Legion of Super-Heroes

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The Legion in Legion of Super-Heroes: The Choice.

The Legion of Super-Heroes are a superhero team that features in DC Comics.

Contents

History

Pre-Crisis

The Legion of Super-Heroes in Adventure Comics v1 #247.

The Legion of Super-Heroes were a team of superheroes that were native to the far future of the 30th century. (Adventure Comics v1 #247) Its origins were traced to the 30th century when Garth Ranzz, Rokk Krinn) and Imra Ardeen all had boarded a shuttle that was also transporting rich businessman R. J. Brande to Earth. Upon arriving at Metropolis Spaceport, a band of gunmen armed themselves and were prepared to attack Brande. Ranzz and Krinn managed to stop the gunmen whilst Ardeen read their minds to learn that they were hired by Brande's cousin Doyle who owed money to a gambling syndicate. To inherit Brande's wealth, he intended to assassinate him and thus clear off his debts. After seeing them in action, Brande believed the three young powered individuals had talent and showed that they could use their abilities to help others. He decided to bankroll the creation of an organisation which would combat crime and injustice with the three being the charter members. At first, the three were reluctant but Brande noted that legendary heroes Superman and Supergirl had similarly started being superheroes from a young age. The three teenagers then accepted with the Legion of Super-Heroes being formed with Brande having his business empire constructed the Legion of Super-Heroes Headquarters whilst they chose Krinn to be their leader and they drafted their constitution. Once this was done, the United Planets voted the Legionnaires as honorary citizens on all member worlds and were deputised by the Science Police to make arrests. (Superboy v1 #147)

This led to them encountering the supervillain Urthlo who had the a gadget that could activate and deactivate a superhero's abilities giving him complete control over the Legion. He caused their powers to run rampant to the point that the world-wide police threatened to exile them. Even Superboy struggled to fight the villain who could fire Kryptonite beams with the Legion unaware of his true identity. They eventually defeated him through trickery and it was revealed that he was actually a robot constructed long ago by Lex Luthor to attack the Legion of Super-Heroes. (Adventure Comics v1 #300)

The Legion were set to have their annual vote to elect a new leader, and Saturn Girl was the first to arrive at the Clubhouse. A crystal capsule sent from the Trylop Council of Mernl dropped from the sky warning that their computers predicted a Legionnaire would die using their powers during an upcoming invasion of Earth by Zaryan the Conqueror, and Saturn Girl resolved to sacrifice herself to protect her fellow Legionnaires. She used her thought control to nudge the Legion into electing her leader, then used a rainbow bar from their treasury to make medallions with her face printed on them, and demanded every Legionnaire wear one. She demanded the Legionnaires demonstrate effective use of their powers, and was able to temporarily duplicate each member of the Legion’s powers using the medallions they wore, and proceeded to forbid them for using their powers or going on missions during a probation period because she declared they were not using their powers properly. When Zaryan began his invasion of Earth she responded, and warned the other Legionnaires not to follow her because they were on probation. The Legion thought she’d gone mad with power, but Mon-El had observed her actions from the Phantom Zone, and knew her motivations. Sunspots interfered with him communicating with the Legion, but when they lifted he filled in Lightning Lad on the situation, and he flew into space, determined to keep Saturn Girl from sacrificing herself. He blew up Zaryan’s ship with his powers, but was fatally shot with a freeze-ray. The Legion honored him by placing him in a glass coffin with lightning generated over it by a perpetual motion device, and his funeral was attended by Superboy, Supergirl and Lori Lemaris. The Legion placed a statue of Lightning Lad in their Clubhouse as a tribute to the first Legionnaire killed in action. (Adventure Comics I #304)

During trials for new Legionnaires, one applicant was Jungle King whose father had experimented on him to give him hypno-mental control powers over animals. However, whilst talking to the Legion, his control fell over his Borlat that nearly attacked him. This resulted in the youth being rejected where he took this decision badly and was angry at not being accepted into the Legion. He then travelled to the wild Monster World where he mentally dominated its dangerous lifeforms to form his Legion of Monsters. Taking the name of the Monster Master, he began to terrorise the universe as part of his revenge against the Legion of Super-Heroes. This led to a battle on Korr at the Sky City when the Monster Master wanted to steal the Comet-Jewels. Afterwards, a monster wanted to join his Legion of Monsters but he rejected the strange beast that could change into a gaseous state. Afterwards, a further conflict erupted with the Legionnaires where his creatures were defeated with the rejected gas beast emerging to take its revenge on the Monster Master who was seemingly killed as a result. (Adventure Comics v1 #309)

The Legion were later asked to review Lana Lang when she operated as the Insect Queen and intended to join them as a superhero but they rejected her as she attained powers not naturally but through her Bio-Genetic Ring. At this time, Earth came under threat from a humanoid alien named Oggar-Kon who had been banished by his people and sentenced to float through space in a block of ice. However, his icy prison crashed on Earth where he was freed and used his mind over matter powers to craft himself a kingdom to rule leading to a conflict with the Legion of Super-Heroes at the Antarctic Ice City. (Adventure Comics v1 #355)

Earth later came under threat when chemicals from an orbital station were leaking onto the surface. The station was owned by Dr. Mantis Morlo who was attempting to make a breakthrough by chemically engineering a new star. However, his experiments were harming the Earth below and the U.P. gave a court order to the Legion of Super-Heroes to end this project. The angry Dr. Morlo resisted and unleashed his Chemoid Gorn to battle the Legionnaires who fought a machine able to change its chemically structure to better fight its foes. With his research forcibly stopped, Dr. Morlo swore revenge and engineered an army of Chemoids where he intended to unleash them against the Legion. (Adventure Comics v1 #362)

Reboot

Inspiration for the Legion began when billionaire industrialist R.J. Brande was rescued from an assassination attempt by the teamwork of three teenagers from different alien races, Rokk Krinn of Braal, Garth Ranzz of Winath and Imra Ardeen of Titan. Brande, a 20th Century fanatic, pitched the idea to U.P. President Jeanne Chu as not merely a specialized peacekeeping task-force, but an ambassador program to represent the U.P. to foreign worlds, being an idealistic collection of youths working together for the greater good despite their obvious differences. (Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #0)

As his founding members, R.J. Brande chose the three teenagers who had originally saved his life, now calling themselves Cosmic Boy, Live Wire and Saturn Girl. In their first presentation to the United Planets councilmembers, although they were initially met with skepticism, they quickly proved their worth when they foiled an attempted terrorist bombing on premises. They were aided by two other naturally powered teens, Luornu Durgo of Cargg and Tinya Wazzo of Bgztl, who quickly joined the Legion as well under the names Triad and Apparition. After the success of their first appearance, a draft was instituted, requiring all U.P. worlds to offer their own Legionnaire. (Legionnaires v1 #0) This initial draft included: Gim Allon of Mars, Leviathan; James Cullen of Xanthu, Kid Quantum; Lyle Norg of Earth, Invisible Kid; Jenni Ognats of Aarok, XS; and Reep Daggle of Durla, Chameleon. Although he initially failed to respond, Colu's Brainiac 5 was also a member of the draft, and would join the team later. (Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #63)

The team's first mission was relatively low-profile, although it ended in disaster. The Legion was commissioned to arrest insectoid space pirate Tangleweb. Although it had been previously assumed that Cosmic Boy would act as team leader, Leviathan was designated to the task, as the only Legionnaire with prior combat experience as a member of the Science Police. Kid Quantum, overly headstrong, disobeyed his orders and was slain by Tangleweb when his equipment malfunctioned. Angry at what he perceived as his own failure, Leviathan stepped down and Cosmic Boy became team leader again.[4] After a battle with Mano wrecked havoc at McCauley industries, corrupt industrialist and arch-rival to R.J. Brande Leland McCauley would form his own super-team, the Workforce. (Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #64) Although they were created with different intentions, the Legion and the Workforce would frequently work together, and even occassionally change memberships. When founding Legionnaire Live Wire, technically a runaway, was replaced by his drafted sister Ayla, Spark, he had to join the Workforce. A much more massive and high-profile membership drive after their second mission would yield a group of new team members, including Laurel Gand of Daxam, Andromeda; Salu Digby of Imsk, Shrinking Violet; and Zoe Saugin of Aleph, Kinetix. (Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #66)

Threeboot

Post-Infinite Crisis

Post-Flashpoint

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.

Overview

The Legion in Legion of Super-Heroes v6 #9.

Legionnaires were required to not only possess physical power but also mental skills. They were required to have a thorough knowledge of the minds and methods of criminals. (Adventure Comics v1 #371)

Central to the organisation was the Constitution that was written to guide their activities. It stated that all members should continue their education and that any recruit had to have innate powers rather than have one be derived from technology with them also having a code against killing similar to Superman along with Supergirl. Upon their formation, they were deputised as full-fledged members of the Science Police with the authority to make arrests. (Superboy v1 #147)

Membership required that a person demonstrate at least a single special superpower. Those invited to join their ranks then were required to earn their spot by participating in a number of trials. This sometimes took the individual to compete with an active Legion member and responding to dealing with emergencies along with other crisis's. Failure to win the three trials was said to be grounds to revoking the offer of membership into the Legion. (Adventure Comics v1 #247) For recruitment, they made use of a process for training and screening Legion candidates. The details of the Legion training and testing program was classified information known only to its Selection Board. A reason for this was because it was to prevent the training from being sabotaged. Upon selection, candidates were sent to the Legionnaire Training Quarters where they were required to wear training uniforms. As part of its secrecy, all training manuals during training were required to be returned to prevent the information from being leaked out. In addition to fighting classes, recruits were trained in using Flight Rings that were part of drills regimens. In some cases, active Legion members could face being sent back to training if they were found lacking in the field. (Adventure Comics v1 #371)

There was a code of good behaviour that dictated the actions of the Legion. (Adventure Comics v1 #300) Members of the Legion were noted for being authorised Science Police deputies. (Adventure Comics v1 #373)

The Legion had a range of equipment that was given to them which included:

  • Flight Rings : Lyle Norg designed them to use de-gravitised Valorium metal allowing them to lift approximately 180 kilograms thus giving the wearer the power of flight. They were also equipped with a mid-range tracking device and had a communicator. (Legion of Super-Heroes Annual v4 #6)
  • Telepathic Plugs : allowed the user to converse mind-to-mind giving them the ability to communicate even in space with one another. (Superboy v1 #202) These Interlac translators were worn in the ear canal allowing for the wearer to cross language barriers and communicate in cases where verbal communication was not possible. (Legion of Super-Heroes Annual v4 #6)
  • Mini-Omnicom Unit : a small computer that was used as a reference information guide linked to the Legion archives and could be used as a recorder for mission reports. (Legion of Super-Heroes Annual v4 #6)
  • Transuits : a thin membrane that surrounded the wearer thus providing a protective ultra-sonic barrier. A control unit on the hand allowed the user to adjust the climate inside the suit whilst the armband filters provided a breathable atmosphere. Transuits were able to survive the extreme climate of deep space for a short period of time. (Legion of Super-Heroes Annual v4 #6)
  • Computo :

The auditions of Legion recruits were recorded in memexes where they explained their reasons for joining the Legion. These could later be accessed and some of the recordings could be used for evidence gathering. (Legion of Super-Heroes v8 #9)

They also made use of interstellar craft referred to as Legion Cruisers that were used for transportation to other worlds. (Legion of Super-Heroes Annual v4 #6)

Within their headquarters was the Hall of Heroes that had statues to honor each of the teams members. (Adventure Comics v1 #300)

Members

  • Cosmic Boy : (Adventure Comics v1 #247)
  • Saturn Girl : (Adventure Comics v1 #247)
  • Lightning Lad : (Adventure Comics v1 #247)
  • Phantom Girl :
  • Chameleon Boy :
  • Sun Boy :
  • Ultra Boy :
  • Wildfire :
  • Dawnstar :
  • Timber Wolf :
  • Shadow Lass :
  • Night Girl :
  • Bouncing Boy : He was a level 8 meta who was a doctor in meta-physical gateway science. (Legion of Super-Heroes v8 #9)
  • Triplicate Girl :
  • Star Boy :
  • Dream Girl :
  • Ferro Lad :
  • Element Lad :
  • Lightning Lass :
  • Invisible Kid :
  • Colossal Boy :
  • Shrinking Violet :
  • Lightning Lass :
  • Blok : He once served as a Sergeant and was a part of the Madamhonor's personal security team. (Legion of Super-Heroes v8 #9)
  • White Witch : One incarnation of her was Xola Aq who was an inhabitant of Sorcerer's World and the daughter of Mordru the Mad where she hated her father with her being connected to the elements of magic. (Legion of Super-Heroes v8 #9)
  • Tellus :
  • Gates :
  • Kent Shakespeare :
  • Dragon Wing :
  • Monster Boy : Arune Singh from planetary Tor-Etto who was a changemorph but in a different sense in that he could transform into any kind of monster. (Legion of Super-Heroes v8 #9)
  • Gold Lantern : He was a member of the Lantern Order of the Gold. (Legion of Super-Heroes v8 #9)
  • Doctor Fate : They came to hold the Helmet of Nabu making them a vessel for the Lord of Order Nabu. (Legion of Super-Heroes v8 #9)

Notes

  • The Legion of Super-Heroes were created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino where they made their first appearance in Adventure Comics v1 #247 (April, 1958).

Alternate Versions

In other media

Television

  • In the DC Animated Universe, the Legion of Super-Heroes appeared in the shared continuity setting.
    • In the Superman: The Animated Series, the Legion of Super-Heroes first made its appearance in the animated television series.
    • In Justice League Unlimited, the Legion of Super-Heroes appeared in the animated television series.
  • In Smallville, the Legion of Super-Heroes appeared in the setting of the live-action television series.
  • In the Legion of Super-Heroes, the Legion of Super-Heroes featured in the setting of the animated television series.
  • In Supergirl, the Legion of Super-Heroes appeared in the live-action television series third season set in the Arrowverse. It was stated that they were team of superheroes from the 31st century who were formed by Mon-El and based on the ideals taught to him by Supergirl.
  • In Young Justice, the Legion of Super-Heroes appeared in the setting of the animated television series during its fourth season "Phantoms". They were shown as being a team of superheroes who inhabited the 31st century and who had formed after being inspired by Superboy. By that era, the criminals from the Phantom Zone were freed from their imprisonment and placed on the planet Daxam. However, General Zod came to rally his fellow Kryptonians under him where they looked to conquer the known universe. They were ultimately defeated by the Legion who used the Phantom Zone Projector to banish them back into that timeless dimension. Though defeated, the General's son Lor-Zod came to steal a Time-Sphere and journeyed into the past to free his father and mother earlier in time. To stop him, Saturn Girl, Phantom Girl and Chameleon Boy pursued him to the 21st century but their Time-Sphere was destroyed thus stranding them in that era.

Films

  • In JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time, the Legion of Super-Heroes appeared in the 2014 direct-to-video animated film.
  • In Justice League vs. the Fatal Five, the Legion of Super-Heroes appeared in the 2019 animated film. They were shown to had operated in the 31st century where they were teenage superheroes who honoured the works of the Justice League. In their time, one of their noted enemies were the Fatal Five where they succeeded in capturing Emerald Empress and Validus. To contain the two, they decided to send them into the past to be imprisoned in the Sciencells on Oa under the care of the Guardians of the Universe. Their fellow Fatal Five members learnt of this and attacked the Legion in order to steal a Time Sphere to travel to the present but were pursued by Starboy. He worked alongside the Justice League in defeating the Fatal Five but had to sacrifice his life to save Earth's Sun from being destroyed. The Justice League held a funeral in his honour with the Legion of Super-Heroes travelling to the present to attend the event for their fallen comrade.
  • In Legion of Super-Heroes, the Legion of Super-Heroes appeared in the setting of the 2023 animated film.

Video games

  • In DC Universe Online, the Legion of Super-Heroes appeared in the setting of the MMORPG video game.
  • In Injustice 2, the Legion of Super-Heroes appeared in a cameo role in the fighting video game.

Appearances

  • Adventure Comics v1: (1958)
  • Superboy v1:
  • Legion of Super-Heroes v1:
  • Legion Lost v1:
  • Justice League of America v3:
  • Legion of Super-Heroes:
  • Justice League United v1:
  • Legion of Super-Heroes v8:

External Links

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