which revised Superboy out of existence.

     A few time travel incidents involving the preboot Legion occurred post-Crisis, however: the team of Legionnaires who met Superman and Superboy in the Pocket Universe, the team which met Booster Gold and stopped an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, Superman’s jaunts through time in “Time and Time Again,’ Ultra Boy’s trips to the past, the team which met Valor and Glorith, and Cosmic Boy and Night Girl’s vacation in the 20th century which coincided with Legends. A few pre-Crisis time travel stories also involve Legionnaires traveling to times and places which do not involve Superboy, Krypton, and Smallville: for example, the team which met ancient Durlans during Projectra and Karate Kid’s wedding.

     Zero Hour and the resulting postboot continuity almost (but not quite) completely wiped prior Legion continuity. All of the 30th century adventures were wiped out, as were any which related strictly to the Pocket Universe and thus did not impact the mainline DC Universe. The remaining pre-Zero Hour time travel events are left in limbo: did they still occur in the recreated universe, and how?

COSMIC BOY, LEGENDS, and LEGIONNAIRES 3
Taking a vacation from the 30th century, Cosmic Boy and Night Girl traveled to the 20th century, only to land amidst a social backlash against superheroes spearheaded by Darkseid's minion, Glorious Godfrey. However, 30th century history recorded no mention of such a backlash. Cosmic Boy deduced the Time Trapper's hand in things, attempting to coerce history into new patterns. This eventually led to the Legionnaires 3 mini-series, where the three founders went up against the Time Trapper, and eventually to the death of Superboy and the “Conspiracy’ storyline.

Cosmic Boy fought Brimstone alongside the Justice League and Firestorm, he spoke to Superman briefly (from whom he discovered that history as he knew it had gone awry), and Cosmic Boy and Night Girl interacted with an astronaut named Krinnski (apparently an ancestor of Cosmic Boy’s). In the Legionnaires 3 mini-series, all the time travel was limited to a trip to the End of Time, interacting with the Time Trapper and his minions; the Brainiac from the Superman preboot continuity was also seen.

The result of this is that the preboot Cosmic Boy and Night Girl’s impact on the 20th century from this story is minimal. His role against Brimstone can be revised away, his conversation with Superman can be ignored, and his and Night Girl’s impact on Krinnski can be deemed superficial and easily substituted. (And indeed, Krinnski’s role as a Braalian ancestor may have been replace by Krinn Magar in Valor #21-22.) The Legionnaires 3 mini-series carries no effect into the post-Zero Hour realm. The time travel event can be completely excised from the post-Zero Hour universe as non-necessary, and should be ignored when dealing with postboot Legion continuity.

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES ANNUAL V2 #2
Traveling to Orando for the Projectra/Karate Kid wedding, a team of Legionnaires was caught in Superboy’s time travel shockwave and stranded on Earth in Ancient Greece. While there, they met ancient Durlans who were using their powers and technology to pose as the Greek Gods. The Durlans fled back to their homeworld.

The implications of the story is that these Durlans either caused the Six-Minute War that devastated their planet — they had been gathering raw materials on Earth, presumably for war purposes — or else they were off-planet when the war occurred and were able to resettle it due to their powers. The Durlans’ posing as the Greek Gods is not in conflict with current DC continuity, and while the Legionnaires may have prompted their early departure, such would have occurred eventually anyway. This event may be ignored when dealing with postboot Legion continuity.

Continuity Tracking: Preboot Time Travel

January 19, 2000 / Updated: August 4, 2000
In the post-Crisis, preboot continuity, it was revealed that most (if not quite all) pre-Crisis occurrences of time travel in the Legion’s past had been redirected by the Time Trapper to go to the Pocket Universe instead of the “real” DC Universe. This allowed Superboy to continue to exist as an inspiration and former member of the Legion despite the rebooted Superman continuity which revised Superboy out of existence. A few time travel incidents involving the preboot Legion occurred post-Crisis, however: the team of Legionnaires who met Superman and Superboy in the Pocket Universe, the team which met Booster Gold and stopped an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, Superman’s jaunts through time in “Time and Time Again,’ Ultra Boy’s trips to the past, the team which met Valor and Glorith, and Cosmic Boy and Night Girl’s vacation in the 20th century which coincided with Legends. A few pre-Crisis time travel stories also involve Legionnaires traveling to times and places which do not involve Superboy, Krypton, and Smallville: for example, the team which met ancient Durlans during Projectra and Karate Kid’s wedding. Zero Hour and the resulting postboot continuity almost (but not quite) completely wiped prior Legion continuity. All of the 30th century adventures were wiped out, as were any which related strictly to the Pocket Universe and thus did not impact the mainline DC Universe. The remaining pre-Zero Hour time travel events are left in limbo: did they still occur in the recreated universe, and how? COSMIC BOY, LEGENDS, and LEGIONNAIRES 3 Taking a vacation from the 30th century, Cosmic Boy and Night Girl traveled to the 20th century, only to land amidst a social backlash against superheroes spearheaded by Darkseid's minion, Glorious Godfrey. However, 30th century history recorded no mention of such a backlash. Cosmic Boy deduced the Time Trapper's hand in things, attempting to coerce history into new patterns. This eventually led to the Legionnaires 3 mini-series, where the three founders went up against the Time Trapper, and eventually to the death of Superboy and the “Conspiracy’ storyline. Cosmic Boy fought Brimstone alongside the Justice League and Firestorm, he spoke to Superman briefly (from whom he discovered that history as he knew it had gone awry), and Cosmic Boy and Night Girl interacted with an astronaut named Krinnski (apparently an ancestor of Cosmic Boy’s). In the Legionnaires 3 mini-series, all the time travel was limited to a trip to the End of Time, interacting with the Time Trapper and his minions; the Brainiac from the Superman preboot continuity was also seen. The result of this is that the preboot Cosmic Boy and Night Girl’s impact on the 20th century from this story is minimal. His role against Brimstone can be revised away, his conversation with Superman can be ignored, and his and Night Girl’s impact on Krinnski can be deemed superficial and easily substituted. (And indeed, Krinnski’s role as a Braalian ancestor may have been replace by Krinn Magar in Valor #21-22.) The Legionnaires 3 mini-series carries no effect into the post-Zero Hour realm. The time travel event can be completely excised from the post-Zero Hour universe as non-necessary, and should be ignored when dealing with postboot Legion continuity. LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES ANNUAL V2 #2 Traveling to Orando for the Projectra/Karate Kid wedding, a team of Legionnaires was caught in Superboy’s time travel shockwave and stranded on Earth in Ancient Greece. While there, they met ancient Durlans who were using their powers and technology to pose as the Greek Gods. The Durlans fled back to their homeworld. The implications of the story is that these Durlans either caused the Six-Minute War that devastated their planet — they had been gathering raw materials on Earth, presumably for war purposes — or else they were off-planet when the war occurred and were able to resettle it due to their powers. The Durlans’ posing as the Greek Gods is not in conflict with current DC continuity, and while the Legionnaires may have prompted their early departure, such would have occurred eventually anyway. This event may be ignored when dealing with postboot Legion continuity.

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