Analysis Notes
| Cover |
Ultra Boy does not appear in this issue. |
| 1:1 |
In previous issues, it was the Terran Lodestones, not the Tokyo Lodestones. It was remarked that only recently did Earth have sufficient Braalians to field a professional team; Tokyo alone certainly would not a team of its own, in that case. |
| This is a flashback to Legionnaires #71. |
| 1:2 |
This is a flashback to Legionnaires #43; Dirk was watching the Legion tryouts and being wistful about no longer having his powers. |
| 1:3 |
This is a flashback to Legionnaires #70. |
| 1:4-5 |
This is a flashback to Legionnaires #71. |
| 2 |
Monstress’ comment is an intriguing counter to the fact that super-strength is the most common power for superheroes to have. |
| Umbra is somewhat more sensitive to heat and light than most people. |
| Credits |
Carmela Merlo is Roger Stern’s wife, and does a lot of plotting/scripting work with (or for) him. |
| 3:1 |
That is, of course, Kid Quantum next to Cosmic Boy. |
| 3:4 |
Element Lad’s control over his own body is such that this surface melting is probably not a significant danger (at this early stage). He can reshape and transform his own body back to a point where he will not be injured when he becomes human again. |
| 3:5 |
Is there a story here as to why Gates was late? |
| Gates is exaggerating; his power isn’t strong enough to transport the thousands of miles between Metropolis and Tokyo. |
| 4:1 |
“Uthool” and “Calythos” were named in the spell that release Abnegazar, Rath and Gast (the Demons Three). Nabu is the Lord of Order that inhabits Dr. Fate’s helmet. |
| If a rhyming spell that invokes beings of power feels familiar, chalk it up to Roger Stern’s stint on Dr. Strange several years ago. |
| 4:3 |
That Lady Mysa’s spell had an effect may indicate a connection between the Elements of Disaster and the Lords of Order and Chaos. |
| 4:5 |
Saturn Girl does not have a pink Saturn symbol on the palm of her glove. That is her earring. |
| 5 |
There is a color registration problem on his page, causing the blurred effect. Pages 6-7 printed correctly. |
| 5:1-3 |
The round-cornered panels here (and on pages 6-7 and back on page 1) indicate flashbacks. The square-cornered ones are new content. |
| 5:3 |
A’rie is seen (in white silhouette) at the center of the panel. |
| 5-7 |
The color drop of the black plate (causing the washed-out look to the art on these pages) probably was supposed to be limited to the flashback panels rather than all the art on each of the pages. |
| 5:2 |
Flutter’s boredom did not come through in Legionnaires #71. Rather, her problem was with being restricted to the controlled lab environment rather than being able to do research in nature. |
| 6:1 |
The automatic suspicion is that this treaty was forced upon the Dryads or otherwise illegally/unethically devised to steal their planet from them, a lá the Native Americans and the White Man. |
| 6:3 |
Coloring error: the Alien Nationer at the bottom of the panel is the one in blue from 6:1, and the other one should be in maroon and black. |
| 7:1 |
Note that the planet’s name is Gil’D, while the inhabitants are Gil’Dan. |
| This scene evokes scolding parents, raising the question of whether the two types of Gil’Dan might be different genders rather than separate species or subspecies. Other possibilities would included a genetic offshoot (perhaps through external manipulation, a lá Marvel’s Skrulls/Dire Wraiths) or an age or larval-related change. |
| 7:3 |
While Ebb can control fluids, this clearly means liquids. A “fluid” is anything that flows; in particular, air (the province of A’rie) is a fluid. |
| 7:4 |
Solicitation descriptions for this storyline had indicated that the Elements hated technology. Ebb’s comment (and tech uses by the other Elements) show this to have been false. |
| 8/9:2-3 |
Coloring error: the woman here is the black woman seen on page 5. |
| 8/9:4 |
The Legion books seem to destroy a planet every year, almost like clockwork. |
| Dryad was also destroyed in the preboot, with Blok and the League of Super-Assassins the only known survivors, although it was theorized that others of Blok’s race could have survived in hibernation until they reached another habitable planet. The same would be true here. |
| 8/9:8-9 |
Two planets at once! (On the other hand, the last destroyed planet was Sklar, in Legionnaires #<48>. So it has been two years, and thus it is time to wipe out two planets!) |
| Whether this is the actual end of the Gil’D races remains to be seen, of course. A number of them are probably off planet and will have survived, but that may not be a sufficient gene pool to continue either race. |
| 8/9:9 |
The caption spanning the panels is part of 8/9:9. |
| In the preboot, the Gil’Dishpan (now Gil’Dan) were methane breathers, not water. |
| 10/11 |
Only 10:1, 10:3, and 11:5 count as panel appearances for Phy’r; the others are just its flames. (10:3 could be just flames, also, but they are directly from Phy’r’s “surface”, so that is close to count.) |
| 11:3 |
Umbra shouldn’t blame herself too heavily. Phy’r may have burst through at her point in the circle, but that does not mean she “screwed up.” (Of course, Umbra still sees herself as needing to prove herself worthy of being planetary protector of Talok VIII, and any setback is serious, to her.) |
| 14:2 |
This is presumably the stargate on the other end of Phy’r’s jaunt; both were undoubtedly destroyed. |
| 14:7 |
By incorporating the stargate into herself, Rrox gives herself (and the other Elements) a ready escape route. |
| 15:4 |
It is unclear why Dragonmage is being tended in the Mission Monitor Room. Possibly because Mysa placed the healing stone on him there and gave orders that he not be moved. |
| It is doubtful that a healing stone would help Star Boy. His powers are derived from mutation and space whale exposure; the fluctuations are presumably caused by the latter slowly wearing off. |
| “Dream Girl” was the preboot codename for Dreamer. |
| 16:3 |
The Legion Outpost team has presumably dealt with their Bizarro problem, and the communications are simply failing because of Phy’r’s influence on the technology on/near Terra. |
| 16:5 |
Chameleon departed for an unmentioned location off-planet in Legionnaires #71. He will presumably be playing a role in Legionnaires #73. |
| 17:2 |
Colu is the most technologically driven society of the 30th century, and thus the one most vulnerable to the effects of the Elements of Disaster. |
| SleepNet is the planet-wide education and communication system on Colu, in place for over 1000 years. |
| 17:5 |
It is unclear why Ebb stopped at Colu on his way to JS-1967. Perhaps he needed to absorb energy on a planetary scale in order to continue hosting his Element at the level it had been working at. |
| Ebb has apparently been in orbit near Colu for several hours, long enough to shut down SleepNet and have the displayed effects start to occur. Even in a society like Colu’s, this ought to be at least one planetary cycle; it would not be immediate, to be sure. |
| 18:3-4 |
None of these prisoners are familiar. |
| 18:5 |
The brown creature is Mantis Morlo; the other two are unknown. |
| 18:6 |
Doctor Savant is unknown. |
| If the magic is “coming back,” that raises the question of when it went away. Could Doctor Savant have a connection to Hypertime and thus be seeing into other worlds? |
| 18:7 |
From A’rie’s comment, it would appear that the Elements of Disaster are not so much opposed to technology as to over reliance on it. That can be a delicate line to walk, however; do sentient beings truly need spaceships? |
| 19:1 |
Rrox needs the rocket jets in order to move where the stargate won’t allow her to go. |
| 19:2 |
Coloring error: McCauley’s teeth are colored the same as his lips. |
| 19:3 |
McCauley certainly has a valid point. (On the other hand, he didn’t send WorkForce members to fight Mordru. Several of them chose to go on their own.) |
| 20:1 |
By referring to McCauley as the only one they managed to contact, the unmentioned others are probably the Uncanny Amazers and the Heroes of Lallor, the only other superhero groups seen to date. |
| 20:2 |
Saturn Girl’s note about the stargate indicates that, as identified elsewhere, significant time has passed since Phy’r left Tokyo; at least several hours, perhaps a day or more. |
| The loss of contact with Brande is related to the tech failure, not to the Bizarro incident in Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #114-15. |
| 20:3 |
Umbra’s comment doesn’t make sense. “Another chance” at what? Saturn Girl just indicated that the Legion would pursue the Elements of Disaster, the stopping of which is the only thing the Legion has “failed” at. |
| In fact, all the Legionnaires’ comments seem to be the reverse of what they should be, as though they were responding to her saying that the Legion should do clean up and leave the Elements to the Science Police. Very odd. |
| 21:1 |
This counts as speech for Saturn Girl. |
| 21:2 |
Kid Quantum’s arm is to the left of Umbra. |
| 21:1-2 |
Some fans have pointed to Saturn Girl’s mental “yell” and Umbra’s comment as possibly being a reference to the Cheech & Chong sketch “Sister Mary Elephant”. Other possible references might be to “Little Mary Sunshine” or the stereotype of an offensively pure and innocent nun. |
| 21:4 |
This seems like a rather big leap, from elementals possessing hosts to the involvement of Mordru. |
| 22:3 |
JS-1967 is named for Jim Shooter, who wrote the first Mordru story, published in 1967. |
| 22:5 |
Interlac translation: “danger” |
| The design of Mordru’s prison owes a lot to Katushiro Otomo’s Akira anime. In fact, Mordru is sealed in a smaller sphere at the center of this prison, just as Akira was in the anime. |
| Letters |
The response to Katya Konkle is the first formal announcement from DC about the upcoming Titans/Legion of Super-Heroes: Universe Ablaze mini-series. |
| The response to Konkle’s letter is also interesting in that, when this was published, it was known that Jeff Moy would be leaving the Legion books in a few months. The handcuffs are apparently no longer locked tight. |
| The response to Chris Evenson indicates the return of some preboot characters. ERG-1/Wildfire is the most likely target, given the Mordru connection in this storyline and the Drake/Burroughs revelations in Legion of Super-Heroes: Secret Files #2. |
