Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Levitz talks Legion

I've been pretty lukewarm about Levitz return up this point...yes he wrote the greatest Legion story ever, and yes he also was there when the wheels came off.

This article makes it sound like he's on the right track...and he's absolutely right that the Legion pretty much has to be started midstream(it always has been before except once), and it also has to be accessible. Definitely a challenge. Definitely the challenge.


There is one detail from the article though that needs to be fixed:

Credit where credit is due, I believe it was Mr. Legion Fan #2 aka Mark Waid that came up with that schtick at the beginning of the 3boot. Before Johns started doing it. Granted, it is still possible the idea may have been Johns' but the first time I remember it being used was when Waid launched the 3boot about 2-3 years before the Lighning Saga.

I'm as big of a Johns fan as anyone but the credit for that particular innovation belongs to Mark Waid from what I can recall.

Great interview. Great preview art. Two Legion books per month. I can't wait.

am I the only one that was really, really annoyed by those captions? It quickly became, enough already. We don't need those captions for the one or two new readers this month. Like those ubiquitous network identifiers that always hide any play along the bottom sideline of a football game. I KNOW what channel I turned on....

grrrr

i was only annoyed by the captions when they were wrong!
and yes it was from the Waid/Kitson version. who knows whether it was Waid or Kitson or Editor or Production.

I'd rather have the captions than, as Levitz mentions, read Saturn Girl saying something like "Cosmic Boy, please use your powers of super-magnetism to keep this villain tied to his chair while I, Saturn Girl, will now use my powers of super-telepathy to read his mind."

As for the news - FANTASTIC! Adventure Comics AND Legion of Super-Heroes!?! The best part of being a Legion fan in the 90s was that we got a new Legion story every 2 weeks! That's when I became a Legion fan and it's spoiled me ever since. A month is too long to wait between stories about this universe - especially when there are SOOOOOOO many good stories to be told in it.

I, Blacula, have the emotion of super-excitement at this news!

And the artist, whom I've never seen before, looks like he wil be a great fit too. I *love* the Frank costumes and he draws them just as well as he did, along with some impressive-looking buildings (which as someone else mentioned, is very important in a Legion artist) and good-looking faces. He really could be the next Coipel! All that and Jim Sherman too! What a fantastic surprise that is.

And best of all, we finally get a confirmed cut-off point of when the Johns-boot Legion comes from! And the promise of an explanation for some of the inconsistencies between then and now. I wonder if that will be enough for some of the continuity nit-pickers on this board who have been resistant to this version of the team?

The one downside to this interview - a Legion homeworld is still getting destroyed. Planet-destruction - probably the one story-telling device that I am most sick of in the Legion universe!

Another plus though - Tyroc is back? YES!

Put me down as a fan of the Bierbaum/Sprouse picture/powers roll calls on the splash page.

I did like them too. Especially the way Moy made them a fun, unique feature on each opening page.

But too often they seemed like an arbitrary collection of characters that was too limited by how many head-shots they could fit on one page.

Like, characters who might've had a fairly sizeable role in some issues wouldn't get a head-shot at the beginning because too many other members had already taken the spots, while in other issues a character who might've just been sitting around in the background with no lines would get one. It was a bit too random for me.

Guys, you remember that mention from Levitz about Jim Sherman possibly coming back on Legion?

I think I might be responsible for that.

I'll take those over the roll call headshots, the silhouetted lineup page from Waid's run or awkward exposition.

Posted elsewhere as well:

There are a couple of ... interesting facial expressions on the big group shot -- Dawnstar looks content to mildly happy, and Saturn Girl looks explosive. Both seem out character for these ladies. I will be interested to see if anything in the stories supports their demeanor. These aren't complaints, just observations. One of the more dynamic poses I've seen for Wildfire; Shadow Lass looks iconic; and this has to be one of THE best facial expressions I've EVER seen for Brainy -- insouciant, supremely self-confident, but not vril-ly. Para-dox states it brilliantly: Byronic.

Do tell?!

And I like the captions, if I can read them.
The red in yellow is a combination that my eyes don't see well.

I'm tired of destroyed planets, too.
The reboot got rid of Dryad, Trom and Skylar, at least.
It seems like Daxam's been destroyed at least once, I can't remember when, Orando in Primeboot and Zerox in Baxter.

Earth Man, I'm afraid, would be my last pick for a storyarc to be built on. He kind of reminds me of the reboot wacko hero from the DnA galaxy, too.

The Legion has dealt with xenaphobia many times, even before Waid/Kitson.
The whole idea of using kids was because the theory was that kids are more accepting of differences.
I've worked with kids for many years and that an urban myth that is totally untrue.
They're little monsters with anyone different.

College age is where the most acceptance comes in, I think, although I don't have any empirical proof.


Sherman is okay, as is Giffen.
I'd like to see Lightle, Hughes and Coipel do arcs, myself.
Grell might be fun, as well, as long as they keep him away from costume design.
sorry

The new artist looks quite interesting, exciting even.
Ayla and Brainiac are awesome, as is Shady, even though I hate her costume.
He even made Imra smile!
I like her in short hair.

The couple that went south, besides maybe Cos and Night Girl, might be Nura and Throm.
The whole Starman thing is so strange, he acts like he's lost her forever, even though he still loves her.
She acted pretty strange in the Lightning Saga, too.

I'm really happy about 2 titles plus Lar is still in Justice League and/or Superman?
We also have the 'timed' Legionnaires for awhile longer.
Such riches!

Because Sherman was at Big Apple Con in June, and I showed him my hardcover of Superman and the Legion because I wanted a commission of one of the Legionnaires in their new outfits by a classic LoSH artist. He did Saturn Girl. I think that was the first he heard of it.

Ahhhh.
Thanks for sharing that encounter.
I love little tidbits like that!

Oh, gawd, NOOOOOOO!!!! Levitz, don't start this merde again!!!!

Meanwhile, the new artist is TITS.

PS/

Don't forget Drura!

WOW O WOW O WOW O WOW O WOW O WOW O Wow!
Here I am, have to be at work tomorrow at 7am. "Let's see if there's anything new with the Legion this week..HOLY CRAP!" Now I'm up later than I should be and will probably have a hard time getting to sleep--and I couldn't be happier!

Levitz mentions that Keith Giffen wanted to do a certain issue--I'll bet it's not the one where "the planet___________ explodes into a million pieces."

I am so looking forward to this. Two Legion books a month? It's like Christmas all year long! I'm using a lot of exclamation marks!!!!

This sounds great and the artist looks impressive.
Things I'd like to see changed:

1. The caption boxes. Okay, fine if you are going to keep them, but contrasting colors please! Black and white...Yellow and black...White and blue...
2. I'd like to see LL's costume change too. Looks too much like a diaper.
3. Just a little longer hair for Saturn Girl. It looks like she had it shaved in some prison camp and it never grew back right. There was just no explanation for why the sudden change.

The group shot: Hopefully this is either a centerfold page or one of those where they fly off at the end of the issue. Nothing says it has to be from the first issue either.
In summary:

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

[waves at AFOB]

I honestly don't understand why SG's hair needs to be "explained." I see plenty of women IRL who wear their hair super-short. (It has nothing to do with, er, "prison camp." Women like it because it's low-maintenance and doesn't feel heavy and unwieldy, usually.) Frankly, I always like seeing it in comics, rather than the traditional flowing locks all over the place.

Now if we could just get some curly-haired females in there somewhere.

Sooo....which planet do we think it's gonna be?
Off the top of my head, if I HAD to choose a Legion homeworld to destroy, I would choose Braal. Other than the fact that it's Cos's homeworld, I don't think it really adds anything to the Legion mythos (unless they want to do the Braal/Imsk war, which might be interesting).

I think a lot of potential could be lost by losing a lot of the other worlds....Bgtzl, Titan, Naltor, Carggg, and so on; I think all of these have really interesting stories waiting to be told about their societies, their contributions to the UP and such...

The only problem I guess is that Cos has already lost his family and broken up with Lydda, does he really need any more tragedy?

Something else else that I noticed in Levitz's interview was his mention of a Legionnaire with ten whole fingers who SHOULDN'T have ten whole fingers....I guess this isn't really a spoiler because I noticed it in LO3W as well, but I assume he's talking about Shady? I am interested in knowing how her betrothal to Mon-El panned out; they seem to be still together..

Levitz always hated Tyroc, I wonder how he's gonna use him? I wonder how this new team dynamic is gonna work with two Durlans, Luournu's expanded powers, Chuck, Tenzil and Quislet back on the roster....interesting times to be a Legion fan I think!

He needs to lose his powers.

oh....sorry....maybe I should have said "where's Sun Boy and Polar Boy?" instead.

Had to go there...

Here's a prediction: the destroyed planet will be Durla.

I'm extatic about the good news, too. Can't wait.

[snip]

[slaps forehead]

I hope not.

JAMES SHERMAN!!!!!!!!!

You're welcome.

reasoning?

Then why'd you go ahead an explain it?

Geez, one more mystery uncovered.