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| "Legion vs. Legion" from Legion of Super-Heroes vol.3 #3 (DC, 1984) by Paul Levitz, Keith Giffen, Steve Lightle and Larry Mahlstedt |
In 1984, DC decided to tap the blossoming direct market to relaunch a number of its best-selling team books, including the LSH, with better paper and printing. The "Baxter series" would last 63 issues plus four annuals, and get reprinted with a year's delay in the newsstand book Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes where I personally experienced most of the run. That's what happens when you live at least 4-hours drive from the nearest comic book shop. Having experienced a year of Tales' "lame-duck Legion" where little of import happened (still, Dan Jurgens art, I wasn't complaining), the Baxter series upped the ante considerably. The first arc, pitting the Legion against the Legion of Super-Villains was epic and ended in the dramatic death of Karate Kid, creating fall-out (including one of those Legion lost storylines that have become a tradition) that would last through the rest of that first year. Giffen, Lightle and Greg Larocque handled most of the art through the end of the series, creating a slick and modern 30th century and a Legion I could call my own. I've liked other eras, but when I think of the Legion, I think of this one.
Giffen comes in for a lot of criticism these days but back then he was the books biggest saviour. And I adore his faux-Kirby style.
ReplyDeleteThis 'Here a Villain, There a Villain, Everywhere a Villain' was one of the best imo. The recent new LSV that was done a couple of years ago was very poor in my comparison; just a handful of minor villains to challenge the LSH in place of the large group featured in the 1984 Baxter run.