Super Girl the President of the United States:
The Legion of Superheroes: Millennium is by far the most anticipated comic book series from DC Comics this time of the year. It is not only going to have Brian Michael Bendis at the helm but it will also feature the return of the famous Legion of Superheroes team – the inter-galactic team of superheroes from DC Comics future timeline – the 30th Century. The fans are already going crazy with the amount of information that DC has already released regarding the upcoming event. One fan decided to take the Question and Answer session up a notch when he asked a very puzzling question to Brian Michael Bendis on Twitter. What Bendis answered only complicated things not mend or give a solution to the problem! And it has to do with Super Girl taking charge in the Oval Office.
The question was pretty straightforward. With Legion of Superheroes: Millennium being set in the far future, how is it going to affect the timeline of one of its major characters that are going to appear in the story arc?
Super Girl’s inclusion in the arc only jumbled things up and confused everyone. Her becoming a part of the storyline did not make sense since the storyline itself is set far away in the future while Super Girl is a character of the present timeline.
The particular issue of Legion of Superheroes: Millennium revealed Super Girl talking to a vigilante superhero called Rose & Thorn, a superhero with a bipolar disorder. The Rose persona of the vigilante had now taken control of the body and had been the shot-caller for decades. And this is where it gets interesting – how is Super Girl even talking to Rose & Thorn. If the story is set in the 30th Century, doesn’t it mean Super Girl is already dead? But if she is indeed there, does it mean that Super Girl has powers of longevity and she has somehow prevented herself from aging?
The twitter handle of Two-Headed Nerd asked this question to Bendis and we quote:
Hi, Brian! Can you clarify when the Supergirl scene in Millennium is taking place? I’ve seen some speculation saying it’s the Legion’s time, but the “and then…” on the first page of the Batman Beyond scene is throwing some folks. Thanks!
To that question, Bendis gave a very vague and cryptic answer without revealing too many clues as to the next installment to the issue. He said and we quote:
“Solid question,” Bendis replied to Two-Headed Nerd on Twitter,
“In the script, I said to Jim that it’s about 80 years from now. The idea is we open the #LegionOfSuperHeroesmillenium We think it’s today and then you turn the page and see Supergirl and you realize oh it’s not today. Then everything follows a chronological order.”
The fact that the projection is set for 80 years or so is what makes things more confusing. Rose & Thorn talking to Super Girl revealed that the Rose persona was about to take a hike and Thorn persona is about to get back into the driver’s seat after such a long time. Thorn soon encounters Terry McGinnis aka Batman Beyond. Since Batman Beyond is a character that comes around only after 20-30 years after the present course of events, this further complicates matters. The Batman Beyond meeting Thorn scene must happen before Super Girl becomes President of the United States of America. The entire panel does not make sense at all.
We know that the DC Comics’ official announcement puts Legion of Superheroes: Millennium in the Earth prime timeline, since it is claimed that it “connects all of DCs Future Timelines”. Maybe the timeline is different this time and we could see Terry being born at a different point of time and that is why the chronological order looks so jacked up right now.
It still does not explain how Rose & Thorn are able to interact with Super Girl and Batman Beyond in consecutive panels though. We will know for sure when the next issue of Legion of Superheroes: Millennium arrives on October 2.
