Thursday, January 25, 2007

LSH31C on FCBD

I realized it, but I didn't realize it.

In a comment over on The BEAT, Kevin Huxford notes:

I’d think there’d be a bit more comparing DC’s FCBD reprint offerings versus Marvel’s completely new offering. Or something about how the FCBD Legion offering is coming so quickly after the copy that customers are expected to pony up cash for.

He's right. Free Comic Book Day is May 5th, while the retail version of this book comes out for sale on April 18th.

For what it's worth, I've decided that my abbreviation for this title will be "LSH31C". Much easier than typing in "Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century", though only marginally easier than "Legion Adventures".

Here's what the cover will look like with the FCBD trade dress. Notice that the logo is based on the logo from the TV series (to be expected, of course).



Over at Every Day Is Like Wednesday, Caleb looks at the FCBD selections, of which LSH31C is one.
Additionally, I can’t imagine it being a book that’s going to lead to life-long comics readers or, if it does, that it’s the best one to start them on. I’m about as nerdy a DC reader as you can get (Hell, I blog on their comics, for chrissakes!) and even I’m leery of the LOSH. The first year’s worth of Mark Waid and Barry Kitson’s current series is the longest I’ve ever read any Legion series, and I wouldn’t have even attempted that if it weren’t a hard reboot. Legion continuity is a fucking desert full of mirrors, and any traveling into it are risking their own sanity.

That said, I do plan on reading this new series for a couple of issues, at least. All of DC’s cartoon tie-ins are incredibly hit-or-miss, but this one has the advantage of Chynna on art chores. Of course, Chynna writing and designing her own LOSH series would be even cooler than this, but I’ll take Chynna art wherever I can get it.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Caleb's attitude always drives me crazy whenever I see it. Yes, the LSH has a long continuity (or, if you prefer, continuities), but no longer or more complex than, say, Superman, and certainly less complex than the X-Men or the Avengers, etc. But the Legion always gets singled out for some reason. And yet the most continuity-bound period--that of the Levitz run, especially in the mid-late '80s--was also the height of the book's popularity because of the continuity, not in spite of it.

Argh, sorry, this kind of thing just bugs me. It's prejudices like Caleb's, not the comics themselves, that keep new readers from trying the LSH.

Anonymous said...

DC's been doing that for pretty much every FCBD, releasing a FCBD version of a comic that's still on the shelves.

Anonymous said...

It feels good to be quoted. :)

I think Caleb's getting a bit of a harsh reaction for his point on continuity. It isn't that continuity is bad...it is just that it might not be the thing to hook new readers with (not that the issue in question would be playing up past continuity).