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Legion of Super-Heroes (comics) (view source)

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(Um, it was big enough to get inside by normal methods. Besides, it *wasn't* a rocket and didn't have the things that a rocket would have that take up space.)
(This page is still too long...)
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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.
 
To become a member, you had to demonstrate at least one superpower not dependent on devices. Thus, telepathy, Saturn Girl; electricity powers, Lightning Lad; magnetic powers, Cosmic Boy, and so on. Applicants with [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|ridiculous powers]] (and some members of the Legion proper had pretty ridiculous powers) were consigned to the Legion of Substitute Heroes, who included Chlorophyll Kid (ability to make plants grow really fast), Stone Boy (ability to turn into an inanimate statue), Color Kid (ability to... change the color of things), and Double Header (whose name speaks for itself).▼
The Legion took over as the main feature in "Adventure Comics" with issue #300 (September, 1962), reducing Superboy to supporting character status in what was previously his second comic book. They are remembered for their wide-eyed idealism, not to mention corny touches -- their clubhouse was ''designed'' to look like a crashed rocket. However, their series was surprisingly sophisticated for the [[Silver Age]]; with one of the earliest comic book characters [[Killed Off for Real]] in Ferro Lad (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.
 
▲To become a member, you had to demonstrate at least one superpower not dependent on devices. Thus, telepathy, Saturn Girl; electricity powers, Lightning Lad; magnetic powers, Cosmic Boy, and so on. Applicants with [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|ridiculous powers]] (and some members of the Legion proper had pretty ridiculous powers) were consigned to the Legion of Substitute Heroes, who included Chlorophyll Kid (ability to make plants grow really fast), Stone Boy (ability to turn into an inanimate statue), Color Kid (ability to... change the color of things), and Double Header (whose name speaks for itself).
 
At the end of the [[Silver Age]], the Legion's slot was swapped with [[Supergirl]], leaving Supergirl as star of ''Adventure Comics'' and the Legion as a backup in ''[[Action Comics]]''. After the retirement of editor Mort Weisinger, the Legion was reduced to an occasional backup in ''Superboy''. Dave Cockrum, who would go on to design many members of the Bronze Age incarnation of the [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]], became the Legion's regular artist, and started redefining their look. With this, their popularity started to inch upwards again, and eventually, ''Superboy'' became ''Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes''.
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This incarnation used plenty of the [[Soap Opera]]-style storytelling that was popular in the days of ''X-Men'' and ''[[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]'', but kept on a level of solid yet unexciting sales. This changed in the early '80s, with the Paul Levitz/Keith Giffen Legion. Classic stories like "The Great Darkness Saga" appeared during this run, but it was interrupted halfway through by the ''[[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]''.
 
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]] [[transsexual]], 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]]".
 
Stories post-''Infinite Crisis'' have reintroduced [[The Multiverse]] and restored the ''original'' Legion, including Superman's past with them but diverging before "Five Years Later". This version first (re)appeared in the "Lightning Saga" [[Bat Family Crossover]] between ''[[Justice League of America]]'' and ''[[Justice Society of America]]''. As part of ''[[Final Crisis]]'', Geoff Johns wrote a miniseries called "The Legion of Three Worlds" which dealt with all three versions (original, Zero Hour, and threeboot) of the Legion.
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