Spoilers on. Spoilers ahoy. Spoilers go on the backs of Corvettes. Whatever use, iteration or suggestion that there are spoilers ahead that you might need, please take heed.

Got it? Okay.

This week’s Superman #692 dropped a fairly huge surprise on readers concerning Officer Wilcox of the Science Police. She’s . . .

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Legion fans found reason to celebrate this week as the Legion of Super-Heroes returned to regular publication as a co-feature in Adventure Comics. Only one problem . . .

The identification captions on Night Girl and Shadow Lass are switched. Night Girl is the white-skinned powerhouse and love interest of Cosmic Boy; Shadow Lass is the blue-skinned caster of darkness and love interest of Mon-El. Got that?

Also, Mon-El himself is missing from the big group shot, and that shouldn’t be because Mon-El is currently starring in Superman. See, that’s Mon-El in the 21st century, hundreds of years before he joins the Legion. Got that, as well?

Actually, this brings me to a point I wanted to make about the Legion . . .
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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.

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After a brief respite, Legion Blogpost is back and shall continue to go strong!  For installment number three, I’m talking about one of my all-time favorite single issues, #300 of the original Legion of Super-Heroes run.  We will acknowledge at the outset that it is indeed a bit of a cheat; indeed, the book was Superboy and then Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes until issue #259.  Nevertheless, it was a landmark issue celebrated in grand style.

For one thing, the 1983 issue boasted 55 pages of story, a spine, and a jam cover with a variety of artists composing a shot of the entire then-current roster.  Some readers have occasionally had difficulty with the book’s frequently enormous cast.  Honestly, that’s never troubled me.  I think that one of the appeals of the book is the fact that there is a literal legion.  In part, this issue functions so well because of the team’s size and rich history.

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Troy Brownfield’s unavailable today, so I’ve been asked to fill in with this week’s Legion Blogpost.

I get the “indie guy” rap around here, and I guess for good reason, since I typically prefer the non-superhero stuff, but I’ve certainly read my share of superhero comics (still do) and have certain favorites among the cape set.  The Legion’s long been a particular favorite.  My first Legion book was v.4 #74 (a crossover with Karl Kesel’s Superboy series; I literally didn’t even know there was such a thing as a Legion before that crossover).  I found those early post-Zero Hour issues appealing, and hearing of the love for previous versions, I started tracking down issues from Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen’s runs.

Reading three different incarnations at one time, I found myself excited less by any single version and more by the possibilities and range of style the Legion seemed open to.  The strangest thing about reading so many different casts - and so many characters in differing versions - I never really developed any specific favorite characters.  The characters were always secondary to the concept.  But still, people always ask who is your favorite character, so I’ve wondered about it.  I’ve a soft spot for the more interesting, less WASPy designs - Blok, Quislet, Tellus, Shikari, Gates (Sensor and Monstress’s personalities prevented them from ever gaining much favor) - but I think my favorite Legionnaire is Rokk Krinn, Cosmic Boy.

As with many things, it’s Keith Giffen’s fault.

In Giffen’s acclaimed “five years later” run, we find that the Legion has been disbanded and its members scattered.  Mysa, the White Witch,  and Rond Vidar (who, frankly, I always kinda hated) were held captive on the world of the team’s long-time foe Mordru, and a mission to free them ends with Rokk having dinner with Mordru, a nearly omnipotent wizard.  In addition to being a visually striking comic - their dinner conversation is done entirely with a half-page of text alongside a tall, half-page splash - the issue finds Rokk, powerless, negotiating with a vastly more powerful entity for the lives of his teammates.  Suffice to say, the issue ends with the Legion free, Mordru’s other rivals (the Legion’s not his only problem) at bay, and the wizard asking himself, “How can one be so powerless, and yet be the most powerful of them all.”

Later in Giffen’s run, still powerless Rokk would use his wits and tactical mind to defeat B.I.O.N., an andriod with the powers of the entire Legion.  Combine those stories with some of Cos’s leadership in the early Zero Hour issues and his maturity in stepping aside for the next generation and working with the Legion cadets during Levitz’s run, and you have my argument for Rokk Krinn, Cosmic Boy, as the greatest Legionnaire.

Okay, I’ll admit it.  My name is Troy Brownfield, and I’m a long-time Legion junkie.  50 years ago in April, the Legion made its debut in the pages of Adventure Comics.  It’s fair to say that the super-teens from the future had a seismic impact; not only was the Legion the first new super-team of the Silver Age, they played a crucial role in the development of fandom as we know it (particularly with the arrival of classic fan publication “The Legion Outpost”).  To acknowledge one of comics’ long-running teams, we’re starting a little ongoing mini-feature here just to talk about what we love about the Legion.

I’m kicking it off with:

Takron-Galtos:  I’m happy to know that somewhere out there in the galaxy, there is a prison planet for the most heinous offenders in the universe.  Making its debut in Adventure Comics #359 in 1967, Takron-Galtos has since been the scene of many memorable Legion moments.  There was the showdown between a depowered Chameleon Boy and the kid Daxamite in The Great Darkness Saga.  There was its temporary destruction in the original Crisis on Infinite Earths.  And most recently, there was the mass breakout affected by Superboy-Prime in the pages of Legion of Three Worlds.

How about you?  Favorite Legion bits?  Odd characters?  As we go forward, I’ll definitely take a longer look at personalities like Rond Vidar and Dr. Gym’ll, and I understand that one Matt Brady might speak on Shakespeare.  Kent Shakespeare, that is.  Now . . . let’s talk Legion.