The Future of Legion of Super Heroes Franchise & The Bendis Problem

[LordUltimus]

May solicits still have no Legion. Has it been stealth cancelled?

[Thor-Ul]

May solicits still have no Legion. Has it been stealth cancelled?

We don't know. It was know than Bendis would finish after Future State, specially with him at the lead of Justice League (heaven help us) and he is working on his story of Leviathan and Naomi, which can be better. Naomi is a character created by Bendis and he story is interesting. Also, with more urban heroes around, Bendis can worki better where his strenghs lie. But I fear about what he can do with Shazadam... I MEAN BLACK ADAM! BLACK ADAM!

But about the Legion... no new title or relaunch or new creative team announced or even a hint... does not sound exactly as it was a winner title, isn't? Maybe I'm wrong and DC is preparing a great return of "this" Legion, but making it slow to keep the interest, but honestly, I doub it. Right now for me DC seems lost in the aftermath of DiDio leaving and their succesors having to deal with an aborted massive project.

[0nt1r]

Changes for the sake of change. 12 issues of the actual book, 14, if you count the two disappointing intro issues in which the Legion barely appeared, and we only got a hint of an actual story in the last three issues - NO ACTUAL STORY. Bendis announced 31 Legionnaires, then threw in Ferro Lad, without ever fully introducing the ones he’d already told us about. Any guesses as to who Green Corpse Lass was? On his Insta, Sook said, “We’re calling her Eradicator,” but we never got to find out who she was, or what she could do. The only justification for the money I spent was Sook’s art. What’s really sad is that the first Future State issue has more story than the previous 14 combined. I didn’t hate it. I was just, frequently, disappointed.

[0nt1r]

Wolverine is, largely, based upon what Dave Cockrum did with the redesign of Timber Wolf. It’s so odd to hear a book that has, for a good deal of its history, been a powerhouse property. Especially when compared to X-Men, which was a floundering concept for a good deal of its existence. It’s not a small, niche, concept. It’s been allowed to go fallow, a number of times, but it’s an iconic property which has had huge influences on other properties at DC, Marvel, and other companies. The Legion was the first book in which every member was required to have a special and unique power. The X-Men, comprised entirely of super-powered mutants came nearly a decade later. A number of times, things have debuted in the Legion - to angry dismissal - only to be parroted a year, or more, later in the X-Men to applause, as if it was original. Before denouncing the Legion as some also-ran, with no remarkable characters, you should talke a look at its rich history. Mon-el, Saturn Girl, Dream Girl, Timber Wolf, Wildfire are all fascinating characters, and powerful. Triplicate Girl/Duo Damsel/Lluornu’s arc is no less groundbreaking than any of the X-Men. My introduction to the Legion was my uncle’s copy of the Adventure issue in which Computo disintegrated a third of Triplicate girl. I was 6, and just learning to read. Here was a team of kid super-heroes - mind boggling - boys and girls, and one of them died. That didn’t happen, back then. The first issue I bought was Superboy Starring the Legion of Super-Heroes #203. The death of Invisible Kid. I learned, shortly thereafter, that between Triplicate Girl and Invisible Kid,FerroLad had sacrificed himself. Again, groundbreaking stuff. I could list other examples, but I’d be here all night. Suffice it to say that in the 80’s, when X-Men finally caught on, the Legion was in battle with the New Teen Titans to be the second best selling book, month after month. The Legion isn’t second tier, it’s just lost its way.

[Morgoth]

May solicits still have no Legion. Has it been stealth cancelled?

Bendis said that he still has plans for the Legion, but it is likely that at least they decided to freeze the title for a while before deciding what to do next. The Legion sold very poorly and they already closed his Young Justice.
I think we'll get some news after FS Legion will end.

[JLH]

Bendis' Legion didn't appeal to me but it was nice seeing them in print anyway...

[Thor-Ul]

Bendis said that he still has plans for the Legion, but it is likely that at least they decided to freeze the title for a while before deciding what to do next. The Legion sold very poorly and they already closed his Young Justice.
I think we'll get some news after FS Legion will end.

I would prefer than Bendis would concentrate in one team at the time, and than he would write a Justice League better than what he did to the Legion. But if DC had decided to freeze the team at this early, it is not a good sign about this reboot performance. We will see if after the publication of the second FS LOS there is any news about it.
But I would not be surprised if they decided to continue the story with this FS status quo as starting point.

[CaptCleghorn]

Bendis said that he still has plans for the Legion, but it is likely that at least they decided to freeze the title for a while before deciding what to do next. The Legion sold very poorly and they already closed his Young Justice.
I think we'll get some news after FS Legion will end.

I'm also thinking (hoping?) that the end of Legion's FS issues will have some huge spoiler filled ending that necessitated a total lack of information about the next issues of the Legion.

[sifighter]

I also assume that the ending of Death Metal and the beginning of Infinite Frontier are going to mess with the Legion a bit, in a timeline where all continuity or history is remembered that has to mess with the Legion because now 4 separate timelines of Legions are remembered and exist, that being the Pre-crisis, Zero Hour, Threeboot, and the Bendis eras. I'm assuming similar to Legion of Three worlds that somehow they are all part of the omniverse, separate earths for different Legions so that Clark had his Legion and Jon had this one.

[EmeraldGladiator]

No need for a "final issue" just come up with some storyline but it has to be a quick one where the Bendis' boot is another Time Trapper pocket universe trick where the retroboot Legion takes over at it's conclusion. IF and I don't know if there is a breakout character from the Bendis-boot let them be the lone survivor of a bad decision. TPTB at DC chose to take the Legion from Johns and give it to Bendis this has proved to be a monumental mistake but rather than being stubborn admit the mistake and fix it. Give the Legion back to Geoff! Hell I don't care if they blame the yellow parasite for it all just end the Bendis boot and everything that goes with it now before it does even more damage.

[Thor-Ul]

I'm also thinking (hoping?) that the end of Legion's FS issues will have some huge spoiler filled ending that necessitated a total lack of information about the next issues of the Legion.

Are you asking for Bendis to resolve any of the hanging plots he leaves around? My poor innocent lad...

The crux of the matter about this is than if anything new is published or announced soon, these FS books will be considered the canon of the Bendisboot, with this Legion going the way of New52 Earth-2.

[Korath]

No need for a "final issue" just come up with some storyline but it has to be a quick one where the Bendis' boot is another Time Trapper pocket universe trick where the retroboot Legion takes over at it's conclusion. IF and I don't know if there is a breakout character from the Bendis-boot let them be the lone survivor of a bad decision. TPTB at DC chose to take the Legion from Johns and give it to Bendis this has proved to be a monumental mistake but rather than being stubborn admit the mistake and fix it. Give the Legion back to Geoff! Hell I don't care if they blame the yellow parasite for it all just end the Bendis boot and everything that goes with it now before it does even more damage.

That would be the best way to kill the Legion even more. Saying "what you read was a mistake, here take the old and mouldy real Legion!" would be both dumb and insulting. Just like the JSA, if this team can't stand nowadays, perhaos they should just kill those teams and not waste talents on them.

[kcekada]

No need for a "final issue" just come up with some storyline but it has to be a quick one where the Bendis' boot is another Time Trapper pocket universe trick where the retroboot Legion takes over at it's conclusion. IF and I don't know if there is a breakout character from the Bendis-boot let them be the lone survivor of a bad decision. TPTB at DC chose to take the Legion from Johns and give it to Bendis this has proved to be a monumental mistake but rather than being stubborn admit the mistake and fix it.

Poor decisions by DC leadership continue to torpedo the line. I guess they expected Bendis and Sook would be enough to guarantee success of a reboot, but they were wrong. Bendis is not known for getting into a story quickly. They are usually long and drawn out affairs -- that may (or may not) have a payoff down the road. I don't know if Bendis would have done better using existing versions and building off of that instead of trying to introduce yet another new version of the Legion, but I think retaining history would have made it more receptive to readers.

There were no break out characters in the Bendis boot -- but Monster Boy was a kinda fun throwback to the Curt Swan years, IMHO. It looked like he was trying to do something with White Witch, but he was taking too long to make anything happen.

[kcekada]

That would be the best way to kill the Legion even more. Saying "what you read was a mistake, here take the old and mouldy real Legion!" would be both dumb and insulting. Just like the JSA, if this team can't stand nowadays, perhaos they should just kill those teams and not waste talents on them.

But it was a mistake -- sadly, one that they keep repeating. Each time they reboot, the title fails faster than before.

There is no reason a writer can't have an engaging series using existing characters. Legion doesn't have to be a history lesson every issue. You only need to get into history when it's relevant to a story or character. You want a story and concept that grabs the reader. Bendis's Legion did not do that -- he was relying too much on his own take of what the future would be instead of telling good character-driven stories.

[Montressor]

As a kid I found the Legion corny and outdated. As I matured as a reader I became fascinated with the concept, and as an adult I look at them as being an integral part of Superman's--NOT Jon's--history. I was psyched to see Superboy (Clark) restored, to me that meant he'd be hanging out with his cool friends from the distant future. But no...they had to do yet another reboot. Sigh...

I would love to see Jon's time with his 'Legion' either wiped away (and himself restored to youth) or explained away as an alternate timeline version of the Legion. I want to see Clark as a teen having adventures with his friends, learning and training along the way. Otherwise I see absolutely no point in restoring his history as Superboy.