Legion of Super-Heroes v3 #11 (Part 2)

Legion of Super-Heroes v3 #11 (1985)
by Paul Levitz & Keith Giffen
“Taking Care of Business: New Business”

This is a brief story narrated by Bouncing Boy who is, unsurprisingly, really good as the face of the Legion.

Bouncing Boy being a goodwill ambassador for the Legion works SO great for his personality that it’s amazing it wasn’t done earlier.

But this story is notable for being the first one to focus on Comet Queen, the fan-favorite and COMPLETELY NUTS Legionnaire wannabe.

Granted, it takes a while to get used to her speech pattern (most of the time I still have no idea WTF she’s trying to say) and she can definitely overstay her welcome… but Comet Queen is a lot of fun!

I love Comet Queen, but I also acknowledge that if she were real she would be the most obnoxious person ever to be around.

Can you blame Bouncing Boy for having no clue whatsoever about her?

He explains to her that joining the Legion is a bit harder these days, but he later learns Comet Queen went to a dangerous quest.

Comet Queen’s appearance is not typical of her species; as far as I know we’ve never seen how she looked prior to her gaining superpowers (at least not until the retroboot).
This is a VERY rare opportunity to see how the rest of her people, the Quaalians, really look like.

Bouncing Boy looks for her in the lava islands, and he’s already figured out her most important trait: SHE’S NUTS.

His attempt to capture her doesn’t go as planned.

Beign stuck in a cave with Comet Queen is probably considered torture in the 30th century.

This is where we learn her origin. Thankfully not directly from her, since we wouldn’t understand half of what she’s saying.
Turns out Comet Queen was such a Legion fan that she decided to gain powers in any way… like FLYING NAKED INTO A RANDOM COMET.

Bouncing Boy making fun of her having a dumb origin is rich, considering his own origin is drinking from the wrong soda bottle.

This being comics, her plan actually works. Also, judging by the VERY brief glimpse at her pre-transformation body, she doesn’t look at all like her father. So either the Quaalians have some weird sexual dimorphism or she’s adopted.

Among her ramblings, Comet Queen spots some tunnels that vent gas outside of the caves, which give Bouncing Boy an idea.

They get to safety by bouncing through the vents, and Bouncing Boy narrates how this whole thing convinced him that Comet Queen has the determination to be a Legionnaire.
It definitely isn’t for her brains.

Cute detail about Bouncing Boy having two wedding rings, being married to Duo Damsel.

---

Legion significance: 2/10
Legion gravitons may be prismed to starshine Comet Queen’s first blastoff, but she’s not a major nova-burn.

Silver Age-ness: 9/10
Random comet turns a dull star-particle into a supernova? C-speed to the max!

Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
Giffen’s new style can be kind of a black hole, and won’t starshine in future parsecs, but it’s nova here. And Comet Queen’s c-speed jargon can be a bit of a dark star.
But overall it’s a cute starshine that doesn’t eclipse its star-trail and is a nice blastoff for the big bang of a new supernova.
Now if only I could understand WTF I just said…

We are legion
19 active Legionnaires
8 reserve members
10 deceased members