RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Comic Books Legion Founders - Their Place in History

If I'm remembering correctly, the original Legion origin was a Johnny
come lately, added on maybe a dozen years after the first appearance of
the Legion.

The origin placed such importance on the roles of the three founders ...
Did we even know that Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad and Cosmic Boy WERE the
group's founding members before that story? It also put Brande, and his
fortune, in the spotlight.

It seems that the Legion founders may have been chosen based solely on
their central roles in early Superboy/Legion stories. Of course, even
in those pivotal stories, they were only representatrives of a much
larger club.

Since that Legion origin, the founders have been given a great deal of
honor. At times the reverence for these three has seemed to almost
created a class distinction among members.

Has that one story, originally published in the 80 PG Giant Superboy 147
reprint book, had undue impact on Legion history?

Don't get mad ... I'm not trying to trash the big three, but I am
interested in the thoughts of Legion readers on this topic. I've
actually kind of wondered about this subject ever since first reading
that origin story. It just didn't seem to fit with the rest of the
Legion stories that I had been reading. In fact, it's very unusual for a story, not published in the ongoing book or created by the regular creative team, to have this much impact on a series.

Any thoughts?

Steve Lightle

Well, when Adventure Comics 247 came out, they were the THREE and ONLY members of the Legion. (Back when the Legion was just a one-shot story idea...)

So, in effect, the Superboy story simply re-elevated them to the status they originally held, that of being central to the Legion.


And, I think it took nearly ANOTHER decade for that story to have had the effect you state (that the founders HAD such an influence on the Legion....after all...we barely even saw all three of them together until Lightning Lad & Saturn Girl got married....)

The post-Crisis Superman kind of occupies that spot now...thanks to his sliding timeline, he really ISN'T the first super-hero now, but even more than the JSAers, he IS the one everyone else looks to. The founding three just don't have the disadvantage of not BEING the founding three...

I agree with Datalore. I do think the "core" group should be expanded to include Valor, Triad, Ultra Boy, Apparition, Brainy and Invisible Kid though, at this point in their history. They seem to always play major roles at various points in Legion history.

Post-boot, Lu and Tinya joined so soon after the group's founding that they may as well have been founders.

And Lyle was crucial to their early adventures. He also designed the Flight Rings, formed the Espionage Squad, and helped write the Legion Constitution along with the three founders and Gim. He's definitely core Legion now.

And Lar has the charisma and the legend behind him.

I liked the three founders having a certain importance for well, being founders. The Legion always struck me as being famous as a team in the UP but most of the members were not mega famous. Everybody would know who the founders were & probably Ferro Lad. Comparable to everyone knowing who the first President of the US was but not knowing all the rest of them or the exact order.