by: Len Wein (writer), Scott Kolins (artist), Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (penciller), Dave Gibbons (inker)
The Story: Paul Lincoln continues his narration of the history of the D.C. Universe to, as of yet, and unknown audience, but for the time being, us, the reader. After the emergence of the Silver Age of Superheroes, vigilante crime fighting is in an upswing, as we see heroes back on the streets, fighting to protect the people. And this time, they’re back with sidekicks. But is it possible to have too many heroes?
The Good: I don’t know how Len Wein does it, but with such a vast array of history, he really narrows down the high points of the DCU history and presents it in a clear, concise manner that is easy to follow. This particular issues brings back some of the Golden Age heroes, the Silver Age heroes and introduces the next generation, the Teen Titans. One would think that this would be too much for one book, but Wein is a talented writer and really does a good job, combining them into one issue. Not great, but good.
A definite highlight of the book is the pairing of the Golden Age heroes fighting alongside of the Silver Age heroes, perhaps a nod to the ideology of Kingdom Come. Wein continues to map out the ground work of DCU on every page of this issue, keeping it interesting and entertaining. Thus far, I haven’t had the feeling of rolling my eyes as I relive some of the greatest moments of the DCU history.
Scott Kolins’ artistry of the first two pages of the issue is very reminiscent of the style of Alex Ross, which is a nice touch to the nostalgic tale of the story. The detail is so strong that I feel as though I’m looking at photographs with word bubbles drawn on them to better tell the story.
The Not-S0-Good: Comparatively, the artistry of Garcia-Lopez and Gibbons seems to pale in the pages following those of Kolins. Now granted, their 20 pages, compared to Kolins’ 2 pages, is a much heavier work load. But the styles are so drastically different that it makes the work of Garcia-Lopez and Gibbons look a little childish. Not horrible, mind you, but stylistically, Kolins really seems to dominate and set a standard for the issue that just doesn’t follow after his two pages.
Additionally, the question of “can there be too many heroes?” is an underlying one, perhaps purposely not directly asked, but asked just by simply introducing and involving so many heroes in one book. There were moments when the issue seemed cluttered by too much going on at once and, thusly, certain points trying be made by Len Wein just got lost in the craziness. I don’t know who’s to blame since, like I said, there is a lot of material to cover in just a 10 issue run.
Conclusion: This isn’t a bad issue by any means, but it seems to be a little bit sloppy in its construction. Len Wein may have tackled a bit too much for one issue, but he’s got a lot to cover in a little bit of space. He has six more issues to bring us up to date on the state of the DCU, so I hope he does a stronger job of organizing the story and not bombarding the reader with too much to take in at once. The different styles of the artistry built up to a small let down on the visual side of the book as well.
Grade: B-
-Jeff Mazzuca
Filed under: DC Comics Tagged: | Dave Gibbons, DC Universe Legacies #4, DC Universe Legacies #4 review, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Len Wein, Scott Kolins
