Analysis Notes
| General |
The various pages in this story hop around temporally. They do not occur simultaneously, but all occur prior to the founding of the Legion (with the possible exception of the archaeologists, Lady Mysa, and Granny Goodness pages). |
| 62:2 |
This is presumably Metropolis. |
| The large ship in the sky appears to be the same design as the passenger shuttle which brought Brande and the founding three Legionnaires to Earth. |
| 62:3 |
As will be seen on page 71, the box contains a book. This analysis device — presumably a 30th century equivalent to carbon dating — is apparently also “reading” the text of the book itself. |
| 62:4 |
The archaeologist may be commenting on the “Once upon a time” phrase as an archaic ancient phrasing that dates from the second millennium. |
| 63 |
This page features Rokk Krinn (the eventual Cosmic Boy) and Pol Krinn. Rokk is probably age 10-12. |
| 63:1-2 |
All natives of Braal have magnetic powers. As such, every aspect of Braalian life is shot through with using those abilities, down to very subtle things like magnetic materials in all the cloth or self-powered elevators (see Legionnaires #53). Compare to how the design of every object we use on Earth is aimed at beings with opposable thumbs or color and depth perception. |
| 63:4 |
Braal was settled in or after the late 20th century, possibly as a result of planetary “seeding” by Valor. |
| 63:6 |
Krypton is element #36 on the periodic table. It isn’t clear what “A36” might indicate beyond that. |
| 64 |
This page features Garth Ranzz (Live Wire), Ayla Ranzz (Spark), Mekt Ranzz (Lightning Lord), and their mother. The twins are perhaps age 4. |
| 64:1 |
Is it “nonsense” because Mekt is rebelling, or because it promotes a twin-centric view of the world which Mekt can’t deal with? |
| 64:6 |
Hmm. Winath is identified as an “inner world.” Does that differ from the Gandian worlds, which were allegedly set as a hedge against further Dominator incursions? Is it an indicator that it is an older colony world rather than a younger one? |
| 64:8-9 |
It isn’t known if the “adaptation process” is the metagene’s way of modifying humanity to overcome obstacles — a damped variant of the 20th century mechanism of granting superpowers — or is Mrs. Ranzz is referring to genetic modification that was done on the colonists and their animals to produce this effect intentionally. |
| 64:9 |
What does she mean by “all mothers have their secrets?” On a simplistic level, it is the awareness that she is feeding Garth and Ayla a Winath-centric version of the Superman legend. But might this indicate something more than simple random chance behind Mekt’s non-twin birth? |
| 65 |
This page features Granny Goodness and the Hunger Dogs (the inhabitants of Armaghetto). There is no way of telling when the story occurs, but we’ll assume some time in the late 30th century. |
| In the preboot, Darkseid had been put into a centuries-long coma and Apokolips had been shut down. Assuming that this scene does take place in the late 30th century, this would seem to indicate a different fate for Darkseid and his minions, and would preclude the Great Darkness Saga. (On the other hand, this is just Granny Goodness. We don’t see where Darkseid is.) |
| 65:8-9 |
All the other single pages in this story feature Legion of Super-Heroes cast members. This individual isn’t recognizable as one right off the bat, but pointed ears... the design of the costume... Hunger Dogs... Could this be the eventual Timber Wolf? Possibly: he is later seen as a resident of Rimbor, but his past and origin have not yet been revealed. Since all the other characters seen in this story have Legion connections, this one should also, and thus we will presume it to be Timber Wolf until proven otherwise. |
| 66 |
This page features Lady Mysa, in the aged form her father Mordru cast her into. The story could occur anywhere between Mordru’s previous defeat and Legionnaires #<50> when she was deaged. |
| The illumination style in Mysa’s tome is reasonably consistent with medieval imagery. |
| 67 |
This page features Jenni Ognats (XS) and her parents, Dawn Allen-Ognats (one of the Tornado Twins) and Jeven Ognats. Jenni is no older than age 2. |
| 67:1 |
There is a Noah’s Ark toy on the floor. |
| 67:5 |
Unless Dawn and Jeven are intentionally trying to distance Jenni from her connection to Barry Allen, then someone messed up: Barry was just Jenni’s grandfather, not her great-great-grandfather. |
| 67:9 |
Dawn and Don get killed shortly after this; Jenni was just a toddler at the time. This may well have been the last time Jenni ever saw her mother. |
| 68 |
This page features Imra Ardeen (Saturn Girl), probably only months before the founding of the Legion, which would put her at age 15. |
| 68:2 |
The Home Guard would appear to be the Titan militia. |
| 68:4 |
Saturn Girl’s comment about a “turning point” is hard to understand. It would appear that the Home Guard is built around the precept of the good of the whole coming before the good of the individual, probably in the form of periods of military service being required of all Titan citizens. A parallel to fascism, perhaps, but arguably also necessary in the early years of a colony world, or one which has so recently been at war (in this case, with Braal). |
| 68:7 |
This might be the Superman cult seen in Action Comics Weekly, or it could be a group that arose after Superman’s disappearance/retirement. |
| 69 |
This page features Salu Digby (Shrinking Violet), probably in the months prior to the Legion’s founding, putting her at about age 15. |
| Salu seems very sure of herself on this page, in opposition to the shyness that she projects in later Legion stories. The answer is that in her own milieu, amongst her direct peers, she was sure of her abilities, and any tendency to shrink away from things and hide was an asset. In the Legion, with such a variety of people and powers, a world on a scale she has grown up to think of as massive and opulent, and that same tendency to not be noticed, she developed a different suite of personality traits. |
| 69:4 |
We know little about Salu’s family life or the culture on space-restricted Imsk. “Uncle Sayed” may be an uncle, a friend of the family, or a term used for members of an extended family-like structure adopted on Imsk (i.e., “person of the previous generation who is not my biological parent”). |
| 69:9 |
“Brainiacs”. Plural. Does this refer to the Brainiac/Brainiac 2.0/Brainaic 13 sequence? Brainiac/Vril Dox/Lyrl Dox? Or something else? |
| With Imsk being allegedly so space restricted, Salu’s room seems remarkably spacious, and the presence of the shrunken bed vs. the large porta-armoire leads to the question of why the other features are not so reduced. On the other hand, we have no external context, so maybe they are reduced: perhaps the large size seen here is only a few centimeters tall. |
| 70 |
This page features Querl Dox (Brainiac 5), at about age 4. This takes place in the SleepNet, Colu’s planet-wide sleep teaching system. |
| 70:1 |
There is no apparent reference for “147.57”. |
| 70:3 |
By the 30th century, the Superman legend may well have grown such that all sorts of things are attributed to him. Consider Elseworlds stories and the Silver Age stories done under Weisinger: another thousand years of this, and what is “continuity” and what isn’t will be hard to tell. |
| 70:4-6 |
Normal humans are 6th level (whatever that means). Average Coluans are 10th level, and Brainy is 12th. The Silver Age Superman said to be 8th level, but the current one is not a superscientist and thus is probably closer to human norms. |
| 70:7 |
This does not count as an appearance for Brainiac 5, since he could be in any or none of the globes pictured here. |
| 70:8 |
Note that the 9% value is the one which holds the truth, per DC One Million. |
| 71:9 |
Not that it needs to be said, but Lois Lane married Clark (Superman) Kent. |
| What is it with reporters writing biographies of their superhero husbands? Iris Allen wasn’t enough; Lois had to get it on the act, too. |
