Although intended as a one-off story focusing on Superboy, the Legion proved popular and returned in Adventure Comics #267 (December 1959).

[2] Following Mort Weisinger's retirement from DC, the Legion was passed to the oversight of editor Murray Boltinoff and began appearing occasionally as a backup in Superboy, starting with #172 (March 1971),[11] with writers E. Nelson Bridwell and Cary Bates and artist George Tuska.

Crafted by Bates and Cockrum, the feature proved popular and saw such events as the wedding of Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel in Superboy #200 (Feb 1974).

At this point, the book was written by longtime fan Paul Levitz and drawn by James Sherman, although Gerry Conway frequently wrote as well.

Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad were married in All-New Collectors' Edition #C-55 (1978), a treasury-sized special written by Levitz and drawn by Grell.

[18][19] In #241–245 (July–December 1978) Levitz and Sherman (and then Joe Staton) produced what was at that time the most ambitious Legion storyline: "Earthwar", a galactic war between the United Planets and the Khunds, with several other villains lurking in the background.

Editor Jack C. Harris hired Steve Ditko as guest artist on several issues, a decision which garnered a mixed reaction from the title's readership.

The creative team received enhanced popularity following "The Great Darkness Saga",[23] which ran from #287; #290–294; and Annual #3, featuring a full assault on the United Planets by Darkseid.

Comics historian Les Daniels observed that "working with artist Keith Giffen, Levitz completed the transformation of Legion into a science-fiction saga of considerable scope and depth.

Greg LaRocque began a lengthy run in #16 (November 1985), including a crossover with John Byrne's recently rebooted Superman titles in #37 and #38.

Giffen took over plotting as well as penciling with the Legion of Super-Heroes volume 4 title which started in November 1989, with scripts by Tom and Mary Bierbaum and assists by Al Gordon.

Shortly after this storyline began, the decision was made to retroactively remove Superboy completely from Legion history.

Writer Mark Waid stated that "Because of inter-office politics and machinations...it was decided that there was no Superboy, but we weren't even allowed to reference him at all.

[31] Issue #5 featured an alternate universe story in which the restructuring took place, and the Time Trapper was replaced by his underling Glorith.

[32] Instead, a parallel title, Legionnaires, was launched, starring the "SW6" Legion, whose origins were not resolved until the Zero Hour crossover by a different writing team.

Giffen left the book after a storyline which involved the destruction of Earth,[33][34] and the Bierbaums continued writing, overseeing the return of several classic characters.

When the Bierbaums left, writer Tom McCraw took over and made a number of changes, such as forcing several Legion members underground, which required them to take on new identities and costumes, and bringing back long-absent Legionnaire Wildfire.

Geoff Johns stated that the intent of the mini-series was to validate the existence of all three versions of the team while simultaneously restoring the pre-Crisis Legion's continuity as well.

This Legion played a part in the "Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton" storyline in 2010, where the ongoing continual events of "The Lightning Saga" concluded in its entirety.

[45] A new Legion of Super-Heroes ongoing series was published from May 2010 to August 2011, written by Paul Levitz and drawn by Yildiray Cinar, featuring the post-Infinite Crisis version of the team.

[47] While Legion of Super-Heroes continued the adventures of the team from that title's previous volume, Legion Lost featured Wildfire, Dawnstar, Timber Wolf, Tyroc, Tellus, Gates, and Chameleon Girl stranded on 21st century Earth on a mission to save the future and are forced to remain there after contracting a pathogen that could destroy the 31st century if they returned.

In the final issue, the United Planets disbands the Legion after a cataclysmic battle with the Fatal Five, and the individual Legionnaires retire to their homeworlds or the Science Police.