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Yeh! Where are the free-bee sneek peaks??? Show us a little leg there Steve.

I'd love to show you a preview of the Umbra issue, but Legion editor Stephen Wacker has laid down the law. He wants to keep it all under wraps for now, and he is the bossman.

Maybe we'll sneak something out to you all a little closer to print time. After all, if you get too familiar with it now, it may feel like old news by the time it's finally in print ... and we don't want that happening.

Thanks for asking though.

Steve

Back to the top for Mr. L's B-Day!

It will be incredible to see more of Steve Lightle on the Legion! I read all 12 pages and agreed with almost all of it (and had to copy some to put with my Lightle-era issues. It will be a good opportunity to read them again). I remember buying all the ToL issues over just for the Steve Lightle covers (they cut the stories inside, I remember). I remember being really impressed with "Election Day!" I practically memorized that one. Nobody said this but I think Steve's non-human Legionnaires were much more endearing and more carefully thought out than making Princess Projectra a snake. Projectra was so, you know, and it was really a kick in the, you know, to make her a big snake. I like the Jim Shooter appearance much better. Lightle & Levitz really created non-human looking characters we could like. I think there were a lot of readers asking for some non-Earth/human characters over the years. Quislet was great. There was one called "Quislet's Story" I think. That was an amazing one. I hope you, Steve, become a regular Legion artist. You could start a companion comic to the current title if you need to! Wasn't Dan Jurgens doing the Legion at the same time as you? Two comics featuring the Legion was going to be the norm, I thought. I think you could probably find some other ex-Legionnaires to re-join (some of them I've seen on this message board). I'm sure we would be willing to send you scripts free if you need them. I think you should talk to some of the ^i^s at DC about putting Superboy & Supergirl back in the Legion which I mentioned on another page somewhere. Or, if not, they need to find a place for Captain Marvel Jr & Mary Marvel. They would be adequate substitutions for the Supercousins. BTW, the current Supergirl already is a Legionnaire - genetically speaking. I believe she is made from the DNA of the pre-Crisis/reboot/Zero Hour/whatever Lana Lang of the silver age. I think this was established in a Byrne Superman story (no less!)? So, as Kinda Lana, she is an honorary member and has been an active Legionnaire in her Insect Queen form (not too far removed from one of her current popwers). Of course, neither the Legion nor Supergirl knows any of this, but maybe Brainiac 5 could figure it out in a routine visit to the clone bank (Superboy #206 got better with age, didn't it?). How about it, Steve? Yes, please keep the pairings as you listed them! Brainiac 5 and Supergirl, especially! You could start with Brainiac 5 checking the LSH DNA bank and being somehow drawn to a strange one, "Supergirl," and finding something not quite right with it......I like what you said about the relationships being "organic and not contrived." Exactly

I would love to see linda in the 30th centry for a while one of my fav stories was in one of the supergirl annuals where her and brainy become trapped in his force feild and there was a definet tension between them so this would be good to explore. Also for a while I beleive DC were considering the kingdom come story as the offical dc future. In this the legion were only in the back ground of one panel with both superboy and supergirl as members but one of the next generation heros looked like supergirl had similar powers and green skin so it was fairly obvious what somebody had in mind there.

Wasn't it great that Brainiac 5 with his green skin, slighter build, & strong mind got Supergirl? The past relationships should be kept, as Mr. Lightle suggested. There are a lot of characters to play around with regarding relationships... do something NEW with some of them instead of messing around with an established pairing like Imra-Garth. The Legion writers of the past, like Shooter & Levitz, didn't need to change the basic Imra-Garth pairing to write good stories. They built on what was there! There are so many stories and directions... for writers with imaginations!

Garth and Imra may have been paired, pre-boot, but I don't think that their relationship was a very healthy or good one.

I don't think that the original pairings have to be kept.

I'd prefer Tasmia with Lar, maybe, because of the way that their relationship ended during Zero Hour, it would just make Karma'c sense for them to seek each other out, again.
Tinya and Jo certainly are together and should stay that way.

The rest are up for grabs, I think, since these are not the same people and none of the other preboot relationships were that good or close.
Even Rokk became the Time Trapper and mostly abandoned Lydda.
Laurel/Supergirl ended up with Rond, not Brainy.
Vi and Ayla didn't have a relationship until after Imsk's war with Braal and Vi was discharged, so it was very short termed.

There's just too many new characters and interests, going now, to force the characters to follow old patterns, I think.

Shady

I agree with you on Tinya & Jo. I think Jo & Phase worked for me to... I think that keeps in with Steve Lightle's belief that there be some "organic" foundation to the realtionships. I think of Laurel & Supergirl as two separate characters and agree with your pairings of Rond & Laurel & Brainy & Supergirl. Sounds pretty organic. I think I'd go along with many of the diversions you noted. Still, I do think a Lightning Lad/Live Wire/Garth/Proty III/whatever should be brought back and that's the pairing for Saturn Girl. Hope the relationship remains imperfect, too! (aren't they all?)

that was "Jo & Phase worked fro me toO"
oooch

Wes, darling, please try paragraphs when typing long posts!
My big baby blues are crossed and I haven't even started on the liter of Stoli in my freezer!!;)

you're right, they do look awful!

i'm still new at this comptuer & internet stuff

the "tab" key doesn't look like it works, but i can still space

i'll figure it out eventually!

you're right, they do look awful!

i'm still new at this comptuer & internet stuff

the "tab" key doesn't look like it works, but i can still space

i'll figure it out eventually!

The TAB key doesn't work because theres no "tab" coding in HTML.

Generally on the Internet, paragraphs are broken up by placing a line between them.

------------------
Formerly Someone else

SAVE FARSCAPE PETITION
Also see - Save Farscape MB , Farscape World , Scaper.com , <a href="http://www.savefarscape.net/" target="_blanl">SaveFarscape.net</a>, Save Farscape Central , SaveFarscape.com

"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends..." Gandalf the Grey, Lord of the Rings Book I, Chapter 2

"A person is smart, people are dumb, panicky, stupid animals and you know it" K, MIB

The Cat: "We don't run, we strike! It's the last thing they'll be expecting"

Rimmer: "No, the last thing they'll be expecting is for us to turn into ice-skating mongooses and dance the Bolero." - Red Dwarf VI

The Hunger site , The Rainforests site , Guardian .
24 000 people die every day from hunger alone. Read, and Think a little.

Steve, are you involved in the plot development at all on the issues you're working on?

Editor Man to the Rescuuuuuueeeeee!

DavidEM -

Thank

You

- WesC

The quickest summary of the Supegirl series I can manage:

Matrix (the kinda-Lana-Sg) you mentioned above merged with a dying-not-very-nice girl called Linda Danvers. She redeemed Danvers, they found out that merged they were an angel, then in saving the world they got seperated. Linda went to find Matrix, and found her but didn't remerge with her, and Matrix instead merged with another character called Twilight. Linda has now met Kara Zor-El, who has just crashed to Earth, and agreed to become her "big sister."

*whew*

You work out how that helps/hurts your case.

------------------
Formerly Someone else

SAVE FARSCAPE PETITION
Also see - Save Farscape MB , Farscape World , Scaper.com , <a href="http://www.savefarscape.net/" target="_blanl">SaveFarscape.net</a>, Save Farscape Central , SaveFarscape.com

"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends..." Gandalf the Grey, Lord of the Rings Book I, Chapter 2

"A person is smart, people are dumb, panicky, stupid animals and you know it" K, MIB

The Cat: "We don't run, we strike! It's the last thing they'll be expecting"

Rimmer: "No, the last thing they'll be expecting is for us to turn into ice-skating mongooses and dance the Bolero." - Red Dwarf VI

The Hunger site , The Rainforests site , Guardian .
24 000 people die every day from hunger alone. Read, and Think a little.

Ok, "somebody," I followed those storylines and have the recent reading/swipe of "The Supergirl From Krypton" in my mind. That's the latest issue I read, but there may be another one out... I admit that I don't read Supergirl as often or as closely as other comics.

I liked the idea of the Linda/Supergirl merger when it happened. I don't recall where Linda came from, though. I don't recall her origin & if she was a "Supergirl." Was she part of Matrix? - like a "soul-mate" waiting to merge? Was she a non-powered woman? Then, where'd her powers come from? Not Matrix, if they completely unmerged. I don't remember.

I remember the Comet & Angel stuff, which lost my interest. The Angel stuff didn't work for me.

I missed the fact (if you are indeed correct) that the two were completely unmixed. I may have missed or skimmed that issue. Then we're left with Linda... and there are now at least two (maybe three) completely different Supergirls in the regular DC Universe. Then, they must have separate origins & powers. I guess we'll have to wait and see how that plays out.

If the three Supergirls are all completely different and have different origins of their "Super-powers," then - the "Matrix" Supergirl would be the only one with the DNA of Legionnaire Lana Lang. That would be the Lana Lang of the "Pocket Universe" which was home to Superboy/Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes. The Lana/Matrix Supergirl is my favorite because she's the last link to the "Silver Age." So, DC'll probably get rid of her!

They were seperated in 50, and 51-74 were all about Linda trying to find Matrix (and as I said, they didn't remerge in the end).

There must be a little of Matrix left in Linda though, "wesconnorsehny," since Linda still has Matrix's TK powers.

wesconnorsehny said:
<< It will be incredible to see more of Steve Lightle on the Legion! >>

Thanks, Wes. I certainly appreciate your enthusiasm. It's been great seeing the reactions of Legion readers, both current and past. My hope is that I can help build a bridge between differing factions of Legion readers. One of the most exciting things has been seeing the number of long time LSH fans who have expressed a willingness to give the Legion another chance. The other thing that excites me about this return to the Legion, is the chance to introduce my work to readers that may not be familiar with it.

<< I remember buying all the (Tales of the Legion) issues over just for the Steve Lightle covers ... I remember being really impressed with "Election Day!" I practically memorized that one. Nobody said this but I think Steve's non-human Legionnaires were much more endearing and more carefully thought out than making Princess Projectra a snake. >>

Ahhh ... "Election Day" ... wasn't that the story where I tried to introduce a brown skinned Khund? Although the idea of showing different ethnicities amongst the previously all Caucasian Khunds did catch on, I don't think they ever showed another brown Khund. What happened? Does anyone know?

<< I hope you, Steve, become a regular Legion artist. You could start a companion comic to the current title if you need to! >>

I'm not sure that there is a chance of a companion title to the Legion at the moment. In fact, I don't think I'd endorse the idea of one ... at this time. There have been many Legion spin-offs in the last dozen or so years, and I'm not convinced that spreading the Legion around really helped bolster the sales of the overall Legion franchise. Of course, I'm not saying that individual stories, or even series', weren't enjoyable on their own merits. I'm just wondering if the core Legion readership is in a position to support multiple titles right now. From a publishing standpoint, I'd want to strengthen the readership numbers on the main title, before offering a companion series.
As an aside, did I ever mention that I was originally offered the Valor book, when it was in its early preproduction phase? It was tempting, because I'd always believed that Mon-El had an incredible untapped potential as a dramatic character. He still does.

<< Wasn't Dan Jurgens doing the Legion at the same time as you? Two comics featuring the Legion was going to be the norm, I thought. I think you could probably find some other ex-Legionnaires to rejoin ... >>

Dan Jurgens and Terry Shoemaker both did issues of Tales during the time that I was drawing Legion of Super-Heroes. I think both artists made impressive contributions to the Legion. Of course, this was at the beginning of DC's hardcover/softcover experiment. The idea was always to discontinue the new material in Tales, replacing it with reprints of what had appeared in the LSH book in the previous year. Ultimately, I think that the experiment hurt the Legion's sales, but certainly through no fault of the stories themselves. The experiment divided Legion sales between two books, and it also confused a good number of regular readers, for a variety of reasons.

Another thing to take into consideration is that, at the time of the hardcover/softcover experiment, Legion sales were very high. Dividing attention between several ongoing Legion titles, at the current time, would almost certainly undermine the growth in sales that Legion is experiencing.

Okay ... I admit, this is my practical side speaking ... another part of me would very much like to expand on the rich potential of the Legion universe. That side of me says things like, "How could MORE Legion be a bad thing? More Legion! MORE LEGION!!!" Ahem, I try to keep that side under control because ... well, you know ... He's noisy. : )

Steve Lightle

Steve Lightle - well, it's a BIG deal to read these responses on these boards. To a lot of readers, you artists and writers are big deals/big stars. We read your names over and over & you all (well, some of you!) made an BIG impression...

I just pulled out that "Election Day!" issue - it's LSH #10 (5/85). Funny that Jerry Ordway did the "Tales of LSH" reprint cover... So many of your reprint covers were as good as the originals.

Your cover of Legion Of Super-Heroes #10 (5/85) is just great. The cover is full of clutter - but doesn't look cluttered. So many covers throw in everything with no sense of balance - how to present the stuff on the cover. There is a balance of the objects & colors on LSH #10's cover. There is a 3d effect. Look how the colors and shapes compliment each other. How Wildfire's blast matches the skull-effect eye. The poster, the sky. The "see-thru" DC logo. "Vote" in interlac... a lot going on, but with an order. The hooded red and black lines on the top - much better than if it was just black, on this cover. And your LSH #12 was a good use of a more dark top - making Superboy so striking as he flew off the page. There is a lot of action on #10, too. The poster is "shot." Wildfire is attacking something off-cover. And check out Sun Boy - where is he going?-- you want to know. You might not notice him as he blends & balances Wildfire's blast. Look at Invisible Kid's face for a second. Look at the expression. Mysterious, subtle, hard to figure out! Is he sad? Determined? Pensive? I haven't even finished discussing the cover!

Yes, Steve, there were a lot of different skin shades in this issue, including the Khund on the first pages. I don't remember if it was continued after you left, but the general LSH title is something I've always found diverse. I assumed Shadow Lass was "comic book black" and accepted Brainiac 5 as a different race. Eventually, the characters looked different, too. So, you have white-like features on darker skinned and more ethnic looking light skinned characters. The characters in LSH #10 are many different groups and mixtures. You & Paul mustive known you were doing. The effect is not accidental (but doesn't seem token or overdone, just normal) It was a good message & well done. The cover alone (more in the book) really favors asian and black characters. Sun Boy would be the "whitest," but he's pretty small. Also, inside, you did the regular Legionnaires so well. I never thought of all the different shades of people in this issue as anything but normal.

The older characters were also true to their past, but done soooo well. Look at page 18 -- Phantom Girl & Violet. You can see the differences in their facial expressions & characters. But look even more closely at those faces and you can see the Swan Legionnaires IN THEIR FACES. Did you look at old drawings and "age" them? It's not even swiping - it's masterful to capture those younger looking faces in the more mature Legion. Even Sensi on page 9 looked like the same dude from a decade earlier. He was older, but the eyes looked the same. I felt I KNEW him. Is this just me?

Another nice touch - Page 8 - a shadow, but it could be a tear. Now there were easy pages & panels in this issue, for sure, but even they were very nicely done.

I agree with you about doing one Legion big selling comic before trying more. With all due respect to the current Legionnaires, I don't think putting the Legion back into the big seller camp is all that difficult. But, there are possibly restrictions to creative directions.

I didn't know that about Valor. There is a lot that they did with that character. I think that there was even more they could've done, but, oh well! You returned to do LSH art on a story featuring Mon ("Back Home In Hell" might be it) That was another really good one. It was after #10, look for it Legionnaires! All you Legionnaires should check out these old stories. Ah, I guess y'all have them?

So many good artists rose to the occasion when working on a difficult series. Here on this board are Lightle & Cockrum. I remember their Legion work above the rest of their work, but I don't know why... was it better? More difficult and, so, then, better...

It was Super-nice to receive a reply from you, Steve. I'll be looking for your name! -- Wes

JaFabian wrote:
<< Steve, are you involved in the plot development at all on the issues you're working on? >>

No input on the plotting so far. In fact, this is how my current Legion work differs most from my previous contributions to the series. The Umbra issue arrived in "full script" ... the old DC style. I've tried to make my presense known in the storytelling, in spite of the restrictions of working this way.

Still, I enjoy challenges, and so I approached that issue as a challenge, it being one of the few times that I hadn't worked in the "Marvel style."

Having said that about the plotting, I will say that I've been offered other creative input ... but I should leave all that a mystery for the time being.

Steve

wesconnorsehny wrote:
<< I just pulled out that "Election Day!" issue - it's LSH #10 (5/85). Funny that Jerry Ordway did the "Tales of LSH" reprint cover... So many of your reprint covers were as good as the originals. >>

Even funnier if you consider the fact that I did the cover sketch that Jerry drew that "Tales" cover from. I knew Jerry from before his big break in professional comics, so it was a special kick for me whenever we could work off of each other. Jerry also inked a couple of covers of mine for Bill Black's Americomics. Now THAT'S really going back!

Thanks for writing such a detailed letter. I appreciate your taking the time to drop me a line, although I might have to address some of your comments in another post ... I need to get started on the inks for the Umbra issue.

I'll be checking in again real soon!

Steve

Hey Steve, one question about Quislet.

IIRC, you said earlier on the thread that Levitz came up with the name, but why that name? Was it meant to invoke the notion of a Quisling (as someone suggested in one of the v3 letter columns), or is there another explanation?

Eryk Davis Ester asks:
<< ...you said earlier on the thread that Levitz came up with the name, but why that name? Was it meant to invoke the notion of a Quisling (as someone suggested in one of the v3 letter columns), or is there another explanation? >>

When Paul first saw the character that I was proposing, I think that he thought that the flash of energy exiting the vessel was meant to be the character's physical form. That's probably why he first suggested Starworm as the character's name. When he later suggested Quislet, I was a little concerned that he meant for the character to become a "quisling," but he assured me that it wasn't necessarily so. He said that it might be an interesting "red herring" for readers who made that connection, though. When I explained that my intention was for the character's physical form to remain a mystery to both the Legion and the readers, it seemed to spark his imagination. I think that was the root inspiration for the name Quislet.

The word that might best have been associated with Quislet is "quiz," or maybe "question," as his true form was intended as a point of speculation and curiosity.

Steve Lightle