Creating history– a review of The Legion of Super Heroes # 40
Posted by Scott Cederlund in Review, comics Can anyone at DC really figure out what to do with The Legion of Super-Heroes?
Jim Shooter is four issues into his run on the title and there is nothing that separates this version of The Legion of Super-Heroes from the Abnett/Lanning version of a few years ago or even the Sterns/McCraw reboot from the 90s. In issue #40, the team catches a breather from the unmemorable events of the previous issues. In that downtime, they plan, stress out and even sleep around. Well, I guess that last part is a bit different from most previous versions of the Legion. There’s nothing horrible about this issue. Brainiac 5 deals with another upcoming invasion and Lightning Lad begins to get a handle on team leadership before it all falls apart around him again. Other than that? The team sits around and gossips about each other.
Shooter’s new run on the title has been solid but glaringly unremarkable. In four issues, he’s made no significant mark on this book or on this team. They feel stagnant, unable to get out of the shadow of the past 15 years worth of Legion stories. It’s a rebooted continuity, but other than some more sex, nothing is different. When Mark Waid and Barry Kitson relaunched The Legion of Super-Heroes a couple of years ago, they produced an interesting if somewhat bland take on the team– rebellious teens that were fighting the controlling and oblivious adults. For a team that had always been about maintaining some utopian status quo, Waid and Kitson’s approach to the book was an attempt to to inject some new fire into a team that’s rarely been much more than a standard super-hero book. Unfortunately, the execution often fell short of the intent and the Waid/Kitson run and their run limped to a conclusion last year. Shooter is left to pick that up but his run so far feels like filler, much like Tony Bedard’s lame duck run of issues. The Legion of Super-Heroes is a title that’s limping along right now, needing to re-establish its identity.
The artwork from Francis Manupul is fun, injecting an energy into the book that the writing is lacking. His future looks like a fun place to live. I almost wish that Manupul, or an artist more similar to him, had been around to illustrate earlier issues of this series as Kitson was often a very controlled and dry artist. Manupul’s characters are full of life and vigor and make the issues worth getting so far.
The Legion of Super-Heroes #40
“Enemy Rising Pt 1: Headlong Into Darkness”
Written by: Jim Shooter
Penciled by: Francis Manupul
Inked by: Livesay
Colored by: JD Smith
Lettered by: Steve Wands
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i’d wager to guess that this legion will be coming to a close soon. i think that final crisis and geof johns upcoming legion of 3 worlds story is going to set up the new status quo for the legion for the next few years.