A Field Guide to Legion Cover Variants, 2008-2009
The Field Guide to Legion Cover Variants, part 3: 2008-2009
The gallery, presented in chronological publication order along with cover date:
2008
Action Comics v1 #859 - January 2008
Part 2 of "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes" story arc. Note that the solicited version of the Andy Kubert variant includes Batman's utility belt, which is completely cropped out of the printed version.
| Regular cover Art by Gary Frank | |
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| Variant cover (as printed) Art by Andy Kubert |
Variant cover (solicited) Art by Andy Kubert |
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Action Comics v1 #860 - February 2008
Part 3 of "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes" story arc.
| Regular cover Art by Gary Frank |
Variant cover Art by Steve Lightle |
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Action Comics v1 #861 - March 2008
Part 4 of "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes" story arc.
| Regular cover Art by Gary Frank |
Variant cover Art by Mike Grell |
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Legion of Super-Heroes (vol 5) #37 - March 2008
Meanwhile, on the main title, the team of Jim Shooter and Francis Manapul were starting a new run on the Threeboot while the Retroboot was still going on, and Manapul produced a diptych set of covers.
| Cover A (left side) Art by Francis Manapul |
Cover B (right side) Art by Francis Manapul |
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This one fits together nicely as a single poster (though it would have been nice to have been able to see it without the cover copy).
Action Comics v1 #862 - April 2008
Part 5 of "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes" story arc.
| Regular cover Art by Gary Frank |
Variant cover Art by Keith Giffen |
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Action Comics v1 #863 - May 2008
Part 6 of "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes" story arc, the finale. In 2010, the regular cover was reprinted with the interior of issue #859 as a special edition promoting the collected version of the story (see the 2006-2007 Field Guide).
| Regular cover Art by Gary Frank |
Variant cover Art by Gary Frank |
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DC Universe #0 - June 2008
This was the bridge between Countdown (which had just ended, counting down from #52 to #1) and Final Crisis (which counted up from #1), but a transition story not really a part of either. The textless version of the cover is shown just because of the gorgeous George Pérez artwork. The center column of the first printing, which shows the Legion, was later made a part of the Legion of 3 Worlds trade paperback cover.
| First printing cover Art by George Pérez |
Second printing cover Art by Ivan Reis (Green Lantern), George Pérez (Superman/LSH), & Aaron Lopresti (Wonder Woman) |
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| Regular cover (textless) Art by George Pérez |
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Legion of Super-Heroes (vol 5) #44 - September 2008
This one has a Neal Adams variant cover.
| Regular cover Art by Francis Manapul & John Livesay |
Variant cover Art by Neal Adams |
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Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #1 - October 2008
Spinning out of "Final Crisis", this series had the Reboot, the Threeboot, and the Retroboot Legions all meet up for the second time (the first was in an untold tale). The trade dress on this series resembled that on the main series, with one cover being a full image of a character and the other cover showing only a sliver of action in the middle third of the page. At a Diamond Retailer Roundtable Program (RRP) summit, they were given a special incentive cover which was the pencils-only version of the main cover.
| Main cover (first printing) Art by George Pérez |
Sliver cover Art by George Pérez |
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| RRP variant cover Art by George Pérez |
Second printing Art by George Pérez |
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Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #2 - November 2008
Same trade dress for part 2. After this, the title fell way behind schedule, the next issue didn't come out for five months, until the April cover date. The sliver cover homages Justice League of America #1, the first time the JLA met the JSA.
| Main cover Art by George Pérez |
Sliver cover Art by George Pérez |
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2009
Justice Society of America v3 #22 - February 2009
Part 7 of the "Thy Will Be Done" story arc.
Part 7 of the "Thy Will Be Done" story arc.
| Regular cover Art by Alex Ross |
Variant cover Art by Dale Eaglesham |
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Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #3 - April 2009
After a several-month delay, issue 3 is out.
| Main cover Art by George Pérez | Sliver cover Art by George Pérez |
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Part 4, Brainiac 5 gets the portrait this time. Notice that the printed version is different from the solicited version in the image that appears in the lightning rod.
| Main cover (solicited) Art by George Pérez |
Main cover (as printed) Art by George Pérez |
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| Sliver cover Art by George Pérez |
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Justice Society of America v3 #26 - June 2009
Three variants for this issue combine to make one large image.
| Left side Art by Alex Ross |
Center Art by Alex Ross |
Right side Art by Alex Ross |
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The entire triptych with no trade dress
Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5 - September 2009
Part 5, the final issue (which has come out after the main Final Crisis series has already ended).
| Main cover Art by George Pérez |
Sliver cover Art by George Pérez |
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Adventure Comics v2 #1/#504 - October 2009
Adventure Comics (Volume 2) was a revival of the old series of the same name. It featured Superboy and Legion stories, as well as three Blackest Night tie-ins. After #12, the old numbering was picked up again at Adventure Comics (Volume 1) #516. The main cover had the new numbering #1-12 with a shadow legacy number, while the variant cover showed the legacy numbering starting with #504 on top of a shadow number from the regular cover.
Notice that the solicited version of the variant cover had Superboy-Prime blacked out so as to not spoil his appearance.
| Main cover Art by Francis Manapul | |
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| Variant cover (solicited) Art by Francis Manapul | Variant cover (as printed) Art by Francis Manapul |
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Adventure Comics v2 #2/#505 - November 2009
Main cover is Superboy, variant cover is mainly the Legion.
| Main cover Art by Francis Manapul | Variant cover Art by Francis Manapul |
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Adventure Comics v2 #3/#506 - December 2009
Main cover is Superboy, variant cover is mainly the Legion.
| Main cover Art by Francis Manapul | Variant cover Art by Francis Manapul |
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Superman Secret Origin #2 - December 2009
This 6-issue miniseries gave the history of Superman in the post-Infinite Crisis Retroboot era, when it was shown that he had been Superboy when younger and had joined the Legion. The main cover was part of a connected series (seen below).
| Main cover Art by Gary Frank | Variant cover Art by Gary Frank |
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