Why is the Legion of Superheroes such a hard sell?

[The Darknight Detective]

How to sell the Legion? Just find a way to make comics cheaper and also lower the Batman Family's popularity among its many fans. Done!

[Jim Kelly]

The Batman of the 31st century is Brane Taylor. When his nephew, the Robin of the 31st century, broke his leg, Dick Grayson took his place as Brane's Boy Wonder.

[Thor-Ul]

I haven't been reading Morrison's Green Lantern. Who are the Superwatch? Anybody has a picture of them?

Peace

Basically, all the one appearance super rivals from the dark and silver age, put together in a space team. More close to the Imperial Guard than the Legion, as concept.


For a better understanding, check here.

[Nomads1]

Basically, all the one appearance super rivals from the dark and silver age, put together in a space team. More close to the Imperial Guard than the Legion, as concept.


For a better understanding, check here.

Thanks. I'll check it out.

Peace

[madmodpoetgod]

It is not a hard sell.
DC does not invest well enough.

Get rid of anything Bendis-related.
Go back to the Baxter series continuity with a smaller team. Mix of 5YL high-end storytelling mixed with early Levitz super-heroism and silver age Legion optimism.
Find a good designer for a unique look aka HoxPox.
An ambitious and intellectual writer and a number of talented artists rotating.
Every three or four months an OGN sort of imitating European sci fi comics, Jadorowsky etc. Detailed art, sophisticated writing, multiple editions, in continuity yet accessible.
Variant covers & other tricks keep the book floating.
Cross-company promotion.
Classic designs with few updates.
Definitely more diversity and kind of utopic sexuality/personaes
Reference to real world problems like what happened to Earth after the climate crisis etc.
Additional mini-series.
A steady publications of the collected editions.
Multimedia appearances.

then you can talk about a franchise.

[Jim Kelly]

Thanks. I'll check it out.

Peace

It's sort of like how Grant Morrison revived the Club of Heroes/Batmen of All Nations. Except, they were actually a team in the 1950s. There was never a Supermen of All Planets--but there were many such characters in the 1950s and 1960s--so just imagine if they were all in one group together.

[Uncanny X-Man]

I'm a relatively new fan of the original Legion. I first became familiar with them during the Abnett & Lanning era and never really read about the original Legion until this past Summer when I was in the mood for a loooong superhero saga in the vein of Claremont's X-Men... and I decided to read the Legion from the start of Levitz' second run. Boy was I not disappointed.

Back to this thread's topic: I don't think there's anything inherently weak with the Legion's concept or characters. They are no more or less complex, whimsical and convulted than the X-Men or the Avengers. A couple of problems I do see however standing in the way of success:

- Lack of media exposure. The fact there's hardly ever been any talks about a TV show, movie or animated series apart from the short-lived one from years ago, or a couple of members appearing here and there on TV throughout the year, make it less likely for DC to invest into them long-term. Anything that doesn't have a media tie-in these days is very hard to justify to big corporations.

- The multiple reboots are a big issue. Readers just lose investment in a series that feels the need to constantly reinvent itself and its characters for... no apparent reason? There are no "new readers" to get on board, I think nostalgia is the way for the Legion rather than reboots.

- Ultimately, an amazing creative team would go a long way towards reigning interest in the property. Years ago Geoff Johns pulled off the almost-impossible and restored the original Legion rather elegantly while at the same time making sense of all the other versions. I actually quite enjoyed Paul Levitz' latest run but in order for it to become a commercial success, it would have taken Geoff Johns & Gary Frank to do a nice, long run on a relaunched LOSH book.

- I don't actually hate Bendis' current run but I think it's safe to say he hasn't exactly set the sales charts on fire. I really think at this stage only the likes of Jonathan Hickman, Grant Morrison or the aforementioned Geoff Johns have the writing chops and commercial appeal to reignite the property and carry it to new heights. Unfortunately, given DC's de-emphasising of the comicbook corner, I don't see them making an investment into a big-name writer for the foreseeable future, let alone for a property with no media tie-ins... which brings me back to my first point.

[HsssH]

As they have said Grant Morrison is leaving comic books, after THE GREEN LANTERN, do you think someone else could pick up the Superwatch? It seems to me there are hundreds of ideas that Morrison has brought to D.C., yet he hasn't gotten around to doing all he wanted with them. But I don't know if they would have another writer take the torch.

I think it is possible, many writers have tried to use some of Morrison's ideas. Tomasi probably has tried the most so my money would be on him if he'll continue having work at DC. Thou, he tends to miss way more often than hit, at least in my opinion.

[Hypestyle]

a new cartoon show would help with public relations.

[kcekada]

I'd like to see the current Legion series end with a visit from the founders of the Levitz/Retroboot Legion -- for whatever reason. Maybe the timelines got crossed -- and the Bendis Legion accidentally visited the wrong past, and now the timeline needs restored.

[bearman]

Super watch reminded me of The LSH homage in Supreme.

[Robotman]

Marvel is about to have the Squadron Supreme play a big role in Heroes Reborn and it looks like they're going to have "Hyperion Boy" team up with their version of the LoS, the Imperial Guard. Lets see if Marvel can make the "Legion" sell.

[Jim Kelly]

I thought Marvel did "Heroes Reborn" decades ago. Do they just recycle their events the same way D.C. do?

[HsssH]

I thought Marvel did "Heroes Reborn" decades ago. Do they just recycle their events the same way D.C. do?

Um, yes? Civil War 2, Secret Wars 2 doesn't ring any bells?

[Thor-Ul]

I thought Marvel did "Heroes Reborn" decades ago. Do they just recycle their events the same way D.C. do?

They are recycling the name, as with most of the names orftheir events. This Heroes Reborn is a shill on DC with several of their characters in DC esque-roles: they also have a teen tittans team, a suicide squad team and the Supreme Squadron are the main antagonist, I suppose.
But also could be a way of reference the original event, I mean, who was one of the minds behind of the original Heroes Reborn and who is the head of DC these days???