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

[j9ac9k]

Soo are the 2010 and 2005 Legion runs worth reading? What is the definitive run o should read if I wanna get into them? I ask about 05 and '10 series cuz I kinda want something with more modern art tbh.

While obviously not in continuity anymore, it's a good way to get into the concept of the team and their characterizations, which mostly stay intact through each reboot. I'd go with "The Legion" comic that came out ... 2001? Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (aka "DnA") had a great run with some awesome Olivier Coipel art. The "Legion Lost" and "Legion Wrolds" minis lead up to that relaunch, but are not totally necessary ("Legion Lost" was more important and also better though, imo) If that floats your boat, the series continued to be pretty good when Batista took on the art duties.

[Hypestyle]

so what new villains or adversaries are going to be used? Any of them going to be folks who return at some point, or one-and-done villains?

Also I hope that there are no mass-murder story arcs.

[jamgut]

FWIW, that was probably Pulsar Stargrave, not Brainiac. I'm sure the name only serves to prove your point though....

Superboy & the LSH issue 224 (Feb 1977) had Pulsar was on the cover in all his white jump-suit glory. Brainy's also on that cover along with Saturn Girl and Superboy.

[Anthony Shaw]

Actually, I loved how Jim Shooter introduced Pulsar Stargrave. I thought the character's potential was wasted after Shooter left.

Damn, he punched Pre-Crisis Superboy into orbit!

[Dog of War]

While obviously not in continuity anymore, it's a good way to get into the concept of the team and their characterizations, which mostly stay intact through each reboot. I'd go with "The Legion" comic that came out ... 2001? Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (aka "DnA") had a great run with some awesome Olivier Coipel art. The "Legion Lost" and "Legion Wrolds" minis lead up to that relaunch, but are not totally necessary ("Legion Lost" was more important and also better though, imo) If that floats your boat, the series continued to be pretty good when Batista took on the art duties.

Oh awesome! Thanks so much for the reply, looks like I have some reading to do

[9th.]

Soo are the 2010 and 2005 Legion runs worth reading? What is the definitive run o should read if I wanna get into them? I ask about 05 and '10 series cuz I kinda want something with more modern art tbh.

I got into the Legion by reading Supergirl and Legion of Superheros, it spun off from the 05 series iirc.

[Zero Hunter]

Soo are the 2010 and 2005 Legion runs worth reading? What is the definitive run o should read if I wanna get into them? I ask about 05 and '10 series cuz I kinda want something with more modern art tbh.

I hate the 2005 series. It was the start of Mark Waid wanting to make a point about society instead of just telling a good story which might not have been so bad if he had not beat you over the head with his point every issue. Almost his whole 3 year run is totally forgettable and really not worth reading. He make the whole team unlikable assholes especially Brainiac 5 and Cosmic Boy. He even goes so far as to have the team commit Genocide on an entire race and the team was totally fine with wiping out a whole species (I know they really didn't wipe out the Dominators but only a few members of the team knew that while the other just thought they killed them all, and not one member of the team objected to genocide)

The 2010 series has its problems and could be kind of bland, but it is still much better than the 2005 run.

[Stick Figure]

Actually, I loved how Jim Shooter introduced Pulsar Stargrave. I thought the character's potential was wasted after Shooter left.

Damn, he punched Pre-Crisis Superboy into orbit!

That’s the book!!! I saw a few more from that period but that’s the one that stood out the most.

[Comic-Reader Lad]

That’s the book!!! I saw a few more from that period but that’s the one that stood out the most.

Too bad you don't like it. I loved it when I read it, but I was a kid at the time.

[Fromper]

Haven't read this whole thread, but just skimming the first and last couple of pages. Why is the 90s version referred to as the "Archie Legion"? I always think of it as the Zero Hour Legion, since ZH was the event that rebooted the Legion.

And that's when I started reading it, too. I was fairly new to comics at the time, so Zero Hour was great for me. For those who don't know/remember, they followed the big ZH event with a month of #0 issues on every series, which were intentionally designed to be introductory issues for new readers. In the case of the Legion, the continuity was rebooted from scratch, so LSH #0 was the start of a new era, and I jumped on board. It was great stuff for the first couple of years.

I had to cut down my comics collecting a lot due to tight finances a few years later, so I don't have a complete run of that version of the Legion. More than half, I think, but certainly not all. I'd like to go back and collect what I'm missing eventually.

[HandofPrometheus]

Haven't read this whole thread, but just skimming the first and last couple of pages. Why is the 90s version referred to as the "Archie Legion"? I always think of it as the Zero Hour Legion, since ZH was the event that rebooted the Legion.

And that's when I started reading it, too. I was fairly new to comics at the time, so Zero Hour was great for me. For those who don't know/remember, they followed the big ZH event with a month of #0 issues on every series, which were intentionally designed to be introductory issues for new readers. In the case of the Legion, the continuity was rebooted from scratch, so LSH #0 was the start of a new era, and I jumped on board. It was great stuff for the first couple of years.

I had to cut down my comics collecting a lot due to tight finances a few years later, so I don't have a complete run of that version of the Legion. More than half, I think, but certainly not all. I'd like to go back and collect what I'm missing eventually.

I think its referred to that because it probably had a similar tone to Archie comics. I never read Archie stuff so I don't know but the tone of the ZH legion was definitely different than what came before.

I see some people also refer to it as that to insult it I guess.

[Sutekh]

so what new villains or adversaries are going to be used? Any of them going to be folks who return at some point, or one-and-done villains?

It has been kind of a crap shoot for their last few appearances. Levitz seemed to be striving for a mix of both new and old classic villains, including less-used folk like Black Mace and the Taurus Gang, and 'newbies' like Alchemical Girl, Res-Vir, Frost & Fume, Akka, etc. while other writers seem to lean on the Legion of Super-Villains and Fatal Five again, and again, and again, with occasional flashes of the 'Justice League of Earth,' League of Super-Assassins, Mordru, Universo, Time Trapper, etc. That, IMO, is less fun. A mixture of lesser-used classics (like a refangled Devil's Dozen?) and newbies sounds fun.

I want more than just nostalgia, since I already have the old comics for that.

I particularly don't want to see this team go up against Mordru or Darkseid or the Legion of Super-Villains or Fatal Five again, since these seem to be the classic go-to Legion villains. About the only way to make that interesting at this point if it were a whole different Legion facing them, than those who have faced them in the past. But this seems, despite terrible '90s haircuts, and some dire sartorial choices (Dreamy better look *fabulous,* that's all I gotta say...), like mostly the same classic team, so it would be kind of anti-climactic for them to face off against, say, the Fatal Five, for the dozenth time.

Also I hope that there are no mass-murder story arcs.

Agreed. The best Legion stories are set in a shiny hopeful future, which is *still* full of dangers and excitement, but not a depressing suckfest of grimdark dystopia with plagues and societal collapse and exploding planetary genocides everywhere.

[j9ac9k]

Haven't read this whole thread, but just skimming the first and last couple of pages. Why is the 90s version referred to as the "Archie Legion"? I always think of it as the Zero Hour Legion, since ZH was the event that rebooted the Legion.

I think it was mostly due to Moy's cutesy artstyle.

[Anthony Shaw]

That’s the book!!! I saw a few more from that period but that’s the one that stood out the most.

Too bad you don't like it. I loved it when I read it, but I was a kid at the time.

I recently read that story, and loved it.

I'm a sucker for Bronze Age comics.

Pulsar's outfit is over the top, and I love it!

[caj]

Actually, I loved how Jim Shooter introduced Pulsar Stargrave. I thought the character's potential was wasted after Shooter left.

I loved Pulsar Stargrave's origin in L.E.G.I.O.N '89.