Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! Two ongoing books in 2008?

So with the release of the new "XLegion" picture I must admit it looks cool but I was really hoping for a restored Legion timeline via Levitz et all..then with the continued Action appearance with the original Legion and Johns involvment in it , could be two books in the works for the 50th. Does everyone think that the original Legion will be the Earth two Legion(JSA) and the new Legion Earth 1/new Earth? Would anyone buy both? the new Legion? Growing up in the 70's the original Legion in all it's Cockrum/Grell/Levitz/Giffen splendor would be fantastic..but the new Legion still has possibilities like Invisible kid, Chemical King and maybe even Ferro Lad alive and well.

What would you buy and why?

I don't want to nitpick or hijack but I think this is a point worth making:

If there's another Legion title added to DC's lineup, it will be not a second book but a third book. Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century, the comic based on the animated series, is already the second, and it's good! It's worth everyone's time; don't dismiss it just because it's aimed at kids. (Plus it's a little cheaper than the regular title.)

I would certainly buy both - at least at first. When the title split into two with "Legionnaires" I bought both for a long time before eventually dropping one of them during the "Archie" phase.

As long as DC is commited to putting top talent on either title, I'll be along for the ride.

I don't want to sound like a downer here, but if there aren't enough Legion fans to make DC Direct Action Figures more profitable than the latest iteration of Superman in the style of storyline "X" of the Superman/Batman book or an OMAC Project robot, how can there possibly be enough to sustain a second (non-cartoon-based) monthly book?

Well, in the 90s, the two books LSH and Legionnaires survived for quite some time before and after Zero Hour. They may have been lousy especially before DnA, but still that was nearly a decade with two books. So I don't think that would be the major problem, even if I really second your feelings about the action figures (who needs a new Superman every month??? This is ridiculous!!!)

As for the two books, I probably would finally skip the Threeboot book and give the new book a chance - because the characters look closer to the original than any Legion did in over 13 years.

True - and it might be noted that during that period is when DCD did release the Legion figures that they released. But since then, the Legion clearly became a non-profitable property for DC.

I don't think the Legionnaires title after zero hour is necessarily relevant. At that point the two books were covering different storylines, but were based off of the same team. What Imskian78 proposes are two books based off of two different teams.

For my part, I would be prone to dropping the title that followed the threeboot. However, I don't know that I could stand the absence of any ongoing legion title from my collection, so I'd likely buy both as long as I could.

I think the low action figure sales *might* have something to do with the choice of costumes for the characters-- and possibly the one body-type used for everyone after the founders (whose low sales I can't explain, other than poor articulation, but that applies to lots of DC Direct figures).

Now if they release some Cockrum/Grell figures and *they* don't sell, then I think we'll all have to concede.

I will buy as many Legion titles as DC cares to publish. Right now I'm getting two. If they publish a third, I'll get that as well. If they publish two more on top of that, I'll get those too. After all, it would be churlish of me to get what I want and then claim that I don't want it.

To be completely honest, I'd buy as many Legion books as DC publishes too. The concept itself is too beloved by me not to.

Would it be good in the long run or in getting new readers? I'm not so sure.

I'm not quite sure I ever bought the "not profitable" crap that DCD likes to spout in reference to Legion or anything else. I think it's more along the lines of, "Oh, we make a profit, but not as much $$$ as if we sold a Superman or a Batman version 1000 to the mindless masses."

Forget the fact that DCD is created/geared for the collector community rather than the mass production lines and would therefore be more willing to sell products that only a relative few people would want to collect. Or that marketing goes a long way on increasing visibility for properties such as the Legion. Marvel has worked hard to push characters beyond just Spider-Man and the Hulk. It'd be nice if DC had such desires.

well, I don't know that I would buy a second book. on the other hand, if it got good reviews, I just might get the trades instead of monthlies. time will tell.

as for action figures, there are supposed to be five waves of the mass market DC Classics. two have been announced with 3 to go. I would bet a crate of kono juice that the remaining lines will include some LSH folks.(two per wave perhaps) after all if black manta and etrigan cam get a figure, why not the LSH?

If they called it "Legion of Super-Heroes" in any shape or form, I would buy it. I bought Booster Gold in the 1980s(cause he used a flight ring and Brainy's belt) and L.E.G.I.O.N. and later the really bad R.E.B.E.L.S. because of the Legion ties. They are my one obsession when it comes to comic buying.

I would even buy Legion if Rob Liefeld was drawing it (Lord help me! And just to be crystal kid clear here... Craig = non a Rob fan!)

Side note, I am buying the new Booster Gold series, and I've got to say, it rocks!!!!! Love, love, the "playing the fool" angle, and that he will be the greatest hero the world will never know (ironic considering his original motives for heroism).

So I would definitely buy anything DC prints that is Legionnesque! I may drop some other book to increase my monthly comic budget. If it is Legion, it must be mine!

If it's LSH would have to say buy it all... but then I remember not even finishing the Science Police mini (which was sort of Legion)....

If they started a Legion book with the characters from Pre-Crisis continuity in it i'd buy 3 copies a month.

I'd add two copies of any new Legion book to my pull list each month with the following exceptions:

Anything involving John Byrne
Anything involving Rob Liefeld

I have to draw a line somewhere and I just can't support either one of these two being given work in comics.

Only if you count the endlessly repeated X-Men figures.

Liefeld for threeboot!

Wow, that's a harsh statement - to compare Byrne (who did a lot of good stuff before "byrning out") with Liefeld (who is just... Liefeld...)

Anybody here read Byrne's Next Men? It's so much better than most of his DC stuff... (never really cared for his Man of Steel, but I never cared for Superman anyway...)

Ah, lousy collectors mentality, I hate it. i have it myself That kept me from dumping the Post Zero Hour Legion books (which, I remember, very much depended on each other) for a long time. I am happy that it's only the Legion I really am crazy about - other parts of my collection (Titans, X-Books) are not nearly as complete (I even started SELLING the X-Crap from the latter 90s...).

So maybe - to correct myself - I would carry on buying the Threeboot as well, though I never got fond of the scenarion from day one on. The cartoon book is where I am drawing the line - a Legion with only six members, that cannot be in my universe

I was thinking kind of the opposite... Byrne has a reputation for being very prickly, while I've heard that Liefeld is a really nice guy.

I don't think that a collector's mentality is the same thing as a strong attachment to the characters. I like the Legion so much that I'm capable of enjoying even bad Legion comics (not that there are that many)... if I want to own them all it's not because I need a complete set; it's because I want to read them all. (Besides, how can I blog about them if I don't have them?)

It's true that we've only seen the core eight so far, but there are ten other Legionnaires who've been established by the cartoon as being on the team (not counting Ferro Lad), and more due next season. And I think we'll see them eventually in the comics.

I'm with Matthew in that comparing Liefield to Byrne might be too harsh. I mean, who hasn't gone a cocaine binge and burnt down your art studio. That almost makes me like his work more now that I understand it!

Byrne's comments in interviews have kind of ruined him for me. I've purposely never showed them to my Dad since he's such a fan of Byrne.

Anyway, I'd still probably by a Legion by both. But you can bet your ass I'd be all over this site and others with 10,000+ usernames complaining if they ever took over

I also think Nighty's dead-on about Marvel's toy marketing (and games!). Tons of kids know lesser known Marvel characters because of this and are already fans even if they aren't engulfed in the multitude of their history and stories.

I would collect two books. Even though I basically hated the ZH era until DnA-Coipel I still hated missing out on the Legion. I didn't want to support a Legion I despised but now I want to learn that ZH history just for fun.

Byrne is a jerk and he is probably the Legion's biggest villain. But when it comes to work ethic and years of awesome work (drawing not writing) Liefeld doesn't even come close.

Yep, it could come to that. It's tied in with my eternal optimisim that the next issue will get back on track. Unlike Matthew, my love for the characters would be more likely to prevent me from buying a title than keep me buying it. If the characterization is too far off, I'd prefer not to see it (at least if there's another title with those characters in it).

Maybe instead of splitting into multiple books, DC should put all versions into one--something like "Adventure, starring Legions of Super-Heroes."

Yes I guess it's crystal clear that Byrne is not a nice guy - but I don't care what kind of man he is as long as he's writing and drawing good stories... I don't have to go to dinner with him, I just want to read his stuff. And he did a lot of good stuff, his Man of Steel NOT included. Liefeld is the ultimate Fanboy - but that doesn't make his art any better.

As for ZH Legion, I stayed on board for a long time even though by no way enjoying the books. I guess if more fans would have done what would have been adequate - skipping the books the moment they did no longer like them - the Archie Legion might have been much more short-lived...

Legion of NAKED Super-Heroes
Legion of Super-FAT-ASSED-Heroes
Legion of FUNNY ANIMAL Super-Heroes,
I'd buy 'em all!