Hey! Ever wanted to try The Legion of Super Heroes?? There are many diff versions of the team and diff places to start, etc. Pull up a chair, let me help. A thread

So, I always say Legion is like X-Men. It only SEEMS complicated from the outside. You can pretty much jump in anywhere & start to grasp whats going on & have a good time. Legion quality is basically: 80% really good, 20% questionable

So The Legion is a band of teen superheroes in the far off DC future of the 31st century. They are a bunch of super powered kids from different planets that band together in a clubhouse to do wacky Silver Age missions & hang out together. Its glorious

Legion of Super Heroes starts in the Silver Age. FIRST GOOD STARTING POINT!! Right from the very beginning. Even if you dont like old comics, these are amazing stories. Legion starts off in several diff Superman books before they get their first main title in Adventure Comics 300

The best way to start here is with the recent collections of Legion of Super Heroes:The Silver Age. Which collects everything in chronological order. Just one tpb out so far that is also on Comixology. There are also 2 Silver Age Omnibi out with a 3rd coming.

Sadly, DC doesnt seem to put the omnibi contents all on Comixology so the Adventure Comics run on there is spotty. You also can go back further for out of print options for this era of Legion

You could track down The Legion Archives books which collect everything in order for 13 volumes until they stop. Or the black & white Showcase Presents volumes 1-5 which collects quite a bit in order until that book series ended.

The Silver Age Legion is an insane fun romp of a bunch of weird ass teens going back in time & getting Superboy to come hang out in the future & join their big ass team after they were inspired by his heroism to found the team. Its a brilliant premise.

I LOVE these comics & think everyone should read them. But fair warning these are OLD comics & not for everyone. I will say the quality of these never really takes a dip. In Adventure Comics 381, Supergirl takes over that book & they drop out of it & move to:

The Superboy title with 197, which changes its name to Superboy & The Legion of Super Heroes. This is generally considered the new Vol.1 for that title & is yet another jumping on point, where we shift from Silver Age to Bronze Age

Its here we get a very deliberate shift in tone from wacky Silver Age to continuous Bronze Age stories of tight continuity with Dave Cockrum of X-Men fame coming on art & redesigning most of the team's costumes for a lengthy run. This is a wonderful era

Not too lengthy though as Mike Grell comes on as artist for 203. He & writer Cary Bates are the primary team up until around 220 & they tell some great stories during that era continuing the high tone & team building for our Legion. I highly recommend this stuff

But how can you read this stuff? Sadly its not in print now & is only reprinted in the Lgion Archives, which as I mentioned is out of print, so hunt down some secondhand copies or whatnot.

Next we have Superboy & The Legion 222-233. This marks legendary LEgion scribe Paul LEvitz's first material on the title along with Gerry Conway. None of this is particularly strong stuff. It is inexplicably on Comixology & is in Legion Archives 12 & 13.

Starting with 234, DC has started releasing hardcovers entitled Superboy And the Legion of Super Heroes which take us up to 258. These are great collections with Levitz & Conway writing diff parts.

I specifically recommend from this era Paul Levitz's Earth War storyline in 241-245. Its a really great high stakes story that involves a huge intergalactic war the Legion must stop with the return of one of their greatest enemies. READ THIS. 233-258 are all on Comixology

In 259 the title drops Superboy & this is where Legion of Super Heroes Volume 2 starts here. 259-283 are not collected anywhere. BUT were in luck, they are on Comixology! This era is the weaker mostly boring stuff though. Its mostly all Conway written with a dash of Roy Thomas

And now we reach 284 where Paul Levitz becomes the main writer for many years. This stuff is comparable to Chris Claremont's run on X-Men. SECOND GOOD STARTING POINT!! Levitz teams with Keith Giffen to start their run off with a bang with The Great Darkness Saga

The Great Darkness Saga comes in a deluxe hardcover that collects 284-296 & Annual 1. Also on Comixology This one is comparable to like a Dark Phoenix Saga.Its the big tentpole story you can have anyone read, its also 2 creators doing amazing work crafting a truly memorable story

I cant stress this enough. Read the Great Darkness Saga. Its also all on Comixology. If you dont like the Legion after trying this one then it may not be the book for you.

From here we go to 297-313 & Annual 2 & 3 collected in The Curse deluxe HC & on Comixology. Again this is more REALLY good stuff by Levitz & Giffen. Highly recommended.

From here Legion gets SO POPULAR that they launch Legion of Super Heroes Vol. 3 to the direct market while the current volume becomes Tales of the Legion of Super Heroes. This becomes the spinoff side story book. Still fun little stuff. This runs from 314-325. All on Comixology

So now Levitz & Giffen continue their high quality run into "Legion of Super Heroes" Vol. 3. 1-13 of this run are collected in two trades-An Eye for an Eye; The More Things Change. Also all on Comixology

The first arc of this run deals with The Legion of Super Villains reuniting to attack the Legion. I CANT EVEN EXPRESS HOW AWESOME THIS ARC IS!! Any X-fan who loves the strong women in those titles, get ready to LOVE Princess Projectra. This stuff is so fucking badass. SO GOOD!

From here the title goes up to 63, with Levitz writing for many years. Post Crisis Superman continuity tries to mess with things but the title continues to be EXTREMELY good for its entire duration. I HIGHLY recommend reading this. I put it up there with Claremont's Uncanny run

Besides 1-13, none of it is collected but ALL of it is on Comixology. Again, highly recommended. READ ALL OF THIS.

So from here the title ends & Paul Levitz departs the title. We now get a new series Legion of Super Heroes Vol.4: Five Years Later. Keith Giffen comes back this time as plotter & sometimes illustrator along with married couple Tom & Mary Bierbaum as scripters.

The Bierbaums were a married couple who were part of the insane old Legion fan club movements The Legion Outpost & Interlac. They were such big fans, Giffen used them to help with his Legion ideas & brought them in as fulltime writers

So now we enter the Five Years Later era. This is a huge tonal departure. The Superman ties are excised from continuity, people are dead, retconned or changed completely in a far off grim & gritty dour as heck future.

Whatever you do, DONT start here. I ONLY recommend reading this after youve literally read everything there is beforehand. Theres so much info & plot densely packed into each issue delving into so much history of the Legion

I always compare 5YL to a stiff cup of black coffee. Its good, can even be great but its not for everyone. Some people will find it to be very offputting & bitter. Some people like things a bit more sweet, a bit more familiar, not so dark. Its very divisive.

I for one as a big Legion head, REALLY enjoy it even if I dont love every little thing they do. Its a huge departure & so much change thrown at you. Its also depressingly bleak for quite some time. I still think its an incredibly well crafted book with a lot to offer.

1-40 of the 5YL Legion is the best, quality stuff. Eventually Giffen drops out & The Bierbaums steer the ship.They eventually introduce a clone group of the young Legionnaires in the story to inject a new happy brighter tone to have the old & new Legionnaires in the same universe

I will say if you do read 5YL Legion & really enjoy it, track down the 2995: The Legion of Super-Heroes Sourcebook (DC Heroes Role-Playing Game #263). The Bierbaums write this & fill it TO THE BRIM with tons of never before seen info & plot points for everything in the 5YL time

Sorry, I made a mistake Giffen/Bierbaums goes till 38. The Bierbaums go solo with a new direction which encompasses 39-61, Legionnaires 1-18 & a side book about Mon-El-Valor 1-23.

Legionnaires is a particularly fun little book that is the new young clone team. I recommend this book. Most of the art is by Chris Sprouse. Legionnaires 7 is a great Adam Hughes drawn story.

I also highly recommend from this era any issue focusing on Tenzil Kem, Matter Eater Lad. They are hilarious & amazing. Issue 11 for sure

Anyways this series eventually goes on so long they needed to prune it & start over with the successful young Legionnaires idea. LSHv4 #60-61 and Legionnaires #17-18 and Valor #22-23 are all tied together in the Zero Hour-crossover story "End of an Era"

And so ends the 5YL era of the Legion. The later Legion issues here I'll also note have a young Stuart Immonen as artist. Its really great art even if very diff from his stuff now. All in all the quality of the books is all over the place & it needed to end.

Now after all that you might be asking Dave, how do I read this stuff? Welp-bad news. None of it is collected & the first HC they solicited has pretty much been cancelled BUT I am shocked & delighted to tell you its on Comixology!!

So now we are on to another new era, but this time it is a COMPLETE REBOOT! Whole new history, whole new characters, everything. Zero Hour gives us this change and we start fresh with great influence form the Legionnaires title. But we continue with the previous numbering

THIRD GOOD STARTING POINT!! The two books function continuously one into the other like the triangle year Superman books. They start like this & so on & so on:
LSHv4 #0
Legionnaires #0
LSHv4 #62
Legionnaires #19
LSHv4 #63
Legionnaires #20

This goes all the way up to LSHv4 #121 and Legionnaires #78. All of this is written by Mark Waid for a bit along with the main haul writers Tom McCraw, Roger Stern & one of the most underrated & BEST comics writers in history Tom Peyer.

My main word to describe this run is: FUN!! I LOVE all of this, the entire run. It blends the fun & heart of a teen book with Archie sensibilities with 90's sci fi DCU magic. Its a very bright spot in 90s comics & never really dips in quality. READ ALL OF THIS

These books have started to be collected in only 2 trades sadly. They are entitled Legionnaires & collect:
Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 4, #0, 62–73
Legionnaires #0, 19–30
Annual 6
Annual 2
BUT again all of this shockingly is on Comixology!!

After this Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning of Annihilation & Marvel Cosmic fame take over both books. They start with Legion of the Damned" with Olivier Coipel (LSHv4 #122-3, Legionnaires #79-80) and then end both titles with LSHv4 #124-5, Legionnaires #81.

Legion of the Damned is great & is collected into a 100 page super spectacular as well as in The Legion by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning Vol. 1 with all of the above. All of this is also on Comixology

From here the characters go into a 12 issue series called Legion Lost by DnA again & mostly by Coipel. This series is really good!! Collected in a HC or in The Legion by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning Vol. 2 as well as Comixology

After that you read Legion Worlds-a six issue limited series that focuses on some members on diff worlds. Again, pretty solid stuff by DnA. This is not collected, but is on Comixology!

After all that, DnA finally relaunch the Legion as "The Legion" in a brand new series with Olivier Coipel on art. This series, especially 1-8 are EXTREMELY good & use a villain in the 31st century BRILLIANTLY! If you liked any of Marvel Cosmic, youll love this too.

DnA go till 33, add in Conner Kent to the team for awhile & its all generally pretty fun & solid. Worth seeking out. Only 25-30 are collected anywhere in a tpb titled Foundations, but all of this volume is on Comixology

The Legion continues under fill-in writers until issue 38 then the this era of Legion ends with a two-part story spread over New Teen Titans v3 #16 and the Teen Titans/Legion Special #1.

After this we get a 3rd reboot, which fans often refer to as the Threeboot team. Mark Waid & Barry Kitson launch a "teenage revolution" themed team thats like a mix of Persona 5 & the "how do you do fellow kids?" meme. Its...OK

If I had to recommend any of it Id say try the first 2 trades or issues 1-13. Brainiac 5 is really good in it. The book tries to be aggressively different than past Legions but it never quite works.

After 13 Waid brings the new Supergirl into the book & its re-titled Supergirl & the Legion of Super Heroes until 37. Waid leaves after 30 & Tony Bedard writes some. Its all OK. I wouldnt particularly recommend it.

37-50 of this book is written by Jim Shooter & drawn by Francis Manapul. None of it is very good. All of this run is collected in tpbs as well as on Comixology

And with that The Threeboot ends & then Legion enters a bit of a limbo where Geoff Johns takes it upon himself to bring back the original team from the end of Levitz's run. Time has gone on & theyve grown a bit but they re enter continuity in several of his books. Those are:

"The Lightning Saga" (Justice League of America v2 #8-10 and Justice Society of America #5-6)
Which is not good but shows some of that Legion is alive & well & in the current DCU. Can skip

Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes" (Action Comics #858-863)
Set right in the middle of Johns' Action run, continuity changes allow him to bring the Legion back into Superman's history in a big way as they bring Superman to their future to help them restore order.

Johns brilliantly restores the old continuity & brings back all our old favorite Legion characters in an absolutely AMAZING story arc. This is one of my favorite stories of all time. On Comixology or the collection: Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes

After this Johns does a Final Crisis tie in miniseries titled Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #1-5. This is again, ONE OF MY FAVORITE STORIES EVER! In this story Superboy Prime ends up in the 31st century & reforms the Legion of Super Villains. This newly reinstated Legion..

not only calls on Superman for help but also the Zero Hour & Threeboot Legions in one of the biggest crossovers ever assembled. You even get the 5YL & every other various Legion character in cameos. AND ITS ALL DRAWN BY GEORGE PEREZ!!

READ THIS! You can even hop into it only if youve read the Johns stuff or have a passing familiarity. Itll make you seek out the other stuff, its so fun.

More of this Johns Legion appears in Adventure Comics #1-4, 8-12 (along with whatever issues of Supergirl, Action Comics, Superman, and Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton you need to fill out the "Brainiac and the Legion of Super-Heroes" story) and #516-529

But its only a passing glance at them as they get DEEPLY intertwined with Johns' whole New Krypton stuff. So check it all out on Comixology etc but its fairly piecemeal & not a great together story.

From there Paul Levitz comes back to write everything LEgion of Super Heroes Vol. 6 & Adventure Comics. Levitz returning again parallels Claremont & his return to X-Men. All of this is pretty bad. I would AVOID it all to be honest

All of it is collected or on Comixology if you really want to try it though. I guess Adventure & Levitz using the Legion Academy characters isnt awful but he has a LONGTIME ship end for the girl to get with a previous villain(Its mindboggingly bad, like head explode wtf bad)

And then that all ends because its New 52 time!! Legion gets 2 books-1 dealing with them in the 31st Century by Levitz(Vol. 7) which goes on for 23 issues & Legion Lost by Fabian Nicieza of a group of characters in the DCU past.

None of these series go anywhere or do anything good. They both are boring & meandering, extremely average to bad series. I would ignore them, but they are all collected & on Comixology.

And with that we wrap up!! Legion is now in the hands of Bendis & we will see how it is. I think you can all guess how I feel about(psst its gonna be bad)

If you have any questions AT ALL about any appearances or titles or crossovers or any little thing-comment, DM me, reach out. I LOVE the Legion. Besides X-Men they are my favorite team in comics & for maybe 40 years or so they have an unbelievable quality track record

I have read every Legion appearance ever, every single gosh darn book & I REALLY WANT EVERYONE TO DO THE SAME! Or you know, just an arc or at least to TRY! Its an incredible franchise & it deserves all the love and attention. Thanks for reading & please share!!

Also if you're super into the Legion track down these TwoMorrows Publishing books. One collects the best of the old 70s fan zine The Legion Outpost. The other is the Legion Companion which like the rest of their companions is a huge book filled with art & interviews with just..

..about every creator that ever worked on the original Legion team. It's incredible! It's rare now & goes for a lot but I PROMISE you it's so worth it