Déjà Vu 18: Mon-El

On the left, Mon-El by Giffen and Gordon. On the right, Mon-El by Jim Lee and Scott Willaims (the variant cover to this week's LSH v6 #4).

 

RIP: KC Ryan (of Klordny APA)

Via James Ricklef, in the comments to a post from last week:

I hate to bring this celebration down, but I figured that most of the people coming here have some connection to the APA, Klordny.

I just want to let people know that KC Ryan, former Klordny CM, passed away recently. He had stage four cancer and died in his sleep at his parents' home, where he was in hospice.

Very sad news. KC was a great guy, and he contributed a lot to Legion fandom. He'll be missed.

KC had a blog at KC Ryan's Word Balloons, last updated in June. Here's his obituary, published in the San Jose paper.

Paul Levitz on Facebook

For those of you on Facebook, did you know that you can be Facebook Friends with Paul Levitz? He appears to be friending everyone who asks, and he engages the fans with comments, replies, small posts, big notes, hints about what he's writing at the moment, and teases for upcoming issues. Here's a sample, a note (which he gave permission to repost) which discusses this week's Adventure 517:

On adding to history

by Paul Levitz on Thursday, August 12, 2010 at 9:10pm

 

A couple of thoughts following up on the comments on ADVENTURE this month:

Any time you go back to tell an old story, the odds are something will change; it can be a nuance, or a revelation of an incident or fact that was untold but that isn't contradictory, or an outright revision of the tale.  I've done all three in the past. Some of each have stuck and become time-honored lore (Universo and Rond Vidar as Green Lanterns, GiGi and Colossal Boy as SP trainees, and on and on).  Some don't stick--they get revised by the original writer as he rethinks the tale, or by a subsequent storyteller.  It's part of the form.

In any case, my goal with the Saturn Girl-Cosmic Boy moment was what I call an "under-reveal"--something we haven't known before, but that doesn't contradict what we know of the character.  The current ADVENTURE arc is very much Saturn Girl's formative tale.  We know from tales going back to my childhood that she's not shy about using her powers on her colleagues when she thinks it's for the good of the team, and hasn't always been right about that...  We know she fell in love with Lightning Lad, but not when or how, or much about her emotional life before then.  Before the arc ends with events that include ADVENTURE #304, hopefully her journey to maturity will be more nuanced and realistic. The Legionnaires are not children--however old their calendar ages (and I'll leave that to indexers to debate)--if they're being allowed to place themselves in harm's way, and to be responsible for the lives of others, they're acting as adults and that extends across the wide spectrum of life.  Which doesn't mean they're all entirely ready for that, or will all make wise decisions.

There will be a direct contradiction or two in the story arc before it's done, but I think it's a logical application of the Legion lore that followed #304 back onto that earlier storyline.  We'll see how readers react as it rolls out...three more issues to go.

In any case, I appreciate the debate, and the passion Legion fans have for these characters as people.  Whether you agree with my treatment of them or not, the goal is to make them more complex and interesting...and a measure of controversy isn't surprising or disappointing.  Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Happy Klordny Week 2010!

Hey, we're in Klordny Week already! Since 1995, Klordny Week has been celebrated in the week or so that contains my birthday (August 13) and sometimes Elvis Appreciation Day (August 16). It first appeared in Superboy and the LSH 232 (10/77), written by Gerry Conway.

How do you celebrate? By dancing and partying!

Do me a favor, Lightning Lad, shut up and dance!

Why do you celebrate? I'm not telling you!





What's the Ritual Klordny Toast?





You can never have too much Frunt. Others celebrating (whether they know it or not) include Cold Frunt Productions, Frunt's flickr photos, Frunt's Myspace page, the Frunt Room, signs by Frunt, and a map of the town of Frunt, in Graubunden, Ostschweiz, Switzerland, and none other than Erwin Frunt!. Sadly, Yahoo Answers doesn't get it.

Trivia Quiz #50

I decided extend the deadline one more month for your trivia questions, you guys can take over Quiz #51. Email me your favorite trivia questions and I'll make the next quiz all yours.

So this trivia quiz is based on where I've been lately.

1. The Alex Ross booth in San Diego had a huge floor-to-ceiling banner of his giant Legion litho that he did for the Warner Bros. Stores. When/where else have we seen Alex Ross draw/paint the Legion as a group or individuals, not counting Superman or Supergirl

2. In LA, I went to Venice Beach. When the Legion played the New Teen Titans in volleyball (in a published DC comic!), who was on each team?

3. In San Diego they announced that a set of 12 action figures would be released next year. Of those 12, which ones have never had any kind of 3-dimensional figure commercially released before? Remember that the Legionnaires of one timeline/continuity are not the same as those of another.

4. Paul Levitz announced that we'll see a Legion election soon. Assuming for the moment that his stories more or less remain canon up through the end of the Magic Wars, which Legionnaire had been elected leader the most number of times to that point?

5. Vegas is all about money. Name five types of money from different worlds in the 30th/31st century.

6. In Canada, they talk funny (at least to me, they do!). Which Legionnaire(s) has/have a distinctive accent or speech pattern different from "standard" (meaning everyone else)?

7. In Las Vegas you have to be 21 to drink alcohol. Before the Legionnaires grew up to drink Silverale, they drank kono juice. Where did we first see kono juice?

Bits of Legionnaire Business

I still have my San Diego wrap-up to do - you guys learned more about what happened at the con than I did, and I was there - but here are some Bits of Legionnaire Business to hold you over in the meantime.

SMALLVILLE

Via TV Guide:

What can you tell me about the returns of Brainiac and Supergirl on Smallville? — Jeff
ADAM: James Marsters returns as Brainiac 5, who, despite being a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the comic books, executive producer Kelly Souders describes as "a slippery fish" with a questionable moral compass. As for Supergirl, expect her to have a more dramatic impact this time around: "She's going to shake up the world for our superheroes," Souders says.

Members of the Smallville message board on the CWTV site discuss which Legionnaires they want to see this season.

TOYS

Toyfare #158 apparently cover-features the Legion figures from Mattel.

The Fwoosh has a very long discussion thread on the Legion 12-pack, starting the day they were revealed in San Diego up through today.

Joe Acevedo has some new custom Legion figures, as does glwannabe at the DC Direct message board.
 
LSH v6

Photon Torpedoes looks at the Jim Lee alternate version covers so far. Over on Twitter, Jim briefly discussed who's going to be on which cover:

So I've been doing these variant covers for Paul Levitz and @ycinar great run on Legion. Need a quintessential 80s Legionnaire for that slot 11:40 AM Jul 29th via Echofon

Had Superboy for 50s cvr, Chameleon Boy for 60s, Saturn Girl for 70s. Just did Mon-el in his "5 years later" Giffen costume for 90s. 11:45 AM Jul 29th via Echofon

Already locked in for 00 choice (a current Legionnaire). 80s still up in the air...any Legion fans out there? 11:46 AM Jul 29th via Echofon 

Down to Tellus, Dawnstar, Sensor Girl and Timberwolf... 12:03 PM Jul 29th via Echofon 

Kello explains why he doesn't like the Legion, while Chris Sims explains why the Legion does work. Let's you and him fight!

The trade paperback for the first 6-issue arc of v6 is available for preorder on Amazon: "The Choice" will be available next April.

MISC

Here's a pinup by Francis Manapul showing Superboy and the Legion (in his Adventure Comics style).  



Doug Wolk explains why the v4 "Five Years Later" Legion should be reprinted.

Legion gathering at Dragon*Con

Just found this via a Google Alert - anyone going to Dragon*Con this year? That's a big con for costumers, and it turns out that there's going to be a big Legion presence. Over 20 people will be participating and dressing up as various Legionnaires on Sunday. See this post for more info.

If you're going, I hope you are able to get photos.

There is going to be a Legion of Super-Heroes photoshoot/meetup Sunday at Dragoncon (currently set for 6pm Sunday at the Hilton Steps).

Any and all Legionnaires, subs, or supporting members (or villains!) are welcome!  Multiple versions of characters are canon (*cough*Legion of Three Worlds*cough*) so duplicate character signups are embraced!  We've already got some cool new costumes debuting at Dragoncon, and it'd be great if we could make this a huge gathering of Legionnaires in costume!

Trivia Answers #49

Answers to July's Trivia Quiz #49. I was going to turn the column over to the readers for Quiz #50 but I haven't gotten enough questions yet, so please send them in. I'll save them for #51, I've already got a bunch for the next quiz.

1. Who were Jilly, Helen, Charlie, Sophie, Donna, and Jane?

Jilly Major, Helen Cage, Charlie Woodcock, Sophie Desjardins, Donna Ferri and Jane Washington-Carver were Inferno's mall-rat friends in her mini-series.

2. Name the 5 LSH members who held wands in an attempt to attract lightning and revive the dead Lightning Lad.

Superboy, Lightning Lass, Mon-El, Chameleon Boy, and Sun Boy. If you said Saturn Girl, you were wrong, because it was really Proty in disguise.

3. Fortress Lad was from Fwang, in the 30th century. When did we see residents of Fwang in the 20th/21st century?

Gerry Jones, who wrote the story introducing Fortress Lad in the Secret Origins of the LSH Clubhouse story, was also the writer of Green Lantern: Mosaic, starring John Stewart on a mosaic-planet composed of cities from many worlds. One such world was Fwang, as seen here in GL: Mosaic #10 (his first and only appearance).

4. Dave Cockrum redesigned a number of Legionnaires' costumes when he was artist. Here's an alphabetical list of those Legionnaires, put them in chronological order of when Cockrum changed their costumes. (Note: in several stories, multiple Legionnaires got new costumes; these 12 Legionnaires got new costumes in a total of 6 different stories.)

• Chameleon Boy
• Colossal Boy
• Duo Damsel
• Element Lad
• Light Lass
• Lightning Lad
• Phantom Girl
• Princess Projectra
• Shadow Lass
• Shrinking Violet
• Star Boy
• Timber Wolf

I guess this was too trivial! Although I should have said that these costumes were either redesigned by Cockrum or first brought into a story by him, I didn't get much luck at an answer. So here's the list:

• Duo Damsel, Chameleon Boy, Shrinking Violet, Karate Kid (SBOY 193)
• Phantom Girl, Colossal Boy, Princess Projectra (SBOY 195)
• Lightning Lad, Timber Wolf (SBOY 197)
• Element Lad (SBOY 198)
• Star Boy (SBOY 199)
• Light Lass, Shadow Lass (SBOY 200)

5. What do these five Legionnaires have in common, in this order, that no other Legionnaires have: Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy, Brainiac 5, and Dawnstar.

They were the Legionnaires who appeared on the "spotlight" covers on the "Legion of 3 Worlds" miniseries issues 1-5 (in that order).

6. How many Legionnaires (including honorary and reserve but not imaginary stories or Elseworlds) have had their own solo series, miniseries, or one-shot? That is, a book with their name in the title where they were the star, not someone who was in an anthology series or a backup strip.

You guys guessed Superman/Superboy, Supergirl, Superboy II, Mon-El/Valor, Cosmic Boy, Timber Wolf, Karate Kid, Inferno, Impulse, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen. But although you differentiated between Superboy Kal-El and Superboy Kon-El, no such distinction was made for pre-Crisis Supergirl and the current version of Supergirl. 

7. Which Legionnaire(s) did Wally Wood draw, and where did that appear?

Although the Wood-inked Superboy stories technically fit this criteria, it wasn't what I was looking for. The one I did have in mind was this one, from the 1966 Comic Book Foldees card set. Wood did the art for the whole series:

And when you folded the halves over, you could make "hilarious" pictures like these:

SDCC Legion figures

Here's a picture of the five Legion figures on display at the Mattel booth. Sculpts look amazing!

SDCC 10: Geoff Johns panel

At the Geoff Johns panel today I asked two Legion questions. First, will we see the Legion in "Smallville" this next (last) season? The answer: "I'm not allowed to say." Second, when Waid & Kitson rebooted the Legion a few years ago, they were not able to use the original Legion. What changed in DC corporate policy that allowed you to use them a few years later? Answer: "I don't know, you'd have to ask the editors at the time, we didn't have anything to do with that."

San Diego notes & open thread

Haven't had a chance to get to my computer to post some pics from Preview Night, but I saw the Mattel Tyr and Validus, and DC Direct's Mon-El figures. Didn't catch the DC writers panel earlier with Paul Levitz. And because I'm limited to my iPhone I can't check all the news sites. If you read any good Legion news please post it here with links.

Trivia Quiz #49

This is Trivia Quiz #49. I've been doing this monthly for 4 years now. Most of the questions have been my own, a few here and there I've taken (and tried to credit) from various message boards. For Quiz #50 next month, I want to turn this over to you guys - send me (do NOT post them here) your favorite Legion trivia questions with the answers (what, do you think I know everything?) and I'll post a bunch next month.

No particular theme this week, just questions that have been sitting around minding their own business, waiting for me to post them.

1. Who were Jilly, Helen, Charlie, Sophie, Donna, and Jane?

2. Name the 5 LSH members who held wands in an attempt to attract lightning and revive the dead Lightning Lad.

3. Fortress Lad was from Fwang, in the 30th century. When did we see residents of Fwang in the 20th/21st century?

4. Dave Cockrum redesigned a number of Legionnaires' costumes when he was artist. Here's an alphabetical list of those Legionnaires, put them in chronological order of when Cockrum changed their costumes. (Note: in several stories, multiple Legionnaires got new costumes; these 12 Legionnaires got new costumes in a total of 6 different stories.)

• Chameleon Boy
• Colossal Boy
• Duo Damsel
• Element Lad
• Light Lass
• Lightning Lad
• Phantom Girl
• Princess Projectra
• Shadow Lass
• Shrinking Violet
• Star Boy
• Timber Wolf

5. What do these five Legionnaires have in common, in this order, that no other Legionnaires have: Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy, Brainiac 5, and Dawnstar.

6. How many Legionnaires (including honorary and reserve but not imaginary stories or Elseworlds) have had their own solo series, miniseries, or one-shot? That is, a book with their name in the title where they were the star, not someone who was in an anthology series or a backup strip.

7. Which Legionnaire(s) did Wally Wood draw, and where did that appear?

Trivia Answers #48

Guess I forgot to post the answers. June's theme was "stuff I thought of while reading LSH v6 #1".

1. What were the names of the members of the original Wanderers, and what were their new names once they got their own series?

• The original Wanderers and their rebooted names are Celebrand (died, not rebooted), Ornitho (Aviax), Immorto (Re-Animage), Dartalg (Dartalon), Elvo (Elvar), and Psyche and Quantum Queen (both of whom kept their names).

2. In the Silver Age, just about every member had a name that fit the pattern "Descriptor + Gender/Youth", like Karate Kid, Dream Girl, and Princess Projectra. Which Silver Age Legionnaire(s) did not fit this pattern? (That is, everyone who joined before Wildfire).

• Brainiac 5, Shrinking Violet, Mon-El, and Timber Wolf. Everyone else in the Silver Age was a Kid, Boy, Girl, Lass, Lad, King, or Princess.

3. Which of the Legionnaires or their closely related characters has or had some sort of tie to the Green Lantern Corps?

• Rond Vidar and Universo were Green Lanterns. Celeste Rockfish became a living lantern of sorts (in a story that I don't think was ever fully finished) and later became Neon. I didn't think anyone would get "Teen Lantern" Jordana Gardner from the animated show's comic book series, but good call Don! And Earth-Man, of course. But nobody got the retroboot Rainbow Girl, as seen in the "Superman & the Legion" storyline, who has tapped into the rainbow spectrum even if she doesn't know it.

4. Not counting Adventure 247, who was the first Legionnaire to get a permanent costume change that is outside the "artistic license" boundaries (I consider "how many points were on the sunburst symbol on Sun Boy's costume" to be an example of artistic license; Cosmic Boy changing from his pink costume to the bustier-type is a major change)?

•  Although it's a judgment call, my vote for first significant permanent costume change goes to Saturn Girl, who exchanged her red and white outfit with a skirt for a red (later hot pink) bikini in Action Comics 392. Much earlier, Lightning Lass changed her logo but I wouldn't call that as significant. Yes, my wording of the question doesn't specifically rule that out, but I make the rules here.

5. Which other Legionnaire(s) were forced to join the Legion against their wishes or will?

• In the v4-era, the four Khund Legionnaires (Veilmist, Firefist, Flederweb, and Bloodclaw) were forced upon the Legion, who didn't want them. In the reboot Legion, Andromeda, Brainiac 5, and Gates didn't want to join but were forced to (is that all of them?). In the retroboot (current) Legion, the UP forced the Legion to accept Earth-Man.

6. Earth-Man is the latest Legionnaire to gain admittance to the Legion after his original tryout attempt. Who else failed at their first attempt, for whatever reason, and got in later?

• Bouncing Boy, Matter-Eater Lad, Supergirl (pre-Crisis), Sun Boy, Shrinking Violet, Polar Boy, Night Girl, Fire Lad, Stone Boy, Infectious Lass, Chlorophyll Kid, Color Kid, Wildfire, Nightwind, Crystal Kid, Porcupine Pete, Storm Boy, Calamity King

7. Which other Legionnaire homeworlds have blown up?

• Pre-Crisis: Krypton, Dryad
• Post-Crisis: Sorceror's World
• Glorithverse: Earth
• Threeboot: Orando
• Retroboot: Titan

OMG! It's Gates!

Thanks to Val Beasley for the link. Check out this creature recently discovered in Australia:

More here.

New Cosmic Boy figurine

Lost in my inbox from when I was on vacation last week, here's an ad for an upcoming statue of Cosmic Boy from Eaglemoss Publications (which makes lead statuettes for DC Direct). Here's a list of what they have put out so far. Preorder from Previews (page 350) or from Big Bad Toystore, from where I got this image. Thanks to Travis Ellisor for the tip.

The ultimate collection for comics fans, the DC Superhero Collection Figurine Magazine brings together DC Comics' greatest heroes and villains! Official figurines of the characters, both good and evil, are cast in lead, individually hand-painted and numbered to form an authentic collector's edition. Each comes with a 20-page magazine providing detailed history and background on the featured characters, including exclusive images and interviews. Choose this month from Black Lightning (#66) or Cosmic Boy (#67). 

It's San Diego Time.... Programming part 2

Part 2 of San Diego programming, covering Saturday and Sunday. Some of it's generic DC stuff, one with Levitz as a panelist. (See part 1 for Thursday and Friday here).

Saturday, July 24

12:30-1:45 DC Universe: Event Horizon— Ian Sattler, senior story editor, and your favorite writers and artists are here for the main event: The DC Universe! What lies ahead for your favorite heroes and series? Got a question for your favorite DCU creator? Come on by! There's no greater gathering of top-tier creative talent! Room 6A

Sunday, July 25

10:00-11:00 Smallville Screening and Q&A— Comic-Con favorite Smallville returns for its last visit to Comic-Con in advance of the show's 10th and final season, as showrunners Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson join star/executive producer Tom Welling and series stars Erica Durance, Cassidy Freeman, and Justin Hartley to talk about the year ahead, answer fan questions, and give an exclusive sneak peek at clips from the final season. From Tollin/Robbins Productions, Millar/Gough Ink in association with Warner Bros. Television, Smallville airs Fridays at 8pm ET/PT on The CW. Smallville: The Complete Ninth Season will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on September 7. Ballroom 20

2:00-3:00 DC Focus: Premiere Teams— DC Comics knows a thing or two about teams. From the company that brought you the first team in comics' history (Justice Society of America), don't miss this panel on the DCU's top teams roaming Earth (JLA, JSA, Secret Six, Titans), the farthest reaches of space (R.E.B.E.L.S.), and even across time (Legion of Super-Heroes)! Senior group editor Mike Carlin is joined by Tony Bedard (R.E.B.E.L.S.), Marc Guggenheim (Flash), JT Krul (Titans), Paul Levitz (Legion of Super-Heroes), James Robinson (Justice League of America), Matthew Sturges (JSA All-Stars), and others for this collaborative panel! Room 6A

3:00-4:30 Comics Pro/Fan Trivia Match— Len Wein (Microbots), Kurt Busiek (Kool-Aid Man), and Mark Waid (Batman Electric Talking Toothbrush) face off against fans Tom Galloway (former Google employee), David Oakes (college professor), and Michael Grabois (rocket scientist) in a match on significant pre-Crisis DC events in celebration of DC's 75th anniversary. Peter David (Captain America's War on Drugs) will moderate. Room 4

It's San Diego Time.... Programming part 1

Less than two weeks to the start of the San Diego Comic Con... who else is going besides me? Programming for Thursday and Friday are up, let's see what we've got for Legion fans:

Thursday, July 22

10:15-11:15 DC Comics Writers Unite!— Originally a successful panel at WonderCon 2010, "Comics Writers Unite!" (see the Comic-Con Souvenir Book for a transcript) brought together a number of special guests to talk about the art of writing. Part of a series of programs at this year's Comic-Con celebrating "The Year of the Writer," this panel features special guests Paul Levitz (Legion of Super-Heroes), Dennis O'Neil (Batman, The Question), and J. Michael Straczynski (Superman, Wonder Woman), along with Gail Simone (Birds of Prey, Secret Six), Judd Winick (Justice League: Generation Lost, Power Girl), and moderator James Robinson (Starman, Justice League of America). Room 6DE 

11:30-12:30 DC Nation Convention Kickoff!— The DC Nation invades San Diego and you're invited along for the ride! Celebrate the start of what promises to be an unforgettable convention experience. Your hosts, DC co-publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee get the party started here! The Nation welcomes all. Room 6DE

2:00-3:00 DC Focus: Geoff Johns— Geoff Johns's storytelling and creativity fueled event blockblusters Blackest Night and the new Brightest Day and the character rebirths of Green Lantern and The Flash. As the new chief creative officer of DC Entertainment, Geoff can be expected to deliver even more thrills and excitement as his focus shifts to bringing the DCU to life outside of the comics, starting with the Green Lantern film and many other surprises! Don't miss this panel hosted by Eddie Berganza, group editor, interviewing one of the most exciting talents in comics. Room 6DE

Friday, July 23

11:00-12:00 Mattel and DC Comics: A Heroic Partnership— Find out the latest news, sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes scoop on your favorite Mattel/DC action figures, including DC Universe Classics, Justice League Unlimited, Retro Action, Infinite Heroes, and more! Plus, be here for an exciting look at all-new 2011 product! Mattel toy designer Bill Benecke, Mattel brand manager Scott "Toy Guru" Neitlich, The Four Horsemen, and special guests from DC Comics and Warner Brothers are on hand for an insightful Q&A that's not to be missed! Room 24ABC

11:30-12:30 Spotlight on Paul Levitz— Paul Levitz has been a comics fan (The Comic Reader fanzine, NY Comic Art Convention committee), editor (Batman), writer (Legion of Super-Heroes), and executive (DC Comics, including publisher from 1989 to 2010). Now he's interviewed by favorite writer and DC chief creative officer Geoff Johns about his varied career and his return to writing Legion and other DC projects, including a coffeetable book history of the company. Room 5AB  

1:00-2:30 Comic-Con How-To Session: Whilce Portacio and Francis Manapul— Acclaimed artists Whilce Portacio (Uncanny X-Men, Image United) and Francis Manapul (The Flash, Adventure Comics, Superman/Batman) will demonstrate how to create and draw characters for comic books. Room 18

1:00-2:00 Mattel's Mattypalooza 2010: Masters of the Universe Classics, Ghostbusters and more!— Are you a Matty Mattel fan? Head over to this year's Mattypalooza to get all the latest info on your favorite Mattel collector lines, including Masters of the Universe Classics, DC Universe, Ghostbusters, and more from MattyCollector.com! Room 24ABC

3:00-4:00 Hi-Fi Color for Comics— Every month your favorite comic books must be colored before going to press, but just how are comic books colored? Learn about the creative art of comic book coloring from Hi-Fi's Brian Miller (Legion of Superheroes) and Kristy Miller (Birds of Prey), as Brian demonstrates the step-by-step transformation of a comic book page from black and white to full color. Learn the basics of flatting, rendering, color holds, and special effects and top digital coloring tips. Q&A if time permits. Room 30CDE

4:15-5:15 DC Nation Special Edition— It's the DC Nation State of the Union address as DC co-publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee join forces to give fans all the info they can handle! With those two leading the Nation, expect the unexpected...The Nation welcomes all! Room 6DE

 

Legions of Future Past

You may recall this Legion/X-Men mashup from a few years ago here, where artist Bob Layton re-created the Byrne/Austin cover of X-Men 141 ("Days of Future Past") with Legionnaires in the X-Men roles. Here's an all-new, all-different version by former Legion artist Mike Netzer (formerly Nasser):

Thanks to Richard Caldwell for passing this one along to me.

Trivia Quiz #48

This month's theme is "stuff I thought of while reading LSH v6 #1".

1. What were the names of the members of the original Wanderers, and what were their new names once they got their own series?

2. In the Silver Age, just about every member had a name that fit the pattern "Descriptor + Gender/Youth", like Karate Kid, Dream Girl, and Princess Projectra. Which Silver Age Legionnaire(s) did not fit this pattern? (That is, everyone who joined before Wildfire).

3. Which of the Legionnaires or their closely related characters has or had some sort of tie to the Green Lantern Corps?

4. Not counting Adventure 247, who was the first Legionnaire to get a permanent costume change that is outside the "artistic license" boundaries (I consider "how many points were on the sunburst symbol on Sun Boy's costume" to be an example of artistic license; Cosmic Boy changing from his pink costume to the bustier-type is a major change)?

5. Which other Legionnaire(s) were forced to join the Legion against their wishes or will?

6. Earth-Man is the latest Legionnaire to gain admittance to the Legion after his original tryout attempt. Who else failed at their first attempt, for whatever reason, and got in later?

7. Which other Legionnaire homeworlds have blown up?

Bits of Legionnaire Business

So I picked a bad time to take a small break, huh? Three new Legion books (LSH v6 #1, Brave and Bold v3 #34, Adventure Comics v3 #12) in three weeks. Hot damn!

For those of you who were wondering, the Legion roster in Adventure Comics #12 places the story chronologically right after Superboy joined and before Ultra Boy. Supergirl (in original continuity) had just been inducted along with Brainiac 5 prior to Superboy's joining. The Outhousers point out some continuity errors (which are now called "chronicler's errors" by Levitz): Saturn Girl shouldn't be described as an orphan, and flight rings weren't used until Adventure 325. Also, Imra's not married to Garth at this point (her caption says "Ardeen-Ranzz"), and RJ Brande shouldn't be said to be from Durla, which was not known at this point in Legion history.

Also out this past week: X-Men Forever Giant Size #1. Huh? It's got Mike Grell, in a rare Marvel book, drawing the Dave Cockrum-era Imperial Guard.

• First up: news from Heroes Con in Charlotte this weekend:

Via Newsarama:

Is there a chance for a Legion ring promotion? Yes, we may get a Legion flight ring in the near future.

Are there any plans for more back up co-features? Yes, Two-Face will start in Streets of Gotham and The Atom in Adventure Comics.

Also they are trying to just keep it to one Legion book for right now.
Why couldn't we keep anything from World of New Krypton? Sattler replied that Mon-El was always going back. Nightwing and Flamebird on the other hand, we might have not have seen the last of. "Just because they're off camera doesn't mean they're gone."

Not sure what the "just one Legion book" thing is about, Levitz is writing two (or rather, one and a half, the Legion book and the lead in Adventure).

• Reviews of Adventure Comics v3 #12 from Legion Abstract, Arisverse, Comics Bulletin, Comixtreme, the Outhousers, IGN, ComicVine
• Reviews of Brave and Bold #34 from True Believer Reviews, Paradox, Mania
• Reviews of LSH v6 #1 from the Q Review, Diamond Galleries Scoop, Hero Press, Giggaheim, IGN, Broken Frontier, Fist Full of Comics, Comic Book Revolution, Comic Related

• LSH v6 #1 has sold out and will be reprinted with a new cover.

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #1, the debut issue of the new ongoing series from writer Paul Levitz and artist Yildaray Cinar, has sold out at DC comics and will return in a new, second printing. LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #1 Second Printing (APR108152) features a sketch version of the variant cover by Jim Lee. This issue is scheduled to arrive in stores on June 23 and has a Final Order Cutoff date of June 3.

More info here.

• Blog Into Mystery reviews Tales of the LSH Annual 5, the last part of the Darkness curse. 
• The Legion of Substitute Podcasters #86 interviews Paul Levitz and they talk about LSH v6 #1. 
• Superman Fan Podcast #128 reviews the whole World of New Krypton story arc.
• Secret Identity Podcast #239 covers LSH #1, among other issues.
• Legion Showcase volume 4 comes out in September:

In this volume, the Legion battles Mordru the Merciless and The Fatal Five and meets The Tornado Twins. Collecting ADVENTURE COMICS #369-380, ACTION COMICS #378-387, 389-392 and SUPERBOY #172, 173, 176, 183, 184, 188, 190 and 191.

• Multiversity Comics has the reading order for the various Superman story arcs of the last few years.
• Paul Levitz is interviewed on video at Midtown Comics in NYC.
• Gene Gonzales draws Ferro Lad.
• Doug Wolk gives a selective publishing history of the Legion.

More bits coming soon.