1) The CCA wasn't really responsible for the blandness of the stores. National (later to become DC, but I believe they were still National Periodical Publications at this point) had always been pretty vanilla, and the CCA only ensured that it was more of the same. The biggest effect the CCA had was on the non-superhero comics.
2) Pulp SF stories were also repetitive in their nature - the word is probably "formulaic". Remember who was writing the early Legion: Pulp SF stalwarts like Otto Binder and Edmond "Captain Future" Hamilton. Not exactly your Heinlein or Asimov or Sturgeon. Heck, they weren't even Gardner Fox, or Doc Smith.
3) What Binder and Hamilton made up for in their lack of plotting originality they more than made up for in their sheer inventiveness of the idea of the 30th Century and what it brought to the tapestry of the evolving DCU. The background details are amazing - and amusing. The multi-stylus that allows Legionnaires to sign dozens of autographs at the same time. The speed learning machines. Scanners that can detect guilt by means of a scientific formula. And oh God, the Planetary Chance Machine. Every Legion fan loves the Planetary Chance Machine. The Legion of Substitute Heroes was another great (and logical) idea, and as I pointed out on IRC, the idea of a story arc like the Death of Lightning Lad story was extremely novel for that time.
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momijizukamori
no subject
Date: 2004-06-10 06:30 pm (UTC)1) The CCA wasn't really responsible for the blandness of the stores. National (later to become DC, but I believe they were still National Periodical Publications at this point) had always been pretty vanilla, and the CCA only ensured that it was more of the same. The biggest effect the CCA had was on the non-superhero comics.
2) Pulp SF stories were also repetitive in their nature - the word is probably "formulaic". Remember who was writing the early Legion: Pulp SF stalwarts like Otto Binder and Edmond "Captain Future" Hamilton. Not exactly your Heinlein or Asimov or Sturgeon. Heck, they weren't even Gardner Fox, or Doc Smith.
3) What Binder and Hamilton made up for in their lack of plotting originality they more than made up for in their sheer inventiveness of the idea of the 30th Century and what it brought to the tapestry of the evolving DCU. The background details are amazing - and amusing. The multi-stylus that allows Legionnaires to sign dozens of autographs at the same time. The speed learning machines. Scanners that can detect guilt by means of a scientific formula. And oh God, the Planetary Chance Machine. Every Legion fan loves the Planetary Chance Machine. The Legion of Substitute Heroes was another great (and logical) idea, and as I pointed out on IRC, the idea of a story arc like the Death of Lightning Lad story was extremely novel for that time.