Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! Spoilers... Issue #35... For No Better Reason, Part One!

Well, I'm excited!

This issue really gives support to those making the "we don't need a re-imagining, just good writing" argument!

Gail has given us quite easily the most interesting new villains in ages!

I'll post more comments once I've had time to digest the issue some more, but this is looking like the start of a great arc!

I didn't actually find the villains all that interesting but did like the story. Some interesting tid bits, Persuader's daughter most stands out.

The cover looks MUCH better off the stands than on the computer.

Why did the Green guy's gun work when the SP's didn't?

His gun worked because it was low-tech, and thus not effected by the "spike".

Ya know... if I had a whole lot of money, and I had to pay one person to write comic books for me to enjoy, I'd hire Gail. That is, if she would work for a guy like me.

Her Birds of Prey is outstanding. I'm a huge Deadpool fan and I liked her writing on that book too (well Agent X for you technical types). She has a subtle way of drawing you into the story and, more importantly, the characters. I always find myself smiling when I'm reading her work. Her Karate Kid dialgue at the beginning was one of those moments for me.

She answered the questions that popped in my head while I was reading, and at the end of the issue, I wanted to read the next issue. I'm interested in where she's going with the arc, and that's all you can ask from serial stories. I can't think of higher praise to give her. Thank you Gail.

I'm not much of an art critic, as I have no talent for that type of thing. What I saw of the art in this issue was pleasing.

I loved it! This is how a storyline gets set up! And I'm pretty sure there's a reason behind what we've seen thus far, unlike say the last year's worth of DnA stories.

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Organ Thief is quite a unigue villain, to say the least. Although I can guess why he's there. I wish Gail could have shoehorned a pre-boot villain into the role somehow. It would have been cool, especially since she's already introducing 4 new characters. (Organus, perhaps?)

Brainiac 5's implants are preventing him from going mad or evil? That's an interesting twist. The anomaly must have unleshed his emotions and he's been using them to control them?

I also liked the fact that thresholds finally have a limitation. About time.

Dan and Andy have done a good job, however many of the Legionnaires (especially Gear) looked too old. And couldn't someone have given them Wildfire's new costume design?!?!? I don't know in what order things had happened. But I find it hard to believe that this mistake couldn't have been corrected somehow. Two lousy panels knocked me out of the story because someone was asleep at the wheel. VERY disappointing!

Yeah, the Wildfire thing really irked me as well. It's almost as though Keith and Steve's issue is just being totally ignored.

One nice touch I just noticed: Organ Thief's two different eye colors.

Devil's crossing off the Legion symbols scrawled (in blood?) on the villains' hideout reminded me quite a bit of the LSH-LSV War.

I liked the narration from Trudy's perspective as well, and the fact that she is also set to become a major character in the story.

What exactly was going on with Vi? Was it that Lantern's powers gave her Emerald Eye flashbacks or something?

The "everone relies on their technology, let's see what happens when it stops working" bit seems a bit cliched, though the only time I can really think of it being used in the Legion was during the Kol story.

And the Persuader's daughter is awesome! I can't wait to find out more about her!

Let's give Dan Jurgens and Andy Smith (Did I get the right inker) their due as well the art is as top-notch as the writing.

COOLEST LITTLE SMILIES EVER!!!!


Really glad to hear you're enjoying this arc, guys. We worked our tails off, but we had a blast doing it. I don't want to accidentally give anything away, but there's a lot more fun and drama coming, I think!

Nightcrawler, I can't stand how cool those smilies are.

Gail

It through me a bit, because it looked like a standard rifle from today, but the art made it look like a laser, what with the hole it blew through Tinya while in her phantom form.

The Good Bits:

Art pacing, layout and backgrounds.
Downloadable faces.
Dialogue between good guys and bad guys.
Chuck, Val, Trudy, Pinter.
Lot's of little things that I've some confidence won't get left dangling. Things I hope still get answered are the "on the table" comment (is it an blue devil inside joke?). It seemed kind of lame so I suspect there was some purpose to it.

I think we can rule out the green guy as Nemesis, given how he ran from Vi.

Bad Bits:

The older looking legionnaires, though I think some of this is due to it being a first time artist?.
Designing a prison to blow up and kill all doesn't seem Legion like. I found that quite jarring and poor characterisation.
The kiss. Seemed like juvenile pandering. Juvenile because it's a silly way to make powers work. Pandering, well nothing wrong with that actually, just make it good please.
Stilted dialogue between Legionnaires (or their mothers).
Gear, the villains, particularly either of the green guys.
Nothing here needs the future or Legion. Could be a JLA or TT story.

Great future-pop dialogue! And the male Legionnaires' dress uniforms absolutely rock. Were those designed entirely by (the new) Dan and Andy, Gail, or did you have a hand?

The girls' costumes aren't bad, though it'd be nice if just one of them was showing a bit less skin....y'know, for a change. (Thankfully, Umbra is positively Talibanesque, compared to her recent outfits.)

A necessary side effect of the upgrade, perhaps? That's what happens when you overclock your brain...

Anyway, we haven't gotten to see a good solidly insane Brainy post-boot, so this was certainly refreshing. I hope he'll still play a role in the rest of the arc, though, not just giggle on the sidelines.

I thought it was because--as shown a bit later--she was too busy trying to hold up the damaged gunship to fight back.

Now why was Arrow singing Verdi? Cuz he likes old music or because he's comparing himself to the Hebrew slaves? Hm.

"Canary! Jump up on this table with me! I do all my best thinking on tables." is my new favorite line from the series.

Okay, that kind of makes sense. But she does have two hands...



I kind of got the impression that Arrow just liked old stuff (though, of course, there were independent reasons for him using the ancient rifle...)

I pretty much agree with Blockade Boy's assessment. It was entertaining enough, but apart from the characters, very little about it said "Legion" to me. It was, I dunno, too self-consciously hip and cynical for my taste, especially the portrayal of Devil. I don't begrudge other readers a little T&A, but what we saw in this issue was excessive to the point of being laughable. And please answer this: how can the Legionnaires be "a little bit older" if it's still 3003?

To the good bits, I'd add Trudy's narration. I was also fascinated by whatever the Persuader's daughter had on her face. Makeup, a tattoo, jewelry, a disease? Love the unseen Karahdia (bug people!). Virtua!spouses was the cleverest bit of all. I want one, too, with M'onel's face. It's good to know that Verdi is still appreciated 1,000 years from now.

In the "suspension of disbelief" department, we have not only Brainy's dysfunctional implants (please tell me he's NOT going mad scientist) but also Umbra's "caring" attitude. Tasmia would sooner spit on Jo than engage him in small talk about his mother-in-law. And why didn't Winema think to phase when she KNEW she was at risk? I, too, was confused by Violet's encounter with "Lantern".

I *do* look forward to the next issue but I can't really say I'm excited about it.

All I can say right now is: Thank God the title's gone bi-weekly!

GAH! No #35 yet... my shop up the road had one copy left after filling their holds, and I left it for someone else as I already have a copy coming with my midmonth sub delivery... I'm too nice for my own freaking good!

Ah, well-- I'll hit my other store this weekend. I know THEY ordered enough...!

Be back when I finally read it!

I enjoyed this issue a bunch! I have minor quibbles, but nothing that really detracted from the story. There was a lot to like though:
-- Character interactions: while Tasmia seemed a touch too casual, there's been so much happening off-panel during DnA that it's become difficult to nail down certain personalities of characters who have been through a lot the past couple of years. I still don't really know what's going on with Jo and Tinya, Jo and Brin's tension remain intact though which was a nice bit.
-- I like the villains -- from the possible 21st century ties to their costume designs and the fact that we have more down to earth villains with an unclear agenda and history. I have to wonder if their 21st century influence is meant to make them counterpoints to the Legion who are also influenced by those hereos. Do they think they're somehow living up to the ideals of the old heroes? The line about how everything is done for you in the 31st century reminds me of that "Superfriends" episode where people became lazy once the robot servants took over.
-- This is reminding me of last issue where there was a focus on one particular side character, but aside from giving depth to that character, she served as a conduit into the story, rather than overshadow it. There was still plenty of nice Legion moments throughout. (naturally, this was different since Champagne had one issue to tell his tale, but still...)
-- I also liked the downloadable faces -- nice futuristic touch.
-- If Winemina's really dead, I'll be disappointed. Despite being one note of late, I think there are still lots of possibilities for her with Jo and Tinya and their whole family dynamic.
-- Vi being taken down because she was holding the cruise made me think the same thing I thought when the Wasp was taken down for the same reason a few months ago in Avengers -- she should be enough of a pro to handle more than one thing at a time.
-- I like how we're given more than one story thread to follow (one of my big criticisms of DnA's "big" stories). It was one thing after another with several cliffhangers instead of just one. I'm extremely interested to see what Karate Kid's going to do! And what's the deal with The Persuader's daughter? (if that's even who she is)

Stunned, I think. Didn't she just get clocked by that falling hovercam?

just popping in without reading the spoilers to let Gail know I'll be getting the issue Friday, and it's my most-looked-forward-to book of the stash!!

There has not been a better issue of Legion since Levitz stopped writing the book - that's almost 15 years. I would even stack Gail's writing up against Paul Levitz's. I truly, truly wish Gail were the regular writer on Legion. I guess I'll just have to be content with 3 more issues. This is manna from heaven compared to DnA's dreck.

This issue was quite a bit of fun. This is the first time in a while that I've felt moved to comment on a new issue.

Stuff I liked -

*I'm glad that this is a localized threat. After one galaxy-wide threat after another, it was nice to see a threat that feels just as urgent, but won't change time/evolution for all eternity if the the threat fails. I am more concerned about the people in the Oasis than I ever was for the whole galaxy that was threatened during "Foundations".

*Brand new villains that seem to have an agenda and personalities all their own. Each villain has a distinct look and personality loosely based on 20th century heroes.

*Seeing the Legionnaires in their civilian clothes was a nice change, too. In fact I think I enjoyed the art better than Batista's work. Although, I may just like it better because I am identifying it with actual story and not page after page of splashes.

*Good pacing. Good story. I think I'll actually remember to care what will happen by the time the next issue rolls around.


Stuff I didn't like-

*Didn't like the cover. A bit too gratuitous for my taste. And the humour really didn't fit with the story. I don't want to see cheesecake in a Legion story.

*Legionnaires sure are easy to capture aren't they? Between Wildfire last issue and Dream Girl this time around - no wonder they never show us the actual capture - it happens so often ,it really isn't that big of a deal. I really don't get (or like) this weird connection between Canary and Naltorians. I hope it will make better sense by the end of the story.


Other stuff -

*Could Persuader's Daughter be the 31st century version of Joker's Daughter?

*All Chameleon had to do to get the crowd's attention wasa turn into a Loudspeaker Beast. You know, the kind that used to defend the Interplanetary Bank.

*Is Karate Kid Asian? Althoug it would be a bit stereotypical to have an Asian be the karate guy, it would be an interesting spin on the character.

*Tinya sure is going to feel guilty about phasing when she did, won't she?

*I think I like Wildfire's DnA costume best. I hope it sticks around.

*Why is chuck giving orders? Is he deputy leader? I guess he has to have something to do.

*who's babysitting Cub?

*I'm glad Umbra's finally getting over her grumpiness lately. Now if only we can find an artist who will put clothes on her.

The Persuader's daughter is the new Infectious Lass. I mean, look at her dripping cheek and didn't the Persuader tell her to go away because she's making him sick?

Thanks!

And thank you for giving me an issue of the Legion to get excited about again! I can't wait to see how this all unfolds and like Arachne, am glad that it's bi-weekly!

Oh yeah - I forgot to mention the awesome new graemlins! I like the little flying star behind Arrow too -- you're like the da Vinci of smilies!

I too like the fact that the villains have some motivation other than taking over the world/universe/timestream/whatever. I hope they see themselves as heroes freeing Earth from their dependency on tech, and not just common thugs with super powers.

The art didn't live up to Jurgen's usual work IMO. His Titans/LSH crossover work was awesome compared to this. Blame the inker I guess.


Problems for me:

It seems to me that it would be S.O.P. for any Bgztlian public official to remain in phase mode for the duration of any public appearance. Who needs force shields if no one can touch you? Also, can't Tinya phase other people and objects now? I know she was shown phasing her kid through a wall recently. Why didn't she just phase her mother if Winema was too stunned to phase herself? Or at the very least, shield her with her own body, instead of phasing. What kind of presidential bodyguard throws an immaterial body between the president and harm's way?


Also, I'm surprised no one else mentioned this yet. Isn't the postboot Dreamer the first Naltorian precog in 7 generations or something? So how could the villains know that Naltorians' precog power boosts Canary's? I also don't see how the ability to see the future would have any effect on anyone else's power, but maybe that will be clarified later. I also would've liked to see Dreamer use some of her ass-kicking Khundian training, rather than lounging around unconscious throughout.

I also liked the dress uniforms, but it seems to me Jo and Brin would've shaved for a dressy occasion, and it seemed odd that Brin's dress uniform would have a plunging neckline displaying his hairy chest. Seems vulgar for an audience with the President.

Overall, I'm looking forward to where this is going and hoping for the best.

Actually, I kind of liked Brin's Dress uniform, ha