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Comic Review by:
"Sweet" Dan Sweet |
Writer:
Paul Levitz |
Artists:
Yildiray Cinar-LSH #1
Kevin Sharpe-AC #12 |
Shipped on:
Adventure #12-060310
LSH #1-051910 |
Publisher:
DC Comics |
MSRP:
$3.99 each |
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(15% OFF during it's 1st Week of release only at Alternate Reality!)
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“...this is kinda-sorta the reason I got into comics...”
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Oh happy day! In the last two weeks I’ve read not
one, but TWO entirely new takes on “The Legion of Super-Heroes”, and by
‘entirely new’ I mean ‘kind of new’. Paul Levitz hasn’t written anything in a
while, and it’s been even longer since he wrote an issue of the ‘Legion’, but
the former editor/publisher stepped down from his post last year in order to get
‘back in the saddle’ with the characters that he helped make famous in the
1980’s. I can’t honestly account for whether or not he wrote the hand-me-down
issues I inherited from my mother (but if he wrote the book in the 80’s I’m
guessing ‘not’), but this, more than any other variation of the team I’ve been
exposed to, feels like those classic stories, and that’s what appeals to me more
than anything.
In both series Levitz is able to flex different muscles; in “LOSH” he’s building
off current Legion continuity established by Geoff Johns, Jim Shooter, and Brad
Meltzer, while over in ‘Adventure’ the writer is able to step back in time,
exploring Superboy’s original encounters with the team built in his legacy
(which gets a bit confusing because I’m still not quite sure how Superboy is
regarded in terms of post-‘Crisis’ continuity). Both series offer unique
perspectives on the team, and the characters that are a part of it, both are set
in the 31st century, albeit one takes place years later, yet both are true to
the voices of the characters and the legacies that they represent.
“Legion of Super-Heroes” #1 amps up the trouble surrounding Earth Man, set after
the ‘Substitute Heroes’ story set up in “Action Comics” by Geoff Johns and Gary
Frank. Also there’re direct and indirect allusions to the happenings in Johns’
“Legion of Three Worlds” and Meltzer’s “Lightning Saga”. To satisfy the
prejudices of the people of Earth, the Legion reluctantly agrees to offer Earth
Man a probationary spot on the team. Brainiac 5 rigs a Legion flight-ring with
certain precautionary measures and delivers it to the imprisoned Earth Man, who
is shocked by the offer, and considers his options. That’s about when the
gigantic, cosmic, joke that is life opts to double-down on the troubled hero,
tossing a Green Lantern ring his way, offering him dual-membership in not only
the Legion but also the Green Lantern Corp.
Yidiray Cinar, a new artist from Turkey, has the uncanny ability to craft
incredibly life-like scenarios, panels, and characters, maintain the integrity
of the story, and distinguish between the soft, smooth lines needed for the
female form, and the sharp chiseled look needed to establish strength and
diligence in his male characters. His men look like men, his women look like
women, and his alien planets LOOK like alien planets, all of which come into
play on a fairly consistent basis in the first issue, and I can’t honestly say
there’s anyone else I’d have wanted to see draw this. He nailed it, knocking it
out of the park on the very first issue.
“Adventure Comics” is experiencing a bit of a tonal shift; while still telling
stories about Superboy, Levitz is moving away from the current era’s teen
Kryptonian, Connor Kent, and taking a step back in time, to tell the ‘secret
origin’ of Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes, which I think is very, VERY
cool. The first ‘Legion’ books I was exposed to were “Superboy and the Legion of
Super-Heroes”, and to see a return to that kind of story, where the events
occur, but don’t, where Clark is still full of wonder and awe at what he
encounters, yet can’t be allowed to remember it, well, I was in Fanboy Heaven.
“Playing Hooky” is Levitz’s first stand-alone issue, and it really ties into
what makes Clark Kent, and his early encounters with the Legion really work.
Superboy is the ultimate outsider, and a majority of his time in Smallville is
spent HIDING who he is from those around him, whereas when he’s brought to the
future by kids who were inspired by his adventures, and surrounded by others
similar to himself, he can cut loose and do all the things he’s ever wanted to
do without fear of his secret being uncovered. Clark’s got a checklist of stuff
he’s always wanted to do, but couldn’t due to his self-set limitations while
incognito, and him and the Legion have opted out of class for a day of adventure
and self-discovery.
There’s a lot of cool stuff about this book that I had to take in. The return to
the days of yester-year bring with it a return to a classic look for the Legion,
and while some of the outfits and posturing is a tad dated, I get the feeling
that it’s supposed to be. This isn’t built from established story-lines, and as
such there’s a certain air of ‘anything can happen’, even though you can read
“LOSH” to find out what actually does. There’re a couple of very ominous
moments, although they’re quite understated, as Clark visits a museum in his
memory, complete with statues of Darkseid and Doomsday, two of the hero’s
would-be greatest villains, only he doesn’t know it yet.
Kevin Sharpe, along with inkers Marlo Alquiza and Marc Deering, manage to bring
a clean, smooth look to the future and past, simultaneously. Characters like Ma
and Pa Kent are still as old as ever, despite Clark’s young age, and the kids
that make up the Legion LOOK like kids, not over-developed meat-heads and
models. There’s an innocence that’s communicated brilliantly on the faces, and
in the expressions offered by the teens as they whisk Superboy around Earth in
the 31st century. Even the landscape of the future is distinguishably different
from it’s counter-part in “LOSH”; there’s a scene in ‘Adventure’ that echoes a
sequence offered just two weeks earlier in ‘LOSH’ where Colossal Boy and Cosmic
Boy are attempting to keep a city’s building from collapsing onto the street
below. While it plays out similarly in both issues, the city itself in
‘Adventure’ seems to maintain a classic-feel, while the more advanced,
future-future of ‘LOSH’ looks grimy and grubby, as if the years between the two
eras weren’t kind to it.
While both series offer a clear understanding of the characters and what makes
them tick, I find myself drawn more to “Adventure Comics”, probably because of
the nostalgic feelings that it dredges up inside of me. I appreciate what Levitz
is attempting to do, telling concurrent stories in separate eras of the team’s
history, or present, while re-establishing the characters for new readers. I
don’t know which one is likely to catch on, the “Legion of Super-Heroes” and
it’s continuity-heavy take on the 31st century heroes, or “Adventure Comics” and
its outside-the-realm-of-continuity take on DC’s dominant mainstay, Superboy,
and his initial outings with the team, but I hope that readers are willing to
give the books a shot. I mean, this is kinda-sorta the reason I got into comics;
maybe some other kid will be just as lucky as I was. |
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All Books/Characters pictured herein are © Copyright 2010 by their respective
owners. No rights given or implied by Alternate Reality, Incorporated.
Reviews © 2010 Alternate Reality, Inc.
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