Legion of Superheros HELP!!!

[Darth Kal-el]

I need some hep from Legion of Superheroes fans. I am exposed to the Legion from the Superman books and Geoff Johns but I have never really read their runs on their own. I am currently interested but have no idea which runs and creators to read. I know their was the DnA Legion which has Conner in it. Their was the Waid Legion and I know Paul Levitz wrote Legion as well. Can anyone recommend which one to read and how easy are they to collect. I am a nineties and 2000's DC guy but willing to take any suggestions.
Basically what are the best runs and how do I start and where do I start?Thanks in advance!!! =)

[Icefalcon]

I grew up with Levitz's Legion and for me none of the successors have ever been as good including Levitz own return to the title more recently.

The worst one in my opinion is the 5 Years later volume which begins with Keith Giffen writing. I hated both Giffen's writing on it and the art. It gets better later when Giffen leaves but the early part of it always puts me off.

For ease of being able to get the issues though maybe try the most recent N52 series and it's short lived companion Legion Lost. It'll be enough to tell you if you want to go diving for old volumes and harder to find back issues.

[Nomads1]

I've been reading the Legion since the mid-70's, when it was still basically SUPERBOY and the Legion of Super-Heroes, and I've pretty much always LOVED it. My favorite version is the Post-Zero Hour Legion, which then went on to become the DnA Legion. IMHO, it really fleshed out the characters individually as it never had been done before, and it made favorites of mine characters that I hardly paid attention to before. However, not much of it is collected.
To start with the Legion, I'd recommend two MASSIVE TPBs that collect a huge part of the Levitz-Giffen era, probably the high-light of the whole series. The Great Darkness Saga and The Curse.
https://www.amazon.com/Legion-Super-...+darkness+saga
https://www.amazon.com/Legion-Super-...NZWP567NBGY8XJ

Another great Legion story that I recommend, this one, the DnA Legion, but that may be harder to find, is the Legion Lost HC. It's a truely amazing story, with a lot of art by newcomer Oliver Coipel, befor he got his super-star status.
https://www.amazon.com/Legion-Lost-S...GSYWEC97QH3D8T

Try this out. If you like it, there is a lot more to be found.

Peace

[Darth Kal-el]

Thanks so much

[Zero Hunter]

The bad thing is there are not alot of collections of the good stuff when it comes to Legion. Most of the great Levitz, Giffen, and DnA runs are not collected. The Waid run is all collected, but it is probably the worst run of the series in the last 20 years. Waid totally missed the mark on his 2nd run which is so sad because he did and earlier run right after the Zero Hour reboot which was pretty great. Avoid the Waid/Kitson run as it is not a good Legion run at all.

The main Trades you might be able to find are:

Original run:

The Great Darnkess Saga - big oversized hardcover collected issues 284-296 and Annual 1 by Levitz
The Curse - another oversized hardcover collecting issues 297-313 and Annual's 2 and 3 by Levitz

An Eye for and Eye - collects the first story of the relaunched series by Levitz issues 1-6
The More Things Change - the follow up to the last trade collects issues 7-13 also by Levitz

Reboot era:

The Beginings of Tomorrow - the first story from when the Legion was totally rebooted for the first time after Zero hour by Mark Waid, Tom Peyer, and Tom McCraw. Collects issues 0, 62-65 of Legion of Superheroes and issues 0, 19-22 of the sister title Legionnaries

DC Comics Presents: Legion of Superheroes #1 (100 pages special) - collects DnA's first Legion story Legion of the Damned from Legion 122-123 and Legionnaries 79-80

Legion Lost - collects the 12 issue mini series that spun out of the events at the end of the Legion of Superheroes and Legionnaries series.

Foundations - collects the end of the DnA run from The Legion issues 25-30 (probably the weakest of the entire DnA run)

There are two other Levitz trades that are great to really give an idea what the Legion is all about that came out about 5 years ago or so:

Legion: Secret Origin - Gives the team a tweaked origin story
Superboy and the Legion: The Early Years - collects issues 515-520 of Adventure Comics and tells some untold stories of when young Clark Kent was a member of the team.


Like I said before just avoid the Waid Threeboot entirely as it is not worth the time to read.

[j9ac9k]

PRE-ZERO HOUR
The Great Darkness Saga: Widely considered the best Legion story - you don't really need any prior knowledge of the team, it gives you a good idea of who everyone is, and it's just a great story before Darkseid got way overused. (I would be concerned about spoiling that since his reveal was one of the best parts of the story, but they throw him on the cover, so that's kinda given away...)
The Baxter Series: Not sure how it's collected, but this was a second series (printed on baxter paper - hence the term) Levitz/Giffen were the main creators.
The TMK/Giffen "5 Year Gap" LSH series: Some loved it, some hated it. The team had disbanded, the universe was dark, the story built slowly and only hinted at things rather than spelled it out. I thought it was awesome and it's what drew me into the Legion in the first place.

POST-ZERO HOUR (totally new continuity)
DnA/Coipel "Legion": There was a whole series prior to DnA getting their hands on the rebooted title, but honestly, it wasn't the best. You can start with the "Legion Lost" mini series to get acquainted with a smaller team trapped in another universe, but things really get rolling when the title relaunched and the team was whole again.

ELSEWORLDS
Superboy's Legion: (Alan Davis) Totally self-contained, which can be a good thing. An Elseworlds, so don't look to this for continuity, but it's a really good story where the characters are mostly in keeping with their regular continuity characterization. It's the spirit of the Legion and a good story without any baggage.

I also wouldn't bother with Waid's Legion title. It was the most separate from the other titles and didn't really work, imo.

[Darth Kal-el]

I appreciate everyone's responses. Is the New Fifty Two legion worth reading

[The Whovian]

I need some hep from Legion of Superheroes fans. I am exposed to the Legion from the Superman books and Geoff Johns but I have never really read their runs on their own. I am currently interested but have no idea which runs and creators to read. I know their was the DnA Legion which has Conner in it. Their was the Waid Legion and I know Paul Levitz wrote Legion as well. Can anyone recommend which one to read and how easy are they to collect. I am a nineties and 2000's DC guy but willing to take any suggestions.
Basically what are the best runs and how do I start and where do I start?Thanks in advance!!! =)

Since you're more into 2000's stuff, I would say get DnA's Legion, starting with Legion Lost.

If you like that, go back and read The Great Darkness Saga by Levitz/Giffen.

[Tugger]

LSH was one of the first comics I picked up. #282 'If Answers There Be' was my first issue and I became hooked.
I read the title regularly from that point, through the rest of that run and much of the 63 issues of the subsequent series that premiered on Baxter paper, then through some of the After the 5 Year Gap stories, until the Earth got destroyed.
I'm currently buying digital editions of all of the above and enjoying reliving my teenage years!

[bearman]

It is not universally loved... but I thought the Five Year Gap let to densely constructed, delightfully imaginative storytelling.
Giffen was an idea machine.
Those issues have been read many many times, and always reward me with detail, and care.
Absolutely one of the high points of comics over the past couple of decades. I LOVED it.