This is not going to be a "Who are the Legion of Super-Heroes?" informational article, so the chances of it educating you on the team is almost non-existent. Why? Because I know next to nothing about them and rather than just throw some pre-written Wiki information at you, I'm being a bit more real; I'm showing you how I'm learning about them as I go along. Even more real is I'm showing you the somewhat daunting process of getting into the book...
For some time now I've been extremely intrigued by the Legion of Super-Heroes. My interest piqued a few years back as I was reading Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis' "bwa-ha-ha" Justice League International run. Now, why exactly did that get me interested?
I'm a research nerd... nerd. Or research nerd-nerd. Whatever. What happens is I get started on Wikipedia or, as is often the case concerning comic books:
The Comic Book Database, by checking out all the things creators have been involved in. As much as I love following the exploits of characters, I've found that my reading experience is much more rewarding when I follow creators I love.
So, I jumped back in time via Keith Giffen's page and, by following the suggestion of other bloggers, I tried checking out the 1989 volume of
Legion of Super-Heroes.
I should've immediately known by the story's title, "Five Years Later...", that I'd be completely lost. And I was. While I was able to enjoy the art and some of the story, I just had no clue what was going on. This volume was suggested by multiple people in forums as a "great place to start."
Well, friends... that's just wrong. And so I gave up. For a long while.
As a side note, I think I began reading Peter David's long and awesome Incredible Hulk run and forgot about this totally.
However, the bug has bit me again and I dusted off my interest and gave it another crack. So, back to the interwebs I went. You'll find whenever you Google "best Legion of Super-Heroes stories" that writer Paul Levitz' name always pops up. Here's an old Newsarama article from 2008 to illustrate my point:
Pros Choose: The Top Ten Legion of Super-Heroes Stories.
It appeared plainly that Mr. Levitz' work was where I needed to start. As a result, if I continued reading it would naturally flow into Keith Giffen's later work.
With that being said, I picked Legion of Super-Heroes #281 from 1981, which was listed as Mr. Levitz' return to writing duties with Legion. I chose this instead of his earlier work with the team because the 80's really ushered in a sophistication and atmosphere in DC's books that I've always loved. I'm a little put off by some of what they were doing in the 60's and early 70's with the pure insanity and cheesiness present in many of their books, so I definitely wanted to avoid that in order to not taint my experience. I enjoy some of that stuff in small doses and when looking at it for its place in comic book history, but that's not how I wanted to get into Legion. With all that being said, I cracked open issue 281...
...and I got dropped right into the middle of a story AGAIN...
But, instead of being completely lost, I was able to pick up what was going on and follow along. The issue is plotted by Roy Thomas and scripted by Levitz. It's nothing particularly memorable, but I got a pretty good feel for the characters' personalities, which was a start. That's all I was looking for really: a start.
Issue 282 concluded the story and 283, obviously a fill-in with Roy Thomas alone on writing, gave the history of Legionnaire Wildfire, so all-in-all not a terrible introduction to the book thus far. Issue 284 started Mr. Levitz back alone on writing duties and it was a serviceable, fun story dealing with a raid on a space hospital by black market organ thieves. A few plot threads weaved their way throughout, showing the author setting up stuff yet to come.
But it was issue 285 that hooked me.
The story finds some of the Legionnaires on Nullport, a space port/drydock, waiting to pick up a new space cruiser for the team while also getting their old one serviced. It's a space ship dealership, if you will. While there, accidents begin to happen; ships are damaged, people are hurt. Sabotage is suspected.
The Legionnaires confront Nullport's manager, a hilarious and skeevy blue half horse/quarter squid/quarter humanoid by the name of H'Hrnath. He is just as surprised by the events as the Legion and with their help they find the sabotage is being perpetrated by the Khunds, the sworn enemies of the United Planets and the Legion. An action-packed battle in space ensues with the Legion, of course, coming out on top.
There is also a plot thread visited that catches up with Karate Kid and his future wife that results in some drama and a cliffhanger. Just an example of the writer expertly navigating his craft.
I found myself quite enjoying this issue. The entire thing felt like a fully-alive, fully-realized, breathing world that sits completely separate from the rest of the DC Universe's influence. It feels almost more sci-fi than super-hero. It's Star Wars with super-powers (not The Force)! Paul Levitz writes these characters as if they were members of his family. He knows them well or, at least, is writing them well.
I'm happy to say this time I got it right. I've read a few more issues past this and am LOVING it. I'm not uppity enough to consider myself a hardcore fan after reading a handful of issues, but damn it, I am on my way! I'm still a little overwhelmed by the enormous cast of characters, but I felt the same way when I first started reading X-Men.
To conclude: Try things. If it doesn't work out the first time, then try again. You never know what you'll end up enjoying.
And by the way, whoever said the X-Men were hard to get into NEVER tried getting into the Legion of Super-Heroes!
