LSH #7 has destroyed my brain.

[greenygal]

I’ve occasionally commented that nobody working in comics today knows how to punch my emotional buttons better than Mark Waid. And this, right here, is what I mean when I say it.

Of course, it’s not hard to punch my buttons when you’re working with Brainiac 5. I play favorites with Legion and always have; any time period, any incarnation, the Coluan gets my full attention any time he’s on the page. I was pleased when he starred in last issue’s backup, and downright thrilled when Colu was targeted as the next planet to go--an opportunity for focus and backstory, ooh! The offhanded mention of "what they’d done to him" was just icing on the cake; Brainy-torture makes me such a happy girl. (And in retrospect of course that’s a clue, but there’s no reason I should have taken it as such; Brainy’s relationship with his home planet has never been the best.)

And so this issue there was focus, and there was backstory (sort of), and yes indeed, there was torture. It just wasn’t what I was expecting at all. And of course it’s my own damn fault because Waid told us that we couldn’t count on anything being the same, and he’s been busily showing us that for the last six issues, and I smiled and I nodded and I didn’t connect that to Brainy in the slightest, because look, there he was, standing there being so terribly Dox. (Perhaps as much Vril as Querl, admittedly. But Dox.) And then we get to this issue, and it’s still all business as usual, he’s smart enough to have left himself a note last issue and Colu is a hyper-tech place full of brilliance, and he’s (incredibly) arrogant about both. And I was happy watching everything go to hell and taking mental bets on how long he could maintain his control, and then I hit the middle of the book and blew every fuse in my brain. Mark Waid, you evil genius--you knew I’d never see this coming.

Oh, Brainy. Oh, Brainy. Still the smartest guy in the room...as long as the room’s not on Colu. On Colu he’s dumb, and that statement right there makes me need to sit down for a while. Brainy. Dumb. So much so that they threw him out, he’s that far below their standards. (Admittedly we don’t know how strict Coluan standards are, but still.) Dear god, is there a universe where it doesn’t suck beyond the telling of it to be Brainiac 5? Because this just--god, they told him intelligence was everything and then they told him he didn’t have it, and they dismissed him as worthless and they exiled him. And suddenly everything I think I know about his history, his personality, that unbelievable arrogance--everything, it all does a one-eighty. And involves magnitudes more defensiveness and pain. Particularly if Colu’s "foremost researcher" really is his mother--oh, Brainy. God, that must have messed him up six ways from Sunday; no wonder he’s so--so him, so impatient and arrogant and trying to run everything, because this is a world where he can, where he’s terribly impressive and not a useless disappointment to everyone around him. And he’s lied to keep it that way, too; in #2 Cos says he’s supposed to be exceptional even by Coluan standards. *shakes head* My poor damaged Querl.

I’m not upset about this at all. In shock, but not upset. This is kind of surprising, as I’ve muttered over lesser--much lesser!--alterations before, but I’m just not. Possibly because who am I to turn down this much potential angst for my boy? *g* But also because it doesn’t come across as a downgrade of Brainy’s smarts--good Waid, to establish that point clearly before he hit us with this, and make it all the more surprising--so much as an upgrade of Colu’s. He’s still a supergenius; they’re just better supergeniuses. (And incidentally, good call on establishing this point in a way that does not require it to be shown, at least not this issue. Writing Brainy convincingly is hard enough; writing people who are so smart they make him look stupid...is a problem.)

And watching him in this issue, knowing this, my heart just breaks for him, because he still believes everything they told him. He’s still so proud of Colu; granted that he’s covering up that he was thrown out, but he still has no need to give out such glowing accolades if he doesn’t mean them. If there’s bitterness there, he’s not letting a hint of it show--not even as he watches the people who cast him out him brought down in their turn. He’s not even smug about the chance to save them; he’s just panicked and horrified and so determined to save them from what he knows is the worst thing in the world. Which, you know, I’m not saying it’s not, what was done to the Coluans is horrifying from any perspective, I’m just so stuck on his wanting to protect them from the same thing--in kind, not degree--that they condemned him for. I love him so, so much, I really do; for all his arrogance and dismissiveness, there’s just such a bedrock core of decency in there. *hugs Brainy fiercely*


Other stuff:

--“Bottle planet of Colu”? *rolls eyes* The miniaturization of Colu is fine on its own terms (although it is stealing Imsk’s gimmick, if they’re ever revealed to actually exist), and yes, I get the appropriateness of the idea. But the blatancy of the in-joke threw me out of the story; a little less cuteness next time.

--I appreciate that the attempt to destroy Colu did not involve blowing it up (and also does not seem to have been permanent); doing that too often is, literally, overkill, and it stops having impact for the readers. Much better this way, with the Special Ironic Destruction.

--The cookfires in Colu’s streets echoed a scene from The Magic Wars, probably unintentionally. It was interesting to remember that that version of Brainy took the dissolution of his homeworld even more impassively, although in fairness it was technology breaking down that time, not people.

--The diatribe against Thom and Ayla’s use of their powers is interesting enough as a look into Brainy’s opinion of his teammates (and probably a pointed authorial suggestion that there’s really nothing wrong with the Light Lass powerset, as also witness the end of the issue), but it gains extra meaning in light of the above revelation; of course Brainy finds someone who has potential and wastes it to be infuriating.

--I’m inclined to like Brainy’s mom (if that is his mom) just because she sang him lullabies. Brainy really doesn’t get enough TLC in his life.

--It never once occurred to me that Cham’s “ooh, organic material!” routine was going to be relevant later on. Either I’m dumb or Waid’s really doing well with the world-building, for me to expect that to be random.

--Okay, I can see the thematic point of redoing the cover of #1 and replacing Brainy with Cos. However, that leaves Brainy dominating the cover of an issue he’s barely in and then not even appearing on this one. There’s something wrong with that picture (pun intended).

--The invasion of Brainy’s lab: hey, don’t come crying to me when you punch a button and destroy half the planet, Cos, that’s all I’m saying. I can see his motivation, here, but this is clearly a move born of desperation. Not only is it genuinely dangerous, but does Cos seriously think that he’s going to be able to learn “every last one” of Brainy’s secrets ever, much less learn them by poking around randomly in his lab for as long as it takes for him to get back from Colu? Granted it helps to have Lyle along, but still.

Comments

[coniraya.livejournal.com]

I am using superhuman strength to resist the urge to leave work right now and buy the 1-7 of LSH b/c I haven't been following it. Truthfully I probably lose this fight.

[greenygal.livejournal.com]

Not to get you in trouble at work, but--YES! I'm spreading the obsession! Everybody should read LEGION!

*koff* So that's good, then. *g*

[unlovablehands.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to let you know I'm adding this fantastic post to my memories.

[greenygal.livejournal.com]

Given that this was largely my attempt to express a reaction that involved repeating "Oh, Brainy" for about ten minutes straight, interspersed with ritual cursing of Mark Waid's name and lineage for messing with my head like this, I'm pleased that it was of interest to somebody but me. *g*

(Actually, now that the shock's worn off and I've read the issue another half dozen times, I'm starting to wonder if I'm actually right about any of this. I'm sure that's the conclusion Waid means us to be drawing, but...Brainy never actually says. Tease.)

[unlovablehands.livejournal.com]

I didn't read it that way the first time I read it. I just said, "Gosh, that sure is some extra compassion for his fellow Coluans Brainy has there" and assumed everyone got very quiet because Brainy flipping his shit is an uncomfortable situation. But I read your post, and thought "well, gee, did I miss something?" and went back through and re-read the issue, and your reading makes a lot of sense. And you're not the only one who read it that way. And I do think it's a fascinating reading even if it winds up to be a false one in the long run. Because I think it turns Brainy's character on its head in a way that still makes a lot of sense. I think in that case there would be a need to dumb down Colu as Waid has done/started to do here in #7 to establish Brainy as worthy of Legion membership, though.

[greenygal.livejournal.com]

I'm certain that that rant has some personal meaning for Brainy behind it; I just can't see Waid delivering dialogue that dramatic and over-the-top and having it only be about Coluan tradition. But it could involve someone other than Brainy--like, say, a sibling--or there could be some other sort of backstory attached that I haven't thought of yet.

And given this interpretation, he does seem surprisingly calm, even pleased, about going back to Colu. Now, I do think I probably also interpreted "you are an outcast" too literally; that could easily just mean "social outcast," not "leave this place and never return," so there's not necessarily anything stopping him. But I would have expected a little more stress over returning to a planet that labeled him as worthless, while surrounded by teammates who don't know that. That's the main thing that seems off, although granted it's Brainy and he's perfectly capable of boxing up his pain and hiding it under ten layers of snark.

Because I think it turns Brainy's character on its head in a way that still makes a lot of sense.

It does. This idea just leaves me gaping at everything he's done and said and going "oh, shit, of course..."

I think in that case there would be a need to dumb down Colu as Waid has done/started to do here in #7 to establish Brainy as worthy of Legion membership, though.

It depends on how you play Colu--if they're real isolationists and Brainy is just the only one who's at all interested in this weird Legion thing, then the fact that they're smarter than him doesn't really matter, because they're not there, and he's still more than smart enough to be invaluable to the Legion. There's also the traditional thing that's been done with Brainy, where most Coluans tinker with their theories for centuries and he wants to go out and put them all into practice; if he's that kind of intellectual misfit he's obviously going to be of more value to the Legion than your average Coluan. An obvious place to take this story, after all, is the realization that smarts aren't everything, and that Brainy has unique contributions to make no matter how he scores on the Coluan IQ test. Which, don't get me wrong, is all totally alien to his worldview and would just about kill him to admit, but that would be the fun of it, you know?

[unlovablehands.livejournal.com]

I'm just over here nodding like a bobblehead. I'm really not at all well-versed enough on Brainy or on Colu to say much on the subject that would ass anything to what you've just said. :) I am curious, and I can't remember the exact wording of Brainy's little shitfit, if it was "dumbness" or any sort of perceived "mental deficiency" that outcasts one on this Colu. The Brainiac line does tend to be unstable as well as brilliant.

[greenygal.livejournal.com]

What he says specifically is "If you are perceived as intellectually inferior, you are told you are stupid and you are considered worthless and you are an outcast!" (All emphasis his.) Which does leave us with the question of what constitutes "intellectually inferior." I tend to think that wording is a little specific to include "emotionally unstable." (I mean, it could, because who knows how Colu defines anything, but if I go that route it could also mean "likes vanilla ice cream," so I'm doing my best here...) But it could mean anything from the Coluan equivalent of "drooling idiot" to "gets one B+ on his report card" to--and I hadn't actually considered this until you asked--"doesn't apply his intelligence in the ways we consider valid." Because intellectually inferior could, sure, turn out to mean that Brainy's just no good at calmly dissecting every subject for decades before ever actually doing anything about them. Although I think, on consideration, that in that case he'd likely behave with more bitterness towards the planet--he's more capable of seeing "they never wanted to really do anything" as a fault in the Coluans, instead of in himself.

[odditycollector.livejournal.com]

But it could involve someone other than Brainy--like, say, a sibling--
Atom Girl!

Because, you know, the shrinking technology and the - *hand wave* - stuff... Um.


For the real theory, when I read the issue I (like evadne_ above) just figured the others were reacting to Brainy's outburst. That interpretation didn't even *occur* to me. And now that I'm thinking about it, *my* brain is being exploded a little. It's the "level twelve or higher intelligence" comment which is convincng me, reluctantly, being a line that struck me as somewhat odd the first time round.

It makes MUCH sense, yes. And also, pleases me in that it suddenly makes more sense for this incarnation of Brainy to act a lot like Vril.

[greenygal.livejournal.com]

Atom Girl!

Because, you know, the shrinking technology and the - *hand wave* - stuff... Um.

Barry Kitson commented on a message board that there's some connection between Imsk and Colu. I will have an opinion about this when I actually see it. For preference, though, I'd rather Vi wasn't Brainy's sibling, because frankly I don't want her to be green. *g* Besides, in that case either he was talking about her, which would make me unhappy because I've become all stunned and enamored with this idea that he's stupid on Colu, or he's not talking about her, in which case we've got another supergenius on the team and that's Brainy's spot, dammit. *guards Brainy's spot jealously*

For the real theory, when I read the issue I (like evadne_ above) just figured the others were reacting to Brainy's outburst. That interpretation didn't even *occur* to me.

It's always interesting to find out how other people view things; for me it was a couple of days before it even occurred to me that there could be another interpretation. (Of course, I'm obsessed with Brainy, but it's not like this was something I was expecting to see, either.)

And now that I'm thinking about it, *my* brain is being exploded a little.

Yeah. Oh yeah. This is messing with the foundations. And yet somehow he's pulling it off.

It's the "level twelve or higher intelligence" comment which is convincng me, reluctantly, being a line that struck me as somewhat odd the first time round.

Do you mean when Brainy says that average Coluans have twelfth-level minds in this issue? Or did I miss a line elsewhere?

It makes MUCH sense, yes. And also, pleases me in that it suddenly makes more sense for this incarnation of Brainy to act a lot like Vril.

I've heard this from a couple of other people; I hadn't been particularly dissatisfied (I'm easy, really, as long as he isn't stuck into a characterization-altering black hole it's usually okay for me, particularly when there's as much snark as I've been getting) but I do see the point. Although, you know, he's unlike Vril in one big way (and others, but this one stands out): we don't see him manipulating anybody. He's rude, he's dismissive, he assumes he knows better than anybody else, he disobeys direct orders, he's got his own secret goals for the Legion, all of that, but right now I can't think of a time he got somebody to do what he wanted them to do by any method except directly asking (or yelling). Maybe this will change now that the conflict between him and Cos is about to explode; we'll see.

[odditycollector.livejournal.com]

Barry Kitson commented on a message board that there's some connection between Imsk and Colu
Huh. Doesn't he know fandom is supposed to follow me around on LJ, dammit? (j/k) But I agree with your chromatic preference for Vi. Not green, thx. Though I do sort of wish there was a little more skin colour variation, alas.

Also: Okay, maybe he's stupid, I can deal with that. But having a *sibling*? That's just crazy talk.

Yeah. Oh yeah. This is messing with the foundations. And yet somehow he's pulling it off.
*nods* It's kind of weird, actually, what Waid's doing. I have no idea how it's working for someone who *didn't* grow up with these guys, but he's putting in some (subtle) hints that seem to imply that this or that is as we remember... and then knocking those expectations over. With a cricket bat.

That as said, the older incarnations are still in my head as the more... real? diffinitive? versions, so I'm reading the new one like a riff on that. (There's a term in music that applies, but I can't remember what it is.)

Do you mean when Brainy says that average Coluans have twelfth-level minds in this issue?
Am I remembering wrong? I may be. But yes, if it's near the beginning, that's the line I mean.


Although, you know, he's unlike Vril in one big way (and others, but this one stands out)
*nods* Oh, I agree. It amuses me, for various reasons. Sometimes I wonder if Brainy, student of family history as he is, isn't conciously *trying* to reach Vril's particular levels of magnificent bastardry (with a notable lack of success).

[greenygal.livejournal.com]

Huh. Doesn't he know fandom is supposed to follow me around on LJ, dammit? (j/k)

I only caught it by accident, because I just wasn’t hearing enough Legion discussion on LJ.

Also: Okay, maybe he's stupid, I can deal with that. But having a *sibling*? That's just crazy talk.

Hey, you brought it up. Well, okay, technically I did, but you were the one suggesting it be Vi.

I don’t know; as ridiculous as it sounds, I’m not entirely prepared to rule out the possibility that Waid could make it work. (Joss managed, after all....) I don’t really want it to be Vi, but I can see how you could do a Dream Girl/White Witch thing without messing with Brainy’s essentials, although that setup would probably preclude Brainy himself being the dummy. Or from the Brainy-torture standpoint, an obnoxious elder sibling who does meet Coluan standards could be...entertaining. (Or a younger one, actually--that would be even more humiliating.) What he can’t have is a sibling with whom he maintains a close, loving relationship, even by Coluan standards. That’s far too...socialized for him; there must be distance or dysfunction or both in the way.

*nods* It's kind of weird, actually, what Waid's doing. I have no idea how it's working for someone who *didn't* grow up with these guys, but he's putting in some (subtle) hints that seem to imply that this or that is as we remember... and then knocking those expectations over. With a cricket bat.

This is the first time I remember actually being ambushed by my own expectations, although it’s always possible that there were other instances I’ve forgotten about because they didn’t blow my mind like this. I’m thinking this one would come as a surprise even to a totally new reader, though, because a) Brainy’s been going around being his superintelligent I-am-the-ultimate-genius self and b) that line from Cos, which of course is easily overturned, but at the time nobody had any reason to discount it. It probably didn’t yank the rug from under the newbies’ feet in quite the same fashion, however.

That as said, the older incarnations are still in my head as the more... real? diffinitive? versions, so I'm reading the new one like a riff on that. (There's a term in music that applies, but I can't remember what it is.)

Yeah--I didn’t get into the Legion until well after Zero Hour, and my early collection was kind of a mishmash of eras. So while I don’t precisely love them all equally, this is the first time I’ve really been in the position of going, “Yeah, good book, but it’s not my Legion.” I’m not saying I don’t like it, I do, but—-well, you know.

Am I remembering wrong? I may be. But yes, if it's near the beginning, that's the line I mean.

Okay, just checking. After I read #7 I went back and scoured the earlier issues for anything that might have related to this issue, and I wanted to make sure I hadn’t missed anything.

*nods* Oh, I agree. It amuses me, for various reasons. Sometimes I wonder if Brainy, student of family history as he is, isn't conciously *trying* to reach Vril's particular levels of magnificent bastardry (with a notable lack of success).

Aw, poor baby. *pats Querl on the head* You just keep failing to be Vril, honey, it’ll be better for you in the long run.

[odditycollector.livejournal.com]

Hey, you brought it up. Well, okay, technically I did, but you were the one suggesting it be Vi.
Hey! Since when do arguments about comics have to have continuity?

I’m not entirely prepared to rule out the possibility that Waid could make it work. (Joss managed, after all....)
Karen's Brain: ...
Karen's Brain: Superimposes Brainy and Buffy.
Karen's Brain: !!!!

Okay. I think I've found the definitive argument against the Brainy/Kara relationship right there.

Or from the Brainy-torture standpoint, an obnoxious elder sibling who does meet Coluan standards could be...entertaining. (Or a younger one, actually--that would be even more humiliating.)
Very much yes. Especially after that shout out in the "letter column" a couple issues back.

This is the first time I remember actually being ambushed by my own expectations, although it’s always possible that there were other instances I’ve forgotten about because they didn’t blow my mind like this.
I can't pull them off the top of my head right now, but I'm left with the feeling I have been. (Although never on such a scale, I agree.) I'm convinced that there have been hints about Brainy's less than amazing status throughout, but I really wanted to ignore them.

Of course, they're the sort of hints a new reader might not have twigged to, so who can say. As I haven't really heard much on the subject from people who hadn't come in with too much history, not me.

this is the first time I’ve really been in the position of going, “Yeah, good book, but it’s not my Legion.”
Well, not my *Brainy*, anyway.

I'm weird, with comics continuity. For me, the "true" canon is the one that lives in my brain, and I take what I like from wherever to build it up. (*This* characterization, and most of *this* backstory, and *this* character design. And *that* strikes me as dumb, so obviously it never happened.) Pre-emptive retconning. It saves a lot of stress, over all. (And is probably why I don't write much fic in the genre. Hmm.)

So *my* Brainy is a mix of pre & post boot; my Irma, likewise; my Jo is the new guy; and my Lyle is post-boot all the way... Cosmic boy's giving me a bit of trouble - he's mostly bored me until now, but creepy, angry Cos has trouble integrating with the more-fluffy others.

Mine is a troubled soul.

*pats Querl on the head*
You know, *this* Querl may be a little better with the highly technological smiting. Be warned.