LEGION #2

By: Tony Whitt
Date: Friday, January 04, 2002

President Leland McCauley has attempted to kill the seven Legionnaires who have just returned to Earth-but there's something more behind this assassination attempt than mere politics. For one thing, McCauley's aide Venge is far more powerful than any of them put together, even Ultra Boy. For another, there's a load of alien technology in the subsurface levels under Metropolis, as well as an area called intriguingly enough a "genome bank." Something's rotten in the 31st century...

Nothing's rotten in this series, though-this is still one of the most stylish relaunches of the Legion of Super-Heroes since their 1989 pre-ZERO HOUR incarnation. Abnett and Lanning may have had a few missteps this year, but none of them have been with the Legion. They're just as certain as their direction now as they ever were, and the future's never looked so bright-or so dark. This new story arc holds promise of the far more creepy storylines that dominated the last few issues of the first two series and the funereal quality which hung over LEGION LOST like the proverbial shroud. Of particular interest is the slightly edgier approach of the Legionnaires themselves, presumably brought on by a year of being stranded in a distant part of space and trying to survive to get home. After a particularly unusual retreat, for instance, even one of the bad guys says, "Who'da thought the Legion would play dirty like that?" He may have been overstating the case, but he's right in the basics: this is a harder group than it used to be, and thank goodness for it. The kids are growing up.

Thank goodness too for Olivier Coipel's artwork-a statement I never thought I'd hear myself making. I used to dislike intensely the rough-hewn artwork that Coipel used to do on the original LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES series and even on the LEGION LOST series, but here his artwork is far more refined and capable of subtlety. There are a few panels here that are amazing by anyone's standards, such as the sweeping cityscape view of the Metropolis skyline towards the end of the book and the nearly hopeless battle against Venge. It's wonderful to see an artist growing before your eyes, and future issues of THE LEGION should show even more of that growth.

I'm not as sure that this new story arc may be the best introduction for new readers, even though the first issue of the series was perfect for it. There are a few references here that will require readers to be familiar not only with the LEGION WORLDS miniseries but with the two Legion series that preceded it. Still, a new reader can always go back and pick them all up for a song, and that's a small price to pay for being able to vacation in the 31st century every thirty days, isn't it?

THE LEGION

Grade: A-

Issue: No. 2

Author(s): Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Olivier Coipel, Tom McCraw

Publisher: DC

Price: $2.50