Déjà Vu 16: Coming soon, v6 #1

Here are the first issues of v1, v2, v3, v4, and v5. Coming soon: v6 #1.

LSH v5 Cancelled with #50

As has been speculated and predicted, the current Legion series will end with issue #50, according to news out of the Baltimore Comic Con.

Via Newsarama:

DC Comics confirmed for Newsarama at Baltimore Comic Con that Legion of Super-Heroes, the ongoing series that relaunched the fan-favorite, teenage team from the future, will be canceled with issue #50 after a four-year run.

"We're going to bring a close to the Legion of Super-Heroes now," said DC Senior VP and Executive Editor Dan DiDio. "There's a lot going on with the characters. I thought that [writer] Jim [Shooter] and [artist] Francis [Manapul] have done a terrific job with the series, and '50' seemed like a really nice number to bring this series to a conclusion."

However, Legion characters aren't going away, DiDio said. "We've got a lot of plans and a lot of thought for the Legion right now, but coming out of the Legion of 3 Worlds, we're going to let the characters rest for a little bit and see where we go from there," he said.

Shooter, the current writer of the Legion of Super-Heroes ongoing comic, told Newsarama in Baltimore that he found out about a month ago that the series was canceled with Issue #50.

"It's a drag, but I get to finish most of my story. It would have finished in Issue #54, but Issue #50 is going to be a 30-page story, and I'm hoping people will be intrigued enough that they'll want to finish the story. So we'll see," Shooter said. "I understand new comics sales are not doing so well right now. Which is weird. Just look at this crowd. Everyone seems so excited about comics. They're buying something."

Shooter said his story will come to a climax in the next few issues as he finishes up the "One Evil" storyline.

...Because he's been writing the Legion so much lately, Johns has been asked frequently by fans during DC panels at conventions if he would write the team in an ongoing series. His answer has always been that he'd love to do it. So Newsarama asked DiDio: Is it possible there will be a Johns-penned series featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes in the future?

"You know what? I think we'd love Geoff to write everything right now. But realistically, he's got a pretty full slate with everything that's going on," DiDio said. "He's got Flash, Green Lantern, JSA, Action, and specials coming up because this thing called Blackest Night is looming. But I'm sure that the Legion will stay close to Geoff and near and dear to him as well, and you'll probably see some of them appear through some of his runs down the line. I don't want to give too much away. But there's always plans for the Legion. They're an important part of the DC Universe. And more importantly, I think we've done a great job with the story. I think Jim and Francis have done a great job bringing it to an end. And after Legion of 3 Worlds, there will be more opportunities, so we're going to explore those after that series concludes."

More to come, obviously.

Déjà Vu 15: What the L?

Baltimore Comic Con 08: DC Nation

At this weekend's Baltimore Comic Con, here's the Legion news from the DC Nation panel.

Via CBR:

Geoff Johns added that the Legion of Super Heroes appearance in “Smallville” will be airing in February. There will be a villain from the Legion’s time that Johns can’t believe they let him use.

Via Newsarama:

Q: Who’s in the lightning rod the Legion has?
A: Johns: “We will see that in Legion of 3 Worlds #3.”

Q: What story is Johns telling with the Legion on Smallville?
A: “If you know the origin, you know the story that’s coming,” Johns said. “But there is a villain from the Legion’s time that I can’t believe they let me put in there.”

Q: Is there any Legion of Super-Heroes news about the future of the team?
A: Johns: “The future of the Legion of Super-Heroes is in Legion of 3 Worlds - and it will have a lot of stuff in it that will affect the modern day DCU.”

Q: Is Glorith in Legion of 3 Worlds?
A: Johns: “She’s mentioned. You might now be happy about it.”
[Wonder if this is a typo, if it should be "not" instead of "now".]

Q: Will the Legion appear in more than the one episode of Smallville?
A: It’s a one episode thing, Johns said, adding that the appearance will have ramifications throughout the season.

More Bad Ideas

A few posts down, I asked you for what you thought were "the five worst ideas in the 50 year history of the Legion".

Here are mine, in chronological order:

1. "How about if we take our two top-selling books in the entire company, make them direct-sales only, and then replace the regular book with reprints?"

2. "These Bierbaums, they're long-time fans. Even though they have limited industry experience, they must have some good ideas. Let's pair them with a strong co-writer and a hands-off editor."

3. "Don't worry, the Superman reboot won't affect the Legion. We have a fool-proof plan to keep everything in continuity."

4. "Legion continuity is irretrievably broken. We have no choice but to completely reboot the series."

5. "Let's reboot the series again. We can get new readers, obliquely tie into a popular miniseries, and besides, the fans are already used to reboots."

The Amazing Race's Legion fans

I don't know about the rest of you, but "The Amazing Race" is one of my favorite shows on TV, and it's just about the only "reality" show I really want to be on. In a nutshell, in case you're unfamiliar with it, teams of two people (with a pre-existing relationship, like friends/co-workers/siblings/etc.) travel around the world following clues and performing activities local to that location; the last to check in at a designated pit stop is eliminated. It's way better than I just made it sound, though.

Anyway, one of the teams this year is Mark and Bill. They are racing to fill the "nerd team" slot on the show. They're actually Mark Yturralde and Bill Kahler, longtime friends and comic book fans. Mark is the Treasurer for the San Diego Comic-Con (who I actually met once, years ago, making him the only Racer I've ever met).

Here's an excerpt from an interview they did with Reality Heaven:

Reality Heaven: When did you both begin collecting comic books?

Mark: I have always loved comics as far as I can remember. I remember the 1st comic I bought with my own money was the wedding of Sue and Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four.

Bill: I remember reading other kids’ comic books when I was really young, but I’m pretty sure my first comic book purchase was Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #201. It was one of those 100-page comic books they used to sell in the 1970s; I think I got it because it was extra-big, but still just “one comic book”. [Note: the 100-Page Giant issues were actually #202, 205, and 208; #201 was a regular sized issue.]

Reality Heaven: Favorite artists?

Mark: David Lapham, Alex Ross, Brent Anderson, Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio, Dean Yeagle, Joe Chido, Joe Linser

Bill: Mike Grell (who drew _Legion_ back when I started reading it), John Cassaday (_Planetary_), Alex Ross, Dave McKean, Dave Gibbons, Brian Bolland, Adam Hughes

Reality Heaven: Favorite superheroes, if any?

Mark: Mr. Fantastic, Green Lantern, The Metal Men, Black Canary, Firestorm, Legion of Super Heroes.

Bill: Batman, Firestorm, The Doom Patrol, Spider-Man, and the Legion of Super-Heroes.

(False alert) Animated Emerald Empress doesn't return

Update: Never mind. Ben Jones, one of the B&B producers, said the Empress "news" stems from a false report. Disregard what you read below. These aren't the droids you're looking for. Move along, move along.

---

Via LegionWorld I found this on World's Finest:

The World's Finest has obtained the updated character roster for the upcoming Batman: The Brave and The Bold animated series.

Below is the updated list of characters scheduled to appear on Batman: The Brave and The Bold alongside Batman, in alphabetical order and divided by status.

On the list is the Emerald Empress.

That's all I know so far.

L3W RRP variant

At last weekend's Diamond Retailer Summit in Las Vegas, one of the RRP (Retailer Roundtable Program) variants given out was a sketch cover of "Legion of 3 Worlds" #1:

Here's the link to the ebay auctions if you want to buy one.

Talk Like a Pirate Day 2008: Dynamo Boy

Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. This year's pirate honoree is Dynamo Boy, aka Vorm of New Tortuga.

From Who's Who in the LSH #2:

One of the children born to pirate inhabitants of New Tortuga, Vorm enjoyed the exciting, dangerous life there and learned pirate ways quickly. When the pirates' leader asked for a young volunteer to infiltrate the Legion, Vorm stepped forward and killed an opponent to win the "honor". The pirates gave him a hidden belt device with which he simulated special energy-wielding powers in front of Star Boy, who was impressed enough to bring him to the next Legion tryouts. Dynamo Boy passed all tests quickly and gained membership, then proceeded to secretly sabotage all his teammates during ensuing missions and use loopholes in the Legion Constitution to have them expelled. Eventually, Vorm ended up being the only Legionnaire left. Holding tryouts for new members, he screened all applicants to find those whom he might possibly corrupt to his own ends, butg he had no luck until three adults claiming to be Cosmic King, Saturn Queen, and Lightning Lord of the Legion of Super-Villains showed up and offered their serves. The four "Legionnaires" posed as heroes in public, covering their private thievery.

Vorm returned to New Tortuga to report his success and ended up killing the pirate leader in order to establish his supremacy on his own home planet. However, when he returned to Earth, he walked into an LSV trap which sent him off irretrievably into Earth's far future. Once he was gone, the super-villains were defeated by the Legionnaires, who had returned to Earth once they had become aware of Vorm's sinister motives. All expelled members were readmitted. Vorm has not been seen since.

First (and only appearance): ADV 330-331, and he didn't even make the cover of either.

See for yourself:

• Paul & John Review Dynamo Boy
  
• The Silver Age Legion (ADV 330 and ADV 331)
  
• The Comic Treadmill (ADV 330 and ADV 331)

Bad ideas

Via The BEAT, here's an article about "the five worst ideas in the history of comics".

Let's hear from you: what would you consider to be the five worst ideas in the 50 year history of the Legion?

Baltimore Comic Con next weekend

Sneaking up on us next weekend is the Baltimore Comic Con, on Saturday and Sunday.

Among the scheduled guests with a significant Legion history are (alphabetically listed by first name - how odd!) Barry Kitson, Geoff Johns, Jim Shooter, Mark Waid, and Stuart Immonen.

I can't find a list of programming there, if there is any.

Anyone planning on going?

Legion #700?

Over at Blog@Newsarama, Tom "Grumpy Old Fan" Bondurant discusses the latest DC solicitations, and notes this:

Obviously DC has sentimental reasons for keeping Action Comics, Detective Comics, Superman, and Batman in their original numbering. Action and Detective are in the high 800s, and Superman and Batman are in the high 600s. However, the other five “foundational” titles (Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Justice League of America, and Legion of Super-Heroes) have each been restarted with new first issues within the past five years, despite the youngest of them (JLA, by my estimation) being in the neighborhood of fifty years old.

... Additionally, if my math is right,* the January issue of Legion of Super-Heroes could be #700, as well as being the current title’s issue #50.

* [The original title picked up Superboy's numbering and ended with issue #325. Vol. 2 {actually v3} ended with #63, vol. 3 {v4} with #125, and Legionnaires -- which effectively made the Legion a biweekly title -- ended with #81. Add to that 12 issues of Legion Lost + 6 Legion Worlds + 38 The Legion + 49 current issues = 699.]

I think I disagree with using the Legionnaires title in the numbering. The stories didn't continue from one title to the other back and forth like a true bi-weekly. I do agree with Legion Lost and Legion Worlds, though, as they were the only Legion book at the time and theoretically could have been story arcs in a hypothetical main title rather than miniseries. He also rightly skips the #0 and #1000000 issues in the numbering, just like the other series did at the time.

Coming Distractions: Dec. 2008

FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF THREE WORLDS #4
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by George Pérez & Scott Koblish
Covers by George Pérez
Don't miss this issue as lightning strikes again in the DC Universe! The Crisis of the 31st century continues as a great hero falls and another returns to help Superman and the Legion combat the murderous Superboy-Prime! Meanwhile, the Time Trapper makes his move against the three Legion founders, Polar Boy's bizarre mission comes to an end and Superman makes a shocking discovery that will redefine the terms of this war.
Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers by George Pérez that will ship in approximately 50/50 ratio. Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.
On sale December 24 • 4 of 5 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US



THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #49
Written by Jim Shooter
Art and cover by Francis Manapul & Livesay
Timber Wolf goes berserk! A Legion Espionage Squad risks death to explore the heavily defended Intruder Planet. Lightning Lad finds comfort in the arms of...the president? Meanwhile, Phantom Girl is catastrophically injured, and she’ll never be the same again! All this, and the beginning of the Universal Annihilation War!
On sale December 31 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US



JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #22
Written by Geoff Johns & Alex Ross
Art by Alex Ross and Dale Eaglesham & Nathan Massengill
Cover by Alex Ross
Variant cover by Dale Eaglesham & Nathan Massengill
Concluding the sequel to KINGDOM COME and featuring several pages of painted interiors by Alex Ross! The Justice Society have had their greatest wishes granted, but at what deadly price? As war breaks out among the Justice Society, the cost of Gog's watchful eye comes to light. But removing Gog from Earth will cost more than they could ever imagine. This finale will leave the Justice Society torn apart...and see a new team rise out of the ashes!
Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. For every 10 copies of the Standard Edition (with a cover by Alex Ross), retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by Dale Eaglesham & Nathan Massengill). Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.
On sale December 31 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US



JUSTICE VOL. 3 TP
Written by Jim Krueger & Alex Ross
Art by Doug Braithwaite & Alex Ross
Cover by Alex Ross
The final volume of the lushly illustrated maxiseries, featuring issues #9-12, is now available in trade paperback! The Super-Villains' plot to exploit the innocent thickens as the heroes discover that it may even affect their comrades! Guest-starring Black Adam, The Marvel Family, Doom Patrol, The Metal Men, The Titans, Supergirl and more!
Advance-solicited; on sale January 7 • 160 pg, FC, $14.99 US

The Legion appears in the final pages.



JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA: THE LIGHTNING SAGA TP
Written by Brad Meltzer & Geoff Johns
Art by Ed Benes, Shane Davis, Dale Eaglesham, Jim Lee, Adam Kubert, George Pérez and othersCover by Alex Ross
Two super-teams join forces in this volume collecting JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #0 and #8-12 and JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #5-6! The JLA has discovered the presence of several members of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the present!
Advance-solicited; on sale January 21 • 224 pg, FC, $12.99 US



DC COMICS CLASSICS LIBRARY: THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES – THE LIFE AND DEATH OF FERRO LAD HC
Written by Jim Shooter
Art by Curt Swan, Sheldon Moldoff & George Klein
Cover by Curt Swan & George Klein
Collecting ADVENTURE COMICS #346, 347, 352, 353 and 357! The Legion battles both the Fatal Five and the Sun Eater – and only the ultimate sacrifice can save Ferro Lad’s friends!
Advance-solicited; on sale February 18 • 128 pg, FC , $39.99 US

That's a lot for such a slim volume. I guess they're not going to put in the "lost" flashback story, the clone story, or an origin story.

Guess who's back? Right!

Well that was an interesting few days.

I've got some damage to my roof and about half my fence is down, but I've got power (returned on Sunday), water (returned on Monday), TV, internet (returned on Wednesday), and a roof over my head. That's more than can be said for a lot of people around here, some just blocks away. I'm doing what I can for those less fortunate than me, when I have time. It'll be a long expensive road to recovery for this area.

For pictures I've taken over the last few days, here's a map of the area showing what's where, (or go here for just the pictures).

Thanks to everyone who commented in the last couple of posts, for all your good wishes. They certainly didn't hurt.

In answer to Jim, who asked about Katrina and Rita in 2005: That actually played a huge part in how things were handled for Ike in 2008. Hurricane Rita targeted Houston about a month after Katrina hit New Orleans. Hundreds of thousands evacuated New Orleans and came to Houston for shelter. So Katrina's flooding was very fresh on the minds of Houstonians (even though had Katrina hit here, we wouldn't have flooded because we're above ground, unlike New Orleans), and as a city, we panicked (not me, though). Millions of people fled our city, leading to traffic jams with hours-long backups (imagine 18 hours to go 200 miles). In the aftermath of that storm - which took a late northerly jog and hit well east of Houston - there were a lot of lessons learned, some good and some bad. Houston did much better this time at planning for and reacting to Hurricane Ike, but at the same time too many people remember getting burned by evacuating "for nothing" from Rita in 2005 and stayed put when they should have gone. Too many decided to ride out the storm and assumed that this storm would change track just like Rita did, and got caught when it didn't. Galveston, for example, had about 95% evacuate for Rita but only 60% for Ike. And when they ignored the evacuation order and the storm hit, the rescue workers had to say "I'm sorry we can't send anyone out, you'll have to wait til morning" when those who stayed called 911 in the middle of the night.

As with all major disasters (ObLSH: Karate Kid once fought Major Disaster), there have been screwups and miscommunications from the federal, state, and local levels, but that's to be expected no matter what's going on, and no matter where it happens.

It's a good thing "Legion of 3 Worlds" #2 isn't out this week. Our comics are delayed by UPS til Friday. My comic shop guy said that UPS told them that they are more backed up now than at Christmastime.

Omnicom powered down

I made it thru Hurricane Ike just fine but my house wasn't so lucky. No power or water & roof damage plus half my fences down. So without internet access I won't be posting for a while.

So this will be an open topic until I get back. Post your links to stuff I should read when I get back too.

See you in the future!

I Don't Like Ike

Too bad Storm Boy could only create weather (albeit artificially) and not control it. We could use some help with Hurricane Ike, ready to barrel down on Houston with 100 mph winds. I was planning to ride the storm out but some models are predicting 20 foot storm surges, which is about the limit of what my house can stand before flooding. I'll have to balance evacuating with how bad it looks like it's going to be, and when to leave without getting stuck in traffic.

I'll be liveblogging the storm at my other (rarely-used) site and on Twitter (@mgrabois). The Houston Chronicle and Weather Underground have good coverage.

Dr. Mayavale may like Ike, but I don't right now. Probably not going to be posting much here this weekend as I'll be in shop/board/hunker/recovery mode.

There once was a Legionnaire from Nantucket...

A couple of posts back in the comments, Rivers mentioned that someone had some Legionnaire limericks. They are surprisingly G-rated, as compared to some of the PG-13 ones he's got; of course, limericks are typically much naughtier (as suggested by the title of this post). Here are Michael X. MacArthur's tributes to Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, and Cosmic Boy.

My challenge: create an existing Legionnaire limerick. If you want to be dirty, that's fine, just replace the naughty words with some dashes or something.

Here's one to start you off:

Jimmy Olsen was a Lad named Elastic
He could stretch his whole body like plastic
He thought in his head,
"I'm Mr. Action in bed
And the ladies all call me fantastic."

Update: here's the partial limerick from the big HQ map in LSH v4 #26, as mentioned in the comments.

Trivia Answers #27

Here be the answers to the Dawnstar trivia quiz. I came up with some questions and Greybird helped me with some.

1. Name one of the two jobs she had before she joined the Legion.

In her debut story ("Superboy" #226), she said that she had "guided hunters to snare helpless beasts." In her origin story ("Superboy" #240), she described having been a navigator in deep space for commercial craft.

2. What was the Grand Tour, and what happened at the end of it?

The Grand Tour was a traditional journey in her culture throughout the galaxy, upon reaching age 18, to find self-knowledge and, potentially, to gain a mental image of one's future mate. Wildfire showed up at the end and she thought he was distracting her, but then realized that he appeared as his soulmate.

3. What were her parents' names?

Mist-Rider was her father, and Moonwalker was her mother.

4. Who was her roommate at the Legion Academy, and who were some of the other people in the Academy at the time?

Her roommate was Laurel Kent. Her fellow Academy members, as seen in the flashback story in "Superboy and the Legion" #240, were Shadow Kid (Grev Mallor) and Jed Rikane, in addition to Laurel.

5. How did she lose her wings?

This was never shown or described, but she was depicted as not having them when she reappeared (LSH v4 #5) as "Bounty." Her later dis-possession by the Bounty spirit never revealed exactly what had happened to her.

Incidentally, it came up in the comments that the bounty hunter Bounty (from S/LSH 234, who hunted the Composite Legionnaire) was related to Dawnstar. From "Who's Who in the LSH", which came up with back stories on many characters that have since been accepted as canon, Jaeger Tallspirit's father was from Starhaven and was a cousin of Dawnstar.

6. Who was her partner in the private investigation firm she worked at?

As Bounty, she worked with Celeste Rockfish.

7. Mike Grell designed Dawnstar's look and contributed the cover to her first appearance, but didn't do the interior art (he also did a few subsequent covers). What was the only time Grell got to draw her in interior art?

I thought the only issue was That Damned Tabloid with the wedding of Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl. However, Ken Austin reminded me that Grell redrew the wedding scene for LSH v3 #45, the 30th anniversary issue. So technically there's one answer - the wedding scene/issue - that appeared in two places. Sort of, I guess.

Again, Greybird helped out with these. Thanks for the extra Q&A!

New Shooter interview

Glamazonia, an Italian comics site, has a new interview with Jim Shooter. (Note that any alleged rumors about his future on the title are not mentioned.)

The interview is here, with the Italian translation up top and then scroll halfway down to the English. Shooter discusses his writing style and the state of the industry today.

From the interview:

I don’t do anything “generic,” I hope. I start by thinking about events that might be in the story, the effects those events might have upon the characters and, conversely, how the characters would shape the events. I think about what is, or might be at stake, both in plot terms and in human terms. This is very much a freewheeling process—I play “what if...?” a lot and imagine recklessly. No thought, no idea is too far out at this stage. Nothing is out of bounds. Usually, I write down pages and pages of notes—ideas, snippets of dialogue that occur to me, character bits, scene ideas, real events from my own life that relate, events from the lives of people I know or have heard tell of that relate; whatever. I make lists of words or things that relate to the ideas that come up — for instance, if the story might involve the sea, I’ll probably make lists of nautical terms, fish, ships, etc. Free association. I do a great deal of research into the ideas that come up. At first, the research is speculative—just poking around for more items to include in my notes and lists—but as I become more sure that something is going to end up in the script, the research becomes more focused. I even make sketches.

While doing all of the above, I’m also thinking about what I have to say about the subjects that emerge. Do I have any insight I can offer? A new thought, a new way to look at something…or an “observation about the human condition,” as a former publisher I knew used to say. I’m not talking about building a corny moral into the story, or some stupid lesson; not just a stupid irony, or even a clever O. Henry-style irony. I’m talking about things that make the reader say, “I never thought of things that way before,” or “I’ve never seen anything like that before,” or “I know just how that character feels,” or “I understand that more deeply, or in a different way, now,” or...whatever.

For instance, my ongoing Legion of Super-Heroes story, entitled “One Evil,” has a subplot about a leadership crisis. I know about such things from both sides—being the leader of an organization in difficult times and being a follower in such a situation. I have plenty to say about that subject, plenty of insights to offer. If I can convey to the readers something new via the characters involved, what they go through and the way they go through it, that’s a good thing.

A second article has (in Italian) a biography of Shooter and reviews of some trade paperbacks reprinting his work, from the Legion Showcase to Secret Wars to Star Brand, Magnus, and his new work on the Legion. Next, in both Italian and English, the first two pages of Shooter's script to LSH v5 #45, along with Francis Manapul's artwork for those pages. As an added bonus, we see Manapul's evolution of the cover artwork for that issue.

Here's how the description of the splash starts out (but not the whole thing):

PAGE ONE:

Panel 1 (FULL PAGE SPLASH):

Scene: The BRIDGE at Legion HQ. Present are LIGHTNING LAD, BRAINIAC 5, ELEMENT LAD, PHANTOM GIRL and M’RISSEY. Show them all, but feature M’rissey in this shot, front and center, and right beside him, Lightning Lad. They should be fairly close up, cropped, if that works. They’re facing the BIG SCREEN, which you established at the end of last issue.

What we saw on the Big Screen last issue was the image of U.P. PRESIDENT KIESELBACH and behind her, a couple of military and technical people and a screen or display of some sort of a strange-looking planet that I called the INTRUDER PLANET.

Now, here’s the tricky part—either the screen and President Kieselbach are off panel, i.e., our camera is between the screen and the Legionnaires (and M’rissey), facing them, which is the easy way out; or the camera is, to some extent, behind the translucent, holographic screen so we see a bit of the Legionnaires/M’rissey and background through part of the screen and the image of President Kieselbach, etc. Either way, the Legionnaires/M’rissey should be lit by the glow of the screen. Either way, in any way possible, try to make it clear that the Legionnaires are facing and communicating with someone on a screen.

Half Price at TwoMorrows

TwoMorrows is having a sale through the end of September. Among the items marked down:

Best of the Legion Outpost (50% off)

Alter Ego #78 (15% off), Dave Cockrum tribute

Back Issue #14 (15% off), Mike Grell and Dave Cockrum discuss the Legion

Back Issue #22 (15% off), Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen discuss the Legion

Back Issue #33 (15% off), "a star-studded art gallery of Legion of Super-Heroes 1970s fashions"

Krypton Companion (15% off), Superman in the Silver Age including "MARK WAID’s tribute to Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes"

Legion Companion (15% off)

(No, I don't get any commission off this, by the way.)

Teenagers from the Future

"Teenagers from the Future" has got to be the best book containing critical commentary about the Legion since, well, ever. (You can use that as a pull quote, Tim!)

[Full disclosure: that's an Amazon link above, just like all the books listed at the bottom of the left-hand side of this page. If you click it and order the book (or anything) I get something like a dollar credit (4%). If I can just get 27 people to buy one via this link, I can get one for free!]

As Tim said, it will also be available via Diamond, but once it's in Diamond's catalog there's a chance it might get pulled from the bookstores. So order now, or wait and order later!

Here's the press release from the publisher, Sequart. I've linked the author's name to their blog or web page, where I could find it.

Teenagers from the Future: Essays on the Legion of Super-Heroes is now available from Sequart Research & Literacy Organization.

The book, edited by Timothy Callahan (Grant Morrison: The Early Years), sports a foreword by Matt Fraction and an afterword by Barry Lyga. The collection includes the following essays:

• "The Perfect Storm: The Death and Resurrection of Lightning Lad," by Richard "RAB" Bensam [Estoreal]
  
  
• "Liberating the Future: Women in the Early Legion," by John G. Hemry
  
  
• "The Silver Age Legion: Adventure into the Classics," by Christopher Barbee
  
  
• "The (Often Arbitrary) Rules of the Legion," by Chris Sims [The Invincible Super-Blog]
  
  
• "Shooter's Marvelesque," by Jeff Barbanell [Intergalactic Vigilante Squadron]
  
  
• "The Legion's Super-Science," by James Kakalios [The Physics of Super-Heroes]
  
  
• "Bridging the Past and the Present with the Future: The Early Legion and the JLA," by Scipio Garling [The Absorbascon]
  
  
• "Decades Ahead of Us to Get it Right: Architecture and Utopia," by Sara K. Ellis
  
  
• "Those Legionnaires Should Just Grow Up!" by Greg Gildersleeve
  
  
• "Thomas, Altman, Levitz and the 30th Century," by Timothy Callahan [Geniusboy Firemelon]
  
  
• "The Amethyst Connection," by Lanny Rose
  
  
• "Revisionism, Radical Experimentation, and Dystopia in Giffen's Legion," by Julian Darius
  
  
• "Pulling Back the Curtain: Gender Identity and Homosexuality in the Legion," by Alan Williams
  
  
• "Diversity and Evolution in the Reboot Legion," by Matthew Elmslie [Legion Abstract]
  
  
• "Fashion from the Future, or 'I Swear, Computo Forced Me to Wear This!" by Martin A. "MaGnUs" Perez [The Dissector]
  
  
• "Generational Theory and the Waid Threeboot," by Matthew Elmslie
  
  
• "A Universe in Adolescence," by Paul Lytle
  
  
• "The Racial Politics of the Legion of Super-Heroes," by Jae Bryson

This essay collection, from fans and scholars alike, is as diverse as Legion history. No Legion fan or comics scholar should go without this critical celebration of the Legion.

Legal Disclaimer: the Legion of Super-Heroes and related characters are trademarks of DC Comics. This book is not endorsed or authorized by DC Comics.

About the Publisher: Sequart Research & Literacy Organization is a non-profit devoted to the study and promotion of comic books as a legitimate art. This is the organization's third book, following Timothy Callahan's Grant Morrison: The Early Years (solicited in July's Previews) and Tom McLean's Mutant Cinema: The X-Men Trilogy from Comics to Screen.

Chris Sims at The Invincible Super-Blog raves about the book:

Teenagers From the Future, the collection of essays on the Legion of Super-Heroes that I contributed to that also features an introduction by Matt Fraction, is now on sale at Amazon, and I don’t think I’m overstating it to say that it is the single greatest book ever published in the English Language.

Barry Lyga, who wrote the Afterword:

The Legion has a large, faithful (and, some say, mentally disturbed) fan base, as well as a decades-long string of some great comics (and some crappy ones, too -- let's be honest).

Sequart is publishing a special collection of scholarly essays about the Legion and I was asked to contribute the Afterword, which I was only too happy to do.

Matthew Elmslie at the Legion Abstract:

I'm proud of both articles and think they're both worth your time. And then there are all the other articles! Some damn fine work has gone into this book, and no Legion fan should be without it. I'd be highly recommending it even if I had nothing to do with the thing.

No, I didn't contribute anything to the book, though I probably should have.

Teenagers from the Future, the Constitution, and More

Stuff.

Tim Callahan's new book is finally ready (too bad the kinks couldn't be worked out before San Diego, this would have been a perfect addition!). Teenagers from the Future is now available at Amazon.com.

Via RAB at Estoreal:

According to Tim, the book will also be available for order through the direct market in either the October or November Diamond Previews catalog. Tim isn't sure whether the book will still be available through Amazon after it appears in the Diamond catalog, so anyone who wants to be sure of getting a copy without actually going into a comics shop should probably order it now.

I can't believe I missed the various series Siskoid has had going lately. I missed Legion Tryout Week the last week in August, which featured Adventure Comics #247, Tales of the Legion #343 (reprinting Superboy 195 and 201), Tales #339 (reprinting LSH v3 #14), Legionnaires #2, and Secret Origins #46.

This week he's doing the Annotated Legion Constitution. So far he's got Articles 1 and 2 and Article 3, with representative panels demonstrating each of the clauses.

4th Letter has the story of "an audio book based on a book based on a graphic novel," the Books-on-CD version of the novelization of "Infinite Crisis". He's got some interesting sound clips.

When the multiple Earths are flying around space and we see into them, the Legion of Superheroes world gets a cool techno theme.

Hey, there’s a complaint right there. They give us stretched out scenes based on those panels of the Legion world, the Tangent world and the Fawcett world, but nothing with the cowboy world and the Bizarro Earth with all the inhabitants happily strangling each other in the chaos. I feel gypped.

Sadly, no sound clips of the Legion bits (yet).

Another Smallville update

This one from Geoff Johns, at his Myspace page and ComicBloc:

I can tell you with confidence, the season they have planned is easily the most ambitious to date. There are so many twists and turns. And episode 10. Episode 10 is INSANE. My episode is now 11, so it's going to be a hard act to follow, but I'll give it my all. I have to say too, that if they pull off where they're taking Doomsday...I mean, I didn't understand where they were going when they announced that Doomsday had a human alter ego. But it's freaking cool. As hell. And fans of the comics are going to be blown away when everything is actually revealed. It's really pretty spectacular.

Also, the Legion? They are absolutely, 100% on point with the Legionnaires and their relationship with Clark Kent. I can say you'll see an appearance by one of the Legion's better known enemies, but I can't reveal who just yet. More information to come when I can talk about it.

Trivia Quiz #27

First Monday comes early this month. It's a holiday weekend for us USAns but we've got our fingers crossed and our TVs on watching Hurricane Gustav (and not-so-pleasant memories around these parts from Katrina and Rita three years ago).

The theme for this month is the Legionnaire Dawnstar.

1. Name one of the two jobs she had before she joined the Legion.

2. What was the Grand Tour, and what happened at the end of it?

3. What were her parents' names?

4. Who was her roommate at the Legion Academy, and who were some of the other people in the Academy at the time?

5. How did she lose her wings?

6. Who was her partner in the private investigation firm she worked at?

7. Mike Grell designed Dawnstar's look and contributed the cover to her first appearance, but didn't do the interior art (he also did a few subsequent covers). What was the only time Grell got to draw her in interior art?

[Note: Greybird helped out with these, so he is ineligible to answer. Sorry!]