RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Comic Books May I have some help from some of you Legion people.

Hey how are you all.

I have been reading the Legion and It's really one of the titles I look forward to each month.

My problem is alot of the book is continuity ridden and I have no clue what's going on if it happen before The Legion #1.

Problem 2: They don't really seem to be printing too many Legion TPB for me to explore Legion history.

So what I ask of any kind soul is to give me some suggestions on what I should pick up in back issues.

One thing is I enjoy more of a dark gritty tone and I have heard not all the Legion storys were written that way.

Thanks for your time.

This is a tough question because you're looking at 40+ years of Legion history and a couple incarnations.

There is a TP of The Great Darkness Saga, which a lot of fans think is one of the greatest pre-boot (before this current version of Legion) stories.

There is also the TP The Beginning of Tomorrow, which covers the start-up of the current team. It was quite a different tone and style from what's going on now. (I didn't think it was that great but ok for historical purposes.)

If you like grim & gritty, try the first 13 or so issues of the Giffen/Bierbaum Legion, from 1989 - also called the 5 Years Later series, because it tells the story of the Legion when they reunited after splitting up for 5 years. Personally, I didn't find it grim - it's my favorite version/series.

The current story line really goes back, IMHO, to the Space Rift/Legion of the Damned & Legion Lost stories, which immediately preceded The Legion #1. Some of these issues ain't cheap, especially Legion Lost.

There's also the Archives, 12 hardcover books which go back to the original Legion in the 1960s. For diehard fans, great stories, great nostalgia & a little hard on the pocketbook. Many of us bemoan the lack of Legion trade paperbacks. A chicken in every pot and a Legion in every household, I say!

The most important stuff you need to pick up to understand the current series is basically the rest of DnA's run, namely the last few issues of Legion of Super-Heroes and Legionnaires, along with Legion Lost and Legion Worlds. Picking up The Beginning of Tomorrow TP would probably be useful also, as it gives you a general feel of what the rebooted Legion was supposed to be in the first place (an hence a feel as to what they are trying to rebuild in the current series). I actually think those stories, with Mark Waid as the primary writer, were the best of the reboot. There's also a nice mixture of lighter and more serious elements. In one issue, the girls go out to a club, while in the next Triad is severely beaten by a gang of racist thugs, which leads to a spotlight on her troubled past. After Waid left, the series began a gradual decline in quality which was reversed only when DnA took over.

If you have any specific questions about continuity, though, feel free to ask them here and I'm sure one of us can answer! :)

Yeah, THIS Legion didn't begin until ZERO HOUR, so don't be freaked by the 40+ years of continuity.

But if you want to explore the rich & diverse world of the LEGION, there's LOTS out there to check out, as Cramer has noted.

I personally would avoid a big chunk of the 80s stuff (prior to the arrival of Keith Giffen and Paul Levitz) and a big chunk of the reboot post-Mark Waid and pre-DnA.

But even within THOSE chunks lie some gems...

Eryk Davis Ester said it best. For someone interested in what's going on NOW, the Abnett & Lanning-written issues are pretty much all you need to focus on.

Essentially, ZERO HOUR did do the LEGION what the CRISIS did to SUPERMAN, BATMAN & WONDER WOMAN. They just started over completely from scratch in a foolhardy bid to attract newer, younger readers.

For basic questions about Legion history (pre and post boot) a good reference tool is Chaim Keller's Legion Help File. Definitely worth the download.

Got a link I'll post tonight for ya.

I'm fairly new to the Legion myself and the help file is fantastical. (However, even if reading it seems like a good idea, skip the Legion/Titans cross-over, it's not as good as you'd expect.)

THis site has some great resources for both pre Zero Hour, and current Legion...
http://www2.bitstream.net/~myke4/legion/index.html

Wow, I'm no longer the resident Legion newbie, huh? Damn that's erie!