Superman Through the Ages! Forum

I'm talking about the Silver Age Legion, not the recent versions.

Who is your favorite?  I'll offer mine later on in the thread.

mon-el back when he had the phantom zone/superboy origin.

Brainiac 5 cuz his honey wuz Supergirl. :wink:

Superboy was my favourite Legionnaire.

If we exclude him then Ultra Boy was my favourite.  He was the third most powerful member operating in the Kryptonian-league, but his limitations made him fascinating to read and fantasize about being.  It wasn't hard to challenge this heavy-hitter credibly.

I liked a lot of them, Element Lad was my fav overall...

What not Matter Eater Lad???

I don't have a single favorite other than Superboy so here are ome of my favorites Karate Kid and Shadow Lass.

I liked ME Lad, but I had to admit the power was a little lame...not that's there's anything wrong with lame... 8)

Some people would kill to have his powers, just think you could eat anything and I mean anything and never gain a pound :)

Favorite Legionnaire, eh?

My personal favorites were the characters that Jim Shooter created: Karate Kid and Princess Projectra.

Karate Kid was one of the first DC heroes to have a personality more complicated than a "serve and protect" Silver Age mentality. He was hotheaded and loved to scrap. He also had a wonderful backstory around him, which involved the wonderful Curt Swan drawing a futuristic version of Tokyo (Curt Swan should have drawn a Samurai comic; his art in that one particular comic was so stylized and special). Jim Shooter characterized him with a very light touch: he was chivalrous ("hitting a woman! If it wasn't for the Legion code, I swear, I'd show you some REAL Karate!") and easygoing.

Kid and Projectra had the most wonderful of the Legion romances; it was slow coming, and amazingly, showed what a complicated character Karate Kid was; he wasn't just a scrapper, he was exceptionally sensitive ("you remind me of someone I knew a long time ago, you brave little princess.") and he gave way to painting and flower arranging.

Princess Projectra had an incredible degree of sweetness that instantly wins one over. She was able to convince Validus to join the superheroes because of her showing that weird monster kindness. She was proud and gutsy in the face of danger. She also was mildly concerned with what people thought of her: notice, when taking the Legionnaires back to her homeworld, she was slightly embarassed of how backward it was, and told her family the Legionnaires were all "nobles" from a distant world.

Projectra also had the most amazing power, at least visually: nobody could draw creatures, hallucinogenic vistas and monsters the way Curt Swan could; anybody that calls Swan's art "boring" ought to see the panel where she surrounds the Persuader with quicksand, a bizarre alien landscape, and a giant snake. It makes one sorry that Curt Swan never did a mystic comic; he would have taught Ditko a thing or two! :D

God, I love Matter-Eater Lad. His power was so demented, how could you NOT love that guy?

I also loved Quislet; he was gossipy and egocentric, and had a truly bizarre power. The fact that we never actually SAW what Quislet looked like is very interesting.

Well, of course it was demented...there was just something about a group  of super powered boy and girl scouts living in the distant future...sure, there was trauma like Lightning Lad's story, but it was just so goofy that I loved it...some Superboy tales like that worked best for me, I laugh every time I look at the "Super Teacher from Krypton", looks like it belongs to the robot planet of "Futurama"... :wink:

I think what I didn't like about Princess Projectra was that she had mostly mind/reality altering powers, similar to Saturn Girl and Dream Girl etc., I liked Light Lass and even Night Girl (Substitute Hero) better...

Chuck Taine, sometimes known as Bouncing Boy.

The hardluck kid of the Legion.  No, he never lost an arm in the line of duty or was branded a traitor or murderer, but he had his issues.  

The only Legionaire with a weight problem (he didn't seem too upset about it, I'll admit), Taine also has the best origin and the most authentic working class credentials.  Problems with romance, membership, and powers added to his misery over the years, but he never gave up.  A fun character, great visual appeal, and, despite being the butt of Legion humour and discrimination, a real hero.

OK, mine was primarily Karate Kid.  When I was younger it switched around a bit but mostly I centered on the Kid.  I think that it was because he was mainly action oriented--and in fact, Shooter said he added the Kid to pump up the action level with the group.  So many Legionnaires had to just point a finger or hand for their power but Karate Kid's forte was fighting.  Plus he was introduced in one of the best two parters around.

Karate Kid and Princess Projectra(as Sensor Girl) were 2 favorites. Also Lone Wolf. I liked Chameleon    boy.     Until they made durlans freaky.