Meanwhile, Geoff Johns had this to say...

Geoff Johns talked to Newsarama and had some interesting comments about Legion of 3 Worlds:

GJ: George and I want to deliver a mini-series that's epic and character-redefining. But while it's very large in scope, the set-up for the story's straight-forward. It's Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes versus Superboy-Prime and the Legion of Super-Villains in the 31st Century. And then, like Brainiac 5 of the Legion says, “If this is a Superboy from a parallel world, we need to fight fire with fire.”

NRAMA: So to combat Superboy-Prime, the Legion brings in two other Legions from other Earths, right?

GJ: Yes. The Zero Hour Legion and the current Legion as written by Jim Shooter. It’s a bit of a celebration.

But the central focus of Legion of 3 Worlds is: What is the Legion's role in the universe? Because right now, you come in to see the Legion, and they are told by the United Planets they're useless now. That they don't matter. And as a lot of their members are scattered across the universe, thanks to their recent reintroduction in Action Comics, they're suddenly faced with the greatest threat they've ever come up against while their team is a wreck.

... It's not about rewriting history. DC has done enough of that. It's about building characters back up. From Cosmic Boy to XS.

And I’ve worked extremely hard to make this the most accessible book possible given the arena we’re working in.

...George Perez is a master storyteller. He knows these characters really, really well. He puts in so much work. I can't wait to see someone do annotations on the first issue. If you're a DC Universe fan at all, you'll be in heaven.

...For people who have been reading DC for awhile, we've got that Lightning Rod that Brainiac 5 has floating around. And that will definitely be explored. That's an important piece of the book. And Green Lantern fans will find some interesting things in there as well.

NRAMA: And finally, you said earlier that you're not resetting continuity. But you're going to address why there are three Legions and how they fit together?

GJ: Sure, this about who the Legion of Super-Heroes are, and what the next step is for the Legion -- and someone else important to the DCU. And what the future of the DC Universe is, both in the 31st Century and the 21st Century. A lot of this ties into what's going on now. Of course there will be issues that will deal with the different Legions when they show up. We'll address all of that. We'll address everything we can. But at the same time, the purpose is telling a clear, kick ass, Crisis-style story with me and Perez at the helm and Scott Koblish tearing it up on inks. I hope people give us a try.

SDCC08: con book

First look at the con program book.

SDCC08: look for me

If anyone is at the con reading this, look for me. My badge has my name, of course, but I also added a tag with the Legion Omnicom logo and the icon of my Simpsonized head-shot (look to the left column here). I actually do look quite a bit like that picture.

I'll also have Omnicom business cards to give out, either at the panels or at the LegionWorld table, but those are mainly ads for those who don't know about this site, not you guys.

After Las Vegas last weekend, I'm going to need either a lot of caffeine or a lot of sleep when I get home.

Remember, you can also follow what I'm liveblogging about the con at the Legion Omincom feeds.

SDCC08: Twittering

Well I finally gave in and got a Twitter account for this site, which I don't really expect to use much but I think it'll be very useful for liveblogging the Legion-related panels from San Diego. Follow me there at the Legion Omincom feeds.

If anyone knows of any good tricks, tips, or anything useful, please post it in the comments. I plan to compile all of my "tweets" into something relatively coherent at the end of the day here, but if not, you can see what's going on there.

Comments: mine, yours, and Paul Levitz's

I have no idea what my posting schedule is going to be like for the next week. I'm on vacation and will have limited access to email. Plus, although there's free wifi at the San Diego Convention Center, I don't plan to take my laptop to the con, and typing on my iPod Touch or sending text messages is too difficult. I may get time at night but with all of the partying, who knows. I plan to set up posts to go live here each day of the con, and hopefully my readers who aren't at the con can post comments about coverage they've read on other sites (Newsarama, CBR, etc.)

Previously: what the DCU version of Las Vegas might look like.

Anyhoo, the Washington Post did an online chat with Paul Levitz on Friday, on Dark Knight and other stuff. A couple of Legion-related comments, plus one intriguing piece of info at the beginning.

Philadelphia, Pa.: Thank you for "The Legion of Superheroes". Are you planning on writing anything else in the future and, if so, what?

Paul Levitz: I have a Legion plot out to Jim Lee for a special book of his work that's being produced next year, and I hope I'll be able to do something more extended. Dan DiDio keeps talking to me about a Legion miniseries with Keith Giffen, and I would love to find the time.

Falls Church, Va.: A lot of people will cite "The Dark Knight Returns" as the big turning point in comics, but I just wanted to say that "The Great Darkness Saga" was the first time I ever said to myself, "This is it. This is everything that comics can be." You've never gotten enough credit for it, but you raised the bar and changed the industry right there.

Paul Levitz: Thank you very much. I don't think it remotely compares to what Frank did in "The Dark Knight Returns," but it's certainly one of the things I've written in my career that I'm proudest of.

Brian Boitano and the Legion of Super-Heroes

Here's a verse from a song called "What Would Brian Boitano Do", from the South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut movie, which is one of my favorite movies. It was on the other night and I got hooked into watching it (again). It's a story pitch that just begs to be written into a miniseries.

When Brian Boitano travelled through time
To the year 3010,
He fought the evil robot king
And saved the human race again

Look at what powers he has: time travel, magical fire breath, and he doesn't take shit from anybody. He's a natural team-up with the Legion!


(Youtube video)

Legion v6?

From this week's Lying in the Gutters:

LEGION OF WRITERS

[Yellow Light]It’s handy that Jim Shooter worked so far ahead on "Legion," Because, even though he stormed off the book around March (hence his no show with DC at the Bristol convention), things were patched up nicely and he’s back on the book. Without missing a single issue.

Of course, when he does decide to gracefully step down, expect Geoff Johns to jump on that book like a... well, a rude word.

I understand that Marvel have been playing wargames on how to persuade Geoff Johns to jump ship at the end of his contract (over a year away) and what to do with him when they get him, so expect to see DC Comics fight back pre-emptively...

Now that's interesting.

First, it's an easy way around his earlier rumors that Shooter had left, now he conveniently has patched things up and is back on the book without losing a beat. That's not to say there wasn't anything on that front, but it's been 4 months without a single other person publicly confirming that Shooter may or may not have left (even anonymously).

Second, remember that whether or not there's any truth to that, Shooter's 16-issue arc would be over right around the end of Legion of 3 Worlds/Final Crisis, and if he decides not to stay, the book would be ready for another writer (although 16 issues is a relatively long time, putting Shooter on is really just a stunt). And Johns is already on record saying he'd love to write the regular Legion book, presumably "his" Legion from Action Comics. Would he give up one of his other books? Due to his announced plans for Superman and Green Lantern, who ain't got nothing on me, that would leave the JSA if he doesn't want to write 4 books a month.

It's not often that the Legion is used as the bait to induce a high-profile writer or artist: "Geoff, we'll give you the Legion if you stay at DC". How crazy is that?

San Diego is going to be interesting...

(Thanks, Murray, for the tip!)

San Diego programming summary

As of today, here's the entire San Diego schedule, with panels that either will, likely will, historically have, or may have Legion content:

Thursday 7/24
2:00-3:30 Spotlight on Todd Klein
6:00-7:00 DC Nation

Friday 7/25
11:00-12:00 Print The Legend: Mike Grell and Mark Ryan
11:30-12:30 Mattel and DC Comics: A Heroic Partnership
12:00-1:00 50 Years of Gay Legion of Super-Heroes Fandom
12:30-2:00 That ’70s (Comics) Panel
3:30-4:30 Spotlight on Geoff Johns
4:30-5:30 Spotlight on Keith Giffen
6:00-7:00 DCU: Final Crisis Management

Saturday 7/26
12:45-2:00 DC: A Guide to Your Universe
3:30-4:30 Spotlight on Joe Staton
5:00-6:00 Legion of Super-Heroes 50th Anniversary

Sunday 7/27
11:45-12:45 DC Nation: One Weekend Later
2:30-4:00 Pro/Fan Trivia Match

San Diego programming, part 3: Saturday

Part 1 (Thursday and Friday)
Part 2 (Sunday)

Note that there was a change in Friday's programming, the Mike Grell spotlight panel has been changed to a Mike Grell/Mark Ryan panel promoting their new ComicMix project. I also added the Pro/Fan Trivia Challenge to Sunday's schedule, as the theme is "Young Heroes" including the Legion.

Here's what's up for Saturday July 26th:

12:45-2:00 DC: A Guide to Your Universe— Dan DiDio (senior VP/executive editor, DCU), Jann Jones (senior coordinating editor, DCU), and Ian Sattler (senior story editor, DCU), and countless DCU talent gather for a panel that’s not to be missed. Now that the Final Crisis is upon us, what lies ahead for your favorite heroes? Join Keith Giffen (Reign in Hell, Ambush Bug: Year None), Geoff Johns (Action Comics, Green Lantern), Aaron Lopresti (Wonder Woman), Brad Meltzer (DCU: Last Will and Testament), Grant Morrison (Batman, Final Crisis), Gail Simone (Wonder Woman), Phillip Tan (Final Crisis: Revelations), Peter Tomasi (Green Lantern Corps), Judd Winick (Titans), and others to get the answers. Room 6B

3:30-4:30 Spotlight on Joe Staton— In this show-and-tell with Q&A, writer Mike W. Barr (The Outsiders) talks with fellow Comic-Con special guest, artist Joe Staton about Joe's nearly 40-year career, including his current project Femme Noir, his co-creation of E-Man, and lots of other stuff, including Hulk, JSA, LSH, GL, Guy Gardner, Batman, Huntress, those 100 issues of Scooby Doo, and the "New Look" Jughead. Room 4

5:00-6:00 Legion of Super-Heroes 50th Anniversary— Fifty years ago, a trio of new super-heroes appeared on the cover of Adventure Comics no. 247. That humble beginning spawned the first great super team of the Silver Age of Comics: The Legion of Super-Heroes. Set in the 30th and 31st centuries of a DC Universe that may—or may not—happen, the Legion captured the hearts and minds of comic fans right from the start. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of this legendary team are DC’s president and publisher—and Legion writer—Paul Levitz, who moderates the panel featuring fellow Legion storytellers Geoff Johns, Colleen Doran, and Comic-Con special guests Mike Grell and Keith Giffen. Room 5AB

Programming also going on at this time: Spotlight on J. Michael Straczynski, and JJ Abrams' "Fringe". I need to be able to triplicate myself during this hour, dammit.

Chameleon Boy vs. Spider-Man

While looking for the picture to accompany the recent trivia quiz answer about Chameleon Boy's breaking the fourth wall, I came across an entry on a huge Spider-Man site, SpiderFan.org. I had no idea that Cham's diss of Spidey would have been noticed by the competition.

The Diss

But sure enough, it was addressed in the letters page of "Amazing Spider-Man" #47, a couple months later. Stan Lee didn't take that lying down.

Gerard Addonizio of Medford, Massachusetts writes, "While thumbing thru a Brand Echh comic, I came across something that infuriated me. Some orange-faced character belonging to an (ugh) group of super-boobs had just finished tying up a monster with his web after turning into a spider! He then said, "In case a certain web-headed character thinks I'm stealing his thunder, I'd like to remind him that I was changing to all sorts of weird shapes long before he walked up his first wall." As you know, he was referring to our own Spidey! You fellas usually make your Brand Echh references in a good-natured half-kidding way; and you've never actually pin-pointed any competitive mag or character. But they're getting nasty. I think you should really let them have it. I've never written before, but when I saw that statement, I just had to. Your comics are the greatest!" Stan replies that, "Quite a few indignant Marvelites have commented upon that same reference to Spidey in a mag which we shall charitably not identity. We deeply appreciate the concern of all you True Believers – but don't worry about it, gang. Any knock is a boost... and our ill-advised competitors have been unintentionally boosting us all over the place!" However, in regards to Gerard's letter, Stan wonders why it "took a mention in another mag to get you to write to us? Why have you chosen to remain aloof so long? Why haven't you cared enough till now? What have we done wrong – where have we failed? Must we contact our competitors and beg them to mention us in order to hear from you again?" I, on the other hand, wonder, "In what comic did this Spidey-reference appear, anyway?"

Let's look at Gerard's letter again. He talks about a "Brand Echh comic" with "some orange-faced character" who belongs to a group ("of super-boobs"). The panel he refers to is shown in the gallery at the top of this review. From the character's quote, we know he's been around longer than Spidey. So where do we begin? At this time, "Brand Echh" specifically referred to DC Comics so we can forget about ACG, Harvey, Charlton, and so on. So which DC character has an orange face and belongs to a group? [deleted] Legion of Super-Heroes? Chameleon Boy is orange-faced and can turn into a spider. Plus he first appeared in Action Comics #267, August 1960, two years before Spidey first appeared. Now we're onto something! The LSH appeared monthly in Adventure Comics at the time. If Gerard read the latest issue around the same time he read ASM #43 then we're looking for an issue of Adventure cover-dated sometime in late 1966. So, let's pull out our set of 60s Adventure Comics (which we all have in our collections, I know) and thumb through some issues. Aha! There it is! Adventure Comics #350, November 1966 with "the tale that will stun the world! The Legionnaires kick our their buddies Superboy and Supergirl" in "The Outcast Super-Heroes!" But we don't care about any of that. Instead, turn to page 20 where Chameleon Boy has turned into a spider to defeat a monster just as Gerard says. On page 20, panel 4, he winks at the reader and says... well, exactly what Gerard says he says! So, there you have it. I know many of you would not have been able to sleep until you found the answer to this forty-year-old question. Always happy to help in any way I can!

Having read some of the Spider-Man issues from the mid-60's, it's Amazing (pun intended) how different the Silver Age Marvels were from the Silver Age DCs. And what made E. Nelson Bridwell (or Mort Weisinger) put that panel in there in the first place?

San Diego programming, part 2: Sunday (updated)

Previously: Thursday 7/24 (final) and Friday 7/25 (preliminary)
Coming soon: Friday 7/25 (final), Saturday 7/26 (final)

Only one panel for Sunday, July 27th at San Diego, and who knows if it's Legion-related. The DC Nation panels typically have something, though. Plus, the Pro/Fan Trivia challenge!

11:45-12:45 DC Nation: One Weekend Later— Did you think one DC Nation panel was enough? You thought wrong! So much has happened with the DCU during Comic-Con but right here senior VP—executive editor Dan DiDio saves one last blockbuster announcement for the Nation! This is the panel to be at! Room 6A

2:30-4:00 Pro/Fan Trivia Match— The Purple Pros—Len Wein (Wolverine creator), Mark Waid (BOOM! Comics editor-in-chief), Kurt Busiek (Astro City), and Robert N. Skir (animated X-Men)—again take on the Black Ink Irregulars (Tom Galloway, Terence Chua, David Oakes, and John Sardegna), this time seeking to regain their youth by answering questions about young comics characters, those college age or below, including the convention theme Legion of Super-Heroes. This match is dedicated to longtime scorekeeper John Simpson, who passed away last October. Room 4

Trivia Answers #25

This month's theme was Marvel Comics.

1. The Imperial Guardsmen were Legion-analogs in the Marvel Universe. When did the Legion meet Marvel-analogs in the DC universe?

By my count, three times (with allowances for possibly more). The League of Super-Assassins (X-Men), Dead Earth Annual (Avengers), and Dr. XXX's team in the 20th century (X-Men).

I don't think the Khundish Legionnaires were Marvellian (Flederweb had wings like a bat and could stick to walls, Veilmist could teleport, Bloodclaw had metal claws, and Firefist had strength/speed/endurance and a built-in blaster). I suppose you could argue analogs to Nightcrawler and Wolverine, but that seems to be pushing it. Similarly, I think the Wanderers aren't close enough. And while three of the Fatal Five appear to resemble the Masters of Evil (Enchantress, Executioner, and Melter), the other two don't (Power Man and Baron Zemo).

2. More than once, when the Legion met a DC-Earth analog of the X-Men (in the above examples), one of the "X-Men" joined the Legion. Which Legionnaires, and which X-Men did they correspond to?

Hmmm, apparently I misremembered Ferro as being on the "X-Men" team in the 20th century, but others report it was his brother. In the League of Super-Assassins, it was Blok. Interestingly, both were the Colossus analog.

3. Which Legionnaire alias name, from a story by Jim Shooter, was later used by him in the Korvac storyline in Avengers, also written by Jim Shooter?

Carina Walter was an alias of Light Lass in Action 382, while Carina Walters was Korvac's lover and also the Collector's daughter in the Korvac Saga.

(Although I'd love to take credit for this question, it seems to have come from "retroman1964" on the DC Message Board).

4. It’s common knowledge that the character we know as Nightcrawler was originally created by Dave Cockrum for the Legion before he left DC for Marvel, where the character became a member of the All-New X-Men. What would this character’s name and backstory have been had he stayed with the Legion?

According to Dave Cockrum in the Nightcrawler FAQ, he was originally a demon, but after Jack Kirby's Demon, he became an alien instead. "His name was Balshazaar. He came from another dimension, and his people were the source of Earth's legends and mythology about demons. He kept most of the original demon's characteristics, though he wasn't quite as nasty as the original Nightcrawler. He also gained the ability to disappear in shadows."

5. In one Silver Age Legion story, a character broke the “fourth wall” of the comic and addressed the reader in the middle of a story. Who was this character, which Marvel character did he/she refer to, and what was the context?

Here's the panel, from Adventure 350. More on the backstory in a couple days.

6. Which Marvel character(s) “snuck” into the group photo as seen in LSH v2 #300?

Spider-Man is in the top row, just behind Sun Boy. (Incidentally, the caption in this picture says that it was for the Legion's 25th anniversary. Holy crap, that was 25 years ago!)

7. How did the Legionnaires aid the X-Men in the “Days of Future Past” storyline?
As Jim said, Brainiac 5 constructed a nullifier for the Sentinel power dampers for a while, before it was destroyed. See the Unlimited Access miniseries #1 and #2.

Wizard interviews Johns & Perez on L3W

Wizard Magazine apparently has (or will have) a story on "Legion of 3 Worlds", interviewing Geoff Johns and George Perez. What looks like an excerpt of the story is on their website. Here's the last question asked of the two:

New Legion ongoing?

JOHNS: I'd love to do it. It's just a matter of the right person to do it with and the time. But I'd absolutely love to write a monthly Legion of Super-Heroes book. I really want to write a Superman the Legion of Super-Heroes book. I don't know if it'll be a reality or not, but it's definitely something I want to do.

PÉREZ: In my case, probably unlikely. If nothing else, the ability to do that kind of a book on a monthly basis may be getting beyond my years. And by doing this where I get to draw all the Legions, what really is there left for me to do with [the team]? Revisiting past glories is not something I can easily do. Although, I would love to do at least one issue of Wonder Woman just so I can work with Gail Simone! [Laughs]

In one of my early posts here (slightly amended to remove the Mordruverse as a whole number upgrade), I created a software-type naming system for the various Legions:
1.0 = pre-Crisis
1.1 = post-Crisis
1.2 = Glorithverse
2.0 = post-Zero Hour
3.0 = post-Infinite Crisis
I guess that would make the "Lightning Saga" Legion to be version 1.3, though it appears to be intended to replace 1.1 and 1.2 completely and not be added on to the end of 1.2.

So let's suppose for the sake of argument that the new series that comes out of L3W stars the Legion 1.3 only, with the 2.0 and 3.0 Legions appearing from time to time as guest stars (think of the old JLA/JSA teamups of the 1970s and 1980s, the only place the JSA appeared at the time). Given what you've seen with the JLA/JSA/LSH teamup and the Action storyline, what would you think of a new Legion series written by Geoff Johns?

Bits of San Diego Business #3: Thursday update

The Thursday programming schedule is back up. I'm not sure if it was there the first time, but the only thing I added to my Legion-centric filtered schedule is a Thursday panel spotlighting Todd Klein, letterer and logoist extraordinnaire. He's done almost all of the Legion logos dating back to the first one for v2 in the early 1980s.

Bits of San Diego Business #2: DC creators

Oops. Apparently they put the Thursday and Friday schedules up too early, the SDCC site has pulled them down. Supposedly they were not the final schedules, but if anything changes, I'll update my schedule page.

If you're new to the con, go read this from Tom Spurgeon, at the Comics Reporter.

Via Blog@Newsarama, here's a list of Legion creators who will be in San Diego this year (let me know if I missed any):
• Geoff Johns (ACTION COMICS, GREEN LANTERN)
• Gail Simone (WONDER WOMAN, SECRET SIX) - final LSH arc before the current reboot
• Chris Batista (ROBIN, TEEN TITANS) - "Foundations" storyline
• Keith Giffen (AMBUSH BUG: YEAR ONE, REIGN IN HELL)
• Jim Starlin (RANN/THANAGAR: HOLY WAR, DEATH OF THE NEW GODS)
• J. Torres (FAMILY DYNAMIC)

DC staff include:
• President & Publisher Paul Levitz
• Senior Editor Mike Marts

Also, Colleen Doran will be there, at the Image booth. And I can't believe I left off Mike Grell and Joe Staton (who are there but not currently with DC).

More later.

San Diego programming, part 1: Thursday/Friday (updated)

Update July 10th: added Todd Klein panel on Thursday
Update July 12th: Mike Grell panel description revised,

Schedules are up for the first two days of programming at San Diego. Here's what we have when passed through a Legion filter. The last two days of programming will show up in the next day or so, with the Legion spotlight panel on Saturday afternoon.

Thursday is pretty light with just the DC Nation panel, but Friday has several creator spotlight panels (Mike Grell, Geoff Johns, Keith Giffen), a '70s comics discussion, a panel about gay Legion fans, and DC's Final Crisis panel.

Thursday July 24

2:00-3:30 Spotlight on Todd Klein—Eisner Award-winning letterer and logo designer Todd Klein (Sandman, Fables) is joined by moderator Mark Evanier (Fanboy, Kirby: King of Comics) for a discussion of his 30-plus years in comics, from early days on staff at DC and lettering by hand to his present-day freelance career on many titles for DC, Marvel, and others, mainly on the computer. Focus will be on the intricacies of lettering, logo design, and more, as Todd and Mark show and discuss images of classic comics logos. Todd will also cover his recent self-published signed prints by Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman and give away several copies of each. Room 8

6:00-7:00 DC Nation—DC Senior VP/executive editor Dan DiDio hosts this gabfest with Keith Giffen (Reign in Hell, Ambush Bug: Year None), Geoff Johns (Action Comics, Green Lantern), Brad Meltzer (DCU: Last Will and Testament), and some of the top talent in the industry, talking and teasing upcoming stories! Come learn the secrets behind the most talked about events of the summer! Room 6A


Friday July 25

11:00-12:00 Print The Legend: Mike Grell and Mark Ryan— Comic-Con special guest Mike Grell (Legion of Superheroes, The Warlord, Green Arrow: the Longbow Hunters, Jon Sable, Freelance) and actor-writer Mark Ryan (Robin of Sherwood, The Prestige, King Arthur, voice of Bumblebee in Transformers), swap outrageous yarns and discuss the secret world behind their new Comicmix.com project The Pilgrim with editor Mike Gold. Join Mike, Mark and Mike for a bit of insanity and Q&A session. Room 2
Spotlight on Mike Grell— The popular comics writer and artist Mike Grell is a Comic-Con special guest. He’ll talk about his career in comics and beyond, including some of his signature work, such as Warlord, Green Arrow, and Jon Sable. Room 2

11:30-12:30 Mattel and DC Comics: A Heroic Partnership— You’ve been a fan of Mattel’s popular DC toy lines, now find out the latest news, sneak peaks, and behind-the-scenes scoop on your favorite Mattel/DC action figures, including DC Universe Classics, Justice League Unlimited, The Dark Knight, and Infinite Heroes,—plus exciting new lines like Batman Brave and the Bold—as well as the world premiere of new action figures. Be on hand as representatives from Mattel, DC Comics, and Warner Bros. Entertainment offer an insightful Q&A. Brought to you by Mattycollector.com.

You can ask about what happened to the Legion line - how far did they get, were there any prototypes or packaging made, why was it cancelled, etc.

12:00-1:00 50 Years of Gay Legion of Super-Heroes Fandom— The fiftieth anniversary of the Legion of Super-Heroes gives the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) fans a reason to celebrate. Join Prism Comics president Roger Klorese, Interlac APA central mailer and HIV + ME cartoonist Chris Companik, and a "legion" of pros and fans in a freewheeling discussion to find out, among other things, which male Legionnaire coveted the name "Light Lass," how Matter Eater Lad consumed whole planets without gaining an ounce, and why removing the pink from Cosmic Boy's costume made him look somehow...gayer. And girl, what's up with Element Lad? Room 3

12:30-2:00 That ’70s (Comics) Panel— It started with Nixon and ended with Carter, but in between the 1970s showcased an incredible influx of new comics talent unheard of since the beginning of the industry in the 1930s. Moderator Mark Evanier (who worked with Jack "King" Kirby on DC’s "Fourth World" books in the ’70s) hosts Comic-Con special guests Mike W. Barr (Camelot 3000, Batman), Howard Chaykin (American Flagg!), Mike Grell (Warlord, Green Arrow), Paul Gulacy (Master of Kung Fu, Sabre), Jim Starlin (Dreadstar, Captain Marvel), Joe Staton (Green Lantern, E-Man), Len Wein (Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk), and Bernie Wrightson (Swamp Thing, Frankenstein). Wow! That’s almost one panelist for each year in the decade! Room 8

3:30-4:30 Spotlight on Geoff Johns— His ideas have breathed new life into Flash, Teen Titans, Green Lantern, the Justice Society of America, and now Superman. Is there anything writer Geoff Johns can’t do? Probably not, but come ask anyway. Don’t miss this panel hosted by Ian Sattler, senior story editor—DCU, interviewing one of the brightest minds behind the magic of the DC Universe. Room 5AB

4:30-5:30 Spotlight on Keith Giffen— Comic-Con special guest Keith Giffen talks about his long career as writer and artist with friend and collaborator Robert Loren Fleming. Plus get the lowdown on their latest project: the return of Ambush Bug for DC Comics! Room 10

6:00-7:00 DCU: Final Crisis Management— The Final Crisis is here! Senior VP-executive editor Dan DiDio talks with Grant Morrison (Batman, Final Crisis), JG Jones (Final Crisis), Geoff Johns (Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds), Brad Meltzer (DCU: Last Will and Testament), Greg Rucka (Final Crisis: Revelations), Phillip Tan (Final Crisis: Revelations), and others! Catch a glimpse of what will be one of the most talked-about events of the summer! Room 6A

Bits of San Diego Business #1: Roommate and trivia wanted

Bits of San Diego Business 1.1 comes from Tom Galloway, organizer and contestant in the annual Pro/Fan Trivia-Off:

This year's San Diego Pro/Fan Trivia will have Len Wein, Kurt Busiek, Mark Waid, and Robert Skir going up against Tom Galloway, Terence Chua, David Oakes, and John Sardegna, with the questions being asked by Peter David. We're looking for people to write questions for it, with this year's theme being "Young Heroes". Specifically, we're looking for questions about characters college aged or below, from stories published from 1956-1986 (essentially the Silver Age and Pre-Crisis). For example, Superboy, Supergirl, the Legion of Super-Heroes, Robin, Teen Titans, Spider-Man, Human Torch, the original X-Men and Kitty Pryde, etc.. If you send in a Legion question, we request that you also send in at least one non-Legion question for each Legion question, as we don't want an excessively Legion dominated set of questions.

There are two types of questions in the match, toss-ups and bonuses. You should mark your questions with what type you think they are. Toss-ups can only be answered by individuals, while the full team can consult on the latter. The latter can thus (and should) be both harder and perhaps a bit more complex in terms of a correct answer. In general, questions requiring more than one answer ("Name seven of the villains who appeared in the story about Reed and Sue's wedding") should be bonuses, not toss-ups. Ideally, I think 90% of toss-ups should be answered correctly, while around 50-70% of bonuses should.

Questions should not ask for issue numbers (they can be included in the question, but try for more descriptive set-ups than just "Who was the villain in Forbush-Man #3?") or creators. We're interested in story content. Also, unless it was fairly memorable, please don't write questions on the order of "In Superboy #158, Lex Luthor revealed a particular fondness for what Martian dessert?" where this was never mentioned again outside of that one panel.

As an example, take a look at 2003's match, including all questions and whether and who answered them correctly, in this post.

I'll just note that ones I think were probably too easy were Tossup #10, Bonus #11, and Bonus #13. Ones I think were probably too hard were Tossups 2, 8, and 20.

Finally, if possible, try to add a bit of style to the questions, sothey're not of very basic forms like "What's the Top's real name?" "Who fought Forbush-Man in Forbush-Man #1?", etc. I like Tossups 3 and 14 from the 2003 match in this regard.

Questions should be sent to hal_sdcc@yahoo.com

The match'll be Sunday the 27th, 2:30, in Room 4.

Full disclosure: I was a member of the fans team, the Black Ink Irregulars, in 2001. We barely lost (by 10 points, one question). I have a better record than Paul Levitz, who went 0-2 in his years on the quiz. Note to question writers: Len Wein has historically had a tough time answering questions on stories that he wrote.

Bit #1.2 comes from Sheryl Roberts, who will be there with the Collector Times:

Most of my writers are staying at your hotel (the Holiday Inn on the Bay). One of mine can't come and I am left with a spare bed in a double. Do you know of anyone who doesn't have a room and wants to split the cost of a room? I hate to give that room up and shuffle my writer off to a room with 2 other guys without checking around and seeing if I can find him a room mate. I know you reach a ton of people with your blog and you probably talk to some of them. Considering the sheer weight of people descending this year to San Diego, I'm hoping that you might know someone who is looking for a room and room mate. Let me know if you know someone.

Please contact Sheryl directly if you are or know of someone who's looking for a room. Or, if you know of a message board or other location for matching roommates, please post that here in the comments.

Trivia Quiz #25

It's the first Monday of the month, which usually means it's trivia time! This week's theme: Marvel Comics (no, really).

The Legion has been around for 50 years, and they were the first costumed super-powered group of the Silver Age. They predate the X-Men, Avengers, and Fantastic Four (and even the JLA), though of course the Legion was never as big (sales-wise) as any of them. But from time to time, the Marvel Universe has snuck in to Legion stories, and that's what we'll cover today. Answers by the end of the week.

1. The Imperial Guardsmen were Legion-analogs in the Marvel Universe. When did the Legion meet Marvel-analogs in the DC universe?

2. More than once, when the Legion met a DC-Earth analog of the X-Men (in the above examples), one of the "X-Men" joined the Legion. Which Legionnaires, and which X-Men did they correspond to?

3. Which Legionnaire alias name, from a story by Jim Shooter, was later used in the Korvac storyline in Avengers, also written by Jim Shooter?

4. It’s common knowledge that the character we know as Nightcrawler was originally created by Dave Cockrum for the Legion before he left DC for Marvel, where the character became a member of the All-New X-Men. What would this character’s name and backstory have been had he stayed with the Legion?

5. In one Silver Age Legion story, a character broke the “fourth wall” of the comic and addressed the reader in the middle of a story. Who was this character, which Marvel character did he/she refer to, and what was the context?

6. Which Marvel character(s) “snuck” into the group photo as seen in LSH v2 #300?

7. How did the Legionnaires aid the X-Men in the “Days of Future Past” storyline?

Bonus question: can you think of any Legion-related covers that resemble Marvel covers? Here are some starters, I'll spot you the easy ones:

Holy Cow! Dig the Fireworks!

from Superboy 217, art by Mike Grell, via Dial B for Blog

It's the 4th of July, Independence Day, here in the US. Go watch some fireworks tonight!

San Diego plans

So who is going to San Diego this year? I'll be there, as will a couple dozen fans from the Legion World message board (they've even got a booth there), and Sheryl & Co. of the Collector Times. Liftoff minus two weeks and counting!

Colleen Doran will be there too, at the Image booth. She'll also be on the Legion panel, which she said is on Saturday at 5pm. Of course, that's the biggest day of the con, so I hope there's no major programming on against it that I'd have to miss.

Anyway, I am doing some great panels at San Diego, and am especially excited to be on the Legion of Superheroes panel on Saturday. Most of you know what a huge Legion fangirl I was growing up and it will be wonderful to be able to celebrate the Legion’s anniversary at San Diego Comic Con! I got my start in comics in Legion fandom doing fanzines.

I will never forget getting a phone call from Keith Giffen, asking me if I’d like to audition to be artist on The Legion! Those were the days…

It was a real privilege to get to work with terrific writers like Keith Giffen, Mark Waid and Kurt Busiek, and those times count for some of my happiest memories working in comics. It will be a real pleasure reliving these happy memories with the fans at the show.

No word yet (that I've found) on what the entire programming schedule will look like.