Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! Still undecided on the new Legion...

yup. 3 issues in and don't know if i'll be getting this on a regular basis.

Like: Keeping the boy/ kid/ lass type names, and giving the characters a valid reason to do so. The personalities are pretty good and the interaction is great. That part of the writing has been very good for all three issues. The sci-fi aspect of the Legion is trying to stretch comic book conventions of the future, something the Archie Legion tended to ignore (VR goggles as state of the art in the 30th century?).

Dislike: I'm not a fan of the art, and the costumes don't work for me, but these things do change so it's not really an issue.
i really, really, really hate giving everyone new origins. I hated it in the last reboot, i'll hate it when they do it again. i cringed when having to deal with all the 'great new' twists on everyone.

So far Gim is a 'hyper-giant' which i can almost deal with, though does that mean he and Vi have the same power? Or does she grow?

Jan's new power limitations of touching the object is understandable, given the ridiculous lengths his powers were taken to in the last series. The time limit seems pretty stupid to me though.

But Llournu's new origin really bites. It seems the writer may have a problem with the 'everyone on my planet can do this' origins that made the Legion universe so much more interesting. Maybe it's just with the more 'trivial' powers. It doesn't bode well to me though.

But on the positive, at least she doesn't have that godawful 'trizophrenia' no more.

I had real problems with the last reboot (real, possibly psychotic problems) but the Legion was finally coming to the point where i could ignore the Wildfire, that @#$$%&^@# snake and other stuff. And i had hopes of the corners of the UP i always found more interesting such as the Academy and Subs would again become valid parts of the book.

But it's been ten years plus without the Subs, without the LSV, the Heroes of Lalor and Dawny, Blok, Tellus and the White Witch. I'm not really looking forward to another ten years of emotional investment in a book that could reboot the next time sales slip and the editors think they've got the next big thing.

As my good friend down south, Kevin, can probably attest, the last year or two I've grown increasingly disenchanted with "the 10,000th alternate version of whatever". Endless "alternate" versions of characters, "Elseworlds", reboots, "reminaginings"-- you name it, when there's perfectly legitimate ORIGINAL versions to be had. This goes for movies, tv shows, cartoons shows, and comics.

I invested 12 years in the "reboot" LEGION. Some of it I really liked. But more and more, I've come to realize the reboot WASN'T necessary. And that absolute certainty in my head has made me increasingly frustrated. No matter how good the reboot is, it's NOT and never will be-- "the REAL Legion".

So when I heard about yet ANOTHER redo... well, I can't recall being so underwhelmed in my life.

I bought the first issue. I bought the 2nd issue. Because I order thru PREVIEWS, I have the next few on order. But this month, when I made up my order form for my comics-shop, I DIDN'T order the next issue.

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES is the only comic-book series I've been buying non-stop without missing an issue since 1978. I've put up with a LOT over the years. I mean, I put up with the Gerry Conway era. I put up with the Giffbaum era. (Lord knows I don't know HOW, but I somehow survived that abomination!) I put up with the "Archie" era when the reboot went really BAD for awhile there. But this? I'd rather watch the new BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. (In fact, that reminds me a LOT of what Wait & Kitson are doing. Cold, sterile, heartless, no likeable characters anywhere. And certainly, BY NO MEANS, "the real thing".)

Maybe this would be a good time to start re-reading the Archives...

Hey Kid Psychout, I am on the same fence you are. Ironically enough for the exact same oppossite reasons. It's like bizarro world.

What we do have in common is the emotional investment. I didn't invest into the ZH Legion until the latest series. And then I fell hard for it. Loved it. This one I am not digging as much.
At the same time they've created something interesting for sure. I am probably going to wait until issue #5 or #6 to decide if I am sticking with it. Who knows I may not like it enough to buy it monthy so may wait for trades.

I try to look at the bright side. These guys will have a few years on the book if I don't dig I will wait Geoff Johns.

lol @ profh011. Non stop since 1978? You are a brave man. I was non stop since about 1983 but the Archie Legion did me in man...took a 5/6 year break there.

"the Archie Legion"

Understandable. I'm one of those who absolutely HATED with a passion and a vengeance the Giffbaum era. I was relieved when Stuart Immonen came along-- which may explain why I was more lenient toward the infamous "Legion of the Run". But the MESS had been created. Mark Waid impressed me as being very clever how he did a sci-fi allegory for that mess in "End Of an Era", making a parallel between the Time Trapper's repeated attempts to "fix" things and only make them worse to what had actually gone on with the people doing the comic. But in retrospect, the REBOOT that followed was completely uneccesary. To me, there's an unwritten rule of "altered timeline" stories. When you're done, you're supposed to PUT THINGS BACK the way they were. DC-- NEVER DID. And ever since they've been just going further and further down the same wrong path, unwilling to admit they made a mistake because it would make them look stupid.

I genuinely LOVED what Waid did with the reboot early-on. It was nice to see the history retold from the beginning in sequence and brought up to current standards. But before long, Tom Peyer started making UNCALLED-FOR changes for no reason other than to piss off fans. And at some point, they had 3 or 4 writers "collaborating"-- BADLY-- and it became a confusing MESS where at times I couldn't even follow continuity from PANEL TO PANEL!

I don't blame Jeff Moy-- I LOVE his work, and it's clear from his LAST issue, working with D&A, what he's capable of when teamed with someone who knows what they're doing. I hated Olivier Coipel's work initially-- it was UGLY AS SIN, though he got lots better by the time LEGION #1 rolled around. But even from the first, I could see his layouts & "storytelling" skills were SUPERIOR to almost anyone else working on the series, if only he could "clean up" the drawing (or work solely as a layout man-- HEY, it works for Keith Giffen on JL!).

I was already frustrated by the realization that the reboot wasn't needed. The last couple years of the book had been SO DAMN GOOD (some severe plotting problems aside-- heh heh). Chris Batista-- Steve Lightle (!!!)-- Dan Jurgens-- wow.

Barry Kitson's art, to me, would have worked much better during the Giffbaum era. It has that cold, harsh, intense, humorless look that would have fit so perfectly for a story about aliens who'd conquered Earth entirely in secret. But for a so-called "utopian" future? No way!

No likeable characters anywhere in the current Legion?

I found Dream Girl to be EXTREMELY likeable in # 2. And I may like Cosmic Boy for the first time EVER after # 2's final panel.

Looking forward to # 3....

Hmm... I wonder what impact #3's end will have on Lash's opinon of Cosmic Boy?

Oh, dear. Does he slap someone?

Jeepers! Am I spoiling *everything* today?

I would have to disagree with the statement that Kitson's art is cold and sterile. I have found the art to be surprisingly good. Actually, all in all the art is awsome, IMO. I have been even more impressed with Waid's plot development up to this point. It has been funny at times, but not gag reel........anyway, I haven't really been into the Legion since the late 70's, early 80's. So, take it for what it is worth.. I really like the new Legion and I am not planning on stopping anytime soon.

This was also the version that broke me. It took me a bit, but it was right after Team 20 (and I have no idea how I made it through the endless 20th century visit) that I finally gave up. I came back after Legion was already 6 or 7 issues in. I liked it, but what I liked didn't last. In particular, I didn't care for Kinetix - who had been a favorite. It was better than anything else of the reboot Legion, but the reboot never did manage to hold my interest. This new version is more interesting to me than anything I've seen in over a decade.

Jillikers, I can't even imagine not reading the Legion. I can even find good things about the crappiest of eras....

Let's see...

LEGION ON THE RUN: Nice usage of Drura "Infectious Lass" against Universo; swell Immonen art.

THE ARCHIE ERA: Lots of shots of the boys in bathing suits on the beach; Triad possessed by Lester Spiffany, calls Ferro "Stupid".

To be a bit more positive...this Legion DOES have the spirit of the Legion which I never got with the reboot Legion. Waid's interaction between characters is the main reason for that IMO. As for Kitson? I understand what you mean by his style. The only thing before this I ever liked of his was L.E.G.I.O.N. but this Legion IMO is the best work of his I've ever seen. I am kinda glad the colors aren't as bright as they can be.

I am just on the fence big time. Don't care for the underagers thing at all. I already read Teen Titans.