posted
One cool aspect that I'm sure everyone here can appreciate is how much time Barry found to let us into the creative process. This was pretty unique amongst the big publisher series I follow. He's made a lifelong fan of me anyway. (So much so I picked up most of his L.E.G.I.O.N. run out of quarter bins last summer)
posted
So many things ... everything other people have already said and more.
For Barry's art, which made old-school look new. The spirit of Curt Swan is nodding his head in approval.
For understanding the real Legion lives on in its archetypal characters, no matter how continuity ebbs and flows over the years. The WaK Legion is the "real" Legion, as much as any previous incarnation and more than some.
For restoring the iconic codenames. They *do* make a difference.
For tearing away most of the retcons that have built up over the Legion like layers of mud since 1989.
For their courage in giving the Legionnaires emotionally realistic and complex teenaged personalities and behaviors while also keeping most of them true to character. Hopefully, these characterizations will stand and inform future writers.
For giving us back Mon-El.
For making me interested in Karate Kid, Colossal Boy and Invisible Kid for the first time ever.
For making me like Ayla for the first time ever.
For giving Mekt Ranzz his due and a future that doesn't require him to be a madman or a lobotomy patient.
For an awesomely and passionately flawed Brainiac 5.
For making Star Boy a babe magnet.
For making Triplicate Girl and Phantom Girl unique in terms of their super-powers.
For giving Saturn Girl a long rest -- hopefully long enough for all memories of the awful post-ZH persona to fade away forever. The mute bit is great, too.
For keeping the Garth-Imra romance in the background and resisting the temptation to make it a source of personal conflict again.
For retaining the founder triangle but depicting it as a psychological triangle (Super-Ego, Ego and Id) instead of source of romantic angst or personal contention.
For dumping the other tiresome old romances, but keeping the window open to rebuild them from scratch in the future.
For refusing to dumb down the Legion. This was the most densely written Legion in years, and mostly free of fan-wank revisionism.
For helping re-anchor the Legion to the Superman mythos and the present-day DCU.
For creating new Legion fans to provide a fresh perspective.
Above all, for reminding this old Silver Age fangirl what it was like to meet the Legionnaires for the very first time over 40 years ago, before they firmly settled into boy/girl scout mode. Mark knows and respects them and their rich, variegated history more deeply than any writer since Levitz. I appreciate what he's done.
From: Reimagined Trom | Registered: Jul 2003
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While I don't care for the WaK Element Lad, neither his personality nor his costume, at least he's breathing, not mentally unstable, and there is a planet Trom to explore in the future ... hopefully.
From: Reimagined Trom | Registered: Jul 2003
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Set
There's not a word yet, for old friends who've just met.
posted
Add to my list, the original Lyle Norg Invisible Kid again. I never cared for Jacques, so it's always a treat to see Lyle again.
Registered: Aug 2006
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posted
Good picks everyone! I like it that Mark hasn't felt the need to explore in-depth every little nuance of every character and situation. We knew he was setting things up for the long-haul and I'm quite happy with how many ideas he's thrown out there. We now have subtlties, situations and backstories to mine for a decade to come.
We got new supporting characters, new drama and tons and tons of crazy things for the future writers to have all kinds of fun with. Mark only scratched the surface of SO many things. I know I'm looking forward to the NEXT writer's take and then the writer after that and so on.
Mark Waid seems to enjoy working with the "minor" characters so he spent a lot of time on some people we haven't seen shine in a long long time. Not to mention that he spent quite a bit of that on Legionnaires that were dead in the other incarnations. Having Lyle and Val back made me cheer for Mark.
I'm sure that in the future we'll see the return of other fan favorites and WnK left plenty of elbow room for the work to be exciting and for us to be surprised by their first/next appearences.
Thank you Mark and thank you Barry. You set the stage for the next age of Legion greatness and I (for one) am excited about their potential for the first time in a long time.
From: Smallville Sector : Greater Metropolis | Registered: Jun 2004
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posted
I've only read thru issue 12 or so (because I'm taking a break from comics in general), but...
Barry's art is among the best ever of the Legion artists, right up there with Swan, Cockrum, Grell, Giffen, Lightle, Larocque, Immonen, Coipel and, of course, Garcia Lopez.
The twist on Triplicate Girl was incredible, as was, to a lesser extent, the idea of Imra being mute. The Phantom Girl thing ROCKED!
I thought Lemnos in his early appearances was a brilliant take on making a villain scary in a new way.
Brainy and Nura...devastating and powerful.
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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The characters have been cleverly written - Invisible Kid as a sneaky little creep is classic, Brainiac as an egomaniac is spot on, Colossal Boy, Sun Boy, Dream Girl, Shadow Lass, Triplicate Girl - all classics!
Great idea that the Legion are leading a cultural change against a horribly sterile society- this has sadly been down played of late but we can hope it's going to be brought back to the fore soon.
-------------------- "Tempus Fugitive" the final part of the Adventures of Dream Boy series, set in the Three-Boot Universe. Read it only in the Bits o' Legionnaire Business Forum.
From: here, more often than not | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I'm going to second Tromium's excellent list from above and add one comment of my own.
I deeply appreciate the way that Mark focussed as much or more on character as on plot in this book. One of the things that drove me nutty about the DnA run was the subservience of character to plot. During that run, the book was all plot all the time. None of the Legionnaires had any distinguishable personality beyond what the plot required to move forward. Mark changed that absolutely. The plot now responds to the characters' personalities, rather than the other way around. I was so glad to see that. It really made me feel like the Legion was really back, instead of the faceless drones we'd been forced to endure for the prior 10 years.
Thank you Mark and Barry for the best Legion series in 25 years. History will prove this even if the rest of the internet is currently unappreciative.
From: Los Angeles, CA | Registered: Nov 2003
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posted
Waid & Kitson really made me enjoy the Legion again.
I have to say with Abnett & Lanning there was always something in each issue that made me go "That's not right".
-------------------- Five billion years from now the Sun will go nova and obliterate the Earth. Don't sweat the small stuff!
From: Boston | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
In honor of Mark and Barry's departure, I picked up the first 3 trades and have been re-reading from the beginning. Damn, these stories were good. No doubt that since Supergirl made the scene things have slowed down, but I think that was the result of a) Waid's work on "52" and b) the need to calibrate the LSH story with "52." That is perhaps regretable, but I think at most we've had 1 issue too many of strung-out stuff. These days, that doesn't seem like a lot to complain about. And man, I cannot believe any of us complained about the non-Kitson artists. They did a great job.
So, here's my list so far:
Bad Ass Cosmic Boy -- you may not like him all the time, but damn he's a fine leader and this team has needed that.
Best.Brainiac.5.Ever. -- It shows that this is Waid's favorite character. Can't help but think Waid imagines himself talking to us when he writes Querl's dialogue.
Sun Boy -- It is too bad he's been gone so long, but Mark and Barry have made him the character he always should have been -- a charismatic Apollo of a leader. If any character deserved some time in the sun (sorry) after the last 20 years, it's Dirk.
Element Lad -- I know that's controversial, and I haven't liked everything about him, but I think the reduced, limited power is a very good thing, especially after the DnA run.
Phantom Girl -- Barry's costume has restored beauty and curves to the 31st century, and the character has a measure of the grace, charm and playfulness that were her hallmark under Cockrum and Bates (I did NOT like the Levitz PG at all!) I know Dave Cockrum is smiling from the great beyond.
Atom Girl -- Violet is one of the few current Legionnaires who has had a varied and interesting run over the last 20 years, but Mark and Barry found an original take on her that integrates some of the best stuff that Paul, Keith, the Bierbaums, etc. did with the character. I loved the idea of a team urban legend!
This is getting too long, so let's point out the other characters that Mark and Barry have just ACED in this new Legion:
Star Boy! Karate Kid! Shadow Lass! Dream Girl! (sniff, I want her body back. In a good way.) Timber Wolf! Princess Projectra! (Check Book Lass!) Light Lass! Triplicate Girl! Lightning Lad! Mon-El! Chameleon! Colossal Boy! (OK, Gim, "Micro Lad") Mekt! and of course, Supergirl!
I look at that list, and I realize that's the heart and soul of the Legion, and a group of characters abused, misused and/or ignored for the better part of the last 20 years. Mark and Barry have restored the core of the Legion, reinvigorated it and updated it while keeping virtually everything most of us would consider essential about the characters. You look again at the character designs Barry shared with us (and are published in the first trade) and you realize Mark and Barry just GET these characters. Yes, I want Bouncing Boy and Matter Eater Lad, too. But I am just so glad we have most of the Legion back, as good as or better than ever.
Thanks Mark and Barry.
-------------------- ...but you don't have a moment where you're sitting there staring at a table full of twenty-five characters with little name signs that say, "Hi, my superpower is confusing you!"
From: Chicago, IL | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
One more thing: the sex! These Legionnaires are sexy, the look sexy, and they have relationships, and all this happens without being gratuitous or out of character. Way to go!
-------------------- ...but you don't have a moment where you're sitting there staring at a table full of twenty-five characters with little name signs that say, "Hi, my superpower is confusing you!"
From: Chicago, IL | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
The art first and foremost was amazing. Best work of Barry's career that I've seen.
The majority of the costumes were great.
B5, Timberwolf, Shadow Lass, Shrinking Violet all rocked!
The character interaction and moments were fantastic.
I love the villains which I notice many others didn't. Terror Firma, Helter Skelter (was that his name?), the Wanderers, love the Science Police.
They also did a great job of building a strong base. Any writer can easily take this Legion and change things without worrying about a few 800 pound gorillas in the room. Well, ok Dream Girl is dead but besides that.
From: Tampa | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
First and foremost, it got me back into reading the Legion, and not only that but acted as a launch-pad for reading more comics (i.e. got me back into comic-shops).
Second, the Brainy/Nura thing, all of it including the 'resurection' was pure genius. I only regret that it was not developed more, and I hope future writers will work on it... because it should make for some very good story telling.
Third, Barry Kitson. I love the new costumes, and the artwork was hands down beautiful.
Fourth, Micro Lad and Atom Girl... some very witty humor was tied to each... i.e. everyone calling Gim, Colossal Boy despite his protests, and Violets doubtful existence. Not to mention that the name Atom Girl was a nod to the Atom and all that... as least the way I see it.
Fifth, I really like Shady's relationship with Ultra Boy, and the advice her ex- Karate Kid provides, there was some fun interplay there.
Sixth, Invisible Kid's crush on Kara... which is really funny when compared to Power Boy's crush... is it something about her that attracts the stalker/creepy kind...
Seventh, Mon-El. After a more than a decade he's really back! The real deal that is.
Eight, Triplicate Girl and her multiple dates... of not being the crush that one of them develops on Element Lad. Also her origin is really cool... a visit to Cargg at some point would be awesome.
Ninth, I've always had a soft spot for Timber Wolf, and the new look really does him justice (i.e. no more 'furball').
Tenth, Princess Projectra being the cash cow of the team and then turning out to be 'actually' useful was a good twist.
Eleventh, I actually like the new Element Lad look... I was never a big fan of his old costume... although I did like the 5YL look...
Twelth, Cosmic Boy and Brainy's little rivalry makes for some really good interactions.
Thirteenth, Phantom Girl's origin is oool, as was that entire back-up featuring her and Karate Kid.
-------------------- Currently getting caught up on my Legion history by reading the Post-Zero Hour Legion.
From: Arlington, VA | Registered: Dec 2006
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Well, ok Dream Girl is dead but besides that. 
