Product Description

Superstar Gary Frank joins writer Geoff Johns for a epic story teaming Superman with an adult version of the Legion of Super-Heroes. When he was a boy, Clark Kent was isolated and alone until he met this teen team from the 31st Century. Today, it's been years since Superman saw his childhood friends. Why haven't they returned to visit him? What's become of the symbol of Superman in the future? And just why is the future so dangerous for Superman? They warned him away, but now he's determined to help his friends -- even if it means his life!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43536 in Books
• Published on: 2009-07-21
• Released on: 2009-07-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 168 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781401219048
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

The Stuff Heroes Are Made Of
When I was a kid growing up, the Legion of Super-Heroes was one of my favorite comics ideas. They debuted in issues of SUPERBOY as a group of super teens from the 30th century. At first there was only Lightning Lad, Cosmic Boy, and Saturn Girl. But dozens of others joined over the years.

I wasn't the only comics fan taken with the idea of a club of teen superheroes. The demand for more adventures with the Legion flooded the offices of DC Comics. Pretty soon, when Superboy was published in Adventure Comics, the Legion of Super-Heroes ran as a back-up feature that eventually pushed the Boy of Steel out of his own comic.

The Legion flight rings were totally cool and gave everyone the power of flight. That way each Legionnaire could have his or her own unique power in addition to the ability to fly. Some of the powers were inevitable: Invisible Kid (yeah, you know this one), Ultra Boy (kind of like Superboy only limited to using one power at a time), Chameleon Boy (shape-shifter), Colossal Boy (yep, he grows), Shrinking Violet (yep, she shrinks), and others. Karate Kid came about because Kato was on the Green Hornet and martial arts claimed a lot of attention.

Of course, there was always Matter-Eater Lad, who had the super ability to eat anything. Now there's a power to write home about!

Anyway, comics fans were consumed with interest in this teen organization. However, as comics turned bleaker, so too did the Legion. We got some really dark stories there for a while. Where the Legion flourished while a colorful, space-crossing, force for good, they tended to languish as teens of retribution and confusion.

The Legion just wasn't meant for all that negativity. In my opinion. The Legion is supposed to be about being heroic, larger than life (not just Colossal Boy), and fighting the good fight. Being dark really limited their strengths. Kind of like when the Metal Men went on the run and disguised themselves as humans. Or when the X-Men split up.

The Legion came back under Mark Waid in a new incarnation, but just didn't click as well as I'd hoped it would. I liked the issues, but the old vitality just wasn't the same. The comics just weren't as fun. Even though they weren't dark, they were a tad too serious, too incestuous in scope.

Geoff Johns is currently writing Action Comics, and he came up with a great story for an arc that became this graphic novel. What if, in the 31st century, the legend of Superman became the thing that suddenly divided the United Planets and nearly resulted in an intergalactic war?

Not only that, but Johns finds a way to put the future earth under a red sun, taking Superman's powers away and reducing him just to the flight ring's ability to fly. Would he still be Superman?

I was blown away by the concepts, but having watched Johns handle so many characters with aplomb in the past, I knew I was in good hands. The story starts with a simple conceit: that the worlds are polarizing, and Earth has become xenophobic to the degree that they rewrote Superman's history. According to the new popular legend, Clark Kent was just an earth man given mighty powers by the planet to become her protector.

Superman, who had once been the influence that first brought the Legion together, was now the reason the United Planets treaties were on the verge of total failure. Now there's a story.

But Johns doesn't stop with merely an excellent story. While he's busy turning the Superman mythos on their head, he reaches back into the past and brings forward everything that was great about the Legion. All the interplay, the character backgrounds, the loyalty, everything that made the Legion like no other comic book around, is here again in these pages. Including the Legion of Substitute Heroes. This just wouldn't have been the perfect story without them.

Not only that, but Johns again takes a stand to remind us what Superman is all about and what makes that character so unique. I loved the book. Loved the story and loved the homage to so much of the wonder I grew up with all those years ago.

Gary Frank's art took a little getting used to at first, but he won me over within a few pages. It just looked different than anything I was used to in the Legion, too realistic, then he pulled me into that futuristic world in a way that I hadn't been there before.

If you haven't read comics in a long time, Geoff Johns and SUPERMAN AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES are the strongest reasons I know to come back to believing teens can fly.

The Legion Is Back
What can I say? The original Legion of SuperHeroes is back and what a comeback it was.

Back in 1986, I was excited for the revamp on Superman and at the same time dismayed they got rid of the Superboy character. It really messed Legion history up to the point where it probably never recovered.

I did buy some Legion books in the past 20 years, but it was never the same.

In one storyline, Johns brings back all the thrills and excitement of the original Legion.

It also happens to be one of the better Superman stories I've read in quite awhile.

I don't buy the monthly comics anymore...they're just not worth it. When I do buy a hardcover, it must meet up to the highest of standards and this book does that.

johns, you've done it again
i'm not the biggest superman fan, but in geoff johns i trust. he's doing an incredible job on this book. here we have another solid superman story. i almost feel bad writing a positive review that lowers the overall score, especially on a book i really enjoyed, but it's a four star book. which is pretty darn good. i've never really cared much for gary frank's art, but he's really elevated his game here. this is the best work of his career, and it's spectacular. it's crisp and dynamic, his facial expressions are great, he draws great kids, turned in some nice legionnaire redesigns (which are "futuristically" tacky in all the right ways), and he even threw zoidberg in there in the last chapter. and superman looks a whole lot like christopher reeve, which is a good thing by me. i bought this on a whim, more or less, but i'll have a hard time passing up on future installments of the series if these guys can keep this up.

the only concrete criticism i have at the moment --aside from the price tag and flimsy paper quality, but those are (somehow) dc hardcover standards-- is how *every* character is re-introduced with a profile caption in *every* chapter. these captions were probably helpful in the single monthly issues, as readers had a whole month in-between chapters to forget what happened previously. but here they just get in the way. i'd hate to think the readership's ADD could be so bad as to forget who the story's main characters are in the time it takes to turn a page. completely unnecessary when someone's got the whole story right there in their hands.