Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes LSH #6 Review

LSH #6 is a mixed bag. The art is utterly fantastic from stem to stern. The Legion going off on missions in small groups and the interaction among the members works well too. I was VERY excited to see Duplicate Damsel, but I would prefer she was an active member going on missions with the others instead of a teacher. Her costume doesn't measure to her earlier versions or to the modified costumes created by Gary Frank--compare the exciting visuals of Lightning Lass with the drab uninspired uniform of DD.

The Academy kind of makes me gag, especially Comet Queen who comes off like Jar Jar Banks. The concept would work better with the newly introduced characters and less smugness from the Legion members

The ME Lad panel at the end was condescending and insulting. It seemed to be a direct slap at the readers who have liked and championed Tenzil Kem. Pity that the writer cannot come up with appropriate ways to use him.

Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad going on leave is a big mistake and removes a big part of the heart of the Legion.

This run so far has too many chopped up subplots and not enough straightforward action.

Don't think of it as Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad leaving the regular series temporarily, but rather think of it as an oppotunity for Levitz to turn their 'family adventure' into a truly grand story-line!
Remember what happened after they tried to leave after their wedding, and then again a few years after that? Yeah ... there you go.

I have no interest in a family adventure for them. I think kids in comics are a huge mistake, and I like seeing SG and LL mixing it up with the other members, not stuck on couple duty.

Don't worry. They'll be back before you know it. And their absence (as panel hogs) will give other characters a chance to shine.

i liked very much the legion academy tale, very intriguing.
especially on the art side, i found the mix of pencils and inks very nice: usually jimenez' art is made a little stiff by heavy inking, this time instead it all seemed to me more fresh and his figures more dynamic.

the first part of the book was dull as always, though. like i already wrote elsewhere, current levitz' writing reminds me of grindhouse movies. where, as you may you know, sometimes they used to lose a roll of film and you had to see a movie which missed many scenes.
the problem is, i don't think here this is a stylish choice (as it was, for example, for grant morrison on final crisis, a book which i also hated, btw). because it feels to me like the story doesn't always make sense.
for example, i really didn't get earth man's journey. what's the point levitz is making about this character? how did the character realize brainiac 5 was manipulating him? and so on.

i really wish levitz focused more on telling simpler stories instead of putting togheter a hundred and a half parallel storylines which he clearly doesn't know how to handle anymore.

Jim, you are way too rational!

That's me. Rational Lad. Wonder if there's a slot at the academy for me.

I think this issue was turning point, for me. If they can continue down this road, I predict good things ahead.

Unfornuatley, I think Cinar will be back sharing art duties next issue. It's not that he's a bad artist, but he and Wayne just don't bring any artistic flair to the book. This issue was a welcome change. Even most of the uniforms that I don't like looked almost acceptable this issue.

Jimenez was a delight. Although I didn't like all of his designs *cough* Chemical Kid, I liked his work overall. And nice to see Jeckie looking like Jeckie -- and a bit of ferality to Brin's face (still hate that Gary Frank monstrosity he's currently wearing!).

Luornu looked good from the head up. I don't believe Gary Frank design a look for her (thankfully), and that Perez designed the Duplicate Damsel look for Legion of Three Worls. I'm a Perez fan, but he's never been known to be a good costume designer. I'd rather see her in a body stocking -- something like what she wore in the 80s -- but maybe with some adjustments.

The appearance of a young Val Armorr really took me by surprise. Thumbs way up!

I don't mind Imra and Garth taking a leave of absence, as I feel Levitz really needs to work on the rest of the group -- not just the founders and Brainiac 5.

You know, I can easily deal with the art. I don't think its bad, I don't think its great. And right now, that works for me.

Back when Jimmy Janes was doing art for the book, a lot of people complained, but I didn't. During that time the biggest problem was storytelling. The stories were weak and had no real direction to them it seemed. So art that was clear, readable, and serviced the story worked.

We would all love a stellar artist, one of the big guns like George, to do the book. But truthfully, they aren't going to. The legion is a book that eats artists up due to the many characters, the "futuristic" backgrounds, etc. During the silverage glory days, the art was servicable. It wasnt spectacular, it simply got the job done. It was the idea of the future that pulled people in.

If you got a highly stylized artist, one that worked slow but gave great stylings, we would have a lot of late issues and people would be grumbling about killing the book.

There aren't too many Grell's or Lightle's out there that can do the book, and even Steve had trouble with the deadlines.

That isn't a cave, I would love great art, who wouldn't? But reality must also come into play. You don't really think you would get a Jim Lee on the book for an extended run without frequent fillins and/or delayed books, right?

No, we're not going to get a Perez or a Lee, but I wouldn't mind the return of Coipel. Okay, that isn't going to happen.

I think editorial does need to take a look at the book and see what can be improved. Maybe the answer is a new inker -- or having Porcela ink his pencils and Cinar's.

Also, I think it would help if they Legion upgraded their wardrobe.