Reilly2040's Blog

A blissfully light comics week for me this week, with only Legion of Three Worlds and Iron Man to pick up. Both were corkers though.

The big comic of the week however is sure to be the Legion book. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a huge Legion fan, so there was quite a bit of the big team up and explanation that was lost on me, however I could still enjoy the big fight scene, and there was enough to keep a non-Legion fan like me excited, as Geoff Johns also called on his other successful runs with Green Lantern (as seen in the preview) and The Flash.

The Green Lantern stuff was basically limited to what was in the preview, with Sodam Yat rejoining the fight. Its a nice moment when he arrives and chains Prime, but ultimately he doesn’t do much except slow Prime down a little (and just long enough for Brainiac 5′s plan to kick in).

Of course, the big talking point from this issue is the Flash stuff. XS’ origin is fixed to ensure she’s from New Earth rather than the one of the other Earth’s her Legion inhabits, and then we finally get the payoff from the Lightning Saga. Granted, we all knew it was coming, but the build up was excellent played, with Prime getting more and more paniced about what Brainiac was up to. And then we get the last page.

Bart is back. De-aged and returned to his Kid Flash outfit.

Now granted, I still feel that Geoff Johns’ writing of Bart never quite rang true, and I really missed him as Impulse, but still, this is the first step in the character’s rehabilitation. There’s going to be a lot of explaining to do over the next couple of issues. While Bart is physically de-aged, isn’t he still affected by the things that happened to him when he was aged into the Flash? Saying that, the writers on Bart’s Flash run were making pains to show his original impulsive nature was still there, so there’s maybe not a huge retcon required.

I can definitely live with Bart as Kid Flash as long as he’s being written properly. Crowbarring him into the role of the Flash pretty much killed that franchise after Infinite Crisis so I reckon we’re seeing part of Geoff’s masterplan that’ll come to fruition in Flash: Rebirth.

There’s a few other nice moments in this issue.  Superman vs Superboy Prime was a nice fight.  Superman trying to appeal to Superboy Prime’s past was nicely played, and Prime burning a whole in Superman’s hand was shocking.  And its obvious how much Geoff Johns enjoys writing the character of Superboy Prime, as he gets some great lines throughout the issue.

Its a shame this series has been hit by so many delays.  But there’s no denying that the end product has been worth the wait, even for this reader who isn’t a Legion fan.

I’m not a huge Legion fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I’ve been largely buying the “3 worlds” series for 3 reasons:

1 – Final Crisis tag on the front. I’m a sucker for tie-ins.
2 – Its widely speculated that Bart Allen will be resurrected in this series.
3 – Geoff had promised a look at the remains of the GL Corps in the 31st century.

And from this preview, we’re really getting that 3rd one. There was a big shock last issue as the last Green Lantern, Rond Vidar was killed, and on tracking his body to the remains of Oa, Mon-El and someone else (told you I wasn’t a big Legion fan) find a pile of dead GL rings, and, most surprisingly, Sodam Yat, alive and well, albeit a bit bonkers from years of isolation.

This preview picks right up from there, with Sodam burying Rond Vidar, and explaining that without Mogo to guide them the GL rings fell dead. Mon-El is quick to explain to Sodam that Superboy Prime is back, and he can use this chance for redemption, and Sodam is talked into action.

There’s some really interesting things going on here. We see just how key to the Corps Mogo is, as he’s the guiding light of the rings. While Sodam does hint that he could do the job, Sodam’s seen and done some nasty things over the centuries, and doesn’t feel he could select worthy candidates.

There’s a really nice tip of the hat to Kyle, when Sodam mentions that the original Torch Bearer passed the title on to him when he died.  So obviously despite losing Ion, Kyle is still considered the Torch Bearer by the GL Corps. At the time, the Torch Bearer title was also linked to the fact that Kyle was responsible for restarting the Corps if they should fall again (and we can presume this was directly related to the fact he was hosting Ion at the time). Presumably despite Sodam now hosting Ion, Kyle retained the Torch Bearer title as a mark of respect.

The really interesting thing in this preview though, is when Sodam charges the Green Lantern rings. His oath looks like its actually a combination of lines from the Oaths of the various other Corps, and has some direct nods to the Blackest Night. I wonder what that’s all about and is it a hint that after Blackest Night we will be losing the other Corps and left with only the GLs again? We can presume at least one yellow ring would stay active, as I can’t see them de-powering Sinestro.

Ok, I’ll get the negative stuff out of the way first.

For me, there’s a lot about this title I don’t like. I’m not a big fan of the Legion. I’ve seen them in various guest appearances, but they’ve never done anything for me. So why, I hear you ask, did you buy it?

Well, its got Superboy Prime in it for one. For another its hotly rumoured that Bart Allen will be getting resurrected in this story (at least, the lightning rod is due to be dealt with). As I like both of those characters, that’s two big draws.

Lastly, loath as I am to admit it, it does say “Final Crisis” on the front, and for my sins, I do find a tie-in hard to pass by.

So, I figured I’d check out the first issue at least.

However it does in many ways push a lot of the buttons for things I hate about tie-ins. For a start (and its a biggy), it doesn’t actually seem to tie in with Final Crisis at all.  From this first issue, I do have to think marketting it as a tie-in is a bit cheeky.  Giving DC the benefit of the doubt though, lets assume there is some kind of tie in in the upcoming issues (although I doubt it – seems to me that there’s enough story here without chucking the New Gods in as well).

Secondly if we assume that Bart does indeed get resurrected in this mini, then why?  Well, it gets Flash fans like myself to buy a Legion book, who might’ve otherwise avoided it.   But with Wally coming back in JLA, Barry in Final Crisis, and Bart coming back in Legion, you do have to kind of wander if anything big ever happens in The Flash book itself (at least Bart had the decency to die in it).

So, a tie-in that doesn’t tie-in, and using unrelated characters to pull in readers.  Not off to a great start.

(ok, I know Bart’s from the 31st century, and XS will be in this.   I’m also aware that I didn’t complain about Superman characters turning up as main villains in the Sinestro Corps War.  Its a fanboy rant, it doesn’t need to make sense )

But none-the-less, I enjoyed this book.  Its written by Geoff Johns, with art by George Perez, so you know you’re buying a quality book, and it does a good job of bringing everyone up-to-date with the Legion’s background.

For me, there was more than enough Superboy Prime action to keep me happy.  He’s been accused of being a two-dimensional character, but for my money, he’s at least entertaining to read here.  The stuff in the Superman museum worked well, and there’s a nice twist with Superboy-Prime being not quite the footnote he thought in history.

There’s also an interesting bit where Superman declares they must redeem Superboy Prime.  This raises a whole load of questions (chief among them, did Superman not read Countdown? ), but I’m choosing to take it as Superman seeing this as their only choice.   He knows Superboy Prime is nigh-on unbeatable.   He’s been captured and escaped before, and killing is obviously not an option.   So instead he’s choosing to reach out to that part of Prime that’s Kal-El, who’s the same as he is.   Its an interesting idea, that the only way to beat Prime is to make him realise what he’s become.  Although I don’t see how the character could ever be truely redeemed.   He’s just done too much to be forgiven for it.

So, despite the negatives, this book rises above them by being a good read.  I’m still onboard for the next issue, but for me, there’s still the thing of my not being a Legion fan.  In many ways I suspect this book would be an ideal trade-wait for me.  That way I could save money, and still read the Superboy Prime and Bart stuff (if Bart does come back – it could still be a twist).   However, there’s that part of me that wants to be there when Bart comes back.  And to see what happens to Superboy Prime.