Glorithverse

Overview

The "Glorithverse" era of the Legion of Super-Heroes was published between 1989 and 1994. The stories that encompass this era were published in Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #1 through Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #61, in Legionnaires #1 through Legionnaires #18, and in various other titles.

As a shorthand, some fans call this era "Volume 4" or "v4" even though volume 4 of Legion of Super-Heroes continued from Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #0 and Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #62 through Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #125. The first half of this era is known by some by the initials "TMK", named for its initial creators, Tom Bierbaum, Mary Bierbaum, and Keith Giffen.

Technically, the first four issues of Legion of Super-Heroes volume 4 fall under the Post-Crisis continuity. However, a continuity reset that occurs in Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #5 does not negate most of what appears in those first four issues. Additionally, a five-year time jump that occurs before Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #1 creates a substantial break from the previous volume. Therefore, those first four issues are included under the "Glorithverse" category. For more information about the continuity reset and the time jump, see the next section.

Big changes

The "Glorithverse" Legion of Super-Heroes diverges from the previous incarnation of the team in two profound ways:

• Between Legion of Super-Heroes v3 #63 (the last issue of volume 3) and Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #1 (the first issue of the new volume 4), the book jumps five years forward. This is a literary device known as in medias res. After this jump, the status quo is very different: The team is disbanded, the galaxy is a very different place, and the characters are scattered to the winds. The events that occurred during those five years were eventually described only partially via flashback sequences, dialogue, and text pieces. This jump is known by fans as the Five Year Gap.
• Editorial fiat forced the creators to erase key Legion members Superboy, Supergirl, and the name of Mon-El from the Legion timeline. To accomplish this, the creators destroyed the current timeline in Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #4 and then established a new timeline at the end of Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #5. This timeline shift retroactively changed the history of the Legion. The major retcons were the replacement of Supergirl with Laurel Gand, the replacement of Superboy (Kal-El) and Mon-El with Valor, and the addition of a new character, Kid Quantum.

A new history

A limited timeline of this new Legion history is reprinted in 2995: The Legion of Super-Heroes Sourcebook, and fans have had to fill in the gaps. In addition to creating a new member of the early team whole cloth (Kid Quantum), the creative team made other tweaks to existing storylines in an attempt to clear up some inconsistencies over the previous 30-plus years of published Legion comics. For purposes of a timeline, the writers set the Magic Wars story in Legion of Super-Heroes v3 #60 to Legion of Super-Heroes v3 #63 in 2989, 1,000 years after the stories were published, and extrapolated years from there. Articles mentioned in this category use these years.

The following is a partial year-by-year timeline of Legion history:

Before 2973

• The Durlan from L.E.G.I.O.N. is sent through time from the 20th century to the 30th century. He eventually becomes R.J. Brande.

2973: Year One

• Imra Ardeen, Rokk Krinn, and Garth Ranzz stop an assassination attempt on R.J. Brande. Brande persuades the trio to form the Legion of Super-Heroes. The three join the new team with the codenames Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy, and Lightning Lad. This new Legion is inspired by the legendary heroism of Valor in the 20th Century.
• Cosmic Boy is selected as leader.
• The Legion recruits Triplicate Girl and Phantom Girl.
• Chameleon Boy, Colossal Boy, and Invisible Kid (Lyle Norg) join.
• Kid Quantum joins.
• Brainiac 5 and Laurel Gand join.
• Travelling back in the past, the Legion inducts Valor as an honorary member.

2974: Year Two

• Cosmic Boy is re-elected leader.
• Ultra Boy joins. During his initiation, he travels back in time and meets Valor.
• Star Boy joins.
• Kid Quantum dies at Mount Schorer, Mars. The accident leads the Legion to prohibit members whose sole powers come from devices.
• Shrinking Violet and Sun Boy join.
• Bouncing Boy, previous reject, is now admitted into the Legion.
• Valor is found in the Bgztl Buffer Region and freed temporarily. He shortly returns to the Bgztl Buffer Region.
• Matter-Eater Lad joins.

2975: Year Three

• United Planets funding begins this year.
• Saturn Girl is elected leader.
• Lightning Lad is killed repelling the first Khundish invasion of Earth.
• A permanent cure for Valor's lead weakness is found, and the hero is freed from the Bgztl Buffer Region. He is admitted to the team as a full member.
• The Legion of Substitute Heroes forms.
• Element Lad joins.
• Lightning Lass, twin sister of Lightning Lad, joins.
• Proty I, Chameleon Boy's Antaran "pet," seemingly sacrifices his life in a ceremony that restored Lightning Lad to life. Unbeknownst to everyone, Proty I's life essence is transferred into Lightning Lad's body instead.
• Dream Girl joins. Using Naltorian science, she transforms Lightning Lass's electricity powers to gravity powers. Lightning Lass becomes Light Lass. Dream Girl resigns shortly therafter.
• Bouncing Boy loses his powers and resigns. He becomes an honorary Legionnaire.

2976: Year Four

• Saturn Girl is re-elected leader.
• The Legion successfully halts the rise of Mordru, who is imprisoned after the defeat.
• Lightning Lad loses his arm fighting the so-called Super-Moby Dick of Space.

2977: Year Five

• Brainiac 5 is elected leader. Saturn Girl is deputy.
• Computo, a creation of Brainiac 5, goes berserk. One of Triplicate Girl's bodies is killed.
• Star Boy kills in self-defense and is expelled from the Legion.
• Ferro Lad, Princess Projectra, Karate Kid, and Nemesis Kid join.
• A second Khundish invasion is stopped. Nemesis Kid is exposed as a traitor, but he escapes.
• At some point this year, the Time Trapper creates modified temporal duplicates of the current Legion team and stores them in stasis under the Time Institute.

2978: Year Six

• Invisible Kid (Lyle Norg) is elected leader, Valor deputy.
• Star Boy, Dream Girl, and Bouncing Boy rejoin the Legion.
• Ferro Lad sacrifices his life to destroy the Sun-Eater. The Fatal Five is created.
• Shadow Lass joins.
• The Legion Academy opens.

2979: Year Seven

• Ultra Boy is leader for the first half of the year, Karate Kid for the second. Valor is deputy for the entire year.
• Chemical King and Timber Wolf join.

2980: Year Eight

• Valor is leader for the first half of the year, Ultra Boy the second. Element Lad is deputy under Valor. Ultra Boy appoints rotating deputies.
• Timber Wolf is presumed dead in the explosion of Asteroid X-52.

2981: Year Nine

• Valor is elected leader, Sun Boy is deputy.
• Timber Wolf returns.
• Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel marry and resign.
• Wildfire joins.
• Validus kills Invisible Kid (Lyle Norg).
• Matter-Eater Lad is drafted into politics on Bismoll and resigns from the Legion.
• Tyroc joins.

2982: Year 10

• Wildfire is elected leader, Element Lad deputy.
• Dawnstar joins.
• Chemical King dies stopping a Dark Circle plot to start a civil war on Earth.
• Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad marry, resign from Legion.
• The Legion joins in the United Planets' victory over the Mordru-Dark Circle-Khundish alliance (Earthwar). In the aftermath, Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad rejoin the Legion.

2983: Year 11

• Lightning Lad is elected leader, Element Lad deputy.
• The Legion fights the Omega creature, created by an insane Brainiac 5. Matter-Eater Lad is temporarily driven insane when he devours the Miracle Machine. Both recover.
• Tyroc resigns.
• Blok joins.
• Computo returns and attacks the Legion, attaching its essence to Danielle Foccart. Her brother, Jacques Foccart, gains his powers during the emergency. He helps defeat Computo and saves his sister. Later, he is admitted to the Legion as Invisible Kid.
• Projectra and Karate Kid change to reservist status as Projectra takes the Orandian throne with Karate Kid as her consort.

2984: Year 12

• Dream Girl is elected leader, Element Lad deputy.
• Darkseid tries to enslave the galaxy but is held off by the Legion (Great Darkness).
• The White Witch joins.
• Light Lass resigns and returns to Winath.
• Colossal Boy secretly marries an individual who he thinks is Shrinking Violet. However, she is actually a Durlan actress named Yera in disguise. The kidnapped Shrinking Violet is freed from her terrorist kidnappers, and Yera and Colossal Boy decide to stay married.
• Projectra and Karate Kid marry.

2985: Year 13

• Element Lad is elected leader, Dream Girl deputy.
• Twin brothers Graym and Garridan Ranzz are born to Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad.
• The Legion of Super-Villains attack Orando. In the battle, Karate Kid is killed, and Projectra kills Nemesis Kid.
• Light Lass regains her electrical powers and rejoins the Legion as Lightning Lass.
• Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy, and Lightning Lad resign to take advisory roles.

2986: Year 14

• Element Lad is elected leader, Brainiac 5 deputy.
• Magnetic Kid, Polar Boy, Quislet, Tellus, and Sensor Girl join.
• Star Boy resigns to serve as planetary protector of Xanthu.

2987: Year 15

• Leadership elections are delayed as Universo takes control of Earth and the Legion itself. Universo is defeated, and Saturn Girl returns to active status.
• Polar Boy is elected leader for an extended term with Element Lad as deputy.
• The Legion travels to the 20th century to seek out Superboy. During the adventure, they admit Superboy into the Legion and discover that the Time Trapper has created a Pocket Universe. In the end, Superboy sacrifices his life.

2988: Year 16

• Polar Boy continues term as leader with Element Lad as deputy.
• Glorith destroys Daxam. A conspiracy of Legionnaires plan an attack again Glorith. This group includes Valor, Duo Damsel, Brainiac 5, Rond Vidar, and Laurel Gand. In the attack, Duo Damsel loses another body and Valor is critically injured. Glorith retreats into the time stream.
• The White Witch resigns and returns to the Sorceror's World.
• Shadow Lass resigns to care for the injured Valor. He eventually recovers but does not return to active status.
• Brainiac 5 is tried for insubordination after the attack on Glorith. He is cleared of charges but resigns.
• Shadow Lass marries Valor.

2989: Year 17

• Sensor Girl is leader, Timber Wolf deputy.
• Quislet is sent back to his home dimension and effectively leaves the Legion.
• The Magic Wars occur. Magnetic Kid dies.
• In the aftermath, the economies of many United Planets worlds, including Earth, collapse.

2990 through late 2994

This period is known as the Five Year Gap. The Legion eventually disbands, its members spread about the galaxy. It ends when Reep Daggle (the former Chameleon Boy) approaches a depowered Rokk Krinn (Cosmic Boy) on Braal and proposes a new Legion.

A new start

A new Legion team was formed in late 2994, and their adventures continue through the End of an Era storyline until Zero Hour. With some exceptions, this era features no super-heroic code names.

Members

For a list of members of this new Legion, go here.

The temporal duplicates of the Legion created in 2977 eventually surface and form their own team. For more information, see SW6 Batch. For a list of members, go here.

Storylines

Major storylines and events include the following:

• The Legion reforms, rescues Mysa Nal from Mordru, and battles Roxxas. (Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #1 through Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #12)
• Garth Ranzz gives the new Legion the Talus planetoid to use as a non-Earth-based headquarters. (Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #14)
• The Legion joins with the United Planets Militia Academy members and the United Planets itself to counter a series of attacks on its space by the Khunds. Glorith's manipulation is revealed, and she is sent to the far future. (Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #15 through Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #17)
• A resistance on Earth grows in strength, as Tyroc joins the underground, and two different resistance cells (led by Jacques Foccart and Universo respectively) join forces. (Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #16)
• Incidents on Orando and Carggg involving Valor and Tasmia Mallor reveals the extent of the Dark Circle cult's influence in the United Planets. (Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #18)
• Earth's moon is destroyed by a Dominator weapon, planted there as part of their so-called Triple Strike program. As part of the program, Earth's fusion powerspheres also explode, causing massive destruction and giving off null radiation. (Adventures of Superman #478 and Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #19)
• Zuun falls under martial law while Querl Dox and Furball are on the planet, and Jo Nah, Celeste Rockfish, and Kent Shakespeare join them. Darkseid is thwarted in efforts to complete the Gemini Project, an experiment that is meant to create an individual that is "the next step between man and God." (This storyline is known as the Quiet Darkness and runs from Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #21 through Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #24.)
• In the wake of the chaos on Earth, the resistance grows in strength. Temporal doppelgangers of the Legion circa 2977 emerge and join the fight. In the end, the resistance is triumphant, and the Dominion's influence over Earth ends. Jacques Foccart becomes president of Earth. (The Terra Mosaic storyline officially runs from Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #26 through Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #35)
• Timber Wolf is sent to the 20th century for a brief time. (This story is depicted in |Legion of Super-Heroes v4, Annual #3, Timber Wolf #1, Timber Wolf #2, Timber Wolf #3, Timber Wolf #4, Timber Wolf #5, and |Legion of Super-Heroes v4, Annual #4.)
• While searching for his disappeared father R.J. Brande, Reep Daggle finds Brande and James Cullen, the former Kid Quantum. Cullen reveals that he faked his death. (Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #33)
• Earth is destroyed by a chain reaction based on very old samples of a toxic waste product triggered by the destruction of the Dominion underground experimentation chambers. The planet is evacuated, major cities are saved, and the patchwork of cities is dubbed "New Earth". The teenaged SW6 Batch is dubbed "The Legionnaires" and establishes a headquarters there. (Earth destroyed in Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #38. For more information about specific adventures of the Legionnaires, see SW6 Batch.) Additionally, Jacques Foccart steps down as president and Troy Stewart (Tyroc) assumes the presidency of Earth.
• The adult Legion is attacked by a mysterious figure who is manipulated by Glorith. In the ensuing battle, it is revealed that this is Luornu Durgo-Taine's second body, seemingly destroyed in an earlier battle with Glorith. Durgo-Taine regains the ability to split into two bodies and gains an additional force-field ability.
• Mysa Nal merges with Amethyst and attacks Mordru. He absorbs her power, and raises dead Legionnaires and other heroes from the dead to serve in his army. The Legion allies with the Khunds, who submit four individuals for membership, and the combined team eventually defeats Mordru. (The "Mordru Rising" storyline took place in Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #43 through Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #48.)
• Grimbor the Chainsman attacks Quarantine in the hopes of rescuing his daughter Cocheta Drisden, but he is foiled in his attempt by Kent Shakespeare, Celeste McCauley, and a group of super-powered kids. (Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #51)
• The Legion attacks Glorith on Baaldur. During the fight, Querl Dox and Celeste McCauley are aged, while Kent Shakespeare and Mysa Nal are deaged. While Glorith battles the Legion, she learns from a returned Time Trapper of his own manipulations: a copied Legion team taken in the past to be used as his army; the creation of Devlin O'Ryan's reflective powers, powers that reflected her attack back at her, freeing him. He then absorbs her powers and both vanish. (Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #53)
• The Legion is framed by Universo and goes on the run from the United Planets. Team members assume disguises and new temporary codenames during this period. Additionally, Laurel Gand dies. (The Legion on the Run storyline took place in Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #54 through Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #58.)
• Time fluctuations are caused by the events of Zero Hour, the machinations of the Time Trapper, and an alliance between Mordru and Glorith. (The End of an Era storyline runs through the Valor, Legionnaires, and Legion of Super-Heroes titles and ends with Legion of Super-Heroes' v4 #61.)

See also and Category:Glorithverse storylines.

Major retcons

As a result of the continuity restart in Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #5, a number of changes were made to Legion history retroactively to "fix" stories that no longer made sense. The creators also made some changes based on their own theories and story ideas. The following changes fit into both categories:

• After the Pocket Universe storyline in Legion of Super-Heroes' v3 #37 and Legion of Super-Heroes' v3 #38, Superboy was largely written out of the Legion timeline. By the early days of volume 4, the existence of Mon-El (specifically, the "-El" name) became a problem. An editorial mandate forced the creators to find a solution. This solution became the Mordruverse reboot and the creation of the Valor character. The inclusion of Valor, and the character of Laurel Gand to take the place of Supergirl, made necessary other changes to Legion history. Specifically, any story with Superboy in it set before Mon-El's release from the Bgztl Buffer Zone did not include Superboy at all. Any story after that replaced Superboy with Valor or Mon-El with Valor. Any story with Supergirl now included Laurel Gand in her place. As for stories that included both Mon-El and Superboy or stories that featured visits to the 20th century, it's a little less clear how the new stories worked.

• The basic Pocket Universe storyline remains as-is. The Legion does travel to the past to find Superboy. They find out that the Time Trapper created the Pocket Universe. Superboy sacrifices his life to save the universe. Eventually, the Pocket Universe ceases to be. This story remains most likely because the Pocket Universe was essential to Superman continuity (the origin of the Matrix Supergirl and the execution of the Kryptonian criminals).

• Many of the United Planets worlds were "seeded" by Valor before he went into the Bgztl Buffer Zone for 1,000 years. Additionally, Valor was in the Bgztl Buffer Zone and not the Phantom Zone.

• Kid Quantum retroactively became one of the Legion's first members and its first member to die. (More than 20 years later, his death was revealed to be faked.) His death spurs the Legion to refuse membership to heroes who must rely on devices for their powers.

• Ultra Boy is a lot smarter than he looks. This may have already been true, but it became a major plot point in the Glorithverse era. During his initiation into the Legion, Ultra Boy stumbles upon proof of Glorith's machinations. As a result, he acts dumb while helping prevent Glorith from gaining total power. For example, he secretly goads Mordru and Glorith into fighting each other, a battle that severely weakened both. When Glorith learned of Ultra Boy's knowledge, she faked the death of his beloved Phantom Girl, sending her instead to 2996 and sending Phantom Girl's cousin, Enya, to the 20th century.

• The "conspiracy" storyline, which was originally predicated on the death of Superboy, became instead a revenge plot after Glorith destroys Daxam.

• When members of the Legion, along with Proty I, Chameleon Boy's Antaran "pet," performed a ceremony to restore the life of Lightning Lad, Lightning Lad was not actually revived to his old self. Instead, Proty I's life essence was transferred to Lightning Lad's body. The SW6 version of Lightning Lad, later known as Live Wire, appears to be more impulsive than the Proty Lightning Lad that lived during that time, implying perhaps that the original Lightning Lad's personality was a lot more aggressive than the Proty I personality.

• Shvaughn Erin was revealed to be a man, Sean Erin, who had taken the gender-changing drug ProFem to change himself to a female. This move was brought on in part became of a kinship he felt with the young Jan Arrah and Erin's confusion about his feelings. When Erin ran out of her supply of ProFem during the final days of the Dominion's occupation of Earth, Shvaughn became Sean once more. This information was revealed in Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #31.

• Numerous additional changes occurred in the run-up to the End of an Era and Zero Hour storylines. For example, Celeste McCauley became a Darkstar instead of a Green Lantern. Additionally, SW6 versions of Star Boy, Dream Girl, and Bouncing Boy make an appearance. The Time Trapper is revealed to be an alternate timeline version of Rokk Krinn.