The Legion of Super-Heroes is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the Legion is a group of superpowered beings living in the 30th and 31st centuries of the DC Comics Universe. The group was formed after being inspired by Superboy (Clark Kent)'s feats and they aim to keep the universe safe by protecting it from the threats of multiple enemies. They first appeared in Adventure Comics #247 (April 1958).
The team is closely associated with the original Superboy (Clark Kent) character and in their first appearances was portrayed as a group of time travelers. Later, the Legion's origin and back story were fleshed out, and the group was given its own monthly comic.
Initially Superboy's role as the inspiration for the formation of the Legion and their multiple adventures together were retconned in the 1990s by editorial mandate as a consequence of the editorial decision at that time to eliminate the origin of Superman as Superboy. In the 2000s, the origin of Superman as Superboy was restored once the editorial ban was lifted, resulting in the classic origin of the Legion being created because the founding Legionnaires were inspired by Superboy's exploits in Smallville to be considered canon once again. The multiple adventures together in the future of the Legion of Super-Heroes with Superboy (Clark Kent), Supergirl, Conner Kent and later Jon Kent, are also considered to be canon.
The team has undergone two major reboots during its run. The original version was replaced with a new rebooted version following the events of the Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! storyline in 1994 and another rebooted team was introduced in 2004. A fourth version of the team, nearly identical to the original version, was introduced in 2007. In 2019, DC announced a new series written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Ryan Sook.
Contents
Publication history
Original continuity (1958–1994)
Superboy was the featured series in Adventure Comics in the 1950s. In Adventure Comics #247 (April 1958) by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, Superboy met three teenagers from the 30th century: Lightning Boy, Saturn Girl, and Cosmic Boy, who were members of a "super-hero club" called the Legion of Super-Heroes. Their club had been formed with Superboy as an inspiration, and they had time travelled to recruit Superboy as a member. After a series of tests, Superboy was awarded membership and returned to his own time.
Although intended as a one-off story focusing on Superboy, the Legion proved so popular that it returned for an encore in Adventure Comics #267 (December 1959). In this story, Lightning Boy had been renamed Lightning Lad, and their costumes were close to those they wore throughout the Silver Age of Comic Books. The Legion's popularity grew, and they appeared in further stories in Adventure Comics, Action Comics, and other titles edited by Mort Weisinger over the next few years. The ranks of the Legion, only hinted at in those first two stories, was filled with new heroes such as Chameleon Boy, Invisible Kid, Colossal Boy, Star Boy, Brainiac 5, Triplicate Girl, Shrinking Violet, Sun Boy, Bouncing Boy, Phantom Girl, Ultra Boy, and Supergirl.
In Adventure Comics #300 (September 1962), the Legion received their own regular feature, cover-billed "Superboy in 'Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes'". While they shared space with Superboy solo stories for a couple of years, they eventually displaced Superboy from the title entirely as their popularity grew. Lightning Lad was killed in Adventure Comics #304 (January 1963) and revived in issue #312 (September 1963).
It was the Adventure Comics run which established the Legion's general workings and environment. A club of teenagers, they operated out of a clubhouse in the shape of an inverted yellow rocket ship which looked as if it had been driven into the ground. The position of Legion leader rotated among the membership. Each Legionnaire had to possess one natural superpower which no other member possessed; despite this, several members had overlapping powers, particularly Superboy, Supergirl, Mon-El, and Ultra Boy. Some issues included comical moments where candidates with bizarre, useless, or dangerous abilities would try out for membership and be rejected; five of these candidates went on to form the Legion of Substitute Heroes. The Legion was based on Earth and protected an organization of humans and aliens called the United Planets alongside the Science Police. The setting for each story was 1000 years from the date of publication.
Rebooted (1994–2004)
Following Zero Hour, a new Legion continuity was created, beginning with a retelling of the origin story starting in Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 4) #0 and then continued in the spin-off sister series Legionnaires #0 (both released in October 1994). Lightning Lad was renamed Live Wire, and after the group's founding, a large number of heroes were added to the roster. Several members from the previous continuity were given new codenames, and some new heroes were added, including XS (the granddaughter of Barry Allen, the second Flash), Kinetix, Gates, and Sensor, a reimagined version of Princess Projectra.
While in some ways following the pattern of the original continuity, the new continuity diverged from the old one in several ways: some characters died as they had previously, others did not, and some Legion members spent time in the 20th century where they recruited Ferro. The Legion also started out having to earn the respect of the United Planets, which they did through two well-earned victories: successfully defending Earth from the White Triangle, a group of Daxamite racial purists; and exposing United Planets President Chu as the mastermind behind the Braal-Titan War, the Sun-Eater hoax, the formation of the Fatal Five and the brainwashing of future Legionnaire Jan Arrah.
New writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning came on board with penciller Olivier Coipel to produce a dark story leading to the near-collapse of the United Planets and the Legion. In the wake of the disaster, a group of Legionnaires disappeared through a spatial rift and the two existing Legion series came to an end. The miniseries Legion Lost (2000–2001) chronicled the journey of these Legionnaires to return home, while the ensuing miniseries Legion Worlds (2001) showed what was happening in the United Planets during their absence.
A new series, The Legion, was launched in which the Legion was reunited and given a new base and purpose. Written for its first 33 issues by Abnett and Lanning, the series was cancelled with issue 38. The most notable addition to the team during the title's publication was the post-Crisis Superboy (Kon-El), who had previously been granted honorary membership.
"Threeboot" continuity (2004–2009)
Following a crossover with the Teen Titans in Teen Titans (vol. 3) #16 and the Teen Titans/Legion Special, a new Legion of Super-Heroes series was launched (the so-called "Threeboot" incarnation), written by Mark Waid (who had previously rebooted the title following the events of Zero Hour) and penciled by Barry Kitson. This new series recreated the team from the beginning and used the Boy/Lad/Girl/Lass/Kid codenames, which the previous continuities had moved away from using.
Initial issues of this series reintroduced the characters, and provided new and divergent origins for them. Most characters resemble their previous counterparts in costume and powers, with the most notable exceptions including Chameleon Boy, now called simply Chameleon and depicted as androgynous; Star Boy, who in this version of the Legion is black; Colossal Boy, who is now a giant who shrinks to human size; and Phantom Girl, who exists in two universes at once and has conversations with people in her own dimension while talking to Legionnaires at the same time.
The future universe of this Legion is an emotionally and mentally repressive society which involves human sexuality and contact being kept at arms' length as well as Orwellian surveillance of minors. The Legion's main goal is social reform as well as protecting people and inspiring them with the legends of superheroes of old, even though the team isn't appreciated by government authorities.
The Legion is worshiped by thousands of young people on different worlds, collectively known as the "Legionnaires", who follow the group in a cult-like manner. The Legionnaires based on Earth keep a constant vigil outside Legion headquarters.
Beginning with issue #16, The Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 5) was retitled Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes with Supergirl traveling to the future and joining the Legion. With issue #31, Tony Bedard replaced Waid as writer. The title reverted to The Legion of Super-Heroes with issue #37 and Jim Shooter became the writer. The series ended with issue #50, in which the script was credited to "Justin Thyme", a pseudonym previously used by uncredited comic book artists.
Post-Infinite Crisis (2007–2011)
The "Lightning Saga" crossover in Justice League of America (vol. 2) #8–10 and Justice Society of America (vol. 3) #5–6 featured the return of the original versions of Star Boy (now called Starman), Dream Girl, Wildfire, Karate Kid, Timber Wolf, Sensor Girl, Dawnstar, and Brainiac 5. Though several differences between the original and Lightning Saga Legions exist, Geoff Johns stated that this incarnation of the Legion shares the same history as the original Legion up to the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, with Clark Kent having joined the team as the teenage Superboy prior to the start of his career as Superman.
This version of the Legion next appeared in the "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes" storyline in Action Comics #858–863. In the year 3008, the Earth's sun has turned red and several failed Legion applicants who were born on Earth have banded together to form the Justice League of Earth under the leadership of Earth-Man after he claims that Superman was a human who gained his powers from "Mother Earth". Earth-Man uses the claim to have Earth secede from the United Planets and ban all aliens from Earth, resulting in several Legionnaires going underground. With the help of Superman, the Legion eventually restores the sun to its normal state, and defeats Earth-Man and the Justice League of Earth just as the United Planets is about to attack the Earth.
This version of the Legion next appeared in the 2008 Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds limited series, written by Johns and drawn by George Pérez. The mini-series features the post-Infinite Crisis Legion and Superman teaming up with the "Reboot" and "Threeboot" incarnations of the Legion to fight Superboy-Prime, the Legion of Super-Villains, and the Time Trapper. It was revealed in the mini-series that the "Reboot" Legion came from Earth-247 (a homage to the Legion's first appearance in Adventure Comics #247), which was destroyed in Infinite Crisis, and the "Threeboot" Legion came from Earth-Prime. Johns stated that the intent of the mini-series was to validate the existence of all three versions of the team while simultaneously restoring the pre-Crisis Legion's continuity. The incorporation of the three teams into mainstream DC continuity was shown in Action Comics #864 (June 2008). In the story, Batman recounts the Justice League of America and Justice Society of America's battle alongside the original Legion to defeat Mordru, the "Reboot" team's assistance in destroying a Sun-Eater in the 20th century, and his own recent encounter with the "Threeboot" team.
The New 52 (2011–2015)
Legion of Super-Heroes was relaunched in September 2011 with issue #1. Simultaneously, DC Comics cancelled Adventure Comics and replaced it with a new volume of Legion Lost. While Legion of Super-Heroes continued the adventures of the team from that title's previous volume, Legion Lost featured Wildfire, Dawnstar, Timber Wolf, Tyroc, Tellus, Gates and Chameleon Girl. The Legion Lost characters are stranded on 21st century Earth during a mission to save the future, and they are forced to remain there after contracting a pathogen that could destroy the 31st century if they returned. Legion Lost ended with the time-lost Legionnaires still stranded in the 21st century.
This era of the Legion's publication concluded with issue #23 in August 2013, with the title's cancellation. In the final issue, the United Planets disbanded the Legion after a cataclysmic battle with the Fatal Five, and the individual Legionnaires retired to their homeworlds or the Science Police. The entire Legion was remobilized to battle Infinitus in the six-issue "Infinitus Saga" in Justice League United, written by Jeff Lemire (December 2014 – May 2015). The "Infinitus Saga" featured Brainiac 5 as leader, the return of the Legion Lost team to active Legion status and the inclusion of a number of Legionnaires from other continuities in the Legion's active ranks.
Legion of Super-Heroes (2019)
A new Legion of Super-Heroes series from writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Ryan Sook was announced by DC Comics in June 2019. A prelude two-part series entitled Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium was released in September and October, with the ongoing series debuting in November 2019. The series ended in January 2021 with 12 issues.
Next Level (2026)
As part of DC's Next Level publishing initiative, a new Legion of Super-Heroes series from writer Joshua Williamson and artist Hayden Sherman was announced by DC Comics in June 2026.
Alternative versions
Alternative versions of the Legion of Super-Heroes have appeared in various DC comic books.
The Legion of Super-Heroes appeared in a single panel in the Kingdom Come miniseries which takes place on Earth-22 in the DC Multiverse. This version of the team appears again briefly, in the closing pages of a story arc detailing the Earth-22 Superman's sojourn with the Justice Society of America in the 21st century (of Earth-0).
In the DC/Marvel combined "Amalgam Universe", a merged version of the Legion, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy and characters from Marvel's 2099 reality appeared in the title Spider-Boy Team-Up as the Legion of Galactic Guardians 2099.
An alternative version of the Legion based on King Arthur's court appeared in Legionnaires Annual #1 (1994).
Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #7, part of the 1996 "Legends of Dead Earth" event, showed Wildfire as the last survivor of the original Legion, forming a new team.
The "DC One Million" event, which featured characters based in the 853rd century, featured twenty-six teams called the Justice Legion, with the Justice Legion L being based on the Legion of Super-Heroes. Among its members are Brainiac 417 (a disembodied intelligence from the merged worlds of Colu and Bgztl), Cosmicbot (a metallic being who commands the world of Braal), the M'onelves (a super-powered collective of miniature beings from the bonded Daxam-Imsk), Titangirl (a living psychic manifestation of the telepaths of Titan), Implicate Girl (loosely inspired by Triplicate Girl, she contains the entire planet Cargg inside her third eye and can access any Carggite's skills), as well as an elemental darkness called the Umbra (from Talok VIII) and the Chameleon (a religious fundamentalist from the "Chameleon World," once known as Durla). The Justice Legion includes secondary members like Dreamer (the last precognitive of the dead world Naltor, who has a thoughtscreen in her forehead), "Wildflame" (the comatose remains of Wildfire), and Cris Kend (the Superboy of the 843rd century summoned by Brainiac 417 to stop an apocalypse). One thousand years later, the story of the Justice Legion L is told to Dav, Vara and Chec, three youths from a techno-agrarian society inside a tesseract on Earth. The three are empowered by Wildfire to become the Legion of the 863rd century.
Parodies and homages
Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #5 (1994) featured the Legion in a parody of The Wizard of Oz.
In DC's New Year's Evil: Mr. Mxyzptlk #1 (1998), Mxyzptlk attempts to recruit a parody of the Legion, called the Logjam of Super-Heroes, from his comic book collection. Despite its many members, the only ones who were properly identified were Batter-Eater Lad, Butler-Eater Lad, Butter-Eater Lad, Button-Eater Lad, and Mutton-Eater Lad (all take-offs on Matter-Eater Lad), Kid Kid, Kid Lass, Loud Kid, Negative Lass, Lightning Lice, and Beachball Boy.
In 1977, X-Men (vol 1) #107 introduced a team of heroes called the Imperial Guard. Many of their members, designed by former Legion artist Dave Cockrum, were based on Legionnaires: Astra (Phantom Girl), Electron (Cosmic Boy), Fang (Timber Wolf), Hobgoblin (Chameleon Boy), Impulse (Wildfire), Magic (Princess Projectra), Mentor (Brainiac 5), Midget (Shrinking Violet), Nightside (Shadow Lass), Quasar (Star Boy), Smasher (Ultra Boy), Starbolt (Sun Boy), Tempest (Lightning Lad) and Titan (Colossal Boy). The team is led by Gladiator (Mon-El and Superman).
The satire series normalman featured a 33rd-century team called the Legion of Superfluous Heroes. In their first appearance, Uranus Girl wants to save normalman, but Lightweight Lad points out they need to do roll call first. The roll call, which includes a seemingly endless list of members, is a recurring gag in the series. When Lightweight Lad loses his place in the roll and is going to start over, he is killed by the other members of the Legion (who also die due to the resulting blast). It is revealed the Legion is in a time loop.
The Legion of the Stupid Heroes one-shot is a parody of the Legion published by Blackthorne Publishing in 1987.
Big Bang Comics #12 features a Legion homage called the Pantheon of Heroes that hails from the 30th century. Its members are Angelfish, Anti-Matter Lad, Brain Boy, Butterfly Queen, Clone Boy, Devil Boy, Dragon Fist, Galactic Lad, Golden Girl, Ghost Girl, Gravity Girl, Jupiter Boy, Kid Warlock, Laughing Boy, Nature Boy, Photon, Snowstar, Tele-Girl, and Ultragirl.
In other media
Television
The pre-Crisis incarnation of the Legion of Super-Heroes appear in the Superman: The Animated Series episode "New Kids in Town", with Cosmic Boy, Chameleon Boy, and Saturn Girl appearing prominently while Ultra Boy, Phantom Girl, Dream Girl, Lightning Lad, Lightning Lass, Brainiac 5, Triplicate Girl, Bouncing Boy, Kid Quantum, and Andromeda make non-speaking cameo appearances.
The Legion of Super-Heroes appear in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Far From Home", with Bouncing Boy, Brainiac 5, and later Supergirl appearing as prominent members while Blok, Chameleon Boy, Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl, Shadow Lass, Timber Wolf, Ultra Boy, and Wildfire make cameo appearances.
The Legion of Super-Heroes appear in a self-titled animated series, with Bouncing Boy, Brainiac 5, Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl, a young Superman, and Timber Wolf appearing as the "core team" in the first season while Cosmic Boy, Colossal Boy, Ferro Lad, Matter-Eater Lad, Triplicate Girl, Shrinking Violet, Blok, Dream Girl, Element Lad, Star Boy, Sun Boy, and Tyroc make minor recurring or cameo appearances. In the second season, Chameleon Boy and a future clone of Superman called Superman X join the Legion.
The Legion of Super-Heroes appear in the Smallville episode "Legion", with Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, and later Brainiac 5 appearing prominently.
The Legion of Super-Heroes appear in the fourth season of Young Justice, with Saturn Girl, Phantom Girl, and Chameleon Boy appearing as prominent members while Brainiac 5 makes a cameo appearance. This version of the group was inspired by Superboy.
The Legion of Super-Heroes, referred to simply as the Legion, appear in the third season of Supergirl, with Mon-El, Saturn Girl, Brainiac 5, and later Winn Schott as prominent members. This version of the group was inspired by Supergirl.
In December 2021, it was announced that an adult animated series based on the Legion of Super-Heroes was being developed by Brian Michael Bendis for HBO Max.
Film
The Legion of Super-Heroes appear in the Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League – Cosmic Clash, consisting of Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, and Saturn Girl. This version of the group hail from the year 2116, in which Brainiac conquered Earth and killed most of the Legion.
The Legion of Super-Heroes appear in JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time, with Dawnstar and Karate Kid appearing prominently.
The Legion of Super-Heroes appear in Justice League vs. the Fatal Five, with Star Boy appearing as a prominent member while Saturn Girl and Brainiac 5 make minor appearances.
The Legion of Super-Heroes appear in a self-titled film, with Brainiac 5, Bouncing Boy, Arm Fall Off Boy, Invisible Kid, Dawnstar, Chemical King, Triplicate Girl, Phantom Girl, Shadow Lass, and Timber Wolf appearing as prominent members, Supergirl as a student of the Legion Academy, and Mon-El as a double agent secretly working for the Dark Circle. Additionally, numerous Legionnaires make minor non-speaking appearances.
Video games
The Legion of Super-Heroes appear as character summons in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.
The Legion of Super-Heroes appear in DC Universe Online via the "Long Live the Legion" DLC.
The Legion of Super-Heroes appear in Brainiac's ending in Injustice 2, with Brainiac 5 appearing prominently while Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, and Cosmic Boy making non-speaking cameo appearances.
Miscellaneous
The Legion of Super-Heroes appear in Justice League Adventures #28.
The Legion of Super-Heroes appear in Legion of Super Heroes in the 31st Century.
The Legion of Super-Heroes appear in Smallville Season 11: Continuity.
The Legion of Super-Heroes appear in the novel trilogy The Flash: Crossover Crisis by Barry Lyga.