I agree the Imperial Guard was a direct rip-off of the Legion. I'm surprised DC didn't sue - but I guess imitation is the finest form of flattery.
Apparently around that time there was a handshake agreement of some kind between Marvel and DC. They would each do a 'version' of each others characters - as a one-off. Particularly t
he Avengers and the Justice League. DC didn't take it seriously and they did do a version of the Avengers in the JLA, but the characters were instantly forgettable. Marvel on the other hand had
Roy Thomas, who was always a huge fan of the golden age DC characters. He went for it with both hands and gave us
the Squadron Supreme. Who have become a fixture in Marvel continuity - several different versions. Since an agreement had been made, DC have never made an issue out of it. Probably too late now anyway. Although, if Marvel decides to use the Squadron in the Movie MCU, there could be interesting times.
An Aside. The Squadron's nemesis is one
Emil Burbank. Who he?
Burbank is a town in Oklahoma. Its named after a famous Botanist and Plant Breeder.
His name?
Luther Burbank. Geddit?
The latest reboot of the Legion places them about [I think] 10 years in the future.
[This was done before, in a series just called
Legion by Keith Giffen. No, not
L.E.G.I.O.N. that was also Giffen but that was something else entirely.
Spoilers! This version of
Bouncing Boy comes on like a combination of
Wolverine and The X-men Villian,
the Blob.
The artist is very strange. Doesn't - and therefore probably can't- draw feet. So every character in long shot looks like
Oscar Pistorius the South African sprinter, nicknamed the "Blade Runner,". Very odd.
Also, and my major gripe with the Legion, they are in their mid to late 20's and they are still called Boy, Girl, Lad and Lass. I don't know about you but I objected to that when I became a teenager and certainly in my 20's it was completely unacceptable. So for me that spoils the book. I can imagine that the powers that be want to keep the names copyrighted and to do that you need to keep using them.
Somebody asks, 'What are you reading?' The Legion of Superheroes. Who are the characters? Oh, some of them are Saturn Girl, Bouncing Boy, Cosmic Boy, Matter-eater Lad ....." 'Seriously Dude? You are reading a childrens' comic?' DC obviously gets it, because most of the more recent characters have reasonable names.
'Timber Wolf', Dawnstar, Wildfire,Andromeda .....'
If I had those powers and somebody called me 'Bouncing Boy' I'd be tempted to punch them in the mouth!
Cheers!