Legionnaires: Book One with Jim Fetters
We’re back with another episode of Trade School! This time, we’re talking about Legionnaires: Book One! Our host is Jim Fetters from the Long Live the Legion podcast!
Find him at https://www.certainpov.com/long-live-the-legion
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Edited by Case Aiken
Scored by Bret Eagleston
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Legion of Superheroes Continuity and Reader Accessibility
The post-1994 reboot following DC's Zero Hour event provided a clear, accessible origin story for the Legion that resolved prior continuity confusion (02:55).
DC’s Zero Hour reset in 1994 restarted the Legion’s continuity to fix complex character and timeline issues caused by Crisis on Infinite Earths (01:28)
This reset replaced multiple overlapping versions with a single, streamlined origin narrative.
Jim explained the editorial mandate forbidding references to Superman mythos, which had previously complicated Legion stories.
The reboot featured two monthly titles, Legion of Superheroes and Legionnaires, targeting both longtime fans and new readers.
This approach aimed to boost sales and simplify entry points for new audiences by telling the story in clear, sequential order.
The Legionnaires Book One trade paperback collects the first six months of the reboot and offers a modernized, straightforward origin story (04:27)
It focuses on the founding trio: Imra Ardean, Garth Ranzz, and R.J. Brand, establishing the team’s beginnings without confusing flashbacks.
Each new Legionnaire receives character spotlighting, making motivations and team dynamics easy to understand.
The story updates Silver Age themes with modern storytelling to engage contemporary readers.
Jim positioned this as the best starting point for anyone interested in the Legion’s foundational history.
Creative Team Strategy and Story Development
The creative team led by Mark Waid meticulously planned the first year of the reboot, ensuring narrative cohesion and long-term story arcs (07:39).
The team included Mark Waid (lead), Tom Pyre and Tom McCraw (writers), and Casey Carlson (editor), who held a focused retreat to map out story progression (07:39)
The first six months introduce and gel the team, while the second six months, collected in Legionnaires Book Two, explore more complex themes.
Book Two revisits some Silver Age stories but integrates current political and social relevance to deepen reader engagement.
Jim emphasized the care in plotting to plant seeds for future storylines, enhancing continuity and reader investment.
This planning approach supports sustained sales and fan loyalty by delivering thoughtful storytelling rather than episodic content.
Artist contributions further defined the book’s tone, with Stuart Immonen illustrating the founding issue and Geoffrey Moy providing the main artwork for Legionnaires (09:12)
Moy’s manga-inspired style, initially divisive, became recognized as distinctive and fitting for the youthful Legionnaires.
The art style visually reinforced characters’ younger ages, enhancing story authenticity.
This art consistency over six years helped cement Moy as one of the most prolific Legion illustrators.
Jim noted this as a key factor in the reboot’s appeal and legacy among fans.
Character and Storyline Modernization
The reboot introduced new characters and refreshed existing ones to align with contemporary storytelling and reader interests (06:00).
New characters like Xs, the granddaughter of Barry Allen, and Kinetix, a telekinetic magic user, expanded the Legion’s roster with fresh dynamics (06:00)
These additions connected the Legion to broader DC continuity while enabling new story possibilities.
Kinetix’s personal quest for power introduced deeper psychological themes.
The reboot also reimagined classic characters like Gates, Shrinking Violet, and Apparition, blending legacy with new interpretations.
Jim highlighted how these character updates helped modernize the team without losing core identity.
The reboot’s narrative style emphasized chronological storytelling where past events clearly impacted future developments (10:40)
This broke from previous Legion iterations that lacked a clear origin or used complex flashbacks.
Jim contrasted this with the Three Boot and Retro Boot versions, which lacked cohesive origins and relied on retcons.
The straightforward timeline made it easier for readers to follow character growth and team evolution.
This approach supports long-term engagement by fostering investment in ongoing storylines.
Community Engagement and Support Resources
Supplementary efforts like the Long Live the Legion podcast provide fans and new readers with educational content to deepen engagement (00:00).
The podcast, hosted by Jim, helps listeners navigate Legion history, origins, and character relationships (00:00)
It serves as an entry point for fans overwhelmed by the Legion’s long, complex timeline.
Jim’s approach combines historical context with storytelling insights to build reader confidence.
The podcast encourages community building through email and social media contact points.
This resource supports sustained interest and broadens the Legion’s fan base by making the lore approachable.
Meeting Outline
️ Introduction to Trade School and Legion of Superheroes Background (00:00 - 01:28)
Jim introduces Certain Point of View’s Trade School and explains his focus on the Legion of Superheroes.
He highlights the complexities of the long Legion history dating back to the 1950s.
Historical Context and Continuity Issues Pre-Zero Hour (01:28 - 03:30)
The Legion's original run spanned from the 1950s until 1994.
Crisis on Infinite Earths event disrupted DC continuity, complicating Legion’s references to Superman and Superboy.
Post-Zero Hour Legion Reboot and Trade Paperbacks (03:30 - 05:30)
Zero Hour produced two Legion titles: regular Legion of Superheroes (older Team) and Legionnaires (younger versions/clones).
The Legionnaires trade paperback collects the first six months post-Zero Hour, telling Legion origin cleanly without flashbacks.
️ Characters, Storytelling, and Modernization in Legionnaires (05:30 - 07:45)
Introduction of core founding characters—Imra Ardean, Garth Ranzz, Rock Kren, and industrialist RJ Brand.
Story modernizes Silver Age tropes, offering fresh character dynamics.
Creative Team and Artistic Contributions (07:45 - 10:20)
Creative team included Mark Waid, Tom Pyre, Tom McCraw, and editor Casey Carlson.
Artistic contributions by Stuart Immonen for the Legion origin issue, Lee Moder, and the prolific Geoff Moy who illustrated Legionnaires through 1994-2000.
Recommendation Summary and Podcast Promotion (10:20 - 12:40)
Jim recommends Legionnaires Volumes 1 and 2 for new readers to gain a chronological and character-driven understanding of the Legion.
Invites listeners to Long Live the Legion podcast for more Legion history and context.
Ideas
Best Introductory Material (03:30 - 03:30)
Use the Zero Hour post-reboot Legionnaires trade paperback as the best introductory material for new readers interested in Legion characters and stories.
Modern Twists on Stories (05:30 - 05:30)
Incorporate modern twists on Silver Age stories to make the characters more relatable to contemporary audiences.
️ Planning and Leadership (07:45 - 07:45)
Highlight Mark Waid’s leadership and team's early retreat to carefully plan the Legion reboot storyline over multiple years.
Art Style Showcase (09:00 - 09:00)
Showcase Geoff Moy’s distinctive art style to better portray Legionnaires as authentic teenage characters, adding to accessibility and appeal.
Chronological Storylines (10:30 - 10:30)
Offer chronological, forward-moving storylines where the past impacts future developments, unlike other Legion continuities lacking clear origin.
Podcast Promotion (11:50 - 11:50)
Promote the Long Live the Legion podcast as a resource for both new and longtime fans of Legion lore and to foster community engagement.
Key Takeaways
Complex History (01:00 - 01:00)
The Legion of Superheroes has a complex 60-year history with multiple versions, making entry difficult for new readers.
Zero Hour Reboot (02:30 - 02:30)
The Zero Hour reboot in 1994 was essential in resetting Legion continuity, making it a cleaner starting point.
Dual Perspectives (03:30 - 03:30)
Two concurrent Legion titles after Zero Hour—Legion of Superheroes and Legionnaires—provided dual perspectives on older and younger teams.
Legionnaires Volume 1 (04:30 - 04:30)
Legionnaires Volume 1 trade paperback encapsulates the first six months of the reboot covering clear character origins and recruitment.
Meticulous Planning (07:40 - 07:40)
The creative team, led by Mark Waid, meticulously planned story arcs, ensuring continuity and character development over years.
Artistic Contributions (09:00 - 09:00)
Artists like Stuart Immonen and Geoff Moy played a key role in defining the look of the reboot, with Moy’s manga style giving a youthful, authentic feel.
Chronological Understanding (10:30 - 10:30)
The recommended reading provides a chronological and character-driven understanding unmatched by other Legion continuities or reboots.
Podcast Engagement (12:00 - 12:00)
The podcast encourages listeners to explore the Legion through additional audio content for enhanced appreciation and knowledge.
Transcription
00:00
Welcome to Certain Point of View's Trade School, where each episode a different host talks about a comic book trade paperback that they loved and why they love it. Hi, everybody, this is Jim from the Long Live the Legion podcast here for my episode of Trade School. So, as the co host of the Long Live the Legion podcast, a lot of people ask me, how do I get into the Legion? I'm interested in these characters. I want to understand more of them, I want to read more stories, but how do I actually get introduced to these characters? So the Legion has a very long history, beginning in the 50s, and there are multiple origins, multiple versions of the Legion, for that matter, that need to be accounted for.
00:46
And it's not that easy to just pick up and start reading and figure out who they are. Some people do that. So a lot of people say, read the Great Darkness Saga from the 1980s, which is a fantastic story, probably the most seminal Legion storyline ever created, but it's the equivalent of throwing you into a deep end of a pool and trying to figure out what's going on. Not impossible, right? Especially these days with the Internet. And you can find out who the characters are just by looking them up, but it doesn't give you a sense of how the characters came to be, what their roles are, how they interact with each other, generally speaking. And so I like to take a little bit more of a nuanced approach for this.
01:33
When you look at the Legion over its history, which is almost 60 years, there have been several versions. There's the original version that began in the 50s and technically ended in 1994. There were a lot of problems because the Crisis on Infinite Earths happened, and that essentially reset a lot of the DC continuity, including the fact that Superman was never Superboy, who was inspiration for the Legion to be formed. That also created a lot of issues because the D.C. editorial staff said to the Legion creators, you cannot reference anybody from the Superman mythos at all, ever. And so that caused a lot of problems. And then continuity got all wonky and people were confused and sales started dwindling. And they had this five years later Legion, where it was dark and gritty, and it became even more confusing for new readers.
02:26
So in 1994, one of the things that DC decided to do to correct all the craziness that resulted from the crisis was create Zero Hour, which was a storyline that effectively reset all continuity across the DC universe. The main beneficiary of this was the Legion of Superheroes. And what happened was they every. Every title across the DC Universe. Had a zero issue, and the Legion at this time had two titles. They had the Legion of Superheroes and then the Legionnaires titles. For a lot of reasons I won't get into on this particular podcast, they had an older Legion and then a younger Legion, which was the Legionnaires, the clones of the younger selves of the older Legionnaires, basically. And when the Zero hour reset hit, they basically use this as a means of telling the origin of the Legion of Superheroes.
03:28
So you had the Legion of Superheroes title itself, which they kept on numbering in the existing format, which was kind of a dumb move because they're effectively restarting the entire continuity. So why not start with issue one? That's a whole other argument. And then you would have the Legionnaires story so that you had effectively two stories every month, which was really good for a Legion fan, especially if you're a new Legion fan. Getting up to speed on who these characters are is fascinating. So what happened was, well, I guess I should say more recently from a trade paperback perspective, they have released the that first six months of Legion stories from the Zero Hour post Zero Hour reboot as Legionnaires Book one. And what this does. This collects the first six months of the reboot Legion Origin.
04:27
It's highly recommended because it tells the story of the team's origin without these weird flashbacks that you get all over the all the time in the. In the previous iterations of the Legion. But you begin with the actual origin of the Legion, the saving of industrialist RJ Brand by Imra Ardean, Garth Rans and Rock Kren, who become the actual Legion of Superheroes, or at least the start of the Legion of Superheroes. And then from there, the story progresses to tell the recruitment of every other Legionnaire that joins that initial group. And it's a great story because you get to understand who these characters are. Everybody has a little bit of a spotlight. The core Trinity characters are obviously the more focused characters across the entire tale, but every new character gets a story. You understand why they're there, how they came to be there.
05:27
It updates the tales in a little bit of a more modern take. It takes a lot of Silver Age tropes and Silver Age stories specific and gives them a more modern twist and helps show how these characters come to relate to one another. Additionally, we also get lots of new characters too. So as part of this new reboot, this is where we get the character Xs from the Flash family. Right. So this is the granddaughter of. Or, sorry, the. Yeah, the granddaughter of Barry Allen, because Dawn and Don Allen, who are the Tornado Twins, moved to the future and they have each had their own family. One child was Xs, the other child was Impulse, who we also know from the mainstream DC continuity.
06:19
We also have Kinetics, who is a kind of a magic user, mystical character in the telekinetic way of doing things. And she has a whole story around her about her quest for power to be useful. And there's a whole story around that how her ultimate character, Fate, was originally supposed to be one thing. But then the writers at the last minute did something else. We get our first glimpse of the awesome character Gates. We see Shrinking Violet, of course, we see Apparition and Leviathan, who is the Cosmic Boy of, or the Colossal Boy of the reboot. So lots of really good stuff here.
07:04
One of the things that was really good about this is that the writing team and the creative team in general had this kind of separate retreat where they sat around and kind of really plotted out where they were going to take this book over the next couple years. So Mark Waid was kind of the lead person around this. And if you know anything about the Legion, you know that Mark Waid is a very, probably one of the most detailed minds about knowing as much about the Legion history as possible. So he was kind of shepherding this. And we had Tom Pyre, who's one of the writers, Tom McCraw who's there as well. Casey Carlson was the editor of the Legion line at this time, and he's kind of shepherding all this together.
07:55
And they really plotted out what this first year was going to look like. In this first six months, like I was mentioning before, is really the intro of the team bringing them together and having them gel the second six months is the Legionnaires Book two trade paperback. And that's where it starts kind of going onto its own. There's some retreads of some of the Silver Age stories, but there are a lot of very relevant stories that are relevant to the current day. Right. With regards to our politics and things like that. And it's a very good read because not only does it tell an original story with a lot of high stakes drama, but it also plants a lot of seeds for the next year of stories.
08:43
And so you can really tell the care with which the creative team went to actually plot this out. So it's fantastic from an art perspective. We begin with Stuart Iminen doing the first Legionnaire, or the Legion of Superheroes, issue number zero, which tells the story of the founding of the Legion, basically. And then the LSH title is then turned over to Lee Moder in some of his earliest work. But I guess from an art perspective, the thing that stands out the most is the fact that you have Geoffrey Moy on the Legionnaires side of the house. So Jeff was the legionnaires artist from 1994 through 2000, and I think we've determined that he's one of the most, if not the most prolific Legion illustrator across the entire history of the Legion. And when, you know, he has his own Take three manga inspired.
09:43
Some people weren't fans of the art at the time that it was released. And if you hear the term Archie Legion, that's where this came from. Originally it was a little bit derisive, but now I think it's kind of been owned because it is very distinctive and it's very good. I mean, they look like 14 year old kids, which is what the Legionnaires ages are supposed to be. So I highly recommend this. It's a great story. Other than that, this is another good book to read from a Legion perspective because it's one of the only, I think it's the only Legion story aside from maybe the Bendis Legion, which we're not going to talk about. We're having a good conversation now. Right.
10:23
But it's the only Legion story that really tells the story of the founding and how things kind of moved from there in a chronological, kind of just moving forward way where things happen in sequence and the past impacts the future and things like that. Very, very good. Because the Three Boot Legion doesn't really have an origin story, which is the version that came out in 2005. The retro boot Legions, which were the ones that happened while the Three Boot was actually being published, as well as afterwards in the 2009 and beyond era into the New 52, those never really had a specific origin story, but those really called to the Silver Age stories and some of the retcons of all that stuff. So it didn't have its own story either.
11:13
So from the perspective of what you want to read to get a handle on who the characters are in the Legion, how they relate to each other, how the team works, I'm recommending the Legionnaires Book one and even Book Two to get that flavor of what the first year of the post Zero Hour Legion was like. And with that I'm going to say long live the Legion. I hope you just see you on the podcast at some point. We are at Long Live the legion@longlivethlegion2025mail.com or you can reach us at longlivelegion2025BSGuy Social. And with that, I will bid you happy reading. Hey Jay.
12:04
Hey Jim.
12:05
You're a fan of the Legion of Superheroes, right?
12:07
Yeah, I've been reading their adventures for decades.
12:10
Me too. It was tough at first with all the characters, but now I think I'm an expert.
12:14
It's not too hard to get into the Legion. And to make it even easier, we have a podcast called Long Live the Legion. We talk about different aspects of all its history to help you out.
12:24
So whether you're a new reader in the Legion Academy or have your own flight ring, or anywhere in between, Along Live the Legion podcast should be on your playlist. Certainpov.com.