SDCC animated news: chat with Matt Wayne

Comics Continuum talked with Matt Wayne in San Diego today. He's not on staff, but he did write two early episodes, and having come from being story editor on Justice League, he's familiar with the character because "I worked with Superboy back when when he was a man". (Even though he's officially not Superboy any more.)

The Continuum: What are the titles of your episodes? Who do they feature and what are they about?

Wayne: Not sure I'm allowed to say. Episodes Two and Five, titled "Timber Wolf" and "Champions" respectively. The first introduces a new Legionnaire to the team, but I won't say which one. The second takes place at the intergalactic games, and there are big stakes for Lightning Lad.

The Continuum: Were you a fan of the Legion? How does it feel to see a Legion show?

Wayne: I'm a fan of the goony, early Legion stories. And for very different reasons, the Levitz/Sherman, Levitz/Giffen stuff. When I wrote Shadow Cabinet at Milestone, Dwayne McDuffie sat me down and told me to read up on those runs, because that's how you do a team of heroes with a big roster. So I'm a fan from way back, if not all the way back.

What's particularly exciting about the show to a Legion fan is that it's kind of a reboot. Meaning everything is happening for the first time, without all the baggage of years of crises and clones and deaths. It goes back to what made the Legion great: Teen heroes in a mostly bright future.