Long Live the Legion

  Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #31 I'm always a sucker for covers that just show the team flying out towards the reader, but I have to wonder what happened to Supergirl - Barry Kitson has never drawn her like this before. It's the official beginning of the new era of Legion stories. Series creators Mark Waid and Kitson are gone and they've been replaced by frequent fill-in writer Tony Bedard and, for this issue only, artists Kevin Sharpe and Robin Riggs. We get an interesting change to the Roll Call page as well - it's back to Atom Girl so I guess that's her official name now... And Mekt is listed as a Legionnaire, which makes no sense. Oh well. We begin in another one of Brainiac 5's dreams - he's the hero, having saved the Earth from the Dominator threat and Bedard uses this sequence to provide tons of exposition about what the future is like and what they did to win the battle last issue. Is he assuming that no one has read the previous issues...

  Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #19 Another excellent cover - artist Barry Kitson really knows how to grab your eye and make you want to check out the book. My only quibble - no green blood? Our creative team this issue - Mark Waid on pencils and Barry Kitson handling the artwork. I do love when an artist handles pencils and inks because you know you're seeing exactly what they want to present to the reader. Kitson being supremely talented doesn't hurt, either. This issue begins in a Science Police interrogation room and a couple of officers are trying to break suspected murder Reep Daggle. Or Chameleon, as most people know him better. It's, I'm guessing, a bad cop/bad cop scenario as we get a bunch of hatred for both Durlans and the Legion and Reep gets to be suitably naive about the whole process. He actually tells the S.P. that if they just let him go, he could find the murderer. The story begins as Cham tells his side of the story. He infiltrated the S.P...

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #17 Is this all a dream? Have we entered Supergirl's mind and we're in deep REM sleep? Does the sight of Ultra Boy leering at Supergirl on the cover fill me with dread? Is Micro Lad hitting on Shadow Lass? We answer some of these questions this week as we continue rereading the Threeboot Legion. This issue is brought to you by writer Mark Waid, penciller Barry Kitson, and inker Mick Gray. We begin somewhere dark. A robot comes to life, surrounded by other robots, and they start talking about carbon reduction. Is this the DC version of Ultron? The S.P.s and the Legion burst inside, both groups intent on stopping this new threat before it starts. Phantom Girl gets to be the sarcastic team member this issue, ripping apart the Science Police and the officer criticizing her. As the robot changes into a huge electrical threat, the Legionnaires start to realize that they may be in big trouble. Supergirl shows up, unplugs the robot, saves the da...

Legion of Super-Heroes v5 #15 On one hand, I'm happy to see Dawnstar, Blok, and Tyroc, three of my favorite Legionnaires from my childhood. On the other hand, I really don't trust this title to not turn them into jerks. Sigh... We have a guest creative team this issue: writer Stuart Moore, penciller Pat Olliffe, and inker Livesay. I'm not expecting much as Moore's last Legion short story was pretty mid at best. Fingers crossed. We start with three underagers gathered around a lantern, sitting outside and talking about how they can't be Legionnaires. After all, the HQ is in shambles after the previous storyline and no one knows what's going to happen next. I'm going to assume this story happens before last issue so this makes a little bit of sense. Wow... crazy that the editor couldn't have mentioned that... A mysterious, almost phantom-like stranger appears, clad only in long blue robes that cover their face as well. They talk about how being a Legionnai...

Legion of Super-Heroes v5 #13 This is it! The final battle! Legion versus Terror Firma and Lemnos! Dream Girl is dead! Atom Girl (Shrinking Violet) has returned! Three Legionnaires are fighting 10,000 soldiers! Cosmic Boy has taken over the intergalactic communication system the United Planets have been using and is broadcasting his own message of resistance and rebellion! Oh, and we get another amazingly good cover! Our creative team this issue - writer Mark Waid, layout artist Barry Kitson, and inker Mick Gray. We begin on Lemnos' planetoid... or headquarters... Karate Kid, Ultra Boy, and Brin Londo (who we know as Timber Wolf) are fighting their way through 10,000 of Lemnos' soldiers. Terror Firma, minus their critically-injured leader, Elysion, are ready to kill as many Legionnaires as they can. The soldiers have orders to storm the transmatter gates and begin their assaults on the different U.P. planets. But the gates are flickering. What can that mean? It turns out, it me...