Bits of Legionnaire Business

Ten random links:

• Suite 101 has a history of the Persuader on TV, in honor of his Smallville appearance.
  
  
• Pendragon's Post has a Q&A with Mattel, in which they still claim to have a Legion figure set out sometime this year:
  

  5) Not sure if the Legion of Super-Heroes is on your list of figure to make, but if you are in a planning stage, which verison of the Legion are you looking at (1st Appearance, 70's, 80's, current, etc.)?
  
  We do have a LOSH JLU 4 pack coming up later in 2009. All the figures are in the costumes they wore on the show (hey there were a lot of LOSH members in those big fight scenes!). As for doing LOSH in the 6” line, when we get to the Legion we would likely find a way to do figures with variants to try an put out multiple versions since Legion of Super Heroes is one of those few teams that has had quite a few signifigant and different reboots and redesigns over the years.

  
  
• Looks like New Zealand is getting season 1 of the Legion animated series, Saturdays at 8:45am. It's about time! Any Kiwis out there, holla!
  
  
• Don found a familiar panel in Futurama Comics #35, from January 2008.
  
  
• The Comic Treadmill closes out the Legion's run with a review of Adventure 379 and 380.
  
  
• The Arisverse has a retro-review of LSH v4 #47-50, featuring the final battle with Mordru and Glorith.
  
  
• Tony Bedard talks about R.E.B.E.L.S. with Ain't It Cool News (and thanks, Maurice, for the link!):
  

  TB: The original series began with Dox in control of his organization, and only changed titles to R.E.B.E.L.S. when Dox’s evil son took over L.E.G.I.O.N. This time around, we begin with Dox on the run, having to fight an insurgency against his own robo-troopers and the mysterious foe who stole them. So it’s R.E.B.E.L.S. for the foreseeable future, and if Dox wins back his command, who knows? Maybe then we’ll switch to L.E.G.I.O.N.
  
  But there’s another reason we’re going with R.E.B.E.L.S. We want to stress that this book is not yet another alternate version of the Legion of Super-Heroes. This book has a lot for Legion fans to love, but it is its own animal. It’s not as bright at LEGION, and it’s not as noble as GREEN LANTERN. It’s a darker, grittier kind of space opera, with a wicked sense of humor and a high bodycount.
  
  ... BUG: Will Vril and Supergirl’s relationship be a key part of this series or just this first issue? There seems to be an awful lot of things unsaid between the two of them.
  
  TB: They play off each other so well because they’re such polar opposites. He needs her because of her previous connection to the Legion of Super-Heroes, and she plays a big part as the adventure begins, but events will soon move beyond Earth.
  
  ... BUG: From original pitch to final product, can you tell us about any changes made to your story in R.E.B.E.L.S. to fit into the malleable continuity of the DCU at the moment?
  
  TB: Y’know, most series morph a bit here and there as they go through the development process, but this one might’ve set a record. I originally pitched this as “L.E.G.I.O.N.”, with Dox and Mon-El fighting Brainiac. Of course, I changed that once I found out more about Johns’s plans in ACTION COMICS (and I was glad to do so – ACTION was my favorite comic of 2008).

  
  
• The third Legion Blogpost at Newsarama remembers LSH v2 #300.
  
  
• The Cool Kidz Table would like to see Earthwar collected.
  
  
• Newsarama had an interview with voice actor Yuri Lowenthal (who played Superman on the Legion cartoon) and his wife Tara Platt (who played Dream Girl).
  

  NRAMA: Also, considering your admitted geekdom, what was it like playing Superman?
  
  YL: Once again, don't even get me started. I couldn't even— I still can't even — wrap my head around it. As a comic book nerd who grew up running around the yard in tights and a cape — even, you know, last week [laughs] — you play a role like that and you might as well retire afterwards. The pressure I felt going into it was immense. Like it wasn't hard enough auditioning for a role like that, but actually getting it. I don't know. I wish I could have done it longer.
  
  Legion of Super Heroes was a really good show that fell victim to bad timing and studio mismanagement. I'm glad that team at least got to go on to Batman afterwards. Brave and the Bold is pretty damn cool. But in the end, I got to be freakin' Superman. What else is there to say?