Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Visionaries of Tomorrow The New Writer Is

Heheh. If I had a penny for all the times I've fantasized about it Lone Wolf! My fantasy is a new team of writer/artist who will turn out to be the new "Paul Levitz/Dave Cockrum/Mike Grell" who
will either extrapolate from and upgrade the original designs and characters, or create a new uber-futuristic look bringing the Legion into the 21st century in full force! New costumes, old and new villains, old and new Legionnaires, with the classic Legion spirit.

And I hope we never, ever, ever see shoulder pads, utility belts, and trenchcoats again! (Boy, do I get passionate!)

I'd better face it though. I hope the new writer will love the Legion and give us good stories, but even if the new Legion is a Mr Mxyzptlk-meets-Punisher-meets-Sailor Moon version, I'll still buy it.

Pardon those of us who were not yet alive when Cockrum was drawing the Legion. Heck some of us weren't reading yet in the period you cite.

Are our Legions less valid than yours? Can you make your point without being disrespectful of any material created after 1984?

Quite so. I have absolutely no feeling whatsoever for the current Legion, since I don't read it and I never will - although I think the *idea* of a second reboot was horrid, ergo the "don't read it and never will" - but "MY" Legion is the 1994-2004 team, and I would be just as uninterested in a Return To Pre-Crisis.

You know, I think what's really magical and wonderful is that each of us feels his/her own Legion is the best. I wholeheartedly believe that's a wonderful thing, and quite unique in comics fandom. The impact this comic book has on its readers, how much it touches and inspires us.

No Legion is more valid than the other, in my humble opinion, and all versions had something good to offer (yes, even my least favorite of them all).
I know I'm new here but If I may, I'd like to suggest that we not lose sight of what an incredible universe the Legion is,regardless of which "reality" we consider the best one.

Personally, I'm just fantasising about what I'd like the Legion to be like. No harm in that, right?

Lash isn't the only one.

That would rule as a mini !!!

Bah! *Everyone* knows that the original Legion is the only *real* version of the team!

Hopefully one day we'll have a writer that gets rid of all of these crappy retcons like making Saturn Girl blonde, changing Lightning Boy's name to "Lightning Lad", and ruining Cosmic Boy's uniqueness by making his power genetic rather than the result of scientific serums. Not to mention that one poor guy that gets re-colored as Brainiac Five whenever the adventures of the real Legion get re-printed! Let's get rid of all these lame clones that have been around since 1959, and restore the Legion whose 50th anniversary we're *really* celebrating!

I haven't read any of the Mary Jane stories mentioned above, but I'd like any Legion spin-off in any style. Manga, cartoon or otherwise.
The potential for new stories and new Legion aspects is endless.

Scientific serums *do* space-rawk. Not enough origins involve serums these days.

Serums are like groovy rays, but in liquid form!

I agree with EDE... making Saturn Girl blonde is a sell-out to the peroxide industry and their hollywood stooge allies who would have us believe that blondes really have more fun.

LSH jumped the shark with the time-cube. A cube.

Come-on, you can't travel time in a cube.

Yeah, Legion hasn't been good since Cosmic Boy's powers were changed from being "magnetic eyes"...

I hate to say this, but i feel a bit betrayed by both Mark and Barry, as hard as that is for me to say. Its just that I think that if you set out to drastically revize a long-standing book like the Legion, you should commit to stay on and help the new continuity to "take" properly. As things stand, I'm left with a bit of a wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am feeling, i.e. that the three-boot creators came to the Legion sandbox, kicked down the castle, and then left shortly afterward because they got bored. I'm sorry, guys--especially you, Barry, because I know that you're really an uber-fan at heart--but that's the way I feel knowing that you're both leaving early.

Anyway, in terms of new artists I'd love to see McKone or Lightle draw the book; the art alone would make it worth buying, IMO.

As for writers, what about bringing back the Bierbaums? Other than mixed fan reaction to them, is there some sort of backstory that would prevent their return? My second choice would be DnA, although I have no idea if they would even be willing and available. Ultimately, though, if I could pick a completely unattainable "dream team", I'd go with Levitz and Giffen.

Aw c'mon guys. This is Legion World, you're not going to get flamed by the community for stating your opinion and most especially for stating a wish list. If it's raw hard core animosity you're seeking might I suggest the DC message boards or one of the zillions of comic book fan sites that only discusses the Legion occasionally?

I think the biggest threat to anybody's comments may be that someone might accuse you of being unrealistic or downright silly.

Speaking of which, it's too bad Mort Weisinger is gone for good. NOBODY loved the Legion more than Mort.

Mediocre Boy, I actually feel the same way, not just with WaK but with other creative teams on other characters/books. Certain individuals lambast Keith Giffen but they cannot dispute the passion Giffen poured into the Legion...at least he tore everything down and built it back up, only leaving when his story was told...

So yeah, I can understand where you're coming from.

I don't think there's been one creative team since Levitz who've been allowed to wrap up their run they way they intended. Not even Levitz, actually. His plan was to leave at issue #50, but he was persuaded to do another year with Giffen. The last year of his run was as much (or more) Giffen than Levitz. The latter's creative fire had already burned out.

Giffen left because of editorial interference and negative fan reaction. Blowing up the Earth was the ultimate Wham-Bam -- it was *not* Giffen's original plan (See: Hat Trick).

The Bierbaums were fired twice, first from LSH, then from Legionnaires. (N.B. -- They don't work in the comic book industry anymore.)

Post-ZH, Waid left of his own volition but Stern, Peyer, McGraw and Moy were fired in 1999. (Not that they even had a plan, or one worth saving.)

DnA wanted to leave when Coipel departed for Marvel and editor MacAvvenie was fired, but were persuaded by Steve Wacker to stay on. They, too, were forced to wrap up before they'd finished their story. (Chris Batista has since given some insights about what DnA might have done if they'd been allowed to carry on.)

That's 20 years of thwarted creative teams. Waid and Kitson are definitely not alone.

I don't know Bedard's work. I'm neiher thrilled nor disappointed.

I'm only sorry to see Waid go in the sense that (1) his entusiasm is/was real, (2) his love of LSH is proven, and (3) if there had to be a Threboot, he would have been the writer who could have pulled it off.

But he didn't. For every aspect that worked there were a half-dozen that didn't pan out. And I don't know if this version can be salvaged.

I'm hopeful that a team will come on board, wheher in issue 31, 36 or whenever, and truly craft a magnificent Legion again. But right now I'm not placing the focus of my fandom on the current series in any way, shape or form at all, I'm sorry to say.

Tony Bedard is a very accomplished writer who co-wrote issues S&LSH 21 and 22. He just finished up a long run on the Exiles title for Marvel. I really enjoyed his work on Negation for Crossgen. Neagation involved a group of escaped aliens with diverse powers being led by a ordinary human with tactical military experience fighting against an other-dimensional race that was bent on dominating this universe. Incidentally Mark Waid co - wrote the first two issues of Negation. So while I will miss Mark, I think Tony will do a creditable job on this Title.

X Infinity! Does TB post here yet? I -NEED- to know what he had planned for the resolution of the Negation War...!

I don't know how, but I just KNOW doing this is going to bite me on the arse somehow at some point.

Tony Bedard forum @ CBR

Some hopefully helpful, humbly submitted rules for the benefit of our new writer, Mr. Bedard:

1. Do not make any character a snake.

2. Do not kill any of the traditional team members.

3. Do not bother invading Earth for at least 20 years.

4. Do not have any traditional team member go insane and kill lots of folks.

5. Having the issues' primary narrations done by different team members (as opposed to Cosmic Boy or Saturn Girl all the time) = a good thing.

6. Do not retcon in a gender change.

7. Bow to the magnificence of Matter-Eater Lad and Bouncing Boy.

...

Hey, I got a few issues of Exiles because they featured the Shi'ar Superguardians/Imperial Guard. I consider them "Legion" anyway and buy every comic they appear in, but I really enjoyed the story too. I hadn't noticed Mr. Bedard was the writer!

Tromium said Really??? I always had the impression that blowing the Earth up was Mr Giffen's decision and it was planned from the beginning. Can't remember where I had read about it, or whether it was just an extrapolation from other information regarding v5.
I feel better knowing it wasn't his decision. Do tell more about it Tromium. Pls!

Y'know, what happened the last time a Legion book was left short of writers after around 30 or so issues; with someone else stepping in for a short term stint?

Nah, couldn't happen again...

The series was cancelled and replaced by a better one that outsold it?

I'd be in favor of that!

Awkward Pause Boy for LSH writer!!!