• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Legion of Superheroes collecting thread
3 3

620 posts in this topic

My last of a trio of posts for today is devoted to spin off Legion stories not necessarily starring them. Jimmy Olsen's zany life saw him in a seemingly endless procession of outlandish tales where pretty much anything went. He was anchored to the Legion through his somewhat unqualified membership as Elastic Lad, though that role pre dates the Legion.

Jimmy's Legion covers are always fun and many of us love them all. A couple of these copies below are from the Northland collection. Back in 1998 I received the Motor City catalog featuring this collection and a cover appearance of Marilyn Goldman. I rang to ask after books including Jimmy Olsen but all were en route to a show in San Francisco. Needless to say I missed most of what I wanted. Many years later I did manage to buy the Northland 72 and 76 already CGC graded.

JO72.jpg

jo76.jpg

JimmyOlsen99a.jpg

MotorCity98catalog.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Silver said:

And first Bouncing Boy! Seriously...Bouncing Boy! 

Bouncing Boy is easily my favorite Legionnaire.  He’s an amazing character.  And that’s down to his character, not his power set.

There’s a reason he was the subject of my very first commissioned sketch in my LSH book.

028DDF50-D1D9-48FB-AF1E-3A7D05FABAB2.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, steelcity said:

Thought I would start with an absolute favorite. Just about everyone who loves the Legion loves issue 369. From its ominous opening splash page the book weaves a tale about Mordru, an old Legion villain of untold power who we never actually met before. The sense of dread and foreboding builds wonderfully. This book always reminded me of Spectacular Spider-Man #2 with building fear similar to what Peter Parker felt waiting for the Goblin to strike.

 

The first Mordru story is one of my all time favorites.  The second part in 370 was actually the first Legion story I ever read; although I had read about the team in Who's Who and thought they sounded interesting.  I then came across the 370 at a swap meet a couple months later, grabbed it, and fell in love with the series.

Any story that actually makes a convincing case for Pete Ross and Lana Lang to be honorary Legionnaires has to be pretty spectacular, just as a starting point.  I consider myself lucky that I can truthfully say that was my first issue of the Legion, even if I wasn't even born until after it came out... and didn't read it until 1986.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, steelcity said:

The Legion of Superheroes grew in the telling. From early appearances in Adventure Comics to wider appearances across other Superman Family titles and so relentlessly on to dominating Adventure Comics. After a time they were confidently promoted by DC. Although their first and second appearances were featured on the covers of Adventure Comics 247 and 267 their third appearance, late in June 1960 in Action Comics, was totally unheralded. This story links Supergirl with the Legion for the first time without a cover promotion.

Some books that are not Legion can look so. Take Adventure Comics 242, just five issues before the first real appearance that has a Legion style to it.

I remember in my early days of comic shows looking for a nice copy of Action 267. It was always a tough find.

Adv.242.jpg

 

That 242 really does look like a Legion issue, doesn't it? 

Somewhere I've got the #237, which Overstreet used to list as a LSH prototype.  Not sure where the heck they got that idea...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Silver said:

That is an awesome sketch! Seriously, Bouncing Boy married a woman who could split into two....how lucky is that guy? ? 

I always figured bouncing was not his only talent!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Silver said:

Love those Elastic Lad’s...here is Jimmy’s first and second appearance as Elastic Lad, both Oregon copies:

jo31cgc.jpg

jo37.jpg

Jimmy Olsen #37 is a very tough book in high grade. It is probably the most memorable Elastic Lad cover.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Btw, the Modred story is also a favorite of mine. It’s about as good as it got for SA DC and is a must read. Other great two parters are 350/351, the Legion Chain Gang in 360/361, and the Death of Triplicate Girl in 340/341. There seems to be a pattern in the numbering!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

56 minutes ago, Silver said:

Btw, the Modred story is also a favorite of mine. It’s about as good as it got for SA DC and is a must read. Other great two parters are 350/351, the Legion Chain Gang in 360/361, and the Death of Triplicate Girl in 340/341. There seems to be a pattern in the numbering!

The Legion chain gang is 359/360. To further wreck the pattern other classic two parters are 346/347 and maybe the greatest of all two parters 352/353.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After the landmark issue #300,  Adventure Comics belonged to the LOSH barring the occasional Superboy story reprint. #301, as already posted, had a non Legion cover.

#302 is quite a difficult book in nice condition. It was likely a popular buy. The origin of Sun Boy’s power will be explored in issue #348, which for a 1966 book, is also very hard to find in high grade.

Adv302.jpg

adv302.jpg

Edited by steelcity
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A favorite issue for many Legion collectors is also the first installment of a two-parter. Adventure #352. It explores the formation of an uneasy alliance by good and evil against a common enemy. Every reader will know this cannot work but desperation demands an attempt.

The good part of this unworkable team is of course the Legion. The other part introduces The Fatal Five, a bit of a bad lot in almost every respect. Their leader, Tharok, given super intelligence following his body being rebuilt after suffering partial vaporisation, is a formidable foe. Next member Mano, the morally bankrupt psychopath who destroyed his own world is also totally bad. Nobody can expect him to echar una mano in this alliance. The Emerald Empress, seductive yet unstable along with The Persuader who wields his atomic axe without conscience flank the first two. And giant creature Validus who is more easily led than evil is the fifth member. Unfortunately he is led by Tharok.

There is enough depth and back story in this evil team to merit a full blockbuster film had they been created by Marvel.

Their common enemy is the Sun-Eater, a destroyer of worlds similar in concept to Norman Spinrad's Doomsday Machine in Star Trek's season two.

The issue leaves the reader holding their breath to wonder how can this scenario of armageddon be averted?

As a child I had a dilemma with this tale. My best pal had issue 352 and I had issue 353, the second part. We kept swapping our books but neither of us could have the satisfaction of owning both!

Adventure352.jpg

Adventure352e.png

Adventure352a.png

Adventure352d.png

Adventure352b.png

Adventure352c.png

Edited by steelcity
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, steelcity said:

The Legion chain gang is 359/360. To further wreck the pattern other classic two parters are 346/347 and maybe the greatest of all two parters 352/353.

Thanks for setting me straight in the numbers, I was trying to do it from my head and didn’t check. I do know this, there were a number of awesome two parters. People denigrate DC all the time but I fell like these Legion stories in Adventures that we’re talking about represent some of the very best story telling DC had at the time. I’m not sure off the top of my head if they are all Jim Shooter stories, but I think a number of them are.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, steelcity said:

After the landmark issue #300,  Adventure Comics belonged to the LOSH barring the occasional Superboy story reprint. #301, as already posted, had a non Legion cover.

#302 is quite a difficult book in nice condition. It was likely a popular buy. The origin of Sun Boy’s power will be explored in issue #348, which for a 1966 book, is also very hard to find in high grade.

Adv302.jpg

adv302.jpg

I have been looking for a upgrade of this issue forever. I’m at believe how awesome your copy is. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice to see this thread revived. I realized today, this year is the 60th anniversary of the Legion. Too bad there isn't a current book being published.

One of my favorites over the years, and I completed my set last year, I believe. Earlier in thread I posted scans of the first 20 appearances from my collection, which I could repeat if anyone was interested. Not beautiful condition copies like these recent ones, keep in mind, but the affordable middle to lower ground of 2.0 to 6.0 at the most.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Silver said:

Thanks for setting me straight in the numbers, I was trying to do it from my head and didn’t check. I do know this, there were a number of awesome two parters. People denigrate DC all the time but I fell like these Legion stories in Adventures that we’re talking about represent some of the very best story telling DC had at the time. I’m not sure off the top of my head if they are all Jim Shooter stories, but I think a number of them are.

I think they were miles and away some of the best storytelling DC had in the 60's.  Shooter, and Bridwell, and even Siegel, who did the Computo 2-parter that I think kicks off the classic Adventure run of 340-380, wound up merging some of the still new Marvel sensibility to the classic DC style.  Throw in Curt Swan as the primary artist, set the whole thing in the future so you have some freedom to actually change things, have Superboy as just a single member of a large group of heroes so he doesn't totally distort the stories completely around himself but can still play on the Superman mythos.  Tell stories that take two whole issues at a point where 2 or 3 stories per issue was common, so they feel massive and epic.  And you wind up with a run with classic story after classic story after classic story.  I don't think anybody's even mentioned the LSV story in 371-372 yet, another favorite of mine; and we've listed a LOT of amazing stories from the run already.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
3 3