Superman V Batman got me thinking…
Has there been a Legion of Super-Heroes story along the lines of a 30th century super-group inspired by…BATMAN?
Think about it…the LSH’s “One original power…no devices” rules are snobby. And smack of The Incredibles somewhat now that I think about it.
It just makes perfect sense to me that a whole group of Aliens, inspired by Superman, with a no devices/ no artificial power rule would engender resentment.
In fairness, as soon as Val Armorr applied for membership, the Legion apparently said “hey, if you’re a dark-haired human who mastered a particular skill, that counts.”
Legionnaires don’t have to have super-powers, just a unique power or ability that’s not dependent on an external device or item. Karate Kid is in because of his martial arts skills. Braniac 5 is in because of his heightened intelligence. Also, a good percentage of the powered Legionnaires are from worlds where all the inhabitants have the same power.
Dale Sams:
They were a bit snobby originally, but they were exactly what pre-teens in the 50’s and 60’s could identify with…a club that a bunch of neighborhood buddies put together. The formalities came later.
^ This.
And it was “Super Karate”. Which wasn’t an exaggeration. The Superboy that was running around at the time Karate Kid joined was the most powered one ever. The one who casually blew out entire suns with his super-breath or pushed planets across galaxies.
And in his tryout, Karate Kid managed to actually tag Superboy with a punch about 3 times, flung him across the room and got him in a headlock (granted for like…one panel) but still.
In fairness, Superboy’s entire combat strategy is pretty much try not to kill anyone while making sure that people don’t break their hands on me.