Superboy and the Legion of Super-heroes: The Early Years

Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes: The Early Years collects issues #515-520 of Adventure Comics, all originally published in 2010. Publication quality is decent with medium-gloss paper and a flexible spine. The editing, however, is rather poor. Because there is no table of contents and the issue numbers have also been removed from the original covers, readers who care about such things will have difficulty knowing what issue they are reading at any given time. Also lacking is a much needed back story summary seeing as the stories in this collection assume knowledge of events taking place in recent issues of the Superman books (specifically  Superman: Brainiac , the New Krypton books, and  Superman: War of the Supermen ), as well as  Justice League of America, Vol. 2: The Lightning Saga  and  Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Vol. 1 (DC Archive Editions) .As for the stories, the six issues collected here make for an unusually disjointed graphic novel. Though each is something of a stand alone story taking place during the early days of the Legion, most of them depend upon plot points and character development that occurred in previously published books. This occasionally makes for some very awkward plot jumps; the original death of Lightning Lad story (which can be found in  Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Vol. 1 (DC Archive Editions) ), for instance, provides key plot points for a number of these issues, but the character's actual death occurs, without ever being shown, in between issues #519 and #520. Character development suffers for the same reason--in the first issue Saturn Girl flirts heavily with Superboy; in the third she sleeps with Cosmic Boy; and in the last she confesses in a monologue her undying love for Lightning Lad, despite the fact that these issues have barely shown the two characters even interact. Though this reviewer is usually a fan of writer Paul Levitz's work, the awkward structure of these quasi-standalone tales simply doesn't work. The art, mostly by Kevin Sharpe and Marlo Alquiza (but with one issue done by Eduardo Pansica) is in a somewhat generic superhero style. Though it gets the job done fine, with the Legion's giant cast of characters a more detailed approach to the drawing of characters would have worked better.If you're a Legion fan, you'll probably want to pick this book up, but expect to be disappointed by the book's disjointed structure. Casual readers, however, should stay away--without a back story summary, you'll have a difficult time with this volume. Superman/Superboy fans should also be aware: despite the title, Superboy is barely even a supporting character in most of these stories.

Good collections of stories. If you are looking for a flowing comic this is not really it. It is more like individual stories all with the same theme, Superboy going into the future to help out the legion.

It always bothers me that The Legion of Super-Heroes has never really gotten the same kind of mainstream success as, say, for instance Batman. They are often critically acclaimed, but their biggest buying pool is from older comic lovers like myself, who fell in love with the Legion way back when. They always have a great adventure and plot, by some of the best writers out there, and the art is always spectacular. That being said, I LOVE that Superboy, Clark Kent when he was still very young, joined them in the future for an extended length of time. And whenever Supergirl is part of the stories, the Legion always really shines then too. So this is a Legion story, but it's also a part of the coming of age process for Superman, as we get a glimpse into his past, and the DCU's future. The stories are fairly self contained, but they're all very well written, and the art caused me to have to do a double take more than once. This is a GREAT chapter in the ever growing mythos of the Legion. I enjoyed this graphic novel very much, and have ordered a bunch more just to see what I've been missing. ( Legion of Superheroes: Volumes 1-3 ) The cartoon is great, but these are just much more serious, and Paul Levitz (Who has done some of the best Legion stories EVER.) knows these characters like the back of his hand. As I said, I immediately went to buy some more Legion stories, and honestly, is there ever any better endorsment than that? This is a delightful graphic novel, and if you give it a try, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Thanks so much for your time folks. Sincerely, R.A. McDowell

The story should be good for a 10 year oldI will never understand why they keep writing the legion..like if they were little kids..from the sixties...DC...has done such a poor job..with writing...and drawing...these kids...why not give series to Mike Carey...Scott Snyder...make it a T + Or mature rating...go for broke there are so many great artists...stop writing and drawing this book...like if for children...talk about waisting potential..

The artists who drew/painted the characters need to go back to art school. This is amateur grade quality at best. Simple perspective issues are rampant, and they seem to have difficulty staying on model.I'm returning it.

This book is extremely disjointed, with no rhyme or reason to which stories they are going to do. Also several characters were changed so dramaticallyin this story, RJ Brande for one. He went from being a well spoken changeling trapped in human form to someone who speaks really badly. He never did that..I'm very disappointed by this book, none of the stories kept to the Legion stories of years ago.

pleasant to look at