LSH volume 9? Coming this summer!

In the only news around here that really matters, the ComicsPRO retailer event this week in California FINALLY gave us something about the upcoming new series. If you'll recall, we found out in October that there's going to be a new series coming sometime in 2026, written by Josh Williamson.... and that's all we found out.

Well, this week we at least got a time frame: what looks like early summer. As Bleeding Cool reports, this is one of DC's All-In publishing event, which (amazingly) has been going on and selling amazingly for the last couple of years, most recently as "Next Level". 

Note that the logo seen here is not necessarily what will be used on the new book, as all five of the logos are from older books. But at least we know early summer! (No artist announced yet, though.)

The big question is who will star in this book. I think it's going to be "everyone". Did you catch this from the "New History of the DC Universe" last year? 

"The champions of the galaxy during this era are the Multiversal Legion of Super-Heroes, a massive group of super-powered alien teenagers from across the Multiverse comprising various alternate-Earth teams who move through this reality as needed."

That sounds like the pitch for a new team that's comprised of the Retroboot Legion, the Reboot Legion, the Threeboot Legion, and the Rebirth Legion. And I think that's who's going to star in the new book. But who's left? Is it only those who are left alive at the end of the DC KO storyline? Will Darkseid's Legion be defeated and turned into good guys? Will the dead be resurrected? We'll find out sometime early this summer, I guess!

A few years back, I did an exercise to figure out what the new series would be in terms of a legacy number. By my way of thinking, volume 9 issue 1 would be legacy #672, and this would have to last 29 issues in order to get to legacy #700.

Legion Timeline Roadmap v3

First posted in April 2020, then updated in Feb 2025. Here's the latest Legion roadmap for August 2025, now updated to try to show the simultaneous presence of both the Rebirth and Retroboot Legions in the current present, plus the Absolute Legion (aka Darkseid's Legion), plus highlighting the standings of all four mainstream heroic Legions. Let me know if you think I've messed something up or forgotten something!

Don't read anything into the "point" numbers here, it doesn't signify importance or anything, just there to denote what is branched off of what.

The four bright colors represent the four mainstream versions of the Legion, with their common names. I also added a layer for the Absolute Universe.

yellow = Reboot

orange = Threeboot

cyan = Retroboot (technically the inheritor of the pre-5YL history and continuity)

green = Rebirth

gray = Absolute Universe aka Darkseid's Legion

• 0.0: Earth history proceeds without Darkseid's essence permeating the universe
• 1.0: 1958-1985 (everything up to the beginning of Crisis on Infinite Earths; Adventure Comics  #247 to LSH v3 #17)
• 1.1: 1985-1989, Crisis [1985] happens (Crisis to the end of the Magic Wars; LSH v3 #18-63)
• 1.1.1: 1989-1990, Great Collapse [1989] happens (Five Years Later pre-Mordruverse; LSH v4 #1-4)
• 1.1.1.1: 1990-1994, Mordruverse [1990] happens (Five Years Later post-Mordruverse; LSH v4 #6-61)
• 1.1.1.1.1: 1994-2004, Zero Hour [1994] happens ("Reboot"; LSH v4 #62-125) - see 2.0
• 1.1.1.1.1.1: Infinite Crisis [2004] happens ("Threeboot"; LSH v5) - see 3.0
• 1.1.1.1.1.2: Infinite Crisis [2004] does not happen (as yet unseen)
• 1.1.1.1.2: Zero Hour [1994] does not happen (as yet unseen)
• 1.1.1.2: Mordruverse [1990] doesn't happen (as yet unseen)
• 1.1.2: 2007-2011, Great Collapse [1989] doesn't happen ("Retroboot"; LSH v6)
• 1.1.2.1: 2011-2015, Flashpoint [2011] happens (New 52; LSH v7)
• 1.1.2.1.1: 2015-2019 Convergence [2015] happens and undoes the New 52
• 1.1.2.1.1.1: Rebirth [2019] happens and affects the future - see 4.0
• 1.1.2.1.1.2: Rebirth [2019] happens and does not affect the future (continuation of Retroboot; JSA v3)
• 1.1.2.1.1.3: Rebirth [2019] does not happen (as yet unseen)
• 1.1.2.1.2: Convergence [2015] does not happen and New 52 remains in place (as yet unseen)
• 1.1.2.2: Flashpoint [2011] doesn't happen (as yet unseen)
• 1.2: Crisis [1985] doesn't happen (as yet unseen Earth-1985 post Doomsday Clock #12)
• 2.0: 1994-2004 (post Zero Hour "Reboot"; LSH v4 #62-125)
• 3.0: 2004-2009 (post Infinite Crisis "Threeboot"; LSH v5)
• 4.0: 2019-present (post Rebirth; LSH v8)
• 0.1: Earth history proceeds with Darkseid's essence permeating the universe (Absolute Universe; Darkseid's Legion)

Each of my breakpoints in the 1.0 section is a "mini-reboot" or a place with retcons and new continuity:

• In 1985, either the Crisis happens (1.1, as published 1985-89) or it doesn't happen (1.2, as seen on Earth-1985 which we haven't seen yet)
• At the end of the Magic Wars in 1989, either the Great Collapse happens (1.1.1, as seen in LSH v4 #1-4) or it doesn't (1.1.2, the Retroboot)
• I consider the Mordruverse itself (LSHv4 #5) to be an alternate reality, so it's not in this roadmap
• The Mordruverse aftermath created a world in which there never was a Superboy or Supergirl, and Valor and Laurel Gand filled their spots, giving 1.1.1.1 (we have not seen a timeline in which the Mordruverse did not happen, which would be 1.1.1.2)
• New 52 was arguably different from what had been before in the aftermath of Flashpoint, so that becomes 1.1.2.1 (and 1.1.2.2 would be a world where Flashpoint didn't affect the Legion). 
• Convergence (1.1.2.1.1) undid New 52 and brought back the Retroboot, as seen in the 2023-24 JSA series which ignored the New52 team deaths and other changes, but Flashpoint did happen.

And of course, we know that the there are lots of timelines out there that we just haven't seen yet, now that every timeline exists: the one where Crisis didn't happen (Earth-1985), the one where Zero Hour didn't happen and the 5YL timeline is still going, etc.

Legion sales figures, Nov 2020-Feb 2021 (issues 11, 12, FS1, FS2)

It's been a while since we had any sales figures for the Legion: back in October for issue #10. Due to the pandemic and DC's changes in distributors, it's been tough to get actual numbers (for both DC and Marvel).

Comichron finally has obtained relative sales data for DC comics sold since the last time I did a report. Diamond has not released details for Marvel sales in that time, so all we have at the moment are sales of DC comics in relation to each other and not overall sales for the industry. The numbers given are how many issues of Legion were ordered for every 100 issues of Justice League, Comichron’s benchmark. Also included are the top and worst seller at comic shops for DC that month, relative to Justice League.

Here’s a summary:

November:

#1	Dark Knights Death Metal #5	198
#9	Justice League #56	100
#28	Legion of Super-Heroes #11	48
#49	Scooby Doo, Where Are You #106	7

Selling more than LSH:

• 12 Batman family, 4 other event or miniseries, 1 Rorschach, 2 Justice League, 2 Superman family, 1 Hellblazer, 2 WW, 2 Flash, 1 GL

Selling less than LSH:

• Catwoman, Young Justice, Justice League Dark, Suicide Squad, Hellblazer, American Vampire, Aquaman, Hawkman, Red Hood, Batman Beyond, Teen Titans

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Issue #12 of LSH was delayed out of the December charts and into January. For completeness, here are the top and bottom sellers for December:

#1	Batman #104	219
#12	Justice League #58	100
#51	Scooby Doo, Where Are You #107	7

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January's chart has two LSH issues, LSH v8 #12 and Future State LSH #1.

#1	Dark Nights Death Metal #7	141
#6	Future State Justice League #1	100
#28	Future State Legion of Super-Heroes #1	46
#34	LSH v8 #12	34
#42	Looney Tunes #258	5

• There were 9 non-Future State books above FS:LSH: Dark Nights Death Metal, 3 Batman family, DCeased, Rorschach, Strange Adventures, and Generations Shattered.
• Future State Legion of Super-Heroes was the #20 Future State book out of 25, outselling FS Aquaman (45), Shazam (44), Robin Eternal (44), Kara Zor-El Superwoman (44), and Superman vs Imperious Lex (37).
• LSH v8 #12 outsold only one Future State book (Superman vs Imperious Lex). And all of the books that had been cancelled earlier (Hawkman, Suicide Squad, etc.) are finally not on this list.
• Since this was almost all Future State this month, you can’t compare the LSH book’s #34 ranking out of 42 with November’s #28 of 49.

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February’s chart is back to one LSH issue, Future State #2. 

#1	Future State Next Batman #3	131
#6	Future State Justice League #2	100
#29	Future State Legion of Super-Heroes #2	51
#42	Scooby Doo Where Are You #108	6

• Note that FSLSH #2 sold better relative to FSJL #2 than the issue #1s did – my take is that the FSJL title had a bigger drop from #1 to #2 (relatively speaking) than FSLSH did.
• FSLSH #2 outsold 3 Future State books (compare to 5 books from issue #1): FS Suicide Squad (51), FS Superman vs Imperious Lex (48), and FS Kara Zor-El Superwoman (47).

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LSH v8 sales and rank

Issue	Total sales (all covers)	overall #	DC #	Total DC	Percentage	#1 book
1	75,611	10	3	114	2.6	138,434
2	35,653	50	17	95	17.9	117,926
3	34,732	44	15	112	13.4	167,377
4	30,675	51	18	88	20.4	190,568
5	29,058	59	18	80	22.5	142,089
6	TBD	23	17	65	26.2	TBD
7	TBD	41	18	49	36.7	TBD
8	Est. 38,000	46	22	57	38.6	Est. 300,000
9	Est. 29,500	Tie 62	Tie 20	55	36.4	Est. 207,500
10	Est. 31,000	Tie 66	Tie 24	51	47.0	Est. 215,000
11	TBD	TBD	28	49	57.1	TBD
12	TBD	TBD	34	42	80.9	TBD
FS 1	TBD	TBD	28	42	66.7	TBD
FS 2	TBD	TBD	29	42	69.0	TBD

Looking at the Percentage column (DC # divided by Total DC issues put out), you can see that it looks like it’s falling to the back of the pack as the series goes on, but the DC # looks fairly consistent after the return from the pandemic, suggesting that DC is cutting books below it in the sales figures. Over a year ago, DC was publishing over 100 titles; last month it only published 42.

And that’s pretty much it until the next issue (or series) comes out.