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
