Q: Having worked on several previous incarnations of the Legion of Super-Heroes, do you think your take on the team will be a major departure from what we’ve already seen?
A: It’s my job to come along every ten years or so and write the last Legion story and then start all over again. I don’t to see it as a completely new take because the goal was to strip everything down, back to the basic concept. It’s a bunch of kids having super-heroic adventures in the far future. It should be fun and bright and high-spirited. That said it’s a pretty radical departure from anything we’ve done with the Legion so far. But what I feel good about is that (classic Legion writer and DC exec) Paul Levitz gives me the thumbs up and says “go forth and do”, this is exactly what we’re looking for. We can start anew without discounting things like Impulse’s connections to the 31st century, Barry Allen living there his last years, all that will be accounted for. But basically, the idea was to pretend as if we were inventing the Legion today, as opposed to continually trying to make something that was created in 1958 work for an audience of the 21st century.
Sounds like a little bit of back-pedaling. Before he said he wasn't taking a "back to basics approach", now he's implying he is. Not "a completely new take" but still "radical". Note that that the origins the Allen family, and presumably XS, will remain intact.
"fun and bright and high-spirited" kids having adventures sounds good to me, like the olden days. I guess I'm an old fogey like Waid.
Posted by Varalent on :
Amen (and pass the Metameucel )
Posted by Harbinger on :
I'm really looking forward to the new series, the Legion has always been about looking to the future in a positive light so that's what I'm going to do with this.
Posted by Corsairus on :
Thanks TC for reposting this and for directing me to this great messageboard.
I'm pretty convinced that this direction will both appeal to new and old fans. Time will tell!
Posted by Greybird on :
"Fun" was an adjective rarely evoked by DnA, no matter what you felt about the quality of their work. Too many Imminent Crises Shaking the Fabric of Spacetime. If Waid brings it back, more power to him.
I'm not getting anxious, though, about what could happen. We can't really change it, not with Levitz and others giving it that much of a head of creative steam. We'll all simply see it soon enough.
Posted by Kid Quislet on :
Mr Waid - If you're out there listening, PLEASE bring back GIM ALLON as Colossal Boy.
Many thanks!
Posted by Semi Transparent Fellow on :
And since we're making a wish list, please bring back Sun Boy. It's not the Legion without him. Feel free to dump Triplicate Girl, though - never could understand what was so special about triplets.
Posted by ultrajo on :
Hey, hey, hey…wait one minute! Let's not dump on Lu!!!
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
Luornu stays.
If Mark must open up a spot to make room for, say, Calamity King, feel free to dump Kid Quantum.
Posted by ActorLad on :
I really don't want another reboot. If we get another one I just having a feeling we will have a reboot every 10 years or even less. Maybe what the Legion needs is a "Tales of the Legion" title to set stories in any era or new ones.
Posted by MLLASH on :
TRIAD rocks!!! She's been one of the highlights of the post-boot for me.
But I'm pretty sure swapping Shikari for Infectious Lass would be a gutsy and very, very correct move to make!
(plus it leaves the door open for Dawnstar to return post-re-imagining!)
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
I always thought Lu was pretty cool in the preboot as well! No other Legionnaire had suffered the degree of tragedy she had, and yet she still showed courage in the face of it all.
Posted by Flannel Lass on :
quote:Originally posted by Semi Transparent Fellow: And since we're making a wish list, please bring back Sun Boy. It's not the Legion without him.
It's not, is it? It was so shocking to me that he didn't pull the "must risk life to regain powers" bid this time around. I miss him. But it's not like he can't be brought back into the fold, so to speak, without rebooting. It just needs to be done believably.
Maybe he doesn't need to be a superhero, with powers and everything. I mean, he's a very intelligent person, and an utter workaholic, and he could be a crimefighter, like Batman! Or, well, maybe fire isn't so useful in airless environments like underwater, in space, etc... but heat still applies, and light. The original Sun Boy had the power of Super-Radiance, right?
Dirk's been on my mind a bit lately, can you tell? Posted by MLLASH on :
quote:Originally posted by Eryk Davis Ester: I always thought Lu was pretty cool in the preboot as well! No other Legionnaire had suffered the degree of tragedy she had, and yet she still showed courage in the face of it all.
Oh, I loved her then too. Tom & Mary made a fan-for-life outta me when they gave her her second body back!
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
quote:Originally posted by Flannel Lass: Or, well, maybe fire isn't so useful in airless environments like underwater, in space, etc... but heat still applies, and light. The original Sun Boy had the power of Super-Radiance, right?
That basically was his power, originally. The ability to project fire only came about with the SW6 "Inferno" version.
Posted by Sanity or Madness? on :
Be sure to vote the right way!
Posted by Future on :
Will the left and neutral way work as well, SoM?
Well, I was confident we weren't getting a flat-out reboot, but now these new comments make me wonder if we are. Especially drudging up the 'every ten years' monster of having the Legion rebooted/retooled.
I know I'm going to love the new series with the people behind it, I just wish I knew WHAT I was looking forward to. The current crop grown up and possibly with a retconned/reworked background a la v4, or the current Legion in a new/altered home front, or a brand new Legion?
Posted by matlock on :
My first impression is that this is not much more than something to keep us chattering without telling us anything. That said, it also makes me a little nervous that there will be changes made just for the sake of changing things. I still think that the current series was only in need of a little bit of a tune-up not an overhaul.
Posted by DrakeB3003 on :
With DC saying more and more that this isn't a reboot, plus Waid's comments that the founders might not even be seen and that we might not recognize some of them, my latest theory is that they're doing a "ten year gap" or something.
That way, enough time will have elapsed that they can change the status quo and redesign the 31st century but keep the old continuity and redesign the Legion, probably with most of the same names, but with new characters. A "Legion: The Next Generation" sorta thing. "Legionnaires" was always flawed because of the whole clone confusion, but maybe now DC will try again for a multigenerational Legion universe.
Posted by Lightning Lad on :
That makes some sense Drake. Especially since we already know that the Titans coming out following the Legion crossover has them appearing ten (I think it was ten) years into their future.
Posted by Kid Prime on :
But a "10-year gap" makes no sense in the context of this statement by Waid.
"It’s a bunch of kids having super-heroic adventures in the far future. It should be fun and bright and high-spirited." Posted by ActorLad on :
Maybe they start out as tweens?
*shrugs*
Posted by DrakeB3003 on :
quote:Originally posted by Kid Prime: But a "10-year gap" makes no sense in the context of this statement by Waid.
"It’s a bunch of kids having super-heroic adventures in the far future. It should be fun and bright and high-spirited."
No? My thinking is they'll retire most of the current cast and focus on the next generation of Legionnaires (hence the comment about not seeing the founders).
Posted by DrakeB3003 on :
quote:Originally posted by ActorLad: Maybe they start out as tweens?
Heh. Judging from the brief glimpse we've seen from Kitson, if these are 'tweens, they've seriously upped the dosage of the growth hormones in milk in the 31st century.
Posted by Harbinger on :
Yet didn't Gail make a comment about how her story kind of fits in with Waids plans - she's focussed on the academy kids so I think we might see a few years gap and the introduction of a few new characters including a couple of the current cadets in the line up.
We'll find out soon enough Posted by Tromium Crystal on :
No age gap, says the team:
Barry Kitson, Legionworld.net, May 27, 2004 "The LSH will very definitely be teenagers!"
Mark Waid, Newsarma, 5/26/2004 "Geoff and I .. would have loved nothing more than to have the first page of that book be a ‘Five Years Later...’ caption but with the Titans’ Superboy in the team, there was just no way to make it work in DCU continuity."
Regarding the founders, and existing characters vs. new ones:
Mark Waid, Wizard #154 "To that end, you will see versions of the big Legion guns like Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, et al, but Waid warned, "there's no guarantee you'll recognize them".
Also, when he were trying to identify the figures in his teaser image, Barry stated that some of the guesses were correct. We all guessed known Legionnaires. Ergo, some of the figures in the image are versions of known Legionnaires. Not all are new characters.
[ August 06, 2004, 03:37 PM: Message edited by: Tromium Crystal ]
Posted by DrakeB3003 on :
But couldn't they be new teenage characters with familiar old code-names? Kitson wouldn't have been lying then.
The Waid comment about not being able to do a "five year gap" does seem to put a kibosh on my latest theory though.
Ok, so I'll go back to my old theory that they'll keep most of the same continuity, but with heavy cosmetic changes and maybe one or two tweaks to the canon.
Posted by Tromium Crystal on :
What would they possibly gain by introducing brand new teenage characters with old codenames? Fans would cry bloody murder. They can't afford to muck THAT much with the LSH heritage.
My guess: The majority (60% or more) will be versions of old characters; heavy cosmetic changes; different timestream.
[ August 06, 2004, 03:52 PM: Message edited by: Tromium Crystal ]
Posted by DrakeB3003 on :
The main problem is trying to find a way to reconcile the two seemingly different messages we're getting -- that it's NOT a reboot, yet there will be big changes, including some characters becoming possibly unrecognizable.
I suppose an altered timestream story might fit the bill...?
[ August 06, 2004, 07:22 PM: Message edited by: DrakeB3003 ]
Posted by EmeraldEmpress on :
If only Princess Projectra returns with all her regal glory, I'll be happy again. And the true Sarya Of Venegar.
Posted by DrakeB3003 on :
quote:Originally posted by EmeraldEmpress: If only Princess Projectra returns with all her regal glory, I'll be happy again. And the true Sarya Of Venegar.
At least we'll be seeing a return of the true Emerald Empress during the Titans crossover as part of the "Fatal Five Hundred". Hopefully, one of the Saryas will stick around.
Posted by MLLASH on :
TC seems to have debunked Drake's theory, but for a while there I was quite excited about the notion of a LEGION comprised of old-timers (current members, who would now be in their late-20s), cadets who had graduated and all-new teen characters.
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