The elimination of Superman's time as Superboy following Crisis on Infinite Earths really threw a monkey wrench into the Legion of Superheroes. Attempts to fix it by using Kon-El, Pocket Universe Superboy or Supergirl in his place have never seemed to stick, and the LSH are currently in limbo. Let's hope that they can find a way to click with audiences when they inevitably return.
I agree, Ross. The Legion of Superheroes was one of my favorite of all the comic groups, right up there with the Avengers and the Justice League. I think that all of these reboots that the companies do make some good stories for the short term, but it seems to have negative ramifications in the long term. Sometimes I wish I could have opened my own publication and been able to tell stories as I would love to see them told.
ReplyDeleteThe LSH, along with the Doom Patrol and the Marvel Family, are properties that are of their time, I suppose. They all had wonderful classic runs, lasting for decades in the case of the LSH. But attempts to reboot them have never worked. Perhaps it's time just to give up? Maybe the LSH can be rehabilitated, but recent variants of the Doom Patrol and the Marvel Family have strayed so far from the original concept that I wonder why they don't just give them new names and acknowledge them as new characters.
ReplyDeleteThe Doom Patrol has failed time and time again because of rebooting the same crap and horrible art and story plotting.
DeleteThey have two excellent characters to build the team around "Robotman" and "Negative Man ".
Get rid of the rest ,add some other established or create some new interesting characters and be move on .
Metamorphosis and Dead man would be great additions !_
Don't forget the "Mon-el as Valor" inspired LSH from the
ReplyDeletelate '80s. Now that Lar Gand has crashed onto the
Supergirl set, it will be interesting to see what, if any,
code name he takes and whether he's the entry into the
LSH for that show (although Clark didn't recognize him).
Part of the LSH's problem is that both the perceptions
of the future and of young-people teams have changed
so much since the Silver Age. The classic Legion kinda
got outclassed by Claremont's X-Men and Wolfman's Titans,
and even those teams are now unrecognizable.
But (at least from this old timer's perspective) the
Legion is better with some link to Superman than
without; with smaller sub-team stories than
universe-spanning disasters that require the whole
army; with more plot-driven stories with some character
moments and 'shipping rather than full blown soap
operas. Whether that can actually sell in today's
market is hard to predict.
Sorry, everybody. But, there's a more important question that needs answering here. How the heck did Judge Dredd get to the 31st century?!
ReplyDeleteNo time frame is beyond Dredd's jurisdiction!
ReplyDelete@Anonymous & Ross: especially if he hitched a ride with Jonah Hex, ;-D
ReplyDeleteIMHO, Deadman and Metamorpho work best as loners, but that's just a matter of personal taste. There was a Justice League story sometime in the mid-1960's where Metamorpho turned down an invitation to join the JLA.
ReplyDeleteDoom Patrol and Metamorpho were almost like Marvel characters published by DC, and Captain America was almost a DC character published by Marvel.
As for how Dredd got to the 31st Century, maybe it's the other way around? Maybe the Legion went back to 2000 A.D., and Judge Dredd arrested them for operating a time machine without a license.
Perhaps DC could combine the Doom Patrol™ with Lex Luthor, the Joker, Reverse Flash, Sinestro .....
DeleteAnd Become "THE LEGION OF DOOM PATROL" !
@ 2nd Anon: they should ditch Negative Man and stick with Robotman and Elasti-Girl.
ReplyDeleteTo the Anonymous who said, "Doom Patrol and Metamorpho were almost like Marvel characters published by DC, and Captain America was almost a DC character published by Marvel,".... Wow! I thought I was the only person who felt that way! Seriously, I've thought that exact same thing for years! I always thought that the Metal Men seemed more like Marvel characters as well!
ReplyDeleteAlso to that Anonymous, the JLA story you are referring to was the classic "Metamorpho Says No!" in JLA #42.
I never really understood the setup of the LSH. how can it be that the only superhero group in the 31st century was limited to teenagers? What happened to all the adult heroes?
ReplyDeleteWell, there was one pre-CoIE story that had the LSH narrowly preventing Superboy from learning that 30th century medical science had finally perfected virtually eternal youth! Hence, all the Legionnaires having code names reminiscent of adolescence (despite most of them being over 21).
ReplyDeleteP.S.---I still think Judge Dredd is out of his jurisdiction.
ReplyDeleteSuperman met the adult Legion in Adventure Comics #354 and #355, although they may have been in an alternate timeline from the "real" (teenage) LSH. Batman traveled to the 30th Century and joined the adult Legion at the end of an imaginary story in World's Finest #172.
ReplyDeleteA 2960's Superman appeared in Action #338 and #339, and met a 30th Century Batman in World's Finest #166. Both were descendants of their 1960's namesakes, and both were adults. Don't know if they ever met the Legion, though.
30th-century descendants of various JLAers were attacked, and in some cases killed, in an LSH annual: a long-term plot by Dr Ivo, IIRC...
ReplyDeleteI remember that story! One of the victims was like Bruce Wayne the 80,000th. "Last of the Private Eyes!"
ReplyDelete