Favorite Legion Era?

[The Mighty King Cobra]

We all know that the mighty Legion has "rebooted" so often that it takes three geeks and a keg of lager to figure out timelines, memberships, and who is and isn't currently dead.

I, myself, am just getting used to the idea that Sun Boy isn't dead again, and Invisible Kid I is alive...  but, it should be noted, I'm old.

So, what's your favorite Legion era?

My vote:  The Volume 4 Keith Giffen "grown-up" Legion.  Yes, it's full of cliches and strangeness, and suffers from the "darkness" that plagued comics in the 90's, but it was interesting to see the "boys" and "kids" and "lasses" grow up.  Heck, a lot of the characterization we take for granted these days (notably the assertive Shrinking Violet, the smack first, ask questions later Ultra Boy, and the spiritual aspects of Mon-El) originated there.  They even had realistic explanations of marriage, breakups, and one of mainstream comics' earliest gay relationships.  Also, the fact that Tenzil (the former Matter-Eater Lad) was an essential member of the crew, NOT for his negligable powers, but for his contacts, political clout, and ability to talk his way out of virtually anything, really underscored the point of the Legion:  Everybody has something to contribute.  Even the girl who splits in three.

Even that horrific last year leading up to the reboot don't kill what was an excellent setup for character growth among our heroes.

Agreement?  Dissent?  Banana slug?

[schleicher12000]

My favorite era was the 4th Series from 1989 - 2000.  The art was great, the writing was well done by McCraw, Giffen, and especially Mark Waid.  I especially liked the fact that we essentially got two LoSH issues a month with the LEGION crossovers happening every other week.  I was in Atlanta at the time, and getting to the store was hit and miss, so I was missing quite a few issues from that time.  Fortunately, the Chort and I have been hitting Kansas comic shops filling in the back issues.

Favorite Legionnaires?  Triad and Saturn Girl.  Was not that big of fan of Violet until she was possesed by the Emerald Eye, then she got interesting.

[yoyology]

Do the Superfriends count as a Legion iteration?

If so, my favorite is Gleek.  If not, it's the Composite Superman (yeah, so he's a villain.  So what?)

[Slappy]

Like most people, I like the Era from my childhood.  I liked th 80's.  The original 3 were gone, Karate kid was dead, and a bunch of very odd looking members just started.  Quislet was sweel and very different.  Wildfire was able to form his own body, and Lightning Lass was having a relationship with a much younger Magnetic Kid.
Blok even had some swell stories.

[Navarre]

Pheh, that's the new stuff.

Everyone knows Saturn Girl wore a pink bathing suit, Bouncing Boy had lost his powers, Blok and the White Witch hadn't even joined yet, and Grimbor the Chainsman was beating the tar out of Karate Kid.

[SpiderLover]

Unfortunately since I live vicariously through Matthew's raves on the Legion. The only other book I am currently reading is the new one, which some people like and others hate. As a new fan I like the plot hooks, but I suspect if I was a long time fan I'd be rolling around and spitting bile.

[Kara Zor-El]

My favorite Legion (if you can't tell from my avatar) is the Two-boot, mostly the Legion Issues along with Legion Lost.  Before I actually read those comics I had watched the cartoon and I became obsessed with finding out as much about the Legion as I could.  And then I found two-boot and for me the transition from Cartoon to Comic was made easier by the fun going on in the Legion when I read the comics.  Actually, funny note, my first Legion issue was the Teen Titan's Legion tie in 'The Future is Now' and my actual first exposore to the Legion was a page in Team Titan's.  It was a thing for Legionaries and I couldn't make sense out of it at all at the time, but then again I was only thirteen.

Besides, Brainic Five rocked then.

Second favorite time was... Hm... I am not sure.  I didn't like the Five Year Later Legion at all though, that much I know for sure.  Everything past the 'Trial of Brainiac Five Issue' gets a little fuzzy for me.

[tidge]

I have a distinct fondness for several different Legion eras, with no clear favorite.

The Silver Age, Jim Shooter 1.0 Legion has a magic all its own. It's impossible to undervalue his contribution to the Legion mythos...hardly a year of LSH stories goes by without reference something from the imagination of a young Jim Shooter. Some of those stories become really *odd* (I think he wrote the Ayla/Brin "addictive apples" story) but it is amazing that TPTB let him run with it.

I found the Baxter era Legion to have the smartest looking character designs, although the run reminds me of a slow motion train wreck...my fondness comes from the fact that they kept this going for so long despite weird editorial mandates (Crisis the first, Superman Reboot the first, Millenium).

The 5YLater arc was inspired...and even the fanfic elements were tolerable. I thought it was really clever to have 5 untold years in the Legion, because 99% of all Legion readers were essentially missing important backstory *anyway* because of the long convoluted history of the characters!

My favorite was probably the post-Zero-Hour "Archie" Legion. The reboot was clever, and there was enough new material mixed with classic ideas that I found it to be both fun and accessible.

The latest (2010) stories are somewhat of a mixed bag. I buy the books monthly, but I read about six months at a time. I think I'm enjoying them this way more than the average reader. I dislike crossovers (still haven't read the New Krypton material) so I hope the LSH stays firmly planted in the 31st century.