Brainiac & the LSH/Last Stand of New Krypton schedule

DC press release:

DC COMICS CLARIFIES “LAST STAND OF NEW KRYPTON” RUNNING ORDER

With the hot new story “Last Stand of New Krypton” set to get under way in this week’s ADVENTURE COMICS #8, DC Comics offers this guide to this epic event.

The story (the March issues of which were solicited under the title “Brainiac and The Legion of Super-Heroes”) will run in these titles.

• Prologue: ADVENTURE COMICS #8 (JAN100253), in stores March 3.
• Part 1: SUPERMAN: LAST STAND OF NEW KRYPTON #1 (JAN100249; Variant edition: JAN100250), in stores March 10.
• Part 2: SUPERGIRL #51 (JAN100259), in stores March 17.
• Part 3: SUPERMAN #698 (JAN100258), in stores March 24.
• Part 4: ADVENTURE COMICS #9 (JAN100255; Variant edition: JAN100256), in stores March 31.
• Part 5: SUPERMAN: LAST STAND OF NEW KRYPTON #2 (FEB100143; Variant edition: FEB100144), in stores April 7.
• Part 6: ADVENTURE COMICS #10 (FEB100147; Variant edition: FEB100148), in stores April 14.
• Part 7: SUPERGIRL #52 (FEB100149), in stores April 21.
• Part 8: SUPERMAN #699 (FEB100152), in stores April 28.
• Part 9: SUPERMAN: LAST STAND OF NEW KRYPTON #3 (FEB100145; Variant edition: FEB100146), in stores April 28.
• Epilogue: ADVENTURE COMICS #11 (MAR100195; Variant edition: MAR100196), in stores May 12.

---

LSH v6 #1 comes out in May, presumably falling out of this long storyline. Then Levitz takes over Adventure with #12 in June. Yay!

Bits of Legionnaire Business

Got way behind on these links, so here's a shot at catching up. Sorry if some of these are old.

• The first of several new additions to my Legion blogroll over there on the left: The Miracle Machine, which is (as stated at the top): "Mostly bitching about comics with an emphasis on The Legion of Super-Heroes". Super-dickery from the Legion.
• The Comics Bronze Age spent a week looking at the Legion in 1973-74, including Superboy 197, 198, 199, 200, and 201.
• Bryan at Laid-Back Comics has a video about the Top 8 Legion Rejects. Interestingly, the author says that he never got into the Legion until the Superman & The Legion story.
• Fanboy Wife has some commentary on Legion Archives vol 1, the Legion of Super-Pets, the LSV, Bouncing Boy, Supergirl the matchmaker, Superboy Planet, and a look at Superboy's X-Ray Vision that is astoundingly accurate.
• Legion Abstract brings us histories of the White Witch, Timber Wolf, Tyroc, and Lightning Lass.
• Get-a-Life Boy brings us the Legion in comics each week. Additionally, Don reviewed "Legion of 3 Worlds" for the April 2010 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact, the oldest and most successful science fiction magazine.
•  Did you see the pencilled and inked version of page 1 of issue 1 of the new Legion book?
• Tom Bierbaum, co-writer of the TMK v4-era Legion, recalls writing issues 19 and 29 in "It's OK, I'm a Senator!". Those are just the newest entries, he's got lots more in there.
• The Legion of Substitute Podcasters continue their weekly podcast (what else did you expect?). Recently they've covered Adventure 358 (the Most Dangerous Game), LSH v2 283 (spotlight on Wildfire), LSH v2 284 (Levitz returns), and LSH v2 285 (Nullport). 
• The Last of the Famous International Fanboys would like to see the Legion in the next Superman movie.
• Bronze Age Babies look back at Superboy 197.

More coming soon.

Trivia Quiz #45

Special no-theme trivia quiz!

1. How did Mon-El make Element 152?

2. Which Legionnaire(s) appeared on the covers of all three Legion Sourcebooks from Mayfair?

3. What is inertron made of?

4. Who were the Legionnaire counterparts to the Legion of Super-Rejects?

5. Which Legion villains have been related to each other?

6. Which Legion-related character was inspired by Tom McCraw?

7. How many domed cities made up New Earth following Earths' destruction in v4?

Trivia Answers #44

Answers to the special road-trip edition...

1. What did the Legion do when they used the Time Bubble for the first time?

As explained in various retcon stories, they wanted to go back in time to visit Superboy and ask him to join. But they didn't want to mess things up with the Boy of Steel, so they first went back 1000 years to visit Supergirl instead. Once they were able to control their stopping points, then they went back for Superboy.

2. Why did the Legion switch from flight belts to flight rings?

Vibrex, master of vibration, disabled the Legion's flight belts (see LSH v2 #267, which takes place immediately prior to Adventure 329), so Brainiac 5 used an experimental flight ring he'd been working on, made of Element 152 that Mon-El created. (Here's a "Not Approved" look at Vibrex from Living Between Wednesdays.)

3. What was the 11th version of the Legion Cruiser known as?

Not the Mark XI, as you'd suspect (which was actually the 12th version), but the Mark 494. See Get-a-Life Boy's history of the Legion Cruiser for the details.

4. What was the name of Captain Frake's space pirate ship?

She commanded the Antares.

5. The "Secret Origin of the LSH Clubhouse" story that introduced Fortress Lad was a last-minute replacement for a story which showed a different origin, one in which the clubhouse really was a rocket. Where did that rocket originate?

As seen in a number of places, the original story had the spaceship coming from Krypton. See page 10 of the story for the details; it's a cute story and I don't want to spoil it further.

6. What was the name of the ship that Garth Ranzz, Imra Ardeen, Rokk Krinn, and R. J. Brande were travelling on when an assassination attempt was made on Brande's life?

I thought I knew the answer but I can't find my copy of Superboy 147 to double check, and the Sannings' Silver Age Legion page doesn't specify the ship's name. Was it it specified? The Legion Wiki doesn't have an entry for that story. I'll update this if someone can verify. The original story in Superboy 147 didn't say, but in a v4-era retcon, the ship's name was the Nova Express - which was also the same ship that was shown to have a fuel leak in Adventure 247 during Superboy's recruitment.

7. What are the names of Metropolis' two Spaceports?

The smaller of the two was Grand Central Spaceport, located on what is now Staten Island. It was primarily used for industrial and government traffic. The bigger, more well known one is the Metropolis Spaceport.

Mattel: "Legion’s going to be big"

Then there was this exchange at Action Figure Pics with Mattel's Toy Guru:

H: Is there anything you can tell us about Legion of Superheroes? People are dying for some Legion.

TG: Read the article in Toy Fare Magazine.

H: We did. So it’s just a matter of…what?

TG: Just…lining everything up. Legion’s going to be big.

 Anyone read ToyFare? I think it's issue #152 that just came out.

New Mon-El figure, more Tyr

Another figure revealed today at Toy Fair in NYC: Mon-El, in his World of New Krypton costume from DC Direct (Via Action Figure Pics):

And another picture of Tyr in a great closeup, by Mattel. Nicely scuplted! See four AFP photos of Wave 14 (which will be a Wal-Mart exclusive) here.

More Tyr from Toy Fair

According to Toy News International, the Tyr figure is the only Legion-related figure that was announced at Toy Fair this weekend. There's still some more news to come Monday, though. Nothing new yet for the JLU collection (except Green Lantern and Green Arrow who, technically, are Honorary Legionnaires in that Universe).

Here's a better look at the new Tyr from the TNI site:

 

Now compare that to a closeup of the original Tyr. Pretty nifty!

Toy Fair 2010: New Tyr coming from Mattel

The MattyCollector Facebook page posted a new image taken from Today's Toy Fair in New York. Among the figures coming soon (don't know when "soon" is) will be a new Tyr figure. Mattel is remaking and reissuing the figures that came out in the 1984-85 "Super Powers" line. Among all the other cool figures, Tyr is in the lower left corner next to new Obsidian, Zatanna, and Ultra-Humanite.

 

For reference, here's the original Tyr figure from the Super Powers line.

Legion v6 #1 cover and page 1

Via the DCU blog The Source, here's the cover to LSH v6 #1 (pencils by regular artist Yildiray Cinar, inks by Wayne Faucher, according to Cinar's site).

Yes, as the readers there pointed out, the Legion ring is upside down. But it's the OTHER ring that's interesting...



I missed mentioning this earlier, but the first page was also released last week. Cinar has the first page of issue #1 in pencils only at his site.

Trade Paperbacks this Fall

Via the DCU Blog The Source (via Bleeding Cool):

The following DC Universe titles are scheduled to arrive in stores in September:

THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES: PROLOGUE TO DARKNESS TP
Writer: Paul Levitz
Artists: Pat Broderick, Keith Giffen and Bruce Patterson
Collects: THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #284-289 and THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES ANNUAL #1
$19.99 US, 208 pg

• This bodes well for the reissue of the Great Darkness Saga TP.

 R.E.B.E.L.S: THE SON AND THE STARS TP
Writer: Tony Bedard
Artists: Claude St. Aubin, Geraldo Borges and Scott Hanna
Collects: R.E.B.E.L.S #10-14
$17.99 US, 144 pg

SHOWCASE PRESENTS: THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES VOL. 4 TP
Writers: James Shooter, E. Nelson Bridwell and Cary Bates
Artists: Curt Swan, Win Mortimer, Jack Abel, George Tuska, Dave Cockrum and Murphy Anderson
Collects: ADVENTURE COMICS #369-380, ACTION COMICS #378-392 and SUPERBOY #172, 173, 176, 183, 184, 188, 190 and 191
$17.99 US, 512 pg

• Next one should cover up to the point where the Archives hardcovers left off.

 SUPERMAN: MON-EL – MAN OF VALOR HC
Writer: James Robinson
Artists: Fernando Dagnino, Bernard Chang, Javier Pina and Matt Camp
Collects SUPERMAN #692-699, SUPERMAN ANNUAL #14 and SUPERMAN SECRET FILES 2009 #1
$24.99 US, 224 pg

SUPERMAN: NEW KRYPTON VOL. 2 TP
Writers: Geoff Johns, James Robinson and Sterling Gates
Artists: Renato Guedes, Pete Woods and Jamal Igle
Collects: SUPERMAN #682-683, SUPERGIRL #35-36 and ACTION COMICS #872-883
$17.99 US, 160 pg

• Is Mon-El in this one?

The following DC Universe titles are scheduled to arrive in stores in October:

FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF THREE WORLDS TP
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: George Pérez and Scott Koblish
Collects: BATMAN: FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF THREE WORLDS #1-3
$14.99 US, 168 pg

THE STARMAN OMNIBUS VOL. 5 HC
Writers: James Robinson, David S. Goyer and Geoff Johns
Artists: Steve Yeowell, Peter Snejbjerg, Wade von Grawbadger, Keith Champagne, Steve Sadowski, Lee Moder, Chris Weston, David Ross and others
Collects: STARMAN #47-60, 1,000,000, STARS AND S.T.R.I.P.E. #0, ALL STAR COMICS 80-PAGE GIANT #1 and JSA ALL STARS #4
$14.99 US, 464 pg

• This one has Starman meeting the L2 reboot Star Boy and Umbra.

The following DC Universe titles are scheduled to arrive in stores in November:

SUPERMAN: LAST STAND OF NEW KRYPTON HC
Writers: James Robinson, Sterling Gates and Eric Trautmann
Artists: Pete Woods, Julian Lopez, Jamal Igle and others
Collects: SUPERMAN: LAST STAND OF NEW KRYPTON #1, ADVENTURE COMICS #8-8, SUPERMAN #698 and SUPERGIRL #51
$24.99 US, 160 pg

Trivia Quiz #44

Special road-trip edition! I just got back from a Houston to Orlando to New Orleans to Houston road trip (part of the reason I've been incommunicado) so I thought I'd have a travel-themed quiz this month.

1. What did the Legion do when they used the Time Bubble for the first time?
2. Why did the Legion switch from flight belts to flight rings?
3. What was the 11th version of the Legion Cruiser known as?
4. What was the name of Captain Frake's space pirate ship?
5. The "Secret Origin of the LSH Clubhouse" story that introduced Fortress Lad was a last-minute replacement for a story which showed a different origin, one in which the clubhouse really was a rocket. Where did that rocket originate?
6. What was the name of the ship that Garth Ranzz, Imra Ardeen, Rokk Krinn, and R. J. Brande were travelling on when an assassination attempt was made on Brande's life?
7. What are the names of Metropolis' two Spaceports?
   

Bits of Legionnaire Business

I've got a backlog of stuff to go through for this episode of Bits but here are a few recent items:

• In an article about how certain comics characters are created, former editor KC Carlson recounts the creation of Fortress Lad when he ran into Mark Waid one day.
  
  

  So as a joke (and because I knew that Mark had a hammer in his desk drawer and might use it on himself), I suggested that the origin of the LSH Clubhouse was that it originally came from a planet were all the buildings were living creatures. I said this for the following reasons: 1) Virtually all the origins of the individual Legionnaires were that they came from a planet where everybody had the same super-power (the lamest origin in comics, repeated ad-nauseum), 2) It was in my contract at DC to say as many stupid things as possible, and I was way behind my quota that week, 3) I thought that this might actually make Mark’s head explode and then I would be the new Legion editor! Bwah-ha-ha!, and 4) I never expected Mark to take me seriously.
  

  
  
• Supergirl Comic Box Commentary begins a series looking at how Supergirl was used during the writing reign of Paul Levitz (LSH v2 #300, #301 so far)
• Comic Creators United goes to the longbox and pulls out LSH v2 #308 to review. Unfortunately that was the first part of the Omen/Prophet story. Ouch.
• This Europe-only version of Cartoon Network still has some animated Legion promo videos (which apparently can't be watched in the US), even though the Legion isn't listed as one of the currently-airing shows.
• Diversions of the Groovy Kind had Kung Fu week. Among the spotlighted martial artists were Karate Kid. Here's issue 1 posted, if you've never read it before.
• Chuck's Comic of the Day to review was LSH v2 #290, part 1 of the Great Darkness Saga.

JMS on the Legion in "Brave & Bold"

Via CBR, an interview with J. Michael Straczynski (aka "JMS") on his upcoming Brave & Bold storylines:

The next two issues (Brave & Bold #34-35) fall into the experimental category.

The first of these features the Legion of Super-Heroes and the Doom Patrol. A crisis sends the Legion back in time to get the right team to pull off the job. They come back to the future to handle it, only to find new and unexpected complications springing up. But they do deal with it. It's a serious issue with lots of action.

The next issue features the Legion of Substitute Heroes and the Inferior Five, which is set at the same time as the previous issue. In this one, the Legion has learned of the same crisis, and decides to show the Legion that they're just as capable as anyone else, so they go back in time to get the right team... only to end up per accident with the Inferior Five. Determined to make the best of it, they come back to the future to deal with the problem, and everything they do keeps screwing up what the Legion is doing - so now we learn the source of the constant and unexpected complications. The Legion story is mainly a comedy of errors. It shows how you can take the same basic story and tell it two ways, one serious, one funny. It also lets me play with parallel timelines and narrative structure in ways we really haven't seen much before.

Even the covers are parallel. The first cover shows the Legion and the Doom Patrol in a victory pose in front of the time bubble, with shadowy figures barely visible on the other side. The second cover shows the Legion of Substitute Heroes and the Inferior Five posing on the other side of the bubble, with the Legion of Super-Heroes barely visible as shadowy figures on the other side.

That's what I mean in terms of doing more experimental sorts of stories, and taking chances. It could blow up in my face. Or it could be insanely fun. You never know and honestly, that's the fun of it.

Trivia Answers #43

Thanks for playing the Special all-Levitz edition trivia quiz. Nice job on the answers this month.

1. For the sake of this question, assume that the writer and artist are equal co-creators of a Legionnaire (not necessarily true). How many Legionnaires did Levitz co-create?

Under these rules, Levitz co-created Dawnstar, Invisible Kid II, Karate Kid II, Tellus, and Quislet, all of whom joined while he was writing. He also co-created Danielle Foccart, the future Computo, and Yera, the future Chameleon Girl, both of whom joined after he stopped writing. White Witch, Polar Boy, and Magnetic Kid joined under his reign, but they were pre-existing characters.

2. How many regular, non-fill-in editors has Paul Levitz had on his Legion-related books?

Denny O'Neill edited from Levitz's first issue, Superboy 225, through S&LSH 233. Al Milgrom did 234-246. (Levitz did all but a few of those issues). On his second run from LSH v2 281 to v3 63, he had Mike W. Barr (281-287), Laurie Sutton (288-295), and Karen Berger (296-313, Tales 314-325, and all of v3). Note that I said "Legion-related", that also included the miniseries Cosmic Boy (Berger) and Who's Who in the LSH (Berger and Mark Waid). Not sure yet who's going to be the editor of v6.

3. Historically speaking (in terms of DC history), what was significant about the death of Nemesis Kid at the hands of Queen Projectra?

He said that "Projectra's execution of Nemesis Kid was the first time in DC history that we had a superhero deliberately killing a villain."

4. Historically speaking (in terms of DC history), what was significant about LSH v2 #294, the last issue of the Great Darkness Saga?

I can't find the quote, but it was the first time that DC had published a double-sized book without it being mostly reprints (like the DC 100 Page Super-Spectacular books), while the series was regular-sized, and without it being an anniversary issue.

5. What three reasons has Levitz given on why he likes writing the Legion?
In his own words:

I think there's a few levels to answer that on. The first, most primal, one is my inner five-year-old. Legion was the first book that I really fell in love with as a kid, the first book I collected... My bound volumes still include a lot of my subscription copies with the damn crease in the middle. I used to make little Legion figures out of paper dolls and Creepy Crawler molds when I was really young, so it's very satisfying to a very small person within me.

On a more professional level, one of the things that's always been satisfying to me as a writer is working in the corners of the DC Universe where I didn't have to play well with others all of the time - things like Justice Society [of America] and Legion where, although they fit the continuity of the line, you didn't have to do a ballet around "Why isn't Superman just flying in from Metropolis to solve the problem this week?" That's always been attractive.

Most significantly, and what I think is key to the readers of the Legion, is that it's a world that is large enough and imaginative enough that you can really fuck up the lives of so many different characters, and there's always someone new to play with.

6. When asked which Legion story he'd like to forget that he wrote, what story (or storyline) did Levitz reply with?

A number of times, including at the Legion's 50th anniversary in San Diego in 2008, he replied that it was Superboy & the LSH #235, in which he tried to explain how they Legionnaires were still teens even though they were really older.

7. This is Levitz' third stint on writing the Legion. What other writer or writers have had three or more terms writing the Legion (separated by enough time that the person was not considered the regular writer at the time he/she came back)?

Jim Shooter (1966-69 on Adventure; 1975-77 on Superboy; 2008-09 on LSH v5).

Keith Giffen helped plot late v2 and early v3 as one continuous run, then late v3 and some of v4 as one continuous run; and Mark Waid helped plot v4 before and after the Zero Hour reboot as one continuous run, and v5. So neither of them get credit for 3 runs, only 2.

Now on Facebook too

Follow me on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook!

I finally got around to setting up a Facebook fan page for the Omnicom. In theory, I'll be posting here, which then goes to my Twitter account @LegionOmnicom, which is then supposed to post to the Facebook fan page.

Still haven't worked out the bugs of going from Twitter to Facebook, though.

New Perez drawings on Facebook

If you're on Facebook, you might want to check out this album on George Perez's page.

Back in 2008, when I was just starting on LEGION OF 3 WORLDS, the folks at WIZARD Magazine commissioned me to do 10 sketches of various members of the Legion of Super-Heroes as some sort of promotional stunt. I'm not exactly sure what the stunt was, or if anyone actually got to see these, but I figured I'd post them here for the Legion fans among you. With only 10 I had a hard time choosing the characters, but decided on a tiny sampling from all three versions. Hope you like 'em.

Here are a couple of examples. Any WIZARD readers out there recognize these?

Trivia Quiz #43

Special all-Levitz edition!

1. For the sake of this question, assume that the writer and artist are equal co-creators of a Legionnaire (not necessarily true). How many Legionnaires did Levitz co-create?
   
2. How many regular, non-fill-in editors has Paul Levitz had on his Legion-related books?
   
3. Historically speaking (in terms of DC history), what was significant about the death of Nemesis Kid at the hands of Queen Projectra?
   
4. Historically speaking (in terms of DC history), what was significant about LSH v2 #294, the last issue of the Great Darkness Saga?
   
5. What three reasons has Levitz given on why he likes writing the Legion?
   
6. When asked which Legion story he'd like to forget that he wrote, what story (or storyline) did Levitz reply with?
   
7. This is Levitz' third stint on writing the Legion. What other writer or writers have had three or more terms writing the Legion (separated by enough time that the person was not considered the regular writer at the time he/she came back)?
   

Brainiac & the Legion schedule

Via Douglas Eide, here's the release schedule for the "Brainiac & The Legion" storyline coming up in a couple months. With the last issue in late April, that sets the stage for the new Legion v6 #1 to appear in May. (April solicitations and covers here).

Prologue:  Adventure #8 3/3

1. Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton #1 3/10

2. Supergirl #51 3/17

3. Superman #698 3/24

4. Adventure #9 3/31

5. Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton #2 4/7

6. Adventure #10 4/14

7. Supergirl #52 4/21

8. Superman #699 4/28

Epilogue: Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton #3 4/28

More on the LSH v6 announcement

More from the Levitz announcement this morning:

• Rich Johnston at Bleeding Cool has never "gotten" the Legion but will apparently be buying the book anyway.
• CBR recaps the Source and IO9 posts, but you can read the comments.
• Newsarama also has a recap, with comments (that haven't gone off the rails yet).
• Reviews and reactions at GeekSpeakBlog and The BEAT.
  

Yildiray Cinar, the new artist on LSH v6, is on Twitter at @ycinar and has a blog and DeviantArt page both with lots of sketches and pencilled pages from his Titans work.

Still waiting on the artist for the Adventure Comics run.

Artist on LSH v6: Yildiray Cinar; plus TWO Levitz titles!

The DCU Blog announced today that newcomer Yildiray Cinar will be the artist on the new Legion book - that's LSH v6, for those who are counting. There are a few sketches and a kick-ass looking cover/pinup:

(click to enlarge).

The post has this from Paul Levitz:

“It’s such fun to be back in the future, blowing up planets, undoing Legion marriages, revealing unrevealed factoids, and starting improbable new relationships. If there’s a better job in comics than writing the Legion, with its vast cast and creative opportunities, I’ve never held it.”

There's way too much for me to quote from the Levitz interview at IO9, but - get this - he'll be doing the Legion Secret Origin story in Adventure Comics AT THE SAME TIME as he'll be doing the Legion v6 book. Holy schnikies!

PL: On a more professional level, one of the things that's always been satisfying to me as a writer is working in the corners of the DC Universe where I didn't have to play well with others all of the time - things like Justice Society [of America] and Legion where, although they fit the continuity of the line, you didn't have to do a ballet around "Why isn't Superman just flying in from Metropolis to solve the problem this week?" That's always been attractive.

Most significantly, and what I think is key to the readers of the Legion, is that it's a world that is large enough and imaginative enough that you can really fuck up the lives of so many different characters, and there's always someone new to play with. I don't know when you were a Legion reader, what kind of terrible things I was doing that week...

IO9: So the Legion you're going to be working with in the regular Legion of Super-Heroes book, that's based on what you left behind, and as updated by Geoff Johns. It's come back around after a couple of reboots.

PL: I think I would characterize it by saying that we're picking up the story after some gap after my last issue and what we saw in Geoff's work in Legion of Three Worlds and "Superman And The Legion of Super-Heroes." Something's happened in that time that Quislet came back, Tyroc showed up, other stuff has happened - I don't have a complete list of things to be revealed, but it's quite clear that things have happened in people's lives. There's at least one major Legion romance that's gone to hell in the time inbetween. And that's a great liberty as well, it's not leaping forward but stepping forward just enough so that you have some abiguities to work with.

...My first story picks up more from the end of "Superman and The Legion of Super-Heroes" than Legion of Three Worlds, in the sense that you get [alien-hating supervillain-turned-faux-superhero] Earth Man back. The first page of the first issue deals with Earth Man getting dealt with by the Science Police, and not necessarily gently, and it kinda goes running from there. I imagine I'll go back and explore things that happened in the inbetween on occasions, but I don't think those will be flashbacks. I think you'll pick up the story when the story is and you might learn things that happened that you didn't know about.

...IO9:So what is "Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes: Secret Origin"?

PL: It starts from a challenge that Geoff [Johns] gave me, which was that if you want [a new reader] to pick up Legion of Super-Heroes, there's no book to hand them. You're bringing someone in in the middle of the story no matter what you're doing. You can say, "Here's 'The Great Darkness Saga,' this is the best regarded Legion story published," but then you have to hand them the Cliff's Notes to go along with it because of that wonderful insanity. [The challenge was] can you do something with what you're doing in Legion that would be a good first Legion book?

I'm trying to do something that will be an introduction to the characters, an introduction to the worlds, an introduction to some of the history in it, without being a version of the old Mayfair Games Sourcebook that I did. I've done one chapter that I had a ball with, which is "The Last Will and Testament of RJ Brande." In one of Geoff's stories, [Legion founder] RJ Brande is assassinated, and this is a pre-recorded will as he's telling Brainiac 5 what a pain in the ass he's been since he's known him from when he was a child, apologizing to Chameleon Boy for abandoning him on Durla, revealing things about his own background about how he got off Durla, how he made his money, how he lied to the Legionnaires over the years... Over the course of it, we retell the incident that created the Legion, and we begin to show a little bit of the history and a little bit of the relationships. That may be the first or second story, we're playing with doing one that's very Superboy-focused as a way of edging into more easily than that, but I haven't hit the keyboard so I don't know how well that'll work out.

... IO9: When do the titles launch?

PL: May for Legion of Super-Heroes and June for the series in Adventure Comics. The delightful thing is, I'm ahead of schedule so far.

Interesting that the last couple of new artists the Legion has had - Francis Manapul and Olivier Coipel - have turned out well and have gone on to bigger and better things after leaving the Legion.

The new "Legion" movie

Sadly, the new movie titled "Legion" coming out later this month is not about the Legion of Super-Heroes, but the coming apocalypse (via IMDB):

An out-of-the-way diner becomes the unlikely battleground for the survival of the human race. When God loses faith in humankind, he sends his legion of angels to bring on the Apocalypse. Humanity's only hope lies in a group of strangers trapped in a desert diner with the Archangel Michael.

Now, leaving that all behind, let's suppose a live-action Legion of Super-Heroes movie were to be greenlit. Leaving out casting calls, what would your movie's plot be? Of course, since you're a big Hollywood writer who is not bound by comics continuity, your movie can pick and choose from among any and all continuities over the last 50 years (up to and including Mordru on a jet-ski).* Give me a paragraph.

My proposal:

In flashback, the Legion's origin is recounted as part of an anniversary celebration - we can get that out of the way and show that other Legionnaires have joined since then. Flashbacks show various failed applicants (from Spider-Girl and Double-Header to Plaid Lad and Stone Boy) and previous cases/missions (to show the United Planets and the world of the 31st century). One important flashback is how Superboy joined the Legion and that he's a member because he has found a group of his peers, which he does not have in his own time. In the present, the Legion comes back from a battle with the Khunds - they have taken some casualties (deaths and injuries) and they need to recruit some more members. Then we adapt Jim Shooter's Karate Kid/Projectra/Ferro Lad/Nemesis Kid story from Adventure 346 - 347. The movie ends with Nemesis Kid fleeing and being recruited some of the other rejects we saw earlier (in a method that recalls Superboy's recruitment by the Legion), they're building a new group opposed to the Legion, setting the stage for the sequel: the Legion vs a group of super-villains bent on revenge and raising hell.

*Bonus points for anyone whose movie includes Mordru on a jet-ski.

JMS loves the Legion, too

From the JMS mailing list, it looks like J. Michael Straczynski's "Brave and Bold" wish list wasn't just a wish list:

Atom/Joker comes out in a week or two, then it's Aquaman/Demon, then a combo of Batgirl/Wonder Woman/Zatanna, then a kind of experimental situation with two issues on a parallel track, telling different but related stories with different teams (first: Legion of Super-Heroes and the Doom Patrol, followed by the League of Substitute Heroes and the Inferior Five).

Tom G says that puts the issues in the April/May time frame.

David Finch loves the Legion

David Finch, a fan-favorite at Marvel on things like "Avengers Disassembled" and "Moon Knight", has signed with DC as an exclusive. Here's one thing he said in an interview with CBR:

When it comes to which characters he'd like to take on at DC, Finch was quick to run down a list of his favorite books. "I love the big three, obviously, along with every other comic book creator that aspires to work on superheroes. I'm a huge Lobo fan. Simon Bisley is the greatest, and his Lobo work still has a big impact for me. I love Legion a lot, and Doom Patrol. The Flash is great. Justice League may be the holy grail of the DCU, though. It's got so much in one place, and such a rich history of stories.

It would be cool to have him, though I think he's probably taken by some other book.

Any word on the artist for "Adventure" when Levitz returns? Or have I missed the announcement?

Levitz's first arc: "Secret Origin"

Somewhere on Newsarama, apparently, Dan DiDio said this (via Digital Spy)

DiDio confirmed to Newsarama that Levitz would be taking over the writing of Adventure Comics following the conclusion of the 'Brainiac and the Legion of Super-Heroes' crossover.

"There's going to be a lot of Legion news coming out in the new year," said DiDio, "but the one thing I can tell you is that Paul is working on right now, for Adventure Comics, 'Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes: Secret Origin'."

DC has used the 'Secret Origin' subtitle to refresh and redefine the origins of characters - including Green Lantern and Superman - over the last few years.

Festivus Trivia Answers

Happy New Year, everyone! Hope you're all back home safely from your vacations with nothing more than a sunburn. Here are the answers to the Festivus trivia from right before the Christmas holiday:

1. Which Legion-related heroes and villains have been shown on both live-action and animated form?
   

   From Smallville, we've seen Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, and the Persuader (Brainiac and Luthor are quasi-related, and whether the ball of stuff from that episode becomes Brainiac 5 remains to be seen); and from the Legends of the Super-Heroes Roast, we saw Mordru. All were seen in the Legion animated series.

   
   
2. Who said this, and what were the circumstances? "Mmm... this is nice! I must kiss her again!!"
   

   Superman traveled to the future of the Adult Legion in Action 289 and hit on Saturn Girl at Christmas. Her husband, Lightning Man, was not too thrilled.
   
   

   
   
3. Where did we see the Jaguar Court?
   

   As Tenzil put it, better than I could, "the Jaguar Court was seen in the Five years later Legion Annual #1, where Ultra Boy entered a nonaggression pact with them even though they were allied with Mordru, thus preventing the Legion from facing Mordru before they were prepared to beat him."

   
   

Festivus 2009

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

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

So to celebrate, here are my list of Legion grievances. Please add your own in the comments, but remember they only can cover calendar year 2009 (so no whining about anything that happened last year). In no particular order:

The first two are leftover grievances from 2008:


• The Superboy lawsuit is STILL not settled.
  
  
• Whatever happened to that Jim Lee/Paul Levitz Legion story that was supposed to come out months ago? Delayed until sometime in 2009, so I've heard, but nothing specific.
  
  
• The Legion is reduced to a backup strip for the first time since the early 1970s.
  
  
• In the Smallville episode, the Legionnaires saying: "The only way to stop Chloe is to kill her."
  
  
• The end of Final Crisis #6 had L1 Brainiac 5 showing the Miracle Machine to Superman. Not only had the Miracle Machine been eaten years before, but this scene was not seen or even referenced in L3W.
  
  
• Not only that the Legion v5 book was cancelled, not only that the Final Crisis/L3W story forced Jim Shooter's story to get cut by four issues, but also that Shooter either walked out on the last issue and forced a ghost writer or chose to use a pseudonym to close out the series.
  
  
• The latest retelling of the story of how Superman/boy joined the Legion lost the intention of the original story, how Clark Kent had to audition for a spot (even though it was all a joke). Now, they just asked him to join.
  
  
• It took 11 months for the 5-issue monthly L3W to come out.
  

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

• George Perez. STILL on the Legion, even if L3W is delayed.
  
  
• The Legion on Smallville. The Legion. ON LIVE-ACTION TV. By Geoff Johns. And it's one of the highest rated and most-liked episodes of the season.
  
  
• Mon-El in a starring role in the Superman titles.
  
  
• The return of Adventure Comics, featuring (at least for now) the Legion.
  
  
• The return of R.E.B.E.L.S.
  
  
• Action figures!
  
  
• I hit my 1000th post.
  
  
• Paul Levitz will return to be the full-time writer on the Legion. The internet broke in half at the news that he was leaving DC Corporate.
  
  
• L3W returning all 3 Legions
  

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

1. Which Legion-related heroes and villains have been shown on both live-action and animated form?
   
   
2. Who said this, and what were the circumstances? "Mmm... this is nice! I must kiss her again!!"
   
   
3. Where did we see the Jaguar Court?
   

Action figure roundup

This month's Q&A with Mattel (by various action figure sites) had a few Legion figure questions and some vague answers. As always, I'll believe it when I see them. (round up via Toy News International)

Cool Toy Review:

Cool Toy Review: I know we ask about the Legion of Super-Heroes quite often, but that's because the Legion is cool! Can we look forward to more figures from the 30th century?

Mattel: Absolutely.

Action Figure Insider:

Q5. Whenever the Legion of Super-Heroes are released for the DCUC line can we expect to see them have a whole wave like wave 8 was for JSA or will they be peppered into other waves?

A5: We have some great plans for LOSH but it is too early for us to get into these specifics.

Kastor's Korner:

Kastor: With the Legion having such a large roster, Matty, what era is your favorite? Any characters from the team that are your favorite besides the big names (Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy, Brainiac 5)?

Matty: When we do get to the Legion, we’ll most likely lean toward each characters most well known appearance. Aside from the big names, Wildfire, Ferro Lad, Mon-El and Dawnstar are personal favorites of Toy Guru.

Last Stand of New Krypton: no new Legion book (yet)

From today's DC blog The Source comes more info on the 8-part "Brainiac and the Legion of Super-Heroes" arc.

Note that this article reveals that the "soon to be named" title from the previous article is "Last Stand of New Krypton", to go with "Superman", "Supergirl", and "Adventure" (but for some reason, not "Action"). No new Legion book yet.

What is the LAST STAND OF NEW KRYPTON? Well, it’s basically New Krypton’s worst nightmare come to life, as Brainiac attacks the planet, determined to recapture the city of Kandor.

But General Zod has prepared for this moment since Brainiac first attacked the original Krypton. Only problem? Zod’s plan to save New Krypton will mean the destruction of the future.

So it’s up to Superman, Supergirl, Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes to save the people of New Krypton and ensure the Legion won’t be wiped from the future’s existence. Good luck! Or, to quote editor Matt Idelson:

“This is the story that ties together tons of threads that have run through all the Super-books up to now, clearing the decks for the war we all knew was coming. And I don’t know about you, but I’ve been waiting months to see Brainiac restored to his full, horrific glory. And at last, we’ll get to see Superboy interact on an ongoing basis with the rest of the Superbooks’ characters.”

LAST STAND is a three-issue miniseries, weighing in at 30 story pages each, from writers James Robinson and Sterling Gates and artist Pete Woods. The first issue sports an amazing Andy Kubert cover and kicks off the latest chapter in the New Krypton saga, “Brainiac & The Legion of Super-Heroes,” which we teased right here not long ago. “Brainiac & the LOSH” is an eight-part story (plus an epilogue and a prologue) that will run in LAST STAND, SUPERGIRL, SUPERMAN, and because you demanded it, ADVENTURE COMICS. Secrets will be revealed, loyalties tested and would-be lovers will be reunited—for the first time? And, knowing that all signs are pointing to an epic WAR OF THE SUPERMEN, why not hop aboard now?

SUPERMAN: LAST STAND OF NEW KRYPTON hits in March.

Trivia Answers #42

Trivia answers tonight:

1. List any five of Lori Morning’s aliases when she used the "Dial H for Hero" dial.

The ones I came up with, via Wikipedia: Future Girl, Fireball, Slipstream, Blip, Dynasoar, Chiller, Ink, Galaxy Girl, Plasma, Helios, and the Time Trapper.

2. Which of the following were the members of the Interplanetary Bank Beast Guards?

a. Asteroid Serpent
b. Hypno Beast
c. Jigsaw Creature
d. Invisible Eagle
e. Flame-Beast
f. Phantom Beast
g. Loudspeaker Beast

The three animals that made up the Interplanetary Bank Beast Guards were the Asteroid Serpent, the Jigsaw Creature, and the Loudspeaker Beast (a, c, and g). The Hypno Beast was from the planet Lurna (ADV 302), the Invisible Eagle was seen in ADV 247, the Flame Beast was from Krypton, and the Phantom Beast was from the planet Siria (ADV 308).

3. In the future of the Adult Legion, which of the children were shown to have NOT inherited any powers from their Legionnaire parents?

We saw Timber Wolf and Light Lass's kids Loni, Brin, and Bran; Ultra Boy and Phantom Girl's kids Ronn and Arna; Shrinking Violet and Duplicate Boy's kids (names not revealed); and the son of Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel. Brin, Bran, and Loni were specifically mentioned to have not gotten their parents powers, and they never revealed one way or the other about Vi's kids.

4. It was announced this week that the next big Superman story will be "Brainiac and the Legion of Super-Heroes". When has Brainiac met the Legion or individual Legionnaires, not including any of the Superboys or Supergirls?

Roy said Showcase '96 #10 and #11, The "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow" story (outside the Fortress of Solitude), and DC Comics Presents #80. I thought there must have been one scene somewhere in Crisis on Infinite Earths but I may be mistaken. But everyone forgot the last episode of the Legion animated series, the "New Kids in Town" episode of the Superman animated series where the Legionnaires went back to Smallville to track down Brainiac, and the "Legion" episode of "Smallville" where the Legionnaires went back to Smallville to track down Brainiac. The Adult Legion of Super-Villains plus Brainiac (and Electro) were in Action #286, but the Legion wasn't in there. I did not count Pulsar Stargrave.

5. Where should a Legion artist have written "after Michelangelo"?

During the Great Darkness Saga, Keith Giffen drew Shadow Lass and Darkseid taking the places of Adam and God in Michelangelo's "Creation of Man" painting on the Sistene Chapel ceiling.

6. Who was Mordru's eyes and ears in the 20th century?

I was thinking specifically of Lana Lang, but pretty much everyone in Smallville was.

7. Which team played the Naltor Dreamers in the 2995 Galaxy Series?

The Toonar Pilots, of course.

Trivia Quiz #42

First Monday of the month, that means it's Legion trivia time!

1. List any five of Lori Morning’s aliases when she used the "Dial H for Hero" dial.

2. Which of the following were the members of the Interplanetary Bank Beast Guards?

a. Asteroid Serpent
b. Hypno Beast
c. Jigsaw Creature
d. Invisible Eagle
e. Flame-Beast
f. Phantom Beast
g. Loudspeaker Beast

3. In the future of the Adult Legion, which of the children were shown to have NOT inherited any powers from their Legionnaire parents?

4. It was announced this week that the next big Superman story will be "Brainiac and the Legion of Super-Heroes". When has Brainiac met the Legion or individual Legionnaires, not including any of the Superboys or Supergirls?

5. Where should a Legion artist have written "after Michelangelo"?

6. Who was Mordru's eyes and ears in the 20th century?

7. Which team played the Naltor Dreamers in the 2995 Galaxy Series?

Brainiac & the Legion of Super-Heroes

From the DCU Blog The Source about Adventure Comics #8:

ADVENTURE COMICS #8 is the start of a four-issue arc connecting ADVENTURE to the next big Superman story - “Brainiac & The Legion of Super-Heroes.” James Robinson & Julian Lopez will provide a 10-page story about the Legion members who are in the 21st Century; Sterling Gates & Clayton Henry will provide a 10-pager about the Legion in the 31st Century; and Eric Trautmann & DC newcomer Pier Gallo (wait till you see this guy’s stuff!) will provide a 10-pager about General Lane’s Human Defense Corps.

The Superman writers have crafted a really fun and epic story in “Brainiac & The Legion of Super-Heroes” (which will run in ADVENTURE, SUPERMAN, SUPERGIRL and a tittle-to-be-named-later in March). Featuring Superman, Supergirl, Superboy, Mon-El and the Legion of Super-Heroes, it not only brings to a head all the Legion subplots that DC has been laying down since the JLA/JSA “Lightning Saga” story, but also sets the stage for this summer’s blockbuster Superman event!

I found some sample pages pencilled by Pier Gallo on Andy Diggle's flickr page (Hawkeye and Batman), it looks good but I'm not sure if he's going to be doing any Legion stuff or just this one HDC story.

Here's the cover to ADV #8 (they've also got prelim cover sketches and a pencils-only version of this). I'm looking forward to the tittle to be named later - fanboy speculation, maybe a new Legion book, leaving Adventure to Superboy?

Even more Bits of Legionnaire Business

I think this finishes my getting caught up.

• Mike the Bold offers some advice on where to start reading the Legion, the top 5 technical trappings of the Legion (in a post where he mistakes early November as the Klordny season, instead of mid-August), a spotlight on Tenzil Kem, the top 7 smooch-buddies in the Legion, and the top 5 Legion deaths.
  
  
• The Fanboy Wife doesn't like the Legion or their skanky costumes. She's not up on Lightning Lad, has words about the Subs, and thinks Saturn Girl is a skank.
  
  
• MightyGodKing thinks Quislet is 92% Awesome and offers 20 reasons why.
  
  
• Kandou Erik discusses who the Legionnaires are in the 21st century in the current Superman arc. Hey, another one appears this week!
  
  
• Writer J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5, Ninja Assassin) wants to write a "Brave & Bold" story featuring the Legion and the Doom Patrol.
  
  
• Captain Toy reviews the DC Universe Classics Series 10 action figures, which include Imperiex as the "Build-a-Figure", meaning you have to buy the individual figures (Power Girl, Forager, Man-Bat, Robotman, and Beast Boy) to get the five parts of the large figure. Imperiex was the villain in the second season of the animated Legion show, but this version is from the regular DC Universe, from the "Our Worlds at War" story. I don't consider this to be a Legion villain figure, but your mileage may vary.
  
  
• Legion Abstract, Get-a-Life Boy, Major Spoilers, and Comic Per Day review Adventure Comics #4.
  
  
• Toon Zone notes in their review of the "Complete Superman: The Animated Series" DVD that "the booklet that lists the episodes sports images from The Legion of Superheroes" (animated series). Anyone got a copy to scan?
  
  
• Collected Editions reviews the Legion of 3 Worlds hardcover, which apparently includes not only all of the regular and variant covers, but "unused" covers as well. The only one I know of is the one that's on the cover of this HC (zoomed in), which shows Superman with all three Legions. I think that was a promo that early on was supposed to be a cover. Anyone got this that can explain?
  
  
• TradeKey has a great look back at some awesomely bad Legion costumes. I may revisit this one next time Fashion Week rolls around.
  
  
• Comic Reviews by Walt echoes what many have been saying. With the recent success of the Green Lantern emotional spectrum rings, why not issue a Legion flight ring?
  
  
• The Legion 4-pack of action figures from the Justice League line are on sale for 15-25% off (depending on how many items you order) from mattycollector.com through Dec. 7th.
  

True Tales of the 31st Century

Stealing yet another idea (like yesterday's), here's one inspired by Chris Sims' (of the ISB) post on "True Tales of the Core Marvel Universe". That's a series of entries on just how bizarre and absurd the Marvel Universe can really be if you stop to think about it. I read that and thought that surely the Legion's time (all of their timelines) must have some wackiness that we normally take for granted with our suspension of disbelief, but "when you put it that way...."

In the Legion's time, a boy from the 20th century spent 1000 years in isolation in a buffer zone, unable to communicate with the outside world. After he got out of isolation, a magically cloned younger version of himself went back in time to replace his 20th century self after the 20th century version got prematurely killed by an evil magician from the 30th century.

In the Legion's time, a boy's mind was replaced by that of a sentient blob of protoplasm, yet his long-time girlfriend (who later became his wife) who was one of the greatest telepaths known, never knew.

In the Legion's time, members of the team have included a teenager who created a monster to kill his teammates, someone who couldn't tell a bottle of soda from an experimental serum, an emo bag of sentient anti-energy, someone who later married his stalker, someone who ate a magic machine, and an energy creature whose favorite phrase was "poop-a-doop".

In the Legion's time, they have their headquarters in the body of a dead alien.

What else do you have?

What's your favorite Legion story?

I was listening to the Legion of Substitute Podcasters podcast #58 this week at work, and someone wrote to them with a question I thought I'd post here.

The title of this post asks what your favorite Legion story is. But I'm not asking which story in which issue - tell me a quick story about what has been your greatest Legion-related find in a comic shop, convention, flea market, attic, or whatever, and why?

Here's mine:

At the 1995 San Diego con, a dealer had bought a large collection to sell and pulled out the top books to display. They didn't really get a chance to look at everything closely, the guy said. Jim Drew and I passed by the booth and I noticed a copy of Adventure Comics #247 in a display case, the first time I had ever seen a copy. It was way more than I wanted to spend for the convention ($150), but I rationalized it as a Congressional "off-the-budget" purchase. I was still wavering, and Jim told me that if I didn't buy it, he would. So I had to buy it. :) Of course, I didn't look at it closely enough until I got home, only to find out that (a) it had been restored (rice paper strengthening the cover, new staples, minor color touchups) and (b) the centerfold was missing. I wound up contacting him and getting a rebate the next year (which I wound up spending on Adventure 267 and Action 267 from him anyway).

(If anyone here was reading Usenet or the LSH-L mailing list in 1995, this is the infamous "milkshake copy".)

So for 11 years I had my copy of Adventure Comics 247, missing a centerfold. Someone sent me scans of what I was missing (a Little Pete gag page, a two-page ad, and the first page of the Green Arrow story), but I was always on the lookout for a spare centerfold from the issue. Of course, those never show up, so I eventually started looking for crappy beat-up copies with the centerfold intact, thinking I'd cannibalize the issue. And whaddaya know, a couple of years ago I finally found the right candidate. For the grand sum of $35, I bought a copy that was missing the cover and the first wraparound (which is the first two pages of the Legion story, and two ads) and had a detached centerfold. Score!

That was also the year I got a complete set of the Legionnaire Slurpee cups too, but that's another story.

More Bits of Legionnaire Business

More catching up...

• From the 10/26 version of 10 Questions with Dan DiDio:
  

  5) Mbecks114 wrote:
  Dan
  
  You've stated that Superboy will be more involved in the current Superman main story line soon. But when the Legion takes over Adventure Comics where will we be able to follow his adventures in Smallville?
  
  DiDio: There's one very logical place that Superboy will be appearing on a consistent basis. And then from there, as the Superman storyline heats up during the course of the year, you'll start to see him popping up in more and more of the Superman titles.
  
  Nrama: Well, I suspect you kind of answered the next part of his question, but Mbeck continues...
  Will he rejoin the Titans or at least be reunited with Tim, Bart, and Cassie?
  
  DiDio: See Answer 1.
  
  7) KentClark wrote:
  Any news yet about who will be doing Adventure Comics after Geoff Johns and before Levitz? And who is doing art for Levitz?
  
  DiDio: We haven't announced the artist, but as for who will be handling Adventure Comics between when Geoff leaves and Paul joins, it's actually going to be handled by a few people involved in the Superman writing team, because those stories will tie directly into the events in Superman and Action Comics.
  
  Nrama: Did you say "few" people? Or "two" people?
  
  DiDio: It'll be handled by the writers who are currently involved in the Superman, Action and Supergirl storylines.
  
  Nrama: So that means Greg Rucka, Sterling Gates and James Robinson, right?
  
  DiDio: Sort of. Mostly. You'll hear about it soon.
  
  But I can tell you something about what Paul's doing. Paul will actually be working on three annuals for DC Comics in the beginning of next year. The first one up will be a Superman/Batman Annual that Paul is writing, which we're very excited about because it features very interesting characters from beyond, so to speak.
  
  Paul is also going to be writing an Adventure Comics Annual which will be setting up much of his storyline in Adventure Comics. So really, his run kicks off with the Adventure Comics Annual first, then it goes into Adventure Comics itself. And as we realized by chatting, I believe this is the first Adventure Comics Annual ever, which I believe is also very exciting that Paul gets to do that.
  
  The third one, I don't want to announce just yet, because we're a little too far out.
  
  Nrama: Is this Superman/Batman Annual at all connected to the changes we're going to see to the Superman/Batman title?
  
  DiDio: It's just a stand-alone Superman/Batman Annual, although it's oversized. Did I mention the word beyond?
  
  Nrama: Oh jeez. I can't believe I didn't pick up on that the first time. So we're talking about Batman Beyond appearing in this annual?
  
  DiDio: Exactly. That's the story that Paul is writing.
  
  Nrama: Will it tie into the Batman Beyond mini-series that's coming in 2010?
  
  DiDio: No, it's just a stand-alone story dealing with Batman and Superman and Batman Beyond.

  
  
• Chris at the Invincible Super-Blog was asked to sign a copy of Teenagers From the Future.
  
  
• It's Nerdsville and Newsarama's Legion Blogpost review the "Legion of 3 Worlds" hardcover.
  
  
• CBR's Comics Should Be Good is looking at a Year of Cool Moments. This particular one is from the conclusion of the Quiet Darkness storyline in v4.
  
  
• The Trusty Plinko Stick found some convention/commission sketches of the Legion by the late Mike Wieringo (co-creator of Impulse).
  
  
• Major Spoilers has a Hero History of Gazelle (and check out their many other Legionnaire histories too!).
  

Finishing up soon....

Trivia Answers #41

As always, you guys came up with some answers I never would have thought of, especially with my first question.

1. Connect the Legion to the Star Wars movie "The Empire Strikes Back" in three steps. (No trickery, metaphors, or stretches of the imagination allowed.)

I was trying to word this to get that the only answer was "Edmond Hamilton wrote the Legion, he was married to Leigh Brackett, who wrote the first draft of Empire." But several people completed a "six degrees of Kevin Bacon", including one with Kevin Bacon. Just goes to how no matter how carefully I word a question to get just one answer, you'll always find a way around it.

2. Who was the first Legionnaire to have a single-word code name (no hyphens)?

Kind of a trick question, I was wondering how many people would say "Wildfire". But in terms of publishing history, it's Superboy, in terms of chronological history including flashbacks, it's Supergirl. Had to put the no-hyphen rule so nobody could say "Mon-El" (who was actually inducted after both Superboy and Supergirl).

3. Who from the 20th/21st centuries has ever joined the Legion, become an honorary member, or become a Reservist?

L1 and L2 Superboys, L1 and L3 Supergirls, Mon-El and variations, Dev-Em, L2 Ferro, L1 Insect Queen, L1 Elastic Lad, L1 Pete Ross, Lori Morning, and the Super-Pets (not including Proty II). You forgot aboutImaginary Story Lois Lane & Bruce Wayne. I forget what the exact status of the Teen Titans is, as a couple of you mentioned them.

4. Where was the first "real" Legion logo used? (That is, one that was reused, as opposed to a one-off.)

The logo that appeared in "Adventure Comics" #300. See Todd Klein's blog which includes a 5-part Legion logo study (this appears in part 1 here).

5. Which Legionnaires or close associates have the same (or nearly so) name as a Marvel character?

According to Lorendiac's comprehensive list (v4), I see Alchemist, Andromeda, Blok, Bounty, Catspaw, Chameleon, Comet, Computo, Dyna-Sour/Dina Soar, Double-Header, Echo, Firefist, Hunter, Impulse, Inferno, Lamprey, Leviathan, Lightning Lord, Livewire, Neon, Nightwind, Omega, Omen, Persuader, Plasma, Psyche, Radion, Reflex, Shift, Slipstream, Spark, Spider-Girl, Sun Girl, Titania, Valor/Val-Or, and Wildfire.

Tom said Jewel and Gear too; Roy suggested Dreamer, Phase, and Sensor, but I'm not familiar with their Marvel counterparts.

6. According to Khundish law, a married woman becomes the wife of the man who kills her husband. Which Legionnaires were caught up in this situation, and why did the male not become the female's husband?

Devlin O'Ryan accidentally killed Firefist, husband of Veilmist. But he was too young to be her husband, so she became property of the Khundish army, until Firefist got better. Thanks to Ken Austin for the original question (as seen at the bottom of the page here).

7. Years before being flash-fried by Nemesis Kid, how did Karate Kid die the first time?

He was killed by Alex Korlo using Rakurga poison. Ultra Boy revived them using the Legion's Deus Ex Machina, the Miracle Machine. Brainiac 5, Karate kid, Princess projectra and Superboy were also "killed" at this time, as seen in Adventure #378-379. Kudos to those who remembered "Rakurga"!

What about the Legion of Super-Pets?

From Monday's 10 Questions with Dan DiDio:

1) ICleverMan wrote:
Yes, I am one of those freaks who adore the Legion of Super-Pets -- I own every appearance of each of them, including all Krypto stories.

Since Krypto's return has been such a success, what are the possibilities we can see reinterpretations of Streaky, Comet and even some variation of Beppo (totally discounting the Peter David attempt at Comet)?

DiDio: I never like to say never on anything, because there's always a writer who tends to surprise me. The funny part about Streaky is they showed Streaky in Wednesday Comics. Amanda Conner did a beautiful job with Streaky and Krypto in that book. And I think anybody would love the character except for the character's name, which always seems to get more giggles than anyone wanting to embrace the little kitty.

On Beppo, probably not. I think what happened is that, we start to get a little too deep. One or two of those characters is interesting to see, but I think once you get a little deeper into a list of characters, it starts to weaken the brands or weaken the franchise too much because it doesn't seem like you're taking yourself too seriously.

Because of Comet's origin and the way Comet was played, in the last incarnation of Supergirl, Peter David found an interesting way to make Comet work. But at this time, there's no particular plans to do that again.

Newsarama: Krypto seems to be mostly featured in Adventure Comics. Now that the Legion of Super-Heroes is taking over that title when Paul Levitz becomes the regular writer next year, what will happen to Krypto?

DiDio: There's a really good chance you'll be seeing more of Krypto in Superman. James Robinson is a huge supporter of the character. He's already used the dog a couple of times in the series. And I imagine he'll probably touch upon Krypto a little more, because James is a bit of a dog lover himself.

Everyone forgets about Proty II in the Super-Pets.

Trivia Quiz #41

Another quiz with no particular theme.

1. Connect the Legion to the Star Wars movie "The Empire Strikes Back" in three steps. (No trickery, metaphors, or stretches of the imagination allowed.)

2. Who was the first Legionnaire to have a single-word code name (no hyphens)?

3. Who from the 20th/21st centuries has ever joined the Legion, become an honorary member, or become a Reservist?

4. Where was the first "real" Legion logo used? (That is, one that was reused, as opposed to a one-off.)

5. Which Legionnaires or close associates have the same (or nearly so) name as a Marvel character?

6. According to Khundish law, a married woman becomes the wife of the man who kills her husband. Which Legionnaires were caught up in this situation, and why did the male not become the female's husband?

7. Years before being flash-fried by Nemesis Kid, how did Karate Kid die the first time?

Bits of Legionnaire Business

Here are a bunch of links that popped up in the last few weeks that I didn't get to post, in roughly chronological order. Part 1 of 2 (or maybe 3):

• Gene Gonzales has been posting Legionnaire sketches, including Shrinking Violet (pencils here and inked here), Princess Projectra, Timber Wolf, Wildfire, Duo Damsel, Brainiac 5, and Phantom Girl. More coming in the next post.
  
  
• Todd Klein revised and updated his Legion logo project. It now runs an intro plus five parts (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Note: for some reason, the images only seem to load in Internet Explorer, not Firefox. If you read this before, you need to read it again, there's a ton of new stuff including many unused logos.
  
  
• In part 6 of the Wonder Girl/Supergirl teamup on Random Happenstance, the girls wonder why Supergirl can't remember the Legion.
  
  
• Newsarama's Legion Blogpost discusses Officer Wilcox of the Science Police in the 21st century, who is really... wait, what?
  
  
• From the 10/5 Ten Questions with Dan Didio:
  

  9)needcomicmoney wrote:
  Will Geoff Johns be finishing his Legion story featuring Starman and the others who are secretly in the 21st Century?
  
  DiDio: Some of the story threads will move over to be handled by James Robinson, because a number of the Legion members in the 21st Century are integral to some of the events in Superman.
  
  Nrama: Will Paul continue the Legion that Geoff set up? We're not going to see another Legion reboot, are we?
  
  DiDio: Not another reboot. We're picking up on the story threads with the Legion right now. Some of the Legion stories that involve the characters in the 21st Century will be picked up on by James Robinson, and some of the storylines, as they move up to the 31st Century, will be written by Paul. But all the stories are building off current continuity.

  
  
• Legion Abstract tries to put the clues together to figure out just who is a Legionnaire in the current retro-boot.
  
  
• George Perez, at the Baltimore Comic Con:
  

  ...He's also spoken with upcoming "Adventure Comics" writer Paul Levitz, whom Perez has known since their teenage years, about some future projects, and has even spoken with DC Comics honcho Dan DiDio about a project.
  
  ...The panel kept a casual air as Perez began to field questions from the audience. Among the first ones he was asked if there were any dream projects he would like to work on. "After 'Legion of 3 Worlds,' I pretty much completed the cycle of my fanboy dreams," Perez said.

  
  
• Legion Abstract quickly reviews Adventure Comics #3, with the comments section longer than the review.
  
  
• Jim Lee shows off a piece that he and the Wildstorm crew did for Paul Levitz on the occasion of his arrival/departure. Click the link for a bigger picture and to see the framed version. (Via CBR's Robot 6)
  
  
  
• CBR has a Q&A with Geoff Johns:
  

  CBR: First off, I guess the big news since the last time we chatted is that, after only six issues, you and Francis Manapul are leaving "Adventure Comics" and outgoing DC Comics Publisher Paul Levitz is taking over the book. Michael, Eric, Matthew E, Christian and Dennis want to know what this means for Superboy?
  
  GJ: I just finished #6, so I've finished the story Francis and I were working on. Superboy is one of my favorite characters. I'm not really the one to tell you what is next for Superboy, but I know he features prominently in the Superman universe from here on out, and the Teen Titans, as well, for starters.
  
  As far as the Legion goes, I'm beyond excited for Paul Levitz to return to "Adventure Comics" and the Legion of Super-Heroes.
  
  CBR: HawaiiPJ1959 had a question regarding Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl's children, Graym Ranzz, and their son, whom Darkseid transformed into Validus and sent back in time. He wants to know if the children of Garth and Imra Ranzz are still in existence.
  
  GJ: That will be something to ask Paul.
  
  CBR: Slewo was wondering if we'd see any explanation into why Barry would allow XS, his granddaughter, to live away from him at such a dangerous time, instead of having her live a semi-normal life with him and Iris.
  
  GJ: There are very big plans for XS in the future of the Flash universe. "The Flash" book and the "Kid Flash" book start next year, and the Flash universe is something I'm very committed to, both in comics and film.

  
  
• I haven't even finished last season of "Smallville", but a Legion flight ring is a continuing plot point in the 2009-2010 season.
  
  
• Artist George Tuska passed away on October 16th. 20th Century Danny Boy has a good writeup. Tuska did several issues over the years:
  
  • Superboy 172's "Brotherly Hate", 173's "Trust Me or Kill Me", 176's "Invisible Invader", 183's "War of the Wraith Mates" (1971-72)
    
  • "Trial of the Legion Five" (S/LSH 235, 1978)
    
  • the Amalgamax/Composite Superman story (World's Finest 283-284, 1982)
    
  • Star Boy, on the cover to LSH v2 #300 (1983)
    
  • The Gim/Yera story "Guess What's Coming to Dinner" (LSH v2 308, 1984)
    
  • The White Witch origin story (Tales of the LSH 314-317, 1984)
  
  
  

Trivia Answers #40

The long-awaited answers to October's trivia quiz, whose theme was "random questions that don't have a theme".

1. When did the Legionnaires stand in line with the Doom Patrol, Plastic Man, and Sargon the Sorcerer?

On the cover to "Batman" #238, which for some reason had a Legion reprint.


(click to enlarge)

2. Who were the two Martians shown at Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel's wedding?

J'onn J'onzz and Tars Tarkis. The Martian Manhunter's appearance here led to his appearances in the v4-era stories, while nobody was really quite sure what to do with Tars Tarkis (from the John Carter, Warlord of Mars series by Robert E. Howard Edgar Rice Burroughs).

3. What does C.O.M.P.U.T.O. stand for?

Cyber-cerebral Overlapping Multiprocessor Universal Transceiver-Operator.

4. Who made the flight rings in the Adult Legion's time frame?

Superman, on one of his trips to the future at Christmas time ("Action Comics" 289), found the material used to create mentally-controlled flying belts (not flight rings, as I mis-remembered). The Sannings have an analysis of this issue and think that Superman must have forgotten that they already had flight rings by this point but they're just humoring him.

5. Which Legionnaires' first appearances were posthumous?

Chemical King, Shadow Lass, Kid Quantum, Power Boy, and Reflecto. All but Kid Quantum were originally shown as statues in the Hall of (Dead) Heroes.

6. Which Legionnaires have been related by blood?

Pre-Crisis Superboy and Pre-Crisis Supergirl were cousins; Lightning Lad and Lightning/Light Lass (and their Legionnaires, L2, and L3 counterparts) are siblings; L1 White Witch and L1 Dream Girl are sisters; Kid Quantum I and II are siblings; Cosmic Boy and Magnetic Kid were brothers; Mon-El/Valor and Andromeda/Laurel Gand were cousins 1000 years removed; Invisible Kid II and Computo are siblings; the current Superman and L3 Supergirl are cousins, with L2 Superboy (Kon-El) some sort of relative as he's derived from Superman's cloned DNA; from the animated series, Kell-El was a future genetic derivative of Superman; and the Nolan brothers, who were Ferro Lads in the L1 and an alternate timeline. Plus, of course, the SW6 Legionnaires and their counterparts.

There are a lot of near-Legion relationships, like Shadow Lass and Shadow Kid, and the Tornado Twins and XS, but I didn't include them.

7. What did Mordru serve for dinner when Rokk visited (early v4)? Why?

Elvabird Breast. It was probably the one food Rokk most hated. As anonymous said in the comments, "it was something Rokk grew sick of eating while raiding Imskian food supplies, which Mordru picked from his memories from the Braal-Imsk hostilities..." (I didn't remember that much detail.)

Flashback: Bits of Legionnaire Business (part 6)

Here's the last part of the "Bits of Legionnaire Business" stuff from the original Adventure Comics run. Thanks to Jo and Terri-Anne Sanning for hosting all the Silver Age letters columns at the Silver Age Legion Clubhouse.

Adventure Comics 350, Nov. 1966
BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS
 
Well, the suggestions for new Legionnaires continue to pour in from you fans. So here we are, back with a new batch of these "Bits of Legionnaire Business." This page represents only a fraction of the thousands of ideas that have deluged us. Of these, we've selected the ones we liked best - some intriguing "straight" heroes, others wild and kookie. We'll just pass along the top choices to our writers for possible use in future stories. One word of caution - try to get really original ideas. Many otherwise good heroes were rejected because they were similar to some we'd used before. Send your brainstorms to: BITS OF LEGIONNAIRE BUSINESS, National Periodical Publications, 575 Lexington Ave., New York, N.Y. 10022, preferably on a postal card. And now for this issue's collection:
 
Niles Brown, Jefferson, Tex. - "Sound Boy uses sound waves to create a prison around enemies." . . . Andy Barnett, Phoenix, Ariz. - "Astro Lad has disintegration vision. He can disintegrate anything and then restore it to its original form." . . . Richard Kahn, Fair Lawn, N.J. - "Ripper Robert can rip himself in half to avoid bullets, then reunite." . . . Rand Lee, Roxbury, Conn. - "Vicious circle can materialize hoops of sizzling energy that weaken a person by sapping his strength."
 
Robert L. Chambers, Caro, Mich. - "Monster Boy can assume any wierd form he chooses." . . . David Low, Florissant, Mo. - "The Traveler has the power to transport himself and others anywhere he wills, including other time-eras and dimensions." . . . Rudolph Valentino, Cedar Brook, N.J, - "Inertia Kid can increase the resistance that a body has to moving, and thus render it motionless.". . . Kim Boyce, Chicago, Ill. - "Pajama Pat can put anyone to sleep for any length of time."
 
Billy Brennan, Collingdale, Pa. - "Fingertip Fred can make his fingers as long as he wants. Also, they can drill through stone or metal." . . . Mark DeWolfe, San Antonio, Tex. - "Cat Kid has the strength of a tiger, the courage of a lion, the speed of a cheetah, the ability to see in the dark - and when he falls, he always lands on his feet." . . . Paul Miller, Oakdale, Conn. - "Dynamite Dan can make anything explode." . . . Dan Solla, Freeport, Pa. - "Liquid Lad has the power to turn any solid, unliving thing into any form of liquid."
 
Michael Willert, Woodlyn, Pa. - "Ape Boy can turn into any kind of primate, from the smallest monkey to a King Kong-sized gorilla." . . . E. Clements, San Diego, Calif. - "Remarkable Russ has the power of turning anything invisible to everyone's eyes but his." . . . William Francis Powell, Laurel, Miss. - "Steam Kid can change himself or anyone else into steam." . . . Glen Quasny, West Covina, Calif. - "The Human Sponge can soak up whole oceans into his body, or emit water from the pores of his skin."
 
R. McNeill, Kingston, Jamaica - "Attracto-Lad has the power to attract or repel any form of energy or matter. He has one weakness, though - he can't attract girls." . . . Paul Vranish, Crosby, Minn. - "Water Lad can change into any form of water: rain, snow, fog, sleet, steam or smog." . . . Byron Holt - "Cyclotron Kid can split into atoms, changing matter to energy." . . . Patricia Stevens, Paris, France - "Tree Girl can change into a human tree." (Thanks to Pat for the chic costume sketches she included - but what else would you expect from Paris, the World Fashion Capital? -Ed.)
 
Keith Okita, Aiea, Hawaii - "Mechanical Maid can turn into any mechanical apparatus by altering the atomic structure of her body." . . . Leon Smith, Greensboro, N.C. - "Diamond Duke is invulnerable, able to cut steel with his fingernails, has diamond strength, and can change carbon into diamond." . . . Bruce Carter, Montgomery, Ala. - "Time Lad can stop time for everyone but himself - once every 48 hours." . . . Mike Hill, Orillia, Ont., Canada - "Kayo Kid can render anyone or any creature unconscious for any desired length of time with no harmful after-effects."
 
Alan Mandelbaum and Russell Weis, Oceanside, N.Y. - "Thin Girl can make herself as thin as a piece of thread." . . . Rick Rampone, Elkhart, Ind. - "Lie-Detector Lad has the power of making anybody within 25 feet of him tell the truth." . . . Stephen Phillips, New York, N.Y. - "Dee-zeez can give foes any illness, but is herself immune to all diseases." . . . Brian T. Strom, Northfield, Minn. - "Whirl Wizard's power is to shoot out whirling rays from his eyes. They cause enemies to whirl uncontrollably till they get dizzy."
 
Hugh Simons, Chicago, Ill. - "Miss Break-Mass can break inanimate objects into atoms. She can also beak her body into parts, each one of which has an individual power." . . . Paul Remley, Ann Arbor, Mich. - "Gas Lad can breath in any gas and breath it out in another form. For instance, he could inhale helium and exhale oxygen." . . . "Jay Sabatucci, Arlington, Tex. - "Reflexo Lad; when he's hit, his arms automatically shoot out and sock his opponent by reflex action." . . . John Kimsey, Indianapolis, Ind. - "Suspense Spence can suspend anything in space or time."

[2009 note: powers of Infectious Lass]
 

Adventure Comics 354, March 1967
Dear Editor:
 
Lately, much attention has been given to Jeff Greenberg for his creation of Color Kid, now a member of the Legion of Substitute Heroes. It is my sad duty to inform you that he did not create Color Kid. In issue No. 311, Leslie Leibow, of Fairlawn, N.J., sent in Color Kid as a Bit of Legionnaire Business. When will you give credit where credit is due?
 
-Elizabeth Kane, East Meadow, N.Y.
 
(We already have, Liz - by crediting the first fan to send the idea in. Jeff's Bit of Business appeared in No. 309. And speaking of Jeff, read the next letter. -Ed.)
 
Dear Editor:
 
Thank you! Thank you! I am so proud! You have made Color Kid one of your most vivid and exciting new characters. Even though he is only a Substitute Legionnaire, he was the hero of "The Forgotten Legion" (which was one of your best stories in months). And why am I so proud? Because he's my character - I created him in your Bits of Legionnaire Business column. Well, I've made my contribution!
 
-Jeff Greenberg, Los Angeles, Calif.
 
(You sure have, Jeff! We fell your boy adds a great deal of color to the Substitute Legion - so there's no telling when he'll pop up next. -Ed.)
 
 
Adventure Comics 358, July 1967
Dear Editor: In No. 346, you told who submitted Weight Wizard and Blockade Boy, who appeared in "The Super-Stalag of Space". But you overlooked the originators of two other heroes. A check with "Bits of Legionnaire Business" in No. 340 shows that Plant Lad was dreamed up by Mike Young of Yakima, Wash., and Shadow Kid sprang from the mind of Dennis Coughlin, Palo Alto, Calif. How about giving them credit?
 
-Charles Foley, Corinth, Miss.
 
(We're glad to correct our oversight, Charlie. And if we ever use Shadow Kid - the only one of the four who survived the Stalag - we'll give Dennis a bonus credit. -Ed.)
 

Getting caught up

Between being away and being sick, I've slacked off here. I'll try to get caught up. In the meantime, here's a new newsy bit from Dan Didio's Q&A on Newsarama.

1) Emerson_Nickerson wrote:
Dan:

How big of foreshadowing are Cosmic Boys thoughts in Superman: Secret Origin #2 in relationship to the 2010 Superman event?

DiDio: It does have some slight foreshadowing for the upcoming Superman storyline. And I would be misleading if I said that the Legion did not play into that story in some way, shape or form.

I've got a whole bunch of Bits of Legionnaire Business to cover (plus the last part of the original Adventure letter columns), some trivia answers to give, and some new questions to put forth.

But here's a question, I need a new tag for all of the Legion's new stories in Adventure Comics and in the Superman stories in the post-Lightning Saga, post-Legion of 3 Worlds, Johns-reboot timeline. Got any suggestions? Retro-boot, De-boot, Un-boot?