LSH 5YL 18-24, Annual 2 - What is the quiet darkness?
We've reached the end of the second year of the Five Years Later Legion - the place where many fans consider the end of the high level of stories. Keith Giffen's final work as penciller comes with issue #24 and you really get the sense that he's pulling away from a lot of the plotting duties too. The nine panel grid slowly disappears too.
Speaking of Giffen, I want to make a retraction about a comment I made about his artwork in the first of my 5YL rereads. I said that I was happy when the guest pencillers appeared because it was a nice break from his dark and gloomy pencils. After reading this last section of his work on this book, I think I spoke too soon. My memory of what Chris Sprouse, Brandon Peterson, and others had done was far brighter than what was actually on the page.
Looking back on these first 24 issues, I'm actually kinda struck by the bizarre art choices that the editorial staff made. Regardless of whether you love, hate, or are somewhere in the middle on Giffen's work here, the book has a distinct visual style that is jarring when it's dropped. The amazing storytelling of his work is also some of the best of his career. Yes, there are probably too many closeups on eyes, but he is achieving a look and style that is unlike any others.
Which is why it's so strange that, aside for Paris Cullins, all the fill-in jobs are done by rookies. Drawing the Legion is an incredibly difficult task for experienced artists - imagine also having to draw something that's going up against what Giffen is doing.
I think my memory was clouded by what Sprouse and Peterson would become - not what they did here.
Speaking of editors, and I think I mentioned this last re-read, we're on our third editor by this point on the book. Giffen himself made some comments on not enjoying working with at least one of them during a podcast and I believe the Bierbaums commented on DC editorial causing problems for them as well.
Of course, it's kinda hard to not have editorial bothering you when your book has gone from 23rd in sales for the first issue to 76th by issue #23. To be fair, first issues always get a big bump in sales - but the end of Volume 3 was 56th in sales. So they're dropping, regardless of what you want to compare to.
As I mentioned last time, I really get the sense that they had to rush through their stories to get to the crossover with Adventures of Superman. How else can you explain why the entire Dark Circle story was told in one issue, number 18, and never really referenced again?
And after reading Adventures of Superman #478, they shouldn't have bothered.
Adventures of Superman #478 - when crossovers go really, really wrong
I would bet money that writer/artist Dan Jurgens hadn't read a single issue of the 5YL Legion before crafting this tale. Some of the highlights:
- The Legion, who have been avoiding Earth post Khund War and because the Dominator-run government is against them, suddenly arrive on the Moon to help Superman battle Dev-Em... who's now an evil Daxamite and far worse than the juvenile delinquent he once was.
- Included in that group coming to Earth is Imra Ardeen-Ranzz, who's very pregnant, and Lightning Lad, who would rather be anywhere else than there. They've flown all the way from Winath to help, which makes no sense at all. You need help fighting a Daxamite, so let's send in the pregnant woman and the one who can't walk. It's weird that they make Imra central to this story, even though she's completely retired and barely used in the regular Legion series.
- Laurel battles Dev-Em and then meets Superman, who she immediately recognizes because he looks like Superboy... who she's never met... because he doesn't exist in this timeline anymore. So the Legion creators were prohibited from mentioning Superboy but the Superman creators weren't. Got it. Just so you don't think I'm insane, here are her exact words: "You?! Superboy?! This is impossible! You died -- years ago!... I should have recognized the age difference! It's just that you're so identical to... to..."
- Even though they stop Dev-Em from using the Dominators' secret weapon, a huge bomb in the Moon that's part of something called Triple Strike, the Moon has to explode for story reasons, so the cyborg guy who's sending Superman through different times in history as part of his latest multi-issue crossover just blows it up anyway. No, I couldn't be bothered to figure out any more than that. But the Legion are already flying away... just lucky, I guess.
Just dumb, dumb, dumb...
LSH #19 - If you want to see just how good Giffen can be, check this out!
The first 10 pages of this book are just stunning. Giffen delivers on all cylinders here and the emotional impact of the story is massive. The creative choices he makes all work and it's just one gut punch after another.
We see the aftermath of the Moon explosion, as the debris starts hitting the Earth and the satellites orbiting. One unlucky structure is Medicus One, which takes a direct hit and, I assume, results in the final appearance of Dr. Gym'll.
The Dominators start panicking, knowing that this is the start of the Triple Strike sequence. They order it shut down, but when another piece of debris destroys one of their warships, the entire defense network is wiped out, as is all communication.
For good news, most of the heavy debris missed the Earth.
For bad news, Baghdad and Rio are gone and most coastal cities are flooded.
Which is when we get the first reference to the most important subplot of the book - the Dominators are happy that none of the chambers are affected. Chambers? What are those? What's in them?
In Arctica, Circadia Senius, everyone's favorite time scientist, sends the Luna-Sub-One orbiter into space to take the Moon's place and not cause tidal destruction. Unfortunately for him, another meteor is about to hit near his base, evaporating everything around. Two beloved supporting characters gone in just a few pages.
And then the final part of Triple Strike hits - power spheres all over the world detonate, killing millions, maybe billions.
Whether you like Giffen's work on this book or not, these 10 pages are amazing. He uses full-page spreads to make things more dynamic and grab attention, much like Dave Gibbons did in Watchmen. That image of the explosions, with just a list of the destroyed cities, will stay with you after you put down this comic.
How do you follow those events? You go back to the past and wrap up the Jo Nah story.
For those of you who may have forgotten, Roxxas fired a time-travel bomb at Jo, sending him back to ancient Khundia. He found a way to get off planet, and get to Earth, but since he was in the distant past, there was no one he could turn to for help.
To say that the book took a dramatic turn would be an understatement. We go from mass destruction to a quiet tale of heartbreak. Jo finally faces the loss of Tinya and really, truly grieves her. As big as the first ten pages are, the rest of the book is very small and intimate. I don't know if they really, truly work well together, but as two separate sections, they're both really good. I'm honestly not sure if this was because they were rushed to get to later stories, if DC told them to get Jo back as soon as possible, or if the creative wanted to tell these two different stories as counterpoints. I'd believe any of those options.
Luckily for Jo, Dr. Fate is active in ancient Egypt and shoots our hero back to the future. Is it weird that I was actually surprised that the team didn't keep Jo back in the past for a much longer time? It really did feel like they rushed this back as well.
Before we talk about The Quiet Darkness, let's just recap everything that happened during the other issues and Annual #2:
- In #18, the Dark Circle is pretty much taken care of and confined to Cargg. Yep, everything is completely wrapped up in one issue. Wouldn't you think Luorno would get involved in this, as it's her planet? Nope.
- Also in #18, Valor makes an interesting decision, stating to both Jeckie in Orando and to the people of Cargg that he would not interfere in the Dark Circle taking over either planet. So he's okay with all forms of self-governance, even if it's horrible for the citizenry and results in mass suicides? Where is his moral compass here? Or is he just so detached from regular people (having been trapped in the Bgztl zone by Glorith for 1,000 years) that he doesn't care what they do to each other as long as they made the choice themselves? Does that mean he wouldn't rescue anyone in a bad situation of their own making? Just an odd stance for a super-hero, even in this darker time.
- The sheer adulation and worship the people have for Valor is really addressed here. He speaks, and everyone listens. It is a subplot I wish they had done more when Superboy was on the team in the past - I mean, just imagine how people would react meeting the real Superboy.
- In an aside, they basically show that Luorno used to have a crush on Valor... so I guess that's why she went to Daxam to fight Glorith in the conspiracy. I actually think that's worse than her original motivation - Chuck could live with her wanting to get revenge for the death of her first crush. But now, she risks her life because her first crush's home planet was wiped out. And he's still alive. And she's still carrying a strong enough torch to almost die for him. Man, Chuck is just pathetic here.
- Also, wouldn't a conflict between Luorno and Valor over what's happening on Cargg, with all their past history, have been a great way to move forward with this? She wants to save her people and her planet and he's content to let them do whatever they want, even if it hurts them. She reminds him that part of her died on Daxam avenging his people but yet he won't do anything to help hers.
- Due to the destruction on Earth, and the rebels blowing things up and killing people who aren't at all connected to the Dominators (I hope that's Universo's team responsible, not Jacques'), the Dominators have recalled all their troops and enacted martial law. It was a nice touch to show Shvaughn Erin regret helping the rebellion.
- The United Planets talk about doing something to help Earth but do nothing. Diplomatic hands are tied.
- The Legion, as far as I can tell, don't even talk about doing anything. They just hang out in their new headquarters and relax. Brainy wants to figure out Celeste's powers. Kono continues sexually harassing the male team members (I know this was done for comedy back then, but it really just comes across as creepy behavior now). Mysa dreams that Wizard's World is still out there. Vi and Ayla flirt with each other. All of this just feels so... unheroic, you know. They have friends and former teammates down on Earth. But they do nothing.
- Speaking of old friends (maybe enemies) on Earth, Dirk's powers went crazy when the power spheres exploded and he's now burning up from the inside, his powers killing him. I know he's been a creep for years, and his working with the Dominators is bad, but this seems a little too harsh.
- Bounty is on Earth, watching President Circe through a rifle scope (is she there to kill her? Who sent her? Is this a Legion mission?) and watches her kill a Dominator and betray them. Maybe a new ally?
- Annual #2 is pretty... meh... so I'm not going say much more than this: Brandon Peterson gets an inker who makes his stuff look better, Scott Hanna, and this is the best of his Legion books. It's all about Valor spreading super-powered people to the stars and, like the last annual, it's basically more history re-writing.
- Devlin O'Ryan discovers one of the Dominators' chambers. More on that later.
LSH #22 - What a great cover!
On a podcast, when asked about the events of The Quiet Darkness, the four-part story running from issue 21 to 24, Keith Giffen said that he didn't write or plot any of it, he only drew it. It seemed to me that he was distancing himself from the story. Or, at the very least, he didn't want to answer any questions about it.
Let's do a quick recap of what happened during this story:
Darkseid is back and he's trying to get his hands on a young girl named Aria. He's sent a bunch of bounty hunters to Zuun to capture her. Unfortunately for his plans, some Legionnaires are on Zuun as well (most specifically Furball) and they don't want the bad guys to get their hands on the girl.
Why does Darkseid want the girl? She's part of an experiment her father is conducting that is tied to the Gemini Matrix, which is mystical in nature and very powerful. So obviously, Darkseid wants to reunite Aria with her sick brother, Coda, get the matrix running, and control it. He even sends Lobo, who is literally appearing in every DC comic at this time, in to help capture her. Not sure how Lobo is still alive after 1,000 years, but I'm sure we'll find out later.
More Legionnaires arrive on Zuun, one of which is Celeste... who's been sent because she's powerful. No one knows what her powers are, or if she can control them, but they want someone powerful in the fight. Glad to see the Legionnaires are acting responsibly. To no surprise, she doesn't have control and ends up wiping out (I'm assuming kill, but I don't think they show it) a bunch of Zuunian police officers and then goes transparent. I swear there are moments in this book where the writers literally ask themselves "What's the dumbest thing the characters can do?" and go with it.
With the battle over, Darkseid invites the Legion to his home, creates a god-like creature by combining the two children into Gemini, and then lets Gemini kill him. So the whole plan was, basically, assisted suicide?
Oh, and Lobo was actually a probe - not the real one. Darkseid has a history of bringing one characters back to life, so this wasn't much of a surprise twist. I just don't know if Darkseid would actually have any patience for someone like Lobo.
This is a very weird story at a very weird time. Bringing in Darkseid and Lobo, and calling it the thematic sequel to The Great Darkness Saga, is an obvious attempt at adding readers to the book and turning around the drop in sales. It appeared to be the perfect time to do something epic, involving a bunch of Legionnaires.
But that's not this story.
This is a very quiet (the title should have given that away) story with depressed characters (Darkseid looks broken down in almost every panel). There's nothing big, nothing epic, nothing grand here.
If this had been a standalone story, with no references to one of the Legion's greatest stories, and Darkseid had shown up as a surprise, I would've said this was amazing. Expectations are really what hurt the story and the reader here.
For a story that's as dense as it is, not much happens. I've been complaining that the Khund War and Dark Circle stories seemed very rushed. This is the opposite. This seems almost decompressed.
The first issue spends multiple pages just focused on the two girls, Aria and her friend Lori, running from the bounty hunters. They're setting up the characters, and the drama, and giving you a real sense of the danger. But again, you're writing a story that you hope will get more people interested in the book. At least, I hope that's what they were trying to do. What do you get? Two kids, one of which you'll never see after this story ends. The one Legionnaires you do use can't speak. What's the hook?
It's also interesting that this story only takes up the first 18 pages of each book. The rest is all dedicated to the running subplots. Which, to be honest, are far more interesting than the main story. More happens in six pages than in 18.
Al Gordon, the regular inker who's been helping co-plot the book, was given his first chance to write a comic book with these issues. He's an amazing inker. If I'm making a list of greatest inkers of the past 40 years, his name is on it. And for his first writing job, he does a decent job. He decided to write a grim, slow story that was trying to accomplish two things and kinda missed the mark on both. And by writing something linked to The Great Darkness Saga, he set himself up for failure.
Oh, and cause I did look this up, thematic means "having or relating to subjects or a particular subject." So I guess it's a thematic sequel because Darkseid's in it? Because it really doesn't have any connection to anything else that came out of the original story. No references to Validus. No messing around with a pregnant Imra. No attempts to take over the universe. Just a sad Darkseid.
And the less said about the end of the book, where it appears Darkseid's in Heaven, the better.
Now let's talk about the big reveal at the end of issue #24:
They had been teasing this for a bit. Valor had discovered that the Dominators had cloned Legionnaires as part of something called "Operation Doppelganger." We saw glimpses of characters who looked like the Legion taking care of an injured Devlin O'Ryan. When the Dominators let Project B.I.O.N. loose to hunt down the SW6 subjects, it tracked genetic codes (after murdering Atmos) and headed straight for Laurel.
Then we saw Shrinking Violet in issue #23, and readers started wondering if we were going to see a new, younger Legion.
At the end of #24, we got our answer.
The Silver Age Legion is back, with their brightly colored costumes and a sense of innocence.
Remember last week when I talked about the two Legions, the Silver Age and the Bronze Age versions? Well, we now have both existing at the same time. We'll talk more about them next week.
And also, on a completely different note, I wanted to give a couple of recommendations of podcasts I've been listening to that you might enjoy if you haven't checked these out before:
Dollar Bin Bandits is a great podcast focusing on old creators. The Legion comes up a little bit, there's a couple of great Mike Grell interviews, and I really enjoyed the tales of how the comic companies used to work:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dollar-bin-bandits/id1576289731
The Legion Clubhouse was recommended to me here and I've been running through the 70's episodes like crazy. I feel bad for being so late to this party:
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