LSH31C stuff

Something new that popped up today, along with some stuff from last week that I never got around to posting.

• Over at The Pulse, Jen Contino has an interview with LSH31C cover artist Steve Uy. Turns out Steve is doing interiors for an upcoming issue as well as handling the covers.
  
  

  THE PULSE: How did you become a part of the new comic series?
  
  UY: Back in September, I did one Supergirl cover for Eddie Berganza. I don't know if that cover will ever see the light of day, but it was really popular in the offices. I did a couple JSA covers for Mike Marts, who was my one and only editor back in my Marvel days, and then Jeanine Schaefer just called me up out of the blue back in October saying that she loved my Supergirl cover and wanted me on Legion. So I did the first cover, it went well, and after doing two more, I got interiors for, I guess, the 4th issue?
  
  THE PULSE: What's coming up in your first issue of Legion of Super-Heroes? Why did you want to draw the interiors for an issue?
  
  UY: Cover work is nice... but when you're done, you're just sitting around waiting for the next assignment. I needed to keep working, so why not do an issue? Especially since the art team is revolving, perfect opportunity.
  
  This issue I'm doing (Well, done is more like it.. just finished last week) involved Brainiac 5 going back to his home planet to retake his SAT's after bumbling a mission with the Fatal 5. So we've got a lot of action pages with a lot of characters, and a lot of scenic changes where the characters explore Brainy's home planet. So it was a good chance for me to take what people probably expect to see on Brainy's home planet and make a few "Uy" changes to it. So you're gonna see a lot more organics and atmosphere on Colua than has ever been depicted before. (Not that I really know how it's been depicted before...)

  
  Read the interview for more.
  
  
• Comic Book Resources had an interview with the J. Torres, the writer (of a rotating lineup) of the first stories in the LSH31C book. Among the points (and note the sentence I bolded at the bottom):
  

  "I was actually brought in by Mike Siglain before he took over to '52.'"Torres told CBR News. "Luckily, the new editor was someone I'd worked with before and she kept me on after Mike's departure! And I didn't even have to use those pictures [laughs].
  
  "I was attracted to this incarnation of the Legion because I'm a fan of the team and I love working on DC's all-ages book, so it was a great combination for my sensibilities and abilities."
  
  It's not only the creative opportunities in "Legion"that excite Torres, as the popular Canuck scribe has been a fan of the Legion Of Superheroes for quite some time. "I'm about to date myself here but I think one of the earliest issues I picked up from the corner store involved a story leading up to Karate Kid and Princess Projectra's marriage. I don't remember the issue number or who wrote or drew it, or even everything that happened in the story, but the combination of action and adventure and romance and all those cool superheroes hooked me immediately."
  
  Despite Torres' obvious enthusiasm for superheroes, and the Legion in particular, he knows that he'll have to deal with the preconception that "Legion Of Superheroes In The 31 st Century"is a book meant for kids, a notion espoused by many fans in regards to comic book companions to animated series. "Well, for this series we definitely want to skew things a bit older than, say, 'Teen Titans Go,'"Torres revealed. "Even that series, both the cartoon and comic, evolved along the way as not only did the readership/viewership get older, but we discovered that more teenage girls, for example, were fans. With 'LOSH31,' we get the sense that there are older fans out there looking for a fun Legion book, so we want to try do stuff that will entertain them as much as the kids. But I think the only way to really attract them and get them to give us a chance is to "do it."Write and draw what you hope will work, build it, and hope they come. You'll notice DC passed on the chance to call this 'Legion Adventures' - I believe that was because they didn't want people to think that this was just another kids book."

  
  
• Rokk's Comic Book Revolution comments on Torres' interview and has some comments of his own about the book.
  

  LSH31 has the potential to fill a version of the Legion that we have not seen since the memorable Curt Swan Legion of Super Heroes from Adventure Comics. LSH31 brings the Legion back to its true essence. Many people have opined and ruminated over various questions concerning the Legion. These are as follows: What are the essential elements of the Legion of Super Heroes? What makes the Legion of Super Heroes unique? And of course, which version of the Legion of Super Heroes is the definitive version?

  
  
• J. Torres himself comments on the interview on his own site, J. Torres Online:
  

  ...While LOSH31 editors (past and present) are (or have been) in touch with the writers or producers of the animated series, I have yet to talk or e-mail anyone involved with the series about story ideas and such, not even the fine people I had consulted during their time working on the Titans cartoon. But it's early and I still have their contact info, so they're not off the hook yet ;)
  
  Although I was kinda/sorta misquoted in a couple of places, everything else is true and overall I think it's a good interview, so please check it out.

  
  
• Finally, over at Bjooks the Blog, there's commentary on the series being more higly anticipated than the regular title:
  

  This is the Legion book to watch. It's been some time since we've seen the clean, pure Legion concept. I started collecting the Legion back in the late 80s, during the Universo Project, but I was aware of the team for some time before that (I remember being heavily influenced by the Giffen art era, although I didn't really know who Levitz or Giffen were at the time). But sometime one or three reboots ago I stopped caring so much. Each reboot just seems to take a little bit of the Legion away.

  
  

Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century goes on sale on April 18, and the Free Comic Book Day version will be available for free on May 5.