from newsarama


LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #37
Written by Jim Shooter
Art and covers by Francis Manapul & John Livesay

Celebrate a bold new era for the Legion of Super-Heroes with the return of writer Jim Shooter and the debut of new series art team Francis Manapul (Witchblade, Tomb Raider) & John Livesay (THE FLASH)!

Several Legionnaires find themselves in mortal peril as the universe is faced with a frightening and mysterious alien threat. Plus, in the absence of longtime team captain Cosmic Boy, the Legion seek new leadership, only to find themselves under the the shaky and uncertain control of...Lightning Lad?

Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two interlocking covers by Frances Manapul, one featuring the left half of the art above (Cover A) and one featuring the right half of the art above (Cover B), that are separately orderable. Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.

On sale December 26 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 U


SUPERMAN #671
Written by Kurt Busiek
Art by Peter Vale & Jesus Merino
Cover by Brad Walker & John Livesay

Superman faces an army of insect warriors and Lana Lang is missing in "Insect Queen," Part 1 of 3! It all sets the stage for the debut of an updated take on a classic figure from the past! Plus, parenthood ain't easy — and something's up with Chris Kent. Can Lois handle it, or will growing pains spell trouble for Lois, Clark, and all of Metropolis? Featuring guest art by the sensational Peter Vale (SUPERMAN #659)!

On sale December 5 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US


ACTION COMICS #860
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Gary Frank & Jonathan Sibal
Cover by Frank
Variant Cover by Steve Lightle

The reintroduction of the original Legion of Super-Heroes continues with Part 3 of "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes!" Shocked by the reasons for the Legion's disbanding and the state of the United Planets, Superman embarks on a quest to find the one Legionnaire who may hold the key to saving the future: Brainiac 5. But a bizarre group of Legion enemies is hot on Superman's tail, and they'll do whatever they must to stop him - even if he's their greatest hero. Plus, whatever happened to Lightning Lass and Timber Wolf?

Retailers please note: This issue will feature two covers that may be ordered separately. For every 10 copies of the Standard Edition (featuring a cover by Gary Frank), retailers may order one Variant Edition (featuring a cover by Steve Lightle). See the Previews Order Form for more information.

On sale December 26 o 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US


JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA VOL. 2: THE LIGHTNING SAGA HC
Written by Brad Meltzer and Geoff Johns
Art by Ed Benes, Shane Davis, Dale Eaglasham, Jim Lee, Adam Kubert, George Pérez, and others
Cover by Michael Turner

Two of DC's most prominent super-teams join forces in this stunning hardcover volume collecting JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #0 and #8-12 and Justice Society of America #5-6! In the wake of "The Tornado's Path," the JLA has discovered the existence of several members of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the present. With the help of the JSA, Superman and his team must track down all seven Legionnaires to discover why these heroes of the future have traveled back in time!

Advance-solicited; on sale February 13 o 224 pg, FC, $24.99 US


JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #11
Written by Geoff Johns & Alex Ross
Art by Dale Eaglesham & Ruy Jose
Cover by Alex Ross
Variant cover by Eaglesham & Jose

"Thy Kingdom Come" explodes as Jakeem Thunder returns! The Justice Society reaches out to the next wave of legacy heroes: the new Mr. America, Judomaster, Amazing Man and more! Plus, another face familiar to the Kingdom Come Superman makes his presence known.

Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers that may be ordered separately. For every 10 copies of the Standard Edition (with a cover by Alex Ross), retailers may order 1 copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by Dale Eaglesham & Ruy Jose). For more information, please see the Previews Order Form.

On sale December 5 o 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US


JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #16
Written by Dwayne McDuffie
Art and cover by Joe Benitez & Victor Llamas

Lightning strikes again as a Flash returns! Where's this Flash from?and what is she doing on our Earth?

On sale December 19 o 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US


COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS #21-18
Story by Paul Dini
Breakdowns by Keith Giffen
21 script by Sean McKeever and art by Jesus Saiz
20 script by Adam Beechen and art by Dennis Calero
19 script by Tony Bedard and art by Carlos Magno
18 script by Sean McKeever and art by Al Barrionuevo
Covers by Karl Kerschl

Karate Kid meets an all-new/old OMAC at the Command D bunker! Jimmy Olsen crosses paths with Mister Miracle! Mary Marvel is taken to Paradise Island! One of the Rogues becomes a real drag! Things are changing for the Monitors! And?at long last?Ray Palmer!

Plus, more DC villains origin backup stories, including Granny Goodness and Sinestro!

The COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS continues!

COUNTDOWN 21 on sale December 5 o COUNTDOWN 20 on sale December 12 COUNTDOWN 19 on sale December 19 o COUNTDOWN 18 on sale December 26 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US


JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA: VILLAINS Poster
Art by Ian Churchill

From the cover of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #13

Advance-solicited; on sale May 21, 2008 * Poster * $7.99 US

[edit note: changing thread to keep solicitations for December under one thread.]

notice Element Lad's color on his costume - the return of green and an arrow up. *ducks tomato and runs away*

Seriously, the green and white color scheme on his costume looks a little funny, but it s better than green/pink or blue/pink. Maybe it will grow on me when I read the book.

Wow-- I didn't even notice that till I clicked to enlarge the pic after reading your comment, superboymdddjr.

I like the green/white better than red/yellow, but it does remind me of someone. The original Captain Marvel costume, maybe? The Kree one? He didn't have a cape, though.

Actually, what if they made the white a light blue like the color of the outline around all the figures in this pic?

The white does tie him in with Saturn Girl visually-- if that's carried out in story, it'd be a return of an element (ahem) that I miss from the ADVENTURE tales.

link to art?

Here you go, a link to the recolored cover art

red x!

Try this one:

from newsarama

Just had to delete the "]Here" from the end of that link address. It will come up for you just fine if you click .

here


I see that Tinya's hair has been corrected to black from the version we saw from Wizard but now Val's hair is also colored black! These are the type of careless mistakes that drive me crazy. Hopefully this will all get corrected on the final cover.

Beside Jan's costume color change, they've also recolored the pads on Gim's costume from brown to blue and corrected Thom's costume to it's original Kitson design scheme. It also looks as if Tas is back in black

I would also point out that it looks to me as if Sunboy's costume now has yellow side panels on the tunic although it's too small too be certain.

Thank you for the link. I notice Saturn Girl is in magenta with white, now, perhaps in response to the discussions about her looking too much like that other character.

Funny how Gim's pads are still brown on his right sleeve (by T-Wolf) and on his leg that's peeking through.

Good catch Drake!

Crap!! I have to buy two, just to have both covers...

Small price to pay in the bigger scheme of things, I suppose! Looking forward to this issue!!! LLL!

Visceral reactions:

Element Lad in emerald green and white is not to my liking. How difficult is dark green and navy blue? I assume the brown hair is a mistake---though it'd be an interesting (if worrisome) development if he decided to change his hair color using his own powers.

I don't care for Saturn Girl in pink/magenta--red should be her signature color. I need a better look at Sun Boy's costume but take note it's more like the original one.

Colossal Boy's blue padding is slightly better than the brown but the perspective still seems off. Only Trip and Star Boy have unchanged costumes now. Star Boy is perfect as he is. Trip could use a change--her costume is so unsexy. Even Una's is better, imo.

I'd rather have a wraparound cover but who am I kidding? I'll wind up buying two of both versions.

Superman #671. Wow, I love Insect Queen and it looks like this one is really a hive queen! An evil Lana from another earth would be very cool.

More thoughtful reactions:

The lightning ball in LL's hand is reminiscent of the cartoon LL---one wonders if his personality will go the same way. Hardly an earth-shattering suprise about him taking over (or attempting to) since he was sore-loser runner-up in the election, but I don't like it. First, it probably means more internal power struggles (Brainy is "leader" of cover A) since LL's right to leadership is in question. Second, the "shakey and uncertain" part doesn't bode well for LL in light of his past experiences as leader (i.e., ending up comatose or dead) unless it's meant to usher in some tough but positive character growth. I'll have to trust Shooter not to replay the past but I wish someone else was taking the heat (and the spotlight) this time. Why can't Phantom Girl or Shadow Lass ever be leader?

Nonetheless, I'm glad Cosmic Boy is still missing because all he can do at this stage is recede into the background or continue to stunt the character growth of others, imo. I'd be great if Night Girl debuted while he's gone---hopefully not as a Cos fangirl stalker in this iteration.

Boy, Jeckie looks pissed--we can guess which way her romance with Timber Wolf is headed. He's dancing next to Ayla.

A frightening and mysterious alien threat is old hat for the Legion but Shooter's description of the first story promises more. "The principal events of my first issue, #37, take place on Triton, Neptune's largest moon, and in the Legion HQ. The story features new environments, a new enemy, a significant new continuing character and many new incidental characters and items..."

Look up "Triton" in Wikipedia and see why it's such an intriguing locale.

I've said it before but I am going to say it again just in case Francis is reading...I absolutely love Saturn Girl's new costume based on the pink bikini. She looks fantastic.

Been buying two copies each month since Legion Lost.

Boy, when Mr. Shooter said he was carrying on with the threeboot, he really meant it. Shaky leadership and an alien threat--hooray for another run at that storyline. Of course, there is the missing "Cosmic Boy yammers incessantly" and "Brainy manipulates things for no good reason." So, yes, I'm still hopeful, even if expectably cynical.

Element Lad in green and white? Okay, but the cape still seems superfluous.

Colossal Boy with blue padding? Fine, but make it so that his shoulders aren't bigger than his head, please.

Saturn Girl in fuchsia? Fancy!

anyone notice Violet's color change on her costume? looks like the green is ditching....pink takes over? admits it looks better on her.

This Karate Kid's hair was always black and is that colour in the original version released at Newsarama.
Also, Saturn Girl's costume has changed from Red to pink.

I think that's meant to be purple. I kind of like E-Lad in green, although I'll have to get a better look at it (and a lot of the other costumes) before I really decide.

Two covers. That is annoying.

Yes it is.
I've been anticipating/dreading Marvel X-style marketing on the Legion knowing it'd be a good news/bad news situation. It's great that DC is finally going to throw the dice and gamble on the Legion to be a winner but it sucks that it's going to cost me so much more money.

I've wanted Legion toys since I was a little kid and now we get a few but they're a tad pricey in those HeroClix sets. More Graphic novels? Bring 'em on. Solo series? Bring 'em on. Crossovers and guest spots? The more the merrier.

k-ching!
k-ching!

If they'll print 'em I'll buy 'em.
Hey, it's the Legion.

I imagine we'll see more color tweaks by publication -- these computer previews are rarely 100% final in the color department.

I'm intrigued by E-Lad in green and white. White capes are very snazzy, in a formal wear sense, and they have that magician quality, fitting in with Waid/Kitson's vision of him as the Legion's "Dr. Fate." I agree with Trom that the green should be darker, and it might well be in the finished product.

Having gritched about Colossal Boy's brown padding, I'm not sure now that I like the blue padding better. The brown was growing on me. Look's like the art team is conflicted, too. Also not sure I like the metallic quality to Saturn Girl's magenta costume. Shady's all black and blue now, as she should be, and Phantom Girl looks about right (what no orange skin? SHHH!) I think violet and black is the right color scheme for Atom Girl, as much as I miss the Adventure-era and Cockrum greens on her.

You know, it's worth noting what a JOB it must be to color design the Legion's costumes. You make choices that seem right for the individual characters and you end up with a team that's all pink, lavender and green or something. If I were wearing a hat, I'd take it off for these guys.

I also have to say, hurray to DC for putting so much talent and enthusiasm into the Legion. After the at best mixed success of Waid and Kitson, you might expect the publisher to be risk-averse. But this is exciting.

I'd prefer they change the whites in Element Lad's costume to black or navy blue, similar to how it was in the Grell era. Especially with him flying right next to Star Boy, you can see the two look too similar. Like they've done with Imra, I think this would be a nice nod to that era if they went with that scheme.

On Element Lad, I actually think it's less about the colors and more about the "icons". He currently has 2 "icons" on that costume: 1) the big circle with 3 dots and 2) the arrow up. I think they should just decide on one or the other.

Saturn Girl's "magenta-esque"/"metallicky" color may be due to LL's lightning (see LL's uni as well).

Trip's uni: I think it's good to have 1 uni design for her...that way people won't know if she's all split up. I dunno about more skin though as it seems quite out of character (though it can be argued that there's hardly any "character" developed for her apart from rather-blind follower).

Tasmia's back in black!

Perhaps Projectra's hiding the shoelace outfit behind that cape???

Also, maybe Tinya's phasing in & out caused her to lose pigments along the way???

Regarding the 2 covers, originally I was thinking they should've gone with a gatefold but in hindsight that would just create a noticeable crease (and eventual white space on the line). Me, I'm buying 2 of each!

Long Live the Legion!!!!!!

By the by, are we getting a new "Legion of Super-Heroes" masthead or the issue one masthead minus "Supergirl and the"?

I'd rather have the former.

I'm liking the redesigns!

REALLY glad Invisible Kid has finally got a proper costume, and it looks pretty cool - white is obviously the in colour.

Big thumbs up for Timber Wolf's new look.

Very much liking Ayla's off the shoulder number - like Vi's when she was leader.

I liked Atom Girl's old costume - it rocked! Not so sure about the hot pants on this one...

Jo looks like Beast.

Tasmia - hot, as always.

Too much yellow on Garth.

Imra's costume is clearly a nod to her old bikini - great!

Cham in chainmail??? Slightly odd.

Brainy's jacket - slightly dodgy.

Overall, I approve.

Saturn Girl's costume looks a bit familiar to one of Marvel's characters.

Here's a link. Hope it isn't against the rules to do this.

http://www.comicvine.com/ms-marvel/21561/costumes/&c=7723

This is territory that's already been covered here . Including the Binary reference.

But, please feel free to link to whatever sites you like.

Thank you DC for that Element Lad color change. Loved the costume but I always hated the colors. You guys have seen my color suggestions over the years I hope.

Green and white? I can live with it. Wish the green was darker but that is ok. Red & yellow? horrible.

First post updated with solicit text and images.

Sorry if you experience images problems. Server is being updated so some images may not load immediately.

With Shooter writing and Lightle doing a variant cover to Action, December will have some great Legion history returning. I just hope that they keep building up to the anniversary.

So who are those folks on the cover of Action? A freaky Tusker reboot? Spider Girl? Shadow Lass? Radiation Roy?

I agree that it could be Tusker, Spider Girl & Radiation Roy. The guy up front seems to be mentally broadcasting so it could be that's Universo. As for the other two, not sure but golden guy could be Nemesis Kid although the colors would seem to point to Cosmic King, and the dark one could be The Hag

How about Golden Boy?

Besides Spider Girl I have no idea. They almost look like Bizarro versions. (Is Bizarro the new Wolverine? He's everywhere it seems)

For some reason they look to me very much like 1980s updates of characters. Like they should be palling around with John Byrne's version of Brainiac or something.

Rad Roy in the suit? Yeah that's got to be him. I just looked up Tusker. So it's a group of Rejects? Hag or Calorie Queen? Phantom Lad?

Could it be Shadow Kid?

Also the colors could be off on purpose.

I think the dark one is a male -- maybe a corrupted Shadow Kid (Grev).

The red-suit could be a Red Tornado variant of some kind and a personal nemesis for Wildfire. I doubt it, though.

I hope the global domination guy is not meant to be Universo -- he doesn't resemble Vidar in the least. The para-military outfit may be a clue to his past.

Seems to me they are using the Superman symbol the way the Nazis appropriated the swastika. How Geoff loves his neo-Nazis--now they're in the 31st century, too. :rolleyes:

So, I imagine this version of the disbanding of the LSH is voiding not only the Five Year Gap but apparently fiddling with the 1986 story of the final break-up of Lightning Lass and Timber Wolf.

Welcome back to Steve Lightle. I wish we could've seen his cover instead. (In fact, unless FJM wants to to all the LSH covers himself, it would be great to have Lightle back in that capacity.)

I was kind of thinking Roxxas. He's been kind of a neo-Nazi in at least one version of the Legion, so why not this one as well?

I just had another thought. The gilded guy with the jewel stone on his belt ...

No, it couldn't be.

Could someone post a link to this cover please? I'm feeling lazy.

It's on the first page, but here it is again:

The fellow in the center makes me think Bizarro Brainiac 5. To the right of him, Bizarro Element Lad. And, eventually, Bizarro Shadow Lass. It sure looks interesting, if sacrilegious.


Superman and the SacriLegion of Super-Heroes!

After the 'joke' Bizarro Legion tale related by Lightning Lad a while back, I'm kinda curious to see if this is going to become something serious.

In order the team above could be Bizarro Timber Wolf, Bizarro Dream Girl, Bizarro Brainiac 5, Bizarro Element Lad, Bizarro Wildfire and Bizarro Shadow Lass. Or not.

Isn't that Dream / Morpheus on the right? Sandman anyone?

Strange cover. No idea what this will be about.

I think I have figured out the guy all the way on the right.

The Mess.

Other guesses?

Lester Spiffany? Golden Boy? Calamity King with the world in his hands?

It's not Dream - he's white these days

Given that at least three seem clear analogues to members of the first (or second, if you count the adult version) LSV, it would seem clear that the others should be from that group. Tho I don't see anyone who could be Tarik the Mute...

The Tusker guy was in the LSV? I think Geoff also mentioned he didn't want to use a previous group or known legion villains like the fatal five, lsv, etc.

Three of them also appear to be rejected applicants. Thus I think they are all rejects.

Senor Francis: Please give Lightning Lad the inner white panels in his pantaloons, please!
Also, do not be afraid to show a little flesh on the male characters. It causes a rise in my already freakishly large pantaloons!

OK, I'm just totally not getting those pads on CB. I've seen the explanation, and I've seen both versions of the art, and another pic of him with them (don't remember where), and I just don't think they work. Especially in the cover image, if you remove them, he looks like a properly proportioned person. With them, it looks like he lined up a bunch of giant blue marshmallows on his arms and shoulders. They look out of perspective for pads.

Otherwise, I'm mostly happy or at least OK with the redesigns. I still like Brainy and Phantom Girl. Light Lass looks good. But with that coloring, Invisible Kid looks too much like the Jeff Moy Jan, and I agree that two white capes are too many.

What am I missing: Why is JLA 16 included? And why aren't there any Legionnaires on the Lightning Saga HC cover?

Well if one of those is Tarik the Mute then the red robot type creature could very well be his android.

I also think that's Radiation Roy in the containment suit, and on the other side Tusker and Spider-Girl. Jorg might be on the right track thinking they're all rejects.

So whose on the far right then? The Mess?

Cobie, I think it's the Mess.

Pretty exciting.

What would EDE do if Calamity King goes bad???

I thought it might be cool to make element lad green. His costume had too similar of a color scheme as Sunboy. his costume along with sunboys is still a work in progress for me. the one I'm having a tough time with is starboy.. I really like his current costume so I'm torn whether I should give him an update since pretty much everyone else will. As for CB's pads, I have taken note that not a lot of people like them.. I actually have looked at these forums along with others before I did the redesign to get a bit of a feel of what people want. However I can't please everyone I can only do so much that said, to the displeasure of many of you, CB's pads ain't going nowhere. I hope it will grown on you guys eventually

I'm all about some pads.

You could make him white.

Just kidding---Star Boy is perfect as he is, imo.

Tusker was an LSV applicant, but never a member!

See Legion of Substitute-Heroes Special #1 for details!

Actually, a kickass evil version of Calamity King might be kind of cool!

Fair enough Francis, they are your redesigns after all. However, I do have a few suggestions based on your comments

1) I think many like the Starboy costume as is. It really is sharp, so if you like it, keep it for sure.

2) Element Lad ~ I agree that his costume was too similar to Sunboy's and made them hard to distinguish. I like the green but would encourage you to change the white to blue (as has been mentioned above by others.

3) CB ~ I can live with the pads (I guess ) but can I at least suggest that you remove them from his head piece? Maybe they can just continue across the top of his shoulders. I think that adjustment would go a long way to resolving the issue with the pads for me. And I do find them less distracting in blue than they did in brown.

I really do like most of the changes that you've made to the costumes and can't wait to see what you do for Chemical King when he comes back But plese don't tinker too much with Mon-El's classic red uniform. It's as perfect today as it was when he was first introduced to the DCU.

I agree. I think the center character with the world in his hands may be CK.

I second that. I think the current Starboy costume just feels "classic" in its simplicity. I don't think it needs tweaking.

Has anyone guessed that one of the two 'Mystery Lads' might be a Nemesis Kid back-from-the-dead to parallel the similarly revived (but much better preserved) Karate Kid?

Hey Francis, Wolverine stole my face I want it back please.

Francis I like the green on E-Lad. I think it would look particularly sharp if the white was silvery or metallic looking. Element Lad is a bit of an alchemist and they were constantly working with metals back in the day.

Mysery Lad, they do look a bit...dead or bizarre. A revived Nemesis Kid would be interesting. Still think it's rejects though.

Hey!

Welcome to Legion World Francis!
We're very happy to see you post here and have the opportunity to visit with you.
I think I can speak for everybody when I say we wish you a fantastic run on the LSH and hope for exciting and beautiful books next year.

..and welcome to the Legion.

Once a Legionnaire always a Legionnaire.

First guy I thought of when I saw the center character on the cover was "What's Vril Dox doing here"?

This is the first time you have asked yourself that in this reboot? The Waid/Kitson version was almost a direct copy of Vril Dox from the get go in both look and personality. I actully like that they are changing him up now. They jsut need to draw his hair a little longer and it would go a long way.

I like CB's pads and I like them brown.

One of the major problem I had with the Threeboot that it looked way to L.E.G.I.O.N. 89 to me from the beginning. Kitsons style is great, but it was the L.E.G.I.O.N. style. Brainy looked like Vril Dox, Cosmic Boy a little like Bek, and many of the others just looked all alike. Currently rereading it, still not digging it...

So what's the purpose for the pads on the tall guy, protection from bumping into things as he grows?

Protection against all the giant beasts he'll be wrasslin', I hope!

well I was thinking they are more or less a bit of "protection"... kinda like how football players have pads. To the best of my knowledge he's a giant, but not invulnerable yeah? I was just thinking that if he were to ram something with his shoulders he's got some protection .... although that leaves a question to the rest of his body..but I digress

Speaking of Colossal Boy, Giganta's appearance in Blue Beetle #19 was accompanied by a discussion of 'giant people'. According to the Blue Beetle writers, the only way you get giant people is through magic. I guess that any other way of doing it brings in all kinds of difficulties with the square-cube law and stuff. Now, obviously you guys can't be held responsible for what the Blue Beetle guys come up with, but... well, maybe Bizarro-Brainiac would use magic to create a city of giants! Because he's the opposite of Brainiac, who uses science to shrink cities down.

Anything there that you and Mr. Shooter can use?

Since mass octuples as height doubles, a 200 lb six foot Gim would weigh 1600 lbs at 12 ft tall. The tissues that make up his bones and muscles would need to be eight times stronger, not merely two times stronger, which means that he couldn't just be 'getting bigger,' he'd have to be changing composition / structural configuration as well. (Which is a perfectly fine posit. Whatever mass he's summoning up, it could be stronger than mere human tissue, which is the case with the Marvel growing character Atlas, who summons up mass infused with 'ionic energy' that is bulletproof and stuff.)

But that's purely from a mundane physics standpoint. If some sort of quantum pseudo-science is involved, the size-changer's body wouldn't have to change size, so much as interact differently with static spacetime. Instead of changing physically, the 'size-changer' warps space around him (or simply his own interaction with that space) to become effectively larger (or smaller). It would be as if he had a personal 'event horizon,' like that of a black hole, seperating himself from the rest of the universe, and at the point of that barrier, the rules change. The size-changer becomes a universe of one.

Bringing science into it leads to lots of questionable stuff, and some powers are hand-wavable (like growth or shrinking, which can be technobabbled away fairly easily), while others, like Chameleon Boy's shapeshifting, or the insane amounts of power that a Kryptonian / Daxamite soaks up from 10 seconds of exposure to yellow sunlight, remain kinda 'out there'...

Shrinking, if anything, is even worse than growth, for this sort of thing. While growth could be explained either mechanically or with quantum technobabble, shrinking, particularly to the level of the Atom or Violet, is a 'technobabble only' situation. The human body simply could not function, no matter the material transmutation / reconfiguration, at spaces smaller than the thousands of biochemical process require to work. How does a person breath, when an oxygen atom is larger than her lungs? How does she see when individual photons are as big as her eyes? Where does the matter that makes up her brain go, when she's smaller than a cell, and how does it keep working as well as a full-size human brain? It's quantum interaction / 'shrinking field' or nothing, in that case, I suspect.

Chameleon Boy is just impossible. The Threeboot Chameleon, able to mimic a creature but not it's properties, is, if anything, even *worse.* Threeboot Cham seems to be some sort of illusionist or something, not an actual shapeshifter.

Same thing with Element Lad, really. If someone could alter something up or down the atomic scale, why the heck would it 'wear off?' Gold is a stable element. If I can fling enough electrons around to transform lead into gold, *it would take just as much power to change it back!* It wouldn't 'stop being gold' anymore than the gold ring I'm currently wearing is going to 'stop being gold' in the next few centuries. It makes no sense that his power would work that way, mechanically...

And Cosmic Boy suffers the same fate as Magneto, only more so. In the 20th century, a magnetic manipulating character would be a sad, sad panda at how *few* metals are actually ferrimagnetic, and how few of those are a part of the average persons wardrobe / carried equipment. By the 30th century, Cos would have to carry stuff around to use his powers on! (A nice tungsten-weave mesh suit that he can magnetically reinforce, and some sort of throwing discs or spheres or blades or whatever would be key. Otherwise, he's got the amazing power to point at the average 30th century person and cause a whole lot of 'not much' to happen. But, since Magneto has gotten away with using his 'magnetism' on trees, rocks and living people before, despite none of those things being magnetically responsive, I guess Cos gets the same pass. I get a chuckle when a magnetic character targets the 'iron in someone's blood' or something, since that's monoatomic and has no magnetic field to affect...)

Anyway, short, short version? Science + Comic Books = Unmixy Things.

How cool is it to have the Legion artists actually respond to us? I started following LSH when Forte was doing the visuals and I always wanted to ask him how the members fit inside that tiny clubhouse! Now we've evolved to giving costuming tips to TPTB! Maybe in another fifty years fans will be allowed to WRITE the next month's Legion tale! I'll have to stick around to unload my hundred or so unused scripts:D

So, Newsarama has a preview of Shooter's first issue.

It looks like the fine threeboot tradition of the legion being dealers in death will continue. Commence the rationalizations.

It's nice to see KK and Trip picking up on their association from "Countdown". A tad confusing in that they're not the same ones (at first I thought that was why KK had pronoun confusion, having gotten used to Una), but still an intentional nod?

Too bad to see Lightning Lad looking like he's not having the best time with team management - will Brainy step in to fill a void or try to challenge leadership again?

I'm encouraged by what I'm seeing so far (but no word on whether or not WILDFIRE joined! )

I liked the preview pages. and it seems like(so far) there will be a good amount of viewing sub groups in various locals.

the art looked good. I think Karate Kid is a tad bulkly, but all-in-in I like the look of things.

so, I will finally get to read some work by the fabled Shooter. you guys have set high expectations, I hope I not disappointed. I did find the bit with the delivery robot to be funny.

I think the only way to never show a hero kill is to never have the bad guys intend to kill. I don't like the fact that the Joker kills dozens in every story arc and is somehow played for laughs. oh look, it's that wacky Joker and he's killing again. it cheapens the character. having said that, I don't want this book to be the Punisher in the future. but that scene doesn't indicate that to me.
given the amount of metal and other artificial trappings on the creature, I got the impression it was akin to that trained creature from Return of the Jedi. more a deadly pet, than a fully sentient being. in addition, I highly doubt Shooter's first issue( I could be wrong) would have Phantom Girl so casually dismiss the death of an sentient being by calling it a thing.

This was a seriously cool and interesting post, Set. Kudos!

The Legion may still kill in the Shooter version (or maybe not, we'll see), but the preview pages show a MUCH lighter tone, it seems. Weighty issues and major conflicts will ensue, no doubt, but at least Shooter appears to want to give us heroes who have a bit of life to them.

Karate Kid quoting "The Little Engine That Could" was more than weird, though.

I don't know how creator interaction works on other boards but here at Legion World we do our very best to treat them like every other poster and simply discuss things. Rarely have I seen "fanboy gushing" here and I can only remember one poster that had to disrespect the author of a Legion story arc.

We love our Legion and as far as I can tell so do the creators, it's the coolest MB on the worldwide and the Legion artists and writers are the coolest guys in the wide world.

There are some preview pages at newsarama.

Yeah, KK's blow in the preview LOOKS pretty lethal. They seem to treat the adversaries as bugs or something, which would be OK I guess, if the bugs didn't appear to wear ornamental fabrics, a reasonable sign of sentience. I will withold judgement until I read the whole issue (which is this week!!!!!!).

I was surprised how much the irreverant, snarky tone of Waid's Legion carried over to this one. I guess maybe it was a little lighter, but still. It's clear that the Legionnaires in the preview have no respect for, or expectation of, Lightning Lad's leadership. Interesting. In a few key scenes Waid made it clear that Ayla didn't think too highly of either of her brothers. Shooter seems to continue that attitude.

There's so much I want to read into every panel of this preview, I surprise even myself. Starting off with Karate Kid. Val is arguably Shooter's greatest creation, and one of his first. It's perhaps simply a savvy Countdown tie-in (although tying to that train wreck may not be so savvy), but I saw it mainly as Shooter starting off with his favorite son. How nice to have PG show up too, echoing the earlier story of KK's unrequited affections for Tinya. Too bad Triplicate Girl is unconscious. I know she was one of Shooter's favorites, too, and he wrote some of his best early character moments with her.

The Triton page is textbook on how to write the Legion. First, you pick an exotic, scifi locale and you actually incorporate it's exoticism into the story. If you DON'T do this, why bother setting stories in a future era with space travel, aliens, etc? Second, you build expobites (my soon-to-be trademarked term for tiny servings of exposition) into the dialogue. In fact, all the preview pages bring a reader up to speed on 1) flight rings and what they do, 2) LL's the new leader, and what a leader does (talk on phone ALOT), 3) Garth and Ayla are brother and sister, 4) Triton is so cold it's snow is made of nitrogen, 5) Invisible Kid is studious, 6) Timber Wolf is NOT studious, 6) Star Boy is from Xanthu, 7) Saturn Girl is a telepath from Titan, 8) Saturn Girl's mom holds an important position of authority, 9) the Legion's position of authority is ambiguous, oh and 10) Karate's Kid's tough, but not invulnerable. That's alot to accomplish in 4 non-splash pages.

I was a bit surprised, actually, that a warning from the Legion didn't carry weight at the Triton ski resort. They are fully deputized by the UP now, after all. I think the resort manager was using this as an excuse not to commit a revenue-limiting move on his part. Timber Wolf is obviously looking for a reason to denigrate Lightning Lad's leadership.

A few things that delighted or surprised me:

1) Winch Boone: Y'Dolay and "Well aren't THEY something." Just awesome. I wonder who Shooter modeled old Winch on?

2) Saturn Girl: I'll call my mother. Have we seen this Imra do that before? It may be out of character, but I liked it. This Imra is just a little bit less of an iron butt.

3) The implied valor of Triplicate Girl in battle. This of course goes back at least as far as the original Computo, and I'm always delighted to see it. Legionnaires like Karate Kid and Triplicate Girl fight hard and fight smart and NEVER give up.

4) The art. Francis is very talented. I like that the Legionnaires are beginning to look like distinct individuals. I particularly like Star Boy's slightly bulked up look, even if his costume is really ideal for a skinny boy. I still think KK looks a little too bulked, though. I know he's supposed to be strong, and a bulkier frame would perhaps help protect him, but it doesn't fit my Bruce Lee stereotype. Phantom Girl looks gorgeous, though, as she always should. That raven hair flowing from her sleek white frame. Beautiful. Thank you, Francis, for putting an accurate looking Neptune in the sky of Triton. It should probably be a little bigger though. Oh, and Triton has a very odd angle of axial rotation, so depending on where you are on the surface, Neptune's great dark spot might be more vertical. Most of the snow's at the poles, though, so maybe that angle is OK. Thanks just the same. I ALWAYS appreciate it when an artist avails himself of actual science when illustrating science fiction. Finally, can I say I'm a little disappointed about the look of the Legion HQ? I certainly respect your effort at continuity with Barry's 31C Metropolis. But, it never made any sense to me that a flashy, anachronistic in-your-face Legion would have a drab, bland in Legion HQ. The drab appearance of future earth seems like the perfect opportunity for HQ to stand out. Talk to Jim about it, OK? It doesn't have to be bright yellow and red, but a little color, or windows, would be nice.

As you can tell, I am VERY excited to read this issue. I get to pick it up on my 41st birthday, too. How nice to see the new era for the Legion begin at the same time as the second half of my life.

Looks swell. Lots more cool monster scenes at FJM\'s blog .

Shooter's wasting no time revving up the action, assigning the Legionnaires unique, personality-enhancing roles and setting up the titular "Conflict". Not quite sure why they replaced 3boot KK with the guy from Countdown, though.

Phantom Girl's comment "Let the ring do the work" -- another nod to Countdown? The eco-protective glow around the Legionnaires is a nice artistic touch.

I like that the communications center is called "the bridge" -- as if HQ was really an upside-down rocket ship or something. ;}

"How's it going?" "I'm suicidal. How are you?" Hee. Good to see the Ranzzes behaving like brother and sister.

Is that 3boot Dr. Gym'll on skis?

Shut up, Wolf. Ho boy, these two are on a colllison course. Should be fun.

Till the 28th, a happy and blessed Christmas to everyone here who celebrates.

Wow, fjm's Legion stuff rocks! Reminds me a bit of Batista. His work is VERY dynamic. It has energy! Love it. Really excited about him and Shooter!

Wouldn't that be a case of self defense? Both Triplicate Girl & KK were already injured.

"wishes made real your soul may steal"

I googled and couldn't find it. It makes a lot of sense actually. Is this a "Shooterism?"

Love the pacing. Three or four panels per scene is keeping my attention and the only extended panels are either lanscape or the extremely detailed fight scene. I agree with "The Chin" and others about the violence of the blow by KK, it's just not "clever."

The sample pages are pretty wordy but only a couple nitpics where words are being thrown out on things that the art already depicts (Trip's condition) or could have depicted.

The art, technical aspects; nice critters, extremely detailed, and descriptive of the place and shown from several different POV's but it's not striking any good or bad emotional cords with me like Coipel, Batista or recently Colaros, it doesn't "move" for me, so I'm pretty neutral about it so far. Stylistically it looks a bit "speed racer" and a bit "Jim Lee," so again, kind of neutral about it.

Looking at it again, it might just be those white borders or the extensive balloons bothering me. Somehow the panels and the action are not jumping out at me, kind of blending in with the page. It all looks very 2-D and stagnant to me on the computer screen.

Francis's pencils on his art journal blog are amazing! Does he leave any work for the inker? Francis, dude, do NOT wear yourself out! Pace yourself, man. That wide exterior shot of Metropolis looks cooler in your pencils than the computer preview of the finished art. I look forward to seeing the real thing.

That is one beautiful Tinya!

I love Tinya's purse/first aid kit. She seems very serious at work too. Obviously the style of kit is something she chose, I don't see Brin or Brainy slinging a purse with bandages in it. It's all about the accessories with those career girls. Val was better off not to get stuck with her way back in year one. She seems like she might be a bit high maintenance.

On a more serious note, I'm digging the bulked up Starboy and Karate Kid designs. Val's fight scene was very cool. A bit like the Street Fighter comics in style.

That didn't work for Starboy. I can't see this version of B5 being any less aggressive a prosecutor than the Silver Age one. Let's hope he didn't notice, I'd hate to see KK put on trial and demoted to the subs.

chime me in as I see the artwork very beautiful and sci-fi-ish! Loved how Jim Shooter mentioned about Oort Cloud! ah....a little astronomer inside me was ticklish pink! Triton! ah...loved it. All the background in Legion HQ reminds of me Giffen artwork...look at how Francis used with shadows....brrr...chilly...love it!!! it does give me the effect! I am definitely looking forward getting the #37 real soon.

It IS very beautiful and the story seems fantastic! I love the introduction of the gengineered species and their society on Triton. The little astronomer inside me got very excited (don't forget to look for Mars if you have a clear sky in your area tonight. Mars is shining like a ruby!)
So, it seems the Shooter/Manapul team is going to be a fan favorite. I can't wait until I get #37 in my eager little hands!

Dense and rich in details, both in words and pictures. It's a smooth continuity from before as well.

KK's comment - "He might as well have sent Invisible Kid" - echoes Val's doubts about Lyle's loyalty seen early in the series. Perhaps Invisible Kid is low on fire power but, as we so often learn in Legion comics, it's also teamwork and ingenuity which save the day. There may be more confrontation between these two characters in the future.

Is Lightning Lad destined to be an overwhelmed leader? This could be his chance to change history and appoint an administrator (Theena?) instead of having a nervous breakdown.

Now we have The Bridge instead of the Mission Monitor Room. I like this Star Trekky change.

Mining and tourism - since the beginning, there has been an abundance of mining industry in Legion stories; tourism has also featured, although less frequently. This may be our simplified future: extract the resources and spend the money on entertainment.

I love the preview as well for many of the same reasons mentioned above!

Love the art, dialogue, sci-fi elements, etc!

thanks all! I'm glad that you guys are enjoying the previews so far! I got the book in my hands yesterday and I'm pretty excited for you all to check it out! as Tromium mentioned I have been showing previews on my site for the last couple of weeks and will continue to do so until the book hits the streets! I will comment about Blockade Boys critisism and ask that he check out the original pencil previews on my site for a better view. Anyways Merry Christmas all! and watch out for another preview today

Merry Christmas to you too Francis.

Is that Timberwolf or Invisible Kid? Since they're the two that wear jackets in this incarnation I'm just not sure without some colors on the sketch.

Your work is quite a switch from the smooth clean lines of Barry Kitson. I like it a lot, very energetic and as dynamic as we've seen on the LSH in quite some time. The Legion finally looks like a superhero book as well as a sci-fi book.
Kudos.
The little bit of scripting we've seen from Jim reads well and seems like it's pretty tightly written, I'm going to like your run a lot.

edit:
D'oh!
Now I see the "i" on his chest. Nevermind.

comments, that's all.

I'll see the real thing in a few days and am really looking forward to it.

thanks blockade boy. all I'm saying is that there was quite a bit lost in the coloring process which actually flattened out some of the art.

and yup yellow kid it is indeed Invisible Boy.

Bump. Cause it seems like a Legion kind of day.