Questions for the Legion Spotlight series

[JohnMayo]

Use this thread to submit questions and comments for the Legion Spotlight series.

I'm trying to work ahead on these episodes so there will probably be a lag between questions getting asked here and them getting answered in the podcast.

If you want to send in an audio clip with your question, here is a DropBox link to use: https://www.dropbox.com/request/6BTmvfybpPhPRhqnPYHO

[JasonZ]

Suggestions for future episodes.

When you get to Adventure Comics # 282, can you compare it to Adventure Comics # 195 which closely mirrors the story?

When you get to Superboy # 89, can you compare it to Superman Vol. 1 # 80 (reprinted in Superman Vol. 1 # 222), which mirrors the story closely?

General suggestions for future episodes. Maybe try doing some one off character specific episodes that have the general history of the character and their significant events as well as your favorite issues they were in.

As for Starman during his time with the JSA, Lightning Saga will of course be covered. Other issues of importance would be JSA # 1 (when he joined), and his relation to the Kingdom Come storyline (JSA issues # 9 and # 22 with his Thy Kingdom Come role), as well as when he remembers his mission in the 21st Century (JSA Kingdom Come Special: Magog # 1) and when the mission is finally completed in Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds # 4. These events could also easily be mentioned during the Legion of Three Worlds coverage.

[JasonZ]

Legion Spotlight 005

Hi John,

Thanks for covering the first appearances of Dev-Em. I definitely think he is relevant in covering the Legion. As far as I can tell, his next appearances after Adventure Comics # 287-288 which you covered are Adventure Comics # 320 when he meets Superboy and the Legion and becomes part of the Interstellar Counter-Intelligence Corps. Later, he appears during the Dark Circle saga in Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes # 322-325 and Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 3 # 14. I believe in post Crisis instead of being a Kryptonian and connected to Superboy he becomes a Daxamite and is more connected to Valor/Mon-El but I am admittedly not as familiar with that version of the character. I also don't know of any issues in which he appears that we see him as being from Titan (like Saturn Girl).

As for Superman Annual # 4, I looked in the DC Archives Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 2 which has those origin pages but it only credits Curt Swan as artist and George Klein as inker. No mention of the writer.

I wanted to ask are you using the Legion Archives, the Legion Silver Age Omnibus editions, original issues, or the DC Universe app for these early appearances. Thanks

[JohnMayo]

I am using a number of different sources including the Legion Silver Age Omnibus, the Legion Archives, some DC digests from the 1980s and DC Universe Infinite

[JasonZ]

It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since the Legion Spotlight started and I think the series is going very well.
How would you rate these early issues of the Legion during the Silver Age?
Which issues stood out to you as the best/most memorable?
For example, I think the death and later resurrection of Lightning Lad was a great story arc.
Do you plan to continue to cover issues in consecutive order of Legion publication?
Do you think you would consider a cohost later on for stories like the Great Darkness saga or the JSA/JLA/Legion crossover, or Legion of 3 Worlds for example?

[JasonZ]

Legion Spotlight 1st year in review was a good episode. I think the format is just fine, with you spending more time on the stories you really enjoy or the ones that are more involved and less time on the simpler and less enjoyable stories. Running time of around 30 minutes give or take is also a good route to go.

Keeping the list to actual Legion appearances is also a good strategy and excluding Booster Gold and every appearance of the alien races makes sense as they are only tangential to the Legion. Also, reading in order of publication makes sense in terms of building up that continuity naturally and noting changes as they go along.

The Silver Age storytelling can be a challenge with a lot of material packed into each issue with wordy dialogue and the protect my secret identity or follow the clue stories (which admittedly, I never figure out). However, I find these Legion stories charming and engaging and do miss the idea of the one and done stories they used to produce, especially with the modern drawn out stories where hardly anything happens in a six issue trade.

These done in one stories are easier to jump into and I think that is by design like you said a reader might not have access to a previous issue or the next month's issue. I think doing a series of Back Issue Spotlights on the JSA/JLA crossovers (and later JSA/JLA/Legion crossover) is a great idea and to have a first time reader like James on the stories would be good. I would also like to hear his perspective on the Legion of Three Worlds (especially the George Perez art and all the characters).

[SuperFlashAtom1980]

Hi, John.

Michael, here. I'm sorry if you've talked about this already but could you tell me which era of Legion is best for a newbie like me to start? I've watched the cartoon series and felt that was pretty good. I've tried reading some of the comics after COIE but there were so many characters that I get confused and stopped reading (all the -boys, -lads, -girls, -lasses don't help). Anyway to help me ease into the characters would be much appreciated!

[JohnMayo]

FYI, if you want to send in an audio clip with your question, here is a DropBox link to use: https://www.dropbox.com/request/6BTmvfybpPhPRhqnPYHO

Feel free to send in audio clips or to continue posting questions in this thread.

[JasonZ]

Thanks John for the Legion spotlight episode today and for highlighting Jim Shooter and his impact early on with the Legion of Super-Heroes as well his other endeavors contributing to the comic industry. I would definitely lean towards him being transformative in the way that he told stories, like you said being more character driven and continuing threads versus these quick one off gimmick stories that are over and solved before you figure out what the question is. I think he was instrumental in helping bring the Bronze Age of storytelling to DC Comics and of course later on being the hard nosed publisher at Marvel Comics. I know that many of the creators working at Marvel at the time left because of him and avoided working around him, but that is the age of Marvel Comics that I find the most appealing and to me, one of the best creative periods in their history. I found it amazing that he just kept trying new publishing lines and comic book companies, though they never lasted long, or rather, his part in them would be like the rug was jerked out from under him. I appreciate his work ethic and his commitment to having accountability and trying to make comics professional as he could as publisher. I think the best part about the episode for me was how you described all the things that Jim brought to the table in terms of innovative comic book storytelling for the time, and then proceeded to cover a story that was the exact opposite, so that you could very easily demonstrate the stark difference between the two types. This was perfect timing in my opinion. In regards to how he treated others in the comic book industry, it is unclear exactly where he developed his reputation as a stern editor, but it could very well be due to Mort Weisinger, who was well documented on being overly critical of writers and causing many not to want to work with him due to being too antagonistic. I wonder how he would have been as an editor if his first editor in comics was someone more encouraging such as Julie Schwartz.