Newsarama just put up a preview here .

I figured the punishment would be worse than that. It's just a grounding that Chemical Kid broke immediately.

I do like that Levitz seems to be softening up Chemical Kid in the second issue so he's not just a stereotypical rich jerk.

Interesting little tidbits about Variable Lad and Chemical Kid's backgrounds.

I'm not crazy about the idea that Gym'll and Variable Lad just HAPPEN to be related. It doesn't really say a lot about diversity if they have to make two people from the same planet related.

More Chuck! Yay!

Looks like we're gonna go on a trip to Phlon. That's cool. Have we ever actually seen that planet before?

Still not loving Jiminez' change to Luornu's costume but his art is so great in all other areas I can let it slide. Also a bit concerned that Levitz has her coming off a bit shrewish these last couple of issues. *I* can sympathise with her and see where she's coming from, but I worry newer/younger readers might think she's just some bossy, stick in the mud getting in the way of the fun?

As a reader I'm liking Chemical Kid, but I don't get why Chuck is so quick to let his insubordination slide. Luornu's right in that being a Legionnaire is dangerous business and so far, he hasn't displayed the right attitude for it.

Wish this book still had extra pages! I need more Levitz/Jiminez Legion goodness a month!

Seconded.

Plus, there's the whole nepotism angle. Which always leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I don't like nepotism either.

That being said, Gym'll isn't a Legionnaire, so I guess I can let it slide.
And maybe, EVERYONE on Gym'lls planet is a relative of his. His sister has had, at least, four LITTERS, after all!


The drawing, inking and coloring of this book are so intricate and beautiful.
I just love this team of creators.
sigh

Since Lu is duping into many forms instead of just two or three, it's nice that her eyes are back to both being the same, although I would have made them either the gold or the purple rather than switching to blue, since those colors are more lovely and unusual.
Were they originally blue?
I've always remembered them as brown.

<3 getting another group shot of the kids.

Even though I know Chemical Kid's Asian in descent, although his mother doesn't seem to be, I still think his 'look' and posture remind me of Adam.

Blacula:

Only in the Chemical Kiing origin story in Secret Origins # 47. (and a snapshot in Who's Who in the LSH # 4)

I can see Luornu being over the top as far as discipline and training go, because she's lost more than most Legionnaires and I get the distinct impression that most of her teammates have no idea how traumatic losing her third body would have been for her (not sure of the status of her second body in this reboot)...even with her amped up powers now, I doubt that she has the same connection with her other bodies that she used to have; duplicates rather than separate parts of herself, so I can see how she would be a bit bitter about all of that. I am hoping her comments in this preview lead to some exploration at some point of all that she's been through, because up until 5YL that stuff was never really even touched on with Lu.

As far as Chuck being too far in the opposite direction....I see him more as judging a person by what they do when the chips are down, not expecting them to be on perfect behaviour at all times. He got his own powers through being a klutz, so I could see him giving the kids more leeway to just be kids. That's my take on it anyway.

The strict parent/lenient parent trope is pretty standard, so I'm not surprised to see it being implemented in this context.

Be-a-ut-iful!!! Hope Jimenez sticks around for a long, long time...

razsolo - I think your take on it is probably correct.

EDE - I think, like you say, the standardness of their roles here is what's chafing me. I like Lu and Chuck too much to see them reduced to the 'angry Mum / genial Dad' supporting roles of a bad teen TV sitcom. (Not that this book is bad at all though.) It's hard to make a character fun again when they've adopted the wise older mentor role. And I've always seen Lu and Chuck as two of the 'funner' members of this team.

I would prefer that the instructors of the academy were rotary.
This way Lu and Chuck might return to the action, and the students would have other points of view of different legionnaries.
Jo - Tinya
Dawny - Drake
Imra - Garth
Rokk - Lydda
Nura - Thom
Shaddy - Lar (together in this task)
Jeckie - Brin
Dirk - Brek
Gim - Reep
Querl - Jacques
Gates - Quislet
Jan - Tenzil

And the possibilities would be infinites..

I think that a lot of what happens at the Academy should depend on what ages and standards/model of education that is being represented.

And Chuck has always seemed like he's being represented now, a laid back, go with the flow, non-disciplined kind of guy.

In Lo3Ws and Action, Lu lost Una, her second self, didn't she?
Did she feel the murder and watch Val die, too?
Like her reaction to her first death by Computo, her comment on losing Una didn't seem very upset in Lo3W.
But, she was upset when she thought she'd lost her second self before her marriage, so I'm not sure what kind of angst is there.

It looks like Levitz may decide there were some emotional consequences, after all.

I like the idea of visiting teachers, perhaps for a lecture or an entire class semester.
Who better to teach a class on detective work then Cham or . . .

I like BB and DD and NG to remain, only going on any missions on special assignments.

I would add Rokk to the permanent staff, though.

Adam who?

I really like this idea! (Though not in the teaching combinations you list - the romantic couples don't have to be locked together. I'd much rather see them interact with different characters than the ones we're used to - especially in a teaching setting.) But rotating teachers would make sense and be an effective and interesting way of varying the cast.

On the other hand - where else in the last 20 years have we gotten to see Chuck and Lydda (and to a much lesser extent Luornu) getting so much face-time?

I'd rather see them in the main book but if the Legion-writers are so allergic to that idea then I'll definitely take them here.

So, Chemical Kid's powers are the result of intentional gene splicing rather than random mutation. That makes more sense. I was really enjoying this preview until Gym'll came on and only had 3 arms again. Wish the artists would get their collective heads out of their collective butts and draw the characters somewhat consitently. It really ruined the moment for me to have this glaring inconsistency pop up yet again.

I continue to love the look of Duplicate Girl--hair and costume are perfect.

Adam Lambert.
I used him for a couple of Chemical King entries on Bits . . . and I think he works even better for Chemical Kid.
There seemed to be disagreement on another thread somewhere here.
Thus my comment.

Also on another thread, we discussed the Gym'll arms.
It was pretty funny and had some good possibilites for the arm number changes.
Sex was only one of the ideas that was explored.

I'm still loving Legion Academy!

Lu... I can see her tragic history of personal loss as the reason for her hyper-protective reactions. If that's where she's coming from, I hope that will be explored more in a future story because new readers won't have any knowledge of that. Also, I wish Chuck was shown supporting her feelings about that more. Otherwise, I like his laid-back attitude about the kids.

I didn't like that neither Lu nor Chuck asked Hadru about his dad. Of course, if they had, there wouldn't be the rest of the story.

I didn't get the point of the Gym'll/Chuck page. Just to give us some background on Variable Lad? Why did Chuck get on his knees?

Phlon has an interesting look.

Hadru's power origin, and the reason, are cool. It made me think of Brin's story...if that *is* still his story in this version.

Love, love, love the art. That said, some of the fight scenes were confusing. On the page where the students arrive at Hadru's house, the last panel, I'm still not sure who's causing the "FWOOSH" -- Dragonwing or Black Mace?

The students stepped up in the fight, rallying to help their friend and his family. I liked that spirit.

Rokk's speech to the older academy students sounded rather melodramatic. "The risks are high, the tension incredible...and even if you don't get killed...." C'mon, Cos. You're almost as bad as Lu.

Pickin' nits. It's still my most-anticipated book every month.

Cos didn't make much sense about, paraphrased: '. . . putting your life on hold'.
Most of the couples haven't really.
Imra and Garth even have kids.

I know, or think, it's supposed to be his reaction to Pol's death, but it's still a little silly given everyone else's life on the team.

I'm afraid I don't understand why the cadets were so bad in their fight with BM.
The original Legionnaires were younger when they started and they were much better with hardly any training at all.

Maybe the title should be 'the Remedial Legion Academy'?

I think Cos is talking about himself, here.

He's all verklempt with regrets about the things he's given up, and perhaps even a bit resentful of the members who (to his perspective) didn't work as hard to keep it all together, and ran off and did have a life, leaving him holding the bag all by himself.

(His blow up at Garth and Imra being a fine example of that, where he flat out calls Garth on how he left to have a life, while Rokk had to give up his own to manage things.)

And, being who he is, the guy who feels that he has to take the lead and be responsible for everything, at least some of that is on him, since he could have walked away as well (with Lydda, or someone), if he trusted the rest of the team to be able to function without him. The team isn't lacking for capable alternatives who have what it takes to be leader (Drake is kind of perfect, since he literally *can't* 'have a life' outside of the Legion).

I kinda like the complexity there, that he's bitter about having always been the responsible one who has to carry everything by himself, and yet he's proven unwilling to hand off the reins and let someone else share the load.

He made his lonely bed, and he's not loving it.

He just doesn't know how to get off of the tiger, and, I suspect, like many work-a-holics, will be utterly at a loss for what to do in his retirement, and end up driving *everybody* crazy with his kibbitzing and backseat driving...

I'm sure we all have people in our lives like that, who always take charge, and make it seem like they *have* to pick up the slack and organize everything, or retired family members who drive us around the bend with their unsolicted advice or unasked-for 'help.'

It's kinda neat to see Cos displaying some human characterization, and not just being a stick in the mud with no depth. Heroes with feet of clay. Still heroes, but human.

It's her, both times she uses her power we get the same sound effect. Black Mace's sound is on the other side of the panel.

Wouldnt it be nepotism if Varibale Lad was given special treatment, like say skipping the Academy and becoming a member of the Legion?

Hasnt it always been shown sorta that Gym'll doesnt like the Legion members and if anything he might have trepidation in placing his nephew in their tutelage?
Sounds like there could be an interesting backstory there however I'm not sure you could call it nepotism.

Speaking of which where is Shadow Lad anyway??

I going to guess that he is dead. Durring Cosmic Boy's speach to the soon to be graduating class, there were some images in the background of figures that reminded me of the memorials to Legionaires. One of them looked like it might be Shadow Lad.

In addition to Shadow Lad, one of the figures displayed was the Westerner, which we saw in training during the backup feature (fighting the big muscular dude, who looks to be the leftmost figure, mostly off-panel), so I don't think those figures on the display screens were meant to be memorials, just portrayals of people not physically present (the next class of students after Jed, Tayla, Berta and Bobb?).

Wasn't Nightwind's name 'Berta' and not 'Barta?'

Eh. Whatever.

Phlonian architecture is *luscious.*

I kinda like how the kids (well, Gravity Kid, pretty much singlehandedly) schooled Black Mace.

If he didn't have someone with actual powers to back him up, he would have been utterly spanked.

I like these covers. Tayla, Jed and Gravity Dude on the first, Grava, Berta and Chuck on the second. He won't be able to keep up that composition (one newbie, two classic) if he wants to get Variable Lad, Chemical Kid, Dragonwing and Glorith on the next two covers, 'though.

Given her visual, I'd want Dragonwing to be a front-and-center cover choice, but her wing-cape-thingie would take too much real estate and block whichever pair was selected to share the cover with her...

Really enjoying this arc....is it going to last beyond the Comet Queen spotlight? Will we continue to have Academy stories? I sure hope so.

Of the new class, Gravity Kid continues to look like the must likely for Legion membership. Right powers (guess we'll see what's happening with Thom Kallor very soon), right attitude, etc.

But I have to admit I'm liking Chemical Kid, and it's nice to get a look at Phlon.

Also, great to see the return of Black Mace and the introduction of a powerful new villainess.

I haven't read this issue yet, but on Cos...I think the dude needs some counselling! Having lost his mother and Pol to being a Legionnaire, it strikes me that breaking up with Lydda is his way of trying to protect himself from any more loss as well. I like it as a character development, but get thee to a space-therapist son!

Yes Cos could use a bit of therapy

Or maybe a night out with Night Girl. He seemed to be getting better once he and her reformed the Subs. Poor guy just has to stop living in the shadow of Garth and Imra's relationship.

a night out with Night Girl...that's a good title for a back up

I wonder if Rokk and Lydda were married and maybe (tragically) loss their son Pol, thus ending the marriage. I still haven't seen a response to why Lournu is using her maiden name, I though she always used the "Taine" name in the past.

Nice issue. The cover was fun. I'm anxious to learn more about Phlon. The designs Phil used for the buildings reminded me of the way he integrated the Wonder Dome technology into Paradise Island during his run on Wonder Woman. The purple coloring added to the similarity. I'm still loving all the new kids and can't pick a favorite. The relationship between Variable Lad and Dr. Gym'll adds to the fun. Lu, Chuck, and Rokk were all in character. I would love to see all the graduates move up to the main team. Black Mace has never looked better. The return of the letters page was quite welcome.

I can't come up with anything to complain about.

If the older academy class won't be joining the Legion, I would like to see them included in the Subs. The idea of some of them becoming planetary heroes is also appealing, but (except for Shadow Lad) Lamprey, Power Boy, Nightwind, Crystal Kid and Westerner all are originally from Earth.

The academy issues really rock. Seeing Black Mace and Shagreg (sp?) again was awesome.

WAS OVERJOYED to see Black Mace and what appeared to be a couple of Shagreks.

This series continues to kick ass.

I agree the new Legion Academy stories continue to kick ass. How are sales? I saw a comment from Didi on Friday that Blackest Night characters would be moving in to Adventure.... which is a real shame

Sales actually went up a few hundred copies, but are still below the 25K mark. March Sales will tell the tale in regards to how the first issue was received.

I loved the return of Black Mace one of the best of the secondary villain characters. Although just for once on a while I would like to see these bad guys win. After all if your job is as “one of the Galaxy’s most feared enforcers” and you keep getting your butt handed to you by kids your reputation is going to last just slightly longer than the proverbial snowballs.

Let Black Mace flatten a few Legionnaires once in a while.

Two Shagreks? What's that about?

Is the blue-haired chick the new Mystelor? Dying to know.

LOVED that the letters page is back. Can't believe they want people to use regular mail though. Why not email? Seems easier for everbody.

LOVE LOVE LOVE the artwork!

I'm glad Lu's eyes are blue. Don't know if it will last though. I hate the split eye color. Chuck's eyes looked orange in one panel. Maybe Color Kid's playing games.

I really hope the Blackest Night characters aren't going to take over the title. Adventure belongs to the Legion, dammit.

Maybe he finally got lucky!

I'm guessing Shagrek comes from one of those old-school worlds where everyone is like him or that these are Shagrek clones meant to be cannon-fodder.

I'm also guessing (hoping) that Levitz respects the past enough to stick with Shooter's write-out of Mystelor and (*memory fails me again... that Lazon-ish dude*). I have a feeling those 2 will be replaced and chick here is Mystelor's replacement.

Quanto was the light-powered Taurus member. I'm hoping the reformation of Mystelor failed.

2 Shagrek better than 1 Shagrek!!

I'm happy both of Lu's eyes are one color again, but blue is incorrect.

I'm sure Shadow Kid'll show up soon.

Phlon is phabulous!!
The architecture, anyway. The planet itself looks burnt out & lifeless.

That is a great idea! Would love to Jo & Tinya, Rokk & Lydda, Nura & Thom as rotating instructors!

I’m not so sure about ‘rotating instructors’ as such. Changing the teaching staff would mean that any insights, knowledge or concerns the tutors have regarding the pupils could be lost. And any new instructors would have to spend time building bridges of trust that already existed with the previous guys.

I think it would be much better to have a fixed staff but with maybe these pairings coming in as guest lecturers’ to bring a fresh outlook to academy training.

Finally read this issue. Another great one! This series is SO much better than the main book!

Most people have already commented on all the good things on display here so I won't repeat them.

I've just got a question/comment -

I really think at least one of Tayla, Berta, Jed or Bobb needs to join the Legion. Otherwise - why would any Legionnaire wannabes ever go to that school when it has a success rate of exactly one member? (I think - Dawnstar is the only graduate who went big time isn't she?)

It would reflect badly on Chuck and Lu and Lydda's teaching IMO if they couldn't get any of their students accepted.

Of those four mentioned students, I'd like to see either Bobb or Berta make the leap. Both have powers that would be an asset to the team and we really don't know much about either of them. A good chance for them to shine IMO.

I really love those four characters though. I'd love it if we got some back-up tales about them having adventures around the galaxy or something every once in a while.

Tellus and Pol.

And for that matter original academy graduates Timber Wolf and Chemical King.

Berta would definitely be a top choice for addition to the main team, however.

^ Whoops. Forgot about all them. I guess the Legion Academy has a better success rate than I was giving it credit. (What does it say about their training methods that 2 of those 5 died though? )

And I agree with your agreement of me re: Berta.

I'm desperate to see more of the 31st century Earth's underwater world though, so if the Legion ever go there, I hope the writer remembers to include Tayla.

In the Roman military, a Legion could be up to 6,000 strong so why is our Legion limited to 25ish.

The notion that more characters makes it harder to write or more inaccessible seems bizarre to me when the Legion's universe has dozens of other heroes floating about: the Academy, the Subs, Lallor's Heroes, the Wanderers, Sodam Yat, Dev-Em etc. even Proty! Why is it harder if these characters are Legionnaires rather than just there in the books?

Let's have a real Legion with all of them as members.