Long Live the Legion

  The Legion #25 I know this is going to sound crazy, but one of the reasons why I'm really excited to get to this issue is that this is the first Legion comic in a while that I'm going to read on paper. Everything else has been digital and, although I know this makes me sound like an old man shouting at clouds, I just prefer reading comics the old-fashioned way. So I pull out my The Legion: Foundations trade paperback and I'm ready to go. I'm also just a little stunned that this is the only trade released for this run. Of course, I still need to go back to the digital copy to see the credits for this issue because, for some crazy reason, the trade doesn't want to let us know who drew what. Here's the breakdown: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (DnA) writing. Chris Batista with Robin Riggs, Chip Wallace, and Doug Hazlewood handling the main story (and yes, I still believe that when you have this many inkers it's a bad sign). Eric Wight handling the young Clark Ke...

  The Legion #23 Another anatomically-challenged cover, especially in the hands, but at least they're doing something that stands out, right? I guess that's better than what came before. I was excited by these Feister/Harris covers at the beginning and now I'm just... meh... Is it weird that I just want interior artists Chris Batista and Mark Farmer to do the covers now? Anyway, we're back on Titan, where the world's worst rescue attempt just failed and the four un-mind-controlled Legionnaires, Sensor, Shikari, Karate Kid, and Ferro have been defeated by the rest of the Legion. Universo has entered full gloating and speechifying mode. And hopefully we'll never see Steeple again. But wait! Things are not as bad as they seem. As Universo reaches down to grab hold of Sensor, she disappears. She's just an illusion. And she's freed Saturn Girl and Dreamer from their chairs. Irate that his master plan has fallen apart so easily, Universo sends the rest of the ...

The Legion #21 It's part three of "Dream Crime," the latest multi-issue story from writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (DnA) and artists Chris Batista and Mark Farmer. For those who missed last week, we left off with Saturn Girl and Dreamer on Titan, the former for rest and relaxation to get a grip on her PTSD and the latter to figure out if she can link her precognitive powers to the Titanian communication net and help the U.P. predict threats. Dreamer, in issue #19, sees that Darkseid has come back to wreak havoc while Saturn Girl, in issue #20, is being mentally attacked by Universo. Since it's Universo on the cover of #21, I'm guessing Darkseid is just a trick. But with DnA, I honestly wouldn't be shocked if they just went with both and completely destroyed the Earth. We're now establishing the front page of the book as 4/5ths pictures of the Legionnaires with a text piece explaining what's happened before and 1/5th the first panel of the book. We ...

The Legion #19 We get two new looks for the Legion with this issue. First, the one that's obvious from the image above - a new logo and cover artists. The artists are Tony Harris, who I've been a fan of since Starman, and Tom Feister, who I know far less about. But this artwork does really stand out so I'm a fan. And this is me stating the obvious, but it's much, much, much better than last issue's. The logo... well... I guess if they wanted something that showed off the art, it's a good choice. If you wanted something that looked futuristic, they dropped the ball on that one. Also, why have a new logo with issue 19? Are sales that bad? Actually, sales are holding steady above 25,000 right now, so it can't be that. Is it that a new editor wants a new look? Maybe. Are they just throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks? That's more likely. The second, and I'd argue more important, new look is a new interior art team: Chris Batista and Mark...

The Legion #17 The return of the villain we all wanted to see again... well, some of us did... well, not me... but Ra's Al Ghul is back. I guess the Legion doesn't have enough of their own villains they could use. Or writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (DnA) are under strict orders to not go more than a couple of issues without having someone from the 21st Century show up in the book. We have another guest artist this issue, Alejandro Barrionuevo, and this is his first published artwork for DC Comics. He's been working consistently from 2003 until present day and has worked on some big books for both DC and Marvel. So I've got high hopes for this and the next issue. We begin in some sort of prison and M'onel and Shvaughn Erin are heading into a maximum security facility to go have a chat with Ra's. Shvaughn explains how Ra's has numerous lawyers on retainer and they've been fighting for his civil rights, such as the right to not be held in stasis. M'...