Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Editorial shuffle - Wacker's out

Update 11:55pm, see below the cut.

(Originally posted 5:06 pm)
In the latest round of editorial shuffles at Marvel and DC, Newsarama announced today that Steve Wacker is leaving DC for Marvel. Wacker has been the Legion's editor (as well as Jonah Hex and JSA) and one of the guys keeping 52 together. According to Wizard (via Major Spoilers, though curiously not through WizardUniverse), he tendered his resignation today, and Newsarama says that sources say he was not fired.

More as it develops....



(Update 11:55 pm)
Wow! I had to go into work for a few hours and while I was gone, apparently the internet broke in half. The single page of responses to the Newsarama article above turned into twelve pages, most blasting Wacker for being unprofessional for leaving in the middle of the 52 project. Mark Waid (who of course writes both the Legion and 52) was able to get a word or two in edgewise, warning posters not to assume anything and to blast their calling Wacker "unprofessional".
I speak for all the creators involved with 52 when I say that Steve is one of the best, most professional and most talented editors we've ever worked with, and we will miss him immensely. His contribution to this series cannot be understated. Leaving was not an easy decision for him to make, but he has earned from us our support in whatever he does, and DC's loss is Marvel's gain.

Heidi at The BEAT caught Wizard's article mentioned above, but for some reason it was taken down shortly after she quoted from it (by the time I got there earlier tonight, it was already down). Stuart Moore, a former DC editor himself and current writer of Firestorm, commented at The BEAT that
The departure is sudden because of DC corporate policy: If you leave to go to another comics company, you leave immediately. It doesn’t imply anything else.

And Johanna notes that Marvel honcho Tom Brevoort has something to say from the other side of the fence (which is surely the first time I've linked to a Marvel.com site here!).

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Episode 1.01 wrapup

Some final thoughts and review/links before it's time to get ready for Episode 1.02, "Timber Wolf".

  • Monday's Comics Continuum has an interview with Andy "Lightning Lad" Milder.
    The Continuum: It's been established you're among the many Legion fans. So, how does the show pass the mustard?

    Milder: Dang right I'm a Legion fan. As a kid, my only pet was named Streaky. So, yes...the show really does pass the mustard. Having said that, I should clarify: If you're a hardcore fan looking for a very cutting edge adult show, as I hear some are, why are you on the Kids' WB!? The show stays true to the original books and honors them properly. Rob [Hoegee, series story editor], as it turns out, is a big-time Legion fan. You'll see a lot of the stuff you remember from your youth and some new stuff as well.

    The Continuum: What are the voice recording sessions like?

    Milder: The sessions couldn't be more fun. Kelly Ward directs. He's great. An actor himself, he "gets it." Rob Hoegee and James Tucker are there to add creatively and supervise, and my fellow actors are fantastic. We've become a pretty close group and I'm proud to say, it's one very talented room -- except for yours truly, of course.

  • Positive reviews from Johanna Draper of Comics Worth Reading, Bill Radford, Gilga at #comic-scans, ZenSpeedstr at Zenchronicity, and Heroic Dave at Heroic 'Toons.

  • Forum reviews from the DC Comics message boards, the Legions of Gotham forums

  • Uncle Mxy at the Superman Through the Ages forum points out that the episode is available on YouTube in three different parts. Click here to watch part 1, part 2, and part 3 - at least until it gets removed for copyright violations.


The vast majority of the bloggers and reviewers I have linked to in the last couple of days I had never heard of, but they pretty much all claim to be Legion fans. I think more people watched the show than have read the last half dozen (or more) issues of the comic, combined. From all the buzz I've been reading - and that's doing searches on keywords, so I'm not just including positive reviews, I've posted any review more than a couple of sentences - this appears to be a hit, with sky-high acceptance rates (with the notable exception of those who are upset at the thought that the Timmverse was cancelled to make way for this show, despite the fact that that's not how it happened).

Can't wait to be overwhelmed by the the toy and food company tie-ins!

Finally, thanks to everyone for showing up. I doubled my daily readership on Saturday and got my 4th highest hit count since I started last November. Take a moment to sign the comment block, please?

Monday, September 25, 2006

Meanwhile, back in "52"....

Here's a bit from Newsarama's weekly interview with 52 editor Steve Wacker. This week, obviously, the big story is the Emerald Eye.

NRAMA: For those of us not fully up on our Emerald Eyes – is this the first mention of the Head of Ekron? Or at least first sighting? And did Lobo do the tearing?

SW: Head of Ekron is new. It’s been called the Emerald Eye of Ekron for years but we never knew what Ekron was. There have been a lot of good Emerald Eye stories throughout the years, but some of my favorites are from the L.E.G.I.O.N. series from the late-80s, early ‘90s - which also starred Lobo for a time, my research lovin’ friends.

NRAMA: If you can recall, who brought the Emerald Eye to the table (figuratively)? And was the head a part of the package at first, or did that come in later? Are we going to see more of Ekron’s body parts?

SW: My memory is that Grant had made a good point early on in our meetings that he wanted the team caught in the Zeta beam accident (from weeks 4 and 5) to be extremely messed up physically and psychologically. The idea was to really show the terror and pain of interstellar disaster and instantaneous spacefolds rather than have everyone disappear into a special effect hole and wake up in a safe lump on the ground.

They were all riffing on the idea of Green Lantern missing an eye and the one he had not being his and that led Grant to thinking about the Emerald Eye. The Emerald head idea is expanded on in the script. I’ll ask the guys if they mind if I share that here. Remind me next week, internet.

NRAMA: We’ll have more from Geoff Johns on this on Monday, but in Green Lantern #13, we saw the Guardians chanting “52.” What the heck? Generally speaking, are we going to see a growing presence of 52’s storylines and elements in the DC titles? Any particular places we should be looking for tie-ins and touches?

SW: The first place I’d look is in the ongoing books these guys are working on. Supergirl and the Legion, Batman, Checkmate and Teen Titans. Now that the One Year Later stories have several months under their staples to establish their status quos, you’ll probably be seeing more hints as to what happened in the missing year. (There was also another early clue in the last few pages of JSA #87, if you’re keeping count....and I know you are.)

And later, in the Q&A section:
Q: Will we be seeing any of the Legion of Super-Heroes in 52?

SW: More likely you’ll see one of stars of 52 in Legion before too long. Paul Levitz presented a couple ideas to me and [Mark] Waid about ways to make 52 pay off for Legion that we liked, so keep your eyes peeled and ask me later.

This is probably (but of course, not necessarily definitely) a reference to Mon-el, or whatever name he's using. Which suggests that as has been speculated, Mon-el, or whatever name he's using, will play a part in the next half-year of 52.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Episode 1.01: Man of Tomorrow

Update Monday 9/25:
Even more feedback and reviews. Among Legion fans, the praise is running probably 90% positive. Among fans of the old "Timm-verse" DC animated universe, it's closer to 50/50 - they won't be pleased unless Bruce Timm is on it, and the reaction is more like "well it didn't suck as much as I thought it would".

So, more reviews:




If you haven't already read yesterday's post on the premiere, check it out first. Lots more reviews, commentary, and other stuff here, in no particular order...

Lots of people have commented about all the Legionnaires whose Mission Monitor Board symbols we see in the opening credits. With the aid of my trusty TiVo (my TiVomnicom?), here's whose symbols are shown:
  • Chameleon Boy, Chemical King, Ultra Boy, Shadow Lass, Lightning Lad, Timber Wolf, Karate Kid, Matter-Eater Lad, Dawnstar/Star Boy, Polar Boy, Element Lad, Saturn Girl, Phantom Girl, Blok, Triplicate Girl, Shrinking Violet, Superman, Brainiac 5, Dream Girl, Bouncing Boy, Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, Ferro Lad, Quislet.

Then, in the flying sequence near the end of the opening credits, we see these guys:
  • group 1 - Lightning Lad, Bouncing Boy, Phantom Girl, Brainiac 5, Timber Wolf, Saturn Girl
  • group 2 - Superman, Star Boy (in his current Kitson costume, as a black man), Element Lad (pink and black, with long blond hair), Matter-Eater Lad (yellow and green, reboot costume), Shrinking Violet (pink and black reboot costume, looks like an anime character with big eyes), Cosmic Boy (purple and black reboot costume). Then the point-of-view rotates and we see Colossal Boy (blue and red pre-Crisis costume), Triplicate Girl (split into 3), then they fly off into the Legion symbol.

Now, given all that, episode director Ben Jones said (in a comment in my previous post) that
Not every character whose logo appeared in the main titles will appear in the show (first season, anyways)... [and] there are some characters appearing whose logos are not in the main titles. That's all I can say!

So let's see, who does that leave... Andromeda, Gates, Gear, either Invisible Kid, either Kid Quantum, Kinetix, Lightning Lass, Mon-el, Monstress, Princess Projectra, Shikari, Sun Boy, Tellus, Thunder, Tyroc, Wildfire, and XS.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Animated show Premiere!

Wow. The show was a lot better than I expected, and a lot more mature (meaning "not kiddie"), for the better. I'm not sold on Transformer Brainy, but I think Bouncing Boy will be the breakout character (no pun intended). Good explanation of how the Legion goes back to get Superboyman, and I couldn't tell anywhere that the Superboy/Superman swap was detectable.

My TiVo and I noticed a whole bunch of Legionnaires in the Mission Monitor Board and at the end of the opening credits - we know that Blok, Chameleon Boy, Chemical King, Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, Dawnstar, Dream Girl, Element Lad, Karate Kid, Matter-Eater Lad, Polar Boy, Quislet, Shadow Lass, Shrinking Violet, and Ultra Boy will be in it (although I'm not sure if that was Dawnstar's symbol or Star Boy's, but Star Boy in his current black and white costume did appear in the credits). Truly a Legion!

Interlac! They used Interlac correctly! The board read 2947 TONS (I think that was the number).

Apparently I wasn't the only one to catch Booster Gold and Skeets as the janitor of the museum as Clark rushed in to get the Superman costume.

Two huge thumbs up from me to producer/showrunner James Tucker, series story editor Rob Hoegee, director Ben Jones, and writer Amy Wolfram (not to mention all of the animators and designers who put a lot of work into making this look good).

From around the blogosphere:

  • Character designer Derrick J. Wyatt posted drawings of some of the characters he created, ordinary denizens of 31st century Metropolis (who look suspiciously like some Green Lanterns!).
  • Episode director Ben Jones has a sketch of Validus. Ben's a cartoonist in his own right too. He's also retroactively updating an earlier post with some animation samples.
  • The animated show's Wikipedia entry has been updated as of this morning's episode (by me!).
  • Rokk Krinn at the Comic Book Revolution liveblogged the episode. He's very enthusiastic, and says pretty much the same things that I was saying.
    The first episode of The Legion of Super Hero cartoon was fun. It had plenty of humor and action. Plus, the cartoon quickly established the personalities of the various Legionnaires. I liked it. A fun story that moved at a good pace plus some nice animation. This is going to be an enjoyable animated series.

  • Johnny Bacardi caught the last 10 minutes but really liked the battle with the Fatal Five.
  • SF author Chris Roberson thought it was "splendid".
    What was nice about this show was that it felt like the Legion to me, much like Glen Murakami's Teen Titans had the feel of Wolfman-Perez's early eighties comics, even if the idiom was something aimed at an anime-friendly eight year old audience.

    He also comments on Wyatt's characters and names their origins.
  • Here's the ToonZone talkback thread for this episode. Lots of comparisons to Teen Titans (mostly favorable), and an overall positive reaction. More positive thoughts from the LegionWorld forums, the ComicBloc forums, the Television Without Pity forum, and the Legions of Gotham forum.
  • Davey, Andres, Van, Scott, Mark John, and Duo Damsel all liked it, while seaphilo didn't.


Rob Alstetter of Comics Continuum also writes a comics blog for the Detroit News. Here's his preview from Thursday.

And of course, for those of you who missed it and can't wait three more weeks to see it on TV, here's the torrent link.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Dynamic Music Partners press release

Got this in the email today from Dynamic Music Partners, the trio that is responsible for so much of the WB animated shows' music, and the group that scored the Legion show (and created the theme music for the Legion in their two previous animated appearances). Some info from their web site:

  • 7/19/06 DMP score the main theme to "Legion of Super Heroes" at Paramount Scoring Stage "M"
  • 8/2/06 Scoring officially begins on new WB "Legion of Super Heroes" series, to premiere on the CW network 9/23/06

For an earlier report on the show's music, see my talk with Kris Carter of DMP in July, right before the San Diego Comic Con.


The press release:
DYNAMIC MUSIC PARTNERS are pleased to announce the launch of Warner Bros. Animation's newest series, "Legion of Super Heroes." The underscore, composed by LOLITA RITMANIS, MICHAEL McCUISTION and KRISTOPHER CARTER airs Saturday mornings from 10:00 - 10:30 AM on the new CW Network. The main theme, composed by KRISTOPHER CARTER was recorded at Paramount Stage "M" by some of the top studio musicians in Los Angeles.

You can find out more about Dynamic Music Partners at www.dynamicmusicpartners.com.

Click to enlarge the picture

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Legion TV schedule Sept./Oct. 2006

Via ToonZone, here are the airdates and episodes for the Legion show through October. All episodes air at 10:00 a.m. local time.

Sept. 23 - episode 1 new, "Man of Tomorrow"
Sept. 30 - episode 2 new, "Timber Wolf"
Oct. 07 - episode 3 new, "Legacy"
Oct. 14 - episode 1, "Man of Tomorrow"
Oct. 21 - episode 2, "Timber Wolf"
Oct. 28 - episode 2, "Timber Wolf"

Episode 1: "MAN OF TOMORROW"
When fearsome villains the Fatal Five set their sights on the newly formed Legion of Super Heroes, three of the Legion's members go back in time to get help from the greatest hero of all time: Superman. Instead they find Clark Kent, aware of his powers but not yet of his grand destiny.

Episode 2: "TIMBER WOLF"
A mysterious scientist asks the Legion to help capture a dangerous creature. They succeed, only to discover the creature is nowhere near as dangerous as the scientist himself.

Episode 3: "LEGACY"
Superman unknowingly saves the life of Alexis, one of the wealthiest people in the galaxy. Alexis and Superman become fast friends, but when Superman's Legion responsibilities get in the way of their friendship, Alexis decides to do something about it...

Also see the official KidsWB! site.



Standard disclaimer:
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This does not necessarily supersede all previous notices.

Talk Like a Pirate Day! Aaarrrr!

I can't believe I missed "International Talk Like a Pirate Day" yesterday (Tuesday). I was already prepared for my Legion tie-in:



Good ol' Captain Frake. Too bad this was her only storyline, and I believe she's the only space pirate the Legion ever met.

Apparently by the 30th century, pirate-speak will have died out. Had this scene taken place in the early 21st century, it would have sounded something like this:
"No, gar! You're one o' me space pirates now -- and I order yo t' destroy the cursed Legion, and send 'em to Davy Jones' locker! Yaarrrr!"

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Animated LSH news 58: more interviews

Bill Radford at The Comics Fan spoke Tuesday with LSH series creator James Tucker.

Tucker says he’s picking and choosing elements from various eras, including the early, innocent days of comics’ Silver Age.

“I don’t mind some of the goofy elements from the Silver Age,” Tucker said. “If you can take that and make it feel fresh and cool, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Meanwhile, Comics Continuum has another interview with Michael Cornacchia, the voice of Bouncing Boy on the series.
I think it will be a great series. It will be good for children and it will be good for fans, too. These guys really seem to know the lore very well. I had no idea who they were until I got it. I looked it up online and and I went, "Whoa, there's this huge Legion."

The Emerald Eye of Apple Jacks

This week's issue of 52 (issue #20) cover-features a giant green eyeball -- what is probably Alan Scott's missing eye (eeewww), and what will probably turn out to be the Emerald Eye of Ekron, or at least one of them.



So imagine what I thought when I saw this in the supermarket tonight:

Monday, September 18, 2006

Armed Gorilla Week!



I don't usually get to play in meme games because I keep strictly to the Legion here, but it's Armed Gorilla Week, and really, who can resist a gorilla?

Here are Gorilla poison-dart blowgun death squads, gorillas with swords, gorillas with machine guns, gorillas with berets, French accents, and machine guns, and gorillas with sonic death rays and catapults.

In this spirit, I humbly offer a gorilla with Brainiac 5's force field belt.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

OK, I didn't see that one coming.

From Sunday's Comics Continuum, an early peek at Supergirl and the Legion #25 (which isn't supposed to come out until tomorrow):



SUPERGIRL AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #25

Written by Mark Waid, art by Barry Kitson and Mick Gray, cover by Kitson.

A longtime fan-favorite hero has escaped his centuries-long exile from the Phantom Zone and owes a tremendous debt to those who set him free. Too bad it's not the Legion!

32 pages, $2.99, in stores on Dec. 27.

Mon-el (or whatever he's going to be called) joining the Legion of Super-Villains maybe? Didn't see that one coming. With a grip like that, she's ready to tear his throat open, not just strangle him - and I wonder what would cause her to react like that? It's not like she saw him before she got zapped to the 31st century...

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Animated LSH news 57: Logo history

Matt over at Legions of Gotham has got a new post up today with pictures of the development of the Legion show's logo. Apparently WB Animation had come up with some preliminary logos (one of which was released in March 2006), but DC wasn't happy with it. So Warner Bros. Consumer Products contacted Frank Varela's group at Mattel, where he's a graphic designer. "The criteria given to me by WB was to be sure to have the Superman 'S' shield was incorporated into the design since Superman is the main character of the show." After a few iterations, DC liked one version and with some tweaking, it became the current logo (first seen at the 2006 Licensing Show in June).

Go to the LoG site and check it out.

Friday, September 15, 2006

52: Eye See You

So as it was pointed out to me, I have neglected to mention the latest 52 rumors and appearances.

A big green eyeball makes an appearance in issue 19. Lobo has it in a box. If it's still in continuity, I believe Lobo was around during the L.E.G.I.O.N. days when Garryn and Marij'n Bek had their own set of Eyes, and if not, he must have at least heard of the Eyes.

There are also those who think that Supernova just might be Mon-el. Tom Foss thought so back in June. In another installment of "crazy theory theater" recently, Tom tries to tie together Mon-el, the Dominators, and the cover of LSH #24 in which we see someone dressed an awful lot like Mon-el. And don't forget that Mark Waid said in Baltimore that there's an "extraordinarily good chance" we'd see him even before we expected. Wonder Girl thinks it's Kon-el, but "Kon" is just two letters down the alphabet from "Mon".

Where's this going? I dunno. There are as many theories right now as issues published, so who knows. All I know is that something is going on.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Baltimore Con '06 news

OK, it may be old news to you, but I'm still catching up on my RSS feeds, so here's some stuff from last weekend's Baltimore Con '06.

CBR has a DC Nation report.

Where's Blok? Waid says there's no plans for Blok, and that "Dream Boy" is now an official member of the Legion of Superheroes. "Superboy punches a wall, you never know."

Will the Legion appear in "52?" Waid says yes.

The Time Trapper in LOSH? "Not anytime soon, not in Legion of Superheroes" said Waid.

Wildfire in Legion? "Possibly," said Waid.

Bizarro Brainiac any time soon? "If Bizarro Brainiac isn't in an issue of 'Brave and the Bold' I will have failed," Waid said.

Newsarama has a few more quotes:
Q: Will Mon-el coming back?

Waid: Who’s this Mon-el of who you speak? Interesting…I would say there’s an extraordinary good chance – even before you may expect.

Q: Will Mordru return to the Legion as well?

Waid: Not for a while. He’s one of my favorite villains, and we’re afraid to bring him back and screw it up, and at the same time, we want to stay away from established Legion characters and villains.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Trivia 3 answers

Answers to the trivia quiz #3:

1. What was Jamm's power?

I was hoping someone would have the answer, but I had to look it up to make sure (I found it in the Legion help file). "he could mentally command people (and aliens) to do anything he asked them to, and they'd obey."


2. How many times did members of the Legion meet Batman? (Count all instances within an extended storyline as one meeting. Alternate timelines, dreams, hoaxes, or Imaginary Stories don't count.)
By my count: the JLA/JSA/LSH teamup in JLA 147-148; the Batman/LSH teamup in Brave & Bold 179; the Batman/Karate Kid teamup in Brave & Bold 198; various places during Crisis on Infinite Earths; and if I remember correctly, the extended "Team 20"/Final Night story. I think all of the times they met in the Silver Age, it was in an Imaginary Story. That makes 5 (not including the innumerable times Batman has met the pre-Crisis Superman who used to be Superboy, the pre-Crisis Supergirl, Kon-el, and the latest version of Supergirl).


3. When Composite Superman got his powers from the Legion statues, who was the most recently admitted member in the statue lineup?
See the Supermanica wiki's Composite Superman entry and this page from World's Finest 142 (June 1964) for a look at the statues. This issue came out concurrently with Adventure 321. The most recent Legionnaire to have joined by that point (and stayed in the Legion, unlike Dream Girl) was Light Lass, in Adventure 308. Incidentally, Elastic Lad got his statue made too, even though he wasn't a full Legionnaire.


4. Considering the three main Legion timelines (pre-Zero Hour, post-Zero Hour reboot including SW6/Legionnaires, post-Infinite Crisis), which Legionnaires have been members in only one of them? This isn't a trick question, and I'm only looking for those who do not have direct counterparts - for example, Livewire and Lightning Lad don't count, whereas Shikari and Dawnstar both count. (Alternate timelines, dreams, hoaxes, or Imaginary Stories don't count.)
Whew, lots of them, more than I had expected! I had to look this up and confirm it at the Legion Wiki.
  • Pre-Zero Hour: Superboy (Kal-el), Chemical King, Tyroc, Dawnstar, Blok, Invisible Kid (Jacques Foccart), White Witch, Magnetic Kid, Polar Boy, Quislet, Tellus, Nightwind, Impulse (Kent Shakespeare), Atmos, Karate Kid (Myg), Crystal Kid, Echo, Reflecto, Fire Lad, Chlorophyll Kid, Infectious Lass, Porcupine Pete, Visi-Lad, Color Kid, Stone Boy, Storm Boy, Calamity King, Kono, Celeste McCauley, Devlin O'Ryan, Spider-Girl, Veilmist, Firefist, Bloodclaw, Flederweb, Computo, Dragonmage, Catspaw
  • Post-Zero Hour: XS, Kinetix, Gates, Magno, Sensor, Inferno, Monstress, Kid Quantum (Jazmin Cullen), Thunder, Shikari, Gear, Superboy (Kon-el)
  • Post-Infinite Crisis: Dream Boy


  • 5. In the three main continuities, which Legionnaires died and stayed dead? Clones, reanimated corpses, or other duplicates of dead Legionnaires don't count as having come back to life. Disappearances or final appearances prior to a reboot, alternate timelines, dreams, hoaxes, and Imaginary Stories don't count.
  • Pre-Zero Hour: Lightning Lad (Glorithverse version only), Ferro Lad, Invisible Kid (Lyle Norg), Superboy (Pocket Universe), Sun Boy, Karate Kid, Chemical King, Blok, Magnetic Kid, Bloodclaw, Firefist. I'm not counting SW6ers here because they were effectively time-sliced clones (or whatever).
  • Post-Zero Hour: Kid Quantum (James Cullen), Leviathan, Monstress, Element Lad
  • Post-Infinite Crisis: none (jury's still out on Dream Girl)


  • 6. In Pre-Crisis continuity, name the founding members of the Legion of Substitute Heroes.
    Finally, an easy one! I wanted to see who would put Color Kid in, but nobody bit. It was Polar Boy, Night Girl, Chlorophyll Kid, Stone Boy, and Fire Lad, of course.


    7. The ADVENTURE era often showed fanciful animals as members of everything from super-villain gangs to zoos to currency. Which 3 of the following animals did NOT appear (since I made them up for this question)?
    a. Brain-globes of Rambat
    b. Vegan Living Top
    c. Lunar dirt-bugs
    d. Jovian camelephant
    e. Morvennian fear-beast
    f. Walking plants of Zuun
    g. Jewel-bird of Gemovia
    h. Saturnian Scorpion Beast
    i. Venusian tricorn beast
    j. Kryptonite-beast of Graxo
    The ones I made up for this quiz were C, F, and J. All the others appeared somewhere in an Adventure-era story. Good job Michael Rebain!


    8. Which Legionnaires had their own solo book at any time?
  • Pre-Zero Hour: Superboy (Kal-el), Supergirl, Karate Kid, Cosmic Boy, Timber Wolf, Valor
  • Post-Zero Hour: Inferno, Superboy (Kon-el)
  • Post-Infinite Crisis: Supergirl


  • 9. At the point when the Legion disbanded during the Five Year Gap, only two people who had been members prior to the Gap were still members. Which ones?
    Polar Boy and Colossal Boy. See the Legion Wiki's Five Year Gap page for the timeline.


    10. In her original appearance, what happened to Glorith?
    De-aged to a puddle of protoplasm in her one-and-only pre-Mordruverse appearance.


    Thanks for playing! I'll get some easier ones next time.

    Tuesday, September 12, 2006

    New animated discussion

    Getting closer to the debut of the new show, the amount of discussion has picked up a bit. Here's where you can read what other people are saying and chime in yourself:

    • ComicBloc forums: Who Else Is Excited? Comments range from "I hate the look, hate hate hate hate hate hate hate it. Going to skip it." to "LOVED the concept artwork, can't wait to see the show. Is it really debuting this month? SQUEE!"

    • LegionWorld has a whole forum just for the show.

    • There's a new Legion animated show blog from Lightning Lad (I don't think it's the same LL as from LegionWorld) at http://www.legionaire.ms11.net/. There's not a whole lot there yet, but I'm pointing it out.

    • Cartoons for Grown-Ups calls the Legion show "daring":
      Now, I doubt littler kids will make any comparisons, but everybody from pre-teens on up is going to be holding this sucker up to Justice League Unlimited. And it may just defy the odds and stand up to it... I have to say, it doesn’t appear like my cup of tea visually. Besides, I already have the Teen Titans - why do I need a zit-enabled Legion to go along with it?

    • Of course, there's a whole list of links over there to the right with show/comic discussion (but not much else new on the show yet other than what's here).

    LegionWorld also has the second commercial available online, go check it out.

    Cynthia Turner's Cynopsis (referenced in the Cartoons for Grownups link above), a television media industry newsletter, reminds her subscribers in her Sept. 11th CynKids newsletter that the KidsWB! lineup starts on the 23rd. This edition also includes ratings and market shares for kid-oriented networks and shows. I've subscribed to this, and I'll repost the ratings as they're available (the closest equivalent to the comic sales reports).

    TiVo alert: episode 1

    Those fortunate enough to be blessed with a TiVo can check their program guides for Saturday, Sept. 23rd. The "Legion of Super Heroes" (no dash between "Super" and "Heroes", by the way) show is in the listings. It's on at 10 a.m., which surprises me a bit because I thought it was like regular programming, 10 in the Eastern time zone and 9 in the Central, but apparently not.

    Just a little geek-gasm to see a Legion TV show after all these years.

    Monday, September 11, 2006

    Toronto Con '06: Jim Lee likes Matter-Eater Lad

    Via the Superman Through the Ages forum...

    Newsarama has a report from this weekend's Toronto Con '06, at DC's Big Guns panel. Jim Lee, a pretty big gun, was among the panelists who were asked about DC's underrated heroes.

    "Matter-Eater Lad. The guy can eat anything. What a great power that is. Nobody fully appreciates the ability to eat anything. Think about it."

    When the panel was later asked which characters at the Big Two (DC and Marvel) they were interested in, Lee replied:
    The Legion of Superheroes. "Starring Matter-Eater Lad!"

    As noted here earlier, Jim Lee has already expressed an interest (or at least a desire) to draw the Legion, at the New York Comic Con '06 in February and Wizard World Philadelphia '06 in June.

    Animated LSH news 56: roundup

    Back from vacation with a zillion emails and RSS feeds to read. Twelve days and counting until the animated show's debut on Sept. 23rd (10 a.m. EDT)! The KidsWB! site has a new Legion page up for the show, with a new commercial, but no games or downloads yet.

    Here are some recent articles:

    • Comics Continuum has their San Diego Con interview with Yuri Lowenthal, the voice of the young Superman.
      Here's what I love about this incarnation of Superman: he's not at all the leader. He's not Mr. Confident. He's actually pretty lost on many different levels. He's at the point in his life where he knows he's got these powers but is still kind of unclear about his role in the world and his mighty destiny.

      But I think it's in part his youth and inexperience that make him a little more flexible and understanding and curious about the new world/time. I mean, suddenly it's the 31st Century! And it's a strange place for him to be, a world/time where they have museums dedicated to the man he will become, celebrating heroic things he has yet to do. It's kind of intimidating. He's existing at once in the past, the present and the future. Okay, so it's actually VERY intimidating for him.

      Obviously the show's going to air on Kids' WB!, so it has to work for a younger set, but the writing is still as sharp as anything on either of those other shows. And there'll be a lot of references for the hardcore comic book and Legion fans that'll go right over some of the younger viewers' heads. I like to think that the show will leave no one behind. That's the challenge and I think everyone's risen to it. And by everyone, I mean the whole damn team putting this show together.

    • Broadcasting & Cable Magazine describes KidsWB!'s new lineup.
      The 2006-07 children’s programming slate, debuting Sept.23, will feature four new and four returning programs. It includes reintroducing a new generation to iconic characters such as DC Comics Superman, and other favorites like Shaggy and Scooby Doo, and Tom and Jerry under the Legion of Super Heroes banner.

      That's right, Shaggy, Scooby, Tom, and Jerry are all Legionnaires!

    • Animation Insider got the attributions right. Here's the latest press release description:
      Legion of Super Heroes: Kids’ WB! is proud to present a new series inspired by the DC Comics legend and developed especially as the anchor series for its programming block by Warner Bros. Animation. One thousand years from now, Superman, the legendary Man of Steel, will inspire a group of emerging super heroes from the 31st century to band together to defend the rights of all free worlds and uphold the laws of the newly formed United Planets. That is, if they don't kill each other first. "Legion of Super Heroes" is an animated series starring a young Superman that combines humor with high-stakes, grand-scale super heroics to create the ultimate sci-fi, super hero, wish-fulfillment fantasy for kids of all ages. Each episode pits Superman and the Legion against otherworldly threats and adversaries who challenge the team on both super heroic and emotional levels, engaging the audience in the characters' interpersonal dramas as much as their intergalactic ones. The series is executive produced by Sander Schwartz, and produced by Linda Steiner and James Tucker for Warner Bros. Animation.

    • The Seattle Times has a roundup of the fall slate of kids' TV shows. Their description:
      "Legion of Super Heroes," 10 a.m. Teen superheroes travel back in time to recruit Superman for their 31st-century fight against evil. They go too far and end up with Superboy.

    • TV.com briefly discusses each of the shows:
      Some old classics are getting face-lifts. Tom and Jerry and Shaggy and Scooby-Doo star in Tom and Jerry Tales and Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue, respectively. In Legion of Super Heroes, Superman inspires heroes of the 31st century to form a super group.

    • Комикс Блог (Comics Blog) has something on the show, but I think it's in Bulgarian (it doesn't translate properly from Russian).

    • Jimmy's Juke Joint updates us with news that episode 52 (no pun intended) of Comic News Insider has a podcast with an interview with Yuri "voice of Superman" Lowenthal.

    Saturday, September 02, 2006

    Trivia 3

    More trivia to keep you busy while I'm gone.....

    1. What was Jamm's power?

    2. How many times did members of the Legion meet Batman? (Count all instances within an extended storyline as one meeting. Alternate timelines, dreams, hoaxes, or Imaginary Stories don't count.)

    3. When Composite Superman got his powers from the Legion statues, who was the most recently admitted member in the statue lineup?

    4. Considering the three main Legion timelines (pre-Zero Hour, post-Zero Hour reboot including SW6/Legionnaires, post-Infinite Crisis), which Legionnaires have been members in only one of them? This isn't a trick question, and I'm only looking for those who do not have direct counterparts - for example, Livewire and Lightning Lad don't count, whereas Shikari and Dawnstar both count. (Alternate timelines, dreams, hoaxes, or Imaginary Stories don't count.)

    5. In the three main continuities, which Legionnaires died and stayed dead? Clones, reanimated corpses, or other duplicates of dead Legionnaires don't count as having come back to life. Disappearances or final appearances prior to a reboot, alternate timelines, dreams, hoaxes, and Imaginary Stories don't count.

    6. In Pre-Crisis continuity, name the founding members of the Legion of Substitute Heroes.

    7. The ADVENTURE era often showed fanciful animals as members of everything from super-villain gangs to zoos to currency. Which 3 of the following animals did NOT appear (since I made them up for this question)?
    a. Brain-globes of Rambat
    b. Vegan Living Top
    c. Lunar dirt-bugs
    d. Jovian camelephant
    e. Morvennian fear-beast
    f. Walking plants of Zuun
    g. Jewel-bird of Gemovia
    h. Saturnian Scorpion Beast
    i. Venusian tricorn beast
    j. Kryptonite-beast of Graxo

    8. Which Legionnaires had their own solo book at any time?

    9. At the point when the Legion disbanded during the Five Year Gap, only two people who had been members prior to the Gap were still members. Which ones?

    10. In her original appearance, what happened to Glorith?

    Wedding Bells

    Not a dream, not a hoax, not an Imaginary Story!

    I'll be posting sporadically over the next week or so - I'm on vacation at my sister's wedding and then I'll be departing for a holiday of my own. So here are some covers appropriate to the occasion. Hopefully things will be as uneventful as the wedding in the first image, without all of the fighting on the moon and stuff and nobody getting kidnapped.