13 COVERS: A 65th Anniversary Tribute to the LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES

Highlights from the careers of the 30th (and 31st) century’s greatest heroes…

By PETER BOSCH

February 27 is the 65th anniversary of Adventure Comics #247 (pub date Apr. 1958) in which Superboy first encountered Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy and Lightning Boy (later “Lightning Lad”), the three founders of the Legion of Super-Heroes. The Legion’s popularity grew and it would only be a few years before they were sharing Adventure with Superboy, and then not long after that they ousted him from his own Superboy comic.

Writer Otto Binder could not have possibly imagined that his simple tale of three teenagers from the future would become such an enormous success, but during these past 65 years, the Legion membership has grown and grown and GROWN! A few members have left, some have married, and some have died… but still the membership increases.

Here’s a 13 COVERS anniversary tribute:

Adventure Comics #247 (Apr. 1958)

Curt Swan pencils, Stan Kaye inks

Adventure Comics #300 (Sept. 1962)

Swan pencils, George Klein inks

Adventure Comics #346 (July 1966)

Swan pencils, Klein inks

Adventure Comics #354 (Mar. 1967)

Swan pencils, Klein inks

Limited Collectors’ Edition #C-49 (Oct.-Nov. 1976)

Mike Grell cover

The Legion of Super-Heroes #300 (June 1983)

Cover by various artists and inkers

Legion of Super-Heroes #38 (Sept. 1987)

Bill Sienkiewicz cover

Legion of Super-Heroes #41 (Mar. 1993)

Chris Sprouse pencils, Karl Story inks

Legionnaires #43 (Dec. 1996)

Jeff Moy pencils, W.C. Carini inks

Legion of Super-Heroes #100 (Jan. 1998)

Alan Davis pencils, Mark Farmer inks

Justice League vs. the Legion of Super-Heroes #6 (Nov. 2022)

Scott Godlewski cover

Who’s Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes #7 (Nov. 1988)

Cover by various artists and inkers

Legion of Super-Heroes poster (1983)

Keith Giffen art

MORE

— LEVITZ AND GIFFEN: When the LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES Was at Its Best. Click here.

— Why MIKE GRELL Was Happy to Work on LEGION — and Even Happier to Leave It. Click here.

PETER BOSCH’s first book, American TV Comic Books: 1940s-1980s – From the Small Screen to the Printed Pagehas just been published by TwoMorrows. He has written articles and conducted celebrity interviews for various magazines and newspapers. Peter lives in Hollywood.

Author: Dan Greenfield

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12 Comments

    • Came here to say just that!

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  1. Love the Legion! There is a character for everyone in the group. And I think I’m one of the few who can find good in every reboot/version. Can’t wait to see what they do with the team next. Long Live the Legion!

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    • Still a classic. Matter Eater Lad from the planet BISMOLL? Arms Fall Off Lad? Curt Swan art on Jim Shooter scripts? Doesn’t get much better.

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  2. I still have my Keith Griffen Legion poster.

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  3. Legion of Super Heroes to me was like DC’s version of the X-men.

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    • The Legion predates X-men by 5 years, so X-men is Marvel’s version of X-men.

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      • I realize that. I wasn’t saying who was first, or that the Legion was copied from X men. Just that they have similar qualities as young heroes with varied powers.

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  4. It will always be the Legion for me. I take pride in being able to name damn near every member!

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  5. The Sun Eater Was The Most Important Ligoinar Story Of All Fatal 5 Death Of Ferro Lad

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