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I never met, knew of, or spoke to anybody(besides myself) who read and loved the Legion before the internet. I stumbled upon the DC Comics LSH message board in the late 90s and was shocked and thrilled to discover there were others like me!
This led me to write 3 letters to Paul Levitz over the years, and each time, he responded with a hand-written letter back! Not a form letter, not typed, just casually written and signed in ball point pen. I treasure those.
It also gave me the courage to write LoCs to DC Comics, a few of which have been published.
But best of all, it led to me finding a community of friends here on LW, who welcome me back with equal enthusiasm whether I've been away for a couple of hours or a couple of months.
I even got to meet LW founder, Gary(Nightcrawler), when he came to NYC and had dinner at the restaurant where I am employed.
I also met our cutest poster, Matthew(Boy with Ultra Powers), on one of his NYC visits, who made it a point to meet me despite being on a hectic schedule.
Finally, there's all the cool and zany stuff I've gotten in the mail over the years from fellow posters!!
From: elizabeth,nj | Registered: Jul 2003
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Anyway...through sentients I met on the DCMBs, I borrowed big chunks of Baxter and 5YL. I had assorted issues from both runs and had a general idea of what had happened, but it's something else altogether to be able to read all the way through...especially with 5YL. Oh, and part two of Superboy's Legion, which I would have bought but I couldn't find a copy.
I've also had copies of various LSH issues given to me by various MBers. This includes the Doctor Mayavale issue -- from a certain hippie who will remain nameless.
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Living in a country were comic books stores are non existant, and being if only one out of all my friends who reads comic books, the internet has been a great way to get my Legion fix. I fell in love with them when I was thirteen and unfortunately it took another 10years to start increasing the size of my collection from the very few issues I could get my hands on. Five years after first discovering LW online, and my addiction has not been abated at the least. I don't really look at any other sites, internet connection on this side is still not as good as the rest of the world. But I'm pretty happy with LW... It's my daily fix!
From: Durban, South Africa & Auckland, New Zealand. | Registered: Nov 2004
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Legion World validated my inner geek with literate, opinionated and respectful individuals: students, professionals, fathers, strong women - not to mention the humour! Until this message board came along I thought I was the only person I knew who harboured a love for such an obscure super-hero group. At a time when everything superhero related all lived and died by the letter "X", I held steadfast in my own corner of the comics universe with a certain "Long Live..." motto. My corner of the universe suddenly wasn't so small anymore. Thanks, Legion Worlders.
From: Canada | Registered: Jul 2003
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Well, it's quite simple: Before the internet, I had exactly NOBODY to talk about the Legion. Here in Germany, US comics are a rare spare time activity, and those people I knew who were reading comics did not read the Legion.
So I was all by myself with my thoughts about the Legion, which was especially hard through the Zero Hour when my beloved team was wiped out of existence and replaced by a bunch of teenagers...
It was in 1995 that a friend introduced me to the internet, and after the first moments of awe, actually my first thoughts were "hey, I might be able to find other Legion fans this way" - which I succeeded in within mere minutes. I became a member of the LSH-List mailing list and met a lot of Legion fans, many from the US, others from Danmark, Protugal or Brazil. I learned that not everybody hated the reboot as fervently as I did, and I got into a lot of interesting conversations, many of them NOT about the Legion at all. Twice, Legion fans visited me in Germany, once an American fan was kind enough to hunt down some missing backlist issues (v3, hard to get in Germany) for me in exchange for some German language Legion stuff.
Oh, those really were exciting days - as everything in life, the heated email correspondence got fewer over the years, as got my interest in the then-current incarnation of the Legion which kept on detoriating til I quit the book. Though I returned to the Legion when DnA took over, it did not rejuvenate my interest in Legion Internet communication.
Until 2007, when I started to hang around here, surprised again that not everybody embraced the notion that Johns was kind of bringing back the classic Legion. It really is interesting to meet other opinions
Anyway, without the Internet, I probably would still have nobody to exchange my thoughts about this very special interest. So this was a major change for me - I'm glad that technology made it possible.
By the way, I guess today, it would not take me so many years to get a pretty complete Legion run - (Ebay and online retailers did not exist when I started collecting the US Legion issues (in 1992, I guess)). Probably would be cheaper today, too...
From: Bamberg, Germany | Registered: Feb 2007
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quote:Originally posted by Cobalt Kid: In a more specific sense, the internet allowed me to fill in my collection through several different ways: (A) Awesome Legion Worlders sending me duplicates of back issues (thanks Vee & Scooter!); (B) Faraway Lad letting me win the first appearance of Ultra Boy on ebay when he realized we were bidding against each other (is there any more of a gentleman on LW?) and (C) picking up like 30 issues with Pov at a comic book store one day. I felt good returning the favor years later to another Legion Worlder.
Which was me! Beesides Cobie, Lightning Lad, Bevis and Vee were also awesome in helping me fill in gaps in my collection. Thanks, guys!
The Internet and fandom helped me appreciate the richness that is Legion history. Even eras which I disliked (ehem Threeboot ehem) have contributed immensely - the intro of Theena, an arguably more interesting Dream Girl, Light Lass kicking ass. I have a greater appreciation for Legionnaires like Dragonmage, Tyroc, and Tenzil now.
I've met several Kinetix fans online, reinforcing my intense love for her as my #1 fave Legionnaire. I'm also pleased to find people who share my liking for several obscure Legionnaires, like Monstress, Nightwind, Infectious Lass, Spider-Girl...
I've been involved in several tag team threads, and now write stories set in both the Legion universe and in our very own LMB universe.
It's just great meeting so many people who passionately love the Legion, instead of just dabbling in it.
Hyperpath: Email this page to someone!
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