Legion of Super-Heroes #43 Review

What Happened That You Have to Know About:

A lot.

On Rimbor, Saturn Girl's team is on the run from the cops after getting Ultra Boy away from them. They encounter a wounded Giselle on the way, and help her out, and she doesn't betray them to the SPs. By the end of the issue, though, they've been surrounded and overrun.

At Legion HQ, the Science Police execute a search warrant, make nuisances of themselves, get allegedly full access to Brainy's systems and files, and eventually shut the Legion down after discovering the autopsy data Invisible Kid stole. (Turns out Element Lad kept one of those muskshrews. I wonder if that's important.) M'rissey introduces himself to Brainy and the two of them come to some kind of agreement, the details to which we are not privy.

On Velmar, Karate Kid's team decides on a straightforward assault to rescue captives from Ikilles and the Ikonns, but Karate Kid and Triplicate Girl disappear mysteriously into a... portal or something... and the Ikonns beat up Timber Wolf, Shadow Lass and Light Lass, leaving only Invisible Kid free.

Review:

The thing that's most striking about this issue is the unexpected recruiting of Triplicate Girl and Karate Kid through that portal. I guess we must assume that this has something to do with Countdown and Final Crisis and all that stuff, given who the two characters are. But it's also possible that this has something to do with the Knights Tempus.

Or maybe both. What if the Knights Tempus were just a Time Trapper trick?

The various plots seem to be reaching some kind of inflection point. The events on Rimbor and Velmar seem like they'll eventually work themselves out in some more or less conventional way, but I'm curious about just what's going on on Earth. What happens with the Legion shut down and arrested? What's Brainy up to? What's M'rissey up to?

I find it hard to keep coming up with new things to say about Manapul's art every month. So let's just say that it's up to his usual standards. Here's one thing I like: other than the opening splash page, the smallest number of panels on a page is four, and there's only one such page; most are more than five. It shows the right spirit.

The other Legionnaires' contempt for Invisible Kid is starting to wear a little bit. I mean, I get it, and I don't object to the idea in principle, but I think Shooter is trying to sell it a bit too much. On the other hand, he seems to have dialed back a bit on the future slang.

I don't know how well I'm going to be able to evaluate this story until it's over. Really, until then, there are only bits and pieces to comment on. The story's been starting for about seven issues now and I don't know what else to say about that. Stupid sixteen-issue mega-arc.

Notes:
- the auditors, Buptkie and Spondulix. I don't know about 'buptkie', but 'spondulix' is an old slang term for money. That's the other thing Shooter does: he gives his characters joke names
- I noted before about Brainy: if he's being nice and polite to you, that's an indication that he's got you right where he wants you. Sizzling satellites!
- I wonder if we're actually going to see anything of the Peril Men
- Chameleon can duplicate 'physical properties', but if he shaped himself like a wall, it'd still be made of flesh... I wonder if anyone who hasn't spent time trying to make polymorph self work for them can really process that nuance

Membership Notes:

The mission monitor board lists the following members: Brainiac 5, Dreamer, Element Lad, Karate Kid, Invisible Kid, Light Lass, Shadow Lass, Timber Wolf, Triplicate Girl, Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, Princess Projectra, Saturn Girl, Atom Girl, Chameleon, Colossal Boy, Star Boy, Ultra Boy. Dreamer is listed as 'excused', 'off duty'; it's not clear whether it means Dream Boy or Dream Girl (or if it's a camouflage name that means both!). No Sun Boy, no Cosmic Boy, no Supergirl.