Animated LSH news 46: creative team updates

"Faroutspacenut" (the super-hero identity of one of the show's insiders - no, not this one) updated the Legion show's Wikipedia page on Sunday and added two new directors and four new writers that were unknown to me. Here's their list. The new names (or names with new titles) that I did not have before are in boldface.

This is probably not a complete list.

Executive Producer: Sander Schwartz
Producer: James Tucker, Linda Steiner
Associate Producer: A. J. Vargas
Director: Ben Jones, Tim Maltby, Lauren Montgomery
Voice Director: Kelly Ward
Writers: Stan Berkowitz, John Esposito, Rob Hoegee, Rob Hummel, Marty Isenberg, David Slack, Scott Sonneborn, Matt Wayne, Amy Wolfram
Story Editor: Rob Hoegee
Art Director: Dave Johnson
Character Designer: Derrick J. Wyatt, Glenn Wong
Storyboards: Irineo Maramba
Backgrounds/Props: Norm Ryang, Eric Canete

• Tim Maltby (IMDB) previously directed some Scooby-Doo and Batman videos.
  
• Lauren Montgomery - who I'm betting is not the porn star of the same name - doesn't seem to be listed in the IMDB. The only reference to her that makes any sense is as a co-author (and co-artist) with Legion background artist Eric Canete on a book called "Beauty and the Beast".
  
• John Esposito was a writer on Teen Titans. His IMDB entry is probably mixed up, it looks like they have him combined with the guy of the same name who wrote a couple of screenplays and co-produced "From Dusk Til Dawn". (Of course, that may be his stuff too!)
  
• Rob Hummel (IMDB) comes from Invader Zim, where he "appeared" a couple of times. Probably not the same Rob Hummel who is a senior VP at WB Studios.
  
• Marty Isenberg (IMDB) comes to the Legion by way of the various Spider-Man, Superman, Batman, and X-Men animated shows.
  
• Scott Sonneborn (IMDB) has probably the most interesting credit - besides Beavis and Butt-Head and Celebrity Deathmatch, he also wrote for Jenna Jameson's reality-type show called Jenna's American Sex Star.
  

The Legion Fight Song

Remember the Inferior Five? The Silver Age group (from Earth-12) had their own book from 1967-68. In issue 2 they had a series of super-hero fight songs - one of which was for the Legion. This one was sung to "Stars and Stripes Forever" and was written by E. Nelson Bridwell (who wrote a number of Legion stories in the late 60's and early 70's.)

I dare Mark Waid and the James Tucker/Rob Hoegee/AJ Vargas team to use this in their respective series. I double dog dare them.

The Legion of Super-Heroes
Is the club that will beat every bad guy
We'll fly through the reaches of space
and each time we'll score an ace

We'll police every world that exists
And we never will wind up making zeroes
We'll clash with the foe in the lists
The Le-gi-on of Super-Heroes!

What this suggests about the previous existence of an Earth-12 Legion is left as an exercise for the reader.

San Diego Con programming part 2

OK, the Saturday and Sunday schedules are up for the San Diego Con. Here is the jam-packed Thursday/Friday Legion-centric schedule. The rest of the weekend isn't so busy, so you'll have time to shop and go listen to other stuff (because it's not ALL about the Legion!).

Saturday

• 1:00-2:30 DCU: One Year Greater
  
• 5:30-7:00 Animation Story Meeting— Travel to a dark place, seldom seen by outsiders: an animation story meeting. See and hear how an idea for an animated superhero story goes from one-sentence premise all the way to full-blown, beginning-middle-and-end story (with hardly any blood being spilled). [Participants include Amy Wolfram and Stan Berkowitz, who have written at least one Legion episode each.]

Sunday

• Nothing that I could find!

These are, of course, preliminary and subject to change. Those of you going, we want reports, podcasts, YouTube videos, and blog entries!

Badass week at the ISB

Earlier in the week I asked you to vote for Karate Kid as the Toughest Man in Comics - a guy who "has such an incredible mastery of martial arts that it's considered a super-power", a guy who gave Superboy a run for his money in his tryout, a guy who kicked Darkseid in the head. But he lost in the Invincible Super-Blog's contest. Not that he lost to some pansy characters: he beat out Orion, but came in 5th place overall behind Thor, Punisher, Conan, and winner by a landslide, Sgt. Rock.

So how do you follow up the Toughest Man contest? With a Toughest Woman contest, of course. But the ISB already crowned a winner, so to speak: Princess (later Queen) Projectra. Her Bad-Assiest moment, the one that got her the title, was the v4 Legion of Super-Villains story in which Karate Kid was killed by Nemesis Kid.

And that's where Legion of Super-Heroes #5 picks up with one of the most badass things I have ever seen in comics starts.

That's Princess Projectra, whose only super-power is making pretty convincing illusions that Nemesis Kid is completely immune to. You know, just so we're clear on what happens next.

Last year, when Wonder Woman snapped Max Lord's neck to keep him from turning Superman into an unstoppable killing machine, people got mad about it, and she was acting to save lives. But here?

Not only does Projectra snap that dude's neck purely for revenge, but she then turns around and asks her friends if anybody's got the balls to tell her that wasn't the right thing to do.

And that? That's the hardest shit since Straight Outta Compton. FACT.

PRINCESS PROJECTRA

The Toughest Woman in Comics

Superman: Behind the Shield with Legion sneak peek

As you've no doubt read elsewhere, KidsWB will be showing a sneak peak at the Legion show (even prior to San Diego!) next weekend on your local WB station, called Superman: Behind the Shield. It looks like you'll have to watch in between the commercials to get these, though, as it's not a show of its own.

If you go to the KidsWB website, you can see what it's all about.

KidsWB takes you Behind the Shield, a special event hosted by the Man of Steel himself, Superman! All morning you’ll soar behind the scenes of one of the summer’s most exciting movies and discover some of its super special-effects secrets! Plus you’ll be the very first to see a world premiere sneak peek of the brand new KidsWB TV series, Legion of Super-Heroes, featuring Superman. Behind the Shield: a Superman special event, starting next Saturday morning beginning at 7 on KidsWB.

ComicsContinuum did a better job than I could at getting screen grabs:




Interesting remake of Tharok and Persuader.

Thanks to LegionWorld for the tip.

Trivia answers

I promised I'd get to these...

1. In "real" continuity, twice so far we've seen a Bizarro Legion of Super-Heroes (one pre-Crisis in Adventure 329 and one post-reboot in LSH v4 113-115 - not counting any dreams, hoaxes, or Imaginary Stories, like the recent campfire story). Which three people appeared in both stories as a Bizarro Legionnaire (or as they said in ADV 329, a member of the Legion of Stupor-Bizarros)?

I asked this one a while back but nobody tried to answer then either. Brainiac 5, Mon-el, and Lightning Lad all appeared in both stories.

2. When written by a competent writer, what specific thing happened each time Tyroc yelled "OOYYYYUUUUU"?

Apparently you forgot my Tyroc trivia quiz. This was his teleport yell. The "competent writer" crack was aimed at Gerry Conway, who inconsistently made up random sounds for Tyroc's yells when he wrote the Legion in the v2 260's, as opposed to his first few appearances when they were consistent.

3. It's commonly known that Dave Cockrum originally invented the X-Man we know as Nightcrawler as a member of a Legion spinoff group, before he left DC. What other major X-Man was inspired by a character Cockrum created for a Legion spinoff?

It was Storm, as Jonathan Miller thought. Cockrum had created a character named Quetzal for his "Outsiders" spinoff, and another character called the Black Cat. He took Quetzal's look, Black Cat's costume, and put them on a weather character the X-Men editors wanted, and got Storm. Cockrum's Wolverine was going to have been a Devastator, but that one ended up being used for Fang, the Imperial Guardsman (who was a Timber Wolf analog), not Marvel's Wolverine. See my page on Cockrum's Outsiders and Devastators.

4. Over the years, Dev-em has had at least three separate, totally different, totally contradictory origins. Briefly describe them.

Jonathan Miller was right on this one. First he was a Kryptonian, a 20th century knave and a 30th century spy. But when there were no more Kryptonians, he became a Titanian mutant who gave himself powers mentally; this only appeared in the Who's Who book. Finally, he was an insane Daxamite who blew up the Moon. There's a guy in the Cult of Conner in the 52 series named "Devem", but it remains to be seen if and how he's connected.

5. Which Legionnaire once had super-powers greater than Superboy's (pre-Crisis)?

Matthew got this one right, Star Boy briefly had Kryptonian level powers with no weaknesses, but those wore off and he was left with his mass-inducing powers. Mon-el always had his lead problem, even with the serum.

6. Prior to the Five Year Gap, under which Legion leader did the team see the most members join (regardless of how many terms they served as leader)?

Jonathan Miller said Invisible Kid (Adventure 348-370; 1 new Legionnaire - Shadow Lass) or Lightning Lad (SLSH 247 to LSH v2 291; 1 new Legionnaire - Blok), neither of which were right. Tenzil said Element Lad (LSH v2 306 to LSH v3 30-something; 5 new Legionnaires - Magnetic Kid, Polar Boy, Quislet, Sensor Girl, and Tellus) or Dream Girl (LSH v2 291-306; 1 new Legionnaire - White Witch). My initial guess would have been Saturn Girl, since she was leader in the early days (Adventure 304-336), but she only had 5 new Legionnaires (Mon-el, Element Lad, Lightning Lass, Dream Girl, and Command Kid). All right now, everyone slap your forehead and say "oh yeah! d'oh!" when I say that Cosmic Boy (through Adventure 303) recruited 14 new Legionnaires: Triplicate Girl, Phantom Girl, Chameleon Boy, Colossal Boy, Invisible Kid, Brainiac 5, Supergirl, Superboy, Ultra Boy, Star Boy, Shrinking Violet, Sun Boy, Bouncing Boy, and Matter-Eater Lad.

7. Who was the only then-active Legionnaire who did not appear during the Great Darkness Saga, and why?

Everyone got this one, it was Shrinking Violet, who had been replaced by the Durlan Yera at the time.

8. Over the years, how many different Legionnaires have had kids? Assume the three major eras (pre-Zero Hour, post-Zero Hour reboot, current) are different characters.

Not counting any dreams, hoaxes, Imaginary Stories, or Adult Legion timelines, Matthew got the ones I was thinking of: Pre-ZH Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl's pair of twins Garridan and Graym (sons), and Dacey and Doritt (daughters); Pre-ZH Cosmic Boy's son Pol, with Night Girl; Pre-ZH's Andromeda's daughter Lauren, with Rond Vidar; and Post-ZH Apparition and Ultra Boy's son Cub.

9. Which Legion-related character suffers from Taphephobia?

Again, Matthew got this one. Taphephobia is the fear of being buried alive, which always brings down Mordru.

10. Which members of the Legion of Super-Villains were members of the Legion of Super-Heroes at any point (regardless of how they got into the LSH)?

Thinking about one future's worth of continuity is tough enough, but the LSV had multiple versions from multiple timelines. First, when Dynamo Boy snuck his way onto the team, he kicked everyone else out and let in Lightning Lord, Saturn Queen, and Cosmic King. Later, ex-Legionnaire Nemesis Kid joined the LSV. During the Five Year Gap, Echo joined (this one is debatable, since he joined the Adult LSV which is not considered canonical). Towards the end of the v4 run, Spider-Girl joined the Legion. Here's a good attempt at figuring out the LSV's timeline.

Animated LSH news 45: Kari Wahlgren, voice of Saturn Girl

A source close to production on the Legion of Super-Heroes animated show has revealed to me the voice actor for the last of the main characters: Kari Wahlgren (IMDB, official site), as the voice of Saturn Girl.

Kari has done about a zillion voiceovers in video games, anime, and animation, including Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles show, and the Justice League, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds, and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith video games. See her Wikipedia entry for a breakdown by role type and pseudonym.

Animated LSH news 44: voice of Timber Wolf

Well, I finally found out Shawn's last name from the San Diego Comic Con's programming page (4 pm on Friday).

Turns out that Shawn, who I found just as he was auditioning for the role of Timber Wolf, is actually Shawn Harrison, who played (among others) Peaches in a number of episodes of "Girlfriends" and Waldo Geraldo Faldo in many episodes of "Family Matters". According to the IMDB, this is his first voiceover role.

Go back and read some of the posts about his blog postings in my animated news parts 3 (audition in early January), 4, 5, 6, and 9 (first recording session in early February)

Animated LSH news 43: San Diego con programming part 1

Well the programming schedule for the first two days (Thursday and Friday) at the Comic Con International: San Diego is out, and the Legion is well-represented.

The main event is on Friday at 4pm. Check this one out:

4:00-5:00 Bruce Timm Retrospective/Legion of Super Heroes— Warner Bros. Animation president Sander Schwartz introduces a retrospective on the creativity of animation legend Bruce Timm (Batman Beyond, Superman: The Animated Series). Bruce will talk about his 20-year career, screen selected scenes from his body of work, and take part in a Q&A. Immediately following the Timm retrospective, Warner Bros. Animation presents a sneak peek at Legion of Super Heroes, a new Superman-themed half-hour adventure series inspired by the DC Comics series and set to air Saturdays this fall at 11:00 AM ET/PT in the Kids’ WB! programming block on the new CW. Producers Linda M. Steiner (Teen Titans) and James Tucker (Justice League Unlimited), story editor Rob Hoegee (Teen Titans), and others from the show’s creative team will join several of the Legion cast members, including Yuri Lowenthal (voice of Superman), Andy Milder (Lightning Lad), Shawn Harrison (Timber Wolf), and Michael Cornaccia (Bouncing Boy) for a Q&A session and debut of scenes from the upcoming show. Room 20

Ironically, Timm isn't involved at all in this show.

Notice that Yuri Lowenthal is listed as playing Superman now, and Timber Wolf's voice actor finally has a last name.

Other Legion panels of interest:
Thursday

• 11:30-12:30 DC Nation
  
• 1:00-2:30 Mattel Action Figures— What’s the latest with Mattel’s action figure lines? Mattel toy makers sit down to give fans the inside scoop on Naruto and Avatar as well as its DC Heroes, The Batman, Justice League Unlimited, and Superman Returns toy lines. [Note: Mattel will reportedly be doing figures based on the Legion's appearance in the "Far From Home" episode of JLU]
  
• 4:30-6:00 Spotlight on George Pérez - [maybe he'll say once again how he wants to draw the Legion!]
  
• 6:00-7:00 Scoring For Superheroes— Join award-winning composers Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion, and Lolita Ritmanis (Teen Titans, Justice League Unlimited) for a rare behind-the-scenes look at music scoring for animation. [Not sure yet, but I think it's likely that these guys might be doing the Legion's score since they've done the rest of the DC Animated Universe's music.]
  

Friday

• 12:30-1:30 Hey, Kids! Blogs About Comics!
  
• 1:00-2:00 Spotlight on Jim Mooney [Jim drew the Legion for a number of years, plus he's one of the Silver Age greats on Supergirl]
  
• 1:00-2:00 Warner Home Video's Superman Through The Ages— Featuring special guests from the film and television incarnations of Superman, including a special reunion with surprise guests and extended exclusive footage for Superman II—The Richard Donner Cut. Q&A with Marc McClure, Jack O'Halloran, Tom Mankiewicz (creative consultant), Michael Thau (editor in charge of the SII reconstruction), and more. Also in attendance super-secret special guests from the Adventures of Superman, Lois and Clark, Smallville, Superman The Animated Series, and Superman Returns! Room 20 [One of the special guests is likely to be Yuri Lowenthal, the young Superman of the Legion cartoon, since he's speaking later that afternoon]
  
• 4:00-5:00 Bruce Timm Retrospective/Legion of Super Heroes
  
• 6:00-7:00 DC: 52: A Year in the Life of the DCU [Mark Waid will be on this panel.]
  

Scoop

OK, so it it wrong to be miffed when I don't get credit for a scoop?

I reported on July 1st that Heather Hogan will be voicing Phantom Girl, and this afternoon that Michael Cornacchia will be the voice of Bouncing Boy. Several hours after that post, Comics Continuum says it "has learned" of both of them and updates their site (the Thursday issue didn't even get posted until late afternoon).

On every single animated Legion-related post with news, I credit and link back to the originating site, whether it's a news site like CBR, Newsarama, or the Continuum, or someone's blog. Newsarama recently had a link back to my story on the changes in the press release mentioning Superman instead of Superboy, for example, and I'm just saying it would be nice if the Comics Continuum did the same in return when it gets scooped.

---

Oh well. As I expected, after letting ComicBookResources know about several writers, producers, voices, and other stuff on Friday July 7 (which Hannibal posted verbatim, with my byline and a link back here), the bit about the writers and a new bit about Timber Wolf I posted on the 7th shows up unattributed on Saturday July 8 at Comics Continuum. Really, Rob, would it kill you to put some attribution in your articles? You don't have to say it's from me, you can point to CBR if you want.

Animated LSH news 42: voice of Bouncing Boy

The IMDB shows this afternoon in the Legion show's entry that Michael Cornacchia (IMDB, official site) will be the voice of Bouncing Boy. Cornacchia has done numerous voice roles in the past, as well as scattered appearances in live-action shows (CSI: NY, Six Feet Under, ER) and commercials. He's also a member of a stand-up comedy ensemble.

That just leaves Saturn Girl and Triplicate Girl as the only unknown voice actors (we know Timber Wolf is Shawn, but he won't give us his last name), unless there are some unknown characters.

Trivially speaking

Just for the hell of it, some trivia questions. I'll try to make this a recurring event.


1. In "real" continuity, twice so far we've seen a Bizarro Legion of Super-Heroes (one pre-Crisis in Adventure 329 and one post-reboot in LSH v4 113-115 - not counting any dreams, hoaxes, or Imaginary Stories, like the recent campfire story). Which three people appeared in both stories as a Bizarro Legionnaire (or as they said in ADV 329, a member of the Legion of Stupor-Bizarros)?

2. When written by a competent writer, what specific thing happened each time Tyroc yelled "OOYYYYUUUUU"?

3. It's commonly known that Dave Cockrum originally invented the X-Man we know as Nightcrawler as a member of a Legion spinoff group, before he left DC. What other major X-Man was inspired by a character Cockrum created for a Legion spinoff?

4. Over the years, Dev-em has had at least three separate, totally different, totally contradictory origins. Briefly describe them.

5. Which Legionnaire once had super-powers greater than Superboy's (pre-Crisis)?

6. Prior to the Five Year Gap, under which Legion leader did the team see the most members join (regardless of how many terms they served as leader)?

7. Who was the only then-active Legionnaire who did not appear during the Great Darkness Saga, and why?

8. Over the years, how many different Legionnaires have had kids? Assume the three major eras (pre-Zero Hour, post-Zero Hour reboot, current) are different characters.

9. Which Legion-related character suffers from Taphephobia?

10. Which members of the Legion of Super-Villains were members of the Legion of Super-Heroes at any point (regardless of how they got into the LSH)?

Answers in a few days, or sooner if nobody gives this a shot.

The Feminist Mistake

John and Belle take a look back at one of the most infamous of Jim Shooter's Adventure Comics stories, issue 368's "Mutiny of the Super-Heroines" (May 1968 cover date).

It isn't remarkable that the story is incredibly dumb, of course. That sort of thing happens. But I'm pretty impressed at how pitch perfect its tin ear is, Betty Friedan-wise. Doesn't miss a note. It even goes the extra mile of NOT having any hint of a lesbian subplot between the ambassador and Supergirl, which would be TOO obvious.

When things are this badly written - by Jim Shooter - what do you think is actually going on with the writer? Is he just sitting there weeping with laughter at what he has wrought? [their link, not mine - ed.]

No, he was 15 years old, 16 at the most, and that's probably what 15-16 year old boys thought back in 1968. When John wrote his post, he didn't realize Shooter was still a teenager. But in these "enlightened" times anyone can cringe when they see what was going through his mind and into his script. The girl Legionnaires are mind-controlled, but Supergirl finally breaks free of the control when Shadow Lass tells her that she'd set Brainiac 5 to doing housework. The Silver Age paragon of sweetness and femininity says, "When Shadow Lass made me think about what would happen to Brainiac 5 in a feminist world, my mind revolted ... my super-will snapped your control!"

When the villain (Ambassador Thora) commits suicide rather than return to her homeworld having failed to get Earth to change to a matriarchy. But while she was here, her homeworld overthrew its matriarchal government, and as Kara says, "...which goes to show that, despite our puny interference, there's a force in the universe that has a way of setting things right!" So even to Supergirl (via Shooter), having the men running things is the way things should be run.

One commenter put it a lot better than I could:

One can see in Shooter's storytelling a sort of throbbing conflict between a recognition of the barefaced wrongness of a "patriarchal background" and an instinctive allegiance to his gender and the status quo. Why would the dude feel the need to write this story, but to explain why something that seems wrong (the oppression of women) isn't actually wrong.

Kevin Drum of Washington Monthly mentions this article, and there are some comments there to read. Gary Farber makes the correction that Shooter was 15-16 when he wrote this story, not 17 as had been assumed on John and Belle's page.

More discussion of this story and article at PZ Meyers' Pharyngula: "Remember, kids, be nice to your girlfriends so that they'll squelch any uppity feminists who threaten your dominance!"

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Incidentally, the letters page 3 issues later (issue 371) has a few comments on the story (go here and scroll down). Bruce Riley of Cleveland realizes you really can have two "girls revolt" stories separated by 4 years, as long as you change stuff:

I have just finished reading "The Mutiny of the Super-Heroines." At first I thought it would be like "The Revolt of the Girl Legionnaires" in ADVENTURE No. 326, but I was wrong. What made it different was giving the heroines extra powers, using more girls, and the major role played by Supergirl in defeating the villain. I did find two mistakes, though. On page 15, Star Boy's insignia is missing, while Ultra Boy's insignia is gone on page 16.

Interestingly, the only female's response to the story, from Shelley Van Geffen of New Orleans, discusses not the story but the clothes. Remember, that's all girls think about. That, and making fools of the boys. Oh, and jewelry.

Your Leigon stories are great! I havbe only one complaint. The uniforms of Cosmic Boy and Element Lad are PINK! Don't you think pink is a bit too feminine for heroes as great as these two?

---

For a bit more pre-modern look at what passed for feminist commentary back in the early Silver Age Legion (Adventure 326, Nov. 1964), remember how Queen Azura of the planet Femnaz caused the "Revolt of the Girl Legionnaires" (as recounted by Chris Sims for Prism Comics).

---

Let's see if anyone takes me to task for my calling this post "the feminist mistake" (a pun, of course, on Friedan's "Feminist Mystique" - and not my pun, it was John and Belle's).

More issue 19 reviews

Wrapping up the reviews for the Chameleon murder mystery story in issue 19 (the first set of reviews was here):

Matthew's Legion Abstract notes, among other things, that:

This issue is a spotlight on Chameleon. We find out more about him in a way that isn't at all heavy-handed, and we need that: Chameleon is one of the Legionnaires that hasn't really coalesced as a character yet. I'm not criticizing when I say that; we've had less than two years of comics to find about this very large cast, and there's no way we could have a good handle on all of them yet. ... But after this issue, I don't really feel like I understand Chameleon any better than I did before. So did the issue fail? Or do we just need more time to get to know the guy?

Kid Dork at Sean Twist says:

Waid provides a decent 'closed room murder' story, and interweaves it with the much larger robot revolution that's been brewing in the comic of late. Not terribly excited about that one.

The Pull List has a review from the perspective of someone who started reading because of Supergirl's involvement (which was the whole idea of bringing her in the first place):

Truth be told, I bought this since Supergirl was in it and I have been surprised with the writing so far. I don’t feel alienated since I don’t know whom these characters really are and the writing has done an excellent job introducing them. This was a fine mystery issue as Chameleon pieces together a murder mystery. It works really well as a stand alone story but also has some segments to keep other stories (like where Brainiac is) moving. Very good issue.

Earth K's Super-Geek Red liked this issue:

It is no secret that we of Earth K are lovers of the Legion. I feared that Britney Zor-El’s involvement would be disastrous, but her brief time with the Legion so far has actually made me somewhat interested in her. Well done, Mark Waid, for that was a Herculean task.... I’m enjoying the hell out of Waid and Kitson’s re-re-re-re-re-imagining of the Legion. Buy the trades to get caught up and then buy this thing monthly; it’s a good ride.

Jeffrey Bridges' Mild Mannered Reviews notes something odd about the cover...

Not terrible, but not as good as the other fantastic issues Waid's been delivering. But if the worst episode of the series so far is still decent, you know you've got a good book on your hands.

The dead person on the cover has multiple limbs. The dead prisoner did not. There are three Legion members on the cover, but not one of them appears in the book. Chameleon, who is heavily featured in the book, is nowhere to be found.

Piper at the Golden Lasso, however, gave the story only a D+.

This has to be my least favorite issue of Legion since the OYL jump. It's not so much that it's bad in that it's disappointing. I like that the storyline references some of the things that have happened over the last few months, but the book seemed to read like it was WAY more than 21 pages. The dialogue was just right, but the book feels like it goes on forever. ... There was way too much inner monologue which resulted in the book feeling more like a chore than a comic book. Halfway into the story I just wanted it to end.

Vote for Karate Kid!

The Invincible Super-Blog starts Badass Week, looking for the Toughest Man in Comics. One of his top 6 entries is Karate Kid (who's running against Sgt. Rock, Conan, Thor, Orion, and the Punisher). Go to the ISB and vote in the comments.

Animated LSH news 41: sneak preview and Hoegee interview

Apparently I'm the last one to find out and report this, but we'll be seeing a sneak preview of the Legion show on July 15, according to the Comics Continuum.

Kids' WB! will stage "Behind the Shield," looking at Superman, on Saturday, July 15. The event will also include a first look at the Legion of Super Heroes animated series, which will is now calling the character "Superman" instead of "Superboy."

Note that this is the third source that's reporting SuperMAN instead of SuperBOY, by the way.

In other news, Bill Walko at the Titans Tower Monitor reports that he's got an interview over at Titans Tower with animated series co-producer and story editor Rob Hoegee about the show. Interview topics included the development of the series, the characters, and the ties to the Silver Age.

Not only does Legion have some of the coolest heroes, they also have some of the coolest villains. The Fatal Five play a big part in our first season, and we get to meet a few more from the vault as well.

Go read the rest of it!

Animated LSH news 40: Heather Hogan, voice of Phantom Girl

While checking out the Legion's entry in the IMDB tonight, I read that Heather Hogan will be the voice of Phantom Girl. I haven't found that anywhere else on the web, and the IMDB entries have no public histories like Wikipedia so we can't easily see who entered her name or when. But knowing that the IMDB isn't 100% accurate when it comes to stuff in production, take the name with a grain of salt (unless anyone can actually verify it). Hogan has done some animation and video game work (such as the "Land Before Time" sequels) and has had some small roles in TV episodes and movies.

(I started the Legion's entry in the IMDB, and it takes forever to get updates.)

The entry also lists Glenn Wong as a character designer. Unless there's another Glenn Wong who's an artist, this particular one has been an assistant production coordinator for several live-action TV series. Doesn't sound like that's an animation character designer's previous job, but I could be wrong.

Vs. System CCG in November?

As Scott pointed out in my earlier post with the DeKraken interview, when the artist said he was finishing up some artwork for an Upper Deck card set later this year, he was apparently referring to the Vs. System CCG set we discussed here back in February.

Back then, the set was described as

The teen sensations from the future, the Legion of Super-Heroes, are from all over the galaxy. They've banded together to protect the United Planets from a multitude of galactic threats. The Legionnaires, led by their founders Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Live Wire, work together with Superboy and Supergirl to fight against such evil foes as the Fatal Five, the Legion of Supervillains, and the eternal menace of Darkseid.

Online retailer Borderland Relics has the new description (which according to one source was just released on 6/30):

DC Vs. System TCG: Legion of Super-Heroes Boosters

Release Date: November 2006
Welcome to the 31st Century!
At the dawn of the 31st Century, the Legion of Super-Heroes protects the United Planets from the perils of the future. The Legionnaires, joined by the Teen Titans, battle the forces of Darkseid’s Elite, the Fatal Five and other Future Foes to keep the universe safe for everyone!

Help the Legionnaires bring security, stability, and order to the entire galaxy, or destroy them and it. Which ever side you choose, the universe will never be the same with the addition of these young heroes to the Vs. System! Set features fan favorite DC Comics characters, including Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, Superboy, Robin, and many more!

24- Pack Booster $66.00/box until 10/20 then $76.00/box

ToyWiz has a link for preorders at $69.99 a box, but they say it comes out in August 2006, not November.

MetaGame has a discussion by one of the game's designers about what's in this particular set, which is actually a "sequel" to their Infinite Crisis set. They worked with DC to get the storyline into card form, but due to lag time the storyline's details kept changing, which meant the cards had to change too.

It’s hard enough to design a set when you know the comics inside and out, but designing one with only sketchy details was a huge challenge. While it was a top priority to include all of the emblematic characters and events in the current Crisis, the worst thing that we could do was include something that wouldn’t end up happening after all.

How did we solve this problem? The same way that comic books do—with a “To Be Continued . . .” The story of the Infinite Crisis is not over. Infinite Crisis covered the opening salvo, but we plan to wrap up this tale in the next DC set, Legion of Super-Heroes. Major characters and plot points not covered in Infinite Crisis, including fan favorite Wally West, the destruction of Blüdhaven, and the ultimate battle between Superboys, are on their way. By using some of the legacy content space in Legion, we were better able to flesh out the teams and themes of Infinite Crisis without worrying about missing key touchstones.

The Vs.Realms message board has some discussion on what the fans would like to see.

"Dear Santa,
I have been very good all year. Please bring me 4 of the Matter Eater Lad 1 drop, the Matter Eater Lad 3 drop, and the Matter Eater Lad 7 drop. If possible, with the Extended Art Keith Giffen versions. If you could also bring me 4 of Legion Try-Outs and 4 of Brainy's Experiment Out of Control Again, that would be swell.
--sincerely,
carbonbased, age 6 and a half"

I have no idea what that means.

Another poster there has some hints about who's in it (but I couldn't find the original source):

Mon-El is apparently in the set.

The Legion of Supervillains and the Fatal Five are both in a 'conglomerate team'(Like Emerald Enemies), although they will be capable of being played seperately(this might be one of the features of the set).

Here's the Wikipedia link for the Vs. System. I have no hope of possibly understanding it well enough to summarize it.

Time Tripping

Vacations are hectic on a blogger's schedule. Fortunately, Scipio (of the Absorbascon fame) took the time out from his busy vacation earlier this month to send some postcards to his friend Blockade Boy (a time-traveling, universe-hopping superhero fashion designer who can turn himself into a moderately-sized steel wall, and who really didn't die at the Super-Stalag of Space), direct from the 31st century. Read his postcards about getting to the future, his meeting with the Legion (and how heeven learned a new cuss phrase), the Comic Book Shoppe of Nine Worlds (must be part of the franchise), the Universal Switch to Lesbianism 800 years ago, his dinner date with Colossal Boy, and his meeting up with some new Legionnaires. But then he had to go home, which is the worst thing about vacations.

It's a good thing that Scipio had taken the two lesson series on LegionSpeak so he could converse with the locals. Scan the reading material for lesson 101 and for lesson 102.

Meanwhile, Dr. Polaris (yes, that one) at Title Undetermined regaled us with his tale about his trip to the 30th Century, where he picked up the Emerald Empress in a bar.

Chris' Invincible Super-Blog looks back at another time traveller, Jimmy "Elastic Lad" Olsen, the Wilt Chamberlain of his day (and he ain't talking about basketball!). "Mister Action's in the house, and he's lookin' for love." I mean, even Triplicate Girl is going to "romance Jimmy like a terrific threesome." But sadly, they're the Silver Age Legion of Super-Heroes. They don't use their fantastic technology to bring you to the future without royally screwing with your head. It's in the charter.

Issue 19 reviews

Nice change of pace. I liked the "hard-boiled detective" talk by Chameleon. I half-expected him to say "My name's Chameleon. I'm a cop" or "Book 'em, Danno".

Rokk (of Rokk's Comic Book Revolution) was very eager to read the book, posting this the day before it came out:

What am I least looking forward to? In DC, that is soooo easy. Supergirl and the high jacking of the Legion of Super Heroes #19. I just can’t wait to see what underwhelming issue DC is going to push off on us this week! Hopefully, DC will finally showcase Supergirl a little on this title. She just hasn’t gotten enough attention. Supergirl really is an underutilized character.

But the next day he bought and read the issue, starting with this:

I’m totally over this title. I’m resigned to the fact that DC has butchered this comic since the day that Paul Levitz left it. And there is no reason for me to believe that DC will ever get this title right again.

On to the review...

This issue was just average. Nothing great and nothing terrible. One huge positive about this issue was that we only had to put up with Supergirl for 3 pages! [snip] The pacing is slow. The story feels unfocused. I wish that Waid would focus more on the Dominators and their plan or this new team that is forming whether it is the Legion of Super Villains or the Legion of Substitute Heroes rather than the robot rebellion. [snip] However, I simply cannot recommend this Supergirl and the Legion of Super Heroes to anyone other than the most die-hard Supergirl and Legion fans.

Hypno-Hustler and the Mercy Killers wrote in seebelow that he (they?) read this issue first of all the comics he bought instead of saving the money for retirement.

As to the issue...well, it was kinda okay. Waid is failing abjectly at interesting me in the greater milieu of the latest interpretation of the 30th century; nothing in his constructed world compels me in the slightest. But the plots are still boffo: the whole deal with Supergirl's belief that it was all her imagination was really well-done, and this issue gave us a pretty fine locked-door mystery and a nice cliffhanger at the end.

More to come when I find them.

Heroes Con '06, day 1

Not much to report from Charlotte so far.

WizardUniverse reports from the DC Nation panel:

There are no plans for Mon-El to join the Legion of Superheroes.

Of course, that could be parsed many ways - Lar Gand could join under another name, for example, or he could join the Teen Titans.

Nothing yet from Newsarama or CBR.

DeKraker interview: card set, more coming soon

ComicBloc has a long interview with Legion fill-in artist Adam DeKraker. There are some phenomenal shots of his pencil art (including pages from issue 18 and the cover and a page from issue 20) as well as the standard "who are your influences" and "what else are you working on now". Some interesting comments (the most interesting one highlighted in red - Note: see update at the bottom):

AD: I’m really enjoying my work on Legion these days. I’m always proud of being a better artist than I was last time I drew anything, but I’m also always completely aware of how far I have to go. I always wish I had another crack at everything I draw! But the nature of the job is that ya gotta let it go, warts and all. Learn from what didn’t work, and try your best to get it right the next time.

AD: Also on sale this month, I’m sitting in for regular artist Barry Kitson on an issue of Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (issue #18). And, I’ll be back on that title for a few issues starting with #20, working over Kitson’s ace layouts with the super talented Mick Gray inking. I’ll also just found out that I’ll be sharing regular pencilling duties with Jan Duursema on the new Star Wars title from Dark Horse, STAR WARS: LEGACY! I also have some trading card artwork for the Upperdeck Titans/Legion set. Dunno when those hit stores.

PMH: Filling in on the Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes sounds like it’s right up your alley. So who is your favorite Legionnaire to draw?

AD: You know, I’m only just becoming familiar with these characters. It’s funny, because the more you draw a character the more ya have affection for them. The first time I draw them, it’s kinda like “Who the hell is this? What’s their deal? What kinda belt is that?” It takes working on them a few times before ya figure ‘em out a bit. I’ve kinda caught some crap for being inconsistent with my interpretations on my first couple passes on these characters. It’s a completely legit criticism—it’s taken getting to know them to kinda settle on what my take on them is gonna be. When it starts to come together, that’s when I really start enjoying drawing them.

An upcoming issue focuses on Cosmic Boy quite a bit, and I think I may have developed a bit of a crush on him. He was really fun to draw—and a lot of that comes from what’s happening to his character in this issue—it’s quite funny and sweet. I’ve enjoyed Timber Wolf, Atom Girl, Karate Kid, and Invisible Kid quite a bit, too. There’s really no character I dislike. It’s such a big cast, it’s gonna take me awhile to really get acquainted with all of ‘em, but I’m looking forward to it!

A new card set too, huh? Here's a list of all of the trading cards we've seen so far over the years. It's deserving of a post all its own one of these days, too. Trivia: No Legionnaire has appeared on a card since the Kingdom Come set in 1996.

---

Update: As Scott points out in the comments, the card set is the Vs. System I wrote about back in February. D'oh!

Animated LSH news 39: AJ Vargas, producer (and more)

Combining some info from a recent comment, from Titans Tower, and TitansGo...

TitansGo.net reports that US production on season 1 of the Legion show will wrap next month:

Our Legion crew sources tell us the series will be wrapping up its 1st Season production in late July (scripts, audio, designs & storyboards...only thing left is overseas animation)!

Updates and clarifications to things I wrote here based on a recent Titans Tower post:

• David Slack (IMDB) is a freelancer who wrote one episode. He's not on staff.
  
• Amy Wolfram (IMDB) worked on a couple of episodes. I had reported earlier that she was on staff as a story editor (which I got from TitansGo) but someone with first-hand knowledge tells me that's incorrect, she's a freelancer.
  
• And according to my source, Rob Hoegee is more than just a story editor, he developed the show along with James Tucker (who I had thought all along was the single guiding force) and producer AJ Vargas (IMDB). Vargas was recently an associate producer on Teen Titans.
  

So the only confirmed staff writer we know about so far is Matt Wayne, along with Tucker and Hoegee.

A true story (supposedly)

This cracked me up on several levels. And the Legion is even tangentially involved, so it's on topic. I got it from Comic Geek Speak who got it from Pop Culture Addict. Whether it's true or not is irrelevant.

---

THE REASON NOT TO TELL COMIC BOOK COLLECTORS SUPERHERO JOKES

"Hey Sam, you like superheroes?" Diana inquired. I should say I do. I buy around forty dollars worth of comics a week.

"Yeah," I said. Diana had me interested. She's not the type to bring up superheroes.

"Wanna hear a joke then?" she asked.

"Sure," I replied.

"Okay. Superman is flying around with nothing to do and he's bored so he decides he wants to go out for a beer so he goes to Batman's house..."

"Do you mean Wayne Manor or the Batcave?" I queried.

"What difference does it make?" Diana said, annoyed that I had interrupted.

"Well, if Superman was seen going into Wayne Manor it would be suspicious and he might give away Batman's secret identity as Bruce Wayne so he would more likely go to the Batcave - but that's a cave, not a house".

"Okay. Superman goes to the Batcave."

"Okay," I agreed.

"So he asks Batman if he wants to go out for a drink, but Batman says he can't because he has to stay home and feed his bats," Diana continued.

"Why does Batman need to feed the bats in the Batcave?" I asked. "That seems like a waste of time. Does he not have better things to do? It's not like they are pets or anything. Why can't they catch their own dinner like normal bats?"

"That's not the point - alright? He just can't go with Superman because he's busy," Diana retorted.

"Fine," I sighed, "Batman needs to feed the bats. Go on..."

"Alright. So Superman leaves and he goes to Spiderman's house to ask him if he wants to go out for a beer."

"Ummmmm... Diana..." I interrupted.

"What now?" Diana sighed.

"What is Spiderman doing in this story?" I inquired.

"What do you mean?" Diana said in an annoyed voice.

"Well, technically it's impossible for Superman to go and ask Spiderman out for a drink because Superman lives in the DC Universe and Spiderman lives in the Marvel Universe. I mean Superman could ask Green Lantern or Aquaman or the Flash out for a drink, and Spiderman could go for a drink with Captain America and Wolverine but unless Superman went through some weird portal, or unless he was in the midst of a giant cross company event, which is rather unlikely considering that they are just going out for a beer, it's pretty much impossible for Spiderman and Superman to go for a beer. You know what I mean?"

Diana clearly didn't. I didn't want to explain again.

"Never mind. Superman goes to Spiderman's house to ask if he wants to go for a beer," I said.

"Okay. Yeah. But Spiderman said he couldn't because he had to stay home and feed his spiders."

"Hold on a second," I exclaimed, "can you explain to me exactly why Spiderman has spiders?"

"That's not important," Diana stated.

"But it doesn't make sense!" I continued anyways, "Spiderman doesn't keep spiders around. Why would he? And besides, Aunt May and MJ wouldn't put up with that kind of crap even if he wanted to."

Diana glared at me.

"Okay, okay - Spiderman had to feed his spiders."

"Can I go on?" she asked.

"Sure," I replied.

"So Superman leaves and he's flying around and he sees Wonder Woman lying naked on the beach."

"Why would Superman be interested in that?" I questioned her.

"Because he's a man," Diana replied, thinking that she had the better of me this time.

"Well," I replied, "I'm sure if Superman really wanted to see Wonder Woman naked he could have done it lots of times at any Justice League meeting by just using his x-ray vision."

Diana sighed. "Okay - well Wonder Woman is having sex on the beach with the Invisible Man."

"Okay this is just getting ridiculous..." I moaned. "The Invisible Man is a fictional character in a book by H.G. Wells. He's not even a comic book character, unless you include the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen but I don't think that counts in the current DC Universe. I'll have to look that one up... I mean, I guess she could be having sex with Invisible Kid from the Legion of the Superheroes but he's from the future - which means that's pretty much impossible. I mean, if they are still in that loopy cross company event Wonder Woman might be having sex with Invisible Woman from the Fantastic Four. Hey... what kind of joke is this anyways?" I asked.

"Forget it," Diana said finally fed up. She never did tell me the punch line.

Animated LSH news 38: David Slack, writer

The TitansTower Monitor Room has an update on the former Teen Titans writers who are now working on the Legion animated show, and revealed the writers of a couple of episodes.

David Slack revealed, "While I've been on hiatus [from "Law & Order,"], I've just completed an episode of LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES for the illustrious Rob Hoegee."

"Yeah, I was lucky enough to have both Amy [Wolfram] and David come in and do an episode or two," Rob noted. "I'm nearing the last legs of the first season of LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES. And as reported, it will air this fall on the Kids-WB! on the CW network. It will be on at 11am just before THE BATMAN."

I assume that means that from a writing and voice acting side, the season is almost finished. The first recording session was in February, which would put this at 4-5 months of work writing/acting per season of 13 episodes, with about 7-8 months of drawing per season.

So far, we know that Slack, Wolfram, Matt Wayne, and Stan Berkowitz have written at least one episode each (or collaborated with someone). Add to that Story Editor Rob Hoegee and Producer James Tucker, and that's six names right there (Wolfram is a Story Editor too). Sounds to this untrained ear like enough writers to tackle a 13-episode season (though of course I have no clue whatsoever what goes into writing a series!).

Rob, care to comment, add, or correct anything?

The Emerald Eye of Ekron?

Update: added LegionWorld link and Dan DiDio quote, per the comments.

---

Some people, who are apparently way smarter than I am, are wondering what happened to Alan "Green Lantern" Scott's eye when he came back from outer space recently in "52".

They're wondering if somehow this is the origin of the Emerald Eye of Ekron.

Devon at Seven Hells thinks so, as do a bunch of people who commented there. So did this guy at the ComicBloc forum, and this guy at Kalinara's Pretty Fizzy Paradise, John Hays at Silver Bullet Comics, and this guy at the DC message boards, and this guy at Tom Foss' Fortress of Soliloquy, and Douglas Wolk's 52 Pickup, and this thread on the LegionWorld ...

You may recall that the Eye was seen in the 21st century in the pages of L.E.G.I.O.N. '90 a while back (off and on between issues 11 and 22). Garryn and Marij'n Bek bonded with (or were taken over by, depending on your point of view) the Eye.

Of course, that was pre-Zero Hour. We only saw one in the pre-ZH 30th century (with the Emerald Empress), and a couple in the post-ZH 30th century (found by Kinetix, took over Shrinking Violet, later bonded with the Empress; at one point there were two of them). Read this entry (scroll down a bit) on the history of the pre-ZH and post-ZH Eyes.

Dan Didio to Newsarama, Crisis Counseling #7:

Q: Will Alan Scott's missing eye turn out/be related to the Emerald Eye of Ekron of Legion lore?

DD: I do not believe that is the case but I do know the eye is out there looking for him.

Of course, we all knew that Captain Atom was going to be revealed as Monarch in "Armageddon 2001", too.

They didn't... no, wait... WTF?

It's been a few months since the last time I did one of these, so inspired by the WTF? that is the new animated Elongated Brainiac 5, here's a new selection of panels taken out of context.

From chameleongirl79 at scans_daily:

• While the song is lovely, it's the giant flying carrot that makes the scene perfect.
  
• It's the Scooby-Doo show! Starring Brainiac "Fred" 5, Invisible "Scooby" Kid, and Cosmic "Shaggy" Boy. Zoinks!
  
• Chameleon Boy lays the smack down on Spider-Man.
  
• Hope you don't have a bad future. Brainy might try to mess with your urgal psytrops.
  

From the Absorbascon:

• "See, today was not a day I needed to read about Superboy bug sex." You must read the comments.
  
• Drugs? We're from the 30th century; we don't need no stinkin' drugs!
  

From What WERE They Thinking?:

• Even though you're good enough to be the Legion's leader, you still can't go on this mission, Saturn Girl.
  
• A Tromite to the ol' Brit Meilah. That's gotta hurt.
  

From Beaucoup Kevin:

• As one of the commenters says, "That is a really cruel thing to say about cucumbers."

From the Invincible Super-Blog:

• And this one time? At Legion camp? They gave him Hitler's brain!

Previous WTF?s can be found here, here, and here.

LegionWiki - the new Encyclopedia Galactica

Looks like Scott and the guys over at LegionWorld have finally gone public with the new LegionWiki. For those of you who don't know what a wiki is, check out the Wikipedia. Wikis are collaborative encyclopedia entries, where basically anyone can create or edit any entry (of course, if you erase the entry on Bouncing Boy and put in "for a good time, call Luornu", someone else can just as easily fix it).

Think of it as the Encyclopedia Galactica of the 21st century.

Similar wikis have been created for other continuity and character driven series, such as Superman, X-Files and Star Trek. Chaim Mattis Keller created a Legion help file some years back that attempted to be comprehensive, but because of the serial nature of the comics business it was outdated after a month. This is the next level of that, but now anyone can help. You think you're an expert on Kid Psycho? The Planetary Chance Machine? All the models of the Legion Cruiser? That and more you'll eventually find there.

So go sign in and create that entry on Kono Juice that we know you've been dying to share with everyone.

Animated commentary

Nice to see the extra couple hundred hits from the Newsarama link ("What's Interlac for 'Run this by legal'?") yesterday, it was my biggest traffic day since my April Fool's Day joke that Warren Ellis linked to. A number of other sites either mentioned the Superboy/Superman switch or reposted the info. Hey, I finally scooped Comics Continuum! :)

Oh, and someone already got the answer to the Newsarama question:

Check out some animated commentary:

• The Absorbascon
  

  Love Bouncing Boy, but my horrified gaze is riveted on the desecration of Brainiac 5, who's been reimagined as some sort of ... machine.
  
  To which I can only say:
  
  BEHOLD THE LEGION FLIGHT RING!

  
  (It makes more sense in context, really)
  
  
• A Day in the Life
  

  WTF?
  
  *sigh*
  
  This just isn't my day...
  
  Still though, they cancled Teen Titans & Justice League Unlimited, and all I get is this?!?
  
  Seriously, what the fuck is this? Justice League light? A shit version of Teen Titans?
  
  Eh...
  
  Who am I kidding? I'll watch it.

  
  
• Tales from the Longbox:
  

  What is the deal with Brainiac Five’s neck???

  
  
• Thanks to MondoComic for the translation of the Newsarama article into Spanish, but next time could you not strip attribution of both my page and Newsarama's?
  

Animated: It's Neron's fault

That picture of Elongated Brainy? Blame it on Neron.

Quote for the day: "Because we all know teenagers with superpowers need nothing more than emo mascara and drugs in their life."

Animated: Licensing Show part 2

Continuing the earlier coverage of the Legion's appearance at the Licensing show...

The Comics Continuum has a picture of a promotional image (click to enlarge) for the Legion cartoon show (superceded by a scan of a flyer, courtesy of Ray's Galleries):

WTF is up with Brainy's neck? Is he a robot? Or just drinking Elastic Lad's stash of Gingold?

I contacted one of WB's licensing people for more info. One thing she sent me was a press release. First, notice the subtle change in language in the highlighted phrase from the original to now. Maybe the rumors about removing Superboy might have some truth?

Original:

While their intentions were good, their time travel skills were not, and Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Brainiac 5, Phantom Girl, Bouncing Boy and Timber Wolf end up going too far back into the past, accidentally retrieving the young Superboy instead.

Current:

While their intentions were good, their time travel skills were not, and Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Brainiac 5, Phantom Girl, Bouncing Boy and Timber Wolf end up going too far back into the past, accidentally retrieving the young Superman, before he moved to Metropolis.

I've got a request in for clarification.

Update: More photos from the Licensing Show at Ray's Galleries (closeup of Superboy/man) and action-figure.com (closeups of all the Legionnaires).

Animated LSH news 37: new logo, licensing info

Here's what the Legion looks like at the Warner Bros. booth at this week's 2006 Licensing Show in NYC:

Note the new logo. (Photo by The BEAT's Heidi MacDonald)

Check out The BEAT for more pictures.

From the show's web site:

Licensing International is the premier annual trade event for the licensing industry where owners and agents of intellectual properties showcase their brands to 23,000+ high-profile retailers, licensees, and promotional partners. You'll sign exclusive deals, strategize with retailers, solidify promotional partnerships, and network with an unparalleled community of licensing professionals from around the world.

Judging by what they've done with the Teen Titans, I expect an onslaught of Legion licensed stuff.

Update: Ain't It Cool News has another picture (with different lighting), along with some interesting reader comments.

Animated LSH news 36: Stan Berkowitz

Viewers of the Justice League cartoons will recognize this name: Stan Berkowitz, who wrote many of the highly-regarded shows ("Tabula Rasa", "A Better World", "Secret Society", "Wild Card"), has written at least one episode of the Legion cartoon.

In an interview on World's Finest Online, he is asked about his current projects:

Earlier this year, I worked on an episode of "The Batman" dealing with The Riddler's backstory, and an episode of "Legion Superheroes" about the conflict between profit and altruism. I had a great time working on both of them, and look forward to seeing the finished versions in September of this year.

His next project, he says, is working with Bruce Timm on a direct-to-video adaptation of DC's "New Frontier" miniseries.

(Via MillarWorld)

Update: Oops, we weren't supposed to know about the New Frontier thing. The question and answer containing the Legion episode info has been removed.

52 Week 6

I haven't read it yet since I left town before the new comics came in last week, but there's a lot of speculation about whether (or when, or where) Mon-el will reappear. Some great commentary over at the Absorbascon (especially in the comments) regarding everything we saw in that 2-page spread of Dr. Hunter's lab and what it might mean.

Remember, Dan DiDio said a couple months back that we'd see Mon-el (or Lar Gand), just not in the Legion book (yet).

Viva Las Vegas, DCU style

Just back from a long weekend in Las Vegas with the Legion of Super-Gamblers (or, in my case, "Sub-par"). Among the interesting topics of discussion: what would Las Vegas look like in the DCU?

Bruce Wayne would be a player in the Vegas scene. After selling off his chain of casinos he bought piecemeal (for a huge profit) he'd build the biggest, flashiest, techiest casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Not The Wynn Hotel and Casino, but The Wayne. Unlike Steve Wynn, though, he'd have Lucius Fox running the show, but he'd be there for all the gala events and charity parties.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the Strip, Lex Luthor would have his own casino, the Lexor. He uses the profits from the gaming to fund his nefarious schemes.

Somewhere in there I'm sure you'd see The Atlantis and Paradise Island hotel/casinos, the former with a distinct nautical/underwater theme and the latter with a Greek/Roman theme (maybe in place of Caesar's Palace).

Planet Krypton would be taking over and transforming the Aladdin, not Planet Hollywood, so you'd have a super-hero themed hotel/casino.

You'd probably still have New York, New York, but the DCU version would include sightings of NYC-based heroes (although they'd have to be careful not to infringe on Planet Krypton's licenses).

With people like Booster Gold and the Legion running around the 21st century, and with aliens (Superman, Hawkman, J'Onn J'Onzz, the Dominators, etc.) and high/future tech known to the general public (maybe not believed, but still seen), I think there mnight be room for a science-fiction based hotel and casino - maybe call it Time Warp after the old DC series. The hotel part would be shaped like a large rocket ship upside-down, similar to how the post-reboot Legion HQ looked. Inside you'd have a mix of retro tech (1950's-60's style fins and chrome, 30's pulps) and high/alien tech (Krypton, Thanagar). Maybe something like the Las Vegas Hilton's Star Trek Experience but on a bigger scale, with real tech instead of Hollywood special effects. This is where all of the time travellers would stay when they came back to the 21st century to bet on sporting events where they already knew the outcome - the hotel already has the futuristic touches that they're used to back home. The big favorite there would be the Planetary Chance Machine, and the food court would be famous for the Nine Worlds Ice Cream Parlor (check out the Martian ice cream).

Oh, and of course, Zatanna would be headlining at the Mirage. Top hat and fishnets, naturally.

Animated LSH news 35: Rokk, Mekt, and a SDCC preview

Even though we reported it here about 6 weeks ago, Comics Continuum has finally gotten around to confirming that Wil Wheaton is going to be the voice of Cosmic Boy - and got some more info on Rokk.

In the series, Cosmic Boy was a founder and the first leader of the Legion who now spends more time as an Earth-bound diplomat. He is not one of the seven core members featured in the cast.

"I'm in a few episodes," Wheaton told The Continuum.

He's mentioned that he's in at least three.

In other Legion news, according to the Continuum:

* Mekt Ranzz, Lightning Lad's brother, will appear in an episode.

* Director Ben Jones told The Continuum that the series will have "a mix of old Legion villains and new characters."

* Look for a preview of the series at Comic-Con International in San Diego next month.

OK, we're going to need lots of people in San Diego to volunteer to be reporters here...

Animated LSH news 34: Superboy's out?

According to a poster at LegionWorld, the team working on the animated series has gone back and reworked the show to remove Superboy due to the ramifications of the Siegel Superboy suit.

I met and talked to someone who works in connection to the show yesterday, and have some good news and bad news:

Firstly, the art style of the show is supposedly closer to the Bruce Timm DCAU style than the promo art we've seen so far. That's neither good nor bad for me, because I like both...but I'm sure some people will be happy.

The bad news is that due to losing the lawsuit with the Seigel and Schuster heirs, DC can't use the name 'Superboy' in the show. (Note: this is inaccurate, but was corrected below)

At all.

So all the episodes completed up to this point have had to be re-dubbed, calling the character 'Superman.' Apparantly, there is even some discussion as to whether the character now is even Superman as a boy...or if he will be an adult Superman who has been de-aged somehow. Yeesh, I hope that doesn't happen.

The good news is that we should be seeing the series around September. Also, there is a full toy line in the works from Mattel...can't wait for that.

He wrote in another post that he apparently misunderstood the bit about the lawsuit, correcting himself and adding more:

My impression was that they needed to move forward in order to get the show out on time, so who knows... maybe the name change is more of a 'better safe than sorry' thing, rather than them actually losing yet. (And yeah, you're right about it only being the Siegel heirs)

My source seemed reliable to me...he said that when it came up they were going to have to re-dub all references to 'Superboy', he had suggested they change it to 'Kal-El', which I think would have made a great middle ground...but I guess they felt it would not have the same level of public recognition.

Stay tooned for more.

It can't be that easy, can it?

SPOILERS for 52 week 5....

The secret behind Supergirl's appearance in the 30th century can't be that easy, can it?

In 52 week 5, we finally find out what happened to the space-faring team out near the hole in space (from the Rann/Thanagar War). Alan Scott is telling Steel what happened to his team:

The aftereffects of healing a rift in space over 95 million miles wide were unbelievable. It wasn't just energy that emenated from it. It was some kind of reality-warping wave. ... Adam Strange told Mal Duncan to open up a portal that would lead to the northern hemisphere of the planet Rann, all in hopes of rediverting a zeta beam to our location in order to teleport us back to Earth. A moment later, the zeta beam came through. But something went wrong. It was splintered by the portal, like a ray of light sent through a prism. A beam struck Cyborg and Firestorm, fusing them together. Another hit Hawkgirl and Bumblebee. Still another sent Supergirl... somewhere...

It appears that "somewhere" is actually "somewhen" - the 30th century. So after some time in the future with the Legion, she'll make it back to the present in time for "One Year Later". Apparently.

Just before he was blasted, Red Tornado's last words were "It's coming! 52! 52!" The Dominators in the 30th century remember the 52. Apparently there's going to be a real plot in this series, not just a year-long series of vignettes.

Also out this week

New this week:

• 52 week 5, which is still recapping the original Crisis. We see Mon-el, Wildfire, Ultra Boy, and others fighting the Anti-Monitor (flashing back to Crisis issues 8-12). That's probably it for the Legion in the History of the DC Universe backup unless they show us the future.
  
  
• The Power Girl reprint trade paperback, reprinting (among others) the first four issues of last fall's JSA Classified. You'll recall that some of the Legionnaires appeared there as illusions courtesy of the Psycho Pirate (but no explanation of why the current post-Infinite Crisis Legion was shown rather than the pre-Crisis Legion that Psycho Pirate was exposed to during the original Crisis). The TPB also reprints all of the variant covers.
  

Bedard new co-writer on "Legion" (for a little while)

Tony Bedard (Marvel's Exiles) posts in his ComicBloc forum that he'll be co-writing the Legion with Mark Waid for a little while.

I think the solicitations have come out on this already, but I'm helping out on Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes for a few issues, starting with issue #20. And I'm terribly excited about this for a number of reasons.

First of all, I've always had a weird love for the Legion. Some of the earliest comics I saw were Legion books, back before I really started reading comics regularly, and I always had an affinity for Mon-El (or ANY character with puffy sleeves), Timberwolf, and Wildfire.
[snip]
Anyhow, there may be no Mon-El or Wildfire these days, but Legion has long been one of my dream assignments, and for at least two or three months I'll be living the dream.

In another thread, he explains why he's helping out on the writing - to nobody's surprise, it has something to do with Waid's more high-profile gig, 52.

Mark's got a very full plate these days, especially with 52, so I was asked to help keep LEGION on schedule by co-writing a few issues. Mark and I have worked like that before and it's a good fit, so this has been a real treat for me. We co-plot the issues in conference calls, then I write up a full script based on those. LEGION's always been one of my favorite DC properties, so I'm giddy at this opportunity.

This Summer, Adventure Is All-You-Can-Eat

Via The Big Bob-Blog: Lore Sjöberg's "alt.text" column in Wired contains this movie pitch about super-heroes who don't have their own movies yet:

You'd think they might be running out of good superheroes to slap up on the screen, but look at what new faces are arriving in the next couple years: Wonder Woman! Ghost Rider! Uh ... The Sub-Mariner! Ant-Man! OK, yeah, things are looking pretty dire. But luckily, there's no bottom to this barrel: There are enough superheroes to fill seats and incite forum flame wars for decades to come. Here are some examples of actual superheroes in Marvel and DC comics who, inexplicably, have yet to get a movie.

First up, of course, is Matter-Eater Lad.

I like a hero who tells you what he's all about right up front. Matter-Eater Lad has the power to eat matter, plus he's a lad. Think of all the movies in which Matter-Eater Lad could have saved the day. In Armageddon he could have eaten the asteroid! In Titanic he could have eaten the iceberg! In Just My Luck he could have eaten Lindsey Lohan! But in his own movie he'll have to face a menace he can't just masticate away: a being of pure energy! Or maybe a demonically powered, endless hometown buffet.

Tag line: This Summer, Adventure Is All-You-Can-Eat.

Check out the column for more about his proposed Batwoman, Batroc the Leaper, Bushmaster, and Doll Man movies.

Big Bob has some ideas for a Matter-Eater Lad/Bouncing Boy buddy picture starring Ben Stiller and Jack Black.

More stuff coming soon

Various Legion-related things coming up later this year:

• JSA: Mixed Signals TPB, reprinting JSA 76-81.
  

  Following the events of DAY OF VENGEANCE, the DCU's magic-based heroes are vulnerable — and the ancient magician Mordru plans to take full advantage of the situation. Meanwhile, the fate of Atom Smasher is decided, the OMACs attack, and Green Lantern is drafted to help in an intergalactic war!

  
  
• Justice Society #1
  As discussed here earlier, a new Starman will be in the relaunched JSA. The cover to the first issue, an homage to the cover of All-Star Squadron #1, shows Starman in a photo of prospective members.
  
  
• Justice League of America #1
  In the August solicitations (Newsarama, DC Comics), JLA #1 will have two covers, A and B, from the left and right halves of the two-page spread we saw in Wizard a few months ago. But as pointed out by others (LegionClubhouse and Icewing00) a while back, is that Karate Kid in the back row next to the flag that Hawkman is holding? Here's a closeup picture.
  

Wizard World Philly '06: Day 2

Add another name to the list of top artists who've said they want to work on the Legion book: Jim Lee. George Perez has already gone on record twice (at the Pittsburgh and Motor City cons) that he'd like to work on the book too.

At Lee's Q&A panel at WizardWorld (as reported by CBR), he said:

If he could work on any character in the DCU that he hasn’t worked on before, it’d be "All Star Batman and Robin", on time.

“No, 'Legion of Superheroes.' One issue a year” Lee joked.

The "joke" aspect had to do with the "one issue a year" rate that he'd be able to handle, given his track record.


Also, at the "DCU: One Year Greater" panel, CBR reported that

Supergirl will continue to be a part of "Legion of Super Heroes" as long as sales warrant. In August, Brainiac 5’s plans to resurrect Dream Girl are finally set into motion.

Wizard World Philly '06: Day 1

Newsarama's got news (arama!) from Wizard World: Philadelphia this weekend. At Friday's DC Nation panel, Dan Didio noted that:

Supergirl’s appearance in the Legion of Super-Heroes has helped the book’s sales, with Wayne noting that the series is now the best-selling of all of DC’s 1,001 Year Later titles.

Funny how different reporters hear different things. WizardUniverse's coverage of this panel says

Bob Wayne acknowledged the success of Supergirl's inclusion in Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. "The sales of the book have gone up since the addition of Supergirl," Wayne said. "It's the most successful book from our '1,001 Years later line.'"

Of course, because it's the only 1001 Years Later title. But non-pedantically, from a participant who was there, this isn't exactly correct. S/LSH got the biggest boost out of all DC books from the "One Year Later" effort, it's not the best selling book in the DC line. You can see what a big bump it got here, around 15,000 extra issues sold.

ComicBookResources has a little more:

Didio was particularly evasive on the subject of The Flash. He did not reveal the identity of the Flash in the upcoming new series. He refused to say if we’ve seen him before, or if we’d be seeing Wally West, Bart Allen, XS, or the Speed Force any time soon. However, we will be seeing what happened to Superboy while he was trapped in the Speed Force.

52 Week 4: Return of the Knave from Krypton?

So in this week's issue of 52, there's a character named Devem who appears with Cassie and the rest of the new Superboy Fan (Remember, "Fan" Is Short for Fanatic) Club. I don't think it's a coincidence.

In the "History of the DCU" backup, various Legionnaires are shown in flashback to the Crisis on Infinite Earths: Dawnstar with the original group chosen, and then on the Monitor's satellite, there's Supergirl, Blok, Chameleon Boy, Sun Boy, Brainiac 5, Lightning Lad, Wildfire, Mon-el, and Saturn Girl. This chapter closes with the death of Supergirl.

Animated LSH news 33: new names and a new comic?

One new name attached to the Legion series that I haven't seen before, one that I have seen before but not in a while. Plus some news about a possible new Legion book.

Jason's RIOT comics + culture mentions off-handedly a Newsarama interview with Dave Johnson (Batman: Broken City, Superman: Red Son, 100 Bullets) in which he's promoting his sketchbook. But then the interview delves into his animation work (including lead designer on Ben10):

NRAMA: Do you have any other books, TV shows, or blockbuster Hollywood productions coming up? Everyone will say they heard it here first...

DJ: Well, right now I'm working on the crew for the new WB show called Legion. It's being produced by James Tucker, who was Bruce Timm's right hand guy on Justice League. And so far it's shaping up pretty well. After that I'll be working on a new Bruce Timm project. From there it's up in the air at this point.

His MySpace page doesn't say much more:

Well, I just finished up working on "BEN 10" for Cartoon Network. And now currently working at Warner Bros. again, on a new show called "Legion". . .

On Ben10 he was credited as "Art Director" and "Series Designer", so I'm going to assume that he's got a similar role on the Legion show until I hear otherwise. On the art team, we only know of some background artists and prop designers but nobody with the highfalutin' title of Art Director (yet).


The old name is Allen Heinberg. You may recall some early talk here about his name being thrown around as the show-runner, but then nobody mentioned him anymore in connection with the Legion. I (and others) thought it was a rumor, but it turns out there was fire amidst all that smoke. Scott at the LegionClubhouse picked up a podcast interview with Heinberg a couple months ago at WordBalloon. I never got a chance to listen to it, but Scott did. Apparently Heinberg was involved in the early days with writing the series "bible" and working on the first few episodes. Due to other commitments he had to bow out, to be replaced by Rob Hoegee. (Rob, feel free to leave comments!), and he has not been involved with the series since then. Go read the Clubhouse for more info.


Finally, the Legions of Gotham blog and message board reported last week that a new comic based on the show's continuity is in work, under the "Johnny DC" banner. Given that all the other shows have had their own comic, this isn't surprising. Matt says he knows who the writer might be, but warns that we might not find out until the summer (or maybe during convention season).


Hey, my comments section is always open for anyone who wants to post some anonymous information about any of the show or comic stuff... artwork, actors, artists, whatever.

Legion of Simpson-Heroes

Try to imagine Homer Simpson as Lightning Lad, Professor Frink as Brainiac 5, and Bart Simpson as Superboy. Can't do it? How about Comic Book Guy as Bouncing Boy, Milhouse as Mon-el, and Bleeding Gums Murphy as Tyroc? Well now you don't have to imagine it, you can see it for yourself.

Currently making the rounds via email among Legion fandom... I present the Legion of Simpson-Heroes (which I found today via Matthew's Legion Abstract).

One of my co-workers, a guy by the name of Randy, strolled into the office this morning with a cardboard box under his arm. He handed it to me and asked if I recognized them. I did. Immediately. I pulled each one out and explained who they were. Eyes glazed over. Men groaned. Women looked disgusted. I geeked out. (The whole story about how they came to exist is below the pictures.) So, without further ado, Monkey Spit proudly presents: The Legion of Simpsons Heroes!

Here's a preview (click to visit the site and see closeups of each):

New Starman

From the new WizardUniverse site's article on the new Geoff Johns/Alex Ross Justice Society of America series in October comes word (via Johns himself) of some of the characters to appear, including an apparently new Starman - or rather, what would seem to be the appearance of an old one from the future.

“Who is Opal City’s new hero? Where is he from? Why is he here? He might not even know for sure, but he’s hoping the Justice Society can tell him.”

From the last page of Infinite Crisis 7, the new Starman will be wearing the full bodysuit starfield costume as seen in Kingdom Come and the last issue of Starman. Speaking of which, here's the dialogue from pages 2-5 of that issue (#80, August 2001), which suggests a lengthy stay by this particular Thom Kallor (but which would also imply that Stargirl doesn't keep the Cosmic Rod).

Remember that Jack "Starman" Knight met Thom "Star Boy" Kallor (along with Shadow Lass) earlier in the Starman series, now Thom is all grown up.

• Jack: Thom Kallor. That is you under the mask?
  
• Thom: It is.
  
• Jack: So it's true. Everything. You will succeed me.
  
• Thom: One day, sure. But not today, tomorrow, nor the day after that. There's one who'll wield cosmic power before I will.
  
• Jack: Who?
  
• Thom: You know who. You've already made your selection, right?
  
• Jack: Yeah. But one day it'll be your turn.
  
• Thom: One day.
  
• Jack: And you're the reincarnation of Matt O'Dare and Brian Savage?
  
• Thom: H... Hold on. That's a new one. I'm reincarnated?
  
• Jack: Forget it. But everything will happen just like the Shade said?
  
• Thom: I'll return from the 31st Century. Yes. But whether your future leads to me, I can't say. I'm only one possible future, after all.
  
• Jack: Huh?
  
• Thom: The future isn't a straight route from the present like the present is to the past. The way ahead has many forks. Potential choices. Unsung songs. Unspoken verse. All awaiting the moment when "what might be" has become "what is".
  
• Jack: So... you're saying... I'm not sure what you're saying.
  
• Thom: For all I know in other possible futures, Thom Kallor died serving in the Legion. Or he turned evil. Or he was simply different enough in his personality he doesn't return to the past and become Starman. But in the future that's mine, I did.
  
• Jack: Do you regret it?
  
• Thom: I have lived such a full life in the 31st century even before coming here to begin again. It's as if I had two lives and no, I don't regret a moment, Jack.
  
• Jack: So, I'm back and I'm done. My time as Starman.
  
• Thom: Are you? Isn't there one more thing you forgot?
  
• Jack: Oh, yeah. I guess there is at that.
  
• Thom: It's me who's done.
  
• Jack: I don't understand.
  
• Thom: I remember how scared I was... as a boy... knowing the day I was destined to die? When I retun to my era that day will be tomorrow. Bringing you back from 1951 was the last thing I had to do.
  
• Jack: Oh, my God! If you know, couldn't you change your fate?
  
• Thom: I have lived, Jack. [Removes his mask for the first time, showing a scarred face.] More than enough. And I feel it was you who lit the way for me. Thank you. Good-bye.
  
• Jack: Well, if... err... I'm at a loss for words.
  
• Thom: Good-bye back at me will do.
  
• Jack: Good-bye, Thom. I'd wish you good luck too, but --
  
• Thom: Yeah, there wouldn't be much point. [Disappears with his Time Bubble.]