Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Seeing the Legion from the childrens' eyes...

Hello Legion folks,

it's been some time since I posted here, not so much to tell since the Legion got canceled.

Well now something happened that really made me realize how wonderful the times were when comics were still made for kids. My daugther of seven years totally digs the Legion! Over the years I read a story to her every now and then and it was clear that she seemd to love the many different characters, especially that there were so many girls there.

I also have to add that some of the older DC Direct action figures are toys that my son of three years is playing with. Lightning Lads metal arm really was a fascination for both of my kids. So they knew some of the characters and wanted to know how LL got his normal arm back so we read the Devils Dozen story, which I did not really remember myself and thought was quite hilarious

That was some months ago, and now suddenly my daugther asked if I could read her any further Legion stories and we really dived into Archive #6 - and even though to me some of the stories really seem rather silly, I can now see how the Legion managed to get so many young fans back in the 50s and 60s. Substitute Heroes - a hit! Adult Legion with all those families with children - couldn't get enough of it. Ghost of Ferro Lad - totally excited about it. Super-Babies - must I say more? So now we started with Archive #1 which has a lot of Supergirl and stories that a girl can relate to like the Super-Pets.

I wouldn't have hoped for my daugther to get into the Legion (my hopes were rather for my son), but I really enjoy rediscovering all those classic stories with her even though it is quite hard to constantly translate the text into instant German. But I'm getting better with that as well

So what are your experiences with the next generation of fans? I really think that the classic Legion is quite a good all ages family book.

I'm so thrilled that you're able to share your love for the Legion with your children, Chemical King! I think it helps that Daddy (or Vati, perhaps?) reads the stories to them. Doing so creates a bond between you and your kids (and the Legion, of course) that will last a lifetime.

As for me, I got to share some of the Legion stories with kids I tutored back in 2007. They were English-as-a-Second-Language learners, so the language was difficult for them, but they sure got into the pictures. They liked the reboot more than the Adventure-era stories.

Thanks for sharing, Chemical King. Here's to many more Legion stories shared between you and yours.



This.

CK, I think the Legion has always had an unusually high number of female fans. Or maybe it's that team books are more popular with girls and women, because there are actually female characters in them doing stuff beyond being just "So-And-So's Girlfriend."

I have a niece and nephew myself, but unfortunately I've never met them as they live on the other side of the U.S. It would be great to find out that they were getting into my favorite old books, though.

I support that theory about team books, for the same reasons Cleome lists. Other superhero comics popular with girls and women have been X-Men, Teen Titans, and Young Justice, all team books.

My daughter is a huge Legion fan. All of the Archives now reside in her room, and she's obsessed with Silver Age Legion (and the YJ cartoon).

We're through with Archive #1 now, oh my this is really so much fun rereading it with my daugthers eyes glues to the pictures. She loves the Tryouts, and she is so keen on finding out stuff like who Mon-El is and when he's going to be out of the Phantom Zone, when LL is going to return from the dead, it's all so well told for a child with a huge love for fantasy stories (she's into unicorns and fairies as well - off course!).

And when I manage to translate the humor, it's all very appropriate for a little girl, clean and funny, like Invisible Kid forgetting to turn visible again and stuff like that.

Had a short look into the Great Darkness HC with her, just to give a Preview. "Who's the girl with the wings", off course, Dream Girl, the White Witch, it's like you said, there is so much to find in the Legion for a girl, much more than in your average Superman od Spider-Man book. She was just a little bit disappointed though that Rainbow Girl didn't make the cut ...

It is a pity that comic books are so expensive nowadays so that many parents probably don't buy them for that reason alone. I really think that it is a good way to spend your youth, letting your fantasy fly.