tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6439298599791449790.post6380215125005584298..comments2024-03-19T03:27:45.819-04:00Comments on The Legion of Super Bloggers! : 5YL Legion of Super-Heroes #31MetropolisKid41http://www.blogger.com/profile/12121196519360092429noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6439298599791449790.post-4960001956232683802021-02-03T17:14:31.105-05:002021-02-03T17:14:31.105-05:00I've been reading your recaps of the series as...I've been reading your recaps of the series as I work through the 5 Years Later Omnibus that was released last year. It's been a really great companion to me as I journey through this story for the first time.<br /><br />I wanted to comment on this one though because of how personal this story feels to me as a trans woman. Being up front it gets a lot wrong about the trans experience and why people transition, and yet I still found it so moving. I think a big part of this is because Giffen and Co.'s heart seems to really be in the right place here. And even with the stuff that doesn't really make sense when viewed through trans eyes, there are things that hit me like a gut punch. For instance, Schvaughn being unable to access her profem really hit home. I've been unable to access my estrogen medication before, but sometimes I worry that something may happen someday that prevents me from being able to get it. The pain Schvaughn feels as her body reverts to its male self was hard for me to read, but I was deeply moved by it.<br /><br />I honestly would love a new writer to bring her back and establish her as trans. Obviously I'd like them to dump the stuff like the only reason she did it was for Jan, and that she was fine going back to male, but there are so few good trans characters in comics. I'd love to see her back.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02668202747477103478noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6439298599791449790.post-81238316958202827402016-03-16T14:41:50.842-04:002016-03-16T14:41:50.842-04:00Of all the bad fan-fiction ideas we got during the...Of all the bad fan-fiction ideas we got during the 5YL era this definitely ranks up there with the future Lighting Lad/Proty reveal. <br /><br />One of the main problems is that it just came out of nowhere and really had no basis for what we had seen before, with either of these characters. Had the writers been building things up and dropping subtle hints, it could have worked. Vi and Lighting Lass worked because hints were being dropped by Levitz during the Baxter series. But this? Fan fiction at it's worst. wwk5dnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6439298599791449790.post-13408831854416604132015-04-19T09:29:02.542-04:002015-04-19T09:29:02.542-04:00Thanks for comments and for reading my review. Thi...Thanks for comments and for reading my review. This one was tough.<br /><br />I think the creators must have wanted to do an issue around gender issues and sexuality. And, in the context of the time, they must not have wanted focus on a 'big' character. So Schvaughn fit the bill. <br /><br />And yes, the relationship with Jan and his background made it more fertile ground.<br /><br />As you say, Sean disappears so we never get to see where the relationship would go. I wonder if that is also a sign of the times. I mean, we all knew that Vi and Ayla were in a romantic relationship. But it was never quite obviously shown. Reading their scenes, you could just as easily infer they were just very close friends.<br /><br />Thanks again!Anjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10023193805914075078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6439298599791449790.post-32878893555238883572015-04-18T08:20:48.292-04:002015-04-18T08:20:48.292-04:00I don't disagree that the writers evidently ma...I don't disagree that the writers evidently made compromises by letting Jan and Shvaughn separate after this, but I think we've been made more aware of trans issues since, and the gay thing becomes a non-issue. Since Shvaughn is a woman in her mind, she was always a woman, and still is even after her sex-change meds run out. Our definitions have changed.<br /><br />But yeah, totally bogus to then do away with the relationship that defined so much of both their characters after that.Siskoidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08266365376486695812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6439298599791449790.post-25572933794426318102015-04-18T08:08:55.558-04:002015-04-18T08:08:55.558-04:00I remember hating this story the first time I read...I remember hating this story the first time I read it. My take on it was that the creators wanted to have their cake and eat it too: Jan isn't gay, but he could be, or might be, but Shvaughn is really Sean, and....nope. It just didn't work for me. <br /><br />Having re-read it a few times since, I have softened my opinions on it. Now I think it does tell us that Jan is one of the best characters, ever. However, we have so few "good" female characters, that to take Shvaughn and make her a him....it just felt wrong. She was always trans-gendered? Okay, I guess....but then they used that as a plot devise to send Sean off the stage. So we get this potentially great character, and then lose him. <br />So in the end we don't get our cake AND we don't get to eat it. <br />Noble failure. Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03712278452970289276noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6439298599791449790.post-79209584746079465152015-04-17T20:51:36.589-04:002015-04-17T20:51:36.589-04:00Is this the most controversial Legion story ever? ...Is this the most controversial Legion story ever? Probably.<br />I note your comment regarding your status as a straight man. As a gay man, one who has been specializing on sexual diversity and gender studies for many years, as much as I love this book, this story and Jan, who is my all-time favorite legionnaire, I have many problems with it.<br />Thing is, this story could not be printed today, not only because powers that probably wouldn’t allow it, but also because it would break the controversy from the trans community for it’s barely-informed take on trans identity.<br />Still, a much valid effort, you can tell everyone’s hearts were in the right place. And Jan? No one has a bigger heart. Such a lovely character.<br />Doran is not only a Legion fan, but also a Jan fan, and you can tell the amount of love that went into every page. Swan is, of course, an impossible to argue classic. And the cover? So many people hated it, but I thought it was so clever, and clearly, as much of this book, simply ahead of its time.<br />And the meeting of the Lars… the issue needed some levity, and this was it (within the heavy implications it brings)Gus Casalshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09623081734326460781noreply@blogger.com