Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! Shooter gone @ 50, Bedard re-launching Legion?!?!?!?

Well, I was pleased that he responded to my email, and so quickly. I think it's important to let DC know that we are disappointed the series is ending and worried about whether the Legion will continue at all. As veryvery said, you don't have to get into it with Didio, just let him know that you support the Legion and want it to continue. If they get enough of those letters and emails, it will make an impression. After all, DC is a business and needs to know it has a market for its product.

I think Semi has it right. Good idea Brent, I think I'll take a page out of your book.

I don't know if I can do this again. :tear:
DC's canceled the Legion before and we came together to keep the Legion love alive knowing that there was a new book in the works. This time we don't have even that.

DC's Legion boards were deleted but never the less fanfic exploded during the Legion-less months, the knowledge that a book was in the works was what kept me going. Expectations were high as we anticipated Legion Lost and Legion Worlds followed by The Legion.

Eventually that book was canceled but again we knew in advance that Waid and Kitson were preparing the next installment of the life of the LSH. Several of us from Legion World had the pleasure of seeing the creators in person and did our best to help ramp up the excitement. That was fun. As it turns out it was ultimately futile.

I guess I'm being a pessimist but I really don't know if I'm going to hang in there this time. I've been buying Legion stories since I learned how to read, lots of times it's been my only reason for buying comics at all and if it goes away I just might do the same, this really could be the end for me. Without a Legion title in the market I have very little reason to go to the comic shop at all.

Damn.

I emailed Didio too, just to say I was sorry the core book was ending with #50. Legion isn't the only book I buy, but, despite its ups and downs, it's certainly one of my favourites and the one I've read for the longest time.

*sigh* They'd never do it, but it could be great fun if DC would relinquish the rights to the Legion and let the fans go wild publishing their own versions. Chaos, but we might get some good stuff out of it.

For anyone who's in the I-don't-know-if-I-can-go-through-this-again mindset...

I know it's annoying. But, put it this way. Let's say there's a restaurant you like. Great food, friendly service, reasonable prices, the whole thing. Only problem is that they keep closing for renovations. After the fifth time of closing for renovations, would you say to yourself, "That's it. I'm never eating there again"?

I wouldn't. How would that help me? I'd be disappointed, but it would be cutting off my nose to spite my face not to eat there. Why shouldn't I enjoy the great food when it's available? What would be the benefit to me of not going there?

As I have posted in another thread, this whole thing makes me madder the more I think about it.

I have seriously considered starting some kind of campaign to bring the original LSH back (the one that Johns is using now) or at the very least, get the Legion back for sure. Something else else like they did with Jericho and Firefly.

What do you guys think?

I wrote a *real* letter to Didio rather than an email. A copy is being sent to Paul Levitz. It’s not vitriolic but it’s not supportive, either. It’s a termination notice, and will hopefully aid them in understanding the resounding negative effects the collapse of the Legion under Didio’s editorial stewardship will have on the franchise, its fans and creators, as well as its larger impact on the credibility of DC Comics and its other DCU comic book properties.

If I get a response, I’ll post it here.

I emailed him too. Don't bother. He's not listening. He sends the same response no matter what you write to him.

I wrote:

Dear Mr. Didio,

I am writing to express my disappointment at the cancellation of my favourite comic book. Yes, I know it is just a comic book, but it is one that has held my rapt attention for over 25 years. I know that you have responded to other fans by having us believe that we "will be excited and intrigued by what the new year has to offer." Could you please offer us loyal fans more assurance than these words, ie. the continuation of the series at some time in the near future?

Thank you for your time...

He responded:

Sorry that this series is coming to an end but I see so much great product for the Legion in ’09, I believe you will be excited and intrigued by what the new year has to offer. Legion Of Three Worlds will continue into January and this will clarify the status of all the Legion.



Legion has a long and storied history with the DC Universe and will continue to be a mainstay of our line.



Regards,



DD


I'm not sure he even read my email because he may not have realized that I was quoting from the response he was going to send me anyway.

Dan Didio=unoriginal and insensitive

My problem here is that some of the times it's closed down for renovations, it's come back with food that I don't like... After a couple years, it closed down again and started serving food more to my personal tastes, and gosh, it's really gotten good in the last year or so, but that's going away and who knows whether it will be good, so-so or just plain blech when it re-opens next time?

I've been reading Legion adventures for 30+ years, in various formats and guises, but I am by no means a compleatist and there are entire runs I avoided, only getting an issue now and again to remind myself why I wasn't getting it monthly.

It takes more than 'Legion of Super-Heroes' on the title to make me spend my money. It has to actually bear some resemblance to the Legion of Super-Heroes inside the book, too, which means (to me) young people, heroes, in a shiny amazing future (that has plenty of dark corners), not grumpy old people in a universe where everything is falling apart and it's like the last chapter of the Bible with plagues and worlds on fire and stuff.

I LOVE this idea. It's obvious there are some very talented people on this board, and the situation could serve as inspiration for some creativity even with DC still in ownership of the Legion (keeping in mind copyright and trademark laws!)

I'll email him and get the auto-response. I don't mind. They *must* be at least counting the number of emails they get about this, if not personally responding.

Sorry FC, I love fanfic, but I'd rather keep it as that, not offer it up as a substitute for the series proper. Speaking of which, has everyone been to Bits and checked out the SUBPLOT thread? To quote FC, "some good stuff" is happening there!

Got the canned response, but as Sketchy says, they must be counting. So that's okay, I'm glad I wrote.

OK, I'll shoot off an e-mail too. Maybe we ought to contact Legion creators as well, some of them have become good friends with some LW members, that might help just a little too. Mark Waid may not think highly of us (but I guarantee he knows who we are - I heard him give the web address in a speech in Dallas) though Barry Kitson has shared PMs and his time with a number of us here..that's just a "for instance".

[rant]
I wasn't trying to be a negative-nelly but I'm extremely disappointed that DC won't even try to let the book run for more than a few years at a time before canceling it and rebooting it again. It's tiring.

Part of the fun of collecting is the knowledge that some issues will eventually be rare and worth something more than you paid for it. Maybe because of the artist or the writer or the storyline or maybe there was a shipment problem and only a few issues were distributed, etc, etc. If the book is changed repeatedly then everything you bought into is rendered worthless. You can buy whole runs of the Legion for pennies on the dollar on e-bay. This isn't because DC glutted the market like Marvel did with X-titles but because TPTB don't give a damn about their customers.

Yes, I buy other titles but that's not what brings me in to the shop, the Legion does. No Legion, no motivation to drop in and spend the cash. Sure, I'll keep an eye out for what comes next and I'll probably get it when it hits the shop. I'm not making any promises though.

I dunno, I guess what I'm saying is that I've been burned by DC one too many times and I'm hardly in the frame of mind to be giving them any more extra chances. Don't think of me as being pissed off, I think of it as being run off, if they're not offering a product I want then they can't count on me to be a customer.
[/rant]

This is just the kind of thing I want to capture in a online campaign to get Didio to really take notice. I was thinking something like writing an open letter to DC, host it on a domain like bringbackthelsh.com, longlivethelegion.org (com was taken) and then have people make comments to the site about how they hate that its being cancelled etc. If we can get the other comic blogs out there to carry it, then maybe we can get enough of a following to get some notice by DC. I had a few ideas for some other things we can try, like the peanuts thing that was done for the Jericho TV show.

I am not personally enthusiastic about any kind of bring-back-the-Legion movement, for these reasons:

- I know they'll be back eventually. They're one of DC's basic franchises. Even if they currently don't want to bring them back at all, they would eventually change their mind and do it anyway.
- One of two things is almost certainly true. Either a) DC has a plan for what they're going to do with the Legion, in which case nothing we say is going to throw them off that plan, or b) DC doesn't have a plan for what they're going to do with the Legion, in which case nothing we say is going to help them come up with one.

Maybe I'll send them a letter anyway. But it won't be like ones that have been discussed here.

This sounds to me like he has an administrative assistant or intern reviewing anything sent to this email address and sending out a "canned statement" in reply.

Someone should try sending an email to this email address on a non-Legion topic and see what kind of reply they receive (if any).

Come on, people, even at the time of snail mail, companies had this sort of policy... Unless you DO ask some particular questions that will make it difficult to get a "stationary" answer (hint, hint).

I'm inclined to think that the original plan was for LO3W to end on the same month as LSH #50. Then a new LSH book featuring the LO3W Legion would be relaunched. It's just been delayed by the slow pace of LO3Ws due to George Perez's arthritis.

Actually, it's been delayed by the slow pace of Geoff's writing. George just received the completed script for the next issue of LO3W last week.

Next #2 or next #3?

Somebody who was there with us correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't we hear something to the effect of "as long as Paul Levitz is the president of DC, there will be a Legion book" at the San Diego con this summer? If it wasn't there, I know I heard it somewhere. I believe it too.

That said, if they give the Legion some time off, that might not be the worst thing in the world. I feel like the book has been sort of lost in the tall grass for a while. Maybe a break will help DC find a definite path for the book.

Part of the problem the Legion has had since before Zero Hour is that successive writers have had a hard time defining why the Legion exists. What are they there to do? Do they fight crime? Do they defend the UP? What is their raison d'etre? That's what I think has been missing since Levitz left the book. The TMK Legion really had no reason to be together except that they were old buddies who wanted to be together. The post-Zero Hour Legion was supposed to be some kind of symbol for the UP, but how do you use that concept to tell compelling stories? After Legion Lost, that concept just got amplified, but I don't think that helped. And, much as I enjoyed Mark and Barry's take on the Legion, they honestly had a pretty flimsy reason for being together that Mark just didn't quite fully articulate.

When the Legion comes back, that's what they need: purpose. In theater, directors try to make sure that everything that actors do is based on a clear intention or objective. If an actor crosses the room, it needs to be for a reason. If there's a reason behind the cross, it tells a story; if there's no reason, it's just a guy wandering around stage. Give the Legion a clear objective and we'll see some more interesting and compelling stories again.

I have to disagree here a bit. I think TMK was totally about a reason and a purpose for a Legion. Cornered by a galaxy in shambles, with every reason to be disbanded (personal, political, you name it), they kept it going.
Reboot, the lowest point in Legion history after Legion on The Run (and that's considering all Legion baby stories from the 60s), clearly was about meandering around and - to me - not even DnA were able to give it a reason for existing. But it was worse: I had no idea why they were so boring and lifeless as characters. So, yes, in a sense, the reboot was the ultimate failure for a lack of purpose (why are they retelling LSH stories but worse and more puerile?).
Threeboot actually had a purpose: youth against parents. Too swingin' 60s to make any sense, it hampered the title for sometime. But this is hardly the case now with Shooter and Manapul. This is a team of young heroes trying to prove the Universe how capable they can be. Less about age and more about heroism and what it takes. So its failure (especially now) has nothing to do with purpose. (in fact, the book still sells +15% more than it did 5 years ago).

My guess? It's concept. When TPTB decided Giffen had gone too far (which was the only way to go, really), they killed the book. And by creating two other monsters (reboot and 3boot), they've created new LSH fans who are probably disliking this "old school" theory and making them angry as hell. Absolutely no solution is to be found by simply giving this sort-of original team to Geoff. It will still be just another team group on the shelves.

I'll insist that, if DC has to try something bold and new, Legion is that book. Legion could be a book of 4-part series, interlocked. Or an anthology. Or a "concept board" for progressive/retro writing and art. Legion was always ahead of its time up to TMK (and I can prove it!). When DC decided it would be the next X-Men (by making it just another superhero book), it died its horrible death.

So you can add Superboy, undo Crisis and bring back Kara for all you want. It will still be another book on the shelves.

Just what the man said... except that I think DC decided that TITANS should be the next X-Men, thus ruining the title after #90. Don't know what they wanted the Legion to be, always had the feeling they build the Reboot up to attract much younger readers. Much, much younger

Honestly, I think DC cancelling the LSH at this time when it's still above the "cancellation line", in the Top 100 and outselling many of their other titles is a clear sign that a new series is being prepped after L3W...most likely starring Geoff's version of the characters (not necessarily written by him). But at this time all the wording we're getting is really coy to make us think otherwise. It's what we've been speculating for half a year, and it's still the most likely scenario. DC cancelled Threeboot because they think they have a take that will sell better, and they don't want to publish two versions simultaneously.

I'd bet there's SOME definite, timely follow-up to L3W planned, whether it's another mini, a longterm guest appearance in Action or an ongoing.

The problem for me and some others is that we were enjoying what Shooter was doing and are weary of yet another reboot. But given the evidence, I'm pretty sure there's something on the near horizon. If there's any hope for Legion fandom, whatever it is had better be REALLY well thought out.

I've been thinking the same thing. I hope they do bring the original characters back but do find a way to not make them so old.....I'd be good with late teens or very early twenties...but not 30+. I hope they avoid marriages and children. Not because it isn't interesting but rather writers can't seem to put the breaks on things and keep advancing the timeline once these kinds of events unfold.