LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #39
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Size: pages
Price: 2.99
i jumped on board the legion book with jim shooter on #37, and each issue has been tons of fun. somehow, issue 39 managed to keep the same tone.
– manupal’s art is good, solid, comic book art. nothing terribly flashy, but very solid. despite a gratuitous page or two of some female legionnaires hanging out in lingerie…
– the cast is huge, but shooter is bringing them in piece by piece. this is the first i saw of ultra boy, element lad, and colossal boy in the book. but each felt like they had distinct characters (particularly element lad). it’s a big team, but everyone manages to have their own identity, and since they’re being brought into this story gradually, one isn’t overwhelmed.
– princess projectra has a dumb name – and if your name stands out as dumb in this cast, it MUST be dumb – but man, she is awesome! when i read the solicit and saw her name featured prominently, i figured this would be a let down – but i love the way her arrogance is handled – there’s just a great sense of humor in the way she looks down on everybody. really, really fun.
– these issues manage to be great in themselves, and yet still pushing story forward. i’m seriously curious as to who was in lightning lad’s chair (guessing one of the rejected substitutes from last month?), and i can’t believe that this book is just so fun. and braniac 5, the coolest legionnaire, hasn’t shown his face yet.
– if you’re not reading legion, you’re doing yourself a disservice. i’m sure 37 and 38 are still floating around, but i’d wager even this book has enough for you as a single issue if you’re curious.
Art: 4 - Very Good
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Excellent review.
Shooter does indeed have the vocies of all the Legionnaires down. No surprise as that is where Shooter cut his comic writing teeth, when he was 14 years old. Shooter owns the Legion.
This book just gets better. Starting with the cover, the situation illustrated is pleasantly reminiscent of the Five Year Gap era, with a Legionnaire on their uppers. And the new logo looks great, bringing to mind two or three older ones. Plus, the colouring is excellent.
Inside, returned classic Legion writer Jim Shooter continues to show that he really knows how to handle a big team – by focusing on individuals and small groups. The book begins with Princess Projectra returning to her Metropolis home – a wonderful cross between a castle and a rocket, in newish artist Francis Manapul’s clever design – only to find it’s been sold from under her. That would be cos she’s no longer a princess, her planet having blown up, meaning she can’t rule anyone, and no longer has interplanetary funds to live in the style to which she’s accustomed. She has a run-in with the authorities that shows off her power, and her arrogance, before being persuaded by Saturn Girl’s Councilwoman mom, Sdne Ardeen, to cool it, or get into big trouble.
Next time we see her, later in the issue, an apparently repentant Jeckie puts a stop to the looting of a jewellery store – Earth being a bit of a mess post-Dominators attack – before flying away, beatific look on her face . . . and lifted bracelet on her wrist. Just reward, or simple theft? The girl’s on a slippery slope, I say, and she’s not going to be put on the straight and narrow anytime soon cos Karate Kid is about to bed Ayla, who’s presented as a girl with a healthy appetite for sex (‘I HATE sleeping alone’). And a mind to oust her weak leader sibling.
That’s in a scene that initially looked like generating a Mart moan a la another recent issue, about more female Legionaires in their scanties. Then we see Lightning Lad looking mighty good in his tighty whities!
There’s also a leather gang on the streets of New Beijing, who give Ultra Boy, a particularly beefy Colossal Boy and Element Lad a bit of trouble. Newsflash: Jan has a personality and it’s a bit prissy (watch people accuse Shooter of presenting him as a gay stereotype) and very amusing. And Manapul gives us some very cute critters.
Thre’s also a bit of personality development for Timber Wolf, a suitable response by Imra and the mystery of who’s been sitting in Garth’s chair on the boringly named bridge. Circumstantial evidence – the intruder is apparently invisible, and doesn’t set off sensors – points to Invisible Kid, but he’s on Triton, still, with Timber Wolf and Saturn Girl. And the very boring Giselle, alien energy boost girlie non-extraordinaire.
Shooter excels in giving us little bits of business that aren’t vital to the story but really add to the Legion’s world, such as a couple of officials in New Beijing consulting a Guide to the LSH as they brief them, an especially annoying Galaxy Communications reporter and Councilwoman Ardeen’s portable chair.
Manapul and inker John Livesay are making this book their own, getting used to the characters and giving us a nicely realised environment.
In all, the new team is going great guns; now I’m ready for a big threat.
I agree, this was a good one, but was a bit of set up and in between action. I still enjoyed it. Most of all, I’m really liking Manapul’s art!