Nothing says love like watching Phantom Girl cause what seems to be the most damage to an invading fleet.
What They Say:
The strongest man in the universe is rampaging on the surface of Panoptes, and the Dominators are massing in the skies above–and naturally, The Legion is stuck between the two! They don’t have the raw power to stare down either threat–but what they do have is a plan!
The Review:
The Legion of Super-Heroes continues to be a book that I really do enjoy but find that it’s just in such an awkward place that it doesn’t leave me certain where to begin talking about it. The ongoing storyline here is still dealing with elements from the previous run before Flashpoint and by all appearances there are little to no changes to what this time period is going through. Which is interesting and a story point all of its own. But because of the lack of change and the fact that the previous run was a relaunch itself not that long ago, it still very much feels like we’re walking into the middle of a story rather than a start. Some books can pull that off better than others but Legion is struggling with it when it comes to new readers. It’s definitely a fun book though that goes with the very big team dynamic that has a lot of sub groups running all around.
The events on Panoptes is the big piece to this issue as the fight has gotten much bigger with the arrival of the Dominator’s that are looking to expand their territory with this world. They’ve got a good sized fleet here to do what needs to be done, but they weren’t expecting the Legion to be there. Amusingly, they’re still pretty confident since they don’t see any of what they consider to be the really dangerous members there that would thwart their plans. That does make things rather fun when you have characters like Phantom Girl here who has certain tricks that they don’t really think through. What makes it really fun though is her mannerisms during it, where she’s kind of off key in a way and then goes on trying to remember Brainy’s training in order to break down mechanisms within the ships since she can just phase inside. It’s a good use of her powers and reminds that she can be a big player in a fight of this scale.
There are a few subplots running through this issue much like what we’ve seen before, but it also expands a bit. Brainy’s work with Glorith is still going through the testing phase and it’s curious to see what her limits and real capabilities will be like. But it’s Cosmic Boy’s mission to Daxam that has some serious interest as they’re working to figure out what happened with Res-Vir there. There are some discoveries about him there that are more teases than anything else and playing those revelations against the fight between Res-Vir and Mon-El works rather well since the two have their own banter that lets their personalities show. It’s good to see Mon-El in action here, but it’s also the addition of other Legionnaires on Panoptes that made me grin like Sun Boy and Element Lad. The efforts to push back against the Dominators are definitely expected and it gives me hope that we’ll see them be a regular and growing threat here as they’re a villainous race that I do thoroughly enjoy.
Release Notes:
This comiXology edition of Legion of Super-Heroes comes with the main cover as released with the print edition and no other extras.
In Summary:
I continue to be a huge fan of the Legion of Super-Heroes but I still have to admit that it’s a book I have a hard time recommending to readers. I love the cast and they’re all acting much as they’ve been like over the full length of their existence so there’s a lot to like here with that if you’re an old fan of the series. This opening arc dealing with Panoptes hints at some of what’s to come and gets us to see a couple of different places in a post-Flashpoint world. I like the mix of established characters and lesser known ones working here and the growing subplots that have come out of it. I’m curious as to where they intend to go here though as the Legion always has a lot of stories running and plenty of characters throwing lots of wrenches into the mix. There’s an idea of where it can go here, but it could also be a ruse. I’m definitely along for the ride, but it’s based on a couple decades worth of Legion familiarity.
Grade: B
Readers Rating: [ratings]
