Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! Adventure Comics starring the Legion of Super-Heroes

(veryvery, I promise I'm not trying to take your spot as uber poster, but it kind of looks that way!)
I kinda get the feeling Adventure may be a $3.99 book, given so many characters which may or may not interact. Interesting that the marquis is not there. "Adventure Comics starring...?"

It seems that Francis' "new style" may be due to the fact he is his own inker apparently. Whether or not he does that on a full book is unknown.

As for the blacked out characters, in Newsarama, Johns says

Here's a link to a large version of the cover.

Given the timing of this book coming out the same time as Lo3W #3, I don't think there's any question the center figure is Kon-el.

The other one? Kal-L maybe?

The hand on Starman's shoulder appears to be male.

I thought the story was ok, but very predictable: Oh, yeah, Brainiac is under Luthor's total contol. Rigggghhhht.

Set, I have to disagree with you somewhat:
Now, granted, I'm thinking of the rare Christmas and similar stories where Phantom Girl seemed only too happy to welcome him to the 30th century. He was better friends with Mon-el and Ultra Boy because they were closest to being his equals, but no one ever said "I can't be close to Mon-el, he's too powerful." I think Johns has gone out of his way to make him seem like he felt a sense of belonging. Remember the scene in the fortress from the Lightning Saga? (Yeah, I know, but I LIKED IT-sue me.) What a fondness Superman has when he says "They were my friends." And what a smile when he said "Every single one of them could fly." You may say this is Johns retconning, but I never got a feeling any different. Did we see him laughing a lot with them? Maybe not, but as with any team/person, we never see EVERY time they were together. Heck, even the Bible says "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written."

That's one of the things that is so great about comics to me: there are always '"Untold Stories of..."

As for Kon-el, I only read about him around the couple of years after the "Death of Superman." He annoyed the crap out of me. So arrogant and reckless, and the outfit, uggh. I never really knew him during the later years when the Kents and Supes got him straightened out. I can't say I really know wnough about him to say if he deserves a shot to be a Legionnaire or not, or how out of place he would be.

As usual, we will wait and see what "Adventures" the future holds.

Aw, we love you too AFOB. Even more if you promise us beer.

(snip)




Writer: Harvey Pekar

Artist: Robert Crumb

yep I will be inking along with washes both the cover and the interior of the book.

That is extremely good news!
Francis, how far ahead is the planning on Adventure? Are you still working on #1 or 3 or what? Just wondering if it will stay on schedule.

Can you tell us if it a is a regular sized book or a Final Crisis size-number of pages-wise?

And while I'm at it, do you get to the states much? Any chance you'd be at Heroes Convention in Charlotte,NC?

It's great to hear that the end of the series isn't the end of Francis' experience with the Legion.

And while we're at it Francis, who are the blacked out figures?

And did you like drawing Krypto(the best dog a Superboy ever had)?

So if FJM draws the Legion in Adventure...that makes him the only artist in Legion history to have been a penciller on the regular Legion title and to also have drawn them in Adventure...

In Adventure they were pencilled by greats like Curt Swan and John Forte but not by Cockrum, Grell, Giffen and the like...

And as mentioned earlier...that makes Francis the only Legion artist to jump boots AFAIK.

The washes are looking real good on the 2/5/09 blogspot posting. Whew.

KAl-L is coming back as a Black Lantern (the look of the toy was leaked)

Francis, it's so wonderful you're working on a book that I would be likely to buy. I can't wait to see more of your artwork.

It seems pretty clear from the blacked-out image/cover that the lead character in Adventure will be A Superboy. I say "A" because it seems like it could be Kon-El or S Prime (which is an old artillery term BTW) and I haven't been able to follow all the con-related news. Either would be interesting, and either would have drawbacks. But, from everything that Geoff and Grant have done in the last 4 years, it seems really likely that the motif going here is the legacy and influence of Superman--characters trying to live up to it, carry it on, etc. I think that can be a great basis for stories. One of the best things about All-Star Supes was the acknowledged reality that Superman's influence carries on to the far future. BTW, thinking about this concept makes me wonder -- the Action/Legion story lacked a final scene, didn't it, with Superman appearing before Earth and the UP saying "I'm THE Superman, I'm a Kryptonian, AND a citizen of Earth, AND a citizen of the Galaxy, and all of you can be the same if you start helping each other again." It seems like that should have been the natural ending, but Johns didn't use it, maybe because he wasn't done with the Earth/xenophobe trope yet.

I am thrilled by Francis Manapul being on this book, but not thrilled at all that Legion will become a third string Superman supporting cast. But at least I was right from the beginning: that was always what Johns said about the "Legion" legacy to his eyes.
It's true that Johns has shaken things up to a point that everything is up for grabs and this is a great sales incentive. But somehow he seems to be diluting all to a never-solving future of chaotic mess without ever changing premises (like 5YL marvelously did). Let's see how well he fares. So far as the Legion is concerned, he has failed miserably. <span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">Except for killing another Karate Kid. Probably the only time he acknowledged - rather than destroyed -Giffen's superior comic book skills.</span></span>

i don't think the legion will be a "third string" supporting cast to superman. at all. i would actually WAIT UNTIL THE COMIC COMES OUT to judge it as such.

and how about we reserve "johns is going to destroy the legion" until after he actually writes an issue or two of the new them god, it's depressing that when we get a preview of a prologue or anything about what's coming, how horrifyingly negative people can be. it's hard enough to write or draw a book when people are already predicting everlasting failure.

geoff johns is known for revitalizing series. you might whine about how much you hate whatever he does, but there's no arguing with the sales figures and how highly esteemed he is to OTHERS in his field.

my first meeting of geoff johns was during teen titans. i was upset that the characters weren't like they were in the cartoon, but it was still a fun read. i HATED the art, hated it. but i kept reading it for some reason and every time i looked at the art i went 'man, but i want to buy it!" i had no idea who was writing it except one day i had a nerd-question and found his message board to go ask said question. then i promptly forgot whoever was writing it.

do you know when i dropped the book? when these assholes from the future showed up all of a sudden. they were called the legion. and boy were they a legion, there was some green guy that was a jerk for no apparent reason, and then a giant girl with stupid hair, and then bart's COUSIN? he has a cousin?! and then some guy made of crystal or something and they were fighting a group of... i don't know! one lady had an EYE and there was a freaky purple thing and a weird ren-fest guy with an axe! i was very angry that my very easy-to-understand-book had been invaded by a literal legion of people.

i'd never heard of the legion before and when i did they were a plague upon the comic i had been reading. i still think putting them in there was a mistake, or that it should have been handled in much more "baby steps" manner.

after dropping that, and that was the ONLY DC comic i was reading, i tried to find something else. it was then that i realized that i didn't like most other comic books. they weren't interesting or fun, they were annoying and boring and all the girl characters sucked and i couldn't get into them. it was only a long time later that i realized i liked how johns wrote and that was what had kept me reading the series. i was so used to reading comics for the art and almost ignoring the story (because guys, most comic writers are BAD, ok?), that it hadn't occured to me that i was possibly reading it for the writing and that not ALL comics would be funny and cool.

he set my standards very high and very few other writers were even remotely acceptable to me for a long time.

now he made the flash interesting (i think i'm in love with flash villains now?! i think they're COOL? i think i even like JAY GARRICK), he made me UNDERSTAND GL stuff and not throw up when hal jordan shows up, and for the first time i actually find the JSA cool, after getting annoyed and embarrassed any time the JSA showed up in another book.

given his history and actual, you know, facts, i would say that the odds are stacked in his favor for revitalizing the legion and bringing new fans to the series. in fact, i'm POSITIVE he will. absolutely positive.

it might not be the legion you want, just like it wasn't exactly the teen titans i wanted, but if you can get over the fact that "you know what, no one is going to write the story you secretly have in your head", and are actually open to DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS of a character, then i think you'll be happy.

i'd also point out that the cover bears a STRIKING resemblance to those old covers where the members are all in little boxes. nice homage.

ps, AFOB, i think i have DEFENDED MY TITLE NOW!!! i'll fight you with one arm tied behind my back. to make it even.

I think there is a difference you are not considering here: I was open to Shooter's reinterpretation of a loser's game from the beginning (L3), I was open to the radical manouvers of Giffen for 5YG, as well as enjoying the hell out of Levitz run. I have a little bit of more background on comics than you do, because you seem so young - and that's what comics should be for, I guess, especially superheroes.
I do buy everything with Johns' name on DC, to be honest: there's something very attractive in his writing even though he always seems to NEVER conclude anything. He is a master in building up expectations - I'll give you that.
His GL has been a lot of fun (but less so than GLC) and his Booster Gold was a fun read. I do like his JSA (even though his decompressing style sometimes seems to wander to a buildup that never happens).
But his Legion so far is just a bunch of colorful characters punching each other - luckily with George Pérez artwork. Nothing so far has shown a bit of focus on the team: it's always GL, Superman, Kon-L, Kal-L, all Flashes and whatever else he likes better. Sorry, not my idea of "different interpretation" to the Legion, rather than subordinating them to Superman Family, as said, in fact, in DC Nation today.

Ricardo: I concur whole-heartedly with your sentiment.

veryvery: Although your side of the argument is well-taken, albeit longwinded for my taste, the rest of the Legion readership can't feel but cautious with Johns' direction for the team because we've been through numerous continuity shakeups. And that's great that you have such enthusiasm for LO3W. It's anyone's subjective feeling and I won't begrudge others who feel otherwise. None of us doubt Johns' ability to write fantastic superhero books, and he certainly has the track record for it.

What gets me with Johns is that he violated three central tenets in why I loved the Legion: utopian future, strong characterization with an ensemble cast, and a level of autonomy from the rest of the DC Universe.
Strike one: Johns perpetuates alien xenophobia turns the 31st century into a dystopian future, courtesy of the Justice League of Earth. He's practically aping a mixture of the 5YG and DnA runs, which I abstained from reading any furthur.
Strike two: Although Johns has rectified the relationship between Supes and the Legion, which I liked, his presence as an active member makes the other members seem irrelevent. It's the same reason why I disliked the treatment of the 3boot Legion during the time Supergirl joined.
Strike three: Johns and Manapul are slated to be the creative team for Adventure Comics volume 3. After reading several sources about the MO of the book, my suspicions for this 'Retroboot' Legion were confirmed that the team wasn't going to be the lead feature, thus consolidating them into the Superman family book. Although I am getting a kick from reading all things Superman-related, especially New Krypton, it saddens me that the Legion lost their autonomy to have solo stories.

'Sigh'

What can't be ignored is at least Johns is trying to make the Legion more palatable to broader comic book audiences. We'll just have to patiently wait to see what happens next.

Now I need to take some headache meds to clear away my frustration.

Your post was 335 words, veryvery's 740. Now, if veryvery types twice as fast as you, it would seem, in my book, to be even.



We need a "stir-the-pot" smiley just for me.

LOL! I just realized that! We're all hypocrites in some fashion or another. Its all kosher. L'chaim!

why do people keep saying they're playing second fiddle to superman? 1) you haven't read the book yet. and nothing in the dc nation panel says anything about them playing third string. 2) superman is going to be OFF PLANET for a long while!! meaning.... he can't interact with them! meaning he can't be stealing the show.

what is WRONG with the legion being palatable to, you know, people?! and i don't think he's playing to the lowest common denominator, he doesn't write in tons of T&A for example, i don't think he writes cheaply if that makes sense.

even assuming that the legion AREN'T the stars of the adventure starting in june, (which istil don't think is true), the legion started in adventure comics. and then they worked their way to their own book. i have no doubt that if this goes well, they will become more prominent or get their book back. training wheels. this is how comics work!

as for LO3W i think there's A LOT of Legion in it. you just have to look at what is ACTUALLY HAPPENING.

he brings in these other characters for CONTRAST and COMPARISON. what better way to make mon-el look cool than to put him up against sodom yat? there's a giant fight going on so... yeah it's kind of difficult to show a lot of character depth at the same time. but i think he's showing us a lot of the THEMES that make up the legion as a whole while still differentiating characters for us on the fly.

think about what ROLES these not-legion things play. what are they? they are TOOLS. they are WEAPONS. i think it makes the team VERY impressive for them to utilize the things they have around them in expert manner. the legion has always been about their numbers and exquisite teamwork, and i think those are the tenets that johns is showing us in LO3W.

in other words: the legion is so bad ass that they can summon OTHER super things like GLs and something lex luthory and a frigging FLASH, AND THEIR OTHER SELVES, and throw them at their bad guys!

ricardo: for the record, being older doesn't mean that you have a better background on comics. it just means you're older.

Again, you're quick to judge. Sorry if you felt antagonized because of our different views, but the point of the matter is that Johns did have his time to show us his skills with the Legion via two prior stories: the Lightning Saga and the recent Action Comics storyarc. Although I would have to admit the Lightning Saga was a good story, but I just wasn't sold with everything Johns was selling when he was showing all of his cards in Action. It continues to have the same effect on my enjoyment of LO3W.

I also did listen to the Superman panel on my Mac a few hours ago, and Johns still doesn't convince me that the new Adventure Comics is a Legion book. If you read his CBR interview (http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=19935), it clearly says that there's a lead character and the book will be, for all intents and purposes, a 'variety show' occasionally featuring the Legion. The frustration isn't the quality of the writing or what other DCU characters appear in the book, rather that the Legion aren't the lead feature.

BTW, I understand you're adamant about defending your side and I know this is the Internet, but don't let that ruin the civility among our other Legion Worlders and their own sentiments about the Legion. We all want whats best for the Legion and garner more fans to our fandom. So let's keep our discourse on civil.

Edit on last sentence:
So let's keep our discourse civil.

Freudian slip.

sorry if i come across as angry, i'm totally not! i wish you could hear my voice, i'm not angry-sounding at all! these are the sounds of my gentle typing fingers.

i don't have a problem with your viewpoint or anyone elses, it's just baffling that people are calling this so early on the game. BEFORE the game even. so that "quick to judge thing" works both ways here.

in lightning saga, the legion are guest appearances in a different comic, how COULD they be the main characters? and i think the action comics arc showed us A LOT in a tiny space and i never thought that superman was the focal point of that story at all.

hahaha superman, actually...now that you mention it, i think he's background noise a lot of the time. he's sort of just...there, you know? he never seems to DO things, things happen TO him, like the new krypton thing? he's just this whiny guy in the background going "guyyyysss guyyyys, don't fiiight, c'monnnn, guys seriously ;__;!!". he'll give a speech and then everyone's like "that's so inspiring superman! really! but we're soooo not listening, ciao~"

Didn't Lightle do a couple reboot issues?

Right. Lightle did covers and interiors for 'The Legion' #24 and #34. So TECHNICALLY, Manapul is the second to jump from different iterations. Or we can Manapul's one of the few artists that crossed over on a regular Legion title and Adventure Comics.

Loved how THAT defused the tension on the thread. LOL!

Yup, I guessed right all along. The Legion of Super-Heroes was sold down the river for nothing.

From here on in, it's a broken down vaudeville act in Geoff Johns' All New, Rave Revue Continuity-Porn Show.