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The Great Darkness Saga Collected Editions #Deluxe
The Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga
The godlike Darkseid emerges in the 30th century with an ingenious plot to finally conquer the universe in Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen's timeless Legion of Super-Heroes epic!
Using his faithful minions to acquire all of the mystic artifacts of the time, Darkseid gains mental control over a race of three billion all-powerful beings. Now, as their universe teeters on the edge of Armageddon, the Legion of Super-Heroes amass their own army of every champion who ever held the status of Legionnaire to stand against the Dark Lord and his invincible soldiers. But as the Legion suffers defeat after defeat, they realize that salvation and victory rest in the hands of a mysterious baby that has aged into adulthood before their very eyes!
This is the perfect edition of the classic Levitz storyline that was decades ahead of its time and still stands as one of DC's most enthralling superhero tales! Collects LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #284-296 and ANNUAL #1.
Using his faithful minions to acquire all of the mystic artifacts of the time, Darkseid gains mental control over a race of three billion all-powerful beings. Now, as their universe teeters on the edge of Armageddon, the Legion of Super-Heroes amass their own army of every champion who ever held the status of Legionnaire to stand against the Dark Lord and his invincible soldiers. But as the Legion suffers defeat after defeat, they realize that salvation and victory rest in the hands of a mysterious baby that has aged into adulthood before their very eyes!
This is the perfect edition of the classic Levitz storyline that was decades ahead of its time and still stands as one of DC's most enthralling superhero tales! Collects LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #284-296 and ANNUAL #1.
416 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
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July 15, 2016
The Legion of Super-Heroes suffers a series of setbacks, leaving them vulnerable. When a mysterious manipulator sends his powerful servants to retrieve magical artifacts, the Legion heads for the fight of their lives...
Confession time: When I was in the second grade, one of my favorite comics was Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes. What kid wouldn't like a team of 50(!) super-powered teenagers from various planets in the 30th century. The Great Darkness Saga has been on my radar for years, as it is cited as one of the greatest super-hero comics of the 1980's. Did it live up to the hype?
First, some caveats. This is very much a 1980s comic. There is an over-abundance of cluttered word balloons, the writing is simplistic, and the characters are a bit on the thin side. Much like an X-Men trade I read a few years ago, the cover of this one spoils who the villain is, which I would have liked to have pieced together alongside Brainiac 5. Way to ruin the surprise, DC!
However, this is a pretty epic tale, especially for the time period. The mystery villain is gathering his strength after a thousand year sleep and has some big plans in the works. The Legion is in disarray after a series of setbacks, involving the return of Computo, Khunds, Legionnaires retiring, and a lot of other stuff and the when the apocalyptic scheme goes into place, it's a wonder anyone survives.
Since DC has gone to the "dark side" in recent years, I'm surprised they haven't scavenged the main villain's plot for one of their company-wide, momentum-killing crossovers yet. A planet full of pissed off Superman-level people under the thrall of an all-powerful menace threatening damn near everything seems like money in the bank to me.
All gripes aside, The Great Darkness Saga was a trip down memory lane, a reminder of innocent times and what made me like the Legion in the first place. All of my old favorites were in attendance: Wildfire, Mon-El, UltraBoy, Braniac 5, even Matter Eater Lad, whose super powers I appreciate much more as I approach 40. Did my brain conveniently forget UltraBoy always announcing which of his powers he was using? Note to those unfamiliar to the Legion: UltraBoy had all the powers of Superman but he could only use one at a time.
While it wasn't my favorite 1980s comic storyline and seems a little hokey by today's standards, it was damn good for its time. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Confession time: When I was in the second grade, one of my favorite comics was Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes. What kid wouldn't like a team of 50(!) super-powered teenagers from various planets in the 30th century. The Great Darkness Saga has been on my radar for years, as it is cited as one of the greatest super-hero comics of the 1980's. Did it live up to the hype?
First, some caveats. This is very much a 1980s comic. There is an over-abundance of cluttered word balloons, the writing is simplistic, and the characters are a bit on the thin side. Much like an X-Men trade I read a few years ago, the cover of this one spoils who the villain is, which I would have liked to have pieced together alongside Brainiac 5. Way to ruin the surprise, DC!
However, this is a pretty epic tale, especially for the time period. The mystery villain is gathering his strength after a thousand year sleep and has some big plans in the works. The Legion is in disarray after a series of setbacks, involving the return of Computo, Khunds, Legionnaires retiring, and a lot of other stuff and the when the apocalyptic scheme goes into place, it's a wonder anyone survives.
Since DC has gone to the "dark side" in recent years, I'm surprised they haven't scavenged the main villain's plot for one of their company-wide, momentum-killing crossovers yet. A planet full of pissed off Superman-level people under the thrall of an all-powerful menace threatening damn near everything seems like money in the bank to me.
All gripes aside, The Great Darkness Saga was a trip down memory lane, a reminder of innocent times and what made me like the Legion in the first place. All of my old favorites were in attendance: Wildfire, Mon-El, UltraBoy, Braniac 5, even Matter Eater Lad, whose super powers I appreciate much more as I approach 40. Did my brain conveniently forget UltraBoy always announcing which of his powers he was using? Note to those unfamiliar to the Legion: UltraBoy had all the powers of Superman but he could only use one at a time.
While it wasn't my favorite 1980s comic storyline and seems a little hokey by today's standards, it was damn good for its time. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
September 23, 2020
Before we get to the issues, there is an opening letter by Paul Levitz. Among the story of how he came to work on the series, he goes on to say this story landed on top whatever lists. That got me thinking; ‘great, this must be a really good story!’ Unfortunately, now that I've read it, I do not feel the same way.
Maybe it’s because I hadn't read a Legion of Super-Heroes comic before or because I skipped all the ‘important’ foreshadowing however, I felt this story was not as good as it could have been.
There was actually a lot of potential for this story to be really good. A mysterious ‘master’ and his minions going around the place, stealing objects of power then moving onto people with great power? There could have been SO many hints to the master’s identity. Or something other than the fact that Darkseid was just another villain who wanted to take over the world.
I found the pacing really odd as well. I know there is a lot of characters and the writers feel like they need to check in on them but sometimes it just felt unnecessary. The fact that I didn't know some of the characters probably didn't help.
I will say that I did learn a LOT that I hadn't known before about the Legion so that was cool.
Overall, this story just wasn't for me although, I can see a Legion fan really enjoying this story. It does focus a lot on the characters lives and the dynamics between all of the members (which I am a fan of).
Maybe it’s because I hadn't read a Legion of Super-Heroes comic before or because I skipped all the ‘important’ foreshadowing however, I felt this story was not as good as it could have been.
There was actually a lot of potential for this story to be really good. A mysterious ‘master’ and his minions going around the place, stealing objects of power then moving onto people with great power? There could have been SO many hints to the master’s identity. Or something other than the fact that Darkseid was just another villain who wanted to take over the world.
I found the pacing really odd as well. I know there is a lot of characters and the writers feel like they need to check in on them but sometimes it just felt unnecessary. The fact that I didn't know some of the characters probably didn't help.
I will say that I did learn a LOT that I hadn't known before about the Legion so that was cool.
Overall, this story just wasn't for me although, I can see a Legion fan really enjoying this story. It does focus a lot on the characters lives and the dynamics between all of the members (which I am a fan of).
November 9, 2015
Reading the two books Legion on Super-Heroes The Great Darkness Saga and The Curse is like reading a a soap opera set in the future, about superheroes. Which is a good thing because in Paul Levitz's hands the turns into an exciting and gripping story. The kind of story that is not something that is easily come upon in comics. I mean, when do you get to read a space opera about superheroes. Maybe a Green Lantern comic but most of the time it lacks the humour, the wonder and excitement of having an adventure and the friends you get to share it. Something that you can find a lot more in older superhero comics. Published in the 70s, the art by Keith Giffen feels more nostalgic than dated.
Due to the publishing nature when the stories were made, this is an episodic graphic novel where storylines focus on certain characters of the Legion. Herein lies it's strenghts, almost every character gets a leading role in an chapter or two, in the process the reader gets to know every characters personalities, dreams and heartaches. This would not have happened if the comic only focused in a single story, say the battle with Darkseid. Sadly those kinds of stories are the norm in today's crossover laden industry, we get a single event with bigger and bigger fights, shallow character developments and uninteresting plots.
The two books adds up to a total of almost a thousand pages. In itself this might seem a lot but the roster of the Legion number to a dozen or more, so it's still a bit lacking, as if there's still many more Legion stories to tell and I would definitely read that story if it's made by Levitz and Giffen.
Due to the publishing nature when the stories were made, this is an episodic graphic novel where storylines focus on certain characters of the Legion. Herein lies it's strenghts, almost every character gets a leading role in an chapter or two, in the process the reader gets to know every characters personalities, dreams and heartaches. This would not have happened if the comic only focused in a single story, say the battle with Darkseid. Sadly those kinds of stories are the norm in today's crossover laden industry, we get a single event with bigger and bigger fights, shallow character developments and uninteresting plots.
The two books adds up to a total of almost a thousand pages. In itself this might seem a lot but the roster of the Legion number to a dozen or more, so it's still a bit lacking, as if there's still many more Legion stories to tell and I would definitely read that story if it's made by Levitz and Giffen.
July 14, 2023
Había leído (la parte principal de) esta saga en Zinco y no recordaba nada. Vista ahora tiene un punto refrescante respecto a lo que se estaba haciendo en la Legión y que en este tomo se ve en las primeras 200 páginas. Aquellos relatos superheroicos con el grupo escindido en dos o tres escuadras enfrentadas al villano aleatorio que tocara, algo de interacción de personajes y la gracia (y el dolor de cabeza) de tener una formación casi infinita/inagotable.
Giffen pone en acción diseños de página curiosos (esas páginas de inicio con perspectiva cenital y punto de fuga en el centro); encadenamientos de viñetas verticales a lo George Pérez; las peleas entre dos personajes secuenciadas en una misma viñeta a lo Jim Starlin; algunas páginas donde ya se atisba su estilo posterior, cuando descubriera a José Muñoz... Y Levitz le da gancho a la historieta con ese villano desconocido (spoiler, mirar portada) que se convierte, con razón, en la amenaza más grande a la que se ha tenido que enfrentar la Legión. Claro, después lo comparas con los Titanes de Pérez o muchas cosas de Marvel que venían de los 70 y parece viejuno. Demasiados bocadillos con texto a punta pala y cierto tono grandilocuente de los diálogos. Le sumas las 250 páginas que no tienen que ver con la saga, la edición de ECC con escaneados mal hechos e impresión de baratillo, y el tomo termina en la categoría de polvoriento.
Giffen pone en acción diseños de página curiosos (esas páginas de inicio con perspectiva cenital y punto de fuga en el centro); encadenamientos de viñetas verticales a lo George Pérez; las peleas entre dos personajes secuenciadas en una misma viñeta a lo Jim Starlin; algunas páginas donde ya se atisba su estilo posterior, cuando descubriera a José Muñoz... Y Levitz le da gancho a la historieta con ese villano desconocido (spoiler, mirar portada) que se convierte, con razón, en la amenaza más grande a la que se ha tenido que enfrentar la Legión. Claro, después lo comparas con los Titanes de Pérez o muchas cosas de Marvel que venían de los 70 y parece viejuno. Demasiados bocadillos con texto a punta pala y cierto tono grandilocuente de los diálogos. Le sumas las 250 páginas que no tienen que ver con la saga, la edición de ECC con escaneados mal hechos e impresión de baratillo, y el tomo termina en la categoría de polvoriento.
July 1, 2018
2018 update: another re-read. Yup, still love it!
Legion collections stopped after Archive 13 so I went back to read the intervening issues of Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #234 through Legion of Super-Heroes # 283 in original floppy format.
Re-reading this book, for context.
I've read this book before but not the surrounding issues, in the years immediately prior and after. It's 2015, and on a campaign to read forward from Legion Archive 13, of all those years I missed in the 80s and 90s.
I missed out on the "great" Levitz/Geffin period as I was in college around then and was't thinking much about comic books.
Did discover an artist I was not familiar with in that uncollected span mentioned above. Jimmy Janes. Very nice art. Kind of a meld between Curt Swan and Dave Cockrum. No, very Dave Cockrumy. Also a very good issue 282 I think featuring Wildfire. A real shame that stuff is not collected.
Legion collections stopped after Archive 13 so I went back to read the intervening issues of Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #234 through Legion of Super-Heroes # 283 in original floppy format.
Re-reading this book, for context.
I've read this book before but not the surrounding issues, in the years immediately prior and after. It's 2015, and on a campaign to read forward from Legion Archive 13, of all those years I missed in the 80s and 90s.
I missed out on the "great" Levitz/Geffin period as I was in college around then and was't thinking much about comic books.
Did discover an artist I was not familiar with in that uncollected span mentioned above. Jimmy Janes. Very nice art. Kind of a meld between Curt Swan and Dave Cockrum. No, very Dave Cockrumy. Also a very good issue 282 I think featuring Wildfire. A real shame that stuff is not collected.
December 1, 2017
If the X-Men were a metaphor with which to talk about prejudice, what were the Legion of Super Heroes? A 50s/60s dream of youthful self-sufficiency, optimism and service, perhaps - a sort of utopian take on scouting complete with a spaceship clubhouse.
By the 80s, the normiest teens of all had grown up (a little) and diversified (a bit) and were now wrestling with youthful marriages, office politics and work-life balances. Meanwhile, creators Levitz and Giffen were dealing with both the usual Legion problem of logistics (how do you handle a team with 25+ members) and the issue of how to make the comic fit the 80s.
This is the era of the superhero team soap opera, defined by the Claremont/Byrne X-Men and imitated regularly at DC - all their creatively or commercially successful teams of the 80s (New Teen Titans, LSH, JLI and Suicide Squad) are variations on the theme. The great promise of the format was that things could incrementally change for its characters - members could marry, quit, even die - and it wasn't until the 90s that the style hit the buffers. The Legion had always gestured at soap opera elements and the idea of permanent change: under Paul Levitz, a writer with an unusual gift for character traffic management, it thrived in the post-X-Men years.
It's Levitz' confident handling of a large cast and the rapid soap-style cuts between multiple subplots that make The Great Darkness Saga readable now, and a strong sampler of the Legion in their relative glory. It also reflects his and the book's typical weaknesses: good at making sure none of his teeming cast were forgotten, Levitz was less skilled at stopping them being forgettable. The Legion are by and large an organisation of competent and helpful young people with a couple of minor personality traits each. And while it's a blessing that Levitz' functional dialogue avoids the melodramatic excess that makes eg New Teen Titans unreadable now, it means he's a poor fit for the Wagnerian notes the plot looks to hit. A planetary Armageddon in one issue becomes a mess to be cleared breezily up in the next.
This also means he's not a great match for Darkseid. At this point in DC history the character was hardly used, and Levitz' resurrection of him had genuine surprise value. But he's written as a generic cosmic moustache-twirler who is vaguely but staggeringly powerful until the story calls for him not to be. In the end, Levitz and Giffen's pacing technique makes the story dramatic and entertaining, but it's never thrilling. Much like the Legion in general, you might say.
By the 80s, the normiest teens of all had grown up (a little) and diversified (a bit) and were now wrestling with youthful marriages, office politics and work-life balances. Meanwhile, creators Levitz and Giffen were dealing with both the usual Legion problem of logistics (how do you handle a team with 25+ members) and the issue of how to make the comic fit the 80s.
This is the era of the superhero team soap opera, defined by the Claremont/Byrne X-Men and imitated regularly at DC - all their creatively or commercially successful teams of the 80s (New Teen Titans, LSH, JLI and Suicide Squad) are variations on the theme. The great promise of the format was that things could incrementally change for its characters - members could marry, quit, even die - and it wasn't until the 90s that the style hit the buffers. The Legion had always gestured at soap opera elements and the idea of permanent change: under Paul Levitz, a writer with an unusual gift for character traffic management, it thrived in the post-X-Men years.
It's Levitz' confident handling of a large cast and the rapid soap-style cuts between multiple subplots that make The Great Darkness Saga readable now, and a strong sampler of the Legion in their relative glory. It also reflects his and the book's typical weaknesses: good at making sure none of his teeming cast were forgotten, Levitz was less skilled at stopping them being forgettable. The Legion are by and large an organisation of competent and helpful young people with a couple of minor personality traits each. And while it's a blessing that Levitz' functional dialogue avoids the melodramatic excess that makes eg New Teen Titans unreadable now, it means he's a poor fit for the Wagnerian notes the plot looks to hit. A planetary Armageddon in one issue becomes a mess to be cleared breezily up in the next.
This also means he's not a great match for Darkseid. At this point in DC history the character was hardly used, and Levitz' resurrection of him had genuine surprise value. But he's written as a generic cosmic moustache-twirler who is vaguely but staggeringly powerful until the story calls for him not to be. In the end, Levitz and Giffen's pacing technique makes the story dramatic and entertaining, but it's never thrilling. Much like the Legion in general, you might say.
April 13, 2016
As speculation about when sentimental favorite Legion of Super-Heroes might make a full comeback, revisiting The Great Darkness Saga, the franchise’s most significant story, is instructive.
The prolonged absence of a Legion ongoing has been trying for the team’s fans, though not entirely shocking. Legion is a difficult book to produce. Over the years its chewed up many talented writers and artists. The cast is huge and creators often feel the need to “re-create” or “re-define” the book. But sometimes, what’s really needed is doing something creative with the characters fans already love.
By the early ‘80s, Legion of Super-Heroes was adrift. For several years, creative teams didn’t quite know what to do with the series. It had dropped the long-running Superboy branding and the Teen of Steel’s presence in the book was steadily diminishing. Some well-received newer character had joined (Dawnstar, Blok), while other long-running characters were in the process of edging out the door (Karate Kid, Princess Projectra).
Legion didn’t feel like it had much in the way of stakes. The “1970s hip” aesthetic still clung to the book, with some truly cringe-worthy costumes and hairstyles. A few significant plot points popped up (like the revelation that long-time benefactor R.J. Brande was secretly Chameleon Boy’s father). The book was struggling to figure out a way forward.
Enter the creative team of Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen. Levitz had done an earlier run on the book that the writer hadn’t been entirely happy with and was eager to show he could pull it off. Giffen was a quirky artist whose imaginative approach proved a strong fit for the diverse sci fi/fantasy futurism of the series. With Pat Broderick onboard as co-artist in the earliest issues, plus quality inkers like Larry Mahlstedt and Bruce Patterson, Legion had a creative team that was able to zero in on elements that made the book unique.
Levitz and Giffen turned Legion into a young adult soap opera on a cosmic scale. As co-plotters, they found numerous ways to create drama among their cast: romantic roundelays, interpersonal conflict and lots of personal angst. They dirtied up the characters. Chameleon Boy almost started an interstellar war with the brutal Khund empire just because he was ticked at his father. Karate Kid and Projectra landed in some deadly political jockeying that presaged Game of Thrones. Founding member Lightning Lad went through severe emotional issues.
Levitz and Giffen made fans care about what was happing with the Legion cast. They infused some real personality into a lot of the young heroes. Giffen updated the outmoded “hip” styles. Freeing Cosmic Boy from his colossally stupid skin-baring outfit was an act of public service.
Alongside Wolfman and Perez’s work on The New Teen Titans, Levitz and Giffen’s Legion was crucial in defining a contemporary, youth-centric approach to comic book storytelling in the early ‘80s. After spending months making Legion interesting again, Levitz and Giffen unleashed The Great Darkness Saga.
The Great Darkness Saga was a model of characterization and strong plotting. A few issues into their run, Levitz and Giffen began teasing readers with a powerful enemy developing in the shadows. A brutal mystery planet popped up out of nowhere. The villain and his grotesque servants emerged slowly, fitting in around the edges of other Legion stories. The heroes didn’t realize they were being stalked by a threat.
The Great Darkness Saga kicked into higher gear as the servants and Legion clashed over objects of mystic power that made the enemy stronger. The enemy attacked some major Legion villains and drained their power. The heroes had fierce encounters with the servants, whose appearances deliberately evoked a certain sense of familiarity. A mysterious, rapidly aging child appeared as a possible savior. The enemy seized mental control of the residents of Daxam, turning them into a deadly army with the powers of Superman. The heroes suffered some bad losses and injuries.
Most of the heroes who had ever appeared in Legion of Super-Heroes returned for a galaxy-wide war. The Great Darkness Saga climaxed with the revelation of the enemy (spoiler alert): Darkseid. The villain had spent centuries in suspended animation and returned to wreak havoc. The bruising final battle was comic book action at its best.
What Levitz and Giffen did was very well-executed. They gave readers lots of clues along the way. The emergence of Darkseid was that tough to pull off “surprise that makes perfect sense.” It gave several heroes big moments. The climax was big and satisfying. And worthy of its name, The Great Darkness Saga ended with Darkseid’s infamous curse, ominous words that would haunt the team for years.
The Great Darkness Saga had real consequences for Legion of Super-Heroes, repositioning characters for future stories. The emotional and psychological impact on various characters would linger for years. Light Lass found herself so weary of fighting that she quit the team and ended her romance with Timber Wolf. Mon-El would experience years of angst over what his home planet was forced to do by Darkseid. Dream Girl and Brainiac 5 emerged as the polarizing core of a new Legion brain trust.
Moreover, The Great Darkness Saga was a crucial arc in the development of Darkseid as DC’s biggest villain. The character was fairly well-known from Jack Kirby’s “Fourth World” stories and from ‘70s vintage appearances in books like Justice League of America and Superman. But he hadn’t really scaled the heights to “classic villain” status. The Great Darkness Saga showed what an impactful villain Darkseid could be, capable of anchoring a massive, complex plot as the uber-antagonist. This story informed a lot of what would be done with Darkseid later in the ‘80s and beyond.
The Great Darkness Saga demonstrated how potent the Legion concept can be when done right. Embrace the large cast. Do interesting things with fan favorite characters and judiciously mix in intriguing newcomers (both the second Invisible Kid and White Witch joined during this period). Give the team a big threat with major stakes. Make them emotionally messy. Don’t ignore their past.
Fans are hopeful that a new Legion of Super-Heroes series will appear in the near future. Everything that future creators need to know about how to do the book right is contained in The Great Darkness Saga.
A version of this review originally appeared on www.thunderalleybcp.com
The prolonged absence of a Legion ongoing has been trying for the team’s fans, though not entirely shocking. Legion is a difficult book to produce. Over the years its chewed up many talented writers and artists. The cast is huge and creators often feel the need to “re-create” or “re-define” the book. But sometimes, what’s really needed is doing something creative with the characters fans already love.
By the early ‘80s, Legion of Super-Heroes was adrift. For several years, creative teams didn’t quite know what to do with the series. It had dropped the long-running Superboy branding and the Teen of Steel’s presence in the book was steadily diminishing. Some well-received newer character had joined (Dawnstar, Blok), while other long-running characters were in the process of edging out the door (Karate Kid, Princess Projectra).
Legion didn’t feel like it had much in the way of stakes. The “1970s hip” aesthetic still clung to the book, with some truly cringe-worthy costumes and hairstyles. A few significant plot points popped up (like the revelation that long-time benefactor R.J. Brande was secretly Chameleon Boy’s father). The book was struggling to figure out a way forward.
Enter the creative team of Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen. Levitz had done an earlier run on the book that the writer hadn’t been entirely happy with and was eager to show he could pull it off. Giffen was a quirky artist whose imaginative approach proved a strong fit for the diverse sci fi/fantasy futurism of the series. With Pat Broderick onboard as co-artist in the earliest issues, plus quality inkers like Larry Mahlstedt and Bruce Patterson, Legion had a creative team that was able to zero in on elements that made the book unique.
Levitz and Giffen turned Legion into a young adult soap opera on a cosmic scale. As co-plotters, they found numerous ways to create drama among their cast: romantic roundelays, interpersonal conflict and lots of personal angst. They dirtied up the characters. Chameleon Boy almost started an interstellar war with the brutal Khund empire just because he was ticked at his father. Karate Kid and Projectra landed in some deadly political jockeying that presaged Game of Thrones. Founding member Lightning Lad went through severe emotional issues.
Levitz and Giffen made fans care about what was happing with the Legion cast. They infused some real personality into a lot of the young heroes. Giffen updated the outmoded “hip” styles. Freeing Cosmic Boy from his colossally stupid skin-baring outfit was an act of public service.
Alongside Wolfman and Perez’s work on The New Teen Titans, Levitz and Giffen’s Legion was crucial in defining a contemporary, youth-centric approach to comic book storytelling in the early ‘80s. After spending months making Legion interesting again, Levitz and Giffen unleashed The Great Darkness Saga.
The Great Darkness Saga was a model of characterization and strong plotting. A few issues into their run, Levitz and Giffen began teasing readers with a powerful enemy developing in the shadows. A brutal mystery planet popped up out of nowhere. The villain and his grotesque servants emerged slowly, fitting in around the edges of other Legion stories. The heroes didn’t realize they were being stalked by a threat.
The Great Darkness Saga kicked into higher gear as the servants and Legion clashed over objects of mystic power that made the enemy stronger. The enemy attacked some major Legion villains and drained their power. The heroes had fierce encounters with the servants, whose appearances deliberately evoked a certain sense of familiarity. A mysterious, rapidly aging child appeared as a possible savior. The enemy seized mental control of the residents of Daxam, turning them into a deadly army with the powers of Superman. The heroes suffered some bad losses and injuries.
Most of the heroes who had ever appeared in Legion of Super-Heroes returned for a galaxy-wide war. The Great Darkness Saga climaxed with the revelation of the enemy (spoiler alert): Darkseid. The villain had spent centuries in suspended animation and returned to wreak havoc. The bruising final battle was comic book action at its best.
What Levitz and Giffen did was very well-executed. They gave readers lots of clues along the way. The emergence of Darkseid was that tough to pull off “surprise that makes perfect sense.” It gave several heroes big moments. The climax was big and satisfying. And worthy of its name, The Great Darkness Saga ended with Darkseid’s infamous curse, ominous words that would haunt the team for years.
The Great Darkness Saga had real consequences for Legion of Super-Heroes, repositioning characters for future stories. The emotional and psychological impact on various characters would linger for years. Light Lass found herself so weary of fighting that she quit the team and ended her romance with Timber Wolf. Mon-El would experience years of angst over what his home planet was forced to do by Darkseid. Dream Girl and Brainiac 5 emerged as the polarizing core of a new Legion brain trust.
Moreover, The Great Darkness Saga was a crucial arc in the development of Darkseid as DC’s biggest villain. The character was fairly well-known from Jack Kirby’s “Fourth World” stories and from ‘70s vintage appearances in books like Justice League of America and Superman. But he hadn’t really scaled the heights to “classic villain” status. The Great Darkness Saga showed what an impactful villain Darkseid could be, capable of anchoring a massive, complex plot as the uber-antagonist. This story informed a lot of what would be done with Darkseid later in the ‘80s and beyond.
The Great Darkness Saga demonstrated how potent the Legion concept can be when done right. Embrace the large cast. Do interesting things with fan favorite characters and judiciously mix in intriguing newcomers (both the second Invisible Kid and White Witch joined during this period). Give the team a big threat with major stakes. Make them emotionally messy. Don’t ignore their past.
Fans are hopeful that a new Legion of Super-Heroes series will appear in the near future. Everything that future creators need to know about how to do the book right is contained in The Great Darkness Saga.
A version of this review originally appeared on www.thunderalleybcp.com
January 9, 2011
Purely by coincidence, the first issues of the Legion of Super-Heroes I read as a kid were the first ones Paul Levitz wrote as he began his epic run on the book. The reasons I was hooked then are still the same reasons these stories deserve to be kept in print in this deluxe edition: they are fantastic super-hero stories. Working with artist Keith Giffen and others, Levitz crafted stories that still feel as fresh and exciting today as they did 25 years ago.
Levitz juggles a massive cast (25 regular characters, plus many more supporting players) and decades of continuity without ever making the reader feel confused or lost. He always gives the reader just enough information to follow the story, while making it clear that he is building on years of history, not ignoring them or dumbing anything down. He gives each character a distinctive voice, and shows them in situations that demonstrates who they are and what they can do. The stories are a bit more caption-heavy than is in vogue in modern comics, but otherwise, these could have been written today.
The story loses a little in the collecting, by not forcing the reader to wait a month between chapters, pacing out the reveals slowly. It still works fine as a single piece, not feeling overly episodic (which, by its nature, it is). By including not only the issues of the Great Darkness story proper, but also collecting the stories leading up to and out of the story, readers get a sense of how Levitz foreshadowed the big epic. We also get a clearer sense of how he weaved multiple stories in and out of the book, giving all the members of his huge cast a chance to shine.
Keith Giffen also shows incredible growth over the course of the series. His early issues show the kind of Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon future the book had previously used as a backdrop, which felt kind of dated. Once he finds his feet, however, he really transforms the setting into something that feels sleek and futuristic, even today. He never stops tweaking and redesigning things to make them feel fresh and new and genuinely different from 20th century superhero stories.
Between the Levitz/Giffen Legion and Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans, I became a huge DC superhero fan. I loved the adventures, but what kept me coming back were the character stories. They grew and developed from issue to issue, and the stories became about much more than superheroes punching supervillains. I loved these stories just as much as I did the first time around, and I hope this is just the start to a comprehensive reprinting of Paul Levitz's Legion work.
Levitz juggles a massive cast (25 regular characters, plus many more supporting players) and decades of continuity without ever making the reader feel confused or lost. He always gives the reader just enough information to follow the story, while making it clear that he is building on years of history, not ignoring them or dumbing anything down. He gives each character a distinctive voice, and shows them in situations that demonstrates who they are and what they can do. The stories are a bit more caption-heavy than is in vogue in modern comics, but otherwise, these could have been written today.
The story loses a little in the collecting, by not forcing the reader to wait a month between chapters, pacing out the reveals slowly. It still works fine as a single piece, not feeling overly episodic (which, by its nature, it is). By including not only the issues of the Great Darkness story proper, but also collecting the stories leading up to and out of the story, readers get a sense of how Levitz foreshadowed the big epic. We also get a clearer sense of how he weaved multiple stories in and out of the book, giving all the members of his huge cast a chance to shine.
Keith Giffen also shows incredible growth over the course of the series. His early issues show the kind of Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon future the book had previously used as a backdrop, which felt kind of dated. Once he finds his feet, however, he really transforms the setting into something that feels sleek and futuristic, even today. He never stops tweaking and redesigning things to make them feel fresh and new and genuinely different from 20th century superhero stories.
Between the Levitz/Giffen Legion and Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans, I became a huge DC superhero fan. I loved the adventures, but what kept me coming back were the character stories. They grew and developed from issue to issue, and the stories became about much more than superheroes punching supervillains. I loved these stories just as much as I did the first time around, and I hope this is just the start to a comprehensive reprinting of Paul Levitz's Legion work.
May 12, 2012
I have to admit that I was not overly optimistic about Paul Levitz as a writer considering he seemed to be more of an executive type from what I had seen of him, but DAMN was this good. He made me care about a team that I was lukewarm about. The Legion of Superheroes never ranked high on my list of compelling DC properties, perhaps because the representations I had seen or read of them on TV show and comics respectively, had been rushed or half heartedly penned. Right from the get go in this collection you know that Levitz cares deeply about the subject material which is the main prerequisite for any good story, and you know that he has an intricate plan for what he intends to show us, the reader.
I had heard that "The Great Darkness Saga" was a seminal work in DC lore and featured one of the greatest of DC villians, the dread Darkseid, close to his inception into the DCU, and this was the main catalyst to getting me to seek it out and read it. When I got it I was immediately immersed in the Legion in a way that I had never been before, even in the stories written by the masters Mark Waid and Geoff Johns. Levitz does an exceptional job of putting you inside of the Legion and the individual relationships between the Legionaires that are both fraternal and contentious. There is a deep undercurrent of emotion and history amongst the Legion and Levitz has his hand right on the pulse, endowing his stories with rich subtext and luminous interactions between the myriad of well defined personalities.
I don't know how much more wonderful things I can say about his first run on the Legion of Superheroes. He is a master and I look forward to find more of his stories to read.
I had heard that "The Great Darkness Saga" was a seminal work in DC lore and featured one of the greatest of DC villians, the dread Darkseid, close to his inception into the DCU, and this was the main catalyst to getting me to seek it out and read it. When I got it I was immediately immersed in the Legion in a way that I had never been before, even in the stories written by the masters Mark Waid and Geoff Johns. Levitz does an exceptional job of putting you inside of the Legion and the individual relationships between the Legionaires that are both fraternal and contentious. There is a deep undercurrent of emotion and history amongst the Legion and Levitz has his hand right on the pulse, endowing his stories with rich subtext and luminous interactions between the myriad of well defined personalities.
I don't know how much more wonderful things I can say about his first run on the Legion of Superheroes. He is a master and I look forward to find more of his stories to read.
May 1, 2023
As someone who really hates the Legion of Super-Heroes this was actually pretty good.
Read
April 13, 2025i enjoyed this significantly more than i thought i would, though ironically the most "iconic" story in this volume (the great darkness saga) was perhaps the least interesting. i'm much more drawn to the character drama and long-term storytelling than the Epic Events (TM). excited to keep reading more losh!!
September 6, 2015
I was still collecting the Legion when these issues first came out, but haven't read this run for years, so when I saw this volume at the library I thought I'd see if I liked it better now I'm old and creaky boned. Answer; not really.
Levitz's Legion stories always irritated me for the same reason I find a lot of romance novels irritating, and in this book that aspect is cranked up to eleven. At one point Saturn Girl "sees [Light Lass'] soul" and realize that Ayla's love for Timber Wolf is greater than hers for Lightning Lad. Next thing you know, however, Ayla's all in a huff because she's convinced Timber Wolf is two-timing her, and a bit after that, she demands that Timber Wolf "choose the Legion or me." Yeah, that's great love, alright. /sarc
The fact that Princess Projectra made much the same demand of Karate Kid (with much better reason) a few issues earlier doesn't help. Then as soon as Levitz sends Ayla off stage, he's got Duplicate Boy seeing Shrinking Violet and Colossal Boy cuddling, and threatening to kill them both. Just seems like Levitz just isn't happy writing the Legion unless he's got a bad romance going where one partner is being completely irrational and selfish. And then Levitz calls this "love." Bah.
The fact that the main story line features Darkseid also doesn't thrill me. Don't like that kind of massively powerful god-like character in general, and have always disliked Darkseid in particular. Plus I don't tend to like multi-issue battle kind of LSH stories unless Jim Shooter's writing them.
OTOH, I have an inexplicable fondness for Shavaughn Erin, and have always liked Jacques Foccart (Invisible Kid II) pretty well, so it was nice seeing them again. Ditto Blok and the White Witch. And (knock wood) so far I have enjoyed all the LSH stuff I've read in whatever incarnation, this story included. But I sure wouldn't recommend this book as an intro to the group.
December 2014
Levitz's Legion stories always irritated me for the same reason I find a lot of romance novels irritating, and in this book that aspect is cranked up to eleven. At one point Saturn Girl "sees [Light Lass'] soul" and realize that Ayla's love for Timber Wolf is greater than hers for Lightning Lad. Next thing you know, however, Ayla's all in a huff because she's convinced Timber Wolf is two-timing her, and a bit after that, she demands that Timber Wolf "choose the Legion or me." Yeah, that's great love, alright. /sarc
The fact that Princess Projectra made much the same demand of Karate Kid (with much better reason) a few issues earlier doesn't help. Then as soon as Levitz sends Ayla off stage, he's got Duplicate Boy seeing Shrinking Violet and Colossal Boy cuddling, and threatening to kill them both. Just seems like Levitz just isn't happy writing the Legion unless he's got a bad romance going where one partner is being completely irrational and selfish. And then Levitz calls this "love." Bah.
The fact that the main story line features Darkseid also doesn't thrill me. Don't like that kind of massively powerful god-like character in general, and have always disliked Darkseid in particular. Plus I don't tend to like multi-issue battle kind of LSH stories unless Jim Shooter's writing them.
OTOH, I have an inexplicable fondness for Shavaughn Erin, and have always liked Jacques Foccart (Invisible Kid II) pretty well, so it was nice seeing them again. Ditto Blok and the White Witch. And (knock wood) so far I have enjoyed all the LSH stuff I've read in whatever incarnation, this story included. But I sure wouldn't recommend this book as an intro to the group.
December 2014
April 16, 2025
Reading this again after a long time, I feel more favorable to the Broderick issues and Paul's dialogue, but yeah, the book really takes off when Giffen arrives. Thrilling, top notch superhero comics!
++++++
This book collects over a year of LSH issues, including all the build-up to to GDS. The early chapters are, honestly, pretty rough going - Broderick's art isn't as dynamic as Giffen's, but also, Levitz's dialogue is hammy to the extreme. Lots of people refering to one another as "my darling," "dearest" and other heavy-handed shortcuts to showing a relationship without actually showing any affectionate behavior. Made me realize how soap operatic this book could be.
But once Giffen comes on board full-time and the GDS kicked into gear ... wow. Breath-taking stuff, fast plotting, thrilling twists, good character work. Giffen's art is dynamic and dramatic, and together, Levitz and Giffen balance the huge cast beautifully.
++++++
This book collects over a year of LSH issues, including all the build-up to to GDS. The early chapters are, honestly, pretty rough going - Broderick's art isn't as dynamic as Giffen's, but also, Levitz's dialogue is hammy to the extreme. Lots of people refering to one another as "my darling," "dearest" and other heavy-handed shortcuts to showing a relationship without actually showing any affectionate behavior. Made me realize how soap operatic this book could be.
But once Giffen comes on board full-time and the GDS kicked into gear ... wow. Breath-taking stuff, fast plotting, thrilling twists, good character work. Giffen's art is dynamic and dramatic, and together, Levitz and Giffen balance the huge cast beautifully.
April 5, 2012
This brought back fond memories - the Great Darkness Saga was the one that turned me from a casual reader of the Legion into A Fan. The story beats are perfectly paced, and the art team of Giffen and Mahlstedt was just bringing their vision of the Legion and 30th-Century Metropolis into sharp focus. It also remains the best use of what's since become a badly overused ubervillain I've yet seen.
April 9, 2019
This will always be one of my very favorite comic book stories of all time. It's not just the build-up to one of the most epic stories in the DC Universe, it's that the Legion lived up to its full potential.
Every Legionnaire got his or her chance to shine and evolve. They were no longer walking stereotypes, they had lives and problems and just like everyone else, they dealt with it.
As a child I got cut short of the ending of the Great Darkness Saga and it was only years later that I finished a story that kept me on edge for so long.
Reading it now for the millionth time I went back to those years and allowed myself to breath nostalgia, but at the same time I could always appreciate how much love and work was put into this series.
It remains as a favorite of mine and it always will.
Long live the Legion.
Every Legionnaire got his or her chance to shine and evolve. They were no longer walking stereotypes, they had lives and problems and just like everyone else, they dealt with it.
As a child I got cut short of the ending of the Great Darkness Saga and it was only years later that I finished a story that kept me on edge for so long.
Reading it now for the millionth time I went back to those years and allowed myself to breath nostalgia, but at the same time I could always appreciate how much love and work was put into this series.
It remains as a favorite of mine and it always will.
Long live the Legion.
July 23, 2019
I totally get that this is an iconic storyline, and its influence on modern comics events (their plotting, their pacing, and their scale) is palpable.
HOWEVER. I have /never/ been a fan of the Legion of Super-Heroes. It's almost certainly me - I can't keep the kids or their powers straight; I don't know a Lad from a Boy. I always give the Legion a try, dipping my toes into nearly every iteration of the team, but it seems like the only one I can really get behind is the gee-whiz nostalgia of the original 1950s-1960s team.
So this book was off to a choppy start, diving not into "The Great Darkness Saga" but building up to it at the start of Paul Levitz's run. I had a pretty good grounding on where the characters were when the event proper began, but I still can't keep the names clear in my head.
Once Darkseid arrives, though, it's smooth sailing. Even if the Legion are indistinguishable for you, there's still a charge to Darkseid's plot, and a chill runs up your spine when he finally makes his presence known.
HOWEVER. I have /never/ been a fan of the Legion of Super-Heroes. It's almost certainly me - I can't keep the kids or their powers straight; I don't know a Lad from a Boy. I always give the Legion a try, dipping my toes into nearly every iteration of the team, but it seems like the only one I can really get behind is the gee-whiz nostalgia of the original 1950s-1960s team.
So this book was off to a choppy start, diving not into "The Great Darkness Saga" but building up to it at the start of Paul Levitz's run. I had a pretty good grounding on where the characters were when the event proper began, but I still can't keep the names clear in my head.
Once Darkseid arrives, though, it's smooth sailing. Even if the Legion are indistinguishable for you, there's still a charge to Darkseid's plot, and a chill runs up your spine when he finally makes his presence known.
June 4, 2017
My first real exposure to the Legion is supposedly a classic saga "decades ahead of its time." All I got from this however was the fact that this is probably one of the blandest things I've ever read. What you get here is basically a silver age, sci-fi soap opera with a couple of elements of Jack Kirby's Fourth World mythology chucked in. From the cover I thought I was getting an epic tale of Darkseid, one of Kirbys and DC Comics greatest villains, but he doesn't really pop up unti the closing section of the story and instead we observe a cast of characters including such "greats" as Bouncing Boy, Invisible Lad, Matter Eater Lad and Dream Girl, whose costume was one of the best things in this. One can certainly appreciate that at the time the twist and reveal of Darkseid as the hidden villain woud have been a huge surprise to the reader but when you compare this to what Chris Claremont and John Byrne were doing with the Uncanny X-Men at the same time over at Marvel; long form and densely plotted storytelling with innovative heroes and villains scattered from New York to outer space, you can see why their run is so fondly regarded and continues to have an influence not only on comic books but television and cinema to this day. Interesting as a curio to first time readers but not much else in my opinon.
August 13, 2017
The Great Darkness Saga represents the pinnacle of Keith Giffen's (super hero) comic book pencilling. After this, his style evolved to something far less traditional for capes-and-cowls. I wouldn't have stretched the GDS back as far as the editors chose to, but the additions of later stories that tied in with the Saga were nice, as I'd missed a couple of those.
February 21, 2023
Though it's a Kindle edition, this neatly fills up the gap in my otherwise-complete collection of the tales of the One True Legion of Super-heroes (nothing post-Zero Hour need apply).
Levitz (writer) begins with a series of one- and two-issue stories that are, individually, not all that remarkable, though they do advance the soap-operatic character development of several Legionnaires rather nicely. But in between these, we get little snippets of an ancient evil awakening on a ruinous and forgotten world. These build nicely to the five-issue "Saga" that gives this volume its name (and which -- along with the Legion's first Annual, which immediately precedes it -- was the earliest point in my collection of individual issues).
The dark one's "Servants" -- all-black humanoids with distinct shapes -- come to various worlds to steal various magical artifacts to feed their still-unnamed master. The Legion captures one of the Servants and discovers that she is a reverse-clone (whatever _that_ means) of a hero two thousand years dead. They figure out two others (an Oan "Guardian" and, um, Kal-El), but it leads them no closer to the dark one's identity until he considers himself ready to conquer the Universe.
To do this, he mentally enslaves the entire population of the planet Daxam -- a red-sunned world whose inhabitants, under a yellow sun, are somewhat more powerful than Superman -- and swaps their world's location for his, which is (of course) under a yellow sun. As their first work, he makes carve their planet into a huge bust of himself; here, at the end of the fourth of five issues, we learn that the ancient evil is Darkseid.
(It is worth mentioning here that at this point in the history of DC Comics, Jack Kirby's New Gods cycle had not yet been mainstreamed, and Darkseid had not yet been heavily used as a villain whenever something "cosmic" was wanted, so this was, in fact, a huge surprise to comics fans at the time, except for the few who had figured it out from the sparse clues in those snippets.)
So, of course, good wins over evil, though in unexpected ways, and Darkseid retreats, leaving the Legion with a god's curse.
Several other stories follow in this volume, but again, they are not generally special: like the ones before the "Saga" proper, they're solid stories from the team that would, shortly, bring the Legion to (in my opinion) its highest level.
Levitz (writer) begins with a series of one- and two-issue stories that are, individually, not all that remarkable, though they do advance the soap-operatic character development of several Legionnaires rather nicely. But in between these, we get little snippets of an ancient evil awakening on a ruinous and forgotten world. These build nicely to the five-issue "Saga" that gives this volume its name (and which -- along with the Legion's first Annual, which immediately precedes it -- was the earliest point in my collection of individual issues).
The dark one's "Servants" -- all-black humanoids with distinct shapes -- come to various worlds to steal various magical artifacts to feed their still-unnamed master. The Legion captures one of the Servants and discovers that she is a reverse-clone (whatever _that_ means) of a hero two thousand years dead. They figure out two others (an Oan "Guardian" and, um, Kal-El), but it leads them no closer to the dark one's identity until he considers himself ready to conquer the Universe.
To do this, he mentally enslaves the entire population of the planet Daxam -- a red-sunned world whose inhabitants, under a yellow sun, are somewhat more powerful than Superman -- and swaps their world's location for his, which is (of course) under a yellow sun. As their first work, he makes carve their planet into a huge bust of himself; here, at the end of the fourth of five issues, we learn that the ancient evil is Darkseid.
(It is worth mentioning here that at this point in the history of DC Comics, Jack Kirby's New Gods cycle had not yet been mainstreamed, and Darkseid had not yet been heavily used as a villain whenever something "cosmic" was wanted, so this was, in fact, a huge surprise to comics fans at the time, except for the few who had figured it out from the sparse clues in those snippets.)
So, of course, good wins over evil, though in unexpected ways, and Darkseid retreats, leaving the Legion with a god's curse.
Several other stories follow in this volume, but again, they are not generally special: like the ones before the "Saga" proper, they're solid stories from the team that would, shortly, bring the Legion to (in my opinion) its highest level.
January 3, 2024
This storyline was my first big introduction to the legion of superhero’s from the comic side. Every time before it had been either a side story from crisis on infinite earths or from the animated medium, and what an introduction it is. It not only gives great insight into the legion, but also into comics around this time in general.
I really liked how no matter what issues you were jumping between they made a point to fill you in on the current team dynamics. Who’s who, who’s now in charge, what is this persons ability…this all worked so we and was absolutely necessary for such a large team.
I also loved seeing the natural progression of comics during this time, from pages of panels filled with paragraphs describing everything, to focusing more on the art and panels and letting the reader interpret he description.
Looking at the story itself, definitely had a slower start and once we got in the action I feel like there is so much more to be expanded. (The booster gold comic from the modern age that picks up during this time is proof of that) But once it picked up it was no holds back. From the reveal and discovery of darkseid, and darkseid using his will to take control of 3 billion daximites is absolutely insane. Then returning to Kirby’s father and son never ending battle and the forces that are constantly balancing themselves out is wonderful.
And don’t even get me started on the major reveal at the end of the annual. Validus as the second child lightning lad and Saturn girl, perpetrated as further revenge by the defeated darkseid?!?! Was that a huge reveal, did people already know this?!?! That is insane to me, I knew the unstoppable legion enemy Validus but never knew that info.
I really liked how no matter what issues you were jumping between they made a point to fill you in on the current team dynamics. Who’s who, who’s now in charge, what is this persons ability…this all worked so we and was absolutely necessary for such a large team.
I also loved seeing the natural progression of comics during this time, from pages of panels filled with paragraphs describing everything, to focusing more on the art and panels and letting the reader interpret he description.
Looking at the story itself, definitely had a slower start and once we got in the action I feel like there is so much more to be expanded. (The booster gold comic from the modern age that picks up during this time is proof of that) But once it picked up it was no holds back. From the reveal and discovery of darkseid, and darkseid using his will to take control of 3 billion daximites is absolutely insane. Then returning to Kirby’s father and son never ending battle and the forces that are constantly balancing themselves out is wonderful.
And don’t even get me started on the major reveal at the end of the annual. Validus as the second child lightning lad and Saturn girl, perpetrated as further revenge by the defeated darkseid?!?! Was that a huge reveal, did people already know this?!?! That is insane to me, I knew the unstoppable legion enemy Validus but never knew that info.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 16, 2025
Supongo que este tomo (o a lo mejor otras versiones algo recortadas) ha sido la puerta de entrada a la legión de superhéroes para mucha gente. Yo me he encontrado con personajes de la legíón en muchos cómics, pero creo que esta es la primera historia exclusiva de la legión que leo.
Siempre he tenido algo de miedo de entrar en esta colección porque me daba la impresión de que son demasiados personajes y en cierto modos demasiado genéricos, lo primero es verdad pero lo segundo al menos en esta etapa no, son personajes con sus luces y sombras, con sus características bien marcadas y con personalidades no intercambiables (por lo que he oído en etapas anteriores no es tan así).
La cantidad de personajes, unido a la época en que se crearon estos cómics provoca ciertas reiteraciones obligadas en el guión. Contínuamente los personajes se refieren a sus compañeros por sus nombres reales o sus apodos, a veces de forma bastante forzada, para intentar evitar que el lector no habitual se vea confundido entre la gran variedad de personajes, lo mismo sucede con los contínuos recordatorios de los elementos de las diferentes subtramas o de la historia de los personajes, que en algunos casos se remonta a la década de los cincuenta.
Obviando estas soluciones de compromiso, necesarias en una colección con más de veinticinco personajes principales, y el gran volumen de texto, en realidad son cómics entretenidos que se disfrutan mucho si los lees con calma, sin pegarte atracones.
Esta edición me gusta porque no solo contiene los números de la saga de la gran oscuridad en sí, sino que añade unos cuantos números anteriores (desde que entra Levitz) y un par de números posteriores, así la cosa queda más en contexto y se exploran las consecuencias.
Siempre he tenido algo de miedo de entrar en esta colección porque me daba la impresión de que son demasiados personajes y en cierto modos demasiado genéricos, lo primero es verdad pero lo segundo al menos en esta etapa no, son personajes con sus luces y sombras, con sus características bien marcadas y con personalidades no intercambiables (por lo que he oído en etapas anteriores no es tan así).
La cantidad de personajes, unido a la época en que se crearon estos cómics provoca ciertas reiteraciones obligadas en el guión. Contínuamente los personajes se refieren a sus compañeros por sus nombres reales o sus apodos, a veces de forma bastante forzada, para intentar evitar que el lector no habitual se vea confundido entre la gran variedad de personajes, lo mismo sucede con los contínuos recordatorios de los elementos de las diferentes subtramas o de la historia de los personajes, que en algunos casos se remonta a la década de los cincuenta.
Obviando estas soluciones de compromiso, necesarias en una colección con más de veinticinco personajes principales, y el gran volumen de texto, en realidad son cómics entretenidos que se disfrutan mucho si los lees con calma, sin pegarte atracones.
Esta edición me gusta porque no solo contiene los números de la saga de la gran oscuridad en sí, sino que añade unos cuantos números anteriores (desde que entra Levitz) y un par de números posteriores, así la cosa queda más en contexto y se exploran las consecuencias.
May 6, 2025
I loved the Legion as a kid, and was a comic-collecting fanatic but, ultimately, very few stories other than Chris Claremont’s X-Men never held me.
This run was subpar all around. The first half of the collection has weak stories and mediocre to poor art. (I grew up on Neal Adams covers and later, Mike Grell pencils). The purpose of these abysmal stories is to hint at who the big bad is—though the art director/editor ruins the surprise villain right on the cover.
When the big bad is finally revealed, this god-like villain has no purpose, no coherent plan, turns a bunch of wizards into evil superheroes, and tends to laugh maniacally. The Legion is present and gets to fight—and lose—to the big bad’s minions. Luckily those wizards were able to summon a being to defeat the big bad before they were turned evil.
In the end, The Legion had very little to do with the outcome. There are attempts at characterization but there is no real sense that there is a threat or that the Legionnaires are even concerned. Worlds are destroyed and I guess that’s too bad.
The epilogue drags on for two more issues and then, it’s thankfully done.
I wish the writer/artist team had shared their vision of what the 30th century was like from technology to architecture to politics to culture. Everything feels like superficial set dressing, telling a story that could have taken place in the pages of Superman on 20th century earth.
If you read The Great Darkness Saga as a kid and loved it, continue to remember it fondly. If you’re starting it now for the first time, put it aside; I can share hundreds of better reads.
This run was subpar all around. The first half of the collection has weak stories and mediocre to poor art. (I grew up on Neal Adams covers and later, Mike Grell pencils). The purpose of these abysmal stories is to hint at who the big bad is—though the art director/editor ruins the surprise villain right on the cover.
When the big bad is finally revealed, this god-like villain has no purpose, no coherent plan, turns a bunch of wizards into evil superheroes, and tends to laugh maniacally. The Legion is present and gets to fight—and lose—to the big bad’s minions. Luckily those wizards were able to summon a being to defeat the big bad before they were turned evil.
In the end, The Legion had very little to do with the outcome. There are attempts at characterization but there is no real sense that there is a threat or that the Legionnaires are even concerned. Worlds are destroyed and I guess that’s too bad.
The epilogue drags on for two more issues and then, it’s thankfully done.
I wish the writer/artist team had shared their vision of what the 30th century was like from technology to architecture to politics to culture. Everything feels like superficial set dressing, telling a story that could have taken place in the pages of Superman on 20th century earth.
If you read The Great Darkness Saga as a kid and loved it, continue to remember it fondly. If you’re starting it now for the first time, put it aside; I can share hundreds of better reads.
February 4, 2025
I get the idea of Legion of Super-Heroes - moving the whole world ahead 1000 years means you can tell any story you want, introduce new characters and factions but still have some sort of familiar continuity where the Green Lantern Corps still exists and a time traveling Superboy/girl can pop in once in a while. However, the characters aren't compelling, their struggles and conflicts are still exactly the same as the Justice League was dealing with back in the 1980s so why bother?
The fights and battles that they get dragged into always suffer from the usual superhero plot holes and inconsistencies. A villain that seemingly absorbs all blows suddenly succumbs to what appears to be and equal or lesser blow without any justification than the hero really believed in themselves that time. The classic interpersonal drama during battles that was so perfectly skewered by Team America (which to be fair happened way after this was first published). A deus ex machina hero that appears in the 11th hour and also conveniently leaves after the big bad guy is eliminated, so the power dynamic or the core team remains intact. Team members with oddball really niche powers that wouldn't be useful but everyone can't just be a Superman clone, but also we have a couple of Superman clones.
I should probably give this a better rating but really I don't see much redeeming value for anyone reading this in 2025 or even twenty years ago.
The fights and battles that they get dragged into always suffer from the usual superhero plot holes and inconsistencies. A villain that seemingly absorbs all blows suddenly succumbs to what appears to be and equal or lesser blow without any justification than the hero really believed in themselves that time. The classic interpersonal drama during battles that was so perfectly skewered by Team America (which to be fair happened way after this was first published). A deus ex machina hero that appears in the 11th hour and also conveniently leaves after the big bad guy is eliminated, so the power dynamic or the core team remains intact. Team members with oddball really niche powers that wouldn't be useful but everyone can't just be a Superman clone, but also we have a couple of Superman clones.
I should probably give this a better rating but really I don't see much redeeming value for anyone reading this in 2025 or even twenty years ago.
June 24, 2025
I’ve been wanting to read the Great Darkness Saga for years! Unfortunately DC does not keep its backstories in publication like Marvel does. It was, however, finally republished this spring, and in a deluxe edition as well!
There are a few issues at the beginning of the volume that seem a little fluffy and I’m not quite sure what they serve to add to the plot of the Great Darkness Saga besides maybe a bit of Legion interpersonal background.
The story itself is pretty epic. With most of the Legionnaires having no idea who Darkseid is and most never having heard of him, it takes them almost four issues to realize who is kicking their butts. Darkseid having been penned away for thousands of years spends a great deal of the time in the shadows while his clone minions kidnap and steal magical artifacts to feed Darkseid’s recovery.
The Legion is in over their heads against Darkseid’s minions, let alone the New God himself, and ends up calling in almost every member who has ever served, which provides a nice who’s who of the Legion.
The Great Darkness Saga lives up to its name. Well worth a read.
There are a few issues at the beginning of the volume that seem a little fluffy and I’m not quite sure what they serve to add to the plot of the Great Darkness Saga besides maybe a bit of Legion interpersonal background.
The story itself is pretty epic. With most of the Legionnaires having no idea who Darkseid is and most never having heard of him, it takes them almost four issues to realize who is kicking their butts. Darkseid having been penned away for thousands of years spends a great deal of the time in the shadows while his clone minions kidnap and steal magical artifacts to feed Darkseid’s recovery.
The Legion is in over their heads against Darkseid’s minions, let alone the New God himself, and ends up calling in almost every member who has ever served, which provides a nice who’s who of the Legion.
The Great Darkness Saga lives up to its name. Well worth a read.
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March 12, 2023El Keith Giffen pre L.E.G.I.O.N. y pre-Liga de la Justicia era un dibujante poco menos que excepcional, atento a las modas de los 70 y 80, audaz y rapidísimo, y por eso me sorprende verle en pleno modo Kirbyanisme o barbarie.
Es gracioso que Paul Levitz, otro escritor-empleado de la DC Comics ascendido, fuera alumno de lengua en el instituto del escritor irlandés Frank McCourt (antes de su renacimiento como figura literaria) porque otra cosa no pero esta célebre Saga de la Gran Oscuridad (un infatuado homenaje a Darkseid y al Cuarto Mundo, en verdad) es prolija en detalles, diálogos, humor y un estilo de la edad de plata con solo los justos elementos para que pasara por un tebeo de la primera mitad de los 80. Es un tebeo que tiene una narración coral, basada en la anticipación, estupenda, y la forma de integrar a los Supers (Kara y el joven Superboy) es muy divertida, pero también es un gusto adquirido.
Es gracioso que Paul Levitz, otro escritor-empleado de la DC Comics ascendido, fuera alumno de lengua en el instituto del escritor irlandés Frank McCourt (antes de su renacimiento como figura literaria) porque otra cosa no pero esta célebre Saga de la Gran Oscuridad (un infatuado homenaje a Darkseid y al Cuarto Mundo, en verdad) es prolija en detalles, diálogos, humor y un estilo de la edad de plata con solo los justos elementos para que pasara por un tebeo de la primera mitad de los 80. Es un tebeo que tiene una narración coral, basada en la anticipación, estupenda, y la forma de integrar a los Supers (Kara y el joven Superboy) es muy divertida, pero también es un gusto adquirido.
February 8, 2017
I HATED IT!
Okay it's not necessarily bad, but it's not for me. It kind of sucks because I like the fourth word stories.
I couldn't finish it. At the 300 page mark I just wiki'd the ending and flipped through the rest to look at the bland 80s era artwork
I'm not sure why but the characters I couldn't connect to on any level.
The story had me thinking "so what?" Nothing grabbed me or seemed particularly interesting.
The dialogue had my eyes glazing over at every turn. I'd say it's dated, but I've read some books from that period I liked.
I just didn't care about any of it and wasn't enjoying myself.
Suggestion for those interested: get the regular version (200 pages) not this over stuffed version (400 pages) that will have you hating the legion by the time Great Darkness story actually starts around halfway.
Okay it's not necessarily bad, but it's not for me. It kind of sucks because I like the fourth word stories.
I couldn't finish it. At the 300 page mark I just wiki'd the ending and flipped through the rest to look at the bland 80s era artwork
I'm not sure why but the characters I couldn't connect to on any level.
The story had me thinking "so what?" Nothing grabbed me or seemed particularly interesting.
The dialogue had my eyes glazing over at every turn. I'd say it's dated, but I've read some books from that period I liked.
I just didn't care about any of it and wasn't enjoying myself.
Suggestion for those interested: get the regular version (200 pages) not this over stuffed version (400 pages) that will have you hating the legion by the time Great Darkness story actually starts around halfway.
May 2, 2020
A justified classic, with excellent pacing and a consistent sense of menace. Some of the earlier issues collected here feel a bit generic, with Bronze Age "beat 'em up" plotlines. But the characters and the storytelling mature and cohere as Paul Levitz as his collaborators grow comfortable with the sprawling Legion cast.
They do an excellent job differentiating the characters and building natural conflict stemming from the differing personalities. As the Legion go through their standard problems, they're largely unaware of the growing threat of a galaxy-spanning apocalypse.
The ending always feels a bit magical, and, well, it is. I always would have preferred for the Legion to have solved the threat entirely on their own, but the "Great Darkness Saga" does a great job of showing them lost, and then saved.
They do an excellent job differentiating the characters and building natural conflict stemming from the differing personalities. As the Legion go through their standard problems, they're largely unaware of the growing threat of a galaxy-spanning apocalypse.
The ending always feels a bit magical, and, well, it is. I always would have preferred for the Legion to have solved the threat entirely on their own, but the "Great Darkness Saga" does a great job of showing them lost, and then saved.
April 5, 2020
This edition collects not only the Great Darkness Saga but the issues leading up to that storyline which catches the reader up on some of the storylines surrounding the Legion's usually large cast of characters. A very early 80's vibe with a story that draws in mystery (although less so with this collected edition that has the mystery villain on the cover) and comic lore from the 20th century heroes into an entertaining and epic Legion of Super-Heroes story with its combination of superheroes, sci-fi, and soap opera style drama. The art was a collaborative effort, as many book of the time, with a few storylines with more individual artists styles coming through. Collects LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #284-296 and ANNUAL #1.
September 4, 2020
This collects Legion of Super-Heroes #284-296 and Annual #1, which I read originally when I was 10 and 11 and absolutely loved. Now I'm 49 and I love it just as much. Seriously, these comics really hold up - the action and adventure, interpersonal dynamics and romances, and the futuristic setting. I had no idea who Darkseid was when this was first published and really enjoyed the mystery aspect; if they had kept him off the cover, maybe not everyone would guess now. Keith Giffen and Larry Mahlstedt are a great art team, setting the look of the characters and the feel of the setting. Paul Levitz had written some Legion comics before this, but here is where he took over and took off. Classic Legion!
July 23, 2023
I absolutely loved this era of the Legion when I was a kid. I actually bought the first several issues of this arc right off the local drug store comic book rack when they came out. Unfortunately, that was the same time when my mom decided that comic books were Satanic, otherwise I would have read this whole run as it was published. I can only imagine what a nail-biter it must have been, especially in the spoiler-free pre-internet days. I wish I'd been there for the Darkseid surprise, but now they put him right on the cover (which I understand - it's a major selling point, and the statute of limitations on that reveal expired several decades ago). Nevertheless, this was the Legion at its prime.
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