Sensor Girl

[kybearfuzz]

[begin comic geekery]

In 1984, DC Comics decided to launch their direct sales, Baxter-paper editions of the "Legion of Super-Heroes" and "The New Teen Titans." I really enjoyed the Legion stories from this time frame. It was during this time that Karate Kid was killed off (becoming the fourth Legionnaire to die in action) and Projectra, his wife, left the Legion and the dimension.

In issue #14, the Legion opened up tryouts for new members, the first time in years of stories that they did this. The cover showed many of the applicants, including a flying blonde and masked hero that only appears in the final panel of the story. The masked hero was called Sensor Girl. Masks were an oddity for the Legion as they had no secret identities, but other than her name, nothing was revealed.

Over the next year, we readers were given many clues to her real identity. I remember greatly anticipating monthly issues to see what they would reveal. She could fly, appeared to be physically powerful, had superhuman senses, and could create odd effects, like red illumination in the dark. All signs pointed to Supergirl, which was just really too obvious as she'd been killed in the recent Crisis at that time. It was something like a soap opera for comic geeks and I loved it. The team was becoming divided over her mysterious identity.

After 12 issues, during a battle with the Emerald Empress and the Fatal Five, in the last splash page of issue #25, her identity was revealed. I remember turning that last page slowly, to reveal that Sensor Girl was a returned Projectra. I admit that I was snowed. She became one of my favorite Legionnaires, which was strange as I never really cared much for her as Projectra. The new, grittier and much better costumed character was easy to like. I was happy to see her in this guise again during the Final Crisis and look forward to her reappearing with the LSH.

[/end comic geek moment]

Comments

[dendren.livejournal.com]

I remember really really wishing it was going to be Supergirl. I seem to remember reading some interview with the writers a few years later that Supergirl had actually been the original pitch with some weird thing that would have kept her from ever returning to the 20th century or being Supergirl. But, that was nixed and pulling Projectra out of the hat really was shocking and impressive. I really did love the 80s Legion. I've truly never understood why they felt they needed the first reboot in the first place.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I knew it wasn't going to be Supergirl as it was just too obvious as they played it up in that direction. If I remember, the President of DC Jeannette Kahn had said that anyone who died in the Crisis was gone and couldn't be brought back. So that might have been the decision that changed the focus to Projectra. I was completely surprised, since she had left the Legion only 9 issues or so before Sensor Girl appeared.

I don't know why they needed to reboot either, though I know that Giffen's "Five Years Later" thing wasn't my favorite and maybe they were trying to get back to the original feeling of the team.

[dendren.livejournal.com]

I've often wondered how things would have played out if they had gone with their original plan of making the SW-6 Legion turning out to be the real LSH and the older counterparts we'd read for years were actually the clones. That way they could bring back a younger more innocent LSH without abandoning the past... which ultimately they ended up doing with the zero hour reboot.

hmmmm, that's right, they tried that with Spiderman too LOL

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I think I read somewhere that it was the original plan that the SW6 Legion to be the real group, but I think that would have seriously ticked off the fan base, that the ones they knew and loved (even through some really bad costume designs) were clones. I wouldn't have liked that idea.

One of the changes I didn't like, before they did before the Giffen stuff, was to turn Laurel Kent into a Manhunter. I really enjoyed that character and didn't think they developed her enough. I liked the idea that Superman had decendents in the 31st century.

[dendren.livejournal.com]

yeah, I always liked the concept of our favorites having descendents in the LSH. I think the only official ones were the Tornado Twins and Laurel Kent but I seem to remember some mention of a Green Arrow one. Or maybe it was just a wink and a nod to Mike Grell's art now that I think about it. I actually loved the change of having the Tornado Twins turn out to be Barry's actual children instead of 1000 year descendents. It just all made sense considering Iris being from the future in the first place. Always thought it was too bad they killed Don and Dawn off right away tho.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

There was a Green Arrow descendant. His name is Oli-3 Queen and he was the tour guide whose floating bus was often outside the Legion HQ.

In one of the Legion annuals, there was a story called "Who Shot Laurel Kent?" about Professor Ivo who had survived to 1000 years in suspended animation or something and his robot was killing JLA descendants. His robot offed one of Batman's descendants who was a detective and a Thanagarian policeman who was a descendant of Hawkman before the Legion managed to stop him.

And I thought the killing off of the Tornado Twins was sad. That part of the Legion history is kinda fuzzy though. I'm looking forward to having the current writer straighten things out.

[notmypresident.livejournal.com]

I'll take your comic geek moment and up it by one: I was watching "The Menagerie" from ST:TOS in HD the other day and realized that Sensor Girl's upgrade basically made her the equivalent of those aliens with their ability to make you see or hear whatever they wanted.

They're obviously up to something big with her current absence from the storyline. I mean, it's not as if she's vacationing on Talos IV...

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Well, she was gone for several issues, maybe Projectra took a spin there! :D

[mat-t.livejournal.com]

Is it just me, or does that costume make her look really butch? I think it's the really broad shoulders.... *G*

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Well it was the 1980's, so shoulder pads were in fashion. Her costume did have shoulder pads in them from what I could see in other drawings!

[dendren.livejournal.com]

total 80s fashion, think Alexis and Krystal on Dynasty, add a mask & super-powers and voila... Sensor Girl in shoulder pads.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I thought the costume was awesome at the time, but I do see the fad in it now. And I think Sensor Girl could whup'em both!

[dendren.livejournal.com]

I remember really loving most the 80s costume re-designs for the Legion. Some of Mike Grell's 70s ones were pretty cool but some... like Saturn Girl's itty bitty teeny weenie pink bikini were just embarrassingly awful. When they started redoing the costumes for the 80s it was a nice sigh of relief to see poor Saturn Girl get her body covered up a bit LOL

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I am a huge Mike Grell fan, but I admit that some of those costumes were hideous. He draws the female form well though.

The costume I sort of love/hate was Cosmic Boy's. It was a bit odd for the time, like a bustier. I like that it shows so much skin, but it looks like something a girl would wear.

[mat-t.livejournal.com]

And the link I just commented? Take a look at the next image in the list...

I'll trump your comic book geekery

[rootbeer1.livejournal.com]

Back when the Legion, the Teen Titans (and the Outsiders? I can't recall) were starting their Baxter-paper editions, which would be in addition to their usual Mando-paper editions, Amazing Heroes did an article explaining how the Mando series would start reprinting the content of the direct-sales editions after a year of original content in both series. It was all somewhat confusing, and that sales experiment didn't last long.

Yeah, I wrote that article ... I wrote most of Amazing Heroes then. Sometimes under assumed names, so it would look like we had a bigger stable of writers than we actually did.

Re: I'll trump your comic book geekery

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I bow to your trumping! I had no idea you wrote for that magazine.

In retrospect, the Baxter paper stories being reprinted a year later in the Mando editions seems a bit cruel, as some of the readers in the more rural areas where comic book shops were not so plentiful were left behind. Granted, the internet did not exist back then, so they may not have known what they were missing.

Re: I'll trump your comic book geekery

[rootbeer1.livejournal.com]

I worked for Fantagraphics from September '83 to May '84, writing news stories, articles and checklists for Amazing Heroes and The Comics Journal. Also transcribed a good number of interviews.

It was a terrible place to work.

Re: I'll trump your comic book geekery

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Why was it so terrible?

Re: I'll trump your comic book geekery

[rootbeer1.livejournal.com]

I'll tell you the next time we're messaging ...

[mat-t.livejournal.com]

Speaking of Sensor Girl, take a look at this. Poke around on the rest of the site too, since you're a big LSH fan :)

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Those are really REALLY cool! The guy who did them has a great eye for detail!

And the old Cosmic Boy costumes are too funny! He did wear the bustier costume well!