Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Re-reading the Threeboot

This is something that I just touch on in my 23 review - there's a lot of discussion around heavy petting and such almost every issue, but love - even philia, the love of equals and partners - is almost absent from this book. I'm not sure if that's part of the point here in this sterile future, but after two years, I'm not seeing any meaningful relationships flesh out or manifest themselves in any significant way. And it leaves a void in this title


I COMPLETELY glossed over that the green guy's name was Roy. Nice catch!

This felt like a really dense issue, multiple plots with substance, moving the story forward. The scene on Talok was more world-building than on-going story development (unless Grev gets up to something later) but it supplied depth to Tasmia and this version of her world.

The trip to Kandor really was well done, not just the detail provided about Kandor's history/status, but the emotional reactions: Kara's anxiety and feeling of abandonment, the Legionnaires mixed feelings about leaving her there.


Throwing off the restraints of a buttoned-down society could explain some of this. Jan and Trip not knowing how to date in an earlier issue suggests teens didn't date, or at least some societies were more restrictive. Makes you wonder if they had arranged marriages (which could have been an easy side-plot to work into the story for some Legionnaire).

I agree these two items were some of the best writing I've seen here in many issues. Aside from the world building, I think the Talok VIII scene was more to set the stage for Tasmia to run for leader; Vi gives her the idea, and Waid & Kitson showing us that she is used to this kind of responsibility tells us that it's a job she should be able to handle. Like you point out, it adds much needed depth to her character.


I think its the "some societies" that is the part that is key. We certainly know that Luornu only really gets to interact with other versions of herself. But other aspects of the society are shown that dating is a thing; in the intro story from Titans/Legion that sets up the threeboot, we are shown a couple necking in a car.

Supergirl and the Legion of Super Heroes v5 #24

Released November 22, 2006
DC Comics, Color
23 Pages

From Out of the Phantom Zone!

Mark Waid - Writer
Barry Kitson - Penciller
Mick Gray - Inker
Nathan Eyring - Colorist
Wacker & Marts - Editor

Synopsis

Kandor City, Planet Rokyn - Jeyra and her band have the Legionnaire squad down and out while Imra is distracted by another presence. Jeyra's team takes out Cos and Imra but is confronted by Kara, back in costume. She gets a few museum relic tools to help capture Jeyra and crew, but they teleport off planet. Jeyra's crew was after a phantom zone ray, created by Jor-El to house prisoners.

We get the full backstory on Kandor and as they prepare to leave, Ayla is told that if the Legion leaves, they are not welcome back, therefore never able to see Kara again. Cos invites Kara to come with the Legion after all.

Legion HQ - Garth is writing a stump speech for his election bid. Dream Boy gives critique.

Brainy works on the zone projector in his lab. Imra can sense more about the phantom, but Tinya can also see him. The two of them merge to communicate with the stranger - now officially revealed to be Mon-El. He's been trying to warn them that they are about to be under attack by Jeyra's team.

Commentary

Another really good issue, although not quite promising what the cover delivers, as Mon-El isn't released, but he is identified. This issue doesn't quite have the pacing as the prior issue, but provides a lot of detail around the world of Kandor, the Phantom Zone and the like. We also learn that Jeyra's team is under the employ of an unknown party, and eventually that their team is quite large, like Terror Firma. I enjoyed the scene where the Legion was leaving Kandor - the Kandorians seem to have a very strict regimen on visitation, but the best bit was Ayla's reaction. Her growth from someone who complains about Kara to being sad to leave her behind was welcome to witness.

The scene with Lightning Lad and Dream Boy just seemed to exist as an interstitial scene to remind us of the Legion election and the plant boy from last issue. The last scene where "Imya" communicates by Tinya and Imra merging was brilliantly done. Kitson & team do an amazing job in this issue.

Some other notes:

A few interesting character moments - Cos is honing his skills to free Ayla. Brainy didn't foresee the need to block teleportation - a nice nod to his secret meld with Nura.

More neat backstory on Kandor. Its the only city on the planet and we get a bit of the story about how they survived for so long - they are used to the close quarters.

Kinda looks like Atmos is hanging around HQ on page 16!

Interesting continuity note. We see 2/3 of Triplicate Girl walking behind Garth with the Green plant-grower from last issue, and then on the next page see Jan and the rest of Lu together.

The last page has some interesting forces - including a winged character who looks like could be a Thanagarian or Starhavenite.

Grade: A-. Really good story and art, but not quite to the snappy pace as before.

Supergirl and the Legion of Super Heroes v5 #25

Released December 27, 2006
DC Comics, Color
23 Pages

The Wanderers

Mark Waid - Writer
Barry Kitson - Penciller
Mick Gray - Inker
Nathan Eyring - Colorist
Mike Marts - Editor

Synopsis

Legion HQ - Dream Boy urges Garth and Vi to get the Kryptonite from the armory. He realizes, and the word is relayed from Tinya, that they are under attack. Projectra and Brin are captive by "Plant Lad", aka Ral Benem (aka Chlorophyll Kid in normal continuity), who deactivates the HQ defenses. White Witch casts a spell to compartmentalize the Legionnaires where they are in the HQ on the command of their mysterious leader.

The splash screen is changed to "The Wanderers" a huge team with the focus on Jeyra Entinn, Polar Boy, Micro Lass, Plant Lad, Inferno, Grav, Thoom and White Witch. Their purpose - to save the galaxy from a galactic malevolence, the single most fervent hope and dream of adults galaxywide. A chance to show the Legion of Super Heroes who's boss.

Brainy has a vision of Dream Girl showing coming devastation in Metropolis that morphs into Kara yelling at him to wake up. The Legionnaires in the lab are dealing with the Witch's barriers to no avail. Garth and Ayla have the same problems - even Theena can't communicate. But soon Ayla, Jo, Val and Thom are transported away.

The Lab Legion considers releasing Mon-El, who being from Daxam has Lead Poisoning, and no one has found a cure since Trom wiped out Daxam centuries prior.

Elsewhere, the Wanderers try to recruit the four transported Legionnaires. The original Wanderers team was a black ops group sent to investigate the Dominators 10 years ago. The job went south with only one survivor finding out about a Dominator plan against Earth and finding his way back, gathering recruits. The survivor - Mekt Ranzz.

Mon-El is released in the lab and goes berserk attacking Kara. The fight breaks the force fields holding them in place, allowing Dream Boy to get the kryptonite to Brainy in order to make the lead poisoning cure, which needs to be force-fed. Good team effort between Colossal Boy, Shady, Vi, Cham and Gim make it happen. Cos gets Mon-El to work with them just as he's transported to Mekt.

Commentary

Wow. Really great issue here, especially if you're a long time Legion fan. The Wanderers, Mon-El, Mekt, and a mix of old subs, Legionnaires and newbies. THIS is how you mix things up. My main regret here is that this story didn't happen six or so issues earlier. It's a nice shot in the arm given all the new intros here for this universe, and it all mostly works. Having the story focus more on these Wanderers and the unveiling of Mekt paired with the release of Mon-El kept everything moving well. And finally we see a good bit of teamwork here instead of snarking about all the time.

All this said, I'm still kinda rooting for the Wanderers, TBH. The one thing that was a bit of a discordant note was the history of the team. So 8 years prior to the Legion forming, they had another super-teen group? Hmmm ok.

Regardless, this marks the halfway point of the series. The art has remained consistently good when Kitson is doing his thing, which is to say most of the issues. This version of the Legion, however, has not gelled for me for reasons I stated above. Adults v Kids isn't working, and there are no real relationships that I am enjoying or characters that connect with me on any real level. Hence I tend to take the Legion's antagonists side during the last dozen or so issues. I was definitely not reading this regularly when it was released at this point, and its obvious why - not connecting with the characters makes reading the Legion a slog, because you never have anyone that you really enjoy seeing make an appearance. So even if there are some great individual stores, moving from one issue to the next isn't a joy.

Other observations:

Having Cham susceptible to magic is an interesting twist.

Pairings of the isolated Legionnaires: Colossal Boy & Ultra Boy, Karate Kid & Shadow Lass (training), 2/3 of Trip (sulking), 1/3 of Trip and Element Lad, Invisible Kid & Star Boy (Library), Theena & Light Lass (???).

It seems like there is obvious tension between Mekt, Garth and Ayla, but none of this has really been shown before.

New Editor Alert! Mike Marts takes over from Steve Wacker, who had been editing The Legion since 2002/3.

Grade: A

The Wanderers did steal the show for me as well. Their dark, covert history is very appealing as a story: government abandons team and now the survivor is back for revenge with a new team. Mekt, in his first reveal, looks appropriately older and battle-hardened. His motivations are more interesting than the Legion's anti-adult stand which, as you say, grew old (so to speak) quickly. We just get a hint that Mekt might be a bit batshit crazy; Ayla doesn't treat him as such and he appears to be in full control of the situation but his "I'm in charge now" statement suggests a bit of super-villain.

The Mon-el fight with Kara struck me as a bit over-the-top but it did solve a number of story problems with a big action scene: smash the barriers, inoculate Mon-el, distract him from his disorientation and set up some friction between him and Kara.

Chameleon affected by magic was a good twist. Makes me wonder how he might deal with Projectra's illusions.

Yesterday I needed to just cut loose with a story and I ended up reading through the end of this storyline. I'll still do the issue-by-issue R/R for these, but the stories (and cliffhanger endings) were so compelling, I needed some kind of hope. I'll say that the issues from 23-30 are REALLY good. I can see that if someone came into the Legion 3boot at this time they'd really get hooked. It was, IMO, head and shoulders better than the Terror Firma storyline from the first year. Of course, the downside is that it's Waid's swan song from the team, since he left after getting F*d by Dan DiDio and Johns. I'm assuming now begins the slow downward slide to the Shooter mediocrity.

But this particular storyline with the Dominators is some of the best Legion I've read.

Supergirl and the Legion of Super Heroes v5 #26

Released January 24, 2007
DC Comics, Color
22 Pages

Assumed credits based on the cover (digital copy has no credit page):
Mark Waid - Writer
Barry Kitson - Penciller
Mick Gray - Inker

Synopsis

Plant lad is being bullied by Brin, Projectra, Shadow lass, Collossal Boy after the events of the last issue. Kara, Rokk, Imra, Garth and Brainy find the kidnapped Legionnaires and bust in on the meeting. It quickly becomes the Ranzz family reunion as he sees Mekt and Ayla. Mekt's plan was to trick the Legion into releasing Mon-El so that Brainy could solve the problem of Mon-El's lead poisoning.

Mekt bullrushes taking over the combined team despite Rokk's protests, showing the robot uprisings elsewhere via Jeyra. Mon and Kara head to Tokyo with Jo and Brainy, burrowing through the Earth.

While this is happening, Garth and Mekt verbally spar while Ayla warns the Wanderers about Mekt's instability and tendency towards suicide runs and martyrdom while giving us the 3boot version story of how the Ranzz kids got their powers on Korbal.

In Tokyo, the away team demolishes a bunch of robots - just in time to see a giant Dominator robot with the trademark Dominator circle on its forehead emerge from below. The team takes it apart handily - until it counts down to release an agent that spreads rapidly across Earth.

Commentary

Issue 26 is the beginning of the end for Waid's tenure writing the Legion in any form, and he starts this arc really well. Even though we don't get a splash page (at least in digital) to know who the players are, we get a good sense of what's going on as we see the beginnings of a partnership between the Legion and the Wanderers, a partnership that in my opinion turns this book into a better direction as we have a team with a slightly more focused mission that includes some old friends. Waid is a good enough Legion writer to give new takes on classic Legion lore - the Ranzz backstory, Supergirl burrowing through the Earth, the Dominators - and make them interesting. Granted we get yet another retelling of the Ranzz origins, but its welcome here as we've seen little to no origins for any of the heroes (or indeed of the team) to date. Good use of the teamup, but I did feel like Rokk rolled over a bit quickly - maybe he's given to trust fellow kids more than the UP.

The art is another great work by Kitson, although the lack of a "roll call" page does a disservice to the digital issue (I'm not sure if it was omitted accidentally or not, as this is 22 pages versus the normal 23).

Mon-El and Kara burrowing to Tokyo is reminiscent of the early Adventure trials for membership that Supergirl had to undergo in the Silver Age. That Mon-El is doing it just to FEEL after being imprisoned is a nice call back to earlier versions. The party emerging in the red cavern in the planetary core reminded me of this past season of Young Justice.

The Korbal natives in this universe are much more humanoid than depicted before - and doled out a LOT more damage. This is certainly the GROSSEST depiction of the Ranzz electrical acquisition - Flesh falling off the bone? Nasty. But the good news is that we get the exact same dynamic with the Ranzz kids as before. Solo Mekt has issues & runs away, Garth searches for him and gets into trouble, Ayla gets lots of boyfriends. Wait, I'm not sure about that last one.

Grade: A-. A very well done setup issue.

There is a credit/roll call page in the paper version - just roll call for Legionnaires. Odd that they'd omit it from the digital copy. Creative team is Waid/Kitson/Gray.

Mon-el sure switched sides quickly, obeying Mekt, but maybe because he was ordered to block Supergirl. I love the looks the two are giving each other. His enjoyment to feel crashing through the rock was a good scene too - I got the impression that this Mon-el isn't the brooding, troubled character of earlier versions.

Mekt shows that he's pretty crafty if not highly intelligent, to track down the reality behind the legend of a superhuman in the Phantom Zone AND get the LSH to free him.

The new Ranzz origin story is good, with the humanoid lightning beings adding a bit of novelty. The timeline seemed off, though; the twins look fairly young and, unless they were in the hospital for a long time, Garth would have started searching for Mekt at that age or a bit older. If Mekt had been a covert operative 10 years ago, that would put Garth in his twenties. Possible, or possibly Mekt only joined the Wanderers at the end of their existence.

That Dominator robot emerging into Tokyo is pretty impressive. The red cloud that it releases made me think of the Red Death (?) that the Khunds released in 5YL. I wonder if the image is based on some Japanese movie or anime.


Nice nod to her trial! Busting through walls is another classic Legion move.


It certainly is a more traumatic origin story. I wonder if they returned to Korbal if they'd be welcome as kindred beings or if the lightning people are just generally hostile. It is the same Ranzz family dynamic; Mekt always closer to Ayla, Garth always the one who went looking for him. Funny the roles were never reversed.

You are right GL, this arc is shaping up well.
Maybe I am slow but I never thought of that as a homage. Obvious now and I am sure not accidental. And yes Mon-El just enjoying feeling something again is great.

Good point. Rather amazing that he pulled it off but certainly Mekt is shown to be a thinker and planner.

The other thing that impacted me was the ending of Ayla's tale to the Wanderers, how Mekt wasn't just being brave or heroic but was actually on a suicide run with a death wish. I haven't rad these issues in years so I can't remember how this affects the Wanderers' attitudes but I look forward to finding out.

I thought these scenes were impressive too.
It's interesting to think back over so long and which scenes I remember. This is one of them, as was the Daxamite/Kryptonian fight last issue along with Cos realising Brainy's plan to use it, Supergirl's enthusiasm at Cos invitation to stay with the Legion, and further back the scene of citizen "Klar" and his impromptu rally against the Legion and their gatherings, Ayla's anti-grav action that showed up Lemnos, and of course the goats. Surprisingly I couldn't remember how they beat Lemnos until I reread it.

Ah, thanks for that - I assumed as much on both counts.


Good points on both characters. Although Mon-El does seem to be a bit bipolar with his allegiances, being all happy chatty with Kara after being threatening a few moments earlier.


So I figure Garth is at max 18. Which means he started the Legion with Imra and Rokk at 15-16. So yeah, it's a bit weird. Garth and Ayla would have had to be 6-7 ish and been out for a long time for this to work properly. Unless there's something we're not being told about the Wanderer timeline and Mekt's place in it.


YES - that image is very evocative.


How cool would it have been to have Ayla be the one searching for Mekt? That would have been an interesting change.

I'm having a similar experience, and I'm finding that I'm remembering the same positive and negative reactions to some of the things you mentioned and others still.


I'm sure Lemnos meant for that to happen that way.

Released February 28, 2007
DC Comics, Color
22 Pages


Mark Waid - Writer
Barry Kitson - Penciller
Mick Gray - Inker
Nathan Eyring - Colorist
Mike Marts - Editor

Synopsis

This issue takes a decidedly Dominator-focused narrative to start, with much of the story told through their eyes. The Dominators mark the progress of their conquest of Earth even as they talk to Sun Boy and the remnants of Terror Firma about their plan - the infusion of super-power DNA into Dominators.

On Earth, the Science Police are trying to figure out the best way to evacuate the UP delegates. All technology has been taken over by the Dominator AI Virus and is acting with a mind of its own - mainly to kill humans. Mekt could care less about them but Cos makes the point that saving them could gain political cred. Lyle tries to save a delegate being thrown to their death, but his flight ring explodes, severing his arm. One of the Wandered stands by to help Lyle. Cos and Cham get a load of delegates to a portal in the forest that Plant Lad has created in Metropolis.

Brainy and his Coluan Wanderer sidekick open a portal, but the Dominators see and send in a Legion of their own warriors. Mekt and Garth use their powers to hold off the invaders as they argue about leadership. The delegates start to go through the portal but its unstable and several delegates are casualties. Everything starts to fall apart as the Legion/Wanderer group retreats. Garth and Mekt reunite defending some Delegates, but Cos is crushed by several Dominator warriors.

We also get a memorial to Dave Cockrum following his death on November 26, 2006 that showcases some designs and Dave's story told through several Legionnaires, along with some notes from Barry Kitson, Jim Shooter and Paul Levitz.

Commentary

A short, but solid issue. The memorial shortens the story considerably, and the story really moves quick, so its a very fast read. We quickly get up to speed on the Dominators' plans, but not their motives - all we are left with is references to "The 52" - the series of which was on sale at that time or just before. I'll be honest here - I did not read one issue of any of that, so it seems that this is the Legion's way of crossing over to the mainstream DCU in the threeboot, but I know nothing of what "The 52" actually consisted of.

The sense of jeopardy in this issue is what really keeps things moving. Once we get the skinny on the Dominators - they want to make a supersoldier - the devastation of the AI virus is told quickly by a robot throwing a delegate out a window, followed immediately by Lyle having his arm blown off. Then the race to the portals, which also malfunction made everything hustle. It did make me wonder - is Imra's mom ok? She's usually first in line for this stuff.

I love this Vi - "I wouldn't follow that guy across the street." Cos' wish for speedsters is interesting. What was stopping Waid from re-using XS in the threeboot?

I think Theena may be my favorite Legionnaire character from the threeboot after Vi & Ayla.

The conversation between Garth and Mekt is one of the most meaningful that I've seen ever in the Legion without Mekt being a raging lunatic or neutered. Mekt being scared about losing the folks following him is pretty profound given the lecture from Ayla we got last issue.

Also, the Cockrum memorial was just great. RIP, Dave.

Grade = A.

Agree with all you said. this issue: tells us what the red dust was from last issue and its horrible effects on Earth, Shows the Legion and Wanderers working together if not exactly harmoniously, shows Mekt conflicting with Cos and Garth and looks into the thoughts behind their actions and words, has a very creative use of Plant Lad, makes Theena an important part of the ongoing battle, ends on the cliffhanger of Cos apparently being captured.

Theena is a terrific character, possibly the best new character in Threeboot.

Invisible Kid's injury is pretty harsh. He really doesn't seem to be "Think Things Through Kid" in this iteration.

The Mekt/Garth talk is really good.

The tribute to Dave Cockrum is a delight(?) to read with a good selection of samples.

I wonder how far along Waid and Kitson were when the decision was made to include the tribute? It's short but it dpoesn't feel cut down.

Yep, the Wanderers really works for me as a team - I think primarily because they have a lot of legacy Legionnaires in their ranks - so they are abrasive due to Mekt's nature, but not villains, so its an interesting dynamic.


Its a good question. They were definitely planning these out to be storylines to be collected together, and they have had these in prior storylines where they would have either a backup story or a lettercolumn, but that was when there were more than 22/23 pages.

Released April 4, 2007
DC Comics, Color
23 Pages


Mark Waid - Writer
Barry Kitson - Penciller
Mick Gray - Inker
Nathan Eyring - Colorist
Mike Marts - Editor

Synopsis

Dream Boy floats alone in a void, soon visited by Dream Girl to give him some future advice. In Metropolis, Mon-El looks for any sign of Cosmic Boy, but is feeling feverish as the effects of the lead serum start to wear off. Brainy is upset because all avenues of getting any kinds of resources are held by the Dominators or the AI virus they've released, resulting in citizens starving or at risk.

Elsewhere, Jeckie and Shady care for a wounded Brin Londo, along with two Wanderers, a telekinetic and someone who appears to be Polar Boy. A robot bursts into their room and is handily dispatched by a worn down Ultra Boy, who promptly collapses.

At the former site of HQ (the second one destroyed), Phantom Girl and a couple Wanderers discuss the last ditch plan as they look for something.

In Paris, Cosmic Boy is being tortured as Triplicate Girl and two Wanderers look on helplessly. They are looking for the location of the mass convergence location for the last stand of the Legion & Wanderers. Cos resists the torture, but the Dominators start to torture Luornu in front of him by pulling her into her different bodies forcefully. They break a forearm and Lu quickly spills a location. Cos damns Luornu as she sobs.

A host of the combined Legion/Wanderer force converges on the rendezvous point, where a transmatter portal opens and a host of Dominator soldiers come out. But its been a trap for the Dominators - the strongest Legionnaires - Supergirl, Mon-El and Ultra Boy - swoop into the portal and onto the Dominator homeworld and quickly take control of the Transmatter portal controls. Cosmic Boy rises and subdues the Dominator torturers easily. A portal opens on to their location to get Cosmic Boy, but Luornu finds she can't triplicate. The Legion sets foot on the Dominator homeworld.

Commentary

Banger of an issue here. Things have rapidly gone to hell on Earth generally and Metropolis specifically, and the combined force of the Legion and the Wanderers can't seem to make a dent in the Dominator's attack. And that torture scene was perfectly done - I'd love to know who came up with the full plan, as Mekt says he knows the Dominators well, and the Legion has had no exposure to them, yet Cos' team played their role to a T - maybe too well in Luornu's case. But that part of the story made me seriously concerned in this book for the first time since Nura's death. And speaking of, we finally get a good scene with Nura and her successor, that I'm sure will pay off soon. The Legion swooping in to pull defeat from the sharp jaws of Dominator victory was perfection! All this and the threat of Mon-El getting sick again! The issue has great pacing and packs a lot of content for the page count. I'm ready to get to the next issue ASAP!

Other notes:

Nice comment from Nura bout Dream Boy's pants. Glad to see that being dead hasn't changed her wit.

The "roll call" page has the wanderers and Legion - really cool. But the lack of character ID is not.

The scene at the rendezvous was kind of neat - the Wanderer and Legion forces seemed to be paired off with their similar counterparts, and we get an update on Lyle's freaky arm.

Grade = A+. A Legion story at its best!

Neither did the Dominators, it will be revealed in #29; they misinterpreted a comment by Booster Gold. Just another big DC event to restart everything again....


This version of Mekt had so much potential, a much darker version of the Ranzz twins but not (apparently) crazy. Maybe he got over that death wish that Ayla spoke of, or maybe that's what it takes to do what he does.


No kidding! Here again, a lot of potential; if the series had been able to continue for several years, we might have seen Lyle mature into a more cautious, experienced Legionnaire. And that's the first time, in the Cockrum tribute, that he's been labelled a historian, a position originally reserved fpr Rokk.

#28 is a banger of an issue indeed! I was happy to see some explanation of Nura's status. What really struck me, in these two issues, was the cruelty of the Dominators and the severe damage suffered by those fighting them. In 5YL, the Dominators were creepy and were experimenting on humans, but you didn't see anything, just people kept in underground chambers. Rokk's torture and that of Dirk's team was bad, but what they did to Luornu was particularly horrific. She seemed to recover pretty quickly but one wonders if there could be long-term consequences for her and the others.

Supergirl and the Legion of Super Heroes v5 #29

Released April 25, 2007
DC Comics, Color
23 Pages

Extinction Event!

Tony Bedard - Writer
Kevin Sharpe - Penciller
Mark McKenna & Jack Purcell - Inkers
Nathan Eyring - Colorist
Mike Marts - Editor

Synopsis

This issue focuses quite a bit on the lead Dominator scientist that is responsible for the new Dominator super soldiers. Via narration, we get interesting insight into the Dominator culture of superiority and how this scientist wanted to protect the Dominion from unforseen weakness.

Cut to the Legion/Wanderer force on the Dominion homeworld cleaning up the Dominators, who keep chanting "remember the 52." Lightning Lad asks why they keep saying it, and I'm right there with you, bud. But luckily the scientist's narration gives us the skinny. 1000 years prior, the Dominion's plans to overrun earth were foiled by the Justice League. Over the years, the Dominion isolated and even signed a non-agression treaty with the humans. Then Booster Gold shows up from the past, grabs some tech, and vanishes saying he has 52 worlds to save. The Dominion, thinking this is Earth of the 31st century, decides to build up forces to invade Earth.

Our scientist goes to interrogate Sun Boy and the remainder of Terror Firma but also give more backstory. The Dominion started to expand interrogating humans in the hinterworlds about this "52" prompting the original response of the Wanderers that Mekt was a part of in the past. The Dominator response, years in the making, was to create supersolders using meta-DNA, effectively making a Dominator Legion.

The scientist summons one of these new soldiers and lets Sun Boy and his crew go. The soldier throws the scientist into some glass, killing him. They fight their way outside to connect with Rokk & Mekt's crew, leaving off on the cliffhanger to the final battle, even as Mon-El starts to succumb to the lead poisoning.

Commentary

Issue 29 was interesting for a couple reasons. It wasn't quite as good as the rest of the arc, for a couple reasons we'll get into, but it moved quickly and served the purpose of explaining the motivations for the antagonists and how it ties into "52". It's the first issue in a while, almost a year, where Mark Waid is not given writing credit for the main story, and is the penultimate issue of his run. Tony Bedard, who has been involved in this book as a co-plotter at times, is the main writer and he does a very good job of telling most of the story through Dominator eyes, but at the end of the day, it's mostly a backstory issue. Kevin Sharpe is the guest penciller, who does okay due to the colors & inks, but comes across as very inconsistent. The Dominators are drawn very well, but some of the heroes, especially in the last couple pages of group shots, aren't well done.

A couple things that are interesting in the book -

Obviously the fact that Mon-El is getting sick again is interesting. In the reboot, when Mon was vaccinated, it was a one time deal, but this version is much more akin to the original Silver Age Mon-El.

The timeframe of the Dominators starting their campaign 12 years prior and the Wanderers secret mission clicked together very well.

With three teams coming together here, I'm curious to see how this all works out.

Grade: B-. The issue serves a purpose but doesn't advance the plot much, IMO. You could probably omit the issue from the entire run and you'd not miss anything.

#28 was a real beaut. Full of action, drama, and the heroes turning the tide - as Cos planned all along.

#29 was a bit of a let-down after that. As you say, it is mostly backstory. It is also a demonstration of why it is better to show, not tell. A lot of it could have been "discovered" by some of the good guys after the Dominator freed Sun boy's team - perhaps not his ultimate goal but much of what had happened, broken up by other scenes on the planet. It would still be backstory but not so dictated and we could enjoy discovering it with our heroes. just a thought.

Looking forward to the conclusion.

Not crazy about the art in #29, although the Dominators do look good.

The back history of the Dominators appealed to me; there are questions about why Dominator tech stagnated between the 20th and 30th centuries. This issue describes them as becoming insular after the invasion of Earth and growing soft, lulled by a non-aggression pact, so no drive to develop military tech. Possibly all tech progress stalled, or they even became theoreticians like the Coluans (in some version - Levitz?).

What happened between the 20th and 30th centuries in DC has always interested me. Funny Waid didn't write this issue, since has done some history fill-in elsewhere and it seems like the sort of detail that he'd delve into.

All good points - I'm also left to wonder is the past that the scientist is referring to the Invasion! series from the 80s, the 52 series, or some amalgamation?

Regarding the fill-in issue - This is all a supposition on my part, but I'd wager to bet that the original script from Waid did not include this story, and he had already bailed from DC by the time this was all being drawn. So Bedard, who is the interim writer between Waid and Shooter, is tapped to create this gap issue. It also has the secondary effect that it just happens to give extra page count to a TPB collection.

Supergirl and the Legion of Super Heroes v5 #30

Released May 23, 2007
DC Comics, Color
22 Pages

The End is Only the Beginning!

Mark Waid - Writer
Barry Kitson - Penciller
Mick Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti - Inker
Nathan Eyring - Colorist
Mike Marts - Editor

Synopsis

In a great foreshadowing moment, we see a memorial statue to Mon-El. The story picks up seven days prior: The Legion and Wanderers, led by Cosmic Boy, cripple the Dominator homeworld while Brainiac 5 finds a cure for the AI plague on Earth. But the flip side is that there are millions of Dominion super soldiers that at some point will be let loose on the galaxy, sooner or later. Dream Boy lets slip about a bomb that Rokk ordered Brainy to create to devastate the planet. He also dishes on the truth about Dream Girl - she only appears in people's dreams. Meanwhile Kara and Lar finish up on the planet and head out to meet the Legion, but Mon-El is weakening by the moment.

Cos decides the Dominator threat needs to be dealt with by any means necessary, and Brainy constructs the weapon with the obvious debates - can the Legion commit genocide? It's a suicide mission, so who should go? Mekt predictably volunteers, but is pointed out that he doesn't have the power to get to a planetary core. Cos volunteers Mon-El. Kara insists to go, but Cos holds her back with the last bit of Kryptonite they have left, which is the last component for Lar's lead-serum. Mon-El says his goodbyes and heads to the Dominion world while the Legion leaves via transmatter. The world disappears.

At the ceremony, we wrap up the arc. Rokk finishes a short memorial speech as the Legion Leader vote comes in. Dirk flirts with Theena, Jan and Lu flirt, Mekt and Garth come to terms, and Cos, Dream Boy and Tinya talk about the truth - the bomb was a phantom zone projector that sent the entire planet and Mon-El into the Phantom Zone, which keeps him alive. Timber Wolf continues to recover, Metropolis is being rebuilt (again), the Wanderers are pardoned.

In the remains of HQ, Rokk looks at a statue of the three founders when the Knights Tempus - three young heroes from the future - come to recruit Rokk. Garth and Imra arrive to tell him the news of who won the election to find no sign of him at all - only the statue.

Commentary

A well done denouement to this story arc. Of course we knew at the end of issue 28 that the Legion would win the day against the Dominion, but this story wraps it up in a bow, dealing with the issue of the Wanderers, the Dominion and Mon-El all at once. Its the last Legion story by Mark Waid, which is hugely disappointing, but he closes out well. Having Cos thread the needle between getting rid of the Dominators in a way that got Mekt and the Wanderers off his back as well as saving Mon-El (while looking like he sent Lar to his death) was extremely well done, as was the debate around who should deliver the payload. Both the return of Mon-El to the phantom zone, as well as the Knights Tempus coming from the future are great nods to the Legion's Silver Age Adventure stories. And of course, with Waid leaving, he gives us a cliffhanger as to the new Legion leader so he doesn't have to deal with it. Again stellar artwork from Kitson & co that tells as much of the story as Waid's words do.

The only minus (which is kind of a big miss) is the massive color error on page 18 with Shady, as she's colored Caucasian.

Kind of ironic that Cos is just learning about Dream Girl now, right before he leaves, but at least the rest of the team knows now, too.

Kind of a minus point here, but Mekt seems to be taking his subservient role a bit too easily. Still its nice to see he criticizes Cos for not having the "iron" to wipe out the planet.

Based on Shady's comment, has it been six months since the Terror Firma battle with Elysion?

I only like this Ultra Boy when he keeps his damn mouth shut.

Grade - A+. Great way to end a run.

Hah! I missed that white-skinned Shady - for some reason???

This was a great wrap-up to the arc and, sadly, to Waid's tenure. The debate about who should deliver the bomb calls to mind the Sun Eater story and, until the reveal, one expects that Lar will meet the same fate as Ferro. The idea that the Legion would actually destroy the Dominators' planet is pretty hard core, so I was waiting for the twist. It was a good one, as you point out, solving multiple problems with one blow.

I liked the Dream Girl explanation and would have liked to see her appear in other Legionnaires' dreams. Dream Boy calls this another state of Naltorian existence, but it's not clear if this happens to all/some Naltorians, or if Brainy provoked something.

What a shame we didn't get any Knights Tempus stories!

Yeah, I dunno - a rare art gaffe from this team that's been drawing & coloring them for a while now. I did appreciate how in the last year or so of the title that Vi and Shady, two of the more acerbic women on the team (and that's saying something with this bunch) are friends, at least as much as there are friends on this team. At least Shady is spending less time with Ultra Boy.




Also Kitson's, unfortunately.


This is a GREAT point.


Don't we? Oh that is a shame, I didn't realize that. Its funny how when Legion writers leave bits for follow on writers, they get either ignored or trashed somehow. It seems to happen more times that it should.