Originally Posted by
Robanker
Man, the people who hate Bendis are always looking for an excuse to dunk on him.
A lot of books got stealth cancelled or are in limbo until the next wave of announcements.
Legion floats in Hawkman territory now; stalwart title to hardcore fans that doesn't really draw in the casual audience. They're essentially DC's X-Men (I know the Doom Patrol was the original comparison but it's evolved into something too different to consider in this comparison) in the future, thus having no chance of really crossing over with the other characters people like and being so far means that all the big event books have no impact on it. So you just have this side book that plugs along-- Like Batman Beyond. And that has a TV show and BATMAN behind it. Doesn't exactly blow up the charts.
Legion's never going to be a must-buy for long short of someone like Hickman taking over it and at that point you're asking "DC, why can't you make the hail mary?" Because Marvel offered him X-Men over Legion. That's what it comes down to. I love Hawkman. I think the Legion is cool, but tell me objectively why they need to get Legion of Super-Heroes working before stuff like Supergirl, Batgirl, Wonder Woman and many other bigger IP are struggling to keep books or rise above 35,000 (and that's Wonder Woman FFS). Spoiler: They don't. Like Hawkman, which just wrapped up a great run, there are bigger fish to fry at DC and that unfortunately means fan favorites like The Legion will not be getting the big talent unless those guys walk through the door saying "I want Legion" and have enough of a name to get it made. Bendis, for good or ill, is known for USM, Daredevil and having the ability to spin new characters into IP that transcend into more profitable media (Jessica Jones, Miles Morales, Naomi, etc). Bendis, despite how much people shit on the dude, gives the suits what they want. You need someone of that level, like Donny Cates or some such, to demand Legion to see them break the glass sales ceiling month after month.
I do think it's disingenuous to say Bendis (and Sook) didn't work hard on this book, though. Just issues 8-9 alone and Bendis coraling all those artists (he was the driving force for those) as well as the world building elements they introduce show they really shot high for this one. If it missed for you, that's perfectly fine and his poor attention to detail/weak editing have caught numerous mistakes in the book. It ain't perfect, but portraying this book as some cynical half-assed job is just bold-faced false.