Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! Waid/Kitson 7 page preview - Spoilers!

I read the preview over the weekend. It was pretty good but the one thing I don't like about it is the same thing I didn't like about the post boot.

I grew up on Levitz's Legion...I like the Legionnaires to be young cool adults 18 to 24...heck I don't mind some younger. But seeing short skinny kids is something I don't care for. This is what upsets about Waid he has reboot the Legion into teenagers again. Atleast in the last version they were 8 years into it and were aging somewhat. Waid keeps praising Levitz but his members weren't this young.

The one big positive I can take from this? Peter Pan and the Lost Boys. The Lyle angle at the end really had this Peter Pan feeling with Lyle becoming a new Lost Boy.

I've recently bought the latest Pan film (Directed by Hogan) for my daughter (live action...beautiful film) and am looking foward to the Johnny Depp take on author J.M. Barrie.

Anyways, it got me thinking if they try to do a Peter Pan analogy it might be the only thing that makes me like the teeny thing.

I am thinking positive but if you are gonna praise the Levitz Legion so much stop giving us the archives early legion just cause it's your fave.

So looking foward to a Pan and the Lost Boys take...i think.

Jorge

These new Legionnaires look pretty late-teens/early 20s to me.

That's pretty much how I see them Rurouni, with Kyle being about the youngest.

That sounds great Barry! I don't mind them being teens but would like some to be 18 to 21 about. The mature veteran members atleast.

And the Lost Boys (Peter Pan) comparison...i forgot to mention the legion flight rings and pizie dust making you fly. Add that to Lyle became "lost" aka invisible to radar, genecode, etc. I kinda like it.

The preview was certainly a good sell. The title Teen Wonderland just kinda scared me.

Jorge

Hi Jorge - I didn't even know the preview had a title! It didn't when I drew it!

The preview was amazing! I haven't been this pumped about an upcoming Legion in a long while.
So long as this is a true reimagining, and we won't see re-tellings (again)of old Adventure stories then this could be great. Great looking work.

Hi Brigort - We are determined not to do ANY retelling of old stories. One of the main driving factors behind the whole idea was to make the Legion as fresh and exciting as we can, we don't want anyone to think they know what's going to happen next...though of course we're very happy for everyone to speculate about it

Really glad you enjoyed the preview!

Sooo, the comment by Barry of all new stories makes me wonder about...a certain fave of mine. Mon-El! Is the new Mon-El going to be strictly from the 30th century? No ties to the 20th? No Phantom Zone story? I hope we get a somewhat new origin for the old boy!

Jorge

I've been pondering poor old Lar too.

Continuity-wise (stop laughing at the back!!) Superboy (back before he as a clone of Luthor and Superman) did still put Valor (remember him?) into a Zone (was it Phantom/Buffer/Neutral... who can keep track?). But does he remain the guy who became M'onel and floated off into limbo? Or do we get to reintroduce him again?

At any rate, I regret the fact that he got the best costume of his career only a few issues before he got rebooted (and even then that costume wasn't featured in the TT/L special). The red, the blue, those boots (that ripped look before he put it on.... oh, Lar.)

A splash page like that group shot was exactly what got me interested in Legion in the first place when I was just a wee boy. Who wouldn't want to get involved in a comic that provides not just one hero, but a couple dozen!

Someone mentioned gloves on all the heroes, but I don't think they're on Karate Kid---who by the way looks Hispanic? That's sure to blow the stereotype out of the water.

As much as I like the overall retro look, Phantom Girl's black "P" looks like a bug.

Lightning Lad sizzles!

Shadow Lass is hauntingly sexy.

Star Boy has me intrigued. Love the look. Is it Thom? Will he and Nura still be a thing making them one of comics' rare black/white relationships?

Are those clouds on Dream Girl's pants?

Element Lad's look is very new age looking which may suit his personality.

Saturn Girl in the background and with the most "un-reimagined" costume has me worried. And what's with her hair?

Who is the Legionnaire betweem Tinya and Nura with the brown gloves? At first I thought it was Timberwolf, but I didn't think he was supposed to be included in this first round of Legionnaires.

Does anyone else think Projectra is sporting a snake/"S" symbol on her beltline?

A possible new codename for Lyle?


Can't wait for more!
Thanks Barry!

Hi Owl Lad - Thank you!

BTW for more info and discussion about the designs there's a few answers to your questions in a thread in the 'visionaries forum'

Glad you like the overall look!

Great news Barry!
No re-telling of old stories!
This book has the potential to be something really new and different.
Remember, if DC hadn't re-imagined the Flash etc. all those years ago, there never would have been a "Silver Age" of comics.
LLL

Barry,

I too am delighted by the "no retelling" pledge and echo Brigort's and Owl Lad's enthusiasm. Just reading the previewed pages on line evokes excitement I didn't think I had anymore for the Legion(I haven't actually gotten the Special/Preview yet). As I've written before, your art really recaptures the sexy, adventurous, and somewhat dangerous spirit that the Legion had in the 1970s.

I wish you and Mark the best of luck in fulfilling it. So much of even the best mainstream comics stories these days boils down to retelling, I wonder if it has become too difficult to come up with new ideas? I'm sure it will be difficult to deal with some retelling pressure: Should there be a Fatal Five? When and how should Mordru pop up? I would be satisfied if these were very rare events a long way down the road, perhaps done to tie the Legion into the rest of the DC Universe. After all, Mordru and the Persuader are now arguably more important to 21st century DC than to the 31st century.

It's going to be hard to wait for December 29.

I would hope that however Lar gets reintroduced that Mark and Barry find a way to call him Mon-el.

Here's a direct link to the thread Barry is talking about.

This was posted by Ambush Bug over at Ain\'t It Cool News for his weekly comics column .

In all the time I've been reading AICN this is only the second time I recall a Legion comic being mentioned and the first time it has been recommended.

Most of the comments (including my own) seem to mirror the AICN review. Quite a consensus of opinion. So the Geoff/Mark team up fares badly, while everything bodes well for the relaunch.

Looking forward to #1.....

Wait a minute. If that's Brainy on the cover of #1 then who is the green guy in the group shot?

Star Boy must be a super model because he sure has some long-ass legs. Maybe he has new Elastic Lad powers.

I've read it and i like it with the new costumes and all.

As a new reader with the DnA era, i was disappointed to see my legion being cancelled.
Reading some rumors and news on the net, i was worried about what will be done with my favorite serie.
However, reading this and seeing the new designs, i'm now enjoying the new serie and i'm waiting to see the first issue.

There is some i like more than the others but on the whole, i like it.

Shadow Lass: missing the blue color but i've read here it will be done.

Star Boy: hope it's not Thom but otherwise nothing to say the character is good.

Chameleon: missing the antennas.

Light Lass: that's ok. can't wait to see the change. (new history ? relationship with Garth ?...etc...)

Brainiac 5: interesting.

Sun Boy: at first sights, his costume seems "old", not too futuristic compare to the others, but on the other hand, it could be an interesting thing, maybe from his society on his native planet.

Cosmic Boy: i like it.

Lightning Lad: i like it. maybe the lightning effect is too present but that's ok.

Triplicate Girl: that's a good one.

Element Lad: completely different from the previous one, but i like it. very cool.

Princess Projectra: radically different! A human this time but the costume is cool too.

Phantom Girl: Simple but sophisticated at the same time. Good.

Colossal Boy: i didn't know the character so i can't judge it for now.

Dream Girl: i liked a lot the all white costume she had before. But this one seems cool too. She looks more confident of herself, more determined.

Saturn Girl: contrary to the others, i don't see her with a cape, it seems a bit strange. I hope she's still wearing pink.

Shrinking Violet/Atom Girl: she is retored to her previous colors. I don't know what to think of this one.

Karate Kid: the costume is cool but on his aspect, i prefer the previous character, it's not Val anymore. Why have you change him like that ?

Lyle (Invisible Kid): in this preview, he's in his civil clothes, so i'm waiting to see his costume. However, the clothes in this future are cool.

Ultra Boy: we have seen him on the cover of the new n°1, and he is cool.

I've read the previews and I must say that while it looked good, I'm still not convinced about this new relaunch/reboot.

I'll wait a bit more to give my opinion

I think 'Element Lad', if that's who he is, looks like one of the 'New Gods'. Perhaps, in this boot, he won't come from a race of element shifters but he'll have a unique power within a race of uniquely powered beings.

I'd rather enjoy the idea of a New God in the Legion mix, just like I'd like Sun Boy to be a fire elemental after the Firestorm line rather than just someone who had a freaky accident.

I know a lot of fans don't like any connections to DC's contemporary timeline, but I don't understand how there wouldn't be any.

Anyway have a good day.
Candle

candlelight, I have to admit that while I don't like the Legion having much connections to the past heroes (for complication purposes) I would love to see a New God as a Legionnaire.

The New Gods always had that sci-fi feel to them that fits with the Legion as well.

Jorge

Couldn't a new New God be developed for this purpose? There's no reason to think that there aren't tons of random New Gods hanging around on New Genesis. Why can't one of them have a kid who becomes a super-hero?

*delurks after many months*

Having read the 7-page preview, and just reread Adventure 359/360 The Outlawed Legionnaires & The Legion Chain Gang, I'm struck by the similar feel of the two stories . . . with the Legion standing up to the authorities, in '67 under the influence of Universo, and in the preview rebelling against the Utopian aura, which seems hides a darker core. I like to think nu-Lyle may develop into the kind of legionnaire who could lead the Legion through the crisis the '67 Legion faced ... should make interesting reading.

As a very old timer, the Adventure two-parter was one of my all-time favourite stories . . . I instictively feel the new Legion could live up to this iconic era for me, with proper plotting and character development.

I can sympathise with the fans who fear losing they post-boot Legion, I was quite attached to them too, and I do remember the utter emptiness of the end of the Adventure run . . . lets just say there were tears. But I've come through all kinds of redesigns, reimaginings, reboots re-anything you like . . . and lived to tell the tale. I am of the camp that some Legion is better than no Legion, but I do have this feeling that this is going to be another golden age for Legion fans.
Long Live the Legion .... *fades into white out and relurks*