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Review Date: 05/23/2008
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The Legion
Of Super-Heroes #41
Mike Marts: Editor
Jeanine Schaefer: Editor
Jim Shooter: Writer
Aaron Lopresti: Artist, Penciller
John Livesay: Inker
Matt Ryan: Inker
Francis Manapul: Cover Artist, Penciller
J.D. Smith: Colorist
Steve Wands: Letterer
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The Legion Of Super-Heroes is another
current DC series with strong roots in the Silver Age. This
was always one incredibly weird-ass comic book back
in the day. The basic premise itself was o.k. and
even very popular among silver age readers: Set in the
31st century, the Legion was a group of teenage superheroes
who adventured in a similar vein like the Justice League,
Justice Society, etc. Every once in awhile Superboy
would pop-in, then head back to the boring old 20th
century.
Most likely unintentionally, it was also one of the
campiest and cheesiest comics around back then, with
some of the most amazingly wooden dialogue ever put
to print. If anyone ever publishes a coffee table
book on the history of comic book cheese, a solid inventory
of silver age Legion covers and inside pages would be
included (a typically wooden silver age thought balloon
from a Legion story: "Oh, there is Lightening Lad standing
over that way. I think I will walk by him and see
if he will greet me." I kid you not.)
The present-day Legion series run is up to issue #41,
with highly respected veteran Jim Shooter writing and
Aaron Lopresti pencilling and Matt Ryan inking. Frankly,
it's not bad, a quantum leap improvement from the Silver
Age version that I vented on above. The art is
extremely high quality; I love it when really skilled
comic artists can portry very subtle facial
expressions on characters, and the Lopresti/Ryan team
prove to be among the best at this delicate skill, if
issue #41 is a typical example of what they bring to
a comic book.
Without belaboring the story details, Shooter manages
a typical group/ensemble superhero comic book plot with
his expected skill, mixing in action, futuristic details
and wonders, and adding a really nice touch of
slightly dark humor/comments that are really a take
on our current, 21st century media frenzy/celebrity/paparazzi
world.
One constructive criticism, however. While
dropping the hackneyed old legion dialogue, he's gone
a little weirdly into the world of the old Melrose Place
t.v. series, of all things. Its one thing to modernize
the series to have the Legion members dating each other,
but its a little creepy to show them running around
their clubhouse in spandex underwear, saying stuff like
(and I quote) "Be strict with me...take me...own me...do
something shocking..." Like I said, it might work
on Melrose Place, but in a comic book which still implies
to me, at least, a bunch of high school kids with super
powers hanging-out in their clubhouse, its just a 2008
jaded version of updated cheesiness and it falls flat.
That said, for some upscale artwork and interesting
futuristic plotting and setting, this series is worth
checking-out. It ain't classic DC, but its a light
dessert of fun and worth the read in that vein. |
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