Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Spaceopoly Legion of Super-Heroes Creators Hall of Fame - WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

Fairly predictable (as I suppose should be expected with fan-votes), but satisfactory list.

I underestimated Shooter's impact.

Great job Xben!

I read your article and thought your write-ups on each of the winners was excellent, really capturing their contributions and why they deserved to be in the Hall of Fame.

My pleasure! But sorry, I listed the winners alphabetically, not by votes, so your guy actually came third.


Thanks so much. It was fun to do. It'll be interesting to carry it on in the future, and add to the list.

Xben, thanks for clarifying. It doesn't take the wind out of my sails, because he still got more votes than either of the two other artists who made the Top Five.

I noticed that, but since Fickles seemed so excited about it, I decided not to mention it!

Thanks for all of you hard work on this Xben!

Very sweet of you, EDE. Thanks for allowing me a little while of walking on air.

I think it's an excellent Top Five, personally. I didn't really visualize what mine would be, but I tremendously admire all five. So I think it would be extremely close.

The two writers, to me, had the biggest influence on the Legion and had seismic impacts. The one just seemed to mature the storytelling from the simpler state it debuted in and expanded the mythology by leaps and bounds. The other brought the storytelling maturity to the next level and juggled the large cast with with aplomb while amping up the sci-fi and epic feel to its potential.

You could argue the two artists, maybe. Both are better known for their work on different properties, for example. But the Silver Age artist brought the best artistry and humanity to the stories and characters that had been seen to that point. I think there was a synergy between him and his artist that made their collaboration so important for the Legion that might otherwise not have turned out so well an been remembered so fondly. The Bronze Age artist had a pretty short run, but the foundation he laid informed all that followed on the book without argument.

The writer/plotter/artist is controversial, for sure. Some feel he ruined the Legion or should have stayed with one particular art style. I, for one, can't imagine a Legion that never had his influence and, frankly, wouldn't want to. In any case you simply can't discuss the Legion's history without discussing his work, and that puts him in the HoF, no matter your views on him in my opinion.

In fact, I think that last statement justifies these five because each has a crucial part to play in Legion history, I feel. Are some of the others relevant without these five's shoulders (and a handful of others') to stand on? It's at the very least debatable.

I agree wholeheartedly about the expansion of the mythology, but as far as maturing the storytelling, I'd say Ed Hamilton had already reached that level just before his departure from the Legion (The Legionnaire Who Killed, The Super-Stalag of Space) and raised the bar for his younger successor. To the young writer's credit, he did rise to the challenge within a very short time, but I still think it's because his immediate predecessor had already paved the way.


I used to be a great admirer of his, but, with several exceptions, most of his work on the Legion feels dated in a way that his work on The Very First Super-Team Ever Created does not.


His work was often lovely to behold, and although it was more consistent and had fewer rough edges than John Forte, I find I prefer Forte these days. Perhaps that has as much to do with this artist's canonization by fandom, compared to Forte's relative neglect. But no denying this artist's technical skill, nor his superiority to the likes of Win Mortimer and George Tuska. If anything, I tend to ignore anything that came between him and the other artist who got into the HoF. Speaking of whom...


He SAVED the Legion from oblivion! If not for him, we wouldn't even be talking about the Legion today. It would be yet another obscure IP left to the ambiguous mercies of the hipster writers.


That last sentence sums it up perfectly, so, fair enough.


Agreed.

Nice work Xben!