Original continuity (1958–1994) and Stan Kaye
Superboy was the featured series in
Adventure Comics in the 1950s. In
Adventure Comics #247 (April 1958) by writer
Otto Binder and artist
Al Plastino, Superboy met three teenagers from the 30th century:
Lightning Boy,
Saturn Girl, and
Cosmic Boy, who were members of a "super-hero club" called the Legion of Super-Heroes. Their club had been formed with Superboy as an inspiration, and they had
time travelled to recruit Superboy as a member. After a series of tests, Superboy was awarded membership and returned to his own time. Although intended as a one-off story focusing on Superboy, the Legion proved so popular that it returned for an encore in
Adventure Comics #267 (December 1959). In this story, Lightning Boy had been renamed Lightning Lad, and their costumes were close to those they wore throughout the
Silver Age of Comic Books. The Legion's popularity grew, and they appeared in further stories in
Adventure Comics,
Action Comics, and other titles edited by
Mort Weisinger over the next few years. The ranks of the Legion, only hinted at in those first two stories, was filled with new heroes such as
Chameleon Boy,
Invisible Kid,
Colossal Boy,
Star Boy,
Brainiac 5,
Triplicate Girl,
Shrinking Violet,
Sun Boy,
Bouncing Boy,
Phantom Girl,
Ultra Boy, and
Supergirl. In
Adventure Comics #300 (September 1962), the Legion received their own regular feature, cover-billed "Superboy in 'Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes'". While they shared space with Superboy solo stories for a couple of years, they eventually displaced Superboy from the title entirely as their popularity grew. Lightning Lad was killed in
Adventure Comics #304 (January 1963) and revived in issue #312 (September 1963). It was the
Adventure Comics run which established the Legion's general workings and environment. A club of teenagers, they operated out of a clubhouse in the shape of an inverted yellow
rocket ship which looked as if it had been driven into the ground. The position of Legion leader rotated among the membership. Each Legionnaire had to possess one natural superpower which no other member possessed; despite this, several members had overlapping powers, particularly Superboy, Supergirl,
Mon-El, and Ultra Boy. Some issues included comical moments where candidates with bizarre, useless, or dangerous abilities would try out for membership and be rejected; five of these candidates went on to form the
Legion of Substitute Heroes. The Legion was based on Earth and protected an organization of humans and aliens called the
United Planets alongside the
Science Police. The setting for each story was 1000 years from the date of publication. In
Adventure Comics #346 (July 1966),
Jim Shooter, 14 years old at the time, wrote his first Legion story. Soon thereafter, Shooter became the regular writer of the Legion stories, with Curt Swan, and later
Win Mortimer, as artist. Shooter wrote "
The Death of Ferro Lad", in which
Ferro Lad was killed—the first "real" death of a Legionnaire (although Lightning Lad had been believed dead for a while before). Shooter introduced many other enduring concepts, including the
Fatal Five,
Karate Kid,
Princess Projectra,
Shadow Lass, the
Dark Circle,
Mordru, and the "
Adult Legion", a possible future version of the Legion. The Legion's last appearance in
Adventure Comics was #380 (May 1969), and they were displaced by Supergirl in the next issue. The early 1970s saw the Legion relegated to the status of back-up feature. First, the team's stories were moved to
Action Comics for issues #377–392 (June 1969 – September 1970). with writers
E. Nelson Bridwell and
Cary Bates and artist
George Tuska.
Dave Cockrum began drawing the series with
Superboy #184 (April 1972), again increasing the team's popularity.
Superboy and their own title and
Dick Giordano. The first comic book published under the title
Legion of Super-Heroes was a four-issue series published in 1973 that reprinted Legion tales from
Adventure Comics. In the same year, the Legion returned to cover billing on a book when
Superboy became
Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes with #197 (August 1973). Crafted by Bates and Cockrum, the feature proved popular and saw such events as the wedding of Bouncing Boy and
Duo Damsel in
Superboy #200 (Feb 1974). Issues #202 (June 1974) and #205 (Dec. 1974) of the series were in the
100 Page Super Spectacular format. Cockrum was replaced on art by
Mike Grell as of issue #203 (August 1974) which featured the death of Invisible Kid. With #231 (September 1977), the book's title officially changed to
Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes and also became a "giant-size" title. At this point, the book was written by longtime fan
Paul Levitz and drawn by
James Sherman, although
Gerry Conway frequently wrote as well. Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad were married in ''
All-New Collectors' Edition'' #C-55 (1978), a treasury-sized special written by Levitz and drawn by Grell. In #241–245 (July–December 1978) Levitz and Sherman (and then
Joe Staton) produced what was at that time the most ambitious Legion storyline: "
Earthwar", a galactic war between the United Planets and the
Khund, with several other villains lurking in the background. During this period, Karate Kid was
spun off into his own 20th century-based self-titled series, which lasted 15 issues. Levitz left the book, to be replaced full-time by Gerry Conway. Superboy departed from the Legion due to a villain's plot, and the book was renamed simply
The Legion of Super-Heroes starting with issue #259 (January 1980). Editor
Jack C. Harris hired
Steve Ditko as guest artist on several issues, a decision which garnered a mixed reaction from the title's readership. Jimmy Janes became the regular artist in a lengthy tale by Conway (and later
Roy Thomas) involving Ultra Boy's disappearance during a mission, and his long odyssey to rejoin the team. This story told the tale of the Legionnaire Reflecto (only glimpsed during the "Adult Legion" stories in
Adventure Comics), featured villainy by the
Time Trapper and
Grimbor the Chainsman, and saw Superboy rejoin the team.
Paul Levitz era Paul Levitz returned to write the series with #284.
Pat Broderick and Bruce Patterson illustrated the title for a short time before
Keith Giffen began on pencils, with Patterson, and then Larry Mahlstedt, on inks. The creative team received increased popularity following "
The Great Darkness Saga", which ran from #287; #290–294; and
Annual #3, featuring a full assault on the United Planets by
Darkseid. Comics historian
Les Daniels observed that, "Working with artist Keith Giffen, Levitz completed the transformation of
Legion into a science-fiction saga of considerable scope and depth." The Legion celebrated issue #300 (June 1983) by revisiting the "Adult Legion" storyline through a series of
parallel world short stories illustrated by a number of popular Legion artists from previous years. The story served to free up Legion continuity from following the "Adult Legion" edict of previous issues. Giffen's style changed abruptly a few issues later, to a darker and sketchier style inspired by Argentinian artist
José Muñoz. A new
Legion of Super-Heroes comic (the third publication under the title) was launched in August 1984. It used a new "deluxe" printing format utilizing Baxter paper instead of the cheaper newsprint that classic comics had always been printed on. The existing Legion series, still on newsprint and renamed
Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes with issue #314, continued running new material for a year, then began reprinting stories from the new
Legion of Super-Heroes with issue #326.
Tales continued publishing reprints until its final issue, #354 (December 1987). The new series was launched in August 1984 with a five-part story featuring the
Legion of Super-Villains. Giffen left in the middle of the story and was replaced by
Steve Lightle, who stayed on the book for a year. The debut story arc saw the death of Karate Kid in issue #4 (November 1984). Levitz and Lightle co-created two Legionnaires, Tellus and Quislet, whose unusual appearances contrasted with the humanoid appearances of the other Legionnaires.
Greg LaRocque began a lengthy run in #16 (November 1985), including a
crossover with
John Byrne's recently rebooted Superman titles,
The Man of Steel and
Superman (vol. 2). The crossover was the first of several attempts by DC editors to explain the origins and fate of Superboy and his history with the Legion, in light of the revisions to the
DC Universe caused by
Crisis on Infinite Earths that removed Superman's career as Superboy from his personal history. In the crossover,
the Legion's Superboy was revealed to have come from a parallel
pocket universe created by the Time Trapper. The crossover ended with Superboy's death. Levitz's run ended with the return of Giffen and a four-part story "The Magic Wars", concluding in #63 (August 1989).
"Five Years Later" Giffen took over plotting as well as penciling with the
Legion of Super-Heroes volume 4 title which started in November 1989, with scripts by
Tom and Mary Bierbaum and assists by
Al Gordon. Five years after the Magic Wars, the United Planets is a darker place and the Legion a distant memory. However, a group of former Legionnaires worked to re-form the Legion in this harsh new universe, in which Earth was ruled by the
Dominators. Shortly after this storyline began, the decision was made to retroactively remove Superboy from the Legion's history. Writer
Mark Waid stated that "Because of inter-office politics and machinations ... it was decided that there was no Superboy, but we weren't even allowed to reference him at
all." This left the question of where the Legion's inspiration came from without the influence of Superboy. The writers' solution was a
retcon in which Mon-El served in the role of paragon instead of Superboy, with several more retcons to follow. Issue #5 featured an
alternate universe story in which the restructuring took place, and the Time Trapper was replaced in continuity by his onetime underling Glorith. One major storyline during this period was the discovery of Batch SW6, a group of clones of the early Legion (from their
Adventure Comics days), created by the Dominators. Giffen's original conclusion for the storyline was that the clones would have been revealed to be the real Legion, and the ones whose adventures had been chronicled since the 1950s were the clones. The adult Legion's secret programming would kick in, forcing them to fight the younger Legion and leading to a fight to the death in which Legionnaires on both teams would die, with the victims' names being picked at random. Afterwards, the older team would explore the Vega System as a 30th-century version of the
Omega Men in a new series while the younger team would act as the main Legion on Earth. Giffen's other conclusion was for several of the younger and older Legionnaires to die while liberating Earth from the Dominion. The older Legion would defend Earth while the younger Legion would act as the last line of defense for the United Planets as the Omega Men. Instead, a parallel title,
Legionnaires, was launched, starring the "SW6" Legion, whose origins were not resolved until the
Zero Hour crossover.
Legionnaires was lighter in tone than the main Legion book, and it was written by the Bierbaums and drawn by
Chris Sprouse. Giffen left the book after a storyline which involved the destruction of Earth, and the Bierbaums continued writing, overseeing the return of several classic characters. When the Bierbaums left, writer Tom McCraw took over and made a number of changes, such as forcing several Legion members underground, which required them to take on new identities and costumes, and bringing back long-absent Legionnaire
Wildfire. In 1994, DC
rebooted the team's continuity. As part of the
Zero Hour storyline, the Legion's original continuity came to an end in September 1994 with
Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 4) #61. The "Five Years Later" era of the Legion was not subsequently reprinted by DC Comics until the announcement of a hardcover omnibus collection scheduled for release in 2020, almost 26 years after the conclusion initial storyline.
Rebooted (1994–2004) . Following
Zero Hour, a new Legion continuity was created, beginning with a retelling of the origin story starting in
Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 4) #0 and then continued in the spin-off sister series
Legionnaires #0 (both released in October 1994). Lightning Lad was renamed Live Wire, and after the group's founding, a large number of heroes were added to the roster. Several members from the previous continuity were given new codenames, and some new heroes were added, including
XS (the granddaughter of
Barry Allen, the second Flash),
Kinetix,
Gates, and
Sensor, a reimagined version of Princess Projectra. While in some ways following the pattern of the original continuity, the new continuity diverged from the old one in several ways: some characters died as they had previously, others did not, and some Legion members spent time in the 20th century where they recruited
Ferro. The Legion also started out having to earn the respect of the United Planets, which they did through two well-earned victories: successfully defending Earth from the White Triangle, a group of
Daxamite racial purists; and exposing United Planets President Chu as the mastermind behind the
Braal-
Titan War, the
Sun-Eater hoax, the formation of the Fatal Five and the brainwashing of future Legionnaire
Jan Arrah. New writers
Dan Abnett and
Andy Lanning came on board with penciller
Olivier Coipel to produce a dark story leading to the near-collapse of the United Planets and the Legion. In the wake of the disaster, a group of Legionnaires disappeared through a spatial rift and the two existing Legion series came to an end. The
miniseries Legion Lost (2000–2001) chronicled the journey of these Legionnaires to return home, while the ensuing miniseries
Legion Worlds (2001) showed what was happening in the United Planets during their absence. A new series,
The Legion, was launched in which the Legion was reunited and given a new base and purpose. Written for its first 33 issues by Abnett and Lanning, the series was cancelled with issue 38. The most notable addition to the team during the title's publication was the post-
Crisis Superboy (Kon-El), who had previously been granted honorary membership.
"Threeboot" continuity (2004–2009) and John Livesay. Following a crossover with the
Teen Titans in
Teen Titans (vol. 3) #16 and the
Teen Titans/Legion Special, a new
Legion of Super-Heroes series was launched (the so-called "
Threeboot" incarnation), written by Mark Waid (who had previously rebooted the title following the events of
Zero Hour) and penciled by
Barry Kitson. This new series recreated the team from the beginning and used the Boy/Lad/Girl/Lass/Kid codenames, which the previous continuities had moved away from using. Initial issues of this series reintroduced the characters, and provided new and divergent origins for them. Most characters resemble their previous counterparts in costume and powers, with the most notable exceptions including Chameleon Boy, now called simply Chameleon and depicted as
androgynous; Star Boy, who in this version of the Legion is black; Colossal Boy, who is now a giant who shrinks to human size; and Phantom Girl, who exists in two universes at once and has conversations with people in her own dimension while talking to Legionnaires at the same time. The future universe of this Legion is an emotionally and mentally repressive society which involves human sexuality and contact being kept at arms' length as well as
Orwellian surveillance of minors. The Legion's main goal is social reform as well as protecting people and inspiring them with the legends of superheroes of old, even though the team isn't appreciated by government authorities. The Legion is worshiped by thousands of young people on different worlds, collectively known as the "Legionnaires", who follow the group in a cult-like manner. The Legionnaires based on Earth keep a constant vigil outside Legion headquarters. Beginning with issue #16,
The Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 5) was retitled
Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes with
Supergirl traveling to the future and joining the Legion. With issue #31,
Tony Bedard replaced Waid as writer. The title reverted to
The Legion of Super-Heroes with issue #37 and Jim Shooter became the writer. The series ended with issue #50, in which the script was credited to "Justin Thyme", a pseudonym previously used by uncredited comic book artists.
Post-Infinite Crisis (2007–2011) " crossover. From
Justice Society of America vol. 3 #5 (June 2007). Art by
Fernando Pasarin. The "
Lightning Saga" crossover in
Justice League of America (vol. 2) #8–10 and
Justice Society of America (vol. 3) #5–6 featured the return of the original versions of Star Boy (now called Starman),
Dream Girl, Wildfire, Karate Kid,
Timber Wolf,
Sensor Girl,
Dawnstar, and Brainiac 5. Though several differences between the original and
Lightning Saga Legions exist,
Geoff Johns stated that this incarnation of the Legion shares the same history as the original Legion up to the events of
Crisis on Infinite Earths, with
Clark Kent having joined the team as the teenage Superboy prior to the start of his career as Superman. This version of the Legion next appeared in the "
Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes" storyline in
Action Comics #858–863. In the year 3008, the Earth's sun has turned red and several failed Legion applicants who were born on Earth have banded together to form the Justice League of Earth under the leadership of
Earth-Man after he claims that Superman was a human who gained his powers from "Mother Earth". Earth-Man uses the claim to have Earth secede from the United Planets and ban all aliens from Earth, resulting in several Legionnaires going underground. With the help of Superman, the Legion eventually restores the sun to its normal state, and defeats Earth-Man and the Justice League of Earth just as the United Planets is about to attack the Earth. This version of the Legion next appeared in the 2008
Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds limited series, written by Johns and drawn by
George Pérez. The mini-series features the post-
Infinite Crisis Legion and Superman teaming up with the "Reboot" and "Threeboot" incarnations of the Legion to fight
Superboy-Prime, the Legion of Super-Villains, and the Time Trapper. It was revealed in the mini-series that the "Reboot" Legion came from Earth-247 (a homage to the Legion's first appearance in
Adventure Comics #247), which was destroyed in
Infinite Crisis, and the "Threeboot" Legion came from Earth-Prime. Johns stated that the intent of the mini-series was to validate the existence of all three versions of the team while simultaneously restoring the pre-
Crisis Legion's continuity. the "Reboot" team's assistance in destroying a Sun-Eater in the 20th century, and his own recent encounter with the "Threeboot" team. This version of the Legion was featured in the second
Adventure Comics series from September 2009 to October 2011, with the feature focusing on
the Legion Academy from April 2011 onwards. This Legion played a part in the "
Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton" storyline in 2010, where the ongoing continual events of "
The Lightning Saga" concluded in its entirety. A new
Legion of Super-Heroes ongoing series was published from May 2010 to August 2011, written by Paul Levitz and drawn by
Yildiray Cinar, featuring the Retroboot version of the team.
The New 52 (2011–2015) Legion of Super-Heroes was relaunched in September 2011 with issue #1. Simultaneously,
DC Comics cancelled
Adventure Comics and replaced it with a new volume of
Legion Lost. While
Legion of Super-Heroes continued the adventures of the team from that title's previous volume,
Legion Lost featured
Wildfire, Dawnstar, Timber Wolf,
Tyroc, Tellus, Gates and
Chameleon Girl. The Legion Lost characters are stranded on 21st century Earth during a mission to save the future, and they are forced to remain there after contracting a pathogen that could destroy the 31st century if they returned.
Legion Lost ended with the time-lost Legionnaires still stranded in the 21st century. This era of the Legion's publication concluded with issue #23 in August 2013, with the title's cancellation. In the final issue, the United Planets disbanded the Legion after a cataclysmic battle with the Fatal Five, and the individual Legionnaires retired to their homeworlds or the Science Police. The entire Legion was remobilized to battle Infinitus in the six-issue "Infinitus Saga" in
Justice League United, written by
Jeff Lemire (December 2014 – May 2015). The "Infinitus Saga" featured Brainiac 5 as leader, the return of the
Legion Lost team to active Legion status and the inclusion of a number of Legionnaires from other continuities in the Legion's active ranks.
Legion of Super-Heroes (2019) . A new
Legion of Super-Heroes series from writer
Brian Michael Bendis and artist
Ryan Sook was announced by DC Comics in June 2019. A prelude two-part series entitled
Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium was released in September and October, with the ongoing series debuting in November 2019. The series ended in January 2021 with 12 issues. ==Publications==