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You don’t need 12th level intelligence to tell you that it is beyond time for the Legion of Super-Heroes to return in epic style to the pages of DC Comics. And that’s exactly what takes place in Legion of Super-Heroes #1 by Paul Levitz (who returns to the series after a 20 year hiatus) with art by Yildiray Cinar. What’s a stake in the all new Legion adventures? Just about everything.
In many ways, the re-launch of Legion of Super-Heroes is what “Brightest Day” should have been—filled with dramatic significance and high adventure. There’s scientific hubris, time travel, planetary destruction, politics and a first issue cliffhanger most people would not see coming—all set in the 31st Century so many of us have come to know and love and to which want to return over and over.
In revisiting the new adventures of my old friend’s in the Legion as they battle not only cosmic forces, but those of intolerance and the human—all too human—nature of all humanoids it occurred to me that Legion of Super-Heroes might be the most relevant and bankable of all DCU properties to be readied for adaptation to the big screen. Think it over.
Forget Batman. Forget Superman. Forget Wonder Woman and Green Lantern. Forget Justice League. It’s time to give fans and the general public something so radically different, but so in keeping with the great heroic traditions of the DCU, that they won’t know what hit ‘em. This is embodied by the Legion of Super-Heroes. These are heroes who came together to live the legendary values Superman while dealing with a galaxy full of trouble. The storylines are endless – as are the opportunities for a dazzling ensemble cast.
Legion of Super-Heroes has always been carried along, in essence, by legions of devoted fans. It has always amazed me that this title over the years has not been embraced by the multitudes of DCU aficionados. It’s strange that this jewel of a title comes and goes and comes and goes the way it does. It seems to me that at some point it’s really due to hit the collective mind and be embraced by fans and the general public alike as it is—in many ways—the culmination of the DCU.
Whether or not the series goes anywhere in terms of adaptations, I’m just glad that it’s back with the type of compelling, engaging storytelling I have come to expect from any Legion of Super-Heroes title. Welcome back, old friends. To not mark this fine occasion of the Legion’s return would surely be a missed direction.
