The Legion of Super Bloggers!

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Happy Birthday, Curt Swan!

Happy Birthday, Curt Swan!

Today is the anniversary of the birth of arguably the greatest Superman artist of all time, Mr. Curt Swan. He was born on February 17, 1920, which means he would have been 95 years old today.

Although Curt Swan is best known for his pencilling work on Superman and Action Comics, he also handled such diverse series as Aquaman, Wonder Woman, The Boy Commandos, World's Finest, and, of course, The Legion of Super-Heroes. In fact, Curt Swan drew the cover of Adventure Comics #247, which was the debut of the team. He was their regular artist from 1966-1968, drawing such important stories as Computo vs Triplicate Girl, the death of Ferro Lad, the origin and return of the Fatal Five, and the debut of Mordru.

To celebrate the greatness of Curt Swan, here are a few of his wonderful covers to Adventure Comics.

Mr. Swan passed away on June 17, 1996.

Happy Birthday, Curt Swan!

Thank you for all the great stories!

The cover that started it all

The debut of the Legionnaires' Silver Age uniforms

Another iconic design, as the Legion gets its own feature

Besides the 15+ Legionnaires, Curt Swan
also had to draw the supporting characters,
such as the Legion of Substitute Heroes!

Another classic, as Lightning Lad returns to life....
but at a price!

Swan may not have been the most dynamic artist,
but he was good at people. Check out the
individual Legionnaires here

Curt Swan also drew pretty women

Another iconic cover, another shot of the numerous
Legionnaires...!

Another famous cover as the Legion
experiences its first tragedy

Curt Swan's SuperBOY really did look different
than his SuperMAN

One of the most famous LSH stories of all time,
Adventure #353

Our first look at future Legionnaires Shadow
Lass and Chemical King, for one thing....

Some of Curt Swan's best work
(Adventure Comics #369)

The last issue of the Legion in Adventure....
SO appropriate that the era ends with a Curt Swan cover

Secret Origins 47

One of the last stories Curt Swan did, in 1989

Monday, February 16, 2015

The Legion's Presidents' Day

Today is Presidents' Day in the USA. We honor all 44 Presidents, the Great Leaders as well as The Duds.

So here at the Legion of Super Bloggers we have decided to honor *our* Great Leaders of The Original Series, in chronological order....

Year One: Cosmic Boy

the computer picked him

Members: 3 at its lowest, 11 at its highest

Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad form the Legion
and admit eight other members
Most important missions:

The Case of the Quintile Crystal, renegade GL attack on Time Institute

Year Two: Cosmic Boy
you like him, you really like him

Members: went from 11 to 18

Mon-El is asked to join, even though he is still trapped in the Phantom Zone
Most important missions:

Lex Luthor sends a robot to destroy the Legion, the Legion of Super-Pets is formed
Note:
Cosmic Boy's second term is never actually confirmed in any story.
However, because the "open application for new members once every year"
comments are mentioned several times by several applicants,
it is strongly implied that he served more than one term

Year Three: Saturn Girl

she told you to vote for her

Members: 18 at its lowest, 21 at its highest

Lightning Lad is put into a coma but eventually gets better,
Lightning Lass joins but then becomes Light Lass,
Dream Girl joins but quickly resigns, Bouncing Boy loses his powers and resigns

Most important events:

Lightning Lad sacrifices himself to save Saturn Girl (and Earth),
Roxxas and his raiders murders everyone on the planet Trom,
The Legion of Substitute Heroes is formed
Note:
Saturn Girl learns of the invasion plans of
Zaryan, so commands the membership to vote for her so
she can sacrifice herself to stop him. After her plot is discovered,
the membership votes her back in officially.

Year Four: Saturn Girl

she solved the riddle of The Eight Impossible Missions

Members: 19 throughout the year

Command Kid and Dynamo Boy try separately to infiltrate and destroy the Legion
Most important events:

Lex Luthor attacks again, the Flight Rings are invented,
Mordru attacks Earth, Lightning Lad loses his right arm

Year Five: Brainiac 5
thinks he knows more than he actually does

Members: 19 at its lowest, 23 at its highest

Triplicate Girl is killed, becoming Duo Damsel; Star Boy is expelled;

Ferro Lad, Karate Kid, and Princess Projectra join;
Nemesis Kid is expelled.
Most important events:

Computo takes over Metropolis, Star Boy is charged with murder,
the Khunds attempt to invade Earth

Year Six: Invisible Kid

quiet, almost non-descript, but solid as a rock

Members: 18 at its lowest, 24 at its highest

Superboy and Supergirl are expelled but soon return;
Star Boy, Bouncing Boy, and Dream Girl rejoin; Ferro Lad is killed;
Shadow Lass joins

Most important events:

Dr. Regulus attacks, Universo takes over Earth, the Fatal Five is formed,

Ferro Lad sacrifices himself to stop the Sun-Eater

Year Seven: Ultra Boy and Karate Kid
too much work for one man?

Members: 24 at its lowest, 26 at its highest

Timber Wolf and Chemical King join;
Superboy quits in order to keep the membership at 25
Most important events:

The Legion of Super-Villains is discovered, the Taurus Gang attacks

Year Eight: Mon-El and Ultra Boy
the year that Time forgot

Members: 25 throughout the year

Most important missions:

Lightning Lord is captured by his siblings,
Mordru attempts to kill Superboy in the past

Year Nine: Mon-El
back to tradition...

Members: 25 at the beginning, 23 at the end

Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel retire to get married;
Superboy rejoins; Wildfire joins;
Invisible Kid is killed; Supergirl resigns;
Matter-Eater Lad resigns; Tyroc joins

Most important events:

Tyr attacks, the Fatal Five returns, the Legion of Super-Villains attacks,
Validus under control of Tharok murders Invisible Kid

Year Ten: Wildfire
The New Kid Makes Good

Members: 23 members

Dawnstar joins; Chemical King is killed;
Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad resign to get married
but rejoin when the Constitution is re-written

Most important events:

The Time Trapper strikes, Pulsar Stargrave attacks, the Infinite Man is created,
Chemical King is killed preventing the Dark Circle invasion of Earth
Note:
Starting with this election, the fans themselves chose the Leaders.
Superboy won the popularity contest, but writer Paul Levitz
chose to give the position to the 2nd placer,
then write a story about it.

Year Eleven: Lightning Lad
long-time coming

Members: 23 at the beginning, 21 at the end

Superboy resigns; Tyroc resigns; Blok joins; Invisible Kid II joins;
Princess Projectra and Karate Kid resign

Most important events:

Brainiac 5 is temporarily unbalanced, the League of Assassins attacks,
The Dark Man attacks

Year Twelve: Dream Girl
she had a dream

Members: 21 at its lowest, 22 at its highest

White Witch joins; Light Lass resigns

Most important events:

Darkseid attacks, Shrinking Violet is replaced by a spy,
the Emerald Empress attacks

Year Thirteen: Element Lad
Finally!

Members: 23 at its highest, then 19 at the end

Lightning Lass returns; Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad resign

Most important events:

Graym Ranzz is born, the Legion of Super-Villains invades Orando,
Karate Kid is killed, the Dark Circle moves to invade UP space

Year Fourteen: Element Lad
"Keep Up The Good Work!"

Members: 19 at the beginning, then 24 at the end

Five new members join; Star Boy resigns; Saturn Girl rejoins

Most important events:

A new Fatal Five attacks, the Infinite Man returns,
the Crisis arrives in the 30th Century, Universo takes over Earth
Note:
This screen shows Superboy voting, even though he was no longer
an official member.

Year Fifteen: Polar Boy
be careful what you wish for...

Members: 24 at the beginning, 18 at the end

White Witch, Brainiac 5, Dream Girl, Quislet,
Shadow Lass, and Mon-El all resign

Most important events:

A new Starfinger attacks, the Manhunters return,
Superboy is killed fighting the Time Trapper

Year Sixteen: Sensor Girl
a sense of duty

Members: 18 at the beginning, then 17 at the end

Magnetic Kid dies

Most important event:

The Magic Wars

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Legion Archive 5: Mark Farmer

Continuing the spotlight on the art of The Legion of Super-Heroes Archives. The fifth volume features a wacky cover by the talented Mark Farmer. Farmer, of course, is best known as the inker for Alan Davis on such projects as Batman & the Outsiders, Excalibur, and The X-Men. He is an obvious Legion fan, as he wrote and inked quite a few Legion stories during the Nineties. This is a fun, straight-forward piece with the spotlight very firmly on Ferro Lad and other new members Karate Kid and Princess Projectra. Oh, and that Matter-Eater Lad kid.

Stories:
Adventure Comics #340-349

Events:
This edition we are smack-dab in the middle of what most consider the greatest era of the team. The book begins with a featurette on The Origin and Powers of the Legion from Adventure Comics #365. Then we jump into the classic Computo two-parter, the classic Trial of Star Boy, the classic Super-Stalag of Space nail-biter, the introduction of the new members, the origin of Sun Boy, and the debut of Universo. Not a dud in the bunch!!