Wizard World '08, Day 2: Shooter's still here

Update: Wizard's coverage is up now. Apparently they had not posted anything from Friday or Saturday when I posted this Saturday afternoon.

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Hmmm, looks like there's a convention this weekend, Wizard World in Philly. Recapping Days 1 (DC Nation) and 2 (Crisis Now!) so far:

DC Nation, via Newsarama:

[From the comments] About the only piece of actual news that came from the panel was that Jim Shooter is still the writer on Legion of Superheroes.

Via CBR:

The next "Final Crisis" tie-in mentioned was "Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds," written by Geoff Johns with art by Crisis-veteran George Perez. The series will pull together the characters from three teams that have called themselves Legion of Super-Heroes, exploring the future that was shown in "Final Crisis" #1.

Via Wizard:

Q: Is Jim Shooter still on Legion?
Sattler: "Yes."

Final Crisis, via Newsarama:

Is Jim Shooter definitely the writer on Legion? “Yes, he has a minimum of a year’s worth of stories.”

Via CBR:

In "Legion of Three Worlds," "fans all Legions will have their cake and eat it too -- but two of those pieces won't taste as good as the other one."

Will FC clean up the Legion of Super-heroes?: "Oh God, I hope so."

Wizard didn't have anything.

Discussion follows at the DC message boards, Legion World, Newsarama, and CBR.


As for Wizard's site, it's crap. I can't navigate in either Firefox or IE, and I can't find any news ordered chronologically. If anyone finds any coverage of the panels, please leave it in the comments.

Collected Editions

Something for you to discuss while I take a vacation from the computer this holiday weekend...

Let's say, for the sake of discussion, that DC wants to come out with three new trade paperbacks of Legion material this summer/fall, but they have some specific criteria:

• One volume should be a tie-in of some sort with Final Crisis
  
• One volume should be a "Best Of" book, spotlighting a particular creator, creative team, character, or group
  
• One volume is your choice

Let's further stipulate that each volume should be roughly 200-250 pages, and can include stories that have been reprinted before.

My suggestions:

• Vol. 1: Since the Time Trapper is the villain in "Legion of Three Worlds", I'll use this as the Final Crisis tie-in. Issues to reprint: selected pages from Adventure #317, #318, #322 (Iron Curtain of Time); Adventure #321 (first major appearance); Adventure #338 (Super-Babies, Glorith app.); Superboy #223; Legionnaires 3 #1-4; Legion v3 #50 (Conspiracy); Legion v4 #4 (Mon-El vs TT); Legionnaires Annual #3 (XS). Maybe a bit too long, though.
  
  (I was startled to find that Time Trapper made so few appearances prior to the Crisis!)
  
  
• Vol. 2: Best of Jim Shooter (also ties in with his current v5 run). Issues to reprint: Adventure #346-347 (Karate Kid, Projectra, Ferro Lad), #352-353 (Fatal Five), #365 (Shadow Lass), #369-370 (Mordru), #373 (Tornado Twins), Superboy #211 (Roxxas), #212 (Super-Rejects), #213 (Ultra Boy), #218 (Absorbancy Boy), #219 (Duplicate Boy), #221 (Grimbor and Charma)
  
  
• Vol. 3: I guess I'd start with stuff that should be reprinted but hasn't yet. The first ones that stand out are the wedding of Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl (Superboy & the LSH #236, All-New Collector's Edition C-55), Earthwar (Superboy & the LSH #241-245), the Starlin stories (S/LSH #239, #250-251 but restored to how it was originally produced), and the "no Green Lanterns" story (LSH v2 #295).
  
  My other choice for vol. 3 would be Legion v2 #282-289, starting with Wildfire's origin and then continuing with Levitz/Broderick and Levitz/Giffen, leading up to the Great Darkness Saga, which has already been reprinted. The Reflecto Saga is too big to add to this volume, which I think is better than Reflecto (which immediately precedes it).
  

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Note: I chose the title for this post after the "Collected Editions" blog, who was kind enough to consult with me for some Legion trivia that they included with reviews of the various reprint volumes back in January. Here are the reviews of volume 2 ("Death of a Dream"), volume 3 ("Strange New Visitor"), volume 4 ("Adult Education"), and volume 5 ("Dominator War"). And read some collected Legion trivia from yours truly, parts 1, 2, 3, and 4, along with the answers. We worked the trivia out back in January but I never got around to thanking them.

Another Shooter rumor

It's the lead item in "Lying in the Gutters" this week...

Yeah, so what happened with that Jim-Shooter-off-Legion thing? Industry gossip has the move down to the "Legion Of Three Worlds" series that trampled on what Shooter saw as his plans for his series. And, so, vamoose.

Some observations:

1. When Shooter came on, he had to have known about the future plans for the Legion, including the L3W story. If not, Someone in DC editorial royally screwed up.

2. Don't people typically have a contract for these things?

Thing is, this sounds perfectly plausible. But you guys out there reading this keep up more with the message boards and stuff - has there been any "industry gossip" about this, or is it a self-sustaining story wherein Rich writes a note, fans talk about it on the message boards, and then Rich follows up saying that people are talking about it on the message boards so it must be true.

I've got RSS feeds and Google searches that regularly alert me to Legion-related news items and I've gotten nothing except items that ultimately point back to Rich's notes as the original source.

Am I missing something? Is there really a story here or is someone making a not-necessarily-logical "Shooter missed a convention, therefore he's leaving the book" connection?

Coming Distractions: Aug. 2008

Haven't done one of these in a few months. Here are the solicits for August, as Final Crisis and Legion of 3 Worlds gets ramped up. Interestingly, they are only showing slivers of some covers, I think this has to do with the trade dress or something.

THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES IN THE 31st CENTURY #17
Written by J. Torres
Art by Sanford Greene
Cover by Alexander Serra
A distress call from a stranded United Planets ship pits the Legion against a gang of Thanagarian pirates – and they’re not exactly carrying on Hawkman’s heroic legacy! The team will have to call in the big guns, but their best hope is 1,000 years away.
On sale August 13 • 32 pg, FC, $2.25 US

FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF THREE WORLDS #1
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by George Pérez & Scott Koblish
Covers by George Pérez
From the moment Kal-El landed on earth until the end of time, the Time Trapper has sought to erase Superman’s impact on the universe. But the Legion of Super-Heroes have always been there to stop him. This time, though, even the Legion won’t be enough. The Time Trapper has found the ultimate weapon to carry out his plan – a twisted mirror image of the boy of steel from a parallel Earth long dead: Superboy-Prime! Who will answer the Legion’s call for help? Find out here as the Crisis of the 31st century begins!
Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers by George Pérez that will ship in approximately 50/50 ratio. Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.
On sale August 20 • 1 of 5 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US



DC/WILDSTORM: DREAMWAR #5
Written by Keith Giffen
Art by Lee Garbett & Trevor Scott
Cover by Gene Ha
Things are looking grim for the heroes from both universes. The onslaught of an enraged mother nature and the always-psychotic villains of the DCU are proving to be more than the combined might of both universes’ heroes can handle.
On sale August 20 • 5 of 6, 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US



JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #18
Written by Geoff Johns & Alex Ross
Art and variant cover by Dale Eaglesham & Ruy Jose
Cover by Alex Ross
Magog is introduced into the DC Universe in “Gog” part 3! The last god of the Third World has walked the Earth delivering good will to men wherever he goes. But out of a violent confrontation comes the birth of the one being the Kingdom Come Superman must stop: Magog! Meanwhile, Starman struggles with his new role on the team and Damage celebrates his. Plus, Power Girl’s strange ordeal on Earth-2 leads her to seek out help from an unlikely source.
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 August 27 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US



LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #45
Written by Jim Shooter
Art and cover by Francis Manapul & John Livesay
A massive intruder planet has appeared near Jupiter – and its gravity is ripping apart the solar system! Under Brainiac 5’s guidance, Light Lass and Star Boy fight back, but they’ll have to do the impossible – moving planets – to end the chaos and carnage!
On sale August 27 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US



JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA: THE TORNADO’S PATH TP
Written by Brad Meltzer
Art by Ed Benes & Sandra Hope
Cover by Michael Turner
New York Times best-selling author Brad Meltzer (IDENTITY CRISIS, The Book of Fate) redefines the World's Greatest Super Team for a new generation in this trade paperback collecting issues #1-7 of the new series, with foldout pages, variant covers and much more!
Advance-solicited; on sale September 10 • 224 pg, FC, $17.99 US

Issue 7 was the one that introduced Karate Kid.



KINGDOM COME TP — NEW EDITION
Written by Mark Waid
Art and cover by Alex Ross
Eisner Award-winning artist Alex Ross provides an amazing new cover painting for this new edition of KINGDOM COME, which features a deluxe foldout cover only on its first printing! (Subsequent printings will not include the foldout.)
Written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Ross, this is the unforgettable, best-selling tale of a world spinning inexorably out of control. Waid and Ross weave a tale of youth versus experience, tradition versus change, and what defines a hero. KINGDOM COME is a riveting epic that pits the old guard – Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and their allies – against a new, uncompromising generation of heroes.
Advance-solicited; on sale September 10 • 232 pg, FC, $17.99 US



COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS VOL. 3 TP
Written by Paul Dini, Adam Beechen, Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, Tony Bedard and Sean McKeever
Art by Scott Kolins, Tom Derenick, Jamal Igle, Howard Porter, Jesus Saiz and others
Cover by Stefane Roux
In this third COUNTDOWN collection, featuring stories from issues #25-13, Jimmy Olsen’s unpredictable super-powers bring him to the attention of Darkseid!
Advance-solicited; on sale September 24 • 296 pg, FC, $19.99 US

Reprints



THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES: ENEMY RISING HC
Written by Jim Shooter
Cover by Francis Manapul & Livesay
Art by Francis Manapul, Aaron Lopresti & Livesay
Collecting LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #37-44, ENEMY RISING features the work of legendary, returning LEGION writer Jim Shooter, with spectacular art by Francis Manapul! Can Lightning Lad grow into his new role as Legion Leader in time to help the team stop an evil from beyond the fringes of the universe?
Advance-solicited; on sale October 15 • 192 pg, FC, $19.99 US



DC UNIVERSE ILLUSTRATED BY NEAL ADAMS VOL. 1 HC
Written by Robert Kanigher, Bob Haney, Gardner Fox, Neal Adams, Cary Bates, Len Wein and Howard Liss
Art by Neal Adams, Joe Kubert, Nick Cardy, Dick Dillin, Steve Harper and Vince Colletta
Cover by Neal Adams
At last, it’s here – the first of three hardcover volumes collecting nearly every DC Comics story and cover by Neal Adams not already collected in GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW, BATMAN or DEADMAN titles! Featuring rarely seen stories from OUR ARMY AT WAR #182, 183 and 186, STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #134 and 144, DETECTIVE COMICS #369, TEEN TITANS #20-22, ACTION COMICS #425, SUPERMAN #254, WEIRD WAR TALES #12 and 13 and more!
Advance-solicited; on sale October 22 • 192 pg, FC, $39.99 US

This one is interesting, but too high-priced for me. Adams did about a dozen covers to Adventure Comics in 1968-69, you'll recall.

New sales report: a Shooter tie-in?

Last time I did one of these sales charts was back in February after the first Shooter/Manapul issue and halfway through the "Superman and the Legion" run in Action Comics. Let's look at sales in the quarter since then. Unfortunately, Action didn't ship during the reporting period here, so I'll have to wait til next month to finish that up.

Anyway, so this guy Ontir over at the CBR boards makes this claim (and thanks to Schwapp!!! for the heads-up):

I'd heard, more than a year ago, that Johns was going to take over shortly after the Bedard run. Shooter was going to come in and do a fill-in, leading up to Final Crisis, and Waid.2 Legion would cross-over with the Legion of the Lightning Saga, leading to Johns returning the Levitz era, pre-Crisis Legion, essentially intact afterwards.

Then, allegedly as a face-saving measure, it was decided that admitting complete failure on the re-launch was a bad move, and Shooter was made permanent, but as they say @ Grace Bros., "Our figures are slipping." So who knows now.

Now, I don't read the CBR boards so I have no idea if this guy is credible or not. Perhaps a reader can inform me in the comments. But let's take a look at the numbers.

From the May 2nd edition of The Beat:

63 - THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES
03/2002: Legion #6........... — 24,603*
03/2003: Legion #18.......... — 23,180
03/2004: Legion #31.......... — 24,870
03/2005: Legion of SH #4..... — 41,756 [43,408]
03/2006: Supergirl & LoSH #16 — 47,426 [54,788]
—————————————
03/2007: –
04/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #28 — 31,525 (+ 0.4%)
04/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #29 — 30,906 (- 2.0%)
05/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #30 — 30,767 (- 0.5%)
06/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #31 — 30,385 (- 1.2%)
07/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #32 — 29,826 (- 1.8%)
08/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #33 — 29,315 (- 1.7%)
09/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #34 — 28,294 (- 3.5%)
10/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #35 — 27,370 (- 3.3%)
11/2007: Supergirl & LoSH #36 — 26,814 (- 2.0%)
12/2007: Legion of SH #37.... — 45,803 (+70.8%)
01/2008: Legion of SH #38.... — 33,045 (-27.9%)
02/2008: Legion of SH #39.... — 31,123 (- 5.8%)
03/2008: Legion of SH #40.... — 30,377 (- 2.4%)
—————-
6 months: + 7.4%
1 year : n.a.
2 years : -36.0%
5 years : +31.1%

After the bizarre boost for issue #37, the numbers are now back where the previous regular creative team left off. It looks like retailers really went overboard with their orders for writer Jim Shooter’s debut issue.

Looking at the data and at the plot, I don't buy it (no pun intended). Sales can't be the reason, after just 2 or 3 issues. They brought him in with a 16-issue arc and there's no way they'd come to an alternate decision so quickly -- if Shooter is leaving in the first place.

Bits of Legionnaire Business

Bits of Legionnaire Business...

• Slay, Monstrobot of the Deep!!, on Action Comics Annual 11:
  

  No, the sad fact is, right now Geoff Johns is the horse pulling the DC Universe cart, and whatever he says, goes. He IS DC continuity right now, no matter what anybody else writes. What he wants to happen for the Legion is what's going to happen, period, and now it looks like Jim Shooter is being booted off in favor of Johns. Johns has his pet theories about the "emotional spectrum" in Green Lantern, and now much of DC ret-conned to reflect that. He wanted the pre-Crisis Superman back, so he waves his wand and huzzah--with no notice or explanation young Clark Kent hung with the Legion, all colors of Kryptonite are back in play, etc. And if he wants to banish certain characters to the Phantom Zone, well, why the hell should he bother to inform Kurt Busiek, anyway?
  
  Remember...DC doesn't have continuity, it has wikinuity. And Geoff Johns is the one with the eraser.
  
  BONUS KONTINUITY KOP PREDICTION:
  Hmmm...Young Chris Kent is trapped in the Phantom Zone for the foreseeable future. Geoff Johns is writing the Legion of 3 Worlds, and probably taking over the regular Legion title. Hmmm, do I smell a way to introduce a NEW Superboy to the Legion, one who is not Clark Kent and thus maybe not subject to the strictures of current legal proceedings?? You read it here first...

  
  
• From the DC Nation panel at last weekend's Emerald City ComicCon in Seattle:
  

  Another audience member jokingly asked if Superman, Batman or Wonder Woman were Skrulls. This led to Didio jumping off the podium to assist the fan with his questions after noticing the fan was carrying a whole sheet of questions.
  
  Busiek, however, was willing to entertain the fan’s question and responded, “The answer to your question is that Iron Man is a Durlan.”
  
  With regards to “DC Universe” #0, one audience member stated that they had difficulty following it, as it was so entrenched in continuity. The fan then asked if DC would be putting out more books that were “new reader”-friendly. Didio responded the Straczynki’s run on “Brave and the Bold” would be fulfilling that purpose, and turned the microphone over to the writer.
  
  “In taking over the ‘Brave and the Bold’ for DC, what I want to do is make it a sampler platter for those who want to sample the DC Universe. They’re going to be standalone stories - at most two issue arcs, but mostly one issue arcs to try to bring together people who we haven’t seen a whole lot working together in the course of the DC Universe.”
  
  Straczynski then went on to list some of his planned team-ups for the series, and it was quite a list: Batman and the (Jim Corrigan) Spectre, Lex Luthor and Swamp Thing, Deadman and Wonder Woman, Flash (Barry Allen) and the Blackhawks, Batman and Dial H for Hero, Constantine and Eclipso, Doom Patrol and the Legion of Super-Heroes, Superman and Sgt. Rock, Two-Face and Hawk and Dove, Challengers of the Unknown and the Metal Men, and the Legion of Substitute Heroes and the Inferior Five.
  
  The audience applauded loudly in approval at the last pairing.

  
  
• CBR's Urban Legends Revealed covers Jim Shooter's return to the Legion the first time, in the early 1970s, as a result of an interview in the original Legion Outpost fanzine.
  
  
• The Platinum edition of Wizard #200 (but not the Gold edition) Wizard has a preview (the first five pages) of "Legion of 3 Worlds". Holy crap, check out that cover! Sweeeet.
  
  
• More lists: Den of Geek's 10 Comic Book Characters Who Should Never Make It To Film (including Arm-Fall-Off Boy) and Cracked's The 6 Creepiest Comic Book Characters of All Time (including Proty I).
  
  
• John Seavy looks at the Legion as a Storytelling Engine, those "variety of different elements that act to help the writer in generating ideas for stories", such as an instantly accessible premise and identifiable character names.
  
  
• DC Universe #0 has a second printing coming out on May 28, same day as Final Crisis #1. The new cover has new Perez art on the Legion section (but I haven't seen it yet). Newsarama talked with Geoff Johns about the issue.
  
  
• Although it's been cancelled, the animated Legion cartoon got Daytime Emmy nominations for Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Music Direction and Composition.
  
  
• Paul and John Review the Time Trapper (Not Approved), except for one instance which you'll have to see for yourself.
  
  
• The Spring 2008 issue of the San Diego Comic Con's magazine has a "History 101" on the Legion. For those of you who didn't know, the Legion's 50th Anniversary is a theme this year.
  
  
• Comics Should Be Good recently ran a reader's poll on the top 100 comic runs. The Legion made it twice: the Giffen/Bierbaum run at #44 and the Levitz/Giffen run at #29.
  
  
• Major Spoilers has their latest Hero History up, this one covering the White Witch.
  
  
• Progressive Ruin looks at some early 70s stories in a Legion-palooza: why does Clark really knock out Lana with those apples, the metaphysics of time travel, and being space-crazy.
  
  
• Christopher "Mighty God King" Bird's reasons #39 (Shadow Lass and The Shade) and #40 (Saturn Girl is the biggest badass on the team) on why he should write the Legion.
  

Déjà Vu 10: Variations on a theme

Variations on a theme...

Legion of 3 Worlds #1, DC Universe #0

Rumor: Shooter off the Legion already?

From today's "Lying in the Gutters" about this past weekend's Bristol Comics Convention:

Jim Shooter's non-attendance was due to being dropped off "Legion" by DC.

Say what? Shooter was supposed to have had a 16-issue arc planned.

Here are threads on CBR, Newsarama, DC's message boards, and Legion World where nobody can believe it either.

Trivia answers #23

Good turnout this month. I guess you were all ready for some real trivia after last month's April Fool's version.

1. To within +/- 2 years, how long (comic book time) did the Legion exist from the time they saved R. J. Brande and formed the Legion until the 30th century was wiped out in Zero Hour? (Count Pre-Crisis, Post-Crisis, and Glorithverse as one timeline for purposes of this question)

Many people forgot about the fact that Legion leaders were elected once per year, so you can use that as the starting point. Of course, not everyone has the Legion leaders memorized. Magic Wars was Year 17, v4 started five years later in Year 22, and Zero Hour happened sometime late in Year 23.

2. What happened on July 6, 2992?

Per the 2995 Sourcebook, that's the date the Legion officially disbanded.

3. According to the semi-official timeline in the 2995 Sourcebook, what is the date of the Legion's founding?

January 6, 2973.

4. Who were the last Legionnaires to join prior to the Mordruverse reboot, the Zero Hour reboot, and the Infinite Crisis reboot?

Prior to Mordruverse: the last to join was during the Five Year Gap. Calamity King joined about 6 weeks before the Legion disbanded.

Prior to Zero Hour reboot: The Legion had disbanded and reformed during the Five Year Gap, so Wildfire, aka NRG was the last to join up with the new team.

Infinite Crisis: Superboy (Kon-El) joined up just before the end of the series.

5. Who travelled through time to join the Legion?

"Join" is pretty ambiguous, so I allowed "meet up with" as well as "became a member of". Here's my list:

Pre-Crisis: Superboy, Supergirl, Elastic Lad, Insect Queen, Pete Ross, Krypto, Comet, Beppo, Streaky, Anti-Lad

Post-Crisis: RJ Brande, Pocket Universe Superboy

Glorithverse: SW6 Valor (I think - I can't keep this timeline straight)

Post-Zero Hour: Ferro, Thunder, Kon-el

Post-Infinite Crisis: Supergirl

Kingdom Come: Superboy, Supergirl

Cartoon: Superman, Kell-El

DCAU cartoon: Supergirl

I didn't count Mon-El, who didn't technically travel in time (he spent it all in the Phantom Zone) or any of the Imaginary Stories.

6. Not counting Superboy or Supergirl, name seven people who the Legion (or Legionnaires) have met from pre-destruction Krypton.

Pick and choose from among Dev-Em, all the characters from The War Between Krypton and Atlantis, Phantom Zone villains (Mon-El met them all, though only General Zod, Faora, and Jax-Ur were frequently shown with him), Jor-El, Lara, Mighty Gazor, Earth-2 Superman and Power Girl, Superboy Prime, Pocket Universe Superboy, Brainiac (cartoon version), and the Eradicator. Krypto and Beppo don't count as people.

7. Who appeared as a member of the Adult Legion before they joined the "present" Legion?

While not all of them were shown to be members of the Adult Legion, Polar Man, Chemical King, Reflecto, Shadow Woman, White Witch, Timber Wolf, and Power Boy were shown to have been Legionnaires somewhere between Adventure 354 and the future. In the letters page discussing this story (ADV 358), the editor says that "Color King [was] among those who were absent on mission[s]", but he didn't actually appear.

Trivia Quiz #23

Theme: Time in a Bottle

It's the return of the Time Trapper! He's the one responsible for Pocket Universes, several Legion reboots, the Byrne reboot of Superman, Keith Giffen's hatred for Karate Kid, the cancellation of the animated Legion series, and global warming.

But today, "time" is the theme of this quiz. Time Has Come Today! As Time Goes By! Time, See What's Become of Me! Ain't Wastin' Time No More! The Best of Time, Borrowed Time, One More Time, Closing Time, Feels Like the First Time, If I Could Turn Back Time, Love Me Two Times, Party Time, Only Time Will Tell, Time After Time, Time Passages, Wasted Time, the Time Warp, and of course, the Time Bubble!

1. To within +/- 2 years, how long (comic book time) did the Legion exist from the time they saved R. J. Brande and formed the Legion until the 30th century was wiped out in Zero Hour? (Count Pre-Crisis, Post-Crisis, and Glorithverse as one timeline for purposes of this question)

2. What happened on July 6, 2992?

3. According to the semi-official timeline in the 2995 Sourcebook, what is the date of the Legion's founding?

4. Who were the last Legionnaires to join prior to the Mordruverse reboot, the Zero Hour reboot, and the Infinite Crisis reboot?

5. Who travelled through time to join the Legion?

6. Not counting Superboy or Supergirl, name seven people who the Legion (or Legionnaires) have met from pre-destruction Krypton.

7. Who appeared as a member of the Adult Legion before they joined the "present" Legion?

Hurry, you don't have much time!

Déjà Vu 9: In the Sights

Someone's taking aim at the Legion, including the latest issue....

Multiversal retconitis: a mis-diagnosis

Last summer, I diagnosed Batman with "multiversal retconitis". It was an attempt to explain why Batman had met three (four?) different Legions in the past but not said anything about it - perhaps the reboots had messed with his mind, making him forget.

Apparently not.

In what looks like a shout-out to me, Geoff Johns addressed this very issue (minus the term "multiversal retconitis") in this week's Action 864:

Batman: I think the future's always changing. I've met three different Legions, Clark.

Superman: You've dealt with the Crime Syndicate and the Justice Society's Superman. You've seen doppelgangers --

Batman: Not from the future.

Superman: Years ago, the Legion met two others. Brainy theorized they were from parallel Earths.

Batman: So we're talking about three worlds?

Even if it's not a shout-out to me personally, I'm glad to see it was addressed. I have a feeling that somewhere, somehow in the "Legion of Three Worlds" story they'll address the v4-era Legion since the Time Trapper was involved there as well as in the upcoming miniseries.

The Legion of Super-Potatoes

I... I don't know what to say.

What better time for comic creator Martin Hand to finally find the answer to the age old question: what if the Legion of Super-Heroes were potatoes...?

Go to the World of Agwu for more, including Colossal Potato, Shrinking Potato, Invisible Potato, Triplicate Potato, Phantom Potato, Chameleon Potato, Matter-Eater Potato, Infectious Potato, and of course, Valor.

(Via Down the Tubes)

Previously: the Legion of Super-Peeps, the Legion of Simpsons Heroes

Hot Gossip, silver jumpsuits, and the Legion

Continuing our theme of bizarre costumes today, if you thought Dawnstar wearing Dior was odd, check this out. Bearzbub was right:

Hot Gossip + blondie tune + silver outfits from the future + legion of super-heroes comic book = my mind blown

Here's a Youtube video of an 80s group called Hot Gossip. Think of your worst early 80s comic book costumes and think how they'd look on real people (kind of like old Legion transsuits, actually). Then think of them dancing to a Blondie song in a subway. And amidst all that, Bob Geldof is holding a Legion comic.



Click on the picture to watch the video.

Dawnstar, wearing Dior, in Vogue Magazine

Via Trendhunter and PopFi (two sites not often mentioned here):

The Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC will be hosting a spring exhibit called "Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy." The show, hosted by Giorgio Armani, will open Wednesday May 7th and run through Sept. 1st. Some of the costumes are featured in the May issue of Vogue Magazine (who had this press conference in February). Among those costumes (loosely) inspired by super-heroes and super-villains are Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Dawnstar, and those not pictured include Superman, Batman, Punisher, Flash, Ghost Rider, Iron Man, and more. Read this press release (which actually sounds interesting) for more on teacher workshops, movie screenings, and other details. And of course, there'll be the traditional exhibition book.

UNEARTHLY ANGEL: The product of genetic engineering, Dawnstar has a pair of feathered wings. When the out-of-this-world heroine is in deep space, she can travel faster than the speed of light. And when she's in a custom sequined Dior Haute Coture dress, one look is enough to devastate any archnemesis.

I wonder what Greybird will think of this?

Earth Day

Careful how you use it, or you might lose it!

New York Comic Con '08: day 3

Today's panel: Final Crisis.

CBR and Newsarama only mention that the Legion will be in one of the miniseries, the previously known Legion of 3 Worlds.

Newsarama reports that at the DC/Mattel panel:

The panel took a question about potential Legion of Superheroes figures, stating that they are still searching for the proper venue for these characters.

More on yesterday's Legion panel, from the DC message boards from poster "7thunders":

Paul said today at the con that people shouldn't blame John Byrne. There were many proposals for SUPERMANS revamp and Johns was picked. He said with books, big events happens and as a publisher its great for sales but as a writer it suck. AND HE SAID THAT! He said that often you have to work with what is given to you and that writers have to make a decision to either carry on with what you are given or pass it to someone else that might be able to do something with it. Supermans revamp was a bigger decision than people think and lots of writers had a proposal. The effect it had on the Legion wasn't perfect, but they had to work with it. The 50th Anniversary Panel with Levitz and Griffen was one of the best panels I've been to in over a decade age. They weren't bitter.. they weren't overly funny... they both spoke plain and honest and as two friends sitting together.

And in another message:

Anything would be better. BUT...at the time... they were ordered "NO SUPERBOY" which is why Giffen had to do the Mordru change of perception in issue 4? 8? By the way .. Griffen did not want to talk about the question asked. He said: " No...lets not go there". It was Levitz that explained that there were many proposals for the SUPERMAN "New" story and that Byrnes was the most accepted and that John ( he called all creators by only their first names) was not to be blamed for the after affect. That it was the effect of any large crossovers that writers had to deal with. Again, he said, from a publisher view crossovers are great for sales...but as a writer it sucks and that he hated them as a writer.

New York Comic Con '08: day 2 (update #2 with Legion panel news)

Today was the Countdown to Final Crisis panel and the Legion 50th Anniversary panels.

From Newsarama:
The Legion takes up the middle third of the cover to Final Countdown #1:

Johns discussed his current run of Action Comics, saying he'll be using Brainiac and that more will be touched on with the Legion of Super-Heroes. He reminded the crowd that James Robinson is taking over Superman in June, and the books will "begin to link up."

"Will there be one continuity for Legion of Super-Heroes"? Johns: "Can't tell you." Morrison: "We may have one, but there'll be 300 guys in it."

The panelists were asked to name their favorite member of the Legion of Super-Heroes? Johns said Lightning Lad was his favorite, and many picked Saturn Girl.

Via CBR:

A fan asked if after Final Crisis there will be just one Legion in continuity, to which Johns laughed, "You know I can't tell you that."

In the Legion Of Three Worlds #1, the Legion goes into the Phantom Zone to rescue Mon-El, and they meet General Zod. "And they fight," Johns said.

Via Wizard World:

Johns teased the following for his upcoming summer arc on Action: “We’ve got Brainiac coming up, and Multi-the Multi Alien, too. Gary Frank and I are setting our sights on Brianiac and hoping to make him scary instead of goofy. James Robinson comes on Superman in June, and the books are going to link up a lot more. We’re going to do more Legion stuff too.”

With Robinson's "Superman" and Johns' "JSA" and "Action", I wonder if we'll see more about Starman (Jack Knight) and Starman (Thom Kallor)?

As of this moment, only Wizard has the Legion panel. I'm not going to reprint the whole thing, but here are highlights. Levitz, Giffen, and current editor Mike Marts were the guests, and the panel was moderated by Peter Sanderson.

"The Legion came before the Justice League, Teen Titans and X-Men," says Sanderson. "It really deserves a lot of credit for creating the modern superhero team book."

Levitz gave props to former Legion writers Jerry Siegel, Ed Hamilton and Jim Shooter (who started at age 13 in the 1960s and recently took the Legion reins again). "Jerry Siegel brought a sense of humor, he kept the tongue firmly in cheek," Levitz said. "Ed Hamilton, one of the great sci-fic writers, brought in the space opera and first sense of scale. He brought The Legion to bigger scope and scale. Shooter brought a sense of character to the Legion; it's bizarre to have a 13-year-old have that sense of humanity."

There was the comparison to the X-Men: a teenage cast, diverse backgrounds and varying powers. But Marvel's mutants also forced change in the future team by creating a stronger sense of diversity through different cultures. Said Levitz: "A lot of early comics characters weren't even WASPs—they were WASs. They didn't even have the Protestant distinction. Then the [1970s] X-Men came along to give diversity and The Legion adapted well."

To Giffen, the Legion was "always about the price of heroism and that they're willing to pay it."

Over its 50 years, the Legion has been rebooted several times. The panelists were asked their thoughts on them. "I know one was great," Giffen deadpanned to audience laughter. (Giffen pushed continuity "five years later" in the late 1980s creating a darker vision of the Legion; it created much controversy.) "I knew I didn't want to spend a year deconstructing what Paul did, so I bumped it five years later, always planning to return it to what Paul did."

"It's like someone messing with your kids," said Levitz. "It's not that the next guys are wrong or less legit than yours. But these are your children. 'It's MY kid you gave the piercings to.'"

Giffen was called on the carpet for wanting to kill Legion stalwart Karate Kid; he helped kill him with Levitz in the mid-1980s and he also plotted the character's demise again recently in Countdown to Final Crisis. "I only agreed to do Legion so I could kill him," Giffen said. "If I go on it again, he's dead. Two words: super karate. Hey, everybody in the field has a character they hate. I just have the bad taste to say it out loud."

Marts elaborated on the Legion's immediate future. "Shooter has a very intricate plot coming up, perhaps even a wedding. And we'll have a major Legion-related project coming out toward the end of year."

To sum up, Levitz put the panel into perspective: "Legion does fairly well. It may not be the biggest seller, and yet this room is full of people who care about it, and it's delightful to have people give a damn."

Amusing anecdote from the Mysterious Cloaked Figure:

At one point, Levitz couldn't recall an issue number where he had a certain plot point, and an excited fan shouted out the specific number to the shocked creators. “Are...are you serious?” asked Giffen. “I...I think he's right,” said Levitz in amazement.

New York Comic Con '08: day 1

Friday was the DC Nation panel at the New York Comic Con.

Via Newsarama:

DiDio then said they've decided to do something "just for this group" in the panel room. He then asked the crowd who read 52 and was familiar with Rip Hunter and the Time Lords, leading him to say he's going to debut the "DC Nation Time Lords." A board, like Rip Hunter's in 52, came on the screen for 15 seconds with several cryptic sayings like "I am Batman?"

A fan asked if, in current DC continuity, Clark Kent wore a suit flying around Smallville, as Superboy - Johns said it'll be addressed and wait and see.

Over at Legion World, they point out that one of the things on the board is "1,000 / 3 = 1", suggesting that a single Legion will form out of the Legion of Three Worlds.

Newsarama also has some video interviews with Dan DiDio. In this one, he talks about Final Crisis, Legion of Three Worlds, & DCU #0.

CBR doesn't really have that much to add:

How big a part will Superman-Prime play in Final Crisis? "He goes into the 31st century in Legion of Three Worlds... and he kind of does his thing," Johns remarked.

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Here's what's going on at the rest of the convention:

Saturday panels:
DCU: Countdown to Crisis

Sr. VP / Executive Editor Dan DiDio, VP / Sales Bob Wayne and Senior Coordinating Editor Jann Jones, Geoff Johns (Action Comics, Green Lantern), Grant Morrison (Batman, Final Crisis), Ethan Van Sciver (Justice League of America, Green Lantern), J.G. Jones (Final Crisis), Stephanie Roux (Birds of Prey), Gary Frank (Action Comics) and others for a panel that's not to be missed. The Sinestro War has passed, the Countdown is nearly over, and a Final Crisis looms! What lies ahead for our favorite heroes? Find out here!

Legion of Superheroes 50th Anniversary

Join the creators of Legion for a look back on 50 years of adventures and stories, moderated by comic book historian Peter Sanderson.

Sunday panels:
FINAL CRISIS - Grant Morrison

The Countdown is over and a Final Crisis looms. Only one man has the answers to this Universe changing event, and we've got him live for the hour! Join Grant Morrison, JG Jones and other special guests for this insider's look at the year's biggest event!

Annotated "Legion of 3 Worlds"; History of the DC Universe

Newsarama has an annotated version of the "Legion of Three Worlds" teaser (the one with XS). George Perez narrates.

I'm proud to say I'm geeky enough that I didn't need the annotations.

On an unrelated topic, this appears at the bottom of this Newsarama article discussing DC Direct figures based on the Wolfman/Perez "History of the DC Universe"):

NRAMA: Any hope here in the History line for Legion fans?

GB: Well they do appear in the book so anything is possible. I’d like to try a classic Legion line from the period known for the “Cockrum” costume designs. It is arguably the most requested Legion interpretation and if that didn’t work then there just isn’t enough of a market to support them.