Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! If you were in charge at DC, what direction would YOU go with the LSH?

Obviously, with the intro of the Lightning Saga Legion, speculation has run rampant here that we may be seeing the end soon for the current LSH series and its take on them--and the beginning of yet another relaunch, whether it stars the Lightning Saga version or some other take. It remains to be seen whether a change is actually imminent, but if it were up to you, what would you do?

The following poll offers up pretty much every option I can think of. I ask that you not only vote for your choice, but also post here making your case for why you'd go that route.

Enjoy!

Anyhow, I thought of two or three other possible options, but I felt these 12 represent the best cross-section of ideas that have been presented here recently. I felt putting "other" in there wasn't a great idea. Mostly, I wanted to see fairly specific ideas listed and am interested if any will emerge as more popular than the others, though I'm doubtful.

If you've read my recent threads you know my voted went for discontinuing publication for awhile. Basically, all this indecision on DC's part is making my head hurt! I'd rather them take their time and maybe, just maybe, they'll get it right with some significant time to think things through.

I should notethat MLLASH's "Legion Remix" idea is not summarized in the poll properly. I misremembered his premise somewhat. His topic states, however, that all versions and all characters have existed and can interact. So whether you like the "Exiles" approach or not, I feel that you'd still essentially be voting for what MLLASH approaches in his popular topic.

I chose "stick with the current version and invest in top talent". I honestly believe this version can be fixed with good writing. I don't want to see the pre boot Legion brought back. As much as I loved it, the story was told to pretty much it's completion. You really can't go home.

The post Zero Hour Legion's story was not finished. Going back, though, it would still need some fixing. Why not just fix what we have? I do feel that we are due a story that gives us some closure, though. Earth #247 doesn't cut it.

A remix could be done with this version. I would enjoy seeing characters like Chemical King, Infectious Lass, Kono, Kent Shakespeare, and Kinetix added to the current team.

I would also love to see an All Star Legion. I would want it as an addition to current book, not a replacement.

Jerry, the premise of the poll wouldn't necessarily preclude an All-Star version also being done, but if one chooses that option, the thinking editorially would be along the lines of: "okay, let's just do the All-Star thing for now, and we'll leave a new continuity-intensive monthly launch for later." Hope that clarifies things a little.

Hmm... so if I'm in charge of DC, do I get to fix everything else that's wrong with DC, or just the Legion? Because my answer kind of depends on that?

Hey, I said you're in charge, right?

I should mention also that choosing the "Magic Wars" option most likely would negate 5YL and not be used to bridge that gap since a vocal percentage of Legion fans (not me) thought that 5YL was a serious mistake.

I voted remix, but I also considered the "another complete reboot" option, only because I really like the "disconnected from the DCU" part of it.

I'd go for remix because that offers the widest choice, can work with the current series (avoiding "another complete reboot") and can be justified with the whole multiverse thing and some time/space anomaly blah-blah.

It might take a very nimble writer, though - and some fan patience. I think it's an option that would have to unfold over the course of a year or so - otherwise you get a massive, crossover-style jumble of legionnaires all at once.

I would make the Lightning Saga version the same as the post Magic Wars Legion. They don't have much differences anyways.

I would start with an UP/Earth scene where they are celebrating the fact that they've recovered from the Magic Wars.

Will reveal that Sun Boy basically begged the founders back because he felt the Legion was going down hill. Cosmic Boy became the new leader. Would have Garth & Imra's twins back but Garridan would have the Validus virus. (for now) Would have Kent Shakespeare as a expert physician caring for Garridan under the supervision of Dr. Gym'll ofcourse. No powers for Kent yet. Would cure Garridan later with a New Gods story and Kent receives his healing powers at this point.

Most of the members that left have returned and some of Subs/Academy members have joined. Shady is back but Mon-El isn't though we know he's in a secret rehab that Brainy is overseeing.

New members? Infectious Lass and Fire Lad from the Subs. Shadow Kid, Crystal Kid, Power Boy, Lamprey & Nightwind from the Academy. After Magic Wars they realized they needed a bigger Legion.

There are new Acadmey members of who some will join the Legion very soon. Gates, Kid Quantum(Jazmin), Dragonmage, XS (young!) and maybe Impulse (Bart)...both the last two as very young. Maybe introduce Magno to the Academy and possibly a Titanian. The reason here is the founders feeling their replacements have been chosen already? (doesn't matter cause I would waive the rule on members having the same power)

Regarding XS? I'm just sure if the Dawn Allen is old enough to have a teenage daughter? Even if you do a soft retcon of sorts I don't think XS will be old enough for the main team for a long time.

The new Academy members will be treated like the New Mutants. Too young to join but certainly have their own adventures here and there.

Besides Chuck & Luornu I would have the rest of the Subs as teachers for the Acadmey. (that would make a fun title...Legion Academy)

Would introduce Gear as a new friend of Brainy's who has joined as a staff member.

Stories? Don't know any villains yet but I would avoid big name villains for a looong time. Probably go the political route for a while and have some incidents here with the Khunds. Would introduce Veilmist and FlederWeb guy! And have them join probably!

Would have a GL arc. Just to explain what happened, etc. Maybe have Rond or Celeste join?

Would have a New Gods story. Gart, Imra, Kent and Garridan go on a "Quest" to find the New Gods. They are rumors they still exist. Would cure Garridan and give Kent healing powers from the NGods.

Would have a "Flash" arc. Tying the Flash mythos a bit with the Legion.

Maybe have a small team of Legionnaires hunting down some of the large number of criminals that have escaped after Magic Wars. I am thinking Cham, Timberwolf and Vi.

Would introduce a new military type team that a faction of the UP put together. There are small squads of members all from the planets that many Legionnaires are from. Titanians, Braalians, Carggites, Imsk, Naltor (PreCog Commandos!), Tharr and Bgtzl. The Coluans and Hykraiusians refused to be part of this. This is just a rival group. SPs with powers. Would have Relnic and UP/Legion liason Tenzil Kim dispute some of the things this new group does.

Would have lots of supporting characters for certain situations/plots. Would think of something for Laurel Kent. Personally I would bring her back and not as a Manhunter(obviously). Maybe a resuce mission since she was hidden by the Manhunters. Her old Academy teammates would go. (maybe ties this into the GL arc...atleast quietly)

Mon-El will return within the first few issues, btw.

I'd stick with Threeboot. Not because it's the best version of the Legion, but because it has the potential to be. Social commentary is in the new Legion, and the angle is a great one, even if the execution hasn't been up to a lot of people's standards.

Get people who love the Legion to work on this. Get people who don't just want to replace this Legion for an old one because it hasn't 'wowed' people. There's a lot of potential in the new Legion, it's just untapped.

Of course, I'm in favour of rebooting the Legion as a separate entity.

I voted Remix. I would really try to make it the Lightning Saga/Magic Wars Legion, with characters from TMK and the Reboot (Gates, Kent Shakespeare, etc.). I'd try to give it the sense of the classic Legion but with characters from all eras.

Have a set origin and timeline, but would not start the new comic at the beginning. Show it in an annual, but move forward.

New villains, new sci-fi concepts, just try and get a very strong sense of 'moving forward with the real Legion'. No more stories about continuity.

This of course would mean that the current title has little place in my Legion. I like Theena though, so I'd include her. Fans of Dream Boy would prefer if I did not touch the character (just like fans of Monstress).

Unlike Eryk, I *would* tie the Legion to the rest of the DCU, but really, it would almost exclusively be the Superman mythos, not all of the DCU, at least for a long time. I'd use Laurel Gand/Andromeda rather than Supergirl, but would not object to using Supergirl once in awhile. Lar Gand would be the pre-crisis Mon-El--period. Would have Superboy in the classic sense, but he would not be an active member.

Besides the alien races (Khunds, etc.) and Mordru, I would stay away from Legion villains we've seen over and over. No Darkseid, no Universo, no Time Trapper for awhile. Possibly the Fatal Five eventually.

The roster would be around 25 members or so, but with no built-in limitation. Each Legionnaire not on the current roster would have a reason for not being there that leaves open story potential to find out what they're doing.

Dead members: Kid Quantum I, Ferro Lad, Monstress.

Ages of members: Youngest at 16 (Dawnstar perhaps) to oldest at about 26-27 (Founders and Mon-El). I would age them slowly from then on, about 1 year in comic book time for every 5 years in real life time.

Okay, so this isn't something I would actually want to do, but if I were constrained to keep current DCU continuity (whatever exactly that is) the way it is and tie the Legion to it, I might consider this as a "make the best of what you've got" option:

Reveal the Lightning Saga to be the future of the Waid/Kitson Legion. There's really very little evidence they aren't (Star Boy's race being the biggest obstacle), and it seems to be the easiest way to reconcile the two different versions showing up in DC at the moment.

I am appalled at the thought of almost everything that has been suggested here.

The options that appeal most to me, in descending order of how much I like them:

1. Stick with current title and invest it with top talent
2. Pick up with continuity just prior to Zero Hour
3. Pick back up with Zero Hour reboot after DnA
4. Publish multiple versions

If I absolutely had to mix versions together, I'd do it this way: I'd break down the walls between universes and have all the different versions meet each other (versions I'd use: 5YL, SW6, DnA, WaK). They'd fight some kind of interdimensional menace together, and at the end of it you'd have one big world with one big Legion. Everybody's history would be intact. The problem of duplication of characters would be handled by some non-traumatic combination of character death and retirement and maybe some other things. The resulting Legion would probably have about forty people in it, maybe more, and it would take forever for them all to get to know each other and the characterization potential would be fantastic.

I kind of like the idea. Star Boy's skin color isn't really an overwhelming obstacle. He *thinks* he's black and presently we're seeing him as he looks to himself. It's also explains whey he wears a black face mask later on. Other incompatible things (Dream Girl's death) can be written off as the product of his diseased mind or be reconciled by the next crisis event. I don't care how they do it as long as they don't try to pass off the Lightning Saga Legion as the original one.

I did a 180 from my previous statements and voted to publish multiple versions for the foreseeable future. It's not mutually exclusive of the aforesaid idea (they can blend into each other, say, at the end of Countdown). The "remix" solution also has its merits, I suppose, but it's not something my brain can handle on a Monday morning. Plus, meanie that I am, there are some former Legionnaires I definitely want to be left behind.

It's sad that we're discussing this less than three years after the last time the legion was dumped. Rather, it's sad that we have to. It is pretty clear that the current version is not capturing the fans it could, though.

Because I have come to doubt that any single version of the legion could capture all the fans it could, I voted for publishing multiple versions. Doubting my own doubts, the closest a version has come to satisfying a majority has been the saturday-morning cartoon version. I suppose something based off of that would be my second choice. Optimism at good writing improving the current version would make it my third choice, partly because no legionnaire has been irretrievably killed yet.

You know, we've pretty much been discussing this topic as long as I've been posting on message boards. Even when DnA first started, half their support came from the notion that they were "fixing" what was wrong with the post-Zero Hour Legion. I remember one option that people talked about then was farming the Legion out to an imprint (Wildstorm, maybe?), because DC seemed so clueless when it came to the property.

Hm. I started posting on the DC Legion message boards in September 1999. This was the major topic of discussion then too.

I'm sure it would have been since 1994, or even 1989 too, but man, who knows what kind of technology they had *waaaaaaaaaaay* back then

Perhaps I spoke too broadly, then. Nevertheless, the momentum of the discussion as of late seems somewhat heightened to me.

Dear little youngling, the Web is relatively new (1994ish) but the Internet's been around in some form since at least 1969 (ARPANET).

1989 -- sure, folks were yelling about Legion retcons and stuff way back then, like in this ancient thread , before they even knew the half of it.

The more things change ...

Wow, that's kewl! Thanks for the link Tromium!

And I remember thinking I was all cool and stuff back in 1999 for finding the Legion forum

I still like my idea the best. Thus I should control the Legion!!! Let Levitz crown me! (but who would write my dialogue?!?!)

Wow! I didn't realize people were posting about Legion way back in '89 (heck, I wasn't even reading comics then). Man, I'm just floored by the realization that 'message boards' of such were around even then.

Ok, on topic. Honestly, I haven't voted yet. I think the threeboot has potential, but I would essentially do away with many of the things that make threeboot unique.

I almost want to stay start with Lightning Saga Legion, except there are enough hints to indicate that they aren't the real Legion and why go with yet another version of the legion. Still, the idea of restoring the original Legion from either Crisis or Magic Wars has its merit, only you wonder how much a writer would pull from reveals from 5YL (use those stories as inspiration).

Not big on the idea of a wholly new Legion, because reboots are what killed the Legion, but at the same time starting over fresh might be the only way.

So I'm undecided, I'll read more of your ideas before I cast my final vote.

Starting fresh isn' the only way. That Lightning Saga Legion looks pretty far progressed in their own history. Vote post Magic Wars!