Some more Legion

[04nbod.insanejournal.com]

We've had prime, we've had the fate of the Legions, here is some pure fannish stuff.

I previously posted one page and according to the calculations below 3 more pages were available to meet the quota.

Even I can't name everyone on here but for me the most notable are the superperts, jimmy olsen 'elastic lad', lana lang 'insect queen' , pre crisis supergirl, kent shakespeare, quislet, two computos, five year gap Laurel, Ferro Lad, threeboot Mon-El (his story makes so much sense now) and the founders from Adventure 247. I'm sad there was no legionnaires from the cartoon or the DCAU (which I think is in the multiverse for sure, didn't we see Batman Beyond?)

Its hard to pick the best parts. The founders meeting the legion from a time when they were just formed, L.E.G.I.O.N being included (although there was no vril), the rebirth of the green lanterns (with just the words 'sentient found'), the new memorial room with *shock* 'futuristic' monuments, its liked they saved all the best bits for last. For the last page here is 3/4 from one and 1/4 from another showing some of the lighthearted moments that makes me love Legion.





Remember Brainy has been planning this since 'The Lightning Saga'. He is totally taken for granted, I think he likes it that way. This issue finally felt like a legion story with added bits. No 'Superman to the rescue', just Legion

Comments

[thatnickguy.insanejournal.com]

Slightly off topic, but...

...I've just never gotten the appeal of the Legion. Not for a lack of trying, believe me, as I've read the first trade of Mark Waid's post-Zero Hour run, The Great Darkness Saga, The Lightning Saga and most recently, Superman: The Legion of Superheroes (the Geoff Johns one).

And it's just...kind of confusing. There's so many characters all over the place that it's hard to keep track of not only who's who (heh), but there's because of that, no one really gets any individual screen time for any character development.

Then, you add in the fact that there have been, what? Half a dozen reboots of the property? Okay, maybe three or four, but you get my point. I get a headache just trying to keep track of it all.

The sad thing is, I really wish I COULD like it, but it's just one of those few things in comics I'll just never get.

[volksjager.insanejournal.com]

Plus all of the reboots,5 year jumps ect just turns you off in the end. Why invest in chararcters that will only be "changed" every few years when sales bottomout again. Thats what cause me to stop the book. I only picked this up because George Perez was the artist...

[shanejayell.insanejournal.com]

I kinda think the complexity is part of the draw for some fans. *lol*

[volksjager.insanejournal.com]

could be.

[04nbod.insanejournal.com]

I think the best thing to do is ignore everything before. When you find your feet, then go back. Its not as complicated as it sounds, honest.

Its basically:

1958 (pre-boot legion) The longest running legion that ran into the 80's. This is the Legion Johns uses. After the crisis Supergirl and Superboy were retconned but it took a while for Levitz to accept that. This Legion runs until the end of the Sensor girl arc in the 80s (but that is up for debate)

Levitz tried to continue by replacing Supergirl with Laurel Gand and Superboy from a pocket dimension (the same one matrix supergirl came from). This failed with readers. Superboy was killed and Giffen decided to jump ahead 5 years in the stories for a fresh start. This is called the 5 year gap. It was depressing but told some great socially conscious stories. It ended with the world exploding and the Legion replaced by younger clones All this paragraph is deemed out of continuity from the 1958 legion. It was originally in continuity but has been thrown in the bin.

Post Zero Hour Legion. A New Legion coming out of the Zero hour event. Nicknamed the Archie Legion because they were so young and their stories so fun filled. It was like the WB cartoon actually. They were awesome because they got back to the silver age ideal of the legion where the 5 year gap went completely the wrong way. They lasted for 10 years and had multiple books.

2005 Legion The Threeboot, all about Teen Rebellion and young people being politicised. It split fans down the middle. They stopped telling stories about this team in January.


My advice, start small. Everyone needs to start somewhere with Legion or no one would still be fans. Watch the cartoon, get familiar with the main players. Read Legion 'boots independantly of one another. If you start with the threeboot then imagine no other Legion exists. The threeboot is the most new reader friendly because it starts each comic with a page showcasing the main characters in that issue (names, planet, powers) and its all in trades. Or you could start with Adventure Comics which will have an origin and omen I guess for each legionnaire starting with Starman then going to Lightning Lad and Sun Boy and Polar Boy to build the team for new readers.

Don't try to know everything, no one expects you to because there is so much and if Johns is worth his pay cheque he won't refer to the past without an explanation.

[volksjager.insanejournal.com]

We can only hope. I am FAR more worried about john's reboot of young Clark Kent than the Legion at this point.

[khaosworks.insanejournal.com]

I think it's best just to stick to the pre-Crisis Legion. It's easier to follow because that's the one with the longest uninterrupted history (1959 to 1991).

The appeal to me of LSH as a kid was the sheer number of heroes you got in there, and Levitz and Giffen did a superb job of making me care for most every single one and making each one distinct. I also got a thing for comics with long histories and that acknowledge that history.

[04nbod.insanejournal.com]

I remember it being explained to me as if Professor X, Magneto, The Fantastic 4, Wolverine, multiple man and more were on the same team. I was all 'gimme and gimme NOW!'.

(pre crisis legion stops in the 80's but AFTER the crisis. Volume 3 issue 30 is one of the most convincing break arguments. Although stuff like the the Magic Wars may have happened to this Legion but not in the way we saw it. I would also advise against starting with the preboot for new readers, there is too much of it and not all of it is available)

[icon_uk.insanejournal.com]

And it's just...kind of confusing. There's so many characters all over the place that it's hard to keep track of not only who's who (heh), but there's because of that, no one really gets any individual screen time for any character development.

That's a large part of the fun for me, so many characters, so many combinations of characters. Plus they tend not to be overwhelmingly powerful characters and I'm a sucker for heroes with marginal powers. (With a few heavy hitters like Star Boy, Element Lad and the like)

Being able to remember all the members of the Legion was a small rite of passage when I was a kid! :)

[aaron_bourque.insanejournal.com]

Were you ever in a club as a kid? Not a school club, just a bunch of He-Man Woman-Haters, or whatever?

It's kinda like that.