Ambush Bug

Once upon a time, back when comics were fun, Keith Giffen co-created Ambush Bug in the pages of DC Comics Presents. He showed up first in issue 52 and then again in issue 59, the infamous Superman/Legion of Substitute Heroes teamup. If you've never read it, stop what you're doing right now and go to your local comic shop and buy it, then read it. Or read it in the store, if they don't mind.

OK, so now you've read one of the best Legion stories ever. Levitz and Giffen at their peak. And really funny - who knew? That's the issue in which the Subs became a joke, by the way, which wasn't really fair to them, but they're fictional characters so they didn't protest too much.

Ambush Bug appeared in several of his own miniseries and specials in the 1980s, and the Legion had some odd cameos (because of Giffen).

For example, who can forget Julie Lad, from "Ambush Bug Nothing Special" (1992) (as seen here with R.J. Brande and Cosmic Boy)?


Over at the Legion Wiki, you can find a list of the Ambush Bug stories that the Legion has been somehow involved in, whether it's Bug talking to Paul Levitz, the Super-Pets, or the SW6 Legionnaires.

But now, Ambush Bug is coming back this summer, where Giffen promises to poke fun at all of DC's crossovers. I think somewhere in here we'll find that Bug is responsible for all the Legion reboots. It may even guest star Dark Proty, who makes his debut in an upcoming DC Nation page (sneak peek at the page on DC Nation's Myspace page).

Flashback: Why did the Legion leave Adventure Comics?

Another one from my email archives, celebrating 50 years of the Legion.

One question I remember coming up during discussions on usenet, mailing lists, and elsewhere while discussing Legion history was this: If the Legion was successful as the lead feature in "Adventure Comics", why did they move it to a backup slot in "Action Comics" and replace them with Supergirl, who had never had her own feature?

The question came up one day in late 1997 on the Grand Comics Database list - just a few days more than ten years ago. Comics historian Lou Mougin provided a pretty clear (though non-authoritative) response, which I reposted to the old LSH-L mailing list later. I recently asked Mark Waid (who's also a DC and Superman historian) and Paul Levitz (as current President and Publisher of DC, and DC employee since the early 1970s) for their thoughts, which are summarized at the bottom. Unfortunately, I don't think we kept copies of the email archives at the time, and this is the only post that I saved, so I can't show any more of the discussion.

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Date: Sun, 21 Dec 1997 10:14:40 -0600
From: Lou Mougin
To: Grand Comics Database List
Subject: Re: Supergirl

Dear guys,

Since everyone else is putting his two cents plain into the Supergirl matter, I'll do mine as well.

The bit about Mort not wanting to put another book on his workload is undoubtedly true. Over the years, particularly in the late Sixties, reprints showed up more and more in JIMMY, LOIS, and even SUPERMAN, ACTION, and SUPERBOY. The only other book I can recall Mort taking over after WORLD'S FINEST was CAPTAIN ACTION in 1968, for all of two issues. (He gave it to Julie Schwartz thereafter.)

But it may not have been true of earlier days. Mark Waid once told me that Mort had planned to expand to at least two new titles: SUPERGIRL and SUPERBOY'S GIRL FRIEND, LANA LANG. (Yes!) I'm not sure where he heard the rumor, so we'll call this one Unconfirmed for right now.

However, if those titles were dreamed up in 1967, it's not hard to see what happened. The revenue generated by the Batman TV show's impact on sales was lessening as the show's popularity dropped. Many mainstream DC titles went on the ropes at this time. There were lots of cancellations, and DC went on a new tack, roping in Charlton staffers to create a new line of more Marvelesque, hipper titles (CREEPER, HAWK AND DOVE, BAT LASH, etc.). Faced with that, it's more than likely Uncle Mort decided not to test the market too much with two new titles. They would, of course, add to his workload, and Mort (according to the Gerry Jones book) may have been undergoing his nervous breakdown around this time, which would naturally make him think in terms of cutback, rather than expansion.

This conservatism may have been the reason for what happened to Supergirl and the Legion in 1969. The Legion in ADVENTURE was a solid seller, the only Weisinger book fans paid any attention to, and a proven hit since 1962. But Mort wanted a Supergirl book, and if he wasn't going to increase his load with another title, there were only two things he could do. He could give Supergirl all of ACTION, which was unthinkable, since Superman originated there and has been its star since 1938. Or he could give her ADVENTURE, shunt the Legion into her former spot, and hope that Kara was strong enough to carry the book.

Also, it's possible that Mort just wasn't all that wedded to the Legion. He allowed a story to be published in ACTION in which Superboy left the group, which would have been unthinkable back in their ADVENTURE days. The Legion has also been a traditionally difficult strip to write and draw; a writer has to know all the minutia of about 30 different characters and their 30th Century environment, and an artist has to draw all those characters and that environment. The Supergirl strip, with its one main easily-drawn character and its contemporary setting, would be a lot easier book to handle.

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The story mentioned in which Superboy left the group is from Action Comics 387. Superboy quit the team due to tax purposes, since he made 26 members and groups with more than 25 had to pay some hefty taxes (never mind that they had RJ Brande on their side).

When I sent this to Mark Waid (whose encyclopedic Superman knowledge is legendary) recently, he replied he was sorry but "Wish I had anything more of historical note to add." Mark suggested that I ask Paul Levitz (whose 30+ years of employment at DC might be the longest stretch by anyone there), who said that "The emails strike me mostly as fannish speculation". Basically, he said that the editors weren't really the ones who launched titles (like the suggested Lana Lang title) per se - he doesn't know of any title that Weisinger "launched" himself back then, though it's clear he was the driving force behind them creatively once they were running. He said that he wasn't sure why the "Supergirl shift" decision was made and couldn't really offer any speculation, and said that even the editorial credits as printed might not help since it wasn't uncommon for other staffers to "close" a book when the indicia credited the regular editor.

So take this with a grain of salt. It's really just informed speculation, no matter how good it might sound, and there's nobody left who was associated with the book at the time to provide more information.

I, for one, welcome our new former X-Men overlord

You might remember that the internet broke in half when Steve Wacker jumped from DC to Marvel back in September. The big deal was that Wacker was editor of 52, but it didn't get much mention that he was also the editor of the Legion.

What you might not recall is that just before that happened, Mike Marts surprised everyone when he jumped from Marvel to DC. Over at Marvel, he was a Senior Editor and group editor over the entire X-Men line. At DC, he's still a Senior Editor but I don't know what's in his portfolio besides the Legion (the Newsarama link only mentions the All-Star line, so he's not busy). Last month's issue 24 was his first DC credit.

(Also gone with issue 24 is Wacker's assistant/associate editor Harvey Richards, replaced by Jeanine Schaefer. What does an assistant/associate editor do these days, anyway?)

Newsarama interviewed Marts after the announcement and gave him a DC pop quiz:

Newsarama: Can you name Batman's butler?
Mike Marts: Jarvis. Now wait – Alfred!
NRAMA: Who founded the Legion of Super-Heroes?
MM: Paul Levitz
NRAMA: Where does Wonder Woman come from?
MM: Joss Whedon.

Okay – a pass for now (counting extra credit on #2, and a near waffle on #1).

While I think Marts being on the Legion is a coincidence because he's just taking over one of Wacker's former books, I also think it's a nice coup to get a strong, well-respected editor with a good reputation. Now if he can just get sales up to X-levels...

Linkdump, Sept. '06

My belated monthly column on some of the things I saved up to write about but never got to.

• Tim Callahan, on "10 Reasons why The Legion of Super-Heroes RULEZ! (WITH A CAPITAL "ULEZ"):"
  

  7) Interlac. It was like English at first. Then it was like English but with letters FROM THE FUTURE!
  
  6) Tiny little men implanted in the ankle for surveillance. If you read this issue, you will never forget it.
  
  1) Bizarro Computo! Created by Brainiac 5 to defeat Computo. It failed miserably. But how awesome was it while it lasted? As awesome as you can possibly imagine multiplied by infinity!

  
  
• Legion Lost: Devon at Seven Hells tries to understand from the rest of us just what it is about the Legion. Read the comments section, too, for the replies from Legion fandom.
  

  It's lost on me. The adoration. The numerous books, websites, fansites and blogs devoted to its existence.
  
  It all just seems so quaint to me how hopped up folks get about something that hasn't even happened.
  
  I just don't get The Legion of Super-Heroes.

  
  
• This wouldn't be a good Legion Linkdump without Chris' Invincible Super-Blog. Read his latest Profile in Courage: Evillo.
  

  Yes, while he was certainly the most deadly threat to menace the Legion in the pages of Adventure Comics #351, Evillo never quite caught on like, say, the Fatal Five, or even the Time-Trapper. And why?
  
  Because he is quite possibly the single most ineffective super-villain ever.
  
  Take, for instance, the fact that he runs a gang called The Devil's Dozen, which is a lot more impressive before you find out that there are only four members.

  
  
• I remember the future: Here's a really well-written essay by SubZero on what it was like growing up in Germany, reading the Legion books.
  

  When I was a little boy there was this comic magazine in Germany called MV Comics which introduced me for the first time to the 31st century, home of the Legion of Super - Heroes. MV Comics was an anthology, which was a very common concept in my youth but which has almost completely disappeared now. ... Seems that everybody has forgotten that long before Peter Parker came along there were some teenaged superheroes. In fact there were so many of them they called them the Legion. ...
  
  Even if there was some hokey or weird stuff in the earlier comics there is one thing that has not changed over the years : the idea and the spirit of the legion that there is strenght - not only in numbers - but also in diversity and that a society can grow through the differences of different races and different cultures. The general idea was that everyone can be special.

  
  
• Brian Cronin at Comics Should Be Good over at CBR has a list of the Top Five Characters With Magnetic Powers. Someone we know is in the top 5, and the top two generated a LOT of comments.
  

  Cosmic Boy once had a costume with a big old-fashioned spaceman helmet on it.
  
  He also had a costume that was practically flesh-colored, making him appear like he was running around naked.
  
  And yet, he STILL managed to be a kickass leader for the Legion of Superheroes.

  
  
• Famous writer (and new blogger) Jack Pendarvis has discovered an amazing scientific breakthrough.
  

  Based on statistical analysis I can state with total accuracy that the Legion of Superheroes is therefore the primary inspiration of our great modern fiction writers - a startling discovery!

  
  
• Ye Olde Comic Booke Blogge tries to make some sense of Unknown Boy, the Unknown Legionnaire Who is Unknown to the Legion. Of course, trying to make sense of early 60's Legion stories is difficult enough to begin with.
  

  The story is all a big flashback, triggered when the Legion lands on a planet called Protea, and find a statue erected to Unknown Boy, prompting Superboy to be taken "back in memory to the greatest mystery-adventure in the Legion's history!" Assuming that statement is true--while I didn't bother to look it up--I can only assume this was one of the first three Legion stories ever written and the other two really sucked.

  
  
• In looking into the 52 series, the Absorbascon has a couple of entries (of course!), both on the Dominators. In the first, Scipio recalls how the Dominators were introduced to the 20th century during the Invasion! miniseries.
  

  As a result of Invasion, an appearance by the Dominators is literary shorthand for "alien concern over Earthers developing superpowers". And given that Mark Waid is writing Legion at the same time as participating in 52, I'm sure it's not a throwaway but a real connection...
  
  but exactly what I can't yet imagine.

  
  In the second entry, he walks us through the introduction of the Dominators into Legion mythology in 1967.
  

  The Legionnaires do what any sensible person called upon to escort endangered ambassadors would do: take a short-cut through the Tenth Dimension. You know, the Tenth Dimension, which has never been mentioned before and will never be mentioned again. Try to keep up, will you?

  
  
• Steve Wacker, as I'm sure you heard, left DC for Marvel, and the internets broke in half. After things calmed down a bit, Wacker appeared over at Newsarama for a statement. No news yet as to who will take his editor's slot on the Legion book.
  

  The reality is there was absolutely no contention or animosity between DC and me when I gave my two weeks notice. Both Dan [Didio] and Paul [Levitz] were kind enough to talk to me about staying, but also shook my hand at the end and said they understood the decision and why I made it.

  
  

Editorial shuffle - Wacker's out

Update 11:55pm, see below the cut.

(Originally posted 5:06 pm)
In the latest round of editorial shuffles at Marvel and DC, Newsarama announced today that Steve Wacker is leaving DC for Marvel. Wacker has been the Legion's editor (as well as Jonah Hex and JSA) and one of the guys keeping 52 together. According to Wizard (via Major Spoilers, though curiously not through WizardUniverse), he tendered his resignation today, and Newsarama says that sources say he was not fired.

More as it develops....

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(Update 11:55 pm)
Wow! I had to go into work for a few hours and while I was gone, apparently the internet broke in half. The single page of responses to the Newsarama article above turned into twelve pages, most blasting Wacker for being unprofessional for leaving in the middle of the 52 project. Mark Waid (who of course writes both the Legion and 52) was able to get a word or two in edgewise, warning posters not to assume anything and to blast their calling Wacker "unprofessional".

I speak for all the creators involved with 52 when I say that Steve is one of the best, most professional and most talented editors we've ever worked with, and we will miss him immensely. His contribution to this series cannot be understated. Leaving was not an easy decision for him to make, but he has earned from us our support in whatever he does, and DC's loss is Marvel's gain.

Heidi at The BEAT caught Wizard's article mentioned above, but for some reason it was taken down shortly after she quoted from it (by the time I got there earlier tonight, it was already down). Stuart Moore, a former DC editor himself and current writer of Firestorm, commented at The BEAT that

The departure is sudden because of DC corporate policy: If you leave to go to another comics company, you leave immediately. It doesn’t imply anything else.

And Johanna notes that Marvel honcho Tom Brevoort has something to say from the other side of the fence (which is surely the first time I've linked to a Marvel.com site here!).