#the new 52 reboot couldnt decided if the bell existed or not

[cantsayidont]

November 1989. Launched three months after the end of the previous LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES book, Keith Giffen's "v4" series remains the Legion's most controversial phase. Set five years after the end of the outgoing book, it stripped the gloss from the Legion's future: 30th Century Earth has withdrawn from the United Planets and is sinking into xenophobic, totalitarian isolationism; the Legion has disbanded, its members and allies scattered to the winds. Some characters are dead, maimed, missing, or imprisoned; a few are now collaborators; and the rest are preoccupied with their own problems. Former Legionnaire Reep Daggle (Chameleon Boy), now fabulously wealthy, decides the only solution is to put the band back together, but the universe has problems that may be too big for an organization of aging former teen superheroes.

Dense, complex, and often quite dark, the storyline begins in medias res, and it takes some time to piece together what's going on (to say nothing of trying to keep straight the no-longer-costumed characters, who have real names like "Rokk Krinn"). However, there's actual substance to reward the effort, and scripters Tom & Mary Bierbaum bring the characters to vivid life. People who enjoyed BABYLON 5, DEEP SPACE NINE, or BATTLESTAR GALACTICA would probably also find much to enjoy here, although those unfamiliar with the Legion may need a cheat-sheet, and it's perhaps best to assume that the series ends after issue #36, the end of the "Terra Mosaic" arc.

This run was frequently hampered by ongoing editorial feuds, not due to its content (although that rubbed many longtime readers the wrong way), but because of issues related to the Legion's lingering ties to Superman, which resulted in a number of further continuity shuffles. Giffen actually quit several times during the run, leaving the Bierbaums floundering (issues without Giffen's name on them are usually a mess), and his final storyline in #38–#40 was an extremely bitter pill that broke the setting so thoroughly that a corrective continuity reset was basically inevitable. After his departure, the Bierbaums remained through issue #50 (and for most of the run of the ill-advised LEGIONNAIRES spinoff book), but with no direction and little editorial support, it was increasingly hopeless. DC eventually opted for an infuriating reboot that scrapped 45 years of Legion history in favor of a return to cutesy teen heroes with silly names. (Giffen's intended resolution wouldn't have been much better; his plan was to eventually reveal that the adult Legionnaires were all clones — as with Marvel's ill-fated Ben Reilly Spider-Clone storyline — which would also have been very dire.) The Legion has never really recovered, despite a further succession of partial or total reboots.

#comics #legion of super heroes #legion of superheroes #keith giffen #tom and mary bierbaum #al gordon #rokk krinn #cosmic boy #chameleon boy #reep daggle #dirk morgna #sun boy #legionnaires #the zero hour reboot was offensive #the waid reboot was a collection of bad creative choices #and inexplicably abrasive at every turn #the 2008 reboot was trying to unring a bell #the new 52 reboot couldnt decided if the bell existed or not #the bendis/sook reboot was okay but felt too flaky to stick #and its ties to present characters will undoubtedly backfire