Comic Watch has a preview of the upcoming Legion series including a look at issue #3's cover.

Looks good. You don't exactly need the dialogue, but I'm looking forward to reading the chatter. I suppose the rest of the issue will be explaining how Earth got to be that way... this is where a 5YL-style text piece would be appreciated.

Love Tasmia's expression on cover #3.

Agreed - I like the look of it - very expressive and the sequence makes "sense"

I see the Fate character present - can't wait to see what some of the story is with the new characters

Agree,, if Imra is going to telepathically share memories anyway, we can get a lot of the exposition done fast. More room / time then for getting to know the Legionnaires, and showing the implications and nuances of 31st century Earth.

I like that the Mission Monitor Board icons seem to be coming back. I felt it was a shame they barely appeared in the Reboot - I think we only saw them twice or thrice in all. The icons were a nice touch.

And I see Computo AI is what's giving Jon his orientation...

These new pictures look great! Kudos to Mr. Sook for the beautiful artwork.


I maintain though that Garth/Lightning Lad looks silly and very weird with the decided upon dark skin (as does Light Lass). I'm sorry but it's just not a great look for this iconic character, not to mention a founder of this series.
IMHO.

I like the teenage exuberance I see in the characters. I'm ready to see a Legion that's rooted in that spirit again.

Maybe I’m becoming a fuddy duddy in my old (middle) age but I’m just not sold yet on these new looks for the Legionnaires. I have no problem with diversity, or having non-humanoid members, or anything like that. My problem lies with drastically changing the physical appearances (whether it be ethnicity, body type or general color) of characters who have, more or less, looked the same way for 60 years. I really don’t want to have to re-learn how to recognize characters that I have “known” since I was 7 years old. For me, it’s Sneckie all over again.

That being said, I am going to give this a try, and I really am going to try to be open minded about it, because even though I’m not 100% on board with the changes, it’s still the Legion, and I am happy to have them back.

LOL I'm having the same reaction to Dream Girl made out of sand ... I'm guessing it's to connect her directly to the Sandman mythos in some way ... but she looks weird to me

Yeah Myg, I agree about Dreamy …… don't even get me started on how I feel about what they appear to have done to her!
*sigh*

Am I the only one whose interest in this title is diminishing with each passing day?

The Lightning Lad/Black Lightning & Bouncing Boy debacle started the ball rolling and then this constant deluge of 21st concepts from Superboy to Robin to Rose & Thorn to Aquaman and so on has just hastened its speed. The total boringness of Millennium was the final push.

I’ve also started to think that Bendis should have reimagined the looks of the entire team, or none of them. This hodgepodge mix is just distracting I think.

I don't know about diminishing, but my expectations have been pretty low from the beginning. Most of what I've seen has reinforced those expectations rather than moving me in a positive direction.

I will simply state that I agree with the negative comments posted above. I do like the cover - the layout and art. While I don't care for the new LSH designs, the "time bubble" and "dark" last page are also nice. Best of all, we haven't seen a real LSH story, yet. It could be fantastic! I suspect my opinion will be negative... I started out very optimistic, but I've slowly agreed with the early pessimists... still, I am prepared to be pleased and proven wrong. I am not into meeting negative expectations - I want the new LSH to be great!

I've finally decided that, no matter how good or bad it turns out to be, I will support it. Because what happened in 2013 with the abrupt cancellation of all things Legion was a very bitter pill to swallow. I will never again make the mistake of taking the very existence of a Legion comic for granted.

Seconded. Also, and I know I'm in the minority, I actually like all of the new designs and can't wait to see them in action. The differences to what we've come to expect look like interesting stories that I hope we get to see.

I really like the Triplicate Girl design.

Most of the rest are pretty "meh" as far as I'm concerned.

I'm still hoping it surprises me.

I won't committ to supporting it if I absolutely hate it, but I'm in for the time being.

I actually like the Matter Eater Lad and Dawnstar designs.
Shady looks awesome, but it's hard to mess that up

I find MEL and Dawnstar interesting, but I'm not really enamoured of them yet.

I'm eager to see what the deal is with the new characters as well.

The fewer links to the 21st Century the better, I think. We don’t need a repeat of Man of Steel to happen.

^^Agree completely. Unfortunately Bendis seems to be going in the opposite direction.

While some feel the need to support this Legion for fear of not having a Legion. I am not one of those. I feel that DC has mishandled the Legion since Crisis and with each reboot I have felt like Blacula. diminishing returns even though I supported each restart.


That said, this time It is up to Bendis to convince me I should support this relaunch. I cant just support this book because its a book I have loved over the decades.
I look at HOX/POX and see a similar situation except I haven't picked up a X book since the Original Onslaught story back in the 90's and yet that series has me WAY
interested than anything Bendis has put out.

Watching Jessica Jones and Jessica Drew fumble thru time while trying to figure out what their lives mean hasn't been the most engaging read.
Hell you could have used Harmoina Li THAT would have made thing a bit more interesting.

Ah well Ill see where this first arc goes, and if it fails then I'll go back to rereading the classics to get my legion fix

I like the ties to the 20th/21st century. As a fan, I have tried to develop timelines and stories that explained what happened to certain species (Korugarians and Tamaranians being the ones I used most recently) in the Legion's time. I also tried putting together a guide to DCU aliens and have found out that there are lots of Green Lantern species that have only been used once or twice. Why not use and develop those instead of creating new ones?

I really did not like DC using the Khunds, Dominators, Durlans and Daxamites in the Invasion! event thingie set in the present day DCU, because it created the appearance that the Khunds and Dominators, in particular, had not changed *one bit* technologically or culturally in *the one thousand years* between the Justice League and Legion eras. (I don't mind the insular Daxamites and deliberately regressive Durlans not developing as much, but it makes *zero* sense for the Khunds and Dominators to be *exactly* the same, ten centuries later!)

If elements from the present day setting are to be used, I would prefer that they be *radically* different, and not at all held hostage to events that happened 1000 years ago (or that stories set 1000 years ago are held hostage to the far-future setting, since it may well be that of an alternate universe / possibility anyway!). So, I want to see a family of Spider-Guild tourists snapping holos and pointing at local scenery. Sure, a thousand years ago they were a man-eating scourge, but they grow their food in synth-vats now, and have been well-adjusted galactic citizens for *centuries* by the Legion's time. I want to see Thanagarian 'War Eagles', ships of Nth metal, each accreted over years over a single Thanagarian, one of the couple hundred current survivors of that race, each 'wearing' a suit of Nth metal armor that slowly grows into a vast ship around them, one which they never leave, their homeworld long abandoned. A 'Lantern' corps that isn't all green, but include Lanterns of all sorts of colors, including some not seen in the 20th century, or even some polychromatic or rainbow rings that change according to whatever emotional energy source is most prevalent / accessible in the current moment. An Atlantean Star Empire that spans the oceans of a dozen worlds, connected by arcane 'tide pools' (magical gateways) and serve as a transportation nexus for goods and services between the worlds that have Atlantean enclaves on them. Peaceful Gordanian monks sowing the seeds of a reborn Karnan race, overseeing and caretaking their rebirth from the genetic material left behind as 'trophies' taken by those who, 1000 years ago, hunted them to extinction.

Mix it up. The more radically different the far future explorations of these 20th/21st century alien cultures are from when we 'last saw them' *1000 years ago*, the better.

I really hate the pattern where the Legion encounter this crazy new race that no one has ever encountered before, then like ten or twenty years later they are showing up all over the place in the present DCU.

There's actually a ton of underused races with Legion lore itself that could be explored more (e.g., the Xennians), plus I'd love to see more callbacks to classic DC sci fi properties ("Hey, here's a random sequel an old Space Ranger story that you didn't know you wanted")!

But while I don't mind an occasional "Let's check out what the Amazons are up to in the 31st century!", it shouldn't really be the main focus of the book. But already we've got a Dr. Fate, a Lantern, Aquaman's trident, a whole world modeled on Gotham City... it's a bit much.

Also a good point. I'd love to see what the Murrans or Sklarans or other lesser-used Legion races are up to more than the 20th/21st century races like the Tamaranians and Thanagarians.

I think relying too heavily on the past is going to bite us in the butt. Perhaps not in terms of revisiting alien races, but with core characters and locations from present day.

For instance, the Amazons. Say the writers introduce an Amazonian Legionnaire, and then five years from now the Amazons are eradicated from existence in a present day event. Sure, that probably won’t happen, but then we never thought Superboy would be retconned from existence either.

I kind of like having the Legion in their own little pocket of the DCU, safe from the influence of whatever bizarre whims strike the creators of the present day titles.

I've always thought the Legion should just be set on their own parallel Earth.

This.

I have never been a fan of 20th / 21st Century interference.
The Legion was at its best when it kicked Superboy out of his own book.
I'd be quite happy to never see Super boy, man, girl, cat, dog, moose etc. along with all Robins, Titans and other
extraneous characters invading the time line.

I guess I'm just too old for the changes.

I wish it well, but for the first time ever, I won't be along for the ride.

I'm not gonna say I'm in it for the long haul. It's not that I expect it to adhere to what I want with no variation, but at the same time, I want legion. I dont' know that this IS legion, yet. I'll give it a try. Just way to many things going against the foundations of Legion. Members with artificial powers, redesigns of characters that are almost as old as Superman himself relatively speaking, another destroyed earth.

I'll try it, but not loving what I'm seeing so far. I guess sometimes you have to let things go. Gonna try it....but....

But I remember back in the 1980s, we would often wonder what was going on with old characters who could obviously live into the 30th century. Characters like Martian Manhunter and Dr. Fate. Or we would wonder what's going on on Thanagar in the 30th century, or some other alien world visited in, say, Justice League or Green Lantern, but never on Legion. I don't mind the 21st century characters, as long as they don't overshadow the Legion in their own book.

Crap. Now I really want a super-moose to appear.

Yeah, if the 'present' of the DCU is going to be a tangled mess of relaunch after relaunch every decade, it's probably best for the Legion future to not tie into it directly, and get as far away as it can from that muddled mess. There's certainly no reason why 21st century folk can't still visit, anymore than the Earth 1 Justice League couldn't visit Earth 2 on occasion.

Call it 'Earth L' and move on. It's *a* future. It might be *your* future, present-day-character, if you don't screw it up.

It's almost as though the multiverse, an idea that was introduced specifically to solve continuity problems, is actually the most effective way of solving continuity problems!

I think most of us feel some or all of what you're feeling and saying here Rick.
Like you I'm going to try out this new re-boot, and I'm willing to be open minded about it all. Worse case scenario is that is bad. Best case though is that is good and interesting within the confines of its own unique little uni-bubble.

For me the bottom line is : I have my own opinion of what the Legion is …. so that will not change, no matter what this new Bendis "Legion" turns out to be.

One thing that I won’t do anymore is continue to buy a title long after I stop liking it, just for the sake of the title. Fantastic Four, for instance, is a title that I kept buying even though I hadn’t enjoyed it for a couple of years. It was a waste of my money spent on the nostalgia of when I used to love the book.

So I will be trying this book out and plan to give it a decent chance. If it turns out that I just am not liking it though, I won’t continue to buy it, just to keep a Legion title. It doesn’t do anyone any good to support a bad title. I would rather the team go away than be poorly represented.

I’m with Ann Hebistand and Nightcrawler. I’ve very much missed having a legion comic, and I like the character redesigns generally (coupla losers, but for my tastes, interesting and creative overall) and am eager to see them in action.

Millenium And the Superman appearances did not impress me, mostly because I feel like I’ve been “introduced” to the new Legion 3 times in a row, shiny happy group shots, and I just want them to get to an actual story already. I also haven’t historically attracted to Bendis works.

Yet despite all that i still feel optimistic there is going to be something for me to like in this iteration. Maybe I will be disappointed, but I’d rather look for things to like than things to not-like. 😄😇🤪

Yeah, I'll buy it, just because it's the Legion, even if it's not *my* Legion. Heck, I'm enough of a Legion fanboy that I'll buy stuff like the Hypernaturals, or snap up any appearance by the Imperial Guard, just to get a Legion-ish fix.

Soon I'll be in a back alley, snorting up old X-Men comics, rationalizing that Nightcrawler was *almost* a Legionnaire... Sad.

I'm really looking forward to it.

I totally agree with this. The key is to use 21st century elements sparingly. (I thought DnA did a good job with Ra's as Ghul, for example) All in row like this just makes it seem the whole point of the book is to see "how things turn out" for their big franchises. I hope this won't be the case once the book gets going and we get to actually spend time with the characters. So far, they haven't really been presented as anything other than a gaggle of colorful faces.

Inside Pulse has a look at all of the variant covers for the first issue.

They look amazing! Thanks for posting Nightcrawler.

Ok... So I've read #1

And I like it

Karate Kid and Star Boy have distinct voices. I'm interested in looking at the new Ultra Boy
The VAST majority of the cast don't have much to do, because the focus is on Superboy and a couple others.

I'm not sure if I like the redesign of an old Legion villain. We shall see...


LONG LIVE THE LEGION

<sigh of relief>

Did you break into a comics shop at midnight, Andy?

Oh, Comixology - wondered when they made the new comics available. Got it, reading it, happy.

Comixology!

My expectations going into it were super-low, but it beat them!

I really liked the opening sequence on "Planet Gotham". The rest of the book was a bit too chatty for my tastes, but it was okay.

"Horraz" could easily be the subject of puns for many years to come.

I'm a little iffy with the appearance of a traditionally major-level Legion villain as at best a mid-level threat in the opening, but whatever.

We learn a bit about Ultra Boy, but not much about anyone else.

All and all, I"m still onboard for the time being.

Loved it myself.

Just read it and wish the Frichtman tags were more readable, but we did finally see that it's "White Witch" and she seems to be a she.

Also, all that build up for Rose to be ignored, was a bit weird. Plus, weren't Wildfire, Ultra Boy, Karate Kid and Star Boy in the group shot in Millennium? Maybe Rose gets another shot at talking with Jon?

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the "group shot" from Millennium takes place after this issue.

Here's an interview with worded preview pages from SyFy.com.

Yuck. I thought it was a total mess.

SPOILERS

The disappointment starts right at the top of page 1 with “The Bludhaven Sewer System”. I don’t think even stories set today are still using that dumb Gotham ripoff are they? And then the seemingly interesting/dangerous item they’re chasing turns out to be... Aquaman’s trident. I thought we had at least another two issues until that thing came into play.

So the very first location and the very first MacGuffin of this new Legion series are 21st century DCU elements. This is obviously NOT going to be a series for those of us who like to see their 21st and 31st century DCUs kept separate.

I thought Ultra Boy had a pretty good showing here (pretty much the only character who did in the whole issue, followed distantly by Karate Kid) but I really didn’t understand the artistic intent behind keeping his identity hidden for the first couple of pages when there was no payoff to it? I just found it distracting. (And it didn’t help that all those pages seemed to do was rob him of his cape, something that might have actually made his boring costume more interesting.)

It was also weird that one of the first things we hear him say is something “racist”, assuming “Horraz” is the race of those aliens (although I guess that is still unclear).

It was certainly a choice to have one of the most famous and powerful villains in Legion history get jobbed in one punch right at the beginning of the issue like a 3rd rate minion... but I actually didn’t mind it. I feel like that, more than anything else this issue, told me that this was a brand new Legion. I also liked the Starbreaker-ish “space vampire” look that Sook gave him.

The rest of the issue was just a lot of boring exposition and introduction that should have been either a) included in ‘Millennium’ so that we could start the story proper here; or b) if it had to occur here, revealed to us in any number of more interesting ways. Even the hated (by me) Threeboot had a better opening issue than this.

Two other things stood out negatively to me:

1) How many pages were there in this issue? It felt like half a comic! The story suddenly ended before it had even begun! Has DC reduced their page count since I last read one of their comics (back in 2011)? If this is how short comics are these days then this is NOT value for money.

2) The dialogue. I think this was my first introduction to”Bendis-speak” and yes, it was mannered and a little too “trying too hard to be natural” but I didn’t mind it and think there have been MUCH worse culprits of that type of writing over the years, but what I didn’t like/get were all those bits where the dialogue just sort of... stopped; like a word balloon was missing or something. The dull thud of a final scene was especially egregious for this:

Two new, “mysterious” (well, until the dialogue identifies one of them as the UP President and then we can glean from their interaction that the other one is some sort of underling) characters are disconcertedly discussing why the Legion brought Superboy to the 31st century and what happened to Aquaman’s trident (two things that we as readers ALREADY know the answer to) and then this uninteresting conversation suddenly stops mid-sentence(!) and we end the issue with a closeup panel of... a total nobody who happens to be UP President!

Huh?! What was the purpose of that? Neither the words nor the pictures on that final page gave the reader anything new or interesting to carry with them until the next issue. It was the very definition of an anti-climax! My only conclusion is that that final panel is supposed to have a word balloon from the underling saying something like “- - working for, PRESIDENT LANE!” since, other than the vaguely Lois Lane-ish hairstyle, I can’t think of why we should know or care who this new character is.

To end on a small positive, the art is quite nice (though the coloring seems a little flat to me) and this might be my favorite Brainiac 5 ever, in both design and personality (thank God asshole-Brainy seems to be a thing of the past).

Yeah, I had the same reaction to the last page. It seemed like it was supposed to be some sort of dramatic reveal... but wasn't.

And between the overuse of splash pages and two-page spreads, and the dialogue which takes several pages to say what could have been said in one panel in the Silver Age, this is definitely feeling like not much bang for the buck.

Sook's ads to get the book on Facebook -





Monster Boy turns into monsters, apparently.

I'm guessing MB will have 1 or more specific monster forms he can turn into, which will give him specific powers and will differentiate him from Cham.

I am relieved to say that I absolutely LOVED the first issue of The Legion!
I liked that we are getting to meet this new version of the Legion 3 or 4 members at a time (Jo, Drake, Val and Thom this issue), and the other members having a say here and there. I like this pace the best because you get to know the new personalities gradually, over the first few issues. I already know I'm going to like Karate Kid for his cornyness and Star Boy for his "history buff" hobby.

This version of Saturn Girl seems warmer than most previous versions. It's a refreshing change in my opinion.
I'll add more comments about this issue as I think of them .... after a few more re-reads!

I am very happy that I can say, with complete sincerity, that I cannot WAIT to read the next issue .... and that says a lot for this long-time fan!

I like LSH #1. And I'm wearing my new Legion ring while I'm typing this.

Forgot to mention this, but when the villain is talking about eating children, I was kind of expecting/hoping for one of the Legionnaires to throw in something like "Eat this, Grandpa!" or some such variation on the threeboot slogan!

The 17YO and I both very much enjoyed Wildfire—snarky, sassy, but less of a jerk than when Levitz wrote him. The kid was also pleased to see the greater diversity of body types. We like the look of Timber Wolf, even tho he’s more bear than wolf. I enjoyed the book starting with a team in action. I just wish we could have seen Star Boy and Karate Kid use their abilities. I’m sure at some point, Mordru will be more formidable. But, I sure enjoyed his deliciously evil evilness. I thought I would be more upset about the shattered earth, but, it’s kind of cool looking, gotta say. And, honestly, it’s a perfect metaphor of gen Y kids born into post 9/11 world. It’s just the world to them, they haven’t known anything else, and it’s a logical contrast with Jon, who feels the calamitous horror of it.

I get the annoyance of 21C references. But, tbh, some of my favorite memories of the original Legion had historical callbacks, from Supergirl’s initiation, to the bat cave in the Computo story, to the Tornado Twins, to the Great Darkness. DC has decided the way to make the Legion successful is with tie ins to the present day. I’m willing to give Bendis the benefit of the doubt that he will come up with plenty of new ideas and new twists on old ones. I guess I hope for a Legion with a wide-open universe, not a narrowly circumscribed world the way too many genre properties are these days.

I really like this Saturn Girl. She’s still clearly in charge, but she’s warm and engaging. I’m glad Bouncing Boy is friendly and ready for action. I’m wondering why one of Triplicate Girl’s selves knows something that another one doesn’t. I’m intrigued by Fate’s four arms. I do wish there were an identifiable HQ building, as much as I love Sook’s plethora of techno towers. I’m eager to see how Phantom Girl uses her halo as a weapon. I hate waiting 4 weeks for the next ish.

What I liked about this issue:
A visual feast, fascinating backgrounds - up until now, we've mostly seen just the characters
Lots of unknowns to pique interest - I wish I had the first 12 issues to read now
Focus on a few characters to begin with - and not the old panel hogs of the founders & Brainy
Jo Nah is not a dope! A bit reckless, but that's okay. Rimbor may not be the red light district of the U.P., but it's not without problems
Karate Kid is enthusiastic, Wildfire is talkative but not obnoxious, Brainy's not a jerk,
Agree that Saturn Girl is very likeable - formal, in charge but no ice maiden
New take on Mordru (he's powered down, but he's been powered down in the past) and a major new threat, the Horraz
There's a running joke about Superboy's orientation, but it sounds authentic, not overplayed

I still have some concerns about all the links to the 21st century, but at this point they're more interesting than not

Disliked:
Yeah, the final page wasn't much of a cliffhanger, more like a Levitz/Baxter era epilogue. The cliffhanger came on the previous page. The final page tells us that the kids are probably in trouble with the U.P. for bringing Superboy to the future, not a big surprise. Not really a dislike, more of an indifference.

Legion v8 #1

SPOILERS

FROM

THE

FUTURE…

The widening scope, built through the issue, gives Bendis a lot of craft points. We’re introduced to Ultra Boy alone, then to Wildfire, Star Boy and Val. Then, there’s a pause with Imra and Jon traveling into the future, before we get immersed by seeing everyone on the team. Bendis uses Jon’s (must stop typing Kal) concern over being trapped in a bottle city, to widen things further still, giving us a view across a city and then the planet.

Jon’s introduction was well done. He’s an inspiration but fits in as well as Clark did with the old Legion. Imra describes herself as a founding member of the Legion. But Clark is also joining them on the team’s founding day. It’s odd to rub it in that he’s being invited in five minutes later.

I enjoyed the prologue that not only set up the first storyline, but allowed the reader to build up to meeting the whole team. I’m not sure why there as a need to have a little bit of mystery behind the super strong character at the start. Perhaps we were to think it was Superboy already? Or Mon El? But it was a good introduction to Ultra Boy, who looked like he’d stepped out of a pulp in a couple of panels (a good thing). He seems to know a lot more about the artefact in the issue’s capabilities than the others.

Bendis also gets lots of points for enfolding so many versions of the Legion in this opener. The shiny, bright future of the Adventure and Levitz days; the city sized HQ as a nod to the Post-boot’s Legion World; The number of possible people who are part of it which captures the spirit of the threeboot and the New Earth itself, which we saw in the closing and post TMK days of the preboot.

It looks as though the present DCU is going to inform this book to begin with, judging by the covers to come. Here, we get Bludhaven, Aquaman’s trident and, of course, Superboy. I’m not up to date with other DC books. But I recall that Aquaman was involved with some sort of gateway system (Presumably an explanation on how he could get round the world so quickly while doing the breaststroke). It looks as though the trident acts as an activator of those gateways, and that this will return to oceans to the New Earth we see (and not sea) in this issue. Sort of like the end of Dark City, with Mordru playing the role of Mr Hand.

With the expansion of the cast, there’s also a visual shift vertically as well. We start in the caverns under Bludhaven, get to the surface to meet the team. Then it’s up above the city, followed by the world. Then the team descend back to HQ, and the last segment takes place in a structure that points back down towards a pit.

Mordru as a Demon Gangster seems like a bit of a step down for him. But then, this is the formation of the Legion, and some of them, like Wildfire, look to have a bit to learn too. Perhaps both sides will develop over time. Mordru comes with plenty of cannon fodeer for a team this size to fight; The Horrors The Horrraz. Mordru also gives the kids a fair bit of time to get in some smart comments. I’d prefer a bit less of that and more of reminding the reader about the threats the team is up against. Mordru has murdered to get the artefact. But he does no damage at all to the Legionnaires. Books like the West Coast Avengers lost any kind of sense of threat, due to the volume of smart alec comments that the whole cast had to get through.

There are nice bits of dialogue, from Imra and Jon weaving in and out between telepathy and speech. Rokk and Drake’s misunderstanding of idioms. Something else you’d expect if they’re all form different planets, and now times.

Rose Forrest’s approach to the Legion HQ in Millennium is barely touched upon, as the plot brushes past her. It seems she’s keen to tell Superboy about it, rather than anyone else on the team. At least we now know why the whole team have assembled (other than it being their founding day). They’re also there to welcome Superboy. A little more on her would have made her appearance better than simply appearing and vanishing out of the book. It would have told people who hadn’t read Millennium that her appearance is significant.

There’s not a huge amount of plot movement in the book, but there’s only so much room if you’re also trying to show off a new century. It reminds me of the older Superman visiting the Adult Legion issue in Adventure, where he’s taken on a sight-seeing tour of the HQ. Aquaman’s trident, Mordru’s attempts to get it and Rose Forrest’s cameo give the book enough momentum. The solid craft of Bendis's pacing makes sure that there's enough speed to the point that the characters are constantly telling Superboy that their orientation pack would have explained things, if only things would stop happening for him to take a look.

While the cliffhanger seems to be a grumpy person, it’s more interesting wondering *why* time travel should be so high up the UP’s list of things not to do. Well, apart from the obvious, going back in time and replacing them. But then why was a time bubble available for Imra to use? Hopefully, this all forms part of what’s to come.

The possibility of the Legion pitted against the wishes of the UP sets things up a little like the Threeboot. Presumably it won’t be as full on as that iteration. But the UP has wanted to shut the legion down on a few occasions before that too. They’re in trouble if grumpy turns out to be Universo.

The art is really strong, with eye catching layouts, technology and character work. We’re a bit spoiled for great artists in Legion books, and this doesn’t disappoint. I got the feeling on a few pages that Bendis was dialoguing the art, rather than dictating precisely what would be on the page. That feeling will probably fade when the script has smaller groups and less of “draw a futuristic utopian landscape here.”

Overall, this is a strong start and I’m looking forward to #2.

I never used to get comics on a Wednesday. Then I had an advance order. But *this* time I was on hand, and skipped off with my free replica Flight Ring! It now sits beside my Legion World Walking Ring and Barrette.

I'm a bit ambivalent about the issue. The art is pretty and all, but often has the modern problem of being a bit hard to "read." Panels become so overstuffed with line and color that it's difficult to decipher what's actually depicted in each. The disjointed dialogue didn't help either and pages often took a second or third look to figure out even the order of the word balloons. Also, count me in the camp that's less than thrilled about the 21st century connections, but if they'll help bring in new readers, I'll grit my teeth and bear it.
With that said, the exuberance I mentioned a while back is still there and helps keep me interested. I like the overall look of the world. It's a nicely updated feel from Giffen's forward-looking designs of the '80s. The "New Earth" concept is an interesting callback to the 5YL era and I'm curious to see that unfold.
I'm in for the duration. I've said for years that what the LSH needs is a total re-imagining and that seems to be the direction that Bendis is leaning. I'm willing to give him the space to explore it and travel with him on that ride.

I'm ambivalent as well. I haven't read any comics regularly in about five years, so I'm not up to speed on the new Superboy. While I appreciate the originality in the character redesigns, I'm just curmudgeonly enough to say it doesn't feel like the Legion I knew and loved. Hopefully, a new generation of LSH fans will be created.

Count me in the enjoyed it camp too. This is the kind of issue you want as a #1, packed full of fun, excitement and intriguing concepts that make the reader want more. as I often find with Bendis work it felt both overpacked/dragging and over far too soon. I guess that's good? Anyway yes I am much more pleased with this than I was with Millennium.

I agree with your positives about the characters, wonderfully stated, but your comment on Triplicate Girl had me carefully rereading the whole issue (not a bad thing). I guess you are referring to the bottom of page 20/21 where Blue Girl says "Oceans of what?" but I think the answer comes from Cosmic Boy not Yellow Girl. Oh and Karate Kid kicks Mordru in the head but I agree Star Boy didn't really get to contribute much except 21st Century quips and "I got thi-- Ow!".

It took me a couple of reads to notice the "Planet" Gotham references which seems to indicate that the opening scenes in Bludhaven actually occur on another planet, not New Earth, which the "away team" teleport back from.

Another thing I noticed was that the UP President might have been meant to seem even more upset at Aquaman's Trident than the time violation. (Looks like the assistant is mispronouncing Unity Day as United Day.) That final panel is a bit weird but I think it is meant to show her displeasure.

I wonder how long the Rose plot is going to be dragged out. By the preview cover for #2 it looks like the Trident is the centre of the next issue and knowing Bendis it might be quite a while before all is revealed. I'm having a bit of trouble fitting her scene in here with the one from Millennium. In Millennium she enters during a group shot of the Legion including Jon Kent and from Timber Wolf's comment there it is her first meeting with them. Here her dialogue suggests already having met them and yet she hadn't realised Jon was already here. Minor point. More significant is that she says she got a call from the "actual" President of the UP, and apparently needs to talk to Jon. Not sure how to reconcile that to the final scene of the President learning about the Legion retrieving Jon.

Oh and what is with the "Long Live Kandor" phrase and bowed heads? Another of Bendis' hooks which certainly hooked me.

Roll on next month.

That's my biggest hope too.

the issue was good for showing personalities, but not powers or much else. Did Star Boy even get any shots in against Mordru?

the exposition felt clunky to me, and by the third time Superboy interrupted someone explaining something / answering his question I wanted to whack him on the head.

it felt like not much happened, sadly.

I do like the Legionnaire interactions (everyone jumping on Brainy for his joke, the EWWWW when Jon said his parents are each other’s best friends).

hopefully next issue gives us some nice action scenes.

The original art by Mr Sook for issue #1 (and some from Millenium too) went for sale an hour ago and it was gone so fast, i wasn't able to get anything...everything sold in a few minutes...

I had two pages in my cart and checked out and was later told someone beat me to it.

I actually enjoyed the first issue of Legion, after I resigned myself to the understanding that this is a new Legion and not a continuation of the original Legion that ended as the Retroboot Legion of the Levitz era in the New 52. I like the art. I’m fine with Jon Kent as the replacement for Superboy as the 21st century link. Crossing my fingers that this will be as good as Levitz’s Legion from back in the 1980’s.

Had been hoping to post a full review tonight, but I'm feeling poorly right now, so that'll have to wait until tomorrow or Sunday.

But I can sum it up in four words and one grading:

I expected much worse.

7 out of 10 Calorie Queens:

(And how I dearly wish right now I had Calorie Queen's Bismollian metabolism. Urrrgh.)

Get better soon Fickles.

Thank you, Thoth.

Feeling somewhat improved as I type this.

Another new beginning. I'm happy to go along for the ride. What do Five Years Later, the Reboot, the Threeboot, and New 52 versions of the Legion have in common? They all ended too abruptly with so much story left to tell. The original Legion from the late 50s until Magic Wars went so many places, explored so many characters and left me feeling that the team's story was complete. Our fun little heroes' club had grown into a complex almost militaristic team of battle scarred adults fighting the good fight on instinct. Each following version had barely started the journey before falling victim to fickle markets, creative differences, or company wide demands for a shift in direction. Even with the premature endings, each version gave me characters that I enjoyed reading about, and lots and lots of pages by lots and lots of amazing artists.

So lets start with Sooks redesigns. Do they all match my vision of the character? Nope. Does the book look and feel fresh and interesting? Yes. Is the story being adequately told? Yes. Do I expect a Legion book to showcase a hot young talent learning, experimenting, making mistakes, sweating and giving it his or her all? You bet. It's the formula that always worked best for this team.

I like that the set up to the story emphasized the concept of the United Planets and its formation. It gives us a framework for good science fiction, and the Legion always worked best for me when the soap opera like character development of young super heroes played out against the backdrop of larger and thoughtful science fiction themes. The introduction of New Earth gives me the feeling that is the direction we're going. That's good.

The characters themselves. We're just beginning to get to know them. I'm pleased that Brainiac 5 has a silly and humorous side. More original version and less Vril Dox is fine with me. I enjoyed the banter between the boys on Planet Gotham. The characterization of Wildfire is fresh. More error prone and self effacing than previous versions, with some wit thrown in. I like it. Superboy is a likable character. Looking at the 30 plus characters on the big splash page at the end of the issue excites me. I know each one of them has a story, and I'm really curious to learn it. It's going to take a long time and many issues to tell all those stories. I hope the book gets the support it needs so I can learn as much as possible about these kids.

I'm just loving reading everyone's reactions to this issue!

It was ok for me.

I am not a fan of the blown apart Earth. But it seems like the first story arc is about putting it back together.

I am still unsure about the new visuals for the Legionnaires. What characterization there was was not bad.

I didn't copy Jerry's entire post, but I agree with all he wrote. I'm ready to get to know these Legionnaires!

I just read the #1.... Another Elseworlds with the name Legion Of Super-Heroes... Bendis stole many ideas from another writers and make his own combo.... (How original!) The art is not bad, but the redesigns of the characters is the worst in The Legion story... We'll see what happens in the future.... Maybe a second title with the classic Legion can save the illussion of the old fans...

Really enjoyed this issue. The opening with Ultra Boy, etc. was a nice hook to start with. Nice it highlighted the guys positivity and humour - Karate Kid insisting they introduce themselves at first seemed odd but as they didn’t have those name tag things at that point kind of made sense. Perhaps the tags only work when they’re on their base? I get the feeling that Mordor will return bigger and badder - hope so as he looked great. Actually, Karate Kid and Star Boy are both great redesigns as well.

The introduction to the team was fun, excited kids talking over each other is pretty accurate really so Bendis got that right. Weird hand signs with the thumb over the first and middle finger and the ring and little finger extended was an interesting sight. Brainy’s joke actually was funny.

The sight of “Earth” was heartbreaking and I totally got Jon insisting they do something to fix it. From previews it seems the oceans will return so I wonder where?

Long live Kandor? Interesting....

Ultra Boy having to properly introduce himself and say he lives there shows the team are still getting together and as Imra says that city is their base we can understand why they won’t all know each other. Wonder if there will be a Threeboot type horde of l’il legionnaires hanging about?

Brainy examining the trident showed he has some scanner attached to his forehead which will be interesting to see how it’s taken further. What other tech does he have at hand (or head in this case).

The group shot at the end as the Horraz arrived was great, though hopefully there won’t be as many splash pages in future issues.

Madamhonour President is miffed, ah well the team always had a fractious relationship with the powers that be, which is what you would expect - a group of super powered teens running roughshod over the galaxy would rile the most patient elder.

Overall, a fun introduction. Looking forward to being properly introduced to the team and seeing where this boot takes us.

LLL

The "dad tags" are an interesting idea in principle, but I'm really not getting how they are used. They seem to show up kind of randomly (maybe the reader isn't being shown them all the time?). But the fact that they seem to be behind the character seems to vastly reduce their usefulness even in-world. It looks to me like they'd be really difficult to read because the person is always blocking them. "Excuse me, can you move out of the way so I can see who you are?"

Good point! An interesting idea but perhaps not a great execution.

I was going to ask if anyone knew about the "Frichtman" name when I came across this article on nerdist. I guess from your reference to "dad tags" EDE you already knew about it but for anyone else here is the link.
https://nerdist.com/article/legion-of-super-heroes-brian-michael-bendis-x-men-easter-egg/

Nerdist also have another interesting interview with Bendis about his crafting of Legion and issue #1 in particular. Good insight into what he is trying to achieve.

https://nerdist.com/article/legion-of-super-heroes-brian-michael-bendis/

I totally forgot about Bendis "Man of Steel" miniseries from last year in which ...

^^I assumed that was the setup for something unrevealed. That sounds like it's in need of a retcon, asap.

To reiterate, I expected much worse.

I get the feeling that Bendis and his editors are trying to make as much of a clean break with the Legion's past as is possible for them.

Ideally, this would be a 100 percent fresh start, like what DC did in the late 1950s/early 1960s with the JLA-rather-than-JSA, Barry-as-Flash-rather-than-Jay kind of stuff.

But I still think it's working out pretty well so far. That's why I have been so quick to forgive Bendisboot Ultra Boy's panel-hogging and Bendisboot Wildfire's wishy-washiness and outright stupidity. They're not *really* Ultra Boy and Wildfire in my mind, and it's been a much easier adjustment for me than I thought it would. The redesigns are growing on me, too, except for Tenzil, Blok, and Chuck (who I think looks creepy with light-brown hair, like a sleazy game-show host or something.)

No complaints from me about Ryan Sook's art. I can sympathize to a point with readers who feel cheated by the big, open layouts, but I'm so dead-set against the whole Giffen School of "More Panels, More Story" that it was never going to be much of an issue with me. Besides, I find Sook's layouts and compositions so breathtaking that I linger on them extra time. And I love his faces, always have since his very brief run on the first 2.25 issues of X-Factor.

No quibbles with the portrayal of Mordru, either. Better, I think, than trying to outdo the ridiculous power levels of this villain's past iterations.

Finally, I wouldn't rule out the appearances, a few years down the line, of at least one previous version of the Legion, a la Earth-One/Earth-Two.

LSH is the *only* book from the Big Two that I'm buying right now, and for the moment, I'm glad it is.

Me, too. Sook really hit a home run with that one.



For some reason, the first thing it made me think of was Heinz ketchup, and the Heinz jingle from the 80s "It's the thick, rich fun."

I myself was relieved.



Total agreement.



But at least this one had poppin'-bright colours, which I consider an essential ingredient for the Legion. Threeboot, whatever its relative pros and cons, was undenaibly muddy and washed out, so very much of its mid-2000s time. Good riddance, says I.

That would've rawked so hard.



Very well put.



Likewise.



Bendis does have a gift for that sort of thing, which, unfortunately, got placed on the backburner for a long time while he was doing Avengers and Guardians and such. Now's a good time, I think, to recommend the first few trades of Ultimate Spider-Man to anyone who wants to see more of this side of Bendis. Also the early Miles Morales arcs with the fantabulous Sara Pichelli on art!

I haven't purchased the comic yet. The nearest comic shop is 2 hours away and motivation is an issue.

I was VERY put off by the drastic changes in the entire cast. I've voiced my opinion before and will spare you the speech. Its not a thing different then others have said.

So I read the updates before the comic came out. Most of what I saw did not sit well with me. Adding Robin and Gotham....Agghh!

I saw two you tube videos that blasted the writing and story. However the people doing the reviews were impossible to take seriously for their unneeded dramatics, so I took what they said with a grain of salt.

Now I have read nearly all of the comments you folks have posted and was pleased to see that the vast majority enjoyed the comic. Thank you for your opinions.

I read about Mordru going down without a fight, the new earth cities thing, aquaman trident, and the UP president and thought that most of it sounded good... at least it sounded Legion-like to me.

So I will probably continue to wait 3-5 issues and see how it goes before buying it or deciding against it.

I am particularly jaded when it comes to the appearances of the Legionnaires. I will do my best to convince myself these are not the same persons as the Silver Age through the 80s. If I can get past that, perhaps I will ask my wife to buy me the comic.

Please continue to post and help me find it in my heart to like the comic book enough to buy it and re-read it, adding it to my complete collection.

LONG LIVE THE LEGION!

As stated above, most of you enjoyed the issue. I value those opinions.
However, for me, nothing has changed. I just don't like seeing the 21st century in the 31st.
That's me, and it'll never change.
I'll keep checking back issue by issue to see how the book progresses.
If there's a trade - and i assume there will be - I may pick it up......Bendis reads better that way.
I don't dislike Bendis, but he takes so long to tell a story. I just don't care for his dialogue and tempo.

Waiting on #2 and everyones reviews.

The last DC wide reboot I read bits of seemed to go to great lengths to tie books into existing titles. Jonah Hex with Gotham etc. I think this is mainly sales driven to get people interested in those books to give the Legion a try. Superman, Batman and Aquaman so far.

To help me, I just think of all the Superboy issues; the imaginary Batman joining the Legion issue; Tenzil at the Batcave dig; Don and Dawn Allen; Ivo after the JLA descendants and Green Lanterns of the 30th century.

A bit late, but I finally got out to my comic shop and got issue # 1. Some thoughts:

I like the dialogue.
Not crazy about Mordru's re-design. He should be one of the real big bads, and that does not come across here.
Not crazy about the Legion feeling the need to tie into current-day DC lore. That worked out badly with the Green Lantern Corps (gone, back, gone again, back again...?). Better to not commit to something which another writer might negate by 1000 years.
Is "Horraz" the race of these thieves? Or does it mean "gangster" or some such? Supposedly this is the era of ultra-inclusiveness, equality, tolerance, etc., for the Legionnaires to refer to "filthy Horraz" (or similar) feel wrong, unless I am misunderstanding
Am I the only one whose mind pictures Marlon Brando in Apocalypse now saying "The Horraz...the Horraz..."
"It's a bird!" I love that this Brainy has a sense of humor
I'm glad that the Rose/Thorn thing is being kept visible (albeit barely), since I just bought two issues of her just to get to the Legion
Last page stinger is interesting, very reminiscent of the Post-ZH Legion.

I'm definitely in.

Beware the horraz of the horrazible Horraz!

One Year Later...

Oh my God it's one year later

It seems like no time at all. Mainly as none of the plots in #1 have moved forward much.

Yep, and we're ~2-3 issues behind if they were on the 1 issue a month release schedule.