5YL Poster From Legion of Super-Heroes #13

The Legion of Super-Bloggers was a home to me for many years. 

I was truly honored when I was asked to join the team. I had one request. Let me review the 5YL run, or at least that run up to Zero Hour. 

I loved that run. Loved it. And I poured everything I had into those reviews. I have been running my Supergirl site for 17 years, reviewing all sorts of books there. 

I consider my 5YL reviews to be the high water mark of my comic criticism.

I recently celebrated a birthday and wanted to treat myself to something special. So I bought an extra copy of the 5YL Legion of Super-Heroes #13 and carefully removed the poster.

And then I went and got it framed.

And here it is hung up in my place.

It is a beautiful piece and it looks gorgeous displayed. So snazzy!

I think about this series a lot. As a lifetime Legion fan, this stands out as my favorite run. 

I am eternally grateful that I got to meet Keith Giffen and tell him how much I loved it.

Fridays With Anj ... Rankings

Okay all.

This will be a quick post as I am formulating a longer one that will require YOUR input.

I have been manning this spot on the blog for four years and I have been reviewing all sorts of runs and titles of various quality and quantity.

Maybe with the end of the year and 'best of' lists in my mind, I have been sort of ranking them in my mind. I wanted to put that list here.

But then I thought wouldn't it be even better to ask you all what you thought was the best and what was the worst of the particular runs I have reviewed here.

SO THAT IS YOUR MISSION!

Look at the runs below (with a quick blurb from me) and then just put in a comment. Which of these runs did you think was the BEST.

And which did you think was the WORST.

And if you have the gumption, rank them all.

We'll start with the most recent run, the Retroboot. Brought in after Geoff Johns' wildly popular Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes arc in Action Comics, this run swept the Threeboot under the rug. Paul Levitz had some good ideas (a Durlan infiltration, a new LSV) but in my mind, never quite pulled it off.

Who's Who: Loose Leaf Edition

by Siskoid

Through most of this feature, we have exclusively used pages from the original Who's Who and its updates, only in a few cases posting images from the loose leaf version of Who's Who (1990) or its update (1993). Before we move on to the next phase, going through every character from Who's Who in the Legion that hasn't already appeared in these pages, we'd like to share the artwork we skipped over. We've chosen to show them in order of appearance (heroes, then allies, then villains), which for the loose leaf was quite haphazard, with issue 9 giving Legion the cover and most of the entries as a "theme". The first issue of the update also featured the Legionnaires. You'll see that in most cases, this edition of Who's Who gave the Legion (and similarly, L.E.G.I.O.N.) its own dress, the names fitted into the Legion logo.

What's next for 'Fridays With Anj'?

Hey everyone, it's Anj.

I recently celebrated my nine year anniversary of blogging over on Supergirl Comic Box Commentary.

And it is hard for me to believe but we are coming up on my three year anniversary of blogging here on the Legion of Super-Bloggers. I remember the day that the Irredeemable Shag called me and asked if I wanted to join. And I jumped at the chance.

And over the course of those three years, I have covered some diverse takes on the team.

So what is next on the docket? Well ... let's look at what has come before first....

5YL Supplemental: Zero Hour

Zero Hour #3-1 (September 1994)
title: "Zero Hour"

writer: Dan Jurgens

penciller: Dan Jurgens
inker: Jerry Ordway
lettering: Gaspar Saladino
colorist: Gregory Wright
assistant editor: Mike McAvenie

editor: KC Carlson

cover: Dan Jurgens and Jerry Ordway
reviewer: Siskoid

Mission Monitor Board:  
Cosmic Boy (three versions), Lightning Lad, Live Wire, Saturn Girl (both), Ultra Boy

Guests: 
The rest of the DC Universe

Opponents: 
Extant, Parallax

5YL: Valor #23

Valor #23 (September 1994)
title: "Infinite Valor"

writer: Kurt Busiek

penciller: Colleen Doran
inker: Dave Cooper
lettering: Bob Pinaha
colorist: Dave Grafe

assistant editor: Mike McAvennie

editor: KC Carlson

cover: Stuart Immonen
partners in time travel: Mark Waid and Tom McCraw
reviewer: Siskoid

Mission Monitor Board:  
Alchemist, Bouncing Boy, Brainiac 5 (both), Celeste, Cosmic Boy, Dream Girl (both), Duo Damsel, Element Lad, Ferro, Ferro Lad, Gossamer, Inferno, Light Lass, Lightning Lad, Live Wire, Matter-Eater Lad (both), Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl (both), Shadow Lass, Shrinking Violet (both), Star Boy, Sun Boy, Triad, Ultra Boy (both), Valor, Wildfire/N.R.G.

Guests: 
Night Girl, Superboy (pocket universe)

Opponents: 
Glorith, Mordru, Time Trapper

5YL: Legionnaires #18

Legionnaires #18 (September 1994)
title: "Changing Times"

writers: Mark Waid and Tom McCraw

penciller: Chris Gardner
inker: Dennis Cramer
lettering: Pat Brosseau
colorist: Tom McCraw
assistant editor: Mike McAvennie

editor: KC Carlson

cover: Stuart Immonen
reviewer: Siskoid

Mission Monitor Board:  
Alchemist, Bouncing Boy (both), Brainiac 5 (both), Celeste, Chameleon, Chemical King, Cosmic Boy (both), Duo Damsel, Dragonmage, Dream Girl (both), Element Lad, Inferno, Invisible Kid (SW6), Kono, Live Wire, Matter-Eater Lad (SW6), Polar Boy, Projectra, Reflex, Saturn Girl (both), Shrinking Violet (both), Star Boy (both), Timber Wolf, Ultra Boy (both), White Witch/Jewel, Wildfire/N.R.G

Guests: 
Amethyst, Night Girl, Rond Vidar, Science Police, Superman

Opponents: 
Glorith, Mordru, Time Trapper; evil Legionnaires pulled out of time to fight for them, including Blok, Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Chemical King, Cosmic Boy, Dawnstar, Element Lad, Invisible Kid I, Karate Kid, Saturn Girl, Shrinking Violet, and Ultra Boy.

5YL: Valor #22

Valor #22 (August 1994)
title: "The Center Cannot Hold!"

writer: Kurt Busiek

penciller: Colleen Doran
inker: Dave Cooper
lettering: Bob Pinaha
colorist: Dave Grafe

assistant editor: Mike McAvennie

editor: KC Carlson

cover: Stuart Immonen
spotters: Mark Waid and Tom McCraw
reviewer: Siskoid

Mission Monitor Board:  
Andromeda, Computo II, Invisible Kid II, Shadow Lass, Tyroc, Valor

Guests: 
Chlorophyll Kid, Color Kid, Dev-Em, Fire Lad, Infectious Lass, Marla Latham, R.J. Brande, Stone Boy

Opponents: 
None

5YL: Legionnaires #17

Legionnaires #17 (August 1994)
title: "History Lesson"

writer: Mark Waid

penciller: Chris Gardner
inker: Dennis Cramer
lettering: Pat Brosseau
colorist: Tom McCraw
assistant editor: Mike McAvennie

editor: KC Carlson

cover: Stuart Immonen
special thanks: Kurt Busiek, Tom McCraw
reviewer: Siskoid

Mission Monitor Board:  
Alchemist, Andromeda, Apparition, Brainiac 5 (both), Celeste, Chameleon, Chemical King, Cosmic Boy/Polestar, Dawnstar, Dragonmage, Dream Girl (SW6), Inferno, Invisible Kid (SW6), Kid Quantum, Leviathan, Lightning Lad, Lightning Lass, Matter-Eater Lad, Saturn Girl, Shadow Lass, Shrinking Violet (both), Spider-Girl/Wave, Star Boy (SW6), Timber Wolf, Triad, Ultra Boy (SW6), Valor, White Witch/Jewel, Wildfire/N.R.G.

Guests: 
Dev-Em, Lightning Lord (5YL), Rond Vidar

Opponents: 
Beauty Blaze, Cosmic King (Silver Age), Glorith, Lightning Lord (Silver Age), Mordru, Satan Girl, Saturn Queen (Silver Age), Urthlo

5YL: Legionnaires Annual #1

Legionnaires Annual #1 (1994)
title: "Castles in the Air"

writers: Mark Waid, Ty Templeton

pencillers: Paul Pelletier, Jeff Moy
inkers: Mark Farmer, John Lowe, Wade von Grawbadger, Ron Boyd
lettering: Pat Brosseau
colorist: Tom McCraw

assistant editor: Mike McAvennie

editor: KC Carlson

cover: Paul Pelletier
reviewer: Siskoid

Mission Monitor Board:  
(Elseworlds) Alchemist, Brainiac 5, Chameleon, Cosmic Boy, Dragonmage, Ferro, Inferno, Invisible Kid, Karate Kid, Leviathan, Live Wire, Matter-Eater Lad, Polar Boy, Projectra, Saturn Girl, Shrinking Violet, Triad, Ultra Boy

Guests: 
(Elseworlds) Graym Ranzz (presumably), R.J. Brande

Opponents: 
(Elseworlds) Dark Circle, Lightning Lord, Mordru, Nemesis Kid

5YL: Legionnaires #16

Legionnaires #16 (July 1994)
title: "Saved by Zero"

writer: Mark Waid

penciller: Chris Gardner
inker: Dennis Cramer
lettering: Pat Brosseau
colorist: Tom McCraw
assistant editor: Mike McAvennie

editor: KC Carlson

cover: Adam Hughes and Karl Story
reviewer: Siskoid

Mission Monitor Board:  
Alchemist, Andromeda, Apparition, Brainiac 5 (SW6), Bouncing Boy (SW6, 1st appearance), Catspaw, Chameleon, Computo II, Cosmic Boy (SW6), Dragonmage, Dream Girl (SW6, 1st appearance), Ferro, Gossamer, Inferno, Invisible Kid (SW6), Kid Quantum, Leviathan, Live Wire, Matter-Eater Lad (SW6), Saturn Girl (SW6), Shrinking Violet (SW6), Star Boy (SW6, 1st appearance), Triad, Ultra Boy (SW6), Valor (SW6, as image)

Guests: 
Rond Vidar, Science Police (Commander Schafer), Tokyo Dome scientists

Opponents: 
Khunds (Warlord Khezal), Polestar (adult Cosmic Boy), Tokyo Dome looters

5YL: Legionnaires #15

Legionnaires #15 (June 1994)
title: "Worst Nightmares"

writers: Tom & Mary Bierbaum

penciller: Jeff Moy
inker: Dennis Cramer
lettering: Pat Brosseau
colorist: Tom McCraw

assistant editor: Mike McAvennie
editor: KC Carlson

cover: Jeff Moy and Karl Story
reviewer: Siskoid

Mission Monitor Board:  
Andromeda, Apparition, Brainiac 5 (SW6), Computo II, Cosmic Boy (SW6), Ferro, Gossamer, Inferno, Invisible Kid (SW6), Leviathan, Live Wire, Saturn Girl (SW6), Shrinking Violet (SW6), Ultra Boy (SW6)

Guests: 
Keiki, Sadi (behind the scenes), Science Police (officer Salazar), Mayf (the wounded boy), his mother (a mental creation)

Opponents: 
Dominators, Khunds, an Ultra-Beast (all mental creations)

5YL: Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #5

Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #5 (1994)
title: "The Long Road Home"

writer: Tom McCraw

pencillers: Stuart Immonen, Curt Swan, Ron Boyd, Mark Farmer, Wade von Grawbadger, Craig Hamilton, Jeff Moy, Ted McKeever, Colleen Doran
inkers: José Marzan Jr., Ron Boyd, Mark Farmer, Wade von Grawbadger, John Lowe, Ted McKeever, Robert Campanella, Karl Story, Colleen Doran
lettering: Bob Pinaha
colorist: Tom McCraw
assistant editor: Mike McAvennie

editor: KC Carlson

cover: Stuart Immonen, Karl Story
reviewer: Siskoid

Mission Monitor Board:  
(Non-Elseworlds) Ayla Ranzz, Brainiac 5, Vi, White Witch, Wildfire
(Elseworlds) 5 (Brainiac 5), Ayla Ranzz, Blok, Dreamy (Dream Girl), ERG (Wildfire), Furball (Timber Wolf), Princess Laurel (Andromeda), Shrinking Violet, Tellus, Valor, White Witch

Guests: 

(Elseworlds) Gandians (Daxamites), Garth Ranzz, Imskians, Mekt Ranzz

Opponents: 

(Elseworlds) Blobs (Durlans? Proteans?), Polar King (Polar Boy), Shadowkin (Shadow Kid and Shadow Lass), Starfinger (brother and sister, the later based on Glorith), Sun Baron (Sun Boy), Wind Riders (people of Starhaven)

5YL: Legionnaires #14

Legionnaires #14 (May 1994)
title: "Grim Reality"

writers: Tom & Mary Bierbaum

penciller: Chris Gardner
inkers: Dennis Cramer
lettering: Pat Brosseau
colorist: Tom McCraw
assistant editor: Mike McAvennie

editor: KC Carlson

cover: Adam Hughes
reviewer: Siskoid

Mission Monitor Board:  
Alchemist, Andromeda, Chameleon, Computo II, Cosmic Boy (SW6), Dragonmage, Inferno, Invisible Kid (SW6), Kid Quantum, Leviathan, Live Wire, Matter Eater Lad (SW6), Saturn Girl (SW6), Shrinking Violet (SW6), Triad, Ultra Boy (SW6)

Guests: 
Kono, Science Police, Dominator victim, wounded boy

Opponents: 
Grimbor, Lothar St. Maixent, Parisian separatists, Sklarian Raiders, a monster

5YL: Legionnaires #13

Legionnaires #13 (April 1994)
title: "Chain Gang"

writers: Tom & Mary Bierbaum

penciller: Frank Fosco
inkers: Wade von Grawbadger, Ron Boyd
lettering: Pat Brosseau
colorist: Tom McCraw
assistant editor: Mike McAvennie

editor: KC Carlson

cover: Adam Hughes
reviewer: Siskoid

Mission Monitor Board:  
Alchemist, Andromeda, Apparition, Brainiac 5 (SW6), Chameleon, Computo II, Cosmic Boy (SW6), Dragonmage, Gossamer, Inferno, Invisible Kid (SW6), Kid Quantum, Leviathan, Live Wire, Matter Eater Lad (SW6), Saturn Girl (SW6), Triad, Ultra Boy (SW6)

Guests: 
Kono and her Sklarian crew (including Brita), Science Police, Dominator victim, wounded boy

Opponents: 
Grimbor, Parisian separatists, Sklarian Raiders, an angry mob, alien convicts

5YL: Legionnaires #12

Legionnaires #12 (March 1994)
title: "Street Justice"

writers: Tom & Mary Bierbaum

pencillers: Adam Hughes, Chris Sprouse, Chris Gardner
inkers: Karl Story, Dennis Cramer
lettering: Pat Brosseau
colorist: Tom McCraw
assistant editor: Mike McAvennie

editor: KC Carlson

cover: Chris Sprouse
reviewer: Siskoid

Mission Monitor Board:  
Alchemist, Andromeda, Catspaw, Chameleon, Computo II, Cosmic Boy (SW6), Dragonmage, Gossamer, Inferno, Invisible Kid (SW6), Kid Quantum, Leviathan, Live Wire, Matter Eater Lad (SW6), Saturn Girl (SW6), Shrinking Violet (SW6), Triad

Guests: 
Kono, Sadi, Tyroc, Science Police (Rinq); Durlan, Talokian and Dominator victims, doctors

Opponents: 
Hykraine, Lothar St. Maixent (1st appearance), Parisian separatists, an angry mob

5YL: Legionnaires #11

Legionnaires #11 (February 1994)
title: "The Astonishing Return of Kid Quantum"

writers: Tom & Mary Bierbaum

pencillers: Chris Sprouse, Joe Phillips
inkers: Karl Story, Wade von Grawbadger, Jason Martin
lettering: Pat Brosseau
colorist: Tom McCraw
assistant editor: Mike McAvennie

editor: KC Carlson

cover: Chris Sprouse
reviewer: Siskoid

Mission Monitor Board:  
Andromeda, Apparition, Brainiac 5 (SW6), Catspaw, Chameleon, Computo II, Cosmic Boy (SW6), Dragonmage, Ferro, Gossamer, Inferno, Kid Quantum, Matter Eater Lad (SW6), Saturn Girl (SW6), Shrinking Violet (SW6), Triad, Ultra Boy (SW6)

Guests: 
Proteans, Sadi, Science Police (Liam), a wounded kid

Opponents: 
Grimbor (behind the scenes), Dominators, Khunds, an angry mob

5YL: Legionnaires #10

Legionnaires #10 (January 1994)
title: "Little White Lies"

writers: Tom & Mary Bierbaum

penciller: Chris Sprouse
breakdowns: Adam Hughes
finisher: Stuart Immonen
inkers: Karl Story, Mark Farmer
lettering: Pat Brosseau
colorist: Tom McCraw
assistant editor: Mike McAvennie

editor: KC Carlson

cover: Chris Sprouse
reviewer: Siskoid

Mission Monitor Board:  
Alchemist, Apparition, Brainiac 5 (SW6), Catspaw, Chameleon, Computo II, Cosmic Boy (SW6), Dragonmage, Ferro, Gossamer, Inferno, Live Wire, Matter Eater Lad (SW6), Saturn Girl (SW6), Shrinking Violet (SW6), Ultra Boy (SW6)

Guests: 
Bel An'nan, Kid Quantum, Kono, Proteans, Sadi, Tyroc, a wounded kid

Opponents: 
Dominators, Khunds

5YL: Legionnaires #9

Legionnaires #9 (December 1993)
title: "Skin Deep"

writers: Tom & Mary Bierbaum

penciller: Chris Sprouse, Adam Hughes, Brian Stelfreeze
inker: Karl Story, Adam Hughes, Brian Stelfreeze
lettering: Pat Brosseau
colorist: Tom McCraw
assistant editor: Mike McAvennie

editor: KC Carlson

cover: Chris Sprouse
reviewer: Siskoid

Mission Monitor Board:  
Andromeda, Catspaw, Chameleon, Computo II, Cosmic Boy (SW6), Dragonmage, Inferno, Invisible Kid (SW6), Live Wire, Matter-Eater Lad (SW6), Saturn Girl (SW6), Shrinking Violet (SW6)

Guests: 
Accordion King (and his mother), Barber Boy, Colossal Boy, Proteans, Sadi (1st appearance), Tyroc, the mayor of Acapulco

Opponents: 
Khunds, Sklarian raiders (in the background), a drunk member of the auditioning crowd

5YL: Legionnaires #8

Legionnaires #8 (November 1993)
title: "In Heart and Conscience Free"

writer: Tom & Mary Bierbaum

penciller: Colleen Doran
inker: John Nyberg
lettering: Pat Brosseau
colorist: Tom McCraw
assistant editor: Mike McAvennie

editor: KC Carlson

cover: Chris Sprouse
reviewer: Siskoid

Mission Monitor Board:  
Alchemist, Andromeda, Brainiac 5 (SW6), Chameleon, Computo II, Cosmic Boy (SW6), Dragonmage, Gossamer, Invisible Kid (SW6), Leviathan, Saturn Girl (SW6), Triad

Allies: 
Chairman Audric


Opponents: 
Chairman Audric, Secretary Yarin, other Coluans