.
The work I love most on LEGION is by Paul Levitz, in collaboration with first Keith Giffen (1982-1984), then Steve Lighlle (1984-1985, and covers for the remainder of the 3rd series), and Greg Larocque for several years after till Giffen came back.
I wondered how many issues total Paul Levitz had written, and courtesy of a DuckDuckGo search, the answer is "over 147 issues"
http://legionofsuperbloggers.blogspot.com/2016/10/happy-birthday-paul-levitz.html I could count from my own collection SUPERBOY 225-226, 228-231, 233, 235-237, 239-247, and 251 (some co-written)
and DC SPECIAL SERIES 21 (DC HOLIDAY SPECIAL).................................................................................................................... = 21 issues
Then LEGION (2nd series, 1979) issues 282, 284-313,
and TALES OF THE LEGION 314-326 (the issues after are Leviz, but reprints).................................................................................. = 43 issues
Then LEGION (3rd series, 1984) issues 1-63....................................................................................................................................... = 63 issues
So the Levitz issues I know come to .......................................................................................................................................................127 issues total.
And later issues I haven't seen, from 2010-2013, that apparently bring it up to "over 147".
I don't know why, if they tabulated that much, why they couldn't just say exactly how many issues Levitz did.
But that at least gives a rough approximation.
Which alone approaches Dave Sim on CEREBUS, and Peter David on INCREDIBLE HULK, and even surpasses Lee / Kirby on FANTASTIC FOUR.
Elsewhere, they specified Levitz did 219 issues total.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Levitz- Initial Run (1977-1979)..................................25
Second Run (1981-1989)............................147
Return (2010-2013).......................................47
_______________________________________
Total Levitz issues........................................219
Paul Levitz is known for his significant contributions to the "Legion of Super-Heroes," having written a total of 219 issues across different periods.
His work on the series is highly regarded, particularly during his long tenure from 1981 to 1989.
Which however you slice it up, and especially for Levitz's consistency with the preceding Silver Age run Legion across ADVENTURE COMICS, ACTION COMICS and SUPERBOY/LEGION, and how fun Levitz's issues are, is definitely an achievement. My favorites are LEGION 284-306, then the Levitz/ Lightle issues, and the Levittz/Larocque issues.
It was nice to have Giffen come back to collaborate on issues 50-63 (even if his art was very different from his earlier work).
And then the Tom & Mary Bierbaum "Five Year Gap" run in the
LEGION 4th series (1989)
https://readallcomics.com/legion-of-super-heroes-v4-001/ The Beiebaums' 4th series LEGION is mostly interesting and thought provoking, but a bit challenging to read with all the alternate timelines that would last a few issues, and then repeatedly be obliterated and replaced by a new alternate history and present in the next issue. They (the Bierbaums, and Giffen, after Levitz had left the series) also introduced a new younger Silver age-ish version of the Legion that co-existed in the present with the adult Legion, that was also a nice element, that let the older and younger versions interact in great ways, play off each other, and further define the characters at both ages.
https://readallcomics.com/legion-of-super-heroes-v4-025/
https://readallcomics.com/legion-of-super-heroes-v4-040/ I pretty much lost all interest when the "Zero Hour" storyline (issue 60) wiped out the 35 years or so of Legion continuity up to that point, and re-booted the series.
And then the series was re-booted again, and re-booted, and re-booted, over and over, until I no longer cared anymore.
But I still love the old Legion (I have a steady run back to ADVENTURE 303, and all the ACTION issues and all the SUPERBOY/LEGION issues, up till Zero Hour. And Levitz's issues for me are the high point of that long run. Much as I also love the Shooter, Swan/Klein, Cockrum, Grell and Starlin issues.
The only other even longer runs I have that I treasure even more are my BATMAN and DETECTIVE COMICS runs, from Infantino up to O'Neil/Adams/Novick/Giordano, and on up through the Moench/Kelley issues.
