Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #32 (Spoilers)

This issue rawks.

Calero's art is outstanding!

S
P
O
I
L
E
R

A
L
E
R
T

Z
O
N
E


First: The cover, in the tradition of this title, has almost nothing to do with the story inside. Thankfully in this case, because the characters in the story are more interesting than those on the cover.

Page One: Consequences -- Cosmic Boy's elimination of the Dominator World is being scrutinized. Beautiful opening page, exactly the kind of shout that a first page from a new creative team should make.

The story takes place primarily on Winath. Lots of back story about Winath, itself, plus more about Mekt. Mekt continues to be developed as one of the great characters of substance in this version of the Legion.

Star Boy, Sun Boy, and Mekt are on Winath with special prosecutor Kem. No one else is around -- including the parental Ranzzes.

Kem is looking for Cosmic Boy who can be traced, perhaps to Winath by the magnetic disturbances that always accompany him. here we go again -- an actual consequence of wielding great magnetic power. Mekt, Star Boy and Sun Boy were deployed to Winath by Brainiac 5.

The four wind up underground (where most Winathian society exists because of violent storms on the surface. An agricultural machine tagged with the name "Validus" is found. Mekt goes ballistic -- or electric -- lashing out against Kem, Sun Boy and Star Boy. Sun Boy shrugs off the attack with a line that suggests that there were character-building consequences to his time in the captivity with the Dominators.

Mekt and Sun Boy tangle -- and Star Boy, yes Star Boy! -- brings them down, literally.

There's more wrenching Mekt back story about Mekt and his return from Korbal with Lightning powers and his depression and isolation. Consequences of being twinless. As of this issue, Mekt has become my favorite Legion character.

Kem is lured into a grain storage vault and last seen "drowning' in a flood of grain -- shades of "Witness." An odd aside, the hooded character of the following page gave me sort of a Harrison Ford vibe before in had even looked at the previous pages.

Validus is the name of a supposed mythical Lord of Lightning about whom there is/was a cult of followers on Winath. In the last scene the elder Ranzzes appear to be attacking Mekt in the name of the Lord of Lightning.

Undoubtably my favorite issue of this series so far. Those who lament the lack of a Silver Age-y happy Legion will not be satisfied, but I couldn't be more delighted.

The best part of all is the story title at the end of the last page:

The Quest for Cosmic Boy
Lord of Lightning
Part 1 of 2

Part 1 of 2, not Part 1 of 12. It suggests that next month, this story will be ended. Wouldn't that be a nice feature, stories with an end.

I don't know what all Bedard and Calero have lined up after their Legion tour, but they will be on my pull list.

Tenzil's Legion of fans will love this and he hasn't even used his power.... Yet I can't wait till next issue.

Excellent effort by all involved. This is exactly what the Legion should be. A hot young artist knocking our socks off while making a name for himself. Interesting glimpses of 31st century that really feel like the future. A little bit of back story that clarifies instead of confuses. Some character development. A story that moves forward, contains some surprises and suspense, and makes you want to come back next month for more. Kudos on the colors, as well.

Hmmm. Maybe the 3boot can be saved after all?

To all, happy legion 32 day. thank you for the nice word ont he art. i mean, you are all allowed to hate it, but we did bust our collective butts to bring you the best issue we knew how to do. as i finish 34 and am officially over the half way hump on my arc, i'm already feeling a bit sad that within a few months, my creative time with you guys will be over, though of course as the books come out, i will still say hello and see what you guys think.

the positive and receptive attitude of the legion fans has been truly humbling and i know i speak for us all, from tony, me, mike and jeanine and nate, the amazing colorist (and our letterer) too, we appreciate it!

I enjoyed the background stuff in this issue. and the underground places, has a certain creepy atmosphere about it.

by the way, regarding Tenzil. does he get larger when eating or does his body break stuff down quickly? I am just thinking he's going to have to eat a lot of wheat and then the door to get out. that's a large "meal"

Traditionally, there's a super-speed aspect to Tenzil's power, which both allows him to eat at super-speed and rapidly metabolize extremely large amounts of "food" without gaining weight.

It's been awhile since a writer has really emphasized this aspect of his power, so it'll be cool if we really get to see him eat a huge quantity of stuff.

would it really be cool? hmmm.... heh heh

My review is up on Legion Abstract, and boy, do I have some kind words for Mr. Calero in it.

This was my favourite of the week. Seeing Star Boy face off against the hot head and the live wire was great- good to see him getting some spotlight. Even seeing Sun Boy fired up was good. I like the suspense Tony built up- bring on the Lightning Lord.

And the art... Dennis done good. I've been appreciating his stuff elsewhere, and seeing it with this particularly story really worked.

Just curious- are we going to get a Calero drawn group shot ever?

Matthew, Id love to read it. Can you post a link? Oh there it is!

CJ, thanks so much. I'm pushing for a group shot!

Wow! Now that was more what I want from the Legion. Great artwork from Calero. The characters seem to come alive. I haven't been this excited about reading a Legion title since DNA left.

Wonderfully weird and nightmarish. Mekt Ranzz, so brutal yet so heart-wrenchingly vulnerable, is a joy to read. You think Mekt is strange? You haven't met his parents and neighbors. This is Winath as we've never seen it before -- a world of ultramodern technology atop a culture of primitive superstition -- affording new and intriguing insights into Mekt's tortured soul. What an engrossing and multifacted character he is in the right hands.

Where Mekt is a cauldron of emotions, Tenzil is as cool as a cucumber until he walks into the Super-Silo of Death (too bad he removed his cool lie detector glasses before meeting those cute little homicidal kids). Can't wait for next month -- this may be Tenzil's biggest escape since chomping his way out of Nardo's Stalag!

But what the hell is Brainy up to intercepting urgent calls to Supergirl and ignoring pleas for backup? Star Boy (don't call him dumb after this issue) figures out that Brainy has set them all up to fail. It looks like the green kid is putting the Legionnaires through some sort of test. Am I reading too much into "Mayor Simzz"?

Kudos to Bedard, Calero and crew for delivering the goods and meeting my highest expectations. If you don't grab this issue you're missing something special.

Phooey on the dull-as-dishwater Lightning Saga Legion. *This* is the kind of Legion I want.

I really enjoyed the issue, Bedard's writing was great, I really started to like characters I haven't previously liked before like Mekt and Star Boy, and Tenzil, I can't wait to see more of them.

Also can anyone post what Mekt said to Tenzil about the lie detector glasses?

Also what Star boy said to Sun Boy and Mekt? after he increased their weight.

I laughed after reading the CBR's review of this issue. Boring? I think not. During the whole WAK run CBR were giving the book great ratings for every issue. I was often mystified what anyone got out of this book as most characters were carbon copies of one another.

Now I'm not going to knock the entire run, but there was a lot of decompressed storytelling during that time. IMO, a lot of the issues were boring and lacked any real sense of threat. The CBR reviewer also stated that this issue was not what we had come to expect from the WAK legion. I hope not!

Egads! a Washington DC poster with a suggestively-(un)dressed avatar. Quick someone call my attorney!

I agree, Ultrajo. By the time I got to page two, I was hooked.

i'm sorry, but I disagree... Still as mediocre as the previous issue.

And sorry Mister Calero, but I didn't really like your artwork. I admit though that the garish colors didn't help. Just hoping for a quick death of this incarnation of the Legion now

Love the cover. The background images looked great. (for those who haven't...the toon Legion comic has great art by Steve Uy this month!)

I think MLLASH is going to love Tenzil's look in this issue. (haven't read the other posts yet)

Dennis, kudos! Love the use of black! Love your Mekt. Also I think the way you told the story(panels, etc) was very fluid. The backgrounds and tech stuff looked great as well. Loved the page with the hooded man and candles! Dennis the only small knock I have is some of Star Boy's and Sun Boy's facial experssions toward the beggining of the book. I noticed their expressions looked much better later. But both Mekt's and Brainy's expressions looked awesome!

I liked the colors personally. For those guys not digging Dennis' art think of another Legion artist that was outside the box...Steve Lightle.

Story? Much better. Validus on the farm? Well it makes sense. He was a Ranzz before. Interesting twist to the mythos. Those were creepy kids! This is one of the best Legion stories I read in a while. Four heroes on a planet with wierd stuff happening. I like it.

I was thinking the title of the story ought to be 'Children of the Space-Corn'.

I loved the art overall, but there were a few inconsistent panels. Mekt's and Dirk's expressions in one panel (I think where Mekt is talking about the gelcubes) were really out there and didn't seem to fit the dialogue.

I'll have to reread the story to see what everyone's raving about. I thought it was the quickest read ever the first time around.

Why are Supergirl and Chameleon on the cover when they're not even in the story? Why are Garth, Ayla, and Rokk in the roll call when they're not in the story either? I don't mind the covers not matching up to the story so much, but you'd think they could at least get the cast right.

The covers seem to be an attempt to focus on three different members each issue. Rokk was there on the splash page flashback. Ayla and Garth had their origin told in the back story. I can see how you might think this may not merit a roll call inclusion, but it appears to be a conscious decision and a not one of the glaring mistakes that marked some previous issues.

I won't get the issue until Friday but these posts have me stoked. Tenzil's sunglasses as super-lie-detectors.... of space? I like, A LOT.

I already know the art is going to rawk.

Is it silly to clamor, sight unseen, for an extended BnC run?!?

My take:

I like Bedard's work so far. I am not real familiar with him but for some reason I like most of the recent stuff I have been reading from him. I can't quite but my finger on what exactly appeals to me about his work...but something does. Maybe it's intelligent dialogue or something.


I am a real big fan of Mark Waid...I am not however a real big fan of Mark Waid Legion Writer/Editor?Rebooter. For better or worse, I am always going ot associate him with the last 20 years of Legion misery for myself...as he was a part of virtually every post crisis incarnation of the Legion from 1989 on.

I already like Bedard better as a Legion writer. And sorry Mark, but if I never see you write the Legion again...it will be too soon....some times it's best to remain a fan? OTOH, I am extremely happy to see you back on the Flash..and have enjoyed everything else you've written at DC since the mid 90's.


Calero's artwok was dark and atmospheric...I liked it, and that's pretty good praise considering he's immediately following up Kitson who is right there with my favorite Legion Artist ever. Good luck Dennis, touch act to follow, but FWIW the artwork was eye catching.


As for the story...that's not ME Lad to me, it's not even the TMK ME Lad...which is probably my favorite. I am tired of reintriductions of characters I liked better originally...it's been the problem with the Legion for 20 years now.


I am definitely a fan of the Pre Crisis Legion and now that DC is showing signs of bringing that one back...this title is kind of lacklustre... And yes I know the Legion in the Lightning Saga is not exactly the same Legion as the original...but it's the closest thing to it we've seen since before the Pocket Universe story.


Anyway...I'm happy with the over all Legion explosion over the past year or so...got Legion on TV, Legion playing a major role in JSA JLA crossovers...Legion characters in countdown.

I'm very happy with this...I hope they keep this multiverse and it makes sense there would be multiple versions of the Legion in it....

Superboy, I agree about Waid. I like everything else he has written...except the Legion. I think he's just too much of a fan and his Legion vision is not something I care for. From his ZH days to his latest reboot. ugh.

Anyways, I agree there is something about Bedard I just like. Can't put a finger on it but it might be his dialogue/pacing? He sets things up nicely.

Dennis has a tough act to follow but he did pretty good I thought. It's only going to get better.

I'm all for a multiverse and a BnC run myself.

Liked this issue. It was nice to get Mekt's backstory. I liked how Sun boy really stepped up, Kem was great (LOVE the lie-detector shades). I am also looking forward to next month's issue, something I haven't done with the Legion for awhile (well, unless it was in a 'hope springs eternal' manner in hoping that the series would eventually pick up the pace).

The art was good, fit the mood of the story well (creepy Winath). However, I hope that, unless the other stories also deal with creepy stuff, the art will lighten up a bit. I also agree that some of the facial expressions were off, and in some panels Star Boy and Sun Boy looked like adults. However, there were some beautiful shots and some great Mekt and Kem panels, so I'm pretty happy artwise.

But yeah, I like the idea of doing two-issue stories for each of the teams, it seems like WaK tried to juggle too many things and ended up dropping the ball in some parts. This focus on small number of characters is nice, however, I just wish the team was three Legionnaires and not one Legionnaire, one ex-Legionnaire and one bad guy.

Oh, and no Supergirl in this issue (except in a background panel shot) that made me very, very, very happy.