The death of Lightning Lad has left the Legion of Super-Heroes feeling a little under-powered, so it is time to hold tryouts to boost their ranks. An amazing teen alternatively calling himself Legionnaire Lemon or Marvel Lad answers the call with by demonstrating his set of truly amazing powers.

To learn the true identity of Marvel Lad, and to see him take his place on a 700-point HeroClix force of Legionnaires running the tryouts, follow the link!

Synopsis: This issue is a classic "Legion try-out" issue. Among the applicants are good-natured kids rejected because their powers aren't useful enough, less honest applicants who try to bluff their way in, and one applicant who stands above the rest. Marvel Kid is so successful in his trials, that the rest of the Legion grows suspicious:

118 Rookie (Origin 073) Marvel Lad (Mon-El)
115 (DC Giants 003) Colossal Boy
88 (Superman 008) Brainiac 5
79 (Superman 022) Sun Boy
70 (LSH 001) Cosmic Boy
60 (LSH 002) Saturn Girl
53 (Superman 008) Invisible Kid
50 (Justice League 016) Bouncing Boy
30 (LSH 008) Shrinking Violet

+ 18 Additional Team Ability Legionnaires

= 681 Points

Marvel Kid was none other than Mon-El, finally freed from one thousand years of exile in the Phantom Zone. He had been kicking around as a supporting figure in a few earlier stories, so it was only a matter of time before Brainiac 5 (through the writing of Jerry Siegel) found a way to bring him into the Legion of Super-Heroes full time.

I have two reasons for focusing on this issue. The first is that this is a good example of how the even the earliest Legion adventures (this story is from 1963) made good use of the already large cast of players. It may be a little disingenous to represent this force as on an actual mission, as it was Mon-El doing all the work while the others stood in judgement...but I digress. My second reason is because it is easy to see how the star of the force, while not having a bad HeroClix representation, certainly has one that is outclassed by figures of later years.

The only versions of Daxam's favorite son existing in HeroClix are the REV from Origin. These figures are from 2007, and the names of the REV more-or-less represent the character's progression from a peculiar period of DC comics spanning roughly from the Invasion! through the Zero Hour adventures. It is practically impossible to build a HeroClix force of Legionnaires that "correctly" uses characters from appropriate times so just roll with it. For example, this force uses Invisible Kid II as a stand-in for Invisible Kid I, and the 'Micro-Lad' costume for Colossal Boy is clearly the Threeboot/Earth-Prime version of the character.

R Mon-El Points: 118 Range: 6
Team: Legion of Superheroes
Keywords: Legion of Super Heroes, Teen

10 10 16 3

10 10 16 3

10 9 15 3

9 9 16 3

9 8 15 3

9 8 14 3

8 8 14 3

8 7 14 2

KO KO KO KO

Now that we HeroClix players have access to 100-150 point versions of Kryptonians that actually serve as threats, it is hard to imagine building a force with this 118-point Daxamite as a replacement for any of the Legion of Super Heroes keyworded 'supers'...but the Legion is all about acceptance and overcoming difficulties, so this is the figure to use for this force. I certainly wouldn't object to any player replacing the 118-point Mon-El (and using up most of the leftover points) with the Smallville Fast Forces 150-point Superman, since their power sets are so similar in the comics.

A nine-figure force would make this article quite long, and I've discussed each of the other figures in detail in archived articles. I want to re-emphasize the use of the Legionnaires Additional Team Ability if you opt to go with my recommended build:
LEGIONNAIRES Cost: 2 per character Prerequisite Keyword: Legion of Super Heroes

Whenever the friendly character with the highest point value that’s using this team ability is KO’d, remove one action token from each other friendly character using this team ability.

In a 700-point game, almost no opponent is going to resist trying to KO Mon-El first, and there will be little that awesome support figures like Invisible Kid and Brainiac 5 will be able to do to help. The best plan is to pay aggressively and recognize that you will have to have your figures in place to take advantage of actions coming off of them. In such a strategy, Colossal Boy is a good help: the figure is very mobile and can block lines of sight, and is also pushable and somewhat threatening on offense. As a giant, it is also likely that he will be the second to fall to opponents.

V Colossal Boy Points: 115 Range: 0
Team: Legion of Superheroes
Keywords: Future, Legion of Super Heroes, Teen

7 10 17 3

7 10 16 2

8 9 17 3

8 9 17 3

6 9 16 2

6 8 15 2

5 8 14 2

5 7 13 2

KO KO KO KO

The rest of the force has only one problem, and that is the reliable ability to do 3+ damage. The elements of victory are all there, with a mix of ranged-attacks (including Telekinesis-tossing of objects), close-combat, Outwit, and some support. As I recommended above, in a 700-point game this force is likely to be facing some serious min-max, so your best strategy is to play as aggressively as possible.

E Brainiac 5 Points: 88 Range: 0
Team: Legion of Superheroes
Keywords: Future, Legion of Super Heroes, Scientist

7 9 17 2

7 9 16 2

6 9 16 1

6 9 16 1

5 8 15 1

5 8 15 1

KO KO KO KO

Force Field Belt: Brainiac 5 can use Invulnerability. Give Braniac 5 a free action and choose an adjacent character with the Legion of Super-Heroes keyword. That character can use Toughness until your next turn as long as it is adjacent to Brainiac 5.

Twelfth-Level Intellect: Brainiac 5 can use Outwit. Once during your turn Brainiac 5 can use Perplex or Probability Control.

E Sun Boy Points: 79 Range: 7
Team: Legion of Superheroes
Keywords: Future, Legion of Super Heroes

8 10 17 3

8 9 16 2

8 10 16 2

7 9 16 2

7 9 15 2

6 8 15 2

KO KO KO KO

Radiant Spectrum: Sun Boy can use Penetrating/Psychic Blast and Pulse Wave.

E Cosmic Boy Points: 70 Range: 6
Team: Legion of Superheroes
Keywords: Future, Legion of Super Heroes, Teen

9 10 17 2

9 10 16 2

9 9 16 2

8 9 16 2

8 7 16 1

7 7 15 1

KO KO KO KO

E Saturn Girl Points: 60 Range: 8
Team: Legion of Superheroes
Keywords: Future, Legion of Super Heroes, Psychic, Teen

9 9 16 2

8 10 15 2

8 10 15 2

7 9 14 1

7 8 14 1

KO KO KO KO

Telepathic Coordination: Once during your turn (but not during another action), as a free action Saturn Girl modifies by +2 the attack value or defense value of any other target friendly character for the duration of an action. Saturn Girl must be within 10 squares of and have a clear line of fire to the target.

E Invisible Kid Points: 53 Range: 3
Team: Legion of Superheroes
Keywords: Future, Legion of Super Heroes, Spy

7 9 16 2

7 9 15 1

6 9 15 1

6 8 15 2

5 8 14 1

KO KO KO KO

Full Invisibility: Invisible Kid can use Stealth. Any line of fire drawn to Invisible Kid is blocked if he has no action tokens.

Shared Invisibility: Give Invisible Kid a free action and choose an adjacent character with the Legion of Super-Heroes keyword. That character can use Stealth until your next turn as long as it is adjacent to Invisible Kid.

R Bouncing Boy Points: 50 Range: 0
Team: Legion of Superheroes
Keywords: Future, Legion of Super Heroes, Teen

8 9 16 2

10 8 16 2

11 8 15 2

10 7 15 1

8 7 16 1

KO KO KO KO

Ricochet: Once per turn, if Bouncing Boy KOs an opposing character or hits an opposing character with a critical hit, after the attack resolves he can break away automatically, immediately move up to his full speed value, and make one close combat attack against a different opposing character as a free action.

E Shrinking Violet Points: 30 Range: 0
Team: Legion of Superheroes
Keywords: Future, Legion of Super Heroes, Spy, Teen

8 9 16 2

7 9 16 2

9 9 16 1

7 8 15 1

6 8 15 1

KO KO KO KO

FYI: In case you are wondering why Saturn Girl wasn't asked to read 'Legionnaire Lemon's' (a.k.a. Marvel Lad) mind to expose his deception earlier, she was conveniently called away from the tryouts before his arrival on the scene, so you could opt to build the force without her at a lower point value.

still can't quite get saturn girls sp down in my head. Could I say, modify a friendly character's defense and it stay modified into my opponents turn. Does the defense stay modified until my opponent completes an action, then the value returns to normal?

Telepathic Coordination: Once during your turn (but not during another action), as a free action Saturn Girl modifies by +2 the attack value or defense value of any other target friendly character for the duration of an action. Saturn Girl must be within 10 squares of and have a clear line of fire to the target.

As written (and with nothing like a clarification or 'final word') the best way to get a real benefit from Telepathic Coordination is to use it immediately before a friendly figure begins some sort of move-and-attack. The defensive option might be useful if you had a friendly figure declare an attack that might hit one of your friendly figures.

It is also possible that the defensive choice (at the end of the turn) could help when facing a single opposing figure that can only make some sort of attack, but otherwise the defense option appears to be worthless.

Mon-El was fun to use.

Saturn Girl is so awesome! Very good article. Keep going!