Comics Archeology

Legionnaires #40 (1996)
plot by Tom Peyer & Tom McCraw
script by Roger Stern
pencils and cover by Jeff Moy

Shrinking Violet has gone through quite a change now that she has the Emerald Fanservice of Ekron.

It is important to note that, up to this point, NOBODY in the Legion has ever dealt with the Emerald Eye. In fact, Kinetix is the only one who knows anything about it.

Violet has teleported the team back to Legion HQ, but now she sends away the Workforce members who were with them. What was even the point of bringing them along?
Well, the McCauley plant they evacuated was flooded by toxic chemicals, so it’s quite possible that they would have died there. So perhaps Violet’s humanity is still there.

A rare interaction between Shvaughn Erin and Element Lad. There’s an age gap between them in this continuity… we don’t know how old she is but she’s definitely an adult… so don’t expect them to be a couple anytime soon.

Shrinking Violet is still the leader, so she decides to call for a meeting.

I stand corrected: there IS another Legionnaire who is familiar with the Emerald Eye.
Because M’Onel did encounter it in his time in L.E.G.I.O.N. when he was Valor.
Normally I would complain about the missed opportunity to reference it, but considering the complete mess that his the Valor continuity… yeah good call keeping it vague.

We get an unusual roll call for the team. Neat detail about XS being the shy one this time around.

Oh there you are, Brainiac 5! Where have you been, everyone’s been looking for you!

Good call, Violet. Since you took the Eye, the only thing that’s been shrinking has been your costume.

Kinetix tries to warn her about succumbing to the power of the Eye, but Violet points out her hypocrisy.
Also, not really surprising that Violet used to have a HUGE inferiority complex when it comes to her power. I’m assuming this was less of a problem in the early years of the original continuity because Bouncing Boy was around.

We learn when exactly Violet found the Eye… or rather, when the Eye found Violet.
It was during Legionnaires #31, on Scavenger’s lair.

I find it hard to believe that Scavenger could resist the Eye or that he was smart enough to keep away from it. I think it’s more likely that the Eye just found Violet regardless of where she was.

The Legion might be under Violet’s control, but can the Science Police save the day?

Of course not.

So does this make Violet the Reboot Glorith? We won’t get one despite the original intentions.

The Emerald Eye was particularly effective in manipulating Violet because of what she was going through. With Kinetix gone, she grew obsessed with finding her heterosexually platonic friend while simultaneously being jealous of Leviathan’s crush.

You could read this as Violet being elected leader JUST because the Eye forced the vote.
I very much prefer to think that her new assertive self was just genuinely believed to be a good choice.

Up to this point I was under the impression that Violet didn’t fully realize she even HAD the Eye until she transformed. But no, turns out that she knew all along: it was the reason why she didn’t interact all that much with Kinetix.
To be fair, it’s not like Kinetix was around a whole lot.

Very good misdirection here, making us wonder if Apparition is back just because of the Eye.
Well, at least I think it’s misdirection… that storyline will become so convoluted that I wouldn’t find it weird if it ALSO required the Eye.

The death of Leviathan has traumatized her so much that now she’s done being selfless…

…although Leviathan is still very much in her mind.

She takes a few Legionnaires with her in her new quest…

…but not the most useful ones for the mission, thanks to Saturn Girl’s quick thinking.
Because regardless of the continuity, Saturn Girl is the freaking best.

M’Onel is dispatched to get the help of some space monks who deal in resurrection…

…while others are sent to deal with Leviathan’s corpse.
Which is still stuck at colossal size.

Are those guys still androids like the Probes of the 5YL era, or in this continuity are they just eyeless aliens?
The latter seems to make more sense considering their attitude; we will see a few of them scattered here and there across most of the Reboot.

It’s getting increasingly easy for Violet to take over the minds of the Legionnaires.

Meanwhile, Triad has had an idea: use virtual reality to shield their minds from the Emerald Eye.

I can see why Brainiac 5 is generally in charge of thinking.
WHY WOULD THIS HAVE WORKED!?

Violet has become so unrecognizable that the Eye is now creating a second version of her.

Yes Violet, it was totally necessary to split into two separate bodies for a total of 4 panels…

…because this gave her (them?) an idea: creating the Emerald Legion.

Legion significance: 10 /
Just like last time, the consequences from this arc will extend throughout the entire Reboot.

Silver Age-ness: 0 /
Not really.

Does it stand the test of time? 10 /
The only nitpick might be that most of the Legionnaires don’t get to do much, but it’s not a problem because this is very much Violet’s story. And a few of them actually DO manage to contribute to the story anyway.
You can definitely tell that the writers (all three of them) took the time to plan this storyline, given the amount of callbacks. It IS a little weird that Violet had the Emerald Eye during the finale of the storyline involving the President… it would fit a little better if she was initially aware of the effects and only slowly realized the Eye was truly there. But again, it’s not a big enough problem to negatively affect the issue.

Who did it better?
This is not the first time we have a sympathetic character being corrupted by the Emerald Eye.
While Cera Kesh was one of the least infuriating parts of the 5YL Legionnaires series, as it was cathartic to see her get some revenge over the jackass protagonists… the Reboot uses the occasion to do a ton of character work on Violet without ruining anyone’s characterization, and it’s easily the superior version.

Does this storyline have the most powerful version of the Emerald Eye that we have ever seen?
I think there’s a strong argument for it; the Eye’s powers have always been vague, but it doesn’t appear there are actual limits from what the Reboot version can do.

We are legion