By I caught this newsflash from Dan Didio after Turkey Day about a new title spinning out of Infinite Crisis: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Long time fans know this is a nod to the 1970s comic titled "Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes." These were the classic years, drawn by Dave Cockrum and Mike Grell, and the Legion became so popular as a result that they kicked Superboy out of his own series. Supergirl made regular visits to the future as well.
There was an ongoing plot related to the romance between Braniac 5 and Supergirl. Kara was able to do what no other woman could: get Braniac to think with his Johnson instead of his head. In this opening scene to one tale, we see Braniac's ultimate wish fulfillment, going away forever with his super beautiful girl (from S&LOSH #204, "Braniac's Secret Weakness").
I like the current Legion series by Mark Waid and Barry Kitson. I like it, but I don't love it. I don't feel really engaged by it yet, but I hope that will change. In looking at these hot-n-heavy scenes between Brainy and Kara, I think I know why. When I think back about the Legion, I remember a few key things. One was the romance angle, like this hot-n-heavy kiss. In looking back it may have been juvenile, but wouldn't it be cool to feature romance in today's Legion?
The second thing was the costumes the women wore. Those skimpy, skin-tight, suck-in-your breath outfits. My favorite was Saturn Girl's classic 70s number, leaving just about everything exposed. She wouldn't need to read my mind if I saw her wearing this in real life. I really wanna see this costume return to the present series. I'll buy five copies per issue to support sales. And get Frank Cho and Adam Hughes to draw Saturn Girl as well!
And last, the classic battles, like the Great Darkness Saga that had the Legion squaring off against Darkseid. It was the first time that I had ever seen Superboy and Supergirl with the Legion at the same time.
Re-reading this issue, in a few pages you really get the sense of Supergirl's character. Noble, self-sacrificing, and smart in combat, like in this scene where she throws Darkseid around a few times (click to expand). The newest Supergirl is a fierce warrior, but I haven't seen much character yet, like I said in my article last week covering Supergirl's first three issues.
I hope that changes in this new series. Apparently it doesn't replace Supergirl's solo series, since another article mentioned that Greg Rucka will take over as writer. At least Rucka realizes what needs to be done, but I can't say I've read too many straight superhero comics from him that I enjoyed. Will Waid write Supergirl and the Legion? Will the new Braniac 5 fall head over heels and maybe even have sex? Only time will tell. Nuff said.
Oh, costume-wise I am fully on your side. Please let the disco legion return, but also please, please please, don't let the stories of the disco legion return. It so hurts to read them.
Why I say so? Well, in the last month I made an experiment. I gug out as many old Legion issues as I could find, and I started to read them. LOSH from the 70s to the 90s. Ooh...uuuh... The beginning hurted very much. The early 80s wee beareable. Then everything became dark and gritty and darker and hopeless and... oh..uh...I still remember the standard 9-panel-layout which is what hurt me most. No dynamics. A unified looks in the issues but no dynamics. And the legion members were hunted, trying to rebuild a legion after the old one was torn down.. uhm...
Okay, this is more an article about supergirl, so I better shut up now.
Let the costumes return. :)
Over on my site (http://adventure247.blogspot.com), I identified at least nine candidates for which Supergirl might appear, ranging from the dead Earth-1 Kara to Peter David's Earth Angel to the current version.
I always liked Night Girl's redesigned costume, that one showed a lot more than Saturn Girl's.
You forgot to mention that the Supergirl story you show pictures of is the one where Brainy had a, um, slight mental lapse and built a Supergirl robot that would fall in love with him, and he didn't remember doing it.
I hate it when that happens.
http://adventure247.blogspot.com
My favorite Legion era was with Paul Levitz as the writer, especially the issues from 280-310, including the Great Darkness Saga. The first Legion Annual they did with Computo and the new Invisible Kid was awesome. Legion has never been the same since Levitz left.
That dark Legion period you mentioned had some funny stuff with Matter-Eater Lad, but I don't remember a great deal about it. The storyline for it was mangled as a result of Crisis and the Superboy retcon.
It was Shadow Lass that had the really great costume, not Night Girl.