Gabbin' 'Bout Giffen: Legion Five Years Later

Screw It, We're Just Gonna Talk About Comics

We continue looking at the career of writer/artist Keith Giffen. This week we look at his "Legion of Super-Heroes: Five Years Later" story. Starting from their creation in the late 1950s, the Legion of Super Heroes stories were sunny and optimistic. After all, these were teen heroes in the future who had been inspired by the (relative to their time) ancient story of Superman. Giffen had even been an artist and sometimes plotter of a run on this title in the early 1980s. But in 1989, Giffen led the characters into a big tonal shift. "Five Years Later" sees the team broken up, demoralized, often refusing their superhero names. The world has become dystopian, with an evil police state running things. A huge shift, and a fascinating and great story. We cover the first issue of this run.