From summer 2015.
Very candid, without any meanness or bitterness:
http://legionofsuperbloggers.blogspot.com/2015/06/steve-lightle-interview-with-lsb.htmlI particularly appreciated this:
LSB: Which Legionnaires were your favorites to draw? Your least favorites?
Steve Lightle:
I remember not liking Shadow Lass' look, and changing it at my very first opportunity.
I couldn't stand the fur cap that Polar Boy had. It just seemed to tie him to the laughing stock characterization that he had been given as the leader of the Substitute Legion. For the most part, I enjoyed drawing each of the Legionnaires, because I loved expressing their individuality.
P.S. I've actually friended Steve on FB, and a few months ago, I got to thank him for giving Tasmia long hair again. Squee.
Nice interview. It's interesting that he changed Umbra's costume immediately after coming aboard the Reboot Legion too. A shame it wasn't as good... to put it mildly. God, I loved Jeff Moy's Umbra design so to see it replaced by that skimpy piece of dental floss was a heart-breaker for me.
I echo his appraisal of his Blok costume though. That's one of my favourite Legion costumes ever. I would kill for an action figure of Lightle's Blok.
I thought this bit was interesting:
LSB: Did you know who Sensor Girl was when you designed her?
Steve Lightle: Yes and no. At first Paul had wanted to have Supergirl in the costume, so I left her blond hair as the single clue to her identity. But, within a week we knew that it couldn't be Kara and we had to change plans.
Ummm if Sensor Girl had been Supergirl then the blonde hair wouldn't have just been a clue IMO, it would have been a flashing neon sign saying "I AM SUPERGIRL". It ended up working much better as a misdirect I think.
I also preferred the Moy costume for Umbra. But... was it Steve Lightlte that changed Umbra's question in the Reboot? I'm pretty sure that was Olivier Coipel.
I *think* it was Steve in that Wildfire spotlight issue before DnA and Coipel came along.
I have a memory of complaining about it at the time here on Legion World and then Steve responding to me in the thread.
Thank Goodness I hadn’t been too harsh about it but I had forgotten Steve was a poster here.
Actually... I’m confused. Ignore what I said above. The issue I was thinking of was actually the Umbra spotlight issue (drawn by Lightle) which occurred in The Legion, obviously well after DnA and Coipel came along.
I still thought that was the issue where she got her new costume though, but looking at the covers of that series, I see Umbra is wearing a non-Moy costume on the cover of the much earlier issue #3. So maybe Coipel did change it?
And looking at Lightle’s version of it again on that spotlight issue cover, I actually don’t hate the costume. It’s skimpy, yes (very skimpy!) but still quite dynamic and interesting (and the top-knot in the hair looks great!). It’s frustrating when some characters get a number of good costumes to choose between during their history and others get none.
I'm pretty sure Legion 3 marked the first appearance of that skimpy costume. You could have associated it with Lightle because Umbra was largely absent between issue 3 and issue 24 (in fact, she hadn't appeared at all from issue 10 if I remember right), and then issue 24 was a big old spotlight on her, giving that costume a lot of prominence.
As for Steve's redesigns, I loved his Polar Boy costume. Definitely much better than the Adventure Era one.
I also loved his look for Sensor Girl. Everything about it was so regal, and made a good fit for a disguised Projectra... and would have been a good fit for a disguised Supergirl too!
Blacula, Ibby, thank you both for chiming in.
Count me in, too, as a fan of Moy's Umbra costume who prefers it to the Coipel one (although Coipel did always draw Tasmia beautifully, even when she was all Blighted during LotD.)
This reminds me, Peter Snejbjerg drew a lovely Umbra in Starman #50. He may have even been the first artist to make Postboot Tasmia's hair a bit longer than it had been until then. Which thankfully led to Moy and whichever artist was on LSH, and then Coipel, to gradually make her hair longer and longer. For that matter, Snejbjerg also did what I consider an amazing job filling in for Coipel on The Legion #5, the one where Ayla and Imra argue about whether the Progeny deserve to be treated humanely. One of the better DnA Legion ongoing issues, in my opinion.
And I third the love for Lightle's Sensor Girl design. Ibby, do you remember in that Postboot fic that you and I collaborated on for a little while, the Athramites made Andromeda a costume identical to the Sensor Girl one, so that she could explore space anonymously? I think that was one of the best bits we came up with.
I've really wanted to try Steve's Justin Zane. From what I've seen of it, it really looks appealingly off-beat. Problem is, I'm resistant to digital comics. I have an older model iPhone, and I don't relish reading comics on a phone or computer anyway. If Image or someone would do print version collections. I'd buy those in a heartbeat.
I know what you mean, Lardy. I've never been crazy about web comic formats, especially the one that moves across the panels in a very specific order, not necessarily the one the reader wants.
Would you like me to ask Steve if there might ever be print versions?
I'm worried such a question might upset him, or I would ask him myself.
I'm worried such a question might upset him, or I would ask him myself.
Good point well taken.
Another, hopefully more sensible suggestion: If you become one of his Patreon supporters, you'd be helping to increase the possibility that there might be print collections someday. You can contribute as little as one dollar a month, like I'm doing.
I'm seriously considering it.
Today would have been Steve's 64th birthday.
Let's share reminisces of the man and his openness and generosity with fans.
Never far from our Legiony thoughts.