The main communication device of the Legion of Super-Heroes
I wish I knew how Rob does it, but he's got another name for us. Comics Continuum reports today that April Winchell will be the voice actor portraying UP President Winema Wazzo.
Winchell (IMDB, MySpace, official site, Yahoo group) is an accomplished voiceover actor, from "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" to "Lilo and Stich" and pretty much all points in between. She's got a show on Sirius Radio and does lots of commercial work.
I hope everyone had the chance to see the JLU episode "Far From Home" tonight. Given how long it's been since it was promised, I think it was worth the wait.
When the episode was originally aired in the UK back in February, copies leaked online and it could be downloaded via BitTorrent or some other program. But that was the "full screen" version, not the widescreen version. And let me tell you, it looks much better on a 52 inch widescreen HDTV than it does on a 17 inch monitor.
Screencaps from the original full-screen version can be found starting here.
In the opening scene, by the way, Brainy and Chuck are walking through the Hall of Heroes. The statues appear to be maybe Chemical King or Matter-Eater Lad and Element Lad (based on their hair styles, can't see much of the costumes) and an unidentified female on the right, but definitely Chameleon Boy at the far end on the left, Cosmic Boy next to him, then Saturn Girl, and then two (?!) statues that both look like Ferro Lad. Obviously not the Hall of DEAD Heroes, as "elscoob" rightly pointed out in the original analysis.
It's too bad, this would have been a great back-door pilot for the new series. Hopefully Tucker and company can top it.
This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but with a flash of white. It's become a Legion tradition of sorts.
So long, Mon-el and the post-Crisis pre-Mordruverse Legion.
Looks like Cartoon Network is finally going to air the JLU episode "Far From Home" this weekend (Saturday night at 10:30 EDT/PDT, 9:30 CDT/MDT, to be exact). It aired last weekend in Canada and in February in the UK.
If you haven't seen it yet and want to get a sneak preview of the show, I screencapped it back in February after it aired in England.
The official description:
Supergirl, Green Lantern and Green Arrow travel into the future where they meet the Legion of Super Heroes and their enemies The Fatal Five.
Well the news hit the blogosphere in a trickle and it's now a flood. Lots of people at sites all over the web are talking about the Superboy lawsuit, and as Tom Spurgeon said, "A story like this is newswire crack".
Note: some of these links may contain spoilers to Infinite Crisis 6, so proceed at your own risk.
First, read the Variety article that "broke" the news, or at least, started this week's worldwide interest.
In a nutshell, a judge upheld a ruling that said the heirs of Jerry Siegel own the rights to Superboy (young Clark Kent in the super-suit). Siegel won the rights back in a 1947 trial and sold the rights to National (DC) in 1948. According to then-current copyright law, the rights were to revert 28 years later (1976), but in 1976 Congress updated the laws for another 28 years (which would be 2004) and gave the rights holders the opportunity to get them back at the end of the 56 years. That's what the Siegels did in 2004, and the judge ruled that since DC bought the rights in 1948, that very fact acknowledged that the Superboy rights belonged to the Siegels. It's likely that the Siegels and DC/Time Warner will come to some agreement at some point, but who knows when and what the details might be. Until then, the appearance of Superboy for the forseeable future is unclear.
So what about Superboy and the Legion, in the comics and on TV? Warner Brothers animation is proceeding with the animated series, which at this point still includes Superboy. Who knows if he'll stay in or be written out. The fact that the series is continuing in production suggests that no one is willing to pull the plug on it before it airs.
But there’s a question I have about how this all affects me personally.
Because it’s all about me, you see.
What I want to know is, what effect does this have on the publishing rights to pre-existing Superboy-related material, such as the Legion of Super-Heroes Archives series that I’ve only recently started collecting in the last year or two and currently only own the first 3 volumes of (with the fourth on the way thanks to eBay)? If this decision stands, and the Siegels don’t cut some sort of licensing deal with the Time-Warner suits, will these, and anything else that happens to reprint a Superboy appearance, have to go out of print? Because that would make me rather unhappy.
They (LOSH/WBA) aren't in developement. They are well into production. Changing Superboy into Supergirl would be disasterously expensive. No, check that - impossible. I could see the whole shebang shut down before spending truckloads of cash on 'fixing' multiple episodes, some of which have to have shipped if it's going to hit KidsWB and/or Cartoon Network in the fall.
It's of some note that this story has ben kept exceedingly quiet, unlike other, less meritorious claims for copyright by older comics creators. It's widely believed that negotiations have ben ongoing between the Siegel heirs and DC Comics execs who have been supportive of Superman creators Siegel and Joe Shuster in the past.
[Judge] Lew made it clear that, in his opinion, the television program "Smallville" (since that date) is infringing upon the copyright of the Siegels. However, Lew did not make a ruling on the "Smallville" issue, leaving it to be determined at a copyright infringement trial. The "Smallville" claim will go towards one simple decision - is "Smallville" a TV show about Superboy, or is it a show about a young Clark Kent?
The story has already moved through some of the usual suspects, and hit newspapers closer to the International Dateline than the U.S. is:- Comic Book Resources
- ICv2.com
- Malaysia Star
- Newsarama
- TCJ.com
- ToonZone
That should go up to three figures by lunchtime. A story like this is newswire crack.
Comics historian and writer Mark Evanier has written a few concises posts about the heirs to Jerry Siegel having their claim to Superboy being upheld, and the potential that they may be due monies from the Smallville TV show. Start here, then read here and then go here. It's interesting reading because Mark writes with a lot of clarity and certainly has big-time comics-history chops, and as you'll see he still has to be careful how he characterizes certain elements of the historical development of the case. It's that weird.
According to TAG Blog ("The thoughts and observations of the leaders of The Animation Guild (TAG), Local 839 IATSE"), the Warner Brothers Animation building - a "cavernous building at the Sherman Oaks Galleria" - is bustling with activity these days:
UPDATE: What WBA is doing now:
"Shaggy and Scooby Doo Get A Clue" 13 1/2-hours
"Legion of Super Heroes" 13 1/2-hours
"The Batman" 13 1/2-hours
"Loonatics" 13 1/2-hours
Also two "Scooby Doo" DVDs, because there can never be enough Scoobies.
As can be read at various locations, a potentially troublesome issue for the Legion show has popped up in the last few weeks. A Los Angeles federal judge granted summary judgement in March saying that Joanne Siegel and Laura Siegel Larson (Jerry Siegel's widow and daughter) regained the rights to the Superboy character retroactive to Nov. 17, 2004. According to SciFiWire, quoting a Variety article:
The ruling now throws into question the ownership of Smallville episodes that have run since that date. The judge denied a request by the defendants—Time Warner, Warner Brothers and DC Comics—for a ruling that Smallville did not infringe on the Superboy copyrights. Warner Brothers said in response that it "respectfully disagrees" with the rulings and will pursue an appeal, the trade paper said.
Still to be resolved is the question of whether Smallville—now in its fifth season—is actually infringing on the Superboy copyright. No trial date has been set in the suit, which was filed in 2004, the trade paper reported.
Still to be resolved is the question of whether "Smallville" -- now in its fifth season and centered on a teenage Clark Kent -- is actually infringing on the Superboy copyright. No trial date has been set in the suit, filed in 2004.
In their request for partial summary judgment, Siegel and Larson didn't ask for a copyright infringement ruling, which Lew said would require a "detailed factual comparison." But he noted, "Enough facts are presented, where this court, contrary to defendants' request, could find that the main character in 'Smallville' is in fact Superboy."
Lew also added in a footnote, "In the Superboy comic strip, a billboard on the side of a rural country road announces, 'Welcome to Smallville! Home of Superboy."
In response, Warner Bros. also pointed out that the suit is directed solely to rights relating to the costumed character Superboy -- not Superman. "Moreover, the court's ruling does not affect the television series 'Smallville,' which is grounded in depictions of a young Superman that pre-date the publication of Superboy in 1944 and which therefore are not subject to the termination notice, even if valid," Warner added.
Marc Toberoff, who represents Siegel and Larson, told Daily Variety that the only representations of a younger Superman which pre-date 1944 Superboy consist of one or two panels showing Superman as a baby or toddler. "Jerry Siegel's Superboy focuses on Superboy's relationship with his parents and his adventures with school classmates in a small town which, by Superboy No. 2, was named Smallville," he added.
In purchasing Superboy from Siegel and Shuster, DC acknowledged that Jerry and Joe were the rightful owners. Judge Lew is now saying, in effect, "That matter was settled long ago." Time-Warner, as DC's current owner, cannot now go in and argue that Siegel and Shuster never owned the copyright.
Comics Continuum reports that President Winema Wazzo will appear on the Legion show. That pretty much confirms that Phantom Girl will be on the show as well, if not one of the core team then one of the regular recurring characters. The fact that Cosmic Boy and Triplicate Girl will be recurring (and not regulars) suggests that the Legion show might be modeled after the JLU cartoon, with a core group and lots of others who appear from time to time. That's how you'd handle a Legion, after all.
No, this isn't a delayed April Fool's joke, it's an open invitation.
The legendary Legion of Super-Gamblers! Blackjack Boy! Pai-Gow Poker King! Roulette Lass! One-Armed Bandit Boy! King Queen! (Or Queen King under the influence of Grandian Gender-Reversal Germs.) And their headquarters, the Black Pyramid (with its bright LSG beacon on top, which can be seen thousands of miles out in space)! Bring out the Planetary Chance Machine, pay homage to the Luck Lords, and book that trip to the planet Ventura....
Actually, it's a bunch of comics fans who happen to have at least a passing knowledge of the Legion, and one weekend a year we travel from all over the country to Las Vegas. No hidden agendas, nothing you're required to do (except show up and have fun, either with us or on your own as much as you want). There's a core group of us that goes every year, usually around 8-10 of us, with a half dozen or so who have joined us at one time or another over the years. This will be our 10th annual trip - thus LSGX - with participants from Houston, NYC, Phoenix, Kansas City, Seattle, Philadelphia, and more.
Note - Very few of us are actually Super-Gamblers, though from time to time we do come out ahead. It just sounded good.
Typically we fly in on a Thursday afternoon and leave Sunday afternoon or evening, though due to work considerations some don't show up until Friday night and some stay over until Monday morning. This year it's the weekend of Thursday June 15 through Sunday June 18. We'll try to see a show one night, have a fancy dinner one night, and casino hop the rest of the time, chasing our money up and down the Strip.
If anyone's interested in possibly going, or just want more information, send me an email (it's in my profile) or leave a comment. Here are some photos and trip reports from our early missions.
I first wrote about the various versions of the Legion back in November. I wanted to try to re-organize my thoughts on the reboots in preparation for some upcoming blog entries, and in the wake of Infinite Crisis (both the Secret Files story and the last couple issues of the miniseries), I'm sure I'll have more to say. For consistency's sake, I've labeled them like computer software versions since we're all familiar with that, but nobody else uses these labels (yet).
(For a vastly bigger look at the different versions of the Legion, Don Sakers has cataloged every variation of the Legion, from Ferro Lad II to Bruce "Superman" Wayne, over at the Alternate Versions page. Bet you didn't remember all of them!)
LSH v1.0, 1958-1986 The original series up through the Crisis. Superboy, Supergirl, yada yada yada. (Don's A.0.00 to A.0.30)
LSH v1.1, 1986-1990 In the wake of the original Crisis, Superman was rebooted, which retconned Superboy out. The easy way out was to just ignore Superboy in current continuity, but that got messy when the Legion (who knew Superboy) met the new Superman (who was never a Superboy), so they invented the Pocket Universe. That allowed them to keep *a* Superboy (but didn't explain how the Legion met Superman, since the PU Superboy died shortly thereafter). Still, it wasn't TOO messy, as long as you didn't think about it much. Then Giffen and the Bierbaums came along and jumped us Five Years Later into a dystopian future. Since the majority of the backstory wasn't retconned away, this gets a "point" upgrade from 1.0 to 1.1. (Don's A.2.50)
LSH v2.0a (alpha), 1990 Very early in the series, a battle with the Time Trapper caused a brief reboot into the "Mordruverse", which showed what happened when Mordru ruled the universe. That story ended with the Mordruverse rebooting. This was only a single issue. Because that timeline was unstable, this version that totally reworked the Legion was scrapped in the "alpha" phase and wasn't allowed to continue. (Don's A.2.60)
LSH v1.2, 1990-1994 After the Mordruverse rebooted, the DCU Legion went back to the most recent version (v1.1) some changes were made ("it's not a bug, it's a feature!") - there were never a Superboy or Supergirl, instead there was Valor (formerly Mon-el) and Andromeda, who were retconned in place of the Kryptonian duo. Still, it was mostly the old continuity and characters. Along the way, a group of "kid Legionnaires" called the SW6 Batch showed up. This timeline ended with Zero Hour. (Don's A.2.70)
LSH v3.0, 1994-2004 Post-Zero Hour, the Legion was rebooted with a new continuity that started from scratch, although it had parallels with the old series. You didn't have to have read the original stuff, but it helped. In a sense, the old version was discontinued and the Legion was rewritten from the ground up with a new user interface. As time went on, it diverged more and more. It started with a happy and light future, led by Roger Stern, Tom Peyer, and Mark Waid, and then took a drastic turn to darkness once Abnett and Lanning came on. They killed some characters and introduced new ones. This series ended as the Legion was lost in space due to a battle with the Fatal Five (Hundred) along side the Teen Titans in the Titans/Legion Special. Since LSH v2.0 never left the alpha stage, and since this version did not build off of v2.0a, I gave this the v3.0 designation. (Don's B.2.20)
LSH v4.0, 2005-present Probably due to sales and an impression of a complicated user interface, the Legion was rebooted again (or the "threeboot" as some are calling it), with Waid and Kitson. Again, it starts from scratch and has some characters the same as the old series, and you don't need to have read the old series in order to understand the new one. The ideas and concepts are similar, and this version tries to do the same sort of stuff as the older versions, but with a different user interface written by a trusted name. With but each reboot (or version number increase), whatever is the current version of the Legion moves further and further away from previous versions.
Not new voices this time, but Comics Continuum has a brief mention of two new recurring characters on the Legion show.
Although they aren't series regulars, both Cosmic Boy and Triplicate Girl will appear in the upcoming Legin of Super Heroes animated series.
Seeing Interlac in a strange place this morning forced me to gather up all the semi-related links I've been saving and give them to you here.
Interlac - from the Latin "inter" (meaning "between") and "lac" (meaning "the pages of the Legion book where you'll find the language") - was the standard language of the 30th century, spoken by everyone and the universal language output from the translators. In the 1980's someone on the Legion creative team came up with a substitution code for the English alphabet, and then we saw it on billboards, taxis, costumes (Element Lad's), and even word balloons when a 30th century character was talking to someone who didn't speak Interlac.
Soon a page was published in one of the Legion issues (a secret decoder ring, of sorts) with the English/Interlac letter translations, a copy of which appears here on one of John Censullo's Outpost II pages.
A guy on CompuServe's old Comics and Animation Forum (GO COMICS), a prolific letterhack named Kashif "Blue Panther" Husain, created the first (that I know of) Interlac computer fonts, which I downloaded and with his permission, reposted on my web site. (An aside - the files are zipped, which I had to do when my first ISP wouldn't host a file with a strange extension, plus with blazingly fast 14.4 modems, you needed to compress everything!).
And then what do you know - the guy turns up last month and has a Blogger account. Go to his page to read Blue Panther's official story of the creation of the interlac font, complete with a link to his mid-90's Compuserve page. He's got another site that contains the TrueType Solid and Hollow and the PostScript Hollow fonts for all your fonty goodness.
So why bring this up now? Well, turns out someone at Marvel downloaded the font at some point and it showed up in a Spider-Man PSA story from 1990, as revealed here at Polite Dissent.
But just so nobody thinks I forgot, Interlac is also the name of one of the original (and still going) Legion "apa" zines, dating to 1976. The history of Interlac is, in a way, the history of organized Legion fandom itself.
I meant to post this one last week but forgot. I didn't find Fanboy Rampage!!! until literally a day or two before it ended, but I'm guessing it might have gone something like this: how does a discussion on Legion concept art devolve into a "Ho'od Win: Goku or Superman?" argument?
The Superman Homepage showed a picture of the Legion concept art (which CBR then reported on as if SHP was the originator, when it premiered on LegionWorld.net and this blog a month ago), which led to some interesting discussion.
"I think it's going to be very much like TT. That doesn't bother me, but the rumor was we were getting a Superman cartoon...a la The Batman. I hope this is not what the rumor mill meant. I know a lot of folks are wierded out by the design, but I don't think it looks bad. I've seen these pictures for a while, and it was glaring not to see a b.t. design, but *shrugs* things change."
"That's not Superboy... look the costume is wrong... the \S/ is different... the spit curl is up-side-down, the belt buckle is wrong... hehehehehe... just kidding... anything with Supes in it is... TOTALLY COOL!!!"
"Oh holy god, spare me, just spare me! The only thing this show has going for it is that it has Silver-Age Superboy in it, but knowing the TT tradition, they'll screw it all up with their bogus animation, idiot plots and comedic atmosphere. Here's hoping they screw up royally with this show, and chase Bruce Timm down the road, begging him to return and make a thousand more episodes of JLU."
"Awwwww, Come On, as long as Dragon Ball Z is on Cartoon Network the world is in good shape! Maybe this new show will be okay.... remember... those are just early sketches."
"lol whatchel, if you have ever watched DBZ you would have to admit that Goku is a lot like Superman. Just a little difference in hair styles. lol"
"Being superpowered doesnt make you the equal to Superman. Superman would basically make Goku his Robin. He'd strap a bad costume on him, beat him down ten times over, and be home for dinner before Goku even realized what just happened."
"Goku is not only superpowered, but he ...like superman.... stands for what is right and does everything he can do to stop evil. LOL Terminal..... Goku would ask superman to be his sidekick but he knows that superman would just get in the way..... Goku is in the Big Leauges lol"
"Well, I don't want to spend seventeen pages being a geek and debating who can fight whom, but when Goku fights gods, and angels from heaven and wins like Superman has, then come talk to me."
"And GOku has to train and hone his powers, Superman has powers naturally. While Goku is doing his super sumo saiyan chant, Superman will make a stool out of him. But hey, it's all about opinions."
Update 4/3: Thanks to Warren's crew, on April 2nd I had my highest single-day hit total (430). Over 49% of the traffic to this site on April 1st and 2nd came off that one link. Hopefully some of them will stay.
Update: April Fool's!
Every link in here is legitimate, though.
Here's a huge list of April Fools hoaxes perpetrated today, from Google Romance to Slashdot's "OMG Ponies" theme to http://wideurl.com/.
Scott at Legion Clubhouse worked with me on our co-hoax, but thehutch at Monitor Duty was a lucky coincidence.
I made Warren Ellis' "Link of the Day" list. No doubt if Mark Waid, Jessica Alba, or Harvey Fierstein had blogs, I'd be in their lists too.
(Now, I wonder how my hit rate will change now that I have "Jessica Alba" as a search term?)
There will be a 90-minute movie (essentially the first three episodes shown all at once, like they did with Superman and Justice League's pilots) which will be shown in late 2006, but the series itself won't launch until early 2007.
Warren did an episode of Justice League for us and at the time he expressed an interest in writing other scripts in the future (no pun intended!), so we were able to convince him to contribute to the Legion series.Jessica Alba (IMDB, Wikipedia), as Phantom Girl
Jessica is a big fan of the Legion, and when she heard the rumors last year during the Fantastic Four publicity tours that a Legion series was in the works, she had her representatives contact us to see if she could do a voice on the series. We're trying to work out a recording schedule that fits her filming schedule, so you may see several Phantom Girl-less episodes and then a bunch where she's in it. We're really excited to have a big name like her on board.
This is going to shock a lot of people, but Mark Waid has a really good actor's voice. He practically begged for an audition and on a lark we let him, primarily because he's the writer of the current series and a long-time fan himself. He told us he has been trying to get Bouncing Boy into the comic book and if he couldn't give a voice to Chuck in print, he wanted to try to do it on the small screen. His readings blew us away, they captured what we wanted to hear (and see) in Bouncing Boy.
Most people won't remember the Legends of the Super-Heroes show from 1979, but someone on the staff did. That was a show in the 1960's Batman show style, a two-parter called "Challenge of the Super-Heroes" and then a "Roast" show. Well, for some reason, Mordru was one of the villains on that series, and we were able to track down Gabe Dell who portrayed Mordru to see if he wanted to reprise his role on our new series. Dell was an actor in the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 30's and 40's, and while he's in his late 80's and mostly retired, he still has what it takes to be a voice actor. We're proud to have him on board.
We wanted to camp up this character and bring him into the 21st century (or should that be 31st?). He's going to come out of the closet. When you see this great big man in leather and chains, we thought that Harvey would do him justice.
Lirpa's agent got him an audition, and we're pretty happy with the results. He's new to this country, but in his home country of Freedonia, he's a minor celebrity. He does voiceover work for animated shows in his native tongue and he's good with vocal sound effects. Fortunately Validus doesn't speak English, but Lirpa is great with the growls. If you close your eyes and think of how Validus would sound, this is it.
Yeah, it's tax day, but April 15, 2006 is also Legion of Super-Heroes Day (not to be confused with Klordny week). That's when the long-awaited episode of Justice League Unlimited is scheduled to be aired on Cartoon Network (at least, that's the day Comics Continuum says it'll be on - blame them if it's not!). Who knows if we'll actually see it then or not. Heck, we may see the Legion's series with Superboy before we see this episode with Supergirl!
Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #16 is sold out, and DC is issuing a second printing. The new cover is a pencils-on-white version of the regular, first printing cover.
| First Printing | Second Printing |
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Kara Zor-El’s reintroduction into the Legion’s world is handled with exactly the right measures of shock and awe, and a healthy dose of dramatic irony for the audience to enjoy. From the very moment that famous "S" appears, to the startling panel in which Kara makes her first full-out appearance, you can almost hear the Superman theme playing in your head. That’s how much of a sense of moment writer Mark Waid has invested into this story. And as for the second, and far more important, revelation that this issue has on offer, whoo boy. It’s most certainly not a plot twist that you’ll see coming, and if this title weren’t already worth reading, then finding out the answer to that little mystery would make it so.
I don't know how he does it, but Comics Continuum has provided yet another name for the upcoming Legion series staff: story editor Rob Hoegee.
Rob (IMDB) has been a writer and/or story editor on several episodes of the Teen Titans show, and wrote an episode of Jackie Chan Adventures.
Hoegee joins James Tucker (show runner, head designer), Kelly Ward (voice director), Norm Ryang (backgrounds, props), and Eric Canete (backgrounds) on staff.
Apparently, the Nine Planets Ice Cream Parlor is a hot tourist attraction in the 30th Century:
Updated 3/24: Added reviews from Comic Book Revolution, The Comics Fan, and The Incredible Super-Blog
Updated 3/26: Added review from Graeme McMillan, Comics Fairplay, Red X, SilverBulletComics, Jeffrey Bridges
new reviews added at the bottom
Since the announcement that the Maid of Might would be added to both the roster and the title, most fans have been wondering how Kara Zor-El, the current Supergirl appearing in both her own title, set in the 21st Century, and Legion, set in the 31st. A number of people have assumed that she would be timesharing between centuries, as the Pre-Crisis Kara did with the Pre-Crisis Legion. There has been much hueing and crying from some corners that this is a shameless exploitation and overmarketing of the character, whom very few people seem to like, anyway.
It should go without saying that I think these people are morons.
Consider: The hype on this series coming out of DC is that exactly how Supergirl can be in two centuries at once is the big mystery. And when has it ever been that the most obvious solution to a mystery was, in fact, the solution? Hell, when was the last time Mark Waid *didn't* juke us one way while setting up the real answer to be completely different?
I've had a sneaking suspicion that the Legion Supergirl not only wouldn't be Kara Zor-El doing the timeshare but, she wouldn't be Kara at all. And, having read this issue, I think my suspicion is confirmed.
Supergirl's appearance as co-title of Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes looks like it might be fun. I'm glad to have Mark Waid back on scripts - last issue was a fill-in writer, and I didn't like it much - and Barry Kitson's back on pencils. Happy days.
Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes was horrible. If you're considering picking that up, I would recommend that you don't do it, it's not worth it.
Waid and Kitson offer up a fairly solid issue of this ongoing series and given the new title and addition of a key character to the case, the script wisely gets back to the generation-gap premise behind this incarnation of the Legion while incorporating the team's new legitimate status. There are a couple of strong scenes that hold the promise of greater conflicts to come, but it felt as though too much time and energy was devoted to the buildup of Supergirl's arrival. This isn't the first of the "One Year Later" titles to spend an entire issue leading up to a point that's plain to see on the cover of the comic book itself. I certainly hope it's the last.
The Legion is being shoved back in the shadow of yet another Superbrat. This time one even more annoying than Superboy. Yup, Supergirl. Gross. I am totally disgusted that such a pathetic excuse for a character is going to take over the title from the oldest teen super team in the history of comics. The Legion has a glorious and storied history (despite DC’s best efforts to destroy it) and deserves better than to be made an after thought to a re-tread Supergirl. I think this is a huge mistake by DC and one that may cost them many long standing readers like me. And, I don’t see where this move will bring in any new readers. Sorry, I must have missed the memo where this annoying new Supergirl suddenly became the hottest thing in comics.
But out of curiosity, I picked up this week’s issue, which sees the title evolve into “Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes.” Superboy was an integral part of the team when I was introduced to the Legion, so it’s nice to see a Super-somebody back with the team. And Supergirl’s perplexing disclosure at the end of the issue will keep me on board, at least for now.
...But what they do have is the best appearance of the Jeph Loeb Supergirl to date. She doesn't come off as irritating or ditzy like she does in Superman/Batman, she keeps her clothes on unlike her own book, and her costume even fits in with the Legionnaires'. It took Mark Waid and Barry Kitson to do it, but I may actually end up enjoying stories with her.
Like Birds of Prey last week, this is pretty much the same book as it was prior to (One Thousand and) One Year(s) Later, and as a result, it’s the non-Supergirl aspects of the book that are more interesting – the political status of the Legion, the somewhat bratty attitude of the main characters, and just how much society doesn’t like them. I’m hoping that Supergirl doesn’t overwhelm what made those aspects, and what made the first year of this book work so well for me (Waid’s humor, and the done-in-one pacing that also moved larger plots forward simulataneously), but given that the title of the book has been changed, I’m not sure if I’m that hopeful. This issue was Good, but the series has been much stronger than this.
Insubordination and rebellion are still the mainstays here. Though given credibility by the UP, the kids are still alright. What Supergirl's presence will add is beyond me, but it is a fascinating concept. Grade: C+.
I am familiar, however, with the Girl of Steel who does appear in the book. She doesn't appear until nearly the end of it, which I like. This is also supposed to be a 3-part saga, with the book itself getting a change from what it used to be called. I liked how it was labeled on the front of the cover as 1,001 Years Later, confirming it's continuity along with the other 1 Year Later DC books. Supergirl, who is revealed to be the current Kara Zor-El, admits to one of the members that the Legion doesn't exist, and that her appearance in their Century is simply due to the fact that she's dreaming it all. Quite a jawdropper when I first read it. I'm eager to see how it turns out, and eager to eventually pick up Supergirl #6 and Teen Titans #34.
I've been a long time Legion fan. I followed both the pre-Crisis Legion and the original post-Crisis Legion. I followed Legion reboot numbers one and two. The third reboot felt like one reboot too many, and needless to say I haven't had any interest in the fourth reboot, represented by the fifteen issues prior to this one. What changed my determination to ignore the latest reboot to hesitant curiosity? One name. Supergirl.
The plot, not involving Supergirl, with nods to Isaac Asimov's Caves of Steel helps establish the rebooted Legioinnaires as representatives of the United Planets. They abuse their new powers, but they also do good. Honestly though, I could not have cared less. I'm in this latest reboot for Supergirl.
Story - 5: Well, now I have another book to buy every month. If this wasn't one of the most fun comics I've read in years, I don't know what is.
A whole lot happens in this issue, the first "1001 Years Later" story after Infinite Crisis. And yet amidst all of that there's time for development of one of the characters. Not only that, but the entire world Legion interacts in is incredibly fresh, imaginative, interesting and compelling.
Friends, do yourself a favor and pick up this book.
If you want to read it solely for the Supergirl factor, the jury's still out on exactly how big of a role she'll be playing in this book. Only Mark Waid and DC know that for sure.
But I have absolutely NO trouble giving this book a high recommendation and telling you that you'd do well to add it to your pull list. If future issues are as good as this one (and the first six in the TPB I read), this is an absolute can't-miss book. I've got something new and exciting to look forward to each month and it's even got Supergirl in it, to boot.
I have to tell you though, at this stage, she's just icing on the cake. I'd buy this book with her involvement or no.
By the way... WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING READING THIS?
Go out and buy a copy of this book. No, really. Go. I'll wait.
{twiddles thumbs}
Honestly.
{hums theme from "Superman: The Movie"}
The Homepage will still be here when you get back!
{reads the Legion TPB again}
GO GET IT. NOW! You can thank me later.*
{goes off to get some popcorn}
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