What I look forward to most with the reboot of the DCU are the unknown or less familiar characters and titles that give the reader a great jumping on point. So far, there have been more than a number of titles I ordinarily wouldn’t have thought of picking up (Batgirl, Batwing, Batwoman, Mister Terrific) that have proved to be quality reads. There have been books that totally blew away my expectations (Blue Beetle), and there have been books that I wanted to love (Demon Knights), and books that seemed to be right up my ally – as being more “cosmic” (Legion Lost), but just didn’t come through.
Legion Of Super-Heroes fits into that last category.
As I included LOSH with its sister title, Legion Lost, I found both shared similar problems. Namely, both were inaccessible to new readers, both contained too high a number of characters, and the story was just too hard to keep track of. In essence, and more so with LOSH, I was completely lost. It was as if I were dropped into the middle of an ongoing arc, not a first issue.
I mean, fifteen characters are introduced in 20 pages.
Another issue I had with both Legion books was the fact I had no idea where these characters are from. They both reference “Flashpoint,” – are they from the old DCU? Is this book set in the future of the old DCU?
With there being so many characters, I felt the much needed back story was pushed aside, as room enough was needed to showcase each character. And in regards to a villain or antagonist, was there even one in the issue? I could not reason who or what or why The Dominators were even what they were. Save the obvious name, were they even the bad guys? And why were they such a threat other than they wanted to break up the United Planets, which I had to assume was a “good” thing. As I read, I found myself questioning just what I was reading.
The art wasn’t all bad, though as with so many characters and things taking place, the pages felt cluttered – as the issue read. Overall, I just found it all hard to follow.
I suppose you win some and you lose some; Legion of Super-Heroes isn’t for me. On to the next one, as they say!
