Analysis Notes
| General |
All characters and situations in this issue are the Earth-U versions. |
| For continuity placement of this story, see note in the analysis of Titans/Legion of Super-Heroes: Universe Ablaze #4, pages 43-46. We shall place this between Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #121 and Legionnaires #78. |
| 1 |
The Encyclopedia Galactica would seem to practice retroactive history: “quiet, peaceful existence” is at odds with Titan having been at war with Braal just a few years ago. (Maybe that is a difference between Earth-U and the main DC timeline, though.) |
| The globe-shaped towers are probably housing complexes. They may be elevated like this to keep the inhabitants above (out of) the general telepathic atmosphere — the equivalent of getting peace and quiet. |
| In addition to being a dramatic piece of civic statuary, the monolith behind the podium may well serve as a transmitter or enhancer for telepathic transmission. |
| Notice that the “trees” are glistening; they are probably made of crystal or metal. |
| 2 |
The page is silent because Titanians communicate almost exclusively via telepathy. |
| 2-5 |
Those whose heads are covered may do so out of some religious observance, or it may be a visual indicator of a particular telepathic ability (or lack thereof). It is apparently not an indication of rank, since Dr. Aven doesn’t wear one. |
| Several people in the crowd have facial tattoos. Such have been seen before (on Nara Minsork and Titanor) as indicative of a criminal background. It would not be unusual for Brother Blood to be drawing from the low sectors of the society. |
| 3:2 |
Dr. Aven is speaking. He is trying to shock the populace out of their reverence for Brother Blood. |
| 5 |
As will be seen in Titans/Legion of Super-Heroes: Universe Ablaze #2, this is apparently the real Brother Blood (or rather, one resurrected by Universo). Although Titanian telepaths should be able to see through his cult trappings more easily than most people, Universo’s powers keep that from happening until Blood can get his hooks into them. |
| 6 |
Imra’s dream is presumably a reaction to Dr. Aven reaching out across space to his former protégée. |
| 7:3 |
Gates’ comments here probably mean that Vyrgan sleep is more extreme than that of humans. Gates probably shuts down completely when sleeping, going into a deep, nearly comatose state. |
| 8:1 |
Don’t even think about how tall those buildings must be, with their bases miles away from the pyramids. |
| 8:2 |
What could they be looking for? The Orb of Ra? A blue beetle scarab? Nabu’s vestments? Egyptian tombs have been a fruitful source of superpowers over the years. |
| The pink glow probably indicates a low-energy device, something that will not be picked up by standard sensor sweeps. |
| 9:3 |
Watch out! Cyclops is carrying a gun! |
| 10:3 |
Recall that the Jenni from the main timeline has spent time doing excavations of the Flash Museum and the Rock and Roll Music Museum. |
| 11:1 |
The radiation from Durla’s Six-Minute War (some four thousand years ago) must have been severe enough to cause a massive extinction. Or perhaps Earth is just somewhat unique in the vast variety of life it supports, with different species occupying different niches in each climate. |
| Beetles are probably the family of life (macroscopic, anyway) with the most number of species. Even in the 30th century, it should be no surprise that there are some Cham has never encountered. |
| 11:2 |
The face behind Leviathan is the statue seen in 11:4. |
| 12/13:1 |
Doubly amazing when you consider that various sensor beams must have been played over this area in the past. Then again, the chamber they are in was also undiscovered. |
| 12/13:4 |
Perhaps Vi’s “weirdness” senses are heightened from being in contact with that amulet. She senses the proximity of Brother Blood’s former presence. (As well, Vi has direct exposure to mystic artifacts — the Emerald Eye — which may have granted her a little extra twinge of warning in such situations.) Attributing the feelings to anything to do with Hypertime is unlikely, since the rise of Universo is already in progress at this point; the timelines have diverged in significant ways. |
| These flashlight devices are different from the “flashcards” seen in previous Legion stories. They must be new devices, or just an Earth-U difference. |
| 12/13:5 |
Brainy and Lyle have something of a rivalry about who is the best scientist (especially now that Koko is gone). |
| 14:2 |
The figure Vi sees must be Arsenal (since Flash wears a mask and Tempest has dark eyebrows). |
| 14:3 |
And even if she can’t open them on the first try, she can try a hundred thousand times before anyone else could try once. |
| 15 |
Arsenal has a reputation for sleeping around. Sleeping with international assassin Cheshire is how his daughter Lian came about |
| 16:1 |
Note that other than XS, the other three here have not spent any significant time in the 20th century. |
| 16:5 |
It isn’t clear why Argent’s real name isn’t given here. Maybe Wally doesn’t know it, since he was trapped in Hypertime when her history was revealed to the rest of the team. |
| Argent is also the youngest of the Titans present here, an age peer with the Legionnaires. |
| 18:1 |
Art error: Saturn’s rings are misplaced here. |
| 18:2-3 |
The nun with blue skin is probably intended to be a Probe, but since she has full facial features, she must be identified as a Talokian. This would indicate a significant broadening of Blood’s power base. |
| 19:5 |
Of course they’re better equipped than the JLA. They have a very rich benefactor, plus (at this time, anyway) the support of the United Planets. |
| 20/21:2 |
The lack of interaction between the various Vegan races and the United Planets is curious, and it indicates that the Vegans are either largely extinct in the 30th century or that the entire suite of cultures has turned introverted and refuses all contact with other societies. One speculation for the preboot lack of interaction was that Vega had been a victim of the Sun-Eater, with that near-miss proximity to Earth having gained the Sun-Eater its “It” reputation; in The Final Night, the postboot Sun-Eater consumed Tamaran II. |
| 20/21:4 |
Note that this is Triad-Purple, the extroverted one. |
| 22:1 |
21st century relations? Cosmic Boy hasn’t spent any time in the 21st century (that we know of; there is still the matter of the Legion’s untold meeting with Max Mercury at some point in Max’s future [see Impulse #21], which could involve a time travel trip to the 21st century, and of course, there could have been time trips made by the Earth-U Legionnaires separate from the main timeline versions). |
| 22:3-4 |
Is this Roy’s best “line”? |
| 23:2-5 |
This is Triad-Orange, the introverted one. Her typical reaction should be shy, not violent. |
| This bit of mistaken identity is a cheap bit, worsened by Arsenal not commenting on the different uniform colors. |
| 24:3-4 |
That’s 97 words, not 50. (The first two balloons are 50 on the nose, though.) |
| 24:6 |
After Green Lantern’s visit to the 30th century (assuming such occurred on Earth-U also), they’ve got this spiel down pat. It’s partly to protect the timestream — if we don’t tell you, you won’t know dangerous informations if/when you go back to the 20th century. But it’s also evident that there are hidden pockets of information (such as Xanthu’s extensive knowledge of the Starman dynasty) and conflicting information (such as the details on the seeding of the Gandian worlds), not to mention the various pieces of missing knowledge seen in DC One Million; it may be better to say “We don’t know” than “We don’t know what is right and what isn’t.” |
| 26/27 |
Star Boy’s comment would seem to be a security gaffe. The more recent members (Sensor, Umbra, Monstress, Kid Quantum, Karate Kid, and Thunder, plus maybe Ferro) are not privy to the fact that M’Onel was Valor. (This may have changed behind the scenes in recent months, however, or may be an Earth-U difference.) |
| Thunder’s wizard isn’t Shazam, he’s Captain Marvel. On the other hand, if she refers to him by that name, poof!, she’ll presumably return to the 90th century. |
| Some of them have met Captain Marvel; Argent, at least, has fought alongside Captain Marvel, Jr./CM3. |
| Ferro recognizes the Titans immediately, and he would be especially in awe of Roy, Donna, Garth, and Wally, since they have been heroing for basically as long as he can remember. |
| Troia’s current outfit — right down to the white boots — is taken from the Cockrum-designed one for Star Boy from the 1970s, which he will subsequently adopt as Starman VIII. This meeting with the Titans may be the impetus for that costume. |
| 28:1 |
Not only that, but the Powers That Be keep splitting us up: stranding us back in time, assigning us to the Outpost, or trying to lose us on the far side of the galaxy. |
| 28:2 |
Longer, in fact: Thunder is from the 90th century, and Billy Batson is still Captain Marvel in the 853rd century. |
| 28:3 |
Yeah, Tinya. Goth chicks are weird. |
| 28:4 |
This is another indication that M’Onel’s status with the newer members has changed in recent months, or is just different on Earth-U. Evidence in Titans/Legion of Super-Heroes: Universe Ablaze #2 pretty well clinches that. |
| The feet at the top of the panel are Ultra Boy’s; he is the only one with brown boots. |
| 28:5 |
Blackfire is slated to show up later in this story. There may prove to be a direct reason for the dislike of Tamaranians. |
| 28:8 |
The Legionnaires (including Cosmic Boy) met Impulse twice in the 20th century, and more recently when he interrupted Blazerr’s Legion tryout in The Flash #148. Similar meetings presumably occurred with the Earth-U versions of the characters. |
| 28:9-29:1 |
This is Triad-Neutral; she has not recombined since the other two bodies met Arsenal. Triad-Purple is presumably on Mission Monitor duty; where Triad-Orange is at is unknown. |
| 29:4-6 |
This reinforces the curious position taken in Green Lantern v2 #98, which seems to be left over from President Chu’s outlawing of time travel, an act which she did explicitly to control the Legion and maintain her power base; it thus makes no sense for that state to be maintained, much less for the Legion to tacitly approve of it. (It’s true, however, that indiscriminate time travel poses risks to the timeline.) Perhaps here, and in Green Lantern v2 #98, this is actually a party-line story that is used to stave off indiscriminate time travel attempts until the specific needs and intents of the timelost parties can be determined; once they can be sure that these Titans “belong” to a certain part of the current timeline, reinsertion can be achieved with minimal risk.
(Alternately, perhaps the Time Trapper takes an ongoing, active interest in the Legion as related to time travel, and has forced a default on them to refuse time travel attempts. Only when the Trapper takes a direct hand are the Legionnaires permitted to engage in the activity. Given the history changing resolution of this story, the Time Trapper’s active hand in this story becomes doubtful; then again, maybe the Trapper enabled the time travel in order to fully diverge this timeline.) |
| 29:5 |
Chameleon needs to do something about his complexion. Bad coloration. |
| 29:9 |
Art error: the side of Saturn Girl’s neck did not get inked in. |
| 20:1 |
The H’san Natall are an alien race who used the Psions to abduct Earth women and impregnate them; the resulting children — including Argent and several other Titans from when she first joined the team — gained super powers. The H’san Natall base in Earth’s solar system was on Titan. (Presumably when humans settled Titan, they may have found and occupied some of the H’san Natall base.) |
| 30:3 |
Omen is more receptive. Is this just because she has telepathic abilities, or is it a clue, either to the truth of the situation or how the story will play out? Her sense of impending doom and the fact that she was faintly conscious after Blood’s staff exploded are suspicious: too much hinges on her. |
| 32-34 |
Unless they’re members of the JSA being written by Jurgens (well, we’re halfway there!), superheroes never die in this rapid of succession, especially not against a midrange foe like Brother Blood and a handful of lackeys. This is suspicious. |
| 32:1-2 |
The pilot chamber of the laser robot appears to be made of water or ice. Unusual, but maybe necessary to protect the pilot from the extreme heat the device generates. |
| 32:2 |
Don’t kill anyone else, but then his robot pilot then kills Damage, and Blood himself crispifies Nightwing. The internal inconsistencies are getting thick. |
| 32:3 |
Cyborg isn’t “needed”. We never find out details on why some of the Titans were taken and some were killed. Presumably Brother Blood had some plan, but the defeat of the Titans subsequently brought down the might of the JLA or other heroes on him and that plan was never instituted. Blood must have provided convincing evidence that the missing seven Titans were killed to prevent their bodies being discovered. |
| 33:2 |
There is a face on the disk in the middle of Blood’s staff. This may be the amulet that Vi picked up. |
| 35:3 |
Note Tempest’s purple eyes. This was a sign of bad luck or a genetic throwback in Atlantis, and he was abandoned as an infant as a result. |
| 36:2-6 |
Flash’s speed aura protects him from the heat his own powers generate, and thus protects him from Blood’s staff, too. (But this is also a bad example of the use of superspeed: Wally can go nearly lightspeed, so cutting out of a frontal attack and getting behind Blood before he can turn around should be no problem.) |
| 38:3 |
Right. She maintained a shred of consciousness. Another pointer to something being awry in this set of memories. |
| 39:3 |
Note that the design of the cryogenic chambers is faintly different from that in 12/13:4, with the connector at the opposite end. Art mistake or a clue that something is incomplete with Omen’s memory? |
| 41:1 |
M’Onel and XS are both fast enough to match Wally’s speed, at least briefly and at first. |
| 41:2 |
Indeed, Wally has had several adventures through time, including a recent one (at this time) where he enabled Cobalt Blue to kill Barry Allen before Barry was kidnapped by the Anti-Monitor during the Crisis, thus changing the outcome of that event significantly. |
| 42:1 |
The Legion Outpost has forty dorm rooms, so it is able to house the entire team plus an extra seven guests without difficulty. The dorm rooms may come in pairs or quads, sharing some facilities, which would explain Troia and Starfire being assigned to the same one. |
| 42:3 |
“Richard” is Dick Grayson; he and Starfire used to be an item, and there are still unresolved romantic issues between them. |
| 43:4 |
Spark was knocked out by a ballpoint pen; Arsenal did the deed. |
| 44:2 |
The Titans apparently took Spark with them from the Mission Monitor room, but we’ll see in Titans/Legion of Super-Heroes: Universe Ablaze #2 that they left her in the hangar. |
| 44:4 |
What a bizarre, ungainly pose for Ultra Boy. |
| 45:1 |
The Cockrum Installation is named for Dave Cockrum, who was the Legion artist (and notable costume designer) at the point when the team took over Superboy’s book. |
| 45:2 |
The security guards use the basic costume design Cockrum instituted for the Science Police when he worked on the Legion. |
| The door is frozen via Tempest’s powers. |
| 45:3 |
The battering ram is from Argent. |
| 46:1 |
The unconscious pair here are the ones from 45:3. |
| 46:3 |
Liberators? Evil? Oooookay. |
| 48 |
In the preboot, Universo was a former Green Lantern. His hypnotic powers this time around are telepathic. We’ll see in Titans/Legion of Super-Heroes: Universe Ablaze #2 that he has ties to Saturn Girl and Dr. Aven. |
| Universo is not Rond Vidar’s father in the postboot. The connection between Rond as both a friend of the Legion and the son of one of their foes is important to that character; while he may not be Universo’s son, he certainly could end up being the son of someone else. |
| The face of someone who may have been Universo appeared in <Legionnaires #30>, but based on Saturn Girl’s description in Titans/Legion of Super-Heroes: Universe Ablaze #2, that was not him. |
