LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES

The Original Legion

Chronology of the Original Legion

+ About the Different DC Universe Realities

  1. Original Reality (April 1958-January 1986):
    The original Legion of Super-Heroes reality was one of several possible future timelines of the parallel world called Earth-One (the other major timeline was Earth After Disaster, the world of Kamandi). On Earth-One, Superman began his heroic career while a young man, calling himself Superboy. His teenage exploits inspired the formation of the 30th century Legion of Super-Heroes. The Legionnaires traveled back in time to meet Superboy, who joined the team and shared many adventures with them throughout his teen years. Although Superman no longer regularly visited the Legion after he reached adulthood, his teenage cousin Supergirl (Kara Zor-El of Krypton) became a Legionnaire, often meeting Superman as a teenager. Superman and Supergirl also visited one of the Legion's possible futures, meeting adult versions of the teenage Legionnaires. The pre-Crisis timeline came to an end in 1986 during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, when the multiverse was destroyed and replaced by a new unified timeline with no alternate Earths and an altered history.
  2. Post-Crisis Reality (January 1986-March 1990):
    In the new timeline, which will be referred to as the "post-Crisis reality," Superman was the only survivor of Krypton. His powers did not develop fully until he was an adult, and he never had a career as Superboy. Superboy existed only in a "Pocket Universe" created by one of the Legion's greatest foes, the Time Trapper, a powerful entity who dwelled at the end of time. The Trapper orchestrated the creation of the Legion in order to oppose the sorcerer Mordru, who was otherwise destined to rule the universe. To that end, the Trapper created Superboy, the Legion's historic inspiration, and connected his world to the Legion's so that the Legionnaires would believe Superboy was part of their history. Superboy still became a member of the Legion, but whenever the Legionnaires traveled back in time to visit him, the Trapper surreptitiously diverted them to the Pocket Universe. Superboy eventually discovered the truth and died saving his world from the Time Trapper's machinations. He did not live to become Superman. In the "real" universe, Superman was the only survivor of Krypton. Kara Zor-El never existed, and the post-Crisis Supergirl is a protoplasmic life form created in the Pocket Universe, not a Kryptonian; she was never a Legionnaire. The post-Crisis Legion timeline virtually unraveled when Mon-El destroyed the Time Trapper, thereby removing all of the historical tampering he had done to cause the Legion's formation.
  3. Glorith Reality (March 1990-September 1994):
    With the destruction of the Time Trapper, a divergent timeline was created in which the Legion never existed. Without the Legion, the sorcerer Mordru conquered the universe in the 30th century. The inhabitants of that timeline discovered that history had been altered and made a bargain with Mordru's ambitious First Wife, Glorith of Baaldur, to cast a magical spell to put Glorith in the place of the vanished Time Trapper. When the spell was cast, a new timeline, referred to as the "Glorith reality" was created in which the Legion was inspired by a 20th-century hero called Valor (who had been Mon-El in the previous timeline), who eventually emerged in the 30th century and joined the Legion, filling the roles played in previous timelines by both Superboy and Mon-El. A descendant of Valor, Laurel Gand, also joined the Legion, filling the role played by Supergirl in the pre-Crisis timeline. Superboy and the Pocket Universe still existed, but the Legion met him as a stranger only a few weeks before his death. The Glorith reality was shattered when Glorith attempted to alter history to win the heart of Valor and accidentally caused his death in the 20th century, years before he had fulfilled his historical destiny. As a result of this disaster, the Time Trapper was able to reassert his existence in Glorith's reality, leading to an unraveling of time that culminated in the Legion's entire 30th century timeline coming to an end.
  4. Legion 2 ("Reboot"/post-Zero Hour/Earth-247, October 1994-present):
    In the wake of the destruction of the Glorith timeline and the events of Zero Hour: Crisis in Time, a completely new Legion timeline was created with no direct links to any of the three previous realities. This new timeline is referred to as the "Reboot Reality" and described in the Legion 2 (post-Zero Hour) section.
  5. Legion 3 ("Threeboot"/Earth-Prime, 2005-present):
    With the changes wrought by Alexander Luthor and Superboy Prime during Infinite Crisis, reality was altered once again. The resulting Legion (3) is commonly referred to as the "Threeboot" and described in the Legion 3 section. Earth-0's Supergirl was a member of this Legion.

+ Standards

  1. The history is constructed assuming that all timelines are valid. Events are listed regardless of whether they were retroactively eliminated or not.
  2. Color Codes:
    A new member joins the Legion.
    A major story arc.
    A Legionnaire dies.
    Events that took place only in pre-Crisis continuity, not in any of the post-Crisis timelines.
    Adult Legion stories: These were an alternate future timeline for the pre-Crisis Legion. They were not the "real" future of the Legion and were not part of Legion continuity, although some of them were part of Superman/Supergirl continuity.
    Imaginary Stories that are not technically part of any continuity.
    Events that took place only in the Glorith reality, not in pre-Crisis continuity or in the Time Trapper-dominated post-Crisis timeline.
  3. Issue information in parentheses indicates one of two things: (a) the tale was retold/corroborated in additional stories, and/or (b) the tale was told out of chronological order. Certain events that have never been chronicled in print (the five-year gap, Kid Quantum's admission and "death", etc.) use asterisks (*) in place of issue numbers and cover dates.
  4. Characters' first appearance IN PRINT is bolded. This often differs from their first chronological appearance.
  5. When the placement of a tale within continuity is in question, the event is usually placed in the most recent possible time.
  6. All 30th Century dates come from 2995: The Legion of Super-Heroes Sourcebook and/or Legion of Super-Heroes (volume 4).
  7. Only the inheritors to a title display the level of succession. Example: "Invisible Kid II" (for Jacques Foccart), but just "Invisible Kid" (no "I" for Lyle Norg).
  8. Consideration for inclusion is based on an event's relevancy to the Legion, its members and their legacy. This includes major Legion series and key issues from other DCU series.
  9. Comics book titles have been abbreviated:
    Legion v.1 = Legion of Super-Heroes, 4-issue limited series (reprint only, 1973)
    Legion v.2 = Legion of Super-Heroes, 2nd series (#259-313; continues numbering of Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes, 1980-84)
    Legion v.3 = Legion of Super-Heroes, 3rd series, 55 issues (1984-88)
    Legion v.4 = Legion of Super-Heroes, 4th series, 125 issues (1989-2000)
    Superboy v.1 = Superboy, 1st series, #172,173, 176, 178, 183, 184, 188, 190, 191, 193, 195 (1971-73)
    Superboy & the Legion = Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes (#197-258; continues numbering of Superboy, 1st series, 1973-79)
    Tales of the Legion  = Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes (#314-354; continues numbering of Legion of Super-Heroes, 2nd series; 1984-87)
    LG* = Legionnaires

Jump to It!

PART 1:
20th Century (Silver Age) 		PART 2:
20th-29th Century 		PART 3:
2918-2974 (Early 30th Century) 		PART 4:
2975-2979 (Adventure & Action) 		PART 5:
2980-2983 (Superboy & the Legion)		 PART 6:
2984-2986 (Legion vol. 2) 		PART 7:
2987-2993 (Legion vol. 3) 		PART 8:
2994-Zero Hour (Legion vol. 4)

Bonus Chronologies!

Wish you could read the events of just one cohesive timeline? Do it here:

Original, pre-Crisis events only Continuity after Crisis on Infinite Earths Continuity after Mon-El destroyed the Time Trapper (Glorith reality)

 

My Collaborators

The following is the most complete Legion of Super-Heroes Chronology ever compiled, originally written by myself, with additional entries and edits from John Censullo. More edits were performed on the pre-Zero Hour material by Aaron Severson and the post-reboot material by Brian Mendus.

Not only are these guys great to work with, their material is, in my opinion, superior in quality to most Legion fan endeavors.