Il nuovo anno è iniziato davvero alla grande per gli appassionati della Legione, che si preparano ad una primavera ricca di succulenti novità.
Il franchise futuribile sta infatti per tornare in una doppia veste: non solo, come già noto, in un serial retrospettivo sulle pagine di “Adventure Comics” (vol. III), ma anche in una nuova collana ad hoc, la sesta nella storia del comicdom statunitense a portare il glorioso titolo di “Legion of Super-Heroes”.

Entrambi i progetti saranno curati da Paul Levitz, che celebra così il suo terzo round alle redini della Legione con un impegno più che mai a tutto campo: di contro al revival di “Secret Origin”, programmato a partire dal prossimo giugno, la nuova collana proseguirà infatti la saga di Saturn Girl e soci da dove l’avremo lasciata al termine della storyline “Brainiac and the Legion of Super-Heroes”.

Alle matite della nuova serie, in uscita da maggio, Yildiray Cinar, ottimo penciler turco già noto ai lettori DC per i suoi recenti lavori su “Teen Titans” (vol. III).
Ancora nessuna nuova, invece, sul disegnatore della Legione “baby” di “Adventure Comics”; intervistato dal sito Io9, Levitz anticipa però che in quel ruolo potremmo vedere il ritorno di altri nomi storici della serie, come quelli di Keith Giffen e James Sherman.

Seguono altre, interessanti citazioni dalle parole dello sceneggiatore newyorkese a Io9:

So what is “Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes: Secret Origin”?

It starts from a challenge that Geoff [Johns] gave me, which was that if you want [a new reader] to pick up Legion of Super-Heroes, there’s no book to hand them. […] [The challenge was] can you do something with what you’re doing in Legion that would be a good first Legion book?
I’m trying to do something that will be an introduction to the characters, an introduction to the worlds, an introduction to some of the history in it, without being a version of the old Mayfair Games Sourcebook that I did.

Is this an ongoing series, or a limited run inside Adventure Comics?

I assume success and failure will determine that [laughs], but as far as I know, I have the space as long as I want it.

Since you last wrote Legion, comic storytelling has shifted, especially in mainstream comics. It’s gone to – maybe not a more mature place, but definitely a more mature audience. Is that something that you’re keeping in mind as you return to the book?

When I was writing Legion last time, the idea of writing a five part story was a fairly unusual thing. I think I wrote two of the first three or four of those stories that DC ever published. So you’ve got a change in dynamic there that needs to be addressed. The question is – if I boil it down – “Your audience is older, what does that allow you to do?” Well, I really wrote Legion two different ways in the past. The [1984 relaunch] Baxter book was the first direct market-only version of the Legion and one of the first direct-only books at DC, so we moved to assuming that we were dealing with a more mature audience there. You had a greater level of sexuality, a greater level of diversity and a greater level of violence even. With the death – the first death – of Karate Kid, [his wife] Projectra’s execution of Nemesis Kid was the first time in DC history that we had a superhero deliberately killing a villain. I would hope to continue that process of evolution.

I’m certainly aware that I’m writing for an audience now that is not just older in years, but also older in sophistication. When I look at my kids, they know about how the world works emotionally, socially, sexually, much more than I did at the same age. I think that evolution takes place at all ages now. We’re more plugged in, we’re more aware. Knowledge of science is wider-spread, we’re dealing with a much more sophisticated audience in all those areas, and you’d better be feeding them something interesting. Hopefully I can rise to those challenges.

Dopo anni di magra per i fan della Legione old school, sono davvero soddisfatto di vedere così tanti progetti in cantiere, e curioso di vedere come questi si concretizzeranno. Long Live the Legion!

Tags: Adventure Comics (vol.III), Interviste, James Sherman, Keith Giffen, Legion of Super-Heroes (vol.VI), Paul Levitz, Superboy and the Legion: The Early Years, Yildiray Cinar

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