Legion of Super Heroes - 5-Year Gap by Giffen coming to Trade Paperback

[j9ac9k]

The confusion was part of the fun - I remember scouring my old Legion comics to try and work out just who was who...

This was one of my favorite runs of all time - it's what got me into the Legion. The storytelling was super-compelling and intriguing even though I had no real idea who most of them were other than the fact that they all used to be on a team together when times were much, much better. It was the characters' sense of nostalgia and pathos that got me hunting through back issue bins to buy as many Legion stories as I could find and discover why what was happening in this book was so important to these former heroes. (that's damn good writing, in my book)

Remember how "Watchmen" started with them all already retired and their glory days behind them? But it was still really interesting to put the pieces together and fill in the blanks? Like that...

[caj]

I remember getting my hands on this book, which not only helped me figure out what was happening in current issues, but also filled in a lot of gaps as to what happened during the 5 years leading up to the book. It's a must-have for reading this book.

[Panic]

Piecing something so complex together was so good... yeah, it could be hard work, but it is rewarding in a way that dumbed-down storytelling is not. I can't remember the last time I read anything like that. Maybe Ian M. Banks' Culture novel Excession, I guess, or comic-wise maybe Ellis' The Wild Storm, though I'm not really hooked on any of the characters. Giffen's art was key, though... once he stopped drawing it I bailed, iirc.

I think my favourite individual issues were:

#2 Jo & Kono fight against two assassins - best fight sequence for Ultra Boy that I've read.

#4 Mon-El and the Time Trapper - not only a great fight, but so much information!

#5 The alternate timeline where Modru rules... just one of the most interesting issues ever, imo.

#7 Laurel Gand takes on Vrykos, Rond & Mysa turn up (poor them).

#10 Roxxas attacks - just a great issue as he waltzes into their home and picks them off one by one

#12 & #13 The group pulls together, Kent Shakespeare vs the Persuader

#14 Tenziel Kem unleashed!

#19 Jo stuck in Earth's past, Nabu as Dr Fate.

You know, I didn't intend to list so many but there are so many good issues. Giffen's art really helps, though - the 9 panel grid where framing is all-important helps makes scenes feel cinematic. He does more with action sequences in those little boxes than most artists can manage with fancy layouts and splash pages.

[Zero Hunter]

If they do a volume 2 I hope they include the tie in issue of Adventures of Superman #478 since the events of issue #19 of Legion of Superheroes spring straight out of what happens in that book.

[Scott Taylor]

Fantastic run, there. No one since has really been able to match its greatness. Keith set the bar too high!

[j9ac9k]

If they do a volume 2 I hope they include the tie in issue of Adventures of Superman #478 since the events of issue #19 of Legion of Superheroes spring straight out of what happens in that book.

ONE thing I really didn't like about that run (aside from there being no WILDFIRE!) was what they did to Dev-Em. There was no call for that - it could have been any character as the bad guy there.... or at least a few other Legion villains I can think of.

[Montressor]

I remember getting my hands on this book, which not only helped me figure out what was happening in current issues, but also filled in a lot of gaps as to what happened during the 5 years leading up to the book. It's a must-have for reading this book.

THANK YOU for making me aware of this.

*tosses you a cold Silverale*

[Comic-Reader Lad]

I have the 2995 Legion Sourcebook. It came out in 1992, and I agree it was super-useful in filling in a lot of the blanks. This book is NOT just a role-playing game book. It was Marvel Handbook/Who's Who level of usefulness. It has 128 interior pages and begins with a 5-page Legion History that is indispensible. It's the post-Crisis & post-Glorith history as you can see below:

[Comic-Reader Lad]

I'd definitely buy it if I didn't already have it (and the other 2 Mayfair Legion Sourcebooks that came out earlier for the post-Crisis, pre-Glorith Legion).

[Lee Stone]

And that's why I like all three of the Mayfair Legion Sourcebooks.
Real treasures.

[caj]

Thanks for posting those pages, Comic Reader Lad. Those were my favorite parts of the sourcebook.

[justinslot]

So I've never read the Giffen Legion (I will when this collection comes out) but my impression was that while it had its defenders it was not a universally beloved incarnation of the Legion? Like when DC brought the Legion back in the 00s it was very much the 80s version of the Legion, as if the five years later thing had never happened. And in tie-ins like Legion of Three Worlds the 5YL Legion doesn't exist. There's, like, no nostalgia for 5YL like there is for every other major Legion incarnation.

I guess my impression is DC treats the 5YL like an Elseworlds, but not even a particularly beloved Elseworlds--the 5YL versions of the LOSH don't show up anywhere else in DC outside of their original comics. Correct?

[caj]

So I've never read the Giffen Legion (I will when this collection comes out) but my impression was that while it had its defenders it was not a universally beloved incarnation of the Legion? Like when DC brought the Legion back in the 00s it was very much the 80s version of the Legion, as if the five years later thing had never happened. And in tie-ins like Legion of Three Worlds the 5YL Legion doesn't exist. There's, like, no nostalgia for 5YL like there is for every other major Legion incarnation.

I guess my impression is DC treats the 5YL like an Elseworlds, but not even a particularly beloved Elseworlds--the 5YL versions of the LOSH don't show up anywhere else in DC outside of their original comics. Correct?

The book is excellent as long as you don't have any strong love/feelings toward the characters. Let's be honest, it's a very dark book and several of the Legionnaires have very sad and brutal fates. You have to have a pretty strong stomach for some of it.

I can see why it's wiped out of existence due to the sometimes depressing future it represents. Plus, the whole Valor replacing Superboy never set right with me. I know the creators were not given a choice in the matter, but it just never seemed right IMO.

[kcekada]

ONE thing I really didn't like about that run (aside from there being no WILDFIRE!) was what they did to Dev-Em. There was no call for that - it could have been any character as the bad guy there.... or at least a few other Legion villains I can think of.

There were a lot of things I disliked about this run - especially the tedious 9-panel grid and Keith's art style at the time. Overall, the run makes for an interesting story -- even if I hate most of the things Keith did to the characters. Oh, and Kono always annoyed me.

[kcekada]

What makes it even more confusing is that it coincided what was happening with The Durlan and Phantom Girl/Phase over in L.E.G.I.O.N '89. I also remember reading in the letter columns that some readers were confusing Glorith with Dream Girl. But it was a fascinating issue.

Yeah, Glorith was a very obsucre character -- so it is no wonder a lot of use thought Glorith was Dream Girl. Later, I thought Bounty was Dream Girl -- and that the mark on her face was covering up Dream Girl's asterisk beauty mark.