Customer Reviews

Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Vol. 10 (DC Archive Editions)

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This covers SUPERBOY (first series) #172-202, a time in the early 1970s when the Legion was saved from obscurity by its loyal fans and brought back as a back-up feature in SUPERBOY... eventually eclipsing Superboy himself and taking over the whole title as "SUPERBOY and the LEGION OF SUPERHEROES". This features the earliest work by Dave Cockrum, the artist who introduced the memorable and often provocative 1970's costumes (Saturn Girl in a bikini, Phantom Girl in cut-out bellbottoms, Princess Projectra in a top held together by only 2 strings!!) Stories include the introduction and inauguration of Wildfire (briefly known as ERG-1) and the marriage of Bouncing Boy to Duo Damsel. Not the greatest writing in the Archives series, but certainly worth reading if only for the artwork and the wedding (the first of many Legion weddings to come).

Any fan of The Legion in the seventies must have this book! The new costumes, Dave Cockrum's complete run as the artist of the series in this one volume, introduction and subsequent joining of Wildfire (originally named Starfire but had to be changed due to a sword & sorcery/ sci-fi concept heroine DC was also publishing, which lasted two whole issues, renamed ERG-1 before publication, and rechristened Wildfire upon his reappearance), the wedding of two Legionnaires, this one has it all.

this collection is very special to me since it contains some of the 1st legion stories i've ever read as a kid. it was the beginning of the dave cockrum era and introduced 1 of my favorite new members wildfire and redesigned the costumes for many legion members. it was a special time for the legion w/ new spaceship designs and a updated look of the 30th century.

it also features the first appearance of infectious lass and porcupine pete who later join the subs. a great way for the legion to start the 70s off.

Part of the comeback of the Legion, with the publication in Superboy, etc. The artwork and costumes were updated, which made a lot of teenage boys and girls happy, and led to further work being done by the artists soon to follow. Some fun stuff here, including a wedding, and the excellent character Wildfire.

The 1970s saw many almost-cancelled comic books turned into monthly titles by talented newcomers to the field: Frank Brunner on DOCTOR STRANGE, Jim Starlin on CAPTAIN MAR-VELL, and a two-fer by the late Dave Cockrum being X-MEN and this THE LEGION OF SUPER HEROES. THE LEGION came first for Cockrum, and I believe that his sense of joy and very best Good Girl artwork is on display in these stories! What Brunner, Starlin and Cockrum had in common was a great gift for depicting outerspace, what Dave Cockrum specifically had was drawing jailbait like nobody else: seriously, the female Legionaires never looked better than under Cockrum's lush brushstrokes! While in his foreward Cockrum chafes at how writer Cary Bates resisted putting more Legionaires into these stories, I have always found this era of the Legion to be character-driven and all-the-more memorable because of the tighter focus on individual members! The introduction of WILDFIRE (easily the best Cockrum character design of all time, notwithstanding the explosive commercial success of his ALL-NEW X-MEN with his iconic costume for PHOENIX) is handled over a series of stories, here, and Wildfire has never been served better, since! For me, Wildfire is to the LSH as The Vision is to THE AVENGERS and The Red Tornado is to THE JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA: a naive character who lives inside the headquarters, has no life outside of the group, but who brings unexpected pathos and value to the "group dynamic"! The use of Superboy, here, is constant (this was his title, after all, for most of these stories, and the Legion was originally inspired to form by the legendary feats of Superboy for goodness' sake), but when the Superboy timeline was recently re-introduced by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank in ACTION COMICS with the Legion I was reminded of these great Bates/Cockrum stories and thrilled that DC is back in black the 30th century! Long live the Legion!