Legion TV schedule Feb. 2008

Surprisingly, no new Legion episodes in February. I guess they're saving the last five episodes for May sweeps.

Here are the airdates and episodes for the Legion show for February 2008, via SFTV:

Jan. 26 - episode 2.04 "Chained Lightning" (3rd airing) - last aired 11/24/07
Feb. 02 - episode 2.05 "The Karate Kid" (3rd airing) - last aired 12/08/07
Feb. 09 - episode 2.06 "Who Am I?" (3rd airing) - last aired 12/29/07
Feb. 16 - episode 2.07 "Unnatural Alliances" (3rd airing) - last aired 1/5/08
Feb. 23 - episode 2.08 "Message in a Bottle" (3rd airing) - last aired 1/12/08


Previously: all the other schedules

Episode reviews:
1.01 "Man of Tomorrow" (4 airings, last 07/07/07)
1.02 "Timber Wolf" (8 airings, last 09/08/07)
1.03 "Legacy" (3 airings, last 06/09/07)
1.04 "Fear Factory" (4 airings, last 06/16/07)
1.05 "Champions" (4 airings, last 06/23/07)
1.06 "Phantoms" (4 airings, last 07/14/07)
1.07 "Child's Play" (4 airings, last 06/30/07)
1.08 "Lightning Storm" (4 airings, last 07/28/07)
1.09 "Brain Drain" (5 airings, last 09/01/07)
1.10 "The Substitutes" (4 airings, last 08/18/07)
1.11 "Chain of Command" (4 airings, last 08/25/07)
1.12 "Sundown, part 1" (3 airings, last 09/15/07)
1.13 "Sundown, part 2" (3 airings, last 09/15/07)
2.01 "Man from the Edge of Tomorrow part 1" (2 airings, last 12/15/07)
2.02 "Man from the Edge of Tomorrow part 2" (3 airings, last 12/22/07)
2.03 "Cry Wolf" (3 airings, last 1/19/08)
2.04 "Chained Lightning" (2 airings, last 11/24/07)
2.05 "The Karate Kid" (2 airings, last 12/08/07)
2.06 "Who Am I?" (2 airings, last 12/29/07)
2.07 "Unnatural Alliances" (2 airings, last 1/5/08)
2.08 "Message in a Bottle" (2 airings, last 1/12/08)

Recent Interviews

Some interviews I missed while slacking off:

Geoff Johns, at CBR on his upcoming DC works (emphasis mine):

In his current arc within the pages of“Action Comics,” Johns has returned the original members of the Legion of Super-Heroes – Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, and Cosmic Boy – to the forefront of DCU, and readers are loving it. So is Johns.

“When Superman was growing up, he had no friends and finally he got some friends that he could relate too. That’s the coolest thing about the original Legion. But once our Legion arc run is up, it’s not the end of the Legion,” said Johns.

“The entire purpose of this arc is really to introduce the Legion to someone who has never heard of it. And show why they are so important to Superman. That’s why this Legion story works because of their connection to Superman and Superman’s connection to them. There is a really special connection that makes Superman, Superman. He wasn’t Bruce Wayne when he was a kid. Even though he was an outsider, he had friends, friends who were beyond anything that he ever could have imagined. They were just like him. They were aliens, who looked like him, who came to Earth.”

Keith Giffen, at Newsarama on the Legion appearing in the DC/Wildstorm: Dreamwar crossover:

NRAMA: Yeah! Let's talk about you getting back to the Legion of Super-Heroes. Have you started writing their part?

KG: I've written two issues so far.

NRAMA: And how does it feel to get back to those characters? It's been awhile for you, hasn't it?

KG: Yeah, it's been awhile. Legion of Super-Heroes is a concept that always exerts this weird type of siren song to me. I swear, I'm walking around, going "I've got to touch them again." And I wind up back toying around with them. This is something I thought would be interesting to play around with. I haven't dealt with the characters for awhile. This is an opportunity to go in and remind people of my take on the characters without violating anything that's gone on since I was on the book. And that's fun. It's fun to play around with those characters again. I've got a fondness for the concept.

NRAMA: Well, they've gotten a little bit of a resurgence recently, not only with the new version of the Legion in the current ongoing, but with that Action Comics storyline right now.

KG: Yeah, there's Action Comics. There's Jim Shooter coming back to the series -- one of the guys who put Legion of Super-Heroes on the map.

It seems like almost like a comic book reunion with John Ostrander coming back to do Suicide Squad right -- 'cause I sure didn't -- and Jim Shooter coming back to the Legion of Super-Heroes. People who helped shepherd these people through their most popular periods are coming back to play with them again. You know I'm a huge supporter of new talent, but why not have some of these guys give it a shot too? See if lightning strikes twice. I'm kind of pleased by that.

NRAMA: Getting back to the Legion story you're writing within this crossover -- there have been a few different versions of the Legion. Is it safe to assume this is going to be the Legion you wrote?

KG: Uh... nope!

NRAMA: No? Oh, OK. So this is a different Legion?

KG: Uh... kinda. Sorta. Maybe. Yeah. Well, it's a different Legion than I've ever written or I've ever had anything to do with. Yeah. People will have to read the story to find out more about it.

Artist Aaron Lopresti, at Newsarama, who will be doing the fill-in art for LSH #41 before picking up Wonder Woman art reins:

NRAMA: Just to clarify, picking up the art reins on Wonder Woman isn't your first DC work under your exclusive, right? You're doing a Legion issue first?

AL: Although, I realize that there is a strong following for the Legion and that there always has been, it was not a book that I had ever really read. There was a gap in my schedule while I was waiting on the first Wonder Woman script, so Dan DiDio and Mike Marts contacted me about helping on the book. I was very excited to get the opportunity to work with the legend that is Jim Shooter on a series that is very popular.

I discovered very quickly why the book is so popular! It has great characters and the charm of a classic comic. It is so refreshing to work on a book that has superheroes being superheroes. The experience really energized me and got me ready for Wonder Woman. It is only one issue, but I am really glad I got the opportunity to do it.

Dawnstar, Mordru in Crisis

There's another new wave of Heroclix figures coming soon, in the "Crisis" set. The two Legion-related figures seen so far are Dawnstar (Pre-Crisis costume) and Mordru (Post-Zero Hour costume, as seen in the JSA series). The figure set includes the original Crisis on Infinite Earths and the recent Infinite Crisis and 52. See the Dawnstar and Mordru discussions on the HCRealms message board, with this article on Mordru.

More to come soon. The Crisis wave is due in late February.

Variant Action covers by Lightle, Grell, Giffen

Newsarama shows three variant covers for Action Comics 860, 861, and 862, parts 3-5 of the 6-part "Superman and the Legion" storyline. Action 860 is already out with the Steve Lightle cover, and we have seen a black-and-white version of the Grell cover to issue 861. Now we have the color version with trade dress of 861, and a look at the Keith Giffen cover to issue 862. Click each to embiggen.

Déjà Vu 6: Legion logos

1st Legion v2 logo, issues 259-279 (from #261)


2nd Legion v4 logo, issues 54-125 (from #73)


Legion v5 logo, issue 37-present (from #37)


In a comment on his site, Todd Klein said that he did not do this newest logo and doesn't know who did, but "it does look something like one of my old designs."

Todd did most of the Legion logos (see his Legion logo review, part 1, part 2, and part 3) from 1980 until 2007, all but "Legionnaires 3", both v4 logos, "Legion Lost", "Legion Worlds", and "The Legion".

Trivia #19 answers

As usual, you guys got all the answers nearly immediately. Is there no end to your knowledge of arcane trivia? Here are the answers to my all-singing, all-dancing, all-v4 quiz:

1. Which members of the SW6 Batch were killed in an explosion?

Karate Kid, Chameleon Boy, and Princess Projectra. This was Giffen's second time killing Karate Kid - will he get a third chance in "Countdown"?

2. At some point before the White Witch joined the Legion, she may have been responsible for which Legionnaire's powers?

According to Doug Atkinson's 1994 v4-era FAQ, "Kono's mother was a major technology raider for Sklar. At one point she aided the Hag (who was actually the White Witch) and was given a blessing: her daughter would have mighty abilities and know glory and adventure as had no Sklarian before her. When her first daughter, Brita, was born, she turned out to have the ability to transfer mass between objects." I wrote "may have" because (a) I don't remember the details of the story, and (b) it's not clear from the above passage whether Mysa actually did something. If someone knows for sure, I'll take their word for it.

3. Post-Black Dawn, an underground group arose on Earth based around the Legion of Substitute Heroes, called the SUBS. What does the acronym SUBS stand for?

According to the above v4-era FAQ, it stands for "Superhuman Underground Battle Squad".

4. After he was freed from prison, Brek Bannin (the former Polar Boy) became head of the Tartarus underground resistance and later leader of Tartarus' official hero team. Who were the members of his team?

"After Evillo was overthrown and arrested, he became leader of Tartarus' official hero team, consisting of Stilletta, Styx (Evillo's daughters), Sugyn, Policy Pam [with the power to sell insurance to anybody], Spaceopoly Lad [has the power to finish any game of Spaceopoly he starts], and Echo-Chamber Chet [sonic powers]." (from the FAQ)

5. Which Legionnaire(s) spent at least part of their time with the Legion during the v4 era as an energy form?

Wildfire and Celeste Rockfish. Quislet would fit in here if he appeared at all during v4.

6. Who blew up the moon?

I was wondering if anyone would say Dev-Em, but it wasn't him. He was supposed to do it, according to the Linear Men, but when he didn't, they had to step in and pull the trigger.

7. XS and Impulse weren't the only ones who got their powers from the Tornado Twins. Who else did?

I have no recollection of her, but apparently someone named Mara Williams was given their speed powers by the Dominators. She joined the UP Officer's Academy after spending time on Quarantine. Her code name was Rush and she first appeared in v4 #51.

Trivia Quiz #19

Because nobody requested it, this month's trivia is all about that period known as v4, the TMK Legion, the Giffbaum era, and/or the Glorithverse (in honor of the upcoming Final Crisis, I like to call it "The Great Disaster").

1. Which members of the SW6 Batch were killed in an explosion?

2. At some point before the White Witch joined the Legion, she may have been responsible for which Legionnaire's powers?

3. Post-Black Dawn, an underground group arose on Earth based around the Legion of Substitute Heroes, called the SUBS. What does the acronym SUBS stand for?

4. After he was freed from prison, Brek Bannin (the former Polar Boy) became head of the Tartarus underground resistance and later leader of Tartarus' official hero team. Who were the members of his team?

5. Which Legionnaire(s) spent at least part of their time with the Legion during the v4 era as an energy form?

6. Who blew up the moon?

7. XS and Impulse weren't the only ones who got their powers from the Tornado Twins. Who else did?

Legion TV schedule Jan. 2008

Here are the airdates and episodes for the Legion show for January 2008, via SFTV:

Jan. 05 - episode 2.07 "Unnatural Alliances" (2nd airing) - last aired 11/17/07
Jan. 12 - episode 2.08 "Message in a Bottle" (2nd airing) - last aired 12/01/07
Jan. 19 - episode 2.03 "Cry Wolf" (3rd airing) - last aired 11/10/07
Jan. 26 - episode TBD


Previously: all the other schedules

Episode reviews:
1.01 "Man of Tomorrow" (4 airings, last 07/07/07)
1.02 "Timber Wolf" (8 airings, last 09/08/07)
1.03 "Legacy" (3 airings, last 06/09/07)
1.04 "Fear Factory" (4 airings, last 06/16/07)
1.05 "Champions" (4 airings, last 06/23/07)
1.06 "Phantoms" (4 airings, last 07/14/07)
1.07 "Child's Play" (4 airings, last 06/30/07)
1.08 "Lightning Storm" (4 airings, last 07/28/07)
1.09 "Brain Drain" (5 airings, last 09/01/07)
1.10 "The Substitutes" (4 airings, last 08/18/07)
1.11 "Chain of Command" (4 airings, last 08/25/07)
1.12 "Sundown, part 1" (3 airings, last 09/15/07)
1.13 "Sundown, part 2" (3 airings, last 09/15/07)
2.01 "Man from the Edge of Tomorrow part 1" (2 airings, last 12/15/07)
2.02 "Man from the Edge of Tomorrow part 2" (3 airings, last 12/22/07)
2.03 "Cry Wolf" (2 airings, last 11/10/07)
2.04 "Chained Lightning" (2 airings, last 11/24/07)
2.05 "The Karate Kid" (2 airings, last 12/08/07)
2.06 "Who Am I?" (2 airings, last 12/29/07)
2.07 "Unnatural Alliances" (1 airing, last 11/17/07)
2.08 "Message in a Bottle" (1 airing, last 12/01/07)

Festivus trivia answers

Last week during the Festivus celebration, I posted my "Feats of Strength" trivia questions. Here are the answers:

1. Whose kids were Brin, Bran, and Loni?
   

   Brin and Bran were twin boys and Loni was their sister, the children of Timber Wolf and Light Lady of the Adult Legion.

   
   
2. Whose kids were Ronn and Arna?
   

   The children of Ultra Man and Phantom Woman of the Adult Legion.

   
   
3. Put these children (listed here alphabetically by last name) in chronological birth order: Lauren Gand, Pol Jath Krinn, and Dacey and Doritt Ranzz?
   

   According to the 2995 Legion Sourcebook, Lauren Gand was born on June 27, 2994, about 4 months before Reep first approached Rokk about restarting the Legion; Dacey and Doritt Ranzz were born on April 13, 2995, two days after the destruction of the Moon; and Pol Jath Krinn was born on May 2, 2995, two days after the assassination of Tayla Wellington.

   
   

Caption contest 5: Oh noes, it's Dr. Mayavale!

Oh noes! Dr. Mayavale has Karate Kid, Chameleon Boy, and Dream Girl all tied up! What's that he's saying to them?

"No matter how many lifetimes it takes, I will crush whoever is responsible for hiding bad Ditko interior art behind this great Perez/Austin cover!"

Happy New Year

It's only lunchtime as I write this, but as the saying goes, it's New Years Eve somewhere in the world. Unfortunately, I don't have anything wise or witty to say, but I do want to pass along some words written by the great philosopher H at the Comic Treadmill.

Last week he was reviewing Adventure Comics #314 (the one with Hitler, Nero, and Dillinger), and came across this panel:

Here's what he had to say about it:

Scene That Freaked Me Out: Here are the Legion flying through time in the time bubble. They’ve left Hitler’s era, passed through the date the comic was on the stands and past another far future date. A date which will be upon us in a dozen days. Interpretation: I am so old, I exist in a future date that Edmond Hamilton considered to be a far-flung one.

Welcome to the far-flung future of 2008!

Coming Distractions: March 2008

Didn't we just go through this a month ago? Anyway, here are the Legion-related titles coming out in March 2008: new stuff Countdown, Action (final chapter of Superman & the Lightning Saga Legion), JSA, Legion, LSH31C, and.... Wonder Woman? Reprints from Booster Gold, Supergirl and the LSH, and an odd choice of issues for the next Showcase volume. All this plus a new Supergirl action figure.

COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS #8-5
Story by Paul Dini
Story consulting by Keith Giffen
8 script by Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti; art by Carlos Magno & Rodney Ramos
7 script by Sean McKeever; art by Ron Lim & Mark McKenna
6 script by Gray & Palmiotti; art by Jesus Saiz & Jimmy Palmiotti
5 script by Adam Beechen; art by Scott Kolins
Covers by Scott Kolins
The Countdown ticks down as storylines converge and collide - a Great Disaster is clearly proving to be unavoidable!
COUNTDOWN 8 on sale March 5
COUNTDOWN 7 on sale March 12
COUNTDOWN 6 on sale March 19
COUNTDOWN 5 on sale March 26
32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Maybe the Karate Kid storyline will have found a plot by this time.

WONDER WOMAN #18
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Bernard Chang
Cover by Terry Dodson & Rachel Dodson
Comics superstar Bernard Chang joins Gail Simone for a 2-part story that will take Wonder Woman to the furthest reaches of the galaxy, but not before the vicious alien race the Khund begin an assault on Earth! But before the invasion can begin, the relationship of Wonder Woman and Nemesis takes a defining turn.
On sale March 12 o 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

OK, now this one I didn't expect... Wonder Woman vs the Khunds?



THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES IN THE 31st CENTURY #12
Written by J. Torres
Art and cover by Alexander Serra
Back home in Metropolis, villains aren't nearly as fearsome as the Fatal Five, but they're learning fast! Although they're 1000 years away, the Legion has never left Superman's mind for a minute - will Superman's 31st Century know-how be enough to stop 21st Century bad guys, or will the learning curve be steeper than he can handle?
On sale March 12 o 32 pg, FC, $2.25 US

Looks like this is still Season 1 continuity.



ACTION COMICS #863
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Gary Frank & Jonathan Sibal
Covers by Frank
It's the grand finale to the 6-part "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes!" To save the galaxy, Superman and the Legion must clear the good name of Krypton's Last Son, but to do that, they must defeat the greatest villains of their time: the JLA! Featuring a stunning "Superman and The Legion of Super-Heroes" cover plus a "Superman Triumphant" variant cover, both by Gary Frank!
Retailers please note: This issue will feature two covers that may be ordered separately. For every 10 copies of the Standard Edition (featuring "Superman and The Legion of Super-Heroes" cover by Gary Frank), retailers may order one Variant Edition (featuring "Superman Triumphant" cover by Frank). See the Previews Order Form for more information.
On sale March 26 o 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Yay, Blok is still alive and not dead at Roxxas' hand! And that's Invisible Kid in the lower right, though they miscolored his white stripe. This looks like the "standard edition" cover.



JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #14
Written by Geoff Johns & Alex Ross
Art by Dale Eaglesham & Ruy Jose
Cover by Alex Ross
Variant cover by Eaglesham & Jose
"Thy Kingdom Come" continues as the mystery of the "Heartbreak Slayer" explodes while the Justice Society discovers a true "New" God stalking them. Meanwhile, devastating images of the future continue to plague the Man of Steel.
Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. For every 10 copies of the Standard Edition (with a cover by Alex Ross), retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by Eaglesham & Jose). Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.
On sale March 26 o 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Starman appears. Below is the "Standard Edition" cover by Ross.



THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #40
Written by Jim Shooter
Art and cover by Francis Manapul & John Livesay
Part 1 of the story arc "Enemy Rising" - the begining of the One Evil Saga! To save her world, Shadow Lass battles alone against a Life-eradicator. The mystery of their origin deepens as important evidence emerges. Meanwhile, conflict between Timber Wolf and Saturn Girl explodes! Action, angst, amour, amperage and accuracy to the max!
On sale March 26 o 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

The "One Evil", huh? Hmmm. I hope it's not Darkseid (or Imperiex). I wonder if this is part 1 of the 16-part storyline, or part 1 of the Book 2 (where issues 37-39 were Book 1). FJM, care to comment?



SUPERGIRL AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES: THE QUEST FOR COSMIC BOY TP
Written by Tony Bedard
Art by Kevin Sharpe & Dennis Calero
Cover by Barry Kitson
In this volume collecting issues #31-36 of the acclaimed series, The Legionnaires' leader, Cosmic Boy, has disappeared. Was he captured by enemies or has he fled responsibility?
Advance-solicited; on sale April 2 o 144 pg, FC, $14.99 US

Advance solicited, as they say.



SHOWCASE PRESENTS: THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES VOL. 2 TP
Written by Jerry Siegel, Jim Shooter and others
Art by Curt Swan, Jim Mooney, John Forte and others
Cover by Swan & George Klein
Over 500 pages of classic Legion adventures, collected from the pages of ADVENTURE COMICS #316, #322-348, #365, SUPERBOY #117 and #125, and SUPERMAN ANNUAL #4!
Advance-solicited; on sale April 9 o 528 pg, B&W, $16.99 US

I have no idea why they're reprinting stuff out of order. In this batch they skip over issues 317 (intro Dream Girl), 318 (Sun Boy's sickness-induced mutiny), 319 (Subs rescue the Legion), 320 (Dev-Em), and 321 (Time Trapper), plus 349-364 (which includes some pretty significant issues like Universo, Superboy/Supergirl have to leave, the Fatal Five and death of Ferro Lad, the Adult Legion, the Legion Chain Gang, Mantis Morlo, and the Super-Pets). Issue 365 is the intro of Shadow Lass, Superboy 117 is the "Earth-3" Legion, and Superboy 125 is Kid Psycho.



BOOSTER GOLD VOL. 1: 52 PICK-UP HC
Written by Geoff Johns & Jeff Katz
Art by Dan Jurgens & Norm Rapmund
Cover by Jurgens & Rapmund
Booster Gold, the hero of 52, is back in this hardcover volume collecting BOOSTER GOLD #1-6 and the origin story from 52 #24! In this tale co-written by fan-favorite Geoff Johns (GREEN LANTERN, 52), the time-traveling super-hero from tomorrow must repair the timeline of the DC Universe if he's going to earn membership in the Justice League of America! Someone is exploiting the ravaged time stream, hoping to eliminate the world's greatest heroes, and only Booster Gold can stop them.
Advance-solicited; on sale May 7 o 160 pg, FC, $24.99 US

Reprints of the first issue with a minor cameo.



JUSTICE SERIES 8 ACTION FIGURES
Designed by Alex Ross
The best-selling action figure line from the hugely popular JUSTICE series reaches its amazing conclusion with four new figures!

Includes:

Supergirl o 6.5" h
Batgirl o 6.5" h
Toyman o 8" h
Captain Cold o 6.75" h

Each figure features multiple points of articulation and a base.
Advance-solicited; on sale August 13, 2008 * Action Figures * PI

Retailers please note: Supergirl, Batgirl, Toyman and Captain Cold are intended for individual sale to consumers, but are sold to retailers in inner and master cases.

Consult your Retailer Order Form for packaging and pricing details. These products are being offered simultaneously beyond the comic-book specialty market.

The Pre-Crisis 1970s-era Supergirl (red hot pants and poofy sleeves) gets a nice-looking new action figure.

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.

---

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.

---

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.

In passing: Paul "Zeus" Grant

No Legion stuff in this post.

For those of you who have been around for long enough to remember Compuserve's Comics and Animation Forum from the mid-late '90s, you'll surely remember Paul "Zeus" Grant. True to his nickname, he was a larger-than-life figure who was always fun to read. Sadly, he died last month, though the news is just starting to get around. Mark Evanier has a bit and points to John Ostrander's column. It has turned into Compuserve old-home week over in John's comments.

(Previously: Compuserve musings here and here)

An alternate timeline 30th century Christmas

Via scans_daily, here's a look at how they celebrate Christmas in the Adult Legion's alternate 30th century timeline.

We pick up the action from Action Comics 289, where Supergirl is trying to hook her cousin Superman up with a hot alien space chick.

Interesting notes:
1. This is the first appearance of the Adult Legion.
2. This is the first time we see the Garth/Imra romance.
3. In this timeline, they were still using jet packs until Superman discovered the anti-gravity element that would eventually allow the creation of flight rings.
4. This is the infamous story in which Superman bemoans the fact that Kryptonian law says that cousins can't marry (as discussed here and here).

Festivus comments

It's still the Festivus season - still time to post your comments on the Airing of Grievances, the Festivus Miracles, and the Feats of Strength a couple of posts down.

Sneak peek at Shooter/Manapul's Legion

Newsarama has a sneak peek - the first 5 pages - of LSH v5 #37. I don't know about your area, but new issues here don't come in until Friday. Remember, this issue has a 2-part cover that makes a big image by Manapul/Livesay. (Back in the olden days, it would have been a fold-out or wraparound cover, now we have to buy two copies.)

Final Five Legion episode titles

Someone apparently in the know updated the Legion cartoon's Wikipedia page with the titles for the final five episodes to be shown some time next season:

• In the Beginning
  
• Trials
  
• In Your Dreams
  
• Dark Victory, part 1
  
• Dark Victory, part 2

No news on when we'll see them, though. I predict the first two or three in February and the remaining episodes in May (for sweeps months).

I believe that "In the Beginning" is the Legion origin episode, we're supposed to see R. J. Brande this season.

An Eye for an Eye

The newest Legion TPB, An Eye for an Eye (Amazon link), came out this week, and most interestingly it reprinted a classic Levitz/Giffen pre-Crisis story arc: the first six issues of v3 from 1984, featuring the Legion vs the LSV and the fight to the death between Queen Projectra, Karate Kid, and Nemesis Kid. Yay DC for promoting the pre-Crisis Legion!

I guess that's as good a choice as any to start with, considering that Karate Kid is (allegedly) co-starring in "Countdown" right now (though we still don't know what's up with Sensor Girl, Karate Kid being alive, and Triplicate Girl/Una's recent behavior). The Great Darkness Saga can be brought back in print, and the stories from the start of the Levitz/Giffen period could fill one trade that goes up to the GDS.

It was weird, though, seeing the cover showing the original art with modern coloring technology (below right); back then, it was the standard four colors plus a special additional "fifth color" of silver (below left).

left, via the GCD; right, via Tales From Another World

The book reprints issues 1-6 of LSH v3 (see covers here), plus the covers to "Tales of the LSH" #327-331 (see covers here), and the Legion, LSV, and Karate Kid entries from the original Who's Who. Note that the cover to issue 1 of v3 was reprinted as the cover to Tales #326, the first reprint issue in the "hardcover/softcover" experiment. It's this cover, with the old logo, that is appearing in some promotional material (even the image on the DC page shows this one, with the Tales trade dress).


left, via the GCD; right, via DC Comics

And just in case you're not sick of seeing this image, here's what it looked like when DC put out the cover as a promotional poster in 1984.



Oh, and for what it's worth, I own the original art to the very last page of issue 6 (the last story page in this trade). Click to enlarge:

A Legion Festivus for the Rest of Us

This Sunday is December 23, and you know what that means... it's Festivus time!

Festivus, which originated on an episode of "Seinfeld" in 1997, is a non-denominational holiday celebrated on Dec. 23 (or sometimes earlier, to avoid the Christmas rush). Instead of a tree, a simple unadorned aluminum pole is displayed, in opposition to the highly decorated Christmas trees. Two of the main elements of the holiday that involve people are the annual Airing of Grievances and the Feats of Strength. There are Festivus Miracles too, but they're not officially required.

So to celebrate, here are my list of Legion grievances. Please add your own in the comments, but remember they only can cover calendar year 2007 (so no whining about anything that happened last year). In no particular order:

1. The Legion cartoon got all grim and gritty. After a fun first season, they totally revamped the characters, tone, and direction of the show. Producer James Tucker claims it was the network that wanted more action, so we essentially got rid of Saturn Girl, Phantom Girl, and Bouncing Boy in exchange for Kell-El and Chameleon Boy. No "fun" episodes like the one with the Subs last season. Emo trendy facial hair on Lightning Lad. Bouncing Boy as leader sub-plot never referred to again. A two-year gap. A grown-up Superman who has grown into his powers and doesn't need the Legion. I realize I'm not the intended audience, and while I do admit to enjoying the overall story arc, I wish it had come about differently.
   
   
2. The toy line from Mattel, announced and then quietly un-announced. We didn't find out until much later that the Big Box stores weren't interested in the line.
   
   
3. Does anyone realize that Karate Kid is in "Countdown"? Does anyone really care? They've been running this storyline for over 30 weeks and we haven't seen any sight of a good payoff. What a letdown after his appearances in the Lightning Saga story. Is Giffen going to kill him off a third time?
   
   
4. Speaking of which, Una? WTF? Has she shown a good reason to be in the present? And how did she get here?
   
   
5. Barry Kitson signing an exclusive with Marvel. That caused Waid and Kitson to have to wrap up their storyline six months early and cut a lot of stuff short. On top of that, Waid didn't want to continue on the book without Kitson and so we got a six-month long fill-in arc (though fairly competently) by Bedard and Calero.
   
   
6. Mike Grell is only doing a single cover (the alternate version) during the "Superman and the Legion" story in Action Comics. By his own admission, this is the only thing he's doing for the Legion's 50th anniversary.
   
   
7. The Legion cartoon DVD coming out on three separate DVD releases to complete Season 1, which will then be collected in a 3-disc set at some point in the future.
   
   
8. I'm disappointed in the sales figures, that more readers haven't been picking up the book. The Legion got the biggest bump in copies sold as a percentage of previous sales as a result of the line-wide "One Year Later" stunt, and all of those readers have now left. The book is back to its levels of where it would have been had Supergirl not joined. Of course, this is a DC-wide problem and not the Legion's, but still.
   
   
9. No girl characters in the Happy Meal toys.
   
   
10. Wikipedians didn't think my entry on Klordny was worth keeping, so it got deleted.
    
    
11. Someone forgot to do a spellcheck on the title of the final Lightning Saga storyline. Translated from Interlac into English, it reads "Tle Villain Is tle Lero in Lis Own Story".
    
    
12. Back in April, Dennis Calero had an interview with The Pulse in which he said that he was going to be the next Legion artist after Barry Kitson. Apparently he wasn't supposed to say anything yet (thanks, DC marketing, for the promotion there!), as the interview was revised shortly thereafter. Calero emailed me and asked me to pull my post in exchange for an interview later, which never took place. I'm sure that he probably simply forgot and I never made the attempt to get back to him, but still.
    Update later Friday night: after thinking about it, I rewrote this Grievance because I unintentionally put Dennis in a bad light the way it was originally written. Sorry Dennis!
    

Now to temper the List of Grievances, we also have some Festivus Miracles:

1. DC is actively promoting the Legion's 50th anniversary, starting more than a year in advance.
   
   
2. The Legion has buzz from two different writers: Geoff Johns (in Action Comics, and JLA/JSA with Brad Meltzer) and Jim Shooter.
   
   
3. There's a Legion cartoon, and it was such a big hit in its first season that it was renewed for a second season.
   
   
4. Happy Meal toys!
   
   
5. Mike Grell, Paul Levitz, Jim Shooter, Keith Giffen, Jim Lee, and George Perez have all either done or announced a project involving the Legion.
   
   
6. Wave after wave of Heroclix and Vs. cards.
   
   
7. The Legion season 1 episode featuring the tryouts and the Subs.
   

The last of the Festivus traditions is the Feats of Strength, in which the guests wrestle with and try to pin the host to the floor. I think I've been doing that all year long with my trivia (see past quizzes here), but here are three bonus questions for you to wrestle with.

1. Whose kids were Brin, Bran, and Loni?
   
2. Whose kids were Ronn and Arna?
   
3. Put these children (listed here alphabetically by last name) in chronological birth order: Lauren Gand, Pol Jath Krinn, and Dacey and Doritt Ranzz?