Love it
ok with it
Hate it
It's not necessarily the same UP institutions nowadays and a thousand years in the future. Institutions evolves and adapt. And if Electric Warriors by Steve Orlando is still canon, it was implied there that Earth excluded itself from the galactic community either just before or as the Great Disaster started, so the rest of the UP had no reason to intervene - after all, it was even a great boon for the union, if it turned out weaker than expected at that time.
Look no further than the UE : if Brexit had been a success story of a country getting out of the UE seamlessly, with a progressive agenda creating jobs, green revolution and the like, it could have been devastating for the Union while the mess that is is now is a boon. Who would be able to go to their people and say that they'll move them out of the UE and it'll be great now ? The Great Disaster may have played the same role.
And if Electric Warrior is canon, the Up had devolved into a very corrupt organization at that time.
Also, as a side note, I wonder how Bendis Superman works with JLO, since in the latter, Tamaran is in the Ghost Sector and Blackfire is the Queen (as has been the case since New 52) while in action it seems her father still rule the planet.
100%percent this.
I loved when Superboy was an active member in the Cockrum/Grell era of the 70's. THAT WAS ALSO 40 YEARS AGO!!!!
Everything since then has been Pocket Universe Superboy (long enough to kill him), Conner-Superboy, Brief-Flashback-Clark-Superboy, Supergirl during the Threeboot, or Returning-as-an-adult Superboy. Is it really such a 360 degree turn to have Jon be the Legion's Superboy? I'm going to say no based on the precedent of the past 35-40 years.
While I don't love yet another LSH reboot (are we calling it the 4boot or the Bendisboot this time?), I'm giving it a try.
It seems like a fresh take so far, although we haven't really gotten deep into any of the characters yet.
No, Clark's not losing anything he hadn't already lost. Even when the Legion has been included in his origin since COIE it's almost never mentioned or used.
But I think removing the concept from his story was a mistake, and I'm not a fan of doubling down and repeating mistakes. I'd rather fix the original problem and put the Legion back where they belong while also having Jon join the group in the present day (spin the details how you like), than just say "Well, they kicked the Legion outta the story when they dumped all the other fantastical stuff so let's just keep rolling with that."
"We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe."
~ Black Panther.
Yeah, honestly. I'm not sure why Jon being in some kind of next generation Legion had to mean that Clark not only loses his, but we had to actually see them be erased from existence. That's just mean spirited.
Just speculation on my part, but I'm guessing it was less related to Jon and more related to editorial NOT wanting a secret past for Clark as Superboy.
After COIE, one of the bigger changes was that Superman had never been Superboy. This resulted in the creation of the Pocket Universe Superboy to fill the back-history. The fairly recent Geoff Johns retcon created a secret past for Clark as Superboy - but only when he was with the Legion. That retcon was never really followed up on (much), so didn't stick. Personally I liked it because it allowed for much of the Legion history that we knew to remain intact.
In the absence of Superman's past as Superboy (assuming that's what Editorial wanted), by default Jon becomes the Legion's first Superboy. Looking at it the way, Clark wasn't forced out of the Legion BECAUSE of Jon, but rather in the absence of Clark Jon fills the role.
Again, just my own speculation.