Tuesday, January 26, 2010

JMS on the Legion in "Brave & Bold"

Via CBR, an interview with J. Michael Straczynski (aka "JMS") on his upcoming Brave & Bold storylines:

The next two issues (Brave & Bold #34-35) fall into the experimental category.

The first of these features the Legion of Super-Heroes and the Doom Patrol. A crisis sends the Legion back in time to get the right team to pull off the job. They come back to the future to handle it, only to find new and unexpected complications springing up. But they do deal with it. It's a serious issue with lots of action.

The next issue features the Legion of Substitute Heroes and the Inferior Five, which is set at the same time as the previous issue. In this one, the Legion has learned of the same crisis, and decides to show the Legion that they're just as capable as anyone else, so they go back in time to get the right team... only to end up per accident with the Inferior Five. Determined to make the best of it, they come back to the future to deal with the problem, and everything they do keeps screwing up what the Legion is doing - so now we learn the source of the constant and unexpected complications. The Legion story is mainly a comedy of errors. It shows how you can take the same basic story and tell it two ways, one serious, one funny. It also lets me play with parallel timelines and narrative structure in ways we really haven't seen much before.

Even the covers are parallel. The first cover shows the Legion and the Doom Patrol in a victory pose in front of the time bubble, with shadowy figures barely visible on the other side. The second cover shows the Legion of Substitute Heroes and the Inferior Five posing on the other side of the bubble, with the Legion of Super-Heroes barely visible as shadowy figures on the other side.

That's what I mean in terms of doing more experimental sorts of stories, and taking chances. It could blow up in my face. Or it could be insanely fun. You never know and honestly, that's the fun of it.

1 comment:

Robert Nunez said...

This sounds like so much fun! It finally feels like the Legion is REALLY back. We missed the 50th anniversary and L3W plodded along slowly. But we seem to be on the verge of a Legion Renaissance.
With the Subs getting the spotlight, the Legion are finally entrenched in the DCU.
I'm excited!