http://bitsoflegionnairebusiness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/the-magical-mr-moy.htmlBlog post on Jeff Moy's LSH work, including several design sheets I hadn't seen before - M'Onel, Magno, XS, Mantis Morlo and a VERY different (but still not humanoid!) version of Sensor...
LOVE Jeff Moy's art!
but
HATE his over-use of those annoying tongues!
but
LOVE Ze Tongue!
but
HATE his Mantis Morlo design!
but
LOVE pretty much all of his other designs!
but
HATE that Jeckie was turned into a snake!
but
LOVE the 'snake with robot arms' design that was eventually used for her (it should have been an original character)!
but
LOVE that little sheet of Legion head-shot stickers I randomly found in my comic shop one day!
but
HATE that Leviathan was left off it!
When in doubt, stick your tongue out.
LOVE
HATE
LOVE
HATE
LOVE
HATE
LOVE
LOVE
HATE
Haha ACK! Last minute edit to mention those stickers ruined my system!
I have much more LOVE than HATE for the Reboot Legion (especially the Moy era of it; the post
Legion Worlds era tips the scale decidedly the other way) but the things I hated about it, I
really hated about it.
I sometimes think about how much better the Legion property would be if The-Boot-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named had never happened and we'd stuck with the Reboot, but by the end of its run there was a LOT about that universe that really needed fundamentally changing too.
Every single thing about Sneckie and her planet full of servant/slave/food 'coons would be a good start.
Very nice blog site.
Not a huge fan of that run, but it wasn't a chore to read either. Sure, some things jarred the senses (Sensor being the main one) but there was an obvious love for the legion that shone with each issue.
That site was just the thing.
I love how prominently Kinetix is featured
Moy's art really fit the era he drew for.
I've come to really LOVE Moy's art. Even when I first started paying serious attention to back issues of the Postboot Legion, it was obvious he could draw rings around Lee Moder, or any of the other artists who drew the LSH book after the 100th issue.
At his best, Moy's art had a fresh, bouncy, smooth quality to it. As Ibby said, it was perfect for the Post-End-of-an-Era/Pre-Legion-of-the-Damned version of the Legion.
And I think it actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise that Moy was assigned Legionnaires instead of LSH. Even though I agree with the overall fandom consensus that the first 18 months of the Postboot were the most consistently good, I think there was a brief stretch where L* was far better in every way than LSH, starting when Moy was first partnered with Roger Stern beginning with L* issue 35 (Shvaughn, Tenzil, Chuck, and Lori defend the headquarters), and ending with L* issue 50 (the big finish to the Mordru 3-parter.)
Oh, I'll just go right ahead and say it: I don't think it's any kind of an insult to call the Postboot the "Archie Legion." Because that would make Jeffrey Moy the Legion's own Dan DeCarlo!
Thanks for five fun years of solid work, Jeff. And, FTR, the constant panels of stuck-out tongues never bothered me.
Moy is still my favorite.
And as Fanfie said, there was that amazing stretch of the Legionnaires title. Moy, despite his "youngish" style, made Mordru look so menacing!
LOVE Jeff Moy's art!
but
HATE his over-use of those annoying tongues!
but
LOVE Ze Tongue!
but
HATE his Mantis Morlo design!
but
LOVE pretty much all of his other designs!
but
HATE that Jeckie was turned into a snake!
but
LOVE the 'snake with robot arms' design that was eventually used for her (it should have been an original character)!
but
LOVE that little sheet of Legion head-shot stickers I randomly found in my comic shop one day!
but
HATE that Leviathan was left off it!
"I hate you! But I love you! But I hate you!"
To be fair, a lot of those weren't Moy's fault
I do think the tongues were cute at first but eventually overused.
From what I've read of that era, I thought of it in the same way I do some Manga. It can show intricate hard sci-fi constructs in one panel and a cartoonish emotional expression in the next.
Moy is still my favorite.
And as Fanfie said, there was that amazing stretch of the Legionnaires title. Moy, despite his "youngish" style, made Mordru look so menacing!
Cheers, Ibby.
I'd go so far as to say that Moy was the artist most well-suited to a kid-friendly Legion comic book since Curt Swan.
From what I've read of that era, I thought of it in the same way I do some Manga. It can show intricate hard sci-fi constructs in one panel and a cartoonish emotional expression in the next.
Hmmm...good point, Thoth. Moy was sort of a middle ground between smooth, open-lined, yet still representational comic book art (i.e. Kevin Maguire), and heavily manga-influenced stylization (i.e. Todd Nauck.)
He's working on a chubby Invisible Kid commission for me now. I've decided I want to start a series of BBM Reboot Legionnaire commissions from him.
I already have an Ultra Boy one. That was initially the only one I thought of getting, then decided to do a theme with the rest of the male Legionnaires from the Reboot. I mean, I figure no one else has tried this and considering Jeff was able to draw Chuck Taine as good looking and heavyset... I'm just glad Jeff didn't have a problem with this.