Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes LSH #23 Preview and Review [SPOILERS!]

Isn't there some kind of entertainment business model where a property with a small but avid fanbase is turned into a profitable Enterprise?

I'm sure it's been done before...

It's on the tip of my tongue...

...which itself had its ups and downs, but kept coming back.

There's also the idea of 1,000 True Fans, which could work if the Legion were free of big company ownership (which it's not, and more's the pity at this point).

I won't lie, I've been one of the fans who was (on some level) begging for this particular run to be over. Why? Because it hurt. It hurt to see my absolute favorite comic series ever be written so poorly, drawn so badly, and basically treated like CRAP. I wanted that to be over.

Did I stop buying the book, however? Nope! I kept on buying it, despite how awful it had become, because I'm a Legion fan. I was hoping that maybe they'd find someone else to write it. Someone else to draw it. Someone who cared enough to breathe new life into the series. TO CARE.

But it didn't happen. And I, for one, am glad to see the book cancelled for now. I hope, when it's resurrected (and it will be), that it's by someone who really has some new ideas. Some new life.

I just clicked on your link and was able to read all the comments.

I find it noteworthy that one fan mentions the fact that a Batman comic sells 100,000 per month vs. 15,000 for the Legion. I would maintain the opposite of that fan's conclusion based on these numbers: DC could, in fact, afford a couple of "loss leaders" thanks to the success of the Bat-Franchise. But they can't be satisfied with that. No book can be allowed to survive solely because it has some merit for some fans. Every single throw must be hit out of the park every time, or else.

I really hope I'm still alive when the "Bat-bubble" finally bursts. I'll get a little sour satisfaction from seeing DC left with the equivalent of a warehouse full of nothing but rotting potatoes after everyone's finally wearied of potatoes and gone off to purchase/consume something different for a change.

Hey, a woman can dream, can't she?

Agreed. I cannot even tell you how SICK I am of Batman. The only thing I ever really enjoyed about Batman was Nightwing. And, seeing as how Nightwing SUCKS these days, I don't really enjoy anything at all. How DC ruined an awesome character like him, i'll never know.

This is so pretty, I have decided to buy it, thus breaking an almost ban of DC comics, to support KM.

If your intent is to support Kevin Maguire, you might as well plan on buying Marvel as that's where he's headed next, being "done with DC for a while".

Long story.

I will do that as well! GotG here I come.

but I wish he was doing a follow up to Coipel's mostly female X-Men instead ... he would be stellar at it!

I keep hoping that some other company would pick up Legion and "buy" it from DC. Similar to what happens with TV shows sometimes when one network cancels it, another network sees there's enough of a following that they can make it work, buys it up and runs it for another couple seasons.

DC has definitely changed their business model and I wonder if books/teams like Legion fit in with it anymore. It will never be a movie...and that's where the comics money is these days.

Alas, with so much history and links to Superman/Superboy, another company picking it up will be very unlikely. But I can dream.

I vote this

except for the no doubt million lawsuits over who owns what characters, blah, blah, blah...

As much as I would love that I don't think it would ever happen. Jim Shooter could conceivably get the rights to everything he created as a minor but he has said in the past that he had no interest in doing so.

It's not just that, it's that DC does nothing to try to build titles. The Legion has this immense catalog and history that could be digitized and made available to potential readers, but instead DC is selling the old issues online for the price of new. Who is going to buy 5YL or D&A Legion Lost for $1.99 each?

Imagine, however, if DC set it up so that readers could have unlimited access to the Adventure Legion catalog for free for one month. Or for $9.99. Then do that for different eras of the Legion. Don't you think that would generate interest in what is happening in a current title?

Or maybe they could do a few digest-type books that are published for free online as "Introductions to the LSH" that teach about the history. I remember when, not long after I started reading, the Secrets of the Legion of Superheroes miniseries came out. In three issues, it retold the origin, gave a one-page synopsis of every member, and had a plot that turned out to be important over time (revealing that RJ Brande was Durlan and Cham's father). For someone new to Legion history, it was a great way of coming up to speed about the team. There is no reason something like that couldn't be done to help new readers learn about the Legion. Superman and the Legion and Legion of Three Worlds failed miserably at doing that. They catered to longtime Legion fans, but newbies learned little about who who the Legion characters were or their histories.

Well, wow! Initial thoughts after the first read-through:

It's the wrap-up issue, for us and for the Legion, as Brainy feverishly works to fix the galaxy. Lots of Brainy-bashing from other Legionnaires and a scene that makes me think Luornu should have been Leader for Life.

The Legion is over, says Gigi at the end, amid the rubble of Metropolis, with the Legion HQ standing tall. Then there are four epilogues, focusing on Nura, Jeckie & Val, Lu & Chuck and the 3 founders, with Imra saying "our story will never end".

Bittersweet.

Things don't all get fixed nice and tidy; there are dead Legionnaires and badly injured Legionnaires. The U.P. has a big job ahead to put things back to normal. The three founders seem to be taking it pretty well; perhaps they concluded it was time for everyone to move on.

We do get to see a good number of Legionnaires and there is certainly enough set-up to continue the story, if that ever comes to pass.

Well, that's it. It's an end I can live with, I guess. With the Legion disbanded, Levitz provides the set up for a new creative team to come along and reform the Legion at some point, using the Retroboot Legion members, but getting to pick and choose who will be tapped for the new team without the baggage of having to use every character.

Interesting that Levitz sets the stage for Giffen's 5 year gap run to return to Legion continuity minus the fact that Sun Boy is already dead. Also interesting is that Shady is taking Mon-El back home to heal just like she did in towards the end of his last run on the Legion.

My biggest disappointment was that Levitz left the Legion Lost team still lost in the 21st century to die there just as Tyroc's prophecy foretold. It would have been a more enjoyable end to have brought them home before everyone went there separate ways. Gim and Yera deserved their reunion too!

My other disappointment came after the story was over. I had skimmed the pages in thumbnail on my iPhone before actually reading the issue. In that quick browse I thought the two pages for DC's Villan's month promo might have actually been a photo gallery of all the Legionnaires. I wished had been. I really wanted to see a gallery of all the members, past and present, in one place one more time. That would have been a visual tribute to all us fans that I wish Levitz had thought of.

Well folks, it's been nice reading and reacting to the Legion with you. You all take care! Maybe if the Legion comes back we can all have a happy reunion together. Until then, it's been fun!

Frustrating that the Legion just takes it and doesn't fight the decision or go rogue or SOMETHING. They all just give up. Sad.

Also quite a bizarre revelation that this Legion is actually



I guess that opens a lot of doors, or maybe perhaps only gives Justice League 3000 a future without the Legion to worry about. Still a strange thing to just throw out there at the very end.

Yes that's what shocked me too. It does explain a lot of discrepancies in the Legion history that we know, however, and it does open the door for a return of the Legion.

I missed that shocker in my first read. I'll have to reread it again to find that surprise. If so, then it appears that Justice League 3000 is DC's chosen future over the Legion in the New 52. Fifty plus years of Legion history and continuity just tossed aside. Bummer!!!!

UPDATE: I guess the reason I missed Duplicate Damsel's shocking revelation is because I've only read Legion and not sampled any of the rest of the New 52. That does leave the Legion Lost team in even more of a limbo than before! Oh well, what's done is done. I don't care. My Legion collection is now complete. Let DC Comics do with what they will with their universe. Mine is now safely locked in the vault.

You know, the big revelation about the Legion in this issue made the whole last 2 series worth of crap suddenly much more bearable because like Pariscub said, it opens the door for the real Legion to come back some day. I wonder if it would have made a difference knowing that a lot sooner? It would mean much less dissatisfaction at the constant continuity gaffes, that's for sure!

Also, interesting to see Shvaughn Erin even alluded to for the first time since this train wreck began (though I have to wonder if Levitz deliberately didn't mention her by name or show her so as to leave people guessing whether its Shvaughn or Sean?)

I guess it's all over now! A shame we don't have a Legion now, but I can't say I'm gonna particularly miss this particular incarnation of it...

Hmmmmm (he says, suspiciously)....

So, we're now to believe that the Legion is from Earth-2, despite the multiple interactions between them and persons from the DCnU, like Superman for instance?

Either someone has been reading up on string theory (which suggests that time travel would be possible, forward or backward, but not within your own timeline) or this is a truly contrived way of making room in the DCnU for their JLA300 crap (which won't last, IMHO).

Poor decisions right up until the end.

At least the Legion Lost members are still around (somewhere) and could be seen from time to time, assuming that the Powers That Be at DC are willing (which they don't seem inclined to be).

See ya around, Legion, when the current regime falls on its editorial face.

Focusing on the Legion Lost team and their return home to the 31st century only to find the Legion disbanded would indeed be an interesting way to relaunch the Legion franchise someday!

I knew it would be something like this! Now the ridiculous JL3K can be the NU52 "Legion" and the original Legion is still perfectly intact somewhere in the Multiverse. I, for one, am satisfied.

Granted, i'm not thrilled with the Earth 2 Legion just giving in and throwing in the towel, but as the series IS ending...

And granted, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense considering that the Earth 2 team has technically interacted with the NU52 universe...but...yeah, I'm not going to think about it too deeply because DC makes my head hurt in a bad way.

Yeah...I'm glad it's over for now. And the door is wiiiiddeee open for the return of...something...someone. Who knows?

Frankly I'm just sort of numb about the whole thing. I stopped truly enjoying the book a long time ago, so I don't feel a great pang of loss for it. The back issues are there for enjoyment, anyway.

Lots of good ideas in this thread though, such as;



and



Though as mentioned by Klar Ken, it looks like DC doesn't give enough of a shit to go out and seek fan opinions, so we'll just have to wait for someone with good sense to take the reins.

All of that sounds fine to me, reckless. But I don't think anyone at DC really understands digital access as anything but "competition" for the skimpy paper books they're still desperately trying to move at inflated prices.

Also, while all your ideas would be helpful, I still think that readers would be willing to wade in even with a simple recap intro or perhaps a brief mini-bio available online. With so many fans out there discussing the book and its history, I don't think an enthusiastic reader would hesitate to dive in and dig around and learn at least some of it on their own-- IF the introduction point/story was good enough to capture their enthusiasm. (As I've said before, I also think DC made a mistake (repeatedly) by not looking for new readers outside its own little already-established base. That's harmed a lot of books, I'm sure. Not just this one.)

I mean, all of us, at some point, were brand-new readers who knew little or nothing about the book and the characters in it. Readers around my age or younger must also be familiar with the sensation of diving into a continued comics story smack in the middle, but trying to follow along nonetheless because even the confusing parts were actually interesting.

On the other hand, I do think there is a market out there for digital copies of old issues. I know a lot of us here might fork over a few bucks for the Adventure Era comics because of the good things they've read on the re-read threads, for example.

Speak for yourself, missy. Advanced genetic engineering fused Legion material with my genes in utero.