Adventure Comics #1.1 Review. Not
So the idea here is that I review every Legion story that comes down the pike. I wasn't sure I was going to review Adventure #1.1, on the grounds that I didn't know if it was going to be Legiony enough. For one thing, it was supposed to be specifically about Starman, and he's not much of a Legion character these days; more of a JSA guy.
But, no, it's full of Legion stuff. No problem there.
Only thing is, it isn't a story. It isn't even close to a story. It's a teaser. When you read it, it seems like it's about three pages long. Actually, it's eight, but here's how they break down:
1. Backstory on Superboy. Stuff everybody already knows, but I suppose it's possible that Adventure is attracting some people who are brand new customers.
2.-3. A double-page spread of the Legion, flying. Do you have any idea how many double-page spreads of the Legion flying there have been in the past year or two? Way too many. Fortunately, we've got eight whole pages to work with here, so there's plenty of space to spend on characters flying silently to noplace in particular. (Note: Shadow Lass and Night Girl are mislabelled.)
4. Starman talking to birds.
5.-6. Starman at a bowling alley.
7. Starman talks to Tellus. Well, that's something.
8. Hints of what's going to happen to the Legion over the next year.
Once again I quote Bill James: Jesus, these people will drive you crazy sometimes. Wake me when the story starts.
Labels: Comic Book Reviews, Legion of Super-Heroes
posted by Matthew E @ 9:46 PM
11 Comments:
Annnnnnd yet, it was still way better than the story it followed, wherein they manage to make Superboy completely boring. Manapul's art was quite nice--I'd hazard to say it beat his threeboot artwork by bounds--but nothing *happened* beyond some very, very basic set-up.
The Legion stuff was piddly by comparison, yes, but Clayton Henry's artwork was pretty sweet (a welcome change after Gary Frank's totally creepy Legionnaires) and they at least *hinted* at interesting stories, which is more than Kon-El got.
Not that I really care about Kon-El, but this book would be great if they didn't relegate the Legion and had a flat out Superboy and the Legion team-up book going on, right away.
...and as an aside, I picked up the first two issues of R.E.B.E.L.S. today and quite enjoyed them. I found them quite "Legiony" (yeah, I know, not a word), and you know. Dox in jodhpurs.
I got no problem with Clayton Henry.
As for Kon-El, I understand that the Legion(s) are supposed to appear in the main story as well as the backup, eventually, so that's something. And I don't have any preconceptions about what a good Kon-El story is. True, this wasn't one, but what was there does hint at some kind of specific take on the character, and I always like that.
I've been getting R.E.B.E.L.S. but it hasn't really knocked me out. It's been okay. I'd consider dropping it except that its sales are so low that I imagine DC will take that decision out of my hands in the next twenty minutes anyway.
Okay, so, is there any reason why Supes hasn't asked Brainy to send back some of those amazing 31st century psych meds for poor Thom??? Wouldn't that be an easy fix for him?
Or has this been explained somewhere else and I missed it???
I don't think it's been explored. But I do think I recall that the Gog arc in JSA established that Starman's just permanently crazy now, so presumably the meds wouldn't work, and for all I know maybe Brainy knows this.
Good sorta review, Matthew. I totally get what you're saying. I was hoping for a little more story, too.
Especially when I look at the Blue Beetle back-up feature (which is ten pages, instead of the 8 that the Legion got).
In the three installments that we've had so far, we've had a main story, a subplot and tons of characterization in each of the three chapters.
In Legion, we learned that the Espionage Squad is in the 21st century.
I kinda like the teaser images at the end... but on the other hand, there's not much point teasing something if the story isn't going to deliver on the tease.
I mean, I guess it's too early to be complaining too much... but we've been waiting for a long time for some Legion stuff now... and we've been given a ton of teases that there are stories to be told (both here and in 3 Worlds). I'd just like to see some of those stories get off the ground.
murr
Too early to be complaining too much!
The retroboot started shouldering the threeboot aside in an obviously ill-conceived way more than two years ago.
Both the Lightning Saga and the Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes arc were almost entirely devoid of content.
The cancellation of LSH31C was announced about a year ago now, and the cancellation of LSHv5 not much more recently.
The supposedly monthly FC:L3W turned out to be quarterly, and did not fulfill either its explicit or implicit promises.
Now here comes Adventure Comics. It's pretty, but--for a change!--almost entirely devoid of content. At least the prices have gone up, though.
And Dan DiDio is blaming it all on you and me!
How long were you planning on waiting before complaining?
--
This is as good a place as any for me to speculate on a connection the Black Beetle and the Time Trapper, though. After all, what is blackbeetle another word for? Cockroach. And we just had a lot of attention drawn to the Time Trapper's relationship with cockroaches. And both guys do time-travel stuff. And Geoff Johns was involved with the Booster Gold book previously. Might be nothing; might be something.
How long were you planning on waiting before complaining?
Well, when you put it like that, I guess you're right. It's long past time to start complaining! I should be well into my third act of complaining. Time to pull out the old letter-writin' pencil again.
Re: the Black Beetle... I don't think that there's anything there, though you make an interesting point about the beetle/cockroach connection.
If the Booster Gold book were operating in the sphere of the Superman books, I would have thought that you were on to something, but since there's not any overlap between the two series, I think it's just one of those neat coincidences.
I do expect that the 21st Century Legionnaires will be spending more time in the Superboy feature. Note that Manapul drew Element Lad on the teaser page. He is Connor's Chemistry teacher, after all!
Interesting point on the Black Beetle thing. As Murray said, there is little connection between the books, except for the fact that, when Johns started Booster, he was also writing Superman. Maybe there's an editor in common? Either way, I now start thinking that there's a tie in between the Trapper, Black Beetle, and this event that Adventure is supposed to be setting us up for, which is to be written by Johns and Robinson (the latter of whom had set up some of the Tellus in the 21st Century, and seemed miffed when Johns mentioned on a panel at SDCC that Element Lad was also in the 21C).
I'm willing to wait, to a point, but I agree that the pace has been glacial!
I agree that I want more Legion. And the pace is driving me nuts. But I just reread the first issue and realised that the "beast of Bruin Lake" is Tellus as we see at the end of the book. And I completely missed that Element Lad is Kon's new Chemistry teacher. So I guess Superboy and the Legion stories are going to be connecting even sooner than I thought. Just hope I don't have to wait too much longer.
Of course, it's all up in the air now.
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