Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes

Short stories set in the world of DC Comics' Legion of Super-Heroes.

Quantum Leaping (2010)

There are no bad characters, only bad stories.
The challenge was to be assigned two Legionnaires that pretty much everybody disliked and put them in a story that made people care about them. I hope I managed that.

The More Things Change (2011)

Write a story in which a dead character is resurrected.
I picked a character who died in the comic in 1963, and I tried to write the story in the simplistic style of that era's comics. I'm not sure the stylistic experiment really worked though.

Phantom Girl's Startling Secret (2012)

Pick a Legionnaire and turn them "bad".
Again I was experimenting with old-style storytelling, this time using the "mystery story" format, where the comic would begin with something unthinkable apparently happening and then explain the clever trick of why it happened.

Object of DOOM! (2013)

Team up the Legion with any other team from any other universe.
Lots of options I could have chosen for this one, but I couldn't pass up an opportunity to script the world's greatest fighting team: The Fantastic Four.

Cloudland (2014)

Write a story based on _this_ drawing.
It was common for comic editors to commission a cover illustration first and then have a writer think up a story to go with it. The drawing I was given showed Dawnstar held in a giant hand. I think it was supposed to be Validus (a villain), but that would have been too easy ...

25 Years Later (2014)

Use the concept of a 25th anniversary in some way.
If I were ever given the job of relaunching the Legion of Super-Heroes comic, this is probably how I would do it. (I have the sequel to this story plotted. One day I might even write it.)

A Cold Day In ... (2015)

Divergence: change one single detail in the Legion's history and show the effect of that change.
I chose to correct the greatest injustice in Legion history: the rejection of Polar Boy's application for membership.

Quantum of Sunlight (2016)

Tell a story set in the Legion's future that we were shown in the "Adult Legion" story.
Sun Boy didn't appear in Jim Shooter's classic Adult Legion story of 1967, so I decided to explain why not.

From Kathoon with Love (2017)

Put the Legion in a James Bond style story.
Well, I more-or-less did that. It's not exactly a Legion story, it's ... something.

No Way Out (2018)

Pick a comic where some Legionnaires were absent, and explain why they were absent.
With too many comics to choose from, I just picked the one I had read most recently. Which also allowed me to use my favourite Legionnaire.