posted
I'm such a sourpuss that my first reaction was "can't ANYONE else write the Legion?!?" After that initial reaction, I began to realize it's a good thing that anyone IS writing the Legion, or that there will a Legion to write, and if it has to be Paul, we could probably do worse. While nothing would surprise me, I think it less likely that DiDio would totally set up his former boss for total disaster. Levitz has said that he has a LOT of catching up to do on the state of things, which is probably a good sign. At his best, Levitz's stories built strongly from one to another, and that's something some of today's most successful writers (Johns, Brubaker) are good at, and I think it's a model that suits the Legion well. At the same time, the Legion's history is so rich that there's plenty of opportunity for "lost tales" too (which the Legion origin was, originally, as written by E. Nelson Bridwell). I too hope he comes in with lots of new energy and really cuts loose with something daring, creative and new. Whew. What a few days it's been.
-------------------- ...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
I'm never going to be convinced that Johns not continuing was a good thing for this Legion. The guy made Green Lantern and JSA better than they ever were before, he loves the DC Universe, he seems to be the only guy with his finger on the pulse of the DC Comics audience as a whole. On top of all that, he's pretty much the top writer draw at DC. There's no way that was a good thing...regardless of how hard it is for other writers to follow him.
But...the last time the Legion truly clicked on all cylinders, Paul Levitz was the guy writing it. Unfortunately he was also the guy that was writing it when it stopped clicking on all cylinders and whether that was his fault or not, the association I have mentally with him and the decline is a tough one to overcome.
I do not think he's really like Marv Wolfman, Claremont or even Jim Shooter as a writer...he's definitely more of a technical writer than they are, and he usually has an awesome first major arc planned well in advance...and this time around he's got Johns' subplots to play with and Johns is arguably the best setup man in comics right now. Plus Levitz knows the continuity issues that irk the heck out of us....and it's really not fair to expect anyone else to really understand that.
That said, the first time I see an issue with 55 pages of Element Lad, Dream Girl and Brainiac 5 discussing the downside of being Legion leader with, with the other 22 characters getting their allotted panel of characterization time and the death of classic hero or villain thrown in in the name emotional impact...I will drop the book and I will never look back at it again.
I've been through that before....it sucked harder than any other experience in my comics reading lifetime....and I'm not going through it again.
It's at the top of things I never want to see again...
Don't go there Paul, don't go there ever again.
Space, Planets, Time Travel, Alternate Dimensions, Galactic Wars, Darkseid, Mordru, new ones even...that is the ticket. Not 3 characters sitting around in a room chatting for 3/4ths of an issue. That is my definition of suck.
Ok I take that back, that's not the thing I most do not want to see...Mike DeCarlo being listed as inker on anything with the word Legion in the title is the #1 thing.
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted
Holy guacamole! I always thought Levitz would someday return to writing Legion, but I'm still surprised! It's hard not to link this to Disney's purchase of Marvel... I'm sure the formation of DC Entertainment has been in the works for much longer, but perhaps Levitz's decision to step down as publisher was influenced by the Disney/Marvel deal.
I certainly look forward to his writing the LSH- though he doesn't have long to get it in gear, does he? I wonder if he has a drawer/file/laptop full of ideas for the Legion that he's saved over the years?
It's also hard not to think about returning writers like Claremont to the X-Men and Wolfman to the Titans (sort of) and wonder if there'll be a similar disappointment.
The fact that he says he has 'homework' to do, is, in my view, a very good thing. I hope he makes good on the utilization of all three (or more) legions in ADVENTURE, while simultaneously giving some characters the patented Levitz spotlight. Tall order.
I do have other concerns- that some characterizations could be dated (Dream Girl, Element Lad) and his spotty track record creating villains (Legion needs this badly... though the various folk filling the ranks of the LSV in LO3W could keep things humming for quite awhile).
From: Knoxville, TN | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Actually Superboy, I wouldn't mind a few "downtime" issues again. It seems like the Legion has been a blur of non-stop end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it stories for far longer than I care to remember. If I see another Galactic War, I won't look twice.
I'd be a lot happier about this if I didn't think Levitz will play the hand dealt him and follow through with all the Johns characterizations that I don't enjoy: Angry Garth, Wolf-cliche Timber Wolf etc. I wouldn't care if he tossed those over and used his old characterizations, but I guess he'll probably just use them as is. It's the "right" thing to do, just not to my taste. Still, I expect better from him than what we've had lately and I hope DC will give him some latitude after so many years of service as a "suit."
From: Douglasville, GA | Registered: Jul 2003
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Set
There's not a word yet, for old friends who've just met.
posted
quote:Originally posted by matlock: I'd be a lot happier about this if I didn't think Levitz will play the hand dealt him and follow through with all the Johns characterizations that I don't enjoy: Angry Garth, Wolf-cliche Timber Wolf etc. I wouldn't care if he tossed those over and used his old characterizations, but I guess he'll probably just use them as is. It's the "right" thing to do, just not to my taste.
Agreed. I'm really not loving the characterization of Garth, in particular, and the longer goes between mentioning Wildfire-as-Red-Tornado or Emotional-Spectrum-Rainbow-Girl, the happier I'll be.
Registered: Aug 2006
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posted
The number one thing about Paul Levitz is he understands and respects the Legion,its history and characters better than anyone.
Though I have said in the past,alot of people seem to think their was never a Legion before Levitz and Giffen were doing it,I on the other hand seem to think their was never a Legion after they were doing it.
Other thoughts
Levitz biggest weakness was creating interesting villians for the Legion to face.
I would not be surprised if Giffen gets involved in someway,as he has said in the past that he was trying to get Paul to get back in the game and do something Legion related.
This very well could have been the plan all along,Johns fixing the Legion for Levitz to take over,Paul has said in the past that he hopes to write again one day.
I hope I get as excited when they announce the artist as I did when they announced the writer!
-------------------- I tried to rip their soul out.I tried to make them forget Superman. But they won't.
From: Kentucky | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
I have mixed feelings, frankly. It is all too easy to get one's expectations up into high gear, even more than with Shooter (who has baggage and was stuck with a lesser incarnation of LSH), and it is all too easy for our collective expectations not to be met.
on the other hand, I really *want* this to be the event we can all envision.
More than Claremont, I'm thinking George Lucas: Willow and The Boredom Menace. It is possible to get rusty, to stay out of the captain's chair too long.
I almost rather they kept this as a surprise, and even a pseudonym until the results stand on their own. Then, the buzz could draw people back and catch up on a hit-in-progress, rather than the height the bar is now set at.
That said, I think Johns has built a worthy launching pad for Levitz to leap from. I will hope for the best.
From: Vancouver, BC, Canada | Registered: Dec 2003
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"And right now, it's just everybody speculating. It's a tempest in a teapot, and if I pay too much attention to it my eyes start to bleed. I just hope that everything works out well for everyone involved. Seeing Paul Levitz's name on the creator's masthead again? I'm really looking forward to it. [When it comes to us collaborating on the Legion again] all Paul has to do is pick up the phone and tell me when. And if comic book fandom knows a good thing when they see it, they should be popping champagne corks at the fact that Paul Levitz is returning to the 30th Century. Knowing Paul, it's not like he ever 100% left."
-------------------- I tried to rip their soul out.I tried to make them forget Superman. But they won't.
From: Kentucky | Registered: Oct 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Lone Wolf Legionnaire: Keith Giffen quote from CBR
"And right now, it's just everybody speculating. It's a tempest in a teapot, and if I pay too much attention to it my eyes start to bleed. I just hope that everything works out well for everyone involved. Seeing Paul Levitz's name on the creator's masthead again? I'm really looking forward to it. [When it comes to us collaborating on the Legion again] all Paul has to do is pick up the phone and tell me when. And if comic book fandom knows a good thing when they see it, they should be popping champagne corks at the fact that Paul Levitz is returning to the 30th Century. Knowing Paul, it's not like he ever 100% left."
Translation: There's no Val for him to kill yet.
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted
Hopefully Levitz calls him to do the relaunch of the Karate Kid title,where Val becomes the new Resurrection Man,that way Giffen can kill him in every issue and he keeps coming back.
And in the first issue Val Armorr takes out Lobo with one punch!
-------------------- I tried to rip their soul out.I tried to make them forget Superman. But they won't.
From: Kentucky | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
but Lobo isn't even worth one panel.
From: Vancouver, BC, Canada | Registered: Dec 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
quote:Originally posted by rickshaw1: They say it was in the works for over two years. If so, this probably hastened it is all. 'course, that could just be corporate spin.
It's hard to believe that there hasn't been some sort of change in plan. Otherwise, why not have Levitz come on board with the first issue?
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by rickshaw1: They say it was in the works for over two years. If so, this probably hastened it is all. 'course, that could just be corporate spin.
It's hard to believe that there hasn't been some sort of change in plan. Otherwise, why not have Levitz come on board with the first issue?
It's interesting reading the quotes of other creators at CBR...
For one thing, Marv Wolfman said Levitz has wanted to step down from being publisher and return to writing for years now. That makes it sound like Levitz wasn't really demoted but was actually looking to get out of the corporate side of things and this was his opportunity. Looking at this whole merger thing, it seems to be more of an evolution than anything else...I was on the fence about it until I found out the hot chick who is now running the show has been in charge of the DC Animated features...
The DC Animated Features are awesome. If that's what got her this job her promotion was well deserved.
Maybe Paul feels like he's played his part in the evolution of the industry as much as he could and now it's time to return to his first love(the Legion).
If this has been in the works for years, it's entirely possible Johns has been setting this up for Levitz to take over from the get go...Johns is a fan of the Levitz Legion too.
What if setting up this Legion was something Paul wanted to do while he was still in a position to do it? I know from various interviews with Didio and Waid that fixing the Legion is something that Levitz was interested in...
And the point at which Johns rebooted this Legion is just about around the time I would think Levitz thought things started to go sour himself.
I know one thing...Levitz has an extreme amount of patience and would build up to things over the course of years, I could just as easily see the way this reboot has been handled as being seeds he was planting as much as Johns himself...since both of them tend to do that.
[ September 09, 2009, 09:01 PM: Message edited by: Superboy ]
Registered: Mar 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Lone Wolf Legionnaire: Keith Giffen quote from CBR
I'm really looking forward to it. [When it comes to us collaborating on the Legion again] all Paul has to do is pick up the phone and tell me when.
Translation: There's no Val for him to kill yet.
Levitz will want to make Giffen happy. He will probably marry Val to "Duplicate Girl" so that there will be as many KK's to kill as Giffen has pencils.
From: East Toledo | Registered: Jul 2003
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