RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Comic Books Off-the-Cuff Review of LEGION #21 (SPOILERS)

This is the guy who also posts as He Who Wanders, writin' atcha. I'm posting under an alt. ID because I can never remember my password when I'm at work, so it's easier to just register under a new name. (Besides, multiple personalities are de rigeuer among the LMB. )

Why an off-the-cuff review? Because I'm wearing short sleeves. (Just joking. They're actually long.) Really, because, 1) I don't have the issue in front of me, so I'm winging it, and 2) I haven't checked out the other comments on the issue yet. It's not that I don't want to read what others have said. In fact, I can't wait to get a dialogue going, or join the one already in progress. But I find it's easier for me if I get my thoughts down first. This way, they are my own thoughts, uninfluenced by others. Which means I can either take credit for wondrous observations or make a total fool of myself. You decide.

LEGION # 21 ...

Just when we thought it was safe to root for a 31st century villain again, DnA throw us for a loop, or do they? Without warning, Legion World is invaded by Darkseid and his minions of Apocalypse, who overrun the place, keeping our heroes on the defensive, and overwhelming them with a space whatsit that dwarfs Legion World by, oh, several planet sizes. Our heroes are seemingly done for, just as they were when Robotica invaded, or Ra's al Ghul invaded, or the Blight, or ...

Or are they?

DnA pull a fast one in the middle of the issue by having two heroines see the truth of what is really happening. But they can't do much good yet, so they have to make a bee-line for an unstable threshold gate, through which, if they survive the transit, they hope to hook up with a pair of familiar allies.

As with last issue's foray into Saturn Girl's dream world, DnA are playing fast and loose with the element of surprise here. The Legionnaires don't know what is really happening, and neither do we, the readers, for awhile. It's a gambit that works quite effectively here. Just when I was starting to groan about DnA having only one type of story to tell (the invasion angle), they pulled the holographic floor out from under me. The plunge into the realm of the unexpected was worth it.

What's that about fool me twice?

Unfortunately, the element of surprise is mostly what LEGION # 21 has to offer. There's a hint of a development in the ongoing Ultra Boy/Apparition subplot, when she tries to confront him over his dalliance with Saturn Girl. But their scene is quickly interrupted by the crisis-not-really-in-progress. There's also a cliffhanger of something happening to their super-growing baby, Cub -- or is that more of Universo's illusion?

Sensor, the snake-turned-something-else, has a major role in this story. Not only has her appearance changed drastically, but so has her personality. She has a harder edge to her. Gone is the graceful nobility of her old self, it seems. It's too soon to tell whether or not this change is any good for the character, and, although it makes sense that she would experience serious psychological and emotional issues over her transformation, I was still hoping for at least a hint of the graceful creature we got to know previously. That didn't come across here.

Nitpicky continuity point: How did Sensor know who Universo is, when all of the events of his only previous postboot appearance (TITANS/LEGION: UNIVERSE ABLAZE) were erased from the memory of everyone involved?

Batista has a lot to offer as an artist, and I have no problems with his artwork. He incorporates the quirky, kinetic energy that made Olivier Coipel such a fan favorite, but brings his own, fresh look to the characters and their setting. The full-page spread of Legion World being dwarfed by the vessel from Apokolips was as magnificent as any of Coipel's landscapes or space scenes. He also makes Sensor look both attractive and menacing at the same time, a hard thing to do, I imagine, considering how unusual she now looks.

So, this was a good issue. But, like many of DnA's stories, I feel the pacing is too slow and that the storyline is padded for the sake of making it a four-parter. It probably could have been done more effectively in two or three issues.

Story: C+
Art: B+
Overall: B-

Oh pooh, I just wrote a fairly long response to your comments and the machine froze on me and - all lost! I'll try and condense this attempt.

The "whatsit" is Apokolips. Funny how its appearance doesn't affect the orbit of Legion World. Is this comic book physics or an indication that this is indeed imaginary?

Who is the real villain? Universo? Darkseid? Somebody bigger and more powerful (my choice). Lash wrote somewhere that DnA claimed Darkseid was the villain, but who knows how many herrings they're tossing at us?

Is Cub all grown? Is Thom really a dark hole? There are a lot of things happening in Dream Crime, and if they're all just throw-away illusions, I'm going to be a bit put off. It's sort of interesting how we really don't know what's real, like being in a dream ourselves. Maybe our lives are just somebody's sim game.

We're given a logical explanation for why Shikari and Sensor are able to resist Unvierso's control. What surprises me is that Mr. 12th Level Intellect got so easily mind-hijacked. He did resist the Titanian who tried to read his mind on Takron-Galtos, so why not Universo? Not even a bit of resistance? And he's certainly not himself -"There are so many of them", says B5 looking at the parademons. How's that for scientific accuracy?

I like Batista's artwork. I especially like the extras he throws in, like the character with the halo, the artefacts in Brainy's lab, KidQ's floaty earrings, the broken mirror shards on Sensor's floor, Shikari's energy field wings, etc etc.

As for pace, I'm finding it okay. In terms of quick reads, it's average. Some comic books seem to be over before they begin (I'd put the much-lauded Y:The Last Man in this category). That being said, I always appreciate more density to a story.

It's been so long since I've read anything Darkseid-related, that I'd forgotten that Apokolips was a planet that could travel (which, of course, is totally moot to this story ).

I prefer a lot of density, too. Not as much density as Alan Moore packs into his scripts (much of which is either irrelevant to the story at hand or distracting), but something more than what we've been getting in this Dream Crime story. It's a delicate balance, I suppose: DnA try to give quality time to most of their ongoing subplots, but very little happens to advance them.

I wonder if they are intending for Star Boy's "black hole" to be real, as well as whatever happened to Cub. Would Universo know all the ins and outs of the Legion's personal matters to create these illusory experiences? (And, if he did, why would he bother, since the Darkseid illusion more than kept our heroes busy?)

Thanks for the response, Fat Cramer.

At Fat Cramer's suggestion, I'm posting an addendum to my review after reading some of the other comments on her thread.

As 9Jack9 pointed out, DC kind of let the cat out of the bag by putting Universo's bald-ugly mug on the cover. I confess it never occurred to me that Darkseid was U's illusion. I thought the two villains were in cahoots. Maybe they still are, for all we know. Or maybe I'm just really gullible.

I wouldn't worry too much about the "100 percent degraded" message. If Shikari and Snarky (good nickname, Fats!) get killed off, it would spoil their reunion with Val and Andy next issue. I also think it's unlikely that the two will merge into a single character, a la Wildfire, given how unpopular that origin has been. As for them emerging as Dawstar and Projectra, that would destroy the originality that has gone into both Shikari and the new Sensor. But, then, that sounds like the sort of decision corporate DC would make.

It appears that some who read the issue also thought it was thin, plotwise, and not everyone's happy with the Cub thing or Star Boy's "black hole," either.

Who is Universo, for the partially initiated?

"Sociopath. Monster telepath. The worst and most powerful thing Titan ever spawned." according to Sensor in the last issue.

There have been a few versions of the current chief villain, Universo. At one point he was a rogue Green Lantern who had the power of super-hypnotism. He was forever taking over the minds of planetary leaders and, of course, controlling the Legionnaires. Saturn Girl was a major obstacle to him, since she tended to resist or break free of his mind control.

He was actually her relative in the Titans/Legion "Universe Ablaze" crossover, which by most accounts was a rot-awful story and which I have (mercifully) never read. We're not sure if he's still related to Imra in this story arc.