If the rumours are true (and since basically everyone else is treating them as such, we may as well too) then the Legion Of Super-Heroes could be a break from the grim-and-gritty tone the DC Cinematic Universe has been angling for so far. Man Of Steel and Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice are full of death, destruction, muted colour palettes and frowning, which isn't really simpatico with the Legion's whole deal. Unless you're talking about the 2000 miniseries Legion Lost which saw the team stranded in a far corner of the galaxy and forced to abandon all their morals in order to survive and get home, but we'll get to that later. Introduced during the fun-loving Silver Age of comic books, the group first appeared in the April 1958 edition of Adventure Comics, which introduced Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, and Cosmic Boy - three precocious, super powered teenagers who put together a sort of "club" for like minded metahumans, robots, and cool alien folk. Over the years the membership grew to include all sorts of bizarre, inventive and colourful characters from all parts of the universe, who were sortied to deal with intergalactic threats more in line with the Clangers than the Kryptonian despots from Man Of Steel. The characters and their series were inherently more light and jovial in their approach, truly old-school comics full of innocence, bright colours and absolutely no death.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
