Legion of Superheroes 9.23.06

[PJO1966]

I know I probably sound like a broken record, but it's no Justice League. That show set a pretty high standard for animated superheroes. At least Legion isn't as bad as the dreck that is Fantastic Four. I've never really followed The Batman animated series. I'm hoping maybe that will fill the JLU void.

[Big_Daddy]

I really enjoyed it - it was filled with nice nods to the Paul Levitz era of the LoSH comics, including Interlac! Better than I expected from still animation shots.

Sure, Brainy with robot gizmos is a bit much, but....

[PJO1966]

I really enjoyed it - it was filled with nice nods to the Paul Levitz era of the LoSH comics, including Interlac! Better than I expected from still animation shots.

Sure, Brainy with robot gizmos is a bit much, but....


I'm not familiar with any incarnation of LoSH, except for the JLU episode with Supergirl. I did enjoy it too. A lot of the episode was exposition, which was necessary for people like me. I'll be interested to see where it goes from here.

[TonyD79]

It didn't air in the scheduled time in Baltimore. Got informercials.

[doom1701]

I forgot to record. Hopefully I can find it.

[JYoung]

I haven't seen the latter seasons of Justice League yet but in spite of some annoyances (Brainiac 5 being a cyborg, Bouncing Boy's goggles, and Lightning Lad's glowing scar) this looks to be a promising start.
I'm wondering if the Fatal Five will be recurring villians and if we'll see other Legionaires rotated in.

It's probably not at the maturity level of Batman: TAS but higher than Teen Titans.
It gets an SP.

[PeternJim]

I thought it was interesting the character choices. For those unfamilar with the Legion, in the comics, membership was capped at 25, with who knows how many retired, honorary, substitute, and inactive members, so there were darn near infinite choices of who to keep. At least they did make mention of other members who were off on assignment or leave, so I think they'll be using the Justice League model of using whatever characters they want to.

I guess I just have to get over the automatic invulnerability of all TV characters. It just grates a bit to watch Superman and Triplicate Girl get hit by the same bad guy and both react the same way. Superman should shrug it off, and Triplicate Girl should be a stain on the pavement.

Given when they are showing it, the "it's for kids" rule has to apply. But I agree, falls between The Batman and Teen Titans, and I'll be watching it.

[WinBear]

Crap, I don't know this was coming so soon! Off to set Season Pass and see about finding the pilot...

[WinBear]

Superman should shrug it off, and Triplicate Girl should be a stain on the pavement.

I guess it's a little soon to make Triplicate Girl into Duo Damsel.

[stark]

I haven't seen the latter seasons of Justice League yet...
The second to the last season of JLU is IMHO one of the best story arcs on TV ever.

Especially if you were a fan of Batman:TAS and Superman:TAS.

[reddice]

It didn't air in the scheduled time in Baltimore. Got informercials.

Informercials suck the big one. Bad enought they put that crap on in the middle of the night on most stations but to put it on when their suppose to be cartoons or at 4 pm or even 7 pm primetime is stupid. I will rather have the station go off the air and show test patterns which are more entertaining then a stupid imformercials.

I recorded a 4 hour block from 9 am to 12 pm on my dvr so I am hopeing I get the show. I know our local WPIX was showing informercial at 12 pm. I better have gotting it instead of a uselss waste of space informercials.

[painkiller]

WNUV (Channel 54) in Baltimore is going to hear from me tomorrow morning when their offices open.

Their own schedule for this past Saturday didn't own up to what they broadcast.

:mad:

[reddice]

Did not watch it yet. Still have it on my PVR but I hope it is like Justice League. Will watch it tommorow.

[WinBear]

I mostly liked it. I was hoping for Supergirl rather than a very young Superman. I hope we get to see Cosmic Boy soon. I know he was mentioned in this episode as being too far away to make it in time. I'd also like to see their interpretation of Star Boy and Wildfire.

As for the "invulnerability," I did notice that B5 gave Supes a belt "item" and the flight ring. Might this be something like a personal force field that B5 was well-known for? Or is there another item in a more recent reboot of the series that fits?

[MitchO]

You guys are really stretching my comic book memory banks thin, but I thought that a personal force field (yes, developed at some point by B5) was standard Legion issue. Isn't that part of the stuff that Booster Gold took in his origin?

[WinBear]

Isn't that part of the stuff that Booster Gold took in his origin?

Speaking of Booster Gold, wasn't there was a throwaway tribute to him in the Superman museum (sort of where BG worked in his own century)?

I don't recall the force field being available to anyone but Brainiac 5, but it certainly makes sense to let everyone have their own.

[JYoung]

Speaking of Booster Gold, wasn't there was a throwaway tribute to him in the Superman museum (sort of where BG worked in his own century)?

I don't recall the force field being available to anyone but Brainiac 5, but it certainly makes sense to let everyone have their own.


Yes, there was a Booster Gold and Skeets tribute (ironically) in the Superman museum.

The Force Field belt is still a Brainiac 5 exclusive. In the comics, it was one of the inventions that got him into the Legion.

Kal-El was issued a Flight Ring (primarily for communications in his case).
The belt Legion symbol matches how the modern day Superboy (Kon-El) was drawn in his recent term of service in the Legion before it was rebooted last year.
http://www.dslextreme.com/users/jonathany/images/Kon1.jpghttp://www.dslextreme.com/users/jonathany/images/Kon2.jpg

I'm going to guess that the belt attachment might function like the old Legion transuits which was a thin, transparent, polymer spacesuit that quickly covered Legionaries when encountering dangerous environments like space.

I've also notice Xudarians and Barrites in 31st Century Metropolis.

[PeternJim]

Okay, okay, geek mode, sure, but hey, it's been a while and I always loved the Legion back when I was reading comics.

In the opening credit sequence (the main title one where they show all the characters), as they show each character, it is supposed to look like we are seeing them in some sort of database, and a whole bunch of icons scroll along the bottom as we are "searching for" Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, etc.

With a lot of freeze framing, I counted 23 unique icons, including Superman's. Historically, the Legion was limited to 25 members. Some of the icons, I could figure out, while some of them, I was clueless on.

I'm sure I see Star Boy and Colossal Boy in the opening credits. There are a few others whose costumes I don't recognize.

Looks to me like they are going to use the "we're a big group, and we call in people as we need them" setup, like Justice League Unlimited did, so they can use whatever characters they want without getting bogged down in a lot of origin stories.

It also explains why Bouncing Boy and Triplicate Girl are members when some of the heavy-hitters got "left out" -- they weren't, they are just off on assignment somewhere. Big galaxy and all.

[classicX]

With a lot of freeze framing, I counted 23 unique icons, including Superman's.

Good GOD!

Someone get this man a hobby! :D

[Figaro]

D'oh! I completely forgot this show was coming out. Not a big fan of the way the animation looks but I am willing to give it a try. Now If I could only track down the premier somewhere...

[JYoung]

D'oh! I completely forgot this show was coming out. Not a big fan of the way the animation looks but I am willing to give it a try. Now If I could only track down the premier somewhere...


Ehhh, you'd probably hate it.
May I suggest Krypto the Superdog instead?

(ducks for cover)


:D

[Figaro]

Ehhh, you'd probably hate it.
May I suggest Krypto the Superdog instead?

(ducks for cover)


:D
Oh don't go there! :p

[jpwoof]

I'm trying to schedule this online since I'm at work, can't seem to find it.

[TonyD79]

There is a torrent you can find with a global search on torrentbox.

That is how I had to get it since it doesn't seem to be reruned anywhere.

BTW, got an answer from WNUV. They moved it to 8am (and Batman to 8:30). They made the change the day before the show and didn't get the update to TV Guide, etc., in time.

They should have gone ahead with the original schedule and change it the next week, if they found the change important.

[Figaro]

I'm trying to schedule this online since I'm at work, can't seem to find it.

I couldn't find it in the search either, but when I looked at the Saturday morning grid it was right there.

[PeternJim]

Someone get this man a hobby! :D


Trust me, I have plenty of hobbies, and we only watch about 6 TV shows. But the Legion brings up fond memories for me, and shifted me into geek mode. Quite happily, actually, and I will probably spend some more time at figuring out who the icons represent.

So, nyah, nyah. You probably just wish you thought of it first. (Waggle fingers in ears.)

Hobbies are in the eye of the beholder, after all. And, we're adults discussing a Saturday morning cartoon based on a comic book. I won't throw stones if you don't!

:)

[mythica23]

is this on cartoon net or fox or what????

[hanumang]

is this on cartoon net or fox or what????

It's part of the Kids WB! programming block. In most markets, that airs on the CW affiliate.

[SparkleMotion]

I get a crappy reception on that channel, so I only saw snippets today. Meh, so far. I'll try to see it another time or two before writing it off.

[JYoung]

If you really hated Teen Titans, you might want to skip it.

(On the other hand, they may have Tyroc and Blok in the future)

[PeternJim]

If you really hated Teen Titans, you might want to skip it.

(On the other hand, they may have Tyroc and Blok in the future)

I don't know. I loved JLU, had a real hard time with the Teen Titans, and am enjoying this. I'd say it's about halfway between the two, style wise. Early to tell about storyline style.

[balboa dave]

I know I probably sound like a broken record, but it's no Justice League. That show set a pretty high standard for animated superheroes.
Justice League was good because the Batman and Superman series before it did a great job of transitioning the DC Universe from the movies to TV and establishing a high standard. If you haven't seen them, they're still playing on Boomerang.
At least Legion isn't as bad as the dreck that is Fantastic Four.
You flat out got that wrong. Fantastic Four is much better, much more true to its respective characters, and has better animation. Maybe you're just not familiar with the original Fantastic Four comics, but the new show really captures them. I can understand not liking the characters, but calling it dreck just shows uncharacteristic lack of consideration.
I've never really followed The Batman animated series. I'm hoping maybe that will fill the JLU void. While I like LoS, it's only slightly more mature than Teen Titans, and is more on the par with The Batman (which, by the way, got better this season). But none of these will never be as good as Justice League, since they will never be aimed at an older audience than preteens.

[PJO1966]

You flat out got that wrong. Fantastic Four is much better, much more true to its respective characters, and has better animation. Maybe you're just not familiar with the original Fantastic Four comics, but the new show really captures them. I can understand not liking the characters, but calling it dreck just shows uncharacteristic lack of consideration.


Actually, FF is the only comic book I ever read with any regularity when I was a kid. Yes, the animation is definitely better and the characterizations are there. For me, I guess it's the tone that seems different. The comics had humor but it was secondary to the plot. The cartoon seems to concentrate more on the humor than anything else. Admittedly, it's been a very long time since I've read one of the comics, so I may just be talking out of my *ss.

[Graymalkin]

I watched yesterday's episode (9/30), and I thought it wasn't the worst thing the CW has ever put on. It'll keep the little comics geek inside of me moderately amused. I've also added The Fantastic Four and The Batman as SPs.

Justice League and JLU were superb and will be missed. I find Teen Titans unwatchable. The Legion, The Fantastic Four, and The Batman fall somewhere in between.

[Figaro]

There is a Fantastic Four cartoon? Why doesn't anyone tell me these things?

I caught the second episode of Legion today after having missed the pilot. It was entertaining. I am not very well versed in the Legion so there are no real fanboy bones to pick for me. I wish they hadn't gone with such an Anime style but it is still light years ahead of the Teen Titans. That show was poop.

[mythica23]

teen titans is ok show its just the animation is crap... the storytelling was good in an episode i saw it was very good. one of the teen titans was evil and trying to kill the group.. good story but animation reminded me of stuff i used to draw in 1st grade.