Too Many StoryLines Don't Make Me Want To Follow This Book Again
Legion was one of those books that I started collecting with issue one, post-Brightest Day; I've been a fan since reading mark Waid's "Threeboot" a couple years back, and have been disappointed that it never really captured that magic.
The Good
I don't really have many good things to say about this book because a lot of it was stunningly mediocre. The art, character work and design are all really status quo, and really isn't doing anything amazing for me. I'm trying to find good things to say about the book, and it really isn't coming to me: this isn't because it was absolutely horrible; there just simply isn't much to write home about here.
The Bad
The main problem I have with this Legion iteration is one of the problems I outlined in my "What Makes Team Books Good" column; there are simply too many members of the Legion to keep track of, and every time they have to waste page space with a caption box that explains who they are and what their powers are, it frustrates me.
For someone who was just explained to have "extreme martial arts and combat, reflexes" as their powers, Akka goes down like a chump to a Saturn Queen. That's like being able to slap Taskmaster across the face without him seeing it coming. Kind of lame.
Is Wildfire's sole purpose in Legion comics just to get ripped apart? I don't think I've ever seen a Legion book where a villain doesn't rip off his suit for dramatic effect; like Captain Atom exploding after absorbing nuclear energy, it's just lost its lustre.
It just seem that there's so much going on in this book that it's hard to find the sole focus. There's a fight against Immortus, the assault on the Wisdom world by Saturn Queen (and the preceding sacrifice scenes), drama with Starboy, drama with Mon-El, and a "Justice League Subway" mini-comic in the middle. I know the writers can't control that last one, but even without it, the pacing in this issue is just horrendous. I really am quite apathetic about where the series is going, as it's clear it'll be one of those "villains destroyed the first two MacGuffins! We should stop them before they destroy the third!" storylines.
The Verdict
Legion hasn't exactly given me a reason to start buying their book regularly again, and this issue is no exception. The pacing issues really made the book plod along, and swept the resolution of some ongoing storylines under the rug. The book could really use a "rest issue" where nothing happens, just to decompress. Perhaps a day at the space-spa?