posted
How did you get from your first Legion issue to your most recent one?
I don't know which one was my first one. Whatever it was, I bought it in the cheap bin in 1983 or 1984. I'm sure it would have been from 1978-1983.
I wound up getting several over time because, well, I guess I thought they were OK and all right they were CHEAP.
I know which NEW issue was the first I purchased: v3n320. There wasn't much at the comics shop and I wanted to get something, and that's what I picked. The color scheme on the cover probably didn't help, but Dream Girl being there did.
I got the Secrets of the Legion mini. I didn't buy all of it in the cheap bin. (It wasn't expensive, but it was in the regular back issue box. I had to go looking for it. Maybe found the first one at a bargain price and then follow-up?)
Kept buying the cheap older copies but didn't buy another new one until 324. I recall not being very interested in that one, but I did get 326 and continued on through the LSV war.
I was a Titans fan so I knew about the Baxter/newsprint thing, but I'm not so sure I was thinking about that with the LSH.
Bought v3n14 because the cover looked interesting. I liked it.
Not long after that, my comics budget all but dried up and Legion was not a priority for me. The library had some comics though, so I'd read whatever I could put my hands on.
There was a bookstore that had comics, and since LSH and Avengers back issues were frequently 35 cents or so, I'd get them. I got v3n26 on a whim when I was temporarily flush.
And that was pretty much it for a long time. I was in and out of comics several times. I had a very vague sense of going what was going on in LSH (like I knew the Earth blew up) but what with the various titles and everything it all seemed complicated and since I didn't have that much invested in the first place, investigating didn't seem worth it.
Late 90s: I still love a bargain, so when I saw one of my old favorites, Projectra, on the cover of v4n44 in a quarter bin, I picked it up. Didn't really understand it. I purchased a few more (various eras) from the quarter bins. Lightning didn't strike there either.
Fall 2001: I'm at the comics shop. No new issues of my favorites, but I wanted to get something. So I got Legion #1.
Not long after that: I was at the DCMBs and for whatever reason I stopped by the LMB to see if I could find some thread to explain the basics of What Happened. Oh, did I find out...although not in one visit as planned.
So I kept up with reading the current series and also sought out the older stuff. I'm sure I saw the old LSH bibliograpies in the 1984-ish issues and was aware that the LSH didn't always have its own title, but once again, didn't really think about it. I read the archives (for the most part in order). Loved most of the Adventure stuff.
I've purchased some random issues from my appx. 13-year gap (late 80s to 2000?). More recently I've picked up a big stack of LSH and Legionnaires from the time just before and after Zero Hour.
I have issues still to read from each era, but I am most looking forward to getting the 5YL ones.
posted
My name is minesurfer. You can call me Mike, and I am a Legion-aholic.
It was 1997. I started collecting comics based on childhood memories of reading my aunt's and my cousin's comics. I remembered wishing that we had the money for me to have my own comics, but don't cry for me, my childhood was filled with baseball and bikes.
Like with anything else, when you start something new, you're lucky to get it right the first time. Well I didn't. I started collecting JLA. From there I was all over the place trying to define my tastes. Iron Man, Hulk, X-Men, Nightwing, Tales of Spider-man, Spider-Girl, Martian Manhunter, Deadpool, Young Justice, and all types of trade paperbacks found their way into my collection. Eventually I dropped all the titles that started to bore me which left my monthly pulls at Martian Manhunter, Deadpool, and Young Justice.
I wanted to add another title. I was afraid that the titles I was collecting were in danger of cancellation. I turned out to be right. I wanted a new title that I considered to be away from the mainstream and non-Marvel. I swore off of Marvel comics (except Deadpool) for good, they were just too wordy. I'd read them and have trouble remembering what I had just read. And I didn’t want to have to collect six issues a month to know what was going on in the titles.
Anyway, I ran across The Beginning of Tomorrow TPB. Having only vague memories of what the Legion was, I decided to try it out. I got hooked. Legion was/is the perfect title for my tastes. A little Sci-fi, a little bit hero, a lotta bit team dynamic, whatever... It all appealed to me.
I WANTED to know what happened next in the story. Finally I had my comic tastes defined. I went back to my local comic book shop and purchased the next 20 issues of LOSH and Legionnaires each. I also started getting the current issues. About two weeks later (after I’d read all of my Legion comics) I went back to the store and bought the rest of the reboot (which to me, I didn’t even know was a reboot at the time). Since I now knew what happened “next”, it only seemed fitting to find out what happened previously, I went back to several different comic stores and starting with No. 259 I’ve managed to purchase every Legion appearance from that point on (circa 1980). I am filling in the rest of my collection with HC Archives (only seven more to go). The only era that I really don’t like is the 5YL. Sorry TD, but you know it’s bad when the editor needs to write a summary at the end of issues to explain what happened in previous issues. I’m not the smartest guy in the world, but I’m also not the dumbest either, and I found those issues hard to follow.
The Legion for me, like any good story or movie, is about discovery. Maybe that’s why I don’t get involved emotionally in the mainstream titles. What is there that is left to discover in those titles?
Legion is the only on-going series that I get every month. Any other title I can wait for the Trade.
-------------------- Something Filthy!
From: NOVA by way of NOIN | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I noted most of my "road map" in the second page of the "What If" thread, as an extended aside to Fat Cramer, so I won't repeat it here, but y'all may find it entertaining.
When I decided to actually keep the comics I read and bought (by my late 30s, as I note at the link above), I started with the issues featuring Dawnstar -- surprise! {g}
Those ran, as I saw it, from Superboy 225 -- her first mention, noting that she debuts in the next issue -- to "LSH" v3 n63, the end of the Magic Wars. I worked up a checklist for these, from on- and off-line sources.
(After that, she was corrupted and betrayed by the writers, and I never had much interest in collecting those TMK-and-later issues, though I read them when I could. Since the reboot, she's only had occasional cameos, her longest appearance being in the newly written "Crisis" issue "4.5" adventure.)
I progressed this way in what I bought, most via eBay: ~ Dawnstar appearances during Levitz's two writing stints on the Legion ~ Other issues of Levitz's two writing stints ~ Other LSH issues between or along with (minis, "Tales," Annuals, "Who's Who") Levitz's stints ~ Dawnstar appearances after the departure of "Bounty," in the late pre-boot ~ The few notable "Bounty" appearances ~ About 30 other selected issues, TMK to the present -- for story or importance ~ "The Legion," upon Coipel's departure
Although I've read many issues from the "Adventure," "Action," early reboot, and DnA periods -- in archives, in others' collections, and off the racks -- I've bought almost none of them. I only buy and keep what is compelling to me. The near-exception has been wanting the Levitz LSH era, end to end with all gaps in between, out of a general affection for that time.
I've collected very few other non-Legion titles to speak about -- in the sense of more or less complete runs -- but a few have come along: ~ "Ms. Marvel," the original 23-issue solo series ~ "DC Challenge," the professional round-robin tale of the early '80s ~ "Crisis on Infinite Earths," with most of the Dawnstar crossovers ~ "Power Girl" miniseries and some individual appearances ~ Superman / Wonder Woman Elseworlds, "Whom Gods Destroy"
Also about 50 to 60 other individual issues, mostly winged-art covers.
Recent series that I've read and bought in full include "Promethea," the several "Aria" miniseries, the new "Astro City: Local Heroes," "Namor," and "Hawkman." I started buying "Sojourn" about a year ago.
And all this still fits in just under three short boxes ... almost none bagged and boarded, by the way. They're meant to be read.
[ July 29, 2006, 04:32 PM: Message edited by: Greybird ]
From: Starhaven Consulate, City of Angels | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I don't even really remember my first Legion issue, it would have been mid-60s. Legion was just one of many favorites. I read a whole bunch of comics back then, all the kids did and older brothers and sisters passed down grocery bags of comics. Days of innocence, days of delight.
Like a lot of girls, I moved away from comics in high school and college. It was in my final week of college (1976), after exams, I found a stack of beat-up LSH comics in a bookstore. I was hooked, and I had time to read "junk" (what a snob!). The comics thing was more off than on for the next years as I tried to pretend I was an adult. I got rehooked by the TMK stories, totally devoted to Legion. That interest waned as the book degenerated (IMHO) into Legion on the Run and I moved from a city to a rural community with no comic store. I'm not too big on keeping anything, so I never kept any of these comics for long.
Maybe it was all the war talk last summer that sent me into escapism, but I started wondering what ever had happened to the Legion of Super Heroes. Ask Google a question and you get more than you bargained for. Combine that with eBay and message boards and I was sunk into the Legionverse once again.
This is my favorite book because it's the most fun, the book itself and the discussions that accompany it. It's the only one for which I have a subscription, so I get it in this little hick village the same day as it appears in the shops; I can become quite obssessive about some things. But not so obssessive that I'll drive 2 hours into the city to go to the comic shop once a month.
I certainly don't have most of the back issues - big gaps in my "collection". I don't mind paying a buck or two for an old book, it's great entertainment - but on principle I won't pay the going price for the death of Superboy issue.
I haven't really picked up on the other superhero books but buy a ton, it seems to me, of independents, GNs, some Wildstorm and Vertigo.
And, like Greybird, I don't bother with the plastic bags. Most of the Legion back issues came that way, but I find it's a bother, and I expect even that newsprint will outlive me at this point.
posted
My roadmap: Step 1: While interning at Marvel, I read the beginning of TMK (it took two or three issues for me to really get into it and I wouldn't have if comics weren't free over there).
Step 2: Intrigued by the history that TMK only hinted at, I bought up all the back issues I could find (Baxter and LSH from "The Great Darkness Saga" onward).
Step 3: postboot, during PMS I dropped "Legionnaires", and eventually the main "LSH" title -- I just didn't find anything interesting about it storywise and the art was ok, but not enough for me to keep buying it.
Step 4: DnA arrive and my interest is rekindled.
Step 5: Back to the back issue bins -- I've been able to find fairly inexpensive pre "GDS" stuff and "Superboy and LSH" issues.
From: New York, NY | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
My first Legion experience that started a life long obsession was Superboy #210 (Soljer's Private War). It came out right after my father died in 1975.
I lost track of the Legion in the late 80's during my first marriage (I was married once before Caroline, for 2 years) until the Blight came around. I've tried (and almost successfully) tracked down all the issues I missed in between, not that I've read them all yet. What brought me back was a chance happening upon an e-mail RPG that featured the Legion in which the person who had be playing Garth had just quit. I dived right back in and haven't looked back since.
Then a couple of years ago I found message boards and what you see here is an end result of that. I'm really glad I did and with the exception of a few bumps in the road I'm glad to be here with all of you.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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My Legion reading map started back in Adventure days. My best friend's older brother gave me my first comic book and it happened to be an Adventure comic with the Legion of Super Heroes. I was immediately hooked and began buying the title with my allowance. I also traded with others until I had the dozen or so prior issues since 300.
Bought & read & saved all of Adventure & Action. Then there was that worthless LSH v1 which was simply reprints! BAH! With all the clamoring going on in DC fandom from Legion fans, it sure took them a long time to finally bring the series back in Superboy (sporadically at first, but I was thrilled!)
I bought and read SuperBoy & the LSH through about # 280 (though I had started missing numerous issues by then) and finally stopped completely when I decided that comics were for kids and an almost adult like me couldn't be seen buying them!
Years later, I had a fire in the attic of my house and my comic collection suffered mightily. They would all be gone today if my mother and aunt hadn't gone through all the fire damaged wreakage and salvaged almost my entire LSH collection and many other comics! I couldn't believe it! When I asked them why they said that they would always remember me as a little boy with my nose buried in a comic book and they couldn't stand the thought of them being lost along with everything else.
I still have them...many singed, some charred and have since replaced all of those I lost (through eBay.) I've found all the pre Adventure 300 appearances (actually had some pre fire) and am only missing Adventure #247. (I do have a copy of Adventure #237 which many claim is the try out for the Legion concept)
Since then I have picked up an issue here or there of the newer versions so I'm aware of what's going on in the LSH but, to me, nothing will ever compare with the early days through S&LSH.
To me Shady will always be Shady not Umbar, Invisible Kid is Lyle not Jacquez, Validus is one of the Fatal Five not Garth & Irma's little boy, Polar Boy is the head of the Subs, and my top five will always be: Mon-El (not Valor,etc.), Cos, Invisible Kid, Chemical King, & Element Lad. Oh yeah, and Kal & Kara still visit every once in a while! *grin*
V
PS: There's nothing wrong with the newer version, I do enjoy it but it just seems a little off kilter to me at times.
-------------------- "Hey Jim! Get Mon out of the Zone!! And...when do we get Condo back?"
From: Paragon City on patrol | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I've recounted various parts of my 40+ years of Legion "fanship" over the last couple of years. So I'll just focus on a couple aspects that might be unique to an "ancient" fan like myself that might not be ascertainable to younger fans.
I clearly remember what it was like before there ever was a Legion series, when they were just these kids from the future who would pop up in the different Superman comics. To get an idea of what that was like, you have to set aside everything you know about Legion, all the stories you've read and many of the characters you immediately associate with Legion.
[And remember also that there was no mass youth entertainment culture such as exists today - games, computers, skating, everything, were totally non-existant. Hell, this was two years before the Beatles hit America. Besides comics and TV, about the only cultural "thing" for kids was the national obsession with the Space Race. Comics and network TV, such as they were, were it for many kids.]
As for Legion, everybody who joined after Mon-el also didn't exist yet. No Tenzil, Element Lad, Ayla, Subs, Nura, Lallors, Timber Wolf, Karate Kid, Projectra, or Shadow Lass, or anybody after that. There even wasn't an Ultra Boy yet, who first appeared only two months before the Legion got it's series.
And no Fatal Five, no Mordru, and even, even no Time Trapper. There was a Legion of Super-Villains, and these adults seemed at times to pop up as much as the Legion. Now they haven't been seen for twenty years.
Even Mon-el wasn't a Legionnaire. He was a totally separate and independent character, just "that good guy in the Phantom Zone." Many fans didn't even know what color his costume was because he rarely left the Zone; he was always being shown as a white wraith. A very frail and tragic character compared to his later alpha male stature in Legion history. Mon-el was an entirely different character - primarily Superman's "emergency warning system" (and rarely Superboy's.)
The Legion back then was completely different from all subsequent versions in both how it was shown and how it was percieved. The things that defined the Legion then, what you knew about the Legion, was basically what you didn't know about the Legion. Sure you knew the often appearing big three (Lightning Lad, Cosmic Boy, & Saturn Girl,) but there seemed a lot about the "Legion of Super-Heroes" that was unknown and mysterious. Little had been written or established yet, but that's not how a kid sees it - there's had to be more stuff to be discovered about this cool super-hero kids club.
Though I had read a few prior Legion cameos, the first Legion story that "hit" me wasn't a story. It was the "Origins & Powers of the Legion of Super-Heroes" feature in Superman Annual #4. These two pages of Swan's action-shots and the half-page text of brief bios really captivated me. By not having the Legion heroes speaking, and just giving bare-bones info on them, it made them much more mysterious and allowed young minds to imagine anything they wanted about these super-kids.
[BTW, I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that they were rarely if ever referred to as "Legionnaires" during this earliest period.]
So, specifically, even though the feature identified 12 heroes, there was no sense that these were all of the Legion of Super-Heroes. There could be more, many more heroes yet to be shown (it said Legion!) There had to be more!
And there was absolutely nothing like the Legion of Super-Heroes anywhere in comics. Nothing. No team was this big, there were no "heroes from the future" anywhere, and no team of kid heroes yet in 1961 & 1962. (First appearance of Teen Titans wasn't till 1964.)
So when the announcement was made that they would get there own series in Adventure 300, that was a big deal among the few comic fans I knew. I can't remember in what letter column it was announced, but I believe it was a couple of months before the debut. At least the anticipation afterwards made it seem so.
To this day, I can't look at the cover of Adventure #300 without feeling some of that same sense of youthful anticipation and pure wonderment.
I think that's one thing modern fans don't have the opportunity to feel. Because there has been such a comic market saturation for over three decades, that there is no true sense of "uniqueness" with new titles. Even for most brand new fans, they walk into a comic store and see a million titles. What's another one?
Another thing that most Legion fans haven't experienced is the loss of the series, specifically its limbo status after the Action feature cancellation. Hey, it was all over for the Legion. Seriously. Six months passed after the Action cancellation before another Legion story appeared seemingly accidently in the back of Superboy.
And in that year there were just three measly sporatic Legion stories, with the rather generic art of George Tuska. This was just appeasement of fans by DC. In late 1970 and 1971, it's was all over for the Legion, just a slow lingering death.
Luckily, fans started pestering DC to give the Legion a real regular series. At the same time, or perhaps partially because of this, Dave Cockrum took over the series, and the rest is history.
I guess the final major thing unique to ancient Legion fans is simply growing up with the Silver Age Legion. As the series and characters developed, I went from grammar school into Junior High, and then into High School. Legion left Adventure while I was still in high school, so there very much is a sense for me of Adventure being contained in that period, the 60s. They still exist there. The Adventure Legion didn't make it out.
So I visit them now and then. And not only do I often recall something long forgotten, I usually realize something new about the time and my childhood.
I could have "wasted my youth" a lot worse in the sixties than by reading Adventure comics and flying into the future with the Legion of Super-Heroes!
posted
I hear you, Varalent and Reep. I probably started reading shortly after you did, all the way to the end of Adventure. My comic book phase came to an end with the passing of Adventure, until I discovered Dan and Andy's stories. Now forty years after I first fell in love with the Legion I'm collecting both ends of the spectrum simultaneously, i.e., the early stories in the Archives and the most recent issues starting from the present back to Zero Hour. It'll be a while before I'm able to visit the middle years, though I do have a number of seminal issues, annuals and such, from the 70s and 80s. Maybe that's also why I don't have feelings of nostalgia concerning Levitz, Giffen, Cockrum, Lightle, and other Legion creators of that era, though I'm now coming to appreciate their talents thanks to other fans.
From: Reimagined Trom | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
1983: I read my cousin's LSH. I only remember Dawnstar trying to grab a missile and screaming the Levitz-scream as it carried her out of control. I ripped that scene off for my own comics later that summer. I was 12.
1986: A kid the neighborhood had the end of the Sensor Girl saga. I read it. It was OK. (Ten years later I would buy the whole arc).
1991: The summer before my junior year in college, I meet Jason Pearson at DragonCon in Atlanta. He's doing LSH. I see some pencils or breakdowns or something. Am intrigued by the nine-panel grid. Later in the year the Quiet Darkness Saga's Furball cover catches my eye. But skimming the interior tells me nothing.
1992: the "Bounty vs. Sade" cover catches my eye. The sheer KEWLness of the fight inside absolutely snares my interest. The surrounding drama, even moreso. I traipse all over D.C. seeking the rest of "Terra Mosaic."
1993: With Legionnaires #1, I am hooked on the Legion concept, whether SW6 teens or Adult. Meet Chris Sprouse at a mini-con in Bethesda; got a Kid Quantum sketch. Collecting Legionnaire trading cards. T&M minus Keith prove unpalatable to me; I drop LSH. Legionnaires becomes unreadable due to Sprouse and Hughes' departures; I drop.
1994: Zero Hour catches my eye again, but the continuing horrible art and immediate death of my favorite, Ferro, scare me away again. The 0 issues are mildly promising, but somewhat flat writing and art make me drop both books shortly after Planet Hell.
1995: I happen upon the brilliant group shot cover of LSH #80 and skim it. Alarmed at the apparent deaths of several Legionnaires, I get to the end to learn that the past 2 years' worth of stories led up to this conclusion. I was so blown away that I went back and filled in all the back issues I'd missed (inc. attendant issues of Superboy). I was back for the next 3 years, even though Archie Legion never got that good again.
1996: I begin to pick up the odd v.3 issue here and there, esp. the entire "Who is Sensor Girl?" arc.
1998: Archie Legion never recovers from Team 20 fiasco and becomes unreadable. Once again college student, I must drop it again.
1999: Coipel's ugly "Damned" art does nothing to get me back. "Didn't we already do this...in TMK?" My words.
2000: Legion Lost #1 looks intriguing, but I am in a self-enforced fast from comics at the time and it's not good enough to tempt me to break it. Nor is LL #2. In December the Wildfire issue, with its "Element Lad" appearance and improved art, hooks me again. I spend $$ and time tracking down the rest of the series. Very impressed with both story and art, now seeing Coipel's underlying strength under all the lines.
2001: Love the conclusion of LL. Track down LL#1 via E-bay, but item is lost in the mail. Fortunately, I find it in a quarter box. In between LWorlds and Superboy's Legion, I track down the majority of TMK in those same quarter boxes along with a few v3 issues. LW is a mixed bag. New series "The Legion" starts. Never regretted it.
-------------------- -- Still here to help.
From: ATL, fool!!! WHAT!!! | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
I was a spin-racker as a kid. Adventure stopped showing up so I thought they's stopped making it. Money got tight so stopped buying. I "grew-up" and old books hit the garbage. Besides, without my favorite book, there didn't seem much point.
Flash forward 25 years. While playing tourist in Australia, I noticed a comic book store and thought what an odd idea; those Aussies.
Hey Spin-rack!
LEGION? Wow, bikinis! These books are used?
Spin, buy,spin, buy, girlfriend pissed, BOXES of COMICS?, buy. HEY, this one's NEW! Last months? BUY! Late night, comics spread out on the bed, girlfriend pissed.
Back in the US, showing girlfriend through the south (girlfriend was Dutch). Stopped at every town looking for these, "Comic's Stores." Filled up nearly everything I had missed, girlfirend still pissed but consigned. She even paid for one of the stacks.
Back home, found a Comic's Store and have been collecting for the last..twelve years.
I have pretty much the entire run beginning in the ADV 240's. My Secrets of Legion seems to be missing, but I know it is somewhere.
From: East Toledo | Registered: Jul 2003
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The first Legion comic that I can vividly remember buying fresh off the stands with my own l'il hands (albeit my grandmother's money) was Superboy and the LSH #218. That's the issue where Tyroc joined.
OOOUUUIIIIEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This book really captured my imagination. From the heroic figure of Tyroc on the cover confronting the villain, his can do attitude throughout the book (note, in this my first experience with the character, he is completely devoid of that whole 'angry black man' thing that would define him to most fans), the multitude of heroes within, the intimation of other missions and adventures happening concurrently, the whole initiation thing, the back story with Zorrrax (if I recall that name right), people actually getting rejected from the group (hey, I could identify with that), two heroes making out (HA!) and getting caught by a dude on monitor duty (huh?) , the Legion cell bank (remember, this was before DNA), and even more heroes I had never seen at the swearing in ceremony. I mean, this book had it ALL!
I was all about the Legion from that point on. However, recall that in these heady days before direct distribution. Although comics were everywhere, on every newsstand, and in every store, finding a particular comic could be challenging. Heck, at this point I was still young enough that I had not really figured out that comics came out on a certain day of the week. For me, it was still just the "miracle of the newsstand." I'd bike all over town, finding some books in one place, some in another. Hell, the search alone was half the fun!
In Winslow, Maine where I grew up, I kind of forget the names of my regular haunts. However, I would sometimes, when I knew Mom would not be home from work for awhile, venture across the Kennebec river to Waterville to what I soon discovered was the holy temple of newsstands, Joe's Smoke Shop!
Funny aside: a couple of years ago I was back in waterville and stopped into Joe's. There were only a handful of comics on the stands. I asked the proprieter (who is not names Joe BTW) if he sold many comics. "Nawwww," he said, rather dejectedly I thought. "They don't make 'em for kids anymore." I thought this was rather insightful from a guy who had probably never actually read a comic himself and knew nothing of the industry. But somehow, just by noticing what the distributor was sending him, and what the kids were reacting too, he innately sensed that the "Comics aren't just for kids anymore!" wave of the '80s (of which I am sure he knew nothing) had left his customer's behind. In his eyes kids had not left comics, comics had left the kids.
Now, way back when, I would spend most every weekend with my grandparents in Skowhegan. Every weekend gram would give me a couple of dollars and stop at the Pic Qwik, where I would sit at the newsstand reading and making pained decisions until my legs fell asleep, or until a LONG blast of the horn told me she was tired of waiting. Later, when we moved to Skowhegan ourselves, and the Pik Qwik had become a Big Apple Store, I spent almost every afternoon after school through junior high there buying comics, drinking slush puppies (ow, ow, owwww, BRAIN FREEZE!), and playing Dig Dug. There were two arcade games in the store. One would rotate Asteroids, Space Invaders, Ms Pac-Man. But the Dig Dug was constant. Probably because it was my favorite and I probably could have gone to college on the quarters I pumped into it.
So, anyway, back to my original point, which was that distribution of comics was spotty in those days. I do not have a vivid recollection of another Legion until #225 where Wildfire was elected leader. Also, a VERY cool story. Comics were cool then. Sure, sub-plots would carry over from issue to issue, but you almost always got a complete story of some kind in each and every book. The next one I recall was #230. The main story was pretty lame, but I do recall the reference to "Moopsball." That fascinated me. I remember spending hours with pen and paper trying to work out my own Calvin & Hobbs type rules for the game.
After that, the books went to 50-cent, and later 60-cent giants. At this point, they became MUCH easier to find. Gone were the days of here's an issue, there's an issue, some months NO issue. From here on in, I was there each and every month for Klordney festivals, Composite Legionnaires, Fatal Five battles, and EARTHWAR!! Ooooohhhhh! I remember getting "That Damn Tabloid" at Joe’s and, rather than being thrilled at this over-sized book, being rather pissed off that my pal Tyroc once more had been given the short shrift. Again, I had not yet seen any "angry black man" stories, and could not figure out why Tyroc was not taking part in adventures.
Later, my enthusiasm, if not my interest, began to wane. I had not quite discovered the credit box, and so did not at the time realize that Paul Levitz had left. Still, I could recognize art styles and I somehow dimly perceived that someone new (Joe Staton) was handling the art regularly. The art was not bad, just not near as exciting as it had been.
Somewhere in there, I also ran across a copy of DC Super-Stars #3. This book truly fascinated me. An ADULT Legion story. Weird. At the time, I don't think I recognized that it was a reprint of an earlier story. I know that I was just fascinated that all the heroes changed their costumes once they grew up. Made sense, I thought, to go to a more conservative look when they got older...
Then, when the Legion got it's own book! WOW!! That was BIG! Not all the stories were great, and I was not overly thrilled with the art, things were getting worse, no better, IMHO, but still, an actual Legion book.
Shortly after v.2 started, we had a house fire. I lost my entire comics collection. A sad, sad day. This happened just before the start of school that year (7th grade) and we found ourselves at the mall in Portland for school shopping. Actually, at this point it was not so much school shopping as any clothes period shopping. While at the mall we happened into a bookstore where I spied this glorious and mysterious thing called an Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. One sniffle and a set of Bambi eyes later, this Gutenburg Bible was mine. So, ironically, at this point I owned a price guide and not one single comic book.
More ironically, it was soon after this that I got a pity raise in my allowance, and parlayed that windfall into a purchase of some older comics from a schoolmate. Most were more recent books, but among them was Adventure Comics #346. Adventure Comics!? Here was a seemingly teen Legion, based on one of my favs Karate Kid (had managed to search out nearly all of his solo series from #8 when I first discovered it!) joining, but he was wearing a different costume, In fact, all the Legion members were wearing their adult costumes. Well, let's just consult 'ol Overstreet and see what he has to say on this. 1st app. this, 1st app. that, 1st app. the other damn thing. HOLY CRAP!!
Now, in our old trailer, that got claimed by the fire , I had my comics on shelves in the closet. In the new trailer, my stepfather refused to let me have shelves in the closet again. Why? Same answer as for everything, "Because I said so!" However, this new trailer had a half-bath off my bedroom, and he did build shelved over the toilet. Funny, now that my collection is closing in on 12,000 comics, to think of that time when my entire collection fit on 4 small shelves in the bathroom. Anyway, my stepfather and I never hooked horns, and to this day I am convinced that this is why he did such a half-assed job on those shelves. One day they collapsed, and the entire "L" pile took a deep-sea dive. It was almost 20 years later before I had replaced my last waterlogged copies of the Superboy/Ultra Boy/Reflecto saga!
So, things are going fine, I'm groovin' on the Legion, and The Great Darkness saga is absolutely the coolest thing I have ever read. Omen & Prophet not so much though, especially half way through when Giffin got kidnapped by aliens and changed his art style.
Then, DISASTER! Almost worse than the house fire even!
To most of you, the hardcover/softcover thing might have been a good idea. For me, in Maine, it was the worst possible thing that could have happened. Today, there are maybe 6 comics shops in the State. There have rarely been more then that. Back in 1984, not even this many. V.3 was lost to me. However, by the time Tales was reprinting the series, I had discovered one an hour's drive away in Portland. I never bought the Tales reprints, preferring to get what I could, when I could, of the Baxter series because, in my teen mind, reprints sucked.
In some ways, it was like the old days, when you never knew what you would find, and only ever managed to get every third issue. Problem was, now if you missed an issue, it almost always meant missing half the story. Pretty unsatisfying. Later, I would find a comics shop only 25 minutes away, and by then I had my license, but with much the same results.
In the meantime, I had discovered a used bookstore in Bingham that had comics. I managed to get most of the Adventure run post #340 here. Although I never did get #347, to find out who the traitor was, Ferro or Nemesis Kid (I could easily rule out KK & PP for obvious reasons). That issue would not be found for another 15 years with the advent of eBay.
I also found a used bookstore, run out of this guy’s garage, right in Skowhegan. This guy actually collected comics, the only adult I had met up till then who did so. He was the stereotypical Simpsons' Comic Book Guy, and he never had any old Adventure comics, but I did get from him the last issue of the original Legion Outpost fanzine. This was a revelation. Oh, to find that, somewhere, there were fans as fanatical about the Legion as me.
After dropping out of High School, I moved around a LOT. Back then, I was the Commando Waiter. Always cash on hand, zero responsibility, get pissed off, walk out, get new waiter job within two days, always cash on hand, zero responsibility, move on, move on, more money here, grass is greener there, move on, move on. Many times, changing jobs meant changing ghetto apartments, especially when I had used up all the restaurants in one city and had to find another. I once counted and from 18 to 32 I moved, on average, twice a year. My Legion collection may not be in the best condition, but it is certainly the most well traveled.
Most of this time, there were few if any comics shops nearby. Sometime none. Most of v3. and v.4 came to me via back issue bins. Eventually I managed to fill in all the holes. And, using e-bay, I managed to fill in most of the Adventure run, all the Action run, and re-collect all the Superboy & LSH run.
I also discovered online fandom via AOL chatrooms and the lsh-l list around '95 or '96. That was fun. By the reboot, I had begun to settle down, and with the help of new online pals, I was way BIG into the new Legion.
Today, I have been married for going on three years. THAT has settled me down a LOT. I actually own a house on 9 acres in Sumner, Maine. Sumner is a small town of <850 people in west central Maine. I serve there on the Volunteer Fire Department as its Secretary, and recently received by my State certification as a Firefighter I.
I was in a few Legion APA's briefly, and many Legion related mailing lists, but have recently roosted here at LegionWorld.Net as my primary internet home. I am very happy here, thank all who made this possible, and all those who make it such a fun place to be. Also, on an unrelated note, I have absolutly no idea who Koko is.
I work customer service & tech support for a phone/internet company in Auburn, making me a super-commuter as work is 40 mins. from home. It's still a "suck-job," but at least I am finally out of restaurants.
My comics shop, Zimmie's, is across the Androscoggin river in Lewiston. I pre-order, and pre-pay, for my books and get a 15% discount. Legion is still the favored purchase, and I can usually be counted on to order and A-R items I know of in advance. The batter half allows me a budget of $100 a month. I generally max that and have not bought many back issues in recent years. Not that I need 'em. The entire 2nd floor of our house is dedicated to my Fortress of Solitude. Sill, I recognize that it is unfair of me to monopolize an entire whole floor of the house. I keep threatening to buy a silo, paint it yellow, weld some big red rocket fins on it, and place it on the far corner of our property as my super-hero clubhouse.
Anyway, that's MY story, and I'm stickin' to it!
Thanks for having me.
From: Sumner, ME | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I know the first Legion stories I read were in a digest, and somehow or other I had enough exposure that I started collecting with V3 # 13. I think I must have borrowed a lot from a friend and got into it that way. The first Adventure era backissue I bought was # 319, which was really cool because most series' back issues from that era were already getting to pricey for a punk kid.
Since then there have been several times when I kicked the habit so to speak, only to get sucked back in. I missed part of v3 during a fling with manga reprints, but was back before the Magic Wars. I dropped it again after Zero Hour when I realized what had happened (the reboot) but got sucked back again when the Fatal Five reappeared. I dropped comics altogether when my wife and I first shacked up, but when I found the DC Message boards I heard the buzz about Legion Lost and jumped back in again.
The only diffence this time is that I haven't gone back and filled in the gap since I dropped out last time, just after Team 20. Before, I always went back and got caught up. When I decided the reboot was okay I was buying backissues at a furious pace, four or five at a time. Nobody seems to care too much for the pre-DnA stories anyhow so I may never get around to it.
From: Douglasville, GA | Registered: Jul 2003
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![[Chameleon Boy]](graemlins/ChameleonBoy.gif)
![[Aaahhh!]](graemlins/scream.gif)
OOOUUUIIIIEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![[Mad]](mad.gif)
Again, I had not yet seen any "angry black man" stories, and could not figure out why Tyroc was not taking part in adventures.![[Confused]](confused.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
WOW!! That was BIG! Not all the stories were great, and I was not overly thrilled with the art, things were getting worse, no better, IMHO, but still, an actual Legion book. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
I lost my entire comics collection. A sad, sad day. This happened just before the start of school that year (7th grade) and we found ourselves at the mall in Portland for school shopping. Actually, at this point it was not so much school shopping as any clothes period shopping. While at the mall we happened into a bookstore where I spied this glorious and mysterious thing called an Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. One sniffle and a set of Bambi eyes later, this Gutenburg Bible was mine. So, ironically, at this point I owned a price guide and not one single comic book.![[Cool]](cool.gif)
Omen & Prophet not so much though, especially half way through when Giffin got kidnapped by aliens and changed his art style. ![[Embarrassed]](redface.gif)
