Customer Reviews

Legion of Super-Heroes: 1050 Years of the Future

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I bought this book for my son as an introduction/overview to the LSH. In that respect, I don't think it does that great a job, but I'm not sure how things could be improved given the complicated multiple reboots of the comic.

My son enjoyed the earlier stories (from Adventure Comics), but lost interest when he got to "Legion of Super-Heroes #300", which is way too complicated. Too many alternative futures, and barely explained villains.

Typical of the problems are the many references to the death of Ferro Lad (which I remember from my LSH reading days), but the actual story isn't included.

I liked the sample of comics from the many reboots, but it makes for complicated reading for a child (e.g. with all the costume and cast changes).

As a _simple_ introduction to the LSH, I might have been better served by buying volume 1 of "Showcase Presents: Legion of Super-Heroes", but I wanted a colour book for my son.

DC published this book in honor of the 50th birthday of the Legion of Super Heroes, their premier superhero team of the future. The Legion should not work--way too many characters and too many reboots--but it does. Idealistic young people, all inspired by the Superman legend, come from various planets, races and backgrounds to create a team that protects the galaxy. The Legion, like the United Federation of Planets in Star Trek, is an inspirational idea and I suspect this is one of the reasons why the group has lasted as long as it has.

This book is a birthday gift to fans of the Legion--not a great one but not one to return either, kind of like getting socks. There are some interesting stories from the early days of the Legion as well as newer stories. While there are notes from various writers who have tackled the Legion, they are not particularly interesting or illuminating. This book is not an introduction to the Legion. Readers who are new to the Legion will be bewildered by the endless procession of characters and the twists and turns they take. There are some good stories in here ("Bedtime Stories" was excellent) but this work serves as neither an overview to the team or a collection of their "greatest hits" as some of their best stories are not covered here. It's not a bad book but it is one that seems a bit adrift. Fans of the Legion will like it but I can not, alas, recommend it to those readers outside that group.

Just an FYI: The cover is taken from Limited Collectors Edition #49, which included a Legion vs. Mordru reprint from an issue of Adventure Comics, and not from Limited Collectors Edition #55, which featured the all-new (non-reprint) Lightning Lad/Saturn Girl marriage with a cover featuring the Legion in battle with hostile aliens. And I agree, it's long overdue for a reprint in some sort of Legion collection.