LSHChat:1996-01-25
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Tom Peyer, Tom McCraw, Roger Stern and Jeff Moy were the guests on America Online's first-ever Legionnaires Chat Hour on Thursday, January 25, 1996. Legionniares Chat is held every Thursday at 10:00 p.m. EST in the DC Online Chat area of AOL. LSH Chat Hour is held every Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. at the same location.
DISCLAIMER - Just because it's the Legionnaires Chat rather than the LSH Chat doesn't make the report any more reliable than usual. This report is based on creators' comments made during a fast and furious chat session. Some misinterpretations will creep into the report.
SPOILERS - Material that tends to spoil current and upcoming issues is presented at the end of the report. No intervening spoiler space is used.
NOTE - I do not intend to differentiate between LSH Chats and Legionnaires Chats in the future. I believed that the first Legionniares Chat deserved some fanfare. Further, I doubt that the creators will differentiate between the two chats (other than the obvious time difference) when it comes to attending.
SPECIAL THANKS - To all the creators that agreed to participate in a second weekly chat that is more convenient for us West Coast types. In particular, special thanks to Online Services Assistant Editor Michael Leib for laying the groundwork for the new chat. Finally, special thanks to Andrew Woodard, Edward Douglas, Sidne Ward, and all the other fans that were present and willing to log the chat for me if I hadn't been able to attend.
FINAL NOTE - Oh, I'll just get right to the guts of it, okay?
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McCraw didn't know why DC had suddenly started the massive advertising campaign for the Legion titles. He speculated that perhaps someone was paying attention to what the creative teams were doing.
Peyer's last issue of X-Nation 2099 is #3. Peyer is working on LSH and some Superman stuff right now. He has proposed a new title, and is working on the Adventures of Superman annual with Derek Aucoin.
R.E.B.E.L.S. #17 is the last issue. There are two LSH-related revelations in that issue. Peyer didn't know of any L.E.G.I.O.N. plans after that issue.
Roger likes writing in the so-called Marvel Style (plot, then pencils, then script) because he feels that he works better that way. He observed that Jerry Siegel used that method at Fiction House. (Roger had heard that Jerry Siegel has a bad case of the flu and asked fans to wish Jerry well.)
Roger is hoping that Humberto Ramos will draw the Legionnaires Annual. Peyer would like to do a Legion mini with Humberto Ramos. Jeff pushed a Ramos XS mini series.
McCraw observed that Ramos didn't want to give XS back to the Legion books. He indicated that Mark Waid would have to give XS back because she was McCraw's creation.
Jeff enjoyed Ramos' version of XS, but doesn't intend to copy any of Ramos' style into his version of XS. He'd "rather see Ramos do Ramos instead of [him] doing Ramos."
Roger is hoping for an additional assignment that "doesn't tie in with 5000 other books." He whimsically complains that everything he does ties in with something and makes his brain hurt.
The Legionnaires lettercol has a new name, but Mike McAvennie has asked the creators to keep it a secret.
McCraw wrote most of LSH #50-59 by himself. Stuart Immonen and Ron Boyd only suggested things.
McCraw is working on a Showcase story and is submitting a couple of mini-things soon. The Showcase story will be Legion-related if it goes through.
McCraw observes that L* #50 and LSH #100 will not be that far apart. They don't have plans that far in advance yet. McCraw begged that we give them a break.
Jeff couldn't pin down the his favorite panel in Legionnaires to date, but speculated that it was one with a lot of fun in it.
Roger brags of buying Adventure Comics when they were twelve cents.
McCraw didn't know what Curt Swan was doing these days, but that Swan had done a recent issue of Swamp Thing. McCraw would like to see a Swan Legion story anywhere, including a Showcase story.
There are no plans for a third ongoing Legion titles. Nevertheless, a couple of mini-series are possibilities. McCraw observes that it is harder to get mini-series okayed than one would think.
Roger pointed out that the Legion wasn't in the DC/Marvel crossover because Marvel fears the Legion. Peyer thanked Roger for picking up Peyer's "Marvel Fears Legion" slack, and observed that Inivisible Kid would smash Sue Storm.
McCraw had not heard anything about rumors that Showcase '97 would feature Legion stories in every issue. (ED - I doubt that there is any truth to these rumors, but I've been wrong before.)
The creators were pleased that Legionnaires #29 had been included in the boxed Best DC Comics of 1995 selection.
Roger tapped XS and Valor as his favorite characters. His favorite Legionnaire yet to appear is Ferro.
Jeff believes that he has improved quite a bit as an artist in the past year. He still feels that he can improve. Roger bragged that he sees Jeff's Legionnaires art before any of the rest of us. Jeff shot back that Jeff didn't make the art easy to script.
Peyer enjoys doing Legion spotlight stories. He believes there's room for spotlight stories with two books a month.
Roger observed that a Usenet poster had accused him of being the next Gerry Conway. He noted that rac.ers don't trust anyone whose name isn't Tom. He found the posts amusing.
McCraw notes that the Legion Chats do help the creators know what the readers are thinking and how the readers feel about what the creators are doing. Because the creators are plotting the books four months in advance, comments seldom influence future plots. McCraw did concede that it was tough not discussing spoiler information in upcoming books.
Roger speculates that Legion fans couldn't possibly be as weird as mutant fans. He did joke that LSH fans have more to be loyal about than X-fans.
Peyer didn't know if a member of Stealth's race would show up in the Legion books.
There are no plans for the Legion to team up with any of the Superpeople right now. Roger mandates that the Legionnaires must grow their hair longer before they interact with the Superman books. The Super books have a hair code. He further quipped that the team hasn't quite gelled, but they do mousse.
Tana and Roxy can't leave the Superboy book to become the new Insect Queen because neither of them trust Knockout.
Roger observed that despite their eccentricities, none of the Legionnaires are jerks. He likes that. He finds Gates to be a pain, but not a jerk.
Roger raised speculation about what Gates will look like after he hits puberty. Jeff joked that Gates could eat Larvae Lad. McCraw created Gates, but Peyer agrees with Gates' politics. According to Roger, Gates is the Edgar Kennedy of the Legion. He casts Maurice LeMarche (sp?)--The Brain's voice--as Gates' voice in a Legion cartoon.
McCraw quipped that Validus tried to pull out the Empress' belly button ring, but missed the loop.
McCraw speculates that Karate Kid must be training right now.
Cham can shapeshift to hide wounds, and he heals faster than most of the other Legionnaires.
It hasn't been determined whether the Sorceror's World is Amethyst's Gemworld in the postboot. Roger pointed out that Sorceror's World appeared in "Superman: Man of Tomorrow" #3.
Roger won't bring back Tinya. He said that it was hard enough bringing Superman back. McCraw noted that Roger would have to get a resurrection story idea past "us Toms" before it would see print.
McCraw points out that Tenzil is qualified to be chef because he just follows the recipes. His real specialty is cleaning up afterwards. Roger observed that Tenzil Kem is DC's Galactus.
McCraw indicated that Computo can return only if it stays away from Triad. Jeff indicates that Computo could be reintroduced in the future, and Triad won't necessarily be in danger.
The creators agreed that Star Boy was not permitted to fly any of the cruisers since his accident. McCraw felt that the Legionnaires would let Thom fly the cruisers if he promised not to touch anything. Jeff noted that the Legionnaires have nicknamed him "Crash". McCraw believes "Crash" is too kind.
McCraw observes that "no one ever said that Chuck would or wouldn't become Bouncing Boy."
Peyer didn't know if Chuck Taine had gotten Cosmic Boy's autograph on Cos' magnoball card yet. He wasn't sure if Chuck was a sports' fan in the reboot. McCraw pointed out that Cos tries not to remind the others that he's a sports star.
There are plans for Valor other than him becoming Reflecto.
Roger promises to get to Mordru eventually, but observed that it had to be a big story. Jeff didn't think that Mordru would wear the hat in the postboot.
Jeff defended the Legion's handling of the Fatal Five by observing that the team was new to the hero business.
Live Wire is the postboot Arm Falls Off Boy. Peyer observed that Garth wouldn't use his arm to beat people with, but that the arm only fell off. Roger wouldn't reveal anything about his and Jeff's implicitly sinister future plans for Garth.
Editor KC Carlson is working on the reader voting for leader. It will be soon, but the creators were not sure when. The creators were asked who they didn't think would win: McCraw would be surprised if Brainiac 5 won the election; Peyer would "be absolutely stunned" if Leviathan won.
Roger noted that after L* 35, women will think twice before they kiss Tenzil.
Saturn Girl's mother, father and sister will appear in L* #38. Imra's sister is younger than Imra. Roger sang a few choruses of "The Ardeen Bunch".
McCraw promised that the team would display more team spirit after LSH #80. He noted that the team would be doing a lot after LSH #80. He also observed that Cos was under a lot of pressure right now, and had a mean President to get off his back. He was interested in opinions of Cosmic Boy after the events of LSH #80. He and Peyer observed that the Legionnaires were a mostly optimistic group of kids and would bounce back well from all the recent events.
Jeff noted that the post-LSH #80 stories were somewhat lighter in tone. He hadn't seen any upcoming stories that resembled "Girls' Night Out".
The post LSH #80 stories: L* #37 is about all the members. Jeff describes it as the "What's left of the Legion" story. LSH #81 is the return of Dirk Morgna. L* #38 is the Saturn Girl spotlight. LSH #82 features Xanthu.
Peyer had reminded McCraw that a new character is joining the team in 1996. Peyer was amenable to a suggestion of adding new diverse members to the Legion. McCraw wouldn't drop any hints about the character.
