actuallyadcfan

[actuallyadcfan]

Saw on Reddit people ranking each version of the legion so I wanted to give it a go!

Original Silver Age- It's the silver age, it's the origin to all the concepts and characters but it's too charming and dumb to ever critique. Harmless fun with comic moments that read like elaborate shit posts.

70's era- Actually not a big fan of this era but I appreciate what it builds on for later, it's actually riddle with a lot of strange retcons (like Ayla being Garth and Mekt's little sister and them being twins??), very melodramatic moments for characters being dicks, hitting their girlfriends, and angst out, TYROC. Also not a big fan of the outfits designs making everyone look like eye candy and I do mean EVERYONE. You think that would be a positive but alot of the outfits tell you nothing of their characters abilities, their only purpose is to show the reader skin. I did like it for the creation of Dawnstar and Wildfire and this is the run where RJ gets a lot more focus being their financial backer. It gets way better when Paul and Giffen take over, leading into...

Bronze age Legion- This is LoSH at it's best and most Adult. The angst up teenagers have grown up and now feel like an organized functioning team. They all feel like friends with their own families and histories. Levitz proved that writing a large cast equally for a book is possible by sectioning a bunch of characters in their own little storylines until they all come together for when the real shit behind it all happens. Re-reading this era is purely comfy.

FYL- Hot take: I don't hate FYL. I will agree it has issues especially regarding it's certain retcons but I really do believe it told decent enough stories to not be the worst for me. It really gets the legionnaires to their core, albeit it has to make everyone wash outs and depressed to do so but if you look at the whole run as a character study for everyone. It's pretty good. It's so self contained you can't really bring yourself to hate it. Like it's basically what if Watchmen with LoSH.

Retroboot- This is technically still in the OG continuity and I rather get it out of the way now. It starts out pretty great with "Superman and the Legion of Superheroes" and the "Lightning Saga" being their best introductions especially for newbies, but the main book they did get... Kinda was boring as hell? I didn't think it was terrible, just that whenever it tried to introduce cool things it just drops plotlines and never explores them any further. Characters are faithful enough to the originals tho Garth wasn't ever really a hot head and Tasmia would never sleep with ethnic cleanser. Also r.i.p RJ, damn. It was going pretty fine until the new 52 was cancelled , forcing Querl to accidentally destroy the entire UP and forcing the legion to dispense "permanently". So yeah, pretty disappointing.

PZH "Reboot"- This is probably my real favorite version because it takes all the strengths I said about the Bronze age and mixes it with the imagination of the silver age. Objectively better designs to all other versions, and it's finally really incorporated having aliens members and more humans of color into the team. It's a reboot sure but it's extremely faithful to what came before, some would criticize TOO faithfully. But I don't care. It has like 100 issues so it did something right. Ends kinda poorly tho and we don't know if this version ever found their original universe yet.

Cartoon- Actually my first introduction to the team. It's sorta nothing to write home about, it's just a fun show. Though if it aired today it would get a ton of more fans given that its version of Querl is canon a super-simp. But aren't we all?

Threeboot- this might be the black sheep of all Legions. It's well written with designs that are fairly good if you're a fan of everything matrix. The premise is REALLY interesting and possibly ahead of it's time with adults being overprotective of themselves and their children to hardly allow them to be outside and interact with other people that aren't on another screen. So what went wrong? No cool villains, gets bogged down by infighting team politics, and only select members that Waid probably likes the most gets any character development. So mostly Rokk, Querl, Nura and maybe the Ranzz twins. So yeah, a strong start but it couldn't keep its momentum. It did have a soft boot under Jim Shooter, nothing to really say about it aside from Brainy having sex with a ghost. No comment.

Bendis era- This brings out the raging "fanboy" in me and I rather not feel like that anymore. What can be said that hasn't already been said? 12 issues of f-all happening.

Overall this team has been around for a long time and I hope one day to see them have another run again, preferably back to their former glory but not afraid to introduce new concepts to build upon itself.

#losh #legion of super heroes #right on all accounts

[actuallyadcfan]

Complete based on this

#batfam

[actuallyadcfan]

Am I actually a huge fan of Karate Kid? No. Will I defend his honour every time he's left out of a best martial artists of the DC universe list? Yes.

#no for real #i kinda think hes boring #jeckie can do better #but hes the best martial artist ever #full stop #losh #legion of super heroes

[actuallyadcfan]

PT. 4 of Drawing Legionnaires eyes: Gates

#he looks so good #those are the eyes of someone that cares about the plight of the workers #gates of vyrga #ti'julk mr'asz #legion of super heroes #losh

[actuallyadcfan]

I often think about losh and how so many of its characters have little to no autonomy or agency over their own lives and then I get really sad.

#well this made me sad #but still #long live the legion #losh

[actuallyadcfan]

Honestly I really wanted to see the Legionnaires acclimating more to Earth because most of them are aliens who haven't spent much time on Earth even if they are human or even from the same solar system.

I would have loved to see every now and then one of them stopping in front of a harmless benign bug and screaming for Lyle to identify 1.) Is it dangerous and 2.) What the fuck is it?!

Then depending on the severity of freak out Lyle either informs them professionally or enjoys a good bit of fun telling them that a lady bug will be involved in the worst kind of body horror you can imagine.

Even Lyle gets tired of explaining that "Yes, that is a dog, yes I know it looks nothing like the last 13 dogs we've seen, but it's a dog."

He saved Garth's life when the poor boy tried to approach a goose "because it's just a bird I totally know what a bird is!" While Lyle is screaming.

"It's a bird with teeth you fool!"

#this would be so cool #like its way better than the silver age where apparently all of these aliens know moby dick or something #even i dont know moby dick let alone then #losh #legion of super heroes

[actuallyadcfan]

PT. 3 of Drawing Legionnaires eyes: Lyle

#the brownest of browns #so cool #lyle norg #invisible kid #legion of super heroes #losh

[actuallyadcfan]

PT. 2 of Drawing Legionnaires eyes: Imra

inspired by @ neapoliting's design and the 2006 cartoon design, my two favorite Imra looks.

#wow i really love this #like i love more alien looks for imra in general #specially with pink as a color #so thats so great #imra ardeen #saturn girl #legion of super heroes #losh

[actuallyadcfan]

oops

#writing #yes #just yes

[actuallyadcfan]

#im in this photo and i dont like it

[actuallyadcfan]

PT. 1 of Drawing Legionnaires eyes: Jenni

ref/inspo (i think its a makeup add lmao)

Also inspired by @/ maxinstoresnow's jenni design, which I love very much

#this is so great i love it #excited for the next ones #specially the more alien legionnaires with funky eye colors #losh #jenni ognats #legion of super heroes

[actuallyadcfan]

I've actually been thinking a lot about this, how even very good writers like pkj are harmed by lack of editorial continuity, like all this needed was an editor saying "Hey durlans don't act nor look like that buddy" but noooooo bc with bendis durlans might look like that now no one knows canon is a lie editorial barely even has character bibles let alone lore ones

I'm so tired of PKJ using Durlans like some generic species when they have a specific story and setting.

And people defend it because "they're not that important"/"no one cares".

Then why is he using the name at all if it's so unimportant? Because random readers with only a passing familiarity with cosmic DC will see it and feel fulfilled because they recognised a name, even though they know nothing about it? Or is there any other reason why he can't just invent a generic alien species to use instead?

It's also possibly that he's writing them pre-Six Minute War, which would explain the lack of powers and prescens of flora and societal structure, but that makes no sense with the established timeline. And still, why? Is he going to show the Six Minute War on page? Or is he just messing shit it up for no reason, because that really seems like the only other alternative if he's not actually showing the war.

Durla's story is one born from the Cold War and the nuclear anxiety of that era. We're currently in a new era of nuclear anxiety and instability, and I think that story has much more relevance to us today than just whatever he's trying to replace it with.

#not trying to excuse his flaws of course #he could do better research and actually try to do the lore #like the braal mention in williamsons superman felt better #even if it left me confused bc it was technically breaking braal was colonized by humans/seeded by valor lore #but even then at least it was a magneto planet #not a fucking up head world/regent place with pink people #that actually seems more like bendisboot brande than anything tbh #dc #losh

[actuallyadcfan]

Okay okay so I was reading the new superman issue and like braal was there and I literally had to stop and freak out bc how is that even possible

#like i have no idea how braal works in the current continuity #blame bendisboot #but im pretty sure that in most canons before braal was made out of human colonists #so how the fuck can it exist in the 21st century #like ik that the writer probably never thought about any of this and just wanted a single power planet for brainiac to destroy #but im a legion fan so i need to overthink about how this is possible #losh #legion of super heroes #superman #brainiac

[actuallyadcfan]

#but but but #everyone knows DnA #or at least #everyone should know DnA

[actuallyadcfan]

To all the folks in the losh fandom, especially the ones who are huge fans of b5, can you please just like reblog or even comment on this post so I can obsess over brainy with more people (aside from myself). Please?

#actually yes #very very much normal about the legion

[actuallyadcfan]

If this is true that's so crazy like it's the second time x men took legion concepts (after the whole nightcrawler thing) and even if hickman's writing has its flaws I still think he could have flourished under the legion's sci-fi worldbuilding

#i still think legion chimeras or circuits could have been so interesting #maybe an equivalent to omegas but for humanoid aliens #also computo would 100% stand in for the phalanx #either way it would have been better than bendisboot #yes still mad about that #losh #legion of super heroes

[actuallyadcfan]

it probably wasn't, considering the mess that was continuity in the early silver age comics, but that's still so cool

i wonder if this was intentional

#like none of them had real names early on #and winath wasnt even a twin planet before ayla #not to mention aylas introduction completely forgot mekt existed #but well thats how comics worked back in the day #losh #legion of super heroes