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<font size="3">THE LEGION, Futuristic Superhero Comic Series, Dead at Issue #38</font s>THE LEGION, the latest iteration of the perennial DC series LEGION OF SUPERHEROES, died this week at issue #38 in comic stores around the country.
First appearing in ADVENTURE COMICS #247 in 1958, "The Legion of Superheroes" told the story of a club of superpowered teenagers from the 30th century who traveled back in time to offer club membership to a young Superboy. After Superboy agreed and returned with them to the future, he was asked to perform several superhero duties as part of his initiation into the club; but he failed each task due to unforeseeable distractions. Brought to tears by the frustration and disappointment of the ordeal, Superboy was then notified by the Legion that the distractions were actually purposely caused by them in order to engage the real initiation process: coping with the defeat and abject humiliation; thus revealing the advancement of emotionally sadistic hazing techniques in the 30th century.
After their debut, the Legion of Superheroes appeared increasingly often and more prominently in ADVENTURE, eventually crowding out Superboy from the title. They later took over the SUPERBOY title as well, which was subsequently renamed THE LEGION OF SUPERHEROES.
Throughout the 1970s and 80s, the popularity of THE LEGION OF SUPERHEROES grew. Along with Marv Wolfman and George Perez's TEEN TITANS, writer Paul Levitz and artist Keith Giffen's LEGION OF SUPERHEROES served as DC Comics' most popular and credible answer to Marvel Comics' market dominance. This continued up to the massive restructuring of the "DC Universe" brought by the CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS limited series.
In the aftermath of CRISIS, Superboy was eliminated entirely from the Superman canon, creating a series of anomalies in Legion history, namely "If there was no Superboy, who the heck was that kid we went on all those adventures with?" Several attempts were made to answer this anomaly, including the creation of "pocket universes" and changing history itself with the ZERO HOUR crossover, but arguably, the title never completely recovered. THE LEGION OF SUPERHEROES continued with varying success, spawning spin-offs such as L.E.G.I.O.N. and LEGIONNAIRES, and subsequently rebooting and restarting with different versions, of which the recently deceased series was the latest.
THE LEGION began in 2001, following the LEGION LOST and LEGION WORLDS limited/mini-series that significantly broke down and then reassembled the Legion team. Under the pen of writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, together known as "DnA," the Legion battled Ra's al Ghul, Universo, Darkseid, living robots, and the process of evolution.
Although supported by a loyal fan base, THE LEGION was never able to achieve the readership it had in its halcyon days, and in recent years, suffered from declining sales. Critics speculated that the greatest obstacle to LEGION's success was also one of its greatest strengths: Depth of cast. To fans, the numerous members of The Legion and their interactions provided a richness not found in other superhero comics. However, others have suggested that the sheer volume of Legion members was just too daunting and inaccessible for new readers.
Other factors that may have contributed to the book's decline include varying artists and basic market momentum.
"Every month, I bought THE LEGION with a bit of hesitation," said internet comic critic Gregory Scott. "It was like I forgot what I liked about the series in between the issues. But if I stop and think about, after I'd put down a LEGION issue, I felt satisfied more often than not. And yet I was never able to tell the difference between Cosmic Boy and Star Boy."
THE LEGION concluded its run with the storyarc "For No Better Reason," written by BIRDS OF PREY writer Gail Simone, and drawn by Dan Jurgens. "For No Better Reason" followed the crisis of futuristic terrorists depowering a very technology-dependent Earth of all electricity, and the Legion's efforts to stem the carnage.
"This last storyarc seemed to have the potential for a much more ambitious story," said Scott. "At times, you could almost feel it chomping at the bit to head in a more ambitious direction. I mean, the villain had a chart on the wall of Legionnaires she was going to kill. But in the end, it ended fairly modestly. She only checked off two, and even those weren't really dead. I mean come on."
Scott went on to add that the art by Jurgens and Lanning was "pretty solid."
No services have been planned for THE LEGION at this time. However, DC is already planning yet another version of the LEGION OF SUPERHEROES for December 2004, this time written by onetime LEGION OF SUPERHEROES editor Mark Waid. In the interim will be a TEEN TITANS/LEGION SPECIAL, written by Waid and TEEN TITANS writer Geoff Johns.
THE LEGION is survived by CATWOMAN, HAWKMAN, and as of yet, ENGINEHEAD.
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Gail's story which seemed to promise much needless carnage, instead delivered a heroic resolution and happy ending. It was wonderfully reminiscent of the Adventure-era Legion stories. I wish Gail would write the new series with Coipel as artist. 
