Bits of Legionnaire Business

I've got a backlog of stuff to go through for this episode of Bits but here are a few recent items:

• In an article about how certain comics characters are created, former editor KC Carlson recounts the creation of Fortress Lad when he ran into Mark Waid one day.
  
  

  So as a joke (and because I knew that Mark had a hammer in his desk drawer and might use it on himself), I suggested that the origin of the LSH Clubhouse was that it originally came from a planet were all the buildings were living creatures. I said this for the following reasons: 1) Virtually all the origins of the individual Legionnaires were that they came from a planet where everybody had the same super-power (the lamest origin in comics, repeated ad-nauseum), 2) It was in my contract at DC to say as many stupid things as possible, and I was way behind my quota that week, 3) I thought that this might actually make Mark’s head explode and then I would be the new Legion editor! Bwah-ha-ha!, and 4) I never expected Mark to take me seriously.
  

  
  
• Supergirl Comic Box Commentary begins a series looking at how Supergirl was used during the writing reign of Paul Levitz (LSH v2 #300, #301 so far)
• Comic Creators United goes to the longbox and pulls out LSH v2 #308 to review. Unfortunately that was the first part of the Omen/Prophet story. Ouch.
• This Europe-only version of Cartoon Network still has some animated Legion promo videos (which apparently can't be watched in the US), even though the Legion isn't listed as one of the currently-airing shows.
• Diversions of the Groovy Kind had Kung Fu week. Among the spotlighted martial artists were Karate Kid. Here's issue 1 posted, if you've never read it before.
• Chuck's Comic of the Day to review was LSH v2 #290, part 1 of the Great Darkness Saga.

Bits of Legionnaire Business

Here are a bunch of links that popped up in the last few weeks that I didn't get to post, in roughly chronological order. Part 1 of 2 (or maybe 3):

• Gene Gonzales has been posting Legionnaire sketches, including Shrinking Violet (pencils here and inked here), Princess Projectra, Timber Wolf, Wildfire, Duo Damsel, Brainiac 5, and Phantom Girl. More coming in the next post.
  
  
• Todd Klein revised and updated his Legion logo project. It now runs an intro plus five parts (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Note: for some reason, the images only seem to load in Internet Explorer, not Firefox. If you read this before, you need to read it again, there's a ton of new stuff including many unused logos.
  
  
• In part 6 of the Wonder Girl/Supergirl teamup on Random Happenstance, the girls wonder why Supergirl can't remember the Legion.
  
  
• Newsarama's Legion Blogpost discusses Officer Wilcox of the Science Police in the 21st century, who is really... wait, what?
  
  
• From the 10/5 Ten Questions with Dan Didio:
  

  9)needcomicmoney wrote:
  Will Geoff Johns be finishing his Legion story featuring Starman and the others who are secretly in the 21st Century?
  
  DiDio: Some of the story threads will move over to be handled by James Robinson, because a number of the Legion members in the 21st Century are integral to some of the events in Superman.
  
  Nrama: Will Paul continue the Legion that Geoff set up? We're not going to see another Legion reboot, are we?
  
  DiDio: Not another reboot. We're picking up on the story threads with the Legion right now. Some of the Legion stories that involve the characters in the 21st Century will be picked up on by James Robinson, and some of the storylines, as they move up to the 31st Century, will be written by Paul. But all the stories are building off current continuity.

  
  
• Legion Abstract tries to put the clues together to figure out just who is a Legionnaire in the current retro-boot.
  
  
• George Perez, at the Baltimore Comic Con:
  

  ...He's also spoken with upcoming "Adventure Comics" writer Paul Levitz, whom Perez has known since their teenage years, about some future projects, and has even spoken with DC Comics honcho Dan DiDio about a project.
  
  ...The panel kept a casual air as Perez began to field questions from the audience. Among the first ones he was asked if there were any dream projects he would like to work on. "After 'Legion of 3 Worlds,' I pretty much completed the cycle of my fanboy dreams," Perez said.

  
  
• Legion Abstract quickly reviews Adventure Comics #3, with the comments section longer than the review.
  
  
• Jim Lee shows off a piece that he and the Wildstorm crew did for Paul Levitz on the occasion of his arrival/departure. Click the link for a bigger picture and to see the framed version. (Via CBR's Robot 6)
  
  
  
• CBR has a Q&A with Geoff Johns:
  

  CBR: First off, I guess the big news since the last time we chatted is that, after only six issues, you and Francis Manapul are leaving "Adventure Comics" and outgoing DC Comics Publisher Paul Levitz is taking over the book. Michael, Eric, Matthew E, Christian and Dennis want to know what this means for Superboy?
  
  GJ: I just finished #6, so I've finished the story Francis and I were working on. Superboy is one of my favorite characters. I'm not really the one to tell you what is next for Superboy, but I know he features prominently in the Superman universe from here on out, and the Teen Titans, as well, for starters.
  
  As far as the Legion goes, I'm beyond excited for Paul Levitz to return to "Adventure Comics" and the Legion of Super-Heroes.
  
  CBR: HawaiiPJ1959 had a question regarding Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl's children, Graym Ranzz, and their son, whom Darkseid transformed into Validus and sent back in time. He wants to know if the children of Garth and Imra Ranzz are still in existence.
  
  GJ: That will be something to ask Paul.
  
  CBR: Slewo was wondering if we'd see any explanation into why Barry would allow XS, his granddaughter, to live away from him at such a dangerous time, instead of having her live a semi-normal life with him and Iris.
  
  GJ: There are very big plans for XS in the future of the Flash universe. "The Flash" book and the "Kid Flash" book start next year, and the Flash universe is something I'm very committed to, both in comics and film.

  
  
• I haven't even finished last season of "Smallville", but a Legion flight ring is a continuing plot point in the 2009-2010 season.
  
  
• Artist George Tuska passed away on October 16th. 20th Century Danny Boy has a good writeup. Tuska did several issues over the years:
  
  • Superboy 172's "Brotherly Hate", 173's "Trust Me or Kill Me", 176's "Invisible Invader", 183's "War of the Wraith Mates" (1971-72)
    
  • "Trial of the Legion Five" (S/LSH 235, 1978)
    
  • the Amalgamax/Composite Superman story (World's Finest 283-284, 1982)
    
  • Star Boy, on the cover to LSH v2 #300 (1983)
    
  • The Gim/Yera story "Guess What's Coming to Dinner" (LSH v2 308, 1984)
    
  • The White Witch origin story (Tales of the LSH 314-317, 1984)
  
  
  

Bits of Legionnaire Business

It's too late for in-depth links to Legion of 3 Worlds or Adventure Comics #1, but here are some items I didn't get around to posting on my last Bits column that aren't too outdated already. It's a long one, chock full of good stuff all the way down to the bottom. Now I'm caught up through this weekend.

• Those of you on Facebook might be interested in groups for the Interlac language, LegionWorld.net, and the old Legion apa's (like the Outpost, Interlac, etc.).
  
  
• The Fortress of Baileytude has a series of podcasts covering Superman's history from Crisis (on Infinite Earths) to Crisis (the Final kind). Episode 10 covers August 1987, when the 4-issue storyline on Superman, Superboy, and the Pocket Universe appeared.
  
  
• Again with the Comics looks at Tenzil for the Defense.
  
  
• Remember how at the end of LSH v3 #5, five Legionnaires left through a stargate to make it back home (as seen in the recently reprinted "An Eye for an Eye" TPB)? Well, they had a detour in the 20th century with Superman and Brainiac, first.
  
  
• TroopNY shows off his custom-made reboot Cosmic Boy costume at the League of Heroes site.
  
  
• Newsarama interviews Tony Bedard on what's coming up in R.E.B.E.L.S.
  
  
• Did you know that the M'rissey character that showed up in Jim Shooter's recent run on the Legion was based on long-time fan Rich Morrissey? Rich helped create Legion fandom in the early 1970s and was one of the great comics historians. Here's a little bit of the character on scans_daily and the obituary that Mark Evanier wrote in 2001.
  
  
• Chris Mosby reveals why LSH v3 #312 is the most pivotal Legion issue EVER.
  
  
• The Legion Abstract's Matthew was a guest of the Legion of Substitute Podcasters following the end of Legion of 3 Worlds. Worlds will live, worlds will die in this crossover!
  
  
• Major Spoilers has an in-depth Hero History of the Legion of Super-Pets.
  
  
• It's too late to go into detail about the Adventure Comics #1 reviews, but here are links to them anyway. Legion Abstract, Read/Rant, CBR, Shotgun Reviews, IGN, ComiXtreme, Get-a-Life Boy, Comic Book Legacy, Newsarama's Legion Blogpost, Comix411, Examiner, Keith's Comics Revue, Comics And..., and Comic Nexus.
  
  
• The Origins and Powers of the Legionnaires, as posted by Diversions of the Groovy Kind. These are pages from the All-New Collector's Edition book that had the wedding of Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl, these pages with art by Jim Sherman and Jack Abel.
  
  
• Info on costume designs by Mike Grell and Dave Cockrum, from an issue of Back Issue magazine.
  
  
• If you're into Mighty Muggs, how about this custom Wildfire on ebay?
  
  
  
• Whatever happened to those goats that L3 Brainiac 5 had in the HQ?
  
  
• The Major Spoilers poll and podcast: the Legion vs the X-Men
  
  
• Mattel, on what their next plans are for Legion action figures: "We do have some great plans for the Legion of Superheroes, but when and how they will be released has yet to be announced!"
  
  
• Oh Noes! Clark needs to get to the 30th century right away, but he's cuddling with Lana. How will he get away?
  
  
• Ah, Laurel Kent. Post-Modern Barney calls Superboy sick and wrong for hitting on his multi-great granddaughter, while Armagideon Time lists her in one of his "Nobody's Favorite" histories.
  
  
• Gratuitous Legion references of the day: from the Sacramento Bee, talking about the University of Florida's "inevitable" march to the national championship game. "The Gators fit the bill. They've got the smarty-pants football coach. They've got the pretty-boy quarterback who works on making the world a better place in his spare time. They've got more speed than the Legion of Super-Heroes."
  
  Second, from the Wall Street Journal, on Disney's acquisition of Marvel: "Disney agreed Monday to buy Marvel Entertainment Inc., adding a legion of superheroes to a durable family of children's favorites."
  
  
• Wil Wheaton talks a bit about his role as Cosmic Boy on the Legion TV series in an interview about his role on a recent episode of "Leverage".
  
  
• It's time to play "Crazy Celebrity Baby Name or Member of the Legion!"
  
  
• Here's a fabulously retro look at the Legionnaires on the cover of Adventure 247, by ~Quimbus on deviantART.
  
  
• The Legion cartoon airs at 10:30am Sundays in Brisbane. In case you were wondering.
  
  
• Blake's 2-in-1 Podcast looks at Mon-El - who is he, and what's his story?
  
  
• Finally, my Google Alert subscription notifies me of these things from time to time, where somebody uses the phrase "Legion of Super-Heroes" but not actually referring to our team. This one is kind of cute, from the Willard Central Elementary School in Springfield, MO. The super-hero theme this year at the school "will focus on developing HEROES – Honorable, Empowered, Responsible, Organized, Exceptional Students." That's so cool! I hope DC/Warners doesn't bust them for trademark infringement or something.
  

Bits of Legionnaire Business

I've let this go so long I'm going to have to spread this over 2 posts:

• CBR's Comic Book Legends Revealed reveals this:
  

  COMIC LEGEND: Mike Grell tried to introduce a black character into the pages of Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes, but saw his efforts literally whitewashed away. STATUS: True

  
  It's really the story of Dvron, which you might not have heard before. The next week we heard about
  

  COMIC LEGEND: Keith Giffen and Tom and Mary Bierbaum had a character switch genders in the Legion of Super-Heroes to have a character they felt was gay be with a man. STATUS: True

  
  Of course, it's the story of Element Lad and Shvaughn/Sean Erin (with over 180 comments afterwards).
  
  
• Action Figure Blues and Superhero Times review the four Legion figures that recently came out in the Justice League Unlimited series.
  
  
• Caperaway lists their top 10 Legion stories. This is a good topic for another day here.
  
  
• Scans Daily: LSH v3 #38 (Death of Superboy), Computo and the death of Triplicate Girl ("So much wrong, so little I can post. But I'll do my best. So, today my thesis is the Legion are fucking idiots. Here is evidence. Finally looking at the famous first Computo story, I have to say: I never realized just how stupid the Legion were. And how heartless. And how flip they were with the issue of death and mutilation."), and the 80s look at how Luornu has dealt with that trauma from the Legion Annual.
  
  
• Don noticed something interesting in a recent issue of JLA about the Sun-Eater.
  
  
• It didn't cross my mind at the time, but this tribute at the time of Ed McMahon's death concentrates on the infamous "Challenge of the Super-Heroes" and "Roast of the Super-Heroes" shows from the late 1970s. Ed was host of the Roast. Mordru was in both shows.
  
  
• Comic Book Noise continues its look at Robinson's Starman series. In this podcast episode, they discuss the 30th century's Starman.
  
  
• Photon Torpedos looks back at some Alan Davis covers from the mid 1990s.
  
  
• Speaking of podcasts, the Legion of Substitute Podcasters #39 discusses the last part of the "An Eye for an Eye" TPB.
  
  
• The Howling Curmudgeous determine who the worst pre-Crisis Legionnaire was.
  
  
• The Tearoom of Despair has a long essay on the ups and downs of being a Legion reader.
  
  
• Major Spoilers shows us a number of drawings by Gene Gonzales of Legionnaires.
  
  
• They're remaking the movie "The Karate Kid", but because of naming rights that DC holds, the new title will be "The Kung Fu Kid".
  

More Bits of Legionnaire Business

More stuff that I keep finding (or that people send me), a baker's dozen items this time:

• If you've never read (or even heard of) the Space Canine Patrol Agents, well, you're probably better off. The SCPA is the dog version of the Legion, with Krypto in Superboy's role (more or less). No, really. Meet Mammoth Mutt, Tail Terrier, Tusky Husky, Chameleon Collie, and... I'm sorry, I just can't finish. The SCPA even made it into the Krypto animated series a couple years ago as the Dog Stars. (Thanks to Brian Hughes at Again With the Comics for the stories!)
  
  
• Atomic Surgery reprints an Imaginary Story from Lois Lane #47 (1964) with a cameo by the LSH and Night Girl (who don't appear until 7 pages into a 9-page story).
  
  
• Tiny Brainiac 5 makes a non-canonical appearance in Tiny Titans #13 (via scans_daily).
  
  
• scans_daily also has a reprint of Jimmy Olsen #100, in which Jimmy goes to the future and meets the Legion.
  
  
• Bill at the Trusty Plinko Stick got an Archie artist to draw Phantom Girl. Unsurprisingly, she looks like an Archie character.
  
  
• I'm not sure if this is a spam blog or what (I get a lot of those email alerts from Google), but it looks like something translated from English to another language and back to English:
  

  Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl -- these be the unfaltering babyish adventurer that dare to delivery inwardly circle a fresh age of hero! Set in the far-flung impending of the 30th century, and representing planets in the assembly, these young heroes must belt in cooperation to revere the galaxy from space-born bullying in leave of curious as the universe itself. This pretty field bring together the unprompted issues of SUPERBOY, SUPERMAN, ADVENTURE and ACTION COMICS in favour of a definitive Legion compendium Graphic Novels Legion of Super-Heroes Archives.

  
  
• Gorjus Prettyfakes reviews "Teenagers from the Future".
  
  
• In Smallville news, the series was renewed for one more season. With luck, we'll see another Legion appearance, as the ratings spiked up noticeably for their episode.
  
  
• Dan DiDio provided his 20 answers this week at Newsarama.
  

  9. I know that you don’t like to talk too much about creators work into the future after their current projects, but are there plans for George Perez after Legion of 3 Worlds?
  
  DD: It would be foolish not to have plans for George Perez after Legion of 3 Worlds. laughs
  
  NRAMA: Where would you put him if you had your druthers?
  
  DD: Something epic. George is the one person that doesn’t shy away from the incredible group shots or something that encompasses the whole of the DC Universe, and it would be foolish not to utilize those skills.

  
  Question 2 talks about how they're moving (in some cases) to the "iconic" forms of the characters (like Barry Allen and Hal Jordan returning as Flash and Green Lantern), and mentions the Legion in that context.
  
  
• Heromachine reminds us that the Legion is not clothing-optional. Not even Colossal Boy.
  
  
• The Cosmic Treadmill closes out its look at the Legion in Adventure Comics with the Treadmilly Awards.
  
  
• Who do you think should play the various Legionnaires in a hypothetical movie? Vote at ImagineCasting.com.
  
  
• Sheryl Roberts recounts her long history with the Legion (which intersects with me and mine in the mid-90s).
  

Bits of Legionnaire Business

Stuff...

• At the Next of Kynn, he answers the question When was the "when it all went wrong" moment for the Legion of Superheroes comics, that fatal creative decision that the various subsequent writers have been trying to recover from ever since? He's been part of online fandom longer than I have (since the mid-90s at least).
  
  
• Over at the BOOM Studios forum, Mark Waid discusses what is his favorite work and what others like of what he's done. Surprisingly, he says that Legionnaires Annual #2 is his second-most requested autograph (behind Kingdom Come). Former editor KC Carlson added later that that issue is the reason he met his now-wife, Johanna Draper Carlson (of Comics Worth Reading).
  
  
• A couple of desktop wallpapers: LSH v5 #50, and the "Long Live the Legion" group shot from L3W #3
  
  
• Someone captured this Jeepney in Manila, bearing the Legion on its side. The picture looks familiar; is it from anywhere specific, or just an iconic picture?
  
  
• Tilting at Pinwheels has a Legion sketchbook.
  
  
• The Comic Book Catacombs retroviews LSH v2 #260, aka The Space Circus of Doom (part 1).
  
  
• The San Antonio Express News' GeekSpeak blog looks at Arm-Fall-Off Boy, with predictable results.
  
  
• Colleen Doran has a sketch commission of Element Lad (who else?).
  
  
• Matthew at the Legion Abstract thinks he's figured out the model for the character progression of Superboy-Prime in L3W.
  
  
• Silver Age Comics takes a look at the Legion rejects, part 1, and identifies the four major reasons for rejecting a candidate.
  

Bits of Legionnaire Business

Haven't done one of these in a little while, so here's a linkdump of Legion-related stuff from the past week or so. "Smallville" news at the bottom.

• First of all, anyone who thinks that DC is really going to "let the characters rest for a little bit and see where we go from there" following the cancellation of LSH v5, and who thinks that DC doesn't know what to do with the characters, should read this summary over at io9.com. They know exactly what they're doing, and "Legion of Three Worlds" will end with a new status quo for the team(s), and all signs point to Geoff Johns being involved.
  
  
• Tim Callahan had a long interview with Barry Lyga at CBR.
  

  One of the biggest Legion fans I know is author Barry Lyga, of "The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl" fame. His new novel, "Hero Type," landed in bookstores a few weeks ago, and I wanted to talk to him about how the Legion shaped his notion of storytelling and what we both thought about the past, present, and future of the 31st century's greatest super-team...

  
  
• Foremer Legion editor KC Carlson reviews the DC Vault (Amazon link), a book with lots of fanboy collectibles (or reproductions) tucked inside. Among them is a reprinted version "of the poster that was included in Graphitti Design’s deluxe version of the History of the DC Universe — a mind-blowing group shot of over 50 DC characters as drawn (and signed) by over 50 legendary artists." That poster, which was never released commercially and is difficult to find on the secondary market, contains the White Witch as one of the characters in the jam poster (drawn by P. Craig Russell). Click to enlarge the picture. (Full disclosure: this is one book that I'm going to order with the 6% I get back from Amazon when you click on one of my links and buy something!)
  
  
  
• Revealing a "secret" which was all but apparent during the Post-Zero Hour Legion run, that very same KC Carlson commented on Tim Callahan's review of L3W #2 that R.J. Brande was indeed supposed to be the long-lived Martian Manhunter. (original comment here, more discussion here.)
  
  
• Matthew at the Legion Abstract shows off his son's costume. He might be eligible for the Legion in a few years.
  
  
• The Legion of Substitute Podcasters produced episode 2, featuring ADV 267 and ACT 267 plus some recent stuff, and episode 3, featuring SBOY 86 and ACT 276.
  
  
• Francis Manapul offers the original pencils to the wraparound cover to LSH v5 #50 on his home site, and answers some reader questions.
  
  
• The "Supergirl on a comet" cover by Adam Hughes is offered as a computer background screen.
  
  
• The Fortress Keeper at the Fortress of Fortitude has a unique, um, "prediction" for a spinoff of "Smallville" starring Supergirl and the Legion. Don't hold your breath for this one, but then again, given The CW, who knows.
  
  
• Superman Homepage notes that the current issue of Smallville Magazine, issue #29, has an article "which explores Superman's relationship with the Legion of Super Heroes" in for those readers who don't know much about the Legion.
  
  
• KryptonSite has the latest Smallville SPOILERS, so read at your own risk.
  

  UPDATED 10/29/08: Don't expect the Legion to be wearing full-on costumes. However, they will be wearing clothing that is evocative of their comic book counterparts, much like Clark has his blue shirt and red jacket.
  
  UPDATED 10/28/08: Alexz Johnson [IMDB, Myspace, fan site, fan site] who starred in The N's Instant Star, is said to be filming a role on Smallville this week. Could that role be that of Imra Ardeen, a.k.a. Saturn Girl of the Legion? Visit Rumorville for more details...
  - The villain Geoff Johns mentioned using is not Darkseid, Mordru, or the Time Trapper; however, there is an additional threat - it's not just Brainiac .
  
  UPDATED 10/14/08: Three Legionnaires from the future will appear - and if you're guessing it's the same roster that appeared in their first appearance way back when, you guessed correctly... the three Legionnaires will be Garth, Imra, and Rokk, who have powers of electricity, telepathy, and magnetism, respectively.

  
  

More other stuff

More stuff:

• Slay, Monstrobot of the Deep!! on the LSH v5 cancellation:
  

  But I still think DC treated [Shooter] badly. After months of rumors that he was being canned from Legion, and months of speculation that Legion of 3 Worlds meant that Geoff Johns' version of the Legion was taking over, DC made only the most terse and non-committal of public denials. And now the other shoe drops--he's not being replaced, Legion is being canceled. Before Shooter's storyline is fully finished. Just coincidentally immediately after LO3W finishes.
  
  ... So. After all the fanfare about hiring him, it's buh-bye. Go peddle your wares elsewhere. DC used Shooter as stunt casting, and then tossed him aside. Whether it's because the sales were too low, or because Geoff Johns cleared his throat, Shooter deserved better.
  
  Secondly, we should note that the while Legion has been on "hiatus" before, the was usually an intervening mini-series, such as Legion Lost or Legion Worlds. DC may already have something planned, and is just playing this pretty close to the vest until they're ready to announce. But if they don't, this "hiatus" will mean that, for the first time in almost half a century, DC won't be publishing any Legion of Super-Heroes. Happy 50th, Legion!!

  
  
• Howard Chaykin interviewed Adam Hughes at Baltimore last weekend. One topic that came up was the alternate cover Hughes did of Supergirl for the Legion book:
  

  Hughes explained why he was drawn to comics as opposed to advertising, where his slick artistic style could make him a lot of money. The answer for Hughes? Total creative freedom. “DC asked me for a cover of Supergirl at one point,” Hughes said. “But they didn’t tell me anything else. I was like — any editorial direction, please? Is she in a bikini? A parka? What?” Hughes then said that very cover soon became a poster and a print.

  
  
  
• Wizard has a quick look at the main good guys and bad guys in "Legion of Three Worlds".
  
  
• I missed it here, but last month's issue of Comics Buyer's Guide #1646 (Oct. 2008) had the Legion on the cover, for an L3W story. The article has a history of the Legion, interviews with Johns and Perez, and an article by Andrew "Captain Comics" Smith on the Legion Roll Call (for the Legion up to the Crisis). Smith's roll call is very impressive, including not only the Legion of Super-Pets but also False Pretenses Lad (named "Some Guy in a Yellow Jumpsuit" here).
  
  
  
  Part 1 of Smith's roll call can be found on the CBG site as a pdf download. Part 2 is also available and covers the post-Zero Hour reboot and the current version, plus an explanation of the publishing history (and all those titles named "Legion of Super-Heroes").
  
  This is last month's issue so you might not be able to find it on the newsstand. Here's a copy on eBay.
  
  
• Tim Callahan checked out some of Jim Shooter's scripts in Baltimore.
  

  But I did get a chance to thumb through a few of Shooter's Legion of Super-Heroes scripts at the Baltimore Comic-Con, and I found them to be fascinating. Not because of the quality of the writing, necessarily, but because of their density, and their length. I've seen a few scripts by some of today's top writers -- Morrison, Fraction, Aaron -- and all of them have relatively short panel descriptions and just maybe a few quick links to online reference material. Shooter's scripts are not quite Alan Moore thick, but they're close. Each one must have been about 50 or 60 pages, including extensive panel descriptions and lengthy supplemental material with images and descriptions of the look Shooter was going for.

  
  

Other stuff

So here's a bunch of stuff I was going to get to before we heard about the latest cancellation (more on that in another post, this is for non-cancellation stuff), still trying to dig out from under my Hurricane Ike-imposed internet blackout.

• The Comic Treadmill reviews Adventure Comics 367-369. Oh noes, they're almost at the end of reviewing the entire Adventure run!
  
• Writer J. Torres explains what he had planned for the LSH31C comic, had it not been cancelled.
  
• John Kahane lists his top 5 bad ideas in Legion history.
  
• This unfortunately came and went during my down-time, but "Ordinary People Change the World" had a Legion-related auction. The group, started by author Brad Meltzer, is raising money to restore the Jerry Siegel home in Cleveland, coming from Siegel & Shuster Society Charity Auction (as seen in this CBR article). Mark Waid had donated the original Curt Swan cover to the Legion Index #2, and it sold for $7600 on eBay.
  
• ToonZone has a review of the LSH v3 DVD (that's the cartoon, not the 1980s comic series).
  
• Someone's got a couple of rare Legion promo items on eBay from the 1980s, the first being the 35th Anniversary promo from 1983 and the second being the "Flight Ring Village" promo from 1989. At this writing they're $3.99 each with no bids.
  
• Christopher "MightyGodKing" Bird has reason #45 why he should write the Legion.
  

Also coming out of Baltimore, apparently prior to the cancellation news, was this info from the Superman panel, which hints at more of the Johns post-Crisis v3-ish Legion:

The Supergirl/Superman interaction with the Legion of Super-Heroes was asked about, given that Superman now had spent time with the "original" Legion and Supergirl logged some hours alongside Waid and Kitson's “threeboot” Legion. Geoff Johns assured the fans that the overlap would be made clear.

...The current reintroduction of the Science Police was brought up and it was asked if they were tied to the Legion Science Police. Robinson promised an upcoming arc featuring the secret behind the Science Police.

...The Superman team does have plans for Mon-El.

Teenagers from the Future, the Constitution, and More

Stuff.

Tim Callahan's new book is finally ready (too bad the kinks couldn't be worked out before San Diego, this would have been a perfect addition!). Teenagers from the Future is now available at Amazon.com.

Via RAB at Estoreal:

According to Tim, the book will also be available for order through the direct market in either the October or November Diamond Previews catalog. Tim isn't sure whether the book will still be available through Amazon after it appears in the Diamond catalog, so anyone who wants to be sure of getting a copy without actually going into a comics shop should probably order it now.

I can't believe I missed the various series Siskoid has had going lately. I missed Legion Tryout Week the last week in August, which featured Adventure Comics #247, Tales of the Legion #343 (reprinting Superboy 195 and 201), Tales #339 (reprinting LSH v3 #14), Legionnaires #2, and Secret Origins #46.

This week he's doing the Annotated Legion Constitution. So far he's got Articles 1 and 2 and Article 3, with representative panels demonstrating each of the clauses.

4th Letter has the story of "an audio book based on a book based on a graphic novel," the Books-on-CD version of the novelization of "Infinite Crisis". He's got some interesting sound clips.

When the multiple Earths are flying around space and we see into them, the Legion of Superheroes world gets a cool techno theme.

Hey, there’s a complaint right there. They give us stretched out scenes based on those panels of the Legion world, the Tangent world and the Fawcett world, but nothing with the cowboy world and the Bizarro Earth with all the inhabitants happily strangling each other in the chaos. I feel gypped.

Sadly, no sound clips of the Legion bits (yet).

More Bits of Legionnaire Business

Man, you're gone for a few days and how everything piles up.... So here's a Bits of Legionnaire Business roundup for non-L3W stuff.

• Legion Abstract thinks about what a trailer for a hypothetical theatrical movie might look like.
  
• Blockade Boy's stories have ended. As much as I liked reading his take on some of the minor Legion-related characters, he's decided to retire BB and move on to some original material. Best of luck, Jeremy! (via)
  
• Elliotte Rusty Harold explains why he stopped reading the Legion.
  
• Prism Comics has an article on Fortress Lad.
  
• Green Lantern Spotlight has an article on Time Trapper's history.
  
• Siskoid reviews "Tales of the Legion" #343, which reprinted Wildfire's first two appearances.
  
• Supergirl Comic Box reviews LSH v3 #16, one of the original Crisis crossovers, as part of their look at Supergirl in the Crisis.
  
• Legion Abstract notes some striking similarities of "Legion Lost" to an earlier LSH v3 story.
  
• The Onion's A.V. Club reviews the recent "1050 Years" trade paperback. Grade: C-.
  

"LEGION isn’t a comic; it’s a lifestyle"

I am such a slacker. Here are some items that I would have posted in the last few weeks if I wasn't being lazy:

• The Legion Abstract has a sneak peek at some promotional art for the San Diego Comic Con's Legion panel, titled "We Are Legion".
  
  
• Tim Callahan has the cover (hmmm, that design looks kind of familiar....) to his upcoming book of essays entitled "Teenagers from the Future", published by Sequart. It'll be available at the New York Comic Con next month, and in stores in May.
  

  Here's Matt Fraction, from the Foreword: "LEGION isn’t a comic; it’s a lifestyle. Its fans are rabid, loyal, and exasperated by people like me who get fed up trying to parse its history and understand it. They rock non-ironic flight rings and remember where they were when Chemical King died.
  
  And it’s because of that dedication and love I find them, and the LEGION, fascinating; because of that, this book is really kind of a godsend. Or whatever pantheistic super-deity they may or may not worship in the 30th century. What’s that? 31st century? Great. Okay. See how much I need this book?"

  
  So where were you when Chemical King died (on-sale date March 21, 1977, as if I needed to remind anyone)? I was in 5th grade and had only been reading the Legion for a couple of years. I probably bought that issue from the 7-11 (which amazingly is still there) just north of Menlo Park Mall in Edison, NJ. Beyond that, though, I can't pin it down further.
  
  
• Larsworld has some custom action figures depicting the Legionnaires in their Grell-era costumes.
  
  
• Nobody told me that Major Spoilers was back. They've got a series of a couple dozen outstanding Hero Histories dating back to last summer. (via)
  
  
• Shayera at scans_daily catches everyone up on the Legion of Substitute Heroes from their original appearances to last month's Action issue.
  
  
• Christopher Bird continues his increasingly mis-numbered Top 30 Reasons why he should write the Legion. Here's reason #36 and #37. See here for more.
  
  
• The Comic Treadmill continues its retro-review of all the Legion stories, this time from the second quarter of 1965, featuring Adventure Comics 331-333.
  
  
• Here's a YouTube mashup of the Legion cartoon with a popular song. Check out the sidebar there for numerous others. Most of them feature Brainiac 5, with some saying he's gay for Superman and others denying it.
  
  
• WordBalloon had a podcast of a career-spanning interview with Mike Grell.
  
  
• I should have mentioned it at the time, but Legion Abstract had a great 50th anniversary tribute last month.
  

Animated roundup

Here's a linkdump of animated-related info. I should have posted these sooner, but I was lazy.

• A Sept. interview with writer Stan Berkowitz (who wrote LSH season 1's "Lightning Storm") for The World's Finest (via CBR) revealed this interesting quote that someone was looking for here a week or so ago:
  

  After [the 2006-07] season, though, the network focus-grouped The Batman (and Legion of Super Heroes) and found out that what our very young male audience wanted was more fights, jokes and costumes and fewer female characters. No surprises there...

  
  I guess that explains why the new focus this season.
  
  
• Artist Aaron Alexovich mentions that Rob Hummell is a writer on the Legion cartoon, but I don't know if that means last season (he wrote "Brain Drain") or this season.
  
  
• Writer J. M. DeMatteis wrote next week's episode, "Cry Wolf".
  
  
• Artist Craig Rousseau did the artwork for the Legionnaire Happy Meal cases.
  
  
• Want to watch all episodes from season 1 online? Try here. You can download them here, too.
  
  
• The Legion is being shown in a French-speaking country (Canada maybe? Or even France?). Here are episodes 1.01 "Man from Tomorrow", 1.02 "Timber Wolf", 1.03 "Legacy", and 1.04 "Fear Factory" dubbed in French. Allin high-quality DivX. There's a "3" logo in the upper right corner. Anyone know which channel 3?
  
  
• Superman Homepage has an interview with Yuri "Superman" Lowenthal.
  
  
• World's Finest also had an interview with season 2 director Brandon Vietti, who also did a segment of the recent Superman vs Doomsday DVD.
  

  WF: ...You're joining Legion of Super-Heroes this year. Can you describe your role in that series?
  
  BV: We actually just wrapped pre-production on season two of Legion in which I directed 8 of 13 episodes. As I write this, we're editing the animation as it's coming in from Korea and it's looking fantastic! After The Batman and Doomsday, it was great to land on a fun, team show where everybody has crazy super powers. It was a nice change of pace. Plus I'm happy to get to work with Producer James Tucker who also helped train me back on The New Batman/Superman Adventures.
  
  WF: So, what can fans expect in Legion of Superheroes, this season (aside from two Supermans)? Anything to whet their appetite?
  
  BV: Well, the new Superman, Kell-El, was a lot of fun to work with and I think fans are going to like him a lot. We have some great stories from James and Story Editor Michael Jelenic that really push the growth of some the favorite characters like Lightning Lad, Timber Wolf, and Brainiac 5. And the addition of Imperiex in to the Legion universe brings a whole new level of action unseen in season one! So I can't wait to tune in to the message boards to see what everybody thinks of the new season.

  
  
• Voices from Krypton has a video interview with series producer James Tucker. He explains the premise of Season 2's new Superman and how he fits in with the Legion.
  

  I think for the change, it really worked thematically for the show, and I think it's going to give the viewers something interesting. I wasn't interested in really just continuing from the first season literally straight through, and you know, "OK, this is the next day after the last episode of first season," I really knew that I wanted to change things up, and the network and I were on the same page about that.

  
  

Other stuff going on

So did anyone notice a convention going on this past weekend? Other stuff happened too.

• Spotted in the wild: a set of Legion figures from McDonald's, on eBay (where else?).
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Spacebooger shows that the Legion really knows how to rap.
  
  
• Booksteve has a house ad for Adventure 300. The 21st Century is so futuristic! I must drop them a postal card.
  
  
• Just before he left for San Diego, ace letterer (and logo-ist) Todd Klein had a 3-part history of Legion logos. Did you know he created just about every logo since the one that debuted in LSH v2 259? Here's part 1, part 2, and part 3. You might recall my Legion logo trivia quiz, too.
  

Next up: hey, we had a new issue out; and San Diego wrapups for the cartoon and comic series.

What you missed while I was being a slacker (part 1)

I've been a slacker the last week just because. I still saved up all the stuff I would have written about, though, so you get it a bit late and all at once.

• Christopher Bird wants to be the new writer of the Legion book after Tony Bedard's (apparent) 6-issue run. You might have read his well-regarded "Civil War" rewrites.
  

  In addition to my regular and thoroughly glorious posting schedule, I will be adding a daily graphic to make sure everybody understands how awesome a Legion comic written by moi would be. I furthermore encourage all of you out there in Internet-land to link back to this post (which I'll be updating with links to the subsequent reasons as I post them) so that Googling "new writer Legion of Super-Heroes" sends people here!

  
  His main page here has links to each of his daily posts. Among the things he says he'd do:
  
  • Karate Kid will fight an entire planet
    
  • Naltor is destroyed, but the Naltorians didn't see it coming.
    
  • Brainiac 5 will still be a snarky, mouthy bastard. Because that's fun.
    
  • There's a new incarnation of the Legion of Super-Villains, from the anti-matter universe
    
  • The return of Matter-Eater Lad
    
  • Gorillas with lasers, or, whatever happened to Gorilla City?
    
  • A more feral Timber Wolf, because his name isn't Trenchcoat Lad.
    
  • A future Batman who's a vampire
    
  • Alexis Luthor, from the cartoon, is a major villain.
  
  Lots of people like what he has to say (or at least how he says it), including Blog@Newsarama, Journalista, BeaucoupKevin, Dr. Elmo, Krinndnz, the 4th Letter, and Major Spoilers (all of whom have comments on their sites about it), along with Blake Reitz, Gina DC, Randy Lander, Rob Donoghue, Rob Staeger, ComicsCrew, and Made of Glass.
  
  Meanwhile, Jarod Russell offers a couple of reasons why he would not be a good candidate.
  
  
• Reading the early Legion stories in the new Showcase book is, apparently, a cross between smoking crack and wondering what kind of crack the creators in the early 60's were on.
  
  IF Magazine gave it their #1 spot for the week. Bitter Andrew, his nerd-senses all a'tingling, says "There’s something irresistible about a group of somewhat callous, somewhat stupid teenage superheroes flitting around an extremely dated-looking 30th Century". Bryan notes that "what amazes me is how whiny and attention-starved Superboy comes off". The New Bride, apparently fairly new to the Silver Age Legion, says "The lack of color is a little harder on this book as a lot of characters have similar looks and speach patterns. I have taken to memorizing collar shapes to identify the boys." Black and White Wonder has never ready any of the Silver Age stories, and says "I hope it's in the same alley as the Superman volumes, which would means more than 500 pages of pure Silver-Age greatness."
  
  
• Speaking of Silver Age stuff, Paul and John review more Legion tryout issues, including the Dynamo Boy story, which introduced us to the likes of Eyeful Ethel, The Mess, Golden Boy, Tusker, Animal Lad, and Polecat. Martha Thomases at ComicMix waxes nostalgic about reading the Legion in those days. (Did you know that they named the Athramites after her?) BeaucoupKevin notes what a sore loser Alaktor was, and says that the Silver Age Legion was the best but maybe not the brightest. (Isn't Photoshop fun?) The Silver Age Matter-Eater Lad was nothing like the TMK-retconned personality implant he got - check out Adam P. Knave's reprint of Tenzil's first appearance. Finally, Legion Clubhouse points us to Evil Inc.'s Top 13 Super-Villain Teams of all time, of which the LSV is #13.
  
  
• The other big thing in the news lately is the upcoming JLA/JSA/LSH crossover. We've been wondering which Legion, and signs are pointing to the pre-Zero Hour version (or more specifically, the pre-Five Year Gap version). Signs like the cover of JLA #8, featuring the Cockrum/Grell costume for Karate Kid, as seen on Brad Meltzer's page. Newsarama has some discussion about that too. Rokk at the Comic Book Revolution is looking forward to reading the story: "I am hoping and praying that all of these hints about the Legion that we have been getting over in the Justice Society of America, Action Comics and now here in the Justice League of America all lead to the return of the Levitz Era Legion." The New Bride has a story idea: "if they bring silver age Brainiac 5 in to this JLA/JSA/Legion crossover maybe he and Will Magnus and Mento from the Doom Patrol can form a sanity challenged scientists' support group."
  

More stuff in a day or so when I get a chance.

Linkfest, March '07

I have to stop collecting these and post them sooner.

Wacky Silver Age-ness

• Jonathan and Paul review the Adventure-era tryouts. Relive the glory of Lester Spiffany, Storm Boy, and a bunch of unnamed applicants who are revealed to be The Lavender Target, Ask-Me-How-I-Recently-Lost-Over-65-Pounds Lad, Awesome Girl, The Bouffant, You'd Look Great in Powder Blue Kid, Biting Brad, Chet Kord (Ted's descendant), The Spelunker, The Two-Fisted Seismologist, and Gastrointestinal Discomfort Boy.
  
• Dorian at Post-Modern Barney reflects on the Legion of Super-Jerks.
  
• Scott at Polite Dissent notes that it must be a drug company conspiracy.
  
• Over at Prism Comics, Chris Sims reviews A Very Special Episode of the Legion. Drugs are bad, mmm-kay?
  
• ComixBear wonders why there's a flying carrot in the 30th century.
  

Fashion in Action

• Chris at the ISB reviews Orion the Hunter's costume, and declares it a Crime of Fashion.
  
• Project: Rooftop and Girl-Wonder.org take a week to review the best submissions for Supergirl costume updates. Here are parts part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, and part 6. Meanwhile, scans_daily looks at the last time this happened, back in 1970 (part 1 and part 2).
  
• Gone and Forgotten takes a look back at reader submissions for Legion costumes, too.
  

Artwork

• Colleen Doran posted some of her Element Lad commissions.
  
• Colleen also posted an Element Lad commission she got from Curt Swan.
  
• Not to be outdone, Allan Harvey at Gorilla Daze found some very early (1980!) artwork that Colleen had used while a member of the Interlac apa.
  
• In non-Colleen drawings, here's a look at what one corporate trainer does when he's stuck in a meeting.
  

Legion on TV

• Here are a couple of reviews of the animated show from people who had never seen an episode before, or were unfamiliar with the show.
  
• Gordon at Blog This, Pal! watched the most recent new episode ("Chain of Command") and said "This One's for the Fat Guys".
  
• Animated Legion vs the Animated Teen Titans - ho'od win? This answer might surprise you.
  
• Will the Legion appear on "Smallville"? That question was asked at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction convention last month. Sadly, the answer is no, according to series producers Millar and Gough.
  

Characters

• Christopher Bird posts this example of Wildfire and Dawnstar, the original "emo" couple, 20 years before we knew what "emo" was.
  
• Chris at the ISB reminds you that even if you have the second-most useless power in the entire Legion... It Can Always Get Better.
  
• T. Collins says BEHOLD: Ral the Orchid!
  
• But suddenly... Karate Kid flipped out and beat the crap out of everyone.
  
• Jeremy reveals how Blockade Boy, Weight Wizard, and Plant Lad escaped from Nardo's Super Stalag of Space - they all played dead. Then the last two came back to the 21st century looking for Blockade Boy.
  
• Matthew at the Legion Abstract provides some character reviews of Dawnstar, Gear, and Brainiac 5.
  
• Christopher Bird reminds us that despite a 12th-Level intelligence, Brainy can be pretty stupid sometimes.
  
• Siskoid's Blog of Geekery takes a look back at some of the other Legion tryouts throughout the years.
  

That's enough for now.

December linkfest

Haven't done one of these in a while but there have been too many things to post about lately.

Characters

Over at the Comic Treadmill, H has been doing a thorough analysis of the Legionnaires. In part 4 he looks at Karate Kid, Light Lass, Chameleon Boy, and the Silver Age Weirdo Legionnaire. In part 5 he takes on Brainiac 5, Dream Girl, and Element Lad. I'm doing him a disservice by only mentioning them and not looking at them in detail, so check them out.

Matthew over at the Legion Abstract also does a bang-up job at analyzing the Legionnaires. Brainiac 6 at the Legion Clubhouse blog has been checking out the Fatal Five/Sun Eater story and recapping some of the Who's Who articles from her own unique perspective.

Meanwhile, Blockade Boy has been busy redesigning the Legion of Substitute Costumes for Fire Lad, Animal Lad, Polar Boy, Stone Boy, and The Mess.

Dave Cockrum

I wrote about Dave Cockrum and collected some remembrances here, here, and here. There were a lot of tributes, and these came out after I finished my set. Sleestak at Lady, That's My Skull has some good images. Querl Dox remembers Dave as "the common element in the two most significant revivals of the 1970s".

Jack C. Harris, who was the editor of the Legion title shortly after Cockrum left DC for Marvel, and tells the tale of how he personally gave Dave the two-page scene of the wedding spread when DC started giving artwork back.

Finally, Mark Evanier touched on some things that I had tried to (only with better results). Cockrum was the first of the new wave of young and rising stars in the 70s who started as the old guard was retiring.

But I always thought that the success of that strip — and of the willingness of Boltinoff to embrace the work of a "new kid" — marked a turning point in the history of seventies' comics.

Animated

Fist Full of Comics has two podcast interviews, one with Michael Cornacchia (Bouncing Boy) and one with Kari Wahlgren (Saturn Girl).

Christopher Bird addresses some misconceptions on where the Legion show came from in relation to the Justice League and Teen Titans shows.

Superman Homepage notes that the final season of Justice League Unlimited will be arriving on DVD in March. The Legion appeared in the "Far From Home" episode.

Vs. System CCG

The Vs-Blog noted that the crowds for the recent preview tournaments were smaller than expected based on previous tournaments. Wizard's Inquest magazine looks at some of the more interesting cards in the set.

Comics

Oh yeah, they still publish the comics, too. Rokk's Comic Book Revolution reviews the first issue of the new JSA series, and he's really excited.


The Stop Button recently read "The Great Darkness Saga" for the first time with essentially no previous knowledge of Legion history. Check out the review for a firsthand account of whether "I can't read the Legion, there's too much history!" is true or not. Similarly, Graphic Content picked up the two most recent Legion trades, "Death of a Dream" (vol. 2) and Supergirl's "Strange Visitor from Another Century" (vol. 3). These guys also had pretty much no knowledge of the Legion, and came away with an overall positive experience.

Of course, you can't discuss Legion history without arguing over the relative merits (or lack thereof) of the Giffen/Bierbaum version. This "Comics Should Be Good" column at CBR starts talking about the Doom Patrol but swerves to the Legion pretty quick. And H opens up the Comic Treadmill vaults to review the original version of Adventure Comics #247.

Funny Stuff

Finally, a couple of funny items. Scott at the Legion Clubhouse got a copy of a 90s song called "The Wedding of Bouncing Boy". You can listen and sing along with lyrics that start off "Matter-Eater Lad was finally glad after shedding that 13 pounds / and Duo Damsel was getting hard to handle making the banquet table rounds". And Ben at Good Book Readin' takes a second look at the "Origins and Powers of the Legion" from Adventure Comics 365 - panel 1, for example, shows Phantom Girl with the power to perform table dances. After looking at the drawing, it's hard to argue against it.

What a character!

A roundup of various character-related posts on these here internets lately....

• New blogger Queer Legion (QL) at The Planetary Chance Machine has been showcasing various Legionnaires as part of Beefcake/Cheesecake Appreciation Week. As mentioned earlier here (Saturn Girl and Shrinking Violet Got Back!), here's Dream Girl (v3 era), followed by new images of Colossal Boy (current version), v3-era Princess Projectra and Mon-el, and Phantom Lad and Cosmic Boy. Other Legion-related entries include v4-era Dream Girl at the Fish-Flavored Baseball Bat.
  
  
• Queer Legion (QL) is currently following that up with some of his favorite Legion "character" moments: Brainy and Dream Girl during the Universo Project, and Ultra Boy and Light Lass with a light moment rebuilding after Omega.
  
  
• Over at the Legion Abstract, Matthew has been writing a series of wonderfully analytical essays on various Legionnaires, which I have been sadly neglecting. Here's his take on Invisible Kid:
  

  Now, I speculated [earlier] that Invisible Kid's power of disappearing made him perceived as inherently untrustworthy by the other Legionnaires. And the idea still appeals to me. But I now think that another possibility is that his power matches the desire of an abused child to hide, to disappear, to not be there anymore. I'm not comfortable putting too much weight on that idea, but you can have it if you want it.
  
  The point is that he can get some support in the Legion. Probably he needs more therapy than they can give him, but at least they'll cut him the slack that his parents never did. He'll get comfortable, he'll let down his guard a bit, he'll grow up a little. He’s a superhero and a Legionnaire; he’ll be fine.

  
  That was followed by QL's response at The Planetary Chance Machine.
  

  Lyle’s reactions follow a classic passive-aggressive pattern. Some of the panels you feature support this: Lyle faces people and situations in which he’s relatively powerless. He “provokes” [sic] in many instances not overtly and in a way that elicits a strong negative response. This behavioral pattern allows Lyle the luxury of trying to assert himself, while maintaining his self-perception of being an under-appreciated victim. Furthermore, you may be correct in your assessment that “his power matches the desire of an abused child to hide, to disappear, to not be there anymore” [sic], but I view Lyle’s power as more a metaphor of his own feelings of social impotence and lack of recognition by those around him. Lyle feels “invisible”, especially to those from whom he craves recognition the most.

  
  Go read both for some interesting analysis.
  
  
• Scott at Polite Dissent remembers Tenzil Kem's v4-era "All-Star Benefit Concert to Rebuild the Earth". Why do we remember who Shagrek is?
  
  
• Puppyboy Sukk has a celebrity crush on the new Sun Boy.
  
  
• The Fortress Keeper at the Fortress of Fortitude notes that it's good to be Chuck Taine, can't wait for Waid to reintroduce him in the current Legion, recognizes his fighting prowess on the Justice League and LSH cartoons, and thinks Bouncing Boy is cool. Commenter John Freer notes that
  

  Bouncing Boy was the Legion’s own Ringo Starr. Not a key player by talent or position but nonetheless posessed by a high social intelligence and an ineffable charisma.
  Guys like that always land in the sack with twins.

  
  The same, however, can't be said for Silver Age Matter-Eater Lad, who was always eating vaguely phallic items and talking with his mouth full of stun-beam.
  
  
• For some reason, Brian Hughes at Again With the Comics is proud of the fact that he is apparently the #1 Google hit for Dr. Mayavale. That story, from LSH v2 #268, ranks down there with the worst Legion stories ever written and/or drawn. At least the issue had a nice cover by George Perez.
  
  
• Ye Olde Comick Booke Blogge takes a snarky look back at Superboy #195, featuring the first appearance of Wildfire.
  

  Going back to my original point, while my knowledge of the Legion's adventures is limited, I'm struck by the fact most of them seem to be treated as epic, life changing events by the Legionnaires. ... I get the impression if the Legion went to Safeway and found the bakery section was understocked on bagels, tears would be spilled and a statue would be built to commemorate the date.

  
  Wait, who's that guy in the green? Is that actually Chemical King, in a real mission? (OK, the mission is to fight "a giant, mob controlled dustbuster that's destroying all the crops on an agriculture planet as part of a scheme to shake down the Federation for money", but still - a real mission!)
  
  

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.

  
  

Linkdump, August '06

Now's the time to post all of the one-off links I've been saving up for the last month or so. I wouldn't link 'em if I didn't like 'em.

• Chris Sims at the The Invincible Super-Blog continues to find ways to crack me up. If he's not poking fun at miniature spies hidden in people's ankles...
  

  It's one of those things where you read it, read it again, and then have to go tell someone else about it before your head explodes, which is the sort of thing you're going to have to expect when you're reading a series predicated on a bunch of teenagers going back in time for the sole purpose of screwing with Superboy because they like him so much. And I feel it's only fair to warn you: it may very well blow your mind.

  
  ... or an entry that examines why the Legion was Not Exactly the Brightest Future Space Teens in the Universe:
  

  Edmond Hamilton and Curt Swan bring us this bit of insight into the same thought process that picked Matter Eater Lad for membership over, say, Polar Boy. Or anyone else, for that matter.

  
  ... or taking a look at one of Brainiac 5's not-so-great moments, inventing Computo:
  

  A three-headed, four-armed, tentacle-waving bare-chested fin-legged buck-toothed monstrosity that still has to use a nuclear-powered handgun might just be the best diversionary tactic in the history of comics.

  
  ... then he's following it all up by an Associated Press... OF THE FUTURE article.
  
  
• James Nicoll follows all that up with an insightful look at Brainy's membership:
  

  Given all the catastrophic [1], tragic [2] or disturbing things [3] B5 did over the years, the only reason I can think for the LSH to have kept him around was the fear that if they didn't have him convenient to keep an eye on, he'd do even worse things.

  
  
• Allan Harvey of Gorilla Daze brings up a drawing done for a British Legion APA, APA-247, of what the Legion might have looked like as drawn by Jack Kirby.
  
  
• Brian Cronin at CBR's Comics Should Be Good! takes a look back at one of the defining characters of DC's Silver Age, Jimmy Olsen, and his top 5 transformations. One of them is Elastic Lad, but all of them are mind-blowingly awesome in a Silver Age DC kinda way. And Mark Evanier shows where one of those classic covers really came from. Jimmy Olsen #72 shows four of those transformations in a story - "The World of Doomed Olsens!" - that features the Legion, while issue 102 - "World of 1000 Olsens!" shows many more. Ah, the good old days.
  
  
• Macaroni Murder Lady at the heykidzcomix LJ site starts the post with this:
  

  Like me, I'm sure you've spent many a long, lonely night wondering about what it would be like to have sex with the Legion of Superheroes.
  
  Wonder no longer!

  
  With an intro like that, how can you not read? MML found the Interlac web site, which (among other things) has a 1976 interview with Jim Shooter and another from 2000 with Tom and Mary Bierbaum in which they write their perceptions of the various Legionnaires. Of course, that means speculating about their sex lives, which MML expanded upon.
  

  Saturn Girl: "She is a wild, wild woman in bed, who undoubtedly has occasionally accompanied Lightning Lad on his forays into Dream Girl's boudoir." Shrinking Violet: "She gets all her weird sex from Duplicate Boy and waiting and worrying just makes it sweeter." Sun Boy: "He doesn't have to screw Dream Girl, he undoubtedly gets enough action on his own."

  
  And that's just from Shooter!
  
  
• Scipio at the Absorbascon uses Streaky as an example of how cats are evil. (I don't necessarily know if I'd call them evil, though, maybe just a bit misguided.)
  
  
• This discussion on the Hero Games message board reimagines the Legion of Super-Pets:
  

  Sleeping world, the Dark Legion of Super-Pets doth come on fiery paws and hooves of destruction. The day of reckoning is upon thee. Doom trots and scampers across the horizon.