By: Fabian Nicieza (writer), Pete Woods (artist), Brad Anderson (colorist)
The Story: Can’t we have just a nice, calm, rational conversation, mind to mind?
The Review: I don’t think bias in a critic is evil as long as he’s aware of it and makes it clear, so I have no problem in saying that I really wanted to like this title. Actually, I do like it, so I guess it’s more accurate to say that I really wanted to love this title, enough to convince others to give it a try and see for themselves how great it is. Sadly, I can’t say that with much honesty—not at this point, at least.
I still maintain the series has many virtues, but there are some major missteps in the writing that undermines it as a whole. Some of these are structural, like the increasingly annoying recap monologue Nicieza invariably incorporates at the beginning of every issue. While it may be useful for the reader who’s just hopping on board, I suspect those people are few and far in-between. For the fans, the recap is a tiresome bit of repetition you just want to skip over. Plus, I imagine it’ll read pretty awkwardly once it’s collected in a trade.
Another misstep, one semi-structural and semi-substantial, is Nicieza’s choice to have each issue narrated by a different Legionnaire (except for the MIA Chameleon Girl and Gates). If you have a character with a lively personality, it can work, but the more reserved characters seem more like they’re merely dispensing information than letting their individual attitudes speak for themselves. That was the case with Dawnstar last issue, and much the same here with Tellus, whose pause-laden mode of speech is just as heavy and burdensome to read as you’d expect.
You also have—I won’t call them problems, per se—flaws within the story itself. Tellus’ psychic confrontation with Alastor goes along fairly predictable lines, as attempts to reason with misguided villains so often do. The telepathic amphibian tries to appeal to Alastor’s amenable side, throwing out such stock lines as, ““…Is this the person…your sister would have…wanted you…to become…?” It works, I suppose, but it doesn’t make the title seem any fresher.
Still, Tellus’ last-ditch effort to knock sense into Alastor actually has some cleverness to it, as he convinces the terrorist that his plan to eliminate the human species actually saves it. It’s questionable, however, whether Tellus’ words come from actual insight into the future (in which case, you have to wonder since when he had that kind of power, and how), or if he’s just making an educated, possibly overly optimistic, guess. After all, if the Hypertaxis infection in humanity remains permanent, that would alter much of the Legion’s own history quite a bit, wouldn’t it?
There are also two signs that the series may go uphill from here. First, the team is finally setting aside the angst and bitterness that dragged them down in early issues and getting itself back together, figuratively and literally. Second, with Alastor out of the way, they can investigate the reach of the Hypertaxis in full, and interact with the DCU at large, as Martian Manhunter’s last-page appearance attests to (love the choice of him as the Legion’s first guess, by the way).
No matter what kind of issues you take with the script, you have nothing to complain about regarding Woods’ art, which, along with Anderson’s glossy, saturated colors, makes this title one of the prettiest to look at. I once complained, in a review for The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men, how Yildiray Cinar seems incapable of drawing a convincing energy blast. If you want proof of what I mean, compare one of Cinar’s puffy mushroom clouds to the searing explosion of anti-energy Wildfire releases upon Alastor.
Conclusion: While the strengths of the writer and artists still deserve faith, the opening story arc has been mostly unfocused and hampered by scripting flaws. Here’s hoping for things to look up now the prologue arc is over.
Grade: C+
- Minhquan Nguyen
Some Musings: - Martian Manhunter is just showing up everywhere nowadays, isn’t he? Now, if he makes it into the roster of the new Justice League, that’ll be the icing on the cake.
Filed under: DC Comics, Reviews Tagged: | DC Comics, Fabian Nicieza, Legion of Super Heroes, DC, Brad Anderson, Pete Woods, Wildfire, Tyroc, Dawnstar, Gates, Tellus, Timber Wolf, Legion Lost, Hypersapien, Hypertaxis, Alastor, Legion Lost #5, Legion Lost #5 review
