LNH/META: A Brief History of Reception at LNHHQ

[martinphipps2 at yahoo.com]

Tom Russell wrote:
> martinphipps2 at yahoo.com wrote:
> > Tom Russell wrote:
> > > A BRIEF HISTORY OF RECEPTION AT LNHHQ
> > > A HANDY-DANDY REFERENCE DOCUMENT
> > > COBBLED TOGETHER WITH THE HELP OF GOOGLE
> > > BY TOM RUSSELL
> > >
> > >    The earliest appearance I could find of a
> > > receptionist working for the Legion of the Net. Heroes
> > > was in Martin Phipps's GIRLS NIGHT OUT, which I came
> > > across as part of THE DUMBEST LEGION STORIES EVER TOLD
> > > (Phipps, January 17, 1993).
> >
> > There's a problem.  Using Google, LNH posts prior to January 17th, 1993
> > are a bit spotty.  I couldn't find any LNH posts at all prior to July
> > 5th, 1992, so the original Cosmic Plot Device Caper posts from May,
> > 1992 are, in fact, gone from Google and are only saved by reposts or
> > the eyrie archives.  Even some posts after January 17th, 1993 are
> > missing: I couldn't, for example, find my original posting of LNH #70
> > (part two of Acts of Violence) in which Crystal made a named
> > appearance.
>
> Thanks for pointing this out, Martin.  I did locate some of the
> original LNH thread and the original LNH story in google group
> rec.arts.comics, not rec.arts.comics.misc-- but as to how complete this
> is, I'm not sure.
>
> I'll take note of Crystal's appearance--
> >
> > In any case, the first appearance of the receptionist was in Tales of
> > the LNH #278 by Hubert Bartles.  I can't find the original post but I
>
> --and this information-- in the next version of the document.  Thank
> you everyone for your assistance and comments.
>
> > know it was posted prior to January 17th, 1993.  In fact, I satirized
> > Hubert's description of the LNH Lobby in a January 18th story I posted.
> >  I can't find the story where I first mentioned the Lobby: again, it
> > would have been sometime in Janauary, 1993.  I didn't mention the
> > receptionist at all in Girls Night Out so I'm not sure how it came up
> > in your Google search.
>
> Ahem:
>
>              Legion of Net.Heroes -- Girls Night Out!
>
> <<SNIP>>
>
>   "Alright," said Lurking Girl, "get him into the bandwagon!  I'll
> contact HQ!"  Lurking Girl pick's up the bandwagon's cellular phone
> and dials the reception desk as Manga Man is put in the back of the
> bandwagon.
>   "Hello.  Legion Headquarters."
>   "Yes, is Reb there?"
>   "Who may I say is calling?"
>   "Look, this is important!  We've just captured Manga Man!"
>   "Alright, let's see ... no he's not available right now."
>   "Well ... alright then, get me Ultimate Ninja!"
>   "I'm sorry, Ultimate Ninja has told me to hold all his calls."
>   "Just tell *somebody* that we're on our way with Manga Man!"
>   "I'll make a note of it."
>   "Yo DO that!"  Lurking Girl slammed the phone down.
>   "Have a nice --"
>   "I don't get it!  If Martin dislikes the receptionist idea so much,
> why does he keep using her?"
>   "Now, now, Tori ..."
>   "OK, OK, I'm in character!  Now let's get out of here before Manga
> Man wakes up!"
>
> --Tom

My mistake.  Of course, it was obviously not the receptionist's first
appearance because it says "If Martin dislikes the receptionist idea so
much, why does he keep using her?" meaning 1) I had used the
receptionist before and 2) it wasn't originally my idea.  As Jamas
pointed out, the receptionist which appeared (for the first time) in
Hubert's Tales of the LNH #278 was male (and obviously Fred).  Fred's
sister, Crystal, was brought in to explain why I refered to the
receptionist as female (and to explain why there was always someone at
the reception desk all day and all night).

You do realize that this was thirteen years ago, right? :)

Martin