Whenever I think of Superboy and the Legion, I often have that old song from The Sound of Music—“There’s Something About Maria”—of course, substituting Superboy for Maria. It seems that after the big event, Crisis on Infinite Earths, decades ago, the Legion spent most of its time in crisis.
Last week, I covered the Legion’s “Great Darkness Saga,” which is considered by many fans to be possibly the best Legion story ever. Not that there weren’t other great stories, but it represents everything that Legion was as a team. I think topping that arc would have been challenging, regardless of the creators, because of the choices DC made shortly after the story’s appearance.
Now, newer fans don’t get the love of the Legion, because for years, DC hasn’t quite known what to do with it. The last go around, even Bendis couldn’t make the Legion work. But for decades, the Legion was a fan-favorite—and that’s an understatement. Maybe DC is finally trying to get the Legion right, given its recent appearances over the last couple of years.
The Legion of Super-Heroes made their debut in Adventure Comics #247 in April 1958. Their first appearance was intended as a standalone tale, showcasing Superboy encountering three teens from the 30th century: Lightning Boy, Saturn Girl, and Cosmic Boy. However, it became a hit and eventually found a home in Adventure Comics for much of the 1960s.
Future editor-in-chief Jim Shooter created some iconic tales, starting at the age of 14. The first Superboy series, which began in 1949, officially became Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes with issue #222 in 1976. In 1981, it was retitled and became the Legion of Super-Heroes. In the 1980s, the Legion, under the leadership of Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen, became DC’s second-best-selling series. Of course, New Teen Titans by Wolfman and Perez was number one.
Then the Crisis hit, and among the casualties was the fact that Superboy was no longer canon. Clark Kent was never Superboy and appeared only as the adult Superman. Taking away Superboy from the Legion is akin to saying there was no Robin or picking any member of the Fantastic Four.
The new rules make it a significant challenge for Legion stories moving forward. Anything Superman—including Supergirl—was not allowed in any way, shape, or form in anything connected to the Legion. Truthfully, creators spent years trying to figure out how to make the Legion work without a Superboy, with mixed results.
Well, after the Crisis, there were some fantastic runs of the Legion. However, numerous reboots and retcons accompanied it all. It became to the point of almost needing a scorecard to keep track of everything. And, all of that did a lot of damage to the Legion as a concept.
There have been multiple flavors of the Legion—often running at the same time. It’s been kind of hard to have a proper Legion comeback because of all the damage done in the past. Maybe, with all the new changes going on at DC, they might, finally, find a way to make the Legion fantastic again.
If you haven’t read a lot of the Legion, go about and do some digging. There are many other great story arcs, besides the “Great Darkness”. There are tons of trades out there, covering most of the Legion through the years. Out of all the superhero teams, it’s fair to say the Legion has some of the most in-depth mythos and characters that have changed and evolved over the years.
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