Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Why love the legion?

Apologies if this has been covered before (I couldn’t find anything) or if it would be better suited in a different location.

Until joining this board, I’ve only met one other person who knew the legion. I’m curious what it is about legion comics, as a whole and for your favorite eras, that make you love them so much.

For me, I’ve always enjoyed superheroes with more unique/niche/silly powers (while still taking themselves seriously). I like when a character doesn’t have a power or skill to solve every problem. I think it requires more creativity on the writer’s part and makes for fun uses of teamwork. The legion has that in spades. For instance, Bouncing Boy is no Superman or Batman and his power is very goofy, but I think that makes him all the better. I also appreciate the separation from the rest of the DCU that comes with taking place in the future. As much as I enjoy a larger universe of stories and character, it’s nice to come to the legion knowing they’re more self-contained.

There’s plenty more that I like, but I don’t want to be too long-winded though I’d gladly say more if anyone asks. I’m very excited to hear what keeps you all coming back to the legion.

What first attracted me to the Legion was the large cast of characters in colorful costumes. My first Legion book was Superboy #213, "The Jaws of Fear" Seeing the Team working together to destroy the Miracle Machine locked me in. Such a great panel. And then showing many of the "lesser" Legionnaires using their powers. I wanted more.

But even then I was too young at the time (4 years old) to be a regular collector. And even though I had a sporadic sampling of issues before that, it was Legion Annual #1 that made me the life-long fan I am today. During that time the Silver Age stories were also being reprinted in Digests and there was the infamous poster. So many characters to discover and get to know. With every installment I wanted more and more. Became an addict looking for my next hit.

Why love the Legion?

Like Nighty said, the size of the team and the variety of colorful costumes are major factors.

There's also the sense of hard-won optimism for the future, and that even when things turn dark, we never completely lose the light of hope.

Crucial, too, is the subtext that everyone has a purpose in life and a niche to fill.

At its best (in my opinion,) the Legion is space opera (or space fantasy if you prefer) at its finest, the imagination given full rein to go wherever it wants.

I loved the numbers, but more importantly the strength they showed in combining their powers and abilities for good.

As the Reboot team said, they are a symbol of diversity, cooperation and acceptance.

Like Annfie, I love the optimism of the bright and shiny future!

There's the science fiction aspect, which is more prevalent in the Legion than in most other superhero books.

There's the possibility to explore an entire universe that is both familiar because it's based on the modern DC one, but it's also vast enough to be its own thing.

There's the chance of absolutely anything happening! All the tropes of a standard superhero universe... sci-fi, magic, fantasy... but you have considerable more freedom because you don't have to take into account the effects on other books, or you can do things that would absolutely make the 20th/21st century unrecognizable from real life but you can get away with if you're in the 30th/31st.

And of course as other have highlighted there's the variety granted by a vast team of various backgrounds, abilities and personalities. Which also allows you to do even more soap opera stuff than other superhero books.

I also think that what is often mentioned as a bug for the Legion, its various reboots, can also be seen as a feature.
You have multiple continuities that are almost self-contained: not only you can compare and contrast what different continuities have treated characters and concepts, but you have a strange sense of finality.
The Legion is perhaps the only superhero franchise that not only has an ending, it has multiple endings AND it's also still ongoing.
While I disagree with the idea that a series that has a finale is inherently superior to one that goes on indefinitely, in a way the Legion manages to have it both ways.

Not to mention the Legion might have the least toxic fandom in all superhero comics, from what I've seen.

The Legion is a great mix of standard superhero stories and science fiction. Plus having a diverse case in a future Earth where we've "made it" into the future is very appealing to me. Also one of the reasons I love Star Trek

Mix in a little interpersonal drama between the team members and its pure fun!

Thanks for raising the question Boy Kid Lad. When we've been fans for a while we tend to just take it as a given and keep moving on and its good to go back and revisit why we love the team/series in the first place.

I met the team as a youth in black and white reprints in my home country of Australia and while I enjoyed the other tales of Superman, Batman, Flash etc, the unusual team with so many different powers and the setting of the future always appealed to me. As with Nighty the reprint of Annual #1 was stunning, even though I had no idea who Computo was.

I agree with many of the comments above but probably most with Annfie, particularly:

That last comment so wonderfully explains the diversity of powers and abilities in the Legion and how much the team as a whole is important, not any one individual.

I completely agree with Annfie about the sense of optimism that pervades the Legion. I mostly use comics as a means of escape, and although I enjoy the occasional darker story I don’t want it in everything I read. I love that no matter how dire the situation, the Legion always feels upbeat and positive. It’s comforting to read their stories.


Plus the bright, colorful menagerie of costumes scratches an itch in the lizard part of my brain. Who wants team uniforms anyways?

I would find team uniforms so booooring!

and plus one for the optimism. I read fiction to find inspiration, and temporarily escape from the challenges of daily life...

The optimism is why I was not as much of a fan of the DnA era. Much too dark for my tastes.

Yeah, that era is an odd duck. I'll admit I used to think higher of it before you posted some quite pointed and quite valid criticisms of it, particularly in regards to the blighted Legionnaires being accomplices to crimes against humanity. I haven't been able to look at Legion of the Damned the same way since, but I actually see it as a blessing in disguise. You opened my eyes to the problematic aspects of DnA, and I'm glad you did.

I still love a lot of things about Legion Lost v1, and I'm still convinced that if DnA had exited gracefully at its end and left the ongoing to someone else (and if editor Mike McAvennie had also left) we might have gotten back to the Legion's brighter, lighter side.)

Aw, thanks Ann! I agree, there are a LOT of things that are great in LLv1, but there's a lot of choices that are kind of head scratching. McAvennie actually tips his hand a bit on that in the lettercol for LSH 125 where he cops to characters basically acting out of character, and that was one of my major issues.

I think that I've evolved to the point of calling LL a great Sci-Fi story, but not a great *Legion* story. I think I heard a podcast or read something yet again gushing over this era and something snapped because I felt that not every viewpoint was being aired on this.

If DnA had been able to go 10-12 issues into The Legion, I'd have been okay with that, despite the choices they made in that stretch, just because it would have allowed them to "set the table" for someone else. OTOH, it would also have been interesting to let someone else set the table.

DNA did a lot of interesting things, but besides the end of Legion 33 (also the end of their run, basically), and perhaps the end of the Timber Wolf two-parter, I never really felt that the Legion (and we the readers) had enough time to chill, pause, reflect, and actually celebrate some wins. It seemed like one fight/villain/challenge after another. Even the single issue with Tinya/Brin/Cub stuck in a warp ended in a sort-of cliffhanger.

Compare & contrast to the Reboot. While the "end" of the White Triangle story (Legionnaires Annual 2/LSH 72) left the team in a very dark place; LSH 80/Legionnaires 37 ended on a much higher note, with what was unarguably a victory. There were a handful of plotlines carried forward, but these were mainly interpersonal ones. The team was in a great place, then.

Would not last long, sure, as we get Emerald Vi and Team20/30 by LSH 83/Legionnaires 39. but when the team reunited in LSH 100, we got another high note.

Yeah, and you had some episodes where you could *breathe*.

One could argue that the Tinya/Brin/Cub issue was that, but it was just so bad and ended on a horrific note. It makes me wonder if Steve Wacker basically said that they needed to ease back on the dark & angsty, as after he takes over, Coipel leaves soon after and we get a lighter look at the very least.

Why love the Legion?

Most of my reasons are covered already.

Lots of colorful characters with a plethora of unique and lesser-seen powers, I've always been a fan of team books. I'd much rather read about someone with *one* cool power finding ways to make it useful (like intangibility or invisibility or illusions) than a dozen powers strapped onto one character who, sometimes, seems to even forget that they have power X and could have ended whatever fight they're in 10 minutes ago... I also love seeing some more unique and less common powers, like super-intelligence or an inflatable mostly-invulnerable body. Growing up both overweight and smarter than average, I'd rarely seen suggested that a *smart* person could be a good-guy (and not the villain of a Bond movie), or that 'smart' could be a super-power on par with 'strong' or 'fast,' or that a *fat* person could be a hero (and not a comic-relief extra who tags along with the hero). Karate Kid was another great example as a kid, or someone breaking into a club for kids with powers because *he tried really hard.* Self-confidence and discipline could also break down barriers and lead to success, even if one wasn't exactly what the job application called for. Very inspiring!

And various Legionnaires being limited to one power, means we get to see more creative uses for, say, Tinya's phasing, or Reep's shapechanging, or Imra's telepathy, than Martian Manhunter, who has so many powers he can't use them all in a single issue, let alone get the focus necessary to stretch and show off some novel or exceptional uses of that power.

A bright optimistic future, being set in the DC's future also both has the advantage of not constantly being dragged into the latest summer event or whatever, but also states quite clearly that the heroes of the 'modern-day' like Superman and Wonder Woman must have *succeeded* at their heroic careers, because the world still turns and is full of people and hope and freedom. Everybody we saw as heroes 1000 years ago *won* to make the Legion's future. I get to feel good about the end result of all their struggles, without having to actually see them in this particular book.

I've always been a fan of sci-fi and fantasy, because my mom had a ton of Andre Norton, Anne McCaffery, etc. books I devoured growing up, and the Legion being set in such a pulp-y (at times) sci-fi setting was a huge plus for me. (And there was even a dash of fantasy, with characters like Mordru and the White Witch.) I love how the Legion went in all directions. Aliens? Magic? Technology? Accidents? Psychic powers? There's no real 'theme' limiting this team. They aren't all mutants or get their powers in a specific incident or use magic. I'm all for theme teams, with a shared origin or 'power source,' but I also like how the Legion kind of was designed to absolutely take advantage of the wide open playing field of comic book 'reality,' where aliens, magicians, mutants, demons, psychic powers, 'science accidents,' super-technology, etc. all co-exist. Some titles choose a careful palette of colors before painting their story, but the Legion, over it's many decades, has just found a use for every crayon in the box, and that's cool, too!

Also not a big fan of the "I have xyzabc super combo platter powers" type characters. Boring when everyone is running around with super-speed, invulnerability AND super-strength, plus plus plus a couple more.

Interestingly, I'm a Batman and Superman fan, and even though they are "solo" titles, I much prefer his interacting with the cast of characters that serves as their "family" especially on Batman. I think I like the Robins more than Batman himself!


Not that that ever stopped editorial before... LOL


This is a great point, Set. I love the use of magic into the sci-fi setting. (Another thing we didn't get in DnA, now that I think about it...)

I don't mind it so much in a solo book. Superman, for instance, gets to show off his super-speed *and* super-smarts, in his solo books, but when he's on a team with the Flash and Batman, he's suddenly both slow and easily outclevered, because Flash and Batman have the 'fast' and 'smart' niches covered. I'm not a fan of characters being stripped down like that.

Just stumbled on this thread. Besides some great stories, I would say three things make me love the Legion.

1. The often mentioned optimism. I think that the progression over time into GRITTY comics is not good although some of those can be great stories also. Superheroes should be optimistic.

2. The feeling that everyone can belong/has a purpose. If you think about it, even the Subs show they have meaning. I don't think there are any other characters who were rejected from the subject of the title and still staid together and active and (besides Giffen's joke issues) not treated as a punchline.

3. This kind of goes with item 2, but the feeling that anyone could be a character. I truly feel that if I ever wrote the legion, any character I came up with could fit in the universe somewhere. A guy who eats things, a guy who turns into a statue, a super fan. Any of those in other comics would almost definitely become the butt of jokes and not have all that many appearances. (I know that Flynt doesn't have that many appearances, but he kept showing up every so often. Even some of the villains work for this item.

Just for reference, my Legion experience was sporadic to begin with. The first issue was the penultimate issue of Earthwar. It was during a vacation and was the only one for a while but the scene with Superboy (the only character I knew) Wildfire, Mon-El, and Ultra Boy containing the negabomb blast stuck with me. Also the determination to do what needed to be done and the willingness to sacrifice oneself shown by Garth, Imra, Chuck and Lu. The sheer number of characters and the heroism of Shvaughn. If I had known of a local comic shop, I would have bought more.

Next up were some Karate Kid issues from a half-price store. I recognized him from my SLSH issue and eventually got the all from that store. Then there was the World's Finest crossover right after it quit being a dollar comic. Then I started the Baxter legion and never stopped after that.

As an aside to my post, in that first issue, there was a page where various people (Legionnaires, Subs) were held in glass tubes by the Dark Circle like on the cover. While I now know almost all of them, there is a guy in what appears to be a white lab coat in a tube in the top right corner I have never been able to ID. Can anyone shed light on who that is? I don't know how to post pics here or I would include it.

Could it have been Rond Vidar? if Honorary Legionnaires were included, Rond would make sense. If I remember correctly, the only other Honorary Legionnaire in the 30th century was Kid Psycho. Others were Lana Lang (Insect Queen), Jimmy Olsen (Elastic Lad), Pete Ross.

I have no idea. I tried reading through the previous issues to see if he was someone who disappeared like the legionnaires but couldn't find him. I did an internet search but only found one reference to the figure and they didn't know who he was either. https://legionofsuperbloggers.blogspot.com/2015/12/superboy-legion-244.html

The only thought I had was that if the subs were captured then perhaps the Wanderers were as well and this was Celebrand, but apart from the facial hair the costume is all wrong so probably not.

I'm a little bit glad that I'm not the only one not placing him (although I'd be really happy if I had been dense and was instantly given the answer). The best I came up with is a poorly drawn Brande. (or in a weird actual case of time travel, one of the doctors from the hospital in LSH 259 who worked where the Psycho-Warrior was treated. This was an early issue, I didn't mention in my last post and I was temporarily confused by the panel with the "light bomb" which had two doctors caught along with the Legionnaires. At least I knew Brande that time and a second read cleared up the matter for me)

I wonder if Levitz would know who it was supposed to be?

I glanced at the panel briefly last night and Celebrand was my thought as well (I believe there were other Wanderers depicted as captured), but the outfit is definitely weird, if so.

Basically, because it's the Legion. Spun out of humble beginnings, it grew to become legendary.

And then some other folk got ahold of it.

Dammit.

For some reason my mind makes a distinction between the legion with and without Superboy/man. I’m curious if this is the case for anyone else. Honestly, I prefer my legion sans Clark Kent. I really don’t know why. It’s not an issue with him having too many powers because I like Mon-El just fine. Something about him just makes the stories feel different. It feels like it’s Superboy and the legion, not Superboy as a member of the legion.

I have a similar feeling, BKL. Part of it may be that I grew up with the Reboot Legion, which had minimal Superboy in it. Part of it may be that I then read the Adventure Era next, which naturally had a lot of Superboy.

I think the Legion Toon did a decent balance between having Superboy as part of the Legion, without making the others just background characters…

That's the issue, isn't it. If Superboy or Superman are in the story, then they are going to be the focus character. Now I am a Super fan but when I read Legion I like them to be the focus, so yes I agree that I prefer the Legion without Superboy/man in them. (Note that this is different to whether he is involved in their origin/early days or not. That one has good and bad associated with it and is a different issue.)

My first Legion book was more of a Subs tale, which would get filed under quirky and light.

What clicked were the issues that followed. The sci fi setting and the history that made the characters and their universe rich and diverse with possibility.

The level of threat where the mightiest member could be taken out, leaving the single powered ones to show they were more than just those powers.

My early issues had smaller casts, so the characterisation would have been a plus.

A lot had grittier storylines, which no doubt kept me hooked; Action and Adventure before I knew those were the books the team was once in.

Having a single writer in Levitz, and his writing approach, made for consistent, engaging stories with plenty of subplots to be resolved. At the same time, I was getting the Levitz/Giffen issues which added so much more to the backstory with Giffen's detailed, clean art.

Later I'd appreciate the earnestness of the Adventure days who faced some terrible threats, and have even more appreciation for the history. There, cast members with doubts would be focused on in tales of bravery and facing one's fears. Everyone had something to give. Everyone was important.

I'd eventually also have a real fondness for the whimsical issues of Super Pets.

And without the Legion, I'd not have found the great folks on Legion World.

thoth hits it on the head: Legion World is a large part of why I love the Legion

It was quite a while before I was reading Superboy as a main character in the Legion. When he did appear in the stories I was reading, he was with his peer group, which is just what he always hoped for.

So, I preferred Supergirl in her short spell with the team, before Crisis.

I do like the Adventure stories. But that's going back knowing how the cast develops.