Bits of Legionnaire Business

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

• CBR's Comic Book Legends Revealed reveals this:
  

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

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

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

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

Now it can be told!

Back in April, I mentioned that as a result of my posting here, I was consulted for a non-spoilery plot point by Geoff Johns for "Legion of 3 Worlds". I had promised to tell you what that was once the series was over. It's not really anything major, though.

In January 2008 I got an email from Johns asking for a list of the members of the United Planets up to the original Crisis. In retrospect, he was apparently doing research on the UP scenes in L3W. Here's what I wrote back to him:

Of course you'd have to start with a question I'm not fully prepared to answer, but I'll have to be Clintonian in my explanation.

To the best of my (limited) knowledge, such a list has never been made public and put on the internet. If such a list had been compiled, someone from the fanzines Interlac, Klordny, or the Legion Outpost probably did it sometime in the last 30 years, but since those issues are all on paper, there's no telling unless someone has a complete collection.

That being said, there are some sources. In case you didn't know, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Mayfair put out a bunch of DC role playing games, complete with various sourcebooks. The first two Legion books, 1986's "The Legion Sourcebook" and 1987's "The Legion Sourcebook vol. II: The World Book" contain RPG stats for pretty much anything Legion-related up to that time, which appears to be the time frame you're looking for. The World Book is most likely what you need, but of course it's one of the things that I don't have in my collection yet.

In 1990, Mayfair published the "Atlas of the DC Universe", which infamously places Metropolis in Delaware and Gotham City in southern NJ. The Atlas has a chapter that reprints some of the info from the World Book and says that most of the info predates the Great Collapse of 2989 (which was when Levitz left). The Atlas has info on 57 worlds, but that includes both UP worlds and others (the Dominion, Khundia, etc.). I can cull out the UP worlds from this list if you like.

For all their faults *cough*fanfic*cough*, the Bierbaums were great with detail. A planet mentioned in passing in an issue of Adventure Comics would become something important in their storyline, and their data was compiled in Mayfair's "2995: The Legion Sourcebook" from 1992. Helpfully, they even provided a map showing where the various planets were in relation to the Khundish Empire, the UP, the Dominion, the Dark Circle, and "hostile & unexplored". They list a total of 72 worlds, and elsewhere give the status of 76 worlds (some overlapping) and where they stood about a year into the v4 storyline. In giving the history of the UP, the book mentions that there were about 1000 worlds prior to the Collapse.

Now, if you don't already have these books, I can sift through them to get the UP worlds out. I also have an ebay bid on the World Book and the four game modules which is over tomorrow evening, so if I win that I can go through that book too.

Let me know what you'd like and I'll do what I can.

So it took me a little while to dig through those books. Here was my next note to him in Feb. 2008:

Finally got my Mayfair "World Book" in the mail today. Between that, the Atlas of the DC Universe, "Who's Who in the LSH", and Mark Waid's "Legion Index", I've come up with 182 named worlds.

I made some assumptions: basically unless we were told that it was not a UP world, that the UP couldn't interfere, or it was something like a planet inhabited only by criminals, I took it as a UP world. When Chameleon Boy turns into a Nitwonian Nibbybug, I assume that Nitwon is a UP world.

This list roughly coincides with the original Crisis or very shortly thereafter. The Index and the World Book came out in 1987, "Who's Who" in 1988, and the Atlas in 1990 (though it says that the data is pre-Collapse, which means it's good up through the end of the Levitz run).

The list does not include non-UP worlds, non-worlds (such as asteroids or space stations), or those worlds that lie within the UP space but are either destroyed or uninhabited.

Maybe for my next trivia quiz I should post the list of all 182 worlds I found and have you identify each one by issue and context.

Crowd scene

A couple weeks ago, I wrote this:

At the 1995 San Diego and Chicago cons, "Legionnaires" artists Jeff Moy and Cory Carani were taking pictures of some of the fans. We didn't know until Legionnaires #43 came out (cover-dated 11/96) that a number of fans from the conventions were drawn into a crowd scene during the Legion tryouts.

Turns out I have misremembered for years, it was actually issue 38, page 13, panel 3. I knew it was a crowd scene, but I forgot which crowd.:



The faces are (clockwise from Top) Mike Chary, Johanna Draper [now Carlson], Erik Hancock, Sidne Ward (who was the namesake inspiration for Imra's mom Sydne), Bob Dobiesz (namesake for Imra's dad Bertor), and me. I should make that my new blog avatar.

Here's what I wrote on the old LSH-L mailing list on May 19, 1996:

On the last day of the San Diego con last year, we ran into Jeff Moy and Cory Carani at the DC booth near the end of the day. Cory had his camera out and was taking pictures, so I told him that he had to take a picture of me and Vernon Harmon (who was with me at the time, dressed as Wildfire) so he could put us in a crowd scene somewhere. I guess Vernon's being saved for a later time. Just like Wildfire...

I think we all ought to photocopy the page, cut out our faces, and wear them on our badges at the various conventions we go to this summer, with a caption that says "I [heart] Titanian Magnoball".

At the 1996 San Diego and Chicago cons, a couple of people had each of us autograph the page. To the best of my recollection, that's the only time someone has ever asked me to sign a comic.

SDCC09: It's a bird, it's a plane....

... it's Super-Mon!



Sorry.

SDCC09: DCU Editorial

Saturday's panels included DC Universe, a spotlight on Francis Manapul, and the Siegel/Shuster/Superman lawsuit. I can't find anything yet on the last two, so here's the DC stuff.

DC Universe, via Newsarama:

Mon-El's new costume when he joins the Justice League:


The team will have: Mon-El (in a new costume with a Superman "S" on it), Dick Grayson Batman, Donna Troy and Hal Jordan. The other characters are a "mystery," says Robinson. One of them "mystery" members is Congorilla, Robinson pointed out.

Johns said the Legion are going to be in Adventure Comics and Superman, and play a big role the rest of this year and next.

DC Universe, via CBR:

...the new [JLA] team will feature Mon-El in a new Superman-inspired costume, Dick Grayson as Batman and Donna Troy who "I'm going to make her kick ass in this book."

SDCC09: DC Nation

Friday's panels at San Diego included DC Nation and Mattel/DC. The action figure guys tell me that there was no Legion stuff at the Mattel panel.

DC Nation, via Newsarama:

Robinson announced the five-part "Mon-El, Man of Valor" story, which will feature a "new look and a new outlook" for the character.

Fan thanked the panel for bringing Superboy back. DiDio said they always had "the plan in place" to bring Superboy and Kid Flash back, then joked a bit about the Legion of Three Worlds delays.

The joke, as tweeted by @SpeedForceOrg:

DD: What did you like abt LO3W5? Fan: it finally came out. #sdcc

DC Nation, via CBR:

Next was applause for the Superman books. Fans said they liked the realistic characterization and ties to the Legion. Robinson spoke about the August-beginning arc, "Mon-el, Man of Valor," which will see major changes for the character, including a new look.

SDCC09: Superman & Geoff Johns

It was kinda fun following the Twitterers Thursday afternoon (you can follow me at @LegionOmnicom) and the live-updates of the panels. Thursday we had the Superman: Two Worlds and the Geoff Johns Spotlight panels. Newsarama had their coverage as a live chat, while Newsarama posted live material.

Highlights from the Superman: Two Worlds panel

Via Newsarama

Before moving to audience Q&A, Robinson piped in that he hadn't talked about Superman yet (an odd thing to leave out in a Superman panel). "I hope everyone is following the adventures of Mon-El," Robinson said. He discussed all the "fragmented pieces" in the book, and an upcoming story called "Mon-El, Man of Valor," that will include, among other things, a new costume for the Daxamite.

"What Legion or Legions is Connor going to be interacting with in Adventure Comics?" "You'll see every Legion in Adventure Comics, eventually," Johns answered.

Via CBR:

The [Adventure Comics] co-feature will have JSA's Starman, Lightining Lad, Polar Boy and Sun Boy in the first few issues, Johns said.

...Rucka noted that the Thanagarians arrive as the Kryptonians are moving one of Jupiter's moons to New Krypton. A Joe Kubert cover will see the Hawk characters fighting Commander Kal-El and Robinson added that he wants to turn Mon-el from a "weak J'onn J'onzz" to "the alien Namor."

Note: someone who was at the panel said that this was a reference to Jemm, Son of Saturn, not Mon-El.

"Coming out of 'Codename Patriot,' we're going to finish the finish the book up to #700, with 'Mon-el, Man of Valor,' which will see him return darker, with a new purpose, and a new costume."

The Superman Annual will be about the history of Daxam with art by Javi Pina.

What Legion/Legions in "Adventure?" "You'll see every Legion in 'Adventure Comics' eventually," Johns said.

Superboy Prime will appear in "Adventure Comics" #4-5, Johns said.

Highlights from the Geoff Johns spotlight panel

Via Newsarama

Nothing.

Via CBR

Briefly touching on his work on “Smallville,” Johns revealed that he and the show’s producers had discussed depicting the 31st century on the CW series, but that budget restraints made it impossible. For example, if such a direction had been pursued, Lightning Lad would not have been able to demonstrate any of his electricity powers, making the whole thing rather pointless.

Johns confirmed that Starman’s “new quest” has nothing to do with “Blackest Night,” and will be depicted as a co-feature in “Adventure Comics.”

Well duh! Of course it has nothing to do with Blackest Night. Starman is carrying a document that reads "Last Will and Testament of R. J. Brande" on it. Seems pretty clear to me that it has nothing to do with BN.

But very surprisingly, Legion of 3 Worlds concluded the day before this panel and not one question came up about the series.

Up tomorrow: the DC/Mattel panel and the DC Nation panel.

Annotated "Legion of Three Worlds" #5

Almost a year ago - August 19, 2008 - I posted these words:

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more,
Or close the wall up with rebooted dead!
... I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot!
Follow your spirit; and upon this charge
Cry 'Long Live the Legion! Annotate on!'

So, 11 months later we finally have issue 5 of "Legion of 3 Worlds".

Doing these annotations has been fun for me, trying to see what I can remember with my aging feeble mind, but I have had to look a lot of stuff up. It would have been next to impossible without the internet. And of course, you guys, who help me with what I didn't get. So thanks for playing along, we'll do one more shot at this.

Page 1

• Superman, L1 Lightning Lad, L1 Saturn Girl and L1 Cosmic Boy at Vanishing Point at the end of time as scenes from the Legion's past appear (as seen via cover shots). Clockwise from upper left: the war between Krypton and Earth (ADV 333); Triplicate Girl's death at the tentacles of Computo (ADV 340); Polar Boy leads the new Legionnaires (which issue is this?); the rebooted L2 Legion (LSH v4 0); Darkseid (Great Darkness Saga TPB); Superboy joins the Legion (ADV 247); Rokk restarts the Legion (LSH v4 1); the SW6 Legionnaires appear (LGS 1); the Legion vs the Sun-Eater (ADV 352); Superboy right before his death (LSH v3 37); the L.E.G.I.O.N. (L.E.G.I.O.N. '89 1).
  

Page 2

• Superboy/Conner fights Superboy-Prime with L2 and L3 Ultra Boys.
  

Page 3

• L2 Andromeda, Superboy, L1 Polar Boy, L2 Wildfire, and XS along with Sodam Yat and the whole brand new freakin' Green Lantern Corps (or are those just constructs?). Bart and Conner were members of the Teen Titans prior to Final Crisis; Conner was a Titan when he traveled to the future and became a Legionnaire.
  

Page 4

• Panel 1: L1 Mon-El vs Superboy-Prime in the 31st century, Superman and L1 Lightning Lad vs Time Trapper at the end of time.
  
• Panel 3: A Dominator appears through a rift in reality. This is the panel that makes the rest of the story possible - a way to access every parallel universe and every Legion that's ever existed. Right at this panel I knew my annotating skills were going to be put to the test later.
  
• Panel 4: L1 Cosmic Boy and L1 Saturn Girl contact all three Brainiac 5's, Gates, and L3 Light Lass.
  

Page 5

• Panel 1: L2 Andromeda, L2 Valor, L1 Sun Boy, and L1 Polar Boy vs Superboy-Prime.
  
• Panel 5: L1 Wildfire - "Stay away from my girl." Nice!
  
• Panel 6: "Wildfart", heh. Nice sound effect, "NRG".
  
• Panel 7: I don't know why she's that concerned, his suit has been blown up before lots of times.
  

Page 6

• Panel 2: In a new development, we hear that Kinetix had all of the remaining magicks from Universe-247. And Mordru ate her. Oops.
  
• Panel 3: L1 White Witch and Blok, vs Terrus (who apparently is made of flying insects).
  
• Panel 4: Not sure whose boots are in the upper left corner, but that's L3 Chameleon Boy, L3 Colossal Boy, L2 Kid Quantum, L3 Saturn Girl, L3 Star Boy, L1 Chameleon Girl, L1 Invisible Kid, L2 Ferro, L2 Sensor, and L2 Timber Wolf getting blasted by Mordru.
  
• Panel 5: Dr. Regulus, Silver Slasher, L1 Lightning Lord, Mist Master, and Mano
  
• Panel 6: L2 Violet vs Titania with L1 White Witch looking on, not sure who's getting blasted
  

Page 7

• Panel 4: L2 Wildfire has helped out L1 Wildfire.
  
• Panel 9: In Final Crisis, Superboy (Conner) died in the arms of his girlfriend Wonder Girl.
  

Page 8

• Panel 4: Now it gets interesting. What they do to Superboy-Prime in the 31st century affects him at Vanishing Point, although the synchronization of things in two different time periods always makes my brain hurt.
  
• Panel 9: The Time Trapper's story is retconned, but in the sense of "what you saw before was true but there's more to it". L1 Brainy theorizes that the Trapper is a "sentient alternate timeline rebelling against ours. His own history changes, I'd guess even his identity could alter, as the true timeline marches on."
  
• Panel 11: L1 Cosmic Boy is about to give me a headache in a few pages...
  

Page 9

• the L1 Legion founders link their powers to send a multi-universal distress signal. Interestingly, in panel 8, the years in which Saturn Girl sends out her signals are going forward, from 3058 to 3104 A.D., instead of backwards to 3009 (or so).
  

Page 10-11

I think I actually yelled "Yeah!" when I saw this. Then I said "oh shit I'm going to have to identify all of them for the annotations." We've got multiple versions of the same Legionnaires - I think Perez just wanted to draw every costume variation ever. And they did say we'd see everyone who was ever a Legionnaire (though this also includes some from the L.E.G.I.O.N, the Legion Academy, and other associates too). Let's see how well I do. Roughly top to bottom in columns, then left to right:


• Unknown (blue pants), Tiger Girl (name never officially given, applicant), unknown (fire guy), L1 Sensor Girl (v3 costume); L3 Dream Girl, L1 Laurel Gand (from the v4 retcon of Supergirl), Thunder, L1 Duo Damsel (1970s), L1 Duo Damsel (1980s), L1 Polar Boy (v3 costume), L1 Karate Kid II, L1 Laurel Gand (v4), unknown silver hand, Crystal Kid, L1 Shrinking Violet (1970s), L2 Leviathan, Devlin O'Ryan
  
• Unknown green suit and boots, Power Boy, Celeste Rockfish as Green Lantern, L1 Lightning Lass (v3), L2 Dragonmage (new costume?), L1 Mon-El, unknown gold container, L1 Stone Boy, Kono, Kid Psycho, L1 Ultra Boy (original costume), Kent Shakespeare, L1 Violet (v4)
  
• L1 Supergirl (Crisis-era), L3 Triplicate Girl, L1 Triplicate Girl (1960s), L2 Triad, L1 Porcupine Pete, L1 Saturn Girl (ADV 247 costume), L1 Cosmic Boy (ADV 247 costume), L1 Lightning Lad (ADV 247 costume), Computo, L1 Bouncing Boy, L1 Cosmic Kid, L1 Color Kid, L2 Ferro, Strata
  
• L2 Karate Kid, L1 Wildfire (boots), L1 Lightning Lad, Laurel Kent, Visi-Lad, L1 Invisible Kid I, L2 Inferno, Proty II, Veilmist
  
• Atmos, L1 Cosmic Boy, L1 Cosmic Boy (1970s), L2 Sensor (snake version), L3 Colossal Boy (?), Streaky, Chemical King, L1 Timber Wolf (1970s), L1 Insect Queen, L2 Umbra
  
• L1 Infectious Lass, Dawnstar (1970s, behind the caption), Stealth, Tellus, L1 Saturn Girl, Computo (as majordomo), Lightning Lad (1970s), Catspaw, Kinetix (original costume), Quislet, Colossal Boy (1960s), Lady Quark, Calamity King, Saturn Girl (1970s), Chameleon Boy (1960s)
  
• Bloodclaw's boots, unnamed Academy member, Night Girl, L1 Invisible Kid II, L2 Matter-Eater Lad, L1 Element Lad (1970s), Krypto, L3 Cosmic Boy, Elastic Lad, Beppo, Princess Projectra (1970s), Tyroc, Firefist
  
• L1 Phantom Girl (1970s), L2 Element Lad, Reflecto, L1 Spider-Girl (hair only), Flederweb's arm, Plant Lad, Echo, Monstress, Furball.
  
  That's 100 characters. Scott Koblish said there were 101. Who did I miss?
  

Page 12:

• Panel 1: Shikari tied up by Spider-Girl, Mist Master, Magno Lad, Micro Lad, Dr. Regulus (?), Grimbor, Gear, Lazon, and who's that in the red and black getting hit?
  
• Panel 3: Saturn Queen watches as Mordru blasts Blok
  

Page 13:

• Saturn Queen, Cosmic King, Chameleon Chief, Radiation Roy, Spider-Girl, Tharok, and Echo(?) watch as Mysa absorbs Mordru's magicks (and by extension, those of Kinetix from Universe-247). She wins, but at the cost of turning her from White magic to Black.
  

Page 14:

• Panel 1: L3 Lightning Lad vs Validus. If that's L3 Saturn Girl, shouldn't she be thinking instead of saying that?
  
• Panel 2: L2 Saturn Girl, Kid Quantum, and Tyr
  
• Panel 3: L1 Lightning Lord, Mano, Chameleon Chief, Earth-Man, Black Mace, Tusker, unknown glowing girl
  
• Panel 4: L1 Bouncing Boy's back!
  
• Panel 5: L1 Lightning Lass
  
• Panel 6: L1 Duplicate Damsel! That's new, although Geoff Johns mentioned this at the Legion panel at the 2008 San Diego con.
  

  Q: Will we see more of the Legion Subs?
  A: Johns kind of sidestepped that one, but said that (he paused at this point, and said "what the hell, I'll spoil it here") he had big plans for Luornu (who he suggested be called "Una Damsel"): "I don't know how I got anything done with just three of me". She will be called Duplicate Damsel and can multiply into many, not just three.

  
  

Page 15:

• Panel 2: That's Phase and Garv from the L.E.G.I.O.N.
  
• Panel 3: This must be the 1960s-era Supergirl. She has the big "S" logo, so it's not the Crisis-era or 1970s hot-pants era, and it's not the crop-top Supergirl who was with the L3 Legion.
  
• Panel 4: Ultra Boy as v4-era Green Dragon
  
• Panel 5: L2, L1 (1970s), and L3 Colossal Boys, with L2 Cosmic Boy, Blok (v3 chains), and unknown
  
• Panel 6: L1 Lightning Lad (1960s with robot arm), L2 Inferno, L1 Wildfire (1970s), unknown woman, L3 Lightning Lad, SW6 Inferno
  

Page 16:

• Panel 1: In the background, that's L1 Star Boy (1960s), Kinetix, L1 Dream Girl (1960s), Quislet, Sensor, Monstress (orange), L1 Cosmic Boy, L1 Phantom Girl, Blok, Superman, L1 Saturn Girl, L1 Lightning Lad, L2 Cosmic Boy
  
• Panel 6: Evolvo Lad, L1 Shrinking Violet, L2 Spider-Girl, L1 Brainiac 5 (1960s), L2 Dreamer, Comet, and the ADV 247 Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad
  
  And that's it for the alternate versions. Back to regular L1, L2, and L3 now.
  

Page 17:

• Back in the L1 31st century. Superboy-Prime is an idiot.
  

Page 18:

• Oh, Brainy says the same thing. Good-bye to Time Trapper and Superboy-Prime, for now.
  
  Huh. We're 18 pages into a 32-page story and the big fight is over already. Now comes 14 pages of wrap-up and set-up.
  

Page 19:

• "The future is always open, nothing is ever set in stone." Pretty much sums it up for the Legion's history, doesn't it?
  

Page 20:

• I called it after Dan Didio's 20 questions the other day. Superboy-Prime is back home on Earth-Prime. I wonder if his family had to wait so long for the conclusion of this mini-series? So much for trying to redeem him.
  

Page 21:

• Panel 8: Statues of the formerly fallen (L1 Ferro Lad, Triplicate Girl, Invisible Kid I, and Proty; and L2 Monstress and Leviathan) and newly fallen (L1 Karate Kid II, L3 Element Lad, Kinetix, L3 Sun Boy, and L1 Rond Vidar).
  
• Panel 9: It's always been "Myg of Lythyl", not "Mygg".
  
• Panel 11: First appearance of the guy who will be Karate Kid III.
  

Page 22:

• Panel 3: If Sodam Yat is sending out his rings to reconstruct the Green Lantern Corps, who were those guys back on page 3, just constructs?
  
• Panels 7-8: this suggests that the ring for sector 2814 has found a worthy bearer. Anyone we might know?
  

Page 23:

• Panel 5: On Sorcerer's World. Is that Green Lantern Alan Scott and Raven of the Teen Titans? Not sure who the guy is on top. Mysa says that she's not there to save them.
  
• Panel 10: "Evil beware the Black Witch". Doesn't quite sound like she's squeaky-clean Legionnaire material anymore, though she is wearing her Legion ring.
  

Page 24:

• Panel 1: OK, who expected Chameleon Boy and Dream Girl to show up in this issue and save the day? I was pleasantly surprised that they did NOT, that would have been too expected. But where are they?
  
• Panels 3-6: Starman at McDonald's. "Warrior needs food badly!" Ha! The document in panel 6 says "Last Will and Testament of R. J. Brande".
  
• Panel 9: So Earth-Prime is one of the 52 Earths that were reborn after Final Crisis and 52.
  

Page 25:

• Panel 1: That settles that. The L3 Legion is the future of Earth-Prime. A few years ago, I noted that we had seen a backup story in which old DC comics were seen and were a part of the plot. At the time, I tried to explain it as the future of a new Earth-2, but that's because we didn't know about the newly revived Earth-Prime yet. So I should get partial credit for catching that.
  
• Panel 5: Didn't Livewire get his original arm back?
  
• Panel 6: The L2 Legion, who no longer have a universe to go back to, are going out into the multiverse. Kid Quantum misspeaks the name "Shikari".
  

Page 26

• Panels 4-5: Arguably the two most favorite L2 Legionnaires are staying with the L1 Legion, XS and Gates.
  
• Panels 6-8: It's comedy gold when three Brainiac 5's argue.
  

Page 27

• Panel 1: Long Live the Legion!
  
• Sometime in here, I'm not exactly sure when, L1 Brainiac 5 shows Superman the Miracle Machine so he can use it when he gets back to the 21st century to help out at the end of Final Crisis (that happened in issue 6 back in January; that issue was supposed to come out after this issue of L3W.)
  

Page 28

• Superboy and Kid Flash return to the present and meet their fellow Titans.
  

Page 29-30

• The meta-commentary here is that the former Superboy-Prime is now just a guy living in his parents basement, surrounded by comics and trolling message boards. The "Can Superboy Prime be redeemed?" thread on the DC Message Board is a real one (and now has someone posting as Superboy Prime). It was pointed out there that the Earth-Prime version of this issue has page 29 on the left side of the page (as shown on page 30), while our version has page 29 on the right.
  

THE END... for now.

So, some plot points that are ready for a new Legion series:
1. The Black Witch and Sorcerer's World
2. What happened to Luornu that she's now Duplicate Damsel?
3. Karate Kid III and Lythyl
4. Earth's new Green Lantern
5. Where are Chameleon Boy, Dream Girl, Element Lad, Matter-Eater Lad, Quislet, Sensor Girl, Tellus, and Tyroc?
6. What is Brande's top secret mission for Starman in the 21st century?
7. The L2 Legion is going wandering into the multiverse in search of other survivors from the long-dead parallel Earths.

Koblish @ SDCC09, plus L3W out today

Here's some more from L3W inker Scott Koblish. Sorry I won't be there to meet you this year, Scott!

July 12:

San diego Comic-Con is coming up and i just want to let folks know that I'll be doing sketches of any Legionnaire, for the price of a donation to the Hero Initiative! I'll be at the Hero Initiative Booth [#907] from 6:30 through 9pm on Wednesday night at the San Diego Comic-Con. Come one, come all, it's for a good cause.

Special note - you can throw me all the curves you like - the Legion has many very distinct and insane design histories, but if it's super-crazy, bring a little reference for me, so I can do the character justice!

Come on, let's see some super-crazy for Scott!

July 21:

In addition to drawing sketches of whatever Legionnaires the crowd wants in return for a reasonable charitable donation (I'm going to leave it up to the charity to figure out what the cost should be, although I'm sure it will be reasonable), I'll also have these little sketch cards I did up today. I drew about 20 of them, all in their Lo3W's costumes, 16 are here...

And finally, also from July 21, a sneak at some panels shows two long-absent Legionnaires, whose initials are KS and Q! Are they part of a dream, a hoax, or an imaginary story? We'll find out later today!

The final fate of Superboy-Prime?

In the latest 20 Questions with Dan Didio, he answers this question in video format (at the 2:07 mark): Will we be seeing Superboy-Prime any more after the end of Legion of 3 Worlds?

The answer:

Well, if you read the end of Legion of 3 Worlds which came out on Wednesday the 22nd, you know exactly where Superboy-Prime is right now, you know exactly where he's interacting, and you could be chatting with him right now.

Totally uninformed speculation: Maybe Superboy-Prime goes back to Earth-Prime (home of DC Comics).

This was obviously taped ahead of time, with the expectation that it would be seen after L3W #5 comes out (tomorrow).

Trivia #37

I've been such a slacker this month that I've missed the window for a trivia quiz which would give everyone enough time to answer, as it's already halfway through the month and San Diego is next week. So instead, here are some San Diego-related trivia stories just for the hell of it.

1. The Omnicom you're reading now is the second one online. The first was a mailing list back in the olden days, started by Vernon Harmon. That was the dawn of the web, the mid-90s. The welcome page is still up, as well as the main navigation page, but none of the links work any more. I spoke to Vernon not too long ago and he said that the archives are lost, and even the Internet Archive doesn't have a cached version. I met Vernon at the 1995 San Diego Comic Con where he had dressed up as Wildfire.

2. The 1995 San Diego con was my first year going (here's my trip report). I got online in 1994 during Zero Hour, and by the next year I had met enough people on Compuserve and the Legion mailing list that we all decided to meet up for dinner one night. I think, but am not sure, that was the first of the "Legion Dinner" meetings that took place at San Diego and Chicago into the early 2000s. One night it was a bunch of fans with Phil and Jeff Moy, Cori Carani, and KC Carlson. Another night I was with a group of internet-based fans who met with the Interlac APA group (which included Tom & Mary Bierbaum), and everyone decided that was the first significant meeting of online and offline Legion fandom.

3. Many of the Legion fans went to both Chicago (pre-Wizard) and San Diego, and the Legion Dinner tradition was carried on there as well. I was not there, but the 1997 dinner was extra-special due to some guests. Mike Chary has the whole story.

4. At the 1995 San Diego and Chicago cons, "Legionnaires" artists Jeff Moy and Cory Carani were taking pictures of some of the fans. We didn't know until Legionnaires #43 came out (cover-dated 11/96) that a number of fans from the conventions were drawn into a crowd scene during the Legion tryouts. My collection isn't organized enough for me to find my copy, and I can't find the page online, but if anyone has theirs handy to scan, I can put the page (or panel) here.

5. At that 1995 San Diego con, I picked up a copy of Adventure 247 on the last day. It was way over my budget - it was $150, marked down because the dealer had just purchased a collection before the con and didn't want to take the time to price everything. Turned out that when I got home, I noticed that the centerfold was missing, and when I brought it to the dealer the next year, he gave me a discount that I could apply to other books I got from him (so I bought Adventure 267 and Action 267, the 2nd and 3rd appearances of the Legion). That was Mike Carbonaro out of New York. Years later I picked up a coverless copy of #247 that was also missing the outer wrap for cheap on eBay, so I cannibalized the centerfold from that one.

6. One year in San Diego I ran into Kevin Gould, who has been active in Legion fandom since the 1970s. He happened to be carrying a piece of artwork from Superman #247, which featured the Guardians of the Universe. (I didn't know it at the time, but it was Elliot S! Maggin's first story.) In an amazing coincidence, I recognized that page from one of the first conventions I had gone to, in New Jersey in the late 1970s. There was a table with artwork just piled on it, and I saw one page I liked but it was too expensive (probably like $20). At that con, I happened to buy the issue that page came from, which is why I remembered the page. Kevin told me that he bought that page at a convention in Houston (my hometown). He still has it, and Maggin has also inquired about it.

7. Most people who have a copy of All New Collector's Edition C-55 with the wedding of Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl know how hard it has been to find a copy in decent condition. Hence, the (polite) nickname for it - "That Damned Tabloid", or TDT for short. For a while in the 1990s, it seemed like every Legion fan I saw had a copy of it, and they call brought them in to be autographed by Mike Grell and Paul Levitz. It was almost a rite of passage to be able to see the two men and get them to sign the cover.

8. Last year, I stopped at the DC booth to chat with Paul Levitz for a minute. I told him how I had wanted to be an astronaut, and if I ever do get to fly I'd take my Legion flight ring with me. If you remember, the box for the ring says "Warning: does not enable the wearer to fly". I wanted to have my picture taken in space wearing my flight ring, flying, to prove him wrong. He thought that was a pretty neat story.

So in lieu of guessing trivia questions this month, how about some convention-related Legion stories of your own?

Legion of Three Worlds #5 out this week

OK, so it's 7 months late (originally should have shipped last December for a monthly book that started last August). We already know part of how it ends from other books that came out months ago - [redacted until the issue comes out since I figured it was common knowledge]

Back in April, when we were told that issue 5 should be coming out in June, I ran a poll asking you when you thought it would come out.

June - 13%
July - 37%
August - 51%
(doesn't add to 100% due to rounding)

Of the 138 people who voted, just 4% correctly picked this week (6 people).

With the last issue coming out the day that the San Diego Comic Con starts, should make for some interesting discussion. All of the other Final Crisis blogger have long since finished their annotations, so looks like I'm the last one standing. Look for my annotations late Wednesday night.

The Legionnaire's Guide to SDCC09 (preview #3)

Update: Added link to Francis Manapul's web site, changed his Artists Alley location

In Preview #2 I listed what I thought were the panels most likely to have Legion stuff in it. Here now are those people signed up for Artists Alley who are considered significant Legion artists; you might score a nice page from them if you hit them up early in the con.

Chris Batista (GG-05)
Dennis Calero (FF-03)
Eric Canete (II-17) (animated show artist, designer)
Seth Estrada for Ric Estrada (FF-14)
Ben Jones (JJ-09) (animated show writer, director)
Francis Manapul (DD-09) (LL-10)
Jeffrey Moy (EE-07)
Philip Moy (EE-08)
Joe Phillips (FF-10)
Adrienne Roy (FF-12) (colorist)
Anthony Tollin (FF-11) (colorist)

Also, not listed in Artists Alley but appearing elsewhere: Scott Koblish, inker on Legion of 3 Worlds. In Preview #2 he left this comment:

I'll be doing sketches of any Legionnaire, for the price of a donation to the Hero Initiative! I'll be at the Hero Initiative Booth from 6:30 through 9pm on Wednesday night at the San Diego Comic-Con. Come one, come all, it's for a good cause...

Update: Francis Manapul has his schedule up on his site, with times and locations for his signings.

Trivia Answers #36

Last month I asked (but never answered) this: Not counting Superboy or Supergirl non-Legion stories, when has the Legion (or individual Legionnaires) met and/or fought...

1. Giant robots?
2. Zombies?
3. Ninjas?
4. Dinosaurs?
5. Space pirates?
6. Cyborgs?
7. Vampires?

This is mostly a compilation of your answers. Sometimes I come up with a question and crowd-source the answers, and once in a while I will have thought of something you didn't (but it's mostly you coming up with ones I hadn't thought of).

Giant robots

• Computo
  
• The Supergirl/Legion robot revolution storyline
  
• Adventure #319 on Throon Gim got clobbered.
  
• In Action 389, "The Mystery Legionnaire"
  
  My answers:
  
• Wildfire got eaten by the giant agriculture robot on Manna-5
  

Zombies

• During the Mordru/Glorith storyline in v4 #47 when he raised the dead
  
• I hadn't thought of it, but Soljer was basically a zombie
  
  My answers:
  
• I consider Darkseid's Servants of Darkness to be evil clones rather than zombies.
  

Ninjas

• Karate Kid was never explicitly stated to be a ninja, but he did appear to have all the skills required.
  
• Similarly, Karate Kid's Sensei and the Black Dragons could be considered ninjas.
  
  My answers:
  
• What about some of the guys from Lythyl?
  

Dinosaurs

• The War Between Krypton and Earth
  
• Crisis on Infinite Earths
  
• Adventure 380, Superboy is apparently eaten by a giant robot dinosaur with Kryptonite teeth (yes, bonus points for a Giant Robot Dinosaur)
  
• During the first fight with the Infinite Man
  
• Adventure 360, a flashback to the Legion of Super-Pets vs Ghost Space Pirates (which should also get bonus points for combining genres)
  
  My answers:
  
• On the cover of Amazing World of DC Comics #9 (art by Dave Cockrum)
  

Space pirates

• Captain Frake, during the Ultra Boy/Reflecto story
  
• Sklarian Raiders
  
• Starburst Bandits
  
• Resources Raiders
  
  My answers:
  
• Command Kid was from the pirate world of New Tortuga
  

Cyborgs

• Tharok
  
• Khunds (including Kharlak, Bloodclaw, and Firemist)
  
• Tyr
  
• Vic "Cyborg" Stone of the Teen Titans
  
• Lightning Lad with his robot arm
  
• Shrinking Violet with her robot leg
  
  My answers:
  
• Validus, from the animated Justice League episode "Far from Home" (I don't remember if he's been shown to have robotic parts elsewhere)
  
• I don't consider Wildfire or Quislet to be cyborgs since neither was an amalgam of human and robot parts. Wildfire was energy in a suit, Quislet was energy in a space ship.
  

Vampires:

• Vrykos, Mordru's henchman in v4. He was supposed to have been a real vampire but I don't think we really saw much of him.
  
  My answers:
  
• Haven't we seen "energy-vampires" before?
  

The Legionnaire's Guide to SDCC09 (preview #2)

Here's the updated Legionnaire's Guide to San Diego. The previous version only had the DC schedule. Added Friday's Mattel/DC panel; Saturday's DC Editorial panel and the Siegel/Shuster/Superboy lawsuit panel; and Sunday's Smallville panel.

Thursday July 23

11:45-12:45 Superman: Two Worlds
Torn between New Krypton and Earth, The Man of Steel has only just begun his latest adventure. You've seen the stories. A new planet of Kryptonians. Scores of super-powered beings. The people behind Superman's future are here to face the most trying times in his life. Meet the talented folks behind Superman as they give you a glimpse of what is in store for our favorite Super-family. Featuring Superman Group Editor Matt Idelson, Geoff Johns (Adventure Comics, Superman: Secret Origins), Greg Rucka (Action Comics), James Robinson (Superman), Sterling Gates (Supergirl), Renato Guedes (Superman), and more! Room 6DE

2:15-3:15 Spotlight on Geoff Johns
He is the mastermind behind the smash-hit, critically acclaimed Flash: Rebirth and DC's most anticipated book of the year, Green Lantern: Blackest Night. Wondering what makes Geoff Johns tick? Don't miss this panel hosted by Eddie Berganza, Group Editor—DCU, interviewing one of the most exciting talents in the DCU. Room 6DE

Friday July 24

11:00-12:00 Mattel and DC Comics: A Heroic Partnership
You've been a fan of Mattel's popular DC toy lines, now 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, Infinite Heroes, and exciting new lines like Batman: The Brave and the Bold, as well as the world premiere of new action figure lines announced here first! Join Mattel Toy designer Bill Benecke, Mattel marketing brand manager Scott Neitlich (AKA "Toy Guru"), The Four Horsemen, and representatives from DC Comics and Warner Brothers for an insightful Q&A. Room 2

3:00-4:00 DC NATION
Calling all NATION recruits! Bring your friends and hear top talent discuss where the DC NATION is heading from 2009 and beyond. Sr. VP - Executive Editor Dan DiDio hosts this exciting discussion with Ian Sattler, James Robinson, Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka, and more! Join them for a VIP look into the most talked about stories and events of the summer! Room 6DE

Saturday July 25

11:30-12:30 Spotlight on Francis Manapul
The hot up-and-coming artist Francis Manapul takes the stage to discuss his kinetic art on one of the most anticipated projects of the year: Adventure Comics with Geoff Johns! Hosted by Group Editor Matt Idelson see what's it like illustrating the return of Superboy. Come find out from one of the freshest artists in the biz! Room 4

12:45-2:00 DCU Editorial Presentation
Senior VP/executive editor DCU Dan DiDio, senior story editor—DCU Ian Sattler, and countless DCU talent are gathering for a discussion that's not to be missed. Now that Blackest Night is upon us, what lies ahead for your favorite heroes? Got a question for your favorite DCU creator? Come on by! There's no greater gathering of top-tier creative talent! Room 6A

1:00-2:00 Comics Arts Conference Session #11: The (Strange) State of Siegel and Shuster Scholarship
Brad Ricca (Case Western Reserve University), director of Last Son, a scholarly documentary on Siegel and Shuster, moderates this conversational panel featuring Craig Yoe (Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman Co-Creator Joe Shuster) and Lauren Agostino, an independent scholar, who will share letters connected to the 1947 lawsuit and portions of the original Superboy script that completely upset a lot of myths about who created Superboy. Room 30AB

Sunday July 26

10:30-11:30 Smallville Screening and Q&A
Comic-Con favorite Smallville returns, as showrunners Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson join cast members Allison Mack (The Ant Bully), Erica Durance (House of the Dead), Cassidy Freeman (Finishing the Game: The Search for a New Bruce Lee), Justin Hartley (Gemini Division) and new series star Callum Blue (The Tudors), who will be playing the villainous Zod, to talk about the year ahead, answer fan questions and give an exclusive sneak peek at clips from season nine. Award-winning comic book writer, Emmy-nominated film and television writer/producer, and Smallville alum Jeph Loeb (Heroes) will moderate the session. From Tollin/Robbins Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, Smallville will air Fridays at 8:00 PM this fall on The CW, premiering September 25. Smallville: The Complete Eighth Season will be released on DVD and Blu-ray Hi Def August 25. Room 6BCF

Who knows which other panels we may find something out? Remember, last year, who expected to hear about the Legion from the "Smallville" panel?

Superman lawsuit update

Update: news from CBR and Newsarama (here and here), both written by lawyers who know how to interpret all this legalese.

I haven't posted an update to the Superboy/Superman lawsuit lately, but something new came out on Wednesday.

The BEAT wrote

The Siegel family — including Joanne Siegel and Laura Sigel Larson — were granted half the copyright to Superman in 1999, and the present case involved their share of the revenue from such Superman appearances as SMALLVILLE. The Siegels argued that a “sweetheart deal” from Warner Bros. led to lower than market value licensing fees for the use of Superman.

Jeff Trexler at Newsarama posted that:

Last year a federal court awarded the Siegel heirs half of the copyright in the Superman material in Action Comics #1. Remaining to be decided, however, was how much that copyright interest was worth.

Today the court released its ruling on the first issue related to this question: namely

“whether the license fees paid” by Warner Bros Entertainment Inc. (“Warner Bros”) to its corporate sibling, DC Comics, for the audiovisual rights to the Superman copyright pursuant to various licensing agreements entered into during the 1999 to 2002 period “represents the fair market value therefor, or whether the license for the works between the related entities was a ‘sweetheart deal.’”

These licensing agreements included the TV series "Smallville", the movie "Superman Returns", and animated shows such as "Justice League" and "Legion of Super Heroes".

CBR has more here, and The BEAT has more as well.

There's still a big part of the Superman lawsuit still remaining (but hopefully in the near future), and the Superboy copyright lawsuit is supposed to follow that one.

SDCC09 preview

DC Comics released their schedule for this year's San Diego Comic Con, so for those of you who are going (which does not include me this year), here's what you can look forward to:

Thursday July 23

11:45-12:45 Superman: Two Worlds
Torn between New Krypton and Earth, The Man of Steel has only just begun his latest adventure. You've seen the stories. A new planet of Kryptonians. Scores of super-powered beings. The people behind Superman's future are here to face the most trying times in his life. Meet the talented folks behind Superman as they give you a glimpse of what is in store for our favorite Super-family. Featuring Superman Group Editor Matt Idelson, Geoff Johns (Adventure Comics, Superman: Secret Origins), Greg Rucka (Action Comics), James Robinson (Superman), Sterling Gates (Supergirl), Renato Guedes (Superman), and more! Room 6DE

2:15-3:15 Spotlight on Geoff Johns
He is the mastermind behind the smash-hit, critically acclaimed Flash: Rebirth and DC's most anticipated book of the year, Green Lantern: Blackest Night. Wondering what makes Geoff Johns tick? Don't miss this panel hosted by Eddie Berganza, Group Editor—DCU, interviewing one of the most exciting talents in the DCU. Room 6DE

Friday July 24

3:00-4:00 DC NATION
Calling all NATION recruits! Bring your friends and hear top talent discuss where the DC NATION is heading from 2009 and beyond. Sr. VP - Executive Editor Dan DiDio hosts this exciting discussion with Ian Sattler, James Robinson, Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka, and more! Join them for a VIP look into the most talked about stories and events of the summer! Room 6DE

Saturday July 25

11:30-12:30 Spotlight on Francis Manapul
The hot up-and-coming artist Francis Manapul takes the stage to discuss his kinetic art on one of the most anticipated projects of the year: Adventure Comics with Geoff Johns! Hosted by Group Editor Matt Idelson see what's it like illustrating the return of Superboy. Come find out from one of the freshest artists in the biz! Room 4

There are also a number of other panels that might yield some Legion info; last year, who expected to hear about the Legion from the "Smallville" panel?

More answers with Dan DiDio

Couple of items in today's "20 Answers" with Dan DiDio:

10. ...We had a question about the heroes who have come into the books where the title characters have stepped out. What happens if you find out what readers really like Batwoman in Detective, Mon-el in Superman and Flamebird and Nightwing in Action when it’s time for Bruce and Superman to come back home? Is your plan flexible enough to allow for more time, or spinoffs?

DD: That would be the best of both worlds – if we’re able to support the Batman titles or the Superman titles without Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent, then that shows the strength of the DC Universe and more importantly, the strength of the characters that are inhabiting those books. So my standpoint is that there is room for all of them, and as their stories progress, we’re going to let them flow according to their natural course, and whether or not Superman reutns sooner or later or how the changes in the Batman books play out – it all gives us hope that we have a lot of untapped potential for stories in the future with the characters that are now in them.

So, we have a long-term plan as for how this goes, but that doesn’t mean that we’re not going to be flexible as to how we play it.

NRAMA: So the return of Bruce Wayne or Superman are set in stone for a specific month or a specific issue?

DD: We have a very strong structure as to how these stories unfold, and that’s probably something that’s not too flexible, but there are a lot of aspects as to how things can progress.

...

18. With Superman: Secret Origin coming up, a reader asked how often do you feel a character’s origin needs to be re-told or tweaked, and what drives that decision? Secret Origin is the third retelling in 20 years, Batman’s has been retold a handful of times to include and remove and include Joe Chill...

DD: In this particular case, there was a real sense of some of the status quo changing following Infinite Crisis and a feeling of some things changing when Geoff and Richard Donner stepped on board – you got the sense that there were slight changes in the past of Superman’s world. The re-introduction of the Legion of Super-Heroes that we’re still seeing in Legion of 3 Worlds is another tweak. So in that case we felt that it was time to revisit that and to embrace the sensibilities of that, not only because there were slight changes and I felt that they made for great story, but it also re-introduces Superman back into the Legion of Super-Heroes lore, which I think will make everybody very excited, but it was also setting up a lot of the parameters of the world of Krypton and who Superman is, and will play out in the Superman story in the coming year or so.

The interesting part of this story for me is that when we came up with the changes after Infinite Crisis and launched Geoff’s run on Superman, there were a lot of people asking for Superman’s origin, and one of the reasons why we pushed this through was that people asked for it early on.

Adventure Comics #1 preview

The DCU Blog has a 5-page preview of Adventure Comics #1, due to August 12th. What did Superman do? He joined a team of super-heroes, among other things.

The Francis Manapul art is pretty damn good, much different than his Legion stuff, yet still similar.

Heroes Con, WizardWorld 09: Nothing going on

It's the beginning of Con season. This weekend: Heroes Con in Charlotte and Wizard World in Philadelphia.

Here's the non-scoop from Heroes Con: basically, nothing Legion-related at either Friday's DC Universe panel (according to both CBR and Newsarama), or Saturday's DC Nation panel (Newsarama).

Meanwhile, up in Philadelphia, it's WizardWorld. Only Wizard seems to be covering this one, and unfortunately their page is impossible to navigate or find anything. But they've got a DC Nation panel on Saturday.

Update: CBR covered WW's DC Nation panel where once again nothing Legion-related was discussed.

Gerry Conway on Twitter

Here's a series of "tweets" from Gerry Conway (@GerryConway) a couple days ago on Twitter. Rearranged for easier chronological reading. ("twhirl" is a Twitter client he uses to read and post.)

I need to remember: don't read reviews or comments on stuff I write. No matter how many positive comments, all I see are the negative ones.
10:34 PM Jun 16th from twhirl

I mean, great baseball hitters miss two out of three times at bat, and that's considered a great average. Writers and artists, though...
10:36 PM Jun 16th from twhirl

We're expected to bat a thousand every time. And when we don't, we get slammed as "hit or miss." Well, duh.
10:38 PM Jun 16th from twhirl

My problem is I wrote too much when I was writing comics. Twice as much as most other writers, on average. Five, six titles a month.
10:41 PM Jun 16th from twhirl

I like to think most of it was pretty good. I think I wrote as many good stories as the best writers working at the time. Unfortunately...
10:43 PM Jun 16th from twhirl

... I also wrote a lot I wasn't happy with. Didn't hit a home run every time at bat. Sometimes just a base hit. Sometimes a strikeout.
10:49 PM Jun 16th from twhirl

But some readers only see the strike-outs. A 100+ issues of JLA, and all they remember are the Detroit stories. Sheesh.
10:52 PM Jun 16th from twhirl

A solid run on Batman and Superman, and all they wanna talk about is how I sucked writing Legion. But you know what's sick?
10:54 PM Jun 16th from twhirl

I listen to them! Five great reviews, a dozen compliments from happy fans, and all I hear is the snarky guy who calls me old school.
10:56 PM Jun 16th from twhirl

Yeah, I know, but this is why I shouldn't read reviews or commentary. I ain't got no perspective. Sheesh.
10:59 PM Jun 16th from twhirl

Thanks, geek! I know I'm too hard on myself. But what people think really does matter to me. Sigh. You'd think, at my age... ;)
11:00 PM Jun 16th from twhirl

Thanks for the support, guys. Guess I just needed to blow off some steam. Fssttt.
11:06 PM Jun 16th from twhirl

Bits of Legionnaire Business

Woww, it's been slow with no new Legion book. Hurry up, Adventure Comics!

• Writer James Gunn asked on his Facebook page and on Twitter, "Which Super-Hero would you want to sleep with?" Yes, we are all still 14. No Legionnaires made the list (except for Supergirl), but L2 Violet and Triplicate Girl made the comments. Mildly NSFW for language and pictures of scantily clad super-heroines that you can see in comics anyway.
  
  
• Matthew at the Legion Abstract gives odds on what the fate of Superboy-Prime will be at the end of "Legion of 3 Worlds".
  
  
• Travis aka Tpull starts a series at FilmFodder on "Deconstructing/Reconstructing the Legion".
  
  
• I'm way behind in all my books, but apparently there's something cooking with Booster Gold and the Legion. From a May 23rd interview with Dan Jurgens at Newsarama:
  

  BLOG@: The message boards over at Newsarama were already buzzing when they saw your preview pages—Proty and Ivo? Will the Legion of Super-Pets be somehow involved with the much-ballyhooed story of Brainiac 5 coming after Booster’s ring?
  
  DJ: Could be! There is a definite plan for the Legion story, what we will deal with, etc. We’re simply waiting for the right time to plug it in.

  
  The latest Gold Exchange update from Newsarama:
  

  BLOG@: ...Well, inside the lab we have a solitary blackboard note this month. Superman 2965? Is that going to tie into the upcoming story with the Legion of Super-Heroes?
  
  DJ: Possibly!

  
  
• The newest version of Daily Scans has this sequence from the SW6 tryout featuring Cera Kesh, Plaid Lad, and the Emerald Empress.
  
  Then there's this recap of the Great Darkness Saga. For those who read it as it came out monthly, without the internet to spoil things, it was amazing. All you knew of what was going to happen came from the "next issue" blurb on the letters page or the last page of the story. Nobody knew who the villain was; Darkseid hadn't been seen for years. Best Story Ever.
  
  Next, some pages from the storyline including L3 Lightning Lad and Starman, stuff that didn't make it into either the Lightning Saga or the Superman & The Legion reprint books.
  
  Some pages from LSH v2 #259, where Superboy leaves the Legion for good (not counting the time he left because for tax purposes they could only have 25 members).
  
  Lastly, "one perfect moment" where Saturn Girl totally pwns Universo, at the end of the Universo Project storyline.
  
  
• The Gay League reviews the history of Lightning Lass with Violet, and Element Lad & Shvaughn Erin.
  
  
• Until we get the Season 2 DVD, here's a link to a torrent file to download the entire season 1 and 2 episodes of the Legion animated show.
  
  
• DCAUYojimbo put together the Legion series entry for the DCAU Resource, with info on everyone, everything, and everywhere that appeared in the Legion animated show.
  
  
• Brendan McCarthy posted about a rejected pitch he had for DC, which would have starred Jimmy Olsen and Saturn Girl as immune to a "terrible reverse-Bizarro plague", called Delinquent Jimmy Olsen.
  
  
• Finally, via MTV's Splash Page, actor Danny McBride ("Land of the Lost", "Tropic Thunder") wants to make a movie that adapts the Ait/Planet Lar comic book “Hench,” about the sad life of a supervillain’s henchman.
  

  Asked whether Warner Brothers’ association with the film would mean we’ll see some familiar characters from the DC Comics universe, McBride said the audience will “see a lot of the superheroes,” but later added, “once we write this filthy dirty script, probably no one’s going to want to be involved with it.”
  
  Pushed to offer the one character he’d want more than any other in the film, McBride suggested a DC character who could pull off his own arms and use them as weapons — a suggestion that we admit being a bit mystified about. Was he talking about Arm Fall Off Boy from the Legion of Superheroes? Calling all DC geeks!

  
  

Trivia Quiz #36

The Legion is in itself a great concept - Superboy goes to the future and meets a group of super-powered teammates.

Another great concept: dinosaur space pirates. How awesome is that? And if they were zombie ninja dinosaur space pirates - well that's just icing on the cake. Giant robot zombie ninja dinosaur space pirates? Who are also cyborg vampires? One of the most awesome concepts in the entire history of ever, a collection of awesome of such magnitude that it could collapse upon itself into a white dwarf star just like the one that Mon-El could carry into Metropolis.

Oh yeah, trivia. Not counting Superboy or Supergirl non-Legion stories, when has the Legion (or individual Legionnaires) met and/or fought...

1. Giant robots?
2. Zombies?
3. Ninjas?
4. Dinosaurs?
5. Space pirates?
6. Cyborgs?
7. Vampires?

The Ultimate Legion

This account of an unfinished article for Wizard got me thinking it'd be a good post here, something for you to think about over the weekend.

...While the main feature was proving a bit difficult to pull together, Andy and I came up with a killer sidebar we were having a lot of fun with: we'd pick the best members from all the various Legion incarnations and put together our own Ultimate Legion. We had a blast talking that out and would schedule meetings "officially" to talk about the news section or whatever and then have hour-long closed door sessions on who was the best Ultra Boy--awesome.

...Andy and I realized we wanted to include so many characters that our team was going to be huge even by Legion standards. We did not have much trouble mixing it up as far as having a diverse selection of creative eras represented as, while I can't recall our full team, but I believe we had Element Lad and Saturn Girl from the early days, Dawnstar and Wildfire from the Levitz/Giffen run, Gates and Live Wire from the reboot/Legion Lost era, and the Brainiac 5 and Triplicate Girl of Waid and Kitson's team; heck, I think we even threw "Five Years Later" Cosmic Boy/Rokk Krinn and Inferno from Legionnaires in for good measure.

So just for fun, who would be on your Ultimate Legion team? You can have anyone from any era or even any issue, with no restrictions at all on who you get, including multiple versions of a character through various timelines, reboots, alternate Earths, Elseworlds, animated, etc. You can justify your reasons or not.

Well, only one restriction: for tax purposes, you can't have more than 25 members.

New action figures are here!

Nice delivery times for Mattel. I ordered the new Legion 4-pack from the mattycollector.com web site on the afternoon of May 15th, and it was waiting for me on my front porch when I got home on the 20th.

So here's what you get for your $38 and change: four action figures based on the Superman: The Animated Series ("New Kids in Town") and Justice League Unlimited ("Far From Home") episodes. Click to embiggen.

For grins, I put one up against one of each of the other series of figures to see how they stacked up in size. From left to right: the Super-Hero Clubhouse PVC figures, the DC Direct Lightning Lad, the Super Powers Tyr, the new JLU Lightning Lad, the Mon-El/Lightning Lad Pocket Super-Heroes, and in front, the Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, and Live Wire Heroclix and the Wildfire pewter figure from Mayfair. (Size-wise, the PVC figures fall between Tyr and JLU Lightning Lad).

Coming Distractions: August 2009

Things to watch out for in August:

SUPERMAN SECRET FILES 2009 #1
Written by Sterling Gates, Geoff Johns, James Robinson and Greg Rucka
Art by Pete Woods, Jamal Igle, Renato Guedes, Julián López and various
Cover by Aaron Lopresti
There’s never been a better (or busier) time to be a Superman fan! With so many new characters and locations to keep track of, DC brings readers the definitive guide to the ever-expanding world of Superman. Here you will get profiles of characters like Nightwing and Flamebird, General Zod, Supergirl, Mon-El and more, plus maps of locations such as New Krypton’s Kandor and Metropolis.
Also included is a bittersweet story about the friendship of Supergirl and Flamebird, and a story revealing the dark legacy of Pete Ross’ brief time as President of the United States. Plus, a week in the life of Science Cops Billi Harper and Jonathan (Mon-El) Kent. This SECRET FILES issue serves as an excellent primer to this month’s “Codename: Patriot” crossover in the Superman titles, so don’t miss out!
On sale August 5 • 64 pg, FC, $4.99 US

ADVENTURE COMICS #1
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Francis Manapul, co-feature art by Clayton Henry
Covers by Francis Manapul
It's the return of one of DC Comics' longest running books and one of its greatest modern-day heroes – Conner Kent! In our first heroic issue, Superboy can't wait to jump back into his life – but which life will it be? With a clarity he's never had before, Conner makes a beeline for the greatest place on Earth...Smallville?
Plus, in the wake of FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF THREE WORLDS, Starman heads off on an all-new mission in the present. And it's one that will not only impact Superboy, but the future of the DC Universe itself. Fortunately, the off-kilter Legionnaire won't be dong it alone! And in the upcoming months of ADVENTURE COMICS look for Lex Luthor! Brainiac! Lightning Lad! Superboy's pal Simple Simon! Sun Boy and Polar Boy! Ultra, the Multi Alien! Wonder Girl! Black Lantern Alexander Luthor! And many, many more new and familiar faces!
Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. For every 10 copies of the Standard Edition (with a cover by Francis Manapul), retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by Francis Manapul and renamed ADVENTURE COMICS #504). Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.
On sale August 12 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US

(note: this is the Standard Edition cover)


R.E.B.E.L.S. #7
Written by Tony Bedard
Art by Andy Clarke
Cover by Kalman Andrasofzsky
As Vril Dox tries to rally resistance to the overpowering forces of Starro, Dox learns that allies are difficult to come by and that one planet holds the key to Starro’s further conquest. Unfortunately, that world suffers the consequences in brutal fashion!
On sale August 12 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US



SUPERMAN ANNUAL #14
Written by James Robinson
Art by Javier Pina
Cover by Renato Guedes
Since Superman freed him from the Phantom Zone, Mon-El has spent all his time learning about Earth and its diverse cultures. But how much does he really know about Daxam, the homeworld he fled years ago? A gift from the Legionnaire Tellus allows Mon-El to explore the ancient history of Daxam – from its founding as a Kryptonian colony to its connection to the Mayans of Earth to its bloody civil war. Join Mon-El as he discovers that the planet he always believed to be peaceful and dull is actually anything but.
On sale August 19 • 48 pg, FC, $3.99 US



SUPERMAN #691
Written by James Robinson
Art by Renato Guedes & José Wilson Magalhães
Cover by Fernando Dagnino & Raúl Fernandez
It’s a slam-bang, knockdown epic fight in the sewers of Metropolis in this fourth and final chapter of “Codename: Patriot”! What are the stakes, and who are the players? Everything and everyone, Superfans! Except one key player is missing – Superman! He has to stop the shooter from taking yet another course of action that would cause the situation between Earth and New Krypton to grow exponentially worse. Which, of course, is just what General Lane wants…
On sale August 26 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US



SUPERMAN’S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN SPECIAL #2
Written by James Robinson
Art by Bernard Chang
Cover by Pere Pérez
Jimmy Olsen has put all the pieces together regarding the mysterious Project 7734, and it’s worse than he imagined. With The Man of Steel temporarily out of the picture, though, it’s all up to Superman’s Pal to take action. Thankfully he has the help of Mon-El and Steel’s niece Natasha Irons – but will they be enough to defeat Codename: Assassin?
On sale August 26 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US



FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF THREE WORLDS HC
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by George Pérez & Scott Koblish
Cover by George Pérez
Superstar writer Geoff Johns and legendary artist George Pérez deliver the Crisis of the 31st century as the Legion of Super-Heroes reaches out for help against a powerful foe they can’t beat alone. From the moment Superman landed on Earth until the end of time, the Time Trapper has sought to erase Superman's impact on the universe. But the Legion of Super-Heroes have always been there to stop the relentless villain. Now, one Legion isn’t enough as the Time Trapper taps a twisted mirror image of The Boy of Steel from a parallel Earth long dead: Superboy-Prime! Who will answer the Legion's call for help?
With ties to INFINITE CRISIS, FINAL CRISIS and the history of the DCU, this tremendous hardcover collects the entire 5-issue miniseries and is not to be missed!
Advance-solicited; on sale October 21 • 168 pg, FC, $19.99 US

Bits of Legionnaire Business

Odds and ends...

• Hero spotlights:
  
  Green Lantern Spotlight looks at XS as part of Flash Month.
  
  Kandou Eric looks at a number of Legionnaires, including Starman, Lightning Lad, Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, Dream Girl, Dawnstar, Wildfire, Mon-El, Invisible Kid(s), Brainiac 5, and XS.
  
  Blog@Newsarama looks at the history of Connor "Superboy" Kent and his return in L3W #4.
  
  Living Between Wednesdays introduces a new series called Super-human Delinquents of the Thirtieth Century, featuring all of the future’s most strange and incompetent bad guys. First up: Vibrex, Master of Vibration!
  
  
• Other looks at L3W #4 from SpeedForce.org, IGN, Every Day Is Like Wednesday (which also includes a harsh but truthful discussion about DC Editorial), Reilly2040, Comic Book Bin, Major Spoilers, Newsarama, CBR,
  
  Two very long and thorough reviews at Rokk's Comic Book Revolution and Legion Abstract ("The Trapper is turtles all the way down"). They write better than I do.
  
  
• Get-a-Life Boy interprets L3W #4 and how it relates to the multiverse, especially the one that Geoff Johns is working on.
  
  
• Colossal Boy is listed as one of the top 10 Jewish super-heroes by io9, and links to a 2005 article with an interview with Paul Levitz as to how Gim Allon came to be portrayed as Jewish.
  
  
• "Smallville" Magazine #32 features an 8-page interview with the actors who portray the Legionnaires in the "Legion" episode. Smallville Buzz has a long excerpt.
  
  
• And speaking of Smallville - I totally missed posting a warning that Cosmic Boy was going to be on the season finale. I'm still a few episodes back, how did you guys like it? Television Without Pity gave it a D+. "It starts with Clark being visited by a rocket-boot-flying Rokk from the Legion of Superheroes (circa 1,000 years from now). He warns Clark that getting rid of Brainiac set off a chain of events with Chloe that leads to Doomsday killing Clark..." Also: recap at Newsarama.
  
  
• At Again With the Comics, here are several fake Silver Age splash pages, including the infamous scene where the Legion rejects Young Darkseid. Also discussion on Metafilter.
  
  
• Though it was cancelled at the end of the second season in spring 2008, it was still nominated for a 2008-2009 Daytime Emmy Award, for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing - Live Action & Animation.
  
  
• As you've heard elsewhere, the new Adventure Comics #1 will have a variant cover labeled #504 (which is an homage to the original Adventure Comics #300). Check out Francis Manapul's page for a look at both.
  
  
• Daily Scans reminds us of the Legion's Blackest Night (aka Legion Zombies) from when the v4 group fought Mordru. Braaaaaiiinnsss!
  
  
• Ben Morse writes at the Cool Kids Table of a Legion article for Wizard that never saw the light of day but which will make an interesting post here soon. Don't write your answers down yet, but start thinking about who you'd like on your Ultimate Legion team.
  

Adventure Comics news from Bristol

News from the Bristol Comics Expo in the UK this weekend:

From CBR:

The return of “Adventure Comics” to the DCU looks like an exciting prospect, with Vice President of Sales Bob Wayne explaining that each issue will have a variant cover numbers -- as if the original series had never ceased publication, so readers could choose to start with number #1 or continue with #504. The man who never sleeps, Geoff Johns, is on board with artist Francis Manapul on art duties in a book which will feature Connor Kent as Superboy in the main feature, with the Legion of Super-Heroes as the back-up. The Legion stories will act to reintroduce the futuristic super-team following the events of “Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds” (which DiDio promised would finish sometime!), focussing on individual key characters (starting with Starman) and then the team as a whole. If successful, there exists the possibility that the Legion will be spun-off into their own main series again at some point in the future.

Trivia Answers #35

I keep forgetting to post the answers to the trivia quiz in a timely manner, so here are the results of the May quiz.

Theme: In the news... these questions are based on things happening recently in the real world or in the latest issue of L3W.

1. With the H1N1 swine flu in the news, can you name five 30th/31st century diseases?

The ones I thought of off the top of my head were Grandian Gender Reversal Virus, Validus Plague, Yorggian Fever, Crimson Plague, lead poisoning, and stress-induced "space madness". There are plenty more, including the ones you guys came up with like influenza, Pain Plague, the disease on the planet Kol, Shrinking Plague, common cold, Proactian lava-pimples, Rimborian Rhinovirus and Tiburian Ptomaine. It would probably take a whole page just to list out what Infectious Lass has been shown to have given out.

2. May 1st (aka May Day, aka International Workers' Day) will be Gates' favorite holiday. Name three other 30th/31st century holidays or celebrations that we've seen.

Klordny, of course, as well as Christmas, Chanukkah, and Sun Boy's birthday. Add Election Day, Founder's Day, Parents Day, Apollo Day, and Halloween.

3. On May 15, Mattel will release four new action figures. Prior to this line, what is the combined number of times these four Legionnaires have been made into some sort of 3-D figure (traditional "action figures", statues, game pieces, etc.)?

The answer I was looking for was "20x". Peter got it right:

Saturn Girl (5x): Legion of Super-Heroes PVC, DC Direct, Pocket Super-Heroes, Heroclix Cosmic Justice, Heroclix LSH Starter

Brainiac 5 (4x): Legion of Super-Heroes PVC, DC Direct, Heroclix Unleashed, Happy Meal

Lightning Lad (6x): Legion of Super-Heroes PVC, DC Direct, Pocket Super-Heroes, Heroclix Cosmic Justice, Heroclix LSH Starter, Happy Meal

Cosmic Boy (5x): Legion of Super-Heroes PVC, DC Direct, Pocket Super-Heroes, Heroclix Cosmic Justice, Heroclix LSH Starter

4. Superboy-Prime is an example of a villain who was created outside of the Legion universe, who became significantly associated with the Legion. Name at least three other characters (hero or villain) who have also been associated with the Legion (not including any of the Superboys or Supergirls).

Another one I guess wasn't worded well enough. I was looking for people like Mon-El and Dev-Em, who were created outside of the Legion books (in "Superboy", in both cases) and then later joined Legion continuity, and whose appearances are most often associated with the Legion. Basically, when you think of this character, does the Legion come to mind?

The following people you mentioned, while they have met or interacted with the Legion, do not fit this criteria: Ra's al Ghul, J'Onn J'Onzz, Bart Allen, Lobo, Green Lantern (not counting Rond Vidar), Brainiac, Mr. Mxyzptlk, Bizarro, Jimmy Olsen, Lana Lang, Lex Luthor, Prof. Ivo, Xotar the Weapons Master, Ambush Bug, Scavenger, Chronos, and Amethyst.

The ones I was thinking of were Dev-Em, Mon-El, Darkseid and Thunder, along with Jimmy's and Lana's identities as Elastic Lad and Insect Queen (but not their civilian ID's). The H-Dial is debatable, as it was (part of) a major character for a while, but I think it's still more associated with Silver Age "House of Mystery" and 1980s "Adventure Comics" than the Legion. I suppose Time Trapper would go here since he was introduced in a Wonder Woman comic (even before the Legion's first appearance) though it was only a 1970s retcon that said as much.

These people started out in Legion continuity and moved to the "mainstream" DCU (which wasn't my question, but would have made a good one): Persuader, Mordru, Emerald Eye, Controllers, Durlans, and Daxamites.

5. In "Legion of 3 Worlds" so far, we've lost L3 Sun Boy, L3 Element Lad, L2 Kinetix, L1 Rond Vidar, and L1 Karate Kid II. When was the last time three or more Legionnaires died in the course of a single storyline (not counting Elseworlds or alternate realities)?

I was thinking of the deaths of the SW6 Princess Projectra, Karate Kid, and Chameleon Boy, but a good argument could be made for Monstress, Element Lad, and Live Wire at the end of "Legion Lost".

6. The recent Easter holiday brings to mind Easter Eggs, such as Spider-Man and Garfield being hidden in the group shot of LSH v2 #300. Name three other Easter Eggs in Legion publishing (not counting Tuckerizations).

There are tons of them. Various X-Men; Martian Manhunter and Tars Tarkas (from Edgar Rice Burroughs' "John Carter of Mars" series) at the wedding of Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel; Grell and Levitz in the wedding party of Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl; Spock in S/LSH #197; Deanna Troi in Legionnaires #35; Garfield's owner Jon Arbuckle, Luke Skywalker (Bespin Fatigues)and Lando Calrissian during Universo Project; various famous robots including Twiki, Cybermen, and a Dalek appeared when Xotar attacked the robot Museum; and many more. My favorites are Eccentrica Gallumbits (from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), who showed up on a sign on Rimbor, I believe, during the later v4 issues; and the USS Enterprise and Jupiter II in the spaceship graveyard when the Substitute Legion got the old Legion clubhouse for their own.

7. Here's a multi-parter about the Ric Estrada-drawn issues of "Karate Kid". Who was Karate Kid's sorta-girlfriend in the 20th century, where did they meet, what villain did she turn into, which 20th-century hero helped fight her, and how was she cured?

One of the anonymous commenters got it all: Iris Jacobs, a teacher, Met KK at her apartment building. Jealous of Val's love for Jeckie, she volunteered for a S.T.A.R. Labs experiment and became Diamondeth. KK was helped out by the original Robin, Dick Grayson, to help subdue her. After a sidetrip to Kamandi's reality, KK returned to the 30th Century during Earthwar. Iris was shortly cured by a group of doctors on Mercury, and Val returned her to her home time.

New action figures available today

Don't forget that you can order the new JLU Legion action figures starting today at the Mattel website. With shipping, it comes to $38.70, which is actually cheaper than the DC Direct figures (typically $15 each).

This is a great story from Augiewan:

From what I’ve been able to tell from listening to the “comic geeks” at the local comic shop, you either really like the Legion of Super Heroes, or you couldn’t care less. Crazy super-powered kids from the future saving the galaxy and messing with Superman’s time line. My 13 year old daughter happens to be in the “really likes” category, in fact she’s obsessed with them. She’s been gobbling up every back-issue she can get her mitts on and can talk Legion history with the older guys (the majority of Legion fans would be men in the 40’s and 50’s).

She’s known about the 4 exclusive JLU-style Legion figures (Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad and Braniac 5) coming out on MattyCollector.com for some time now and has been reminding me often that I’ll need to be online on May 15th to order them as soon as they go on sale.

What cracked me up this morning (May 15th) is that I woke up to a house filled with reminder notes that she has placed about before heading off to school. On my night stand, on the refrigerator, by the coffee pot, on my computer desk… Pretty much anywhere she knew I’d be today.

Go here to read more.

Retweeting Geoff Johns

Geoff Johns (@GeoffJohns0), on Twitter:

With @JamesdRobinson at a Mexican Bar plotting Legion stuff. No food, just drink and Tellus.
7:55 PM May 12th from Twitterrific

Animated cel for sale

The Van Eaton Gallery in California deals in animation. I got an email from them today which includes this cel and description:

Excellent Production Cel featuring Clark Kent, Chameleon Boy, Cosmic Boy, and Saturn Girl from the "New Kids In Town" episode of the "New Batman/Superman Adventures". The untrimmed Animation Cel measures 9" X 10.5" and has been placed on a color photographic background.

Total image size is 5.25" X 6.5"...$600

If you're interested, here's the contact info, and please let me know so I can tell Wanda I have her the referral:

Wanda Carnes
818-788-2357
800-599-3693
Van Eaton Galleries
13613 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
http://www.vegalleries.com/

More with Geoff Johns and Adventure Comics

Thought I'd post this one while it's still timely. Geoff Johns spoke to Newsarama about Legion of 3 Worlds and Adventure Comics. An excerpt:

NRAMA: Are you writing the co-features in Adventure Comics?

GJ: Yeah, I'll be writing or co-writing. The Starman one I'm doing myself, but the next one focuses on Lightning Lad, which I’ve co-written with a “new” writer named Mike Shoemaker, who worked on Saturday Night Live and works on The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon. He’s a massive Legion of Super-Heroes fan and there’s really a focus on character here with the shorter format, rather than spectacle. You’ll also see stories focused on Sun Boy and Polar Boy, Wildfire and Dawnstar and plenty more that have been in the spotlight in Legion of 3 Worlds.

NRAMA: Brainiac also brought back Bart Allen in this comic, and you're using him in Flash: Rebirth. What role does Bart Allen play in the DCU now that he's back as Kid Flash?

GJ: Well, you'll see that in Flash: Rebirth and beyond that. Kid Flash and Superboy both play pretty big roles in the DCU coming up. They're both in Blackest Night. They're going to be front and center in the DCU over the next year. As will the Legion.

NRAMA: Beyond Adventure Comics?

GJ: There are plans for the Legion beyond Adventure Comics too. You should be reading James Robinson’s Superman.

Well, on the one hand, it's new Legion, but on the other, we're now back to the early 70's with the Legion as a backup strip (within Action Comics or Superboy). Everything in cycles...

Trivia Quiz #35

Theme: In the news... these questions are based on things happening recently in the real world or in the latest issue of L3W.

1. With the H1N1 swine flu in the news, can you name five 30th/31st century diseases?

2. May 1st (aka May Day, aka International Workers' Day) will be Gates' favorite holiday. Name three other 30th/31st century holidays or celebrations that we've seen.

3. On May 15, Mattel will release four new action figures. Prior to this line, what is the combined number of times these four Legionnaires have been made into some sort of 3-D figure (traditional "action figures", statues, game pieces, etc.)?

4. Superboy-Prime is an example of a villain who was created outside of the Legion universe, who became significantly associated with the Legion. Name at least three other characters (hero or villain) who have also been associated with the Legion (not including any of the Superboys or Supergirls).

5. In "Legion of 3 Worlds" so far, we've lost L3 Sun Boy, L3 Element Lad, L2 Kinetix, L1 Rond Vidar, and L1 Karate Kid II. When was the last time three or more Legionnaires died in the course of a single storyline (not counting Elseworlds or alternate realities)?

6. The recent Easter holiday brings to mind Easter Eggs, such as Spider-Man and Garfield being hidden in the group shot of LSH v2 #300. Name three other Easter Eggs in Legion publishing (not counting Tuckerizations).

7. Here's a multi-parter about the Ric Estrada-drawn issues of "Karate Kid". Who was Karate Kid's sorta-girlfriend in the 20th century, where did they meet, what villain did she turn into, which 20th-century hero helped fight her, and how was she cured?

RIP: Ric Estrada

Mark Evanier is reporting the death on Friday of artist Ric Estrada.

Longtime readers will remember that Estrada was the artist on the first 11 issues (out of 15) of Karate Kid, in addition to drawing several Legion comics - Superboy and the Legion #232 (Klordny/Immune), #234 (Bounty and the Composite Legionnaire), and Legion v2 #261 (Space Circus of Death).

Here's the Estrada-pencilled splash page from S/LSH 232, one of my favorite pieces ever and one that I'd love to eventually add to my meager original art collection.