Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Who's Who: Heroes of Lallor

Heroes of Lallor
by Russell & Siskoid


Members: Beast Boy, Duplicate Boy, Evolvo Lad, Gas Girl, Life Lass
Super-Power(s): Evolvo Lad has the ability to go forward or backward in evolution; Duplicate Boy has the ability to copy any other super-power; Gas Girl has the ability to become gaseous and possess the characteristics of gases; Life Lass can animate any non-living object; Beast Boy had the ability to turn into any mammal, but was killed saving a child from a ferocious beast
Planet of Origin: Lallor
Relationship to Legion: Initially rivals, then allies

Legion Log
The Heroes of Lallor is a  group of super-heroes based on that planet. Five infants were adversely affected when a nuclear weapon accidentally exploded near their neighborhood. They were raised together, under constant surveillance by Lallorian scientists. They fostered a friendship that continues to this day.

When they were in their early teens, their scientist sponsors announced their existence to their world. However, Prime Minister Vorr banished them from Lallor for fear that they would upset his dictatorship. The five teens had no choice but to wander through space, looking for a hospitable planet to live on.

On Earth, Dr. Marden King, the vindictive brother of the Jungle King, knew of the Heroes of Lallor and asked them to come to Earth. He lied to them, telling them that the Legion was a group of despots who would not allow the teen-agers to stay. The Legion, likewise, believed that the five were criminals known as The Legion of Super-Outlaws. Duped into fighting each other, the Heroes were despondent when they were defeated. They nearly gave up their powers completely via Dr. King's power-eraser ray. Instead, the Legion helped them return to Lallor, celebrated as heroes. At this time, Duplicate Boy began to fall in love with Shrinking Violet.

A year later, Beast Boy, feeling isolated by the humans on Lallor, went to the jungle planet Vorn to live his life surrounded by animals. He came into conflict with the Legion when he attempted to force the human population off of Vorn. Unfortunately, by the time the Legion realized that Beast Boy was their opponent, it was too late to call in the rest of the Heroes to help them catch him. Beast Boy died when he stopped a ferocious Maw, a canine-like creature with a retractable jaw, from killing a child who had been nice to him.

Although Prime Minister Vorr threatened the Heroes' families with imprisonment if they did not banish themselves from Lallor, we never saw or heard of any of their families again after this incident. This is especially tragic for Beast Boy, who could have used the emotional support that he might have gotten from his family before he decided to leave Lallor for Vorn.

The Heroes of Lallor did not reappear for several years, although they did attend the wedding of Duo Damsel and Bouncing Boy. During this time Duplicate Boy and Shrinking Violet maintained their long-distance relationship. See Duplicate Boy's solo profile for details.

Several years later, after Shrinking Violet appeared to spurn Duplicate Boy and then broke up with him, Duplicate Boy suffered from a type of "performance" anxiety that made it impossible for him to use his powers. The other Heroes of Lallor stepped in and, using a bit of gentle subterfuge, cured their friend of his affliction.

The Heroes of Lallor continued with their local career, appearing again during The Magic Wars.

After the so-called Five-Year Gap, the Heroes of Lallor were seen taking part in the battle against Mordru's undead army, and, under mind control, in the effort to bring the rogue (framed) Legionnaires to justice.

After the Reboot, Evolvo Lad was a member of the Workforce, a competing group of heroes working for one of R.J. Brande's rivals. He is not a member of the Heroes of Lallor though they do exist, once seen being told they had to protect their homeworld and couldn't go help the Legion. Those seen include Beast Boy, Gas Girl, and new member Splitter (AKA Arm-Fall-Off Boy).

The Heroes of Lallor do not appear to exist in the Threeboot, but after Infinite Crisis, their original history has presumably been more or less restored.

Important Heroes of Lallor Stories:

Adventure Comics (v1) #324
 (reprinted in Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 3
and Showcase Presents the Legion Vol. 2)
The Heroes of Lallor introduce themselves to their home-world

Adventure Comics (v1) #339
 (reprinted in Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 4
and Showcase Presents the Legion Vol. 2)
Beast Boy goes wild after Lallor turns against him, 
but he dies heroically saving a child from a wild animal

Legion of Super-Heroes (v2) #294
 (reprinted in The Great Darkness Saga collections)
The Heroes of Lallor help the Universe fight against the hordes of Darkseid

Legion of Super-Heroes (v2) #296
(reprinted in The Great Darkness Saga Deluxe Collection)
The Heroes of Lallor help rebuild Weber's World post-Darkseid


Legion of Super-Heroes (v2) #299
(reprinted in The Curse)
The Heroes of Lallor return home when their work on Weber's World is done

Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes #317
The Heroes connive to help Duplicate Boy get over Shrinking Violet

Legion of Super-Heroes (v3) #62
 
The Heroes of Lallor fight against the Magic War



Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #48
Duplicate Boy and the Heroes of Lallor fight Mordru's undead army

Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #57-58
Duplicate Boy and the Heroes of Lallor, under some kind of influence, fight the rogue Legion

Legionnaires #21

After the Reboot, Evolvo (Lad) is a member of the Workforce instead

Legionnaires #22

Evolvo's most prominent role was in helping Brainiac 5 and Invisible Kid save Planet Hell

Legionnaires #49

The actual Reboot Heroes of Lallor heard the call to action, but were denied more than a single panel

3 comments:

  1. I remember reading the issue of Adventure Comics #324 and hoping that Duplicate Boy, Life Lass and the other heroes of Lallor would be absorbed into the Legion but it was not to be .

    They would have added a lot not only in terms of power but story potential as well .

    Evolvo and Beast Boy could both served as cannon fodder perhaps saving Triplicate Girl and Ferro Lad from being the Legionnaires to meet their untimely end.

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  2. For sure. They had strong looks and interesting powers. In a way, Kinetix started out as Life Lass. But no one's done enough with Gas Girl. Maybe because of the name?

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  3. Always been great supporting cast members, helping to show while there are many heroes out there the Legion is the most celebrated and the best. I'd always hoped there was going to be a 30th Century Spotlight or Legion Worlds companion book to give characters like them stories that didn't revolve around interacting with the Legion.
    But Splitter? No. He was the dad-joke version of Arm Fall Off Boy and didn't really need to be shoved off onto these guys. They sure didn't need him.

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