The recent rumored changes to the Legion's membership got me thinking...

What exactly is the essence of the Legion? What elements should remain unchanged so that even if everything else changes, you can accept whatever remains as a genuine Legion of Super-Heroes?

Is it the large cast of characters?
The variety of super-powers, ranging from the underestimated to the overpowering?
Is it the sense of camaraderie and friendship?
Is it the team's core values of preserving life and being a beacon of hope and unity?
How about the futuristic setting and technology?
Are there certain key members who must remain on the team or all bets are off?
Do you need a certain proportion of members (e.g. no less than 1/3 of the team is female; at least two non-humanoid members)?
Does there have to be an upside-down rocket ship? Legion tryouts? Silly rejects? Chillingly evil villains? Weird worlds?

It's got me thinking about what I would need, but I'm not ready to answer just quite yet.

Thanks for starting this thread! I've been meaning to start a similar thread for about a week, but haven't been able to get my thoughts together. Hopefully this will help me put them together!

Great minds think alike I also thought it would be easier to think about this, but am having trouble articulating exactly what it is that makes the Legion a Legion.

I think if its called Legion then it needs a large cast. that's just how it should be.(But they should learn to rotate the cast better.)

It should stay in the future! that is def a core essence of the Legion.

Also that they are each from different planets (Which i want more exploration of! As well as more alien/non-humanoid members.)

I think the relationships in the Legion need to be fleshed out more and we need to see more of it. especially if we the reader are supposed to believe that they've been together for years.

For me the essence of the Legion is its diversity. By that I don't mean just an assortment of races and colours (not that that isn't important) but the range of powers as well.

With a cast the size of the Legion you can tell any sort if story and it would not seem out of place.

Need a bunch of tanks to face down Darkseid again? Fine you have the Els and Jo

Infiltrate the Dark Circle? Espionage Squad

Weird crazy happenstance? Brainy and his science buddies

Nice relaxed relationship tale? No shortage of proper couples

But it's not just those groupings, you can easily mix and match any combination of characters from any group and get some interesting events.

Look at the cast of Lord Romdurs Castle for an example. Nothing really links Sun Boy (RIP), Phantom Girl, Chameleon Boy, Star Boy and Projectra yet the team did not see peculiar or forced in anyway which is something you cannot always say about the JLA, Avengers or really many other teams.

This, to some degree, is due to the lack of 'names' in the team who tend to overpower the rest of the cast. As it is unlikely here will ever be a Matter Eater Lad movie we never have to worry about Tenzil being rammed down our throats to sell a few more tickets or tie-in merchandise; which is not something that can be said about Moviestar X and their amazing band of equally marketable heroes.

And it is this that helps the team (and the teams within the team) seem so realistic and believable.

As I seem to be going on a bit I will bring to a close with this. What is the essence of the Legion? For me it is everything on your list and a whole lot more besides.

^ I like what stuorstew said.

I see two main factors in *my* preferred Legion tales;

1) Youthful optimism and a sense of hope (there's a future, and it's filled with wonders, some of them scary and dangerous, but all of them awesome in their own way) and

2) Strength through diversity (many worlds and powers represented, even built into the code barring applicants who don't bring anything new to the table, rather than just recruit a bunch of Krypto-Daxamites for raw power).

It *could* be done with a smaller team, if the membership was selected right (no Mon-El, no Wildfire, none of the really heavy hitters). I don't think it could be done in the Earth 1 21st century, which has trended towards grimdark for quite some time now.

Indeed, it's probably safe to say that the Legion property has only suffered from any attempt to more tightly tie it into events going on in the 20th/21st century continuity, and that it would only be strengthened by being explicitly set in a *potential* future, and not necessarily the set-in-stone future of the current DCU (which changes with bewildering regularity anyway...).

Matter-Eater Lad is the essence of the Legion, just as the Martian Manhunter is the essence of the Justice League.

Sure, you can have the books without them, but it just won't be the same.

It's hard to describe, but for me the Legion isn't the Legion unless it feels right. For instance, the Threeboot didn't feel like Legion to me because it was too far outside their original message. The Legion isn't about rebellious teenagers, the Legion is about people coming together from all over the galaxy to protect peace and promote unity. THAT'S LEGION. But I guess if I had to put my fingers on anything specific...

1: At least 12 characters, otherwise it just feels like a random super-hero team. The Avengers should never have as many members as the Legion.

2: It should be hopeful and always set in the future. The Legion's charm is that I get to see this bright, hopeful future with amazing technology and weird aliens and outrageous adventures that create lasting friendships. Despite being an inspiration, the Legion is not about Superman and Wonderwoman and Batman. It's about the Legion. And, as corny as it sounds, these characters are my friends too.

3: It needs a good, silly moment every now and again. I enjoy a little humor, and in the past the Legion has always provided that without having to try too hard.

4: This one's personal, but the Legion isn't the Legion without Brainy. A lot would disagree, but I'd sincerely consider dropping the title if he wasn't in it. He's my favorite.

I guess that's about it! See, DC, it's not THAT hard to please a Legion fan.

For me the most important message of the Legion is unity in diversity (perhaps despite diversity), and the amazing camaraderie and hope that it fosters.

Conflict is well and good, but I'd like to echo Conjure Lass's sentiment about the Threeboot Legion - I didn't like it because of too much infighting. Not saying that everyone should be best friends, but this touches on Stu's note that you could randomly select any half-dozen Legionnaires, put them on a team together and not have it feel forced at all.

Because dang it, when I read the Legion I wanna feel like what Superman felt - even though he'd been a Justice Leaguer for years, the Legionnaires were his childhood friends and they always held a special place in his heart. "No Batman, we weren't crazy - we were LEGION."

Speaking of *ESSENCE...*

I propose the origins of the Justice League should be re-tooled with Super-Dude front and center. ***AND***
that his *PAST* experiences, (in his youth,) with a super-group in the far future heavily influenced the
operations of the League.

^ I like that idea. Ties in well with the "Big Blue Boy Scout" characterization that I personally find very refreshing in Superman.

He could shout "Let's go Leaguers!" from time to time. Would make an LSH/JLA team-up very interesting, with the Legionnaires maybe butting heads with some of the Leaguers with somewhat different views/methods like Batman, Hawkman, Wonder Woman...

Thi is such a hard question to answer.

I think the setting's a big part of the Legion's essence to me. I like the potential of the galactic melting pot that Earth, or at least Metropolis, has become. A multitude of species coexisting, becoming friends, butting heads- that's the background that should always come through. And not just in politically-tinged stories or in villains that fight the homogenizing of UP societies. Alien flora and fauna, architecture and art should thrive beside the familiar.

Ideas that percolate now grow towards their fulfillment.

And blue-skinned alien chicks kicking butt alongside chest-bearing guys with sideburns.

I would say the two big things that are needed for the Legion are:

* the superhero ideals. Compassion, integrety, decisiveness and boldness.

* the future setting--one where there are hundreds if not thousands of alien races all over the universe, with even more just waiting to be explored.

The cast...I'd say it's pretty important because of what someone said, the big cast allows you to tell different stories, but in terms of an individual Legion story, you don't need the ENTIRE roster for it to work.

Some thoughts:

1) The Legion is set in the future. But not just any future; it is important that it is a future whose nature is profoundly-shaped by the legacy of the super-heroes of the present day, especially Superman. There is an interesting reciprocal relationship between the Legion and Supes, as their role in his life is to help show him a future that he can help inspire. This, of course, is not to say that their aren't major problems in the Legion's time or in the intervening centuries, but the overall feel should be one in which the ideals of Superman have had an impact on the world of the future.

2) The Legion travels in space, in time, and in other dimensions. Space travel should be a regular, given feature of the Legion's world. The Legion should journey to crazy, farout sci fi worlds where giant robots continue to function in the absence of their builders or the dominant lifeform is sapient smoke.

Time travel is less frequent, and there should be rules about how it works, and there should only be limited access to it, but it is certainly a key bit of Legion technology. I'd actually like to see it used more in situations where they travel to times other than the present day/Superboy's time, though.

Travel to parallel dimensions/other realities is perhaps even less frequent than time travel, and perhaps even more experimental, but it should be there.

3) The Legion has a large cast, of members from different worlds, each with a unique power that they contribute to the team. It is not important to me that any individual member be present in the current lineup (I'd be happy with a "next generation" scenario, in which all of the "classic" Legionnaire have retired, for example), though if they completely retconned out the Adventure era cast as having never existed, for example, it would be pretty hard to justify it as the Legion.

For me the essence of the Legion is difficult to decide. But if I had to decide....

I think Superman HAS to be from Krypton, be brought up by the Kent's and work in Metropolis with Lois Lane Batman has to be Bruce Wayne, rich orphan.

So to me the Legion has to be

Set in the far future.
Involve space ships and alien planets
Have a large cast of members who have singular (and perhaps not obviously powerful) abilities
Be Super BOYS best friends

Almost everything else is up for grabs.

This is a great, great question.

To me the Legion as a concept is all about this bright optimism for the future, this looking forward; not only is it a book that takes place in a utopian 30th century, but it's about young people of all different backgrounds using their abilities to unite a universe, for the betterment of all. It's very much a statement, and a promise, and a blueprint for going forward.

People tout 'diversity', but that diversity is just an outgrowth of that optimism; that the things that unite will supercede the things that divide us, but that we'll maintain our diversity, our differences, and come together to celebrate them rather than fear them.

The most crucial element of any Legion story is that it look to the future, rather than being bogged down in the past, and the greatest and most common failing of Legion writers is precisely that. Because mainstream superhero comics is, largely, a nostalgia driven industry. More covers are homages than they are unique images, it seems! The most successful writers working in the field today have largely built their careers on looking backwards, not just to continuity but with their characters themselves; Johns' characters, for instance, are all haunted by childhood trauma and familial loss (mother, father, sister, brother, lover, wife, husband, etc).

The Legion doesn't need a big cast, although I think it works best when it has one. It doesn't need big, cosmic stories, although those are my preference.

What the Legion needs is a writer who fearlessly moves forward, who fairly oozes worlds and villains and heroes and dilemma, who kills characters when the story demands it and evolves the status quo as a matter of course. Divorced as the Legion is from any modern continuity, the freedom afforded by the future setting almost DEMANDS to be used, and it is only through this kind of innovation and reinvention that the Legion can distinguish itself in the current market.

This, I feel, was the true failing of something like "Legion of Three Worlds", a Legion story so concerned with looking to the past that it never gave us a vision of the future.

That's a very interesting notion.

One of my favorite writers, Kurt Busiek, is pretty much all about dusting off elements from past stories and refreshing them / retelling them. Many other fantastic stories have involved creators grabbing up abandoned plot arcs or forgotten characters or forgotten story elements from the history of whatever comic continuity they are in and fashion stuff like the revitalization of the Swamp Thing, or the secret of the Thunderbolts, or even the original conceit for the Watchmen (meant to star characters like the Peacemaker and Captain Atom).

Geoff Johns has also stepped backwards a bit, rescuing Barry Allen and Hal Jordan (and now Vibe?) from up to 25 years of being dead or replaced by Wally and Kyle, bringing back the characters from his own childhood, and sweeping away the changes he didn't like.

The Legion has, IMO, suffered from this sort of thing, with both writers and fans sometimes calling for retelling of past tales, such as the Legion founding, or 'another Great Darkness saga,' or yet another Universo takes over the Earth and outlaws the Legion story, or, oh look, *another* first meeting with the Fatal Five.

Fresh new stories should be key. Retelling the same old stories falls into the trap of both changing what has come before, such as with Timber Wolf's fairly lame new origins, which is *vastly* inferior to his *cartoon* origin, IMO, let alone his whacky 'thought I was an android' Silver Age origin, but also 'looking to the past' instead of to the future.

All too often, IMO, these 'retellings' take more away from the Legion than they add to it.

Well said, Desaad.

Agree 100%. The Legion may celebrate the past, but can never be bogged down by it.

I think we're talking about slight different things here, or at least I see a distinction.

Alan Moore's reinvention of "Swamp Thing" is exactly how these things should be done, IMHO. What Moore did there was no reboot the character, nor focus on old hoary pieces of continuity from Swamp Thing's past, but rather he took the core essence of the character - this monster, this horror - and he made it his own, creating whole worlds (literally), powers, villains...everything. This method almost always yields the best results, if the author in question has the skills for it. Grant Morrison did something similar with Doom Patrol (weird group of deformed outcasts dealing with the weird), Peter Milligan did the same with Human Target and Shade the Changing Man (both concerned with malleable identity), etc.

I don't see anything inherently backward in Johns taking up Hal Jordan or Barry Allen again. Quite the contrary, those were NEW story directions (potentially), after both Kyle and Wally had grown a little staid. A change needed to be made, and choosing Hal Jordan and Barry Allen over Kyle and Wally was a fine one, so long as the stories that were born of those changes were new and powerful. Johns DID that with Green Lantern, but stopped short; he created his Emotional Spectrum Corps (a concept certainly strong enough for an arc or two) but was content to rest on those laurels (stretching the idea beyond all reason, into the monotonous). He didn't do that with Barry, and his take never really got off the ground as a result. He couched BOTH of their character arcs, though, in the loss of parental figures (father for Hal, mother for Barry), a trope which has grown repetitive over the half decade plus.

Veering back on track, I see nothing wrong with the resurrection of the most identifiable Legion. In fact, I would argue that the Reboots were fundmentally wrongheaded in the same way that telling the Legion's origin story again is fundamentally wrongheaded -- it's the same damn thing, over and over again. Everyone wants to tell the definitive origin of this, or that, but it's DULL because it's a story that has been told - in various ways, with minute differences - 5 or 6 times already.

Rather than trying to give readers an in through such cheap gimmicks, which ultimately only confuse them more (but wait, why is everything so DIFFERENT when I go back to check out these characters that have captured my interest? Uh, did you say clones? Alternate timelines? What's a Time Trapper? Pre-zwhatnow?) just take what you have and go FORWARD.

There is a bunch of past continuity? DON'T REFERENCE IT. Make sure your run stands on its own. Introduce the characters all as if it was our very first time reading them at the start of your run. Introduce readers to various bits of continuity as it becomes relevant, and make sure it actually IS relevant -- it doesn't matter that Brainiac 5 loves Supergirl if you don't have a Brainiac 5/Supergirl love story in mind. That Mon-El was in the Phantom Zone is irrelevant unless you're actually going to bother to explore the psychology of what that did to him. And if you are, you damn well better tell us about it.

Create new characters, new heroes. Retire old ones when it feels right, or ignore them if you don't have anything to say about them -- a future writer will pick them up if they feel like it.

Create new villains, or revamp old villains to the point that they FEEL new. You don't need to reference every past dealing with a character if he comes up again -- a simple "This Hunter...he's nothing like who we faced before!" will suffice. Readers can go back and check out past appearances if they want, but aren't obliged to because you've done something very different (in the same way that Alan Moore's Arcane was a different animal entirely from any we had seen before).

The lack of imagination or laziness or frankly lack of judgement of creators is surprising, even creators who I respect IMMENSELY. I think Mark Waid has an incredible understanding of what makes stories work or not work, even if the books he himself puts out can be variable (for me). As an editor, he seems impeccable. So why on gods earth did he feel the need to reboot the Legion YET AGAIN when he took over the title, when a far more elegant, less heavy handed solution was so obvious, and could have done everything he wanted without alienating anyone?



For what it's worth, this doesn't seem to be another 'first' meeting, as they specifically reference the Fatal Five and that the Fatal Five has formed in the past; this is the first Post-52 meeting, and they're going about it the right way so far as I can tell. There seems to be some real effort to evolve, change and generally re-imagine some of the characters. Tharok, for instance, seems completely different.

I'm fine with more "Fatal Five" stories. I just don't want them to be identical to the Fatal Five stories we already HAVE (and yes, I'd like some mix of new and old villains). I hate to invoke Grant Morrison again, but his "JLA" might serve as another reference point; yes, we got Starro, we got The Key (!), we got the Injustice League, we got the White Martians, we even got the Demons Three -- but we got them in completely different forms and ways, and interspersed we also got Prometheus, Asmodel and the Bull Host Angels, Mageddon, the Ultra-Marine Corps, Solaris/the Hourman Virus...some of it was technically old, some of it was completely new, but it ALL felt FRESH and that's what I want on the Legion.



Phew. Sorry for the rambling, everyone. To sum it up, I could probably have simply said "Agreed.".

Thank you kindly, sir.

The Essence to me is:

Large cast set in the 30th/31st Century.

The three founders.

Each member is unique, no duplications - otherwise it would be telepaths and pre-cogs leading teams of Daxamites with the odd other like Element Lad or Chameleon Boy thrown in all under the control of Brainiac 5. Which actually doesn't sound bad for an elite military group but it's not the Legion.

Hope. The future may be dark, weird, unexpected and outrageous but there is hope. These kids embody it.

Soap opera elements - we need to know what these people do on their down time, that feeds into the futuristic setting. Some get on with each other, some don't. The weird and wonderful cultures that could feed into this hasn't really been explored (other than Cos slapping Alya because it was the Braalian hit a woman day).

The try-outs.

I agree on the weird, wonderful cultures. This helps cement the Legion as a successful experiment in unifying a diverse galaxy, and also lets us really get to know these characters in all their unique differences.

I blogged about this a while ago here, but basically I summed it up in four things:

1. Every hero, no matter whether their powers seem over- or underwhelming, has a contribution to make. This goes along with the large cast idea which has been mentioned. What makes the Legion formidable isn't that everyone is super-powerful, it's that there is a huge cast with diverse powers.
2. The vast science fiction canvas that the series is painted on
3. The fact that the series, for the most part, is disconnected to the rest of DC continuity, which is really what made all the soap operatics and the development of the rich history of the series possible.
4. The sense of hope and heroism that the team represents

I didn't hate the Threeboot, but it was harder to connect to as it really lost both #3 and #4.

I don't know if I'd call this defining for me, but I also mentioned in that post the fact that in most iterations of the Legion, they are celebrities. It is an honor to be part of the Legion of Super-Heroes. The only times when this has not been true have been when the stories have specifically worked against this - during Five Years Later, Legion of the Run, the beginning of the Retroboot, or times like that when the writers have been putting the Legion through their paces by taking away their reputation. I think that ties into the whole thing of optimism and hope for the future.

I think the optimism and heroism is a key component that stretches across most of our responses Oh, for the bright shiny future and the sheer joy of being a hero!

Loomis: Is it me, or did everyone involved in this Legion thing turn out a little nutso?
Jath: People do crazy things for lots of reasons, Loomis. Principle, honor, friendship, love.
- Legion v4 #2

For me:-
It’s being able to build a future with like minded people where ideals become reality. Ideals of decency, respect, freedom, hope, diversity and curiosity.

Certain characters have been written better than others and have become key in carrying those stories across. But every character has stories in them, just waiting for a decent writer to find them.

A large cast allows for a number of different story types to be told. It does allows for all those lovely sub plots. But the focus could be on nay number of that larger group.

By the nature of the setting, the stories range from the intimately personal sub plots through to universe destroying entities. So, there's generally plenty of Action & Adventure to go round.

The tryouts, rejects, elections etc add some lovely recurring touches to the book. But any new reader could enjoy them as something different.

The thrill of seeing a Legion of heroes working together for a common goal/ideals beyond that of just smashing bad guys' heads together means a lot. That's why I'd love to see the Legion involved more in politics, diplomacy, research, social causes and relief operations too (which I've been doing in my fics, shameless self plug :p)

I think part of the essence of the Legion for me is the era I grew up reading, the bad ass designs that Cockrum came up with, the sort of Star Trek vibe mixed with the legacy of Kal-el, a bright optimistic future that seemed to calm my childhood thoughts of the Cold War that was looming over us at the time.

Friendship, brothers and sisters working together to make the universe a better place, the rich history that I soon discovered through reprints of stories before my time, so many characters that I wanted to know more about, who is that guy? what are her powers? what planet is he from? who is she dating?

Science Fiction and Superheroes in a Future that was inspired by the Greatest Superhero ever! who himself in turn was inspired by a Legion of Super-Heroes!

The essence of the legion?

Space opera with super-powers.

For me it's about a good bright future and trying to protect that from those who want to ruin it. I'm sick of cities/worlds that are already destroyed or corrupted and the hero needs to fight to bring something back.

Thanks all for sharing your ideas. If I were to summarize this thread, I'd say the key themes are:

1) A bright, shiny, optimistic future that is a lot better than our present

2) A super team that upholds the legacies and ideals of heroes from the past (though not necessarily with direct links to said past, as we seem split on whether or not the Super-cousins should be members and whether time travel should be common)

3) A large, diverse cast with good camaraderie and a unified purpose... but also with some drama. Each member is valued and has a unique contribution to make, no matter how "silly" or "weak" the power

4) A science fiction background! We want to see crazy future inventions and interesting alien cultures

5) "Looking towards the future"; that is, we want to see our characters grow and change through time

Looks good to me! Send it off to DC! ...at first I meant that as a joke but now I think you should really do it! We need an open letter to DC from Legion fans or something.

Thanks, WangLung! Maybe we should. Even if DC doesn't act on it, at least we'll make our voices heard.

But I am glad there are so many themes common across all our posts.

Due to its large cast, the characterization of the Legionnaires were mostly mere thumbnails-- and mostly based on their powers.

However, because they were so sketchily defined, it was possible for the reader to project their own personality traits on a "favorite" Legionnaire...

When characters are more completely developed by later writers, the cry of "they ruined my favorite Legionnaire" is often heard.

Still, the larger the cast, the more chance for a reader to find someone to identify with.

Well put.

[

Probably also true to an extent. From my own experience, as I matured I came to appreciate the efforts to "mature" the Legion, as well. The Legion became the one series I most connected with because they grew up as I grew up.

That's a good and interesting insight, Klar. Certainly true of the early Adventure Era at least.

Definitely a strong point of a team book in general.

Either you like Batman or you don't like Batman, and that makes whether or not you buy Batman books a binary choice.

With the Legion, a lot of the characters are pretty wildly different. There are magical characters (like Mysa) and fantasy-medieval-themed characters (Jeckie) and martial artists (Val) and pure sci-fi characters (Brainy) and more super-hero-y characters (Ultra Boy) and strangers in a strange land (Blok, Superboy, etc.) and last survivors of dead worlds (Jan) and comic relief (Quislet) and 90's-ish moody loners (Brin) and romances ranging from happily married (Garth & Imra) to a little bit scandalous (Yera & Gim) to forbidden / star-crossed (Drake & Dawny).

There's literally something for everyone, which can be a problem when the 'something' you favor might not get a role in any given issue (or even story arc!), but at least gives a wider range of fans a reason to pick up the comic.

It could be seen as a downside (particularly by the company) that the '1000 years in the future' setting can insulate and segregate the Legion from the 'event of the summer,' and keep stunt-casting appearances by Batman or Lobo or whoever gets the kewl kids moist this week to a minimum, but, for me, that's the hugest of advantages, as every time an event has crossed over into the Legion, be it Laurel Kent becoming a Manhunter, or the impact of Crisis on Infinite Earths, the results have sucked beyond the telling of it.

Has anyone looked into Surveymonkey.com? supposedly there are free surveys you can do. Would be kinda cool to get one out to the Legion crowd.

I've used Surveymonkey for school projects before. I think they've added to their features since then. It's been a while though.

I don't think I have the time to look into it but it some of the questions you had about the Legion would be great for a survey. Not just for Legion fans either. We need to see what it would take to get new fans as well.

Maybe we can start here on LW. We could create a poll right here. Do you have any questions to add?

Jeepers. Reading through this thread reminds me of a lot of conclusions I made to myself a decade ago, pondering why the Threeboot felt like it was missing so much that made it like the traditional Legions before it. A pretty neat and comprehensive list, gang.

I also oddly now want to read the Threeboot again. I may be alone on that.

And we have the Future seal of approval (good to see you around more often, Future!)

Er, well, every time I read the Threeboot I get a migraine and the urge to work on my Postboot Legion fanfic. So I'll pass

It is the only one I get to re-read regularly, since it was 'recent' enough that it isn't stored away in long boxes, and is all in a neat stack somewhere.

(Although I also keep the Universo Project issues and Superboy's Legion out to scratch those itches.)

We could do it here but I think it’s too limited a number and maybe biased. That’s why I thought of survey monkey and getting it to the various facebook pages and any other fan sites. We can get also the not-yet-legion-fans as well.

Well, you do have a point. Would you be up for starting the survey yourself? I don't really think I have the time for that now, though I could help you with questions. There definitely needs to be a new set if we're going to be asking non-Legion fans.

Actually, we probably couldn't ask non-Legion fans about what makes the Legion of Super-Heroes, the Legion of Super-Heroes.

That's something I see a bit on other forums. Ways to 'fix' the Legion by moving it to the 21st century, or by cutting the team down to seven-ish people, or by getting rid of the 'silly' names.

That's not 'fixing the Legion.' That's writing a completely 'nother book, and putting the Legion name on the cover, IMO.

Similarly, I wouldn't 'fix' the Fantastic Four by having there be twelve of them, and they not be a family, and they all be drafted soldiers fighting in some sort of gritty war / invasion / plague scenario.

There's plenty of room for a good story set in the present day DCU with a smaller team of young heroes. We can call them Young Justice, or Gen 13, or Teen Titans, or the all-new Outsiders, or make up a completely new name for them. Just don't call it 'the Legion' or make up lame connections between the eras. (R.J. Brande was secretly an immortal and part of both teams! And possibly also Martian Manhunter and / or R'as al-Ghul and / or Vandal Savage! OMG, I are a jeenyus!)

Yes, and besides, non-Legion fans don't have any experience with the team - nothing to draw on when they make their suggestions!

I think you already have good start with the questions in the original post. How about we just add to that? They could also have multiple answers.

Here's a few that could be added. Please fix any wording you think is wrong or not clear.

How many characters should be members of the Legion?
A. More than 20
B. 16-20
C. 11-15
D. 5-10

What percentage of Legion characters should be non-humanoid.
A. 100% No humans allowed!
B. 50%
C. 25%
D. 0% No alien scum!

What kind of future setting should the Legion be based in?
A. Bright future utopia
B. Mostly has its act together and most of the people have good lives but still has some corruption and problems
C. Gotham like, dark and brooding with corruption everywhere.
D. Most of society has been destroyed and only the strong survive.

Should characters have romantic relationships with other characters?
A. Sure no problem
B. Yes but nothing permanent
C. No. They must all act total professional at all times and avoid romantic relationships

That's an interesting start, I like that. It's also good to have questions on a "scale".

Only one I'd edit would be:

What percentage of Legion characters should be non-humanoid.
A. 100% No humans allowed!
B. About 50%
C. About 25%
D. 0% No alien scum!

What else...

Should Superboy be an active member?

A. Yes, the original Clark Kent!
B. Yes, but it can be a descendant or clone.
C. No, not an active member, although occasional appearances are okay.
D. No, Superboy should not be involved at all.

I'll try to think of some more.

Those both look good. I think you should edit these into the original post so it's easy to keep track of them.

Here's one that is like yours.

Should Supergirl be an active member?
A. Yes, the Kara Zor-El
B. Yes, but can be a clone or alternate version of her
C. No, not an active member, although occasional appearances are okay
D. No, Supergirl should not be involved at all

To both of the above I'd add:

E. Yes, but not the one currently appearing in the DCU

I agree, I'll go back and edit the original post over the weekend.

Thanks for the E option, Hermit!

In case we do launch a survey on surveymonkey, who would administer it? Would you like to, WangLung?

Although, I think we should target Legion readers/fans. I don't think any non-fan would be able to answer these questions insightfully.

Well I would think both really. Some of the questions would be fore existing and some for new. I could try. Lets get the questions done first and then we can do that.

New ones

Of the human members, do you think they are racially diverse? Green and blue skin doesn’t count.
A. Yes
B. No

Need help coming up with power types.

What superpowers would you like to see more of?
A. Energy casters
B. Tricks and Gadgets
C. Close combat fighters
D.

What ages should the Legion members be?
A. Early teens (13-15)
B. Later teens (1 6-19)
C. Young Adults (20-25)
D. A mix of all the above

Random power / super archetypes;

Bricks/Tanks/Armor - Colossus, Blok
Scrappers/Infantry - Wolverine, Timber Wolf
Mentalists/Psychics/Communications - Jean Grey, Saturn Girl
Blasters/Artillery - Cyclops, Lightning Lad
Control - Karma, Mirage, Light Lass, Projectra
Defense/Damage Prevention/Healing - anyone able to create force fields / defensive walls or heal others
Transport - Nightcrawler, Gates
Airborne - Angel, anyone with a Flight Ring
Skill-Based - Prodigy, Batman, Brainiac 5
Elemental Manipulation - Crystal, Terra, Mera, Elysion, Nightwind

D&D type games break them down to Healer / Buffer, Mage (ranged damage and utility and debuffing), Tank and Skill-Monkey.

City of Heroes went with Controller (crowd control like stuns and illusions), Defender (healing and 'buffing' and debuffing to prevent damage), Tank (take lots of damage), Scrapper (put out lots of damage), Blaster (ranged damage)

'Control' and Buffer/Debuffer/Healer roles are the least common in comics. Despite often being team characters, the majority of heroes are pretty 'selfish' power wise. Raven is a rare example of someone who is almost exclusively designed around roles not common to super-team heroes, being a healer, capable of 'controlling' an encounter by sending her soul-self out to paralyze someone temporarily, and a teleporter.

Many powers and types cross roles, and many individual characters have multiple roles. Superman is a flying tank who also can function as a blaster with his heat vision. Lightning Lad and Cyclops, on the other hand, are just blasters. That's all they do (unless Leadership/Command is added as another role!).

Great list Set.

I guess you also have one answer being a mix of powers like Superman.


Where should the Legion be based?
A. Earth
B. Another planet in the United Planets
C. Satellite
D. Space Ship
E. Mix of all of the above

How much should the Present day DC universe effect the Legion?
A. Not at all
B. Very little
C. Partially effected
D. Closely effected

How often should there be time travel?
A. None
B. Occasionally
C. All the time

Do you want…
A. A total re-boot?
B. A soft re-boot?
C. Keep the existing team with a few tweeks
D. Don’t change a thing

Nice work, guys.

By the way, happy birthday WangLung! Here's your very own birthday thread!

For this question -

Do you want…
A. A total re-boot?
B. A soft re-boot?
C. Keep the existing team (as of Legion v7 and Legion Lost v2) with a few tweaks
D. Keep the existing team (as of Legion v4/the Legion series) with a few tweaks
E. Keep the existing team (as of Legion v5 50) with a few tweaks
F. Don’t change a thing from Legion v7 and Legion Lost v2

I guess we'd need to define total reboot from soft reboot.

I agree about the specifics of the re-boot specifics.

What are your thoughts on "Silly" powers like Eating things?
A. Love them! Keep them coming
B. I like them but I don't really want them in the Legion
C. I don't really care
D. I don't like them and I don't want them in the Legion

For me, the essence is:
- large team
- intergalactically diverse
- inspired by Superman's example
- protects the United Planets

I have been pulling a lot of overtime lately, so it's been hard to find time to sit down and think of more questions to add.

Thanks for chiming in, Drake! Your points add a lot to what we already have, and help further cement the key themes that we've been gathering since this thread started.