Legion of Super Heroes cartoon
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Contents
Introduction
Legion of Super Heroes is an animated show on the CW Network that debuted in the US on September 23, 2006, and in the UK on March 5, 2007. The premise of Season 1 is that in order to defeat the Fatal Five in the 31st century, the Legion travels back in time to find the young Superman. However, they go back to a time where Clark Kent has not taken on the Superman mantle yet, and is still learning his powers. He decides to go to the 31st century to help the Legion and become proficient at his powers. The series centers on the young Superman's adventures in the 31st century, fighting alongside a group of futuristic superheroes known as the "Legion of Super Heroes". In Season 2, Superman returns two years later - older, wiser, and more powerful - to assist in fighting off the menace of Imperiex, along with a clone of his from the 41st century.
The show somewhat follows the Justice League Unlimited format in that there is a core group of Legionnaires present through most or all episodes, and a rotating cast of recurring characters that appear from time to time. The regular cast, as seen in promotional material, consists of (alphabetically) Bouncing Boy, Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl, Superman, and Timber Wolf. For a full list of members, see the List of members/LSH cartoon.
This series is not in the same continuity as the Legion episodes in the Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League Unlimited, which took place in the "DC Animated Universe" or "DCAU".
Press Release (Season 1)
LEGION OF SUPER HEROES, 11:00-11:30 am: In the year of "Superman Returns" at Warner Bros., Kids' WB! is proud to present a new series developed especially for the "Too Big For Your TV" block by Warner Bros. Animation, inspired by the DC Comics legend. One thousand years from now, a group of teenage super heroes travel back in time to recruit the greatest hero of all, Superman, and enlist him their fight against evil in the 31st Century. While their intentions were good, their time travel skills were not, and Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Brainiac 5, Phantom Girl, Bouncing Boy and Timber Wolf end up going too far back into the past, accidentally retrieving the young Superman, before he moved to Metropolis. Together, this unlikely Legion of Super Heroes bands together to defend the rights of all free worlds and uphold the laws of the newly formed United Planets. That is, if they don't kill each other first. LEGION OF SUPER HEROES combines humor with high-stakes, grand-scale super heroics to create the ultimate sci-fi, super hero fantasy for kids of all ages. Each episode of this fast-paced, character-driven action comedy will pit Superboy and the Legion against otherworldly threats and adversaries who challenge the team on both super heroic and emotional levels. The series is executive produced by Sander Schwartz, and produced by Linda Steiner and James Tucker for Warner Bros. Animation.
Press Release (Season 2)
The second season of Legion of Super Heroes finds the group fulfilling their collective destiny, each member elevating his skills to new levels ... just in time to face even greater challenges. A incomprehensibly undefeatable nemesis -- Imperiex, the destroyer of galaxies from the rich annals of DC Comics -- puts the Legion into action alongside new team members. Superman returns from the 21st century with greater development of both his physical prowess and far better utilization of his powers to help the Legion toward victory in the 31st century and beyond. Moreover, the Legion finds a surprising, new ally from across the space-time continuum -- a 41st century Superman, cloned from the original Superman with alien DNA added to the mix for new, enhanced powers -- to assist in its efforts to rid the universe of this powerful foe. Along the way, the LOSH -- including new members like Chameleon Boy -- provides the perfect complement of heroics and comedy to the efforts of the Supermans [sic].
Legal status issues
The show was originally to star Superboy, but legal issues involving the ownership of the character arose in the summer of 2006 and led Warner Bros. to rename the character Superman instead. The original press release said that the Legion landed in the time of "the young Superboy", while the revised press release description said that the Legion retrieved "the young Superman, before he moved to Metropolis".
Cast
The series as seen in Season 1 revolved around a core group of seven Legionnaires, but others were seen from time to time in recurring roles. The "core team" consisted of Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Brainiac 5, Phantom Girl, Bouncing Boy and Timber Wolf. Chameleon Boy joins the main cast in Season 2. Below is a list of all Legionnaires who appeared in the series.
Legionnaires
| Character | Voice Actor |
| Blok | N/A |
| Bouncing Boy | Michael Cornacchia |
| Brainiac 5 | Adam Wylie |
| Chameleon Boy | Alex Polinsky |
| Colossal Boy | Adam Wylie |
| Cosmic Boy | Wil Wheaton |
| Dawnstar | unknown |
| Dream Girl | N/A |
| Element Lad | N/A |
| Karate Kid | unknown |
| Lightning Lad | Andy Milder |
| Matter-Eater Lad | Alex Polinsky |
| Phantom Girl | Heather Hogan |
| Saturn Girl | Kari Wahlgren |
| Shrinking Violet | Kari Wahlgren |
| Star Boy | N/A |
| Sun Boy | N/A |
| Superman | Yuri Lowenthal |
| Timber Wolf | Shawn Harrison |
| Triplicate Girl | Kari Wahlgren |
| Tyroc | N/A |
Other Legionnaires
During the show's development, concept sketches of XS were seen during the show's development, along with sketches of other Legionnaires, but she did not appear in Season 1.
In Season 1, some Legionnaires were mentioned or shown as images before making an actual appearance. Fourteen members were shown during the season as already active (Blok, Bouncing Boy, Brainiac 5, Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, Dream Girl, Element Lad, Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl, Shrinking Violet, Sun Boy, Triplicate Girl, and Tyroc), with five more being added during that time (Superman, Timber Wolf, Matter-Eater Lad, Star Boy, and Ferro Lad).
The opening credits sequences included a glimpse of the Mission Monitor Board signs for many Legionnaires as well as shots of flying Legionnaires who would be seen in later episodes (though not all of those with Mission Monitor Board symbols appeared). At least four members of the Legion as seen in the comics appeared in some way on the show but had not joined by the end of the first season (Lightning Lass, Wildfire, Ultra Boy, and Polar Boy).
Below is a list of other Legionnaires mentioned or shown in some way that have not yet appeared on the show. As they appear, they will be moved to the Main/Recurring Character list above.
| Character | Nature of cameo |
| Dawnstar | reported to appear |
| Karate Kid | appears in opening credits |
Villains
| Character | Voice Actor |
| Fatal Five | |
| Emerald Empress (leader) | Jennifer Hale (season 1), Tara Strong (season 2) |
| Mano | N/A |
| Persuader | N/A |
| Tharok | David Lodge |
| Validus | N/A |
| Dr. Mar Londo | Harry J. Lennix (season 1), Dorian Harewood (season 2) |
| Alexis Luthor | Tara Strong |
| Drax | Greg Ellis |
| Legion of Super-Villains | |
| Esper | Tara Strong |
| Hunter | Khary Payton |
| Mekt Ranzz/Lightning Lord | James Arnold Taylor |
| Ron-Karr | Shawn Harrison |
| Tyr | Khary Payton |
| Wave | N/A |
| Starfinger | Taylor Negron |
| Zyx | Lauren Tom |
| Mordru (as "Evil Wizard") | Richard McGonagle |
| Sun-Eater | N/A |
| Imperiex | Phil Morris |
| Computo | Adam Wylie |
| Nemesis Kid | unknown |
| Grimbor | unknown |
Other characters
| Character | Voice Actor |
| Jo Nah of Rimbor | James Arnold Taylor |
| Winema Wazzo | April Winchell |
| Legion of Substitute Heroes | |
| Chlorophyll Kid | Alex Polinsky |
| Color Kid | James Arnold Taylor |
| Infectious Lass | Kari Wahlgren |
| Porcupine Pete | James Arnold Taylor |
| Stone Boy | Yuri Lowenthal |
Staff and Crew
This is not a complete list.
| Job title/description | staffer(s) |
| Executive Producer | Sander Schwartz |
| Producer | James Tucker, Linda Steiner (season 1 only) |
| Associate Producer | A. J. Vargas (season 1), Amy McKenna (season 2) |
| Series Story Editor | Rob Hoegee (season 1), Michael Jelenic (season 2) |
| Series Directors | Ben Jones, Tim Maltby, Lauren Montgomery (season 1), Scott Geralds, James Tucker, Brandon Vietti (season 2) |
| Main Title Theme | Kristopher Carter |
| Music | Kristopher Carter, Michael McCustion, Lolita Ritmanis |
| Casting and Voice Director | Kelly Ward (season 1), Susan Blu (season 2) |
| Writers | Stan Berkowitz, John Esposito, Rob Hoegee, Rob Hummel, Marty Isenberg, David Slack, Scott Sonneborn, Matt Wayne, Amy Wolfram (all season 1), J. M. DeMatteis, Michael Jelenic, Matt Wayne, Greg Weisman (known writers for season 2) |
| Art Director | Dave Johnson |
| Character Designer | Derrick J. Wyatt, Glenn Wong |
| Storyboards | Irineo Maramba, Jay Baker |
| Backgrounds/Props | Norm Ryang, Eric Canete, Chad Townshend |
| Voice editing/ADR, post-production | Mark Keefer |
List of episodes
| Episode number | Episode Title | Original Air Date (US) |
| 1.01 | Man of Tomorrow | September 23, 2006 |
| 1.02 | Timber Wolf | September 30, 2006 |
| 1.03 | Legacy | October 7, 2006 |
| 1.04 | Fear Factory | November 18, 2006 |
| 1.05 | Champions | November 11, 2006 |
| 1.06 | Phantoms | November 4, 2006 |
| 1.07 | Child's Play | February 24, 2007 |
| 1.08 | Lightning Storm | February 10, 2007 |
| 1.09 | Brain Drain | February 3, 2007 |
| 1.10 | The Substitutes | February 17, 2007 |
| 1.11 | Chain of Command | March 3, 2007 |
| 1.12 | Sundown pt. 1 | April 28, 2007 |
| 1.13 | Sundown pt. 2 | May 5, 2007 |
| 2.01 | Man from the Edge of Tomorrow pt. 1 | September 22, 2007 |
| 2.02 | Man from the Edge of Tomorrow pt. 2 | September 29, 2007 |
| 2.03 | Cry Wolf | October 6, 2007 |
| 2.03 | Chained Lightning | October 13, 2007 |
Awards and Nominations
2006-07 Season
The series was named "Best Animated Series" of 2006 by Wizard Magazine in the January 2007 issue.
The series was nominated [1] for three Creative Arts Emmy Awards, a subset of the Daytime Emmy Awards:
- Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition
- Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing - Live Action and Animation
- Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing - Live Action and Animation
Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century
The comic series Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century follows the continuity of the cartoon series. Some issues will adapt televised episodes, others will have original material.
DVD Releases
Legion of Super Heroes Vol. 1, with the first four episodes, was released on DVD on August 28, 2007. Vol. 2 is due in February 2008. Volume 3 and the complete season set are be forthcoming.
