Looks like Jon is going forward to the future.

[Superlad93]

A new generation would have added a new life and also would have allowed bendis to leave his mark on the legion franchise

I'm sure Bendis will create new members too. Between the 2 part millennium event chronicling the the DCU over 1,000 years, making Superman son part of the team, and being the guy to revive them in the first place, I think he's already aiming to make his mark just fine. Clark's time with the Legion is also something that's highly debated within the fandom. You have large sections of the fandom who have no interest in it, and would rather Clark were never Superboy to begin with because they grew up with the 86 reboot.

In my experience, it's only really around these parts with a few of us that you'll hear that it *needs* to be Clark.

Anyways, what do guys think was Bendis's pitch for the legion was?

If I had to guess, it was likely something dealing with how the Legion as a concept in this day and age can mean so much. They function as an expression of a melting pot of different races, genders, ethnicity, sexual orientation, world views, and worlds all coming together under the unified idea of "lets make things better." As you can imagine, this is incredibly important right now. It would be coming from a writer with a genuine reverence and passion for the classic work of his childhood, but also with with a real passion for shining a light on the world outside our windows. Jon's side of the equation is still unfolding, but I have to imagine part of the idea is to set the youngest up-and-coming Superman character (aka "the future of the family") against this very modern backdrop, and navigate the myth through that filter. Like a souped up version of the ideas present in Miles or Peter's stories in the more modern/current (with the level of freedom afforded there) Ultimate universe.

But obviously, I'm not Bendis, and I don't even have the stories in question to pull from. I just have interviews and opinions, so my assessment is largely moot lol

[Ascended]

Do you guys think it is counting on word of mouth alone or will there be other pull factors?

It looks like there's going to be other factors, if you ask me. There's the little.....mini-event or whatever, the Millennium thing, and it looks like some other books might be touching on this like Batman Beyond and (of course) Superman. And I wouldn't be surprised to see the Legion show up in the next big event (whatever it is), plus there's Doomsday Clock, which might still end up bringing the Legion back into continuity. Saturn Girl hasn't shown up for a while but I doubt Johns just dropped that whole plot thread. So there's some nice cross-pollination and name-drops and cameos happening, which should help increase awareness some.

I figure DC will do the usual low-end marketing they've been doing lately; social media stuff similar to the announcements and commercials for the New Age of Heroes line and the Wonder imprint. Which.....well it's not much as far as marketing goes but I dont think DC has the budget for anything serious.

I still dont expect great sales regardless of what DC does with the marketing. If the book can stay above 10-12K and sell what Super Sons is selling right now, I'd call it a win. I love the Legion but the direct market is a cruel place.

[JonSBF]

Bendis keeps disappointing me.

I wasn't happy about the age up. I was enjoying Tomasi's Superman and Super Sons. Tomasi is, after all, probably one of the best character writers DC has currently. He doesn't do as well in long arcs and but he can make great character driven stories.

However, what made me really dislike Bendis' age up of Jon Kent was that it achieved nothing. It was served no purpose and the only thing it did was an waste of time, money and issues.

Jon was one of the few young characters we had that felt like a child without seeming bratty, he was very likeable and he had a great dynamic with Damian. It was a character full of potential.

Then Bendis came.

You see, I believe change is just change. It can be neutral, turn things for the worse or for the better. When Bendis decided to age up Jon, I was upset. We saw it from miles away but I gave the benefit of the doubt. "Let's see what Bendis will do with that".

The problem is — he hasn't done anything with it. When the first solicitations were coming out and we saw Jon going all Superboy Prime I thought "well, he is doing the evil Superman thing". Then came the Reddit AMA where he assured that Superboy was still Superboy and wasnÂ’t going anywhere, and almost every issue he makes sure to assert that thatÂ’s Jon we are seeing, even in Young Justice Conner goes "I am A Superboy".

So, fine, Bendis isn't making him evil. Then he mentioned how he wanted to write about the missing the opportunity to see your child grow. And the. It turned out to be a single reference in a single page in a single issue.

Then we got to see what happened to Jon in a flashback, three months worth of issues. What did we learn? That Lois abandoned her child with a known cultist/terrorist/mass murderer. That Jor-El was crazy. That Jon spent at least six years. And he escaped the Earth-3.

You would think that would traumatize a child forever, change his personality and, after all, he spent six years with Ultraman, is he angry at his mom? Was he indoctrinated? Nope, he is supposed to be the same kid as always. So Bendis wasted issues and aged him up for literal nothing.

And now he will be sent to the future. Will he leave the present? Most likely, else Lois wouldn't be talking about life-changing decisions. So everything was for literal nothing.

Bendis destroyed a character full of potential in order to waste time. He tried to make a change but didn't have the courage to do it.

[bretmaverick2]

I don’t see why Jon can’t join LSH and exist in modern day. Clark did it for years. I’m willing to wait and see how it plays out.

[Jackalope89]

I don’t see why Jon can’t join LSH and exist in modern day. Clark did it for years. I’m willing to wait and see how it plays out.

The problem is; Bendis aged Jon up for what's just slightly above a throwaway line. Ended a popular series. Had Lois turn into one of the worst parents of the year. For stories that had NO need of Jon being turned 17.
Being shipped off to the future now?

[Superlad93]

Gonna make the slight fairly harmless prediction: The Legion book will be called Superboy and The Legion of Super-Heroes.

A few people made some good points and observations in regards to the likelihood of this title, and the patterns they've been seeing of late. It's probably not widely know, but the Legion didn't actually have a book to themselves for years. They started out in the Superboy comic. The were "Superboy staring the Legion of Super-Heroes," "Superboy in The Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes," and "Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes." When Johns brought them back they came in an arc called "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes," and then went on to star in the back-up feature of the revived Adventure Comics that stared Conner Kent-Superboy. They were even "Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes" under Waid before Johns. Hell, even the Legion cartoon show was called "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes."

I bring all this up because we seem to be in a very similar position right now, but even more so alike to the original run, and a Superman character is often there to introduce and shaped the Legion because they're popularity isn't what it used to be. It's confirmed that the Legion's first appearance will be Superman issue 14, and that there wouldn't have been a Legion team before then in the DCU.

Bendis has also confirmed that the DC Millennium 2 part book, AND the Legion book itself will be under the Superman editorial banner. But, maybe the biggest bit of info in favor of the theory: Bendis apparently hasn't confirmed the title. It's obviously a Legion of Super-Heroes book, yes, but Bendis hasn't given a title according to Newsarama.

With all this under consideration, it seems like the book might have a real shot at being called Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Incidentally, this would pretty much hard confirm that Jon isn't giving up the name Superboy.

[Digifiend]

even in Young Justice Conner goes "I am A Superboy".

That was actually a goof... Conner shouldn't know Jon even exists yet.

[JAK]

The problem is; Bendis aged Jon up for what's just slightly above a throwaway line. Ended a popular series. Had Lois turn into one of the worst parents of the year. For stories that had NO need of Jon being turned 17.
Being shipped off to the future now?

Crazy thought: non-aged Jon is still out there, potentially. So if aged Jon heads to the future, maybe non-aged Jon can be found? So we can have our cake (Legion) and eat it (young Jon being back in the books) too? Who knows - it's unlikely, but I like the idea.

[rpmaluki]

It definitely is a possibility but I don't see aged Jon and baby Jon existing simultaneously in the comics. I see it more as an out at the end of Bendis' run, older Jon could be used to bring back his younger self back to his parents and he could ride off into the 32nd century sunset never to be seen again, forever split off fromhis younger self through shenanigans, like his dad on several occasions in the past.

[Blue22]

Whelp, my fear's been almost all but confirmed. This was the point of the age up. To shove Jon onto a team that doesn't need him instead of with the friends he already made and the team he was beating himself up for not getting to be a part of (even though the Titans made it VERY clear their rejection had nothing to do with anything he did wrong). So that's why Bendis ruined Jon, turned Lois and Clark into worse parents than Goku and Bruce Wayne put together, and got Super Sons cancelled. For fucking Legion.

*Sigh* I'm trying not to be so hard on Bendis because of the good things he's done for DC in the short time he's been around...but he's been taking the first generation of Superman comics that I've ever loved and fucked it so bad that I'm even more apathetic towards the series than I was before.

[Ascended]

I dont get why people are assuming Jon will be in the Legion and nowhere else. Clark was with the Legion but still had plenty of adventures in his own era with his own supporting cast and rogues gallery.

There is literally no reason Jon can't do the same thing. I fully expect to see him in Superman, Legion, and possibly a team-book set in the modern day like Super Sons or Titans.

Seriously, Jon can do it just like Clark did; leave Friday night at 8:00 for the future, spend a few days with the Legion, then return home Friday night at 8:01, go on patrol with his dad until 11:00, then spend Saturday with Damian.

[Sam]

Because honestly, if he's going to check in with his Mom about it. It seems like a bigger deal than just going for the weekends.

And anyway, the people who are upset about this don't want Super Sons with 17-year-old Jon. They want him to be a kid again.

[Truman Burbank]

Expected and still unnecessary.

For those who realize this is stupid, vote with your wallet. It's all you can do.

[Lee]

Has it been explained to the supporting cast why Jon was gone for so long? Or how he's suddenly 17?

[DragonPiece]

Because honestly, if he's going to check in with his Mom about it. It seems like a bigger deal than just going for the weekends.

And anyway, the people who are upset about this don't want Super Sons with 17-year-old Jon. They want him to be a kid again.

Then those people should have voted with their wallets and bought the current super done book, but they didn’t and it’s sales have been terrible