Long Live the Legion

  Adventure Comics #523 Because no one demanded it, this book switched focus to the Legion Academy. You remember a few issues ago when they got Phil Jimenez to pencil a back-up story focused on the new trainees? I guess DC got excited at the possibility of having a superstar artist on the book, so we're ignoring the regular Legion team and taking a look at characters that we've already been told aren't good enough to be Legionnaires. We're also adding numerous new characters to an already crowded series, so I'm sure they got a ton of complaints about that, too. It should also come as no surprise that Jimenez only lasts three issues on this book... so any excitement of having him on the title is very short-lived. This story, titled "First Night," credits Paul Levitz and Phil Jimenez as storytellers and Andy Lanning on inks. This is a pretty darn good team, so I'm cautiously excited. A ship has arrived at The Sorcerers' World, ready to pick up the ne...

Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 6) Annual #1 To no one's surprise, I messed up the order and this annual should've been part of last week's column. Oh well, better late than never, right? This special issue is brought to you by Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen, with John Dell and Scott Koblish handling the inking. Giffen and Levitz - back together again! Giffen - back on the Legion for the first time since the reboot Legion! And how busy is Giffen at this time? He's writing Doom Patrol, co-writing Booster Gold, and just finished a run on The Outsiders. So this isn't one of those moments where they're helping a veteran comic creator to give him some work. He's busy. We begin on Orando, about a year ago, and an injured young woman is on the run from a beast called a "bloodseeker" and two soldiers. She's badly injured, with a horrible facial wound, and stumbling to safety. She ends up in an old, stinky wreck and is bathed in green energy. An eye motif ...

There's a website called Writing Battle  that has monthly competitions for short story writers. Each time, they assign you three story elements that you use to create your prose.   This is the third story I wrote for one of the competitions and wanted to post it here. Please enjoy! The story elements I was assigned: Genre: Crossworld Fantasy Character: Startup Founder Object: Ticket Stub      Titan Base Five  by Jay McKiernan    Although he was sitting in a relaxing, idyllic garden, Jeff Kang was stressed. Titan Base Five was everything he dreamed of. The golden ticket worked. Unfortunately, he had forgotten that the show’s producers didn’t hire any Asian people…   Officer Candy McIntosh was confused. She hated this feeling – she was obsessed with understanding everything. That had propelled her through the Training Facility, scared at least two boyfriends away, and made her invaluable on Titan Base Five. She had never seen anyone like J...

Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 6) #8 Two? Two covers in a row for Tyroc? And Chameleon Girl in costume? And does this mean Shrinking Violet's back?  The more important question is, of course, who shall lead the Legion? It was pointed out to me on Reddit that I was very wrong with my comments last week on Tyroc becoming a master forensics scientist and creating a visual ultrasound for everyone to see. And the more I think about it, the more I agree that I was completely incorrect. So kudos to Tyroc for having new powers and showing off that he understands murder weapons. It's leagues better than him just disappearing into an alternate dimension in a story ripped from a mediocre Broadway musical. Not much to recap - Durlans have infiltrated the S.P. and one of them is pretending to be Chief Zendak and, at the same time, are murdering U.P. councilors. Brainiac 5 is trying to figure out who Professor Harmonia Li is. Cosmic Boy has called an election for the new Legion leader. Wildf...

Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 6) #7 Wow! Tyroc on the cover of a Legion comic! Anyone remember the last time this happened? For those who missed last week, the S.P.s (led by a Durlan imposter who's replaced Chief Zendak after murdering him) have asked the Legion to protect U.P. council members who have been targeted for assassination. We're down a few longtime Legionnaires: Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad have stepped away to spend more time with their sons, Mon-El and Polar Boy are just hanging out on Daxam, Wildfire is still floating in space after having his suit destroyed many issues ago, and Shadow Lass has been trapped inside some sort of alternate dimension and was replaced by an imposter. Okay, the last one isn't true, but I think we're all kinda wishing it was. Paul Levitz is back writing, Yildiray Cinar is pencilling, and Wayne Faucher is inking. Somewhere in Metropolis, Timber Wolf, Cosmic Boy, Tyroc, and Ultra Boy are facing off against the S.P.s. One of the ...