According to Newsarama's coverage of NYCC:

12:25 Levitz says we will pick the new leader. In issue #6 there will be a backdoor pilot to a new Legion story in Adventure comics. It will eventually turn into the Legion Academy series.
Saturday October 9, 2010 12:25

12:26 There will be a url on the cover where fans can go to pick the leader.
Saturday October 9, 2010 12:26

and they revealed the cover of #8.....who is the shadow one standing front of many members (no Spaceman, no Saturn Girl, no LIghtning Lad....those cover hogs! LOL) - love seeing all the members expression...T-Wolf being angry...Colossal Boy surprised....Cosmic Boy calm....Chameleon GIRL !!!....Tyroc and Violet (not shrunken! nice to see her as normal sized!)...Brainiac 5 contemplating...love that cover...but who is the silhouetted guy?!?

link -
http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/files/2010/10/lshv2_cv8.jpg

enjoy!

Found some more interesting snipits from CBR\'s coverage :

I'm very excited about a Legion Academy series, but I've been burned by the previous times DC has announced a new series at a Con only to change their minds (*cough*Kid Flash*cough*).

Well, it's a guy.
sigh

And we know who it isn't, the ones on the cover.
And MEL is said to be appearing in #6.

I SSSOOoooo hope it's Tenzil!

And I can hardly wait for a Legion Academy series.
That means we'll see more of Chuck and Lu and maybe Nightwind and Lamprey and Comet Queen and Crystal Kid(he's not dead yet, is he? He was in the later era with the Khunds, wasn't he?)

Crystal Kid was with SW6 when the Legion found him alongside Catspaw, Dragonmage, and Computo...so don't remember him being killed off. Perhaps you're thinking of Power Boy, Jed Rikane? He was killed alongside Nightwind during the battle with the Khunds.

As an idea I absolutely love the idea of a Legion Academy series especially if it contains Nightwind, Lamprey and Jed Rikane, but unfortunately with dreary reads like Avengers academy and New Mutants over the last few years I'm concerned it will turn into a shadow of the parent comic without some thorough planning and good use of characters. I'd love to see Giffen write it tbh, as I think he would shake it up convincingly.

That said, you know I'll buy it regardless who writes it.

I'm pretty excited about the Legion Academy getting a book! Like Harbinger said though, I hope they put some thought into it (and I hope they get some better art than Adventure has had recently!)

I also am intrigued about the upcoming leader elections. I have a weird feeling Earth-Man is gonna get a big lead just because he's had more exposure than the rest of the team so far - I really hope he doesn't win it though, that would just stretch credibility WAY too far unless something really amazing happens in the next issue or so...

Count me in as hugely surprised but hugely excited by the announcement of this Legion Academy book. Chuck! Luornu! Berta! Jed! Bobb! Tayla! All in their own book! I can't wait! I just hope we get good art.

The fact that the fans are voting for the next Legion leader is of course exciting but I have to say I am dreading a founders or Brainy win.

Please fellow Legion fans - boycott those panel hogs and let someone who hasn't had the job or hasn't been in the spotlight for a long time get the win!

The Legion Academy announcement had me checking the date. It's not April 1st, right?

I'm all aquiver with excitement. A Legion *spin-off?* Woo-hoo!

Teen books are my kryptonite, and one set in the Legion universe (now that the Legion are no longer teens), is like some sort of dream I never dared to dream.

Power Boy it is.
I hope that Nightwind, in particular, doesn't die this time around, but I liked Jed, too.

Lar has been very high profile over the last year or so and fans might go for him.
What would Shady (and Lar and EM) do if Mon was forced back to Legion Headquarters and interaction with them?

I'm guessing that the shaded out guy is the new Green Lantern. so we know it's a male and we know it isn't Brainy, Cos, Colossal Boy, Timber Wolf or Tyroc:

From the pose, I'd almost be willing to guess it's a grown-up Kal-El. Hmm...SuperMAN and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Does have a bit of a ring to it at that.

Ties to the 21st century? A legion Acadmey series sounds like a great place for Infectious Lass... who as of her appearances in TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED, was last seen in the 21st century...

Maybe the shaded out person is the real Reflecto finally?

The return of Chemical King!

Wow ... all this great news about a new series (Adventure Legion Academy), nice!
I am definately on-board for that one and hope that Chuck and Lu ARE in fact the ones to lead this great group.

As for the shaded figure on the cover of #8, which by the way is stunning ... well I hope the "surprise" GL they say he will be will in fact turn out to be Rond. Somehow pulled from the clutches of his untimely death in Lo3W (take that Geoff Johns! That'll teach you to mess with Paul's continuity).
If it's too complicated to be Rond, and he's better off staying dead in continuity, then I hope it turns out to be someone right out of left field. Someone like Fire Lad or Stone Boy or something.

Chlorophyll Kid already wears the right color scheme...

The artist on the upcoming Legion Academy stories in Adventure Comics is Phil Jimenez!!!!
(according to Paul's facebook post.)

Whoa!

That's just icing on the cake!

I think the icing is better than the cake!

I'd rather have 2 Legion books than 1 featuring the even more obscure academy members. There are already dozens of regular Legionnaires who don't get much screen time. Easily enough to star in 2 books.

I'm thrilled that we'll be seeing obscure academy members... plus some new ones too!!
I hope Danielle Foccart makes an appearance!!

I like the idea of a series focusing on the Academy members, because it at least feels like we're potentially breaking new ground, rather than rehashing the same old stories with the same old cast of characters.

In the upcoming Legion election, vote Phantom Girl !

I'm all about Phantom Girl for leader!! Maybe she'll finally get a personality after all these years!!

You've convinced me, Matthew. I was torn between Ayla and Tinya. Your arguments make sense. Count me in PG column.

Have they put the election rules out yet?

If they allow write-ins, we could always vote for Condo or Lyle. That way, they would have to bring them back.

The voting is via a url so I suspect it will be voting buttons which means no write ins and I can't vote for Night Girl.

You're probably right.

Alas.

I will definitely vote for a girl who has not held the office yet. Not sure which one yet. Would love to vote for White Witch, but I don't suppose she's eligible.


Would also love to vote for Duplicate Damsel. She could assign several mission teams and then accompany each one of them. Unfortunately, I don't suppose she's eligible either.

If it turns out that I can't vote for Tenzil, my vote will most likely go to either Phantom Girl or Tyroc.

Phantom Girl because she's one of the early members who've never been leader, and I'd like to see how she handles it.

Tyroc because well.. I really want to see him shine!

I'll probably vote as I've always done in leader elections: for Mon-el.

I like the way Levitz writes him and I wish he'd use him more. Being leader would force his hand in the matter. A term at the fore-front of LSH would also go a long way to wash the taste of Robinson's run with Lar out of my mouth.

Not that I wouldn't dig Tinya as leader too.

legion academy...Dare I hope for Laurel Kent to be there!!! dare I! dare I!

oh now rhino Tinya's had personality...

Snobby, Bitchy, Toward Blok and Timber Wolf

Lovey devoted towards Ultra Boy

Gossipy Co-Cheerleader like with Shady

If Sensor Girl exposes Earth Man as a phoney/villian (as I hope she will) then she will get my vote.

I'm not sold on Phantom Girl as leader though. Luornu deserves it more than her, IMO.
As Deputy Leader Tinya could "get her feet wet" and then maybe see if full leadership is something she wants, or can handle.

We don't really know it's a guy. Red herrings are replete on comic cover advance teasers, and a female form could easily fit into the blacked out space.
The second statement I can agree with.
The third I can hope for.

Phil Jimenez did an interview a couple days ago about his Legion work:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=28889

Lots of great info!

- 15 page back-up in Legion #6
- Nightwind, Lamprey and Crystal Kid
- Plenty of new students Jimenez is designing
- "Duplicate Girl"? Maybe that's a mistake... though I kinda like it better than Duplicate Damsel

I'm very excited for next week!

^ The part that seemes like a mistake to me was "their teacher, Cosmic Boy". Huh?!? He must have meant Bouncing Boy right? Unless Chuck has kicked Rokk out of the Legion and taken his place. That would be pretty cool.

Mandalla!?!? Westerner!?!? cool!! I really somehow wish that Phil would consider some of Steve Lightle's creations such as two flying Pisces fish, the red tigress, etc.

Yeah it sound like maybe Phil was getting a bit too excited talking about his gig with the Legion and Paul and got all mixed up.
Unless hmmm.... OMG .... NO, it CAN'T be .... Rokk has stepped down as leader and so has time now to teach and shape the minds and powers of the future generation of Legionnaires!!???

Nah, I'm wrong.

There might be some precedent with the fact that Cos was briefly the leader of the Academy-based Legion of Substitute-Heroes team...

I actually hope that was what's happening...and not a mistake. Lu, Chuck and Rokk with the Academy would be cool.

Isn't there supposed to be some momentous decision Cos is to make soon? If so, could this not be it?

It all fits. As would Comet Queen as the "long time Academy fan favorite".

^ She's definitely the fan-favourite... unfortunately. She's not this fan's favourite. I'm not gonna let that spoil my excitement for this series though.

I still cannot believe we are getting a Legion Academy series(!) drawn by a top-tier, A-list talent like Phil Jiminez(!). It almost seems like an April Fool's joke. So excited.

Comet Queen's name seemed conspicuous by it's absence, but I had no idea she was a fan favorite.

I kinda projected my dislike for the character on to everybody else, I guess...

Laurel Kent and Nightwind seem the two most commonly mentioned.

Comet Queen was never my personal favourite either.
I'm not sure where the allegation of her being a top favourite came from anyway!?
I much prefer seeing Power Boy and/or Laurel Kent take the spotlight in this new series.

I was kind of wishing Laurel Kent was the returning fan favorite myself.

Wasn't Laurel a Manhunter? I'm hoping this has been dropped from continuity. Although with the announcement that no descendants from Supes or Bats will be featured, I'm not gonna bet on her showing up.


If she does show up maybe she's a relative of Kon el. and here's hoping we get Kono and Kent Shakespeare.

I think one of the interviews about this (or a NYCC panel) said there would not be any descendants of Superman or Batman in the Academy. So we probably won't see Laurel Kent... unless Jimenez puts her into the background or something.

Also, since Jimenez's interview, I Googled the characters I hadn't heard of like Westerner and Mandalla. They seem interesting and I hope to learn more about them in this new series.

Does anybody know if Phil's name is pronounced Jiminez or Himinez?

Ooh, I did this after reading your post, and know I know who these people are! (Although it took three websites before I got more than a name / micro-image for them!)

I kinda like the Westerner's powers, and his mystical background. Not at *all* what I would have expected from his costume, with the American eagle motif, which, for some reason, made me think his power would have something to do with guns or cowboys or something...

Mandalla seems like she'd be pretty much outclassed / redundant in a team with Saturn Girl and Sensor Girl (and Tellus, if he ever gets around to using his telepathy that way). More importantly, her origin didn't exactly set me on fire.

Visi-Lad looks intriguing as well (DC's answer to the Mutant Force member 'Peeper'), and his mysterious 'abandoned on the doorstep' origin is pretty old-school, and yet unique to the Legion.

Share the pictures, please?

I thought Mandalla was dead, killed in the female Fatal Five story. Is that the right character? She was a telepath.
Nor is Visi-Lad, and dislike Laurel Kent , instead.

And maybe, Rokk demoted to make sure that new Legionnaires had the best chance possible not to die in the first months of their joining the main group, like Pol did.
And/or he wanted to get away from the Imra/Garth thing and marry Lydda.

Anyway, the only one I hope I don't see is Cannus , I'm afraid.

^ I love Cannus!



But don't worry - that's probably the most you'll ever see of him for a long, long time.

Would love to get a Laurel Gand back in this book sometime too but I'm not gonna hold my breath for it. Not with DC's insistence that Crop-Top girl has to be a member of every team in the DCU.

I don't know anything about the Westerner or Visi-Lad or Mandalla so it will be interesting to see what their stories are in the new book.

P.S. Candle - the blonde, telepath who died in the 'new Fatal Five' arc was Mentalla.

I love Comet Queen so much I had her join the Legion in my fanfic series. I will be parsed to the N-square if she is the fan fave they're talking about.

Bouncing Boy as a GL...hmmmm dunno if I love it. Actually, I'm pretty sure I don't love it.

I would however like it if they made Tyroc a GL as a nod to John Stewart.

I have also thought about the leadership question a lot, and I think I will be voting for Ayla. Of all the Legion in all incarnations, I think she is the one most deserving of a leadership role who hasn't had it yet.

EDIT: Oops, got the Stewarts mixed up first time round

I've decided on Ayla as well, Razsolo. I want to see her out from under her brother's shadow once and for all.

I think you're thinking of Mentalla.

This is a Spanish surname, and in Spanish it is pronounced hee-MEH-nehs if you are Latin American, or khee-MEH-nehth if you are from Spain. Don´t know how it is pronounced in English, sorry.

At SDCC Levitz pronounced it with the H sound.

... and please remember the accent is on the second syllable, as pointed out by Doctor One. It drives me NUTS when anglos put the accent on the first syllable!!

I'm sure Comet Queen has her fans, as all the established, "older" academy students probably do. She's not my own personal favourite, but so what?

I suspect one of the newer students we saw in LSH #6 might get a promotion to full-fledged Legionnaire status sometime soon. Just a hunch.
I just hope Paul doesn't do this just to turn around and have him/her die saving the universe or something like that.
I'd like to see the new students fleshed out a bit first though in the pages of Adventure before any of them becomes a true Legionnaire.

My guess is that Gravity Kid will be the first student promoted (to fill the void left by Star Boy's absence).

Maybe they'll let the readers vote on which student should "graduate"?

Oh that's a great idea EDE!

Legion Academy takes over the Adventure title with #523:

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/paul-levitz-legion-academy-101101.html

Hmm... it seems like Paul has forgotten about Night Girl having graduated up from the Subs in Geoff's stories. That might explain why we hasn't been around.

Love that the Legion Academy will take over the entire Adventure book, and not be a 'co-feature,' and love that Phil Jiminez is called out as the regular artist!

Woot!

Me too Set! I think of all the opportunities that a second monthly book will bring to the Legion. Think of all that character development we'll HOPEfully be seeing. (Subs, Academy students, maybe even some people we've all been clamoring for like Matter-Eater Lad, Blok and Black/White Witch).
The possiblities are endless, really.

It's all in the hands of the writer(s) now with who they want to focus on ... plus a little push from all us LWers breathing heavily down their necks.

Phil's on facebook so if you already added Paul might as well add him too

I love the Legion Academy concept. I have always thought it would have worked as a title on its own long before Xavier's students became X-Men, but is the concept short sighted? Is every student's goal to graduate to Legion ranks? How can the Legion title sustain all the new members that could be added to their ranks? Could their be another exit strategy for some of these students? Maybe some would like the training the Academy has to offer, so that they would be better prepared to become defenders of their homeworld.

Shadow Kid was an academy student, with no plans to join the LSH.

My guess is some of them might want to just learn how to control their power enough to cope in every day life.
There are many though that dream of joining the Legion full-time, so the academy is the best place for them to not only master the use of their power(s) but also develop the smarts needed to stay alive in a dangerous universe.
Who better to act as mentor than an experienced Legionnaire such as Cosmic Boy, Duplicate Damsel, Bouncing Boy, etc.

I don't think there is a member limit anymore (didn't it used to be 25 members maximum at one point, for tax purposes or something?). There would be no harm in the regular Legion expanding their ranks while being careful not to allow inexperienced youngsters seeking fame and glory in at the same time. That would be a tragic end for that person.

In my opinion heroes like Comet Queen, Power Boy, Lamprey, Crystal Kid and Nightwind would probably be ok to join conditionally since they've been around for a while and seen a fair bit of action already. Maybe they could each be assigned a proctor to monitor their performance for a specified period of time/probation.

Allowing any of the new students we saw in #6 to become full members would be a mistake in my opinion, no matter how cool of "wow" their powers might be. Give them some time to really train and learn.

Being an academy instructor/mentor would be a huge responsibility, I would think.

I do kinda hope that it would work more like the New Mutants, in that the trainees would be more likely to move on to other teams, other careers, solo work, etc. with only the occasional graduate choosing to become an actual member of the Earth-based Legion team.

This would certainly make sense. DC could always do reader polls if they wanted to gauge a student's popularity.

I always liked the Shadow (Grev Mallor) Kid character. He was great at the academy as he built a short lived friendship with Pol Krinn. Grev always had that "I don't take crap" attitude. I would have loved to see how his character interacted with the similar no-nonsense Myg...but I guess there's no chance of that now.

It was interesting rereading everone's thoughts on the Legion Academy series in Adventure Comics before it launched.

Too bad Legion Academy was short lived and only a vehicle to bring in new blood, way too soon, for the New 52 Legion revamp. I still think it could have had a lot of potential and maybe created a few spin-off titles for the 31st century if only DC editors had some foresight.

Agreed...I think Glorith, Chemical Kid & Dragonwing would have managed much better if they'd stayed students for much longer and we'd been able to see the 31st century from a different perspective than we usually get through the Legion

Their one battle against Cosmic King certainly was not impressive enough I convince all fans that these kids deserved Legion membership right away. Chemical Kid an Dragonwing were both taken down, alongside Comet Queen, if I remember right.

Being rendered unconscious and having someone kill your teammate was considered to be a big boost to their chances.

Gravity Boy was the one who looked most likely to make the grade, and he quit in disgust at the whole thing.

I guess being able to take your lumps was more important than being able to take out smugglers or collar escaped animals.

Somewhere, the first class of graduates are rolling their eyes.