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The DC3: The “End” of the Legion of Super-Heroes

By , and | August 30th, 2013
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While all of us at Multiversity are fans of a wide spectrum of comics, there are a few of us that tend to self-identify as “DC guys.” We’ve cried for justice; we’ve been through the blackest nights and the brightest days. And now, we’ve been culled together for a new column to focus on some of the bigger goings on in the world of Detective Comics Comics. If you’re wondering who is going to stand up and discuss what is happening at DC – don’t worry:

In this installment, we are taking a look at the Legion of Super-Heroes, a long running, poor selling, hard to break into, beloved franchise that has fallen on hard times.

Brian Salvatore: Last week, the last issue of the current iteration of “Legion of Super-Heroes” was published. The Legion has been a touchstone for DC for the past 55 years. However, as of late, the Legion has not had much success reaching a significant porion of the comics-buying public for any substantial period of time, or with any significant impact on the DC Universe.

So, before we dig into the most recent version of the Legion, let’s talk about our history with the characters. Are either of you longtime fans?

Zach Wilkerson: I can’t call myself a long-time fan, but I did go through a phase where I was heavily interested in the Legion. I became acquainted with the characters through Johns’ “Action Comics.” To this day “Superman and the Legion of Super Heroes” and “Legion of Three Worlds” are among my favorite story-arcs of all time. From there I went back and dabbled in the Abnett/Lanning and “5 Year Later” runs, and dove headlong into Paul Levitz’s pre-New 52 run. I thoroughly enjoyed the first arc of that run, with its ties to Johns’ work and Levitz’s older stories. However, I began to lose interest as time went on and stories became drawn out and convoluted. By the time the relaunch hit, I was thankful for a jump-off point. Aside from reading the first issues of “Legion of Super Heroes” and “Legion Lost,” I’ve not followed the property at all in the past two years.

Vince: This might be good, because I would not call myself a fan of the “Legion” at all. Despite countless attempts to jump on to their ongoing comics over the last decade, or to read storylines in other comics that heavily involved them, they just never seem to connect with me. I did, however, read most of Levitz’s “New 52” series, and I’ll be more than happy to discuss that and to be told by its fans how wrong and how dumb I am.

Perhaps by the end of this, someone can recommend a small handful of truly classic “Legion” stories for me to read?

Brian: You won’t find that from me. I have been similarly stymied in my attempts to get into the Legion, despite having made numerous attempts at getting into the titles. In fact, I would say my favorite Legion story I ever read was the “Legion Secret Origin” mini that came out towards the start of the New 52.

I think we have, just a few paragraphs in, identified the biggest problem with the LoSH – three self identifying DC guys, all in their twenties and thirties, have no real relationship to one of DC’s most iconic characters.

Vince: Well, let’s talk about that. Where have the writers and editors gone wrong with the “Legion” property?

This sounds silly coming from me, a guy who believes that every issue of any comic book is a fine jumping on point, but my biggest barrier to entry in Levitz’s recent series was the fact that they didn’t even try to simplify or focus their cast of characters for a new audience. Read through the first issue of the reboot and marvel at the 20-odd character ID boxes for characters that aren’t given much of an introduction at all.

Zach: I think that one of the defining aspects of the Legion over the years has been it’s defiant impenetrability, which is why there are very few casual Legion fans. I’ve always sort of thought of the Legion as DC’s answer to X-Men, but without the definitive hook (mutants as an allegory for minorities) or iconic characters. The same soap opera qualities are present, as is the large cast of diversely powered individuals.

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Going from there, and I may be off base, but perhaps one of the biggest faults over the years is a lack of direction.

Brian: But most X-Men comics have enough context clues to give a new reader some sort of a head’s up as to what is going on – Legion books typically don’t have that.

I read every single #1 from the New 52, and without a doubt, the poorest issues, in terms of being good places for people to start reading, were “LoSH” and “Legion Lost.” Both books seemed so unbelievably out of place, and seemed to go against the very idea of the New 52.

So, if even when a fresh start is the goal, Legion books can’t produce that, what does that say about them? The lack of direction hurts, but the general inscrutability, I think, is the bigger issue.

Vince: Take any team of A to B level X-Men and I can tell you a little something about each of them. Aside from Mon-El and Brainiac 5, I feel as if “Legion” books are actively keeping their characters as generic beings, defined almost solely by their power sets. The very fact that we know each of them primarily by a formula (power descriptor + lad/lass) seems problematic. The idea that the “Legionnaires” are interchangeable corporate tools doesn’t seem to be the goal, but that’s how I’m feeling most of the time while reading them.

Zach: I don’t think I feel the same disconnect towards the Legion characters that you all feel, but I can see where you’re coming from. I didn’t mean to use “X-Men” as a direct parallel, because that particular property is far more ingrained into mainstream consciousness. However, it’s worth noting that these characters were quite popular at one point in comics history. I do agree that there is a certain “generic-ness” in the current incarnation of the team, and much of that is sadly on Paul Levitz. While he’s obviously made great contributions to the property over the years, like the iconic “Great Darkness Saga,” I think it was a mistake to bring him back to the title, or at least to keep him on after the relaunch. It’s odd that, along with Batman and Green Lantern, the Legion was one of the few books to be relatively unaffected by the New 52. It seems like that would’ve been the perfect time to revitalize the property with a fresh creative take.

Even as I say that, I think the biggest problem with the Legion in the past has been the constant shuffling, relaunching, and rebooting of the property. What do you guys think?

Brian: The constant state of flux the property has been in certainly hasn’t helped, but none of those have been true reboots/relaunches either, at least as far as I can recall. Each one has been an attempt to return to a prior time of triumph, instead of trying to do something totally new. This is a property that DC wants to have both ways – it is supposed to be a perennial, classic property, but every few years has a “perfect jumping on point,” and the constant vacillation between the two means that neither goal is achieved.

I jumped onto the last pre-New 52 relaunch, by Paul Levitz and Yildiray Cinar, originally because of a perceived tie-in to the Green Lantern mythos, and found myself enjoying the book a little, but I still felt like I was reading something not at all intended for me. I felt like I wasn’t in on the joke somehow, and this was a #1 issue! I felt the same way with the New 52 relaunch, and maybe that is just how Levitz writes these characters, but it certainly turned me off.

And, not to belabor the point, but I want to like these characters! I want to know what all the fuss is about, and DC doesn’t seem to care. This is the one property that is allowed to be myopic – and is almost encouraged for it.

Vince: I think you’re absolutely right. The problem is that the creatives seem to treat relaunches merely as the starts of new arcs, rather than the beginnings of new status quo.

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I just don’t know. Maybe the concept, in its current iteration, is just dated and hokey too? It’s supposed to be set in the future, but the costuming and the lingo sounds like something out of a dated sci-fi series. Now I’ve just gone and pissed some more LoSH fans off.

Okay – help me out here, guys. If the ‘New 52’ wasn’t a good place to start with the Legion, where can I go?

Brian: I’ll defer to Zach here – he’s clearly the biggest fan among us.

Zach:Well, as I mentioned earlier, Johns’ work with the Legion is what made me really come to enjoy them so much. The Legion arc of his “Action Comics” run is one of my favorites, and a darn fine Superman story to boot. Outside of Johns’ stuff, “Great Darkness Saga” is generally considered one of, if not the, greatest Legion stories, and the DnA/Coipel stuff is generally well regarded. I’ve never read it, but I imagine the short lived 2004 reboot by Mark Waid is worth checking out as well.

Brian: Ok, boys, let’s lay this on the table. Keith Giffen has announced the “Justice League 3000” takes place before there is even a Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st century, so this book could, in a few years, lead into a new LoSH title, perhaps even taking it from the “start” of the Legion. In addition, Bleeding Cool has reported that it appears that the New 52 Legion might have been taking place in the Earth 2 universe. So, the big questions: When do you bring the Legion back? What creative team would you like to see on the book (feel free to be unrealistic, as our plans most likely won’t happen, unless DC hires us which, to be fair, is on the table)? And finally, what would have to happen for you to buy into the franchise?

Zach:I’ll be honest, I’m none too excited about “Justice League 3000,” especially with Kevin Maguire’s departure. The last thing we need is another gritty team book. That said, I would love to see another Legion book grow from it, but I would prefer it to be written by someone other the Giffen. While I think Giffen has a better track record in recent years, guys like Levitz and Giffen have already told their Legion stories. It’s time for some new ideas. Whatever incarnation the Legion takes next, it needs to make its foundation on the core conceit of the property, super powered future teens, and cast all the self-referential, continuity-driven muck to the wind.

With that in mind, I have two proposals, my dream team and my slightly more realistic offering. First up, dream team; “East of West’s” Jonathan Hickman + Nick Dragotta. Hickman has a penchant for blending hard sci-fi and basic, relatable human relationships, as seen in his “Fantastic Four” run. I would want to pair him with one of his regular collaborators and Dragotta’s exaggerated, almost Kirby-esque style is perfect for a fun (yes, the Legion should be fun) book about future super hero teens.

My second, and more realistic, offering is the team of Sholly Fisch and Chris Sprouse. I pick this team because it has already happened and it was great. The duo did exceptional work on the back-ups of Morrison’s “Action Comics,” sometimes salvaging entire issues when Morrison went too far off the reservation. I submit that Fisch is one of DC’s biggest untapped talents at this point, one with a penchant for writing fun, heartfelt stories. And come on, do I really need an explanation for picking Chris Sprouse?

Vince: Wow, Zach – you really said it all!

If I were starting to read LoSH from scratch, this is what I would want (not that I know so much more than these DC writers or anything): a small core team – no more than 5 main cast members (this would include Brainiac and Mon-El). We tightly follow these 5 for a while and actually get to know them as people. I would want the focus to be on the LoSH as an organization at first, and each of their roles within it. We don’t need to go off-planet yet. We don’t need to know about the rich and overwhelming history of the LoSH yet. We need young recruits getting into trouble and Mon-El and/or Querl Dox getting them out of it. Most importantly, I think we need a witty writer. The last several LoSH series have just felt so dry to me. Matt Fraction would be my impossible dream pick. Bryan Q. Miller would be my realistic one (though Sholly Fisch is a hell of a pick too). Pere Perez can join him on art. That’s how you get me reading Legion of Super-Heroes again.

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But part of the problem is also, as you’ve said, we’re going to be getting a darker, moodier year 3000, the next time we get one. I don’t want that. I think a good Legion comic is probably the opposite of that.

Brian: Damn you Zach, as you took my dream writer, Hickman, as your pick. I remember reading Hickman say that he’d love a chance to write the Legion one day, and DC better be saving up money to lure him away from Marvel in a few years to do just that. For an artist, if I’m going full on dream here, it’d be Tom Scioli. As for a more realistic option, i think Miller and Fisch are both great choices, but I’m going to go with an already established creative team: Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato, fresh off of “The Flash.” Manapul has done some Legion stuff before, but isn’t so associated with it that he’d be a liability, and he can handle the fun visual tone about as well as anyone.

As for what I want out of it, I want it to have a clear purpose. Team books with purpose just work so much better – look at “FF” or “New Avengers” or “Wolverine and the X-Men.” All three of those books have an easy to understand/explain premise and a clear intent. The team needs to be doing something that gets readers to care about them.

And, while it may piss off some fans, I think there needs to be at least 2 years of non-Legion time before bringing the book back. Give it time to be missed, and then gloriously bring it back.

The End?

//TAGS | The DC3

Brian Salvatore

Brian Salvatore is an editor, podcaster, reviewer, writer at large, and general task master at Multiversity. When not writing, he can be found playing music, hanging out with his kids, or playing music with his kids. He also has a dog named Lola, a rowboat, and once met Jimmy Carter. Feel free to email him about good beer, the New York Mets, or the best way to make Chicken Parmagiana (add a thin slice of prosciutto under the cheese).

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Zach Wilkerson

Zach Wilkerson, part of the DC3 trinity, still writes about comics sometimes. He would probably rather be reading manga or thinking about Kingdom Hearts. For more on those things, follow him on Twitter @TheWilkofZ

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Vince Ostrowski

Dr. Steve Brule once called him "A typical hunk who thinks he knows everything about comics." Twitter: @VJ_Ostrowski

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