"My Name Is Legion" is the third issue of John Byrne's TOS Assignment: Earth miniseries. Featuring Aegis agents Gary Seven and Isis, and their associate Roberta Lincoln, this story takes place on a university campus during the Vietnam War era.
Description[]
- From solicitations
- Crisis on campus! The time: 1970. The place: Earth. The situation: Critical! Comic book legend John Byrne continues his first-ever Star Trek miniseries, featuring the enigmatic interstellar spy Gary Seven and his intrepid assistant, Roberta. Following their encounter with Kirk and the Enterprise crew, the duo must go undercover in the Halls of Ivy as students burn their draft cards and National Guard troops patrol the quad. What is the terrible truth behind rumors of an army of super-soldiers — whose purpose may be much more sinister than fighting in the jungles of Southeast Asia?
Summary[]
The Beta 5 computer detects anomalous activity at Illinois State University, but after spending three weeks undercover at the campus, Seven, Isis, and Lincoln have uncovered little. Lincoln attends an anti-war meeting, unaware that her shape-changing companion is also there as "Tanya Neal". The group's leader, Curtis Wellborn, urges pacifism before tomorrow's anti-war protest march, and walks Lincoln back to her apartment. At the rally, most protestors are peaceful, but one throws a bottle in the face of a National Guardsman. A sergeant orders the troops to fire at the protestors, but Wellborn intercedes, begging that they not cause a national tragedy due to the actions of one extremist. He agrees and stands down. But in a passing car, General Dwayne Cory and university Professor Eugene Eckhart are revolted by what they've seen – Eckhart thinks the students have become communists, and Cory thinks the troops should have opened fire. They agree that their plans are more appropriate.
Isis and Seven look into Eckhart's finances, finding that he has misappropriated funds and materials. Seven tries confronting him in a friendly manner, as a fellow professor wanting to know how to get more money out of the university, but Eckhart is enraged, demanding Seven mind his own business. His compatriots – twins in business suits – escort Eckhart out of the building. Seven tries scanning, but earlier he'd committed Beta 5 to an internal diagnostic that required all its resources, so the scanner doesn't work.
Wellborn and Lincoln spend the night at her apartment. While cooking breakfast, however, Lincoln is knocked out by Cory and the twins, who then kidnap Wellborn. Meanwhile, Seven and Isis sneak into Eckhart's office, seeing a map of human genome, inappropriate for modern science. Lincoln transports back to the New York City office, telling Seven about the assault.
The trio embark on a rescue, transporting into a darkened laboratory within 500 meters of Wellborn. They uncover a vault of cloned humans. Isis escapes, but the clones bring Seven and Lincoln to Cory and Eckhart. Cory explains that the clones will become an engineered army of fearless super-soldiers able to defeat Southeast Asia. Seven wonders how long it would take before his "perfect" people turn on humanity. At that moment, Cory's gun dematerializes, and Seven realizes that Beta 5 is back in action. Seven punches Cory, Wellborn kicks one of the clones, and then all of the clones are beamed away. With his servo, Seven erases Cory and Eckhart's memories of the incident.
In New York City, Beta 5 tells Lincoln that it has relocated the clones to another planet, and Roberta notes that as they're all males, they'll die out in a generation. Seven deems Wellborn trustworthy enough to keep his memories, and they shake hands. Three months later, Lincoln kisses Wellborn, who's been drafted and wearing a United States Army uniform. He's confident after seeing her and Seven that one person can make a difference, and he'll do his part. She says she'll wait for him as he boards a train and rides away.
Decades later, on 24 December 2008, an aged Lincoln takes her granddaughter Chloe to see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC, a trip Lincoln repeats each year in honor of Wellborn. Chloe runs off to see her mother, and Lincoln reunites with an eternally young Isis.
References[]
Characters[]
- Brian • Chloe • Dwayne Cory • Dexter • Eugene Eckhart • Isis • Roberta Lincoln • "Tanya Neal" • Gary Seven • Steve • Curtis Wellborn • unnamed Humans (secretary • university students • National Guard soldiers, clones)
- Referenced only
- Tim Abercrombie • Matthew Adamson • Peter Paul Agromchuk • Carlos Akin • Mary Alfreds • Donald Alpen • Stanley Arms • Ann Arnold • Aindrea K. Baxter • Quinton Black • Calitos Brennus • David Michael Evan Brooke • Charles Brookstone • Susan Taylor Brown • Dennis Caelestis • Whitman Carter • Whittaker Chamford • Lewis Chang • Theodore Christie • Albert Clayton • Adisa Daiki • Ronald Davidson • Cory Devlin • Alvin Goran • Rodney Grainer • Lacey Helios • Menachem Jahzeel • Alexander Jefferson • Gustav Johan • Paul Peter Jones • Perry Jonson • Levarr Jordan • Abraham Keeny • Philo Khwaja • Phillip King • George Kinman • Alice Kleeg • Judah Kleinhoffer • Stephan Kobrinsky • Patrick Koenig • Alan Kove • Luciano Kreios • Jennifer Lee • Maxwell Levi • Stefan Marino • Peter Maxwell • Louis Mayer • Luca Mazelli • Lawrence Moore • Robert Morris • Jerry Nikolais • Dubrokov Ofreo • Kornell Pallas • Marcus Paulk • Adalbert Paulwell • Joseph Polaski • George Polcha • Pamela Princeton • Stephen Reyes • Frazier Rino • Walter Robinson • Ivan Rostakovich • Gene Rudinsky • Raymond Ruiz • Leopold Seppel • Maurice Sheppley • William J. Smith • Wendel Sol • John R. Stanley • Robert Stanwell • Andrew David Stone • Moray Suljo • Margaret Swenderson • Norman Thigpen • John Thomas • Trevor Thomason • Dwight Twombly • Egil Tyrese • Bertrand Underhill • Zachery Vance • Roger Ventura • Thorell Verde • Korbin Viggo • Langford Walling • Jeffery Washington • Laurence White • Yuri Wojechowski
Starships and vehicles[]
Locations[]
- Earth • Illinois • United States • Washington, DC (Vietnam Veterans Memorial • Washington Monument)
- Referenced only
- Canada • Southeast Asia • Vega system
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
- Illinois State University of Science and Technology • Kent State University • United States Army • United States National Guard • Smithsonian Institution
Science and classification[]
- Beta 5 computer • circuit • cloning • computer • fire extinguisher • pistol • rifle • scanner • servo • telephone • transporter • wheelchair
Ranks and titles[]
Other references[]
- army • book • Christmas • communism • couch • decade • DNA • dollar • earring • eggs • flower • Frankenstein monster • glass • glasses • handshake • hash browns • history • hour • house • human genome • jungle • kitchen • lightning • love • memorial • memory • meter • minute • money • month • nightmare • pipe • planet • salt • school • scrambled eggs • sleep • the galaxy • tree • university • Vietnam War • war • week • year
Chronology[]
- 4 May 1970
- National Guard troops shoot at students protesting the Vietnam War at Kent State University.
- 25 December 1970
- Curtis Wellborn dies on Christmas day while serving in the Vietnam War.
- 24 December 2008
- Roberta Lincoln meets Isis while visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Appendices[]
Related media[]
- The clones' saga continued in:
Background[]
- The title originated in a statement made in Mark 5:9 in the Bible.
- The publisher's description sets this story in 1970. Later, the clones recalled these events as having taken place in 1969, in TOS - Crew comic: "Shadows of the Past". Likewise with Gary Seven, in TOS - Leonard McCoy, Frontier Doctor comic: "Medics". However, they were in error. The incident of troops firing on students at Kent State University on 4 May 1970 was mentioned by Curtis Wellborn in the story.
- The Beta 5 computer told Roberta Lincoln that it transplanted the clones to an Earth-like world in the Vega system. As seen in later stories, they actually were beamed to Alpha Tau IV, which was more out of the way.
- Soldiers' names were legible on illustrations of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Except for Curtis Wellborn, however, they were repeated on the panels representing 1969, 1970, and 1971.
Images[]
Connections[]
| Media featuring Gary Seven | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episode | Assignment: Earth | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Miniseries | The Peacekeeper • Convergence • The Eugenics Wars • Assignment: Earth | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Novels | Assignment: Eternity • The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Volume 1 • The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Volume 2 • From History's Shadow • Elusive Salvation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Short stories | "The Aliens Are Coming!" • "Seven and Seven" • "Assignment: One" • "Rocket Man" • "Time Line" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Comics | "The Peacekeeper, Part One" • "The Peacekeeper, Part Two" • "Split Infinities" • "Future Imperiled" • "Brighter Than a Thousand Suns" • "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" • "My Name Is Legion" • "We Have Met the Enemy..." • "Too Many Presidents" • "Ah-Ha!" • "Medics" • "Hosts" • "1971/4860.2" • "An Unexpected Yesterday" • "Year Five, Issue 11" • "Year Five, Issue 12" • "Year Five, Issue 15" • "Year Five, Issue 16" • "Year Five, Issue 17" • "Year Five, Issue 21" • "Year Five, Issue 22" • "Year Five, Issue 23" • "Year Five, Issue 24" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Timeline[]
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous comic: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow |
TOS comics (Assignment: Earth) |
Next comic: We Have Met the Enemy... |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous adventure: Assignment: Eternity Chapters 1 & 22 |
Memory Beta Chronology | Next adventure: Lost Apollo, Part 1 |
| The above chronology placements are based on the primary placement in 1970. The Memory Beta Chronology places events from this story in 1 other timeframe(s): | ||
| Previous adventure: Carpenter Street |
24 December 2008 Epilogue |
Next adventure: Past Tense, Part I |
Production history[]
- 2 July 2008
- First published by IDW Publishing.
- 4 December 2008
- Collected in the Assignment: Earth miniseries omnibus.
- 28 May 2013
- Collected in The John Byrne Collection hardcover edition.
- 31 December 2015
- Collected in The John Byrne Collection paperback edition.
- 9 November 2017
- Collected in Graphic Novel Collection, Volume 23. (Eaglemoss Collections)
Translations[]
- 31 January 2018
- Collected in the Italian release of Graphic Novel Collection, Volume 23. (RCS MediaGroup)
External links[]
- My Name Is Legion article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.