Remember that one day when you could wake up without an alarm? When you would get your favorite bowl of cereal and sit between the hours of 8 and 12? This is a blog dedicated to the greatest time of our childhood: Saturday mornings. The television programs you watched, the memories attached to them, and maybe introducing you to something you didn't realize existed. Updated every weekend.
He began his career at DC Comics at just 14-years-old and went on to revitalize
rival Marvel Comics as editor-in-chief. His adherence to absolute editorial
control made him a polarizing figure to other creatives and he was eventually
fired. He then found Valiant Comics and later Defiant Comics. Characters and
concepts he created went on to be featured in various media, including Secret
Wars and the Beyonder in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, with the
latter also a central character in Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur; Esper Lass,
Ferro Lad, Karate Kid, Nemesis Kid, Controller, Grimbor the Chainsman, Mordru,
Chemical King, The Dark Circle, The Fatal Five, and The Dominion alien race in Legion
of Super Heroes; Parasite (Raymond Jensen) in Young Justice; Tabitha
Smith in X-Men: The Animated Series, X-Men: Evolution and Wolverine
and the X-Men; and Henry Peter Gyrich in X-Men: The Animated Series.
For the history of Superman, check out the post here.
The Legion
of Super-Heroes was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino in Adventure
Comics #247 (1958). While multiple DC
Comicscontinuity
reboots have altered various details over the years, the constant is that
the Legion was a team comprised of beings from multiple planets and galaxies in
the far future inspired by the legendary heroics of Superboy/Superman to be
heroes in their own time. Initially starting small, the roster would come to
boast dozens of different characters and off-shoot teams, funded by eccentric
millionaire R.J. Brande after
they saved his life. The initial line-up was comprised of Lightning Boy (later
Lad) from the planet Winath
with lightning powers; Saturn Girl from Saturn’s moon Titan with telepathy; and Cosmic Boy, their leader from Braal with the ability to generate
magnetic fields. They traveled back in time to recruit Superboy into their
ranks, and after a series of tests he was inducted into the “club” before being
returned to his own time.
The ever-expanding roster of the Legion of Super Heroes.
Initially intended as a one-off story, the Legion proved popular with
readers and was brought back in issue #267 (1959)
for another adventure. Their popularity continued to grow, and the Legion was
featured in stories in various titles edited by Mort Weisinger. In
these stories, the other Legionnaires only hinted at before began to be
introduced, including Chameleon Boy, a shapeshifter from the planet Durla; Invisible Kid, who was an
Earthling capable of stealth; Colossal Boy, another Earthling with the ability
to increase his size (and later decrease it as Micro Lad); Star Boy, from planet Xanthu with the ability to
increase the mass, density and gravity of an object; Brainiac 5, initially a
descendant of Superman’s villain Brainiac (before he was
retconned as being robotic) from the planet Colu with superior intellect and
shape-shifting abilities; Triplicate Girl, from the planet Cargg with the ability to split
herself into three physical beings; Shrinking Violet, who possessed the ability
to shrink to atomic levels like other residents of planet Imsk; Sun Boy, another Earthling who
could generate fire; Bouncing Boy, yet another Earthling who could inflate his
body allowing him to bounce really high and become impervious to injury;
Phantom Girl, hailing from the 4th dimensional planet Bgztl with the ability to phase
through solid matter, fly and travel between dimensions; and Ultra Boy, from Rimbor who could only use his
super strength, speed, flight, x-ray vision, heat vision or invulnerability interchangeably.
Superman’s cousin Supergirl
would even become a member. In Adventure
Comics #329 (1965) the Legion Flight Ring was
introduced, granting each member the ability to fly and survive in vacuums when
they wore it.
The very first Legion of Super-Heroes issue.
The Legion spent most of their early existence sharing a title with
Superboy in the pages of Adventure Comics,Action Comicsand Superboy.
It wouldn’t be until 1973 that they would get their own book titled The Legion of
Super-Heroes;although it was only a four-issue series
reprinting earlier Adventure stories. In 1980, they took over the Superboy
title completely with #259,
leading to their second solo
series. The Legion book would be cancelled and restarted several more
times, navigating through inter-office politics that saw Superboy removed from
their history entirely to be replaced by the similar Mon-El and then later
re-introduced, an ever-expanding roster, new origin stories for the various
members, and little tweaks to the Legionnaires overall. Spin-off titles, such
as Legionnairesand The Legionwould see publication, and several members would get books of their own,
including Cosmic Boy,
Timber Wolfand Valor.
Saturn Girl, Chameleon Boy and Cosmic Boy make their animated debut in 1998.
In
1998, the Legion made their first jump to animation with the Superman:
The Animated Seriesepisode “New Kids in Town”. Chameleon Boy (Jason Priestly), Saturn Girl (Melissa Joan Hart) and Cosmic
Boy (Chad Lowe) travelled
back in time to keep Brainiac (Corey
Burton) from killing a teenaged Clark Kent (Jason Marsden). Other Legionnaires
appeared in silent cameos. In 2004, their arch-villain Mordru appeared in the Justice League Unlimitedepisode “The Greatest Story Never Told” before the Legion themselves
reappeared in 2006’s “Far From Home”, where Bouncing Boy (Googy Gress) and Brainiac 5 (Matt Czuchry) recruited
Supergirl (Lauren Tom) to help rescue the
others from the Fatal Five
(more on them later).
Reciting the Legion's oath outside of their HQ.
Many fans assumed that this episode was actually a backdoor pilot to the
newly announced Legion of Super Heroes animated series developed by Amy Wolfram. However, producer
and character designer James
Tucker set the record straight in revealing that the show came about
because Cartoon Network wanted
their own Superman-centric series that could air around the time Superman Returnshit theaters. It had no connection to the DC Animated Universe
that began with Batman:
The Animated Series. The series saw the Legion—Lightning Lad (Andy
Milder), Saturn Girl (Kari Wahlgren), Brainiac 5 (Adam Wylie), Phantom Girl
(Heather Hogan), Bouncing Boy (Michael Cornacchia), Triplicate Girl (Wahlgren),
Timber Wolf (Shawn Harrison) and Chameleon Boy (Alexander Polinsky)—journey
back in time to recruit a young Superman to join their ranks. Unfortunately,
they ended up going too far back and encountered a Clark Kent who was not yet
in full control of his abilities; requiring them to train their inspiration as well
as fight alongside him. While the series centered around the core 8
Legionnaires, other members of the Legion would appear in various episodes
either as guest stars or cameos.
The main Legionnaires (from top): Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl, Brainiac 5, Lightning Lad, Superman, Timber Wolf and Bouncing Boy.
Original promotion for
the show called Superman “Superboy”, much like he had been known during his
earliest encounters with the Legion. However, there was ongoing
litigation between DC Comics and the families of Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster over the
rights to Superman and Superboy. In March of 2006, a judge ruled in favor of
the Siegel family over the copyright of the Superboy character, but Time Warner, DC’s parent
company at the time, owned the trademark. Although a retrial would rule
in DC’s favor, at the time DC had to use creative ways to get around
outright calling any version of Superboy by name.
The Fatal Five: Persuader, Mano, Emerald Empress, Tharok and Validus.
Villains for the series included the aforementioned Fatal Five comprised
of Emerald Empress (Jennifer Hale & Tara Strong), wielder of the Emerald Eye of Ekron which
gave her access to immense mystical power; Mano, a mutant with the ability to
disintegrate anything he touched; the Persuader (David Sobolov), who used an axe that could
cut through anything; Tharok (David Lodge), a cyborg with
immense intelligence; and Validus,
who possessed immense physical strength; Alexis
Luthor (Strong), the richest girl in the galaxy and descendant of Lex Luthor who turned
to villainy when she felt Superman’s heroic duties left him little time to pay
attention to their friendship; Mordru (Richard McGonagle & Jim Ward), a powerful sorcerer;
Brainiac (Burton, reprising his role from the DCAU), Brainiac 5’s android
ancestor; and the Legion
of Super-Villains (aka the Light Speed Vanguard), an antithesis to the
Legion comprised of Lightning
Lord (James Arnold Taylor),
Lightning Lad’s brother with similar powers; Esper (Strong), a telepath; Hunter (Khary Payton, using an
Australian accent), a master hunter and trucker; Ron-Karr (Harrison), who
possessed the ability to become totally flat; Wave, who could use her hair
like an appendage; and Tyr
(Payton), a warrior whose right arm was a bionic gun.
On request from the network, the second season of Legion was
given a darker tone than the first with such occurrences as Lightning Lad
losing an arm and getting a robotic one, and one of Triplicate Girl’s
duplicates being lost in a temporal anomaly leading her to take the new
codename Duo Damsel. Set two years later, Superman returned to the future to
help the Legion deal with the looming threat of Imperiex (Phil Morris), a powerful being
from the 41st Century who came back to conquer the Legion’s present.
He was aided by the Dominators:
a technologically advanced alien race whose rigid hierarchy was determined by
the size of the red circle on their heads. Aiding the Legion was a second
Superman: Superman-X (Lowenthall), a clone of the original created by an
android named K3NT
(Amy Hill & Sab Shimono) to battle Imperiex.
Superman-X possessed all of the original’s abilities and none of his
weaknesses; in fact, he was given the ability to produce and channel Kryptonite energy. However,
since he regarded himself as a living weapon, he was far more aggressive and
cold-blooded than the actual Superman. A focus was also placed on Brainiac 5’s
relationship with his ancestor, culminating in Brainy’s eventual corruption to
the dark side.
An older Superman returns to help his friends.
A third
season was planned but ended up being cancelled when The CW handed their
children’s programming over to 4Kids Entertainment,
changing Kids’ WB into The
CW4Kids. The series would have again time-jumped three years after the
conclusion of the second season with an older and more experienced Superman
returning. The primary focus would have been Brainiac 5’s return after he quit
the team due to events of the previous season. Legionnaires Blok and Dawnstar would have been
elevated from cameos to major characters. Superman-X would have returned with a
reduced role, replaced by fallen Legionnaire Ferro Lad’s (Dave Wittenberg) long-lost twin
brother. Brainiac would have returned as well.
“Man
of Tomorrow” (9/23/06) – Three Legionnaires go back in time to recruit Superman
to help them defeat the Fatal Five, but end up arriving before Clark Kent
becomes the man of steel.
“Timber
Wolf” (9/30/06) – A scientist asks the Legion to help capture a dangerous
creature, but they soon discover it’s not the dangerous one.
“Legacy”
(10/7/06) – Superman becomes fast friends with Alexis after rescuing her, and
she decides to do something about it when his Legion duties keep him neglecting
her.
“Phantoms”
(11/4/06) – Superman accidentally opens the gateway to the Phantom Zone,
freeing someone with his powers and trapping the Legion.
“Champions”
(11/11/06) – Superman and Phantom Girl uncover a plot by the Fatal Five while
Lightning Lad competes in the Galactic Games.
“Fear
Factory” (11/18/06) – The Legion takes refuge in an abandoned space station to
escape a storm, only to be confronted by their worst fears.
“Brain
Drain” (2/3/07) – Superman and Timber Wolf head to an inhospitable planet to
find an element to restore Brainy’s IQ, but a transporter accident leaves them
following not-so-Brainy’s lead.
“Lightning
Storm” (2/10/07) – Lightning Lad is offered membership in an older, “cooler”
team but discovers they aren’t exactly the heroes they appear to be.
“The
Substitutes” (2/17/07) – Legion recruitment isn’t going well until the team
finds themselves overwhelmed by a mysterious foe and a group of rejected
Legionnaires band together to help.
“Child’s
Play” (2/24/07) – A sorcerer arrives and causes trouble on Earth, introducing
Superman to his weakness to magic.
“Chain
of Command” (3/3/07) – The Legion goes to help Lightning Lad’s home planet, but
more trouble arrives when their original leader Cosmic Boy returns.
“Sundown,
Part 1” (4/28/07) – The Legion finds themselves unable to stop the ancient
weapon known as the Sun Eater.
“Sundown,
Part 2” (5/5/07) – The Legion recruits their enemies to help save Earth from
the Sun Eater while Superman discovers who’s controlling it.
Season
2:
“The
Man from the Edge of Tomorrow, Part 1” (9/22/07) – A Superman clone from the
future comes to the Legion for help in defeating warlord Imperiex.
“The
Man from the Edge of Tomorrow, Part 2” (9/29/07) – Imperiex frees the Legion’s
foes from prison to help in his conquest, resulting in their calling Superman
back from the past to help.
“Cry
Wolf” (10/6/07) – The Legion try to catch Timber Wolf when it seems he attacked
his father, but Chameleon Boy and Phantom Girl work to clear his name.
“Chained
Lightning” (10/13/07) – Imperiex attempts to harness a stormy nebula with the
aid of Lightning Lord and attempting to stop them costs Lightning Lad his arm.
“Karate
Kid” (10/27/07) – Spread thin, the Legion looks for more recruits in order to
stop Grimbor the Chainsman’s crime spree.
“Who
Am I?” (11/3/07) – Chameleon Boy infiltrates Imperiex’s ranks but ends up
losing himself in the process.
“Unnatural
Alliances” (11/17/07) – Everyone wants to protect a young boy named Abel from
robotic cowboy Terra-Man, despite Abel being the one to eventually give rise to
Imperiex.
“Message
in a Bottle” (12/1/07) – Superman learns that Brainiac 5’s ancestor played a
part in the destruction of Krypton.
“In
the Beginning” (3/8/08) – The Legion must rescue their founder once again when
he ends up being kidnapped.
“Trials”
(3/15/08) – Zyx comes to the Legion for help freeing his homeworld from Mordu.
“In
Your Dreams” (3/22/08) – Realizing the prophetic Dream Girl is helping the
Legion beat them, the Dark Circle kidnap her to use her themselves.
“Dark
Victory, Part 1” (3/29/08) – Imperiex tries to force Brainy to unlock Brainiac
1.0 so that he can use him in his plans for conquest.
“Dark
Victory, Part 2” (4/5/08) – Brainiac 5 defeats Imperiex and takes over his
army, as well as his plans to conquer the universe.
This weekend Saturday Mornings Forever celebrates TWO YEARS! That's right, two years of Saturday morning memories...and we've still barely begun!
As we celebrate, we figured we'd also take the opportunity to celebrate the various other programs enjoying anniversaries this year (at least at an interval of 5). Some we've covered, some we'll get to covering sooner or later, but all of them represent Saturday morning. To kick things off, we're going to celebrate those programs turning 10 this year. Why 10? Well, 2011 was a relatively empty year for original Saturday programming. So, join us in welcoming these young bucks to the hallowed halls of Saturday posterity!
As you take this walk down memory lane with us, feel free to share your memories in the comments, or over on our Facebook group or Facebook page. We'd love to hear from you!
Now, without further ado, join us in celebrating...
