Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Visionaries of Tomorrow The Ages of Legion Writers

I was just curious about this the other day, so I thought I'd shar.

Otto Binder = 47 when he created the Legion.
Jerry Siegel and Edmund Hamilton = 49 and 59, respectively, when the Legion's Adventure run began.
Jim Shooter = 14 when Adventure #346 was published.
Cary Bates = about 20 when he started writing the Legion.
Jim Shooter = 24 when his second Legion run began.
Paul Levitz = 20 when Karate Kid was published. 21 when he began his first term as Legion writer.
Gerry Conway = about 27 when he took over the Legion regularly.
Paul Levitz = 26 when his second run began.
Keith Giffen = 30 when he began pencilling the Legion, 37 when the 5YL stories began.
Mark Waid = 27 when 5YL began, 32 when the post-Zero Hour Legion began, 42 when the re-imagined Legion began.

The Legion writer should be around 30*. Eryk, I demand you draw up a proposal.

I'll take over in five years, so try not to kill Cosmic Boy in the meantime.
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*<span style="font-size: 8px;">no actual reason for this</span>

I wonder how that compares to the age of other, contemporary comic book writers. Shooter was certainly exceptionally young, but after that and up until Giffen's 5YL, they're all 20-somethings. Any info on the McCraw - Stern -Peyer?

Stern was born in 1950. That would've made him, what, 46 when he joined the postboot creative team?

The rest require more research than Wikipedia, apparently.

Tom McCraw was in his mid- to late 20s. I remember him from APA-LSH.
I wonder how old other Legion artists were, like Cockrum, Grell, Lightle etc when they began pencilling the Legion. Hmm, maybe the Legion Outpost or the Legion Companion have info on this.
According to his entry in Wikipedia, Al Plastino was 36-37 when he drew the first Legion story.
And what about the exceptional Mr Kitson?

Bates was 25 in 1974, according to this site . That makes him about 21 when he wrote ACTION # 389 (1970), and 22 when he began writing the Legion backup in SUPERBOY # 173 (1971).

Interesting stats, Eryk, but, what, if anything do they suggest? Siegel and Hamilton were certainly veteran writers who brought much experience in crafting stories to their runs on ADVENTURE, which many still regard as the Legion's classic era. Younger writers such as Bates, Levitz, and, of course, Shooter, brought change and experimentation, again creating what many fans consider classic stories. Giffen, on the other hand, seemed to get more experimental as he got older.

The sampling, however, seems too small to suggest any meaningful conclusions. Other factors might also be worth looking into. It might be interesting, for example, to note their geographical origins, socioeconomic status, literary and educational backgrounds, etc.

Actually, the geographical data is kind of interesting. I'm not sure what any of means, though.

Binder: Michigan
Siegel: Ohio
Hamilton: Ohio
Shooter: Pennsylvania
Bates: Pennsylvania
Conway: NYC
Levitz: NYC
Giffen: NYC
Waid: Alabama

It means we need to get someone from the West Coast on this book, stat!

No, obviously it means that we need to get a Canadian writer for the Legion.

If I want to hear about tooks, back bacon and beer, I'll watch Strange Brew. I don't think we need an Adam Parker added to the team, eh.

I'm onboard for a canadian writer but if we cant have cooke it hast be co-written by Justin Trudeau and Ben Mulroney.

I thought Waid was older. Go figure.

That's 'toques'. Man. None of you Americans know anything important.

I hope it's ok to post here what I found about the age of some more Legion artists.

Dave Cockrum (b. Nov.11 1943) = 28 when he pencilled his 1st Legion story in Superboy #184, Apr.1972

Mike Grell (b. 1947) = 27 when he inked a 6-page story in SLSH #202,June 1974, and pencilled his 1st Legion story in SLSH #203, Aug.1974

Steve Lightle (b. 1959) = 25 when he pencilled LSH-Baxter #3, Oct.1984

If you want to wear a woman's hat or one of those puffy chef hats, that's your prerogative.

Cobalt Kid, I'm 31 and from FL. And I can easily make the Legion a top 20 book. easier if I get George Perez or Carlos Pacheco.

George is from Florida, too, so you guys could probably share a studio. You can't get a much closer collaboration than that

lol, Spellbinder. You are right we are about an hour away from each other actually...short commute. The all new all hispanic creative team. I like it.

I'm between Waid and Binder, agewise, and from Missouri, so that fits the Midwest profile. Moreover, I've got experience writing my own comic book. DC, are you listening ...?

Tony lives in Tampa I just found out. The Crossgen cult was based here (as well as Scientology!!! *scary*).

So the future Legion writer lives an hour from George Perez??? Is this the closest we will get to a Perez Legion???