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

[Frontier]

I can cite all the typical problems from Bendis' writing in this book, namely the annoying dialogue and poor pacing, which are somehow accentuated than in any other of his titles.

But the worst thing about this is that the goddamn title is extremely dull so I can't blame anyone who dropped at like issue 2 (which I did... only to come back to it just because I needed to write some stuff and I hate myself for it).

The future of the Justice League is not bright in every sense of the word.

I was worried after reading Young Justice, which is basically a teen Justice League.

[Superfly Frankenstein]

There were plenty of reasons from DC's standpoint. They already tried the retroboot under Johns, they launched two series that failed, it limits what you can do with the future, that lineup was very white, etc.... and I'm a huge fan of the LSH and the traditional team. I can see why they had reasons to reboot even if I want in my heart for that old team to continue and thrive.

Actually, if I’m not mistaken, they were cancelled due to New 52. The “retroboot” happened less than a year and a half before they started spiraling into Flashpoint and the ignorance that came after.

[Superfly Frankenstein]

I have Zero issues with Bendis. He gives a good change of pace style. For the most part, I enjoyed his Superman run. The way he handled certain things was the best as to he expected. He did some controversial things and that’s gonna bring out the haters, but there is nothing wrong with character growth, I just think he overpunted his coverage with LoSH

[LordUltimus]

How well did his Legion do in sales, by the way?

[Bored at 3:00AM]

How well did his Legion do in sales, by the way?

Not great, but sales numbers are a tricky thing these days. Something can sell okay monthly, but sell like gangbusters in trade or digitally.

Naomi would be a good example. That comic sold well, but did much better in TPB and will no doubt sell even more given the character's rising prominence and upcoming TV show. Morrison/Sharp's The Green Lantern is another odd duck. It also sold well monthly, but the book's real market is in trades, which will continuing getting reprinted and re-released for decades to come.

Bendis/Sook's LSH didn't sell nearly as well as either of those books, but it the trades prove to be very popular, then the relaunch will be viewed as a success.

[ohfellow]

The thing is above 30K at Issue 4 isn't good, because sales often continue to fall after that.

Young Justice #4 was also above 30K, but it falls under that in Issue 5. And the fall only continue.

That happens a lot, for sure, but I think Legion has held pretty steady.

Comichron was doing relative rankings for a while, and now has started to extrapolate sales numbers.

#6 beat Flash, Action, Batman Secret Files, Flash Annual, Wonder Woman (both issues), Nightwing, Catwoman... and everything that was cancelled.

#7 beat Catwoman, Flash (both issues), Wonder Woman (both issues)...

#8 beat Green Lantern, Wonder Woman (one of the two), Action, Catwoman...

#9 starts to get sales projections - 27K to 32K, beating Flash (both), Green Lantern, Justice League Annual...

#10 projection 28K to 34K, beating Flash (one issue). While numbers are technically up over #9, it did fall to just about the bottom of the pack of non-cancelled books. But it's not a collapse.

October (#10) is the last month with sales projections.

[9th.]

I think 30k is more than ok for LOSH, they aren't all that popular anymore and i'm sure Bendis name being attached to helps a little.

[Konja7]

I think 30k is more than ok for LOSH, they aren't all that popular anymore and i'm sure Bendis name being attached to helps a little.

30k are fine for sales of LOSH if the sales mantain at that level.

The problem to be 30k at Issue 4 is that sales are usually not stable, so they often continue to fall.

That said, the comic could grow in sales (Naomi grow in her floppies sales), but this is not so common.

[Montressor]

I would love it if they would un-reboot the Legion back to the originals finally with Clark back as Superboy. What was the point of returning his Superboy years to continuity with no Legion for him to hang out with?

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I would love it if they would un-reboot the Legion back to the originals finally with Clark back as Superboy. What was the point of returning his Superboy years to continuity with no Legion for him to hang out with?

Because Johns plans for Doomsday Clock were made before he got fired and Bendis was brought on board and Didio starting making plans for 5G.

[Zero Hunter]

I think 30k is more than ok for LOSH, they aren't all that popular anymore and i'm sure Bendis name being attached to helps a little.

That is the problem with Bendis. Yes he does bring his fans to the books he works on. The problem is Bendis has just as many people that HATE his work as he has people who love it. I love the Legion and have almost every appearance of the team in either singles, trades, or hardcovers. I am the person who should have been first in line for a new Legion series ....... until I saw the name Bendis attatched to it. I will not read a team book that man writes because he just can't write teams. Never has. To make it worse he was going to be on the biggest team ever which is way outside of his skill set.

You can not take a polarizing writer and put them on a non A list series. For as many new fans that come on board you lose almost as many longtime fans or people who will not even give the book a chance because they dislike the writer that much. You can get away with a polarizing creator on A list books, but not the rest.

[Agent Z]

I have Zero issues with Bendis. He gives a good change of pace style. For the most part, I enjoyed his Superman run. The way he handled certain things was the best as to he expected. He did some controversial things and that’s gonna bring out the haters, but there is nothing wrong with character growth, I just think he overpunted his coverage with LoSH

There is nothing wrong with character growth if it is handled well. Also, just changing something isn't character growth.

[madmodpoetgod]

That is the problem with Bendis. Yes he does bring his fans to the books he works on. The problem is Bendis has just as many people that HATE his work as he has people who love it. I love the Legion and have almost every appearance of the team in either singles, trades, or hardcovers. I am the person who should have been first in line for a new Legion series ....... until I saw the name Bendis attatched to it. I will not read a team book that man writes because he just can't write teams. Never has. To make it worse he was going to be on the biggest team ever which is way outside of his skill set.

You can not take a polarizing writer and put them on a non A list series. For as many new fans that come on board you lose almost as many longtime fans or people who will not even give the book a chance because they dislike the writer that much. You can get away with a polarizing creator on A list books, but not the rest.

Good points! You cannot try to revitalize an old-timer like LOSH with a problematic writer. It is just bad word-of-mouth.
Plus I am reading a lot of comments that LOSH is destined to be a mid-tier. This is far from the truth. It has immense potential to turn into a healthy franchise. They have the cult following and devoted readers -all DC needs to do is good planning and a seductive team to gain NEW readers. Bendis always runs you on credit. Every new fan he brings to his projects he loses two old followers.

[kcekada]

Reboots are never the answer -- unless you're willing to alienate the old fans. DC and Bendis could have injected new energy into the franchise by introducing new characters and concentrating on those. The old guard could be mixed in --- with some taking on more of a teacher role. Bendis did add some new characters - Beast Boy (is that his name) maybe being the most interesting (though he can't do anything that Chameleon Boy can't do). I don't really get the new Dr. Fate when they already have White Witch. Gold Lantern is also an odd choice as it opens the door to many characters with artificial powers, but whatever.

Had DC and Keith Giffen not gotten LSH off track those many years ago, the series should be able to support multiple books.

[Lee Stone]

Had DC and Keith Giffen not gotten LSH off track those many years ago, the series should be able to support multiple books.

Pops in Cher's "If I Could Turn Back Time".