stile these are amazing links. Thanks for finding these! I think I had read the transcript before; that seemed familiar. But the rest were new. The AICN interview was scathing for DC (justifiably). If I were he, I'd not be as magnanimous towards DC, but Mark's probably a better person in that way - nor can he afford to burn any bridges in the industry.
What I find interesting here is that Shooter actually gets it:
Shooter says the Legion having their own corner of DCU to protect is part of the team's strength, but the tangential line connecting the team to its premier players defines the Legion, as well. "The Legion of Superheroes is as limitless as tomorrow," Shooter declared. "We have a little corner of the DC Universe pretty much to ourselves. Therefore, we can keep our continuity tight and our world consistent. We have all the advantages of being part of the same mythos that contains Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, et al, but very little of the burden."
This is exactly right. The only thing enforcing the current DCU on to the happenings of the 31st century (and endless reboots) is the DC/WB executive staff.
Waid's comment here is a bit confusing to me:
The absolute, irrefutable reality was that by the early 2000s, new-reader perception of the Legion was that it was an impenetrable read full of mismatched history that made no sense. You can argue all you like that this perception wasn't fair or accurate, if you're so inclined, but it didn't matter. That was the series' reputation, and it hardened around the characters like cement. We couldn't give that book away no matter how good it actually was. In fact, it's forgotten, but the last time it was relaunched around about 2000 (as THE LEGION by Abnett and Lanning), you could not have asked for a greater promotional push. Wizard Magazine promoted it with giveaways, and they NEVER promote DC. Ads were everywhere, retailer incentives were created...and it was still pretty well D.O.A.
Wasn't that the whole POINT of the Zero Hour reboot that he helped usher? To "fix" this? I'd very much argue with this sentiment. If it is true, then Waid and crew didn't do their jobs well enough. It probably didn't help that half the team spent a year in the 20th, but wow. If the readership of the reboot was declining I really don't think it was the "complexity of the continuity" that was the problem there.
Another interesting link from that site is Shooter discussing the cancellation of the Threeboot. To his credit, he takes the fall, but its also very obvious that he's pulling down DiDio as part of that as well.
Shooter says DCU Executive Editor Dan DiDio directed him to introduce a new "Super" to the team, but the would-be Super Lad never made it to the page. "After delivering the first draft of the 16-issue plot, I was ordered by Dan DiDio to rewrite it - for free - to include the introduction of a young, male Super -- note how I'm avoiding using the word 'Superboy' -- as a Legionnaire. So, I re-crafted the plot to introduce a new scion of the House of El, Super Lad," offered Shooter. "Francis and I spent a good deal of unpaid time doing design work. But, ultimately, DiDio and DC decided they didn't want or need a new Super, and I was told to excise the character.
https://www.cbr.com/shooter-dishes-on-legion-demise/