Legion Lost and Found

By: Tony Whitt
Date: Friday, November 09, 2001

After twelve months of being lost, and another six months of being found, it's official: the Legion of Super-Heroes is back in a single new monthly title. Writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, however, feel like they've never been away. The two writers have overseen both of the previous two series (LEGION LOST and LEGION WORLDS), and now they turn their attention to bringing our favorite group of superpowered teenagers together again. While most writers would be daunted by the enormous and convoluted history the Legion has amassed over the years, Abnett and Lanning thrive on it.

"The enormous and convoluted history of the Legion was one of the things that attracted us to the title in the first placeboth Dan and I are Legion fans of old," Lanning says. He also points out the "huge scope" that working with the team gives them. "[The] huge cast, settings, and history are wonderful assets but they can be daunting too: it's a challenge we take up every time we write a Legion script and not something we plan to wipe away at any cost." Abnett is in firm agreement.

"We've been handed a title with a long history, richly detailed settings populated by some great characters. We're tremendously supported by no pun intended a legion of fans and feel we can add to the huge bulk of Legion lore that has built up over the years with our own stories during our run."

Another challenge for the writing team, however, will be the same problem that has faced every previous writer of a Legion series: juggling a large cast of characters. Despite the loss of Monstress and Lightning Lad in LEGION LOST, the group has been augmented by a tracker character who bears a certain resemblance to an old Legion character named Dawnstar, and by Abnett and Lanning's own version of Wildfire. But these two characters won't be the only newcomersAbnett promises that there's "lots of strong, 'all new' characters on the way."

"We'd like to have a balance between [old and new characters], with the onus on totally new characters," says Lanning. "Fun though it is to create new versions of old characters, we feel it's up to us to add to the Legionverse cast rather than constantly rehashing what's been done before. That said, we still have our favorites from the past that, if we're able to tell a decent enough tale around them, we'll not hesitate to bring back into the fold (Timber Wolf's a prime example)."


And speaking of old favorites from the past, when asked whether the apparently deceased Live Wire or Element Lad will return sooner, later, or never, Abnett simply replies, "Our lips and hard drives are sealed." Lanning is equally tightlipped. "Now, we can't answer that, and I'm sure you and your readers really don't want to know, it'd ruin any surprises we might have. Shame on you!"

Given the potential problems with such a mix of old and new characters, the question remains how will these guys handle such a big group of characters once again?

"Watching countless TV soap operas and dramas helps," says Lanning. "Shows like ER, THE SOPRANOS and THE WEST WING have ensemble casts that develop multiple plotlines which focus on set characters. I guess we're trying to achieve the same thing on The Legion; developing a main 'A' storyline involving a set group of characters whilst running a parallel 'B' subplot that may focus on a specific character or characters and introducing a 'C' sub-subplot that will boil under for a few issues before developing into another 'A' story when the previous one finishes. Is that clear? I can let you have a pie-chart I've developed, plus several volumes of notes on the subject!"

The tone of the new series, and the criticism that the last two years have been "grim," is another subject that both authors can speak volumes about. When asked where the tone of the new series would fall between the lighter early years and the darker past two years, Lanning disputes the label entirely.

"I wouldn't say that the stories of the last two years have been 'grim' at all," says Lanning. "I guess when compared to the earlier, 'light-hearted' stories of some forty years ago, they could be seen as 'grim' or 'gritty' but that's just the natural evolution and sophistication of comic storytelling over the years."

"Like Andy," Abnett says, " I have no idea where this 'grim' thing came from. Is 'grim' the same as 'High Adventure'? Okay, "Legion of the Damned" set up a bad situation to battle against, and LEGION LOST had a surprise loss at the end, but it's not grim."

Lanning states that "the true positive, 'brightness' of the Legion and its philosophy is best demonstrated when the team is pitted against truly awesome foes and events. The real momentous Legion tales from the past, like 'the Great Darkness Saga' and the 'Earthwar' have some of the 'darkest' moments in Legion history in them, yet they are universally hailed as 'classic' by the fans. We plan on telling stories in that same vein; pitting the team against overwhelming odds so that when they eventually win through, even at great personal cost, their victory is all the more 'bright.'"

Unlike the highly successful LEGION WORLDS, which used a different artistic team for each issue, THE LEGION's "brightness" will depend upon the talents of only one artist, Olivier Coipel.

"Olivier's style has changed as he's grown in confidence and become more familiar with the characters and his own storytelling," says Lanning. "As of the time of writing this, Olivier's committed to the book for the long haul and we've planned for one or two fill-in issues a year to help him keep to the deadlines."

As for fill-in issue art teams, Abnett says, "The plan is for Mike McKone to do those fill-in issues, commitments permitting. As far as our wishes for other artists, we've been spoiled with the excellent work the art teams on WORLDS produced, and there are some great artists out there who've never drawn the Legion before who we'd love to rope in for a back-up. But it's all down to people's commitments and scheduling problems, plus we haven't decided whether we'll be running back-ups yet."

One thing that both authors are certain about, however, is that one monthly Legion title is enough.

"One book a month is it for the foreseeable future," says Lanning. "Market forces led to the demise of the second title, and we've still got a long way to go sales-wise before The Powers That Be would consider a second one again."

Abnett agrees, but he adds, "We hope that we generate enough interest and sales to warrant some more Legion related projects: specials, Elseworlds and Annuals!"

Speaking of Legion-related projects, both of them would love to see an animated Legion series in the same style as Bruce Timm's upcoming JUSTICE LEAGUE series, as many fans have called for. Or as Lanning puts it, "I say, yes please Mr. Timm, thank you very much!"