Beating all the comics news sites to the punch, here is the solicitation for The Legion #34, provided courtesy of DC Comics themselves.

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Written by Keith Champagne; art and cover by Steve Lightle

LEGION fan-favorite artist Steve Lightle returns for an issue set in the antimatter universe of Qward! The nature of Wildfire's very existence is changed forever when he's abducted by the Weaponers of Qward, who want to use him as an energy source for their resource-depleted planet.

And the cover? Here it is.

SWEET cover!

BRING IT ON I say! BRING it!

A spotlight on WIldfire is WAY overdue! And Lightle's artwork makes it feel like ANYTHING but a fill-in issue!

BRING IT!!! NOW!!!!

And it looks like Lyle is the Anglo white dude!

I am really looking forward to this issue!

Cham looks like a cross between Bambi and the Trix bunny...

Does anyone else think that the crotch piece on Wildfire's uniform has a little too much detail in it? Maybe its just my eyes.

Whoa. Love the cover. And look at the roll call. Mostly characters who've been underused recently; and only a handful, too. I already have high hopes for this issue.

And now it seems as though Umbra can solidify and even morph her darkfield into crude objects... this should put her among the heavy-hitters of the Legion.

Thanks, LL!

Hasn't she been able to do that for ages (power loss notwithstanding)?
Well, this was originally expected to be an unscheduled fill-in between DnA arcs, so it can't be anything too drastic.

Anyone wanna bet that, Qward being anti-matter, he ends up being described as "anti-energy" rather than "thermonuclear energy" at the end of this issue? (not that there's any logical basis for that, given that anti-matter is just reverse-polarity matter [positrons (+) orbiting a negative nucleus rather than electrons (-) orbiting a postive nucleus - if it was distingushed by being made up of negative energy, an annihilation reaction with matterwould give nothing (in the literal sense of the word), rather than an intense burst of energy], but just on an anti one makes anti the other so as to slip another preboot reference in)

I see what you mean

I hope they fix Wildfire's "double" identity. Wonderful cover! Shikari looks fantastic, and I love Lyle's "blotchy" look. And Karate Kid is in! Whohoo!

I agree with Lash. I WANT IT NOW!!!

Seriously cool. Qward has never been brought into Legion has it?

Lightle's Legion characters shine charisma and personality. The closest comparison for me in those regards is our own Drake.


Only three? months?

Great cover!

I like the use of Qward, ties Legion into continuity without tying it down.

I'd still like to see the 30th century ambassador from Themiscyra appear as a guest star. Not Diana, somebody else.

And I hope they do away with Wildfire's "dual personality" origin. It was Qwardian meddling. Whatever. I want to forget that Blast Off guy ever existed.

Wow -- I couldn't have thought of a better compliment. Thanks!!

The Lightle cover is awesome! If he does Wildfire that well without a head, I can't wait to see the interior art!

In regards to the big change to Wildfire, I think DnA took care of the origin by simply ignoring it. I just hope it doesn't involve an energy body, cuz I love Coipel's design (and he wouldn't be the same to me without having to live in a containment suit). After the changes to Kinetix, Sensor and Live Wire I think we're set for Legionnaires having their bodies drastically altered (I already get the parallels to adolesence and having your body change - no need to hammer the point home yet again!)

P.S. Is Lyle the "one anglo dude"? Val's there too -- is he half-asian in the reboot or something?

I also like how Lightle makes Shikari's wings look more fairy-like than bug-like. I wonder if this crisis will really solidify/define the Drake/Shikari relationship (romance?).

Val was half-asian in the preboot, and variously drawn as such. We don't really know anything about his origins in the postboot, but one can assume...

Wowsa! Whatta cover!
I gotta go stare at it for a while!

lil'rhino

Well, I know that she was able to focus her darkfield enough to make it tangible in Legion Lost, but this is the first time I remember her being able to form it into crude shapes. Of course, I make this comment based on memory, so I could be wrong.

Maybe Umbra is becoming a "Black Lantern"...?

Personally, I think Tasmia was able to use her shadow powers well enough in the pre-boot, when written properly. I don't necessarily believe that everyone needs to be powered up, so to speak. The key is to think of creative ways to use less powerful Legionnaires effectively.

Well, I think she needed a power-up for the post-boot. Being able to create dark is really of limited (not no, granted, but limited) use, and letting her make solid shadow, like the Shade can, is a good idea.

Turning her into an all-out "Dark Lantern" OTOH, is pushing it a bit far...

Tas's power-up is one of the few I really approve of. She kind of became redundant in the preboot once it became apparent that Sensor Girl could effectively duplicate the most basic use of her power (blind an opponent and then punch them).

<blinds EDE, punches him>

Ha! It does work!

I agree though, I like Tasmia's power-up.

But like Cru, I usually don't like seeing people get 'power-up' anymore, unless the Legion wants to turn into a Legion of Supermen that has to constantly fight Sun-Eaters and Darkseids. For instance, I like Violet small!

Speaking of crotch pieces, does Umbra need a big Legion "L" on hers?

I've probably left people off this list, but...

POWER UPS I LIKE
Tasmia make solid darkness

POWER UPS I DON'T LIKE
Garth with both lightning and transmutation
Lyle making other people invisible
Vi with growth powers
Zoe terrorformed
Thom with complete control of gravity
Jasmin doing things other than stasis fields

POWER UPS I'M IFFY ON
Sensor's super-strength

POWER UPS I LIKE
Tasmia make solid darkness
Thom with complete control of gravity
Lyle making other people invisible

POWER UPS I DON'T LIKE
Garth with both lightning and transmutation
Vi with growth powers
Zoe terrorformed
Jasmin doing things other than stasis fields
Sensor's super-strength

Nice to see some of the underdogs on the cover, but are we ever going to see XS again? She hasn't had more than a couple of panels and a few words of dialogue since she appeared in Legion Worlds.

POWER UPS I LIKE
Tasmia's solid darkness
Thom with complete control of gravity
Lyle making other people invisible
Vi with growth powers
Sensor's super strength

POWER UPS I DON'T LIKE
Garth with both lightning and transmutation
Zoe terrorformed
Jazmin doing things other than stasis fields/rapid aging

That was a power-up? She doesn't seem any more powerful to me...

Looks just fine to me.

Y'know, a while ago I was idily wondering what Legion tales I would write if I got the title. (Never gonna happen, I lack any talent whatsoever) And one idea involved the weaponers of Quard!

They were working for a new Legion of Super-VIllians and built them a Legionworld of their own in the Still Zone. And at the vital moment they swap Legionworld with 'Villianworld' in Earth orbit, and trap half the legion in the Still Zone, and begin to bombard Earth.

Oh, and Spark, XS and Makt Ranzz spend a while tracking through an extra dimentional trap/prison called The Lucifer Box in order to keep a hyper weapon out of the LoSV's hands while persued by Tyr and Cosmic King.

Fun stuff.

First off, I want to thank everyone who took notice of my cover for Legion #34. I've done quite a few covers for Legion titles through the years, but they are definitely getting to be much fewer and farther between. It's good to see that a few people do take notice when they show up.

This issue was lots of fun to draw, especially because I've gotten a chance reinvision some characters I haven't had a shot at in awhile. Of course I've tried to absorb a few new influences since the last time I drew these guys. Legion collectors familiar with my previous issues will note that I'm not trying to revisit a previous incarnation. Cham, for example, looks very little like the familiar preboot version. As for Val/Karate Kid, although there may not be any official documentation concerning his ethnicity, I can't imagine any reason why he should be assumed to be Caucasian. Why shouldn't he be primarily Asian in today's continuity? Personally, I would like to see a darker skin tone used in his coloring ... not to mention that the gray and orange costume lacks all visual impact. I'd much rather see the orange areas colored either white or red. I'd add blue highlights in place of the gray and give him a bit of brown leather on the wrists and belt ... but that's just me thinking out loud (sort of). Others of you might have good reasons for disagreeing.

I'll try to check log in to Legion World again soon to find out what you all have to say on these subjects.

Until then, best wishes to you all.

Steve Lightle

PS: I'm trying to figure out why there is so much detail on the knee guard of Wildfire's costume. It certainly leads one to speculate ... LOL!

I noticed that Cham in particular seems reminiscent of Coipel's version of the character.

MLLASH - "And Lightle's artwork makes it feel like ANYTHING but a fill-in issue!"


I COULDN'T agree more. You nailed that right on the head

Hi guys and gals--

I've been lurking off and on for a bit, thought I'd say hi.

Very glad to hear that you seem to be looking forward to Legion #34 by Steve and myself.

You Legion fans are seemingly a hard group to please and I hope my story meets your expectations. It's a very different kind of Legion issue and I hope you'll judge it on its own merits--rather than with preconceived notions.

One thing I want to address is the character of Wildfire. First, he's my all time favorite legion character (Karate Kid is second, Blok is third).

Second, the character has accumulated a lot of continuity baggage since the reboot: Is he two people merged as one? What kind of energy is he composed of now? Blah blah blah...

Don't read this issue expecting those types of questions to be answered.

For the sake of the story (and with editorial blessing), I completely ignored all of that and treated Wildfire as if he was the same character I grew up reading. This is the REAL Wildfire that we all love.

Hopefully, he'll be treated like that from here on out and we can forget the other stuff.

This is a point I'll be addressing in some web interviews the month the book ships. I wanted to tell it to you guys straight first.

Best to all of you,
Keith

PS- I saw the finished issue for the first time a couple of weeks ago and Steve COMPLETELY topped his Umbra issue. He's Da Man!

YAY! I like the real Wildfire.

Looking forward to the issue, Keith.

You've made a whole lotta Wildfire fans very happy with that post, Keith!

PS/ Young Heroes In Love kicked nass!!

thanks for info, Keith !!!

i'm looking forward to seeing the "real" WILDFIRE in action !!!

Matthew.

Cool!

Thanks, Keith! I'm looking forward to it. It's amazing that Wildfire was never linked to the Qward universe pre-boot.

Certainly VERY good news to this Wildfire fan's ears!! The one thing I was apprehensive about when hearing of a Wildfire spotlight was that someone was going to do something to exploit the new "fused people" origin. Thanks for the info Keith!

Thanks for your efforts and your response here, Keith.

{[...] You Legion fans are seemingly a hard group to please [...]}

Whoa! Where EVER would you get that idea? Maybe from the mass fan rejection of DnA after their mass acceptance? {rueful smile}

I believe fresh attention to the Legion concepts and crew is always welcomed. Let's face it, your being paired with Steve Lightle, who gets more acclaim after the fact than he did as a regular Legion artists, also helps. Eternal optimism also gets in its kicks.

{[...] and I hope my story meets your expectations. }

The only nearly universal expectations I see are for a character-enriching, well-told story. Do that and you have "us," even with some individuals' desires for something more than what you've written. You'll never please all of "us," and you shouldn't try.

Thanks for stopping by and giving us some info Keith. Definitely an issue I'm looking forward to.

Keith, thanks for stopping in and don't worry about ignoring Wildfire's backstory. I doesn't have what you would call a lot of fan support anyway. I'm certainly looking forward to the issue.

Matt

Is it June yet?

lil'rhino

Keith.
Great! Now if we could do this with the entire series. Yah!

Hi Keith! How neato that you're here! Steve Lightle! How're you??

Dean said:
"Steve Lightle! How're you??"

Well, Dean, ol pal (why do I suddenly feel like Jerry Lewis?), I'm doing okay. Thanks for asking.

I saw your color work over my pin-uppy Tasmia, as you know, and I really enjoyed your work. Thanks for posting it both here and on the Legion-UP group. I know that you've also seen the previews of Legion #34 that I've posted over there. Did you know that one more page was sent to Lightning Lad's Legion site? Hey, what could I do, it was his birthday. : )

I was actually going to keep that last page a secret, you know, let it be a surprise ... but when I asked Steve Wacker which pages he thought we should promote the issue with, he clearly indicated that one. Fortunately, there are other surprises still left in the issue. : )

I suppose I'll eventually be posting that page to Legion - United Planets, but I think I'll let Scott (LL) hold the "exclusive" for awhile.

You can check it out at: http://www.lightninglad.com/

Now, Dean, keep posting those drawings to the group at Legion -UP. We gotta have more Dean Lee!

Long Live the Legion!