I had no idea what I was going to write about this week. I had zero inspiration for the column, which is something that happens from time to time.
Was I going to write about my thoughts on the Supergirl trailer and the ensuring controversy? Or maybe I’d write about the end of the Fantastic Four comic and the upcoming Fantastic Four movie. Perhaps I’d write about how awesome the first season of The Flash was.
But then I found inspiration right on the Comics Nexus front page; L.E.G.I.O.N. ’93!
James Fulton has been revisiting the entire series and has worked his way up to issue #60. (The three parts of the series can be found here, here and here.) Reading those Retro Reviews took me down memory lane and sparked something inside of me.
I have very fond memories of L.E.G.I.O.N. ’89. It was the first New Format book that I every picked up on a consistent basis. Sure it was more expensive than a regular book, but it totally felt worth it. Literally. The paper was thicker and the colors really popped off the page. L.E.G.I.O.N. ’89 was one of those books that I was very precious with, because it felt so special.
Why did I pick it up in the first place?
For a couple reasons. One reason is because I’d become a fan of the Legion of Super-Heroes. One year earlier I’d begun collecting Legion of Super-Heroes with #51. I knew that I was hooked. So seeing a similarly titled book, with a familiar name attached (Keith Giffen) and some vaguely familiar looking characters, I knew I wanted to be in on the ground floor of that.
Also, I’d been reading Invasion(!) and L.E.G.I.O.N. ’89 was essentially spun out of that event. Again, as a fan of LSH, I enjoyed the link that the event had to LSH mythos and it looked as though the spinoff was going to continue in form.
Right off the bat, I loved L.E.G.I.O.N. ’89. I loved the characters and the story. I loved the relationships and the mystery (which 30th Century Legionnaires were these characters decedents?)
It was also great to watch a team come together. It’s a pretty familiar trope in comics to have characters thrust together and form a team. But as Fulton noted, L.E.G.I.O.N. ’89 isn’t a superhero comic. People have abilities, but no one’s really a hero. Dox manipulates everyone into forming a team and going along with his plan. They become a policing agency, which gets paid for its efforts.
I loved Vril Dox II who was such a glorious bastard. His relationship with The Durlan is one of my favorite comic book relationships ever. And The Durlan was pretty cool too. As things progressed got a kick out of the inclusion of Lady Quark, Phase, Captain Comet and Lar Gand. L.E.G.I.O.N. ’89 was such a fun book.
Of course for me, life got in the way and I wasn’t able to hit up my local comic shop and pick it up on a monthly basis. At the time I think I petered out in the early 30’s. I’ve since done my best to get a full run of the book. While I think I’ve finally tracked down all of the issues, I’ve yet to sit down and read the full run.
But that’s what’s so great about Fulton’s Retro Reviews, I get to revisit it through him. And you can too! So thanks James, for taking me back.
Well, that does it for this week. It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time to pick up some fresh new comics from your local comic shop.
