Long Live the Legion

Legion of Super-Heroes (vol 7) #13 11 more issues to go before this series reaches its conclusion. These are the moments when I wonder what the editor and creative team are thinking. Legion Lost is about to be cancelled. This book's sales have been dropping every month (45,362 for issue #1 to 18,487 for this one) and I have to assume they're getting the same messages - start getting sales back or you're done. Do you start trying anything you can to get more people to read the book? Is this why artist Scott Kolins has taken over? Does writer Paul Levitz have another trick up his sleeve or is he just staring at his computer and wondering why this experience is so different from his last run on the Legion? Is he calling Keith Giffen every day? Do they have just as many "Questions" as the book itself? We begin on an asteroid mine, where Element Lad and Cosmic Boy as actually doing something, and Chemical Kid is standing behind them, wondering why they're there. Th...

Legion of Super-Heroes (vol 7) #0 No need for a recap because I believe both of these are kinda standalone issues. And that's better for me because I don't have to relive the horrors that came before this. I remember making the case on the podcast that you really couldn't tell who were writer Paul Levitz's favorite Legionnaires. And for his first and second runs on the Legion, I think that was true. On this one, I think you can safely say he'd rather write Brainiac 5 and Dream Girl over almost anyone else. I think it's also safe to say that if you were going to ask me which Legionnaire least needed to be the focus of a standalone issue, I'd pick Brainy. He was the focus of Legion: Secret Origin. And the last Dominator storyline. And most Legion storylines since... well... when did he quit in volume 3? "Brainiac's Original Sin" has art by Scott Kolins - I'm guessing Francis Portela either needed a break or is heading for brighter pastures. I...

Legion of Super-Heroes (vol 7) #12 Whew... last week was a rough one. Getting through whatever Legion Lost #11 tried to be was like slamming my head into the wall. There are very few times when I want to throw a comic against the wall, but that's where we are. I'm also starting to picture Pete Woods, tied to his art table, begging to get a good script, and being told over and over again that he signed a contract and has to finish that horrible series. But I digress. And it's not like LSH #11 was stellar either. Brainiac 5 and Dream Girl were captured by the Dominators. The Legion was ordered by the U.P. to not rescue anyone, so Star Boy put together a team of... let's be nice and say third stringers... to save his girlfriend (who seems to have more chemistry with Brainy). They, to no one's surprise, fail, and it's revealed that Comet Queen has betrayed the team and is working with the enemy I'm assuming that we're going to finally get what we've need...

Legion of Super-Heroes (vol 7) #11 If someone had asked you to create the worst possible Legion rescue team, could you do better than a Star Boy who can't walk, Bouncing Boy, Duplicate Damsel, Comet Queen, and two people who aren't even in the Academy yet? Well, that's where we are. This sextet is heading to Dominator space to rescue Brainiac 5 and Dream Girl, who were kidnapped two issues ago. Why isn't the Legion doing anything? Because, once again, when the U.P. tells them to do something that goes against their morals and judgment, they blindly follow. Oh, and so the title of this book makes sense, let's not forget that last issue, Dream Girl had one of her patented flashes of a prediction - she knows someone on the rescue team is going to betray them but she doesn't know who. Wouldn't it be great if Nura's powers developed at all since she joined the team? Or if her premonitions weren't insanely vague? "Betrayal" is written by Paul Lev...

Legion of Super-Heroes (vol 7) #10 I hope everyone pre-ordered Legion of Super-Heroes #1 from your local comic shop. If you didn't, why not? "Choices" is written by Paul Levitz, pencilled by Francis Portela & Andres Guinaldo, and inked by Dan Green and Portela. I'm assuming we're going to get a dramatic shift in art styles for no other reason than they've let us know who did which pages in the credits. No trusting us to be able to figure it out, right? We're in Metropolis and Cosmic Boy is nearing some weird building... the Dominators' embassy. What? The Dominators have an actual embassy on Earth? Does that make any sense whatsoever? Rokk causes a huge spike in power, wrecking everything around him, and then just slips inside. He's looking for evidence behind the kidnapping of Dream Girl and Brainiac 5 last issue so that the Legion can go and save them. In case you forgot, Earthgov told them not to interfere, so the still-unable-to-walk Star Bo...