Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Legion in JLU Cartoon/Legion Series...Official Thread

Just wait for issue 22.

I met and talked to someone who works in connection to the show yesterday, and have some good news and bad news:

Firstly, the art style of the show is supposedly closer to the Bruce Timm DCAU style than the promo art we've seen so far. That's neither good nor bad for me, because I like both...but I'm sure some people will be happy.

The bad news is that due to losing the lawsuit with the Seigel and Schuster heirs, DC can't use the name 'Superboy' in the show.

At all.

So all the episodes completed up to this point have had to be re-dubbed, calling the character 'Superman.' Apparantly, there is even some discussion as to whether the character now is even Superman as a boy...or if he will be an adult Superman who has been de-aged somehow. Yeesh, I hope that doesn't happen.

The good news is that we should be seeing the series around September. Also, there is a full toy line in the works from Mattel...can't wait for that.

Exactly how reliable is this source STK? There has been no official outcome of the Siegel/DC lawsuit. The Siegel's won a summary judgment in March but Warner filed an appeal immediately. The matter is far from settled.

And just a quick point. It is only the heirs of the Jerry Siegel who are involved. He was the sole owner of the copyright for Superboy which he turned around and sold to DC. It is the change in copyright laws that have kept this an issue.

Re: Superboy's name and character. This has to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard. How hard would it be for the WB to reach into their very large pockets and make the whole issue go away? Cheapskates!

Yeah, I might have misunderstood, and what he was talking about was the summary judgement...not sure about that. My impression was that they needed to move forward in order to get the show out on time, so who knows... maybe the name change is more of a 'better safe than sorry' thing, rather than them actually losing yet. (And yeah, you're right about it only being the Siegel heirs)

My source seemed reliable to me...he said that when it came up they were going to have to re-dub all references to 'Superboy', he had suggested they change it to 'Kal-El', which I think would have made a great middle ground...but I guess they felt it would not have the same level of public recognition.

Which brings us back to why didn't they go with Supergirl and cash in on the JLA audience? They had a perfect jumping off point, even if they didn't want to keep the same continuity.

By the way, thanks for the update! It has been kind of quiet on the cartoon front lately.

You know, this really confuses me. They had Supergirl stay with the Legion in JLU. They have Supergirl with the Legion in Supergirl & the LSH. Then they go and decide to make Superboy the lead in an LSH cartoon. I don't have a head for business, but even I know that's not a sound idea.

Don't get me wrong though, I'll still be there watching it.

I imagine they want to plug into the much larger potential Superman audience after the movie comes out.

That's a good thought. That might, in turn, lead even more people to the comic book. Maybe.

In other news (from Comics Continuum ):

* Mekt Ranzz, Lightning Lad's brother, will appear in an episode.

* Director Ben Jones told The Continuum that the series will have "a mix of old Legion villains and new characters."

* Look for a preview of the series at Comic-Con International in San Diego next month.

* In the series, Cosmic Boy was a founder and the first leader of the Legion who now spends more time as an Earth-bound diplomat. He is not one of the seven core members featured in the cast.

Those going to SDCC better be providing updates on any Legion info they come across.

I also suspect that Mekt will be posting soon since he's finally found his way to the small screen.

A change in the logo and a somewhat better look at the full-figured ( ) Bouncing Boy from the 2006 Licensing Show (courtesy of Heidi MacDonald at The Beat ):

Check out Brainy in this picture from Comics Continuum:


(picture at http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0606/21/legion.htm )
Ummm, what happened to his neck?

Sigh. I thought I had scooped everyone by publicizing Heidi's picture from The BEAT, but turns out Comics Continuum had even more. Damn that Rob Alstetter!

[edit note: Michael, I changed the image link to the image I'm hosting at the Clubhouse since we kinda frown on hotlinking here. Plus my version is a little cleaner. ]

Since you beat me to the image (my cable is running sub-dial up speeds tonight and it took me 45 minutes to get it added to the Clubhouse) I'll just chime in and say WFT? about Brainy's neck. Did they go ahead and make him a robot?

And from looking at Heidi's images I think the art has become a bit better, if those are the finals. Much cleaner than what we've seen previously and not as horrifying. I just wish she could have gotten some better shots.

Everything is caps but Es and Ns? I'm calling the font police.

Brainiac 5 is Elastic Lad!

Still not loving Tinya's saucer eyes...

I'm sure the character portrayals will grow on me.

Eventually.

Thanks to an anonymous tip, we have a few more shots of the backdrop from the Licensing Show. It appears that either everyone got there at the same time or the backdrop was positioned to capture the sun at all times. The Legion is still washed out in the sunlight.

Superboy, err young Superman
Timber Wolf, Saturn Girl, Bouncing Boy
Phantom Girl, Brainiac 5 and Lightning Lad
Brainiac 5
Bouncing Boy

From looking at the closeup of Lightning Lad they may have flight rings. No 'L' visible on it though. I can't imagine that they'd miss out on that marketing opportunity.

Click on the poster above in Michael's post. I've just changed my image to a much larger version. You can see Brainy's long neck a lot better.

Damn! There went a heap of my hope and good will for this cartoon.

Heh Heh... Brainy's neck isn't that long. Its just the hallucenogenic effect from whatever substance he smoked to make his eyes all bloodshot and droopy.

Tinya looks like she's had too much coffee. Perhaps she works at Sundoller coffee on Bgztl. Beware the goth girl barista, that tamping tool they use to pack the espresso is deadly in their hands.

Saturn Girl just got back from Windsor Castle where Prince Charles taught her how to do that neutral half smile and royal wave.

Seriously I kinda like them but its hard to tell without seeing how the the characters will move and the voice tracks. I'm sure the kids will love it and it'll be somewhat amusing for us oldies.

That's all I'm hoping for... I'm not expecting it to be the all-definitive version of the Legion...more like 'Titans Go;' take a bunch of elements and twist them into something kids today can relate to and enjoy. "Kids" meaning 'actual kids,' not adults like me who have never grown up.

If the original Legion (when it had first come out) had been written for 20 & 30-somethings rather than with kids in mind, who knows how many of us might not be here? Everytime I start wishing the Legion cartoon would look like it's going to be something more towards my preferences, I try to tell myself that it's a selfish thought to want to deprive a new generation of the chance to enjoy something the way I did way back when.

Of course, it's possible I've put waaaay too much thought into that.

Scott, where did you get that updated, sharper picture from, your contact at WB? (Mine hasn't answered back with the questions I asked from the press release.)