Just saw this on Bleedingcool.com. Major cosmic event in #13. All new creative team except for Levitz. No zero issue.
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/05/25/legion-of-super-changes/

Males sense, given previous rumors about Giffen's return to the title.

can't believe they're keeping onboard the only one whose work i don't like. d'oh!

last week i got the latest LoSH archives and i was stunned realizing it reprinted stories by the very same guy who's writing the legion right now. almost 40 years later.
when will we see someone new writing the legion beside levitz and giffen? i thank them for all the good stuff they did in the past but isn't it time to move on?

He had a 20-year break. It's not like it's been continuous.

Sorry he isn't your cup of tea, but aside from DnA and the Bierbaums, I cannot think of another Legion writer of his calibur in the interim.

in the last 35 years, levitz wrote the legion for 13 (1977-78, 1982-89, 2010-12): more than 1/3 of the time! i think that would be enough even if he still had ideas and was still good at writing.
i wouldn't like to see writers i loved 20 or 30 years to come back to the titles they used to do at the time. even if he butchered the legion i still like mark waid's writing, for example, but i'd hate to see come back on the flash: he already told his story and in his mind that's the flash, so let's move on to someone else.
in fact, the best legion stories i remember from the lash decade were the ones done by people who had never written the title before, like DnA or, in part, gail simone.

i agree, and that's why in my opinion DC should try new writers until they find the new levitz. who definitely isn't the old levitz, that's for sure...

See I feel the opposite. I like to see writers and artists return to titles they excelled with, it's almost always been a delightful experience for me.

I agree with Kayak, it's time to move on to new things.

To be honest, I think DC missed a big opportunity by not starting fresh with the Legion with the new 52.

Maybe not another reboot, necessarily. (though I think a case could be made that a reboot is needed) but at least a new writer and a new direction.

But then, I felt the whole 80's nostalgia-boot was a mistake way back during the whole JLA Lightning Saga thing.

The whole reason we *got* great runs like Shooter, Levitz, TMK, DNA etc. was because DC took a chance and let new writers shake things up and create new directions.

I believe the *next* great era of the Legion is out there waiting in the mind of a *new* writer who never worked on the property before.

I don't care if it's a new or old writer as long as they're doing something interesting and enjoyable with the book.

For the most part, Levitz's third run has been pretty much lacking in spark.

Heck, you don't have to go back to his previous runs for comparison. There's more life in World's Finest #1 than he's shown in any of his Legion issues.

I feel that he's touched on some interesting ideals, but then failed to follow through. The destruction of Titan *could* have led to some rich storytelling.

Desparate and mistrusted and traumatized telepathic refugees are suddenly all over the place, possibly leading to a massive increase in telepathy used in criminal or antisocial acts, which only feeds the mistrust non-telepaths freel towards the refugees.

Earth, months after Titanian (and Braalian, and Winathian, etc.) fleets are hovering in orbit over Earth, hands Titan the Time Institute as part of the concessions as xenophobe-Earth slinks back into the UP, only to have the Time Institute blow up Titan literally 10 seconds after it's turned on. And this isn't the conspiracy theory to end all conspiracy theories?

There's a ton of potential here, and instead we get Saturn Queen being the wet-eyed panting love-slave of a mysterious blue baby that may or may not have anything to do with Krona, but was never named anyway, and a Titanian family trying to fly to Tibet to visit their ancestral homeland. Woo. Talk about failure to launch...

I do like that Paul's been so willing to try new things. As much as I would love to see Lamprey and Nightwind, etc. I also enjoy new characters, and new concepts. Not every great Legionnaire (or Legion story) comes from the '60s or '70s, after all, and while I could easily read classic silver age stories re-imagined, and greatly miss the Ed Hamilton-esque sci-fi elements of old, I also like how Paul has been willing to explore what the China of the 31st century looks like, or introduce some new characters, like Questor, Immortus, Atta, etc.

I kind of dread Giffen on the title, on the other hand. His style of humor seems to invariably revolve around making characters I like look like bumbling incompetants, played for laughs (and / or having them humiliated or flustered or played for fools by his whacky pet characters like Lobo or Ambush Bug).

(Not that Levitz gets a pass on this sort of thing. He may not be into slapstick Stoogefest comedy, but he certainly didn't do Shadow Lass any favors, characterization-wise, over the last couple years...)

Well, sure. Wrong 'boot

What I meant is that it has no pulse... er, wait...

I think it's been fairly well documented that both Waid's threeboot and Levitz' unboot, and to a lesser extent Shooter's noneboot, were waylaid by editorial dictates in which planned storylines were delayed, altered or forcibly shoehorned for tie-ins to mainstream DCU continuity that never fully materialized.

It's true, Levitz v.3 has been lackluster at best, the most recent issue being, IMHO, the only one with something of the tone and quality of his previous work, but I do not blame him entirely, or even majoritily.

The one thing in the current books that I think has the potential to be really cool is Glorith, who I'm convinced is the original Glorith given a second lease on life post-splorping.

I can definitely see a really interesting story arising out of this, with her discovering her true nature. But, jeepers, it doesn't seem as though we're making any progress on that storyline, if it is in fact what's going on.

EDE,

I think Glorith's presence also tells us more of the Pre-Crisis/Pre-Zero Hour universe has been rewritten than we know. I mean, otherwise, Glorith is kind of like someone showing up and saying, "Hi, my name's Mordru, can I join the team? "

Unless, of course, "Glorith" is the 31st century equivalent of Tiffany, or Madison.

Unless Glorith is actually a more common name in the 30th/31st than we realize.

While I completely agree that Levitz' return to LSH has been lackluster at best, I am more than willing to be excited about his remaining *IF* the rumors of Giffen's return are true (and my sources told me they ARE true)...

Also acceptible: An artist or co-writer on the level of a Phil Jiminez (whose work with Levitz on the Academy stories was ALL too brief and have been the best part of Levitz' return-- with the most recent issue being a distant second place).

Whatever artist they get I hope it's one who can co-plot or co-write with Paul. My first choice would be Keith Giffen or Dan Jurgens.

I've said before that Levitz & Giffen as a team is better than the sum of the parts.

Re Glorith, a big part of the "fun" is that we're kept guessing as to whether this IS the same Glorith or not. I wonder if Levitz has it all plotted out already, or if he's waiting and seeing where this will go?

Much like Lori Morning!

Seriously, her background's being kept mysterious... wasn't there even some line about how even she couldn't remember her childhood? Plus, Brainy is finding her powers potentially useful in rejiggering time travel...

It seems to me the clues point to her desplorping origins!

Of course, there is the question is why none of the Legionnaires is saying, "Hey! Wasn't Glorith the name of that chick who turned a bunch of us into toddlers awhile back?" And I suppose you could go with the Legionnaires either assuming the name was a coincidence (Perhaps it's a common name) or some magical interference to help her get a fresh start.

Ahhhhh...."post-splorping" and "desplorping"! You are a treasure Mr. Ester!

[quote]Originally posted by Gorilla Nebula:
[b]Just saw this on Bleedingcool.com. Major cosmic event in #13. All new creative team except for Levitz. No zero issue.
[/quote]]http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/05/25/legion-of-super-changes/[/qb][/QUOTE]

Actually, there will be a zero issue btwn #12 & #13.
The lovely Steve Lighte has recently posted the cover on his Facebook page!

Scott Kolins on v7 #0, 13 & 14.

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/06/03/scott-kolins-to-draw-legion-of-super-heroes-from-issue-zero/

The cover of 12 is a m a z e BALLS!! btw, Lu's flying through the air!

Comet Queen looks like she's getting an uppercut from one of Lu.

I wonder what's going to happen to Francis Portela? He's been the break-out star of this book IMO. DC have to be thinking of a bigger 'name' title for him.

Or perhaps for Glorith, this is pre-splorp?

I don't dislike Kolins work on some titles (Flash), but his style is not suited for Legion. I hope this time I'm proved wrong.

Here's hoping someone else is chosen as regular artist for the book.

It will be interesting to see Kollins on the Legion now. His style has continued to change over the years.

Kollins is the type of artist where the inker can make all the difference. I guess I'll wait and see--not exactly thrilling news but not horrible news either.

I think the good thing Kolins will bring is a style unlike other Legion artists have brought to the table, so it won't remind you much of this one or that one. And most of what I've seen of Kolins' stuff the past coupla years has been pretty darn good. Don't think he's ever done much work on team books either, so that could be interesting to see.

Maybe he'll get to draw another Bizarro Legion tale!

I'm can't recall how long Kolins' previous run on the reboot was, but I'm guessing it was fairly brief and was also during that version's lowest point. Since then, his style has evolved into something more distinct and memorable. So I won't really be comparing it to what little I recall of his previous stint on the Legion.

As for Portela, I hope we see him on a high profile book really soon, preferably something at Image!

I don't think he's an appropriate choice, but maybe they'll assign him an inker that will give his pencils a futuristic look. My only problem with Portela was that the faces were too cartoony. But the writing has been dreadfully dull. And what ever happened to the Karate Kid subplot from Adventure Comics? That was probably the most interesting thing Levitz introduced.

So, Giffen co-plotting with Levitz, and Kolins drawing a 3-issue arc?
Sounds great to me!

Though I did not think much about some of Kollins cover work at DC, his more recent work (he did a JSA special for example) really was a totally new level - he really has grown as an artist and I'm looking forward to seeing his work on the LSH now. Sorry to see Portela go, though, as I thought he was a major improvement over Cinar. Legion has not always had the best artists in the last two decades, and I feel that hurt the book a lot. Of course you can't always have Perez, but if the Legion is done by some average artist, the book simply cannot shine - and thus, I fear, not survive...

I have become a big fan of Portela and will be sorry to see him leave the Legion. He was very talented in portraying beautiful and diverse images of the 31st century, whether it was Earth, Daxam or the Dominion.

My gut feeling is the main Legion title is sink or swim with Levitz at the helm. I hope the title takes off. There may be a mandate in place where some of the older Legionnaires are to be replaced by newer characters. Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, Duplicate Girl, Bouncing Boy, Matter-Eater Lad, Sensor Girl, Colossal Boy, Chameleon Boy are relegated to part-time status. The development of the new characters will determine the success, or not, of the Legion in the near future.

This is what I never understood about the mandates. Why must 'new' Legionnaires be forced on the buying public? If established characters are loved why replace them with newbies? I mean the fresh perspective of a 'Kitty Pryde' makes for an interesting story arc and it is good to see a Sub or tryout member make the team but give the people their favorites. You don't see DC replacing Bruce because we need new characters. I want more Garth, and to think some new unknown character is going to do as much for sales and interest as a well loved respected character would is beyond stupid, in a business sense and storyline sense. You waste time getting to know characters you might never care for instead of diving in to new great adventures.

As with so many things, I see two sides;

On the one hand, a writer signs up for a job to write a book called the 'Legion of Super-Heroes,' he darn skippy should be planning on writing about the characters that fans of the Legion of Super-Heroes have known and loved for decades, and not just making up a bunch of new characters and sidelining the old ones (see, Liefield, Rob, taking over a book called 'New Mutants' and replacing four of the five characters with his own lame creations in the first month...).

On the other hand, every writer has favorite characters and concepts to explore, and characters and concepts that just don't 'speak' to them. Given a choice between reading a re-characterized version of a beloved character, that has gone through all sorts of changes to be more relatable for the writer who didn't get any inspiration from their original characterization and having that writer admit that 'Character X does nothing for me' and just writing them off-stage for a few years, and focusing on the characters that *do* speak to them, I think I'd rather have a writer focus on a pre-existing Legionnaire that they *do* 'grok,' than have a writer who never liked a character totally change them to suit their own personal aesthetic. (Jim Lee's redesign of armored British fashion model into an Asian ninja / acrobat springs to mind. How freaking hard would it have been for Wolverine to run into an *actual* Asian ninja with a psychic knife, who had nothing to do with Betsy Braddock?)

I can see where adding new characters can be a breath of fresh air, and I can also see where, at times, fans-become-writers, and drag everything back to the way they remembered stuff from their childhood, even if it means resurrecting Barry Allen or whatever.

Given a choice between someone coming along and replacing half the Legion with new characters, or someone dragging the Legion backwards and trying to recapture some previous era, I'm in the 'six of one, half-dozen of the other camp.'

One part of me loves new characters and concepts, fast and furious. Another part of me loves the continuity-porn of backwards-looking writers like Kurt Busiek.

In a team this big, new characters, IMO, should be added in small doses. There's already a *ton* of characterization that needs to happen, in a deconstructionist era where it takes 10 pages to tell two panels worth of story. The addition of a half-dozen new Legionnaires in a single year is just crazy, IMO, and slows down the pace of the actual story-telling, as so much more space (ideally) needs to be devoted to character beats.

Personally I'd hate to see Portela leave the Legion. He's done a great job this past year at the artistic helm.

Levitz has struggled in story telling a bit, but part of the problem is that he had just introduced the new Legion title just 16 issues before the big "new 52" relaunch. It's tough re-launching a re-launch. If management had just left the Legion alone since the book was just beginning to get it's footing instead of making Levitz stop and start again, the stories might have had better flow by now.

I think bringing on the Legion Academy as new members was a mistake, but I'm sure it part of the mandatory reshuffling that Levitz had to do to make the Legion "new" again. I personally hope that instead of killing off the new kids that most of them get sent down to the Legion Academy for more training.

Sales will go up with compelling story telling and artwork. Levitz and DeFalco just need to work together to make both Legion titles consistent and top notch.