“Look in- To the eye of the storm. Look out- For the force without form…”
comics and animation, everyday glory April 21st, 2007Saturday – 21 April 2007
This morning started off with “Chain of Command,” today’s episode of Legion of Super Heroes.
In it, Winath – home planet of Legionnaire Lightning Lad – was experiencing severe storms due to a malfunction of their environmental control system. In comes the Legion to try and avert disaster. Naturally, the Legion’s resident spark plug was a bit anxious about this mission. And then, there was yet another monkey wrench thrown into the works: Cosmic Boy, the Legion’s leader, who had been absent from the team for months, showed up. Not only that, he brought with him a new recruit: Ferro Lad. Needless to say, Lightning Lad – who had been acting as the “field leader” for the Legion in Cos’ absence – reacted badly to this double whammy.
The episode wasn’t bad… but I wasn’t happy with their portrayal of Lightning Lad. He, Cos and Saturn Girl are the three founding members of the Legion. They’ve been friends since before there was a Legion. (Granted, it was very shortly before there was a Legion, but that’s not the point…)  His attitude towards Cos was downright antagonistic, which was out of character for him. But, it did work for the story… to a point. Also, Cosmic Boy was a bit more… overbearing than I’m used to. Well, with the possible exception of the v5 Cos (in the current Waid/Kitson version of the Legion).
Other highlights of the episode include:
- Colossal Boy and Cosmic Boy’s exchange: “Hey, CB-1.”  “Hey, CB-2.” *high fives*
- Ferro Lad’s comment: “I’m doing you a favor. You don’t want to see what’s behind this mask.”
- Superman (sorry… it really should be “Superboy”) starting to act more… mature. Which isn’t to say that he hasn’t been written that way before; but there was a moment in the episode where he had been struck down and, after a short respite, put on his “I have to get back in the game” face… and took off.
But, the real stand-out in this episode was Bouncing Boy. Yeah, I said “Bouncing Boy.” Long looked at as a secondary character or one who could easily be brushed aside, he actually stepped up and made some noise in this episode. Even in the various four-color series, he was usually just… there. Sure, he and Duo Damsel ran the Legion Academy after they resigned from active duty, but he was never really an A-lister. I was pleasantly surprised with his characterization in this episode and it should be interesting to see how they develop it in the future.
On the whole, I give this episode a thumbs-up.
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And, in non-toon related news: I just chatted with
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Attack the day like birds of prey…
Namaste.
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