A New Legion of Super-Heroes is coming! Can fandom give it a chance?

A New Legion of Super-Heroes is coming! 
Can fandom give it a chance?

Its June 24, 2026, almost a week after the announcement of the new Legion of Super-Heroes ongoing title by Joshua Williamson and Hayden Sherman. Starting September 2, a new Legion will take to the page, spring boarding out of the results of DC's KO event from the past year, which also featured the evil Legion of Darkseid, who used them as his field commanders, destroying the future in their wake, including a scene from the "War of the Legions" where members of all the other versions were defeated. In the conclusion of the KO tournament, Superman was victorious, and as such set out to rebuild the future. Presumably, the future that Superman creates is that of the new Legion that we see. 

Like clockwork, once any new Legion is announced, there is a big wave of excitement, and that is certainly true in this case when we are talking about two of the best creators in current comics behind the book. The advance looks we have seen of Hayden Sherman's artwork shows that they're bringing their A game to the task. I, for one, cannot wait to see the new book. It looks very visually dynamic.

But also what happens like clockwork when a new Legion is announced is the NML syndrome, or "Not My Legion."  Goodness knows I've been guilty of this myself. If you've ever listened to the Long Live the Legion podcast, you know I'm very nostalgic for the post-Zero Hour Reboot team because that's when I jumped on, but even a Reboot Stan like me will admit that there were some iffy issues after editor KC Carlson left the book. I remember the online community at the time; a lot of long time readers were very upset that "their Legion" (meaning the OG Legion) had been swept away.  And let me be clear - it is their prerogative to have and express that view. But it tends to muddy the waters around any new title release. Its also important to remember that in a strict sense the Legion does not belong to anyone other than DC.

The different reboots have all had different side affects.  As mentioned above, the PZH reboot cause many long-time readers to turn away (and stories in 1998-2000 probably made others turn away also) because it swept away their nostalgia (It did not, but put a pin on that). The "threeboot" in 2005 completely reset the prior continuity, and told some really good stories, but had a team that was Legion in name only; the characters in many ways never acted like the archetypes established in either of the prior two continuities. We never understood the real WHY of the Legions purpose other than, "eat it grandpa." It also did not include any of the newly introduced characters from the prior version; characters like Gates, Kinetix and XS. So why would a reader of the old version read this new one if good characters they liked weren't even represented?

 As has been documented at length elsewhere, the "retroboot" Legion appears in the form of the "Lightning Saga" storyline in the main DCU during the middle of the threeboot run.  This Retroboot team was effectively the Baxter era Legion.  So this gave the readers what they wanted, right?  Well, hold on there. Over at the Legion Threeboot title, Mark Waid quits, Jim Shooter takes over, and sales start to decline again after the "new creator bump" and eventually gets cancelled. 

Fans were given a Final Crisis treat with the Legion of Three Worlds, bringing together all three Legions in one tale. Unfortunately, it was mainly a Superboy story that the Legion was guest starring in (and cannon fodder for Superman Prime). The much better written Superman and the Legion storyline in Action Comics was very well received and featured that Retroboot team.   Interesting times for a Legion fan to be sure!  Especially when the announcement that Paul Levitz was going to write a new ongoing Legion title! And it was with the original retroboot team from the 80s! Great news, right?! 

Not so fast.

As Travis Ellisor perfectly pointed out in the latest Legion of Substitute Podcasters episode, people who had complained about not having "their" Legion (meaning the Silver & Bronze age team), didn't purchase the book. Unfortunately, potential new readers also weren't reading or purchasing. It also suffered from a New 52 reboot that didn't help things, along with a poorly written Legion Lost v2. When Geoff Johns wrote Legion of 3 Worlds, he actually gave the XS and Gates characters to the retroboot team, which was a good, if small, recognition that newly introduced characters should flow through Legion versions.  Levitz proceeded to barely use them, and effectively write them out altogether (Jenni went on some kind of a Spirit Quest that was never followed up, and Gates was given to the Legion Lost team). So we're back to having a Legion team that doesn't have additive members. But this was the team people had been pining for with the writer that was the Gold Standard of Legion stories, right?  It was the best shot at reclaiming "the original Legion" and addressing the "NML" complaints. It failed and was ultimately canceled. 

We did get a "merged" Legion that guested in the Justice League United "Infinitus Saga" arc by Jeff Lemire.  Here, we don't get an origin or even an explanation of why the reboot Legionnaires are even present, but it was good to see them.  But this appearance didn't seem to move the needle until we get to the Rebirth era.  

The Rebirth/Bendis team suffered from the same problems as the prior versions - no cohesive origin story (we eventually kind of get one, but it was a one issue speed run over SOME of the characters) and no unique characters from the Reboot.  In fact, Bendis added MORE characters.  And due to this and many other issues, this book met the same fate as the other runs, even with the beautiful Ryan Sook art. 

It should be noted that this "reboot fever" as I like to call it (or maybe it should be reboot derangement syndrome to reflect the current zeitgeist?) can be laid at the foot of one man. The original reboot at Zero Hour was done with specific intention - to make the team more accessible.  And it lasted a decade, which is the longest run outside of the original team.  That is no small feat. But come 2005, and all through to the end of the Bendis era, there is one person who is responsible for five reboots of the team, depending on how they are counted. And that man is no longer at DC Comics. 

Depending on how you view it, the Legion has been creatively stalled for at least 15 years.  People demand the Legion from their past, but there are not enough of those people to keep a book alive with healthy sales. And NML syndrome muddies the water with potential new readers and reinforces the notion that the Legion is too complicated a team/comic book to follow. Those Legions from the past are not resonating with today's younger audience - the audience that is needed to keep a team like the Legion alive.  

THE LEGION HAS TO EVOLVE THEMATICALLY AND STYLISTICALLY FOR TODAY'S AUDIENCE.

So now we come to today. Based on what they have said and what we have seen, Williamson and Sherman are taking elements from all the prior versions of the Legion.  There will be characters from the reboot as well as the classics - a sorely needed change that accepts - not ignores - an important era of Legion history. Thematic elements will be used - it appears that some of the darker elements of Legion tales, like the Threeboot's over-controlled society and some dystopian elements of the Five Years Later era will be incorporated. 

Most of all, in my opinion, this feels like the freshest take on the Legion since the Threeboot, and DC is doing this the right way by starting this at the formation of the team.  Its not enough to know THAT there is a Legion, we need to know WHY there is a Legion and it has to be shown, not told. We need dynamic and engrossing stories that show the team working cohesively as well as spotlights on the characters themselves over time. It also needs to look FORWARD.  

Part of the reasons the Reboot Legion petered out was that it had a bad habit of retelling Silver (and some Bronze) age stories, as my podcast cohost Jay points out. There is quite a bit of irony with a superhero team of the far future always looking back in a creative sense.  The X-Men franchise is so engrained in pop culture so that the franchise doesn't need to start a new book and retell the WHY of that team.  But with a new Legion - in order for the audience to understand why the characters are reacting to the world around them - we have to have that story and it has to be fresh.

Luckily, in my opinion, this is moving in the right direction. We have a much needed fresh take on something that's lay fallow for much too long. 

This is not my Legion.  If you're over 40, its not yours either. The Legion that we were introduced to, whenever that was, doesn't belong to any one of us. While it technically belongs to DC, the Legion SHOULD belong to EVERYONE and be so popular that it is mentioned in the same pop culture discussions just like the X-Men or Guardians of the Galaxy. But at the end of the day, it really needs to resonate with people under 30, and even more under 20. So lets toss NML out the window for once. If you're over 40, we know you love a Legion that will never be back, but you can always go back and read those stories.

So give this Legion a shot.  At least read through the first story arc or two. Chances are, you'll find your favorite character if you're a long time reader, or if you're new, you'll find yourself attached to at least one of them by the end. There is a group of folks handling the Legion who understand that the shepherding of this IP is a serious stewardship that requires the greatest care and respect of the characters AND its fans. 

See you in September!

Long Live ALL the Legions! (especially this new one!)

Jim