Retro Review: The Legion 1-8 or Why Legion World is Better than Disney World.

Retro Review: The Legion 1-8 of 38 (2001)

Welcome back, legionnaires!  We know you just watched three of your friends die, you've been stranded in another galaxy for a year and that you're most likely a bit traumatized, but heeeeey, what's another attempt at world domination between pals, right?

No, seriously, these kids cannot catch a break!

Our lost legionnaires have returned from their year long sojourn to find that the U.P has gone loony and some very unflattering stone effigies have been erected in their honor.  What the hell is going on?  I have absolutely no idea as I haven't read Legion Worlds yet.  But on a side-note: what possessed DC to change the title of the comic?  Why didn't they just go back to Legion of Superheroes once Legion Lost was over?  I mean, it was one thing to cancel Legionnaires, but why cancel both running titles and then rename the entire concept something entirely different?  Was that supposed to be new and edgy?  

Friends, there has never been, nor will their ever be, anything "new and edgy" about the Legion of Superheroes.  Cheese is their superpower. 

DnA plop our returning heroes down in the middle of a conspiracy, where the notorious villain Ra's al Ghul has secretly transplanted himself (in the guise of Leland McCauley) as president of the U.P, warping it into a totalitarian state in what I assume is a matter of months.  While i'm not entirely sure how he accomplished it, I am nevertheless rather fascinated by this more realistic, darker version of the 31st century.  The only oddity, to me, is how in the world they managed to "fix" Earth when only the previous year Saturn Girl was begging for aide when the Blight had forced the planet to the point of death.  

It got better?

Within the first two issues the group is dodging assassination attempts, fighting a government sanctioned group called the Oversight Watch, and trudging through a very nasty sewer.  It is here that we discover that Leland McCauley is not Leland McCauley at all, and the plot thickens.  OoooOooOooooo.  However, the sewage is also thickening, and the group is nearly about to be in it up to their necks when they are rescued by the remaining legionnaires who promptly take them to...

LEGION WORLD.  

Oh, my good lord, R.J Brande built a planet.  And while I have to admit the concept is nifty, I can't help but laugh at the name.  Couldn't they come up with anything better than Legion World?  Whoever was in charge of that should be fired.

Besides, if it doesn't have the teacup ride, i'm not going.

The entire storyline picks up speed after this, and while it should have been confusing, I give the writers credit in that it didn't feel too rushed.  In fact, the exposure of Ra's al Ghul coming in the middle of the plotline was a pleasant surprise, as I would have thought they'd leave his big reveal for later.  I was also really impressed with the characterization of M'Onel in this arc.  This reboot had sort of mellowed out his character a bit, but here we see a strong-willed, almost arrogant young man, unused to being in a position of vulnerability.  This is a character that I can imagine seeding worlds.  I hope, despite the fact that this series' run ends with issue #38, that they kept up his growth.   

It's at this point that the arc has what I feel is its only lagging point.  For whatever reason we're treated to an Afterschool Special issue, where we all learn a valuable lesson on prejudice and putting aside vengeance and extremism.  Awwwwwwww.  Really, the goal of the issue was to get the Kwai to help the Legion make super-awesome, inter-dimensional gates that they can use to travel around, so I'm not sure why we need this odd backstory to go along with it.  

I'm sure it comes up later in the series.

Soon enough we're back to Earth, where everyone is getting turned into little eggs and Kinetix has been transformed...again.  However, unlike previous transformations, this one seems somewhat useful!  She's apparently now something of an evolutionary midwife, helping the human species to evolve during a cataclysmic event.  Not only that, but they sort of threw her old personality out the window when they evolved her!  Yay!   

Best of all, thanks to her, we have the cutest scene in the whole arc.

OMGOD, BRAINY, WHY SO CUTE?!  

Despite the fact that the storyline ends with a bit of a deus ex machina, it wasn't so ridiculous that I couldn't enjoy myself.  Okay, okay, using Legion World to counterbalance the moon's gravity is pretty ridiculous, but who cares?  Besides, I really like all the little threads of new storylines popping up while i'm suspending disbelief!  Venge is not who he seems?  Why all these clones?  Robotica!  Does this mean COMPUTO?  What's going to happen to Earth now?!  The depth of storytelling is way better than anything i've seen coming from the Legion in the New 52!  

Not to mention, M'Onel saying "Just you. And me." was cheesy and awesome all at the same time.  

So!  All in all I found this first arc of The Legion series to be absolutely great.  For the first time in forever this series seems fresh, and i'm including the current storylines in that.  I've been told that i'll feel the same way about the Threeboot series, but i've read a few issues of it and...well...i'll leave that rant for later when I've managed to snag them all.  

All that being said, i'm super glad I bought this series in full so I can keep reading!  It's a hoot so far!  And as always, science buddies!

IF YOU DREAM IT, YOU CAN DO IT!

Retro Review: Legion Lost (2000-01) or Why You Should Never Get Lost in Time and Space Without Brainy.

Review: Legion Lost #1-12 (reboot legion)

And this, friends, is why the current Legion Lost series sucks.  How the hell do they expect to get home without Brainiac 5 to do all the heavy thinking?  To be honest, it was actually a shock to me upon picking up the new 52 Legion Lost that Brainiac 5 had not been thrown back in time with them. It had always been my experience that any time the legion is cast adrift, Brainy is inevitably going to be along for the ride to think them home.

It also surprised me that they'd used that title again, already having done so ten years ago.  But no one ever said DC was known for originality.    

However, I'm not here to discuss the current Legion Lost title.  No.  I'm here to discuss something good.  I'm here to discuss the original Legion Lost maxi-series, back in 2000 when Dan and Andy weren't big names yet and Coipel was still working out his artistic style.

This is my legion.

First out, let me say that this is not a good starting point for new readers.  If you haven't read the Blight and Widening Rifts storylines, you are most likely not going to have a freaking clue what's going on.  And that's a real shame, because Legion Lost was some of the best storytelling that the rebooted legion ever saw.  However, to aide the hapless reader, the Blight storyline was complied into something like a trade paperback last year and is sold at Amazon.  I've yet to find a collection of Widening Rifts, but you should be able to find it on Ebay if you're patient enough.

This series was gritty (I don't just mean Coipel's art), creative, and a little heartbreaking.  The Blight storyline had forced our young heroes to do some quick growing up, but this cemented them in my mind as full-fledged adults.  This was not a group of starry-eyed kids protecting the United Planets anymore.  This was a small, slowly fragmenting group of scared individuals fighting to survive while trying to hold on to the ideals that made them who they were.   

And that was a huge step forward in this series and for these characters.  Many of whom had not seem significant growth in many years.

Admittedly, some grew more than others.  Live Wire, for example, pretty much did nothing but bitch and moan most of the series.  Despite him being a founder, and therefore a character with the a lot of potential, I couldn't help but feel that his part easily could have been filled by any other legionnaire. It was clear he was really only in the group to be a sounding board for Imra's angst and to make the heroic sacrifice at the end.  Likewise, poor Ultra Boy was also a tool, quietly relegated to the background as though he was barely there once his part in the plot had been exposed.  A shame, considering Jo was desperately in need of some development.  Monstress especially, a character whom I was under the impression no one in the fanbase really liked, existed for a singular purpose.  Despite having quite a few touching scenes, I easily got the impression that the writers were only spotlighting her so that when they killed her off we'd give a shit about it.  Which was disappointing, as she had quickly become a well-rounded, likable person whom I would have liked to see more of in The Legion series.   

Other legionnaires fared better.  Saturn Girl, as previously mentioned, bloomed well despite the writers using her telepathy in a slightly cliched way.  We'd seen her animate Rokk's comatose body in the past without her own knowledge, but this deliberate deception, creating a telepathic projection of Tinya, was a step past that.  It made me re-examine Imra, rethink her motivations and the strength of her character.  Was she right or wrong to do what she did?  Is full disclosure, the hard truth, really what people want?  Or is it easier to give and believe the small lies, the small untruths, to give us purpose and save our communal peace of mind?

It's a question that would be explored far more darkly when the legion is rebooted again.

Brainiac 5, my favorite legionnaire, really shines in this series.  Not only does he shed his annoying name "upgrade", but he also sheds the tired misconception that he is completely infallible.  That he can think his way out of anything.  There's always been a feeling throughout the legion's history that Brainy can pretty much solve any problem in the known universe, so it was refreshing to see him almost completely fail, to admit to those failings and his own limitations.  This more vulnerable, emotional character was what his "upgrade" had originally promised us but had up until this point not delivered. 

I think i'm going to be one of the few who say that I really liked Shikari.  Now, I know that some fans think her to be a strange version of Dawnstar, but you know what?  I never read any legion comics with Dawnstar in them, so Shikari was and still is an entirely separate character to me.  I like her sweet, sensitive nature with a warrior's heart underneath.  I like that she's bold and says what she's thinking.  I thought she was a great addition to the team, as pathfinding abilities are always useful.  So, say what you will, but I like her. 

On the whole, the plot is tightly woven and surprisingly dense considering it was only twelve issues.  There are a few little gaps here and there, such as how on earth Spark was "helping" pilot a cruiser when she's a figment of Chameleon's imagination or how exactly Element Lad became immortal, but most of them are pretty nitpicky.  Like the Blight storyline, there is a real sense of fear to the narrative, a desperation that I didn't feel when the legionnaires were cast back into the 20th century.  Unlike with the Blight though, this time the writers had more time to develop the characters along with making a compelling story, which meant things could develop more slowly.  For instance, Tinya had been part of the group for so long that when she turned out to be a figment of everyone's imagination I was just as genuinely shocked as the legionnaires.  It had been built up so that I'd simply come to accept that she was there and she was real.  I love plot twists that actually fool me.           

The art.  Okay, i've read that a lot of people didn't really care for Coipel's art style at the time.  They thought it too rough and unrefined, but I think that's what I like about it.  The series itself is gritty and raw, and so this sort of scratchy artistic style suits the narrative.  That and Coipel draws facial expression adorably.  There were a few scenes of Brainy where I laughed out loud at the goofy look on his face.  I could also see a definite progression of quality in the issues, even in such a short run.  Issue twelve is much cleaner and well put together than issue one, though I don't know if it has anything to do with the inker or colorist.  Regardless, the very fact that I can see such a vast improvement in such a limited run speaks volumes for Coipel's craft.  Not to mention the fact that now, ten years later, I can see what a beautiful style it has progressed into. 

So!  All in all?  I loved it.  I loved it enough that while I originally bought the hardback compilation, i've since gone back and bought the original run.  I liked it that much.  It reminded me of why I loved the legion back in my teenage years, and it gave me that sweet, nostalgic feeling in my gut.  It also made me a bit sad upon remembering that these legionnaires are now wandering the multiverse without a home.  To me, that's a terrible fate for characters that I loved and still love so much.  But I guess this is how fans of the original run  felt when it was rebooted in the 90's.

Up next will be the new Legion of Superheros #0 issue and then onto The Legion series!  I'm looking forward to it! So, until next time, dear readers (all five of you)...

IF YOU DREAM IT, YOU CAN DO IT!

Review: Legion Secret Origins #1 or Why is Brainy Pointing At His Crotch?

 Review: Legion Secret Origins #1/6

 

It says something about the popularity of this miniseries that it ended in May and all of the issues were still on the shelves in August with the exception of #5, which was oddly absent.  What, does something amazing happen in #5 that I should know about? In all seriousness though, I thought this mini was pretty good, as it's always nice to help new readers find their way into the "origins" of a series.  Especially one with such a long and ..."complex" history as the legion.  I especially loved the penciling!  I recognized the style instantly from The Legion series, and if Portela is leaving the current Legion of Superheroes title than I'd  love to see Batista take back the reins.

The series plants us on the planet Anotrom, where the Science Police are investigating what appears to be a worldwide massacre in suits that remind me vaguely of Starship Troopers.  Cue them being flabbergasted, as things like that just don't happen in the 31st century!  Ignore the fact that I can recall it happening at least four times at different points in legion history.

It doesn't happen often, anyway.

On a curious sidenote: why are 98% of the aliens in comics always bipedal?  Moreover, why don't we see more lifeforms that aren't carbon based?  What, did no four legged dog aliens become sentient?  Can we not have telepathic crystal aliens?  Aliens without navels?  Creativity here, people!

At any rate, once the Science Police -- being an inept group kept around solely for plot movement -- are not able to discern what the hell happened to Anotrom and accidentally blow up the side of a cruiser, they find themselves on Colu begging the help of the Little Green Men.  Or in this case, one little green man named Querl Dox, who, along with being the "mightiest thinker" of them all,  is also the only Coluan without male pattern baldness.

Mightiest thinker of them all, indeed.

It's at this point that we're introduced to an odd trio of characters through whom all the alternating threads of the storyline are meant to pass.  They're sort of like glorified data processors, from what I can tell.  And it is through them that we witness our real origin story --you know-- the one about Garth, Imra and Rokk saving Brande from an assassination attempt?  Yeah, that one.  It's also to be noted that I believe this is the moment that we're meant to get an ominous feeling about one of our trio, and not only due to the fact that he looks like a cross between Morgan Freeman and Kofi Annan.  I smell something fishy, and it isn't just the copious amounts of spandex being worn in the 31st century.

Seriously!  Everyone's outfit is skin tight!

Back on Anotrom, our Mightest Thinker is having the first off-world adventure of his life with what I think is the tiniest yellow carry-on in the galaxy.  I am unclear exactly what can fit into that thing, as the one instrument Brainy does pull from it likely took up half the available space.  Regardless, it matches well with both his hair and go-go boots, so at least Brainy knows how to accessorize, despite the fact that he's wearing an entire suit of pink and purple.

It's at this point that i'd like to mention my one major problem with this series: the storyline confusion.  Brainiac 5's little device is about to give off a small amount of energy which will then be absorbed by a small pink orb and explode like the side of that previously mentioned cruiser.  And I'll be honest with you.  That scene was so brief and dismissible that i'd already forgotten about it.  So this explosion confused me enough that I had to go back and re-read the beginning.  

This is not cohesive storytelling. 

But hey, what does it matter when Tinya is here to confuse me even further by phasing up through the surface of the planet!  Wait, what?  What prompted this?  Where was she previously?  Was she just floating in the rocks?  When did she get there?  Why is Brainiac 5 pointing at his crotch?!  Surely there is a better way to activate that forcefield belt than pointing at your crotch.  

Even Tinya's explanation of coming through the wormhole to "warn" people doesn't really make a whole lot of sense.  If she came through the wormhole than she's been on this decimated planet for what...days?  And she's just now floating up through the rocks?  What?  Why?

This is not cohesive storytelling.  But dammit if Brainiac 5's facial expressions don't make me laugh.  And he and Tinya pressing fingers together is rather adorable.  

The issue ends with Luornu being sworn into the legion while our glorified data processors watch absolutely everything in a way that is starting to make me feel uncomfortable.  Seriously, how are they doing this?  I don't see cameras floating around everywhere.  Watching the swearing in makes sense, as there might be media cameras, but how are they watching Brainiac 5 and Tinya?  

On the whole, I'm enjoying this series, though mostly for its art.  Its all rather cute and harmless fun, and the amount of Brainiac 5 scenes makes me, as usual, super happy.  They need to give him his own series.  I bet people would read it.  Granted, a whole issue of him sitting in his lab, experimenting on cockroaches, might not make for good reading.  

Here's to me actually finding issue #5 of this series and remember friends:

IF YOU DREAM IT, YOU CAN DO IT!