We get another retelling of the Legion saving R.J. Brande and a Daxamite is on the loose! Let's take a look at Legion Secret Origin #1 & Legion of Super-Heroes (volume 7) #2

Legion Secret Origins #1

Three... three Legion books a month... Ah-ah-ah-ah...

Let's file this under "things that I can't believe DC approved." I mean, just before the New 52, Legion and Adventure Comics were losing readers at a rapid pace. So let's approve a third title, post-New 52, to... clean up the origin story?

I'm not complaining. More Legion is almost always a good thing.

I'm also very excited to see penciller Chris Batista back on a Legion book. He's joined by inked Marc Deering and writer Paul Levitz for a tale called "From the Wreckage."

Continuing our flashback to the reboot Legion, Tom Feister is handling covers. You might remember him when he teamed with Tony Harris to provide the covers of the second half of The Legion.

However, we have one credit on this book that leaves me scratching my head: editor Kwanza Johnson. Not because I have anything against Mr. Johnson's abilities. I just don't understand why three different Legion books have three different editors.

We begin this story with a bit of history. We learn that the United Planets have spent 327 years reconnecting with former colonies and alien worlds to bring the galaxy together in peace.

The planet Anotrom, however, wasn't embracing the peace very well. There's been a mass slaughter, the bodies used for target practice after they were killed. Even some of the soldiers are thrown off, unused to such violence.

Wow... non-violent soldiers?

They discover a device but are unable to identify it. Showing amazing intelligence, they bring the item onto their huge cruiser in space and decide to let the chief scientist work on it in the laboratory. Admiral Allon, dressed like he just walked off a performance of "Pirates of Penzance," figures that if their scientists can't figure it out, they'll need to call in a real genius.

Lieutenant Boffin, their chief scientist, figures out that this device is great at soaking up free energy, with no way to convert it... which is when it explodes, blasting a hole in the side of the ship.

Instead of watching Allon lost his command for such an insanely stupid decision, they patch up the ship, bury Boffin, and head directly for Colu. Who is the greatest thinker in the universe? Brainiac 5, of course.

We move somewhere else... Earth, I'm guessing... where three people called the Security Directorate sit in front of computers and try to figure out what's going on with the U.P. There's a Coluan, Zarl Jax, a Naltorian, Anisa, and a human named Mycroft. They're discussing the massacre on Anotrom and they determine that something's going to happen to R.J. Brande today. Is it bad that my first thought here is 'why involve an Earthling?' The other two have abilities and talents to guide the future. But Earthlings? They're just trouble...

They watch as Brande gets off a transport and three teenagers rush to save him from assassins. The Directorate immediately gets involved, ordering the Science Police to leave the teenagers alone.

Of course, we know who the three teenagers are: Rokk Krinn, Imra Ardeen, and Garth Ranzz.

Mycroft meets up with Brande, telling him that these young heroes are going to be important. Brande tells him that he wants to be left alone - and the Directorate needs to keep a safe distance from him and his new team.

Back to Anotrom we go, where Brainiac 5 has arrived and begun his investigation. He heads to the planet's surface, scans one of the strange devices, and it immediately starts humming.

It explodes, blasting everything around it. But, of course, Brainy is fine - it's his force shield. Allon is shocked that it works so well and Brainy tells him it's a family secret.

The Legion is formed and the Directorate knows that they are a certainty, not a chance. Mycroft mentions that the U.P. is just about to launch a new experimental cruiser just as they find a new wormhole near Anotrom. Coincidence? I think not.

Speaking of Anotrom, as Brainy studies this strange machinery, a phantom suddenly appears out of the ground. It's Tinya Wazzo, from Bgtzl, and she tries to greet everyone's favorite Coluan.

Brainy accidentally activates one of the devices, which explodes, further showing off Tinya's powers. In the end, she explains why she's there - she came through the wormhole from Bgtzl and she thinks the U.P. is going to be in terrible danger.

The Directorate, of course, wants to see her right away. They want answers - how is there a planet of phantoms?

Even more curious for them, they didn't expect any Carggites to restore contact with Earth so quickly. Or provide the Legion with their latest member: Triplicate Girl.

To be continued...

I'm of two minds on this issue.

On the one hand, the art is top notch and the redesigns of some of the costumes are really good. Batista is really knocking it out of the park. The book feels old and new at the same time, if that makes sense.

This is also the perfect time to "clean up" and clarify Legion history for, hopefully, a bunch of new fans. This is especially true because I don't think the New 52 Superman was ever Superboy... was he?

I do also really like the idea of focusing on other characters in the 30th (or 31st) century. Showing Brainiac 5 working with the military, and the Legion is more in the background, is a really interesting way of retelling stories that we already know. It's a great twist that works much better than just retelling the same stories and adding things that no one wants to see (cough... Imra and Rokk... cough).

However, I'm not sure if I'm sold on this Directorate. Do we really need another shadowy group that's pulling the strings in the background? I'm glad they're not an evil cabal - that would've been too cliched. But why would the U.P. have this?  Why would Brande listen to them? And why these three people? Let's hope we get more of an explanation in coming issues.

 

Legion of Super-Heroes (volume 7) #2

Did they think we wouldn't notice a Chris Sprouse cover? Always great to see his take on the Legion!

"Hostile World" is brought to you by writer Paul Levitz and artist Francis Portela.

In case you don't remember the first issue, a group of Legionnaires are on the planet of Panoptes, which hosts a U.P. outpost that is watching the Dominion. Someone new has taken over, punched Ultra Boy so hard that he knocked him out, and is facing off against the rest.

That new villain? Res-Vir from Daxam. He believes there's been a conspiracy to keep his planet down for years and that the Legion is directly responsible for it. He flies in, grabs Ultra Boy's unconscious body, and throws him back towards the ground. Luckily for Jo, as I'm guessing he doesn't immediately become invulnerable when he's unconscious, Chameleon Boy changes shape and catches him.

Cham tells everyone to scatter - without Ultra Boy, they're no match for a Daxamite. There's the positivity we know and love from our Legionnaires. Res-Vir makes short work of Dragonwing and Chemical Kid and then searches for Cham. He claims that Durlans should understand Daxamites - both of their worlds are prisons.

A quick blast of his heat vision, and one strong punch, and Chameleon Boy is out as well. Only Phantom Girl is able to escape the violence.

Let's switch to the Time Lab in Legion HQ, where Brainiac 5 is trying to figure out how to get a Time Bubble back to the 21st Century. This recent attempt leads to an explosion, which is something that, according to Brainy, was likely to occur.

He keeps studying the vibrations, ignoring the fires around him, while Glorith uses her magic to keep the explosion controlled. Dream Girl grabs a fire extinguisher (and no, I have no idea why the computer wouldn't do that) and comments that they're already missing too much of the HQ already. Brainy realizes that science might not be the answer for breaking the Flashpoint barrier in time. Glorith's magic might work better.

Back to Panoptes, and Res-Vir has placed the four captured Legionnaires into green suppressor shield bubbles so they can't go anywhere. He demands to know where Phantom Girl is and, when he doesn't get an answer, heads off to find her.

Cham and Jo start talking about Res-Vir, wondering when Daxam had problems with the United Planets and how he was able to get a lead serum to survive on this planet. Dragonwing and Chemical Kid aren't calm in the least, demanding them to stop talking and get them out of there. But Cham can't. So he wants them to be patient.

Where is Tinya? She's phased into the ground, hiding deep under the surface so the Daxamite can't find her. And she's also sent out an emergency signal on her Flight Ring, so help is on the way. This is when I'd want to point out that she's intangible so nothing can hurt her and she could be helping out her teammates... and, more importantly, Jo. But in a very un-Phantom Girl move, she's hiding.

Who's coming to help? A determined Mon-El is already flying away from the HQ, not waiting for anyone else. Brainy, as the Deputy Leader, tells Cosmic Boy to head for Daxam and Element Lad, the only other Legionnaire who could potentially defeat a Daxamite, to go after Mon-El.

Harmonia tells Glorith all about Daxamites and how they have the power of Superman. I should also point out (I didn't mention it last issue) that Star Boy seems to be permanently in a floating chair now. No, I have no idea why. No, they haven't explained it. Do they think they're drawing the Chief from Doom Patrol because of the beard?

Why isn't Element Lad on Earth? He's on Shangalla (yep, that's how it's spelled in the comic), along with Shadow Lass, Sun Boy, Polar Boy, and Comet Queen. Shady is on her hands and knees, sobbing in front of Earth-Man's memorial, and she doesn't want to leave yet.

His memorial: "A life of contradiction. A hero's death." What was the contradiction? He was a xenophobe who almost killed Superman and bunch of other Legionnaires, was forced to join the Legion, improved a slight bit, and then died fighting a villain. I'd love to be able to say that Earth-Man got better, or learned from his mistakes, but they didn't really show it at all.

Okay... no more Earth-Man rants... I promise. 

As they stand and watch Shady cry her eyes out, or be "totally heart-burnout" according to Comet Queen, Polar Boy hits on Grava. Wow... just... when did Brek become Dirk? Comet Queen turns him down and quickly flies away, leaving him in a cloud of comet dust.

I'm not sure just how long volume 6 took in real time, and I know that they've said that Tasmia loves deeply, but this just seems over-the-top to me. Shadow Lass is a proud warrior with a lot of pride. Crying on her hands and knees in front of a grave, especially Earth-Man's, seems more out of character than what they did with Polar Boy. I know the relationship made little sense to begin with, but this is doing nothing for Shady at all, character-wise.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say that DC is trying to hammer one simple concept over the readers' heads: "Earth-Man was a great hero and his death was important!" Unfortunately, he wasn't and it wasn't.

Res-Vir is now addressing his troops, all recruits who were chosen to be on Panoptes. They all know the rewards are coming and they're going to unleash the most powerful world in the galaxy. They have Brainy's potion and their "friends above will bring us more of the ingredient" they need.

Tinya finally comes to her senses and attempts to rescue the other Legionnaires. Unfortunately, they've forgotten that whispering isn't enough to hide from a Daxamite, and Res-Vir quickly ruins the plan. He shoots another suppressor shield bubble at her, almost catching her, when the cavalry arrives.

Mon-El smashes through the roof, slamming into his fellow Daxamite. They trade punches while Tinya tries to use a rock to deactivate one of the bubbles. Can't she use her powers to reach inside the device and wreck it from the inside? Doesn't she know anything about shutting down U.P. tech? Is hitting something with a rock still the most effective way to shut something down in one thousand years?

Enough of my questions - the rock works and soon the others are free. Ultra Boy and Mon-El grab Res-Vir, telling him that Daxam isn't a prison but it's in isolation to protect them from lead poisoning.

Just as they think they have everything under control, Res-Vir points out that his friends have arrived - dozens of weird spaceships are flying overheard.

Next: Shadow War

Strangely enough, I actually enjoyed this issue far more than the last one. Yes, that's damning with faint praise, but I'll take what I can get. We got to see the Legion in action, even if they were losing, I don't mind the "Brainy dealing with the Time Bubble" subplot, and the villain's motivation actually made sense. It was a pretty well-plotted-out adventure and I wonder if Levitz is showing that he's better at smaller-scale stories than big ones.

I'm also happy Dragonwing and Chemical Kid pretty much did nothing.

Yes, I could ask why they still don't have Lightning Lad or Saturn Girl back, especially when they're short members. Or why they've completely forgotten about the rest of their dead teammates (they believe the ones in Legion Lost were killed) and are mourning Earth-Man. Or why nothing's really changes since the New 52 hit.

But instead, I'm just gonna try to roll with it.

What really threw me this issue was the art. Normally I say many good things about Portela's artwork but this issue didn't work for me at all. And I'm tempted to blame everything on the colorist, Javier Mena. Everything looks like they only inked the main lines and nothing else, if that makes sense, and the colors look like they've been done by someone who's just learning how to use gradients.

Where's the cross-hatching? Where's the use of different ink lines for depth or character? Why does everything have to be so clean and shiny? I'm sorry, it just looks off to me.

Yes, I'm sure that I've seen this before, so it's nothing new for comic readers in 2011. Maybe I've just reached my limit on this new art style.

Thoughts? Did you enjoy these stories? Or not? Please share your thoughts here or on Reddit!