The so-called “SW6 Legionnaires” get their own title, which is very clearly the one the Bierbaums actually wanted to write.
What will they actually do with their wish?
Legionnaires #1 (1993)
written by Tom & Mary Bierbaum
pencils and cover by Chris Sprouse
Once again I can’t stress enough how weird it is to see the SW6 kids sport this design. With the exceptions of Ferro Lad and of characters that don’t show up in the Reboot… this will be the look they will sport in the Reboot.
And yet… this is not the Reboot. AT ALL.
We begin, appropriately enough, with the three founders.
While they save people from a fire, Computo is helping fix the computers of New Earth.
I feel like 99% of the entire character and any charm that she may have is due to Chris Sprouse injecting so much personality in poses and facial expressions.
A small correction from my previous review: Ferro Lad is in fact going by just “Ferro” now.
There’s a gang causing a lot of explosions, and the Legionnaires catch one of their members.
However, she claims she was forced into it.
Saturn Girl’s telepathy confirms that she’s telling the truth.
Despite my praise for Chris Sprouse… I can’t tell if the gang girl is supposed to be an alien, or of those are supposed to be human eyes.
Alright, that wasn’t bad as a beginning. Unfortunately, the Bierbaums then move to the type of plot that will get the most attention in this book… some of the worst teen drama you’ve ever seen.
Live Wire… the SW6 version of Lightning Lad… is not the only Legionnaire that the Bierbaums managed to turn utterly insufferable.
Matter-Eater Lad is just a clown all the time.
Catspaw is just horny. All. The. Time.
The Legionnaires are a full team now, but they lack a leader. Chameleon Boy, the only adult to join the team, refuses to be it.
That makes sense, but then it’s followed by weird reactions.
Brainiac 5 nominates Invisible Kid (in his new look, which will stick to the Reboot)… which is fine, but why doesn’t ANYONE mention that the original WAS a rather successful leader!?
Incredibly weird to see a Brainiac 5 sporting the Reboot look being so eager to nominate a leader, but since this is supposed to be the original it’s not out of character.
What I am calling out of character, however, is SATURN GIRL eagerly nominate Cosmic Boy and being so absurdly cheerful about it.
That leads me to what I consider one of the Bierbaums’s biggest misfires of this book.
The Legionnaires ACT like they started their career last week… but they’re from early in the Jim Shooter run, meaning that at the very least they have under their belts the ENTIRE Hamilton era.
These should be SEASONED HEROES, even if they’re still teenagers! Saturn Girl already has experience leading the team and she’s always been the no-nonsense businesswoman, not this bright-eyed cheerleader!
Cosmic Boy is selected as the leader, and since unlike his older counterpart HE ACTUALLY DOES STUFF he begins his term with a very smart choice: selecting a second-in-command who actually knows New Earth.
The second order of business is dealing with the organization that keeps blowing stuff up: The Hand.
So a few Legionnaires infiltrate the gang… and you’d expect people who used to be in the ESPIONAGE SQUAD to be better at this.
The leader of The Hand, appropriately enough, turns out to be Mano.
Who straight up disintegrates the girl who was helping the Legionnaires, in case you were wondering if this team is any more competent than the 5YL adults.
The first issue also has character profiles for some Legionnaires.
Which is the only place where Catspaw gets any attention.
Just in case you missed it, it’s like the Bierbaums looked at how Englehart wrote Tigra on Avengers and thought “we can definitely do worse”.
She gets slightly more attention than Dragonmage, which is just sad for him.
Legionnaires #2 (1993)
written by Tom & Mary Bierbaum
pencils and cover by Chris Sprouse
I should point out that Mano will ALSO be an early Reboot villain (showing up waaaaay earlier than the rest of the Fatal Five).
He’s a GREAT villain in the early Reboot. Here, not so much.
Especially once the rest of the team shows up.
It’s so pathetic that NOBODY believes Mano is really the one pulling the strings.
I see GLIMPSES of the great character Cosmic Boy will eventually be again, but it’s so distracting to see this completely out of character Saturn Girl.
But that’s nothing compared to just how obnoxious Live Wire is going to be in this series.
But on the bright side, WE HAVE NEW TRYOUTS!!!
But unfortunately they begin with some, uhm, questionable choices.
We start off with X-Bomb Betty, who has one of the most impressive superpowers!
The scene seems to imply that she doesn’t ACTUALLY have powers and that she’s just trying to join the team because they’re popular.
That’s the charitable option, because if she’s telling the truth… the Legion is letting someone who can create an explosion THREE MILLION TIMES the biggest real life atomic bomb.
That would be incredibly irresponsible considering the Legion’s track record of rejected members turning supervillains… but also, given they’re in a superhero universe, maybe keep her as a reserve if you have to, say, fight Darkseid again?
To be clear, I’m almost certain she doesn’t have powers and it’s a joke.
Although I have seen a superior version of this joke online. Unfortunately I can’t FIND that version… so I’m just recreating the fake cover from memory.
(if you happen to recall the original meme, let me know and I’ll give credit)
EDIT: my wonderful readers DID find the original!
It comes courtesy of the very much missed Dial B For Blog, specifically from a submission by “Gnuhopper” in a context for the silliest rejected Legionnaire.
Whoever you are, Gnuhopper, rest assured that your cover has lived rent free in my head for years.
Since X-Bomb Betty is a bust (pun intended), a new applicant is selected.
She has telekinesis, but isn’t very good at it.
The Legion has a long tradition of being jerks to the rejected members, sure, but this is going above and beyond making both Live Wire and Inferno (the SW6 Sun Boy) unbearable jackasses.
Including the baffling decision of making jokes about Cera Kesh being overweight, which… I don’t really see it? We HAD a couple of jokes against Bouncing Boy way back in the Hamilton era, but this is just out of character.
WHY DO THE WRITERS HATE SUN BOY SO MUCH!?!?!?
On a more positive note: Plaid Lad.
Perfect audition, no notes.
The Reboot Legion will get some criticism for being too focused on teenage drama, to the point of being dismissed as the “Archie Legion”… but it’s honestly not THAT focused on it, not to mention everyone will be characterized SO MUCH BETTER than this trainwreck, that sometimes I wonder if some readers are ideologically opposed to the Reboot because they mistakenly believe THESE ISSUES are part of it.
We get profiles of Legionnaires that weren’t featured in issue 1.
Just guess what Inferno’s profile focuses on.
We didn’t get a good look at Invisible Kid’s new costume (which will stick to the Reboot), so here it is. I rather like it, since it does give a stealth vibe.
Also, the Reboot version is WIDELY believed to be gay, so maybe there’s some hints at that in the description of THIS version.
Live Wire might as well be a completely new character, because I didn’t get any of these character traits from Lightning Lad AT ALL.
His characterization as “brash and impulsive” will carry over to the Reboot, however there he will get an actual personality on top of it.
Legionnaires #3 (1993)
written by Tom & Mary Bierbaum
pencils and cover by Chris Sprouse
These are some of the most uninspired covers I’ve seen in a while.
Leviathan and Gossamer are attacked by the creature from the cover.
The creature ends up kidnapping Gossamer, and Live Wire continues to be utterly insufferable.
That creature was created in a war the sounds vastly more interesting than the plot of this issue.
Wait wait wait… what was that again?
What the heck do you mean by “the war that destroyed Earth”!?
EVERY ISSUE SO FAR begins with a reminder that Earth WASN’T destroyed by war!
Did you forget the freaking premise of your book IN THREE ISSUES!?!?
While the Legionnaires look for the creature, Gossamer discovers she might have even worse luck in love than her adult counterpart.
It’s going to be hard for her to break free.
The creature is too strong for the Legionnaires, even when an injured Leviathan joins the fight.
Up to this point Dragonmage HASN’T DONE ANYTHING, so this might be a good moment to showcase why he’s even in the team!
We interrupt this superhero story for a Beauty And The Beast rerun.
But before they can even try to make anything interesting, a green flash takes the creature away.
During all this, Cera Kesh is still upset at the way she was treated (AS SHE SHOULD), attracting a dangerous onlooker.
So we have to thank Live Wire and Inferno for a new Emerald Empress.
Great Legion material there.
In another batch of Legionnaire profiles, we have probably the most influential one.
Because Triad (the SW6 Triplicate Girl) is not just confirmed to have different personalities for every body, but they also get a nickname.
“Orange” is the easygoing one, “White” is the shy one, and “Purple” is the party girl.
This will mostly carry over with the Reboot (although white will be slightly different), where it will get a lot of attention with FAR better characterization.
In general it’s not a bad idea, but it seems to come out of nowhere because she was definitely NOT like this in the Silver Age, and the adult counterpart didn’t act like any of these three personalities in the rest of the 5YL era.
Confusingly, Mon-El gets a profile despite NOT being in the team.
And this profile confuses me, because it treats the SW6 Mon-El as if the rest of the team considers him dead.
I didn’t get that impression AT ALL from LSH #37, which is his last previous appearance.
He will show up again on the pages of Valor, so for the time being I’m moving him from the reserves to the “presumed dead” category, together with Timber Wolf.
Legionnaires #4 (1993)
written by Tom & Mary Bierbaum
pencils and cover by Chris Sprouse
No no, don’t blast Ultra Boy, I don’t hate him as much as Live Wire and Inferno! Blast THEM!
Seriously, did they forget to tell Chris Sprouse to draw Cera fat?
I cannot stress enough how unlikeable Live Wire and Inferno are.
I also knew some jackasses in school and I might have preferred spending time with them than with these two, and they’re supposed to be superheroes!?
This is just painful to read. Completely ruining Sun Boy wasn’t enough, Bierbaums, you also need to do the same to Lightning Lad?
Usually, in this kind of story the kid in the bully role is given SOME redeeming qualities that make it believable good people of the cast want to spend time with them (see: Flash Thompson on Spider-Man).
But here? I can’t bring myself to believe Saturn Girl wouldn’t dump this guy in an afternoon.
Then Live Wire and Inferno decide to pick up girls in a bar. Because why not.
That’s obviously Cera Kesh in her new Emerald Empress persona, so now we’re in the revenge fantasy phase.
With a new Emerald Empress around, it’s no surprise Persuader shows up to free Mano.
So now it’s up to three Legionnaires to stop them. One of them has even useful powers!
The other fight is going slightly better, with Ultra Boy BREAKING THE EMERALD EYE.
But not before she kills Live Wire.
And after four issue, there’s finally a scene that I actually like.
Cera starting to break from the spell, while the Eye reforming and menacingly retaking control… a bit too brief perhaps, but well played.
Live Wire is fine. Dammit Cera, YOU HAD ONE JOB!!!
Ah, well, everything is solved because “she needs him”. Great.
And so we close with Leland McCauley continuing to rebuild the Fatal Five.
The creature from the previous issues will substitute Validus who will join Mano, Persuader, Tharok…
…and a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT Emerald Empress, unrelated to Cera Kesh?
WHAT!?
Legionnaires #5 (1993)
written by Tom & Mary Bierbaum
pencils and cover by Chris Sprouse
I should point out that most of the covers have been parts of a much larger wraparound version. That’s not a bad idea, but hilariously they have the number of the storyline… which is not the same number of the issue (see this has huge 4 on the cover, but it’s issue 5).
Emerald Empress From Wish.Com is right, what do the others have against Tharok at this point?
I remind you that Tharok is supposed to be almost as smart as Brainiac 5.
Then again, Brainy has lost a couple hundred IQ points in this era.
Can you girls stop being horny FOR FIVE MINUTES!?
Some Legionnaires defend the leadership of New Earth from the Inferior Fatal Five…
…while others play guitar.
Given the level of class of this series, I’m surprised we don’t get an underage shower scene.
All while Cera Kesh spies on the OTHER Emerald Empress.
Because this isn’t confusing at all.
I’m skipping a lot of this one because the fight scenes are soooooo boring.
Why did they even bring Computo into the fight? Presumably Tharok is the only one she can deal with, so why let her get anywhere NEAR the others?
Also… you can’t even defeat a single teen without physical powers and only minor hand-to-hand combat experience, Mano? SERIOUSLY!?
In the end, Temu Emerald Empress can’t take it anymore and she’s executed by Cera Kesh.
The reason why Leland had her under his control is that he SOMEHOW got hold of the Emerald Eye in the last Giffen subplot on Legion… but it turns out there are TWO Emerald Eyes.
Legionnaires #6 (1993)
written by Tom & Mary Bierbaum
pencils and cover by Chris Sprouse
The whole reason for the big numbers on the cover was revealing the Fatal Five.
Which was revealed last issue.
She kills McCauley here, right? I mean at this point, what reason would she have for NOT killing him?
This warrants a call to action to the other Legionnaires who haven’t done anything.
We might not get an underage shower scene, but Gossamer gets a sunbathing scene… and for once I’m not complaining because her adult version WAS shown to be a naturist, so it fits.
Why didn’t Computo do this the second she saw Tharok?
Also, Matter-Eater Lad can eat Persuader’s Atomic Axe?
That’s probably the third most impressive thing he’s eaten, after Pulsar Stargrave’s nose and the Miracle Machine™.
We have previously seen that Persuader is super-strong…
…but Shrinking Violet can knock him out with one punch.
Sounds legit.
The Discount Fatal Five escape once Tharok regains control, but Ultra Boy stops him WITH A FASTBALL SPECIAL.
At the end, Cera Kesh escapes with BOTH Emerald Eyes.
This is so lame… a single, mysterious eye is WAY more threatening than a couple of floating eyeballs.
She didn’t kill McCauley, which might be a worse punishment.
ALL OF THAT just so we could reform the Fatal Five… again.
Legion significance
#1: 6/10
You can definitely tell that, once they decided to reboot for good, they looked at this and carefully considered what worked and what didn’t. It’s shocking to see just how much stuff carries through.
#2-6: 1/10
There’s a new Emerald Empress around. Sometimes two. That’s about it.
Silver Age-ness: 4/10
Uniforms! Codenames! Shenanigans! Silly auditions! If only this book could manage to stop being horny for five minutes, stop making characters unlikeable and finally pick up a consistent plot… well it wouldn’t be in the 5YL era.
Depression scale: 2/10
New Earth is a complete failure and two out of about twenty superheroes are fratboy jackasses, but compared to what happened earlier, this is paradise.
Does it stand the test of time? 4/10
Let’s start with the positives: Chris Sprouse. He’s still a bit rough here and there, and I’m sure his style isn’t for everyone, but he brings a very distinctive identity to the book and puts a bit of energy and creativity whenever he can. In fact, he nails the “young and full of energy” vibe that the early Reboot will keep 99% of his creative choices.
In particular I’m a big fan of the “variations of a uniform” that most Legionnaires sport. It’s a bit divisive among the fandom, but I love it: you can EASILY identify everyone as being a member of the same team, but at the same time there’s enough space for variations that make everyone unique.
That style will fit the Reboot MUCH better, however, since they will actually have an in-story reason for a uniform style. Here, it’s a bit contradictory: didn’t the kids get new uniforms to distinguish their individuality against their older counterparts? Weird.
Speaking of which… unfortunately, we have the writing.
Which I’m not going to sugarcoat: it sucks. The plots are nothing new, especially yet another variation of Emerald Empress, the series takes no advantage AT ALL to explore New Earth or the generational divide between the SW6, the adults and the new members, and as I’ve complained a lot of attention is given to plainly unlikeable characters.
The Bierbaums also don’t seem to have a good grasp on how to juggle so many members. That’s a recurrent problem for the Legion writers, I’ll give them that, but they didn’t HAVE to start with 20 heroes. This results in a lot of Legionnaires either having nothing to do or being reduced to a single generic character trait. The new members have it the worst.
Computo is eager, Catspaw is horny, and Dragonmage is kind of… there. I seriously can’t tell you a single thing about his personality. IF HE HAS ONE.
The series starts with immense credit mostly thanks on positive vibes and good artwork, but it can only go so far.
We are legion
As a reminder, I’m counting as a single team the members of BOTH books.
34 active Legionnaires. Of these, 19 are in the “Legionnaires” team.
2 on sick leave (Timber Wolf and SW6 Mon-El)
3 reserve members
30 resigned members
18 deceased members
83 people have been members
65 people have been rejected
Interesting letters: once again, New Earth has only 50 million people.
Which is completely ridiculous: as of 2025 Italy has 59 million people, and only 2 cities with more than a million. You mean to tell me that IN THE YEAR 2995 over 90 of the world’s most populous cities can’t top that!?!?
As mentioned, one of the advantages of this book compared to the original Silver Age stories is that Chris Sprouse really DOES draw teenagers as teenagers.
The first letters are enthusiastic about the new team. The fact that there was SO much positive energy around this book is probably a factor in using it as a blueprint for the Reboot.
I have a feeling Nancy is not going to like Live Wire and Inferno.
Spoiler alert: the series will not, in fact, explain ANYTHING about the origin until they’re practically at gunpoint for the finale.
Jim (in a letter I’m cutting for brevity) draws an interesting distinction between Legionnaires who get their old personality “enhanced” and other who are “altered”.
I agree on the examples he gives, but I’m adding Saturn Girl as “altered” as to me this doesn’t feel like Imra AT ALL.
