Proof there is nothing Legion related that I won’t eventually review.
Tiny Titans #13 (2009)
by Art Baltazar & Franco Aureliani
This is a series from the “Johnny DC” line, targeted at very young children and re-imagining various heroes as literal kids.
It’s not as hilarious as the Mini Marvels of Chris Giarrusso (which are HIGHLY recommended), but it has its own little easter eggs aimed at older fans.
We begin with Tiny Wonder Girl and Tiny Kid Flash meeting Kid Psimon at school.
Which indeed leads to a room full of Brainiacs.
That’s what I meant by having easter ages for older readers: those are various incarnations of Brainiac from multiple eras, way beyond what you can reasonably expect a child to recognize in 2009.
Left to right you have:
A-Brainiac 5 of course
B -Brainiac’s original Silver Age design
C -Brainiac’s goateed look is from the early post-Crisis period
D- Brainiac’s design from the Superman Animated Series
E- no idea
F- no idea
G- Brainiac-13 (a future version of the original) from early 2000 Superman
H- The robotic Brainiac from the awesome 80s redesign
I- The blue girl is Brainiac 8, better known as Indigo, who originates from the Titans series where she eventually was a hero for a while
And that’s it for this little story: the Brainiacs don’t do anything, but I bring this up because they’ll show up later.
Tiny Titans #28 (2010)
by Art Baltazar & Franco Aureliani
Like I said: anything Legion related. Even if that’s because of *sigh* Proty.
This time we’re not in school, but at the Titans Treehouse.
It’s a popular destination: even one of the Green Lanterns wants to be there!
If you think a squirrel Green Lantern is just from the series for little kids… not only is B’dg a creation from the regular Green Lantern series, but he’s not even in the top fifty weirdest Green Lanterns.
But the reason for covering this story is that Proty shows up, accompanied by Brainiac 5.
If you ever need proof that the “readers don’t care about continuity” idea is nonsense, even freaking Tiny Titans has continuity because it has a callback from the earlier story.
Also, even freaking Tiny Titans can’t escape the convoluted history of what exactly Brainiac is supposed to be. Because here all Brainiacs are androids.
Honestly, as much as I never liked Proty… this is a much better design than the original.
It’s not GOOD, mind you, but it doesn’t literally look like crap.
Told you this isn’t as funny as the Mini Marvels. I miss Chris Giarrusso.
Also this is the first namedrop of the Little Legion.
Tiny Titans #31 (2010)
by Art Baltazar & Franco Aureliani
Speaking of which… while they don’t get the cover, the Little Legion is here.
But not before we are reintroduced to the Brainiacs.
Which is basically just an excuse for a trip to the Fortress Of Solitude.
It’s not easy being Brainiacs.
It’s a bit unnerving to see so many Brainiacs smiling.
Adding to the eternal confusion, one of the Brainiacs mentions Kryptonian technology.
The Brainiac from the Superman Animated Series was from Krypton, but I don’t know about all the others.
Alright, there is ONE joke that made me chuckle: Tiny Bizarro thinking Tiny Psimon is a snow cone.
But I did mention the Little Legion would show up, right?
Tiny Wonder Girl and Tiny Superboy are confirmed robophobes.
The Little Legion is here because Brainiac 5 is needed in the future.
Yeah, uhm, come to think of it… how crazy is it that this was never actually done in the main series???
And that’s it. Cute story.
Tiny Titans #49 (2012)
by Art Baltazar & Franco Aureliani
This is very near the end of the series, which ended with #50.
Brainiac 5 teams up with Proty in this one too, showing up to collect some mud samples.
The guy needs a better hobby.
This leads them to meet Clayface and join the Squishy Titans, which in addition to having the worst team name ever also include Plasmus, Bumblebee and Offspring (the son of Plastic Man).
Okay I get most of these since they’re all shapeshifters of various types, and Brainiac 5 is here with Proty, but I still don’t get why Bumblebee is involved.
Brainiac 5 and Proty contributed absolutely nothing to the story.
Does any of this show up in any regular continuity?
Take a guess.
SHOULD any of this have happened in regular continuity?
Surprisingly yes: why DO the Legionnaires have to hurry whenever they have to time travel? THEY CAN TIME TRAVEL!!!
Also, I still like this Proty design better.
Silver Age-ness: N/A
I don’t think I can possibly rate this in the same way, it’s basically another genre.
Does it stand the test of time? N/A
I’m way too removed from the intended target audience. Which normally wouldn’t mean that this can’t be enjoyed by an older reader, but there was ONE joke I liked in this.
It was pretty funny to see the deep cut from the various Brainiacs, but that’s about it.
We are legion
Active Little Legionnaires: 5
-Tiny Brainiac 5
-Tiny Saturn Girl
-Tiny Lightning Lad
-Tiny Cosmic Boy
-Tiny Chameleon Boy
5 people have been members
I’m assuming Tiny Supergirl isn’t one, because she doesn’t seem to recognize the other Legionnaires. Perhaps Superman, who IS an adult in this series, was a member when he was a kid… but it’s not established.
And yes, I am taking this count seriously even if it’s a kid series, you should know me by now.
Yes, Li’l Brainiac 5 needs a better hobby than collecting mud samples. Perhaps he should instead collect spores, molds and fungus?
I read this a lot when I was little, to the point I didn’t know even realize Proty didn’t look like that until I read your reviews. I just assumed he looked like that. (Also Bumblebee is there because she’s friends with Plasmus.)
Reboot Legion did address the “why hurry when we can time travel” thing; in the Future Tense crossover, Brainiac 5 specifically says not to worry about finding XS after she was lost in the timestream because they can time travel.
Brainiac E, with the white lab coat, might be Brainiac from Alex Ross’s Justice. Not sure about F though…
The character that mistakes Tiny Psimon for an ice cream cone is named Match in one of those panels shown above. Apparently he is that continuity’s version of Superboy’s clone, Match. Yes, he looks like a Bizarro, and there is Bizarro Match that looks much more similar to Superboy. That is how things happened in their world.
Almost
100
YEARS of DC Comics.
And we have to get to THIS series to make a REAL use of TIME TRAVEL!
AAAAAAAARRRRGH!