Legion of Super-Heroes (1958 team)
Legion of Super-Heroes | |
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Group publication information | |
Publisher | DC Comics |
First appearance | Adventure Comics #247 (April 1958) |
Created by | Otto Binder Al Plastino |
Roster | |
See: List of Legion of Super-Heroes members | |
Legion of Super-Heroes | |
Legion of Super-Heroes #1 (February 1973). Cover art by Nick Cardy. | |
Series publication information | |
Publisher | DC Comics |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | List
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Genre | Superhero |
Publication date | List
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Number of issues | List
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Creative team | |
Writer(s) | List
|
Penciller(s) | List
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Inker(s) | List
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Colorist(s) | List
|
Creator(s) | ISBN 0-930289-43-9 |
The 1958 version of the Legion of Super-Heroes (also called the original/Preboot Legion) is a fictional superhero team in the 31st century of the DC Comics Universe. The team is the first incarnation of the Legion of Super-Heroes, and was followed by the 1994 and 2004 rebooted versions. It first appeared in Adventure Comics #247 (April 1958) and was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino.
Publication history
Superboy's supporting cast
Although intended as a one-off story focusing on Superboy, the Legion proved so popular that it returned for an encore in Adventure Comics #267 (December 1959). In this story, Lightning Boy had been renamed Lightning Lad, and their costumes were very close to those they wore throughout the
In Adventure Comics #300 (September 1962), the Legion received their own regular feature, cover-billed "Superboy in 'Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes'".[5] While they would share space with Superboy solo stories for a couple of years, they eventually displaced Superboy from the title entirely as their popularity grew. Lightning Lad was killed in Adventure Comics #304 (January 1963) and revived in issue #312 (September 1963).[6]
It was the Adventure Comics run which established the Legion's general workings and environment.
In Adventure Comics #346 (July 1966),
, and the "Adult Legion", a conjecture regarding what the Legionnaires would be like when they grew up.The Legion's last appearance in Adventure Comics was #380 (May 1969),[10] and they were displaced by Supergirl in the next issue. The early 1970s saw the Legion relegated to the status of back-up feature. First, the team's stories were moved to Action Comics for issues #377–392 (June 1969 – September 1970).[2] Following Mort Weisinger's retirement from DC, the Legion was passed to the oversight of editor Murray Boltinoff and began appearing occasionally as a backup in Superboy, starting with #172 (March 1971),[11] with writers E. Nelson Bridwell and Cary Bates and artist George Tuska. Dave Cockrum began drawing the series with Superboy #184 (April 1972), again increasing the team's popularity.[12]
Superboy and their own title
The first comic book published under the title Legion of Super-Heroes was a four-issue series published in 1973 that reprinted Legion tales from Adventure Comics.
Superboy departed from the Legion due to a plot of a villain, and the book was renamed simply Legion of Super-Heroes starting with issue #259 (January 1980). Editor Jack C. Harris hired Steve Ditko as guest artist on several issues, a decision which garnered a mixed reaction from the title's readership.[20] Jimmy Janes became the regular artist in a lengthy tale by Conway (and later Roy Thomas) involving Ultra Boy's disappearance during a mission, and his long odyssey to rejoin the team.[21] This story told the tale of the Legionnaire Reflecto (only glimpsed during the "Adult Legion" stories in Adventure Comics), featured villainy by the Time Trapper and Grimbor the Chainsman, and saw Superboy rejoin the team.[22]
Paul Levitz era
Paul Levitz returned to write the series with #284. Pat Broderick and Bruce Patterson illustrated the title for a short time before Keith Giffen began on pencils, with Patterson, and then Larry Mahlstedt, on inks. The creative team received enhanced popularity following "The Great Darkness Saga",[23] which ran from #287; #290–294; and Annual #3, featuring a full assault on the United Planets by Darkseid. Comics historian Les Daniels observed that "Working with artist Keith Giffen, Levitz completed the transformation of Legion into a science-fiction saga of considerable scope and depth."[24]
The Legion celebrated issue #300 (June 1983) by revisiting the "Adult Legion" storyline through a series of
Giffen's style changed abruptly a few issues later, to a darker and sketchier style inspired by
The new series was launched in August 1984
"Five Years Later"
Giffen took over plotting as well as penciling with the Legion of Super-Heroes volume 4 title which started in November 1989, with scripts by
Shortly after this storyline began, the decision was made to retroactively remove Superboy completely from Legion history. Writer Mark Waid stated that "Because of inter-office politics and machinations...it was decided that there was no Superboy, but we weren't even allowed to reference him at all."
One major storyline during this period was the discovery of Batch SW6, a group of clones of the early Legion, c. their Adventure Comics days, created by the Dominators. Keith Giffen's original conclusion for the storyline was that the clones would eventually have been revealed to be the real Legion, and the ones whose adventures had been chronicled since the 1950s were actually the clones. The adult Legion's secret programming would kick in, forcing them to fight the younger Legion and leading to a fight to the death in which Legionnaires on both teams would die, with the victims’ names being picked at random out of a hat. Afterwards, the older team would explore the Vega System as a 30th-century version of the Omega Men in a new series while the younger team would act as the main Legion on Earth. Giffen's other conclusion was for several of the younger and older Legionnaires to die while liberating Earth from the Dominion. The older Legion would defend Earth while the younger Legion would act as the last line of defense for the United Planets as the Omega Men.[32]
Instead, a parallel title, Legionnaires, was launched, starring the "SW6" Legion, whose origins were not resolved until the Zero Hour crossover by a different writing team. Legionnaires was lighter in tone than the main Legion book, and was written by the Bierbaums and drawn by
Post-Infinite Crisis (2007–2015)
The "
This version of the Legion next appeared in the "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes" storyline in Action Comics #858–863. In the year 3008, the Earth's sun has turned red and several failed Legion applicants who were born on Earth have banded together to form the Justice League of Earth under the leadership of Earth-Man after he claims that Superman was a human who gained his powers from "Mother Earth". Earth-Man uses the claim to have Earth secede from the United Planets and ban all aliens from Earth, resulting in several Legionnaires going underground. With the help of Superman, the Legion eventually restores the Sun to its normal state and defeats Earth-Man and the Justice League of Earth just as the United Planets is about to attack the Earth.[39]
This version of the Legion next appeared in the 2008
This version of the Legion was featured in the second
The New 52 (2011–2015)
Legion of Super-Heroes was relaunched in September 2011 with issue #1. Simultaneously, DC Comics cancelled Adventure Comics and replaced it with a new volume of
The entire Legion was re-mobilized to battle Infinitus in the six issue "Infinitus Saga" in Justice League United written by Jeff Lemire (December 2014 – May 2015) which featured Brainiac 5 as leader, the return of the Legion Lost team to active Legion status and the inclusion of a number of Legionnaires from other continuities in the Legion's active ranks.[53][54][55]
Members
See also
- Legion of Super-Heroes
- Legion of Super-Heroes (1994 team)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (2004 team)
- List of Legion of Super-Heroes members
- List of Legion of Super-Heroes publications
Notes
- ^ Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes continued publication for another 29 issues (#326–354, August 1985 – December 1987), reprinting stories from Legion of Super-Heroes volume 3.
References
- ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9.)
The Legion of Super-Heroes would become one of DC's most enduring and popular groups despite their humble beginnings, in a story by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino
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has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ a b Mort Weisinger's run on the Legion of Super-Heroes at the Grand Comics Database
- ISBN 978-1-4012-1389-3.
- ^ Siegel, Jerry (w), Mooney, Jim (p), Mooney, Jim (i). "Supergirl's Three Super Girl-Friends!" Action Comics, no. 276 (May 1961).
- ^ Siegel, Jerry (w), Forte, John (p), Forte, John (i). "The Face Behind the Lead Mask!" Adventure Comics, no. 300 (September 1962).
- ^ McAvennie, Michael "1960s" in Dolan, p. 108: "The demise of the Legion co-founder was a first not only for the Legion fan base, but for mainstream comics in general...Lightning Lad was resurrected later that year in Adventure Comics #312."
- ^ Kingman, Jim (October 2013). "Move Over, Superboy! (And Tell Legion Fandom the News!) The Resurgence of the Legion of Super-Heroes During the Bronze Age of Comics". Back Issue! (68). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 3.
- ^ McAvennie "1960s" in Dolan, p. 118: "In his first-ever published story, fourteen-year-old Jim Shooter admitted four new members into the Legion of Super-Heroes ... Shooter's long, memorable tenure as one of the Legion's greatest writers was officially underway."
- ^ McAvennie "1960s" in Dolan, p. 123: "Writer Jim Shooter and artist Curt Swan unleashed an even greater menace when the Fatal Five decided to stay united in the years ahead."
- ^ Shooter, Jim (w), Mortimer, Win (p), Abel, Jack (i). "The Legion's Space Odyssey" Adventure Comics, no. 380 (May 1969).
- ^ Murray Boltinoff's run on the Legion of Super-Heroes at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 151: "After more than a year as Murphy Anderson's background inker, Dave Cockrum landed his big DC break as the Legion of Super-Heroes artist ... Cockrum's debut story, which was written by Cary Bates, quickly established an exciting new vibe for the super-team."
- ^ Kingman, Jim (July 2015). "Reprint Madness: DC's Short-Lived Reprint Line of 1972–1973". Back Issue! (81). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 47–52.
- ^ Legion of Super-Heroes at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 159: "Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel became the first Legionnaires to tie the knot. The wedding planners were writer Cary Bates and artist Dave Cockrum."
- ^ Eury, Michael (July 2015). "A Look at DC's Super Specs". Back Issue! (81). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 27.
- ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 160: "With the unenviable task of replacing the departing Dave Cockrum, one of the most popular artists ever to draw the Legion of Super-Heroes, Mike Grell's first issue on Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes killed off one of the team's most beloved members."
- ^ Ford, Jim (December 2012). "Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes". Back Issue! (61). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 55–58.
- ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 177: "Only an oversized treasury edition could have contained Superboy and the entire Legion of Super-Heroes' battle with the Time Trapper...and the long-awaited wedding of Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl...Legion favorites Paul Levitz and Mike Grell were up to the enormous challenge with the popular tale 'The Millennium Massacre'."
- ^ Daudt, Ron E. (2010). "Jack C. Harris Interview (Pt. 2)". TheSilverLantern.com. Archived from the original on September 1, 2012. Retrieved March 20, 2011.
Some of the fans loved it and some hated it. Nobody was lukewarm about it. It was a very Ditko type of feeling. You hated it or you loved it and there was nothing in between.
- ^ Conway, Gerry (w), Janes, Jimmy (p), Chiaramonte, Frank (i). "A Murderer – Among Us?" Legion of Super-Heroes, vol. 2, no. 273 (March 1981).
- ^ Thomas, Roy; Levitz, Paul (w), Janes, Jimmy (p), Patterson, Bruce (i). "If Answers There Be..." Legion of Super-Heroes, vol. 2, no. 282 (December 1981).
- ^ Manning, Matthew K. "1980s" in Dolan, p. 198: "When [Levitz] wrote "The Great Darkness Saga", a five-issue epic that pitted the Legion against one of the most notorious villains of DC's long history, he and artist Keith Giffen crafted the most famous Legion story of all time and became fast fan favorites."
- ISBN 0821220764.
- ^ Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 208: "As DC began to toy with the idea of relaunching some of their more popular titles using high-quality Baxter paper, the Legion of Super-Heroes was an obvious choice. Utilizing the talents of writer Paul Levitz and artist Keith Giffen...the Legion was off and running in their own new title with a major new storyline...the Legion's other monthly comic changed its moniker to Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes with issue #314."
- ^ Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 209: "In a story written by Paul Levitz, with art by Keith Giffen and Steve Lightle...the Karate Kid gave his life heroically while battling Nemesis Kid."
- ^ Signh, Arune (October 30, 2002). "Because You Demanded It, A Legionnaire Returns: Steve Lightle Talks Legion". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on April 2, 2012. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
I hold the distinction of having suggested the first non-humanoid Legionnaires in the long history of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Tellus and Quislet were the first nonhuman members of the Legion, and I'm very happy that Paul Levitz and I broke that barrier by creating them.
- ^ Byrne, John (w), Byrne, John (p), Byrne, John; Williams, Keith (i). "Past Imperfect" Action Comics, no. 591 (August 1987).
- ^ Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 241: "Plotted by Keith Giffen and inker Al Gordon, scripted by Tom and Mary Bierbaum, and pencilled by Giffen, this relaunch of the formerly teen team of heroes and heroines broke new ground in the fictional realm of the 30th Century.
- ^ Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 4' at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ a b Ford, Jim (October 2013). "Too Much Time on My Hands: The History of the Time Trapper". Back Issue! (68). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 68.
- ^ Cronin, Brian (July 20, 2006). "Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #60". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
- ^ Giffen, Keith; Bierbaum, Tom; Bierbaum, Mary; Pearson, Jason (w), Giffen, Keith; Pearson, Jason (p), Story, Karl (i). "Requiem" Legion of Super-Heroes, vol. 4, no. 38 (Late December 1992).
- ^ Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 255: "Writer/artist Keith Giffen was leaving the Legion title, and he was determined to go out with a bang."
- ISBN 978-1401216528.
- ^ Phillips, Dan (October 19, 2007). "Superman/Green Lantern Interview". IGN. Archived from the original on February 9, 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
- Pasarin, Fernando (p), Pasarin, Fernando (i). "The Lightning Saga, Chapter Two: Dreams and Fire" Justice Society of America, vol. 3, no. 5 (June 2007).
- ^ Johns, Geoff (w), Henry, Clayton (p), Henry, Clayton (i). "Long Live the Legion, Part One" Adventure Comics, vol. 3, no. 1 (October 2009).
- ISBN 978-1401218195.
- ^ a b Rogers, Vaneta (April 2, 2008). "Geoff Johns: Legion of 3 Worlds, I". Newsarama. Archived from the original on December 16, 2008. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
Newsarama: Everything in their history – is it all canon now? Geoff Johns: Yeah.
- ^ Levitz, Paul; Pasko, Martin (w), Dillin, Dick (p), McLaughlin, Frank (i). "Crisis in the 30th Century!" Justice League of America, no. 147 (October 1977).
- ^ Levitz, Paul; Pasko, Martin (w), Dillin, Dick (p), McLaughlin, Frank (i). "Crisis in Triplicate!" Justice League of America, no. 148 (November 1977).
- ISBN 156389419X.
- ISBN 978-1401215033.
- ^ Segura, Alex (December 4, 2009). "Look ahead to Adventure Comics #8". DC Comics. Archived from the original on December 9, 2009. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
- ^ Melrose, Kevin (January 14, 2010). "Paul Levitz to write relaunched Legion of Super-Heroes". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on May 12, 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
- ^ Hyde, David (June 8, 2011). "The Next Generation of Justice". DC Comics. Archived from the original on September 30, 2012. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
- ^ DeFalco, Tom (w), Guinaldo, Andres (p), Irwin, Mark (i). "Last Stand!" Legion Lost, vol. 2, no. 16 (March 2013).
- ^ Siegel, Lucas (October 15, 2012). "The New 48? DC Cancels 4 in January 2013". Newsarama. Archived from the original on October 13, 2013.
In January 2013, DC Comics will end four titles, with Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E., Blue Beetle, Grifter, and Legion Lost all bearing the dreaded "Final Issue" notice.
- ^ Levitz, Paul (w), Maguire, Kevin (p), Maguire, Kevin (i). "Aftermath" Legion of Super-Heroes, vol. 7, no. 23 (October 2013).
- ^ Johnston, Rich (August 22, 2013). "Has The Legion Of Superheroes Been Shunted Off Into Earth 2?". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
- ^ Rogers, Vaenta (September 27, 2013). "Levitz & Giffen: Legion Ending Opens Door For Justice League 3000". Newsarama. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
- ^ Lemire, Jeff (w), Edwards, Neil (p), Leisten, Jay (i). "The Infinitus Saga: Part 1 of 5" Justice League United, no. Annual 1 (December 2014).
- ^ Lemire, Jeff (w), Edwards, Neil (p), Leisten, Jay (i). "The Infinitus Saga: Part 2 of 5" Justice League United, no. 6 (January 2015).
- ^ Lemire, Jeff (w), Edwards, Neil (p), Leisten, Jay (i). "The Infinitus Saga: Part 4 of 6" Justice League United, no. 8 (March 2015).
External links
- The Legion of Super-Heroes Online Companion
- The Legion of Super-Heroes Reference File
- Legion of Super-Heroes at Mike's Amazing World of Comics