tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6439298599791449790.post5848573238063951288..comments2024-03-27T22:03:05.230-04:00Comments on The Legion of Super Bloggers! : TOS: Adventure Comics #314 Point-CounterpointMetropolisKid41http://www.blogger.com/profile/12121196519360092429noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6439298599791449790.post-34565921733667480992021-08-26T14:22:36.870-04:002021-08-26T14:22:36.870-04:00Alaktor's comment on the cover about "all...Alaktor's comment on the cover about "all 18 members" prompts some serious head-scratching -- not only did anyone keeping track know Legion membership at the time numbered 20, but the letters page in this very issue named the 5 Legionnaires missing from the roster board of 15 on the cover of ADV 311.<br /><br />So who would have written the cover dialogue? Hamilton? Weisinger? A bushy-tailed assistant editor? If it was Hamilton -- as I assume -- which 2 Legionnaires had he either forgotten about, or chosen to disregard?<br /><br />Without question, one was Star Boy, whose only "appearances" during the series run to this point were a couple of images on roster boards. I suspect this complete omission was because Thom was originally written with a Superboy-level array of powers, and Siegel was invested during the early issues in integrating Mon-El to the team -- Star Boy would have been completely redundant. (Curiously, both heroes were among the half-dozen at the beginning of the Adventure run not created by Siegel -- Supergirl and the founders being the others.)<br /><br />So who was the other defrocked Legionnaire? Phantom Girl and Supergirl were seen in little more beforehand than single-panel cameos, but featured in the Satan Girl story (although PG seemed an after-thought, having no dialogue and disappearing from a number of sequences). That leaves Matter-Eater Lad, who had gone almost a year without being sighted -- the entirety of Hamilton's run.<br /><br />I wonder what eventually brought Thom and Tenz back into the book's good graces -- Weisinger remembering he had a couple of unused characters or fandom pounding the mailboxes?Second Guessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6439298599791449790.post-33096090944808795612017-11-10T14:08:59.377-05:002017-11-10T14:08:59.377-05:00This was one of the first Legion stories I read as...This was one of the first Legion stories I read as a child. (relative had piles of 60s comics which I freely availed myself of!) At the time I thought Hitler's response to Alaktor was somewhat out of character-a little too passive, but they only had a limited number of pages, the historical characterisation couldn't be too nuanced I suppose!<br /><br />And yes, Dillinger is rather out of place in that historical villain trio. He's pretty obscure nowadays, though he must have been famous at the time this was written. But a gangster is pretty small beer compared to two notorious dictators. Can't help but feel they might have come up with a better third villain though I don't know who.<br /><br />Interestingly Nero and Hitler's fates mirror each other, they both commited suicide as their enemies were closing in. "what an artist dies in me!" Some modern historians have tried to argue that Nero wasn't that bad and that most of what we have on him is written by his enemies which is true...but you're not going to get that kind of historical nuance in the early 60s.<br /><br />This is a very silly story. Even with Hitler in it.reversed songshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04078955050443737894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6439298599791449790.post-25123856534819714552017-10-14T15:34:51.507-04:002017-10-14T15:34:51.507-04:00Bouncing Boy is shown helping to build the second ...Bouncing Boy is shown helping to build the second Time Bubble, and he goes with the other three Legionnaires into the past, but then disappears when they return to their present. <br />So NO, not really. Russell Burbagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13756652514507714383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6439298599791449790.post-22972804276213387322017-10-14T11:25:24.472-04:002017-10-14T11:25:24.472-04:00The "Legion of Other Eras" concept might...The "Legion of Other Eras" concept might work in today's market, since fans are savvier and more aware of past heroes. But I don't think it would have worked in 1963. Plus, many superheroes then were "mystery men", guys who put on costumes to fight crime but had no powers other than a good right hook, and the Legion requires super-powers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6439298599791449790.post-30482674454310264452017-10-11T23:19:18.548-04:002017-10-11T23:19:18.548-04:00Did Chuck get to do anything in this issue?Did Chuck get to do anything in this issue?Toddhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17126076908616048728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6439298599791449790.post-18229667090800977072017-10-11T10:05:39.672-04:002017-10-11T10:05:39.672-04:00Yeah, Emsley, Dillinger was an odd choice--I think...Yeah, Emsley, Dillinger was an odd choice--I think that Stalin, who has been rumored to kill 20 million Soviets, would have been a good one, too.wordsmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12440378700782807683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6439298599791449790.post-69682847593092893492017-10-11T09:49:06.142-04:002017-10-11T09:49:06.142-04:00Throughout Mort Weisinger's reign as editor of...Throughout Mort Weisinger's reign as editor of the "Superman Family" comics that I've seen, John Forte was 1 of 4 artists who got to sign his work, the other 3 being Jim Mooney, Kurt Schaffenberger, and Pete Costanza; the major Superman artists of the '50s and '60s--Curt Swan, Al Plastino, and Wayne Boring, never were allowed to.wordsmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12440378700782807683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6439298599791449790.post-30076245919000257562017-10-10T10:02:14.713-04:002017-10-10T10:02:14.713-04:00I, too, always found the "duplicate club-hous...I, too, always found the "duplicate club-house" thing kind of funny. And it always struck me that Dillinger didn't quite measure up in terms of sheer badiness to Hitler and Nero. Maybe Caligula would have been a better choice but then they would have had two ancient figures. Or they could have gone with the famous, famous, fictional trope and invented, say, a twenty-third century bad guy who would rival Hitler and Nero. Taking that concept a step further, it would have been cool if the Legion recruited not just from many worlds, but many eras as well, other than just the Kryptonian cousins, of course.emsley wyatthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08905667921221387365noreply@blogger.com