Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! Legion #31 (SPOILERS)

Some things I've kept in mind.

I don't recall many times that Brainy's exhibited much emotional maturity.

If Chuck's gotten a little lazy, he has a right. Remember all the times the legionnaires would destroy something immediately after he'd fixed it?

Superboy isn't necessarily that slovenly. Maybe it was just his invulnerability that did the nanites in. Chuck and Gear were just laying the slob treatment on thick so that he wouldn't want to meniton the incident to anyone.

Not to impressed with this issue, especially the characterisation. I know it was supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek issue, but still...
It seems a few times lately I've read a comic and just gone, "Well, that obviously happened in another branch of Hypertime than the one I usually read."

Ok - what did we learn from this issue:

1) Chuck is a slacker
2) Gear is brainless lackey
3) Brainy is a pervert
4) Superboy is a slob with hygiene issues
5) Tinya hangs out in bars while her one-year-old roams the bowels of Legion World unsupervised
6) Legion World inexplicably has its south pole floating in space as debris
7) "Artists" can still stretch 20 pages of work into 22 by using the old "black panel" and "Xeroxing panels" techniques without DC editors noticing or caring.

The good news:

1) Nice cover - Gear and Chuck finally made it.
2) No female Legionnaires were raped, tortured, mutilated or humiliated throughout the whole Giffen story (and it definitely WAS Giffen; DnA had already left IMO).
3) More dialogue in this issue than the last 5 combined.
4) Next issue will definitely be better.

Doesn't Cub have two parents? Ultra Boy didn't "die" again, did he?

Isn't he out of town with RJ Brande in the "Lost" Universe?

Beats me, man, I missed a few issues. For all I know Jo's frolicking with Captain Frake again. You know how vocal the Captain Frake fans are.

Actually, Jo did die last issue, coincidentally at the hands of Captain Frake in a bizarre plot twist.


Naaaa - now I'm just messin' with ya.

I HATE that Chuck has been portrayed as a lazybones who would stoop to blackmail and theaping blame on a stooge. I HATE that Gear acted like an idiot when he impressed me so much in the fight against the JLA holograms with his cool self-control. This issue was a nice break from the "epic" storylines, but as far as I'm concerned a day-in-the-life issue isn't worth the paper it's printed on if the characters it focuses on don't act like themselves at all. Still, I somewhat enjoyed the issue, once I stopped wondering who kidnapped and impersonated all the characters.

And I cringe at the fact that I actually found Cub only half as annoying now that he can talk. But it looks like his Mommy and Daddy and Unlce Brin are starting to get as tired of him as I am, since they let him run around in dangerous places like that. Maybe he's manifested invulnerability too.

Cos and Jaz seem out of place, too. I always thought Cos would insist on marriage first before doing it, but I guess he's not as stuck in the mud as I thought. At least, DNA think so. Ditto for Brainy, but I guess he's human (or Coluan) too. And I kind of liked Kon in this issue.

Giffen's art didn't bug me too much, but I didn't particularly care for it. Inks were pretty okay, and a big thumbs-up to Mechana for colors.

But this issue couldn't have been too bad, since I spent more time reading it than I did the last ssue of Floundations. I just hope- no, I pray- that the next two issues are at least as good as Legion Worlds were. We deserve that much, at least.

After the over-inflated and under-whelming Universo and Darkseid storylines think of this issue as a slightly off-beat, humourous break in the proceedings. A palate cleanser for fresher stories to come. Don't let the incorrect characterizations bug you - this story is an anomaly like when Giffen ridiculed the Subs. No need to treat it as gospel - pretend it's an ElseWorld's story and hopefully you will be returned to your regular programming next month...

I'd LOVE to think of this issue as a humourous break in the proceedings after those big, boring Universo and Dakseid epics.

Except - it just... wasn't... funny!

Go back to the issue after the Great Darkness Saga (LSH 295) and compare it to this one.

The quality of writing is like night and day. Twenty years later we are getting slop but are paying $2 more for it.

IMO It's the best single issue in five years. Even with faults.

It's been so long since we've had any characterization at all, that parts of this issue were like a breath of fresh air. We did learn a few new things about our heroes (which Kid Quislet humorously detailed above) -- they may not be pleasant things, necessarily, but they do make them seem more human. For example:

1. Chuck as a slacker. I don't think he really is one. One of the hallmarks of being a brilliant engineer is finding new ways of doing things or finding shortcuts that get the job done quicker. His portrayal in this issue reminds of Scotty's appearance on "Star Trek: The Next Generation," where he counsels La Forge that a good engineer never tells the captain exactly how long it will take to finish a task. A bit shady, perhaps. Unethical, no, so long as it gets the job done.

2. Gear. This guy has never had a personality that I can recall, so I can buy him as Laurel to Chuck's Hardy. Gear seemed to be buying into Chuck's chicanery -- learning the ropes, as it were -- only to go over the top and confess everything to Superboy. Data with guns, indeed.

3. Brainy as a pervert. The photos we saw weren't indecent (though they do beg the question of when Laurel posed for them), so I don't think it's anything more than healthy sexual interest. Okay, maybe a little kinky. But from a guy whose previous sexual interest seemed to be mother fixation, I'd say it's an improvement.

On the nine-panel grids -- they were effective because they were used sparingly. There was much more variety to the layouts here than during most of TMK. One good thing about the nine-panel grids is that they do create more room for story. This issue read as if there was more to it than all of "Foundations."

Also, perhaps it was due to mechana's highly effective coloring, but it was very easy to tell what was going on in each scene, which wasn't usually the case in TMK.

LEGION #1 was a relief, at least. Keith Giffen’s panel layouts were more varied than he became “infamous” for, although his visual storytelling still has some serious deficiencies. Al Milgrom’s inks have really come full-circle. He showed a lot of talent 30 years ago (30!!!) but in the 1980’s became one of the worst in the biz during Jim Shooter’s run as Marvel EIC. Recently, he’s gotten his act back together, doing the kind of quality work with Jim Starlin the two used to do way back when. Here, the drawings and renderings were at least 10 TIMES BETTER than they had been during the “Giffbaum” period when Al Gordon shamelessly threw away all he knew to follow in Keith’s deranged “How bad can we make it?” no-style. But it’s still only ONE-TENTH as good as they heyday of Giffen-Mahlstedt. (Where the hell IS Larry these days??)

Someone suggested Brainy might be bisexual. COULD be! Of course, the fact that we were left with “In…” (rather than Invisible Kid OR Inferno) was surely designed just to stir up readers. Inferno was a blonde, and for Brainy’s current state of emotional development, her personality problems would NOT get in the way of possible sexual fantasies. (I once had the EXACT same thing about a girl I knew at work—and later became a fan of porn star Jamie Summers and her film THE BRAT specifically because she reminded me so much, in looks and personality, to this incredibly stuck-up girl who couldn’t be bothered to give me the time of day!)

As for the others—while everybody makes a big deal over Andromeda and Supergirl, during the Levitz run I got a very strong sense that something COULD have happened between Brainy & Dream Girl—but just DIDN’T. In the post-boot, I got an even stronger feeling about a possible relationship between Brainy and Spark! But NOBODY could be bothered to go anywhere with it. I feel they’ve screwed over Supergirl and her legacy long enough. No matter what they do, it’ll NEVER be the way it was. But I think Spark is just something waiting to happen!

I'm getting the issue today-- and HWW's review has me practically salivating for it! So excited!

Jeepers! I Just read it, and don't get what all the fuss and hubbub is about.

I think I agree with 'Binger above. I DEFinitely think it's the best issue since the Ra's arc ended.

Was it as funny as past humourous Legion issues? No, but then again DnA are no Tom & Mary Bierbaum in the "tee-hee" department.

And Giffen needs someone like them or DeMatties to take his stuff to that higher level of hilarity.

I thoroughly enjoyed the artwork and the 9-panel grid.

I'm just glad Keith isn't on the Legion at all anymore - this issue was a total waste of money. Crap art, crap story and like blacula said, it just wasn't funny at all.

Next!

YUCK

I finally read this one and, although it was funny, I just thought it was too sophomoric. I didn't like the portrayal of Chuck, who is one of my old favorites, or Brainy.

And Giffen's art work makes me want to vomit.

What's next?

Re: Dirrty Superboy

Didn't they make a direct reference to hypersonic showers, etc.? Kon isn't actually filthy, just dirty compared to 31st century standards. And what teenager is good at cleaning their room?

Re: Art

No one can argue that they didn't get what they expected. Many hate Giffen's art; I'm not one of them. My biggest LOL moment came when I first saw the 9 panel grid and I imagined all the TMK haters out there getting apoplectic. Hee hee!

Re: worst ever

Can anyone honestly say that this issue is among the worst in Legion history? Story wise, art wise, or character wise? Sure, it's not the greatest, but it IS what many of us have been asking for--a break in the action, a little characterization, some development of long standing subplots. I agree that DnA are on the downhill run, but compared to Dr. Mayavale or Bizarro Legion, 31 is freakin' War and Peace.

As a longstanding member of the TMK Defense Squad, I was thrilled to see Keith working on a Legion title. Sure, it was a little silly, but not a bad way for DnA to move towards the door.

Son of a reboot!

Best Legion issue in over two years, without a doubt! Great stuff!

I'm surprised there's so much negative response to this issue--I loved it! Giffen's art looked great IMO, and the nine-panel grid was a welcome and enjoyable change. This issue was more colorful that TMK, and I think really made his art a lot more enjoyable.

Plus, Proty with a martini, Ambush Bug and Khundian Idol were cool enough inside jokes to make me smile!

The story was fun, and was overdue IMO, it's good to see things happening in the 31st century that don't involve the world coming to an end AGAIN. Gear wasn't out of character simply b/c he's never had any character, and Chuck was funny. Maybe a little lazy, but he was depicted as smart, witty and with a kind of charming pessimism. I liked seeing them! Also the least annoying Superboy has been in Legion so far! And Cos and KQ getting it on--nice touch!

I thought it was a great issue, I wish we could see more like it. I wouldn't mind Giffen drawing a funny issue every year and a half or so, just for a nice change of pace.

The best part of it all though, was the nice touches in dialogue, whoever wrote them:

"Great Shades of Gunfire!" (OK, so the majority of people won't get that)

"Son of a Reboot!"

"Great Nixon!"

This was more Ambush Bug/Heckler Giffen than anything else he's done in awhile

[QUOTE]Originally posted by He Who Wanders:
[QB]It's been so long since we've had any characterization at all, that parts of this issue were like a breath of fresh air. We did learn a few new things about our heroes (which Kid Quislet humorously detailed above) -- they may not be pleasant things, necessarily, but they do make them seem more human. For example:


I agree 100% He Who Wanders. I loved this issue. I saw nothing but good quality stuff. BTW, Monel is one of my faves also...where the heck is he at? And when do we see him kick butt!

pax

Jorge

Mon-El is with RJ Brande and a handful of other Legionnaires in the Second (Lost) Universe on a diplomacy mission. It looks like we should see them in Legion #33 facing off against the CREDO when the new permanent creative team takes over.