Long Live The Legion!!! Legion of Superheroes: Millenium with Bendis and Sook An

[Sutekh]

It doesn't seem they're going this way, but I've long thought that a good way to reintroduce the Legion was to establish each of them (or the initial group of founders anyway) as superheroes on their own worlds first - with backstories and their own adventures, their own villains, etc. first before getting them all together. More of a JLA approach so that when we see then together, they're not seen as just a mass of people we hardly know anything about.

That would certainly have been neat. Vignettes of Tinya, attempting to 'hero' back home, before her Legion debute, for instance.

Another thing that could be neat is to explore *other* heroes of the various Legion worlds. Surely Violet and the late, unlamented Micro Lad aren't the only Imskians to get into the game. Does Colu have heroes? Are there other Talokkian heroes? (Who don't necessarily have anything to do with shadows or darkness powers...) A squad of Titanians, each specializing in a different aspect of their telepathy (one is a skilled empath, one taps into and hijacks senses, one messes with memories, another is a psi-null, not only not a telepath, but utterly immune to, and even invisible to telepaths, and precognitives!).

One thing I liked is the existence of others out there, like the Heroes of Lallor, or the Wanderers, or the various heroes of other worlds shown briefly in the Universo Project, like Xera of Manna-5, or the Silver Sword. It makes the setting feel more 'lived in' for the Legion to not be the only game in town (and reminds me of other teams that interacted often with other teams, such as the old Outsiders, who were constantly meeting new groups of heroes (and usually fighting them...) like the Force of July, or that Soviet team, the People's Heroes).

[j9ac9k]

You're making me think it would be fun if one of them left a small team on their own world to join the Legion - like leaving your small town friends to go make it big in the big city...

[Sutekh]

You're making me think it would be fun if one of them left a small team on their own world to join the Legion - like leaving your small town friends to go make it big in the big city...

An earlier boot dealt with Garth being part of the Workforce, or several characters possibly having been members of a Xanthuan 'Uncanny Amazers' team, before, IIRC, so that's a neat idea that has been touched upon, if not in the 'classic continuity.'

Having Gas Girl, from the Heroes of Lallor, or Quantum Queen, from the Wanderers, join up could be a neat twist, as the 'old team' might occasionally need their help (and that of their 'new team').

[Zero Hunter]

You're making me think it would be fun if one of them left a small team on their own world to join the Legion - like leaving your small town friends to go make it big in the big city...

In the first reboot era Ultra Boy and Karate Kid first appeared as members of the Workforce working for Leland McCulley. Live Wire (Garth Ranzz- Lightning Lad) joined the group after he was kicked out the Legion and replaced with his sister. Another member of the Workforce called Inferno (Sandy Anderson) ended up joining the Legion after the Workforce folded.

The planet Xanthu had their own team called the Amazers which had many members leave and join the Legion including Star Boy, Kid Quantum I and II, and Monstress. Even one half of Wildfire was a former member called Atom'X before he was fused with the character Blast Off and merged to become Wildfire.

[Superlad93]

A question for you Legion vets: does this section from the solicitation remind you a bit of some of Mark Waid's reboot?

"Why have the Legion of Super-Heroes broken the cardinal rule of the United Planets and inducted Jon Kent, a.k.a. Superboy, into the Legion? What are they hiding?"

Like when Cos and Brainy had their spy vs spy back and forth, and how there was a bit of bureaucracy/red tape to what they were allowed to do (not to say that the aspect wasn't present in other runs, but this is what came to mind). It's also fascinating to note that apparently time travel is strictly regulated by the UP.

Makes me wonder 1) how Jon Kent's being in the future will be addressed by the general public and the UP 2) what big plan the Legion have cooking up, and how it benefits their mission?

[Robotman]

On one hand I like that the Legion is becoming more in line with the whole of the DCU but it really s*&^@ on Superman's mythos. You will never see DC take away Batman's toys and share it with anyone else.

I would prefer that Superman first meet the LoS as a teen but he’s still a huge part of their creation. Superman is going to form the Untied Planets, which is the backbone of the Legion. The idea that different alien races can work together and strive toward peace and unity. A very Superman ideal.

[Sutekh]

I would prefer that Superman first meet the LoS as a teen but he’s still a huge part of their creation. Superman is going to form the Untied Planets, which is the backbone of the Legion. The idea that different alien races can work together and strive toward peace and unity. A very Superman ideal.

While the show was often quite silly, one thing about the Legion appearance on Smallville I liked was how the Legion had only an idea of what sort of hero they were meeting, and not only did he learn some stuff from them (as in the comics), but they learned some stuff from meeting him in person, too. That was kind of neat, and I wouldn't mind seeing an attempt at exploring this two-way street organically. Perhaps it's been so long since Metropolis 3000 has had super-heroes flying around it, that some of the basics have been forgotten, and their 21st century visitor will have something to offer besides super-punches and heat vision.

[Robotman]

So at this point do we not know for sure which way DC will go with Lightning Lad, or is it still up in the air? Bleeding Cool suggested that maybe some of DC editorial felt that having another black superhero with electricity powers would be too similar to Black Lightning (not to mention Static). Or they could go in the opposite direction and say that Garth was actually inspired by Black Lightning.

[Frontier]

So at this point do we not know for sure which way DC will go with Lightning Lad, or is it still up in the air? Bleeding Cool suggested that maybe some of DC editorial felt that having another black superhero with electricity powers would be too similar to Black Lightning (not to mention Static). Or they could go in the opposite direction and say that Garth was actually inspired by Black Lightning.

I think officially the change was for a black Lightning Lad in place of a black Bouncing Boy.

I guess they could connect Garth to Black Lightning now, not that I'm really sure how I feel about it.

I could see Bendis connecting the Legion more to other Earth heroes other then Superman to try and make them feel more relevant and connected without tethering them into the present-day timeline.

[Sutekh]

I guess they could connect Garth to Black Lightning now, not that I'm really sure how I feel about it.

A genetic tie seems like an odd choice, since it's been 1000 years, so he'd be ~forty generations removed from Jefferson. (That'd be A) one hell of a genetic lottery, for that meta-gene to make it forty generations!, and B) mean that it's survived and been generating electricity-using metas for the whole time, and there should be *hundreds* of them running around, even assuming they didn't pump out descendents like Genghis Khan!)

Although the notion of Garth and Ayla being *inspired* by earlier electrical heroes, like Black Lightning, or Static, or, more appropriately, *some 24th century hero we've never heard of* (but was a big deal, and gets good press in the history books), would be neat.

Then again, this is the far future. Perhaps half of the Bendis Legion just went to some black market store and got a genetic upgrade to a meta-gene of their choice, with a simple do-it-yourself 'You can be a superhero!' kit. (The Science Police totally hate that, the last thing they need is millions of people with meta-powers running around doing whatever the heck they want!)

[Green Goblin of Sector 2814]

Honestly when it comes to this it’s honestly nice to see both Bendis and Snyder not ignoring John’s Doomsday Clock story. I mean fans of Legion may not like it but it’s consistent with the story about Doctor Manhattan meddling in the meta verse and erasing Superman ever meeting the Legion.

I don't know if "nice" is the word I'd use. It's especially a bitter pill to swallow when we have Hickman's X-Men showing us how to do a relaunch right and you have to wonder why DC didn't go that route.

[Konja7]

I don't know if "nice" is the word I'd use. It's especially a bitter pill to swallow when we have Hickman's X-Men showing us how to do a relaunch right and you have to wonder why DC didn't go that route.

Something working for X-Men doesn't mean it would work for the Legion.

I mean a relaunch "right" isn't so simple, since there are different opinions about this.

[manwhohaseverything]

Something working for X-Men doesn't mean it would work for the Legion.

I mean a relaunch "right" isn't so simple, since there are different opinions about this.

There is also a problem that this goes against the spirit of rebirth. which was an anti-reboot narrative . Then again rebirth is pretty much dead. doomsday clock delays didn't help either. I wonder,how Geoff johns wanted to relaunch the legion at the end of doomsday clock. His legion is very much tied to clark at the hip. Stealing things from clark and giving it to jon is not cool. This feels alot like barry and wally situation.

[twincast]

A question for you Legion vets: does this section from the solicitation remind you a bit of some of Mark Waid's reboot?

I know which one you're talking about, but for general discourse "Mark Waid's reboot" isn't a sufficiently descriptive term as he's done two of those.

[Green Goblin of Sector 2814]

Something working for X-Men doesn't mean it would work for the Legion.

I mean a relaunch "right" isn't so simple, since there are different opinions about this.

Not necessarily, but the Legion and the X-Men are actually two teams in somewhat similar circumstances: both were massively popular in the early-mid 80s and in more recent times have seen a decline of that popularity. So, in this case, what works for one may actually work for the other.

And as pointed out, it is inconsistent with the promise set forth by Rebirth. And, honestly, if DC is going to recontinue the practices they sought during the New 52, they shouldn't be surprised that it's getting them into the same spot that the New 52 landed them in.

DC's market share has been in a nosedive as of late and they've lost significant ground to Marvel and Image. You can't help but think that the stuff they've been pulling recently (i.e. the renewed shitting on legacy characters like Wally West, Dick Grayson, and others and alienation of classic fanbases) has something to do with that reality. I think the current PTB believe that any press is good press and doing controversial things is always a positive as long as they're being talked about. That philosophy is ridiculous. They have to know that people will eventually get fatigued with it just like they did with the New 52. And by the looks of things, they already are tired of it.