Trivia Answers #43

Thanks for playing the Special all-Levitz edition trivia quiz. Nice job on the answers this month.

1. For the sake of this question, assume that the writer and artist are equal co-creators of a Legionnaire (not necessarily true). How many Legionnaires did Levitz co-create?

Under these rules, Levitz co-created Dawnstar, Invisible Kid II, Karate Kid II, Tellus, and Quislet, all of whom joined while he was writing. He also co-created Danielle Foccart, the future Computo, and Yera, the future Chameleon Girl, both of whom joined after he stopped writing. White Witch, Polar Boy, and Magnetic Kid joined under his reign, but they were pre-existing characters.

2. How many regular, non-fill-in editors has Paul Levitz had on his Legion-related books?

Denny O'Neill edited from Levitz's first issue, Superboy 225, through S&LSH 233. Al Milgrom did 234-246. (Levitz did all but a few of those issues). On his second run from LSH v2 281 to v3 63, he had Mike W. Barr (281-287), Laurie Sutton (288-295), and Karen Berger (296-313, Tales 314-325, and all of v3). Note that I said "Legion-related", that also included the miniseries Cosmic Boy (Berger) and Who's Who in the LSH (Berger and Mark Waid). Not sure yet who's going to be the editor of v6.

3. Historically speaking (in terms of DC history), what was significant about the death of Nemesis Kid at the hands of Queen Projectra?

He said that "Projectra's execution of Nemesis Kid was the first time in DC history that we had a superhero deliberately killing a villain."

4. Historically speaking (in terms of DC history), what was significant about LSH v2 #294, the last issue of the Great Darkness Saga?

I can't find the quote, but it was the first time that DC had published a double-sized book without it being mostly reprints (like the DC 100 Page Super-Spectacular books), while the series was regular-sized, and without it being an anniversary issue.

5. What three reasons has Levitz given on why he likes writing the Legion?
In his own words:

I think there's a few levels to answer that on. The first, most primal, one is my inner five-year-old. Legion was the first book that I really fell in love with as a kid, the first book I collected... My bound volumes still include a lot of my subscription copies with the damn crease in the middle. I used to make little Legion figures out of paper dolls and Creepy Crawler molds when I was really young, so it's very satisfying to a very small person within me.

On a more professional level, one of the things that's always been satisfying to me as a writer is working in the corners of the DC Universe where I didn't have to play well with others all of the time - things like Justice Society [of America] and Legion where, although they fit the continuity of the line, you didn't have to do a ballet around "Why isn't Superman just flying in from Metropolis to solve the problem this week?" That's always been attractive.

Most significantly, and what I think is key to the readers of the Legion, is that it's a world that is large enough and imaginative enough that you can really fuck up the lives of so many different characters, and there's always someone new to play with.

6. When asked which Legion story he'd like to forget that he wrote, what story (or storyline) did Levitz reply with?

A number of times, including at the Legion's 50th anniversary in San Diego in 2008, he replied that it was Superboy & the LSH #235, in which he tried to explain how they Legionnaires were still teens even though they were really older.

7. This is Levitz' third stint on writing the Legion. What other writer or writers have had three or more terms writing the Legion (separated by enough time that the person was not considered the regular writer at the time he/she came back)?

Jim Shooter (1966-69 on Adventure; 1975-77 on Superboy; 2008-09 on LSH v5).

Keith Giffen helped plot late v2 and early v3 as one continuous run, then late v3 and some of v4 as one continuous run; and Mark Waid helped plot v4 before and after the Zero Hour reboot as one continuous run, and v5. So neither of them get credit for 3 runs, only 2.