There is something funny about
the Legion of Super-Heroes: sometimes they are the luckiest kids in the galaxy, and sometimes they can't catch a break! They appeared with absolutely no fanfare in a throw-away issue of
Adventure Comics in 1958. For four years they were nothing special, the kids who stopped by to say hello to
Superboy, Supergirl, or
Superman, but who had no home of their own. Then, from 1962 until 1968 they occupied
Adventure Comics, and was one of DC's better selling titles. They looked like they would go on that way forever (into the 31st Century, atleast), until the fickle finger of fate threw them a curve. As suddenly as they were given
Adventure Comics it was taken away from them, given to
Supergirl. They tried to squeeze 26 members into a back-up in
Action Comics, but everyone knew that was not going to work. In the fall of 1970 they found themselves homeless again.
Then, in the spring of 1971 they appeared in the back pages of
Superboy for the first time. And the world of comics was ready for another bolt of lightning.
It started simply. Maybe these initial
Legion stories were scripts that had already been ordered for
Action Comics. Or perhaps they were stories that writer E. Nelson Bridwell wanted to tell (the origin of Lightning Lord, the origin of Invisible Kid). Either way, things began to happen. Because, you see, the
Superboy issues with
the Legion back-ups started to sell better than the
Superboy issues without them! Fans wrote in begging for more
Legion stories.
Adventure Comics editor Mort Weisinger had kicked
the Legion out of that book to give it to
Supergirl, but
Superboy editor Murray Boltinoff was looking for anything that would sell comics. He kept the series and kept looking at the sales numbers.
And then an artist named Dave Cockrum came to DC and *wanted* to draw
the Legion. Within two or three stories the ingredients gelled and a miracle occurred.
The Legion stories gradually became more exciting, more fun, and more engaging than the lead
Superboy (solo) feature. Eventually, after more than two years, editor Murray Boltinoff made the fateful decision: with issue #197, the
Superboy logo would now read:
Superboy Starring The Legion of Super-Heroes.
The Legion was back!
No one reading comics in 1973 could possibly have guessed what was eventually going to happen. The book that started as
Superboy in 1949 had become
Superboy Starring The Legion of Super-Heroes. But it didn't stop there. From #231, it legally became
Superboy And The Legion of Super-Heroes. And then with issue #259, it became just, plain,
The Legion of Super-Heroes. The group that had been kicked out
, now turned around and did the kicking, bumping
Superboy out of his own book!
This banner will feature all of the stories told during this era, chronologically, from
Superboy #172 (March 1971) until
Superboy And The Legion #258 (Dec 1979). This is the Dave Cockrum, Mike Grell, Jim Sherman, and Jim Starlin eras of the book, with stories by Cary Bates, Jim Shooter, Paul Levitz, and Gerry Conway. There are a lot of great stories during this run, and we here at
Legion of Super-Bloggers look forward to turning you on to them!
LONG LIVE THE LEGION!
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This was most likely because long-time Superman Group editor, Mort Weisinger, retired in 1970. One of the last things he did before he retired was to switch Supergirl and the Legion; she took over ADVENTURE and they were relegated to the back of ACTION, starting with #378 (July 1969).
This was probably supposed to be a win-win, as The Maid of Might should have glowed brightly in the spotlight, and the Legion should have managed to survive under a new editor. However, once Weisinger was gone it all started to fall apart. New Superman Group editor Julius Schwartz must not have known what to do with them. Regular Legion writer Jim Shooter quit, fed up with having to write shorter stories. In his stead E. Nelson Bridwell came back to write character pieces, doing the best he could with 10-12 page limits. New writer Cary Bates began to get his toes wet in the far flung future. But after less than twenty issues, as of #392, the Legion was out of ACTION, figuratively as well as actually. 
