| Legion of Super-Heroes | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Format | Animated television series |
| Starring | Michael Cornacchia Shawn Harrison Heather Hogan Yuri Lowenthal Andy Milder Alex Polinsky Kari Wahlgren Adam Wylie |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 21 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | The CW |
| Original run | September 23, 2006 – present |
Legion of Super Heroes is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation that debuted on September 23, 2006, based on characters appearing in the DC Comics series. The series centers on the young Superman's adventures in the 31st century, fighting alongside a group of futuristic superheroes known as the "Legion of Super-Heroes". The show is produced by its main designer James Tucker (a co-producer of the Justice League Unlimited series) for the Kids' WB line on the The CW network. According to the official press release, the premise of the first season is that a group of teenagers from the 31st century travel back in time to recruit Superman in their fight against evil in their time. Unfortunately, they go too far back and land in a time when Clark Kent was younger and was about to move to Metropolis, already aware of his powers but undecided about his destiny. Taking him back to their future, the young Superman helps the Legion in fighting evil and upholding the laws of the United Planets. It is described as a "fast-paced, character-driven action comedy". The series draws on the rich history of the Legion of Super-Heroes, taking inspiration from stories set during all time periods of the comic's nearly 50-year history. Continuity is internally consistent, but is not shared with any previous incarnation of the Legion, either animated or in print. A total of 26 episodes have been produced to date, 13 each for Season One and Season Two.
Contents |
Development history
Early reports had suggested the title of the series would be Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes, but the official announcement on April 24, 2006 confirmed the title as Legion of Super Heroes. The same announcement indicated that the series would air on the Kids' WB block of the new The CW network at 10 a.m. Eastern. [1]
Legal status/issues
At the 2006 Comic Con International, the production staff would not officially say whether current legal issues involving the ownership of Superboy had impacted this series, or whether changes were made to tie in with the Superman Returns movie, but one significant change had been made since the original announcements. The original press release[2] said that the Legion landed in the time of "the young Superboy", while the revised press release description (June 2006) said that the Legion retrieved "the young Superman, before he moved to Metropolis". At the conclusion of the pilot episode, Clark adopts the codename of Superman, and not Superboy. In Season Two, which takes place two years after the end of Season One, the character is called Superman, without reference to his "young" status.
Supergirl
A "backdoor" pilot for a Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes series was written and animated for the series in the form of the 2006 JLU episode "Far From Home" by Paul Dini and Dwayne McDuffie. However, the Legion series is unrelated to "Far From Home" or the 1998 episode of Superman: The Animated Series titled "New Kids in Town" (which did share continuity between series and episodes). Beginning 2006, DC Comics did in fact have Supergirl join the Legion in its comic book.
Season Two
According to a KidsWB press release[1], "the second season of Legion of Super Heroes finds the group fulfilling their collective destiny, each member elevating his skills to new levels... just in time to face even greater challenges. A incomprehensibly undefeatable nemesis — Imperiex, the destroyer of galaxies from the rich annals of DC Comics — puts the Legion into action alongside new team members. Superman returns from the 21st century with greater development of both his physical prowess and far better utilization of his powers to help the Legion toward victory in the 31st century and beyond. Moreover, the Legion finds a surprising, new ally from across the space-time continuum — a 41st century Superman, cloned using a combination of the original Superman's DNA and Kryptonite, making him as powerful as superman while being invulnerable to the green rock; to assist in its efforts to rid the universe of this powerful foe. Along the way, the LoSH — including new members like Chameleon Boy — provides the perfect complement of heroics and comedy to the efforts of the Supermen." Season Two takes place approximately two years after the Season One finale. The series logo was also slightly revised.[3] As with Season One, a total of 13 episodes were created for Season Two, which premiered on September 22, 2007.
Airings outside of the US
Season One of the series began airing in on Cartoon Network UK on March 5 2007. The thirteen episodes were shown weekdays through March 21, and the two-part season finale aired in the UK about five weeks before it was shown in the US. In Canada, Season One began airing on YTV on September 8 2007. In Italy, Season One begain airing on SKY Italia on October 1 2007.
Characters
In Season One, the series revolved around a core group of eight Legionnaires but others appeared from time to time in recurring roles, similar in format to the Justice League Unlimited animated series.
Superman
The first season introduces a young Clark Kent who is about to move from Smallville to Metropolis. He knows of his abilities but doesn't know what to do with his future (similar in nature to the Clark Kent featured in the Smallville television series). After travelling to the future, young Clark assumes the identity of Superman and gradually learns to control his abilities, becoming the hero he is destined to be. At the end of the first season, he returns to the present around the same time he left in the first episode. In Season Two, Superman returns to the future after spending two years in the past and gaining more experience with his powers and starting his superhero career in the present. A second Superman also appears in Season Two called "Superman X". This Superman (later also given the name Kell-El) is from the 41st century and was created from Superman's DNA & Kryptonite (Thus making him immune to Kryptonite) as a living weapon with different abilities (one of them is shooting Kryptonite from his hands). His main foe in the 41st century is Imperiex, who travels through time to the 31st century, forcing Superman X to follow him into the past and recruit the Legion to help him.
Core Legionnaires
This team is roughly close to the classic Silver Age variation of the Legion. Series producer James Tucker offered descriptions of the core team in a July 2006 interview at Comic Con International in San Diego.[4] As with other DC team shows such as Justice League Unlimited, not every core character appears in all episodes. The following descriptions apply to the characters as seen in Season 1.
- Lightning Lad is the eager and hot-headed unofficial leader of the team. Prone to fighting first and thinking later, he can come off as brash at first, but does seem mostly well intentioned. The lightning bolt scar on his right eye sometimes flashes brightly in times of battle. He is in love with Saturn Girl. In Season Two, he now wears a goatee. His appearance will be older. In the episode "Chained Lightning" Imperiex destroys his right arm, and gained a new bionic arm, model Cybernetic 4000.
- Saturn Girl is a level-headed character with mental powers. She is composed at all times, but also very physical (she is depicted as more of a hand-to-hand combatant than her comic book predecessors). Tucker said that fellow animation creator Glen Murakami thought of her character as someone who doesn't really understand personal boundaries; always touching people and knowing their deepest thoughts. Among her mental powers are abilities not traditionally associated with the character in the comics, including the power to mentally create an explosive force field called a thought blast (which is so draining that she passes out afterwards) and the ability to go into a healing trance when unconscious (yet still be conscious enough to hear and understand others). She may be in love with Lightning Lad. In the Season Two premiere she was put into a coma during a battle with Esper.
- Brainiac 5 is the series' youngest (as of Season One) and smartest Legionnaire. He can transform his robot body in various ways, much like Inspector Gadget. For the purposes of the show, his character has been altered by making him an outright robot (the comic book version is flesh-and-blood). His deep desire, though, is to be more human, like his teammates. Thus, in a way, he's somewhat like Pinocchio. This version of Brainiac 5 is closest to the "DnA" version in personality and includes the robotic aspects of the character Gear. James Tucker has always thought of him as kind of a "Little Man Tate"-type character; a kid who is so smart he's sent to college when he's only 12. Tucker has said he was inspired by Oliver Coipel's rendition of him when designing him. A holographic representation of his deepest fear in episode 1.04 ("Fear Factory") implies that his people the Coluans do not approve of his desire to emulate humanoids. He seemed to greatly desire Superman's friendship. In Season Two, he now has short hair.He seems to have feelings for Shrinking Violet.
- Phantom Girl is, according to James Tucker, "a princess who is kind of spoiled, but ultimately very devoted to being in the Legion. She has a somewhat sarcastic attitude to cover the fact that she really gets a kick out of finally being with other kids like herself." In addition to her traditional powers, she has displayed the ability to turn other people and objects temporarily intangible, though this seems to strain her. Phantom Girl has also been shown to disrupt electrical systems by passing through them. Her mother, the president of the United Planets, thinks Phantom Girl has a crush on Superman.
- Bouncing Boy is a friendly young man who appears in either an overweight humanoid form or in a giant ball shape. He enjoys eating and is sometimes played up as the comedic character. James Tucker considers him the everyman member of the Legion; very down to earth and pragmatic. "In a lot of ways he plays Bones to Brainiac 5's Spock. In episode 1.11 ("Chain of Command") Bouncing Boy was elected leader of the Legionnaires, much to his own surprise - although in Season Two he no longer seems to be in command.
- Triplicate Girl (now known as Duo Damsel) is one girl who was born with the power to transform into three nearly identical selves. She has demonstrated martial arts skills (which, when combined with her natural teamwork, makes her a worthy adversary). On the team, she often operates communications, and appears to have an attraction to Bouncing Boy (a nod to their pre-Crisis marriage). One of her duplicates was killed in the paradox created by Imperiex in the 41st century (following her life story in DC comics canon somewhat, where she also lost one of her selves), and she is now known as Duo Damsel. The emotional dismay her two other selves showed at her death suggests that each of her "triplicates" has a semi-separate awareness and identity.
- Timber Wolf, debuted in the self-titled second episode. Brin Londo, as a result of his father's experiments on him, was transformed into a werewolf-like creature with enhanced speed, strength, agility, and senses. However, he also lost control over himself, becoming a fierce beast who acted on instinct and impulse. Only with Saturn Girl's help was he able to re-establish some level of control, turning into a more humanoid form, though still possessing wolflike attributes. Soon afterward, he joined the Legion and took his codename in honor of past heroes. James Tucker described him as "a loner but longs to be closer to people. His appearance makes him look a bit feral, but his personality is anything but. He's the cool dude who's actually insecure inside." He seems to have feelings for Phantom Girl.
- Chameleon Boy debuted in the Season Two opener of the series as one of the newest members of the Legion. He has the ability to shapeshift all or part of his body into something else, animate or inanimate, as well as utilize the strength and power of what he transforms into. His father funds the Legion, which allows them access to expensive material (such as battle cruisers). Chameleon Boy seems to be one of the few members of the team that has a fun-loving and sarcastic disposition, the reason of which being that the rest of the team has had to deal with so many issues the past couple of years, they've become more solemn. He seems to be good friends with Karate Kid.
- Karate Kid debuted in the episode "The Karate Kid". He begged hard to be in a wrestling match, but he was rejected constantly. However, Superman went into the rink disguised as a wrestler, and when the Karate Kid went against him, he won, and Superman unlifted his disguise, and he was made a member of the Legion of Superheroes shortly afterward. However, since he was the only Legion member without a power, he was rejected. A while later, after failing to stop a bad-guy, he was sent home, until he figured out that the bad-guys set up a trap! When everyone's powers were neutralized, he came to the rescue, as his abilities could not be taken away from him. In the end he was accepted as a Legion member. Throughout the episode, he seems to have formed a friendship with Chameleon Boy. Despite that fact, however, he is the only person without a sarcastic attitude, and if the other legion members did not have one, he had even less of one. Nevertheless, he is proud to be in the Legion of Superheroes and seems to treat others with politeness.
Other Legionnaires
During the show's development, concept sketches of XS were seen online along with sketches of other Legionnaires by various artists. However, she did not appear on the show during Season One. In Season One, some Legionnaires were mentioned or shown as images before making an actual appearance. Fourteen members were shown during the season as already active (Blok, Bouncing Boy, Brainiac 5, Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, Dream Girl, Element Lad, Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl, Shrinking Violet, Sun Boy, Triplicate Girl, and Tyroc), with five more being added during that time (Superman, Timber Wolf, Matter-Eater Lad, Star Boy, and Ferro Lad). The opening credits sequences included a glimpse of the Mission Monitor Board signs for many Legionnaires as well as shots of flying Legionnaires who would be seen in later episodes (though not all of those with Mission Monitor Board symbols appeared). At least four members of the Legion as seen in the comics appeared in some way on the show but had not joined by the end of the first season (Ultra Boy, Lightning Lass, Wildfire, and Polar Boy). In Season Two, Karate Kid appeared in the opening credits with the other Legionnaires, though he did not appear until the fifth episode. Similarly, Sun Boy appears in the Season Two opening titles and has made semi-regular appearances, but has yet to have a speaking line or have someone else refer to him by name. According to the show's producer, Dawnstar and Invisible Kid will also appear. Ayla Ranzz, sister of Lightning Lad, finally made an appearance but she is currently a child and not likely to join the Legion any time soon.
Cast
Legionnaires
| Character | Voice Actor |
| Blok | N/A |
| Bouncing Boy | Michael Cornacchia |
| Brainiac 5 | Adam Wylie [5] |
| Chameleon Boy | Alexander Polinsky |
| Colossal Boy | Adam Wylie |
| Cosmic Boy | Wil Wheaton [6] |
| Dawnstar | unknown |
| Dream Girl | N/A |
| Element Lad | N/A |
| Ferro Lad | Dave Wittenberg |
| Invisible Kid | unknown |
| Lightning Lad | Andy Milder [7] |
| Karate Kid | Keith Ferguson |
| Matter-Eater Lad | Alexander Polinsky |
| Nemesis Kid | Keith Ferguson |
| Phantom Girl | Heather Hogan |
| Saturn Girl | Kari Wahlgren |
| Shrinking Violet | Kari Wahlgren |
| Star Boy | Bumper Robinson |
| Sun Boy | N/A |
| Superman (21st century) | Yuri Lowenthal[8] |
| Superman X, aka Kell-El (41st century Superman clone) | Yuri Lowenthal |
| Timber Wolf | Shawn Harrison |
| Triplicate Girl/Duo Damsel | Kari Wahlgren |
| Tyroc | N/A |
Villains
- Emerald Empress* Voiced by Jennifer Hale in Season 1, and Tara Strong in season 2. The Emerald Empress is the leader of the Fatal Five, with an eye capable of harming those who look at it. She was known to attack New Metropolis, only to be socked by Superman. Later in the series, she disguised herself as a judge at a series of galactic games, and she made a deal with Lightning Lad's older brother so that she could get into the stadium, and in exchange, she would make sure that he got the first place trophy. She, along with the rest of the Fatal Five, were defeated once again. She was also called upon for help in the two-part finale in the first season when suns across the galaxy were being eated. Two years later, Matter-Eating lad ate her eye, and she was rendered helpless.
- Persuader Voiced by David Sobolov. This member of the Fatal Five is a giant whose preferred weapon is an enormous axe. In the Two-part opening for the second season, he was taken to prison. In the episode Who am I, he was impersonated by Chameleon boy, but he was known to escape just in time to blow his cover. However, he and Chameleon Boy were rescued, but Persuader seemed to have been taken back to the asylum.
- Tharok David Lodge Details to come
- Validus Voice actor N/A. Details to come.
- Dr. Mar Londo Voiced by Harry J. Lennix (season 1)
Dorian Harewood (season 2-). Dr. Mar Londo is the biological father of Timber Wolf, (who first appeared in the episode Timber Wolf) but instead of loving him, he experimented on his son constantly until he could no longer be brought back to a human form. He also tried to trick the Legion of Superheroes into bringing him back so that he could experiment on him again, but shortly after bringing him back, they learned of his trick, and they rescued Timber Wolf, who turned his back on his father, and joined the Legion. Dr. Mar Londo later appeared in another episode called Cry Wolf, where he tried to convince his son to join him again, but Timber Wolf destroyed his father, (or so he thought), but it was revealed that the man he destroyed was really made of oobleck, and that he was still out there somewhere. Currently, he is yet to be located. - Alexis Luthor Voiced by Tara Strong. Alexis Luthor was apparently a descendant of Superman's worst enemy, Lex Luthor, with a huge fortune and a butler robot, but for a while, she was quite unlike him. She eventually fell in love with Superman, but she never gave him any time with the Legion, and when the Legion wanted him, she turned to a life of crime in order to get Superman's attention. Currently she is in prison, and has decided to become a criminal.
- Drax voiced by Greg Ellis. Drax was born in the phantom zone, and apparently did nothing to deserve to be there. (Presumably, he was a descendant of phantom zone criminals that Jor-Ell banished to the Phantom Zone before Krypton was destroyed)Indeed, he has all of Superman's powers, and has pets with superpowers as well. Once Superman accidentally released him into the planet Earth, he wreaked havoc. Braniac unnsuccessfully tried to weaken him with Kryptonite (which makes reference to him being the descendant of Braniac one, who destroyed Krypton). Later, he banished everybody in the Legion of Superheroes except for Superman into the Phantom Zone, but when Braniac got everybody out of the Phantom Zone, the portal that got them out banished Drax back in. Mysteriously enough, he has voices in his head telling him that he is evil, which points to the fact that theoretically, he is not evil out of his own free will.
- Esper Voiced by Tara Strong. This villain is the anti version of Saturn Girl, and possesses the same powers. She was seen in the episode Lighting Storm with Lightning Lord and the rest of the Legion of Super-villains. Esper was known to be partially responsible for Saturn Girl's coma. Lightning lad attempted to get revenge on her for that, only to be stoped by Phantom Girl, who did not think that Saturn Girl would have wanted him to go down that path. Currently, she is in prison along withg the rest of the Legion of Super-villains.
- Hunter Voiced by Khary Payton. Details to come.
- Lightning Lord (leader) Voiced by James Arnold Taylor. Lightning Lord is the biological (and rather obnoxious) brother of Lightning Lad. He was first seen in a competition, and he was known to make a deal with the head judge (who turned out to be the leader of the Fatal Five) so that he would get the first place medal. He was later seen as the leader of the Legion of Supervillains, which he coaxed Lightning Lad into joining. However, he was defeated. Later in the series, in the episode Chained Lighting, his origin was later revealed - when he crash landed, he and his brother, Lightning Lad, was struck by Lightning, and his sister seemingly was killed. In the episode, he reluctantly obeyed Impriex's orders, until he found out that he sister was still alive in the form of energy, and later turned against Imperiex for attempting to consume her and use her energy as a weapon. Later, he and Lightning Lad turned their sister back into a human (who apparetally never aged), and although Lightning Lad promised not to turn him to the science police, he apparetally turned himself in, because the last time that he was seen, he was in his prison cel, looking at a picture of his family.
- Imperiex Voiced by Phil Morris. Impriex endangered New Metropolis in the 41st century, and just after he was seemingly defeated, he escaped to the 31st century, and made such a drastic change in time that the universe reset itself with anti-matter bubbles, one of which deleted one of the Triplicate Girls from existence. Also, he released many of the Legions' worst enemies from prison, and while the Legion of Superheroes was busy rounding them up, he built up a new army. Various attempts have been made to stop him, such as sending Chameleon Boy in disguise as Persuader, destroying a little girl who, when destroyed, could wind up with Imperiex destroyed too, (but the Legion member, when given the chance, could not bring himself to do it), and also foiling his plans with a town of Kryptonians with Superman's powers. So far, all of those attempts have failed, unless Imperiex can be destroyed.
| Character | Voice Actor |
| Fatal Five | |
| Mano | N/A |
| Legion of Super-Villains (originally the Light Speed Vanguard) | |
| Ron-Karr | Shawn Harrison |
| Wave | N/A |
| Tyr | Khary Payton |
| Starfinger | Taylor Negron |
| Zyx | Lauren Tom |
| Mordru (as "Evil Wizard") | Richard McGonagle |
| Sun-Eater | N/A |
| Controller | David Lodge |
| The Dominators | N/A |
| Computo | Adam Wylie |
| Grimbor the Chainsman | Lex Lang |
| Terra-Man | Jeff Black |
| Brainiac | Corey Burton |
Other characters
| Character | Voice Actor |
| Jo Nah of Rimbor | James Arnold Taylor |
| Winema Wazzo, President of the United Planets, mother of Phantom Girl | April Winchell[9] |
| Legion of Substitute Heroes | |
| Chlorophyll Kid | Alexander Polinsky |
| Color Kid | James Arnold Taylor |
| Infectious Lass | Kari Wahlgren |
| Porcupine Pete | James Arnold Taylor |
| Stone Boy | Yuri Lowenthal |
| Ayla Ranzz, sister of Garth and Mekt Ranzz | Kari Wahlgren |
| Calamity King | Alexander Polinsky |
List of episodes
This list is ordered by production number, which in some cases is different from the air date order. Production number 1.04 ("Fear Factory") and 1.06 ("Phantoms") were aired out of order, as were episodes 1.07 ("Child's Play"), 1.09 ("Brain Drain"), and 1.10 ("The Substitutes").
| Episode number | Episode Title | Original Air Date (US) |
| Season One | ||
| 1.01 | Man of Tomorrow | September 23, 2006 |
| 1.02 | Timber Wolf | September 30, 2006 |
| 1.03 | Legacy | October 7, 2006 |
| 1.04 | Fear Factory | November 18, 2006 |
| 1.05 | Champions | November 11, 2006 |
| 1.06 | Phantoms | November 4, 2006 |
| 1.07 | Child's Play | February 24, 2007 |
| 1.08 | Lightning Storm | February 10, 2007 |
| 1.09 | Brain Drain | February 3, 2007 |
| 1.10 | The Substitutes | February 17, 2007 |
| 1.11 | Chain of Command | March 3, 2007 |
| 1.12 | Sundown, Pt. 1 | April 28, 2007 |
| 1.13 | Sundown, Pt. 2 | May 5, 2007 |
| Season Two | ||
| 2.01 | The Man from the Edge of Tomorrow, Pt. 1 | September 22, 2007 |
| 2.02 | The Man from the Edge of Tomorrow, Pt. 2 | September 29, 2007 |
| 2.03 | Cry Wolf | October 6, 2007 |
| 2.04 | Chained Lightning | October 13, 2007 |
| 2.05 | The Karate Kid | October 27, 2007 |
| 2.06 | Who Am I? | November 3, 2007 |
| 2.07 | Unnatural Alliances | November 17, 2007 |
| 2.08 | Message in a Bottle | December 1, 2007 |
Staff and Crew
Based on reports from the official press release and other places, here are the known production staff on the series. This is not a complete list. Many of the staffers came from either the Justice League Unlimited or Teen Titans series.
| Job title/description | staffer(s) |
| Executive Producer | Sander Schwartz (season 1 only) |
| Producer | James Tucker, Linda Steiner (season 1 only) |
| Associate Producer | A. J. Vargas (season 1), Amy McKenna (season 2) |
| Series Story Editor | Rob Hoegee (season 1), Michael Jelenic (season 2) |
| Series Director | Ben Jones, Tim Maltby, Lauren Montgomery (all season 1 only), Brandon Vietti, Scott Jeralds (two of three directors for season 2) |
| Main Title Theme | Kristopher Carter |
| Music | Kristopher Carter, Michael McCustion, Lolita Ritmanis |
| Casting and Voice Director | Kelly Ward (season 1), Susan Blu (season 2) |
| Writers | Stan Berkowitz, John Esposito, Rob Hoegee, Rob Hummel, Marty Isenberg, David Slack, Scott Sonneborn, Matt Wayne, Amy Wolfram (all season 1 only); Michael Jelenic, Greg Weisman, J. M. DeMatteis (known writers for season 2) |
| Art Director | Dave Johnson |
| Character Designer | Derrick J. Wyatt, Glenn Wong |
| Storyboards | Irineo Maramba, Jay Baker |
| Backgrounds/Props | Norm Ryang, Eric Canete, Chad Townsend |
| Voice editing/ADR, post-production | Mark Keefer |
Awards and Nominations
2006-07 Season
The series was nominated[2] for three Creative Arts Emmy Awards, a subset of the Daytime Emmy Awards. None of the nominations won their category.
- Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition
- Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing - Live Action and Animation
- Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing - Live Action and Animation
The series also won "Best Animated Series" in Wizard Magazine's "Best of 2006" issue (#183).
DC Comics cameos and homages
The series has numerous cameos and characters that are evocative of and pay homage to other DC Comics characters.
- Episode 1.01: A janitor is briefly seen at the Superman Museum wearing a costume that resembles that of Booster Gold, and is preceded by the appearance of a robot that looks just like Booster's sidekick, Skeets. This is a reference to his job in the Metropolis Space Museum previous to becoming a hero in the 20th century. In addition, the inhabitants of New Metropolis resemble some of the alien species that make up the Green Lantern Corps, including the natives of Xudar and Barrio III.
- Episode 1.03: In this episode, Alexis steals a bike belonging to a New Metropolis citizen who resembles Lobo. In addition, a satellite/space station resembling the Justice League Watchtower is seen and struck during a ball game. Alexis's story and character also seem a Legion-era analogue of Lex Luthor and most likely his descendant, respectively. In fact, her prison uniform clearly has her last name written on it in Interlac: "Luthor".
- Episode 1.05: In the center of the main arena, there's a banner which reads, in Interlac: "Batman Lives".
- Episode 1.06: Prisoners in the Phantom Zone resemble Superman's foes, Doomsday and the Pre-Crisis versions of General Zod and Faora. What's more, Drax's characterization is reminiscent of Zod himself, and numerous elements of his costume and origin hint that his origin is somehow connected to Zod. His two pets also heavily resemble an alien monster adopted by Bizarro in the Superman: The Animated Series episode, "Little Big Head Man." The Phantom Zone projector is also identical to the one used in Superman: The Animated series and Justice league Unlimited.
- Episode 1.07: Zyx is patterned after Superman villain Mr. Mxyzptlk, in both powers and demeanor (playful at first, but soon becomes malevolent). In addition, Zyx's first costume is based on Mxyzptlk's Silver Age costume. Zyx's helmet also resembles the Justice League of America villain Brain Storm. In another scene, when Zyx is creating various objects, he briefly conjures the Emerald Eye, a Green Lantern power battery, and Doctor Fate's helmet.
- Episodes 1.08 and 1.10: Prospective applicants for the Legion who did not eventually form the series' version of the Legion of Substitute Heroes in episode 1.10 included not only some who did join the comics version (Antennae Lad, Double Header, Polar Boy, Fire Lad, and Night Girl), but also other rejects (such as Quake Kid, Polecat and The Mess), and even a Legionnaire (Invisible Kid).
- Episode 1.09: The Mining robots which Superman and Timber Wolf battled toward the end have a very similar design to the space exploration robots built by the Waynetech/Luthorcorp partnership in the episode of Superman: The Animated Series episode World's Finest. Brainiac 5 also rattles off the names of the colors Blue, Red, Gold, and Green, all of which were variations of Kryptonite.
- Episode 1.10: One of the colorizations Color Kid gives Superman matches the DCAU animated version of Bizarro. Other colors include red (resembling pre-Crisis Superman Red), blue (resembling pre-Crisis Superman Blue), and green (giving a sense of Kryptonite poisoning).
- Episode 2.02: The now adult and seasoned Superman tells his clone that he reminds him of a friend of his that was a grim loner that ended up becoming a valuable member of a team. Such a description fits Superman's JLA teammate, Batman.
- Episode 2.08: A Superman Android appears in the Fortress of Solitude, visually resembling the Superman villain Cyborg Superman.
Appearances in other media
A comic book based on the show's continuity is currently being published under the title Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century. According to the comic's writer, J. Torres, the name was chosen to distinguish itself from more specifically youth-oriented titles such as Justice League Adventures and Superman Adventures.[10] A tie-in promotion with McDonald's Happy Meal took place in August 2007. The Legion show was represented by eight figures (Superman, Timber Wolf, Lightning Lad, Mano, Tharok, Brainiac 5, Bouncing Boy, and Validus). As Happy Meal toys often have a "girl toy" and "boy toy", this set was aimed at the boys. Action figures are reportedly in work for Spring 2008 by Mattel, which currently holds the master license for toys based on any DC series in any medium.
References
- ^ CW Sticks With Kids WB!
- ^ Kids' WB! on the CW announces 2006-2007 "Too big for your TV" Saturday morning programming schedule
- ^ Comics Continuum, Feb. 8, 2007
- ^ NEWSARAMA: SDCC '06: James Tucker talks WB Animation's Legion
- ^ Announcement on Adam Wylie's message board
- ^ Announcement on Wil Wheaton's blog
- ^ Announcement of Andy Milder joining voice cast at Comics Continuum
- ^ Announcement of Yuri Lowenthal joining voice cast at Comics Continuum
- ^ Announcement of April Winchell joining voice cast at Comics Continuum
- ^ Torres Goes to the Future with "Legion of Superheroes in the 31st Century". comicbookresources.com (2007-02-09). Retrieved on 2007-07-22.
External links
- KidsWB! official site
- Official UK Website
- Super Cartoon Network
- Legion of Super Heroes at YTV
- Legion of Super Heroes (TV series) at the Internet Movie Database
- Legion of Super Heroes at TV.com
- The Legion Clubhouse
- Legion World Cartoon Message Board
- Legion of Super Heroes episode schedule (ToonZone)
