I didn’t realize until the DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration one-shot that Gold Lantern was of Filipino descent and blind.
Will Gold Lantern’s backstory be more fully explored in the JL vs. Legion miniseries.
7 Likes
You’ve written a lot about Talia through Event Leviathan and Checkmate. Many writers seem to have very different understandings on her motivations, who she is as a character, and her relationships to Batman, Damian, and her father. Who do you understand Talia to be? What books have most influenced this understanding?
10 Likes
Huge Legion fan here, though I know the future setting and dense roster sometimes makes it difficult for even some of my friends who are DC fans to engage with their stories. To you, what is the “pitch” for more fans giving the Legion a chance? What’s the unique spark to that aspect of DC’s storytelling?
9 Likes
Alright–it’s time for this Q&A to start! Thanks everyone for joining! 
11 Likes
Thank you both for being here!
Mr. Bendis, this is a very specific question and you may not have an answer for this, but I have to ask: in the Ultimate Spider-Man Script Book that Marvel released a while back, you mentioned that you often write things that you never mean for anyone to see so that you can better understand certain characters, but occasionally, like with USM #45 (the Aunt May therapy issue) these become actual published issues. What kind of behind the scenes character building stories have you written during your time at DC, and have any of these ever been published?
10 Likes
question for bendis i am just wondering how will legion vs justice league factor into death of the justice league?
9 Likes
SG: Favorites to draw are probably Shadow Lass, Monster Boy and Element Lad!
BB: Thank you! I feel it’s every legion creators job to add toys to the toybox…I do feel that after this Justice league/Legion of superheroes epic saga Scott and I are in the middle of telling that you will feel very familiar with the gold lantern. You get his origin story and you get to learn a lot about him right here. The other characters like monster boy, who is named after our dear friend Arune, is also someone we have a fondness for. But I’m often torn between my obligation towards filling out the characters and giving the classic legionnaires as much screen time as humanly possible. A lot of Legion fans have waited a long time for real substantive legion stories.
9 Likes
BB: Tough question to answer without spoiling anything. Everything will fit together. Most of our story takes place a thousand years from now so as always the big spoiler is that there is a future! So someone survives whatever’s going on after our run in Justice league…also, many media outlets have me listed as one of the creators on justice league 75. I am not part of that storyline and I wouldn’t want to take credit away from those who are.
9 Likes
SG: Legion strikes me as the Star Trek of the DC universe. It feels very hopeful and adventurous and with 30 members you’re sure to find one to identify with.
BB: Legion has always been like some sort of glorious next level superhero experience…if you like the intricate drama of the X-Men and the massive mythology of the DC universe, Legion mixes them both together for this completely unique superhero experience that’s different than anything else in any media. This is true in every decade…Even with everything we’ve seen all these movies and TV shows Legion is a completely unique experience. For those who get the reference it’s kind of like of Robert Altman made a superhero movie. Dozens of storylines and characters going on simultaneously…Dozens of characters from different planets with different powers with different life philosophies and different moralities coming together to create a legion of unity across the galaxy. For those of us who have taken the journey, it is the most fulfilling reading experience. perfect for those of us looking to snuggle up and stay safe in the world. but, what Scott just said is perfect. It’s a hopeful look at a very exciting future that is absolutely worth fighting for.
10 Likes
BB: My influence on Talia is very heavily referenced by the work of my friend Greg Rucka, who is obviously very influenced by Denny O’Neil because everyone should be influenced by Denny O’Neil…I think she is her father’s daughter. I think her perception of the universe is completely different from everyone else’s because of how she was raised. There are quite a handful of real-life people like this out in the world both public and private who have absolutely convinced themselves that they are better than or meant to be better than, and have no problem showing their complete contempt for everyone else’s path.
11 Likes
Is there more to Rose’s story in the 31st Century or was she mostly just a vehicle to get the reader to the status quo for the new run?
9 Likes
BB: 1000%. It’s literally called the Gold Lantern Saga :)…as we showed in the first issue he opens the story, and in issue two we see his origin and issue three will find out some of the mysteries behind what’s going on around his powers!
11 Likes
SG: I am an absolute Ryan Sook stan! Also Olivier Coipel.
BB: I grew up during one of the legions shiniest moments in publishing…The Giffen/ Levitz/ Malstead Era, The Great Darkness Saga etc…but a lot of my influence goes back earlier to the Mike Grell issues. I’m also very very influenced by everything legionnaires/ five years later/ Waid Kitson. You’d be hard-pressed to find an era I wasn’t somewhat influenced by! I know, being a legion historian, that not everyone likes that reading experience, but I know that the people that do love it so much that it makes up for those who don’t. It’s harder to do and very satisfying when you pull it off.
also, Ryan sook!! 
11 Likes
Do you have more Batman stories in you or did writing Universe and writing him in JL scratch that itch?
6 Likes
@JSLvsLSH.QA Thanks so much for being available for this, and answering my question, I will look forward to seeing how it all unfolds. @Jitsu keep up the good work events like this make this site so much more special.
9 Likes
But what does JSL stand for? Must be some future thing
6 Likes
BB: There’s a reason the Great Darkness Saga and five years later are so revered. They are very well-crafted and very entertaining stories that are aging very well, but if I was to really shine a light on the Legion storyline that I think today’s audience would really get a kick out of, it would be be Mark Waid Kitson stuff. It’s the most ‘cinematic’, and t’s the most character friendly character first version of the legion.
SG: Great Darkness has to be at the top of everyone’s list…
12 Likes
It’s just weird short-hand for Justice League. We thought it looked neater to have 3 letter short-hands for both parts!
6 Likes
Ooooooo
7 Likes