The main communication device of the Legion of Super-Heroes
Yeah, it's tax day, but April 15, 2006 is also Legion of Super-Heroes Day (not to be confused with Klordny week). That's when the long-awaited episode of Justice League Unlimited is scheduled to be aired on Cartoon Network (at least, that's the day Comics Continuum says it'll be on - blame them if it's not!). Who knows if we'll actually see it then or not. Heck, we may see the Legion's series with Superboy before we see this episode with Supergirl!
Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #16 is sold out, and DC is issuing a second printing. The new cover is a pencils-on-white version of the regular, first printing cover.
| First Printing | Second Printing |
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Kara Zor-El’s reintroduction into the Legion’s world is handled with exactly the right measures of shock and awe, and a healthy dose of dramatic irony for the audience to enjoy. From the very moment that famous "S" appears, to the startling panel in which Kara makes her first full-out appearance, you can almost hear the Superman theme playing in your head. That’s how much of a sense of moment writer Mark Waid has invested into this story. And as for the second, and far more important, revelation that this issue has on offer, whoo boy. It’s most certainly not a plot twist that you’ll see coming, and if this title weren’t already worth reading, then finding out the answer to that little mystery would make it so.
I don't know how he does it, but Comics Continuum has provided yet another name for the upcoming Legion series staff: story editor Rob Hoegee.
Rob (IMDB) has been a writer and/or story editor on several episodes of the Teen Titans show, and wrote an episode of Jackie Chan Adventures.
Hoegee joins James Tucker (show runner, head designer), Kelly Ward (voice director), Norm Ryang (backgrounds, props), and Eric Canete (backgrounds) on staff.
Apparently, the Nine Planets Ice Cream Parlor is a hot tourist attraction in the 30th Century:
Updated 3/24: Added reviews from Comic Book Revolution, The Comics Fan, and The Incredible Super-Blog
Updated 3/26: Added review from Graeme McMillan, Comics Fairplay, Red X, SilverBulletComics, Jeffrey Bridges
new reviews added at the bottom
Since the announcement that the Maid of Might would be added to both the roster and the title, most fans have been wondering how Kara Zor-El, the current Supergirl appearing in both her own title, set in the 21st Century, and Legion, set in the 31st. A number of people have assumed that she would be timesharing between centuries, as the Pre-Crisis Kara did with the Pre-Crisis Legion. There has been much hueing and crying from some corners that this is a shameless exploitation and overmarketing of the character, whom very few people seem to like, anyway.
It should go without saying that I think these people are morons.
Consider: The hype on this series coming out of DC is that exactly how Supergirl can be in two centuries at once is the big mystery. And when has it ever been that the most obvious solution to a mystery was, in fact, the solution? Hell, when was the last time Mark Waid *didn't* juke us one way while setting up the real answer to be completely different?
I've had a sneaking suspicion that the Legion Supergirl not only wouldn't be Kara Zor-El doing the timeshare but, she wouldn't be Kara at all. And, having read this issue, I think my suspicion is confirmed.
Supergirl's appearance as co-title of Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes looks like it might be fun. I'm glad to have Mark Waid back on scripts - last issue was a fill-in writer, and I didn't like it much - and Barry Kitson's back on pencils. Happy days.
Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes was horrible. If you're considering picking that up, I would recommend that you don't do it, it's not worth it.
Waid and Kitson offer up a fairly solid issue of this ongoing series and given the new title and addition of a key character to the case, the script wisely gets back to the generation-gap premise behind this incarnation of the Legion while incorporating the team's new legitimate status. There are a couple of strong scenes that hold the promise of greater conflicts to come, but it felt as though too much time and energy was devoted to the buildup of Supergirl's arrival. This isn't the first of the "One Year Later" titles to spend an entire issue leading up to a point that's plain to see on the cover of the comic book itself. I certainly hope it's the last.
The Legion is being shoved back in the shadow of yet another Superbrat. This time one even more annoying than Superboy. Yup, Supergirl. Gross. I am totally disgusted that such a pathetic excuse for a character is going to take over the title from the oldest teen super team in the history of comics. The Legion has a glorious and storied history (despite DC’s best efforts to destroy it) and deserves better than to be made an after thought to a re-tread Supergirl. I think this is a huge mistake by DC and one that may cost them many long standing readers like me. And, I don’t see where this move will bring in any new readers. Sorry, I must have missed the memo where this annoying new Supergirl suddenly became the hottest thing in comics.
But out of curiosity, I picked up this week’s issue, which sees the title evolve into “Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes.” Superboy was an integral part of the team when I was introduced to the Legion, so it’s nice to see a Super-somebody back with the team. And Supergirl’s perplexing disclosure at the end of the issue will keep me on board, at least for now.
...But what they do have is the best appearance of the Jeph Loeb Supergirl to date. She doesn't come off as irritating or ditzy like she does in Superman/Batman, she keeps her clothes on unlike her own book, and her costume even fits in with the Legionnaires'. It took Mark Waid and Barry Kitson to do it, but I may actually end up enjoying stories with her.
Like Birds of Prey last week, this is pretty much the same book as it was prior to (One Thousand and) One Year(s) Later, and as a result, it’s the non-Supergirl aspects of the book that are more interesting – the political status of the Legion, the somewhat bratty attitude of the main characters, and just how much society doesn’t like them. I’m hoping that Supergirl doesn’t overwhelm what made those aspects, and what made the first year of this book work so well for me (Waid’s humor, and the done-in-one pacing that also moved larger plots forward simulataneously), but given that the title of the book has been changed, I’m not sure if I’m that hopeful. This issue was Good, but the series has been much stronger than this.
Insubordination and rebellion are still the mainstays here. Though given credibility by the UP, the kids are still alright. What Supergirl's presence will add is beyond me, but it is a fascinating concept. Grade: C+.
I am familiar, however, with the Girl of Steel who does appear in the book. She doesn't appear until nearly the end of it, which I like. This is also supposed to be a 3-part saga, with the book itself getting a change from what it used to be called. I liked how it was labeled on the front of the cover as 1,001 Years Later, confirming it's continuity along with the other 1 Year Later DC books. Supergirl, who is revealed to be the current Kara Zor-El, admits to one of the members that the Legion doesn't exist, and that her appearance in their Century is simply due to the fact that she's dreaming it all. Quite a jawdropper when I first read it. I'm eager to see how it turns out, and eager to eventually pick up Supergirl #6 and Teen Titans #34.
I've been a long time Legion fan. I followed both the pre-Crisis Legion and the original post-Crisis Legion. I followed Legion reboot numbers one and two. The third reboot felt like one reboot too many, and needless to say I haven't had any interest in the fourth reboot, represented by the fifteen issues prior to this one. What changed my determination to ignore the latest reboot to hesitant curiosity? One name. Supergirl.
The plot, not involving Supergirl, with nods to Isaac Asimov's Caves of Steel helps establish the rebooted Legioinnaires as representatives of the United Planets. They abuse their new powers, but they also do good. Honestly though, I could not have cared less. I'm in this latest reboot for Supergirl.
Story - 5: Well, now I have another book to buy every month. If this wasn't one of the most fun comics I've read in years, I don't know what is.
A whole lot happens in this issue, the first "1001 Years Later" story after Infinite Crisis. And yet amidst all of that there's time for development of one of the characters. Not only that, but the entire world Legion interacts in is incredibly fresh, imaginative, interesting and compelling.
Friends, do yourself a favor and pick up this book.
If you want to read it solely for the Supergirl factor, the jury's still out on exactly how big of a role she'll be playing in this book. Only Mark Waid and DC know that for sure.
But I have absolutely NO trouble giving this book a high recommendation and telling you that you'd do well to add it to your pull list. If future issues are as good as this one (and the first six in the TPB I read), this is an absolute can't-miss book. I've got something new and exciting to look forward to each month and it's even got Supergirl in it, to boot.
I have to tell you though, at this stage, she's just icing on the cake. I'd buy this book with her involvement or no.
By the way... WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING READING THIS?
Go out and buy a copy of this book. No, really. Go. I'll wait.
{twiddles thumbs}
Honestly.
{hums theme from "Superman: The Movie"}
The Homepage will still be here when you get back!
{reads the Legion TPB again}
GO GET IT. NOW! You can thank me later.*
{goes off to get some popcorn}
Coming in July 2006 from TwoMorrows ($29 plus shipping):
The WWLA post-con report by SDComics at the Action Figure Insider message boards confirms what Mattel employee "Boy Wonder" said, as mentioned here earlier:
It's too soon to say if Mattel will be making toys based on the upcoming Wonder Woman and Flash movies, but Boy Wonder did confirm that yes, Mattel will indeed make action figures based on the new Legion of Super-Heroes cartoon. They haven't started yet, but the designers are excited.
To quote Boy Wonder "The sky's the limit". As long as the characters are part of the Superman and Batman families, Mattel can make comic accurate versions of them. And again, they're not restricted to just the modern age. If Mattel wanted to do, say, an Earth 2 Huntress or a Golden Age Batman, they can.
Two new names to be added to the Legion series roster: Yuri Lowenthal and Eric Canete.
Another day, another voice reported by Comics Continuum... today's announcement: Yuri Lowenthal (IMDB, official site) as Clark Kent/Superboy. Lowenthal has done a number of voiceover roles in animation and video games.
Superboy is the central character in the series, and his development as a hero is a key theme. He will wear the traditional Superman costume.
Via CBR, Wizard World's DCU: One Great Year panel had some interesting hints about the upcoming Supergirl and the Legion series:
While “Superman/Batman” may be undergoing some creative team changes, “Legion of Superheroes” is undergoing a title change.
“Legion” writer Mark Waid said that, as of this month’s issue, the book will be re-dubbed “Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes.” How she arrived in the 31st Century and what her relationship is to the character in the “Supergirl” series is something yet to be revealed.
“1,001 years later she shows up and the mystery is ‘Well if you’re Supergirl, who’s that back in your other series that Greg Rucka is writing back in the 21st Century?’” Waid said. “It’s like King Arthur suddenly showing up in our time or Robin Hood or something. To these people (the Legion), she’s a legend. These people in the 31st Century are not even sure if she existed or not or if she was just a creature of myth or something. When she shows up, she’s going to have a huge bombshell surprise at the end of that issue. That is going to fuel the next few issues, it turns out the mystery is not just about her, it’s about the whole 31st Century.”
Mark Waid said the mystery surrounding how Supergirl winds up in the 31st Century in Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes isn’t just a mystery about her, but it’s a mystery about the entire 31st Century itself.
M’onel [or Mon-el] in Legion? Waid: “Soon? No. Eventually? Yes.” Waid’s favorite character to write – “Brainiac 5.”
Scott at LegionWorlds has found a mention in some ToyFair 2006 news of an upcoming release of DC Battle Dice from Playmates Toys (to go along with their Marvel Battle Dice) that is planned to include some Legionnaires in waves 3 and 4. Here's a description of how to play (it sounds way too complext to recap here). Photos of the wave 1 and 2 figures and accessories can be seen here, and the last two photos on the page show placards of the lineup for wave 3 (including Livewire, Saturn Girl, and Cosmic Boy) and wave 4 (including Brainiac 5.1 and Ultra Boy). The lineups, code names, and sculpts could change, however, since the game designer Matt Forbeck said
I don’t believe anything’s set in stone for those yet. I haven’t begun work on those sets, for instance.
and they are working on a legion of superheroes line for the cartoon
From CBR, the "DCU Nation" panel had only one Legion-related item. In the Q&A session following the prepared statements was this:
Mark Waid wants to bring back Bouncing Boy to the Legion, but his artist and everyone else seems to be against him.
Bouncing Boy is a point of contention between Waid (who wants him on the team) and Kitson (who is resisting). "I think a big fat 250 lb. guy hurtling at you at a hundred miles an hour is a damn cool super-power," Waid said to applause.
- After Supergirl joins the Legion of Super-Heroes, Mark Waid hinted that there would be some familair faces joining the team.
- The Legion Letters page is Mark Waid's favorite part of the book. It was joked that Mark Waid was actually writing all the letters himself.
Poor Brainiac 5. Over the course of his Legion career, he's been gorillafied, created a robot that killed a fellow Legionnaire, been Universoed, babyfied, nearly killed by poison, nearly killed by Superboy, built himself a Supergirl robot in his sleep that would love him, shot Lana Lang, had the energy sucked out of him by Sun Boy, been accused of being in a racist organization, felled by the Fatal Five, thought a guy who later got his nose bitten off was his relative, tried to kill his fellow Legionnaires, brainwashed Superboy, gone insane, recovered, been arrested, nearly killed by a Jovian Attack Squid, been arrested for murder, gotten zapped by a clone of a Guardian, got stuck inside an Emerald Eye, gotten blown up, mourned his girlfriend even though she died 1000 years ago, had an unlucky day, been involved in a conspiracy, been shot at, gotten smacked by the clone of Lobo, gotten turned into an old man, been rebooted, found his super-villain mother, had a monkey attach itself to him, gotten voided, gotten Bizarroed, nearly killed by the Fatal Five, quit the Legion, attacked by an ark, nearly eaten by a computer, and rebooted again.
No wonder he's cranky!
Legion-related books on sale in June:
The voices of the Legion show are slowly being revealed... today's revelation from Comics Continuum: Emerald Empress, as voiced by Jennifer Hale (IMDB, official site)
Hale is an animated voice-over veteran, best known (in these circles) as the voice of Felicia Hardy, aka Black Cat, on the Spider-Man cartoons, and has had numerous roles on the Justice League show as Inza Nelson, Giganta, Killer Frost, and Zatanna.
A summary of who's known to have been cast so far:
Heroes
Updated 3/12: Adam Wylie (best known as the young Zach on the TV series Picket Fences) is the voice of Brainiac 5. Thanks to poster Sheer over at LegionWorld.
A LegionWorld forum member named Hurrikane has posted on 3/11 what he says is a concept drawing of Brainiac 5:
Just a few animated-related items to point out:
Bouncing Boy looked cool as hell. No, really--I'm serious. After this cartoon comes out, you will actually be able to say the words "Bouncing Boy" and "cool" in the same sentence.
Thursday's Comics Continuum has the first look at a logo for the Legion series:
Lightning Lad, however -- this is a true honor. A founding member and, for my money, one of the coolest-powered heroes? Fantastic.
Fritz then goes on to ask her about the oft-rumored Hellboy cartoon (which I think has a chance to be outstanding). Kalagian answers, "I'm not allowed to talk about it, not yet." Okay, folks, reality check here. This is Cartoon Network, not the Pentagon. And to make things worse, after Fritz mentions graphics he's seen on the net, she says she's aware of them but can only say how excited she is about it. And she does the same thing when Fritz asks her about Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes and Doom Patrol. She says, "You know I can't say anything about it, Steve. You know it."
Now, bear in mind that this interview happened after CN's upfront presentation for the coming year, so there's really no reason I can see for her not to be a little less coy about these shows, all of which I'm going to guess we'll see on CN sooner or later.
An ongoing summary of my "Animated Legion news" bulletins...
LEGION OF SUPER HEROES, 11:00-11:30 am: In the year of "Superman Returns" at Warner Bros., Kids' WB! is proud to present a new series developed especially for the "Too Big For Your TV" block by Warner Bros. Animation, inspired by the DC Comics legend. One thousand years from now, a group of teenage super heroes travel back in time to recruit the greatest hero of all, Superman, and enlist him their fight against evil in the 31st Century. While their intentions were good, their time travel skills were not, and Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Brainiac 5, Phantom Girl, Bouncing Boy and Timber Wolf end up going too far back into the past, accidentally retrievingthe young Superboythe young Superman, before he moved to Metropolis. Together, this unlikely Legion of Super Heroes bands 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 combines humor with high-stakes, grand-scale super heroics to create the ultimate sci-fi, super hero fantasy for kids of all ages. Each episode of this fast-paced, character-driven action comedy will pit Superboy and the Legion against otherworldly threats and adversaries who challenge the team on both super heroic and emotional levels. The series is executive produced by Sander Schwartz, and produced by Linda Steiner and James Tucker for Warner Bros. Animation.
Sometimes you just can't help making fun of the Legion when you take individual panels out of context.
"Surprisingly, a thorough knowledge of the Legion of Super-Heroes only works on like 43% of the female population, so you're going to have to do something that has a much more universal appeal, like tree-climbing."
I submitted the new Legion series to the IMDB, and fixed the JLU episode which had a big error. Who knows when (or if) they'll get added. Here's what I put in, which is as much as I know (with some speculative guesses).
Update summary
From the "Crisis Counseling #5" discussion with Dan DiDio on Newsarama. No spoilers, unless you haven't read Infinite Crisis #4 yet.
NRAMA: Also, in the issue, Alex Luthor spilled the entire plan, noting that Superboy pounded on the wall to finally shatter the “heaven” that he had placed them in at the end of the last Crisis. Thumbnail sketch – the pounding of Superboy on, essentially, the “wall” of a universe. What did it do to the DCU?
DD: The true ramifications of the “wall pounding” will be seen in the Infinite Crisis Secret Files. What you will soon discover is that following Crisis on Infinite Earths, the one world we were left with was not completely settled and still subtlety resonated with the echoes of the multiple earths. The pounding on the wall of reality by Superboy sent shock waves throughout the universe, slightly shifting timelines and history of those characters that were most affected by the original Crisis.
For fans out there who’ve been wondering, or in some cases yelling, these “continuity waves” will help explain away the reboots, revamps and continuity inconsistencies since Crisis on Infinite Earths.
NRAMA: Finally, to wrap this abbreviated session up, now that we’re close to the end of Crisis, the question of how the Legion would be connected – if at all – to Crisis has been dogging you since the first Crisis Counseling sessions. Can you explain who they are, relative to the Crisis? They’re living in a Post-Crisis world, right? In essence, the Post-Crisis Legion?
DD: That’s a story Mark Waid is waiting for the right moment to tell.
It's official! At the "Upfront" meetings today (March 1st) where TV execs tell the media what new shows they've got coming up, Cartoon Network announced a bunch of new stuff, most importantly (to us) the Legion cartoon.
As reported by Ben on ToonZone:
At the first part of their upfront presentation in New York this morning, Cartoon Network announced their slate of new projects and acquisitions for the coming year.
[snip the first half of the article]
A new Legion of Superheroes series is in the works, and though they said the show was still unnamed, CN did say the new show would include Superboy.
The series featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes is headed for Kids' WB!, although it might eventually air on Cartoon Network, like The Batman.
Via a posting on the Toonzone message board, I found a discussion on the sketchbooksessions message board with some more about the Legion series, except this discussion has posts from Bruce Timm and Ben Caldwell.
Timm says that the drawing we've seen purporting to be the "final" concepts was a very early development design by James Tucker (which identifies the mystery artist) who, from my understanding of the discussion, is the main designer for the series and probably head producer. Timm says that the more recent designs "kick all kinds of ass" and he's looking forward to it. Tucker is one of the co-producers of the Justice League series. Here's an interview he did with Justice League Animated last fall, and another for ToonZone.
Timm also confirmed that he's not attached to the Legion series, but he is working on something else hush-hush.
Ben Caldwell said that his designs looked nothing like what we saw, but "they looked, in fact, like i was trying to second guess what other people wanted to see in a post semi-timm cartoon." This is the note that made its way to other forums that Caldwell was not the artist, which had been mentioned here earlier too. He then posted several of his drawings to his own message board, which have also made their rounds.
Caldwell also posted them in a separate thread on the sketchbooksessions board, complete with a Cosmic Boy drawing we hadn't seen yet. He said he did a lot more, these were the "least worst" ones because he thinks his designs were too conservative.
So there we go... the mystery artist was James Tucker, who's apparently in charge of character design, but the designs have evolved from what we originally saw and they look better.
Still no word on whether Allan Heinberg (Young Avengers, The O.C.) is involved in any way on the show, as had been rumored as far back as last summer (I last mentioned it here)
So I was finishing up last month's CBG a few days ago and ran across a reference to a backup series that ran in some of the Superman titles in the mid-60s (starting in Superman 181 in Nov. 1965), called "Superman 2965". He was Superman's descendent 1000 years from now. I always thought it was an Imaginary Story series, since there was no Superman flying around the 30th century unless he was visiting from the 20th century, but the Supermanica site says he "is not an imaginary story, parallel world, hoax or dream but an eddy in the timestream of classic Superman mythos."
I was going to write about it here to see if anyone knew what his story was in relation to the "classic" DC 30th century. Before I could do that, though, I happened to take a look at Newsarama's preview for LSH 16, and (minor spoiler) there's a guy in it who's a dead ringer for Superman/Clark Kent, down to the glasses and spit-curl on his forehead. It's too close a resemblance to Superman to be a coincidence, but the kicker is that the guy's name is Klar. There's no way that name was unintentional - especially when Superman 2965's name was Klar Ken T-5477, and double especially when the writer is uber-Superman-geek Mark Waid. Scott Mateo on the ComicBloc forums picked up on this too, and also remembered that he made an appearance a few years ago after the Superman Red/Blue thingy. They're discussing it on the Newsarama forum as well, and someone mentioned Kent Shakespeare's name as a possibility.
Homage, Superman's descendant, or just a throwaway gag? We'll see soon enough...
As Bonnie Raitt might have sung, "People are bloggin', talkin''bout Legion, I hear them whisper, you won't believe it..."
OK, she probably wouldn't have sung about the Legion, but still, people are alternately excited about the prospect of a Legion series and repelled by some of the designs we've seen.
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