Reprints

It's been said that a story worth telling is worth telling again. In the case of the Legion of Super-Heroes, that saying rings true when it comes to reprints.

The first cover appearance of the Legion of Super-Heroes in Adventure Comics after they had vacated the title was in issue 403, which featured a reprint of the Lightning Lad saga in which the character died and was later brought back to life. Containing an all-new cover by Curt Swan, the issue also showcased "Fashions From Fans," a 3 page article in which costumes submitted by Legion readers were put on display. Some actually made it into the pages of the Legion itself (such as those of Saturn Girl and Duo Damsel), whereas others (like those of Shadow Lass, Princess Projectra, and Karate Kid) were used only once and then never seen again. Mercifully still, many others never made it into series at all. The art was by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, two names not usually associated with the Legion.

An unlikely place for the Legion to have appeared during the 1970s was in the pages of Batman. However, in an issue which also contained reprints featuring Plastic Man, Sargon the Sorceror and the Doom Patrol, the issue of Adventure Comics (# 324 ) which featured the Legion of Super-Outlaws (later renamed the Heroes of Lallor) was reprinted, exposing Batman fans to a variety of features not usually associated with the Dark Knight Detective.

Of special interest is the cover by Neal Adams. A noted Batman artist, rather than simply illustrate a few Legionnaires to convey the membership of the group, Adams drew every single Legionnaire, both living and dead, active and reserve, human and non-human, for the cover. While allowances may have been made for the exclusion of the Legion of Super-Pets and reservists like Jimmy Olsen and Pete Ross, Adams included them all. Unfortunately for Legion fans, the Legion section comprised the back cover of the magazine, thereby reducing its visibility from the newsstand and thus hiding it from that section of the audience.

The period in which the Legion of Super-Heroes appeared as a backup feature in Superboy is generally remembered as a dark time by its fans, not only because it was the only place in which the team appeared, but also because many of those appearances were reprints. It is ironic that while the team never appeared on a cover featuring one of their all-new stories, they did appear on the cover of Superboy # 185, a 100 Page Spectacular which also featured Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys. The Legion had previously made an appearance on the cover of another Superboy 100 Page Spectacular, that time as a photograph behind Superboy. Both covers were drawn by Nick Cardy, who was then DC's main cover artist.

The series which many Legion fans think of when they remember Legion reprints from the Seventies is The Legion of Super-Heroes (Vol. 1). Released as a means of testing the market for an ongoing Legion title, the original LOSH featured such classics as "The Lad Who Wrecked The Legion" and "Computo the Conquerer" before it was discontinued. Of interest to Legion trivia fans is that the series held the distinction of having three different editors over the course of its four issues. Nick Cardy provided all-new covers for the first two issues, with the latter two featuring reprint art by Curt Swan and George Klein.

Before the long-running 1980s title of the same name, the 1970s saw the original Secret Origins go on sale, with number six featuring a reprint of the Legion's origin from Superboy # 147. A text page in the issue explained how E. Nelson Bridwell wrote the original story after it was discovered that the Legion's origin had never been told, and the issue itself featured an all-new cover by Nick Cardy partially based upon the famous Superboy cover of the issue in which the origin had first appeared.

Another way in which young Legion fans were introduced to Silver Age Legion tales was in DC's Super-Stars series of comics. Originally featuring reprints from the publisher's Silver Age before converting to all-new material, DC Super-Stars # 3 featured an all-new cover by Nick Cardy depicting the then-present Legionnaires looking at a "future screen" which showed that "...some of us will marry...some will die! But what about the rest of us?" Inside readers were treated to a reprinting of Adventure Comics #'s 354-355, otherwise known as Jim Shooter's Adult Legion stories. At that point in Legion history only one prediction had come true: the wedding of Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel. The death of Chemical King was still some months away.

Probably the best remembered Legion reprint from the Seventies outside of the first title to bear the Legion's own name was Limited Collector's Edition C-49, which reprinted the two-part Mordru story from Adventure Comics #'s 369-370. In addition to an all-new cover by Mike Grell, the collection also featured a diagram of Legion headquarters (previously seen in Adventure Comics # 403) and a double-page spread of the wedding of Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel, which previously had only been shown in color on a single, standard-sized page. The inside back cover featured a key to the characters contained in the wedding picture, with a special "What are they doing here?" department for Tars Tarkas of Barsoom and J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter. Best remembered as the picture which caused Dave Cockrum to leave the Legion, Limited Collector's Edition C-49 was the third time the wedding scene appeared, the first being Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes # 200 (in which the wedding occurred), and the next being the Amazing World of DC Comics # 9, where it was displayed in black and white.

Next up for the Legion was the Tempo paperback. Published in 1977, it was part of a line of reprint editions which also featured such DC mainstays as Superman, Batman, and the Justice League. The Legion edition consisted of four stories, including a non-Legion adventure from Superboy # 158, the story of Lana Lang's induction into the Legion of Super-Heroes from Adventure Comics # 355, and an episode each from the Legion's Action Comics run (# 392) and their backup appearances in Superboy (#188). The cover itself was a recropping of the Legion's 1976 calendar appearance, with the artwork again supplied by Neal Adams.

The last Legion reprint of the decade came in the Legion's own title - Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes # 238. Featuring an all-new cover by Jim Starlin, the issue was solicited as an attempt by the publisher to get the series back on track after it had slipped behind schedule due to the increased page demands caused by its new giant-sized status. Owning to a suggestion by Paul Levitz, the two-part "The Outlawed Legionnaires/The Legion Chain Gang" story from Adventure Comics #'s 359-360 was reprinted without ads to compensate fans for the lack of a new story. Legion reprints in Superboy were nothing new during the decade, but it had been years since one appeared in the title, let alone as the only story in the issue. On a positive note, it was the first time which many Legion fans were introduced to the story, regarded by many as one of Shooter's finest.

With the ready availability of the Legion Archives today it is easy to forget that many Legion fans did not always have such easy access to some of the team's classic adventures. For those fans who came of age in the 1970s, reprints in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes and other such places were their only exposure to classic Legion tales of years gone by. It was also where they were introduced to such Legion creators as Siegel, Swan, and a very young Jim Shooter. For those reasons, if for none other, Legion reprints during the decade served a very valuable purpose.