Timber Wolf/LSH cartoon/episode
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Contents
Story Synopsis
TV listing
A mysterious scientist asks the Legion to help capture a dangerous creature. They succeed, only to discover the creature is nowhere near as dangerous as the scientist himself.
Expanded synopsis
While fighting a Morthax, the Legion gets a distress call from Dr. Mar Londo on Rawl. They go to his aid but crash-land on the planet. The only human life on the wildlife planet appears to be Dr. Londo. At his research facility, Londo tells the Legion that a creature has destroyed everything dear to thim - his research, the rest of his team, and his son Brin. The Legion agrees to bring back the creature. Bouncing Boy and Brainiac 5 repair their ship at Londo's facility while Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, and Superman track the creature. Spider robots attack the team, but during the attack, the feral creature disappears with Saturn Girl.
While Bouncing Boy makes his way past some of Londo's robots into a restricted area, Saturn Girl awakens to find the creature nearby. He appears to be semi-intelligent, and she reads his mind to find that all is not as it seems. Superman and Lighting Lad charge in to rescue Saturn Girl, but she's knocked out in the fray. The two continue fighting until the creature is unconscious. Back at Londo's facility, Brainiac 5 discovers Bouncing Boy held captive by the robots, and after freeing him they start to investigate the lab. Lightning Lad and Superman bring back Saturn Girl and the creature, and meet up with the other two who inform them that Londo is doing outlaw experiments on the indigenous life forms. Saturn Girl awakens and informs the group that the creature is not what they think - she reads his mind and sees memories of Londo operating on him. She calms him down and he reverts to a more human form. Londo arrives with an army of robots and creatures and informs them that this creature is his son Brin Londo.
Mar Londo reveals that he called the Legion in to capture his son for him. They refuse to hand over Brin, so the robots and creatures are ordered to attack. While the Legion fights off the attack, Mar Londo goes back to the facility to release more creatures - which are ready to turn on him, but Brin growls and orders them back. Mar Londo tells the Legion that he experimented on the native animals, but they weren't human enough, so he tried to transform his son into a formidable battle creature, but ran away before the process was complete, and it's irreversible. Saturn Girl tells him that the Legion will help Brin. Mar Londo tells the Legion that Rawl is outside of any jurisdiction so he can't be arrested, but Brin destroys the facility's computers. The Legion leaves in their repaired cruiser, Superman outside compensating for the failed atmospheric thrusters. Brin tries on his new costume, and wonders if he can control the beast within him. Lightning Lad offers words of encouragement, and Superman swears him in to the Legion as he takes the code name "Timber Wolf".
Cast
Legionnaires
The following appear in the episode:
- Bouncing Boy
- Brainiac 5
- Lightning Lad
- Saturn Girl
- Superman
- Timber Wolf, joins in this episode
The following appear only as images on the computer screens:
- Blok
- Colossal Boy
- Cosmic Boy
- Dream Girl
- Element Lad
- Phantom Girl
- Shrinking Violet
- Sun Boy
- Triplicate Girl
- Tyroc
Villains
Other Characters
- Mar Londo's robots and creatures
- Morthax, a space creature that will eat anything (including spaceships)
Miscellaneous
Locations
- deep space
- Rawl, a wildlife planet where Dr. Mar Londo has a research station (spelling taken from the closed-captioning text)
Trivia about the episode
- This episode introduces Timber Wolf, who joins in this episode.
- A Legion cruiser is badly damaged on entry. Brainiac 5 tried to engage the auto-compensators - a system he designed specifically to assist for Bouncing Boy, the pilot - but pressed the wrong buttons. (Possible recurring themes?)
- Bouncing Boy is the pilot and main mechanic of the Legion Cruiser.
- Superman knows how to use his x-ray vision and super-hearing.
- If the right parts are not available, a plasma conduit can be substituted for an injector port on a Legion Cruiser.
- Saturn Girl displays several new powers:
- a power to mentally create an explosive force field called a thought blast, but it's so draining that she passes out afterwards
- she can go into a healing trance when unconscious, but can still hear.
- she can project images
- A Flight Ring and a Communicator Belt are awarded to new members.
- Timber Wolf repeats the Legion Oath as he is sworn in: "To the Legion of Super-Heroes, I make this solemn pledge: to use my powers for good, to fight for justice and protect the innocent, to aid my fellow Legionnaires in times of peril, and to keep their secrets safe. I choose a new name to honor the heroes of the past. I am Timber Wolf!"
- A number of Legionnaires (most of whom have not made actual appearances by the time of this episode) appear in monitor screens in the background as Timber Wolf takes his oath.
Quotes
- unknown
Adaptations
The primary source material for this episode, the origin and first appearance of Timber Wolf, is Adventure Comics #327. In that issue, he was introduced as "Lone Wolf" from the planet Zuun and believed himself to be an android, though in reality the android had stolen Brin Londo's identity and passed itself off as human after the death of Brin's father, Dr. Mar Londo. The Legion helped him reclaim his identity, after which he changed his name to Timber Wolf and joined the Legion Academy. Brin's abilities of strength, stamina, and agility came from the element Zuunium. Years later, he developed a more feral appearance (in Superboy (v1) #197) which he retained up through the Glorithverse events of Black Dawn. After that, he grew in size and became completely covered in long fur, earning the nickname "Furball", until he regained the ability to be humanoid again. At that point (around the time of the Timber Wolf miniseries), he resembled the version of Timber Wolf seen in this episode.
