At the end of Volume 3, the Legion membership was as follows:
17 active Legionnaires
7 reserve members
7 resigned members
14 deceased members
45 people have been members
52 people have been rejected
However Volume 4 makes things hard for the count for multiple reasons.
1) it begins with a 5 year in-universe gap after Volume 3
2) the Legion has disbanded some time before Volume 4 Issue 1
3) we’re not immediately told the fate of ALL members
4) we learn about some of the members through additional information in the text pages
5) there are multiple retcons removing and adding members
And also the so-called “Retroboot” will completely ignore everything happening in Volume 4 and the Five Year Gap, while ALSO introducing a gap of its own.
It’s a mess.
So I’m splitting the count into TWO separate lists: one that for now stops at the end of Volume 3, and another one which will continue until the 1994 Reboot.
But due to the way I’m going to review Volume 4 we won’t get into the specifics for ALL the changes in the list that take place BEFORE the volume starts, so this is the place to talk about it.
Let’s see how the retcons and the gap affect things.
THE REJECTS
Since it’s supposed to be the same continuity and for the most part the rejected members are not affected by retcons, the Rejected Count will stay the same… with one exception.
Bizarro (from Adventure Comics #329) is removed from the count: without Superboy, there is no Bizarro. Speaking of which…
SUPERBOY
While the Superboy from the Pocket Universe is still TECHNICALLY part of the team’s history at the very beginning, there’s huge retcon taking place VERY early on that completely removes him.
So he’s NOT in the count anymore.
SUPERBOY’S FRIENDS
For the same reason Supergirl, Elastic Lad, Insect Queen and Pete Ross are also removed from this continuity. Supergirl’s place is taken by another character, but we’ll talk about her later.
OTHER SILVER AGE MEMBERS
I can’t think of a specific reason why Command Kid, Dynamo Boy and Kid Psycho would have to be removed from continuity. Although only Kid Psycho might be explicitly mentioned at some point.
RESIGNATIONS & GAP DEATHS
As mentioned Volume 4 begins with the Legion having disbanded. So everyone who isn’t explicitly dead at the end of Volume 3 is just considered “resigned”. Some of them die during the gap, but I am counting them as resigned until we learn that they are dead.
MON-EL & RETCON MEMBERS
The retcons surrounding Mon-El are going to be a HUGE pain to follow, but that’s nothing compared to having to even think about the Reflecto mess.
Mon-El is in the count, even if probably not in the same order of the original continuity, but to keep things easier I’m keeping him in the same spot.
The members who are retroactively considered to have always been part of the team will be added once I cover the issues where they are introduced.
GAP MEMBERS
This is the tricky part! We learn that SOME members join the Legion during the gap, but for most of them we get VERY brief glimpses or even just a reference in one of the text pages.
That includes six Substitute Heroes (minus Night Girl): Chlorophyll Kid, Color Kid, Fire Lad, Infections Lass, Porcupine Pete and Stone Boy.
Two are from Cosmic Boy’s short-lived version of the Subs: Karate Kid II and Visi-Lad.
Three are from the Legion Academy: Crystal Kid, Nightwind and Lamprey.
There’s also Calamity King for some reason.
Most baffling there’s Echo, who actually debuted as a villain in the Adult Legion story Adventure Comics #355.
And finally there’s Storm Boy, rejected all the way back in Adventure Comics #301.
I could consider him as an addition… but I believe his only claim to membership is a somewhat dubious source, the “2995: The Legion of Super-Heroes Sourcebook”.
It’s supposed to be the handbook for a Legion-based RPG, so even if it’s written by then-current Legion writers I seriously doubt it’s canon.
Since unlike the others Storm Boy is not mentioned as a member in an actual story, I’m currently NOT including him.
Unless, of course, I come across a story where he’s mentioned as having joined as a member.
I remind you that I am ONLY counting the stories and the text appendix. Mentions in the letters page or interviews are not counted.
TOTAL COUNT
This leaves the official count as of Legion of Superheroes volume 4 #1 as:
0 active Legionnaires
0 reserve members
45 resigned members (13 of which served during the Gap)
8 deceased members
53 people have been members
51 people have been rejected
THE CALENDAR
In this period there’s a VERY precise account of exactly WHEN the Legion stories occurred.
For example, going by the aforementioned Sourcebook, the Legion was officially founded on January 6th 2973.
It lasted until July 6th 2992, meaning that the team lasted 19 and a half year.
Volume 4 begins in October 2994 and the team will be formally restarted in December 2994, so the Legion was officially disbanded for a little more than 2 in-universe years.
No wonder the term “five year gap” is never used by the characters!
I’m rather certain that the Mayfair Sourcebook is was said to be canon.
And minor nitpick, Lamprey had not been said to have joined the Legion.
The 2995 Sourcebook is considered the definitive word on the 5YL era. For those who are really into the period, the Sourcebook might as well be stone tablets.
With a timeline finally established, we can definitively say that members were still calling themselves by monikers like “Saturn Girl” and “Sun Boy” well into their thirties.