Animated LSH episode 1 update

Update 8/6: assuming the anonymous commenter below is correct, the information posted to the Wikipedia's episode list page is incorrect. I've update that page with the information from that comment (and I hope this one is right!).

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The Legion show has two Wikipedia pages: one for the series itself, and one with a listing of the episodes (with title, description, writer, and director).

Someone with apparently pretty good knowledge somewhat of an idea of the series updated the episode list page today to update the info for episode 1. (Note that some of it was apparently wrong at the time, since corrected per the first comment below.)

The name of the episode is "Man of Tomorrow", written by series creator James Tucker and Matt Wayne Amy Wolfram, and directed by Tucker and Ben Jones. The episode description (from the Superman Homepage) is:

When fearsome villains the Fatal Five set their sights on the newly formed Legion of Super Heroes, three of the Legion's members go back in time to get help from the greatest hero of all time: Superman. Instead they find Clark Kent, aware of his powers but not yet of his grand destiny.

The episode premieres on Sept. 23, 2006.

Wizard World Chicago '06

A few items from Wizard World Chicago, from the two DC panels.

From the DC Nation panel:

• Newsarama has this item from the "lightning round" of questions:
  

  Giffen on Legion after Waid? Giffen: (whines) No.

From the DC editoral/DC Universe panel:

• CBR reports the following...
  

  Levitz also shot down hopes of a new animated series done in the style created by Bruce Timm for the 1992 "Batman: The Animated Series," last seen in the recently-ended "Justice League Unlimited." Timm is moving on, Levitz said. "I think the biggest challenge is that Bruce feels like he's been there, done that." He has other interests that he would like to explore, though Levitz didn't elaborate or specify.

  
  
• Newsarama adds to the discussion about direct-to-DVD adaptations (the announced ones were Death of Superman, Teen Titans' The Judas Project, and New Frontier):
  

  Levitz said that if the DVDs were successful, there would be a potential for more projects, and challenged fans to make suggestions on what stories they'd like to see in the future. He joked that the many fans who have been suggesting the “Great Darkness Saga” from the Legion of Superheroes series "because Keith Giffen has been giving you $5 bills: We've heard you."

  
  
• You may recall that the Legions of Gotham site said that the Legion's Johnny DC comic (for kids, based on the animated series) is already in work. This came up at the panel.
  
  CBR:
  

  Regarding a possible Johnny DC "Legion of Super Heroes" comic, DiDio thinks "there's a really good chance of that."

  
  Newsarama:
  

  Will there be a Johnny DC Legion comic based on the new cartoon? Or an All-Star Legion? Didio: "I think there's a really good chance of that."

  
  But an All-Star Legion? Just what we need, yet another continuity to keep track of!
  

Holy crap, time for Chicago already?

And just like that, it's time for the Wizard World Chicago con already this weekend. People still haven't finished writing about the madness that was San Diego yet. There are no specific programs about the Legion, just the two standard DC ones, with the additional bonus of Mr. Silver Age's trivia contest featuring Mark Waid vs a bunch of fans.

Friday, 3:30-4:30 pm:
THE DC NATION TOUR CONTINUES!
Christopher Reeve Theatre
The DC NATION is taking the world by storm, and Dan DiDio, Senior VP-Executive Editor DCU, invites you to be part of the revolution! Discuss surviving a Crisis, living in a world One Year Later and the weekly developments of 52. Rise up and join the NATION!

Saturday, 12:30-1:30 pm:
DCU EDITORIAL PRESENTATION
Christopher Reeve Theatre
Dan DiDio, Senior VP- Executive Editor DCU and Bob Wayne, VP- Sales are joined by Adam Kubert (Superman), Andy Kubert (Batman), Geoff Johns (52, Superman, Teen Titans), Tony Daniel (Teen Titans), and Keith Giffen (52, Blue Beetle) for a peek into what’s coming up in comics’ greatest universe!

Sunday 3:30-4:30pm:
SILVER AGE PRO/FAN TRIVIA CONTEST!
Alex Toth Room
Renowned trivia geek and comics Pro Mark Waid (52, Legion of Super-Heroes, etc.) clashes with four long-time Fan experts to determine who knows more totally useless facts about Silver Age’s super-heroes! Moderated by Craig Shutt, author of Baby Boomer Comics, a collection of his Ask Mr. Silver Age columns for the Comics Buyer’s Guide.

Animated episode descriptions

The Superman Homepage has what appears to be a complete episode list and description of the entire Season One. My comments in italic.

SPOILER WARNING

Episode 1: "MAN OF TOMORROW"
When fearsome villains the Fatal Five set their sights on the newly formed Legion of Super Heroes, three of the Legion's members go back in time to get help from the greatest hero of all time: Superman. Instead they find Clark Kent, aware of his powers but not yet of his grand destiny.

The pilot episode.

Episode 2: "TIMBER WOLF"
A mysterious scientist asks the Legion to help capture a dangerous creature. They succeed, only to discover the creature is nowhere near as dangerous as the scientist himself.

Episode 3: "LEGACY"
Superman unknowingly saves the life of Alexis, one of the wealthiest people in the galaxy. Alexis and Superman become fast friends, but when Superman's Legion responsibilities get in the way of their friendship, Alexis decides to do something about it...

Maybe a Luthor thing. Can you have a Superman series without a Luthor?

Episode 4: "FEAR FACTORY"
During a cosmic storm, the team takes refuge in a creepy, derelict space station. On board, one-by-one, each Legionnaire faces his or her deepest fear -- and then disappears.

Episode 5: "CHAMPIONS"
While supporting Lighting Lad as he competes in the challenging Galactic Games, Superman and Phantom Girl uncover a sinister plot by the Fatal Five! Lightning Lad has troubles of his own when he finds his biggest competition from someone close to him.

Back in June, we learned that "Mekt Ranzz, Lightning Lad's brother, will appear in an episode." This sounds like it, unless it's Ayla here.

Episode 6: "PHANTOMS"
When Superman accidentally opens a gateway to a phantom dimension, a young man with powers identical to his is freed in the process. Now Superman must not only stop this destructive visitor, but also rescue the Legionnaires when they become trapped in the vistor's dimension.

Make way for Mon-el, stuck in the Phantom Zone!

Episode 7: "CHILD'S PLAY"
A young sorcerer arrives on Earth and causes a heap of trouble. In an effort to send him home, Superman learns of his vulnerability to magic, while Phantom Girl puts her diplomatic skills to the test as she travels to the sorcerer's secretive world to ask for help.

A "young sorcerer" could theoretically be Mordru.

Episode 8: "LIGHTING STORM"
Much to the Legion's disappointment, Lighting Lad accepts an invitation to join an older, "cooler" team. Once there, however, Lightning Lad realizes these new heroes aren't exactly what they seem. Now, caught between the Legion and his new friends, Lighting Lad must decide once and for all where his loyalties lie.

Episode 9: "BRAIN DRAIN"
A major malfunction sends Brainiac 5's genius IQ plummeting. To obtain the rare element needed to save him, Superman and Timber Wolf must travel to the most inhospitable planet in the galaxy -- and thanks to a transporter accident, they have only Brainy's head to guide them.

Episode 10: "THE SUBSTITUTES"
It's that time of year again -- Legion Auditions! This year's crop is hardly promising, with most hopefuls turning out to be comic duds. But when the Legion is overwhelmed fighting a mysterious foe in Earth's upper atmosphere, a group of rejects takes it upon themselves to save the world below... with outrageous results.

Holy crap! The Legion of Substitute Heroes! Legion rejects! Please have Arm-Fall-Off Boy.... I have a suspicion we'll see Ferro Lad in this batch - see the season finale for why.

Episode 11: "CHAIN OF COMMAND"
When disaster strikes Lightning Lad's home planet of Winath, the Legion is called to help. Lightning Lad's efforts to take charge are thwarted however when long-absent Legion leader Cosmic Boy arrives with an enigmatic new hero in tow.

At the San Diego panel, we were promised "familial Ranzz", so who's that with Cos here, Ayla?

Episode 12: "SUNDOWN, PT. 1"
The Legion is put to the ultimate test when an ancient weapon known as a Sun Eater comes to life. The Legion mounts a heroic defense, but the Sun Eater proves too powerful. Now at full strength, the unstoppable Sun Eater sets its sights on Earth...

Part one of a two-part episode

Episode 13: "SUNDOWN, PT. 2"
With the Sun Eater on a direct course for Earth's sun, the Legion has no choice but to ask bitter enemies for help to stop it. Superman meanwhile has his toughest battle yet when he discovers the stealthy alien controlling the sinister machine. In the end, the Legion triumphs... but at a terrible cost.

Part two of a two-part episode.

The Legion panel revealed that we'd see "Cosmic Boy for 3 episode arc at the end" so he must be in these two as well. I had figured we would not see the Sun-Eater saga - maybe Computo or Mordru instead - because of Ferro Lad. But what if he joins during tryouts in episode 10?

Post SDCC report 3: Legion Panel

(Earlier: coverage from Titans Tower Monitor, Legion World, and Wizard Universe.)

Comic Book Resources and Comics Continuum are finally catching up on posting full articles on the panels from last week's San Diego Comic Con.

There's not much new that we haven't already covered, but here are a few good quotes from the CBR article:

• From Andy Milder, voice of Lightning Lad: "I grew up reading 'Legion'... I was a big 'Legion' fan. My cat was named Streaky when I was kid."
  
• From story editor Rob Hoegee: "the Legion teaches Clark how to use his power and Clark teaches the Legion how to be heroes... and it's a nice little synergy between this up-and-coming hero who certainly is in a league of his own in the universe and a group of ideological kids who essentially looked up to this person all their lives."
  
• Hoegee again: "Legion fans are the most devout. They're like Cubs fans" and said that longtime fans would like the show, they also stressed, "we're doing this for kids, first and foremost."
  

Comics Continuum has a story on the panel too (via Legion Clubhouse). Superman Homepage picks up some coverage and the readers weigh in there too.

[Quoting Hoegee:] "They decide they need some help in a big way, so Brainiac-5 decides, 'Hey, let's just go back in time and get the greatest super-hero ever.' Only they don't end up in Metropolis Justice League-era. They get there a little too soon and find Clark Kent, who is certainly aware of his power but now quite yet of his grand destiny.

So, after convincing him, 'Pop in the time bubble and we'll bring you back in the past at the exact same moment you left,' he decides, 'Yeah, I think I will go. I think there's something else in this life for me and I want to find out about it.' And he goes to the future."

Yuri Lowenthal, the voice of Superman, enjoys the dynamic between his character and the rest of the Legion:

"The really interesting thing about playing this Superman is that he doesn't know his powers all that well," he said. "He doesn't know what he's supposed to do or was meant to do. They've taken him our of this place where he's still trying to figure out what it all means, whether he should hide it for the rest of his life or really do something important with it."

Rejected!

The Legion is famous for their rejects - some turned out to be pretty good Legionnaires later, some have similar powers as other Legionnaires, some have what we might consider to be useful powers, and some, well, some are just wrong.

Over at the original Legion Clubhouse, Jo and Terri-Anne recount the Adventure-era rejects. Other reject pages include the DCU Guide and Chaim M. Keller's Legion Help File.

Supergirl, Shrinking Violet, Bouncing Boy, and Sun Boy were all rejected on their first go-round. Polar Boy made a career out of being a Reject, co-founding the unfortunately-named (in retrospect) Legion of Substitute Heroes, before finally joining.

The other Subs - Night Girl, Chlorophyll Kid, Fire Lad, Stone Boy, and Color Kid - did pretty well for themselves as well. The guys even made it to the main team for a time during the Five Year Gap (a time of which little is known).

Lester Spiffany, Storm Boy, and Dynamo Kid all tried to cheat their way on to the team.

You'd think that some of them might have useful powers - Color Kid, for example, not only had as useful a power as Princess Projectra, but he could also change the chemical properties of Kryptonite just by changing its color (handy, if you have a Kryptonian on the team). Or Camera Eye, who could project events he's seen, rejected because it's not valid in court (yet someone who merely tells what he's seen is considered an eyewitness and is valid), yet useful as a member of the Espionage Squad. Or Rainbow Girl - she was better than Triplicate Girl, Sun Boy, and Polar Boy put together: she could split into four, each with a separate power of either heat, cold, light, or kryptonite.

Some of them even took it badly and either joined a super-villain team or came at the Legion on their own. Some struck out on their own (Jungle King), some joined the Legion of Super-Villains (Ronn Karr, Radiation Roy, Spider Girl), some formed their own teams like the Legion of Super-Rejects (Micro Lad, Magno Lad, Esper Lass, Calorie Queen, Phantom Lad and Chameleon Kid) and later joined the LSV. One even had villianous intents when applying (Alaktor). Absorbancy Boy tried to strike back as Zoraz. Cera Kesh tried to strike back with an Emerald Eye.

But then there are the ones that everyone fondly looks back on when thinking about Legion rejects. Like Double-Header, who thought that two heads being better than one was a worthwhile power, or Antennae Boy, whose big ears could receive random radio signals (even though both later did join the Subs). Eyeful Ethel had a ring of eyes on all sides of her head. The Mess could attract dirt. Polecat stank. Tusker could grow really long tusks. Calamity King caused accidents. Infectious Lass made people sick. Arm-Fall-Off Boy's power is self-explanatory. Plaid Lad. Porcupine Pete, Accordion King, Barber Boy, Calcu-Lad, Estimate Boy, Fortress Lad, Quake Kid, and X-Bomb Betty.

It's this last list that Dial B For Blog is interested in. They're holding a contest for the greatest Legion reject as created by the fans. Deadline is next Friday, August 4th, 2006.

The whackiest DIAL B FOR BLOG contest ever! To be accepted, you have to be rejected! Your mission: create an applicant for membership in the Legion of Super-Heroes who would be rejected by the LSH! The winner gets to pick the subject of a future Dial B for Blog. (Sorry, but for security reasons, losers will not be getting a Legion flight belt!)

Check out the submissions so far (issue #340). Can you top Matter-Drinking Lad, Princess Projectile, Boring Boy, Kryptonite-Lead-Magic-Red Sun Kid, or Drama Queen?

In the same vein: here's a little humor list: the Top 9 Legion of Substitute Heroes Rejects.

More stuff from SDCC

Also on eBay (of course!), the promo card given away at the Warner Bros. booth, and a postcard that was given out at the Legion panel. Too late to buy it, though.

And in case you didn't see the comment in the post a couple entries down about the Animation Magazine cover, apparently it's a convention exclusive since the regular August issue doesn't have that or even a story.

S/LSH issue 20 reviews

Now that things are settling back down post-SDCC, here are the delayed reviews of issue 20, which came out on the eve of the con.

In no particular order:

• The Golden Lasso gives it a C+.
  

  Unfortunately I still wind up quite concused in regards to a lot of the plot. Earthgov, the United Planets, the Science Police...I don't really understand what these all are or why the Legion (and teenagers in general) are so against them. I guess it's just a case of me needing to track down the trades, but I wish Waid would do a better job of helping new readers understand why the Legion partnering with the UP is a bad thing.

  
  
• Dave van Domelen gives it a recommendation:
  

  While the Brainy subplot continueswith a nice nod to the past, a new arc begins on the main plotline (plus a bit of somewhat hamfisted comedy relief politics on the side). Colossal Boy's origins are finally revealed, and I think Waid is working from one of those "Is your character a Mary Sue?" checklists regarding Supergirl. Which could be hilarious, or could fall completely flat, but it's not really either yet. Recommended.

  
  
• Rokk at the Comic Book Revolution isn't pleased but provides a very thorough and thoughtful analysis:
  

  The teen versus adult plotline rears its tired and boring head again in the beginning of this issue. ... The Dream Girl resurrection storyline is starting to wear out its welcome. ... Waid continues to write stories that further bolster my position that Supergirl makes the rest of the Legion totally superfluous. ... The final scene in this issue was laughable. Seriously, I busted out laughing so hard that I sprayed Café Bustelo all over my computer. ... Supergirl and the Legion of Super Heroes is one of the slowest moving titles that I have read in a long time.
  
  Supergirl and the Legion of Super Heroes #20 is a terribly average issue. Average art and a slow story with some cheesy dialogue at times makes for a read that is rather ordinary. ... I can’t recommend this title to anyone outside of a die-hard Legion fan or a die-hard Supergirl fan.

  
  
• Matthew at the Legion Abstract offers this:
  

  This issue was full of activity, and that's what I like to see. Not a lot of fighting, but still things happening. I also like... hey, I also like about everything. I like how we know the Legionnaires well enough after nineteen issues that the U.P. propaganda could be funny to us, because we know without them having to be there to say so how abhorrent the PR was to them. I like how, for the first time I can remember, Cosmic Boy looks completely out of his depth. I certainly like how someone (turned out to be Element Lad) finally told Brainy that he was wrong for trying to bring back Dream Girl. The only thing that would make this issue better is if it was the culmination of a storyline. Or maybe if it had some suspense--even with everything that's happening, there's no real tension surrounding the Legion at the moment.

  
  
• The Fortress Keeper at the Fortress of Fortitude has this quick review:
  

  Giant rampaging teens. Bizarro Brainiac. Informericals of the future. The coolest Supergirl we’ve seen since ... well, nearly ever. Ho hum, another fine issue.

  
  
• Ray Tate at Silver Bullet Comics isn't as pleased.
  

  The plot in Supergirl & the Legion of Super-Heroes reads something like an old Flintstones cartoon. ... This is not the Legion. This isn't even a bad imitation of the Legion. It's like Mark Waid squandered the money earmarked for personality construction on lapdances. Only one of the Legion displays likeable traits and talks like a normal person that has feelings and intelligence. That Legionnaire is Supergirl, and the irony of this whole thing is that Legion of Super-Heroes is the only place you can find her winning charm.

  
  
• Jeffrey Bridges' Mild Mannered Reviews liked it:
  

  The story is absolutely back on track from last issue, although some of the flow seemed to get mucked up here and there. I don't know if this is from the addition of Tony Bedard, or exactly what input he had on the issue, but in a few places it felt a little off, especially some of the dialogue.
  
  The reason I knocked it down from a 5 to a 4 is because some of the poses seemed odd or just entirely goofy, and I've not noticed that before. I don't know if that was Kitson or someone else, but either way I found it a little distracting at times.

  
  
• The Clandestine Critic says:
  

  It seems like writing 52 is too much for Waid, as Bedard joins him on writing duties. This is in keeping with Kitson, who doesn’t last on solo art duties for more than an issue now it seems, this time providing layouts for DeKraker (who does a good job with his slick superhero work, with a touch of Leonard Kirk softness to it).
  
  The book seems to be building to something, which had better be spectacular, as the instalments aren’t dazzling. I hope its worth it – I shall have to review my decision to buy this if it isn’t.

  
  

Post SDCC report 2: animated reactions

Some more reactions from around the blogosphere to the big Legion panel this weekend at San Diego:

• Johanna - pwn3d?
  

  Thanks to Michael’s coverage of Legion-related bits from San Diego, I’m actively interested again. I can’t believe I’m contemplating buying collectible card game packs just because they feature the characters. (But only if I can get the box as well!) I haven’t been that kind of collector in a while.

  
  Ha! I've converted another one! :)
  
  
• Kalinara of the Pretty Fizzy Paradise calls out "Trepidation Ho!" (which has nothing to do with prostitution).
  

  In general it sounds interesting enough. But one part really makes me pause:
  
  "Brainiac 5 is the biggest departure from his comic book counterpart; Although descended from the evil Brainiac, Brainiac 5 is very much learning what it means to be a real boy. The creators likened him to Pinnoccio."
  
  Um. What?
  
  They're turning Querl Dox into Data?!?!

  
  And later in the comments:
  

  I'm cool with the robot thing. The "Real Boy" thing is what throws me. What's wrong with being a robot that *likes* its superiority to humans?

  
  
• This guy at the Beetle's Nest is already putting in his orders for merchandising tie-ins.
  

  I know it's not a big part of the Legion of Superheroes mythos, certainly not as well known as their Flight Rings, but when the new LSH cartoon comes out and the toys hit the shelves, I hope they make an Omnicom. And I hope it's cool. Let me explain...
  
  Can you imagine how many kids you could rope by selling them a handheld, portable computer for like $30? ... But if I were in the AOLTIMEWARNER/DC marketing department, I would seriously be trying to figure out just how much of a toy computer I could build for under $40. Put a camera on there, give it 64MB of memory so they can store a few MP3's, hire some x86/ARM hacker to code a couple of applications for it, and if you market it just right -- accentuating the fact that the Omnicom is a working computer, and not an educational toy -- you could have the next big thing.

  
  
• Davy is excited:
  

  I've wanted to see it for some time..., but now that I know the release date, know a few details, and have seen a small clip ..., it feels very real, and my anticipation reached that point where I just can't contain it today.
  
  I just can't wait for September 23.

  
  
• Finally, from the Power of Tiga comes this succinct question:
  

  WHAT THE FUCK HAVE THEY DONE TO MY LEGION??????

  
  
  

Mark your calendar for Sept. 23rd

According to Comics Continuum, the Legion show will debut on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2006.

Based on this weekend's Newsarama interview with James Tucker, it sounds as though the name of the show might be "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes". Someone even used that article as a basis to rename the show's page on Wikipedia.

Now, given that (a) the guy who wrote that article is Steve Fritz (no offense, Steve, if you read this!) who has at least twice in the past (see here and here) referred to the show as Supergirl and the Legion even after it was known to be Superboy, and (b) all promotional material - even from this past weekend - still refers to it as simply "Legion of Super-Heroes", I'm not so sure about this alleged renaming. I'll keep referring to it as "Legion" until I hear otherwise officially.

Update: The Wikipedia page was changed back within a couple hours. Apparently I'm not the only one who wants to wait to see if it's official.

Animated Starfinger

Titans Tower Monitor mentioned it from the Legion panel in San Diego, and now it appears that director Ben Jones has added something about it to his site that I don't recall seeing there before.

We've got some great stuff lined up, too. There's a story with Starfinger lined up that I'm really excited about (Taylor Negron is playing Starfinger).

Assuming that's true... I'm sure I'm not the only one whose biggest memory of Negron is him in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. As he says on his web site,

My hot friend Amy Heckerling directed Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and asked me to appear as a favor. It took no more than one day to shoot. I got all the pizza I could eat, and it was a bleep on my professional radar. I am billed in the final credits as "Taylor".

I drive home and appeared in fifty other movies and yet, nearly every day, someone mentions, "Hey, you're the Pizza Man." Once, in England, a skinhead yelled out, "You're the bloke who delivered the pizza to Spicoli!"

Looks like the Pizza Delivery Guy just might be Starfinger too.

Animation Magazine 8/06 cover story

Update 7/27: Scott at the Legion Clubhouse has the issue and a scan of the page. A previous commenter says that this is not the regular cover, it's the special convention-only version, so keep checking eBay.

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I don't know yet if this is the cover to the regular issue or if it's a special San Diego convention-only cover, but the August 2006 Animation Magazine has the Legion on the cover. Here's a link to an eBay auction (not mine) from someone who's selling it for $1.99 plus $5.00 shipping (one left). I'll be getting mine soon and unless anyone else knows before then, I'll scan the relevant info here.



Or, for $18 (at this writing), you can get the magazine plus a whole lot of swag.

Update 7/27: There's a short feature at the back with photos of many of the staffers interacting with the Legionnaires, and a little bit about the show.

Up next is Legion of Super-Heroes, DC's famously complicated sci-fi soap opera. After a very serious tone on Justice League and a kid-friendly take on Teen Titans, Legion finds a middle ground to both keep the strengths of the comic intact while making it work for the target audience of boys ages six-11.

Post SDCC report 1: Perez and Legion panels

Everyone's getting home today and posting their photos and transcribing their notes from the panels they attended. Here's one from Thursday's George Perez panel and two from the Legion panel on Friday. (Also see my original Thursday/Day 1 and Friday/Day 2 posts from over the weekend.)

Titans Tower Monitor reports from the Perez panel that, yes, he wants to draw the Legion (as we've known for a while). But why?

On tackling Legion: George mentioned how he would like to one day do some Legion work, since he has not done any interior art on Legion. He cited Bouncing Boy and Chameleon as his favorites - and the "Legion babes" as well. "Girls in Spandex and mini-skirts. What's not to like?"

Shawn "Timber Wolf" Harrison made it back in one piece. Apparently he wasn't looking very hard because he said "I didn't really see many unusual freaks." Maybe he was distinguishing them from the usual freaks. Interesting comment:

During the panel we, the voice actors, finally got an opportunity to see a clip of our characters animated and I was quite impressed. I know it's going to be freaky to see the animation synced to voice in the near future.

All parties involved seemed very pleased with the progress of the show. We met a lot of people affiliated with the show that we normally don't see when we record. You can tell they're genuinely enthused about Legion which actually got me even more excited about the show. Let's hope the show does well.

Nightwing at the Titans Tower Monitor has a report from the panel (go there for more) along with some pictures.

Tucker and Hoegee described the show; In the 31st century, super-heroes havent been around for awhile, so a group of teenagers gather together and form their own club. And yep, they've got a clubhouse and flight rings, just like in the comics. Stylistically, they described the show as a "middle ground between Teen Titans and Justice League Unlimited."

The show owes a lot to the Silver Age version of the team. When asked why they used old names like "Lightning Lad" instead of "Livewire," James Tucker said simply, "Classic. Old School. It works." And Rob Hoegee talked about capturing the fun and adventure of those comics. Both agreed the original code names worked best for those very reasons.

As for the use of members, the team said it was like casting a TV show; You look for the right mix of characters. But this IS teh Legion - and you will see a bunch of fun cameos in the first season. One fan asked, "Supergirl, Mon-El or Ultra Boy?" James Tucker said one of those three characters will appear in season one. We were also assured the Legion wouldnt be the Legion without Matter Eater Lad. "Just beause you don't see them in the line-up, doesn't mean they aren't in Legion," Tucker assured us.

As for villains, look for the Fatal Five to be a major thorn in their side. The team also seemed very excited about their take on the classic Legion foe, Starfinger. The 2-part season finale would be very "menacing" and is an adaption of a classic Legion story.

Finally, director Ben Jones wrote in a comment to Friday/Day 2's post that the titles to episodes 1 and 3 that I had heard were wrong. I updated the info on that page and at the Wikipedia.

Legion v5 sales through June

Here's a look at sales of the Legion book through June's issue 19, as compiled by the Legion Clubhouse. Click to enlarge.



As expected, there's been a dropoff in sales from the big "One Year Later" event, but that's across the board on all DC titles. Supposedly this book got the biggest percentage bump from the event. The dropoff is flatter than it was for the first four issues, suggesting that more people are sticking around.

San Diego Con '06: wrap-up

Sounds like the con is winding down. Reports say it's the biggest one ever. With nothing on the schedule for Day 4, I figured I'd post a wrap-up and summary here. Any post-con reports and such will go in a separate post.

If you only read a posting on this site during the con once and never went back to it, I had been updating them throughout the day (and even the next day) so you might have missed some stuff. To recap:

Day 0:

• images of the standup at the DC booth

Day 1:

• summary of the panels - DC Nation panel; Mattel announces a line of action figures for the new animated series; George Perez wants to do the Legion comic series; musical composers for the show
  
• from the floor - a chat with the music guys; an interview with writer Matt Wayne

Day 2:

• summary of the panels - cast and crew and a preview of the Legion series; 52: A Year in the Life
  
• from the floor - interview with producer James Tucker; preview of the Vs. System card game (here and here)

Day 3:

• summary of the panels - DCU One Year Greater

Hope to see some of you next year in person at the con, but if I do go, you won't see updates as quickly as I have done this year!

That's a wrap!

San Diego Con '06: day 3

Here are the Legion-relevant events today:

Saturday
1:00-2:30 DCU: One Year Greater
5:30-7:00 Animation Story Meeting

• From CBR come these hints from the One Year Greater panel:
  

  Levitz announced a new series of direct to video animation movies, designed with fans in mind, a first for animation, said Levitz. "We want to tell some of the story and characters bits that are important to you," said Levitz.... The films will be in a comic books style and not fitting the Timm, "Legion" or " Teen Titans" styles, or any other animation styles. These films will be very true to the comics in all aspects.
  
  "That's just the start," said Levitz. He took suggestions from fans for future projects, and they mentioned "Kingdom Come" and other big projects. The mention of "Great Darkness Saga," a classic story by Levitz, prompted the publisher to say that he's already written a book this year ("JSA"), and jokingly added he's earned some time off.
  
  Didio asked for secrets from every creator to be revealed. ... Waid hinted at Supergirl returning to Krypton.
  
  The panel was asked which character they'd like to work on.
  * Brad Meltzer: All Star Squadron, Teen Titans, Legion of Super-Heroes.
  
  Was there ever a Superboy? "Superman did something when he was younger," said Busiek.

  
  
• Newsarama interviewed Paul Levitz after the panel. In discussing the push towards animation:
  

  NRAMA: Speaking personally, and putting aside the political umbrella for a moment - what would you like to see adapted?
  
  PL: I'm an old fart - I want to see the '60s stuff. I'm not sure we'll ever get around to it though. The magic age of comics is the stuff where you remember where you were when you bought it, and where you were when you read it. I'm old enough so that the things that I remember are probably not what the bulk of the potential audience for these things remembers.
  
  Give me Adventure Comics #346, #347, or #353, #353 - the death of Ferro Lad, and I'll remember when I opened the wrapper of the subscription mailer, and how I felt that day. I'd love to see something like that happen, but I don't think that's going to be on the top of the list. I think there's a somewhat more modern world to explore.
  
  NRAMA: But still - if they come knocking, asking about adapting The Great Darkness Saga from your Legion run...?
  
  PL: I'd be honored…but we're having a hard enough time keeping that stuff in print and are having a hard enough time selling that stuff as a comic book, but time will tell. I'm always thrilled when people remember my work. As a writer, you want an audience, and to have written things that people remember years later is one of the great thrills to having played in this business. It doesn't have to be being remember a lot, anymore, but it feels good when it does.

  
  
• The animation panel tonight is supposed to have some of the writers from the Legion series. Hopefully we'll see a report by tomorrow.
  

SDCC animated stuff: exclusive photos

Some new photos that I hadn't heard about from anyone else yet, courtesy of my two colleagues in the Espionage Squad. All photos by Joe Morano and Sidne Ward, please do not display these photos anywhere else.

From the Upper Deck booth, makers of the Vs. System of card games, come these two photos. The first one is the standup outside of the booth, the second is a mockup of the box with the Legion deck. Here's the promotional flyer I found yesterday on the Upper Deck web site, and here's a lot more about the deck.

Next, Warner Bros. had their own booth, separate from the DC booth. The Legion gets a prominent banner, and attendees get a special promotional trading card. (The gray border is the background of where the card was when the photo was taken, it's not on the card itself). I like how the card has the identical images as the banner, just moved around to fit a different size area - the magic of computers.






Finally, this is an exclusive picture because nobody else has a picture of Joe. You've seen the banner before, though, in the Preview Night photos.

SDCC animated news: James Tucker interview

Newsarama has a great interview with Legion producer/showrunner James Tucker. Some of the highlights:

NRAMA: There are many versions of the Legion of Super-Heroes over their 40+ years of existence. How would you describe yours?

JT: Well, I feel blessed to have a property like Legion that has very passionate fans who have endured multiple reboots of the series and still are in love with the idea of the Legion. There are a lot of great eras of Legion, and all of them have things that we cherry-pick from.

Our Legion won't belong to any specific era of the book, but I sort of think it has the lighter tone of the Silver age stories with the intensity of the later stories from that era that Jim Shooter ushered in, along with the funky spirit and energy of the later eras. Although, again, we sampled from almost all of the eras.

NRAMA: Who are the key members of this Legion? Obviously you have 50+ members to consider, so doing them all, all the time is out of the question.

JT: The key members initially will be Brainiac 5, Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, Bouncing Boy, Timberwolf, Phantom Girl, and to a lesser degree, Triplicate Girl. And Superman!

NRAMA: We did a little poll among the staff for main names in the Legion. Will any of the following be there?

Cosmic Boy Chameleon Princess Projectra Mon-El Ultra Boy Colossal Kid/Giant Boy Invisible Boy Karate Kid Shrinking Violet Shadow Lass

JT: Five won't be in the first season, but the rest will. That's all I'm gonna say.

NRAMA: That said, we know the powers of the various characters of the comic, but what can you say about their personalities?

JT: Lightning Lad is eager, hot-headed and prone to fighting first and thinking later.

Saturn Girl is level-headed and ethereal, composed at all times but also very physical. Glen Murakami always thought of her character as someone who doesn't really understand physical boundaries and is always touching people and knowing their deepest thoughts.

Brainiac 5 in our Legion will be younger than all the other members and yet the smartest one. I have always thought of him as kind of a "Little Man Tate"-type character. A kid who is so smart he's sent to college when he's only 12. For the purposes of the show, we messed with his character a little bit (or a lot, depending on who you ask) by making him very much a descendant of old-school Brainiacs, and therefore he's still basically a robot boy. His deep desire, though, is to be more human, like his team mates. So, in a way, he's somewhat like Pinocchio. I think this version of Brainy is closest to the DnA version in personality combined with the robotic aspects of the character Gear from that series. I was definitely inspired by Oliver Coipel's rendition of him when designing him.

Phantom Girl is a princess who is kind of spoiled, but ultimately very devoted to being in the Legion. She has a somewhat sarcastic attitude to cover the fact that she really gets a kick out of finally being with other kids like herself.

Bouncing Boy is kind of the everyman member of the Legion. He's very down to earth and pragmatic. In a lot of ways he plays Bones to Brainiac 5's McCoy (Star Trek comparison). We play him a little bit for comedy, but when it's time for action he's the first one to lead the charge.

Timberwolf is a loner but longs to be closer to people. His appearance makes him look a bit feral, but his personality is anything but. He's the cool dude who's actually insecure inside.

Read the discussion on this on the Newsarama message board.

San Diego Con '06: day 2

From all reports, a fun first day. But Thursday is much less crowded than Friday or Saturday, we'll see what everyone has to say. I'll try to get reports throughout the day related to these events in today's con lineup. Tonight's the big debut for the animated show.

Friday
1:00-2:00 Spotlight on Jim Mooney
1:00-2:00 Warner Home Video's Superman Through The Ages
4:00-5:00 Bruce Timm Retrospective/Legion of Super Heroes
6:00-7:00 DC: 52: A Year in the Life of the DCU

• According to The Kingdom, the "Superman Through the Ages" panel was "The panel with Superman people, but really just about Donner's Superman II." He doesn't mention any Legion connection, but from the description I figured Yuri Lowenthal (the Legion's Superman voice actor) might have been there. CBR has more coverage.
  
  
• Here's an EXCLUSIVE camera-phone picture of the Timm/Legion panel, courtesy of Sidne Ward (better pictures coming later).
  
  
  
  From left to right, that's Linda Steiner (producer, at the podium), James Tucker (producer), Rob Hoegee (story editor), Shawn Harrison (Timberwolf), Kari Wahlgren (Saturn Girl and Triplicate Girl), Michael Cornacchia (Bouncing Boy), Yuri Lowenthal (Superman) and Andy Milder (Lightning Lad).
  
  First word of the Legion panel comes from LegionWorld poster "Kent Shakespeare", who has these things to say:
  

  • There will be 13 episodes, including a two-part finale based upon a classic LSH story; probably a Silver age story.
    
  • They're starting with a heavy Silver focus, but have picked and chosen from various eras. Various creators claim to be staunch longtime LSH fans. Someone (artist Chris Battista?) said, having worked on LSH for a year and helped reintro Superboy, he really praised the new cartoon.
    
  • It's young, inexperienced Superman, not Superboy, even tho the sole promo card still lists Superboy. They skirted talk about the Siegel lawsuit, so that's the most likely reason.
    
  • First season will feature several Fatal 5 stories; they avoided specifics on others.
    
  • They showed two videos; one, Kal is being knocked about by the Emerald Empress. Garth, intead of blasting EE himself, instead spends his efforts trying to coach Supes how to use his super-breath.
    
  • The theme they say they're going for is that Supes brings the spirit/innate paragonism to the LSH, LSH brings the experience and know-how to young Kal.
    
  • Brainy seems to be a machine - with a stretchble neck, and presumably other limbs.
    
  • Garth has a lighning-shaped scar/tatoo/whatever around his eye; it turns white when he's using his powers.

  
  Another LegionWorld poster drops these clues:
  

  morsels for now: Matter-Eater Lad. Familial Ranzz. Cosmic boy for 3 episode arc at the end. Triplicate Girl's voiced by Saturn Girl's voice actor.

  
  Someone found out the titles of Episodes 1 and 3: respectively, "The Journey Begins" and "Superman's Quest". The page with the list of episode titles at Wikipedia was updated within the hour. (Note: these are not the titles, according to director Ben Jones in the comment below.) That's Kari Wahlgren, who does the voice of Saturn Girl, who will also do the voice of Triplicate Girl.
  
  Wizard Universe finally got their report up, and it's a good one.
  

  The teaser showed off the Fatal Five, a shape-shifting Brainiac 5 and the Legion fighting to take down a Timberwolf gone feral. Hoegee described how the Legion depicted in the series is basically a club that’s just starting out and decide to be superheroes. They get in over their heads with the Fatal 5, and Brainiac decides to go back in time to find the greatest superhero of all time to help out—Superman. Unfortunately, they go back too far and get a young Clark Kent, still unsure of his powers. (A second cartoon clip showed Lightning Lad telling Superman to use his ice breath, to which Superman replied, “My what?”) The Legion teaches Clark to use his powers and Clark teaches the Legion how to be heroes. Meanwhile, he has to deal with the knowledge that there’s an entire museum dedicated to exploits he hasn’t even performed yet. Hoegee said just because you don’t see a character doesn’t mean they’re not in the Legion. In fact, the panel promised that Matter-Eater Lad will appear.

  
  
• A poster at the ComicBloc forums has this from the 52/A Year in the Life panel:
  

  It was pretty much the only major news from todays 52 panel at the SDCC, but the Legion will be showing up in the pages of 52 sometime soon ...

  
  But someone else asks if it will be the Legion or the L.E.G.I.O.N.?
  
  CBR has this hint:
  

  The Legion Of Superheroes may show up in "52". Rucka had a sudden revelation, seemingly on the panel, of how to do it.

  
  

Urban Legends Revealed

Brian Cronin at CBR's Comics Should Be Good puts up a weekly "Urban Legends Revealed" column. The theme for this week is the Legion, and all three urban legends are from me (well OK, 2-1/2).

1. Did Dave Cockrum intend for Nightcrawler to be a Legionnaire? (This one is on my old Legion page).

2. Did Keith Giffen really mean to kill off a bunch of Legionnaires by pulling names from a hat? (You just read this one last week.)

3. Did Giffen blow up the Earth while nobody was watching? (This was last week too, from the part that Johanna wrote.)