Legionnaires #42 (1996)
written by Roger Stern & Tom McCraw
pencils and cover by Jeff Moy
At long last, time to conclude the Kinetix plot. Will it be worth the wait?
We last saw the Legionnaires when Mysa kidnapped Kinetix, her family and some of her teammates, and now she’s attacking Live Wire.
Great idea Mysa, no notes.
Live Wire has immediately positioner himself as the de facto leader.
Sometimes it’s the little details that make the Reboot so enjoyable. Like bothering to explain how you trap a speedster.
At least Kinetix’s mother and brother manage to escape capture…
…courtesy of Invisible Kid. I don’t think his ability to make others invisible is used much, if at all, in later stories.
Good for him for calling out Kinetix’s brother. You’d think he’d have a bigger role, but he barely ever appears.
Mysa takes the rest of the team in her magic crystal palace.
All of this goes back to LSH Annual #6 and the discovery of the Crystal Of McGuffin.
Thankfully, before she can use it on Kinetix, Invisible Kid comes to the rescue.
Turns out that Mysa’s plan was:
step 1) steal Kinetix’s powers
step 2) turn her into a furry
step 3) send her to retrieve the Emerald Eye
step 4) take the Emerald Eye for herself
I feel like one of these steps wasn’t entirely necessary.
But why the interest for Kinetix in particular? Well her mother was an archeologist (no relation) and she happened to run into a badly hurt Mysa.
And she JUST HAPPENED to have with her the exact magic artifact needed to save her life.
But she was pregnant with Kinetix at the time, which ended up creating a connection.
This also made Kinetix very attuned to magic. You could interpret this extended origin as Kinetix being something of a sponge for magic energies… given that we are reportedly due for new appearances of Kinetix in the new 2026 series, I wonder if this will be brought up.
Turns out that all that was needed to make Mysa stop messing up with Kinetix was a stern lecture.
And a Magical Girl Transformation™ later…
…Kinetix is restored to her human form.
Mysa sends everyone back home. I’m sure we won’t have to worry about her schemes any longer, right?
Right?
In other plots, the search for the time-displaced Legionnaires continues.
What do you mean “as if by magic”, M’Onel? YOU KNOW it was magic, the Emerald Eye was behind it!
The realization that the time-displaced team might be lost forever is starting to weight on several Legionnaires.
Kinetix got her best design out of this whole ordeal, this is a MUCH better color scheme than her original costume.
It’s not said outright, but it seems that she’s constantly using her telekinesis to keep her heir flowing like that. Which is a very Kinetix thing to do.
Also, I love the detail of the sci-fi mirror giving you a view from multiple sides.
It sucks that Violet is still busy with her own subplot, but it’s not like this team lacks strong friendships.
There’s still one thing to address: Shrinking Violet was elected Legion leader, but obviously she can’t serve right now. So who will be the next leader?
Live Wire accepts to be the leader only up to the new election… which will be following a new round of auditions!
Legion significance: 4/10
While this does influence a big future storyline, it’s not THAT important.
Silver Age-ness: 2/10
The all-powerful sorceress is defeated by someone pulling her hood over her head and by a stern talk by a no-nonsense parent.
Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
It’s the usual level of good writing and amazing artwork expected from this era, but to answer my original question… after ALL OF THAT buildup, I can’t help feeling a bit disappointed.
Mysa is very one-dimensional, and reducing her bond to Kinetix to an interaction with her mother before she was even born isn’t exactly thrilling!
Moy Tongues: 22
Who did it better?
Mysa is quite obviously the White Witch equivalent, but I will discuss her when she shows up again. Spoiler alert, I guess?
We are legion
- 9 active Legionnaires
- 8 missing in action
- 1 resigned member (Andromeda)
- 1 honorary member (Superboy)
- 2 deceased members (Kid Quantum and Leviathan)
- 21 people have been members
- 4 Legion leaders (Leviathan, Cosmic Boy, Shrinking Violet, Live Wire)
- 2 members have been rejected
Interesting letters: seems like a lot of readers truly believed several apparent Legionnaire deaths.
Were 90s readers less jaded, or is this still the influence of the bloodthirsty 5YL?
