Legion of Super-Heroes (comics): Difference between revisions

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The original version of [[Superman]]'s origin had him becoming a superhero when full grown. However, in 1945 DC introduced ''[[Superboy]]'' as an addition to Superman's backstory, [[Retcon|retconning]] in prequels and earlier meetings with DC characters.

At the start of the [[Silver Age]], one story, in ''Adventure Comics'' #247 (April, 1958), introduced the "Legion of [[Superhero|Super Heroes]]", a trio of super-powered teenagers from the future who committed many acts of [[Super Dickery]] while initiating Superboy into their club. The group became popular, repeatedly had guest appearances in Superman--related [[Secretcomics, Testand offinally received their own feature in "Adventure Comics" Character|with theissue best#300 of(September, intentions]]1962). They are remembered for their wide-eyed idealism, not to mention corny touches -- their clubhouse was ''reallydesigned'' to look like a crashed rocket. The groupHowever, becametheir popularseries enoughwas tosurprisingly besophisticated seenfor manythe more[[Silver timesAge]]; with one of the earliest comic book characters [[Killed Off for Real]] in guestFerro appearancesLad (and, for that matter, one of the earliest [[Back from the Dead|comic book resurrections]] with Lightning Lad), a trial for a Legionnaire killing in self-defense, and dealing with [[Fantastic Racism]] even before ''[[Star Trek]]'' did.

Since the entire premise of the Legion was centered around Superboy, and Superboy no longer existed in the [[Post-Crisis]] universe, the continuity of the series didn't work any more. DC's initial patch was to say that one of the Legion's foes, the Time Trapper, had created a pocket dimension containing an Earth with a Superboy. However, this issue kept coming up, with more and more patches needed to fix things.

Eventually, Keith Giffen took over the book, along with [[Running the Asylum|fans-turned-writers]] Tom and Mary Bierbaum, and the series ''really'' jumped into the [[Dark Age]] with the "Five Years Later" [[Time Skip]]. Earth is ruled by alien invaders. One character was [[Retcon|retconned]] into an [[Applied Phlebotinum]] [[transsexualtransgender]], and another into a shapeshifter who only ''thought'' he was the character. The Legion are [[Cloning Blues|actually clones]] -- unless the other, younger Legion (Batch SW6) that were discovered in [[People Jars]] are the clones, as one might think at first. The moon was destroyed, [[Earthshattering Kaboom|followed by the Earth itself]].

Eventually, aA combination of [[Continuity Snarl|continuity issues]] and low sales brought DC to the point where they said "screw it" and rebooted the series. InThe 1995,reboot aswas partwritten of the ''Zero Hour'' [[Crisis Crossover]],by [[Mark Waid]] and Tom McCraw wrotein the1995, firstas issuepart of anthe all-new''Zero all-differentHour'' Legion[[Crisis Crossover]]. This incarnation of the Legion was a youth corps run by [[The Federation]], which was just forming as the series began, to symbolize its member worlds and species working together. (Although they were frequently dismissed as either a publicity stunt or a "teenage death squad".) This version sidestepped the Superboy issue by being inspired by the 20th century's age of heroes in general (although the Post-Crisis Superboy did become a member). The new version attemptedtried to [[Adaptation Distillation|distill]] all of the Legion's history to date, while adding its own twists -- some of which [[Fanon Discontinuity|didn't work that well]] ({{spoiler|Sneckie}}) Still, this version lasted until 2004 with a few writer changes and [[Retool|ReTools]]; then, they were wiped out (or at least [[Put on a Bus|detached from the main line of DCU history]]) during the build up to the ''[[Infinite Crisis]]'' [[Crisis Crossover]], and replaced with a third version -- the "threeboot" Legion.

This version, ''also'' introduced by Mark Waid, brought back many of the more idealistic elements, including the [[Something Person]] names, while going for a more complex universe. In this incarnation, the Legion are firebrands and muckrakers in a future where those under 18 are almost entirely controlled by their parents and a paternalistic government; although only a chosen few are given flight rings (which are ridiculously expensive), anyone who follows their ideals is considered a Legionnaire. It also added twists to many of the characters; for instance, in this version, Colossal Boy is a member of a race of giants whose super-power is to shrink to six feet tall. (HeThey preferswere toinspired be called Micro Lad.) Their inspiration this time isby legends of superheroics as preserved in old comic books. [[Supergirl]] joined up about a year and a half into the series, having apparently made the trip during the "One Year Gap" in her own title (all DC books jumped forward a year after ''Infinite Crisis''), and been given [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]] before she was sent back. On the other hand, the [[Strawman Political]] aspects ("Eat it, Grandpa!") wore thin for some readers. This version lasted until 2009, when, despite fan favorite [[And the Fandom Rejoiced|Jim Shooter]] taking over writing duties, it was unceremoniously cancelled with a rushed final issue written by "[[Alan Smithee|Justin Thyme]]".

* [[AIA.I. Is a Crapshoot]]: Every time Brainiac 5 turns around; see especially COMPUTO.

* [[Battle Couple]]: Shrinking Violet and Lightning Lass in the recent Legion of Superheroes annual. And it is AWESOME

* [[Beware the Quiet Ones]]: Shrinking Violet in postboot continuity. She starts off as, well, a [[Shrinking Violet]]. Over time she is showing coming out of her shell, even going so far as to be elected team leader. {{spoiler|Right after that, it's revealed that her increased confidence was the result of her coming under the influence of the Emerald Eye of Ekron.}} [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|She completes a (temporary)]] [[Face Heel Turn]] shortly thereafter and curbstomps her former teammates.

* [[Beware the Silly Ones]]: Matter-Eater Lad as written by Keith Giffen and Tom and Mary Bierbaum. He was a shameless self-promoter and con artist and affected an air of extreme vanity, but was a bit of a [[Bunny Ears Lawyer]]. Literally, in one case: he successfully manages to get former teammate Polar Boy freed from unjust imprisonment by employing the [[Chewbacca Defense]] and then quickly smuggling him off-planet before anyone recovers enough to realize they'd been bamboozled. It's also worth remembering that Matter-Eater Lad is basically a walking disintegrator who can annihilate ''anything'' he can get his jaws around.

* [[Captain Ersatz]]: Mon-El (a [[Captain Ersatz]] of Superboy) and Andromeda (a [[Captain Ersatz]] of Supergirl), after both Superboy and Supergirl were [[Retcon|RetConned]] out of existence by ''The Man of Steel'' [[Continuity Reboot|reboot]] by John Byrne. Byrne has since admitted that removing Superboy was a mistake. Note that Mon-El was a separate character before the [[Retcon]]. They had to bend over backwards in order to re-position him as a Superboy stand-in (whereas Andromeda was a straight [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]]).

* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: Lots and lots. Particularly in the ''Legion of 3 Worlds''

* [[Continuity Snarl]]: And how. Several different versions of the team, changes to the DCU constantly affecting it, and retcons to the point where nobody can keep track. This was even lampshaded in an issue of ''[[DC Universe: Legacies]]'' where many different versions of the Legion try to visit Superboy all at the same time.

* [[Dark Mistress]]: Glorith, in her first appearance, was one of the Time Trapper's henchwomen, and later was [[Unholy Matrimony|married to evil sorcerer Mordru]] before going to a successful villainous career in her own right.

* [[Demoted to Extra]]: Tons of Legionaires have suffered this, most notably Wildfire and Dawnstar, who were amongst the most popular characters of the original Legion.

** Shvaughn Erin was turned into a pathetic transgender stalker/transsexual who was addicted to gender-bending drugs. Sun Boy turned traitor and ended up being horribly burnt, to the point that he was mistaken as a monster by his own friends.

*** Writer/artist (and Legion superfan) Colleen Doran was overheard at a con referring to Shvaughn Erin as "Sean" many months before the Bierbaums worked their strange magic on him/her. In general the Threeboot Legion got this treatment in "Legion of Three Worlds" where they had more members of their Legion dying and basically being swept under the rug to make the old Legion the main Legion.

** Played with quite a bit during the v4 run, as the Legion would temporarily strike a truce with one of the three evil [[Powers That Be]] (the Time Trapper, Glorith, or Mordru) to counterbalance the other.

*** [[The Chick]] and [[The Big Guy]] -- Played with. Night Girl is the literal chick, but her powers make her the team's powerhouse. Stone Boy's rock powers make him a more traditional big guy, but his lack of confidence mixed with a great caring for others puts him in the chick slot.

* [[Flash Forward]]: The "Adult Legion" stories. Unfortunately, these [[Foregone Conclusion|revealed who was going to survive and who wasn't]], removing a certain amount of tension.

* [[Kick the Dog]]: Akka is Saturn Queen's most loyal ally throughout the Legion of Supervillains story arc in the current series. How does Saturn Queen reward her? She stabs her in the chest

* [[Lady Macbeth]]: Charma's powers were to make men do whatever she wanted, and to make women hate her to the point of physical violence. She wound up in jail where she [[The Corrupter|worked her charms]] on her jailer, Grimbor, who embarked on a criminal career of his own, first by her side, and later solo.

** Jenni "XS" Ognats, granddaughter of Barry "The [[Flash]]" Allen and cousin of Bart "Impulse" Allen.

* [[Literal Split Personality]]: Triad. Unlike other versions of the character, Triad's three bodies represented different facets of her personality.

* [[Merlin Sickness]]: Shrinking Violet is literally afflicted with this following an ill-conceived attack on Glorith towards the end of the pre-''Zero Hour'' v4 run.

* [[Multiple Choice Past]]: At least two all-out continuity reboots, and many other variations besides.

* [[NoWon't SellWork On Me]]: Nemesis Kid.

* [[Noodle Incident]]: Black Dawn. Though later writers attempted to tell the story (with various success), none really line up with the details given by TMK.

** And then there's Projectra, renamed Sensor, and changed into a snake alien.

* [[Sacrificial Lamb]]: The first Kid Quantum was created just to be killed to illustrate the need for the Legion's "no external powers" rule.

* [[Scandalgate]]: The crisis of the United Planets' [[Portal Network]] being subverted by an alien power and used to invade Earth is referred to as "Softgate."

* [[Suicide by Cop]]: Darkseid during "The Quiet Darkness." {{spoiler|A brilliant scientist saves his dying wife during her pregnancy by [[Deal with the Devil|striking a deal]] with Darkseid in exchange for implanting the unborn children with the "[[Applied Phlebotinum|Gemini Matrix]]" to raise them to a more powerful plane of existence. Darkseid then takes over the planet in order to prevent the children from fleeing, and finally goads the twins into attacking and killing him. His final words suggest that this was his plan all along: a god like Darkseid was [[I Cannot Self-Terminate|only capable of being killed by another god]]. Since there weren't any available, he had to create his own, and make them hate him enough to kill him.}}

* [[Super Dickery]]: The Legion were made of this in their early appearances. Most early Legion stories consist of the Legionnaires being jerks to each other, only to reveal at the last minute that it was for the greater good. Arguably, the most famous example is a story in which Saturn Girl mind-controlled the Legion into electing her leader and then stole all of their powers so that she could ensure that she would be the Legionnaire to make a prophesied [[Heroic Sacrifice]].

* [[Took a Level Inin Badass]]: After spending much of their history as running jokes, the remaining members of the original Legion of Substitute Heroes did this during the five year gap leading up to the v4 series. With the original Legion discredited and disbanded, they became the leaders of the resistance against Earthgov's abuses. Ironically, Polar Boy, the only former member of the team to have actually graduated to the majors on panel, was shown in a rather negative light, having failed to prevent his team from dissolving and then getting arrested for attempting to incite a riot.

* [[Wonderful Life]]: [[Double Subversion|Doubly subverted]] in a humorous post-''Zero Hour'' side story involving Brainiac 5.

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