I tend to hide the fact that I am mildly Legion-curious, and Jesse works hard to rag on them and or out me. True, I followed the Waid run with great excitement. Here was a writer that I liked and respected writing a team that he expressed great love for. Throw in art by Barry Kitson and I couldn’t help but give it a try. Jesse on the other hand is much more discriminating; all sorts of walls go up and alarums go off when you hint at the suggestion of reading a LSH story. All of this got me to thinking about what it would take to get Jesse to follow the team with regularity… or at all. For me it was Waid… for Jesse the bar is set a bit higher.

The Legion has had at least as many reboots and incarnations as I’ve had birthdays. For the purpose of this discussion, let’s take it back to the original concept: rebellious teens inspired by Superboy and the Justice League to combat evil. They don’t grow up; they don’t get married; like Bruce Wayne they remain perpetually a certain age, + or – four years. The trick for any writer here then is to remember that these are kids; some of them are just hitting or are right in the middle of puberty. They’re not going to react to an adult situation in the same way as the JLA or the Science Police.

So who can hack it writing teenagers in such a way that Jesse would willingly pick up the book? Sure, Jesse’d read anything Grant Morrison wrote. I’m not sure he’d capture the right feel for the book though. The closest he’s probably come is his work on Doom Patrol. Hmmmm… Maybe not Mr. Morrison then.

On the other hand Jesse’ll read anything by Jeff Parker too! Here’s a guy with the right pedigree. His X-Men: First Class was pitch perfect. Each member had a distinct voice and it wasn’t watered down adult voice either. Specifically I’d point to any page where Iceman opens his mouth or the scenes where Angel sits in class daydreaming of flying. I don’t know how he did it, but Parker wrote a teen team book where everyone was enjoyable, realistic, and unique; hell, we rarely get that in TEEN Titans much less the LSH. Further, Parker has ample experience writing team dynamics (see: Marvel Adventures: Avengers, Agents of Atlas, and the above mentioned X-Men: First Class.

Who can bring Parker’s Legion to life? Jesse’d read it if Rob Liefeld drew it, but few others would. I’m thinking Mike Allred for this job. There aren’t many artists that spring to my mind when I think of fun art. It’s fluid and elegant in a simple way. Perfect for a book about teens in the future.

At any rate, I’d buy the book, and I’d make sure Jesse had a copy of the first trade. Still though, it’s just my imagination running away with me…