Much better use of Element Lad's power than just changing things to inertron or removing the oxygen.
What I thought as well.
Really curious to see the real story behind Element Lad... also a bit happy they didn't make him go the Progenitor route... at least this will be a bit different...
Also - I am loving the dialogue way more than what we had in the past series. People are actually finishing their sentences!
the triumphant victory of our heroes saves all reality from the brink of destruction and shakes loose the very fabric of space and time. from the ashes of death metal rises new life for the infinite multiverse and glimpses into the worlds of tomorrow.
charles is one of the few legionnaires from new earth. born in the mutated colonies of detroit, charles discovered his powers in a very young age. he has been raised and mentored by an artificial intelligence that hones his power set into something on the same omega power level as superman and the fallen mon-el.
bouncing boy is often referred to as the most powerful legionnaire.
As in the previous issue, the first paragraph is one common to all the Future State books I think.
There are some new revelations in the rest. In particular Charles/Bouncing Boy is considered one of, if not the most powerful legionnaire, which matches up to his appearance destroying starships last issue. Also apparently Mon-El is gone, possibly dead.
Last edited by stile86; 02/22/2103:47 PM. Reason: Bpuncing Boy is a different character :)
Why are they making Jan the villain again, he was such a sweet heart in the original, and was a sweetheart in the reboot as well until they made him the villain, but I was hoping this new legion would try for something new. In the third image you provided it even seems as though Trom and it?s people are alive so why is he evil. Also Stile86 mentioned Mon-El being missing, but during Reep Daggle?s trial there were two costumed hero?s that looked like they could be him, although it?s still possible they weren?t. Final question on pages 1,3,6, and 7 who is the legionnaire in all black with the yellow blade, I really don?t recognize him.
Fallen Mon-el might be fallen from grace, or something like that; he (or a look alike) was present in the scene on Daxam. The guy with the blade - don't know who he is, but the light blade and shield made me think of Lantern.
I think I liked the first issue more. It seemed like more actually happened and more characters were given something to do.
So, we get the payoff to the whole "Saturn Girl influencing other Legionnaires" idea from #12. The Titanian hivemind actually does turn out to be evil! And I'm glad we get at least a decent explanation for why Imra is wearing the goofy helmet, even if it still does look goofy.
I'm actually a bit iffy on Chuck being presented as the most powerful Legionnaire, which seems to reverse the whole point of the character.
I'm not sure what to think about Element Lad, now. The change from Trommians being the victims of genocide to being the unwilling perpetrators of a mass terrorist attack is interesting. It's got to be weird being on a team most of whose members were wanting to kill you recently.
I was hoping we'd find out something more about Blast Boy or Ferro Lad or whoever he is, but we don't.
Nice to see the Subs on board, but I'm not sure how they can just sign up to aid the Legion when they were sympathetic with the Trommian cause last issue? Were they being manipulated by the Titanians as well? It doesn't make much sense.
Anyway, as the last issue of the Legion we're going to get for awhile, this was a bit of a whimper.
I don't like being overly negative, so I'll just say some stray thoughts:
This... Feels unfinished to me. It builds up and builds up and - It ends. There's no real pay off.
Originally Posted by Eryk Davis Ester
I'm actually a bit iffy on Chuck being presented as the most powerful Legionnaire, which seems to reverse the whole point of the character.
I agree with you here. I think Chuck can be incredibly powerful in the right situation, but the fact that he was always the underdog is very core to his character.
And I'm just going to say it: I hate new Querl. I hate him. There is nothing resembling the character I love here. The fact that he changes shape every panel is distracting, and it's at the point that he's completely unrecognizable.
Can we just have this whole thing retconned ala Dallas with Dreamy waking up to find Thom in the shower and we learn the last ten years never happened?
Another snappy read. The solution to Element Lad rang a big bell, but I can't quite place from where. The villains of the piece also aren't new, but it was done on an elevated threat level while also nicely connecting with some hints in previous issues. The double twist was nicely done too. They took a long while before letting the reader know though, effectively dragging Cosmic Boy across the galaxy without telling him what they knew.
My concerns about Element Lad killing half the team were nicely unfounded in the plot. Jan's previous villainy played with the readers, in a good way for the plot. It also allowed Bendis to get in an action scene in a n issue that would otherwise have had none. Solid crafting there. There were a lot of little things that were quietly answered, from why it fell apart after only 100 days to Imra's headgear.
There are a few connections to be made. One is why, after 100 days where we saw them vote Coz out of leadership, would they want him back. But we didn't get to see Darkseid, so no reason why that couldn't have happened in there. Shadow Lass' power upgrade isn't a massive stretch of believability either. There's also that "darkness" in Great Darkness Saga, so perhaps there. Or maybe she had it all along. No unsustainable leaps.
Why the villains allowed themselves to be distracted from monitoring things to let their exile happen is a bit of a mystery though.
We're left with a reunited Legion in the rubble of a galaxy that, since we didn't see much of it, could be in any sort of shape when we return to this time. Rokk may be a bit gloomy about it, but we now have a race of exonerated Tromians out there, willing to help and less manipulation of events by the villains.
There are still some fun questions out there too: what happened to mon el? jon had left but has now returned, sporting a 1920's moustache. That's time travel for you. Gold Lantern and Doctor Fate are noticeably absent. Ayla isn't in the final group shot. I'm quite liking the unfettered "I have a plan" Brainiac. Unbound from his form adds some balance to his usual brilliant plot solving ability. Visually it might get a bit overlapped with Monster Boy and Cham in there too.
I had no problems with the art style again this issue. I'm quite liking it actually, and it does a good job in supporting a lot of plot jumps. We have the adventures of Blast Boy/ Ferro Lad and Tuning Fork Lass to look forward to as well. I'd read more from this point on. Bendis gives us a story with lots of scope, reveals, hints and hope. It also has a conclusion, and some pace, which is more than most of the first 12 managed.
"...not having to believe in a thing to be interested in it and not having to explain a thing to appreciate the wonder of it."
This felt pretty good. These two issues together are an ok Elseworlds story to me, fitting right in to the Future State setting - a future that may or may not come to be. (I know about Bendis suggesting that he might continue on from thsi point but then at the moment it is unclear if anyone will be continuing on with the Legion in any form right now.) If the rest of his run had been like this I would be fairly happy. I don't think it's the greatest the Legion has ever been but I think it's still a good Legion story.
The art - not sure. I like it and I don't like it. Before reading the issues I was certain I did not like it. Now I have seen that it can convey the story very well and it has grown on me. I don't think I would like to see it all the time but here it kind of fitted. Of course it would have been better if the writer and the artist communicated better. Mon-El has fallen but is seen in the council scene, two different Violets, two different Aylas - not that the last is anything new. Since it happened across the series with different artists I am going to blame Bendis for this one.
The biggest problem with the art is identifying everyone, but many have changed so much that it would be difficult with any artist. I had to go back to the first issue to realise that the guy with the black and yellow top (not Jo Nah, the other one) was Garth and that tuning fork girl was Ayla (see the scene where she is rescuing Garth from Jan in issue 1). Is the lion/tiger man Monster Boy? And we never do find out who the cyborg sword/shield person is. Assuming the character is male and one of the team shown in previous issues then the ones not otherwise identified or shown are: Gold Lantern, Star Boy, Wildfire, Matter Eater Lad, Karate Kid, Ferro. Most people are guessing Ferro but I'm not sure. It may be one of those mysteries from this run like "Is Ayla secretly a quick-change artist who can't decide on her favourite costume - or power?"
E Lad and the Trommites are exonerated, and apparently Imra isn't a bad guy too
were the Trommites vindicated? and were the Titanians publicly outed? I mean, I can imagine the Trommites are very sorry and want to help, but...
if anyone wants to spoil more details, please feel free I'm not intrigued enough to get this issue.
I do like the nice uses of Element Lad's power in the preview. really showing him as a major player.
Although... I seem to remember Element Lad confirming a while back that he was a last survivor of Trom...? so apparently not, did they ever explain why? or am I remembering wrong?
does the issue ever explain what happened to the Legionnaires who don't show up? or is it all mysteriously left up to us to fill in the blanks?
Can we just have this whole thing retconned ala Dallas with Dreamy waking up to find Thom in the shower and we learn the last ten years never happened?