L-Numbers

Beginning in January, 1996, DC instituted a sequential numbering of the main LSH comics each year. The numbers, linked to the year, appeared on the cover in a symbol, also rendereed as L-. Thus, LSH (4) 76 (96/01) was numbered L-1996-1, while Legionnaires 33 (96/01) was L-1996-2, etc. In the late 1990s, at least two LSH title were being printed each month: Legion of Super-Heroes and Legionnaires. Stories often continued from one title to the next, so fans wanted to be sure to read them in the correct order. Inevitable publishing delays, shipping interruptions, and schedule rearrangements meant that the two comics didn't necessarily come out in the same order, making it even more challenging to keep them in order.

Reader response was tremendous. The system was so useful, in fact, that fans soon modified it, and extended it backward over the Legion's long history, establishing an order for Legion stories.

Of course, whenever an "official" system is modified, there will be disagreements. Here are the ground rules, developed in various conversations among fans, for extending the system to cover all Legion comics. For the examples, assume that the following comics were all published in January 2058: Legion of SUper-Heroes (v.27) #420 (contains 3 LSH stories) , Legionnaires (v.18) #200 (contains 2 stories), Mysteries of the Legion #3 of 6 (limited series), Mordru the Merciless #8 of 12 (limited series), Lil' Legion Adventures #247 (spinoff), L.E.G.I.O.N.'58 #1822 (spinoff), Superman #10,256 (Cosmic Boy cameo), and Aquaman #1 (Tellus cameo).

• The L-number refers to the comic, not the story. (This is how DC did it.) In the case of a backup story (or stories) between the same covers, sequential letters are added. (Example: Legion of Super-Heroes (v.27) #420 would be designated L-2058-1. The first backup story in that issue is L-2058-1a, and the second backup story L-2058-1b. Legionnaires (v.18) #200 would be L-2058-2, and the backup story L-2058-2a )
• Whole L-numbers appear on the mainstream LSH comic(s) only. (This is how DC did it.) Spinoff titles, cameo appearances, miniseries, etc. receive L-numbers with added letters, as above. When there is more than one additional title, letters are assigned in alphabetical order (Hypothetical example: Aquaman #1 is L-2058-2b, L.E.G.I.O.N.'58 #1822 is L-2058-2c, Lil' Legion Adventures #247 is L-2058-2d, Moirdru the Merciless #8 of 12 is L-2058-2e, Mysteries of the Legion #3 of 6 is L-2058-2f, and Superman #10,256 is L-2058-2g.)
• Annuals should be treated as non-mainstream titles, above. (DC did not put L-numbers on Annuals.)
• For the purposes of very early Legion stories, "mainstream" stories are considered those which appeared in the Legion Archives volumes.
• Beginning with Adventure 300 (Sept. 1962), the Legion "mainstream" titles were: Adventure (1962-1969), Action (1969-1970), Superboy (1971-1977), Superboy & the LSH (1977-1980), LSH (v.2) (1980-1984), LSH (v.3) (1984-1989), Tales of the LSH (non-reprint issues)(1984-1985), LSH (v.4) (1989-present), Valor (1992-1994), and Legionnaires (1993-present). Superboy #147 (June 1968) is counted as an honorary mainstream title since it contained the first "Origin of the Legion" story.
• 1994, the year of the Zero Hour reboot, is a special case since the reboot happened in the middle of the year. For L-number purposes, 1993 numbers are continued through September 1994; this allows the Zero issues of October 1994 to be counted as L-1994-1 and L-1994-2.
• This system, like all others, is somewhat arbitrary. Since the late 1990s, Legion appearances have both multiplied and spread to venues such as TV shows and movies. I've done my best to continue the L-number system. As I see it, as long as each Legion story has a unique identifier, and those identifiers are in rough chronological order, we're in good shape.