Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Mission Monitor Board Every 10 Years Forum LEGION WORLD CENSUS #1 - Follow-Up Questions

The below Tally and analysis is copied from the Poll. It is in the Mission Monitor Board forum since this Poll is about us.

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LEGION WORLD CENSUS #1 FINAL TALLY - 36 votes

AGE - How Old Are you?

53% (19 votes) - 31-40 years - More than half of us are thirty-somethings
22% (8) - 41-50 - Just over 1 in 5 are in our 40s
19% (7) - 26-30 - 1 in 5 are in late 20s
3% (1) - 20-22 - One person is in early 20s
0% (0) - All other ages

SEX - What Sex are you?

86% (31) - Male
14% (5) - Female

--- 6 to 1. This may be close to the usual mix regarding comic fans in general, but Legion was always considered to have a higher % of females because of more female characters

REGION - Where do you live?

22% (8)
- U.S. - Northeast
- U.S. - West
14% (5) - U.S. - South
11% (4)
- U.S. - Midwest
- Britain
8% (3)
- Eastern Canada
6% (2) - Australia & New Zealand
3% (1)
- Western Canada
- Other locations
0% (0) - All other identified locations

---- Almost 7 in 10 live in the U.S, 1 in 10 in Britain, 1 in 10 in Canada, and 1 in 20 in Australia or New Zealand. So what is the single “other location?”

MARITAL STATUS - What is your marital status?

64% (23) - Single - Almost 2/3rds are single
31% (11) - Married - Almost 1/3rd are married
6% (2) - Divorced

KIDS - How many children do you have?

78% (28) - None - Big majority, almost 4 in 5 are childless
11% (4) - 1 - 1 in 10 have a single child
6% (2) - 2
3% (1) -
- 3
-5 or more
0% (0) - 4

EDUCATION - What is your highest completed level of education?

36% (13) - College - 3-4 years
22% (8) - College - more than 6 years
17% (6) - College - 1-2 years
11% (4)
- High School
- College - 5-6 years
3% (1) - Grammer school
0% (0)
- Midschool
- Some High School

--- 86% of us have attended college, and a third are possibly working toward or may have a Bachelor’s Degree

WORK - What is you current primary area of employment?

11% (4)
- Arts & Entertainment
- Computer Sciences
- Other areas of employment - How about some info on these areas, members?

---- 1 in 10 are in the Arts or Computers; but there’s a wide diversity of occupations overall

8% (3) - Roughly 1 in 12
- Education
- Food Industry
- Government
6% (2)
- Finance
- Retail
- Services Industry
- Transportation
- Retired
3% (1)
- Health Industry
- Manufacturing
- Military
- Misc Science & Research
- Unemployed

POLITICS - What term best describes you politically?

25% (9) - Liberal
22% (8) - Moderate
17% (6) - Democrat
11% (4) - Non-politcal
8% (3) - Whig
6% (2) - Conservative
3% (1)
- Anarchist
- Libertarian
- Republican
- Socialist

--- If we lump Democrats in with their general political leanings, almost 2/3rds of us are left/centrer politically. 1 in 10 are non-political (if you add the “Whig” vote to that, it becomes1 in 8.)

RELIGION - What best describes your religious views?

25% (9) - Agnosticism
22% (8) - Protestantism
17% (6)
- Other Christianity
- Non-traditional religion
8% (3) - Atheism
6% (2) - Catholicism
3% (1)
- Buddhism
- Pantheism
0% (0) - Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Other traditional religion

--- Guess who’s the Buddhist?

Combined Christianity is 44%. 1 in 4 of us are agnostic, 1 in 12 atheist. All others beliefs almost total 1 in 4.

Those that are in the catch-all categories of Other Christianity and Non-traditional religion, even Pantheism, might like to indicate their specific churches, spiritualities, or philosophies.

SEXUAL ORIENTATION - What is your sexual orientation?

56% (20) - Heterosexual
31% (11) - Homosexual
11% (4) - Bisexual
3% (1) - Nonsexual

--- At the start of voting, it was even between gays & straights, but gays appear to have voted early, as later votes mostly were by heteros. Over half of us are straight, almost 1 in 3 is gay, and 1 in 10 is bi.

How many years have you CURRENTLY been a comic fan?

--- These numbers have correspondence to the data on our ages.

53% (19) - 21-30 - Exactly identical percentages to thirty-somethings in AGE question.
17% (6) - 31-40 - Those in their 40s (22% in AGE Q)
11% (4) - 5-6 - 1 in 10 have been a fan for around half a decade.
8% (3) - 16-20 - 1 in 12 more than a decade but less than two.
3% (1)
- 9-10
- 11-15
- 41-50 - Me!
0% (0) - All others

How many comics do you usually buy in a month?

19% (7) - 1-3 - Lowest amount gets highest percentage, 1 in 5 barely buy any comics a month, some perhaps only Legion?
17% (6) - 4-6 - Second lowest amount is only a vote behind. Nearly half of members buy less than 10 comics a month.
14% (5) - 10-15 - Almost 1 in 7 average around 3 comics a week
11% (4)
- 7-9
- 21-25
8% (3) - 1 in 4 buy more than 25 comics a month, around 6 a week.
- 26-30
- 31-40
- More than 40 - That’s 10 a week or more. Or 2 acres of rain forest.
3% (1) - 16-20
0% (0) - None - I wanted to see if anybody didn’t get any. It was kinda close actually!

What amount of your monthly comic purchases are DCs?

-- Clearly, most of us are choose DC, as over half of us prefer DC 70% or more of the time, and over a fourth prefer DC for 90-100% of there comics.

19% of members (7) - 70% of comic purchases are DC
14% (5)
- 100%
- 90%
11% (4)
- 60%
- 50%
8% (3)
- 80%
- 40%
6% (2)
- 20%
-10%
3% (1) - 30%
0% (0) - None

How much do you spend monthly on comic back issues?

36% (13) - $0
33% (12) - $1-10
17% (6) - $11-20
14% (5) - $21-30
0% (0)
- $31-50
- More than $50

---- Uniformly, the percentage drops with the possible higher the amount spent. We just don’t buy back issues that much. Over 2/3rd spend less than $10 a month, and 1/3rd buy no back issues at all. Perhaps the fact gathered from another Poll that a big majority of us own over 300 or more Legion comics indicates we feel no need to add to that large amount. You’ve seen one Space Circus, you’ve seen them all?

Have you bought or received as a gift a Legion Archives book?

61% (22) - Yes
39% (14) - No

--- That’s a high percentage for a high ticket item. How many archives do we average per owner? How many have the whole set? Which ones are most popular? Good Questions for another Poll.

Do you think there will be a Legion movie and if so when?

81% (29) - There will never be a Legion movie.
8% (3) - 6-10 years
6% (2)
- Within 2 years
- More than 15 years
0% (0)
- 3-5 years
- 11-15 years

---- After the amount of male members, those that think there will never be a Legion movie is the next highest percentage in this Poll - 4 out of 5 members. Rather odd when compared to data from The Wish List Poll that indicates the desire for an animated Legion movie is one of the strongest preferences in that Poll. I’m uncertain if the difference indicates a view that a live action Legion movie is simply undoable or that the team isn’t popular enough to get the Hollywood treatment. Follow up Poll questions will help explore the opinions here.

On a 1 to 10 scale (10 being best,1 worst,) rate DNA's overall work on The Legion # 1 - 21.

39% (14) - 8
19% (7) - 7
17% (6) - 9
11% (4) - 6
8% (3) -5
6% (2) - 10
0% (0) - Ranks 1-4

---- Almost 2/3rds rate DNA an 8 or better, and 81% rate them a 7 or better, with no rating lower than 5. Apparently, Coipel’s departure hasn’t diminished DNA’s standing that much among our membership.

On a 1 to 10 scale (10 being best,1 worst,) rate Chris Batista's overall work on The Legion # 19 - 21.

31% (11) - 7
28% (10) - 9
25% (9) - 8
6% (2) - 5
6% (2) - 6
3% (1)
- 4
- 10
0% (0) - Ranks 1-3

---- Almost 1/3rd of the members give Batista a strong rating of 9 or better, while 87% rank him at a 7 or better. He is a strong favorite among the majority.

What is your favorite sport to watch?

36% (13) - I do not watch sports.
17% (6) - Baseball
14% (5) - Football
11% (4)
- Basketball
- Hockey
- Soccer

---- We aint exactly jocks. But there’s a wide spread of sportsfans among us. Should I have included an “Other Sports” category?

What are your other favorite interests beside comics and MBs? (5 choices)

61% (22) - Movies & DVD/videos - No big surprise here, this is going to be high among most modern populations. Ratio is 3 in 5 for us.

44% (16) - Reading (other than comics) - Likewise to be expected, but probably higher than the rest of the population. 2 in 5 members choose this.

36% (13) - Music appreciation - No necessary connection between comics and music so perhaps this is highest “independent” interest group amoung us. Perhaps a followup Q on what type of music is preferred. Now if I only hadn’t stopped listening to music 20 years ago.

28% (10) - Netsurfing - More than 1 in 4 like to play in the web besides here.

25% (9) - Interesting that these two key comic-related activities wind up with same percentages.
- Writing - Probably a result of comics and MB posting, as well as independent interest
- Drawing, painting, visual arts - This may be the classic outside interest associated with comics appreciation.

22% (8) Watching TV shows - Another visual interest. If it’s couch potatoes vs fanboys, will you hit yourself in the face? Okay, I was speaking hypothetically. Just tilt your head back, don’t lit it drip.

The rest grouped by response.

17% (6) - Music writing and playing; Other activities not listed
14% (5) - Art appreciation (other than comics); Camping, hiking; Fitness training
11% (4) - Collecting (other than comic-related); Electronic toys (other than videogames); Theater; Travel; Videogaming; Walking
8% (3) - Astronomy; Family activities; Roleplaying games
6% (2) - Church; Dining; Gardening; Nightclubbing; Social work; Studying; Topical Discussion ;Watching Sports
3% (1) - Board games; Cooking; Cycling; Dancing; Gambling; Golf Meditation; Photography; Puzzles;
Skateboarding; Tennis; Water sports
0% (0) Mechanics, auto; Mechanics, electronic; Racing; Romance; Sewing, clothes design, etc; Sculpture, modeling; Service clubs; Skiing; Software creating; Team sport playing

--- I imagine I’ll be doing Legion World Census #2 within a few weeks. I have suggested some likely followup questions above, but I expect if there some discussion here, there will be some more suggested.

HIGHEST PERCENTAGES OF POLL - RAW & COMBINED

(There may be fractional differences with Final Tally because of computer rounding up/down before combining similar responses.)

87% (31 votes) - Male members [try to avoid the joke]
87% (31) - Rate Chris Batista's work on The Legion # 19-21 at 7 or better on a 1-10 scale (10 best)
86% (31) - Have attended college
81% (29) - Say there will never be a Legion movie.
81% (29) - Rate DNA’s work on The Legion # 1-21 at 7 or better on scale of 1-10 (10 best)

78% (28) - Have no children

69% (25) - U.S. residents
69% (25) - Spend $0-10 monthly on comic back issues
64% (23) - Single (unmarried)
61% (22) - Bought or received as a gift a Legion Archives book
61% (22) - List movies & DVD/videos as an interest beside comics

56% (20) - Heterosexual
56% (20) - Buy DC comics for 70% or more of our new comics
53% (19) - 31-40 years old
53% (19) - 21-30 years as comic fan
53% (19) - Buy 10 or more comics a month

47% (17) - Buy 9 or less comics a month
45% (16) - Some form of Christianity
45% (16) - List reading (other than comics) as an interest beside comics
42% (15) - Liberal or Democrat

39% (14) - Did not buy or receive as a gift a Legion Archives book
36% (13) - Have 3-4 years of College
36% (13) - Do not watch sports.
36% (13) - List music appreciation as an interest beside comics
33% (12) - Moderate or Non-political
31% (11) - Married
31% (11) - Homosexual

Although this is really fasinating now, I'd really be interested in comparing the same poll a year from now.
I wonder how much will change as our population grows?

Yeah, 'crawler, it will be interesting to compare early to later members down the line.

Well, I imagine it is hard here to just start discussing this raw data, and one key majority view (a Legion movie) is already being discussed in a separate topic on TL board.

So instead, how about simply some elaboration from those who took the Poll on some of their responses. I'll throw out some Q's.

1 - 86% of us have some College. What types of degrees or training do we have amongst us?

2 - 6 voters chose "Non-traditional religion" Like what? I think Saturn Girl mentioned Wicca. What else?

3 - 47% of us buy less than 10 comics a month? Why? Low interest in most others? You see bad quality in most titles? Costs?

4 - Yet 6 voters buy 30 or more comics a month. Why? Are they certain types, publishers, a wide selection?

5 - Over half choose DC in 70+% of comic purchases, and over a fourth for nearly all purchases (90-100%.) Is DC that superior in quality to you? Is it DC character familiarty? A reluctance to become involved in other comic universes? Costs? Creators?

What I'd also like would be a couple more choices in the Marital Status question.

I picked 'married' because I'm in a commited gay relationship, but I wouldn't normally say I'm married. Single definitely didn't fit either.

Sorry, I usually don't worry about these trivial items, but I did have trouble answering that question.

So, how would you identify the category, NC?

Should two categories be added?

Non-married Gay Partners, and Non-married Hetero Partners?

Or other wording?

Actually, how about 'other' or 'commited relationships.' We covered the gay/straight thing in another question.

"Commited Relationship" sounds good. If I use this question again or these groups as secondary qualifiers in another question, I'll include it.

I got a feeling there's not going to more response on this topic and this may be the case in the future with any topics springing from Polls.

Once the Poll's underway, and curiosity has been sparked by questions or response percentages, it will probably generate a topic right then at the beginning of the Poll. By the time the Poll closes, the discussions generated will have run their course. Most likely though there will still be curiosity as to the final numbers and the "winners."

Reep, "Don't call me Pol."

I can answer two of your questions:

Master of Arts in English.


Cost is one factor. Low interest is another. I'm becoming increasingly jaded by ongoing serials, which most mainstream comics are. I also feel there is a lot of padding going on for the purpose of making trade paperbacks. The result is storylines being drawn out with many issues in which nothing significant happens and a resolution that loses its punch after too many months of anticipation.

There's also a numbing sameness to many comics these days. Even titles with original concepts (Such as much of the Crossgen line) quickly degenerate into sameness in how the stories are told and what they are trying to say. It all seems corporate and bland.

LEGION is the only DC title I read. I read three Marvels, but am starting to lose interest in two of them. I read other comics from time to time, but they tend to fall by the wayside after a few months.

About the only comic that has held my interest for last 10 years is STRANGERS IN PARADISE, but even it has been treading water recently.

Thanks, Wanderer. As I've mentioned, I'm only reading Legion right now, so I understand your disatisfaction with most of the current fare. I might, repeat might try SMAX #1, which reprises the TOP TEN cop. I was looking forward to at least taking a look at a new THUNDER Agents, but that fell thru, and after all the promo and merchandizing DC did on it.

After 42 years in the hobby, I write off all of it as just "comics."

Been there. Done that. The Superboy's Legions and the like are getting fewer and farther between.

Thing is, I love comics as an artform. But, like any artform that also passes for commerce, it has to consider the bottom line, which is to raise enough cash to continue publishing comics, let alone make a profit.

Those of us who aspire to being comics creators all dream of inventing The Next Big Thing, but there's usually a cost that goes along with that. There's been a load of compromisin'/ On the road to my horizon, Glen Campbell once sang.

One of those compromises is having to deal with the corporate structure of DC, Marvel, Crossgen, or whatnot -- which is usually run by businessmen, not writers or artists. Often, their sensibilities of what sells don't even count for much. When lightning strikes, it usually happens when you least expect it and to the most unlikely of properties (e.g., who'da thunk Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would have been a success?)

I'm waiting for something in comics to shock me. To take it to the next level. I know it can be done. Comics as an artform must continue to evolve in order to survive. But evolution happens very slowly, and in ways you least expect. And, usually, it's only after a change takes place that we look back on it and say, "Man! That really shook things up."

So, I'm still waiting to be shaken, or to realize that I have been shaken.

BTW, Reep, another poll question for you to ponder including: What race(s) are we?

This is significant because we just had a spirited discussion concerning Kid Quantum. As much as most of us, I'm sure, would like to believe that race plays no part in our enjoyment of a character (and we certainly hope it will play no part in limiting a person's potential in the 31st century), it's still very much a factor in modern day society, particularly in the U.S.

It would be helpful, therefore, to know what our racial distribution is. Are we mostly Caucasian? Or are people of other races attracted to the Legion and why? How many of us have mixed ancestry? I recall that there were several Asians on the old DCMB, and a few African Americans, but I don't know if they've migrated to Legion World with us.

To answer one of the follow-up Q's, I have a BA in Fine Arts.

I also think I answered the poll putting down a greater percentage of DC than I actually buy. Partly cuz several DC titles I read have just ended and I forgot to consider the Marvel Knights titles. There's also the fact that since Marvel doesn't have a message board, it just feels like I buy more DC than I do since I'm online discussing them.

Wanderer, I don't there's every really gonna be another "Big Thing" in comics again. Because nothing is permanent in comics (Death of Superman?) I think nobody's really gonna jump on any so promoted bandwagon. Anything "major" with characters or comic universe changes will be minor ripples. Another reboot? More anger than interest.

The only possible area that could generate interest is technological. If there were cheap entirely holographic comics, I think that could sustain a surge of popularity for awhile. If comics somehow became cyber-connected to websites that could explode into who knows what, but I think such a connection between a hard copy medium and the web has been passed over at this point for 100% cyber orientation.

As for "Race," that's a real tricky and touchy area. There are so many new categories of multi-ethnicity that many people and POllsters are questioning it's validity for demographics. I don't think I'll be opening that can of uncertainty and animosity.

BTW, I forgot to mention my "degree." After my AA in Fine Arts, I went to a state college for a year, but I got impatient and fed up with academics and aesthetic conservatism, so I split and became a painter living at the beach for a year. It was a glorious time, perhaps the best year of my life. The rest of my education and aesthetic training was autodidactic. Which explains my meager grammatical ability and my outre syntax, that is to say, well, it may be, possibly, but then again...

Well, I wouldn't classify "The Death of Superman" as a Big Thing, or even a Moderately Large Thing. Most comics fans knew it was just hype; the mainstream news picked up on it and ran with it, but there was no real substance to create a lasting effect.

It would be sad, indeed, if there were no Next Big Thing in comics. That would mean we're adherents of a dying art form. All art must grow and change in order to survive, let alone prosper. If art (or language, for that matter), stagnates, then it becomes as dead as Latin.

Looking to the mainstream publishers or contrived "events" such as "The Death of Superman" won't bring about the necessary change. We've got to think outside the box, as, indeed, Eastman and Laird did when the created TMNT, or as Alan Moore did when he wrote Watchmen(although, the latter, anomalously, was published by DC). The things that have an impact on comics are usually not planned as being the Next Big Thing.

Technology can have an impact on comics, but this is form over substance. What really matters, in my opinion, is to create something people want to spend some time with, whether it's online or on paper.

I understand your reasoning and this, of course, is your decision. But I think race is an important issue because it is touchy and tricky. There is still a lot of tension and unrest, at least where I live. People are afraid of offending each other. Racism is cited as the culprit for people of color living in poverty. People are accused of being closet racists, or, at the very least, of not questioning attitudes they grew up with.

I thought of all this because I made an off-hand comment, in the "Kid Quantum Backlash" thread, about Kid Q's election being a nod to PR. Drake took me to task for this, and I had to back up and explain my position more carefully. (This is not necessarily a bad thing, mind you. In fact, it demonstrates just how easy it is to be taken the wrong way when one is discussing matters of race.)

I think it would be helpful to know what our racial distribution is, therefore, since the Legion itself is a nod to diversity. Are we just Caucasians patting ourselves on the back because the characters in our comic are diverse, or is there a real message here that reaches out to everyone?

Somehow, I pictured you as either being self-taught or holding a doctorate in something. Glad to know I was right on one guess.

I too picture myself as holding a doctorate in something!

Specifically that: A Doctor of Something else else. Hey, it's not much, but it's something. And you never know when something's going to come in handy.

I mean, after all, it's always something.

Of course the Death of Superman was no real Big Thing in comics. I just recall that when it happened, my local comic store had a line of customers that went all the way to the back of the store and back out again. I was just amazed, I have never seen that before or since in any comic store. All these non-comic people pretending to be cool in this little corner of geekdom.

And then I walked in.

When I saw that line, I just started laughing, hard. I had to go outside to stop. What a bunch of dunderhead lemmings! Like DC was actually going to kill off the hottest literary property perhaps ever be created! I was just flabbergasted at this impatient horde of clueless suckers. I mean, hell, even comic fans knew this was nonsense.

So of course being me, I couldn't pass up the opportunity for some mischief enlightenment. I went back in and struck up a conversation with the clerk, who I knew casually. Pretty much half the crowd could hear me. I started asking the clerk questions like, "Hey, remember the first time Superman died?" and "Which Superman death do you think sucked the most?" Etc.

Now the clerk was just a small-time DC fan, but always wanted to impress everyone with a comic erudition he did not possess. Knowing this, I started to make up shit. Bad outrageous shit, about the "many" deaths of Superman. And the clerk just kept agreeing with me while he sold the comics, hoping to impress his one-time-only big audience by leeching "cred" off my geeky expertise.

I was saying shit like "Remember, back in '73 when Superman died like six, seven times that year? Yeah that was a good year for Superman deaths." And "Does Superman still have that little blue leprechaun buddy that always brings him back from death even if they only find like his little toe or an ear?" "Does he still live in Clark's chest of drawers?" "Boy, I wish I had a little blue leprechaun buddy!"

After some people started leaving the line, the clerk started shooting me daggers. I ignored him and said, "Hey, Tom told me that you told him that you'll personally refund anyone's money if Superman doesn't stay dead. Boy, you're one helluva of a guy to do that."

Well, that was it, because one girl started to walk out but turned around and went to the line. He immediately said that I should leave.

I said, "Sure. Up. Up. And away."

I'll never forget that line. One of the most bizarre things I've ever seen in comics. And I've seen a lot in 40 years of selling, trading, and conventions.

To this day I have never bought or read that Death of Superman bullshit. Even when they hit the quarter bins the next year. I can't even remember the name of the rock/spiky guy that "killed" him. Bob?

About the Race thing, if someone else wants to Poll that, they're welcome to it. I smell a minefield. And I don't walk into those.

I just mow 'em for comic money.

bumping