"When you get to Hell, tell the Anti-Monitor I said hi!". DAMN Linkara. Probably one of your best lines ever. So appropriate too.

"I am many things Kal-El, but here, I am God." I frigging love Darkseid.

To make it more brilliant is that at that time, The New Gods had been in limbo since the mid 70s, almost a decade. He wasn't the heavy hitter he is now. In fact this story was part of WHY he became a heavy hitter again.

Darkseid does indeed have telepathy. His powers are enhanced in The Great Darkness Saga from draining Mordru and the Time Trapper to be able to enslave all of Daxam, but even in the modern day DCU, the Martian Manhunter has said before that Darkseid is one of the few beings who surpass him in telepathic strength. A lot of writers have simply ignored it/forgotten about it sooo much over the years (not helped by the fact that it was never used very often or consistently) that the general consensus has become that it's just not one of his powers, and rare instances of him showing psychic abilities are treated as not fitting the character. So you have inconsistencies between stuff like TGDS and moments like in the Superman/Batman book years ago, when Batman stole the codes for Darkseid's warheads and threatened to detonate them all in their silos if Darkseid didn't back down. Everyone thought it was a badass moment for Batman, while I was just wishing Darkseid would read Bruce's mind for the disarming codes. Consistency in the abilities of the New Gods has always been dependent on what's convenient for the story being told, and Darkseid has probably suffered more than the rest of his pantheon over the years for that, to the point where the norm for him is basically just being a strong rock guy who shoots lasers from his eyes, when he's really a lot more, as TGDS showed.

“A reverse clone of me? No one in my time has the ability to create that” Yes, there’s no bizarre version of you, certainly not cloned by Luther.

What!?! You’re telling me “the twist was the villain was Granny Goodness” was actually almost true this time!?!

The baby Highfather thing is pretty funny now, considering how Darkseid spent the last couple years as a baby. I wonder if that was an intentional throwback or a coincidence.

Just to clarify something. The 20th/21st century organization, L.E.G.I.O.N. had not debuted at the time of The Great Darkness Saga, nor would it until 1989, so the mention of Shadow Lass' ancestor and the "clone" are original here. L.E.G.I.O.N. was created in the aftermath of the Invasion! crossover (one of DC's better ones), and was one of many attempts to detangle the Legion's post-Crisis, Superboy-free, history.

Fun fact: much of the Legion's 30th-Century mythos was created by writer Edmond Hamilton, who in the 1930s was the co-creator of the space opera sub-genre of science fiction. He gave the series a legit sci-fi pedegree.

Using Darkseid as the mysterious and seemingly all-powerful evil is... Actually quite ingenious. It gives extra credibility to an old character while making for a legitimately good twist.

Darkseid: (returns to apokolips after being beaten by Superman) I'm going for a nap. I'm tired. (wakes up years later and gets beaten by young Superman and Supergirl) Darkseid: well. At least... It can't get any worse. (army of Daxamites attacks) Darkseid: o for the love of!!!!!

10:37 A magnificent combination of "there, sure glad I don't look stupid in this" and "Too much pink energy is dangerous"

"DARKSEID IS having a bad day" so I guess this means you are reading Mister Miracle?

Darkseid is ''diving in the pool'' like God in the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo. Quite clever coming from the artist actually.

Saying it now, I'm gonna miss the 10 year anniversary title sequence once the year ends

Well that Musk joke ended up being prophetic

And in a later Legion annual, Darkseid will create one of the most fearsome, unstoppable foes the Legion has ever faced; the 'darkness' that he refers to in this comic.

Linkara joke about super girl sending darkside to hell and telling him to say hi to the anti monata for her was pure epic. Super girl the God breaker

The nightmares that Darkseid projects into their minds at around 30:00 are based on their personal nightmares (based on their histories). This included Dream Girl losing her beauty and becoming hideous, Duo Damsel losing another body, Timber Wolf being transformed into an android, and Lightning Lad losing his arm again.

I love this comic but I just realized I've been calling it "The great Darkseid Saga" this whole time

30:41 DARKSEID IS a fan of classical paintings.

I really like the Legion. It's hard to put into words what their appeal is, but I think it's the combination of all the different power sets and how they use them to solve problems. Also, the different races, worlds to explore, etc. What I like about the early eighties' Legion is how well it holds up compared to some of the other stuff of the time.

35:40 The warning makes its presence known in the "Second Epilog" of this story that Linkara didn't read, possibly because it wasn't in the version of TGDS that he has, but I have it: Saturn Girl is pregnant with her and Lightning Lad's baby but we find out that she would have given birth to TWINS if Darkseid didn't show up and used one of his devices to remove the other baby and caused him to travel back in time and become...a member of The Fatal Five! I won't explain further due to SPOILERS, but I thought it was a clever buried message.

A "White Witch" is mentioned and you reference Lord of the Rings? I mean, I'm not complaining, but the Narnia joke was right there.

Fun story: I've yet to read Great Darkness Saga but I do own a copy signed by Paul Levitz himself. He was my comic book writing teacher last semester at school. Great writer and amazing guy!

Number of comments while I watch this? 52. AT4W reboot imminent.

This comic is just full of "Your costume is ridiculous" moments.

31:01 "You can't kill me more than one" she tells the guy who literally has the power to do that via Omega Beams and Omega Sanction. This is why you don't skip History Class in a Comic Book universe kids.

11:54 Kind of a dick thing to say Clark, considering what happened to the last "Invisible Kid"

I have always hated when comics put the secret reveal on the cover. I get that it can bring in casual readers of other comics, but I read comics for the story. If the villain/guest shows up on the last page or in issue 6/12 or something, don't spoil that by putting the villain or guest on the cover. It would be like if The Empire Strikes Back movie poster had a "Like father, like son" caption on it.

I think they actually made a reference to the Great Darkness Saga in the 'Supergirl' TV series when Mon-El mentioned a 'Great Darkness' spreading in the future.

9:33 I was going to make a snarky comment about how Excalibur wasn't the sword that made Arthur the King of England, that was the Sword in the Stone ...BUT in my attempts at finding the name of the Sword in the Stone, I found there are totally some versions of the King Arthur legend where Excalibur WAS the Sword in the Stone, and it was a slightly later version that introduced the idea of Excalibur being the replacement sword granted by the Lady in the Lake, even though that's totally the only version of the story I ever remember reading as a kid. SO I GUESS I'LL CONCEDE THIS ONE THEN

I still find it funny to see how scrawny Linkara looked in that coat at the start.

And suddenly Steppenwolf’s declaration of “I shall enlighten you to THE GREAT DARKNESS” in the Snyder Cut has some foundation.

I love that you called them out for that one scene of the 'surprise villain' with white skin. At the time this came out, I thought it might be Darkseid, but decided it couldn't be because of that one seen. A reader at the comic shop where I worked at that time (in Fort Worth, TX) had a letter printed (I think in 294) was the first reader to write in guessing that it was Darkseid.

One of the greatest stories of the 1980's that I read. It got me hooked on the Legion of Superheros for years. Unfortunately, the same type of art and stories that I was hoping to return never did. Thank-you for retelling it. I had a great time reminiscing.

I want a "coins, robots, amazons and trucks" month from Linkara.

Always loved this story even though I was never a big Legion fan. It did lead to one of the all time great retcon bits. Darkseid later secretly kidnaps the child of telepath Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad and changes him into the monster Validus who was a long time Legion villain and had never had any kind of origin. But his main power is hurling mental lightning bolts.

If ever I'm about to be murdered, I'll give my attacker or attackers the zinger that though I'll die, they can only kill me once. They'll totally be blown away by my badassery.

From what I've found out telepathy IS one of Darkseid's powers it's just not one that's shown that often so many people just see him as a huge dude with super strenght and eye beams. Though a few of his other powers are flight, manipulating size and bringing people back from the dead just to name a few.

I suspect that the reason the villain's outfit looks so ridiculous when we first see him is simply because if we saw what he normally wears from the neck down (even with the face obscured by smoke) we'd recognize it as "Darkseid" immediately.

10:30 Not just the 80s. Even today’s comic book stories (or at least adaptations) have done this. Just look at Fitz and Simmons from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. They had a bit of a romance moment at the end of season 1 in a dire situation and were super awkward about where they were in their relationship for a good amount of season 2...and they’re more or less adults. ‘Twas just a short rough patch though.

Imagine if the Legion cartoon lasted long enough to do the Great Darkness saga!

If you're wondering, there are two explanations for any the Legion Clone Saga never happened. According to Paul Levitz, the head editor of the comic line, it was because the writer, Steve Lightlie ran out of time to write it due to other hi specified commitments. The unofficial reason is believed to be two fold. 1. The Clone Saga was tanking in sales by the time they decided to rip it off and nearly caused the cancellation of Amazing Spiderman all together. 2. the sales for it were so low that Levitz shot it down as, if the original comic is losing readers, then a blatant rip-off would as well.

Check out the Legion of Superheroes cartoon, it actually does the Superman clone made to be a weapon thing much better than Young justice.

That scene with Validus gets even worse if you do the research on who exactly Validus actually is.

Well, Linkara, although sparingly used, Darkseid has shown off telepathy in the past. For example, in Return of the New Gods 15, he drains a man's mind. In Super Powers Collection 15, he hypnotizes Superman and Martian Manhunter. In Action Comics 586, he mind controls Superman. The issue is, Darkseid knows telepathy can be broken, but the ALE can not.

Good timing on this one since the Legion will appear in the Supergirl TV show in a week

30:40 Linkara, you uncultured Phillistine, you don't even recognise a reference to Michaelangelos Sistine Chapel when you see it? And I do find it a bit funny that you complain about the trade cover spoiling the villain but your own video pic kind of does that as well. Also, yes, Darkseid does have telepathic powers, though they are quite a bit stronger here than normal (which, as others suggested, is probably due to all the power he had drained from other villains). But yeah, other than that- great story, great review.

Oh, you do this old soul a service by touching upon the Legion and this most legendary of tales from their era. Thank ye, good sir, and I shall endeavor to follow you upon this 10th year of your show.

Im only familiar with the legion through their great animated series, which i think is highly underrated.

I truly do appreciate the Zardoz reference in the end credits. One of the weirdest movies I've ever seen, and a clear indication of Connery fully embracing his post-bond career.

the anti monitor answer is pure gold

I love the Legion from the Levitt era to the zero hour reboot to the threeboot . Its such a fun concept and much can be done since its the future being mostly disconnected. Wildfire is awesome.

One of the best DC stories of all time

I'd love to see you do for the Legion of Superheroes that you've done for the Teen Titans, and Blue Beetle and cover their entire history

Speaking of Excalibur, when was the last time Shining Knight appeared in the DC universe? Or Vigilante for that matter. I get that Jonah Hex kinda fulfills both their roles but I kinda miss seeing them after Justice League Unlimited ended.

Dem gloves, beard, cape and what looks like Eye of Agamoto on his chest. The museum curator is definately ment to be a Dr Strange homage.

Regarding the Chameleon Boy stuff, that, like the soap opera bits, was a sign of the time. Most prevalent with X-Men: B-stories, side plots, future storylines, etc would all be interlaced with whatever the A plot was about. If you want the complete story, "The Dark Phoenix Saga" is spread out over about 40 issues, if you want to include everything from Jean getting the power, until the finale. It's a bit different than what we think of as "decompressed" or "writing for the trades" storytelling. It wasn't the main plot for much of that. It's just that it was getting away from the idea of one story ending and another beginning. It was part of that soap opera mentality with multiple plotlines running simultaneously, each at a different point in story arc. It's why a lot of trades of those stories have non-sequiturs. They were meant to be read as a continous, on-going story and not as a series of separate adventures.

Wasted a Granny Godness joke with the reveal. Put that in the next missed opportunities video if you want.

More Legion stuff please! Maybe the death of ferro lad? I grew up reading my dad's silver age stuff and the legion always had the most advanced stories(pun intended)

When I first saw the "Too much pink energy is dangerous," clip, I had no idea how often it would come up.

Awesome story and video. Okay, here are my thoughts: 1. The Daxamites are a race of Supermen vulnerable to bullets?! That definitely deserves the "Ironic" song! 2. My money's on Element Lad lying about Chameleon Boy's dad getting him lawyers. Like you said, it seemed like he *really* wanted to get the election going... 3. Speaking of election, Dreamer Girl actually seemed to be a great leader during all of this. 4. Superboy's comment on clones and Luthor is especially hilarious given that a lot retellings have Lex being the one to create Bizarro. 5. Darkseid having psychic powers is weird? I have a simple explanation: *The Anti-Life Equation.* Its possible that Darkseid finally solved it, and used its power to destroy New Genesis. He was then defeated by the Justice League and any surviving New Gods, and imprisoned/knocked into a coma. Mon-El and Shadow Lass might've accidentally awoke him when they explored Apokolips' ruins. 6. Man, between her fight with Anti-Monitor (who only won thanks to a cheap shot) and this, maybe we should start calling her "God-Slayer." 7. I wonder how Brainiac 1 would feel about one of his descendants dating one of Superman's realitives? That'd make holidays awkward...

Looking back on this it's wild that Arm-Fall-Off Boy aka The Detachable Kid is now in a major motion picture and played by Nathan Fillion.

Damn you, Mac-Tonight-Cenobite!

I just got into the Legion a year ago and came across this story, good times. I'm glad to see you do a video on it.

I remember the cartoon

Huh. Never read the Threeboot era stuff, that was past my time. Didn't realize part of the future setting involved a "no physical contact" trope. Interesting concept, I wonder if it had an influence on the Love Not Found webcomic ? That strip explores the same idea (in a vaguely NSFW manner) and is a fairly decent read if you like some romance with your speculative scifi.

Linkara's 19:10 comment of "Elon Musk, what are you doing here?!" has aged phenomenally!

31:05 You know, that card was actually played by a captured villain in a Warhammer 40k novel, who upon being confronted with several death sentences for his actions mockingly asks whether they were going to kill him multiple times. This being 40k... The retort was basically "Funny you'd mention that, we've got this psyker on hand that can actually bring you back from death..."

26:00 The Y.M.C.A. part is fine, but should've gone with "KNEEL before Darkseid!". 30:44 What pool? He just wants to create some Adam, that's all.

I only wish Darkseid flew his head-ship up to Earth and declared, "SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!"

The best legion of superheors leader is bouncing boy. In the legion of superheors cartoon at the end of season 1 he was voted leader.

Fun Fact: Validus is actually the child of Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl. At the end of this story, Darkseid says he'll fulfill a curse on the Legion and that day comes when Saturn Girl is giving birth, she gives birth to one child when she could've sworn she heard two with her powers (apparently ultrasounds stop existing sometime before the 31st century). Darkseid kidnapped one of their children without them knowing, deformed it with his power and sent it back in time so that it could become Validus.

30:44 you have to love "The creation of Adam" references

Wow, thanks for reminding me of the existence of the Legion of Superheroes. Now I gotta go watch the cartoon.

Fun fact, the kid Daxamite that attacks the prison planet stays brainwashed after the whole thing ends and becomes a recurring villain.

Plenty of people move from the small town to the big city. You might as well suspect Lana of being Superman since she moved to Metropolis too.

25:24 as so, as I saw the shape of the planet I Immediately went "I know that head shape, only one villain has that head shape"

Great review! The Great Darkness Saga has been my gold standard for epic comic stories. In a sense it holds a place for me similar to what the Technis Imperative does for you.

Absolutely LOVE the new AT4W logo! Absolutely fantastic!

I first heard about this story in a featurette on a particular blu-ray that I won't say what it is because it would give clues as to what the big spoiler is. So, as of that point, the big reveal was the ONLY thing I knew about the story, besides the reasoning behind why the writer had [SPOILER] in it. Then again, it made me want to track it down, but nevertheless, without that first time reveal, I can never obtain that "first time" feel with the story.

You know this episode is very topical because the supergirl TV show is encountering the legion of superheroes right now

Pretty sure that Darkseid moment is actually a reference to The Creation of Adam, the famous painting

2:54 Glad we're not in THAT fut- [looks around] oh. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

So this gonna be the opener for this whole year. I like it.

19:16 Oh THAT aged well!

...I have to admit, sad as it might be to wait for running gags, that I was waiting for that couch-mention. Thank you for not forgetting it :D

So the Legion was never worried about mucking up the spacetime continuum as they casually invite Silver Age Superboy to join their ranks? 12:31 - That's a funny image. We have things like wormholes, boom tubes, portals, and other such holes that act as doorways or shortcuts through time and space, but THAT looks like the universe is wearing pink lipstick, and it just coughed that guy up. lol "Few times has it been more appropriate to say..." Pants to be darkened? "...pants to be darkened." YES!!!! "Why do I feel this compulsion to go to a Sluberland Furniture and buy a comfy couch?" 10+ years and still going strong, as is the running gag of Darkseid sitting on Mr. Miracle's couch. lmao

I admit, while I tend to be more of a Marvel than DC guy, it's nice to see that DC was trying to add more drama into their stories. While Linkara points out that most team books in the 1980s were "soap operas", frankly, you could apply that to most comics from any publisher these days. And that's not entirely bad. There needs to be some kind of conflict to keep the reader invested into what's going on. As such, "The Great Darkness Saga" accomplishes that in spades!!!♠♠♠♠♠

"ELON MUSK WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" is now my favorite joke on AT4W

Linkara as Zardos in the title card? XD

2:53 - Yeah, we're getting there.

I think the telepathy that the Dark Master has, even though he never had that ability before, may have been a side effect of the magic he drained from the artifacts. But then again it could have been a power he developed before he went into his state of hibernation. Keep in mind this is FUTURE Darkseid.

6:46 I was going to mention Fate but I realized Fate wouldn't need any of that stuff anyway, the helmet is more than enough... Course then there's Constantine, he'd probably need em... I mean, isn't he basically just a magic working-class version of Batman but with an actual sense of humor?

"Ha! You may kill me, but you can only do it once! Check and mate!" I had to tell this to everyone in know!

I kind of want you to review"The Legion of Super-Heroes" show now.

I wish fiction would stop trying to hammer it into our collective skulls that Darkness=Evil. It's like the end of that Twitches movie when the twins realized that the opposite of Darkness isn't Light but Love, which would make Darkness Hate. I myself have two characters for Darkness and Light, and while yeah, one's a lot more optimistic than the other, they're a pair of twins that love and look out for each other, each has their own flaws and the Light and Dark themselves are neither inherently more good or more evil than the other. In fact, it's when you try to separate them and use only one that things WILL take a turn for the worst. They need each other. In my context, the power of Light creates matter and can see into the future while the power of Darkness erases matter and can peer into the past or conversely, Darkness creates empty space while Light erases empty space. Attempting to use the full power of one without the other present to balance it will lead to the user either erased from existence or forever imprisoned in miles of solid light.

12:38 the subtle New Gods references are a cool way to set up the twist

so, the legion of three predicted society in our current times?