Legion of Super-Heroes Appreciation 2023

[Doctor Know]

We also have the LOSH film coming out in the Tommorowverse universe. In January 2023.

[Uncanny X-Man]

There was a period there in Paul Levitz's first run, when SUPERBOY AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES was double-sized, with 34 pages of story and art, every month, issues 231 - 242, 1977-78. That was pretty sweet to have so much Legion each month. Quality may have varied, but it really expanded on what they could do in a single issue.

And let's not forget that for a long stretch of time in the 90s, the Legion starred in 2 monthly ongoing titles and also spun off multiple miniseries like Inferno and Science Police. It's crazy how mismanaged the property has been and how its success has been driven into the ground by DC.

[Mike]

My first comic ever was a Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes.
s-l500.jpg
I followed the book for years.
Until the New Legion of Super-Heroes.
I just didn't like it.
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[j9ac9k]

Lots of love for Giffen's 5yl run which is understandable, it's a classic....though i wasn't thrilled about the Timber Wolf fur ball transition.

I think the Zero Hour killed the Legion. It was never able to find its footing again after that.

I feel ya with the Timberwolf/Furball thing - my favorite Legionnaire is Wildfire and he was dead for most of it until... the whole Dirk body thing... not the best. (I also loved the reboot Legion, but mostly when they brought back Wildfire and the DnA run) BUT, I still LOVE the 5YL run - it's what really got me into the Legion in the first place. (I also happen to love Giffen's "gritty" art in those days) Zero Hour was just an excuse for DC to reboot the Legion after it had gone so far away from itself. I think that they should have reformed the team, gotten the costumes back, etc. as a way to show that the Legion had taken the universe out of the darkness. But instead, they blew up the moon. And the Earth. There was really no coming back from that and Zero Hour offered a real chance to start over. (and not with clones (the time displaced thing was just a lazy way to convince people the younger versions were still the "real" Legion))

I see a lot of recommendations for the 5 Years Later Legion. I read a synopsis online to get an idea what it is about. Time displaced duplicates of the younger casting, alongside the older cast seems to be the takeaway.

The "younger versions" only happened near the very end of that era, when the book was running out of steam. Most of the 5YL era was all about adult Legionnaires living their lives after the Legion had fallen apart and the UP got much darker. The team did form again, but it was still a bunch of disillusioned adults for the most part, trying to keep it together.

[CaptCleghorn]

The "younger versions" only happened near the very end of that era, when the book was running out of steam. Most of the 5YL era was all about adult Legionnaires living their lives after the Legion had fallen apart and the UP got much darker. The team did form again, but it was still a bunch of disillusioned adults for the most part, trying to keep it together.

Had that run been planned out as a 50 or so issue arc, the future disillusionment would have led to the older Legionnaires being faced with their younger more excited duplicates and that could have been a fine long term story.

I LOVE 5YL and my favorite part was that unlike almost every other future story, cast members changed fairly dramatically as they had been shown to in the past few decades of stories.

[sifighter]

I really enjoyed the post-Zero Hour Legion, it’s probably my favorite though I’ve been around for a lot of reboots and retooling of the Legion. I saw the threeboot start in Teen Titans then them undoing that with Legion of three earths/The Great Lightning Saga and then the Bendis run.

As much I like them they do tend to get a tad confusing thanks to reality changes at the time of writing.

[Doctor Know]

The "younger versions" only happened near the very end of that era, when the book was running out of steam. Most of the 5YL era was all about adult Legionnaires living their lives after the Legion had fallen apart and the UP got much darker. The team did form again, but it was still a bunch of disillusioned adults for the most part, trying to keep it together.

Had that run been planned out as a 50 or so issue arc, the future disillusionment would have led to the older Legionnaires being faced with their younger more excited duplicates and that could have been a fine long term story.

I LOVE 5YL and my favorite part was that unlike almost every other future story, cast members changed fairly dramatically as they had been shown to in the past few decades of stories.

Good to know. Thank you both for your insights. I’m excited to learn about my favorite Legion after the Magic Wars. Things were falling apart for them towards the end of Levitz’s original run.

I’m also excited for original Valor! Stars and all.

I really enjoyed the post-Zero Hour Legion, it’s probably my favorite though I’ve been around for a lot of reboots and retooling of the Legion. I saw the threeboot start in Teen Titans then them undoing that with Legion of three earths/The Great Lightning Saga and then the Bendis run.

As much I like them they do tend to get a tad confusing thanks to reality changes at the time of writing.

I feel you there. The Legion are straddled with obscurity due to the frequent reboots, retcons and relaunches.

How many Legions are there now?

1. Pre-Crisis + Post Crisis + Post Infinite Crisis + New 52

^Thats one long tangled web.

2. Post Zero Hour Legion

3. Threeboot

4. Bendis Legion

[Zero Hunter]

I am a lifelong Legion fans and have nearly every issue in one form or another except the Bendis stuff (I couldn't buy it knowing how much I hate Bendis trying to write a cosmic book). My all time favorite run is probably the Giffen era Five Years Latter... run, but it really did hurt the franchise long term. People just thought it was too much of a tone shift at the time. I have said for years that that Legion run was a Vertigo book before Vertigo was a thing. It would have fit in perfect alongside stuff like Morrison's Doom Patrol. The book was just a couple years to early.

I really loved the Reboot era too for the most part. Those first few years were some great storytelling in my opinion. Really the only era I don't like (outside of Bendis which I just refuse to read) is the Waidboot/Threeboot. I am not sur what happened to Waid in that run, but he missed the mark on pretty much every level. I makes it even worse because he showed at the start of the Reboot era he got the Legion, but god was his Threeboot bad on every level. The plots, the villains, the characters, just everything. you could tell even he got bored with his own story towards the end and just wanted to leave.

If your looking for a good start to the Reboot era there are two thick trades that collect the first few years. I wish they would do at least one more since the upcoming stuff was so good.

[Doctor Know]

^ Thank you. I found both available on Amazon. As well as Dan Abett’s Legion Lost volume. I’ve ordered them. Just in time for Christmas.


Also want to post a toast to LOSH TAS. Like YJ. LOSH needed a 3rd season.

[Lee Stone]

I think the Levitz-return had potential.
But it had an uphill battle.

He hadn't written the book in a long time, didn't have any long term threads already started, wasn't sure who modern readers were connecting with, and plodded through a long Earth Man storyline leading into New52.
Then New52 happened, and (surprise!) it doesn't get rebooted like every other book. But (!) a handful of the more popular characters get taken and put in another book (which really sucked, btw), and the main title then struggled to get its footing.

The best thing about the 2010/2011 runs was that it re-established the Levitz run as canon.

However, my second favorite (after the original Levitz run) would be the DnA series.
DC really dropped a ball there, though, when they failed to keep them from jumping ship to Marvel to do Annihlation and revive the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Those hit movies with the cute gun-blazing raccoon, scruffy Han Solo understudy and baby tree? Wouldn't have happened if not for DnA leaving Legion.

Not the first time the Legion just missed something that went on to Marvel.
Both Nightcrawler and Storm only made it into the X-Men because they didn't get used in the Legion first.

On the bright side, Marvel has their own Legion, the Imperial Guard.
And surprisingly, they have managed to exist since 1977 without being rebooted even once.

[AJpyro]

The few I've read are the McCraw, Peyer, and Waid series which is the ZH Reboot. I got the two trades and its been a great ride.

I also brought the DNA collected that came out.

[Uncanny X-Man]

If your looking for a good start to the Reboot era there are two thick trades that collect the first few years. I wish they would do at least one more since the upcoming stuff was so good.

I'd love to hear recommendations about the Reboot era and specifically all the pre-DnA run as that's where I have my Legion blindspot. Are those Waid/McCraw/Peyer/Stern stories worth it?

[Zero Hunter]

I'd love to hear recommendations about the Reboot era and specifically all the pre-DnA run as that's where I have my Legion blindspot. Are those Waid/McCraw/Peyer/Stern stories worth it?

The sad thing is these are really the only pre DnA trades for that period of the Legion so far. I think the quality did drop a little when they split the team in two with half being stuck in the modern day DCU, but even then it was not that bad. The two books (Legion of Superheroes and Legionnaries) were really written like on biweekly book for those first few years with the stories going back and forth between them. Those first 2 years had great stuff like gathering of the team, the White Triangle Saga, The Fatal Five/Conspiracy storyline, a fun crossover with the Superboy series (Superboy #21, Legion #74, Legionnaries #31). There is also a great Emerald Eye storyline that build slowly until it kicks of big time which leads to half the team being lost in time. Them being split lasted almost a year and half and that was just too long. Of the two books I think Legionnaries was the stronger of the two post team split, and that is probably because it was the one Roger Stern was working on.

All in all pre team-split books Legion 0,62-84 and Legionnaries 0,19-40 are well worth reading. If you like heroes stuck in the past then Legion 85-100 are fun. Seeing the aftermath of the Emerald Eye fight and seeing the team dealing with thinking half their team was killed, having tryouts for new members, and then having to deal with the massive threat of Mordru at half strength, and giving the new characters some page time makes Legionnaries 41-56 a very good read.

I think the main hangup most have with the Reboot era is the art style. Jeff Moy was not really a great fit for the book with his more cartoony art. The story telling was definetly no kiddie. I mean on their first mission one of the team get his neck snapped and killed for gods sake. I think a different artist would have made a huge difference for that entire reboot era.

[Uncanny X-Man]

The sad thing is these are really the only pre DnA trades for that period of the Legion so far. I think the quality did drop a little when they split the team in two with half being stuck in the modern day DCU, but even then it was not that bad. The two books (Legion of Superheroes and Legionnaries) were really written like on biweekly book for those first few years with the stories going back and forth between them. Those first 2 years had great stuff like gathering of the team, the White Triangle Saga, The Fatal Five/Conspiracy storyline, a fun crossover with the Superboy series (Superboy #21, Legion #74, Legionnaries #31). There is also a great Emerald Eye storyline that build slowly until it kicks of big time which leads to half the team being lost in time. Them being split lasted almost a year and half and that was just too long. Of the two books I think Legionnaries was the stronger of the two post team split, and that is probably because it was the one Roger Stern was working on.

All in all pre team-split books Legion 0,62-84 and Legionnaries 0,19-40 are well worth reading. If you like heroes stuck in the past then Legion 85-100 are fun. Seeing the aftermath of the Emerald Eye fight and seeing the team dealing with thinking half their team was killed, having tryouts for new members, and then having to deal with the massive threat of Mordru at half strength, and giving the new characters some page time makes Legionnaries 41-56 a very good read.

I think the main hangup most have with the Reboot era is the art style. Jeff Moy was not really a great fit for the book with his more cartoony art. The story telling was definetly no kiddie. I mean on their first mission on the team get his neck snapped and killed for gods sake. I think a different artist would have made a huge difference for that entire reboot era.

Thank you so much, this is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. I think I will definitely check the Reboot Legion out while I wait for new Legion comics to be published by DC.

Very well noted and agreed in Jeff Moy's style, while I don't think he's a bad artist he definitely gives the Legion a "kids book" feel that I don't think suits it.

[Mantis-Ray]

Never read much Legion comics, but I have a soft spot for the franchise due to having watched the cartoon as a kid. Great stuff.

I have to say, I think the cartoon has some of the best looks for some of the characters compared to how they look in the comics

Like I can't help but find comic Timber Wolf looking kind of bland next to his show self especially since he was one of my favorite characters while it was airing