Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Great Darkness Saga Hardcover!

I got mine in the mail Tuesday and am lovin' the HELL out of it!!! It's great to see these stories printed cleanly on Archives-quality paper! My originals are so faded and drab looking, and the coloring in those old books is was sub-par in the first place (a big reason why I favor collections over back issues from the 80s and earlier). This is miles above even the most recent GDS TPB (early 2000s). The stories look bee-YOO-tee-ful!

I hope this does well enough to encourage DC to continue Levitz's run! Hell, I hope it's so successful they collect Paul's pre-284 stuff--I still have yet to ever read Earth War!

My only quibble is so far Ayla's being colored as if she were a blonde! I don't know if this same mistake was made in the original issues, but I do find it annoying! Just goes to show that some of the hair-coloring issues in the current series have their precendents.

A nice bonus for me here was the inclusion of 284 & 285, two issues I'd never read. Both are actually worthwhile reads and contain some pretty significant developments--NEAT!

My first Legion buy ever was 286, so this volume represents the introductory stories that made me the lifelong Legion fan I am! If ever a collection published by DC was ever made for me, it's this one!

All in all, this is WELL worth the $24.79 I paid for it on In-Stock Trades (see above post with link). Hell, it's worth the $39.99!

It is pretty effin' awesome, ain't it? And it's a recreation of one of Keith's definitive Darkseid images, to boot!

She was blonde in these issues. When she reappears in the Baxter series she's back to being a red-head.

You're saying she had a dye-job during this era?

I believe she was blonde thoughout most of the 70s.

Dude. She looks SO much better as a redhead!

That scene with her and Imra hugging woulda been MUCH sexier if Ayla were her usual glorious red/orange!

BTW, that caption Paul put in in that scene in which he describes (paraphrasing) Ayla's love for Brin as being deeper than Imra's for Garth? WTF? Next thing you know, Ayla's breaking up with Brin because she saw him snuggling with Imra?!?

Makes sense. Deeper the love, deeper the hurt.

Well ya gotta be gentle and let her get USED to it first, Ramrod!

Wha--?!?!

And they've got a James Sturm collection marked down at that site, too!

[does some quick math]

[looks at checkbook]

<span style="font-size: 25px;"><font face="chalkboard"><blink>Ohhh, @#%$&!*</span></font f></blink>



[lights checkbook on fire and flings it out the window]



<span style="font-size: 11px;">One of these days I really need to get a job that actually pays something. I swear...</span>

[leaves in a snit]

Just got my copy from Amazon. I read the original as it unfolded in the 1980s, but this edition is crisp and bright and well put together. I was struck by how good Giffen's art was. The composition of each panel was original and fresh and propelled the narrative along. The characters were drawn crisply and shown using their powers in a way that crackled--White Witch creating the space warp, Sunboy and Element Lad's fights with the Servants, Wildfire reacting to taunting about Dawnstar, Mon-El going in on Darkseid are all visually exciting. His way of drawing and creating costumes was very effective too, and Duo Damsel, Dream Girl, and all the guys looked especially good.

This all underscores how awful his later work was--drear beyond measure, mind numbing sameness on rigid panels, and obvious disdain for the Legion.

I hope the Legion Annual gives us the Giffen of the Great Darkness Saga and not the Magic Wars and the Five Year Gap

i totally agree!

even if deep down in my mind i know they won't, i just can't stop wishing DC also reprinted the rest of levitz' run in this awesome format. it would be great.

Actually, once the GDS-proper (the actual five-parter) begins in the collection, she's suddenly red/orange-headed! So the restoration of her correct hair color is within the same hardcover and happened well before the Baxter series! Gotta pull out my floppies and see if her hair was actually colored like this in them....

Another thing that sticks out re-reading these stories, is how well Paul displayed a mastery so early of juggling subplots and managing to give each character their moments so that no one ever seemed left behind (something he's not quite got a perfect handle on during the current run). I particularly loved how he developed the Cham treason subplot spiked with how he and Brande struggled to connect. I also liked Blok's immediate reaction upon first seeing Mysa and how Paul showed in subtle ways how Drake felt about Dawny. (Was the Drake/Dawny thing originated by Paul here or was the foundation laid by another writer?)

EXCELLENT comics that still hold up very well!

I think the Drake/Dawnstar seeds were planted in her first appearance. I think he tells her "If I had a mouth, I'd kiss you," at one point in that story. It wasn't long after that he was following her around like a puppy with his tongue out (if he had a tongue he'd French kiss her), IIRC.

All those interwoven sub-plots plus the change in leadership (and the resigning of the deputy).
Levitz is/was the master of multi-tasking events in the lives of the Legion, that's for sure.

I honestly didn't give Dreamy the time of day prior to her getting the leadership job (excluding the year or so leading up to the events in the GDS, where she was able to showcase her powers plus surprise us with her clever resourcefulness).

I remember being thrilled when Dream Girl was elected leader. I had loved the way Dave Cockrum updated her in Superboy #199 and was sorry she was so little used in the 1970s. She really shone as a leader and character.

Just got my copy yesterday at the CBS. I had no idea it included so much material! Issue 285 (Night Falls on Nullport) marks the start of my ongoing Legion collection, so I'm especially thrilled to have that in this hardcover. It's kind of weird to have it so strongly emphasized how closely Paul's run coincided with my original Legion Fandom. I knew it did, but this book really brings that fact home.

Totally have to get Paul and Keith to sign this at next year's San Diego con!

re: Ayla's blonde hair

When Mike Grell was artist on the Legion back in the 70's, I got the impression he modeled Light Lass after real life actress/dancer/sex kitten Joey Heatherton, who was a blonde.

I told myself I wasn't going to get it. I already have three copies of the story, Im not going to buy the hard cover. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not.


Yea, picked it up Wednesday. The Legion goodness that radiated from it's cover was too strong.

Never any lead around when you need it.

Can anyone tell me the ISBN number for this? I'm trying to order it from a local bookshop and they're looking at me like I'm a Durlan with a bad disguise. Many thanks and Happy New Year to all.

ISBN: 978-1-4012-2961-0

Many thanks. I shall be down at the bookshop the minute I regain motor control after New Year's Eve

You won't regret it SR. This hardcover collection is sure to be a classic I think.
What I enjoyed this time around was how Paul chose all the stories way before the actually GDS arc began. In those stories you see glimpses of the slow-brewing evil that eventually turns out to be ... YOU KNOW!!! lol

Looks like I'm going to have a Great Darkness Saga saga! Planetary stocks depleted. Minimum 4 months wait. Good news for the series- not so good for me. Ah well; there's always Legion World to keep me entertained

Quick question about one of the early subplots in this book (spoiler just in case):

<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">I'm not sure I entirely understand the whole "Timber Wolf Getting Facial Surgery" thing. The whole point is to restore his features back to a more human as opposed to lupine look, but why did he look like that in the first place?

I know that from a "behind the scenes" standpoint it was just an artistic revamp of Cockrum's, but was there ever an in-story explanation as to why he looked so lupine?

Ayla's remark in the story alludes to him "hiding behind that animal face," further confusing me, as though it were a matter of choice on his part. Was it? I feel like I'm missing a piece of the story, here.</span></span>