Unlike the original incarnation of the Legion, which has had multiple apocryphal stories and so many cameos that I’m not even done talking about them (a couple will show up in the Superman retrospective), the 5YL Legion has had so few of them that I can group them in a single review.
I’ve already mentioned something that is between a cameo and an apocrypha, Ambush Bug Nothing Special from 1992.
But from the same year…
Who’s Who In The DC Universe #16 (1992)
cover by Norm Breyfogle
This “series” was a reference guide, with higher quality paper and loose leaf pages to allow the reader to put the entries in a separate binder.
Play Press actually published an Italian version of this series, and I was able to get my hands on it around the same time when I first read the Great Darkness Saga.
I didn’t have all the issues and I’ve since lost the pages, but for several years they were my only glimpse into what happened to the Legion after the GDS… and it didn’t leave a great impression.
All Legion members were referred to only with their civilian names, and my impression was that eventually everyone either lost their powers or went through horrifically tragic events, or both.
I’m not going to cover those entries (mostly written by the Bierbaums and with Giffen artwork) since there isn’t a “story” to talk about.
There is, however, an oddity in the final issue.
They even advertised the correction for Laurel Gand’s entry, so this had to be important!
The first page has a pronunciation guide. My understanding is that there’s some disagreement in the fandom on how to pronounce Ayla, the name of Lightning Lass; personally I’ve always thought of her name like this.
Sadly there is no entry for Phantom Girl so I still don’t know how the name of her home planet Bgztl sounds.
At least now I know how Kilg%re was supposed to be pronounced, but did anyone really had problems pronouncing Kono and Darkseid?
Also I refuse to accept that the G in G’Nort is silent. Pronouncing it makes the name funnier.
Laurel Gand gets exactly the same pin-up she had in issue 2, followed by an entry written by the Bierbaums.
What was so important to update to advertise it on the cover?
Nothing.
Her whole entry is EXACTY IDENTICAL to what it was previously.
What IS new, and that I think is what was supposed to be advertised on the cover, is an entry on the Legionnaires with a Chris Sprouse pinup.
It comes immediately after Laurel’s entry, so I don’t get why they bothered to reprint hers? I’ve never had a physical copy of this issue, so perhaps there’s something I’m missing.
I believe this is actually the FIRST published look at the Legionnaires outfit, since this issue pre-dates the Ambush Bug cameo by a couple of months.
What is interesting is that this is an earlier concept than what we saw in the Legionnaires series.
This issue was published the same month of Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #27, a full year before Legionnaires #1, and therefore it represents something of a rejected pilot in the sense that THIS was supposed to be the look of the original Legionnaires.
The proper entry, also written by the Bierbaums, begins with a pretty standard retelling of the Legion origin…
…and concludes with the Glorith nonsense.
Spider-Boy Team-Up #1 (1997)
written by Roger Stern & Karl Kesel
pencils by Jose Ladronn
I’ve already reviewed this one, but it bears repeating what an amazing job they did parodying the 5YL grid and mood.
You and me both, Spider-Boy.
Superman/Batman #80 (2011)
by Chris Roberson & Jesús Merino
cover by Fiona Staples
Aside for a fake-out return during the Reboot and cameos during “Legion Of Three Worlds” …both of which I’ll discuss in due time… for the longest time the only mentions of 5YL characters that I can find are brief encyclopedic entries in the DC Comics Encyclopedia.
Until we get a VERY brief cameo here.
It’s a time travel story that involves the Superman and Batman of several eras, most notable the ones from the 853rd century originating in the “DC One Million” crossover.
Among the eras, we get a glimpse of a 31st century where Kent Shakespeare became that century’s Superman.
It’s a scene in the middle of a two-page spread, so the Legion is not even mentioned.
Blue Beetle vol10 #7 (2024)
written by Josh Trujillo
pencils by Adrián Gutiérrez (intro) & Howard Porter (cameo)
cover by Adrián Gutiérrez
It would take Keith Giffen’s death in 2023 to convince DC to make an actual 5YL cameo, as this issue is dedicated to him.
And doing it on the series starring the new Blue Beetle fits since the character was created by Giffen.
The framing device has Booster Gold take the new Blue Beetle, Jaime Reyes, in a time travel adventure to save the Ted Kord Blue Beetle.
Since it’s a Giffen tribute, the duo interacts with characters who were closely impacted by Giffen.
Like the Justice League International, Ambush Bug and Lobo. And it’s quite meta.
But most importantly for us, this adventure takes them to interact with the Legion.
Who are dealing with B.I.O.N., of all villains.
Naturally, there are two pages with a 9-panel grid to really make this feel like the 5YL era.
Also like the 5YL, the characters are not named and their powers are not explained.
I have no clue whether Celeste Rockfish boosting her strength with her powers (which are yellow instead of green now) fits the original 5YL, since we BARELY got ANY explanation for them.
And that’s it, because Booster Gold and Blue Beetle have to follow G’Nort into another time period.
Considering the various reboots DC has gone through, good luck figuring out if this is the actual 5YL Legion or a counterpart from another Earth.
And that’s it! Even these few appearances took a while to find.
Perhaps not surprising, considering there was no lack of Legion material in the following years, and if there’s apocryphal stories they tend to be dedicated to the Silver Age version.
But it’s been long enough since the end of this era that, given the cyclic nature of nostalgia, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a new cameo pop up sometime in the future.
I just pray it’s not a Glorith cameo.