LSH Cover to Cover 8: 1969~1973

We're back with another installment of our never-ending (?) feature on all of the comic-book cover appearances of The Legion in chronological order.

Last time, we ended in the Spring of 1969, as the Legion was unceremoniously dropped from Adventure Comics. And they didn't just lose their cover spot, they lost the book itself! In one of the saddest times in Legion history, Superman Group Editor Mort Weisinger gave the lead in Adventure to the Maid of Might, Supergirl as he shuffled our cast of 20-plus characters into a back-up feature in Action Comics! This led to our favorite Future Heroes to not being featured on a cover on a regular basis for THREE DRY YEARS.

(Moment of silence.)

LSH Cover to Cover 7: 1968-1969

Welcome to the seventh installment of our Legion of Super-Bloggers feature on all of the comic-book cover appearances of The Legion in chronological order. This time we start with 1968 and extend a bit into 1969. This will be a year of changes, as we start with Curt Swan and end with Neal Adams!

1968 started out in typical Silver Age fashion, with a cover feature on The Legion of Super-Pets. However, from February we get the return of the Fatal Five and the debut of Shadow Lass....with the debut of Neal Adams as cover artist, to boot.

Neal Adams drew the majority of the Adventure Comics covers for the remaining 18 months, until the Legion was unceremoniously booted out of the lead cover-spot in Adventure and dumped into the back-up spot in Action Comics. They then had to endure a long dry spell before they re-appeared on another cover....!

LSH Cover to Cover 6: 1967

The sixth installment of our feature on all of the comic-book cover appearances of The Legion in chronological order brings us up to the year 1967. And we start the year off with a bang: the debut of the Fatal Five!!

1967 also featured the death of Ferro Lad, as well as the debut of Insect Queen and the introduction of the "Adult Legion" concept. Yes, there was a lot going on in 2967.

Cosmic Boy appeared on the most covers besides cover-hog Superboy/man, with six of twelve. Ferro Lad, the Doomed Legionnaire himself, comes in second with four covers.

This was the last year that all of the Adventure covers were pencilled by the late, great Curt Swan. All inking on this year's covers was done by George Klein.

LSH Cover to Cover 5: 1966

Here's our fifth installment of our Legion of Super-Bloggers feature on all of the comic-book cover appearances of The Legion in chronological order. We're up to the year 1966, and from now on we're going to go by years just to make it easier to track.

The Legion was an established series by this time, and several of the characters were now recognizable enough to merit repeat appearances on the cover. Lightning Lad, Colossal Boy, and Cosmic Boy appeared five times this year, while Saturn Girl and Phantom Girl both appeared four times.

The year 1966 started with a bang, with one of the greatest and most well-known Legion covers ever. Of course, I'm talking about the debut of Computo the Conqueror, and the murder of Triplicate Girl.

This was also the year where Star Boy is expelled for killing, Matter-Eater Lad blows up like Bouncing Boy, and, oh yeah, some writer named Jim Shooter starts working on the series. He brings with him Princess Projectra, Karate Kid, Ferro Lad, and Nemesis Kid! All in all, one of the greatest years of Legion Lore ever! Let's get to it, shall we?

All covers were still being pencilled by the late, great Curt Swan. Inking was predominantly done by George Klein, with one issue (Adventure Comics #341, being inked by Sheldon Moldoff.

LSH Cover to Cover 4: Curt Swan

Here's our fourth installment of our Legion of Super-Bloggers feature on all of the comic-book cover appearances of The Legion in chronological order.

Last time we went from Adventure Comics #321 to Adventure Comics #329, with a quick stop-off at Superboy #117. That brought us up to February 1965 and the debut of the Legion Flight Rings.

There was a definite "core" of Legionnaires by this point. Saturn Girl, Brainiac 5, and Colossal Boy appeared most often, with Lightning Lad, Mon-El, and Chameleon Boy featured prominently often, too. Surprisingly, Light Lass was on every cover from Adventure Comics #333 thru Adventure Comics #338. No other Legionnaire besides Superboy ever had that great a stretch.

LSH Cover To Cover 3: Curt Swan

Welcome to the third installment of our Legion of Super-Bloggers feature on all of the comic-book cover appearances of The Legion in chronological order.

As you may recall, we are now at the beginning of the Legion's run in Adventure Comics. However, their over-all sales strength still seems to be a question at DC, as they *still* are not getting all of the main cover appearances! For Adventure Comics #325 we get Lex Luthor, Superboy, and.... Supergirl?! For Adventure Comics #327 we get a homicidal Pa Kent, and just a vignette about future Legionnaire Timber Wolf (then called Lone Wolf). And of course we get Adventure Comics #322, which features The Legion of Super-Pets. When the Legionnaires DO appear, there is a definite trend to only feature two or three Legionnaires at a time. Oddly enough, at this time Saturn Girl and Element Lad are most often cover featured.

LSH Covert to Cover 2: Curt Swan

Here's our second installment of our Legion of Super-Bloggers feature on all of the comic-book cover appearances of the Legion in chronological order.

Last time we went from their debut in Adventure Comics #247 (April 1958) until they had won the lead feature in Adventure Comics, from #300.  Still, they were not featured on every cover! For example, although they were on #307 (the debut of Element Lad), they were not on the cover of #308 (the debut of Light Lass)! In fact, after Element Lad's debut they were not cover-featured again until Adventures Comics #311...which, ironically, featured the Legion of Substitute Heroes! We therefore pick up with that issue.  

Sharp-eyed readers will notice that the Legion was not on the cover of Adventure Comics #315, either.

LSH Cover to Cover 1: Curt Swan

We're starting a new series this week here at Legion of Super-Bloggers that we will be featuring on a semi-regular basis: we are going to feature all of the cover-featured appearances of the Legion, in chronological order!