A new twist enters the picture.
Creative Staff:
Story: Jeff Lemire
Art: Wilfredo Torres
Colors: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Nate Piekos of Blambot
What They Say:
With their original plan seemingly foiled, the current ragtag team of Quantum Leaguers travels to a mysterious land and discovers a long forgotten foe with crucial ties to the Eisner-winning Black Hammer series.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
While Quantum Age may riff a little too hard on the old Legion concept it’s one that’s working well for me and delighting in seeing the way it’s establishing more of its connections to the past. Jeff Lemire is plainly having fun with it and while I don’t think it’s as strong as Black Hammer is itself it’s definitely coming across in all the right ways. And a lot of that enjoyment really is coming from how Wlfredo Torres is putting it all together in the art department as I love the designs and flow of the book. Particularly since like the main book we get characters that are older here and not just filled with teenagers running around. It’s fun and engaging with some emotional weight behind it that resonates.
This installment spends a decent bit of time with Lyndda overall as we see her when she was some twenty-five years prior, looking to get off Earth for a while and find someplace hip and fun to go. But this is when “our” Black Hammer arrives and reveals herself to be Lyndda’s grandmother and that she must pass on the Hammer to her. There’s something really neat about the interconnected nature of things here as bringing the Hammer into this time period becomes important and will be a tool that will set other events in motion in the past. Lyndda’s not exactly excited about all of this and having seen where it all went over the years it’s easy to understand why. But even with that part of it she knows when she has to step up and seeing the Hammer reveal itself and why it’s there at long last is a great moment.
That all comes while the others are trying to get Talky-Walky, a name it doesn’t want to acknowledge, to release Archive as they need him to save the universe. It’s fun seeing their attempts to achieve their goal since Talky-Walky isn’t exactly being accessible here but it’s the arrival of Lyndda that really sets it in motion. Admittedly, once they started talking about Chronokus I ended up thinking of what that could be and how it would go so I wasn’t too surprised by that guess but seeing the truth of him at the end of time – another bit of classic Legion-ness that I love, it tickled that happy part in me because I love the connected nature of it all. The use of Chronokus definitely has the book open to going through some intriguing motions that leaves me uncertain of just how far they’ll go but that uncertainty is exactly what I love about the book.
In Summary:
Quantum Age may be a bit more decompressed in some areas than I care for but it also burns through other areas fast, such as the opening with Lyndda here that felt like it could have explored things more. I love that the book is hitting up so many different things while still giving most of the characters plenty of time. The Talky-Walky material is solid this time around and Lyndda makes me want to know a lot more about her and her experiences. And having it all come together with Chronokus delights. Lemire and Torres are putting out a great work that Dave Stewart is keeping very much in line with the mothership book through the color design. I can’t wait to see more of this.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: November 14th, 2018
MSRP: $3.99