Reboot: Legionnaires #26

Legionnaires #26 (June 1995)
title: "Authority"

writers: Tom Peyer and Tom McCraw

penciller: Jeffrey Moy
inker: W.C. Carani
lettering: Pat Brosseau
colorist: Tom McCraw

assistant editor: Mike McAvennie
editor: KC Carlson

cover: Jeffrey Moy and W.C. Carani
reviewers: Siskoid & Shotgun

Mission Monitor Board:  
Andromeda, Apparition, Chameleon, Cosmic Boy, Invisible Kid, Kinetix, Saturn Girl, Spark, Triad, XS

Guests: 
Aven (1st appearance), Bertor Ardeen (1st appearance), Evolvo, Inferno, Karate Kid, Live Wire, President Chu, Spider-Girl, Ultra Boy, Winema Wazzo, Science Police, Durlans, Chameleon's father (corpse), customs agents, doctors

Opponents: 
Composite Man (flashback), Leland McCauley, White Triangle
Recap: 
Recently... Saturn Girl was rendered catatonic after disabling the Durlan killer known as the Composite Man. Kinetix has lost her powers after discovering a strange artifact. Spark has a secret admirer, while Apparition is receiving awkward gifts from Ultra Boy who she believes is in a relationship with Spider-Girl. The latter two are members of Workforce, Leland McCauley's Legion-like team which also recruited Live Wire on the promise that McCauley would use his resources to find Garth's brother Mekkt. And the xenophobic gang that put Triad in the hospital, known as the White Triangle, may be on the rise...

Synopsis: 
At Metropolis spaceport, a mysterious white-aired man gets through customs using a Jedi mind trick, and enters the hospital where Saturn Girl is being treated just as easily. Triad, and then Cosmic Boy, are unable to stop him from manhandling Imra, after which he finally introduces himself as her old teacher, there to cure her of her catatonic state.

Apparition goes out to meet Ultra Boy in Washington, her irritation with him dispelled as soon as he shows up (very late). She gets whisked along on one of the Workforce's missions, to stop armored White Triangle thieves from stealing toxic waste from one of Leland McCauley's facilities, which the billionaire hopes will sway her to his control. The opposite happens. After the thieves blurt out that they were equipped by McCauley as part of a business deal, the whole team seems ready to quit his employ. Live Wire in fact does so, claiming he never got the help he was promised.

Elsewhere... Spark receives another gift from her secret admirer. Apparition's mom, Ambassador Wazzo, threatens to cut the Legion's funding when she can't find her disobedient daughter at home. Chameleon attends his father's funeral on Durla. President Chu refuses Cosmic Boy's request to remove the powerless Kinetix from the team, if only for her own safety (oh politics). And then Andromeda comes crashing through the ceiling, unconscious...

Commentary: 
Shotgun
Lots of things happening here. This guy, Aven, I’m a bit disappointed as to how they introduced him. At first it made me think his mere presence was what scared the people around him, but once he interacted with the customs agents (a real “These aren’t the droids we’re looking for” moment), it was obvious that he was coming for Saturn Girl. He’s a telepath as well, we saw the news covering her hospitalization in one of the first panel, and even the atmosphere created by the narration invoked the moment Saturn Girl lost her mind. I knew from that instant that his intentions were to help her. I don’t know why, but I couldn’t see him attacking her while she’s being so vulnerable. I hope Cosmic Boy’s intervention isn’t why Saturn Girl couldn’t make it back to being her old self.

The romances are becoming more elaborate and I love it! The present Spark received is fabulous. (#jealous) I wonder who that admirer might be! Apparition is a lot more daring than I thought. Secretly meeting Ultra Boy is a bold move and then agreeing to join the rest of his team when McCauley contacted him… That took some extra guts, so good on you, girl! I was glad to see the Workforce again as I was beginning to wonder what happened with them. They seem to be working better as a team now, but they really need to get rid of that McCreepley. I hope Live Wire’s reaction and Apparition’s speech will have an impact on some of them so they get rid of this power-tripping loser.

A couple more observations: I wonder what Invisible Kid and Chameleon were saying to one another during the funeral. By the way the other Durlans bowed to him, I can’t help but think that his father's status and influence might’ve been passed down to Cham following his death. We’ll see if I’m correct in the later issues. I can’t believe that Kinetix actually lost all of her powers. And they expect the team to just keep her around and protect her. I’m sorry, but without her powers, she is useless to the team and will only get in the way. Keep in I mind that I was a big fan of hers. It sucks, clearly. But this situation won’t help her nor anyone. Thank God for the presence of Cosmic Boy when Andromeda crashed into the building. It could’ve been a lot more dramatic than it already was. Speaking of Andy, where the hell did she go? Last we heard of her, she came back with recruits for the Academy but that’s it. I wonder what in the world could’ve cause her to burst through the building like she did.

Siskoid
Let me start by saying I love love love Ultra Boy and Spider-Girl's head shots on the first page.

Now that I have, I think this is a non-relationship and that the writers haven't been playing fair with the audience by using the old trick where for whatever reason, the character who knows the truth doesn't tell it, or consistently gets interrupted before he can. It happens to Jo here, and it's the same damn thing with Aven of Titan fighting Triad and Cosmic Boy instead of just telling them who he is. It's a cheap way to build tension and we see through it every time. The fight DOES have a neat moment though, where Cos takes one of those metallic bubbles on his chest and uses it as a weapon. Now that's a fun accessory.

More White Triangle business, this time with the Workforce thrown in. No surprise that McCauley would sell weapons to every side of every conflict. The Worforce is basically just his clean-up crew, about time they wake up and all join the Legion. Before that can happen, it's likely the kids need to divorce themselves from U.P interference, because it's becoming ridiculous. Wazzo threatening to cut funding, Chu forcing the team to keep Kinetix on political grounds. The bureaucracy of this is absurd, and we should see, I think, a mirror of what's happening with Workforce. Both teams would do better if they could manage themselves. Let it be known that I've long forgotten how all of this is resolved, so I'm interested to find out myself; I'm not playing a game for Shotgun's benefit ;-).

Science Police Notes:  

• The crowd scene at customs includes cameos by a Jawa (notable in a scene that mirrors "These aren't the droids you're looking for"), and an unspecified anime character.
• The Capitol building and the Mall in Washington D.C. have apparently survived to the 30th Century.
• Cosmic Boy uses the metal bubbles on his chest as weapons for the first time.