Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! The Legion # 38 - spoilers

The last spoiler topic for the series!
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Not going into full disclosure but some spoilage will follow, some possibly major.

The good points are that the story is wrapped up in an efficient manner. There are some nice character moments including a scene between Brainiac 5 & Umbra in which he gets to dispense her a little advice. KK/Persuader/Lialla get a nice scene amid the rubble. That Persuader, he's gruff but lovable. Dreamer finally comes into play, and both her powers and her Khund-trained steeliness are the keys to winning the day. The manner in which she overturns the spike is suitably low-tech which is kind of cool. Hats off to those who predicted Pinter's role in this issue, but Jo pulls a pretty good fast one on him. The away-team's mission is wrapped up in pretty nifty twist, which affords M'Onel and Brainiac 5 the opportunity for some quiet musings on the nature of change which brings down the curtain on the series.

The bad points that jump to mind is that first and foremost things seem a little too rushed. Maybe I just enjoyed things enough to want more but things seemed to fall into place a little too neatly. I suppose that's in part due to the fact that this is the last issue, and no threads could really be left dangling. One particular nitpick is that several references are made to an impending threat from radiation. This gives the issue a "beat-the-clock" element that seemed to come out of nowhere and as far as I can recall we aren't really given an explanation of where this threat arises from. Another minor quibble is that like last issue's Umbra disappearance, Violet is relegated to a virtual walk-on role and Apparition is more seen than heard.

There weren't really any cool cameos comparable to Nightwind and Infectious Lass, but it wouldn't really have been appropriate to throw in new elements into the wrap-up issue. I didn't really see anything in this issue that would seem to set up the forthcoming restart of the series like I expected. Basically, it's happy endings all around, which I won't complain about. The art is comparable to the previous issues, if you liked it then you'll have no complaints. Be sure to read the credit box on the first page!

Thanks to Gail, Dan and Andy for wrapping up "The Legion" on what was, for me, a high note.

The best part to me was the dialogue between The Persuader and Val. It's nice to see the rounding out of the villain's character. I don't know if I'll be able to visualize him as just an axe toting madman anymore. That's a good thing as it makes him more interesting.

Overall I liked eGAD's Legion story. Nice cameos, good use of dialogue, good pencils, and colors, you won't hear any major complaining from me. Not saying everything was perfect either... the ending felt rushed as Matlock pointed out. I'm willing to accept that as part of the nature of The-Legion-Ending-Beast though. Given that it was done well.

Much like Champaigne's recent issue, I would have been happy if they (DC) had given the creative team another issue to wrap things up.

Great story, great art, mucho fun.

I will say one thing, and it is sorta the opposite of Minesurfer on the subject...

Persuader. Honestly, i kinda liked the fact that he was this sort of axe-wielding madman. Next time we see him it should be during a display of absolute grotesque violence. The axe should do its job and cut. Yeah, he uses it for more than that, but i liked when in the past he would swing and you would see even supes or mon get the hell outta the way.

And since brin is my favorite legionaire, had to love the end.

Good all the way around. Kudos and well done to the Legion.

On to the Legion of Super Heros.

BLAH. What a letdown.

I foolishly worked myself up for something special -- this was the SERIES FINALE after all -- but it made Foundations look inspired. I was completely underwhelmed.

The ONLY original bit was Dreamer's solution for breaking Canary's mind link. That's it.

Plenty of sore points for me in this issue:

-- A loud-mouth villain with implausible motives who's downed with a single punch. Wolf was right. Devil does "stink".

-- Canary turns out to be even more brainless and pathetic than we imagined, and we never come to understand the nature of her powers.

-- The Persuader suddenly goes all mushy over his daughter and volunteers to return to his cell without a peep. The Biggest Badazz .... huh?

-- Brainy chastises Umbra for attacking vicious looters who are about to endanger children's lives. WTF?

-- So Jo's not human? Could have fooled me these last 40 years.

-- Pinter (an otherwise great character) becomes a hero, presumably by saving Winema's life, but it doesn't get a single panel! Winema just shows up at the end looking fine and dandy.

-- Dr. Gym'll appeared to be dying last issue. Not a sign of him here.

-- Ticker tape, only hours after a near-disaster? How hokey can it get?

-- Trudy turns insipidly "sincere".

-- The Karahdian War fizzles out like a damp firecracker.

-- I suppose the rambling dialogue on the final page was meant as a statement about "loss" and "change". If so, I'm dumbfounded that the series was allowed to end on such an awkward and unconvincing note.


Most disappointing of all was the absence of the Legion of Super-Heroes. I mean all of them ... together at the end. The untold Cub story this arc replaced sounds better and better in retrospect.

Well, i like that things weren't neatly wrapped up and spoon fed. A few points...

Brainy was right with Umbra. They were trying to save a city, not just a small handfull of people/sentients. Thats where his logical side came into play. Umbra was right to whomp ass, that is where the human side comes into play. Each point had its own value.

Karadian war...not everything is super climactic. Reality sometimes throws you a bone.

Ticker tape...well, the entire premise of the Legion is hookey when you get right down to it. They are HEROs. If the damnYANKEES can get a parade for winning the series, then a group of people that saved a city can certainly have one.

Single punch...Brin is known to have near Superboy/Mon-el level strength. Yeah, I'd say one punch could down her easily.

Canary was already established as a follower. Not a leader. So, she wasn't very smart. I know plenty of people that aren't very smart that have power. Most of them are politicians, but, whaddaya gonna do?

Persuader has always had a kinda code. He followed it for his daughter. That can make the baddest of the bad change their minds sometimes. He got her guaranteed protection, as well as a possible future lever against a legionaire, simply by returning to his cell, awaiting a much better time to escape. Its called usin' yer brains.

But, those are just my opinions.

I agree with a lot of your points, rickshaw1.

But I have to ask about this one:

Persuader has always had a kinda code.

Can you back this up? I'm not challenging you, I just had always thought of the Persuader as a glorified lackey with a great weapon. This storyline has piqued my interest in him, so I'd like to know which stories to review. Thanks!

Todd

I was vaguely expecting that Canary would end up on Karahdia and her power would be used to stop the war there ... or that there would at least be some connection in the solutions to the two crises. After the pages devoted to it last issue, I was surprised that the "BugWar" turned out to be a red herring after all.

And Devil wasn't as smart as she thought she was. Really, what was the point (from her point of view) of "Spiking" Metropolis at all? She would have had a better chance of success if, having captured Dreamer, she went directly to the "sneak onto Legion World, wait for most of the Legionnaires to be using the Thresholds, then 'Spike' LW" part of her plan.

But those are quibbles; on the whole, I enjoyed this arc. If not quite brilliant, it was satisfying.

(Oh, and I'm still waiting for an answer to my question about last issue. What was that prisoner saying on page 15 ? )

I have to add my disappointment with Gail's arc. It just left me scratching my head, wondering if she wrote the title and then developed the story from that mindset: for no better reason. The character pieces just felt forced to me. I have enjoyed Gail's work elsewhere, but the Legion story just felt lacking to me. And while I have enjoyed Dan's art previously, it just did nothing for me in these four issues. It just felt uninspired to me. But art is like that, and what some don't enjoy, others do.

As for The Persuader's code: hmmm... what hanky code is there for Atomic Axes? Metallic silver?

The cover for the final, by Kevin Nowlan, is already up for sale on eBay.

Legion #38 Cover .

Sorry but not worth the current bid, IMO.

All in all it was an exciting story and there were some neat bits. One things I didn't understand was how tea-weilding Canary + hand burnin' Dreamer = electrical blackouts/recharges? I can understand Canary's submissiveness/timidness/dumb blondness - I mean c'mon, if they had cheerleaders in 3004, Canary would be 'spirit-fingering' her way through the galaxy like nobody's business!

I liked this issue but also think it might have benefitted from two issues - then again, maybe not. There's no problem to fill in the gaps of what has been left unsaid, but a number of questions arise which cry out for a continuation of this story.

Devil, in particular - where did she come from? Does she have any powers - or is she just good at manipulating certain kinds of people? Are there others who share her philosophy and loathing of the Legion?

Did the Legion - the SPs - the medical community - society in general learn anything long-lasting from this tech breakdown?

Would we see Pinter again? Why didn't he know Jo was a Rimborian? Could we learn more about Lialla? How did Cham fix his arm? Would Brainy deal with his fallible implants? Who cleaned up the ticker tape? What happened to Dr. Gym'll? Did the cadets - especially Drura - win their full Legion status?
And on and on...

I figured Brainy was rebuking Umbra for her anger, rather than for stopping those looters. It appeared she was going to keep beating them up past the point of stopping them ("I'll kill you").

Lots of torn clothing and boob shots on the females - I could do without that. But I did like the way Tasmia's torn skirt clung to her as if it were shadows itself.

Persuader becoming the caring papa - going back into his cell voluntarily - and practically sending out wedding invitations - that seemed a bit wacky, but, hey, he's crazy. Isn't he?

Canary is a total airhead - just the sort to become a true believer of some dictatorial wacko leader. Bit of a message there.

Since they asked, I'd rate Trudy's sincerity at "insincere" - just wait until those ratings start crashing, Hannah old girl - you'll get those cameras right back on people's delicate moments.

Imagine if you're the rest of the team, off fighting for your life amid those evolving Karahdians - only to get called home and told "It was nice of you all to finally show up." Well, I'd sure like to hear the response to that remark!

Last page, I'm a big fan of those two characters - and their conversation seemed suited to how I perceive them, so no problem here. But the follow-up I'd like to see: surprise! next time, the Karahdians adapt enough that they don't devolve - and go on to cause all sorts of trouble. So much for Mr. Science, Logic and touch of Whimsy.

Some people have mentioned disappointment that this would be the end of the series - as far as I'm concerned, the series ended with DnA's last issue, with the full complement of legionnaires shown and the restoration of Imra/Garth's relationship. What has followed has been other creators' interpretations of the Legion myth. I've enjoyed this - and wish we could have more of it - not only a continuation of the stories (or elements of the stories) Champagne and Simone wrote, but also other writers and artists. Dream, dream on.

Predictable wrap up, but I didn't mind at all.

I figured Pres Wazzo would survive, and that Brin would wrap things up with Devil. I was glad we saw more of what Brainy and Tasmia were up to during the outage since they weren't spotlighted in #37 much.

Chuck continued to be "at the helm" despite being removed from the actual battlefield, which was good to see.

We didn't get the obligatory "that's all folks" that most folks probably expected, with a huge group shot flying off yelling "Long Live the Legion", but remember we don't know where Waid and Kitson are taking this team (and Gail does) so maybe it was not necessary to have a "farewell pose".

Overall I enjoyed this story arc, and I've always been a fan of Jurgens' art, so thumbs up from me!

Bring on Teen Titans/Legion! We're ready for the next 31st Century (but please sentients, keep your arms, legs, and antennae inside until the time bubble comes to a full and complete stop)!

I was quite satisfied with the wrap up to the arc. I never felt this arc was trying to be something more than it really was, so I certainly didn't expect any earth-shattering or over-glorified end to the Legion or some tie into hyper time. I really liked all the nods to classic legiondom during the last few issues. In fact, I readily consider this arc a true classic legion tale.

The thing was, even the Legion's best villains seemed to start off kinda ...umm, small isn't the word i am looking for. More like...entry level.

LSV, Super-Assasins, fatal five...they all seemed to have, for my tastes, a kind of low key first appearance. Then, with more usage, they grew as the teams we loved to hate.

I can see this happening with this new crew that Gail has created. Splashy debut, but all in all not the universe shattering threat. But the elements of a new trouble for the future are there.

I liked it. It had the feel of the seventies and eighties stories that lead to some of the best stuff the legion ever had.

I'm past writing up any big rants now. This issue was a little better than the last couple - mostly because Dreamer was written well.... AS Dreamer. It was still a damp squib for an ending.

As for that epilogue, that said... now true, evolution is simply the fittest of the choices available surviving, but Brainy's talking about it like a living thing. Plus, continuity-wise, see Legion #6-8, #14 and #17-18. And I notice that Kinetix was neither seen nor mentioned this arc, but since the TT/LSH special cover has her still Terrorformed, there's a daily reminder of that arc around for him to see. Agreed
Agreed, to an extent, since I haven't enjoyed these past 5 issues. To me it really ended with #33, and has been left to fizzle out with a whimper.

Great story arch, fun art, lot's of fun.
In the end the wrap up was pretty predictable.

That Dreamer would in the end "wake" to foil the plot with Timber Wolf getting Devil...not a surprise.

Some nice moments: Brainic and Shadow Lass;
Val and the Persuader; Ultra Boy and Pinter; Chuck providing direction "at the helm" while not on the field of battle.

Overall a good story arc, which was a lot of fun.

Bring on Teen Titans/Legion! I can't wait to see where we are going next...

Well, it wasn't the best, and it did leave a few questions hanging, but all in all it was a fun story and I'm glad Simone wrote it. I didn't need anything earth-shattering or ground breaking to finish the series with. That had been done ad nauseum by the last crew. Just a local threat with the Legion in danger but still coming out on top. Nice job, Gail and Dan!

Well, I was hoping that Vi would get a stronger role in this arch, I really enjoyed it.
I think my favourite part of the story was when Dreamer saved the day.

There were a couple of things that did seem strange though: Isn't Rimbor a human colony? I don't remember anything about Jo not being human before, and some of his organs must be human compatable or there'd be no Cub.

I also thought it was kind of strange that Jo brought Winema to Tinya instead of the other way around.

While I enjoyed this arc overall for some nice moments and the premise, I was also a bit let down by the end. Mostly because we were introduced to some potentially interesting villains but they felt as much an enigma by the end as they were in the beginning. At the very least I wanted to know more about Devil (that and why Lantern's powers worked post-spike).

This last issue itself seemed a tad off to me in terms of tone mostly because of the three consecutive segments (Val, Jo and Cham) that kinda wrapped things up with a little wink. It seemed a bit much to have three of those moments right after the other.

The Persuader scene in particular seemed odd. Even if the Persuader had some sense of honor, I'm not sure why he agreed to go back to his cage. If Val was "done" as he stated, why would he hand his daughter over for him to protect? It was also a bit disconcerting that he had to knock her unconscious - I felt like I had missed something since she was fine last ish. I'm not even sure why he did it - was she trying to help Val and he had to knock her out to protect her?

I liked the Umbra scene though -- this felt more like the DnA Umbra we've seen. Brainy seemed a bit too insensitive and I didn't think Umbra needed a talking to, but I can see Brainy thinking that her emotions were out of control.

I really liked how this crisis brought out the mature leader that Tinya can be when she's not too involved with spousal or parental dramas.

I certainly wasn't expecting a big "this is the last issue" hullaballoo, but the understated dialogue between M'on and Brainy was a nice and bittersweet send-off to the series. Nicely done.

(mostly cutting/pasting from my post at the DC boards)

Still not quite convinced of the catalyst for the conflict, but I may need to re-read the issues. For now, Canary's powers + Dreamer's powers = the technological shutdown seems like 1 + 1 = 3.

The following is probably an unfair criticism, but here goes. Nothing inherently wrong with having a story where a woman is critically wounded in Part 1, is shown hanging by a thread in Parts 2 and 3, then recovers in Part 4. When the writer is Gail Simone, though, you can kinda expect what the outcome will eventually be, based on her work on the Women in Refrigerators website. This story benefited from being bi-weekly, though; the outcome would have been more transparent if these issues came out monthly. Not exactly constructive criticism, since there's not much Gail can do about this except write these types of story under a different name.

Despite all that, the resolution to the President Wazzo assassination plot was one of the things I liked most about "FNBR."

Mostly, what I liked was how it added to the cumulative feeling that I had that this story was written with a lot of vision. Wazzo doesn't simply survive; she's saved by a potential recurring nemesis for the Legion.

To top that off, a character that had been just a cardboard bystander was developed into a supporting character (Trudy Trusoe) and you have the whole Karate Kid/Persuader rivalry, rife with potential.

Granted, it could be that none of that stuff is ever followed up. But the upshot is Simone Girl's four issue fill-in was very forward thinking. "FNBR" showed more vision for the Legion beyond the storyline than anything DnA did after "Dream Crime." Heck, "Foundations" seems more like the fill-in story than "FNBR." Yeah, I know DnA had the Cub storyline that they didn't get to finish, but I think they said at one point that they started that whole thing without an ending in mind anyhow. Thus, I'd take this fill-in over whatever DnA would have pieced together for the Cub resolution.

So, the good outweighs the bad for me. Good job, Gail and gang.

Good point on the biology. Still, isn't most of what we know about Rimbor based on preboot? At least in the TMK era we know that the human city of Rimbor was built on top of an ancient city of possible non-humans. Is it possible that in the postboot the previous colonists (which might have been close to human but not exact) and the human colonists merged into one people? I know it's stretching things but it's a possible explanation for the differences. Admittedly, the irradiated organs someone else suggested made better sense.

Oh yeah, that reminds me -- maybe she should change the name of the website to "Women in ovens" (check out the latest Green Lantern)....

For me, it was a satisfactory ending. All of the situations Gail set up were resolved (although some not so neatly).

To go through the issue bit by bit:

The cover -- it's not clear what's going on here. Dreamer is center stage, looking like she's getting ready to take on the villains, and Vi and Karate Kid seem to be rushing to back her up. But why do Jo and Cham look so worried? It looks like a hodge-podge of images that don't fit together well.

Page 2 -- a recap with some nice but unnecessary boob shots. Is Canary about to kiss Dreamer's cleavage in panel 4? Is it Dreamer that Canary has a crush on instead of Devil?

Brainy & Umbra -- I can believe she would ignore his mandate to ignore "petty street crimes" -- there's nothing petty in what's happening here, in her view. Brainy, acting condescending ("Can you do that for me, Tasmia?"), seems more in line with his preboot self here. Paired with postboot Tasmia, that's quite a volatile combination.

Trudy Trusoe -- her "growth" from TV personality to bonafide reporter was telegraphed last issue and isn't terribly convincing here. Wouldn't a real reporter refrain from assuming the worst had happened to President Wazzo? Perhaps Trudy isn't the real reporter she aspires to be, not yet, at least.

The Persuader -- if any arc in this story needed fleshing out, it was this. He goes from a "badazz" who denies he has a daughter to suddenly handing her over with care and returning (for no better reason - hah!) to his cell. When and how did he change his attitude? Gail hinted that such a change was forthcoming when he saw Lialla in danger two issues ago, but we don't actually see the change take place.

"Just remember -- I'd make a lousy father-in-law." Great line, but, as with Nightwind's "We never follow orders," it comes out of left field. Gail seemed to be setting up an attraction between Val and Lialla, but we never quite got there, either. (And we never do find out what the tatoo on her face is.)

Pinter and Ultra Boy -- the best scene. It reminds me of an old LOST IN SPACE episode in which Dr. Smith wills his body to aliens. The kicker here is that Rimborian organs may not be compatible with human organs. (As for how Jo could father Cub, bear in mind that Tinya isn't human, either.)

Chuck -- Chuck again makes the decisions and, in so doing, probably oversteps his authority (Kid Quantum is still leader). It would have been fun to watch some repercussions of this when Kid Q gets back.

Dreamer/Canary/Devil -- great setup and misdirection, here. I thought the pain Nura foresaw was going to be Canary's. It turned out to be her own self-inflicted pain. I'll have to go back and re-read earlier scenes for the significance of the candle. It seemed too sudden a revelation that the candle was tied to Canary's power, but I could be wrong. In any event, this is Dreamer evoking the best of both her preboot and postboot selves: an attractive woman who is much tougher than anyone gives her credit for. It also evokes one of my favorite Legion themes: "Never underestimate a Legionnaire." Even the weakest members (such as her and Chuck) have a full house up their sleeves.

Timber Wolf -- Quick and to the point. I would have liked a better revelation than "You stink!" but, coming from a guy whose recent catchphrase was "Think fast!" this is a mild improvement.

The ticker-tape parade -- Well, why not? This is the age of fast-food and and high-speed Internet access. The 31st century is probably the era of high-speed celebration as many times as the Legion has won the day.

Brainy and M'Onel -- the wrapup of Karahdia was fittingly anticlimactic, since the main story carried the climax. But I found the "let evolution take its course" monologue a bit much -- DC's not-so-subtle poke at Legion fans, perhaps? Are we to understand the Karahdians to be a metaphor for the Legion itself? Is DC trying to tell us that the Legion, too, reaches a point in each evolution where it must devolve and start again? If so, that doesn't give me much hope for any long-term version of the Legion.

So, all in all, the good guys win, the bad guys get theirs, and a reporter changes her tune. A very good set-up and well-executed ... a breath of fresh air from most over-the-top series finales.

Just read it, loved it a lot! This arc has been HOT!!

Liked that Nura played a big role.

"You stink!" BWWAhaha! When will EDE post the 'Is Devil the rebooted Polecat' thread?

Another great scene with Infectious Lass; she's certainly made lifelong enemies of Lantern and Arrow, I'll wager.

I was more into the art this issue. Not sure why, but I was.

All in all, I'd say it was a very satisfying arc to wrap THE LEGION with.

Kudos to the entire team!!

I posted a fairly long-winded review of this issue at the Calling the Roll section. Lash, I think the art was better this issue because Nura was awake and looking GREAT!!

Overall, I enjoyed this story. I was intrigued by the new characters and delighted by the rebooted ones. I found the art acceptable, but I admit that I wasn't WOWed by it. This is the farewell issue to this series; the series that started with Coipel and introduced Batista. I would have liked it if the art continued that sort of feel...