Purely by coincidence, the first issues of the Legion of Super-Heroes I read as a kid were the first ones Paul Levitz wrote as he began his epic run on the book. The reasons I was hooked then are still the same reasons these stories deserve to be kept in print in this deluxe edition: they are fantastic super-hero stories. Working with artist Keith Giffen and others, Levitz crafted stories that still feel as fresh and exciting today as they did 25 years ago.Levitz juggles a massive cast (25 regul...

A justified classic, with excellent pacing and a consistent sense of menace. Some of the earlier issues collected here feel a bit generic, with Bronze Age "beat 'em up" plotlines. But the characters and the storytelling mature and cohere as Paul Levitz as his collaborators grow comfortable with the sprawling Legion cast. They do an excellent job differentiating the characters and building natural conflict stemming from the differing personalities. As the Legion go through their standard problems...

Before we get to the issues, there is an opening letter by Paul Levitz. Among the story of how he came to work on the series, he goes on to say this story landed on top whatever lists. That got me thinking; ‘great, this must be a really good story!’ Unfortunately, now that I've read it, I do not feel the same way. Maybe it’s because I hadn't read a Legion of Super-Heroes comic before or because I skipped all the ‘important’ foreshadowing however, I felt this story was not as good as it could hav...

Reading the two books Legion on Super-Heroes The Great Darkness Saga and The Curse is like reading a a soap opera set in the future, about superheroes. Which is a good thing because in Paul Levitz's hands the turns into an exciting and gripping story. The kind of story that is not something that is easily come upon in comics. I mean, when do you get to read a space opera about superheroes. Maybe a Green Lantern comic but most of the time it lacks the humour, the wonder and excitement of having a...

My first real exposure to the Legion is supposedly a classic saga "decades ahead of its time." All I got from this however was the fact that this is probably one of the blandest things I've ever read. What you get here is basically a silver age, sci-fi soap opera with a couple of elements of Jack Kirby's Fourth World mythology chucked in. From the cover I thought I was getting an epic tale of Darkseid, one of Kirbys and DC Comics greatest villains, but he doesn't really pop up unti the closing s...

This brought back fond memories - the Great Darkness Saga was the one that turned me from a casual reader of the Legion into A Fan. The story beats are perfectly paced, and the art team of Giffen and Mahlstedt was just bringing their vision of the Legion and 30th-Century Metropolis into sharp focus. It also remains the best use of what's since become a badly overused ubervillain I've yet seen.

This was a letdown. After reading how it was one of the greatest stories of all time, I was expecting something...well, greater. Darkseid was cool, sure. But stuff just...happened. It was all so deus ex machina-ey. And don't get me started on why every Legionnaire is either "girl", "boy", or "lass" or "lad" (yes, it's one of my first Legion of Super-Heroes reads).Disappointed. But going to read The Curse.

2018 update: another re-read. Yup, still love it! Legion collections stopped after Archive 13 so I went back to read the intervening issues of Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #234 through Legion of Super-Heroes # 283 in original floppy format. Re-reading this book, for context.I've read this book before but not the surrounding issues, in the years immediately prior and after. It's 2015, and on a campaign to read forward from Legion Archive 13, of all those years I missed in the 80s and 9...

This book collects over a year of LSH issues, including all the build-up to to GDS. The early chapters are, honestly, pretty rough going - Broderick's art isn't as dynamic as Giffen's, but also, Levitz's dialogue is hammy to the extreme. Lots of people refering to one another as "my darling," "dearest" and other heavy-handed shortcuts to showing a relationship without actually showing any affectionate behavior. Made me realize how soap operatic this book could be.But once Giffen comes on board f...

If the X-Men were a metaphor with which to talk about prejudice, what were the Legion of Super Heroes? A 50s/60s dream of youthful self-sufficiency, optimism and service, perhaps - a sort of utopian take on scouting complete with a spaceship clubhouse.By the 80s, the normiest teens of all had grown up (a little) and diversified (a bit) and were now wrestling with youthful marriages, office politics and work-life balances. Meanwhile, creators Levitz and Giffen were dealing with both the usual Leg...

This will always be one of my very favorite comic book stories of all time. It's not just the build-up to one of the most epic stories in the DC Universe, it's that the Legion lived up to its full potential. Every Legionnaire got his or her chance to shine and evolve. They were no longer walking stereotypes, they had lives and problems and just like everyone else, they dealt with it.As a child I got cut short of the ending of the Great Darkness Saga and it was only years later that I finished a

This edition collects not only the Great Darkness Saga but the issues leading up to that storyline which catches the reader up on some of the storylines surrounding the Legion's usually large cast of characters. A very early 80's vibe with a story that draws in mystery (although less so with this collected edition that has the mystery villain on the cover) and comic lore from the 20th century heroes into an entertaining and epic Legion of Super-Heroes story with its combination of superheroes, s...

I totally get that this is an iconic storyline, and its influence on modern comics events (their plotting, their pacing, and their scale) is palpable.HOWEVER. I have /never/ been a fan of the Legion of Super-Heroes. It's almost certainly me - I can't keep the kids or their powers straight; I don't know a Lad from a Boy. I always give the Legion a try, dipping my toes into nearly every iteration of the team, but it seems like the only one I can really get behind is the gee-whiz nostalgia of the o...

The Legion of Super-Heroes suffers a series of setbacks, leaving them vulnerable. When a mysterious manipulator sends his powerful servants to retrieve magical artifacts, the Legion heads for the fight of their lives...Confession time: When I was in the second grade, one of my favorite comics was Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes. What kid wouldn't like a team of 50(!) super-powered teenagers from various planets in the 30th century. The Great Darkness Saga has been on my radar for years, as i...

As speculation about when sentimental favorite Legion of Super-Heroes might make a full comeback, revisiting The Great Darkness Saga, the franchise’s most significant story, is instructive.The prolonged absence of a Legion ongoing has been trying for the team’s fans, though not entirely shocking. Legion is a difficult book to produce. Over the years its chewed up many talented writers and artists. The cast is huge and creators often feel the need to “re-create” or “re-define” the book. But somet...

I have to admit that I was not overly optimistic about Paul Levitz as a writer considering he seemed to be more of an executive type from what I had seen of him, but DAMN was this good. He made me care about a team that I was lukewarm about. The Legion of Superheroes never ranked high on my list of compelling DC properties, perhaps because the representations I had seen or read of them on TV show and comics respectively, had been rushed or half heartedly penned. Right from the get go in this col...

I was still collecting the Legion when these issues first came out, but haven't read this run for years, so when I saw this volume at the library I thought I'd see if I liked it better now I'm old and creaky boned. Answer; not really.Levitz's Legion stories always irritated me for the same reason I find a lot of romance novels irritating, and in this book that aspect is cranked up to eleven. At one point Saturn Girl "sees [Light Lass'] soul" and realize that Ayla's love for Timber Wolf is greate...

I recently read the Jack Kirby's Fourth World series. I did not enjoy it much. And considering the real life complications regarding the book, it is understandable.But I was not sure why it was so famous at all. Was it just because of Kirby? He had written lots of other books anyways. I got my answer after reading this book.I had never read anything related to Legion of Super Heroes before this and most of the characters were completely new to me. So, at first I had no sense of attachment to the...

The Great Darkness Saga represents the pinnacle of Keith Giffen's (super hero) comic book pencilling. After this, his style evolved to something far less traditional for capes-and-cowls. I wouldn't have stretched the GDS back as far as the editors chose to, but the additions of later stories that tied in with the Saga were nice, as I'd missed a couple of those.