Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Reboot Re-read: DnA Legion

Good summation, Gas. You hit all the main points and presented a fair assessment of DnA's run. I appreciated the context of why DnA were brought into the title in the first place.

I started reading the reboot with LSH # 109--the period of decline as you described it. Even though it wasn't the Legion's best period, there was enough there to pique my interest, and back issues were readily available. I immersed myself in the early reboot--it truly was a remarkable achievement. The Legion's origins were reinterpreted in surprising ways, and there was a sense of fun to balance all of the serious storylines--the White Triangle, Gim's death, Live Wire being kicked off the team and then losing his arm. This was classic superhero storytelling at its finest. The writers didn't talk down to readers, but they acknowledged that their audience and their characters were very young, and so they wove in arcs that would appeal to teens (Jeni's early lack of self-confidence, Gim's crush on Zoe, etc.). The early reboot was truly a series for all ages, and, even though I was in my 30s, I didn't feel out of place reading the stories. Having two Legion titles a month was also a treat.

I commented above on what I thought of DnA's version of the Legion. It may have been that they were on the title too long, or it may have been that they were constrained by market forces and editorial demands, but their overall vision was sound. Consider: One of the most controversial events in Legion history was Jan Arrah turning into the Progenitor and killing Candi and Garth. Many fans were upset by this. Yet it must have done the trick of reinvigorating interest in the Legion; otherwise, a new ongoing series would have been unthinkable. But DnA's cinematic style seemed to work best with smaller casts of characters and in shorter story structures. They came up with some truly off-the-wall and surprising concepts, such as revealing the Legion's perennial nuisance Leland McCauley to be a long-time DC villain. But, as time went on, I do think they overreached themselves. Consider also: They were responsible for handling all the plots and subplots of 25 or so Legionnaires, supporting characters such as Brande and Wazzo, and villains. The previous team of Stern, Waid, Peyer, and McCraw had multiple writers and two series in which to develop and expand the cast and stories.

It also strikes me--unless I'm mistaken--that DnA wrote every single issue from "Legion of the Damned" up until their dismissal following The Legion # 33. Most series have fill-in issues with other writers to give the regular team a break. There were fill-in artists along the way. Why not fill-in writers? There are few other writers I can think of who managed impressive track records such as this--Levitz on the Legion during the '80s, and J. Michael Straczynski on the TV series Babylon 5 come to mind. But the potential for burnout must be high.

All of this is speculation, of course. I don't know what led to DnA's run being what it was. But I do appreciate the risks they took in telling these stories and some of the twists and turns they wove into the Legion. They were occasional instances of them not talking down to readers, as well, but, but the time Kon-El came along, I felt they were checking the boxes of the things that "had" to be in a Legion story--a sign of desperation, perhaps.

Thank you! I tried to be as fair as possible during the reading, as I knew going into the effort that I had a bias. Thankfully, taking the time to get into it really was able to help expose the parts that were really great as well as what didn't really work, or at least for me.


Wow! Well at least you missed the Dark Circle storyline (that was the previously rejected story that I referred to earlier). But even in those batches you had some bright spots - I very much enjoy 109 itself, and 117 & 118 were really good, as I was seriously concerned that Sensor was going to get killed! But the titles lacked the cohesity that the early reboot had. I'd love to ask the writers what the heck was going on behind the scenes there, as it really felt like either the writers or the editor, or both, was out of their depth all of a sudden.


I think this is mostly correct. When people think of the DnA Legion, what they really probably think of is Legion Lost. It's a defining work for them for sure. And not only did it keep the flame alive, but it stoked it so that people who hadn't seen it before were interested, and those who had dropped it in frustration gave it another shot. I also think their cinematic structure definitely worked with the smaller (~12) cast, but also a DEFINED structure, i.e., with a specific beginning, middle and end, which is why Lost was so successful. Worlds was also basically a series of individual special issues. Whenever they would get to more than three issues in a storyline during the ongoing, all bets were off on how well the story would end, as there was so much padding and meandering plot-wise. But the plot ideas were, for the most part, amazing.


This is, I think, an important point, as its documented that in the Carlson editorial run, they'd confab offsite and plot out the overall arc of the year or two, which is necessary with two interweaving titles. After Carlson left, I don't know if this continued, and the results showed. Slimming the Legion down to a single title, however that happened behind the scenes, let Dan and Andy basically do what they wanted, as McAvennie had placed his entire trust in those two. But the signs of their weaknesses were there from the start - the end arcs of the LSH and L* series still ended up focusing on only a dozen characters, and when they got "back to normal" with the regular title, they couldn't break that same habit or at even rotate out characters from the central storyline. That, and some weird character shorthand (e.g., "Big Background Vi", Tinya & Jo) amplified that problem.


This is a really good point. I think the only deviation from this is the Giffen issue (31), where I'm convinced that Giffen just went off an outline that Dan and Andy left. Why did they not have anyone else involved? From what I understand, not only were they doing this book, but they also had a few others going at the same time. Talk about burnout! I can only imagine from just TRYING to write, and I get burned out from my REGULAR job! Again, I think the story of what happened after McAvennie was forced out and how DnA had plotted this all out would be interesting to hear. Maybe it was a contract thing.


Oh, the end of my essay was complete speculation. I'd love for an oral history of the reboot creators to be written so that we can understand the twists and turns here. We've all heard Waid's tales of Zero Hour, but the time after he left all through the departure of DnA has a story to it. I'm sure that there are some folks who'd not mind telling the story, but others who don't want to burn bridges, especially these days. Still, one can dream.

DnA did try to take the team into a different area, which was good and needed, and they definitely deserve praise for that.

I just read #35, and, while I don't want to jump ahead of Gaseous Lad's review and summary, I'll just say . . . Gail Simone restored a lot of the drama and uncertainty to Legion stories that was lacking in most of DnA's post-Robotica run. This issue makes me wish we'd seen much more of her vision of the Legion.

Yeah, my memory is being so incredibly disenchanted by the end of DnA's run that I was ready to happily welcome Waid rebooting the title again, but that Simone showed that there was still potential left in this version of the team.

My regret about the Reboot, which I didn't read at the time (because I was in college, 100 miles from the nearest comic shop, during those years), was that it answered some of the diversity quibbles of the original core group by adding a bunch of new characters, many diverse, like Kid Quantum 2, XS, Catspaw, GEAR and Dragonmage, and occupying some differing roles like 'tanky' ladies like Andromeda, Thunder and Monstress (while the classic Legion tended to have dudes be physical powerhouses and ladies less 'tanky' powers like precognition and telepathy and darkness generation and phasing) and even a token non-humanoid alien (not seen in the classic Legion until Tellus) with Gates!

While there were qualities that I didn't care for about the Reboot (or, frankly, *any* 'reboot' of the team), it feels like both the Threeboot and Bendis' Legion have utterly missed the boat on compelling and diverse additions to the roster.

I would a thousand times rather read more about Kid Quantum 2, Dragonmage, Monstress and Gates, for instance, than Monster Boy, Gold Lantern and Dr. Fate 3000. It was rich with potential, and got abandoned for the Threeboot far too quickly, IMO. You don't improve your situation in a race by switching to a new car at every stop and having to start the learning curve all over again, and while I think it was a miss-step to switch from classic to Reboot in the first place, it was a total boner move to switch *again* to the Threeboot!

If you demonstrably have zero faith *in your own product* how do you expect to convincingly market it to others?

But this has been, IMO, a problem with DC in general, with the Legion just being a prime exhibit of their lack of faith in their own IP and desperate attempts to constantly re-invent or re-define them, instead of organically evolve them.

I have not much to add - I agree that DNA reached their heights with Lost and Worlds. Ra's and Robotica served to rebuild and re-gather the team. What came after just failed to reach the heights of before. I felt much of the earlier Reboot team's camaraderie was eroded, and many characters lost focus.

I also agree though, that DNA left the team ultimately in a pretty good place - there was more than enough for another writer to come on and continue (as evidenced by Gail Simone's 4-parter). I wish this Legion had continued somehow.

Ah well... we will always have fanfic and rereads and fan discussions

I think Bendis (or probably more appropriately, Ryan Sook) did a great job in diversifying his take on the Legion. The problem is that no one is distinctive out of that bunch; they mostly sound like the same character, with a couple exceptions.


Especially after DC had spent a decade with that team. Waid said that he was told that the Legion was "too confusing" for new readers as the reason he was contracted to write the threeboot. My assumption is that DiDio was the person who made that type of statement, but who knows. Regardless, the people in charge at the time had no clue at all about the Legion, or else they wouldn't have done this, cause in the end, they just caused even MORE confusion with the Lightning Legion running in parallel with the Threeboot.


Agree a million percent here. And I'm not sure if its a lack of faith in the product, the writers, or both. 30+ years of Legion history shows that they can evolve and stay with the times just fine. The original Legion DID have a diversity problem, but that's handled well enough with new characters.

DC management continues to Sideshow Bob itself with regards to this title.

Yep, and if you were to boil my sentiment of the DnA run into a nice, concise statement versus a blathering essay, this is exactly how I felt.

They certainly tried to express that camaraderie, but most of it was in the background, as they had to write another panel featuring Kid Quantum.

Editors and other powers that be have claimed that the Legion was too confusing at least since 5YL. That was the rationale for jumping head five years later and also the rationale behind the reboot. Yet a few years earlier, in the early '80s, the Legion was one of DC's best-selling titles. That was the reason given for why it and New Teen Titans were the first DC titles to be sold in the direct-sale market instead of only newsstand distribution. What changed in those few years?

The appeal of the Legion has always involved at least two elements: a very large cast and the futuristic setting. Ties to Superboy were a secondary consideration, and the book survived the period when he was written out of the team. Although he returned, his role was never as prominent as it was before. Thus, the Legion had truly evolved as an independent entity. Levitz continued that evolution by expanding the personal lives and relationships of the Legionnaires. Again, this was the period when the Legion was considered one of DC's top sellers.

Why is all this confusing?

This was the era of Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere (and, a little later, L.A. Law). These TV shows demonstrated that audiences could follow large casts of characters and interwoven storylines, elements previously avoided by the networks. Complex story arcs are now pretty much the norm of serialized dramas (often to their detriment, but that's another topic). Comics have always aped whatever was going on in other pop culture media, and Levitz certainly infused the HSB/St. E. narrative structure into the Legion.

I have my own theories about what went wrong, but they have to do with the writer and artist (Levitz and Giffen) who had brought the Legion to such heights staying on the book too long. I don't think this has anything to do with the Legion itself being too confusing. Whenever I hear that claim, I'm mystified as to what it means. I imagine a new editor coming onto the book and thinking, "Who are all these characters? Each has a backstory? And something happened in Adventure Comics 335 that I need to be aware of?" Maybe editors find it confusing and project their feelings onto fans.

And who are these new readers who find the Legion so confusing? At the time all of this occurred--early 2000s--comics had lost ground to video games and other forms of entertainment. Ironically, in just a few years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe would reshape the movie landscape. Talk about lots of characters, backstories, and trivia! Now all of that is mainstream. From the first Iron Man movie to the last Avengers movie, these narratives kept audiences enthralled for YEARS! Confusing? Bah!

That's just it. I'm in the middle of the Baxter period in my other re-read, and I can see why it was so popular. Lots of well-told stories and interpersonal drama going on with well defined characters. Granted, I've been doing a straight-up re-read from the beginning, only missing some of the Grell-era stories, so I'm able to keep track of things, so I do have somewhat of a challenging time looking at this from a complete newbies point of view plunked into the middle of the story. That said, if I remember the first few issues of that run, Levitz and his editors did a great job of getting people up to speed with references to other issues as needed (IIRC, the main thing I'm remembering was Ayla being kidnapped and tortured by Mekt & the LSV, and the death of Karate Kid. That whole LSV story was pretty epic, but I didn't really need to know all the backstory to jump in, I don't think).


I think this is a big part of it - folks in those roles have their own preconceived notions and get info from specific sources, and so make unwarranted assumptions. As to the 5YL, Waid has said recently that the DC Backoffice, as soon as the first couple v4 issues came out, knew there was going to be trouble and didn't want what was being delivered. Whether that's a TMK issue or something else, I don't know. There was certainly something to be said about the story they were telling.


And to be fair, Disney/Marvel planned it out so that each film built upon the other, similar to how the Reboot started, if I think about it, so you don't get dropped into this crazy cast of characters - unless you want to, of course.

1000% agree, there's nothing about the Legion that should be "too confusing" to dedicated readers.

Look at Game of Thrones and its dozens of characters and interweaving plots...

So I just thought of something. The cover to Legion 33 includes Andromeda, but in her original reboot form. No more space nun, no more Anomaly-shrinking short-hair Sister Andy.

I found it interesting that DNA altered the likes of Kinetix, Sensor, and Live Wire, but actually planned to REVERSE the changes to Andromeda...!

I wonder if her inclusion on the cover was intended to show their unfinished plans for her, as she never actually appeared anywhere in their run (and I think was only ever mentioned as being part of Brainy's holo collection in Legion 31...?)

So interestingly, there is a Coipel group illustration from early in the run which had Andromeda in the background - if I can take the time to search for it I'll post the link, unless someone else can find it easier. Its only her head, but its clearly her older hairstyle with the star earrings.

Yeah, it makes me wonder if they had any plans for her.

found it

I remembered that one... I remember gazing at it, over and over, and being VERY disappointed and worried that Kinetix wasn't there.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/114419646759320378/

also noticed they snuck in Dreamer and Timber Wolf (neither was a member then), and Karate Kid and Ferro despite both being stranded on Steeple, and XS and Star Boy despite both being stuck on Xanthu

we also have Gates, who was missing at the time... I think. or was this released after Legion 4?

and I remember wondering who was to the left of XS - looks like Star Boy's collar, but he's looking a bit chubby there! thought it was Chuck (*though the Bouncing Boy ship is also there)

Yep! That's the one! That was done VERY early, as it was also in a DCU Secret files or something similar, as it was released either at the end of Worlds or the beginning of The Legion, as there is a Trudy Trusoe "Cypher" story two pager that talks about the background and things like Cosmic Boy being wanted on Braal, among other things (and did call out Kinetix as being a former member in the accompanying blurb). So it was pre-Terrorform, but post Worlds for sure.

And is that the Bouncing Boy in the background? I actually thought it might be a DnA Quislet.

EDIT and PS - I'll start the Simone run next week, as I'm away from home, so don't have my usual monitor setup for my process. AND I'm doing a bunch of cooking. And driving. And, well, you get the idea

Good catch! I didn't even notice Andromeda. Of course, this is such an odd cover with the Legionnaires crowded together as if they've just sprung out of a surprise party favor. The three founders stand in front in a different orientation to the "tilt" of the rest of the team. Frankly, looking at this cover gives me a headache.

I wouldn't read too much about Andromeda's presence. The editor probably wanted to go for a dynamic group shot like all those flying Legionnaires covers of the past. It doesn't look as if much thought was put into the image besides "include everyone."

I also notice that Tinya seems to be photobombing the founders.

Thanks for the update. I read 35 some time ago and am looking forward to everyone's thoughts.

good points HWW, the Founders stand out as being posed very differently - I'd rather that they were integrated into the rest of the team. Many of my fave posters are ones where the focus is spread out, with no one Legionnaire clearly in the foreground - such as the Legionnaires 50 pullout, where the founders are still in the middle, but nobody looms out over the others.

https://chorus.stimg.co/21587409/ows_156381528652851.jpg?w=960&h=411&format=auto%2Ccompress&cs=tinysrgb&auto=compress&crop=faces&dpr=1.5&fit=clip




although, it bore fruit - Andromeda appeared in Legion of 3 Worlds after Somehow she got inserted in with the team after they were stranded in the multiverse limbo...

That's a good group shot. It has a nice symmetry. Even though there are a lot of characters, I don't feel overwhelmed. And the artist did a great job of capturing each character's personality. There's a lot of playfulness going on that makes this image inviting.

Whenever I see covers like this, I think of Limited Collectors' Edtion C-49: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rI_uRQU5V7g/VCa5e5M8bHI/AAAAAAAAV94/JWcBGvOh4WE/s1600/LCE_C49.jpg

This was one of the first such group shots I ever saw, and it included all of the Legionnaires at that time. Some are emphasized more than others, but there's plenty of "white space" to give a sense of expansiveness and breathing room. Also of note: The three founders are not together, as they usually are in later group shots. After a while, it becomes trite and predictable to see Garth, Imra, and Rokk put on pedestals. They were not treated any differently than other Legionnaires in those days. Only Superboy is front and center because it was still his book.

re Legionnaires 50, yeah, I liked Cham giving Mon bunny ears, Triad Purple playfully mussing Star Boy's hair, Imra facing Rokk while Garth frowns, and Ayla is beside Garth looking unhappy. Monstress is making Brainy uncomfy, too.

I also like the one you shared. though some Legionnaires look smaller because of being farther off in the distance, each still seems like an equal - except Superboy of course, but he has top billing.

I also find it annoying whenever the 3 founders are over-shilled. Yes, they are the founders, but we don't need to be reminded of that every issue...

The Legion #35

Released July 14, 2004
DC Comics, Color
23 Pages

For No Better Reason Part One - Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Gail Simone - Writer
Dan Jurgens - Breakdowns
Andy Smith - Finishes
Sno Cone - Colors
Stephen Wacker - Editor

Synopsis

Karate Kid delivers a criminal named Pinter to the new Oasis One prison as an unknown 21-year old narrator gives us background. We are told its thirty minutes "pre-Spike." Pinter is an organ-stealer for his own use. The prison can apparently be immediately vaporized by the UP President.

Twenty Minutes pre-Spike: President Wazzo and her Durlan advisor arrive in Metropolis Hub for a ceremony honoring the Legion. Winema meets her daughter, Umbra, Ultra Boy, Chameleon, Violet, Brainiac 5.1 and Timber Wolf, all in nice civvie clothes. Tinya and Winema immediately are abraisive to Jo's amusement. Brainy expresses his unhappiness being there when he is contacted by Chuck and Gear, who have lost Dreamer's ring signal, because most of the rest of the Legion is away on mission. The ceremony begins as a sniper takes aim at the president with an antique rifle. The new memorial is unveiled; a giant holographic display of the Legionnaires themselves; everyone is amazed at its size except for Timber Wolf.

Watching Trudy's newscast is Devil and Canary, who are holding Dreamer hostage. Devil has the Legionnaires' symbols painted on the wall. On Oasis One, Karate Kid hands over Pinter and meet's the Persuader's daughter on a visit to see him. One of Devil's scouts named Lantern keeps her in the loop about the situation at the plaza; Arrow is ready to take his shot. The Science Police makes him out and action ensues; Arrow directly attacks the SPs, Tinya rushes her mother to safety. Devil's narration tells us that Dreamer's abilities amplify Canary's.

Thirty seconds pre-Spike. Trudy continues her newscast as events continue to unfold. Canary kisses Dreamer to amplify her powers which appear to act as an electromagnetic pulse across the plaza; SP weapons and Legion rings cease to function, power is lost on Oasis One. Arrow takes his shot that passes through a phased Tinya but hits her unphased mother. Jo rescues Brin. Vi attempts to contain Arrow, but Lantern zaps Vi and she is unable to attack. Brainiac 5.1 is apparently driven silly by the EMP.

Trudy, who has been our narrator the entire issue, steels herself to do actual journalism when Violet falls, pinning Cham as he gets a child out of the way. Devil marks off Vi's symbol on her wall. On Legion World, Chuck notes that the technology problem is getting worse, and they may have to evac the planet. Oasis One has minutes before the prison crashes to the ground as the staff evacuates without the prisoners as they break loose, but the damage done by the prison could be catastropic to Metropolis as Winema lays dying.


Commentary

So now we start the Gail Simone storyline that closes up the title. Unfortunately, The Legion 35 is the comic book version of a House of Cards. There is a lot to like here - I very much enjoyed the Jurgens/Smith artwork and the visual style of the storytelling really worked for me. Jurgens also did a great job with the Legionnaires dressed up to party; the boys looked dapper, and Vi rocked the Little Black Dress and Tinya looked great in her outfit (I think its the most skin she's ever shown outside of being in swimwear). But great visual storytelling can't help when something stupid happens.

Okay, everyone say it with me: WHY IS THE BGTZLIAN PRESIDENT NOT PHASED WHEN SHE IS IN JEOPARDY?

That feels better. Lots of other good bits in this story - the mystery of the narrator was really well done. This is the first time someone other than DnA is using Trudy and Simone really fleshes her out here for the better. At first I was just amused by how she's used - the "Inferno hot" comment made me laugh - but by the end I wanted to see more of her story. The villains are introduced somewhat interestingly, even though Devil and her crew seem to be nothing more than nihilists with names that deliberately evoke 21st century JLers. I *really* liked the EMP (or whatever it is) plot point - having a high-tech society have to deal without their tools usually a good Sci-Fi thread.

But at the end of the day, I can't get past the dumb, because as good as a lot of the rest of the issue is, the point of a president that has the power to avoid this situation and does not makes most of this collapse for me. And I feel like this is going to dog the rest of the issues. This is a massive failure of Simone and/or Wacker. I'm also slightly annoyed that Gail is writing another story about the Legion's praises only in the context of the DnA world. She's building on DnA's world, which was built on top of a large universe of itself that is not being acknowledged. Not to mention history - "The Legion has shed its own blood" - yeah, like your daughter's during the first huge event of the Legion's history. Also, the fact that its established that two Bgtzilians while both phased can touch, which is at the center of the massive idiot plot of this story. Winema is an annoying, conniving witch, but she's NOT stupid. The literally YEARS long habit of ignoring pre-DnA stories has come back to bite them here, and I can only imagine that it was an editorial mandate established by McAvennie and continued by Wacker. And this is disappointing, as I typically like Gail Simone's writing.

A few other items:

Dialogue on the cover - that's something we haven't seen in a LONG time on a Legion comic.

Year 3003. That's interesting, as the publish date for this is mid 2004, so the writing MAY have been six months prior, but who knows? The last time a specific year was mentioned was during Dream Crime which was April 2003, where they mentioned 2003. We know the prior Wildfire story was apparently in the can for a while before it was drawn, so it may be the case for this as well. We do know that Gail was NOT told that this storyline would end the book, and Waid was already writing the threeboot as this was being released.

"You may approach the rift" - Probably not the best phrase to say to a Legionnaire.

Nice to see Winema has a Durlan advisor.

The Karahdian's powers (the mission the rest of the Legion is on) seem like a good mission for Kinetix to expend her hypertaxis powers.

Interesting continuation of some of DnA's world themes like the newscast breadcrumb links.

Also interesting that Brin is standing in between Tinya and Jo.

Very ironic that Winema says "Long Live the Legion"

Why would Vi be amazed at the size of the figures? She can literally be that size. And is herself later.

Persuader's daughter has an interesting pattern on her face. I like the design of the character.

So Canary has to kiss to absorb the Naltorian powers? Okay... So we never saw a kiss between Ayla and Vi - EVER - and yet we get this. Good job, DC. Sheesh.

Grade: C+. The best storytelling and art can only save an idiot plot so much.

No. 35 . . .

Oddly enough, I had a dream this morning in which Ultra Boy used his flash vision to immolate someone (well, it was a dream), and, before he could switch back to invulnerability, someone shot him with an arrow. He lived but lectured on the limitation of his power and how easy it is to exploit.

I guess for that reason, among others, I accept that Winema was not phased when she was shot. Being phased takes conscious effort and deliberate choice, and most powered citizens in the Legion universe are not shown to have their powers "on" as a default. Legionnaires do because they are trained to be ever vigilant about danger. But Winema is a politician, and, not only does she have Science Police protection at her disposal, she probably has the same blindness other public figures have about their chances of being harmed. JFK rode perched on the back of a convertible while he was paraded through a downtown flanked by tall buildings. Lincoln sat in a public theater balcony as the Civil War was winding down. MLK stood on the outdoor balcony of a motel in an era of great racial tension. These were people who had every reason to amp up their security, and yet they were sitting ducks for whoever might take a shot at them.

The assassination of Winema reminds me of the scene in The World According to Garp, when Garp's mother, a well-known and beloved public figure, is shot. A moment previous, she was waving to an adoring crowd. Winema, likewise, was extolling the virtues of the Legion, the most popular and beloved heroes of their time. Did she hope that some of that love would rub off on her? I agree that it was careless of her (and her staff) to place herself in that position without being phased. Unrealistic? No.

In any case, it didn't detract from my enjoyment of 35. After four years of DnA, it was refreshing to read someone else's take on the Legion. Simone gives the spotlight to a few Legionnaires who have otherwise been neglected, namely Val and Vi. And she introduces us to a new set of villains. I wasn't sure why these villains were modeled after JLA heroes, but if there are Superboy cultists, it makes sense that there would be JLA cultists. Such cults are a perversion of what those heroes stood for, just as it's a perversion when people commit atrocities in the names of religious figures.

And after we've been told repeatedly how wonderful the Legion is, it's interesting to watch them fail big time. They have failed to protect the president--a public humiliation (which probably was the villains' intent). Suddenly, the cozy and certain universe set up in "Foundations" isn't so cozy and certain.

I also appreciated the focus on Trudy Trusoe as an NPC/narrator. The opening narration threw me, however, as she says she is 21, and I thought Val was talking. It would have been great if there was an acknowledgment that time had passed in the reboot universe and at least some of the Legionnaires were now older, but it wasn't to be. In any case, Trudy expands the cast of supporting characters who interact with the Legion.

The idea of technology failing is indeed a staple of science fiction stories, and I thought it was used well here. The Legion, like everybody else, depends so much on their devices--flight rights, computers, etc. They are truly unprepared when those things fail. Not that we would know anything about that in the present day.

This is one of those things where one's life experience comes to play - the experiences I've had and environments in which I've worked in the last 20 years have made me look at this differently now versus then, as well as with a more critical eye. My thinking is that when all hell started to break loose - well before Arrow's shot - enough had been going on that both Apparition AND her mother should have phased, so we have at least one hero character acting like they know to use their powers at the right time as well as telling her mother to phase. Winema could have absolutely ignored her, like you mentioned with the historical examples, but at least it would have been in story and not made the characters look dumb. I didn't mention it in the writeup, but Umbra also is just standing around. A darkfield would have been nice around the president to stop Arrow from aiming.


Yes, and I'm looking forward to digging into their motivations as the story progresses.


I think you're right about the intent and, boy, do they fail. In fact, I'd be more pissed at the Legion as a member of the public after this incident than the Blight or the Rift. And the way it's drawn, it sure seems like Vi is laying on a lot of people, but I'll take the Cham saving the kid with stretchy powers represents saving everyone. Come to think of it, why didn't Cham change into a form that could catch Vi?


Trudy was actually featured in the Secret Files 3003 I told you to avoid, so the character has done this kind of thing before. Now, though, she's much more than just a cypher and I'm much more interested. How she fleshed out Trudy in the space of 20 pages is why I really enjoy Simone's writing so much. As to the age thing, I agree. The year detail just bothers me to no end, but an acknowledgement of time passing would be great. We can surmise that we are at least a year and a half out from the Legion's founding (7 months of the prior LSH/L* stories plus a year for Legion Lost/Worlds) plus at least two months from the reformation of the Legion, but its hard to effectively communicate that when the year number keeps shifting and the editors don't care anymore.

I will say that I revised my original grade upwards from what it was - the good parts are good enough not to trash the whole issue which has some great spots. I'm going to try and keep the rest of the installments isolated regarding the plot point that killed the fun for me. But outside of the passing around of the stupid ball by the characters, reading a Legion story not by DnA is a breath of fresh air.

You're right. A few seconds seem to pass between when Arrow attacks the sci cops and when Winema gets shot. However, in the middle of Page # ?? (when Canary kisses Dreamer), Winema is hit in the shoulder or head by a flying camera after it loses power. I guess the intention was to show that she was too dazed to phase.



I found that issue in my collection. I forgot I had it and didn't remember reading it before. As you wrote in your review, it's a very thin story--a text piece presented in narrative form. But #35 does expand on Trudy's depiction therein. I like it that she skirts the line between the stereotypical portrayal of a reporter--just after her story--but also has more depth. She offers to help Tinya and, as she says, becomes part of the story she's supposed to cover.

I'm sorry.