Though my stalwart pal and colleague The Rev. OJ Flow already talked about this on the ‘Rama Mothership, I still think that it’s appropriate to devote the LB space this week to one of the biggest media moments in the history of the Legion: their first live-action appearance on Smallville.
The Geoff Johns-penned episode, “Legion”, did a nice job of estabilshing Legion basics for those unfamiliar with the characters. I’ll use my wife’s viewing experience as an example. She knew of the Legion, primarily because I have a ridiculous number of Legion comics. She knew that there had been an animated series, and that there was one shelf in our basement occupied with Silver Age Superman and Legion figures. Past that, she didn’t know much about the team. She could probably tell you that they came from the future, and that was about it.
From her standpoint, this episode was extremely easy to follow. Johns distilled the Legion down to essential concepts, while throwing lots of bones to long-time fans. Seriously, between the Persuader and mentions of the Levitz Museum, Brainiac 5, the Time Institute, the Subs, the Legion code, the significance of flight rings, and the call of “Long Live the Legion”, one could almost picture Johns cackling with glee as he typed each word. Becky pointed out that she saw an expositional advantage in having the Legion use their powers in quick succession; even if you didn’t know everyone, you could check off magnetism, telepathy, and electricity pretty quickly (though this was reinforced in dialogue later).
In terms of the actors, we both thought that they all did a fine job. Becky even noted that Cosmic Boy was “cute”, comic-related praise that she usually reserves for the eyes of John Cassaday. Nevertheless, I have to say that I thought this whole affair was a pretty terrific achievement for a TV budget.
What about you, gang? Do we hear calls for a spin-off?
January 20th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Live action Heroes meets Battlestar Gallactica version of the Legion? Never thought of that before. Now I can’t stop! Love it!
January 20th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Fantastic opportunity for a spin-off. I’d be glued every week, and I think it’d turn into a better compliment for Supernatural than Smallville itself.
January 20th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
Troy, you just described my own dear wife’s Legion knowledge to perfection. She was filled with question upon question -after- the episode aired, and I did my best to explain what I could. Starting with Trinity3K was the best way to introduce the Legion as a whole to unfamiliar viewership. But I do have to say a couple of other things stuck out at me.
1. Calling the orb of leftover malignant nanobots Brainiac 5 didn’t sit well with me. Sorry… he’s a biological construct, not a reprogrammed mechanical one. (He just has the -emotions- of a machine at times… until Kara comes along.)
2. The actor who portrayed Garth didn’t sit well with me. Garth is a hothead, not a wide-eyed antiquities geek; that’s Rokk, to a point. (He was always the historian of the crew.) But the one who played Rokk was spot-on how I pictured him. He had the one thing that Rokk Krinn has always had on the printed page: presence.
3. Given seeing the Persuader in action and given that Vic Stone has been on the show before– not that I’d consider Vic a progenitor of Tharok, by any reasonable means– we have the implied existence of the Fatal Five.
The only problem I have with seeing a serious spin-off of this be considered is that TV execs would be looking not for the next Heroes/BSG, but considering the network, they’d be looking at it more for the teen angst angle… which would destroy what the show should truly about. Only the Archie Legion truly had any semblance of teen angest for a while… but even then, it was played more for humor than for anything serious. (A truly serious Legion disappeared for a while between the end of year two and Legion of the Damned.)
Given all that, though… I’d love to see a follow-up story arc next season, since it’s becoming more and more obvious at this point that Smallville will, in some way, be back for another year. But the goal of the series should be to have Johns pen the episodes or, at the least, consult on them as the continuity cop in order to keep things true to both the series and to the concepts of the Legion.
As for me? I’m digging through stacks of comics to bring out some Legion for my wife to read. Seems she wants to learn a bit more about those three…
January 21st, 2009 at 4:15 am
The episode was okay but there was one GLARING problem with the depiction of the legion that clouded my reception of the episode from that point forward. Their willingness to kill was anathema to legion code. When it was first suggested that they kill Brainiac’s host I jumped out of my seat in shock and disgust yelling “WTF? Legionnaires don’t kill”.
I get it that it was for moving the plot forward in the story and that for 99% of the viewers watching it didn’t strike a dischordanent note about this “Legion” at all but to this LONG time fan it was like an unexpected hard slap to the face.
How could Johns do something so base as changing the entire mores system that the legion has adhered to for like forever. It felt like a betrayal.
As for the portrayal of Lightning Lad as a Superman fanboy I found that a refreshing change in his character. The depiction of him for the last couple of decades as a hot-headed jackass has just grated me the wrong way. He was never like that during the Levitz years and before. So to change his character to that was IMHO an example of writers not knowing how to truly write unique characters without resorting to using archetypes of mental instability. Isn’t that what Villian characters are for? I kept expecting him to join Mext in the LSV at any point. So again to see Garth portrayed as ANYTHING else was extremely refreshing.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:33 am
I’ve seen a handful of Smallville episode, not including Legion.
However from what I’ve read online about this episode I can safely agree that I would watch, and support, an on-going Legion TV series.
And I would be in geek-ecstacy each week because of it.
January 21st, 2009 at 7:11 am
Apparently you were so disgusted with their willingness to kill that you didn’t bother watching the end where Kal-El himself, their inspiration, helped to make it Rule #1 of the Legion Code.
That more or less fits history regardless of which Legion we’re talking about.
January 21st, 2009 at 7:23 am
It would be an awesome show. BUT, it would be TOO EXPENSIVE to produce a show that takes place 3000 years in the future where everyone can fly and has super powers. Wake up, kids, there’s a reason Clark doesn’t fly on Smallville: it’s too expensive!
January 21st, 2009 at 7:35 am
I’d certainly watch a spinoff. I enjoyed the Legion episode of Smallville…though it was the first episode I bothered watching in 6 seasons or so.
Sadly, creating the 31st century on a weekly TV series budget is probably outside the CW’s price range. While I’d be relatively confident that the heroes could be done well enough, I think the depiction of the 31st century would be considerably less epic than it really should be.
Personally, I think a “Smallville-JLA” spinoff series is more likely.
January 21st, 2009 at 7:46 am
I’d love to see a Legion series, if Geoff were involved. With Smallville having such a miniscule budget now, though, I doubt the CW could even afford something too expensive.
I’d be okay with Legionnaires stuck in present day, but that does take away from some of the grandeur of the concept. One thing’s for sure, though – I definitely would like to see the Legion on SV again.
January 21st, 2009 at 8:20 am
I say yes. The ‘teen angst’ has ALWAYS been in the Legion, with all of the dating, love triangles, etc. The soap opera vein is ready to be mined. The action is inherent. The characters are there with more defined abilities than heroes… it’s in their names. Easily accessible and just plain fun. Plus, if references to the future were fan geek-outs on Smallville, then references to the past on this spin-off would be Easter eggs for fans and reference points for newbies.
January 21st, 2009 at 8:46 am
Yeah, I like the idea. Personally, I think it would be a good start to have it start with the Legion returning from 2009, and implementing the new “all life is sacred” rule. It would create some instant conflict with some of the legion and cause some great storyline opportunities, prehaps even dismissing Earth man (?-the dude from the Justice League of the future from the Legion/Superman arch) from the Legion.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:00 am
I can’t think of very many instances where the cartoon failed and they then made a live-action show.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:23 am
Sorry, Zeus, but it is probably the other way round. It is more likely that the Legion taught Superman not to kill than the opposite. Johns is known for butchering concepts to fit his needs (see the awful Lightning Saga and the uber-awful Infinite Crisis).
January 21st, 2009 at 9:25 am
If only they had a large enough budget, this could be amazing. And, speaking of size…
“My wife knew of the Legion, primarily because I have a ridiculous number of Legion comics.”
OK, Troy, we need hard numbers here. What EXACTLY constitutes “ridiculous”?
January 21st, 2009 at 9:49 am
Sorry, Zeus, but it is probably the other way round. It is more likely that the Legion taught Superman not to kill than the opposite. Johns is known for butchering concepts to fit his needs (see the awful Lightning Saga and the uber-awful Infinite Crisis).
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Yeah…I blame Meltzer for any faults Lightning Saga had, and DC editorial for any faults Infinite Crisis had. Rebirth was awesome. Sinestro Corps War was awesome. Superman and the Legion was awesome. The only thing Johns is known for is writing kick-ass stories when people leave him to his own devices.
As long as the no kill rule eventually pops up, whether it was the Legion or Superman that came up with it really isn’t that big of a deal.
Anyway, a Legion TV show? I’d watch, but I have doubts they could pull off a good one without a large SFX budget.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:50 am
I’m for it. If anything though, I’d love to see Clark go to the 30th century for an episode or 2. Maybe the season finale and opener if the budget’s big enough. And with Geoff involved, of course.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:51 am
“OK, Troy, we need hard numbers here. What EXACTLY constitutes “ridiculous”?”
In my case, I’d say I have all of them when including the Legion Archives.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:57 am
@Dave, who said: “OK, Troy, we need hard numbers here. What EXACTLY constitutes “ridiculous”?”
Are you an insurance adjuster, Dave?
Well, let’s see. Pretty much everything from 1979 till now for sure, plus several prior. That includes the Who’s Who in the Legion mini, the Secrets mini, Legionnaires 3, the complete run of L.E.G.I.O.N., all of the post-Superboy LSH issues, the whole Baxter series, the whole five-year gap, post Zero-Hour, the present 49 issues . . . so more than I want to count, probably. I even have the Wanderers spin-off.
Cool thing: I also have quite a few of the DC Blue Ribbon Digests that they had of Adventure Comics and the Legion from the late ’70s/early ’80s. Good stuff there.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:47 am
I’ve never been a huge fan of the Legion of Superheroes. Nor have i been that big a fan of Smallville. That the Legion episode of Smallville was extremely enjoyable. Geoff was actually able to work with the fact that everybody knows who Clark Kent will become, and so the audience got a lot of satisfaction out of those small moments…at least i did.
My only complaint: No Brainiac 5. I mean, i know enough about the Legion that Brainiac 5 should’ve been somewhere. They referred to him, but that’s not the same.
January 21st, 2009 at 11:18 am
I would absolutely love a Legion show. But Legion fans can’t even support a comic book, how could they support a show?
January 21st, 2009 at 11:51 am
Oh how shortly we forget
Im I the only one who still remember the legion show not that long ago on the CW had great ratings but you all were crying that Batman was not on it well the samething going to happen to this show
January 21st, 2009 at 2:52 pm
…”Battlestar Galactica” version of the Legion? Didn’t we crash and burn with that idea when the Bierbaums foisted the “Five Year Crap” on us?
January 21st, 2009 at 2:56 pm
I know! the “Five Year Crap” was so horrible unsuccessful and not popular that it ended quickly thereafter, and certainly didn’t spinoff into a new series. Oh, wait.
I think ANY television show – ESPECIALLY a sci-fi superhero one – would be pretty happy with a run as long as 5YL…which was, er, 5 years.
January 21st, 2009 at 3:32 pm
“I would absolutely love a Legion show. But Legion fans can’t even support a comic book, how could they support a show?”
…The problem isn’t that Legion fans can’t support a book, it’s that for the past several years Didio hasn’t given the fans a book that *can* support. “Threeboot” was exceeded as an EPIC FAIL only by the “Five Year Crap”, and proves what I said about rebooting the Legion the first time around: if a writer can’t figure out how to work with existing Legion continuity, then they don’t need to take the assignment.
“I think ANY television show – ESPECIALLY a sci-fi superhero one – would be pretty happy with a run as long as 5YL…which was, er, 5 years.”
…You’re not going to make me back down on this one, Matty. The Bierbaum run was a disaster, and throwing the “Brady Thunderbolts” won’t change that by one iota.
January 21st, 2009 at 3:38 pm
>>You’re not going to make me back down on this one, Matty. The Bierbaum run was a disaster,<<
I’ll agree that, in your opinion, it was a disaster, but in its five years (again, which any sci-fi series would be blessed to have a run as long as), it was such a “disaster” that it sold strongly enough to launch a spinoff and other side projects. There have been acclaimed, “hits” in the eyes of the larger industry, not one fan, that have not lasted as long.
But to say that it crashed and burned? Not really, from a business sense, which is what people are talking about in terms of would a Legion live action series work, which is wholly different from, “Would OM like a live action Legion series?”
January 21st, 2009 at 4:00 pm
“But to say that it crashed and burned? Not really, from a business sense, which is what people are talking about in terms of would a Legion live action series work, which is wholly different from, “Would OM like a live action Legion series?””
…Two points:
1) Matty, let’s keep in mind that if the Bierbaum Debacle was such a success, then *why* was a reboot deemed necessary?
2) OM would like a live-action Legion series *if* they can manage to at least keep it halfway in line with the comic book. No cheap corner cutting, such as “well, Durlans are too expensive to film, so we won’t have Chamelion Boy, etc”, and at least keep the bullshit “teen angst” to a dull roar as opposed to being the show’s primary focus. I don’t watch “Smallville” for that very reason.
January 21st, 2009 at 4:37 pm
OM
The reboot was necessary simply because 4 years down the road, way after even the Bierbaums left, DC was cold feet and didn´t know what to do with the Legion. Moreover, they decided to give the main plot to a colorist whose previous scripting chores were… non-existent.
If you say the 5-year-gap was a failure, then L3W is an utter disaster, since it still sells less than what TMK sold back in the days.
It is also important to say that Giffen was hindered to do what he planned to do and actually left the book for a number of times because DC kept changing rules. This doesn’t seem to be a problem for Johns – he can do whatever he wants to the franchise, as long as he does something.
January 21st, 2009 at 4:55 pm
i think it’s about time lesser known properties like the legion were exploited and got their own tv show, just the way all the popular heroes nowadays started out. fair enough, things like iron man wouldn’t be done justice on television, but daredevil could and if they can do smallville they can do the legion. we really should have shows centred around dc/marvel characters that people are unfamiliar with to show them that the universes are bigger than they know…
January 21st, 2009 at 5:20 pm
would love it to see the Legion as Real Live Action Series
maybe as 13 episodes series, cause this is going to an expensive
series.This idea is much better than a Green Arrow,Flash,Starman
Graysons or Aquaman Live Series.The series would be a bomb!
And it did not feel like coping Smallville.
January 21st, 2009 at 7:08 pm
would def LOVE a legion show!!
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:25 am
The Legion got rebooted because John Byrne destroyed Superman and everything associated with him with his god awful reboot. Then Mike Carlin and the Superman office refused to allow mentions of Superman, Metropolis in the future. After years of convoluted attempts to fix Byrne and Carlin’s damage the plug was pulled on the real LSH.
Sure, I’d like a Legion show, but I’d probably would watch it twice a year, like Smallville.
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Grife, yes! A Legion live-action show would be incredible! As long as they count Shadow Lass among the active membership, I’m in! Johns’ recent teaming of Tasmia with Night Girl is brilliant and would translate really well to the small screen . . . or better yet, to the big screen!
October 11th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Jim Hammond is either on drugs or an old geezer full of Silver Age nostalgia. John Byrne’s reboot was probably the best thing that ever happened to Superman. It put an end to the cheesy, inconsistent stories of the ‘classic’ Superman re-defined him for the modern era just as Batman: Year One set the most iconic direction for the Dark Knight. Nearly all of the greatest Superman stories told originated from the John Byrne reboot.
August 19th, 2010 at 11:21 pm
I haven’t seen smallville in the longest time. I think I should start writing about it on my blogpost here http://evoire.com/members/shockware2/ or I should make that blog work related.