by Siskoid
Place: New Earth
Relationship to Legion: New home of the SW6 Legion
Legion Log
After the so-called Five-Year Gap, EarthGov was secretly taken over by the Dominators. But when the Legion and the Resistance finally liberated the planet, they found the alien overlords had reopened long forgotten chambers partly filled with unstable proton jelly for use in their genetic experiments (among them the Legionnaire clones known as Batch SW6). The rebels destroyed the chambers, but this caused a chain reaction that doomed humanity's cradle.
So on June 4th 2995, Earth was evacuated and various cities, equipped with protective domes, were sent out into space even as the planet collapsed. 6 billion people and 94 urban districts so equipped some 200 years before were thus saved (out of a possible 480). Two billion people perished. Only 50 million would go on to live on the assembled network of cities in orbit around Earth's remains, dubbed New Earth.
This immense space station would become the home of the SW6 Legion. New Earth's police chief is Sean Erin, the Science Police officer formerly known as Shvaughn Erin. Originally, its president was Resistance hero Jacques "Invisible Kid" Foccart, but uncomfortable in the position, he left his seat to his vice-president, and another former Legionnaire, Tyrok. New Earth did not survive the timeline's implosion during Zero Hour.
After Infinite Crisis, Earth's original history has more or less been restored and the planet survives. New Earth is no more (and is not to be confused with the Multiversal nomenclature that would give this name to the main DC Universe between the Crisis on Infinite Earths and Flashpoint).
Important New Earth Stories:
Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #38
Earth is destroyed, three fourths of its inhabitants are successfully evacuated
Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #39-40
Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #39-40
The Legion takes stock of what survived and helps with New Earth's rebuilding effort
Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #41
The SW6 Legion unearths an old Legion HQ and makes it its home, becoming New Earth's resident heroes
Legionnaires #1-6
The Legionnaires deals with power blackouts and an attempt to destabilize New Earth by the Fatal Five
Legionnaires #7
Atlantis Dome survived the destruction of Earth
Legionnaires #12-14
Paris Dome is taken over by Grimbor and xenophobic separatists
Valor #22
Valor tries to protect New Earth as the timeline collapses during Zero Hour
This brings back a LOT of memories... most of them bad. This is the era that drove me off the Legion.
ReplyDelete--Svaughan Erin being revealed as "Sean."
--Dev-Em going totally nutso for no reason whatsoever.
--Blowing up the Moon.
--Blowing up the Earth.
I found myself wondering if the writers were playing a little game of "let's write the worst thing we can until the editors notice and tell us to knock it off," and the editor was asleep at the switch. Kind of the classic story of Wally Wood drawing Power Girl's bosom bigger and bigger and bigger each issue, waiting for the editors to tell him to tone it down, and the editors never saying a word.
Other Legion eras left me feeling cold, but this one seemed like it was actively trying to alienate (sorry) me and other readers from the series. And it succeeded.
Since Legionnaires #1 was when I first stumbled into the Legion, I always thought New Earth was the default setting. It made the youthful optimism of the SW6 Legion (who I thought were the only team cuz newbie) stand out even more & look even more deliberate against the backdrop of a planet held together by spit, bailing wire, and despair. I guess that's why I like the Legion being envoys of hope in the face of misery.
ReplyDeleteHow I loathed the Legions "Five Year Gap !
ReplyDeleteNew Earth was just plain terrible and I'm being kind.
How did DC not know how lame this series had become and let them continue with this nonsense ?
This was clearly the point when they'd run out of good ideas !
There are plenty of ways DC could have made this series better but could they have made this pile of .... any worse ?
ReplyDeleteI guess Jimmy Janes could have done the art chores but outside that a pig is still a pig .
I completely understand how the experiment turned older fans off, but some of us here, including Anj, Shagg and myself, were and still are big fans of the era, even if the destruction of Earth was the beginning of the end and not as good as the issues that preceded it.
ReplyDeleteExperimental. Dark and troubling. Complex and immersive. A big deal for LGBT content in mainstream comics. The fact it was all undone takes some of the sting out of it for those who didn't like what it did to the characters, but regardless, I'd rather have read these comics than they never having been published.
I started with the Five Years Later as an older fan, just to see what was going on. The re-reboot early in the series kinda knocked me down, and then with Sean/Shvaughn and Lightning Lad/Proty, and the moon and the Earth were destroyed, I kept reading but the love was long gone.
ReplyDeleteIt was a noble experiment, but I welcomed Zero Hour. I jumped off and didn't read another Legion book for nearly 20 years.
So, yeah, I think they went a bit too far....
Russell, I hate you.
ReplyDeleteI had finally driven the horrific memory of Lightning Proty out of my brain, and YOU BROUGHT IT BACK.
There will be vengeance. Dire, drippy vengeance.
Read some Matter Eater Lad stories. That might help. ;-)
DeleteOK, you've redeemed yourself. One of the few things I really liked from the 5 years later era was the new take on Tenzil Kem, and you've brought back warm, fuzzy memories of The Action Senator and his loyal sidekick, Calorie Queen.
ReplyDelete"You don't want to give me an appetite..."
Blowing Earth up sounds like either a bold, daring movement or a sign that the writers are running out of ideas.
ReplyDelete