You’ll have to debate with yourself as to which era is truly “my” legion. I think I’m probably leaning towards the Five Years Later era. Because it was around this time that I really got drawn into the epic visual stories and kind of dark tone of each issue by Keith Giffen, Jason Pearson, and Stuart Immonen. I’ve read some of the Levitz-era books before (actually I think I have quite a few of the volume 3 reprints that hit newsstands as superhero stories). ), I checked in to “Magic”. I understood the story of “Legion Wars” before the reboot, but it was Volume 4 that solidified me as a Legion fan.
However, I might argue with myself as to what my favorite thing about Volume 4 is. The book got off to a strong start, with many highlights after Giffen’s run. This was during the Zero Hour reboot, which was taken over by Mark Waid, Tom McCraw, and Tom Peyer. And that led to a sweet, long run for Peyer, McCraw and Lee Moder. As for the sister title, there was some Roger Stern action as well. Or the last time Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Olivier Coipel changed all the rules in Legion of the Damned.
But what I really want to talk about right now is its sister title, Legionnaires. This evolved from the SW6 Legion arc that began under Giffen’s direction. Describing them will probably require more space than is normally allocated here. Suffice it to say that in the period between the end of Giffen’s tenure and the beginning of Zero Hour, when Tom and Mary Bierbaum took over full writing duties, they once again became recognized and made a name for themselves as the young teenage faction of the Corps. would be sufficient.
“And once you get inside, they have a way of trapping you.”
The spin-off actually began with Legion of Super-Heroes #41, but Legionnaires #1-6 started a new book and new spirit by Bierbaums, Chris Sprouse, Karl Story, Tom McCraw, and Pat Brosseau. It set up a group of teenage legionaries (overplaying ideas like clones and time-traveling doppelgangers at this point) as a group overseeing a devastated New Earth dome.
In a way, I consider this a “have your cake and eat it too” solution. Because the darker, more mature tone set during its early run carried over into the adult members of the “Legion of Super-Heroes,” and that’s what we got. Something of a youthful throwback to high school, the antics and banter of the early Levitz years with Shooter and the Legionnaires. Resuming the use of a “roll call” array of names and faces on the title page. There are three “new” versions of the original: Cosmic Boy, Livewire (the only one of the original three given a new code name, although the other SW6 Legionnaires were also rebranded), and Saturn Girl. It was built in. The first arc also had tryouts. and the return of classic villains, the Fatal Five.
Some legionaries pose their own problems. Live Wire and Inferno are pretty bad guys at this point. Generally exhibits chauvinistic and abusive behavior, such as bullying less attractive (and seriously, this is “Hollywood ugly”) superheroes who are trying to join the Corps. That led to the creation of one of their villains.
“Hello, everyone. Are you ready to get rowdy?
Now, there were two Legion books (there was also Valor, so three to be exact, not counting the miniseries and the current LEGION book), when the main artists were Stuart Immonen and Chris Sprouse. Imagine that. It’s a hectic time, isn’t it? The early Legionary arcs, with Sprouse’s pencils and Karl Story’s inks, helped solidify what I thought the Legion should be in the ’90s and beyond.
What I find interesting here is that even though the eye size is slightly exaggerated in Sprouse’s style, there is still a clean, deceptive simplicity to it. It’s somewhat reminiscent of Story’s Gaijin Studios stable of Cully Hamner, Jason Pearson, and Adam Hughes. So it also reminds me a bit of Dave Cockrum, although it might be his ink that contributes some of the shape. And I’m a bit conscious of CC Beck, perhaps considering Tom Strong. Sprouse and Story have delivered some beautiful work that we feel will help lay the foundation for what Legion will look like even after the Zero Hour reboot.
Tom McCraw brings a nice primary color palette to the Legionnaires books. While this era of the Legion is still ostensibly a dark one, especially with the destruction of Earth, there is an influx of color and energy here that begins to soften the more serious atmosphere. And while there’s some solid lettering from Pat Brosseau, he’s not given much of a chance to show off other than jagged screaming speech bubbles.
“Yeah, but you know this isn’t the end.”
In the end, it led to the end of an era. The fun with the Bierbaums, Sprouse, and a host of notable guest artists lasted just over a year before work began on the Zero Hour reboot. Five years from now, the history of the Corps will come to an end. The first six issues of Bierbaums, Sprouse, Storey, McCraw, and Brosseau’s “Legionnaires” brought back some of the lightness and drama characteristics of their earlier work to work within a new, darker world. It was a nice change of pace and hinted at brighter days to come.
Classic Comics Encyclopedia: LEGIONNAIRES #1 – #6
Legionnaires #1-6
Screenplay: Tom and Mary Beerbaum
Penciler: Chris Sprouse
Inker: Carl Story
Colorist: Tom McCraw
Author: Pat Brosseau
Publisher: DC Comics
Release date: February 11 – July 15, 1993 (original version)
Included in Legion of Super-Heroes: Five Years Later Omnibus – Volume 2.
Read the past works of the classic manga encyclopedia!
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