Legion of Super-Heroes: Legacy of the Great Darkness saga

[Superlad93]

So, it's come to my attention that The Great Darkness Saga is easily one of he most beloved runs for writers currently working. Then Brian Bendis tipped me off to the fact that quite a few of those creators (himself included) sort of 'chase that high' in their work in order to give new fans a similar feeling. He cited House of M as him chasing that high in a sense, but I also saw it in Siege. I also noticed it pretty clearly in Hickman's Legion of--I mean Avengers (Infinity specifically).

For those who have read it, can we talk about what made that story line and its lead up so influential and memorable for you as a reader?

[caj]

I read it when it was coming out. And I still re-read it about once a year. I love it.

1) It was a mystery. Who is this Master of Darkness? Most readers had no idea. Darkseid wasn't a major DC villain yet and very few were expecting him to show up in the 30th century.

2) Levitz was just coming into his own. The dialogue got snappier. The build of the story and the mystery was amazing. You couldn't wait for the next issue.

3) The entire Legion was involved. Former members, reserves, the Substitutes, the heroes of Lallor, even Supergirl. You knew this was BIG!

4) Giffen's art!!!!! Again, he was coming into his own. You started seeing his vision for the 30th century. Windowless buildings, high-tech graphics, those symbols appearing at the top of the pages, and the Legionnaires looked better than ever.

5). Who expected Dream Girl to be voted as leader? She had hardly been around for ages. But Levitz was giving her and a few other wallflowers some nice scenes and more personality.

6) The reveal - enough said.

I could go on, but I'll let others continue this.

[CaptCleghorn]

'Nuff said.

[DrNewGod]

I read it when it was coming out. And I still re-read it about once a year. I love it.

1) It was a mystery. Who is this Master of Darkness? Most readers had no idea. Darkseid wasn't a major DC villain yet and very few were expecting him to show up in the 30th century.

2) Levitz was just coming into his own. The dialogue got snappier. The build of the story and the mystery was amazing. You couldn't wait for the next issue.

3) The entire Legion was involved. Former members, reserves, the Substitutes, the heroes of Lallor, even Supergirl. You knew this was BIG!

4) Giffen's art!!!!! Again, he was coming into his own. You started seeing his vision for the 30th century. Windowless buildings, high-tech graphics, those symbols appearing at the top of the pages, and the Legionnaires looked better than ever.

5). Who expected Dream Girl to be voted as leader? She had hardly been around for ages. But Levitz was giving her and a few other wallflowers some nice scenes and more personality.

6) The reveal - enough said.

I could go on, but I'll let others continue this.

All this. Plus (accept for Mon-el who had to be taken off the board to equalize the game), every Legionnaire got to shine during one of The Legions most desperate moments.

[j9ac9k]

caj pretty much nailed it. Not sure what else to add...

[CaptCleghorn]

The real feel that this was so freaking big that all reserves were needed.

The conclusion being extra-sized (an extreme non anniversary rarity then).

Daxamites getting their powers and forming their entire planet into a head of Darkseid. In a universe where we see the impossible and extraordinary regularly, this exploitation of such immense power for such an egotistical result was a huge sign that Darkseid was way the f*** up there and he knew it.

Giffen and Levitz connected like few writer artist teams do and the plots and characterizations set up in the previous few issues continued even into the biggest adventure of their lives.

Invisible Kid's (Jacques) white streak in his hair. Something so simple, yet so permanent was as powerful a happening as Darkseid's flipping of the planet Daxam. Even in small events we saw the importance without throwing characters under the bus and creating corpses to build villain street rep.

[Lee Stone]

Levitz's Legion is like a musician that rarely gets their own awards or recognition, but almost every musician that does gives them credit for showing them how it's done.

The run gets mentioned a lot because of Levitz's masterful handling of a large soap-opera ensemble in a comic and his unique plotting technique (the 'Levitz Paradigm') that's since been added to books on 'How to Write Comics'.
The Great Darkness Saga was what propelled the Legion into being one of DC's top comics in the '80s.

[mikelmcknight72]

It truly was were the run started to click, and the quality stayed high through the entire Baxter run. The quality even stayed high through a lot of the 5YL run, even if the tone shift wasn't everyone's cup of tea. I enjoyed it in spite of my introduction to the Legion being comic digests containing reprints of old Silver Age LSH stories like the first appearance of Glorith or Garth brainwashed into being Starfinger! I'm hoping those old stories will go digital soon!

[caj]

Levitz's Legion is like a musician that rarely gets their own awards or recognition, but almost every musician that does gives them credit for showing them how it's done.

The run gets mentioned a lot because of Levitz's masterful handling of a large soap-opera ensemble in a comic and his unique plotting technique (the 'Levitz Paradigm') that's since been added to books on 'How to Write Comics'.
The Great Darkness Saga was what propelled the Legion into being one of DC's top comics in the '80s.

Yes, Levitz was amazing at juggling all the Legionnaires and their storylines.

He was also a great mystery builder. From 'who is the Master of Darkness?' to 'what's going on with Shrinking Violet?' to 'which Legionnaire did Dream Girl predict will die?' to 'who is Sensor Girl?' to 'what was Universo really up to with kidnapping four Legionnaires?' to 'who is in the Legion Conspiracy and what is their plan?'