Good ol' Amazon's teasing us again:

http://www.amazon.ca/Legion-Super-h...mp;s=books&qid=1270836848&sr=8-1

Assuming it is legit, and the page count is correct, what else is in this puppy?

Granny (Goodness') Panties??

Probably that Quiet Darkness tripe and the Validus is Saturn Girl's son story.

I very highly doubt they'll include the Quiet Darkness tripe.

The follow up annual, #3 I believe would be in there.

I saw that Showcase Presents:LSH#4 is listed in Amazon too. I believe it has a Sept. release date.

Out of curiosity... what does that include?

Deos not say on Amazon yet...just that it is 512 pages.

Hah. Canada. Everyone knows they're not to be trusted, ever since they burned down the White House.

The Great Darkness Hardcover listed on Amazon is 412 pages, and the original TP is 192 pages, so that's alot of extra content!

i Call bull! i believe its a vindictive web programer

until i see some photo prof. ie) some one holding it thats not going to happen..that is way too good of thing for the legion fans. and people who are in charge of the legion in dc dont like to please us

Someone pointed out that the "Prologue to Darkness" trade has gone missing from Amazon. That was 208 pages.

Just got back from the store.

This. Book. Is. BEAUTIFUL!

The color. The paper quality. The art. It's all just outstanding.

I was hesitant to shell out for issues I mostly already have, but this is totally worth it.

I can't get over how great the coloured art looks on the new paper. It's just so bright and vibrant.

I've been told by the wife that I can't buy from amazon any more. Seems like they're selling a pedophile's how to handbook.

Still, I've got the originals, so I'm happy.

You may have just sold me on this, Dave. I was hoping the color would be updated and vibrant and that the paper quality would be great. Sounds like I heard what I needed to hear!

Any extras?

Yes.

It features LSH v2 #284 through #296 and the first v2 Annual. No Annual #3 from 1984 like the previous TPB. I think they should have gone up to and included #300, personally.

I'm still puzzled as to why the backup "Leaders and Lovers" in #291 was redone. This one has the TPB version as well (Howard Bender's art is featured in #295).

It also includes a 6-page plot breakdown of all 25 pages of #290 and a two page plot breakdown of the 41 pages of #294. The cover to the original 1989 TPB and the alternate cover recreation from Adventure Comics #515. Finally, it has 8 pages of 8 of Keith's costume redesign sketches from that era.

Well worth the price to me. Looking forward to spending some time rereading my favorite Legion stories on nice glossy paper this weekend.

That was an ACCIDENT. I was just walking around checking out the outside of the building when those matches just HAPPENED to fall out of my pocket. And then the intense SUN just happened to strike the matches just SO, and.....


I will probably wait until this HC comes out in paperback. Just a preference of mine. I don't do hardcover/coffee table books.

Does it include a fold-out of The Giffen Poster that was in the original trade.

Nope.

I ordered it from In-Stock Trades tonight. It's gonna be a looooong approximate week to wait to get it in my dirty, grubby hands!

I haven't been this enthusiastic about a reprint volume since they started printing LSH Archives. It had been years since I read the V2 Annual #1 & I had forgotten all about Servants showing up during it.

I don't get how this book is $39.99 It has roughly 100 more larger pages than most Archive Editions that sell for 49.99. Not that I'm complaining.

I'm really on the fence about this. I own the original comics, and already have two soft cover reprints, one with and without the fol-out poster. To have a fourth copy of this material really makes me pause.

Lo compre y estoy encantado!!

To you and other fellow Legionnites who are tempted but on the fence about this: If the $40 price tag is a boundary for you, In-Stock Trades has them at a STEEP discount of 38% off cover (which comes in at $24.79--well worth it, IMO!). Not sure what shipping costs if that's all you get, but if you spend $50 or more on your order, shipping's free. I've used IST frequently and the past and highly recommend it.

(In comparison, Amazon offers it for $26.39.)

OOO! I finally slid off the dust-jacket to find that FABOO silver-embossed Darkseid!!

I got mine in the mail Tuesday and am lovin' the HELL out of it!!! It's great to see these stories printed cleanly on Archives-quality paper! My originals are so faded and drab looking, and the coloring in those old books is was sub-par in the first place (a big reason why I favor collections over back issues from the 80s and earlier). This is miles above even the most recent GDS TPB (early 2000s). The stories look bee-YOO-tee-ful!

I hope this does well enough to encourage DC to continue Levitz's run! Hell, I hope it's so successful they collect Paul's pre-284 stuff--I still have yet to ever read Earth War!

My only quibble is so far Ayla's being colored as if she were a blonde! I don't know if this same mistake was made in the original issues, but I do find it annoying! Just goes to show that some of the hair-coloring issues in the current series have their precendents.

A nice bonus for me here was the inclusion of 284 & 285, two issues I'd never read. Both are actually worthwhile reads and contain some pretty significant developments--NEAT!

My first Legion buy ever was 286, so this volume represents the introductory stories that made me the lifelong Legion fan I am! If ever a collection published by DC was ever made for me, it's this one!

All in all, this is WELL worth the $24.79 I paid for it on In-Stock Trades (see above post with link). Hell, it's worth the $39.99!

It is pretty effin' awesome, ain't it? And it's a recreation of one of Keith's definitive Darkseid images, to boot!

She was blonde in these issues. When she reappears in the Baxter series she's back to being a red-head.

You're saying she had a dye-job during this era?

I believe she was blonde thoughout most of the 70s.

Dude. She looks SO much better as a redhead!

That scene with her and Imra hugging woulda been MUCH sexier if Ayla were her usual glorious red/orange!

BTW, that caption Paul put in in that scene in which he describes (paraphrasing) Ayla's love for Brin as being deeper than Imra's for Garth? WTF? Next thing you know, Ayla's breaking up with Brin because she saw him snuggling with Imra?!?

Makes sense. Deeper the love, deeper the hurt.

Well ya gotta be gentle and let her get USED to it first, Ramrod!

Wha--?!?!

And they've got a James Sturm collection marked down at that site, too!

[does some quick math]

[looks at checkbook]

<span style="font-size: 25px;"><font face="chalkboard"><blink>Ohhh, @#%$&!*</span></font f></blink>



[lights checkbook on fire and flings it out the window]



<span style="font-size: 11px;">One of these days I really need to get a job that actually pays something. I swear...</span>

[leaves in a snit]

Just got my copy from Amazon. I read the original as it unfolded in the 1980s, but this edition is crisp and bright and well put together. I was struck by how good Giffen's art was. The composition of each panel was original and fresh and propelled the narrative along. The characters were drawn crisply and shown using their powers in a way that crackled--White Witch creating the space warp, Sunboy and Element Lad's fights with the Servants, Wildfire reacting to taunting about Dawnstar, Mon-El going in on Darkseid are all visually exciting. His way of drawing and creating costumes was very effective too, and Duo Damsel, Dream Girl, and all the guys looked especially good.

This all underscores how awful his later work was--drear beyond measure, mind numbing sameness on rigid panels, and obvious disdain for the Legion.

I hope the Legion Annual gives us the Giffen of the Great Darkness Saga and not the Magic Wars and the Five Year Gap

i totally agree!

even if deep down in my mind i know they won't, i just can't stop wishing DC also reprinted the rest of levitz' run in this awesome format. it would be great.

Actually, once the GDS-proper (the actual five-parter) begins in the collection, she's suddenly red/orange-headed! So the restoration of her correct hair color is within the same hardcover and happened well before the Baxter series! Gotta pull out my floppies and see if her hair was actually colored like this in them....

Another thing that sticks out re-reading these stories, is how well Paul displayed a mastery so early of juggling subplots and managing to give each character their moments so that no one ever seemed left behind (something he's not quite got a perfect handle on during the current run). I particularly loved how he developed the Cham treason subplot spiked with how he and Brande struggled to connect. I also liked Blok's immediate reaction upon first seeing Mysa and how Paul showed in subtle ways how Drake felt about Dawny. (Was the Drake/Dawny thing originated by Paul here or was the foundation laid by another writer?)

EXCELLENT comics that still hold up very well!

I think the Drake/Dawnstar seeds were planted in her first appearance. I think he tells her "If I had a mouth, I'd kiss you," at one point in that story. It wasn't long after that he was following her around like a puppy with his tongue out (if he had a tongue he'd French kiss her), IIRC.

All those interwoven sub-plots plus the change in leadership (and the resigning of the deputy).
Levitz is/was the master of multi-tasking events in the lives of the Legion, that's for sure.

I honestly didn't give Dreamy the time of day prior to her getting the leadership job (excluding the year or so leading up to the events in the GDS, where she was able to showcase her powers plus surprise us with her clever resourcefulness).

I remember being thrilled when Dream Girl was elected leader. I had loved the way Dave Cockrum updated her in Superboy #199 and was sorry she was so little used in the 1970s. She really shone as a leader and character.

Just got my copy yesterday at the CBS. I had no idea it included so much material! Issue 285 (Night Falls on Nullport) marks the start of my ongoing Legion collection, so I'm especially thrilled to have that in this hardcover. It's kind of weird to have it so strongly emphasized how closely Paul's run coincided with my original Legion Fandom. I knew it did, but this book really brings that fact home.

Totally have to get Paul and Keith to sign this at next year's San Diego con!

re: Ayla's blonde hair

When Mike Grell was artist on the Legion back in the 70's, I got the impression he modeled Light Lass after real life actress/dancer/sex kitten Joey Heatherton, who was a blonde.

I told myself I wasn't going to get it. I already have three copies of the story, Im not going to buy the hard cover. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not.


Yea, picked it up Wednesday. The Legion goodness that radiated from it's cover was too strong.

Never any lead around when you need it.

Can anyone tell me the ISBN number for this? I'm trying to order it from a local bookshop and they're looking at me like I'm a Durlan with a bad disguise. Many thanks and Happy New Year to all.

ISBN: 978-1-4012-2961-0

Many thanks. I shall be down at the bookshop the minute I regain motor control after New Year's Eve

You won't regret it SR. This hardcover collection is sure to be a classic I think.
What I enjoyed this time around was how Paul chose all the stories way before the actually GDS arc began. In those stories you see glimpses of the slow-brewing evil that eventually turns out to be ... YOU KNOW!!! lol

Looks like I'm going to have a Great Darkness Saga saga! Planetary stocks depleted. Minimum 4 months wait. Good news for the series- not so good for me. Ah well; there's always Legion World to keep me entertained

Quick question about one of the early subplots in this book (spoiler just in case):

<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">I'm not sure I entirely understand the whole "Timber Wolf Getting Facial Surgery" thing. The whole point is to restore his features back to a more human as opposed to lupine look, but why did he look like that in the first place?

I know that from a "behind the scenes" standpoint it was just an artistic revamp of Cockrum's, but was there ever an in-story explanation as to why he looked so lupine?

Ayla's remark in the story alludes to him "hiding behind that animal face," further confusing me, as though it were a matter of choice on his part. Was it? I feel like I'm missing a piece of the story, here.</span></span>

There's no official explanation as of the end of Levitz's run, but 5YL it is suggested that <span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">his changing appearance were a result of side-effects of the Zuunium treatments that gave him his abilities. The Furball persona was a more extreme version of this.</span></span>

Good new for those who haven't got a copy yet and were told it was already out of print. I just got word Monday (1/10) that it is back in print and should be shipping this coming week.

Sounds like it's an unqualified success!

In-Stock Trades still sells it as well and still for only $24.79!

I was down sick last weekend, and took this into the bedroom with me, and was blown away again.

I was also amazed reading the plots. I knew they worked "Marvel Style" (I plot, you draw, then I dialogue), but I had no idea how much latitude Giffen really had in breakdown and layout. By #294 Paul wasn't even breaking it down by page anymore. I'm sure there was a lot of phone or in-person collaboration, but that was still a real eye-opener that Giffen crafted that much of the story.

I am reading the e-book version right now and I have to say I am blown away! I remember reading individual issues of this story arc when it came out, but I never actually read the whole thing before. Those pieces now make sense. I'll post more as I continue.

TEN YEARS AGO?!?!?!?!

Still one of my favorite hardcover collections of all time, if not THE favorite!!!