Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Shanghalla

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Publisher
  
DC Comics

Shanghalla is a fictional planetoid in the 30th century DC Comics Universe. Its name appears to be a portmanteau of Shangri-La and Valhalla.

Shanghalla is a memorial planetoid for the greatest heroes of the Galaxy. The deceased former members of the Legion of Super-Heroes are buried there alongside other great heroes of the galaxy. The Legion has had a relatively high death toll, especially compared to other comics at the time.


Among those entombed there are:

  • Ferro Lad - died saving the galaxy from the Sun-Eater. His funeral was the first appearance of Shanghalla.
  • Invisible Kid - crushed to death in the grip of Validus.
  • Chemical King - received a lethal dose of radiation preventing a massive nuclear device from starting another world war.
  • Karate Kid - died fighting Nemesis Kid.
  • Superboy - (the pocket universe pre-Zero Hour Legion Superboy) - died stopping the Time Trapper from destroying Smallville.
  • Magnetic Kid - sacrificed himself to open the Archmage's seal on Zerox.
  • Blok - murdered by Roxxas.
  • Laurel Gand - died from taking the brunt of a massive Khundish bomb, saving Weber's World.
  • Triplicate Girl - one of her three bodies was killed by Computo in Adventure Comics #340 (in the pre-Crisis timeline).
  • Additionally, Lightning Lad was interred there for a time after being apparently killed by Zaryan the Conqueror, but he was later revived by the sacrifice of Proty (or replaced by Proty, according to v4 Legion).

    Post-Zero Hour it included:

  • Kid Quantum - died when his stasis belt malfunctioned.
  • Colossal Boy - died fighting Dr. Regulus.
  • Not only Legionnaires are enshrined on Shanghalla; other great heroes from the galaxy have been interred there as well. Most of these were one-offs which were just names put in by the writer or artist on a tomb in the background of a panel, but on occasion they were mentioned elsewhere. None of these were ever seen in action.

  • Leeta-87 - tragic hero, defeated countless villains but died when she slipped on a "banyo-fruit peel". This "joke" was revived in the v4 Legion Annual #1 when Ultra Boy discovered his acting ability performing a stage play tragedy based on her life.
  • Braino of Mrynah - All we know is what his tomb tells us, that he was the "noblest being of all time." In the v4 Legion, Matter-Eater Lad had Polar Boy don a costume of Braino (basically just a giant fake head, similar in appearance to the Coneheads in an attempt to plead insanity during a court case. Though this attempt failed, it actually did play a role in getting the charges against him dismissed.
  • Hate Face - the face of a devil, the soul of an angel.
  • Mog Yagor of Vasmeer - killed by a "space beast".
  • Nimbok of Vaalor - betrayed and murdered by a sorcerer pretending to be his friend.
  • Beast Boy of the Heroes of Lallor - not to be confused with Beast Boy of the 21st century DC Universe.
  • The name "Shanghalla" became part of the 30th century lexicon, for example, when facing down Legionnaire Impulse (Kent Shakespeare), The Persuader says, "Give my regards to Shanghalla" as a way of implying he was going to kill him.

    References

    Shanghalla Wikipedia