Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes LSH cover FACEOFF!!!

#225. It was one of my first Legion books.

I've only read the second one.

I'll pick the first one, mostly because the mannequins with Legion costumes on them intrigue me.

Mike Grell vs. Joe Staton? Which one's a Legion Legend between the two? Yep, 225 for me, even if it's not the best Grell cover I've ever seen. You can see some of Grell's hallmarks in his facial work, especially on Superboy. Staton's faces just look awkward there, a frequent problem I have with him. (Shady's limp body looks pretty sexy there in Superboy's arms, though.)

Grell had those mean sideburns on most of the male Legionnaires.

Definitely a Grell hallmark on most male characters he draws!

#225 - Go get 'em, Wildfire!

I LOVE both of these covers. Definitely one of Staton's better moments on the Legion. Perfect inking by the late great Dick Giordano. However, nothing in this world compares to Superboy drawn by Mike Grell. My heart skips a beat. #225 for the win.

I like the second one (Joe Stanton) cover best.


Aside: I notice some people saying that the story inside the issue influences their vote for the cover. If we are just judging the covers, isn't the story inside irrelevant?

Good question, Quislet. I try to judge the cover by the cover (as opposed to the book by the cover? Sorry, cracking myself up here!) for these contests. It's hard, though. Emotion plays a big part in how we experience art. Given the love we all have for the Legion, it would be near impossible to expect posters here to separate the emotion and nostalgia felt for the story from their decisions. I say let's shoot from the hip and vote as Legion fans first and art critics second. Just my opinion...

SLSH 225,Superboy vs. Wildfire,The Legion got a new writer with this issue I do believe,I wonder whatever became of him.

Mike Grell's #225 cover would be my choice.

Superboy carried Shady in her introduction issue, too.
I always thought that he kind of liked carrying her.
Lar certainly did.


I like the second cover because it has Mon as the center of the action, it hightlights their love and like Power Boy said, Dirk probably deserved it!

However, the second cover is not so straight forward.
The angles and action is moving, not stopped like it is in the other cover.
Shady is a little awkward, but he tried something dynamic.

And like EDE, I find the costume cubes really interesting.

So, I'm voting for the Grell cover.

.

In general I'm NOT letting those feelings shade my choices. But when one of them was from the friggin' GDS? MUCH harder to separate! It was the GDS that turned me into a lifelong Legion fan after all!

And the more I think about it, the more I feel 293 was the correct choice over 313 after all. It was a very effective way of showing the building tension in GDS and an excellent use of the title as a design element. 313 is a lovely image, but it looked a lot like the design elements to the Who's Who in the Legion mini that would eventually come and the title doesn't play as big or interesting a role in the image as 293 did.

So I stand by the choice even divorced from my emotional response. If Lash chooses the Magic Wars (which is one of my least favorite Legion stories) cover in the future as he's hinted, I'll try to do the same!

I find both of these covers pretty blah so this one's a coin toss for me.

I'll go with the second one since it seems to be losing.

I've never understood the devotion that Grell enjoys from so many fans. His work never appealed to me at all.

^ Ditto. He's done some pretty good work elsewhere (like Warlord and Green Arrow) but I found his Legion work to be very middle of the pack. And the cover shown here is totally forgettable IMO.

Grell - all the way...

His LSH is definitely not among Grell's best stuff, but he, Cockrum and Sherman are generally considered the best artists of the Superboy/LSH era. I don't count that cover among Legion classics by a mile, but the signature Grell work on Superboy puts it over the top compared to the very forgettable LSH work Staton did.

re: 225 and the mannequins, for those who haven't read it, they (or actually, the costumes on them- 1 in particular) play a VERY important role in the story. I remember liking this issue a lot and yes iirc it is Levitz' first issue (drawn beautifully by James Sherman).

re: Grell's merits as a LSH artist; I see now how he was really learning on S/LSH, but to my kiddie eyes his art really popped.

re: Judging the book's cover and leaving what's inside OUT of the descision... that's what I am trying to do myself but it is sometimes not 100% possible.

Anyhoo my vote goes to 225.

FIRST TALLY:


225~ 10 votes

248~ 6 votes


This could go either way, and will remain open all day.

OK, I will confess to this one being difficult for me to judge unemotionally, because IF I remember correctly, this (#225) is the first Legion comic I ever bought for myself with my own money from my paper route in 3rd grade.

That being said, i think the cover for #225 is more dynamic. the second cover seems more staged and therefore the looks on Tinya's face and Cos's disco pose seem artificial.

#225

248. I at least have the slightest idea what's going on. Mon-El is a favorite character, so that helps, as well.

225 leaves me wondering why there are faceless copies of various Legionnaires in blocks of transparent whatever behind Shadow Lass, and, ultimately, I don't care much.

It is interesting how the artist has to tweak things to make the scene work. On 225, Wildfire's energy blast is curving to hit Superboy's shoulder, due to the angle, and on 248, Cosmic Boy is in this awkward position to make him visible between Mon-El's legs.

Wow, that came out dirtier than I intended...

What's up with Sun Boy's hair? It looks like a bad toupee about to fly off into space!

Both covers make me roll my eyes a bit-- here we go again... Legionnaires hitting Legionnaires... what's the gimmick *this* time?

I'll give it to #225 for two reasons-- the background and Shadow Lass.

225 has those weird cabinets with the uniforms... 248 has generic computer room/spaceship deck look to it. Both suffer from 'no roof' syndrome, but the cabinets take it.

Flying, active Tasmia beats the heck out of poor, swooning Tas- or even beaten-by-her-boyfriend Tas.

Mon-El is also between Sun Boy's legs.