Understanding Hawkman: Part Two.a – Family, Friends and Allies

Welcome back to another lesson in Hawkology, where we will continue to open your eyes to the world of Hawkman.  In today’s lesson we begin our examination of the family, friends and allies of Hawkman.

As with all comics characters, there are there are three essential aspects that go towards making a hero great.  The first, obviously, is the hero him or herself.  After that the keys are a good supporting cast (friends, family, allies, etc); and then the last part, of course, are the villains.  Don’t worry – we’ll get to the bad guys soon enough.  We’re going to start with the good guys first…tho in the case of Hawkman, there are times where his friends, lovers or allies may be worse than his enemies!

We’re going to begin the exploration of Hawkman’s supporting cast by focusing on that greatest element of any story: the Lovers.  These are the women of Hawkman’s lives.  We’ll start at the beginnning…and as you know for Hawkman: the beginning is a long time back!

  Chay-Ara

Told you we were going way back!  Chay-Ara is where this whole love story began.  She was the wife of Prince Khufu in Ancient Egypt.  She and her husband crafted armaments from the Nth Metal recovered from the crashed Thanagarian ship.  She and Khufu were killed by the jealous traitor, Hath-Set – stabbed with a knife crafted from Nth Metal.  This began the Hawk’s blessing and curse, as they would be reborn time and time again to fall in love, only to die at the hands of Hath-Set.  This leads us to…

   Hawkgirl (Sheira Hall)

The Golden Age Hawkgirl was the wife of Carter Hall.  They fought side by side during World War II, and continued to operate long after the rest of their JSA allies hung up the tights.  She is the best-known re-incarnation of Chay-Ara, and it was during her life (and her death) that the things that would break the curse would be set in motion.  She and Carter had a son, Hector, and they adopted a son, Norda.  Hector was the first child they have ever had in all of their lives.  Sheira was “reborn” after dying in Zero Hour by possessing the body of her niece, Kendra Saunders, who had killed herself.  The transferrence was jarring, and she believed that she actually was Kendra.  Before passing on to her final reward, Sheira helped Kendra break Hath-Set’s curse and reclaim her own soul.

   Hawkwoman (Shayera Thal)

Shayera Thal and her partner, Katar Hol, were police officers from the planet Thanagar who came to Earth in pursuit of the villain, Byth.  They decided to remain on Earth to learn about it’s culture, and the media dubbed them as the new Hawkman and Hawkgirl…but Shayera took issue with being called a girl, hence “Hawkwoman” was born.  Shayera and Katar did develop a relationship (he was her “peacock”), and when he was killed alongside the Halls during Zero Hour, Shayera left Earth.  Upon the return of Hawkman, Shayera came back to Earth to find out what had truly happened to her old partner.  She was later killed at the hands of Blackfire during the Rann-Thanagar War.

Shayera Thal is the basis for the “Hawkgirl” character from the animated “Justice League” and “JLU” series.

 Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders)

 The modern-day Hawkgirl is Kendra Saunders, niece of Sheira Saunders.  She was a film student in Austin, Texas when she took her own life.  Her uncle, Speed, took her to the hospital, but when green-eyed Kendra died…then opened her eyes again 10 minutes later with Sheira’s brown eyes, Speed knew that Kendra was gone and Sheira was back.  The shock of the rebirth was too much for Sheira, who went on to believe that she was Kendra.  She was instrumental in the return of Hawkman, but very resistant to the idea of their immortal love.  Eventually, Kendra accepted the truth about her soul, and Sheira helped Kendra’s soul return to it’s body by defeating Hath-Set and breaking their curse.  Kendra is once again fully herself, and she and Hawkman are no longer romantically involved, even though a deep, genuine friendship has developed between them.  She has stepped out on her own as a member of the Justice League of America, where she is now seeing fellow teammate, Red Arrow.  Kendra has a child whom she gave up for adoption when she was much younger, that tragic event was part of what led her to suicide in the first place.  Now, for the first time in her life, Kendra is at peace with herself.

OK – those are the major ones, but there are a few more whom we will discuss briefly as they are notable in Hawkman’s past…and possibly his future.

  Cinnamon

Cinnamon was a DC comics character from the Old West boom in comics.  She was revealed to be a former incarnation of Chay-Ara, with Khufu being the hero from that era known as Nighthawk.  Cinnamon and Nighthawk are the most notable incarnation of Chay-Ara and Khufu before the Halls came onto the scene in the Golden Age.

  Mavis Trent

 Ahh…Mavis!  This vampy co-worker has appeared in several versions of Hawkman over the years.  She was usually a co-worker with Carter, a fellow archaeologist, I believe, who made no secret of her lust for both Hawkman and Carter Hall, usually making the moves on him in front of his wife.  Not exaclty a lover of Hawkman…but she just wanted him so badly that I had to include her!  I was introduced to Mavis in the Shadow War of Hawkman back in the 80s, and I have always liked the character.  No list could be complete without Mavis trying to sink her claws in!

  Power Girl (Kara Zor-L)

What is the exact nature of this relationship?  Undefined at the moment.  We do know that they had a fling, and it’s been hinted that it may be ongoing in some sense.  Personally, I’m cheering for this one as they are great together.  I encourage all of you to write to Geoff Johns, Dan Didio, DC Comics, your House Representative, your Senators, your President and your Pope (or Pope-equivalent) demanding to see this become a reality!  Viva la Revolucion!!!

OK, when the rabble-rousing begins, that means that it is time for this portion of the lesson to come to an end.  In our next installment we will begin our look at Hawkman’s rogues gallery before revisiting this topic with more friends and allies.  Thank you, and make sure that you tip your waitress.

Nooooo!!!!!! (the Yao post)

We’ll return to our Hawkmanology shortly.  Got to address the big sports story in Houston first. 

Typical for our snake-bitten franchise.  Yao Ming – the best center in the game and the heart of this team, has gone on the shelf for the year.  Stress fracture in his foot.  Damn….

Picking up win #13 in a row was bittersweet.  I did like how everyone stepped up, particularly Dikembe Mutumbo.  Of course, ever the stoic man on the court, I couldn’t tell, but I think that he disagreed with that Technical Foul early in the game.

Basketball is the secondary issue here.  I truly hope that Yao takes all of the time he needs to fully recover from this injury.  If that means missing the playoffs, missing the Olympics or even missing training camp, then so be it.  The man has always done what has been asked of him and more, but he’s got to take better care of himself.  After the initial shock, addition of gray hairs and loss of years on my life upon hearing the news, I quickly put this one into perspective: a healthy Yao for the long-term is more important to Houston than selfishly yearning for him to press this injury in the short term.

Get better, Big Man – we’ll be patiently awaiting your return.

Rockets – step it up!  Win one for the Wall!!!

Understanding Hawkman: Part One – the new origin

 

 Hawkman – why is he so difficult for some to understand?

Sure, he’s had a bit of a convoluted history with all of the reboots and re-imaginings, but Hawkman as he exists today, who was “fixed” by Geoff Johns, James Robinson and David Goyer, is not too difficult to understand at all.  But before we break down the current history, let’s get a general overview of this character. 

Hawkman debuted in 1940 in Flash Comics #1, created by Gardner Fox and Dennis Neville.  He was named Carter Hall, an archaeologist by trade who realized that he was the reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian prince.  He fought crime as the winged warrior, Hawkman, and became a member of the Justice Society of America, serving as it’s chairman for a long time alongside his girlfriend, Sheira Sanders, who became Hawkgirl.

Like most other war-era mystery men comic characters, Hawkman fell off the radar, but was introduced later in what came to be known as the “Silver Age” where several mystery men were re-introduced with science fiction influences popular at the time.  This Hawkman was Katar Hol, a policeman of the planet Thanagar.  Along with Shayera, also known as Hawkwoman.  We discovered that the first Hawkman, Carter Hall, existed on a planet called Earth 2, whereas Katar existed on Earth 1.

After Crisis on Infinite Earths destroyed the concept of the Multiverse in the 80s, Hawkman was one of the most profoundly affected characters.  In an attempt to shoehorn him back into the DCU, writer Tim Truman re-imagined the Silver Age origins of Hawkman in the pages of the miniseries, Hawkworld.  Thanagar was far more militaristic, and Hawkman was far more severe.  Later on they introduced the concept of the Hawk Avatar, essentially a god-like character who used Hawkman as it’s champion.

By this point, Hawkman had about 73 origin stories, give or take 26.  DC decided to simply do away with the character in the Zero Hour event, and Hawkman wasn’t seen again for a few years.

Then we get to the modern age of comics, and the title JSA, written by David Goyer and Geoff Johns; and later the new Hawkman ongoing comic written by Geoff Johns and James Robinson combined to take on the task of cleaning up the varying histories of Hawkman into one nice, neat package.   What follows is the result of that undertaking.

THE ORIGIN OF MODERN DAY HAWKMAN

 

Don’t worry – we’ll get to Hawkman caving in some Nazi’s faces soon enough!  Our story actually begins a long time ago, in a galaxy really, really close by.  We begin on Ancient Thanagar, one of the galaxy’s first star-spanning empires.  Mastering the mysterious “Nth Metal,” the Thanagarians spread amongst the stars.  One spacecraft made it as far as Earth, but it was damaged and it crashed into the sands of Ancient Egypt.  The craft and it’s dying occupants were found by the Prince Khufu, along with his court of Nabu (the future Dr. Fate) and Teth-Adam (Black Adam).  Coming in contact with the Nth Metal passed on the racial memory that all Thanagarians enjoy to Prince Khufu and he became aware of the potential power of this substance.  Fashioning a armaments partially inspired by his own religion, and paritally by the new Thanagarian memories he did not fully understand, Khufu and his bride, Chay-Ara used the Nth metal to become mighty champions of their empire, ruling with love and justice.  They were betrayed, however, by one of their closest allies, known as Hath-Set.  A combo of the Nth Metal and a curse placed upon them by Hath-Set put into motion thousands of years of re-incarnations of Khufu and Chay-ara, dooming them to meet, fall in love, but ultimately be killed by Hath-Set, who was also caught up in the curse.

The three were reborn time and time again.  Among the notable reincarnations for them were DC’s western heroes, Nighthawk and Cinnamon.

 The 20th Century saw Khufu reborn as Carter Hall, and like his original origin, he was an archaeologist by trade and a museum curator.  The Nth metal of the armaments that had been passed down through time drew the attention of a Thanagarian agent named Paran Katar, who recognized a sort of kindred spirit in Carter.  Like many of the day, Carter and his girlfriend (eventual wife) Sheira Saunders adopted costumed identities during the second World War: the winged heroes Hawkman and Hawkgirl.

They stayed active as heroes longer than most, being a part of the JLA as well as the JSA, and even had a son named Hector, who became a hero named the Silver Scarab.  This was the first time in their many lives that they had children.  During this time they met two police officers from Thanagar named Katar Hol and Shayera Thal.  The two Thanagarians became active on Earth as Hawkman and Hawkwoman for some time, but during the time crisis known as Zero Hour which saw many of the Justice Society die, the original Hawkman, Hawkgirl and Katar Hol were seemingly killed by the villain extant.  Only Shayera surived that event, but she would end up leaving Earth.

Zero Hour was essentially the end of Katar Hol, but not the end of Sheira or Carter.  Sheira was the first to return, but in an incomplete way.  Her neice, Kendra Saunders, a film school student in Austin, Texas, killed herself after a troubling life.  She was taken to the hospital by her uncle, Speed Saunders, who saw her die…but then be reborn.  He recognized that Kendra was gone and that the soul who came back was in fact Sheira Hall.  The rebirth was not fully complete, and Sheira woke up believing herself to still be Kendra.

“Kendra” would end up joining the reborn Justice Society of America, albeit somewhat reluctantly.  Always a confused, troubled individual she began to slowly open up to a few members of the team; notably then-chairman Sand (Sandy Hawkins), and Dr. Fate, who was actually Hector Hall reborn (having been killed years earlier).  She was eventually confronted by the angel, Zauriel (a replacement-character for Hawkman created during his long comics absence) who informed her that she was not Kendra, but rather Sheira.  Before she could even begin to process this she was whisked away to Thanagar, who needed her to help Carter Hall return from the grave.

It turned out that Carter, Sheira and Katar fell into a well of souls.  As previously stated, Sheira escaped first; and Katar was actually killed and had passed on, but not before his soul had somewhat merged with Carter Hall’s.  Using the centuries-old bond between them, the Thanagarian mystics used “Kendra” as a tether to pull Carter Hall’s soul from the well.  Hawkman, now with the memories of Carter Hall, Katar Hol and indeed every one of his previous lives, was reborn.  With the help of the JSA, Hawkman and Hawkgirl defeated the villainous god, Onimarr Synn and freed Thanagar from his tyranny.  Now a man of two worlds, Carter Hall returned to Earth…but unlike previous lives not all was familiar.

In this life they had a child, who like them had been reborn (in the form of his trusted advisor from ancient times); and “Kendra” did not love him, despite his attempts to reclaim her heart.   Eventually the two would become closer, and even feel love, but their millenia-spanning bond had been shattered.  Further breaking the curse, Hawkman and Hawkgirl defeated and banished the re-incarnated Hath-Set, and along the way Kendra’s soul returned and Sheira passed on to her final reward.  Now, for the first time in their many lives they are no longer slaves to fate.

 Why is that so hard to understand?

Coming up next, we’ll explore the friends, loves and allies of Hawkman

Rockets Make another trade…

This one I like. 

 The Rockets give up Kirk Snyder and a 2nd round pick for hometown kid, Gerald Green.  The guy has a bit of a surly reputation around the league, but I am of the opinion that he will find his place in this system.  That, coupled with coming home, will hopefully be a recipe for success.

I like Snyder, but he wasn’t a rotation guy, and he had no chance of becoming one.  I can at least see Green offering more to this team at this time.  Hopefully he can acclimate well and quickly so that he will be ready for the playoffs along with our other newcomer, Bobby Jackson.

I’m still not terribly happy about giving up Bonzi; and I just recently found out that we gave up the rights for that banger, Badiane, who we were developing at Center, so I’m just hoping that our two acquisitions will pay off.

Rockets Make a Trade…not sure how I feel about it, yet

OK, I get the financial/business reasons for the Rockets trade today which sent Bonzi Wells and Mike James to New Orleans for Bobby Jackson, Matt Haluska and a 2nd round pick (with Memphis somehow involved).  The Rockets get under the luxury tax threshold; they don’t risk Bonzi walking for nothing; and they pick up a solid backup Point Guard to help address last year’s problem of having to rely too heavily on Rafer in the post-season.

But beyond all of that, I can’t help but feel that the Rockets may have just made a mistake.  Yes, Bonzi has been inconsistant, but there have been many games where he was the only player on the floor to show any heart.  He seemed to be perfectly happy here in this system in the role asked of him; but of course we don’t know what was going on behind the scenes.  Maybe things in the Locker Room were not as happy as I was thinking.

Mike James just didn’t work out for us, so getting rid of that salary obligation was a good move.  I can’t help but think that James did not pan out because he felt somewhat slighted by not being given a larger role (possibly even the starting PG job) right off the bat and was instead asked to compete for it.  I know that at the beginning of the season, and all over the past summer, a lot of Rockets fans had Rafer Alston as the #3 PG on the roster behind James and Steve Francis; but Rafer outplayed them both, showed more heart and determination, and made the biggest effort to learn the system.  It became obvious early on, at least to me, that Rafer was by far and away the man for the PG job, and that the Francis and James signings were not going to pan out.  The emergence of the rookie, Aaron Brooks, sealed James’ trip out of town.

So why pick up another Point Guard?  Rafer is playing very well, and Brooks (our Point Guard of the future) is doing well for a rookie.  Bobby Jackson is a quality veteran presence who knows Adelman’s system; but I hope that people aren’t really thinking that he’s being brought in to start ahead of Alston.  A big problem I’ve seen with NBA fans is that they all too often rate players by their own preconceived notions rather than what they are currently doing: hence many fans thinking that Rafer is not a good PG; or that the Rockets are desperate for help at the Power Forward slot.  It is obvious to most Rockets fans that neither of those things are the case now, tho they seemed to be over the summer.  Jackson will not be brought in as a replacement for Alston, but rather to take some of the load off of him so that he is not worn down and relied upon too heavily in the playoffs.

My real concern in the above situation is that Brooks will see diminished playing time; but he is young and he’ll get his chances in the future.  Judging from what we’ve seen of him so far he’ll take this time to continue to improve his game and stand ready to contribute whenever he is needed.

Now, back to Bonzi – I can’t help but look at the trade like this: we just traded a pissed-off, slighted Bonzi Wells to a team whom we may very well be facing in the first round of these upcoming playoffs.  This one is going to bite us in the ass before the season is over.

Long run – this makes sense, but I’m not completely sold on it yet.  I truly hope that Bonzi and Mike James do very well with their new teams, as I am a fan of both players and will continue to be so.  I just hope, like I said, that we are not hurt too badly by this one in the near future.

 Well…time to see if we can win our 10th in a row with the chemistry shaken up.

Gearing up for Astros 2008!

You know what?  I’m actually looking forward to this upcoming baseball season now.   The big reason for that is that I am expecting little-to-nothing from my beloved Astros, so any success they have will be a pleasant surprise!  I’m looking forward to seeing how our new pieces mesh with the few remaining vets, and how the kids will step up this season.  We’ll have a very interesting lineup at the very least. 

 Our projected Batting Order:

1. Michael Bourn – CF
2. Kazuo Matsui – 2B
3. Miguel Tejada – SS
4. Lance Berkman – 1B
5. Carlos Lee – LF
6. Hunter Pence – RF
7. Ty Wigginton – 3B
8. J.R. Towles – C

It will be fun to see what Bourn, Pence and Towles will do in their first full seasons.  We already know that Pence has what it takes in the bigs, and Bourn and Towles have shown promise (especially that huge, 8 RBI game Towles had).  It is just too exciting that we may actually have an offensive presence in the 7 & 8 spots for the first time in years.

Now…our pitching.  Oy vey….this will be interesting, but in an entirely different way:

1. Roy Oswalt
2. Wandy Rodriguez
3. Brandon Backe
4. Woody Williams
5. Chris Sampson

That’s what I’m thinking that it will be.  Backe may move down a spot, and Felipe Paulino may creep in at #5; but for all intents and purposes, the above five are what I’m going with.  Beyond Oswalt, that staff inspires questions more than it does fear.  I like Wandy, but more as a #3 than a #2 at this point.  I think that he’ll have a fine season with some run support, tho.  Backe – I am a fan of this guy, but the big question is how will he do after being out for so long?  No doubt that he’s rested, but is he rusty; and how long will it take him to shake it off?  Woody – I am cheering for him, and I actually think that he is going to have a good season – not a great season, but one that will make people consider bringing him on the roster as a smart move.  As for Sampson – he’ll be a solid #5 – if he fails, that’s tolerable, but if he succeeds then it’s gravy.  Personally, after Oswalt I have the most faith in Sampson going into this season when considering the role being asked of him.

I don’t see a pennant in our 2008 future, but this team could definately play the role of the spoiler.  Whatever happens, I’m just going to enjoy this season for baseball totally free of expectations.

Superman & the Legion of Super Heroes

Wow…been a while since I updated this!  A couple weeks ago saw the release of Action Comics #861, which is part 4 of Geoff Johns’ re-introduction of the Legion of Super-Heroes into the Superman Mythos.  As with many of his recent projects, this has been a wonder to watch unfold.  He has taken our Legionnaires to a darker future, but one where they still represent hope.  Superman has been brought from the past by Brainiac 5 to help them, but so far (as with many of Brainy’s schemes) it has not gone according to plan.

Here are the particulars of this storyarc:

1. Xenophobia runs rampant on Earth
2. Earth’s sun has turned red (as have 75% of the rest of the stars in the UP, we’ve learned)
3. A gaggle of Legion rejects present themselves as the pro-human “Justice League”
4. The JL pushes an agenda which states that Superman was human, not alien
5. Several Legionnaires are working underground to help get aliens off the planet
6. Many Legionnaires are captured or missing
7. The United Planets is about to declare war on Earth

The villains of this arc so far have been the “Justice League,” which consists of several Legion rejects and a couple former members of the Legion of Super-Villains.

• Earth Man – previously known as Absorbancy Boy – he’s the leader of this group
• Spider Girl – cold, calculating and vicious
• Radiation Roy – a victim of his own powers
• Golden Boy – Midas in the form of a spoiled brat
• Tusker – finally feels useful
• Storm Boy – driven to self-mutilation by his rejection
• Eyeful Ethyl – racist schoolmarm with eyes literally in the back of her head

They are an intersting group cobbled together from the Legion’s past.  Most of them were Rejects, but they all have one thing in common – they are from Earth, and are more than happy to push the anti-alien propaganda stating that Superman was born on Earth.  After being told they weren’t Legion material, or fighing against the Legion it is now their time: they are the top dogs on Earth.  They are the beloved heroes, and they are milking it for all that it’s worth, giving us another age old example that “absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

When this story began we saw that opposing the “Justice League” were the Legion’s own members with Terran origins: Colossal Boy, Wildfire and Dawnstar (Starhaven being described as an Earth Colony).  We find that things have not been going well for them, but learn quickly that they have no idea how bad things actually are.  This isn’t just about Superman’s legacy; the actions of Earth have really rubbed the rest of the galaxy the wrong way, and they are about to declare war on that unsuspecting world.

This leads me to only one logical conclusion: there is a grand architect of these events.  The Justice League, for all of their potential, seem to be nothing more than pawns to me at the moment.  Someone is pulling these strings, tho the puppeteer will probably find that the Justice League; Earth Man, in particular, may come to resent the thought that they are pawns and may strike back at their masters.  With the Legion’s long history of villains, several possiblities come to mind as to who may be behind this: Universo, Pulsar Stargrave, and Mordru are some of the biggest guns who may be working behind the scenes.  Something about this whole thing screams to me that Pulsar Stargrave is behind this…either that or he’s working with others.  One person whom I feel he may be working with is Dr. Regulus, but more on the speculation in a bit.

As for our heroes: some are on the run; some are missing; and many are captured.  Let’s do a good, old-fashioned Legion Roll Call:

On the Run:

• Superman
• Dawnstar
• Colossal Boy
• Wildfire
• Polar Boy
• Brainiac 5

Captured:

• Saturn Girl
• Cosmic Boy
• Lightning Lad
• Shadow Lass
• Night Girl (yes!  She’s a member!)
• Lightning Lass
• Timber Wolf
• Invisible Kid II
• Phantom Girl
• Ultra Boy
• Shrinking Violet
• Blok
• Chameleon Girl (Yes!  Yera’s working undercover for Brainy, much to Gim’s chagrin)
• Sun Boy (This one is important – more on him in a bit)

All of these Legionnaires are being used essentially as power batteries for Earth Man, who, like the Composite Superman, has all of the powers of the Legion.  The difference is that earth Man must occassionally draw upon those powers in order to sustain his abilities.  This obviously will not end well for Earth Man, but don’t we all love a nice case of the comeupance?

Missing:

• White Witch (prisoner of Mordru to keep him out of this…but will he really?)
• Quislet
• Tellus
• Bouncing Boy
• Karate Kid (lost in time)
• Starman (lost in time)
• Una (one of Triplicate Girl’s bodies, but I have a feeling that she’s the only one left – lost in time)
• Chameleon Boy
• Element Lad
• Sensor Girl
• Dream Girl
• Tyroc (Make it happen, Geoff!!!)
• Mon-El (rumored to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone)

So, as we see – there are substantial forces left out there to help out the Legionnaires on the run.  I’m hoping that we see some of them (I won’t ask for all…yet) before this is said and done.  Also – there are these guys out there getting ready to take on the Justice League:

 

Stone Boy, Fire Lad, Chlorophyll Kid, Rainbow Girl…that’s right – the SUBS are joining the battle!  Night Girl told us that they were planning a little retribution for one of their fallen comrades (Porcupine Pete, if I recall correctly), and as we’ve seen so many times in the past: Do not underestimate the Subs!

Now…I want to get back to some of that speculation, specifically concerning Dr. Regulus.  The reason that I am convinced that he is involved is because of the plight of Sun Boy.  Of all of the captured Legionnaires, he is the only one not in Earth Man’s battery chamber: he is being used to alter the wavelength of Earth’s sun, changing it to a Red sun which  takes away all of Superman’s abilities.  They are desperate to put forth the lie that Superman is a native human as truth, and with the Red Sun his powerless reappearance was dismissed as simply another Legion lie. 

That said – now that those in the know are aware that Superman is back we’ve discovered that 75% of the suns in the UP have suddenly gone Red, renderring Superman powerless on many worlds.  I do not think that they can tap Sun Boy’s abilities to do all of that, which to me brings Dr. Regulus into the equation.  I could see Dr. Regulus being responsible for the technology which turned Sun Boy into a star-altering weapon, and perhaps he has found ways to duplicate that; possibly using the likes of Sun Emperor, or Beauty Blaze or even by duplicating the experiments which gave Sun Boy and himself their powers.

This is much bigger than Earth Man and the Justice League, so my official prediction for the villains behind this are Pulsar Stargrave, Universo and Dr. Regulus.  Truly a formidable collection of Legion foes who have, to the best of my knowledge, never worked together before.  That’s just a guess on my part tho.

 Now, before ending this I would be remiss if I did not mention the absolutely stunning artwork that Gary Frank has been turning in for this storyline.  I know that his art may not be for some (why, I don’t know), and this is up there with some of the best work he did on Supergirl and Supreme Power.  Clean artwork, good facial expressions and a truly grand, cosmic sense to this story.  Geoff Johns is bringing life back to my favorite era of the Legion of Super-Heroes, and it has left me wanting for more.  I cannot wait to hear what may be next for the Legion this year with the rumors of “Legion of Three Worlds” hinted at on Rip Hunter’s chalkboard.  Good times ahead – Long Live the Legion!