Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes The Best Moments of the 5YL Legion

I'd say this a fair counter-thread to the recent "Worst Moments" thread. After all, there are many of us, myself included, who really adore the era and still lament its complete erasure from continuity.

Here are a few of my favorite 5YL moments (represented by their covers) in chronological order:

1.

Mon-El, defiantly and bravely standing up for what's right against the greatest evil he'd ever known--the thing that killed the man who was like a brother to him. Damn the consequences, he was going to end the threat once and for all. All under one of my all-time favorite Legion covers!

2.

Immediately, we see the consequences of Mon-El's actions: the Mordru-verse. Andrew Nolan lives in this alternate reality but proves as heroic as in the previous reality, fighting to restore a reality in which neither the Time trapper nor Mordru rule over all--even if though it means dooming himself to the grave.

3.

If we had to lose Kara and Kal from Legion history, we were blessed to have Laurel Gand in Kara's stead. I fell in love with her immediately and thrilled to see what was in essence Kara fully realized at last.

4.

This appears frequently on the "worst" list, but I think it's the most beautiful and experimental single issue of the LSH ever published. Maybe destroying Earth was a bad decision for the long haul, but there's no doubt in my mind that the issue and the moment are real keepers.


There are other great moments from 5YL, including more that appear on the "worst" list, but these really stuck out for me when contemplating this new topic.

What are the best moments of 5YL to you?

I completely agree with this one. Sometimes I wish this issue existed in a vacuum. It was beautifully done and still makes me shed a tear every reread. My main criticism is the lack of build-up to it in previous issues. But I very much like the way the issue itself was executed.

And Laurel Gand is , and I very much agree that she is a wonderful addition to the Legion.

I also applaud the brief additions of Infectious Lass and Spider-Girl to the team. Both had powers which were, frankly, less than formidable before the 5YL. But they were used to great effect in this volume, and Spider-Girl was also shown as effective even without her living hair.

Kono, Computo II and Dragonmage are other good characters who were born in this run. Celeste, Devlin and Kent too, though I don't like them quite as much.

Well, I guess it's best to view both sides of the story, pardon the pun.

This isn't really a "moment" per se, but Element Lad was written very well in this run up until the "Sean" reveal. I liked that TMK made Jan very introspective and spiritual.

I also loved the Mon-El vs Time Trapper issue. It was one of the highlights of the run and showed his courage and selflessness.

I've been racking my brain, and I can't think of anything that I don't have to add some caveat to.

For example, I like the way the Dark Circle evolved, but then it was revealed that Tellus had joined them. It almost felt like a deliberate wind-up of Tellus fans, among many other deliberate wind-ups.

And I think the first few issues of 5YL had a lot of promise, but I also think ultimately that promise vanished as the fill-ins piled up, slowing the pace down, and the payoffs to the various threads were often frustrating to me.

I'm not trying to be a troll, I'm just trying to explain why, even though think there were a lot of good ideas along with the bad and the ugly, none of them were executed to my satisfaction. I applaud 5YL's ambition and scope, but I abhor its execution and lack of a center.

I loved the issue where Cosmic Boy is having dinner with Mordru and is constantly planning his next move to free his friends. It's shows what a great tactical leader Rokk is.

One of my faves:

The Li'l Legion issue.

A fantastic story, and a rare example of a Legion issue that, as I recall, doesn't feature a single character created before the Bronze Age (not counting Validus).

Sussa and Druda realy shine in this era.
But not forget the introduction of the sensual Veilmist.
She was possessing an effective power and a fascinating personality.
it is a shame that the Khunds were not allowing she to remain and afterwards she was dying trying to help to the Legion.
She might have been the great one allied

I have to agree, Veilmist is a very formidable teleporter. And because she teleports discrete objects, she is easily capable of feats that other teleporters like Gates or Nightcrawler are not.

Example, the time she teleported her teammates out from under the rubble that buried them. Gates would have had to gauge the location of his teleport disks exactly or else risk amputating a limb or a head; and he would have teleported the rubble along with each person. Nightcrawler would have had to make physical contact with each person he would try to rescue, and he could only do it one at a time.

(1) Laurel Gand. Rond Vidar. Lauren Gand.

(2) Lightning Ring Farms: the extended Ranzz Family, living a 'normal' life, at last, in the 31st century.

From Issue #2

5YL is my favourite Legion! Tenzil was amazing. Laurel was awesome, Mysa's story (at least to begin with) was really tragic but I felt very well done....I agree that the Earth explodey issue was done brilliantly, Giffen's art was at its best (which I know is a very polarising opinion)....really liked Cham and Rokk as the stable core of the team and both Kono and Sussa's relationships with Jo....the Subs....I could go on forever really, as much as there were big missteps I liked a whole lot more than I didn't like

The introduction of Laurel Gand.

I've posted this moment before ("Crowning Moments of Awesome") but it's not just one of my 5YL favorites, but favorites of all time.


As Zero Hour hits, and the very timeline is collapsing all around them, Jo Nah receives a piece of info that spells the possibility that his long deceased love (the absence of whom informed his emotional journey throughout the whole of 5YL) could be - not is, mind you, but could be - still alive.

It's almost guaranteed suicide at this point to enter the time-stream to try to find her on only the thinnest of leads, but...




That look! It just says, "Of course I do."

The ex-Substitutes effectiveness during the Terra Mosaic arc was a great turnaround from their reduction to comic relief a few years prior. It was maybe a bit of a cheat to have Stone Boy be able to move in stone form but I'll let that one go. (I know they explained it away with hypnotic suggestion something-mumbo jumbo.)

I also think Laurel Gand was a really good save of a bad situation; she didn't just plug holes in the timeline but actually developed into a solid character in her own right.

Like Raz, this era was my favourite. I had been aware of the team prior to this but they had never struck me as particularly interesting. I love this era up until the end of the Terra Mosaic or thereabouts.

The annual with Jo pitting Glorith and Mordru against each other was perhaps my favourite comic ever - certainly in the top three.

While not every single outrageous idea worked at least they were taken.

The introduction of Kent Shakespeare.



A character who joined in the gap itself, and who never looked out of place on the team.

God, I miss the 5-Year Gap Legion. The mature, innovative writing made the book then. Thanks to all of you for allowing me to relive some of my favourite Legion moments.

Great Vi & Ayla moments...

It should be remembered that the 5YL's depiction of openly gay couples was quite a novelty for mainstream comics at the time. A feather in its hat, I'd say.

Thinking back, I'd loved the Legion before 5YL, but I now realize that the time I loved it the absolute MOST was during that era. I honestly believe that I wouldn't be such a hardcore fan of the property or sought out internet fandom if 5YL never happened. It is, hands down, my favorite era of the LSH!

The finest moments of Tenzil Kem...





"Oh, the TMK Legion was all dark and gritty and...and...dystopian!"
Yer ma wears your dad's vacuum nose!

There's really a surprising lack of discussion of POOP on these boards.

I can think of someone round here who could probably come up with their anthem...