Another fresh and double-sized start for the series and Foundations begins... we look at The Legion #25 & 26

 

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 Kent sections.

Tony Harris and Tom Feister handling the space adventure.

Dave Cockrum and Al Milgrom handling the Mekt subplot.

And Paul Rivoche handle the Legion Lost flashback.

Wow - that's a great bunch of talent. Let's see how they work together.

We start back in Smallville, with a young Clark Kent. The Legion founders have arrived to bring Clark back with them to the 31st Century to show him his legacy. Clark's not Superman yet and, since he was never Superboy, this is how they explain how he joins the team even though he isn't really a super-hero yet.

It's a scene that we've now seen many times and, for one thing, I'm really glad they got rid of the Legionnaires as bullies in this. I still don't know why he'd go with three strangers into a time machine, but maybe young Clark had never been taught "Stranger Danger."

Next, we're back in the 31st Century, on the planet Trom, where Spark is visiting the memorial Kid Quantum built for Element Lad. She talks about how she didn't want to come here until she was ready. She wants to remember Jan as her friend, not as the villain she blames for her brother's death. She apologizes for that, knowing that he wasn't to blame - Jan had been changed to someone no one knew anymore. She'd like Jan's forgiveness.

Then she leaves some crystals she found back where Jan and Garth died, placing them on the ground beside the other memory crystals. Which is when Triad appears, reminding her she needs to come back for the celebrations on Legion World. Spark realizes she has to greet her special guest and they fly somewhere together. As they fly away, the crystals crackle with teal electricity... which longtime comic readers know is always a sign something bad is going to happen.

I kinda liked these two pages of Spark talking to the "ghost" of Jan Arrah and forgiving him for what happened on the other side of the galaxy. I would've liked this a lot more if there had been even a moment over the past two years of comics where Spark showed any of this personal growth... or any of the anger she felt... Once again, DnA is showing us the conclusion of what I guess they think is a subplot without actually showing the subplot.

On Legion World there are thousands of people celebrating something called "Foundation Day," the day when the Legion was first formed. Kid Quantum addresses the crowd, telling them how people all over the United Planets are celebrating the Legion and how their ideals show the best of the galaxy.

Then we see they have started a "Legion Cadet Program," and the first 20 candidates are there to start training. Couldn't call it the Legion Academy, huh? These candidates can move up to becoming reservists and then, perhaps, earn full membership. I know I'm going to miss a few, but I spot Kent Shakespeare, Comet Queen, Stone Boy, and Polar Boy.

They get a grand tour of Legion World, led by Cosmic Boy and Saturn Girl, and see the Legion World version of Winath. We get introduced to three of the cadets: Amp Girl, who has amplified senses and reflexes, Retro, who can rewind actions, and Babbage, the Robotican cadet. Cosmic Boy recognizes that he chose his name to honor Charles Babbage, the "father of computing," and reminds the robot that many people may not want to be friends with him.

Rokk's love of history is always tough to handle. On one hand, he's great when you need someone to provide exposition whenever the Legion goes up against a foe from the past. On the other, they write him as someone who has an encyclopedic knowledge of all Earth history and never forgets anyone or anything. Just once, I'd like to see him stumble for an answer. He's not Brainiac 5 - he can forget something.

There's a problem on Braal, so Rokk flies off to join the away team and we change artists. They emerge almost immediately in the middle of an approaching D-Storm, or dimension storm, that threatens Braal and, more importantly, threatens U.P. President Winema Wazzo's Yacht. As the team flies off to save the day, and Brainiac 5 informs them they need to destroy the stargate (remember those?) that's causing this, we get some very unsubtle flirting between Rokk and Jazmin.

Also, in the space of two pages, Shikari refers to Wildfire by his name and as "Fire Legion." I really liked when she was introduced in Legion Lost and couldn't remember anyone's names. But by now, and especially with Wildfire, there's no reason to continue this. Maybe for new teammates, or Legionnaires she doesn't know, but Shikari and Wildfire are good friends. Just a moment that kinda took me out of the story.

Back on Legion World, Spark is taking her brother, Mekt (the special guest) to the Live Wire memorial service, where different beings are telling their memories of him. She asks if he'd like to speak and, instead, we get a flashback... and Dave Cockrum drawing the Legion again!

For the millionth time, we get to see the origin story of Live Wire and Spark. This time, it's told from Mekt's perspective, where he blames himself for everything and talks about how not having a twin messed him up. There's honestly nothing here that we haven't seen before - Paul Levitz mined this story line years ago - and I honestly wish they didn't spend so much time on it.

The only shocking moment comes at the end, where a shy Mekt heads into the rest room to get away from the crowds. And reveals that he's wearing Live Wire's costume under his clothes. He says, "Dear, sweet Garth... I only ever wanted to be like you." Okay, that's new and different! Shall I just assume now that this will never get paid off in any way, shape, or form?

Back to Braal - Apparition phases into her mother's Presidential Yacht and they act cold and unfriendly to each other before Winema finally agrees to show her daughter what she's doing near Braal. So, of course, we head to another story.

On Legion World, Saturn Girl continues the tour when she's asked about Element Lad. Retro wonders why Jan isn't being honored as Live Wire is and Imra tells us what happened when they were Lost. In the next flashback, we get to see what Jan went through after the Legionnaires were sent through the Space-Time rift. He saved them all by himself, showed abilities (like being able to do insanely complex astrophysical calculations by hand) that he had never possessed before, and became a tragic figure instead of a villain. We see that Saturn Girl knows that the Jan she knew, the hero who saved them, was gone long before that. He wasn't the monster who killed Monstress and Live Wire.

Okay, so then why aren't they honoring his death just like Live Wire?

Back to Braal, where we learn why they opened the stargate and what they pulled out of it: Superboy. What? Superboy? But which one?

Braal saved, mission over, the Legionnaires get back through a threshold (is there anyone who can explain how they get back if there isn't a threshold door where they are? My mind is blanking on this tech... if they don't need a door, then why do they need to have them in places like Steeple? If they do need a door, then how can they have them in space? Do the Kwai people just "see" the openings? Was there one on the Yacht? Why would there one on the Yacht?), and everyone's happy.

And Cosmic Boy and Kid Quantum have a dinner date...

But, and this is strange, none of them talk about the fact that the U.P. President pulled Superboy out of a stargate. All Rokk says is that something strange happened out there. Were they sworn to secrecy? Did the President tell them not to tell any other Legionnaires? How is that the response? How are these Legionnaires so blase about the fact that the President just pulled someone out of the past into the 31st Century? And it's someone familiar?

Cosmic Boy and Saturn Girl head to Trom and they talk about how they need to start remembering Jan as the hero he was, as the Legionnaire who saved them all, not as the monster he became. Rokk agrees, which is when they notice the memory crystals are broken.

More shocking, Element Lad is alive. And blue. And crystalline. And thinks he's Garth.

We go back to the first part of this issue - Clark Kent has arrived on some dark, horrid planet. The "Legionnaires" remove their disguises and we see they're not who they claim to be. One grabs Clark's hand, telling him that he's in the 31st Century... but on Apokolips.

I'll talk about the story after next issue, but I just wanted to talk about the art first.

Is it bad that I thought the Cockrum/Milgrom section was the worst of the bunch? Their styles just didn't match at all - Milgrom's inks were way too heavy and over-shadowed anything Cockrum did.

The Harris/Feister sections were gorgeous - I would love to see an entire issue that looked like that.

Paul Rivoche is always good and he handled what was, essentially, a bunch of shots of one man floating in space very well.

Eric Wight's style matched the time period he was drawing - it "felt" like the past.

And what can I say about Chris Batista - he's killing it on this book!

The Legion #26

Should I say something snarky about how this cover should probably be next issue's? Naw...

We start on Apokolips in 3003. They're praying, hoping for Darkseid to come back to life and reign supreme. Sitting there, on a huge throne, is the dead body of Darkseid (at least I think that's what it is... or a statue). And behind that, five powerful beings who look a lot like Orion, a robotic Green Lantern, Lobo, Barda, and Firestorm. There's a blast of energy, almost everyone is dead, and three of the survivors gather around the unmoving Darkseid. They claim he whispered one thing: "More."

This isn't going to be good.

One page tells us that we move forward "Five weeks later." Yes, it's a call back to Legion v4 #1. We get a two-page spread of some Legionnaires flying through space with Superboy. They're heading to a stargate (or Space-gate to Superboy) to investigate what's going wrong. We quickly establish that, while the rest of the Legion is enamored with Superboy, Cosmic Boy isn't too impressed with the fact that our new team member doesn't really listen or pay attention to anyone.

At the stargate, they run into new Servants of Darkness, some of which we've seen before. They battle Orion, the Green Lantern, and one who looks a lot like he was cribbed from the Alien movies. The Legion attacks, get their butts kicked, and Orion rips the Superman logo off Superboy's chest, tearing his shirt.

And then they escape in a Boom Tube.

Yep, definitely not good.

I was happy to see Leviathan drawn at regular size... for once. And Ferro working with Cosmic Boy to turn the former into a living missile was a great use of their powers. But this was the precursor to make sure we all know the Servants are very powerful.

On Legion World, in the Winath deck, Garth Ranzz, who's trapped in the crystalline body of Element Lad, is sitting and thinking about what's happened to him. Saturn Girl shows up and they try to enjoy a little small talk. She knows he's really Garth - the ability to read his mind definitely helps there - but she can't get close to him. When he tries to hold her hand, she bolts away, claiming a fake emergency.

To the Command Deck, where they recap everything that's going on and talk about what to do with these new super-powered villains with their Boom Tubes. Unfortunately, Superboy's short-term memory was wiped, so he has no idea how he got to the 31st Century, and they can't send him back until they know when he left.

Then Kid Quantum just blanks out, stops talking mid-sentence, and everyone wonders what's going on. She, of course, figures she's just tired. When will super-heroes learn? If something weird like this happens, start investigating.

Brainiac 5 and Invisible Kid head to the Time Institute to try to figure out when Superboy came from. They encounter Catastrophists, a group of people who believe the universe is evil and a powerful being must destroy it. They talk about how and why people would worship someone evil and want everything gone. I wonder why there aren't more of them - Earth's been attacked so many times in this series I would expect most Earthlings to be happy to see all the chaos and destruction end.

Since there's been too much talking, a Boom Tube opens and Orion and Hawkwoman come bursting into the Time Institute.

Back to Legion World for more quiet time. Cosmic Boy and Kid Quantum are alone and their romance is now in full bloom. They talk about Superboy, and we learn that there's something called "The Spirit of the Last Son." It's a secular belief following the ideals of Superman. Rokk is part of it and is more than a little disappointed in how Superboy is acting.

Which is when the second weird thing happens. Right in front of Jazmin, the two glasses they're about to drink from go from full to empty. And to make everything weirder, they get a call from Dreamer. She can no longer see the future because there is no future anymore.

So I guess she's off the team, right?

For our final scene, Ferro takes Superboy to meet the Athramites, who are excited to make him a new costume...

And we get, for the first time in a long time, Superboy in his red and blue costume.

Definitely to be continued...

Just a couple of thoughts:

I've always believed that the Legion is better without Superboy. My favorite Legion runs either have him shunted to the background of gone altogether. But I can admit when I'm wrong. And I can admit when I don't share the opinions of most comic readers.

Legion #24 sold 22,783 copies.

Legion #25, with Superboy on the cover, sold 27,956. 

Legion #26 - 26,589

People want Superboy. It's that simple. #25 was the best-selling Legion issue since the first.

One of the things I've enjoyed the most about DnA's run on the Legion is that they're constantly pushing forward. Yes, they're ignoring tons of stuff as they go, but they're also not looking back for inspiration. I may not have loved using Ra's Al Ghul, but the whole storyline was new and different for the team. Every moment that I don't like has been strongly counterbalanced by something I do. The thresholds are great. Pushing newer characters like Kid Quantum and Shikari to the forefront is great (although they're overusing Jazmin).

But these two issues were the first time I really felt like they were just going backwards. We don't need to see Live Wire and Spark get their powers again. We don't need to spend many, many pages showing what Element Lad went through.

It also feels like they've completely given up trying to make stories that make sense. Why is the U.P. President heading out into space when a stargate malfunctions? She's going on military and scientific missions now? And why in her Yacht? Why not an actual military or research vessel?

We also don't need another Darkseid and Servants of Darkness story. It's just derivative and, to be really blunt, shows that this creative team can't hold a candle to Levitz and Giffen. Everything about this is just "meh" compared to what came before.

Our next Legionnaire in the spotlight... Crystal Kid!!!

For the first time in these columns, we have a Legionnaire who joined during the Five Year Gap who was part of my earliest Legion memories. While most of them were created before I was born, or when I was too young to read (or, actually, walk), Crystal Kid is the first Sub who's first appearances came just as I was getting into the Legion.

His first Legion comic was Legion (v2) #272, which is notable for one simple reason - it's the issue where Blok joins the team. It also has some remarkably bad Steve Ditko artwork... although, to be honest, Steve Ditko's work on the Legion is remarkably bad for the most part.

His second appearance with in #283, which is held near and dear to my heart because it's the spotlight on Wildfire. That's where the action scene above is from. Yes, it's insanely hard to find Crystal Kid pics on Google.

What I didn't know when I was reading these comics was that Crystal Kid first showed up in Amazing World of DC Comics #14, and he was created by fan Robert Cohen of Calgary, Alberta. Maybe that's another reason why I always liked the character - we Canucks have to stick together.

Every so often, Bobb Kohan (named after his creator, of course) would show up in an issue about the Legion Academy, or in the background of some big adventure that involved everyone. He would end up a Legionnaire, like all the others, when Polar Boy was desperate for members and would fight back against the Dominators.

Like a lot of Legion Academy students, Bobb was one of those heroes who knew (probably) that he would never become a Legionnaire but wanted to get better at using his powers and (probably) enjoyed the camaraderie. I always viewed the Academy as the new Subs during the 80's (but better), so him becoming a Legionnaire actually made more sense to me than, say, Stone Boy.

Crystal Kid was, if nothing else, realistic about who he was and what he could do. Once again, he's a reflection of the positive and giving nature of my favorite kinds of Legion stories - he was never going to be the star, but that didn't stop him from being a hero.

Thoughts? Please share in the comments here on on Reddit and we'll see you next week!