Reboot: Legionnaires #41

Legionnaires #41 (October 1996)
title: "Aftermath"

writers: Roger Stern and Tom McCraw

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

associate editor: Ruben Diaz
editor: KC Carlson

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

Mission Monitor Board:  
Chameleon, Cosmic Boy (flashback), Element Lad, Invisible Kid, Kinetix, Leviathan (corpse), Live Wire, M'Onel, Shrinking Violet, Star Boy, Triad, XS

Guests: 
Azra Saugin, Doctor Gym'll, Gigi Cusimano, Jeven Ognats, Marte Allon, R.J. Brande, Rond Vidar, Thanot Saugin, Wimena Wazzo, Wynn Allon, Athramites, Science Police, President's security staff, U.P. medics

Opponents: 
Emerald Eye of Ekron, Mysa

Recap: 
In the wake of Leviathan's death, Shrinking Violet has been taken over by the Emerald Eye of Ekron, which made her turn the entire Legion into its subservient army, sent to transform the Earth in her image. Saturn Girl frees herself and mounts a resistance which attacks the Eye satellite in orbit. Vi loses control and the satellite explodes...

Synopsis: 
Live Wire wakes up inside the destroyed (and crashing!) satellite and coordinates the safe landing of the surviving Legionnaires - himself, XS, Invisible Kid, Kinetix, Element Lad, Star Boy, M'Onel, Triad and Chameleon. Seven (as well as Inferno and Shvaughn Erin) have gone missing; Rond Vidar believe they were sent back in time and are not dead. Violet is also missing, taken away by the Eye milliseconds before the explosion.

As preparations are made for Leviathan's funeral, the Legionnaires are reeling, especially Kinetix who had romantic feelings for him. Meanwhile, Live Wire is despondent over the missing Irma and Ayla (and refuses to get his arm regrown if it means losing his powers), XS over the missing Cosmic Boy, and at the funeral on Shambhalla, Wimena Wazzo accosts president Brande over the missing Ultra Boy who may be the key to restoring her daughter to life. Her crusade against the Legion falls on deaf ears when it comes to the Allons, however, who believe their son a hero who knew the risks and gave his life for a greater cause.

Returning to Earth, one of the Legion cruisers is transported to Sorcerers' World by the witch Mysa...

Commentary: 
Shotgun
OK… I will address this situation first: We don’t actually KNOW who survived or died. That’s false advertisement, man. Technically, no one died if we accept Invisible Kid and Rond’s theory of time travel. How convenient! You want to push people out of the way, let’s just throw them out of their own time! Was it the Eye’s doing or just a side effect of the explosion? However, it gives a good opportunity to have distinct perspectives. I enjoyed following XS and Live Wire’s thoughts. It’s so sad for XS that she realizes the Eye was toying with her feelings. And talking about sad stuff...

This comic doesn’t really help the story move forward, but it gives us a break from the non-stop action that was becoming too much. It is rich in emotional moments and it helps build the characters, something I enjoy even more than the fighting. The families getting together after all this time was the cherry on the sundae. I so often forget that our heroes are only teenagers and these moments bring me back to reality very quickly. I love how a whole planetoid is dedicated to fallen heroes. I bet Leviathan’s proud to have the privilege of calling Shanghalla his resting place... Well, he can’t call it, being dead and stuff… Plus he’s not actually aware that he’s being left there to rest... Whatever OK! Let me be happy for him.

Siskoid
I like these breathers too, if we can call them breathers. I'm pretty sure the anxiety the Legionnaires suffer from after losing so many of their number (whether that's permanent or temporary) is just as tiring as supervillain battles. It also means the whole Eye of Ekron thing will keep for later, and consequently so must Violet's restoration to the Legion. Veteran or not in this project of ours, I just don't remember what happens to her and whether this has a happy ending. As a Violet fan from before, that's perplexing.

But I do like how Live Wire showed some leadership here. It seems that of the three founders, he always deferred (or was made to defer) to the more level-headed Cosmic Boy or Saturn Girl. Out of their shadows, he proves to be a quick thinker and someone who trusts his team. Is this recent tragedy going to make him grow up? A lot of the kids are plagued by angst at this point, but he's the one who most turns it around. I'm hoping for a stronger second chapter to his particular career.

Science Police Notes:  

• All-inclusive Legion numbering: 1996/18.
• The issue may or may not feature a cameo by the Reboot's Shadow Lass, AKA Umbra, two issues before what is considered her first official Reboot appearance, on what is presumably her planet, Talok VIII.
• Shanghalla, the heroe's burial asteroid, was first seen in Adventure Comics #341, where one of Triplicate Girl's three selves was buried.
• Among the memorials to fallen heroes on Shanghalla, one is for the Martian Manhunter.