1996-1998: Twentieth Century Exile era

Following a climactic battle to resist the Emerald Eye, half the Legion was thrown back in time to the 20th Century, where they spent a year sojourning with the likes of Superman, Sovereign Seven, the Metal Men, and many other present-day DC heroes (and villains).The Legion participated in the events of Final Night, Genesis, and Hal Jordan's funeral (although, apparently, they were not invited to Superman's wedding.) Legion of Super-Heroes follwed the adventures of the 20th Century group, and Legionnaires continued to tell the story of those left in the 30th Century. (There were, of course, occasional crossovers and contact between the two groups.) The 20th Century group guest-starred in various other titles. Although many fans voiced their impatience with the 20th Century storyline, once it was concluded, few could argue that the stories had not been fun, or that the crossovers in other titles had not brought some new readers into the fold. Time travel and its problems, of course, has been a staple of the Legion since the very beginning. It was in this period that the revamped Legion first began to experience the complexity of DC's convoluted timestreams; it was also in this period, that they first encountered a foe who was both old and new . . . the Time Trapper. The stay-at-home Legionnaires had their own encounter with a legendary bad guy by the name of Mordru.