Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! Lardy's Roundtable: How forgettable or unforgettable was SLSH/LSH between Earthwar and Levitz II/Giffen?

Even so, it's DC 'continuity," so the rules are open for change six months later.

It only makes sense if one remembers that Didio *loves* killing off characters, particularly teens. As he says, 'Prime is going to go to the 31st century, and basically do his thing.'

As we've seen, 'his thing' involves punching peoples heads off, dismembering them and / or slicing them in half with his death-vision. (I refuse to call it 'heat vision,' since it just cuts people in half, and doesn't actually cauterize the wounds, leaving blood everywhere.)

Short answer. Didio = the debil.

Even if they didn't textually state that all of these existed (and Superboy's Legion, etc.), there is no reason why the fans can't be left a crumb of hope that 'their' Legion is out there in the 40+ universes not detailed!

I'd definitely approve of your breaking off John's 'Action Legion' from the original Silver Age Legion, 'cause they feel nothing alike to me. Indeed, the Threeboot, despite being very much different characters, feels more like 'a Legion' (if not 'the Legion') to me than John's group.

Like I said pages and pages ago, the version that Johns is writing is an Approximation <span style="font-size: 5px;">TM</span> of the Silver Age Legion, but most definitely is NOT the Silver Age (or pre-Crisis, if you prefer) Legion! Though I disagree about them feeling nothing like that version, it's clear that they're not the exact same thing.

I mean, why NOT have one of those Earth's be what was essentially Earth-1 prior to the end of Crisis, especially if you're already bringing back Earth-2? That would obviously be the home of the Silver Age thru Crisis version of the Legion. The only reason I can think of is DC's probably afraid the fans will call for that Earth to be the 'real' DCU because a lot of people will be nostalgic for it and already bemoan the mess that the current DCU has become. If that's true, DC may very well be right!

But there you have it...homes for at least three Legions: DCU/New Earth for Johns' version, Earth-1 for the Silver Age originals and Earth-2 for 3Boot. And 48 others to give a home to two or three other versions.

I guess that just makes too damn much sense for Dork Didio.

What if it's One LSH spread across Multiple Earths/Dimensions?

Sounds like too good of an idea to be approved by Didio, ML!

I do like it, though. I like it a lot better than either: a) all Legions being eliminated except one or b) an almalgamated version consisting of a mixture from all versions (basically what's left after Prime kills most of them ).

If they were all to simply unite under one mutidimensional banner, I would definitely buy into that!

The would be the Legion remix!

Lash, I'm not sure if this was your exact concept. From what I recall, yours didn't allow for multiple versions of the same character. The idea I get from Mystery Lad is that all these Legions exist intact in their own dimensions and work together as a larger Legion. I could be wrong in my interpretation, though.

Still, either Legion Remix or the Legion of Multi-Dimensional Heroes are much better ideas to me than simply choosing one and throwing all the others away. Why couldn't one of us have Didio's job?

Even if multiples of each were verbotin, as long as they were not retconned away, I'd be cool with that; if 2 out of three of each overlapping character were permanently/semipermanently unavailable to minimize confusion to too many versions.

That's exactly what I meant. Using all three (or more) realities as recurring settings, with possibly some common ground for 'coming together'. I guess that'd be a hard sell, though.

One canvas split in three (or whatever number).

Each Legion would be cognizant that it was part of a larger Legion.

Now, what if DC decides to bring ONE Legion to the 21st Century? They are messing it up so much that I do not doubt it for a bit.

And Keith kind of disses "stars with late books", re-use of old characters who are not reusable and sort of defends DiDio in his latest CBR column. Very worth checking out.

The Legion just ain't the Legion if it's not set in the future for more than a short-term basis. I mean, I'm one of the few who posts on this board who actually enjoyed the "Team 20" storyline that ran for about a year in the reboot era. It worked for me because: a) it had never been done before to that degree and effectively established the Legion as a part (albeit a loose one) of the DCU, b) I knew it was temporary, if prolonged and c) we were able to have our cake and eat it two with the Legionnaires book focusing on the remaining LSHers and their struggles in the Legion's own era.

But making the Legion long-term residents in the 21st Century? Well, they would be just another JLA or Titans, wouldn't they? The Legion is all about the future setting and the more insular, unencumbered-by-continuity freedom that comes with it by its nature.

Maybe Didio would do it, but I trust Johns enough to know that he 'gets it'.

Team 20 did run on too long, and its impact was muted as it so quickly followed XS' strandedness in the 1990s in the Flash books.

I wouldn't want to see LSH *moved* to the 21st, but I could see a rotating team *stationed* there as commuters, keeping tabs on chronological infractions as more and more villains dabble in the timeline.

But DC being DC, they'll probably pick a few from each Legion and strand them in the 21st with all three 31sts wiped away.

If so, that could open the door for a more authentic original timeline restoration in the future.

It DID go on too long, but it sure was nice to see the Legion interact with characters they never had before. And it was good to see the ties with Impulse and Superboy tightened. Lee Moder really shined as artist during that time. And of course they were there for the Final Night crossover, which was better than average.

And they picked up Ferro along the way as well. Lots of people then and now hated the reboot's 'wimpy' take on Andrew Nolan that began at that point, but I always enjoyed him. His portrayal certainly resonated with me as feeling true to what someone would be like who was so hideously disfigured facially. Yes, it was very different from the daredevil Ferro Lad we knew very briefly in the Adventure era, but I always felt the intent was to build him up to be more and more heroic and confident over time. That was the end result, but the transitioning of creative teams to DnA kind of glossed that over, so we didn't get to see the middle of his journey.

But that was one of the joys of the reboot, that characters who died the first time around didn't have to repeat that fate, and we got to really get to know Lu (all three of her), Lyle and Andrew this time better than we had the first time around.

I am glad the Team 20 storyline was attempted and felt it was successful in a lot of ways. It was a great and imaginative way to take advantage of having two books. I do feel that the Legionnaires title and its 30th century storyline was overall stronger during that time, but I definitely enjoyed both.

What I didn't enjoy was how quickly and thoroughly both books took a steep downhill slide after LSH 100 all the way until DnA came aboard to pick up the pieces. There was almost nothing worth a crap in either book during that period! Team 20 was really looking good in comparison at that point!

I'd also like to put out there that I feel time travel, much like with the Flash, should always be a part of the Legion tapestry and that the Legion loses something when it's completely discarded. I'm not saying it should be omnipresent and used ad nauseum, but Brainy should always have his time bubble/cube in the garage and ready to go!

I agree that 1) the Legion should always be set a thousand years in the future, and 2) time travel should give them the mobility to interact with the rest of the DCU on a sporadic, but not constant, basis.

I, too, liked the Team 20 arc for its uniqueness. I, too, felt it went on too long.
(Another downside was the number of crossovers; by the time of "Final Night," I had started to get frustrated.)

I'm not sure if you meant that Flash should always be part of the Legion tapestry, Lardy, or that time travel should be as much a part of the Legion as it is for the Flash. I'm sure you meant the latter, as the Flash has only a couple of distant Legion connections, one minor (Tornado Twins), the other larger but, sadly, since abandoned (XS).

Flash connections: the Tornado Twins was my favorite Flash participation on LSH. In fact, it was one of the most moving moments on TMK's run.
Never cared about XS, though. Bad example of tie-in with 20th Century books.

XS was such an engaging character that I could overlook the tie-in. To me, her ancestry was the least interesting aspect of her character.

Jenni was a "typical teenaged girl" who had a crush on Cosmic Boy and was eager to prove herself as a Legionnaire. She didn't think she had what it took until she saved the day during Kid Quantum I's funeral. Her habit of talking fast was an endearing/annoying trait that reminds me of someone I know. Jenni brought a lot of energy to the Legion in more ways than one.

(And since the subject of Thom's racial switch was discussed at length on another thread, I think it's worth noting that Jenni was only the second Legionnaire to be depicted of mixed race. Unlike Karate Kid, however, she was never drawn as all-Caucasian at times.)

Yeah, Huey, I was referring to how time travel should always be a part of the Flash comic, too.

I do love how the two comics have connected tangentially, though, with the Tornado Twins and XS ties. Flash and the Legion have been DC's two most consistent torch-bearers for time travelling stories over the decades, and it's only fitting that there should be some connections.

The Tornado Twins are a terrific concept that has been criminally underused. (I dunno, maybe if they were used too much, they'd become tiresome? Who's to say?) The odd thing is that they were killed off during TMK and apparently also in the reboot timeline if I remember correctly. It seemed odd to me at the time because it seemed the story from TMK, at least as it involved Don and Dawn, was somehow still in-continuity. It seems this was clarified at some point (possibly in that Legionnaires Annual that featured Jenni and Zoe?), but I can't remember the details. Anyone?

XS, to me, was the best *new* Legionnaire in ages and ages! The fastspeak never annoyed me, and I found her personality to be totally infectious. IIRC, she was one of the finalists in the L3W Survivor game Future put on a few months ago in Spaceopoly; that speaks volumes to her popularity! I'm glad we'll get to see her prominently in L3W, hopefully not for the last time.

I wouldn't want to fill up the Legion's roster with "legacy" characters, but a Flash family representative is more than welcome, especially if she's a charmer like Jenni!

By the way, with Barry back, at least for the time being, wouldn't it be nice if Jenni got to meet him? (Definitely, a reunion with Iris and Wally and kids and possibly Bart if he's brought back are also musts.)

She met him in LEGIONNAIRES ANNUAL #3 (1996).

That's cool. I'll hafta reread that some time! What were the circumstances? And was the fate of the Tornado Twins explained in the same story?

Jenni starts out leaving the 1990s on the Cosmic Treadmill, stopping off at various points in time trying to get home, including a brief visit with Barry in the earlier 30th, before the Twins are born.
Most of the story is in the far, far future (It was Legends of the Dead Earth theme), and a benevolent-seeming Time Trapper had been guiding her (as I recall, she does not find that out until the issue's end, and her memory of it largely fades until the Trapper/singularity story in the 100s.

Wasn't there another annual focussing on Zoe and Jenni? Or was it just Zoe?

Legion Annual 6 (i think): "Year One" theme.

Shvaugn reviews the origins of Zoe, Jenni and Gim.