Legion of Super-Heroes Appreciation 2019 [Long Live the Legion!]

My first issue of LoSH was #282 "If Answers There Be". I was on holiday and just starting to get into comics. I think this issue had been sitting on the rack unloved for several months.

I was probably attracted to the cover by Superboy but after reading the issue, I was much more interested in characters like Saturn Girl & Phantom Girl.

It was the start of a journey which lasted until the Earth was destroyed in vol 4(?) #39, when I lost interest very quickly.

Feeling nostalgic for the comics of my younger days, I have over the last 18 months bought digital copies of all the above issues and really enjoyed reading them again.

Not sure how I feel about the team coming back again, as it has been rebooted several times in relatively recent history but never seemed to catch on.

I think it needs to be something completely different to what has gone before to be relevant to today's readers.

So bummed to find out that there’s no LOSH books on The DC Universe. I’ve been trying to familiarize myself with the property.

[QUOTE=The Anti-Geek;4120685]So bummed to find out that there’s no LOSH books on The DC Universe. I’ve been trying to familiarize myself with the property.[/QUOTE]

If you're willing to buy a hard copy trade, you can try the Legion Silver Age trade that I posted on page 2 of this thread. And you can quickly familiarize yourself with the highlights of Legion history with the History Pages posted on page 1.

[QUOTE=Scott Taylor;4113782]Bendis is one who I think could write the Legion effectively. Mainly because I have seen how well he handles Superman's voice. Basically the LoSH holds those same ideals as he does, or at least they are supposed to hold those ideals.[/QUOTE]Guess what? Apparently he will indeed be writing the Legion!

[url]https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/01/07/brian-bendis-new-legion-of-super-heroes-comic-spring/[/url]

If this is true, then it would obviously be part of the Wonder Comics line, and every comic in that line has some connection to Superman - and since Clark Kent Superboy is a classic member, I can see Jon joining the team.

IF this is true it will be the first time in my life that I will not buy a new Legion book. I already watched Bendis destroy the Guardians of the Galaxy over at Marvel so there is no way I want to see him ruin my all time favorite property.

[QUOTE=Digifiend;4121500]Guess what? Apparently he will indeed be writing the Legion!

[url]https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/01/07/brian-bendis-new-legion-of-super-heroes-comic-spring/[/url]

If this is true, then it would obviously be part of the Wonder Comics line, and every comic in that line has some connection to Superman - and since Clark Kent Superboy is a classic member, I can see Jon joining the team.[/QUOTE]

Good. Like I said before, any Legion book they publish at this point will get my money. Glad to hear the UP will be a part of this one, makes me hopeful that it actually is a positive take on the Legion.

What, in a nutshell, did people not like about Bendis on a team book?

I'm somewhat curious as to how the Legion of Superheroes would be played nowadays, with contemporary standards and sensibilities that the old iterations lacked or were tone-deaf on?

[QUOTE=Scott Taylor;4122100]
What, in a nutshell, did people not like about Bendis on a team book?[/QUOTE]
Off the top of my head:

- Not a good job of juggling characters.

- Meandering plots.

- Rushed or nonsensical character arcs or conclusions to said character arcs. Or no character development whatsoever for some characters.
[QUOTE=J. D. Guy;4122239]I'm somewhat curious as to how the Legion of Superheroes would be played nowadays, with contemporary standards and sensibilities that the old iterations lacked or were tone-deaf on?[/QUOTE]
Not very differently, I would hope. I don't think the Legion is all that difficult to apply to the modern era.

[QUOTE=Scott Taylor;4122100]Good. Like I said before, any Legion book they publish at this point will get my money. Glad to hear the UP will be a part of this one, makes me hopeful that it actually is a positive take on the Legion.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=J. D. Guy;4122239]I'm somewhat curious as to how the Legion of Superheroes would be played nowadays, with contemporary standards and sensibilities that the old iterations lacked or were tone-deaf on?[/QUOTE]

I think that Bendis will likely use the future era of the Legion to tell stories that metaphorically relate to our current era like a lot of science fiction does.

So, I can see Bendis making the United Planets prominent in the book in order to tell stories about immigration, how great a one-world government is and how the "patriarchy" (i.e. entrenched system) is evil, etc. In other words, all the things that SJWs love and their detractors despise.

If Bendis gets too political, the Legion could be yet another SJW-comic failure. If these story elements are lightly seeded in the background and the focus is on the character interactions among the Legionnaires and their incredible futuristic world, then it could work.

A lot of writers, when they feel a need to send a message and "teach" their readers their agenda, often go overboard and get heavy-handed. I hope Bendis doesn't fall prey to this because the Legion should not be yet another polarizing comic of the type we've been getting for the last several years.

The Legion really can't survive yet another cancellation. A Legion comic should be as broad based and inviting as possible.

The last time the Legion got all SJW was the Waid/Kitson run and it was just awful. All that "suck it grandpa" crap and making the characters so unlikable drove the book right into the weeds. I mean this was Mark Waid and Barry Kitson at close to the height of their popularity so the book should have sold gangbusters, but because Waid was so set on making a social commentary he drove off readers by the score. They even brought in Supergirl to try and salvage the run, but by then the damage had already been done. Bendis already has a lot of negatives in many readers eyes so bringing him in is not going to gurentee a big seller. Even his Superman books now are not selling that much more than what Jurgans and Tomasi were when he took over.

I have yet to see Benids write a team book that was not bad. Everyone wants to point to his Avengers run, but I call bullshit on that arguement too. Marvel gave him EVERY BIG NAME character when he was writing Avengers so of coarse it was going to sell. You could have given that book to Rob Liefeld with that roster and it probably would have sold just as well. Anyone can sell big numbers when you have Iron Man, Wolverine, Spider-Man, and every other A list character in one book.

Ok I'm fine with Bendis on Young Justice but I don't want him anywhere near the Legion. Ugh this has ruined my day. Him and cosmic don't mix at all. Ultra Boy is gonna fly around shouting "Blam, Murdered You" every freaking panel.

I haven't read a ton of Bendis's work at Marvel, but I've heard the complaints. I've also seen that people keep buying his series, limited series, and events even though they're complaining about them.

My question for those who don't like his writer's tics from his Marvel days, how do you feel he's doing with Superman so far?

I've heard people like him better on solo characters like Miles Morales so that may mean he's better than normal on Superman, but are any of his annoying habits in evidence on Superman so that it rises to the level that you can't enjoy it?

If not, then maybe I'm hoping against hope, but maybe his bad habits only extended to the Marvel characters where he was able to write them as he saw fit, but with the DC characters, he'll write them as close as he can to their established voices rather than putting his own voice into the characters' mouths.

Wait, isn't XS part of the LoS and shes Bart's cousin. So how are you saying, no speed force users. Unless shes not using it, but that would be weird.

Please don't send Jon into the future. I'd rather have him here working with Damian.

Also, personally I liked the animated superbly and the LoS. That was actually a fun series.

If Bendis is writing the Legion, I hope he does not kill anyone off.

[QUOTE=Darkspellmaster;4123315] Wait, isn't XS part of the LoS and shes Bart's cousin. So how are you saying, no speed force users. Unless shes not using it, but that would be weird. [/QUOTE]

XS is part of a Legion in an alternate universe. It lasted a heck of a lot longer than an Elseworld, so she's as much a Legionnaire as anyone, but the Legion of the original continuity didn't have any speedsters.