r/LegionofSuperheroes

I love how their rivalry, which started all the way back in S/LSH #225 (or before), slowly becomes a friendship as both men come to understand each other.

The Subs are by far my favorite Legionnaires, so their inclusion meant a lot to me. Even though they're defeated pretty quickly, it seems like Levitz has nothing but respect for the Subs, even giving them a heroic moment or two during the Khund Invasion.

I'm really interested in this character, but let me know what you guys think.

Volume 5 gets me through LSH 100.

Genuinely the most relatable character ever, holy fuck, I need to read all of his appearances.

I've read most of the Hamilton (Some good, some awful) and most of the Shooter (mostly awesome) runs on Legion of Superheroes and enjoyed them well enough. I like these characters tremendously, but I wanna get to the more "modern" 80s stuff that I hear is spectacular (I'm a huge 80s comic fanatic).

Would it be wise to SKIP to the BEFORE THE DARKNESS volumes 1 and 2 trades and then head into the Levitz era, especially since I think I get everyone's deal so far?

A few months ago I pitched three seasons of a comic-accurate Legion of Super-Heroes show based on the Legion’s original run, ending with the battle against Mordru the Merciless as a season finale of Season 3. Now I’m here to pitch a fourth season.
Season 4 of The Legion of Super-Heroes would cover the early years of the Bronze Age, mostly spent in back-ups in the comics, as well as the very tail end of the Silver Age. In the comics, the Bronze Age marked the start of new costumes for many Legion members, but most of them were quite awful, putting female and occasionally male Legionnaires in the most revealing costumes possible.
There are a few (and only a few) Legionnaires who benefit from the costume update. Element Lad gets a green costume that I think is pretty cool. Colossus Boy’s cowboy look, which I am quite fond of, gets an update to something that looks like it’s out of an X-men comic. With both of these characters I like their original looks, but updating them for the Bronze Age seems sensible. Phantom Girl gets an awesome bell-bottoms costume that I am 100% in support of. And of course there’s Karate Kid’s new suit, which I think we actually hold off on introducing for another season.
As stated, this season adapts the very end of the Silver Age and the beginning of the Bronze Age, covering the years 1969 through 1974, or the equivalent of Years 7 - 9 in the official Legion History. In this season: 

•  The original season 1 Legionnaires (Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, Triplicate Girl, Phantom Girl, Colossal Boy, Invisible Kid, Shrinking Violet, Bouncing Boy, Brainiac-5, Valor, Andromeda, Element Lad, Matter-Eater Lad, and Light Lass) are about seventeen going on eighteen, or the equivalent of High School Seniors. This marks a period of transition for them, as they begin to have more adult relationships, and the season even ends with two such Legionnaires — Bouncing Boy and Triplicate Girl — leaving to get married.
• The season 2 recruits (Sun Boy, Star Boy, Ultra-Boy, Karate Kid, Princess Projectra, and Dream Girl) are sixteen going on seventeen, or Juniors. They too are coming into a greater sense of responsibility this season.
• The season 3 recruits (Shadow Lass, Chemical King, and Timber Wolf) are fifteen going on sixteen, or essentially sophomores.
• The singular new recruit this season, Wildfire, is a strange sort of ageless entity, but can be considered the equivalent of a freshman.

The tone of this season is a little less epic than last season. Instead, the Legion, as in the comics, is in a period of transition. New members are aging up and starting to wonder about their futures, and we even get the first two heroes retiring. Many of the main Legion Villains are on hiatus — Mordru is still trapped in rubble, the Fatal Five is disbanded, and the Legion of Super-Villains is still recovering from their prior defeat. Several more personal, character-focused tales will flesh out the supporting cast.
Also, Karate Kid serves as leader for the first half of this season, with Valor as his deputy. Alternatively, you could have fans vote for Legion leaders between seasons, just like they did in the original comics; although that might be tricky to integrate given the long development process of such comics.
EPISODE 1: THE HEROES OF LALLOR
Roll Call: Basically Everybody, Heroes of Lallor
The season premiere is essentially a school dance episode, in which the heroes try to get dates to the victory party that Marla Lantham and R. J. Brande are throwing for their victory over Mordru. Also invited is another super-hero team — the Heroes of Lallor.
Established couples in the Legion at this point should include Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl, Ultra Boy and Phantom Girl, Brainiac-5 and Andromeda, Valor and Shadow Lass, Star Boy and Dream Girl, and Karate Kid and Princess Projectra. New couples generated by this episode should include Cosmic Boy and Night Girl, the latter of whom should have the rest of the Subs as her wingmen; Invisible Kid and Chemical King (canonizing the later retcon); and Light Lass and Timber Wolf.
Two couples deserve a special shout-out. I think this should be the beginning of the Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel’s romantic arc, following Duo Damsel finally giving up on getting with Valor in the Season 3 finale. I think that Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel have one of the strongest romantic arcs, with her charmed by his sense of humor and optimistic spirit, while he’s attracted to her underdog spirit. I think we should have gotten hints back in Season 3’s “the Unkillables”, but this is where they finally turn their affections to each other.
Then I also think Colossal Boy should get rejected by Shrinking Violet in favor of Duplicate Boy of the Heroes of Lallor. Chameleon Boy should feel like a freak as he fails to attract any real attention; Princess Projectra and Karate Kid should sympathize with him. And Sun Boy should try and fail to get a date, because he kind of sucks.
Anyway, the dance gets crashed by the Jungle King, a former reject with the power to control exotic animals, and the two hero teams have to work together to defeat him. Their dance outfits could be a good time to show off alternate looks from the comics we don’t want to appear in the rest of the show.
EPISODE 2: TALES OF THE LEGION
This episode would be an anthology tale, consisting of three short story segments instead of a longer, episode-long story, in order to adapt some of the shorter Action Comics back-up stories. Think of “Bottomless Pit” from Gravity Falls; this, in my opinion, is the ideal way to tell the story of some of the Action back-ups.
Segment 1: Half a Legionnaire
Roll Call: Duo Damsel, Bouncing Boy
This is the story where Duo Damsel splits into two, with one of her selves going on a mission while the other takes some time off; only for one such self to accidentally turn evil and get a new boyfriend. It’s a great story that offers remarkable insight into how Duo Damsel’s powers work, and can further solidify the relationship between her and Bouncing Boy that will remain vital to the season’s arc.
Segment 2: The Hapless Hero
Roll Call: Matter-Eater Lad, Shrinking Violet
The very best of the Action Comics back-ups sees a perspective into the life of Matter-Eater Lad, a poorer Legionnaire who very briefly gets the chance at luxury when he takes a lonely Shrinking Violet out to dinner. This results in a fight with Duplicate Boy that Matter-Eater Lad ends up losing, but he still discovers a part of himself in the meantime — even though I’d axe the “dad decided to stop being abusive” ending.
Segment 3: Chameleon Boy’s Secret Identity
Roll Call: Chameleon Boy, Karate Kid, Princess Projectra
This story sees Chameleon Boy taking on a human disguise to go out with Princess Projectra’s friend Janice Warren. Janice Warren gets the arc in this story of being less prejudiced against Cham’s appearance, but to update the story we also need Cham to learn his lesson and apologize for the deception.
EPISODE 3: ZAP GOES THE LEGION
Roll Call: Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy, Night Girl, Valor, Shadow Lass, Ultra Boy
This arc would be a composite adaptation of “One of Us is an Imposter” and “Zap Goes the Legion”. In the first half of the episode, the villain Sunburst is working on robbing an impossible vault while his half-sister Uli Algor (who we’ll call Moonburst) infiltrates the Legion disguised as Shadow Lass. The pair are defeated, but Uli returns for revenge, using a belt that causes Legion powers to backfire. Fittingly enough, she is defeated by Ultra-Boy, who simply does not use his powers. These are a fun pair of back-ups, and “Zap Goes the Legion” is probably the most intense-feeling of the Action back-ups.
EPISODE 4: THE INVISIBLE INVADER
Roll Call: Invisible Kid, Valor, Chemical King
This is one of my favorite Superboy back-up stories, and our official first episode adapting a Bronze Age tale. In it, a villain called the Invisible Invader manages to recreate Invisible Kid’s invisibility formula. Now, Invisible Kid has to find a way to neutralize his own formula, even though it could mean making him useless as a super-hero. In the end, though, the only one capable of doing so is his “friend” Chemical King, giving Invisible Kid some security. Given the later retcons about these two in the comics, I think this might be a good episode to solidify their romance, assuming it gets past the censors.
EPISODE 5: REGULUS RETURNS
Roll Call: Sun Boy, Shadow Lass, Lightning Lad, Cosmic Boy
This is an adaptation of “Attack of the Sun-Scavenger”, where Regulus imbues himself with solar powers to fight Sun Boy, but uses his supposed dying state to convince Sun Boy to cast him into the sun.
EPISODE 6: THE LEGION OF EARTH-3
Roll Call: Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, Valor, Brainiac-5
This is the first truly original story I wanted to include in the show. The Legionnaires discover a portal to another universe — Earth-3, where good is bad and bad is good. Instead of the Legion of Super-Heroes, the Earth-3 Legionnaires are the Legion of Super-Criminals; comprised of alternate versions of the listed Legionnaires called Universal Boy, Titan Girl, Electric Lad, Thor-El, and Brainiac-F.
More interesting (to me, at least) will be the heroes of this universe: the Fearless Five, a heroic version of the Fatal Five. These will include the cyborg Tharok, who here is more of an intellectual leader-type; the Green Guardian, a noble version of the Emerald Empress; Validus, who in this universe (as a foreshadowing for the main universe) is a time-travelling Garridan Ranzz, the son of Electric Lad and Titan Girl, who turns into the Hulk-like Validus when angry; a version of Mano with super-healing powers instead of destructive abilities; and the Negotiator, a hammer-wielding version of the Persuader.
Anyway, the Legion has to fight the Earth-3 Legion with the help of the Fearless Five, and ends up defeating them… for now.
EPISODE 7: THE GUN THAT MASTERED MEN
Roll Call: Valor, Brainiac 5, Princess Projectra, Star Boy, Dream Girl, Chameleon Boy, Timber Wolf, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl
In this episode, the villain Tyr tries to assassinate President Boltax, outfitting Timber Wolf with his gun, which controls Timber Wolf’s body and forces him to attempt the assassination. The Legion has to clear Timber Wolf’s name and defeat Tyr.
EPISODE 8: REVENGE OF THE HUNTER
Roll Call: Bouncing Boy, Duo Damsel, Invisible Kid, Shrinking Violet, Matter-Eater Lad
One day at Legion HQ, Adam Orion — the son of the original hunter, who died fighting the Legion in episode 2 of last season — arrives and seeks revenge, identifying the five Legionnaires on duty as the lest powerful of their rank. One by one he defeats them, until finally the five are able to work together to use their unique powers to defeat the Hunter. Adam is imprisoned in Takron-Galtos, where he shares a cell with Tyr.
EPISODE 9: MURDER THE LEADER
Roll Call: Saturn Girl, Valor
Valor and Saturn Girl are running against each other for leader of the Legion, with Shadow Lass and Lightning Lad campaigning for their respective partners as they do in the comic. But soon Valor and Saturn Girl are kidnapped from the Legion as Tharok orders Validus to kill the leader of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Saturn Girl is supposedly killed, but Valor tricks Tharok into becoming the Legion’s leader, therefore leading to Validus attacking him. Tharok is partially melted down, and while his human half goes into a coma, his machine brain is taken by the Legion. Validus runs off and tries to seek some peace on his own, and Valor is elected leader of the Legion. At the end of the episode, its revealed that the machine half of Tharok’s brain is still operating, deep in Legion HQ.
EPISODE 10: WILDFIRE!
Roll Call: Wildfire, Sun Boy, Porcupine Pete, Infectious Lass
The time has finally come for a new Legionnaire. This episode would combine aspects of Wildfire’s first two appearances, with him auditioning for the Legion, fighting Molecule Master with the help of applicants Porcupine Pete and Infectious Lass, and revealing to the Legion of Super-Heroes that he is a being of pure energy, contained to a suit.
At the end of the episode, Porcupine Pete and Infectious Lass are recruited into the Legion of Substitute Heroes.
Wildfire is an energetic, at times arrogant, and at times contemplative Legionnaire who’s got a strong element of tragedy to him.
EPISODE 11: VENGEANCE OF THE SUPER-VILLAINS
Roll Call: Lightning Lad, Princess Projectra, Chameleon Boy, Sun Boy, Star Boy, Karate Kid, Timber Wolf, Bouncing Boy, Ultra-Boy
Two villains, the Sun Emperor and Chameleon Chief, are arrested by Valor, Andromeda, Ultra-Boy, Sun Boy, and Chameleon Chief and brought to Takron-Galtos. There, they meet other villains — Fatal Five members Persuader, Mano, and the Emerald Empress; along with Legion enemies Universo, the Hunter II, Tyr, and Tarik the Mute. Tarik reveals that he knows that the Legion of Super-Villains is coming to rescue him.
And soon, the Villain Legion does arrive — composed of Lightning Lord, Nemesis Kid, Spider Girl, Radiation Roy, and Ron-Karr — launch a prison break on Takron-Galtos. Persuader, Mano, the Emerald Empress, and Universo, and Starfinger all go their separate ways; Tarik stays in prison and yields leadership to Nemesis Kid. The Taurus Gang also escapes briefly, but are successfully recaptured by the Substitute Heroes as they arrive on the scene, except for Black Mace, who makes his escape.
Hunter, Tyr, Chameleon King, and Sun Emperor join the Legion of Super-Villains, and the nine Villain Legionnaires hatch a plot to assassinate Dr. Larx Kenrik, the diplomat behind the Dominator-United Planets Peace, to discredit the hero Legion when they present the Universal Peace Prize to him.
After Chameleon King disguises himself as the peace prize itself, the Legionnaires do battle with the villain Legionnaires and save the day. Here, we get some rival battles; Karate Kid takes down Radiation Roy; Star Boy uses his powers to make Spider Girl’s hair super-heavy; Ultra-Boy uses his Ultra-Vision to detect Ron-Karr; Sun Boy takes down Sun Emperor; Lightning Lad takes down Lightning Lord; Chameleon Chief takes down Chameleon Boy; Timber Wolf defeats Tyr; and Bouncing Boy defeats Hunter.
This is the first of three big episodes, each of which on their own could be the season finale; I debated long and hard about which one should end the season, considering this one; but the next two episodes are simply bigger.
EPISODE 12: THE WEDDING OF BOUNCING BOY AND DUO DAMSEL
WEDDING EPISODE!
Bouncing Boy learns after a medical examination by Brainiac-5 that his immune system has rejected his abilities, and he no longer has any super-powers. Accepting that his life with the Legion is over, he proposes to Duo Damsel, who accepts, realizing that her own powers are gone as well. The Legion hosts a grand wedding, inviting the Substitutes, the Heroes of Lallor, Superboy, Douglas Nolan, Rond Vidar. Lightning Lad is the best man, and Saturn Girl is the maid of honor. But in the midst of the ceremony, STARFINGER shows up and steals Duo Damsel.
Turns out, Starfinger had kidnapped half of Duo Damsel in her sleep and is trying to use her DNA to create an army of himself. He learned that such a thing could be possible because of the alterations to Duo Damsel’s DNA caused by her second self’s separation during the events of the “Half a Legionnaire” segment in episode 2. But now he knows he needs both duplicates to recreate the process on himself.
Bouncing Boy and the Legion rally together to stop him, and together they rescue the other half of Duo Damsel and stop Starfinger, adding him to the Legion of Super-Villains as another re-captured prisoner of Takron-Galtos. Meanwhile, the damaged brain of Tharok buzzes awake in the Legion vaults.
EPISODE 13: MASSACRE BY REMOTE CONTROL
Roll Call: Valor, Invisible Kid, Phantom Girl, Element Lad, Sun Boy, Lightning Lad, Karate Kid, Brainiac 5, Dream Girl, Saturn Girl, Chemical King
On a distant planet, the giant monster Validus has been living in a solitary cave, doing good works for the people of a small village. But when the voice of Tharok re-emerges in his mind, he’s called away and begins travelling to Metropolis.
Meanwhile, Invisible Kid and Chemical King, inspired by the wedding of Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel the previous episode, are considering tying the knot themselves. Excited, their plans are cut short by the arrival of Validus, who attacks the Legionnaires in space.
Regrouping, the Legionnaires visit Tharok on Takron-Galtos, which has awoken but has lost his super-intelligence. Tharok cryptically warns them that it was the machines that gave him his power.
Validus attacks Legion HQ, making his way toward Tharok’s computer mind. Realizing that the computer is what’s giving Validus his commands, Invisible Kid sacrifices himself to destroy the brain.
The season ends with a funeral, much as with season 2, and we do the traditional thing of seeing where all our Legion villains are now. Chemical King in particular mourns his fallen boyfriend.
The Legion of Super-Villains are back in prison, along with Starfinger. Validus is on the run once more, seen by a monster by the village that he aided. Tharok’s body is slowly being repaired in prison. Emerald Empress has started recruiting super-criminals on an asteroid base. Mordru remains imprisoned beneath the earth; and a foe from years ago, Roxxas the space-pirate, remains in hiding on the pirate planet, waiting to strike again.

So what do you think? Any stories you would include that I didn’t, or stories you would leave out? Anything you’d change from the comics that I didn’t, or not change that I did? Leave a comment, I love the feedback.

Really looking forward to the new Legion series! The preview pages we've seen have been incredible