Dan DiDio Doesn't Get The Legion

From a panel at the Toronto Fan Expo:

When the floor opened up to other topics, someone inquired whether there were plans to expand on the Legion of Superheroes?

“The problem with Legion of Superheroes is the big cast and my biggest personal problem was the lack of Superboy and the inspiration for the team,” offers DiDio. “That was so key to the origin and so key to so much going on there that without that, without Superboy to inspire the team, it lost its own purpose and just became a team. It was something set in the future, but it didn’t have a real tether to what was going on in the DC Universe currently. What we are trying to do is rebuild that time, rebuild that sensibility, and hopefully rebuild a Legion that is a strong powerful set of characters in the DC U again.”

Now, of course Dan DiDio is entitled to his own opinion. But this statement shows that he pretty much doesn't understand the Legion's history, its success, and why fans love the Legion.

"The problem with Legion of Superheroes is the big cast?" Really? One might ask, then, why DiDio was so enthusiastic about Legion Of 3 Worlds, which not only shoehorned in every tangential member of that cast, but tripled it by bringing in two alternate universe versions. If it wasn't a problem in LO3W, why would the "large cast" be a barrier to a new, continuing series?

And of course, the "big cast" is really no more a problem for the Legion than it is, say, for the Justice League or Society. There's no rule that says you have to use everybody at once. You pick and choose who your team is for that story, or that arc. Very few Legion stories have ever crammed in every member, and few in the future would have to. Just because you have a kitchen sink doesn't mean you're going to throw it in there every issue.

Most obviously, though, one of the very reasons for the Legion's popularity IS the big cast. You have literally a huge legion of heroes to choose from, and the fans love it. The times of the Legion's greatest popularity have coincided with when their cast was the largest.

Problem? The "large cast" isn't a problem, Dan, it's an opportunity.

And if too large a cast is a problem, one might finally ask why DC is busy trying to incorporate the large casts of Milestone (oops--never mind!), Red Circle and T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents into their universe.

Secondly, Didio's "biggest personal problem was the lack of Superboy and the inspiration for the team."

Again, this shows a lack of knowledge of the Legion. From 1980 onwards, Superboy was not a regular member of the team. He'd show up for special ocassions, but the title changed from Superboy And The Legion Of Super-Heroes to just The Legion Of Superheroes in January of 1980.

Yet, despite that lack of Superboy, the Legion from that point onwards was popular enough to be able to support two separate title simultaneously--twice. The Legion of the 1980s and 90s was very popular, and reached creative and sales heights it hadn't when young Kal-El was attached.

Yes, some foolish DC editorial moves retconned Superboy out of the Legion's past--2 or 3 times, actually. I won't rehash that here. But to say that "we don't want to publish a Legion title because we screwed up Superboy" is the same thing as saying "we're going to punish you fans because we did something stupid 20 years ago." Thanks, Dan.

"...without Superboy to inspire the team, it lost its own purpose and just became a team?" Come on, Dan, are you serious? Do the JLA or the Outsiders spend every issue worrying about their "inspiration" or "their purpose?" (Except, of course, for Justice League: Cry for Boredom). For 2 decades the Legion did just fine by being inspired by "corrupted legends" about a Superboy, or by Mon-El, or whomever...and it worked just fine. Unless you're going to have them genuflecting "this is for you, Superboy" every issue, I don't see how this is any different than how you treat the Titans or the JLA. And i can't see why it would take more than one issue to re-establish their inspiration, if you think it's that important.

"It was something set in the future, but it didn’t have a real tether to what was going on in the DC Universe currently." That's not just wrong, it's just plain ignorant of DC history.

Without Superboy as a regular, the Legion fought off Darkseid and Ra's Al Ghul. They participated in several line-wide events, such as Legends, Millennium, Zero Hour and Countdown. They had at least 3 members who had mini-series set in the 20th century. Hell, for a couple of years they had half the team actually stuck in the 20th century. They were linked (albeit somewhat tenuously at times) with the L.E.G.I.O.N. and R.E.B.E.L.S. titles. They've had modern Superboy and Supergirl as members. They're constantly time-travelling into the 21st century these days, partying with Superman and the JLA and the JSA. They hung out with Batman in Brave & Bold. They were responsible for resurrecting both Kid Flash and Connor Kent Superboy. Mon-El is the star of the Superman comic book these days.

Don't have a real tether to what was going on in the DC Universe currently? Dan, what the frak are you talking about?!? If you're paying attention, the Legion has been "tethered" more strongly to the DC Universe than half of your 20th century DC books.

Finally,Dan, to get to the dreaded bottom line, if these are problems, why is DC printing trades from these non-Superboy eras, and fans demanding more? I know, I know, you'll whip out your standard "that's a different division of DC" line, like you always do. But the fact remains--someone at DC sees the sales potential of the Legion despite "large casts" and "untetheredness", while you just opine about the "problems".

Dan, the Legion is more popular and better than you think it is. If you're really this ignorant about the history and potential of one of your oldest super teams, you're doing a poor job as Editor. If not, and you're just ladling BS to cover the real reason ("we're waiting for Geoff Johns to be ready"), then be honest with us.

But instead of a thriving, vital Legion, what we have now is what almost precisely fits the vision DiDio described: a back-up feature with just a couple of characters appearing at a time, wandering around the 21st century. Yawn.

"What we are trying to do ...is rebuild a Legion that is a strong powerful set of characters in the DC U again." You know, that sounds exactly how you enthusiastically described the Milestone characters in July of 2008. Do you see why I'm concerned, Dan??

Bridges Burned, Opportunities Lost

Irony can be a bitter brew.

When DC announced that Legion of Super-Heroes was being canceled with #50, before Jim Shooter's story was completed, everyone knew that it was so the current version of the Legion would be finished at the same time as Final Crisis and Legion of 3 Worlds. That way there would be a clear field for the shiny new continuity Geoff Johns would be giving us when he took over in Adventure Comics.

The problem, of course, was that meant that Jim Shooter's story line, intended to run through #54, would have to be somehow wrapped up 4 issues prematurely. Not to mention, it meant ending the Legion's 50th anniversary year with a plethora of bad publicity (along with the cancellation of the cartoon and the Johnny D.C. title).

And, as a final embarrassing consequence, Shooter didn't even write #50. We're not privy to the back room scuttlebutt yet, but either he refused or was canned, because the rushed conclusion to the epic story was published under an obvious pseudonym, "Justin Thyme." So the big send off to this iteration of the Legion was actually scripted by persons unknown, landing with kind of a thud. Which also seems to mean that after all the hoopla that DC made after signing Shooter to write Legion, DC has apparently burned their bridges with him, not even offering him any other assignments (Shooter himself has said he might do some work "for another company").

What's the irony in all of this, you ask?

Simple. Legion of 3 Worlds is running so late (only just releasing issue #3 this week) that they could have let Shooter have the last 4 issues to finish up as he wished, and probably still had Legion wrapped up before Lo3W finished up. So the bad publicity, the pseudonym, the burned bridges...not necessary at all.



Hell of a way to run a railroad, as my grandfather used to say.

(Let me just note, in fairness, that Shooter's is probably not blameless in all of this. It was naive of him to expect to be given free reign to do a frakking 18-issue story arc--although presumably somebody in DC editorial signed off signed off on that idea--and frankly, I didn't think it was all that great a story. And given Shooter's legendary...persnicketiness...it's possible that he left DC no choice but to run with the unsigned rushed ending they did in #50.)

Legion Lost

A few thoughts on the upcoming cancellation of The Legion of Super-Heroes, cause I loves me some Legion.

First, poor Jim Shooter. Now, I was no huge fan of his current run. It was slow, repetitive, and occasionally turgid. And who starts off their run with a 16-issue mega arc?

But I still think DC treated him badly. After months of rumors that he was being canned from Legion, and months of speculation that Legion of 3 Worlds meant that Geoff Johns' version of the Legion was taking over, DC made only the most terse and non-committal of public denials. And now the other shoe drops--he's not being replaced, Legion is being canceled. Before Shooter's storyline is fully finished. Just coincidentally immediately after LO3W finishes.

Yeah, but this is Jim Shooter, right? Surely DC would have him do something else, right? Nope.

"I might be doing some stuff for Dark Horse, and I've been talking to the Valiant Entertainment people, who want me to do some things," Shooter said. "So I have no shortage of stuff to do. It's just that I was really enjoying this. I was hoping it would press on."

So. After all the fanfare about hiring him, it's buh-bye. Go peddle your wares elsewhere. DC used Shooter as stunt casting, and then tossed him aside. Whether it's because the sales were too low, or because Geoff Johns cleared his throat, Shooter deserved better.

Secondly, we should note that the while Legion has been on "hiatus" before, the was usually an intervening mini-series, such as Legion Lost or Legion Worlds. DC may already have something planned, and is just playing this pretty close to the vest until they're ready to announce. But if they don't, this "hiatus" will mean that, for the first time in almost half a century, DC won't be publishing any Legion of Super-Heroes. Happy 50th, Legion!!

Finally, Johns has said in about a dozen interviews that LO3W would define the Legion, would be "building the characters back up." Of course, one couldn't help but notice that only his version of the Legion actually appeared in LO3W #1 (which should have been titled Legion Of One World Sits Around And Talks All Issue While We Toss The Fans Of The Other Legions A Perez Spread Of The Other Legions As A Bone And Hope They're Satisfied). And now that there will be no stories of the other Legions being published...well, you've seen what's happened to Kyle Rayner and Wally West...do the math.

Decisions, Decisions

You know, in some very important ways, I really can't seem to make up my mind about Legion of 3 Worlds #1. Maybe you, my loyal readers, can help me out here.

Decision #1: Should I be happy that Geoff Johns has managed to go a whole issue without using any fake futuristic swear words?

Or should I be amused and depressed that he replaced it with fake 21st century swear babble?

Yeah, that's how you prove your street cred--replace "grife" with "$#&@&%??" Pretend we're talking tougher, but don't have the balls to really do it?

By the way, what's the over/under on how long until we get our first #$%^ from Barry Allen?

Decision #2: Should I be elated that the red hot team of Johns and George Perez is (hopefully) turning on lots of new fans to the Legion of Super-Heroes?

Or should I be concerned that Johns' hamfisted, one-note characterizations will make all those new readers go, "what's the big deal?" Example, Saturn Girl.

OK, that's nice to know about her...

Well, that was nice again, but you already told us that a few pages ago...

OK, now we're just getting silly. Repetitive much? What's the over/under on the number of times we get that little meme repeated again and again the rest of the series? (And don't get me started on the number of panels dedicated to proving beyond the shadow of a doubt that Garth is a hothead...we get it already, Geoff...)

Decision #3: Is it cool that all the villains of the 31st century have secretly worshipped Superboy-Prime for all these years?


Or should I be going "Hey, wait a minute--Superboy-Prime was never anything more than a lackey for other villains. He was the brainless muscle, the water carrier for Alex Luthor and Sinestro. The Legion of Super-Villains might as well be worshipping Chemo!"

You see the kind of decisions I have?