Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #1 (SPOILERS)

Exactly! And the bulldozers coming to tear down the HQ? That's DC trying to cancel the Legion, more than once. And who stopped them? We fans did! I fully believe this was Mark and Barry's tribute to us.

Hello? Did I mention that Shadow Lass is GREY?

Where's all the indignant harrumphing and foot stomping?

Barry - you will have to go ahead answering those questions because I presume that I will be the last person to get the Legion #1 in TWO weeks! (Wesfield Comics order)

I am sure that Barry will be happy to answer that question, as I recall that Barry pointed out that Shady should be colored BLUE a while back. Barry will rectify that when he hears a comment like that from you.

Got mine yesterday. There was only one left on the table after I took mine (roughly about 2:00pm, 3 hours after the store opened). At the same time there was a pretty healthy stack of both the Superman/Batman issue and the Jim Lee Superman issue that were out yesterday. I don't know if that indicates that the book had been selling that well or if the shop just didn't order that many. Either way, I'm glad they had one left for me when I got there. Couldn't wait until I got home. I read mine in my truck in the parking lot!

Personally I really liked the issue, but I'll reserve judgement until I have seen a few more issues. To me judging by a first issue is kind of like judging a band by it's first album. Some bands just spend all their good material on their debut effort, and tend to suck on the followup. We'll see what number two brings!

Some random thoughts:

I didn't much care for the opening sequence. It just seemed too long and too heavy handed. The same thing could have been handled on a single page, or indeed in a single panel. But hey, when you've got 30 pages to fill each month I guess you can afford to stretch things out a little. Personally I'd rather see the storytelling kept tight and save a couple pages for a lettercol.

Speaking of the opening sequence, who exactly are the Justice League fighting there? I recognize the Joker, but the rest are vague. Is that S.T.R.I.P.E. that Wonder Woman has lifted above her head? And who are the two that Plas has wrapped up? If I had to guess I'd say Super Woman from the Crime Syndicate and...the Atom?!?

Took me a couple of passes to pick up on the viewscreen joke with the SP folks. At first glance I also thought there was a printing error, especially since I'd seen those pages in the preview material and it hadn't been presented this way that I can recall. I agree with whoever brought up Terry Gilliam. I could easily see a scene like this fitting into "Brazil" or "Meaning of Life".

I was happier with Sun Boy's costume seeing it in action here than I had been in the Titans crossover preview. I still wish he had boots though. One thing I didn't much care for was they way in which Kitson draws Ultra Boy's symbol. It's too thin and anemic as drawn here. Beef it up a bit!

I find it interesting that the "extended family" Legionnaires all seem to wear the L* symbol on their clothing or as tattoos or jewelry, wave flags featuring it and such, but none of the core team members wear it anywhere on their costumes save for the flight rings. As much maligned as the post-boot utility belts were, I kind of liked the fact that the team wore some kind of a unifying symbol (that didn't frequently get overlooked by artists as the flight rings always have in the past).

Interesting headquarters, aside from the obvious reference to the "rocketship accident" original Club House. It appears to be hollow, with the rooms all existing along the inside walls. Looks as though the Legionnaires can fly right in through the top and directly access whatever floors they want from a system of balconies. For a team of 15 to 20 (whose supporters all supposedly stay outside the clubhouse walls) there did seem to be an awful lot of people milling about the place as Sun Boy took Invisible Kid on his tour of the place. Good to see that Foosball is still remembered by someone in the 31st Century! Would be terrible if something like that were lost to the ages. No Bumper Pool table though?!? Is that a Bat Plane hanging from the ceiling? Maybe there's 21st Century Super Hero memorobilia all around the HQ, kind of like a 31st Century heroes "Hard Rock Cafe"! And what are all the little floaty things flying around the rec room?

"Eat it Grandpa" made me laugh quite a bit. Hopefully it will be used very sparingly though, as it will easily become very tired and cliche if repeated too often.

I like the hologram communicators in the flight rings. Surprised that's never been done before. Great idea!

As far as the "political majority" in Lallor goes, maybe their political parties are just that splintered that a few thousand kids with a common philosophy could indeed be a majority? Gotta wonder what the voting age is though, as all the Legionnaired there are referred to as "under 18's".

Invisible Kid kind of...disappeared...during the battle on Lallor. I guess that's kind of his thing, but I'd have liked to have seen at least some indication that he didn't just turn tail and run back though the Transmatter portal.

Star Boy's my favorite character so far. He tires hard, but still always seems to find a way to screw things up. Kind of reminds me of myself a bit... I do have to wonder though how many of the poor non-powered Legion of Super Hangers-On were hurt or killed in the East Plaza explosion and fire...

Overall I thought it was an encouraging start to the new series. Hope Waid and Kitson can keep it up on a consistent basis. Do we hafta wait a whole month for number 2?!?

Hi Guys
Ok I'll answer a couple of questions really quickly - Shadow Lass should be bluer I totally agree...we'll get there...I hope!

There is a lot of memorabilia around the HQ - some members being more avid collectors than others as we'll see in future issues.

There's plenty of 'visitors' to the HQ, but only the core group choose to actually live there.

Glad to hear most folks are positive about the new approach - it really is a whole new 'ballgame' for the LSH - so be careful about making too many assumptions too early on... all is not what it might at first seem!

Oooh. More teasers! Thanks Barry! Man this is fun!

Barry - re: Shadow Lass bluer - yeah!!!! *hand raising with 'L' shaped waving* *nudge Jim's arm* I can see Jim smiling a little. *nudge*

Barry I have to say that the coloring is my one disappointment. It lacks a vibrancy that should be there. Now I don't blame Chris because he got some great colors and effects across (the Transmatter portal, Thom's uniform, the "and we are Legion" splash page) but overall it is lifeless. But then a lot of DC books lately have suffered from unappeasing colors. Perhaps it is time for them to look at changing their choice of paperstock.

I liked it. I was a bit confused by the aftermath of the fight with the robot -- "credit Star Boy with the disarm" didn't make much sense because we hadn't seen him do it and it seemed like the focus was on the SP helmets the Legionnaires had taken as souveniers. But I read it again and I suppose it makes enough sense on a reread, as does the scene with the two guys in one room.

I think Waid knows that Cosmic Boy is not a favorite of many, but he also wants to have him as (initial) leader just because of tradition. This characterization may actually make me like him, though.

I like how the salute the fans give the core team members means "You are a loser" in 20th/21st century hand gestures.

Actually, they're just greeting Loser Lad.

SPROKING FABULOUS!!!!!

Pretty much everything has already been said about what I liked. And there was a lot but it really says something when an artists draws a throw-away character that really intrigues me. For some reason that white haired girl towards the end of the story really stunned me. I guess i really liked the design.

Okay here's what I thought:

--Like many at first I thought the dialougue between the two sp officers was some kind of of a mis-print, but laughed heartily when I got the joke.

--"An experimental Macrobot" just seems so pleasently corny.

--Gim and Dirk are back!!! Missed you guys. Love Gim's new symbol.

--Starboy's bad luck, hope they keep this up, it's a cute little character point.

--Cham does have Antennae!!!! This makes ever so happy. I was worried that he wouldn't have them at all, but they pop out when he's ready for action (hmmmmmm)

--Phantom Girl is back in the bells, Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus.

--The juxtapositon of Sun boy and Shadow Lass, just a cool visual.

Can't wait until issue 2, Mark and Barry THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

You're right! I totally missed that!

For everyone else that did, check out the panel where they step though the portal to Lallor. They're easy to miss, but they're there nonetheless!

I LOVED IT!!!!

While skimming the preview pages @ Dallas, I had to restrain myself from reading too much and not being blown away by the actual issue.

I needn't have worried!

First impression:
It was like first wading into LSH lore, like when I first started: the wonderful sense of discovery... familiarness (Then: Superboy + 70s LSH Trek style vs. Now: new incarnations of beloved characters) but unfamiliarness (pre-78 Legion Lore vs. a backstory we have all yet to see).

And Barry's art was incredible! obviously.

Opening sequence- powerful! Each of the five gets stronger and stronger- love the choices of Robin Hood, Joan D'Arc and Jesse Owens! Not necessarily the obvious choices, but each brings a different aspect of heroism.

Despite the apparent "utopia," it clearly isn't: It's an ultimate Orwellian police state: one that smoothly perpetuates the "protection" myth (as hinted in the Lyle preview story), and many older residents don't see the bars, so they don't realize they live in a cage.

The SP conversation, besides being expositonary and setting up a foundation for conflict, also shows holes the the holes of "utopia:" two men just feet apart needing their toys to communicate. And, the Cops @ the scene are equally as authoritarian: "interfering with a crime scene," from an agency in no real rush to do anything but wait for reports and strategies - but would quickly clamp down on those who solve the situation that can't/won't,.

That they backed off of bull-dozing LSH HQ may speak more of UP's recognition thus far, than being unwilling to create its own Tiananmen Square. Was Lallor really that unique? An authoritarian state that has never needed the subtleties that today's corporate communist state employs could easily accept pure brute force, no matter how genocidal, as an acceptable solution - and even portray it as a "moral" obligation, a la a parent slapping a child being more expedient than using psychology.

But it also begs the question - why does the UP support the LSH? To try to contol it? Given Rokk's situation, that appears to be part of it. But is it the whole story? How independent are the SP of the UP?

I haven't really missed Dirk and Gim like some have - but they were well-written (and drawn, like everyone), and fit the story. And irt makes sense to have much of the focus on a decent percentage of characters who weren't featured much lately - it helps show the seperation with Twoboot.

Wasn't keen on Cham's look, but it makes sense, and it'll probably grom on me.

Waid's biggest coup in disolving my sole major doubt, was his handling of code-names. As I've stated time and again, "Boy" and "Lass" names aren't my cup of tea, but Waid wins his cast to me via Lyle's doubts.

Lallor: I assume there is more going on - part of joining a story in progess, and figuring what's going on (like Daxam). I think hardcore comic fans are too used to knowing everything that's going on - I'm content to let the mysteries unfold.

The rink holograpgics are cool - I hope the thresholds aren't too convenient that it interferes with storytelling; let there be serious limitations to its use.

Despite a horrendous war, the more powerful conflict was Rokk's own priorities. Nicely done, Barry and Mark.

Heh. I actually thought Loser Lad might make a nice mocking nickname for Star Boy!

Waid, I'll send you five bucks American if you can slip that one in there!

This is great! I loved the energy level of the book. Lots happened, but it was easy to follow. The art was the highlight for me. Barry's work is incredible here, it just looks like he poured his heart into it. The detail in costumes, hair, faces, this is what Waid meant by being one of DC's number on books.

Mark told a heck of a story here. I am little put off by the whole rebellion attitude, but I trust we'll see more justification for it as the story moves on. The fans outside HQ getting respected, while the uprisors on Lallor are slaughtered. It gives you some idea of the subtle tension underneath this utopian facade.

That the Legion tries diplomacy is good. That they aren't restricted by it even better. Cos is still the role model for the gang. Star Boy is still the tough luck kid. Holdovers from previous LSH series, while throwing in a lot fo the new. A shy, timid yet smart Invisible Kid sticks out as a favourite so far. And Brainy keeps his standard cool demeanor, demonstrated so well in his brief moment on screen.

Hellacool!

I don't know so far. It has way to much of a we are right the Adults are all wrong vibe going. To me the Legion is coming off so far as just a bunch of spoiled bored kids who want to shake thing up for the excitment of it, and they really have no idea how bad things are going to get if they keep pushing things. Actully they come off as some huge cult with all these normal kids worshiping these superpowered kids. The whole human shield thing around the HQ makes them see even more like a cult.
I am giving it a few more issue, but I was not reall impressed with anything I saw in the first issue except for Barrys art (even though I hate his Chameleon).

I agree so completely with Zeroman that I think he may be my alter ego.

I hate the transmatter thingy. It's just as bad as the thresholds, just a new shape. I don't like it that instantaneous interstellar travel is as easy as walking through a door.

Why SHOULD these kids respect elders who tag them like dogs?

Don't fall in with the Dark Side, "Gramps"...

Also, we haven't seen very many examples of why the Legion has formed. Maybe they've witnessed lots of bungled attempts at averting disasters, etc. Maybe they were told that if they could handle the situation better, to go ahead. And that's what they did. That situation on Lallor would be enough alone.

If what Kent Shakespeare posed is true and the it's a more Orwellian culture then these kids definitely have something to stand up against.

Also, regarding travel and the transmatter portals, I found it interesting that hardly any flying ships could be seen in the skyline of Metropolis. Lallor had plenty, but maybe that form of transportation isn't used everywhere. It is the future, after all. We're experimenting the space-skimming planes today. Who knows what they'll have in 1000 years? The portals are just another way. Who hasn't wished that they could just go instaneously fro one place to another without all the waiting that travel involves...ugh.

Okay, so we now know that the double word balloons in the SP HQ scene are not a misprint. But here is something else that I have been wondering about.

Does everybody's copy of #1 have Ayla, Val, Cham & Tinya in the circles by the logo? These are not the same four we saw in previews, and seems weird since Cham & Tinya are also in the main image.

I'm wondering if DC, knowing what A/R collectors Legion fans can be, might have released #1 with different logo headshots to different areas of the country?

Anyway, I'll bite. Happy to buy a copy from anyone who might have a different logo/cover.

Mine had the same ones yours did, PB. I too was surprised by not seeing the legionnaires we'd seen in the previews.

This being new year's eve eve, I made a special weekday pilgrimage to the comic shop. I gave the issue a quick read in the parking lot and look forward to a more thorough pouring-over tonight.

Of all the interesting elments, I am most intrigued by Sun Boy's comment about the UP wanting the Legion to be afraid of the future. Maybe in a utopia the only thing left to fear is the future, the possibility utopia might come crashing down on your watch?

I am willing to trust that Waid has an interesting story to tell here, and that in the end our beloved Legionnaires will be HEROES, not just spoiled young malcontents.

Barry, I especially like the fact that your characters look like real people (albeit very attractive ones). Their hair looks real, the faces look real, their clothes look real, it's way cool. And I especially like the non-linear architecture.

I am struck by how much of a gamble this new Legion is. It seems like a sure-fire formula for 1971, but in 2004 (almost 2005), are kids too content to be interested in stories of generational conflict?

And Sun Boy is awesome. The hair, the costume, the characterization. His argument with Cosmic Boy over Lallor is already a classic.

VERY impressed with the book.

I like Mark's characterizations a lot. The Legion has always been a group of teenagers. But in the last few versions, the rebels have been the minority - the hotheads.

The "Legion as a movement" is intriguing. The concept reminds me of Legion fandom - anyone can join, and some fans are the unofficial leaders.

A question, Barry: what would happen if a Legion follower broke the law, but said he was doing it in the Legion's name? Does the SP recognize only Cos' group as officially Legionnaires?

The Colossal Boy/Micro Lad thing is hilarious. How about calling Shrinking Violet "Growing Girl"?

Nice t'see E-Lad, Sun Boy and Colossal Boy again.

And the Chameleon gender question raises one about Brainiac 5: did the founders waive the name rule?

I hope we see more non-human Legionnaires. Anyone seen Gates lately? Or Lume?

Some minor art nit-picks:

Colossal Boy and Ultra Boy look too much alike. Perhaps different hair styles would help?

Echoing Loser Lad, U-Boy's chest symbol should be wider. It looks too much like a T.

But overall, a nice start! Thanks, Mark and Barry!

Long live the Legion!

- Mike