San Diego Con '07: wrap-up

Three main Legion-related topics to cover in the wrap-up of San Diego '07: the comics, the animated show, and the toys. I'm going to combine all the news from all the panels into something semi-coherent. Here are the notes for Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, and Day 4.

THE COMICS

• There are several versions of the LSH out there – “two... well, really three” according to Geoff Johns – and Supergirl #21 and #22 will start to reveal what’s going on. We are going to see even more versions of the 52 Earth’s versions of the future Legion of Super-Heroes, and Conner Kent may also play a part in one of these scenarios. The Legion and other time-related mysterious in the DCU, including events surrounding Booster Gold and the fact that Batman has recently met two different versions of the Legion and will soon meet a third, will all be explained in a “big Legion story” in the future, in all likelihood the Action storyline drawn by Gary Frank coming this fall. In that story, Superman goes into the future to visit the Legion of Super-Heroes, with results likened to revisiting people you knew in high school and seeing that they changed in unexpected ways, how the people you knew don't hang out anymore. We were told that three versions of the Legion are to appear in this series – more than likely, the “Legion of Three Worlds” case we were told about in the Lightning Saga story.
  
  
• Dan DiDio explained that multiverse stories will all be about New Earth characters traveling to other worlds to explore them and that there will not be multiple versions of series taking place on different Earths. Not going to see a Legion of Legions title....
  
  
• When asked about the reboots of the 90s and whether the reworking of characters is a necessary evil, DiDio said he likes to go back to what people remember most, using the example of Supergirl - people remember her as Superman's cousin, not as any of the other iterations of the character. "What do people remember most, what do people react to the most" is what's important, and building a contemporary world around them. A number of people on the panels said that if they could reverse any action in DC's history, they'd make it so that Superboy never got removed from the Legion.
  
  
• DiDio reminded the panel (and audience) that next year is the 50th anniversary of the Legion. I'm glad to hear that. They've celebrated the 50th anniversaries of the Golden Agers starting in the late 80s, and we're now entering the 50th anniversaries of the Silver Age teams and characters. I'm surprised that DC never made a big deal about the 50th for the Martian Manhunter and the Flash (Barry Allen), but obviously I'm glad to see that DC is making a big deal about the Legion's.

THE TOYS

• Despite my rant against Mattel, they probably don't really hate Legion fans. It just seems that way with what felt like a tease, with them promising figures and then pulling back. In the comments in that other post, Peter mentioned some internal reorganizations that have delayed things, and even Mattel apologized for not having a lot of new stuff for this con. Maybe soon, though they said "the future of this line is still up in the air."
  
  
• Anyway, Mattel is changing the name of the Justice League line to DC Super Heroes. "Legion of Superheroes and Teen Titans animated shows can also be folded into the line." That suggests rather than a Legion line, we might see Legion figures in a DC Super Heroes line. That's all fine and dandy, except for the fact that now the Legion figures have to compete with the dozens of new Batmen, Supermen, Robins, Jokers, Two-Faces, and Luthors. Compounding matters is that they're only going to issue 25 characters a year, so we'll be lucky to see one or two a year at that rate.

THE CARTOON

• Tucker mentioned that the first season was sort of the Silver Age and the second season will be more in the vein of the Bronze Age. Season Two is a year and a half to two years after Season One. Lots of changes happened between that time including new members such as Chameleon Boy.
  
  
• Alex Polinsky (who also does Matter-Eater Lad) is Cham's voice, and he was unfamiliar with the character and had to check the Internet for references. Cham is in the Legion because his father (R. J. Brande?) funds the group. He's going to be the goofy, comedy relief character and not the more serious character in the comics, described as "Eddie Haskell as a shapeshifter." He likes to get in trouble, and he's a smack talker.
  
  
• Imperiex plays out throughout the entire Season. Phil Morris (Jackie Chiles from "Seinfeld") plays the villain. Producer James Tucker said "In the comics he kind of sucked, to be honest... We needed a villain who we could do anything with, who didn't have baggage like Darkseid, and a guy who had some heft to him. We picked somebody the fans wouldn't be too mad if we tweaked, and somebody we could develop."
  
  
• Among the other new or returning Legionnaires: Dawnstar, Invisible Kid, Karate Kid, Matter-Eater Lad, Tyroc, and Dream Girl. There's a new opening sequence but it sounds like the theme music stays the same. The Subs will only appear in cameo. Returning villains include the Fatal Five and the LSV, plus new villains Nemesis Kid, Grimbor and Computo. Triplicate Girl turns into Duo Damsel at some point - hmmm, I wonder how?
  
  
• The other new Legionnaire is Superman - a clone from the 41st century. Yuri Lowenthal is providing voices for both. He's a cross between Mon-El and Superboy (Kon-El). He was bred as a warrior, and he meets his cross-time cousin who is now older, wiser, and more powerful.
  
  
• Finally, this quote from Tucker explaining why the drastic change from season 1 to season 2, seems to be troubling lots of people: "The great thing about the Legion is every so often they do a reboot."

Now we have a couple weeks to catch our collective breaths before Wizard World Chicago.