Remembering Artist Neal Adams

Remembering artist Neal Adams on his birthday (June 15, 1941 - April 28, 2022) with a pair of his covers from Adventure Comics (#365 and #366, February and March, 1968) featuring Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes, where the team go to the homeworld of Shadow Lass (meeting her for the first time) and face the return of the Fatal Five!

Celebrating Artist Darryl Banks

Celebrating the birthday of artist Darryl Banks (June 7, 1964) with a couple of his Green Lantern covers (#98 and #99, May and June, 1998), where Kyle Rayner ended up in the 30th century of the Legion of Super-Heroes.  

Celebrating Artist Greg LaRocque

Celebrating the birthday of artist Greg LaRocque (February 24, 1954), with a couple of his covers for the Legion of Super-Heroes...#17, December, 1985, sort of a last normal day for the kids of the 30th Century, to be followed by #18, January, 1986, where freeing the time traveling villain, the Infinite Man, allowed the effects of the Crisis On Infinite Earths to start to seep into the Legion's time.

The Wedding Of Karate Kid and Queen Projectra

After a whirlwind romance, and a long period of courtship, Karate Kid and Queen Projectra finally got married.

But, where did this love affair start?

A quick look below....

Adventure Comics #346 (July, 1966)

With "One Of Us Is A Traitor" by Jim Shooter and Sheldon Moldoff, with a cover by Curt Swan and George Klein, the Legion welcomed four new members to their ranks...Karate Kid (Val Armorr) from Earth, Princess Projectra from Orando, Ferro Lad (Andrew Nolan) from Earth and Nemesis Kid (Hart Druiter) from Myar.  These four had to prove themselves to the other Legion members, and did.  

They joined right in time, as Earth and the United Planets were menaced by a new warlike race called the Khunds...and it seems Earth's defenses were being destroyed by a member of the Legion...Karate Kid.

That was not true, and the real traitor was reveal, and the other three remaining on the team...with Val and Jeckie falling in love.  Val had to endure many trials to eventually wed his Princess...but was only finally able to after the death of her father, when she became Queen of Orando.

Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #2 (September, 1983)

Under a cover by Keith Giffen and Larry Mahlstedt, with a story by Paul Levitz, Keith Giffen and Dave Gibbons, Val and Jeckie were finally married in "Whatever Gods There Be...". 

Legion wedding are usually big affairs, and this one was as well, with the full Legion membership gathering from their busy adventures...

...as the team had just fought off Darkseid, and was busy restoring Daxam from the damage he did to Mon-El's homeworld, and another group (including Supergirl) just fought the Emerald Empress of Fatal Five.

Strangely enough, the wedding was relatively uneventful on Jeckie's home planet of Orando, but a team of Legion members (including Dream Girl and Ultra Boy) were accidentally sent back in time to ancient Greece, where they encountered aliens who were pretending to be the Greek gods.

Still, the marriage happened, and the two could live on her planet in peace (well, for a too short time....).

Celebrating Artist Karl Kesel

Celebrating the birthday of artist Karl Kesel (January 7, 1959) with two covers he did full art for (as he inked many many covers)...

...here, featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes, with the LSH facing Starfinger in the Best Of DC #67 (December, 1985) and a generic shot of the early Legion, from the Legion of Super-Heroes Archive #3 (October, 1993).

Remembering Artist Keith Giffen

Remembering artist Keith Giffen on his birthday (November 30, 1952 - October 9, 2023).

Among so many accomplishments, Keith is likely best remembered for his work when he came onto the Legion of Super-Heroes, kicking off a run that led into one of their greatest challenges, with the Great Darkness Saga!

Fair warning...the cover of the last issue gives away the secret of the force behind the trouble...

Legion Of Super-Heroes #287 and #288 (May and June, 1982)

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Legion Of Super-Heroes #289 and #290 (July and August, 1982)

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Legion Of Super-Heroes #291 and #292 (September and October, 1982)

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Legion Of Super-Heroes #293 and #294 (November and December, 1982)

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Yes, coming from the pages of the New Gods, it was Darkseid that was menacing the Legion of the Super-Heroes in the 30th Century, animating corpses of famous heroes to battle the LSH, as Darkseid reached out after a long rest to try to conquer a new century...

Celebrating Artist Pat Broderick

Celebrating the birthday of artist Pat Broderick (November 26, 1953) with his all too brief work on the Legion of Super-Heroes, mostly at a space station, with Sun Boy fighting Dr. Regulus. 

Pat got to do a little after, but his work laid the foundation for one of the biggest events in Legion history!

Legion of Super-Heroes #284 and #285 (February and March, 1982)

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Legion of Super-Heroes #286 and Tales Of the Legion Of Super-Heroes #353 (April, 1982)

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Pat even got to go a little of their early history with this special cover for the Best of DC #57 (February, 1985)!

Celebrating Super-Heroic Artist Mike Grell

Celebrating the birthday of writer/artist Mike Grell (September, 13, 1947).

Mike was a big talent, especially in the 1970s, making a name for himself drawing the Legion of Super-Heroes (as the LSH was taking over the Superboy title)...

...but two of his most iconic covers did not appear there.

Below, are the full covers and a little on what was inside these oversized treasury editions!

Limited Collectors' Edition #C-49 (October-November, 1976)

With this iconic cover, Mike Grell made sure he'd be remembered by Legion fans for decades to come.

But, Mike was only represented sporadically on the inside of book...

...with the main part of the issue containing reprints of debut of Mordru from Adventure Comics #369 and #370 (June and July, 1968), some fact pages about the Legion Headquarters, and the great Dave Cockrum had his two page diagram of the wedding of Duo Damsel and Bouncing Boy provided (with a guide to the characters in back!).

All-New Collectors' Edition #C-55 (March, 1978)

Here, Mike did the illustrations for the main story, where Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl finally get married (and he and writer Paul Levitz made it to the wedding as well, Paul on the far left, Mike on the far right), in an odd story influenced by the Time Trapper, who changed the past...and, there are some wonderful fact files on the Legion in the back (though they were drawn by Jim Sherman and Jack Abel).

Bits of wonderful Legion history, cementing Mike Grell's place as an artist in it!

Happy Labor Day With The Legion

Happy Labor Day!  

May your day be better than that of the Legion of Super-Heroes, who were laboring as a chain gang, as shown on this Jim Starlin cover for Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #238 (April, 1978).

But, why were the Legion members in their 1960s costumes on this 1970s cover?

Well, this issue came about due to the dreaded deadline doom, and reprints Adventure Comics #359 and #360 (August and September, 1967), drawn by Curt Swan and George Klein, where the Legion was outlawed by Universo, a villain with a hypnotic power, who, after sneaking into the presidency under false pretenses, put the team in a particularly brutal prison.  Of course, the villain's dastardly plan was foiled by Superboy and the kids from the future.

Early Legion Of Super-Heroes Weddings

Even though the Legion of Super-Heroes was an early example of science fiction in comics when it started its series in Adventure Comics, it also pioneered more interaction between its rather large cast of characters in the 30th Century, as the boys and girls of the future team started to pair off.  

Here, we show two budding romances of the early Legion era, the couples of Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl, along with Ultra Boy and Phantom Girl.

Lighting Lad (Garth Ranzz of Winath) and Saturn Girl (Imra Ardeen of Titan) were two of the three founders of the Legion of Super-Heroes, their feelings for each other grew during an early run of stories in Adventure Comics, dealing with Lightning Lad dying for Saturn Girl, then her working with the other Legion members to bring him back (main stories reprinted in Adventure Comics #403 of March-April, 1971), while Ultra Boy (Jo Nah of Rimbor) and Phantom Girl (Tinya Wazzo of Bgztl) came together based mostly on one tale, when Ultra Boy was accused of a crime in Adventure Comics #316 (January, 1964), and Phantom Girl was his only advocate.

But, now to the main story...

The Weddings That Wrecked The Legion

This tale was featured in Adventure Comics #337 (October, 1965) by Edmond Hamilton and John Forte (with cover by Curt Swan and George Klein), with the newly elected leader, Brainiac 5, briefing the team about a new menace and his Plan-R to fight it (but Ultra Boy and Phantom Girl are too interested in each other to pay attention).  Brainiac 5 calls out the couple on this, with Saturn Girl rising to their defense, with Brainy turning on her, chiding her and Lighting Lad for similar behavior.  The couples go off, drawing closer, and both deciding to marry (though that will mean they will no longer be team members, as the Legion Constitution has a bylaw against married members).

Now short members, the team recruits, finding three new super powered youths (who are really members of the invading force trying to learn more of Plan-R).  Now in the Legion Clubhouse, the three enemy aliens find the plan, and head to their home...unaware the plan was a fake, and that this was all a plan by Brainiac 5 and Saturn Girl to find the invaders home, and defeat their plans.  The marriages weren't real, so the couples return to active membership, but wish that maybe they were real.

It would take a long time for the Legion to see any real team marriages, with Bouncing Boy marrying Duo Damsel (Triplicate Girl for half the Adventure Comics run) in Superboy #200 (January-February, 1974) and Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl getting married in the All New Collectors' Edition #C-55 (March, 1978), ending the rule against married Legion members.  Ultra Boy and Phantom Girl would have to wait decades more (as well as a few reboots) for their wedding, but love finds a way....

 

Covering Perez Legion Of Super-Heroes

Looking back to the past, and the future, with the George Perez covers for the Legion of the Super-Heroes from the 1980s.

Incredible covers (but, sadly only the covers), during an odd run, while the 30th Century teen heroes deal with the mystery of Reflecto, and the return of Superboy.

Legion of Super-Heroes #277 and #278 (July and August, 1981)

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Legion of Super-Heroes #279 and #280 (September and October, 1981)

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Legion of Super-Heroes #281 (November, 1981)

George did a special file in a Best of DC digest (more on this sometime in the future), the Legion was well represented in the Crisis On Infinite Earths, and finally getting close to a Legion book with the mini-series, Final Crisis: Legion Of 3 Worlds.

Celebrating The Super Heroic Joe Staton

Celebrating the birthday of artist Joe Staton (January 19, 1948) with a look to the future and the past...

...featuring the covers he drew (with inker Dick Giordano) for Superboy and the Legion Of Super-Heroes!

Superboy And The Legion Of Super-Heroes #247 and #248 (January and February, 1979)

Superboy And The Legion Of Super-Heroes #249 and #250 (March and April, 1979)

Superboy And The Legion Of Super-Heroes #251 (May, 1979)

A truly talented artist, with a long and varied career, as you can see here, and even a little Christmas spirit as well with this tale!

Welcome To The Future

Here we are in 2023!  

At one point, considered the future...

...and to welcome you to this future is Superboy and the Legion Of Super-Heroes, in this bit from the Super DC Calendar of 1976 by Neal Adams and Dick Giordano in their finest 1970s attire (or is that 2970s attire?)! 

A Kicking Legion Christmas

Feeling a little alone in the 20th century...

...Karate Kid invited his friends, the Legion Of Super-Heroes, back from the 30th century to share some time with him at a local mall.  

Sadly, it was a mall that Superman villain, the Toyman, was going to rob.  This put Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, Sun Boy, Colossal Boy, Princess Projectra, Cosmic Boy, Shadow Lass, Brainiac 5 and Chameleon Boy into action for the Christmas holiday, in this December 1978 entry from the DC Calendar of Super-Spectacular Disasters by Jim Sherman and Jack Abel.

Remembering Artist Steve Lightle

Remembering artist Steve Lightle (November 19, 1959 - January 8, 2021) on his birthday with the covers to the Cosmic Boy mini-series from December, 1986 to March, 1987, with Cosmic Boy and Night Girl discovering a secret hidden by the Time Trapper...

...that would later rock the Legion of Super-Heroes to its core.

Cosmic Boy #1 and #2 (December, 1986 and January, 1987)

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Cosmic Boy #3 and #4 (February, 1987 and March, 1987)

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This led to one of the saddest stories of the post-Crisis Legion era, featuring Superboy, with Steve also providing the first cover to the story's end with Legion of Super-Heroes #37 (August, 1987).

Legion Of Super-Heroes Bugs Bunny

Getting close to Easter, and thinking of rabbits and gatherings, so, what would be more appropriate than taking a look at a team up...

...of the Legion of Super-Heroes and Bugs Bunny!  (???)

Enjoy these covers by Tom Grummett and Karl Kesel, and the variant by Ty Templeton.

Yes, a part of the DC/Looney Tunes series from August, 2017, with a main tale in the super-hero style (by Sam Humphries, Tom Grummett and Scott Hanna), with Supergirl in the Legion's future.  To save her, Brainiac 5 sends Computo 2 back to Smallville to recruit Superboy, but ends up with Bugs Bunny instead, with Juan Manuel Ortiz providing the animated back-up, telling the tale from the side Super-Rabbit (Bugs Bunny), and how the Legion helped his really wrong turn at Albuquerque.