Legion of Superheroes?

[JoeGKushner]

So what is up with the Legion of Superheroes these days? I'm an old fan but haven't picked up much in the last, oh, say eight years. Last I saw they had rebooted 'em, and we had Legion in the modern day with Lobo and some Braniac wannabe, etc...

I'm in Borders and see Legion and Superboy is lost in time there. Now one of the last Legion comics I picked up dealt with the whole Time Trapper issue and how their version of Superboy was from a pocket universe and how the post Crisis Superman, who'd never been Superboy, was from the real universe and how Superboy died to save that pocket universe.

So I guess my real quesion is what the heck happened?

 

[Truth Seeker]

As it stands, the series has been 'ended', for a another 'reboot'.

Superboy's presence will be resolved in a Teen Titan/LOSH crossover title, later this year, and then...Legion will be back...'again'.

This is the short end of it.

Hope that helps.

 

[Truth Seeker]

LONG LIVE THE LEGION!!!!

 

[Villano]

The last time I read them, they were running in two series, Legion Of Superheroes and Legionnaires. There were actually my favorite comics during that time. Unfortunately, sales were low, so they decided to have the characters fight some great alien menace, end the series, do a mini-series to wrap things up, and then (I assume) relaunch the characters in just one series.

The mini-series, Legion Lost, killed my interesting in reading any new issues. Half of the team got knocked to a distant part of the universe and had to make their way back home while fighting against a Borg-like enemy that controled that area of space. They made it very dark, killed off at least one character (Monstress), and turned hero Element Lad evil (he's the one who kills Monstress).

It was like an early '90s dark and gritty reboot. We need a hero to turn traitor, a pointless death, yadda yadda yadda...

 

[Truth Seeker]

Well, it is hard to write for multiple characters in one book, I don't care how good you are, especially in the comic book field...doing Legion, is a hard thing.

Oh Yes, in the good days, it was no problem, but now, in the last several years of reboot, maybe the title is showing how difficult it is to manage a huge cast.

I hope the next writer and editor, will get it right, and give a long run.

*fingers crossed*

 

[WayneLigon]

I'm in Borders and see Legion and Superboy is lost in time there. Now one of the last Legion comics I picked up dealt with the whole Time Trapper issue and how their version of Superboy was from a pocket universe and how the post Crisis Superman, who'd never been Superboy, was from the real universe and how Superboy died to save that pocket universe.

Legion continuity is probably the stickiest to untangle. This site does a fair job of going over everything from the very beginning.

Basically, you're about three series behind where you left off. As with everything else, continuity from the period you last remember never happened at all; it was swept under the rug and done away with by Crisis and Zero Hour. The Legion was rebooted from scratch. It still begins with Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl and Livewire (Lightning Lad) saving Brande but it quickly becomes it's own thing after that. You can look at the Secret Files updates on some of there.

There was Legionnaires and Legion of Superheroes. Those titles ended and the 12-part Legion Lost series was done. After that, Legion came out and either has ended or is just about to end before another new LSH title comes out.

The Superboy you're seeing in the current Legion books is 'our' Superboy from this present time. Superboy (Kon-El aka Conner Kent) is a clone mixing DNA from Superman, Lex Luthor, and I think a couple three other people together to get what they wanted. Most of his abilities are telekinetic though he has been developing some powers (like heat vision) from his Superman heritage.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Well, after looking at all of that.... "Blah." I think that about covers it. I loved Wildfire, Timberwolf and the Karate Kid, but seeing them all unchanged due to multiple resets is definatly "Blah." I think one of the things that really stuck with me was when Karate Kid was beaten to death by the Nemesis style guy and still managed to win. Good stuff there. All sweept under the rug.... Sad really.

 

[Paragon Kobold]

The stuff you remember is from the last days of the 'classic' legion. After that there was a 'Dark Grim Future' version. Then the whole thing was rebooted into a 'New fresh start' version which is now ending...

In December a new version will be launched, written by Mark Waid, who is something of a scholar in Legion Lore. I, for one, have great hopes.

Of course I have had great hopes for the Legion before, only to face bitter disappointment.

 

[Chun-tzu]

Well, after looking at all of that.... "Blah." I think that about covers it. I loved Wildfire, Timberwolf and the Karate Kid, but seeing them all unchanged due to multiple resets is definatly "Blah."

I'm an old school Legion fan, too. Although I did like the dark, gritty adult Legion series (the first couple years, before it lost its way), the classic Legion was the best. I dropped it at some point after Zero Hour. I got sick of reading "modernized, retold" Legion history.

I think one of the things that really stuck with me was when Karate Kid was beaten to death by the Nemesis style guy and still managed to win. Good stuff there. All sweept under the rug.... Sad really.

Yeah, but dude... then he was dead. One of the few things I liked about the reboot was seeing Karate Kid and Ferro Lad on the team again.

 

[Klaus]

I liked Wildfire a lot.

I also liked the Legionnaires launch, illustrated by the mega-talented Chris Sprouse.

Legionnaires was set in the cronology of the original LoSH. They were clones of the Legion that were discovered during a Dominion invasion (iirc). They got awakened, and suddenly there were TWO Legions running around: the adult LoSH (with its entire history of Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl together, Ferro Lad deceased and all that) and the teen Legionnaires (where everyone had a "fresh start"). Then the earth blew up (cameo of Sandman's sister Death) and the Legionnaires were patrolling New Earth, a series of huge dome/spaceship/cities with what was left of Earth's population (about 1% of the population).

Zero Hour erased both series and started Legion anew, but with the uniforms of the Legionnaires.