Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Legion of Super-Heroes #22 Preview

That's a very interesting direction to take Lu. Brrr. I wonder if Chuck would be able to tell who "Lu Prime" is when faced with a whole bunch of Lus...

Postboot Tinya could disrupt machinery, but I agree. We've seen energy blasts pass through Tinya harmlessly before, so her disrupting energy now would be

And we have a still-injured Mon-El to boot, and still no idea whatever happened to Quislet.

Ooh, that's extra creepy! Crazyevil Lu deciding to kill Chuck because he 'can't tell she's the real Lu!'

The rest of the LSV gently enabling her notion that she's the 'real Lu,' because they don't really care how cray-cray she is, only that she's a great teammate, since she can whip up a mob of expendable minions with a snap of her fingers.

I could see the LSV actively encouraging it, so they'll have an assassin who can take down Legionnaires one by one.

Whoa!

Ugh. That's it, I'm done. No more reboots, threeboots, retroboots, multiverses, or new 52s for me. I'm done with Legion and probably DC forever. I have hundreds of old Legion stories to reread for the rest of my life. This won't be one of them. Make mine Marvel from now on.

I agree with Jim...I am done with DC..comics in general. I guess it has been a long time coming but maybe ,with age, one has limited patience for crap. I blame Didio...but mostly Levitz who I feel just went thru the motions and will probably retire soon. I have hundreds of Legion stories to re read and that will have to do...no one at DC has any imagination it seems or creativity or fore thought is anything. It's not just our be-loved Legion but the entire 52...what a mess! I want to keep up with everyone here...the true LEGION!

I'm repeating myself and not doubt many others but I don't see how ANY writer can be good in this loosely coordinated, after the fact editing, "universe" environment of writing. Those few writers that are driving the universe, Morrison, Johns, have the easy job. Those that have to fit into it? Wouldn't want to be them. Star Wars, for example, works because there are relatively few writers compared to the DC Universe. The stories are easier, probably MUCH easier to direct from the big picture than the 52 books comprising the DC Universe.

Given the right autonomy, there are a lot more Willingham's out there and I have to believe Levitz would be one of them.


Solution:


Legion ---> Image

^Blockade Boy: Levitz Apologist

It does seem that they are shedding writers (and titles) left and right since the new DCU business.

I think Paul could have done (and has done, in the past) better with this run. I also see many little flashes of genius that I wish had been better realized (and have no idea how much was interference from on high, or burnout from realizing that his best ideas were being shot down).

I do feel a bit let down by Levitz's work here, because I wanted so much more from this run, and yet I don't think that it would be fair to put all of the onus on him, since so many other DC titles have been going haywire.

My only sobering moment is realizing that the last of the classic writers at DC who, IMO, 'get' what the Legion is all about, seem to be on their way out, and that worries me, that the best we can hope for in a Legion relaunch from those that remain at DC is the sort of soulless 'people posing and lecturing to the fans' crap that's been going on in the various Johns-written Justice League / Aquaman / etc. titles.

I think Levitz has been coasting on his reputation for way too long. GDS was THIRTY years ago, people! What's he done for me lately?

I agree with BB and Set though; Levitz wasn't at his best but a lot of the blame should be laid on the feet of DC. Their environment simply wasn't nurturing.

I COMPLETELY AGREE!

I may be biased because I think the quality of Levitz' contribution to the Legion, even during his hey-day, is vastly over-rated anyway... but could anyone here honestly describe anything he's written in the last decade or so as anything better than 'passable'?

A better description IMO would be abjectly awful.

Here is a selection of what he's written since 2000:

* That Legion 'Bedtime Stories' story in Legends of the DCU - so disappointing and a completely wasted opportunity.
* A Superman story in that Julius Schwartz DC Comics Presents thing - do not waste your time!
* That Gentleman Ghost story that finished off the JSA series - SO boring that a completist like me couldn't even bring myself to buy the last issue of it, even when it was drawn by one of my favourite artists ever.
* Adventure Comics - one of the worst run of Legion stories I've ever read (and I've read some of the Threeboot) and an extra disappointment for for failing to say or do anything interesting with the never not-interesting Adventure-era Legion (unless people consider giving Brande an annoying speech impediment 'interesting'? Ugh!)
* And, of course, his two runs on the main Legion book which I doubt produced a single story that would be in anyone here's Top 20, 30, 40 or even 50 Legion stories.

I don't mean for this post to come across like a personal attack on Paul Levitz because I'm sure he's a nice guy and I think he was an excellent editor in every way but choosing his successor, but IMO one of the main reasons this book has failed as miserably as it has in recent years is because it has been beholden to him and his legacy for far too long!

Thank you, Blacula!

Sorry to say that if this issue is anything to go by then the series is going out with a whimper not a bang. It hurts to say this as I have tried to be positive and look for the good in this whole run but think this was possibly the worst comic I have ever spent money on.

I'm not sure who or what is responsible - bad editors (most likely), poor rushed art (probably), battered down writers forced to accommodate ideas from external sources that don't fit within the series own internal logic and structure (sad but an option) - a mixture of these and more possible - whoever is responsible really needs to retire from comics for good.

It's been a painful and slow death this time around and it's heartbreaking to see a tremendous franchise like this being eroded and dismissed in such a callous manner.

To say I was underwhelmed is to say the passengers on the Titanic got a little wet.

There were flashes of genius in Levitz's more recent work, and yet I'm beginning to agree with others who have said that he needs a co-creator to be at his best. (That said, I'd still rather gnaw my own arm off than that co-creator have been Giffen...)

Geoff and / or Robinson threw a bunch of Legionnaires at us in the last few years, but they added almost nothing *new* to the franchise (Night Girl and Chameleon Girl and, maybe, Infectious Lass were described as Legionnaires, but none of those where exactly new characters). Paul at least made an attempt to build on the Legion setting, with characters like Sun-Killer, Akka, Questor, Alchemical Girl, Gravity Kid, Variable Lad, Dragonwing, Harmonia Li, Chemical Kid, etc.

Not every one of those characters was exactly my favorite (but, to be honest, not every one of the *classic* Legionnaires is my favorite...), but he made a conscious effort to diversify the team (more women, more *powerful* women, more ethnic characters).

And yeah, there was a lot that was uneven. We had Saturn Girl using 'telepathy' to break windows and stop falling pillars. Characters who were orphans claimed not to be, and characters with living parents claimed to be orphans. R.J. Brande developed a weird speech pattern. Timber Wolf, who has super-strength, super-speed and no claws, regeneration or invulnerability, decided to pretend he was Wolverine and claw away ineffectually at a dude who can immolate a human beaing with a touch, instead of using his actual super-power of 'super-acrobatics' to avoid getting burned and chucking something at him. Given a chance to imprison a giant robot in a block of inerton, or turn it's armor plating into water, Element Lad chooses to create an explosion that doesn't hurt it at all, but nearly kills himself. Gim, one of the more experienced combatants on the team, takes it in the face like a pro, so much that even he recognizes how much he sucks and quits the team. The team that totally bamboozled the Murran spies spends pretty much every panel of the last two years utterly reactionary, allowing the bad-guys to totally dominate every encounter, to the point where it's hard to even feel bad for them, since they don't seem to even be trying.

There's been a hell of a lot to criticize, which makes the good ideas I've seen all the more painful, because I wish the execution had been so much better.

False starts like the necessity of forcing Earth-Man onto the team, only to give up on that idea and kill him off anyway, just means that was a year or so of useless farting around. People who liked Earth-Man and wanted that plot point and character to be explored got screwed. People who didn't like Earth-Man also got screwed every time he appeared on panel and took time away from the actual Legionnaires they bought the title to read about. In the end, everybody lost on that one.

Eh. We'll always have back issues. And fanfic.

Portela's art and the New legionnaies were great but the fatal five storyline was shockingly poor imo and the issues with chem kid and element lad were a wasted opportunity. Back issues and fanfics indeed, sadly i dont think we'll see another series for a few years now.

One positive note - I really enjoyed the colors in the issue. They were technicolor brilliant. A good example was the last page, which stood out with the brightly-colored various Legionnaires against the background of Metropolis carnage. I like my Legion comics with lots of colors. Nicely done, colorist!

One negative note - Invisible Kid and Polar Boy needed some serious hair styling; Jacques head looked like a smores cookout and Polar Boy's grand finale against Tharok was dampened by the huge artichoke head wear.

Now that I finally get to read this issue, I really felt that it was a good example why the third Levitz run did not work.

1. Artwork. I've said it and I'll say it again, inconsistent mediocre artwork hardly ever helps a book to become a big seller. The cover! The cover! Who would be lured into buying this newest issue by seeing this cover? The interior art is hardly much better, I just read the short Jiminez Run on Adventure (just came out in German) and wow, what a difference you can see there...

2. Action Bla Bla. Too much fighting, too little characterisation. Again this was an issue which was all about showing action which you did not care for a bit.

3. Effect hashing (is this an english word?), just going for the short effect like the Promethean Giant being the fifth member. Like Earth Man sleeping with Shady. Like Mon-El becoming a Green Lantern. Coooooool... not.

4. Legion being protrayed as weak. Yes I'll say it: Who is going to fall in love with a bunch of Losers? This was the same with the LSV storyline (just reread, out in German get your copy now ), Colossal Boy alone running around like a school boy, getting flashed out by Mekt as if he wa fighting him for the first time. Same problem now, Legionnaires fighting, losing, Fatal Five members mighty smashers, ohooooo. I'm fed up with this kind of portrayal of my favorite characters since childhood.

As I have rerad the whole first run just up until Flashpoint now, I really thought that the stories were better read as a whole, there were some moments I liked - even Earth Man - but all in all it was just not a hit outta the ballpark... went to first base at best. Better and more consistent artwork would have msde the stories look better, like Jimenez did on his all too few issues, and a little more time spent with characterisation of, let's say, Invisible Kid II or Shrinking Violet certainly would not have hurt anybody... there would even have been a book where they could have told it with Adventure, but they had to use that one to cause further continuity problems instead. Lousy except for the Legion Academy Part.

... but now it's too late, I guess this might be the Swan Song for the (kind of) classic Legion in this new DC universe. Anything coming now will be closer tied to the cashcows as the last Previews already showed.

Well, we'll always have a shelf full of wonderful stories, some even presented in oversized HC volumes, maybe we should just skip DC as a whole and turn back to the backlist... right now, having skipped Green Lantern and Stormwatch as well, I'm down to Earth 2.

Well, sales figures for July's Legion #22 are out. Legion didn't sell to bad for a book one issue away from the end:

http://www.icv2.com/articles/markets/26456.html

It always amazes me that Legion got cancelled at all when you look a how badly other titles below it in sales are doing. And these are the replacement titles for other failed books!

Doing better than Katana, Dial H, Stormwatch, Batwing, Demon Knights.... Legion has more history than many of these, but then Katana is JLA now and Batwing has the whole Bat franchise thing.

Ah well, I'm sure the Legion will be back sooner or later!