OK, so Legion Of 3 Worlds has finally wrapped up. What's next?
From the solicits, not a lot. The Legion is going to be the "co-feature" (i.e., back-up) in Adventure Comics, and the first several issues look like they're basically going to be solo stories of various Legionnaires.
Still, there are vague hints that maybe they're building themselves up to something. So, not that Geoff Johns needs my advice, but here's what I think we need to see--and not see--in any new Legion.
Enough with the Brainy: Look, I love Brainiac 5. And obviously, so does Johns. But he's gone on to dominate Legion proceedings, especially under Johns. Brainy sends teams to the past on secret missions without letting them know what they're doing (what is that, 5 times already, Geoff?), Brainy concocts the magic device to save the day. In recent stories the Legion is 100% dependent on Brainiac 5 for direction and effectiveness. That's rapidly becoming boring, Geoff (especially since Vril Dox II is running the same act in R.E.B.E.L.s right now). You need to put Brainiac on the back burner for a while, instead of making him the constant brainy ex machina. Let the other Legionnaires shine.
Besides, after all those issues of 3 Brainiacs arguing with each other, I think we're all a little burned out on the jerk.
Enough with the 21st Century: Under Johns, the Legion has been all time-travel, all the time. Let's send Legionnaires on missions back then, let's invite 21st century heroes to come help us out, let's revive dead 21st century heroes, let's have a surviving 21st century Green Lantern save our bacon, the big threat for Lo3W was from the 21st century...I'm all for hooking up with current DC continuity, but man o man, Johns is overdoing it. Now that Legion has its own feature, can we please just focus on the 31st century for awhile? That was always one of the joys of the Legion, seeing their version of life in the future. It's not a franchise that should be constantly backward looking.
This is the Legion, dammit: Twice now Johns has had the Legion had to send back in time to Superman for help. Then they had to summon two whole alternate Legions for help. Then they had to revive 2 dead Teen Titans for help. And then they needed a Green Lantern.
Guest stars are nice, but it would also be nice to see a Legion that's actually able to deal with a crisis without having to outsource. So far in Johns' stories, the Legion has been about as effective as the Legion of Substitute Heroes, and had to rely on "real" DC heroes to bail them out. Mr. Johns, this is The Legion of Freakin' Super-Heroes--they shouldn't need to be rescued every story.
Don't Make It Civil War/Initiative/Dark Reign: Mark Waid had his Legion at constant odds with the United Planets. Jim Shooter dedicated thousands of pages to Lightening Lad arguing with bureaucrats who wanted to shut the Legion down. Johns had the Legion discredited and disbanded, and the first issue of Lo3W had the U.P. debating whether or not they actually needed a Legion.
Enough. We don't need to have constant happy relations between the Legion and Earthgov and the U.P. But, but the same reasoning, we don't need constantly bad relations, either. We've now had 6 years of the Legion being treated like a red-headed Durlan stepchild, and it's old. It's a lazy way to ratchet up tension in your stories by now. And besides, that's Marvel's bag these days. How about just letting the Legion do their job, instead of constantly fighting bureaucrats?
Tyroc: Look, if you're going to insist on restoring the "original" Legion, fine. Then you damned well better give my Tyroc.
From the solicits, not a lot. The Legion is going to be the "co-feature" (i.e., back-up) in Adventure Comics, and the first several issues look like they're basically going to be solo stories of various Legionnaires.
Still, there are vague hints that maybe they're building themselves up to something. So, not that Geoff Johns needs my advice, but here's what I think we need to see--and not see--in any new Legion.
Enough with the Brainy: Look, I love Brainiac 5. And obviously, so does Johns. But he's gone on to dominate Legion proceedings, especially under Johns. Brainy sends teams to the past on secret missions without letting them know what they're doing (what is that, 5 times already, Geoff?), Brainy concocts the magic device to save the day. In recent stories the Legion is 100% dependent on Brainiac 5 for direction and effectiveness. That's rapidly becoming boring, Geoff (especially since Vril Dox II is running the same act in R.E.B.E.L.s right now). You need to put Brainiac on the back burner for a while, instead of making him the constant brainy ex machina. Let the other Legionnaires shine.Besides, after all those issues of 3 Brainiacs arguing with each other, I think we're all a little burned out on the jerk.
Enough with the 21st Century: Under Johns, the Legion has been all time-travel, all the time. Let's send Legionnaires on missions back then, let's invite 21st century heroes to come help us out, let's revive dead 21st century heroes, let's have a surviving 21st century Green Lantern save our bacon, the big threat for Lo3W was from the 21st century...I'm all for hooking up with current DC continuity, but man o man, Johns is overdoing it. Now that Legion has its own feature, can we please just focus on the 31st century for awhile? That was always one of the joys of the Legion, seeing their version of life in the future. It's not a franchise that should be constantly backward looking.
This is the Legion, dammit: Twice now Johns has had the Legion had to send back in time to Superman for help. Then they had to summon two whole alternate Legions for help. Then they had to revive 2 dead Teen Titans for help. And then they needed a Green Lantern.Guest stars are nice, but it would also be nice to see a Legion that's actually able to deal with a crisis without having to outsource. So far in Johns' stories, the Legion has been about as effective as the Legion of Substitute Heroes, and had to rely on "real" DC heroes to bail them out. Mr. Johns, this is The Legion of Freakin' Super-Heroes--they shouldn't need to be rescued every story.
Don't Make It Civil War/Initiative/Dark Reign: Mark Waid had his Legion at constant odds with the United Planets. Jim Shooter dedicated thousands of pages to Lightening Lad arguing with bureaucrats who wanted to shut the Legion down. Johns had the Legion discredited and disbanded, and the first issue of Lo3W had the U.P. debating whether or not they actually needed a Legion.Enough. We don't need to have constant happy relations between the Legion and Earthgov and the U.P. But, but the same reasoning, we don't need constantly bad relations, either. We've now had 6 years of the Legion being treated like a red-headed Durlan stepchild, and it's old. It's a lazy way to ratchet up tension in your stories by now. And besides, that's Marvel's bag these days. How about just letting the Legion do their job, instead of constantly fighting bureaucrats?
Tyroc: Look, if you're going to insist on restoring the "original" Legion, fine. Then you damned well better give my Tyroc.
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