Last summer, I had Barry talk about his time in the 1990s when he worked on Superman. This time around, I invited him back to discuss Legion of Super-Heroes. The full how is now available on YouTube.\
FCF: Looking back, what was your biggest takeaway from working on Superman?
Barry Kitson: Probably the friendships. The Superman team would gather twice a year—writers and artists together—to brainstorm six months of stories for all four
books. It was unusual to have that many creators in one room. We had running jokes, rivalries… it was a good time. Mike Carlin was an amazing editor.
FCF: Those summits were unique. I don’t think they could repeat that today.
Barry Kitson: Probably not. You could do it online, but I doubt they’d fly everyone in from all over the States—and me from England—just to brainstorm for days.
FCF: You have a new Legion project with DC. Tell the fans about it.
Barry Kitson: DC just announced a hardcover omnibus of the work Mark Waid and I did on Legion of Super‑Heroes in the 2000s—the “Threeboot” era. I’m doing a new cover for it, so I get to revisit the Legion and the costumes I designed. My first regular DC book was L.E.G.I.O.N., and I learned early that Legion readers are some of the most dedicated fans in comics. I’m still in touch with people who read the book in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Going from that to drawing the “real” Legion—one of my favorite comics growing up—was special.
FCF: Did you ever want to draw Doom Patrol?
Barry Kitson: Yes, absolutely. That’s why they ended up in Justice League: Year One.
FCF: When you and Mark Waid were doing your Legion run, where does that body of work rank for you?
Barry Kitson: Pretty highly. We were told no one else at DC would touch the characters—it was entirely our realm. We had grand plans that would’ve taken five or six years. But the “no one else will touch them” promise lasted only a few months before a bigger name wanted to use some characters, and things unraveled.
Our aim was to honor all previous Legion versions without taking anything away from anyone’s favorite era. One idea was that every time you travel backward in time, you create another reality—each one home to a previous Legion. Then once a year, another Legion would visit ours, like the old JLA/JSA crossovers. But once Supergirl became a hot character, she was pulled into other books, and we couldn’t do it.
There were Easter eggs—like the spinner rack in Legion HQ with DC Comics on it. We wanted a separate mythology, but higher‑profile books needed the characters.
FCF: Why did you leave the series before it ended?
Barry Kitson: We saw our grand scheme falling apart. Each month, we were told we could do less and less of what we planned. It became frustrating—having to alter ideas into something less satisfying. Eventually, we thought, why not go do something fresh instead of lamenting what we couldn’t do?
FCF: Let’s go farther back. Your first Legion work was the Legend of the Legion miniseries in ’88. What do you remember?
Barry Kitson: I can’t remember exactly why it came about. I’d always co‑written with everyone I worked with. I met Mark when he came on to do dialogue for L.E.G.I.O.N. because I was writing and drawing it myself. DC wanted me to continue writing, and everyone knew I was a big Legion fan, so I was offered it.
FCF: Did you always want to be a writer?
Barry Kitson: Not just a writer—I wanted to be a storyteller. I always tried to work with writers in a symbiotic way. The first thing I did at DC was call the writer on the script. On my first Legion annual, I called Paul Levitz directly. Karen Berger said, “You called Paul? You don’t just ring the editor‑in‑chief!” But Paul and I have been friends ever since.
I never asked for co‑writing credit. I just wanted to be involved in the storytelling. I loved the old Marvel Method, which is mostly gone now. That’s why many modern comics feel like people standing around talking. The kinetic energy is missing for me.
FCF: You’re very diplomatic. You don’t like ruffling feathers.
Barry Kitson: I’m English. And I always think, “Who am I to say this about someone else’s work?” I have opinions, but they don’t carry more weight than anyone else’s. I’m still learning.
FCF: How did your Legion run with Mark Waid come together?
Barry Kitson: Dan Didio came to us and said they needed a fresh start. Mark and I are both big Legion fans. Our motivation was: how do we restart it without wiping out previous work? We wanted everything to be inclusive. Anyone could be a Legionnaire—just show up and say you’re one.
We explained the “lad/lass” names by saying they’d seen DC Comics from the 20th century. That would’ve been revealed in our grand plan. We tried to be more realistic about the future, like two people in the same room, only looking at screens. That came true before we finished the series. Uniform symbols were going to be animated, like Light Lass’s arrows, constantly moving.
FCF: What was your personal highlight?
Barry Kitson: The moment Mark told me we had to kill Dream Girl. She was my favorite character. We argued for days. Mark is less romantic about the story—he follows the logic. Eventually, I agreed it was right for the story. That’s the moment I remember most.
FCF: Do you think the series would’ve done better with less interference?
Barry Kitson: I honestly don’t know. We were successful compared to what came before. I’m notorious for not reading books after I leave them. I don’t want to be frustrated or be the guy calling another creator saying they’re doing it wrong. If someone shows me something brilliant, I’ll call and say so. But I’d rather not be a negative voice.
FCF: DC is reviving the Legion again. What would make a successful revival?
Barry Kitson: You need people who genuinely love the Legion. Some recent revivals didn’t feel emotionally connected to the characters. As someone who’s read the Legion since I was six, for me to say I found some versions difficult to read… that’s a confession.
FCF: Any closing thoughts?
Barry Kitson: Going back through material for the omnibus brought back a lot of memories. I realized how much I enjoyed that period. When you’re doing monthly books, you go straight from one project to the next. Looking back, maybe Shadow Lass was always my favorite—but on any given day, it’s whoever I’m drawing.
FCF: Barry Kitson, thank you so much.
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