Brainiac 5 at Chicago Comic Con 2009
So, as threatened, I showed up green this past Saturday at Wizard's Chicago Comic Con. Here's an overview.
I've had a long fannish association with the LoSH, beginning with my first round of comic readership in the 70's. My earliest recalled stories include reprints, I think, of early 'Adventure' backup strips, as well as full-blown stories in 'Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes', such as Pulsar Stargrave, the Infinite Man, and the one where Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad are kidnapped while both are up for Legion Leader and have to face off against the Fatal Five alone! I think it was these stories during my formative years that cemented Brainiac 5 as my favorite/identification Legionnaire because his super power was that he was really REALLY smart. And just being smart put him on the same footing as the most powerful beings in the universe. I liked that idea. I couldn't grow up and learn to throw lightning bolts, but I could learn everything I could and still be considered a hero! And who wouldn't want that?
I think that's one of the reasons I was initially reticent about the characterization of Brainy in the Kids WB animated series a few years ago. They made him into a robot, and one who could transform into a big, powerful, weapon-laden bruiser. That was WRONG! To go from a character who was there because he was simply the smartest being around and created the gadgets and technology the Legion used, to a smart robot who WAS technology and could form his body into a multitude of gadgets - that seemed to deny the essence of the character. To be fair, they did do some interesting things with him, and I liked that the series ended up being in large part about his and Superman's relationship, but I still feel that - for a children's series - they missed a big opportunity to say something about the importance (and power) of studying and learning to be the smartest you can be.
The Legion was also a big part of my second wave of comics fandom, which started with Crisis in the mid-80's and lasted through the mid-90's until I basically took a break again from comics after tiring of the unending special-event cross-over multiple-cover palooza. I had been a (mostly passive) follower of Legion fandom online since the early 90's. I recently found a stack of printouts from the old Legion outpost mailing list I'd made while still in grad school.
I was enough of a fan even after I quit reading regularly to get wiliqueen to make a Brainiac 5 costume for me when we went to Chicago Comicon in '98. Apparently attending in greenface made an impression, as I got Claudia Christian to pause in answering a question during the Babylon 5 panel to ask this audience member, why was he green? I stood, and placed the Koko monkey doll on my shoulder to a round of applause as the audience tried to explain for me. head58 later pointed out that I'd appeared also in an issue of Wizard magazine in a shot apparently taken while I was talking to TV's Superboy, Gerard Christopher. The caption they ran with the photo was MOST unflattering, but apparently fairly in line with their practice of making fun of people in their targeted demographic. Still, I'm glad to have the shot of B5 and Superboy - thanks Wizard!. At that convention I also met up with a group of Legion fans I had previously only known online, had a diner at a nearby restaurant (I remember the walk in greenface down the street and into the restaurant - I think I was the only one in costume that year - and I'm not sure I'd have the courage to do that again today) and marveled at the HUGE custom Legion figure collection someone had brought and set up at the restaurant. Now THAT I wish I'd had a picture of.
I met a few of those same folks about a year later, in my one and only appearance with the Legion of Super-Gamblers in Las Vegas. That group of Legion fans meets up once a year in Vegas to talk Legion fandom, show off any nifty collectibles they've managed to get, and indulge in some gambling, of course! As it happened, I had a trade show conference in Vegas in '99 that overlapped with their gathering that year, and had a lot of fun after hours hanging out with the gang. A Legion highpoint was going into the WB store in the Shops at Caesar's Palace and admiring the expensive Alex Ross Legion print available at the time and stunning the workers in the shop by not only naming each Legionnaire (including the one's barely visible in the reflection of Wildfire's visor), but listing their 'real names' and home planets. The staff had a key to those at the front desk, and after we started going around and rattle them off the top of our heads, we gathered a crowd of two or three staff members who grabbed the key and were amused at our thoroughness.
Which makes my performance at ChicagoTARDIS '08 a little embarrassing, as during a conversation with taraljc and paulcornell2 I got the 'real name' of one of the Legion of Substitute Heroes wrong. I knew I had misspoken right away, but I couldn't for the life of me think of the real answer until later. Ah, well.
I have been back to Vegas since then, but haven't been to another gathering of the LoSG - which makes me a reserve member, I suppose. :-)
Recently, my Legionmania was stoked by the appearance of the 3 founders on an episode of Smallville. I meant at the time to make my thoughts known, and I might still do that in another post, as this is getting long enough as it is. Suffice it to say that I enjoyed the interpretation, and promptly started thinking about how a Smallville Brainiac 5's jacket would look like... :-) Maybe for Dragoncon one of these years?
So after the Smallville Legion appearance, and the fact we had plans (and rooms) to go to DragonCon finally this year, I thought it was time to drag out the B5 outfit, finish the Belt, and do it right. Though DragonCon is off the cards now, we decided to go back to Chicago Comic Con as a consolation. With the help of a couple of members of The League of Heroes costuming forum, I got the belt finished, and the results are here to see.
First off, here's a shot of me with George Perez, who drew the just finished 'Legion of 3 Worlds' series. He signed the awesome two-page spread from the final issue for me (as well as the back of my legion buckle, which kept popping off and chose to do so while I was waiting in line, so I took advantage of adversity!) He looked up as I passed by earlier and said 'I've drawn you a LOT recently.' And as I walked up in the autograph line, he correctly identified me as 'my post-Zero Hour Brainiac 5'.
Next Brainiac 5 with a couple of Supergirls. I expected more Supergirls, considering it's the 50th anniversary of her debut...
Uh, oh, Bwainy! Be Cawful! I think Glowith's back! (Brainiac 5 and Lil' Saturn Girl).
And finally some group Legion Shots, with Cosmic Boy and the Emerald Empress (complete with floating EYE that unfortunately gets cut off in the photo). We were told early in the day that they would be there, and when gathering for the unfortunately completely mishandled Masquerade that we bailed on, I saw the balloon from across the packed room and knew where to head to, saying "Follow the Floating Green Eye!"
I've got some other shots with celebs, and other costumes, but those are pictures for another post.
I've had a long fannish association with the LoSH, beginning with my first round of comic readership in the 70's. My earliest recalled stories include reprints, I think, of early 'Adventure' backup strips, as well as full-blown stories in 'Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes', such as Pulsar Stargrave, the Infinite Man, and the one where Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad are kidnapped while both are up for Legion Leader and have to face off against the Fatal Five alone! I think it was these stories during my formative years that cemented Brainiac 5 as my favorite/identification Legionnaire because his super power was that he was really REALLY smart. And just being smart put him on the same footing as the most powerful beings in the universe. I liked that idea. I couldn't grow up and learn to throw lightning bolts, but I could learn everything I could and still be considered a hero! And who wouldn't want that?
I think that's one of the reasons I was initially reticent about the characterization of Brainy in the Kids WB animated series a few years ago. They made him into a robot, and one who could transform into a big, powerful, weapon-laden bruiser. That was WRONG! To go from a character who was there because he was simply the smartest being around and created the gadgets and technology the Legion used, to a smart robot who WAS technology and could form his body into a multitude of gadgets - that seemed to deny the essence of the character. To be fair, they did do some interesting things with him, and I liked that the series ended up being in large part about his and Superman's relationship, but I still feel that - for a children's series - they missed a big opportunity to say something about the importance (and power) of studying and learning to be the smartest you can be.
The Legion was also a big part of my second wave of comics fandom, which started with Crisis in the mid-80's and lasted through the mid-90's until I basically took a break again from comics after tiring of the unending special-event cross-over multiple-cover palooza. I had been a (mostly passive) follower of Legion fandom online since the early 90's. I recently found a stack of printouts from the old Legion outpost mailing list I'd made while still in grad school.
I was enough of a fan even after I quit reading regularly to get wiliqueen to make a Brainiac 5 costume for me when we went to Chicago Comicon in '98. Apparently attending in greenface made an impression, as I got Claudia Christian to pause in answering a question during the Babylon 5 panel to ask this audience member, why was he green? I stood, and placed the Koko monkey doll on my shoulder to a round of applause as the audience tried to explain for me. head58 later pointed out that I'd appeared also in an issue of Wizard magazine in a shot apparently taken while I was talking to TV's Superboy, Gerard Christopher. The caption they ran with the photo was MOST unflattering, but apparently fairly in line with their practice of making fun of people in their targeted demographic. Still, I'm glad to have the shot of B5 and Superboy - thanks Wizard!. At that convention I also met up with a group of Legion fans I had previously only known online, had a diner at a nearby restaurant (I remember the walk in greenface down the street and into the restaurant - I think I was the only one in costume that year - and I'm not sure I'd have the courage to do that again today) and marveled at the HUGE custom Legion figure collection someone had brought and set up at the restaurant. Now THAT I wish I'd had a picture of.
I met a few of those same folks about a year later, in my one and only appearance with the Legion of Super-Gamblers in Las Vegas. That group of Legion fans meets up once a year in Vegas to talk Legion fandom, show off any nifty collectibles they've managed to get, and indulge in some gambling, of course! As it happened, I had a trade show conference in Vegas in '99 that overlapped with their gathering that year, and had a lot of fun after hours hanging out with the gang. A Legion highpoint was going into the WB store in the Shops at Caesar's Palace and admiring the expensive Alex Ross Legion print available at the time and stunning the workers in the shop by not only naming each Legionnaire (including the one's barely visible in the reflection of Wildfire's visor), but listing their 'real names' and home planets. The staff had a key to those at the front desk, and after we started going around and rattle them off the top of our heads, we gathered a crowd of two or three staff members who grabbed the key and were amused at our thoroughness.
Which makes my performance at ChicagoTARDIS '08 a little embarrassing, as during a conversation with taraljc and paulcornell2 I got the 'real name' of one of the Legion of Substitute Heroes wrong. I knew I had misspoken right away, but I couldn't for the life of me think of the real answer until later. Ah, well.
I have been back to Vegas since then, but haven't been to another gathering of the LoSG - which makes me a reserve member, I suppose. :-)
Recently, my Legionmania was stoked by the appearance of the 3 founders on an episode of Smallville. I meant at the time to make my thoughts known, and I might still do that in another post, as this is getting long enough as it is. Suffice it to say that I enjoyed the interpretation, and promptly started thinking about how a Smallville Brainiac 5's jacket would look like... :-) Maybe for Dragoncon one of these years?
So after the Smallville Legion appearance, and the fact we had plans (and rooms) to go to DragonCon finally this year, I thought it was time to drag out the B5 outfit, finish the Belt, and do it right. Though DragonCon is off the cards now, we decided to go back to Chicago Comic Con as a consolation. With the help of a couple of members of The League of Heroes costuming forum, I got the belt finished, and the results are here to see.
First off, here's a shot of me with George Perez, who drew the just finished 'Legion of 3 Worlds' series. He signed the awesome two-page spread from the final issue for me (as well as the back of my legion buckle, which kept popping off and chose to do so while I was waiting in line, so I took advantage of adversity!) He looked up as I passed by earlier and said 'I've drawn you a LOT recently.' And as I walked up in the autograph line, he correctly identified me as 'my post-Zero Hour Brainiac 5'.
Next Brainiac 5 with a couple of Supergirls. I expected more Supergirls, considering it's the 50th anniversary of her debut...
Uh, oh, Bwainy! Be Cawful! I think Glowith's back! (Brainiac 5 and Lil' Saturn Girl).
And finally some group Legion Shots, with Cosmic Boy and the Emerald Empress (complete with floating EYE that unfortunately gets cut off in the photo). We were told early in the day that they would be there, and when gathering for the unfortunately completely mishandled Masquerade that we bailed on, I saw the balloon from across the packed room and knew where to head to, saying "Follow the Floating Green Eye!"
I've got some other shots with celebs, and other costumes, but those are pictures for another post.