“Legends” is the first post-Crisis crossover, showcasing the new status quo, introducing several new characters, and firmly establishing Darkseid as THE Big Bad Guy of the era.
It’s historically VERY significant for the DC Universe, but the Legion connection is not all that extensive.
Legends #1 (1986)
written by John Ostrander & Len Wein
pencils and cover by John Byrne
I will only talk about the Legion connections, but please consider this miniseries basically touches the entire DC Universe.
Also, while Darkseid is the big villain, he’s not the most visible threat in the miniseries. The biggest show is done by the monster Brimstone that Darkseid unleashes on Earth.
The Legion connection comes from the fact that Cosmic Boy is currently on a vacation in the 20th century (together with Night Girl). In fact, he only appears in the first 2 issues of this miniseries, and then continues with his own miniseries later.
It’s also a bit weird to see him SO excited to live in the past, since he HAS visited the 20th century several times. Although to be fair, that was usually for Legion business so maybe he didn’t enjoy it as much?
And he’s one of the heroes that react to the arrival of Brimstone.
Kind of weird to see Cosmic Boy refer to his “mastery of magnetism”: since he’s being drawn by John Byrne, it gives me SERIOUS Magneto vibes!
Also: he mentions bringing Brimstone to Takron-Galtos, but that’s not possible anymore in the 30th century thanks to what happened in Crisis.
Does he mean bringing him to the 20th century version of Takron-Galtos? Was there any pre-Crisis mention of the planet being used as a prison this far back?
Still, Brimstone is a real powerhouse so even a Legion founder can’t defeat him alone.
He’s going to be helped by the Justice League, which in this period has a rather unimpressive membership.
I mean they’re all* pretty interesting characters on their own, but Martian Manhunter and Firestorm are the only big hitters here.
(*well, ALMOST all for me. I couldn’t care less for Vibe and Steel)
And that’s all the Legion stuff in issue 1. But this issue also has Wally West making his first steps as the new Flash…
…it’s the formal introduction of Captain Marvel in the main DC continuity…
…and it’s the very first appearance of Amanda Waller.
Legends #2 (1986)
written by John Ostrander & Len Wein
pencils and cover by John Byrne
Told you there’s lots of people here!
In the aftermath of the fight against Brimstone, “Doctor Godfrey” begins a campaign against superheroes that really captivates the public. This is because he’s actually Glorious Godfrey, a Darkseid minion with powers of mind-persuasion.
The repercussions of his campaign are probably THE main focus of the miniseries.
I mean people rebel against BATMAN, so things are taking a turn for the worst.
Don’t worry for Robin, though. He’ll get through this miniseries, it’s not like DC Comics is ever going to kill Jason Todd in a spectacular fashion.
Things get SO bad, in fact, that Ronald Reagan ends up making super-heroes illegal.
The Legion connection is rather flimsy, because Cosmic Boy misses the big fight against Brimstone and is saved by the Flash and Beast Boy (technically called Changeling in this period, but I can’t bring myself to call him that).
Frustratingly, he doesn’t even mention if he KNOWS who they are! As far as I know he’s never met either of them before.
This issue is also significant for the proper integration of Blue Beetle into the DC Universe (although he had already appeared in this continuity before).
But that’s it for the Legion’s involvement on Legends, because Cosmic Boy doesn’t appear in the rest of the miniseries. So we’ll continue directly to HIS miniseries.
Still, I have to mention the rest of the significant events happening later.
Legends #3 sees the first mission of the Suicide Squad.
Legends #4 has an infamous and widely recognized parody of Jim Shooter as a random supervillain (he looks like a combination of Shooter and his character Starbrand, plus he talks about a New Universe).
I found it to be in rather bad taste to be honest. The plot is by Ostrander and the script by Len Wein but this really, REALLY feels like it’s coming entirely out of an extremely bitter John Byrne.
It might be because I’m definitely more on Shooter’s side on this feud, but this feels unprofessional and mean-spirited. It also has basically nothing to do with the rest of the issue.
But on a more positive note, Legends #5 also sees the debut of a new (and very much improved) version of the Justice League.
Legends #6 is BY FAR the most significant, because it introduced the post-Crisis version of Wonder Woman.
Legion significance: 2/10
The Cosmic Boy miniseries IS significant, but you can easily skip this one and not lose anything. In fact, it would’ve been better to either give Cosmic Boy a more significant role here, or lose this glorified cameo entirely and just have him react to Brimstone in his own miniseries.
Silver Age-ness: N/A
Does it stand the test of time? N/A
This is not a real review so I can’t give a score. I do recommend the miniseries; it’s a bit disjointed in places, but it’s a good story and John Byrne is at the peak of his game on the artwork.
Actually the “tragedy” was Darkseid Minion Doctor Bedlam framing Captain Marvel for the death of a superbaddie.